10319/Avast Ye Scurvy Dogs

Avast Ye Scurvy Dogs
Date of Scene:	05 December 2019
Location:	Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda
Synopsis:	Melinda May and Kitty Pryde respond to pirates attacking a freighter in the Atlantic. No pirates were hurt in the making of this- who are we kidding, May kicked their butts.
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Melinda May

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Shadowcat has posed:
The distress call had gone out from the Flying Tortoise, a contradictorily named container ship that flew a a Bermudan flag. The ship was passing through the Atlantic on its way to the Caribbean when two smaller boats had begun closing on it. Guns were flashed and grappling lines launched as the men aboard the small boats boarded the heavily laden freighter, prompting the call. At least eight men, armed with pistols and rifles, the captain has been able to send before the radio transmissions ceased.

Kitty Pryde was returning from a mission down south, checking out reports of one of Sebastion's human-sized Sentinels. Though the futuristic Sentinel was destroyed, some of his creations, not to mention the much larger, older models, persisted. Thankfully it has just turned out to be a more normal cyborg, not related to Sentinels at all.

But it did put Kitty and the X-men's Blackbird within two hundred miles of the ship calling for help. At the SR-77's speeds that was nothing. Kitty pushed the throttle forward as she changed course towards the ship. "Lockheed, looks like we get some action after all," the X-man says.

Melinda May has posed:
For her own part, May had been flying her quinjet through a shakedown after scheduled maintenance, and was out over the Florida keys with the mayday went out. This kind of thing isn't SHIELD's purview by any means, but when Ops contacted her, they noted she was closer than the nearest naval patrol by more than thirty minutes. She acknowledged and told them she'd handle it, turning the 'jet to bank in a sharp turn toward the freighter's location and pushed the engines to full speed.

This will be a hell of a shakedown. Good thing she insists on her bird NEVER leaving base without a full complement of ordinance.

Shadowcat has posed:
The Blackbird circles high overhead of the ship once it arrives on station, Kitty checking out the ship below on the screens feed by the stealth plane's surveillance gear. "Well, looks like six on deck," she comments to Lockheed. "And the two ships floating alongside, one on either side. Three men on each that we can see. Not sure if there are others."

Kitty puts the plane on autopilot and double checks she'll be able to call it in remotely. While she could make it back up to the plane at altitude, especially with Lockheed's help? It's a lot easier to bring it down to her when it's time.

Kitty eyes her swords over where they are strapped into a weapon's storage area. "Nah," she comments to herself, but the young woman does stop to pick up a belt and strap on, the pouches containing a few items that the woman trained in ninjutsu rarely bothers to use when she has a whole team around her. "Alright Lockheed," lets do this," she tells the dragon.

They go over to the spot she knows contains no electronics in the hull, grabbing hold of the dragon and phasing them both. They begin to free fall down towards the freighter below. Not bothering to wear a parachute. Lockheed? He's got wings.

Melinda May has posed:
While May's quinjet (yes, HERS, the bird is usually kept assigned to her and no other pilots, and is often used as a test bed for new tech) has some of the fastest engine in SHIELD's air fleet, she hasn't been outfitted with stealth technology.

Yet.

The other jet already hovering far above the freighter is cause for concern, but since it seems to be just hanging out up there, she simply informs Ops and hands over control to the copilot. "We're going to lose the element of surprise but I don't see a better option," she informs Ops, then nods to the copilot. They've practiced this, and an ocean-going freighter isn't really all that different from any land-based target.

The quinjet swoops down and fires on one of the two smaller boats tethered to the freighter, the rear loading ramp opening and May leaping out and toward the closest shipping containers as the 'jet draws attention and weapons fire, moving slowly enough for her to make the twenty-something foot drop easily enough but fast enough to not be an easy target.

With a parkour-ish tuck and roll, May is back on her feet and making her way off of the rusty green container by the time the quinjet is lifting away from the freighter with its loading ramp closing again. The 'jet is already starting to bank around for a second strafing run.

Shadowcat has posed:
From several thousand feet up, Kitty Pryde falls, just sky diving in a normal fashion, guiding herself over in the general direction of the freighter, but not worrying about being exact.

She won't be the one guiding them in.

As the altitude whistles away with Kitty's freefall, she finally reaches a height where she phases and begins slowing herself. The girl who can literally walk on air slows until finally Lockheed sweeps by. She unphases her shoulders and the dragon grabs hold and guides her down. He can carry a grown person, carrying Kitty's partially phased body is nothing.

The two swoop down atop the bridge's superstructure, landing to the sound of gunfire from the quinjet. "Looks like SHIELD or maybe an Avenger," Kitty says quietly to Lockheed, not having spotted May yet it seems. "Come on, let's see what's going on below." Lockheed moves to her shoulder and Kitty phases her way down into the bridge, going head first to get a peek from the ceiling.

Melinda May has posed:
Seemingly empty-handed, May moves quickly and very quietly through the maze of containers on the freighter's deck, homing in on the pirates by their shouts and gunfire. She reaches the first one, waits for him to be distracted reloading his wretched excuse for a military surplus automatic rifle, and takes him down with a couple of well-placed punches before he can even try to shout.

