16135/SHIELD - Urban Conflict

SHIELD - Urban Conflict
Date of Scene:	24 October 2023
Location:	Urban Jungle
Synopsis:	A SHIELD team of recruits and veterans goes for urban combat training in Eastern Europe. There, they get a taste of the real thing as they have to fight their way out of a brutal concrete kill zone and get away.
Cast of Characters:	Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Hellboy, Wanda Maximoff, Quiet, Richard Stadler

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Natasha Romanoff has posed:
It was a very poor city in a poor, crime ridden nation. One of the numerous small states that had come out of the fall of the Iron Curtain that no one had bothered with since. Attempting to get on the good side of NATO, said small country had offered up itself for training purposes. That NATO had accepted - and SHIELD had taken advantage of.
    Several veterans, a large number of recruits going through training, and a massive concrete skyscraper that dated bcak to the 1950's, a mass-produced Soviet residential tower and business center. Surrounded by other, identical buildings of very similar cheap, poor quality manufacture. Said building had been evacuated out for training purposes, and the team was currently spreading out wit the large group of trainees.
    The lead trainer was a man named 'Dutch' who sounded like a redneck level Austrian, currently wearing body armor and with a sawed off shotgun.
    "We'll be doing this in groups of three. Fireteams. Each group will have someone that knows what they're doing wiht them, Ja?" Exaggerating his accent. "Get ready to do this a few dozen times today."

Yelena Belova has posed:
The entire flight there, Yelena Belova has been fidgeting. Of course she will neither confirm nor deny if she's actually been here before, much less operated in the borders of said little now-free satellite country.

When they land, the Widow in white (with that amazing vest!) strolls out, her blue-eyed gaze looking up and around the edifaces, the sad constructions that were once a staple all over the 'union'. A soft 'tsk' exits Yelena as she looks to those gathered, and still gathering for the quick speech by the lead trainer. Once he's done, she claps her hands slowly a couple of times, and twists around, pinning a couple of raw recruits with her unreadable expression. "You," she points to a young woman who is obviously one of the more tech-driven, "you," she continues, pointing at someone who has spent a little longer in the gym that perhaps he should have. She smile soon after, but it's one that perhaps might instill more fear than confidence. After all, what is known about the blonde is that she IS a Widow, and perhaps there have been questions as to her loyalties?

Maybe?

"You are with me." Ha.

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy isn't usually with the regular SHIELD types, being a specialized agent and all. But there are a fair number of supernatural hot spots in the area - demon nests, skin-walkers, werewolves and, of course, good old fashioned vampires. Hellboy, as usual, is here as a just in case and also as a reminder that not everything they deal with is just good old fashioned spy stuff. Sometimes things get weird.

Red himself lights a cigar when he gets off the plane, taking a long toke and looking over the vista of the city before them. "What a shithole."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
    Wanda Maximoff ticks the boxes for unusual fieldwork. She grew up in a poor Balkan nation overshadowed by its war-riddled neighbours, Symkaria, Serbia, and Latveria. The patchwork of languages and customs she's no stranger to, either. SHIELD and NATO both technically hold some authority over the sorceress so she adds boots on the ground and a surprising depth of knowledge about street fighting and survival.
    Trainees assigned to the Avenger might be impressed were she not dressed basically like a civilian, any Kevlar hidden under a sensible Adidas jacket. Her role to shepherd her trio of Slavic-speaking technical experts. Their expertise with things that go bang probably exceeds her talent with the same weapons. Because who needs things that go bang when you are the flashbang?
    Serbian is the language of the minute, putting them through their paces. <<Let's gather and give me an assessment of the south face. Suggested entry points?>> A pause, and she adds, softer to a stone-faced man half a head taller than her, "It's rude to stare." Not at her, but probably Hellboy. He's a demon. Or demon enough to be impressive.

Quiet has posed:
Being that Stefani is a lot older than she looks, and served in Afghanistan through the 80s, well in to the 90s, she has a wealth of experience to bestow upon others. If she could talk anyway. The vocalization limitations do provide some hurdles for openly training others in the ways of a very capable sniper. Some tech helps though, while a translator can help even more. Thus with someone as her assistant, Stefani stands ready to help those looking for training in the art of the long range high velocity rifle systems.

Dressed in light military garb, her hair tied back, and a green drab colored tanktop, Stefani glances down at a list of names she'd been assigned for this very type of orientation. She glances to her translator who she speaks with a series of hand-gestures toward.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Well, Stadler was still an educator, wasn't he? It's just that today it wasn't going to be in a classroom awkwardly but (hopefully) endearingly referencing a School House Rock episode before segueing into the sympathetic nervous system. Though... honestly, some of them looked like they needed it. He knew some of them had to be veteran's themselves, recruits from a member nation's military with experiences in the Sandbox. Which... of course, would have been less painless, but less effective. So....

