6229/Homecoming: Restoring the Lost City

Homecoming: Restoring the Lost City
Date of Scene:	15 May 2021
Location:	Falaaria City, Almerac
Synopsis:	With a stolen Brainiac size beam, a phone home to Earth, and some help from Power Girl, Scott manages to do what not even he was sure was possible and restore a bottled alien city to its proper size earning the gratitude of an interstellar empire.
Cast of Characters:	Maxima, Scott Lang, Karen Starr

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Maxima has posed:
The trip across the stars has been long and longer still for those staying behind. Soon the Milkyway galaxy is left behind and from the windows of the craft can be seen the wonders of interstellar space at a distant that would make most of Earth's astronomers faint. There are some run ins and at times tense diplomatic exchanges briefly passing through the edges of Shi'ar Imperial space before continuing to points still further beyond.

It is quickly apparent when the Raacal has reached Almeracian space, different honor guards begin flanking Maxima's ship to escort it as it makes its way through the territories of the Frontier Blood Houses and then the Great Blood Houses until the Almerac core system the Imperial Blood House resides comes into view. The ship's course takes it to the system's fourth planet, Almerac, Throneworld of the Empire, from which the city was taken. The ships trajectory however takes it far from the capitol city, instead arcing downwards towards the jungle covered equatorial band of the planet.

Maxima stands upon her raised metal dais on the command deck of her ship as a message comes in from the planet. "Princess Vaalara, it is nice to see you again. The city is recovered and we have returned with the means to restore it."

On the screen is another amazonian woman, this one with blonde hair, "Crown Princess, it is an honor and pleasure as always. Congratulations on the completion of your mission. We have prepared your entourage at the spaceport to escort you."

The ship continues to descend through the atmosphere to the planet's surface below.

Scott Lang has posed:
     The vault at least has been opened. That was another checkmark in Scott's list of city-saving tasks to perform. Surely the hard part was done...now he just had to figure out how to hook up and repair a damaged alien shrinking device that made his Pym-tech look like a capgun next to a bazooka in terms of power. Not surprisingly he'd been reluctant, the machinery spread across his room, replacing wiring which was some of the few things he had understood about the device. Meanwhile other alien tech that had lain inside the vault had been separated into a few piles, one going to the Guardians for their help in stealing it, another to return to Oa, and one or two doodads he'd taken a fancy to for himself. He couldn't go home empty-handed could he?

Now though was the big moment as he stands in a corner of the bridge room in his Ant-Man suit, nervously twiddling his thumbs and clearing his throat from time to time. "You know I'd hate to ruin your welcome home party and all, maybe I should just stay on the ship a while longer. I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do with your people and all," Scott suggests, jerking a thumb over his shoulder back towards the hallway that leads back to his room and the illusion of safety it provides. He was out of time, he had to figure this thing out.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen has been- we'll call it an average amount of grumpy. Being separated, despite that she volunteered for it, from her family to come here to Almerac puts a bad taste in her mouth... But the reason she's here is what has her on edge. She worries- intensely- that Maxima's just brought the wrong man.

    That worry shows itself in interesting ways.

    "I'm just saying," she begins, rather out of nowhere, "That every civilization I've met that has a 'Throneworld' or would call anything a 'Blood House' has caused me more than a few problems."

    She's the most out of place, oddly- among Scott and Maxima, both whom have been preparing to be here, Karen just looks like plain ol' Power Girl, standing sort of off to the side and menacingly preparing to make this go well in any way that's within her power. She leans there near the viewport, keeping as best out of sight and out of mind as she can be.

    Except, y'know. She's /Power Girl./

Maxima has posed:
The main viewscreen returns to a view of the ship's re-entry as it descends through the atmosphere and touches down in the spacesport. The architecture is magnificent, soaring spires, vaulted domes, some seemingly in harmony with the natural world around them, others beautiful crystalline structures. Scott may find himself relieved that the planet is surprisingly Earth-like with similar relative gravity and breathable atmosphere.

"Everything will be removed from the ship and transported to the site of the ruins of Falaaria, where the city is to be restored." Maxima informs Scott, though even as she says this the door to the bridge opens and two Almeracian women in similar 'armor' to Maxima's enter despite it seeming like the touched down only moments before. "Show them what you need and it will be taken care of. Then join us outside. My people have already waited long enough, do not keep them waiting any longer than necessary Scott Lang."

