"Oh, that's not good."
Jumping into his car, Jim turned it on and began driving towards downtown as fast as he could, knowing he wouldn't be able to do much except assist with search and rescue. The plane wouldn't be in range of his teleport until it was too close to the ground to do anything about it.
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it's going to take you about 34 minutes to arrive.
Tim will slip from the closet. If the pilots are there and nothing seems to be controlling or influencing them, he'll call out, "I'm a hero, what is the problem?"
If there seems to be another problem, I'll act based on what that is.
"A suitable conveyance."
Forcing the black and white door open without thought to the door handle mechanism, much less the the lock itself, MINOTAR reaches in and quickly realizes he would fit better without the seat installed. Ripping it out almost effortlessly, he maneuvers his bulk into the small civilian emergency vehicle, his back settled against the back seat.
Awkward but serviceable.
Ripping the bottom of the steering column off, MINOTAR quickly hot-wires the sedan car, engages the engine with the sirens and lights, and smokes the car's tires as he spins off towards the eminent crash, metal foot pressed hard to the floor, already knowing he will be too late to help much in such an awful aftermath...
Is that what I'm trying to do here? Help? Or is it just residual programming kicking in to 'Be of Service?'
"Attenion, citizens! This area is the most likely arrival location of that!" QNetic's voice booms. "Begin an orderly exodus."
QNetic then looks for anything he can use to cushion the plane's landing in the immediate vicinity.
If he doesn't see anything, he instead uses his enhanced mental speed to calculate precise timing, frequency and angle to try to modify his kinetic blast to cushion the plane's arrival without tearing it to pieces. (Essentially using s hero point to gain an one-time alt/power stunt that will work to nullify the plane's kinetic energy)
Electron reaches in past the control box's door and into the circuitry to use his affinity for electricity to directly manipulate the power and toggle the stop lights. He tries to flip all of them into their yellow to red cycle in order to halt as much traffic as he can and do so over as wide an area as he can.
"I hope that's one less variable to complicate this matter. I hope I haven't made things worse...
Hitting the gas, Jim tries to drive a little faster in order to get there quicker.
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Despite Hydronaut's best efforts, panic is spreading throughout the aircraft. The passengers remain buckled in, but they are screaming,
crying, praying, etc.
The rest of you are still en route.
"I'll do what I can. Keep pulling it up and look for someplace flat." He exits into the cabin. He pauses as he sees the huge mass of water. "I need to get into the service bay and into the wing. I can shut off the fuel valve to put out the fire. "
He'll go down into the floor hatch. He may not know the layout, but he knows where the wing is. He's looking to get into the wing and close the fuel valve. Given that it's fuel, he expects it'll be red and have warning labels.
[b]He'll go down into the floor hatch. He may not know the layout, but he knows where the wing is. He's looking to get into the wing and close the fuel valve. Given that it's fuel, he expects it'll be red and have warning labels.
Let's see. I can't actually cancel its forward momentum completely, or it'll just drop. have to create waves of increasing resistance it can ride in on, slowing it more and more. I'll need some mental speed to get this done.
QNetic begins sending out pulses towards the plane. Hopefully it will allow the pilots time to land safely.
The shadow nods, "I don't know of a way to get to the fire without depressurizing the plane. But I'll bet you can cool the metal inside the wing.. It's going to be hot above the burning engines."
Looking up at the high pitched whine, she scowled beneath her helmet. She still hadn't determined exactly where she was. But suddenly Miss Meow was glad she was still wearing her Crisis Armor. A blinking icon in her HUD informed the child tat she still had limited access to the Kitty Cave. At the very least she could access her armory still to swap equipment loadouts. Unfortunately in her last mission the communicator in her helmet had been damaged.
Jumping into the air, she triggered the rocket glide function of her crisis armor. A pair of stylized bat wings popped out to the sides as a rocket pack ignited. With an annoyed hiss the Feline Knight Detective was heading towards the scene.
