4179/Diplomat Killers

Diplomat Killers
Date of Scene:	19 November 2020
Location:	Upstate New York
Synopsis:	Bobbi, May, and Fitz hunt down the head of the mercs who attacked the diplomat's son. They were surprisingly chatty but unwilling to engage against SHIELD directly.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Melinda May, Leopold Fitz

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
The mercs they captured outside the International Hotel after the car bombing ended up talking. They went for plea deals. After all, they attempted to assassinate someone with diplomatic immunity. Better to spill the beans than to spend the next two decades or more in prison.

Their target: Gavin Hedgecroft, a known merc. He is skilled but assassination isn't his usual shtick. Often he takes on jobs for bleeding hearts, which is what makes this case particular disturbing. Why try to kill a frat boy - unless this is really about the kids father, Diplomat Naasif el-Lodi. The captured mercs were compartmentalised and that means the only source of answers they're going to get is from the merc leader himself.

"Latest intel puts them in a motel off the high way," Bobbi says and doesn't even try to fight May for the pilots seat. That's not a battle she's _ever_ won. She runs her flight suit through its check lists and then straps herself in. "Let's be quick. We know he has three other mercs with him and we're on the clock here. Whatever they're planning next - they're being paid, so they are motivated."

Melinda May has posed:
Nor will she. Bobbi may sometimes beat May on the sparring mats, but the quinjet is hers, damn it! She sits calmly behind the controls, listening to the briefing. "There's a landing spot in that old trailer park the last tornado took out," the pilot notes. "We'll keep the cloaking on." Because stealth is good. She prefers it to guns blazing. Not, mind, that she's ever objected to what she considers to be therapeutic aggression.

"We're going to try to bring him in alive, yes?" Not that she expects otherwise. SHIELD is, generally, a no-kill outfit. But there are always exceptions. "We can demotivate them pretty quickly."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
At least they6 are both in the cockpit!

As is usually the case, Fitz is relegated to the back of the Quinjet. Not that he's complaining. Not really. He has logged a little simulation time, but he is not a pilot and he knows it. Besides, it can sometimes be nice to be chauffered around. That's it. He's not luggage. He's travelling in style!

As is always the case however the brilliant young scientist has certainly brought plenty of gear along, those usual duffle bags accompaning him out into the field, no doubt full of that small drone army as well as an assortment of other odds and ends. While the pair up front guide them to their ultimate destination, he goes through his checks, making sure that all the gear -- surveillance and communication -- is fully functional and at the ready.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Yes we want him alive," she says with a smirk and a stare at May. "Whoever hired them may hire someone else when they fail. And they will fail." She checks her ICER is loaded and charged properly, then puts it in to the holster. As they take off from the still temporary quinjet staging area of the Triskelion - the new hanger is almost complete - they head off across the bay and toward the destination with cloaking on.

<< Quinjet 6 this is Triskelion, we have an update on your mission parameters. The vehicle your target hired has been spotted on the highway heading north upstate new york. Intercept en route. Analysis predicts he is headed to the safe house where Abdut el-Lodi is being kept. We have notified the team there >>

Bobbi raises an eyebrow and motions to May. She opens up her tablet and brings up a picture of a black SUV and number plates. "Okay.. I guess we're trying to find a needle on a highway hay stack."

Melinda May has posed:
"Hang on," May says. "We're changing course." The jet rolls, contrails spiralling as she spins them around to follow the highway. She opens up the jet and the coulds streak by. "Someone get on scanners," she says. Because, you know, her hand is on the stick.

At the very least, they know where that safehouse is. They can always get ahead of them, if they need.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
There are a ton of perks that come with being a part of SHIELD of course. But one of the best, at least in Fitz's eyes has to be all the great toys. You know, those little playthings like multi-million dollar satelittes. Picking a single car out amongst a crowd on the highway might be tricky for local law enforcement, or even some of the other alphabet soup organizations. But they're not SHIELD.

