Gotham - 22:00Hours
Grim guided the Owl in, keeping low to the Gotham River's waves below him. Meanwhile, the Owl's cockpit was completely distorted, due to the torrential downpour which seemed to encompass the city. According to Phoebe, it rained more often than not in the city, and that rain wasn't like other cities' rain. Here, it came down thick and heavy, reducing visibility and messing with the city's cameras.
It also made concealing the Owl impossible. The reactive panels could easily copy the surrounding rain and storm, but they couldn't distort the shape of the craft as it cut through the storm. Worse, whenever there'd be a flicker of lightning, the Owl's camo would shutter as it raced to replicate the bright light. Meaning that for a few seconds, the Owl's distortion would be plainly visible to anyone paying attention.
Grim could only hope that the rain's reduced visibility and the craft's speed would be enough to get downtown undetected. At least it was only the elements he had to contend with, as the Owl's systems and design far outclassed any sort of radar in this world. Its black paint job also concealed radar and heat-absorbing materials, allowing the craft to disappear into the surrounding ambient heat, or in this case, rain.
He pulled back on the throttle and tilted the stealth craft slightly to the right, both shedding a bit of speed and turning towards his destination.
In the distance, he could see the towering monolith that was S.T.A.R Labs. It was one of the city's larger buildings, featuring an intricate, triangular design at its base before extending upwards into a more familiar skyscraper. Near the top of the building, a helicopter pad jutted out, facing the river, and offering the perfect place for Grim to stow the Owl while he and Phoebe infiltrated the building.
"Hey, Smiles?" Phoebe suddenly called out from his helmet's speakers, sounding casual and at ease. "Can you adjust your course about five degrees right before performing a few orbits of the building? I want to try and synch what blueprints I have with that of the building, as well as check and see if there's any sort of movement on the ground."
Without answering, Grim pulled the Owl's control stick to the right and back, angling the craft upwards and to the right. He then pulled the ship's throttle back even further, reducing their speed to that of a slow-moving helicopter. He followed this new course until he could just see the skyscraper coming up on his left. With another adjustment, he was now angled down towards the building, allowing him to peer out past the cockpit and rain. His eyes swept up and down the building, finding nothing notable other than the bright red of the Lab's neon sign.
Grim slowly completed the first orbit, letting Phoebe focus on her scans and comparisons. He then completed a second orbit and was about to start a third when Phoebe cut back in.
"Ok, I think I have enough." She said, before swiftly switching over to inform him of what she had found. "The blueprints city hall has are out of date by about five or so years. It seems that S.T.A.R Labs has added an additional ten floors, while also redesigning the original floors to accommodate the helipad. Wanna take a guess if they had a permit?"
"Their systems will probably have an updated blueprint of the building once we get inside. We should be able to run with that." Grim observed passively.
"Probably." Phoebe agreed with a sigh. "The answer is no by the way."
Grim hummed in response as he altered the Owl's course to land on the empty helipad. As he approached, a gust of wind buffeted the sides of the craft, rocking the ship and displacing it a bit to the side. Grim compensated for the gust, angling the under-wing thrusters as he deployed the landing gear. He also deactivated the craft's cloak, assuming that it'd probably attract more attention in the storm if it remained invisible, especially at a distance. This way, most people would dismiss it as some sort of weird helicopter or a prototype S.T.A.R Labs was working on.
The Owl's landing gear struck the helipad with a jarring bounce, the craft rocking as it settled. Grim's fingers danced over the controls, cutting the power, and lowering the blood tray in one seamless motion. Rain hammered against the fuselage, a deafening drumbeat as he slipped out from the cockpit.
He stalked into the troop hold, only pausing before one of the overhead lockers. Grim reached up and pulled free an MA40 assault rifle and a M7S SMG. He pulled the rifle over his shoulder and settled it across his back, while the SMG was attached between his tailbone plate and left hip, next to the energy sword handle. He then quickly checked his magnum for the hundredth time before replacing it on his right thigh. Next, two smoke grenades were pulled from the locker and stowed away in the soft case on his thigh. Grim then closed the locker and made his way down the blood tray, mentally checking off the various pouches where he had stowed away his weapons' magazines.
