14957/Riding the Hudson

Riding the Hudson
Date of Scene:	19 May 2023
Location:	Blackhawk Lockheed Hudson
Synopsis:	Zinda takes Mary Jane flying on an old WW2 light bomber. Of course, a dogfight happens.
Cast of Characters:	Zinda Blake, Mary Jane Watson

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Zinda Blake has posed:
Blackhawk Freight is, technically, a shipping company. Of course with a long string of government contracts, some of the cargo is the kind that is best kept discrete. When small planes are required to move packages between regional airports instead of through major shipping hubs, that is where Blackhawk really shines.

Today, the cargo is kept under wraps, strapped to the deck, double-locked and sealed. And Zinda Blake was personally requested to handle the flight duties. She called her friend MJ to go along for the ride, not to mention for additional security.

The Lockheed Hudson is a vintage aircraft that's painted in nondescript colors. There's a dorsal machine gun turret that is -certainly- just for show, much like the twin guns in the nose. Replicas, to be sure.

It's a couple hour flight, but Zinda stays low all the same. No sense in drawing undue attention. She looks over to her passenger in the co-pilot's seat. "So how you like flyin', honey?" she asks through the headset.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson is currently sitting over in the co-pilot's seat and looking about through the cockpit glass. "it's lovely. It's gorgeous being over the ocean and the coast. Just you can see so far.. It's not the same when you're in a Quinjet or a passenger plane." Given her experience, Quinjets were less about the ride and more about getting to where you were going with a maximum of turbulence and then hitting the dirt to explosions all around.
    Strapped behind teh seat is the large broadsword she carries with her almost everywhere, and she's quite content to look out the window.

"So, this one have any story behind her?" Because all planes had them. The ones that Zinda had taken the time to fix up personally probably had a very deep one.

Zinda Blake has posed:
The low drone of the engines provides background for the conversation, and Zinda looks quite relaxed in the pilot's seat. In spite of their orders for discretion, she is wearing her Blackhawk uniform, complete with short skirt, cap, and pistols.

"Well this particular bird flew for the Brits durin' the war. Provided air cover for the Dunkirk evac, and later flew supplies to the French Resistance. One of my sources found her in an old barn just outside of Lille, covered in tarps an' bird shit."

Even though the plane is vintage, the radio and radar are almost military grade. Also, the guns are very real and very loaded, because Zinda doesn't take chances.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Of course the guns are loaded. Because life never goes that easy. Mary Jane is about to comment over when the radar starts pinging. Three dots coming at them at six o'clock, moving at about six hundred kilometers an hour!

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing?" Even Mary Jane can tell that they're too close together to be passenger jets - they'd have to be small planes or large enough to be in formation.

Zinda Blake has posed:
Zinda Blake glances down at the radar, then reaches down to flip a couple switches. "You ever shoot a machine gun, sugah?" she asks, casually. "Cause y'all might wanna go to the back and get yourself acquainted with that turret up top. She's locked and loaded. Just wait until they're close before you open fire."

Zinda pushes the throttles forward and the engines roar as the small plane picks up speed. "They're comin' in way too fast to be anything other than combat aircraft. An' we're too far from anything interesting for this to be a coincidence."

"Might wanna strap in back there, too." she adds, as an afterthought.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would yelp, "It's one of those things that they went through in basic just a bit!" Because of course SHIELD teaches their personnel how to operate heavy weapons. "Bit more involved than point and click but I think that I can manage it!" She goes to dart over to the gunner's seat, sliding in and going to strap herself down quickly. Adjusting the ehadset as she moves to quickly figure out how to rotate the turret, locking in and going to ready with the gun as soon as trouble shot tehir way!

It's three fighters that look like they're Cold War era Soviet castoffs from the 1980's. They loop past the Hudson. They're not capable of slowing down as quick so they end up going right past it as the roar of their engines goes to make the Hudson vibrate!

Zinda Blake has posed:
Zinda Blake watches as the jets zoom past, angling and tilting her head to get a closer look. "MIG-23's... but what're they doin' way out here?" she calls out through the headset. "Look alive, honey. First past was just to get an ID on us. We're gonna play nice an' dumb an' helpless while they come around. Then things are gonna get exciting."

Zinda watches the bogies circling wide on the radar, angling around and approaching the rear of the Hudson.

A loud tone sounds in the plane as the lead jet gets missile lock, and MJ can see the smoke trail of the launch. "Here we go!"

Zinda reaches for a button on the dash that looks almost new... definitely not standard. She pushes it rapidly, giving the yoke a twist and racing the engines independently.

The plane spits out chaff and flares... definitely NOT standard equipment for a WWII bird... then rolls and turns with surprising agility towards the approaching attackers. "Fire when y'all can!"

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
It's definitely not like a flight sim. Or in training. Mary Jane can only just get a quick feel for how to get the weapon under control, even as the first fighter goes ot loop around faster than she can get a bead on it and blasts right past! She resists the urge to pull the trigger and shoot at it uselessly.

That just wastes ammo and the gun can't have an infinite amount after all. The back bucks as the Hudson would buck and twist, the missile being spooked off by the countermeasures!

One of the Mig's goes to then loop around to go from above, moving to fire with the cannon over at them! And of course it has a giant poison blood-red skull symbol that had been painted across the full canopy. That all three of them had..

"I think that you have a few interested persons after your package!"

Mary Jane is not humming the theme to Tails Spin right now. No, not in the slightest.

