14582/Planetary Defense Briefing: The Brood

Planetary Defense Briefing: The Brood
Date of Scene:	06 April 2023
Location:	Observation Deck - Watchtower
Synopsis:	Members of various super hero teams combine for one all out blowout cage match in the Watchtower. They discuss the Brood invasion, the Shi'ar that loved them, and how the various supers should react to it all. Act now, and catch it on Pay Per View for only 49.99!
Cast of Characters:	Jean Grey, Natasha Romanoff, Dinah Lance, Diana Prince, Greer Grant, Meggan Puceanu, Carol Danvers, Johnny Storm, Emiko Queen, Alura In-Ze, Kara Danvers, Isalia, Michael Erickson, Janet van Dyne, Zatanna Zatara, Clark Kent

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Jean Grey has posed:
It's a busy day on the moon. Or is it even day? Local time gets weird. Regardless, SHIELD has sent along a young agent, who provides the briefing to the rather impressive assembly of heroes. She is sharply dressed, yet looks slightly nervous.

"Thank you for joining us today. I will begin with an overview of the threat profile as we understand it so far, including background and recent incindents. We also have several guests who can offer specific expertise." She glances over at Michael, and then in the other direction, albeit more vaguely. "Please feel free to pose your own questions at any time. After the briefing, I will yield the floor to Madame- er, Princess- to Wonder Woman, to chair response discussion." She takes a breath.

"The Brood were first encountered by Earth in 2015. Traveling from a then-unknown reaches of deep space, they launched what was intended as a full-scale invasion of the planet, led by vanguard troops. Earth benefited from advance warning we now know to have originated with the Shi'ar leader Lilandra Neremani, delivered via her proxy on Earth. Although the losses at the landing sites were high, they were contained, allowing the various hero teams to push the fight back into space. Both in Earth's orbit, and more distantly."

"It was believed the Brood were then entirely destroyed during one of these counterstrikes, or at least that their Empress and Queens were eliminated." It's here that she looks over at Jean more obviously. "Moreover, while the attack seemed unprovoked, intelligence suggests the involvement Shi'ar rebel-faction leader Cal'syee Neremani, Lilandra's elder sister, A.K.A. Deathbird. As the Brood reproduce via genetic hijacking, the genetic diversity underlying Earth's metahuman population made it a valuable target, and Deathbird may have 'sold' our coordinates in exchange for aid in her Imperial ambitions. Now in the midst of a full civil war, it seems she is attempting to 'resurrect' this old weapon."

The young woman taps across her pad, bringing up more intelligence on the various screens around the room. "Which brings us to the present. There are two threat vectors here, and I'll address them separately."

"The first is what SHIELD has been tracking as an assumed bioterror plot: we believe that a cell, backed by the rogue Shi'ar but utilizing various local criminal assets, has been using remnant Brood DNA to engineer a retrovirus in a form suitable for bioweapon use." Her fingers move, and several screens depict information related to the Rykers Island jailbreak, a theft at an NYU Langone research hospital, and SHIELD raids in New Jersey and on Roosevelt island. The last ends with a very angry looking blinking red light.

"The second is more overt." More fingertaps and the screens change to display various satellite imagery of the Antarctic continent, eventually zooming in on a small green patch at the center of a ring of mountains. "Via intelligence from the X-Men, it was discovered that Deathbird was able to gain the cooperation of a local population in the Savage Land. What you're looking at," the one of the screens zoooms in, enhances, zooms, enhances, until it reveals something that looks like a giant, terrible tumor spreading across the landscape, "is a Brood Hive, or at least, the formative stages of one."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
And when it comes to planetary defense, Natasha Romanoff is there. She's on hand to explain if need be on the bio-terrorists that SHIELD had engaged several times to varying degrees of success. And to learn waht she can. They have to all pool information. There are too many threats going on for them to each shuffle off and handle things on thier own.

As they're briefed, she crosses her arms, thinking over of what she knows of Deathbird. Not enough. Another thing to put over to her research from what files they have on the Shi'Ar and debriefings.

So just quiet, listen, be on hand and look for weaknesses wehre they can strike when reayd

Dinah Lance has posed:
"I've seen this movie," Dinah murmurs, arms crossed over her chest as she stands dressed in her not-at-all 'look at me' costume of leathers and fishnet stockings. She lifts a hand to move a loose strand of blonde hair out of her eyes, clicking her tongue against her teeth as she watches the display thoughtfully.

Her gaze roams around the room before she speaks again, more or less to her fellow Justice League members who may or may not be standing within earshot.

"Do we have enough oxygen for all these people? I can't help but want to point out that we're in space ... "

Diana Prince has posed:
It is a busy day for the Watchtower indeed.

Those who arrived were welcomed in the hangar, if they arrived by space craft, or flight in-general.

Those who arrived via the teleportation system from the Hall of Justice in Metropolis, were greeted in the tport-arrival rooms adjacent to the hangar... and together, everyon was ushered to this location, one of the larger rooms on the station proper.

The Observation Deck.

It offers a grand view of the Lunar surface outside, as well as a picturesque view of the 'small blue marble' known as Earth far off... 230-some odd thousand miles away.

Within the Obs Room, Diana stands off to one side, clad in a blue and gold Eagle-feather-patterned cloak. Her loose dark hair lays around her shoulders, and her eyes rest on the SHIELD rep doing the briefing. She listens intently.

Around the room, serving robots deliver beverages to anyone who'd ordered one.

