Summary:A ship is detected entering earth's atmosphere. SWORD and SHIELD respond Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Alien arrives on Earth are fairly rare these days. Not that most on Earth would know, but out there, beyond Saturn in the darkness, a cordon of Kree ships has blockaded the system, designed to prevent anyone from entering or leaving. Standing orders have it remaining far from where Earth's primitive sensors might spot them. While not a warfront per se, the Sol system has its strategic value.
Thus, when the small Dire Wraith ship entered the system, the Kree hardly felt threatened. When it gave the proper current code responses given to the Dire Wraiths for their dealings with the Kree and set course to land on the Kree flagship, it was interesting, more than anything else. A break in the monotony. A reason for outlying patrol ships to escort it in.
When it suddenly went to full acceleration and blew right PAST the Kree flagship, however, that was another story entirely. Weapon systems came online, defensive shields in place. Pursuers were sent…small enough that they would be unlikely to be detected, but more than well armed enough to deal with a single ship. The Kree pilots wondered why the Wraiths didn't activate the stealth technology they were so well known for, but didn't hold back, ally or no. Neither did the fleeing ship, taking hard hits that eventually began to penetrate its defenses, despite its curiously rigid maneuvering and dodging.
Even then, the ship was able to make it nearly to Earth's atmosphere before a shot from one of the Kree fighters in pursuit punched through its engine, sending it spinning wildly out of control, trailing pieces and plasma as it began to tumble down towards the planet. There was no chance of it landing…and no chance of it not crashing in a way guaranteed to kill anyone aboard. The Kree fighters were called off.
SWORD, however, is not quite so blind as the Kree arrogantly believe…and have picked up the ship. It has been projected to impact in rural northern New York, its orbit rapidly decaying.
The ship WILL crash. It just depends if it's going to land on some poor farmer's house in the process.
It helps that SWORD knows the Kree are out there. And that as part of SHIELD, they have some of the most advanced tech on the planet, perhaps given a bit of a boost by some adapted Kree technology provided by someone who doesn't particularly like the Kree in this reality. Letting the Triskelion know about the ship and its projected course - somewhere between Manhattan and the Catskills - they suggest sending a team or two after it. There might be something worth salvaging if it manages to brake its speed somehow.
Jemma's not completely calibrated for things like driving yet, so Roy has to. Which.. may be the worst idea ever. Once he hit the Interstate, Roy floored it, sending the black SUV into a burst of speed, as the archer has on his archery gloves and has turned on the radio for appropriate driving music. In this case, it's Ozzy's Crazy Train that he's playing - and you know, has that whole comm system a little louder just in case.
Swerving past a semi on the suicide lane of passing - the rumble strips of the roadway sound out as the tires smack on the asphalt before he swings back in. "Sunday drivers!" he yells out the window.
"Hope you wore clean undies, Doc!" Because he just realized that they are at their destination as he shifts gears and the truck screeches as it exits the freeway - down the embankment and into a field. He crashes through a cattle gate before entering a pasture as he races for the farm, barely avoiding a cow in the process, as a bull chases after them for a moment.
And who better to call to deal with an alien spacecraft than an alien? Noh-Varr flies up from Manhattan, heading toward the ship on its projected course. "I've got it in sight." he broadcasts on the SHIELD frequency. "It's definitely out of control, looks like it's unpowered and in free-fall. Dire Wraith design. Don't see those often. There's not going to be much to pick up once it hits. On the bright side, anyone in it is likely to be dead so bonus."
This would have been much better if Roy had just let Jemma call the TAC team she'd about to. They'd been a quinjet and Jemma wouldn't be making liberal use of that panic bar.
Well she would have made use the panic bar if she hadn't crushed it by mistake. She's still getting used to that cybernetic arm.
"Watch out for… oh… not the cow. Roy the gate …" It had been a litany of gasps of horror and covering her eyes all the way there.
Taking a deep breath, Jemma manages to focus on the tablet on her lap. "According to the data it's going crash about 7 miles up ahead." It *might* miss the farm house. Who can say?
"Acknowledged Noh-Varr. Agent Simmons and Consultant Harper are en-route." She sounds about as green as she feels.
