4707/The Symkarian Job

The Symkarian Job
Date of Scene:	12 January 2021
Location:	Wurzbad Vally, Symkaria
Synopsis:	A tense political situation boils over thanks to the manipulations of T.O. Morrow, but what did the mad scientist want with terabytes of astrological data? The Pythian Comet continues here!
Cast of Characters:	Clark Kent, Takako Kyozan, Karen Starr, Bruce Wayne, T'Challa, Diana Prince, Carol Danvers

---

Clark Kent has posed:
The history of Latveria and Symkaria is what can politely be called 'complicated'. Both survivors of the Iron Curtain, the two countries have alternated between alliances, wary friendship, cold war, and outright antagonism. Currently the two nations are enjoying a wary peace, the sort of which that could be toppled over by just about any sort of serious incident.

Like the Wurzbad Observitory, a high tech astrophysics lab situated in Wurzbad Valley just along the border, up and vanishing overnight. There has been no sign of theft or abduction; there simply is not an expensive high end facility where there once was one.

Symkaria fights indirectly; it has sent a small observation squad, led by agent Bronze Ermine, to patrol their side of the border. There are doubtless more mercenaries, deniable assets, and nasty surprises being laid. They wait the UN special inspection squad with taught, cold patience of a people who have known a boot on their neck before.

The Latverians are about as subtle as their master; a small unit of robotic forest walkers, let by Doomsmarshal Ernst Hoist, have been deployed; the four legged robotic beasts carry half a dozen heavily armed troopers, all equipped with the strange signature technology of their mysterious master. "We are out on a PLEASENT SUNDAY STROLL." Ernst shouts at no one.

Or, perhaps, at Superman, who's the first to arrive, landing in the valley with a strained look on his face. "Okay!" Clark shouts, "We're here! Job one is to find what the heck happened to that observatory, and job two is to fix it."

Superman looks at the two sides, each in their own way doing the realpolitik equivalent of checking your pocket knife to see just how long and sharp it is while leaning ominously against a street corner.

Takako Kyozan has posed:
Working for the Office of Disarmament Affairs or UNODA gets you sent to some pretty crazy places at times. In world of super humans and super technologies, disarmament has taken on far more meaning that just nuclear weapons. Add to that being one of the handful of powered individuals directly employed by the UN and Takako Kyozan often finds herself in all sorts of places that she might rather not be.

Today is one such day as she heads with the UN Special Inspection squad to the incident site on the border, bundled up in marshmallow like fur lined winter clothes against the cold.

Karen Starr has posed:
    UN Peacekeeping missions aren't -usually- the place where you find a person like Power Girl. If we're being fair, the place you normally find the closest equivalents to Power Girl involves neon lights and small denominations of currency. It's usually best not to mention. However, the observatory has disappeared- and those in the Deep Know are aware that amongst the League, if some other-dimensional shenanigans have occurred, it's probably a good idea to have Power Girl present.

    That's why she's at ground zero, not a moment after Clark has arrived. His attention may be on the forces present, but she looms above the site of the incident proper- always ready to throw a tank or mech or some guy named 'Hoist', of course- her vision locked on where the observatory isn't anymore.

    Her eyes are, we'll call it focusing, on individual flecks of dust, dirt, and whatever might remain of the observatory. Even if it can't be seen by anything other than a really expensive microscope. Her ears, of course, are pinned to either side of the border- clever placement of her floating form- such that anything untoward will catch her attention.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
These are the kind of missions that the Dark Knight does not generally like to see the League get drawn into. As soon as you start to involve international politics -- or politics in general -- things never go well. But it is occasionally necessary, he will certainly conceed that. And all things considered there's no one elses hands he would rather trust this sort of thing to either.

He can be a little bit of a control freak like that. Just in case anyone hadn't ever noticed that.

The Javelin swoops in low through the valley, mere feet above the scattered tree tops as it angles in towards a nearby clearing. A little closer to the Symkarian side of the border it's true, but it really can't be helped. And even if it could, Batman probably wouldn't care. Diplomacy is not exactly his strong suit, at least most of the time. Either way, once the craft nears the most suitable landing site nearby he activates the anti-grav unit, letting the vehicle settle in quite nicely amongst the otherwise concealing cover of the trees.

There are a few perks about being part of the League.

Either way as the ramp lowers in the rear he puts the Javelin into standby mode and is out, flitting through the valley, his gaze already taking in the scene, immediately fixating on the now obvious gap where the facility has gone missing.

