Author's Note: All Properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.
I went and saw Black Widow this past weekend and...this movie is terrible. I won't spoil it...but you can kinda tell that the script was written by three people in just eleven days. Definitely not worth your money, and may not even be worth your time.
What is worth your time is something I picked up during the Steam Summer Sale, and it's a rarity considering it's a good game made by EA... Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3. There's a lot to like in it, Bomber Blimps, Attack Bears, Orbital Lasers, Sexy Commando Ladies, Tim Curry, Apocalypse Tanks, Sexy Intel Officers, J.K. Simmons, and a Kick Ass Soundtrack.
It's so good I'm tempted to include elements of it, and maybe the Tiberian Saga, in future story arcs. We'll see.
Silverfox72: Welcome back, hopefully you liked what's been added.
I know that there is somebody out there who probably thinks the title is a Five Finger Death Punch Song, well, they're wrong. Bad Company is a song off the 1974 album Bad Company by the band 'Bad Company.' I honestly don't know what to say about this song, it's freaking Bad Company, go listen to it if you haven't, hell, go listen to it again if you have heard it before. It's just a bonafide classic in every sense of the word.
Power Without Question – Chapter 94: Bad Company
Rebel souls
Deserters we are called
Chose a gun
And threw away the sun...
Now these towns
They all know our name
6 gun sound is our claim to fame...
I can hear them say
Bad company
And I won't deny...
Bad, bad company
Till the day I die...
Spider-man pursed his lips, while looking at Cooper's holographic table. Mary Jane's procurement skills had pulled through again, showing Sable being shot down. The sight of Sablinova's VTOL, spinning, bullet ridden, and burning before crashing wasn't easy to watch. But the recording continued to roll until Peter could see a shape poke over the top of the trees that moved towards the crash site before it reached a gap in the trees and the video suddenly stopped and zoomed in on the shape. "That…is a Titan," said Cooper simply, "It's gotta be one of the IMCs that Oscorp has somehow gotten going, and now Hammerhead has it." The Pilot then looked around the room at Felicia Hardy, Yuri Watanabe, Mary Jane Watson, and then Peter Parker. "Needless to say, that makes this a bit more interesting."
"Does it change anything?" asked Yuri, the woman seemed unbothered by the development, or at least she was doing an exceptional job of hiding her worry.
The Marauder shook his head, "No, not really," he admitted, "Just don't think you can take it head on. Though if we run into it down there, we should have the advantage in the close quarters." The Pilot straightened and squared his shoulders, all business, "We are going to go down there, find Sable, and get her out. After that we can figure out how to deal with this. Any questions?" Everyone around the table shook their heads. "Alright then, gear up, take whatever you want. We'll roll in fifteen."
With that, the group split up, heading to grab what they needed to go into the lion's den and pull of the rescue mission. The Webslinger made his way over to where he kept a stock of webbing in, and didn't fail to notice that someone was following him. In fact, when he felt an arm wrap around him, he couldn't help but smile a bit. "I'm glad you're okay Peter," admitted Mary Jane, "I saw footage of the whole thing. And now seeing Matt, Felicia, and Yuri again? And all working together? It's a lot."
"Yeah, usually Black Cat brings bad luck," began Peter as he turned to look at his girlfriend, draping an arm over his shoulder as he tucked some spare web cartridges into a pocket and then looked back at the rest of their group, "But not this time I think."
That got a small smile from the clearly tired Associate Editor. "What has she been doing up until now?" she asked before laying her head against his shoulder.
Careful to not disturb her, the Webhead finished restocking his gadgets. "She's been looking for Hammerhead's base, and she finally found it. He's been stashing all his stuff underground, apparently it's the same plan the IMC used to infiltrate the city."
He could feel Mary Jane shift against him as she looked up at him. "What? How?"
"Nobody knows for sure, but we're going to find out when we go in," he assured her, "I'll make sure to give you all the details."
That got a smile and nod from the redhead, "Thanks," she said, though she did sound exhausted, Peter knew her well enough to know that there was something else on her mind. Instead of pressing her, he just waited for her to tap her limitless courage to say what was on her mind. Sure enough, Mary Jane took a deep breath and began to say what was on her mind. "Listen Pete – I've been digging into the Symkaria thing. I did it just to try and give some greater context to everything that's happening here but I found a lot more than I expected. In the midst of the war going on, there's a humanitarian crisis brewing from all the displaced civilians. It's a big story, something I feel like I need to be a part of. And Robbie agrees."
Peter recognized that tone, the tone MJ used when her mind was made up. Still, he knew where this was going, "Wait – you're going to Symkaria?" he asked, leaping to the conversation's logical conclusion. "When?" Peter didn't entirely succeed in keeping the worry out of his tone.
"Tonight," answered the Associate Editor, "It's a rapidly developing situation. All of you can take care of Hammerhead. You don't need me," insisted MJ as she took a step back.
Frowning, the Webhead took her hand, "Just because I don't need you, doesn't mean I don't need you…" he replied. Making sure to speak quietly in case Felicia was listening and would take his words out of context.
MJ gave him a sincere smile that didn't fail to brighten his mood. "That's sweet," she said as she squeezed his hand, "But listen, other countries are ignoring this crisis, including ours. There are a lot of helpless people caught in the middle of a warzone. If I document what's happening, and share it with the rest of the world, it might change things. Maybe even save lives."
"Spoken like a true hero," replied the Webslinger before pulling her in for a hug while he ran a gloved hand over her hair. "But still, the thought of you heading into a warzone…it worries me," he admitted truthfully.
MJ looked up at him, green eyes holding his gaze, "Do you trust me?"
"You know I do," replied Peter with a nod.
"Then we're good," answered MJ, as if that was all it took for him to stop worrying. "I gotta go and pack. If you finish all this up then you can come and see me off, okay?" Peter nodded before MJ wrapped her hand around his head and pulled him down for a brief but full kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too," replied Peter with a smile before the redhead turned and made her way out, waving to the others as she left.
Of course, as soon as she was gone, Felicia called across the room, "I can see why you like to keep her around Spider."
Rolling his eyes, Peter quipped back, "I miss her already."