Good chunks of the crashing ship have already been shed or broken off from hitting atmosphere…the uncontrolled spin means anything that has caught air on the way down has either snapped off or melted off from reentry heat…it appears the ship's heat shields are nonfunctional. Not surprising considering the large hole blown through its engine section, which is streaming a greasy purplish-black smoke behind it as it tumbles and burns, flames tickling around it. At least it currently looks like it's going to hit open fields away from habitation, which is for the best.
As Noh-varr, being the closet, approaches it, however, there does appear to be something odd happening. The Wraiths are creatures of darkness, and generally their ship matches that. The mouth-like prow contains a black viewport that soaks in the light, normally revealing nothing from inside.
In this case, however, there is white light that's starting to shine out of some of the holes in the hull forward, most noticeably where the dark armored viewport has been cracked or broken in places.
This is accompanied by a rising, throbbing hum of sound that's difficult to hear over the sounds of the ship breaking up, but not impossible since its engine is powered to drown it out. Bright lights are not a Dire Wraith thing. Ominous and rapidly growing throbbing hums are sometimes a Dire Wraith thing, but usually not in a crippled ship with a nonfunctional engine.
Once Noh-Varr's closer, he can make out more details than just the basic design. "Oh, yeah. It's definitely been fired on. Most of the damage is in the rear so it was running. I'm guessing it ran into the Kree blockade." Does everyone listening on the channel have the clearance to know about that? Too late now. "No way is that going to be a controlled landing. You're going to want to get some fire fighters out here to make sure everything near doesn't burn. Something strange is going on inside it. Some kind of power source going critical maybe."
"We'll get the farm clear, Noh-Varr. Can you slow that thing any at all?" Roy asks over the comm as he turns off the music and puts on what must be his game face. "I don't really have a 'stop' arrow." he admits as he pulls up in front of the farm house. "Jemma, lets get everyone in the storm shelter.. and I'll figure out what next while we're doing that."
Reaching for his arrows, he thumbs through them. Finally settling his fingers on a high explosive arrow, he takes it out to draw. Maybe he can knock the ship.. no, he realizes how dumb that idea is.
Roy might not have the clearance. Jemma does - the biochem has consulted on a couple of … cases.
"TAC Teams scrambled not long after we left. They'll be here in approximately 10 minutes. They'll help control the burn and contain the area." Jemma announces, as she slides from the car - all too happy to be out of that death trap.
Sorry Roy.
"Calling in local services, though." The local emergency services will arrive … when they do … but that will give Noh-Varr the fire fighters he needs.
Without even thinking, Jemma's occular implant kicks in and she's presented with an I/R scan on the house. Roy will get a flash of this through that link with Kelly. There's a family in there, hunkering in the back corner.
"Roy, the farm house." Jemma's off at a run. It shouldn't be difficult to clear the house and get those five into the shelter, should it?
Normally, there would be no danger to the farmhouse, other than perhaps a few minor burning mini-meteors left over from the ship breaking up. It's going to miss by a good mile after all! At least! Everything is juuuuuuuust fine, as Jemma goes running to the house. Yup.
Then that pulsing energy builds to a peak…and the front of the ship just explodes in a flash of heat and concussive force, the cockpit blowing apart as what was mostly one piece suddenly becomes a series of chunks of burning, smoking metal.
Worse, the explosion jerks the ship back and knocks it off its more safe course, as it slows its descent briefly as it's blown back upwards, then begins slowly starting to tumble again. This time heading riiiiight for a certain farmhouse.
From the midst of the explosion, one of the pieces of debris actually follows the rest…a humanoid figure spinning end over end as bits of ship start slamming down into the fields in explosions of dirty and fire. The explosion seems to have knocked all the shrapnel away from the figure itself, though its also…trailing a stream of white energy like a comet as it also slams into the fields a distances away.
…"Slow a spacecraft that's in freefall? I'm good but I'm not that good."Noh-Varr answers. Even if it is only part of a spaceship at this point. "I could probably blow it up so it hits in smaller pieces but since it's headed for an empty field, there's no poi…" BOOM. "Shit. It just blew up and a good sized piece is headed to the farmhouse. Get out of there." His battle gauntlet flows down into his hand and shapes itself into his blaster. Training it on the piece heading for the house, he opens fire on maximum powers, hoping to turn it into shrapnel instead of a missile."