It had been a problem he'd wrestled with briefly in the flight over, between short bouts of sleep. They'd at least been able to view satellite photos of the area. He's have clocked it as abandoned if not for the people seen in the photos themselves, and he had to spend a moment to feel grateful he lived in New York. But it gave him a bit of knowledge of where he might be able to plan a few... surprises for the people he was taking through.

Which meant at the site, he was speaking to three men in front of him. A man and a women that looked a bit green around the gills, and a man who looked a little more sure of himself. A bit more cocky. Probably already been to AIT, from the looks of it.

He stood there, hands resting on the butt of the FN FAL he'd managed to snag from the training area, blank adapters and laser targeting gear already installed. His own tactical gear was over a comfortable, rather cheap button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of slacks coming down to a well worn, and polished, pair of boots. No reason he couldn't look /presentable/.

"All right, folks, listen up. This is going to be stuff you're familiar with, for the most part. General room clearing, securing corridors, keeping to your sectors. That's no reason not to take this seriously, however. Repetition is key to having these skills available to you at all times. Remember, this is training, not evaluation. I expect you folks to fail at times, and fail often, and that's fine. So long as you learn something from it. Hooah?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Two of the groups of trainees are sent along with Yelena. They're totally freaked out by her, on edge. The Widows do have so much of a reputation amongst the rank and file. That, and her bio which is almost all **REDACTED** and **CLASSIFIED** as the various trainee teams go to split up along the rest of the veterans and team leaders.

Dutch would break into a grin at HEllboy, "Ja, it is. Pretty much everywhere is though. Everyone, split up with your teams and you'll be doing room by room in groups. Work with your trainer, do what they say. And don't split up." He's got his unloaded sawn off shotgun slung over his back now while he traced the paths of everyone going about.

One of the trainees with Wanda goes, "Uh.. We'd want to come around to try and flank it. HIt it from multiple directions. If we all go in same place they crossfire us." He would put that up very, very nervously.

One of the trainees with Quiet goes to look across the skyline at some of the other skyscrapers. However many hundred meters away they were from one another, if even that. Very visibly charting paths where snipers on the other decks could take potshots at them.

Along the corridors, two other teams are being setup to do basic 'cover and run' leapfrog motions. It's very, very basic.

Dutch goes to call out over as Richard speaks up in agreement. "Listen to the man. He knows what he's doing. You will be messing up a lot. But, better to die a dozen deaths in training than once in reality. There aren't any second chances. So get all of the messups out of your system here."

Yelena Belova has posed:
There's a reason why Yelena is looking up. She's not showing the least inclination of pulling weapons and heading for one of the many ground level windows or doors. It's done purely out of muscle memory; one of the first tenets of infiltration is always look up. Heck, of situational awareness period.

Her own trainees are stuck in that 'stare at the demon' thing, which gives the Widow the time to drop low and slip their legs out from under the pair. Her bodybuilder recovers without actually falling, while her techie falls heavily onto the ground, her own saving grace is that she remembers how to fall properly. Yelena doesn't look the least bit apologetic, and instead, brushes her hands together lightly and begins to walk towards the building muttering, "Pay attention to surroundings." All this is in English; even though she totally understands the others, why tip her hand? "Threat assessment to you is nil." Her, on the other hand?

The Widow is aware of the others' training agendas; snipers, 'magic and stuff'.. and what sounds like pure combat. Hers?

Infiltration.

"Now," addressing her two who are dusting themselves off and probably wishing for one of the other groups, "You will enter 10 stories up, and you have 5 minutes."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
    As her trainees give a tactical rundown, or at least one of them does, Wanda nods in approval. Her bearing of a teacher hearing out students extends further than listening with sublime patience. Even minor correction aims for a constructive side. "You can't see where they position spotters or firearms," she says. "The blind corner leaves you open to anyone around the side. A vehicle, soldiers, mines. Don't cut off your visuals or retreat."
    The way she views the battlefield might be substantially different from her other peers, partly due to the inherent metahuman abilities present. Not a supersoldier, but trained by two. Once a mercenary, now a heroine. She smiles as she listens to the others give instruction or just lay out orders.
    And Richard is a real teacher so she secretly listens to him, adopting and shifting her approach as necessary. "Work together," she adds. "While you all operate independently, functioning as a team means shoring up one another's weaknesses and giving cover. Go in together, move together. Someone gets too far and in 'trouble'..." She tosses a small round device to each of them. It's no larger than a tessera tile. "Call home. Mind any bogus calls require you to give me a debriefing about what went wrong."
    They're probably all mildly disconcerted watching Yelena drop someone or Hellboy over there, much less being given a present by the least scary person in sight.

