14347/AEC, Team Scene 2.5: In Transition

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AEC, Team Scene 2.5: In Transition
Date of Scene: 29 April 2022
Location: Avengers Mansion Ready Room
Synopsis: Cap helps people align their core synergies to come up with a new paradigm shift to get their action items in order with only a few takeaways.
Cast of Characters: Captain America, Winter Soldier, Black Widow (Romanoff), Batman
Tinyplot: Avengers Exploration Corps


Captain America has posed:
    The first recon mission was declared a success.
    The response from the upper echelons was positive, a proof of concept and a deployment of Earth assets to another planet to execute reconnaissance and extraction was exactly what they had asked for. No injuries, no hitch, and usable data that would make the rounds in the scientific community once the clearance was provided. And already changes were going to be implemented.
    Stark had already beaten a hasty retreat, barely sticking his nose in for the debrief and already with that distant look that said his mind was elsewhere. Then he was gone, shut off from he world most likely and tucked away in his lab. No answers on his phone nor response to messages. Though that... seemed to be fitting.
    As for the three SHIELD agents they had perhaps played it close to the vest while they were getting clear and out from under the supervision and observation of the other team elements. It wasn't until they met back some three days later at the Avengers Mansion, a time they had agreed on to 'coincidentally' wander back and to occupy some time in the ready room where they could much more easily control the possible surveillance.
    It was there in that room with the many lockers and storage areas for various and sundry gear. There with a set of chairs circling a holo table that they'd agreed to meet. And it was upon arriving in his civilian clothes that Cap gave a few nods here and there then said.
    "Alright, a chance to talk and hold nothing back."

Winter Soldier has posed:
    It had been an odd few days. From the vast reaches of outer space, from being possibly one of the first humans to have set foot on that alien world and its wondrous sight, to the every day humdrum of being a shadowy agent of an international counter espionage agency. Okay, so maybe he needs to re-define humdrum, because Bucky's life is anything but boring, but it nevertheless required a feat of dissimulation to pretend as if he'd gone nowhere in particular and done nothing worthy of note. Honestly, it was like being back in the old days.

    Not a word was spoken about the mission, or the team, and Bucky never even hinted that he'd been off world with Natasha. They're much too professional for that.

    So now here is the man, dressed again in his civilian clothes, finding a seat in the unfamiliar briefing room of a mansion he'd been invited to by someone who had promised to cook him breakfast. It was as plausible an excuse as any, and to lend verisimilitude to the subterfuge, he'd brought along a guest. One which, he was entirely certain, would keep the secret and never betray their trust.

    And because Bucky going out for a walk without Lilli would have been plain strange. So now the German Shepherd is curled up comfortably next to his chair, content to simply be near her favorite humans, while James Buchanan Barnes leans back in his seat and reaches down to give her an idle scritch between the ears.

    "I'll let Natasha have the floor first."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
SHIELD was nosy. That was a given. So meeting there to discuss things was not a possibility if they wished to keep it on quiet. While one liked to think there weren't bugs in every room of the Triskelion, no one wanted to chance that the room they were in was one of the safe ones.

Thus the agreement for Avengers Mansion. Because there might be bugs at the mansion but they just went to Tony. A person who had been invited but was likely locked in his lab somewhere working on improvements to the equipment they had used.

She was settled into a chair in the meeting room, dressed down in civilian clothes. Since they had not known when they might return, she had a few days off. Jeans, a green blouse with a lightweight leather jacket over the top, boots on her feet. She was cradling a cup of coffee in her hand, the ceramic cup plain white with no decorations. She sipped then arched a brow as Bucky threw her out as first to talk.

"We should've been better prepared." Steve had said to hold nothing back. "For all the talk of having us go check out these worlds to see if there were threats, we didn't consider just how..." She paused to think of the proper word then smiled a bit as she set her cup down, keeping fingers curled in the handle and one around the outside of the cup. "Alien it might be. Obviously, we'll be learning as we go. Improving things. That was a given. I know I wasn't quite prepared for what we encountered mentally, head filled with old Sci Fi where all the aliens were humanoid."