Greer Grant has posed:
Tigra's not normally one for strategy, she'd usually rather be doing, usually with a scream and leap. Sometimes, though, it's much more important to know when to scream and where to leap, and it certainly won't hurt to get briefed. Even if she feels a little ridiculous at the moment. She's off towards the side of the deck, the better to keep her wings from smacking anyone, and her tail twitches as she listens to the story of the break-ins, and then a soft snarl at the sight of the hive. She glances outside for a moment, then back to the display, feeling like the Earth is awfully small in a dangerous cosmic neighborhood.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"The one where they jump out of stomachs?" Meggan asks of Dinah, since a great many horrible movies and shows feature that kind of exciting outcome for the unsuspecting civilians on Earth. The Moon may not be very habitable except for key spots -- hidden cities are great for that -- but the Tuath de Danaan has become a flowering space elf somehow. A few air plants blossom in her golden braids, the epiphytic blossoms taking on a sunny hue.

She opts to sit back, legs crossed lightly, her palms resting against the hinge of her knee. A certain persistent curiosity turns to the details spilled out about the Brood. Pictures help. Her head tilts a bit and if there are any images of them, all the better to make a face. Ew.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Always briefings. Always. Whether the uniform is Air Force, Avengers, Justice League, or Carol's current ball cap, t-shirt, leather jacket and jeans... which, she's willing to allow isn't actually a uniform, there's always briefings. Whether they involve manila folders, touchscreen tablets, or just one big briefing display. Carol's always there, and usually in the front row.

And this briefing gets right to the meat and potatoes, and earns a thin press of Carol's lips as the past encounters with the Brood are recounted. And Carol's cheery and friendly disposition just gets more and more upbeat as the briefing covers not only that the previous attempt to eradicate the Brood looks to have failed, but that /also/ persons unknown but presumed to be extraterrestrial in foundation are working on a bioweapon. Great. Just great.

Still, at least she hasn't got any questions yet... so she doesn't have to be the eager beaver who's first to put her hand up in class. That's a small mercy. So this /could/ be worse. Plus, Dinah already made the Aliens joke, so if her control slips and she lets one out, she won't be alone.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm crosses his arms over his chest. He's been at enough of these type of briefings over the decades, but it never gets any easier. The world is in peril from afar, once again. Strange that we had so many fights amongst ourselves, then, given how often we came under threat from the stars. Good thing no villain would ever be so foolish as to stage an alien terror attack in order to cement some crude version of world peace. That would never work. You'd have to be an idiot to think that.

Focus, Johnny. No more ADHD Johnny, right? Clean and sober and responsible Human Torch, hero of Earth. Righteous dude.

"I can do a hardcore burn on that nest if they're vulnerable. I hate...doing that sort of thing, but it's clear these aren't enemies we can make peace with. Whatever people think needs to be done...I'm here to help. As a member of the Fantastic Four, I have access to an incredible database of xenobiological and xenotechnological information that exists. I don't understand most of it, but I do have access to it and it has a search function. So uh...just let me know. Thank you."

God why am I like this. Step back, step back, let someone else talk for god's sake...

Emiko Queen has posed:
Emiko Queen leans back against a wall with her arms folded. Someone might mistake it for youthful disinterest, but that's just her not drawing attention to herself, which is admittably easy within such a large gathering. Her attention was focused on the presentation being made. Some of the more elaborate scientific terms escape her, but she gets the general ideas.

The bit about how these Brood reproduce, and the description of the growing hive resembling a tumor, get a bit of a 'bleh' expression out of her briefly though. "So they infest other planets to make up for their lack of genetic diversity. And to adapt to an ecosystem. At the expense of whatever life is already there."

Her gaze briefly turns to the view port and the backdrop it provides. "Earth must look like a blue and green buffet to them."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
This is Alura's first trip to the moon base. It's not the farthest she's been from Earth since she escaped the phantom zone. But it's an interesting sight none the less. The moon of Earth is fascinating to look at. But her attention is quickly swept up in the report of this alien threat.

When Antarctica is mentioned and zoomed in on her eyebrow raises. The other Kryptonians in the room probably know why. Not that the brood would have found the Sanctuary of Solitude but it's still not nice to have an alien invasion parked so close to home.

When it comes to planetary threats and the defense, she's only been involved in one so far. She's been finding her feet faster than she expected though. With the others of her family here it's easy to watch their reactions to the threat to gauge just how bad they think it is.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Oh, that's terrifying." Kara is here, listening to what the red haired lady is saying about this threat with a series of slow blinks. She stands near her mother, arms tucked into her armpits, staring at the briefing with her brow furrowed. Blue eyes looking over the information, then up to each person who adds a bit more.

As Antarctica is zoomed, she glances to Alura... then around at the others with a little cough into her curled fist. "So they're totally cool with cold? That's good to know." She's not being very helpful.

Alien species that infests an entire planet by taking over anything sentient, is telepathic, and has a hive mind?

Nice. Love to see it.

Isalia has posed:
    Isalia came in behind Diana, partially because going to the moon sounded pretty cool, but also because she's trying to catch up with the current state of the Earth, given that she hasn't set foot on it in several thousand years. She's settled into a position near Diana since she doesn't really know how these briefing things go.

    True to her normal habit, she's floating a couple inches above the floor and looking fairly relaxed and comfortable, neither one of those something most people confronted by the Brood would be. For now, she's staying quiet and absorbing all the information given. If there's a new enemy she hasn't faced before, she wants to know as much as possible.

    She frowns a bit as the growing hive is shown, as it looks as bad as the Brood themselves are made out to be. Sometimes it's pretty easy to spot the enemy.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    As indicated, Michael rises. A younger man in his early thirties, he wears a simple dark gray suit, Brooks Brothers Beltway Special, and a red folder under his arm. He looks about the assembly a moment before speaking, framed as he is in the incandescent grey landscape and the distant blue dot of the human homeworld.