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy isn't just magic, he's what they call a 'heavy hitter'. Put simply, he did damage, a lot of it, all at once. Not subtle, not covert, he's a seven foot tall scarlet creature from hell with a big fist and a big gun. He breaks things.

So the crew with him is heavily armed - grenade launchers, high-velocity autos, a flamethrower. "Listen up. We're the clean-up crew. Which means we let the pretty people," he says, gesturing to Yelena, "go in there, slit some throats, find the targets, make sure there ain't no civvies to burn down with the buildings."

"Destruction isn't just for show, it's plausible deniability. Ain't nobody doin' forensics out here. We make surgical strikes look like collateral damage."

Quiet has posed:
Agent Houston's team had deployed to their pre-planned positions.

Silent precision...

Being that Stefani can move quicker than most, she appears beside one of her trainees, and through quiet eloquant movements she helps them establish their setup. Once satisfied with that trainee's condition, Houston vanishes again, moving on the wind itselff.

A few moments later and she is with another one of the trainees, helping them adjust their scope, giving pointers through literal hand gestures, and a shared limited knowledge of American Sign Language. With a small smile cast over to them, she faded back in to black, once more vanishing to the flow of the weather around them.

Over the sniper team's comms, the translator's calm voice gives near-whisper orders and updates, while Agent Houston continues to drift between each post of her positioned sniper-team.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick nods over to Dutch. "The man has it. Die a lot here, die less out there. Preferably not at all." He notes. He does take a bit of time to take a look around for the other instructors. It was a good slot of people, to be honest. Stefani, he'd worked with before on a few operations. Wanda... not so much. Wasn't she magical? Just like Hellboy? Lord, he hopped that man didn't recognize him from that... Goose incident. But it was still something to have those with powers running some of the operation around here... even if they happened to have a lot of... heavy armaments. A /lot/ of them. At least Wanda seemed to know what she was talking aobut, talking about team work, and giving out a few back up devices. He frowned. A lot smaller than the normal comms gear. Maybe he should ask if he could borrow a few sets of it. Later, though. His own team was positioned down one of the hallways of the building now. He raised his hand. "All right. Start the operation. Start from this room and clear it and two ahead, moving down the corridor. Let's do it."

They move to the doorway, as Rick watches the team of three stack up in the corridor, and conduct a breach. Flash bang in, and they move in to sweep the room itself. Good. Easy, text book, that's what he expected to see from some basic training there. As expected, the 'vet' of the group was taking point on it, and acting just a little more cocky than he should have. Well, that was fine too. They deserved to build up confidence. He moved to reach into his pocket, taking out a large piece of paper, and using some tape, attached it to his vest. This would either be fun... or.

First person exited the room, the 'vet', eyes forward. Second, the woman. Eyes forward. Third, the last man...Eyes forward. Well, then.

The FAL barked three loud shots, causing them all to jump and turn back in surprise. Rick lowered the weapon, smoking from blanks, the giant piece of paper reading 'SHOOT ME' still over his vest. "Can someone tell me who had rear in that formation? Did you think /I/ had the rear? Did you ask?" He says, looking to the man on point. "You look like you want lead on this one. Take a moment and communicate with your teammates."

He carefully untapped the piece of paper, folding it back up. "All right, you're lucky, passing W.A.N.D. specialist magicked you back to life. Let's take the next two doors."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The group with Yelena go to stare over at her and then one of the two goes to speak, "Uh.. How? We're not going to be able to go through the stairs that fast.." And even someone completely green knows that the elevator is going to be a death trap and he's not even -asking- about it. "Plus we'd get shot up all hte way through the halls and the stairwell.." He's aware that he's missing something here, so is asking for a bit more information. Ahh, to be green again.

The group around Wanda seemed to have warmed to her very much. She's relaxing, she's not the Widow which is putting the fear of higher powers into them, she's not the very, very towering Hellboy with the Right Punch of God.. They're listening to her and very, very quickly going to do what they're instructed on.

One of the trainees with the flamethrower is going, "Sir, these things go against the Geneva Conventions. We're not supposed to use them in any sort of conflict." Possibly getting a 'so what' expression back. Or not. That was just kind of the way things went. Were any of them /going/ to tell Hellboy he was wrong? ... But, they were also the team that got the high explosives, the things which set things on fire, and the things which set things on fire whlie exploding. Presuming you survived htere, the best place to be.

