| Invisible Ship Over Antarctica |
| Summary: | M'gann goes to investigate Antarctica, and raises an alarm. Power Woman is called to investigate. |
| Date: | 2014-04-29 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | Various civilian scientists |
| Scene Runner: | Power Woman |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Stealth mode wasn't really stealth mode, after all. Well, it /was/, but what counted as stealth for her was a sorta camoflauged look - her ship mirrored the environment on the other side of it so that it didn't stick out so much visually - barring the little ripple around it.
Megan didn't take the bioship out very much anymore. For one thing, sometimes governments and things wanted to grab it, and for another thing - when they didn't want to grab it, they wanted to blow it out of the sky, but Megan had heard about Antarctica in class today, and /really really/ wanted to see it, so.
Here the bioship was, in the upper atmosphere, Megan hoping to avoid most of the tricks and trauma that she normally had to go through to avoid causing trouble by going /very/ high up.
The young woman was in her 'relaxed' form, as well. Megan didn't relax in her true form, but more the green-skinned, red-haired version of that actress she knew. Not that anyone knew what Green Martians were anymore, or White ones for that matter. She just… knew that people would never accept what she really looked like, and she didn't wanna look like that anyways.
Megan closes her eyes, and wills the ship to start diving again, towards the snowy wastes of the north pole.
When the Antarctic Science Station picked up a ship an unscheduled aircraft above them, they followed procedure. When satellite scans picked up a distortion in the air, but nothing visual to match the radar silhouette, the called for help. But instead of getting military aircraft off a carrier in the southern seas, they got a very different - and much faster - kind of help.
Without vulnerable windows and structures to worry about, Power Woman's approach is heralded by the thundering crack and rumble of her crossover from hypersonic flight - about mach 6 - down to just barely subsonic. "Antarctic Station, this is Power Woman. Please relay latest readings ASAP, zeroing in on your twenty, over." The Kryptonian woman is currently wearing StarrGaze goggle-like glasses connected to a smartphone that is not easy to spot - it's tucked into a case clipped to the back of her belt, usually hidden completely by her cape.
Moments later, the crimson, white and blue streak that is Power Woman materializes - having finally slowed down - right outside the descending, snow-approaching bioship, keeping pace with its descent enough to make it obvious she can 'see' its presence, or at least make out its outline clearly. She knocks gently on the hull, unable to be sure of the construction of the ship or the safety of too much pressure. Most folks react, one way or another, when their hull makes physical contact in flight.
Megan Morse probably should have sent information to someone or another about her flight plans. But who exactly would she tell? Well. Megan's whole purpose of her angle of descent was to avoid freaking people out as she went to explore fabulous new places, so she probably should think of something!
But at the moment, she was seeing nothing but a landscape of ice.
And far from being appreciative of the South Pole (she said north before, ahem-hem), the landscape was more… reminding her of Mars. Cold. Empty. Lifeless. The smile that had spread across her features draws downward, a heady sigh leaving her as she flicks her eyes along the snow.
It was most-… knock knock. In an instant, Megan slows the descent of her ship to a dead stop, her fingers twisting over the controls as she focuses her mind. There weren't any big outcroppings of metal - nothing that would suggest Earth tech, but… um… Megan reaches out with her mind. And kinda gasps.
From the outside, when the ship came to a dead stop, it would just hang there, kinda tilting down - for all intents and purposes stopped in the air proper. But there would be a little hole that would open up nearish where Karen was knocking - a hole that would allow the freezing air to rush in, and give a direct view of the young woman sitting in the pilot's seat.
Unless Karen moved or something. Megan would still call out, "Um… hi?"
Hey, look. The ship stopped. Anti-gravity propulsion systems, anyone? That fits with the fact that she couldn't pick up a con trail on the aircraft. Kara holds her position, floating in air, until the hole opens up. She backs up a bit, then, just in case that turns out to be a weapons port … but nope. Look, interior. And green-skinned girl. The blonde and buxom Kryptonian in white waves her blue-gauntleted fingers. "Hi. Just checking in, here. They picked you up on radar down there, and were concerned since they couldn't find you on visuals to confirm identity, and couldn't find an approved flight plan. Everything OK?" Power Woman has never met Miss Martian, so she doesn't leap to any conclusions. Just curiosity, and more patience than military pilots would ever have employed.
