View source for 7832/Where in the world is N.O.W.H.E.R.E.

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2021/09/14
|Location=A few miles west of Miami City
|Synopsis=The Outsiders find and raid one of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. bases. A place that was nowhere.
|Cast of Characters=381,570,690,1598,323,1672
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>The information the Outsiders obtained from the 'freelance' they captured in Yucatan looked very promising, but was ultimately rather disappointing. No concrete proof of any bit N.O.W.H.E.R.E. installation was found. Some places abroad got tagged, and are under watch, as they probably involve N.O.W.H.E.R.E. operations, but they are probably legal (if often amoral) high-tech companies and information-gathering services.<br><br>That was not what the team had hoped for, though. In fact, that was not what the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. mercenary -remembered- which was pretty odd, but hardly impossible in a world of super-tech, telepaths and magic.<br><br>Still, some places were kept under automatic surveillance because there was strong evidence something should be there. Like this small plot of land west of Miami. Which was purchased nine years ago for what looks like a shell company and yet it was never used. Or very little used. Just a dirty road leading to nowhere. Until today.<br><br>Today an automatic alarm gave warning, and satellite pictures show a modern metal garage door where there was nothing yesterday. Spectral analysis indicates strong electromagnetic fields in the area, which might correspond to either powerful generators or super-human activities.<br><br>It is time the Outsiders go on field trip. They called some friends, since some of the team members are busy or just off radar, then they took their vtol jet from the private landing strip where Batman stores it. No time to wait, there was nothing there yesterday, there might be nothing there tomorrow!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen is sitting in a chair on the jet. His foot tapping, as he waits for the trip. The young man was ready to run them all down there, but some people don't like being carried like a sack of potatoes and the Impulse-shaw carries two, maybe three if they squeeze in tight.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:690|Phoebe Beacon (690)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Balm is in on this trip. Her hood is down at the moment, her lips pursed. Braided hair braided further to keep it from whipping about, her domino on her face as she types away on her phone, giving an exasperated sound at something as she tilts her head back. She was, of course, coming baring heals and her medbag was packed tight with everything she might need. She's not pulled her gloves on yet, and scratches absently at the white tattoo at her wrist.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>In for a penny, in for a pound. NOWHERE's attack on GIRL and attempt to kidnap her has put them firmly on Nadia's radar. Never mind that her coming to them may be exactly what they want. They have tech she's never seen before and there are lingering mysteries tugging at her curiosity. It'd be easier to stop the Juggernaut than to keep her away at this point.<br><br>After getting word of the mission it doesn't take the Waspette long to appear. She is wearing her full armor, but otherwise doesn't seem to have brought much in the way of gear. At least much that can be seen anyway, she /is/ a Pym after all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's really less to do with an outright request for assistance as it is, well, Red Robin and Anarky were outside of Gotham following up on a lead and Tim's not just going to abandon Lonnie at the landing strip. Plus, they're both geared up pretty heavily because of what they were expecting to find, though the world has conspired to be disappointing, in that regard.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But, hey. Any day without transhumanist cult members trying to cut you into ribbons is a good day in Tim's books.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The introduction he gives is pretty simple: "This is Anarky. He was my backup while I was undercover on the Delphine Princess mission." Though Phoebe and Bart have already met him, so it's mostly for Conner and Nadia's benefit. They're introduced to Anarky in turn if they don't want to do the honors themselves.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tim's at the jet's controls, skimming over the mission details while the autopilot does most of the work of actually flying the plane. "Just a door standing in the middle of nowhere," he says, and then behind the lenses of his mask, he rolls his eyes. "Feels a little on the nose."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He's quiet, otherwise. Judging by the set of his jaw, he's too focused for casual conversation.