13541/United Nations: UNOOSA Joint Security Session

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United Nations: UNOOSA Joint Security Session
Date of Scene: 14 December 2022
Location: United Nations
Synopsis: The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs holds a routine security meeting to listen to various briefings and reports. SHIELD Deputy Director Maria Hill details the decades-long investigation of UAP - Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon - while Darcy Lewis presents a summary of the Shi'ar conflict and negotiations. They discuss a variety of topics, from the chance of alien intelligence operations, to bioweapons research... and oh yeah, there's a spy in the room. They try to arrest it, it goes crazy robot killer armor, and Jane-not-Thor saves the day with the help from her friends. Darcy still hates her job.
Cast of Characters: Darcy Lewis, Toni Ho, Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, Cecily Winters, Veira Lazarescu, Jemma Simmons, Jane Foster, Richard Stadler




Darcy Lewis has posed:
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs - UNOOSA for those who like their alphabet soup - is a sub-organization with a simple 'does what it says on the can' kind of mandate: coordinate multinational involvement in space beyond the planet's close orbital vicinity. While this language covers a dizzyingly broad number of concerns, it's primary goal is to provide a point of political interface between Earth's many governments and any alien polity that it encounters (an awful lot in the last decade, for those keeping track). In theory, UNOOSA gives Earth a united voice to speak to the stars.

As would surprise no one, theory and practice do not always go hand in hand. The UN is infamous for having trouble getting the governments of Earth to agree on anything, while UNOOSA is meant to deal with alien governments that often span multiple planets... if not vastly more. The group must juggle traditional superpower politics with the influence of actual superheroes, who have been heavily represented in early Earth-Alien contacts. This complexity is reflected in the representatives present today (some permanent, some rotating): the United States, the European Union, Russia, the People's Republic of China, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, Wakanda, Poseidonis and Themyscira. The final three represent the sponsors of the Atlantic Starport, which has quickly become a focal point in such business. It hosted Earth's first official diplomatic visit when the Shi'ar sent an envoy (after a previous military encounter near the moon).

The meeting has gone on for an hour already, held in a smaller conference room rather than the General Assembly chamber, and they've covered a number of topics. Many of them are pretty dry, negotiating how the various nations will contribute to similarly numerous ongoing programs. There is talk of building more facilities, both for diplomacy and defense. There is talk of who will pay for it.

On the whole, this meeting's agenda includes various security items, and two remain on the agenda. Both to be delivered by SHIELD members: Deputy Director Maria Hill, speaking on a 'new' old problem, so to speak, and a presentation on behalf of SWORD by a lesser-ranking agent who happened to get roped into it! Presently, after a brief recess after the first hour, refreshments are being served while Darcy is down at the end of the table fiddling with the projector. "I don't know who set this up..." she pulls out a cord, plugs it into a different input on the attached laptop, "Should be good now, Deputy Director."

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni Ho, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not the one who got roped into a presentation, thank god. A genius she might be, but space is not her thing. No, her thing is engineering and programming. And working on the security team, at least for today.

She's dressed in a black suit cut for a woman. Which is to say, the pant legs are skinny and the jacket is cut for a person with hips. Her pink hair is done up in a bun, and it looks like she's wearing weirdly metallic and segmented gloves. (This is, of course, the Iron Patriot Stealth armor.)

For the moment, she leans in a corner, barely seeming to pay a lot of attention to the speakers, instead watching the TacNet through her glasses (because they're her HUD because she cheats with gadgets.)

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Is there giving debriefs of her own recent experiences with extraterrestrials - the attacks on the spaceport, a raid on spaceborne genetics samples, various encounters with groups wielding weapons that were not of Earth origin.. She has her hands folded behind her back, adding to her reports as questions are given to her. She's more however here for security.
    This many high ranking personnel and experts together even in a secure site is going to have risks associated with it. So veering off the edge of paranoia she's here as well under the guise of answering questions.. And to help make sure if need be that any bodies stay buried.

Maria Hill has posed:
The Deputy Director of SHIELD, Maria Hill, approaches Darcy where she stands fiddling with that setup of tech hardware. "I believe in you." She tells her with a small smirk before she turns to face everyone who has been here for this past hour. Dressed in a dark blue attire of slacks and a button-up blazer, Maria's hair is tied up in a bun on the crown of her head. She places her hands on the podium at the head of the conference table and waits for just a beat before she speaks up.

"What I'm going to be explaining here today, to all of you, should be handled with a certain level of... skepticism. We may live in a world where contact with alien species' has become fairly normal, but that doesn't mean that we need to just accept every odd little thing to be the harbinger of some kind of new alien endeavor upon our planet."

That seems somewhat designed to temper thoughts, or expectations. Because it is.

Once Darcy has her hardware working, Maria motions to the projected images on the fancy screen. What lies upon them are a series of different angles, different quality, and very different styles... of all the same things. Shapes. Metallic shapes. All of them are inside of translucent spheres, though some of those images are more easily visible than others with regard to these 'bubbles' encasing the metal shapes.

Maria takes a breath. "These... are the handful of images I've brought with me here today, of UAPs... Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon that SHIELD has begun to explore the validity of. And why SHIELD might be exploring this, you might ask?" Maria states, scanning her eyes over everyone gathered here-in.

"Well. Since the opening of the Atlantic Starport, these UAPs have been greatly spiking in the presence across the Atlantic ocean, around the Starport, and around military vehicles, including SHIELD's own. That being said, some of these images here... pre-date these increases by years, and decades. These ... things... whatever they may be, have been spotted across the globe, for a very long time. They date back to the early 1960s, in fact, and have been catalogued ever since. However, with the sudden spike in sightings, sudden increase in activity, all seemingly centering around the Starport facility, the 'rumors' of these things being from other worlds... well, they're only growing in number, and thus... SHIELD is investigating. We need to find out more information, and so far it has been a surprising challenge."

Cecily Winters has posed:
    While STAR Labs might have a vested interest in alien diplomacy with a primary focus on either biological sciences or strange and powerful artifacts, that's not the purpose of Cecily's presence. Not entirely. She is the sole security detail for the speaker STAR had sent over, however, and while that person is off socializing during the break or shaking hands, browning noses, and making other inroads.. the fox is presently occupying herself with a cup of iced tea.

    "You would think after the numerous alien invasions we would have had something like this sorted out sooner..." she muses aloud, though largely lingering near the refreshments proper. She's packing professional and light, as always, with vest, skirt, and shoulder holster. Like an open-carrying Secret Service agent. She may also be one of the few openly metahumans in the room, with how much space her fluffy tails occupy.

    Despite the dry presentations, though, she's not exactly inattentive. In fact, the lull has her ears pricked up fully and while she may look aloof as she drinks her tea, she's scanning the room and listening to various snippets of chatter here and there. The quiet is always too quiet. Though the sight of a familiar redhead and a SHIELD Agent with pink hair earns a quirk of the brow. Though as the presentation starts, she draws her attention fully to another familiar face: Maria. And then the slides on the projector. The photos of the shapes and the talk of increasing activity earns a small frown, she's really been out of the loop on aliens since she nearly bit it.

Veira Lazarescu has posed:
Senior Agent Lazarescu is here with the Homeland Security contingent, not SHIELD for this go around. That's because she retired from that SHIELD this year after twenty years. Ignore the fact that she looks like she's in her early thirties! The one eyed woman is sitting with one leg crossed over the other and looking rather bond villainish with her eye-patch on, but she was far from it. She's taking note of things. Mainly what situations are, but she's not interrupting anything or talking. Though a fellow Homeland person does lean in to comment something to her before he settles back into his seat.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
As Director Hill speaks, Agent Jemma Simmons listens. But, it doesn't quite appear that Jemma is there as part of the security detail that SHIELD is providing. Not to say that Jemma isn't perfectly capable with performing that task. If one would notice, there is a hard line that can be seen through the blazer that she chose for the occasion, signifying the presence of at least a weapon....most likely her ICER. No, it seems that Jemma is here in her other capacity. That of doctor, scientist, and overall curious sort.

As Maria speaks, Jemma takes notice. The need to find information. Finding out information, especially of the scientific variety, is Jemma's specialty. So, it is the topic at hand that has the researcher's attention, rather than some of the occupants within. Questions must be answered! And already, Jemma is pondering just how those inquiries are to be addressed.

