2013.06.29 - Rescuing Doctor Wainman

Rheelasia

A crescent island in the South Pacific, Rheelasia is a tropical paradise. The tourist brochure advertises pristine beaches, beautiful scenery, and all the amenities of home. What it doesn't talk about, however, is the fact it's in the middle of a civil war, thanks to the assassination of its former leader, Generalissimo Singh Manh Lee. Now, Lee's brothers and sons, not to mention the island's military junta government, are all scrapping for a piece of the pie.

Effectively lawless, anybody with a buck to two to spend here can do pretty much whatever they want. As a result, the country's primary exports, these days, are Southeast Asian terrorist groups, black market goods, and narcotics. Its imports are slaves, illegal weaponry of all kinds and calibres, and destructive capability, and the scum of the Earth. Indeed, this place is basically a tropical Mos Eisley, complete with stormtroopers -- in the guise of local military police and mercenary enforcers.

There are far better vacation spots out there... but none of them quite as exciting as this place.

Normally, Oracle would send Canary off on a mission like this -- a search and retrieval op in the South Pacific island country of Rheelasia. Indeed, Dinah's been there before, thanks to Barbara's intel. This time, however, time is of the essence. Babs doesn't have time to order Dinah tickets and wait for an aeroplane to ferry her halfway around the world, not to mention the infiltration process afterwards, which takes even more time. Sure, Dinah has the advantage of knowing the lay of the land. How often has she been there at Oracle's behest? But, this time, Babs will simply have to settle for calling on someone in a more geographically desirable proximity.

That means scanning through her various Hero and Vigilante files, seeing which ones pop up as having been recently seen somewhere in Southeast Asia or the South Pacific. The best name that pops up, at this point, is one Roy Harper -- a.k.a. Arsenal. Sure, okay, he's been using the alias William Bard over in Madripoor, but it's close enough. It took only a little while to verify he was still in the area, and not winging his way somewhere else in the world. After that? Contacting and detouring him was simple.

"The compound," she tells him now, via sat radio, "is controlled by the Junta, under the command of Colonel Song Chun-Ho. Its nearest support is twenty miles away, just outside Dajanka. There's the usual defenses: Razor wire, electric fence, watchtowers, dogs, guys with guns. And, in the midst of it all, Dr. Ruthanne Wainman, internationally renowned expert in high-energy particle systems." I.e. Energy and beam-based weaponry and related systems. "Dr. Wainman was vacationing in Thailand with her husband, less than 8 hours ago, before she was kidnapped off the beach by a squadron of mercenaries and taken out of country. My best information says that the Junta intends to pressure the good doctor into revealing her work on a highly experimental system the government really doesn't want anyone to know exists."

Frankly, it'll probably end up on the SHEILD helicarrier, before too long, but it's not there, yet. First, it has to get off the drawing board and out of computer simulations. But, before that can happen... they need to get Dr. Wainman back.

"We need to get her out of there before they break her. If you can get her back to Dajanka, I can get her off the island and to the consulate in Osaka."

He'd heard stories about -Oracle- from Dinah, every so often, alluding to a certain 'intel' who functioned like Contact (from his old Checkmate days) for him, only -much more so-.

So when Oracle called, Roy responded, making a quick excuse to get out of his 'job' for the Baroness. Delivering a quick package to Rheesia was a convenient enough excuse.

Driving along in a car quickly rented and declared bug-free by Oracle, Roy nods quietly. "Lovely place you've got me into. And just at the time Dommie's busy. So you want me to go in there, sneak in quietly, and get her out of there. You do know I'm not a ninja, right?" Not that he couldn't get in and out, and tracking -was- something he could do well enough, but... well, one grabbed a person codenamed Arsenal if one wanted to leave a message of chaos in the wake.

"Not that it matters. I'll get her out, one way or another," Roy smirks, as he arrives at a shaded area, not too far the complex. "Okay, I'm here," he replies, as he steps out of the car, and goes around to the trunk, pulling out his gear, and starting to arm himself, pulling on his trucker's hat on top of his headgear so that he could remain in touch with the Oracle. "Lead on, kindly genie."

"Extract her as quickly and quietly as you can," Oracle tells the archer. "And don't leave a body count, if it can be avoided." Even the US armed forces, these days, are being taught to subdue opponents without actually killing them. So, really, it's not out of the realm of the doable.

"Your best point of access is from the north. There's a river tributary that comes in close enough you may be able to slip under the razorwire, there."

"Hey, that's pretty much how I get in trouble- never take the kill shots unless it's absolutely necessary. Dommie grumbles about that all the time. I'm having a hell of a time sticking to that with the current 'boss'," Roy chimes in, as he stocks up on stars, arrows, and crossbows. After a moment's pause, he grabs the guns, tucking them in along with the rubber bullets. One live round was tucked anyway in a pouch for emergencies. And then Roy slams the trunk shut. "Right, heading north."