    "My name on this planet is Micharl Erickson," he begins. "I am a mid-level agent of SHIELD's offworld defense department. This is most advantsgeous because before that I was known as Cal'hatar of Chandilar, member of the Shi'ar Imperium's noble caste and an officer in its military intelligence cadres. Before I came to this planet I was employed as a counterrebellion officer dealing with the prodigal princess Neramani, known as Deathbird, and her forces."

    That said, Michael continues after looking about at the assembled faces. "In 1979, I had been on this planet four years before I had insinuated myself into the employ of a young Hollywood actor as a member of his security retinue. I was at this time he and I, under disguises, went to see a new and unusual bit of cinema, a movie which had already been invoked tonight. It was the movie 'Alien', and it remains the single most terrifying and prescient work of modern art this species has produced." He opens the folder now, produces a sheaf of papers. Diagrams hand-penned in alien script, known to any educated as High Shi'ar. "The Brood are a species that is, at a turn, equal parts serial killer, insectoid horde, and virus. Like the Xenomorph of LV-426, they exist to implant their prey and spread, to kill anything that opposes them, and to devour the rest. Unlike the creatures of cinema, however, they do not simply serve a biological function." A beat. "They actively enjoy what they do. My people have fought the Brood many times in the past; there is no bargaining with them. Their attachment to a queen in the past has been their major weakness; untethered they become a self-propogating plague. Kill them. Kill them all. Or rest assured another galactic power will. They may not worry about the population's welfare in the doing, either. In fact, they may see it as a weakness to do so."

Jean Grey has posed:
Once she's given the first BIG DUMP (phrasing?), the SHIELD intern is free to move on to some of the details.

"The Roosevelt Island incident was contained with a single infected individual in custody - Alexei Sytsevich - ironically one of the criminals working for the Shi'ar." Displays switch to show mug shots, as well as an archive action photo of him in full Rhino getup. Another then shows him sedated, mid-transformation, growths and chitinous extensions patchwork on his body. "We don't currently have a treatment course but suspension methods have proved effective at slowing the transformation process." She taps to switch the map focus back to the tip of Roosevelt Island. There's a small crater now, among several intact old ruined buildings there.

"The site was destroyed shortly after the containment breached, and not by us. We've consequently been contacted by the consular vessel here representing the legitimate Shi'ar government that they took 'precautionary sterilization measures'. I know, that sounds bad," it really does, "but SHIELD had the New York Air National Guard in the air to possibly do the same thing. So they just beat us to it. And were precise about it, at least."

"The terror angle is largely under SHIELD purview, as counter-intel is one of our main specialties. Senior Agent Romanoff," another nod to acknowledge the crowd, "has been lead on the op. That part of the mission will focus on continuing to track down their bioagent manufacturing and delivery systems, as well as identifying any targets. The delivery is an aerosol, so we're expecting them to target crowds if at all possible."

As Michael speaks up, she nods. "You can confer with Agent Erickson if you have any questions about the relevant Shi'ar politics underlying this. Essentially, we're caught in the middle of something. Although the Shi'ar attacked this very installation roughly two years ago, we're now on the verge of finalizing a treaty with their new government."

Then, she catches something from Kara, and swaps the map back over to the Savage Land. "They're highly adaptable, but the Savage Land itself is an artificial climate isolated in the Antarctic. The conditions there are tropical, and support prehistoric life forms and other, well, strange things." Here she clicks to bring up some footage helpfully donated by the X-Men. Strangely, the first image is of a young woman riding a small dinosaur, while dressed like she's attending a Ren Faire. "Oh, that's the wrong one..."

Greer Grant has posed:
The catwoman looks Michael over curiously,wondering about his history. She briefly flashes teeth at his suggestion of killing them all. A grimace from Tigra and disgruntled flick of her tail at talk of the Shi'ar destroying the laboratory. Awful arrogant of them, she thinks, though it's not an opinion she gives voice to at the moment. A glance at the Widow when she's mentioned. Wings rustle lightly as she tries to rein her in her urge to get her claws in something, and then snorts at the wrong image. "You did say strange things," she points out.

Diana Prince has posed:
The conversations that get spoken in low voices around the room do draw Diana's eyes from the speaker. She notes Dinah's words, and Meggan's response before her stare falls on Isalia to her left. She smiles softly to Isalia, when the displayed imagery shifts to the Savage Lands, along with the topic being spoken on.

Diana returns her gaze to the imagery, soaking it all in a moment or two before she gives a sideways look to Jean Grey on her right. She knows some of what the X-Men experienced there based on talks with Jean prior to the meeting.

Some of the serving droids bring in a tray of snack foods, cheeses and crackers, because all super hero meetings on the Moon need cheese and crackers to hand out.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Ugh, god, please," Dinah says to Meggan with a faint laugh, placing a hand over her mouth, "I just ate. And the lunar commissary is already bad, if not hilariously named."

Dinah turns to raise an eyebrow at Johnny, tilting her head to one side. When he's done speaking she sticks out her bottom lip and nods her head in approval of the idea.

"I like the idea of a giant alien bug bonfire. We could roast weiners. And if Human Torch there is gonna melt the Antarctic, my house might suddenly become beachfront property. For every cloud, there is a silver lining."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Did you know about this place?" Janet asides to Carol, and lifts her chin at the Savage Land displayed on screen. "First I've heard of it." As much as Carol's dressed-down, Janet's wearing her work attire. Or, at least what she considers work attire; a white blouse with puffy sleeves and some close stiching around her waist, and a black miniskirt paired with patent leather Louboutains. The aesthetic touch is in the jewelry, gold and diamonds glittering from several places. Like any good Gen-Z, Janet's sitting with her one leg crossed over the other and her cell phone in her hand, tap-texting away with one eye while keeping an eye on the presentation with the other.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
the Savage Land picture barely gets a reaction from Natasha - one would have to know her very closely to recognize the equivalent of a doubletake from her. It's gone almost instantly, even as she goes to watch. Pursing her lips.

