Heritage

"Well, it's not...these kinds of movies aren't very realistic. The fight scenes are way over the top, too." Though it did occur to Casey that she might be able to do some of the crazier stuff now. This made her consider something else; if the team ended up fighting any characters from these movies, it wouldn't be very different than fighting someone with superpowers. But instead of being powered by some sort of mutation or magic or stuff like that, they'd be powered by the laws of action and drama. It was like that scene from Roger Rabbit where Roger could only escape from the handcuffs when it was funny; characters had to follow the rules appropriate to their genre. This is going to be...interesting.

"I can handle the Piemaker," said Casey with a confidence that surprised even herself, yet somehow she knew it to be true. All the working out and training in the simulators with Sakurako at school was finally paying off, and she was eager for the challenge. "Other than Baldwin and Daystrom, what other security personnel can we expect on site, and how are they equiped?"

Though she was doing her best to present a blank façade, including a simple shake of the head when Terrifica asked if there were any questions, inside Casey's head things were far from serene. There was no doubt about it, they were commiting a crime, no matter how noble their intentions might be, and this flew in the face of everything she stood for, which did not sit easily with her. The words of the Girl Scout Law rang in her head. 'I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do. and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.' How many of those words was she defying just by showing up for this meeting? What would her dad say? But then she remembered that he was first and foremost an airman, and in time of war, members of the armed forces sometimes had to do things they wouldn't normally do in the service of their country. Not that this was the same, but...oh Lord, was this how it began? The slide down to vigilantism, one little compromise at a time? No. The situation was morally complicated, true, but she had faith in Terrifica, just as she had in her. She would do her job and keep her eyes open, and would not let down her team.

Are you calling Casey 'Headcase' on purpose? She's going by 'Hardcase' on this job

Above Silberman's Books. Monday, August 1st, 2016. 11:36 am Lynn unlocked the door and pushed it wide open as she stepped into the living room/dining nook of the one bedroom apartment Tona recently vacated; the room was bright and airy, with hardwood floors, white painted walls and a working gas fireplace flanked by built-in bookshelves. Salvaged stained glass windows on the east wall added color and a charming rustic quality. "Okay, so this is the front room; that pillar sort of designates the dining area, but obviously you can use it however you want. There's no central heating or air, but the radiator heat is free and works great, and you've got ceiling fans and an AC unit in the bedroom." Gretchen followed in, pointing out the small flat-screen monitor on the wall near the door. "I've upgraded the security system. Multiple cameras, motion and heat sensors, extra sturdy locks."

Lynn would be happy to host the band at her bookstore, and Gretchen could do sound.

Msybe alder might want to bring Bombshell in?

"Oh, I agree with you on the bones thing," said Casey as she began to expertly navigate her Netflix menu, which provided a quick glimpse at Casey's tastes; the occasional rom-com was recommended, but mostly films about journalism (Good Night and Good Luck, All the President's Men) or people struggling against the odds in the outdoors (Everest, The Finest Hours). "Give me some Texas-style barbecue ribs or Southern fried chicken any day." She casually grabbed a handful of smoked turkey and popped it in her mouth as she saw which films were currently available. "Okay," she said as she sucked her fingers. "We should at least watch one of each series, so we get an idea of the main character and, you know, the kind of world they live in." She shrugged. "So I guess the first of each one? They're not always the best, like Xenos is better than Xeno, to me at least, but the first one always sets the rules, right?" She finally decided to pick the first Rhekgar movie; she hadn't seen any of them before, and she was actually a little nervous about how Aquaria might view the Xeno movies with their sometimes simplistic 'humans vs non-humans' plotlines.

Bump.

So is there a way we can move forward without Handyman? I love this set-up, and would hate to lose this thread if we can avoid it.

What films about what characters are on the list?

Is he actually planning to go into Silberman's for coffee?

Not even daring to look over her shoulder, Gretchen took to the air and headed Northwest away from the city, hoping to spot a clearing somewhere in the Pine Barrens where she could land and attempt to destroy the urn. She finally spotted what looked like an abandoned picnic shelter in a remote area of the woods. Dropping down out of the sky, she placed the urn on one of the tables, took a step back and just stared at it, rubbing her face with gloved hand. "Now what the hell do I do with it?"

