5460/Iron Fortitude: Six Underground

Iron Fortitude: Six Underground
Date of Scene:	06 March 2021
Location:	Bludhaven Port
Synopsis:	The legendary black market known as Six Underground is no more. SHIELD has shut it down for good and arrested the man behind it. May meets a member of the Cabal. Finally, SHIELD has recovered their stolen technology.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Peggy Carter, Melinda May, Lance Hunter, Koga Miura, Leopold Fitz

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The ship in question currently housed the black market operation known as 'Six Underground'. Its location moves from port city to port city and has sometimes even left the ship entirely. It was legendary, a shangrila of illegal weaponry and technology. A place every criminal and mercenary wants to go to but very few ever get the invite, because once you're in - you're in for life. Gavin Hedgecroft was one such luck mercenary.

    Over a year ago a corrupt SHIELD agent working in Quality Assurance used his position to toss products that were perfectly fine, collect them, then sell them. His partner in crime, it turns out, was one Sonny Burch.

    SHIELD had been hunting Six Underground for decades and whoever was behind it. Now they finally had a name and a location and a time. The ship was now docked at Bludhaven port. The upper decks were crawling with guards and guests sampling drinks and cocktails. Below decks, though, were the products. And many of those products belonged to SHIELD.

    "Heat signatures everywhere," Bobbi says to the team currently observing the ship safely from a warehouse not far away. "Agent May will be running point on this which means apparently I will owe Coulson a croissant for borrowing a star Operations level 7.."

    "I'm not going to lie. This one is a deck to deck slog. We need someone to disable their engines so they can't up anchor and leave. There's a helicopter at the stern that we need to ground - we can't let Burch escape. Finally, expect energy weaponry, perhaps energy shielding. And who knows what else weird technology in our path. Many of the clientele on that ship are likely killers. Only go lethal if your life depends on it."

    "Are there any questions before we break and engage the black market?," Bobbi asks the team. This is the first time she's been in the field as a commander and it feels.. strange. She doesn't get to lead the charge for a change. She always put her trust in her team mates before, but now it feels like she has to lean on them completely.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy does have some limited body armor on beneath the cocktail dress she's wearing, she's clearly dressed to go in undercover as much as possible, especially early in this mission. She's in a form hugging red gown with a keyhole slit between her collarbones but full shoulders so the straps of her form hugging tac vest are hidden beneath. The skirt is a little wider, so she can hide a gun and a knife up it, though she's probably also got something in that purse of her's, a solid black shoulder strap that looks designer enough to fit in.

She's not yet mingling with the crowd, but is back with the team for the last minute questions and set up. She shakes her head quietly, "No questions. I'm going to try and get to that helicopter without being noticed and disable it before he realizes something is wrong. If you realize there are any targets up top, I can try to hit them after, but otherwise I'll be right behind as quick as I can."

Melinda May has posed:
May surveys the ship and surveys the people she's got on her team. Bobbi can QB from the warehouse, sure. But when it comes to boots on the ground, it's the L7 who's going to make the hard calls. "Hunter," she says, "you and Fitz are on engines and anchor points." She nods as Peggy claims the copter. "Miura, you're with me." He's the rookie, which means she gets to play babysitter. "We're going to get aboard and cause a distraction so the others can do their jobs. Then, we're going to go after the heads of this. They'll be the ones heading for the escape craft."

She glances to Bobbi. "Anyone specific you want gift wrapped?" The woman's demeanor, despite the casual phrasing of her words, is calm and very nearly impassive. Her eyes are a little sharper than they have been, a little keener. That's probably a good thing.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter is looking his most James Bond tonight in his tux as he mingles with the well-to-do scumbags on deck. "No questions here, /Commander/" is someone bitter? Maybe. He's also helped himself to more than a few flutes of champagne. Though when May gives orders to him and Fitz he says, "Right. On it," into his cuff as he pretends to clear his throat. He glances over to Fitz. "Looks like it's you and me again Pitch," he says using the man's cover name from their last op. "Want to lead the way?"

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga looks over at Hunter, then at May. "Do you have anything that can stop the propellers on the ship? I might be able to put them in place. Otherwise, how much of a distraction do you want?"

    He shrugs, "A monster appearing could easily do that, although I have no clue how well I can take energy weapons."

    He seems to be considering how best to use his abilities, and isn't as classily dressed as Hunter at least. And looks to be considering how best to make that distraction and have it be well... distracting.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi raises her eyebrows at May. There really is something going on with her.. but she can use this. Is that being a bad friend? perhaps - she'll talk to her about it later. May be she doesn't want to talk about whatever it is that's going on. Whatever it is that happened in that office with Jiaying and Gonzales.

    "I want Burch. We have no idea who he is, what he looks like. Give the guards a reason to report to him - that should flush him out. The rest of them ICER or cuff, whichever is most efficient. We will sort them out one by one once the op is done," she says to May.

    Her eyes swivel to Fitz and she says, "Watch your back out their Fitz. This is a viper pit of mercenaries on a shopping high, pat them down completely to be sure. You never know what surprises they could be hiding. These people are squirrelly. Like Hunter."

    "Welcome to the team Agent Miura. Follow Agent May's lead, she is exceptional. Entry on to the boat is being done by blending in, since we have many targets that need to be hit at once. A giant monster for a distraction won't help unfortunately," she says to Miura and then looks back to the team.

    "Remember, some of the stuff on this ship will be highly explosive. Try not to get blown up," she adds and then stares at Lance for a moment, her eyes narrowing. "Trust in your team mates." She holds up her watch and starts the mission timer, synced with the rest of their time pieces, "Get in positions and wait for May's signal to begin."

Melinda May has posed:
"A monster might be overkill," May tells Miura. "But keep it in your back pocket. It may come in handy." In fact, as she considers it, she purses her lips faintly in thought. "Carter," she says with a slight narrowing of eyes as an idea occurs to her, "let me go for the helicopter. You're dressed for the party. Why don't you make a scene with Miura, here -- turn him in as an interloper and insist on seeing Burch about his 'shoddy security'." She glances to Miura. "Then, you can unleash your monster to keep them off everyone's back and get yourself to cover." She looks to Peggy. "Then, you do what you need to get to Burch and ID him for us."