Is everything connected or just running parallel? Independent operations or coordinated at a wider range? Too manyunknown things. This is why they share informaiton. There's no speaking from her so far as she goes to consider and look at the others.

Isalia has posed:
    The pictures of Rhino elicit a eyebrow raise and small hmm from Isalia as she studies them. Floating a bit closer to Diana she murmers, "Have you fought these things yet? Dealing with them seems to involve a great deal of area of effect damage. How well do our weapons fare when facing them?"

    The pictures of the Savage Land catch her attention, especially any with dinosaurs. "Oh, I think I need to visit this place, it looks like a lot of fun. Well, at least after the hideous alien parasites are driven out of it, that is."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
A purple line sizzles at the back of the room and broadens into a brief shimmer of transdimensional light, out of which a woman clad in a tailored black suit and designer boots steps. Late but already briefed by her colleagues in the Justice League, Zatanna nods to her neighbors. Excusing herself quietly, and nodding to the people she knows, the mistress of magic finds a seat not far from Meggan, then turns her attention to the agent leading the briefing..

Kara Danvers has posed:
"That's not strange, I would definitely ride a dinosaur." Kara sees nothing wrong with this, shaking her head. She is, at her very core, a person who just gravitates towards things that bring light upon otherwise dark situations. World destroying bug creatures from Starcraft (or whatever) have returned after being suspected destroyed, working with world terror organizations to create some terrible virus to use as a bioweapon? oh crap, riding a dinosaur in a loincloth looks hecka cool! She's even grinning a little.

Until she looks up at Alura...

Even if her mom isn't staring at her, she is naturally drawn towards being a little more serious by proximity to the elder Kryptonian. Her fist rubs her upper lip, coughing gently against her curled finger and thumb.

"Who said that?" Roast Wieners. Kara perks up, looking around at all these people until she finds Dinah, grins and points at her. "Heck yeah! Wiener roast! I love a good wiener..." Lips quirk... eyes moving side to side. "Bugs, bad.. continue."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    A faint smile flickers on Michael's lips as he looks about the assembled faces. "Understand," he begins, "I am a member of a race who is capable of tremendous technological feats. We can crack planets. Burn stars. We tend to think in the macroscale. If there is a method of dispelling the threat without resorting to genocidal violence I have no doubt that the sheer volume of metahuman power concentrated here can pull it off. But. A galaxy's worth of brilliant minds, those of my people and of their client racesn have not yet over millenia. Putting them to the proverbial torch is the only way that has, up to now, sufficed."

    With a nod to the agent on station, he now takes his seat. "I will be at the disposal of any questioning parties."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol eyes Janet sidelong and hisse out softly, "Wait, did you not? Didn't they do like... an /entire show/ on it? I swear there was a camera crew and everything. I'm pretty sure they had a blooper reel of the tour." She pauses a moment, "Oh! The..." She gestures at the image of the Savage Land, "I mean... I... guess? Like, all those stories about... tropical paradise full of dinosaurs had to be from somewhere. Maybe we just didn't pay enough attention to those 'based on a true story' tags?"

She shrugs helplessly and mutters, "I can't believe they were keeping /ridable dinosaurs/ secret, like... that's just unfair." She clicks her tongue and frowns, "And another reason to make sure whoever's behind all this fails. Losing /ridable/ dinosaurs? That's just... not going to happen."

As she hears Kara make similar declarations about how she'd ride a dinosaur, Carol gives a little nod of acknowledgement to her fellow blonde. Total solidarity on the riding dinosaurs front.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm smilesl, "I have an endorsement with several brands of baked goods that make hot dog buns perfect for any roasted weenies," he says.

"Brood. I'll always call them Brood. Because saying aliens feels wrong. I have friends who are aliens. I'm pretty sure there are aliens in this room. This Michael fella for when. Hey, Mike, Johnny Storm, Human Torch, really pleased to meet you there. Say, bud, I'm asking you, you're the military guy, you've killed these things before - if they can burn, I can burn them. Put me in coach, I'm ready to play."

Emiko Queen has posed:
Emiko Queen gives an approving nod as pretty much everyone agrees that the Brood need to be dealt with in a direct and final manner when encountered. "Good, I don't like holding back." A secret land full of ancient forms of life? Explains why they would pick it, if xenobiological (that was the word Johnny just used for it right?) diversity is what they were looking for to build their numbers. The image of the man already infested gets a disgusted snort from her, though the "Should just put him out of his misery" muttered under her breath is likely not heard by anyone not standing near her.

"Dinosaurs are pretty cool," she acknowledges the other sentiment going around.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura is trying to pick holes in the sequence of threat. "Virus, leads to transformation, transformation leads to soldiers. Soldiers act as a hive mind for a Queen who creates parasites that .. produce the virus?" She raises an eyebrow, "What a strange multi-modal species. The virus is a weakness because it's safer and easier to destroy than an infected individual."

She eyes the pictures of the suspended victim who was still slowly transforming. "Aggressive biology. Yet they're not interested in technology. There are a myriad of unethical ways to kill. Perhaps instead we could transplant them. Their biological signatures would be easy to detect."

She glances around the room, "Does anyone know if there's ever been a successful containment of these things that doesn't involve genocide? ... and SHIELD, just how long do we have to prepare?"

