8443/Thieves in the night

Thieves in the night
Date of Scene:	26 October 2021
Location:	American Museum of Natural History
Synopsis:	Two simultaneous attempts at stealing the same artifact are foiled by SHIELD, and one of the attempted thieves has allowed herself to be taken into custody.
Cast of Characters:	Vintridr, June Connor, Lara Croft

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Vintridr has posed:
    The American Museum of Natural History Opens New Norse Exhibit Wing

    "NEW YORK - The American Museum of Natural History has finished renovations of its Vikings In North America exhibit, dedicating a separate wing detailing the history of the ancient raiders and seafarers who crossed the Atlantic well before Christopher Columbus. At its centerpiece is a very recent find, a surprisingly intact piece of jewelry found in the excavation of a Native American settlement tentatively dating back to 700 CE at the latest -- several centuries before the first supposed raids by Leif Eriksson.

    While this has met with some skepticism from acknowledged historians the artifact has been acknowledged as genuine by experts. Opening hours will be..."

    It's not often that SHIELD's news analysts sound an alarm that ends up on Lara's desk; usually their concerns involve more current events than her expertise applies to. But the combination of "Norse-looking artifact", "surprisingly intact for its age" and "found somewhere/somewhen that predates Viking activity in the area" is a big red flag saying "Potential Asgardian artifact, possible Asgardian technology" -- and that's something worth panicking over.

    For some reason, SHIELD's request to take the centerpiece artifact of a new exhibit into custody for analysis did not go over well at the Museum, but after a number of urgent discussions they have agreed to allow SHIELD's acknowledged expert - a woman with her own credentials in the field - analyze the artifact outside of visiting hours and before the exhibit opens.

    On the one hand, this means more or less free rein inside one of the biggest history museums in the country all to herself; on the other, it also means long working nights locked up in a museum with only her thoughts for company...

June Connor has posed:
    New gear. June's recent actions with a local Robin Hood have net her about a grand, which has enabled her to get some new equipment. Tactical claws, check. IR Flock suit. Check. Hook swords? Well, those cost more, she'll have to wait on those. Glass cutter, check.

    She pulls her hood over and attaches her shozuko, here entire body virtually disappearing into the dark save for her eyes. "Okay June, ten grand. You can pay off Jaela and no more drama from at least one source. Like candy." She brings up her phone, and her schematics for the museum. She's bad at a lot of stuff, but breaking and entering and getting out before anyone knows? That's something she actually is good at. Climbing rope, check. The museum is a popular enough location that everyone knows it, but also a place that people don't usually make concentrated efforts to break in. Should be a walk in the park, pardon the pun.

    Across the grass, her dark form is a hint of a shadow. She enters from the opposite end of the building, reaching the second story window after a short climb. She had 'visited' earlier, and broken the window sensor. City run buildings never have a quick turn around for their repairs. She belay's the rope beneath her, reaching under her cape to pull the glass cutter out.

    As she sticks it onto the window, she realizes they didn't even latch it back. "Shit, how is there anything valuable still in this place?" she asks herself aloud, and pushes up, opening the window to enter the building.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara arrived some time before the museum closed. She got all the right papers signed and all the clearances checked before it was time for her to do her thing. She had walked briskly to the appropriate exhibit while there were still a few other people there. She followed all the rules and kept herself to herself. With her temporary badge, she was largely ignored by both museum patrons and security alike.
    Now, with the doors locked, Lara awaits the person with the key to let her into the box and examine the item itself. While she waits, she pulls a ziplock baggie out of her pocket that contains her own cotton gloves for handling antiquities. She's not taking any chances on any being provided. With the baggie in one hand, Lara slides a multi-spectrum LED light from her pocket. She clicks the button through white, red, green, and blue. The fourth color looks very dim and purplish. It is, however, a blacklight. Unfortunately, the case around the relic blocks UV to protect the artifact. Lara clicks it again. Dim, reddish-orange light comes from the flashlight as IR light shines down. Unfortunately, the glass blocks that inherrently. Lara clicks the light off and slides it into her pocket. It was worth a try.

Vintridr has posed:
    Vin hadn't spat out her coffee when she'd read the article in the news, but it had been a close call. She'd never owned one of those herself, but she recognized the artifact immediately and -- ohh, this could be bad. This could even be worse -- and there aren't many people on Midgard aside from her who could verify which it is.

