With the GPS of Justev's comm device, getting to the location is fairly easy and quick. Not having to hunt for the base means the submersible arrives on site a few minutes shy of midnight local time.

Based on the underwater topographical maps, there really is no way to approach the dome discreetly. It's sitting out in the open, apparently, just covered by 30 feet of water. It's a gradual slope of sand up to the shore, and another thousand feet beyond the dome before the island drops off into the deeper water.

The best Grev can do is come up behind a nearby reef (600 feet away) and park the submersible.

He doesn't recommend activating the treads and crawling along the seafloor because they make noise that sonar systems can pick up.

However, he does have a periscope that he can raise to peer over the reef. Night-vision imaging systems can get a reasonable view through the water because there's a full moon out at the moment.

The view does reveal what was guessed at/estimated: two domes side by side, connected via airlock. The slightly smaller dome has a single large 'garage door', wide enough to accommodate two submersibles side-by-side.

The other dome has a single airlock on the same side as the garage door, but it does have viewports around the whole dome. These aren't tiny portholes, but large windows. You can't see all of them, of course, but the ones you do see appear to have blackout curtains over most of them.

You can also see that the top of the dome is a large viewport, but no light is coming through it.

The dome entrances are facing away from the shore. There are no exterior lights, and the interior lights only seep through the curtains in small spots.

There is camouflage netting draped over both domes.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 1):

"Right. Everyone who's going for a little stroll, out there, let's suit up!" Vonon says, "Shar'r -- who ended up getting the job of over-riding the personnel airlock controls, so we can get into the dome? Double check your equipment is ready for underwater use ... or was our inside guy gonna open the lock for us?"

Darrell is somewhat embarrassed, he's been portrayed many times, as that sort of person the group would need now. A hero. Separating the fact from fiction can be illuminating, even if it only shows our own truths.

"How can I help"

In reply to Darrel Cromwell (msg # 3):

Vonon had separated a pair of 'steamer trunks' from his gear, then stripped down to bright magenta silk shorts and a similarly colored silk undershirt. Then, dragging the trunks with him, he disappeared for a few minutes.

He came clumping back a few minutes later wearing a matte black Boarding Vacc-Suit. However, the matte-black finish of the suit had been ... augmented ... with the addition of other colors. The helmet had a white skull face painted over it, while the boots and gauntlets had each been sloppily painted in bright red to look like they were covered/splattered in blood. The chestplate was adorned with a pair of splashes of neon-green paint -- just about where nametags would be located, on a military uniform -- as well as several Vargr pictograms in cyan, each threatening some form of death, destruction or mayhem.  The fingers and knuckles of each gauntlet were equipped with small razors/spikes that looked like they could do some damage. His large service Automatic sat snuggly in a built-in holster on the outside of the suit's right thigh-piece.

Vonon -- now a couple of inches taller than when he left the room, stopped next to Darrel. The faceplate of the helmet split open and slid aside.

"You want to invade the dome with us, Yer Excellency, or command from back here?" Vonon said, "If you're coming with, might I suggest taking one of these lovely stun-sticks you bought..." Vonon reaches over and takes one of the weapons in his gauntleted hand, "I don't know how these will work in the water, but once we're inside, they should do nicely!" he finished with a feral grin.

Walter took a look around with the periscope while the others were getting ready.

Taking the visual information information into account, he turned to the group. "Target is the smaller dome, it looks like the docking port for the subs is in that one. While splitting up the group is not a good idea, I would suggest two divers head to the smaller dome to enter the sub bay in order to secure it for the rest of us in the sub, while two others that are more stealthy gain access from the single airlock on the larger dome. There looks to be a connecting air-lock between the two domes and it would serve as a natural choke point. Most likely the guards are there. We will want their attention drawn to the smaller dome so that the group in the larger one can secure the data with less interference."

"I would suggest that the divers stay low on the floor bottom to hide from any sonar so that it will help mask them. Come up when you are underneath the domes but be careful as there is netting over the domes to hide them. Give the team going to the larger dome some extra time to get in position before trying to access the smaller one, say a minute before going in. " Walter said

"Captain Grev, how long would it take to cover the distance to the smaller dome and dock?"

Looking at Vonun, and checking her comms, Sam said

"I am not sure - I haven't heard from him yet."

She tapped on her comms

Grev thinks about Walter's question for a moment before answering.

"It'll take about two minutes to get up over the reef and cover the distance. Assuming the bay isn't already flooded, it should take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to fill and let the outer door open. Same amount of time to expel the water. It all depends on the system they have. Military systems work faster. Civilians aren't usually in a hurry."

It takes a few minutes for Samantha to get a reply from Justev.

[Don't carry comm. Busy. All peeps bugout by 6. Packed. Docs being destroyed. Sm airlock alert broke. Best I can do. Send tone at breech. Will use to distract guards.]

While sam was tapping on her comms, Vonon said, "Hey Sam, if you get in touch with this guy, we have to arrange some method of identification, once we breach. Tell him to wear some distinctive item -- a beach shirt, or a cap, or a flower in his button hole, just something that will let us know who he is, while not letting on to his companions he's working with us."

Khea stands close to the bulkhead to the cockpit to not get in the way of preparation. She is especially watching Vonon and getting more and more unruly until she finally blurts out.
"Keep in mind that many items you brought with you will not work under water and will be destroyed when you try to use it. Keep them in a dry container until you are inside the dome.
Also our radios might not work under water. As soon as we see that the submarine doors open we will steer towards it. There is no need to signal us.

