| On Little Cat Feet | |||||
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| What: Catwoman and 'William Bard' are hired to do a job in Madripoor. | |||||
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"Stealth isn't my thing, Contact," Roy Harper replies, leaning back against the counter of the Black Lagoon bar.
The redheaded undercover agent glances back up at the scarred Russian woman behind the bar. "For that sort of mission, you need..."
"A specialist, yes, Bard," Belikova replies impatiently, the puckered scar burns reddening as her hand twitches. "She'll be along any minute. Your job is to cover her while she's stealing the codes for the satellite. I expect you to listen to her, and none of your lip. I'll be serving as your field coordinator for this one..."
"Like old times, eh, Contact?" Roy smirks. Taking a swig of his beer and placing it back down, running his hand across the fuzz of his chin, Roy adjusts his casual Madripoor attire, a sort of button-up red shirt and light khakis. "It had to be a woman...?"
"Bard... she's very good at what she does. I suggest you stick to the mission. Speaking of which... here she is."
Glancing up as the newcomer approaches the bar, Belikova nods, her cool voice greeting her. "William Bard, this is..."
And the subject of that little debriefing wanders in, looking almost like she might belong here. Disguised to keep her identity hidden from the locals as well as those she will be working with, she has herself dressed down compared to the high-fashioned designs she favors in her day-to-day civilian life. A pair of jeans that look like they are just shy of falling apart is paired with an equally ratty tee and old sandals and a huge pair of glasses that look like they could have been worn by some 1950s starlet, the eyewear large enough to hide her eyes without problems. A red wig is secured atop her shoulder-lengthed dark hair. All in all, she does not look like herself.
The others are approached and she can't help but to smirk a little, a smile that could very easily reach her eyes, not that it could be seen if it had. The sunglasses' lenses are too dark to see them. A hand comes out, offered to them both, letting them decide who'll shake it first. "You can just call me Angel. Pleasure meeting you."
Belikova takes the hand firmly, her dulcet voice just a few degrees above chilly as she smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach her all-business eyes. "We've spoken, Angel. Bard here is going to be covering you while you do your job." Reaching underneath the counter, she pulls out a couple of briefcases, pushing them forward to 'Bard' and 'Angel. "They've kept all the codes separately so that it requires all of them to be present. If you can get to all of them without alerting the others, excellent. Otherwise..."
"... we're gonna have to chase them down if they flee like rabbits, eh?" Roy mutters, as he takes his briefcase. Reaching out to offer 'Angel' a handshake, Roy grins briefly. "Name's William Bard." Glancing up and down the outfit, Roy smirks. "Well, that'll go great if we're going beachcombing. But where will we be...?"
"In your dossiers, Bard," Belikova sighs. "Follow her lead, and try not to improvise too much."
... it -was- a rather faint hope, but Belikova didn't think that was likely, judging by the tired look she flashes 'Angel'.
"William Bard? Why not just use Shakespeare for a codename," comes a casual quip, 'Angel's' way of poking fun at the very man she's been asked to work with. The jesting's kept to a bare minimum, however. This is serious work and not a time to be making light of the situation. She's already been made aware of the locations of the codes when she was hired, Contact having sent along that among other information in a packed upon her agreeing to take the job. All that really is left is to get there and get the codes and get out. Preferably alive.
"I'll be going back to my hotel room to change before we go," she points out to Roy while grabbing the brief case, her mannerisms almost abrupt for how matter of a fact she is. "I do hope we'll be going in at night otherwise the fees for my services will have to double." Hazardous duty pay does not come cheap. "If we're done here..."
"Call me whatever you want as long as you call me," Roy rejoins, flashing a smirk as he takes his briefcase. "I'll meet you, uh..."
"Tonight, Bard," Belikova interjects. "You'll have a busy night ahead of you, so get some sleep now."
"Ahh, but..."
"Finish that sentence, Bard, and your nut supply will be cut off. Go. I'll be in touch."
Putting his hands up in defensive surrender, Roy grins at 'Angel'. "See you tonight, then," the man says as he leaves the bar.
A bit of small talk is made with Belikova before she too leaves, the exchange played over in her head as she makes her way to the hotel. A nap is had as well as another reading of the contents of the briefcase, that done to make sure she has everything fresh in her head and then she gets dressed and starts to make her way to the meeting point.
