ic Deal in the Shadows (IC)

[Thunder King]

GM

 

Waterfront, Freedom City

June 12th, 2017

Approximately 11 PM

 

The heat of the day had faded to a cooler night, warm, not oppressively hot. Clouds above passed over the moon. The air smelled of saltwater by the docks. Four vehicles, two SUVs, two cars, pulled up to a modest two story office building. The men and women that got out of the vehicles were dressed in stylish, seasonal wear. Various bags and briefcases were shuffled into the building. 

 

Surrounding the central office were a series of smaller buildings and shipping containers arrayed carefully. Most of them, however, were sitting long in disuse, and the office building was maintained, but not often used. 

[NewsHound]

Just a block away, a caped figure say crouched on a rooftop. His pointed visor pointed at the meeting below. He sat still as he observed, and attempted to ease his own mind.

"Breathe, Riley. There's no room for nerves tonight. Tonight is a big step up. Targeting muggers and small-time burglars can only do so much good for this city. It's time to pick off some bigger fish."
He glanced quickly to the water gently lapping beneath him, and stifled the urge to grin at his unintentional pun. "You've got time for all the bad jokes in the world once you've wrapped this up. Let's just see what we're dealing with here."
Gyrfalcon heard rumors of a drug deal at the waterfront while patrolling the streets last night. After dragging the location out of a thug, he had it made up in his head that he was going to see if it was for real. Though now that he was actually here, he was kicking himself for not being more prepared. He had little idea how many people to expect, what sort of security the location had, or what kind of weaponry the guards were packing.

"It's gonna be fine," he thought. "Take it slow, get a feel for the situation." Gyrfalcon focused and attempted to gather what he could about the information below.

[Thunder King]

It was by pure coincidence that Crimson Tiger was on the same rooftop, for the same reason. She noticed the figure crouched ahead and assumed, as was natural in Freedom City, that he too was a hero that was looking at an office building by the waterfront. She'd fought in so many of those warehouses that she could almost map them. Drug pushers loved them.

 

She walked up beside him, crouching to keep from being obvious, and looked over. "Hey." She said. "Lemme guess, drugs?" She was shorter than him, in a dark red and black striped costume, and her strength and athleticism even under the armor and padding. She was old hand at these sort of busts, but help from another hero was always welcome. 

[NewsHound]

Not expecting company on the rooftop, and thoroughly not expecting to be snuck up on, Gyrfalcon whipped his head around and the sound of the newcomer's voice. "LITERALLY HOW" was the first thought through his head, but he managed to stop himself from speaking out loud. He at least hoped the fast head turn looked suitably intimidating.

He wasn't certain what to make of her. He stood taller, but she was clearly powerfully built. Someone who wanted to protect the deal about to go down would have just walloped him already. It was safe to say he could count on her help for this one.

"That's the look of it," he said quietly, in a low tone. "I count two guards indoors, in addition to everyone on the ground level. What do you know?"

[Thunder King]

"A major drug deal." She said. "I think a little bit of everything. Might have some powered protection. I didn't catch the names of the people behind the deal, but with this kind of set-up, it's bound to be a big one. I don't imagine security, four vehicles, and all those suits are for a few dime bags and some eight balls." She was amused. He was well equipped, but probably new to the hero business. 

 

"Got any ideas for approach?" She asked. Her idea, at least, her initial idea, was to use the various shipping containers to hide her approach and possibly climb in over the side. A frontal assault was a bad idea, guns were probably involved. She wondered if he had some kind of powers, too. 

[NewsHound]

"So she doesn't have any advance intelligence either. But she's good to have read that much into the situation already. Is she a veteran super? She certainly doesn't look it.

"Whatever. No getting upstaged on your first big night out. Serious face now."

He turned back and scanned over the scene one more time. "Hmm... Can't risk just walking in the front door. I don't know what you're packing aside raw power, but I don't like our odds against this kind of security. I say we take to the roof and enter from there if possible. That gives us a way to get the jump on the second floor guards..." He pointed to the two he had already spotted, "And an extra way in and out against the meeting itself."

[Thunder King]

Crimson Tiger nodded. That was a good plan. Take out the guards, observe the deal, improvise "Front door seems like an invitation for bullets." She nodded in agreement. She assumed he could get in on his own, with the gear he was packing. Get over, up and in. "See what we can pick off as we go through, get them by surprised and knock them out. That way we're not staring down gun barrels." She looked up at the two guards. "There's a reason my suit is dark red and not bright red. I don't want to stick out here."

[NewsHound]

Gyrfalcon paused. Young hero, colorful outfit, looks to be built like a scrapper. He had expected a much different reaction when he suggested the stealthy approach.

 

"More than just muscle, it seems. Glad to hear it." He paused as he played that back in his head. "Was that rude? I think it sounded rude. Should I care if I sound rude? Not caring is usually cooler. Oh wait, I think she's waiting for me to make the first move. Geez. Do something."

 

"Post up on the target building's rooftop. Once we're up there, we'll be able to better assess the best route in. There's probably an access door that we can enter through. I doubt they've put much security on that entrance."

 

He decided that it was better to make a quick exit. Mysterious and commanding. Gyrfalcon drew his grappling gun from his waist, and using a tall adjacent building as support, swung his way to the top of the offices where the deal was about to happen. He landed with a parkour roll to slow his momentum, then stood and turned to see how his new companion would make the approach.

[Thunder King]

Crimson Tiger didn't say anything, she just pulled her own grapple gun out and swung over to the other side of the building, landing on top of it. She looked over at Gyrfalcon and pointed to the middle, where there were some windows sitting in the middle of the roof. She scooted over towards the window, and gazed inside, clearly hoping to see if she could spot the guards. She motioned to Gyrfalcon to come and look.

[NewsHound]

He visibly deflated a bit as Tiger made her approach. "Okay, that steals a bit of my thunder. Definitely should not have expected to be the only guy around here with a grappling hook. Shake it off." He stood back up to his full height and made a show of striding up to the skylight, pacing the perimeter and observing what he could see inside.

[Thunder King]

Crimson Tiger watched him swagger a bit and managed not to laugh. He was new at this. Not unprepared, not unskilled, not stupid. Simply new. She spotted the two guards inside. Only two guards? She mused. How on Earth did they expect to pull off a deal like this, in Freedom City of all places, with only two guards on the second floor. That was pure amateur hour. Ah well, they'd figure it out. She decided to see what Gyrfalcon would do. See how he approached things.

 

She also suspected there were more guards on the first floor.