8934/Batfamily: Spoiling Their Night

Batfamily: Spoiling Their Night
Date of Scene:	24 August 2019
Location:	Archie Goodwin International Airport, Gotham
Synopsis:	Batman, Huntress and Blackbird take down Falcone family members receiving a weapons shipment that includes anti-Lycan ammunition
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Batman, Huntress

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Shadowcat has posed:
The Batcomputer is such an amazing crime-fighting tool, often generating leads by pulling together disparate information to paint a picture. Tonight might turn out to be one such example. A combination of wire transfers, tapped phone calls, and factory output from a Hammer Industries factory in Venezuela suggested the Falcone family might be looking to upgrade their firepower after a few setbacks.

More digging suggested weapons purchased from Hammer might be smuggled in a flight. The Batcomputer found changes in the Customs and Airport security who were scheduled to work tonight around some of the civilian-owned hangars.

And so it is that the team deployed to check out the situation. The flight is a cargo plane expected to land in the next thirty minutes.

This section of the airports has a few hangars, each without a hundred or so feet from one building to the next. Some planes of varying sizes are parked out front of the hangers. There are some lights, mostly nearer to the building shining out on the paved ground around. Behind the hangars are a few trees and a service road.

Batman has posed:
<<Keep quiet and don't make yourselves obvious. If that plane changes course, we lose whatever they're trying to bring in.>>

Batman's voice, grave and even, can be heard over the broad range communications system they are all connected to. He's already at the hangar, the Bat-Cycle that carried him concealed within the shadows of one of the hangars along with the rest of him. From where he stands, he couldn't likely see anything with his own eyes.

But then, he's not limited to just his own eyes.

The Batcomputer intrudes on the Airport's CCTV network as though the door were wide open, and a picture-in-picture display on the Dark Knight's HUD flickers through what the cameras see at an even pace.

Huntress has posed:
All one had to do is mention 'Falcone' and they had the full attention of a certain associate of the Batclan. Any oppritunity to stomp down one of Gotham's mafia families trying to re-establish their holdings on the city's dank underworld was not one Huntress could pass up.

<<Copy that.>> The purple clad vigilante whispered into the comm concealed as part of her mask. She had wisely crept her way alongside a different warehouse, keeping her profile down low and in the shadows. For them to both lurk in the same spot would be foolish, this way they had more angles to see the airfield and possible situations from.

Deft yet quietly she pulled a trick quarrel from her arm quiver and slotted it into her crossbow pistol to be ready. She came prepared with non-lethal. Not just because that's how the Bats operate, but also because that would maximize the chances for ringing information out of someone later.

Shadowcat has posed:
Up in the sky, the clouds block out the moon making for a dark night. A figure drops down out of the sky as Kitty Pryde has donned her Blackbird costume for the mission with Batman and Huntress. She slows as she falls, coming to a stop a step above the hangar roof and then stepping down onto it like she'd been supported on a step of air. A large black raven that had carried her there flies on to look around the area. The image inducer worn by Lockheed was originally Stark Industries tech, though the X-men have added a few of their own upgrades to it.

Blackbird creeps forward to the edge of the hanger to look down on the space before it below. There are four men on patrol out front of the hangar. One is staying by the door, while three are walking amongst the small private aircraft that are parked along the tarmac between the hangar and the landing strip in this commercial section of the airport.

Within the hangar are another three men. The three men inside all have rifles slung over their shoulders, while the ones outside have no visible arms, but bulges beneath their jackets where shoulder holsters might be.

A panel van can be seen coming along the service road heading towards the hangar, with two men visible in the cab. Fifteen minutes until the plane is expected to arrive.

<Two men coming in a panel truck. Looks like the side says... Ventrilo's Fish Market> Blackbird says into her comms.

Batman has posed:
<<Ventrilo? No mob connections, but no fish market pulls in this kind of money without some outside help.>>

To illustrate his point, Batman forwards the data from his HUD to the rest of the team. A fish market pulling in almost eight-hundred thousand dollars a month? Even with as many sushi restaurants as the Tri-State Area enjoys, that's far too much.

<<Blackbird, you keep overwatch. Huntress, keep tabs on those riflemen - if they start firing, take them down.>>

He trusts them both well enough to know the rules of operation, and he begins to move around the side of the hangar to get a better view of the place with his own eyes. On their shared HUD displays, the timer counts down how long until the plane arrives.

