5639/Batgirl gets a Hand

Batgirl gets a Hand
Date of Scene:	18 March 2021
Location:	Dixon Docks - Chinatown
Synopsis:	Batgirl infiltrates a smuggling ship and comes away with the first clue to the Hand presence in Gotham.
Cast of Characters:	Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown

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Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing finally has a followup on the smuggling operation he and Batgirl took down a couple weeks ago. He asked her to meet him at the Batcave earlier today...

When she arrives, he's up on the Batcomputer platform with a map of Gotham up on the main screen. He waves her over, calling out, "Hi Steph, comon over. I've got some info, and a little issue at the same time. Take a look." He then returns to leaning on the console, waiting for her to get over to him. He's in his Nightwing outfit, looking ready for a night of activity.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown puttered into the Batcave in her purple compact car. Which isn't to say the car doesn't have some speed, just she was coasting along after coming in beneath the waterfall. She pulls into her space and hops out, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and tennis shoes as she makes her way over to join Dick. "Can change if we're going out, was with people and closer to here than going home to do it," she says.

Her footfalls are quiet as she crosses the distance and goes up the couple of steps to the raised platform. She's always wondered why it's slightly elevated like that. It doesn't necessarily help the cooling or have anything to do with the wiring. She finally came to the conclusion that Bruce is probably proud enough of it he just likes to show it off like that. Which makes her smile every time she thinks of it.

She moves over to Nightwing and looks at the screen, digesting the information quickly.

Dick Grayson has posed:
The map has two red dots marked on it, one at the Dixon Docks and one at the Tricorner Docks. "We have a small issue. After a couple weeks of nothing, I got info on two shipments coming in tonight." He reaches out and taps the light over the Dixon docks, "If you're willing, I'd like you to take this one and check it out while I go to the Tricorner and scout around. From what I saw on our last outing, you can handle yourself more than well enough to fly solo on this, even if there are more hand there."

He turns to look at her with a smile, "Not that you haven't been doing your own thing for a while now, but I'm more comfortable asking you to do something specific that I know will be kind of dangerous. Hopefully there won't be too many guys there, but you never know."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Some people might take the comment as a lack of faith in their skills. Though Stephanie just seems to hear the praise in it of abilities that she's worked extremely hard to master. "I'd be happy to check out the Dixon shipment," she tells Dick, flashing him a small smile. "Let me go get geared up. Any idea what it is they are supposed to legitimately be bringing in?" she asks as she quickly navigates the steps down and heads for the area that serves as a locker room of sorts.

The sound of her opening up a case can be heard, and she keeps talking to Dick, speaking loud enough to be heard as she gets into costume. "Was cool getting to see everyone at the convention. I stumbled into getting to go. They had a flyer up on a bulletin board looking for people to man the booth. I got a chance to sit in on a pair of talks today. Though had to spend most of it at the booth. How about you? Are you enjoying it?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
"I am. Not that a ton of the tech stuff is new to us considering that we get all Bruce's prototypes, but it's still cool to see how it's being rolled out to general police use. But I've met a number of law enforcement folks from various cities, getting to hear a little about how their departments operate and the like."

"I'm glad you get to be there though, you can make some good contacts for after you graduate, and get to meet people in the business, networking is always a good thing."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie gets into her costume pants and then pulls on her boots. She opens her mouth to joke with Dick about those law enforcement people he met. Probably something about whether all of them were as noticeably curvy as the one got the coffee with. But she stifles the comment before it comes out. Unsure if she is just going easy on him, or maybe doesn't want to remind him about that woman if he's not given her much more thought.

Soon she has her costume on and emerges, pulling on her cowl and getting her hair situated so it doesn't get tucked by the headwear. "Alright," she says, pounding a fist into her hand. "Time kick some butt and take some... ah... we never really get the names of the ninjas do we? Time to go send some bad guys to Blackgate," she says instead.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing straightens up from the console and grins at her, "Yeah, they tend to stay a little anonymous most of the time, but I'm sure you'll manage anyway. You're checking out a ship this time, not a warehouse, it's called the Li Kao. Should be tied up at berth 10. From my info, what you're looking for is in the forward hold."

