14109/Give us the power! Pt 1

Give us the power! Pt 1
Date of Scene:	06 February 2022
Location:	Small, fictional country, 'Keflye'.
Synopsis:	The team heads over to help save a small nation.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Beast, Phantasm (Drago), Pepper Potts, Captain America, Black Widow (Romanoff)

---

Iron Man has posed:
Keflye, a small Sub-Saharan country on the brink of prosperity, on the cusp of finally being able to bring to its people a standard of living only seen in a small handful of other countries on the Dark Continent. The Premier is idolized; his name is sung in the streets of the capital city and beyond. Every town, every village, every hamlet he's visited, every person he's touched, they sing of his kindness, his gentleness, and his strength.

Internationally, Keflye isn't so much making a splash, but more a slowly growing economy that gains more attention in that the government is not only an amalgam of several political theories, but a seemingly increasingly successful one.

Safety, security, which leads to prosperity. It was leading towards that direction, it truly was.

Until it wasn't. Screams are heard in the streets, with alarm called over and over, 'Baba yetu is dead! They killed him!' Wailing soon rises, along with more gunshots. Traitors in their midst, just looking for a moment, and the moment was seized.

***

Less than three days later, it has fallen into anarchy. Premier Jelani is dead, his body missing. His family, like the Romanovs, taken out, shot and no one knows where their final resting place is either. Business leaders were rounded up, doctors, lawyers, any who know the first thing about maintaining a stable infrastructure are either jailed or dead.

The capital, as well as the rest of the country, is in darkness. The electrical grid run by the single nuclear power plant is offline. Pumping stations for the water supply mostly served by the 3 natural reservoirs are no longer receiving the requisite electricity.. and citizens are reduced to going out with buckets and praying they're not shot for arbitrary curfew 'laws'.

No one has claimed responsibility. No one yet knows who is behind it, but SHIELD is more than willing to find out, on the ground, and have their chat.

Now, with SHIELD moving quietly, they do wield a rather large stick.. in the form of the Avengers. If done properly, it all can be really good PR for the Agency, if not the hero group.

***

In the Conference room on the helicarrier 'Odessey', the table has files in front of 5 seats, and a reasonably high level SHIELD officer waits for all to come in and sit down. There are pitchers of water, the outside of them sweating with condensation, leaving rings on the table should anyone want to pour themselves a glass of water.

The briefing is short, sweet and to the point.
*Identify the threat. Take him out.
*Get the grid up. Too many damned geniuses on the mission not to expect that a nuclear power plant will be running within 10 minutes.
*Get the water flowing.
*SHIELD will provide medical personnel for the hospitals, and engineers for the grid and water.
*Mission critical personnel will be flown down in a quin.

"Any questions?"

***

Tony Stark has not yet become the 'Iron Man' on this particular cruise, simply because .. he really doesn't feel like it. Still working the bugs out of the newest suit, and it's just this side of not perfect. This mission is fine for taking it through its paces, however, and as a result, the man is dressed in form fitting black, long sleeved shirt and pants, with boots, the light blue outline of something in the center of his chest just barely discernable. He has a watch on his left hand, or rather, what appears to be a watch as he walks up the gangway of the quin.

"Come on, boys and girls," Tony turns around and calls out, "We have to get back before noon." Why? Probably 'reasons'. "It's not the hardest thing we've done, so stop googling 'how to stop a nuclear meltdown.'"

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy has his own transportation and that's a good thing too. SHIELD don't have access to everything that the X-man Avenger does in his lab, although it's a toss up if there's really much in his bag of tricks. But he brought it with him anyway, because having an EXTRA bag of tricks and a spare, highly manoeverable jet on hand along with the Quinjet, is helpful. The Dove does fly like she was meant to kiss the clouds. She's parked nearby, with a mobile surgery suite aboard and a small fortune's worth of emergency equipment just in case. The doctor has his mitts on a blue-print of this particular power plant design held up to his face, spectacles actually up against the bridge of his nose for once and not sliding down.

"We should be able to get this up and running with the two of us and a couple of runners, at least initially. We'd need a security detail in situ in the short term though and maaaaaaaaaaaybe a fresh uranium rod or two. Well, we won't know until we get eyeballs on it I suppose." Beast looks up, in his field gear which consists of a belt with a few gadgets on it and skin tight dark blue suit that doesn't catch on a damn thing and leaves his natural agility unhampered along with his arms and lower legs bare. "Do we have any idea who's showing up to this shindig?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick is neither an Avenger nor a SHIELD agent. But he knows a few of each and he's apparently on a few contac lists now. Despite the how, the rockstar is one of the five seat occupants, hair pulled back and his attire fully revealing that he belongs with neither group. He has no fancy costume or SHIELD uniform. Just... comfortable looking clothes.

Nick is more or less wondering why he got called in. Being he doesn't know much about utilities, he assumes he's more here for support. Or in case someone needs to become quasi-intangible in a dangerous envi-

Oh.