Clark Kent has posed:
Superman, in the background, nods at Diana, and listens to all the arguments and discussions present. He was taking everything in, but not wanting to becme a focus of the discussion.

Jean Grey has posed:
More of the screens transition to cover maps of the Savage Land, showing the main central valley ringed by volcanoes, as well as a smaller area to the side of that main formation. "As several of you have suggested, and as Agent Erickson has confirmed, there's not much room for negotiation here. So overwhelming force does seem the obvious response. So: why is this a problem at all? If there's a Shi'ar cruiser in space, can't they just blast the hive into pieces? Or, well, can't Superman do it?"

The woman says it like it's a normal phrase, but then seems to realize Superman is IN the room and looks over, a bit sheepish, suddenly. Gosh, it's really him.

"... er, I don't necessarily mean him specifically. Probably any number of you could burn that place to the ground. Or, well..." And here, like several other sets of eyes, she looks over to the Phoenix-shaped elephant in the room.

Jean has been sitting quietly. There's no pretense of the school-marm persona in her X-Men uniform, but she's been quiet. "Right. I did it once. Why can't I do it again? Or why can't any of you?" She stands up, walking toward one of the displays. "I don't know how much any of you know about the Savage Land. The X-Men have been there a handful of times, and I believe SHIELD maintains active monitoring. There's also Lord Plunder, who acts as much as a diplomatic representative of the place as can exist."

"However, I'd say that for all of that, it's still a mystery to most of us. When we traveled there to capture Sauron - we can come back to him - we encountered something unusual, when we left the outer valley," she indicates that little 'extra' bit on the map, "and traveled into the central caldera, or whatever it is. Inside the main ring of mountains that form the Savage Lands, we encountered something that interfered with our abilities. Not conclusively and not evenly. But things like weather control, telepathy, massive energy output? These ended up suppressed."

She looks over the display a bit more, swipes it, to focus on one of the mountains. "Sauron had usurped control of a local tribe of dinosaur people..." As one does. "And taken up residence in their mountain. When we found him, he had built his own lab around this... massive device, a gigantic computer core. But this wasn't him. He's a geneticist, not... and this was tech unlike anything you've ever seen. Or ever seen on Earth, anyway."

She finds her own attention drifting to some of those she knows are more cosmically-acquainted, like Kara (and the less familiar second Kryptonian with her), or Carol. "It's ancient, ancient alien tech. And the best we can figure, it's somehow responsible for maintaining the strange environment there. But it doesn't do so passively. This thing is a kind of protective AI, maybe." She turns back. "So that's the rub. We went a second time, after bringing Sauron into custody. We found Deathbird - or at least, a holographic projection of her. She'd taken over the local bird people." As one does... "And the hive, its growing right outside their aerie. But when we fought her, when I... well, let myself go a bit with my powers during the fight, the AI completely freaked out. It blew up the small Shi'ar ship, nullified all of us, and then transported us to that outer region."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah doesn't say anything specifically in response to Kara, though she does lift her eyebrows and give an encouraging (if silent) not of approval. She's giving out a lot of those tonight, it seems. She does make 'fire hands' with wiggling fingers, though. Life's never too serious for fire hands. Even when the risk of getting alien pregnant is on the line.

"The Lord of the Rings guy?" Dinah asks out loud, before quieting down. Probably not him.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would slowly nod her head forward at Jean, "And was any potential infestation in the area neutralized?" If there's a group of Brood still in the Savage Land, then they need to be cleansed out by fire and blood. She goes to glance over at Carol as 'alien tech' is mentioned. If anyone's going to have an idea, short of a Doom or a Richards being here, it's going to be her.

A quick look from Natasha over to Carol, and then over to Michael to see if there was any level of familiarity with -whatever- it was on the slides in the Savage Land.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet finds herself nodding agreement with Natasha's question. The news of this bizarre eco-preserve is still fresh to her but at least Nats is thinking aggressively. Though, from her expression, Janet's voicing the silent opinion of many others-- why not let Jean take the reins and burn the Brood out once and for all?

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Many people consider magic to be physics that has yet to be understood. And as the living embodiment of magic, Zatanna doesn't disagree with that definition. The question is how will she be able to use her powers in this confrontation.

Frowning, she leans forward, fist supporting her chin, especially interested in Alura In-Ze summary of the Brood's power. Virus fires off a series of possibilities. She blinks as the kernel of an idea occurs to her.

"Referring to what Alura In-Ze said, have the Shi'ar worked on weaponizing an anti-viral agent that would disrupt the cycle?"

Greer Grant has posed:
Dinah will now forever have a special place in Tigra's heart. Because she was thinking about saying something about the Lord of the Rings and was wrestling with herself trying not to. She's already out of place and feeling unnecessary here, no sense saying something like that. And then Dinah says it and releases the tension, getting a snort of amusement from her. Okay, right, back to the serious stuff.

Diana Prince has posed:
When Isalia speaks to her, Diana glances back in her direction on her left side. She speaks softly to her. "They have not yet attacked the starport. Thus I have not had any dealings with them, yet..." It's meant as a bit of dry humor from the Princess, since the Atlantic Starport has had a tremendous amount of drama, and danger, surrounding it since its creation.

But this is entirely different, and much of it is news to her, causing the Princess to look back to Jean Grey's rundown of events. It makes Diana give a look to Superman on her right, before she looks back again to the X-Men's redheaded wonder, the Phoenix-shaped elephant in the room (Jean's words).

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Strange ancient alien computer preserving a small pocket of dinosaurs and plant life? Colour Alura very intrigued. Power suppression, intelligence enough to understand a threat, teleportation. Much like what she just had in mind - teleporting the Brood away from Earth - this machine too is protecting its locale.

