7253/My Little Alien Hideaway

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My Little Alien Hideaway
Date of Scene: 06 August 2021
Location: Jones Farm
Synopsis: Captain Marvel takes precious time to meet the Shi'ar agent betraying his own kind to help Earth. She turns Cal'hater (aka Michael Erickson) loose with Agent Drew as his 'babysitter'.
Cast of Characters: Jessica Drew, Michael Erickson, Carol Danvers




Jessica Drew has posed:
The family maintaining the farm for SHIELD has made the already bucolic setting idyllic. Upon receiving notification of an incoming resident, they readied the house, topped up the pantry, and made sure the perimeter was safe and patrolled. The mother of the house was a former field agent specializing in special ops and a crack sniper. Their children have gone to grandmother's house for the duration.

Through an open window a gentle breeze lazily ripples a lace curtain. Upper State New York is at least twenty degrees cooler than the sweltering city. Jessica sits at the wooden breakfast table with a steaming mug of coffee in front of her and a half-eaten plate pushed to the side. Head on her fist as she reads the latest update from SHIELD HQs.

"This is not looking good. I don't know how long it will be before we get you the audience you need, Erickson. Shouldn't be long, though."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    It's rustic. He sees this. But then again, anything on this planet is rustic to him. On Chandilar the structures are made of sculpted polyalloys, crystal, exotic coral from far-flung worlds. Stone and wood are the substances used by races in their very infacy, rude spears and chipped flint heads.

    But Michael - Cal'hatar - has lived here long enough to appreciate it. Still in the holographic disguise of tracksuit and hoodie, he sits in a chair at the breakfast table, having a glass of water. Nodding, grimly. "If they dispatch agents," he tells her, "I'll fight at your side. My people are bullies behind beautiful pageantry. They need a bloody nose."

Carol Danvers has posed:
The feeds Jessica is watching go from Not Looking Good. Which is multiple Shi'ar (according to SWORD ID warships identified.

To Troubling. Which is the Justice League hosting a Shi'ar Ambassador on the Moon to discuss their Intent.

To God Damn Horrible. Which is the Justice League, Lanterns, and Shi'ar in a gigantic space battle that scans from The Peak indicate has caused massive moon quakes and endangered the entire structural integrity of the moon in the last span of minutes.

Every emergency light on SWORD and SHIELD channels probably lights up with imminent active alien invasion codes and call signs.

In the midst of all of that though Jessica gets a reply to a message she sent to Captain Marvel and all Level 7+ Agents.

<<On my way. Do not let the Shi'ar leave your location. ETA... about five minutes tops.>> well that is fast...

With a remaining battle cruiser breaching atmosphere and the Imperium holding the Watch Tower, Carol makes an audible and risks it being a ruse. She isn't sure the Shi'ar are here just to kill Jean or what but a bird in the hand......

Jessica Drew has posed:
As the latest information scrolls on her secure phone, Jessica mutters under her breath, glancing up at Cal'hatar once with an unfathomable expression. "We have a SWORD agent incoming within the next ten minutes or so." There is a weight of anger in her next words that she just manages to keep under control, "Are you aware of what is going on?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    He blinks once. "No," says Michael, sitting up. "They didn't kill her already, did they? Is the Phal'kon snuffed?" Though grim, there's a thrill of horror in him at her words, her expression. "I was in prison with you guys, I only just got my orders from command when I called you." Are things already unwound? "And before I called you, I called her mentor, Xavier. I informed everyone I could."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Okay Carol is in a damn hurry. The is the faintest of pops if you have incredibly sensitive hearing.

then a slowly increasing rumbly roar as the windows of the farm house start to vibrate and then shake a bit, jittering around in their frame.

Someone really use to aerospace or space in general might think it sounds like a small orbital entry pod or missile en route.

Carol does slow before she blows the windows out or flattens any trees, the plasma of her rentry just absorbed into herself as fuel as she drops to subsonic speeds and then ... well okay there is a bit of a impact as she hits the yard out back.

She straightens fully and looks at the house, covered in a sheath of cosmic energy.

It was only minutes ago for her that she ate the Shi'ar ambassadors really fancy energy armor system and a whole lot of other bullshit at the Watchtower. Not full on binary but definitely humming along.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica looks up like a doe startled in the woods at a sound before the windows start to rattle. She holds her cup as the sound becomes audible to normal hearing. Vibration moves through the frame of the old house, rattling dishes and sending the chickens scurrying for their coop.

"When SHIELD decides to move. They do," she says with visible satisfaction to Cal'hatar then pushes herself up to go to the door in time to witness Carol Danvers arrive in all her glory.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    He's on his feet in an instant at the sound of the impact and halfway to the door when she speaks, apparently ready to face whatever's coming; he knows his own people, knows how to fight them, how to kill them. That his first thought, now, was to do so...