She glances around for general confirmation -- and even to Bobbi to see that she approves. It's a formality, really. But since she *has* been promoted, May can play the game. Indeed, today, she doesn't even feel 'less than' about it... she's simply incapable of it.

Still, with the assignments given and the ball about to be snapped into play, she gives one final glance to the team. "Alright, move out. Report in when you're in position and we'll go from there."

She'll give them the signal, for sure, once she knows Carter and Miura are ready for their show.

Peggy Carter has posed:
One last bit of primping, and it's time to go. Peggy pulls out a compact from her purse and a little gold tube of lipstick. 'Sweet Dreams 04' is imprinted on the side, seemingly the name of the color. She neatly refreshes it onto her bowed lips, a perfect match for her dress, and double checks it in her compact mirror. Perfect. While it certainly was no longer SHIELD regulation to drug someone by kissing them, Peggy's gone into her old back of tricks more than once as of late. Sometimes, the classics just work.

"Got it, May. Affronted party goer it is." Peggy flashes Miura a half smile, nodding towards the queue of party goers onto the boat. "Follow me about ten feet behind. Get a drink... and then bump into me. I'll start a fuss from there. Keep ears open otherwise." And with that, Peggy dives into the crowd, shoulders back, head up, looking stunning and quite ready to party. She's weaving her way up onto the boat smooth as silk, making some excellent small talk but also listening to all the conversations around her. She's the perfect mix of blending in with the crowd but being noticable enough to not be noticed. She's not a shadow. She's not a show stopper. She's simply another tipsy socialite.

Lance Hunter has posed:
<< //Really// you're going to say that over comms for the whole team to hear? And here I thought you had to be professional to be level 8 >> he complains.

Pot, kettle, Hunter.

He blows out a sigh and helps himself to some more champagne as he looks over to Fitz. "Can you believe that? Anyhow, wait for the distraction then duck below decks?" he asks nodding to a door to the lower decks without a guard posted out front.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Finally! His long stated ambition of going out on an assignment in a tuxedo has come to pass. It's not Monte Carlo, but at least it's an ship. Not the fanciest ship mind, one designed to blend in and avoid notice it would seem. But there's a ship, he's on it and in a tuxedo. Check one off the ol' ToDo list for Agent Fitz.

Of course his time playing spy was always going to be short lived. With the mission briefing Fitz had very few delusions about just what his assignment was destined to be. It only makes sense afterall. Anyone on the team could take out the engines of course, easy peasey. But no one is as likely to be able to do it without big explosions as Fitz, at least not nearly as well. All in all he favors a lack of explosions. It means that it is much less likely that he is going to end up shot at. He's a pretty big fan of that too.

"Man, I finally get to get all spiffied up and I'm going to get covered in grease stains. Glad that I don't have to pay the return fine for this coming back in less than pristine condition," he murmmurs. At least he will blend, at least until they try to get below decks. Chances are there aren't a whole lot of tuxedo-clad guests down that away. But he is fairly certain that Hunter will be able to get them down into the engine room. One way or another.

At Hunter's question Fitz just nods his head in what he hopes is sympathetic fashion. There's no way he is saying anything out loud, not on comms at least. It's kind of like Mom and Dad fighting. Taking sides is never a good idea. Just suffer in uncomfortable silence like any good traumatized kid.

Dealing with the plan on the other hand is far more comfortable territory. No emotional stakes there! Right in Fitz's wheelhouse. "Simple, direct. I like it. What could possibly go wrong?" he asks rhetorically before wincing.

Oooops.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga seriously hopes none on the boat are racing fans now. But if they are, he can use up that thrill seeker bravado a bit. Peggy's the one in charge, after all, and he's going along with it.

    He's not even remotely as classily dressed as the other guests, going with a simple business suit look and a nice set of clothes instead of disguises and the like. After all, suits are stuffy as hell.

    That and he isn't sure that he would be recognized. Fixing his hair on the way, he does manage to at least stay around ten feet from Peggy hopefully. And once they get aboard the ship, he starts looking for a drink. Drinks come first. He does his best to keep an eye on Peggy, too, and not lose track of her. Hopefully. It's a large crowd, after all. And his eyes do stray to the security, trying to pick up anything that might be guns or other such items they might use just in case he has to make it look more convincing with a fight.

    Otherwise, he resigns to the thrill of doing some actual undercover spy work, and the thrill of getting ready to cause another kind of party afterwards.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Miura isn't the only guest on the boat who hasn't gone with a tux. Some of these mercenaries are more mercenary than business acumen. Those in the fancy clothes are likely arms dealers or actual evil doing moustache twirling villains. The music provided is live, a string quartet set off in one corner away from the food. There are some people waltzing. It's all very congenial.

    The distinct impression is imparted that, like a school reunion, many of these bad people haven't seen each other in a while and are enjoying simply catching up, while also shopping for beyond military grade explosives to fuel their regime changing habit.

    The top deck is open to the night sky and Bludhaven's port isn't as well lit as most which lets the stars shine more brightly through pockets of cloud. The floor below that is set up like a convention floor with tables upon tables and sellers presenting their wares. The articles of choice? SHIELD technology. From ICERs to bugging equipment, to infrared displays, to bits and pieces that were once part of an experimental teleporter than never worked. There's even drones on one table.

    One table is covered in vintage mothballed experiments. Some of the faces are recognisable - scientists from AIM, mercenaries, and even a few known HYDRA agents. It's a veritable who's who of bad guys.

    The next floor down enters the working part of the ship and here people are not wearing tuxes and suits. They are wearing overalls and carrying submachine guns. Here lies the way to the engine. Guards mingle on all three of the floors with side arms and communications. The security of Six Underground is monitored from CCTV in a cabin adjoined to the bridge.

    Bobbi checks the load of the sniper rifle and then lays down to watch from her vantage point across the way, <<Well you know professional standards have taken a dive ever since certain people decided to lock up prisoners in their bathroom. Mockingbird Overwatch in position. You are a go on May's signal>> Bobbi says over comms. No one is running off this ship without a sniper shot from her ICER rifle.