That's why.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony straps himself into the Quin, and like a good billionaire, allows himself to be chauffeured down to the LZ in style, and invisibility.

Of course, they all have their coms, courtesy of SHIELD. "How's it looking, Henry?" comes through the coms. "Basic set up? French? Russian? US designed?" Someone probably didn't do ALL his homework, but one nuclear power plant is like another. The design determines how much shielding and where. "I know it's not back alley."

Tony smirks and as the aircraft nears the landing zone, the pilot calls out, "Running silent." Of course Tony chimes in again, "Time to be super secret. We'll meet up on the ground."

As the Quin does come in to the LZ, the city lights beyond are dark. There's nothing, other than the occasional truck with its light obviously on, clearing the darkness. Still, Tony doesn't do the 'Iron Man' thing. Not yet.

"Okay, guys. Listen up. Civilians are a secondary primary. If.. that makes any sense. I'll check on that later. But, we're gonna have to split up. I'm sure the idiots are kicking back in the mansion in town, so I'm sure a couple can go there. Henry, you get the power, I got the water. Phantasm, you've got lead on the house until Cap shows. He's on the ground, and probably dealing some crowd control."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy glances at his consoles, then at the blueprints again. "French. Old French, too, it seems. still, pretty damn workable," he tosses the BPs into the seating of the co-pilot's chair and flicks several switches on both the console and overhead and lo and behold a Dove becomes a Chamaeleon as he banks off from the landing zone the quin is angled toward, coordinates blipping on his screen for the power plant. "This should be fun --" pause "--copy that and over."

Thank heavens for VTOL and small mercies, but also the rattle and flash of gunfire in the suburbs. In a murmur: "Be careful down there. The kids are playing with the firecrackers."

He is not usually a solo operative, but Beast does know how to hit the ground running -- tool kit, electronic tumblers and extensive training in the danger room have their benefits. "Right Hank old man, remember you're playing with a spanner and nuclear fission. Don't cock this up."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
A couple of the people in the meeting seemingly took a different way to get over which led for a relatively quiet flight for Nick. He pretty much used the time to sort of rest, not really tuning in until someone startes off with 'Okay, guys.'

The rocker's eyes open, looking over to Tony as he speaks. He gives a nod to the secondary given. The head's motion pauses as he's given temporary lead on a task. He blinks. Okay, he was not expecting that. Guess he's looking for the threat instead.

"'Kay." Nick replies, momentarily wondering how long ago it was when he saw Cap. When the group splits up to go their separate ways, a purplish black raven is making its way towards the mansion.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony has the coordinates for the water processing plant, and as he finally leaves the safety of the Quin, as he walks, the suit begins to appear around him. Welcome to his newest iteration. As he does so, he's talking, offering up instructions, last minute advice, however anyone would care to take it.

"It'll probably be guarded, so keep an eye. Sing out if you need backup, doc." An honorific from Tony? "If it's too far gone, let me know. We can go to Plan B."

"Plan B, sir?" JARVIS is up and running, and the comment is for Tony's ears only, secured in the suit as he is.

"Yes, Plan B. Don't worry. I've got one. Always have one."

"Yes, sir." Does the AI sound the least bit dubious? Absolutely.

In the next moment, the helm of his suit falls over his face, and after taking a step, he's up on the air, the flames from the boots lighting up the sky as he travels to his part of the plan. "Phantasm, buddy, don't fail me now. You need help, we're only minutes away. If you don't get a target, that's okay. Civilians first."

Beast has posed:
Meanwhile, the Monsters Inc stand-in for Sully scales one of the perimeter walls of the power plant with a leap, a cling and a forward flip to land and assess the situation. What he finds is relatively predictable; only bare minimum energy output, from the generators and residuals in the transformers. Switching off a major power plant after all, is not something that can be completely done without systematic shut-downs and containment protocols. Reactors are not active and... there's movement in the loading zone, a couple of stolen ATV's and a passle of looters and profiteers. "Well, that's just grand. Tony? I've got company. Nothing I can't handle, probably..."

Happily, under the cover of darkness, being big and blue doesn't have quite the issue that it does when say, under the noon day sun. He blends in enough to go almost unnoticed, if not utterly in stealth mode. ATVs and armorments are observed for several minutes, before reflective eyes fade deeper into the shadows. Who knows what might be being viewed remotely, as Beast is the kind to wear a cam as well as a comm. You never know when you have to ask the unimaginably embarassing question of 'does anyone know what this pulsating doohicky is?'.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper wasn't quite the super hero sort to be directly on the Quin Jet, but with Tony taking out his new suit and the international implications of this mission, she's come along the helicarrier to be a secondary resource to the team on the ground. She settles into the chair that the higher ups on SHIELD have offered her, neatly smoothing her skirt beneath her frame and crossing her long legs. She's shifting like she's sitting at a board room table instead of in the back end of a war room.

