Morning in America (IC)

[angrydurf]

As Chris and Mark moved forward to see what kind of aircraft was in the offing Mike hung back and turned to Erin, "Yea I told her that. Alex has a good head on her shoulders hopefully she can keep James and Eddie from doing anything too dangerous." Mike wasn't entirely certain that was possible between James devil may care attitude and Eddies somewhat spastic tendancies she woudl deffinately have her hands full.

Mike struggled briefly with whether or nto to say anything more but the fact was he knew thigns were still awkward between Erin and himself, "So uhhh I'm sorry about the other day. You're right if I'm gonna be doing this I can't do it halfway. Maybe we can work out a more productive training when we get back?" He was trying to be as tactful as possible now was deffinately not the time to reopen the whole issue but Mike needed to know she understood thet he was there for her ant he rest of them onehundred percent before they went into this.

[Ecalsneerg]

Geckoman walked over and peered at the controls. "Hmmm... looks simple enough. If I can fly something with three control sticks with little difficulty, one with even less should be fine. Besides, if I crash, all I need to do is go for a water landing."

"How close is this base to water? It'll be hella easier to get there unnoticed underwater than by flying a submarine at it."

[Electra]

Erin ran a hand over her hair, looking about as uncomfortable as Mike felt. "Yeah, I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have said anything about your issues when I've got my own to figure out. If and when we get back, maybe we can do better. But if it's robots... well, we're both good at robots." She shrugged, not really able to think of anything else to say about that. "Anyway, the faster we get this done, the less likely anyone in the other group is to get hurt. You ready?" She nodded towards the door of the submarine thing.

[Avenger Assembled]

"The Nazi base is built right over the old American naval installation," said Lilith with the air of a woman discussing a Satanic temple built in a cathedral. "You should be able to get the submarine right up to it." Edge asked some questions about the defenses they'd be dealing with, and from the sound of things there'd be some stiff opposition. Between the mines and robotic sea-snakes in the water, navigating would be a challenge, to say the least. But if they got there fast enough, the base wouldn't have time to call for help from the massive combat robots already engaging the Resistance's pitiful few superhumans elsewhere.

"All right, do you people think you can do this?" asked Lilith. "I'm going to stay in touch by radio here," she said, handing a massive walkie-talkie that looked decades old to Edge, "but you'll be on your own once you arrive. Remember, you need to smash the factory beyond repair, get the dimensional modulator, and get back here as fast as you can."

[angrydurf]

"That simple huh?" Mike asked sarcastically, "No time like the present right lets get going the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get the others." Mike knew they had little chance of getting their friends before the others attacked the other base but trying couldn't hurt.

He looked to his teammates, "Lets get it done, just like before right? Bust up some robots and break some stuff then we're outta there." From his grim tone it was clear mike knew just how different this would be, these weren't some punk kids playing games but trained soldiers and state of the art Nazi killbots.

[Ecalsneerg]

"That simple? Nah, we need a slightly better plan than sail in, smash up, get out," pondered Geckoman. "There's got to be some form of explosives or munitions dump in their base. If we can find a way to get some explosives in there, half our job is done for us already. That said, it'd be best to find this modulator whatsit before it all goes kablooie. We can't risk not getting back home."

[Electra]

"We don't want to blow it up if we can disable it," Erin pointed out. "There's a lot of salvage value in a place like that, if we can get it away from the Nazis. Even in just raw materials, much less all the top of the line equipment they must have to be turning out brand new robots." She looked to Lilith for confirmation. "We need to break it so they can't fix it, but if you can get in there and clean it out, that's better, right?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'm sure we'll be okay," said Edge, not sounding too worried by the enemy they'd be facing. "I mean, I know we're understrength, but we've got some of our best people. We'll be beaming Alex and the others off Kaiju Island before you know it." He nodded, serious despite his positive attitude. "If we go in subtly, take out the robots but leave resources behind for the Resistance to use, as well as get our own modulator, we'll have done a lot of good for everybody." With confirmation from Lilith that leaving behind technology would give the Resistance a valuable edge against the Nazis, the Resistance leader left the kids with professional salutes for each of them. "I'll make sure we get a team in behind you as soon as we can. Good luck, soldiers."

[angrydurf]

"Ok then, so anyone know how exactly to disable the factory but leave it intact enough to be salvaged?" Mike asked. He understood the desire to leave supplies for the resistance but how they were supposed to do that and not leave it easily repairable for the Nazis seemed near impossible.

None the less he stepped into the seahawk and strapped himself in wanting to get underway and done with as quickly as possible.

[Electra]

Erin strapped in as well, intent enough on the mission to keep her from being more than a little nervous at the idea of Geckoman piloting the flying submarine. She shrugged at Mike's question. "She said if we can destroy the robots, the Nazis will decide the new technology doesn't work very well and scrap the program. I'd say that's what we should concentrate on, then play the rest by ear. Once the robots are gone, we should have time to decide what to smash and what to take."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," said Edge confidently, buckling himself in next to Geckoman in the co-pilot's seat. He had no idea how to read any of these old-fashioned gauges or dials, but he was sure he'd be able to help Chris figure it out if there was a crisis with them. "Lock and load, buddy," he said, clapping Geckoman on the shoulder. "Let's see what you can do with this thing."

[Ecalsneerg]

Geckoman pulled a hammer from his utility belt and handed it to Mark. "Sparks or cogs go flying? Percussive maintenance always works. Trust me." He then started flicking switches and pulling levers. "Ok, let's all go get shot," he exclaimed happily, tugging on the wheel and attempting to force the machine into life. It didn't. So he whacked it with a wrench and tried again.

[angrydurf]

"Yeah that inspires confidence." Mike said suddenly glad he was near an exit in case the thing stalled out mid air.

