ic Grand Banks, Grand Heist

[The Sailor]

January 3, 2017

3:00 pm, -3 GMT

Over the Gulf Stream, Grand Banks, North Atlantic Ocean

Cloudy, Raining. And Cold...

 

Torpedo Lass has been through worse. At least that's what she tells herself.

 

The Athena, a research ship for OCEAN-Freedom was doing important research on the salinity of the Gulf Stream, passing over the Grand Banks, helping anchor and place sensor bouy lines to the continental shelf. While a submarine was in order for doing this, it wasn't availiable at the time, but Torpedo Lass interested in the organization volunteered to help the effort.

 

She got some looks from the half sea-sick crew members the day before, dressed in red drysuits and life vests, barely keeping their legs under them as the ship pitched as they got the last of their deck equipment secured. Mary herself had rescued a couple who had fell overboard when they hit a slick section of the deck, they were resting and warming back up in sick bay. They were looking more at the skin-tight wetsuit-like costume she was wearing wondering how she kept warm.

 

The thing with Torpedo Lass, the cold stopped bothering her when she got the powers in the first place.

 

But now the waves were calm enough to resume work, but since the trip got a bit hairy, things were limited to tethered sensors tossed over the side and reeled down to a proper depth. Torpedo Lass kept an eye on the bundled lines, jumping into the water to help guide them, escorting the sensor to depth. Once she broke the surface she put some air in her vest to swim about on the surface to inspect the side of the ship the line was on. Everything was clear of being any tangling issue.

 

Once she was satisfied with the work she climbs up a rope ladder to the deck where a deck hand handed over a drink.

 

"Thought you'd appreciate some fresh water." She said with a smile.

 

"Not much of an issue but thanks." Torpedo Lass said... drinking Salt Water wasn't harmful for her, but the thought was appreciated.

 

"How's Mark and Anna?" Torpedo Lass said with some concern.

 

"They're better. They've gotten over the chill they got from falling overboard yesterday. That was a good eye spotting them fall overboard."

 

Torpedo Lass smiled, straightening the sailor collar of her costume. Whenever she had the dive vest inflated it never really sat right. "At least they remembered the safety briefing I game them and remembered the man overboard beacons to make spotting them easier. Still getting used to how those modern Mae Wests of yours work... didn't have auto-inflation until I re-appeared in modern times.."

 

Torpedo Lass sat on the Port rail, looking over the side at the sensor line. The deckhand was looking at Torpedo Lass quizzically at her last comment as she remembered something... "I think Doctor Delacroix was gonna check on things on deck here in a minute or two... I wager he wanted to suit up first."

 

"Yeah, I wager seeing how Mark and Anna were shivering it put the gospel in him." Mary smirked.

 

"And... Mae West?"

 

"Before your time, kid. And i wager before they invented reflective tape."

 

She waited for the Good Doctor to step out on deck. "Hopefully it's good news and we can shift location later to someplace calmer... and sunnier. Might raise the crew's spirits."

 

"Yeah, this cold and rain is getting to some of the volunteers. The heavily shortened shifts help, but the rocking of the boat last night... really didn't help with sleep patterns."

 

Torpedo Lass nodded. "Probably'll add a few days to the trip I'd wager too. Get inside and see what's up with the Doc, Sally."

 

Sally nodded. "Sure thing. I'll see what's up."

 

She heads into the ship, looking around for Doctor Delacroix. "Hey Doc! You around? Torpedo Lass is askin' for ya!"

 

There was something on Mary's mind... she could have swore she had seen a black shadow in the water, but with the way the waves were yesterday, she couldn't be sure if it was a whale or anything... she hadn't had the chance to report the fact yet, but while things were calm, it seemed it was time for a situation report. She made sure the pony tail she had started to grow was still held in place by the tied ribbon at it's root. She had been growing her dark purple hair out from it's short, military length. Her phosphorescent blue eyes watching the other deckhands. Their glow slightly visible with the overcast lighting conditions.

 

Not that any lighting was an issue... she could see in the dark plain as day.