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Anarky looks distinctly - uncomfortable. The vigilante in the military camo pants, heavy boots, ballistic tee with an anarchy symbol on it and armored leather jacket is sitting on one of the plane benches, dutifully strapped in. His white mask with its neutral expression belies the tenseness in his shoulders as he... noodles around on his phone. "Hi." Is what he said when introductions were made.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"So what exactly IS NOWHERE anyway. Is it some kind of aimless black-bag organization? Ruthless terrorists determined to rule the world? Amoral scientists?" He asks, finally.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>"Hello," greets Conner, offering a hand to Anarky. The large young man is seated in the co-pilot seat (and not doing much) unless someone has kicked him out. But since no one else can really pilot the jet, he will be there for telekinetic backup or something.<br><br>"N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is... amoral scientists, I guess," he explains. "They are into cloning half-Kryptonians, kidnapping metahuman kids and selling technology. Maybe trying to rule the world, we aren't sure. Let me get the files," there are tablets on the plane, so they can do some catchup reading, but ultimately there are more things they don't know about N.O.W.H.E.R.E. that things they know. Maybe that will change today!<br><br>The trip to Florida goes by quickly, the batplanes are damn fast. "So, what do we do? Sneak around, or land the plane on top of them and kick the door down?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen looks over and says "Did we confirm if they had any hand in X and her sister?" He will ask Conner and Tim as Conner is a student of this subject and Tim is well Tim. He sighs a bit and looks around, a brow raises as he pulls out a box next to his seat with the lightning bolt on it. Opening it, he smiles a bit and his hands start moving at speed, and soon there is a lego ecto one on top of the box.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:690|Phoebe Beacon (690)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I don't beleive we did." Balm replies, and she draws her gaze over to Bart, and gives a bit of a shrug as she stands up, adjusts her domino, and pulls her hood up. One can almost imagine that she's playing Back in Black in her head as it happens, with a little curl of her matte gray lips. "But if they are, we'll find out, won't we." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'd rather a more stealthy approach than kicking the door down, if at all possible. There's people who I haven't worked with, and my healing is a bit tighter than normal." she explains.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>"Hi, Anarky! Nice to meet you!" Nadia offers her hand in a 'this is the expected gesture of this culture' sort of way. She then with her other hand produces a bag of cookies, seemingly from a pocket of her suit, that should definitely not fit within the pocket of her suit like some sort of teenaged Mary Poppins. "Cookie?" She smiles waiting to see if a cookie is taken or not, before taking one herself and then going to strap in. Her helmet is off, but by this point her identity is a matter of public record anyway.<br><br>After Conner has given a short summary of who and what NOWHERE is, Nadia adds "Be careful their technology seems to be several centuries in advance of what should exist, at least, some of it I still can't even identify." Which wouldn't be much coming from most teenagers, but from the daughter of Hank Pym, a girl who has cracked interdimensional travel, developed her own FTL drives, and helped reverse engineer the tech of advanced alien civilizations, it is saying something. "Their weapons are crazy powerful, like even Kree tech has nothing on this stuff. Kicking down the door is probably a bad idea unless we want to get vaporized pretty quick."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:690|Phoebe Beacon (690)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'll note -- I can't heal vaporization yet." Balm interjects. Just in case anyone wants to know how magic lessons are going.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Batplanes are indeed quite fast, though as they near the coordinates of the alarm, Red Robin kicks the speed down a notch and switches the jet into stealth mode. Reduced emissions, almost no reflection of radio waves or light across the spectrum, and a camouflage system that makes the plane little more than a hazy blur against the sky.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Stealth is our best option, especially since we have very little intel right now," Tim says, and there are several people on the plane right now who know him well enough to read the disquiet in his posture, or hear it in his tone of voice. "Waspette, you're our best bet for getting some initial recon without detection. Impulse can back you up." And here he glances over at Bart, judging by the subtle tilt of his head. The appearance of the LEGO set has him smiling, if faintly. "Be ready for a quick extraction if she's made."