Jane Foster has posed:
UNOOSA is no secret to Jane Foster. Her day is spent shuttling between rooms to liaise with other politicians and weigh-in on certain matters, often dictated by scientific inquiries or completely spurious suggestions that require tactfully shooting down. Her official bio, the most prominent astrophysics consultant to SHIELD other than one Ms. Lewis, keeps her plenty busy. Not too wrapped up to pause in a hallway to murmur to a colleague, "They've inquired, off-the-record, about establishing a xenobiological database for scientific purposes. Proposed like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, on par with the ITPGRFA."

Jemma may well be fully capable of reading between the lines of the brunette's bland delivery and factual approach. Her kingdom for a cup of tea or coffee. "Any comments as a neutral expert?"

She then lapses quiet once Maria begins her presentation, because interrupting Dep. Dir. Hill is akin to a death sentence. Even the shelter of Jane's unmentioned rank won't do much. Rather more important to escape prospects of certain interested parties getting tissue and DNA samples -- if creatures even have DNA, and not some exotic cellular structure based around silicon, say. Her gaze turns up to the screens, sharply drawn to the details in all their granular or precise outlines.

Richard Stadler has posed:
Richard liked to pretend he was done with this sort of thing. Been there, done that, got the USID card. And certainly it would have stayed that way if he had taken a normal job at some high school that started with P.S. and ended with a number. But the place he worked at made it... difficult to leave the mindset of someone who was searching for threats, and, so when that friend of his at the WHO mentioned they might need some consulting work done on a sensetive topic a few weeks ago, Rick had decided to say yes.

He didn't expect that it would have lead to here, of all places. He'd only been to the UN headquaters once or twice before, and both of those were on tours of the building with some excited international bueraucrats playing to middle Americans. Not sitting in a room with more SHIELD agents per square meter than he'd seen since undoutably Geneva. Just take a deep breath, and remember that the worst thing they could do would be shread his reputation- best not to think about that. He certainly had little trouble with public speaking, but it was tellling that, if given the choice, he'd rather be shot at.

And at least, on that note, there hadn't been any objection to the Hi Power worn in a holster at his back covered by the dark blue suit jacket, just outside the tailored but otherwise plain dress shirt. A position he preferred.

"Tell me about it." Richard muses under his breath, before turning to the person he spoke and pausing at the... strange vulpine features of the woman. Only for a moment, though, before he makes an effort to speak past it. "It's not exactly as if Washington or the Triskellion was on the ball in 2012 to start."

He, too, is waiting to hear what Maria has to say. A leather bound document holder rests in the crook of his arm.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
She just watches and listens. Going back this far.. That lends itself to something with a deeper history. There were extensive records on previous observations and interventions on Earth by various off-planetary groups going back decades, if not centuries depending on how some ruins were interpreted.

Natasha does, however, know just like Jane that one does not interrupt Deputy Director Hill until she's had her coffee and she's been distracted by a subordinate filling out a form wrong and goes full bureaucrat-fu on them to make them perpetually suffer.

She goes to scan the crowd, watching amongst them. Sweeping for those that are on edge, that are alert.. Or anything that stands out with behaviors or that makes them seem a threat. They had just taken that group of stealthed Dark Elves attempting to assault Captain America..

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy doesn't seem quite as focused on Deputy Director Hill's presentation so much as the laptop, but this may be because she's already heard it and helped put the whole thing together. She does look up at one of the vintage photos as it gets projected on the screen, smiling to herself. Ah, such good resolution on that big screen. Original film stock has some advantages over digital!

After her boss has given the first of her spiel, she chimes in: "I'm going to be leading a small team to research the UAP contacts at the Starport, ah, with the blessings of its sponsors of course," she looks over toward where the Wakandan rep is sitting and gives the stern woman a smile, since she knows they've been a bit fussy on security. "We're still putting together the personnel. If you're consulting from outside of SHIELD, or are interested in attaching personnel from your own equivalent services," this is offered over to some of the international representatives, "we'll have information on how to get in touch on that process."

After that little interjection, she glances to her boss again, ready for her to go on.

Instead, the PRC rep speaks up. "It is most curious, Deputy Director, that some of this intelligence is... so very old, and yet we are only hearing about it now." This does not let on if they have recorded similar incidents themselves. "It is fortunate that these... strange objects seem so benign in their purpose. That is, if we can trust they are what you suggest they are."

Darcy is presently rolling her eyes, and then gives her boss a sympathetic look.

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni absolutely does not stare at the competent looking fox tailed woman. She does look at her in passing. More than once. She can't help herself. If asked, she'll just say it's because she's never seen someone with nine tails before. Whatever the real reason might be, she's not sharing.

The air around Toni seems to shimmer slightly. This means she probably has a forcefield active. Is it paranoia? Maybe. Probably not, though. She glances at the pictures being projected. She may or may not have seen them already. That's classified.

Maria Hill has posed:
With Darcy picking up to explain a bit about her role in this, in regard to SHIELD and sWORD's involvement, Maria just quiets for a time to listen and observe the others gathered about the table. With a quick look given to the displayed images, Maria looks back to Darcy when she finishes, then to the Wakandan Rep. She smiles softly to them, her hands still on the sides of the small podium before her.

"To be entirely forthright with you, ma'am, we're not making any claims as to what these unknown aerial phenomenon are yet..."

Maria lets that sink in for a moment as she scans everyone's faces again, at least the ones actually looking at her still.

"Are these from another world? Maybe. We know quite well that that is assuredly a possibility in this world we live in today, in 2022... However, it doesn't do anyone any benefit to just 'assume' such a thing. These could be drones long since developed by a foreign nation who hasn't felt a need to reveal such technology to the rest of the world. What we /do/ know is that when these UAPs have been approached, via our own aircraft, they have demonstrated tremendous agility. The kind of agility not seen in almost any country's possession. When approached, these objects went from being stationary, to snapping thousands of kilometers away in a mere second."

Maria snaps her fingers once to emphasize her words.

"To this end, and with SHIELD spying these UAPs on a near daily basis now, we are upping our involvement at the Atlantic Starport, with a team dedicated to finding out more information about what these things are." She then motions to Darcy, as Darcy had already just spoken on this.

"We're eager to let others be involved in this research too, and if you ARE interested, then this is the time for you to raise your hand, so to speak, to let us know you want in."

Maria scans the gathered once more. "With that said, if you have any questions, or comments, you don't wish to make here today, you can always reach me via my contact information provided here at the UN."

Veira Lazarescu has posed:
Veira looks at the pictures that slide over the screens. She was quiet in the study of them and taking notes again. They just wanted to make sure that things were going alright really. But the apparent attacks were a cause for some concern from higher ups. Veira was hoping to see the place a little closer since it was an amazing complex on its own. She then continues to listen to Director Hill's words and when she talks about research there is a moment taken to look at the other Homeland agents. None of them raise their hands.

Veira does though when Maria calls for people to raise their hand to be included in research.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Jane earns herself a glance over and a smile from Jemma as she catches the astrophysicist in the mix. A nod is given, then a glance back up to the displays with a slight tilt of the head. Almost too slight to notice...but it is there. Translation? Jemma is intrigued...and the data doesn't seem to add up.

At least, not yet.

And of course Jemma craves answers. She reaches into the right pocket of her blazer and pulls out a small device....small enough to mount on her wrist. Those in the know (namely Jane and a few others) would recognize the device as a Fitzsimmons special....Jemma's personal wrist computer/tablet. She slides it onto her left wrist...and starts tapping. That is, until Director Hill says for those interested. To which, Jemma's eyes snap back up...and there is most certainly a nod.

No, Jemma is not going to interrupt Director Hill any more than any other SHIELD agent. But there is interest, of that it is certain. Enough to prompt the need for research...in the middle of a security meeting that Jemma maybe ought to pay more attention as a security person than scientific person.

Right....like that will happen. Science is involved!

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "Or in 2018..." Cecily adds, sounding just a touch bitter as she responds to Richard. "...would think six years would've been enough time to do -something-..." she grunts under her breath before taking another long, slow drink of her iced tea. No folders, no attache cases, nothing. Just a fox woman and a .45 holstered in a chest rig. Her ears twitch and she feels eyes on her, now and again, but she never seems to catch Toni in the act. No meeting of eyes or anything. Besides, the presentation is certainly interesting.

