8292/Into the Lions Den

Into the Lions Den
Date of Scene:	13 July 2019
Location:	Punisher Safehouse
Synopsis:	Members of the X-Men meet the Punisher at one of his underground safehouses to discuss their Sentinel factory raid.
Cast of Characters:	Punisher, Shadowcat, Marvel Girl, Cyclops
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

---

Punisher has posed:
The invitation had gone out to Kitty via Microchip. The hacker had been keeping in contact with the X-men via the darkweb on and off...  and Punisher and Microchip were in the middle of gearing up and planning for escalating their war with the Foot clan. Punisher was one of the few willing to  go toe to toe with them... with the garage collapse from a recent battle just one of their latest warfronts (the tail end of which was available in police archive footage).

Now, Kitty and Rachel have been given an address to an 'abandoned' subway station below the city. It's down here that Punisher has one of his more secure safehouses. Luckily for Kitty and Rachel, they were given a route through the current placement of traps and alarms to reach it.

And there were a /lot/ of them.

Once in the tunnels, it takes about two hours to get there, with all the sidestepping and codes... and eventually, Kitty and Rachel reach the 'abandoned' subway line, where a rather secure looking blast door seems to be welded in place.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty explained the history with Punisher before leaving the school, as she donned her Shadowcat costume, and even offers Rachel a domino mask to hide her identity if she doesn't normally have one. "So Frank Castle is his name. Former Marine whose family suffered at the hands of criminals and he's waged a war of crime families ever since," Kitty - or Shadowcat given her attire - says. "So we'd fought on the same side twice against Sentinels, by chance. He nabbed the Friends of Humanity leaders who had bought the Sentinels in the second fight," Shadowcat explains.

"I managed to make contact, and bargained with him. We offered a telepath to interrogate them rather than him torture and then kill them," she says, frowning a little bit. "His methods are extreme. Ah, you might not disagree with them as much, but, we still try to find another way. So... we've worked together some. I ran across him at a warehouse where he'd been ambushed by some bad guys. Like, over a dozen bodies. Tried to talk him into pursuing a more normal life. I still hope to some day. But he's pretty hardcore. So, he assisted on the raid on the Sentinel factory in New Jersey. And wants to know what intel we were able to get. He only knows me as Shadowcat, thus being in costume," she says.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel declines the offer of a mask, waving one hand. "I'm not even a real person here," she points out, wry. "Not a lot to discover, honestly." As they've picked their way through the traps and guards on the way to the safe house, she's paused here and there to get a closer look at the set up.

"I gotta be honest, I kind of approve of his paranoia," she admits after passing a particularly complex set-up. "I mean, it's some impressive paranoia. Also, the guns." Rachel's standards of 'normal' are not entirely...well, normal.

"But yeah," she nods as Kitty brings up the name. "Secret IDs. Got it."

Cyclops has posed:
Scott is along in his X-Man uniform and looks more displeased than usual.

"Let's just get what we came for and get out. He's an ally of convenience, not ideals. Don't trust him and don't give him more than we need to," Scott says gruffly.

"Your show, Shadowcat. I'm just here for cover."

Punisher has posed:
After about thirty seconds of sitting in front of the blast door... it opens... only for the three to see on the opposite end of the station the Punisher himself sitting behind a machine gun emplacement (an older model apparently, maybe WW1 era?), the barrel of it aimed squarely at the three. Even if Kitty phased, he could fire immediately.

Over the intercom just inside the door comes the voice of the Punisher, "Red is my favorite color."

Shadowcat has posed:
Shadowcat is quite ready to phase as the door opens, and she even does so as she sees what is inside, a hand on each of her teammates. Though to the eye nothing is unusual. For all the Ghost in the Machine comments, she actually doesn't look ghostlike when she phases.

"But it's the most expensive paint," Shadowcat replies with the counter code phrase she'd received from Microchip. If she gets an indication from Frank that it is ok to proceed, she'll walk forward then, otherwise stay there.

