2955/Genosha: From the Ashes - expedited delivery

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Genosha: From the Ashes - expedited delivery
Date of Scene: 17 August 2020
Location: Warehouse #27, Cranston Multinational Shipping, New York
Synopsis: Thanks to Power Girl's help, the CMS fast container ship _Amphitrite's Grace_ arrives in Genosha several weeks ahead of schedule with a cargo of supplies, fuel and temporary container homes.
Cast of Characters: Natasha Cranston, Karen Starr




Natasha Cranston has posed:
    From a logistics point of view, most major humanitarian crises have two critical points: The first, of course, is immediately after it happens; getting that first wave of relief supplies on location is a literal race against the clock, and the longer it takes the steeper the casualty curve will be. Once that one is safely past, however, the second critical point comes when the initial emergency has been mostly dealt with and some of the sense of urgency falls out of the news cycle in favour of something a little more recent. Donations start drying up even though supplies are still urgently needed.

    It's for that reason that Natasha is personally overseeing the current supply loading operation; convincing the Powers That Be that Genosha's situation was still critical enough to warrant releasing these supplies took significantly more persuasion and political capital than she'd expected, and showing up in person will at least demonstrate how serious she is about this.

"Excuse me, Miss Cranston?"

    The foreman's comments shake her out of her reverie. "Is something the matter, David? Everything appears to be well on schedule."

    The foreman looks down at his board again. "Yeah, the moving is going fine, we'll have all fifty-five containers checked out and ready to be taken down to the docks for loading on the _Amphitrite's Grace_..."

Natasha smiles. "Excellent. But if it's going that well, why the concerned tone?"

    "Well, it's just... I happen to know that the _Grace_ only has a 54-TEU load capacity." David's face hardens even as he lowers his voice. "I remember you talking a good deal about cleaning up and returning the company to your father's standards, miss Cranston, so I'm sure there's an explanation..."

    Natasha smiles again, the quiet yet pleased grin of someone who has a really good secret to share. "Arrangements were made for some... Expedited priority shipping. She should be here any moment."

    "... She?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Blame it on Starrware. Not only had they supplied around half of the contents of the container, but being headquartered in Metropolis provided them with a so-called "working relationship" with the local capes.

    When everything had gone down at what was formerly the nation of Genosha, two things were evident: First, that there were almost one hundred thousand survivors, all displaced. Second, that only a thousand of them had been taken off-planet by their erstwhile ruler, Magneto. This means that, third, ninety-nine thousand displaced mutants are without homes and supplies following their restoration.

    Pulling all of this together had been impressive, but getting it there in time was going to be a task- because while the shipping lanes are open and the relief is going to flow, the refugees need it, literally, Right Now.

    All of these details come together to form what's sure to be an interesting day.

    It starts with the noise of thunder on the horizon, a blink and you'll miss it blur from the direction of Metropolis. In these spare moments, it almost seems like a storm is rolling in, yet there are no clouds taking shape. Then, all of a sudden, like a bullet stopping midair, floating mere inches above the ground, is a statue. Accompanied by a rush of wind making a minor chaos of (thankfully pinned down) paperwork, Power Girl has arrived.

    "Miss Cranston I presume?" Safe bet is that she heard it on the way over. Another safe bet is that she slowed her pace so that the shockwave reached them before she did.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    You'd think living in New York would inure people to the sudden appearance of a superhero out of the clear skies, but that sonic boom warrants a few startled yells. David's scown has morphed to an open-mouthed stare at the statuesque beauty suddenly hovering in front of him.

    Natasha, on the other hand, seems unperturbed even as the remnant of the shockwave tousles her hair. "Indeed," she replies, turning to face the floating woman and extending her hand. "Thank you for coming, Power Girl. I'm sure the people of Genosha will greatly appreciate the expedited delivery."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl extends a hand, taking Natasha's in a firm grip- but of course, not -too- firm- and shaking it a couple of times, following the other woman's lead on the timing. While the experience is only momentary, there is the split-second where attempting to move her arm in any way just -doesn't- work. To be expected, but all the same, maybe just a touch jarring for anyone used to dealing with regular people.

    Once shaken, Karen's attention turns to the errant shipping container. She can be forgiven for knowing the exact contents without having to, but all the same, there's a moment where her eyes change color from that brilliant ocean blue to something more powdery. Her arms fold- a gesture that is altogether -unfair-, and should frankly be against a few laws somewhere- and she speaks up again. "Mostly food and medical supplies. Once you get the rest on the ship I'll drop by and get some more. Shouldn't take too long."

