A Hotel of Two Tales

[ngm_hydra]

The decrepit-looking hotel near a waterfall in Colombia was a case of the facade not quite matching the interior. Early 20th century grandeur fought against years of disuse and nature's reclamation. While the first floor retained some of it's moldy and waterlogged appearance, it was a deception to keep the local guerillas uninterested in the goings on inside the building. With late night experiments leading to flashing lights in some of the windows, the locals, gun-toting or not, spoke about the old hotel as a haunted location.

The head of that nest was counting on interlopers of the goody-two-shoe variety. Though the planned team wasn't the ones in blue and white. Either way, Huntress 19 had called in assistance from extra nests.

Comments

Re: Wild Pack

[pussyfootaround]

"So basically, if it looks interesting, weird, or something that you wouldn't find at Best Buy, but definitely would at Stark, Veridian, Baintronics or something? Clue me in and set it aside," Felicity said as she settled her cats-eye goggles over her eyes.

"Let's do this thing."

Re: Wild Pack

[i_can_hit_that]

Quinn finished assembling his sniper rifle and smiled. He never put the sight on. That made things way too easy. He grabbed his "tool-belt" and checked his daggers. All four were still sharp. Dad gave them to him when he was ten. Mom didn't like him having sharp objects so early and gave him a pair of batons to balance it out. He missed his mom in that moment but pushed the thought aside.

Maybe if things worked out with SHIELD, he could ask Fury if he had any leads on his mother.

He put on the belt and the strapped his batons into sheathes on his left leg. Then he picked up his rifle and two spare magazines of ammunition. If he needed more, he'd take them off the body of first guy he had to drop.

"Got it, Boss. Sharpshot ready for action. Cat, I'm not a techno-geek, so I'll just assume that if isn't a VCR, Camcorder or gun, you'll want to see it. Good enough?" he asked, readying himself to cover his teammates.

Being a mercenary was not a half-bad gig.

Re: Wild Pack

[ngm_adults]

Fin got up from his seat, which might have groaned in happiness from not having to hold his weight anymore. The fin atop his head slowly extended. He lightly smacked the knuckles of one fist into the palm of his other hand.

"I will leave somethings not hit for Little Cat Woman."

[shadeblossom]

"I'm a child of Japanese culture. I know fun tech when I see it." Hana grinned, bouncing to her feet and stretching before drawing shadows down to herself to form her sword. There was a Glock .40 in a holster strapped to her right thigh, but she preferred stealth where possible.

"I'll sneaky sneak in and see what I can see..." She faded into shadow form and stepped through the nearest dark space. This was going to be fun!

[ngm_hydra]

The shadow-skipping scout found the interior of the abandoned hotel waterlogged and damaged from being so close to the falls with windows broken out. Some pieces of previously grand furniture were crumbling and decaying in various rooms. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for an abandoned hotel.

That didn't mean HYDRA did not have illusions up and were watching, however.

[i_can_hit_that]

Quinn let everyone proceed him and then took up his guard in the rear. He scanned the treeline to make sure no one (besides Hana) was ahead of them. He checked east and south, and saw no one. Good enough.

He heard the sounds of gunfire. He resisted the urge to get a better look. They weren't here to be heroes. They had an objective to meet.

"So far, no hostiles on our tail. Something about this doesn't feel right, Boss. We should be getting shot at. FirstWorld Merc Problems, I know." Quinn said.

[pussyfootaround]

Black Cat reached into her utility belt and pulled out a thin black metallic disc, stylized so it looked like the head of a cat. She flipped it over and pressed a button before tossing it up into the air. The device gently hummed and then went swerving off to the right. She did the same with another three devices, and the yellow goggles of her mask turned green.

"This is HYDRA," she said. "Nothing should seem right." She was doing the thing that all smart burglars did first. She was looking for digital, holographic illusions and hidden traps. "Not feeling right is right when it comes to them."

[molecana]

If Gina's mother had told her anything, it was '"Don't get shot." (Along with "Don't sit with your legs like that!" and "Always invest in solidly made furniture.") The air crackled next to her skin as she turned to metal.

If she saw anything interesting... like snakeskin shoes! Or weird, like, um... shoes made out of live snakes? She'd definitely tell the Black Cat.

[symkarian_princess]

"We are probably walking into a massive trap," Nika commented as she waited for status reports. Her hand trailing down to brush the Magnum on her thigh.

"Knowing that should make this less perilous than their last pizza parlor." Which sounded more absurd than she meant when she said it out loud. But she still had scars from that. At least they were beneath her tactical corset.

[shadeblossom]

Hana listened to all the discussion over the comms as she sneaked along. Everything seemed pretty quiet, so far. She could understand Quinn's concern. If HYDRA was involved, it seemed like gunfire should be too. That, or something much worse.

She kept Nika's warning in mind, keeping a lookout for any indication of traps as she made her way in deeper.