As she floats off the raised dais of the command deck she looks to Power Girl. "The Blood Houses are like the human clans of Earth, lineages that govern a given territory." That's probably not really all there is to it, but it seems a valid enough comparison to Maxima after her limited time on Earth. "In any case, it is time to go." And the door the other two Almeracian women entered from, she simply holds out her right hand and from her ring a beam of energy extends outward rapidly forming into a portal of glowing yellow energy. Because doors are for other people. "This way."

Scott Lang has posed:
"Oh, right, no of course yeah, I mean, but has anyone asked, maybe some of them like being tiny? We could maybe give them another...oh hello ladies. Right this way," Scott relents in his weak protests quickly as the two guards approach looking about as grumpy as every other super powered woman he'd ever met that had to talk to him. With steps only slightly less reluctant than a man being lead down Death Row he takes them to his room, the pair gathering up the several hundred pounds of equipment without any sign of effort.

"Goody, I bet even the janitors around here can break me in two," Scott mumbles as he leaves and heads back to the waiting portal. A moment's hesitation as energy portals were still a new one even to him. On the other side Maxima and any other waiting persons will see what appears to be a pen briefly stick through halfway before it withdraws, Scott giving the writing instrument a quick perusal. Seeing no signs of burn marks or other horrible things done to it, he takes a deep breath as if going for a dive and then jumps through.

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's a pause there, a brow raising as Karen listens to Maxima address Scott. She looks between the two, quietly pushing off of the wall when the door opens.

    "I mean, I suppose so but on Earth we call them clans and not /Blood Houses./" Power Girl notes, illustrating with plenty of emphasis on those last two words what the point of her statement was.

    Being comforting isn't exactly what Karen's the best at, but as the guards leave and Maxima departs the ship, she gives Scott a reassuring pair of pats on the shoulder.

    "Just do your best, Scott. I'll make sure it all goes fine, even if you're over your head."

    That said, Karen swoops through the portal, lifting just a few inches off of the ground to do so, following Maxima as she'd instructed.

Maxima has posed:
On the other side of the glowing at area has been set aside flanked btw two lines of women, members of the Almeracian Warrior caste forming an honor guard for the Crown Princess. Beyond them is a cheering crowd there to welcome Maxima back from her long mission away. She certainly seems popular with her people. Up ahead are transport craft somewhat more akin to flying yachts than cars. In a civilization where many of the inhabitants can fly and at significant speeds vehicles generally take one of three forms, military vehicles, absurd luxuries, and the simpler machines used by the farming and merchant castes.

Maxima waits for the crowd to quiet, "Yes, my people. I have returned to you. With me are 'Power Girl' of Krypton who wished to see our empire and meet you all and Scott Lang of Earth who will help restore the lost city of Falaaria." Maxima motions for Scott and Karen to follow her as she heads towards the space yachts.

The crowds are mostly women with the rare male, though the men among them often seem a bit different. Exceptional examples of their given races but clearly from races that became part of the empire within their lifetimes rather than the results of the Empire's famed genetic engineering programs. They are also not all of the Warrior Caste, four armed three eyed members of the scholar caste are also among them as well as the more varied members of the farming and merchant castes.

Once everyone is aboard the flying yachts, the crowds are left behind save for the honor guards flying around them in formation as they zoom off towards the crater left behind after the city was taken.

Scott Lang has posed:
Oh great, Power Girl knows something is off and she isn't even psychic. Scott keeps a forced smile on his face as he faces the crowds, a half-hearted wave as he resists the urge to put his helmet up and hide his face. Or shrink and hide his entire self on a molecule somewhere. Plan, plan.

"Just so there's no, umm, disappointment or confusion, this is gonna take some time to properly grow the city back. We gotta be very careful to make sure it's all lined up right and we hit the exact right size. Don't want a city full of people an inch taller than they used to be, be a mess updating all those medical records and things. Oh and I'll need power of course, lotta power, probably take a while to get a generator out there. You know lotta little logistics," Scott rambles from behind Maxima, doing his best not to make eye contact with any of the other aliens around. Hell even Power Girl from Earth was one wasn't she? He really was the only human on the planet and the thought makes his stomach perform a quick gymnastics routine.

It wasn't hot and yet still he found sweat on his brow as he wipes a gloved hand across it and steps in after Maxima on the most ostentatious of the space yachts, made with the famed sense of Almeracian fashion.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Maxima's popularity is, frankly, a good sign. The redhead can get pretty brusque, and the names of everything is altogether ominous... So the fact that her people certainly don't -seem- oppressed does put Power Girl at ease to some extent.