Melinda May has posed:
May moves swiftly to gain access to the ship. Clad in black leather and subtle armor, she blends in well with the various mercs and bodyguards some of the gun runners have on hand for the occasion. She doesn't draw attention to herself. If anything, she uses what Jemma has described as her nascent 'near field effect' to her advantage, mirroring the emotions of those that brush her or otherwise get just a little too close inside her personal space.

Soon enough, however, she's making her way to the helipad along broad deck. Standing far enough away not to draw attention, but close enough to allow her to make an assessment of both the craft and its guard, she considers her options. She tucks long fingers into a pouch and pulls out a small taser disk, slipping it into a narrow fob about 6" long. The fob will -- once she knows the rest of her people are in position -- launch the disk a fair distance away... just about as far as she'd need to hit the guard.

When she ascertains everyone is good to go, she tucks a strand of hair behind her hear and says simply into comms, <<Carter, Miura, you have a go. When the fireworks go up, Hunter, Fitz, move. I've got eyes on the helicopter.>>

Then, she waits long enough for Carter to cause a fuss and launches her taser at the guard. Sparks arc over his body as the electricty causes him to dance a little jig before collapsing on the ground. Then, she's over the deck rail and down to gangplank that leads to the chopper.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Listening to people around her and getting the lay of the land, Peggy suddenly gets the idea that a simple spilled drink really isn't going to be something security is worried about. If she really wants to figure out where Burch is, and maybe have him contacted, she'll need to give them a better reason. Therefore, she gears up for a bit more drama, looking back to Koga and muttering into her comm unit. <<Sorry for this. Defend yourself as you need if it gets... messy...>> And then, with May's call over the comms, she's letting loose.

"How DARE you show your face here! Do you KNOW how many people you compromised last time... or are you working for them? Who are you working for now, CIA? I know you and no one is safe with the likes of YOU on this SHIP... Do we have any actual security here who knows what the shit is going on here because our whole party has been compromised by USA man in black here who can't even get a fucking tux!" Peggy has her best American accent on, slightly more New York upper class posh this time, but also the clarity of statement that comes from someone not yet drunk and certainly not a Karen. She needs Burch (and his guards) to believe this guy is a threat.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Eyeing Fitz, Hunter says, "You just had to say that didn't ^you." He frowns,. "And yeah, sorry mate, all engines and grime for us tonight," he remarks before Bobbi's voice comes over comms drawing his attention away.

<<For the good of the //mission//>> Hunter retorts to Bobbi, before he pulls his comms piece out of his ear and tosses it overboard. "Boring conversation anyway," he says to Fitz with a nod. As Peggy starts her distraction, Hunter finishes the rest of his champagne. "I'm guessing it's go time," he says moving to the door, remarking "Got to be a bathroom somewhere around here," as he pulls it open and steps inside before waiting for Fitz to follow.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga looks in confusion at the whole mess, looking at Peggy as he raises his hands, "Woah, woah, easy! I am not CIA! I am just a merc! Sorry about the last job!"

    He's of course denying the allegations, "I mean, that was not me! Really! I had no idea about the bug on my jacket then! Like nothing at all! Not my fault they followed me around." He has his hands up, in what is obviously a 'calm down' gesture towards Peggy.

    And a nervous expression on his face, looking around and trying to obviously find a way out of the place. Not that he has to look that hard. Security and all, and it's a freaking boat. He just has to survive a however many feet dive into water to get away technically.

    The undercover operation definitely has his blood pumping, and he's even starting to turn a bit red in embarassment from being called out, "I mean really, if I was a spy, why would I waltz in this place? It's like a death wish!"

Leopold Fitz has posed:
As of late Fitz has adopted a mantra that has served him pretty well, all things considered. It is fairly simple, and maybe that's why it works. At the very least it has let him come back from a few missions in the field physically unscarred. It might be a different matter emotionally, but hey, you can't have everything.

Just follow Hunter's lead.

What could go wrong, right? As he edges towards the door to ready himself to disappear once said distraction arrives, Fitz glances over some of the offerings for sale, quite naturally and instinctively seeking out the stolen SHIELD tech. And when he comes across some of his designs he can feel his face go red -- not with embarassment as is more noramlly the case -- but instead with anger. Hot, righteous anger. It is pretty much all he can do to keep from yelling and really, the distraction could not have been better timed.

Turning away from that rage-inducing display, Hunter's own helps calm him down, even make him smile briefly, even if he shakes his head. It's the sort of audacity he just doesn't have in him. "I would say so. Lets move before she starts yelling at us," he agrees, slipping out the door, close on Hunter's heels.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "Goddamit Hunter," she mutters to herself off comms as she watches him toss away his ear piece through her scope. Her aim moves back toward Miura and Peggy as the excitement begins. May by the choppah, two agents heading below decks. Mission is moving smoothly so far.

    Four guards approach. They're wearing dark masks and body armor and it's clear they mean business. One points at Miura, two of the guards grab him by the arms. The third grabs Peggy by the arm. The guard in charge says, "You two.. you're coming with us." He places a hand to his ear for a moment, then looks up toward the bridge.

    Bobbi moves her scope up to the bridge and there, by himself, a man stands in a suit. Slightly balding and entirely too uncomfortable in his own surroundings to be anyone other than, perhaps, Sonny Burch.

    The guards try to move the two agents away from the party, heading to the bridge of the ship. <<It looks like you get to meet the man in charge, good job>> she says to the team sans Lance.

    Patrons of Six Underground are filtering back and forth between browsing the wears and enjoying the cocktail party above. It is a once in a life time opportunity for some of the people here today. They are writing down bids for gear and placing them in small envelops, then those go in to small containers next to each item being bid on. A silent auction. The money that will exchange hands today would be massive.

    <<Fitz, eta on engines?>>The engine room is not what would be expected. It appears to have been a reworked set of Chitari glider bikes. Eight of them assembled in unison around a prop shaft. This is a ship's engine on steroids. The remaining parts of the chitari technology humms and throbs with strange eerie alien lights. Inside the engine room, there are two guards and two techs watching over the controls.

