InsaneJournal

endingwars, 2019-05-28 03:14 am UTC

witchiest, 2019-05-28 03:06 pm UTC

endingwars, 2019-05-30 12:44 am UTC

sorry I took so long with this, i totally forgot. -

witchiest, 2019-06-01 01:22 pm UTC

endingwars, 2019-06-06 09:40 pm UTC

Bucky and Steve -- Australia

avengermod
2019-05-24 05:37 pm UTC (link)

The ground is red, a vivid, oddly unnatural red. Dry at the best of times, it’s drought season now. The bugs are relentless as is the dust. Everything is covered with a fine layering of the stuff, and without sunglasses, you’d be squinting at everything.

There’s no one for miles. No one. No cover, no people, no buildings. Just the unyielding landscape that is the Australian outback.

Good luck.

(Replies frozen) (Thread)

Bucky and Steve -- Australia

semi_stable
2019-05-31 08:51 am UTC (link)

There were a few places that Bucky considered to be a hellscape. High cliffs with winter snow. Concrete and bars. Cities, in general. But the Australian outback? This took the cake.

Sun on dark colored metal? It got hot. Even with a sleeve covering that arm, his shoulder was getting a little twitchy. There also wasn't enough eye black that he could smear on to keep that glare away if forced to take a long shot. To help, he wore some tinted tactical goggles to keep the dust out of his eyes, but even those started to fog up with sweat after a while.

He pushed them up onto his forehead and adjusted the rifle on his back, looking over at Steve.

"Sure hope that satellite intel's right," Bucky told Steve as they trudged through the red dust and dried up scrub. "If we run into a bunch of kangaroos and crocs, we'll need to pick who's punching what first."

Hot sun on dark metal. Hot sun on leather and whatever else Tony put into his armor. Steve had humped through a lot of awful landscapes during the war, but he was really glad that none of the fronts had been here. The shield on his back actually began to feel heavy. They both had water, but they had to make it last. It was a balancing act between staying hydrated and running out of water.

He glanced at Bucky as he wiped sweat from his neck. "Y'know, I've heard it said that your mascara is on fleet. I don't know what that means, but you do look like you've been crying."

Bucky shook his head and smirked.

"Jerk," Bucky replied, smacking a bug that landed on his cheek and wiping it away before it got a chance to stick. "I'm crying 'cause I looked at your face."

They continued walking until the dried up brush got a bit thick, the thorny limbs snagging at the sleeve covering his arm until the metal showed through the holes.

"Maybe we should have asked for lighter gear. Like some bulletproof underwear."

That would make it hard to hide a gun or a knife, but hey, that's what straps and holsters were for.

Soon enough, there was the noise of an engine running. The brush cleared ahead of them, revealing a camper trailer painted in camouflage and some cameras mounted over each side of it. The engine running was a generator, and it appeared there was a small air conditioner running.

There were heavy tire tracks indented in the dry red dust. It was difficult to tell if anyone was home or not, or if someone had been dropped off there earlier.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Bucky and Steve -- Australia

semi_stable
2019-05-31 08:53 am UTC (link)

Bucky looked over at Steve, waiting for him to either make the call on how to proceed or to make fun of the idea of running around in undies with runny mascara.

Steve would have vetoed the idea of going into battle far less than dressed. Not because of the fear of being grievously injured, but because of sheer embarrassment. He would be sure that Tony would somehow get footage of the fight then post it everywhere for everyone to see. Steve would never be able to leave the house again.

He didn't say another word until they reached their apparent destination. Eyeing up the target from what cover they had, it was a very familiar feeling. He couldn't help the smile that came to his face. "This reminds me of Belgium." He glanced at Bucky. "You remember Belgium." One of the first HYDRA weapons facilities they'd blown to hell. "Kinda thinking we should be a little more discreet."

Then he stood up, lobbed the shield sidearm toward a camera that was pointed at them. "Let's move."

No one peeked out the blinds or opened the door. There was no sound of the safety of a gun clicking. There was nothing but buzzing of bugs flying around in what little shade the shrubs offered.

Bucky wore a smile of his own. Discreet Steve? Yeah. About as discreet as a punch in the face.

"You mean that one time you had us busting down a door and marching in, guns blazing," Bucky asked in a low voice. "Yeah, I remember that."