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tim pulls up another satellite photo of the site--newer than the one they received when the alarm sounded initially--just before he takes over piloting manually. "If that happens, the rest of us will spread out and cause as much noise as possible. Between Superboy and the amount of explosives I'm currently carrying on my person--oh, Anarky, how much C4 do you have with you?--we'll make sure they're distracted."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He pulls a hand away from the jet's controls long enough to type something into the touch screen in his left gauntlet, without looking down at it. "We can regroup after," he adds.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After a moment, Red Robin says, "As far as I know, there aren't any links between N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and X-23, or her sister."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Anarky dutifully shakes hands, and exchanges polite greetings before settling in.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He looks up at the others and then says "I assume these people are reliant on technology - that can be a weakness as much as a strength. Technology can be fooled - it can be manipulated. So what if we created a fake-out- evidence of intrusion elsewhere to draw off the guards while the actual team infiltrates the base?"<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He continues to check his phone. "If I can break into their systems - and I probably can - it should be possible to fabricate false evidence of an intrusion, since it sounds like they'll trust their computer systems first and foremost."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>Stealth it is, which means Tim needs to find a landing spot a couple miles from the mysterious metal door. The airplane is going to draw attention in minutes, though, this area is close to Miami and there are inhabited houses in the immediate area. It won't be dark for another couple hours.<br><br>Bart and Nadia are sent in first. An hyperfast visual inspection show no other entrances to anywhere but that massive metal door. Which is big enough the batplane could get inside, possibly two batplanes wing-to-wing. But yeah, no smaller doors, air-ducts or nothing. Although there might be underground water pipes or power lines. But they are not obvious.<br><br>Nadia slower but sensor-enhanced recon reveals plenty of electromagnetic activity underground. It is a fairly large area. She also spots a couple small drones, the size of dragonflies. Obviously surveillance devices, probably radio-controlled.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen does a recon at speed. He is doing a spiral inwards calling out anything off he sees. The young man gets to the door and describes the metal, and how it is inlaid into side of a hill. Seems to be concrete around the door. he tells them. He looks around and says "Going to see what's inside, will stay at speed to keep unseen." He looks at it and remembers they are smart and techy people so he does not plan on going through the door, no he takes steps to the side a good 21 feet cause there are some things you don't want to touch with two ten foot poles and then Impulse starts to vibrate his body at a different frequency than most things around him, trying to make sure, he does not go to far out of toon. He steps into the hill with a plan on bypassing the door and coming through a wall behind the door Then there is an "Ack." noise over the com and Bart's com goes silent.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>Nadia unstraps herself from her seat in the jet when Tim calls out a game plan. Waspette go scout is a pretty standard call no matter what team she is running with and Nadia was already prepared for it. "Roger that." She answers before pulling on her helmet and just dropping out of the aircraft, before bio-synthetic wings emerge from her back a few moments later and she disappears from sight.<br><br>Down below Nadia begins running scans of the area and getting the lay of the terrain surrounding that metal garage door. &lt;It doesn't look like there's any other way in.&gt; Nadia's voice comes over the comms. &lt;There's also some tiny dragonfly drones flying around keeping an eye on things. It would seem the only option. Going to just take a peak on the other side of it.&gt;<br><br>And with that the girl who was already scouting at the size of a wasp seems to vanish from the visual spectrum entirely as she flies between the molecules of the steel to try and see what is on the other side of the door.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That leaves the rest of them to hoof it, so to speak, while Impulse and Waspette head in first. Red Robin unstraps himself from the pilot's seat as soon as the jet touches down, and he takes point leading them towards the suspected N.O.W.H.E.R.E. installation while monitoring the recon efforts of Bart and Nadia on his HUD.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As soon as Nadia calls out the drones, Tim glances back over his shoulder at Lonnie and asks, "Can you hack them?"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He gestures for the rest of the team to stop when they approach. "&lt;Impulse, do you copy?