"Working on it!" Roy calls to Noh-Varr as he turns his attention back to the house. "Jemma, lets get those people clear!" he calls out to her.
And that's when he sees the figure tumbling along the field. If it survived that fall without burning up…. Roy switches arrows. Grabbing another arrow, he clicks it. "Steady.." he rumbles as he draws, holding his bow as he aims and makes up for trajectory, speed, descent angle - then he fires.
The arrow flies in front of the tumbling figure - and then explodes.
Ever seen Demolition Man, when the car crashes and Sandra Bullock is covered in fast-hardening protective foam? That was the inspiration of the arrow as it strikes the tumbling figure and /floomp/.
Foamed.
Jemma grabs the farmhouse door with her right hand and the whole thing comes off of the hinges. Oops. "Come on, come on…" the British accent is so refined as she urges the family out.
They all gasp as the woman comes upon them. She looks … a little monstrous with the implants on her face and the metal arm she now sports. "Please don't hurt us."
"What? No! Agent Jemma Simmons, SHIELD." the woman speaks quickly, flashing her id as she starts to move them. "We need to get you out." It takes a moment to get them moving, but that leaves Jemma in the house as the debris comes rocketing down.
Normally, if this was just a meteor solid enough to make it this far through the atmosphere without coming apart, it would be a bad thing. Luckily, the spacecraft isn't very big, isn't nearly as solid, and has already taken a lot of damage. As Noh-Varr starts blasting away, the hull plating gives way, pretty easily, tearing free to go spinning off to slam into a pasture, exposing more of the engineering spaces. The main power reactor appears to have been punctured…but it also reveals one of the ship's fuel cells, that appears to still be intact. Timing it just right, it could be made to explode to throw the ship off course again…but it would have to be either a very good shot or a very close shot to make sure it hits. Not to mention it's going to send bits flying in all directions.
The foam arrow hits in front of the figure as it plots into the foam in a a minor gusher that hardens almost immediately. Fortunately it's not flammable foam either, though there's definitely a bit of a sizzle from the corona around the figure as it impacts. The white light flickers, then goes out as the figure comes to a stop., out of sight in the foamy crater it landed in.
Jemma is about to have an interesting tome, as the preceding pieces of the ship, which fortunately none of which are bigger than say, the hood of a car, start impacting in the area.
The downside is, they're still the size of a hood of a car and ON FIRE, which raises the threat level just a tad. They at least aren't all going at terminal velocity after the explosion fortunately. But it's a bit like running through an artillery range, the way geysers of dirty blast up each time something impacts.
Noh-Varr flies at top speed to put himself between the spaceship and the farmhouse. And then he waits for a clear shot. The spinning makes it tricky. A challenge. Even for a Kree warrior. Less so for one designed to be the best Kree warrior. He waits and then he fires at the power cells.
Noh-Varr seems to have Jemma handled. But more is needed. And Roy knows he's not got it in him to do so. But someone else here does.
Running over to the ball of foam, he takes out a small vial to inject it to melt the foam away.
"Please be a hero, please be a hero.." he mutters to himself before he calls to whatever is within. "Hey! I don't know if your planet has littering laws, but we do - if you could help prevent this from being a mess, that'd be awesome!"
As if English is the primary language of the universe, right?
It's about now the local emergency services arrive, sirens blaring, the fire engine - singular - pulls to a stop. They'll deal with the fallout of the debris.
Jemma is terrified, Roy can feel that. She hasn't learned to control her broadcast on their little network. What that might do to him, is a very good question. For her, it results in a mad dash for the door.
Much, much faster than the biochem has ever been able to do before. Not superhuman fast but definitely about as fast as the fastest humans.
Her foot hits the veranda and then the dirt out the front - Noh-Varr probably has the debris contained, but she's clear of that particular danger.
"Roy?" She's still moving as she heads to the foam. Not drawing her weapon - not wanting to crush it with her lack of control. Maybe it was too early to be back in the field.
"Status, Noh-Varr?"