One down, how many more? At least five, if she's hearing the gunfire correctly. She doesn't really slow down as she heads for the next. Two down, four left. She's hoping one of these pirates is Asian so she can extract information from them about where the freighter's crew are being held, and why they're after this ship.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's head just breaks the ceiling to peer inside. The bridge crew tied up and sitting along a wall. Three pirates in the room, all armed but one has set his assault rifle on a console, while only one with a pistol is watching the bound crewmen and the captain. The other two are busy piloting the ship.

Kitty goes for the one watching the crew first. She just drops through the ceiling, grabbing his gun before he's even realizing he's there and phasing it out of his hand. A leg extends up, planting a kick on the underside of his chin and knocking him cold while he's still on his feet.

The other two men gasp in surprise and lunge for their weapons. One reaches for a gun only to find it covered in a spray of flames from Lockheed, the man yelping and pulling back his burnt hand.

The other grabs the gun off the counter, but finds Kitty running at him, planting a foot on the wall and leaping to catching his head in her legs. She spins around him, imparting momentum when she lets him go and flings him face first into the hard plexiglass of the bridge.

Melinda May has posed:
May takes down a third pirate before the remaining ones on the deck realize what's going on and stop firing at the jet to yell back and forth to try and track her down. She quickly climbs back onto a container as one pirate jogs by, and she jumps down and disables him promptly. Four down, two to go.

Pirate number five is actually alert and aware and a skilled fighter, and her surprise attack turns into rapidfire exchange that draws pirate number six to pull a knife and try to join in. Two against one little Asian woman? Tsk. That's just not fair.

For them. She pulls a taser baton from inside one sleeve and in under a minute they're both down and twitching from the zaps they took. Annoyed by the time wasted on them, May moves quickly toward the bridge to see what's going on there.

Shadowcat has posed:
Two of the pirates on the bridge are down, the third holding his burnt hand and staring down Lockheed. The little dragon has landed in front of the pirate and has his mouth open, yellow eyes without pupils nor iris staring the man down, while little wisps of smoke curl from his mouth.

The pirate's pants gain a wet stain in front, causing Kitty to give a cruel, but amused, laugh. She tells Lockheed, "Torch him if he moves." She knows the dragon knows better, but it should keep him in place while Kitty moves to cut the bindings on the bridge crew. "There's a jet, SHIELD probably, in the area too," she tells them. Just stay here while the rest of the pirates are dealt with. ANd, don't kill this one," she says, passing them the confiscated guns.

They begin tying the pirates up while Kitty takes Lockheed and phases out the door, going out to see what the state of the ship is, and to see how the Quinjet is faring. She finally gets sight of Melinda May finishing off the others and then turning to head for the bridge. Shadowcat raises her hands. "Friendly here," she says. "The ones in the bridge are taken care of, the crew freed."

Melinda May has posed:
May stops and looks at the young woman, her eyes quickly taking in Kitty's choice of attire and accoutrements. "Good." She then taps at the comm in her ear to speak with the copilot in the quinjet. "Status of the pirate boats." She listens as the man notes that one is listing and taking on water while the other is trying to make a break for it. "Disable it. ETA on the naval patrol." She acknowledges his report on that, then looks at Kitty again.

"That your bird up there?" She points straight up, presumably where the Blackbird is still waiting.

Shadowcat has posed:
Shadowcat glance up into the sky and gives a nod. "It is. Just happened to be in the area and heard the distress call, so decided to render some assistance." She motions towards the bridge. "Three of them in there, bound. The crew have their guns so, identify yourself before you go in. One of the pirates needs some burn treatment for his hand," she says, patting the small purple dragon on her shoulder. Lockheed meanwhile is just looking over at Melinda May with a tilt to his head that on a human might be called curious.

Kitty glances about. "The rest of them taken care of?" she asks, eyes sweeping the deck, spotting some of May's handiwork, the few that she can see from there.

Melinda May has posed:
"Yes. And Naval Patrol will be here in about another twenty minutes," May tells Kitty, her eyes focusing on the little dragon on the woman's shoulder, then somehow moving on as if that sort of thing were normal and everyday. But then, she works for an organization that includes archers, inhumans, super soldiers, demons, angels, and a service dog German Shepherd.

"I think I'll go have a word with the ones the bridge crew are minding, unless they've already told you why they targeted this freighter."

Shadowcat has posed:
Shadowcat shakes her head. "Didn't take time to question them, just dealt with the threat," she says. "Great job you SHIELD types are doing. Nice crossing paths with you," she says. "If you've got it under control, I could use hitting a drive-through like nobody's business," she says.

"Good luck with the interrogation," the young woman says, glancing to the dragon and giving him a nod as she pulls out a phone-looking thing - it's not any kind of brand May has ever seen - and taps in something to it. The black stealth plane descends, moving down to hover over the water and a hatch opens. "Be seeing you," Shadowcat says with a little friendly-looking salute, and then she holds out her hand, Lockheed taking hold and flying the two of them over to the plane.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods to Kitty as she takes her leave, advising the pilot in her quinjet to let the Blackbird approach, and watches the young woman depart in a most interesting manner.

Once the other jet is gone, she directs the pilot to land the quinjet on the freighter and heads for the bridge. They're staying here until the Naval Patrol arrives.

And then there's paperwork. Ugh.