No Capes

Participants:

raith_icon.gif ryans3_icon.gif

Scene Title No Capes
Synopsis No explosions, exchange of gunfire or even blood, only Ryans and Raith discussing the defense of Pollepel Island, superheros and capes.
Date November 05, 2010

Gun Hill: Ryans' Apartment


The mainland isn't exactly safe for people like Jensen Raith at this point in time. It probably won't be safe anytime soon, either. Doesn't matter: It's November. It's almost go time.

And it being almost go time means getting to know his new co-workers and, most importantly, making sure everyone is up to speed on information, up to speed on the plan. As much as it can be called a plan, at any rate. Slinking in off the street in a heavy long coat is easy enough, and the fact that the inside of Gun Hill is Ferryman-safe does a lot to put the ex-spy at ease. Home turf advantage.

The knock-knock on former Agent Ryans' door is enough to tell him that his 4 o'clock has arrived. And the appearance that Raith carries, with his long coat and round-lensed sunglasses is familiar enough, but the briefcase in his hand, which will almost certainly become apparent when Ryans answers the door, is nothing less than a promise of an evening of good old-fashioned espionage. Come out and play, Benji.

When the door opens there is weight to it, the hinges creaking, the old mans apartment having been built a certain way to make life hard for whoever is coming knocking on the eight. Half concealed by the door, Benjamin Ryans studies the other man with a barely noticeable amused look. "Jensen Raith." He uses the man's full name in greeting, stepping aside and opening the door a little wider to allow him entrance. "Glad you could find the time to meet." It doesn't exactly show, but it's normal for the old man, but he does mean it.

"I hope getting here wasn't too much an issues." It is asked out of politeness then anything else.

Inside the sparse apartment, it looks somewhat like someone has set up shop… a gun shop. The place smells of gun oil, as Ryans has been cleaning and inspecting all the firearms that Huruma gave him over a month ago. A handgun is currently being tucked back into the small of his back under the flannel shirt he's wearing. "Excuse the mess," Ryans rumbles out as he turns to move into the living room, after shutting the heavy door behind the other man.

"Mess?" Raith asks, giving a quick look around as he steps inside and closes the door behind him, "Brother, this is normal where I live." Momentarily, the briefcase is set on the ground, and Raith sets about removing his coat. Maybe it's a small wonder why. Underneath it is an armored vest reminiscent of old scale mail: Dragon Skin. An automatic pistol rests in a shoulder holster- a fully automatic Glock 18, in fact, if Ryans takes the time to look at it- that is itself part of a larger equipment harness bearing the weight of several spare Glock magazines, speed loaders with bullets large enough to take down a grizzly bear, and even a couple hand grenades. Strapped to the man's hip is the revolver those giant bullets belong to, accessorized with a reflex sight and silencer (which really wouldn't do more than prevent the weapon from deafening him every time he fired it), perfectly sized for a Terminator. Despite it all, there still something about Raith that doesn't make him a very good Boy Scout.

"I hear you've been to the island," the ex-spy says as he picks the briefcase up again, "So let's talk about how we're going to handle that. Got a table I can set up on?"

"Good to know." A corner of Ryans mouth tics up a little on one side, as he moves past Raith towards one of the card tables. His head does crane a little as he looks over what Raith is packing, obvious appreciation. "You look like your packing for Horizon Armor." There is a hint of amusement in that.

On the table is plans of Gun Hill itself, those are picked up and rolled into a long tube, pausing long enough to motion at the card table to let Raith know that he can set up there.

"I have been out to the island, nice place. It'll do nicely as long as it stays under the radar. I was surprised to be given the honor of seeing it, as well as being asked to defend it. Concidering who I was." It's noted blandly, the plans rustling in his hands as he makes quick work to roll them. "Either way, Ruskin mentioned you having plans for it, I'm interested to hear about them."