The ship spins, that hole in the hull pinning with it, requiring just…the right…moment…and then Noh-varr let's fly with an energy bolt that cleanly punches through it, igniting the fuel. With a roar a greenish purple jet blasts out of the hole as the ship abruptly changes course like a tennis ball whacked with a racquet, the new course carrying it over the house entirely, before it just comes apart, the larger pieces slamming into a hay barn farther down the property.
Then, as you'd expect a fuel with a burning fuel cell to do, the remainder explodes like an 80s action movie. The barn is definitely ablaze.
The foam melts away easily enough, the figure inside dropping to the ground on her back. It's definitely a her. This is easy to tell, as quite a bit of golden skin is on display in the outfit she's mostly wearing, something that looks like it's made of straps, with over-sized sleeves and what look like several melted or broken technological devices hanging off it. It doesn't look quite like a uniform, really. The woman pushes herself up a little shakily, long white hair tangled around her face, her body looking athletic but a bit worn, even emaciated as she whispers. "Kroneek naaven tablorf princen'r?" Slightly wild blue eyes look out from the midst of the hair hanging over her face as she pushes herself up to her feet, wobbling slightly.
Jemma is quick enough to get the family clear of the impacts with only a close call or two, getting them over to the SUV where they can shelter as the last of the ship bits come down. There are more than a few small fires burning here and there from the superheated metal in addition to the merrily-burning barn.
Great. Someone from not around these parts.
Roy doesn't now what she's saying. She doesn't know what he's saying. But the first word out of his mouth is.
"Multi-pass?"
Because he couldn't resist. Then he's gesturing wildly. In exaggeration. "I need /you/." He points from himself to her. "To go."
He points towards the sky.
"To help my friends." A point at Noh-Varr.. of course, there's the fire. "Fire hot. Fire bad. Put out fire." He makes motions like a hot foot.
This is what he's learned from the Navajo, supposedly.
"I'm great, thanks." Noh-Varr answers. "The barn, on the other hands… Go make sure there aren't any animals in it and I'll go check out the alien." He's the one most likely to recognize the species and speak its language. At a more leisurely pace, he flies over and lands next to Roy, his Nega-Bands glowing with energy. "Oh, another Tamaranean. You here to see Kori?" Then assuming she doesn't speak English, he repeats it in Kree. "Fire trucks are on the way, Roy." he adds in English.
Check the barn? Jemma speaks to the incoming TAC squads. They deploy, cordoning off the farm and surrounding area, checking the barn and dragging any animals clear.
"Another Tamaranean?" She's aware of the other entity on earth. She's been asked to ensure she's up to speed on their physiology - as much as she can be.
"Before directing her to do things, Roy, do you think you could find out if she's hurt?" There's a look to Noh-Varr as he arrives. "If you would be so kind to translate, Noh-Varr?"
"…mooooltipaaass?" the woman responds, her brow furrowing, then repeats her first statement with more force. As if this will make Roy understand her better. "Kroneek naaven tablorf dan rutha princen'r, Koriand'r!?" she says, more than a hint of anger in her voice as she tosses her hair, pushing it away from her face to reveal slightly sunken cheeks, very un-Tamaranean blue eyes, and a slowly pulsing white crystal set just above the bridge of her nose, her eyes flicking back and forth as Roy motions around, explaining, her eyes tracking the motions but not looking like she has any idea what he means. Perhaps she just sucks at charades?
The woman rolls her eyes then shoots forward suddenly, lifting off from the ground right in front of Roy as she snags his shirt, pulling him closer. "Milnip wusserloop…." she mutters, scowling. Then…well, she plants one on him, a deep, intense kiss as she leans in.
Who knows how long it might go on! She's definitely not paying attention to the burning wreckage or the others for a moment, though her ear twitches at the name "Kori" and when he repeats it in Kree.
Roy's trying to explain further when Noh-Varr is arriving. "You understand her?!" he asks hopefully as the charades game is /not/ working.
"Wait, why is Jemma alone with the fires, are the others ok—-" and that's when the alien girl grabs him by the front of his shirt. And at the moment, she looks like something like an Oompa Loopma mixed with the chick from the Grudge. "Don't eat my brains!"
