2014-02-07 - Shadow Games: How Not to Stealth

The Whaler's Club, a gentlemen's social club in the heart of Bludhaven's business district. The three story heritage building is all glass, dark wood and polished brass. There would have been a door man and valets standing outside the doors if it weren't for the sudden cockroach infestation that had nothing at all to do with Batwing and Nightwing's earlier visit with a few cages of the little pests that they set loose in the building.

Now a week later with a little help from Oracle, Nightwing and his padawan are back at the club, this time in a fumigation van. The same name on the side as real fumigation company dealing with things, and an appointment for 'pre-spray' with building security, which will give them the building for a couple of hours.

Out in the van Damian sits in the back of the truck in coveralls with a Gotham Knight's hat pulled on backwards and a gas-mask sitting on the top of his head. He's crouched over Dick's toolbox, carefully putting the tiny but powerful cameras and listening devices into the hidden compartments. "We're all set," he says to Dick up in the driver's seat as he closes the lid and latches it. "Sure you don't want me to come in with you right away?" Dick is also in the van, dressed in similar coveralls and gas mask. He is making sure that his own equipment is ready to go, "Once I get things going, you can come in. I'll be setting up the actual fumigation equipment for the first bit, if you could find a way to neutralize their electronic surveillance, perhaps setting up a loop repeating back to them no activity in a room until we actually are there doing the actual 'work'." He rubs his chin, "Shouldn't take too long, just can't justify having a kid working with deadly chemicals."

"Sure, I can handle their surveillance, they use a Daggett 262, which is a bit out of date shouldn't be a problem," he reports before he hands over the tool kit. "And fine I'll get this sorted out, when the guards are gone and the security's down I'll come in, not before." "Sounds good. Once we are in this should be pretty easy, it's routine bugging. But we will need to be quick, the more time we spend here, the more questions will get asked." He accepts the tool kit and exits out of the back of the truck and makes his way to the door.

Damian nods and when Dick heads for the back of the van he taps his ear. "I'll be on comms," he says before he digs into his duffle bag and pulls out his laptop getting to work on the security remotely while Dick crosses to the doors of the club.

They're opened by a couple of security guys, who are already tugging on their winter coats. "Hey," one of them greets. "You must be the guy from Alliance Fumigation that's got us a few hours off tonight," he says with a ready grin and nods towards the security desk. "We just need to see your ID and get you to sign in and we'll be all set." Dick grins and chuckles. Speaking to the guard, he dons a Bludhaven accent and says, "Eh, I get paid, you guys get time off. It's a win-win. Let me get this stuff filled out and we can get to winning." Walking over to the desk, he pulls out a fake so good that it is actually real, just leading to a fake person, Freddy Loyd. As the guard handles the ID, Dick fills out the appropriate name on the sign-in sheet and says, "All right, need anything else?"

The guard takes a look at the ID. It's a careful inspection, despite the fact the guy's got one foot out of the door. "Yeah, works out great doesn't it?" he says as he finishes writing down the details and then handing it back. "Just sign here," he says before he leans on the desk and says "When you're done, just call the number taped on the phone, our boss will come by and lock up the place for you," he nods to the handset in question. "Otherwise, make your money with our thanks." Dick continues grinning, "All right," taking the phone and sticking it in his pocket. "You all have a great evening!" With that, Dick waits for them to depart before heading into the first available room, opening up his toolkit and setting up the legitimate part of the fumigation job.

Damian is a good way into the security system when he looks up to see the security guys leaving. He ducks down in the passenger seat of the van until their gone before he pops back up and says over comms. < Security is gone. Just about into their security system to fix the cameras and sensors, give me about fifteen more minutes >  Dick says back over comm.  He walks around the building, making sure that all the windows are closed and sealed, as well as looking out for any ideal spots for mini microphones. Dick is actually pretty quick about it, not wanting to waste time, but not so quick that he doesn't do his due diligence.

Damian keeps working at the security system and as expected the weaknesses that Selina had taught him about this particular system-- wait a minute -- have already been exploited. < Someone's in their system right now. Shutting it down. I think we're about to have visitors >  Dick says. Fortunately his tool kit contained his usual work tools, collaspable eskrima stick and wingdings.  Knowing their luck, this would not be the case. Nothing ever goes according to plan... ever.

< I can blow the power box for the building > Damian reports even as he shuts down the computer and heads to the back of the van with his bag thrown over his shoulder. < That will take out everything that's not on battery back up >  Dick says bluntly,  He rummages in the toolkit for the goggles, and open finding them, waits for the power to go out, and then he puts them on, flicking the switch to activate.

< On it > Damian reports as he moves quickly to the power box and drawing a batarang from inside the bag quickly severs the power connection, then throws a second to knock the first one free of the cable. The weapons are somewhat distinctive after all.

