Rifts - DMH - Black Hat vs White Hat - Dane

[jawildey]

Dane looks up from the terminal. “Did this Burger guy strike you as someone capable of pulling off a sophisticated hack like this?” He glances back at the screen. “I don’t think I’m going to recover much data, except for one small piece. Not much, but enough to identify one file and a scrap of its contents. It looks like some kind of wellness check on a vagrant who’d been scaring people around town. The only name I could pull out of it was Dustin.” He pauses, thinking it through. “It’s a long shot, but I suppose it could be related.”

[Chaser1]

Dane looks up from the terminal. “Did this Burger guy strike you as someone capable of pulling off a sophisticated hack like this?” He glances back at the screen. “I don’t think I’m going to recover much data, except for one small piece. Not much, but enough to identify one file and a scrap of its contents. It looks like some kind of wellness check on a vagrant who’d been scaring people around town. The only name I could pull out of it was Dustin.” He pauses, thinking it through. “It’s a long shot, but I suppose it could be related.”

"No, the guy was good at troubleshooting glitches and we had him help setup hardware. He was part time." Mosley adds as the sheriff wakes back up and peers around to see if he missed anything, then just pulls his hat over his eyes. Mosley thinks for a second, "Yeah, several months back, some kids were throwing rocks at this old man. All of a sudden, he started catching the rocks, without looking at them. It was the talk through the station for a few days. The patrolmen found the old man covered in cuts and bumps from rocks. They let him go and the kids were arrested for vandalism and criminal mischief. It's odd that that seems so important to steal. I'm sure there were more details in the report. Our local d-bee detector found no anomalies with the man, so there was no reason to keep him. He wasn't a d-bee."

Mosley glances at the server rack, "We could always review the footage from last night and when Burger was last in the server room. That is, if you guys find it relevant."

[jawildey]

"Couldn't hurt. What's the guy's first name?" While he talks, Dane pulls out his tablet again to search for more information about this Burger character—associates, criminal records, anything that might help the officers track him down. The tablet's been less responsive lately, but it's worth a try. "As for D-Bees, I don't know a lot about them, but it seems possible one could get in here through less than typical means. But if they could do that, why go through all the trouble with the wireless card to begin with?" He pauses, fingers moving over the screen. "Besides, Dustin was just one small piece of information I recovered from gigabytes of erased data. It may not mean anything."

Another thought hits him as he types. "Have you sent somebody around to the alley to see if there's any evidence to be recovered? Tire tracks, cigarettes, anything?"

[Chaser1]

"Couldn't hurt. What's the guy's first name?" While he talks, Dane pulls out his tablet again to search for more information about this Burger character, such as associates, criminal records, anything that might help the officers track him down. The tablet's been less responsive lately, but it's worth a try.

"John. If that's even his real name, but all of his documents were in order when he was hired." Mosley replies as Dane does a search, yet finds nothing on the man. Nothing...

"As for D-Bees, I don't know a lot about them, but it seems possible one could get in here through less than typical means. But if they could do that, why go through all the trouble with the wireless card to begin with?" He pauses, fingers moving over the screen. "Besides, Dustin was just one small piece of information I recovered from gigabytes of erased data. It may not mean anything."

Dane's dad nods in agreement, then yawns, "You guys care if I go make some coffee?"

Mosley shakes his head, "Nah, would you bring me some too?" George stands up, pops his back and hobbles out of the server room.

The sheriff promptly puts his hat properly back on, "Wait for me!" Desperate for something else to do.

Another thought hits Dane as he types. "Have you sent somebody around to the alley to see if there's any evidence to be recovered? Tire tracks, cigarettes, anything?"

"No," Mosley replies as he flips up a keyboard/monitor combination that he slid out of the server rack, "I'm surprised no one has, actually." He eventually pulls up footage of last night, around 00:30:00. As Dane is still trying to find anymore information, Mosley shrieks in excitement, "BINGO! You were right. The alley! Check this out!"

As Dane watches the video replay. What looks like an APC or Humvee/Jeep crossbreed pulls up with no headlights on. It sits for approximately ten minutes, then pulls away. The most interesting part is that the vehicle has no driver or passengers and has a rear mounted swivel cannon of some sort.

[jawildey]

"Yep, that's our hacker. Unfortunately, he's either invisible, or that vehicle is being driven remotely, so we still have no idea who we're dealing with." Dane leans closer to the monitor, scanning the vehicle for distinguishing marks or any clues about where it's been or who it belongs to. He pays special attention to the mount on the back. "Can you freeze it?" he asks Mosley, then snaps a photo with his tablet to run an image search. OOC: I'm making an assumption that the tablet is at least as sophisticated as a modern day cell phone.

"I doubt that thing is just sitting around somewhere, but you might want your officers to keep an eye out for it. And keep in mind, anything you broadcast over the radio could be intercepted. Putting that description out over open air might tell the hacker we found a lead." Dane gives Mosley a pointed look. "Let's not do their counterintelligence work for them."

[Chaser1]

"Yep, that's our hacker. Unfortunately, he's either invisible, or that vehicle is being driven remotely, so we still have no idea who we're dealing with." Dane leans closer to the monitor, scanning the vehicle for distinguishing marks or any clues about where it's been or who it belongs to. He pays special attention to the mount on the back. "Can you freeze it?" he asks Mosley, then snaps a photo with his tablet to run an image search. The results return, showing multiple models of advanced jeeps and Humvees. This Humvee is camouflaged in green and tan hues, with solar panels on the roof and Dane swears he can see something behind the front grill. It could be another weapon. The cannon on the back looks quite advanced, nothing like Dane's ever seen, yet... Dane hasn't seen many top mounted cannons before.

