3269/10 Warzoon Frames for Wonder Woman

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10 Warzoon Frames for Wonder Woman
Date of Scene: 07 September 2020
Location: Metropolis: St. Martin's Island & Barge on the Bakerline Sound
Synopsis: Cassie, Dawn and Kate show up to help with the recovery of a downed Warzoon ship, and end up foiling attempted alien tech piracy by members of the H.I.V.E.
Cast of Characters: Cassie Sandsmark, Kate Bishop, Dawn Granger, Heather Danielson




Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
The Titans-led post alien invasion recovery effort, aka Wonder Woman's Warzoon Wreckage Wrangling, has been an ongoing operation rather than a single mission: most of it happened in the immediate aftermath of the battle, while many of the team were still emotionally raw from their losses. It needed to happen quickly, to get the materials contained, away from where they could accidentally hurt civillians and far from the hands of any unscrupulous sorts who might want to salvage them for less noble purposes. It was an easy task to focus on, a way to keep busy - and distracted. And, after an odd week and change of work, the effort has been largely successful.

Largely.

Here or there, the recovery teams have followed the tracking data to impact sites only to find nothing but scorch marks. Not impossible, considering some debris could have been destroyed, self-destructed, or otherwise not survived the war itself. But near the tail end of the operation, a few larger bits of debris (easily tracked and catalogued by satellite imaging) have vanished. Many of these were the last scheduled to be cleaned up, because they would require cranes and other heavy equipment... or some super assistance.

Tonight, the Titans have been working through the last of several large recoveries, and are on the way to a wreckage site on St. Martin's Island. The posh Metropolis enclave hadn't been part of the battle, but ships being destroyed in the sky - or low orbit - have a way of dropping debris pretty much everywhere. Cassie's leading the excursion, but they have the T-Jet for transporting non-flying sorts and, supposedly, a city garbage barge on site just off the island to move the heavy equipment to the STAR Labs facility where they're being disassembled and studied.

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate is along for the ride, and has been for several of the outings to recover things. She was there when Diana asked her and Cassie to look into it for her and make sure things didn't fall into the wrong people's hands,

You know. The Military. Terrorists. Criminals. Supervillains.

Now that the T-Jet is fixed and operatonal she has been eager to clock in hours flying the team where ever they may need to go. This includes scrapper fetcher quester type outings.

"I really hope we aren't too late again... I got to admit it is getting pretty frustrating being one step behind whomever has swept some of this stuff up..." she brings the jet around and lands it carefully now "Everyone off... hard labor... questionable danger... everyone off." hitting the ramp controls for the back now.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Think of a house opened up and spilled across the landscape. Now, think of a structure infinitely more complicated - it will include propulsion systems, guidance systems, living quarters with all the memorabilia that someone crossing time and space might collect, weapons - an unholy collection of them, a kitchen, rooms to get clean in, places to evacuate waste in, more weapons, recycle systems, and you can begin to imagine what scattered across the landscape. A mad rummage sale without price tags and the added fillip of dangerous weapons.

Fun. Dawn, who has moved too many times in her life to accumulate things, secretly wants an attic full of junk. She is enjoying this but is not suicidal, so she has called on her aspect as Dove. Weapons being the operative word for her. She walks down the ramp, her wings a cloudy mass of white lifted by the slight wind.
"I'm looking forward to this in a strange way," she comments to Knockout.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    Loaded down with a backpack full of snacks with four water bottles clipped to it via carabiners, Heather is -not- leaning back in her seat. She doesn't want to crush her snacks after all. But either way, she is allll about helping folks. Recovery efforts are fine for her. She doesn't really feel fatigue as it were. Just hunger.
    Since she can't fly, she's in the jet herself. But she takes a bite of an Army food bar. One of those things with like enough calories for an entire day in one bar. She washes it down as she waits for the jet to land. "Doing something helpful that doesn't involve hurting people -is- a plus, yeah." she responds to Dawn. "Let's do some good, eh?" she asks with a grin as she dashes down the ramp and into the world's biggest flea market to search for salvageable material.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
The Tower is actually on a small island of its own just off St. Martin's, so its a short flight: just across the larger island, toward the sound between it and the mainland. On the way, they pass over what is mostly posh, upper class neighborhoods with large amounts of park space between them. There's even another golf course. What's with these battles and golf courses? As much as being rich is a cure to many problems, though, it hasn't spared them the fallout from the recent battle - nor the 'everything and the kitchen sink's worth of debris.

