704/SHIELD Briefing: NK Crisis

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SHIELD Briefing: NK Crisis
Date of Scene: 22 March 2020
Location: Ready Room: Triskelion
Synopsis: With the briefing concluded, Daniel will soon get HALO training. Successful or not, the DPRK will never know what hit it.
Cast of Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Daniel Hastings, Daisy Johnson, Samuel Morgan, Clint Barton




Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    A problem has arisen that is within SHIELD's purview. That's technically like saying 'the sky is blue' but this one is larger and more urgent than most. By all accounts, North Kora has developed the capability to launch nuclear warheads on foreign soil, including America's. Shield isn't a domestic organization, but the matter threatens more than enough countries - and the leadership in North Kora is... questionable enough - that SHIELD feels the need to step in, and quickly.
    To that end, Natasha enters the Ready Room at a brisk walk, a folder slung under her arm, wearing her full operations uniform (or costume/catsuit depending on who you ask) with a pair of unusually stylized sleek goggles attached to her belt. "Have a seat, everyone." She says a bit stiffly, her expression not mothering to affect any social graces, simply blank and focused on the business at hand.
    She wheels around to the front of the tables and puts her back to the screen on the wall, and faces the gathering of SHIELD operatives. "You should all know why we're here. Do you have any questions, before we start?"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
Daniel Hastings isn't new to briefings. What's new is sitting in an operational briefing when he isn't the one giving a briefing. Rather, he's expected to go on this thing. It's a sobering thought but it isn't a first.. per se. It's just a first since he'd gotten powers. Now, he sits in his SHIELD jumpsuit with an LBE harness and a sidearm looking attentively towards Romanov, the senior agent in the room. That would be business Romanov he was looking at now.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
With her recent acceptance to happy harbor as a part-time teacher things have been hectic enough for Daisy, trying to juggle everything. Yet with the call for a meet and plan she comes in.

She has followed the situation from afar as well as she could, through SHIELD's surveillance resources, at least knowing what the context will be. A nod is given at Natasha when she comes in, then another given to the rest of the Agents present.

She is dressed in her shield uniform, black and blue, those gauntlets that focus her powers ever present on her hands. She is holding a tablet as she sits but places it face down when the call to sit is given, she doing so. "I do not." she replies, a more serious expression to her, feeling the moment is one for professionalism.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    The odd one out sits at the end of the front row. Not only is Sam by far the youngest Agent here, he's also dressed somewhat unlike the others. His jumpsuit is pretty much identical to all the others, but he is one of the few people here that's visibly unarmed. Not just not armed, but lacking in any means of actually stowing a weapon. Since nobody could figure out exactly where he fell on the organisational side of things, he's not quite with the intel spooks, not quite with the ops guys, sitting by himself, a quantity of his own.

    But for all that he watches Natasha with interest and shakes his head curtly when asked the question. He knows what's going on. As to why he's here... probably someone is going to explain that sooner or later. He looks a bit odd without Bear, but that particular canine was currently being spoiled rotten by the admin staff a few floors down.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha gives everyone a moment to answer or sit in silence, briefly eyeing Samuel - looks like that jig's up - before she says, simply. "Good. Let's begin."
    With a flick of a switch, the lights go down, and the screen lights up. "My name is Agent Romanoff, and this will be our target."
    An overhead sattellite image of a North Korean base appears on the screen.. "The North Korean government has made credible claims that they now possess the technoloy to launch midrange missile strikes, conveivably giving them the capability to perform a nuclear strike against several allied countries under our jurisdiction. Our mission, simply enough, is to disable these capabilities with prejudice.
    "Intel has determined that our means to do so exist in this base." She says, indicating the picture on screen. "To consider this mission complete, there are four objectives, and one optional. Our first objective is to cripple the prototype missile itself. Render it useless."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha continues, "The second objective is to determine the source of the rocket fuel used to for their missiles. They've never had the capability before, and we want to know what changed."
    The slide changes to close up on a specific building in the complex. "Third, the missile guidance systems must be sabotaged; and finally... the launch platform itself must be disabled. Ideally, command would like us to confirm whether or not NK forces are actually in possession of a nuclear device that can be mounted as a warhead on their missiles. But that task is not neccessary for mission completion. If it's not there, it's not there."
    Natasha folds her arms in front of her and says, "It's important that I stress that this is a 'zero residual presence' mission. We are not to leave behind any sign that we were ever there. No killing, no physical destruction. No direct confrontation. If any of us are killed, captured, or otherwise compromised, our actions, and our ties to SHIELD will be denied."
    She says this like the prospect of being abandoned is the most natural thing in the world.
    "Are there any questions?"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
So many questions. "How many personnel are we expecting? Scientists, engineers.. soldiers. I don't imagine any of them have any compunctions about shooting us so.. what's the solution there? If we're spotted that is." Daniel is looking at the surveillance photograph and thinking. "I.. assume we all have a role here.. make it look like paranormal insurgency of some kind?" A beat. "Does anyone speak Korean?" He sure as heck doesn't.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Yes, indeed the jig seems to be up, not that Quake expected Samuel not to be aware of who she was by now. But still she looks at Samuel with a slight nod of her head, the side of her mouth quirking up in a very brief half-grin. Though once the lights go down it's showtime.