So it would indeed be an undercover gig, at least to some extent; a few pseudonyms had floated around Casey's head during her preparations, and while she didn't really love any of them, one kept bobbing back to the surface. She guessed her mentor thought she was being a little silly with all the dress-up, which hurt a bit; maybe if she showed off a few new tricks? She turned towards the Handyman, lowered her sunglasses, and a burst of white-hot light shot out of her eyes, instantly vaporizing the King of Spades in his fingers without so much as scortching them. It was her first time demonstrating her heatvision in public, and she felt a little thrill in her belly. Then she raised her shades back up and smiled at Terrifica as she spoke with a stranger's voice. "Call me Hardcase." She kind of hoped at least some of that was surprising!

I just noticed the obvious, stupid joke on the side of that van picture; obviously it doesn't say 'CIA' on the side of your van! So, the team is parked across the street from Silberman's Books; if you would choose a different time, I can change it from a little after noon. The Handyman can be wearing whatever you want. Edit: for the purposes of story, I will allow Ramirez to have successfully placed bugs in a few places in the store earlier, but not in her apartment upstairs.

GM The corner of Pratt and Frederick in the West End. Thursday, August 11th, 2016. 12:15pm. Despite the many advances in surveillance technology in the 21st Century, sometimes you still needed to park a van across the street from your target. Luckily, AEGIS had a few unique tricks up its sleeves; this particular surveillance unit could shift between any of twenty different mimetic camouflage configurations, including plumber's, gas, cable, florist's and other innocuous cover skins. Inside of course was entirely different story; the van was thoroughly equipped with a wide variety of sensors and recording equipment, including low-light, UV and IR imaging in both a roof-mounted periscope and a small, deployable drone, a full set of bugging gear, and secure, scrambled satellite uplink. There was even a small fridge, microwave and chemical head, though the last was very unpleasant to use. So far, the day had been uneventful; since she lived in one of the apartments over the store, Epstein had yet to go outside, and all the bugs had picked up was the usual retail chitchat. Agent Sullivan was a fairly standard-issue console jockey Fed in his mid-twenties, tall and slender with prematurely thinning blonde hair. Despite his bean pole build, he was seemingly always eating, and most of the fridge was crammed with his food. Right now, he was chomping on a massive egg salad sandwich on rye as he checked and rechecked the surveillance gear. Ramirez was older, probably early thirties, with a bit more field experience under her belt; she was just over five feet tall, but all of it was tight muscle, and she seemed almost incapable of relaxing. It became very clear through her occasional comments that she had some serious issues with capes, and interactions with Black were clipped though civil. She spent most of her time in the driver's seat, sipping black coffee from a Thermos. Both agents wore nondescript gray coveralls which concealed holstered sidearms, and small, discrete earpieces. "You hungry, chief," asked Sullivan as he took a sip of Pepsi. "My girlfriend made me two sandwiches."

Despite herself, Casey did shiver a bit when Aquaria revealed her teeth, but she did her best to kerp her reaction off her face. "Okay, well, I'll try to bring a variety of things, and you can can eat whatever you want." She paused as she chose her next words carefully. "Do you prefer your meat raw or cooked? I'd be happy to bring either, or both." When the Deep One spoke of 'high places', the blonde heroine looked thoughtful. "Do you mean like on top of high buildings, or something else? I love sitting high up; the cold doesn't bother me and I love the view."

It was time to finish this fight; Casey took to the air, rising up in a graceful arc before slamming back downwards, her booted foot neatly decapitating the drone with a powerful spinning kick. The head went sailing off into sea as she dropped into a ready stance, feet planted and fists up before her, a determined look in her eyes as the rain continued to pour down. Shaking her damp hair out of her eyes, the blonde powerhouse grinned at the last drone, and it was not at all sunny or cheerful. "Looks like it's just you and me now, little tin can; show me what you got!"

Will post here when I get home!

Fine with a scene cut! How do you wish to use them specifically? Edit: when I get home tonight, I will post a classic surveillance van scene!