Inside the building the power dies and darkness covers everything except where the light from outside spills through the windows.

Grabbing up his weapons Damian runs down the alley beside the building and comes to a sudden stop. There's a group of four men paused by the service door with a pry bar. < Four unknowns at main floor east side service entrance. Not making a move to enter, yet > < I thought this was an invite-only club> Dick says, closing the curtains in his current room. Taking up his eskrima sticks and hiding and locking the toolchest, Dick makes his way towards the door, speaking into the comm  Upon getting near the service entrance, he stands out of direct sight of the door, but squats down and waits for them to try and break in.

Damian goes into his bag for his goggles and slips them over his eyes and wraps a bandana over his mouth to help hide his identity, then he peaks around the corner. < Seem like they're lowering their standards > he quips. < These four look like street trash not social climbers > He gets down to business then. < One has prybar, and it looks like they're all carrying pistols under their jackets >

There is a beep from a phone and one of the thugs flips it open. "Uh-huh, yeah? Okay, we're going In," then he closes the phone and sticks it in his pocket. "He says we go in, so pry that door."

The thug with the pry bar sets it in the door frame and starts leaning into it with all his weight. The sound of the door giving way echoes inside the club.  The sarcasm drips from every word. Dick sneaks forward a little, sticks up in a defensive position.  He stalks them, hoping his boots do not make too much noise as Dick tries to get close enough without attracting their attention.

Damian reaches into his bag once again this time pulling out a pair of collapsible eskrima sticks that click open quietly. They were newer weapons for him, but Dick had been right the fundamentals were close to swordplay and with the added bonus that they had a 360 degree striking surface. < On it. They're coming now >

The door gives way and the thugs pile inside a couple of them reaching for their guns. "Turn on the lights," the guy with the phone says. They try but nothing happens.

"Power's out," one of the thugs with a gun reports.

The frown can be heard in Phone-Thug's voice "Let's just clean out this place like he told us to and get going."

So far none of them have seen Dick, but one of them, pistol clutched in his hand is moving blindly in the direction of his hiding place. Well crap. Dick knows he can not move too far without gaining the burgler's attention, but odds are the guy is going to find him, may as well take the initiative. From his crouched position, the former Robin springs towards the burgler, much quieter than charging. As soon as the man is in striking range, Dick tries to bring down his sticks on the man's head, hoping to stun and/or knock him out.

The burglar sees a shadow move in the darkness and then the sticks thwap him hard in the head and he staggers back firing off a shot wildly. The others turn that way just as the man staggers into them. "What the hell?"

"Crap is it Nightwing?"

"Fire you idiots!" roars phone guy before he jolts forward falling to the floor with a pair of boots slammed into the back of his head. Damian lands feet spread over the back of the guy's head, eskrima sticks held in an aggressive stance. The remaining thugs turn one aiming at Dick, one at Damian, both ready to pull the trigger. Rolling to his feet as he hits the ground, Dick scowls as the shot goes off. That may as well start a timer for police intervention. He grins as Damian joins the party, but has no time to celebrateas there is still another guy with a gun pointed at him. Having superior vision in the less-than-ideal lighting, Dick charges, making contact before the man can get a shot off at him, the sticks striking the shooting wrist, the gun falling to the ground. The second stick smacks the man's knee, bringing him down. Dick frowns as the third blow knocks out the individual.

Damian uses his small stature to his advantage and rolls under the gun arm as it swings towards where he was. "Huh?" is all the man has time for before Damian's stick breaks his wrist and he lays a couple more blows into his opponent to knock him out cold. He shoots a look over at Dick, while most of his face is covered, he's clearly pleased with their performance. "That was easy," he says. "What's the plan?" Dick is not pleased, he is not angry at Damian, he just does not like having to do this. "Not much we can do, if that shot was heard we only have a few minutes before police get here. And I know full well that I will not be able to pass off my alias to them. So this plan looks like it is shot. Does their security system have cameras and audio surveillance?"

Damian 'tts' angrily under his bandana. "We're giving up?" he asks looking up at Dick. "They've only got video, let me at least try planting a couple of bugs, I'm fast and quiet, and I can be out of here before your colleagues get here." "I'll help," Dick says with a nod, "Worse comes to worst we escape on foot." He gestures for Damian to follow him, and recovers and opens the toolkit, "Let's hurry."

Damian nods and runs for the main part of the club. There were four dining rooms, a lounge, a billiard room, a gym and changing room, a bar, the rich of Bludhaven really knew how to live. "Where do we want them?" he asks. Dick thinks for a moment, "Lounge, billiards room, and bar, business is probably not conducted at a dining table." He looks down at his watch, his gloved hand pulling back his sleeve, "We don't have too long."