&gt;" he asks, after Bart's comms go silent, and follows that up with a "&lt;Waspette, do you have eyes on him?&gt;"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Until he knows more, Tim doesn't want to put the rest of the team at risk. But he's already got a countdown started in his head, ticking down to the point where he switches tactics to 'guns blazing'.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Metaphorically. Since Hope's not here.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Anarky continues to noodle around on his phone. Over-reliance on technology is a weakness. Drone security depends on a network and some sort of control program. It depends on an IFF program. He tests the network's defenses on his tablet, looks for a weakness, and a place where he can insert a line of code and give it a twist in order to crack the whole thing wide open. Camera feeds can be scrambled, security teams can be diverted, drones can be turned on one another.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He just has to get in in order to do it. "I'm working on it-"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>The chamber beyond the metal doors is a large, well-lit hangar. There is what seems to be some kind of spaceship or supertech plane at one side, and some kind of control station that fills about a third of the hangar. A corridor follows at the other side of the metal door. There are also a few sliding doors. Nadia can see a couple of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s armoured soldiers, although they seem armed with ballistic weapons, not the energy rifles they used in Yucatan.<br><br>The spaceship is very interesting, but the control station is even more interesting. There are a couple technicians working there. The Outsiders had yet to met any normal human working for N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and although these guys are wearing what might be light armor, they are clearly humans, not cyborgs.<br><br>"Man, I wish it was dusk already, I have been here seven hours," grumbles one of the technicians, looking at the monitors with a boring expression. "I am hungry... whatwasthat!?"<br><br>Both technicians look at the monitors alarmed. "What the hell? David! Look at this. I had never seen anything like... it was a spike as if... something hit the hyperspace fold? It is impossible. Must be a glitch."<br><br>Somewhere else someone does indeed hit a hyperspace fold while vibrating out of phase, sheathed in a Speedforce field. It is pretty painful, and this person falls hard, hits the floor of a little used lab and faints. Fortunately he will recover at super-speed. In a minute.<br><br>"What do we do, Tim?" Asks Conner, "Bart might be in trouble," because in his experience Bart is -usually- in trouble. "What are you seeing Wasp? Is Impulse with you?" He adds to the team's comms.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>&lt;I do not see Impulse. There is a hangar though with ...is that a spaceship? I think it's a spaceship. Several armed goons too.&gt; She grows a little bigger to insect size and moves somewhere out of sight. &lt;I think they know Bart is here though, an alarm seems to have been tripped. They're talking about something hitting a hyperspace fold, but they think it is a glitch.&gt;<br><br>On tiny wings she flies over near the control panels, still careful to stay out of sight. &lt;I'm going to try and see if I can get that door open for you. If you rush the few guards inside fast enough, we might be able to keep the element of surprise.&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:690|Phoebe Beacon (690)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Balm is behind SB and Tim and Lonnie, listening on her own earpiece to them talk. She purses her lips, pulling the hood a little closer over her face as they trek through. She gives a soft 'peh' sound, and looks up to the three around her "Well, so much for stealth."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen will sit up holding his hand to his head. He ignores the little birdies flying around his head. He will shake his head a bit to clear it. He starts to look around. There are some big class cylinders, and he walks over to one and brushes the dust off it, and epps aloud as he sees a twisted version of one of his best friend's face looking back at him. It maybe chalk white, and droopy features it is Conner. He then at speed is checking out the other ones, and finding more misshapen ones, but one looks much like the Conner they first found, and another more like the Conner of today. two tubes empty and labeled x-13 and x-14. He starts a super speed checking of the room, seeing what is about, and then stops before trying the computer or doors of such. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He puts a hand to his ear and says "Um guys, can you hear me? I found what well, I think it is the lab they Grew SB in. It has a dozen versions of him hear, but do not seem to be alive, and are all pasty looking." He sends out to the team, not knowing if anyone will hear it or not.