"Mostly, they're her plans-" With a heft, Raith rests the briefcase next to the plans for Gun Hill, although not on top of them- "Generally, at least." Turning the case down flat, Raith turns the dials on it to enter a combination- a different one for each lock- and then, perhaps perplexingly, withdraws a piece of filed steel from his pocket, inserting it into a small hole on the proper bottom of the case, turning and pulling it slightly before actually opening it. The reason for this is readily obvious: Besides papers, there is what looks to be an explosive or incendiary of some sort as well. "Every precaution necessary, you know? Thermite." Incendiary.

Once the contents of the case are shown, both brows tic up with surprise, "Nice." Ryans seems to relax a bit, allowing the amusement his feeling to show on his features. "Prepared for any possibility," he comments, liking this man's style. "Good.

"So her plans?" Benjamin studies the other man and then give a firm nod, "She seems much older then a young girl her age should, so I guess it is no surprise." Pressing hands on the table, he leans on them, head tilting a bit to peek at the contents of the case. "She's looks roughly the age of my own girls, yet they seem like kids compared to her."

"She's had a rough life," is all Raith offers. For a few seconds, he shuffles through the papers, and finally brings out a small stack of CDs in thin jewel cases. Before he continues, Raith has one question to ask of Ryans. "You familiar with the concept of a numbers broadcast?"

There is a thoughtful moment as Ryans skims over what he knows and remember, finally he settles on, "Vaguely, yes. It's been over 30 years, since I've heard that term, but I did remember the concept." Straightening, arms are folded over his head, lips pressing into a fine lime before he says, "Eileen mentioned the possibility of using ham radio, that have something to do with it?" he asks curiously.

"We need a way to communicate without giving away what we're doing," Raith says after giving a nod. For the time being, the CDs go down onto the table. "Telling people to get to the island won't be a problem with these. And all that leaves is what I'm here to seriously discuss with you, and that is how we get people there, and how we defend them once they get there. You can see how, being an island, this could pose something of a problem, I think."

"Very much so," Ryans agrees grimly, head moving slowly up and down in a nod. "We'll be sitting ducks once we are all there, with out even the advantage of higher ground." Which at least the people of Masada had that in their favor.

"While there is not much we can easily do for air assaults, at least there are subtle ways to keep them at bay in the water if we play right." Benjamin's chin tucks in a little as he continues, "We can at least keep their ability to surprise us difficult, beyond a bunker buster on their end."

"With how old that construction is, even with the restoration, it won't take a bunker buster. Some mortars will do the trick." And mortars are much, much easier to move around. "Our best bet is to make sure they don't know we're there." And to this end, Raith shuffles through the contents of the briefcase once again, this time bringing out a map with red pen marks- arrows, circles, and Xs- written al over it. "It's remote, so that helps. Unless they're going to use a satellite to sweep the area for heat signatures, we should be fine as long as we keep activity low-key. Where we need to be careful is here." A finger tap on a red circle, at the shore due west of the old castle. "At this point," the ex-spy continues, "The shore is only three hundred meters from the island. THey could take us out with grenade launchers, snipers, tanks, basically anything they can field at this location, they can use against us. If they figure out we're there, they won't even bother calling an air strike. Common sense will tell them that we'll be trapped."

"Right." Leaning over the map, Ryans eyes follow where Raith points nodding a little. "So keep most civilian movement to the west of the island, but still minimal? Put some folks at points on the east side, to keep a look out for suspicious activity?" Glancing at the other man, a brow arches in question."With the fall and winter coming on, it's going to thin out the cover there, cause more problems if not careful.

"Eileen mentioned movement at night, but even flashlights in that type of remote area, could be noticed I would think, unless you maybe used colored gels." Reds and greens would be good for that, to must the light. Ryans turns his attention back to the map, fingers tapping thoughtfully. "Which is a possibly, they tend to come standard anymore with the military flashlights."

"We can organize scout patrols along Breakneck Road-" The single road along the Hudson's eastern shore- "And situate a plant in Cornwall-on-Hudson to watch for government traffic and aircraft. Like I said, unless they sweep with a satellite, they probably won't notice anything. Additionally, Eileen made certain that the island was purchased by a private company not obviously connected with us, with all the paperwork through that company. Anyone checking records will see a public restoration project going on there, which gives us some cover. I mean, surely the workers would file a report if a bunch of strangers were suddenly living on the island, right?" As he says this, Raith looks to Ryans with a slight smirk. "Anyone looking over there during the day would be expecting to see movement, too, so as long as we're careful, we can keep our logistics going, sneak people out in small numbers after the heat dies down a bit." This still leaves two Xs and two arrows that haven't had their meaning specified.