Captain America has posed:
    Steve's standing at the moment, pot of coffee in hand and his mug set on the table. The mug proclaims in polite lettering, 'Avengers: The Musical' with a picture of a shield, an arrow, and Ironman's helmet underneath. But it's the pot he gestures with, causing the dark liquid to slosh a bit.
    "I think some choices have been made to maintain flexibility. Agility for when we're executing the mission." Though he's using that voice that might suggest he's arguing Devil's Advocate, though he looks around the room with a tilt of his head.
    "Though," He finally fills the mug, then sets it back in the warmer that's on the table before he takes his seat. "I know there are some changes to how we handle things, and some specific for this current mission."
    That said he holds the mug in both hands and takes a sip. Then he smiles a little, "And I think we've lost Tony for a while since he apparently has a ton of other ideas too."

Batman has posed:
"Stark is afraid of a liquid that might be sentient or attracted to magnetism, considering its defiance of physics."

What the?! The Batman emerges from the shadows in the corner of Avengers Mansion. How'd he get past JARVIS? Unlike the group assembled, Batman didn't often have the luxury of a day off. He's always watching Gotham. Bruce Wayne rolling up to the mansion would've made a much bigger stir and drawn attention. "We need to be prepared for every eventuality, possibility, and potentiality. I'm analyzing the data samples collected, I'll have those results shortly." Shortly in Batman speak could be a day, an hour, a few minutes...no clear defined measurements.

He doesn't sit. He picks a place to stand and he watches. "Natasha is right." Which is the closest that Batman is going to get to a compliment.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    When Natasha speaks, Bucky motions over with a nod, tacitly agreeing with her assessment. Maybe that's why he wanted her to speak first? To take the sting out of him having to criticise his best and oldest friend. And possibly to show that they're not ganging up on him, they just happen to have the same professional opinion. "We weren't nearly as prepared as we needed to be. But it's not possible to predict the unpredictable, and we were out there to find the actual..." fractional pause "... alien."

    And then his posture goes more rigid, both hands on the holo table much to Lilli's chagrin as she loses those scritching fingers, and the sudden dignity and bearing of Bucky's posture is somewhat robbed of its gravitas by the Shepherd laying her head in his lap. "But our intel was crap, Steve. We chose that planet specifically because the Asgardians has been there before, and the best we got out of them was 'They do not walk as we do'. We still don't know what that means. So we clearly can't base any decisions off of their intel, because poetry and strategic planning don't mix."

    There's a brief nod toward the Batman, an acknowledgement from one professional to another. Getting into the mansion without being detected is no mean feat.

    "Without Tony's drone, we'd have lost people."

Captain America has posed:
    "I think," Steve says as he nods toward Batman, "That has his attention. But also I think he has some ideas about our gear that hopefully will give us more of an edge." He settles in the chair, mug clinking faintly on the table as he sets it back down, both hands around it. His brow furrows as he looks at it for a time.
    Then he looks toward Bucky and nods, "We're going to be operating on thin intel for a good bit of time. I'd rather have that small snippet than nothing else. But also I think there's some argument right now about whether it's better to risk tipping our hand of an arrival by sending drones through at first... and having whatever is on the other side of the Bifrost getting a days worth of a heads up we're coming...
    Cap takes a moment to look over at Natasha, "And whether it's better we go through first and give whomever no heads up at all."
    One hand lifting, "For safety I'm of the mind to go the drone route. Good to get an idea what we're going into. But think they're worried of some nightmare scenario where the drones are treated as an act of aggression."

Batman has posed:
Batman gives Bucky a curt nod of acknowledgement. From one fighter to another. His attention turns largely to Captain America. "Little information is what we will be forced to deal with, we'll be running into a majority of new and unencountered organisms. Drones will be invaluable, but there will be times where escape or drones might not be available." Batman suggests to the Captain.