Melinda May has posed:
May grabs the body of the fallen guard and hauls him so he's under the nose of the craft, in its bulky shadow. The rest of the pad is relatively barren, so the position near a landing strut is about the best she can do. She does a quick jog around the craft, ensuring there isn't anyone hiding. Then, she slides into it and settles behind the pilot's stick.

It's a model she knows well and has flown countless times. Sure, it looks like its been suped up, but that's not a surprise, given what's down on the auction deck. She pops an electrical panel off the underside of the console and pulls a slender device out of another pouch. Bridging several wires, she depresses a button on the device, counts to five, and then releases it. She then carefully replaces that panel and slides out of the seat, slipping out of the craft a moment or two later.

She's strolling back across the gangplank when a soft *poot* sounds behind her, like the popping of an air vent. The electrical systems on the helicopter, however, experience a combination of effects -- a short range EM pulse to ground them out followed by an electrical surge that fuses the wrong things together. This bird ain't flyin' off this deck today.

Then, she decides it's time to go scope out the action and make sure Peggy and Miura don't need backup.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Get your hands off me, I can walk perfectly fine and yes, take us both to Burch. I'd like to talk to him about the exact kind of people he's invited to this...Party. Damn ...CIA...plants..." Peggy seems both spitting mad and legitmately dangerous. It's the part she's playing -- highly experienced, high power, high money mercenary. That sort of character wouldn't let herself be man handled by security, but as they start guiding towards the bridge, she gives a stiffly approving nod. Of course that is where they should be taken.

She walks quick and smooth, just slightly in front of Koga but keeping a wary eye behind her. To the outside looker, she probably seems like she's ready for the CIA plant to stick a knife in her back. But, in reality, it's her trying to be certain Koga isn't too hurt or in severe danger from the guards. She's got to make certain she doesn't risk the young agent too much, he was her responsibility now.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Finding his arms grabbed, Koga keeps his cool mostly. He could probably take both down in a second or two. Maybe. To avoid the comms being discovered, he doesn't say anything but does put up what struggles he would expect to, "Hey! I did not do anything wrong! This is discrimination for a botched job, I tell you!"

    Struggling includes resisting being moved around and generally just being enough of a nuisance that shows that Peggy was probably right.     Once they are inside the ship or wherever they plan to be taken, then he stops struggling. And tries to make small talk of all things. Fear? What fear?

    "So, how much do you guys get paid for this? I mean, that body armor has to be what? Kevlar, right? Or you got something better?" Hey, at least he has something to admire. And probably can at least make sure people know where they are going. "Oh, nice ship by the way. Must have cost a fortune."

    Once they start getting near the bridge, he glares at Peggy since she's looking at him. "And you, seriously, when we get this sorted out I am going to enjoy sticking a knife in your back, lady! I even have one in my boot with your name on it!" Oh, wait, Koga is armed? He makes sure to say that whenever they get much closer to the bridge. Like whenever it's obvious the bridge is dead ahead. And he is wearing boots, too.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter puts his hand on Fitz's shoulder. "Don't worry mate we'll make sure none of your toys get into the wrong hands," he confides lowly to the man. Or at least not any more than have already sold.

Then it's down to the engine room for the two of them, scoping out the scene, Hunter remarks, "course it'd be bloody alien tech, but bet you can do something with that, right?" he asks reaching for the compact version of the ICER he'd managed to smuggle onto the ship with him. "Let me handle the guards and we can get down to business."

Then he's off through the door into the engine room, small ICER palmed as he looks around the room and exclaims. "How much for one of those?!" pointing with his other hand at one of the gliders as he puts a drunken wobble into his step. As one of the guards comes to head him off he lifts his ICER and drops one guard but misses the other. "Bloody hell," he exclaims as the guard turns and fires at him. "Little help!" he calls to Fitz.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Here's hoping that the distraction has cleared the way of any guards who might have otherwise been patrol in this part of the ship. Fitz is under few illusions about the likelihood that the main engine room will be entirely devoid of personnel but getting down there without any sort of fight will go a long way to smoothing over this part of the mission. Once in the engine room proper the noise should help keep anyone else from noticing if there are some... incidents.

So Fitz follows closely behind Hunter, doing his very best to act like anything but an agent. Yep, he's just a lost guest who has had too much to drink and now desperately needs to find the head or otherwise he'll be standing on the deck taking a leak over the side in most unsuave fashion. He's in a tuxedo here. He can't be standing around pissing over the side of a boat.

Of course, when they do finally arrive at the engine room they are in for a few surprises. For one, it is not anywhere near as loud as it should be, something that becomes apparent even before they open the hatch. The rattle and roar of powerful engines is nowhere in evidence, instead a low hum seems to reverberate through the metal of the hull. The reason why is pretty hard to miss and once Fitz lays eyes on what they're dealing with his stomach sinks just a little. "Ahhh, we might have just a bit of a problem. They're using Chitari tech to power the ship," he offers up. This is hardly your garden variety setup. "I might need just a couple of extra minutes," he says.

A lifetime when it comes to an operation like this. A minor miracle when you consider that Fitz thinks he can take care of alien tech in just a couple of minutes.

He does flash a brief smile Hunter's way and nods his head. "If you can buy me a couple of minutes I'll have us dead in the water. And maybe some little bits to play with since they thought they were entitled to my designs."

Oh yes, nerd revenge is a dish best served up with alien technology.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The people who watched the exchange between Peggy and Miura seem amused by the distraction. And it was a good distraction. They go back to their partying though. A young woman in a long black dress bumps in to May as she turns the corner and then stares at her wide slightly wide eyes. Her emotional state? panicked. Deeply stressed. "Sorry!," she says and backs away, rushing down a different corridor.

    When Koga says he has a knife one of the guards pushes him up against the wall, "Searching," and starts searching him. It doesn't take the guy long to see an earpiece in his ear, "He's on comms. Check her." The other two guards turn on Peggy to grab her and push her to the wall too and see if she's got an earpiece as well.