    Jessica's words still him, and he turns to look at her. Lips set into a line. "So they appear to do," he acknowledges with a nod, and walks back over to take his seat. "That's why I called you."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol more floats out of the slight... indent... in the backyard. She doesn't pull a Superman though she touches down and starts to walk towards Michael and Jessica.

The helm with the mohawk look retracts but her eyes still glow with cosmic energy that is just leaking out of the Captain right now.

"Where is he?" she asks as she approaches.

Honestly she sounds like she is in a bad mood.

Like her whole week has been bad.

She also doesn't sound very patient.

There is a look past Jessica to Michael at the table. "You better not be a distraction." from the imminent invasion and her being somewhere useful.

Jessica Drew has posed:
The impatience pouring off of Captain Marvel reminds Jessica of fuel boiling off a rocket waiting for launch. Stepping back from the door, she gestures to Cal'hatar. "Right this way, ma'am. This won't be a waste of your time."

She throws a knowing look at the Shi'ar in question, "You might want to show the Agent who you really are, Cal'hatar." On a hunch, she adds, "Really show her."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "On the contrary," Michael replies, his tone growing flat. "I am a traitor to my people." The illusion of the tracksuit and hoodie shiver and fade away, revealing a gleaming suit of metallic armor, dark and reflected like black chrome, the plates composing it made to look like an anatomical model, or a metallic suit of full body lorica musculata. Like something from the airbrush works of Hajime Sorayama, or perhaps just the Silverhawks cartoon of the 1980s. The sleek helmet mirrors the shape of a human head, its visor a black mirror that, in a further moment, slides back to reveal the face that existed a moment before in holographic copy. Humanoid. Blandly handsome. No fangs or tentacles. Gets to his feet, slowly, and offers her his hand.

    "I am Cal'hatar of Chandilar, only son of the noble house of Atlex, Officer Third Magnitude of the Shi'ar Imperial Space Forces." A pause. "Military intelligence. I'm sorry that we meet this way."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"Well. If your a traitor as you say I wish we had met three days ago." her tone is grim.

The energy coiling around her isn't threat, she just has too much of it right now and no good target for it....

so while her tone is grim, she isn't sounding hostile. Yet.

Her suit does and always has probably looked Shi'ar to be honest. Her hand comes up and a holodislay lights up above it and data starts to display about Chandilar and the house Atlex. "Okay. So why am I here then Cal?" she frowns "And not punching the Shi'ar battle cruiser threatening to disinigrate everything in a hundred miles of their target on the surface of this planet?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica's mouth tightens in disapproval at Cal'hatar's transformation, wondering how many more disguises he has. "This is it, finally? Agent Danvers asked the right question. Why not before they arrived?"

In an aside to Danvers, "Is it true, ma'am? Could we lose the moon?" Untold ecological damage would result in a tidal wave of deaths on earth if the moon no longer orbited.

To the alien agent, "Don't hold back." She adds with an afterthought for the havoc that orbits overhead, "Please."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    The /moon/? Cal'natar of House Atlex, Officer Third Magnitude, retracts his hand and lets it fall to the side. "I can't say why a Kree officer is standing in front of me, madam," he replies, "But as Agent Drew isn't flinching I'm going to assume that SHIELD is all right with your being here. So." A pause. "They're here for the mutant, Jean Grey. She is the conduit of what we know as the Phal'kon, a highly destructive cosmic power that has possessed her body. Charles Xavier believes that the creature can be controlled; the Shi'ar have found that not to be possible, much to my people's chagrin when it nearly destroyed us thousands of years ago. It is...something like the Devil to us, if we had one." He glances between Jessica and Carol before continuing.

    "I have been embedded on this planet since 1975, first to keep an eye on /your/ people, the Kree, and then following that the incidents with the Fantastic Four in 1980, other cosmic affairs, and then the arrival of the Shi'ar traitor Deathbird and the Brood xenoforms in 2006 - which is when the Phal'kon first manifested on this planet in the body of the Grey girl. My job has been to monitor and report on her since then, which I have. Tonight, however, my superiors contacted me with orders that I am to assist in murdering her. Which I refuse to do. She's an innocent woman with a monster inside of her, and Xavier, whom I have contacted to inform of the plan, believes that the Phal'kon can be controlled. Whether or not he was the consort of a member of the Royal Family, a member who is on this planet as we speak, I..." He trails off a moment. Frowns. "I am moved to believe him. And my people have been bullies for a very long time. One galaxy is enough; I believe that regardless of what happens with the Phal'kon and its host, they intend to take this planet as a beach-head in this galaxy."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Her eyes roll a little at the Kree comment and she tilts her head a little it popping her neck slightly.