She carefully adjusts the comm unit that they've given her to her ear, making certain that it's turned on and she can hear what's being said over the open channel as well as see the monitor in front of her. "It's me... I mean... Pepper. Potts. Potts here. I'm here. If you all need... more supplies, an immediate drop, diplomatic channels smoothed, whatever... You. I'm just here. On comms. If you need me. Be safe, Dr. McCoy" Her voice chimes in over the channel, trying not to sound as nervous as she feels, especially as Hank is already encountering issues.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The bird tilts its head as the sound of Tony's voice filters to his ear. He may not have gotten a fancy uniform or costume but they at least gave him a comm device before this all started. The bird's beak moves making it weird for any other birds that might be in the area "Got it Tony." Phantasm replies, "I'll do what I can."

The mansion is a little bit aways, it appears those who like big ass homes don't want to spend their days staring at smaller ones and instead build further away from the population. Which leads to increased security that makes for a difficult climb up the walls. If one had to climb, that is.

Flying in unchallenged, the lore-heavy symbol of change ends up landing on the sill of a window. The head looks about, getting a bit of a glimpse of what security is like for those who may have to come in the hard way.

Iron Man has posed:
"Tell me they didn't just flip a switch and think it was enough," Tony muses as he flies through the darkness. The displays on the inside of his helmet is tuned to a high definition, non-glare night vision mode. He can see them, and, well, assuming they don't see the flash from his boots, they won't see him. Or, they won't realize who it is until it's way over. "I really don't feel like going to Plan B." As it is, however, if Henry doesn't get the grid up, he'll be jury-rigging something.

"Pepper. We know it's you, okay? It'll be fine." He means to sound calming in that 'not really too calm at the moment' as he flies up to find a few heavy pickup turned personnel truck out front of the plant. Pausing in his flight, he hovers, then moves straight up, then diagonally in order to move around it. "Whatever you hear, just ignore it, unless we call you, alright?"

Before he can turn his com off, he's pushing out a pulse blast, and the sound of rapid gunfire lights up the sky with tracers. "Seriously. All this for water? It's not even a brewery. I mean, come on."

Iron Man now swoops in, and instead of using anything really lethal, instead he uses the blast of the 'afterburners' when he sets them in, though it does give him a forceful push forward.

"Whoa!" comes out as a laugh. "Okay, keeping that. In we go."

Up and over the fences, he lands and goes around to one of the doors, pulling it off its hinges with a grin. //Love it.//

As for Phantasm's security? Drunk guys with AKs. They've looted a lot of the place, carved up paintings, pulled up rugs.. anything that can be sold to the black market is on its way, no doubt. Should they see the birb?

Beast has posed:
"Miss Potts, always a delight to hear your voice," Beast murmurs very softly, and drops to all fours. His cam is live if she's tracking -- on the balls of his feet and pads of his fingers, he inches along tarmac in the pools of deeper shadow, until up behind a waste can, peering around the edge of it. Three vehicles, four clusters of looters, armed with assault rifles and a several hand guns stashed in the sensible and not-so-sensible locations. The doctor sneaks up behind one of the ATV's, hunkering behind the back bumper and rear wheel, inching up enough to check the men and women keeping 'watch' as they talk; further away, men are moving what they think they can use or sell, into the back of a troop carrier, with a few more goons and guns circling like the scavengers that they are. "I'm hoping not, Tony. I'll know more when I get inside. Hope whoever's watching enjoys the show..."

Claws imbed in the tarmac, then well; one ATV two-ton's brakes give way at the careful application of slowly increasing force, only to be rolled oh-so-subtley closer. Cue: last minute shove, for ten tons of applied strength showing what transferance of energy is all about, when ATV number one bonks ATV number two, which shunts and knocks half a dozen men off their feet. The rest is a lot of rolling, head smacking, using people's own kinetic energy against them and one very thrown truck landing square atop of the troop carrier, with a lot of crashing and one rather small fireball, all told.

"And the doctor picks up a spare..." chuckling a muttley chuckle, he darts indoors and lowers the petticoat loading dock door before others come by to figure out what the HELL just happened. "I'm in. Give me a few, I have to pick locks."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The bird's eyes narrow, "... Drunk as-" Wait. The lady's on the line? "-jerks with guns. About...7. Main entry." The bird relays lowly.

Hopping off, the bird flies over to another window, glancing in. Looking for someone who looks important.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The words from Tony get a little huff from Pepper across the comms. She was trying to act cool and collected, but she's not. There is no way she can sit back calmly in the chair while she's listening to the chaos over her headpiece. Therefore, she uncrosses her legs and sits more forward in the chair, her shoulders tight and free hand that isn't controlling the mouse over the monitors is white knuckled. She might actually be more nervous than anyone on the ground. "I know it will be fine, but water rights are a highly dangerous threat all across the world. Water is going to cause the next world wars, Tony, and I'd rather we not be at the center of that." Pepper has kept up with a lot of international politics. She knows how dangerous this is.

