Wingblade is a whisper and a glint of reflected streetlight in the night as she circles the warehouse once while listening for voices within, identifying targets. Her talons itch inside her forearms, and her mouth gets a coppery tang as her blood rises in anticipation of battle.
Fusion nods at Slade. "If there's no good place for me to go, I'll come back to this point and keep a lookout."
She flies away from the group to the back of the building, keeping an eye out for anyone who might spot her. She looks for windows on an upper floor that she can look into and see if anyone is inside. If she sees no one in a given room, she'll melt through the wall and go inside.
If she can find no safe access she returns.
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Moving with stealth, Haunt and Blademaster infiltrate the building, while Fusion finds an empty office on the upper (seventh) floor.
Fredericks and his bodyguard take the elevator up to the sixth floor, entering an area of cubicles. "Keep your eyes open, Rogers."
He turns on a terminal and attaches a thumbdrive.
The office Fusion finds seems to be that of an executive. The office is sparse, but what dressing there is seems Egyptian. There are Egyptian masks and palm fronds on the wall. The actual furnishings are quite modern, with a computer terminal built into the desk and an overhead digital projector pointed towards the wall opposite the desk.
In the warehouse, a dozen men greet the truck and begin offloading the weapons, placing them on racks then attaching them with massive cables to a huge, humming generator. Of the dozen men, two are from the crew Quicky worked with in DC loading crates.
Into his com "Shayera, they are charging the weapons, we better hit them now before they work. You move in when ready, I can catch up quickly enough. "
and he will wait till she attacks to join in.
With a snap of her wings, Shayera changes direction and smashes through an upper window of the warehouse. Her bladed feathers splay outward as she moves across the giant cables connected to the generator, trying to sever their connection to the weapons.
Out of curiosity, Fusion takes note of whatever gods the masks are of (eagle-head, cat-head, etc.) and then, careful to be sure her usual energy aura is inactive, jiggles the computer terminal's mouse to see if the machine is on.
Unless he sees a number of other vehicles around, Quicky will pick up the truck and move it about a mile away, then he will go into the building and announce "Ok, we're with PILOT. Come along quietly and you won't be harmed. You have some questions to answer. "
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Blademaster
You can see the screen, it seems to be running a program seeking and deleting files from the server.
Wingblade
Your blades slice cleanly through the cable, sparks flying as you do so. Luckily as you fly you're not grounded, so the charge coursing into you is minimal.
Toughness Not an issue.
Fusion
There is an eagle head and a crocodile head.
As you move the mouse, the projector hums to life and a series of images appear on the wall.... news feeds from local channels in NYC and DC and surrounding areas, covering a background which seems to be a scan of some ancient Egyptian painting of a young princess (with seven news feeds covering most of her-you could minimize or close them to get a better look.)
Quicky and Wingblade
The men are startled by the sparking cables and sudden appearance of Quicky demanding their surrender. Only two of them (guess which ones Quicky) snap into action, while the others look more likely to surrended. Those two grab two of the tridents off the racks.
"Ok, harming is back on the table. " and he will rush up and give a trident wielder a love tap.
toughness save DC 30 (he will pull his punch if necessary to avoid making a smear of the guy).
"Great," Wingblade says as she advances toward one of the workers with a trident. Her talons extend from her clenched fists and she swipes at the one Quicky is not attacking.
Interesting choice of presentation for a business, Fusion muses to herself as she takes a closer look at the princess and scans the news feeds, hoping to see the connection between the two.
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With a few swift motions, the team of Quicky and Wingblade turn scant resistance to no resistance. The other men in the warehouse put their hands up as the two weapon grabbers fall.
Fusion identifies the news feeds as channels covering "local" stories about metahumans, financial reports, and congressional watch.
As she examines the princess closer, she notes a striking resemblance to one Shayera Kinney, aka Wingblade.
Blademaster can't let valuable information be destroyed. He signals Haunt to move in and does so himself, aiming to knock out "Rogers" while Haunt goes for Fredericks.
If that takes the man down, Slade moves to slap Fredericks as well.
The Haunt takes Blademaster's lead and wisps behind Fredericks ready to lay his ghostly hand on the man.
