3868/Demon's Heart

Demon's Heart
Date of Scene:	19 October 2020
Location:	Pago Pago Island, North Atlantic.
Synopsis:	Exposition Followed by Robot Attack!
Cast of Characters:	Ted Kord, T'Challa, Helena Bertinelli, Diana Prince, Joan Wright, Douglas Ramsey

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Ted Kord has posed:
Ships and planes vanish at sea all the time, despite modern navigation aids and communications. A Wakandan transport, flying to Metropolis with a tiny but precious shipment of vibranium for S.T.A.R. Labs was another matter. A thread to a mystery was produced.. The transport got a distress call out, giving its position and rescuers found nothing. The call was a lie. However no one on Earth could tell that. There were two satellites in orbit that did fix the transport's last position. One satellite belonged to Kord Co. the other belonged to Wakanda. The three produced was pulled on by two men who discovered similar disappearances and distress calls that did not line up. Eventually these calls were found to originate around a desolate island named Pago Pago. More threads, more unraveling. And a man in blue sent worried emails to a man in black, a woman in red white and blue, and another in black and purple among others...

Fade in on the Bug flying over the Atlantic, Blue Beetle at the controls. The Beetle has been unnaturally quiet.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa would normally have handled this on his own, or with the Dora Milaje at least. But knowing that others were aware of the situation, it made more sense to him to work with them in large part to be able to keep an eye on them and make sure the vibranium stayed in the proper hands.

So it is he's riding along in the aircraft, wearing his Black Panther habit minus a mask. He observes quietly for the moment, glancing over at the others in the vehicle. Finally he breaks his silence to comment to Diana Prince, "We still have that basketball game to attend when this is over."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
The purple and black masked Huntress has her arms crossed and stands there sullenly on the side of the ship. She has been trying to follow this investigation and squints with very little understanding, "I still don't know what we're going to do about this &5##1097 situation, to be honest," she tells Ted, "I wish your emails were less rambling..." she admits.

Normally, Huntress probably wouldn't have handled this at all but someone has to help. She pats the side of her costume where she's stashed a miniature crossbow, probably checking the ammunition, "If this is a pre-historic Godzilla island, I'm not gonna be nice," she grumbles, complaining already.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana, seated not far from T'Challa, is wearing her armor beneath a blue shawl worn over her shoulders. Her hair is loose about her shoulders and her eyes are forward, at least up to the point where T'challa speaks to her, where she there-after looks to the King and offers him a bright smile. "I am looking forward to that. So do not tease me, and deliver on these box seats that you promised." She fires back to him.

Her stare goes forward again as she sweeps it across the others with them. "Whatever we are up against here today, it must be quite capable, to achieve what they achieved."

She glances back to T'Challa then before looking ahead to where Ted was.

"If this is a Godzilla island, I do not ask you to be nice, by any means." Diana tells Huntress whsn she catches that last part of what the other said.

Joan Wright has posed:
Joan would be one of the 'others' mentioned. As she glances around at the other occupants of the Beetle it is quiet apparent she is an odd person out. She is not really wearing a costume. Hell. She doesn't own a costume. The best she's got is steel toed boots, a sensible light weight but long-sleeved shirt, cargo pants with LOTS of pockets (All the pockets), a hard hat and work gloves clipped on to her belt, and judging from the pockets, she's got stuff in there. It looks more like Ted took her off a construction site. And... To be honest, he probably did. That's Damage Control's thing.

But hey, she recognizes everyone here at least. Some in person, the others... well, the news. She looks over to Huntress as she mentions not knowing what to do about the situation, "I'm still trying to figure out why I'm being brought along. Generally I don't get called in until AFTER the damage."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
One of these things is not like the other. Doug is seated in his chair, absently filling out a journal entry on his tablet about all the people he's packed into this bizzare ship with, and trying not to look up and gawk. He's got on a black bodysuit, yellow boots and kneepads, with a yellow jacket.

He looks up at the comments about Godzilla, and then looks back down, writing about that, finishing with 'If I get eaten, at least it's a good story.'

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord activates the autopilot and turns his seat around. He regards the company a moment before speaking.

"I never cared to tell my 'origin' before and no one ever seemed interested in it. However I should tell you now. Jarvis Kord was my uncle, my last living relative and... my mentor. He encouraged me to do all kinds of research. I thought it was wonderful, he was great. No one else I knew was smart enough to keep up with me in engineering. He disappeared right before I discovered he was weaponizing my projects. I managed to track several shipments to a facility at Pago Pago Island."

"I went to investigate with my other mentor, my Professor: Dan Garrett. Uncle Jarvis taught me about engineering and physics. Dan taught me about being a human being, not a computer. We got to the island and found the installation and the army of robots Jarvis was building. I was very surprised..." He takes a deep breath before continuing.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
The purple and black Huntress frowns at Ted's little story, "Perfect," she mutters in complaint again, wondering just what the fudge she's going to do against an army of robots.

