9499/Arrival At Four Freedoms Plaza

Arrival At Four Freedoms Plaza
Date of Scene:	07 January 2022
Location:	Reed's Labs - Four Freedom Plaza
Synopsis:	Meeting with Reed Richards, he and Michael discuss the nature of potential Badoon incursions in the solar systems, space suits, and a solar Maginot Line. Interesting way to start an association.
Cast of Characters:	Reed Richards, Michael Erickson

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Reed Richards has posed:
For once Reed's attention isn't in the lab as he stands at the panoramic windows surrounded by screens, manipulating a dozen operations at once, backing up the financial servers, which always depresses him a little, coordinating a ballet for a small army of bots retrieving items from a dozen museums and stowing them in special crates for interdimensional transport. You can hear the commotion from the roof where the last of the zoo animals are being put through and see the line of shield transports in bound with the prisoners from Riker's and the Raft. The next wave of refugees as we count down the final hours, Reed himself is showing no signs of going anywhere and the building is still lit up, the residents standing with him in faith that Reed's precautions will hold.

    Reed had you sent up as soon as you arrived, there was only a single guard accompanying, more as a guide than a precaution. He lets you in to the lab the guard calls out, "Umm, Dr. Richard's-"
    Reed nods and turns away from the window, taking a breath moving on to something else. "Hello, Michael, isn't it? So, Peggy and Jane both said I should talk to you... what's up? Oh and Happy New year."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Michael is, at least coming down, a shape in red metal and razored wings - but touching down upon the entrance to the plaza his body is hurled back through Nullspace and manifests as a man in black combat fatigues, wearing a SHIELD patch on his shoulder. He is unarmed, of course, which might seem strange given the current circumstances, but there we are. Human, by all appearances.

    "Doctor Richards." It's as if Reed were some epic foe, or some figure from history. A faint smile plays on the tall man's face, and his hands tuck behind his back as eh looks over the famous, brilliant mind. "Cal'hatar of Chandilar, Doctor, Officer Third Magnitude of the Shi'ar Imperial Armed Forces." A beat. "Formerly. Michael Erickson is the name I use for my human seeming here. I am pleased to meet you." A beat. "An'tal kellitar, sir. That is, Happy New Year to you."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards smiles and inclines his head giving a proper Shi'ar greeting, the trilling sounds something few human can truly emulate, a benefit of Reed's malleable body no doubt lending him fluency in a number languages human anatomy makes usually impossible. "That's good as I was unaware of your race having a military presence on Earth." Reed offers drily, "Your accent is quite excellent, you have been here a long time?" Reed considers you and tilts his head, "Hmmm, at some point I'd be interested in catching up. But other matters for other days. So, Jane said you had a badoon artifact? Something old? Tell me more."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    The man's brow arches faintly, a smile passing over his face. "I am pleased to meet you, sir," says Michael, bowing slightly at the waist. "I am the only one - I was sent here in 1975 to monitor Kree activity on the planet, actually. It wasn't until you slugged it out with Victor Von Doom that my directives also put me squarely in the business of monitoring so-called 'superhumans' as well. I should thank you, Doctor; you made my career." A beat. "And of course, were it not for my being here so long, I would not have decided to turn against the Empire and offer my services to SHIELD."

    He's about to say more, but then he looks back to Reed. "An artifact. Something like that. I've delivered it to SHIELD's biosciences division - when I was scouting Jupiter lately, having only recently gotten the ability to leave the planet once again, I found in high atmosphere what turned out to be a Badoon gas refinery. An automated platform, but apparently centuries old. Enough that its fusion plant was about to give out." He gives the man an apologetic smile. "I had to destroy it - not that fusion reactors explode, but the gas certainly would. I had no idea what was on board or what it might do to the atmosphere. However what I brought back was one of the automated repair robots that the builders employed on board -- necroplatforms, you see, Doctor. Robots made from human corpses as a construction base. I assumed they were taken from this planet some time ago."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards chuckles, "You should thank Victor as much as myself. I was only trying to make my friends lives bettet. it was Victor made things what they are. Reed shrugs, perhaps a little self consciously.