The team with Quiet go to nod over at her, even as she leads them through the proper positioning, getting ready over and looking at the other buildings.. They track her, listening attentively..

Dutch is watching Rick and grinning. "This man has seen it all. More than I have. Listen to him.." The team gonig through the training maneuvers, positions.. Then on one of the buildings nearby to the group, some fires break out. Quiet's alert eyes pick out three men running along through the halls in the building across from them, a few levels up. Teh buildings that were supposed to be emptied for their training.

Chatter amongst the groups is focused over on what they're doing, some banter to try and relax, and some falling and hitting themselves in the face..

Then from the lobby of the building comes noise. A lot, lot of noise. Like someone's getting ready for their own urban construction project. Should anyone be poking their way out the windows and looking groundside, there are an awful lot of cars driving on past on streets that were supposed to be closed off for training.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena is a specialist in working solo, though still one of a team when needed. While the others talk about relying upon their teammates, her own require that solo operative within a structure mentality. The pair, we'll call them Ivan and Greta, have the necessary equipment to do as instructed; Yelena has the same equipment, after all. It's just a matter how effectively they can //use// it.

As another team make entrance on the ground floor, the flash/bangs going off, announcing their arrival.

Perfect cover, and making eye contact with her pair, she nods her head with a single gesture. "Up the side of the wall."

With essentially cover-fire, the pair move quickly to the side, talking quickly and quietly with each other, and to their credit, they seem to have their strengths worked out- Greta finds the weaknesses, and Ivan can anchor and make sure his partner can get up with some aid. As they do climb, a little awkwardly, Yelena throws rocks at the pair in order to encourage their speed.

Again, the chances are better than even that they're going to want one of the other teams!

Yelena begins to follow up, settling on a slightly different spot for her climb. She's used to her equipment, and with a quick grapple, the white Widow is doing a quick ascent, which gives her a good vantage point for the ensuing bruit. A soft curse is given under her breath, and with a couple of quick hops, she's setting herself between //that// which is going on below and her trainees. There will be no explaining why or how she lost her baby SHIELD members, and she'll never get access to the kitchens.

"Up, up," she encourages her pair. "Now." Dammit..


There are oithers that are below; Stadler's, for instance. Hellboy's as well.. so cover is still present. Just don't want to have them have to split their attention.. don't be a liability!

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy starts to reach for his gun and then pauses for a moment, "You boys got plenty of firepower. No need to waste my ammo," he says. Most of his ammo is specially made, expensive and blessed to put down things that don't come from this particular dimension. Same goes for the axe on his back, but the axe doesn't run out of ammo.

He breaks a window with his giant fist and sticks his big red skull out to look at all the cars, "Oh great, we're in a Mad Max movie. Guess we're gonna be witnessing some shit."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
    Wanda indicates the balcony on the third floor for her small team's target. True to most Soviet-era builds, the brutalist architecture features little attractive decor. Irregular edges carve out the corners as a sole concession to decoration, inhibiting an easy handhold for rappelling gear. Cover is distinctly absent except from the lower floors and that leaves the trainees open to shots from directly above. Doors below give access to the tiny apartments, and the three naturally form a wedge headed to a sliding glass door that someone might try and jimmy open while the others go flat and draw their weapons.
    Climbing up is more than an issue for parkour and ropes. They need to address the higher floors without the witch giving them immediate cues. Two men and one woman hunker down, looking over their gear and deciding to take the inward route that might sync up with Richard's people. Undoing a sliding door is no trouble but seeing through the floppy curtains leaves them both jumpy.
    The woman, a spotter, hisses and points. "We're too exposed, don't like this."
    <<Serbian,>> the witch reminds them. With a moment's notice, the trio change plan. The two men confer and then hold out their hands, hoisting up their colleague to scramble her way up to the next balcony. Her climb is pretty ungainly, bellyflopping into a roll somewhere flat. The men then scatter to either side to use the wall for support to get up. They're not abandoning the plan, the trainees are just modifying their approach on how they plan to get in. On the first floor instead of the ground.
    Wanda slips along, using cover of any parked vehicles or stationary objects to ghost their progress.

Quiet has posed:
As Agent Houston's team gets settled in to their various vantage points, their eyes through their targeting scopes, each team member begins to provide surveilence updates through soft spoken words on the group's comm-channel network. These updates are meant to provide the other teams with knowledge on what is unfolding around the situation before them.