By the time she gets to the facility the shadows are dark and numerous, much to Catwoman's pleasure. Makes it easier for her to move without being seen as easily. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see if her partner's already here or if she's going to have to wait for him.
Waiting in a dark car, clad in a black dark stealth-outfit and wearing a black hat to hide his hair and with black streaks beneath his eyes was 'Bard'. Holsters with guns, a quiver loaded with various trick arrows and a folded up bow, padded just enough for stealth, with thin black gloves to cover cover.
There's a brief pause as Roy quirks an eyebrow at the figure slinking around, followed by a low whistle, as he lowers a window. "Here, kitty kitty kitty..." he calls out quietly. "Were you expecting Shakespeare in the park?"
'Here kitty'? Really? Catwoman turns and eyes the one the voice belongs to, her body tensing enough to cause the leather of her costume to creak noisily. Someone needs to learn how to talk to a lady, she sees. Frowning, she makes her way towards the car, doing nothing to hide her displeasure at being spoken to in such a manner when he is still a stranger to her.
Or kind of still a stranger.
Sel isn't worrie that he'll figure out who she is as her costume and the goggles she has donned does well at keeping her identity hidden but still. Really? "Alright. Let's go. I want to get this over with. And please. Keep your cheeky commentary to yourself."
"Sorry, Catwoman," Roy says, not looking at all repentant. "You're kind of far out of your usual prowls. Where'd Contact dig you up out of and why are you..."
Roy's ear beeps, and Roy automatically shifts his hand up towards the bluetooth receiver in there.
"Contact," Roy murmurs.
"Are the two of you in position? Maintain radio silence unless necessary. And Bard, keep your cheeky commentary to yourself," Belikova's voice crackles.
"Noticed, Contact," Roy grins, arching a merry eyebrow at Catwoman. Getting out of the car, Roy gives his equipment the final once over. "Well then, Cat, lead the way," he says, the lightness of his voice at odds with the seriousness of his expression.
"They wanted the best so hired me," comes the explanation as to why she's here, Catwoman's answer simply stated with no form of ego or over-exaggeration to it. In her mind it is simply fact and is given as such. She falls quiet when her own earpiece beeps and she listens, her expression calm. Most people very well might feel nerves before a big job like this but not her. In her mind this is just a walk in the park.
Roy is watched for a moment before she merely starts to move away, letting him go about business in the manner he needs to while she does the same. A fence is swiftly and silently scaled and then she hops down, giving Roy a quick wave. She's in position now. Hopefully he'll be able to get to where he needs to be with no problem.
No time for pleasure now, although he does at least appreciate the work done, watching her go before following. He was, at the least, to escort and cover while looking out. What was it the reports said... cross the grounds, slip into the compound, watch out for the surveillance units... they had their jamming equipment, but they also need to watch out for other means...
... wait, was this the compound that had the guard dogs or the next one?
Yes, Roy. This is the compound with the dogs as the barking in the background indicates, much to Selina's displeasure. Not that they're close but even then, just the sound from across the way is enough to get her to hurry. Scurrying, she scales a small building, probably one of the security huts or a storage room, the roof then used to climb up to a higher roof that is at the end of a catwalk.
Her jamming device is taken out of the belt pouch she put it in before coming here but it isn't used just yet. Timing is critical. The catwalk is swiftly and near-silently walked across and then she presses herself against the next building, trying to blend into the shadows there.
Following quickly, for once focused on the climb itself, Roy scrambles quickly up after Selina, moving from building to building, if not quite as feline-like, at least closer to the Navajo he was raised as.
"Right, definitely taking the zipline back," he mutters to himself. Tapping his headpiece briefly, Roy clicks his tongue twice, shorthand for 'all okay', before turning it off, and approaching Catwoman, peeking over her head to see what she was observing.
What Selina is watching is a grouping of guards with their dogs, the same mutts they heard barking just a second ago, the small knot of security personnel allowed to pass by before she moves. Roy is motioned to follow before she jumps down a few feet, landing just before a door.
The jammer device is used, giving her a bit of a window to operate in, and a security card is now pulled out, it used to open the door. Before the jammer's effects expire she's inside and the door closed behind her, giving the impression that all is fine save a glitchy camera. "I'm in... give me three minutes and I'll have the first code."
