ic New Ventures (IC)

[KnightDisciple]

Greenbank, Freedom City
Friday, January 10th, 8:00pm
 
They'd all started getting whispers, but they came from different places.
 
Shadowblade was still making her mark on the city, but she'd heard rumors on more than one patrol that someone was restarting the same sort of experiment she'd busted up at that school just a few weeks ago. Except, this sounded bigger. With even more planning and setup, and in an area few seemed to care about. 
 
Blodeuwedd's patrols had gotten her a lot of rumblings about...well, it wasn't so much a "gang war" as it was "outsiders gobbling up territory". Except these outsiders played things smart. One day, suddenly several of the not-quite-empty warehouses were no longer under their existing management. Some of the previous tenants had made it out with rumors of men (and a few women) in matte black uniforms moving like ghosts in the night. People in uniforms that sometimes had guns, sometimes nothing. Always scary. Not all of the tenants (a polite term for small and medium gangs squatting in warehouses and other buildings) made it out, though some were whispering they weren't dead, they just switched "sides".

 

Graft had been hearing rumbles from many of his patients coming through the clinic. Most were homeless people who'd seen these strange people lurking about, or just barely missed their "grabs". But they didn't seem to be primarily targeting the random homeless and transients. Instead, the primary targets were gang members! The folks Graft talked to mentioned at one point seeing black-clothed figures nab a half-dozen gang-bangers without killing them. A couple nights later, it seemed like there were even more paramilitary folks running around...

 

Comrade Frost, meanwhile, had gotten some disturbing rumors himself. Rumors of the mafiya being paid a pretty penny to help move a lot of very interesting things into a couple of warehouses right on the river. Things like lots of high-end scientific materials, loads and loads of wires and cables and pipes and ropes, prefabricated housing and other long-term residence supplies...

And weapons. Nothing too big, all man-portable, and nothing incredibly advanced. But weapons nonetheless.

But it wasn't a continuing operation; it was a one-and-done transport deal, conducted with some people who were so professional you could cut paper on it. Not a pretty picture, but he hadn't heard of anything major getting blown up. Yet. 

 

Now, what would they all be doing about it?

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd stood on the edge of a nearby building her cloak swirling in the breeze. She hadn’t yet bother with any concealment, heroes on rooftop was so common in Freedom City few gave them any heed.

From within her hood the eerie green glow of her goggles scanned the nearby warehouses looking for any obvious sign of what had happened. Soon she’d need to investigate on the ground level, but first she wasn’t a decent tactical overview of everything.

 

Deciding she had gathered enough information she grabbed out her grapple gun ready to travel down closer to the warehouses that seemed to be the source of the trouble.

Edited January 13, 2014 by TiffanyKorta

[Corsecjedi]

Shadowblade had traced the rumors and whispers back to this facility, a compound of worn warehouses and prefabricated modules.  She kept to the shadows as she approached and then began a wary circuit of the compound.  She took careful note of the guards posted at the entrances to the alleyways, as well as the patrolling groups; she kept her distance as she scouted the perimeter and planned out the best way to infiltrate the site.

 

Then, near the end of her circuit, she spotted a lone figure on a nearby rooftop, a figured garbed and hooded in dark blue.  Something about her clothes and stance made it clear to Shadowblade that this was no member of the site's security force.  The other figure looked to be surveying the complex she had just circled - perhaps someone else who had heard the rumors or whispers about this place?

 

She shadow-jumped to the top of the building, careful to appear in the figure's line of sight - better safe than sorry, in her opinion.  "Hail and well met, friend," she murmured quietly as she approached the other woman.  "Thou art seeking knowledge of what passes here?  If thou wilt, I would happily join thee in the doing."  She sketched a quick bow, "Canst call me Shadowblade, milady."

Edited January 15, 2014 by Corsecjedi

[Thunder King]

He leaped from rooftop to rooftop, using his biomass enhanced legs to cover great distances. When it was no longer prudent to approach in that way, he ran the rest of the way until he reached a building on the outskirts. mind went over what they told him about this facility, and expected to get into a serious fight eventually.

 

Then he spotted the two women, probably superheroes. He put on his 'friendly face'. Made sure that he had two eyes, in the right location. Made the suit take on a consistent chitinous form. No bones or muscles or tendons sticking out at odd angles. Being rather large and weird looking was quite enough.

 

"Hello." He said, stepping forward. "I see I'm not alone in this."

[Avenger Assembled]

An icy fog with glowing red eyes poured onto the roof with the heroes, gradually reforming itself into a weird figure in blue and white, his red eyes glowing from the darkness beneath a fuzzy white and blue parka. "Good evening," Comrade Frost intoned in his heavy Eastern European accent. "Listen to you, children of Freedom! What music you make." Suppressing a brief chuckle at the self-indulgent joke, Frost spread his gloved hands. "So, we share mutual interest in investigation, yes? I am veteran of these things. And part of your Freedom League, yes?" Truth be told the People's Hero's membership in the League was only in the auxilary, but it certainly wasn't a lie to say such things. "You, big fellow," he said, pointing to Graft, "you as tough as you look? We can kick in door porheps while young ladies enter through rear?" 

