maskormenacelogs | dark knight, bright soul, no room here for the bold

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dark knight, bright soul, no room here for the bold

WHO: Batgirl, Batman, Blue Beetle III, Kanan Jarrus, Leia Organa, Han Solo, idk possibly other people depending on how this goes??
WHERE: SPACE
WHEN: February 20, during the satellite assault
WHAT: A messy bit of things going wrong
WARNINGS: Violence, the Batfamily not exactly being paragons of mental health, who knows.

[Cassandra Cain had thought she was ready to come back to her night job. Really. She'd been out of the cowl for almost a month, so she felt okay putting it back on. Starting back out with a mission like this, though? She just hadn't realized how out of her depth she was. Having Batman and a team backing her up lessened the pressure, but.

Well. It was still weapon-based combat--never her greatest strength--and she had overextended herself. Maneuvering three-dimensionally in zero gravity wasn't hard for her, exactly, but it was still something she had never done. So she found herself pinned down by an annoyingly persistent satellite, not able to get quite close enough or look at it long enough to line up a decent shot--the exploding slab of sheet metal just a minute ago proved trying to take cover wasn't liable to work, either. The new clouds of dangerous shrapnel and debris certainly didn't help. Metal and rock shards in most directions, no clear openings to exit safely, still barely dodging short-range fire by tracking the guns' movements--

She finally sets her jaw in frustration, before keying her transmitter to the main channel for the mission.]

Batgirl here. In League Team B's sector, pinned down--need help!

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[Batman is on the side of one satellite with Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, having disarmed it and working on recovering whatever information he can when Cassandra's distress call comes over his open line.]

On my way. Find cover and hold your position until we arrive. [He looks to Jaime.] Blue Beetle, you're with me.

[And then he signals to Team A's ship before jettisoning off of the satellite.] Team A, proceed with the mission. Angela's in charge until we get back. Any ships in the vicinity, I'm sending coordinates to all locations. Assist if possible.

[ Jaime nods. ] On it. Good luck, guys, [ he shoots at the ship before delicately separating himself from the satellite, flicking his wrists and returning his hands to the shape of - well, hands instead of the odd assortment of tools they'd been before. His jetpack flares, buffeting him forward, but he stays close to Batman's right, following his lead. ]

[ Not far away, Kanan is clearing away some debris to give Lando time to get back to the shuttle, and clearing a path for their movement to the next stop, when his comm pings with a distress signal. Hm. Sounds like that Batman guy he was talking to earlier.

He sends another piece of debris out of the way, then turns, heading back toward their shuttle himself, sending a message to the team. ]

You copy that, Spectre 2? Sounds like someone's in need of some daring heroics.

[ And then he responds to the distress call. ]

Phoenix team, on our way to your coordinates now.

[ The distress call comes in from another team, and Hera's already getting ready to adjust coordinates. Because that's what they do, help people when they need it. ]

Yeah, I copy, Spectre 1.

[ She looks over at Bodhi in the co-pilot's seat, pulling a few more calculations before speaking over the shared comm line. ]

Justice League team A, this is Phoenix Leader, we're close enough to assist- pulling my team into the shuttle now, we'll be there soon.

[ So much for this being a milk run, now with the additional need for a rescue thrown into the mix. ]

Doing what I can--copy, Batman.

[Easier said than done. Batgirl manages to get to a particularly sturdy-looking slab of metal, placing it between herself and the satellite, though it doesn't seem like it'll be able to withstand much sustained fire. Maybe long enough for help to arrive, or figure another way out of this, but the hell of it is she isn't even sure she wants to--

No. That wasn't a good way of thinking about this, it was an approach to the work that she had struggled to unlearn. There were people coming to help her, now.]

Copy, Phoenix team.

[Having just recently lost Tim-- or rather, thinking he lost Tim-- Batman speeds hastily between the space debris, grazing past rock formations at a breakneck pace until he reaches Cassandra. He jettisons in, firing his repulsors to distract the massive satellite until he reaches her, landing behind the rock, at her side.]

This is Batman, I'm on site. Batgirl is safe. Beetle, get her out of here while Phoenix Team and I handle the satellite.

I'll make sure nothing happens to her, [ Jaime promises, and he means it. If there's anything he can do, it's make sure that Bruce's kids will be okay - God knows that they very, very frequently aren't, if the stories he's heard are any indication. He doesn't skip a beat before parting ways without so much as wishing Batman luck, on account of the fact that he won't need it. He's Batman. Dude's practically invincible.

