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"They came in through the front door, so probably not Mirror Master. An exact time might be impossible, but I'll see what I can figure from the debris..."
Kestrel comes back to herself, instantly resuming her habitual small fidgets as her fugue departs. "There were two assailants. Both of them capable combatants, neither of them superlative. After all, there was a struggle. They were looking for something, but it doesn't seem like they found it - all the likely hiding places were searched, but they were quite thorough afterwards, so we know they weren't successful." She points to an infinitessimal scuff on the path out of the house. "He left alive."
"What's so confusing about the papers?"
"Papes, we're gonna need a speed-read on everything floating around." "But don't touch-touch anything yet! "There's a lot of debris and scatter-patterns. If the variables haven't been messed with too much, I might be able to recreate this..." Her eyes glazed over as she went into a waking fugue state. Pupils flickering from paper to paper, to cracked furniture, and scuffed floors. Everything was just data, angles and force, and if she had enough of it, the rest of the equation would become clear...
Kestrel quirks an eyebrow "There's a few more letters in the alphabet after B, Leon. Bank Vault means it's important, but also something he wants to be accessible to the right people. Scared of or ashamed of seem like they'd be more associated with destroying the plans - at least without other motives alloyed in."
"Well what happened to the cameras here? Without opening up all the safety deposit boxes it'd be hard to confirm only one thing was taken without more intel then you've told us about."
"Yeah we've got Rogues. You see this here?" Kestrel tapped the lock. "You only see a shear like that in stainless steel when it's been dropped to damn near absolute zero, and then super-heated to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit. That make you guys think of anyone?"
Kestrel fuzzed out her conscious perceptions, instead focusing on acquiring a detailed cohesive picture of everything around her. Everyone leaves something behind...
Kestrel sat very still in the co-pilot's seat, fingers twitching in micro-movements to mirror Minotar's flying. "Crashing at the base just makes sense. Efficient. Money-saver. All that good stuff."
"If it's connected, then it's interesting he's bothering to hit two places in the same town. Especially if all he's after is cash..." "Well! No time like the present to get down there!"
"Yeah, running him down's not really a win til we know somewhere he has to be. That means more intel's needed, and known associates are a good place to start. Oh, but you can drop the 'Miss' - Kestrel's already enough of a name."
"Yep, we've got plenty of things to watch for in the future, and more than enough to get guard-guy off the hook." *** On the Javelin, Kestrel is uncharacteristically quiet and nearly still while she watches the pilot intently, lips twitching as she subvocalizes a running commentary on how to fly the ship, if needed.
I think it's more of a "lean on" than a "force" situation. Whether or not ARGUS can force anything, they can certainly make things unpleasant - especially for a B-Team. But Kestrel thought the masquerade was funny anyways, so ymmv :-)
Kestrel frowned, unconvinced. "Insurance scams doesn't match the focus on the diamonds as the only goods stolen, and definitely wouldn't mean being worried about avoiding damage to something like the fixtures.
"My money's on a Super Science Gizmo that needs diamonds as fuel."
"Yeah. This is why it's easier to fly solo tbh. Hopefully though, once everyone's figured out they don't need to prove whose is biggest things'll calm down a bit."
"I think Encylopedia Bot over there has it right." Kestrel looks up blandly at Leon, Sraightjacket, and Leo. "Sorry, we're at least pretending to solve this thing, right?" "On the footage you can see a disembodied hand grabbing the jewels. Mirror Master'd be my first bet too, especially since variable density's not exactly child's play even for those who do have the power set. Odds are this is an established rogue."
Kestrel's eyes sparkle in amusement before immediately turning affronted and intense. "I don't think I like your attitude Agent Cash. We were specifically directed here with the full cooperation of local authorities exactly because of suspected meta-activity, and you're here to stymie us? You know, that strikes me as suspicious! What do you think would happen if we took your malfeasance to your superiors. If even 007 is implicated, how high does this conspiracy go?!"
Kestrel just rolls her eyes, "Look at all the capes we've got here - you want it more secure by getting rid of the heroes?!"
Kestrel walks in and starts a quick-style scan of the room. She vaguely assumes that the police have given any kind of look, so for now she's focusing on the things they wouldn't see. Materials that might have been swapped, strange chemical compositions, minute shifts in dust or wear-patterns that might indicate movement - all the things that are as instantly recognizable to her as a person's face. While she paces through she talks at Sergeant Morgan without breaking stride. "Okay, simple enough. I'll talk to Danny boy later, for know can you rig up the security footage so it can be on the corner? You can put it on 20x for now, we can slow it down once we've figured out when it happened, right? Actually - is the stuff even gone by the end of the tape?"
Kestrel rolls her eyes good-naturedly at Leo's idea. "Oh yeah, cops looove admitting they might have gotten one wrong." Hands raised in apology she continues, "Nah, it's a good idea. If we're here for a while we should play nice. I'd like to pop over to the whole scene-of-the-crime-thing though - shouldn't take long to sort out."
I am! Though it's been quite a few years since I've seen/read any of it I've actually seen a Paper Master-style character in action... I'll see if I can track down her profile to give you a starting point. **Cough** It's worth noting that they had some rather... extreme understandings of what this build allowed, so (like always) it's worth checking in with the GM.
