Summary:Backdated Scene 03-25-2020: Hank reports back to Augmenta & Posse after the disastrous events at the Kennel. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Hank is not a happy man. Not even a smidge. Called for help…he and Hisako went to Domino's aid only to end up embroiled in a horror show. And Domino was lost in the process. Still a bloody mess, Hank got Hisako back to base, limping with fatigue and got her back to quarters and tucked in…he'll sedate her if he must. Regardless, first he reports to Roni, then he has to tell Ava. Diya and Lexi - he made plans to meet with them shortly, but first things first, he has to report back. And yes, he's consumed by guilt for having lost a team member. Irrational? Maybe.
So it is that a battered, bloody, and altogether weary Hank McCoy finds Roni - wherever she might be. He takes out a small SD card and hands it over to her. His condition is…memorable, like 'World War III Survivor' memorable. "Veronica…there's a problem." He starts.
On the SD card is a full report, but he's sure she'll want it right from the mouth of the Beast.
Of course there's no /way/ Ava is not going to be informed about Hank and Hisako's condition when they arrive. Hell, a guard or two might just accompany the grim Doctor McCoy on his appointed rounds.
Ava wasn't the only one informed of Hank's return, and his state. And where is Veronica when he comes to find her? Not in her office. No. She is in the Proving Grounds, already running tech checks on gear. She has the Bearcat open and being loaded, while she runs through each palette of equipment being loaded. "Tony! Don't load that set of drillipedes yet; they haven't been checked and cleared for action. This palette is almost ready." The upgraded Augmenta Mk2 armor is standing nearby, open and ready to accept its passenger.
When Hank finally approaches, Veronica turns and looks him over in person, then holds out her hand. "Give me that." she offers; it's a tad shorter-tempered response than her norm. "Give me the highlights, Hank. Is any of that your injuries? How many are hurt? And where are we needed?" Not where were you; she knows that, she had the techs pull up his location data as soon as he stumbled in such a mess.
First, Roni will patch Beast back up. Then? Then she is pretty sure Ava is going to be mobilizing to go into the field, just a half-dozen hours after being cleared for light full-body training sessions.
And it seems Roni's newest intern is going to need hazard pay and psychological counseling. Banner day at RESCUE, folks!
"Mm? Oh…some." Of the blood. "I'll be fine." No, he doesn't really expect that to be an acceptable answer to Roni, but he really is not worried about himself. His healing factor is such that his wounds are already scabbed over, and on the mend. One bandaged, the bandage wrapping his thigh stained rusty. "Highlights—" A pause, and then he nods. "Hisako received a call from Neena seeking aid. I was on hand and together we went to the site in the disaster zone where we met up with her and two mutants I know, Hunter and Lexi. They'd tracked, by means not known to me, though in Hunter's case I'm going to go with by scent - an illegal hidden site where the altered hounds we encountered were being manufactured and trained." Grimly. "And cybered."
His eyes dull, no shine at all to them. "Apparently the base inside was…nightmarish. Combat ensued, Lexi and I dealt with an APC full of mercs, and one of the hounds and a cyborg. The rest attacked and destroyed the base, including a total of forty two more hounds, some pups. Numerous mercs, one of whom has been captured and is willing to talk. During the fight a self-destruct and a satchel charge both were detonated, and the base destroyed with Domino inside." A nod. "End of highlights."
Veronica points imperiously towards a stack of crates nearby. "Sit. Now. You are getting an examination." This is followed by her fingertips flying over … seemingly nothing. And a text message is sent to Ava, summoning her to the hangar beneath the Bearcat's launching pad.
That done, Veronica rolls over and starts examining Hank from the soes of his furry feet all the way up to his scalp, documenting every injury and its current state in detail. "You need a shower, and probably some fast-dissolve tissue sealant." she comments, finally, as she has her tablet scan the card, and then load the data before returning it. "Now. Let's go over your data, and I recommend you brace yourself. Ava is on her way."
Neena was lost in a gigantic explosion. And Veronica is riding the ragged edge of her control where that is concerned. Whatever her issues with Domino, the albino woman has been made a part of RESCUE. That makes her one of Roni's people. Roni does not tolerate people murdering her employees. Sure, the authorities should be involved. But it happened in the DZ, and she's betting they will go hands-off.
RESCUE will not. Even if Roni has to dive into her personal piggy bank and start hiring mercenaries. But first she will get Hank patched up.