<<We strike when the plane is on the tarmac. Take up ambush positions.>>

Huntress has posed:
Huntress glances out of the corner of her eye briefly as the information comes up. <<Something about that stinks, and I don't mean the fish,>> she quips softly. The more seriously, <<Could be a money laundring front, we'll have to look into that later.>>

As such she creeps as close to the edge of the wall as she dares, to get a bead on the riflemens' position without exposing herself, and gets down on one knee to keep the low profile in the darkness. Idly reachs back with one hand to pull her hood up, both to farther conceal her appearance and to help tuck her hair back and out of the way. <<Positioned and ready.>>

There will be time for questions who this 'Blackbird' is. But as they're here to help Batman and have a bird themed callsign, she's just going to assume it's one of his sidekicks for the time being. Or at least someone he clearly trusts enough to call in.

Shadowcat has posed:
The inside of the hangar has another plane in there, but room for a second. There are also some racks of equipment and shelves, and some oil drums. A little bit of cover should someone wish to go inside.

Blackbird pulls out some binoculars. Her suit, very inspired by traditional ninja garb, lacking the optics that Batman and others have. She follows the men walking patrol.

<Two look observant. The other one looks like he's wishing he was in some air conditioning.>

She pulls out a small phone-sized device. It's not one you can buy on the market anywhere. She operates it and checks the display, which is showing airport's radar. She swipes right and brings up the same display that the air traffic controllers are seeing.

<Flight Lima-Tango-Foxtrot Five-Five-Niner is on approach to runway 5. Touchdown in 2 minutes.>

Blackbird stows the device, looking up and spotting the plane's lights as it descends towards the runway. The men notice it too, those three on patrol stopping where they are to look, while the men with rifles inside the hangar move over to the door to look out. Then panel truck has pulled up just beside the front of the hangar, back door towards the open area so it can back in once the plane is inside, most likely.

Batman has posed:
<<I'm moving in.>>

Down by the hangar, Batman clings to the shadows and moves in such a way that when he does not cross directly through the moonlight it is difficult to even tell where he was a moment ago. He sticks close to the hangar's outer wall, moving close enough to the men that he could speak to them without raising his voice but remaining silent and concealed. When he speaks, it is through the sub-vocal mic that doesn't require him to speak above the barest whisper.

<<Huntress, when the plane touches down hit it with a tracker. If it takes off, we can at least keep a bead on it. Blackbird, run a distraction and I'll set up an ambush in the hangar.>>

Huntress has posed:
Good, the riflemen moved closer to the hanger doorway. That makes things a little easier. Relatively speaking. These things are never as easy as expected.

Things worth fighting for were never easy battles though. Her uncle had hammered that into her head just as often as her cousins had hammered their fists into it when she was training.

She sizes up the hanger gate, musing if they intend to take the plane inside and then unload it away from prying eyes, or unload it first and then stow it. It was dark enough they didn't need to necessarily keep it from view, especially if the Falcones were paying off staff to turn a blind eye from tonight's activities--

Her train of thought is briefly paused by Batman's comment. The only verbal response she gives is a hushed <<Mmhmm>> so he knows she heard her. She already has her crossbow loaded, it's just a matter of taking a few moments to lock the safety and attached a tracer in a head sturdy enough to wedge itself in the side of a plane so it doesn't come loose in mid-air.

Shadowcat has posed:
The plane comes in for a landing, touching down and rolling past on the runway which is a few hundred feet in front of the hangar, the plane passing right to left as one looks out of the hangar's door. It rolls past to the end of the runway and then taxis, following the markings on the paved lines to bring it back to the hangar. It has twin propellers, one mounted in the middle of each wing, and is on the smaller end of things as cargo planes go.

Blackbird glances around and spots one of the small vehicles used for towing items like luggage carts around the airport. It's over on the side of the hangar where no one is watching. She steps off the roof, falling, but soon she's slowing in spurts, like she were giving little blasts of a jet or something to slow her fall, though there seems to be no such thing. She lands lightly beside the cart and then climbs beneath the dash, pulling out a knife and beginning to hotwire it.

<One division prepared. Just say the word.>

The little cart is on a course it should travel a ways out in front of the hangar before running into a line of little Cessna personal planes.

Meanwhile, the cargo plane has pulled up to the hangar and turned to face back out towards the runway, before beginning to back into the hangar as one of the men with rifles directs it back. Finally the plane comes to a stop, though the engines are kept going, idling.

