Mayhem for Sale (IC)

[Geez3r]

May 14th, 2011

It was just another patrol for these two experienced heroes. This one however had more of a specific purpose than just the traditional sort of general patrol. Recently the street crime of Freedom City had been escalating. Someone, somewhere was getting powerful weapons into Freedom City. Military grade and beyond. Off a bit of a hunch and some good old fashioned legwork, the heroes have deduced that another shipment is due to come into Port Regal in the coming days. This particular shipment is supposedly to be used in an arms deal, and many powerful members of Freedom's underworld are said to be in attendance. Finding the exact meeting place for the deal however proved impossible.

Regardless, the heroes kept their ears to the ground and it appears as if it will pay off tonight. It's about 3 in the morning when a convoy of black SUV's roll into the pier, after a few heavily armed individuals set up a perimeter, they begin loading the SUV's with crates scattered around the pier, apparently kept separate so that the whole cache wouldn't be discovered.

[Quinn]

Push lay prone across a nearby balcony, looking through his goggles at maximum zoom. Arms deals weren't usually his scene, but Blueshift had asked for his help; apparently she'd been watching the airwaves and doing a lot of legwork looking for these bozos, and she wanted some help taking them down. Not that he was complaining, any chance to see her in that bodysuit was usually reward enough. He'd also been making progress helping her along with some of those difficulties she was having with keeping her nose out of things as well, channeling them more into dealing with crime, even providing her with a few books by Max Haines and the like (unsolved murder mysteries from a couple dozen years back were great placeholders).

"Bonnie, this is Clyde, I'm looking at...around twenty goons, seven obviously armed. Looks like...machine guns, probably AKs. Six SUVs, generic black ones, can't see the plates from my position. Crates are being loaded, probably got the goods inside. Can you confirm?"

[quotemyname]

"Bonnie? Clyde? Thought we were the good guys. Besides. What happened to Sonny and Cher?" Blueshift was already a lot closer than Push was. Her active camoflage allowed her to creep much closer than Push without fear of detection. That is until the damn thing went haywire like it always did. "Roger on six SUV's. No plates. They're too smart for that." Blueshift whispered into her radio as she rolled unseen under the first SUV. She busied herself with messing with the drive train, "Thinking on my feet. Quick plan: Sabotage most of the cars. Follow one. But before we scare the little chickens, I want a look in that warehouse. Even the boat if I can." While relaying her hasty plan to Push, she silently used a small knife to cut along the insides of the vehicle's tires. With any luck, they'd blow out as soon as the vehicle started moving.

[Quinn]

Push eyed the icon on his goggles' HUD that indicated Blueshift's location, before returning to watching the various thugs. None seemed obviously in charge, besides the ones with heavy ordnance, and the unmarked crates leant no indication of their contents. Switching to infravision for a moment, he noted the heat levels of the nearby warehouses before returning to conventional view.

"Hey, Bonnie and Clyde had a wonderful relationship, Blue. The couple that steals together stays together, yeah?"

She mentioned enterting the building, and he nodded reflexively, before chuckling and shaking his head self-depreciatingly.

"Roger that, keep me posted. If things go south, I'll come in hard and fast."

[quotemyname]

"That's true." Blueshift whispered as she rolled underneath the second car, "Just as long as no one's calling me your Yoko Ono behind my back." Blueshift repeated her work on the second car, damaging the tires just enough that they wouldn't burst until the car got moving.

"Roger that, keep me posted. If things go south, I'll come in hard and fast."

Blueshift's face turned bright red. She was suddenly a lot warmer, and continually thankful that no one could see her, "Push!" Came her hoarse, whispered reply as she nearly fumbled the knife, "I thought I was the one that said things without thinking!"

[Quinn]

The voice that came over the radio was low and amused, Push smiling behind his goggles from the rooftop he was on.

"How do you know I wasn't thinking?"

He chuckled, turning his gaze on the second car that he guessed she was under. The guards seemed to be just patrolling around, crates being moved into place with swift efficiency.

[Geez3r]

Unaware of the heroes in their midst, the goons continue their work. In short order, two of the SUV's are loaded with 4 crates each. Through it all the goons remain quiet except for the grunts they make when they first heft the crafts onto dollies. The crates are apparently pretty darn heavy judging by the reaction of the goons. The loading goons look like they want to take a break, but a sharp look from one of the men with the machine guns promptly gets their motivation back, as they start wheeling the dollie aboard the ship docked nearby.

[quotemyname]

The voice that came over the radio was low and amused, Push smiling behind his goggles from the rooftop he was on.

"How do you know I wasn't thinking?"

"Push!" Blueshift exclaimed a little too loudly. She knew that her cloaking device also distorted the airwaves around her so as to mask what she said, but you could never be too careful. "We're ... Not now, okay? Outside and... Trying... Concentrate." her cheeks had been red before. Now her whole face was crimson. "Okay, hoooooo,

She let out a breath, trying to calm herself down, "Skipping car three. Moving to car 4. Southeast." She rolled, coming up under the chassis of the next SUV. Taking out her knife, she once again, damaged the tires, setting them to blow. "Know how much you like looking at me, but see if you can nail down their patrol patterns instead, okay, Honey?