"We've managed to reassemble the data collected and go through it," she tells him. "I have the relevant info for you," she says, holding up a USB drive. Not just a tiny thumb drive, but a full size one, so it's clearly not just a few text files she's included.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Of course, were Frank to start pulling triggers, Rachel's also ready to freeze his mind. Reluctantly. Guns are more fun when they're not aimed at you. The call and response process is familiar, even if she doesn't know the actual codes. Enough to keep her from adding a smart comment on to it at least. But she does tip her chin upward in greeting, hands in her pockets.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott is less than surprised by the welcome given the Punisher's reputation. He reacts little, waiting for Kitty to go through the greeting and exchange. He glances around to get his bearings and sight of any extra surprises the man may have for him.

<I wonder if he would be disappointed to know you could have melted his brain from half a kilometer away, Rachel.> Scott muses, given the elaborate preparation that went into this base.

Punisher has posed:
"Come in." The intercom voice of the Punisher comes out, grating even with the electronic distortion.

When they do come in, it has all the appearance of half barracks, half armory. There's a gigantic wall of mounted and enclosed guns off to the right as they enter. There's everything from Uzi's, all the way up to a man-portable minigun in the dead center visibly seen through the slits (Rachel will probably find something from every country in it), with a security and computer station against the far wall. Meanwhile, off to the left is a very spartan living space with a bathroom, kitchenette and living quarters all crammed into a small space.

It gives every impression of a military outpost. Because for all intents and purposes, it is.

Wearing his traditional black trenchcoat and white skull vest, Punisher walks up to Kitty, examining the USB drive. "That was a pretty big goddamn place." Punisher notes as he takes it, "But I'm surprised it wasn't bigger. Those things are pretty huge. Where do they store them?"

Finally, Punisher looks to Rachel and Scott, and gives them neutral nods. "Welcome to one of my underground safehouses. You're one of the few to know about now." His eyes go to Rachel... and he locks eyes with her own. "Telekinetic girl, right?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Shadowcat says, "The details are on the drive. But in short, huge underground facility. Including a 200 feet tall Sentinel we call a Master Mold. Which it turns out is the literal Sentinel factory. While the rest of the facility makes parts and does some assembly, maybe can make a whole Sentinel too? The Mold itself is the main factory and builds the Sentinels inside of itself."

She adds, "There's a bunch of other data. A half dozen people in some form of stasis on one of the underground levels. Though there were only 10 Sentinels at the facility, so not sure they aren't being stockpiled elsewhere."

Shadowcat's head tilts to the side as she regards The Punisher. "Frank. You know where we stand about killing people. I don't know what you have planned, but there's innocent janitors, truck drivers, other people just trying to work for a living, even if it's for a scumbag CEO. Please keep them in mind, hmm?"

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Among other things," Rachel nods as she meets Frank's eye, the faintest smirk touching one corner of her lips. "So, I hear it's not 'gun guy,' it's Punisher. My bad."

She sobers, though, as the mission talk begins again. "They're not up to anything good, I can promise that," she adds to Kitty's statements, grimacing.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott stays quiet and to the side while Kitty, Rachel and Punisher talk. He is a simple, wary, serious-faced presence in the room.

Punisher has posed:
"It was in the middle of a combat situation. 'Gun guy' was as good a name as any with the only non-mutant." Punisher notes to Rachel, before he gestures to the wall. "This is a small sample of my arsenal as it is. If you're looking for a gun stockpile, I have a massive amount of them stashed all over the world." He informs Rachel, before he looks to Kitty. "I like her." Punisher continue, gesturing to Rachel briefly.

"Still, it sounds like a surgical strike to destroy the Molds would be in order if you want to slow down production." Punisher muses... before he starts to walk over to the computer station to the right, starting to attach the USB drive to it, "It'd be a global game of whack-a-mole, since there's still demand outside the US."

Shadowcat has posed:
Shadowcat looks over to Rachel after the comment that Frank Castle likes her. "Yes, I do too," the brunette in the domino mask and unstable molecule costume says with a grin. She looks back to Punisher then, lips suggesting in advance she sees some issues with the plan.

