xavier_institute_logs | Hellfire Club: The Mission [CLOSED]

Hellfire Club: The Mission [CLOSED]

WHO: Nightcrawler and those selected for the mission.
WHAT: The Hellfire Club infiltration mission
WHERE: Manhattan
WHEN: Late evening
WARNING(S): Could get violent.

Team One was already on the ground, infiltrating the party. The rest waited in silence aboard the Blackbird, hovering in complete stealth mode high above the island. Back at the Institute, Professor X closely monitored the communications of the team, ready to give the signal when ready...

It was go time.

[[ OKAY HERE'S HOW IT'S GOING TO GO.

Top levels will be going up for each mission phase. Each phase will, OOCly, go on simultaneously so no one has to wait for another team to complete their task. Players have freedom to play as they like, but the mod characters in each team (Feliks, Shindou, Reimu) will most likely lead the action in the direction it's intended to go. The mod account will pop in for NPCing every now and again.

Have fun! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He can't argue against the usefulness of phasing on a mission like this. Good skill to have for an infiltration team.

"I'll take lead on combat if we need to do it. Cryokinesis sure as hell isn't a stealth power."

And then the lights go out, that hideous screeching sound sets his teeth on edge. Wonderful. They've gone and tripped the security measures already. Tch. He reaches out in the general direction in which he'd seen Rinka before the hall went black, finally managing to get ahold of her arm after a bit of blind fumbling. Phasing ought to be an interesting experience if nothing else.

Feeling one person's hand on her arm, Rinka stretched forward her other to find the gate. She'd grab the second person once she knew what they were about to pass through.

"Three layers, about fifteen centimeters thick total. Inner layer not as dense as the two outer. Feels like the density of concrete and steel. Meant to slow down the usual sort of intruders. Won't be a problem for us though."

A phaser isn't your usual sort of intruder after all.

M'gann gives a yelp when the lights get cut out, jumping upwards a few more feet by reflex, before letting the levitation cut out and drop her back to the ground. Now M'gann has to take back that feeling of so much bright and white light being uncomfortable; it's A LOT better than fumbling around in the dark. She stays tensed up and in place, trying her best to listen.

"Okay, okay... that's good. That you can handle it, and have the powers for it." With that thought, she moves forward and cautiously reaches out for some contact. It's time to REALLY get her game face on, as the traps have clearly shown.

[Phasing through the first gate is no problem, but on the other side there's only more dark and another barrier. The entire corridor has been locked down tight. Getting through the second is just the same.

When the trio slips through into the third enclosure, however, they'll be met by a burst of arcing light from overhead: twin electroshock bursts, firing from the paired turrets mounted along the ceiling. They aim down the center of the corridor, blasting high and low.

Anyone hit will find that they're only strong enough to deliver a painful stun...but then a split-second later all the light is gone, and there's only the whirring sound of the turrets recharging up above.]

Once Rinka feels the second hand grasp her shoulder, she spreads her power over her two teammates.

"Okay, hold your breath for a second and---"

She steps forward, towing them behind her. Once she feels herself clear the gate, she keeps going until she's sure the two behind her are clear as well.

"--breathe out. Huh, dark here, too."

Keeping her power spread to M'gann and Toushirou, she walks forward again and feels another barrier like the first.

"Going through another barrier."

After two compartments of pitch black, the sudden light is more than her eyes can take. Blinking rapidly as she fights to recover her vision, she grabs for her teammates' hands, trying to make sure they stay intangible to whatever attack might come.

"Don't let go!"

Right, they're handling this fine so far; for M'gann personally, it feels a little weird. Half like holding her breath inside a tunnel, half like walking through something kind of syrupy. (Plus, there's the fact that she puts her feet down to actually walk, rather than float; this is probably taxing enough without having to tug her along through the air.) It's disorienting, which only makes her slow to react when the air starts crackling.

She tries to go for the air, but is a little too slow; all she pulls off is drifting a little...and being right in the path of a painful zap running along her skin. She winces hard, but doesn't cry out; instead her breath comes out in a pained hiss, and she hopes there's enough space between them that the shock doesn't run from skin to skin.

Her head swims as M'gann throws a hand out towards the direction of the shock.

"I can do this!"

She says that for the others and to spur herself into action. She closes her hand into a fist and tries to telepathically yank at one of the turrets she caught a glimpse of.

The low blast hits before Rinka can get a hold on him again and he hisses sharply. He's disoriented for a few seconds, but his old combat lessons had been very painful ones and he'd learned to deal with it quickly.

The turrets, where are they? He directs his own power across the ground, the only reference point he's got right now. Ice crackles along the floor, creeps partially up a wall. If he hits the turrets, he might be able to get them to seize up.

[There's a low, creaking rumble, followed by a metallic screech and a flare of sparks arcing from the ceiling as one of the turrets is torn free from its mount. The hum of its partner still charging doesn't dissipate, however. Apparently, the ice didn't reach high enough to shut it down.