    She needs to check it out, and she needs to check it out soon before it becomes a potential diplomatic incident... Which also means she needs to check it out discreetly.

    It's been a while since she did any burgling, but some skills never really go out of style. A nondescript hoodie to obscure her features, runner's pants taped off at wrists and ankles, a scarf to cover most of her face, a pair of sneakers she'll burn as soon as she's gone, and a low-profile backpack for the tools of her trade.

    Yes, there are locks, and cameras, and patrolling watchmen, but there always are and always have been. The players change but the dance is the same.

    Professor Holzmann is blissfully unaware of any of this as he approaches Lara and the exhibit, keys already in hand. "... really very irregular, most irregular, all of this; a thousand-year-old find a matter of national security? Preposterous," he grumps, continuing his litany almost unabated as he nods at the security guard to disable the alarm while he unlocks the actual case...

June Connor has posed:
    The bathroom is empty where June slinks in, and without too much emergency, she pulls back her hood for a moment, and closes the window. "Fuck," she grunts, grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser to wipe her head. "They didn't say this thing would be so hot." Though she should have expected something that absorbs 99.7% of light to have a certain heat retention element to it. She tosses the towel in the trash can, and puts her hood back up before exiting the door. Along a black and white wall, her head down, to the security she's a brief disappearance to the white sections, her form not discernable to the camera. Once she's under it, she plants a magnesium strip around the feed cable, and runs a very simple fuse from it before clicking a lighter to set it ablaze. The clock is ticking. In 8 minutes, the fuse will ignite the strip and burn out the cable, alerting the guards to what should be the other side of the museum from her location.

    Then to the main hallway, moving along the earthen tones as she passes by the preserved skeleton of a T-Rex, staying out of sight of most of the video cameras by design in her path. She makes her way quietly past the display, through several more rooms, and then to the room where the goods were kept. A check of her phone just to be sure. This is it. She peeks into the display room...wait, there's someone here? As she hears the professor's complaints, she ducks backward, and against the wall next to a small display of an old stone tool used by ancient Norse vikings, hiding her face so that she turns back into a full shadow up against the corner of a simple side exhibit. A bead of sweat trickles down her temple inside the hot suit. Of all the nights they could have some artifact cleaning! Not aware of what is actually being done, June quietly listens and waits, expecting to hear more or else see an exit by those who are in the way of her task. At least she doesn't have to get past the security herself. She just has to get past people.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara can hear the grumpy professor coming what feels like a city block away. She puts on her friendliest smile, which comes off as a bit apologetic. "Thank you for dealing with the irregularity, Professor Holzmann," she says. Keys are good. "I will be as quick as I can, of course." She opens the plastic baggie and pulls out her soft gloves for handling the artifact, slipping on one, then the other, then slipping the baggie into her pocket.

Vintridr has posed:
    Holzmann's expression softens somewhat at Lara's smile. She does tend to have that effect on people. "Just be careful," he harrumphs, significantly more softly. "Not that I suspect I need to tell you how to handle artifacts. Frankly, miss Croft, if it hadn't been for your - and your father's - reputation, we would not be having this conversation no matter what nonsense SHIELD tried to sell us. 'Alien gods'. Hah."

    He chuckles a bit more as he opens the display case, then puts on his own gloves before picking up the artifact.

    It's not even all that big; an ovoid not much larger than a chicken egg covered in what look like Futhark runes in intricate detail with several banded grooves along its notional equator. The metal itself has an almost silvery sheen, and something about the finer details of the work suggests that it was either meant to be worn as a necklace or part of a larger work of some sort.

June Connor has posed:
    June turns her wrist over, exposing a small cheap watch that she's using for her mission time keeping. 5 minutes before the fuse burns down and shuts out the camera. Lady, you need to step it up. It doesn't matter if its real, I'm stealin' it in a couple minutes, June thinks to herself. One archaelogist and an old professor. If push comes to shove, she can probably force a blitz and run. How tough could they be?