"Lets figure this out before this all goes sideways," he says lowly over the comm.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa answered the call to aid in this matter, however reluctantly it was. Wakanda itself has long avoided conflict with other nations near and far, preferring to stay out of their politics and their issues, but where Doctor Doom is concerned, exceptions are to be made if it means keeping him confined to his own lands as much as possible.

Taking a ship of his own, it flies into the region hidden by a cloaking device, rendering it all but invisible to the average person. Of course, those in the League know where he is, for that is important to avoid any unexpected, undesired accidents.

Once the altitude is closer to the ground, it uncloaks long enough for an opening in the underside of the ship to appear, and the Black Panther drops out of it to land softly nearby, rising slowly with a regal, confident stance as the ship disappears again and flies off. "I am here, friends," he states, focusing his attention on the others as they gather.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is quiet most of the ride, staying to the side of the javelin's interior as she listens to the others and holds her sword across her lap, one hand on its handle and the other across the side of its shining blade. Wearing a dark blue cloak over her armor, her eyes sweep from other's faces.

When they arrive, the Princess is up and her cloak is dropped back on to the seat she'd been occupying. Her sword is slipped back in to the sheath on her back and she steps out in to the sky...

Not far from where Superman is now, Diana observes the area and speaks over the team comms. <"Remember, we are here to keep things as peaceful as we possibly can."> Things can go south with this much muscle after all!

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol flies in under her own power, though for the moment at least she hasn't gone down as low as the others to the contested valley.

Officially she is here with the League and the UN Peace Keeping outing.

Unofficially a high tech astrophysics lab vanishing, like poof gone, overnight is very interesting to her particular flavor of SHIELD. It is worth SWORD wondering why someone would up and vanish an astrophysics observatory after all.

So here she is observing for the moment while the team gets a closer lay of the land. Also she wants a good view of the landscape where the observatory has vanished. <Did that guy actually just yell about being on a nice sunday stroll?> pause <"Is that a person or a robot?"> stupid Latveria.

Clark Kent has posed:
"The American Superman!" Ernst, like many Latverian officerkorps, is doing his best take on The Voice. It does not do to IMITATE the Master, of course, but emulating his brilliant leadership and natural command of lesser men is expected and appreciated. "You would do well to remove yourself from rightful Latverian soil until the inspectors arrive."

Superman, who has heard the real thing, thinks back to the last time he'd fought Doctor Doom directly, when the madman painted the sky kryptonite green and devised his own personal star to crush Superman's bones to powder with the impossible force of double gravity. He then takes a look at the Symkarians, who do not boast, or threaten or do anything but wait, patiently for someone to breathe wrong.

Clark floats slightly off of the ground, and privately enjoys the flinches, just a little. "We're going to fix this, alright?"

It won't last forever, though.

As for the location, it appears to be naked earth...which is the first strange thing. There should be pipes, right? A hole where the basement was? Some sign of movement? Instead it's as though there was never a building here to begin with. Karen's super-vision might pick up some tell tale trails of some sort of energy expenditure; something is powering something here, but where? There's nothing to power, and nothing to connect it to?

T'Challa, since you got here a bit early and are also an expert on this kind of thing; you absolutely pick up a few extremely well hidden Symkarian partisans, with their suspiciously advanced commando technology. It's hard to get an accurate headcount, but they absolutely could cause the Latverians serious trouble if it came to shooting. That might even be the idea.

So again: No signs of a building ever being here, but there's SOME power source powering SOMETHING, and both sides are getting a bit more antsy than they should be.

Takako Kyozan has posed:
"The inspectors have arrived!" Takako calls out to Ernst as she pulls her puffy white winter coat a little bit closer around her against the Eastern European winter. Because she and the rest of the UN inspection group have in fact arrived. "So let's all just relax and let us carry out our inspection." The Japanese young woman is clearly not American, which might be somewhat more welcome here but one never knows.

With that out of the way, Takako begins taking a slow walk around the perimeter of the site where the vanished lab by all rights should be. As she goes she glances down at a scanning device in her hands looking for unusual sorts of radiation or cosmic particles or other sorts of scientific oddness that often accompany these sorts of disappearances.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen is momentarily perplexed. Not by a lack of answers, but by an abundance of them. She had hoped that by inspecting the area that she'd be able to pin down whether the facility had been shunted to another dimension, universe, or time- and she has learned, or can surmise at least, that it has been shunted to another dimension, universe, or time. Not any answers -which-, but a strong likelihod -that-, so... It's a start?