With his gear checked, verified and stowed once more in those duffle bags, the young agent slides into place at one of the terminals in the rear, fingers dancing over the keyboard as he pulls up a variety of images -- both ground shots and satelitte telemetry from high above in Earth's orbit. It doesn't take him long at all until he is able to bring up a live feed, at first a very wide feed that gradually gets narrowed in and focused until the details of individual vehicles can be made up. "Surveillance is up. Feeding it on up. Trying to retask to get a secondary angle that might give us another view as well," he calls out.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi adjusts her posture slightly in the seat as the jet makes a hard roll to change direction. "Nicely done," she comments to May and then she unstraps and goes out to the back. "Good job Fitz," she says to him too and then picks up the EMP canon out of the storage and primes it.

It's not too long before they've found the SUV and are overhead of it. The car has four people in it - all of them. Bobbi hits the bay doors and crouches down, leaning out and aiming the EMP canon down at the car. "Now let's get them off the road shall we."

The canon has a distinct *whompf* to it as the pulse hits the car. The electronics shut down and the driver turns them on to the shoulder of the highway. It rolls to a stop and the four of them get out; one heading to check under the hood. Another is pointing and two others are keep lookout. They are dressed in armor and armed to the teeth, they are also all four wearing gravity manipulation gloves.

"Looks like they still don't know we're here, let's set down and surprise them," Bobbi instructs.

Melinda May has posed:
"Copy that." May flips buttons and spins the jet around. The engines swivel and reorient. Within moments, they're descending vertically down in a clear spot beside the highway. She turns out of her seat and joins the other two in the back, securing an ICER and picking up a long metal rod -- one of those handy stun spikes. Slam it in the ground and duck. Instant stun wave to incapcitate your enemies.

Seems like a plan, if they've got those fancy gloves.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
The retasked statelitte does indeed provide the necessary view, right up to being able to get a close enough look at the license plates. Afterall, there aren't exactly a shortage of black SUVs on the road. Lets hear it for SHIELD tech.

Still watching from that overhead view, Fitz keeps a close eye on the disabled vehicle to see if there seem to be any signs that they are aware of the cause, but nothing about their behavior suggests that they are aware of the problems that are about to dscend on them.

That's the good news.

The bad news? Well, the scanner sweeps quickly pick up those abnormal energy signatures that initially showed up in New York and Fitz narrows his eyes ever so slightly. "Four hostiles. All of them have the same energy signature from NYC. They're armed with those gravity gauntlets," he warnds.

With that little bit of news delivered, he quickly pulls out his own sidearm and gives it a once over, verifying that there is a full clip of ICER rounds ready to go before jumping out of his seat and moving to the rear of the Quinjet, beginning to set up those drones to be released as soon as they touch down.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi takes hold of the cargo rail as the jet turns rapidly again and then lands nearby. She is really hesitant to say it, but so far the mission is going really smoothly. Having the upper hand really helps. She wishes all missions could be like this. "Those gravity gloves again? they're nasty. May, don't let them point one at you."

She then double takes at May's choice of weaponry and grins, "Really, the stun stick?" There's a shrug and she nods, "Alright. Duck and cover play it is." She draws her ICER out and moves out of the quinjet. There's cornfields alongside the highway and she slips down in to them for cover as they approach the targets.

Closer to them they can hear the group arguing, "Well if the solanoid is burned out we'll just have to requisition some other bloody vehicles now won't we." Another says, "Right," and lifts up a machine gun, then steps out on to the road and shots toward a car forcing it to swurve and stop. The driver gets out and starts running the other way. "Transport acquired baws."

Melinda May has posed:
"They'll find it harder to point at us if they're out cold on their asses," May notes to Bobbi. "Besides. It makes a good bat." And, there it is. The real reason she likes the things. "Not all of us have fancy batons, you know."

Not that she needs them.

The shots ring out. She looks to Bobbi. "We'd better go." There are innocents to save. She'll let Bobbi lead the way, but she punches the button on the back wall. Time's awastin'.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
As soon as the back ramp to the Quinjet lowers, Fitz is ready, those mini-drones already out and lined up, the control panel looped around his neck, dangling in front of him. They spring to life with a little buzz, proceeding the other agents of the plane and moving to provide them with a bird's eye view of this stretch of the highway

By the time their targets are working on obtaining new transportation in their own, unique sort of way the first video is already being streamed back to the young scientist and the field agents. "All four are converging on the new vehicle. Minimal cover, but there are a lot of cars out there and they're blocking two lanes of traffic. It could get real crowded, real quick," Fitz warns.