He walks over to his motorcycle and climbs on, kicking the V-10 to life. "If there's too many, don't feel you have to go in because I asked you to do this. I'd rather lose a clue than a Steph, ok?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl makes her way over to the vehicles, flashing a smile to Nightwing as he hops on his bike. "So sounds like I'm probably going to end up going for a swim. In the lovely waters of Gotham Harbor," she says. "You really know how to show a girl a good time, Grayson," the younger girl tells him, giving Dick a little moue of a look though her eyes rarely can hide her amusement at a moment like this.

She checks her bike briefly and then climbs on the Batcycle. "Hey, next thing you're going to tell me to be careful. Keep that up and I might start to think you care," she says over to him. She tosses her rebreather up into the air, end over end, catching it and sliding it into a pouch in the utility garter belt that goes about her thigh.

"Rather not lose you either," she says, her engine revving to life and almost, but not quite, drowning out the words. << Let's stay in touch. After we arrive a beep every five minutes at the least. Just to let the other know we're still ok. No beep and I'll head up there. >>

Dick Grayson has posed:
He opens the throttle of his bike and zooms out through the waterfall, the bike letting out a throaty roar as he gives it plenty of gas. He quickly vanishes into the night on his dark metallic steed, only the sound of the engine lingering behind.

<<That works, in both directions.>>

It doesn't take too long to reach the area of the docks, which, as apparently required by the city, are dimly lit and mostly deserted at this hour. There's a somewhat cold breeze this close to the water, probably making Batgirl glad for the protection her suit provides. Dockyard security is almost non-existent, and for one of the Bats, might as well not be there at all. From here, the approach to the ship is up to her.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The high performance cycle is a purple and black blur, the Batcomputer helping plot a course with the least traffic. Batgirl goes over the lip of a hill the bike a full twenty feet in the air at one point before it falls to the road, both wheels hitting at the same time on the sloping concrete, the advanced shocks absorbing it easily enough.

She pulls the bike as near to the docks as she dares, then takes to the roofs, making her way across. Extra care is shown, watching the area, scanning in multiple spectrums of light before moving. Staying in the darkest shadows, she eventually nears the dock where her freighter has just tied up.

After surveilling the ship for awhile, noting how many people might be out and moving about on the deck, she slips down a good distance away from the ship. Batgirl makes the run to the water, inserting her rebreather on the way and dives in. Hands pressed together Over her head like an Olympic diver, she leaves little splash.

Once underwater she makes the swim out to the ship. Moving to the seaward side of the vessel, she fits strong electromagnets to her hands and feet and begins slowly climbing the side of the ship, until she's near to the railing. She pauses there to listen and watch, and see if anything has changed since she was looking at the ship from the warehouse roofs.

Dick Grayson has posed:
As she clings to the side of the ship, Batgirl can tell there are at least a couple people on the deck of the ship. They're not making much noise, which kind of tracks with the idea that they may be Hand, but she can see at least one shadow that moves slightly from time to time, and she's been at this business long enough to get a feeling when there are people nearby.

<<Beep>> comes over the comms, Nightwing apparently also having no problems yet. On deck.. nothing changes. But then, this is probably the Hand, they're not going to walk patrols, they're going to lurk in shadows unnoticed as much as they can.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl is not in a rush. Which is to say she wants to rush, but Stephanie realizes this is a case she needs to 'not be so headstrong and bullheaded' as a certain redheaded girl in the chair might tell her, were she online at the moment.

She hangs there, just watching and taking her time. Getting used to the rhythms of the people who are moving. How long they spend in each place or whether they stay still.

