13780/Digging Up The Past : Hydra and Seek

Digging Up The Past : Hydra and Seek
Date of Scene:	29 August 2021
Location:	Adirondack Mountains, New York State
Synopsis:	There's not many places one can hide from Frank Castle
Cast of Characters:	Punisher, Phantasm (Drago)
Tinyplot:	Digging Up The Past

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Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
With the exception of what happened at one cabin recently, the Adirondack Mountains is a rather peaceful area with a beautiful landscape. Far from the busle of cities, what properties there are are often reached by a winding dirt road whose condition is at the mercy of the land owner.

The cabin at the end of this particular dirt road is situated in a small clearing where the land has leveled off just enough for an area to park and a place to walk. Two worn down looking SUVs are parked there, blending in to the rustic nature of the single story cabin.

Despite the beautiful landscape, there is not much to be seen of it as it's still dark out, leaving the outdoor lighting and what escapes from the center cabin windows as the primary source of illumination.

In an odd note about the property, despite the late hour, the cabin has four armed persons patrolling the outside. One for each side of the building. There's not much in visual for those inside the cabin, but based from the lack of lighting coming from the side windows, it appears those who are positioned in the bedrooms are likely asleep.

Punisher has posed:
This operation was a bit more complex, yet simple, for Frank. He's been all over the world, done operations in all kinds of conditions. Now, he's going into an isolated cabin with a cleared view that trying to get in on foot was a bad idea unless he was willing to kill everyone immediately.

For this one, he didn't want anyone alerted to his presence. What happened to Stuck made it clear that taking the chance meant the killswitch might be triggered... and Frank needed to get the signal blocker on Clayton before that could be triggered.

The ground wasn't an option except for support elements. But the sky?

Parachutes would be too easy to see. Wingsuits, on the other hand...

The Battle Van was in place, the private aircraft owned by 'Frank Malgano' had been flown over the area and set to autopilot as Frank got on his infiltration gear... and the time had been set.

Now, it was time to see if their plan would pay off. The patrol patterns had been mapped well enough that Frank timed it down to the second to minimize the chances of being spotted visually.

Over the commlink, Frank finally states, "Operation is a go. Dropping in 5. Prep distractions."

Meaning if he's about to be spotted, set off a firecracker or something opposite of his infiltration flight path to keep eyes off.

The door is opened, and the autoclose set to 10 seconds... and the Punisher drops, folding out the wingsuit as he drops dropping for the cabin roof silently.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Off in the safety of his prefered domain, Micro listens in to the communication from the Punisher. The van's placement made for a response to be quick, the drones were ready, but not close enough to be an audible tip off to those patroling the grounds. Now if something were to be dropped by them to produce an a bang sound, THAT would be audible. Ideally he wouldn't be needed much. Realisticly- well. "I got ya. We're good to go here." Micro replies back, keeping the response short. They've been over these plenty of times. Sometimes less is more.

The choice to skip the parachute in favor of the wing suit for reduced visibilty is wise. The material of the wing suit blended better into the sky and took up much less of it. Being that the area around the cabin is cleared, it also eliminates the threat of trees.

Now Wind. Oh. That's a bit of a b-.

Not hunting anyone in particular or expecting anyone to just dive bomb a cabin out of the blue. Looking up is something that most of them don't think about.

Except for that one guy on the large porch who starts to.

There's a crackle going off to the side, drawing his attention away. He starts to move from the porch to get a better look to the source of the sound.

Better be careful. Hear there are wolves around here.

Punisher has posed:
Divebombing might be a bit... overdramatic, but almost accurate. As he nears the cabin, Frank knows the exact time to put on the brakes so he can roll his way across the rooftop silently...

He manages a fairly graceful landing, but given the roof construction, it's not as hard as it could be. On top of that, Frank has trainex extensively in most forms of infiltration, including airdrops... so this is routine for him too.

After two rolls from the sheer force of coming in like he did, he lays flat on the roof and listens for trouble.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Fortunately for Frank, those awake appear to be outside the cabin leaving no one inside to inquire about the sound of squirrels running down the rooftop's slope.

Speaking of squirrels, that is what big porch man finds when he gives the nearby wooded area a closer look. Shaking his head, he starts to move back towards his original spot.

"Guard on drop off side is facing the cabin for a few seconds" Micro warns, monitoring the change in positioning, "Take about 5..."

Punisher has posed:
While he waited, the Punisher started putting together his gear silently. A pistol with Mercy rounds gets a silencer and his Ka-bar comes out, the bandolier of grenades is checked, as is the tablet for remote access to the Battle Van.

