9614/A Bat in Grand Central Station

A Bat in Grand Central Station
Date of Scene:	12 January 2022
Location:	Grand Central Station (Midtown)
Synopsis:	Batman shows up at Grand Central Station to give Jon some intel on the angels' headquarters. He uses the door!
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Wayne, Jonathan Sims
Tinyplot:	Path of Glory

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Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Wildrue," comes the voice of SHIELD Agent Singh through the communicator, "Singh here."

Agent Wildrue flipped through his copy of 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'. He was on shift, but things were relatively quiet in his sphere of influence with Doctor Sims here running the show. He yawned, picking up his radio and talking into it.

"Copy."

"We've ... uh, we've got a visitor."

"Turn 'em round, send 'em to the evac point. You know the drill."

"I - I don't think he's here to be evac'd."

Batman strode through the crowded Grand Central Station. Bootfalls echoing off the high vaulted ceiling as he goes, his cape flaring out behind him like the wings of some awful hellspawn. Agent Wildrue's mouth hung open, staring as a literal urban legend strode right past him and into the command area.

"Doctor Sims," Batman growls, walking straight towards Jon and dropping a circular device onto a table with a loud thud, "We need to talk."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon's going over reports with a couple of agents, and hears the chatter on the comms as a thing to mostly filter out. So he's a little startled when Batman strides in and drops the device onto the table they've just cleared of ration kits, down to jumping slightly and blinking at the man. He looks like any other SHIELD agent there, in fatigues and wearing a lanyard and badge, aside from his height and the gold-rimmed glasses, though he /is/ starting to cultivate that air of authority. Slowly.

    He waves off the agent he was talking to and walks over to the table, eyeing Batman apprehensively. He can't really help it; all his experience tells him to be wary of the man. He manages to keep his voice mostly steady, though. "I heard you gave Michael a run for his money. I'm impressed, just from the, ahh, reports I've heard."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Irrelevant," is the Batman's reply, wrapping his cape about his shoulders to better conceal himself in darkness, "He's still out there, which means I failed. This whole operation failed. Save your praise."

At this point, Batman lifts one gauntlet up to chest height and depresses a button on it. The device laying on the table projects a blue-green hologram directly upwards, depicting a digital rendition of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. A moment later, it zooms in to show the overall layout as well as icons indicating personnel and other objects of importance stored there. He's scouted it thoroughly.

"This is their base of operations. I've made note of anything of apparent importance. Your analysts can review that. What's interesting is this."

The model focuses in on the clergy house, and the small war room set up within.

"Fairchild is making this her command center. At the time it wasn't appropriately secure. The situation may have changed."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon regards Batman quietly for a moment. "He's... /going/ to be out there," he says after a moment. "This operation will not defeat Michael. This is a holding action, keeping him from his own purpose until we can figure out how to defeat him properly. Which, given what we've seen, will /not/ involve fighting him. I have ideas, but... people's eyes glaze over when I bring them up." He shrugs, and then goes to focus on the hologram.

    He frowns thoughtfully. "Alright," he says. "Fairchild's in the rectory, then. Interesting." His eyes narrow as he studies the model. "Did you speak to her at all? Or just the scouting?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I don't need you to tell me what I'm doing out there," the Bat replies gruffly, voice stern and heavy as a stone, "I will make this clear to you now, Doctor Sims. I am not under your command. I've held the walls in a city under siege by killers for twenty years."

That said, he moves on with the reconnaissance.

"I spoke to her. She's in possession of some sort of mind-altering ability. It's not absolute as she wasn't able to use it on me, but she did try. She's either indoctrinated or a true believer. Either way, she won't be swayed. She's under the impression this is some sort of righteous crusade."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon raises his eyebrows and says hastily, "I'm not giving you orders. I'm telling you what I know about this conflict. It's not that /I/ don't want things to end in violence--though I don't. It's that multiple sources of information have told multiple people that the answer to this problem is not going to come through fighting. If fighting Michael just leads to him exploding and healing all of his troops... then obviously there's something else we need to be doing." He shifts a bit, uncomfortably, frowning, then shuts his mouth before he keeps trying to explain.

    After a moment, in response to the reconnaissance. "I was worried about that. Well, I knew she believed, but... I was hoping she didn't /actually/ have any sort of mental control abilities." He frowns. "Bollocks. All the more reason to keep people away from her for now."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I'm not a man beholden to prophecies. We'll see where this goes."

Batman nods his head curtly, lifting his gauntlet up again to deactivate the device on the table. He sternly glares at the other man for a moment.

"Assassination won't work here. That was the initial plan. Got the idea that the Angel would just replace her with someone of equal or greater conviction."

A pause, before he offers: "Unkillable though he may be, I've set up automated munitions arrays throughout the city and I have air-to-surface weapons in a holding pattern. If the need arises, I will use them."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon regards Batman for a long moment, his jaw shifting. His hand fidgets at his side for a moment. Nervous, unsure, but finally he says with perhaps surprising conviction, "I'm not going to let her die. Nor any other mortals, if I can help it, but particularly not Caitlin Fairchild. I swore an oath, one I'm willing to die to uphold, that she will survive this if there is /anything/ I can do to ensure that she does. Michael will show his hand to her in time. I... have some expertise and experience in these kinds of things. Fairchild is in a much better position than most to actually come out of this."

    He swallows, and adds, less fervently, "Besides, she's trying not to kill people, so far as I can tell. If we /do/ assassinate her... whoever Michael replaces her with might not have that compunction."

    Whatever he thinks of munitions, though, he merely nods. "Good to know. Any of the angels we /do/ manage to kill get sent back to Heaven and don't come back so long as that Holy Nuke business doesn't happen again... cutting down their numbers will be... good."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Good."

What exactly is good, Batman isn't so forthcoming with. He drives his fist into the palm of his other glove, the dull smack and the cracking of his knuckles audible over the din of the Station. It's then that he turns around, leaving the device on the table as he begins to walk in the direction of the door.

"I'll be in touch with any news."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon lets out a long breath he didn't realize he was holding. He reaches up to pinch at the bridge of his nose, moving his glasses out of the way. He /wants/ to go find a chair to sit down in--but the intelligence Batman provided really is useful.

    So instead, he grabs up the device and turns to one of the nearby agents that's been watching with the same kind of expression that followed Batman in--stunned silence. "Take this for the analysts to look over," he says. "Let's see what they can make of it."

    And /then/ he can go find himself a place to sit down, and maybe have a cigarette. And wonder, not for the first time, if Batman /could/ find a way to defeat Michael all on his own. He doesn't put it past the man.