Kestrel's eyes twinkled with amusement, "And, you know, are you on the run or anything? 'Cause that makes finding out about who'd come chasing after you much more on the immediate side of things."
Have fun!
Kestrel beams as she saunters into the room. "Well hi Roomies! Or... Teamies? Is that what I'm saying?" She's a little thing, five feet flat, and barely a hundred pounds with a gymnast's build, and a frankly angelic face. "I'm Kestrel - yes Blue-Devil's-old-'sidekick'-Kestrel - so you know, hypermind, throw-stuff, bit-of-ninja, the works." She wasn't really wearing a costume exactly, she wore a drab army-surplus jacket and grey cargo pants over what looked like some sort of impact suit - the kind of thing that kept a lot of heroes and agents from splattering or rupturing all their organs every time they got near a super fight. "So... the 'Lair'... What've we got to work with here? I'm used to doing things a bit on the fly, so I'm curious how the other-side lives, y'know?"
Okay, Kestrel's upgrade is complete (though her alias sheet is still ugly and work-sheet-y).
Oh, I wouldn't want it to be someone on the team anyways - supposed to be kind of the 'awkward-ex'* vibe anyways, and I don't want her feeling too directly like she's on the team because of her former mentor. Sorry the upgrade's not done - ended up with a busier weekend than I was expecting. Dotting in so I don't miss anything, but how are the new-crew entering? Looks like you guys are in post-mission bonding etc. at the moment, and I'm not sure if we'll be joining at the start of the next 'issue?' *But umm... parental, and not Oedipal.
Awesome! I'll finish up Kestrel's PL upgrade tonight, and start the research for a new surrogate father-figure. Any heroes who could use a tie-in? I'd almost make her a bat-brat, but I think she'd have fit in too well there...
Hmm... if y'all are still recruiting, I'd love to drop in Kestrel! She's a refugee from a sadly defunct non-DC M&M3 game here on the boards, but I'd certainly be interested in powering her up to 8 and re-flavoring some backstory to make her fit better! Her basic hero shtick is that she's a hypermind with a specialty in perception. She can't actually see or hear or whatever any farther than baselines, but she's able to derive a ton of information from anything within those ranges. This also allows her to pull off some nonsense Bullseye/Deadshot trick shots and ricochets - her primary way of actually fighting when it comes to a superhero brawl. One of her conceits is that she's in a bit of a Nightwing stage of her heroing career. She was a teenage sidekick for quite a while, but has struck out on her own under circumstances that weren't entirely amicable. Since she was originally created for a different universe her former mentor is also an OC, but I'd be happy to find an appropriate DC character instead :-) Personality-wise, Kestrel is very cheeky, and enjoys playing up the world-weariness of a long-time sidekick (Interdimensional Gorilla Invasion? Must be Tuesday). Her post history should hopefully be at least partially illuminating, and I've got a PL 6 version of her in this alias - let me know if there's anything else that would be helpful!
I think unless you expect the pace of posting to pick up, shuttering this one might be the better part of valor :-/
"Hmm... This one looks like it's up your alley, Allie."
"Huh. Anyone want to run into that really hard? I'm not totally sure what kind of setup they have here, but it can't be too dangerous, right?"
"I do want to climb them, especially at the space-warp, but that excursion can wait." Otherwise her plan is unchanged, ears open, head on a swivel.
"...Cool! Anyone know if the space-twist's a side effect or on purpose?" Betsy walks forward with seeming nonchalance, but she's on high alert. One thing she's learned as a physical base-line is that spotting problems in advance is really the only way to survive walking through a super-science lab.
Wordlessly she gestures to her own vibrant violet locks and gives Jason an amused raised eyebrow.
"Oh, well Addy - this is Addy - could use a bit of a touch-up to her dye job. Salons are expensive and unnecessary, and frankly I favored a bit of an excursion. If the chemistry lab is stocked up to highschool standards then we should be in, dyed, and out in plenty of time to avoid problems. "Oh, and Muki's in too."
"Well guys? What do you say? We've got some roots to touch up, and a chemistry lab to enlist in our service!"
Betsy's eyes sparkled, "Well, it would certainly be a distracting costume; there's something to be said for that."
"You'll definitely want to avoid standing too near torches or medals, but... I like it. I assume the costume will be inspired by the ancient Olympics?" she asks with a look of innocence plastered 2 inches thick across her face.
Kestrel loads up a plate with a tower of snacks and finds her way back over to Allison and Jason. "Okay, so aside from the settled matter of tights, and Allison's plan to have an entire walk-in for her costume variants, toy companies are going to love you, you got any thoughts on insignia, or superhero names or anything? They might sound kinda hokey, but it helps the public understand what you're all about."
Kestrel gives a delighted grin, "Robots, laser grids, custodial staff, could me anything - Only one way to find out." "And feel free to bring whoever you want, but no one walks out of there with their natural hair color, get me?"
Wait - Derek was peeking?!
"Salon? Okay, even assuming there's not some sort of chromatipath here at the school, no way do you have to waste a bunch of money to touch up your roots - it's just not that hard to do. In fact, give me the chemistry lab, 45 seconds, and a lookout and we'd have the supplies too." She gives a framing gesture at her own hair, "No salon needed."
As a PSA - apparently the recent update broke the PM notifications. So it's worth doublechecking every so often if someone's trying to reach you, and not getting irked if someone's not responding.
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