12835/Plausible Deniability

Plausible Deniability
Date of Scene:	13 March 2021
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Lex Luthor, Deathstroke

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Lex Luthor has posed:
Even those who work in the shadows have to handle direct conflict on occasion. It's not just a matter of borders. It's a matter of safeguarding assets. Especially the portal network. The Nexus has a whole support staff to it... but the primary defense of the portal network is secrecy... and redirection.

The locations for each of the end points for the primary hub have concealed defenses for a reason... and are fairly mobile.

The problem comes when moving these stations would draw too much attention.

A couple days ago, Deathstroke had been contacted by L1 to get ready for an asset protection assignment, and to get his portal field generator ready. No details beyond that, but that meant heading to the Nexus.

Right on the appointed time, Deathstroke received a text over the Shadow Network; "There's a group of potential threats near the Paris gate. Redirect or kill them. They're mercenaries, so no need for 'statements', but we do not want them anywhere near the station there. No Witnesses to your presence. We will clean up any messes you make."

Deathstroke has a mercenary team assigned to him as backup... but it is emergency use only. The more people there, the more questions will be asked.

Deathstroke has posed:
A new job doesn't just mean the chance to actually get a good paycheck, but also the chance to get out and get some action, especially when the task is redirection or elimination of multiple targets.
Deathstroke, wearing his terminator suit, arrived near the Paris gate hopefully unnoticed, moving from rooftop to rooftop to get a tactical analysis of the area, as well as of the targets he needs to face. No Witnesses is fine for him, and for such a situation, his arsenal is practical, efficent, and more than that, quiet. Silenced pistols, a silenced sniper rifle slung across his back, broadsword and too many throwing knives to be counted not to mention smoke bombs and all sorts of gadgets sitting peacefully, for now, in the pockets of his belt.
With his left and only eye, the Terminator is now scanning the ground below him, to identify exactly where he needs to go, if there are targets to face, and how many if so.

Lex Luthor has posed:
For the longest time, there's no sighting of any of the people Deathstroke is looking for. Whoever they are, they're keeping a low profile. That means training... or at least familiarity with urban battlefields. Intel for this assignment suggests this group may not actually be looking for anything and be there for something else entirely... but the Council isn't taking chances this close to the station. Regardless of their purpose, they need to be gone by the end of the day.

There, a flash of rifle at the alleyway below, to the left. This whole area is abandoned industrial sites, so people with weapons is a blatant giveaway... and none of the few civilians walking down there see whoever it was.

Deathstroke has posed:
Deathstroke quietly looking, observing, noticing all the little details he can, grins behind his masks as he sees the rifle for the briefest of moments. His gaze turns upwards next, scanning the rooftops, trying to look for snipers or anyways for people that could have an elevated position. If trained are the men he must face, then like a trained man he must think, his mind evaluating all sorts of options and scenarios to determine where, with various sorts of professional trainings, he would place his men if he was in charge. With an umbelievable amount of stealth considering his armor and arsenal, he moves and leaps around the battlefield, to check his mentally marked positions, to verify if the mercenaries are truly hidden where he thinks they are. And, just to be safe, the lens slides over his left eye as he activates the infrared visor. "lets see if, you've also good equipment or if you're just little trained soldiers..."

Lex Luthor has posed:
There are no obvious snipers... but then, there's enough cover in this area to make line of sight inspection net to impossible. He'd need to request a tactical satellite to get a top down view of the area to be sure of snipers behind cover. Nonetheless, he easily makes his way over to the rooftop where the group was... and sure enough, there are two men wearing urban camo below, with a shotgun and a rifle unslung as they start to enter a side door. The walls for this building are much too thick for that infrared to tell him anymore, though.

Deathstroke has posed:
Deathstroke shrugs, quickly drawing a grappling hook from hisbelt and, after throwing it, swings down to the street below, finding and sliding in the nearest shadow with the senses as alert as they can be and a throwing knife already in hand just in case. The side door shouldn't be far, and even with just a throwing knife in hand against a shotgun and a rifle, the Terminator doesn't seem overly worried as he creeps towards the door. If it is unlocked, it'll just be a matter of slipping in, if it is locked instead, there'll need to be some lockpicking to do... Or a lock to break.