    The second guard flicks out a baton and swings it at Hunter, squaring off against him even as Fitz starts oogling the technology. The two engineers stares at him like he's nuts, "You're what?" says one and the other says, "He must be serious, only a serious person says something like that." The first replies, "But we spent so long making it work." Twins.. they're twins. "True but look at him, he has a thug with him."

    The guard stabs at Hunter with the ... SHIELD issue stun baton, the likes of which Bobbi tends to carry around, and tries to stun him.

    The party, somehow, remains relaxed and so does the auction hall. The small disturbances haven't rippled in to full scale panic yet. Bobbi spies the young woman coming out a side hatch back on to the top deck and moving to stairs that lead lower, <<I see some unusual guest activity near you May>>.

Melinda May has posed:
May's heart jumps up into her chest as the young woman in the black dress collides with her. Her gasp is audible on comms as her eyes grow wide and her hands flex automatically into fists. But the woman is bouncing off of her almost as fast as she collided with her. "Wait. What's--?" But the woman is too far away to really hear the question and it takes May just ten seconds too long to get herself back under control.

Once she has, however, she starts off after the woman, emerging out of the same hatch only seconds after her. <<Copy,>> she says to Bobbi over comms, her calm evidently returned. <<She's panicked. Something's wrong. Which way did she go?>> There are any number of reasons for panic on a ship like this. None of them good. Even if this is slightly outside mission parameters -- and it may well be -- the threat needs to be assessed. So, May continues after the woman, largely ignorning anyone who ignores her. Those that don't? She'll deal with as she needs to.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The man who has grabbed her once more probably isn't expecting Peggy to be near so skilled as she is or moving quite so fast. When he reaches for her, she hisses while suddenly shifting him into an arm lock, "I told you not to TOUCH ME!" And then she's driving him down into the ground, hard enough with all her weight to shove temple into the ground in a way that should knock hin out cold. Then she's coming up with her ICER in hand, a shot straight to the second guard's neck. Peggy's taken out two of them in under 5 seconds and she can only hope that Koga has studied up on his magic or training enough to do the same.

Just in case he hasn't, she turns her gun on one of the others attacking him, but that's a slower action as she had to handle her pair first. It's just habit to keep taking then out until only friendlies are standing. <<We've been made by the guards, heads up.>> Peggy subvocalizes over the comms

Lance Hunter has posed:
"Working on it!" Hunter call back to Fitz as the remaining guard flips out a baton and approaches. "Fair enough," Hunter says as he calmly lifts the ICER in his hand and fires at the man. Or that was the plan anyhow, as the weapon is raised the man leaps forward his baton hammering down on Hunters wrist sending the weapon clatters to the deck. As the guard comes at Hunter for a second swing, he entangle grabs the man at the wrist and smashes his forehead into the man's nose like it were a bar fight before pushing the man over the railing and down into the depths of the engine room below.

Out of breath Hunter looks up at the twin techs. "Now do what my mate Fitz says or you can join your friend down below," he says and then glances back to Fitz as he picks up his weapon again. "All yours," he says nodding to the techs, controls and the alien technology below.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
See? This is why he likes to be teamed with Hunter. There is minimal need for him to get his hands dirty. At least with anything other then oil or engine grease. While he has shown that he can make with the rough stuff when he needs to, Fitz is just as happy to avoid it. Though the fact that he is back to ICER rounds at least makes the possibility a little more comfortable.

He suspects that the twin engineers have rather misunderstood what he meant, but under the circumstances that is pretty alright with Fitz. If they take his words as a threat, so much the better. Maybe they won't make trouble. "That's right, you don't want to get hit with that thing," he says, motioning to weapon in Hunter's hand, taking the steps two at a time as he heads down to the odd assemblage of Chitari tech that has been put together. It is a cobble job with lots of jury-rigging, but it is all of that with alien tech. Pretty impressive all things considered. "And you definitely don't want me distracted while I see what I can do with your little science project here," he says, studying the machine for a moment before rather brazenly turns to the nearest of the twins and swipes their toolset. "I'll take that," he says, getting to work.

He might have picked up a little of Hunter's audacity over the past few missions. Just a little.

Koga Miura has posed:
    The good news is that Koga has studied up on his training. The bad news is that he's probably not used to not relying on the monster he can become. But, that doesn't seem to have made him rusty at all.

    The first guard that says comms is met with a small grin. "Aw, you noticed." Then he headbutts the guard that noticed the comm. Followed by slamming the poor guy's face into the wall.

    The last guard he rushes to try to grab and attempt to restrain, making sure to watch for anything that might be an alarm as he tries to pin the guy to the floor for questioning. And barring that, just choking into unconsciousness. They do need to make sure that it is Burch they are going to see, after all. Right?

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    As May tails after the mysterious woman in to the lower decks, she comes across a guard crumpled on the floor - unconscious but alive. A door at the end of the corridor leads her to a room with a sea door. Not something they knew about the ship. There's a mini submarine docked in here, but the woman she bumped in to earlier has donned a wet suit. She looks up with wide eyes again as she sees May, "You again!" It seems though that she is more than willing to fight - with fists. She's wearing some very odd looking gloves though.

    The twins let Fitz take whatever he wants. They look at each other and one points and is about to say something in warning to Fitz about the high energy throughputs, but the other one bats his hand and then makes a run for the door. The second pauses only a second and also makes a run for the door.

    Sonny casts his eyes over the monitors observing the patrons making bids on everything in his stock. What good luck for him that the person he went in to business with who supplied him with all this SHIELD gear suddenly disappeared almost a year ago now. Sure, this is the last of the stock - which is why he's trying to sell all of it at once - but it'll be a great business hall.

    His fingers touch the controls to move between cameras until he sees a fight with four of his guards in a hallway not too far from the bridge. He stares for just a moment and zooms the camera in on what appears to be a man in a suit and a woman in a hugging dress. He moves to the next image, combat in his engine room? two men in tuxedos. A small smile twitch at his lips, "Well shucks and today was my big pay day." His other hand strokes over the emergency button and he considers not pressing it for a moment. But, this might very well be the end of Six Underground as he knows it. He presses the button and heads to his escape hatch in the floor.