Hank's words get a softer smile in her voice, "Dr. McCoy, you're always a gentleman. Just... come back in one piece. And let me know whatever you need." See? Pepper is far more calm to talk to when she's getting calm on the other end of the line! She switches over, trying to keep some scanners on Phantasm as well. If she could have full body sensors and cameras on all of them, she would. But only Tony has the full suite. She's still trying to keep an eye on everyone.

Iron Man has posed:
"You say that like I don't know about all that," Tony comes back. "I'm not going to start an international war. Or incident." There's a pause before he finishes, "Pepper." He might be sounding a touch harsher than he should, and he'll absolutely apologize about it later. Assuming she's talking to him later. That's always a toss-up.

For Tony's part, the guys in the pickup truck are down for the count, and the inside of the water plant is dark and silent. The HUD in the faceplate is giving him lots of readouts, from energy output, input, temperature, motion detection.. and he exhales in a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

<<JARVIS, give me the blueprints. Get me to the box.>>

<<Yes, sir.>>

Following corridors, moving down on steel platform stairs, he can't help but go 'clinkclink' with metal on metal. Below, all is dark.

<<Oh, this isn't good.>>

The room is filled with junction boxes, heavy duty cables, and while the handles are in the down and locked position, those cables are hanging.. cut.

"I'm going to have to escort our boys in. It's been trashed. I think I'm working on Plan C now."

Commotion, however, is heard from above his head, and there's something of a swear that exits the man. "Right, sooner rather than later. Incoming."

Foregoing the stairs this time, Tony lifts slowly, seemingly levitating easily until he's face to face with the newly arrived; no doubt called by those that he'd basically pressure-waved.

"Yeah, this doesn't work for me. So, any of you know how to fix this stuff?" Beat. "Anyone?" The Avenger waits for another heartbeat before he exhales in that exhasperated sigh, "Right.." and his hand comes forward, only to meet gunfire with repulsor. The suit is hit several times, but those that did it are out.. slammed against a wall, and if they're not dying from internal injuries, they won't be up for quite some time.

<<Sir, suit is at 98% and stable.>>

<<Thanks, buddy. It'll buff out. Let's just not tell mother, okay? Our secret.>>

Beast has posed:
For Beast, the drama was all on the outside of the complex. The problem he faces is a lot more challenging in some respects. Finding the control room of the power plant, it seems as if everything is peachy keen, except some of the lights that should be green are in fact, not. Green that is. There's several oranges and one rather alarming blinky red. "Oh, dear." Probably not a good thing to hear through the comms. "Erm. I'll be a while, I think. Nobody..." hand gestures are thrown out here and there and such, a poor attempt at conducting the orchestra of none, but apparently a necessary process "...make any loud and distracting bangs."

Portable hacker laptop brought out, McCoy plugs it in, jacks into the system and stares at the data that begins, after he's bypassed a few things, to flow. "Well, chaps and chapettes, this is why you need to be a nuclear physicist. They really did just flip switches. I'm rerouting the residual power to the containment grid and I'm going to reboot the transformer array. I'll have to do each one in turn, to ramp it up to operating. Wish me luck."

Yes, we are going to avert a potential melt down scenario. He pokes his spectacles up his nose again even going so far as to stick the tip of his tongue out between pursed lips. Behold the concentration.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"...Annnnd eight more in the adjacent room. Similar condition-" The raven pauses, watching as one of them starts to move towards a doorway. Judging from the mannerisms. "H- Make that seven." Phantasm amends, "One's transitioning into the next room. Going to have a look."

Falling off the sill, the bird starts to fly over to tne next window.

Pepper Potts has posed:
While Pepper could offer to run more permutations from Tony, she knows he has JARVIS. He's got a computer with him infinitely as capable as her's and probably more intelligent. All she can do is sit there and listen, worrying. She kills the microphone of the comm for a moment as she mutters to herself, "Oh hell, Tony, you better get yourself out of this... Don't be stubborn about this, Tony..." She grumbles. Then she remembers there are a few SHIELD agents in the room who are basically now staring at her as she talks to herself. She gives them a sheepish touch of a smile, "What? It's stressful. He's an idiot. I'm allowed to worry." And then she turns her comms back on, the moment done.

"What are you trying to fix, Tony? I might be able to talk you through it from up here but I need the feed." Not that JARVIS couldn't, but the fact that Tony is asking that and Pepper isn't entirely sure what is going on tells her maybe there's some way to help.

And then McCoy's words come across the feed. Her eyes go even wider. She's not certain any of them can survive a nuclear explosion. "Good luck, Hank... If you need anything..." Well, she's said it half a dozen times. She stops saying it. They know. All she can do is listen and try to keep her breath calm. She stares up at the SHIELD agents for a moment, who are now just staring back at her, "Oh, dammit, can one of at least you do something useful like get me a cup of coffee?" She does relax a touch as she hears the bird's reports. At least someone has more eyes on the ground than she does.

