15907/SHIELD: It Came in Pieces

SHIELD: It Came in Pieces
Date of Scene:	28 September 2023
Location:	Secured Hangar S4 - Triskelion
Synopsis:	Members of SHIELD open up their proverbial alien loot box and begin to roll need vs greed on the various items that fall out of it.
Cast of Characters:	Quiet, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Richard Stadler, Darcy Lewis, Shuri
Tinyplot:	Grey Skies

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Quiet has posed:
A handful of days ago, a SHIELD weapons testing exercise had attracted the attention of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. Two SHIELD F-35 Lightning had been testing a laser beam weapon on drones in the combat zone, when the UAP intercepted one of the F-35s and began hostile sensor jamming aggressions. The F-35 Lightning engaged the UAP, and successfully shot it down. On the ground, the SHIELD extraction and recovery team were tasked with retreiving their own downed F-35's wreckage, as well as investigating the crashed UAP. The ground team was met with hostile actions from unknown beings that had been inside of the UAP. After an intense gunfight at the local Nebraskan Circle-K gas station, the site was secured, and items began to get collected up by SHIELD teams.

These items are now sorted, recorded, and organized here within a Triskelion airfield hangar.

A number of SHIELD personnel are already assigned to the research project, as many of these items are completely unknown in their form and function. Two labs are setup with a number of items contained within each. The first lab being 'cold storage' for the recovered biologics of the pilots of the downed UAP, while the second lab contains all of their recovered tech from weapons to a mysterious glowing 'egg' that thrums with a steady rhythm, and is pulsing with a pinkish-purple glow.

But the main attraction is their craft itself. Taking up a fair portion of the sizable hangar, this house-sized vehicle is roughly everything one has ever heard about 'flying saucers.' With a large gash down one side of the vehicle's body, it is clear what lead to its falling from the sky, but everything else about the vessel is as foreign to Human technology as one could possibly find. Being that the entire vechile seems to be crafted from the same source, it is devoid of seams, hard edges, or any noteworthy buttons or instruments inside or out. The large smooth disc is a deep grey in color, and it seems to absorb light without reflecting it.

The large vehicle is mounted on a series of mechanical arms that extend up out of the floor of the hangar itself.

A number of SHIELD techs are moving around the vehicle already, using scanning devices to begin to investigate its mysterious nature. While a number of new people are being ushered in, and directed toward the lead scientist on this project... a middle aged man by the name of Kincaid who stands near the main computer terminal bank in front of the UAP itself.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova is currently inspecting the large saucer, reviewing notes on the aliens as well. "The smaller humanoids had appearances that in popular culture would dub them Greys. They do however have some consistent differences." She goes to flash over a picture of one of the bodies.

"No mouths. Minimal digestive system. There may not even be one at all to them. Sensory receptors are minimal. There are signs of auditory and olfactory equivalents, or at least places in the brain that could be used toprocess such sensations. It clearly has extremely capable optics." Given the very large eyes.

"More concerning was their display of psionics. Several individuals were assaulted telepathically and controlled, or made to panic. It's unkonwn if that ability is inherent to all of tehir kind or just those on the.. Mission. Another thing of.. Note is that they are quite all similar to one anotehr genetically. There are few points of divergence so far in what has been read of thier DNA or comparative nature. This would indicate that they're all clones of some degree."

Steve Rogers has posed:
The sound of Steve Roger's footfalls can be heard more readily than normal. The heavier fall of his boots endemic of the level of stress leaving knots in his shoulders and back.

Not from any amount of physical exertion. No, that would have been a balm in this case. Instead it was being asked by Nick to join an inquiry by one of the groups that oversees SHIELD. After three hours of answering questions, Steve would rather he'd instead been asked to go assault a Hydra base instead. Single-handed. And unarmed.

He's wearing a pair of khaki slacks and a button up shirt, with a light leather jacket overtop. A quick walk around the airfield seemed like something that might help him bleed off some of the accumulated frustrations.

Spotting the hangar, he recalls the topic of the UAP having come up with the council.1 Thankfully he couldn't speak to it at all, so probably saved himself another forty-five minutes of questions from lack of involvement. Though his curiosity and is piqued and so Steve turns and heads over that way. Not arriving yet, it still a bit of a walk across the airfield to it.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Just because school had started again doesn't mean Stadler was going to forfeit some of that sweet, sweet consulting money when the opportunity arose, though it was clear he wasn't taking any chances when it meant walking away from this intact. The hazmat suit he wore was already prepped, for the most part, the hood down and mask off for the moment, as he stepped forward with the rest of the group to the lead scientist...