    An alarm starts to sound throughout the ship. The patrons of the auction realise this potentially their only chance to get away with the goods. One Agent of HYDRA picks up a plasma caster - much like a lightning gun, but it shoots plasma instead. Another picks up a SHIELD protocol type, 'the angry cicada' which begins to chirp rapidly as it powers up, then explodes taking out the user and itself. It was mothballed for a reason.

    No one quite knows where the threat is coming from and distrusting villains and mercenaries start to procure weapons and fire on each other. Bobbi scowls and all heck breaks out on the upper deck <<Take as many down as you can, get those engines off!>> Her sniper rifle begins to sing out in the night air as person after person approaching the gang plank off the boat drops from her ICER rounds.

Melinda May has posed:
"What's with the panic?" May asks as she approaches, one hand extended cautiously. She's not necessarily looking for a fight. Of course, she's not exactly looking conciliatory, either. It's that calm impassivity again -- which amidst a group of people like this usually means someone who's willing and able to fight and really doesn't give a shit who gets hurt in the process. (Unlike the scowling attack dogs, who are clearly out to maim and kill, or the grinning psychopaths who should generally be avoided at all costs, the calm, impassive types are usually the more competent and, thus, dangerous of the non-Jokers out there.)

The only answer the agent receives, however, is from the other woman's fists. May ducks the first blows aimed her way, moving in other the woman's guard to place several well-timed body blows on her. The agent has the advantage of years of experience and a goodly amount of speed. However, she has two big disadvantages:

First, there's simply the challenge of being in such close proximity to the girl for more than the usual half-second or so it takes to throw her. The girl's good enough, it seems, to hold her own, which means all her desperation, earlier panic, and need to escape is channelled into the nascent Inhuman. May finds her head and her heart reeling with the unexpected over-stimulation. The girl is well-trained, yes, but wilder than the recruits and STRIKE trainees Melinda deals with at the Triskelion. Despite that, she holds her own and proves that experience really does count for a lot -- especially in controlling wild emotions.

Second... those gloves. As blows and blocks are exchanged, May is battered under a series of waves that feel a lot like fighting Daisy on a bad day. Each hit delivers more force than it should. And just as she's about to deliver what should be a debilitating blow to the girl, the mercenary thrusts out with both hands. May flies backward as fast and heavily as any opponent Quake has ever dispatched, slamming heavily into a bulkhead. The impact knocks the wind from her and she slumps insensate to the deck, leaving the girl free to dart through that hidden hatch and into the sub to make good her escape.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The moment the guards are down, Peggy is rushing for the metal door. These guys were paranoid enough that she's pretty sure it was Burch they were being escorted towards, and now the alarm is sounding enough she's pretty sure they are out of time. She slams her heel into the latch twice and then a hard elbow down on it, just managing to get the steel to give enough she can open the thing. It's no matter, however, as there's no sight of the man in the room. Just that open escape hatch. She curses to herself.

"Looks like he took off already. I'm following. You're welcome to come or follow Bobbi's orders and get as many people down as possible. But I'm not letting hin get away!" And with that, Peggy swings down into the hatch herself, careless of tight dress or going into a completely unknown situation. She's been in worse before.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter grins as Fitz takes the tablet off the techs, no doubt the man was getting the hang of this stuff, even if he was still happy to watch his back and take care of little things like when the two techs try to take a legger on out the door while he and Fitz are distracted. Two ICER shots later the twins are on the floor and Hunter's looking to Fitz. "Hope we didn't need those two right now."

Though the knocked out techs are the least of his worries right now as the alarms sound and he hears boots hitting metal deck plates coming towards them. Hunter finds some cover by the tech station and aims his weapon at the door, "So about that moment you needed, I'll do my best to give it to you, but the faster you work the easier this is going to be."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
It's true, Fitz can get a little involved in his work and distracted to everything else around him when he has shiny new tech to play with. In the lab that is not the worst thing. It's a little bit more of an issue out in the field, though in all likelihood he might pay a little more attention to that sort of thing if he didn't know he had Hunter watching his back. There is a certain comfort zone that the tech genius works in and familiarity is a big part of that.

"We do not," Fitz offers up absently, studying the specs for just a moment. "Though if they designed this they're not incompetent at all. We should probably try not to let them get exploded or shot. Or fall into the hands of anyone else that have alien tech at their disposal," he suggests helpfully, moving to one of the control stations.

When Agent Morse barks out to hurry, he flinches just a little and mutters "Patience is a virtue" under his breath. Which might be true in general, but less so when alarms are going off all around them. Still, fingers dance over the keys and the hum coming from the makeshift Centauri engine picks up noticably. Fitz frowns, and taps in a few more commands and the hum of the alien tech rises again -- not quite to painful levels, but it is a decidedly unpleasant sound, one that can almost be felt in the bones.

Gritting teeth together, Fitz turns away from the control panel. It's easy to get distracted, starstruck even around alien technology. And when that happens, it's possible to lose perspective. Or ignore simple solutions. So when the scientists turns it's not to do something radically clever. Instead he plucks up a sledge hammer where it is tucked away beside the console and whirls on the alien engine assembly. The sledge goes up, over head. And comes down just as fast, knocking the regulator joining the assemblage together. Almost at once the hum dies and the lights go out, the red emergency lighting coming on a moment later.

The simple answers really are sometimes the best. The genius part was hitting the right piece so that the engine just shut down instead of exploding catastrophically. He might not mention that was a possibility.

"Engine is down," he reports over the comm.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga looks out, then gets a bit of a grin, "Good luck." He sends over the comms, << Separating from Carter. She is pursuing Burch. Went through the floor hatch. Don't shoot the monster, please. >>

    Koga moves back some, then he starts to change. Peggy might catch a glimpse of the black substance mixed with gold that covers him. The yellow gem in the belt shining before the rest of the gold on the suit grows and expands. Cracking is easily heard from Koga as he sets himself. Almost like one might have heard from bones cracking or muscles that are too stiff as he quickly changes shape.

    The gold pieces expand, growing green and blue plates as he starts forward at a run. His aim? The windows. By the time he hits the windows, his body has shifted into his alternate, armored form and he charges them to break through and fall on the deck. His aim is for a superhero landing before leaping again in the direction of the gangplank on to the ship and trying blockade that, as well as just flat out take the thing down. To trap the people on the ship with the now monster of a samurai that is on deck with them.