Captain America has posed:
    For the first time in the evening a voice breaks in on the comms, responding to Phantasm's call as Captain Rogers' voice lifts. << 7 operatives with guns main entry, 8 more adjacent roger that. Let me know if anything pops up. >>
    The system recognizes the voice and populates the data fields of various heads up displays, showing the entry of a new agent as the Avenger's location flickers into life on some of the command screens. Little more at first than a blip off some distance from the mansion it seems to be closing the distance at roughly twenty-five miles per hour, moving rapidly through the covered approach and closing the distance.
    << Phantasm, I'm thirty seconds out, give me a rolling feed if you can, please. >> Outside the mansion gravel crunches light under the press of a boot, a sentry is turning and sweeping a glance over the horizon in time to see a blur of motion out of the corner of his eye before there's a low /THUNG!/ as suddenly he's struck hard and eased to the ground.
    << 27 seconds. >>

Iron Man has posed:
"I knew I had the right guy on the job. Besides, I was pretty sure you didn't want to get this close to the water," Tony quips. "I mean, I could have done that, but if I said 'uh oh', everyone would be on me."

Iron Man hovers, his night vision still on in full display on, well, his display. Turning back around and slowly lowering himself, he turns on the light and the camera, automatically switching displays on his HUD. Cables are sliced, and the high power junction boxes are shut down. At least they were smart enough to turn off the power before cutting the cables? "We'll need lines of cables. I can do what I can to splice," yes, high power lines, "and your work over there, doc, will give me time." He pauses, and even though he's smiling, there is a certain amout of seriousness under his tones, "Assuming you can get things stabilized enough to //not// give Russia a run for its money." Chernobyl, anyone?

The light is switched off once more, and Tony takes a deep breath as his night-vision kicks back in.

<<Okay, buddy, time to get to work. Play some music for me.>>

<<As you wish, sir.>>

Working here, now, other than the fact that he'll probably be interrupted more than a few times, is like working at home. Running long cables, cutting, setting and resetting. The only difference is that he's in a country half way around the world in a room where it's damp, dank, and people are trying to not only kill him, but his teammates as well.

Beast has posed:
"Pepper, my dear, would you be so good as to go and briefly look stern at some underlings with weaponry? I took out about two dozen men in the parking lot of this little set up and none of them are dead. The security detail ought to get in there before the reinforcements do and honestly? I could -reaaaaaaaaaaaally- do with an extra pair of hands. Otherwise, I'll be attempting to run five computer terminals and the switch board simultaneously and although I can juggle like Bozo the clown, I can't be in multiple places at the same time. Logistics the heck out of them in your charming, loquatious style, would you?" -- Staring at one of the banks of readings, Beast's mouth makes a twist to the side, his 'bulldog' teeth more pronounced on one side as he adjusts, adjusts again, then grabs his toolkit and hustles out of the room, to check the physical hardware.

"Ukraine, Tony. Ukraine. Call a Ukrainian a russian and you'll end up getting a serious hairy eyeballing. But we're not going to go down that route if I can help it. The containment is intact, the mechanisms have been well maintained. Also, no cracks in the concrete." Quick eyes, clever hands and a lot of hustling from one reactor to the next, memorizing readings and he hurries back to the control room.

"Alright my chicakees, my priority is proper shut-down here of the other reactors. Fromt he looks of it, number two is the healthiest. I'm diverting what power the facility has, to reactor number two, to get the coolant system up and running properly and getting the capacitors to take the load. The rest we can do when it's not so urgent. Stand by..."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The bird shakes his head, "No Cap. Seven in Main. Seven in immediately adjacent now. One moved, I'm seeing where he wen-" The bird stops, eyeing inside. "Ok. Including that guy, backmost room has 10 armed and one restrained in the corner opposite of the entrance way. Female. Going with that one NOT being one of the troublemakers."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"W-what...Dr. McCoy? I mean, yes, I can do whatever you need, but I'm up here on the carrier. It'll take me a few to... get down there. But do what you're doing. I'll take care of the people in the parking lot. I promise. We've got SHIELD... I'll handle it. You just don't blow up!" And then Pepper's mind is racing. She can't get down there herself that quickly, she looks up to the SHIELD agents in the room she's in, shutting off her comms so she's not flooding the channels while she gives them orders.

"You heard the man! We need people down there *now*, taking care of two dozen men in that parking lot. Where ever you have boots on the ground, get several of them over to that lot and cleaning up that mess before it comes to bite them in the as-... Behind!" Not that Pepper has any rank to give orders here but, apparently, the tone of her voice and working with Iron Man counts. Because now SHIELD is snapping into action, getting the units on the ground to that parking lot before the guards all wake up and become a new problem.

"Reinforcements on the way to the lot, SHIELD units, just so you all know. Focus on the mansion, they'll take care of those who are already down." Pepper's voice is earnestly calmer now having had something active to do. She feels better when she's helping to solve the crisis.