    In preparation for the possibility, she takes the conversation as an opportunity to slip more directly into the room, and takes up residence with a bowed head, a simple dark mass as she lays eyes on the...Oh. That is definitely not a five grand job. She's going to need to rethink her strategy. Later, June, first you gotta get it out of the building. She starts to study the foot positions on Lara and the professor, gauging what angle would most optimally catch them off guard. How long? 4:30. Hmm.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara moves closer, looking at the thing with great interest. Her heart beats a little bit faster as she regards its form, color, sheen--everything her eyes can take in. She reaches out slowly as if to take the object from him. She hesitates. Looking up into his eyes, she asks, "May I?"

Vintridr has posed:
    "... Hm? Oh, of course," the professor startles slightly, apparently lost in his own admiration of the artifact, then looks down at Lara's gloved hands before carefully handing it over with a certain understandable reluctance. "It's a bit warm to the touch; the archaeologist who dug it up noted that it wasn't nearly as reflective in the infrared spectrum, so it tends to soak up warmth a bit faster than its environs."

    He places the artifact in Lara's hands with almost excessive care. "It feels quite sturdy as well, but I'm pleased to say we have as of yet not had cause to test that out. Now, as was agreed we'll escort you back to your office, and Mister Burke here-" he indicates the guard, "will stand guard outside should you need anything; once you're done, have him notify me and we'll put it back where it belongs..."

    Up in the rafters, unseen by all four present, Vintridr silently curses the Norns and ill fortune in general, then prepares to follow the trio to aforesaid office...

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara holds it. It definitely doesn't feel frail OR old. It looks and feels almost brand new. She doesn't need to look any farther to have enough cause to take it back. She holds it in her left hand and turns it over. She wraps her fingers around it and puts her index finger of her right hand over her ear. "Confirmed," she said, simply. She looks up as if she'd been talking to the professor. SHIELD would be incoming, and she just had to make it look like she was doing a very thorough investigation until they arrived. "I will follow you, professor," she says to the older man.

June Connor has posed:
    Mid sentence is always the best time to make a violent play. As the artifact is being passed from the professor to Lara, she makes her move. No no, no offices, that takes too long. She's going to have to improvise.
    She launches herself, pushing off from the wall and making a beeline to the center of the room. She leaps into the air, a smoke pellet in hand. She leaps up, a spear jump between the professor and Lara, her hand snatching out boldly to try to grab the small trinket directly out of Lara's hand before her presence can even be registered, and hit or miss, she slaps the smoke pellet against the glass of the display case to cause an interruption, something of a simple black shadow gliding past, like a thing of nightmares without form. For those unaccustomed to supernatural events, it may be rather intimidating. Of course, for those who /are/ accustomed, they may realize that as abnormal as the form seems, it's no ghost.

Vintridr has posed:
    Neither Professor Holzmann nor mister Burke the night shift security have what one might call combat trained reflexes; they're both still goggling at June's sudden appearance when the kunoichi is already in their midst.

    Holzmann manages a startled yelp as he's knocked aside by June's charge, and Burke is still in mid-'What the--' when the smoke bomb goes off.

    Up in the rafters, Vintridr blinks a moment. That was unexpected - and she had honestly not spotted the interloper before she started to move.

    Chiding herself can wait; this just got more complicated -- or perhaps easier; if this interloper manages to abscond with the Vessel she can just take it off her once they're both outside. If not... She'll improvise. She's always been good at that.

Lara Croft has posed:
    After jumping around, grabbing at ledges and holding onto guns, Lara's instincts have been trained to grip tighter when surprise happens. If someone drops something unexpectedly in the office, her hands may suddenly make fists. Her head turns to the sound of the smoke bomb hitting the glass. It breaks, but the glass doesn't. She gets a face-full of smoke for her trouble. As she coughs, she feels the hand grasping at the artifact. By the time her neurons fire to react, the hand is gone. She clutches the artifact to her chest and puts her hand to her ear. "Requesting backup," she says. "Possible Batman." She wraps both hands around the relic and squishes it tightly against her sternum as she makes a break for the door.

June Connor has posed:
    "Dammit," June grunts, landing in a roll that reverses her facing. She doesn't have a clue about Lara's reputation. All she knows is that it's some stuffy archaeologist. She bursts forward, though, a sprint on her toes as she takes off after Lara. Now it might warrant a more direct approach as she tries to catch up to her to tackle her to the ground, though Lara does have a bit of a head start on her.