When it fires again, the team might be able to pinpoint its location along the ceiling just above the gate. Assuming they're not too distracted by the electric blast still aiming to send them sprawling, that is.]

Edited 2015-01-31 17:12 (UTC)

"Ohhhh no-" She has just enough time to think that, as the electric humming sound fills the air. She knows what this is leading up to-

When the turret fires again, this time M'gann doesn't try to fly and evade; she's already learned that lesson. Instead she drops low to the floor, crouched down and staring up at wherever the electricity came from.

"Aim to your right!" She calls out what she's able to see. "Just one more to take out!"

Despite feeling rather useless at the moment, Rinka uses the flash from the remaining turret to pinpoint where her teammates are. She goes for M'gann first, holding out her hand so she can spread her intangibility once again.

"Miss M, give me your hand."

He catches the location of the other turret, concentrates his ice there even as the blast comes out. It's a deep, intense freeze he intends to put on that thing, hopefully shorting it out and making the metal brittle.

He reaches out again to where he remembers Rinka might be. Really, he'd rather not get floored by another one of those damn electric pulses. They're not fun.

M'gann doesn't have to be told twice, either. She goes grasping for Rinka's hand from her place on the floor, and with her other arm M'gann shoves against the ground to push herself up. She floats in the air before she finds her feet, and makes contact.

That's when she finally breathes out.

"Not unconscious; that's a plus, right?"

Now they just have to see if the ice attack worked.

[Toushirou gets it this time; the zap of the turret's electronics shorting out is audible, and then the walled-off section of the corridor they're in is silent once again.

The lights aren't helpful enough to turn back on, still, but once they go through the last gate up ahead they'll find the corridor turning into a narrower hallway with dim, back-up lamps going overhead. If the walls weren't still smooth metal, this part of the facility could almost look like office-space. Doors branch off to what appear to be meeting rooms and storage space. At the end of the hall, a lift much like the one the team had appeared outside of waits, its controls offering only further descent.

But at least nothing down this way is trying to kill them so far?]

"Definite plus."

Once she feels M'gann's hand in her own, Rinka turns back and searches for Toushirou's, straining to listen for those little sounds that would indicate where he is. The rub of fabric, the squeak of boot against the floor... there. Her fingers grab onto the sleeve of his uniform right as she hears the second turret short out. She heaves a sigh of relief and thanks Master Roshi for all that weird blindfolded training he'd had her do.

"Okay. Got you both."

When this is over, she's going to suggest low-visibility training to Shindou. Even with a psychic link being able to find each other in the dark can be tricky. For now though, time to get through the next gate and onto whatever comes next.

Edited 2015-02-04 22:49 (UTC)

About damned time they got those things taken care of. He isn't about to drop his guard, however. Never let your guard down on a mission. The narrowness of the next hallway doesn't particularly bother him; he prefers open spaces, but he's small enough that it's hardly an issue. Who knew being so small would come in handy so often?

"Quick check of the storage before heading into the lift. Might find clues about what to expect before we go down."

It could turn out to be all mundane stuff, but better to at least do a quick sweep. Any security measures are likely to get nastier the further down they go.

Edited 2015-02-06 20:12 (UTC)

"Okay..." M'gann on the other hand sounds wary and tense as she glances around the hallway. It's good to have visibility back, but... "This is going to cut into my mobility; you might want to take point after all."

She still follows the orders of opening a few of the doors. Her feet stay stuck to the ground now and she stays coiled up; ready to jump backwards in case anything DOES decide to spring out from those rooms.

"Good reflexes on those electric generators, by the way." She sends that out while investigating and working her way towards the lift. "Looks like defensive density shifting- sorry, phasing. That works okay on some of these things. Might need to use it again, depending on what's waiting for us."

Rinka quickly starts sticking her head through doors, taking a peek inside before withdrawing. Definitely not the first time she's used her powers to poke around places she shouldn't be. At M'gann's comments, she smiles a little.

"Thanks. It's not the most useful power for attacking, but it's handy when people start shooting flames at you."

There's a brief, mental chuckle.

"'Density shifting' sounds way cooler than 'phasing'. I might have to start calling it that."

[There really doesn't appear to be much to find here, at least not without a thorough search. One room is stashed with what may be damaged or tabled projects: gutted robotics, boxed-up equipment, and a few stray, cybernetic limbs stacked here and there. It's a little macabre but not very promising. Another is just a cramped office with table, desk, and computer. One wouldn't think its owner could be all that important, judging from the space allotted here. There's just not much dirt down this way.

But there are additional security measures. When the team gets halfway down the corridor, several slots along the ceiling overhead slide open, each dropping a round, silver-white canister down to the floor. There are five total, and they land evenly spaced down the length of the hallway.