(He'll regret that later, not that it would have done anyone any good.)

He flies behind Batgirl, raising one arm and turning it into a shield before edging ahead of her, replacing one cover with another. ] Batgirl! Time to get you outta here!

[ Batman, Batgirl, Beetle??? These guys have got to get a new schtick. ]

Spectres're cooler. [ He says that on his and Hera's private comm channel, since he has a sneaking suspicion Batguy here won't appreciate his sense of humor in tense situations.

They approach the coordinates, and Kanan is all set to disembark again. Now, over the public comm, he adds: ]

Call out your targets and locations loud and clear please.

[ Because, you know: blind guy on mission. Not that it's difficult to deflect the debris out here - you'd almost have to know he was blind, because it's not obvious from the way he waves his hands and bits of metal and space rock just move out of the way, with no apparent contact. ]

[ There's a soft chuckle in their shared comm line, and she has to agree. Spectres? Way cooler. ]

Have to agree with you there, love. Now let's do what we do best.

[ She switches to public comm as Kanan disembarks, pushing the thrusters to max. ]

All teams, this is Phoenix Leader- I'll be drawing fire away from you. Spectre One, I'll be ready for pickup after all clear.

[ And then she does what she does best- she dares. Pushing the shuttle, she draws close to the satellite, hoping to draw the missile fire away for a short while. Follow her, come on- bingo.

She manages to pull the shuttle into a roll, ducking under an asteroid just in time to keep the missiles from hitting her shuttle. Now to see if she can keep it up... ]

[The problem reveals itself quickly-- a satellite larger than they've dealt with so far. It's certainly no Death Star, but the sort of firepower it assaults them with is more than enough to make itself a challenge. They'll see Batman in his suit of armor, weaving in and out of harms way, firing relentlessly back at the oversized satellite.]

Phoenix One, target directly at your twelve. Let's see what you can throw at it with that Force of yours.

Beetle, no-- [She hadn't asked for extraction, she had asked for help, and then words he'd said to her so long ago, that she hadn't properly understood or processed at the time, go through her head, and she shouts in frustration over the League line.

No! This is not how it works! You do not push me to safety! ... I could save you again, but I'm not going to. If you want to continue working with me... with my family...you need to commit. You need to decide in your bones that you're not going to lie down and die, not going to go down with the ship, and you need to do it now.

If there was ever a reminder that this Batman was and wasn't the one she knew all at once, this is it. A formative test for their work together, now seemingly thrown out the window, and even if she's realized since then he never would have let her die that night--

She pushes at Jaime at first as they move away from the area of engagement, before finally relenting and going along without a fuss. Fine.]

You forgot the shipwreck too, Batman. [There's a bitterness to it that surprises her when it comes out of her mouth, and she instantly regrets how it sounds, but now she just feels... inadequate.]

[ Jaime has no blessed clue why Batgirl's resisting, and the bewildered look he sends her way says it all: even through the suit, it's easy to see that he has no clue what the problem is. She had asked for help, and Batman sent him in there to provide it. ]

Phoenix Team's got this, [ he reassures her, still focusing on batting away any firepower headed their way. In truth, he's not focusing on her very much; his focus is on carefully aiming his shield so that the projectiles are fired back at the satellite and not towards their allies. ] Wasn't the right vantage point anyway.

[ Then, to the others: ] Batman, Phoenix Team, I've got Batgirl out of there. The rear cannon's still firing at us, but it's under control. We're headed back to the shuttle now. I'll come back to assist once we've secured our location.

[ "Batgirl" sounds, for a moment, almost like Sabine, and Kanan has a moment of sympathy for "Batman". Kids these days. Anyway, he has a target, so he turns, focusing his attention - and energy - to the task at hand. A large chunk of rock changes trajectory, and as Kanan makes a motion with his hand, it careens right at the big satellite firing at them. He dodges an errant shot easily, orienting himself with the others - no one should be in its trajectory - and he uses the weapon given them to fire at the location where the weapons arrays have been on the other satellites. ]

Sure is a lot of debris out here, I don't know what they were expecting.

[ He reaches out, seeking another piece to smash into the satellite. ]

[ That's no moon.

Really, it's not even the size of an Asteroid. If anything, it's about the size of a TIE fighter, and packing just as much firepower. Force, what she wouldn't give to be in the Ghost's cockpit right now. ]

Spectre One, love, it's about the size of a TIE and seems to have some shields to boot. Your blaster barely made a scratch.

[ Because there always has to be a complication, right?

