12920/Czech Mate

Czech Mate
Date of Scene:	30 March 2021
Location:	In the AIM Hive, Czech Republic
Synopsis:	Clint, Skye, and Nat lead the strike against the AIM hive and capture Taskmaster.
Cast of Characters:	Phobos, Quake, Black Widow (Romanoff), Hawkeye (Barton)

---

Phobos has posed:
    The elevator hums with the deep thrumming tone of barely constrained power. The shining metal cargo carrier descends deeper and deeper into the bowels of the hive underneath the Church that so recently suffered a raid by SHIELD agents. When the debris was cleared and the situation contained, a set of three cargo elevators were discovered along with several emergency stairwells that led down into the depths.
    A quick intrusion and scanning of the network gave Agent Johnson an idea of the current state of readiness and the Hive was awake. All of the AIM agents below were being subjected to a chorus of alarms and scrambling to make ready. Suddenly it was no longer about control and a slow closing of a trap around them. Abruptly time was of the essence.
    It was decided several teams would embark on the elevators to deploy to the main level as quickly as possible. Though this plan of attack needed one thing to come off cleanly, and that's Skye using her savvy to prevent AIM from hacking the elevators and trapping the entire team while their operatives get into position.
    Now as the elevator continued downward, the electronics of the cargo carriers were assaulted repeatedly by remote hacking attempts that to their credit were rather strong. But not quite as strong as Skye's defenses.

Quake has posed:
Skye had plugged her computer gear and began to beat them at their own game. There were three elevators, and she suspected they were all on different breakers. Which gave her a little challenge. "Come to mama babies!" She loved her job. "I'll keep you going down. Keep going. I've got my own job to do."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
This was one of those moments that was a bit odd. When attacking a base, having to stand in an elevator. The worst part was when they had music playing. Not real music but that musak weirdness that was the travesty of every song ever made put into a sad, depressing form. Thankfully AIM had left out the music but they were still in a box traveling down and waiting for their arrival.

Considering they were fighting Skye for control, that meant there would likely be a welcoming party when they hit the bottom floor. "Hawkeye, you up to clearing the room when we get there?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Hawkeye would rather stay by Skye's side, just in case. But now that most of the remaining AIM creeps are cornered in their pit, the ground floor is fairly secured. So Clint moves in with the SHIELD troopers, in one of the elevators. So far all went well, and while he's ready to finish the job, he can't but still be impressed by Skye's abilities. A frown appears on his face, as he remembers the pain it causes to her. Not good. More than not good. Hopefully, they won't have to use her powers again.

Natasha's question brings him back to the present. With a decided nod, he assures, "As soon as the door opens, I'll concussion them for good." And as he speaks, he moves into position, ready to send the perfect arrow in the nest.

Phobos has posed:
    Even as Skye focused on the data streams that were coming her way she could see each sojourn, each sortied attempt of the various AIM operatives trying to break through her hasty defense. The elevators continued to whir as they lowered, descending steadily while some of the sensors and cameras she's been able to commandeer will give her and the others insight into the defenses they're about to face.
    Various displays would flicker up on her system and the image of the main hall where the elevators let out will show a myriad of soldiers running quickly across the large entry area. Three stories tall and almost as large as a basketball gymnasium, several score of soldiers seem to be ready. Weapons are being handed out, several heavy exo-suits /stomp/ across the floor as a few weapon emplacements are being set up to fire into the elevators when the doors open.
    In the other elevators the Rapid Response Teams are geared up and weapons hot, their own makeshift cover created around the edges of the doors of the elevators. A voice on the comms comes in from the eye in the sky SHIELD officer as he says, // Soon as the doors open, disperse and hit 'em. Good hunting. //
    It comes down to a matter of seconds as Skye is able to keep those elevators descending faster than the AIM operatives can prepare until finally...
    The doors open with a metallic whir. There is the whumpf-POW! of the RRTs firing their shaped charges, flash bangs and smoke grenades fire and then suddenly they're rushing out of the elevators. In the wash of smoke, lasers can be seen slashing across the shadows created by those grenades. A great exo-suit twists as a cry goes up from one of the AIM soldiers, "They're early, hit 'emAAGH!" As he gets a face full of flashbang.
    As if in perfect counterpoint the near silent twang of Hawkeye's bow firing sends that concussion arrow across the distance just as the gun emplacement is swinging in line with their elevator door. There is that /KRAK-WHUMP!/ as it hits and suddenly the gun is cracked askew while the bodies of the AIM operatives go flying.
    A perfectly timed initial assault, but suddenly AIM recovers and weapons fire on all sides.