Tapping his receiver quietly, Roy keeps an eye behind him for the security personnel. Clicking his tongue once, for an 'at objective, can't talk,' the redheaded agent waits.
"What're the dogs barking at?" Roy can hear as the personnel speak down below. Damn it. He'd have to come up with a distraction if they were still around when the thief was done with her code.
Glancing about the building, Roy checks for something that wouldn't seem out of place... c'mon... ah...
Picking up a pebble, Roy waits for the woman to come out and hopes the dogs would just go away...
The computer is accessed and the first of three codes is downloaded onto the thumb device she has been provided, the latter then put away. It'd be bad if she were to lose that when it is going to be holding the objectives of this job. The barking has her peeking out of a small window only to then groan when she realizes they're just not going to go the fuck away.
"Going to need something to draw them away," she mutters while crouching down, putting herself out of the line of sight. Hopefully no one will think to come in, otherwise she'll be screwed so bad.
Glancing over the shoulders to see whether the Catwoman was done, Roy tosses the pebble up and down in his hand, gauging something in a tree... and then throws.
The pebble vanishes into the foliage, rustling around... and then there's the slightest sound of outraged chittering.
Immediately the dogs jerk at the leashes, causing the men on patrol to follow quickly... only to discover an outraged squirrel chittering angrily at the dogs while a cache of freshly gathered nuts rattle around.
"Psst... hurry up," Roy whispers, knocking on the door. It's safe, right?
And there she is again, emerging from the building and moving to pull Roy out of sight, maneuvering them both out the line of sight before the guards and their pooches can return. "Holy crap," she whispers before laughing under her breath. "Thanks for having my back," she adds sincerely. "Let's go on..."
The next code can be found in a build across the compound to the north of where they are now. They're going to have a bit of a run to get there but there's a lot of dark recesses and buildings to hide in and behind.
Tapping his receiver, Roy murmurs, "One down, Contact. Anything to watch out for?"
"Negative, Bard. But the weather's about to turn, so watch your step."
"Yes, mother," Roy replies, a faint smirk matching his tone, before he turns off the receiver.
Engaging in a bit of zig-zag watch pattern, Roy glances up towards the four-story building, before glancing at Catwoman. "My turn?" he asks. Unless she intended to sneak around through the building and staircases...
"Yeah. Get me up there and I'll be in and out like a duck mating." Selina quickly gives him a smile before stepping back a bit, giving him a chance to do his thing while she looks around.
There are noices off in the distance again but this time she feels they have more than enough time to deal with this leg of the job, no need to hurry to do whatever it is Roy has planned now.
"Ducks mate that fast?" Roy comments, replying quickly as he pulls out his bow and grappling arrow. Taking aim with a surety and well-practiced move, Roy fires. The arrow unfurls as it travels, leaving a long titanium line in its wake.
The arrowhead opens into a large hook-system, securing itself on the roof. With several tugs, Roy checks the line to be sure it's secure, before putting his bow away.
"Hold on?" Roy grins, as he motions for Selina to take hold of him as he shows the automated system set up.
Roy is allowed to show her even though the system isn't alien to her. At least she's willing to humor him and let him think he is showing off something that she has never seen before. Once he's done she holds onto him, her grip tight at the same time she angles her body in a way to make sure there will be no way in hell he will be given motivation to make with any innuendo or thinly-veiled attempts to hit on her made in the form of jokes.
She nods once, giving Roy the signal. Time to take a ride.
Absolutely no fun, that. Taking the hint, Roy shifts to all business, all traces of amusement cleared from his face. The button is pressed, and the ride is, at the least, smooth.
The pulley stops at the fourth story, and Roy holds steady, leaving Catwoman to do what she does best.
As soon as she's clear, Roy taps the device, glancing about for security. They would be sitting ducks if the security detail happened to look up...
If they look up it shouldn't be because of Catwoman. She moves with absolute silence just about and what little sound her footfall does make is quiet enough not to draw attention to their location.
As before, Sel lets herself in once the proper room is found and she goes about getting the second code, it taking about a minute (yes, the time ducks mate, for those who want to know). "Okay. Two down, one to go," she announces just as the drive beeps, a notification sound making it known that the information is finished being downloaded. "Let's hurry up and get it and get out of here so I can go home. I left my cat with a new sitter and she still doesn't like the person..."