Head throbbing, Silver Sablinova felt herself begin to regain consciousness. The Mercenary forced herself to remain calm while the fog cleared from her mind and she quickly established her situation. Recalling being shot down and captured, the Mercenary the sting on her arm where she had been hit with a tranquilizer gun right after she had been taken into the Underground and rendered unconscious while she was moved to where she was being held. Careful to not open her eyes or make any drastic moves that would give away the fact that she was now aware, Sable began to gather information on her surroundings. Just slightly curling her fingers and toes, Sable could tell that she was relatively unharmed, but was restrained, lying flat on her back, though without opening her eyes, it was impossible to tell where she was. The Symkarian was certain she was not alone however, she could hear two men speaking where she was being held, and one of them was Hammerhead.
"I know, I know, let me think," snapped the mob boss as Sable remained still as she listened to what he had to say. But already, she could tell that this was not as collected as he had been when he addressed Spider-Man, the Marauder, and herself at MOB Yankee. "We got the bitch, we gotta use her. Her people took over the city in a matter of days. They fought the IMC. They beat those Titans they had."
The other voice was not one she recognized, likely a lacky of some sort. "Yeah, I remember that. That was crazy."
"Not so crazy when you got the right equipment." Sable resisted the urge to snort at that assumption. Her men were far superior to those of Hammerhead, it was their training, discipline, and resolve that had enabled them to succeed, not their equipment. "The stuff we have? It's not enough. That cop almost killed me. Spider-Man and the Marauder beat me. If I'm going to take over this city, then I'm gonna need more."
"How much more?" asked the other man.
"Everything," replied the Don. "When she wakes up, get her to tell you where she has the rest of her stuff, whatever it takes."
"You guys sure about this?" asked the Webslinger over the radio as the group arrived at what was to be their infiltration point. "I know you said it was underground, but how are we supposed to get there?"
Yuri was scanning the street below through the scope atop the G2 rifle she had borrowed from Cooper to look for anything amiss. The group was waiting on Hardy as she set up a jammer to hide them from any sensors that may have been covering their entrance point. "Relax Spider, I'm just making sure they won't know we're coming. Then we get to the surprise. You like those don't you?"
"Depends on the surprise," answered Spider-Man, "With you? I just never know what I'm going to get."
"That's kinda the point of a surprise, isn't it?" interjected Watanabe dryly, still not entirely used to the lighthearted banter with which the others filled the radio. After working with Spider-Man for years, working with him directly like this was definitely very different than she expected. Though, upon second thought, this was almost exactly what she should have expected working with these characters to be like. Still, she pushed that thought aside as she tried to get them back on track, "Anybody see any guards or lookouts? It's too quiet."
"I don't either," responded the Marauder, "I'm not sure what would be worse. Hammerhead leaving the door so wide open he's practically inviting us in or the possibility that his guys have all of a sudden gotten competent."
"You think this could be a trap?" asked Spider-Man, "You plan to handle it like you did the last…how many have you knowingly walked into?"
"Come on Spider, live a little," suggested the Black Cat, "If the high-strung ex-police captain doesn't have a problem with this plan, then why do you?"
Yuri rolled her eyes at the lighthearted remark, not dignifying it with a response and was thankful when the Marauder seemed to sense the silent discomfort she was radiating and cut in over the line. "He is the one with a danger sense. So we're going to go careful," instructed the Pilot in his cool drawl. "Now let's go get this done."
Responding to the call, Yuri triggered the gadgets on her forearms to let out a length of the strap in the device before throwing it to the building across the street and dropping down and swinging. The Sable International cargo strap held taut as Yuri extended her legs until her boots hit the wall and she pressed the button to disconnect the strap and reel it in as the woman sprinted along the wall until she jumped off and landed on the ground at the same time as the other three. The four all move towards a manhole cover in the middle of the street, causing Spider-Man to chuckle behind his mask. "A sewer? Seriously?" he asked, to which the other three nodded in reply. "Alright then, time for some urban spelunking."
With that, the Wallcrawler stomped his foot down, the force causing the 250 pound manhole cover to launch up in the air, spinning like a flipped coin before Spidey extended a hand and snatched the manhole cover. His palm pressed flat against it, he held it up solely with his adhesive abilities as he looked at the others.
"Into the belly of the beast," drawled Cooper before he jumped down, the blue flare of his jump kit illuminating the darkened sewer as he descended.
"Not usually how I like to get dirty," quipped the Black Cat before she fired her grappling hook into the cement and dropping down after the Marauder.
Yuri turned to Spider-Man, prompting him to tilt his head towards the open sewer, "Ladies first," he quipped. Rolling her eyes, Watanabe dropped down into the pitch blackness of the sewers. As her night vision activated, she saw her surroundings in a dim green just before she felt her own jump kit activate to slow her before she hit the bottom. Moving clear, she joined the couple already at the bottom, both wielding suppressed weapons like hers, all of which were loaded with less lethal arc rounds. They had finally gotten Spider-Man on their side, so they would hold back for now to make this work.
A second later, there was a nearly silent landing of feet as Spider-Man landed behind them and took a look around. "Whoo! That's a new smell. Yuck, hopefully we find Sable before the fumes overwhelm us."
"And if we can get there without getting wet, that would be a win too…probably the first time I've said that," responded Black Cat.
"Hopefully the last too," deadpanned Cooper before he moved ahead into a large open area with a river of water slowly flowing deeper into the underground. "Now let's get moving, this way," he beckoned.
Using their jump kits, Cooper and Watanabe wallran towards a small pipe that led to the next room, with Spidey and Black Cat using their webs and grapple respectively to get there first. Spider-Man took point, reaching the end of the pipe and promptly yelling into the large sewer space ahead of them, "HELLO!" The bug-eyed mask then turned to face the other three crammed into the pipe behind him, "This is so cool!" he exclaimed, sounding much younger than Yuri knew him to be.
Still, the group pushed on, Yuri using the improvised whips to pull herself over the water towards a drop that would take them deeper underground. "Look at this place. The amount of work it takes to make this city run is just…crazy."
"So you'd better not take fresh water for granted ever again," replied Watanabe, "And thank God that no supervillain has been smart enough to go after this." It was one of the often discussed scenarios inside the NYPD, a major attack on the city's infrastructure would be nearly impossible to respond to and have dire consequences, right up there with something like Devil's Breath. The group came to a collective halt atop a pipe at the bottom of the shaft as Yuri got her bearings and pointed at a grated pipe. "We need to go through there."