    Her eyes start flipping through various spectrums, looking for any signatures that might matter to the energy she knows is present, and can practically feel- but the answers aren't very forthcoming.

    <"There's no sign of it."> she remarks, over the comms, <"It's like it was never here. I want to say that speaks to a form of mildly paradoxical time travel but there really isn't much to go on, yet. Some non-physical breadcrumbs, but they're going to be hard to follow."> She has not, yet, descended to meet the UN team. Power Girl doesn't get to speak to representatives or press, when the League can help it. She'll let someone with a better reputation deliver the information.

    <"I don't think either side has made their move, yet, but it definitely isn't going to be long. They're probably going to do their best, on both sides, to make it look like the other side shot first. Probably on the neutral party."> So, you know, the inspectors.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Well, it's not very hard to see what's wrong here, now is it? Beyond the obvious that is.

Clearly the observatory is missing. But that is not what interests the Dark Knight. No, it's the fact that while the facility might be missing there is no obvious signs of how or why. The fact that none of the underlying structure seems to either be apparent or carved out of the earth is a problem point. Generally buildings don't just vanish. And when they do it means that the earth they stood on had to be carved away. There has to be a sign of the plumbing, of the electrical supply, of the foundation. And here? Nothing. No gapping, empty pit where it was just scooped up. No broken pipes or cut wires dangling from where the main building was whisked away.

A few murmured, inaudible words brings up a HUD in the cowl the Dark Knight wears, giving him access to other spectrums of light -- nothing that others present can't do better of course -- but more importantly it gives him access to the WayneTech Satellite he had retasked to settle into geo-synchronous orbit above the sight along with the imagery and scans they bring along.

He walks slowly towards the site, ignoring the protestations of Doom's ridiculous lackey along with the much more subtle Symkarian mercenaries lingering nearby, his attention seemingly fixed on the mystery of the building.

< I'm seeing if the long view will give us another perspective. I think it's safe to say that the building certainly hasn't been moved in any sort of conventional, physical fashion. >

T'Challa has posed:
Black Panther's gaze passes over each member in turn, pausing long enough for him to acknowledge them one by one before he takes a scan of the area, checking for discrepancies in body heat and other signs that might not be readily apparent to the naked eye. He pays no mind to the loud Latverian issuing warnings, leaving that for Superman to handle.

While there are some Symkarians hidden in strategic positions, their numbers are not great enough so as to overwhelm, but they could be a problem if push came to shove and tempers boiled over. After he walks the scene, looking as if he's surveying it, which is exactly the point, he sends over their own comms, "<The Symkarians have established points of potential ambush I do not believe the Latverians are aware of. I believe them to be armed appropriately enough as to be an issue should they attack. Be advised, and be careful.>" He includes coordinates based on the position of a clock's hands to go with the assessment, but he does not otherwise raise the issue to the extent others gathered around them would have the knowledge given away. "<Do we have any information on the missing building?>" When some of that info comes through, he frowns behind the Panther mask. "<That is troubling. I will hold, for the moment.>"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's soon to move skyward, her senses are alert, though not quite as powerful as some of the others present here with them today. Wishing to take up an overwatch position on the situation, she stays in the sky and listens to the team comms. While those who focus on the location of the building continue to search for it, Diana's eyes are on the mercenaries and any threats to the team that she can see from above. Her hands are at her sides, however, not holding any weaponry or her lasso, as she doesn't wish to escalate any tensions should anyone be looking skyward to track her. For now, the Themysciran Princess is mostly in a holding and observation status.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol doesn't have special super vision.

What she does have though is a pretty good memory.

<"Is the stupid thing phased slightly out of time like that building in Metropolis a couple months ago... are we dealing with the beekeepers again?"> never miss an oppotunity to disparage people like AIM or Hydra. It is a law or something. Then Carol sighs a bit then continues <"Or someone using the same technology, which is really annoying if so...">

She starts to float down from her altitude. Pretty quickly but not so fast someone will mistake it as an attack. If she makes it down without someone shooting at her she will tap the sleeve of her suit "Full scan, focus on temporal flux." and start to scan for tachyons, waving her hand down at the site.

Clark Kent has posed:
No tachyons are found.