Vintridr has posed:
    Professor Holzmann seems to have gotten a double lungful of smoke and is bent over, coughing. Burke is helping him to his feet and yelling into his own radio for backup -- although chances are SHIELD's team will show up before that.

    ... Explaining to the museum that they had no intention of letting them keep the artifact if it turned out to be Asgardian is going to be fun, but fortunately well above Lara's pay grade...

    Up in the rafters, Vintridr keeps pace with both women, waiting to strike until it becomes clear which one of them is likely to have their hands on the artifact when the smoke clears.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara is in great shape. Even before she was being chased regularly, she was in good enough shape that she could run easily. However, she's not exactly a world-record holder, and while she scouted the museum ahead of time, she's not at her fastest because of her arms being tucked against her body to cling to this whatever it is. At least there's nobody in front of her on her way to the front door. Security would easily see her dashing past cameras. Motion sensitive alarm lights would turn on in the security office. Any motion-sensing lights would turn on. Proximity-triggered displays would start their ramblings. By the time a lot of it happens, Lara's already in the next section of Museum, the ninja following her getting more scrutiny for possibly less payoff, depending on her outfit.

June Connor has posed:
    June is very fast. She doesn't have the greatest stride length by any means, but in a place that has turns to be made, it give her an advantage as she uses wall running and other acrobatic stunts that prevent her from needing to slow down. The void black form has her on camera, but she isn't worried about that at this point. The element of surprise has passed, and her IR Flock cape billows behind her, revealing the small backpack which is not quite as black as the rest of her outfit.

    She gains, and as she reaches striking distance, she flings a small shuriken from her belt, the black blades spinning toward Lara's lower half. They don't do much damage, but they can certainly be painful enough to distract from the small figure that is leaping into the air to tackle the archeologist to the ground.

Vintridr has posed:
    Lara's SHIELD contact chatters in her ear as the woman runs, assuring her that backup is on the way, ETA two minutes at most, don't let anything happen to the artifact until support gets there with a containment unit.

    Meanwhile, with two potential hindrances out of action, one in the air, and her actual quarry about to be distracted, Vintridr decides to make her move, dropping almost noiselessly to the floor behind June before charging ahead, sprinting past the kunoichi in mid-leap, angling to intercept the archaeologist when she either dodges the projectile in the only direction she can or stumbles from the injury.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara is not prescient, 3rd-person cameras notwithstanding. She is hit by the shuriken. It's barely more than a bandaid's worth of damage, but it's designed to hurt. She recoils slightly, slowing. She's then tackled by the other. She curls up into a tight fetal position, clutching the Asgardian object to her chest while slipping her hand into her jacket for her sidearm. This was NOT going at ALL to plan!

June Connor has posed:
    A sprawling roll ensues as June rolls to the ground with Lara's ended flight, but not before she sees...who's that? She doesn't have any idea who Vin is, or how she plays into the situation. But this she knows. There's no one else in this building on her team. June uses Lara as a brace for a turned upward kick from her prone position, expecting that the momentum will be more than enough to clear the battlefield for a moment so that she can strip the artifact and run. The maneuver turns her upper body downward, to find herself face to face with Lara's hand on a pistol.

    That's not desired. It's hardly the most ninja of moves, but the only thing June can think to do in the moment is to slap a hand down onto Lara's hand that reaches for the pistol, grabbing both the hand and her jacket. It may be enough to keep her from pulling the gun, but hardly the most advantageous fighting position. Her other hand reaches across her, trying to grab the artifact, much less of an agile ninja in the moment, and more of a desperate claw to try to wrestle it free. This was NOT going ALL to plan!

Vintridr has posed:
    Asgardians are not bulletproof -- but it will take a significantly larger caliber than Lara's sidearm carries to do more than briefly inconvenience one. Regardless, Vintridr decides to act decisively now before someone gets hurt.

    She crouches above the struggling archaeologist and kunoichi and grabs a pair of wrists. Two brief and only slightly painful squeezes later she plucks the artifact out of suddenly nerveless fingers and turns to leave.

