Joes Clear the Empire State Building

Log Title: Joes Clear the Empire State Building Characters: Cookie, General Hawk, Poise, Sgt. Sideswipe Location: Manhattan, NY Date: July 29, 2019 TP: America Burning TP Summary: Cobra's been kicked out, but they left some surprises behind that need to be cleared. As logged by  Cookie

Log session starting at 19:18:25 on Monday, 29 July 2019.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe is an older/new recruit. He's still learning the ropes. In one of the massively large skyscrapers. He draws his firearm and plants his back against one of the slate walls. He looks slowly into the entryway. He gives a nervous look at Hawk. It's hard to do this stuff when the main guy is watching you, ready to correct the most minute of mistakes.'''

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "This is the place with the big shoulders, right?"

[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe says, "In the '80s...affirmative. But that look has sort of been out of vogue since... wow... since before I was born!"

[G.I. Joe] Cookie says, "I'm glad you figured it out. I wasn't sure what she was talking about."

'''It has been several days since the defeat of Cobra in America, and the task of clearing out the cities of any straggling troopers or vipers continues. Most of NY has been swept, but the Joes have worked from the outside in, and now are clearing the last bits of downtown Manhattan. Hawk leads a squad to one of the most iconic buildings on the NY skyline: The Empire State Building. The residents have been evacuated for the time being so it is a high priority to get it swept and cleared, especially of potential booby traps. Losing a building like the ESB could be a PR nightmare, and bring back memories New Yorkers would not want to revisit. Arriving at the entrance, Hawk draws his sidearm to check it. "Ok folks, standard sweep pattern, keep your eyes open and let's do this one fast and clean."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe sobers quickly. "Yes sir..." he whispers. He clicks the safety off his firearm. Three...two...one...'''

'''Cookie may be a relatively recent Joe (less than a year), but she was conventional military before that and is an old hand at clearing buildings at this point. Standard sweep? No problem. The SeaBee falls into place, weapon in hand, giving Hawk a nod of acknowledgement as she does.'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe PASSES a STRENGTH roll of High difficulty.

'''Poise has temporarily been recommissioned to foot duty, since her Turbinecycle just about exploded beneath her during Cobra's last defeat. The Nebulan is new to the process, but has drilled on it of course, though her marks in Calistenics could use some improvement. While she does have her fancy Nebtech optical rifle slung on her back, its her standard issue Earth-made sidearm that she's got drawn. She seems a bit more tense than her usual carefree self. "Wish I could've gotten my optical system separated from my ride. It could do a lot of good in here right now." She takes up position behind Cookie, the two having worked together a lot so far.'''

*BASH!* Sgt. Sideswipe swiftly kicks one of the doors open and goes to the formation - covering his appropriate side, occasionally aiming his firearm near a staircase.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe says somewhat nervously - a builidng this massive has not been programed in the Joe simulator. "Check the elevators for booby traps first...right?"'''

'''General Hawk proceeds through the open door, his sidearm raised and pointed ahead of him, following wherever he looks. The lobby is deserted, though that being a good sign or not is debatable. He motions for Cookie to take the left set of offices, Sgt. Sideswipe to take the right, and for Poise to follow him to the elevators. "Let's get the first floor cleared. We'll check the elevators if they arrive, but we'll take the stairs. Then we'll check the elevator control room once we get to the top."'''

'''Cookie nods approvingly as she scampers in Hawk's wake, covering his back as they enter, then clearing approaches as she heads towards the offices. "Elevators are unreliable at best." She glances over at the stairs and silently wishes she were a bit taller. "Well, it won't be any worse than PT with the seals," she murmurs.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe crouches down and slowly makes his way to one of the security areas. He peers at the cameras, which display some of the key areas of the historic building. The thought of climbing the Empire State Building via old fashioned footwork is appealing. He's done his share of 'trek up the tower' charity events before. He raises his hand to motion anyone over to check out the cameras.'''

'''Poise nods and hunkers down. While her form isn't perfect, she does move with speed and grace. The Nebulan stops before main hallways, spins out to check it, then moves on to the next wall. "There's bound to be a control room for these elevators too, and given there are mechanical elements too, it wouldn't take much to shut it down if thats a risk." She hustles across, the unfamiliar pistol in hand as she follows Hawk.'''

'''As the team moves in, it appears Cobra already have left some surprises behind. Trip wires are placed on the doors to the lower offices, and the elevators for the moment look ok, but as Hawk gets closer to take a look, his experienced eyes notice the up button has been tampered with. "Damn... I had a feeling they'd do something like this. Damaging the Empire State would be a nice feather in their cap." he says with a sigh. "We've got to get this floor disarmed, and we're going to have to use the stairs for sure now, the elevators are compromised. We have no idea how many of these buttons could be rigged. But we've got to clear them all." With that, he takes out a toolkit, and starts to /gently/ unscrew the elevator button panel.'''

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "we're talking a lot of explosives?"

[G.I. Joe] Lieutenant General Hawk says, "We'll see, but so far it looks like these are anti-personnel. Enough to kill but not enough to bring the building down."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "then....the stairs probably have a lot of them, right?"