Captain America has posed:
    << Seven and ten, one non-com. Keep the updates rolling, Phantasm.>>
    A double click is heard on the comms and then Cap's voice comes across as he adds, << Widow, you copy that? Breaching in five. Four. Three... >>
    The last two ticks go off silently until the door to the front of the manor suddenly buckles and explodes inwards in one largely door-shaped piece of shrapnel hurtling into the face of the man moving to check on the sentry out front. It impacts /heavily/ crashing over the figure even as that man is knocked back. A figure in dark grey and blue with red only in the shield bursts through the doorway twisting to the side in one clean motion as he drops low, the shield in his hand slicing outward.
    A blurred disk clangs hard into the head of one of the gunmen, ricochets into the chest of another, and caroms into the leg of a third before it bounces off the ground and into the good Captain's hand as he twists around and crashes it into a terribly expensive coffee table that hurtles into the bodies of three men who are rushing to get up from the sofa they had been sitting on.
    There's a short rattle of gunfire, and a few more crashes of impacts from the front room, though those shots are brief, chaotic, and abruptly over.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
In the room with the ten, the window exploded inward as a figure in black crashed through. The figure wasn't large and move quickly. Though one might get glimpse of very short red hair as she moved. The window access was made through was away from the possible hostage, so they didn't get any damage from flying glass or splinters of wood.

As Natasha crashed through the window, her arms had been crossed in an X shape, an energy shield of some sort there which kept her from damage. It also helped block the gunfire coming her way as she breached. Then she quickly flung her arms out to either side, firing off Widow's Bites from her wristbands and tossing a few from her fingertips, aiming for several of the ten Bad People.

She hit the floor in a shoulder roll, coming up on her feet and dropping a pair of electrified tonfas in her hands. Anyone that was still up, she was heading for. The shield would be used as needed to block any gunfire coming her way. <<Widow in. The ten are occupied if Phantasm has a shot for rescue of the hostage.>>

Iron Man has posed:
Heavy metal is probably not what one thinks of when working on a high voltage project. But, it is relaxing, and it gets Tony into the groove of working on the system. Cables are pulled, cut, disconnected, and reshaped and reset. "Right, Ukraine. They still write with backwards Rs, though." His voice sounds distracted as he works, setting the boxes back up.

"Good to hear the status report, but.." What? "Are you gonna need me, doc? I can get to this to a point where I can drop it." Not in the water, "And give you a hand." Pepper is more than capable, when instructions are given, but to put her deliberately in danger? That's not something he's really willing to do.

"Pepper, stay put. If the thing goes up, I don't want you anywhere near it. It'll damage the 'carrier, but you'll be shielded." His tones are low, serious; probably as serious as anyone has heard it. Pepper may hear the underlying message. "Send the grunts down, and I'll get over. I am 5 minutes out."

Tony sets a cable down gently, and engages the thrusters on his boots, bringing him up faster than taking the stairs as he did the first time. Maneuvering through the corridors, he finds the exit once more, the disabled truck in the front.. and off in the distance, the soft rumble of gunfire.

Beast has posed:
"Tony, I think she's just organizing the agent drop... but I'll hold." Hopping between terminals, multitasking as he can, his ears -attempt- to flatten at some of the echos of gunfire coming through the coms, except that they're really not designed for that. He winces nevertheless. "Right... you, behave yourself." This is apparently at the latest terminal, he heads back to the physical reactors, to power down the others completely and /safely/, all whilst keeping a steady eye on the readings.

"Background radiation is at safe levels, Stark. I think if this had been left for another week though, I would've been making a very different statement."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"No. Seven, Seven, and Ten." Phantasm corrects once more. "Three rooms." Hearing the sound of action over the comms and the visual of Natasha coming into the back room. But as Natasha speaks, pointing out that he should get the hostage if he can, he nods. "Yeah Hostage first. I can get her out." Phantasm states, matter of factly. "Mind the extra 7 in the middle room. They could go either direction."

Final caution given the raven flies through the wall, heading straight for the huddled hostage. As he gets closer his form shifts, becoming a shadowy form of himself to grab on to the woman. "This way." He urges tugging her along to pull her through the visible opening Natasha made, all while feeding a bit of his ability to protect her from any stray shots.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I am, I am! I'm safe, it's fine, I promise. SHIELD has a dozen agents headed there right now, they were closer than I was. I'm fine!" Pepper breathlessly reassures both Henry and Tony over the comm link, but there's a faint smile on her features and they might hear it behind her voice. For all of Tony's worry, and that too-serious tone in his voice, it also felt good to know he could get serious on occasion. Her little bit of organization now done, she settles back into the comfortable, shielded seat on the helicarrier. And what do you know, one of the SHIELD agents aboard even does bring her that coffee.