With a final step, he exited the craft, his boots immediately sending up a small splash of water as the rain continued all around him. Without looking back, the Spartan moved towards the helipad's doorway into the lab. Distantly, he could hear the blood tray of the Owl close, but it was a near thing. The storm was far louder outside the Owl than it had been in the cockpit.
"Alright! Three, two, one, and we're in!" Phoebe reported as the door in front of Grim slid open. "I'm still working on cross-referencing everything, but I think I have a pretty good idea of where we need to go. Take the first left and then head down about four flights."
Grim grunted softly in acknowledgment of Phoebe's directions before he dipped through the doorway. He then straightened back up to his full height and strode down the hall, leaving behind a trail of water from his armor as he walked, his head on a swivel.
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S.T.A.R Labs Main Entrance - At the Same Time
The storm's symphony of rain and thunder shattered as the roar of engines and the sharp screech of tires tore through the night. A convoy of vehicles, headlights piercing the downpour, barreled through the slick streets, their reckless speed seeming excited and completely uncaring of the monsoon around them.
The lead car took the final turn and rocketed into S.T.A.R Lab's entrance, smashing into the decorative flagpole at the center of the building's half-circle with a loud crunch and a flurry of sparks. The flagpole jerked and then fell, landing across the roof of the car as its passengers all cheered.
Said passengers then threw open the car's doors and scrambled into the embrace of the storm. A few of them kicked the damaged car, declaring it useless, as others raced up to the bullet-proof glass doors that sealed the lab from the outside world. They leveled their AK47s at the doors and let loose a barrage of fire, painting the glass with a spiderweb of cracks and bullet impacts, all while giggling uncontrollably. They kept firing until their guns clicked empty.
Instantly, they started to reach for their backpacks and coat pockets, trying to retrieve fresh magazines for their weapons. A few of them even managed to pull free the fresh ammo, only to drop it with a crazed laugh as they shook uncontrollably. One of their gang dipped down to retrieve their dropped magazine and completely missed their friend's warnings and calls to move. He only managed to look up in time to see a pair of headlights barreling towards him before his body and the hood of the car smashed through the glass doors.
The car continued its trek further into the building's lobby, running over the man's body and smashing through the greeter's desk. It only came to a stop when it slammed into the ornamental marble that stretched upwards in the center of the lobby. Its back tire screeched for a few seconds, sending up a cloud and filling the air with the smell of burning rubber, until it seemed to lose power. The lobby then returned to silence as the rest of the convoy came to a stop outside of the Lab.
The car's driver-side door was then kicked open by a red-clad leg before a bat was thrown out and onto the polished tile floor.
"I told ya I could get us in!" A high-pitched voice laughed.
"That ya did, Boss!" A jersey-accented voice responded as the cars and trucks surrounding the entrance offloaded more of their number.
The red and black-clad woman watched as her people rushed into the lobby, hooping and hollering as they went. Behind them, walking in at a more sedate pace, was a grouping of snow gear-covered soldiers. All of them seemed to be sporting some sort of advanced tech and appeared much more organized than the frolicking gang members all around them. At their center, stood a large, exosuit-clad man, his face and red goggle-covered eyes hidden behind a dome of glass.
The group stomped their way through the dancing, crazed gang members all around them, only coming to a stop in front of the red and black-clad woman. They then split their number, allowing the man to stomp forward and up to the woman.
"Quinn! I thought you said you had a way to get us in! Not that you'd smash your way in and in the process triggering every silent alarm from here to Orlando!" Mr. Freeze screamed in anger. Behind him, his Regulators all stiffened and shifted their eyes from the two leaders to the clowns and freaks surrounding them. A few of them even adjusted their hold on their rifles and in the process slipped their fingers down onto the trigger.
"Relax, Snowman!" Harley Quinn waved off easily, stooping down to pick up her red and black bat. She spun the weapon in her grip before settling it on her shoulder and cocking out a hip. "No one's coming anywhere near us in this storm. They'd have to be crazy and last I checked; we have the monopoly on crazy…. Ain't that right people?!"
All around them, multi-colored clowns all called back various forms of affirmations.