Everyone then turned to look at the superhuman in red spandex, who slumped his shoulders comically. "I hope you all didn't just bring me along to open doors," he griped halfheartedly as he fired a pair of weblines to yank the grate off the pipe, causing it to fall into the water below with a 'plunk!'
The group went into the tunnel one by one, this one being an older construction, at least if the use of brick was anything to go by. Heading back upwards slightly, the crew reached a corner where the Marauder up front brought them to a halt. "This is our breech point," he announced as he turned examined the wall, "These look pretty loose, not gonna waste a charge."
With that, Cooper turned his rifle around and slammed the buttstock into the wall, knocking some of the loose bricks free while Spider-Man jumped up and crawled along the ceiling and fired a webline to pull another section of the wall down to reveal a tight passageway through to the next large open area on the other side. "Okay, onward," encouraged the Webhead as he swung through the gap.
The others followed suit, with Yuri covering their rear as they moved through the narrow corridor to catch up. Reaching the exit just as their radios came to life with the Webhead up front whispering through it. "Hammerheads guys, they've taken over an abandoned subway platform."
"Damn, this base is bigger than I thought," murmured Cooper, and it was an assessment Yuri silently agreed with. They had guessed that the base would be much smaller based on the information they got from the hitman. But once again, they had underestimated the Maggia Don, and the true scale of the task before them to rescue Sablinova had been revealed. "Cat, Spidey, we're going to down and clear them out. Yuri, you stay up here, keep us covered."
The group split, with the Marauder and Black Cat dropping down on one side of the platform, suppressed weapons ready. Spider-Man went to the other, jumping up and crawling along the ceiling. Yuri crept forwards, balancing atop a beam as she scanned the area below, eyes flicking from one armored Maggia thug to the next as she watched the others creep closer to them. Spider-Man then spoke over the radio, "Yuri? Can you get that sniper on the far side?" Yuri didn't verbally reply, instead raising her rifle and settling it on the sniper opposite her. Pulling the trigger once, the single 6.97mm arc round sent him crumpling to the floor. "Thanks," answered Spider-Man before firing a webline and plucking a second goon off the ground, yanking him up and slamming his head into an overhead beam before webbing him up and leaving him hanging from the ceiling.
Swinging her rifle around, Watanabe saw Marauder and Black Cat shove a pair of knocked out thugs off the platform and down between the rails, putting them out of sight. Yuri then watched the duo move up, sticking to the shadows as they crept towards the next armored goons. The Black Cat singled out one by himself who smoking a cigarette before the Thief used her garrote to strangle the consciousness out of him as she kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him to the ground.
But while Hardy was focused on that foe, a second rounded the corner as Yuri tried to bring her rifle to bear, only to settle her sights on him just as his head snapped back. Bolts of blue electricity crackled along the armor from the arc round that the Marauder put into him. With a flicker of flame from his jump kit, the Pilot slid across the floor and cradled the heavily armored thug to lower the incapacitated man gently to the floor, rolling him under a train car and out of sight.
Not to be outdone, Spider-Man shot himself down and slammed into one Maggia goon, the flash of motion in the corner of Watanabe's eye causing her to watch him strike home. The sound of the armored goon slamming into the floor caused a pair of men to turn towards the Webslinger, but as one was about to shot, Yuri snapped off a shot from her rifle. The arc round found it's mark, the less than lethal round shorting out the Project Olympus armor before stunning the man inside and causing him to collapse. His buddy, still shocked to see the first man go down, failed to gather his wits before Spider-Man had fired weblines at him and threw a flying knee into his chin, knocking him out. "Thanks for the assist Yuri."
When Spider-Man pulled himself back up, Yuri unreeled a length of the adhesive strap and threw it up at a beam overhead to swing forwards onto a stationary subway car. Once she was settled, Yuri disabled the adhesive properties and reeled the strap in before steadily creeping forwards to keep the others covered. There was one last group of four of Hammerhead's men at the end of the platform, "Everyone, line up your mark. Spidey, you go first," instructed the Marauder.
"Watch and learn," quipped back the Wallcrawler before he dropped down, firing a webline that caused him to streak in like a missile and plant both feet on the man's back, knocking him forwards as the Webhead sprung back up into the air. While he backflipped above the Maggia goons, the coughing of three suppressed weapons sent arc rounds into the other armored men. All three seized up and crumpled under the effect of the high-tech ammunition before being joined by the fourth as Spider-Man came back down for a follow up strike; the Webslinger planted his feet on the back of the thugs head and slammed him into the concrete floor. With the area clear, Yuri dropped down alongside Spider-Man as the Marauder and Black Cat joined them.
The latter two were already preparing to get moving, but the Wraith noticed that Spider-Man was looking around the room before he suddenly spoke up. "They're leeching power off the subway…there," he said, pointing to a setup that seemed as crude as it was dangerous. "See the wires? They're sending that electricity deeper into the tunnels."
"Which is just where we're headed, but first, Yuri," interrupted Cooper as the Pilot pointed at the origin of cable, "Plant it."
Nodding, Watanabe placed a satchel containing plastic explosives under the cable and armed them, meaning all it would take was a signal from the clacker she carried to detonate it and hopefully cut the power to Hammerhead's base. With that done, Cooper turned to a subway car half in and half out of the tunnel where a large yellow cable snaked into. "Now, all we need is a way past that."
Spider-Man made a show of stretching his arms and hands as he stepped up to the edge of the incomplete platform. "I hope that isn't a load bearing subway car," he quipped before firing a pair of weblines and had to audibly struggle to pull the subway car off the end of the track it was resting on out of the way, clearing the path for the group to proceed. "You think that Hammerhead siphoning power from the subway system is why the trains are always behind schedule?"
"It's public transport, when has it ever been on schedule?" asked the Texan dryly, giving the Webhead a friendly jab before he jumped up and ran along the wall of the space, disappearing into the tunnel.
"I can't seriously be the only one here who uses the subway," bemoaned Spider-Man as he looked at the Black Cat, who tilted her head, eyes of her mask staring unflinchingly at the Webhead like he should have known the answer to that question. "What about you Yuri?" asked Spider-Man hopefully as he turned to Watanabe.