"I have a suggestion. I can use a thrown projectile with a built in camera, operated by remote control. Very little metal, largely plastics. Makes less noise. They might react more dormantly."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
At the arrival of Batman, Natasha did not jump. To her credit. Having dealt with him professionally a few times, she was starting to learn about his appearances and disappearances. Didn't mean she'd been ready for it. She continued to speak as though it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"But we don't know that the liquid did that entirely. It looked like it but we know that looks sometimes deceive. It could be the aliens can use the liquid, control it. Or hell, it could BE an alien as opposed to a weapon or the like."

Natasha shook her head a bit and slumped a little in her seat. Her attention moved to Steve at mention of the drone strategy. "You're going to have the potential for that either way. If it is people or drones. The only other thing we know is that these aliens were supposed to be good traders, correct?" She looked around for some sort of verification. "If that's the case, one would think they would be more open to outsiders approaching. Of course, how many millenia ago was that?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
    "Hard agree on the drones." And despite his best efforts to maintain an entirely serious bearing, Bucky finally breaks and gives Lilli the attention she deserves. He looks less stressed and far more human while fussing over his dog, but his mind is clearly still on topic. "If they're going to consider drones an act of aggression, they'll certain consider aliens an invasion. But we need intel, one way or the other. We got lucky this time, but we can't keep going in blind."

    The mention of just how out-dated the intel might be they're working with gets Bucky to finally raise his brows. "Millenia? I mean, we used to make do with a blurry picture taken three months ago from a plane, but at least that was still taken in the same epoch."

Captain America has posed:
    Nodding a bit, Cap looks across the way toward Batman. And the only sign he makes of reacting to the man's arrival is to gesture to the pot of coffee offering its contents if the man chooses to partake. That having been done he presses on, "Might be best if you can get in to see Tony maybe collaborate if you can. I think some form of drone is the way, stealth of some kind. I see both angles of this, but my main priority is maintaining the safety of the team."
    A look is given in turn to Natasha, "We just have that one log entry from the Asgardians. They were able to trade some goods, and they do not walk as we do comment." He tilts his head to the side then shakes it a little. "Not much to go on, but also..."
    He looks around to the others, "I've received orders that we get one more visit there, then we need to spread our net. The Powers That Be are wanting to get a wide range of intel from multiple recon sites. Though think after we get a stable of missions under our belts we'll be able to go back and wrangle what more we can."
    The coffee is sipped again though as he nods toward Bucky, "I think the lesser risk is the drones. A civilization has to be niche enough to take that as an invasion. But knowing the safety of our landing sight is more important and timely." He takes a breath.
    "Though there is one thing, I've been informed if we go through and we find a civilization, or evidence of a culture having technology similar to the Bifrost then that's a red flag and we immediately evac."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Drones are likely the best option but they should be just information gathering." After the Powers That Be having wanted the team to carry a nuclear solution along with them on a fact-finding mission. Immediately thinking it would be a good idea to potentially attack another planet. Politicians weren't too smart.

"It would give us more information to work from while also perhaps letting the beings on the planets know someone might be coming to visit. If they are receptive to visitors, their behavior with drones may also be helpful for how to approach. My critique was more that we didn't prepare for any situation such as needing to be going into dark areas. It's such a short window to start though."

She paused and considered a moment then Natasha theorized," In case they could follow us back?"

Batman has posed:
"We won't know until we have eyes. The life forms could be similar to Martians: Telepathic and Telekinetic capability where the 'water' is the weapon. Different cultures have vastly different weapon structure. I have a few working theories. I'll converse with Stark and see what I find. They may appear intimidating, but their efforts may be a territorial response, not necessarily hostile."

"Acceptable." Batmantells Steve, his attention goes to Natasha and he nods. "The Bifrost is a two-way door. We could bring passengers and be unaware."

Winter Soldier has posed:
    "In case they'd have the technology to attack Earth." Bucky summarizes, or at least extrapolates from what Steve has said. "If they have another Bifrost, and we don't know about it, we don't want to let them know we exist. That about right?" Because they're being asked to explore alien worlds, using alien technology, and to a certain kind of mind that's perfectly fine as long as nobody else has the same capabilities.