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's just like Balm says, and Red Robin clearly knows it by the way he exhales heavily. "Right. Superboy and I will serve up that distraction," he says as he turns on his heel to look back at Phoebe and Lonnie. "Balm, go get Impulse. Anarky, try to disable as much of their tech as possible before they use it to blow us up." Then Tim waves a hand, grimacing faintly. "No pressure," he adds.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He shakes his head as he palms an explosive charge from a pouch on his utility belt, and reaches behind himself to pull his collapsed staff free. "&lt;ETA on the door opening?&gt;"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While they wait, Tim signals for Lonnie and Phoebe to hold off, while he takes up position on one side of the door. A flick of his wrist is all it takes for his staff to telescope out. "This isn't going to be pretty."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'm still breaking into their network," Anarky says, from where he's taken cover, his white mask bobbing up and down as he works fingers over that tablet, shaping and inserting code to hack into their system. "It's world-class stuff, practically seamless."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He pauses, momentarily, "Practically. Give me thirty more seconds."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:690|Phoebe Beacon (690)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Phoebe also draws her staff wound, hood down, switching optics so that her HUD gives her a feed, and bio-scans, for all her allies. Red Robin. All her previous notes displayed. Superboy and his. Impulse and his (along with notes that elevated heartrate alarms are set extraordinarily high). Anarky's are more recently added in. Nadia? She doesn't have anything yet, but hey, it's early in the night. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She might hug her domino after this is all over. *Man* she misses having an info feed.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>The technician called 'David' seems better at keeping his cool that his partner, "might be a glich, but lets go into a yellow alarm level while I check the corresponding real coordinates," he types quickly on an holographic keyboard, "uh, Project-K clone lab? There is nothing there, but I better check," he stands up and leaves the other technician to explain why they have raised the alert level of the base. <br><br>Nadia can see another door open, there is a hallway with white lettering at the sides, it says 'Colony 2'. Another pair of guards enter the hangar, demanding explanations. "What is going on? Keeper is coming."<br><br>Meanwhile they have also lost control of the surveillance drones outside, but no one notices yet, as they are trying to figure out what the readings on that 'hyperspace fold hit' mean, if it is not a glitch. <br><br>Lonnie has now a pretty nice topographic, wide-spectrum display of the area. Which is good, because the group is just entering sensor range of the drones. There are five of them, not just two, but he has them under control and he can prevent them reporting the Outsiders advance.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>Nadia tries to see if she can subtley work the controls to the front door and let the others in to blitz the guards. &lt;Another pair just entered and they don't seem happy. This is going to need to be fast and hard.&gt; Her voice through the comms is a whisper. &lt;There's also another door, something called Colony 2 in the direction they came from. Colony? What the heck are they doing down here...&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen will look at the computer, and seeing it is password protected he does not want to mess up and alert someone if he gets it wrong. He frowns not finding anything he can use here. He will make sure he has a good look at everything in the room so he can describe it later. Then after checking for thumb drives papers, anything he might be able to take with him, he considers trying to get the computer hard drive, but figures it is more a remote than the main one. He walks over trying to open the door, and when it does not, he considers trying to vibrate through it, but thinks better of it, and tries vibrating just his hand into the control for the door to try to open it with a glitched reaction.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"All right, I'm into the network - or part of it anyway." Anarky says, studying the display. "And I've got partial control over the local drones. I'm having to expend a lot of energy here to keep the SysOp from noticing my intrusion and kicking me out, so I can't give you complete control over them, but I have disabled them, temporarily. They won't attack, or rat us out. Also, there were five, not two."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He looks up. "Whatever the plan is, we need to make it quick. No second-guessing."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The countdown in Red Robin's head is about to hit zero, but he extends it by half a minute at Anarky's request, and he's glad he did. Things have already gone sideways without the added difficulty of early detection by drone. His hand tightens around his staff, and he nods to Lonnie, expression grim.