She leans back on her chair, arms folding together in a loose manner while she watches the satellite image attentively. As the explanation goes on she presses her lips to a tight line.

"Infiltration then. Do we expect them to have any kind of defense mechanism to that base beyond what is the NK norm?" she asks. Though the mention of leaving someone behind if captured makes her frown just so. She has been at SHIELD for a few years now, but it's not something she is used to.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Out comes the tablet, from a large zippered pocket. It's a rugged model, with a folding cover, and technically Sam doesn't need to take it out to use it, but visibly taking notes helps to project an air of calm professionalism which might otherwise be seem to be lacking. Seem. Some details are simply absorbed into memory... topography, avenues of visible approach, roads... others are refined through the application of thought. But some questions inevitably remain.

    "A few questions, Agent Romanoff... Do we have any indication if this is a development of their Polaris launch vehicle, or a more recent development of the Hwasong? Both of them are fueled radically differently and would require different approaches to disable." He adds for the benefit of the agents not up to speed with actual rocket science.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha nods slowly and endeavors to answer the questions in the order they were received, turning first to Daniel. "According to our intel, there are two platoons of infantry on the ground, which seem to be patrolling on an eight hour rotation." she says, which indicates roughly fifty men, including officers. "There should be around 30 maintenance staff, and likely around twenty scientists and administration. You can see bunker here in the north west corner. They also have one antiaircraft tank on site."
    To Daisy, she says "As far as passive defense, there is a barbed wire fence encircling the entire facility, and we expect there will be motion sensors. Intel on the inside is hard to come by, so you'll have to be ready for anything."
    And to Samuel, she says, "We haven't been able to confirm, but the missile appears to be a magnitude too large to fit on a submarine. It's unlikely to be Polaris, or at least a variant we know of."
    "As to your specific roles... those will be explained in the packets given to you. You all have your own specialties. You are all-" she glances at Samuel, "trusted and capable agents. This can be done, or they wouldn't be sending us."
    Which is a nice change of pace from Russia, really, but Nat doesn't feel the need to share that.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    Daniel takes a slow deep breath. "So.. we're talking.. fifteen or so to contend with immediately.. with another fifteen on standby and fifteen sleeping." Math, he does some. "Alright.. well.." He accepts his packet and opens it to glance at it. "surveillance it is. Not a surprise there. I see I'm the evac plan assuming all goes well." Also, the tone of not surprise. "Pardon but what does HALO stand for?" Straightening from his review of the packet, he looks to Natasha. "To get a cursory sweep of a facility that sized would take me a few minutes. If you want a count of the guards.. longer. Is there topography where we can be close but not so close as to find a roaming patrol? That hill on the northeast looks promising."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy Johnson reaches down to the tablet she had face-down on the table, flipping it up to tap on it and get a few notes in, nodding as the questions are answered about the table. She lets out a thoughtful mmm but seems satisfied with the briefing. She casts a look to both Samuel and Daniel after, watching their expressions, then back to her tablet, going over the mission details. "An high vantage point would be ideal." she says in agreement to what Daniel states.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint's late but then he'd helped put together some of the breifing so he was up on the basics. "Sorry guys, prepping our travel," he says before looking to Nat. "It's all set," then he slips into a seat next to Daisy and picks up the tablet meant for him."Tremors," he greets the junior agent as he begins swiping through the details on the tablet.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    The questions being asked are all to the point, and more details are being added to the picture Sam is mentally building of the mission site. Data points are entered, and he shifts his position slightly, looking over the list that's starting to form. "Is there a chance of another pass of a satellite over the target zone, or to have the current pictures magnified? I'd like to confirm there is cryogenic storage by the launch site..." Again, he seems to feel the need to expand on that.

    "Given that most of the DPRK's launch capability so far tends to be mobile, a throwback to their early missile development, this thing... appears to be on a static launcher. There's a whole facility for it, and that's practically unheard of. Even their NK-15 designs could be launched from the back of a truck, and they always were during the test phase. If they're going all in with a launch facility and a launch tower, we must start to assume that the whole unit is liquid fueled, and I'm personally suspecting they've finally begun refining Dinitrogen Tetroxide in industrial quantities, enough to manufacture hypergolic fuels at least. But I can't be certain until I can see a cryogenic storage facility."