"I do sometimes," admitted the Sharpshooter honestly, letting out a length of the strap on her wrist. "But I try to avoid it if I can." With that, she ran forwards and leapt up, Jump Kit carrying her higher before she threw the adhesive band at the ceiling of the tunnel and swung inside, slowly getting better at using the gadgets for traversal. Readying her rifle, she looked up to see the Marauder up ahead before Spider-Man and Black Cat appeared behind her, the group slowly pushing deeper. "Is this the same route we were going to take?" asked Yuri.
"Yeah, thought we'd be taking them by surprise coming in this way, but we might not be that lucky," returned the Marauder, his tone flat and calm. Yuri nodded, it was a complication to be sure, but not one that the group was unprepared for. "This way, come on," beckoned the Marauder as he activated his jump kit and pulled himself up onto the roof of a subway carriage that the yellow wire they were following passed through. Yuri did the same as the Black Cat used her parkour skills to scale the thin metal side. Spider-Man simply fired his weblines at either side of the window the cable passed through and used them as a slingshot to launch himself through the gap, coming out on the other side just as the others dropped down. When they did, they were met with a problem.
"Ergh, tunnels blocked," groaned the Webhead as he crouched down to look at it. "Looks like it caved in when they tried to expand it."
"Does the cable pass through Spider-Man?" asked Yuri.
"Uh…looks like it," answered the webehad, "We might be able to squeeze through too." Crawling like his namesake, Spider-Man disappeared into the tunnel as the other three waited to see what he would find. "I think there's a path through! Just be careful, I don't know how stable this thing is!"
"That means no blowing any part of it up Cowboy," teased the Black Cat before she strutted forwards with what Yuri noticed was an alluring sway of her hips slinked through the same gap the Webslinger had vanished into.
Yuri turned to the Marauder, one eyebrow raised behind her goggles. "That was one time," grumbled the SRS Commando lowly before he dropped down. Yuri watched him go, trying to slide through on what she couldn't help but notice was a well sculpted butt.
Wondering where those thoughts had come from, Yuri pushed them aside and refocused, mainly not on any of the Black Cat's teasing before she followed the Marauder's example, using her adhesive straps to pull herself into the pitch blackness of the tunnel. It was tricky going, the path through wasn't straight, and they had to work their way through twists and bends in their route through the rubble. "Agh! God!" yelped the Wallcrawler suddenly, causing the other three to suddenly stop and draw their guns.
"Spidey, what you got pal? Contacts?"asked the Marauder.
"Not exactly," called back Spider-Man. The others relaxed slightly and kept moving, reaching a part where the path opened up to reveal it led to a body of water with a dubious origin. That wasn't the most concerning thing about it though, that was what was floating in it. "There are body bags in here, more than a couple."
The Webslinger was noticeably uncomfortable as he said that, and Yuri felt her own blood run cold as one of the bags floated into view. Her mind went back to some of the missing cases that had come across her desk and wondered if any of them were in those bags. That thought wasn't helped as the group slid down to the water. Looking around, Yuri could see that 'more than a couple' meant almost two dozen, and that was just at first glance. Hopefully the NYPD would come down here eventually and try to do a complete inspection of this whole setup. But that was later, and this was now, and so when the others used their equipment to pull themselves out of the water, Yuri followed suit.
Once they were above it, Watanabe could see that the water was the result of that section being damned off while a few pipes leaked prodigiously, but the leaks didn't seem to be intentional. Still, it got Watanabe thinking. "They're not intending to just hide down here for a bit. Hammerhead has been down here for a while, setting all this up for weeks, months maybe, right under our noses. How come we didn't notice?"
"IMC did the same thing Yuri," reminded the Marauder grimly, "And that was a whole lot fucking worse."
Before the Riflewoman could retort with 'fool me twice,' the Black Cat interjected, "It really showed how good a team we are. Isn't that right 'Dirty Yuri'?"
Watanabe ignored the suggestive undertones in her voice and pushed on, running along the wall of the cavern and activating her cloak as she dropped down and took cover behind a crate. Scanning the area ahead through the optics in her visor, the Wraith could see quite a bit of equipment, as well as hostiles. "Three contacts," she whispered. "I got the far one."
"Middle," followed up the Marauder.
The Thief's voice came immediately after, "And the close one is all mine."
"Hey," said the Webslinger, "What do you need me to do?"
"Stay quiet," deadpanned the SRS Pilot.
Yuri had to suppress a smirk as Spidey stuttered before saying, "Oh, okay, I can do that."
"Are you sure?" asked Yuri as she steadied her breathing and let her crosshair settle on the back of her target's head and pulled the trigger before the Webslinger could retort. Despite the suppressor, the sound of the shot echoed off the concrete walls, but the sound of two more suppressed weapons followed soon after, and all three men dropped to the floor.
Emerging from the shadows as the others jumped down from their perches, Yuri looked around at where the group had found themselves. There was a lot of hardware in this space, all of it decked in either Sable International or Oscorp logos. Arms, ammunition, spare parts for vehicles, jerry cans containing fuel and water, and other stuff packed into any open space within the tight confines of the underground. "At least we know where they're stashing all the shit they stole," observed Cooper as he led the group forwards, only pausing briefly at a stack of massive wheels and tires with a binder sitting on one. Leaning over to examine the binder, the Marauder then said, "They're for those AFVs, the M-35 Mako, made by Oscorp."
"Maybe one day somebody else will make the thing the bad guys use to try and take over city," said Spider-Man hopefully, only for his shoulders to slump in an exaggerated fashion as he sighed deeply. "But not today."
"All the more reason to go to the Riviera," mused the Black Cat wistfully, but the group got moving again.
They passed by a few crates of Sable gear including shields, stun batons, and anti-tank weapons, but the most eye-catching pieces of equipment were the sleeker, more compact, seemingly improved examples of Sable EXAACCT jetpacks. "I'd pay good money to see Hammerhead's guys learning to fly those things for the first time…" mused the Webhead.
Yuri kind of agreed, it probably would have been amusing to see, but her eyes were drawn to a few partially disassembled cylindrical items, approximately eight feet tall and on some sort of base, with a clear glass lid showing that the inside was hollow. But the thing that had Watanabe's attention, and that was the words 'Project Olympus' stenciled at the base of the lid. "So that's it, that's how they do it," she said, wandering towards the tube. "This is Project Olympus, what they killed so many people for."
