rekindleme | I'm gonna shake up the system

Entry tags:

I'm gonna shake up the system

Who: Bucky, Steve, Fortuna, and Diarmuid.
Where: The building across from the welcome center and into the underground tunnels
When: January 9th, in the dark hours of the morning
Summary: It's time for a rescue mission.
Warnings: ???

After Zeloph sent him and Steve the map of the underground tunnels, Bucky had been reminded of the predicament the priestess had been in while he'd been sitting around feeling sorry for himself. He cursed internally over the lack of focus and almost immediately began to plan on how he would help the priestess, going over all the information he'd acquired in the past few months that would help. It was easy enough to figure out the other two key holders the mysterious figure was referring to with a little process of elimination, and he'd visited Fortuna and Diarmuid before the day was over, discussing plans with them and what they might expect.

When he returned and asked Steve to accompany them, they'd had an argument about the kid's presence, but Bucky had placated him by saying he'd already tried to suggest Diarmuid stay home, and that the boy had been adamant in joining them. It didn't make Steve happy about it, but it was enough to let them move on and start to prepare.

He had several weapons now, even if it wasn't nearly as close to his old arsenal in size, and that reassured him somewhat. A pistol he'd save for emergencies, several knives, and something else he'd acquired in case Burnie got involved. He'd stick with hand-to-hand and the knives if he could, as much as he wanted to use the gun. The strange bag that was larger than it seemed was also taken in case they found something they needed to store and bring back with them, but he left the medallion key in one of his normal pockets for easy access.

It was early enough in the morning that it was still about as dark as it could get when he arrived, wearing the armor HYDRA gave him--though he left the mask and goggles so he could easily communicate with the others--in addition to his leather jacket to help conceal his arm. He had no need to conceal his face when he didn't plan to be seen anyway, and even if he did wear them and was spotted, he doubted it would hide his identity.

All that was left now was to retrieve Rhea and Mai.

Bucky stood near the door to the building, wondering if he might have to break in to enter--the palm reader the elemental had used was still there, but he thought it unlikely it would accept his hand print, and even if it did, he didn't want to leave a definite trace of his presence. Giving Burnie any more obvious clues as to what he's been doing probably wouldn't be a good idea.

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It was times like these that Steve wished that he still had his stealth suit on him. Not too conscious and it provided pretty decent protection. He wasn't going to worry about something he couldn't help though.

Not too long after Fortuna got there, he arrived in just a regular outfit with his trusty old shield strapped to his back and a belt with a couple of pouches on it. Sneaking into places weren't new to him, although he wouldn't say that they were his specialty either. He just wanted to make sure that his comrades were safe and that they went through this rescue mission.

"Guess breaking down the door should be the last option." He said after nodding at Fortuna in greeting. He already said what he needed to say to Bucky before he left, although it was still nice that they were able to work together- ...and was that rain hitting something invisible? Steve frowned for a moment, before he remembered that Diarmuid had an invisible cloak.

Okay, that was pretty helpful, but he was still worried about him. But he decided to let it be, Diarmuid was already here and making a scene was the last thing Steve wanted to do.

He nodded to Steve in agreement after he arrived, keeping an eye out for anyone other than who they were expecting. He wasn't too excited about the bird being there, but he trusted Fortuna's judgment as far as its usefulness.

His focus on finding anything unusual meant he spotted the place where rain was hitting nothing, but given who he was expecting and what he knew was in Diarmuid's possession, it didn't raise any alarms for him. His suspicions were confirmed when the boy whispered to him.

"We need to find a way in," he explained. He turned to Fortuna, fairly confident that if something could be found, her drones would find it. "Get anything?"

Fortuna saw the odd...intensity in the air before she saw the rain hitting nothing. A heat signature without a source, apparent size and shape of a child. When the other two reacted to him whispering, she knew she wasn't alone in seeing it...and knew it was a friend - one of the brothers, likely, since she hadn't seen any other kids that size. It was confusing, but she wasn't going to question it now. Right now, it was time to work.