<< About to go over the side and investigate >> she says into the subvocal mike, not needing to actually make sound. She sets a timer in her cowl's heads up display to let her know when five minutes have passed.

Batgirl waits until an ideal moment, when a cloud is covering the moon and no one is facing the spot she's picked, and then she slithers over the side and beneath the bottom railing. She moves quickly to shadows, barely lifting off the ground until she's safely concealed. From there she begins very slowly making her way towards the cargo hold. Keeping an ear and eye out for the Hand, and for anything unusual.

Dick Grayson has posed:
She gains the deck without being spotted... Apparently there is something to this 'patience' thing after all. Once she makes it into some friendly shadows, she can take a moment to scan her surroundings. A short examination of the deck reveals no crew, but at least two Hand ninjas hidden in pools of shadow between her and the entrance to the cargo hold she needs to reach. If there are others, they are not immediately visible.

<<Beep>> is the only reply after five minutes - he's apparently trusting her to do her job and not obsessively keeping tabs on her.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
<< Beep >>

Batgirl considers the two ninjas. She'd rather not confront them, but it is too dangerous to try to slip past unobserved. Even if she distracts them, she might get in. But if she's discovered, having them guarding the exit as she is trying to get out is not a tactically good situation.

She eyes where they are and finally draws out her sticky launcher. Capable of firing small payloads that are made to stick to whatever they hit, and land quietly at that. She loads in two small gas charges that she can set off remotely and then waits.

It takes awhile before there is a noise that is suitable. As quiet as the launcher is, Batgirl takes no chances, waiting for the covering sound to stick a gas pellet onto a surface near each of the ninjas. She moves into position to be nearer to them, and then hits the remote for the knock out gas.

She moves forward, reading to catch the nearest one and ease him to the ground to try to make sure no one notices their removal.

Dick Grayson has posed:
The horn of another ship passing the docks is more than sufficient cover for a device as quiet as Batgirl's launcher, so neither ninja has the slightest idea that they have little presents waiting for them. They remain on guard in their concealing shadows until such time as she set off the gas payloads. A cloud of gas envelops each ninja and renders them unconcious in seconds. The first is eased to the deck as she moves forward to catch him. The second simply slumps down, but as he was crouching in the shadows, he doesn't have far to go anyway. No sound comes from either one, and apparently the path to the cargo hold is clear.

<<Beep>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
<< Beep >>

Batgirl sets the ninja upright as best as she can so if anyone glimpses him he looks like he's just watching instead of passed out. She slips over to the other and repeats the arrangement. The desire to pose him in some humorous way strikes her but is immediately discarded.

She creeps forward to the steps down to the cargohold. More time is spent watching quietly before she finally slips inside. Rather than walk across the floor, she makes use of those electromagnetic climbing tools she used before, their surface padded to reduce any noise. She presses each firmly against the ceiling before turning it on so it doesn't suddenly slam against the metal.

Batgirl slowly makes her way across the ceiling. Wondering if this is how Spider-Man feels. No, wait, he looked so agile, he probably would laugh at her slow progress.

She continues through the hold, checking for signs of anyone there. If she cannot find any guards, she plans to drop down onto some of the cargo then and begin checking it for contraband.

Dick Grayson has posed:
From her vantage point on the ceiling, Batgirl can see several more Hand ninjas in the cargo hold. Again, they have hidden themselves in shadows, positions from which they can observe while remaining hidden from casual observation. Still, they weren't planning on hiding from someone stuck to the roof of the compartment.

There are three she can see, forming a triangle around a pile of crates off towards the bow of the ship. One might guess these are the crates in question. So far, nothing indicates the two ninjas previously dealt with have been discovered.

<<Beep>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl studies where the ninjas are at. Are they just standing guard? Or could this be a trap. She ponders, but not for too long. The longer she delays, the more chance the two she took out above are noticed.

