Zim is happy to let the Guardians go in and break up this event. The amount of manpower required to cordon off the area prevents any guarantees that word won't get out, but he will do what he can.
Any other preparations?
Relative to the start time, when do you want to start your operation?
Angela considers what she would have done if she was alone and not with the Guardians. She would probably have chosen the most direct route, a variant along the lines of her initial suggestion to Sky Guard, such as dropping in through the roof, beating up everyone present and dismantling the device, if any... and beyond that, whatever brute force could not achieve, technological superiority would. It was how she escaped from Doc Otaku's infernal lab, after all.
Instead, she is two miles out, waiting patiently on the rooftop of an apartment building and hopefully out of sight of any of the villains. When Taheka and Kit sounded the word she would launch the attack and join them. At top speed, with her reactionless drive, she could be there in a matter of seconds and assault the opera house.
Sky Guard had a longer view than she did. He was thinking about things like the villains escaping, how excessive damage to the building might look on the evening news, and maintaining a good relationship with the local law enforcement. Things that were very far from the mind of your magical girl or shonen hero. Intellectually, Angela recognized at once that these considerations are paramount if she is to be an effective hero in a world which fears and hates the thinking machine. But at her core she found it difficult to process them. There was a way of thinking deeply, forcibly carved into her neural network - a core of memes and assumptions about the world and how it worked - that was hard to reprogram.
On some level, she resisted the idea. She wanted to be true to herself, feared morphing into some socially and politically palatable creature for fickle humanity. She wanted to prove that a hero just and true could emerge from her warped origins.
Angela keys her comms. "Kit, Takeha, you guys on the move? Have you scouted the building? It would be great to know how many baddies there are and what they're doing inside." A pause. "Oh, and if you can, gimme some suggestions for where I can make a dynamic entry without too much property damage."
She was going to have to learn, one way or another, she thought, staring off into the darkening sky with her fiber-optic hair, now darkened, blowing in the wind.
OOC
Per the OOC thread we seem to have free commlinks.
I think we are waiting on Taheka and Kit to make a stealth or perception check to scout out the inside of the building as planned.
Kit spent the time preparing to sneak in and studying the plans of the building. He found a bigger bathroom not too far away from the main area, but not too close either. It was situated in an awkward place, so he figured it might be the place place to pop in. As all the gangs started arriving, Kit stepped through a portal into one of the stalls wearing a black turtle neck, leather jacket, and slacks. If he was going to sneak, he would look good doing it.
If he got in without notice, Kit would start to make his way towards the main area to scope it out from the best place based on his study of the plans. "I'm in.", whispers Kit over the comms.
Tamati "Taheka" Stevens HP: 2 LP: 1 Condition: Normal
Finding a access to the water supply, Tamati literally flowed into the pipe becoming one with the water inside it. Recalling the twists and turns from the maps he had pursued over earlier in the day Tamati found himself inside the plumbing of the opera house.
Moving throughout the building Tamati kept his equivalent of ears wide open to check anything of interest and where possible used water fountains, taps and similar to spy out off.
"Same" Tamati added over the commlink after Kit had replied to Angela.
OOC wrote:
Stealth and Perception checks if required.
Sky Guard stood on the roof of a building within quick-flight range of the opera house. Presently his white wings were folded behind his back. Sky Blue eyes slightly narrowed against the fading light as he focused his avian vision across the way. Keeping to shadows and cover, he waited. After the chatter started on the coms Ven offered Taheka and Kit a brief acknowledgement before adding an advisory note.
"Remember, let Kit take point on the scouting Taheka. You are there as quick response backup."
Torako silently fumes, but respects the decisions. she knows how to sneak herself (ninja), but the Roses know she's in town and looking for them, and how she'd sneak in
Kit makes his way carefully towards one of the boxes that is empty to give him a good view of the stage and crowd. There are several obvious security for Black Rose and Kit is able to avoid them. There is a brief moment where one is close to spotting him, but Kit holds his nerve and the guy passes on.