The small details missed in the trip to the island, have the old agent looking to Raith with interest. "She didn't mention how the island was acquired." It's a small relief, punctuated with a small sigh. "A little less stress on that front then." Hands move to tuck into the pockets of Ryans' jeans, though one is removed again after a moment, so that he can point to those spots that have not been mentioned yet, "What of these?" he asks curious for the details.

"This-" Raith's finger taps the arrow pointing at Pollepel Island itself- "Is the island's dock. Where the government would set up on the Hudson's eastern shore, that dock isn't visible, so as long as there weren't any helicopters in the air, we could evac again to a fallback point-" The finger traces a path from the island to the west, stopping on the shore just north of Cornwall-on-Hudson- "Here. Woodland area, no one living there, as perfect as we could hope for.

"The Xs you see are potential strike zones. If we think they're onto us, we can station a couple squads, teams-" They aren't a military, Raith sometimes forgets- "In the trees here, east of the government siege zone, have them advance and attack with sniper and machine gun fire and grenades, buy us a little time. Or, if we can get ahold of a mortar of our own, we can emplace it here-" A bit east of Cornwall-on-Hudson- "And attack with it. It's only a mile and some change to the siege zone, well within shelling distance. Confuse the soldiers, buy us more time."

Which begs the question, "Just how many people are there within the Ferry that have some sort of training?" Ryans shifts his stances a bit, turning towards Raith more. "From what I can tell, the network isn't much of an offensive sort… or even violent if they can help it. I have very few of my team left, none of them evolved in any sort, but that doesn't mean they can't fight." A corner of his mouth turns up, he has confidence in the Agents that have stuck with him.

"I can even bring in Huruma to assist, she's been one of my main supporters and back up since I started taking on the Institute. She seems loyal to me, from what I've seen." Head nodding to the map, Benjamin adds, "I also understand if you want to keep her away from that, but if we need the numbers…" he trails off, looking up at Raith again.

"If Huruma is who I think she is, then we've worked together before." That's good, at least. "As for the violence," Raith continues, "There's a reason my division is called 'Special Activities.' Counting me, there's a couple of us with military training, one more I could bring up to speed in short order, and possibly one more I can bring in from outside. Outside of that, we can only train riflemen and grenadiers, on top of the Evolved we have that can explode things." A sigh.

"Honestly, our best bet is to hope that we won't need to fallback to here, and if we do, best bet is to stay hidden. So, what I really want to hear from you is, 'Don't worry, I have someone who can take care of that.' Any chance of that happening?"

Eyes linger on the map for a few moments, but for he glances up at Raith."I wish I could say that." He states honestly, sighing heavily. "With the fall of the Company and loosing all my resources there. Not to mention it seems more and more that we lost Rebel up there in the shuttle." That fact has caused the old man some heart ache, since the techopath had been such an integral part of Ryan's success in the past.

"All I have to offer beyond myself, is a few combat trained non-evolved ex-field agents and an empath, along with a promise to do my damnedest to protect the network." A hand sweeps out to motions to the islands map.

"Eileen mentioned recommending me for Special Activities." A small smile tilts up the corner of his mouth into a faint, if crooked, smile. "So either way I am in this for the long haul."

"A retired Company man with combat and intelligence training?" Raith asks, regarding Ryans for a moment. Part of it, however, is theater, made obvious when he mimics that small smile. "Sir, you are exactly the kind of man we look for. Especially since you've got prior training." But, as for the island, that seems to be all for the moment: Raith returns the map to his briefcase and follows it with the CDs. "You'll get your own copies as soon as I can get them over," the ex-spy adds, "Along with the frequency we're going to use. You should be able to receive it on any AM radio, so when you get the info, make sure you have a radio nearby at all times. Make sure Lynette has a radio too, you get the idea. You need any help with this-" A gesture to the assortment of firearms- "You let me know. This is part of what Spec Act does."