[ngm_adults]

Fin shifted from foot to foot slightly. He wanted to go in swinging. But Littlest Boss had not given the word.

Also, no screaming from the inside so he didn't have to go hit as a rescue. He looked down at Nika expectantly.

[molecana]

Gina's eyes flickered to Fen's posterior as he shifted his weight. She took a step forward, and there was a clanking creak as metal foot hit metal plating.

"Oops."

Stealth. Not one of Gina's strong points.

[ngm_hydra]

There wasn't much call for stealth on the outside of the hotel. Though there were random bursts of gunfire in the distance. The drug-running cartel guerrillas were finding people in their territory. Though not in the Wild Pack's immediate vicinity. The gunfire seemed to be coming from further out than where the Swan had landed.

Black Cat's tech couldn't get solid reads on all the hidden tech with her four hovering disks. There was some sort of interference. Though she could pick up on a few surveillance objects keeping an electronic eye on them.

Hana had moved well into the hotel by now. She had come in through a side exit by two former supply closets and had gotten a peek through a crumbling wall at a large room that could have been a rec room. She was moving across an even bigger room with a large warped built in desk along the wall to her right. There was a hallway that lead to double doors in front of the shadow walker. There were two doorways in the hallway. Also along the lobby wall to the right of the hallway were two doorways with closed wooden doors.

[pussyfootaround]

"Big Brother's watching," Felicity said, calling the hovering discs back to her. "Sadly, Big Brother's also keeping a lot of things a secret." She pocketed the discs. "I hate snakes. Have I ever mentioned that before? Not a fan."

[i_can_hit_that]

"Any chance of scrambling their comms or disabling their tech?" Quinn asked, keeping note of how far out he'd heard the gunfire.

As long as it wasn't getting closer, they were in good shape.

[symkarian_princess]

"Hana, anything to report?" She motioned for them to move to the door to the interior. If for no reason than to get Gina away from the metal plating she was standing on.

"Lock and load. Gina, take front. Quinn, watch the rear. Fin, keep your eyes out for little green men to hit. Inside, we'll pair up to cover more ground." They were being watched. It made Nika itchy. Or maybe the cold sweat rolling down her spine did. She pulled out one of her Desert Eagles and started toward the lone door inside on that side of the building.

[shadeblossom]

"Apparently, they fired their maid," Hana answered, stepping around some debris. "Nothing moving that I can see. Got a few doors to choose from, though."

She never did like game shows.

Before she headed down the hallway, she went first to the warped desk, examining it carefully for anything the said 'trap' to her, then searching for any interesting contents.

[ngm_adults]

"Heeeere, little green men," Fin beckoned softly. "I get to hit yooou."

He followed after Littlest Boss. If anything went awry, he could scoop her up and carry her away or just toss her behind him into those cushy trees.

[i_can_hit_that]

Quinn kept his eyes open, scanning the immediate area, then focusing his vision so that he could see further out. Nothing immediately jumped out at him but he it was way too quiet.

This was the perfect time for an ambush.

[molecana]

Gina moved towards the door. She was trying her best to be quiet, but there wasn't much she could do about the little crunching noises and puffs of concrete dust.

She got in between Nika and that door.

"You want it open or open?"

She mimed ripping it off the hinges.

[pussyfootaround]

"Alright guys," Felicity pulled another small gadget out of her belt and typed in a sequence of buttons. "Your personal comms are on, and they'll scramble anything localized around you, which means those HYDRA bad boys can't really get contact with anyone." She smiled. "It'll actually scramble anything that isn't us, so we'll still be able to stay in contact."

She turned to Gina. "Off the hinges. Let's go to town."

[symkarian_princess]

"The second one," Nika answered with a nod. "Let's kick them in the teeth."

The mercenary knew her niece on the inside could handle herself if HYDRA came pouring into the room. She adjusted her grip on her Desert Eagle and took a breath to steady her nerves.

[ngm_hydra]

When Gina got around to ripping the door off, there wouldn't be an immediate reaction. Those in wait had their comms scrambled mere seconds ago. The brief confusion would give the entering mercenaries a brief respite.

Hana's search of the desk would reveal a false bottom to the one drawer that wasn't warped into place. Under the false bottom was a big, red button.

[molecana]

Gina ripped the door.. and part of the frame... out of the wall with a grin and a flourish. Mayhem was fun! She tossed it over her shoulder, then stepped into the gap and looked around. When no one shot at her she shrugged, and walked in.

[shadeblossom]

Oooooooh. Hana's eyes zeroed in on the button. Conventional wisdom said that pushing a big, red button was probably bad news. Hana's Mojoworld genetics, however, said: Push it, push it, push it!

Well... technically, Gina's door-ripping had already caused enough noise to let anyone in the building know they were there, right? How much worse could it get?

"Button, button... who's got the button?" Hana sang to herself, reaching out to press it.