    He mutters into his comms after he's hopefully done, and probably just realizing that it may have been a good idea/bad idea scenario for him to even go out there in current form. << Hey, Commander? Just how much of this tech is able to harm say an Asgardian or the Hulk? >>

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The young woman looks pleased with herself. All that training does pay off after all. Her teachers were right. She slings the backpack of her stolen goods over her shoulders, buckles, then gives May a small little two fingered salute from the forehead. "Nice technique, in another life we might have become friends."

    She pauses only a moment longer when she sees Sonny Burch climb down out of a hole in to the sea door room. He sees her and they exchange looks for only the barest of moments before he says, "Cabal!" She grins and dives out through her the sea door and in to the cold ocean where an underwater bike awaits her escape.

    Whistling Burch pauses and sees May on the ground, "Hm. You're not meant to be down here honey. No matter, you stay out of my way and I stay out of yours." He adjusts his tie and takes out a remote control *blp* and the door to the mini sub opens. As he steps on to the wing of the sub, who should come out of the same laddered hole he emerged from? Peggy Carter.

    <<Acknowledged Miura>> Bobbi responds and changes cartridges of ICER bullets and continues to shoot until everybody has either dropped unconscious from the dendrotoxin, or they've fled toward Miura, realise how terrible an idea it is to run toward a samurai, then turned around and fled below decks. One brave soul made it to the helicopter and tried to turn its engine over - no luck there, its electronics completely fried by May. He gets out and is met with a shot from Bobbi's sniper rifle. <<Acknowledge Fitz. Top deck is clear. I estimate anywhere between 5 and 12 people below decks. Joining you Miura, unclear on that - let's not find out?>> she sets the sniper rifle down and draws out twin ICER hand guns and heads out of the nest and strides toward the ship.

Melinda May has posed:
May is working too hard at remaining conscious to respond to the fleeing merc. Burch's exclamation 'Cabal' draws her attention and she tries to shake off the hit she's taken, the word registering with her in a way nothing else she heard does. She *should* feel deeply afronted by this man who refers to her as 'honey'. As it is, by the time Peggy is dropping down from that hatch, she's only just struggling to her feet to try to stop Burch's escape.

There's blood on her face and her pupils are dialated enough to suggest she's got one hell of a concussion. Nevertheless, she reaches for her ICER and pulls it on Burch, pausing only as Peggy takes the initiative. She's got just enough clarity of thought to realize the Lady in Red has a whole lot better chance of succeeding at this takedown than she does.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Sliding down the escape hatch is an adventure in the dress she's wearing, and when she tumbles out into the room everyone's going to get an eyeful of the black booty shorts she's wearing UNDER the dress. But then, that's the exact reason she's wearing the shorts. They also help with the garter holsters not chafing near so bad as they do on bare legs, things she's learned over the years.

She takes no time in assessing the situation, her hands coming up around her ICER, and the very split second she has eyes on Burch, she's shooting him three times in the upper chest and throat. She needs to know he's going down and staying down.

She then shifts up off the floor where she'd tumbled with the escape hatch and stares down at the man's unconscious body. "And to think, I put on my good lipstick for you." She smirks a bit deeper, worried eyes then tracing around the room, especially as she takes in the site of May moving slower than normal. Then she's frowning over to May, worry clear in her eyes.

"You're bleeding. Stay behind me and we'll keep trying to clear this place out." Peggy is already on the move, but she's trying to be gently protective of her injured colleague right now. She does reach one hand out to momentarily rest on the back of May's palm, her other hand still holding her ICER readied. But if what happened in the car works here, May will feel Peggy's calm, crisis-mode mind in full swing and hopefully gain some clarity from Peg's mindset alone.

Lance Hunter has posed:
The sudden destruction of the console has Hunter all but jumping out of his skin. "Bloody hell mate, you alright?" he asks the sledgehammer wielding tech looking at him with a mix of amazement and skepticism, Judging by that look he's more asking after Fitz' mental health than his physical one with that question. Though before he can probe deeper, the footsteps from the hall reach the door and three men burst in weapons raised looking for a fight.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
There really was a method to Fitz's madness. While he might normally approach things with a more delicate touch, it's because that's what most situations call for. And while he could almost have surely dealt with the matter through those means eventually, they were on a bit of a time table. Hence the simple, expediant approach. "Just fine," he assures the other man. "Mission accomplished and all that," he points out with a small shrug, rather casually tossing the sledge hammer aside.

Some jobs call for a laser scalpel. And some, as Fitz has just illustrated, call for a sledge hammer. That's the glory of engineering!

Snatching up that tablet once more, he snaps a few quick picture of Chitari assemblage. While the schematics appear to be already uploaded, it never hurts to have some photo representations of how things are actually setup. Though unless things are really going terribly wrong with those alarms they can surely take care of all of that when they secure the crime scene later.

As fitz turns to join Lance, that's when the hatch swings open and then gunmen appear. While on the lower level, he at least has cover and pressing himself close to the control console, he draws his sidearm, taking careful aim before firing off several ICER rounds -- both to offer Hunter some cover fire and to clear a path to that hatch.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga gives a nod, the monster samurai starts below deck, taking the lead and trusting his armor to protect him. He says back towards Bobbi, with a bit more of a 'growl' to his voice than before, "Maybe I should have asked that before hand."

    Turning back to look, he stops as he sees a dead body. A staff seemingly grows out of his back, complete with bone-like cracking sounds before he reaches up to pull it out. And stick it out. The sudden blast of plasma actually knocks the staff forward some before Koga stops it. "Huh."

    Koga steps around the corner and immediately ducks, then pushes forward in a horizontal leap as he charges the shooter and plugs the plasma caster with the staff weapon. Literally. Then proceeds to punch the shooter in the face. Just a bit hard. There might be something that can be done for the nose afterwards.