Zinda Blake has posed:
The MIGs are faster, but the Hudson is far more maneuverable. The lead MIG streaks past as the trio separates, but Zinda gets a good angle on one of the others. Tracers from the Hudson's nose walk along the MIG's wing, and there's a flash when she catches an engine. The MIG trails black smoke as she yells over the comms "HAWK-AAAAAAA!"

The Hudson starts zig-zagging now, predictable behavior for a bomber, which is just what Zinda wants them to think. Let them get closer... "Still back there, honey? You just concentrate on shootin'."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would go to work over the trigger, firing tracers through the air! Her shots go wide - she's not leading the jet enough as it goes to blast through the air faster than she can correct her aim and go to adjust!

"You're definitely enjoying yourself. So how many is this over on your lifetime total?" Mary Jane would quip, fuzzy memories trying to dig up some of the aces from the Eastern Front for comparison. Of which Zinda completely outdid, likely.

One jet is going to rush through the air now, going to try and get enough altitude to come down and strafe them vertically while the other loops back from it's quick strafing run! Of course, attempting to go that high the MiG will be going purely by inertia..

Zinda Blake has posed:
Zinda Blake is looking all around, following both MIGs more visually than by radar now. "Oh, I stopped keepin' track after th' War, really." she replies, almost casually. The Hudson doesn't have the power to follow a vertical dogfight, so she'll have to wait for the opportunity.

"I'm gonna take him head on, so you be ready to shoot straight back when he over-flies us."

The MIG goes into its dive, and a moment before it opens fire the Hudson angles up towards it and rolls... offering a much smaller target. Tracers from the Hudson's nose are a distraction, and the MIG pilot flinches as he pulls up at the last moment. The other MIG is still coming around in its wide turn.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
And Mary Jane goes to do as instructed! She has a rough idea of how it moves and how fast the bullets from the gun go, and she moves to lead it enough and pulls odwn the trigger! Her bullets spray from it - she's not shooting wildly but she's doing about as well as can be expected for someone that's firing a heavy turreted weapon for the first time! There's some specs of damage as she wings it in passing, and some smoke goes up from it that's indicative of a minor hit as she shoots at it until it's out of the firing arc!

Bullets go to ping onto it as the first Mig overshoots, the next is up in the air and at the apex of it's flight upwards..

Zinda Blake has posed:
Once the first jet overshoots, Zinda turns her attention to the second. "Good shootin', Tex." she calls out. "That'll make 'em think twice, if nothin' else." The Hudson isn't fast enough to carry the attack, but Zinda's turns are aggressive and unpredictable once the MIGs get close.

"When we get back, remind me to have some missiles installed on this bird." she offers almost casually. "Next one passes, I'll roll so y'all get a clean shot."

For their part, the MIGs can't seem to get in a clean shot on the twisting, squirming little plane.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would laugh, "All right. I'm not sure how the missiles would go on.." But of course Zinda is going to have a way. "And this thing moves like we're in a helicopter!" She's very impressed by how smoothly Zinda makes the plane bob and weave!

And Mary Jane goes to squeeze fully on the trigger, able to get off a series of clean hits over on it as some go to blast through the engine and along the frame! That's enough for it to fall on out of the sky, pilot ejecting!

This just leaves the last one, which has gone parallel to them and is looping about as it tries to get into a knife fight with the agile craft!

Zinda Blake has posed:
"Good shootin'!" Zinda calls out over the comm. She's playing a dodge and turn game with the last MIG, throttling back one engine and racing the other to turn -into- the HYDRA jet's arc.

Another round of tracers spray past the MIG the pilot jinks to avoid the burst. "He's spooked." she offers, watching the MIG angle off in another wide, turning arc before making another attack run.

The Hudson turns faster, however, and when the MIG starts his next run Zinda is just turning the nose towards him. She knows what the range is on his cannons, and a moment before he can fire she pops more flares. The burning phosphorous is blinding, and the MIG pilot hesitates.

"Catch him when he flies past." she calls out. The nose guns open up for a quick burst, then Zinda pushes the stick forward to dive below the line of fire as the MIG shoots.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
And Mary Jane takes a moment, doing the sort of motions with her hands to visualize the path of the jet, and how Zinda's going to be flying it, and then she goes to put her hands back on the gun,a nd swivels it just a bit further ahead sos he could react with a bit more room. And then as soon as Zinda is going to maneuver it and the jet goes on past, Mary Jane goes to pull the trigger! The pilot is maneuvering, so her shots aren't quite as on target as the last pass. But she manages to get a few tags over into it as smoke goes out!

And then the pilot is zooming away on afterburners! Apparently not wanting to meet his comrade's fate.

Zinda Blake has posed:
"YEEEE-HAWWWW! He's buggin' out!" Zinda calls out over the comms. Both throttles full forward again, she rocks the wings of the Hudson in victory. "That's Splash 2 for the Blackhawks. And some real fine shootin'."

Zinda brings the plane back around on course, and she pushes the yoke forward to ease down to a much lower altitude.

"I'll be surprised if they let us go so easily. HYDRA ain't known for givin' up, so we'll fly below the radar the rest of the way in."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There's a groan over. "Well, I really need to get in a bit more time in the sims.. And I'm supposed to remind you to add missiles to this thing when we land. And I guess better a live Hydra running spooked rather than a dead one deciding that if he goes down he's going to try and ram us."

On that cheerful note, on to the rest of the delivery!