| Fire at Portside Towers |
| Summary: | Daredevil has Domino and Iron Spider-Woman help him infiltrate a syndicate headquarters to gather intel and throw a monkey wrench in their business. |
| Date: | 2016-08-21 |
| Related: | (2016-08-12) Two vs. the Jamaican Kings |
| NPCs: | unnamed thugs, unnamed techies, unnamed maintenance men |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
Location: Portside Towers on the Jersey Shore
Date/Time: 21 August 2016, around 9:30pm
The Portside Towers Apartment Complex was a typical late 90s project that gave some hope to a few investors. Unfortunately, when the project ended, that hope was quickly diminished. It had two problems. The great sweeping waterside view was wonderful, it gave what few owners there had been initially a lovely thing to come home to. Yet the first problem was that view was from the Jersey shore. The second problem was a matter of timing, when the housing crash kicked in and prices dropped… the denizens abandoned it in droves.
That made the Portside Tower Apartment Complex what it is today. An abandoned building on a strip of a dock that could pass for something akin to a prison, a government complex, or a fortress. The owner of the building now, however, has made do with crafting it into the latter.
Normally construction vehicles and contractors are seen coming in and out of the complex. An optimistic sign stands outside the parking lot announcing the coming relaunch of the Portside sometime next year. Yet all of that is a cover. During night time there are men walking the rooftops and the hallway balconies, keeping watch as vehicles come and go for whatever nefarious purpose. They usually keep an eye out for people approaching the gates…
But not for a small river craft that hums through the night carrying three passengers.
Mary Jane Watson-Parker suits up at home and slips out her apartment window about an hour before the rendezvous Daredevil asked her to make when she saw him on patrol a couple of nights back. During that exchange she also gave him the number that is currently forwarded to her armor incase he needed to contact her. With the outfit's camouflage active, she is confident that her departure was not seen and only after slinging a few blocks away from her home does she have it resume its normal crimson and gold appearance.
She meanders though the city that so resembles the one her husband loved to defend and then finds her way to the dock to meet the man in red and is accompanying him and his other companion on the boat ride across the river.
She's got the time right. She's got the place right. The only detail which Domino isn't fully certain of yet..is what the rules of engagement are going to be. Daredevil seems like the 'up close and personal' sort so she knows where he's going to be. He's also against killing, which does make it a little more difficult for playing the sniper role.
Either way, this merc has come prepared. She's brought along a couple of tough black polymer cases which clearly aren't light in weight. The boat can take it but it's clear that she's not bringing everything into the fight proper. 'I'd rather have it and not need it' are words to live by!
This encounter is also her first experience with the Iron Spider-Woman, an individual whom quickly gets labeled as 'freaky' with the extra metal legs being involved.
Only in New York City, right?
Not that Dom's looking exactly normal, herself. She's ditched subtlety tonight and left the all black armor, black combat webbing, and various holstered black weapons openly displayed for those able to see, or otherwise sense, them. She's tugging her usual fingerless gloves into place as the boat approaches their destination, having one of those 'pot, meet kettle' moments when she states "Well, this looks shady as hell."
Standing slightly beside Domino, Daredevil balances lightly upon his feet, having gotten his 'sea-legs' rather easily apparently. He leans in over her shoulder for a moment to murmur loud enough over the noise of the engine and the waves. "When you see the complex, take us down to low power. There should be a dock underneath…" Not that there was one in the initial blue prints, but the evidence of a few boats coming and going in the day time might give some evidence to this presumption.
Turning back towards Mary Jane, the mirrored lenses in his eyelets reflect back upon her as he says levelly, "I believe this to be the main operations center for a syndicate that has been making inroads into the city. Some of the hires I've read about are people with high skill and long experience. Engage as you must to preserve your life. I would prefer no one dies…"
Those words hang there, but he doesn't add the ones that should most likely follow them. That he'd prefer none of them die more.
Turning back, "I would like to gain what intelligence we can, then get out. Quietly if possible. And destroy their data."
MJ nods within her suit and, with her voice masked electronically as normal, says, "So, we should only engage if we have to, understood," and causes her suit to switch to stealth mode with less reflective antique gold and a darker, blood-like shade of red.