Batman has posed:
<<Moving in.>>

That is all the warning Batman gives to get the distraction in motion, moving into the hangar along with the plane once it has landed yet clinging to the shadows. He doesn't move to investigate anything first, instead taking up a position near one of the riflemen and keeping both eyes locked on the others.

<<Subdue the hostiles first,>> he commands over the comm, <<then we investigate what's on that plane. Huntress, first blood's yours. Blackbird, take down whoever is between you and that cockpit. Disable that plane.>>

His eyes flick to where Huntress has concealed herself, brow knitting beneath his cowl as he waits.

<<Go.>>

Huntress has posed:
Huntress finishes the adjustment to her bolt with the tracer bug just as the plane is making its initial touchdown. She watches as it taxis and turns towards the hanger, readying her crossbow and aim while waiting to see just what the plane is going to do. Eventually it coasts closer to the hanger and turns again, lining up it's back end with the hanger. A moment to adjust for it's movements, for the backwash of the rotors, aiming for a nook under the wing where the small device will be hopefully easily overlooked and firing. At impact the tracer device will latch on, and the quarrel jettison so it doesn't become noticable.

With that back-up plane hopefully in place she quickly draws another bolt and reloads her crossbow with practiced precision.

If Batman is aiming for inside he's likely already near the riflemen. Not that she's not keeping a tab on them, but her attention shifts to the walking patrol. They're the ones most likely to respond to things first, already being outside. So that is where she aims, and fires her reloaded shot.

It's another trick arrow, this one aimed not to hit the men but to detonate close to them, in a manner of blinding light akin to a flash grenade. Disorient them so they can't scramble back to the hanger quickly.

Shadowcat has posed:
Blackbird waits until the plane has come to a full stop. She doesn't know if the seatbacks and tray tables are in an upright position, but it is time for the diversion. The cart that has been sitting idle, she grabs a toolbox from the back seat and sets it down on the pedal. The cart takes off across that tarmac. It's already a hundred feet away before one of the patrolling men spots it and points, just before it runs into a little Cessna, tipping the plane over onto a wing, the cart continuing to try to drive through it but stuck.

The flash grenade goes off and then things get really interesting. Blackbird darts out from her cover, rushing towards the plane. She heads straight for the wing, ducking under the engine and the dangerous whirling propeller. Should anyone be watching, it looks like she found an access hatch in the bottom of the engine as she just seems to climb up inside of it. Even if there is no such thing. Blackbird climbs out of the top of the engine just as it starts sputtering and choking and then ties, the propeller spinning to a still.

Blackbird runs forward and slides along the wing, disappearing through the metal fuselage of the plane and passing into the interior. It isn't long before the second engine dies as well, though this time from inside the plane it seems.

Huntress has posed:
The tarmac goes to hell in a handbasket. Between the crashing cart, the flash grenade and the engines sputtering out the foot patrol are left in a tizzy. They rub at their eyes and fumble for the guns concealed under the coats and have difficulty clearing either.

Huntress bolts from her hiding spot, one hand dropping to her utility belt as she does so to pull out her collapsible staff. A snap of the wrist to the side pops it free and extends it to length. Just as she's running up to the men she swings low and hard to crack it across the back of one gunman's knees and then jerk upward to topple him over hard into the pavement.
She then twists with the movement to shift her momentum and the staff doubles as a balance aid as she turns the motion of her run into a spinning kick to another thug's midsection and leaving him staggering.

Only then does she cut in with the vigilante quipping. "Do yourselves a favor and get your il culo on the ground. Before I -actually- get mad."

Shadowcat has posed:
If anyone were to look inside of the plane's cockpit, they might see a short struggle take place that results in the two pilots slumped over on the ground with a a fat lip and bruises forming around eyes. The plane is completely disabled and will need sections of the main console replaced after a hand was phased through the circuit boards.

Blackbird drops out of the bottom of the plane, crouching and getting the lay of the battle since she went into the plane. Her sword is pulled from her belt, though the sheath is left on to keep from killing anyone. She waits for Batman to act, though creeps beneath the plane over near to the furthest rifleman from where Batman had hidden himself.

Batman has posed:
It's the men with the rifles that Batman focuses on - the ones closest to the plane. Even as chaos errupts about them and they turn to take in the madness, they make the foolish mistake of turning their backs on the place the Dark Knight has hidden himself. He rises behind them like some avenging shadow, darkness save for the baleful white glow of his cowl's eyes.