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"If this door doesn't open in ten seconds," Tim says as he glances over at Superboy. He takes a breath, and then concludes with, "Break it down."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then, over comms: "&lt;Waspette, we're about to breach if you can't get the door open. Head for the ceiling if so, I'm going to make a lot of noise.&gt;" As much as he'd have prefered a subtle approach, there is something to be said about going big or going home.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart search of the cloning lab yields very little, as it seems the place has barely been used the last few years. There is some storage space, but it contains only tech components and containers with weird chemicals. He is correct to assume the computer consoles are just terminals, too. There is little to do here besides being creeped out by dead Superboy clones in different stages of development.<br><br>So the door, of course gets short-circuited by Bart phasing through the control panel, which coincides with the technician called 'David' just trying to open it from the other side and being extremely surprised at finding Impulse there. "Uh, hello? Who are you?"<br><br>Meanwhile Nadia finds there are no obvious controls to open the large doors. Probably they open through computer commands on a terminal. She could try to short circuit them, but likely it would take more than ten seconds.<br><br>Therefore, Conner gets to kick them down. They are large door, but only a couple inches thick, so he actually kicks -through- the door, and since that is not a cool result, he uses tactile telekinesis to force them open ten feet at each side. There is a very loud grinding sound.<br><br>And then the four armoured soldiers start shooting at him. The technicians dives for the floor, and it all just happens as a very large man with a smaller man /sprouting/ from his chest steps into the hangar. "Well, well, the prodigal son returns," mutters the small man-in-chest.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen will start to say something but then he hears the alarms and says "Well fudge." He will pummel Dave about the shoulders, and says "Sorry about that." and then he strips the guy out of his armor and slides it on. He starts speeding through the complex looking for his friends, or any information he may find. The suit is a little big on him, so he has to keep pulling the pieces of the outfit in place. ready to use the costume to sneak if he needs to get past something his speed would not cover.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:690|Phoebe Beacon (690)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Phoebe is still down, in the ready, her heart beat rising, but she seems pretty zen, even if she's not broadcasting her usual happy-and-calm aura. She seems at peace with what's going on as she slips to the side. Registerring the combatants and duckers in her HUD -- and then the man with the man sticking out of him shows up and she straightens in surprise. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt;Well,&gt;&gt; comes over the subvocal &lt;&lt;That at least is the weirdest thing I've seen this week.&gt;&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Weird is certainly a good word for it, but Tim doesn't let that register right now. Oh, it will for sure later, because even he isn't immune to the heebie-jeebies, and that's gotta be straight out of a horror film. Life imitating art, or is it the other way around?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Either way, Red Robin is busy. When Superboy kicks and then TTKs the doors open, it means he's made himself a target. And having that attention focused on Conner means that Tim can unload some of the higher payload explosives that he'd come equipped with.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hopefully Nadia heeds his warning about getting out of the way, because when Tim said 'a lot of noise' he was underexaggerating somewhat.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Aside for a couple of concussive grenades that go off in the area around the armored soldiers, there is also a well-timed flashbang and a smoke grenade. It's about as much chaos as Tim can create in a limited amount of time, and then he ducks around the remains of the doors to throw himself into the mix too.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He swings his staff at one of the guards, electricity crackling off the end as it arcs through the air.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>Anarky looks up from his tablet, and then apparently has a fit of pique. "Why don't you shut the **** up, Kuato?"<br><br>He looks around, and then says "All this to advance the cause of what... 'Science'? All this does is breed suspicion and mistrust of scientific endeavor among the people. You might as well hang a billboard advertising 'Raw Water' off your upper neck." He has a reason for doing this, and not just standing on principle, though he probably just sounds like a jerk.