"Yeah." She brought the Sundowner back down from the roof to join them. "Roof's out but my ground drone's got an open basement window. None of us except the drones and the little guy here could get through. And boy, am I glad you can somehow turn yourself invisible, kiddo. Don't know how, but it's useful. You wanna sneak in with my drones? We might need human hands."

She pulled the earbuds to the microphone from her ears and offered them to whichever was closest, Bucky or Steve. "One of you guys want to listen for me in the meantime? I've got input from three sets of senses here, can't concentrate on this worth a frag."

Edited (grammar fix) 2015-01-16 00:40 (UTC)

"I can do that!" A pair of small hands make themselves visible from under what can only be called a cloak. Diarmuid waves at Fortuna and the others, then lets his hands disappear under the cloak again, "It's my father's cloak. It hides the wearer from almost everything! Just show me where the window is and I will go and help the drone."

The idea is really exciting for him, actually. He remembers Fortuna showing him how the drones worked and the idea of working with one is just really cool. Of course, Diarmuid doesn't let himself get too excited. He knows how dangerous and important this task is.

"I will find a way to open the door without having to break it. And if I get into trouble, I have my swords and my butterfly is with me!"

If worse comes to worse and he gets separated from the drone, they will still have a way to find him that way.

Steve looked at the drone for a moment, it was definitely an interesting mechanism. Helpful too, if it was able scout out a possible entrance. Although, it looked like Diarmuid was the only one that could get in apparently... funny how things worked out like that. He turned his attention to the young boy as he saw his hands peek out from a cloak, obviously enthusiastic about the thought of helping out like this.

Well, Steve always thought he was a good kid. He just hoped that the invisible cloak would work and he wouldn't need to fight with his swords. "Be careful out there, Diarmuid." It probably wasn't necessary to say that, but Steve was a pretty big worrywart.

But in the mean time, he took the earbuds and placed them in his ears, familiar with these things due to all the SHIELD missions he has been on. Of course they weren't the same, but he got the general idea. "I got it."

It seemed they were about ready to move. All they needed was for Diarmuid to open the door, and then they'd place their keys and, he assumed, move underground. Given the shape of the hallways, he didn't think they'd have much problem detecting when it would be good to move.

"Stay out of sight," he said shortly, his voice low. "If they find out we're here now, there'll be more we'll have to get through later."

They already had the disadvantage of not knowing exactly where the captives were. In order to make it as easy as possible for all of them, they needed to be quiet and hidden.

"Okay, follow the drone, little chummer, and be careful. I can't talk to you through them, but I can protect you and try to show you where to go. Good luck in there. Don't pick fights."

And she sent the Sundowner off towards where the Steel Lynx waited outside the entrance, hovering only waist-height off the ground, right at eye level for the kid. She'd move both of them inside before him, and wait for him to join them before moving any further, taking stock of the situation inside - they had night vision cameras, so hopefully light wouldn't be an issue.

Once he was off, she glanced at Steve, her eyes slightly unfocused with most of her attention now on her drones. "Hear anything in there?"

Edited 2015-01-16 01:53 (UTC)

As Diarmuid begins to follow the Sundowner, a stray bird accidentally slams into the one working camera as it tries to find shelter from the rain, giving the security officers a clear view of a bird's tail as it sits on the camera in order to recover. A lucky break, if there ever was one.

When the child arrives to the window, he'll find it only slightly ajar, but with a little prying he should be able to open it completely. As luck would have it, there's even a small dagger made of stone wedged in with the handle sticking outside with which to help him do so!

Diarmuid nods to acknowledge all that Fortuna has told him and then follows the drone to the window. He knows nothing of fortunate streak of luck the flight-challenged bird gives them, but he does notice the dagger right away. How odd... It's odd enough he actually pauses for a moment worried something might be wrong. However, when looking around doesn't lead to him seeing anything, he crouches down and uses the handle of the knife to wiggle the window open. Once he has done so, he slips the dagger into a pocket. It will be easier to reach than his swords if something goes wrong.