    "...though now it's like Roswell all over again..." she says under her breath, still frowning. Then, she puts it into thought, and slowly raises her free hand. "If you need an extra set of well-trained eyes to ping these things in and around predetermined locations, I'm no stranger to setting up shop on cold, lonely rooftops for hours at a time," she volunteers vocally, voice calm and serious.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane's principal aim splits between observing the audience for Darcy and Maria's presentation and, as a secondary feature, examining the images on display. Far more interesting for her to determine the reactions of the general crowd.

A good deal of her observation takes on a passive form, sensitive to anything that might snag her particular interest. The finger-snap from the Deputy Director doesn't startle her like a fresh intern on her first run, though the sound still breaks through mental litmus testing for anyone a little too surprised or disposed to covering up their reactions.

It hardly needs to be said she intends to support Darcy's endeavours, so almost in strange concert with Jemma, she gives a brief dip of her chin to confirm that intention.

Back to the matter at hand; being a wallflower briefly smiling and returning to taking notes on a tablet that absolutely dislikes her in every way. About every fifth keystroke doesn't want to register, no way around it. Whatever messages she scribes to herself must be riddled with typos or shorthand scrivener's errors. Technology, who can trust it?

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would take a moment to head over towards Jane, speaking quietly, "What are your thoughts on their designs and construction?" They didn't seem to match what she knew of Shi'Ar construction styles. Kree? Thanagarian? Jane was the one that would know if anyone.
    "They do appear to be designed primarily for atmospheric flight.." She's looking over thier aerodynamics and how the craft were structured. TO her, at least, they seem to focus over on flight that requires going through a planet's orbit.

Richard Stadler has posed:
"New York was a bit outside my range." Rick mentions idly to Cecily, with the distracted air of someone whose eyes are on the speech itself. "Typical that the PRC wants to score some political points. I'm sure that leverage is going to come in handy at some point. Not a political scientist." He muses... before Director Hill asks for volunteers for heading out to the Starport.

Cecily's mention of time spent on rooftops does get a somewhat suprised glance from the man, but that made sense, he supposed, and he didn't have a lot of mental energy. The thoughts went through his head in the flash; a split second to have a knee jerk reaction to say no, that he had classes to set up, a job with students who wuld need to be taught. A split second to realize that winter break was coming up, telework was an option, and it wasn't as if he didn't already have most of the lesson plans for the spring written up. And a moment to ask himself if he was really considering this. Why was he considering it? Didn't he get enough excitement in Egypt? In Ireland? In that god-forsaken campsite?

No. Obviously not. Otherwise his hand wouldn't be up right now. Hell, if Indiana Jones could take a sabattical to fight Nazis, he could certainly see about handling the biological component of a fact-finding mission. The report AD Hill had made showed clearly that the tech they were looking at wasn't common, and that they had an 80 year head start on whatever they were here to accomplish. The call had gone out, and at the end of the day, he dreaded telling a classroom that he could have raised his hand, but didn't.

"I'm not an astrophysist, but I'm more than happy to assist with any biological component. I've a fair hand at planning, as well."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"That might have been more figurative," Darcy notes when Veira literally raises her hand. "But any of you who are interested, you can coordinate with Deputy Director Hill or through my own office, depending on your home organization or credentials."

When it seems like Maria's report is mostly done, Darcy gives a big 'ole thumbs up at the end. Good job, bosslady. But unfortunately, now it's her turn. She fiddles with another wire, then taps a key. "I've been asked by SWORD give an update on the Shi'ar situation, as I've been assigned to that desk. I'm going to run through the basics real quick and then brief on the new material."

She clicks on the laptop, bringing up a few slides that are shown on the larger projector screen. They seem to detail out the history of Shi'ar activity on or near Earth, and for some the list might be surprisingly long:

1970s: Suspected early contact by Shi'ar survey teams (see slide 10).
2002: Atmospheric contact near Anchorage, Alaska (Project Aurora).
2015: Brood Invasion (see file). Suspected involement of Shi'ar political
    disisdent codename 'Deathbird.'
2021-08: Lunar incident (see file). Salvage directed to SHIELD for research.
2022-06: Earth-Shi'ar treaty negotiations begin.
2022-07: Assassination of Ambassador K'van. Damage to Starport facilities.
    Low-yield antimatter device intercepted off eastern seaboard.
2022-ongoing: Investigation of assassination. Treaty finalization. Crime
    reports trigger WATCHFUL tech database hits.

Some of the topics may be more familiar to some of the representatives than others. The Wakandans still look mad when the slide covering the assassination comes up. But Darcy keeps clicking through the last one. "Today's briefing is actually on the last topic here. As you all know, SHIELD has been responsible for analysis of recovered Shi'ar technology in the aftermath of the 2021 lunar incident, in cooperation with international partners. Up until recently, we were under belief that we'd been successful in guaranteeing one of what we believed was the most important objective: preventing this tech from getting into the wrong hands. In fact, containment and return of tech is a core point of the treaty."

She takes a breath. "However...very recently we've received a handful of reports of strange technology being used in criminal incidents, with at least some correlation to similar Shi'ar tech. It's hard to believe we missed this much. Which leaves only two real possibilities. That we did miss it, or that some Shi'ar element is involved. The latter, of course, is entirely plausible. After the defection of a Shi'ar operative last year, we've learned that their intelligence operations on Earth go back at least half a century."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff goes to tap along at her key, moving to queue up some data, "Recently there was a raid at a genetics laboratory." She moves to type into it and brings up the specific data files. "Unfamiliar energy weapons were used." She goes to tap to the pad, bringing up holographic images of the weapons used, teh holes they blasted in the walls, and the low resolution energy patterns from the strikes.
    "They utilized some form of cloaking and short range teleportation technology. Or they might have been phasing. Some of them seemed to even be able to sync themself out of phase of attacks that were being targetted at them. They would then go fully material to engage once more." That.. Was not something that had been over in the initial report. Natasha waits for questions as to why something like this wasn't put in..
    While giving a very quick nod over at something else. Tapping on her cheek and clicking her tongue. A light glance given over towards Jane thoughtfully and she goes to let out a sigh and gives a small nod.

Toni Ho has posed:
Darcy's report is way more interesting to Toni, sorry Deputy Director. This is active and interesting and, well, that Shi'ar tech is cool as hell. The pink haired woman continues to do her security sweeps, but now her eyes flicker between the projections and the fox woman.

Dammit, Toni. Stop ogling people.

Her TacNet is still reading clear. This is a good thing.

Maria Hill has posed:
Maria quietly steps away from the podium then, yielding it to Darcy. "Thanks again." She says quietly to her before stepping back over to her seat at the table. Once settled in, the Deputy Director just glances at her own small tablet resting beside her leather case. She reads over something before setting it back down. Her full attention goes to Darcy then, as she leans back in her chair and crosses her legs at the knees. Comfortable mode, engaged.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Jemma seems to shift from one briefing to the next with relative ease. The purpose of the wrist mounted computer comes into fruition. Jemma is taking notes. Even has a file structure and everything all set up for the two different topics.

That is not to say that the wrist puter is not tied into security, either. Just...happens to be really good for notation. Still...a moment passes as Jemma regards her notes when there is a quick flutter on her screen. Those brown eyes look up, first to drift towards Jane, then up as Jemma surveils the room. It is apparent she is noticing the various contingent, perhaps for the first time fully. She continues to take in stock of the security in the room as well. Then...Jemma seems to resume tapping on her device without further incident.

But...something must have caught her attention. Jemma is more alert to the actual room rather than the information now.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    At the mention of things being more 'figurative', cecily slowly lowers her own hand and sighs, her tails flicking a little bit in agitation. "Well now there's a headcount of how many foolish people are in the room," she chuckles to herself and Rick, shaking her head. She focuses on Darcy's presentation now, though, and squints at the reports and the Shi'ar technology. "Oh hells, is that what that was?" she grunts quietly. "The bloody Ryker's prison break had a box of 'goodies' appear out of nowhere for the inmates to play with..."

