18036/Gathering Resources

Gathering Resources
Date of Scene:	23 May 2024
Location:	New York Harbor Docks
Synopsis:	Two mercs target the same tech for a heist for different reasons. Is this a new criminal partnership in the making? Time will tell!
Cast of Characters:	Cain Marko, Doll

---

Cain Marko has posed:
IT's a not so beautiful day in the neighborhood--well perhaps that's a bit misleading.

It's actually rather nice out. The weather is mild and comfortable for this time of year. The skies are clear and blue and the dock workers at the warehouses in use by tech company known as Sentinel SecureTech had been busy wrapping up for the late afternoon as the last of their cargo was loaded onto a massive cargo ship bound for The Raft.

It was business as usual...until the minor earthquake began.

Now massive plumes of billow and erupt over the tops of the large warehouses. The waters of the Atlantic churn and roll from the shockwaves that ripple into them and The Juggernaut makes his way through the dockyards towards the ship and cargo witha ll the grace of a bulldozer rolling overtop an ant-hill.

It's overkill, perhaps, But it does leave quite the impression doesn't it. Craters and canyon like fissures litter the expanse of the industrial yard. An entire warehouse has been overturned, its very foundation uprooted beneath it like a carpet being pulled out from under foot. Energy discharges from the weapons of security guards blast with futility into the billowing cloud of debris, fire and smoke while, splashing harmlessly upon the behemoth that slowly emerges from it with each footfall triggering seisometers elsewhere in the city. Those with stronger survival instincts scatter, running for trucks and cars in order to escape the moving seismic event that has descended upon this work site.

"OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE! Anybody gettin' out better get out!" roars The Juggernaut as he strolls ever forward.

At least he's being a gentleman about it.

Doll has posed:
It was hard to miss! In a world of subtle criminals and sneaky antics, a building being turned over was...something else.

Compared to Juggernaut? Well, the new figure that had been making her way through the shipping yard. A little skipping step through the space past those civillians fleeing in panic.

"Well...that's a little noisy," the petite brunette muses to herself, but unlike most people? There was another 'self' there standing beside her to giggle. "Better than a smoke bomb!"

One last shift and the two become one once more, Doll slips towards the chaos. Seems that Cain wasn't the only person seeking the prize, but Doll couldn't quite power through the same way.

As one of the doors slips open to allow a security guards who were coming to back the first unfortunates up...only for the poor man to take a heeled boot into the face and floor him.

Lookie here, Doll had herself a new energy rifle!

Cain Marko has posed:
Indeed. Subtlety, stealth, quiet movement.... That aint Juggernaut. If he's in town, it's sure to be abit of a noisy party. You don't bring him around because you want things nice and precise.

You do when you're looking to salt the earth.

However, in this instance, he happens to be working for himself. Numero Uno. The Man.

"Stand ready, I'm almost to the cargo." he rumbles into his ear piece as he continues his lumbering approach to the main building he was targetting. The other warehouse was...abit of showmanship on his part. What he's really after---?

"Sentinel Securetech's got the field generator locked up tight in a secure vault accordin' to the info I got. Once I bust it open and set the beacon down you should be able to port in. Don't screw this up!"

As he conversers with his unseen associate, more energy blasts are sent soaring his way, splashing against his arms and splaying across the expanse of his monstrous chest.

Juggernaut ignores it, proceeding to argue with whoever is on the other line, "Just do it, already! We already went over this!"

Inside the facility itself, Doll would find more security guards looking nervous and uncertain on what to do. The device in question is in a massive sealed container that looks composed of various super alloys and is securely locked. It's..big...not exactly the sort of thing that someone can just walk off with. It sits on a loader, having been set to be taken to the cargo ship before all of this...happened.

That isn't to say there might not be other valuable items around. As one of the contractor companies involved in supplying tech to facilities like The Raft, The Vault and others like it...tech to keep metahuman criminals restrained or even basic data could be valuable.,

Doll has posed:
Selling that sort of info was valuable, knowing it herself? Even moreso. After all, no mutant or metahuman liked having his or her powers shut off in the middle of a fight.

Besides, they were worth a pretty penny!

"Ready?"
"Ready!"

The energy rifle was tossed from one Doll to another as a new doppleganger appeared, setting herself up near the doorway. Another? Well, she moved forwards towards the startled security, swift blows and surprise on her side to make her way towards the computer terminals.

One memory drive with a bulk download program built in, and she'd find someone smarter than her to worry about encryption later.