Into his com "Slade, We've got this place mopped up. Resistance was minimal. I can contact authorities to pick them up, unless you want us to do something else. "
If there is a printer hooked up to the computer in the same room, Fusion will hit control-P, hopefully printing the display that is being projected.
When it seems like all the fights been taken out of the warehouse workers, Shayera looks disappointed. She stalks around the men, talons still jutting from her knuckles and wings splayed out promising death by evisceration for anyone foolish enough to try something.
When it's apparent the men are sufficiently cowed, she concentrates on her senses, pushing aside the stink of fear and pooled blood to get an idea of anything else that may be lurking inside the warehouse.
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Rogers Toughness
Fredericks Toughness
Fredericks Fortitude
Rogers drops like a sack, but Fredericks, it seems is made of sterner stuff. The one-two hits from Blademaster and Haunt are enough, however, to put him off his game, and he is stunned, allowing you to get off another round before he can respond.
Fusion sees a printer, and manages to print off some copies.
As Quicky rounds up the men, Wingblade sniffs around without much success at finding anything else unusual. She does smell more than a hint of seasalt and ocean water.
Slade tries again.
"There's a good boy. Sleep tight."
Slade moves over and tries to stop the virus from destroying all the information.
The Haunt carefully shorts out any obvious surveillance cameras in the office before making himself solid.
"That was quick and easy. Let's see what they've got to hide."
He searches the two incapacitated men, the room and the computer for anything incriminating. Gray works quickly, knowing that the two men could wake up at any time, but favors accuracy.
Shayera pauses in her pacing and retracts her talons. "This makes me wish we would have also gone after the other truck. Maybe one of these guys can tell us where it went." She looks around expectantly at the captives.
"Maybe we should just bring them in to be interrogated by experts. Let me go grab their car so I can carry them easily. " and he will run off, grab the truck and carry it back.
Fusion whispers over her comm. "What's going on guys? You've been quiet."
"Had to knock those two guys out. Seeing what I can get from the computer."
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Pulling the usb does not stop the program from running, but with lightning-fast keystroke, Slade is able to shut it down before it completes its work. Several dozen files remain on the list of files it was attempting to delete. Most of the files are transfer paperwork, invoices, and ledger entries.
A quick perusal indicates that the deleted files were regarding several shipments over the last few months, and several payments made by Gideon Enterprises.
Quicky and Wingblade get the crew loaded into the truck for transport.
Haunt finds that the men have little of consequence on them, wallets, cell phones, etc.; except Rogers has a high caliber semi-automatic pistol in a shoulder holster, and Fredericks has a two-headed Wakandan coin with one side scratched up badly.
Slade reads all the files and memorizes their contents, then pockets the USB.
"I've found something interesting myself. I'm going back outside."
Fusion carefully grabs the papers from the printers (Do not burn or melt, do not burn or melt, do not burn or melt), looks to be sure she left everything otherwise as she left it, and goes back outside.
"Looks like we have a new lead. Gideon Enterprises ring any bells?" he says into his communicator.
Once the crew is loaded, Wingblade says to Quicky, "Hang tight here, I'm going to check the basement. I smell seawater." Then she searches around trying to find a way to a lower level.
Haunt cautiously hands the coin, held gingerly between his thumb and index finger, over to Slade.
"Can you pocket this for me?"
The coin, if genuine, could cause Grayson physical harm in his phased state, though that wasn't his main concern. The coin and the name "Gideon" represented a fear he thought he had conquered long ago. A visible wave of despair slams into him. The Haunt doubles over, removes his gray cowl and takes deep gasps for air. All the color washes from his face and heavy beads start to roll down as he begins to panic.
"Holy sh*t holy sh*t holy sh*t I--"
He turns to look at Blademaster, with a bewildered and terrified look on his face. "Slade, I killed him. I killed him. With my own hands, I killed him. He can't be back. If he's back, I'm dead. Everyone around me is dead."
Grayson takes a few more seconds to breathe deeply and then puts on his cowl. His breathing, though not back to normal, steadies considerably.
"Slade, whatever these guys are planning, we have to stop them."