That's the problem with these operations in an urban environment. The risk of collateral damage makes everything a whole lot more tricky. Waiting for Agent Morse and Agent May to lead the way, he falls in behind them, several feet back, his attention on the drone control panel and the video feeds they're sending back. "I'm moving one drone in to immobilze their new vehicle."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi moves swiftly through the cornfield and points her ICER at the back of one of the men. "Okay, let's do this. On the count of now. Now," she says and moves out of the cornfield and in to the open. She takes a shot at the mans back - which is when a swarm of micro drones surround the four mercenaries and block the ICER bullet. "Oh come on..," she says as she realises that that stealth approach has been completely blown.

The men rapidly spread to take cover behind cars and aim guns back at the agents, "The real Agents of SHIELD! So nice of you to join us. We're sorry to cause you inconvenience," says the man in charge, Gavin, "but we're actually the good guys here. I know it's hard for you to grasp with your tiny tiiiny brains, but you're the big establishment, you protect evil every day and you don't even realise it. That's where we come in," he says trying to sell on the notion that somehow they're on the path of righteousness. Then again, they haven't shot at SHIELD yet.

Melinda May has posed:
Somehow, this does not surprise May. Or rather, it's one of those things the experienced SHIELD agent takes with a healthy dose of scarcastic fatalism. She doesn't bother responding to them verbally. Instead, she glances once to Bobbi, to read what the other combat specialist is planning. Only if Bobbi holds back will May. Otherwise, she's heading into the thick of it with her stun stick. Who knows? Maybe she'll be able to use it for what it's meant for... not just as a bat.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Things really were going a little too well. No one had to say anything to jinx things. Surely it was inevitable.

It might be notable that these mercenaries have not yet resorted to violence it's true. But it doesn't change their mission. So Fitz lingers by the ramp of the Quinjet, well shielded from the brewing confrontation out by the highway. Instead he focuses on his drones, one of them dropping down towards the front of the hijacked vehicle, seeking time to build up enough of a charge to blowout the vehicles electrical systems and take the improvised getaway vehicle off the field of play. Not that the quartet of mercs are showing a lot of interest in fleeing any longer.

While the solitary drone does that, his others fan out above. These are tools primarily, not weapons, designed for surveillance, for crime scene collection and analysis. Sure, they have tasers that might be of some use. But instead of trying to deploy those Fitz continues to tap away at the controls, a look of concentration on his features as he instead works on setting up a jamming radius to take those mini-drones off the playing field. Or at least the ability to control them. If he can just isolate that frequency.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi furrows her brow and calls back to the mercenaries, "You blew up a car and you are using stolen SHIELD technology. You've attacked a diplomats son. People have questions and want you all put away for life. I'm struggling to see the bit where you're supposedly the good guys here."

There's a nod given to May. She might as well try her approach. The stun baton might even get through the shield of micro-drones. "Not to mention we know you're on a direct route to the safe house of the diplomat. So tell you what, why don't you just surrender now and we'll all go back to the Triskelion and talk this out hm."

Gavin laughs and says, "Not a chance. You'll just toss us in a dark hole and the real villains walk away scott free yet again. This isn't about the boy. He's an idiot. This is about sending a message to his father. We're being paid handsomely for that and you two aren't going to stop us. If I were you, I'd be asking yourself - why would anyone want the diplomat terrorised huh? never mind, you don't have the braincells to solve a real mystery."

Melinda May has posed:
Oh, May has asked that question. She just doesn't have the details to solve it all. And Bobbi's the lead on it, anyway. The Asian woman darts forward with an explosive movement, seeking to move in behind the microdrones before she bothers to set off her stunstick. There's no point using it before then, she figures.

Thus, she's rolling across the hood of the car they're using as a barrier, body tucked tight to make a smaller target.

If she managed to circumvent those drones, she'll slam that stick down and let it rip. If not?