As one of the men turns to raise the gun at him, the Bat moves decisively. One gloved hand pistons out, catching the man across the jaw with a sickening crack. As the other rifle is turned on him, he takes it in his hand and shoves the barrel aside just in time for it to go off - the round pinging noisily off the loose sheet metal of the hangar's distant ceiling. He's already struggling with the man, wrenching the rifle from his grip in time to drive the armored forhead of his cowl into the rifelman's nose.

He doesn't need to call the play here. He expects both Huntress and Blackbird to know their roles and perform them without fault. The rifleman furthest from Batman is left to Blackbird's tender mercies, the Bat already wheeling about in search of his next target.

Huntress has posed:
Despite the Huntress' warning/threat the third gunman has managed to get his gun out, thrusting it haphazardly in the woman's direction and pulling the trigger, whatever he may be cursing at her lost to the sound of gunfire.

If he had bothered to actually aim instead he might of scored some solid hits at that close range. As is his paniced, still slightly dazed potshotting is no good for more than a couple of grazes as Huntress makes an evasive maneuver. Enough to make her huff a moment at the feel of the impact but it's too indirect a hit to get through the protective material of her costume. And curse herself mentally for being careless enough to get hit at all.

Now she is mad though, and turns to throw the staff at the gunman tip first. He leans out of the way, but it puts him off balance and Huntress is quick to capitalize on the moment. She darts in, grabbing his shooting arm by the wrist and yanking it up under her own arm to pin it. Followed by a wrenching motion and a dull cracking noise, and a yowl of pain from the crook. By the way he grabs his wrist and drops to the ground when she lets go she twisted, if not fully broke, his wrist.

A fitting but non-lethal fate for a mafia hitman as far as Huntress is concerned. He won't be shooting anyone else for some time.

Shadowcat has posed:
Antonio "Baby Shanks" Mannocio isn't quite sure what the hell is going on. He was having a bad night, a little bit hungover and not wanting to be here tonight. Worse, he was supposed to accompany the shipment, which meant riding in the back of the fish truck.

That damn fish truck. It smelled. Like fish.

Nursing his sore head and waiting for a moment he could slip off for a quick nip from his flask, he was not expecting to find himself staring over at the Gotham Bat as he beat up Little Ricky.

But Antonio saw the chance to make a name for himself. "Why idiots just don't aim for his exposed face I never understood," he tells himself as he lifts his gun and aims down it at Batman while the Dark Knight is busy with Little Ricky Alphonse. Only Antonio didn't realize something.

Batman brought friends.

A sheathed sword sudden whacks down on the rifle in a two handed swing, knocking it down his finger up into the gun rather than down into the trigger. Antonio lets out a yelp but then grabs the gun by the stock to swing it at the masked brunette who is attacking him.

The gun clips Blackbird's shoulder, but she ignores the hit striking with the sheath sword to Antonio's gut, then a spinning leg kick to the knee followed by an elbow to the center of his chest that takes the man down. A move the League of Shadows call Aci Duasi, the painful prayer for the way it leaves Blackbird down on a knee to follow through the elbow all the way to the ground. Antonio grunts in pain before the sheathed sword clips him under the chin to knock him out.

Batman has posed:
"What's on the plane?" Batman asks Blackbird, finished with the two thugs he was fighting and approaching her as she finishes off the hapless third. He lifts a hand to his cowl, pressing the earpiece to activate it.

<<Huntress, status?>>

As he waits for the response, the Dark Knight quickly begins to case the hangar for further threats. But he's already moving to board the plane, seeking to open up the cargo hatch and get a good look at whatever it is they've been hauling into Gotham with such a high degree of protection.

Huntress has posed:
Huntress kept her expression etched cold as she let the gunman writh in pain over his wrist for a bit and spit a few unrepeatable curses at her. Had to be sure her reputation amongst the Crime Families was kept for it's intimidation factor. She does finally put him out of his misery though, after retrieving her staff and then using it to whallop him upside the head. At least while unconcious he can't feel how much his wrist hurts.

<<Cleaned up and out like broken lights.>> She taps the end of the staff on the ground to recollapse it, tucking it back into her belt as she turned to walk back over to the plane.

Shadowcat has posed:
After Antonio is taken care of, Blackbird heads back over towards the plane. The engines are shut down entirely.