Throughout it, Stefani continues to move like the elements themselves, sweeping herself from one sniper nest to the next, providing near-silent overwatch on her snipers as they continue their work. Her penetrating green eyed gaze goes from the sniper she's with, to their target location, before she eventually dematerializes in to black smoke again, moving on to the next trainee to be there to provide aid if needed.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler's team is clearing the next room on the list. This one runs a bit longer, as Stadler listens to the tell-tale signs of someone attempting a quick breach on the closet and missing the slight tension from wire attached to the door knob itself. Certainly he does here a slight /thump/ and a muffled cough, a few swearing gestures. No stumbling out blind from capcacin, though. Someone was learning that exiting a corridor that blind would be bad for...

Huh. There were sounds below them in the lobby. Loud ones. He moved to step back and peer out the nearest window, frowning. That was a lot of civilian POVs, from the look of it. It was reasonable to assume that there was just some sort of mixup with the closure orders, of course, but Rick was far too paranoid for that. He did have enough good sense to call forward. "We're on a pause, folks, get some water in those eyes. and on me." He tries to say, as casually as he can manage, but he can see the curiousity back from those eyes as he keys in his radio. "CP, Stadler. We've got a lot of vehicle traffic and some activity...

Okay, those were weapons, and those were a /lot/ of armed men. Certainly, Dutch could have a surprise for them. Rick would have /loved/ to believe that, as he moved to unclip the training FAL, tossing it to the side, and turning to his people, speaking in a low tone of voice. "On me; we're heading toward the stairway." He notes, speaking as he walks, his hand going to his hip and drawing the Glock 35 there.

"Ladies and gentlemen, training is over as of this time. MILES-equipped rifles are no longer needed; drop them and drop any clips with blank ammunition. You were all requested to load a sidearm with lethal rounds, and to not touch them unless ordered. You are so ordered." He notes, noting with satisfaction as, despite the worried murmurs and concerned looks, they have those pistols drawn as they reach the stairwell itself.

"To clarify, we are using warshots. This is not a secret evaluation, or a special training for verisimilitude. You see someone other than a trainee or a known officer, you engage. You, lead. You're on point. You seem to know what you're doing." He says, before pausing. "Hold."

He moves to grip his throat, activating the mic there. <<<Stadler, CP. If this a training I was not notified of, you will inform me now, otherwise we're about to have a whole lot of blue on blue. Otherwise, I'm taking lead on this one. Give me any objections to this now, otherwise anyone in the training building stage on the 4th Floor. We're moving up.>>

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
There's definitely a lot, lot of oncoming right about now. Several cars have unleashed several dozen people which are moving towards not only 'their' skyscraper buta lso towards the other ones in the area. As the first shots go off, they would scurry - they're going to secure the apartment block! The half dozen or so large tenement buildings which have a clear view and line of sight on.. Most of the city.

Yelena's 'trainees' are quickly yanked along towards the wall, trying to keep up with her. THeir experience in climbing is far, far below her's but thanks tot he cover she's giving them they're able to get up. It's going to take them a lot more than five minutes to cover those ten stories.. Up or down. At least they're not afraid of heights!

The term 'negative space wedgie' will get threats from a small boy with scrappy blonde hair, a red t-shirt, named after a popular philosopher of the renaissance era whom declared the world should be ruled by a despotic sea monster, and his aide de camp, a small stuffed tiger named for another philosopher of the era.

The groups of unknowns have taken over the entryway of the building that they're in. They're moving to secure the ground floor and get ready to come up. With far less finesse and fluidity than a SHIELD team would.

A sniper shot goes up through the air. It would miss Hellboy by half a meter or two. But from the ricochet the bullet would make as it would ping off a metal beam, it definitely wasn't a training round.

Quiet can tell that the unknowns are setting up sniper positions and small squads around the upper floorso fthe building that she's observing.. And her trainees are tentative - should they mark them and engage or go to cover? Do they have the numbers for suppressive fire? How do you handle sniper fights at altitude?

Richard's orders go out to the rest of the trainees and trainers, and a chorus of confused replies but then affirmative ones. The fact that Richard had specifically said that it wasn't another bit of training did get through. Most of them, however, only had the lower end weapons used for training - or sidearms.

Dutch goes to use a small mirror to get a view of the area without putting his head out of cover. "Every cell network and Internet connection just went down." Civilian and military.

Yelena Belova has posed:
"Bozhe moi.." is muttered. "Chto za khernya.." before she gains a window and moves quickly around to help her pair in. They land a little more gracefully than she'd give them credit for. "You will follow my lead, yes?" It's not really a question, not in the way Yelena forms in as she looks into the pairs' eyes. "Playtime is over, and there is hero boy taking command."