    She rubs her forehead with the heel of her palm and shuts her eyes, slowly shaking her head, ears laying flat. "Not that it adds an extra dog for me in this race but weird tech and clear attempts at ... destablization are not exactly things to be taken lightly." The fox makes a mental note, maybe she's going to have to re-apply for SHIELD again. Or at least get signed on as a contractor. "Even if the damn thing was more like a toybox you'd find in the Hunger Games."

Veira Lazarescu has posed:
Veira's continuing to write notes on the situations. Taking down dates and trying to get the general feel of things. She's frowning over a few things, but the Romanian doesn't speak on anything. There's already a lot of noise going on and adding to it would be rude. She lowers her hand after her name was taken for research things and she looks to one of her fellow Homeland agents before showing them one of the notes again. Apparently they missed something.

Jane Foster has posed:
Delicately, Jane taps away at the tablet. She is not bound to look at kitsune with the same direct interest as Toni, partly because her tech deigns to misbehave under the glacial sweep and loop of her fingertip. Words string into sentences that form a neat block, immediately encrypted and swallowed up by the abyssal software that is SHIELD tech. Or Stark-tech. Probably both.

She finally settles back somewhat. Her gaze flicks to Natasha upon that interesting tidbit put out there about phasing, following up on Darcy's details about the Shi'ar. The shifting lean to her posture speaks of interest, alert to the growing timeline.

Clearly quite self-absorbed by all the functions. No frowns, yet.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
And surprise surprise, when there's a chance to harp on 'SHIELD maybe screwed up', it's a familiar face that pops up. The PRC rep! "You say that it is rogue alien agents, but is the likely answer not much simpler than that? That you failed in securing these devices? We have also heard many of these reports, but there is no pattern to them..." He does seem keenly interested when Natasha gives her own little briefing, which causes him to scowl and briefly turn to angrily question one of his own aides in Mandarin, before looking back. "We have not heard of some of these devices. If SHIELD has access to such technology, we demand that our own intelligence service be granted access for analysis!"

This causes a round of voiceferous argument from the various national representatives, particular Russia, India and Japan, who all have their own security concerns with China. Fun times! A few of the more neutral players, like Kenya and Brazil, seem less concerened, watching the proceedings.

Darcy looks like she's just trying to keep things from going to hell. "Thank you Agent," she says when Nat gives her own report. "Let's-" She pauses, glancing over toward Cecily, and then down toward her screen. "Hmm, do we have that one- you said they materialized out of nowhere? 'Transport' tech is definitely one of their bigger edges..." She clears her throat. "There's also another matter, on which I believe we have a guest expert from outside the agency?" She's looking around the crowd. "Dr. Stadler?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Then Natasha goes to slowly narrow her eyes and give a quick, quick glance over at the suddenly very quiet neutral players. A quick scan of her eyes over them each in turn. They do seem to be taking this rather well after all. Maybe they don't mind having been left out of the loop?
    It's all politics. Natasha goes over to move over, taking her fingers to tap into the keys, "We don't have technology of the sort, Ambassador. However, do forgive me.. We have been tracking some things that.." Natasha goes to rapidly sweep through data, rejiggering files.. "Have been sold on the market lately in your country that has a strong resemblance to what we've observed." She makes a show of quickly sorting through things on her datapadd, flashing through files and pictures too quickly to be tracked.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
A quick tap on the wrist mounted device and then Jemma lowers her arm down. There is a blink of surprise as she sees Natasha run through her files on her own device. "Excuse me, Agent Romanoff...did I see what I thought I saw?" The comment brings Jemma closer to the Brazilian contingent, with Jemma taking an approach that will position her left side towards the group. The side that most conveniently has her technological device positioned between her and the group. It is only for a moment or two...just a couple of minutes as Jemma makes a show of looking over towards Nat's device..then shakes her head. "Oh, no. Sorry. My mistake."

The scientist does remain there for a few moments more, her gaze shifting from the redhead to the Brazilian group. They drift over and pause momentarily upon one of the security detail. Then, with a blink, Jemma lifts her wrist up. "Oh, forgot I left this on..." Those eyes refocus upon the wrist computer, as Jemma reaches over to tap upon the screen's surface.

Another smile is flashed. "if you please excuse me...." Then...Jemma turns away, finishing some work on that device of hers.

Toni Ho has posed:
The tension is ratcheting up in the room. Toni engages in some blink commands to her HUD, getting ready in case trouble arrives. She has a gut feeling that things might turn south really fast.

The shimmering hum around her intensifies as the pink haired agent starts skirting the perimiter of the room, making towards the non-combatants.

Veira Lazarescu has posed:
Veira is looking around, her umber colored eye giving a look over other attendees. It's getting really tense and that's not a good feeling. The one eyed woman stops taking notes and slides the pad into her bag and then settles back to try to make herself a bit more comfortable. She's mentally counting to ten, trying to calm her own mind as the feeling spreads a little.

Richard Stadler has posed:
Ahh, the downside to being on the cutting edge. Somethings Richard had gotten some information on; he recalled there being some incident in 2015, like what Cecily was mentioning in 2018. Something in a briefing packet passed along to those who needed to be on standby. 2021 had been outside his purview entirely, though, and it was somtimes just a bit painful to be reminded of the dangers lurking in the dark just beyond one's sight. Like getting blindsided that suddenly we were at Defcon 2 (maybe he'd chalk that up to the President being a bit... off). How much else was there that was about to threaten the world with utter anhilation for a couple of decades that he didn't know about for lack of a clearance level? Not that he hadn't seen a few things like that in Russia or Africa...

Cecily get's a slightly dismissive wave of his own hand as she lowers it. "I'd do the same thing. Too much of a call to action to ignore. Though maybe I'm regrestting a little of this with that sort of tech. I don't like failing in the roll of global security-"

And there, it was show time. And right after some guff from the PRC too. Once again, the familiar twinge of being out of his leage or depth... but thankfully this was something he was getting a bit more experience for. At least here he'd be briefed about the superheroes instead of getting blindsided by who was what. He gives a nod over to Darcy as he approches, taking a few steps up to the podium itself, and to the assembled room. "Ladies and gentleman, my name's Doctor Richard Stadler. I was asked by a concerned associated party to lend my expertise on what might have been the objective of the team that," Hell, what was that red-head's name? "Our collegue," Here, he geastures to Natasha, and he'd have ot remember to ask afterward. Damned embarassing. ", has mentioned using aliening tech was after at the genetics lab." He notes, opening up the leather document holder, adjusting his glasses as he runs through some notes. "I understand we're pressed for time, so I won't go into the technical details. Data will be avalible to be transmitted to interested agencies, but I can tell you we are looking at two issues. One is what the material does, and the other is what sort of weaponization we're looking at."

A flip through documents. "To handle the first, the material captured suggests technology involved in genetic engineering. Specifically in terms of altering a genome to either cause existing protein-coded prokaryotes containing so-called 'junk DNA' to express themselves past normal genomic sequences, or otherwise to reencode existing portions of the genome to present a new function. As of yet, the retroviral agent we're investigating as a possible vector is more of a 'framework'. Strictly speaking, while we're looking a defined range of what it could effect, the range is broad enough to be effectivly limitless. To be honest, a cursory glance seems to show some correlation with the 'terragenesis' event that occured after 2012, though I want to caution that this could just be similar results being driven from vastly different mechanisms that may have no connection."

Another flip. "Now. I could say something trite, like I don't want to alarm you, but this meeting has put us well past that. I have a lot of unknowns in terms of weaponization- It's possible we could see a common aerosol vector, or some animal based pathogen spread. I don't have enough data to suggest a specific operating method, but what I can say is that this is a biological agent. It is designed and engineered in such a way to be communicable." Let that sink in.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Talking about an enemy having spies among you for decades can certainly provoke a touch of paranoia. Except it's not paranoia if there's really an intergalactic terrorist out to get you. And if there was any meeting in the world they'd want to sit in on, well...

In the background of discussion of technological proliferation, some of the SHIELD types are snooping. They're on the trail, it seems, with a quarry in sight. The Brazilian delegation is certainly one of the less animated in this large discussion. Their country is a rising power, geographically distant from many of the traditional hotspots of the traditional political order. There's everything to gain here, by their inovlement, but not by making enemies or throwing around their weight, as the US and China might. Their representative a woman in her late 30s, with just a pair of her own security, who stand back at a distance, largely letting SHIELD run the show.