While there are small impact sites all over the island (most of which got cleaned up quickly), where they're going, it's pretty obvious why this one has been left for last. While all of the Warzoon ships that were in anything close to flying condition have long since been removed, a few of the destroyed ones were big enough to leave some major wreckage. And this is an example of that. The ship apparently fell to the island in two pieces, mercifully near at the shoreline, rather than hitting in the middle of a more populated area. A large portion of hull has left a skidmark through the private beach-adjacent neighborhood, while a chunk of the ship's blocky rear quarter - including the engines - is sitting just beyond, half underwater, half sticking out. Just like they were promised, a barge is already out floating nearby, apparently hooking up crane cables and the like.

"Yeah, hopefully this will be one last easy one, and then we can all pat ourselves on the back. Maybe I can get Diana to take us all out for dinner as a reward," Cassie suggests, exciting with the others. "KO, Dawn, I'm sure we can manage" she looks over at the big chunk left on the shore "-whatever that is, I guess. Though the stuff out in the water might be tough. Hawkeye, were you able to signal STAR on the barge? Do they have instructions for us?"

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate is good for space flights, near flights, far flights.

Honestly she just likes flying the T-Jet and being useful. She can't fly under her own power like half the team after all.

"I think a dinner would be good, especially if the Not-Minotaur is cooking it... though I suppose somewhere fancy could also be fun..."

Kate glances over at Cassie then taps the controls "No they didn't respond on approach... give me a mommento..." she tries again. "STAR Reclamation Barge, this is Hawkeye. We are on scene. How are the recover efforts Over."

There is a pause and crackle of radio silence.

"Mmm.. okay that is a bit odd. I know I have the frequency right and encruption. It is the same one we have been using all week. Someone should probably go chck on the barge.. maybe buddy system it. We should also scope out the half that hit the private beach over there."

Dawn Granger has posed:
Dove eyes her friend kindly carrying all the necessities for the two of them - backpacks and wings not being the best of friends, then turns to survey the wreak washed by the waves.

"Oh, it's one thing to see an aerial photo, it's another to be right up on it. Will they be pulling it completely from the water?"

The sputter of radio silence is an unexpected turn, she watches Hawkeye, eyebrows hiked high in question. "That's strange, isn't it? The three of us together then?"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Well, that sure looks like a city barge," Cassie notes, glancing out to where the recovery effort is ongoing. "And if someone stole the barge we'd have heard about it, right?" Grand Theft garbage barge is kind of big news. "You said the encrypted STAR channels don't work? Maybe try the civillian ones? It's a city hauler since STAR doesn't have anything that big, they're just supposed to be tagging along to handle the sensitive parts of the recovery."

Kate has put them down pretty close to the main wreckage on the land, and so it's just a short walk over to examine it. There are three or four big pieces - in the one to several dozen ton ranges - but also a scattering of lighter wreckage, individual armor plate, struts, although there are also miscellaneous bits that look more advanced, chunks with wires sticking out, strangely shaped vessels that could be batteries or the like... although it's hard to tell.

"This is a mess," Cassie declares, with a sigh. "What do you think? We wanna start with one of the big ones or just start grabbing handfuls of junk and flying them over to the ship?" she wonders at Dawn. "Hawkeye, you have any idea which of this is valuable versus just garbage? We probably wanna secure the good stuff first. I can /probably/ manage one of these big ones myself, start taking them over to the barge one-by-one maybe, while Dawn can help you with anything good you identify?"

Kate Bishop has posed:
"Huh well I mean I figured they would still have their radios on them and all." she taps some controls and flips over to a normal band and repeats. "Recovery Trawler, this is the Titans. We are on scene now. Please respond."

She is getting up to her feet now though grabbing her bow and moving off through the T-Jet. Heading down the ramp and looking around slowly before moving to follow Cassie and Dawn over towards the wreckage.

"I think I can tag it yet, probably anything that looks like it has electronics or munitions or .. yeah no problem. At this point after the last week I feel like an expert in Warzoon bullshit technology...."

