13315/A Crashed Satellite

A Crashed Satellite
Date of Scene:	09 November 2022
Location:	Triskelion
Synopsis:	A satellite crashes in New Guinea and bits recovered by an indigenous tribe. Lara Croft is tasked with negotiating for them. She interviews an archeologist with experience with them, and enlists Steve Rogers for the mission.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Lara Croft
Cast of NPCs:	Nick Fury

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Steve Rogers has posed:
The latest set of data to come through to Lara's office is of the research variety. Some old scrolls that have been unearthed, so fragile they had to be scanned to get at the contents. More data on myths that might have some basis in fact worth digging into some day. SHIELD is thorough.

But before Lara has much time to start looking at the scans, her computer beeps and pops a box that says: Priority Message.

When she activates it and keys in a code to decrypt it, it's a message from Director Fury to come to his office immediately for a new assignment.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara notoriously had a messy desk in her space in WAND. She always had a ton of reserach items spread across her desk to help her with 3 or 4 different things she was ever researching at the same time.

Today, she's wearing a dark grey henley shirt with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. She has her hair tied back in a ponytail, and is holding a cup of coffee when the messages comes in.

After absorbing it, she just smirks. "Ever the dramatics...." Lara mutters to her drink as she raises it up for another sip.

She moves a few items around, closes a few books, and pushes a tablet computer in to her desk drawer, then raises up and reaches for her phone.

"I'll be back in a few." Lara says to her deskmate across from her as she starts to walk off holding her phone, reading its screen, and then tucks it away in her pocket. On the way out of the WAND area, she drops her cup in the trash bin, and plucks a mint from the candy dish on the WAND receptionist desk...

Soon she's reporting directly where asked to be, her WAND badge hanging from her hip over her drab green hiking pants, her black leather boots quietly moving upon the floor.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The elevator up gives a beautiful view of the surrounding Westchester countryside. It's a sunny day out. A little chilly, though the sunshine and lack of wind do something to make it quite tolerable. The trees are changing, oranges and yellows and reds covering the landscape as the elevator opens on the top floor where Nick Fury's office is.

His assistant outside sends Lara in with a simple, "You're expected," and a push of a button that opens the secure door for her to pass through.

Inside Nick Fury is at his desk, on the phone. "Yes Senator, I understand the Committee's concerns. Yes, we are taking care of it. Which speaking of I'm needed to do just that. Goodbye." He hangs up the phone and shakes his head as he stands.

"Agent Croft. Sorry for pulling you away from your research," he says. He moves over to a table with chairs that sit next to a larger screen that covers most of one wall. "I trust that you have been well of late?" he asks. Not getting into it just yet, despite the urgency of the message sent to her.

Lara Croft has posed:
A quick smile was given to the receptionist who lets her through. "Thank you." Lara says in her kind tone to them before she moves on ahead. When spotting Nick, Lara affords him a soft smile, even though she knows he's never really been one for such stuff. "Quite well, overall, I should say." Lara replies to him. "I hope you have been as well. You look to be as good as I've ever seen you, Sir." She says, a light bit of casual humor meant to be played up there.

After taking a seat, Lara looks to the windows, and then around the room in general.

"Has something happened that needs my attention?" She asks then of him. "Your message seemed a bit more dramatic than usual...."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Hip is acting up and my knee. Looks can be deceiving," Nick grumbles. "That's the problem though, we all get old, don't we?" he asks as he grabs a remote control and takes a seat. "Thank goodness we have good young minds like yours coming through though, Agent Croft. Yes, we have need of your particular skills," he says.

Nick hits a button on the remote and the screen comes to life. Showing a graphic of the planet, and a dotted line showing the path of something orbiting about it. "This is the KHR-31 satellite. It's a thing we ran jointly with the US Department of Defense," he tells her. "I won't get into specifics of what it does. But you're here because..." he says, and then clicks another button.

The graphic becomes animated, showing the satellite traveling through the orbit. "A... 'failure' caused the satellite to go off course and re-enter the atmosphere," Nick says. A new dotted line extends down and the satellite begins to follow it instead. As the Earth turns beneath the falling satellite, the dotted line ends on the island of New Guinea.

"It crashed down in a remote area of New Guinea. Some of it survived, though most of it burnt up on reentry. Now the satellite has a few particular components in it that are crucial to us that we recover if they survived. Aerial reconnaissance found this," he says, clicking a button again.