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "And...there's still people in here"

[G.I. Joe] Lieutenant General Hawk says, "Civilians have been evacuated, but it does suggest a Cobra agent might still be lurking. Keep your eyes peeled."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "Well that just made this job easier. Phew. Last thing I wanted was a stampede"

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I'll start with these stairs."

'''Sgt. Sideswipe summons his rifle, which also casts a decent infrated-like beam, it is just enough to do a better detection of stuff like tripwires. He backs up one, two, three steps, but then, his firearm/light picks up a tripwire. Maybe two steps before 'discovering' it the wrong way. He frowns, mumbling "Sneaky bastards..." He traces the tripwire to a crude device. "Guys, don't come over here -found a tripwire."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe wipes some sweat from his forehead. Old buildings are their own challenges, but especially when the HVAC has been turned off.'''

'''Poise had no specific training on demolitions, but these tripwires and the like seemed easy enough to the eons old technician. She flips down the visor on her helmet as she takes to the stairs, intent on HUD marking anything she finds. Taking the lead on this is a taxing job, even for the Nebulan. Memories of how she nearly bled out on the waves of Earth, when shrapnel tore through her suit, fill her mind. She pushes the thoughts aside, as she tries to focus.'''

GAME: Poise PASSES a COURAGE roll of High difficulty.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe crouches down and takes out the tools necessary for disarming tripwires. The only thing...he's more of a medic than a demolition expert. But being an avid studier, he's certainly read up enough about disarming bombs. Let's see if academia is as good as real-life.'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of High difficulty.

'''*clip* Sgt. Sideswipe closes his eyes and breathes out. "Neutralized..."'''

'''Cookie palms a flashlight and lines it up with her pistol, crouching to scan the floor first, then standing to check the doorframes and ceilings before she even goes anywhere. She's actually done demolitions before- even if it's not specifically her specialty, it's a standard SeaBee one and so she's been through her share of cross training. She manages to look relaxed, even though, really, nobody's actually relaxed when the question is whether or not the building you're in will be brought down on your head if you mess up.'''

GAME: Cookie PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

"Two more here- I got 'em," Cookie mentions, going through practiced motions to disarm the wires.

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "Okay I've marked three up here in the stairwell. They must've been expecting a lot of people....or they were expecting us to walk into them?"

[G.I. Joe] Cookie says, "They might have also been hoping we'd find one, assume that was it, and miss the next one or two."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I see....huh. Okay."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "If there's an asset still in the area, it seems to me they'd want to flush us into cover that's trapped, right?"

'''The Joes demonstrate their prowess, and the traps left by Cobra on the first floor are quickly dealt with. Hawk studies the control panel, and deftly clears the circuitry restoring the elevator buttons, at least on this floor, to working order. "If I get my hands on the Cobra scumbag who did this, I'll shove one of these bombs up his ass and set it off." Hawk grumbles, as he looks to the stairwell, frowning at Poise's report. "Combination of both I suspect. But we have to clear them. Let's take them one by one, and once we get to the next floor, we sweep. I would suspect they only bothered with the lobby... it's clear they waited until after the building was evacuated to do this, they are clearly set up for people coming in, not out. But we can't assume."'''

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I see. Cookie, you want the ones I marked? I'll go onto overwatch."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "erm....don't take that like...you know, I'm giving orders or anything."

[G.I. Joe] Poise coughs.

[G.I. Joe] Cookie says, "No offense taken, Poise. I've got the experience with IEDs."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "Okay great. Ahh..wait, you don't have a HUD setup. Oh! My rifle's got a marker that'll work. I'll tag you to what I see"

'''Sgt. Sideswipe makes his way to a nearby stairwell, one that's somewhat close to the stairwell with the marked devices. He shines his detection light into the poorly-lit stairwell and slowly climbs the steps. He goes up about two flights, and slowly makes his way through the empty hallways and offices to where Poise is (just two floors above). Aiming his firearm, he prepares to protect everyone in case a lone Cobra agent tries to get the Joes in a bottleneck.'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

'''Poise gingerly inspects a partial wall on the second floor, looking for more signs of sabotage. If there was a sniper on premises, as she had mused, panicking people to go into bad cover would seem pretty tactically sound. From her position on overwatch, she draws her Optical Rifle, and sets the tracking beam on it, showing Cookie where she's seen the tripwires in the area, all while trying to keep her eyes upward....'''

GAME: Poise FAILS a DEXTERITY roll of High difficulty.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe activates his radio. "On the fourth floor right now, right above you guys - "'''

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "Is that you then? Uh...good thing you said so"

[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe says, "On the fourth floor right now, right above you guys!"

GAME: Poise PASSES a DEXTERITY roll of High difficulty.

'''Cookie puts some energy into getting up the stairs to catch up to Poise, trusting that everybody else has done their business properly. She looks for Poise's markers and settles in to disarm these as well. "Digital displays and all that are nice, but sometimes, analog is more reliable." She produces a thick piece of sidewalk chalk to offer to the alien before getting to work.'''

GAME: Cookie FAILS a TECHNICAL roll of High difficulty.