"Don't let the looks fool you," Ryans states with a deep chuckle. "I spent a lot of years in Vietnam from the time I was sixteen. Navy mainly, S.E.A.L teams… Plus thirty years within the Company as a field agent. This is what my life has been about and probably how my life will end."

That said, Ben then turns much more serious, any amusement bleeding out of his features. "I'll make sure Lynette gets a radio, as well as at least one of my agents that is sticking here, while I help you all."

He glances towards the spare bedroom and the bunker beyond, as a thought occurs to him. "Does the Ferrymen have access to the helicopter? I've hit a snag as to how to get these people out. I have little faith in the bunker that was put in, but even if it does work, getting them out unnoticed will be rough for them. One of my agents asked about extraction from the roof." A brow arches, but Ryans is showing doubt that there will be anything like that in the networks arsenal.

Ryans turns serious, and after his question, so does Raith, who doesn't say anything immediately. Rather, he looks as though, even as he regards Ryans, he is very, very seriously and deliberately considering this possibility. "It depends," the ex-spy finally decides, "Same as most people a few months back, I saw the future. And the future I saw was being shot down in my own helicopter. I'm not keen on seeing that play out." Is that a no?

"We'll have her in the air, make no mistake, just in case, but I would strongly suggest you work out another way to get everyone out. No armor and no countermeasures. Won't take much to knock her out of the sky."

"Good to know and I'll pass it along," though Ryans sounds surprised there is a helicopter, though somewhat grim at the same time, know the other man's future. "I saw the future as well… but from what I could tell, at that time I knew who you all were, but not in this way. I called it 'Bennet's people'.

"But I seemed to have been shot multiple times, dying I believe, protecting my youngest, Delia." If Raith is sharing his, Ryans might as well offer up his, "Huruma was there, too."

There is a spread of his hands in a helpless gesture and a shrugs on his shoulders, "Delia has up and left Gun Hill without telling me where she is going, but she also had mentioned moving to the island and staying there til the 8th… So my future is up in the air at this point." Ryans sounds uncertain of that at least, but not in the least bit afraid of what is to happen to him.

A half-shrug is Raith's answer. "It could be worse," he replies, once again using the shaped metal to manipulate the incendiary in the briefcase before closing and latching it. "We're don't know what we're actually dealing with, we're unprepared for what we think we're dealing with, and it's looking like a bunch of us are going to die, but it could be worse."

Pointing a finger very sternly at Ryans, the ex-spy concludes that things could be worse because, "You could be Aquaman."

"Thank god, for small miracles that I'm not. I believe I would have to put a bullet in my own head." Ryans' face is completely devoid of emotions of that. "For one, I wouldn't look good in orange and green spandex. And two, I was more a of Batman fan as a kid, til I joined up." Then the comics were set aside along with most of his childhood.

A smile inches up on Benjamin's features, somewhat smug, "Batman will always stand as an example that you don't have to have super power to be a bad ass."

"I was more a Captain America fan, myself," Raith replies, "Lately, I hear he's leading a resistance movement against the government. Food for thought." America versus America. Interesting. Raith, however, is preoccupied with pulling his coat back on and not with pondering the deeper meaning of this. "But you like Batman? Good, run with it. Use intellect to overcome your enemies. And wear a cape."

"I'll run with all, but the cape. I've got my old duster, it's perfect for carrying for bear or Institute scum," so to speak. Ryans moves to follow Raith, so that he can open the weighty door and see the man out. "Girls made me sit down and watch a movie called 'The Incredibles' once." Resting an arm up on the edge of the door, he states matter of factly, "they did have a point about those capes.

"Anyhow, take care, Raith. Thanks for taking the time to get me up to speed." Slowly inclining his head in a show of respect he adds, "And I'll be seeing you when all hell breaks loose — maybe."

"For everyone's sake," Raith says, opening the door and stepping across the threshold. Seriously, he turns around to face Ryans and adjusts his sunglasses. "You'd better hope that you don't."


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