    Maxima's own words that Scott would be held accountable for making promises that he couldn't keep- should he fail- keeps her from /relaxing/ but she's a little less uptight. It'll have to do. It helps that she can also hear and process all of their individual cheers, and they don't seem to be negative.

    "Not exactly correct, but sure, we'll go with it." she comments, following along to the yachts and taking a seat as soon as she can. She's taking mental notes, of course- the various evident castes at play, the clear delineation of more than one kind of Almeracian.

    Scott's attitude causes her to idly pinch at the bridge of her nose, before full-on rubbing at her face when he finally finishes going through the motions of what she figures is starting to edge close to a panic attack.

    "Oh this is going to go great."

Maxima has posed:
"Of course, Scott Lang. It will need to be tested on something else first. Did you think we would insist you'd fire straight at the city out of the blue? That would be catastrophically dangerous. Their safety is very important." Maxima seems to agree with Scott's assertion that this will take time as she settles into a throne-like seat aboard the space yacht. The interior also contains other smaller less extravagant seats with a table in the center and transparent walls that can also become viewscreens if anything needs to be displayed. The vehicles are also quite fast, cutting through the air with remarkable speed as they zoom towards the crater left behind by Falaaria. "And don't worry about power generation, this ship alone has a generator that could power your 'New York'."

Soon the crater cut into the planet comes into view, easily discernable even from high up like a vicious gash in the middle of the surrounding jungle that has slowly begun to reclaim the area, and the flying yachts begin to descend.

Scott Lang has posed:
"A, a test run? Right. Right right right. That's a...good idea," Scott affirms without meaning it. A test run put him right back in the thick of things and he rubs a hand nervously at his chin, a scraping noise reminding him he hasn't shaved in the last several days thanks to thinking only about getting the Brainiac shrink array operational. And understood.

Scott was no supergenius though. He wasn't an idiot despite his bumbling, an electrical engineer and a man who can break through security systems like he can put him well above average for a human. But superscience? He may as well be a two year old put in front of a computer and told to start programming. "I...may also need to consult a colleague or two back on Earth. I think you have the tech to let me do that if I remember right. We should have this all wrapped up very soon," he says as he takes a seat as far from Maxima as he can. Meanwhile a furtive glance is cast towards Power Girl, Scott not so subtly raising both hands with fingers crossed when he makes eye contact with her.

Karen Starr has posed:
    This was the crux of it. Karen trusted Scott to know what he was doing in almost every situation that was involved in heroing. Almost. The more he seems to bluster, the more confidence seems to crack, the more Karen catches it. At the very least he has -help- winging it properly. That's comforting.

    "I would assume that he's going to at least get some time to rest and calibrate the machine between the first attempt and the second? Considering we've just landed and we're probably headed right out to put the machine to use, it's only best that we don't try to rush this."

    Karen gestures quietly to the crater around them. "Precision takes time, and we only /really/ get the one shot at this."

Maxima has posed:
Maxima leans back in her thronelike chair, "I think you both misunderstand. I have an honorbound duty to see to the wellbeing of my subjects. I am not about to force an accelerated timetable that would put them at risk. However unneccessary delays are to be avoided. You will have the time you need to prepare and yes, provided equipment capable of receiving the transmission exists on Earth there is the means to send communications even all the way out there."

By this point the ship has landed at the edge of the crater as the honor guard takes up positions around the perimeter of the space. Outside a makeshift Science Lab of advanced Almeracian technology has been set up awaiting their arrival. The hastily put together facility is staffed by a team of four-armed three-eyed members of the Academic Caste.

"We have arrived." Maxima states the obvious as she rises from her seat. "The scientists waiting outside should be able to help you with whatever you require. They are some of the finest in the Empire."

Scott Lang has posed:
"You are just...too generous my mighty Maxima," Scott squeaks out as he stands up after the all too short trip and makes his way outside to the science facilities, not to mention the Brainiac shrink array being placed at the edge of the crater. It's a massive hole in the ground, the remains of the city obvious as where the beam cut off there is still evidence of intact buildings on the edge of the crater that found themselves split in two, roads leading to the edge of the dropoff, while down inside the crater there are cleanly shorn pipes and power cables that once fed into and out of the metropolitan area. The scale was immense, at least 10 miles across, and Scott finds himself staring in a bit of shock a moment before he picks up his pace again over to the waiting science group with their inhuman appearance.