It's all he manages before he suddenly finds himself facesucking an alien woman.
The embarrassment is total and complete and Jemma can feel it through the Kelly-link(tm).
Whitestar, on the other hand, gains English (Advanced) and Innuendo (Expert). Okay, maybe not the later, who knows how Roy's brain works sometimes. He puts his hands on the alien's shoulders - god he hopes it's her shoulders and tries to pull back.
"I don't speak Tamaranean." Noh-Varr tells Jemma. "It wasn't deemed necessary. They don't have any real power to speak of and just have some ties to the Shi'ar. But she's learning English now." he points out, motioning to Roy. "Limited touch telepaths. I'm not sure if the kissing is actually required but it's a fun way to learn."
"Well then …" Jemmas cheeks flame at that kiss. It's bad enough dealing with the changes her bodies experiencing thanks to the Death-Lok procedure and now … her hormones start to kick in.
« ROY!! » Poor Kelly is going to hear that loud and clear « PUT THAT WOMAN DOWN! »
"I'm not sure about fun, Noh-Varr. It's a good way to take our agents offline though." That's all that she manages.
The girl has a good grip! As worn as she looks, she's still quite strong, though she doesn't resist too much being pushed away. Though Roy may definitely get the feeling that if she didn't want to break the kiss, she might not have been so easy to dislodge. Perhaps when she comes back for his juicy human brain. She does float back, settling to the ground on bare feet. "Kissing is superior in speed and he is awful at charades." she says, in Roy's particular accent of English to Noh-varr. But thankfully not in his voice, because that would be odd.
Having gotten what she wanted from Roy (feel free to feel used, so used), she whirls on Noh-varr. "Where is princess Koriand'r? WHERE IS THE TRAITOR!?" she growls, a certain fanatical light entering her eyes as she stalks closer to the Kree warrior, her eyes flicking to Jemma. Nope, not Koriand'r. Set=no_kill.
« I DIDN'T DO IT! » comes Roy's complaint back to Jemma, « GOD, MOM. »
At least he's set back down on the ground again. And she's roaring about traitors and Kori's, and as she stalks closer to Noh-Varr. Whipping out an arrow, he notches it.
"Look. First, you're gonna watch the consent-tea video." And his eyes widen with concern as she looks towards Jemma. "But how about you answer the question first - like, who are you, where are you from, and didn't you ever hear of calling ahead?"
"And he's cute too." Noh-Varr points out matter of factly. "You really don't want to start a fight here." he tells her. "You'll lose. And you'll end up locked up. You don't want that." Without looking over at Roy, he says "She's Tamaranean. A planet in a solar system one spiral arm over"
« I SAW YOU » ahem. Jemma takes a breath, her cheeks still flaming bright red. That's going to take a moment to deal with. « sorry. Are you alright? »
"Noh-Varr is right, though, uh Miss. You don't want to start a fight. What's this about a traitor?" The biochem looks to Noh-Varr with a question. Do they offer asylum or a safe place to stay while they work all this out.
No, she's not going to admit to knowing of a Koriand'r. Though Noh-Varr did.
Another furrow of the brow as the woman glances at Roy as he knocks the arrow, her eyes narrowing. "I do not care for refreshments of greetings." she says sharply, studying the bow, then turning her attention back to Noh-varr and Jemma as she asks the question. "This does not concern you, Kree, or this planet. She is a traitor to the throne, a betrayer to my world. Direct me to the troq, so she may face retribution for her actions." She does not look particularly swayed by the promise that starting trouble on Earth will get her locked up, either because she's laser focused on learning the information she seeks or she doesn't consider it a credible threat as of yet. Probably a bit of both.
It's probably a good thing that Whitestar can't read minds through the kiss, because Roy Harper has totally heard about a six foot tall orange skin woman that comes close to what she looks like that's an exotic dancer down at the Odyssey Lounge.
But Jemma? She gets all that info. You're welcome. He hasn't seen the show at least?
"Welcome to Earth. But you need to go through immigration. Like everyone else." If there's a move towards Jemma or any of the other humans, he'll fire. Otherwise? "Now stand down, because if you run away, you'll get a terrible case of the cooties."