Yelena can see them setting up, her eyes narrowing at the movements. She has an advantage, as does Wanda in that they are VERY familiar with these buildings. Unfortunately, it's more than likely that those now arriving are as well. Still, they're not at as much a disadvantage as they //could// be.

"They will be coming up. Time to move to next building." Now, Yelena leads the way, checking halls as she moves past. There's a glance from a window, another, where she can get an idea of where they all are on the streets.

The moment the announcement is made regarding satellite communications, there is a puff of air from the Widow. "Right. What else can go wrong?"

Finally reaching the opposite side of the building, Yelena is pulling her grapple once more, and shooting it across the way. A shout rises from the street below and a gun is raised. One report, two.. and the one on the street is lying dead, the sound of his own weapon-fire masked by the noise on the street now. That second shot?

There is a crimson blush to the left upper arm of Yelena's white widow leathers, and she barks a quick sound, now pushing the others over and onto her line. One crosses to the next building, the next.. and Yelena has her good arm holding on to the line, the now injured one holding a weapon for cover.

"Go, go.. inside, now."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy looks at his own troops with a grin as he puts a booted foot on the edge of the window.

"What? You need a map? Go whup some ass. It ain't hard. Make me proud. By which I mean, don't get your fool asses killed," he says. And then he's out the window, dropping however many stories until he lands on one of the cars fist first, driving the Hand of Doom down through the hood and smashing the roaring engine into itty bitty bits. Flames erupt around him, a fireball explosion as the gas tank erupts, around him, only for the demon warrior to toss the wreckage aside as some of the other cars skid and crash on either side of him. He has his axe in his other hand and he puts it up on his shoulder, gesturing towards the other cars in a 'come on' gesture.

"Let's dance."

Quiet has posed:
Agent Houston's team begins to eject their ICER magazines, replacing them with the deadlier variants instead. Many of them are doing their best to remain calm as the dynamics of the situation are rapidly changing now, but they've been trained for this. Additionally, they are in good positions to react.

When that enemy shot had gone toward Hellboy, Stefani issued an order with her voice recognition device. "We're live. Return ffire on active targets..."

It was only a second later, that Agent Houston's team began to take shots back at those they've already seen setting up on the rooff across from them, cover fire key at this stage of the new fight.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
    These buildings, laid out in the same way from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok to Bucharest, offer a cookie cutter approach that stings in memory from days when the Maximoffs barely eked out enough for shelter in the icy winter months. Paper-thin walls and shoddy insulation that barely keeps out the cold proves equally ill suited to the task of soundproofing the forces fanning out across the lobby and headed for the stairwells. Noisy tramping and protesting squeaks from badly fitted fire doors becomes a familiar cacophony.
    Wanda's trainees hurry to get inside. The woman struggles to open the sliding door and fumbles a tool. The measly balcony gives minimal coverage as she sinks down to her knees, trying to work the lock open. Her partner wheezes and goes to his knees, grimacing at the glass. "Just shatter it. Who cares now?"
    The third isn't getting anywhere nearly fast enough, his scramble suddenly accelerated in a way that dumps him nearly over tea kettle. Together the trio of trainees grit their teeth and set themselves to work, breaking into the apartment. At least they'll have some cover but at a cost, scrambling to meet up with the secondary team headed up there.
    Wanda's probably failed several SHIELD leadership benchmarks sending a green team onward and hunching down behind a parked car that disgorged multiple targets inbound right by her. Very unheroic of her, whereas assassins provide support and the big red one advises violence. What does the glass cannon do?
    The air explodes in a mutinous pop of molecules rushing inward to fill a vacuum when she pops out of existence. Seconds later she's back, roosting on the third floor balcony in a crouch held behind the rusty Opel. Her fledglings hurry in and she covers their retreat from her high aerie, benefiting from the same excellent sightlines as Stefani's team. Over the comms, her voice is a low murmur. <"I'm headed inside once we clear the floor. You need me at your side, declare Red Dawn.">

Richard Stadler has posed:
     All right, there was the fun fire they were expecting. Say what you will about heavy weapons Hellboy's team was carrying, but they were much better force multipliers than the sidearms his team had at his disposal. Cars exploding outside was about as good of a distraction as the crack of rifles from the building across. That meant those people in the Lobby were going to be "Wonderful. So we're cut off from long range commuinication." He mutters. "Probably means they're using their own radio net... and that means they might not jam everything." He muses to himself. Speaking out loud wasn't exactly the best order of the day, but what the hell; recruits needed to know how the thought process worked.

"All right. We're linking up with one team at least. Maximoff's people. Which-"

Suddenly there was a door opening at the bottom of the stairwell. Ground floor, and some shouting as a team moved up.

