You raise your shield and grab your sword. Your armor is tough, but you know you're not invincible. As heavy footsteps approach you, you decide to take a page out of Deprived's playbook.
Deprived was one of the few Vigilanties that not only didn't have any powers, but he didn't bring any weapons or gear with him. But he was resourceful and relentless. You sprint at the doorway before the first man can get through. You're planning on punching out every person on the other side of that door before they can even get a shot off. You get to the doorway at the same time as an unfortunate goon, and you slam into him shield first. He goes flying, crashing into a wall and slumping to the floor.
You turn around, and slam the hilt of your sword into the goon to your right. Her helmet cracks and she falls to the ground. But in the second you do that, two more goons circle around you, take aim, and fires. The shotgun pellets and SMG bullets fly around the hallway as you run to avoid them. But while you were fast enough the avoid the shotgun blast aimed at your head, the goon wielding an SMG was luckier. The onslaught breaks through your barrier, and a few bullets hit you right in your midsection. You grit in pain, even as your armor take the brunt of the attack.
"I'm gonna feel that in the morning" You think. But before you can attack either man, a laser beam hits one of them in the chest. His vest starts to smoke and the air fills with the smell of burnt bacon The man's eyes shoot open and he lets out a gasp of pain.
The SMG wielding goon backpeddles out of the doorway fumbling a with another magazine to try and reload before you smash him on the head with your shield, sending him to the ground as if his legs were made of jello.
As you turn around, you come face to face with a fifth man, holding a pistol and looking at his four incapasitated or dead comrads, plus the two you fried earlier.
"I don't know who you work for, but they can't have insurance. Just put down the gun or I will hurt you." You say in your disguised male voice.
The man looks at you, then his gun and shrugs. "C'est la vie" He says before unloading his pistol and throwing it to the side.
You sigh in relief. You start to back out of the hall towards the exit.
"Bad news, Sunny" Jasmine says through your earpiece. "We're almost done. You just need to hold out a little longer!"
As you turn around, you see a faint glow coming from behind you. You turn around just in time to see a flail with a steel ball as big as your head flying at you. You raise your shield as the flail smashes into it, actually leaving a small dent in your shield. Lowering your shield, you see the goon, but his right arm, from the elbow down, has morphed into a glowing chain, with a large spiked flail at the end.
"What? I put down the gun." The man says with a wide smile. He swings the flail again. You duck, and the flail smashes into a steel wall, leaving a dent in it. As the man pulls his arm back, the chain starts to retract and morph again until his arm has turned into a warhammer. You manage to sidestep the strike and slash the man in the side with your sword. The man cries out in pain and stumbles backwards. Reaching out to seize him, you pull him in and headbutt him. The man goes limp as he's knocked cold and you drop him to the floor.
You walk out of the hallway and see Stampede again, aiming her rifle. She puts it down when she sees that it's you.
"So, was that all of 'em?" She asks. But from the doorway on the opposite side of the hallway, you see more gun-wielding goons start to appear.
"Look out!" You shout.
Stampede spins around, laser drawn but one of the goons fires a burst from an SMG, hitting Stampede in the chest.
You don't even see it at first. You're rushing to get between Stampede and the goons, a new barrier created. You launch another Thunderbolt striking down at the tightly packed group.
"GHA FUCKIT THEY GOT ME! THEY GOT ME." Stampede screams as she clutches her chest. She pulls the trigger on her laser rifle in the other hand, but the laser doesn't come out, the power cell exhausted.
"I got it"! Jasmine says. "I got everything, get out of there!"
You toss the fireball down the corridor and it explodes in a great leaping flame. You hear screams, cursing, and even a few gunshots, but you don't stop to look to see the results. You pick up Stampede and rush up the ladder, ignoring the bullets pinging against your barrier. You come up as soon as you see Operative about to climb down.
"Run!" You shout before taking off towards the car, with Operative right behind you.
---------------------------------
"Well, I guess you found something there?" Operative says with a chuckle as he speeds away from the abandoned store, nearly sideswiping another car as he peels out.
"Here's hoping" You say. Stampede just groans, in the backseat.
"Hey, Vigil. Would you mind..." She looks down at her wounds.