And he had noticed goddamn Captain America in the crowd. The sort of celebrities you could meet in a job like this. And this one was from this universe, this time!

Best behavior, then, and he could at least stick to an area of his expertise. The large ship was viewed with a bit of a frown, but he'd leave that to the more mechanically inclined. Natasha's met with a nod, and he moves to take a tablet to review the same data.

"Exceedingly odd for any species outside a moth or a mayfly, though I suppose we can only guess their lifespans. Maybe some sort of direct energy processing? We expect chlorophyll to be green, but an alien landscape might change that, Psionics are... something I've only had a limited amount of experience with. Didn't like it then, don't like it now."

He looks over to the group. "I suppose we might want to take a closer look, right? I'd prefer taking a look at some base cell samples before going right into the... autopsy. God, it sounds like we should be doing this at Groom Lake."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Hangars filled with alien wreckage might as well be the native habitat for the wild Darcy Lewis.

Which is to say she's seen more than her share, in recent years. Once, indeed, they would have been a shocking and life-altering sort of discovery. Now? Well, now they're her job, a regular part of her daily profession. Which isn't to take away the wonder, but it does present certain requirements, in terms of professionalism. No time for gawking, there are scans to do and readings to analyze! Notably, she pays the cold storage area little mind: she always has to remind people she's not that kind of Doctor. Frankly, all that ooze and tentacle nonsense is pretty much just gross.

Upon arrival (she only has to make a short trip over from her usual lab), she doesn't really distract herself with all the techs busying themselves around the ship, but instead walks up to the fellow in charge, offering a hand. "Doctor Kincaid? Darcy Lewis. Quite a find you've got here. Feels like we're really turning out to be a popular planet."

In her hand, she has her oft-carried tablet, already stocked with whatever data they've been able to gather from the examination thus far, and she brings it up to swipe through briefly, reviewing the newest items, various technical logs, and the like. "I've been going through the readings you're taking. Engineering isn't my primary field, but I've spent a lot of time recently on the theoretical physics of space propulsion, and it dovetails with some advanced materials science. At a point, after all, everything is physics."

Her gaze lifts up to the hull. "Definitely some odd properties with this stuff." Hearing a voice behind her, she glances back at Stadler. "'We'? Ohhhh no, you go on ahead. Pretty sure we keep you around for the gross stuff." They have definitely seen some gross stuff together!

Shuri has posed:
The Ambassador arrived at the Triskelion some time ago with her entourage, who are decked out in their shiny gear. They were getting briefed or attempting to be briefed, before Shuri made her way down to the hangar. Shuri gives her guards a look and they stand-by at the entrance where the aircraft is being inspected by Natasha Romanova. She crosses her arms a moment as Natasha summarizes the aliens, perhaps thinking about something or just what the implications are.

Shuri turns and says something quietly to one of her guards, who don't move a muscle as they stand at the entrance. They have no obvious weapons. She turns back and looks across the room at the strange alien craft again, then decides to approach it, confident as always. She doesn't wait for an invitation. She carries a pair of goggles which look they were crafted in Wakanda, as they have markings of the Science Division. As she approaches, she glances at those gathered nearby, such as Darcy and Richard and Natasha.

Quiet has posed:
When others start to arrive, Kincaid is quick to take note of them. He nods to what Natasha relays to everyone, before he regards Staddler and Lewis. "Glad to have you both here." He states, extending his dark skinned hand to take Darcy's in a shake. He nods once to her then. "I'm glad to have you here, actually. There is one item in particular I'd like you to focus specifically on, Agent Lewis. I'll show you to it momentarily. You arrived just in time for a bit of a demonstration on an element of which we're most curious about with the craft itself." The doctor says before he nods to another agent standing off near one of the tables loaded with equipment. "Agent Houston, if you would be so kind..." Kincaid states, before he notices Shuri has arrived. "Ah, Ambassador Shuri. A delight." Kincaid notes with a smile given to her. "I am definitely eager for your involvement in this project, if you find it to be something worth your time. Might I ask you to take a step back with us over here though for a moment?" He asks of her, before he steps back from the craft...

Agent Houston dips a hand down beside a table, and raises back up with a... chainsaw. Dressed in her sleevless black bodysuit, the young looking woman clutches the chainsaw in her hands, and struts toward the UAP vehicle.

Steve might even hear it where he is outside, as the chainsaw is pulled to a start. Its engine roars to life, echoing through the entire expansive hangar as its hungry metal teeth begin to spin rapidly across their track!