One river waded into, after securing certain equipment into the waterproof pouches, Roy calls out, "I see the razorwire." After a moment, Roy clicks his tongue once, as an acknowledgement he was going to be answering in quick bursts with radio silence as needed ahead.

Oracle is able to watch his progress, skipping from sat feed to sat feed as necessary. The compound is laid out in a rough square, most of the major inhabitable buildings located on the west side. The north has a couple of supply depots. The east contains the vehicles and repair facilities -- mostly jeeps, bikes, and ATVs. There are regular patrols, but this particular compound is largely unmolested by the rest of the small country -- thanks in part to the fact it's in the middle of the jungle, and in part to the fact that most people have forgotten it's out there. Which makes it perfect for the Junta's needs.

And perhaps easier for a single man to infiltrate, since it means those patrols are a little more lax than they should be.

Removing his headgear and stuffing it into another waterproof pouch, Roy takes a deep breath, and complete wading into the river. Taking a deep breath, the ginger agent dives under the razor wire, going deeper, down under, and testing to see how deep it went.

It was plenty deep, all right, but at least Roy had a great lung capacity, given all the hot air he could blow.

When he surfaces, he does so cautiously, aware of the likelihood that they'd have watchtowers right near that entrance just keeping an eye out. Given the laxness of the patrol, though, Roy keeps his head low, waiting until it's clear enough for him to dart towards a small building, buying him just enough time to put his headgear back on.

Click. Here again. "Okay, magician of the nets, you know where she's being held, or do you need me to be scouting? Looks like people live in the buildings to the west, but they wouldn't be keeping a prisoner -that- close to other people, so..."

"According to thermals," Oracle replies, "the greatest concentration of bodies is in the southern end of the large building to the west. There's a smaller gathering at the northern end of the building. But, I can't tell you who's where from that." And her sat feeds don't include x-rays, unfortunately. "I'm counting twelve on patrol -- six pairs. One per perimeter wall and two rovers through the main compound. Judging from the placement of some of the hotspots, however, you've probably got additional guards at points around the main building. So, it's a good guess that's where Wainman is."

"Roger, boss. Hey, you're a female, are you?" Roy comments, just before he clicks his tongue. Right, busy.

Taking a quick glance around the corner, from where he was, he notes the patrols. The perimemter of the wall, makes sense. Unfortunately, he had to find a way between buildings. Hmmm.

As a patrol approaches the building Roy was in, he might be surprised to hear a faint -miaow-.

It repeats, pitifully, until the patrolman is compelled to check it out...

Moments later, Roy's headgear is tucked around his neck, making for a much more muffled sound, but much easier to pass as one of the patrol, as he reports in to Oracle. "Roger. Acting as one of your rover dudes. If you see me, waggle a camera or something." Flashing a grin Oracle can't possibly see, Roy gives a jaunty wave to the trussed up former officer, as he secures the rest of his equipment into something that -might- pass temporarily as security transporting something. He just had to not get inspected for long, at least not till he can get up towards the guarded area...

Oracle arches a brow at the question. "Yes. Does that matter?" Because if he starts hitting on her, he won't like her response. She watches him disappear into a building, and then, in the guise of an officer, slip back out.

"If I have to guess," she tells him now, double checking her feeds again, "you're best to start with the north end of the building. There's a room with three dots in it that looks like a classic interrogation setup."

"Nope. Just figured you and... Canary, that's all." Being his 'big sister', Roy had a certain attitude about Dinah and the people she worked with. Sure, Ollie was a knucklehead, and Roy let Dinah know it. The question was whether Oracle knew it. But that was a topic for another time.

"Right," Roy comments, as he approaches from the north. All clear? If it was, he was certainly entering as quickly as he could, before shifting to surveillance mode, keeping an eye out for the cameras. Click click. "Hope you've got the cameras secured," Roy says, glancing up where they would be. "Any guards, or did they just lock her up?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Oracle tells him. "I've hacked their camera feeds, yes. Right now, they should be getting a feed from about thirty minutes ago. So, from an electronic perspective, you're invisible."

She flips through the views she has available. "Dr. Wainman isn't a meta, and doesn't have any special training or ability. She's a science geek. So, while I'm sure she's under guard, it's not like they're guarding Canary." Whose list of martial arts abilities and combat training is prodigious, to say the least.

"There's no camera in the room they're in, however. Only in the hallway. There's one guard outside the room at the end, which is where I'm presuming they've got her."

"Right," Roy mutters, as he reaches for an arrow.

Unfolding his bow, Roy nocks the sleeping gas arrow to the bowstring, takes a deep breath as he approaches the room quietly, and then... flinging it open, fires the sleeping gas arrow at the guard, moving to the side quickly.

The guard in the corridor is startled, to say the least. But, before he can sound an alarm, the arrow strikes and he succumbs to its gaseous payload, falling in a noisy heap against the door to the room where the scientist is very likely being held.