Captain America has posed:
    In the foyer, the one gunman who just had his leg injured was pulling himself up to his feet, grabbing at the latticework of the upscale archway with one hand while trying to bring his rifle up with the other, while Cap turns and holds a finger to the side of his head.
    << 7, 7, 10, total of 24. Roger. >> Only for him to catch the silhouette of the one remaining gunman in the reflection of a broken mirror against the wall. He twists smoothly, sending his shield flying cross the distance with a /whum/ as it hits the rifle shattering it, bounces into the side of the man's head only for it to skitter across the wood floor back to Cap's foot where he thumps that boot on the lip of the shield and causes it to flip back in the air where he catches it.
    < Foyer secure. On my way to support. >>
    Then he moves quickly toward the back where Widow and Phantasm were still engaged seeking that mid group. He darts down a hall, hugging the corner and moving in the direction of the gunfire until he catches sight of one of the gunmen trying to cover the front and back simultaneously. He breaks into a run, legs pistoning hard as he locks his shoulder behind the shield and /leaps/ to close the last of the distance before he rams hard into that soldier with a resonant, /KATHUNG!/

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Five of the ten were already down in her room, thanks to the Widow's Bites. Natasha was trying for non lethal, just in case. But if it came down to it, she did have her Glocks holstered.

She drove forward, bringing the tonfas into play. Multiple strikes and the sixth bad guy was on the ground. A glimpse saw another one of the guns coming into play, aimed at Phantasm and the hostage.

Natasha fired her Widow's Line, which wrapped around the man's arm. A hard pull and she yanked his arm hard, sending the shot firing harmlessly into a wall. She twisted her wrist just so, retracting the line. Which brought her sliding his direction. She dropped to her knees and cut the line a moment before impact. Her momentum continued her forward motion and he got an electrified tonfa to his back while the other struck the back of his knee, sending him to the floor. She dove back over his direction and clubbed him upside the head.

Then back on her feet, running to the next and leaping into the air for her signature take down. <<Phantasm has the hostage, should be out in a moment. Finishing off the three in here. Haven't seen the other civilians in the building yet. Or the seven extras. Shall we meet in the middle, Cap?>>

Iron Man has posed:
"Ah, thought you said you needed another pair of hands," Tony breathes. "Still, 3 minutes out," and the Iron Man suit makes him look very much like a comet moving across the night's sky. As he passes the empty roads, he pushes it and does a couple of barrel-rolls, skimming the trees before he catches the familiarly-shaped buildings.

"Good," this time Tony's tones sound very much back to normal, his quips unforced and natural, "Because I'm not sure I can find anyone else who can forge my signature like you can." There's a pause before, "See? Useful."

In the next few seconds, however, Henry may hear Tony's entrance to the building, after he cuts his jets. Walking in, he knows where the good doctor is, but he can't resist, "Marco!"

<<He's on the level beneath you, sir.>>

<<No fun, JARVIS. Loosen up. Jeez. We're only trying to make sure this thing doesn't blow.>>

As a general announcement, however, Tony adds, "Joining the good doc. We'll get this online, and with those Agents coming, I think we'll be good to let them mop it up. How are you guys doing? Cap? Phantasm? Widow?"

Beast has posed:
Through the comms: "Well, yes, I do. But it's good to know that once again, you prove you do have a heart somewhere, Tony. Implied she would stay up there..." Beast stares at the screens, "...oh, no. Nonononononono. Don't you bloody dare, you little bugger..." And so in the five minutes it takes for Tony to get there, he's doing mechanical surgery on a piston that didn't want to remove a rod from the core, remotely math'ing it until it's dislodged from the housing and raises up as it SHOULD raise up.

"I CAN HEAR YOU...DOWN HERE. AND JUST BECAUSE IT'S YOU: POLO!" even though Jarvis informed of the locale, there should be no doubt now.

Listening for the answers from the sit-rep on the others, Beast gestures at the other banks. "Need the transistors to take the load evenly, or we're going to have a situation. Two is coming on line, we should have a marked increase in power output in Five, four, three..." two, one... brightening the lights and significant infrastructure will start powering up with it. "Now, we've just got to make sure it isn't syphoned into redundancies, until we get the others up and running. I'm going to reroute to medical and make sure rural has a substantial five percent of the block. Enough for critical needs."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Natasha's attack on the one aiming at the departing pair was very efficient. While a shot was taken, it was nowhere near the pair making use of the window. While the woman is climbing, only the shadowed form of Phantasm was looking in the direction of the skirmish.

A quiet nod is given before Phantasm follows after the woman. Taking care to get her a sufficient distance away from the grounds should any of this go outside. "Hostage outside." Phantasm relays, "Getting a bit of distance from grounds just in case."

Captain America has posed:
    By the time Nat makes it to that middle hall between the foyer and the back area, the situation seems to be well in hand even as Cap's voice is heard on the comms, << We're wrapping things up, Stark. >>
    Though there's the sound of gunfire on the comms as well as the ringing /whum/ of vibranium causing rounds to ricochet. << Gonna sweep and clear, eight minutes til secure. >>
    That said he crosses the room where his shield is embedded in the wall and yanks it out with a rough pull, only then catching sight of Natasha. He gives a double pointing gesture in the direction of the hall as he starts to move forward breaking into a quick stride and covering each door as he moves.
    Off the comms he asks, "When were you gonna tell me?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Another down. Two to go. Natasha was on the floor after flipping the one opponent to the ground, a tonfa strike enough to take him completely out of the fight.