Armored Costume: Protection 4 (+4 Toughness)
Grapple Gun: Movement 1 (Swinging)
Rocket Glide Pack: Flight 3 (Speed: 16 miles/hour, 250 feet/round; Activation: move action)
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Isikos and Hydronaut
You can locate the floor hatch, but once down there, nothing is neatly labeled. The space is very cramped, with hardly enough room to move (well, maybe not for you two). You can find access to the wing (probably wouldn't be that simple in RL, but this is the comic books) and yes, there is a fire which Hydronaut can easily extinguish. Isikos looks over the collection of pipes, wires, and boxes, stumped as to what anything does.
QNetic
Against all odds, your tactic seems to be working, as the plane is slowing somewhat. The ride is bumpy for the passengers, but they might just get out of this alive. You notice as is nears that the fire is extinguished.
90 seconds... As the plane draws nearer, QNetic pours on the power, drawing off its kinetic energy.
60 seconds... People in the area are fleeing the scene by whatever means are available.
45 seconds... Isikos and Hydronaut, feeling the bumps and realizing that the aircraft is descending exchange worried glances. Neither will be seriously injured in a crash, of course, but the passengers will be.
30 seconds... The pilots lower the gear, hoping to somehow get down safely.
15 seconds... QNetic gives it his all and makes a final effort to drain off the momentum.
Touchdown... The plane hits the ground with a squeal as the tires attempt to grab a hold on the pavement. The front gear collapses under the strain and the plane's nose dips alarmingly. QNetic chances a glance to see the plane heading straight for him, sparks flying from beneath the nose section! Too late to move, all he can do is brace for an impact that never comes. The plane slows to a stop mere inches from him.
He breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing that the aircraft, while damaged, is in one piece. The emergency slides are ejected as the passengers deplane under the guidance of the flight attendants. Sirens can be heard as emergency vehicles race to the scene.
Straightjacket arrives within seconds of the landing, and the others arrive shortly thereafter (all except M.I.N.O.T.A.R.), along with a horde of fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and the inevitable news vehicles.
The shadow turns to the pond. "Well, that wasn't normal. Let's go see what happened." And he'll make his way out.
The rockets cut out and the glide wings retracted at her signal. This deposited Miss Meow on a nearby roof, although she had to roll to bleed off the remaining speed. Fearlessly the young neko jumped off the roof while firing a grapple line at another nearby building. This allowed her to swing down closer to the ground. The armored child then pushed off the side of the building towards a street lamp. This she swung around a couple times to once again bleed off speed before releasing.
She ran the rest of the way with an easy distance eating gait. Such maneuvers were old hat to her after all. Spying the fire damage on the wing, that was her first destination.
"I'm Miss Meow, of Gotham. I'll need to examine the engine for signs of sabotage. Jet liners do not normally plummet like that."
Q leans forward and kisses the plane "Attagirl!" then drops to one knee, shaking slightly as the adrenaline course through what remains of his veins.
"We should make sure the passengers and crew are safe, and find out how the fire started, and maybe how it went out, because I don't think that was anything I did." Qnetic says, adding, "And maybe direct traffic away from the area until the first responders arrive."
"Finding the cause is my job." Miss Meow said before scampering up the side of the aircraft and onto the visible wing.
She made her way towards the engine. That was where she figured signs of this disaster's cause would be located. Along the way she noted the signs of a recent water spray. Considering this aircraft had not landed in water, and it wasn't raining this was an interesting fact. When she reached the engine Miss Meow was glad she was wearing her crisis armor. the metal was likely still overly warm from the fire.
While examining the engine the pint sized crime fighter tried to remember what the engine of such an aircraft was suppose to look like. Her mentor had drilled a lot of such seemingly useless information into her over the years, but technology wasn't one of her strong points. Still, if she could remember that it would help to determine if this engine had been tampered with somehow.
(she has Jack-of-all-trades so can make this untrained even if it normally couldn't be made. Do I need to apply te -5 for lacking tools if she's just studying it, and not trying to fix it?)
She also looked for signs of outside tampering. Parts that clearly don't belong, sabotaged lines, and the like. Something had caused this engine to catch on fire. And considering how the plane had plummeted, she didn't think it was just a passing bird.