She does cant her head. "Okay .. I think we probably need to check out the ship." she frowns over at the salvage operation over there in the water. "No way they are just totaly ignoring us..."

Dawn Granger has posed:
"No, not ignoring us, something is up," Dove agrees, without saying that her sense of impending danger has begun to ping. "Let me come with you. I can fetch and carry, at the very least," she adds, taking a few more steps toward the wreak, a puzzled frown turning her mouth down.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Oh- erm. Hi! Yes, hello!" comes a voice on Kate's radio. Surprised, maybe. "The Titans. It's good you're here. How are things going over there?"

Well, there's an answer at least. Cassie looks out at the water, and back. "Sounds like they're there, but if you want to check it, maybe we can take a look around after we drop off our first load?" She grins at Kate. "Your alien bullshit expertise is way ahead of mine. We didn't really get to do much more than, well, blow them up during the Amazon battle. But you actually flew one of the things." She takes a glance around. "Do you need one of us to give you a ride over? I was just gonna grab one of these and then..."

Cassie walks up to one of the large chunks, cracks her knuckles, and tries to get a hold. It takes a few tries, since something that big is awkward, but eventually, with some straining, she gets it moving. The huge piece is at basically the maximum limit of her abilities, but she's one of the stronger Titans. Once she has it, she begins floating upward. "I'll be back!"

She starts flying over, leaving Dawn and Kate to decide if they want to follow quickly, look around first, whatever!

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate nods to Cassie and then looks to Dawn. "Something is up... I'm with Dove but yeah lets not tip them off. Lets do a load and lull them into a false sense of security." then she mmms "Can you fly Dove?" she isn't entirely sure what her newish teammate can actually do to be honest.

She walks over to the wreckage and starts to pick through it, then pulls out a cutter from the lab. She slices one of the cannons slowly off the thing and then hefts it off. "Okay so yeah... this.. and that..." she points what looks like an alien terminal to Dove. "We can take this first load back then scope out the boat of suspiciousness."

She starts to hike back to the T-Jet.

Dawn Granger has posed:
"What...? Oh," Dove replies tearing her eyes off of the wreak, "I can fly. Things ramp up, so to speak, if we're in trouble. I'm still getting used to being like this," she waves vaguely at herself, smiling faintly at Kate.

After a moment of watching Kate expertly slice into the cannon, she walks over to the terminal that likely had been torn off a console or a wall. Bending at the knees she picks it up, it is oddly light for its mass, just strangely balanced. With a skip, she lifts straight into the air, murmuring, "Dove! There I go. See I don't have to have a million baddies chasing me to fly." She heads back to the craft hovering several feet off the ground.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie and her giant armload of metal sail toward the barge. It's not really far enough to 'disappear into the distance,' but the giant pile of wreckage soon eclipses the girl carrying it so it really looks like just the big chunk of metal flying on its own. Eventually, it looks like she lands on the main deck of the ship.

Kate and Dawn do a little bit of tech picking, and load those pieces onto the Jet - presumably they could load up a lot of lighter, more valuable stuff on the plane and fly it over, while Cassie handled the pieces that were too large. Though for the moment, maybe they have other plans, particularly as each heroine notices something according to their respective specialties...

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate turns the cannon over carefully before she drops off in the T-Jet she looks over to Dawn and grins "Good flying, and not an emergency either."

Then over Titan's comms to just Dawn and Cassie <<Someone took some components out of the cannon I brought back... I think someone carefully picked over the wreckage already. Which .. well Dove said she had a feeling there was trouble over on the boat." she considers. <<Cassie can carry me over since Dove can fly herself?>>

She steps back off the T-Jet and squints out at the ship 'salvaging' the water portion of the crash.

Dawn Granger has posed:
It seems to be a case of 'famous last words.' As Dove walks up the ramp with the console balanced against her chest, she stops to look back at the wreckage, blinking. Her sense of things being off kilter has ramped up enough now that there is no question of her powers being invoked. Quickening her steps, she deposits the debris in the jet without taking time to secure it.