There's a nod from Damian. "I can take the longue and billiards room," he says as he grabs the tool kit and gets out a couple of bugs to use and waits for confirmation on what rooms would be his responsibility. "Sonds good," Dick says as he begins placing bugs about the room, specifically near places that would be ideal for personal conversations, anywhere with a couple of chairs, or a corner. With some effort he is able to disguise them pretty well, though not impossible to find, such technology is beyond even the Bat clan.

Damian does an equally swift job, placing his bugs by the more private seating areas in the lounge and near the tables in the billiards room before he heads back to join Dick in the main lobby. There is the sound of sirens in the distance and from the way they came in there's the sound of the thugs' cellphone ringing. "Sounds like this party is over," Dick says, though the ringing stops him from speaking further, "Best take that with us, it's probably a burner unless these guys are boneheads, which I don't think their boss is." Dick says, leaving the phone left with them by security, dropping it where he last had the fumigation equipment set up, making it look like he ran away when the guys broke in.

Damian nods "Sounds good," he says and bolts in the direction of the phone when it stops ringing. He's only a few feet from the thugs when suddenly there's a suddenly an echoing bang from that direction. Dick is not far behind Damian when the bang goes off, and soon an eskrima stick is in his previously empty hand, the other holding the toolkit, "What was that?" His voice is barely audible.

Damian blinks. "Their heads just blew off," he says quietly. Which is true, all four thugs were dead and headless on the floor with their heads, or at least most of them blasted neatly off their necks. Acrid smoke rises from their scorched necks The boy recovers and scoops up the phone despite the blood on it, and moves over the bodies for the door. "We should go." "Yep, we better get going, I'll be sure to monitor this case at work," Dick says grimly and follows Damian towards the door, "Make you run like heck to the van, need to be convincing that we are too scared to stick around." As he gets out the door, Dick practices what he preaches and makes a bee-line for the van.

Damian doesn't need to be told twice, he makes a flat out run for the van and jumps in half-second after Dick and closes the door behind him. Once they're on the way, he puts the phone in a plastic bag, very calmly for all he's just seen. "That was the Crimesmith," he says as he moves to the front. "Same sort of devices as what he used to kill that family." He had been there to see that too, though after the fact. There were pictures on the Batcomputer to prove it. He moves into his seat and sits quietly. Dick hops into the driver's seat and doesn't even bother to buckle up. As soon as the both of them are in the car he has them soaring back to where they had previously planned on dumping the van. "Makes sense, I really don't like the idea of having Crimesmith stepping all over our plans. The fact that they hit while the guards were gone means they probably knew that security would be gone."

"Nor do I," Damian says. "Do you think he was watching us or just the club?" he wonders out loud. He pulls down the bandana covering his mouth. He's wearing a tight, worried frown. "Assume both until we know otherwise. The fact that both of Crimesmith's actions involved locations I was at should be noted, though whether or not he knows /who/ I am is important. Crimesmith could also be targeting city leadership, as there were a lot of bigwigs at that fundraiser. I am curious what their plan was for the club."

"Possible," Damian admits crossing his arms. "That he is targeting the city big-wigs, but we won't know much unless he sent instructions by text to his minions," he says and doesn't sound too hopeful about that. "However I'll keep my eyes open for anyone who might be watching us," he says as he looks out the widow at the city passing by. "If you can disable the GPS on that phone, it would be ideal, I'd rather not be tracked," Dick says as he continues driving, "The phone could hold some valuable info, but probably not enough. Pick up enough pieces and maybe we can get an idea of the puzzle's final form."

Damian nods and goes into back and get the phone. He turns off the GPS and checks for text messages. There's none. "We're working with very small pieces," he says as he turns off the phone and pulls out the battery before he puts it in the bag again. He moves back to the front. "Any idea on how to find some bigger ones?" Dick shrugs as he drives, "Probably indirectly, the more we connect the dots with how Bludhaven is /really/ run, the better we might be able to understand this new Crimesmith. If the vendetta was aimed at us, we would be framed for /something/ whereas this just seems to be aimed at the leadership."

Damian nods and seems to process that. "True, I suppose they would have gone after Nightwing first, since you're this city's Batman," he reasons before he glances over at Dick. "So, then we watch the power players in the city and they tip us off to why this guy might have a grudge?" "Yep, it fits with our own agenda anyway, just means looking at more info," Dick nods, "I am very curious to know why the grudge is aimed at them, but if this city is as dirty as I think it is, then there is probably a reason."

"True, we need more information, but if the city's reputation is even partially accurate it is as dirty as you think," Damian says glancing over again. He lifts his goggles and rubs his eyes. "But I suppose that is why we are here, the challenge is in re-shaping the city to our will."

"Yep," Dick says, "we have a lot of work ahead of us, but it can be done. If it was impossible I would have quit a long time ago." He sighs and drives a little more, "It can be fixed, it can be fixed."