Agent Houston walks up to the alien vessel, raises the saw up and begins to cut a massive gash in to the smooth grey hull about twenty feet from the gash that lead to the vehicle's crash.

Sparks fly down from the saw, bouncing across the polished concrete floor, as Stefani directs the chainsaw down a good four feet before she shuts it off, and steps backward...

A silence starts to fall across the hangar, as Doctor Kincaid steps forward again. "Now then... observe." He states to all..

The ship's damaged hull begins to ripple, turning to an almost fluid-like state around the damaged area that Houston just inflicted upon it. The liquid-like grey metal begins to repair itself, from the top to the bottom of the damaged area, the hull of the vessel smooths itself out again, fully repairing the damage from the chainsaw's metal teeth.

Kincaid smirks. "The mysteries of the universe never cease to amaze..." He states before looking back to everyone watching. "These mysteries need answers."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would nod over and continue as she would watch at the ship, hmming as it goes to repair itself. "Fascinating.." Watching over and then speaking to those anlaysing it. "I'd call it more of a short range craft even as a scout. Without even looking at the technology. Just looking at the use of interior space and the size of the crew. There are minimal facilities for rest. Minimal supplies for repair and storage. Almost all of the craft's interior seems dedicated to the primary control apparatus, what we presume are the main engines and munitions bays, and what I can call little else than storage for captives."

Considering over and continuing. "A longer range craft or one expected to operate independently for extended periods of time will have support facilities for the crew and carry more supplies with it. While not knowing the extent of it's.. Jump capable range and speed.. This doesn't seem like something that could operate for an extended period away from launch or support facilities. No matter how minimal logistics are needed for hte crew and craft to operate, there has to be some given to it." So the almost total lack of it even on a non-technological level is where her opinion is forged.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers quickens his step to avoid a fuel truck heading over towards a trio of Quinjet. Sometimes the airfield feels a bit more like home to him than Avenger's Mansion does.

Reaching the hangar, he shows his ID though the guards there just let him through. Steve steps inside, his eyes looking at the ship but only briefly in that first glimpse. Instead he sees the Africans standing near the door alertly. The sight of Shuri there allows Steve a pretty good guess who they are. He tips his head to them, before walking in further, his hands moving to his hips as he watches Stefani cut into the vessel, only to have it heal.

"Huh," he murmurs quietly to himself, one eyebrow going up as he looks from the vessel to see how the others present react.

Shuri has posed:
Princess Shuri is at the side of the craft, and puts on her tech goggles, leaning forward like she's at the zoo. She begins to gaze over the craft in a close inspection. She then looks to the side with an ususual set of Bug Eyes as Doctor Kincaid addresses her, "What is it...?" she wonders, before lifting the strange goggles to rest on the top of her head. She walks toward Kincard just as Agent Houston rushes past. She observes the experiment and the powers they've discovered in the craft. She crosses her arms, "There must be some limit to it, otherwise it would have healed that other damage," she states about the craft's "amazing" powers Kincaid reports on. She looks at Richard and Darcy to maybe see if they have any scientific answers to this mysterious craft.

Shuri's guards have become de facto guards of the hangar, even in spite of SHIELD's strong security. The guards give Steve a look and a nod, probably because they know who he is. They don't stop him.

Richard Stadler has posed:
    "Glad to be here, sir. It's not often that I get to see something intelligence from another world." He notes, before pausing. "...Though I suppose that discounts that alien threat we had been dealing with earlier this year. And 2012. You know what, strike that statement." He notes, before Agent Stefani... the sniper, wasn't she? Moves to pick up a chain saw, and then take it /right/ to the craft. Certainly, they had to have a reason for it... and there it was. A reconstruction, almost back to form, and quickly, too.

"I'm not a metallurgist, so I can only offer some basic guesses. Doctor Lewis or..." He trails off, looking over to Shuri with a nod, "The Ambassador here would have better answers to this then I would. But that point made, about a limit to it's regeneration, certainly meets what evidence we had. But it was taken out by some F-35s? Last I checked, an AMRAMM didn't exactly have the warhead, and unless there's something new about that newfangled AIM-260..." He trails off again, looking over the tablet in front of him. Frowning.

"..Directed energy? Jesus, remind me not to piss off Lockheed Martin. It's possible that enough power directed at one pointed, sustained, could be more effective then the spike of kinetic energy from a missle or cannon fire..." He shrugs. "This is practical experience here, not experimental."

