810/When Things Get Real..

When Things Get Real..
Date of Scene:	27 March 2020
Location:	Outskirts of Gotham
Synopsis:	It was supposed to be a simple job, and then nothing worked out. But Cole and Rose still got paid.
Cast of Characters:	Cole Cash, Rose Wilson

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Cole Cash has posed:
It is not easy to find real mercenary jobs in the tri-city area even for super-powered . They are too civilized here. Sure, there is some bounty-hunting to do. And plenty of bodyguarding. But those are jobs requiring investigative skills, time and patience. Too often they are low pay too.

Then there are assassinations, which are high-risk, often high-pay, usually very low scruples jobs. Sometimes the target is a gangster as bad as the employee, but most often he or she is a witness that needs to be kept quiet, or someone that has become bothersome for a corporation or corrupt politicians. Mercs taking those jobs are cold-blooded and lack a conscience.

Usually.

But some people definitely deserve to die. Like Hansen Lindstrom, former Hydra Commander for South-America and currently in the advisory council for the so-far unidentified Hydra Supreme. Rumor is there is a secret meeting of Hydra terrorists in Gotham and Lindstrom is going to give a speech.

So 'interested citizens' which are totally not CIA have been looking for a few good men and women wanting to earn some cash. Why haven't they told SHIELD is a good question. But not unsurprising given how poorly most the alphabet soup agencies treat each other.

Now, they are not putting a lot of money. Not enough to draw the attention of Deathstroke, the Taskmaster or Bullseye. The half a dozen hired killers meeting in this rundown bar at the outskirts of Gotham at two in the morning include a couple young tattooed thugs, an old cyborg woman missing a hand, a middle-age ex-mafia hitman and red-masked Cole Cash, the Grifter.

Contrarily to most here Grifter has met Lindstrom already. It was twelve years ago in Uruguay. And in truth he would kill the Hydra agent for free. Although... well, getting paid is always better.

Besides, he needs the money, it is not as if Amanda Waller is paying him (not with cash).

Rose Wilson has posed:
Maybe they can't pay for Deathstroke.

Who COULD? Lots of people, really. But since they can't, maybe they just get the next best thing. Or a better thing, depending on what day and who is asking her. Rose has Opinions about her father, after all. Issues, too.

While everyone else has gathered she's running late, but when she steps in there is a moment where she looks around before makes her way towards the knot of hired killers. Cole Cash, the Grifter, isn't the only masked one in the room now. Now that Rose Wilson, the Ravager has joined the party.

"Sup?" Very casual, this one.

Cole Cash has posed:
They definitely can't pay for Deathstroke. In fact the pay is rather crappy for a hit on a Hydra boss that likely will have fanatical and well-armed bodyguards. That is why those draw to the operation are either too young or too old. Grifter is likely too old, and he is not one of the greats.

The two MIB in charge of the operation manage not too look too old or too young. No, they are vaguely in their 30s, they look fairly professional, they look serious and grim. They grunt as a greeting. They introduce themselves as Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown. They have envelopes with cash, because they will pay several thousand dollars in small bills to each of the hired guns.

Lindstrom is coming to Gotham by land. There are several vehicles coming through a country road. Lindstrom and perhaps four to eight bodyguards. ETA is two hours.

Rose Wilson has posed:
As one of the too young, Rose seems more then happy to take her cash and only ask the right questions.

"We taking him out and leaving the bodyguards once he's down, or we taking them all out?" Rose glances around towards the others, noting just how many of those hired guns there are. Potentially deciding which one of the others she's going to outrun if shit goes south. Contingency plans, everyone should have them.

The other masked individual gets a little more of a lingering look, then she turns her attention back to the MIB in charge. "Does he have a favored position in the convoy? If he does, we can zero in on his car, and take him out fast. Unless you want maximum carnage." Which she's evidently willing to provide as well.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole studies one of the maps provided while the MIBs look at Rose as if she was a schoolgirl. "Hey, I want to know that too," offers one of the tattooed guys in a show of youth solidarity. Or maybe he will try to hit on her later.

"We don't care about the bodyguards," grunts Mr. Brown. "No, idea which vehicle is in. They seem armored, so..." Mr. Smith handwaves. "There is not much time to plan. We didn't know the route until yesterday. You do what you need to do. If you succeed you get paid the accorded amount. We will never see each other again."

The old gangster brings a bag to a table and begins assembling a sniper riffle.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Doesn't care about the bodyguards. Do whatever needs doing to get the job done. Those are music to Rose's ears, and she smiles at the MIB, nodding, "Alright."

No youth solidarity from her. In fact, she mostly seems to just ignore the tattooed thug beyond just one simple look before she moves to take a look at the map, her head tilting to the side.

