Shayera scowls at being excluded from the beer, but then softens when Haunt shows his scars. "So we try again, huh? See if he comes back from being cut up into little pieces."
She watches as the beers are cracked open and shrugs. "Guess I'll go get some milk then," she mutters. "I kill someone tonight, but I'm not allowed to have a beer. It's not like I can get drunk anyway."
Quicky will take a beer and drink it. Mostly to be polite since in this form his metabolism to far too fast for alcohol to work.
"Looks like you have some payback to dish out there buddy. " upon seeing the profligate scars.
Fusion frowns at Haunt. "What you went through must have been awful," she adds, trying to be sympathetic, then adds, "But what makes you think he's back? Let alone, working with his former enemies?"
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Dent's clones do look like him, although he has been known to wear disguises. It was something you were able to check for on Fredericks, and he is not a "Hydra" clone.
If you would like to question Fredericks about the coin or anything else, we can RP that (the "interrogations" I mentioned above were regarding the troops and what they knew mostly.)
Slade slaps Fredericks awake.
"Rise and shine. You've got some explaining to do."
"Start with the coin. Where did you get it? And why do you keep it around?"
Meanwhile, in the present.
Slade kicks back and lights up a cigar. He waves off the offer of a beer.
"If there's any downside to this serum I got dosed with, it's that alcohol does nothing for me. Not even a buzz."
"I can shake off a black mamba bite like it's nothing though, so give and take."
"Seems that's a problem most of us have in common, one way or another." he notes, looking around the room.
He takes a few puffs and is content to sit for a moment and watch how his team interacts with each other.
At Haunt's display:
"If Mystery Man is back I'll make sure to PERSONALLY cut him into tiny pieces and test out Shayera's theory. We don't put PILOT operatives through interrogation resistance training that rough. It takes a seriously f***ed up mind to mess up a kid that bad."
Fusion nods at Slade, and picks up can of beer. She opens the can and makes the liquid inside evaporate into beer scented steam floating around her. "So what's next? Gideon? Or investigate Brinedart more? He's interested in one of our own for whatever reason. That's a problem."
"Thomas Elliot saw Gideon Enterprises as the future of W.V.T. He seemed to talk about it a lot behind closed doors. The other members of the board wanted to cut off all funding, not knowing why Elliot was so into it, but he told them to trust him. He swore it would make a difference one day. Once he passed, they shut it down. Or, well, at least I thought they did. That coin's from Wakanda. If it's genuine, it'll have strands of vibranium in it. Vibranium's what put Elliot and W.V.T. on the map. It also doesn't agree much with my physiology."
He downs a can in one gulp and moves on to another. Something about what Fusion said turned his stomach sour. He tried his best to not look towards Shay, but his attempt was futile.
"I have a feeling we might be able to hit two birds with one big ass stone if we play our cards right."
"Brinedart seems like the middle man here. I think we've wrung all the blood from that particular stone for now."
"What I want to know is why Gideon was buying these. They're powerful weapons, but nothing Gideon couldn't make on their own, and better."
"That makes them our new priority. We need to find out why they needed the weapons, and whatever they're planning to do with them."
"Fair enough. Gideon's the target. So that goes back to what I noted earlier... all this sounds like investigative ops stuff--important, don't get me wrong. But why did Waller hire a team of cannons and tanks to do it? I know a few of you can be more than sneaky, but..." Fusion shrugs and looks at herself. "Well, I guess what I really want to know is what I'm doing here. Maybe I misunderstood and all I was hired to do was drive the bus. But odd in that case you couldn't get a pilot who doesn't melt the runway under her feet."
Shayera crinkles up her nose at the cloud of beer steam surrounding Fusion. She shrugs, "Who cares what Waller was thinking?" She folds her arms avoids looking at the printout of the Egyptian princess. "If Gideon is a bad company, then we don't have to worry about collateral damage."
"Now we're talking. We can go bust heads right?" as he starts cracking his knuckles.
Fusion chuckles at Wingblade's look of disgust. "What, I thought you liked beer?" She shrugs. "I care what my employer's thinking. If you don't, why are you here?"
She smiles at Quicky. "Well, if the aim is to get more information, I supposed brutalizing people is one way to go about it. Not sure under the circumstances is that's what is most effective. We could go for a capture and interrogate approach though, I suppose. What do you think, Blademaster?"
"Part of the reason you guys are here is to get a handle on your powers. There's no reason any or all of you couldn't become disciplined, focused agents rather than just 'cannons'."
"Right now we need information more than anything. Gideon is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Just going in and wrecking the place gets us nowhere. What we're looking for could be in some subsidiary in Siberia for all we know."
He does crack a little smile though.
"Feel free to get rough with anyone we DO need to talk to, however. Just leave them alive and able to talk."
"Ok, then what do we do? I don't have the training or experience for espionage or investigation. "
"You'll pick it up as we go along."
"Basic stuff you need to know: Don't let yourself be seen. Don't destroy anything that looks even vaguely important. Computers, papers, people. Especially ones in lab coats. Defend yourself if necessary."
"Call me if you find anything you can't break into."
"Ok, fine, but are we going to Gideon's HQ or what?"