"That's right Boss!"
"Hell ya, Quinn!"
"Ain't no one more crazy than us!"
Harley spared a quick glance towards her people, a feral and crazed smile spreading itself across her face as she looked at each of them in turn. She then turned back to Mr. Freeze, her smile turning smug, while also retaining the feral undercurrent.
"That's not who I'm talking about, and you know it!" Freeze snarled.
Harley couldn't help the scoff that erupted from her lips.
The big bad Bat has been off kilter recently. Only really returning to form with the appearance of the new bird at his side. Night-butt has also been around a lot more, far more than he had when the second birdie had still been breathing. But both of them were still far from where they were when they first started out. They seemed to be looking at the big picture while ignoring all the small pictures that made up that larger picture. Which led them to miss a few of Mista J's obvious hints and plans. Luckily for them, the new birdie seemed to mirror his predecessor in that he always focused on that small picture, helping victims and doing good.
"The Bat ain't comin'." Harley waved off.
"You don't know that!" Freeze pointed out with a growl, taking a step forward so he could glare down at the clown in front of him. Although it didn't seem to have any sort of effect on Harley, the woman merely checking on her nails as Freeze huffed above her.
"Of course I do, Snowman! I got my guys dealing with the alarm right now." She dismissed easily, gesturing over to one of her guys pulling the lobby's phone free. Behind him, a few more of their number were busy spray painting the expensive marble and smashing the TV screens that lined the room.
"Faking a false alarm won't work if we can't turn off the alarm." Freeze pointed out.
"Oh, I know! I've got a few other guys working on that." Harley shrugged, turning away and making her way over to one of her guys. She came to a stop in front of him and held her hand out, making a grabbing motion. With a slight jolt, the man scrambled to pull a large, black walkie-talkie from his jacket. He deposited the device in his boss's grip before stepping back and away, now free to join his friends in the destruction of the lobby.
Harley then turned and strode once more across the room, ignoring a flurry of flying papers and fire as her people tore the lobby apart. She approached her man beside the phone, receiving a nod that he was ready.
"Hey, idiots! Keep it down! We gotta make a call!" She yelled out into the room, instantly quelling the noise and silencing her gang. She panned her gaze across their number before settling on the man with the phone, who she signaled with a nod.
The man nodded back and quickly punched in the non-emergency number for the GCPD. The group then waited as the phone rang a few times before someone picked up.
"This is the Gotham City Police Department, please describe the nature of your call." A tired man spoke through the line. Clearly, the GCPD was overworked.
"Yes! I'd like to report a false alarm at S.T.A.R Labs." Harley's goon replied, sounding equally tired and annoyed. They then could hear some faint rustling in the background as the officer shifted to grab something. His voice then returned with the sound of a pen clicking in the background.
"Can you tell me what triggered the false alarm?" The man sighed out.
"The storm." Harley's goon groaned. "A big ass thunderclap shook the building and caused the windows to rattle a bit. I should have the alarm off here in a second."
The goon then turned and nodded to Harley once more, who pulled the walkie-talkie to her lips.
"Blow it." She whispered into its receiver, only to have the building shake as her people detonated the explosives they placed on the powerlines a little way up the road. All around them, the windows jostled and quaked giving the goon a bit of authenticity to his report.
"See?" He asked into the line, doing his best to sound annoyed.
"Ya." The officer agreed through the line, sounding nearly done with this conversation and the night as a whole. "We've had a few other locations have the same thing happen to them tonight. I'll put you on the call list so that we can check in with you before sending out units. I'm also showing that you've turned off the silent alarm so if there's not anything else, I'd like to let you go."
"Ya, that'd be great!" The goon agreed, sending the group a thumbs up. "I'll give you a holler if anything else comes up. Thanks for your help."
He then slammed the phone's receiver back down on its dock without waiting for the officer's response. The phone was then thrown onto the ground as the goon proceeded to stomp on the phone and its dock repeatedly, completely destroying it. This drew a new round of cheering as the Freaks all around them returned to their vandalization of the lobby.
"See! No problems whatsoever." Harley purred with a triumphant grin towards Mr. Freeze, who scowled.