She looks as surprised as everyone with what happens next.

Dr. Stadler is giving his report, which shouldn't be dismissed under all this chaos. The phrase 'biological agent' is up there with 'alien infiltrator.' Darcy, as before with her boss's speech, has seen some of this in text already, so she's a little bored, it's true. Until the SHIELD security frequencies start relaying worrying stuff. "Oh crap, Director get-" She turns for Maria, who is still nearby.

And then everyone is moving.

But that goes for their target as well. Is it the body language that tips hims off? Jemma trying to play spy? Or maybe it's the communicators. Is there such a thing as a 'secure frequency,' really? The man they're moving for turns very slowly at first, adjusting the dark sunglasses he wears, and lifting a hand to his chest. One might assume he was reaching inside his jacket for a weapon, and maybe if he was, they'd be fast enough to stop him. But he only goes so far as touching the center of his chest.

Then there's a flash of light, and where the man was, a strange armored form stands. Black with a distinctive red visor and 'gem' at the center of his chest, where the man was touching moments before. To SHIELD, again, this is another familiarity. Not a 'standard' infiltrator, but a new and elusive foe present at many of the recent incidents. One still largely unknown and too classified for Darcy to put in power points for the Chinese (sorry!).

"-down!" Darcy awkwardly tackles her boss as the armor lifts an arm, shifting it into some kind of cannon in the process, and a moment later, vaporizes the top of their table. His other arm sweeps upward and out toward the agents maneuvering to surround him, dragging with it the trailing form of a metal wing, launching bladed projectiles in a wide arc toward the lot of them.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
And that's when Natasha goes to leap over into motion. She trusts Toni to handle cover and crowd control even as she's leaping into the air to ready for a quick attack and sommersault. The target has spent their time going for a flashy transformation. That gives her just a few more thousandths of a second to jump over into motion. Even if the goggles block out muchof the light field, there will -still- be just a little bit of disorientation from the bright light. Natasha wasn't a xenobiologist.. But even things as adapted for deep space as the Shi'Ar still had membranes in their eyes to help deal with light. So she just needs that micro-second or so of adjustment..
    To make her leap, which she's going to snap through the room over to launch with a pair of Widow's Bites aimed over at the entity's arm. The two small darts would be launched to hopefully land firmly over on the arm, small pincers anchoring them in as they would flood the thing with a massive burst of electricity. They were configured for terrestrial based adversaries and armor, rather than whatever the Shi'Ar had.. But, hopefully some level of the same principle would apply when it came to shorting ot the thing. Or at least slowing it.
    Even if the shot didn't drop it.. That's what the other agents were for. She was just one part of a team.

Jane Foster has posed:
While the usual array of activity continues, Jane continues to diligently take notes. Someone has to, after all, despite the changing attitude in the room and the rapprochement that very clearly won't be approaching over coffee. She eases back into her seat, carefully bracing the tablet on her knee, looking very much like she might rather be elsewhere.

Then Richard swoops in, and she can practically brighten. He has documents, material, and notes to review. She follows with keen interest, for the eddies and snarls of politics are better left in the hands of those deft individuals used to putting up with temperamental world leaders or their representatives.

This is a matter she can wholly follow, following the relative skipping stones. "What specific data have you produced that would associate the current material -- with its technical profile acting as a gene engineering capacity -- with the previous event you referred to in 2012? As it stands, there are several parallel events or isolated incidents on record with accelerated expression of metahuman abilities or biological variations that have been either traced to entirely different functions. For example, a different pre-existing sensitivity for environmental conditions; mutations shared within a population group, akin to say, mutagenic variable predispositions to occur within the Ashkenazi Jewish community. Not to mention those which have been considerably less open. Are we risking a fracas with the delegations from our esteemed scientific partners by bringing this to the fore under the given auspices of the agency? With no disrespect to those present."

She doesn't get further than that, particularly since the proverbial detritus hits the spinning fan blades. Details continue to be properly recorded for perpetuity via other devices, and then the wild swing of metal flechettes threaten to flense them all.

Someone who spends as much time ducking behind tables as she does reflexively ought to know how to drop. And she does, though the trajectory of her roll puts her in front of Jemma Simmons. When she's rising, the air starts to immediately shudder.

Maria Hill has posed:
Director Hill was quietly observing, having sensed some of the rising tensions, though her gaze was solely locked on Staddler out of respect for the current speaker.

She's only just turning her head toward the man who 'changes' when she hears Darcy shout... and is summarily tackled right out of her chair to the floor of the conference hall. Needless to say what follows there-after is pure chaos, with screams, and a cacophony of other noises.

Looking disoriented, Maria starts to push herself up, whil,e trying to get out of any line of sight of that armored foe.

"What in the actual fuck." She says amongst all the rest of the noise within the chamber now.

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni's HUD is going ballistic with comms data and scans of the energy spectrum. Something is coming and fast. Toni's eyes are a bit wild as she blinks her eyes in patterns to alter her forcefield.

The being's disguise fades and Toni starts rapid-fire swearing. She sprints then, her sensible shoes sliding on the floor as she puts herself between the non-combatants and the armored figure. She throws her arms wide and the group is encased in a half-sphere of shimmering energy.

"Deal with this quick! I don't know how many hits it can take from that! I knew I should have brought the big one! Shit!"

Veira Lazarescu has posed:
Get down? The blades flying towards the crowd causes Veira to actually jump in front of one. Blood magic was something that definitely required blood and she was just getting the hard part out of the way. She rips the blade out of her arm, leaving a line of scarlet behind as she does. "Get. Down." she tells the others that are around her.

Morana's avatar gets to her feet and fires an icy bolt of magic back towards the attacker before she climbs over a chair to get more distance. She sees Jane going into kick ass mode and there's a bit of a nod to this. Maybe this was going to be a good night after all!

Jemma Simmons has posed:
"Correction! Definitely Shi'ar!"

That is about all that Jemma gets out as the guard shifts to Iron Birdman. And really, about all that she gets out before she in turn is protected by a quick-thinking Dr Jane Foster. Though, just how quick that was is still surprising to Jemma. It was quick enough to cause Jemma to duck just enough to prevent a meeting of iron-clad feather to unprotected cranium. And, that in turn buys Jemma some time to consider how to strike back. Certainly, she was not expecting a suit of armor.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    While Rick's particular report isn't exactly in her wheelhouse, it does pique some interest in the fox. Cecily tilts her head, listening to the talk, frowning thoughtfully. "Though could it also be harnessed for various types of beneficial genetic engineering?" she posits, between Jane and Rick, her tails flitting back and forth as she's a clear example of such... tampering. The tensions in the room don't go unnoticed, but Cecily was chalking it up to the more conventional ones. The tensions between rival nations' delegations and the like. Not. Something else.

    Her eyes go wide and the nearly-empty cup of iced tea is released in favor of drawing her sidearm. "Can't bring the big gun to the UN they said," she grouses, moving with the agents to put herself between the civilians and the oncoming blades--especially her liaison with the labs. That would look bad on her AAR. "...you won't need one that big they said..." her free arm sweeps up, ribbons of blue-purple flame spiralling up it before lashing out at the blades coming closest to her so she can whip them down towards the floor instead of at head or chest height.

    "Bullshit," she grits her teeth, snapping off a trio of entirely too average .45 caliber rounds at the armored figure. "..you /always/ need the big one."

Richard Stadler has posed:
Of course Richard has documents. People can talk about firearms and the strength of will of men and women, but anyone worth their salt knew the world was moved by mountains of paperwork. Or, at least, they should. He acknowledges both Jane and Cecily with a quick nod of his head to each in turn. "Beneficial, possibly, but it would be irresponsible; genetic expression is touchy at best, and to be so widespread would have issues, to say the least. As for the incident in 2012, there's some correlating data. Unfortunatly, USARMDC was significantly degraded in it's capabilities to collect good data on the actual expression events, but from analysis-"

Oh, Hell.

He had been too engrossed in Jane's question, to making sure the presentation ensured the right feeling among policy makers, to make a conscious note of the sudden shift in the security personel's posture. He would be sure to note something unconscious after the fact, if he got out of this. A slight hackle raising, just before that sudden flash of light and something that was decidedly not friendly was in the middle of the room with them. And, his reaction was also something that would have gotten him killed if that armored, winged suit decided he would have been a better target.