"Do we have any intelligence on the layout or are we going in blind?" she asks, completely unaware of the irony of asking Murdock that question.
One doesn't have to be a mercenary to know how to read between the lines. '-Prefer- no one dies.' Yeah, Domino hears Daredevil loud and clear. She cuts the throttle to low and lets the boat continue the rest of its approach at little more than coasting speed, crouching down to pick through her gear and swap out a couple of choice items.
Standing, looking at MJ, she points out "You really do remind me of a couple of people." MJ's question is relevant, though! And funny in that morbid/not exactly nice sort of way. So, naturally Dom's smirking at it. Daredevil's got point while she works on bringing their boat to the dock.
"And how likely is our boat going to get noticed out here? If they're using the same drop point we may not have much time on our parking meter."
"They seem to have no activity on the water in the evenings. Their electronic surveillance is also of a more pedestrian variety. Perhaps to maintain their cover as a development group." Daredevil waits for the boat to lightly touch one of the posts in the pier underneath the complex itself. He reaches for the rope and winds it around the metal launch, tying it tight as he draws back on the line. "They tend to use boats like this one." Leaving them the possibility that anyone who sights it might dismiss it. Then again they might not.
Once the boat is secure, he turns to them and tells them. "But yes…" His lip sets slightly, "The schematics available were only from the initial launch of the project. We could find anything in there."
The man in the black and red gives a nod. "Come on." With that said he steps onto the docks, turning his head to the side as he listens to the subtle waves of sound, the wash of the water giving enough resonance for him to map out the immediate area… and the entryway that lies through the double doors. "We're clear for now."
He starts to approach the door, pausing as he tilts his head to the side to the motion sensor wired into the frame of the door.
Before the boat reaches the dock, nods to Domino. "I believe that I am not the only person to have worn the armor," she acknowledges the other woman's comment before saying, "We'll have to compare notes at some point," as well.
At "Come on," she is off the boat and climbing up the wall, waldos retracted for the moment. As they approach the doors, her crawling along the wall to reach the point above it she looks to her Domino when she sees evidence of the security system requiring someone to defeat it.
MJ softly says, "If you want me to take point, my waldos provide sensory input allowing me to see around corners discretely."
Good news about the boat. Not so good news about the floorplan intel. "Just in case there was any risk of this being too easy," Domino says with another lopsided grin. "C'mon, there's three of us. Our odds aren't bad. Better if we split up, go by levels."
One motion sensor on the door, and..really? That's -it?- "Frickin' amateurs," she mutters while following a seam along the doorway, quietly slipping a matte black knife into her hand then suddenly jabbing it between pieces of woodwork, forcing the blade to twist until a faint pop is heard from beneath the siding.
The albino takes a step back, right in front of the sensor, waves her hand at it, grins, then air-kisses at the now dead sensor. "Walk in the park," she declares while flicking the blade in her hand then tucking it back out of sight. MJ's suggestion is met with one hand being swept forward. "Superior tech gets point."
Muttering, she adds "Whatever a 'waldo' is."
A nod is given to MJ as Daredevil pulls open the door before her… and Domino since well, he's a gentleman. But then he steps through and turns his head to the side. A frown of… distraction or concentration seems to shift over his features as he holds up a hand for them to bide a moment. He takes in a deep breath, drawing in the faint ambient scent of the facility, even as he listens for the faint tell-tale hints as to the layout of the area.
If the two women perceived the world in the same way that he does, they too would be able to pick up the subtle hint of gasoline from the basement, the faint hum of a generator or a heavy exchange. They'd also be able to taste that subtle aspect of ozone and the heightened temperature two floors up. A nod to himself is seen as he then speaks, "There's a stairwell one hundred feet down the right hall." The area looks so… mundane, like the underside of a planned development that was hoping to convert this floor into a gym area or perhap storage. "Two stories up there's a concentration of equipment. Perhaps a server room or some sort of records. Give me three minutes to get the power down, then do what you can. I'll rendesvouz with you back there once make sure the power will stay out."