    He listens and frowns. and nods slowly, "I am familiar with the technology, yes. I do wonder what they were up to, so close to Mars as well. Terraforming would be my first guess, which would imply colonization or maybe harvesting, which means there was a trade route which ran right through this system... intriguing, Was Jemma able to identify who they were? "

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I'm not certain, Doctor." He shrugs. "I've been looking for other signs on the planet, but to be honest our interdimensional invasion problem has been keeping me busy otherwise. You might not know, but I am also the Red Sentinel. I've been fortifying Grand Central Station for civilian stragglers and as a base from which to operate in the coming conflict."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards ahs and nods. "Yes, things have been busy everywhere. Though honestly I don't quite understand the logic of it." Shrugs and smiles, "Personally, I've been thinking we should just take our case to the highest authority,"

     Reed ponders, "Yes, anyway, while it's not an immediate threat we may need to investigate sooner than might be completely prudent." Reed takes a pad in hand and manuevers several space born telescopes to focus in the red planet from a number of angles. The windows darken becoming a large view screen for the images.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "The Highest Authority, I understand, isn't answering." He shakes his head. "In any case, we must do what we can. To delay the invasion and keep as many safe as possible before the mystics can resolve things. And if not..." A shrug rolls through the broad shoulders of the alien soldier and spy. "Well. We won't be around to worry about it."

    That said, he looks back to the darkening windows. Curious, he falls silent. Waiting for the master scientist to continue.

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards nods, pulling up the reading for the planet and historical data. "We can go back ten years with at least ball park data and see any trends that might be apparent in retrospect."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Ten years of astronomical data yield..precious little, at least at upon the surface. Telescope data shows nothing around Mars, and yet...on occasion, there are always the mysterious sightings. Wide tracks around the solar system, courses that grow more and more furtive as technology expands. Until...one slingshots past Mars two years ago, the asteroids, and toward Jupiter, a course that may have been an asteroid, if an asteroid were moved in fast-forward.

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards frowns as he watches the history, noticing the interloper Reed pulls up more data from the asteroid belt focusing in on the possible intruder, "We may have found something." It also appears the Reed has s large presence in the asteroib belt for monitoring incursion or merely research is up for interpretation. "Interesting, something has been keeping tabs and recently."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Erickson gives Richards a faint squint -- the man could run this star system himself, with this kind of setup, he muses. "So I see," he replies, and squinting at the course lets out a faint grunt. "That's the general area I was when I found the rig. Interesting." He cants his head a tad, birdlike. Some things are never bred out. "Well, Doctor, what do you think? Could they have been still using that facility? It seemed so /old/, left to rot. But I'm not an engineer."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards nods, "The badoon have never been particularly strong engineers, so I would not doubt it. Though, honestly, someone else could easily have been using the platform as an observation post... Well, do you know if there was any sort of signal sent when you destroyed the facility?" Reed goes back through the sightings looking for a patern of recurrence, developing a timeline.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I..." He considers. "I don't know. Honestly, I was trying to get away before whatever gas was stored went off." Erickson makes another grunt of frustration. "It would help if I knew more about the sentient species local to your galaxy. I don't suppose you have files on that which I could borrow? I'll have to stop between fighting at /some/ point."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards pulls up a file and drops it onto a memory stick, "This has the major players from an interstellar sense. I csn send you some more historical sources that might be informative, as well as more concentrated information on the local star cluster." He nods, "Something for those down moments."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I'll have to rest at some point," he says with a chuckle, taking the stick from him. Which, given the stamina of the Shi'ar, won't be /right/ away, at least. "So...assuming we get this nonsense resolved in the immediate, we'll have to investigate, won't we?"