Rick whispers. "Stairwell across from us, one floor down. Hold for the bang." From his belt, he removes two items. A 'stinger' grenade, and a flare. The pin is pulled on the first, the handle popped off, a two count visually gone through before the grenade was thrown over the side, timed to explode in mid air and shower the landing below with hard rubber balls. The flare's illuminated quickly, and tossed over the side. The result is a team of 5 men with AKs, screaming in pain, and backlit by a bright orange flare.

The team may be green, but they certainly had been through marksman courses, and it didn't take much at this range to fill the landing below with pistol fire until they all stopped moving in meaningful ways."

There was a second he was listening, and he nodded. "Smart guy down there. Not sending good money after bad right away. Means we have time." He says, leading the somewhat bemused trainees down to the charnal house of a landing, and quickly unclipping the rifle from one of the men, grabbing any clips he has on him. "15 seconds. You," He says, pointing to the woman. "Arm first, cover the door down stairs." He says. "Remember; advanced in leaps and bounds; it works!" He says, grabbing the flare and tossing it to the floor below to illuminate the next people stupid to try the stairwell.

<<Copy Maximoff. We're holding the stairwell. No causalities yet. If you can reach the stairwell, we can breech the lobby and try to egress. Hellboy, your people have heavy arms; can you soften it up for us?>>

Stadler didn't care about the people below. They could honestly have this entire block, if it was a criminal power play. They could come back with better trained people to mop it up. His job... the job of all of them were to get these kids out safely.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Quiet leads her stalky, effective, silent group as the trainees do their best to imitate her in her lethal effectiveness. She's taking down her targets even before they notice that their comrades have been taken down.

Ground level every single weapon is going out at Hellboy. A lot of gunfire - but almost all o fit is small arms. Nothing bigger than a rifle or a carbine. THe vehicles are all civilian and none have weapons mounted on them. So he goes to explode his merry way through!

... His team is, however, less than enthusiastic on following him with their loadout though in total agreement on the 'don't die' bit!

Yelena has a clear view of the battlefield matched only by Quiet up high. There are explosions and the sounds of fighting off in the distance. Not just them being attacked. The group is caught up in a massive outbreak of civil unrest. And that's likely carryign through large chunks of the city. Her quick movemetns at picking out targets gives them a clear area to go to.

Wanda makes a bubble *POP* as she essentially clears out the immediate area of anything and everything. The other trainees are going to pepper the ground level on occasion with smalla rms fire - more for suppression than anything else. Their shots aren't the greatest but they're giving support as they can.

Now with the lower level clear for the moment they had the far, far more pressing issue. Of figuring out how to get the f***king Hell out of here without comms, without the guarantee that the dropship that brought them there was still around or intact for pickup..

And the sounds of a city not quite at the level of being on fire but definitely having a messy time of it filling the darkening skyline.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena takes quick note of Quiet's progress; up high, which is really one of the safest places to be. Not that she's looking for //safety// per se. Just a good footing that she doesn't have to fight through.

First, getting her small crew over is priority, and once in, she's pausing to wrap the arm before pulling in her lines. "Now," Yelena looks to the pair, "you both know how to fight, yes?" Just checking. The pair nod, and the Russian nods her acknowledgment. "Time to start clearing."

Right about now, the blonde is really wishing she didn't have the 2 charges; it's in her manner, her mien, the way she walks.. and in the soft gruffness of her voice. Her priorities.

Down the hall, then, pausing to look around corners gets them pretty far. One room where the door is partially open, there's a small gathering as a 'nest', one that had been targeted by their side, but not completely extinguished. Ivan enters, and takes one from behind while Yelena goes for the other. Both are pulled from the window, and new weapons and ammunition is gained. Plus communication.

Handing them out to her pair, the Black Widow looks to her tech, Greta, her head dropping slightly. "You know what to do with this." It's a statement rather than a question.

For the first time, Greta looks confident, and with a quick nod, starts her own little handiwork.

Time for some serious squealing feedback so anyone that has that com gets an earful...