Parking his car, Jim is relieved to see the plane landed safely. Seeing several other people who appear to have abilities, he quickly changes into his costume and teleports in to join the group, appearing with a "bamf" sound next to the damaged wing. "Call me Ghost. Looks like sabotage, or just mechanical failure?"
He will also look over the damaged area, searching for signs of damage - although computers are more hos forte, not engines.
Electron uses the grid (making a couple of jumps if necessary) to close the distance to the downed airplane. He starts to move around the plane, careful to stay out of the way of any evacuating passengers, watching for electrical problems (wouldn't do to have an electrical surge ignite another fire).
Then, he gravitates to the knot of unusual individuals.
"Whoa, I'm amazed this thing wasn't a hell of a lot worse."
"Unsure yet, but planes don't fall like that unless the pilots are also out of the picture. Someone should check on them. As I said, I'm Miss Meow. Not sure if it's just me remembering the plans wrong or if engines in this part of the multiverse are built differently. But I don't recognize this design."
She continued checking the engine for signs of tampering.
"Whoever is the telekinetic that slowed the plane, you saved a lot of lives today. Might want to practice your technique though. The catch and release method can cause serious injuries."
"Isikos. It's greek for shadow." Given that they are out in the open, he's just a disconnected shadow on the ground. "It didn't look like sabotage inside the wing, and the pilots were okay, just shaken up. "
"Name's QNetic, and despite that, I'm no telekinetic. Recalibrating my kinetic blaster to emit waves of inertial energy at the correct frequencies necessary to slow the plane without tearing it apart took quite a bit of calculating. I may have finagled a variable or two. " Q smiles at the cat woman on the wing.
"Once we're sure the people inside the plane are ok, I'll take a look- with police permission, of course- although it's likely to become a Federal investigation since an aircraft was involved. So maybe, before."
He moves up to the plane, assisting the evacuation as best he can without freaking people out more than they already are.
As the group finishes introducing themselves to each other, they notice a strange sight approaching: a standard black and white police car, but the front bumper is missing, there appears to be multiple small bushes caught in the grill, and the rest of the vehicle covered in dust and looks like it survived an Iraqi IED.
The car approaches the strange looking group slowly and out steps a good sized...person?...made of shiny metal. The car whines as it spools and chugs unnaturally into silence.
"Did any of you see what landed the plane safely? Has the FAA been contacted and an investigation perimeter set up for both safety inspections and possible culprits from on board?"
Seeing blank stares from those not currently familiar with his situation, MINOTAR continues.
"Forgive me. I have only been sentient for a week and two days, approximately, and my personal interrogative protocols are new and still in development. I am Project MINOTAR. Mechanized Intelligent Non-Organic Tactical Assault Robot, a prototype of Macrovision Microtechnologies Incorporated. You can call me MINOTAR. I will respond to this moniker easiest. Mr. Netic, Ghost, Electron? Good to see you again. I enjoyed our discourse from before. I have been learning about sarcasm and innuendo as you suggested. Fascinating subjects. Useless to most, but a difficult skill to learn nonetheless.
Miss Meow looked over at the newcomer briefly and shrugged. In her time with the JLA she'd seen far weirder. Usually this was caused by Braniac or Circe, but she'd still seen weirder. This particular figure seemed to want to help and didn't appear to be homicidal at least. That was a step up from most robotic entities she'd encountered. Deciding she'd learned all she could from the engine, the Feline Knight Detective scampered down the length of the aircraft to examine the tail rudders.Perhaps there she'd find a clue as to why the plane had been plummeting instead of a wallowing controlled glide.
"Isikos. It's greek for shadow." Given that they are out in the open, he's just a disconnected shadow on the ground. "It didn't look like sabotage inside the wing, and the pilots were okay, just shaken up. ""Cool name," Nick said.
MINOTAR nods.
"Shadows are often several degrees cooler than their surroundings, especially when cast in sunlight. With no signs of sabotage, should we be interrogating the crew and passengers? They may have noticed something worth noting. Mr. Netic? Maybe you should 'interface' with the aircraft's Flight Data Recorder or 'black box.' All sensor information and communications should be recorded there and should be copied and reviewed immediately."