    Her mental sigh of relief as she's finally recovered the artifact is cut short by the sound of cars screeching to a halt outside the museum. Looks like backup made better time than expected.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara's struggle is now with the ninja who has stopped her drawing her weapon. Kicking her legs up, she wraps them around June's waist and throws their combined body mass in a roll. She uses her angle to wrench the weapon from June's hand, sitting on her as she takes aim at the Asgardian. She's ready to fire when SHIELD agents erupt from vehicles and rush toward the door to get in, weapons ready. Pinching her weapon against the palm of her hand with her thumb, Lara raises her hands and fans out her fingers so the agents coming in don't fire without verifying identity first.

June Connor has posed:
    June clenches her masked teeth as her hand is squeezed to force release on the artifact. "Sonuva-" she growls, and takes her left foot, stamping down onto Vintridr's right foot.

    June is forced to release the gun, but the target is the artifact, and it's clear to her now that the second thief is no ally to the archeologist. Before she can finish her maneuver, though, she finds that her own maneuver is interrupted by Lara wrapping her in a leg lock.

    The incoming flood of SHIELD agents is... a ver big problem. Usually this is where a kunoichi would throw down a smoke pellet and flee in the confusion. However, June is currently pinned on her back, so that's not a good option. So first she has to get out of this position. The object is lost. At least at this juncture. Time to survive.

    To that end, June kips her own feet up, her forelegs coming up from behind and wrapping around Lara's face, and she pulls back downhard, trying to drive her head to the hard floor for a rather brutal knockout blow, hoping that she can get free agency once again. She also hopes she won't be shot in the process.

Vintridr has posed:
    Vintridr largely ignores the sound of struggling behind her as she quickly weighs her options. She could still break free if she pushes herself, depending on how much backup SHIELD has brought to the party. But her escape was never the first priority, and duty requires something else be done first.

    She stands up straight and opens her hand to let the artifact lie on her palm -- and then suddenly it isn't lying on her palm, but hovering upright just above it as the groove Lara had noticed before begins to glow with a pale light, and the banding runes rotate independenly from each other along seamless bands...

    ... And then it separates into two halves, leaving a pale white glow at its center -- the same glow that is now coming from Vintridr's eyes as the woman speaks her first words this night.

    "Achachak of the Algonquin. Samoset of the Abenaki. Sedvard of the Volsung. Your wait is ended. Go now, to where the brave live forever."

    The light blazes brighter as she speaks, and tendrils start wafting upward and away in a direction that can't quite be described, only felt... Until there's nothing left and the two halves lock together again.

    The woman turns her head to look back at Lara, barely even acknowledging the SHIELD agents storming into the building and setting up a cordon. "This was never yours to hold," she states simply.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara is not prepared for the feet around her face. She lets out a muffled sound as she's pulled backward. She's not knocked unconscious, but her head does hit the marble floor, as does her hand. Her pistol, held only by her thumb, goes skittering across the marble.. She rolls, trying to rush for her sidearm, scrambling on hands and knees farther from the other assailant who was just grabbing for it. When she reaches it, she rolls onto her back like she's in an action movie and aims at where the thief just was, her eyes watering and head aching from the blow to it. Yeah, she's definitely going to aim true in these circumstances.

June Connor has posed:
    June rolls to the side as Lara removes herself from the mount, only to be caught off guard by...magic? She is caught a little distracted by the event. She doesn't see magic all that often, and finds herself mesmerized for a few moments. But living, that's important.

    The young interloper comes to her senses a bit sooner than the end of the show, unconcerned about Lara's aim, she knows what it's like to take a hit like that. There is the matter of several armed SHIELD agents still in the area. She takes a few steps back, behind the massive T-Rex at the entrance of the museum. It may seem counter intuitive, but if she retreats into the museum, it will give her more opportunity to be lost in the proverbial weeds. One, two, three steps in reverse, a quick glance to Lara, a mock salute as a taunt (because she just has to) and when she's confident the larger group is still focused on the light show, she makes her escape.

Vintridr has posed:
    SHIELD agents are professionals, and they've had the... pleasure of having to deal with superhuman opponents from time to time. They're taking no chances, keeping the Asgardian covered from multiple angles as their spokesman shouts at her to stand down and surrender.

    Vintridr glances over her shoulder at the contracting circle of agents, then back at Lara. It's hard to make out any expression beneath that scarf, but something in the set of her eyes makes Lara think the woman is smirking even as she slowly goes to her knees and carefully sets down the artifact before lacing her fingers behind her head.