<Unmarked crates. Had to deal with the pilots so did not take time to look into them.>

Blackbird stops to secure the downed men before following Batman over to the plane. The cargo hold has five different crates in it which from the lack of markings make them stand out compared to the rest of the boxes which seem more normal sorts of commercial goods.

Blackbird finds a crowbar and tosses it over to Batman so he can check the contents.

Inside are found assault rifles and pistols, with high capacity magazines. There are also thermographic scopes for the guns as well as night vision goggles.

Perhaps the most surprising though are boxes of ammunition inside one of the crates. They have see-through lids and the bullets configurations look very familiar. In fact Batman has some of the bullets in the Batcave. Kitty brought them to him, recreations of the bullets used by Selene to kill Lycans in the Gotham sewers. Bullets that contains silver nitrate.

Batman has posed:
"Silver nitrate rounds," Batman says, lifting one of the boxes from a crate and tipping a few out into the palm of his hands, "What is Falcone doing defending himself against Lycans?"

The Foot. Hook. Now Lycans? Gotham was infested, there was no question about that. But if they were going to be facing an enemy that was more than just a trained human being in a mask or a drug cartel, they were going to need to lift their game. Substantially.

<<Huntress, you've been busting Falcone operations - have you seen any evidence of werewolves?>>

It's a ridiculous question, he knows, and a few years ago he wouldn't have considered such an idea worthy of consideration. But with men who fall to Earth bearing the power of a god and wizards who can bend time to their will, how strange is a man who becomes a wolf?

Huntress has posed:
<<Werewolves?>> Huntress' response is in a tone that is more curious than the shock someone might expect to hear at such supernatural things being mentioned.

She's been to New York. She's seen the 'ninja turtles' and mutant fox in action, and seen the other kind of mutant. After that, werewolves aren't nearly as astounding as they might of once been.

<<Not directly... But they're extremely protective of their turf. If they thought anything of the sort could be a threat to their holdings, they would take steps to prepare.>>

Huntress pauses a moment at the plane's hatch. Then frowns at the thought.

<<Or if they thought one of the other Families might be willing to recruit such beings,>> she adds. <<Not all the Families are strict followers of tradition. If they can get an advantage, if even if it is accepting the reality that such legends are real...>>

Shadowcat has posed:
Blackbird looks at the rounds, and even if her nose and mouth are hidden, the frown can be seen in her eyes. "I still don't know what to do about those. Selene says they can't be cured, but I can't help but think of them as men still," she says. Kitty was the one who brought Bruce the ammunition, but has never used it herself.

She checks the other crates and says, "Bad news, but everything else is conventional. I suppose the night vision and thermal vision could be for use against the Lycans too. Especially if underground," she finishes.

She looks around the plane, going through some of the other boxes but they all contain what they say they do, various regular goods, nothing illegal.

Batman has posed:
"Get a thermite charge ready," Batman tells Blackbird pointedly, looking at the weapons in the crate and producing a similar device from his belt, "If this ends up in lock-up, Falcone's men will just recover it. Take the nitrate rounds as evidence, and we burn the rest."

The thermite is a useful tool in the Bat Arsenal. It burns hot enough to render the weapons useless, yet with enough control as to not start a raging inferno in the middle of the airport. They don't see a great deal of use simply due to their destructive potential, but sometimes there's nothing better for it. He activates his comm.

<<I want to look into whatever feud there is between Falcone and the Lycans. I'm bringing you in on this too, Huntress. This is your case as well going forward. Move the wounded out of the area.>>

That said, he turns his attention back to Blackbird and nods his head curtly: "Set the charge and let's go."

Huntress has posed:
<<Gladly. I'm just as concerned and curious as you are,>> Huntress replies. <<I'll prod some of my connections and see if they turn up anything.>>

She doesn't mention specifics because she doesn't know how into the inner circles Blackbird is. But Batman knows how deep some of those connections go.

Leaving the contents of the plane to the duo to deal with Huntress turns and returns to where she left the three gunmen sprawled on the tarmac. It'll only take a few minutes to ziptie their wrists and ankles together and drag them away from where the plane is, just in case something goes wrong with the burnout.

Shadowcat has posed:
The crates are dragged outside of the plane, and by the time the airport security has responded to the reports of the gunfire there is little left of them but a glowing slag pile of molten metal and charred substances. The men and their weapons - illegal to have within the airport grounds - are left hogtied beside the plane. As the security men climb out of their vehicles and look around in bewilderment, the sound of a trio of motorcycles has already faded into the night.