She wrinkles her brow a little, maybe in concern for Ted, or maybe wondering what the fudge he's talking about. She opens her mouth to tell him not to worry and stress out, but doesn't say anything, growing tight lipped again.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana, her eyes forward on Ted as he turns to speak, tilts her head gently to the side. "Does that mean that we are anticipating a ... mechanical menace for this trip?" She inquires, giving a glance to T'challa again, before looking to the others withthem on the Beetle. "I have fairly extensive experience with dealing with metal foes, they often break the same as fleshy-based foes. But still, there are often technological ways of defeating them in bulk. Such as EMP bursts, or smething similar to such. If... this is indeed the threat we are to face today."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa nods back to Diana. "On my word," he tells her about getting tickets to the game. He looks back forward then as Ted turns around to tell them about the location they are going to. He crosses his arms as he listens, an eyebrow going up at one point as Ted reveals the role of his mentor in his past visit to the island.

"And are these new tactics to gather... what? Materials?" T'challa asks quietly. "Or was he using similar methods in the past when you encountered him?" the Wakandan asks in a moment he won't interrupt Ted's story.

Joan Wright has posed:
Joan listens curiously to Ted's back story, which looks to be a lengthy one. However a few key phrases do register. Weaponizing projects, tracked down to where they're apparently going. Army of robots...

She takes a deep breath. Eyes closing as she releases it slowly. Hand reaching to her helmet to confirm by touch that it is indeed still there. Looks like she's going to be needing it. Annnnd it looks like Ted's taking advantage of already meeting the deductible for the year.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug looks up, and sets his tablet down, before he leans back and crosses his arms. He puts his hand on his chin as he thinks about that, and then he tilts his head. "Not completely." He says, though he doesn't elaborate on that point. It's Ted's story to tell.

He flexes the fingers on his left hand.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord smirks a little at Doug. He looks at the Huntress, smiles a little and continues. "Dan was the first Blue Beetle. He had this weird scarab that turned him into Superman... almost. He was incredible. He tore into those robots but they were just too many. Dan damaged the coolant system to the power system. The generators exploded. The place was coming down, my uncle was buried. Somehow I managed to get out. I tried to take Dan with me... he made me swear to carry on as the new Blue Beetle, but that scarab was lost. Not much else to say. Except... I think Uncle Jarvis faked his death, and is back in business. I have very bad notions what he could do with vibranium. As for the robots... aim for the joints, the eyes. I was working on armoring those when he cut and run. Anyway I'll bring up schematics with the vulnerabilities I noticed. Chiefly... they link up their processors when fighting together to move faster and act more intelligently. This renders them vulnerable to hacking. Thank you for coming. I hope we can conclude this without harm." He doesn't sound terribly hopeful.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress keeps frowning in a dubious reaction to Ted's comment that this whole thing can be done without harm, "Great," she mutters unconvincingly.

She finds a little seat along the side of the Bug and sits down.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana reaches down beside her where she's seated and lifts up a shining sword of great craftsmanship. She turns it this way and that in the space before her. "Vulnerable to hacking is good." She says, with a small smile over the blade. "Let us hope they are vulnerable to slashing and stabbing as well." It's possible she's not sure what type of hacking Ted meant. But it's far more likely that she's just making a playful little pun and joke before they get started on this mission that is being laid out before them.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa hmms quietly. "If they are able to turn the vibranium into armor it would be quite strong," he confirms. He's doubtful they'd be able to make any sort of use it like the Wakandans themselves do, those advancements having come from decades of research. But doing something with the incredibly hard nature of the metal is certainly feasible.

The African man looks up at the vehicle's instrumentation to see where they are. "Are there facilities still existing? Above ground, underground, anything else about it you can tell us?"

Joan Wright has posed:
Joan looks to Ted, head tilting. There aren't any direct answers but perhaps she can extrapolate from the story. "Are you expecting what is left to come tumbling down?"

Or she could just ask. Yeah. That could work.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug picks up his tablet and then makes a note, 'Never make a quip about Wonder Woman pulling mace out of her purse.'

Quietly, he wonders why he's here - between everyone else, Ted seems to have all the possible bases covered. Yet, he came, and so here he is. "Well," He says, holding out his tablet and pushing a button on it to cause it to give off a three dimensional projection, "I borrowed some satellite technology to give us a topographical projection of the island, so you're familiar with the terrain and have a map of sorts to work with."

"Also hello, I'm Mr. Kord's assistant. My name is Doug."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord looks over at Huntress a moment, troubled by her reaction perhaps. "Well, I have ground penetrating radar on the Bug so we can come up with some plans. There's a bay on the West coast my escape tunnel opened into. It led pretty directly from a main chamber that housed the controls and a number of vital systems, power coolant, fibre optics. This might be pirates or... AIM is it? Or Kobra moved into a partially buried base. I mean the explosions seemed to trash the place. Ah, there's the island now..." Ted shuts off an arrival alarm that chimes and turns around to work the controls. Screens bring up scanner results.