This must have been how they donned the advanced armored suits, using the carefully regulated environments in the tubes to make sure the neural link system took. A lot of good people had died to prevent Hammerhead from getting the system, and in the end, it hadn't been enough. And now that the Maggia Don had it, he was showing no signs of slowing down, using it to press his advantage and cement his rule. He had managed to survive their last encounter, and Yuri was determined to make sure that didn't happen again.
But the echo of an ear-piercing scream, a primal mix of pain and rage, snapped the ex-Cops focus back to why they were here. "We're not letting them kill another, that sounded like Sable, she's close," snarled Cooper as the glowing blue visor followed the yellow cable. "Spidey, you're up again," instructed the Marauder as he pointed towards a few pipes that were blocking their path.
"Sheesh, again? Shouldn't I be getting tips for opening doors all day?" griped the Webslinger, but he dutifully used his weblines to rip the pipes from their mounts and expose the hole in the concrete that the cable went through. "The only way out is through."
Going first, Spider-Man leapt through the hole and stuck to the wall on the other side, head looking down and then up, "Uh…you guys know which way to go?"
"Up," grunted Cooper before leaping through and using his jump kit to bounce from wall to wall and vanish upwards. Spider-Man began crawling in pursuit while Yuri copied the Pilot, bouncing back and forth as she ascended. Black Cat used her grapple to catch up, and soon all four were crouched down on the next level along with the guiding yellow cable.
"High voltage wires and sewer water," observed Spider-Man as they all started forwards, "What could go wrong?" Cooper was having the worst time of it, his bigger frame making squeezing through the tight space more of a hassle than for the shorter women or more agile Webhead. While nobody responded directly to Spider-Man, that didn't prevent him from continuing to ramble without a care in the world. "If there's one takeaway from this underground lair – thing, it's that Hammerhead should have fewer thugs with guns and a lot more safety inspectors."
"He'd just give the safety inspectors guns," retorted the Marauder dryly, "You can never have too many guns."
"Cowboy, I love you, but you have too many guns," observed the Black Cat with a teasing tone of voice. It seemed to have some effect, as the Marauder paused to turn and give a disapproving look to the Thief. "Don't be like that, I'll make it up to you," purred the platinum blonde as the Pilot shook his head and continued forwards.
"Looks like we're going down," warned Spider-Man before he disappeared over the edge and began to crawl down the sheer drop, carefully avoiding a sparking electrical panel as the group heard another of Sablinova's pained screams.
"Every minute I am here is another nail in your coffin!" declared the Symkarian, snarling with unbridled fury as the rest of the group followed Spider-Man towards the source of the words.
By the time they reached the ground, Sable's voice had been replaced by a man's laughter. "You got spirit, I like it," he said wickedly.
"I will never give you what you want!" shot back the Symkarian as the group moved through the cramped concrete corridor, getting ever closer to their objective.
"Hold up," whispered the Marauder, bringing to entire group to a halt before the Pilot turned towards Watanabe. "Yuri, cloak up and take a look, let's see what we're dealing with."
Nodding, Watanabe engaged her Wraith kits tactical ability and vanished from sight, "Copy that," she acknowledged as she readied her rifle and crawled towards a grate just ahead of the group.
Silver Sablinova still struggled against her company's own bindings that kept her restrained to the table that held her up at only a slight angle so that her tormentor could work her over. She had only been able to feign being unconscious for so long, and so for the last quarter of an hour, she had been at the tender mercies of the Maggia thug tasked to extract the information Hammerhead wanted.
It was immediately clear that the man was not trained in interrogation, and Sablinova had been trained in resisting torture, but that did not make the blows that had landed on her stomach and face any less painful, nor slow the trickle of blood that dripped down from her split lip. He had believed that his threats would prompt her to cooperate, and when he was met with brazen defiance he had reacted foolishly. He had beaten her with no plan, no course of action, throwing punches wherever and whenever he saw fit, leaving her body bruised beneath her suit and coat. It was then that Sable recognized the look in his eyes, she was not locked to a table with a professional interrogator, no, she was dealing with a psychopath who was enjoying the pain he was inflicting.
Once his hands failed to yield results, he had turned to the tools in the room and come back with a power drill. Grinning gleefully, he had put a hole in her right shoulder with the tool, the drill bit now covered in the same red blood that was staining her clothing, her blood. The wound burned immensely, a pain unlike anything else Sablinova had experienced, worse than a gunshot wound, it clouded her mind as she grit her teeth and heard the drill spin again. Managing to force her eyes open, she looked up to see the man poised with his instrument of choice over her other shoulder only for the whirl of the electric motor to fade and die. "Stupid fucking thing," muttered the thug as he turned and walked away.
Groaning as Sable tried her arm again and only got more pain, she noticed something odd, a strange flicker on the edge of the platform that, at a guess, connected to the city sewer system. Before she could either contemplate that further or dismiss it as a hallucination, she heard the distinct sound of a suppressed rifle firing. The next thing she knew, her restrains had given way as Silver found herself in a lump on the floor, but it only took a split second for her eyes to snap open and adrenaline to flood her system.
Springing to her feet as the Maggia goon turned to face her, Sablinova reached out and grabbed hold of a massive pipe wrench with her good arm and swung it like a club. The impact of the 9 kilogram wrench caused a satisfying crunching of bone as it hit the side of the man's face, smashing in the side of his skull and sending several teeth flying as he crumpled to the concrete ground. Defiantly, he raised his arm to shield his bloody mess of a face only for Sable to swing her weapon again, with his screams once again echoing of the walls as his ulna was cracked clean through. Tossing aside the wrench, Sablinova crouched down grabbed him by his blood soaked hair and slammed his head into the concrete, knocking him out and cracking his skull in the process.
The adrenaline in her system finally wore off and she was again overwhelmed by the pain that tore through her shoulder as she clutched the wound with her good hand. Her feet gave out as she tried to stand back up and Silver fell to the floor, rolling over onto her back as her clouded vision stared up at the ceiling. Closing her eyes as she grit her teeth through the pain, Silver heard several pairs of feet hit the floor nearby and forced her eyes to open to see a blue 'x' shaped visor looking down at her from one side and two blank white eye lenses on the other. "You two came back for me."