Quake has posed:
Finally! The teams made it down.

"Looking good. I'll just make certain that nothing is holding back for a surprise.." Skye checked *all* of the data streams, even the ones that seemed innocuous. Often those ones were the sneakiest ones sliding under the obvious ones.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
This was the moment. Natasha was out of the elevator and diving to the side, so that anyone pinpointing where she had been would find themselves wasting ammo. Not that they seemed to be lacking! The pings of bullets all around, the booms of weapons going of, smoke and that hint of explosives chemical all hanging in the air.

A glance showed her the line of attacks the other SHIELD members were taking and she chose hers. Running forward, a leap to slam double-footed into the chest of one of the worker drones with is beekeeper style uniform on. Firing a widow's bite into him as she used that momentum of impact to leap off, going into a double windmill type kick that took out two more. Two more Bites fired at incoming agents and dropping to the floor in a crouch and starting her second run for the next bunch.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Once the arrow took care of the gun, Hawkeye moves forward, finding some measure of cover by a recesses in a wall. From his location, he keeps targeting groups of reinforcement that comes in, those at the farther side of the floor, and takes care of any AIM that SHIELD troopers might miss. Basically, he's covering the troopers and taking care of the threats that might be missed in the fray.

Phobos has posed:
    On the left of Hawkeye and Widow's advance, the first RRT breaks fully from the elevator and makes for cover. Their weapons bark and kick as they send rounds downfield into the AIM defenders. One of the lead SHIELD agents darts forward, planting a hand upon the raised metal shield that one of the AIM weapons teams had been using for cover, then leaping over it. His gun barks as he takes down the crew of that weapon before twisting around to slam the butt of the gun into a nearby automated combat robot sending the skeletal monstrosity skittering across the ground.
    One of the large fifteen foot tall exo-suits brings its arm weapons up into line with Clint, its heavy weapons crackling with fire as it sends explosive rounds into the ground around the evasive archer spattering debris and shrapnel after the Avenger. While Widow gets bracketed and targeted by two twisting scorpion-like drones that slither upon the ground then leap into the air trying to slash at her with wicked looking talons.
    It is mayhem during this time, and now with the doors open the intrusion attempts cease giving Skye what time she may need. The teams are deployed, the assault is underway.
    But then on the SHIELD comms comes a voice that has no business being on there. "Testing. Testing. SHIELD shitheads is that you?"
    Clint and Nat might well recognize the voice, and Skye if she did research on former SHIELD agents that turned double agent, for the voice is none other than Tony Masters.
    "So this is what you two do when you're not out and about being the embarrassingly weakest of the Avengers? Pathetic." And as those words crackle on their comms out of the smoke an arrow slashes across the distance towards a space equi-distant between Widow and Hawkeye, slamming into the ground then exploding into sharp flechettes that spatter the area.

Quake has posed:
"Fuuuuuuck.." Just as she had expected *someone* knew what they were dealing with.

Thank god she'd been ready for something. The first thing was to get the comms back under SHIELD control. And *then* find a frequency that they would not be used. Unfortunately she couldn't tell them.. Hopefully Nat or Clint could follow her lead.

The hardest part was wrestling the comms back!

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha is still on the move, working her way through the drones but then she finds herself with a couple of new targets. The drones lashed and she leapt, trying to get out of range which was harder than it looked. Considering they moved pretty fast for drones. She fired a Bite at each of them then raised an arm to fire a Line, trying to pull herself out of range of them. Then she clicked her free hand to the right. Two tightenings of muscles. The ammo was changed and she fired small explosive grenades, two each, to the drones in hopes of destroying them.

That's when she heard the voice. Mentally, she cursed. Outwardly, she kept that confidence. "Taskmaster, should've known you'd be here. Did they give you a beekeeper suit? I'm sure you look fantastic," she says on the channel even as she prepares for the worst.