While the small band of 'Dolls' made their way through, one inevitably would find her way towards the vault only to pout.

There was no way she'd brought anything big enough to crack open that particular cookie jar.

She'd have to put her heads together and come up with a new plan.

Cain Marko has posed:
"Hey!"

A security guard entering from the far end of the warehouse spots the Doll standing before the precious field generator cargo.

"Get back from that!"

A rifle is raised and he opens fir, sending a a volley of energy strafing across the area towards the mercenary.

The other remaining guards seem inclined to leave as quickly as they can however as a shdow begins to roll ocer the outisde of the building like the slow approach of a thunder cloud.

"There's intruders already in hre! Lock it down!" yells the lead guard.

"Are you crazy!? Juggernaut's comin--" starts another but then the earthquakes begin in earnest.

There's a terrible wrenching sound of stone being sundered and cement shattering and breaking. The front of the warehouse begins to distort, shaking violently and crumpling inward onto itself...until it's ultimately ripped completely in twain like a parting curtain as The Juggernaut rips open a chasm like entrance into the reinforced structure as easy as if he were shattering plywood.

"Heeeeeere's JUGGY!" he bellows, roaring out a cheerful greeting as his mountainous body swells in with a rain of debris plummeting around him. Behind him, the rubble strewn landscape can be seen. The last of the guards outside long gone or otherwise buried beneath fallen debris caused by the passage of the titan.

"Aaaaah, come t'poppa.." he rumbles upon seeing the cargo in question...

But he also sees another...

"Hey waitasecond. Who th'hell is -that-?"

Doll has posed:
Get back? Well, if she was going to follow that sort of instruction, she wasn't that good of a theif, was she?

Of course the energy rifle was a bigger deterent to duck for cover, a grin on her face before she dove behind a desk...only to emerge with a flick of a small throwing blade into the trigger finger of the gunman.

Hanging onto that weapon? Well, that might be a little harder with less 'finger' now.

Panic, between the petite raiders and the giant wrecking ball that was Cain, there was plenty to be paniced about!

Doll moves, already diving on the distracted guards before they can pin her down...though that sudden ripping and announcing of Cain?

Well, even she stopped to blink for a moment. "Whoa..."

A moment of thought, Dolls throughout the base considering. Had she just found a can opener for her problem? Maybe, but he didn't look the sort to share.

Cain Marko has posed:
And the guard goes down, writhing in pain, screaming in agony and then gritting his teeth in terror as The Juggernaut begins to stride fully into the warehouse, the very front of the building collapsing into a pile of rubble now from him simply ripping it open like openingt a can of pop.

The guards are sorely outmatched and this has escalated well beyond their paygrade. THe injured guard leaves the gun on the ground though hopefully he has half a mind to grab his finger since maybe it can be re-attached later.

Eithre way, the tech security is in shambles and out.

So that leaves another issue. A ten foot tall, one ton of muscle issue.

"Who're you? The local good guY? Or gal?." Juggernaut's heavy bass voice is a commanding rumble as he continues forward towards the containment unit, each footstep a heavy *THOOOM* that leaves imprints of his feet in the broken warehouse floor.

"I don't like beatin' up girls. Call me old fashioned but just how I am. But that don't mean I won't. Beat it."

He makes a gesture with his thumb, pointing over his shoulder. "I'm just going to take what I came for and be on my way..."

Doll has posed:
"More like an...enterprising soul," Doll offers, her current perch with her foot atop of the guard she'd just knocked upside the head and floored. The rest were either in retreat or had backed off in nervous terror at the sight of the Juggernaut, waiting to see what might happen next.

"I -was- here for the field generator but...it looks like you called dibs. Boo."

The pout was almost childish, but a glimpse towards the trail of destruction behind the behemoth had her shrugging. "I suppose you opened the door for me, so I -suppose- no beatings are required!"

Truth be told, there was no way Doll could harm Cain even if she wanted to. Even an army of her dupplicates wouldn't be able to scratch him and so...she'd just have to accept 'everything else' she could get her hands on as a consolation prize.

As one of her Dolls was currently in the process of backing up a stolen vehicle? Well, she'd hopefully be able to carry plenty.

"Don't suppose you'd hand it over if I said pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Cain Marko has posed:
There are a few things that can stop The Juggernaut.

Curiousity seems to be one of them.

"I don't know you." he says his foot thunderst o a halt and he looms a few paces away from the device that stands as the prize for the both of them.