Since Fortuna said she wanted to send the drones in first, he waits for them to go in and follows afterward. All his years of climbing anything and everything come in handy right then, and he has no problem getting in the widow and dropping silently to the floor. Perhaps it is a bonus that he originally comes from a time without electric lights because it helps his eyes adjust to the darkness more quickly. Maybe not as fast as when he first arrived, but still pretty quickly. As soon as he can see and while he is waiting for the drones to decide where they are going, he looks around, taking in everything in the room.

When Diarmuid enters the room seems to slowly light up with a faint red-orange energy. There is nothing to show that there was anyone else currently present, but if he looks at the floor he would likely recognize the sketches that were glowing on the ground were a summoning circle. A tome in the center seemed to be the source, but nothing seems to happen... just a small amount of light in the middle of the room surrounded by storage boxes and broomsticks.

Outside Steve can hear a faint hum of energy coming from the main entrance. There are, however, no signs of movement.

Although still worried about their youngest companion, Steve turned most of his focus to the earpiece, trying to listen in on anything that could clue them in. It was faint, but he could definitely hear something coming in from the other side.

"It's quiet, but I hear it. A hum of somethin' constant, but not alive. No sound of footsteps or people either." Steve responded as he looked over at Fortuna. Huh, maybe it would be a good idea if they spread out a bit instead of standing in front of the door like this. He still wanted to stick around and listen in case the situation changed, so he nodded over at Bucky.

"Should spread out a little. I'll report if anything changes on my end."

"Might be whatever power system they have in place."

At Steve's suggestion and nod, Bucky began to head around the corner that Diarmuid had gone, wanting to be an equal distance away from his allies in case something happened. Although it was raining, he could tune that out easily enough and focus on anything unusual.

He would prefer that Fortuna came with him so that he could also watch out for her, given the fact that she had to focus on the drones, but he wouldn't argue with whatever she did. She knew how well she could handle herself better than he did.

Either way, he'd find a spot where he could easily stay out of sight of any cameras or passersby.

Fortuna did follow; she'd noticed the bird's collision above, and it had drawn her attention to the camera on the building.

"We'll need to find a way to get around that camera," she whispered to Bucky as Violet followed behind her, feathers fluffed up in the rain.

She shifted most of her attention to the drones in the basement once she said that, taking a look around. They were in...a storage closet? Converted into some sort of magic thing. Summoning thing? She wished she had more shaman friends.

Regardless, she moved both drones towards the door and positioned them on either side of it, watching for shadows under it and listening with their microphones for anything outside it.

Despite the fact that it doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the task at hand, Diarmuid can't help but stop and look at the circle and the book in the middle of it. It makes him think of something a druid might draw or the magic circle he had seen when he talked to the messenger who gave him his key. Could he use this to call a messenger to help them? Or would it just summon something bad?

He looks up when he notices the drones move, but since they seem to be checking for something, he doesn't immediately follow them. Instead, he decides to take a closer look at the book to see if he can make out anything useful. Carefully, he picks it up from the middle of the circle and starts flipping through the pages. If there is anything he can read, he will try to read it...

Edited 2015-01-16 04:44 (UTC)

Whether it was luck or just the cards folding in the right places, the bird that had hopped onto the camera after the collision seems to be rather intrigued by the camera lens. The white raven looks at the strange circle thing in it with one eye, before pecking at it until the glass lens and it flinches.

Inside the book, he finds illustrations of each of the elementals that the three had previously encountered and corresponding animal spirit versions of them. A blue dragon with dark scales, a hippogryph, a phoenix, and what looked like a white siren with a mystery elemental. The words, oddly enough, look similar to Diarmuid's native language.

The only thing the drones pick up are the same humming coming from upstairs.

The sound of cracking glass reached the super soldier's ears even through the rain, thanks to Fortuna bringing his attention to the camera in question. He wondered if the bird's actions were truly coincidence, but found it irrelevant for the time being. The fact was, that camera wouldn't be good enough to see much through the rain and darkness.