She wonders how adaptable that hive mind is. Will it simply leave that pocket of the Savage Lands alone when faced with an insurmountable defense. And if it works that well - why not ask the machine to help do the same for the rest of Earth.

She taps a finger to her chin. Perhaps it doesn't have the power necessary to aid in such an endevour - but they could certainly grant it that power in exchange.

"I'd like to meet this ancient computer," Alura states. Ever the science brain she couldn't possibly pass up an opportunity like this. "Perhaps we can barter with it to use its vast technological capabilities to evict the brood from Earth."

Clark Kent has posed:
Superman listens and nods. This was not a good thing for sure. His eyes wander towards Diana, then Kara, Greer, Zee, Janet, Nat, Carol, Dinah, Emiko, Isalia, Johnny, Michael, and finally Alura. His expression was neutral, but those that knew him knows that he was very concerned. Moving back to looking at Jean, Superman listens intently to her, and everyone else bringing up their thoughts about this matter.
To this point he was silent.

Then his voice, quiet but strong asks, "Ms. Grey. What do we need to do."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara takes a long, deep, breath at all this talk of alien technology creating protective biomes in the middle of teh arctic and flicks her eyes up to Jean when she regards Kryptonians. And over to Alura wanting to meet this ancient computer. She nods, lips quirking. Both her hands slip up higher in her underarms. Fidgeting a little from side to side.

Emiko Queen has posed:
"Well it's a good thing not all of us rely on super powers." Emiko lets that slip out, because it's been too long since she'd made any snarky remarks on the matter. That quickly fades though, with how serious the matter is. "But it sounds like this 'defense' would also try to stop any ... conventional means if it detects them." She flicks fingers thoughtfully through the longer side of her bangs. "Normally I'd say take out the computer... but if the computer is what makes the place what it is, we probably don't want to do that either. We'd rather not wreck the mysterious ecosystem ourselves trying to save it."

She's leaving most of the matter to the experienced people and big brains in the room, she's just collecting information. To keep the other groups she operates with informed.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I cannot speak to what my people have done on a scientific level," says Michael from his seat; he tucks the folder under his arm once more and shrugs. "From infantry school into the Truthseeker cadres, the protocols are plain: in the case of a Brood infestation, total war tactics are engaged in. But as I say, given the volume of talent here it well might not be required."

    Then Kent appears, and he looks at him. Eyes twinkle, but not in the way of a gushing fan. He's from another galaxy, after all. It has its own supermen. But the Shi'ar solider-spy-turned-traitor seems pleased (and just a bit amused) to see the man there.

Isalia has posed:
    She may not really know what an A.I. is, but she understands the general idea. Some kind of device doesn't let them just bomb this hive away. It seems the Amazons may have a job here if SHIELD and the like cannot just fly there and unleash modern weaponry on the foe. Sometimes there's an advantage to using ancient weaponry.

    Glancing over to Diana as she speaks Isalia nods, then raises her voice loud enough to be heard. "If you cannot destroy them with modern weaponry, it seems that those of us who use less destructive weaponry may need to deal with the threat." She lightly taps her bow in it's sheath.

    "What sort of opposition could we expect were we to head there and begin removing this infestation? The longer they are left alone, the greater the threat, from what I have seen here."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol's demeanor is restrained, reserved, focused more inward than outward. Because a lot of these concerns are above her paygrade. Sure, she's an Avenger, works with the League and all, but a lot of this is sounding like real existential crisis stuff. Elected official stuff. 'Does this count as an act of war by a faction of the Shi'ar?' stuff. And while Carol's willing to fight that war, and she'd put money down on their side winning in the end...

She's not the one who /declares/ a war like that. And she's just reassuring herself someone who /is/ the person who declares it is being briefed. Probably already was briefed. She's sure there's already protocols in place, that are going to be laid out as time goes on.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean shakes her head to answer Natasha. "Unfortunately, no. We didn't even know about the Brood hive, we were there to rescue a woman that was a friend of Sauron's - of Dr. Karl Lykos that is. Deathbird had been masquerading as some kind of goddess to the bird people." As a bird alien, it's not a bad ploy... "So we were as surprised as anyone, when we suddenly ran into a broodified T-rex. And we got booted out once the fight with Deathbird was over."

Which leads, in response to Clark's inquiry, a less than decisive answer: "I really don't know."

"Destroying the hive from the air - be that with bombers, eye lasers, or orbital bombardment seems an unlikely outcome. We've seen this thing nullify a plasma bomb from one of our teammates, for instance. And the way -I- dealt with them before? Assuming that could overwhelm the AI, that took a whole star, and I think we're currently kind of using ours." She shakes her head.

"The only chance might be-" And here, she looks from the most famous Kryptonian to the one she doesn't know: "-right, to go back in and deal with the computers. Whether that means bargaining, or repogramming, or destroying them. But anyone going is likely going to face that same or more aggressive power-dampening, and now you're going into a place infested with Dino-Brood."

Emiko's note about the advantages of the unpowered draws a smile. "You might well be better qualified. So that's why we've gathered here today, really. We need to put people together for this. And not just my X-Men. Not just the Kryptonian cavalry. We need to strategize responses, from the technical to the direct."

Finally, she looks back to the map, zoomed in to show the Aerian roost with the hive-tumor now surrounding it. "We do have one apparent advantage. These Brood, as far as we could tell, from psychic contact, as much as I or my teammate could manage anyway... their hive structure is disorganized. It seems like they don't have a Queen. Yet. Which makes sense- I killed them. What they've done is regrown them through genetic cloning, rather than their normal, injection-transformation life-cycle. They haven't re-stablished the proper hive structure. Not yet." Ominous cliffhanger!