Darcy, of course, get's a bit of a look. "You know I find most scientists would be better at their jobs if they got themselves neck deep in biomass that could kill you. Try it sometime, really."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"I'm happy to help, if I can," Darcy answers her counterpart, again looking up at the ship as he foreshadows some impending demonstration. "Admittedly, this is a field where I'd hesitate to say anyone is really an expert, but I have some experience working with some of these unusual materials. There are certain requirements of interstellar operation, of near relativistic speeds - let alone more exotic forms of travel - that we tend to find most have in common. Highly resilient structures, both at the macro and molecular level. One theory I've been exploring is the possibility of using the strong nuclear force - instead of the electromagnetic force - to bind atoms. That's imnpossible under our understanding of physics, but it would support materials with some of the necessary physical tolerances without requiring them to be hyper dense. Obviously density poses its own problems..."

She is known for going down her technobabble rabbit holes like this, on occasion!

However, the woman's attention snaps back as Agent Houston begins her 'demonstration.' All prior professionalism aside, Darcy's eyes go a bit wide when they introduce what most would consider a fairly non-traditional bit of equipment to the scientific process: the chainswa! Yeah, they don't usually let the nerds play with power tools.

She watches with some curiousity as the woman approachs. "Surely it's too strong and it's just going to-" Nope. Her guess is wrong! That prior line of reasoning about super-strong materials turns out to be the wrong path, here, as the chainsaw very much makes a mark, only to have the ship quickly repair it. "Huh. Well, that's interesting." Understatement!

"I imagine the first place anyone's mind would go is some kind of nanotech?" She starts scrolling through the tablet again, looking for the detailed microscopy. "The other option is that the material itself is self-healing. This has been studied, mostly for polymers, or in complex compounds where a secondary agent is encapsulated in the material to trigger the healing - that's been done with concrete. You can also program in oxidation reactions to react to temperature stresses. It's very difficult in metals, though, due to the low atomic mobility."

She glances over at Shuri. "That's a good point. If it repairs physical trauma but not high temperature deformation, that's, well, the opposite of a lot of current studies. I suppose it's worth pointing out, we do have a somewhat comprable example in our database, courtesy of our cooperation with the Justice League. I can see what we have in the database for that..." Richard's comment earns a roll of her eyes. "Say that again the _next_ time you're holding off said biomass with a shotgun."

Quiet has posed:
For what Natasha states, Kincaid concurs with. "That would seem likely, Agent Romanoff, by Earth standards. But since we're not dealing with something from Earth... whose to say what could be for these creatures. For all we know they can touch a console within the vessel, and.. simply 'be' somewhere new." He says, almost like he's enjoying this discussion a little too much. He smirks at himself then before his eyes go to the Ambassador.

"Precisely, Princess Shuri." He states to her then before pointing to the open wound that runs up the side of the craft. "When our skilled pilots engaged the vehicle, they used our experimental laser mount upon it, and managed to damage it in a way that it couldn't recover from. To me, personally, I would say that this means this ship was not intended for combat... with us. Or we surprised them with a weapon they were not aware we had. Afterall, we live in a world of rapidly advancing technologies, maybe even these Beings have underestimated where we are now. We've all heard rumors of these kinds of other worldly beings visiting our planet for decades... I would think they'd be more up to date on our advancements though."

When Staddler speaks, Kincaid steps over to the table to pick up a tablet computer that he offers to Richard. "These F-35s were equipped with some of our latest attempts at mounting offensive energy weapons to our air superiority jets. We had no idea that a live fire practice would turn in to a live fire engagement, though." He explains before his eyes return to Darcy. She gets a slow wide grin from the middle aged Doctor who nods once toward her. "You're knocking on the right doors, Agent Lewis. I like the directions you're unleashing your mind toward. These are the types of ideas we need, and I hope you'll dive in to this with us, to help us get to the bottom of all of this... or at least enough to please our very demanding bosses." The Doctor makes a little joke there at the end. "If the Justice League is willing to share some of their secrets with us... rumor has it they get around the galaxy far more than SHIELD does, we could use the insight they must have."

Toward Shuri again, Kincaid dips his chin in another nod. "We haven't tested beam weaponry on it yet again... Our assumption there is that it does indeed do more than enough damage... but we want to preserve as much of the vehicle as we can, before we start tearing new holes in to it." He states with a sly grin.

To everyone then, including the arriving Captain America, Kincaid offers a look. "Glad to have Cap with us too, as we're headed toward the next piece that I wish to get your curious minds percolating over." The Doctor would then motion for everyone to follow him...