Over coms, she radios to them both, <"Something is really not right. I feel it. That's not a question. I just don't know what it would be.">> She only hesitates long enough to scrutinize the wreck before joining Kate. "Cassie has you. Ready?"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
<< Ugh, sounds like our thief got here ahead of us again. But if they're just scrounging small components, at least they probably couldn't deal with the engines in the water. >> Cassie answers on the radio. << I'm here on the ship, I'll drop this off and- >> *szzzzt* << -oh you- >> *tzzzt*

Cassie starts to answer Kate on the comm, then her radio to goes static. It's similar to whatever problem Kate had before when she tried to raise STAR on the ship. But, suffice it to say, no Cassie, and thus no immediate taxi service for Kate.

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate nods "Well good to know" she notes towards Dove. Ready for a fight in case it doesn't actually take going over to the boat to get jumped.

"Crap."

She looks at the boat now worried about Cassie.

"Dove can you carry me over there?" she looks to her teammate now. She has some apprehension now because honestly she hasn't done this yet with Dawn in the Danger Room where it is relatively safe.

"Otherwise get over there and I'll figure out a way to it .. but Cassie needs backup now."

Dawn Granger has posed:
Dove's gaze skitters between her teammate and the wreak, "I, ah. Well, I won't drop you. I just have to figure out..." She measures Kate, "What would be comfortable for you? Hmmm. Not a fireman's carry. How about we do this like a ballet lift with you facing forward. Does that work for you? This is really something I need to practice, you know. But no time. Something is really off."

She holds her arms out, her wrists breaking into the graceful line of someone who has danced ballet since a child. "Stand in front of me and think of being lifted. That way you can use your bow, if need be. Ready?"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
As Dove and Hawkeye work out some interesting negotiations on etiquette for partnered flight, everything is momentarily quiet. To be cliche, maybe -too- quiet. There's nothing more from Cassie on the ship. No messages from whoever it was who answered Kate on the civillian channel. The wreckage around them remains... well, wrecked.

Once the pair have worked out a suitable position and taken to the air, it's not too far to fly, a short ways to the wreckage in the water and then, just beyond it, the ship. They make it about half that distance before gets another danger-sense ping. This one, though, is probably easier to work out.

That big piece of wreckage Cassie carried over is coming back now. It is NOT coming back with Cassie attached to it.

... Someone /threw/ it.

Kate Bishop has posed:
"Well it will be a bit close and all but yeah...." she moves how she is told. Ready for the pickup from behind and all. "That sounds great... and if you drop me I get to practice swimming in my armor but probably won't drown or die..."

She is an optimist there but she braces for flight and has her bow ready just in case.

"Oh shit... dodge dodge...." because yeah giant wreckage could cause the fragile human to die or drown.

Panic.

Dawn Granger has posed:
They get the flying bit down pretty well, how many ballerinas wouldn't die to be in a carry as light and sure. The sense of urgency peeks to a new height for Dove.

They dodge.

The flying pair make a swoop upward with stomach churning quickness as a very large piece of cannon sails by on its way back to the wreckage.

"Come on!" They turn in the air to look back at what propelled the cannon in the air. "Where's Cassie now?"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Fortunately, something that huge makes for a pretty low-speed projectile, and the only difficulty Dove has in dodging it is its massive sive, but she's able to peel out of the way just in time. It sails past them, impacts on the shore fairly close to where they were standing and searching, skids a bit further, and stops. Luckily for all three of them, it misses the T-Jet. It'd suck to have to explain wrecking it!

Past the obstacle of the huge flying junk (which also covered their vision for a second), the ship and its situation quickly come into view:

The vessel is long, wide, and mostly flat, with the exception of a tower structure with the command deck at the back, and the cranes near the front. The vast deck is loaded with various wreckage.

There are also maybe a half-dozen figures on the deck of the ship, in weird yellow and black body armor and helmets. They open fire on the airspace the two heroines entire as soon as they clear the flying junk. With them is a HUGE and rather ridiculously muscular dude with red hair and a black bodysuit. Easy guess on his job. Indeed, he's standing in a kind of athletic pose, as if he'd just thrown something. He looks proud of himself, but then surprised (when he realizes he's missed) and more surprised when Cassie comes barreling out from under a pile of wreckage and charges into his side. Both of them go flying across the deck, pummeling each other.