Edited January 11, 2017 by Sailor

[Blarghy]

Tristan climbed the stairs to the main deck, his yellow life vest swallowing up his narrow torso.  He preferred other methods of protecting himself from drowning, but while safer and much more fun, Leviathan wasn't an option today.  Working with a new hero made up for it; Torpedo Lass's assistance made today's project possible in the first place, due to their lack of proper equipment, but he also wanted the chance to see her in action and hear about old victories.  That wasn't too easy when she swam beneath the ship, but now that she was back on board, maybe he could pick her brain again.

 

"Right here," he called out, using the railing to steady himself.  "We didn't lose anyone else over the side, did we?  This definitely isn't swimming weather.  For most of us, I suppose."

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass grinned. "Other than me a couple times to earn my keep, not a single distress alarm." She said, opening her dive vest, pulling out a candybar from a pressure tolerant tube. "Could use a snickers break... So, is the science starting to come in, or is the storm we just got clear of still suppressing the radio data from the bouys at the surface connected to the sensor lines?" She said, zipping the vest back up and opening the candy bar up.

 

Still leaning on the rail she sighed looking to see if there were anyone in ear range before she walked up to Tristan. "Doc..." She whispered. "Did you clear your itinerary with the US Navy? I could have swore I saw a sub-sized shadow down there, although I couldn't get the detail on the hull's shillouette. The water was just turbulent enough to sorta cause some distortion with the peepers." She said pointing to her eyes. "I'd be worried if it was a foreign sub, but the form looked small. Definately not a boomer, but it was long."

 

"Then again with the water currents the way they were, I couldn't tell a whale from a boomer anyways." She Whispered with a quiet chuckle. "That and it was well beyond the crush depth of any sub I know."

 

=== Skirting the continental shelf... ===

 

A girl in a black bodysuit looked over her screen, adjusting her glasses. "There it is... another sensor buoy anchor."

 

A man in a similar bodysuit looked at her sonar readout. "Bit too close for comfort for us and our operations. These storms recently have allowed us to get some free loot. Sinking a ship then retrieving the stuff trapped in the hold."

 

"Yeah those dive hardsuits we stole from the Navy work great... sucks the Admiral that gave us the goods is in the klink looking at 1000 years for treason. That Torpedo Lass can be a thorn in any plan's side, but seeing that the Admiral was a little nuts to begin with..." The girl said, brushing back her red hair. "So what will we do with that ship?"

 

The man sat in the captain's chair, the rest of the crew looking at their screens. "Time to surface and confront them and figure out what they got on us. Then... time for a little maritime tragedy."

 

"No... no fatalities, Number One." A older Asian woman walking into the Conn said, coming through a bulkhead door. Her Scottish accent was clear from jump. "We got enough mental wipe drug darts to eliminate the memory of the entire Atlantic Fleet, even with most of our crew's marksmanship."

 

"Bit risky though letting them live."

 

"Yes but starting to sink people because they're getting nosy will only draw the wrong kind of attention." The man grunted, letting the older woman take a seat. "Don't worry you're going to have fun soon enough. You're the only other Meta on our team other than kiddo at Sonar, you're my lynchpin."

 

"Let me guess... that sailor suited cape?"

 

"Exactly. If we encounter her, we're gonna need all of Number One's talents."

 

"So we gonna launch him out a torpedo tube or out one of the escape chambers like a missile?"

 

The captain grinned. "Patience, Kiddo. Soon we will have our base established securely and the entire North Atlantic will have to respect our authority. And if you behave I'll let you be on the team to hack whatever computers they got on-board and find what they're doing."

 

A light draped across the black hull of the futuristic, organic-hull looking super-submarine from a underwater base, with crews using hard-suits move parts around on the ocean floor.

 

"Begin surfacing, we're in no rush. We'll close in using the cover of night to gain control of that ship."

 

=== Back on the ship ===

 

"Anyways, Doc, we're a couple hours from sunset, think we should set up a watch shift? If the water's calm, could use some eyes watching the water for a couple days. Could say that we're making sure we can respond quick to anyone overboard."

 

Her habits died hard from the Navy. "Or, just chalk up what I'm talking about to paranoia."