Noh-Varr, we need your expertise. We've found what appears to a power source and we need to contain it. The Kree is gone before any of the three left can say anything.
Which makes Jemma sigh.
"It concerns this planet, because you are on it. Your ship is no longer, so you're stuck here." The biochem tries to reasonable - though the Death-Lok protocols have her emotionally compromised. Roy will be feeling that, might even recognize it. Maybe he can help her not lose it.
Through the Kelly-Link(tm), he gets a flash of her father. That scene back in Devon. It seems to be a lodestone for the biochem. For him? A pointed reminder.
"Come with us and we'll get you processed. Set up with credentials and resources. It's for your own safety as much as that of the planet. Could we at least have a name? I'm Jemma and this is Roy."
There are SHIELD TAC agents around and they are well armed.
As to the flashes from Roy, Jemmas cheeks flame again. Not because of how Kori looks, it's the nuance of how Roy sees her that does it.
"I do not fear /your/ cooties, Earth man. Or your immigration." the woman says with a sniff, then floats off the ground again, rising slightly as she points at the three - two of you, as Noh-Varr zooms away to deal with the sparking power plant. That is on fire, so this is a urgent thing.
"I am the rage of a thousand White Stars burning as one! I am the vengeance of Tamaran! Tell me where the /GLUBNORB/ HIDES, if you know, or /cease/ wasting my time!" The gem on her forehead pulses softly above her eyes as they shimmer white for a moment, her hair stirring behind her as it shimmers slightly.
An arrow flies. It may not be much of a threat to Whitestar, but when it gets close to her face, it explodes into a glob of ice meant to freeze her mouth shut. "Shhh, shh." Roy encourages. "Adults talking here."
And then he looks at Jemma. "What, you know how I feel about Kelly, that doesn't mean I can't have a /healthy/ appreciation of things!"
They're going to do this now, aren't they?
Jemma sighs again and gestures to the TAC squad that been paying attention to the interaction. They spread to surround the three that stand there, weapons aimed.
"There should be nothing to fear about our immigration but if you wish to wander our planet in search of your Glubnorb, you'll have to go through it." She's reasonable but nods approvingly as the ice tries to seals the woman's mouth shut. "As you've not given us a name, we'll call you Whitestar."
"Now please, come with us. Your lift awaits." A Quinnjet sets down just behind them. SHIELD really is very well equipped. "The sooner you do this, the sooner you can be on your way."
"You can, I just need to experience it." Jemma shoots back to Roy.
The ice is a suprise. The arrow wasn't a threat, so it's fairly obvious the woman…or Whitestar, whatever she's calling herself…wasn't taking it seriously. When she's abruptly cut off by ice forming over her mouth, she gets a furiously look, before reaching up to grip the ice and squeezing it until it shatters, spitting out ice as she does. Her eyes pulse as she holds out a hand, and a shimmering sphere of force appears around her. "Clorbag varblernek!" she curses at Roy, then snaps. "ENOUGH!! I have no time for your mating dramas, and I do not need your assistance to find her. You are hiding her from me, it is /obvious/! I will not fall for your traps or prisons. I will /not/ be bound again!"
She floats up higher, her hair starting to glow. "I take my leave of you. Stay out of my way, and once the traitor is dead, I will leave your planet in peace."
And then…she accelerates. Straight up, then taking a ninety degree angle as she shoots eastward, accelerating very quickly as she leaves a white contrail behind her.
"I can hit her." Roy's notching another arrow, pulling it back. Even as she's flying away, he's sure of his shot, all he needs is for Jemma to tell him to fire, and the arrow will be loosed.
"Let her go. Stand down." Jemma directs the teams and shakes her head to Roy. They'll have so much paperwork to do about this, it's not funny.
And yes, Jemma is going to make Roy do the paperwork as well.
"Secure the area. Get a science team in here to collect the wreckage. We'll want to examine it, compare it with Noh-Varrs databases and the like. I'll put an apb out on the woman. I somehow suspect we'll be hearing about her soon."
"Come on Roy, help me do what I have to and then you can drive me back." Though, there is a wistful look given to that Quinnjet. That nice, safe, Quinnjet. That's just sitting right there.