He shrugged the rifle down into his hands and quickly looked through the sites at the underside of the trailer. It didn't look rigged to blow. He took aim, shooting at the side camera pointed toward the tire tracks before moving into position behind Steve. He kept his sights trained on the road and the brush around them.

"It looks clear," Bucky said, ready to follow Steve's lead. Looks could be deceiving, so he was treading carefully. He didn't expect that Steve would follow suit.

Steve chuckled quietly then hit the button on the mechanism in his glove that would draw the shield back to his hand, then he was on the move. Shield in front of him, he charged for the trailer. He wanted to be against the side of it in case someone inside came to check on the cameras. Once they reached it, he lowered his voice to almost mouthing his words.

" What do you think? Take out the generator then go in or bust in now?"

Before they moved in, Bucky had lowered his goggles down, so he didn't have to squint so much under the midday sun. It cut the glare down nicely, and he nodded when he read Steve's lips.

"Bust in," Bucky mouthed back, thinking that it'd be better to have some air conditioning than nothing. There were still no sounds from inside. Just in case, he pointed at the door and mouthed, "Be careful."

Not that he expected Steve would listen to that. He hoped that door wasn't rigged to blow. That'd ruin everything. But from the looks of this place, other than the cameras, someone wasn't too worried about being found in the middle of nowhere. For all they knew, it was bad intel and some innocent person's house.

It was about to suck to be them if it was someone's house.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Bucky and Steve -- Australia

semi_stable
2019-05-31 08:54 am UTC (link)

Steve gave a single nod, tilted his head a little to listen for anything coming from the inside of the trailer, his free hand lifted in a tight fist. Hold. Three fingers went up, then Steve counted down. When the last finger closed his hand into a fist once more, he was on the move again.

The door to the trailer didn't stand a chance. One solid kick was Steve sent it inward, off its hinges. Captain America followed it in not even half a second after. His shield was in position in case anyone was waiting for them with a gun.

"Clear," he said then let Bucky get around him so they could do a hard search.

Following Steve's cues, Bucky backed in, rifle up and ready. Outside, it was still quiet and clear. He lowered the weapon once they were inside, moving around and grabbing some of the fobs left on the countertop.

As he moved to the back of the trailer, he found a box of pictures and a computer running under the air conditioning. There was what looked to be a server, and the box contained naked girls and men in suggestive poses with guns.

On the screen, there was a sized down window with some coding scrolling quickly. It appeared to show GPS coordinates and financial status. But most disturbing was the wallpaper chosen, which depicted what looked like a shirtless hairy man with a sleazy smile and red tracksuit bottoms on, rubbing what seemed to be one of the fake Wakanda weapons on his groin. Over one nipple was a tattoo with large scrolling letters that said Nikolaj on it.

"Better cover your eyes." Bucky sounded amused. "There's weapons porn."

"What?" Of course, Steve looked because he had no idea what the hell weapons porn was. His mind pulled up images of stockpiles of all kinds of guns. What he actually saw made his lips part and color come to his cheeks. "...what the he-.." Never mind. He didn't want to know.

He jerked his chin at Bucky. "See what you can get off that while I search for Green."

Bucky nodded and produced a small key fob device, plugging it into the USB and using it to create a backdoor channel into the system. It was basic HYDRA 101 stuff that they taught him, and while he hated HYDRA with a vengeance, he was ironically (and begrudgingly) grateful to know what he was doing at a time like this. Once the program cracked its way inside, he began tapping away at the keyboard to check out what sort of monitoring was there, how many active connections were made to this server, what files there were...and it was a lot of intel. The connection was stable and steady enough that he began to send it through to SHIELD. If only there were a way to pull the plugs and carry everything to the rendezvous point, they'd have it made...

While Bucky was occupied, a red cloud of dust was growing larger and larger, gradually revealing a black SUV with tinted windows. It wavered in the midday heat like a mirage as it barreled along off-road, heading toward their location.

It seemed someone got the alert that the cameras were down and was coming to check it out.

The car was heard over the hum of the machinery at the last moment before the brakes were applied and it skidded to a stop.

Bucky looked over at Steve, like a silent warning to be careful. Not that he thought Steve would heed it. History proved otherwise.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Bucky and Steve -- Australia (complete)

semi_stable
2019-05-31 09:11 am UTC (link)

Steve was beginning to feel like they missed their target. Frustration began to mount. Green had to have been here! No way he could have known they were coming. He had to have been tipped off somehow!

