Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

She hmmmed. How indeed. She wasn't even sure where in the town they really wanted to go. She looked over the airfield, surveying it to see if it was even occupied. She assumed a lot of these strips probably had times of night they were closed. If so they might get some logs, see if the plane was there, and if it was kept there there might be information about the owner of the hangar. "lets have a look first from a distance and get the lay of the land."

 

[Halcyon638]

The road ended in a chain-link gate around the airfield itself. It consisted of the landing strip, the hangar, and two smaller buildings. Marcus conjured up a ball of light. “Fuck, gets dark out here in the sticks.”

He pulled himself onto the fencing. “Where do you want to start?” He asked, extending a hand down.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Let's try the hangar itself." she gestures "might get some information off the plane? like I dunno. I don't know shit about planes." she laughs "After that, I think we see if we can figure out the office computer password. I'm guessing there's billing that goes out to anyone that rents hangar space. That should give us an address to look for."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Alright.” They walked slowly and quietly across the airfield, reaching the hangar, locating a side entrance. There was a plane inside, a small cargo vehicle, yet it still took them a good while to search it closely. Inside, they found a few pairs of restraints, along with the name of the pilot, Robin Pressman.

Switching gears to the office, they began a similarly lengthy search, the clock already creeping past 12:30 AM by the time they finished. They saw certifications for Pressman on the walls and also found some mail in the trash bin addressed to someone named Ashley Pressman. A quick Google search revealed they were a 40-something couple who lived in Selway. There was a laptop computer in the office as well, locked with a password.

Marcus looked at the computer screen asking for the password. “Maybe it’ll work like it does in the movies where it’s some wildly obvious thing in the room.” He glanced around at the sparse décor and furnishings, then grabbed a handful of Hershey’s Kisses from a small dish. “Should we type in ‘shitty painting of a bird?’”

There didn’t appear to be anything in the space at least that might have inspired a password. "My old partner could crack this shit in 10 minutes."

 

[siobhancan99]

"Pressman's the pilot. He's gonna know things. We can head over there in a minute." She looked at the dish, then tried the password with a few combinations of Hershey's and Hershey's kiss and also Ashley. It was worth a shot at the very least.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica typed in the possible combinations, but to no avail, while Marcus unwrapped one of the chocolates and ate. “Looks like they’ve got a son named Charles,” Marcus said, scrolling on his burner phone. “Twenty, so hopefully he’s not fucking around the house playing Playstation in the wee hours. Try that—Charles, Chuck, Charlie, all that.”

The variations didn’t work. Eventually, they made their way over to the Pressman household. Being a small town, the houses were thankfully isolated from one another, making it easy to not draw attention to their presence. The Pressman house was a large colonial-style home. There was a single Jeep Grand Cherokee in the driveway, and all the lights were out.

“Lead the way,” Marcus said. “I’m not usually breaking into places where I’m expecting someone to be home.” He slipped on a pair of night vision goggles.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed "look, when we were talking about breaking in before, well." she hmmmed "i was thinking it'd be corporate offices or something. The Nighthawk does not break into people's houses. It just feels wrong. not just outside my idiom but small town folk well. Your house is your castle you know?" She said "take off the goggles." Then walked up to the door and gave it her best cop knock, definitely loud enough to wake the inhabitants of the house if need be.

 

[Halcyon638]

Marcus nodded. "I suppose we can try things your way." He slipped off the goggles. "I'm going to be waiting over here," he said, motioning toward the side of the house where some bushes stood. "You shouldn't be seen with me, and I've been in this country long enough to know some random black dude showing up on a small town guy's doorstep at 1:00 AM probably doesn't end well."

After another knock or two, a haggard-looking Robin Pressman showed up at the glass window to the door. He was a tall man in his late forties with a long face and closely cropped dark hair. When he spotted Monica through the pane, he jumped back in alarm.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Mr. Pressman. You may have seen me on the news. I'm sorry to disturb you but I have a few questions about a crime that was committed in prospect City a few nights ago, and I promise you can talk to me through the door and i'll head out after a quick chat."