[Corsecjedi]

Shadowblade turned to the red-eyed Russian man and the other man in the slightly sinister armor and gave them both a sharp, welcoming nod - their appearance alone would be unsettling, particularly in a surprise assault like the Russian hero suggested.  "Sooth, sirrah, though I confess that I but chanced to cross the path of the lady here," she said in answer to the man in armor.  

 

She turned then to Comrade Frost.  "A workable plan, methinks, if thou art willing, my friend," she added as she shot Graft a quick glance.  She turned back to the edge of roof and looked out over the compound again, her amber eyes bright in the darkness under her dark mask and hood.  "But which door didst thou have in mind?  Seemeth we art spoiled for choice."

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd turned around to the now assembled little group of heroes, her face still hidden by her hood. Only the green glow of her goggles was visible

“Names Blodeuwedd, pleased to meet you all.†her welsh accent had soften slightly after spending so long in Freedom City but it was still evident.

She turned back to looking at the warehouses before pointed to the nearest to where they were.

 

“Well personally I wasn’t planning on using the door, I was thinking more of the roof over there. That way we can take a look inside without tipping them off.â€

[Thunder King]

Graft nodded. "The roof. Good thinking. Yeah I'm tough. I can take hits and heal fast. Kicking in the doors would cause a lot of chaos. The good kind. The kind we can take advantage of. I can vary the suit's offense if I need to, let them use the subtle approach while we use the blunt one. That works just fine for me."

 

"I also operate just fine in near to total darkness, in case that becomes a viable tactic." He said. He tried to keep the suit from looking too weird, but as he said that, the color of his eyes shifted to blue and then red again.

[Avenger Assembled]

Having left the conversation while the others argued, Comrade Frost appeared in full uniform in front of the nearest warehouse door where he barked in parade-ground Russian - "<You miserable sons of whores! You dogs! I have come to arrest you in the name of the people of the S...of the Russian people, united against crime and tyranny! I am the legendary Comrade Frost and I am here to CHILL your criminal enterprises!>" And with that, Frost hammered himself against the door, transforming in an instant to a freezing white cloud that made the very metal of the door groan and shiver, Frost continuing to shout challenges to the Russians inside. "<If you want a fight, come outside and take your lickings like men!>" 

[Corsecjedi]

Shadowblade started as the Russian hero began his rather... direct approach to entry.  "T'would seem our choice hath been made, friends.  I shalt be on the roof, to look inside and to surprise these mercenary guards.  Let us enter the fray!"

 

She jumped down to the roof in faint puff of smoke.  As the bombastic Russian bellowed his challenges in his native tongue, she moved quickly along the roof to the right side and glanced down to see a patrol of guards hurrying toward the source of the noise.  She closed her eyes in concentration, then vanished from the roof.  In a blindingly fast flurry of shadow-jumps and strikes with the flat of her blade, she intercepted the patrol and prevented them from interfering with Comrade Frost.

 

With the right side of the building clear for the moment, she paused to see if the Russian had managed to force the door and enter the complex.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd couldn’t help but give a little sigh and roll her eye, luckily hidden behind her goggles, at the action of her newfound allies. She might have been spending too much time with Sam but she was more in favor of the subtle approach here. She turned to Graft the only remaining person on the roof

“I’m going to take a look at what’s going on inside that warehouse. You better go make sure that those two don’t get into to much trouble.â€

She held out her hand which contained a Comm she had borrowed, again, from Claremont.

 

“Can you lock onto this device’s frequency? That way I can at least let one of you know what I discover.â€

[KnightDisciple]

(GM Post)

 

Shadowblade briefly appeared on the north-west warehouse roof before striking the patrol. Her keen eyes would notice the guards were watchful, but not overly bright, and seemed to have been sticking to a very precise predetermined patrol route. The roof itself was clear.

 

In fact, Blodeuwedd could see that Shadowblade was the only presence on that roof, or the other rooftops. All the patrols were on precise, ground-level paths.

-------------------------------------------------

Comrade Frost found himself facing what almost seemed to be a sort of barracks facility; crude but clean, well-lit, and well-maintained.

 

The two dozen "troopers" inside didn't seem to be Russians, and didn't seem to understand his taunts. Then again, their reactions were precise but stiff, like robots. They were clearly humans, but there was an odd same-ness to their proportions.

 

They did all have guns, but such things shouldn't be a worry to someone like the Russian thermovore...

 

Not even if they used a lot of bullets to try and turn him into a wind chime!

[Tiffany Korta]

Landing lightly on the rooftop Blodeuwedd made her way silently along roof, she wasn’t completely concealed so the other could follow her if they wished. Reaching a skylight she carefully leaned over to looking inside, taking a quick glance to see how easy it would be to open.

Before she began to work on opening the skylight she touched her comm to check on her allies. She doubted they would struggle but it was still polite to ask.

 

“Is everyone doing all right down there, I can rejoin you all if there is any trouble?â€