Fastball o/` The Way o/`

[Dracos]

Dracos nods, "That then is useful.  While they would be looking out for their enemies we may have time to slip through unnoticed on at least the first quest.  Ezmereth, do you know of perhaps old or mystic paths between Europe and America?  Going on any of the standard routes will be a pain with their ability to control the modern governments and more specifically the absolute paranoia they've created with regards to terrorists."

Dracos

[Brian]

"Mystic paths?" he says skeptically.  "Not as such, no."

Victor clears his throat, taking the pipe from Ezmereth and tapping the ashes out into the firepit.  "There's three major ways you can get there, from what I remember.

"Gibraltar has an airfield, so that's one.

"Another would be by sea.

"The last would be by land, if you just wanted to walk through from Spain.

"Beyond that, how you manage it is going to be tricky at best.  I've been out of touch with my own contacts for some years, though.  Imprisonment tends to do that, I suppose."

[Bjorn]

"The first obstacle is getting to Europe," Bjorn says thoughtfully.  "Depending on how we manage, the route to Gibraltar will probably settle itself."  He squints in thought.  "Tactically speaking, we've got a huge advantage here in terms of surprise.  That means that we should move as fast as possible to Ouroboros, and draw as little attention as possible.  I'd like to say going by air is the way to go.  We'd have to lose some of the weapons, sure, but we can do that.  The bigger problem is Rez' hand, and the fact we're not who we say we are."  He grimaces.  "The alternative to airplanes is the sea, and I don't know how much less problematic that is, and it's a lot slower.  I don't want to lose a month."

He thinks a little longer, and then nods decisively.  "I say we fly, and as soon as possible.  With only a bit of work, the only thing we run any risk on is Rez' hand, and as far as I know, nobody else should know about that, right?  So maybe we get hassled by airport security, but we can pull through that."

[Bjorn]

<@Dracos> The dangerous route where we leave behind equipment for the most part?
<@Dracos> We'll drop it in the safe house for later retrieval.  Hum.
<@Dracos> I wonder if we can get a flight right to gibraltar.
<@Bjorn> Probably not, but we can probably do a single connection in London or something.
<@Dracos> *nods*
<@Bjorn> What we'll have for equipment is, essentially, whatever Rez can carry in the bag.
<@Dracos> *Nods*
<@Bjorn> That means one sword for you, probably.
* @Dracos will negociate two as some things can be hidden elsewhere.
<@Dracos> For obvious note if we're going by plane we shouldn't have a problem having a bag carrying the uplink.
<@Bjorn> Uh, yeah, we might.
<@Bjorn> Hell, you get hassled just for a laptop.
<@Bjorn> And we really don't want to lose the uplink.
* @Dracos blinks.  Carries laptop and networking equipment on every
flight he goes on.
* @Dracos and goes on five or so flights a year.
<@Bjorn> Yeah, but how many international?
<@Dracos> Admittingly not many, but I can't see them suddenly having a "Laptop EVIL" policy o_O;
<@Bjorn> I didn't say they thought they were evil.
<@Bjorn> I just meant that when you go through security, you need to take 'em out, turn 'em on, etc, etc.
<@Bjorn> And this is with known technology.
<@Bjorn> Because we really don't want to check it.
<@Dracos> Hmmm
<@Bjorn> The uplink is arguably the single most important piece of equipment we have.
<@Bjorn> If we don't have it, we don't have access to the Oracle.
<@Bjorn> No Oracle, we're not in the game.
* @Dracos frowns
<@Dracos> You make a solid point.
<@Bjorn> Weapons?
* @Bjorn shrugs.
<@Bjorn> I'm willing to bet where we're going, we won't need them.
<@Dracos> I do suggest we don't carry a lot of guns as while swords and knives will leave a mess, guns will be a whole different story.  Yeah, you are right.
* @Bjorn is all for leaving the guns behind.
<@Dracos> Well, at least we agree on that.
<@Bjorn> I'll even go so far as to say: swords are a much lower priority than batons.
<@Dracos> I wonder: Bokkens, should we try and slip some in a bag as 'training equipment'
<@Bjorn> No.
<@Bjorn> Not worth it.
* @Dracos was thinking they'd be well, more useful to you or me if we had to knock someone out.
<@Bjorn> Unless you managed to get your hands on something other than the standard kendo bokkens I've seen you using, they'll break far too fast in a real fight.