Which is weird because there should be some of those little guys floating around, getting into trouble. It's like... something's just TAKEN everything here. Or folded it. Carol and Karen may recognize the tell tale signs of folded space, when some powerful machine has created a pocket in reality useful for storage and quick transportation. A few mad scientists or alien scavengers have used it in the past, but that kind of tech being home grown is a fantasy from the future. Batman and T'Challa may notice that something is coming out of the no-reality area. Their advanced scanning equipment can pick up minute somethings coming from somewhere. This is good because it means there is a somewhere, which means the Justice League can open it up. It's bad because..

It's transmitting. Inside the lab, a pair of thin, skeletal robots work furiously at the central computer terminal, trying to crack a security system meant to keep Doctor Doom out. An image on the monitor is present; a man with a well groomed brown mustache, a faint grin, and an old fashioned doctor's outfit. His name is Thomas Oscar Morrow and he is one of the most dangerous people alive. "Found me? Well, I do need a little more time. I suppose I can go...loud."

The communications network shudders; it does the same for both sides of the brewing conflict. "Justice League." Older members of the team will recognize the voice immediately. "In the future, espionage is not done through something as crude as human beings, or even automations. Networks are so advanced that they react to intrusions like a living organism, defending themselves in ways that make indirect hacking...inadvisable. So instead, building on the groundbreaking work of Jervis Tetch, the future spy does not compromise the network, but the individual ensuring the network functions. A series of microscopic robots capable of altering brain chemistry down to the meanest neuron."

The Doomwalker turns, Ernst suddenly silent, and fires a blast of strange, glowing purple material at Wonder Woman's exposed back. Another one fires at Power Girl, and a third at Superman. Superman is hit by the material, and sent to the ground, electrocuted and stuck to the ground by something that sticks like napalm and shocks like a charged current!

"Morrow!" Superman gasps for air, even as he can see the Symkarians begin to move. "He's taken control of both armies! We have...to stop them!"

Takako Kyozan has posed:
Takako looks up from her scanner, she is just about to say something about missing Tackyons when that voice starts talking." She hasn't been in the West long enough to know who Morrow is but she can't say she likes the sound of his babbling about future spies and brain hacking.

Then the Doom Army starts firing on Wonder Woman and Power Girl and her eyes get a bit wide. With the Symkarian army on the move too it is time for some quick thinking in order to avoid an international incident even worse than the one that is already occuring.

Throwing caution to the wind, Takako begins channeling her Tama. White wisps of mystic energy surrounding her body as she begins to grow and grow and grow. Reaching a height of 250' tall the Daidarabotchi attempts to impose herself between the two armies. This may not be the best idea she ever had.

T'Challa has posed:
"<Things are not what they appear to be. Look.>" Black Panther points at the area they've all been wondering about. There is no shift in expression as the ruse is revealed, the trap sprung. That's one of the many benefits to the mask, in that it does a fine job of guarding against giving away any indication as to what he is thinking.

In the midst of Morrow's speech, the Wakandan King is already on the move. He knows where the Symkarian commandos are located, giving him a leg up on his sudden pursuit. With attacks imminent, he is not waiting around to be shot at first.

Breaking into a run, he presents a lower profile to make himself more difficult to hit, but there is a very good reason for him to do that right now. He merely has to measure the threat first, then decide how obvious to be. Once he's moved behind cover, he reaches for a single Kimoyo bead and gives it a quick twist before lobbing it in the direction of one of the commandos he'd seen. When it lands, it begins to billow out a localized cloud of smoke, but it also emits a tone to help draw attention toward it.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
T.O. Morrow. It is not the first time that the League has dealt with this particular unstable genius. It's pretty likely it won't be the last either. What his interest might be in this particular observatory is still something of a mystery of course and while others might dismiss that particular question as not the most important of their immediate issues, the Dark Knight thrives on information. The more the better. It is, afterall, the heart of being a detective. No detail is too small to take note of, to gain a better understanding of the present circumstances. So the very first thing Batman does is use that satelittle uplink to call up all available information on the Wurzbad Observatory to try and figure out just what it is that has attracted Morrow to this particular facility.

While keeping the two opposing forces from starting a war while being mind controlled is important, it is like a doctor battling the symptoms instead of the disease. The Symkarians and Latverians are the symptoms here. T.O. Morrow is the disease. Still, while his teammates are more then formidable, he is not going to entirely ignore the situation. A handful of gelatin pellets are scooped up out of one of the pouches that line the belt at his waist, casually hurled in the direction of where the mercenaries lurk out of sight. As those capsules hit the ground they burst and great, billowing clouds of obscuring mist begin to flood out in plumes. It's hard to shoot what you can't see -- not that he expects that the two sides still won't try. But at least it's a start. Especialy with both his and T'Challa's tech making sure that there is plenty of cover blanketing the area.