She drops into a small huddle of agents just in time, grabbing one and putting him between her and those fletchettes. He took out the men for her but she was stuck holding a now dead-weight so she pushed the body to the side as she scanned, trying to spot their opponent.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Groaning at the mention of *weakest Avengers*, Hawkeye was about to retort something sharp, though something more pointy and annoying suddenly fills the area between Natasha and him. Backing against the wall, Clint manages to avoid being hit by the flechettes. But then, Natasha moved further in, and the distance between them doesn't suit him well.

Quickly, Hawkeye leaps forward, finding another form of cover, just in time to take care of a drone turning towards a couple SHIELD agents. Another down.

"Yeah, a suit with brown pants." Clint finally comments over the comms.

Phobos has posed:
    As soon as Taskmaster's voice was heard on their comms, Skye was on the job and there was a short crackle and hiss of static before control was reestablished over the channel. A few other team members raised their voices in concern, the sound of gunfire heavy whenever they spoke, only for the Eye in the Sky to snap, // Clear the comms! Essential traffic only! //
    One of the heavy weapons in the emplacement the RRT overran is twisted around and brought in line with the heavy exo-suit that was targeting Clint. The high caliber rifle starts to roar as it sends round after round into the flickering shields of that armored battle machine. Rippling electrical flashes sizzle across its surface, then hiss and snap out of reality as its defenses drop.
    Fast those drones were that tracked after Widow, but not smart when not directly controlled. She leapt out of the way and they pursued, then she changed position along the Z axis and suddenly they were spinning in circles beneath her, their talons clicking and clattering as they tried to leap up and higher to grasp hold of her...
    Even as the small grenades exploded into their armored carapaces, blasting them apart messily.
    The flechette explosion peppered the body then of the man she used as cover, the standing corpse twisting in her grip as the impacts made it twist in a grim dance. Then she was moving again.
    Clint's able to push forward, avoiding the token rounds sent his way. The drone he /dings/ with the arrow strikes true and clean, causing it to twist in the air and nose over crashing square into the ground as its power source ignites with a hissing crackle of electrical discharge.
    Only /then/ for a large cloaked figure to slice out of the smoke, cape billowing behind it and flipping in mid-air as it slashes its arms out and a myriad of objects fly out from its gauntlets. A trio of shuriken slice across the distance toward Natasha, blazingly quick with something akin to the accuracy of Bullseye guiding them. While Clint sees a sputtering flare of some kind twisting in the air hurled at him no not at him... in front of him. As it connects with he ground and /explodes/ into a blaze of phosphorous perhaps meant to splash on him and ignite him... or perhaps to keep him back while he lands...
    Then spins to face Natasha, sword sliding free of its sheath. The skull mask leers, "Romanoff."

Quake has posed:
Almost.. almost..

Skye had to think quick, but not so fast that she blew her cover. Let them think they had the upper hand until they didn't. She had her backup frequency ready.. wait for it.. wait..

NOW!

At the same moment she quickly took back the comms and switched to a new frequency that now was secure. Again.

"Gotcha. All clear." Skye told them over the comms. And this time she would be ready.. if he does it again. (Likely not.) "All clear."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha tried to dodge. A leap to the side, spinning and twisting in the air. She manages to avoid the worst but there is a sharp burning sensation on her upper left arm. Sure enough, one had sliced her though it had been a glancing hit. Then he fired that shot at Clint and she frowned when the ignition happened.

Taskmaster was trying to separate them. Taking on the pair together, so well prepared and having worked side-by-side for years, would have even been a challenge for him. So he was trying to get Clint and Natasha apart.

Hopefully Clint avoided being hit. The blaze might interfere with his shots though. Damn. It was a good move by Taskmaster. She had confidence Clint was still in this but right now she had to deal with the figure in front of her.

"Tony." Because she wasn't calling him Masters. That would likely just feed into his ego. "Still with your flare for the dramatic. When will you learn that skill over flash is the most important. Oh, that's right. You don't have any real skills. You just copy others."