Within, one might assume, someone has heard the commotion. Certainly, Oracle can see, the little red dots on her screen are moving... at least, two of them are. "I think they heard you," she notes to Arsenal. "You've one at the door, and another behind a stationary target in the center of the room. I'm going to assume the stationary figure is Wainman."

"Dammit," Roy mutters, as he moves quickly to intercept the one at the door, waiting for the guard to come bursting through the door before grabbing him from behind, working on a fast sleeper hold. Which is to say, the quick version of one would be to grab him, and then slam his head into the wall. The one -behind- a stationary target, on the other hand... well, that called for a bit of a drastic measure.

Dashing down the corridor, Roy drop-kicks the doorknob as hard as he could, to send it flying open. Landing on his back, the archer takes aim, relying on his eyesight to pick out things in a split of a second so that he can fire a crossbow bolt at the hand containing a weapon...

As luck would have it, the gunman behind the scientist, who is bound to a chair in the center of the room and looking quite bedraggled, has stepped in close to her, his gun buried in her hair, pressing against the back of her neck where it joins to her skull. "Not an inch closer," he says in heavily accented English. "Or it's the doctor's remains you'll be trying to rescue, instead."

Oracle's finger dance over her keys, as she seeks to identify the thug by his voice -- not having a great camera view on him. "I'm not sure, without visual confirmation, but that voice sounds to me like Emile Meyette. He's a mercenary. Former French Legion. Goes by the call sign Fletchet. Likes knives, wing-blades, and needlers, when he's not sporting some sort of PMG or a PAP F-1."

So, a French mercenary working with the Junta. Go figure?

Moving up slowly, Roy keeps his crossbow fixed on the bedraggled man. "Right. I don't suppose we can save the hassle, and you let the woman go and we just call it even? I've already got enough hassles getting myself out of here with her, let's not add you to it."

"Ah, mais, le docteur, she is quite free to go," the Frenchman says lightly, not moving a whit from his protected position. The frightened, exhausted woman looks up at him, clearly startled by that revelation. "Once she has told me what my employers wish to know." Ah. There's always a catch.

"You, however, will find me no hassle, providing you turn around and take your leave, tout de suite. I cannot promise you will be unmolested by the Junta's soldiers, of course. But, for my part, you do not need to be of any concern." There's something about him, though, that suggests he'll kill the doctor before he'll let her go... or give himself up.

Oracle grumbles softly to herself, and then says over com. "Clock's ticking, Arsenal. There's someone approaching your position from the south." Though, obviously, they haven't yet reached the corridor leading to this room. Otherwise, he'd already hear their voices, and maybe even their bullets.

"Well, that's just no good," Arsenal comments. He's had time enough to take measure of the location, of the hair trigger... and when he shoots that bolt, it's aimed precisely at the trigger finger. A spasm might set it off... but what if the bolt was aimed to prevent the trigger from closing all the way to going off?

Because as soon as that bolt was fired, Roy closes in quickly, aiming make sure that the gunner had no time to react to it.

The gun snaps from Fletchet's. He stumbles backward, but instead of drawing another gun, he's tossing a wing-blade toward the oncoming archer. And it's aimed to hit someone... either Arsenal or Wainman.

There's a shout down at the far end of the hallway, however, as a pair of Junta brass open the door to see two guards out cold and the door to their interrogation room wide open. They start to run toward the room, drawing weapons as they do.

"Time's up, Arrowboy," Oracle says sharply, watching the figures rush forward. "Better move."

Dr. Wainman, perhaps because she was startled, perhaps in an quick-thinking attempt to save her own life, pitches herself to one side. Her chair topples as she crashes to the ground.

Bringing his crossbow up to use as defense, the wingblade thuds sharply into the wood, moments before there's a solid punch to Fletchet's face.

"Working on it!" Roy exclaims, as he quickly yanks the wingblade to use to cut Wainman free.

As soon as Dr. Wainman is free, Arsenal is quick to swing around as the door open. The wingblade in his hand is immediately fired, followed by a couple of other flying knives, aiming at the hands of the guards.

And while they were busy clutching bleeding hands, Roy follows through with specific pressure-point hits to take them out, before calling to Dr. Wainman. "Come on!" he shouts, as he draws his other crossbow to use. Time to get this show on the road!

The doctor doesn't actually need to be told twice. She's lockstep with Roy all the way. Yes, they do have to fight their way past a handful of other guards, but not the whole force. For the most part, this was kept quiet enough that, once they're on the back of one of the ATVs, smashing through the poorly defended front gate to lose their pursuers in the jungle is a whole lot easier than it otherwise should be.

Eventually, the pair will reach Dajanka and rendezvous with Oracle's taxi service to Osaka. And the doctor can be debriefed and, finally, resume her vacation... Well. They can hope.