Right. For some reason, Roy Harper had the impression that Catwoman was a bit more... bubbly than this. This one was all business, and so Roy keeps it short and simple, checking for the last location of the code.
Dropping down to the ground once it's safe, Roy taps his communicator, this time calling Contact. "Two down, one to go. She's efficient."
"I'm surprised you managed to keep it this way without anything exploding," Contact replies dryly. "Get it done, now."
Clicking the comm off, Roy glances at Catwoman. Rather uncharacteristically, he keeps his mouth shut. The sooner this was over, the better, from all the vibes this woman was giving. Right. Follow on!
She's all business yes and that no-nonsense attitude isn't exactly characteristic. But she remembers Roy from before and she's trying very hard not to give herself away. That means no witty, semi-flirty banter, no jokes and definitely nothing that can be seen as encouragement on her part.
Stepping out one more time, she looks down and around before shrugging at the archer. "Alright, Bard. One more and then I'm calling it a night." A flight has already been scheduled for a red-eye back to the States, a flight that leaves in five hours. Someone's pretty sure that she'll be done here well before then and able to gather her belongings from the hotel and get to the airport and all that.
Scratching his chin, Roy takes the no-nonsense attitude at face value, knowing very little about Catwoman save reputation. And apparently the reputation was unwarranted. It figured. No wonder Batman had such a stick up his ass.
Keeping his focus on business, Roy approaches the site of the final target.
Madripoor, as Roy was getting familiar with, was a fascinating mixture of the gritty realism of horn and the shining tower of ivory, of indulgent affluence and abject poverty. Crime ran rampant on both sides, however - one very blue collar, the other corrupt power.
The last building was a prime example of the latter. Where the complex had been mostly small buildings lending support and research, this last building was a classic example of indulgent modern architecture, all glass and metal. It seemed to be much more a home for administrators than scientists and researchers... and while the security was tight enough for the scientists, the bureaucrats -had- to have the best. Security at entrance, check. Metal detector gates... check.
It figured the Triads -owned- these scientists...
The third and last building has Selina looking up and frowning a bit, that being once they're just about to reach it. While the first two buildings were nothing more than a quick snatch-and-grab, so to speak, this will be anything but. A complicated breaking-and-entering job at best, the theif can not help but to feel like this will either be the death of them, or...
No. No, wait. There is no 'or'. It could just be the death of them.
Catwoman knows where a side entrance is, one she has the code to get into, but there are guards between them and the door. Frowning upon realizing that, she points to Roy and then to the security members. They total four. Can he deal with them without getting them noticed?
Rubbing his chin, Roy considers. Not while they were behind glass - trying to hit them through glass would have people hearing and setting off alarms. Unless he pulls out a distraction... but that would -definitely- be the death of him.
Lifting his shoulders up in a small shrug, Roy whispers, "Not without setting off alarms."
Having the entire complex on alert would be a very, very bad thing.
Forcing himself to consider how to get Catwoman in without having the complex on alert, Roy considers. Fireworks? Alert. Bomb? Alert.
Streaking through the compound...?
"Just pull the f'ing fire alarm, Bard."
And he has about two minutes to get that done as his partner is already heading towards the building. Catwoman clings to the shadows as she winds her way around whatever's placed between her and her desitnation, using it for convenient cover as she does.
Pulling a fire alarm inside a building...?
Was she kidding him? Just saunter up to one, with all the glass and the people getting to look out and see him...? They had to be...
Wait, he could see her point. The alarms would be connected to the side entrance, so if they went off, nobody would notice the exit door having alarms going off... Checking his pockets, Roy fishes out a cigarette. Not that he smoked, but... well, if he got lucky, he -might- smoke... He proceeds to drop it.
Right, then. Shifting around, outside the building, Roy moves to the side of the building, readying a couple of arrows.
The first arrow was simple - smoke. The trick would be the next shot - getting a fire arrow to precisely hit the first arrow to burn up all traces and make it look like a burst of fire. And all hitting the cigarette. At night.
Please.
As soon as the fire was going, Roy immediately pulls the alarm, shouting. "FIRE!"
And then it was back into the shadow, avoiding the usual security cameras.
The idea works and soon the guards come pouring out of the building, looking for the source of the fire so it can be properly dealt with. It lends a Keystone Cop feel to the situation as they run around each other and then the area, forgetting to keep an eye on the interior of the building.