"I'd like to think I'm an expert in the field of 'sneaking around' and 'entering without breaking'. I may be able to help you out in some places, Quicky."
"Honestly I doubt I have the patience for the sneaky sneaky stuff. Accelerated perception of time makes things drag on a lot. "
"Patience, you must have, Quick One."
"Ok, fine, but are we going to Gideon's HQ or what?"
"Seems like a good place to start."
"All right," Shayera agrees, anxious to get to do something else. "So where is it? Here? Siberia?"
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After a few days' worth of investigation, you have developed a trail, which leads to a remote upstate NY "factory", a Gideon base where all of the Atlantean Weaponry ended up.
The place is heavily fortified, and well-guarded, and a few re-purposed satellite passes have revealed that they are building a fleet of rather large vehicles-likely amphibious assault submersibles.
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PAPP is a piece of legislature which allows you to treat any meta doing enough damage to life or property as terrorists, insuring that an organization like yours doesn't have to worry too much about due process.
Spoiler:"The coin was a payment for services rendered. I keep it because it reminds me that not all business is good business. This current venture certainly has turned sour. I suppose you intend to prosecute us under the PAPP" (Patriot Act for Protection from Paranormals).
"Tell you what. Give me everything you know and I'll personally see to it you get a fair trial. Lawyer and everything."
Slade smiles.
"Well if you get let loose, that just means I can hunt you down again. Catch and release has always been my favorite kind."
"But if you won't cooperate, be a good little informant, I'm sure I can find other things to do with our time here."
"I could cut you, of course. Or have my friend here reach inside your head and scramble it around a bit. I hear that hurts like a mother."
"But you're not scared of pain, are you? And I'm trying to set a good example for my little proteges anyway. They don't need to learn how easily joints and flesh just come right apart."
"Tell you what I'm going to do...I'm going to let you go. Then I'm going to go to that computer over there and work my mojo, and I'm going to quietly put the word out to some of my friends, and by the end Brinedart will suspect...no, be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you betrayed him. Even though you didn't even tell me a thing, like a brave little soldier."
"I'm a big fan of irony that way. So, you've got two options. Tell me what you know, and I'll keep it just between us. Our little secret. Don't and, well, I'll make sure to find a nice place to watch while Brinedart strings you up."
Shayera had spent the last couple days raiding Haunt's fridge and generally being restless. She knew enough to stay out of everyone's way when they did their investigations into Gideon Enterprises, so she did. Each day she would slip out of the penthouse and fly around the heavy gothic architecture of Gotham, trying to convince herself that she was as blasé about Brinedart's Egyptian princess as she let on. Her impulse to just disappear back amongst the disaffected youth was strong, but despite that she found herself returning to Haunt's suite each evening to see if there were any revelations.
Finally, with the "factory" identified, Shayera's restlessness was replaced with a steady calm. "'Heavily fortified.' Well, I like a challenge. What's the plan, Slademan?"
Also not being particularly investigative, Quicky will have spent his 'off' time breaking up crimes around town at high (but not hazardous) speeds.
"Yeah what are we going to do? I understand we need evidence instead of rubble. I could easily do rubble. "
Fusion assists in the research where she can, and only sets Haunt's couch on fire twice. She tries to engage the rest of the team in conversation when she can, before concluding, "God you're a mopey bunch," and turns to bingewatching episodes of "Agent Lane" on Flixtu.
As they discuss their approach to the factory: "So if they're building amphibious vehicles, they're on a coast of some kind. So there's a dock entrance as well as probably a front entrance and a ground-based loading dock. What do we know about less obvious points of entry?"
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So, the compound is fenced off, and there are several security posts (marked "sec") and two larger security buildings/towers, one near the front gate and one near the back fence/factories c and d.
The majority of the Atlantean artillery and amphibious vehicles are being processed/constructed at factory c, which has a sub-basement at sea level, some 100' below the rest of the compound.
"Let's see if we can circle around and check out those vehicles. If they're constructing amphibious assault craft, some water guns are the least of our problems."
"If we're lucky, the area will be lightly guarded. At the least, the vehicles will provide cover for stealth. We may need to go in hard after a while though, it's starting to look like a proper stealth mission may not be feasible."
[ooc]Is there access to the sub basement level from anywhere outside? Even underwater?"[/b]
"I can check underwater. It's a nice side effect of not needing to breathe."
When the group carefully circles around, Fusion will enter the river and swim toward the base, looking for an underwater entrance.
Wingblade folds her arms. "Just check out the vehicles? I can do more than that, you know. Do you need them wrecked?"
"We don't want them to know we're here just yet. Fredericks was wiping a hard drive when we caught him. If we panic these guys they might start doing the same."
Shayera scowls. "I can do sneaky too, you know. I can come in from the woods on the west side and cut my way into any one of those factories." She shifts her stance and hooks her thumbs into the pockets of a light jacket she's pulled over her compressed wings.
Quicky will hop the fence and sneak up to one of the buildings.
Fusion returns to the group and reports her findings, and asks Slade, "Do you want me to go in that way?"
"If you can get in it, give it a quick look and report back. Don't go too deep. If it looks like we can all go in that way safely, we'll give it a shot."