Summary:Tigra's tracked Gretchen Jacobs and called in support to rescue her. It probably doesn't go as planned. Log Info:Storyteller: Keiko Kurita |
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Not long ago, Gretchen Jacobs went missing and a certain Greer Nelson, Tigra of the Avengers, decided to investigate. She'd gathered a lot of information that she'd shared with her Avenger teammates, who in turn, have shared with others.
The trail has been hard to follow, but it ends up here - some shipping containers converted to offices along the Hudson River Greenway. The place is owned by Denim Crows, a notorious street gang with links to the Columbian cartel El Clan del Golfo. Which means … this place is likely well guarded and the Crows well armed.
The sun has just set, the shadows are lengthening.
The containers themselves have some interesting graffiti. The Bats and the WAND agents might recognise them.
The second container come office has three people at the entrance - Denim Crows if the clothing and tattooes are to be believed. The only visible weaponry that can be seen are sub machine guns but those gathered, know that's not likely to be it.
Inside, the count is likely another four maybe five. And they can be sure that there's at least two children inside.
There are some lines that are particular heinous for villains to cross, and a lot of them involve children. As the shadows lengthen, they hide Tigra, and her almost feral, very toothy grin as she contemplates things to do to these…people who willingly crossed that line. She stalks the area, looking for guards at the perimeter. "Seeing thugs," she murmurs softly into her comms, otherwise silent in her movements. Her head tilts, tring to catch a stray breeze and any scents it brings her. "Trying to sniff out what surprises they have. Because you know they will." Claws extend and retract repeatedly.
Ian is, as is usual for him, heavily armed. No powers to speak of, he makes up for it in practical firepower. He has two sidearms, a sniper rifle, an automatic rifle, and two grenades. There are knives in hidden places about him. Staying close to Sarah, he seems to be functioning as an efficient agent. "Grenades solve most surprises." He remarks in a Russian accent.
Koa Turner is one of the agents that has been on this for a bit, and was quite pleased, really, when the news came down that there was an actionable tactical target. The fact that they had an Avenger along just sweetens the deal a bit and makes his life easier.
Moving through the container with a mystic shield anchored on his right fist and his service sidearm glowing green in the other hand the WAND artifact specialist does wish that his particular abilities came with fewer special effects at the moment. Emerald green is not a color that blends real well in a container yard.
"This is Agent Turner. I've got eyes on the office. In position for overwatch." Koa crouches down at the corner of some cover.
The fact of the matter is that Ian is a lot better for overwatch and Koa expects to be moving in closer at some point in the near future.
The rest of the agents should be checking in shortly and Koa takes aim, waiting for the signal to kick things off.
Unlike a few nights ago, when she had responded to the call directly from home, this time Agent Sarah Black had time to prepare. So instead of civilian clothes, she's in black-on-black SHIELD tactical uniform, with the WAND insignia patch on the shoulder. Even, and those who've worked with her before will know it to be atypical for her, down to the sidearm holstered at her hip.
"Tigra, Black. Roger that," Sarah replies over comms. "Whataver we do, let's not let this turn into a hostage situation. Priority is getting the kids out. Bagging these bastards comes second."
She then nods to Ian, giving him a tight grin before speaking again. "Turner, Black. Acknowledged. Going stealth myself. Over." And with that, Sarah casts a cloaking glamour over herself, rendering her form invisible to most forms of sight.
Doug Ramsey is not here. He's at the Triskelion, seated at a computer, with a pair of dark glasses on, and slim gloves wired with electrodes. Between the glasses and the gloves, he's controlling a spherical, hovering drone. It's SHIELD kit, a multipurpose flying drone powered by an ARC generator. He programmed it. Right now, it's acting as an eye in the sky. He named it 'Apprentice'.
"All right ladies and gentlemen, let's keep it as neat as we can."
Ian nods to Koa about overwatch and he pulls out the sniper rifle. There are some subtle clicking sounds as he makes sure that everything is working fine. "You want me covering you from a vantage?" The short man whispers his question. He does glance to Tigra though, because nothing puts a damper on shooting people so well as an Avenger.
The night brings many scents for Tigra. The fetid water of the Hudson not the least of them. Oil and grease from cars and boats alike but also the scents of a half dozen if not more people - that aren't hers. Her people that is.
One of the scents is Gretchens, that's certain.
She can also hear the faint of children. Not one, three maybe?
The three at the door seem to be conferring. The quiet conversation being carried on the night air. The words "Nightfall" and "soon" float to at least Tigra's ears. The group splits up to start patrolling again. Two in one direction and the third in the opposite.
'Apprentice' has a good view of the area. He can see the three guards as they move. The heat signatures that it feeds back to Cypher show six bodies inside. Three of them small.
Tigra pauses, taking in the sounds, the smells. "There's at least six, maybe more," she reports in. Her tail flicks as she adds, "Sounds like three kids. May be more, but that's what I'm hearing. Definitely got Gretchen here, at least." She waits the guards take up their routes and tries to get in closer, unseen, for a look inside the converted offices if possible.