An aerial photograph shows dark-skinned tribal men, armed with spears, decorated in some places with ink or maybe paint like warriors, and wearing loincloths, moving through an area of scorch marks where the satellite fragments came down.

"This is the Ptumi tribe. They have had very little contact with the outside world. And we believe they have our satellite fragments. We need to send someone in to retrieve them. I'd rather not send STRIKE in, these people don't need a fight because we dropped a satellite on their heads. So I need to send in someone who can negotiate with them and retrieve it for us," he says.

Nick tosses down a folder that has more info in it. Info about the tribe. "We don't have anyone who speaks their language fully. But you speak a related form, is my understanding," he says.

Lara Croft has posed:
Of course Lara sits up straighter, after showing him another soft smile at his initial words. But when he jumps right in to it, she sits up straight in her chair and looks to the displayed visuals. She's familiar with some of it, but it's not a region she's had a lot of actual experience within. She draws a breath and nods to what he tells her, she takes the folder when he drops it and flips it open to look through it.

"I know that a number of languages are spoken there, from Creole influenced dialects to even German. So, yes, it's possible I could get some measure of familiarity out of what they're speaking, and I'd certainly do my best to adapt."

She considers this for a moment as she keeps her eyes down on the folder. "Is this a Quinjet drop?" She asks him then. "A direct flight in from Australia, or should I be expecting a more rustic transit for this?" She further asks. "Oh, and who else should I expect to be coming along with me? Satellite techs of some kind?" She inquires of the Director as she looks at some of the images within the folder.

Steve Rogers has posed:
There is info in the folder about previous encounters with the Ptumi tribe. They range from deadly encounters back in the days when European sailing ships plied the area, to a more recent visit by an archeologist. There are indications the language shares some roots with a South Pacific language that Lara has some familiarity with.

"We'll get you to the island and close in. That is not easy land to traverse," Nick says. "But it'll be best if you approach them on the ground. Figuring out the best way to do that will be up to you. No satellite techs, just bring back everything there is," Nick Fury says.

He rises from his chair, moving over to the window to look out at the New York autumnal scenery. "Dr. Emmitt Jackson, an archeologist, had some contact with the tribe seven years ago. He is on a quinjet that will be touching down in 15 minutes. You can get as much information from him as possible. He's not cleared to know about the satellite, but knows there is a matter of national security that requires contact with the tribe."

Nick turns back from the window. "The agent that picked him up said he suggests sending a woman in alone would be viewed poorly by the tribe. So you should take one male agent with you. For protection, but you're in charge of the mission. This is important, the rosters of SHIELD and WAND are open to you to select someone qualified. There are dangers besides the possibility of the tribe being hostile. A foreign power trying to recover the satellite is also a possibility, as well as other tribes and the jungle itself."

Lara Croft has posed:
After flipping through the folder, Lara just looks up to Nick when he speaks of the situation details. "I've heard of his name." She says of the archaeologist that he mentions. "Look forward to meeting him." She adds softly before she nods her head once and then moves to stand up. She gathers up the folder to take with her for the ride. "I'll get suited up then and head to the landing field." She tells him.

"It shouldn't be too hard. Generally tribes like this are quite receptive to outsiders. It's only the rare occasions where you come across one that would wish you any harm. We might have to trade them a few shirts and shorts for the computer parts, but I can't imagine that will be too hard an ask." She adds with a sly grin then.

"Is that all, sir?" She asks as she stands and holds the folder against her side. "I'll grab someone for the trip to come with who I think will help with the talks. Someone with a nice disposition." She states with a sly grin touching her expression.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"That's it, Agent Croft," Nick tells her. "Good luck, and god speed. If you need to trade more than t-shirts, it's fine. Medicines, technology, whatever it takes to get our own tech back," he tells her. "Agent Roland is waiting outside the door for you. He'll help with any other requisitions you need for the mission, and can have things waiting for you in Australia for the jump to New Guinea," he says.

He hits a button at his desk and the security door opens for her. "Agent," he says, dismissing her then.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had stopped back by her office and gathered up her messenger bag with a few things in it, along with her light duty jacket adorned with a SHIELD shoulder patch on one side and WAND patch on the other shoulder. She texts a message to Steve to ask how his calendar looks for the next few days before she heads off to the site where she knows the Doctor will be arriving.