"Not the only ones," informed Spider-Man as Sable turned her head to see two more figures keeping an eye out.
Sable closed her eyes as she saw her other two rescuers, "Ms. Hardy," she greeted as she looked at the black clad woman before shifting her gaze to the other, taking a moment to recognize who it was. "Captain Watanabe," managed the Symkarian before hissing at feeling the Marauder slowly peal back her coat, inadvertently pressuring her wound.
"It's not 'Captain' anymore," the Asian woman said in a curt vioce before turning back to keep watch.
Sable pondered that for a second, but did not press further before taking a breath and trying to force her way up, only for a firm hand from the Marauder to press her back down. "Hold your horses Silver, I'm going to patch you up, return the favor," informed the Pilot as he pulled out a small kit. "And don't struggle or I'll have Spidey web you down."
The Symkarian only gave the expressionless visor a short glare before relenting, letting the SRS Major undo the strap for her bodysuit and uncover the grisly looking wound. He then ran a gloved hand across her back, "Didn't go all the way through at least, this'll only take a second," he drawled as he pulled out some tube of blue gel and undid the cap. "This might sting a bit."
Sable nodded as he pressed the tip of the tube to her wound and then, right as she opened her mouth to speak, Matthew squeezed, filling the wound with the contents of the tube. Whatever it was, it stung, and more than 'a bit' as Silver was about to scream out a curse before that sensation was replaced with a cooling one that numbed the pain. "Why?" she asked, seeing the two men offer her odd looks while the Marauder prepared a bandage, "Why did you all come for me?"
"Because we need you," informed the Marauder as he applied the bandage, pressing it to her skin before he was about to refasten her suit only for Silver to push his hand away and do it herself. "We're going to need every gun we can get in this fight," continued the Pilot as Sable pulled her duster back on and accepted Spider-Man's offered hand, the superpowered hero effortlessly pulling her to her feet. "And you having two makes up for him not having one," finished the Marauder as he pointed at Spider-Man.
The webhead did not seem to mind the verbal jab and instead looked at Silver. "Listen, I know what's happening in Symkaria, I know why this means so much to you…" he began, but that only caused anger to flare within Sablinova as she tested her arm and found it satisfactory, stiff, but workable.
"You think you know," she corrected as she marched off, "But you do not know."
Spying her weapons on the table, the Mercenary made straight for the pistols and picked them up, checking that they were still charged and ready when the Marauder spoke. "Everyone here knows what it means to fight for their home," he said, causing Sable to pause and ponder his words, "We all got some idea what it's like."
Sablinova was about to round on him and retort, but stopped short of doing so, instead turning to face the quartet that had come for her and tried to find the words when Spider-Man piped up. "You don't have to do this alone Sable, we can stop Hammerhead, and his Titan, all we have to do is work together. None of us can do it alone."
"Well…I mean…" began the Marauder, but he didn't finish his thought. "But I don't think that would stop you from getting your shots in, would it?" Sablinova did not answer with an affirmative, but her lack of denial was telling enough. "Don't worry, you'll get yours, just as soon as we get the hell outta here."
After a second, Silver finally nodded slowly, "Very well," she agreed as the Marauder tossed her an earpiece that she slipped into place. Then the Marauder set a case on the table and opened it to reveal a set of Night Vision Goggles that Silver looked at for a second before looking back up at the group, "You have plan, yes?"
"We need to get inside the OODA loop," explained the Marauder, surprising her with that answer. The Observe, Orient, Decide, Act loop was a concept Sable International used in training its officers for decision making and this renegade cowboy was going to use it too. "They should have their Command and Control down here, we find it and grab all they info we can off it, use it to make a plan. And to find those computers, we keep following the power, following the wire."
Sablinova nodded and raised her weapons, "Lead the way," she urged, though her voice carried the weight of an order. There was still an undertone of anger in her voice, it was fair to say that the Symkarian wanted retribution.
Nodding, the Marauder took point as the rest of the group fell in behind. Spider-Man was just behind the Pilot, with Sable and the Black Cat watching their flanks and Watanabe covering the rear. Moving through the next room and meeting no resistance, the Marauder suddenly came to a stop and pressed himself to the wall as they approached the doorway. "Contacts," reported the Pilot as he turned back to the rest of the group, "Now here's the plan…"
But Sablinova was in the mood for only one plan of attack: to attack.
Raising her weapons, the Mercenary strode past the others and went straight through the doorway, causing one of the men to go wide eyed and shout, "Damnit! She got loose!" before Sablinova leveled one of her pistols and pulled the trigger, putting her first shot between his eyes.
The other two men in the group tried to go for their guns, but Sablinova was not feeling merciful as she closed the gap and jumped up, throwing a kick as she planted a heel in the nearest man's face as she twisted around and fired both pistols at the other. Two red laser bolts ripped through his chest as the Symkarian pushed off and came down in a crouch.
But that wasn't all, from the perimeter of the room, men manning the various terminals all spun around towards Sablinova, but they were soon met with a hail of bullets and webbing as the others burst into the room, advancing as Spider-Man launched himself at one of the thugs while the other methodically gunned the remainder down.
Not sated just yet, Silver snarled and surged forwards again, watching Spider-Man web up goon after goon as she triggered her pistols again, blasting down two men that stood indecisively, not sure who to focus on under the withering assault. With them down, the Mercenary holstered her weapons and walked towards the arrayed computer equipment. But when Sablinova reached the far end of the room, she saw Spider-Man whip around and raise his webshooter and fire. Before she could even respond, she saw the blob of white synthetic silk fly past her face as she turned around. The man she had kicked had started to try and get up before the silk slammed into his face, covering it in webbing. The Webslinger then stepped closer and jumped up, spinning around and extending an arm that Sable jumped up and took. With seemingly little effort, the Webhead swung Sablinova around as he spun and then launched her through the air as she twisted and brought a second kick down on the man, sending him back down to the floor.
Catching her breath as she felt her shoulder flare up again, Sablinova didn't even notice that Spider-Man had moved until he spoke up. "That was AWESOME!" he shouted, hanging inverted from the ceiling, suspended by one of his webs as he turned towards her. Sable looked at his mask as he held up his hand, showing his palm to her, "High five…."