Then luck...or stupidity...was on their side. Granted, the cameras could have been taken out by anything, and that was probably why whoever was in the truck came here, but it was still a stupid move until it became clear that they weren't walking into a trap. Which they were.

Steve looked at Bucky, pointed at him then to the right of the door. He pointed at himself then the left of the door then moved into place. This would go how it had always gone. If a gun barrel came in first Steve would knock it down with the shield leaving Bucky to neutralize the person holding it. No gun? Well, then just the take down.

Bucky nodded, moving into position on the other side of the busted in door.

Stepping out from the SUV was a tall thin man. He wore pink pants, a white shirt, and gold mirror sunglasses. His dark hair was slicked back, giving him the look of a pimp instead of a weapons runner. In his hands, he held a weapon that looked like it was Wakandan, but this was only by design. There was nothing Wakandan about this Chitauri tech knock off he had stolen and marketed for the criminal masses.

This was Thomas Green. Weapons runner and part of an anti-Wakandan regime. Out in the middle of nowhere, with a weapon that could punch a hole into a hillside, he was feeling cocky. He cautiously approached the door of the trailer, stopping and listening for any movement or chatter inside.

Bucky was still at the ready, watching Steve.

Outside, the insects buzzed through the stagnant air under an unforgiving sun.

Thomas Green entered the trailer, gun first, ready to fire.

Steve had enough time for the ridiculousness of the gun to register in his mind then he hammered the edge of the shield down on the barrel. The motion had the added benefit of Green getting clocked in the jaw by the butt of the gun. Once it hit the floor of the trailer, Steve gave it a solid kick out of reach while Bucky did his thing.

If Steve was the good cop, then Bucky was the bad cop. He grabbed the man by the throat and guided him back to the opposing wall, pinning him in place with a cold glare and the slightest squeeze of metal fingers.

Bucky heard Steve asking for the man's name, his fingers flexing enough to act as a warning and quickly loosening to allow the man to speak.

"Tom Green," the man croaked out, both hands clenched uselessly around a vibranium wrist. "I'll give you...ack! Please don't kill me!"

It registered that Steve was saying his name. A metal hand grabbed a fistful of Tom's shirt, and Bucky used his other hand to clean the guy's clock with a single punch. Thomas Green slid down the wall of the trailer and slumped on the floor, out cold.

"He'll be seeing stars when he wakes up," Bucky said, nodding over at the computer set up, and taking out a zip tie to bind the guy's hands and feet together. He took the car keys out of Tom's pocket and jingled them merrily before throwing them into Steve's waiting hand. "I'll start hauling this stuff out."

They both worked in comfortable silence. Steve dragged their target and his weapon out to the car, while Bucky disconnected everything, including the cameras.

By the time they drove away, the trailer in the middle of nowhere looked like it was gutted and no stone was left unturned around it.

(Replies frozen) (Parent)

Vision and Hope -- London, England

avengermod
2019-05-24 05:38 pm UTC (link)

It’s 8:00 on a Friday and yet there are people everywhere. The office district is clearly an international one. People working there have colleagues all over the world, and as such are at work even at an unconventional time. A few cafes and pubs are teeming with people watching a football game, laughing with each other.

The building you’re interested in is on a corner, next to an entrance to the tube.

From a distance, it doesn’t look like there’s much security but upon further look, you can see various cameras dotting the landscape. Are they part of Britain’s own closed-circuit or is this related to the office?

You don’t know, but you do know you have to tread carefully.

(Replies frozen) (Thread)

Vision and Hope -- London, England

punches
2019-05-24 08:31 pm UTC (link)

Paratrechina longicornis, also known known as 'crazy ants' - they were fast as lightning and conducted electricity (helpful when you needed to fry some enemy electronics), which meant that they were Hope's number one pick for accompaniment during today's mission in London. They were found all around the world, really, and their name also derived from their tendency to just dash around all willy-nilly, erratically, never anything in a straight line. Or at least, they had the potential for that if she wasn't controlling them.

Which she was. And was also currently wasp-sized, perched atop Vision's shoulder.

"They're in," she told him, referring to the ants that had crawled inside the CCTV cameras in the vicinity of the target building, and essentially zapped them into useless darkness with a snap, crackle, and pop. "We can go, but...yeah, let's be quick." This entire country was basically under surveillance, all the time, millions of cameras - a little inconvenient, but whatever.