"First off. Not Kree, half Kree due to mad science bullshit the Kree did to me. So I would ... if I were you... stop referring to me as a Kree." okay that was a bit hostile. She doesn't seem to like the Kree very much from the sound of it.

"Honestly if you've been here since 1975 you should be pretty familiar with who I am... you know .. Justice League.. Avenger..." there is a pause "Are you bad at military intelligence?"

Still she wasn't ignoring the other business.

There is a sigh. "They made their intentions very clear, which I warned the league about. I've never known the Shi'ar to not want to conquer a planet or a system to be honest. I also know and trust Xavier and Jean." she eyes Michael up and down in his armor. "I really wish someone had brought you or this all to me a few days ago. We engaged them on the moon and had to retreat or risk breaking it." a look shot to Jessica "It ... should be fine but Superman and Gladiator couldn't keep punching each other or they would break it."

She looks back to Michael "We nailed two of the three cruisers but the third was bearing in on Xavier's crew.. I came here because I had hope there would be intel that could help with the whole problem."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Agent Drew's life has been far from normal to this moment but it has been earthbound. She closes her eyes tightly for a moment, trying to expand her awareness to galactic dimensions. This man, this irritant who she has never believed since first laying eyes on him may be a key to pushing back his kind. The why of his betrayal remains unanswered, the timing for it unfortunate.

"He came to me last night, well early this morning, ma'am." Jess wants to apologize for Cal'hatar holding back. "He says that as soon as he was informed of what his people intended to do he came to me. I don't know why me?" She narrows her eyes, giving him a venomous look, "Just lucky, I guess. Is there anything that you can do besides waste Agent Danver's valuable time?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I'm one man on a big planet," points out Cal'natar, smirking faintly. "With a very specific mission and very specific resources. I created the identity of the Red Sentinel - you probably don't know that fellow, but at any rate - to keep an eye on the superpowered complement, take alien technology from humans who aimed to use it in the oppression of others, that sort of thing. You could say that through being a superhero long enough I've gone somewhat native." Lips lips purse. "And so here I am, dooming myself to eventual execution once my people find out who I am, to keep this rock..."

    He trails off. "The Gladiator isn't your only problem." The smirk melts away. "Though if he's here, the Guard's here. And if the Guard's here, then..." So. It wasn't a cover. "They're going to try and kill the Grey girl with a unit of Imperial Guard that are powerful and vicious even for them, and without any of the Gladiator's honor. Death Commandos, they're called - and while my people have a flair for the dramatic where names are concerned, from what I've seen they've absolutely got the ability to kill this girl and all of Xavier's people, whoever they area. And a member of the Royal Family being there? Thank you, no. I don't like bullies already, and I've been on that side. I'll do whatever I can, but I only just got my orders. I called Xavier the moment I heard, and then called Agent Drew right after. It's been....four, five hours at this point, nothing more. I literally got rolled out of bed by my superiors, and since then it's been a party line to let you people know."

    Jessica gets a tight look. "I respect you, Agent, that's why I came to you. Please don't make me change my mind by belittling what on my end is a siesmic existential decision."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"Cal. We appreciate what you've been willing to put on the line. I understand better than most how hard the Shi'ar will try to kill you for disobeying orders and siding with this planet over the Imperium."

She sighs though. "The Guard is here... we fought Gladiator, his cousin whats her face... several other of the main hitters as well. It was ugly and we probably would have benched them but it would have destroyed the moon...and they don't care.. so the League fell back."

Yeah she seriously believes that they could have too.

Then again it was her, Superman, Powergirl, Hyperion, Wonder Woman, and Two Lanterns amongst others against them. But they have to worry about collaterial damage and the guard... they don't.

"I appreciate you weren't activated and when you were you acted ... that says a lot Cal. I'm not belittling the intel .. but this doesn't help me stop them I'm afraid."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Is there nothing that you can do to help in this fight, Cal'hatar?" Drew may have made a mistake pulling an Agent of Danver's importance from a tactical situation that could affect the future of the planet. The plea is unspoken. She looks intently at the man in his otherworldly armor, hoping that he is more than a holographic wonder. "Would you fight? Could you?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    He gives her a long look, Drew. Those big, pretty green eyes. The pleading they do in the moment. When he looks back to Carol, his expression hard. Driven. The will behind those piercing blue eyes sharp as a cutter beam.