"Certainly didn't expect that somebody -else- would be after this thing at the same time I was. Too bad.."

He studies her, thoughtfully and carefully and then slowly his mouth pulls into a sharkish smile.

It's rather like having an earthquake smile at you.

"Sorry toots. I need this for a...personal gig. Call it an 'art project'. Course if you want it -really- badly..You could always just try and take it from me but I guess we both know how that's going to turn out. What's yer name? I like yer sass at least.."

He begins moving forward again, approaching the containment unit now and then reaching a hand out to lay hold of it, expecting her to get out of his way in the process as he's not bothering to stop or slow his movements.

Doll has posed:
He moves on, crunching his way through the steel she'd likely have needed the world's angriest thremal lance to dent, Doll simply just sort of...follows along.

Of course, Cain was perhaps the world's biggest deterant and distraction, so with anyone foolish or paralyzed by fear enough to still hang around looking at them? There was no way they'd notice the little thumb drive she'd plugged in.

"Doll," she offers, perhaps correcting the nickname, until she lifted a hand to place to the chest. "I'm called Doll," a little grin, she leans forward, seemingly obnoxiously just...hanging around the massively taller merc. "Art project? Oooh, sounds creative! Making something pretty...that requires military grade energy shields?"

Cain Marko has posed:
With a horrendous sound of metal groaning and the earth warping and benidng, the containment unit is ripped asunder, revealing the de-activated generator within. The emblemof Starktech sits upon one of the pieces. Uh oh.

Like tinfoil in his hands, the metal is compressed and balled up and then tossed over his shoulder to land thunderously out in the ruined yard.

"Yeah, yeah." he continues casually as he steps into the room and towards the generator, "AN art project. I like the way fists warp and distort the face and body when they impact them at mach 5."

He turns to grin back at her, "...'Doll..."

A moment later and he's looking over the device while also being careful to not touch it and then he looks back towards her.

"I'm startin' up a business. Bit of a pet project of mine that's started steam rollin'. Metahuman fight club. Need some way to keep the audience from getting smashed to pieces while they busy bettin' on the fights and making me rich. Course this won't stand up to -some- folk but it'll do the trick for most of them..."

With that he once again addresses his comm link. "Time t'go. Let's do this Vanisher."

After a final apuse he then glances back to Doll and then adds, "Need a lift? With the noise I made won't be long before folk with more punch then these rifles show.." He nods his head to the Starktech logo.

Doll has posed:
Doll says, "Actually," the girl speaks, although weirdly it's from the doorway rather than where she'd been standing a moment ago, "I have a bit more of a goodie bag to carry than I can stick in my back pocket..."

A teleporter perhaps? Certainly it would make sense, although one witness or another would swear that they were robbed by a gang of quintuplets later.

"And I can't carry an SUV over my shoulder so..."

Tucking the retrieved memory drive into her neckline she tilts her head. "Ah what the hell, I know a girl that can get it out of here."

Why turn down a free ride? Besides, getting shot hurt her plenty, big or small.

"Where to, Mr wrecking ball?""

Cain Marko has posed:
An instant later and a medium built man, bald with a black triangular markings on his skull and that same blackness around his eyes and the sides of his head appears.

"About time!" exclaims Vanisher who then looks at DOll with a sudden recoil of shock. "Hey what the--"

"SHe's coming with us." explains Juggernaut as he reaches down and then snaps the generator free from the bindings keeping it to the floor. He shoulders the massive machine and then looks back to Doll, "Madripoor. Hope you got a passport. If you don't wanna go, the train's moving so you better jump now while you got a chance!"

WIth that, he turns to Vanisher and nods, "Let's go!"

The word given, Vanisher gives a three count - and then just like that...they're gone!

The alarms are ringing for certain so more powerful and better equipped authorities are only an instant away. If Doll didn't go with them..she's going to need to make a hastey exit and hope someone like Stark himself isn't en route.

Doll has posed:
There's a start! Doll was clearly more accustomed to spooking than spooked! A teleporter would definately make this job a lot easier!

Elsewhere, a pair of Dolls had their arms full while another followed with her stolen rifle, the last sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle drumming her fingertips on the wheel to a self-hummed tune.

They'd be driving away in the panic unseen, but this Doll? Well she was going international!

"I mean, if the worst thing I do today is border violations...kind of a boring day!"

A vanishing of a different sort, but at the very least Juggernaut had given her an exit. Just not the one she'd expected!