Overall, she liked London though. A fog rolled across the cityscape, the roads a river of cars even past what was typically rush hour - still, the red buses and blue-uniformed policemen were just a part of the city's charm too, and she wished they'd have more time to explore.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

vihz
2019-05-25 02:04 am UTC (link)

The two of them were well suited for stealth - with Hope’s wide variety of abilities including becoming basically invisible, and Vision being able to phase through walls; there were few structures they couldn’t infiltrate. The trick was making sure civilians stayed out of it, and that no one was alerted to anything odd going on. Given that, Vision’s human appearance was in place.

Walking around red and with a cape sort of gave things away.

Once the CCTV cameras were down, he headed for the back of the office building where there was an entrance that was a bit more out of sight, and not well lit. “Through this doorway and down the hall is the file room,” he suggested, then stopped just before the door. “After you, Miss van Dyne.” If she slipped through the cracks first, they would know if anyone else was loitering on the first floor at this hour, security or otherwise. The information they had been given didn’t indicate either way, but he could only assume that there would be at least a few guards to maneuver; the research they were after was secret and valuable after all.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

punches
2019-05-25 01:05 pm UTC (link)

"So polite," Hope teased, wings fluttering - she moved quickly, her flight speeds comparable of that to an actual wasp, zipping toward the bottom of the door where there was a crack in between it and the ground. "You can just call me Hope."

But alright, file room. No need to break the door down either, to get to the place - she entered the building easily enough, glancing around to check it out. She was too small for either of the guards to notice - even if they had, she'd just be written off as a bug flying about, who cared. "There are two guys with boomsticks checking IDs at this entrance," she shared, keeping her flight trajectory above the heads of the guards, closer to the ceiling. "Be ready to crack some skulls."

It was well-lit despite this entrance being used on the 'rarely' side, but obviously those who worked in this office building kept all sorts of hours so security was always on-call.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

vihz
2019-05-26 12:50 am UTC (link)

“Very well, Hope,” he repeated her name to commit it to memory. Part of his myriad of of identities had been modeled after a butler AI of sorts, after all. Polite came with the territory.

Except with these particular guards, since there wasn’t really a way to politely knock someone out. Vision phased through the door and headed for said guards - both of which reacted quickly to someone suddenly being where they shouldn’t be, by aiming their weapons at him and demanding identification.

He managed to get to them before shots were fired, knocking one of them out by grabbing hold of the barrel of his shotgun and slamming it upward into his forehead, while the other one went down with an elbow to the head. It was quick and they were out cold, but still breathing.

“Do you see any others, is it clear to the file room?” he asked, searching the guards for their ID cards, just in case they had need for that later.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

punches
2019-05-26 01:07 pm UTC (link)

Hope flew ahead, doing a little bit of recon to see if the path was clear. "Looks good - oh wait," she paused in her assessment when Random Joe came out of the bathroom, carrying a stack of files. Likely he was reading these while on the crapper and she doubted he washed his hands, but anyway. Zipping toward him, he suddenly rocked to the side, an invisible force delivering a powerful punch that sent him reeling.

He hit the wall, arms flailing, papers flying up into the air and fluttering back to the ground like snowflakes. She punched him again, from the opposite side - he was pretty dazed by this point, you could practically see the cartoon birds circling. And back into the bathroom he stumbled, leaving his mess on the floor. "Now it's clear."

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

vihz, 2019-05-27 05:45 am UTC

punches, 2019-05-27 12:35 pm UTC

vihz, 2019-05-29 04:14 am UTC

punches, 2019-05-29 08:05 pm UTC

vihz, 2019-05-30 03:33 am UTC

punches, 2019-06-01 01:29 pm UTC

vihz, 2019-06-02 02:50 am UTC

punches, 2019-06-02 12:17 pm UTC

vihz, 2019-06-03 02:40 am UTC

Sam and Sif -- Quebec, Canada

avengermod
2019-05-24 05:39 pm UTC (link)

It’s a green space with playground equipment. A few kids are running around while their parents chat together. Ducks and geese are swimming on a pond nearby and the ground is completely littered with poop. Step carefully.

There’s nothing that’s obviously a cover for an evil organization..or is there? There’s a bathroom that looks like no one has tended to it for a while. Or maybe down one of the trails…. Wait, is that a ranger type station in the back?