    "Speaking of equipment, Steve, I felt underdressed. And I'm not talking about Tony's fine tailoring skills. You've got me along for security, and a single pistol isn't going to cut it if we run into serious trouble. I want to bring a rifle along."

    There's a momentary pause as he allows the objections to begin to build, but he speaks again before there's a chance to voice the objections. "I know. I know. Powers that be are going to be worried I plan on assassinating some alien bigshot. But if the pistol isn't enough, I'd be down to punching things. And that, Steve, is something I want to avoid. Because punching something means touching it, and Tony had a point about the air scrubbers. Let's not risk too much contamination."

    Not to mention the decontamination after the mission is not something he wants to prolong.

Captain America has posed:
    Steve's attention is for the time being on the middle of the table, his gaze distanced thoughtfully until a nod is given toward Bucky and Natasha, "I think that may be the case," In case whomever they contacted could follow back. "And yes, think we need a more robust gear out. But then how much is too much? Could quickly get unwieldy."
    He looks between the others then motions with one hand, "Nat, you and Bucky up to putting together a gear list? Something slim but with broad applications." Since they likely had put together a similar load out for any number of missions.
    Though when it comes to the topic of weapons, Steve looks toward Batman for a moment, then nods toward Bucky. "I think the main thing would be making it not look like a weapon. Something collapsible? Like the Magpul FMG-9 but longer barrel?"
    He pulls the sleeve up of his overshirt and checks his watch, then murmurs. "We have about four days operationally before we start getting set for the next run. I think we have a good number of things to work on until then."
    One hand motions toward Batman as he says, "Tech, if you can grab Tony." Then toward Nat and Bucky, "Gear for deployment next mission." Then toward himself, "And I'll field the protocol changes we're wanting. I'll push on the drones."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Wouldn't have to be bulky. A single rucksack for each person is all that would be needed. It's more a general overall bag with things for any situation as opposed to the regular main gear. That main gear is enough for us to set up camp but the rucksack will be more designed with exploration in mind. Also if things go sideways, each of us would have our own survival gear at hand if separated from the group."

At the suggested weapon for Bucky, Natasha gives a little nod as that seems a sound choice. She already has her own weapons which don't look like weapons so isn't looking to add more but it makes sense for the Soldier.

Batman has posed:
"Last solutions only." Batman tells Bucky. Almost like a condition for him to permit the weapon. To be fair he did the same for the pistol. They won't get far by shooting things as explorers, but the weapon will be necessary. The Captain lists him as tech, giving only a silent nod in reply. "I'll haves report by the end of tomorrow night."

"I can assist Stark in upgrading the suits. Each specialized to your respective strengths and styles and individualized. We can expect to be out here in the field for hours, sometimes days at a time. They'll need to not be heavy, but compact. I'll send prototypes."

Winter Soldier has posed:
    "Low profile, got it. I'll have a talk with Clint... find out where he got his new toys from, see if the tech can be adapted to a long arm on the sly. Make it look as neutral as possible." Subtlety hasn't always been his strong point, but then there was Madripoor, and the more private issues he'd been dealing with for other agents. These days, Bucky knows how to be discreet.

    A nod to Natasha, again his tacit approval on the choice of loadout. "Standard all situation survival kit, shouldn't take long to put together."

    And, of course, he'd be remiss if he didn't at least make one comedic comment. And this time, the victim is Batman. When the Caped Crusader mentions sending prototypes, Bucky gives him a nod and a half smile. "Just don't embroider bats all over it? 's all I ask."

Captain America has posed:
    A small half-smile lights on Steve's features as he imagines Batman and Tony collaborating so he thinks it best to lift his voice and add the caveat, "Maybe best to approach it delicately. But yeah." Another sip of his coffee is taken, then he pushes himself up to his feet. "Alright."
    Another look around the room is given from face to face to face, he takes a breath and then murmurs, "We all have a lot to get done then before the next drop let's get it done."
    With that apparently the meeting is semi-adjourned with him raising his mug of coffee and then starting to walk toward the door.