As Freefall sees his fellow team members get out of their vehicle.
and they see him, he raises his Timmy's cup to them, and blinks out.
Five minutes later he returns, with a cardbord coffee cup tray with four Tim Horton's cups filled. One has 'black' printed on the top; one has '2 sugar, no cream; one has '2 cream, no sugar'; and one has 'double double' printed on the top.
He offers his teammates first dibs, then offers the remaining to to the two feds.
He then sets the cardboard tray down on a desk, lifts his visor, revealing he is wearing half-mask covering the upper half of his face. Presumably there are holes in it for his eyes to see clearly, but he is wearing skier's dark sunglasses as well. He takes a sip of his coffee, and waits for the feds to fill them in.
A young intern lets the heroes into the building and takes them to a waiting room. A short time later, Agents Hawthorne and Deverill come in to meet them. "Thanks for being on time." Hawthorne says. "We've tracked them down to a warehouse area in Prichard in Northern Mobile." He pulls up a google maps picture of the area. "They're operating out of the Ladd Architectural buildings. It's unclear if the company is working with them or is just subletting one of their buildings. We've checked the company's finances and there's nothing untoward there that we can find. This means we will need to be careful when we go in. We had some agents staking the place out and they say the gang members primarily operate out of the building to the north of the Ladd main building." He shows an overhead of the area (see the map). "They seem to be living at the building. Therefore, it seems best to raid them after hours. We intend to go in at about 0300. Even those staying up late are typically in bed by then and all regular employees will have gone home. We also have a MARS team on standby (a Metahuman assault and response squad). Since we don't know the actual power level of these supers we reached out to you for the assist. Once we engage the gang, if they don't just surrender and if it seems like the MARS team can help, we can call them in. So, any input? Any questions?"
Sigil declines the coffee, "no, thank you. I prefer tea."
After the briefing, the Dökkálfar sorcerer offers, "I can scry within the buildings from here. I just need a reflective surface."
"Also, if you assemble photos of the targets, I can tell you who I see where and when."
"Any scrying would be good. Especially after normal employees head home. That would be good for finding out how many are left. Although, if someone inside can sense the Scry it might warn them." Voltage says.
They layout the pictures of the gang that they are aware of who have shown powers. "The one on the left appears to be the leader. Other than his obvious reptilian looks we have not actually seen him doing anything. We would guess he has some sort of snake or lizard like capabilities beyond those of a normal human. His Lieutenant is a short but athletic man. He tangled with a couple members of another gang. They said he calls himself Lynx and like the cat he has claws. They noted he recovered from a gunshot extremely quickly and then handily dealt with them. For lack of a better name we have started calling the next one Rock. The local MPD ran into him. While he's stronger than a regular man he never threw any cars around. Instead, he threw rocks. He can just pull material off the pavement or sidewalk and slings it really hard. Handgun shots bounced off of him as well. The next one is Ice. Obviously, he has ice powers and is able to freeze people in place, drop the immediate temperature around him, and is extremely agile. The last one they call Bill. He doesn't stay like that but once he gets amped up on the drug we guess he changes into this thing. We've heard Rock and Ice threaten to feed people to Bill and we've seen him active around the building moving heavy objects such as an engine block with a single hand. Otherwise, we suspect he is very tough and likely able to lift at least a small car. Any questions about who we are going after?"
Freefall speak with a Southern States accent asks, "Do you know how close Ice has to be to someone to freeze them in place? I have no desire to freefall while encased in ice."
"Right. You might want to get pictures of the key gang members too. Please set me up in a conference room with reflective surface, so I can start scrying."
When he is setup, he starts scrying the building looking for the key players. When he sees them, he narrates what he sees and hears.
"That seems pretty straight forward. Stopping Ice first might be worth while if he can take some of us out of the fight." Voltage says.
[b]"As for Ice's range, we've only seen him hit a police officer across the street so that's what about 35'. I'm sure he has a longer range but that's all we have confirmed. Let me see about getting the reflective surface.