Batgirl finds a spot she can drop down the shortest distance, minimizing any sound. She removes the electromagnets and then quietly drops down to the floor at a location she can move up from behind one of the ninjas. This one is near to the corner of some crates, allowing her to get right up near to him by moving along the floor.

She pulls out a single-use tranquilizer from her utility belt. Like a pen that you just stab into the person and it quickly injects a powerful sedative. She relaxes herself with a slow breath and pops around the corner to grab the ninja and jab the tranquilizer into his neck where it will be as fast-acting as possible, her hand moving to hold over his mouth to avoid him speaking.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Given that her training has a good deal of the ninja rolled into it, Batgirl is very good at remaining silent, and raises no alarm as she approaches the first guard. Coming around the corner of the crate, one weakness of the ninja method of guarding is revealed - He's in the same place he was when she last saw him, so is easy to grab and inject. Just like the gassed ninjas above, he slumps silently in her grip, dropping bonelessly to the floor.

One down, two to go.

<<Beep>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl sets him upright. She quickly searches his headgear, finding a high quality comms earpiece in his ear. She checks him for the device that controls it and mutes the outgoing sound. Then removes it and inserts it into one of her own ears.

<< Beep >>

Batgirl moves quickly but quietly, circling around the crates to where another of the ninjas was. This one is not as easily approachable from the ground so she climbs onto the crates behind him. Moving forward on all fours until she's peering down at him from above.

This time she pulls what looks like a small vial with a thread dangling from it her utility belt. She unspools the thread, hanging it down until it is just above his head. All it takes is squeezing the vial gently and the chloroform dribbles down the string to where it hangs just above his head. The liquid drips onto the front of his head covering just above his forehead, Batgirl keeping it flowing until it has built up enough to sedate him.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Unfortunately, this doesn't work out the way she was hoping. While the vapor is heavier than air, the additional time it takes for the chloroform to build up on his hood and roll down over his nose gives him time to react as he starts to get groggy, not like what might happen had his nose and mouth been covered by a soaked rag. He starts coughing and manages a couple confused sounding words in Japanese before slumping to the floor. A voice says something in return, also in Japanese, and she can hear movement from the direction of the remaining ninja.

<<Beep>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
<< Beep >>

After sending the beep back to Nightwing, Stephanie gauges the path the remaining ninja will take. She makes a leap from the stack of creates she's on to another, grabbing hold of the top box and pulling herself up.

She moves across the top, having to move quickly to catch the remaining ninja still on the move. Batgirl grabs a small but powerful taser from her utility belt and drops down behind the ninja. She grabs him about the neck and then slams the taser into his forehead and hits the button, knowing her suit is non-conductive and should shield her from the effects.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Batgirl's fast move buys her the initiative, and she drops behind the ninja as planned. The taser comes into play, and with a *zzzaaap* of electricity, his body stiffens up and drops. Once he does, silence returns to the cargo hold and to the communicator she appropriated from the first cargo ninja. At the moment, at least, she appears to have the cargo hold to herself, unless your'e counting unconscious Hand ninjas.

<<Beep>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
<< Cleared the hold. Checking cargo now. >>

The update given, Batgirl moves over towards the crates that the ninjas were guarding. She examines the shipping manifest on them first. "DVD players," she murmurs to herself, recording the images of the manifest for later examination if needed.

She pulls out a tool, like a small version of a crowbar and begins prying the crates open. Remembering how the contraband was concealed last time, she examines the crates to try to find what it is they are transporting.

Dick Grayson has posed:
For your average cargo inspector, the imperfections that indicate a moving panel would not even be noticeable. However, Batgirl has been trained to look for such things, and she has already seen one very similar at the warehouse she and Nightwing dropped into a couple weeks ago. Given those facts, it takes her only a minute to open the compartment, which yields a wooden case. Further inspection of the crates yelds no further clues, merely low quality DVD players, much like the junk in the crates from the first warehouse. It seems the only purpose the crates have is to smuggle in the small boxes hidden in them.