"So where you setting up?" This is shot towards the man with the sniper rifle. Why? Because he's obviously got a plan, and the firepower to try and narrow in on things from a distance.

Cole Cash has posed:
The old gangster glances at Rose, looking mildly surprised to be addressed to directly. "I just want to be ready," he comments quietly. A hand moves to close the bag so Rose can't see what else is there. Likely more weapons. He finishes assembling the rifle attaching a large magazine.

"I don't like this," comments Grifter. "These calculations assume they are moving very slowly," he adds, tapping the maps. "Or stopping to often. Both go against Hydra procedures."

"Our intel is solid," grunts Mr. Brown.

Rose Wilson has posed:
"Uh huh. Keep your secrets then, old man." Rose replies with an easy shrug when the old gangster doesn't offer a real answer. Instead she looks back towards the map, then to the calculations.

"Alright. So assuming that your intel is right." Stress on assuming, in fact. But then she points towards a part of the map. "I'd suggest we put the old man here with his rifle. It's a good enough height, not the best vantage point. But if they are moving at that speed, then it's the best place to try and get him." She then points towards the woman with the cyborg arm. "You? Here..." It's further down the road, where they'd be arriving from. "See if you can't figure out the car he's in."

Then she glances at Grifter, smiling at him, "You and me..I'd suggest we go here." Here being a terrible spot if the intel is right, but good for more realistic speeds. "Or, we just set a mine in the road, then pick them off when the lead car blows. I like that plan, too."

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole sneers at the concept 'solid intel' from the government spook. He has heard that one too many times. The one screwed are the foot soldiers, not the intelligence types.

Still, he comes closer to see what Ravage's plan looks like. She picked a good ambush point? Looks like yes. Sparsely inhabited area. Dark woods. But the road is lit.

The old gangster is the only one not coming to check Rose's ideas. Instead he stands at the distance, seemingly rummaging for stuff on his bag, the sniper rifle held lightly, cannon down, but slowly drifting towards the MIBs.

And that is wrong-wrong-wrong at Rose's senses. It looks casual, but it is not.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Good enough, at least. Maybe she wants to have that little bit of risk of a lit road.

Maybe she's just making the best of a shit situation and probably rotten intel. It doesn't much matter because the second things start feeling wrong to her she shifts her attention fully towards the old gangster.

Between one second and the next she's got her gun drawn on the man, "I wouldn't, if I were you. Unless you want me to blow your head off right here and now I'd reconsider."

Cole Cash has posed:
There is a flash outside. And that draws most of the people attention to the wrong direction.

The old gangster smirks, then fires at Mr. Brown. The first shoot of the sniper rifle pretty much cuts him in two. It sounds like a thunderclap.

"HAIL HYDRA!" Shouts the man, throwing himself behind the bar.

The opposite wall explodes among a hail of machinegun fire. Windows shatter. Plaster flies everywhere. The old wood tables splinter. Tattooed thug one gets turned into hamburger meat. Old cyborg lady takes several hits, but stumbles for cover. Mr. Smith has time to pull a Glock 19 before getting hit several times and falling down.

Grifter? He hit the ground faster then the fake gangster. And by the time Smith goes down, he has tossed a grenade out. There is a blinding bright flash of light outside.

Rose Wilson has posed:
The flash is the first indication that her instincts were right, the second is the shot from the old gangster. But the final one? Hail Hydra!

Rose dives for cover as soon as things begin to explode, hitting the ground and rolling.

By the time the gunfire starts she's already crawling across the floor towards the bar and the old man that threw himself behind it. Despite the hail of bullets, flashing lights, or dropping bodies there is a look of grim excitement for all the chaos on her face.

Cole Cash has posed:
The main problem is they seem to be trapped between a crowd outside, firing at the main room of the bar, and a heavily armed Hydra agent hiding behind the bar proper. Grifter flashbang grenade means a few seconds of poorly armed shots, but those aren't very necessary anyway since it feels there are a dozen Hydra goons with machineguns and assault rifles.

And there are only four of them left. Ravager, Grifter, a tattooed thug that is screaming obscenities and shooting with two handguns through one of the shattered windows. And the old cyborg woman, who is crawling towards the backdoor as quietly as she can.

Grifter grabs the foot of the thug and pulls him down. A second before the place he was gets hit by a hundred bullets fired from at least five different automatic weapons. "Chill. Man. Don't die until we kill them," he comments.

Over the gunfire some can hear the sound of a high-power engine approaching quickly.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Forward she crawls. The thug about to get shot, or tell everyone where they are, is left to Grifter to deal with, and the chicken-shit lady that is crawling away from them is ignored as well.