Once she has it setup for a meeting with him, Lara is seated in the small conference room in one of the chairs with the spot lights angled down at the polished table surface, and that folder resting in front of her. She glances down at her phone again, and lets out a soft exhale as she sends out a few texts to other people within WAND, incase Steve is busy with Big Damn Hero stuff and unable to go with her on this one...

Steve Rogers has posed:
The message that Steve sends back is that he has an appearance at a school spelling bee coming up but other than that his schedule is pretty clear. And does she have something special in mind?

The door opens and an agent walks in Dr. Jackson. He has a rather studious look to him. In his forties, short, a bit tubby and glasses, with a hair line that has receded on top but has a fringe of hair around the edges. He looks a bit like an overweight and balding Rick Moranis from Ghost Busters.

"Dr. Croft, Emmitt Jackson. So good to meet you. I'm a big fan of your work," he says as he comes over and offers his hand. "Wow, I didn't realize you were at SHIELD. I didn't even realize they needed people like us," he says, looking around with a bit of awe. Though, it's just a regular looking conference room so it's more the knowledge of where he is than the room itself.

"So I understand you need to know about the Ptumi tribe?" he says. "They didn't give me a lot of details, just that you would be going to make contact with them?" he says.

The agent brings in a heavy bag of what turn out to be Dr. Jackson's research on the tribe.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is texting Steve back with a simple 'How do you like volcanos and jungles?' and then Dr. Jackson is arriving and she sets her phone down. She stands up and walks over to him to offer him a handshake, being a few inches taller than he is, especially in her boots, she has one of those rare moments where she is taller than a man, though he's likely used to it. "Oh, I haven't earned my Doctorate yet, hopefully in the next few years." She tells him with a smile. "But yes... welcome to the Triskelion." She motions around the room. "Would you like some coffee or tea?" She asks, motioning to the side of the room that has those items already prepared for just such meetings here today.

"And... yes... SHIELD has a wide array of interests across the globe, and beyond, and they've made quite a valuable case for aiding them, for people such as you, or I." She tells him with a slight grin as she steps back toward her stuff.

"Right, yes, the Ptumi aren't well known in the SHIELD database, she says while motioning to the slim folder at her place at the table. "I think they were hoping you could give me a bit of a crash course on what to expect, and how we might better interact with them on this trip. I'll be going with just one other SHIELD agent, and hopefully not staying long, just a brief back and forth..."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Dr. Emmitt Jackson accepts the offer of coffee, going over to pour himself a cup. "Oh wow, they have croissants too. Oh with chocolate in them!" he says, putting one on a plate. Then adding a second one. "I wish the University had this," he says, bringing the coffee and plate back over and sitting down.

"Right, so the Ptumi do a little bit of planting of crops in very small amounts. But primarily they are a hunter, patriarchal based society," he tells her. "They have not much had contact with the outside. They aren't necessarily aggressive from the get go. But they are territorial," he tells Lara.

"I've got recordings I made of parts of their dialect I was able to work out. They are related to the Malinga tribe's dialect somewhat, which I understand you have some awareness of," he tells her.

He glances over to the agent who brought him in, who is standing in the room still in case Lara needs him. "So, they didn't like me much," Dr. Jacksons says. "Being hunters and all, I wasn't really... physically, the type to gain their admiration. But they were curious enough to talk with me some, just the same."

He takes a sip of his coffee and then waves a hand towards Lara. "I'm sure they'll be much more interested in talking with you since you're so..." he says before seeming to change what he was about to say. "I meant that, you're obviously very..." he says, and then trails off again as if thinking twice of his wording. "That is... I'm sure you will... have an appeal, that I did not," he finally says diplomatically.


Lara's phone chimes. Steve replying back. "If they are volcanoes and jungles near where you're at, then my favorite place to be. Should I be packing my mosquito repellant?"

Lara Croft has posed:
As the man had begun to explain, Lara went to get them both a cup of tea. She came back about half way through what he was saying, and then lowered herself down to sit upon the edge of the chair. She sips her tea, then lowers it down to rest in front of her, her hands wrapped around its base. His stumbling words there at the end have her smiling at him, keeping eye contact with him, as she's not one to break eye contact, and she's got quite a lot of etiquette training after all.

"Well. That remains to be seen." Lara says with a calm edge to her voice before she glances down to see Steve's response. It makes her smile too, but she looks back up to the doctor since her attention belongs to him for the time being.