Hummer.jpg (87.95 KiB) Viewed 28481 times

As he scans through the results, he spots one particular image tied to a news report in the Ishpeming Times. A local gang war had broken out between members of the Chrome Initiative gang and the dwindling Blue Angels. Fighting on the side of the Angels is a Humvee taking random shots and is the spitting image of the one in Dane's snapshot. Once again, it has no driver or passengers.

"I doubt that thing is just sitting around somewhere, but you might want your officers to keep an eye out for it. And keep in mind, anything you broadcast over the radio could be intercepted. Putting that description out over open air might tell the hacker we found a lead." Dane gives Mosley a pointed look. "Let's not do their counterintelligence work for them."

"Gotcha!" He goes to leave but stops short of closing the door, exclaiming, "Sorry guys, we don't allow food or drinks in there."

"Well, he needs his coffee and I'm sure he wants a snack before lunch." Dane hears his dad argue.

"And the answer is NO. He can wait or take a break." The door shuts and proves that it's fairly soundproof.

[jawildey]

His mind is too focused to feel the hunger yet, but he knows he'll need a break soon—if for nothing else than to let everything he's found process. Right now, though, there's a lead, and Dane has never been good at walking away from one of those. "All right," he murmurs to the tablet. "Let's see what we can find out about these two gangs and what either of them has to do with Smith Falls."

He starts pulling threads—Chrome Initiative, Blue Angels, cross-referencing both against Smith Falls and the name John Burger. Probably an alias, but aliases can leave traces too if you know where to look. .oO A gang vehicle, no driver, no plates, operating in two different towns. That's not random muscle. Someone with resources is calling those shots. Oo. He makes a mental note to ask Mosley for a photo of Burger. If the face matches anything in any gang related articles, that would answer a lot.

[Chaser1]

Dane's mind is too focused to feel the hunger yet, but he knows he'll need a break soon; if for nothing else than to let everything he's found process. Right now, though, there's a lead, and Dane has never been good at walking away from one of those. "All right," he murmurs to the tablet. "Let's see what we can find out about these two gangs and what either of them has to do with Smith Falls."

He starts pulling threads: Chrome Initiative, Blue Angels, cross-referencing both against Smith Falls and the name John Burger. Probably an alias, but aliases can leave traces too if you know where to look. oO(A gang vehicle, no driver, no plates, operating in two different towns. That's not random muscle. Someone with resources is calling those shots)Oo He makes a mental note to ask Mosley for a photo of Burger. If the face matches anything in any gang related articles, that would answer a lot.

Mosley, upon walking in and hearing Dane's inquiry, heads back out, "Gotcha!" with his usual compliance reply.

Results begin populating with the most relevant findings:
"Chrome Initiative, better known as 'The Chrome,' are an ever expanding gang who've supposedly expanded their influence into most major cities in and around the Coalition States. They've been involved in active violent conflicts against the multiple gangs, such as the Blue Angels, Red Devils, Wildcats, Banditos and Pecos Empire, as well as political factions, such as Coalition States, Tolkeen, Federation of Magic, and multiple others. Originating from Ishpeming, Northern Gun's central hub, with the absence their former leader, Gruber Chekolovski, the Chrome's leadership has been rumored to have been replaced by a man only known as 'Ripper.'

"In the recent months, Chrome activity has slowed down as their operations seemed to have moved southwest of Coalition territories. No notable members have been identified as most would rather die in combat than be captured."

"The Blue Angels is a gang formed in Ishpeming, Northern Gun's central hub, by a former battalion commander of the Tolkeen militia, known as Captain Biltonman. He'd established the gang as a solution to the growing homeless problem in the region, employing orphans to commit petty crime as well as black market smuggling. During their brief conflicts with the Chrome gang, their numbers were thinned to under two dozen members.

"Notable members of the Chrome are Capt. Biltonman, Jenna Page, Bruce WolfStein, Warren Watts, Luccas Bloomfield, NG Militia Sgt. Alec Dallas (MIA), Nick Caige, Mavis Case (KIA) and Russel Case (KIA), many of whom are presumed dead or missing. Reports show that multiple DoA bounties are active on each and every member of the gang."

One picture exists of Capt. Biltonman:

Biltonman.jpg (54.77 KiB) Viewed 28473 times

One photo exists of Jenna Page:

Jenna Page.jpg (40.67 KiB) Viewed 28472 times

One photo exists of Luccas Bloomfield:

Luccas Bloomfield.jpg (14.8 KiB) Viewed 28471 times

"John Burger: there are no conclusive results other than information on a small child, of the same name, in Whykin. Another result shows an elderly man, living in Fort El Dorado, as a retired CS veteran."

Mosley returns with the picture. Burger is an ordinary looking, clean shaven, dark haired individual with an intense blue-eyed gaze. Of the pictures available from both gangs, none match his.

Burger.jpg (39.04 KiB) Viewed 28465 times

[jawildey]

For kicks, Dane runs Burger's picture through the search engine as well.

[Chaser1]

For kicks, Dane runs Burger's picture through the search engine as well. Only one hit returns of someone who closely resembles Burger. A man, from the Barony of Hope in the Rocky Mountains, who's a technician and electrician for hire, who's on multiple local dating sites and a fan of the late night party scene. The exact same picture is used across all of his dating profiles. His name is Stanley Morris.

As Mosley rubbernecks, his gasps alerts Dane to his presence, "How... How did you find all that?" He points at the tablet, "Where can I get one of those?"