As all of this is happening, there's a creaking sound, and then of rushing water. The cranes are running, and the huge engine block is rising up out of the water.

As they get nearer, the comm crackles, still static-y, but apparently a little better at close range: << I >> *zzzsh << -this big asshole- >> *ttzzst* << -weird little runt- >> *chhhhh* << -the tower.>>

Kate Bishop has posed:
True. If it was a high speed projectile at that velocity they would be in dire dire danger right now.

So there is that going for them.

"Oh good.. no T-Jet impact...."

Then Kate is looking back to the ship and the assholes in armor down there. "Well I am glad Cassie got the big guy..." and well Hawkeye does not wait for her to be set down "Go in hard and fast Dove.... I'm good with gymnastics..."

She fires off two arrows now though in very quick succession, selecting and firing FlashBang arrows at this range wanting to just light them all up and create a lot of chaos.

Mostly to clear them a landing area and make it harder for them to focus on shooting her and Dove.

The Flash bangs are followed up with a taffy arrow which will explode to stick someone to the deck.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Dove feels like a jet strafing the enemy with Kate firing arrows as they swoop over the deck. "Good shots. Good luck. I'll get you on the flip side." She deposits her on the poop deck which gives her height on their enemies.

Cassie bowls over her man. Dove rises up to take a count of the mooks dressed like yellow jackets and then tips forward and drops on them like a hawk stooping on its prey. At the last moment she spreads her arms as if offering them an embrace, catches two of them and sweeps them to the railing of the ship. They flail and struggle as she unceremoniously tips them over the edge. Rising straight up she turns searching for more.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
The armored troopers have helmets with large, black lenses, and like the tech on the infamous Bat masks, the optics seem to compensate enough to prevent the intended blinding or stunning effects of the flashbangs. But the brief explosions are still startling, distracting, and provide a bit of cover for Dove to sweep in close.

The -taffy- on the other hand, doesn't seem like something whoever designed their gear was thinking of. It hits one of them square in the chest, and the explosion of adhesive goo quickly gets in all the little crevices of that fancy armor. He's not going much of anywhere soon, and while he can -technically- still shoot, his goo'ed up arms aren't much good for tracking his agile targets.

Dove sweeps over the deck, and her targets take a drink. That leaves three (well, four, if you count Mr. Sticky) plus Mr. Big. To say that Cassie 'has' him is a little generous, a moment after her charge, she goes sailing through the air like a fly ball. Fortunately, she arrests herself mid-air and flies in after her target again. Still, it seems he's a match for her strength.

Of the three remaining, two try and shoot down Dawn as her flight path swings back around, while the other abandons the shooting to charge Kate directly, trading his rifle for some kind of charged energy baton.

Then moments later, they all get sprayed with even more weaponfire as another squad of the dudes have come out of the command tower and started shooting from up there.

The radio crackles again. << The tower- >> *zzzzt* << -crane...stop...if he- >> *crrrrck* <<-engine out, we're in trouble.>>

Kate Bishop has posed:
"Oh come on... Really?" Kate is a little surprised when he pulls out the baton.

I mean if they all weren;t trying to kill her and her friends she may actually feel bad for him...

Regardless she tries two new arrows while he charges, firing lightning fast.

Arrow #1 -- Magnetic Bolos.

Arrow #2 -- Taser Electrical Blast.

Just in case that doesn't actually hit or do the guy in she does back up as she shoots and then slings her bow over her shoulder and draw her two fighing sticks. A button press and they are way less Mockingbird and way more Black Widow as they crackle to life.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Shots whizz by separating a feather from her back which floats slowly to the deck. The count is more favorable till the reinforcements arrive.

A quick check on Kate reassures her that she is holding her own. Dove, still hovering whirls in place looking for Cassie and the big guy. If the others weren't firing, she would have no compunction at hitting Cassie's guy from behind and making a super heroine sandwich.

Soaring straight up, she stops and tucks into flip that brings her behind the new squad, drops to the deck and kicks one in the back, separating him from his weapon as he bounces face down.