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
    The rattle of gunfire carves new channels for old memories. Concrete explodes into puffs of dust as holes pepper the weathered surfaces. This apartment joins so many of its brethren on the front lines, unloved and little maintained. Not a happy place for anyone to be when the cacophonous eruption of violence closes in like fog.
    <<Headed to you, descending from three.>> Inevitably the trio under Wanda's watch sneak their way through the dark apartment covered in dingy florals and plastic covers on hideously out-of-style furniture. The hallway gets a visual clear and they move as a ragged triangle. ICERs and weapons drawn give a point of protection for one another but postures show stress. The field is real. Those rounds are real, too. Melting into Richard's team is almost a relief as the numbers swell and surely odds of survival do too. They hunch lower and fall in step, using the opportunity to strike at anything that dares to move without a SHIELD label visible on the tin.
    <"She coming? Or we get a new boss?"> An uneasy question rattled out through clenched teeth probably amounts to heresy but SHIELD is a tricky place.
    Yelena and Quiet are ghosts above and Hellboy a violent poster child below. That gives Wanda time to squeeze through the hallways, avoiding the stairs until utterly certain she's not about to run into a tagteam of rappelling assassins or take a small plane to the window. Just follow the sound. <<On two,>> she warns, descending, slipping around a corner to peek down and then up. A trickle of red dust should be enough to catch their attention, the warning their fairy godmother is in sight.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler brings his side arm up when there's activity above him, before yelling to the rest. "Check fire! Friendlies!" He'll say, before whistling. "Get down here. We've got one extra rifle-"

One of his recruit's the woman, swears and fires a long burst toward the door that looks like it would open. Not even looking up when the rest of Maximoff's team arrived; someone had learned the use of sticking on their sectors. "You, keep the door covered." He indicated. "All right. Exfil's a few options. We can work our way out one of the balcony's on the second floor. That leaves us exposed to fire. There's the roof, but that leaves us trapped. So. Lobby's the direct route. And that means we'll have to breach." He notes, before whistling. "All right, folks, this is going to be how it plays out. You two, I want covering the stairwell up. The rest are going to hit ground level, stack up at the door." He says, before clicking on to the radio. <<Maximoff, I need you at the lobby level. We're covering the stairwell. I'm going to make a breach here, and then exfil out onto the street. If you can distract those behind that door, we've got a shot.>>

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The group has managed to secure the grounds. And the perimeter. They have some vehicles to use to evac themselves with. They have no comms or necessarily reliable ways to communicate. They can't fight their way out of the city or drive through it given whatever chaos is going on.

That means they have to locate a vehicle toe xtricate htemselves with that can carry the platoon or so'd number of them to get out of the area, avoid enemy contact, and bug out.

Quiet has posed:
Amid the urban landscape, Stefani's expertly trained snipers align their scopes with cold, unerring precision. As the first reports of gunfire crackle through the city's desolation, they maintain their focus. With each calculated squeeze of the trigger, suppressed shots slice through the air, sending rounds to their intended marks.

The enemy positions on the building across from them become the canvas for their lethal artistry. Through it all, Quiet continues to move from one sniper nest to the next, maintaining a watch over her men and women. Armed now herself, she returns fire when one of her trainees gets shot back at, her bullet ripping through the enemy and dropping them in a mist of red that disperses in the wind.

Yelena Belova has posed:
The com systems, thanks to Greta on Yelena's team, have been overloaded. With communication down, those that SHIELD are fighting have had to try and come up with another way to communicate. Cut off a head, and one doesn't always grow back the same way. Sometimes it's not immediate either.

But, these don't appear to be HYDRA in any way. Nope. Yelena knows how different soviet-era factions work, thanks to her own time with the GRU. Hours and hours of study come up with one, two possibilities, neither of whom have the ability to truly adapt on the fly; they're too entrenched with their own ways of doing things.

Yet another reason why SHIELD is effective in so many theatres.

While Quiet is dispatching from her nest, Yelena is taking others out from within their own building, or rather, she and her pair. The longer Ivan and Greta work with Yelena, the more they're incorporating her movements, her pathing into their own. This may not have been an 'on paper' success, but the two have learned a great deal, regardless.

Cars, vans, motorcycles.. and..

There it is. Yelena is looking from a window and she sees a very, very familiar sight, along with the sound.

*thup*thup*thup*

A grin rises, and she looks at her charges, "Do not try this at home, okay?" before she pulls her last grapple..

With a quick burst, barely enough time to lead the target, the hook flies into the air and attaches to the right skid. As it moves in its patrol circle, Yelena is pulled from her spot, though she was ready for it. Out the window, and she's hanging in the air, swinging.. and quickly she pulls in the line so she's on the skid proper, above the tumult on the ground.

Taking the back of a knife in hand, she bashes at the door, pounding it so it'll break open to her. The pilot within pulls his own service pistol, and shoots through the floor, but hits nothing. (At least it didn't richochet inside the cabin!)

It takes a few more heartbeats, but Yelena is up.. and once she gains access to the cabin?

All that is seen from the ground now is the falling body of a man, and he hits the ground with a *thwump*.

No coming back from that one.

A whoop comes up from the Widow, and she begins to search out the whole team.. ready to go, and undoubtedly fight another day.