Selina gives Roy a bit of an upnod, both in thanks and to indicate that she's going into the building which she does and then in through that side door, the alarm blending in with the fire alarm enough to make it difficult to hear. Okay. The hard part is done. Now it's just a matter of a shimmy shake into the ventilation system and up to where the last terminal can be found.
It wouldn't take too long to put out that fire, and Catwoman was going to need another distraction when she came out. But the terminal itself... well, that required a bit more security. This time, at least, a more complicated password system than the one used -and- a keycard system.
Belikova's dossier had this covered, but it would take time to use the decoding system.
At the least, though, the office was -nice-. Pictures of various people, although one Catwoman might recognize right off - the Russian woman she'd met only hours earlier, unscarred, smiling, looking young as she had her arm around a Chinese man in glasses, posing in front of what looked like the Celestial Temple in China...
The picture is noticed and then dismissed, it being a distraction Catwoman just does not need right now. The terminal is approached and she starts to work her magic, fingers flying over the keys. The 'claws' that grace the tips of her gloves' fingers click against the plastic, a lovely little bit of 'music'. The code is eventually accepted and the data transfer begins.
"Bard, this code is going to take a bit longer than the others to download. I'll let you know when I'm heading out so you can do that thing you do. You know. With the arrows and the distraction and stuff." Just got to hope he'll have more tricks up his sleeves.
"Wonderful," Roy mutters. Because they'd investigate, they'd think a stray cigarette caused a fire (for some reason, Madripoor people were huge chain smokers... must have been all the nicotine they needed to survive...), but a second one would strain belief.
Maybe it was time to go back to the streaking idea..
Wait. The dogs were due back anytime soon, weren't they?
Oh, this was gonna be really awkward, but...
"Right, I've got an idea," Roy mutters. "Just be prepared to run like hell."
"Running. I can do that. ETA... four minutes.
Three minutes pass and the thumb drive beeps and is fetched from the port, pocketed and then, impulsively, she grabs that framed picture. Who knows. Maybe Roy will like it.
The trip down is done in a much speedier fashion as she forgoes the vents and ducts and instead just runs down the stairwell. The lobby is bolted across and the door flies open and Selina starts to do exactly what Roy said she should.
She is running. And not just running but running like her life depends on it. Which it undoubtedly does.
"Right, meet me at the tree southwest..."
It was a wise idea to run really fast, because Roy Harper had done something very simple, as he'd fished out a few coins. For whatever reason, these Asian coins were thin to begin with, but a bit of skritching the edges against a concrete wall...
And then the dog patrol came back, and Roy took a deep breath, and flung the coins at the dog leashes.
RRRIIIP-SKKLLLKKKT...
The leashes were cut, and the dogs straining at the collars were free.
And Roy ran like hell. With any luck, the dogs would be enjoying -their- freedom a bit too much to chase after...
No no, they were -definitely- chasing him...
By the time Roy makes it to the tree she'll have been there for a good minute, perhaps even two, merely waiting at the meeting point. When the dogs get close enough she throws a small flash-bang pellet-like grenade, it enough to stun and startle the dogs into immobility and even causing one to tuck tail and run away, half-blind from the light and probably a bit hard of hearing for awhile.
"Come on, Shakespeare, Selina urges while looking around. "We need to get this drive back to Contact." And she needs to get paid so she can go the hell home.
"Right, Catty," Roy says as he moves to get over the fence, pausing to help... wait, she was already over...
Getting back in the car, it was a relatively long drive back, from the 'clean' shimmering illusion of Madripoor back to the harsh reality.
Back at the Black Lagoon Bar...
"Good work," Belikova says, as she pushes forward a small briefcase for Catwoman to inspect. "Well, Bard?"
"Nothin' to report. Pretty clean in-and-out. You really know that place pretty well..." Roy reports.
The briefcase is opened and the contents taken stock of before, with an abrupt nod, Selina calls it all good on her part. "Thanks. Pleasure doing business with you." Her body pivots at the waist at the same time she turns on the ball of one foot, her intention being to get back to the hotel so she can get ready to leave. "Ever need me again, give me a call."
In the car Roy will find the framed picture she discovered in the office, left before she disappears into the city.