<br><br>"Let me guess, you and the batch of STEMlins that make up this dime-store AIM ****ed off during your Ethics classes in college because you figured they weren't important?" His white mask tilts up. "I don't know Superboy from Adam, but whatever his connection to this place is, I'm sure all he owes you is the time and energy it'd take to pull this whole complex down around all four of your ears. So spare the gloating. Dickhead. I'm sorry...heads. Though I imagine given the expression on your ride's face, it's not exactly a willing symbosis you've got going on either."<br><br>All the while he's using flicks of his eye and the interface between the HUD in his mask and his tablet to look for some kind of local system he can use to spring a nasty surprise. Fire suppressant, electromagnetic countermeasures, lock release for the mutant cages, anything he can get - he's not picky.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>Nadia sighs a bit. In the back of her head she can just hear the angry Red Room drill instructors, as like seemingly always stealth just doesn't seem to work out.<br><br>She is well away from the control panels by the time time the door is wrenched open and the explosives start going off. Explosives are normally her thing, but with Tim having that covered for a moment she does something perhaps a bit less expected.<br><br>After flying to a decent vantage point Nadia returns to her full size but doesn't stop there getting a bit larger than normal to accomadate the bulk of a very big energy canon that looks a whole lot like NOWHERE tech and lets out a torrent of superheated plasma energy at one of the cyborgs.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>"Wait, I can help..." that is all the technician manages to say before Bart knocks him out, and leaves him in his underwear in a corner of the Colony 2 complex. Now Bart has a good chance to scout the complex. It is large, and underused. There are rooms full of servers, several labs, a cybernetic surgery place, storage space with canned food and tech components, and... few people. He only sees two or three more technicians or scientist. At least now he can talk with the others, as with the doors gone, communications are back. But the lights go red all over the complex as Lonnie sends the virus through the drones up-link, causing havoc on all the base systems.<br><br>At the Hangar room, the armoured guards are hit by concussive grenades, which knocks out one of them and send the rest looking for some cover, and the flashbangs, which their systems can filter. They keep firing at Conner because he is making himself a big target, as usual. And he is bullet-proof even to those advance and powerful submachine guns they are using. One of the soldiers tries a flamethrower, but all he gets is Conner muttering something about 'not another jacket, damnit'.<br><br>Then Nadia joins the fight, shooting the plasma gun she stol... liberated from the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. soldiers in Yucatan. It is ridiculously powerful, and just like it punched through H.A.R.M.'s battlesuit, it also punches through one of the soldiers armor, tearing up one of his arms and pretty much destroying the chest plate in the first burst.<br><br>Then Keeper steps forward, "ignore Superboy, shoot on the others. Thunder, Lightning, you two hit the clone." A man and a woman follow keeper, they are in their late teens, and wear outfits very similar to Conner's 'Tron' suit the other Outsiders have seen once or twice.<br><br>They clap hands and shoot at Conner, the boy from his chest, a massive sonic blast, the girl from her hands, blue, blinding lightning. There is a loud explosion, louder than even the flashbangs, and Conner goes flying out of the base.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen starts going through the base looking for any info he can find, as he finds a guy here or there, he will take them out and leave them tied up with what ever is handy. He does this for a bit then remembers something Wally told him, that Nightwing passed on to him. If your in a maze put your hand on the wall, and keep it there as you move and you will eventually find your way out, and so he does this as he looks for the noice of explosions he is hearing, pretty sure thats his friends. "He calls out "Hey guys I am heading toward the noise, that you... hey wait a min, did that guy offer to help?" He will turn around grab Dave and put him over his shoulder before heading back towards the explosions.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:323|Tim Drake (323)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Within seconds, Red Robin is lost to the smoke cloud. It's only the occasional spark of blue-tinged electricity from within that gives some sign that he's in there, still, handling as many guards and assorted personnel who decide to enter the fray as he can.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Anarky's eyes are half-lidded behind his mask. "Con-man's maxim. Watch the hands, not the mouth."