A few minutes later the two agents have Sigil setup in an interrogation/interview room with a two way mirror. The mirrored surface is huge and he is able to work his magic.
It is about 4pm, how long do you intend to watch them?
Voltage watches to see what will happen.
It is about 4pm, how long do you intend to watch them?
As long as is necessary. He orders in catering.
Agents Hawthorne and Deverill could get used to a stakeout like this. They take everyone's orders and send an intern to get the food. Then they sit down with the others to observe. You actually settle in and take turns, except Sigil who needs to maintain the spell at which time it's a general break. You learn several things over the next two days. The leader calls himself King Cobra and he stays in his reptile form all the time. What was not seen in the picture was his fangs. He does not have a mouth full of them but instead has two fangs that seem to pop out when he wishes them to. He intimidates his crew and you see him twice spread his neck skin like a cobra and open his mouth with fangs bared. The gang is called the Cosmic Cobras, apparently named for their leader. They are all a little unhinged with anger problems and it is likely King Cobra is the only reason they have not killed each other yet. The other members are what you would consider low-powered supers. They have a couple of confrontations between them and demonstrate some abilities you were not aware of and let you see some of the others in action. There are seven non-powered gang members that you see during this period. Three of which are usually in the main building or on the compound.
You identify some of the local gangs they are dealing with. Those they do not like and those they are allied with or supplying drugs to. It seems they are out of stardust and awaiting a new shipment which after your two days of observation is supposed to show up tomorrow. It is being delivered by a super called Slipstream. From the conversation you know Slipstream is an extremely fast runner and you believe female.
King Cobra: fangs, intimidating appearance
Lynx: quick, acrobatic, claws, regeneration
Rock: rock skin, strong athlete maybe low level superhuman
Ice: ice spears at least out to 60', ice bonds at least out to 35', temperature control
Bill: large, powerfully built, smart, the gang's accountant, no quicker than a typical street thug, able to lift at least a car
Sigil relays everything that he scrys to the FBI and teammates. He attempts to map their movements within their location and during the days of watching, in order to identify patterns.
He wonders what the FBI wants to do. Do they have enough to arrest them? Would they be able to assemble a tactical team to provide manpower support for Voltage, Freefall, and himself.
"Five individuals with powers. That could be a big of a lift for us." Voltage says.
"We would need to take them one or a couple at a time." Sigil replies.
"Let's focus on isolating the ones that are threats from range, leaving the ones that are more a threat only when they get close, so they do not have the ranged support to help them when they are the only ones left to take off the board."
In the past two days that you have been watching them you do notice that Lynx and Ice and sometimes Rock and Ice go out to meet contacts. Bill comes and goes, sometimes explaining why, visit someone or go to the store. Other times he just wanders away to come back later. When he is in he is typically on his computer. King Cobra never seems to leave the building or the areas immediately around it. This is likely because he is so monstrous in appearance and the others can pass as human relatively easily.
”Alright. We’ve the groups who leave together.” looking at the FBi guys, Sigil asks, ”Do you have enough to arrest them?”
Assuming the answer is positive, he continues, ”Who do we want to take out first? I would suggest that we should take out the most powerful crew first, because we may only have the element of surprise once. It would probably be better if we picked targets who cannot run from us or call for reinforcements. Thoughts?”
"The one I think might be the one that is the biggest impediment to how I deal with criminals is Ice."
"Then lets deal with those two first." Voltage says.
Distance varies, Rock and Ice are the ones who do the food runs whether it be groceries of some sort or fast-food orders. When Lynx and Ice go out they typically go meet with other gangs.
"Let's deal with Rock and Ice first. No other gang members will be around. Less civilians around if we apprehend them in a parking lot, which they will need at a grocery store as opposed to a fast-food, which they could use the drivethrough or the parking lot that is not as large as a grocery store's."
Sigil looks at the FBI guys, "I agree. Ice and Rock are good to start, but do we have enough to arrest them? I don't want to take them down, only for them to walk free. You have an odd system of justice here."