Bravado had gotten him this far, lets see if it could get him a bit further as he claps his hands together and mimics someone that nobody questions. "Alright you muppets, get to work. I need the exact size of that hole of yours down to the micrometer. You there, get me communications set up with Earth. You, start hooking up power to the shrink array, I bloody wired the thing, you should be able to figure out how to plug a power cord in you idiot sandwich. I'll need three cups of whatever you tossers use for coffee around here and you...I don't like you. You're out of the kitchen...science lab. Get out of here! Let that be lesson to the rest of you!" Scott bellows with a vaguely bad British accent as he takes charge, giving nobody time to question his orders or what he's planning. Keep them guessing and all.

It'll be fine he tells himself, his eyes drifting back down to the shrinky array as power is restored to it, the strange alien device beginning to hum and parts of it to glow. Yeah, just fine. Or he'd be dead and this was all a moot point anyway. He gives his knuckles a crack and sighs. "I should've thrown Hank at her when I had the chance," he mutters.

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's a short shake of Karen's head, and by now she's hooked her arms onto the back of the bench behind her, spreading out comfortably on the seat while she listens- and considers. "It's not a misunderstanding; It's a lack of understanding, and frankly, a fundamental difference in perception versus reality. The image you've put forward is entirely utilitarian and at least to /us/ who are used to the way things are done on /Earth/, it seems impatient. I'm sure it at least /feels/ like walking on eggshells, hoping that the definition of necessary isn't different between the three of us."

    Power Girl's shoulders lift slightly, but before she makes another statement, Scott speaks and she offers a raised brow as if to ask what in the /hell/ he'd just said. Still, she's not really going to say anything about it. He's got the lead, as he's at least closer to the shrink-tech than she is. He'll be fine, as long as he doesn't...

    By the time Karen makes her way into the science tent, she's pinching at her brow again. "Jesus, Scott." she sighs, trying not to lose her damn mind at the ploy. "You're not the Gordon Ramsay of Electrical Engineering. This isn't even an Electrical Engineering /thing./"

    Stepping closer, she looks over the machine for a short while. She definitely didn't approve of its presence anywhere outside of a vault, as she's seen nigh upon any piece of Brainiac's technology turn into another Brainiac... But the risk is worth it.

    "I think you need to call Hank as soon as possible."

Maxima has posed:
Maxima rises from her seat and nods her head slowly listening to Karen. "Communicating with those from Earth can be difficult, on Almerac much is understood through empathy and telepathy rather than purely spoken aloud. Lacking those senses I can see how our communication might appear that way."

All five of the Almeracian scientists just sort of stare at Scott for a moment, partially because at least half of what he is saying just comes off as complete gibberish to them. They then look towards Karen who at least seems like a rational individual capable of coherent communication and finally to Maxima who appears behind the other two from inside the craft, stopping to bow at her approach.

One can almost hear the unspoken telepathic <Just humor him.> that Maxima sends to the scientists from the changes in their facial expressions. Whereupon one of them sets about hooking up what appears to be some manner of generator to the array, while another brings up the exact dimensions of the crater and the currently bottled city on a free floating viewscreen. The data is unfortunately for Scott all in Interlac, however. Though at least they translated it from Almeracian sigils to something more commonly understood in the civilized regions of the universe.

"Do you have a target communications array or at least some kind of coordinates to beam a target a transmission at?" Inquires a third Scientist standing by the communications array.

"Scott Lang, please refrain from overuse of difficult to translate cultural idioms in your thoughts and speech. It will only make translation more difficult and confuse efforts cooperation." Maxima finally tells him, speaking aloud.

Scott Lang has posed:
"I'm sure there's electricity in there somewhere. It has wires, I looked!" Scott hisses under his breath at Power Girl as she makes her criticisms, his features momentarily faltering only to stern up again as he works to keep the facade going. Only for it to fall apart again as Maxima speaks from behind, practically jumping out of his skin.

"Oh, Maxima, you're going to stick around and watch for a bit? That's, that's great. Fantastic. I mean, you've been away a while, I'm sure there's like, lots of stuff waiting for you to do so, if you need to go do that, we'll have this handled, really," Scott assures, resisting the urge to make a 'shooing' motion as he doubts it would have the desired effect and indeed likely just the opposite.