Once he's set, he starts his slow crawl to get into position to drop off and do a takedown, putting the silenced pistol in it's holster for now.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
From Micro's vantage point, he observes quietly as Frank shuffles into place. To make matters worse, the guard who returned to the porch area ends up settling up near that corner of the porch in order to keep himself between anyone approaching from the ground and the sliding door leading into the master. Off to the east side of the building, the guard is doing yet another walk along his assigned area.

"Guy on the east side is starting to head back north. Porch guy is standing where you need to be. But-"

There's another crackling sound in the bushes, causing for the man to mutter obscenities as he heads back off the porch to check again. Stupid squirrels. But he has to check.

"-That should give you a few."

Punisher has posed:
With a practiced flip over, Frank lands on his feet gracefully and just outside the door. He tests it to see if it's locked first.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
There could be plenty of explanation for Frank's findings. A lot of things have occurred in the past week or so. Many with supposed connections to Clayton, albeit distant, have met their demise. Some more gruesomely than others. But whatever the reason for the oversight, it does not negate the sheer amount of stupidity that is demonstrated next.

The door budges with the pressure Frank applies.

Punisher has posed:
Under the balaclava, Frank blinks. No need for the lockpicking set?

All the better.

He slowly enters the room, checking around for potential traps as he steps forward and gets into position to inject the sedative. A custom cocktail meant to paralyze and then put the person to sleep.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
There's but a slight rumble in the track of the sliding door as Frank comes in. But with the guards positioned to the furthest sides of the house away from the bedroom, it is a mute point.

The inside of the master bedroom is dark and simply furnished. Other than the full bed situated against the east wall, there is a small dresser wedged in the southern east portion of the room. Underneath the quilt of indeterminant color, a Clayton slumbers.

Well, bout of idiocy aside it appears the events haven't done anything to kill his sleep.

Punisher has posed:
The autoinjector is pushed in right at the main arteries in the neck, and the rapid release pushes the cocktail in.

After the few seconds it takes for it to get to work, he drags the body off the bed and over his shoulders before he starts walking back towards the door, closing it as he walks out and clicks the commlink three times, signalling a prep for extraction to Microchip. His grapnel gun is taken out and used to silently pull himself back into the roof... and he heads into the center of it as he waits for the right moment to send his beacon up.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The corner between the master bedroom wall and the general living area wall ends up proving to be a lifesaver as the man patrolling the southern side had started to turn back around. And then there's that damn crackling sound again. Muttering another curse he checks the sound again.

With the man on the East side just reaching the midway point on his walk south, Frank is left unchallenged in his trip upwards, what little sounds that are produced end up going unnoticed. The slope of the cabin roof does offer some concealment from most sides of the cabin. As for the one who could potentially spot Frank as he waits? He's hunting squirrels.

At the signal, the awaiting aircraft's position starts to shift, moving into proper position for retrieval.

Punisher has posed:
After a ten count, Frank takes the beacon from the back holster and hits the release, silently sending up the balooned hook for the reinforced cable to drift up and await the aircraft.

Silently, he waits... his burden shifting here and there as he keeps his pistol at the ready until he needs to keep the body stabilized.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
It is amazing just how well Frank was able to do all the things he did so far this night. WITHOUT a shot being taken. Sure there were explosions in the form of three itty bitty firecrackers but dang. But even with the coordination that was made. All that planning can do very little for a balloon flashing in the sky. And someone was bound to notice.

In this case it was the guy patrolling the East side of the house, "Look up!" He shouts, alerting the others to the thing that needs to be done. His firearm is raised, but upon seeing the very guy paying his bills being slung over the shoulder, he lines up his shot and takes it.

The guard to the north of the building ends up looking up after being prompted to do so. But he finds that his angle is even worse. With the positioning there's a very good chance he could shoot his employer in the head. "DAMMIT! He's Got Clayton! Someone get on the roof!

And while the chaos flows on the ground, and on the roof. The plane continues on its' path, flying towards the balloon. The catch on the aircraf ends up scooping up the hook, latching it in place as it continues on its determined path, taking what it fished with it.

Punisher has posed:
Firing at the man carrying his boss. Clayton knew how to pick them. Even with the wingsuit lined with carbon nanotubes, that bullet HURTS.

Instead of firing back, he gets into a better position to cover himself from the gunfire and starts to fire back when they remotely get within range...
Firing back requires him to get into firing position... which means he won't be able to hold onto Clayton.

When the hook starts to lift him away, he clicks twice, signalling he was grabbed, and to start pulling the winch up.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As the duo get pulled away from the roof, there's the sound of the cabling being drawn up, eventually pulling them towards the opened doorway. While this is going on the cabin and the people surrounding it start to diminish in size as distance is put between them.

To the ground area, the drone quietly makes its way back to the battle van, docking in place for the trip home.