[Dracos]

"Hum...  I want to know where we go afterwards."

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"Bjorn, two misconceptions there.  Firstly, I'd trust those passports for travel, especially with the Oracle looking over our shoulder.  We won't have problems there - considering Ayame got me out of Australia with big red flags on my regular one.  As far as anyone knows without a complete background check - which'll be tricky without any living family members - they're valid.  Second, we don't have quite as much surprise as you might think, given that if Pax Arcana hasn't cleared it yet that place will be locked down tight.  They might not be looking for us specifically, but I can guarantee you they'll be checking out anyone they don't know, and they know all our faces."

[Bjorn]

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I trust the passports.  But there's more to a fake ID than just the paperwork.  I mean, I've never been to Texas.  What if I run into some security guard that used to live in Dallas, and is feeling chatty?

"As for surprise... remember, you need to be in the Contest in order to be able to do anything at Gibraltar.  A general watch would be a waste of time and resources.  There might be something there, but it'll mainly be aimed at Pax Arcana."

Bjorn shrugs.  "I don't think we'll get a free run at it, by any means.  But for now, they won't be expecting us to show up there, and that gives us an edge.   The longer we take, the more likely it is that they'll figure out that we're part of the Contest, too.  And once that happens, they'll be gunning for us by name and face, and we'll lose any edge we had.  That's why we've gotta move as fast as we can."

[Rezantis]

"Oh, I agree with what you're suggesting, I just warn you against thinking we'll be find 'cause they're looking for Pax Arcana.  We're not exactly the most inconspicuous group, and what if they don't know who Pax Arcana is going to send?"

[Bjorn]

Bjorn looks around, and shrugs.  "We're pretty inconspicious, actually.  Clean up a little, grab some cameras, we'll look just like tourists.

"And, actually, they do know who Pax Arcana has to send.  It has to be a ring of five, just like us.  Even if they don't know exactly who that is, the Cabal knows we can't be them."

He shrugs again.  "Like I said, I know it's not going to be easy.  They'll be guarding Ouroboros, just like you said, and we'll have to deal with that.  But right now, they don't know that we're in the Contest.  That may not give us much advantage, but given the odds, we'd better take all we can get."

[Dracos]

"Well... so we are agreed on our plan then?  By air to England and then to Gibraltar as fast as can be.  We should have Rez hide as much as possible and get some touristy getup to help back our story.  I want to know though what is 'next'.  If we can know that at all."

Dracos looks pointedly at Rez.

Dracos

[Huitzil]

"If we're going for suprise... how fast do you think we can get to Gibraltar?

"Maybe, if we could get some clues as to the second site and leave for Ouruboros as soon as we can, we might be able to hit site 2 fast enough that the Cabal still won't recognize us. Catch them with their pants down, then catch them again as they're pulling them up."

[Rezantis]

"Hm.  Guys?  It doesn't matter where we go after Gibraltar, although she suggests we leave Uluru for a while due to remaining radioactivity.  And . . . she says that once we step into the dream, it could take seconds before we come back out, or it could take years.  Ahm.  She also wants people to work while we're gone, so  . . ."

[Bjorn]

"So at least some of us need to go to Alabama, first," Bjorn finishes.  He frowns.  "Now, then, do we all go, or should we split up?"

[Huitzil]

"Wait. YEARS? How can that work? If we go into a dream and don't come out for a few years, how do we know that the Cabal won't have locked down every other site, won the Contest, and taken over the goddamn world by then?"

[Dracos]

"Huitzil, it's obvious.  They have the same restrictions on time when doing it."

Dracos pondered, stroking his beard, "I'd say we split up here.  One group heads to alabama and catches a plane to london and then Gibraltar.  The other group meets them there, having scouted out the place first.  Alternate plan is we all go to Alabama and hope for the best when arriving in London.  Either way, we head back to the safe house from here, arrange tickets there, leave excess junk there, etc."

Dracos