The scientist's question though at least gives him a slight spark of hope. "Better than a target, a phone number!" Scott exclaims, his ordinary Earth smartphone drawn from a pouch, the aliens given a chance to watch him awkwardly scroll through his contacts before tapping on Hank's profile and handing it over to the scientist.

"Go ahead and, you know, patch him through or whatever it is you all do. You know, open comms," Scott declares.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen isn't even /facing/ Maxima and she can hear that entirely telepathic message. The problem is, she's starting to wonder if it might not be entirely healthy for him to keep up the various levels of facade currently on display.

    "He... He doesn't, really, but we may be able to rig something together." she states, taking a moment to move over to the communications array. It really, honestly, does only take a moment. Power Girl looks through the surface of the machine- inspecting any part that isn't led. As long as the machine isn't constructed or shelled in it, she'll have an idea enough pretty quickly of whether or not it can reach the moonbase- or, perhaps, a cell tower that they can use to contact Hank.

    "I don't know how much Hank would trust anyone from the League saying that they've got Almerac on Collect, but he may have to bite that bullet. The only question is whether he'd give a damn about going to the moon, if we even /can/ contact it."

Maxima has posed:
"There is nowhere more important for me to be than here seeing to the safety of my people." Maxima informs Scott, while gesturing towards a nearby table where the remaining two scientists are securing the miniturized bottle city that Maxima has brought.

When Scott pulls out his cellphone Maxima squints at it for a moment. "Ah yes, I remember seeing these devices on Earth. They function through primitive networks of radio waves." She says as if the notion is quite quaint. "We will likely need something more sophisticated..."

The communications array under Karen's inspection seems easily capable of sending transmissions that could be picked up by the Justice League's sophisticated communications networks. It is incredibly advanced capable of folding space/time so that transmissions don't take millions of years to travel between galaxies. Targeting individual celltowers on Earth does not seem likely due to the primitive nature of Earth's technology and the precision coordinates needed to reach it.

"By all means," Maxima nods and the Academic Caste scientist steps back to allow Karen access to the console. "Contact this 'Hank' if he can be of assistance to you."

Scott Lang has posed:
Scott holds up a single finger. "Right, just one moment then," he states as cooly and calmly as possible. The way he rushes to the communicator is anything but that though, practically bowling over a couple of scientists who have begun calibrating the device to reach Earth.

"Watch Tower...Avengers...Fantastic Four...dammit I'll take Mystery Incorporated, someone pick up over there," he hisses, twisting various knobs and dials without knowing what they do.

Something made obvious when one of the scientists questions, "Why is the Earthling adjusting the lab's temperature controls?"

A staticky voice at last responds and Scott feverishly talks back. "I need Hank Pym...Ant-Man. It's an alien emergency...yes I'll hold...what do you mean isn't picking up? What about that Palmer guy? ...why is he off exploring an amoeba jungle?! Reed Richards? Well someone has to...don't tell me you're under attack, I'll attack you you lousy no good..." Scott's voice rising and realizing it at last as he looks back over his shoulder at everyone staring at him and ekes out a nervous laugh. "Just a, a bit of comm trouble there. I'll get back to them. So, test run on the shrink array first right?" doing his best to distract everyone from one disaster by starting another as he approaches the exotic device and chews on his lower lip.

A million lights were blinking on it, bits of Earth and now Almerac tech hooked up to it in strange configurations patchworking it together. One can see Scott's eyes furtively glancing around the various control systems and those good at reading subtle lip movements might just make out, "eenie meenie minie mo..." before he reaches out and stabs a button. A light flares and there's a terrific and terrifying BUZZ of energy that fills the air before a beam lances out and strikes a cargo vessel that had followed them in the convoy just as the last crewmember steps off with an armload of supplies. The cargo ship vanishes from sight, shrinking and then rematerializing no bigger than a grain of rice on a platform set on the shrink array. Scott stares at it a long moment in silence before throwing his hands in the air. "Success! It still works! Call it a day fellas!"

Karen Starr has posed:
    "Yeah you weren't going to get her to go away. She's going to stay here until you're done." Karen notes, "She'll outlast you on sleep too."

    Power Girl rarely flexes this particular muscle- to be honest, it benefits her a whole lot when people think she's little more than a couple pairs of things without a brain. Helps the secret identity too for people to be pretty sure that she's not all that bright.