It also leaves the Dark Knight free to crouch down right near the edge of where the building tucked away in folded space should be, the imprint of it still plain in the open field even if there is nothing else to see. Slipping out a device he begins to calibrate it -- no simple task given that he's looking to disrupt the technology of an insane, evil genius. Even as the threat of hostilities loom, even as one of the U.N. observers suddenly decides to play giant he just coldly works at his own task.

Diana Prince has posed:
The similarities to a previous 'hidden facility' aren't lost on Diana, but she's taking to the skies to observe. With the winds whipping across her otherwise bare shoulders, her dark hair flows behind her arms as she sweeps through the sky. Admittedly, if she were asked, part of her decision in placing herself up high and visibly open, is to offer herself as a target for attacks-- rather than let her friends suffer them in her place.

When the attack comes, it certainly isn't that Diana wasn't ready for it, but it was a bit of a surprise that it comes from behind her... The sudden purple energy lights up the sky as it streaks toward her, and out of the corner of her eye the Princess catches sight of it, turning around just in time to raise her left arm up and intercept the direct blaster with one of her Bracers of Submission! The majority of the energy is thusly deflect away from the Amazonian, who does catch enough of it however to be sent tumbling out of the sky!

Wonder Woman is picked off from the air, and drops down toward the valley below!

Karen Starr has posed:
    A sour expression is the hallmark that things are about to get serious. This whole situation reeked of interference on a scale that practically mandated the League's presence, and all at once it turns exactly into the kind of mess that almost demands one or more of the heavy hitters present fold the land itself on top of the aggressing party.

    Tetch's technology is a force multiplier of the highest order when applied in the modern day. To extrapolate it to the future and make his mind control a communicable disease is an extreme problem, to say the least- especially given what Morrow has to work with.

    Power Girl had placed herself with one ear attentive to both sides, a gambit that was paying dividends now thanks to Morrow showing his hand. She'd expected to have to deal with both militant presences, after all. In the space of a moment, Kal is down for however long. Diana will have her own threats to deal with soon. The Bat has a belt full of gadgets that'll prove useful, but all Karen has is a lungful of air and a bad attitude.

    That and phenomenal power fueled by the ever-present sun itself. It'll /probably/ be enough.

    A snap turn only made possible by strategically reinforced and rigid Kryptonian fabric has her facing the electro-napalm as it flies her way, and with a swift exhale it becomes a rigid stone, crackling with its captured lightning. One gloved hand cradles it as it reaches her, and still frozen, it is hurled back at the offending mechsuit like a shotput aimed at its knees. Best case scenario it does some hefty damage, but she also figures that it will be hard to handle its current.

    Clasping her hands above her head, Power Girl isn't one to leave a challenge unanswered like this- and it's best if she takes the attention of the tech-heavy forces off of Takako. The other side has mundane weaponry- bullets and explosives. Nobody here isn't bulletproof, right?

    When she hits the ground, she does it fist-first, sending a rippling shockwave amongst Doom's forces whom- she hopes- will be robbed of the tactical acumen to effectively deploy their weaponry capable of handling a superperson- not technically human, after all- like her.

    Plus, it'll hopefully spare Takako being shot in whatever side is facing the latverians.

Carol Danvers has posed:
<<"Okay I think they folded space not time.. this time. Hah. Anyhow pocket dimension maybe?">>

Maybe it is the fact that Carol is lower scanning slowly waving her hand this way and that and studying the readouts that makes her less of a target....

Honestly though it is probably the Iconic Nature of Supes and Wonder Woman.. and fear of Kryptonians in general.

Sigh.

Not that she minds not being shot, but still. Side eye Morrow. Side eye.

She glances at her friends then sighs out loud. "Damn..." then she wobbles a little in the air freom the shockwave from Karen's fist slam <<"You tell em!">> she encourages before chuckling and flying into motion. Mostly buying the others time with Karen to figure out this space folding business.

Aiming right at one of the DoomTanks to teach it a lesson for not shooting her earlier. Hurking a couple photon blasts as she approaches. Fast.

Clark Kent has posed:
Okay let's split this up.