GAME: Cookie FAILS a TECHNICAL roll of High difficulty.

Cookie curses under her breath as something moves that she didn't want to move.

Poise 's head snaps to Cookie, sensing her alarm.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe isn't none the wiser, he just knows that two floors down, some serious surgery is going on, and it's probably best to just let the experts do their work. He slowly pans the area above, this would be a perfect time for a stray Cobra loyalist to take a shot at the Joes below. But not on his watch... He remains quiet and still...'''

'''So far there is no sign of any Cobra agents, but as Cookie attempts to disarm the device, the light on it suddenly switches from green to red, and it begins to beep. "Ah SHIT.. TAKE COVER!!!" he yells as he dives to roll further down the stairwell.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe says, "Shit!" Sgt. Sideswipe sprints to the other side of the building!"'''

'''Poise didn't really realize that she was in motion until she was. Even before that light turned red, Poise had dropped her rifle and had pushed forward on her left leg. Ideally, it'd be a flying tackle that would leave them both falling down the stairs to the next landing, but it'd be damn sure better than getting fragged.'''

GAME: Poise FAILS a COURAGE roll of Immense difficulty.

'''General Hawk yells, "There's only seconds before it explodes, duck and roll, cover yourself as much as possible, put your body armor in its way before it blows!" he says, rolling into a ball and trying to put as much padding between himself and the explosion.'''

GAME: Poise PASSES a COURAGE roll of Immense difficulty.

Sgt. Sideswipe runrunrunrunrunruns - then, he realizes his time may be up, so he jumps, hoping that will give him JUST enough extra distance from the blast.

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe FAILS an AGILITY roll of Very High difficulty.

'''*Boom* the explosion tears its way up! And damages the floors above, including the one that Sideswipe is on. Sideswipe feels himself sink as the floor underneath him starts to collapse! He makes one last-ditch effort to jump just as the floor under him falls!'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe PASSES an AGILITY roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe says, "Arh!" Sgt. Sideswipe leaps, and lands chest-first on the floor."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe slowly looks over his shoulder and sees the smoking pit. It was an explosive device, but not enough to bring down the Empire State Building. In fact, not enough to even go up three floors.'''

'''Cookie is already aware that this is bad and ducks her head automatically to weather the results, barely even pausing in a muttered stream of curses upon the device, its maker, and anybody related to him. Poise's arrival is entirely unexpected, the weight dragging her away from the blast zone, which is good, but down stairs, which is less good. With only a moment to adjust, she wraps an arm around Poise in turn, uncurling enough to throw out her legs and bounce them at what is -hopefully- a less catastrophic angle.'''

GAME: Cookie PASSES a COURAGE roll of Average difficulty.

'''As the device goes, the Joes are fortunately able to rely on their training to avoid the bulk of the blast, but it has left a large hole in the stairway. Annoying, but not insurmountable. "Damn... that got the ol' ticker going." he says, getting back to his feet. "We're going to need more personnel to clear this but we've determined just what to expect. We'd better back out and make sure we're all ok."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe looks down at the hole. It's about a 1.5 story drop. Still, it's large enough for him to jump freely. And it's something he's always wanted to do. He 'falls' into the hole and 'lands' near Poise and Cookie. "So, that blew a few decibels from my hearing."'''

'''Poise collides with Cookie pretty hard all things considered, and while Cookie braced for the sprawling move as best she could, Poise and she take a tumble down the landing, vitals mostly protected in the fall. Fortunately, Poise was also wearing her helmet. She ends up, laid out on her back as debris of no longer lethal shrapnel rain down on the area, and a blossom of smoke accompanies it. She coughs first thing, obviously jarred.'''

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I'm good"

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I think"

[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe says, "Say again?"

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I said I don't think I blew up"

[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe says, "Oh...kay. (he THINKS he got all of that)"

'''Cookie straightens up from where she was piled with Poise and groans a bit, flexing her arm. "I'll feel that tomorrow," she says ruefully.'''

[G.I. Joe] Cookie says, "I'm in one piece."

[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe says, "There's a hospital nearby, I'll check everyone out"

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "..Right"

'''[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe sighs. "I'm a year away from becoming a doctor, I'm pretty versed in first aid. But I understand not wanting to be checked out by an Earthling, Poise."'''

'''Poise pulls herself up a little, to a slouching position against the wall. "Pretty certain I'd know if I got slashed..." She looks herself over lightly anyway, as Sideswipe calls for a medical extraction, "Right...right. The real question is what's still going on in here?" She pulls herself up to her feet.'''

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "Hnnnghh..."

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "Eh...you guys saved my life when we met actually"

[G.I. Joe] Poise says, "I'll tell you about it...huff huff...later"

[G.I. Joe] Cookie says, "I'm sure I've got plenty of bruises from that, but I'm good to stick around until somebody can come relieve us."

[G.I. Joe] Sgt. Sideswipe says, "Heading to the hospital now. Cookie, promise me you'll show up as soon as you get relief, and come IMMEDIATELY if you start to feel worse!""

[G.I. Joe] Cookie says, "I know the drill. I will."

Log session ending at 21:09:57 on Monday, 29 July 2019.