He looks between them, "Good luck." Once that's said he moves towards the opposite hallway.
MJ doesn't bother with the lecture about the history of the term dating back to a Robert A. Heinlein story like her husband would. Instead she says, "Remote manipulator. The arms you looked askance at back in the city," as she passes thought he door and begins to crawl along the ceiling. She gives a nod to Daredevil as he parts company with her and Domino then turns into the indicated hallway after checking it with a quickly extended Waldo.
"Hallway's clear. There are a few doors between us and the stairs," she says to Domino before progressing forward.
Back when they first met Domino had no idea why this Red Devil guy kept asking for silence. Fortunately for her the internet in this reality is a helluva thing. Now when Daredevil asks for his moment of silence she's inclined to let him have it, so long as they're both on the same side and all.
The end result is nothing short of stunning. If he could see then he couldn't miss the surprise on her face. "You can -sense- all of that?" It's followed with a semi-blank shrug. "Yeah, on it."
No power means no easy way to delete files off of a server. Going stealth means they can't torch it right where they find it. The idea of them trying to remove every piece of data storage equipment from a server then sneak it all back -out- again seems like it might be ..tricky. Dom's already working out contingency plans on this potential dilemma.
In the meantime she has to try and not get distracted by the sight of a grown woman crawling across the -blasted ceiling on robotic spiderlegs.- Seriously, this timeline is frickin' crazy! For a passing moment she looks rather bewildered then falls into line behind the Iron Spider. "Set the pace, Legs. I've got our six."
There's little opposition on the inside of the facility as each of them make their way. MJ and Domino might catch the glimpse of a sentry walking outside past one of the glass doors, but he does not glimpse inwards, their attention focused on the outside alone it seems. Yet their going is not without incident. There' a camera that Domino will most likely have to eliminate, and then there's the set of two guards standing outside what looks like a large reinforced door that is the most likely location for the data center or server room. It's this black framed heavy door with a metal panel/keypad next to it. The two guards don't have weapons at the ready, though the two of them can most likely tell that they have sidearms within their jackets.
Downstairs, Daredevil is making his way down another hall, listening intently for any that might cross his path. He descends a set of stair, planting a hand and vaulting over the railing to land silently on the basement level, then flattens himself against the wall next to the door that leads to the generator room. Still two minutes til power outage. If Domino wishes she could perchance make a dash for the data instead of erring on the side of caution that Daredevil seems set upon.
Having taken point, MJ catches sight of the camera first while it is pointed away from her and Domino. As it starts to rotate towards her she takes a quick aim and *thwip!* gums up its works while they are both still outside its arc of vision.
Counting on the noise of her webshooter to have alerted her companion, MJ does the almost cliché two fingers towards her eyes and then towards the now stationary camera and waits for Domino to clear her for moving forward again.
There's a time for playing the odds. So far none of the three have alerted anyone within the complex. Domino's happy to keep it that way. Keeping things stealthy is never a bad idea. The one camera, now easily marked via webbing (she may have been a little surprised by that, too,) is easy enough to deal with. Sooner or later any dead camera is going to draw attention.
Her method for 'dealing' with it is to reach up with the tip of a finger and give the underside of the lens a little push, changing its angle of view. The camera sticks to its patrol, the screen it's connected to still shows it doing its thing. It's just at an angle that won't do a whole lot of good for actually spotting trouble.
"I used to do that as a prank," she off-handedly remarks while tugging that awful webbing stuff free. "Eugh..gees, this stuff is tacky as hell. T-minus two."
The two guards further along down that hall from the two seem at ease for the most part. Yet small hints might show the vigilantes that they're not exactly professionals. One of them starts to lean against the wall and folds his arms over his chest, breaking up his quick draw lines, and that's a big no-no in Domino's profession. The other seems to occasionally check his phone now and then, but never for more than a span of two seconds as if he's awaiting a text-message of some sort.
Down in the basement, a lone heartbeat is heard inside the room. Daredevil lightly pushes the door open and slips inside. There's a slosh of gasoline as a man in maintenance coveralls is filling one of the generators. He's humming to himself happily and doesn't notice the approach of the man in black and red.