And that same Kryptonian would see Megan kinda lifting a hand, looking kinda sheepish - at least, there was a certain redness to her green cheeks that wasn't there before. "Do you wanna come in, it's… kinda cold out there," says Megan, pausing a beat before there was a shift in her appearance. Where there was once a green-skinned young woman in kinda darker clothing, there was a young woman that could pass for a typical preppy sort at any high school ever. Dark blue skirt, headband now in that red hair, holding it back - a lighter complexion with freckles to boot, and a striped sweater worn over a long-sleeved blouse. And socks and shoes, to boot.
"I'm Megan Morse. I really didn't mean to cause any trouble - I know that flying places can scare people sometimes, so I just kinda… thought I'd sneak over this way. Are you with the Antarctican army?" she asks. She didn't /recall/ hearing about people actually here, and with the look of the place, she doubted much life could flourish. But. She wasn't sure.
Megan Morse? The name doesn't ring a bell with Kara, but she can't help the chortle of amusement at the question sent her own direction. "Antarctican Army? Honey, there's no such thing. It's an international research station. There are no armed forces /allowed/ on Antarctica. That's kind of why they called me."
The tall blonde Kryptonian woman floats through the hole in the dorsal surface of the ship, so that Megan can seal the hatch and keep out the cold air - which seems to bother Kara not at all. "I'm Power Woman. And you must be pretty new around here, if you didn't know that. So, Megan, what brought you out here to check out Antarctica? You looking for anything in particular?" The green girl doesn't seem like a danger or a threat, but she's here, so she might as well ask questions before playing those assumptions for truths.
There was another couple blinks - and Megan allows a smile to kinda beam across her face. "Oh, /hi/," says Megan, eyes kinda glancing past Kara to the snowstorm outside. "One moment!" she chirps, before she concentrates and the hole in the wall fades away. Another beat, and Megan releases a bit of a sigh, finally taking her hands off of the controls. Without being felt so much by those in the ship, the ship rights itself so that it was horizontal with the ground.
"You're /that/ Power Woman? Seriously?" says Megan, her mouth dropping open. "Well, um. I… well, I heard about Antarctic in class today, and I didn't want to freak anyone out, so I thought I'd take my ship by to come have a look, you know?" says Megan, kinda tilting her head a little bit to the side.
"And no - I've… been on this planet a couple months now. I'm just a bit dumb, I guess," she says. Another moment, and she clears her throat. "Did you really think I was an alien invader? Um. Are you hungry? I have a little food in the back, and…" Megan idly tucks a lock of her hair behind an ear.
"Yes, I'm /that/ Power Woman." Hence, Kara has no room to call anyone else an alien invasion just because they're here, and they're alien. Only if they are really being invadery, which Megan clearly is not. "OK. So you wanted to come see Antarctica because you learned about it in school today?" Somehow, Kara just knows what school that almost has to be. And she promised to stay away from there, for Linda, so she doesn't mention her suspicions.
"I didn't think you were an alien invader. I didn't know who or what you were, though, and neither did the folks down below in their research station. So they called me to come check it out to make /sure/ it wasn't an alien invasion. And while you may be alien, you are not invading." The tall blonde chuckles and shakes her head. "Thanks for the offer. I'd love to take a look around your spacecraft, if that would be OK? I always love examining new or different technologies." No need to feed her, though.
Feeding was just something Megan did as a /rule/ these days. It seemed to have a positive effect on the people she had encountered, and especially when said feeding was done with baked treats. But she didn't have any right now. Note to self: bake something before going on trips in the bioship.