Not being an utter moron, Hank moves as directed. In truth his injuries are healing nicely, and they're consistent with the ones he sustained the last time he fought these hounds. So there's that. The details on the card are very much in accord with what he said, the picture they paint grim as hell.
Yes. Hazard Pay. Psych counseling. "Ah, good." Hank says, he looks Roni in the eyes. "I'd appreciate if I could be the one to inform her, Veronica. I…feel it should come from me."
Because: Guilt.
A fairly ragged sigh. "I'll shower, clean up, gel, and report back when done so we can end this…nightmare." His voice is a low growl, and his eyes flare a little brighter, more alive, and…more dangerous.
Among the REACT troops jogging by with supplies for the Bearcat, Ava's blue and orange suit makes itself known not by its appearance but by the brisk and commanding stride with which it's devouring the hallway to hangar 1. The Proving Grounds are her space, REACT is her department, and right now her team is mobilizing for an unknown mission.
Two sharp and bright green eyes find the pair by a stack of crates and Ava heads over, coming from an angle within Roni's view and with her helmet folded back from her face. Only the faintest stubble of white has grown back on her head - the cyborg is essentially still bald.
Veronica finishes her evaluation of the data and Hank's report just as she sees Ava approaching. She taps the controls on her tablet and throws a link to all of this to Ava's account, right as the woman is walking up.
"Ava, Hank needs to report in. I think you should hear his report directly, yourself. When you're done, I'll be going over the medical supplies being loaded." And then Veronica turns and wheels away. She is going to roll over the landmine of Ava's relationship with Neena as few times as possible right now. She's still wearing egg foo yung from the last time.
Hank waits quietly while Roni works, and then nods his thanks to her when she hands the reporting in off to him. Softly, but very sincerely. "Thank you." And then Ava is there, and he looks up, yellow eyes guilty. Oh, that's going to augur ill. And of course there's the files that just got sent to her account from Doc Kelsey. "Hello Posse." Posse, not Ava. Another sign…though Hank /is/ a stickler for Chain of Command, and she IS in uniform, and there ARE other personnel around. "Short and bitter version - Neena called for help, Hisako and I went to her aid, there was a disastrous fight, a lot of casualties and Neena was in a hidden facility that got destroyed. REACT is gearing up to investigate further. Her badge is offline, last broadcast ending at the time of the explosions that took out the facility."
Yes. He feels PERSONALLY responsible for the Hellbino's sorry state. It is stupid, irrational, and utterly Hank.
It only takes a moment for Ava's practiced gaze to sweep the towering scientist as she approaches. Even without the benefit of Roni's examination, seeing the sturdy, quick-healing Beast wounded is a statement on its own. "Roger," she affirms to Dr. Kelsey before allowing the woman to roll away. Her green stare turns to Hank, cool and attentive with a seriousness due his condition.
A twitch mars the woman's features for a moment, but not enough to break her focused composure. "What were you investigating, Hank? Who were the other casualties?" she asks, short and sweet.
"Hounds. Casualties included human mercs, forty-two hounds - four of which were cybered, one human cyborg, one mutant town native…and possibly Neena. One prisoner was taken, a mercenary captured by Hisako who surrendered and promised to cooperate." Hank sighs very softly. "I was dealing with an APC with two mercs and a cyborg merc, as well as the missing fourth hound, a large male. I and an associate of mine from Mutant Town were outside the base, we missed much of the fight inside, but…I was the ranking member of RESCUE onsite." Making him responsible.
He continues. "Two separate explosions, one from a satchel charge, and one from a larger self-destruct wrecked the place, cratering it."
"What I'm hearing is /our/ only casualties are Neena and the native? 'Casualties' aren't the ones trying to kill you," the chief of security summarizes brusquely. The fact that over fifty threats were beaten by Hank's half-dozen doesn't manage to deter her. "How hot was that area when you left? And what hardware were the humans loaded with that might still operate?"
"Oh, apologies, I'm a mutant vigilante, not a proper soldier…thank you for clarifying." Hank is sincere, he wants to say things in the right way! "So, yes…one confirmed casualty, one possible." Domino. "The threat there appears to have been neutralized, I wasn't present for the fighting but I could hear a great deal of weapons fire…small arms, one or possibly two heavy weapons, one sounded like an SMG, but I cannot be sure, I was some distance away. From what I understand only our people, minus Neena, the merc who surrendered, and a kid who I know nothing about were the only ones to exit the base before it was destroyed."