"Six inside," Analyst Ramsey radios, the drone moving to get a better look. "Three adults and three children." He continues, "Three guards outside are on the move, transmitting their positions to you now."
Koa nods to Ian. A vantage point with a sniper rifle is gonna be real helpful in a moment. He gives it another minute or so for Ian, Greer and Sarah to get where they need to be and then snaps the safety off on his weapon.
"Control, Turner, I see the patrol coming around again. Taking the shot soon as it's clear. Let me know if anything exceptional takes exception."
Because Nightfall has been nothing if not full of surprises.
"Here we go."
CRACK! A bolt of emerald energy, rather than a bullet, comes out of Koa's gun and strikes one of the guards in the chest, sending him tumbling down with a lot more force than that weapon would produce normally.
Agent Turner switches targets but by that point, he expects, the others will be in action.
Ian kneels down, to start, and pulls on some goggles that do a better job in the dark than his very human eyes. He aims the rifle out. He's a fairly young man, to have a job like this, and is nothing if not professional. He whispers something softly. Then PFFFF, the rifle goes off, aiming for another of the guards. And immediately, he's moving to another location. "Agent Ramsey, you can get readings from inside…I need position and a height. I can use that drone to line up a shot through the container."
"I'm watching your backs," Ramsey radios, from his sequestered spot in the Triskelion, "Speed is everything… and remember, we want at least one of them conscious for interrogation." The drone moves into position, and Ramsey's voice crackles over the comm, "Taking another scan now, relaying target locations to you."
Koa's bolt does indeed send the first man tumbling, but he's not out - not yet. It also puts the second man on notice and his weapon swings round to Koas location, opening up with a short controlled burst.
Trained. And well armed. Only to be taken low by Ians shot. Down, but not yet out, it seems.
The third guy immediately fades into the shadows. "We've got trouble." he calls, moving slowly towards the others. Tigra can hear and smell him moving, Doug can see him.
Inside the container, there's movement, Doug can easily relay the information from what he's seeing. Two of them are getting ready to exit - opening the door in three, two, one … they step out, spreading out and covering the area in what looks like a trained, expert move.
At the same time. Trouble erupts from another container. The other team has started their assault.
Given their preoccupation, the group might not see it. The slice in the night that seems to glow darker and wider. An opening through which four people appear. Two with tattooes on their heads and faces, and two with ink covering their torsos.
There's no hesitation from this group. They split up. One pair head - ink bearer and face tattooes - towards the Agents and the containers. In the air, a giant Eagle forms with strong talons and beak. On the group, a huge Tiger starts to prowl and hunt.
The tattooes on the other guys face start to glow and a feeling of dread starts to fill the air.
"Bloody hell," Sarah mutters. "Control, Black. Going for breach, and extraction if possible. Team, light these bastards up!" And then she's sprinting invisibly toward the door, hoping to slip in unseen, but ready to act if it's clear she's been detected.
You can fade into the shadows, but that doesn't help against someone who can see in the dark, smell you, or hear you, and Tigra smiles toothily once more, stalking the third man now. Silent she talls in behind him, moves up close to him. "Hi. I'm trouble." There's a brief tail flick and she lunges forward, hand whipping out, and then back, smacking his head up against the side of the container. "I don't know what those things are," she warns the others, "but they have no scents." Insert your own pun here.
"Black, Turner Rager. Keep your head down." Koa empties his weapon at the two armed men meaning to keep them down while Ian draws a better bead, but his magazine runs dry quickly and he reholsters it when something pricks at his senses.
The feed comes from Doug when the reality breach happens, target data coming in loud and clear.
"Control, Turner. I'm moving to intercept." Koa turns leaps upward with unnatural grace to get atop one of the containers and try to get a drop down on that tiger. Or failing that one of the magi. Whatever it takes to keep them away from the kids and the extraction area. He trusts Doug to tell him if he's about to get sucker punched. And the other agents and Avengers to do what has to be done to get the kids out.
|ROLL| Ian +rolls 1d20 for: 13
Ian makes some noise as he climbs to a higher ground, scaling a stack of smaller containers and then he flattens himself down. Giving himself a moment to see if he takes fire from here, he slides out the rifle slowly, then starts looking through the scope. He is using night vision to be able to potentially identify forms of the bad guys.
The drone maintains position. Even in the dark office, Doug feels the tension, as he waits for people to make their move.
Tigra's attack is good. The guy drops like a sack. That's … three down. The other two aren't getting up after Koa empties his magazine.
Ian has a good bead on the two that exit the container, he can get them both with one shot. He's going to have watch out, as is Cypher, that Eagle is diving. Talons outstretched as it screeches. It's going to hit 'Apprentice' and then the SHIELD agent who's sniping.
Sarah can go unseen. The Denim Crows and the Nightfall don't see her. There's a small problem of a tiger that's hunting and it's after her. She hears the growl, just before it pounces. Tigra can feel it as it brushes by her.
|ROLL| Ian +rolls 1d20 for: 18
Tigra pauses to check on the one she took out, making sure he's still alive. They want someone to question after all. Granted he's not as actually -conscious- as was asked for. She looks about to make her next move, just in time to feel the passage of the summoned tiger, and hears the growl as it moves to pounce. She answers with her own, throat growl and leaps at it in return, claws out and slashing, not holding back against what she believes isn't a living thing. Tigra lets loose her inner beast as she tries to take this one out.