As soon as they hit the ground, they begin spouting gas, thick and a smoky white-grey. That stuff burns, and anyone caught breathing it will swiftly find themselves going light-headed as they fight to get air. Already, the gas is billowing up in clouds, threatening to fill the length of the corridor.]

M’gann makes a worried, slightly unnerved face as her eyes go wide; whether it’s at the exposed robotics or the talk about fire is anyone’s guess. Her hands even go up to her mouth as she turns away from the doors and goes back to the hallway-

Just in time to see the canisters drop. She winces, drops down, and scrambles backwards when she catches even the first hint of that burning sensation.

”Not fire!” She doesn’t mean to transmit that thought, but it still blares through the link as she desperately reassures herself and tries to get her mental balance back. ”Hurts, but not fire.”

She still needs to do something about those canisters though, before they all suffocate. But thankfully, they’ve already got a few open doors lining the hallway, and those objects look like the right size for lifting and throwing.

M’gann doesn’t employ much finesse with trying to lift the canisters and throw them; just landing them in one of the rooms and then slamming the doors on them will be enough for her.

Rinka has her head stuck through a door when she hears the sound of something hitting the ground behind her. She gives a short mental curse, as she hadn't anticipated holding her breath for too long when she'd phased through the door. Turning around to see what's landed in the hallway, she sees the gas billowing toward her as M'gann notes the way it burns.

Clamping a hand over her nose and mouth for good measure, Rinka goes for the canister closest to her. Unphasing her hand, she grabs the canister, then phases it down into the floor. When she pulls her hand free, she scuttles backwards, trying to find a patch of air that's not been contaminated by the gas. In a few seconds her lungs are going to burn, not from the chemicals, but from the effort of holding her breath.

Damn it. He holds his breath reflexively, recoils at the first hint of heat, which isn't comfortable for him in general anymore. Heat is hell. He instinctively smacks one hand over his mouth to further avoid breathing in the gas, other hand directed out toward the remaining canisters. Ice crackles over them, blocking the flow of gas.

And because the whole move is reflex on his part, the release of power isn't quite wholly controlled; the temperature in the hallway dips noticeably, some of the gas shifting into frost.

[Good job with those, kids. Between the three of them, all the canisters are thrown clear or shut off before their smoke can entirely envelop the hallway. That won't stop what got out into the air to start with from burning like hell if they breathe in or stinging at their eyes, but it maintains visibility and keeps the toxin from threatening to knock any of them out.

Both of those are very good things, because once they make it the rest of the way down the corridor, to where it opens up into a waiting area for the lift at the end, they'll find that the security system isn't in the mood to play anymore. No more trying to incapacitate or trap them: Turrets hover at every corner of the room, steel-gray orbs with ominous black openings along their surfaces, and react to the first sign of movement near the corridor's end with bolts of concussive energy rained the team's way.

They'll fire on anything that steps out towards the lift, floating in mid-air to re-adjust themselves towards their target. And these blasts? Aren't set to stun.]

Once she finds a patch of clean air, Rinka gasps in a fresh lungful, then climbs to her feet. Plunging in, she finds there's still gaps between them large enough for her teammates to get through.

"It's patchy," she tells the other two. "Shouldn't be hard to side-step. I'll check ahead."

Winding her way between the plumes of gas, she gets to the end of the corridor and --

-- lets out a mental yelp as a blast of energy passes right through her leg. She ducks back to get out of range.

"I'm okay! Just, um, something firing at us again. Let me look."

Now that she knows something is there, she doesn't flinch whens she pokes her head out to look and a beam passes right through it. It probably looks super freaky for the other two.

"Four blasters. One in each corner. Free floating. Either motion sensitive or have some sort of visual capabilities. You guys toss and freeze and I'll draw their fire."

Jamming her nightsticks into her belt, she dashes out into the waiting area to distract the turrets.

They don't have a lot of time to come up with another plan, and thanks to that burning sensation M'gann is feeling rushed and hasty as is; once Rinka charges forward, M'gann follows. She can't even float right now, without the risk of getting into some of that poisoned air. It's all very discomforting.

Which just gives her a little more fuel when it comes to psychically punching things. M'gann doesn't give any thought to finesse or method now; just flinging her arms out, and doing her best to wrench control and smash one of those laser turrets into the ground. Her eyes are full on glowing at this point, thanks to the amount of effort she's putting out.

"Rinka, do you think-" and since she's running low on energy, M'gann doesn't bother with words. Instead she sends a mental image of Rinka staying phased out, and running between two of the turrets; without a target between them, they might just blast each other, right?

"Got it."

Rinka had only thought as far as keeping the turrets focused on her so they wouldn't blast her teammates, but attempting to get them to fry each other was good too. The trick would be to get high enough...

Running full speed at a bit of wall directly between two turrets, she takes two steps straight up the wall before flipping back as high as she can, trying to get the beams to cross.

Hellfire Club: The Mission [CLOSED]

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