    "I'm a highly decorated and trained combat veteran of an alien military," he tells her. "I'm wearing what was a prototype of next-generation infiltration armor, amd I have a cache of potent Shi'ar weapons and the training to use them. I am intimately familiar with the culture, psychology and battle tactics of my people and well-familiar with covert and overt warfare waged on a number of alien worlds. Compared to the two of you, physically, I am likely an ant, though against humans and even my own everyday people I am absolutely lethal. If I can help, put me in. Assuming that you trust me. Aside from frontline duty I can also advise and serve as analyst." He looks between the two women again. "I have no reserve in harming or even killing my own people in defense of this planet. What I do from here on out is up to you."

    Thus spake the last son of Atlax, on what remains of his honor. Perhaps the two women might sense that. Perhaps not.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol glances down at her holodisplay and pulls up the latest sitrep from The Peak.

"Okay then. Here is what we are going to do. Agent Drew, you get to babysit the new asset. See what intel you can get out of him about the Shi'ar."

She closes the display. "They are assaulting Xavier's people to get to Jean. If you know Xavier and he trusts you." which well he can read his mind after all and probably already did. "Maybe you can get your ass over to them in time to help stop them from murdering a bunch of children."

She sounds like she litterally means thye are about to murder kids.

"If you can't...give Agent Drew everything you have and make yourself useful.... as fucked up as it sounds I can't stay. I need to see about the battle cruiser and I am running out of time to go deal with Thanos... this is the smaller problem on my plate today."

A name which honestly likely turns Cal's blood to ice if he is in military intelligence.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Grimly determined, Jessica nods at Agent Danvers. Her eyes shift to Cal'hatar, weighing the man's words, sifting them for truth. She recognizes a consummate agent trained in covert operations. How sincere is he? Would the Shi'ar be wily enough to place someone on the inside of their enemy's lines? Paranoia boils off of the mutant agent like vapor.

"Babysit," she says flatly. "Ma'am, I can take him to Xavier's people. I can watch him, interrogate him but in the end, even I am not strong enough to overcome him in that armor. Not without special weapons and even then, I don't know. Dr. Xavier reads minds, doesn't he? He will tell us what to trust."

She pauses, glancing between the two, "I know you have to go. We had to have a senior agent familiar with the situation give us instructions. I hoped he would help." Jessica stares hard at him, "He had better help."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Thanos. Xavier's children. All these things have meaning, things he either has learned from Imperial databases in the past or from his own reconnoitering. Straightening, back like an iron rod, he does the only thing he can in this moment, the only thing that the years of past training and conditioning floodng back allows him to do: he puts his fist upon his chest, over his heart, and nods. "My life for the innocent," he proclaims. Might as well be a death curse, perhaps, but there is legitimate resolve in every syllable.

    With that he steps back, giving Carol space to go in whatever...cosmic...way she might choose. "Let me get back home, Agent Drew," he says, eyes sliding right to frame Jessica in their gaze once more. "I'll be more more useful with a particle rifle and a satchel full of antimatter charges. You'll see."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"Good." at his death curse as it were.

Because innocent kids are in grave danger.

She steps back looking to Drew "Go for it. Xavier or Jean will be able to make sure he isn't a double agent or a spy trying to get a bead on them...and they already know where they are attacking anyways."

She turns to head to the yard. "Don't let me down Cal and Agent Drew... world is on the line."

As Soon as she clears the back door the energy coallasces around her and she is off into the sky in a literal blaze of glory.

Jessica Drew has posed:
"No, ma'am," Drew snaps fervently, standing at attention. Danvers brings that out in her.

"I will check in and then we will be off to Xavier's as soon as we pick up his weapons. Thank you for your time. Good luck, ma'am. We will prevail."

After a look around the room, she says to Cal'hatar, "Well, so much for a vacation in the country. You ready to go?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Like I said," he replies, frowning faintly. "We need to get back to my place in the city. All I have are these..." He opens his fist, where curving raptor claws have appeared at the tips of his fingers, glimmering sharp. "And this." From somewhere about his person, a hand extracts a small, gleaming weapon, something that looks as if it might have emerged from a pupa somewhere and twisted into the shape of a gun. "And this is good for people, but not for the Guard. I need my tools."

    This is not what he expected. Why did he speak up? He could simply have pretended to be an agent for his people while informing on them for the humans. Instead he is now, firmly, a member of the resistance against the Empire. But there could be no other way. The priests in his youth taught him that Sharra and K'ythri did not love one another, and were forced to marry but found harmony in it. And so is outlined the method of Shi'ar conquest. Balls to that, as the humans say. He will, luck willing, see about ensuring such a wedding never takes place on /this/ world.

    Or he'll die trying.