"If such things help, then that's a bonus, to be sure." Lara adds softly. "And I was graced in my life to be able to pick languages up rather quickly, especially if immersed in them actively being used, which I was in my teenage years quite a lot. Plus, as you know, we do a lot of traveling, and that gives us time for a lot of homework."

She smiles at him with a reserved calmliness, then draws in a breath. "Would you say that the Ptumi are open to trade with the outside world? What kind of material items would we wish to take with us to help them the most? Medicine? Clothing? Do they like rugbi?" She asks with a little laugh.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The professor eats his pastry, big bites, though chewing thoroughly in between them. "Well," he says, "they were curious about things I had. One of them took my camera, thankfully I had a backup. Though they couldn't operate it, just it interested them. I only got to see a little of the women. They seemed adorned with jewelry. Beads made from dried plants and woven things, plus some precious metals, so they might find some of our jewelry of interest. They didn't have a lot of it that I could see," he tells Lara.

"They didn't let me go to their village, but they do have one. I think it's semi-permanent. Perhaps more than one location if they move about hunting with the seasons, though the climate is quite warm so I don't know that is very necessary," he tells her.

He looks thoughtful. "I think the novelty of me being different wore off quickly. If I had it to do over I'd have spent more time trying to adapt to their culture. I think they might have accepted me more if I had," he tells her. "They do seem to favor physical prowess, so I don't know maybe I should have taken a buff grad student or something," he says. "You could try medicine, though unless they had someone sick you actually cured, I'm not sure if they would understand. As for clothing, it's quite hot. THey were mostly in loincloths. The women... ah... well, they didn't wear... up top. Except for some woven things that sometimes covered them, sometimes not."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara nods her head gently to what he's saying as he replies to her. She cups that tea and raises it up to her lips for another sip. When she lowers it she shows him another light smile at his talk of their clothing styles. "Noted." She tells him then before smiling faintly. "I'm trying to make sure to get someone to go with me who should meet their physical stature admirations." She eludes with another quick grin.

"And perhaps you'll get another chance to approach them someday, Doctor." She says then to be friendly. "I mean, perhaps you'll put in a application with us here, and find yourself back in New Guinea in no time."

She's just being a bit silly though, as she sits there on the edge of that office chair with her back straight, that light duty jacket resting on her shoulders and her ponytail draped down over the front of her right shoulder.

She nods to what he brought then. "If you'd be willing to share whatever you brought, those voice recordings, and such, that would help me a great deal on the journey there, I am sure. Whatever you have that you think would help me make this cooperation easier, I'd certainly appreciate it. Though I enjoy meeting the remote tribes of these far away places, this particular trip I hope is a swift one."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Dr. Jackson sits up straighter. "I... would... be... so happy to apply," he says of the thought of joining SHIELD. Probably not a good fit, but the guy can dream. "If you would like to meet and go over what you learn from them when you return, I'd be happy to cosponsor a paper with you on it if my research combined with yours would add to our understanding. They are a fascinating tribe. I wish I'd had more time with them," he says.

He motions to his materials. "I agreed you could take them as you need, they said they would be returned," he tells Lara. "Plus I back up everything. Lost a computer once to a virus that I got from clicking on... um... well, where I got it doesn't matter. But yes, I would like it all back but I'm not without it in the meantime."

The agent touches a hand to his ear as he listens to a message. He steps forward to the table. "The aircraft is being prepped, Agent Croft. If there are any materials we need to requisition we can work on having them waiting for you over at the base in Australia you'll be leaving from," he says.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara lightly laughs again at the man and nods her head a few vague times. "Leave your contact information with the front desk and I'll make sure to send you an e-mail to let you know how the trip went, as much as I am able to divulge anyway." She offers before that message comes through and Lara exhales. "Right. Well then. I guess it's time to get a move on." She says, pushing her tea cup aside and picking up her folder, along with what he was providing. She has it put away in her messenger bag, and is sliding the strap over her head and shoulders then. She offers him another handshake and some parting words before heading out.

Some time later, Lara has sunglasses on, and is carrying a duffle bag of gear with her as she heads up the Quinjet ramp.

She'd fired some texts back to Steve to let him know some more details on their secured SHIELD server and then just made herself comfortable within the jet, one leg extended out and her tablet computer on her lap as she'd greeted the Jet crew and was now simply waiting.

