14502/The Helicopter Heist

The Helicopter Heist
Date of Scene:	25 March 2023
Location:	Isolated Airfield
Synopsis:	Yelena steals a helicopter from an airfield. This one survives!
Cast of Characters:	Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova

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Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Hydra air strikes had been growing more frequent, in small units, and far more aggressive as of late. Hydra's R&D and training were clearly ratcheting up. There was often only so much SHIELD could do to stop it en masse. Hydra assets were dispersed, mobile, and their construction areas always difficult to locate.
    But on this occasion, after a Hydra airstrike on a local SHIELD facility that had been leveled, a tracking beacon had been thrown to one of said strike assets.
    Which was an upgraded Soviet Hind with repulsor jets styled like older Quinjets that coulg drive it hypersonic and let it dart like a hummingbird at such speeds.
    Only a small team was available - consisting of essentially any personnel whoc ould be thrown together in a small, cramped Quinjet. It was late at night, and what had been ahurriedly repurposed ground airstrip with a team of technicians, pilots, and supplies that existed purely to refuel and rearm the strike craft was the target.
    Three strike copters had gone on the attack, two of which had been tracked returning.
    For the very small squad on the Quinjet, orders were simple.
    GET THEIR OWN

Yelena Belova has posed:
Cramped Quinjet, absolutely. Yelena is in the copilot's seat, having lost the all-important rock-paper-scissors battle royale. She's in her white leather suit, with her vest buttoned over it. A headset is placed over the french-braided hair, the mic set close to her lips. Rather than talking, Yelena is sitting back, almost lounging, her arms crossed in front of her in that fit of pique, bubblegum chewed and bubbles popping in both an approximation of teenaged annoyance and the fact that it helps in keeping equilibrium within the inner and outer ear canals.

Suddenly, her nose wrinkles, and she looks beside her at first questioningly before she raises her arm and takes a quick sniff. Her arm is put down again, and Yelena turns her head once more to look at the pilot, "Did you take shower this morning? Someone smells like wet dog."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff is one of the other few agents in the cramped Quinjet. It being assigned to the mission by virtue of being the closest one that was fueled, and being packed to the brim with the small squad of agents. It didn't have a stealth shield even. But, being it was just a temporary Hydra facility, hopeuflly they wouldn't have any air defenses setup.

Natasha would just look over at Yelena in light, amused annoyance. "What does that have to do with anything? Focus on the mission, agent." Natasha not in the pilot's seat, that being run by another agent of the small squad as the quinjet would be blasting along at subsonic speeds wile approaching the drop zone

Yelena Belova has posed:
"He smells like wet dog. How am I supposed to concentrate with that?" Yelena gestures towards the pilot again, pleased enough that she's identified the problem. "Worse than dya-dya, and that is saying something. Worse than vodka farts and wet bear."

Another one of the agents packed in the back is having a somewhat hard time not cracking a smile at Yelena's observations, only to catch Natasha's admonition, and he clears his throat and tries desperately to wipe the smirk from his face. Yelana, for her part, looks forward again, cracking her gum in order to keep her ears from clogging.

"You wouldn't say that if you were here, next to him."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would just glance over at Yelena, "Focus on the mission, Agent." Her tone again is firm. Normally she might at least show the amusement that she clearly feels, but over on a strike operation with little intel, she's not prone to letting the slight edges of her shell down.

As Yelena cracks jokes, there's some shared and restrained chuckles from the others. That does not last long.

As mission intelligence is, like it often is wrong. Namely that Hydra -does- have some anti-air assets onhand. This being a ground based rapid fire machine gun hooked up to a small radar that's twisting about to open fore on them with thousands of armor piercing shells which would make the Quinjet into confetti!

Yelena Belova has posed:
Maybe it's because Yelena is a whole lot closer to missions that had absolutely ZERO intel before being sent in, maybe it's a way for her to blow off a little bit of nervous energy, but either way, she presses her lips together and looks out to the side, into the air.

The closer they get to the anti-aircraft nest, the more awkward in silence Yelena feels. There is a thing, there really is, about 'spidey sense', and just because she's not one of those 'bit by a spider' Widow doesn't mean she doesn't feel something tingling up her spine. It's with the first tracer that **zings** past a wing that she's unbuckling her straps by cutting them with speed and efficiency, and takes a rolling seat-dismount towards the back. "No SHIELD assets in area." She says that quickly, both as a statement and question. Maybe she's a little jumpy, but being shot at while someone else is flying an aircraft? Not the way she wants to die.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff goes to call out, "Everyone disembark!" Which leads to a mad scramble over as the pilot simply shoves the boarding ramp to emergency release, and everyone is likely to just tumble out and hard to fall down to the ground! Fortunately they're only a dozen meters or so over the ground.. But the way the tracers blast into one of the wings of the Quinjet, blowing up the repulsor on it, is an even more blatant cue to get out quick!

Natasha and the other agents are rapidly going to jump out by whatever means are available as the pilot is going to just try and make a less than controlled landing!