It took a little under two seconds for the reflexive action to be made, and it was mostly muscle memory. The holster was something he was familiar with, as was the weapon, and it was a trifle to move his jacket, draw, and fire two rounds from the Browning in his hand at the armored target.

They wouldn't do much; Forty Caliber Smith and Wesson would have been bounced by commerical body armor from the Oughts; certainly the most he could hope for was a distraction, and he was already shoving the podium (thankfully something study and wooden) to the floor, laying behind it.

Only now could he take stock. And this was /not/ a good positon to be in. Dress shirts didn't block firepower like that.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Ow. Ah. Sorry about that," Darcy mutters, as she disengages from the awkward pile she ends up in on the floor. "You know, sometimes I really hate this job." Right now, she is totally blaming Jane! She gets onto her hands and knees, and then partly up, looking around. "We gotta get you outta here I think," she tells Maria. "And the politician types. They will so defund us if all of them die."

Everyone else leaps into more direct action.

Natasha is the first, already on the prowl for her target. It's swift in that armor, surprisingly so, although its graceful twisting motions aren't so swift as to avoid her charged weapons. They hit, discharging blue sparks across its surface...

...but this barely seems to slow it, through whatever strange materials, insulations, and other protections. Instead, as she lands, it's ready to take another swipe with one of those bladed wings, cutting across at the height of her midsection. The arm cannon is raised for another shot, this one indeed at the row of representatives (aiming in the vicinity of the EU and Japan, although who's to say if its really making those distinctions!), only for the blast to hit Toni's forcefield. It is a LOT of energy, threatening whatever safe thresholds it has.

With attacks from multiple directions, an icy bolt strikes it as well, although like with the stingers, SHIELD icer rounds (Darcy fightin'!), Cecily's small arms, the perfectly normal S&W... it doesn't seem easy to penetrate, shattering against the strange, black surface. There is a sense of some strange interaction as it shatters, however, a slight crackling of resonance.

Still, for all of this, the armor seems largely unbothered. With the first blast abated, it continues toward the midst of the now chaotically-fleeing national represenatives. Of course, while some run, some fight - the Wakandan woman producing a collapsable spear and the Themysciran converting an earing into a throwing blade. They leap forward to meet the armor rather than letting it reach the others, clashing and parrying against those wing blades. But even their considerable strength and skill seems ill-matched for the technological horror. The Wakandan scores a penetrating hit with her (Vibranium!) spear, but is then thrown across the room by a wing-sweep, while the Amazon parries one blow with her bracer, only to be slashed across the chest, spraying blood. The armor looks back, and from where that single impact breached the armor...

...it reveals it not to be armor at all, but some kind of android, with strange circuitry barely visible within.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Her strikes aren't doing much damage, and she doesn't have her own heavy weaponry on her either. Natasha can only move to snap up with her combat batons to try and strike over the transforming cannon of the armored sentinel to try and go for strike points on it to discharge the full capacitor of them. They're not going to be particularly effective; she's not expecting htem to be. She's hoping that they can knock it off target enough that it can't take a direct shot over at the civilians and give them some time to get to cover. She goes to switch to the SHIELD-comm system.
    <<Suggestions?>> She moves to dart away to disengage, even as she doesn't bother with drawing out her own pistol. That's going to be useless and she doesn't have anything heavier on her. She hsould have packed grenades.. Or just convinced Nadia to shrink her some explosives down to pellet form. But isntead she's left with Widnow's Bites that aren't useful.. She goes to take out her twin staves, ducking behind cover, and moves to work over at splicing together the wires from one of her garottes.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily knew what she was expecting. And that is jack all for her bullets to do anything to this... thing. But that's not her intention. She uses her tails to give cover to the people behind her, the massive lengths of fluff fanning out as she tries to sweep them towards the door. At the same time she's busy with her hands, racking the slide and locking it before dropping the mag--now sans four rounds. She isn't on SHIELD comms but she can still yell. "Get me a clear shot at the hole that spear made!" she calls out to any and all within earshot over the chaos.

    Maybe it'll also just ring the dinnerbell and get attention pinned on her, instead, but she's got the magazine in her mouth and her free hand reaching under her skirt, pulling rounds out of a band strapped to her thigh. They look like .45 caliber rounds in shape and size but instead of a bullet, there's a clear capsule filled with the same bright blue-purple light she'd used to deflect some of the blades sent her way.

    It's not, however, a convenient process, having to thumb cartridges into a magazine in the middle of a firefight, hence her call for some kind of distraction, or redirection. With any luck she'll avoid having a blade shoved through her chest. Then she'd have to reset that 'Last Impaled On X Date' timer.

Jane Foster has posed:
In the time it takes for Darcy to discharge an ICER, a small object wakes up on the west side of Central Park. It rises, orienting exactly 2.3 miles as Huginn flies. "Securing the target," Jane relays softly through the comms linked up to her SHIELD compatriots, which is rather an awfully interesting thing for the Nobel astrophysicist to announce with the Black Widow and Dr. Ho falling into position around Agent Lazarescu's deft spellcraft or Cecily burning away pinion-knives.

Doubly because she announces this wearing a dress, rather than her preferred shirt or sweater-and-slacks combo. Dress nicely, the Midnight King advised. It exudes professionalism and capability, respect for the diplomatic attaches. Insult to limited injury, she's worn the outfit once and already ripped it somewhere. In a distant hallway, papers rustle and doors judder in their frames, plants eagerly applauding with trembling foliage.

<<Hello, Raptor,>> she calls to it in Shi'ar. Pitch perfect enunciation produces sounds that a human trachea typically cannot form without trouble, and the slightly clipped tone reeks of the high militaristic nobility. <<You and your host breach Terran law.>> Static plies a writhing path in a bow wave that accompanies a runaway star tearing through the United Nations building at an impressively high velocity. <<Cease now.>>

An uru mallet flips end over end at the armoured Raptor while she sprints at it. Providential the way she catches the handle, twisting in an acrobatic dance launched airborne. The armoured warrior twists in a furious explosion of light and discharged blue-white energy, a falling star suspended on a rippling scarlet cape when she brings down Mjolnir.

If the two of them are harmonized in their fury, the war-song is in a key barely audible at all.

Richard Stadler has posed:
Richard was a hair behind the fox in his own assessment of the oppurtunity. Granted, his cover wasn't the best to fight from, and any data on the tactical situation was coming from peering up for a split second and watching the robot eviserate the poor brave souls who decided they weren't going to fight behind cover. Granted, he was finding the benefits of calculated cowerdice in his old age; namely, that he might actually make it to fifty one of these days instead of being a casuality.

But he had at least a few seconds to think of what objectives were. A) Stay Alive. He was putting that at the top of the list while cursing his ego. B) Protect principals. It didn't take a genius to determine this had the hallmarks of a decapitation strike; eliminate the conference planning to respond to your actions, and you came out ahead. AD Hill, the scientists here... they needed to get out. The security personel, perhaps, less so.

He might have to revise objective A.

But he was about to do what he could to Cecily's declaration of attack. He's peering up from the turned over podium, and firing another three shots. He didn't have a shot at the hole, but he didn't need one; he just needed to draw some fire so Cecily could use whatever she had planned-

Or.... that. He hadn't exactly seen a hammer move like that before, but he wasn't living in a cave all these years; the news reports described it well enough. Oh, thank God. Real honest to God firepower. Absent a Gustav falling from the sky, the woman with that weapon was their best chance. He had to hope whatever was being said in that utterly alien tongue was sufficently intimidating to go with the new weapon, as well.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Nat's tactical analysis is on point: there's not much she can do with the weapons she has. There's a proverb somewhere about picking the right tool for your target, and in this case, the armor-slash-robot or whatever it is just several leagues beyond. She manages, briefly, to get its ATTENTION in the melee, but that's about it. The arm-cannon transforms back into a proper limb as quickly as between motions, and the armor moves fast enough to line it up to catch the incoming baton, the discharge seemingly unnoticed in its grip. It then uses the other arm - now narrowed to a blade - to quickly deliver a vicious stab to her midsection.

The Black Widow knows a bit about what it's like to fight with pure lethal intent, and this thing shows no lack of it.