She blinked as something felt--off. Like a blurring at the edges that came and went. Shit! The shuriken had something on her when it nicked her. She had no idea how long she had before it took full effect.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
His suit is bullet proof, and fire resistant. Nonetheless, said suit doesn't cover his whole body. Clenching his teeth, Hawkeye manages to avoid most - not all - of the phosphorous matter, some making contact with his arm and hand. Shit, burns like a motherf... Rolling on his side, he's right away back on his feet, aiming directly at... a spot between Natasha and the Taskmaster. Keep them apart, a game Clint can also play. Just enough smoke to cover Natasha and give her time to find some cover. From his position, Clint cannot see any sign of distress from Natasha.

Hearing that the comms were just re-established by Skye, he quickly calls for reinforcement.

"We've got a situation down here! Shake time, baby!" In other words, Skye's presence and quaking abilities would be more than welcome.

Phobos has posed:
    That shield on Taskmaster's other arm flipped around and seemed to present its own version of Steve Rogers' weapon to the SHIELD agents that knew Captain America. For those that knew Cap well every step Taskmaster took seemed like the Star-Spangled Avenger's, almost a mockery of the man. "Sincerest form of flattery don't you know?"
    The smoke arrow sliced across the distance and impacted /right/ in that moment when Taskmaster said those words and moved. He /leapt/ sword raised and slashing down at the Widow in a blur of violent menace, slashing wildly thanks to the cover given by the purple archer.
    With the comms secure the tactical advisor is able to relay information, urging the second SHIELD team to move in, advising the first team to consolidate their position. A few more displays flicker into life on Skye's screen, showing her the overlay of the active networks in the area, though now that combat is engaged she's able to perceive the drone network as it flashes and flickers, showing the traffic back and forth as the robots communicate with each other while they rush at the SHIELD agents.

Quake has posed:
So, the Taskmaster was it?

Skye smiled to herself. And then she got sneaky. "Tit for tat," she muttered to herself. If SHIELD's comms could go down, so could theirs, only meaner. She sent a 'ribbon' to continue (ad nauseum) to sing a bunch of kiddy songs over and over again. Furthermore she called the drones and got them to shut down for maintenance.

That should do it.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Thank goodness for Clint. That cover was going to be needed. While she could hold out for a bit with Taskmaster, she knew he had studied up on a bunch of other heroes, giving him their fighting abilities just in the viewing. Cap was one of his regulars and it was obvious in how he moved. The arrow likely meant he had Clint in there but, thankfully, Clint could think out of the box. So though Taskmaster might have his archery, he wouldn't have his mind. The fletchettes could be any number of heroes really. Even villains. The Sword...now that was one of his things. Hopefully he hadn't looked up Swordmaster before this.

This all went through Natasha's mind in an instant and she was trying to move. She managed to dodge but just barely. She tried to fire a Widow's Bite and it pinged off that blasted shield to spark over on the floor nearby and die quickly. Another dodge and another but she realized she was getting slower, whatever toxin or poison that had been on the shuriken affecting her more and more.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
While the Taskmaster is busy trying to slice and dice Natasha, Clint moves behind the man, keeping a safe distance. It might be a shield close to Cap's one, it's still /just/ a shield. And shields don't cover the entire body, and it can't be at two places simultaneously.

And it would need to be at two places at once, because right now Hawkeye is aiming /two/ arrows at the Taskmaster, one to the head that should give him a nice concussion to nurse, while the one aimed at his feet should make him crawl like a baby. And then, the two arrows are shot at the villain. Already, another arrow is ready to complete the job.