Steve Rogers has posed:
About 10 minutes after Lara is seated in the jet, a shadow is cast up the entry ramp at the back of the plane. Steve Rogers strides up, wearing boots and khaki pants and a snug fitting dark grey t-shirt. He had a pack slung over one shoulder, including a rifle attached to it, and his shield is in his other hand.

"So I'm guessing dinner at Jonah's is going to have to wait?" he says as the eyes the color of a cool Arctic sky find Lara in her seat. Steve stows his bag in a compartment so it doesn't shift around in the air, then closes the ramp. He walks ahead to clasp the pilot on the shoulder and nod to him, then returns back to take a seat beside Lara as the plane starts to rise into the air.

"I just want you to know that sacrificing me to the volcano god for good crops, might sound like a good idea now. But think ahead on who is going to help give out Halloween candy next year," he says as he straps himself in and turns his attention fully to Lara. "So just the two of us this mission?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara looks up from her seat to offer a smile to the arriving Steve. "I've already texted him to let him know." She says of Jonah. "He said he wants to come to wherever we're going, but he knows these SHIELD things are different from my own wild adventures." She adds a smirk before slipping her computer off to the side and then sitting forward on the seat as Steve greets the pilot, and then they're soon to get underway.

She smiles affectionately at him, then reaches out to give his arm a squeeze. "Truth be told, a colleague told me that this tribe we are to speak with is fond of physically strong men... and since Thor is away, I thought I'd call you." She teases him. After a second of lightly laughing then she picsk up some of the info about where they are going and hands it to him. "I'm hoping it won't take long though, as I know this is a bit remote of a trip. Probably a lot less chance of finding quaint little restaurants owned by lovely couples..."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers breaks out in a chuckle that comes from deep in his chest. "Oh, now I see how it is," he says of Lara's comment about Thor, Steve's eyes warm as he gazes over at the Englishwoman. "Is it the hair, do I need to grow it long?" he asks her teasingly back.

He leans closer, an arm going about Lara as she opens up the briefing and lets him see the material on the tribe. "Well, you never know," he says even as he's studying the materials. "Maybe we'll find a little spot we like ourselves and we can open up something there. I bet they've never experienced crab rangoon. We could probably have a popular little place. Assuming either of us can cook."

Steve taps a map and says, "This is some pretty rugged terrain. Hopefully they can set us down close." He sits back in his seat, his hand moving to the back of Lara's neck, gently brushing there. "Have you done this very often? Made this kind of contact with indigenous tribes? Ones that haven't had much contact with the rest of the world?"

Lara Croft has posed:
The Thor bit just has Lara showing a pleasant smile at him and a shake of her head. "Please no, I'm not a ponytail on guys kind of woman." She chides him a bit before she laughs softly and shakes her head. "Actually, large swaths of the country are not very appreciative of China, so it might be best to stick to hotdogs, or maybe even a Mexican restaurant of our own. I'm sure that would pass just fine." She says with a bit of British dry humor, and a smirk for him.

At his question her face falls in to an expression of thought. "Ah, yes, I've had experience with tribes that aren't used to outsiders, primarily in Southern America, so this will be a little new, but I've been looking up details." She picks up her tablet computer again and offers it over to him too now, loaded up with Ptumi tribe information now, even a few Youtube videos that are questionable in quality.

Lara leans over and whispers. "I will refrain from leading us to one of the New Guinea tribes that offer their spouses to visitors for the night." She says in a low tone and a little grin.

Steve Rogers has posed:
As Lara indicates her aversion to ponytails, Steve grins and reaches a hand up to his head and brushes his fingers through the blond hair that is far from a military cut, but that is kept rather trim at the least. "Hot dogs is something I could pull off cooking," he confirms, but leaves in doubt his skills in regards to Mexican, let alone other cuisines.

He breaks out in a chuckle then. "And, that's really a thing?" he says. For all that he is worldly in some ways, Steve is also quite gullible sometimes when it comes to the ways the world has changed, or just how much we know about it far flung parts of it now. Lara has told him a few things that she had to get out a book or pull up something from the internet before he was fully sure if she was teasing him or not.

His hand on the back of Lara's neck moves to her shoulder as he hugs her gently to his side. "I think I'm good hands though when it comes to getting people with spears to like us. Certainly have won me over," he tells her, leaning over to brush a brief kiss into the hair above her ear. The pilots are focused on flying enough to not notice the small PDA.