1210/Dockers Never Go Out Of Style

Dockers Never Go Out Of Style
Date of Scene:	18 April 2020
Location:	Dixon Docks - Chinatown
Synopsis:	The Bats raid smugglers bringing in cargo at the Gotham docks.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Helena Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
The tip had come in from electronic surveillance, bugs that had been planted in the Falcone family's communications. A shipment at Dixon Docks. Usually the crime family run by Carmine Falcone had been better than to give out details like that over open communications. But there had been mention of unhappiness with a name's role in whatever operation they had underway. And that name happens to be the crew chief of one of the dockworker union groups.

So it is that those associated with Batman know there is something going down on the Dixon Docks. Something that will be worked by this particular crew. Spoiler has shown up, hiding on a warehouse and looking out at the dock as it spreads out before her.

There are two ships already docked to left and right as she looks at the water. Already unloaded, they are silent as it nears 10pm. Another ship is arriving in a spot between them, and the crew is gathering to prepare to unload.

There is a large crane on wheels, capable of removing shipping containers. Also a number of semi-trucks wait off to the left (as Spoiler looks towards the water) in a line six long, though they are some distance away to leave room for the workers.

As the ship is nearing shore, three dark sedans pull up as well. The men getting out have suits on for the most part, or slacks and shirts with leather jackets. A few guns can be spotted in shoulder holsters. To the right of the dock area is an area with many cargo containers, stacked from one to three high, with aisles between them. Plenty of good hiding places there.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena tried - tried - not to piggyback off the Bats and their surveillance systems. She'd discovered years ago that the passwords were mostly the same, the macros barely changed, and it all used the same scripting language her father had employed. Albeit with a little more sophistication. But nevertheless, they were careful and ran frequent checks for unauthorised users. The last thing she needed was an angry Batling grilling her on just how easily she made her way into their system.

She'd reached this particular conclusion independently. Mostly. She waits down near the water, back pressed against a salt-encrusted concrete pylon. The darkness conceals her almost completely, and she draws a pair of binoculars up from her utility belt to hold them against her eyes. She watches the ship carefully, studying the name and registry.

She hadn't checked if the 'Others' were here. She probably should have.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Ever the chatterbox, Cassandra is always the first to be noticed and the last to go in. Blatant and obvious, she has no sense of subtlety. These are the things that people who Cass has never snuck up on might say, and the heart attack that she's likely to cause in Spoiler and Co. might wish they could say about her once in a while.

She's just THERE, almost like it happened between blinks, her hand on Stephanie's shoulder as she points toward Helena's location. Scouting, apparently, she's decided to report in about the new arrival, without breaking her virtual vow of silence.

Of course, if Stephanie screams in terror, that's not HER fault is it? It's all fun til somone loses an eye, after all. Then it's a sport.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian had equipped himself, his prototype helmet atop his head. A black helmet adorned with a silver stylized skull sans jaw.

  Goliath had remained away for now, but Damian had worn his white and black suit from the League. It was one of the only clothing he had that was tactical.

  He had heard the rumor from the Bat's systems. And knew the importance of the Falcone family to the Gotham underworld. Surely some reconnaissance on how the others operate would help him in his endeavors.

  Equipped with his helmet, providing night vision and zoom, and his ninjato, he was posted not too far from where he guessed the others would be. He still felt much the outsider, given the reaction, or lack thereof, of his own father.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The ship is named the Indigo Racer, and sails under Bahamian registry. It is a container ship and it slowly thrusts sideways over to the dock and is secured. There is a little time that passes as the ship is made secure. The well-dressed mooks who arrived in the cars, a little over a dozen, lounge about, mostly talking to themselves. Two leave to head over towards the six waiting semi trucks to make sure everything is ok, while two others move into the stacks of containers in storage on the dock to look around.

A few men come down the gangplank from the ship, but the foremen and one of the guys in suits go over and firmly usher them back up onto the ship. Apparently they don't want them on the dock as the containers are offloaded. The crane moves into position and picks up the first container, bringing it to the dock and setting it on the concrete before moving to begin getting another.

Spoiler turns towards Orphan as she suddenly shows up. "Hey, glad you made it," the blond says, smiling behind her mask, but knowing the look in her eyes is probably enough for Cass to see that she's glad to have someone else there to help. She motions towards her eyes and then toward the offloaded container, looking back as the men in suits go over and begin unlocking it, apparently going to check on the contents. Spoiler looks back to Cass. "Want to go straight in?" she asks. Big plans, not really Steph's strong point.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena remains close by the 'action' but doesn't engage just yet. She's still watching, getting the lay of the land. The 'measure twice, cut once' attitude that has been drilled into her since infancy functioning more on reflex than any sort of conscious effort. It's when she's looking back towards the docks, gauging sightlines, that she spots something. She's not even sure she did but she knows better than to let it slide. She raises her binoculars up to her eyes, squinting through them at the image of Spoiler that appears on the other end.

<I didn't know it was a party,> her voice crackles across the Bat-Comms, a stranger's voice on a normally secure frequency, <Whaddaya say, eggplant? You hit 'em high, I hit 'em low?>

It's spoken through her sub-vocal mic, barely audible even a scant few inches from her. But her mouth curves up into a broad grin. She hadn't had any contact with the Batlings so far, but she had profiled them. Unfortunately for her, she hasn't spotted Orphan yet.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Orphan seems to consider Stephanie's words, though it's difficult to tell in the dimness of the light. She gives the blonde's shoulder a squeeze, not hard but enough to be felt. Then she grins; you know me so well, it seems to suggest.