A handful of moments later, and the group is within the lab marked '02' and within it tables are lined with the hand held weaponry taken from the Aliens. "In here, we have a number of sidearms, which are a little less intriguing to me personally, but we do want everyone with qualifications to operate, and dissect these to spend time upon them. If we can improve our own technology based on these? Well, that is the name of the game here. But more specifically..." Kincaid walks through the lab, and toward the center table, where he stands behind the table with the glowing 'egg' device upon it. The 'egg' illuminates the Doctor with its slow pulsing glowing interior. "We have no Earthly idea what this fella is.. and because of that reason, it needs priority efforts put in to it." The Doctor states before he bends forward a bit to peer more closely at the object. "We don't think it's a bomb. If that comforts you some."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would muse over while looking at them, "I"d presume they have some sort of genetic lock to them. A biological safeguard is likelier than an electronic one. So a backup is possibly just cloning biomass of one of them to use to test fire it." She's offering her own thoughts and advise. Nodding over in deference to Kincaid. She was merely speaking over from the perspective of logistics and her own experiernces. But there was no reason why something wholly extraterrestrial would adhere over to what humanity was like now, was it?

"I find it interesting that they seem quite distinct from most off-planetary origin species we've encountered. They're clearly not of any sort of lineage of any of the primary Shi'Ar offshoots that we're aware of. They're humanoid in nature and I'd presume silicon based rather than insectoic like the Brood. It stands in contrast to most known species. I would wager if we did look in a Shi'Ar database it wouldn't be in there. And what I do want to find out most of all.. Beyond weapons, beyond the ship.. How it travels through jumpspace. If it's something that can bypass jumpgates ,that we can make on our own.. Our FTL transit doesn't have to be based upon access to Shi'Ar tech or things we can't replicate. It frees us of the logistical burden of tethering our excursions to what we can salvage from other races or they gift us. It removes our limitations on what few craft we have that we've retrofitted." And those few individuals that could travel across the galaxy.

"And how efficient would you say the anti-gravity system is? IF it's something you could replicate to any level? If it's not limited by inertia and energy requirements.." Something that could hover with a minimum amount of energy, that could maneuver wihtout worries of inertial dampeners or throwing the crew about.. And something on such a small scale.. But, still, more things to poke over and that the craft didn't necessarily have. Or be able to replicate.

Thinking again. "The craft's weaponry layout is unuusal. Without going into how accurate it is.. It doesn't seem to have been utilized beyond ranges of a few kilometers. The theoretical range of a missile is several dozen kilometers." Again, purely theoretical. Most engagements and -accurate- shots were much closer, even with the most advanced hardware. "Their weapons displayed effectiveness within extended visual range. If it was accurate at longer ranges, it could have shot our interceptors out of the sky well before they were in effective strike positions. But it was only able to engage them at a point where they could bring weapons to bare on it. So why is something so advanced limited to such short ranges? Technological, doctrinal, or tactical?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Seems to mostly be lost with his thoughts as he regards the ship. Blue eyes look to various people, following the conversation, though inevitably drifting back to the ship. As they are starting to walk off towards the next lab, Steve finally moves closer to it. Some might here him muse aloud, "I wonder if just the hull repairs itself. Or if the actual machines that make it fly do the same."

He turns after a few more brief moments then, to follow the others into the next lab. Still he stands back to let the scientists at the devices while he just observes. That glowing egg shape does take some of his scrutiny, and causes a few lines to crease Steve's forehead in thought.

Shuri has posed:
Shuri stands there for a moment as everyone talks over the craft and she looks at Darcy after, "Your studies and the notes on the threshold might help later on," she explains and then looks at Richard too because he was helping with the analysis. He then watches what Doctor Kincaid is pointing out and hmms as she thinks over his conclusions about beam weapons and other ways to damage it, "I did not mean to start a conversation about destruction but if you used this technology too, the threshold would be important to remember," she explains, "Especially if you used it for defense," she adds, the implications being vast in what she's trying to say.

Shuri walks with Doctor Kincaid and the group into the other lab. She looks down over one of the weapons in front of her on the table as Doctor Kincaid comments about the strange egg. She reaches out to touch the alien weapon and examine it, if it doesn't shock her or attack her. She lifts her head to listen some more and doesn't say anything as the group chats more about a military approach, "What do you think it is? An energy source perhaps?" she wonders as Kincaid stands there next to the weird egg.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     "I'll keep that in mind, Doctor." Rick lightly snarks over to Darcy. "Though I'd hope that you'd have some incendiary solution with that shotgun. They make some wonderful shells these days." He notes, as they continue with the discussion.

Kincaid's mention of weaponry employed is met with a nod. "Lord knows I have a instinctual dislike of the Air Force, but I appreciate they're able to do something like this. I'd... hope that they're confused enough with the current technology we have to give us time to press the advantage. We have embassies with extraterrestials, now. This covert action leaves me uneasy."