Her jiujitsu instructor always said that finesse doesn't count in a fire fight, take them down as fast as you can. With a roundhouse to the face, another of the troop staggers backward. She grabs the weapon from him and decks him square in the chest before swinging into a third, using the weapon like a cricket bat.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
No, the bolas works pretty well!

Mr. Baton stumbles and falls over, and the rest of it is kinda overkill. Well, it would be, except Dove heads for the guys above, so the remaining two on the deck become Kate's by default! So, with a little adjustment, she can put the taser arrow into the next guy, which works pretty well (she might notice that the suit probably has some insulation, but the arrow penetrates it well enough to deliver the charge anyway), and then exercise her aggression on the last of them with her batons: he indeed tries to match her toe to toe like his unfortunate friend had intended, but his martial arts skills aren't nearly as fancy as his tech.

Up on the command tower, Dove exercises a master class in close quarters combat against armed foes, getting in on the formation so they can't easily fire and then taking them out one by one.

As she fights them on the exterior catwalk (they continue to resist for a few moments, one jabbing at her from behind with one of those stun-prods), she can see through the window of the tower: inside, a man (presumably the original captain) is tied to a chair, while another figure can be seen peering over a control panel. He wears a green hood and goggles, with a bushy brown beard. He pulls back a lever, and the crane's gears and engines seem to grow even lowder. Then, glancing out the window at the fight happening outside, and... runs out the further door.

Well, 'runs.' It soon becomes obvious that he is A) very short and B) the only reason he was visible through the window is that he was hovering with a little jetpack, which he now uses to fly across the fight happening on the deck, toward the far end of the ship, and the cranes.

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate gives the guy who actually tried to fight her hand to hand one more taser fighting baton thump <ZZZZT> then looks up at the small man in the jet pack. She tilts her head.

"Awfully short for a storm trooper..." she notes and then just wings the taser baton at where he will be by the time it gets there.

The other baton is sheathed and she pulls her bow off her back and looks after her Baton, knocking a putty arrow and squinting, eyes narrowed as she tries to decide if she needs to gunk his jetpack or if the baton will do the trick.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Moving into the fourth of the squad has Dove occupied though she catches something whizzing out of the bridge of the ship. Number four tries to shoot her point blank, she steps straight into him, batting the rifle to the side. Grabbing the stock as she jumps into the air, she flips a foot out and breaks his knee. This from the young woman that prefers the peaceful solution.

"How are you doing?" she shouts, as she jerks an elbow back into the neck of the man who thought he could grab her from behind.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
The flying baton does catch the man with the jetpack, who was cautious of Dove but not as much so of Kate below: it hits, one of the two engines on the pack sputters, and his flight turns into a strange spiral. The latter fact, however, makes him hard to hit on the follow up. Meanwhile, he fiddles with controls to right himself. And despite this, he's most annoyed by the insult: "SHORT? HOW NARROW MINDED! Mental stature means far more, and in that measure, compared to you I am a GIANT!!!"

Shortie's flight evens out, and he spins around even while jetting backward, so he has a good view of her as she no doubt keeps shooting at him. "Two can play at fancy toys, Missie!" A button is tapped, and the sides of the pack's frame release a veritable swarm of small misiles, each taking an erratic, corckscrew path: some toward Kate on the deck, others toward Dove on the tower.

Each warhead seems to do something different. Some release nets as they get close, others choking chemical clouds, others spraying the area with tiny, not entirely lethal, but painfun flechettes.

A few even detonate in the air, creating clouds of counter-measures for Kate's arrows.

While this is happening, there's a scream from somewhere 'off page' and this time the big guy comes flying, swung on the end of Cassie's lasso, so that he hits the tower under Dove. Then she goes full-on, and electrifies the golden rope. "Get shortie!" she yells.

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate blinks eyes widening. "I ...was not expecting that..." she really only hesitates long enough to exclaim.

Then Kate is charging forward like an athletic sprinter.. not quite gazelle worthy and no speedster but definitely surprisingly fast for a girl her sized. "Then why are you running Shorty!?" yeah she has chosen to bait the little bear.. cub.. in this case to keep him on the field vs. running away.

She is also taking a huge risk of trying to run under the incoming trajectory of all those crazy arrows he just fired like mad.