A quick block and she fired her Widow's Line again, catching his arm and pulling him off balance toward her. She brought the line up, caught him around the throat, then pulled him in front of her to act as a shield. Thankfully the other man didn't shoot his friend. But it gave her those precious seconds for the man's blood flow to be cut off and he started to collapse.

As he was falling, she planted a foot on him to use him as a vault, sending her airborne for her last. He went down in a heap after a boot to the face. She glanced around to make sure none were conscious. Then a glance if Phantasm was still there, a brief nod of the head in acknowledgement, then she spun and headed for that middle room.

Where Cap was already busy cleaning house headed for the door to start clearing the rest of the building.

Also off comms, but attention fully on what she was doing, Natasha did smirk slightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony smiles ever so slightly within his mask as he catches 'Polo!' from the good doctor, and makes his way down to the level. "Yeah, yeah. Somewhere. Now, what have- oh." The front of the mask is flipped back, revealing Tony's face, the concerned expression.

For the moment, he's in quiet conversation with only Henry. "Two, I see it. It's coming up.. hold on.. Let me check.." and Tony is headed towards another wall of computers, measuring output, heat, and the cooling pond. "Okay, I'm over here. It looks like we might be good," though, just in case? Tony's starts to pull a couple of connectors, because if there is any syphoning necessary, he's got his arc reactor. Not exactly sure what sort of beating it'll take, but a grounding? Might work. "I'm game to give it a try if it gets funny. But, we're looking good on this side. Everything is.. okay, slowly."

Now, by way of his coms, Tony gives his heads-up to the mansion crew, "Hey, we're bringing the power online. You're going to see some flickers. Be prepared." No sense having them rely on the dark, only to have everything suddenly lit like NYC, right? "Hope you're all decent."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy's head nods slow, eyes large behind the specs, mouth small. Then he's looking back at the laptop as data scrolls and scrolls and scrolls fastpaced over the screen. Dextrous fingers that can move quite a bit quicker than most, type like little sausagey maniacs, claws tickertackering over the keys.

From the helicarrier, the view from above has power flickering on, then off, lines being painted on the ground as Beast reroutes which conduits are open and which closed on the grid, so that essential infrastructure gets what it needs and there isn't a sudden rolling blackout that causes more problems. "Hold steady Tony," murmured, he looks over at the arc reactor, inhales, then slowly raises the last dial to allow the power to fully integrate in the altered grid, a breath held.

And when nothing suddenly fries, other than a lightbulb, apparently JUST to screw with them... he exhales. A pinky claw to his ear and over the comms: "Ladies and Germs, we have power."

Captain America has posed:
    Moving down the hall, Captain America gives a nod to Black Widow even as the lights flicker and then says simply, "I'll say nothing more if you promise to stop trying to set me up with people." He gives a nod as he gestures at her with a gloved hand as if to lay down the law.
    But then they have work to do.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As the lights come on there's a startled shout from the hostage as the rescuer is still in shadow. Phantasm sighs.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha considered the options then shook her head negatively as they breached the next room. Nothing there.

"I can't make that promise. You really need to embrace things. How about Erica in Accounting? She's nice. Although, are you allergic to cats?"

It would take them a little to clear the building entirely.

Iron Man has posed:
If Pepper every found out that he did this, she'd kill him. Assuming hooking up a nuclear power plant reactor core wouldn't, of course! Still, it was a gamble and having this place create a crater just wasn't acceptable. The cables are set, and with Tony's nod, Henry starts with the power. JARVIS' voice echoes through the headset, the clipped British accented AI warning of a power increase, and that the suit was also pulling some of the power away from the reactor, but it wasn't going to be holding too long.

<<Long enough.. now shut up..>> Did Tony's voice sound a touch strained? Probably..

Once it is up, and the lights flicker on, there is a breath of relief as power is shunted off to the proper systems, and everything looks as if he's operating within normal levels. The mansion brightens, and in a few hours, once SHIELD is on it, the water plant will also be up and running.

As for the mansion, the lights flicker on, dimly, then fully, revealing the carnage and damage that had been done to it in the last few days. Blood, damage, destruction, it's a crime. That, and the newest, added bodies of those that perpetrated the sins upon the location.

With civilians saved, and given to SHIELD for protection, the scene is clear enough for the heroes to head back to the Quin. A doctor, of course, approaches the group, identifying himself as one of the SHIELD trauma physicians. He'll talk quietly with Beast about getting the hospital back up to the bare basics. After all, he came in his own aircraft!

Our stalwart heroes are taken back to the helicarrier where they can relax, if only for a little while. This isn't over.. not yet.