She looks at Spoiler, her eyes knowing HER in return. And then she's leaning off the edge of the roof. Then she's falling. Then she's out of sight, having not bothered with a line and going for a rolling landing as she hits with the barest scrape of sound.

She'll be seen again, but by then it'll be too late. A man on the docks finds a hand around his mouth from behind, and he vanishes without a sound. God, how fast IS she?

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian takes his watch of the gangsters leave their conveyance, then cracking open the container.

  Enough of this...Damian starts to make his move, he would have to get closer.

  Running to the edge of the building, he removes a zip line, finding a mark, and the compressed air shoots the line behind and in front of him. Zipping across the way, he gets closer, this time finding the ground level, across from the area where Cassandra had taken her prey. Another henchmen getting too close to the shadow, and with the hilt of his sword, another body dragged back into the shadows of the docks.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Down on the docks, a few wooden cases are pulled out of the container and set on the dock. A crowbar pries off the lid and a man pulls out an assault rifle. He aims down it, smiling and telling the man beside him positive things about the gun. Another reaches in and pulls out a high tech submachine gun, giving it a thorough looking over.

Spoiler looks around the unfamiliar voice on comms. Though her eyes show uncertainty. It's only been a few weeks since the offer from Batgirl to train her meant she was able to participate with the rest of Batman's entourage, including being on their comms network. It's quite possible she's just not recognizing a voice?

<< Ok that sounds good >> is sent as a reply. As Cass drops off the roof, Spoiler goes high. She shoots a bat grapple up onto the arm of the crane and then launches off the tall warehouse, swinging through the air towards the group of men by the SUV. It's about to get really loud.

Helena Wayne has posed:
The responses from Spoiler prompts Helena to raise her eyebrows. She hadn't really expected it to be that easy, but she'll go with it. She's moving towards some of the men closest to the unloaded containers when she notices Cassandra and then Damian. It's not the sort of fight the other parties even notice, but Helena has those trained bat-senses that allow her to know when people are being silently picked off.

"Psst!" she hisses through her teeth, prompting one of the men holding a crate in both arms to look at her puzzled. Before he can respond she looses her crossbow at him, the quarrel driving through the back of his hand and pinning it to the wooden box. He collapses with a yowl of pain, automatically throwing the dock into chaotic confusion.

The ideal atmosphere for what the Bats do.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
On the top of one ship, a guard paces. He's alert, which is a very odd thing for a guard but his wife had just told him that if he lost this job like he's lost the last one, she'll leave him. And his boss told him that he was close to being fired for getting drunk and missing someone at the last port.

He's on the ball, he's got a rifle. He's ready and watching. He's dangerous, because he has everything to lose. It almost makes Cass slow down when she passes through him and into the cabin.

The man's body slumps to the ground, and a surprised sound from inside the cabin becomes slightly audible. Then a thump, and silence. And suddenly her face is peering out a porthole, watching Stephanie with interest.

Hey, Cass has few enough friends. She's not going to just ignore the one she's got. And honestly that new kid looks fun. Good technique. Nearly perfect, actually...

Interesting.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian kept to the shadows, enough to get closer to the cargo shipment. Guns, how typical. He didn't shy away from going in loud, but the more he could take out without notice, the better off they would be as a whole.

  The boy approaches one of the pairs making patrol rounds, his boots didn't make him near silent like others did, but by the time it could be heard, he had launched himself to kick one across the jaw. The unconscious one lands, and the assassin jumps back up, tackling the other, landing a flurry of punches at head level.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The patrolling men are taken out quietly, and Orphan manages to get onto the ship and deal with guards there without raising much alarm. But after that? Things get noisy. Thankfully the automatic weapons in the crate aren't loaded. So as all hell breaks loose, those men have to drop the guns they were examining and claws for their pistols.

The cry of the man with the crossbow bolt through his hand draws attention, even as Spoiler is swinging in a wide circular arc around the crane and coming in upon them. She whips a handful of pellets towards them that when they hit, explode in bright flashes and smoke, temporarily blinding many of them. Spoiler's swing finishes with a kick to one man's face and then letting go of her line to land feet first on another's chest, taking him down amidst the smoke from the pellets.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena, for her part, wades into the fray alongside Spoiler. They haven't worked together, but she recognizes some of the moves she's using - of course she does. All of it flows back to him in the end, doesn't it? She keeps enough distance not to get in Spoiler's way, but close enough to assist her by taking out an armed thug trying to sneak up behind her. She wraps her arm around the man's throat, pinning him as she lifts her other hand to fire the crossbow once more - this time down the barrel of a pistol suddenly pointed at her.

"Good stuff, eggplant!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Guns hot, swords out. Damian's sword seems to sing as it's removed from its scabbard on his back. It's go time, kids.

  Out of the shadows, he makes his way out, where the women were attacking. Two pistols were raised, no target yet, but Damian out of the shadows had him slicing at whomever he could find. The two that he found first, continued to aim and shoot, not caring to keep conservative on ammo, the cold steel bit through their hands and removed them cleanly, and with bowls of pain, they drew back two stumps where their weapon hands had been.