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards considers, "Yes, I'll continue to monitor and see if we can come up with a window when we can expect them to check back in. But yes, we will need to return to the scene ofvthe crime."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "We will indeed..." He pauses a moment, then looks to Reed once more. "Ah. That reminds me. I don't suppose there's any way I can do something to get some form of environment suits from you, could I? I have been cleared to form an offworld team for SHIELD, and their equipment is...well, they don't really /have/ any. I realize it's expensive, so if there's something that can be done, I am happy to do it in exchange. Mining asteroids, whatever." How much palladium WOULD he like? That sort of thing.

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards ahs, "That explains why Peggy wanted us to chat." Reed pulls up a number of designs, some are derivative of the fantastic fours own uniforms, some more armor like. He pulls them up in 3d renderings. Susan is the stylist these are all functional works, designed for durability and ease of maintenance. Considering some of other steps that are needed the space suits are not a particular problem." Reed pulls up another series of images, renderings of rail guns and beam weapons. The initial assumption is that these are hand held weapons but the mounting system and scale in dicate they are much larger. "So, I was exploring the idea of arming the inner solar system."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    This is, of course, /right up Michael's alley/. "Something like Shi'ar reconnaisance armor," he says, crossing his arms. "Middling armor, stealth and agility over combat defense. They're not meant to be soldiers, they're still spies." He considers. "Mmmm. I'm not sure about that. Perhaps if you had the resources to turn the planet into a united world power, but...think of how it will be used. Politically. Without a clear external enemy or mandate, it would be everyone for themselves, would it not?"

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards jots down some notes and makes some alteration combining elements to create a more minimalistic armor design for agility and stealth. He let's you take a look at his first pass. "You do make a good point. However keeping the power in the appropriate hands is key, "Shield, the JLA, perhaps the UN security council."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Keep in mind that the other offworld powers will suddenly become /much/ more interested in Earth when that takes place." He purses his lips. "You've all but destroyed a Shi'ar task force on the defensive. If this solar system becomes militarized on an interstellar scale, it invites a great deal more problems."

    Michael takes a step forward, tapping his lips. "But what about something like the Maginot Line? Defensive stations or satellites, a clear defensive structure meant to keep out at least heavy naval presence. It's going to be cast aside by a galactic government, but it would certainly demonstrate that the system isn't going to roll over."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards nods, "That was actually the idea, yes. The area inside the asteroid belt would be the fields of fire. It would be designed to attack ships in Earth orbit. There is no point in projecting power outwards at this point. Nothing to protect, and our goodwill is our best offense. Defense is another discussion. And a discussion worth having. Thank you for your input. Your insight is valuable."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I'm a combat veteran," he replies, looking back to Reed. "And a military academy graduate. I'll be pleased to assist you in the future if that would be helpful, moving forward. Once we're done with..." He gestures about. "All this." A pause. "...say. Would you happen to have an energy field generator that could create a field large enough to shield Grand Central? In an emergency, at least, I can't imagine the power technology required to fuel it consistently."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards smiles and nods, "I would appreciate that. I have never been a particularly military mind. Hmm?" Reed considers, "I do have a cruiser that I could pull the shield generator out of and I can find a fusion generator that should power it for a week or two. If it comes to that, I think our problems will be far greater than that."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Fair enough," he replies, eyeing the man thoughtfully. "All these things you have," says Michael, lips set. "I was right to write the reports I did. To keep an eye on you. But I am your ally. For now..." He clucks his tongue. "I should take my leave. The terminal needs reinforcement, and soon the angels come. Be well, Doctor. I hope to soon solve utterly physical mysteries with you soon enough."

Reed Richards has posed:
Old Man Richards smiles but somehow it has teeth as he offers his hand, "Be well, Michael." He winks, "Imagine what I'm not telling you." Reed opens a panel which allows you access to the sky from a small balcony. Then it's back to his own work.