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would give a low assessment, "So if they're a hive, they can over time create a new hive mind like a beehive can when it's time for the hive to expand? If they're given enough biological material and divergent genetic strains to work at forging one?" Forging - quite a strange word to use.

But perhaps applicable over to the Brood cutting and pasting genetics onto everthing and infesting them. "Are we in the middle of some play for power amongst the Shi'Ar nobility or just collateral damage?" Glancing to Michael. "And will we have to worry on further operations from them if so?"

Diana Prince has posed:
A robot sweeps in to the room, delivering a small plate of roasted hotdogs to Kara. Why? She expressed an exuberant delight for them.

Another robot moves then to Dinah, who is given a plate of bread, and the bot's mechanical voice utters. "Lembas bread. Enjoy."

Diana looks to Isalia, then to the others. She draws in a breath before leveling her chin. "The Justice League will begin routine patrols of this Savage Land area, we will start to gather any extra information that we can get. I know that... when I confronted the Lansinarian aliens that were chasing their fleeing Princess here, to assasinate her, it was not that far from where you are indicating this lost world to be. I suppose it is time now to better understand this place, before this gets any further out of hand..."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet lifts two fingers in the air. When acknowledged, she lifts her chin up slightly. "We're all on board with turning the Brood back into spacedust," she says, her voice carrying easily despite her petite size. "What about this 'Sauron' character, Dr. Lykos. If there's a mad geneticist with Brood DNA and hyper-advanced alien computers at his disposal, he's an equal objective in my eyes. Will there be any special needs from the kill team, or is he part of the primary objective?"

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm scratches his head, "Can anyone make a neutralizer-neutralizer? What I mean is....is there any way to counteract this...nullification effect? It must be irradiating something detectable, right?"

Just burning it was his whole plan. He's always been more athlete than coach, executing plans well (with the occasional flourish). Then he hears Michael's suggestion, "Oh, no, you mean you think this Deathbird chick is going to voluntarily become a hive queen? Like, can she even do that and still be...her?!?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Michael considers something a moment. "I wonder," he begins. "Do you think that Deathbird herself seeks to be the center of this hive? Could that be a possible extension of all this research?" The Shi'ar makes a face, clicking his teeth together as an irritated bird might click its beak. "She always did want to be a queen, after all."

    Natsha gets a look. "It is the biggest game, yes. Deathbird is the elder Neramani sister. She wishes to wrest the throne from the Empress. This is just one more machination. She grows more dangerous with each thwarted attempt."

Emiko Queen has posed:
Emiko Queen glances over to Isalia for a moment, seeing her tap the bow and give an approving nod. Her own remark had been a bit snarky, but it seems the sentiment that they will need to make use of less phenominal cosmic powers is one shared amongst some of the gathering all the same.

Her attention is quickly pulled back to Jean though as she comments on the other state of the hive. She idly snags a few snacks off one of the passing robots, flicks them in her mouth. Then cusps the hand to her chin, the more tactical thinking aspects of her training gearing back up. "If they haven't re-established a hivemind hierarchy that is an advantage we can use, but it is a window that is going to continue to shrink if this 'Deathbird' seeks to make her own control over it. Still, the 'ranks' of the Brood not being completely organized will make keeping them supressed while we tackle the larger problems of the matter a little easier."

Clark Kent has posed:
"Of course, I am here to help. In any way I can." Superman lands silently, no longer floating in the background. "I am also sure that the Justice League will help in anyway we can, right Wonder Woman?" He didn't just look at Diana. He looks at every member of the league present tonight. And a few others.

"I think this will require all of us to be on the same page." As Diana volunteers them for patrols in the Savage Land, Superman nods. "Good idea."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Blue eyes crackling, Zatanna levels a look at Diana containing an entire conversation concerning the necessity of them surveilling the Savage Lands, when they would begin, how rotations would be made and the possibility of over extending themselves. She cants her head, and shrugs in apology then turns her head to listen to the next speaker.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"What the $!@# is a Lem-bass?" Dinah mutters to herself, not wanting to interrupt the meeting further. Instead, she scoops down to pick up the snack and slinks off into the back of the group to enjoy it.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
"Either this computer is unaware of the invasive nature of the brood. Or it is aware and has chosen to protect it." She folds her arms and glances at Kara and then Kal. "If it's as advanced as it sounds and as old as it sounds, it cannot possibly intend for its charge to become infected with an alien hive mind. If we can convince it of the threat, it might allow us to strategically eradicate the brood - or it might aid us in doing so."

A small shrug, "But if it turns out to have accepted the brood as its charge then as you say, we'll have no choice but to attempt to re-program it. Or destroy it. Any true intelligence will see the logic in complying with us against the greater threat." She frowns, "I hope."

Jean Grey has posed:
"I think she planned to control the Queen," Jean answers Michael. Cue, right on time, another display on the screen. This time, she brings up the image of an attractive blonde woman in her late 30s or early 40s. It's a file photo. "This is the woman we were there to rescue. Dr. Tanya Anderssen: adoptive sister, turned research partner and possible romantic partner of Lykos. Apparently, the two of them shared all their genetic work in an effort to cure Lykos of his condition. His escape from Rykers, we believe now, was enabled by the Shi'ar with the goal of using him to help their genetic work on the Brood-resurrection and bioweapon. Of course, Sauron's impossible to control, so that blew up in Deathbird's face a bit." She smirks. Gotta enjoy the small victories.