Yelena Belova has posed:
"Bozhe moi.." is muttered under Yelena's breath as she makes a grab for one of the hanging parachutes. Going down a little sooner than what their supposed LZ was marked, but it is what it is. She looks right at Natasha, and adds, "Not dying like this. This is stupid." before taking hold of a closed parachute and making a run out of the back of the Quinjet, getting a little distance from the flying target. In her defense, she's wearing white, which makes her a little more difficult to see against the backdrop of the sky.

Hah! Camouflage!

Only a dozen meters or so still requires some slowing before that 'hard stop', and she has the chute deploy, giving her just enough deceleration so as not to break her legs in landing. Of course, knees bent, shoulder roll, and she's up, but crouched as she searches for the others that either preceeded her or came after. Regardless, she's not got her weapon out; no need. Not yet.

Once determining that she's not about to get her head shot off, she ditches her headset and straightens a little more, wiping the dirt off her white leathers. "I hate dirt.." is groused.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The Quinjet goes to make a messy, messy crash as it hammers through the trees, coming to a stop slammed up against a rocky outcropping several dozen meters away. The front end of it is smashed, the cockpilt window pane shredded. It's unlikely the pilot survived, and at best is crippled. There's not much time for the team to reorganize - two of the members landed badly in the fling off - one has a twisted ankle, the other a broken arm. That leaves five of them able to fight and move. And they have to move quick!

Even as there's a squad of Hydra troopers coming towards them with.. What appears to be a series of RPG's and two troopers iwth flamethrowers. Natasha is going to pull out her pistols to open fire.

Yelena Belova has posed:
While Natasha takes out her pistols, Yelena goes to higher ground. She's silent when she wants to be, all her training kicking in as naturally as breathing. She runs silently at full speed, and pulls out one of her grapples to take to a likely looking tree, and climbs a couple of large branches higher.

Once cover is gained, she too pulls out her pistol and takes ready aim, taking the opportunity to fire first so Natasha will have the chance to get a couple of clean shots off as they're trying to figure out where the blonde is.

There's nothing better than silencers, and it's a shame that even silenced, weapons do make noises, only the sound bounces off the trees and rocks, thus making it just a little harder to pinpoint where it's coming from.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The shooting goes back and forth, the Hydra troopers scattering for cover, even as a couple of them are going to line up shots over wtih the RPG's. For the slowed, injured agents if they can get shots off it will be a death sentence. The quick shots from Yelena drpo the targets down hard, sending them flat down and incapacitated. Another shot from Natasha goes to take out one of the troopers with a flamethrower. now there's equal numbers. Five or six Hydra troops..

Well, Yelena herself probably counts as outnumbering them two or three to one!

Yelena Belova has posed:
There is a method to everything the White Black Widow does; and if it means that the collateral Agents have their lives saved, then so be it. Her main objective was to make sure the other absolutely deadly Widow was free to do what she needs to do.

Mission accomplished.

Taking out most of the forward detail, Yelena is now free to yell as she jumps from the tree, making sure that those flames are thrown in a different direction. At the same time, the blonde is firing her weapon, landing with yet another roll to stay low and deadly, coming up feet from where she'd landed, getting another couple of shots off with each movement to her feet. No 'hero landing' for her.

She looks at the others that still stand, frozen in place as they are, and Yelena calls out, "Boo!" before lifting her gun once more, taking a bead.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Yelena is able to drop the enemy with very quick, precise shots as the group deals over with the advance guard. Natasha goes to quickly take in the group. Two moderately injured agents that can only move slowly, three upright, herself and Yelena. She gestures to the remaining agents, "Move towards the field at your best speed, help one another and stay in cover. See if the pilot is alive." She's not expecting it. And even less likely for it to be safe to move him. But they're not going to get backup and this is still a Hydra encampment. If they leave him here, he gets tortured by them.

She quickly gestures at Yelena, "On point. Sweep ahead and engage anything that moves, I'll go for their flak gun." That menas Yelena is on her own. And can nejoy her killing WITH NO ADULT SUPERVISION

Yelena Belova has posed:
Now, the other regular agents may not realize it, but with this mission, there was no plan for extraction. On paper, it's a one-way mission, and IF, the big IF, they actually are successful, they've got their own means of departure. Such is the mission. Luckily the agents have not only one but two Widows on their side. Each and every move they've made so far has been with the injured in mind. Certainly their own survival is tantamount, but those behind also enter the equation after their own safety. After all, those injured would be completely screwed if the Widows were compromised, right?

Enlightened self interest.

Yelena keeps an eye on Natasha's six, pulling up to more of her five o'clock as they progress forward. Her lips are pressed tightly, in thin lines as Natasha gives the orders to the others, and when she turns around to speak to the blonde, blue eyes are locked onto the woman's face, picking up each and every nuance of expression. She takes a deep breath and nods, and without saying a word, she's off, disappearing quickly through the brush and trees. If Natasha can see her, the agents sure as hell can't. She's doing her sweep, rolling over small scouting pairs, taking them out before any radio transmissions can be sent back in warning. Shooting, sure.. but Yelena has her knife out as well, and thankfully has learned the art of how to kill someone with a knife without getting blood on her.