It still makes a good bat.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Really, how insulting? Don't the bad guys know that words hurt? These are a particularly vile bunch they are up against this time, that's for sure.

They might have a point. There are probably a few questions worth asking, maybe a little digging into the diplomat that would be worth doing. But that's not the mission, not right now. Fitz is hardly the sort to be blindly led through his paces. He has enough sense to recognize when something just feels wrong. But he also has enough trust in those that he works with to know that they probably see it too. And will deal with it in the suitable way.

Doc's approach seems to go entirely unnoticed by the quartet of mercs that trade barbs with Bobbi and as it edges up to the front grill of the hijacked car electricity arcs from hit, a brief flash that just cannot be concealled. But the damage is done. They're not getting that car started with a good boost.

Even as the field agents move to engage, Fitz finds the proper frequency, giving a tight little smile to himself and engages the jamming over the area. To the naked eye absolutely nothing has changed, but instead of moving to block or hinder may, those micro-drones just hang there as if on standby, waiting for a command that will have a heck of a time cutting through all that interference.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi calls back, "You don't have much faith in SHIELD do you. Did we turn down your application to join or something?" Why not taunt back. May is moving in and she glances back at Fitz, seeing a look of satisfaction on his face. That always means things are about to turn back to their way. She stands up and holds her weapon up, "Great I'm listening," she adds to distract them.

As May goes for the stun baton, Bobbi drops down to the ground to get underneath its stun plane. The device hits the ground and its top jumps up in to the air, followed by a sudden explosion by the device that messes with peoples brains, flicking that sleep switch.

One of the mercs is fast enough to see it and lifts up their arm to deflect it with the gravity glove, but is _just_ a little bit behind the motion. The four of them drop to the ground out cold. Bobbi stands back up and rushes in with ICER drawn. She checks the nearest merc.. yep, definitely out cold.

Bobbi gives her head a small little tilt to May, "Good call on the stun stick."

Melinda May has posed:
May gives a brief nod in response to Bobbi, following suit with the mercs nearest to her. Make sure they're out, strip them of their gauntlets and weapons. When that's done, she takes a moment to inspect one of those gloves. "He asked good questions," she notes. "But I want to know who's supplying them. How they're getting this equipment."

She's spent too much time with Carter, perhaps. The idea that there could be Hyrda infiltrators in the agency isn't far fetched. And the idea they're funnelling info to these guys? Also a possibility.

But not the only one. And May's not willing to close her mind off to any possibility.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Well, that's that. Maybe not a perfectly clean mission but he didn't get shot at, he didn't have to avoid giant scorpions and no one tried to blow up a nuclear bomb in his vicinity. All things considered, at least as far as SHIELD missions go, that is the sort of thing that Fitz would consider a big success.

Still guiding those hovering drones of his, the young agent emerges from his place near the landing ramp of the Quinjet, trotting over to the actual scene. "I've signalled the clean-up team that they can come in to extract their vehicle, see if there is anything of note in there," he says as he gets close enough, having those hovering drones continue to video the scene for later analysis before fanning out once more, casting a wider surveillance net over the area. Probably unneccesary, but there's no reason to take any chances, right?

"There's still all those explosives unaccounted for too," Fitz chimes up as he nears, plucking one of those hovering mini-drones of the air with interest, giving it a once over before tucking it away for further study. There are times that he really does love his job. Continuing to move briskly, he goes to the nearest of the downed figures, working to pull one set of those gauntlets free as well.

For the field agents their mission might be just about over. For Fitz, his fun is just about to get started in earnest.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi holsters her ICER and takes out the zip ties. Disarming and packing them in to the quinjet for travel back to the Triskelion is the next priority. "Hopefully he's as willing to chat when we have him in interrogation. We can find out about the rest of the explosives then. I think it's time we considered digging in to Diplomat El-Lodi's past. I hate going in to an interrogation not knowing most of the story."

She takes a breath and nods to May. "Finding out where they bought this stuff would be a bonus. The Punisher wasn't terribly thrilled about giving up his black market sources. And if he's right, that SHIELD is protecting bad people - well I want to know why. I don't care if it's above my level, that isn't what SHIELD is about. Fury can yell at me later."