"Calm down, kid. Deep breaths. Even if it's the same guy who kidnapped you, which it very well could not be given how companies change hands, you're not a little boy any more."
"You dropped him as a scared teen. He's got nothing on you. We have your back."
Slade pats him on the shoulder.
"I have your back."
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Opening at HQ the next day:
The interrogations complete, you begin to puzzle together the information you have learned.
Brinedart Industries was manufacturing Atlantian-Based weapons, using
Hammerdown Trucking to ship both the parts and the completed weapons. An Atlantean offshoot race called the Squiln were in charge of assembly, their multiple tendrils being able to do the delicate work much more rapidly than humans. The Atlanteans provided muscle, hiring a select few men who knew how to keep quiet about what they were working on and who they were working for.
The weapons were being sold to Gideon Enterprise, a distant subsidiary of Wayne Vibranium Technologies.
The key players on this seem to be Fredericks, an Atlantean foot soldier, Arthur Brinedart a.k.a. Maxiseth, an Atlantean prince and enemy of its king, and possibly Thomas Elliot, a.k.a. Mystery Man, former C.E.O. of W.V.T. and presumed dead enemy of Hanut.
Also of note, Brinedart's main office seemed to have ancient Egyptian themes, and his computer had a background including an Egyptian portrait that looks remarkably similar to Wingblade.
Lastly, Haunt had found a two-headed coin, which you have been able to verify as belonging to Jamie Dent, a.k.a. Hydra, an old enemy of Mystery Man whose scarred face and even more scarred psyche has caused him to launch a one-man war- against himself- something only possible due to his ability to create duplicates.
Shayera looks at the printout and folds her arms. Her wings twitch a few times as she studies the image.
She glances up at Fusion. "So, what does this mean?" she asks with wide eyes. "Is this even real? Probably just someone with too much time on his hands." She quickly scoffs, shrugs, then heads over to raid Haunt's fridge.
When all the puzzle pieces have been laid out on the table, Shayera asks the question, "So, what next? Who do we go after first?"
Fusion shrugs. "I was hoping you could tell me. Even if you don't know, and as weird as it is, I wouldn't discount it. This was in Brinedart's offices--designed as a presentation--this isn't a funtime project, this is an indication someone or something that looks like you is a person of interest to our enemies, AND is sharing your face with other people. If we figure out why Brinedart is interested with you--or why you think you're tied to this ancient Egyptian whatsit--it might help us.
"Anyway, we need to turn this over to Slade, but I wanted you to see it before it ended up in our mission reports."
She pauses in her mission for junk food and throws up her hands. "Like I know! Ask Waller; maybe she sent my picture around for kicks. And I don't know who Brinedart is. But I'll gut him if he thinks he's going to marry me--"
She pauses, her mind catching up to her mouth. "I mean, well, whatever he's planning, we'll stop it." She shakes her head clear, shunting away whatever it was that had touched her consciousness.
"So what now? Do we track down all of Gideon Enterprises? Do we go all the way to Wayne? I suspect I need to punch someone, but I'm fuzzy on who. "
"I hear you, Quicky. Most of us are blast cannons and this appears to be a complex situation requiring pinpoint lasers. Most of our skills would work best after the Atlanteans start whatever war they appear to be trying to manufacture---but the trick is, it would be a Very Bad Thing if they start a war and we need to stop that."
She folds her glowy blue arms behind her glowy blue head. "It's interesting though that the Atlanteans are supplying yet another weapons supplier. The next step, which is far less interesting than punching things, would be to find out what who Gideon is supplying."
She pauses. "Also, we've got two enemies of someone called 'Mystery Man' involved in this? What's going on there?"
"'Mystery Man' is a monster," Grayson spits as he strides into the room with a six pack of beer. His armored suit top falls through his phased body and dangles around his waist, leaving his upper body exposed. Scars lend his body the appearance of a topographical map with ridges and chains of mountains.
"He taught me everything I know. I thought I put him down for good, but..."
He drops down onto the couch and gives a defeated shrug. He tosses out some beers to any who'd want one (but not Shay, obviously), and cracks one open for himself.
"...some monsters don't stay down."