"That works for me." Voltage says before adding, "If we are not sure if they are hitting a grocery store or fast food place then I could fly high and tail them until they reach a destination. We need to try and make sure they do not get word back to the others when we hit them."
Agent Deverill takes the question this time, "We already have a warrant for Ice, Rock, and Lynx. All three have tangled with law enforcement in the last 30 days. We were just waiting for resources to free up so we could serve said warrant without endangering those carrying it out. With us and you three, I think we can do this no problem."
It doesn't take long. You continue observing the group and about an hour before lunch Rock and Ice are sent to get some mangoes for Bill, they help him think. The pair head out and suggest they may go to Walmart. When they have left previously, they typically travel north or east instead of into the heart of the city to the south. There is a Walmart to the north just off I-65 in the Saraland area.
Sigil offers, "I can portal us wherever to take them down. I can even eavesdrop on them to hear what their immediate destination."
"Does the FBI have a playbook on the best method and location to arrest super-powered individuals?"
"We know the Wallmart they go to. We should set up there and try to take them out in the parking lot if we can. Preferably in a place with less cars." Voltage says.
"Like Voltage said, we work for the fewest civilians in the area. In this case, we could head out and intercept them on the road and try to pull them over or we could try and stop them at the outskirts of the parking lot to reduce interaction with other people and minimize surrounding car damage." Agent Hawthorne answered.
Sigil waits for the FBI guys to answer his questions. After a pause, he adds, "yes, isolating them from innocents seems like the best strategy. How do we stop the vehicle? Does the FBI want to block the road?"
"If you can confirm their destination we can intercept them in the parking lot. If we get there too late we'll stop them as they leave. Me and Hawthorne will drive separate vehicles and box them in. Not sure what Rock's initial reaction will be but Ice will come out flinging his spears." Deverill replies.
You finally confirm they are in fact going to the northern Walmart but it is doubtful the agents can get there before the pair do. They intend to block off the car as the duo leaves unless you three who can teleport decide to take matters into your own hands.
Sigil says, "well, hurry then. How do we stay in communication?"
"Get in your vehicles and I can get you there faster."
"Can you teleport them out of their car, or teleport their car to an empty lot? Voltage asks.
"In their vehicles so I can teleport them and their cars to empty parking spaces in the parking lot. I will be back in a few minutes. Get to your cars now, agents."
Freefall teleports 1,000 feet above the parking spaces in the parking lot and starts scanning for best empty parking spaces to teleport the agents and their vehicles to.
Hawthorne and Deverill hustle to the cars which were ready pending Sigil's word. Freefall ports both vehicles and agents to the Walmart parking lot which is relatively empty near the entrance of the lot.
Surprise round
Deverill and Hawthorne will box in the car
Heroes get a standard action
Round 1
Ice uninjured
Voltage 8/8
Deverill 4/4
Freefall 7/7
Hawthorne 8/8
Sigil 7/7
Rock uninjured
As Freefall freefalls he ports himself back to be in a position exactly 1,000 feet above the ground .
Over his headset he tells his teammates, "I am going to assess just how far Ice can shoot his ice. Voltage, get his attention so he launches some ice skywards at you that misses you so I can gauge exactly how far he remains a threat with his ice attacks. I will then keep him busy falling while Sigil and the agents deal with Rock. Keep one of your eyes skyward as you are helping deal with Rock, Voltage, in case Ice makes me an icicle so you catch me before I hit the ground."
Surprise round
Deverill and Hawthorne will box in the car
Heroes get a standard action
Round 1
Ice uninjured
Voltage 8/8
Deverill 4/4
Freefall 7/7
Hawthorne 8/8
Sigil 7/7
Rock uninjured
After the FBI blocks the car, Sigil flies toward the car keeping fifteen feet off the ground. He waves his arms creating glowing runes encircling his wrists, he concentrates on the driver and tries to brainwash him.