Wherever you are, be careful: geese can be territorial and angry. It’s said that Canadian geese are the angriest Canadians.

(Replies frozen) (Thread)

Re: Sam and Sif -- Quebec, Canada

asgardswarrior
2019-05-25 02:55 am UTC (link)

Sif and Sam had agreed to arrive under cover as a couple enjoying a romantic afternoon in the park, so they were dressed in Midgardian clothing, though they were prepared for all sorts of trouble.

"Let us inspect the ranger station first," Sif suggested. She'd studied the aerial view of the park in the SHIELD files. They drifted in that direction over the course of a a quarter-glass, with Sif watching carefully to see if they'd been made by foes either human or anserine. A couple of times they got a little closer to the geese than Sif would have liked and had to retreat before the geese came toward them. But eventually they made their way to the ranger station, though not without stepping in goose droppings. Sif's nose wrinkled every time they got too close to the stinky leavings.

"What do you think?" Sif asked quietly as they got close to the ranger station.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam and Sif -- Quebec, Canada

justslower
2019-05-25 11:38 pm UTC (link)

Sam felt a little vulnerable without the wings, but they were pretty much the opposite of stealth and this mission required for a little more discretion. Thanks to T'Challa, they did have some aerial coverage courtesy of his red wing though and he adjusted his 'sunglasses' at Sif's question to get a better read on what lie ahead.

The geese were noisy and disgusting and making their job far more difficult. "We shouldn't go too far off the path, honey," he said, reaching to take Sif's hand and leaning in so he could speak softly in her ear. "Not picking up any heat signatures from the station."

That didn't mean there wasn't anything there. If there was, it was unguarded for the moment.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Sam and Sif -- Quebec, Canada

asgardswarrior
2019-05-30 07:12 pm UTC (link)

Sif nodded, but stepped off the path toward the station anyway, inspecting the ground as she went. Nominally she was avoiding goose filth but in reality she was looking for indications that their target, or anyone, had been off the path by the ranger station recently.

"Honey," she called to Sam after a moment, in a tone that had never been used by anyone outside of a television sitcom to address a loved one, "come take a look!" She had found a footprint close to the building, but well away from the entrance: it looked like a man's shoe, not a workboot, in dried mud.

Sif was going to assume it was mud, anyhow.

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam and Sif -- Quebec, Canada

justslower
2019-06-01 11:11 pm UTC (link)

Neither one of them would win any acting awards, but Sam figured no one was paying that close of attention to them. Or at least he hoped they weren't. There were probably some kind of surveillance measures in place and with any luck, they'd be video only.

Sam followed Sif, also stepping carefully, and frowned at the shoe print. "What a lovely view," he said, just in case anyone was listening. Then he tapped the communicator he was wearing to ask T'Challa to fly the drone a little closer to see if there were more footprints leading in a particular direction, keeping his voice pitched as low as possible.

"This might be a wonderful place to take photographs," he said, his voice returning to normal. "Let's see if there are any obstructions around."

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam and Sif -- Quebec, Canada

asgardswarrior
2019-06-04 02:57 am UTC (link)

"Yes, let's get as many photos as we can," Sif agreed in something more like her normal voice: no-nonsense and brusque, but not hostile to Sam. It was more as though she assumed his competence.

She moved around the edges of the building with the grace of a large, dangerous cat, careful to stay in sight of Sam even as she advanced. It would do no good to be caught in a trap that her partner couldn't see. And for all that she wasn't wearing her armor or carrying blade and shield here, she was ready for anything. Several knives were concealed about her person as well as a Midgardian weapon that she had no intention of using.

"All clear this side," she told Sam, for all that she was sure his cameras could see the same. "I have a skeleton key for the door, should it take such. If it's a computer code or a fingerprint, we'll deal with it."

(Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

justslower, 2019-06-07 09:36 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-06-11 03:11 am UTC

justslower, 2019-06-12 11:26 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-06-18 06:00 pm UTC

justslower, 2019-06-19 09:41 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-06-20 02:24 am UTC

justslower, 2019-06-21 11:50 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-06-24 08:14 pm UTC

justslower, 2019-06-24 11:37 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-06-26 01:24 am UTC

justslower, 2019-06-26 11:11 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-06-29 02:54 am UTC

justslower, 2019-06-30 07:05 pm UTC

asgardswarrior, 2019-07-02 02:50 am UTC

justslower, 2019-07-02 10:30 pm UTC