    "Primitive for you. They're working on advancing a society a third your age and they're probably a whole lot further along than Almerac was." To be fair, she owns a tech company. "I can probably- I think I can get transmission to the League, given a bit of time. Just have to see if anyone there has a line in on Hank."

    Admittedly, the scientists aren't the ones trying to calibrate the communicator: They wouldn't have any context. Bowling over Karen doesn't go so well.

    By the time Scott's fiddling with knobs, Karen has opened the array below the console, and has started actively retooling the internal components in a way that doesn't at all fit her appearance. When the voice comes over it, the ID it's using is hers, so the League will pick up and try to relay- which, judging by Scott's conversation doesn't go very well.

    She lets out a sigh, "It'll... Just give them a few minutes, they'll be able to get to them."

    She takes a position aside the array, watching Scott's first test goes... Okayish. His reaction stirs her to action. There is a rush of moving air, and quite suddenly- in altogether less than the blink of an eye, Scott isn't where he was standing, nor is Power Girl. They're off behind a partition, and she has the man by his shoulders. When she speaks, it's hushed- quiet and calm.

    "You need to calm down. I understand the pressure you're under. It's unbelievable, and it's like nothing you've ever felt, but you need to /calm. Down./ If you need time, you'll get it. If you need to talk to people that know more, you'll get it. I know you want to be here but that you didn't want to be the one that does this. I /know/ you are out of your element, but the city will be okay. You will be okay. You just need to calm down, and take your time. They /aren't/ going to rush you."

    With that, she releases Scott's shoulders, and takes a couple steps back.

Maxima has posed:
Maxima watches Scott's frantic display with the console and for a moment a raised eyebrow is the first sign that the faith she has shown in him thus far might be starting to waver, that perhaps the resourcefulness she witnessed on Earth was a fluke after all. It is only a moment though.

Then Scott's test succeeds and it would seem the confidence is restored, there it is, that against all odds resourcefulness. Maxima has an empire full of scientists, an entire caste of them with superhuman powers to boot, but it's almost like she sees something else in Scott that none of those scientists possess.

"And now restore it..." Maxima begins to say before watching Karen whisk Scott away behind a partition. She waits for them to return, glancing in the direction of the scientists and then the tiny cargo ship and waiting. For someone who has probably never had to wait for much in her entire life, she is doing a remarkably good job of waiting.

Scott Lang has posed:
Scott's stomach is twisting from a combination of stress and being moved at blinding speeds, taking a moment for him to even register he's no longer standing where he had been. "Power Girl, I, right, yeah, OK, deep breaths, deep breaths in, and out, in, and out," Scott at least attempting some sort of breathing exercise he'd once caught a glimpse of in a movie. It seems to work though as he closes his eyes and his pulse comes down to something no longer threatening cardiac arrest. One last exhale and then he smiles at Power Girl and lifts a hand up to give her a cheesy thumbs up.

"Hey WE got this partner," he states before waving at Maxima further off. "Working on it your Highness! Just crunching some numbers! Machine needs some time to cool off between uses, wasn't made for rapid fire," he states having no idea if that was true or not, but it at least SOUNDED true as he walks back in among the group of alien scientists and in front of the mercurial redhead. Power Girl was right, they had time to wait for the Justice League to get back to them, surely someone there would have the answer. Still, it wouldn't hurt to buy a bit more time for himself, Maxima was being patient so far but that could only last so long with her attitude. A distraction. Something she wouldn't be able to ignore.

Scott leans against a console near the Space Princess and something about the way he carries himself changes, and not for the better. "I was just thinking though, after this, could be some of the last moments we get to spend together. You the beautiful space princess, me the ruggedly handsome backwater hero. We've made quite the duo since we've met. You've felt it, haven't you? That connection between us?" C'mon Justice League, any time now.

Karen Starr has posed:
    The transition of Karen's mood from being moderately proud of Scott to wanting to eat a pistol if she has to watch this keep on is enough to give a Kryptonian whiplash.

    There isn't much more for her to say for the moment, and she lets Scott head over to the machine, though she herself observes it momentarily and offers a nod or two. "No, surprisingly, he's right. If we fire that thing off now, it's liable to /literally/ melt." That observation out of the way, Scott starts trying to... Buy time.

    "Great /@#*$ing/ Rao." Karen mutters, making her way to the console of the communications array. She starts working it quietly, and eventually a clearer voice comes through. "I... I need you to do two things for me. First, I need you to get in touch with Hank Pym, you'll probably have to go through the Avengers but we can give you his cell number. Second, I need you to load a Kryptonite bullet into a high powered revolver, and teleport it to a planet called Almerac. Quickly."

