15037/Flying High Into The Wild Blue Yonder

Flying High Into The Wild Blue Yonder
Date of Scene:	30 May 2023
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	Batman and the blond Batgirl trail a smuggler's plane in the Batwing. Giving them plenty of time to talk.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Bruce Wayne

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
The Batwing was flying so high that even were it daytime, it would be starting to look dark. As it is, the wing-shape is just a small spot that blots out the stars should anyone look.

No one seems to be looking. The plane that they are tailing, part of a smuggling outfit bringing arms into Gotham, is up ahead and below some distance. At this point it's a matter of following them to find out where they are landing and unloading the planes. It will probably involve a HALO jump.

But that is still some time in the future as they are a good ways out of rom Gotham still. Stephanie Brown has her hands on the controls. Not her first time flying the Batwing, but every time before was training. This her first time flying it on an actual mission. Albeit with the most critical of trainers in the seat beside her.

"Who do you think is handling the Gotham end?" she asks.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce has gotten familiar enough with the controls of the Wing that he doesn't have to try hard. Which doesn't mean that he isn't. One of the first lessons of mindfulness is to never take your skills for granted - such thinking makes you sloppy, leads to mistakes. Batman doesn't have time for mistakes, his own even less than anyone else's.

"If I knew, we wouldn't have to investigate," he says, although his voice isn't too harsh. "Some boss or another. Sometimes I wonder if any of them are different from one another or if they just swap faces. Maybe they're all Clayface," he says with a sigh.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl's eyes sweep over the various instruments every few seconds. And she looks about visually for signs of any other planes in the area on a frequent basis. "Oh, that would be horrible. If he could split himself off into multiple people. Like an army of him just taking over everything," she says with a shake of her head.

Stephanie reaches out to turn a nob, slighting adjusting the trim which will help shave a tiny amount off their fuel consumption. "So do you want to jump in whenever they touch down?" she asks. Which would mean her bringing the Batwing back in by herself after Bruce has parachuted down to the ground.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne nods, "I've considered the possibility. We have tissue samples, I always mean to test them further, but...there's never time. Gotham never sleeps and, even with all of the team I've assembled, there's just never time to pursue possibilities. How can we waste energy on what ifs when there's so much what is happening on the streets every night?"

He gives a half-smile at her question, "Anxious to have a turn at the controls, Batgirl?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown can't help giving a grin at the question. "Hey, most people, the vehicle thrill kind of ends after they get to start driving for the first time at sixteen," she points out. She runs a gloved hand over the console lovingly. "You have to admit, getting to fly the Batwing is kind of a special moment," she says.

She double checks the sensors that are keeping an eye on the plane they are following. No radio signals in or out beyond the normal ones a flight would make. "So were you already a pilot when you first got the Batwing? Or did you have to learn for it?" she inquires.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne keeps a steady hand on the controls. "I had trained beforehand. Mostly small planes and helicopter training. The Batwing needed special adjustments, but it was also made to my specifications. I had a hand in the design, although Lucius Fox executed beyond my wildest expectations. As usual."

"I actually had to make a few redesigns later on when I allowed anyone other than myself to pilot it. It had been ergonomically fitted to my measurements. Although my measurements have changed since I first got it. Only a little. I manage to keep in shape somehow," he says.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown manages to stifle her chuckle and just say with a grin to her father-in-law to be, "Really? I can't imagine how?" She does a scan of the sky around them in all directions before looking back to the instruments, and then back out at their quarry.

"So Lucius heads things up. But how many other people are involved in a project like the Batwing?" Stephanie asks. "How is it that you keep them quiet? I'd assume at some point someone would have to recognize from a news report or a video someone posts to LexTube that the plane they worked on is being attributed to Batman," she asks.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Money, mostly. But I don't trust. I vet, I check in advance, make sure the contractors I use are trustworthy and that they can be kept isolated fron one another. Nobody working on an entire project, everythign piecemeal until it's assembled under Lucius' guidance. Even if someone somehow thinks that the thing they've designed is for Batman, most probably just assume I'm selling things tO Batman. Not that I am him."

"There are also trusted allies that can be used as well, now more than when I began. But yes, there is always the risk of exposure, always the risk of something falling apart. I do my best but perfection is only achievable in theory. Much to my chagrin."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Up ahead, the plane they are tailing finally makes it to the jet stream. Its pace picks up as a result, though Stephanie keeps the Batwing moving at the same speed until they reach the flow of air as well. Once their own velocity has increased a commensurate amount, she gradually closes the distance back again to that which they were trailing them at previously.

"Have you thought about what you'd do, if it did all come out?" she asks, her head once again on a swivel checking for any other aircraft in their vicinity, before turning and looking back to Bruce. "I think the secret identity is definitely the best way to go. Helps keep people around us safe. Though sometimes I wonder if there's ever a sense of freedom for someone like Diana Prince at not having to jump through all the hoops. Or if the worries just make it worse."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Bruce Wayne is an important tool," he says. "The jobs, the charity, the support I give to the city, all of it comes into question if they find out I'm Batman. Batman is polarizing. Batman is outside the law, even now, even after all these years, much as they bend it often enough to accomodate us. But if Jim Gordon leaves power, that might not be the case anymore."

"Bruce is also a vulnerability. There are a million ways to attack Bruce Wayne that don't make sense to attack Batman. Unless you know. Bad enough that Ra's Al Ghul knows."

"But yes. There are contingency plans. There are always contingency plans."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The Batwing isn't using its radar, to not be putting out any signals that would be picked up by the other plane. But its passive sensors are sweeping the sky. There's a brief hit of something. Stephanie reaches down to turn a dial to try to focus the sensors more in that area. It was brief, whatever it is, and isn't showing up again now.

Stephanie makes another visual inspection of the skies around them. It's dark so difficult to tell if anything is out there that isn't lit up. "I'm going to be honest. I'm still kind of leery of Talia being around," she admits. "Though yeah, Ra's... even worse that he knows."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne is hard to read in his cowl, but it's clear that his jaw clenches a bit at the mention of Talia.

"She and I need to have words. I've permitted her presence as a favor to our son. But she knew about what was going on with Orphan and said nothing further. Her permission doesn't extend to permission to keep secrets under my roof."

"Her split with Ra's is genuine, I do believe that. But that isn't the same thing as meaning she can be trusted."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie is slow to trust those who have heard turns of heart. But then her situation with her father, who wouldn't ever give up his life of crime for the good of his family, makes such a matter a rather complex one for her emotionally. "Yeah, worries me that Cass was doing that," Stephanie says with a frown.

Before she can say more, the plane up ahead begins descending towards the New Jersey coastline, which can just be seen ahead where city lights are gleaming. Stephanie works a few controls and brings up a plot of the planes flight path and current heading. "Looks like it's probably aiming for about 20 miles north of Bristol. No airports there, so if that is their final destination they must have something more makeshift they are using," she says. She adjusts the Batwing's course so they'll be able to bring the stealth plane over the area for the insertion jump.