    He also realises that he never answered another question that was asked. "I don't speak Korean, but my Russian's pretty good." Which is roughly the moment he opens his own personal briefing packet. Ah. He glances at the other agents and decides that showing no surprise is probably the way forward. "I'll drop by the quartermaster to requisition a suitable tool kit..."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Human emotion finally finds it's way to Nat's face with a bit of a wry look to Clint. "Agent Barton. Glad you could join us." She says dryly.

    Natasha listens to Samuel for a very... very long time, nodding at first, but eventually just staring straight at him with piercing eyes for a long moment after he's done.
    That's a lot to digest. She thinks she's got it though.
    "We don't have direct intel on that matter, Agent Morgan, and finding those answers is part of our mission. There is a newly built structure in the southnern perimiter here-" she indicates part of the screen, "-where we believe we may learn more.
    "As for the satellite imagery... what we have is what we have, Agent Morgan. Beggars can't be choosers."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
Rocket fuel. It's not like he hadn't had to deal with that before. Though this is a change from what was used back in the day. Daniel gives Sam a nod. "Good memory." Though it makes him wonder how wonderboy knows so much about North Korean assets. "Since none of us speak Korean, I think it's a fair bet we won't be bluffing our way in.. but.. I might be able to get us on the other side of the fence without any trouble. Assuming I have line of sight. Which brings us back to the point of elevation. I could potentially put us inside but that involves its own risks.. and more time. This assuming you don't want to permanently be bonded with a rail system."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy Johnson lifts one hand up to greet Clint though she does give him a bit of a look at that name. How did that damn rumor came out! She shall find the culprit. "Hello, Sir." there, Sir. But right now her focus is on the mission at hand. She opens up her own packet as well to check on what her assignment will be. Some disruption, that's right up Quake's alley! But she does grin faintly. She won't be the keyboard warrior for once!

"I will start looking over schematics for these missiles to figure out the best points on where to disrupt them." she informs the team once she reads her assignment, a sharp nod given.

Then a brief look to Daniel. "I'd prefer to not get bonded to a rail system, no ... though I might be able to handle the motion sensors when we go in." she suggests.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint offers nothing but a businesslike expression after teasing Daisy with her /other/ code name. Though he settles in more seriously as the briefing continues. "I'm good to take out whatever you need," he says of his role. "Once I've got it, I'll find a nest, provide cover as we exfiltrate. Though I am guessing quick and quiet is our objective."

As for not speaking Korean? "Yeah, don't think a lot of us would blend in anyhow."

Nat and her dry humour though does get a nod and a mouthed, 'sorry'.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    This is the second time in Sam's life that he's been looked at like that by Natasha. It really didn't get better with time... So rather than continue on the tangent he was on, the young trainee focuses instead on the developing mission plan. "No matter what approach we decide to go with, everything will have to be hands on. And that means getting inside." He nods to Daniel, and then to Daisy.

    "Over short distances, I'm confident I can defeat the motion sensors. For a more systemic approach... not so certain. I guess, in the end, it all comes down to the good old basics..." And now he smiles openly at Daniel, figuring he'll enjoy hearing this phrase again. "CQR. Close Quarters Recce. We'll have to figure out the rest once we know the lay of the land, so to speak."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Well.. it sounds as though we've got our jobs assigned." Daniel offers with a brief lift of his folder. "I'll commit a topographical to memory so I know the terrain for the exfiltration. I assume we'll be on foot to the coast afterwards? Or is that part still need to know in case we're captured."

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint steps up at that point, this being what he'd been busy setting up before the briefing. "Got this," he tells Nat. "We're doing a HALO jump from a cloaked quinjet, to get into the area. After we're done we're meeting a sympathizer who's going to drive us to the coast, where our gear will be waiting to scuba to a submarine." He grins. "Pretty James Bond, right?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    HALO? Scuba? Submarine?! Leaning back in his seat, Sam smiles and suddenly understands why he's going on this mission. With this much insanity, with this much excitement, how many other intel rated agents would be capable of this kind of venture? "Sounds like a laugh riot. Good thing the school is on Spring Break."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
There's a slow nod coming from Dan as he absorbs the details of the arrival and retreat. "So.. I have to ask again.. what is.. HALO?" He waves his packet about. "I keep reading this acronym but it's not explained anywhere."

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint blinks, "Right, forgot when you're from. High Altitude, Low Open," he says. "It's like what it sounds like we jump from up high, with air tanks and all the rest, fall a good long ways and then when we're down below enemy radar we pop our chutes and slow down real quick before we become red splotches on the Kim family lawn," he says with the morbid enthusiasm of someone who's done this a lot. "Don't worry, I'll get you trained up in time Doc."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Don't worry about it, Agent Hastings." Sam smiles, with that same devil may care attitude to mortal danger. "If you get it wrong, you'll never know."