"We're not really focusing on this as military strikes being the answer. So long as their is demand, we're outgunned and outnumbered. Cutting demand is important, and we have to play the PR game to do that. The public is finally coming around to the dangers these things pose. Once they stop having the support of government, we'll be in a much better situation to stop them," Shadowcat says, glancing to Cyclops for back up on that statement. "So right now, avoiding things that put Trask in a sympathetic light, like killing their factory workers, is a big help to the cause. More than taking down an individual factory, even. But the day will come probably, yes," she says.

So she's saying there's a chance.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Right?" Rachel points a thumb at Frank. "Take out the molds, solve a lot of problems. I mean, I agree about not making Trask look good. Trask..." She pauses a moment, a little more serious as she looks back to Frank. "I'm not from around here, you could say. Different timeline. One where this plays out to an ugly place. Kill the wrong person and the tide turns."

"That said," she looks to Kitty and Scott, "People like Trask aren't just in this for the money. And even if we keep public opinion on our side, it only takes one of those people getting hold of a master mold to end up with a bunch of loose Sentinels. So even if we win the PR war, we're going to need to take those out."

"Also, I like him too."

Cyclops has posed:
Scott crosses his arms and purses his lips. He glances at Kitty and quickly glances around the room again. Then he goes back to watching Punisher closely.

Punisher has posed:
"I've never been concerned with the PR aspect of my war, so on that point, you have me beat." Punisher concedes to Kitty as he begins to open the drive, scrolling through the files. "If you want military assaults and precision, I'm your man, and these Sentinels are going after innocents. I just haven't found any weapons I can use to break a Sentinel without diving into the autocannons. Obviously, I can't go around New York with one on the Battle Van." Punisher explains.

"Still, taking down the Molds would at least would be useful." Punisher then looks to Kitty, "Are you suggesting I'd kill people just trying to do their work? I kill people to make innocent people safe in society. I don't kill just for the hell of it." Punisher stands, and turns to Kitty. "I'm a former member of the Scout Snipers, Shadowcat. If I don't want someone dead, they're fine. I know the assholes in the media paint me as a lunatic mass murderer... but I'm very precise with my plans. You don't need to worry about me being indiscriminate. Only time I ever use the big bombs is if I'm sure an area is clear of innocents."

Shadowcat has posed:
The brunette X-man looks to Rachel and says, "We need to destroy them all at some point, I agree. Just a matter of doing it in a way that it won't increase the demand for them. You're absolutely right about how little choices can shape events, too."

Shadowcat shakes her head towards The Punisher aftewards. "No, I don't think you're indiscriminate. If we did, you wouldn't have been with us on the mission, and we wouldn't have cooperated as much as we have." She sighs. "We try to find other ways than killing though. And I just have to make sure that's known, ok?"

She tilts her head. "I don't suppose you've given what I said at the warehouse any more thought?" After a moment she adds with a good-natured smile, "Or, any thought?" It has a bit of a teasing note. "Well, anyway, we should probably clear out. I wish for the best for you, Frank," she tells him.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"And thanks for the help," Rachel chimes in as Kitty starts to make the escape. "Nice to see someone who's not us actually standing up for us." Scott may be cranky about it, but Rachel at least appreciates it.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott keeps a wry expression from his face. He remains impassive behind his goggles and waits for Kitty's lead.

Punisher has posed:
"Killing is efficient, and keeps the trash from doing anymore harm." Punisher grates out as he turns back to the computer station. "Some asshole like Daredevil hits them, and they get put on trial, maybe get convicted, but usually are on the street a week, a /day/ later. " He gives a mean growl. "I hit them, and they /stay/ down. No trash to spread their filth around anymore. Clean and effective."

Clearly, Punisher is still set on his crusade. "I know you're comin' from a good place Shadowcat... but I'm just doin' what needs to be done. Even the Bat couldn't stop me, but I wish you luck with your future missions." Punisher offers as they leave.