9505/Sentinels: A Walk in the Park

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Sentinels: A Walk in the Park
Date of Scene: 09 October 2019
Location: Washington Sq. Park - Greenwich Village
Synopsis: Big Safari goes on a ... big safari.
Cast of Characters: Captain Marvel (Danvers), Sowa
Tinyplot: Sentinels


Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
The word had come down the line that the sentinels were to be decommissioned. All over the country, the military were reining in their use of the bipedal death machines in the wake of public outcry. But one group still had control over a fleet of the machine, and they showed no interest in letting up. If anything, the Friends of Humanity had doubled down - fearing that the end was near at hand, their attacks have become more rampant all across the Eastern Seaboard.

It isn't usually an issue that SHIELD concerns itself with, but a rogue sentinel in Washington Square Park was enough to raise some eyebrows back at the Triskelion. The word had come down the wire that it needed to be put down or at least slowed, and while they were doing their best to patch in the bevy of brightly-colored superheroes that lived in New York City to take care of it - that help wasn't forthcoming at the moment.

So, one of the lumbering, thirty-foot-tall monstrosities hovers in the air over the park like a looming, ominous monolith. Its eyes glow, and beams of light blanket the scattering people below as it scans them.

Sowa has posed:
    <<ETA five minutes, Big Safari is approaching the A-O.>>Her voice echoes out over the coms, even as Berna huddles in the back of that shanghai'd taxi-chopper. Hurriedly cynching her chest rig down with one hand, as she glances through her dope sheets with the other. The call had rousted her out of bed, sent her scrambling down to the armory to retrieve something suitable for the task at hand.

    That chopper slows to a hover above Lipton hall, and a sizable rifle case is lowered on a length of rope. Berna follows shortly thereafter, falling the twenty feet or so without complaint. The line is cut and a simple wave is offered to the poor pilot overhead. <<Big Safari is operational, interrogative:When can I expect reinforcement here?>>

    That hoody of hers shimmers, before slowing beginning to fade to the same tar-board black as the building's roof. Pumps churning already, as the garment struggles to match the ambient background temperature. That mechanical raven wriggles out from beneath to take to the wing in a clumsy climbing pattern, struggling to gain altitude and get eyes on the wayward sentinel.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
<<Will advise, Big Safari. Some sort of disturbance across town with Spider-Man drawing all the attention. You're on your own for now.>>

The Sentinel continues to scan, the jets that allow it to levitate shutting down, so it hits the ground with a jarring thud - enough to be felt even where Berna is. The park is mostly empty, but there were a lot of people and it looks as though it will still be some time before they're all able to get clear.

The machine's colossal head turns on its shoulders, eyes lighting up as it scans another group of people. So far it appears to have found nothing, moving slowly as it scans. But as the raven takes flight, a better picture of the operational area becomes clear. Not everyone is fleeing - no, there are some who seem to be gathering around the feet of the Sentinel. Around six of them, all with black bandanas pulled up over their faces and carrying what looks to be firearms of their own.

<<Orders are not to let that thing leave the area,>> the voice over the radio advises, <<The Friends of Humanity only have a limited number, according to intel, and we want to whittle that down.>>

Sowa has posed:
    <<Big Safari confirms primary target, eyes on six additional foot mobiles with light arms. Going coms dark, notify NYPD of my presence and keep them clear of the area. Big Safari Out.>>

    She flips those sturdy latches and flips the lid, revealing the pride of The Radom experimental small arms foundry, fourty nine pounds of twenty millimeter anti-material rifle. Delicately she snags the thing's carry handle and plucks it free, and a pair of spare magazines before hurrying to the edge and kicking the bipod down to get the thing into position. Cooly she jacks a magazine home and rams the bolt home, before leaning foreward to get eyes on.

    Those hyper-spectral peepers on her helmet blaze to life, followed by the thermals, the HD cameras and the remote feeds. Her entire world erupts in a rush of colors we have no words for, everything from weather data to ballistic information all pouring into a cascade of augmented reality overlay. Scanning her prey for weaknesses, long suffering stress fractures or manufacturing defects.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
The Sentinel continues to lumber about the park, actively scanning. The humans nearby just sort of linger in the area, showing they mean business by occasionally firing their weapons into the air. From where Berna is, there's no telling what they're saying - the report of the guns muffled and distant. It is then that Sentinel rounds on someone, what looks like a young woman in a wheelchair. It pauses, hand raised.