Ignoring him, the Symkarian turned on her heel and strode back towards the hardware. The Black Cat and Watanabe were closing and locking the doors while the Marauder unsheathed the blade from the sheath on his shoulder and stabbed it into one of the consoles. Sablinova could see the holographic display projected from the base of the grip as the Data Knife sliced through the protection on some of her company's most advanced systems like they weren't even there. Pushing aside the thought that new security was needed, Silver addressed the Pilot. "What have you found?"
"Come and see," invited the Pilot as he stepped back from the console and Sable strode up, followed closely behind by Hardy and Watanabe while Spider-Man jump up on top of the console, facing the others gathered around the screen that displayed the information the SRS Pilot had found.
The Arachnid themed hero still held up his hand in front of her face. "You uh, you know you left me hanging, right?"
Silver looked up, narrowed her eyes, and, when Spider-Man was frozen in place by her look, then turned back to the screen. "This is an inventory," she announced as she scrolled through, "Everything Hammerhead stole from Osborn…and from me," ground out the Mercenary. The sheer volume of equipment made her blood boil so much that her wound began to mildly throb through the numbing agent in the gel. Arms, ammunition, equipment, vehicles, the criminal group had captured everything, including the desperately needed artillery shells and aircraft ordnance. Even more concerning was the list of experimental equipment being developed at the behest of her company and the items that Osborn had withheld from her yet, like the Mako AFVs and, most worryingly, the three salvaged and reconstructed IMC titans that the group had somehow made off with. The machines were operational, and Oscorp had, unbeknownst to her, designed the Project Olympus armor system to link and integrate with the IMC war machines.
Assessing and analyzing all the information, Sablinova began forging the beginnings of a plan, a real plan. She did not need to pursue Hammerhead, she had to draw him out, make him fight on her terms, and crush him. But she did not have to do it alone, "Major, can you handle these titans?" she asked, pointing at the screen.
The striped helmet nodded, "All at once or one at a time, makes no difference to me," he drawled cockily, but Silver did not doubt his abilities.
"Hey, what's that?" asked Spider-Man as he pointed at something on the screen.
"It is the specifications for the Project Olympus armor," replied Sablinova as she scanned the document. "Ballistic protection, life support systems, exoskeleton, uplinked communications node, redundant safety sensors… wait a minute… I have idea!" she announced as she dug deeper. A small, slightly evil grin began to tug at her lips when Sable's plan began to take shape, "We jam communications uplink that monitors safety sensors. When they are cut off, they disable all systems except life support."
Looking up, she saw the Webhead once again holding up his hand before she looked down and read what sort of ECM systems the suit had. Thankfully they were an existing Sable International suite, one that she knew the strengths, and weaknesses, of. With that done, the Mercenary opened the security feeds and began to scroll through the cameras.
Spider-Man, seemingly embarrassed that he was still holding his hand up as the others looked at him, began to ramble. "I uh, solemnly swear to, uh, do whatever you tell me to."
Behind her, Watanabe had a more relevant question. "You're going to need a serious transmitter to do that. Hijack the cell towers maybe?" she offered.
Sablinova just shook her head, "Leave that to me," instructed the Symkarian, already having a solution sitting offshore. "And I have found our extraction. There is a motor pool 120 meters west with several of my stolen MRAPS," explained Silver as she closed the terminal and stepped back, "I am going to steal one back."
"Sounds like a plan," acknowledged the Marauder when there was a loud banging on the door they had to go through. "Gonna make it interesting, huh? Alright then, everyone, stack up!" barked the Marauder as the group gathered around either side of the door. "Spidey, you open the door on my mark."
Spider-Man sputtered and began to argue, "Wait… what?"
"Yuri, hit the lights," continued the SRS Commando, ignoring the webhead, "Everyone else, goggles." Sable was curious, but all was soon revealed as Watanabe triggered a detonator and then the entire room was plunged into total blackness. Pulling down the goggles the Marauder had provided, Silver's world was cast in an odd green hue, and her eyes barely had enough time to readjust before the Marauder whispered over the radio this time, "Spidey, one more time, get the door."
A pair of weblines landed on the thick metal door before it was summarily ripped from its hinges and flung across the room by the Wallcrawler. The Maggia men on the other side were still trying to recover from the lights going out when the door opened and the group burst through. Sablinova slammed her elbow down on ones arm before planting a laser bolt in his side with one of her pistols before ensnaring his neck in the crook of her arm and slamming his head down into her knee, knocking him out as the others were taken care of by her squad.
When had she started to view the others as her team?
Shoving that thought to the back of her mind, Sablinova took point, leading the way to their destination, moving swiftly through the corridor when the door that led to the motor pool up ahead opened and a group of goons stumbled out. Instantly, they were almost all cut down in a hail of bullets and laser bolts, all but one. As Sable turned to bring her pistols to bear, a line of synthetic silk streaked past and latched onto the gun the goon was holding. Through her goggles, Sable watched the weapon get yanked away and a burst of webbing slam into his face, blinding him further before a second blast pinned his hand to the wall. Three more ensnared his legs as the man tried to sprint away and ended up falling to the floor when more webs rained down and ensured he remained stuck there.
"Your webs are effective in combat," remarked Sablinova off handedly, "You must teach me how to use them."
"I wish I could – but it's a whole big intellectual property thing," quipped back the Webslinger, prompting Sablinova to roll her eyes behind the NVGs.
But in her moment of distraction, she did not notice that one more man had emerged from the door and took aim with a shoulder fired Anti-Tank recoilless rifle. The flash of the ignition caught Sable's attention, but she couldn't even react when a string of synthetic silk snatched the warhead out of the air and sent it back in the direction it had come from, causing it to explode in a ball of red energy when it impacted concrete. The shooter, knocked over by the blast, tried to recover only for Sable to fire a pair of shots, both going into center mass and putting him down.
Giving Spider-Man a nod that he returned, the Marauder took point as the group rushed inside, fanning out to search the room. Sable could already see a few of her company's boxy, stark white MRAPs in the room, though they were simply a lighter shade of green in her NVGs. The Marauder made for the one nearest to the exit and pulled open the door before beginning to climb up.
Sablinova however, did not let him, reaching out to grab his sleeve. "No," snapped the Mercenary firmly as she pulled him back down, "I have heard how you drive."
The Marauder stepped down and let Sablinova up into the driver's seat. "What's wrong with how I drive?" he grumbled before rushing around and climbing into the back with Black Cat and Watanabe.