"I don't think that'll be a problem anymore," he murmured, settling into a hiding position. "What do you see?"

The last thing Diarmuid expects when he looks at the book is to be able to read it, but he is shocked to see he can. Since everything is quiet, he wants to take a few moments to read it, just to see if there is anything that can help them. First, though, he walks over to one of the drones and gets its attention. He mouths the word 'look' into the camera and then holds up the book so that they can see the illustrations, especially the mystery one. They have no idea what will happen and he wants to make sure if they lose the book, as many people as possible saw it first.

After a few moments, he lowers the book and lets the drone go back to watching the door. He walks back to the cicle and pulls a piece of paper and a crayon out of his bag. Diarmuid then starts to quickly copy down what the circle on the floor looks like--at least as well as he can. Once that is done, the drawing and the crayon go back into his bag. Finally, he opens the book again, to read what it says...

Edited (Typo fix!) 2015-01-16 05:39 (UTC)

Seeing as all three bodies are just waiting and paying attention, it isn't hard for Diarmuid to get her to focus through that drone's camera. She turns it towards the book he's holding...

"Interesting," she murmurs, taking the control deck from her coat and showing it to Bucky. "Look what the kid just found."

Enscribed on the page with the elemental's image--a woman with white hair and skin the same shade as Diarmuid's--is her title: The Aetheric Avatar.
A messenger of the goddess Akasha and made of the goddess's breath, this Avatar commands the element of wind and healing, and weaves her spells with the voice of the heavens. Her true form is that of a siren, who may both heal allies and curse foes to the Gales of Fury.

Winds that guide, mend our wounds
Gales that threaten, let thy words profound
Avatar of Akasha, to my will be bound!

When Bucky takes a look at the screen, he seems slightly surprised, leaning in for a closer look.

"It looks the same as the book that woman left behind," he says. "The one who gave me a key."

Recalling what he'd read in that tome--even if he can't read this one--and what Cyntia had told him about evokers, he thinks he's made a connection.

"It might be for summoning something."

"I got one too. Think all three of us did? We didn't exactly group up and compare notes all that much beforehand."

Which might have been a bad idea, but all of them were focused on helping Rhea out here.

As Diarmuid reads the book, he becomes more and more focused on it. Perhaps he shouldn't let himself be so distracted from the door, but the drones are watching it and he is still learning to read so some of the words are harder for him to make out than others. Eventually, he starts whispering the words to himself without even realizing what he is doing...

"Winds that guide, mend our wounds. Gales that threaten, let thy words profound. Avatar of Akasha, to my will be bound!"

Only once he finishes, does he realize he is speaking out loud. The boy looks around with wide eyes to see if anything happens. He is sitting in the middle of a strange magic circle, after all...

The moment the last word is said, the red-orange light turns a near-blinding white. If Diarmuid looks up, he'll see a few bluish white feathers begin to fall from the ceiling, before a young woman matching the image on the page he's on appears in a flowing white dress.

Once she drops to the ground in front of him, the light fades into a dim glow.

...Though that doesn't stop the white raven from being startled by the sudden light from below. It flies away, looking for a different cover.

Steve will hear the sound of the summoning, and gears turning from somewhere in the room.

You called for me, young one? the Elemental asks, bending down to meet Diarmuid's height.

[She hadn't even realized the kid was reading aloud, until blinding white overwhelms the part of her that was watching the drones. She has to tear herself away from them visually (drones don't have eyelids to close), closing her real eyes reflexively.

When she peeks back in through her drones, she watches the scene, and all she can do is say, plainly...]

...well, drek.

[Hopefully Bucky's still watching this on the control deck because she wouldn't know what to say to this, really. Is the kid a latent shaman, or does this spirit just answer any old summons?]

Possibly--

[It would have been hard to miss the bright light from the screen even if he hadn't been watching it--and seeing the figure appear is enough to surprise him, even though he knows summoning or whatever is... a thing here. He frowns, unsure of what to make of this development.]

What the hell...?

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well i lied, i forgot he also had other information

doubling up this round for the sake of pertinent info

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