    Scanning around, Koga calls back, "Clear." Then he looks at the weapon he has in hand. << Hey, tech-heads. These big things shooting lightning. What do you call them and can I get one for if I have to fight an alien invasion sorta thing? >>

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The low red lights add an ominous gloom to the below decks. The auction room is a scene of death and destruction. The man with the plasma caster has declared himself king of the hill by killing everyone else who came his way. All this technology? his now. He sees more movement and takes a shot at the samurai, then another as he dives in toward him and clogs up the weapon. The powered strike to his face knocks him out cold, as the weapon whirrs a moment and explodes a pool of plasma against the wall, burning through it and exposing the outside to the room. They are above the water level still.

    Bobbi took cover when the plasma starts spewing around and steps out when Koga called Clear. "It was probably a prototype and clearly very dangerous...," she says looking at the hole. She nods to Koga and smiles, "Nice work." She shoots the downed mercenary with her ICER just in case, then takes off down the hall as she sees several guards bust in to the engine room.

    Bobbi rushes down the hallway and slides along the floor as she turns past the doorway and shoots the two standing guards, as Fitz takes one down too. She pauses at the door way, checks her corners, then enters. Seeing Lance she can't help herself, "You're welcome."

    <<All Agents, we've clearing the top two decks. I think we have secured the bulk of the ship. I'm calling in the reinforcements, make your way back up top - call for backup if you need it getting there>> She holsters her twin ICERs and smiles to Fitz, "Good job." Yep, Fitz gets the 'good job' and Lance gets the 'you're welcome'.

Melinda May has posed:
The calm Peggy affords May helps considerably. If nothing else, it helps her push the merc's emotions out of her mind enough to focus on the task at hand. It doesn't do much about the nausea or headache, mind, but she's careful not to aggravate it with a nod. "I'll..." She looks at Burch. "I'll manhandle him. You keep the way clear." She hands Peggy her ICER, figuring two weapons in the other woman's hands are far better than one in her own right now.

Then, rolling her shoulders and wiping the blood off her nose and lips with the back of a sleeve, she moves to pick up Burch in a fireman's carry. He's taller than her, but manageable when folded over her shoulder. She grunts a little with both the effort and the extra throbbing it brings her head. But she's got him. And she completely trusts Peggy to lead them out.

<<We've got Burch,>> she says over comms, the strain in her voice clear. <<Repeat. We've got Burch. Coming out.>> And they'll take out as many as get in their way as they can...

Of course, the guy with the plasma caster could be a problem. But that's what dual weilded ICERs are for, right? Just in case, May arms her little taser disk launcher with one hand, the other wrapped over Burch's belt, and clutches it tightly.

Fortunately, Miura makes sure that simply won't be an issue.

Peggy Carter has posed:
ICER accepted, Peggy gives Melinda a sharp, obedient nod, "Got it. I'll keep us clear." And since May reports that they've got Burch, she has no need to report anything else. Peggy sweeps her ICER along the room, clearing every space they walk into and letting her shoulders hug the wall until she knows it's clear. <<Coming up with May now. Good job, Miura.>> She echoes over the comms, since the younger agent did perform exactly what they needed excellently. She keeps clearing rooms the whole way up to the top deck.

Lance Hunter has posed:
"//You're ^welcome//!?" Hunter exclaims as he rises from behind his cover. "I had them handled, //thank you very much//," he says before he gestures at Fitz. "And why does he get a good job?" he asks before looking to Fitz and explaining. "Not that you don't deserve it mate, you were brilliant," he looks back to Bobby. "But this," he gestures vaguely at the whole situation. "Is just you being petty," he says hand on his hip before he lets out a sigh. "C'mon let's get up and out of here," he says when it's time to go, though any one unfortunate enough to sit next to Lance is going to hear about it on the ride home.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Watching one of the mercenaries go down, Fitz gives a brief nod of satisfaction. He does much prefer his violence from a distance with non lethal rounds in play. Aside from the occasional sledge hammer to advanced tech at any rate. All things considered, a pretty successful mission. He just has to hope that he's the one that gets assigned to their new alien toys.

Of course, before he can prematurely celebrate there is Agent Morse, clearing out the rest of the gunmen, putting an end to any last minute danger. And then the grown-ups start to fight. Awkwaaaaaard.

Collecting his things, Fitz trots up the stairs, keeping his metaphorical head down. "Thanks," he murmurs to both of them, trotting right on past without slowing. "I'll meet you up on deck." he adds.

Emotions, ugh. Even more messy then biology! This is why he likes machines!

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga sighs, then glances downwards. He shrugs and breaks the plasma caster in hand just in case before setting the pieces down. His staff is replaced on his back and it actually... shrinks or something as it goes back into the armor. With more cracking sounds.

    "I was lucky. If he was another five feet, I may have had to take a shot. And that may have actually hurt in this form." He says towards Bobbi. Pausing as he notes someone injured, he looks for Burch and then around for any more threats. A small growl comes from him, or at least out of the armor as he does so. "We should go. I did not count the bodies, but I am sure there are more down here and we have one injured."

    He looks to Lance, "Do you wish to carry him, or should I?"

    A tilt of his head, then he looks over at Bobbi, "I may have to ask for my bus to help Agent May, if she will allow it."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "Your position was being overrun and you were clearly cowering.. so I saved your butt, like usual. Like I said, you're welcome," she says matter of factly and deliberately pushing his buttons. And yes, definitely very petty. She smiles <<Excellent news Carter, never had a doubt>>. She heads back up deck as several SHIELD agents in black armour who have just moved in to location via SUV come up the gang plank.

    She speaks to those newly arrived level 3 agents ready to do the cleanup, "Agents, secure the targets. Agent May and Carter have Burch, take him to holding in the Triskelion for interrogation. Take great care one deck below when packing up all the technology. Sweep every deck, every room and when you're done get the coast guard to impound the ship."

    As she sees May she frowns, "Medical to Agent May, asap. A good suggestion Koga but let's let the medics handle it." She gives May a very worried look at her injuries. That is a conversation about how that happened she will have with her in debrief. She pauses to survey the mess and the team that made it happen and nods her head. "Good job every one. Head back to the Triskelion for recovery when you're able. I'm staying here to watch over the cleanup."