16266/Long-Range Reconnaissance Probe

Long-Range Reconnaissance Probe
Date of Scene:	06 November 2023
Location:	Gotham Royal Hotel
Synopsis:	The Kryptonian Hegemony is not resting on its laurels. Knowing out there is a world with Kryptonians on it, it has sent out probes to known inhabited worlds from their own timeline. The probe lands in Gotham City. Batman and Superwoman arrive just in time to stop it sending out a report that would bring the Hegemony right to our doorstep.
Cast of Characters:	Alura In-Ze, Bruce Wayne

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Alura In-Ze has posed:
It's the quiet nights in Gotham that are the most deceptive. The sirens aren't wailing anywhere near as often as usual. The night sky is clear of rain. The moon is out and bright. It's the kind of peace that Gothamites have forgotten could exist and feels like an estranged friend that'll turn and bite them at any moment.

They have good reason to distrust the silence. A bright streak cuts across the sky and slices through the corner of the Gotham Royal Hotel. The ballroom first installed in the 30s has been exposed to the night sky and a small crater is left in the road outside the hotel.

A car skids to stop before it tumbles in to the hole only for the car behind to hit them and push them teetering over the edge. The first sirens of the night go out. Fire, Ambulance, Police. The damage to the building is constrained but serious.

Alura is sitting in the Fortress of Solitude looking at a recording of the giant ship that attacked them. Rewinding, replaying, zooming in, zooming back out. She's taking notes. This is not a threat to be taken lightly. An alert pops up from her scout ship - Something just arrived from space and it's giving off Kryptonian signatures.

She moves the recording out of the way and tracks the objects path. Straight in to Gotham. A touch on her pad and she redirects her ship there as she turns, whipping her cape off the crystal tops and afixing it in to place. She launches in to the air and zips across the skies toward Gotham City.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Dark Knight is not sure what just hit his city, but as usual, he suspects trouble. The Batmobile screams down the street towards the sight of the impact, firing out a cord to embed just in front of the tipping car to prevent it from falling over the edge. That is but the start of his duties for the night, he suspects.

Streaking to a halt, Batman ejects from the Batmobile with the forward momentum intact, spreading his cape out as much as a sign to those worried civilians down below as to steady him in the air as he drifts towards the impact spot.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Even when Batman turns up Gothamites have learned you don't stop running to gawk. The trouble is only just beginning when the Dark Knight has arrived. Batman has arrived before the emergency responders which is not unusual in this city. The ground begins to rumble.

Emerging from the hole is a Kryptonian Hegemony Probe, the likes of which has never been seen in this universe before. With arms as long as legs and fists the size of a regular person the probe is clearly designed for combat. Its angular head features one red eye that scans the surroundings.

The mechanised probe speaks in a language that seems vaguely familiar - Kryptonian - but in a way that sounds utterly menacing. Its leg opens up a cavity and it draws out what looks to be a long spear like instrument. A weapon. Then its leg closes back up again.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Batman does not speak Kryptonian, but he can certainly recognize it as such. "Damnit," he mutters to himself. If it wasn't for the fact that Clark is such a good guy, Bruce would be tempted to regret the arrival of any Kryptonians on Earth, and the trouble they tend to bring.

He dashes towards the probe to try to launch himself at the weapon before it is ready and prepared, hoping as he does so that the technology is not quite as sturdy as the people are.

He resists the temptation to try to call out to Clark or any of the other Kryptonians he knows are around. He does not want to give this probe any extra intel it does not already have, and if he knows his allies, they are already aware of its impact and will be here before too long.

All he has to do is slow it down.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Demonstrating the ability to keep track of multiple things at once - the probe plants the spear in to the ground as its other side focuses on Batman. The thing is sturdy. Very sturdy. And unreasonably quick as its large hand opens up. It takes the first hit which might as well have been a stone thrown at steel shield, and then snatches Batman up in its giant hand.

The spear in the ground starts to unpack itself and power up. Just as it looks like it's about to activate a crystalline ship appears over it - it's Alura's scout ship and it's not cloaked. There is nothing subtle about this.