"Major, man the gun," instructed the Symkarian as she turned the key that was already in the ignition and brought the machine to life and she coaxed it slowly forwards. The heavy garage door that had been installed was lifted open by Spider-Man, allowing the MRAP to pass through before Spider-Man jumped on the outside of the vehicle and clung on.
Carefully guiding the machine through the narrow tunnels, Sablinova rounded a corner and saw a group of armored Maggia men ambling about, holding up flashlights before they opened fire on the MRAP. The energy bolts splashed harmlessly against the armor plate, but that didn't mean Sable didn't act. At the same time that the Marauder opened fire with the remote HDEMG mount on the roof, sending a stream of red laser fire back, Sablinova threw up her NVGs and turned on the head lamps, blinding those that survived the Marauder's barrage. Not wanting to stay and fight, Sable pressed the accelerator and pushed the armored vehicle forwards, bull rushing past the survivors.
"Contact rear!" called out Watanabe as Sable saw another MRAP's headlights in her mirror and pushed her own vehicle harder. The Symkarian could hear the distinct synth report of the energy gun on the roof firing as she caught the reflection of the bolts in the mirror as they peppered the front of the Maggia MRAP.
But Sable's attention was diverted back forwards as she wrenched the wheel over to force the MRAP around a bend while their pursuer kept pace. As soon as the path straightened out, Sablinova sped the machine back up before she was forced to apply the brakes, tires screeching in protest as it went around another bend, the entire machine rolling like a small ship in heavy seas. "Is my driving really much worse?" asked the Marauder before opening fire again.
"Yes, it is!" retorted the Black Cat instantly while Sable pushed the MRAP back up to speed.
The incline they were ascending meant they were approaching the surface, of that Sable was sure, but they had not made their escape yet. Reaching the top of the ramp, the MRAP nearly caught air before the massive front tires slammed down on the ground and dug in, pulling the vehicle to see a group of SUVs parked near the gate that segmented the city from the underground.
With the gun turret still keeping their tail at bay, Sable had no choice but to put her foot to the floor and power through, bulldozing the smaller vehicles aside before plowing through the chain link gate and out onto city streets. But doing so had slowed them down, whereas the MRAP behind them had not. And now, Sable found that she was wheel to wheel with the Maggia controlled machine.
Undaunted, Spider-Man clambered up onto the roof and jumped onto the other vehicle as it veered over and smashed into Sables as she fought to maintain control despite the shrieking sound of trading paint. The Mercenary tapped the brakes and dropped back while throwing the AFV over, performing a small PIT maneuver. Planting the nose of her vehicle just ahead of the rear axle of the other, it failed to have the desired effect, given the heavy vehicles and low speed.
But what it did do was draw off the driver's eye and allow the Webhead to drop down, pull the door open, and forcibly eject the driver, webbing him to a tree. The MRAP slowing down, Sablinova pressed the accelerator and put the wheel over, guiding the now empty MRAP through a parked car, over a newspaper stand, and into the corner of a building before it finally came to a halt. The Webslinger effortlessly leapt and flipped clear, landing back on the roof of the vehicle Silver was driving before opening the passenger door and swinging inside. Just as Silver was about to refocus on the road to take them towards FEAST, where she knew the Marauder had a safehouse they could wait in, she noticed that the Webhead was holding up his hand again.
Still managing to hold a straight face, Sable turned and returned the juvenile gesture with all the strength her adrenaline and good arm had to offer, her discipline finally cracking as she smiled and drove on.
Next to her, the Wallcrawler looked down at his hand with wide eyes, "Ow," he hissed before closing it into a fist, "But…yeah."
Coopers Logbook – Vehicles: MRAPs
MRAP stands for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, and was a program that was started by the US Department of Defense in 2007 as a result of the prevalence and effectiveness of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq and Afghanistan. They combatted this issue in the same way the US Government combats every issue, they threw dump trucks full of taxpayer dollars at it, 50 billion of them to be precise.
What did they get for all that money? A hodge podge of a dozen different vehicle types from five different manufacturers, all of which were heavy, expensive, fuel hungry, and in some ways ill suited to the 'Hearts and Minds' objective of COIN (COunter INsurgency) operations. The logistical headaches that came from operating so many different, quite demanding, vehicles, supplying parts, training mechanics, and transporting the vehicles were substantial. To airlift MRAPs to Iraq, the US Army shelled out $150,000 per vehicle, and they ordered over 3,000.
But when they got there, the MRAPs proved to be effective at what they were designed to do, resist IEDs. Heavy armor plate, v shaped hulls to direct the blast away from the fighting compartment, and other design features meant that the vehicles could absorb an impressive amount of punishment. Larger IEDs could still defeat MRAPs, but there is no question that the vehicles saved lives. Of course, all that weight from the armor and height of the vehicle's hull form made most MRAPs prone to roll overs, and going off road is highly ill advised. Oh, and the weight of the things, more than 15 tons, meant that they can't make use of about 75% of the world's bridges.
So while some of the vehicles were good designs, the entire program was a disaster. A mere five years after it started, the entire MRAP program was cancelled in favor of the MRAP ATV program. That settled on a solitary design that offers greater protection than the venerable Hummer, but similar mobility, which is what MRAP should have been in the first place. And as the vehicle selected, the Oshkosh L-ATV as the JLTV, enters service, the US had tried to frantically get rid of the 50 billion dollars in paperweights sitting in various warehouses. This means you can find the vehicles in a variety of implausible places, including various Police Departments, foreign governments, private security firms like Sable International, and even to some private individuals.
Which explains how Wilson Fisk got his grubby hands on a bunch of the damn things.
Closing Notes: Changes throughout here, but relatively minor compared to what came before and what will come next chapter. Still, getting the whole group together meant that this was a really fun one to write and hopefully y'all had fun reading it. This is the penultimate chapter of the DLC story arc, as the next one will be the final confrontation with Hammerhead, and that will be followed by a couple of epilogue/transition chapters.
So let me have some feedback for this arc now that we're nearing the end. I want to know what all of you out there think of it as a whole, since it did start all the way back in chapter 80.
Especially since it all gets wrapped up when I put out the next chapter in two weeks, so prepare yourself for The Last Battle.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.