It only turns from this path of carnage when Jane speaks up. One assumes it must understand the Shi'ar. But it does not answer in it. Instead, there is a brief, strange, and utterly alien BLAST of... sound? Thought? Data? It rings through all of their minds, although the extent to which anyone can fully comprehend what they 'hear' varies. To some, there are 'words.' To others, there is a vast complexity of additional meaning:

PREMISE REJECTED DATA INVALID. OPPOSITION: THIS STATE CONFLICTS WITH THE PURPOSE. MAJESTRIX CONCLUDES EMPIRE-DESTURCTION. DISSOLVE PRESENT ORDER. THIS IS A CONSEQUENCE.

Whatever that means, it's clear that Jane's assertion of basic diplomatic norms is not going to be honored. Fortunately... she has a big honking alien-slash-magic (grey area, that!) hammer. It DOES respect that, in the sense that it obeys the laws of physics. The armor is thrown backward, toward the projection wall (and OVER Darcy, who looks up with concern!), and through it into the next room, where it lands in a pile of plaster and shattered conference desk. It stays like that a few moments.

And then it gets up again, and starts walking forward, back toward the room. There's opportunity now, for the civilians to flee, and most do so, getting clear. Which is good, because that arm goes cannon again, lobbing blasts into the room as it walks forward. Steady, slow, not that rapid predator's pace from earlier, but now one of a simple, unrelenting machine that refuses to die.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The thing acts on maximum efficiency and power. IT's strikes use a total minimum of exertion and force. Exactly calculated with a margin of error built in. Natasha knows exactly the way this goes. It's how she fights. She's a low priority target. The thing has already taken an attack from her, scanned her eqiupment, and knows that she's not capable of inflicting more than carbon scoring to it.

Her attack is caught, even as the thing goes to counter it, catching her with surprise at the speed it went to shift it's arm. Faster than she had anticipated, even as it goes to slam into her. She's not fast enough to fully dodge it, not at close range. It skewers her right as she goes into a standing sommersault, body moving in ways that a human form should -not- be able to as she would go to a full backflip, dropping three of her Widow's Bites directly onto the faceplate of the thing where they would detonate..

Likely again to no actual damage.. But hopefully if it did work having such a massive discharge of energy directly to it's cranium and processing center would just slow it down for a few hundredths of a second. IT was for now keeping hte thing disoriented enough to give the others time to take it down. WHehter or not it works, Natasha is springboarding herself and rolling away.

Presumign she doesn't bleed out in the interim with a brutal slash through her gut.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily has taken a knee while Natasha, Rick, and Jane the HAMMER MAIDEN occupy and lay down the beating on the android menace. "Come on..." she grunts. She's fast but speed and precision are not easy to combine. Steady hands jam the rounds in. One. Two. Three. Four. A blast of energy rips through the table near her, sending her back on her ass and filling her arm with shrapnel and debris. "...would like to... go one day... without having to buy a new blouse..." she growls, ignoring the blood and biting back the pain as she slams the magazine home in her pistol and snaps the slide release with a loud -CLACK-.

    She pulls a knee up, bracing her gun arm with the injured one, wincing at the sensation of something digging into her cheek. "Come on... come on you tin bastard..." Wait for it. Wait for it. A crack in the shell. That gap from the vibranium spear. She puts all of her focus into her aim, finger resting on the trigger. Her ears lift, then fold flat. The zen moment comes, and she pulls, grip tightening.

    The pistol jumps in her hand, the bracing arm pushes, corrects, the recoil slamming the slide back, ejecting the spent casing, and chambering the next on the way foreward. Scarcely does the next cartridge get seated before she pulls again, feeling the way the spring uncoils and the mechanism halts. That split-second timing to fire a second time without any gap between. A third. A fourth. Every round, however, isn't speeding metal.

    Every projectile is fire. Purple-blue flame spitting forth from the barrel, a lance of glowing ethereal light hanging in the air in a lazy spiral, unnaturally calm in the middle of this cacophony of sound and light. The second, third, and fourth each add to the show, the spirals expanding, cutting through the previous one and spreading it out like ripples in an aurora. The ribbons hang, blending, blinding, unmoving as if the rest of reality has no power over them.

    But the projectiles themselves, hit with a magnitude that belies their size. Not just kinetic, but thermal, explosive, a supernatural heat brought on by the vixen's Foxfire. Like napalm to flesh or thermite to metal. Cutting, carving, expanding, devouring on exposed machinery.

    The gun itself falls silent. The barrel locks back, the slide warped, distorted, both bits of precision machined black metal turned white-hot from the rapid discharge of entirely unique and unapproved-by-Glock USA munitions. That warranty was voided years ago anyway.

Jane Foster has posed:
The helm and the Asgardian armour offers strategic protection for the blonde woman advancing on the Raptor. <<Tell the Majestrix that Earth seeks no quarrel with Shi'ar Empire. Observe the exchange to recover Shi'ar knowledge from hostile parties.>> Oh, she rejects that proposition outright, the bombardment of an unwelcomely loud voice in the sanctity of the mind one that must be endured more than anything.

Darcy, Jemma, even Maria Hill: they are, like so many political entities here, at risk. So Jane takes one for the team, walking straight into the fire. Or rather, taking a leaf from Thor's mighty book of tactics and spinning Mjolnir by the leather-wrapped handle in rapid turns. His far greater experience shows in her own way of handling things. Rather than directly charging in, she uses her terrifying knowledge of trajectories, angles, and entry speeds acquired as a physicist calculating escape velocities or satellite collisions on the regular to fling the brilliant hammer in arcs and looping backswings. The kind of paths that intercept energy beams or slam into the android from unexpected angle.

She is no grim warrior trudging through battle. There lies in the moment a wondrous glory to do right, something that she cannot deny in Odin's blessing. Themysciran and Wakandan warriors cannot have all the fun! If she doesn't need the hammer for sweeping blows that Mjolnir delivers on its own, she leverages her significant speed to work with Natasha rather than against her, seeking an opening to follow up with open-palmed blows in a series of strikes or a brutal wheelhouse kick that has ghastly force behind it.

She is created as a force of protection and destruction by the All-Father locked in his unrelenting sleep, a proxy for the god of thunder, and bound to the same intent to guard Midgard against threats great and small. The Raptor has the distinguished misfortune of being the tip of the spear, aglow in electric lines and foxfire, and Mjolnir flies back to her hand for the follow-up delivery.

"Shiari ite domum, bird." It doesn't matter the language; Latin becomes instantly understandable be it Wakandan Xhosa, Olympian Greek, Spanish, or Brazilian Portuguese. Shi'ar, go home.

The locative slant seethes with warning and battle malice, honour upon the mortal flying circus, a cultural clash in surging forces, spell, and singing uru-steel.

Richard Stadler has posed:
There was a reaction from the machine, it looked like... Or.. to be completely honest, felt like. Rick winced, and not for the first time, thinks he would kill for a gambutrol script. One might say he's already done that at one point. No one likes someone inside their head. But at least it got... some sort of message across. One of sheer power, but one of arrogance. A consequence? Of what? He didn't know what Jane was saying to it, but he knew that that sort of language, with this sort of attack at this location and these people... someone wanted a war. And the last time that happened was a very close thing to Hell. And sadly, nothing to be done for it but to do his very best to assist the big guns into turning this robot into scrap metal.

Not that he can do much more than plink it with the eqivilant of a BB-gun, but there were oppurtinies. The redhead (blast, did she give her name?) slammed into it with those energy blasts, where one might expect sensory systems and processors to be... and managed to get gutted for it. The fox was getting hit with energy blasts and those rounds aim for that weakspot ijn the shell. But person asking astute questions and weilding the powerful hammer was in close now, slamming it with powerful strikes, to the point that Emptying what remained of the clip risked distracting the person doing the most damage.

The top of the podium had been rent with a blast of energy, and the splinters dug into his jacket, one scraping by his cheek. he needed to move while he had time, and while those impossibly powerful shots a Glock should not be able to fire was making them. He had at least some skills, and planned on using the best one for the situation. Standing up, and rushing off the stage, trying to find more appropriate cover, and waiting for a chance.