There's even less subtle on display as she flies in and collides with the drones arm forcing it to change priorities. Its hand opens up releasing Bruce. Yet it tries to track him with its head as that one red eye glows intensely and heat vision blasts towards him.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Dark Knight is moving almost before his feet hit the ground upon being released, as if fully expecting some kind of death beam to aimed at him from the probe.

"Are you stalking me?" offers Bruce, as tongue in cheek as he tends to get, before rolling to evade the blast from the probe. He dashes off to the side and ducks behind a car for a moment, as if hoping some form of shelter would help, before turning his attention back to the probe.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Seeing that the spear like object is about to activate, Alura swipes a hand over her bracer. A blue light bathes the area from the ship above. In response, the spear itself emits a forcefield. She stares at that force field for just long enough to make it clear things just got a whole lot worse.

"Not deliberately. I--" she says back as she looks back to the giant robot as its big fist punches right down on top of her. It grinds its knuckles in to the road itself. As the fist rises back up, there's a dent in the road and a dazed look Superwoman who stumbles a few steps.

The robot tracks Batman with its heat vision. The energy slices right through the car bisecting it; the seam becoming molten slag. It's hind leg swings around and kicks Alura down the street before it grabs the car Batman hid behind, half of it anyway, and tosses it aside.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Dark Knight mutters to himself as Alura takes a punch with as she was replying to him. He has grown used to a very limited amount of banter in the field with the JLA, although he was one of the most taciturn. But he has not had enough experience with Alura to know whether she can keep up with it, and he is frustrated with himself for having been a potential distraction.

He dashes off towards where she is skidding along the ground, zigzaging to evade potential tracking from the drone, as he reaches into his utility belt.

He makes one leap for Alura, his mental clock ticking down the moments before another blast comes, and reaches out to slap a device down on her torso. A flash of focused solar band radiation directs itself directly into her from the engineered patch in his hand, and he rolls away before the probe can target him. He had not had time to test this with Clark, but this seemed a decent enough time to try.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura has not been hit -that- hard since she was training in Themyscira with Wonder Woman. No one else there could pack a wallop like Diana and sometimes the best kind of teaching is percussive pedagogy. The sudden burst of sunlight on her chest draws a deep gasp of air in from her.

The blast of heat vision chases after Batman and her own eyes turn red and meet the beam with her gaze. She rises up and keeps her vision on the machine until it stops. "Thanks.."

The probe looks up at the ship blocking transmissions from the aerial and its heat vision begins to blast at the scout ship. "Oh this is bad..." Under statement of the year. The ship jostles in the air. "The droid is guarding the transmitter. I need to hack it and send back a false report so we can't out right destroy it. But it's got a force field. We're not getting through that while the droid is guarding. My ship is blocking transmissions..."

Her face tightens up in an expression reminiscent of Supergirl getting angry. But on Alura it looks more determined. Her hands form in to fists. "I'll keep the droid busy - you shut down the transmitters shield." She has no idea if he knows how to do that but if there's one thing she's learnt about him - don't underestimate him.

She pushes off the ground and flies down the street striking the droid in the chest. Small dents form in its chassis as it is knocked off its feet. It flips and lands on fours before charging back at Superwoman.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Hmmm." The Batman charges along after Superwoman, his gaze drifting over the droid as he tries to puzzle out the situation.

He has not had nearly enough exposure to Kryptonian technology, but hopefully it at least works with similar forms of electricity. He glances around as if to try to find the best possible angle to go after the shield, continuing to dart this way and that. After seeing what it did to Alura, he knows he does NOT want to be on the receiving end of anything it has to deliver.

He reaches into his utility belt and withdraws a small EMP. Will that work on this? Who knows. It is the best option he has, though.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura grips one of the droid's arms and tosses it up in to the air but even before it's reached any significant velocity its thrusters are firing and it is returning back in an arch to her with another punch. She dodges this one now that she has her wits about her.

