17528/Bullets Apparently Cause Engine Problems

Bullets Apparently Cause Engine Problems
Date of Scene:	30 March 2024
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	Stephanie returns with a Batcycle shot up with armor piercing rounds. Dick analyzes them and they figure out how to handle the situation.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson

---

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The engine of her Batcycle sputtered and made all sorts of unpleasant noises as Batgirl turned it down the final stretch of road upon which the entrance to the Batcave could be found, running beneath a heavy waterfall with seemingly no road until it extends at the last moment.

Usually going under the waterfall was a rush, and Stephanie Brown's cape would be flapping out behind her as she took the entrance at speed. Instead, the bike proceeded forward haltingly, power coming and going. "You've got it, just a little bit further," she says, patting the bike's cowling where bullet holes can be found in the light armor around the engine.

Entering the gloomy light of the Batcave, the bike gives out about ten feet short of the vehicle maintenance bay. Batgirl hops off and begins pushing it the rest of the way until she can wheel it into one of the spaces. She lets out an exasperated sigh and pulls off her cowl.

Dick Grayson has posed:

    Dick is sitting at the main Batcomputer terminal, pulling up data and apparently adding it to a map of the city. When he hears the uneven sputtering of the engine behind him, he swivels the chair just as Steph comes into view pushing her cycle.

    "What happened?" he asks as he stands and descends the steps to the floor of the cave, headed over to the vehicle pad. With a slight grin he asks "Did you forget your fifty thousand mile checkup?" before catching sight of the bullet holes. "Whoa, that's not good. Who was shooting at you today?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie blows a puff of air upwards, dislodging wisp of blond hair that had fallen in front of one of her eyes, then tucks it back behind an ear. "Some of Falcone's men. They thought the woods over on the mainland would be a good spot to exchange smuggled goods," she says as she walks over to join Dick a few feet from the vehicle bay.

She slips her arms around him, giving him a lingering, tender kiss since they are alone in the Batcave, before letting him go so he can look at the bike.

"One of the cars managed to pull away and I had to chase them down. Seems they were armed with armor piercing bullets." Stephanie reaches into a pouch of her utility belt and pulls two of them out. "They aren't ones I've seen before though. The bike has light armor to not weigh it down, it was enough to get through there. Not sure if it would get through our body armor though. I figured we need to do some testing to see what we're up against," she says, passing the bullets over. One was retrieved from the bike, the other apparently from the gun itself as it isn't fired.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Returning the kiss, he gives her a hug before taking the offered bullets and looks them over. "There's a good chance it could. It's not like our personal armor is that heavy, given how much we have to move around in it. Let's take a look."

    One arm around her waist, he walks with her over to the Batcomputer's scanner, laying the intact bullet down so the system can image it and start searching for manufacturer and stats. "Ok, let's see what we're working with here. Hopefully we can track down a source before they get too common on the streets."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Yes, that's my worry. We need to find the source and shut it down. Maybe a few raids on Falcone holdings to find their stash. Not all of them were firing them, just one guy. So they may not have a lot of them yet," she says, the last few words said in a hopeful tone.

The scanner comes up and begins analyzing it. A unique coating that indeed makes it effective against lighter armor. It wouldn't penetrate the Batmobile, or even the most heavily armored Batcycles.

"Sounds like... a 46% chance of penetrating the armor weave used in our standard armor configuration," she says with a frown. "And 78% effective against the lighter armored Batcycles. I don't want to see Lucius' face when we ask him if he can come up with a light weight upgrade."

Dick Grayson has posed:
    He nods, "Yeah, we need to shut this down fast. Almost a fifty percent chance of getting through our suits doesn't make for a happy bat family." He glances over towards the terminal he was working on when she came in. "And just when I was noticing that things had actually been a little quiet lately, crime-wise. I actually had the feeling that they were just saving up for a really big heist or something. Hell, I don't think we've heard anything from the Joker in months, and that _really_ makes me nervous."

    He picks up the bullet and bounces it in his palm a couple times. "Really, this is just fairly low level escalation. Got to expect that after shooting us a hundred times or so that someone out there would get the idea that they needed better bullets." Pulling a plastic evidence bag from a roll on the counter, he drops the bullet into it and hands it back to her. "I'll let you do the labeling."

    He shakes his head, "It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Same reason people stopped wearing plate armor once crossbows and guns became more common. It's always easier to breach the armor than to make the armor strong enough to face modern weapons."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Maybe they were all out enjoying the warmer weather," Stephanie kids. She moves over behind Dick, sliding her arms down around his shoulders from behind, leaning down to hug him like that as she looks at the output with him. "Metallurgical is still running," she says, eyeing the screen. "Once we get a breakdown on it, maybe we can track it via the materials. Or by whatever fabrication equipment is needed for it."

"So speaking of it being quieter, anything you want to spend some free time on while we might have it? I've not got any exams until a few weeks into April, so just regular homework," Stephanie tells him. "Maybe go for a sail out on the Atlantic?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
    He hmms, thinking about it for a moment and enjoying the closeness. "I'm sure we could come up with something." A chuckle, then he adds, "If we take vacations too often, Bruce is going to take away our bat family membership cards."

    Dick looks up at her with a grin and continues, "That said, I've been doing this since I was a kid, I think I have an awful lot of time off coming to me. We could sail if you like, don't think we've done that yet. And unless we run into pirates, there will be a lot less people shooting at us out there."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie smiles and brushes a kiss to Dick's cheek as she is still hugging him from behind. "Just a small one, something with a little cabin. We don't need to go all the way down to the Caribbean or anything. Can just sail along the coast aways. Maybe across the Bay to Metropolis and back. It's always interesting seeing their gleaming buildings on a sunny day." She gives a slight smirk. "Not a single gargoyle in sight. I'm surprised they don't have rain spouts on the corners shaped like Superman or something."

She gives Dick one last peck and then straightens, taking the evidence bag and labeling it. "I'll send out a warning to everyone about the bullets. Not that anyone is lax about being shot at. But some extra caution, certainly with Falcone's men, is warranted until we find out more."

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Nodding, he starts pulling up lists of Bruce's vehicles. "I'd be slightly surprised if he doesn't have a sailboat sitting somewhere 'just in case', as he like to put it. Not sure what the emergency need for a sailboat would be, but I swear the man has one of everything just in case some wildly unlikely scenario comes a long and he ends up needing it."

    Scrolling down the list a little further, he laughs and says, "And there it is. I knew it. Ok, looks like we can sail around for a day or two, just have to stock it up with some food. I'm sure he has MREs or something on board, but I prefer real food when I can get it."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown lets out a soft warm laugh at that. "I'll talk to Alfred, see if he has some suggestions of something for us to make and take with us." Stephanie leans back down and hugs Dick from behind, more tightly. "It'll be fun, the two of us out on the water," she says.

Then she straightens and lets him go. "But I'd better get to work on repairing that Batcycle." She lets out a sigh and heads over to the vehicle bay, leaving Dick to continue his work on the Batcomputer.