FWTM: Infiltration
Apr. 25th, 2010 01:21 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThe second X-Force team also makes their way inside, a little more forcefully than the first.
The guards were professionals, clustered around the entrance gatehouse to the common grounds of the South Block of the Secretariat Building. Their briefing had been clear; Neramani had arrested his sister, but had done so through just his staff, not involving the official mechanisms of law enforcement available to him yet. That meant Lilandra Neramani had to be held somewhere close to the Prime Minister's office. Their sources had identified the most likely place; the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had a secure room that dated back to colonial days, used at that point to secure sensitive dispatches. For all purposes, it was a cell disguised as a small waiting room. That was their target, however, that meant getting inside. LeBeau had promised a distraction, and his second team was tasked with killing the electronic security on that side to allow them to penetrate the building. But it still meant getting past a quartet of heavily armed, military trained guards without waking up the surrounding buildings with a firefight.
It was only paranoia and a well-honed fear of something going horribly wrong at the last second that had Marie-Ange patting herself down to make sure that her cards were all in the places she'd put them, that the pair of knives were still inside her jacket, taped in place with duct tape, and that Bishop and Vanessa were still close by.
They'd agreed to come in separately, stagger the timing slightly and send Vanessa in first, as she was the least likely to be noticed, being male, dark-haired and dark-skinned and walking in the body of a soldier who was hopefully still sleeping off his hangover 100 kilos away.
Vanessa's stride in the foreign body was confident and sure of itself. The movements were measured and precise. Thom had always moved like military. The man had been in the special forces in the UK and it was his mannerisms that helped inform her movements. There hadn't been enough time to study the way her target moved and now she had to hope that no one would spot her for the impostor she was.
Joe Average security strode up to the men at the gatehouse like he belonged there. Now Vanessa just needed to make sure they believed he belonged, too.
Two of the guards only looked disinterestedly at her, continuing their conversation. The other two on station were keener, stopping her as she approached and questioning her for her information. The Indians had lost more than enough high officials to assassination to have learned caution, and with the ethnic tensions between the different groups that vied for power, it had been hammered into them that it was never truly safe.
The first questions in Hindi had just been asked when a crash echoed around the grounds, and a gout of smoke and flame shot up from the other side of the building. What the guards didn't know was that this was Gambit's distraction arriving.
Bishop was fully aware how security responded to an event and also how tunnel vision prevented proper alertness. He stood against the wall past the first corner on the closest side. He had taken it upon himself, while in law enforcement, to read books about both tactics and war. One of many things he had learned from old Roman stories was that if the trailing person in a group disappeared, there was a large time frame before the others noticed. All he had to do was wait for the group to respond and he could grab the slowest with relative ease.
The explosion gave Marie-Ange the chance to dart out of her cover and between two parked cars bearing the nondescript dark colors and tinted windows of government vehicles. She adjusted the headscarf she'd used to hide her altogether too noticeable hair and ducked down into the shadows, pausing there only long enough to be sure she hadn't been seen. No shots rang out, none in her direction anyway, and she saw no one besides their targets, and she continued on, signaling Bishop with a gesture.
While the two men who hadn't seemed to take note of Vanessa in her borrowed body much darted off toward the explosion moments after staring at the smoke and fire in surprise. The two who had been questioning their "colleague," however, gave him a scrutinizing look.
The problem for Vanessa was that as Xavier's man on the job she was limited by the damage she could do. She'd given her word that she wouldn't kill anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. Maiming, though, was an entirely different sandbox in the former mercenary's mind and one she was more than willing to play in. When one of the two looked in the direction of the tower of smoke Vanessa took the chance to aim a well placed kick to the inside knee of the other man. He went down with a sick crunching sound which brought the other guard's attention back to her. The other two men were out of earshot so at least they wouldn't be running to anyone's aid in front of her.
True to plan, Bishop snagged the last guard to run by in response to the explosion. An elbow to the back of the head was enough to knock the man out for a moment. It was all Bishop needed to cuff the man and secure him in the dark corner so that when he awoke he couldn't give them away. It was time to move on to the rest of the soldiers.
The other of the guards wasn't nearly as lucky. Marie-Ange hadn't planned to seriously injure him, but she'd been mistaken when she thought he would try to run ahead for help. Instead he turned, as if to flee. If he fled, he would have seen Bishop's target, or Bishop himself, and possibly shouted a warning, or radioed for backup.
The blow to the man's knee with a hastily imaged iron stick destroyed his kneecap, and the stick. Marie-Ange taped over the man's mouth, before pulling him behind the cars she'd used as cover. He wouldn't be going anywhere, even if he managed to get the tape off his bound wrists and ankles. He might be not walking anytime soon - even under his uniform pants she could see the knee swelling.
The other guard standing in front of Vanessa had taken one look at the guard on the floor and reached for Vanessa in her borrowed body. He went for her shoulder so she hooked her arm around his and quickly broke the elbow. The injury distracted him long enough that a well-aimed kick to his shin brought him down to his knees. The leg would recover but she wasn't sure about the elbow. She took the time lift the weapons off the guards lest they get any brilliant ideas before she could get them properly stowed away.
Hooking around the corner, Bishop moved into position to back up Morgan. He helped her stash the other guards before moving into position to cover her entrance. He tried to be understanding of her new found desire to play nice but he anticipated things were just about to get messy. Once in position, he signaled Marie-Ange to move up and Morgan to move in.
With a small nod from Joe Average, Vanessa's borrowed eyes darted around and she continued toward their agreed upon meeting place with the rest of the team. She had to say, though, that Neramani could have made it harder for them to get in than he had. Poor planning on the side of the mad, aspiring dictator.