[Quinn]

Push facepalmed then winced, rubbing his hand where it had connected with the metal goggles. The light clang had actually gone through the radio, and he winced again.

"Considering I can't actually see you...doesn't look like steady patrol patterns, they're just walking around. Thinking of skipping the building and going for the boat?"

[quotemyname]

"Well, think about it." She suggested, "You, me, the ocean at night, the stars..." She let her words hang over the radio, "Could be fun."

"That's the plan." Blueshift was back to business, quickly rolling to the next car, now underneath the easternmost car. "Buildings don't move. Boat might get away." She busied herself sabotaging the tires on that car as well.

[Quinn]

Push coughed, his own face turning red, and he pulled at the collar of his coat.

"Oi, oi, you're making me blush. I thought I was supposed to be the dangerous bad boy and you the delightfully awkward genius inventor. Keep it up and I'll start to feel inferior."

His tone was jocular as he watched the patrols around the boat, waiting for the key moment...

"Ok, coast is clear, you can move on-board."

[quotemyname]

"Oi, oi, you're making me blush. I thought I was supposed to be the dangerous bad boy and you the delightfully awkward genius inventor. Keep it up and I'll start to feel inferior."

"Just returning the favor!"

"Ok, coast is clear, you can move on-board."

After the fifth car, this sixth was short work as well. No patrol pattern. Actually smart. Gonna have to wing it. Ummm.... Now looks good!

Blueshift crawled out from under the last of the cars, and dashed toward the cargo ship. The rockets on her boots sent her rocketing off the pier. The magnetized modifications on the end of her gauntlets allowed her to scale the side of the ship through a series of wall jumps. Shame no one can actually see this. Kinda cool looking.

"Push..." She whispered as she swung herself over the railing and crouched low, "I'm on board."

[Geez3r]

The deck of the ship bears all the hallmarks of a ship that has come from far overseas, lots of shipping manifests, different languages on the containers, the whole bit. One of the storage containers has been opened, apparently with a key as the lock is still in tact. Among the other items in the large storage crate are the smaller weapons crates, which were apparently obscured by some tires to get it through customs, though there was likely a bribe at some point along the line. The goons fill up their dollie with 2 of the crates, leaving 2 more behind as their dollie couldn't carry all 4. From her vantage point, Blueshift could see the rest of the goons were going to leave these 2 goons to the ship, plus the one guardsman on the ramp (who didn't have a direct view to the large storage crate in question) to finish up, as they were busy with their own tasks.

[Quinn]

Push looked through his goggles at the deck of the ship, then back at the guys on the ground.

"Alright, doesn't look like they're going to take much longer to load the crates. Check the ship, take out the guards if you think it's neccessary, but see if you can find the captain or whoever's in charge. I'm going to head to the secondary position and get ready to hit the convoy once they get ready to roll out."

For a moment, he stroked his chin, pondering. This part of the operation'd be the riskiest part, at least there he had a quick entrance and plenty of spaces to throw blasts, but a boat'd be all small corridors and passageways. Blue'd be way more effective in there than him, and less likely to cause collateral damage. He came to a decision, then he gave a small smile.

"And it's Gabe. Gabriel. Not Push. Stay safe."

He lifted the goggles, then hopped off the building, kicking in the jets and moving to the secondary building overlooking the docks.

[quotemyname]

"Roger that." Blueshift looked at the side of the container. At first all she saw was the shipping manifest, but in seconds or less, she'd reached out to her various sources and retracted all kinds of in formation. "Push, shipping manifest here. Customs agent, Germany: Aledi Frausen. Nothing on Interpol. No priors." She quickly read more, and dug deeper, "Supplying company: Braufen Corporation, Germany. Supplying GM for 6 years now. New R&D branch in FC. Ooh fancy new secret project. Rumor mill says it's a motor. Nothing else on it though. I..."

"Alright, doesn't look like they're going to take much longer to load the crates. Check the ship, take out the guards if you think it's neccessary, but see if you can find the captain or whoever's in charge. I'm going to head to the secondary position and get ready to hit the convoy once they get ready to roll out."

"And it's Gabe. Gabriel. Not Push. Stay safe."

"Yea, I'll do that. Rachel. Over and out."

In a blur of motion, Blueshift dashed behind the two remaining guards. There was a flash of light, and a crackle of electricity. The first of the guards went down, tasered by the Tesla Gauntlet strapped to blueshift's arm. He never saw it coming. His partner bit the dust not seconds after him, KO'ed the same way.

Now let's see what's in these crates...

[Geez3r]

The goons drop quickly enough, but the sound and light of crackling lightning quickly alerts the rest of the goons that they aren't alone. Immediately they start shouting incoherent orders at one another as they all make for the SUV's, seemingly perfectly willing to leave their comrades in arms to whatever fate has befallen them. The goons that were loading the crates into the SUV's suddenly go about their task double time, throwing the crates in quickly before slamming the trunk closed, all thoughts of stealth having quite left their minds. The lookouts don't even seem concerned with keeping a weather eye out and are returning to the SUV's like all the others, though perhaps they are going so for cover if they have a fire fight.