She ends up sliding like she is in a baseball game to get under a wave of those flatchettes... and still on her knees, bent back like she is trying to limbo.. .shoots a goop arrow right at him.

Honstly she is hoping that even if he chaffes the arrow somehow it will cause it to explode and fling the sticky goop all over his intakes and him.

Dawn Granger has posed:
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Stinging insects seem to descend on Dove, burning into her thighs and shoulders.

<Craaaaarump>

A cloud of smoke completely obscures her vision but not before she stamps on the foot of number five and decks him, knocking him back over a railing to fall out of sight.

Running away? Dove rises out of the smoke looking for who Kate is shouting at. A funny little man with a belligerent expression focused on Kate comes into view. Leaning forward, the blue garbed woman flies directly at the man to tackle him at the knees.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
In the background, there's more of those metallic groaning sounds, of thick, braided metal cables straining to support hundreds of tons of weight, grinding against themselves in the spool of the powerful winch. The sound of the motors running, gears turning, as the crane works. And the roar of the sea, as the spaceship's engine block rises, now fully exposed from the water, which falls in great torrents from its cracks and crevices back into the bay below. It's clear that the man in the jetpack isn't just flying for the crane, he's flying for the engine itself, trying to reach it now that it's clear of the water.

On the tower, Dove finishes up her fight and takes flight, going directly for the man. On a direct course through all those micromissile explosions, she's got the speed advantage, both on Kate and even on the jetpack, which while maneuverable, isn't /terribly/ aerodynamic.

Below, Kate takes a risky approach in chasing him, and like Dove, goes -through- instead of around, running at her fastest and trying to slide under the worst.

/Both/ pay for it. The flechettes, which are specifically designed to pierce armor, sting and tear flesh in a dozen places. The gas chokes and burns the lungs, making breathing a labor. The pain is worse than the injury, probably, but it makes it hard.

Kate gets in position to make her shot, though, and from the low angle, the countermeasures don't catch her. Dove catches up too, and hits the man mid air. The arrow goes off, and suddenly both are a sticky mess. The jetpack doesn't die instantly, but the engines sputter and fight to stay alive, and the two are pulled down together in that crash-trajectory.

They land atop the huge engine block.

It sways slightly, but the cables don't seem to even notice the extra weight. In a mess of sticky goo, Gizmo tries to scramble free, while reaching for some device he carries on him.

Behind them, there's a roar of pain. Cassie is -still- tasering Mammoth, who seems to refuse to go down. Until, suddenly, Cassie herself starts choking. But this wasn't a micromissile. Looking back, the air around her has all taken on a strange, yellow-green coloration, and despite her immense durability, the Amazon drops to her knees almost insantly. The lasso goes slack, the lightning stops.

A female voice: "I see you couldn't handle her by yourself, big brother..."

Kate Bishop has posed:
Well.

That isn't what Kate really intended. Thoguh with Dove and Gizmo up there on the engine block suck together like that she mmms "That stuff hardens pretty quick!" she notes helpfully.

Well she hopes Dove has it.

She pivots and then fires two arrows into the yellow-green colored gas.

Arrow #1: White phoserous arrow.

The other arrow is a flashbang right into Mammoth's face trying to blind him.

She has no idea if the gas is flameable but worth a shot.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Dove and the angry little man cartwheel out of control, plummeting to the wet surface of the engine, newly risen from the sea. He lands on top of her, knocking the air out of them both. Reflex is to knee him and roll over on top of him. She is stuck. More precisely they are stuck together.

"You...you little runt. Let go of me!" He struggles, trying to get to something at his belt through the goop that has them glued together.

"Arrrrrrrgg," Dove cries wordlessly as she tears her arm out of the goop to knock a square transistor sized gizmo out of his hand. It skitters to the side of the engine, teeters and then tumbles into the ocean.

"Get off of me, you...you...little chimp!"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
As Kate turns toward Cassie, a figure steps through what seems like a melted hole in a steel bulkhead to join her and the big guy: a young, attractive woman, also in a black bodysuit (albeit a little more suggestively flattering in her case), /also/ with red hair. She has a wicked expression as she watches the Amazon choke, putting a hand onto Mammoth's arm.