<<Too late here, I got nothing.>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown doublechecks the wooden case for any signs of a trap, then barring finding one, pulls it free. << I have a wooden case. Retreating with it rather than risking losing it. >>

She leaves the case as it is. They'll know someone was there given the five unconscious ninjas. But before she goes, she takes her stick launcher and shoots a trio of small cameras up into the corners so Oracle will have a feed of what transpires in the room later.

She makes her way stealthily back towards the exit, working her way up the stairs and peering out for signs of danger before existing. She can't risk getting the case wet, so will head for the front of the ship, planning to use her line launcher or grapple to propel herself off the ship. Or just worst case, gliding down to the dock.

Dick Grayson has posed:
There are no more ninjas to be found as Batgirl exits the ship, then the dock area. Sleepy security guards are of no issue to one with her training, and she is able to leave the docks. Perhaps after the failure of their large force to protect the previous warehouse, they were putting their hopes on stealth instead of numbers. Either way, she is able to exit the area and return to her Batcycle where she had left it with no further issues.

<<See you back at the cave>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
It takes a little while to get from the south part of Gotham all the way back up to Bristol and to the Batcave. The objective obtained, Batgirl takes it easier, not wanting to risk the cargo to any kind of traffic accident.

But she does make one stop, carefully examining the box, checking for any signs of EM signals that could mean there is a tracker on it. The last thing she is going to do is lead the Hand back to the Batcave.

Once she's satisfied, she continues until finally her Batcycle is pulling into its spot in the vehicle bay. She dismounts the bike and removes the box, carrying it with her over towards the Batcomputer. She pulls her hood off, and her gloves, fingers going to muss through her hair now the cowl is off. "They were sitting and watching it. I guess they were waiting for their leadership to come claim it or something," she says as she brings it over.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing waves her over, having gotten here first. "Well, good. At least we got some luck tonight. Mine was bad luck... no ninjas, but the hidden compartment was open and empty, so I struck out. Let's take a look and see what you've managed to come up with." He indicates the scanner area of the counter, preparing to take a digital model of the box to examine before they try opening the actual thing.

"So, any problems?" he asks as the Batcomputer scans the case, forming a digital version up on the big screen. "What kind of forces did they have in place?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie brings the box over, setting it down carefully on the scanner. "I had to take out two of the guards on deck to get into the hold. There were a half dozen total on deck. Down in the hold there were three of them in hiding watching the crates that had this in it. DVD players was the shipment," she tells him.

A squeaking comes from above and a bat drops from where it's hanging, perhaps woken by their voices, or maybe just deciding to go out and prowl the night for any insects that are active with the coming of spring. It wings out and up one of the passages out to the surface only large enough for the small aerial creatures.

Stephanie goes over to the Batcomputer, tapping on some keys to bring up the feeds from her cameras placed in the hold. She checks the live feed and then if nothing is happening will go back and fast forward from when she planted them, through up to the present to see if anything has happened. "I planted some cameras to try to get any other intel we could," she says in explanation.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Scanning through the camera feeds reveals that roughly five minutes after she left, three more Hand enter the cargo hold. Two are regular Hand, the third appears to be the same ninja wearing the red and gold Hand garb with crossed swords on his back from the warehouse. As the ninjas with him check the ninjas the Steph put down, he makes a beeline for the crate, sees the open compartment and punches the crate, breaking the board he hits. He gestures to the ninjas, and they revive the guards, helping them out of the cargo hold. The more ornately dressed ninja looks up at one of the cameras, scans around the hold, and with three quick flicks of his wrist, tosses a shuriken into each of them, cutting the feed.

Nightwing meanwhile has been examining the box close up with a camera connected to the Batcomputer and has found nothing suspicious. Looking over to Steph, he says, "It's your prize, open it up and let's see what you found for us."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie zooms in on the ornately dressed ninja, snapping stills of him from every frame from each camera, until the feeds go dead. "Maybe we'll get lucky with IDing him, though I'm not expecting it," she says as she finishes that work.