[Blarghy]

From any normal person, Tristan would've brushed off this advice.  The only unidentified vessel sneaking around the depths of the Great Bay was probably his own, and he was relatively confident that it wouldn't go off swimming without permission.  However, even setting aside Torpedo Lass's experience in such matters, the scientist was inclined to go along with nearly anything a proven hero suggested.  She could've warned him about a swarm of robo-sharks and he would've listened--although this being Freedom City, that would be wise anyway. 

 

"You really think so?" he asked.  "Sure, sure, we can set watches; like you said, it makes sense anyway, just to prevent drownings.  I agree that we probably shouldn't worry the rest of the crew about it, but a sentry regiment is reasonable anyway.  Do you want to take another dive and look around?  I suppose there's a lot of 'ground' to cover, though, so if we do happen to run into trouble, we'd definitely all be safer if you were close by."

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass

 

Mary leaned on the side, looking at the water. Even if the cold didn't bother her, it still wasn't comfortable. Like sitting in a movie theater in the summer. While the air conditioning is welcome at first, sometimes the excess makes you wish you wore more to the theater. "Hmm... maybe just keep a watch on the bridge." She said looking up, pointing to the catwalk girdling the "island" the bridge of the ship was built into. "There's a suitable rail, and a person can walk around the entirety of the bridge island without having any obstruction of view of the deck or the sea."

 

"I'll keep set up for rescue swimming. It seems your crew did pay attention to my safety briefing and wearing all their kit on deck. With two people watching the forward and aft of the ship anyone going overboard will be seen. That and heard with the man overboard devices they got on the belts on their life vests." She said, pointing to the yellow box attached to the belt of Tristan's vest. "I wager I'll have about 3 minutes response time."

 

Smiling she continued chewing her candy bar. "I think I got a look at the weather forecast. Tomorrow should be clearer sailing. Might even see the sun. Since we still got a few days left on this research trip perhaps giving the crew a day to relax after the rough seas earlier might help make this trip a little more enjoyable. Most of the crew's university volunteers doing research for their classes... I sometimes have a hard time remembering they're not experienced sailors by any means."

 

"Although I wouldn't have it any other way. Beats the drudgery of a seaman's life in the Navy, that's for sure."

 

[Blarghy]

Tristan nodded throughout her speech; he had that awed, glazed-over look in his eyes that often came over him when faced with better heroes.  The doctor didn't seem worried by her decision to stay aboard the ship, either.  Having Torpedo Lass nearby meant that he could continue to enjoy her company.  He wasn't truly concerned about trouble below the waves anyway; any sea-beast down there probably would've attacked by now, and smarter enemies were unlikely.  Who would bother coming after a simple research vessel? 

 

"Oh, but I'm sure you had some interesting times back in the fleet, yes?" he asked, fishing for old stories. 

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass

 

Torpedo Lass smiled. "I've had a few. In two time periods."

 

She looked about. "I've fought in the Pacific Theater of WWII, and in modern times. To be honest being out here you'd think I'd welcome, but instead well..."

 

She sighed. "I think I'm over-reacting." She said, stretching. "So what motivated you to getting stuck out here every once-so-often for science?"

 

"I know the ocean's a mess lately... that it?"

[Blarghy]

Oh, I wouldn't say I'm stuck, Tristan thought to himself.  Leviathan remained at the forefront of his mind for her other question; he had to stammer around it.

 

"Ahhh, yes, it is.  OCEAN.  I mean, the charity.  My charity.  OCEAN, which is about, ahh, the...ocean.  Because it's a mess.  Yes."

 

...Damn it, Tristan.

 

He turned away and made vague, sweeping gestures, hoping to get a better grip on the conversation.  "Well, really, the ocean as a human resource is in trouble.  Our bad habits just aren't sustainable; eventually, we'll either learn to behave better, or we'll temporarily damage our seas to the point where they can no longer sustain us.  Almost any problem is just temporary from a planetary standpoint.  Our pollution and climate change issues will work themselves out, if only because they reduce humanity to a mere shadow that can no longer act on the huge scale that we do now--assuming we survive at all--and once our influences cease, time will gradually undo our handiwork.  I'm not trying to save the oceans, really.  They can fix themselves, given the chance.  I'm trying to save us."