"When she couldn't get Lykos-" And here she nods at Janet - "-right, presumably to help her with his genetics expertise, they kidnapped Anderssen instead, from her research station." The maps adjust to show the southern tip of Argentina, where it is very close to Antarctica. "We did recover her..." And here comes another image.

It shows the same woman, but this time, with obvious chitinous growths across her face.

"Deathbird forced her to work in Lykos' stead, to stabilize the transformation process. I think she was meant to be the new Queen, fully under Deathbird's talons. It was a risk even bringing her back, but we were able to get her in secure suspended animation like Sytsevich."

She quickly adds, "Lykos is in custody as well now, although there's a clear mental break between his two personas. The man has been cooperative, but his knowledge of events while he was in the Savage Land is spotty. I think he'd be very well motivated to do anything he could to cure Tanya, or to help us for her sake, but as any number of my teammates would tell you, there's quite a risk of letting him out of his own secure containment. His transformations aren't well-controlled."

All that more thinky stuff aside, she does smile at Diana's immediate and straightforward solution. "The hive is on the far side of the lake in the center of the main valley, so we have some... separation, some time. And we befriended some of the locals. So they'd likely help us stage any counter-pushes. Their Queen also possesses a family heirloom that we suspect is of the same or related tech as the AI. We were able to use it, briefly, to reboot one and get our powers back, but it was a small window and who knows how the system has adapted."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would give a low nod, "So presuming that the AI won't let us negotiate our way in, what are alternate methods?" Her mind going to possible routes of infiltration or bypassing.. While she has no qualms of sterilizing the area and whatever the ancient AI is, brute force does not sound liek their best method here.

"And among other things we need to be more.. Proactive at sharing information and coordinating amongst ourselves. We too often among various teams focus on our own particular adversaries. We need to be more proactive at coordinating and sharing information. This is a good step. We need to hold more regular connections like this, even if informal. Or ensure that we have constant and active liasons. Sharing reports and training is one thing.. But we need to be far, far more open on lines of communication."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I will make myself available as needed," Michael affirms with a nod to Jean as he rises. "I think I will take a stroll on the surface, now. Please feel free to share my contact details with whomever wants them."

Isalia has posed:
    "While I certainly cannot speak for all the Amazons as that would be Princess Diana's role, I personally will happily assist with any patrols or attacks that need doing. I rather doubt this protector machine will have a problem with my bow." She chuckles, "As we Amazons don't rely on energy blasts or technological explosives, we may very well be suited for dealing with this problem."

    Looking over to Diana, she says "Might I suggest a general call for volunteers among our sisters? This sounds like a worthy cause if ever I've seen one."

Diana Prince has posed:
The robot that gave Dinah the bread trails after her as she flees. "It is bread from Lord of the Rings. I was issued an order to deliver it to you as our AI systems indicated that you expressed protocols insinuating you were a ner---" The robot's voice trails off as it is right there behind Dinah as she fades in to the background.

Diana takes a step to the side and closer to the display of the Savage Lands.

"Believe it or not, there are still many places on Earth that are not well explored. Case in point, this savage... land. If it holds technology-- like you indicate that your team has come across, Miss Grey --then it is quite clear that we need to make the exploration of this place a paramount concern. There could be more such powerful technology, with untold dangers, or boons, for our planet as a whole. Either way though, we must unite as defenders of Earth to discover all such secrets. I would enjoy speaking to this Plunder person, that you mentioned."

Emiko Queen has posed:
"A small chance is better than no options at all." Emiko pushes herself off the wall to stand properly, giving a general nod in the direction of Jean, Wonder Woman and Superman. "The head honchos are correct. Whatever courses of action we take, it needs to be on a unified, coordinated front. It's like she said," a thumb is pointed generally in Romanoff's direction, "We need to collaborate, despite the differences our various operations might have."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
"I think we'd best prepare a universal language information pack about the brood and its threat for this AI. We want to be succinct and transparent when dealing with alien artificial intelligences. Past actions toward it and its area of influence have been hostile so naturally it might see more outsiders as yet another threat," Alura says and seems content to help put together this information pack. Though, she does want to go on the journey and meet the computer too.

Jean Grey has posed:
"The Amazons could be a tremendous boon," Jean echoes quite agreeably, looking from Isalia to Diana for confirmation, wearer of the big tiara that she is. "From what we've seen, the AI's reactions are somewhat... it seems more tolerant of subtler powers, or of things that are more plausibly biological? If that makes any sense. We have several team members who can assume beastial forms, for instance, and it didn't seem to react to them at all. An average Amazon is probably stronger than that, yourself aside, but still, maybe there's some wiggle room. And even if not, I imagine your training would be very valuable."

Steppbing back from the displays, as she has nothing more to fancy power-point, she is again drawn by Alura. Without knowing too much about her beyond the obvious family resemblence, she's still proved one of the more obviously outspoken scientists in the crowd. "One of the reasons I brought this to the Justice League is that we definitely need a... wider set of expertise, technically speaking. We have a doctor on our own staff, as well as a young woman who's quite the gifted hacker, but these alien supercomputers are on a bit of another level from what we're used to dealing with. This crowd strikes me as a bit more space-y."

But Carol gets a knowing look too. That's a space lady she knows!

"There's no point in us marching through the dino-brood filled jungle to reach the computers if we can't do anything with them. So I'm hopeful all of you can put something together on that front. Otherwise," and she looks to Diana. "I'll defer to you on the patrols, but you've got the X-Men to rely on as you need. Not all of our powers will be useful, but a few might be, and we at least know the terrain a bit."

No doubt, there's further details to be hashed out, and so they will. In the mean time, those server robots are going to be busy. Hopefully, they have a good cocktail menu - it's going to be one of those nights.