Symkarians,

Takako gets big! This is a concern for everyone, but the Symkarians perhaps the most because while they were prepared for tanks, planes, or even Doombots, a giant woman is another story. Takako can hold back some of the unit, but the Bronze Ermines are wily opponents; a pair quickly fire a grappling hook at Takako's shoulder, trying to grab onto her costume and then tug her down, where the mercenaries can concentrate their fire on a vulnerable spot. Like her head.

Black Panther is an expert in these conditons; while the Ermines are good in the wood, they cough and hack at the smoke, not a weapon expected from the ostentatious Latverians. T'Challa can make out the gleam of a sniper's rifle in the dark; while normally the wily Symkarians would never risk murdering a head of state, they're not in control of themselves anymore! The rifle fires...at the bead! T'Challa has his opening!

Latverians,

Power Girl comes in like a thunderbolt; unfortunately, while Doom's men are not thinking straight, Doom's machinery remains top notch. Whole Power Girl's projectile takes the leg off of one of them, a back up spikes out of the exposed leg while powerful shock absorbers ensure that her thunderclap only slows them down slightly! It's almost like Doom's been tinkering with anti-Kryptonian countermeasures or something.

She does set Carol up for the direct approach; Ernst's tank is too damaged and stunned to resist Captain Marvel smashing headlong into it, and shattering the protective equipment allowing the officers to see! Good news is that there are only two left!

Bad news is they've got people to focus on now. Karen is shot at by a heavy sonic cannon, while Captain Marvel has to deal with some sort of mysterious rocket; her cosmic senses are going crazy just looking at it, could it have some sort of energy absorption capabilities? Or maybe it just explodes, being a missile.

Everyone Else,
Superman takes a cue from his cousin and breaks out of the muck with some super-breath. He kicks into the air and sends a blast at Diana, letting her easily break out! "We've got to stop them! ...before someone gets hurt." Clark adds, bashful.

Bruce, meanwhile, focuses on the heart of the problem. And he finds it, as he messes with filters on his gadgets. There is something here, growing out of the ground, just on the border of the folded space, providing energy to Morrow's machines.

It's a human heart, built into an engine block, pumping strange, bright blue fuel that seems to be keeping the engine moving.

Takako Kyozan has posed:
With the Latverians well in hand with Team Girl Power, Takako turns her attention more firmly upon the Symkarians. Really she isn't too keen about engaging them and mostly just wants to keep them back. Unfortunately they seem to have other ideas.

"Wait what are you doing?" Takako was clearly not expecting grappling hooks as they fire their lines up at her shoulders. It is a sight worthy of Jonathan Swift as the tiny soldiers attempt to bring down the 250' giant.

Takako glances at the Tama meter on the inside of her wrist, there's no telling how long this confrontation will last and drawing on more power is a risk, but enough grappling hooks and they might pose a serious problem. Takako focuses, summoning more energy as she begins to glow faintly with that mystical white aura again, willing her physiology this time to become more dense, like that of Asgardians or Amatsu-Kami. Where the grappling hooks had been begun to slow her down as more and more landed, suddenly she is straightening with ease. Though how long she can keep up this heightened level of mystical exertion is a very real question. "Just stay back and behave!" She shouts attempting to sweep them aside with her foot before carefully stomping in a spot none of them are inhabiting to try and knock them over! Her intent clearly to disrupt and incapacitate, keeping them at bay, rather than to kill or destroy them.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
There is a reason that his fighting style tends to be direct and occasionally a little on the brutal side. He is not interested in style points and the point of combat -- at least as far as he is concerned -- is to bring it to an end in the most efficient way possible. That does not involve killing. Which means that all those vulnerable places on the human body are fair game provided that they serve the end result of putting the bad guy down, insuring that they are out of commission and in no position to harm anyone else.

Sometimes his detective work is much the same. Quick and to the point. Which is why he goes right after the source while his allies work to contain -- and ultimately stop -- the fighting. It is subtle enough to have escaped immediate observation previously, but his toys tend to be both expensive and extremely effective. And somehow he always seems to have the right one in that belt of his. It's a gift. So as soon as he is pointed in the right direction he crouches low, staying out of the line of fire around him as he crosses over to that most unusual power supply.