Her heat vision slices in to its join and it starts to slag but the thing is made of sterner stuff than steel. It looks up and blasts at her ship again. She flies up and crosses her arms taking the hit in to her forearms. Her vision lances out back at its singular eye and it starts to slag once more before there is a fizzle and bright blue sparks as the heat vision eye blows up. This does not stop the drone however as it flies up and grapples with Superwoman in the air.

The transmitter is a long metal looking device with lines and circles all over it. It has fanned out the top in to spindly crystalline lattice. It is embedded in to the ground and is surrounded by a shimmering shield.

An EMP sends out a very intense energetic pulse. Electricity or not that's radiation and radiation is one of the things the shield is designed to absorb. The shield fades slightly for one small moment before it returns to its full radiance. The EMP had an effect - just not big enough of one.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The sounds of battle fill Batman's ears, and he feels an unexpected swell in his chest as he hopes that Alura is doing well against the droid. But he has to focus on his assignment, and knows that the key to her safety, potentially that of the world, lies in accomplishing his task.

He watches the shield absorb the EMP with relative ease, and frowns. So much for the path of least destruction. If he cannot get through to the transmitter, perhaps he can get the transmitter through to...something else.

He dashes around scattering targeting spikes on the ground and then hits a button on his gauntlet. As he leaps away, the Batmobile launches an array of small explosive missiles, targeting the ground around the transmitter.

It may be embedded in the ground, but if he can take out the ground and drop it into the subway tunnels beneath, perhaps that might disrupt it enough to make a difference.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura realises quickly that it was not trying to grapple her after all - with its heat vision out it was trying to get past her to the ship above. She grips its leg and spins, then throws it back down at the street with a THWWAMP. The street becomes filled with dust.

At the same time Batman sets off the explosives. Gotham has -layers-. More layers than New York City. The transmitter in its glowing shield collapses down one layer, then the other, then tumbles down the hole the probe made when it arrived in front of some track tracks.

Alura watches with fascination at Bruce's solution to the problem and then she hears the subway train rattling forward. She shoots down the hole Batman made and lands between the train and the transmitter. The jolt to the train as she is sandwiched between the two jostles the passengers around and the train driver hits the brakes.

The drone droid slowly rises back up - it has a lot of dents in it now and even some exposed holes revealing crystals inside. With a lopsided limp it detects one of its combatants, Batman, and starts to charge at him.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman's face twists into a frown as he realizes the inherent flaws in this particular plan. But his eyes narrow a bit on the exposed holes, and as it starts to charge at him, he decides to do the unexpected - charge right back.

He may or may not be successful, but the World's Greatest Detective has made a career out of taking chances, and using the smallest of possible hints to his advantage. While it is entirely possible that the interior of the droid is just as touch as the exterior, how often do they actually design for internal pressure? He may be running low on tricks in his utility belt, but he is not quite out of them. Withdrawing several small explosive tipped batarang's, he sends a flurry at what he can discern of those holes, hoping that any of them make it inside.

And that they can take out any thing of value within.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
The drone rounds on Batman as he dodges so very very fast. That gigantic fist comes swinging at him at a speed that a person simply cannot dodge - until those charges go off inside the machine. Strange purple smoke pours out of it as its thrusts cut off and it whirls out of control before crashing in to an empty bus left on the side of the road. It is far bigger than the bus, so it topples over it and crashes on to the side walk.

Alura snatches the crystal out of the aerial and pulls the remains up out of the hole so that the train will be able to move again. She looks surprised to see the guardian of the transmitter down and out for the fight.

Landing next to Batman she tosses the aerial on to the side of the road. "I think I owe you an explanation Batman," she says. The understatement of the week. The blue light in the ship above shuts off unblocking the communications. "But it'll have to wait until I've sent a false status report back to the Hegemony."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
As usual, Batman manages to look far more nonchalant than he actually is as the tactic works, knowing that if not for that, his run as Gotham's Defender would be over. Instead, he watches it topple, and does his trademark vacant stare forward as Superwoman's descent billows out his cape behind him.

"Do what you have to do. I have all night."

Hopefully, at least, this ruckus will convince criminals that tonight is not a great night for a Gotham crime spree.