[Issue] Mission Control

[Natalie Denisov]

Code: Select all

Ashlie, picking up anomalous energy readings with some of the crystal computer's sensors.
Clarion's monitoring police communication and the information is confused and contradictory, but it seems to be something in the harbor.
Recommend activating the X-Men.

The response in the Point is immediate. Most of the Crystal Computer's processing power is switched to defensive mode and all the hard light projectors are immediately commandeered by the system. All four of Natalie's avatars appear in the command room, Natalie collating information on various monitors, Caretaker monitoring the Point's systems and power, Clarion standing with her eyes closed as she listens to something on her headset, and the faceless armor-suit of Guardian watching a tactical display of the campus.

[Ashlie Minamida]

Ashlie's not quite as put together as usual when she enter the central control room. Granted for her that means her blazer is open and her hair is not neatly done, but still.

"X-Men emergency alert is going out. See if you can pick something up from social media, plenty of cameras out there, somebody is bound to be pointing it in the right direction." she says, then goes on muttering to herself. "Can't believe I never put together a simple camera drone..."

[Natalie Denisov]

Clarion nods and a pad appears in one of her hands as she begins typing rapidly, combing through the social chatter around Maldon, hunting for pictures. Quickly she makes a throwing gesture with another hand and several images from various street-level angles appear on the displays along with a short video that looks like someone took it while slowly backing up before the video cuts into a run and loses the subject.

"Got it," Natalie and Clarion say in unison. "Attempting to piggyback off local CC cameras based on image location data," Guardian's modulated voice responds.

[Toshiro Narumi]

Tosh had been in the lab, so it hadn't taken him long to suit up and show up.

"Is that... a kaiju?" he asked, a little too excited by the idea.

[Ashlie Minamida]

"We don't know what it is yet, but it appears to be flooding the harbor right now." Ashlie says without looking up from helping arrange the data and combine the blurry and shaky shots into a composite image. "And that's not really a tenable situation."

[Wanda Johansson]

"It's... wrong," Wanda says, stepping in behind Tosh, for once suited up in her X-Men uniform. "It's disruptive, and not just whatever it's doing to the harbor."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Wrong how? Other than obviously not being a naturally occurring creature of some kind."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"For starters it seems to be generating water from nothing. Could be a shapeshifted mutant but that seems... unlikely. Whatever it is, we need to stop it. And possibly send people into town for damage control. This could get ugly fast."

[Will Stanton]

"No motive as of yet for a shapeshifted mutant," Will said, walking in in his slightly-off X-Uniform, all business. "This seems far more animalistic; no sense of sentience behind it yet.

Is it making any other movements, or is it remaining stationary in the harbor for now?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"We're still working on a proper live-feed but it appears stationary f--wait, hang on..." she says, typing away at one of the terminals. One screen starts showing wobbly aerial footage from a commercial drone close to the thing, giving them a clear view of it's jellyfish cap and the water continuously sloughing off of it. The strange eye within briefly seems to point at the camera but then swivels away to point off into the distance and the creature slowly starts moving again towards the southern edge of the harbor.

[Wanda Johansson]

"It's messing with the natural order," Wanda says, as if that explains everything, "I can sense it from here."

[Natalie Denisov]

"As long as it continues shedding water at that rate, damage control may consist of just getting people out of the way," Guardian says, projecting targets along the creatures current path.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Hey, um, this is starting to feel really familiar."

"That is unless we've now had two entirely unrelated sudden appearances of giant creatures that exhibit superpowers."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"You're talking about the creature you encountered at the West Industries facility?"

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Yes. And that might explain what Wanda's sensing. That creature also shouldn't have been here, in a fundamental sense. A power without a proper conduit. Though that creature was far more chaotic in nature. Perhaps it latched to some poor sea creature as that one did to the land itself. A more biological power could account for that, or something like at least part of my powers."

Hey! Let me explain that!
Yeah Bro, why don't you let one of us be in a briefing?
That would be fair.

For a split second Tosh seemed to shrink ever slightly, so quickly it might have been imagined.

[Will Stanton]

"That creature also wasn't really hostile until we aggravated it. This one may not be trying to hurt anything; it may be looking for something.

First priority, then, should be trying to draw it away from the harbor out into the open seas," Will said, scratching his chin as he analyzed the situation.

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha makes her way in, looking a bit rumpled, but freshly changed into her uniform. She frowns as she sees what's up on the screens.

[Natalie Denisov]

"I'm already running the Blackbird through preflight," Natalie says, "An aerial insertion will likely be easier, especially with the flooding."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"I just wish I had built that growth ray. Mega-Bruce would actually be handy right now."

[Will Stanton]

"If wishes were horses," Will responded.

"Does it seem to be attracted to anything in particular? If it's acting on instinct, maybe it's looking for a 'food' source of some kind."

[Samantha McManus]

"I don't think it's acting on instinct at all," she says, still staring at the display.

[Ashlie Minamida]

"If you can reason with it or lure it out of the Estuary, all the better. Everyone doing so, Natalie will airdrop you in. Anyone who can provide assistance in town, with me."

On screen the creature slowly moves off of the now-submerged island and briefly slinks deeper into the water again until it reaches the shallows near Promenade Park, close to where the cliffs the University sits on slope down. It's huge legs sink into the marshy ground, slowing it down but it's only a matter of time until it makes landfall proper. The walkway near the water's edge is already flooded and each lurching step of the creature sends water sloshing out over the park proper.

[Will Stanton]

"No more time to debate this," Will said, heading for the door. "We have to divert it, now."

[Wanda Johansson]

Wanda turns and falls in step with Will, "Hopefully we can divert it."

Natalie loses focus, obviously no longer looking at whatever's in the room, "Ramp is down and Blackbird is ready. I'll lift off as soon as everyone's in."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Then let's get to it," Tosh said, wincing slightly as his mental voices clashed over who got to fight.