'MUTANT IDENTIFIED.'

The Sentinel's loudspeaker voice is enough to be heard even from Berna's perch, and it clearly raises its arm to point a palm to the young woman on the ground. The six men immediately turn, raising their weapons and edging slowly towards the girl in her chair.

<<We're picking up an energy spike, Big Safari,>> comes the voice over the radio, <<That Sentinel just lit up like a Christmas tree.>>

Sowa has posed:
    The crosshairs dance across the scene for a moment, before swiveling over towards her target. Theres another moment's worth of study, a snap range and she brings her aim down just a hair as that safety is thumbed off. She takes first pressure, inhales and...

    The recoil shockwave shatters every exterior window on the top three floors of the building, water lines break and smoke alarms trigger. It sounds less like a rifle report, and more like an explosion. Enough recoil to drive Berna onto her toes and nearly bowl her onto her ass, before with a grunt she can get behind the rifle and drive the bipod back into place. This isn't so much a rifle as it is very light artillery, and well they never figured anyone would be dumb enough to fire it without anchoring the bipod into concrete.

    Downrange, well the bullet hits well before the report reaches her target. A third of a pound worth of shaped charge high explosive moving at more than three thousand feet per second, the sort've thing designed to one shot drop armored attack helicopters and light armored vehicles from obnoxious ranges. Here aimed directly at the armpit of the Sentinel's raised arm, hopefully enough to take the arm entirely if not just distract the hell out of it.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
'DO NOT RESI- *kzzk*'

The Sentinel takes the hit, and the force of the blow prompts it to spin slightly at the waist. The paneling beneath its arm is blasted open, sparks and acrid smoke billowing up from it. It pauses for a moment looking, despite itself, confused about what has just happened.

Its head turns, scanning the source of the shot. It begins to walk, lumbering heavily across the park in the direction of Berna and her rifle. The smoke still rises from it, and while it seems to be attempting to make more loud announcements the loudspeaker produces only hissing static. As it walks, the damaged arm begins to hang loosely by wiring and then - with a shower of sparks - falls heavily to the ground. A moment later it explodes, the severed arm incinerating itself.

Down below, the armed men duck their heads as the exploding arm sends shrapnel flying. They follow the Sentinel's lead, rushing on foot towards the building Berna occupies.

Sowa has posed:
    Theres a grunt of effort to manhandle that rifle back onto target, glaring down the rifle's optic and through the heat mirage already rising from that drain pipe of a gun barrel. One hand lifting to beat the bolt open and cycle the action, before she's back into the fight. Using her height advantage to target the top of the sentinel's chest plate, right where the plate ends with the neck joint.

    The second round drives into Berna's shoulder hard enough to lift her all but off her boots and send her stumbling away from the roof's edge for a moment. Time enough to mutter a murderous "Kurwa", as she slaps that bolt open and cycles the action again.
    Czarny, that mechanical Raven? Well he switches his primary interest from the Sentinel towards the men in masks rushing the building. Rolling over into a steep dive to get a better angle, in an attempt to gather as much information on the next stage of this fight as possible.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
There appears to be nothing outwardly unusual about the men accompanying the Sentinel. Every scan and visual clue suggest they are just ordinary, armed men of reasonably athletic build. One is momentarily curious about the bird swooping about them, but not enough to warrant stopping to check. When they finally reach the building, they burst through the front doors to the screams of those taking shelter within. A moment later they are at the stairs, their distant cries of 'get to the roof! He's on the roof!' becoming more noticeable now.

The Sentinel itself appears to pay them no notice, lumbering towards the roof under its own agenda entirely. When it gets close enough, the jets built into its legs sputter to life and it takes to the air. It tilts as it goes, engines unused to the altered mass, and topples to the ground noisily. It remains there on its side for a moment, eyes locked at the rooftop. Scanners searching for a target, baffled by Berna's cutting edge dampening technology.