Why? Because Rose is going for the Hydra good that is inside with them, and as soon as she manages to get to the bar she counts, waits for something. Then as soon as there is a pausing for reloading she's launching herself up and over the bar in the hopes of catching him unawares.

Cole Cash has posed:
A second before Rose jumps over the bar, Grifter finally opens fire, emptying his ammo clips on the rows of bottles over the bar in very few seconds, and spraying the Hydra agent with broken glass and all kinds of alcoholic beberages.

Sacrifices need to be made.

That distraction might give Ravager the split of a second she needs. If she is fast enough to kill the fake gagster before he starts firing a submachine gun to her face.

Meanwhile the cyborg woman places an anti-personal land mine on the back door, then tries to run away. Unfortunately half a dozen green-and-gold clad Hydra agents trample forward after kicking down the door. There is a pretty large explosion. Bits and pieces or Hydra agents rain all over the room.

A second later a back armored SUV crashes through the hole-ridden front wall of the bar. Running over the young thug.

Grifter? He was already rolling away. "Kids. They never listen," he quips grimly.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose is pretty fast. She's not as fast as some people, but she's certainly a lot faster then your average human. As soon as her feet hit the floor one lifts right back up to try and kick the submachine gun out of the gangsters hand. Just to buy some time, a fraction of a second is all she needs really as she raises the gun still in her hand and squeezes the trigger.

She's got no rules about not killing, and she aims right for the man's forehead before she drops when the SUV come crashing through the wall and things literally begin to explore once more. "You have any bigger firepower on you!?"

Cole Cash has posed:
The Hydra agent dies with his brains splattered over the dirty floor behind the bar. There is no 'no killing' rules among mercenaries fighting for their lives. Particularly -not- against Hydra.

"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD KILL ME, HAHAHAHA," The loudspeakers of the SUV hint Lindstrom takes some things personally. Also, that he was a disciple of the Red Skull.

The doors of the SUV open and four more Hydra agents jump out. Grifter immediately puts a few bullets on the first one chest and head, but then he has to hide when his partner opens fire with a rather large assault rifle.

The other two go for Rose, moving towards the bar while shooting. "I left the RPG on the trunk of my Porche!" He replies to Rose.

Also, it is actually an old Chevrolet.

Rose Wilson has posed:
"Poor planning on your part!" Rose calls back, which really clues those two heading for her where she is behind the bar. She knows it, and so she quietly scuttles to the left to get out of the way if they decide to train their shots on her previous spot.

Not that she planned for bringing the big guns in with her, either. It was just supposed to be a meeting. Better bet that this probably won't happen again, she'll never leave home without the big guns. She then takes a breath before she stands and turns to fire at where she //thinks// one of the two coming for her are.

Cole Cash has posed:
"I don't see you carrying a bazooka either, kid!" Pipes back Cole. So yeah, he is outgunned. But he is also a much better shoot than any hydra agent. So while he talks back to Rose he calmly shoots under the table at the slowly advancing Hydra agent's foot. Making him cry in pain and stumble. The second his rifle is aiming the wrong way Cole stands up and fire two heavy handguns at once.

The Hydra goon is wearing armor, but it is not enough.

Meanwhile the two Hydra agents going after Rose move each to one side of the bar. Firing single shoots every step to force her to keep down. Rose is right to assume one of the agents position, but when she stands to shoot him, the other one shoots at her back!

Rose Wilson has posed:
That is problematic. Except she's at least smart enough to wear armor, and it just hits her and bruises her. It doesn't do as much damage as it would otherwise do, which is good.

The force of the bullet hitting her in the back causes her to slam forward into the bar, the breath whooshing out of her in both pain and surprise. Good thing her dad isn't here to see this. He'd have so many things to say to her about her fuck up.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole moves towards the SUV, murder in mind, when more agents enter the bar through the hole the vehicle caused. He backpedals, exchanging fire. Picking up the assault rifle along the way.

Meanwhile Rose nails one of the agents, and takes a bullet on her back. Armor is good for this, but those bullets are not exactly small caliber. There are broken chain mail scales and certainly some blood and a large bruise.

Also, the surviving agent switches to semi-automatic and keeps firing at her back.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Ass. Hole. Rose grits her teeth and as soon as she's caught her breath she spins around, training the gun in her hand on the one that snuck up behind her, squeezing the trigger. She doesn't have the big guns, and she certainly isn't going to waste her bullets by switching to semi-automatic when she's not packed for bear.

Get it? No. Not funny. Nothing about this is funny, and she is just going to aim carefully and bank on one or two effective shots then shooting wildly.