Lex Luthor has posed:
He manages to get to the door just before it closes. It's one of those spring loaded doors apparently, and his foot catches it silently, letting him in without trouble.

Inside, Deathstroke sees a team of six. Two rearguard with combat variant remington pump actions, three in the middle with a couple variants of carbines, one in front with the assault rifle. They're not just thugs, at least.

Why they're here is anyones guess though. This isn't the building with the portal station... but that /is/ two blocks over.

They're going down a long hallway with evenly spaced doors to each side... and thus far, the rearguard have not turned to look at him yet.

With the rate they're turning in place as they walk, that will change in about five seconds.

Deathstroke has posed:
A long hallway, that means no covers... Even if that is not good for Deathstroke, it is probably worse for the thugs.
Trajectories are calculated, just a couple of seconds for the Terminator are enough to figure out where to shoot, how to move his arms to obtain the best resoult. His hands fly to the handle of his pistols and in a smooth fluid motion, the silenced weapons are drawn and ready.
Imagining the rear guards are about to turn, they are not the ones that will get shot first. His hands move upwards and to the sides, simultaneously pulling the triggers of both pistols sending two bullets towards the heads of two of the men in the middle.
Silenced as they are, the weapons shouldn't be heard from other rooms, but certainly it'll be an indicator for the guards in the hallway. Following the scheme that he previously calculated, his hands move with precision, aiming for the rear guards and firing another couple of bullets before letting himself drop on the floor to get out of the fireline should the two remaining guards react in time.
As for the remaining two, again the pistols move to lock on their targets, two more bullets flying towards the remaining guards in an action that, the Terminator, hopes won't take more than three seconds, and produce no more than the sound of six bodies falling.

Lex Luthor has posed:
If they had known Deathstroke was in the area, they might have had a chance. As it is? Deathstroke is far too fast for these semi-trained agents of unknown intent. Four of them get shot before they know what hits them, and the sudden thud of them hitting the ground is what almost gives them enough time to turn around and shoot at the Terminator.

Instead, they just die as they see the man himself. Six bodies in a matter of a couple seconds.

No intel on more of them in the briefing, at least... but these /are/ unknowns, and Deathstroke only did a sweep of the area from the rooftops.

Deathstroke has posed:
Holstering his pistols, Deathstroke runs and kneels towards one of the carbineers, quickly turning the body face up to search it for clues. Pockets are looked into, clothes are patted down, anything that could give any clue about who the mercenaries are, what are they doing or, more importantly, any communication devices he could get to tap into whatever frequency they're using if any at all.

Lex Luthor has posed:
There are wallets on two of the men; Europeans names, by the sounds of them. They look Parisian too, now that there's a moment to really look at them. The other four don't have any wallets, but there are three Irish, and one American. The one in front has a smartphone on him. Locked behind a password.

All six have earpiece commlinks. Nothing is being said. Yet.

Deathstroke has posed:
Dropping the phone into one of the pouches at his belt, the earpiece of one of the guards is recovered by Deathstroke that slips it under his helmet, into his left ear just in case. From there, one of the pistols is drawn again as the man, pistol aimed in front of him, proceeds along the hallway.
The doors are checked one by one, Deathstroke using an optical visor to peek under them without opening them in order to determine what is in the various rooms, or more importantly, if there are people in there, people that he may need to take care of.

Lex Luthor has posed:
As he starts to scout around, Deathstroke only reinforces what is obvious; this place is abandoned. Assembly lines have been shut down Lights covered, and there's a mild case of dust and grime all around.

/This/ building is clear, at least. Searching the entire area would take hours, too.

Deathstroke has posed:
Temporarily ignoring the earpiece on his right ear, Deathstroke focuses on the one in his left. "I need someone to unlock a password protected phone... I'm sending the coordinates now" the man states, starting to stride towards the exit of the building.
Inspecting each building isn't of course something that can be done quickly, so while he waits for the hacking team, he just climbs up to a nearby rooftop, with a good line of sight towards the building he just swept through.