"And the APC and cyborgs? What were they like?" Ava continues, guiding Hank's debrief from point to point as she pulls a pocket notebook from a pouch and begins taking notes.
Hank closes his eyes a moment, remembering. "Two males, approximately five nine and five eleven, five nine approximately seventy-nine kilos, five eleven closer to eighty-two. Five nine had olive skin, possibly of Greek derivation, with hazel eyes, and black hair. Five eleven was Caucasian, blonde hair, moustache, brown eyes. Both were in urban camouflage fatigues. Worn were what appeared to be a tac harness, ceramic inserts in body armor. Arms included a IMI Desert Eagle, fifty-cal, an USAS-12 Assault Shotgun with 50 round drum, two frag and two smoke grenades, both had k-bar commando knives, and five nine had a Sig-Sauer in reserve, tucked in the back of his belt. Also, five-eleven had a 10 centimeter scar on his right cheek consistent with shrapnel damage. The cyborg had an arm mounted SMG, belt fed ammo pack on his back. One arm ended in three digit claw, both legs were similarly clawed gripping appendages. Unknown strength. He had a targetting system built into a prosthetic eye."
And that was all from memory.
Ava's hand scribbles furiously as it tries to keep up with the eidetic mutant and the woman glances blankly between her pad and Hank when she flips to a second page and he /keeps talking/.
"Shhhhhhhhhit," she deadpans when it's all over. "Remind me to put you on /all/ of the PMCS work later. That is a serious load… any idea who the heck you exchanged love letters with at muzzle velocity?"
"Unfortunately, no, though there is one merc in custody who we could ask, he did say he didn't know much, however. As to the load out - I think it was built with the hounds in mind, the party in the APC had the hound in the back, possibly a capture and return mission."
He looks a little blank at the acronym, and then nods. "Of course, anything I can do to help."
Hank waits, and if there's no more questions he looks towards Roni a moment, then back to Ava. "I need to get cleaned up and changed, and check on Hisako…I also have to reach out to the people from Mutant Town who were assisting, Hunter and Whiplash, but I would like to come with on the check out, unless you feel it is better for me to stay in reserve." After all, REACT is /Ava's/ team, and as has been established - Hank is a stickler for Chain of Command.
It is also clear he wants to be there. Of course…that depends largely on Hisako's condition too. So many directions pulling at him!
Ava meets the towering scientist's gaze. His determination is a look she's seen before and one the cyborg knows how to interpret. It's a look she's had plenty of times herself.
"How healthy are you, Hank? Be honest. Search and Rescue is long, slow, and boring."
Hank, to his credit, actually does think it over, and then his shoulders slump. "I'm not really useful there, you'll have Augmenta and others just as capable, or more so." He looks pathetically miserable and guilty, but then nods. "I will stand down and see to Hisako." He grips the cyborg's fleshy shoulder should she permit it. "Please…keep me informed? And…apologies." For losing Domino in an op. Butterfingers.
For better or for worse there's no flesh for the mutant doctor to grasp. Fully armored up, the cyborg is all hardened metal from the neck down. Despite the circumstance Ava nods in what… might almost be approval to Hank and regards him sympathetically. "We've got plenty of staff who can look after Hisako. Focus on yourself; the best thing you can do right now is rest and heal as fast you can. We won't leave her behind, whether she's whole or in pieces."
As straight-laced as she delivers the line, Posse realizes that might have been a little much and adds, with a dry grin, "You two like playing in collapsing buildings too much. If I find her with another bottle a' Jack I'll make sure she saves you half."
Well, even so, he doesn't grip the cybered limb…armored or not, it strikes him as impersonal, subconsciously. Hank nods. "But she's my friend and my former student, Posse." And really, for him, that's just the whole argument. Nothing more needs be said. He offers a brave attempt at a smile, not entirely a failure. "As to me, I'm beat up, but I'll be fine in a few hours. I've recovered from a broken femur in four days." Okay…that's a bit fast, not instant by any means, but that would take weeks or months for most people.
And then the smile dies. "Occupational hazard." He sort of kinda quips, it is a little too close to home at the moment. "Right. Half Jacked, we'll be like a playing card, she even has the eye for it."
Hank turns then, looking towards Veronica. "Keep an eye on her, we've been having a lot of hard knocks lately, just…I worry. Roni is a friend too, you know?" Trusting in the Cyborg to do what is needed, he limps off towards Veronica. "I'm going to go clean up and stay here with Hisako, I'll be on comms if you need anything."