With that, Stadler walks into the next menagerie of wonders, as they're shown what looks to be an alien armory with it's selection. Stadler just... tries to avoid the large glowing egg in front of them. "I don't want to doubt the analysis done so far, but I'd... like to hear to what degree of confidence we have on that not being an explosive device." He pauses, musing a bit. "Or... well. Her Highness has a point." He notes, nodding to the Princess. "Could connect to another theory, but have we done any spectrum analysis on EM fields? Do we know if and what sort of radiation a device like this might put out? I've got... a guess or two. Granted, I've got my hammer so everything looks like a nail and all that, but, still." He notes.

He gives a slight nod to Rogers. "My thoughts run along a similar vein, captain... though maybe not with the material." He notes. He kneels down to one of the rifle sized weapons in front of them, the material of the suit he was in uncomfortably filling the space. Gloved hands grip it, and pick it up, examining it. "Those bodies... reletively slight. Not a lot of muscle mass. There could be something otherworldly at play, but I would imagine we don't see a lot of kick." He says, moving to examine it. "Not made for hands, either. Light weight, certainly... could there be an electronic or... psionic trigger?" He notes. The weapon is pointed down to the floor as he examines it. Lord knows he didn't trust whatever material this hanger was made to not stop whatever this shot, vaporize a pensioner in Norwalk and cause a lot of questions from the State of Connecticut."

omanov gets a shake of his head. "Hard to tell, in terms of why. It's hard to imagine an alien species wouldn't understand BVR combat when we've been developing it. Perhaps it's meant for space? LOS is the only concern there. A bolt of energy is certainly a lot cheaper than a missile, after all."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Some kind of science or exploratory vessel seems more likely. The idea of hyper-advanced extra-terrestrial lifeforms coming to invade us via conventional means has always been pretty far-fetched," Darcy adds as something of an echoed agreement with Kincaid. "The civilizations we've had more... 'traditional' conflicts with? They're advanced by our reckoning, but much 'closer' to Earth on the cosmic timescale. There are theories about tech progress having a 'spike and plateau' sort of pattern, and compared to the Shi'ar, we're just a short ways down on a particular spike, while they're somewhere along the next plateau." Is that meant to be comforting?

"But there's no reason to think our close technological neighbors are the only ones out there. If anything, statistically, that's unlikely... although we're also proportionately less likely to ever meet them." More science talk, although this borders more on the theoretical, even the philosopical. She waves her non-tablet hand. "This is Drake Equation stuff. Odds of civilizational intersection and so-on."

While she's rambling, she's also multi-tasking, looking through readings. "Hmm... I'm not seeing anything on the microscopic photography, but that's not conclusive. We're only using hand devices and that's limiting. Can we even get a smaller sample to run through the big STM? We're talking nanotech, but that's not necessarily the lower-limit. Could be pico- or femtotech, basically programming at the atomic level. Any of you read Dragon's Egg?"

... speaking of eggs.

All her ramblings aside, Darcy isn't going to solve the problem of the ship today, and so she contents herself with the data accumulating on her tablet for later pondering and requesting a few more tests. Maybe Quiet can chainsaw her off a chunk! But for now, she follows along to the next lab. Rooms full of alien weapons are also not a strange occurrance for her. She's spent a lot of time with Mike and his Shi'ar toys. So the guns don't draw her attention, much. But the egg is interesting, and she moves nearer to peer at it.

Here, Stadler's worry-wort'ing draws a smirk. "Oh, you're fine going in the containment room but this bothers you? We have detectors and alarms for all kinds of radiation, so baseline, it wouldn't be in here if we were worried. Of course, that doesn't mean it's automatically safe, but that goes back to what I was saying before. The capacity for destruction scales up pretty fast with other technology, but it quickly goes past a point of... well, why bother? We figured out how to trivially destroy our own species in the 40s. If you're FTL-capable, killing a planet is trivial. And you wouldn't need - or want - an egg-grenade to do it."

Quiet has posed:
The small-arms weapons seem perfectly safe to touch, and none of the scientists already within the lab make any measure to stop them from being investigated by those who arrive with Kincaid, and Kincaid himself is entirely focused on the 'egg'. "Oh, it's safe." He informs. "As Agent Lewis says, it has been run through all the base safety tests. As far as we know it is no more dangerous than a smart phone. Perhaps less even." He idly comments before his eyes raise up toward all of them. "Director Fury was here a few hours ago, and he is giving us priority on running every manner of test you can imagine on this device, the weapons, and the vehicle... The bodies are secondary to the rest of this. If there is something about their biologics that do yield a level of inter-connected association, we do want to learn that, but beyond that.. dead aliens are not as interesting to the world as they once may have been." He states with a visible smirk. He regards the egg device one more time, raising a hand to place above it, hovering it a foot or so off of its surface, allowing the eerie glowing light to reflect off of his palm and fingers.

