Into the Black, Part I: A Final Briefing

[bring_a_sponge]

Zed's been spending most of the day staring out the Observation Window. He doesn't need the holographic data or the floor plans anymore. He really didn't need them in the first place. He could have run this entire scenario in his head if he had had to. Laying it out on paper and screen was just a matter of convenience, and a way to double-check that he wasn't making an obvious mistake.

Either way, the time for prep is done. The word's gone out to the volunteers about tonight's briefing, and they have already begun to show up. Zed's found a quiet corner of the bar and a small table, on which sits the cylinder which is now projecting a holographic image of the MiB logo.

He's been staring at that logo. It's never been more compromised than it is right now. By the time this mission is done, it will stand for something again--or be finished for good.


But then comes the sight of the first people arriving, and just like that, all his worries are cast aside.

Comments

Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[bring_a_sponge]

"Now. Personal defenses. You'll all have Oracle's comm gear. You'll also have some special equipment, courtesy of Ray Stantz."

"Ray, why don't you introduce the shields?"

"And those of you on Alpha and Delta, listen up. This is going to affect what weapons you'll be taking from the armory."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[gone_byebye]

Ray coughs in surprise briefly, but steps up. "Okay. Um, as some of you know I have something of a tendency to play with reverse engineering technology from descriptions I've only ever read. These are the result."

He holds up what looks rather like a fanny pack festooned with LEDs, gauges, and circuit tracks. There is a single red button on the underside, and it is attached to a broad belt with circuit tracks of its own. Most of the material involved, in deference to the situation, is black.

"Second-order Holtzmann Effect generators, named in honor of the pioneering theoretical work of Ibrahim Vaughn Holtzmann, born in the year 7593 Before Guild. They're planar effect generators and produce the lowest-order Holtzmann Effect to have a physical existence. I could go into a lot of detail here, but the short version is that when they're switched on they produce a you-shaped bubble of distortion in the atomic bonds around you that repels baryonic matter above .25 grams per cubic centimeter. If it's made of atoms and it tries to get you, it has to move slower than seven centimeters per second in order to get through. Bullets? Kabong." He makes a bounce-off gesture. "Knives? Gotta be wielded by the Ninja of Slowness. Tentacles? Gonna have to slither in if they want to get you."

"Which is really fantastic except for the part where the slightest contact between the planar Holtzmann effect region and any form of coherent light whatsoever, such as a laser beam or a lightsaber, causes an instantaneous atomic blast with a force only marginally less than .1 kilotons. Radiation included. Uh, if it's any consolation the shield should repel electric shock pretty well and admit EM frequency wavelemngths from short-wave radio through gamma rays and emit longer-wave radio at need."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill tilts his head and scratches his ear thinging a moment. "Okay, so...this will make you bullet proof, an I like that bit about tentacles not getting through, two questions. Can you list the bad things again with out the sciency part, and what happens if two people wearin it like, bump into each other?"

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[gone_byebye]

"Sure," Ray says. "Bad thing number one: NO LASERS. Bad thing number two: if somebody drops napalm on your head, it just has to oozle its way past the shield. Bad thing number three: a fuel-air bomb type explosion can still kill you because it sucks the air out of the vicinity. Bad thing number four: I did mention the NO LASERS, right? Bad thing number five: if somebody comes up behind you reeeeeeeeely slooooooooooowly and puts his pseudopods up slowly enough, he can still throttle you. That being said, there's no real problem with shield wearers bouncing off each other; there'll be a bit of stinky ozone in the air for a little while, but that's about it."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Okay. Got it. So...are they gonna be havin lasers an air bomb explosive thingies?"

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[bring_a_sponge]

"They might have lasers, but I doubt it. The bureau's most advanced weapons tend to be pulse- and plasma-based, and those shouldn't react with the shields. We'll also have plenty of grenades and other explosive devices in the armory, so if they want to use them on us, we can give 'em the same."

"And don't sweat the alien tech, Sheriff. If you can handle conventional firearms, you shouldn't have much trouble. The primary controls on most of the alien weapons we have are pretty damn simple--they have to be to work under fire. Just watch out for the recoil--there'll be less than you expect."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Alright cool." Bill nods.

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ozone. Charming. Ryan frowns unhappily, but it's a small price to pay for what the shields offer. He'll just have to do his best to avoid touching the others.

Or hold his breath until the stench dissipates.

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Oracle raises a hand and then waves down at her heavy-duty power chair, "I've got a bit more volume to cover than most people. Is that going to put a strain on either the systems themselves or on their power supplies?"

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[gone_byebye]

Ray thinks for a minute, then shakes his head. "You should be all right. The power supplies on these are n+2 redundant, so you've got two spare power cell arrays to go through when your initial array's drained. Well, everyone does, but you know what I mean. You might run out a little bit before the rest of us but it won't have a measurable impact unless you also take more direct hits to the Shield than the rest of us."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

She nods, "Works."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[sime-channel.livejournal.com]

"Um." How do you ask about the effects of a shield on a sense the maker doesn't have? "Can I try one here before we go out there? To see if I can zlin through it?"

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[gone_byebye]

"Oh- sure," says Ray, holding out one of the belts. "I tested one on myself with the help of a few of the other patrons, so they're good to go for that."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[sime-channel.livejournal.com]

She nods again and puts it on, touching the control lightly. A minute of standing there, then she turns it off and nods, "Okay. We're good."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

Peter just quietly muttered, "Ray, any chance you can do a geek to English translator device before the next one of these? Be really handy about now..."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[gone_byebye]

"I've said it before, I'll say it again: you never studied."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

"I studied enough. I had Spengs and your notes to rely on while I was enjoying the finer points of college life."

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[gone_byebye]

Ray rolls his eyes. "You'll be fine, Peter. Just don't do anything involving lasers. It would be Bad. Not as bad as cross-the-streams Bad, but still Bad. Okay?"

Re: Briefing VI: Holtzmann Shields

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

Peter nodded, "Ok, good. Good safety tip. No lasers. Not a problem."