"Hello, Megan!" says Megan, bringing her hand to strike the side of her head lightly. "I /knew/ you looked familiar, and who else would come out here after all! Antarctican army? Sheesh," she says, kinda crinkling her nose and grinning sheepishly.
"That is why I came though - promise," says Megan then. Still in the form of a human schoolgirl, she stands up a bit, kinda glancing past the opening into the back compartments. "Sure you can have a look around! But, um. I can change it however I want, really," says Megan. "It's my bioship," she says, kinda tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.
Another pause. "Do you wanna tour, or just kinda wanna poke around yourself, Power Woman?"
"It's your bioship, Megan. Why don't you lead the way?" Kara answers, smiling. She finds the girl's mannerisms odd, admittedly. But she doesn't argue, as Megan's mannerisms are certainly not as strange as some the Kryptonian heroine has encountered.
While they take the tour, Kara looks around intently, not shy about using her Kryptonian senses to peer around for details, and asking intelligent questions about controls, propulsion, and such. Eventually, she does bring up one point. "I am assuming your school is one in upstate New York. If so, you've probably met my cousin, Supergirl. I hope she's doing well, there."
For all intents and purposes - Kryptonian vision would show that everything in here was absolutely organic. That included the engine proper. The thing seemed to have a nervous system of a sort, however - that led straight to the controls that was on the seat that Megan first showed them.
"I'd be happy to, Power Woman!" she says.
Bringing up a hand as they walk through the corridors - and really, there was only a corridor that led to a back room that Megan had fashioned into a living room of sorts - a window overlooking a smallish little cargo bay area. "This is my ship - and she, well… it doesn't really have a gender, but I like to think of it as a she, um…" Megan fiddles with her hair some more. "Well, I talk to it using my mind, and it responds. If you wanted to drive it, you'd have to use the controls - and it's a lot easier for me to do it using the controls, too, you probably know how it goes."
Another moment.
"Are you an alien too? Or do they just say you are? They say a /lot/ of things about you on the internet," she says. Another moment, as the conversation drifts towards Supergirl. "I… well… I don't know about /Supergirl/, unless you're talking about Linda? I didn't know you were her family! No wonder she is so strong and smart and pretty!" she exclaims, giving Kara a brilliant smile.
Kara is of course very interested in the fact that the entire ship is organic technology; she has theorized that the ideal future direction for Earth tech might be organic, as it would be less likely to produce chemicals and toxins that harm the environment that tech would require to live. But enough of that for now.
"Interesting." Kara answers Megan. "I'd have thought it would be easier to fly simply using the telepathic interface, if you have that talent. Sort of 'be the ship' style piloting." Karen is no pilot, though; her flying she does under her own power.
"Yes, I am an alien. I am Kryptonian, as a matter of fact. But I was raised here on Earth by a wonderful human family, a mother and father who love me, and I love them very much. Earth is my home, and I want to help and protect it with the powers and abilities I have been given, to make the world a better place for everyone." Kara smiles and nods. "Yes. I mean Linda. And yes, she is very smart, and strong, and pretty. And eventually she will believe that, and believe in herself as much as I do."
"It is, but. The controls are kinda like its ears, I guess you could say? It hears it better if you're right next to them?" Megan pauses, looking a bit helpless for a moment. "Or something like that," says Megan, perking up when she hears about Kryptonians. "Oh, why did you come here? I mean, I hardly knew about species others than humans and martians - but I guess it's a big galaxy out there, huh?" she asks brightly.
Another pause.
"I did not have anything like that, I suppose. I went to America, and I spoke to the DEO - and they let me be an American too!" says Megan, beaming brightly. "So now I go to school for people just like you and me - and that's why Linda's there too, then," she says.
"If you're related, though - do you think you could help her decide to join the pep squad with me? I'm trying to get more people for it, and I think she'd /love/ it."
Must. Not. Laugh. It would be so impolite to laugh at Megan, but it's hard to suppress. Kara simply holds it in willfully. "Well, the controls are the hub of its central nervous system, so they're the closest it has to a brain; of course it would hear your thoughts better there." See? She may not be a telepath, but she can figure that kind of stuff out anyway.