"What do they pay you?"
The maintenance man turns around slowly and frowns, but then he stumbles back into the utility table behind him as he espies the armored vigilante.
"Twel-twel-twelve fifty. N'hour."
"You don't get paid enough. Go home."
"I… I will."
"And tell no one you saw me."
"I… I won't."
The man look up at the man his lips part, but instead of saying anything more he steps away… steps further away then makes a break for it.
A few moments later and the power goes out at the deignated time.
MJ chuckles to herself, both at Domino's surprise and her actions. Addressing the first she softly reminds, "Iron /Spider/-Woman," and then, "That's kind of the whole point," about the webbing while she thumbs up the prank.
Before beginning to advance towards the server room the amateur guards are watching, MJ says, "I'll get the servers if you can take care of them," and waits to move until Domino acknowledges and starts what ever she will do to distract or otherwise 'take care' of the guards.
And then the power goes out and she switches to night vision mode as the dull red emergency lighting kicks in.
Dom's keeping an eye on the time. True to Daredevil's word the power blinks out. No lights, no cameras, but the action's just about to begin. She simply mutters back "Gladly."
With the two guards posted outside, guys that are clearly really new to this whole 'hired gun' thing, she doesn't bother getting fancy. In fact, she plays the odds and steps right out into the open, coming towards them at exactly the right pace for someone who seems like they work here and just discovered that the power went out for themselves.
"Think a rat chewed up the line again. Be nice if they ever got around to—"
Whup-Crack!-CRUNCH-Smack!*THUD*
"—Fixing it," the monochromed merc finishes while quietly checking the chamber of a pistol she just took off of one of the downed mooks. "Can never have too many Ninety-Two's in the toybox. Thanks, pal."
The Iron Spider is given a salute with the 'borrowed' pistol before Domino looks for a good place to hide the two unconscious guards.
Some twenty feed away there's a utility closet of a sort that most likely might serve, though upon further investigation it might be a tight squeeze for the two large men. Sure they could be stuffed in there, but they'll be pretty super friendly with each other afterwards, that and perhaps the mop that's already in there too.
But once they're out of the way, Iron Spider-Woman has a clear angle on the approach to the data center. The door no longer seems to be locked, the lights on the data pad having gone out as well. A hand upon the surface could easily push it open. From where they are, however, the two vigilantes will hear the hectic murmur of voices from within as people discuss the power outage. There's even a momentary sound of footsteps approaching that heavy security door, perhaps even likely to open it in the next handful of seconds.
MJ doesn't even wait for the men to be on the ground, passing overhead as they are being hit and her light thump to the floor is masked by their first thud while the *click* of her opening the door is masked by the second.
She dashes into to the data room and fires webbing directly into the fan and ventilation ports of each server. It doesn't require a lot of computer or science knowledge to understand that the hour before the webbing disintegrates is likely four to five times longer before the computers overheat and burst into flames. After repositioning them to hide her sabotage long enough for the devices to effectively self-destruct she returns to the door to look for Domino and with a "Everything should be covered in here," she indicates she is ready to retrace their path towards the building's exit.
Is it worth the time and effort to mash those two mooks into a small closet?
No. No, it's not.
So long as they aren't lying out in the open Domino's happy. Nothing stays hidden forever, especially if they're both going to regain consciousness at some point. This whole operation revolves around 'quick and dirty' so she won't get fancy with 'em.
Besides, there might be more asses in need of being kicked! Iron Spider can deal with the techie stuff, Dom's got the door covered. When it sounds like people are on the way she pulls out a collapsible baton, still compressed but ready if she needs it.
"I hear..with my little ear…" she mutters under a breath while trying to do a headcount based on sounds alone.
Daredevil would have had this figured out in a New York Second.
Then MJ's back, which has Domino looking..a little concerned? She even glances back to the servers, seeing that 1, they're still standing, and 2, Iron Spider came back empty-handed. She hasn't been one to question the other woman's work before, though this time the albino asks "You sure?"