The guards were professionals, clustered around the entrance gatehouse to the common grounds of the South Block of the Secretariat Building. Their briefing had been clear; Neramani had arrested his sister, but had done so through just his staff, not involving the official mechanisms of law enforcement available to him yet. That meant Lilandra Neramani had to be held somewhere close to the Prime Minister's office. Their sources had identified the most likely place; the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had a secure room that dated back to colonial days, used at that point to secure sensitive dispatches. For all purposes, it was a cell disguised as a small waiting room. That was their target, however, that meant getting inside. LeBeau had promised a distraction, and his second team was tasked with killing the electronic security on that side to allow them to penetrate the building. But it still meant getting past a quartet of heavily armed, military trained guards without waking up the surrounding buildings with a firefight.
It was only paranoia and a well-honed fear of something going horribly wrong at the last second that had Marie-Ange patting herself down to make sure that her cards were all in the places she'd put them, that the pair of knives were still inside her jacket, taped in place with duct tape, and that Bishop and Vanessa were still close by.
They'd agreed to come in separately, stagger the timing slightly and send Vanessa in first, as she was the least likely to be noticed, being male, dark-haired and dark-skinned and walking in the body of a soldier who was hopefully still sleeping off his hangover 100 kilos away.
Vanessa's stride in the foreign body was confident and sure of itself. The movements were measured and precise. Thom had always moved like military. The man had been in the special forces in the UK and it was his mannerisms that helped inform her movements. There hadn't been enough time to study the way her target moved and now she had to hope that no one would spot her for the impostor she was.
Joe Average security strode up to the men at the gatehouse like he belonged there. Now Vanessa just needed to make sure they believed he belonged, too.
Two of the guards only looked disinterestedly at her, continuing their conversation. The other two on station were keener, stopping her as she approached and questioning her for her information. The Indians had lost more than enough high officials to assassination to have learned caution, and with the ethnic tensions between the different groups that vied for power, it had been hammered into them that it was never truly safe.
The first questions in Hindi had just been asked when a crash echoed around the grounds, and a gout of smoke and flame shot up from the other side of the building. What the guards didn't know was that this was Gambit's distraction arriving.
Bishop was fully aware how security responded to an event and also how tunnel vision prevented proper alertness. He stood against the wall past the first corner on the closest side. He had taken it upon himself, while in law enforcement, to read books about both tactics and war. One of many things he had learned from old Roman stories was that if the trailing person in a group disappeared, there was a large time frame before the others noticed. All he had to do was wait for the group to respond and he could grab the slowest with relative ease.
The explosion gave Marie-Ange the chance to dart out of her cover and between two parked cars bearing the nondescript dark colors and tinted windows of government vehicles. She adjusted the headscarf she'd used to hide her altogether too noticeable hair and ducked down into the shadows, pausing there only long enough to be sure she hadn't been seen. No shots rang out, none in her direction anyway, and she saw no one besides their targets, and she continued on, signaling Bishop with a gesture.
While the two men who hadn't seemed to take note of Vanessa in her borrowed body much darted off toward the explosion moments after staring at the smoke and fire in surprise. The two who had been questioning their "colleague," however, gave him a scrutinizing look.
The problem for Vanessa was that as Xavier's man on the job she was limited by the damage she could do. She'd given her word that she wouldn't kill anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. Maiming, though, was an entirely different sandbox in the former mercenary's mind and one she was more than willing to play in. When one of the two looked in the direction of the tower of smoke Vanessa took the chance to aim a well placed kick to the inside knee of the other man. He went down with a sick crunching sound which brought the other guard's attention back to her. The other two men were out of earshot so at least they wouldn't be running to anyone's aid in front of her.
True to plan, Bishop snagged the last guard to run by in response to the explosion. An elbow to the back of the head was enough to knock the man out for a moment. It was all Bishop needed to cuff the man and secure him in the dark corner so that when he awoke he couldn't give them away. It was time to move on to the rest of the soldiers.
The other of the guards wasn't nearly as lucky. Marie-Ange hadn't planned to seriously injure him, but she'd been mistaken when she thought he would try to run ahead for help. Instead he turned, as if to flee. If he fled, he would have seen Bishop's target, or Bishop himself, and possibly shouted a warning, or radioed for backup.
The blow to the man's knee with a hastily imaged iron stick destroyed his kneecap, and the stick. Marie-Ange taped over the man's mouth, before pulling him behind the cars she'd used as cover. He wouldn't be going anywhere, even if he managed to get the tape off his bound wrists and ankles. He might be not walking anytime soon - even under his uniform pants she could see the knee swelling.
The other guard standing in front of Vanessa had taken one look at the guard on the floor and reached for Vanessa in her borrowed body. He went for her shoulder so she hooked her arm around his and quickly broke the elbow. The injury distracted him long enough that a well-aimed kick to his shin brought him down to his knees. The leg would recover but she wasn't sure about the elbow. She took the time lift the weapons off the guards lest they get any brilliant ideas before she could get them properly stowed away.
Hooking around the corner, Bishop moved into position to back up Morgan. He helped her stash the other guards before moving into position to cover her entrance. He tried to be understanding of her new found desire to play nice but he anticipated things were just about to get messy. Once in position, he signaled Marie-Ange to move up and Morgan to move in.
With a small nod from Joe Average, Vanessa's borrowed eyes darted around and she continued toward their agreed upon meeting place with the rest of the team. She had to say, though, that Neramani could have made it harder for them to get in than he had. Poor planning on the side of the mad, aspiring dictator.
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