The West bay is filled with submerged ships and planes. Some covered by only a few feet of water.

"Dear Lord..."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress sits forward in her seat and looks down at her boots as Ted goes on with his little story, then she looks up suddenly and asks, "How about we bomb the place and call it even?" she wonders, thinking that might save everybody some trouble, "We could call in the air force."

Joan Wright has posed:
Joan tilts her head, looking to all the damage and then looks over to Huntress. "...What if the people on the missing transport are on the island alive? It wouldn't be fair to them to just call in a bombing."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa nods towards Joan as she raises the objection before he can. "If any of the people survived, we will bring them out," he replies in his soft raspy voice. He moves over, leaning closer to see the output of the scan. "There is our transport," he says. It looks like an old cargo plane. But then everyone knows Wakanda is a nation of farmers and herders, so if they are flying something from the 1970s that isn't too surprising.

He looks around the vessel and greets Doug after his introduction. "T'Challa," he says simply enough, before looking back to Ted. "Very well. So it sounds like we'll need to search. Though there might be tracks or signs of them moving cargo near to the vehicles they've captured."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana stands up when the alarm goes off, she walks up toward where Ted is located, her sword being raised up and slid in to the leather and gold sheath that adorns the back of her harness behind her shoulders. She pauses over Ted's shoulders to look at what he is reacting to. "It seems as though a number of air forces have already been in this area before." She quietly comments before looking back toward the others. "I am ready to go and search. We should draw out our enemies, and decide how to defeat them there-after."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord stares at Huntress and says, "Why don't we just call cops to deal with the mob? What Joan said. Those ships had crew. They may be alive. The scans of the island are being disrupted. I can resolve the main chamber, an entrance on the East side, a vent shaft going straight down, and what is probably my tunnel on the West Bay. So... where do we enter? Thoughts? Hey Doug give the King your seat please, and switch to the monitor station... you might be able to make something out of the scans, garbled as they are. I'll land on the Bay and you watch for rocket launchers and such."

The Bug slows and comes to hover a hundred feet up. Its thrusters scattering the sands. Under the blast a buried entrance appears.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Standing up, Huntress puts her hands on her hips and mutters, "Fine," she says, pausing for a moment as she thinks over Ted's plans and Diana's ambition. She furrows her brow and says, "It's one thing to kick around some mobsters, but you're talking about drawing out a robot army. There could be hundreds of them, right? Maybe we should lay low and try a subtle approach," she suggests, even though that's never really been her forte.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"I'm on it." Doug says, swinging out of his chair and taking his place at the console. He seems to immediately have a feel for the system and how the ship's instruments work, as he leans back in the chair and goes to work. Let's see... what you're hiding."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa nods in agreement with Diana. "Yes, if they have managed to intercept these other craft, there is no saying they may not be able to do the same with this one," he says. "We should be moving before they have time to take the initiative with us."

His mask forms over his head, just seeming to grow up out of the rest of his suit. He walks over to the open doorway, glancing back at the others to assure they are ready. "We can see what responds to our presence, and search them out if there is none. But I agree we do not need to announce ourselves before we know what is going on."

With that he just steps out of the vehicle, falling to the ground below.

Diana Prince has posed:
With her sword on her back, Diana whips the Diana whips the blue shawl off of her shoulders, dropping it in to the seat that she'd been occupying while she kneels for just a second to scoop up the large ornate round shield that was leaning against her chair, along with a golden tipped javelin of Themysciran make and design. Both are swept behind her body and attached to the same sheath that her sword is nestled within.

A glance is given to the others. A quick smile is shown. "I can do subtle. I promise." She says as she moves to leap out of the Beetle, electing not to use the descending cable, but rather just fall to the ground where she collides, armored boots to ground, strong leg muscles flexing to cushion her heroic landing.

So very subtle.

Joan Wright has posed:
As it looks like they're coming in. Joan tucks her short hair behind her ears before securing them in place with the arms of her safety glasses. She unclips her hard hat and gloves and puts them on. And like that she looks like she's ready to go to a worksite again.

Joan blinks, "Oh. Right! Introductions." She gives an apologetic smile to the two that haven't met her before, "I'm sorry. I got distracted. I'm Joan. I'm a restoration architect with Damage Control." And with that introduction, probably inadvertently gave an explanation to her wondering what she's doing here as part of this particular group.

As everyon makes their leave, she has no quick departure scheme, instead grabbing on to the rope and hooking it with her legs. Once she's sure the feet are properly positioned, her gloved hands loosen on the rope, allowing for a reasonably quick but controlled descent. Upon reaching somewhat solid ground, she backs away from the rope.

Ted Kord has posed:
Douglas Ramsey's gift kicks in and he sees the patterns of information in the sensor scans, obscured by static. The beach was swept clear of sand it is true. The enemy, however does not come from the land, but the sea, hidden among the submerged wrecks. Robots begin emerging and charging the shore! Other flying drones erupt and bear down on the Bug!

To Be Continued...