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 10):

"Thanks for the tip!" Vonon responds to the unruly Aslan woman, as he waves the stun baton, "I think I mentioned that I grew up in an asteroid belt, so I'm not used to being exposed to all this water. Thank you."

Vonon then clips the baton to a utility clip on his left hip.

Sam looked at her comm "We need to move fast, they've already started destroying documents. Its seems they're aiming to bug out by 6. Our contact has managed to break the alarm on the small airlock, and will set off a distraction when I tell him to - but that's all he can do. I'll tell him to wear something obvious."

She tapped on her comms

"Lets get moving then." Sir Walter said "Team A, start cycling the dock when you get there so the sub can enter. That will draw others to that side so team B, enter the large dome to keep the scientists busy."

"Count, I'll be sticking close by you to protect you. So, if you want to go for a swim, we'd better suit up right about now. If you want to stay in the sub, that's fine too. Though you might want me on the field anyway, where my skills will be more of use."

Pats Tolman on the shoulder, "At this point, the best way of protecting me, is to assist my associates in securing the dome, so, I'll stay on the sub, waiting for the signal, once that's given, we'll head immediately for the sub-bay."

"Given the time-frame, we'll hold back here and give the breaching team a few minutes to get in position, then we'll go forward, if we detect an outgoing comm from the facility, we'll jam it...once we get our signal...in we come."

"How's that sound."

OOC: Pretty sure we can have our comms set up without interfering with jamming?

Justev's first call was a video so Samantha saw what he looks like. Unless specifically deleting the picture from her comm, it was automatically captured for future reference. She can show it to everyone else.


"Would you like me to go along on the walk to the dome?" Tarl asks. "Just in case there's a problem along the way."


"It's likely that the garage doors have a remote access to let the submersibles in," Grev offers. "It doesn't make sense for someone having to exit the submersible to activate the doors. The real issue is that when it is activated, a signal probably sounds throughout the dome to alert everyone that it's cycling."

"Also, if they have two submersibles already docked in the garage, there won't be room for a third."

"The floorplan for this type of dome is usually rooms around the perimeter, a circular hallway connecting them all, and then a large central open area. Based on the location of the airlock and the garage, it should only be a quarter of the way around to the left, if even that, to reach the garage access."

"Remember, the garage has to be flooded before the doors will open to let the submersible in, and then has to be emptied before people can exit the sumbersible. Even if you disabled the alarm, everyone in the dome will probably be able to hear the water pumping. So that's not really a practical assault point."

"Of course, I have no idea what the set-up in this place may be, but from my experience, that's how underwater facilities tend to be done. Centuries of trial and error, design and development."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 16):

Vonon nodded his armored head.

"That's what I was thinking. Designs for vaccuum tend to run similarly, and I have plenty of experience with those." he said.

"So, our buddy, here ..." Vonon points at the small image of Justev that Sam's showing around, "Did he say he'd try to meet us at the personnel airlock? 'Cuz if he does, he can direct us to the lab where Doctor -- Shanara, was it? -- has the data we're after. That would be a big help."

Sharik rolled her shoulders to relieve a touch of tension building; it was always like that before an op got underway.  It was that strange mix of anxiety and anticipation that always preceded insertion.

Like Vonon, Shar already had her suit's helmet fastened.  "She-narra." she corrected her Vargr companion, before reiterating their quarry's full name, "Doctor Shenarra Vanager."  Her voice was slightly tinny as it was filtered through the helmet's speaker.

A hefty cunningly-crafted, curved piece of hardened metal was strapped to the diminutive dilettante's left thigh.  On the right side, she'd strapped the heavy-bladed, rubber-handled diving knife that she'd obtained from Tarl back at the shop.  Her hands rested casually on her belt, touching the two large implements that were there.

She glanced at Justev's picture to try and commit the face to memory.  Then Sharik responded simply to Vonon's query, seeming to agree with him, "That'd be nice..."  But her tone made it rather apparent that she really didn't expect the operation to go that easily; in her experience, nothing ever really went that easily.

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 18):

Vonon gives Sharik a wink as she corrects him, then raises his arms, so he can access the suit computer input on his left forearm.

"Say, Grev, shoot me the heading for the dome, relative to our position, so I can lock it into my systems.  We wouldn't want to wander off in the wrong direction."

Once he's recieved the data, Vonon seals up his faceplate and turns his helmeted head from side-to-side a few times.

{{Right, got it. Direction to dome locked in.}} his electronically modified voice says, as he turns his head to face in a certain direction, then points that way.

{{The Dome is over there.}} he says, {{Okay, I'm gonna step outside and get used to the environment. Between my years of Zero-G and Vacc-suit training, I don't expect any problems, but there have to be some differences, so I'm gonna go play for a few minutes.}}

Khea leans over to CountDarrel and whispers in a neutral voice "This reminds me of home. Let us just hope that they will be able to secure the research and open the hangar doors at the same time."

There's map of the domes under Map 1.


So the following characters are going for an undersea walk: Quinzella, Sharik, Tolman and Vonon.

The submersible has a moon pool. This is a hatch in the bottom of the vehicle where the air pressure in the room can be increased to the point where it keeps the water from coming in. It makes exiting the vehicle for undersea excursions easier than trying to send everyone through the airlock.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 21):

OOC: Nope. No map. Mighty cool looking starship, but no map of a Dome.

Sam shakes her head "He's not meeting anyone, but will set off a distraction to try and draw people away from the lock. Let me know when your ready to try and get in and I'll tag him"