The bizzare device is given a once over, taking a few extra seconds to try and see if there is any obvious way to deactivate it. Then the Dark Knight simply takes the expedient route and slashes the line that carries that bright blue fuel with the sharpened edge of one of his batarangs. Not content to rely on that alone, he plants a small device on that engine block before rolling away, putting some distance between himself and the strange device. A moment later, the localized EMP goes off, hoping to disable any of the electronics as well.

With that done and while waiting to see if it is enough to pull the facility back into Real Space, Batman turns his attention back to the tactical situation facing the team.

T'Challa has posed:
Black Panther is an expert of the hunt. It is something he was trained in even before he won the right to the Panther Habit. There is a brief glint from the rifle scope off to one direction, then the blast of the bullet striking the surface just by the bead itself. Had that been shot at a different target, it would have been a direct hit. "<There is a sniper. I have him. Do not worry if I am hit by stray gunfire,>" he reports.

Then, he runs, using trees for cover along with getting him more toward the level the sniper has taken up a spot at. With him focusing on the area of the bait that was left, he'll never see the Panther coming from one side, moving as silently as the animal he takes after.

Suddenly, vibranium claws slice through the sniper rifle like a hot knife through butter, rendering it useless. "That will be enough," he says, snapping a kick up from a low point, precisely placed to the side of the head before he spins to sweep the leg and take the shooter down. A commotion from up the hillside follows as the man yells, then T'Challa seeks to cut it off with a chop of the hand to the side of the neck, aiming for a pressure point to incapacitate.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Honestly, if you were Doctor Doom, you'd probably have to spend a lot of your time wondering what exactly you do if someone like Power Girl shows up with nothing more of a gift than an enticing grimace and a mean right hook.

    The question isn't whether the Doomtroops are in some way ready, it's whether they're loaded for /bear/ and able to put it to use with the proper technique. The former is unlikely- truth be told, it may not even properly /exist/- the latter is equally implausible. The problem is that no matter how big the bear- and Power Girl is, reputation-wise, the biggest there is- a response in proportion may amount to little more than an annoyance, but it is still something that warrants attention.

    In this case, metaphors aside, some asshole has a high tech Bass Cannon and is putting it to use.

    Struck from the side and fully encompassed in a wave of murderous sound, the elder Kryptonian woman- a term only used in secret, hushed tones and safe spaces- finds herself deafened temporarily and utterly terrestrial.

    It isn't enough to take her out of the fight in the traditional sense- she's still standing- but it is enough that she has to deal with -it- or nothing, and she has to do so at a more human speed- trudging along through the cone of anguishing wubs with her arms held in front of her. Her titanic strength sends her forward with each step, but it's like walking through a waist-deep ocean of molasses that hates you. The pace is only so much. Carol will have to fend for herself.

    Eventually, she will reach her assailant, and she will crush the sonic artillery in one hand- but it's not the foregone conclusion that's the problem. It's the lack of support from her end while Carol has to deal with, you know, /everything else./

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol squints at missile for a moment <<"Ah no.">> she mutters.

Then she fires off a volley of photon blasts at it, which the bastard missile manages to veer and verve around dodging. <<"Huh">> which is when she fires off backwards fast popping the sound barrier as the missile speeds up as well chasing Captain Marvel up into the sky.

Carol isn't sure what the hell doom may have loaded into that thing, but her 7th Sense is telling her she really doesn't want to be hit by it and she listens to it.

She and the missile spiral out of sight into the atmosphere whcih is lit with blasts of cosmic energy as she tries to deal with her tail.

Also mild cursing over the comms is a sign she is still up there alive.

Clark Kent has posed:
Canons shatter, soldiers are flung around, and one poor sniper has the worst day of his life as the man he was about to shoot just sort of appears next to him and breaks his gun. The bass cannon falls apart with a good hit, and...

And then Batman gives a building a heart attack.

It's difficult to describe, space unfolding. The best way to think of it is reality sneezing. A few of the crowd cover their eyes, overwhelmed by the experience, but the building is back, and the control program has been deactivated.

Superman hovers in the air, holding both Ernst and Bronze Ermine by the scruffs of their collars, frowning like a disappointed parent. "Gentlemen."

"...we pretend this never happened?" Ernst offers.

"Peace in our time!" Bronze Ermine agrees. The soldiers, shocked back to freedom, sheepishly put their weapons down, uninterested in being routed by the Justice League any further.

A later investigation will find that crucial deep space data was stolen, terabytes of the stuff. Morrow has also left, as a calling card, a martini pitcher. The mixture, if tried, is hauntingly perfect.