Phobos has posed:
    A series of cascading failures were keyed in by Skye's intrusion, the comms for the AIM soldiers suddenly becoming this cacophonous torrent of children's music noticeably making some of them hesitate or slap their hands against the sides of their helmets. But the impact of the drone shut down command seemed to have much more impact as abruptly the hovering and skittering mini-vehicles all dropped to the ground or crashed into it, convulsing for a few moments before growing still.
    It was enough to give the response teams some slack, to let them get solidified in their defenses even as several agents from the first team pressed on the large exo-suit whose shields just went down. One of the agents fired a grenade into the knee joint of the mecha causing a low /krumpf/ to be heard that forced the great war machine to buckle and hit the ground on one knee, its weapon arms thrusting out to brace it from the fall and making it all the more vulnerable to incoming fire.
    Another slash slices through the ground near Natasha's legs as the Taskmaster stalks after her. But then his cowled head turns, perhaps catching Hawkeye's reflection in the silver interior of that shield. He /spins/ slashing aside the first arrow with the shield as he /rolls/ with the movement, narrowly leaping over that second arrow's flight. He's coming up to his feet, shield at the ready, as he spins his sword around... perhaps not taken down but distracted...
    As another agent had been drawing bead on the fallen robotic vehicle, visored helmet turning as the rifle raised to his shoulder. Only for him to catch the gleam of that sword in Taskmaster's hand. There was a single moment of hesitation, then the rifle was slung as he planted a hand on the metal rampart he had been using as cover, vaulting over it and calling out. "Widow, eyes left!"
    And in the middle of that chaos and mayhem, with so much weapons fire, some might notice in that instant a flare of silvery fire and the abrupt appearance of a crimson bladed katana that might only be seen for a moment in the hands of one of the SHIELD agents. Perhaps two as it /sliiiides/ sent skittering across the ground and through that wall of fire unharmed, clattering as it ends its slide at Widow's feet.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Clint was back in the game and had Taskmaster's attention. She was going t have to get out of here or she wasn't going to live through this fight. The drug in her system had her moving slower and slower, that blade having gotten closer and closer.

Hearing the call, she glanced over to see the crimson blade sliding into range. She rolled that direction since a leap was beyond her capabilities right now. Her hand closed around the hilt and...

The world shifted. Suddenly everything was clear. It wasn't that she could move faster but there was a clarity in her mind, the fog lifted as she found herself seeing things in a different way.

Seeing Taskmaster focused on Clint, she was already moving to her feet. It wasn't that Taskmaster, or anyone else, was in slow motion but she could understand more. It was the strangest thing ever. She brought the katana up, swinging it toward the sword Taskmaster was using.

KLANG---TINK. Impact. Followed by the tink of Taskmaster's sword being shorn in two, the majority of the blade flying off to skitter across the floor.

"Hawkeye, now!"

And now Taskmaster had the Black Widow and Hawkeye fully focused on him as she took her next swing at the villain!

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
And there went the third - decisive? - arrow, aimed at the Taskmaster's head. Good timing, since the creep will probably use the shield to defend himself against Natasha. And just for the heck of it, Clint decided to try the double arrow trick again. Take that, Taskcreep!

Phobos has posed:
    The sword struck clean, Taskmaster's own weapon composed of a nanofilament tempered blade, a blade meant to be able to slice through the heaviest of armor, connected with the weapon in Widow's hand. Only for that crimson-bladed katana to slice almost effortlessly through it, leaving the mercenary holding little more than the grip and guard.
    She pressed him and his shield came up to block the attack only for the tip of the sword to cut clean through the shield, slicing it into two and severing the leather straps that connected it to the shield proper. It left the warrior reeling on his back foot, trying to retreat from her advance. Only for him to turn and in that instant...
    Arrow to the face and the chest with a resonant /THWIP-THWIP!/ it causes his head to snap back and his body to jack-knife backwards, slamming him to the ground as his consciousness was abruptly stolen from him.
    And as quickly as that, the few remaining pockets of AIM resistance dissipated. The gunfire slowed and settled. It was still chaos around them with the smoke billowing even as Skye was able to break through and get full access to the Hive's systems.
    Yet for Natasha as she holds that blade in hand, the world seems utterly clear, as if a layer of static had been drawn back from one's perception of reality. It all looked as she much expected it, and perhaps she realized that the battle was won before the others. Though what might draw her eye all the more was as the other SHIELD agents advanced to draw ranks, to make sure the matter is over...
    She'll see the silhouette of Agent Aaron in the first Response Team is no longer the image of a man, firearm in hand. But that of a grim golden being, its eyes swirling vortices of some kind of dark singularity that seems to draw in all it surveys, a palpable menace seeming to emanate out from it as it stands there, a slithering silken tendril connecting that sword to him across the small distance.
    And then on the comms there's the voice of the Eye in the Sky, // Good fight, team. That's a wrap. Sweep and clear. //