In the box, he is able to see hundreds of gang members waiting in the seating area, each group sitting with their colors. One unusual thing is they are all wearing small gold pins shaped like roses. None of the Black Rose security is wearing these gold rose pins.
It looks like they are about to get started as several men and women come out onto the stage wearing black suits and quiet the "audience" down.
Kit eyes the room. Out numbered, likely outgunned, and maybe mind controlled by the small gold pins shaped like roses. Good times! "We've got hundreds of gang members here and the gang members look to be wearing some gold pins shaped like roses. Could be a mind control device or something. If we're going to do something before Oleander talks, we gotta move fast. A group is walking on to the stage now.", whispers Kit over the comms.
He looks around ready to spring into action. First though, he checks around for any transmitter like devices. Could be some radio somewhere controlling the gangs and if it gets taken out they'll leave. It would even the odds a bit.
When Kit reported that there were over a hundred people inside Ven stopped blinking for a few seconds. Hundreds? Could the Guardians handle that many enemy combatants? Maybe. He'd seen them do some spectacular things. Sky Guard's instincts told him the coercive nature of the Black Rose Society's relationship with the local criminals meant they weren't necessarily working together though. That meant the actual opposition the Guardians would have to face could be smaller. Ven wasn't going to count on that though. Sensing that Kit might rile the rest of the team up into rushing in, Sky Guard interjected over the coms.
"Those pins could be explosives or devices capable of producing a lethal electrical discharge if the wearer steps out of line. We don't know."
Sky Guard paused long enough for the idea that the gang members might well be hostages to be considered. Then he went on, inquiring of the person amongst them who knew their enemy the best.
"Do gold rose pins sound familiar to you Torako?"
OOC wrote:I don't expect Torako to have a clue what they are meant for, if anything, so I'll write a little more under that assumption. If she does, it might well negate the rest of my post.
He was quiet a moment, thinking the situation over before finally responding.
"I say we let them talk before we barge in. At least a little. They may reveal whether the pins are something we should be concerned about in the first place. But if it looks like someone is going to turn into a demonstration of their lethality, don't wait."
A woman in a black suit and silver gloves comes onto the stage and walks up to the podium. She is carrying a large remote control of some kind. She stands there for several moments as the gangs all quiet down. She seems to wait a little longer.
“Good, those of you here tonight show uncanny wisdom. I’m glad to see you can all follow orders. I am Oleander, poisoned blossom of the Black Rose and leader of the United States branch of the Syndicate. I’m delighted to have your support. To those of you who have already been helping us execute our plans—you have my gratitude. To the rest of you, I assure you, your chance to prove your loyalty is coming soon."
"I think somethings about to go down.", said Kit over the comms very quietly. "Oleander has a big remote and considering only the gangs have the gold rose it can't be good. We should probably move in soon Taking out that remote first.", adds Kit. It could have been so easy for him. Teleport to Oleander, yank the remote, and teleport to safety. Once stowed, come back in and start blasting away. The others could come charging in and that would be that. A big brawl and maybe freeing a bunch of gangers from whatever those pins did.
Something about the way Oleander is pausing, she is waiting for something to happen during this presentation. Maybe it's for some gang to shout out opposition, but looking around that just doesn't seem likely. They were all given an ounce of gold.
The gold suggests she wants them all here to see something.
"Yeah, I'm not sure she is going to give away her big plan. Looks like she's waiting for something. Maybe a trap to spring on us if we attack or some big surprise.", remarks Kit over the comms.
Sky Guard listened to the observations Kit made, painting a picture of the scene at the opera house in his mind's eye. The teleporter, and probably most of the team, seemed raring to go and jump into the fray. From what he heard no one was in danger, and there was no real pressure to attack. It seemed like they could afford to wait and see what surprise was revealed, before they committed themselves. So Sky Guard tried to temper Kit's dynamism with words of both trust and restraint.
"You're the one with eyes on the scene Kit, if it looks like someone is in danger, we'll move in on your signal. Otherwise we don't need to rush in. A surprise could be bad for us and we don't know anything about the powered individual working with her. We can wait to allow Oleander a chance to give us useful information."