Maybe Daredevil was talking about an on-site tour for gathering intel rather than gathering it from the server. Eh! It's good enough for field work. "I'm with ya. Watch the door, unfriendlies on approach."
Spider-Woman is able to infiltrate into the room even as the handful of techs within are still moving around inside, making snide comments at each other.
"The generators out again? That fuckin' Manny."
"Seriously, Manny's useless. Can't we get like an expensive Roomba to do his job?"
"For real."
The two techs continue to grouse and grumble as one of them frowns to himself as he walks to a bank of displays that are all blank. He pushes against one with a fingertip and sighs, "Still. Nice guy. Incompetent, but nice."
Yet they aren't aware of the webbing that has gummed up the racks of data that would serve to cause them to overheat once the power returns. Though if something else occurs it might be longer than the one hour lifespan of her webbing. At the least it is a good back up option.
Outside in the hall, however, there's suddenly the sound of booted feet.
Spider-Woman is able to infiltrate into the room even as the handful of techs within are still moving around inside, making snide comments at each other.
"The generators out again? That fuckin' Manny."
"Seriously, Manny's useless. Can't we get like an expensive Roomba to do his job?"
"For real."
The two techs continue to grouse and grumble as one of them frowns to himself as he walks to a bank of displays that are all blank. He pushes against one with a fingertip and sighs, "Still. Nice guy. Incompetent, but nice."
Yet they aren't aware of the webbing that has gummed up the racks of data that will cause them to slowly gain heat, hotter and hotter until their warning displays will shift red but then shortly after they'll be doe for. At the least it is a good back up option.
Outside in the hall, however, there's suddenly the sound of booted feet.
Confused by Domino's question, MJ responds with, "Sure, destroy the data on the servers while he's getting intel, right?" speaking softly to avoid being over heard by the technicians in the room she just departed as the sound of approaching boots begins to be heard.
Part of it, really a large part of it, is that the sabotaging of the system is so completely subtle that Domino may not have realized what was happening if she had been standing right next to it. "He probably should have been more specific about what sort of intel he was looking for before we got started. Anyway," she says with a quick motion of her head toward the door. "Care to dance?"
There's only one way out of this room and there's company waiting for them on the other side. The first guy to open the door's getting struck square in the face, then she's diving out into the hall to get to work. Quick, harsh, affirmative. Iron Spider knows what the merc can do, she had done the detective work covering an earlier skirmish.
Comin' through!
It's a trio of men who came in guns set once they realized there were no guards to stop any intruders. It's once they're through the doors that they're set upon. One man gets his nose crushed under the flattened palm of Domino's hand. Another gets his shoulder dislocated even as he's swirled into the wall to smack into it head first… only to slump slowly down it. The third is actually able to take a bead and a single round fires with a /CRACK!/ as his kneecap suddenly stops supporting his weight and then he's held in a chokehold until he's out and on the floor, broken leg and all.
This swirl of activity leaves the two techs in there with their hands up and going, "Whaaaaa?"
But then Daredevil appears in the doorway, perhaps barely dodging a strike from Domino before he makes his presence known. "Good work."
Stepping past them he moves into the room even as one of those techs murmurs towards Spider-Woman, "Uhh, you guys… you guys shouldn't be in here."
They're ignored even as the vigilante turns his head to sense the room around him. His brow furrows as he concentrates but then he says, "Go sit in the corner. Now."
The two techs look at each other, then look at what Domino just did to the toughest guys they knew… and the go sit in the corner.
Once they're out of the way, DD slips to the side to a cabinet area to pull open a few drawers. He take a small flash drive, then slides his fingers along the back of one of the servers… finding a particular bay that he yanks the drive free from.
"This will have to do. Come on, let's get out of here."
It's only then that they break away from the door and the server room, stepping into a run for their evacuation point.
MJ wraps the disabled guards and cowering techs into a mass of webbing as she says, "Can't leave these people in the building," and then drags them out of the building leaving them on the doorstop as the flames begin flickering in the data room.
A few minutes later, as the trio take their boat back across the river and evidence of the fire starts to be seen from outside the building, MJ sends a signal on the emergency band to anonymously report the fire so that the structure can hopefully be saved.