The hunt begins

[twiceahero]

It's been one of those days.

Dinah's out in the field. Hasaragua to be exact. She'd gotten a tip about left-over Soviet military gear (and who knew there was still any of that around) stored in an abandoned military facility. Normally she'd check into it and alert someone else to take care of it, but her informant had also told her that some sort of sale was going down.

So she'd gotten Dinah some plane tickets.

Then Robin had come over to help her do some upgrades on her holographic simulation room. Juggling the mission and the upgrades had been easy, especially with Dinah who could pretty much take care of herself.

Then Dick had shown up. Then Ted had shown up. And now she was trying to juggle all the secrets involved in all those people, and was only half-watching Dinah's progress.

Comments

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Barbara's eyes widen. That sounds like...

"What's your situation, Dinah?"

If she sounds distracted that's probably because she's already pulling up the command lists for a number of emergency protocols.

[serinusniger]

The gunfire never really ceased, and now it's louder as the jungle around Dinah's feet begins to shake up under it. She leaps to her feet and runs, away from the compound and deeper into the trees.

There's only one answer for Oracle:

"Mobile!"

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Mobile.

Babs is already tossing her headset onto the desk and grabbing her emergency bag. Then she's in the elevator heading for the parking garage.

Dinah's just going to have to stay mobile (and alive) while Babs gets things rolling. As she rolls out of the elevator and toward her modified Hummer, she trips the last of her bail-out protocols.

"Code Yankee. Activate contingency Ghost Trace Three." A green confirmation light blinks to red as she starts the car.

She'd never wanted to have to use that one...

[serinusniger]

Dinah can stay mobile. Dinah's an expert at staying mobile. Even if it means, as in this case, sprinting hard into theoretically inpenetrable forest.

She keeps flat out after the gunfire stops, slowing eventually into a more sustainable pace. Even then, it's a while before she has the breath to risk talking to Oracle again.

"What's all this about?"

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Babs is just pulling on the headset in her Hummer when Dinah comes in again.

"I'm trying to figure this out," she returns, her attention on the rainy street in front ofher.

[serinusniger]

That could be rain on the line, yes. But Dinah rather suspects it's static.

"Your signal's weak."

Which,to be fair, she assumes is because she's in the middle of the rainforest.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"I'm on the move myself. I had my place invaded a while back, and I'm not looking to repeat the experience."

Her tone is tight. Controlled anger. It's not often that someone has the guts to go after her personally.

[serinusniger]

"Boy, what your life must be like," Dinah remarks, crouching behind a tree to peer around and figure out the situation.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Knowing that Dinah's out in a jungle being chased by guys with guns makes the statement all the more amusing. Barbara snorts and plays along.

"Tell me about it," she grouses. "I'm supposed to have the cushy desk job. And now I've got someone squeezing me through you."

The watches the signs on the highway and slows down slightly as the rain picks up.

"We'll have to continue this later, Dinah. I've gotta run."

[serinusniger]

Against the green backdrop of the undergrowth, Dinah catches sight of that red bodysuit and long blonde braid of the Brit that attacked her in the weapons compound. She needs to get stealthy again.

"Me too," she says quietly.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Oracle out."

A small tone sounds in the car. Barbara turns on her hazard lights and stops under an overpass. She can't drive and hack at once, and she's running out of time.

She pulls off the headset and sets it on the dash. Dinah can handle herself for half an hour or so.

"This guy is good," Babs mutters as she looks at her screen. They've already backtraced through 70% of her hijacked systems. Another couple of minutes and they'll be able to pinpoint the clock tower. And even if she isn't there, it's loss would be catastrophic.

Her fingers fly over the keyboard as she triggers a database dump and then sends her systems into emergency shutdown. Her backup command center automatically comes online, but it has nowhere near the processing power, and Oracle's electronic eyes grow suddenly dim.

That's that, but she needs more time. A couple of quick commands is all it takes to reroute her signal through yet another data center. She hopes it's enough.