But neither of them has a fancy bug helmet, and at least in Mammoth's case, his face is a bigger than average target (as faces go). Before the pair can execute whatever menacing intent, the arrow hits dead-on with a flash of sound and light. He roars like a wounded wildebeast, huge hands clutching and covering his face, and staggers back, and the woman doesn't fair much better.

Atop the engine, Dove has one of the stranger brawls of her life, fighting a midget while covered in glue. Probably, she'd have more of an upper hand without said adhesive, although it also has its advantages. Gizmo gets the device out of his pocket, but as he meddles with its controls and reaches for the engine, he can't -quite- reach where he needs to, and can't get -off- of Dove to get where he needs to go. He almost has it-

And then he doesn't.

When the device is lost, Gizmo's expression is pure dismay and betrayal (by fate, one might suppose): "NO! IMPOSSIBLE! MY WORK!" Whatever he was going to do with it, it's not happening now. Stealing the whole ship was too much, it turns out, and this was their only hope."

So plan B is now leaving. Gizmo shouts into his own communicator: "SHIMMER, get your idiot brother and get up here, I'm -stuck-."

Meanwhile, the second arrow works. Maybe too well. The vapor ignites around Cassie and she screams, covering her own face and curling her body away from the blaze. But it's brief. And the gas is gone. In that time, Mammoth - who recovers from stuns pretty fast, the lightning first and now the flashbang - grabs his apparent sister, and Hulk-leaps for the top of the crane's superstructure. From there, suddenly, the glue arround Dawn and Gizmo evaporates, and the little bugger hits a backup thruster, shooting off like a rocket. Mammoth takes another leap to follow, and the trio are last seen touching down on what must be the top of a barely-surfaced submarine, before all three vanish into the waves.

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate looks after them "What a bunch of jerks..." then she pivots and runs towards Cassie now "Are you okay.. Cass!?" that was a scream, it just took her a moment to register she may have accidently burned her friend some. I mean she is an Amazon right. She hopes it was more startling than painful.

"Dove!.. see if you can't fish the idiots idiots out you tossed in so we can turn these guys over to SHIELD or something..."

If Cassie is okay, Kate will proceed to disarm and truss up all the agents of Hive they took down that she can get to.

Dawn Granger has posed:
Kate's voice impels her to rise. From gooped to a villain to fishing them out of the drink: Dove recovers quickly.

"Got it!"

Standing on the engine block rocking lightly at the end of the chain, she peers down into the churning water below them and spots a yellow jacketed form surface. With a suppressed sigh, she perches on the edge of the block to launch herself into the ocean.

The man's head disappears under a wave only to resurface with Dove holding him by the collar of his suit. They rise out of water, the man dangling and kicking. Water sparkles as it sluices off of them. Dove deposits him in a heap at Cassie and Kate's feet, salutes and walks back to the rail, leaving wet footprints behind her.

She dives twice more, dragging back the black and yellow soldiers to deposit at the two women's feet like a bird bringing worms back to the nest.

"I don't know what happened to the others," she says a little breathlessly, laying the last one out.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie is OK in the general sense of it. She's a bit scorched. Her clothes. Her /hair/. But aside from the pain, like that of Gizmo's little darts, she seems to be alright, slowly pulling herself up from the deck. "-yeah," she says, hoarsely, her throat apparently a bit worse for the wear from the gas. "I'm OK," she tells Kate, and with some gratitude adds: "Better than I would have been."

While the fearsome trio makes their neat escape, with Dawn's efforts the goons are easy enough to fish out and round up for the authorities, who arrive in police boats some twenty minutes later. A quick survey of the ship by the Titans locates the crew and the STAR labs personnel tied up below decks, like the captain was in the tower.

Those prisoners can give bits and pieces of info on how they were boarded, with some of the crew mentioning seeing the sub, or feeling it bump up beside them, while one of the STAR people describes the red-headed woman easily making a hole in the bulkhead for the three to walk through. The scientist has some theory on 'matter altering powers,' that she's willing to share at great length.

Nonetheless, the mission is eventually a success. With the ship secured, the engine is finally loaded aboard, while the Titans can help carry over the rest of the junk. Its obvious Gizmo might have made off with some bits and pieces, but fortunately, wasn't able to get his hands on the engine... or the powerful alien reactor inside.