Silent death.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha is breaking off away from Yelena, sprinting through the forest towards wehre the flak cannon that had shot them down was. They can't very well fly out with it still active now, can they? It will take her a few minutes to get there and then neutralize it. So Yelena has that much time without anyone telling her what to do to have her own fun with!

Up ahead, there's the improvised airfield - well, less airfield and more patch of dirt with a few tarps setup, a few trucks carrying supplies and weapons, and ground crews and pilots and however many soldiers about that have formed a perimeter, even as the three helicopters are being rapidly refueled so they can launch again. Hydra techniques are sloppy! One of the crews is spilling diesel over the edge of the hose while another yells at them.

Yelena's able to casually drop anyone along her route.. And pickup two ear coms while she's at it that will give her a lovely bird's eye view of what they're up to

Yelena Belova has posed:
"So sloppy," Yelena tsks softly at one of the newly dead HYDRA guys as he lies on the ground exsanguinating. "It is embarrassing killing you." She rolls her shoulders in a mock theatric shudder before turning around and catching soft noises that sounds like muffled speech. Searching quickly, her head pulls back and she crouches at the dead man's side and pulls the earbud from its place. "You won't be needing that," is noted as she holds it in hand, quickly making the decision to put it on her 'free' side. Checking the other body, she plucks it from the other dead man's ear and sticks it into one of the many pockets of her vest. (Pockets come in handy!)

As she approaches the makeshift airstrip, she pauses just outside the perimeter, a soft 'whooooa', sounding as she spies the helicopters. "Early Christmas present."

Looking around, to check on Natasha's progress, there isn't anything overt that would alert her to her real progress. Yelena just knows instinctively if the other Widow is lost. Call it a disturbance in the force. She moves forward now, staying to the blind side of tarps and trucks. No one will know, right?

Reaching into one of the taller trucks, Yelena stands on a step and reaches is, grabbing the driver's throat and squeezing. The man is dead before he hits the ground, and Yelena now has a truck. It's running already, so no notice will come with a random diesel starting.

Dropping it into first, then a quick second, she's aiming for the crew with the spilled diesel.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The two have trained together. Fought together. Yelena spent her life in the other woman's shadow mentally. So those make her extremely attuned to the other exile from the Red Room. The firefight slacks off as the Hydra troopers are working at maintaining a perimeter, even as patrols and fireteams go into the woods in almost random directions, them having lost the coordination to where the strike team came in from. Sloppy. Very sloppy.

Yelena is able to get her way over into the fueling truck quickly. THings are so chaotic at the moment no one has even noticed her breakin and appropriation! It makes it all the more fun as over the airstrip there are three other trucks (one other fuel truck), seeral crates spread about with ammunition, spare parts, and about twenty or so ground crew and maintenance technicians going through the routine of rapidly refueling the helicopters. The downside, hwoeve.r.

Is the tight circle of at lesat two squads of Hydra troopers tight around the trio of helicopters even as many of their brethren have gone out into the woods. The helicopters are all ready to fly - minus being refueled.

Yelena Belova has posed:
The aiming for the fuel? Well, Yelena really, really likes big explosions- so sue her. The truck is aimed for that spill, and leaping from the truck, she has an incendiary round just to make things exciting.

With a blue fireball only heartbeats away, the blonde is out of the truck, once again rolling and as she runs, there is that round fired from her weapon. Natasha no doubt can see the result of Yelena's unsupervised actions, with a side order of secondary explosions. That helicopter that was in the process of getting a diesel bath, that is.

Yelena is running for the one that is furthest afield, and as she leaps for the door, shots ring out, and a red stain appears on her left calf, even as she's pulling herself up and into the bubble.

Without even taking a moment to put on the new headset, Yelena is hitting the switches and the rotors begin to rotate slowly, gaining speed even as bullets are making holes in the fuselage of the aircraft.

Fuel isn't empty, though it's not great either... but beggers and all of that.

<<Up, up, up in the air.>> is murmured in Russian, and soon enough, she's airborn. There's a different air to the blonde Russian. She's in pain, and it hurts, it's an annoyance, and she's mad about it, though right now, there's nothing she can do. No artery hit, so she's not bleeding out.. at least not gushing, but it is staining her leathers.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
It will be something that she has to deal with if not immediately then soon. THe helicopter is a heavily modernized and modified Hind. The layout was the same, just some extra controls on it that were for the repulsorlifts and the additions to it. That could be figured out in a few seconds.

She has her craft up in the air, but minimal weapons. A few rockets left in the pods, about a quarter of the machine gun loadouts for it.. It expended the rest of the ammunition. An explosion some ways away is that of the anti-aircraft gun being lbown up and some shots taking down the crew. The remaining two helicopters are on fire - well, one is fully exploded, the other has been spun over like a top end over end. Small arms fire would ping off it - it was reinforced for significantly more, so that wasn't an issue. She could book it right away to try and get out of range to pickup the others.. OR she could simply level the airfield and everyone/everything on it with the last of her munitions for one extremely glorious Michael Bay level fireball.

Which do you think it will be, dear reader?