Sowa has posed:
    Berna takes her time as always, exhaling cooly as she lets those crosshairs drift from the Sentinel's head to the base of it's neck. There she pauses, letting the barrel's mirage subside enough for her to square up a clean sight picture. She knows there are men after her life, that the Sentinel is going to probably eventually figure this out, that her time here is short before it gets rather crowded. Yet she waits, waiting for just the right moment before that rifle barks for a third time.

    Then well she has to manage her situation here, that enormous rifle is set down onto the roof gently. She steps back away from the edge, taking a knee behind a conviently located A/C unit that affords her cover from the roof access. One hand traces back to snag the mostly transparent P90 slung there, and swing it around. Then neatly she swings one leg out far to one side to counter weight herself as she peeks just enough of herself around that A/C unit to get sight picture on the doorway.

    Czarny dips a wing, wheeling away from the armed men and circling back around to survey the Sentinel. Glass eyes taking a careful catalog of the robot's condition, crunching the numbers to discern if it's even a threat anymore.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
'NON-MUTANT IDENTIFIED. COMPLY WI-*FZZK!*'

The last shot hits home. The base of the Sentinel's neck is struck, and the shaped charge explodes within, momentarily lighting up the eye and mouth holes. Whatever circuitry is within fries, and it slumps back to the ground. It doesn't move anymore, even as its limbs begin to fizzle and smoke - destroying itself through some built-in protocol.

But while the Sentinel is down, there are still the armed men to contend with. The door to the rooftop is kicked open and they come out swinging, firearms spraying noisily and indiscriminately - several rounds pinging off the air conditioner unit that Berna hides behind.

"She fried the bot!" one of them yells.

"Kill her! Mutant lover!" roars another.

Sowa has posed:
She isn't invisible by a long shot, but the combination of that mostly transparent PDW and her million dollar smart poncho? Well she's a distinctly inhuman shape, so very easy to miss at a glance. A situation made all the easier to exploit for Berna, because she doesn't even bother with a command to freeze. No she flips that rotary safety over, and gets right to work. Even at this range that chunky suppressor at the end of her PDW does an admirable job, not of hiding the sound of gunshots, but rather it just makes it rather difficult to tell exactly where it's coming from.

    No indeed cuts into her attackers with a series of short controlled bursts aimed with the sort've precision you'd expect from a legit ass tier one counter terrorist. Hurling five seven hatred towards center of mass hits, T-zone hits will have to wait for when there aren't quite so god damned many of these jack wagons.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
For all their ferocity, the armed men are not trained killers. They are average people, stirred into a fervor over their hatred of mutants and pointed out at the world to make trouble. They have no concept of taking proper cover, and Berna's wickedly accurate fire cuts through them like a hot knife through butter. Four of them go down, wounded or dead - it's impossible to tell in the chaos. Another two drop back, ducking into the stairwell to avoid being caught by the fire. This leaves only one.

The leader perhaps? It's unclear. But he has enough fervor to make up for his six compatriots. When he finally has a vague idea of where the shots are coming from, he uses the chaos to charge at Berna. He doesn't shoot, instead bringing the stock of his rifle up to try and strike at her head - or what he approximates to be her head - with all his might.

"Die, mutant lover!"

Sowa has posed:
    Berna is quick on her feet it seems, turning out of the way to avoid that rifle but before stepping away from her attacker. She drops that P90 to dangle on it's sling, left hand producing that trademark corkscrew dagger from her chest rig. Theres no fancy blade work here, no flourish or showmanship. She darts foreward and low, driving the blade directly into the man's beating heart. There she gives the wicked blade a twist for good measure, before simply stepping past him.

    Casually she takes up her P90 again, tossing the empty magazine aside and locking in a fresh one. <<Big Safari, six enemy K-I-A, one in custody, primary objectives met.>>

    She darts foreward, poncho fluttering as she sprints into the stairwell and takes a dashing leap over the railing. She lands three flights down with a grunt, before pivoting as she drops a knee. Another burst of PDW fire catches the first man just beneath the chin and empties his noodle bucket across his friend. Freshly brain-sprayed, the last man standing gets a burst of automatic fire to the knee for good measure before he's grappled and driven to the ground to be disarmed and flex cuffed.

    Czarny lands atop the remains of that Sentinel with a flutter, examining the remains for a moment before plucking free a fist full of wires as if it were carrion.