"This was found in the middle of a bundle of prisoners from inside of the Convenient Store. The Hostiles had the captives gathered around it, bound and gagged. They seemed to be being forced to protect it as Human shields... thus we know it is important to all of this."

He trails off there before he reaches up to remove his glasses. "Director Fury is eager and hopeful for all of this. He has aspirations of incorporating this technology in to our own. In fact, I'm going to let you all know that the goal here is to back engineer every last bit of this that we can, in hopes of seeing it come to play in our next generation of arms, and vehicles both ground, air... and space. If you know others who would fit well in to this project, I encourage you to start the process of bringing them in on it. As state, this is high priority. It isn't often that gifts like this just fall right in to your hands. We need to make the most of it before foreign adversaries may get an opportunity like this, and beat us to it."

Beside Steve, Agent Houston appears. She catches his eyes, and smiles at him before brandishing two items. She extends in one hand a black sharpie pen, and in the other a green haired Troll Doll with camo fatigues and a black eyepatch over his left eye. The camo fatigues on the doll have two visible signatures on it. 'THOR' and 'Banner / Hulk'. Clearly she has aspirations of adding another Avenger to it as well.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would nod over, "Yes. That means that we want to secure more of it if possible. Can with time you use satellites to search for similar energy signatures? There likely isn't any more in planetary range, but.." She would tap over at her cheek in thought.

"Wait, the SETI array. It's intact, still used, and it won't be noticed if commandeered for a period." Everyone had known about aliens for decades, after all. They came to Earth pretty often. Sometimes not even invading.

She would glance to Darcy. "Agent Lewis, is that something that's feasible? To use the arrays if we can lock down whatever thier power soruce is to do limited sweeps of the solar system to see if there are more of them?" Natasha is of the 'there are more, we can kill them' narrative.

"I do have to think.. If this is a small scout vehicle, there should be larger ones in the general system, or at least what passes for a jump transit for them. A larger one is likelier to have... Sturdier ones." By sturdier ones, she could mean aliens, she could mean ships. Definitely bigger ones.

"I suppose that for analysis we should try and priotize taking one alive then? Or at least in a sufficient capacity for interrogation?" It's not like rules of humane treatment applied to alien species the likes of which did not have diplomatic recognition, after all.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve has drifted a little closer to some of the items that seem to be weapons, eyeing them from a short distance but still staying out of the way of the more intellectually gifted among the group.

As Stefani comes over and proffers the Troll Doll and the marker, they draw Steve's blue-eyed gaze first, before the woman herself does. Stefani gets a soft grin from Steve as he takes the doll and peers at it, as if maybe not familiar with it. He wasn't around during that peek, after all.

He autographs it, quickly but the result legible as if from a lot of repetitions, then passes it back. "Any chance that these things might be emitting any kind of... radio waves or something, that they could trace?" he asks Stefani while passing the Troll Doll back.

Steve glances towards the door to the hangar where the ship is, then looks over to Shuri. "Your Highness, the nearest I've seen to something like that is your brother's costume. I don't suppose there's some similar technology involved?"

Shuri has posed:
Shuri listens to the conversation, then looks at Steve, "It is true, Wakanda has--I have helped create technology for kings. But a fierce warrior is knowledgeable so we should begin study immediately if we want to get into the fight," she explains, perhaps relenting to all this military talk. "We should also arm ourselves with its limitations, otherwise we will not survive it," she adds, preparing for the twist in this story.

"My brother's "costume" is a Vibranium mesh that robs projectiles and other attacks of their momentum. Perhaps you are right, the alien technology may be working in a similar way to Vibranium, so my country's knowledge could still help," Shuri offers, "Of course, Vibranium has more properties than durability, so we need more information. I will help. We should be able to uncover what this ...metal really is with a little work. Will you provide me what I need to help with this study?" she asks, looking about then back at Doctor Kincaid.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Oh, ow. Biologics being secondary, that does sting a little bit. Stadler frowned a bit, but took the pragmatic approach. "I can certainly see why these sorts of things would be secondary, Doctor Kincaid, but I'd argue they're no less important. Biology often drives the technical; the operation of these weapons, for instance, or the capabilities of their craft to support life, something we'd have an important stake in knowing." Not to mention how to kill them. That's left unsaid, but it would have been exceediingly helpful when dealing with the Badoon.