"Hold on" You say as you gather some more magical energy. Stampede starts to glow, and her skin starts to knit itself together. It isn't perfect, but Stampede should be fine for now.
"*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*You know, I hope you aren't gonna charge me for the patch job. I'd be broke in an afternoon." Stampede mutters as she slumps across the back seat of the car. The healing spell you cast managed to stop the bleeding, but the backseat was still covered in blood.
"Hey, at least we got what we came for" You say. "I... hope"
"Same here..." Jasmine says. It's gonna take a while to go through all of this."
"Hey, Vigil, you have someone else on the other end of that earpiece, right?" Stampede says, groaning as she slowly sits up.
"Yeah?" You say.
"Have 'em send the info to me. I have a feeling I can go through it faster than they could" Stampede says.
"So, what's Stampede's phone number?" Jasmine asks
Stampede spends the next few minutes going through the information that Jasmine downloaded while Operative is driving away, taking roads through residential neighborhoods to avoid more actives streets. You un-summoned your armor, looking for anyone following you. Police or otherwise. Eventually, Stampede looks up.
"Well, looks like Lussiac learned from the last time she killed someone" Stampede says. "She apparently has a plan more complex than, 'drive up to them and shoot a grenade through their window. She's planning killing Valarie Crowe tomorrow morning, couple of hours after midnight." Stampede says as your car pulls up to a stoplight a few blocks away from the bunker. "But it looks like her plan is to sneak in later today and-"
"Cops" Operative says, elbowing you and gesturing up ahead. Sure enough, a cop car is turning a corner from up the road, and speeding the way you're coming from. You're already in your disguise, a dark haired tired-looking man in his mid 30's. Operative's body starts rippling, and he turns into a bald, skinny goateed man. All Stampede can do is lie in the back seat and hope no one notices the blood.
The cop car passes you by. And then another. By the time the light turns green, one more comes from a street behind you. All heading towards the bunker where you just were.
"We... we should probably get rid of this car." You says. "They haven't made us yet, but I don't want to take any chances"
"I know a guy that could get us a new paint job, new places, and, some new appulstery" Operative says as he looks back at the back seat. "Stampede, you were saying?"
Stampede nods. "Anyway, Crowe has a panic room. Real expensive, if Lussiac's info is right. If Crowe runs there, she could hold up in there forever. Or at least as long as she has food and water" She muses. "Anyway, panic room. It's nearly impenetrable. But Lussiac has a plan." Stampede continues. "There's an air circulation system on it. Makes sure you don't get CO2 poisoning. It looks like Lussiac's planning on breaking in and sabotaging it."
"I'm guessing with one of her gas bombs or something?" Operative says.
"Yup" Stampede answers. "The plan is for her to sneak in, install the gas thing in the air filtration system, and sneak out. Then tomorrow, stage an attack. Launch a few gas bombs, kill a few guards. Crowe runs into her panic room..."
"And it turns into a gas chamber" You finish.
"Yup" Stampede says.
"So when is she going to sneak in to put in the bomb?" You ask.
Stampede looks at the data on her phone. "Lussiac should be there in about... 30 minutes"
"And how far is Crowe's place from here?" Operative asks
You pull up a mental map of the city. You and Jasmine had been doing some research into Crowe. That involved finding out where she lived. Or at least where she lived most of the time. Her mansion was north of here, near downtown.
"It's in Haven's Way. About 30 minutes away." You say.
"Shit" Operative says. You have a feeling you're thinking the same thing. Haven's Way is a very rich neighborhood that has a lot of businesses. And the people who live there very much appreciate the protection that a Cape can provide, so there's almost always one patrolling the neighborhood. And with two, possibly three of you in this car having active warrants, well, you're pretty sure there's only two, maybe three Capes all three of you could take on in a fight and maybe win against.
The Vigil
HP: 20/20
FP: 9/10
Stampede
HP: 24/30 (Mech) 7/9 (Human)
FuelP: 8/10+5 (Mech) 6/9 (Human)
Operative
HP: 12/12
FP: 11/12
[] "Well, we know where she is, and that she's gonna be there soon Let's take her down and get out of there before a Cape catches us."
[] "You know, I think we all know that Crowe is involved in something bad. I mean, do we really need to save Crowe?"
[] (Write in)