Maxima has posed:
The scientists confirm Scott Lang's guess and Karen's accurate assessment that the machine will almost certainly melt if fired rapidly in succession, in fact it seems like it might melt if fired at something larger than the cargo ship. For the city, they may only get one shot at this, at least without a lot of very difficult repairs.

Maxima nods slowly as she is told of the need for delay and seems accepting of it, though she can only stare for a moment at what Scott does next, "Scott Lang, do I need to remind you that I can hear your true thoughts?"

Maxima may have been about to say more when the comm station comes to life again, "Wait, Scott did what?!" The young female voice of a clearly annoyed teenager can be heard briefly before the original Watchtower operator Karen contacted comes back on.

"We were unable to locate Dr. Pym, but we did manage to reach his daughter at Avengers Mansion.." The voice cuts off as the first one returns.

"Scott, what did you do THIS time?!" It's definitely Nadia, he might be doomed.

Scott Lang has posed:
Scott stares up at Maxima silently a moment or two longer before he holds up a finger. "Hold that thought," he intones before he does his best Flash impression complete with red suit in getting back to the radio. At the moment Nadia couldn't scare him, not with an annoyed Power Girl, Maxima, and a host of other aliens that could kill him in the immediate vicinity.

"We've already got one super-powered royal here Karen, we don't need a drama queen too," Scott quips at her before leaning in closer to the comms, TRYING to be secretive with what he's saying and failing miserably.

"Nadia! Yes it's Scott. Listen, it's not a big deal, I'm on an alien planet. I sto...borrowed Brainiac's shrink array from the Green Lanterns cause there's a city here that he shrunk and we want to fix it. All I need to know is which button to push...Power Girl is here also by the way. Hey Power Girl say hi to Nadia. Nice kid, bit high strung," Scott informs, his easy smile back on his face. No sweat, Nadia would know what to do, she was a genius in that club of her's.

Karen Starr has posed:
    When Maxima chides Scott, Karen looks over her shoulder for a moment. "What, you think his real thoughts /aren't/ that he's hoping you'll say yes?" Then, a voice comes over the communicator and she recognizes it quite quickly. "Ah shit, it's the kid." she notes, furrowing her brow.

    "Listen, we need your expertise, but you've got to understand this isn't Scott's fa-" and then Scott's there, taking over the conversation somewhat. Her brow raises, and she offers this look of genuine incredulity.

    "I... I met Nadia, Scott. High strung isn't really the way I'd put it." Comments aside, Karen does not greet the radio. Instead she just sorta... Lets that happen. It's bound to be pleasant.

    Stepping away, she looks at Maxima for a moment. "If you agree to his ploy, I'm turning this whole planet around."

Maxima has posed:
Whatever Scott's true thoughts were the Almeracian Crown Princess chooses not to elaborate further, seemingly giving Scott his space to have his conversation as she instead goes to observe the preparation of the city itself to be resized once Scott's tests have proved successful. It's questionable if Maxima even understands romance as a concept, the way she seems married to her dual roles as a warrior and caretaker of her people.

"Scott I can /hear/ you." Nadia's voice comes from the console again, an image flickers into view on the screen just as she is rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath. "You got what? From where? I see..." She seems to decide not to question how Scott got to another galaxy, it's Scott.

To her credit, Nadia does hear Scott out. "Okay, let's not doom an entire city because you were randomly pressing buttons. You're lucky, I was heavily involved with fixing that array both times. First you need to set up the spatial metrics between the objects current scale and its original scale that you want to restore it to. Then you need to target the precise coordinates where it is to be returned. Then once it is energized, hit the large green button in the middle of the control panel in the center of the left side. Here..." There is a short pause and then she is holding up a hastily drawn diagram of what Scott should do.

Scott Lang has posed:
"I, don't think we're talking about the same Nadia. Believe me she is ALWAYS on edge when I'm around her," Scott tells Power Girl without connecting what factor might be causing that. For a second he looks thoughtful like maybe just maybe...and then no his furrowed brow uncreases and he gives that lopsided smirk of his to Power Girl. "And thanks for keeping an eye on me. Even if you are a terrible wingman. Like seriously what the hell?" this last part more a mumble to himself than anything as he skims Nadia's drawing.