    Surely she's not making light of something that weighs in the tens of tons.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    There's a natural response when encountering an unexpectedly immovable object; people instinctively ramp up the force applied until they reach their own limit or the object yields. It's almost impossible to train out of and it usually doesn't last long enough to do any real harm before conscious thought kicks back in... But in that briefest of instants before Power Girl relaxes her own arm for the shake, she could have sworn the amount of pushback she got was a bit more than someone with Natasha's build should be capable of. Then again, heavy workouts have become something of a fad for wealthy CEOs lately after that big expose on Oliver Queen's workout routine.

    There is also some more staring from the work crew, but that's a situation Power Girl is entirely accustomed to by now, and they're wise enough to keep the catcalls to an absolute minimum.

    David is the first to snap himself out of the surprise trance. "Ah, yeah. Containers one through fifteen are basic supplies, 16 through 24 are fuel, and the rest are emergency housing. You might want to be a little more careful with the latter set; everything that's movable was tied down but you probably still shouldn't shake them too much.."

    Natasha smiles again. "By all means. Call my office to confirm once you've delivered it; I'll make sure they'll know you're authorized to know the ship's current location if you want to expedite a few more."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There is a moment of pondering. While Power Girl isn't necessarily looking at anyone in particular, she's well aware of any eyes lingering on her. She isn't -counting- the sets, but as with anyone else, you can -feel- them. She's used to it, as anyone could assume.

    What she -was- used to, in a different way, was feeling someone responding with more strength than, necessarily, their fair share. It's a detail she notes, but ultimately, a detail she cannot help but ignore. Even if now were the place, it's definitely not the time.

    "Huh. Okay, that sounds like it'll be a good start, I suppose."

    Unfurling her arms from one another and floating ever so briskly over to the container, she seems to -effortlessly- slip the fingers of one gloved hand under the lip of its front, and hoists it up above her head with that -one- hand.

    "Yeah, I was uh... Thinking of doing -something- to that effect." There's this small, following chuckle. That, too, should be illegal.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    It's probably a mark of a professional crew that the feat of strength gets more stares and louder comments than Power Girl's physique did -- or at least a mark of a crew that paid attention to their most recent workplace sexual harassment training seminar.

    Natasha, for her part, remains cheerfully unperturbed. "Please do, Power Girl; the accounting department gets all manner of distraught when they don't know where each container in our care currently is. Audits, paper trails, 'how do you know that the internationally acclaimed heroine didn't decide to fly off into the sunset with those emergency relief supplies rather than deliver them to a disaster area', et cetera..."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Without much further ado, Power Girl takes a step into the shadow of the shipping container, and lowers it to rest seemingly comfortably on her neck and shoulders when she's at about the center of it. Her armspan isn't anywhere near enough for her to cling edge to edge, but she'd already planned for that- and has clearly done this before, having no trouble balancing it on the tips of her fingers.

    Taking a couple steps forward with the container overhead, she pauses as she nears Natasha. "I'll give you a call, but I'll need your number." she states- "I can assure you that you won't be receiving any of those statements or complaints from your accounting department." She should probably add the word 'specifically' in there.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Okay, now there's more staring. A flying woman powerlifting a full Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit container isn't a terribly common sight.

    Natasha just raises an eyebrow at Power Girl's somewhat specific assurance, but recites a number regardless. "I'll be looking forward to your call, Power Girl. Fly safe."

    Behind her, David turns to yell at his crew. "Okay, people, show time's over, we've got a job to do. Get the rest of those containers moving to the pier!"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Committing the number to memory, Power Girl nods. "That's the plan." she comments, before she is lifting further and further off of the ground, and then she's up, up, and away- accelerating to tens of times the speed of any ship within a few moments or more. It's slower than the snap acceleration that she uses to travel normally, but only so that she doesn't do any damage to the cargo.

    The rest of the loading will go as smoothly as Natasha's crew allows it. Indeed, the journey will be several hours underway for the ship before Natasha will receive Power Girl's call, letting her know that she's spotted the ship and is on her way.

    That's... That's when things get weird. She sure did come back for more cargo, it's just...

    She didn't tell anyone she was going to come back for -all- of it.

    One thing's for sure, that crew is never going to forget being -carried- to their destination.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    David takes a moment longer to watch the disappearing figure. "Man. Maybe it's a good thing capes are usually too busy saving the world, or she'd put us all out of a job..."

    Natasha just chuckles. "I'd say you have less to worry about than many; after all, someone would still need to fill the containers before she carries them off..."

    There is quite a bit of consternation back at the office as the _Grace_'s GPS transponder suddenly starts moving several orders of magnitude faster than its rated top speed of thirty knots, but a quick assurance from Natasha soothes them down at least long enough for the ship to be sighted by the CMS overseer in Genosha proper...