With a roll of her eyes, Harley continued, "Seriously, relax Frosty. You'll get your diamonds and Mista J will get his uranium. No muss, no fuss, no coconuts."
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S.T.A.R Labs - Floor Thirty-Six
Grim paused as the building rocked, rattling the windows, and making a few of the lights flicker before going out. His augmented eyes quickly shifted, cutting through the darkness and allowing the Spartan to see his path laid out before him. Within his helmet, his HUD shifted, powering on its night vision, further enhancing his sight.
"Was that you?" He questioned, his hand twitching towards his SMG as he waited to see if a threat would appear.
"No," Phoebe answered. "But whatever did, knocked out power to the entire building. We're currently operating on emergency reserves."
Grim started moving again, picking up his pace a bit as he semi-jogged down the corridor.
"What does that mean for us?" He asked, pausing at an intersection before turning right and rushing down its hall.
"Well… If the system is following its procedures, then the vault where our objective is held should be locked down. Meaning, we'll need to figure out a way to get through two feet of solid steel." Phoebe explained as her avatar appeared on the corner of his HUD. "You'll also want to take a left at the next intersection, before heading down another level."
Grim slowed as he approached the aforementioned intersection, doing another quick scan of both of the hallways before following his partner's instructions and racing down the left hall.
"Can't you divert power to its systems before hacking it back open?" The Spartan questioned as he threw open a door at the end of the hall. He then dipped under the doorway before leaping across the gap between the floors. He landed on the opposite landing with a thud and turned to repeat the action once more. This time, he used his momentum from the landing to propel him forward and toward the door, which he threw open quickly.
"Maybe," Phoebe answered as the Spartan moved down the hall. "But I don't think we'll have enough power to open it all the way. Besides, look at this."
Her avatar then disappeared, replaced by a video of the lobby below. It was grainy, obviously not meant to do much more than show a general picture of the lobby, but Grim could still make out the multiple figures vandalizing the room. A few even appeared to be trying to figure out how to set fire to one of the room's many sofas.
At their center, was a group of all-white figures, surrounding a man in some sort of tall exosuit, who was towering over some sort of pale, white girl. The two seemed to be locked in some sort of heated debate before the girl turned and started sauntering out of frame. Throughout the lobby, the other vandals dropped what they were doing and rushed to follow the strangely dressed woman. Some of their number threw lit Molotov cocktails randomly into the room as they left, igniting a series of small fires in the lobby.
The exosuit-wearing man seemed to be weighing his options before deciding that he had come all this way and wasn't about to turn back. So, he and his group strode after the woman, although they seemed much more organized and in control.
"Is there any chance they aren't after something else in the vault?" Grim sighed, already knowing there was no way he'd be that lucky.
"It's still too early to say. They're just now starting to climb up the stairs. But, regardless, we need to secure our objective. I'll keep diverting power to the many cameras around this place, to track their progress. In the meantime, you get us to the vault." Phoebe ordered.
Without another word, Grim moved down the hall, a waypoint appearing over the double doors at the end of it.
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Downtown Gotham
"Hey O! Do you read me?"
"What're you doing out Baby Bird?! Wing isn't even active tonight!"
"I got bored, and I saw there was a silent alarm triggered at S.T.A.R Labs."
"Which was confirmed to be a false alarm up until the storm cut power to the Lab. So…. I'll ask again. What are you doing out in the storm, Robin?"
"B is having another rough night…. I…. I needed to get out and do something… It's what Robin would do."
"Don't you…."
"I know!... But he didn't take any nights off without being forced to, so neither can I… Are you going to call B?"
"..."
"There're still people to help, O… I'd like to at least confirm the false alarm."
"You will drive below the speed limit and will keep your comm on the entire time. If I even think you're going to go froggy on me, I'll call B down on you, and trust me, he'll be a dream compared to when Agent A gets his hands on you."
"...Does that mean?"
"You check out the alarm and then, you go home. I'm already calling up Nightwing so he'll only be a few minutes out should you run into trouble."
"..."
"And if there is trouble…. You will wait for Wing before going in, while I call up B and anyone else nearby…. Are we clear?"
"Crystal, O!... and thanks!"