Doug gives a quirky grin, because he's seen scarier. "Hostile incoming. I've got this. This one's inspired by a friend of mine I'm looking to headhunt for SHIELD, but doing it's going to fry the ARC reactor in the drone." With the flick of his hands, Apprentice bobs and weaves in the air, and Doug says, "I call this one 'Nigh Invulnerable While Ah'm Blastin' -" Then as the Eagle hits, he executes a line of code that overloads the Drone's onboard reactor, causing it to burst outward with a pulse of blue-white ARC energy. His monitor is filled with static, but he still has audio to the others.
"…Did it work? I'm blind over here—"
Ian is patient, calm, waiting for the shot to line up between the two heads. He can hear the eagle coming down, but he still waits. His patience is almost like a dare, a rush of jumping out of the way of a speeding train at the last moment. There is a crack in the air and the bullet flies through the barrel and makes two neat holes in the first head, pop pop, then one neat hole…and one messy hole in the next. Ian doesn't wait to even see the bodies fall before he rolls violently right off his perch and drops about 20 feet down. There's a 'gah' grunting sound of pain when he hits, but its in time to avoid the electric ball/eagle tangle so that it'll hit the metal container he was on instead. That should be pretty cool!
Sarah wheels, starting to cast an attack spell — but then she stops before committing it, as she sees Tigra taking on the beast that was about to attack her. "Owe you one," she mutters, as she returns to her original task — getting into the container/office, and portaling the kids to safety. Her concealment glamour still intact due to the Avenger's intervention, she heads on in, staying in a half-crouch as she moves.
Dougs tactic is sound. Overloading the ARC reactor causes the eagle to scream in pain and disappear to smoke. There's an agonised scream from the dark when it does. The tattoo bearer, they can be sure.
Tigra's inner beast is just what this takes. Her claws rend and shred. Glowing dark ichor leaks from the wounds. The fatal strike to the throat though - that causes the tiger to turn to smoke. Smoke that floats in one direction. Of course, Tigra might end up on the ground.
Sarah is able to get into the container. The kids are there, scared and frightened. Three of them, amongst them Gretchen. She can get them to safety without issue.
Now. Where are the Nightfall?
Cats usually land on their feet. That usually requires they have enough warning and time, though. In this case, having a tiger disappear from under her casues Tigra to drop onto the ground with a soft thud, and soft grunt of pain. She's sporting some slashes from the tiger, but clearly gave more than she got. She stands and wipes…something from her chin, blood or ichor she doesn't know, and tries to follow the smoke, eyes glittering in the night.
Ian shoulders the sniper rifle and pulls out the automatic. He presses himself against the wall, holding onto some cover while he looks around. "Agent Ramsey, that worked. You got more eyes coming? Do I need to recover the drone?"
"Please recover the drone." Doug says. "I'm borrowing a US DoD satellite right now that's in a good position." He… casually does exactly that, and murmurs, "Not as good as the drone, though, but we'll have to make due won't we." He whistles as he works.
Inside the container, Sarah acts quickly, and according to plan. There's a room ready on the other end for her to portal to, in a sublevel of the Triskelion — one of the secure-but-comfortable holding cells, of the sort used for individuals who've manifested potentially dangerous powers but not quite learned to control them yet. Why there, and not, say, straight to the infirmary?
Because she's seen the reports, required reading during her MI-13 training, of 'rescued' people suddenly turning into tentacle monsters and trying to eat their rescuers' faces.
"Control, Black. Packages secure. Returning to scene." And as soon as she's portaled back out of the room, WAND personnel can reactivate the cell's wards.
As the others watch, they see the portal open again and the four Nightfall fall through it. The two covered with tattooes on their torso's don't look well and one of the others has neon pink webbing covering his head.
It's all over bar the paperwork. Agent Turner will handle that for SHIELD, right? Tigra, unfortunately, will have to do that for The Avengers.
There's work required to secure the area and the Denim Crows they've taken out and on the other side of the compound are the Bats and Spiders - dealing with the kids that they've found.
Now, some real work can begin.
"All right everybody, good work. Bring it on home. Forensics and Security teams are being deployed." Doug says. "The area looks secure. Donuts on me." He sits back, satisfied with a job well done.
And with everything well in hand, Sarah seeks out Tigra — not that the tall cat-woman is hard to find unless she's trying to be — and walks up to her, hand extended, looking up at the Avenger with a smile. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there. That could have gone badly for me, and definitely would have kept me from getting the kids out when I did."
In this instance, Tigra's not trying to remain unseen. She looks over as the agent approaches her, then smiles and takes the hand with a warm grip. "Hey, it's what we do. I'm sure you would've done the same for me," she says, sounding like she believes it. She looks over the aftermath briefly. "I'll let the Avengers know how this went down, and then we can compare notes afterwards. Good work out there," she says, to Sarah, and a glance around to include the others.