But he does take a bit of a closer look at the egg. "I can protect myself in a Class 4 lab, Doctor Lewis. It's.. generally understood how biological material can infect or posion, and what kills it. This... This is something that does something I don't know, and the fact they thought the best option to protect it was to surround it by bodies is deeply concerning. Whose to say it wasn't to do.. something to the people surrounding it?"

There's a deeper frown when there's the indication of what else might be out there. "It just... feels ominous. If you're saying that they're a stronger force out there somewhere... in system, as it were, waiting for something, and not contacting us... why are they out there? What threat do they pose?"

Of course, he's concerned with threats. That's why there was an organization like this out here.

"I would... not be adverse to having a live subject. I'm curious, specifically, on how they sustain themselves. Everything needs /some/ sort of energy, and if it's not breaking down externally introduced carbohydrates via glycolysis to generate ATP for cells, then we're either looking at some sort of energy transfer like how plants use solar radiation, or some... mass produced creature with an exceedingly limited lifespan. If it comes down to hostilities, I don't need to tell you what that'd mean for attrition."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Well, DID it do anything to the people around it?" asks Darcy in return, still enjoying their 'which discipline is more scary' back and forth with Stadler. "I'm not gonna psychoanalyze alien motives, but nothing about the situation really screams weapon to me. Power source maybe, or something otherwise valuable to them. Maybe the egg is an egg. Who knows."

"Anyway, the difficulty with testing always comes down to how much we can do non-destructively," she muses. "There's a reason why they always take so much blood when you go to the doctor." This is the rare time she'll make a biology-related comment! "Material analysis requires removing material samples. Reaction requires reagents. And figuring out the workings of a device usually means, well, opening it up and looking at the guts. Chainsaw optional."

All of this is said while staring at the egg. "So there's only so much we can do looking at it. And risks when it comes to cracking the sucker open. Maybe we get an omlete, or maybe we get what usually comes out when I try and cook breakfast." She adjusts the tilt of her head a bit. "Assuming we can even get it open, and these things don't self-repair faster than our tools. But if it's what Fury wants, we'll give it the ole college try."

All that said, she straightens back up from her leaning posture, turning the whole thing into a stretch. At least she doesn't yawn. The near-impossible task of 'figure out what this alien junk does, with no clear starting point or frame of reference in current physics' is daunting, but it's also pretty much her job descrption. The fact that it's often a hopeless effort doesn't seem to deter her, and she's good about setting expectations low! "I'll put my best people on it, Doc," she finally tells Kincaid. Does she HAVE people? Maybe this is a joke. Then, having seen as much as she's going to see without more specialized equipment and testing, she hoists the tablet and starts back out of the smaller lab. "I'm gonna take another look at the big ship, and then order some tests set up.

Quiet has posed:
Kincaid regards Shuri from his place on the other side of the table holding the egg device. He nods once toward her. "Your involvement, Princess, is highly desired. In fact, Director Fury indicated earlier that he'd be open to discussing sharing the tech with your people, should any benefits from it can be discovered..."

His eyes dart over to Staddler then next, and he smirks softly toward the man. "My apologies for phrasing it that way, it was sloppy at best of a description. Of course the cadavers have value to us here, but that value raises quite a lot if we discover connections between them and these pieces of technology. If links are discerned, and ways to utilize them can be achieved... Then yes, they do have value equal to everything else we recovered here. Thus everything you could bring to this project is just as important."

A glance is given to Romanoff before Kincaid looks back to Staddler. "Who knows if they have more assets here in the Sol System or not... they might. They might not. All I am really willing to bet safely upon is that the nine of these creatures that we recovered come from a likely much more advanced civilization than that of our own, and that these ones likely ... well... they likely really screwed up by getting shot down by our flyboys."

Doctor Kincaid places his glasses back over his eyes then as he looks up toward Darcy, and nods once to her. "I have faith in you and yours, Agent Lewis." He tells her, before his eyes sweep over everyone. "That includes all of you who embark on this project with us. Anything you come up with, comes to me, I take it to Hill, Hill takes it to Fury. Beyond that... everything discovered here, stays here, which I know goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway."

Steve had asked Stefani a question regarding the Egg, but all he'd gotten in response was a shrug of her shoulders and a facial expression that relayed something to the effect of 'Fuck if I know!' A moment later and the brunette agent in black was moving toward Natasha...

Sharpie extended...

One-eyed Troll Doll extended...