 

[Halcyon638]

The middle-aged pilot rubbed his eyes with one hand. Monica spotted a pistol in the other. “You stay there,” he said. “I’m listening. I don’t know what I could possibly have to do with any crime.”

His voice wavered, whether from fear or deceit (or both), Monica wasn’t certain.

 

[siobhancan99]

"I'm quite sure you don't, sir." She said, calm and conversational. "You're the pilot that flew the Bellweather group down to Prospect City and back. They were there to kidnap a black man. Drugged him, pointed actual guns at his head. It was all very 1830s America. It was exactly the kind of thing that even Fox News or Breitbart would condemn. Now, I'm sure you had NO IDEA that they were there to do something like that. Maybe they told YOU that he was a dangerous fugitive and maybe they told YOU that the restraints we found on your plane and have pictures of are only used for good purposes and maybe they told YOU that the people they've done this to before were also dangerous fugitives and maybe they even showed you some kind of official looking paper." Monica was willing to give the guy an out, at least for now. Once the group went down the cops would likely not believe this bullshit, but if he had a ray of hope he'd probably seize it. "So I kind of need to know how many times they've done this before, where they take the people after you land and anything you can tell us about Baerca and Bellweather and where their institutions might be found. If you cooperate that would cement, for me, the notion that you've done nothing wrong and I wouldn't have to come back,. If, however, your information was less than helpful well. I'm quite sure one of the men already arrested down in Prospect City might have that information and you know... be willing to trade it."

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica saw the man grow increasingly concerned as she spoke. “Look…all I know is, they’re from Homeland Security. I didn’t ask a lot of questions. You’re—it’s just how you said. They said these people were dangerous criminals.”

He yawned and put the gun down on a shelf near the door, then opened it. “Bellwether…I guess they’re contracting with DHS now? I don’t know how it works, and I didn’t ask about it. I didn’t even know they were a thing until the latest job fell through and I was checking the news. That’s the first time I saw the name Baerga, too. I never interacted with him. It was all through this DHS agent. Brown.””

“What’s going on down there?” a woman’s voice said from a nearby stairwell.

“It’s fine. Go back upstairs,” the pilot said. After some more protesting and another exchange, she turned back.

“This was my 4th flight. There’s a place near here. Used to be a water treatment facility…that’s where they’re taking them.” He winced as if in pain. “Fuck. I shouldn’t have told you any of that.” There was real panic in his eyes. “You can’t tell anyone I told you. Please.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmmed as Brown could be fake, or unfortunately he could be real. Still, DHS could *probably* use cops, unless it was way way under cover off book whatever. She nodded "I won't tell anyone. If your information is good, you shouldn't have any reason to think about my existence again. If I get to that building and they're ready for me, and I make it out of there, I will think about you. So its in your best interest if they aren't." She moved away from the door, then gestured for Marcus for him to approach and she walked towards him as well. "there's a water treatment plant nearby. That's where they take people. If we're lucky, we might be able to rescue someone who can also then help. Either way, that's where we will get answers."

 

[Halcyon638]

They hopped back into the vehicle and sped away. “4 flights? Sounds like you might be right about them rounding up superhumans unless they’re just targeting blokes with huge cocks.”

He pulled onto the main highway as Monica programmed the address into her phone. “Speaking of superhumans…you said your mum gave you powers. So there’s more like you? Like, how many?” It was a short drive to the plant, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence and bore signs reading “KEEP OUT”.

There were a pair of late-model sedans parked near the place despite the clock reading 1:19 AM. The facility appeared dark from outside, though.

 

[siobhancan99]

"I'm an only child." She felt it was best to leave it at that. Explaining to yet another human that aliens were among them seemed ill advised, even if they were becoming friends "As far as I know. She left my dad and I when I was 12, so technically I guess at this point I might not be, but the kid would be just a kid even if she got with another guy right away. She doesn't have any living siblings so." all of that was technically correct (the best kind of correct) and she hoped she left the impression that there wasn't more to the story. "So like, knowing who else might be out there like me well. Who can say for sure right? So. big dick huh? Think that the US Army is investing in giant cock technology?" She teased him a little "I mean, maybe its big for a British dick but this is 'Murica. even my dick is 8 inches long."