[quotemyname]

The job was now on the clock. She needed information about what was in those crates. She needed it fast, before Push had to hit the convoy. She scrambled toward the crates, pulling one of the many tools from her belt, she forced the top open as quickly as possible. Secured tightly within each crate were eight guns each. But not just guns, high tech ones. These were practically out of Popular Science, or they would be if they'd been put together properly.

The guns looked like some feeble attempt at developing low grade rail guns. Unless it was just the prototypes she was holding, or there was something buried deep within their construction that she had no knowledge of, these weapons were not from the top shelf. However, with the amount of crates that had already been loaded, the lack of any sort of accurate shipping manifest, and the unpredictability of criminals, there was really no way of knowing what was in the rest of the crates. Though, at this point she felt confident she could hazard a guess. "Push! Payload is non-volatile. I repeat, non-volatile. We've got guns, not bombs."

She quickly holstered the weapon she was holding over her shoulder. Attaching it to the bandolier that held her Cloaking device generators, she made her way back out of the container. "Best guess, that's all there is on the ship. I'm coming back on land ASAP."

[Quinn]

"Roger, coming in hot."

Push took a running leap off of the last building, wind whipping around him and billowing out his coat and scarf as he launched himself towards the dock and kicked in the jets. With a roar of energy he soared over the scrambling mooks, charging up a whole pile of kinetic power.

Focusfocusfocusfocusfocus...hah!

Just like when he'd tussled with Haru's army of ninjas, he clapped his hands together and threw them apart, a whole storm of energy orbs filling the sky around him like so many stars. A flick of the wrist, and he watched with a satisfied smile as a most painful rain descended upon the crooks caught outside of their vehicles.

[Geez3r]

Despite their mad dash and their best efforts, the street thugs are still just street thugs. They are completely unprepared to take on a super in a direct fight, and as such, drop like flies being hit with an oversized mallet. There apparently being no honor among thieves, the goons that were already in the SUV's show no signs of even considering to help their downed comrades. They instead focused all of their efforts on getting their vehicles to move NOW. As such, none of them even considered closing the doors to the SUV's.

[quotemyname]

Blueshift pulled a small item from her belt and attached it to her headset. It would upgrade the capabilities of her visor to track the vehicle that they needed to. She fired up the jets in her boots and dashed down the ramp after the fleeing villains.

She positioned herself in the center of the array of SUV's. Only one of which she knew would actually be able to drive off. She was quite the radiant sight, Her suit and gadgets glowing a bright baby blue along the power lines and at each of the devices cast a strange almost neon glow around her during the night. The long rifle she'd invented, and the strangely primitive Gauss rifle strapped to her back, and her right arm held up, the Tesla gauntlet still cracking with electricity. "Attention, scumbags!" she called out. "Don't try running. We'll just find you. Cooperate and we'll go easy on you!"

[Geez3r]

For their part, the goons were at least dutiful and loyal because they still weren't stopping their attempted delivery in the face of the heroes. Even after most of the tires burst on the getaway cars, they still weren't deterred, keeping their feet on the gas. The SUV's were now much harder to control and quite a bit slower. So long as they didn't try any hairpin manuevers, they should work well enough, though it would make tracking them incredibly easy due to the grooves being cut into the pavement. Those in the sabotaged vehicles, open fire on Blueshift, but their aim is rather terrible, and Blueshift is rather nimble.

[Quinn]

Push yanked his targeting goggles from the bag, slinging them over his head and staring at the convoy moving off with a consternated look underneath his scarf. Choking back a quick curse, he tapped the 'link and hung in midair, waiting.

"Bugger. Blue, tires didn't slow 'em down, they're rolling off anyway. Shouldn't be that hard to track, the rims'll be lit up like torches from the friction; you need backup down there or should I follow those jerks from above?"

[quotemyname]

"I got this," Blueshift replied as she prepared to tuck and roll behind a pile of boxes for cover, "Stick to the plan. Follow the ones that might actually get away. The others we can track later. You go. I'll catch up!

[Quinn]

"On it!"

Kicking the jets to the max, Push fairly rocketed off, shooting high into the clouds. Using his goggles, he kept a solid lock on the convoy as it rolled off at top speed, moving through the streets to their destination. Slowly but surely, the kineticist gathered energy into himself; wherever they were going, once they got there he'd be pulling off his best meteor impression.

Let's see you shill those weapons when they're just hunks of twisted metal, yeah?

[quotemyname]

"Why do they always try and run?!" Blueshift quickly un-slung one of the rifles strapped to her back, "Okay, listen up!" She called out, hoping to be heard above the din of rifle fire, "This is your warning shot!" She pulled a small cartridge from her belt, and loaded it into the rifle's under barrel. With a sharp, *THOOMP* the projectile launched into the midst of the fleeing trucks. An electrical explosion burst in the center of the group of vehicles frying their electrical systems. "Quit while your ahead, or I start using the rubber bullets! Trust me, they hurt!" After the explosion went off, she dashed toward the furthest vehicles, pursuing them as best she could.