Alright, time for her to pull fire again. Least she can do to get them close enough to dismantle it, right? ]

All teams, this is Phoenix Leader, I'm about to pull fire again. Coming in hot.

[ She manages to drive the shuttle into a beautiful spin, trying to get the satellite's weapon's systems locking onto her shuttle instead of the crew.

Come and get it. ]

[And it does-- as it's shields start to wane, it's firepower increases, as though it preternaturally knows its own life is in danger. It begins to fire more aggressively, even at the debris around it, blowing large chunks of space rock apart that go spiraling into Hera's ship, clipping her wing and blowing out one of the engines.

At the same time, a much smaller Batman has the maneuverability to weave in and out of chaos and latches himself onto her broken wing. He shoves his hand into the mangled mess and cauterizes the wound with his repulsors to at least keep her ship from bottoming out. He gives her an acknowledging nod before a barrage of heat-seeking missiles fire from the damaged satellite. His suit calculates the trajectory and--]

Beetle! You're not out of range! Missiles headed your way! [...and Hera's way, and Kanan's way...] Everyone, evasive maneuvers!

[Batgirl watches the arc the missiles seem to be taking, eyes darting back to Batman, and she can see where this is going. She pulls her supplied weapon again, taking aim at at the missiles tailing her and Beetle before squeezing off a few shots. Bruce can handle this, right? If anyone can handle this, it's the Batman. She hates that she's not in there backing him up, but it's too late for that now.]

Beetle, we have to move--

On it, on it, on it!

[ Jaime makes a split second decision. He jets straight up - or what counts as up in this space - jets flaring in the cold expanse of space, and twists to the right and away from the others' ship, allowing the missile Batgirl didn't take care of to collide with an asteroid instead. He has one free hand, and that means he has one shot at taking down a missile.

Batman has his tech - he can fly in space, he can shoot, he can maneuver, he'll be fine. If Kanan and Hera get shot, they won't be. With that in mind, he fires off a stream of bright blue energy towards the missile headed directly towards Hera and Kanan, exploding it before it can hit them. ]

Batman, come on! Let's get out of here and regroup!

[ A sharp jolt of fear goes through Kanan - not for himself, of course, but for his partner. The shuttles have shields, sure, but if one of these bats or beetles can't aim properly it could be disastrous. He has complete faith and trust in her abilities as a pilot, but they can't control every variable, here. ]

Hera.

[ He reaches out with his senses, and there - he stops the chunk of debris in its tracks, directing it away from the shuttle's path and into another missile. ]

Time to go.

[ Hera, to her credit, doesn't panic when the ship's sensors tell her that the wing's been clipped, that one of the thrusters has gone out. She adjusts, rolling the ship so the majority of the thrusters' force will be on the undamaged wing. ]

I'm fine, love, I'm fine-

[ She knows Kanan has to be worried, but this is her job- to keep him, and all the others safe. To be able to pick them up and get them out of there once this TIE-sized satellite is taken out. ]

One more sweep ought to do it. Focus on taking out it's weapon's array. May the Force be with us both, love.

[ It's daring. It's something that could get her killed. Running on half her thrusters, her shields already depleted, it's one of the riskiest moves in her career. ]

Batman, you're on my wing, right? I'm going to get you in close. Take out that weapon's array, dismantle the satellite, I'll be back for pickup. Now let's move.

[ She pushes the ship as best she can. As fast as she can. Sending it into a tight corkscrew as close to the weapon's array as she can get. If Batman times it right, he can use the force of the roll to fling him onto the satellite so he can dismantle it.

For now, Hera's focusing on leading those missles on a chase past more debris, and praying to the Force that she didn't just get both teams killed. ]

On it! [He calls confidently from the wing, barreling into a corkscrew towards the satellite and skimming his way narrowly past the array of weapon fire in his path. Batman slams into the side of the satellite and latches on-- hopefully she meant destroy when she said dismantle-- he's not going to risk it firing on Earth.

From point blank range, the bat-symbol on his chest starts to glow in the same way his repulsors have, and he grits his teeth and fires through the satellite with a blinding, bat-shaped blast. The explosion envelops him and pushes at Hera's ship and the debris surrounding them until Batman jettisons safely out of the blast radius--

--along with an array of missiles, fired at the last moment before their target's destruction. Intended for Earth, but with the missile's tracking systems damaged and disabled after the destruction of the satellite, they essentially lock on to the furthest targets from Hera and Batman-- Jaime and Cassandra.]

Damn--! Beetle!! They're headed towards you!

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dark knight, bright soul, no room here for the bold

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