"Interesting. Wonder if those are company cars, or if maybe there's like an underground facility. We should be careful and assume there's all the alarms ever."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Whoa. Save some surprises for our wedding night, sweetie,” Marcus laughed. “And please don’t make me convert your fake-ass measurements to meters. Swear to god, it'll give me a brain bleed.”

He looked the building over closely. “Dunno. If I had a week and got hooked up with a proper hacker, we could figure out a way in without alerting anyone. But I’m assuming if they’re running a kidnapping operation involving some expensive-as-shit mercs and multiple airfields, they’ve got to have this place monitored closely. So, I guess the real question is, do we try a smash-and-grab or do we come back and hope that pilot hasn’t alerted them to get the fuck out before we return?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"so let me get this straight, you're going to rag on me for using measurements invented in England, and not using measurements invented in France. Does the queen know of your treason?"

She looked over the place "if we leave and come back, it's gonna be a ghost town. We have a short window. Lets just go in hot I guess." She looked the place over "lets disable the vehicles, park yours somewhere they cant easily steal it and then go in. We don't want them making off with any other victims. IF they have to carry them, they'll leave them."

 

[Halcyon638]

Marcus nodded. “Sounds lovely.” After he re-parked the Toyota, he got out and looked over the sedans. “They’ll have to have some cams on the parking lot, so no need to get cute about it.” He summoned a ball of light. “I can burn through the tires unless you’ve got a quicker way in mind.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmmed "no. I'd flip them over and it'd be loud." She gestured "tires are good. go ahead and take them out." She moved away, giving him the space to do his thing and examined the building, looking for ways in and out and whether or not they'd have to cover multiple exits.

 

[Halcyon638]

While Marcus took care of the tires, Monica made her way around the treatment plant, maintaining a wide radius. In addition to the main entrance, there was a rear entrance and a loading dock near that.

“We could come in from both directions,” Marcus said, his tone questioning.

 

[siobhancan99]

"My ex girlfriend said the main rule is never split the party." She said, looking over the building. "If this were an action movie, halfway through the villain's monologue he'd bring you in from the back with a bag over your head. I hate the notion that some people might get out. if those cars were smaller i could stack them in front of the door but they're just a little too heavy for me to walk with." She shrugged "lets just go in the back and if it sets off an alarm it sets off an alarm."

She took her lockpick gun and headed for the back door, looking to open it and head on in to the building.

 

[Halcyon638]

Marcus assented. A few minutes later, they were inside.

The building itself was dark, prompting him to conjure up some more light. They made their way briskly through the building. They found offices that appeared to have been vacant for years, complete with large mold stains, and banks of computer equipment and machinery covered in dust. “Looks like someone’s not doing much water treating these days.”

A staircase led down to a reinforced steel door with a keypad entry system. “So, were you joking about the stacking cars thing?“

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica shook her head "I can lift 3,200 lbs over my head, so basically... like a camry? I can carry something smaller and lighter with difficulty, but i could roll a car. I could have rolled those two cars because you can use the wheels basically as fulcrums so you're not lifting the whole weight, Its like that Archimedes quote 'give me a long enough lever and I can move the world' sorta. but it would have made a lot of fucking noise." She looked around, noting the disrepair "its odd the cars are here and that pilot sent us here, I'll bet there's a basement or something."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Fuck. I don’t know whether to be terrified or turned on,” Marcus said, turning his attention to the staircase leading down to the metal door. “Think you can crack through that thing?”

Monica heard footsteps. Looking toward the front entrance of the place, she spotted a group of four dark-clad men sporting assault rifles and goggles, doing their best to stealthily make their way toward her and her companion. “Oh, fucking hell,” Marcus moaned.

 

[siobhancan99]

"A-aron" she said, in case there were mics "My number one rule is i don't try to kill anyone. my number 2 rule is I don't try not to kill anyone." She didn't want him hanging back because she was there. Four men with assault rifles meant to kill them, and she would not spare them. She slipped behind a piece of nearby equipment and unspooled her chain, ready to fuck up whoever got close enough.