The redhead's stomach wound looked bad, and the very least he could do would be to wait for an oppurtunity to keep her from bleeding out.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Its clear that the damage they've done has added up. As the armor stumbles back through the broken wall, there's not just the earlier spear hole, but now a fairly sizable dent in its chestplate, and a crack in its visor with a bit of explosive scoring left around it, courtesy of Natasha's going away present. Gone are the impossiby fast movements for something so heavy and dense. Now it is just a lumbering, broken juggernaut.

Which is not to say it's not still very dangerous. Darcy is pushing people out one of the side doors to the conference room as there's an explosion nearby, showering them with singed debris, briefly halting their escape.

Jane, to her credit, continues to exercise diplomacy. Darcy shouts something from the corner: "I think you're barking up the wrong nest, this isn't Lilandra, this- ah, shit we'll have to talk about it later!" Shi'ar politics are confusing, and her would-be seminar getting interrupted by them BLOWING IT UP really doesn't help with clarity.

Fortunately, she can also provide more practical aid with the iconic hammer-twirl, giving them a deflective shield against the incoming energy assaults. It's a moment of cover and relief that is sorely needed, enough for the less mobile civvies to make their escapes. There are injuries, by now, but they pull together in that last moment, demonstrating surprising magnanimity, the triumph of humanity over politics: an Atlantean helping the injured Wakandan get clear, or the prickly PRC rep helped back to his feet by one of the Indian who had been shouting at him mere moments earlier. Bruised and in many cases bloodied, they make their escapes.

Cecily's foxfire (and Richard's less magnificent ammunition!) hit before Jane wades in to finish the job, and while that spear hole is a hell of a target to hit, with several of the bullets making sparking or explosive blue splashes on the armor around it, the last one goes in, Star Wars style. There's just a momentary delay before the subsequent blast, which tears open its side, exposing nanomechanical guts and 'bleeding' blue fire. In begins to aim its cannon toward the source-

But then Lady Jane not-quite Thor is upon it, and it is well and truly outclassed, beaten and broken down, as the artificial body offers only token resistance, programmed to fight but incapable of exercising the speed and strength. Clang. Crash. CRUNCH. And she can feel something, in the way her hammer blows land, that same strange resonance as when a spell struck it earlier.

The final blow sends it less backward than downward, thrown crumpled to the floor. The red diamond at its chest flickers dimly a moment...

...and then more brightly, as the armor vanishes with the same suddenness that first summoned it. The 'swap' is not repeated, no Shi'ar agent returned in its place. It is simply banished to nothingness. To Jane - and perhaps some of the nerds hiding in the backgrounds with their scanners - there is something in that moment, a feeling of the other-dimensional destination that calls it back. But then nothing, save the carnage it has left behind.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would get up and over, wincing over at the wound to her gut. "Status report. Injuries." She goes to if not stopped simply take out one of her Widow's Bites, pausing to rub her hand over her gut to make sure that the pierce was clean and didn't go through any of her digestive tract.. Then she's going to simply if not stopped adjust the beam over with the intent of simply burning the flesh over simply to handle it in the quickest, and most efficient manner possible.

Hygenic enough and her healing factor will handle any contamination issues. She doesn't so much as wince as she does something that she has done many, many times as the air would be around her stinking of ozone and seared flesh for just a moment as she would finish if not stopped. Acceptable.

Efficient. The different world the Shi'Ar assassin came from and the one this assassin is from are very much alike in two things. They do thier job and their function.

It is what they were made for, after all.

Maria Hill has posed:
Outside of the conference room, amongst the chaos gathering there-in... Maria stands off tot he side, her phone in her hands. She dials the Director and speaks in to it. Giving him a rundown of what had just happened, she speaks a few more words to him before hanging up.

"This is getting far too out of hand." She speaks to her assistant beside her, though Darcy is nearby too, along with many others. "Find out who that was, and who sent him. The Director wants hides for this." She adds in a grim tone, trying to contain her own emotions.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily falls over backwards with a grunt, her shoulders and head resting against the wall behind her. She stares at the flicker and flash of the assassin being 'finished off' in so much as it falls and..... blips out of existence. "...I really hate this shit some days..." she manages, then her eyes drift down to the half-melted Glock in her hand. "And Fleece is going to kill me for breaking her present..." she manages the faintest of laughs, looking at the engraving on the slide before she carefully drags herself to her feet.

    "Mister Korenchkin?" she calls out, stumbling out of the conference room and towards where the civilians are huddled in the outer hall, finding the STAR Labs representative looking, well, like hell. Bruised, a bit scorched, and there's no telling if it's his blood or someone else's on his clothing. Her own is drying on her arm, too, and she looks around, moving towards the SHIELD personnel. "Ms. Hill," she states, passing a business card with her number, silvered text and a stylized fox logo etched in matte black, proclaiming 'Kitsune Arms'. "It's been a couple of years since I worked with all of you." Around the time of that Helicarrier incident. It didn't crash that time!

    "But please, as ever, I'm at your disposal. Let me know what I can do to help," she states. Her priorities in order. The machine has left. Her charge is safe. A moment of networking. And. She can fangirl over Jane's martial prowess and talk to Rick about his Browning later, when the smoke clears and the paradmedics have arrived. "Some things never change, do they."

Richard Stadler has posed:
Repeated and sustained attacks seem to have done the trick in f inally defeating the robotic beast in front of them, as it often did for hard targets. There was a concerted effort to evacuate civilians, from the looks of it, taking advantage of gaps in it's capabilities, lowering the casuality count immeasurably... though not to zero. It couldn't have been to zero, not with this amount of fire and collateral damage. There were the stories Richard noticed briefly among the survivors, but the dead and dying grabbed uch more of his attention. This was just... a very very bad situation.

There hadn't even been a body to recover, physical evidence to investigate. The end of the battle just felt more sudden than usual, (maybe it was the sheer amount of power and ferocity that thing had been using, and not expecting it to just... disappear like that). The sudden quietness and release from tension was almost more confusing than the main battle, but it was an element he was familiar with. It took a concertated amount of willpower not to start barking orders or taking control of the scene; the UN had to have it's own disaster response plan, and AD Hill was on site; fouling with the chain of command right now would lead to more dead. Not to say he can't help, looking to the nearest wounded person and kneeling down for a quick examination.

Natasha get's a brief look as she calls for a status report. "I'm sure we've got triage on the way, but you're stabbed through the gut, in case you didn't notice. I know you don't need me to tell you this, but that aderenline is going to wear off and shock is going to kick in, so please, for my own peace of mind, sit down." That, at least, get's said in a firm tone. It had to be. It was very tough to tell well earned confidence and aderenal bravado for him right now. "Do we have an incident commander? Whatever it was firing either killed outright or burned-"

The incongruity of what Cecily said stopped him in his tracks, as he turned to her, eyes peering through glasses at the warped gun for a moment to verify. "Fleece? Kari Fleece? Can you explain to me how you know- You know what, not the time." He says, looking down to the first beuracrat he's trying to help. "Richard Stadler. Look me up in the staff directory at Happy Harbor."

It would be some time before he could go home. God, he forgot the price of action.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Of course, the UN has its own security... although certainly the large number of armed SHIELD agents present here reflects a greater-than-average assignment of such resources. Still, reinforcements do arrive in time, only reinforcing the extreme 'suddness' of the entire encounter: from hours of a fairly dry meeting to seconds of brutal violence.

And now back.

Darcy follows Maria out into the hallway, although the way she's talking makes the junior agent wince. Obviously, it's not her fault, but it's hard not to feel like this disaster somewhat reflects on precisely the work she was part of. She was here briefing these people about, well, exactly this! Could it have happened sooner? Could they have not been more prepared? It's not her career she's worried about (she really COULD kill Jane for dragging her life into this nonsense!), but rather, the sight of the people being evacuated out into the halls, the medics rushing to deal with the aftermath (while leaing Natasha to bleed in peace!). "I'm gonna... submit all of, well, I'll put in a report when we get back," she offers, uncharacteristically meek in tone.

Cecily is out there too, offering her services, which- well, not Darcy's department. But no doubt, SHIELD's gonna need firepower. She knows the Doctor, who catches her attention as another, well, loose end of all of this. "I'm sorry we didn't really get a chance to discuss what we brought you on for, Dr. Stadler, but..."

If there is any lesson here today, it's that they can't afford to ignore any detail. What if it's a killer robot today and a bioweapon tomorrow? "... I'm sure someone will be in touch."