"I came here because Krypton was dying. Not long after my ship left - before I was even conceived - the planet exploded, as did its moon." To be fair, Kara is actually from that moon, but that just confuses people. Easier to just say Kryptonian. Like Jor-El, the Superman of World War II. It's a frame of reference everyone on Earth can understand. "My parents sent me here in the hopes I would find a loving home. They thought highly of this world, from what Jor-El - the Superman from World War II - told them about it."
It is a big galaxy out there. "Linda is actually my cousin in my human family. Somehow - we're still not sure how - she was infused with Kryptonian DNA and powers somewhat recently - several months ago. She's going to school where you are to help her learn to deal with that." Kara sighs. "I can't really help you convince Kara to join your pep squad, though. Kara doesn't want me to come by the school. SHe wants to do this on her own, and I promised I would stay away unless she asked me to come." And Linda hasn't exactly been known for being peppy.
Megan just kinda pauses a moment, before giving Kara a cheeky smile - bringing her hand up to whack the side of her head again. "Hello Megan - of course it is! You don't need to be a telepath to know /that/, huh?" she says, smiling even brighter at Kara then. Even if her smile starts to die off when the story of how she came to Earth was being related.
It was a frame of reference that everyone on Earth could understand, and Megan was certainly doing her best to learn of Earth things, but she still hadn't been here /that/ long. Mostly, she had been running off of her sitcom stuff.
There was a little nod of her head at that, though.
"Well, okay. I'll just have to work on her a little more. I got her to smile the other day, so that was ~amazing~," she says, nearly giggling with joy. "But I think she likes being a little grouchy overall. But I guess I might be grouchy too if I had to move away from home and into a school - if I didn't really want to go," Megan says, pausing as she purses her lips.
"Do you like cupcakes, Power Woman?" she asks.
"Actually, she made the decision to go to the school, Megan. I think she's likely to end up far happier there than she has been. But Linda has some … issues. It's not for me to say. But she needs time to work through them. I'm just hoping the school will give her a chance to do that successfully." Kara offers, with a wry smile. "I'm glad she has people around her that are trying to get her to open up and smile. I hope you succeed."
"Cupcakes? Love 'em. Why do you ask?" Kara inquires.
"I hope so as well. If there's anything I can do for her - I mean, if you ever need help or just /anything/, please let me know?" asks Megan, tilting her head just a bit to one side, an honest smile dancing up onto her lips. There was another moment's pause, though, and that smile blossoms brighter and brighter.
"I ask because I bake them. I mean, I'm not as good as some chefs in town, but I really really like baking things. Especially if it helps put smiles on people's faces," says Megan. "I'd like to bake some for you sometime, and you can tell me how good I am at it?"
"If I ever need anything, I promise. I'll let you know." Especially considering Kara knows where Megan is going to school. She imagines they'd be able to find the girl, as needed. "If you'd like to bake some cupcakes and share a few with me, I'll gladly accept, and give you all the feedback I can manage." That settled, she smiles. "Well, since you're here to check out Antarctica, I should get on out of your way, and let you do that. You take care of yourself, Megan. And next time, think about filing a flight plan, and turning the camouflage off. People are generally a lot less nervous with an aircraft they know is coming, and can see."
"Okay - I can do that, Power Woman," says Megan, kinda bringing up a hand to her forehead and saluting - in that moment, the 'schoolgirl' look melts away, leaving her in the green-skinned, becaped form that she was kinda known for in superhero circles. Okay. She wasn't really known /yet/, but you know what she looks like. "I'll do that, Power Woman - um. Thank you for stopping by to talk. I really really enjoyed it," Megan says, leaving a smile dancing on her lips.
Kara offers a wave, and waits for the dorsal opening to pivot open again before she lifts off, flies out, and disappears with a sudden boom, breaking the sound barrier quite easily and quickly. She has to get back to Metropolis in time for her college classes, after all!