Q checks out the wing and the rest of the plane's exterior before following on MINOTAR's suggestion and checking out the onboard recording and computer.
Investigation to activate Postcognition DC 15
Technology to interface with/download black box and flight data
"I think I've got a pretty good grasp on the data."
Technology check for Mental Quickness to analyze everything lickity split. Technology DC 13
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An examination of the black box data, coupled with the visual evidence indicates that the flame-out was inexplicable. Everything should be working fine and there is no indication of any problems. It seems as though the engine just suddenly caught fire without warning or reason.
As you are pondering these events, a firefighter runs up to your group. "Heroes," she pants breathlessly, "There's a major fire about three blocks from here; an apartment building. There are people trapped inside!"
Stepping to a clear area, MINOTAR engages his jump jets and leaps straight up over 200feet! The effective noise leaves most ears ringing nearby, especially when he quickly lands back in the same place.
"The Fire is located north-northwest of here. Since a fire is what happened to the plane, then this event might also be related. Speculations will have to be put on hold for now: I'm monitoring local emergency radio frequencies now for details..."
Turning with purpose, MINOTAR immediately begins running and then jump-jeting over large swaths of people and buildings, reaching safe landing zones around 500 feet moving roughly in the direction of the fire.
"I'll meet you there." He heads into the shadows to jump next to the apartment building.
Ghost looks about, fixing the plume of smoke from the fire in his sight. "Three blocks, got it."
He then begins teleporting in a straight line there, via the tops of buildings as needed.
QNetic gathers his energy, redistributes it, and runs the gap in seconds. He doesn't particularly worry about the fire; it would have to be pretty hot to damage him, after all.
No sense being stupid, though. The smoke could kill him, and he would need strength and reflexes to deal with whatever was in the building.
He distributes his power: Enh Str 2, Enh Dex 2, Enh Agi 2, Regen 6) and does his best to hold his breath, entering the building.
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Arriving at the scene, you are faced with a serious conflagration. A seven-story apartment building is consumed by fire, resisting efforts to extinguish it by other firepersons. The chief sees your group arrive and comes over to you.
"You people super-heroes? We could use some help. I've got a missing man, at least two adults and a little girl unaccounted for, and a group of people trapped on the roof! We can't get a chopper in without the possibility of spreading the fire and it's all that we can do to keep nearby buildings from going up. This building is a lost cause, but we're trying to get everyone out before it collapses!"
"I'll go in as well. I don't weigh anything, so I'll take the weakened floors."
Inside, he'll use tremorsense to try and find the people trapped inside.
MINOTAR takes in the situation silently, gazing around slowly so as to not miss any details.
Processing environment. Analyzing variables...
Finding no sign of tampering was vexing. Then she overheard someone mention a second fire. The timing was rather suspicious to her. A grapple line was fired off. The wench in her grapple gun quickly started to retract the line, pulling Miss Meow along. As she neared the building she jinked the line to unhook the grapple and let the glider wings pop out. A bit of maneuvering had her turn enough to face further in the direction of the fire. Once that was done Miss Meow retracted her glider wings and fired off a new grapple line towards a building further down the street.
This process was repeated until she was approaching the burning building. The last grapple line she aimed towards the top of the building so that she could be launched through a window on the top floor. Now she was glad to be wearing her crisis armor, although it would have been nice if the environmental features hadn't been damaged. This was probably not her smartest decision. But lives were on the line. Since the environmental systems were down, Miss Meow accessed her armory in the Kitty Cave to exchange her crisis armor for the one she normally wore.
After crouching down to minimize smoke she sniffed the air, tasting the scents and trying to pick out that of humans from the smoke. Since it was hard to see, she knew that relying on other senses would be better. Miss Meow would search each floor from the top down for survivors, getting any she found to a window for retrieval.
Accessing her communicator, Miss Meow tapped into the local emergency frequencies and said "This is Miss Meow. I'm inside the burning building and working my way down from the top. Get emergency rescue services ready to retrieve anyone I can find. I'll be bringing them to the eastern side."