We Meet Again

Log Title: We Meet Again

Characters: Baroness, Major Bludd

Location: Cobra Island - War Room

Date: August 7, 2010

TP: None

Summary: The Baroness and Major Bludd meet again.

 LOG BEGINS

Baroness is sitting in the War Center, as usual, when she is on duty, listening to the never ending flow of information.

Major Bludd raps on the War Room door and opens it slightly. He pokes his head around the door to peer at the Baroness. "Busy?" he asks quietly.

Baroness glances up, and shrugs, "No busier than normal."

Major Bludd comes in and closes the door behind him. He plunks down in the nearest chair and takes off his helmet. "How goes it?" he asks, conversationally.

Baroness leans back in her chair, and glances at a couple reports, "Battles progress well in Africa, not so well in Asia."

Major Bludd raises an eyebrow. "Battles? You got campaigns goin' on I don't know about?" It's not a challenge, merely an inquiry.

Baroness shakes her head, "Not really. Just continuing battles for control of areas we've been fighting for for years. Southern Somalia... Most of the Southern Break-Away Republics from the U.S.S.R."

"Ah, Somalia." Bludd places his helmet on the table and folds his arms over it. "Bad place t'be. Then again, a lot of Africa's a bad place t'be."

Baroness nods, "I hate the place...."

"I've not spent much time in that area myself," Bludd says. "Western Africa's bad enough."

Baroness nods, ever so slightly, "I prefer to avoid the entire region. Just give me diamonds from it, and I'm happy." She smiles, than looks at the Major, "So, I gather this is not a social call...?"

Major Bludd grins, nodding. "Wanted to bring you up to speed on a little chat I had with Wiretap yesterday. She has an interesting idea on a way to deal with both our Over Kill and Queen of Spades problems."

Baroness steeples her fingers under her chin, and peers at the Major, calmly, although inside, she is bursting with excitement, that perhaps her eyes express, perhaps not, depends on how close one might look, "Oh? Do tell...." She says, a little too quickly to be called calmly.

Major Bludd smiles knowingly. "Wiretap pointed out that Queen utilises the dalnet chat channel to manipulate Over Kill. The fact he's still authorised to use the Internet at all is, in my mind, a security breach in and of itself. But Pennington's idea turns a liability into a potential strength." He sits back in his chair. "She plans to masquerade as Over Kill on the channel and draw the Queen out into the open, where our operatives can apprehend or destroy her."

Baroness listens carefully, and looks thoughtful, "Interesting..." She frowns in thought, and mentions, while thinking about the rest of it, "dalnet likely should be taken away from Over Kill... At least until it can prove that it will reveal no sensative data, and that it is no longer vulnerable to attack that way."

"I was watching via one of the monitor accounts last night," Bludd says. "Queen was apparently kicking him out of the channel. I'm far from the savviest person on such things, but I thought only someone with specially granted powers in the channel could do that." He waves a hand dismissively. "Anyway, yes, I agree. I've taken dalnet away from Over Kills in the past, with varying degrees of un-success. It still manages to get on, and while this one is less loose-lipped, there's no telling what Queen can accomplish through that route."

Baroness shrugs, "I just read the transcripts, most of the time... I don't have any clue what can and can not be done by people in there. Every once in a while I'll actually type in there, or chat, or whatever you call it, but it seems to just be perverts and morons." She shrugs again, "And Over Kill's presence, seems to confirm it."

"In order to lure Queen out," Bludd continues, "Pennington could, under the guise of being Over Kill, offer her the AI of a non-existent Over Kill unit, or information thereon. Then we just have to be on hand when the exchange takes place."

Baroness nods slightly, "Sounds like a plan to me... If we could be sure The Queen was the one that was coming...."

"From what the techs are saying, on analysing the chat logs," Bludd says, "it sounds as if Queen mostly utilises agents to do her dirty work for her." He leans forward. "It also sounds like she's using some of the old Over Kill AIs to do the same."

Baroness frowns, "Some? As in multiple? I know I had seen... 'X' which is the previous Over Kill model, but others as well?" She frowns, "Let her send others, we'll destroy them, until she comes herself."

Major Bludd rests his head on his arms. "That's just it: we may only get one shot. If Queen works out that she was set up, she may go deeper into hiding. Whether that'll compromise her ability to interfere with the Over Kill project is anyone's guess."

Baroness frowns, "Than we have to draw her only. I don't know if we can gaurentee that..."

Major Bludd shakes his head. "I don't either. But I gave Pennington the go-ahead to start working on the plan. When she's ready, we can shut down Over Kill's internet access." He drums his fingers on his arm. "We probably ought to do it while he's down for a maintenance cycle or something," Bludd reasons. "With the way he complains on dalnet, he'll tip Queen off that he's being blocked before we can put the plan into motion."

Baroness frowns, "Maybe we should just leave him off, all thogether, than." she muses.

Major Bludd sits silently for a while, his expression pensive. "You'll want them for the upcoming raids," he reasons, "and this plan may take a bit of time to design fully. But yes, it might best be enacted while Over Kill is down."

Baroness nods ever so slightly, "We'll need the BAT's, at least for the upcoming raids. Damn." She sighs, "We may need to train more Vipers...."

Major Bludd says, "Like I said, it'll take a bit to get this plan rolling. Enough time to run our raids, I should expect."

Baroness nods, "Get the plan going. Use whatever resources are required. I'll clear it with the Commander."

Major Bludd collects his helmet. "I'll look in on Pennington's progress tomorrow. This BATQueen or whoever she is, she'll not be the cause of /this/ Over Kill's downfall." He frowns. "If it goes off the deep end, let it be because of some other cause, not because some Internet hooligan decided to play God."

Baroness says softly, "If it goes off the deep end, hopefully I can convince the Commander to make it the last Over Kill."

Bludd gets to his feet, tucking his helmet under his arm. "Hope so too," he mutters. "I'll keep you posted."

Baroness nods, "Please do, Sebastian. Hopefully this works. Both because this Queen of Spades seems to be after both of us, and because she is a threat to Cobra assests."

"I haven't forgotten," Bludd replies. "We'll teach her a lesson she won't soon forget." He flashes the Baroness a brief grin. "See ya." He ducks out the door into the hall.

Baroness smiles after Sebastian.

 LOG ENDS