She turns back to Dick, moving over to the counter. She sits on it, sliding one cheek up on it to rest while one of her legs stays on the floor. She looks over the box, and then up at the feed on the Batcomputer, agreeing with Dick there doesn't seem to be anything to it, at least on the exterior, other than it being a box.

She swivels a light over to illuminate it better, glancing at Dick. "It's kind of like Christmas morning isn't it? I mean, other than the fact it probably has drugs or nerve agents or someone's fingers being sent as proof they are holding him."

She pauses. "Ok yeah. Really nothing like Christmas."

Stephanie opens the box.

Dick Grayson has posed:
The bright light shines on the interior of the box. It's lined with what looks like velvet, and what it holds sends gleaming light back from it's polished surface. Really, the only word to describe it would be 'chalice'. It's silver, and inset with a number of gemstones, engraved and decorated with crosses. By the workmanship and design, it appears to be quite old, not a recent reproduction.

Nightwing looks at it, then to Steph and shrugs a little, "Not sure what I was expecting, but that wasn't it. Seems like a kind of strange thing for ninjas to be smuggling."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie leans this way and that as she looks at the chalice from a few different angles. She taps the Batcomputer's controls, zooming in on some of the gems. "Not the cup of a carpenter," she says knowingly, before turning her blue-eyed gaze over on Dick. "They chose... poorly?"

She nudges him with a foot and slides a little higher onto the counter to sit on it more properly rather than half-leaning as she was before. "Hmm. Maybe some kind of religious artifact for... selling, trading... ah... yeah drawing a blank after that," she says. "Please tell me it's not magic. I still have to meet with Constantine," she says. "Maybe I'll take a picture of it along."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing shrugs again, "Don't ask me, I wouldn't know magic if it bit me. But yeah, couldn't hurt to show it to him. We should probably try to figure out what it is. I mean, it looks fairly ornate, I bet somebody is missing it right about now." He looks over to her, "What do you think our next step should be? If you were running the investigation, what would you do next?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie looks thoughtful, though she seems to be thinking about the cup more than the question about investigating it. She hops off the counter and goes over to a spot she can wash her face, giving it a good scrubbing. Even though the rebreather snaps onto her cowl to leave her face with a watertight seal, it's still Gotham Harbor that she was in.

The young woman dries her face and washes her hands as well, then goes to a fridge to get two bottles of Gatorade. She brings one over to set next to Dick and opens the other up before finally answering him.

"Trace back what we can on the shipment to see if knowing where it came from will be of any use, " she says first. But then she shrugs and says, "Beyond that try to run down the chalice. We can check some art catalogues and do some online searches. But barring that finding any results, maybe find a specialist that might be able to identify it."

Dick Grayson has posed:
The gatorade is opened and a drink taken before he nods, "Very good. We should do that with all three shipments, see if there's anything that ties them together. We can upload this all to Barbara for the online searches, I imagine. And I bet we can find a specialist among the various professors and researchers at Gotham U. So, sounds like we have a plan. Information is what we need now, so now we do the less exciting part of our job, research." He smiles at her, "Good work, you got us our first break on this. Now we see what we can make of it."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie leans forward to look at the chalice more closely, a hand resting on Dick's shoulder for balance as she does. "I have an idea of someone who might be a good place to start if we need to check at Gotham U," she says as she looks at it more closely.

The young woman pauses and straightens, hand leaving Dick's shoulder as she fidgets a little bit. "Nina. Roberto's mother," Stephanie says quietly. "She's an archeologist at the University. If she doesn't know herself, she'd probably know who we could ask."

It does make Stephanie pause. "Though, I can't really explain why I'd have it. So if we did have to go that right, it might be best if it was Nightwing and Batgirl that paid her the visit?" she thinks aloud.