"So do we go in by air or sea?" He asked, the talk of mines and robo-sharks or whatever seemd to outweigh at least to his mind any stealth they woudl gain. Of course he wasn't much for the sneaky aproach regardless.

[Electra]

"Air will be faster, and we won't have to deal with the robotic sea snakes Lilith was talking about. Put it down on a roof and get going," Erin pointed out, wincing a little at the pounding noises from the cockpit. "Depends on how fast this thing can go, but Lonely Point is only a few miles away. If all else fails, we set this thing down and go in on foot or by flying."

Leaning out of her seat, she called to the front, "What kind of weapons are on this thing, Chris?" To Mike she added, "If this has decent weapons, you and I could drop out and fight, and leave them to hit from the air."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Yeah that inspires confidence." Mike said suddenly glad he was near an exit in case the thing stalled out mid air.

"You want to fly? Because, so help me, any backseat piloting I will pull over and we'll see how you do!" said Chris indignantly, flicking a couple of switches experimentally. "I think underwater is still safer, as even if we don't have mines and stuff, we're still flying a submarine into Nazi territory. Just because they don't have robot sharks in the sky doesn't mean they lack conventional aircraft. Although," he peered at a couple of labelled switches. "I think we have machine guns. Maybe torpedoes. Do robot sharks explode easily?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Between Edge's impressive good luck and Geckoman's considerable piloting skill, the two teenagers in the front seats were able to guide their flying submarine through the grim and murky waters of Wading Way. The old-fashioned submarine was a bit more claustrophobic than the nuclear subs like the Nautilus Mark had toured as a kid, and its old gauges and knobs were certainly much harder for him to read. But he trusted Geckoman to get the job done as they went, and they certainly seemed to be doing a very fine job. "How are you at navigating?" Edge murmured to Geckoman, trying not to think about all the water up and above their heads. It turned out to be not that difficult to get out to Lonely Point, though, Chris' talents rewarding Mark's faith in him.

As they reached the peninsula, Mark busted out the map. "I think it's best if we come out there," he murmured. "If we go all the way around the base, they won't expect us to come from the rear...probably."

[angrydurf]

Mike wasn't sure if Mark trying to plan was a good thing or not but he didn't have any better ideas so he agreed, "Seems like a good point of entry. I mean I doubt there will be more guards on the back side right?"

"So do we wanna try Erins idea? Have the two of us air drop in while you all give us air support?" He asked then thought for a moment before adding, "Or we could drop in to clear a landing area so we don't have to worry about the SeaHawk getting taken out before we get out."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I should go in with the two of you," said Edge, looking from Wander to Phalanx. "My powers may not be able to reach you if we go up high enough, and you may need my help down there. Geckoman's a much better pilot than I'll ever be, I'm sure he can handle this thing on his own." He gave Chris a reassuring smile. "I think our best bet is to drop in, clear a landing area if necessary, and then beat our way into the compound. Try and find the power plant, maybe, or the factory where they make the robots in particular."

[Electra]

"If that's what you want to do," Erin told Mark. "It seems like Chris has the controls handled pretty well, and you do make fights easier. But I'm not sure if we should divide up so that one person is alone, even in a flying submarine. We don't have any backup coming if things go bad here. If three of us are going, we should all go."

[Ecalsneerg]

"I have an... idea," pondered Geckoman. "We split into two teams. One team goes to find the modulator. The second achieves the primary objective, that of beating up lots of Nazis. That way, we've both got a distraction so we can get the doohickey that'll get us home, and we're concurrently doing what the rebel peeps need us to do."

[angrydurf]

"Well can we safely land this thing without clearing an area?" Mike asked. "I mean if we lose the plane we're in a bit of a rough spot getting out. I can probably carry all of you but I dunno if that'll just bring those ubermensche down on us."

"But teams don't seem like a bad idea overall." he added with a shrug, "Planning isn't really my thing, any thoughts fearless leader?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I don't know," admitted Edge, "Um..." He missed Alex, very badly, and was just about to say that when he spotted a large metal object attached to the edge of the control console of the Seahawk. Pulling it away curiously, he looked Chris' way and said, "Hey, does this look like a remote control for you? A remote for the Seahawk?" With its sword-length antenna and bulky box shape, the remote was something out of another era, just like the Seahawk itself. He handed the big box to Chris. "So you can control the Seahawk from the ground and we all go in, you think?"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Yeah, that'd work," mused Chris. "We just do like I do with the Pitchoo, leave it up in the clouds or something. Or I could leave it underwater and home the Nazis' technology wouldn't attack a stationary object."

[Avenger Assembled]

"And if we need it to come to our aid, you can bring it up into the air," suggested Edge. With the decision made to leave the Seahawk in the water for now, the four teens completed their journey to Lonely Point. The Nazi guards were alert, but apparently not too alert. There were no interlopers as they approached a lonely stretch of beach, the Nazis having not bothered to conceal the barbed wire fences and mines on the sand before them. What was a large, open US naval base on Earth-Prime was here a grim-walled fortress, a place where the rumble of machinery was audible even inside the Seahawk as they made their way up to the beach.

"All right, let's do this," said Edge, having changed into the costume that he had once again luckily thought to put under his clothes. "Get over the wall and start tearing up the place. If there are any people there, we use them to tell us where the modulator is. If there aren't any, we rip up the place and get it ready ourselves. I figure Phalanx takes me and Geckoman over the wall and Wander jumps it. And we keep the Seahawk in reserve." He looked from one to the other. "Everybody ready?"

[Ecalsneerg]

"I could just walk up the wall, y'know... rather than the whole luggage thing..." Geckoman checked his belt and armed his zappers. "Other than that, let's go slap a Nazi!"