Cole Cash has posed:
"Oh hoho, I have a big gun now," announces Cole, kicking a table down to create a decent defensive position. Then firing short burst with deadly precision. By the time the Hydra agents realize being four against one is not suck a big advantage and that maybe they should use some cover, they are mostly dead.

Now, Rose exchanging shoots at short range like that with the other Hydra agent speaks volumes of their survival instincts. His excuse is he is a brainwashed fanatic!

Rose Wilson has posed:
That excuse might work for Rose. Just by a different person and for a different reason. It's hard to tell why she's crazy enough to continue to just stand there and shoot.

Mostly for a little while. But then she decides that self-preservation is best, and she ducks back down behind the bar, her thumb hitting the release on the clip in her gun to let it drop so that she can reload. Never one to pass up real help she calls out, "Over here old man!"

Cole Cash has posed:
There is a moment of silence in the bar. Rose's shooting partner also pulls back, realizing the armor barely stopped several bullets and he might have a broken rib or two. Everyone else is dead.

Cole dashes forward, reaches one of the dead Hydra goons and kicks his assault rifle in Ravager's direction. It skids several yards over the floor and almost hits her boot.

The SUV engine roars to life, as Lindstrom realizes he is basically alone with two mercenaries that have been paid to kill him and just killed fifteen of his minions.

Cole shoots at the windshield of the SUV, but the bulletproof glass holds without cracking.

Rose Wilson has posed:
As soon as the rifle is within reach she dives towards it, rolling across the ground before she pops up to take those final shots at the one that really should have run away while he still could. Whatever is left in the clip is emptied out in the Hydra agent before she drops the rifle, and dives for the bag the old gangster had earlier.

He was after something in that bag, and she's got a few ideas about what it might be. When she grabs it and is able to dig around she spots what it is and laughs, grabbing the explosives before popping up and aiming for the SUV and the man inside trying to get away.

Cole Cash has posed:
This time Rose's partner can't even shoot back in time. The assault rifle sends him flying towards the shelf of broken bottles behind him, armor full of holes.

Cole is cursing, aiming for the wheels of the SUV. Trying to find a weak point. No luck, he runs out of bullets and switches for the handguns, loading a clip of armor piercing bullets.

But he didn't have to bother, as the SUV manages to free itself from the bar walls and back to the road, Rose tosses a pack of plastic explosive on a two seconds timer under the car. There is a rather large explosion that makes Cole fall down on his ass. The SUV executes an amazing backflip, falling on its top. Then explodes. Lindstrom dies either crushed or fried to crispy bit. "Woah," comments Cole, "not bad." He groans back to his feet, glancing at the girl.

"Everything okay? You are not going to bleed on me, are you?" He looks around slowly. "Lets check for survivors."

Rose Wilson has posed:
"Yes!" Rose is still a teenager, sometimes. She's entirely too excited by the explosion. When Cole asks her if she's going to bleed on him she glances down at herself, then back up. "I'm good."

The mention of survivors has her heading for those closest to her, checking to make sure that they aren't surviving. That's what he meant, right?

Cole Cash has posed:
Actually what Cole meant is if any other of the mercenary team is still alive. Professional courtesy and all that. But the young thugs are dead. So are the MIBs, which he couldn't care less.

He tosses Rose the envelope with her pay. After thinking a few seconds he tosses her also the envelope with half the cash that would have gone for the fake mercenary/Hydra agent if he had been the real thing.

"Hey, cyborg lady is still breathing". She is going to need extensive surgery, but the cybernetic bits saved her. He puts her envelope in a pocket and calls an emergency number from his burned cell.

That leaves the money of the dead thugs. "I'll find next of kin, unless you want to do it yourself," he offers. The final act before leaving the wrecked bar? He finds two unbroken bottles of whiskey and tosses one to Rose. "What did you say was your name?"

Rose Wilson has posed:
The two envelopes of cash are tucked away, and she shakes her head at the question about the two thugs. She's got no interest in finding their next of kin, but she does spare them a look.

"I didn't." Rose offers back about the name, tucking the bottle under her arm before she starts to head for the door, "But it is Ravager."

That's totally a real name.

Cole Cash has posed:
Hmm. Last Ravager he heard about was a small timer with a nasty rep. Maybe this girl is his daughter? Cole is curious, but not that curious. "You have good moves. Just need to learn to duck faster."

Maybe an unwelcomed comment, but she is a kid! She is probably not old enough to drink. At least by the US silly laws. Then again Cole was already drinking at her age for sure.

When she heads out, he follows, sparing a brief glance to the burning SUV. There is likely some people peering through the windows of nearby buildings, but nights are dark in Gotham, witnesses scarce, and the cops take a while to arrive. No one is going to bother them as they leave.