GM "As far as I'm concerned, this is still a standard surveillance op; I'm assigning you two agents, Sullivan and Ramirez, along with a van. Use them as you see fit." Spaulding handed him two standard AEGIS folders; Agents David Sullivan and Sofia Ramirez both appeared to be capable agents, with distinguished if uneventful careers. The deputy director paused to pour himself another glass of water. "I do want to make clear, agent, that it's possible, though unlikely, that Epstein is legit; capes live...different lives from the rest of us. I'm sure you've heard the stories." He took a long, slow sip. "That is to say, this is still the United States, and we are all, even...whatever Epstein is, innocent until proven guilty." The former navy officer turned to silently stare out the window for some time; was Black dismissed? But then he spoke again. "I also want to make clear this is not a 'cowboy' operation; the safety of the citizens of Freedom must always be considered. If Epstein makes you, we will not deny your existence; you can be honest and proudly admit to being a government agent, with the full force of this agency behind you." Then he turned to gaze at Black with those pale blue eyes. "You're never alone, agent; never forget that."

In general, when Terrifica asked her to do something, Casey was always game, but this time she hesitated a bit, because the whole thing sounded just a bit...illegal. As in, committing an actual crime, which she was pretty sure good guys weren't supposed to do. But she had faith in her mentor, and then she thought about how much she loved the National Treasure movies, and how those were about good guys stealing stuff before the bad guys did, so this was probably one of those deals. And then she began to fantasize about how good she'd be in a bank robbery, and the little bad girl inside every good girl squeeled with glee. The look: She wasn't actually sure if this was undercover or not, but she figured her normal uniform was a no-go attention-wise, so she bought a lot of tough, durable clothing, all in black and all paid for in cash. Boots, loose cut jeans, zip up jacket and driving gloves. And the biggest pair of sunglasses she could find. Her hair was twisted into a tight French braid that hung between her shoulders. She wore more makeup than she usually did, but not in a slutty way; she was going for mature and sophisticated, which to her meant dark burgandy lipstick and a smoky look around the eyes. Case knew it wouldn't actually make her look much older, but she just didn't want to look much like her. The 'tude: She decided it would probably be the best for everyone if she didn't talk too much, as it would only highlight her inexperience; she would keep her comments and questions brief and to the point, maybe even act a little bored, as if to say 'This isn't my first rodeo', one of Dad's favorite phrases. Chewing gum would help her keep her mouth shut and maybe burn up a little nervous energy. The voice: Maybe she was getting paranoid (Terrifica would be proud), but at the last minute she decided to change her voice; it would make her sound less like a kid and help cloud the issue of her identity if things went south. Casey tried a few on for size, finally picking something between the smokiness of Scarlett Johanssen and 'take no prisoners' directness of Charlize Theron. Casey flew a few quick passes over the building, noting three heat signitures with her IR; one was fairly normal, one was way off to one side (probably Terrifica, being sneaky and/or paranoid), but the last one was weird as heck. Was someone actually on fire down there? The blonde would-be thief landed a few blocks away and casually strolled to the warehouse, hands in her jacket pockets; once she got there, she made a beeline for one of the chairs and took a seat, her long legs crossed before her, and didn't say a word as she methodically chewed her gum. Nailed it.

Cape: I don't think Terrifica is out in the open, but in fact hiding in the shadows waiting for the dramatic reveal, unless you have a power that lets you see her.

Casey wasn't sure what she was expecting to see underneath that helmet, but somehow it wasn't a frog creature, even though in retrospect the way her limbs bent should have been a dead giveway. And not just any frog creature, but one who felt it was important to show her face even though she was afraid of what she might think. The blonde heroine paused for a few seconds, utterly fascinated by that alien yet somehow innocent face, before remembering her manners. She smiled and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Ackweera; my name's Casey Blankenship." She did her best to pronounce the name the same way the Deep One did, and her handshake was firm without crushing. "So, it sounds like what we need is for me to get my iPad, so we can find out which of these movies are streaming. Then we need to find a good place to watch them; do you know a good place? I can bring food for us, too."