<br><br>He finds a vulnerable section of code in NOWHERE's computer systems. He procedes to drop a custom-tailored virus into the system, one which consistently changes elements of its computer code to make it difficult to remove, as it persistently and rapidly replicates itself. It manifests as one persistent line of text on NOWHERE'S monitors:<br><br>VOX POPULI, VOX DEI<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1598|Nadia Pym-van Dyne (1598)}} has posed:'''<br>Nadia's eyes widen slightly at the combination attack powerful enough to send Superboy flying and yet perhaps to her detriment she hesitates to turn the powerful plasma caster upon obviously organic targets.<br><br>Instead she unleashes one more volley at another cyborg, they seem to be made of pretty stern stuff. The Waspette then seems to once again wink out of sight, shrinking down again as she zips across the intervening space, stowing the plasma canon in a pocket as she goes. As her Red Room instructors always said, often the best way to counteract powered opponents is a fist to the face. And that is exactly what she does, zipping over to Thunder and Lightning, she gets right up into Thunder's personal space just below his chin before she is suddenly full size again delivering a brutal uppercut with a tremendous amount of force. Following through with the momentum she rises up into the air aiming both wrist blasters at Lightning and letting loose a pair of stun bolts. Hopefully they can be reasoned with after they're incapacitated, but right now she isn't taking any chances after what they did to Conner.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>Nadia's second plasma burst takes down the third cyborg, and puts a few holes also in the spaceship he was using as cover. The fourth one is trying to grab Red Robin, but the young hero is a very elusive target.<br><br>Then Thunder gets punched hard, breaking the circuit with Lightning, "Alexei!" she cries, then surrounds herself with an electric field block the blasters. But Thunder is down, and the girl is more interested in pulling him back into the base than keep fighting.<br><br>Meanwhile Keeper looks alarmed for the first time. "All troops to the hangar, what is going on?!" He looks at the red lights flashing. "We are losing the reality anchor! Compensa..."<br><br>There is a PAUSE.<br><br>A PAUSE IN T...I...M...E AND SSSSSPACE.<br><br>Then everyone comes crashing down on the floor, as if the whole base had been dropped 10 yards into the floor.<br><br>In Miami, Conner stands up, hair all spiky because of the lightning blast, and finds himself staring at the side of a hill. "Where is the door?"<br><br>"RED ALERT. EVACUATE COLONY TWO. EMERGENCY." Where there was a door two seconds ago, the Outsiders can see a hole in the wall, and the city of Metropolis looming at the other side of the river. Then all the lights go out.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:570|Bart Allen (570)}} has posed:'''<br>Bart Allen sees all of this and hearing the alert, Impulse, kicks in the speed, first Dave and Balm are taken out to the hole in the wall, and given a slight push or dump in Dave's case. He looks to Balm "Keep an eye on him." And he is back, heading to grab Red Robin and Anarchy. They both get deposited at the wall, with a soft push "Through through." Bart is not sure once someone goes through if they can get back in and he makes sure he does not cross the threshold yet. Back into the fray "Waspette, head towards the gate way, we need to get you out. " He looks around for Conner, making sure he did not somehow get back into the base, and then is back to the portal, waiting on Waspette, not going to leave anyone behind it seems.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1672|Lonnie Machin (1672)}} has posed:'''<br>Anarky finds himself - disoriented. "What - where - what just happened?" He crawls over to Robin, and helps him sit up with his back to the nearest wall, before he takes out his tablet, and tries to get his bearings. "What the HELL did we just do!?" He asks... the universe, apparently.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:381|Conner Kent (381)}} has posed:'''<br>&lt;Hey guys, where did you go?&gt; That is Conner speaking from Miami. Looks like he is going to have to carry the airplane all the way back to Gotham by himself. The rest of the Outsiders and the whole N.O.W.H.E.R.E. base have 'bounced' to Metropolis as the computer system had to restart due to a cascade of failures (mostly caused by computer viruses).<br><br>Looks like Metropolis was the original place of the base, before they used SCIENCE to fold space into into a tesseract-like construct that moved around several locations. Very sneaky. It was literarily 'nowhere'.<br><br>But now it is broken.<br><br>And they are evacuating. Most systems self-destroying. But this time they have no time to cover all their tracks. This time they are leaving people behind and plenty of proof. And they lost an enormous amount of valuable equimente. And somewhere else, at a much grander base called Colony 1, one Dr. Harvest is -extremely- angry with the Outsiders.<br> <br>
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