"OK yeah. Math. I can do math," Scott for once not making stuff up, as an electrical engineer there had been more than a few math classes involved to go with it. Though he does rope a couple alien scientists into getting the figures he needs for the equations.

"I'm gonna owe you so many stuffed animals when I get back Nadia you'll be drowning in your room on them," Scott vows as the scientists give the greenlight to complete the test run and rexpand the cargo vessel he had shrunk. Using the Earth portions of the tech to input his figures, the push of the button this time is much more deliberate than last, but the effects don't change, the miniature ship vanishing from the platform only to remerge in its forming parking spot at a much larger scale. "Almost there," Scott whispers.

Maxima has posed:
Maxima looks back just in time to see the cargo ship returned to its original size, "Are we ready then? Once the device has cooled? The city is prepared, once you feel confident you may begin Scott Lang." She stands not far from the bottled city hovering protectively nearby.

The machine's internals have begun to show some strain but from tremedous levels of power Earth-sourced components were never designed to withstand. Thankfully they are StarkTech, PymTech, and Fantastic Four components, so they are withstanding them all the same ...for now at least. It is almost certain that with the output required to restore the city there will only be one shot at this.

Scott Lang has posed:
Lang takes another look at the numbers and with Nadia and the scientists begins inputting the calculations. To his own surprise he's actually able to follow through on this even if it's mostly following directions, tech and math WERE still something an electrical engineer should be familiar with even if HOW all the super space science stuff functioned was well above his paygrade. It's a good 20 minutes at least of scrambling around and double-checking everything before they get to the moment of truth.

Lang hesitates his finger over the button as he tries to think of something quotable to say with everyone looking at him. And finally falls back on Jurassic Park. "Hold onto your butts," he quips before his thumb stabs down. A beam of energy lances out at the city which vanishes in the blink of an eye. And doesn't reappear.

Scott's stomach sinks until he looks down and notices the device humming more loudly than before, the lights blinking wildly. It seems expanding an entire city was a bit more taxing than a single ship. He takes a nervous step back as the scent of ozone fills the air and swallows down a lump in his throat. "I don't know if..." he gets out before another beam zaps out and into the crater. The expansion is less instantanteous than before, the city growing out like a steel and concrete flower. A scraping sound fills the air as the bottom of the city begins to make contact with the ground below and a rumble runs through the ground. MAYBE a calculation was off by a decimal somewhere. Or the ground has shifted a bit since Brainiac took the city. But expand it does, the edges of it rushing towards them at faster and faster speeds as it grows until finally the nearest point crashes into the edge of the crater with a resounding boom. The machine finished, it sparks and a small fire breaks out as the lights dim, there was likely no fixing it this time.

Scott scarcely notices though as he stares at the reborn city. "I mean, I think, I think we did it," he breathlessly wheezes out in disbelief.

Maxima has posed:
Spark. Fizz. Crackle. Pop. The machine was barely being held together by the Earth's replacement components as it was. With the increased strain of unbottling a large metropolitan area some components are violently expelled while others sizzle and fry and still others just melt. The Earthly components are a lost cause and even more of the original Brainiac components seem to have been destroyed as well, but even still the patchwork device manages to fulfill its function one last time.

The restored core of the city is a tremendous sight to behold, even more magnificent than the surviving spaceport had been. What Earthlings might call neo-classical architecture dominates the restored structures, vaulted domes, impossibly tall spires, and beautiful column lined crystalline streets. Yet there is far more greenery than an Earthly city as well, the structures seem to exist in harmony with the natural world around them rather than dominating or destroying it.

A cheer goes up from the city's restored inhabitants, many taking to the skies zipping around to celebrate. Even as Almeracian emergency response teams begin entering the city and fanning out to make sure there are no wounded and ascertain any damage that needs to be repaired.

Maxima watches exultant, for a few moments it looks as if she might shed tears of joy, so happy she is that her people have been restored. Scott is clapped on the back by one her hands, perhaps forgetting her strength a tiny bit. "You did it Scott Lang! As I knew you would. You are a hero and Almerac will not forget this. I have never met a man as resourceful as you. But when your back is to the wall with no other options you are able to pull off amazing feats." And there it is, the real reason Maxima seemed to have so much faith in, not his his knowledge but his resourcefulness and knowing even if he couldn't do it himself, somehow he would find a way. "Your rewards await in the capitol. Let us return to the ships."