(2014-05-04) Resources and Directions For the League
Resources and Directions For the League
Summary: Days after the first meeting of the Justice League, repairs, cleanup and basic upgrades to the Perisphere are on the agenda, as are discussions of their future base and other ideas.
Date: 2014-05-04
Related: None
NPCs: NA
Scene Runner: NA
Social/Plot: Social
Players:
moon-maiden..power-woman..marvel-girl..wonder-woman..iron-man..

It has only been a few days and, yet, the inside of the Perisphere already looks much better. Lunarkinesis and superhuman strength have done wonders to scrub graffiti off the walls. Heat vision has helped repair many of the cracks. New technology from Stark Enterprises has replaced the broken down remnants from the 1940s.

Right now, Moon Maiden is in the middle of a trick. She sits in the middle of the room, crosslegged on the central stage. Silver sparkles sweep out from her and begin rushing around the room. Everywhere they go, the sparkles attract the dust and dirt that has accumulated over the years. Within a minute she has completely dusted the room and sent decades of dust bunnies out the door and to the outside.

A minute after the passle of dust bunnies are escorted from the premesis, a whoosh of air rushes into the room, resolving from crimson, white and blue streak into a hovering Power Woman, a drink carrier in hand holding four steaming cups of coffee some some place she really likes in Seattle. She floats down to land beside Moon Maiden, smiling, and pops out one of the cups, offering it to her friend. "Hey there. Nice. We about ready for the mop bucket brigade to attack the floors?"

Another figure enteres the refurbished Perisphere, one who is starting to gain more and more notice in the outside world. Ever since her arrival and announcement as the Ambassador of Themyscira, Diana had been dealing with a great deal of media attention. But since she'd started acting as the new Wonder Woman, that attention had been increased substantially. So, even if it was doing preparation work for the next meeting of the Justice League, Diana welcomed the chance to get out of the Embassy and relax for a while. She waves to Power Woman and Moon Maidenas she enters the new command center. "Hello, Kara. Hello, Laurel. How are you both tonight?" As she asks the question, she goes to the main computer to plug in a flash drive. "I'm adding in files of threats known to Themyscira, to combine our resources and knowledge."

"That's a good idea." Laurel says as she accepts a cup of coffee. She takes a sip and mmms. "You went Seattle for this, didn't you?" She asks Karen before winking. "I think the place can be scrubbed down. After that, well, it isn't perfect but the meeting place will look better tonight than it did last time. I agree, though. This can't be our permanent headquarters. It isn't big enough… which is an odd thing to say considering how small we are compared to the All-Star Squadron. But we need more room."

"Well, we want to do more in our base of operations than just hold meetings. That's a good reason for more room." Kara offers with a smile. "Welcome, Diana. Good to see you. I'm doing pretty well." She climbs to her feet and then strolls over, pulling out another of the steaming cups and offering it towards Diana. "Here you go." She turns to wink at Laurel. "Yes, I went to Seattle for it. Why not? Enjoy." That said, she then takes a cup for herself and puts down the carrier for someone else to enjoy the last cup, as she sips hers. "I'll finish my coffee, and then I'll scrub everything down. Shouldn't take long, and I should be able to dry it out pretty easily as well. I'll bring in my data files afterwards. I want to share, too."

Diana nods gratefully to Kara as she accepts the cup and takes a sip. "Mmmmm…I must say, for all the faults of Man's World, coffee makes up for a multitude of them." She smiles at both her teammates before settling in. "It is true that the Perisphere is small for what we envision, but it is suitible for now. Like a newborn child, this group must start with small accomplishments like learning to crawl, before it can walk, then run. This, then, is the cradle for our League. And I think it is a good one."

"And it will be good for public relations later. A face to put on the League and on superheroes in general. A place where people can come and see we aren't monsters or trying to take over or corrupt the world." Laurel takes a sip of coffee. "The computers are going to have a problem in a moment." She says. "It'll last a few seconds." She closes her eyes and a beam of sparkling silver light blasts down into the computer. There's a lot of beeping and screaming and screeching… rather like an old school modem making a connection.

"Holy crud, Laurel. What're you doing to those poor computers?" Kara cannot help but ask. Her inner tech geek is showing. Sorry about that. She lifts her empty hand to cover her ear, wincing at the sound, as what she assumes must be the download from the Alchemical Engine at the Lunar Villa continues. "We should restore and expand the museum functions, here, when we get ready to open it back up to the public. I think with the return of heroes to the world, that will be something with a lot more interest than there was even ten years ago."

Diana looks over at kara curiously, taking another sip of coffee. "What do you mean by 'the return of heroes'? Have there been no heroes in Man's World between my mother's departure and my arrival? Surely, the Justice Society and others inspired others with superhuman abilities to protect the world?"

"Alchemical Engine is downloading my files to the computer." Laurel explains. "Plus some of the Hundreds' files - those I marked as of interest, like their observations of the city on the Moon and He Who Watches, the big guy who lives there." She takes a sip of coffee as the sound dies down. "Something happened at the end of World War II, Diana. When the Human Bomb blew himself up in Japan. Powers stopped working. Aliens vanished. Then, in 2010… people with powers started appearing again. I got my powers that year."

Kara nods. "According to Jor-El's journals, he was suddenly transported back to Krypton, after having failed to reconstruct the hyperdrive engine. From what I've read in history, beyond a smattering of costumed crimefighters here and there through the years, who largely seemed to have no powers, there weren't any superheroes." The tall blonde shrugs those broad shoulders of hers. "I landed in 1996. I was never entirely normal, but despite my Kryptonian heritage, I had pretty much nothing for powers until 2008. And nothing compared to full power until after the start of January, 2010. That's when I designed the suit, and why I was ready in April when that plane was crashing. If that had happened just four months earlier, there would have been nothing I could do about it." Kara doesn't know /why/ things worked out that way. The mystical is a mystery to her.

"That is curious," Diana says, eyebrow raised. "And there's no knowing what caused this? I don't think there was a shift in magic around that time…" Diana ponders, trying to remember what she knows of recent history on Themyscira that might tie in. Eventually, though, she shrugs. "A mystery, then. One we will unravel in time." She sounds very confident of that. "So, have you heard from our comrades at all these past few days?"

"I haven't." Laurel admits as she gets to her feet and floats over to the computer. She checks her download to ensure everything transfered correctly. "Kara, have you started talking to Tony about our permanent headquarters? Pepper sent over this equipment but we'll need better. I imagine you, Batman, and Iron Man will all want state of the art resources."

"Well, Batman hasn't responded to my requests to talk. I'm sure he'll want really advanced tech, given what I saw of his plane and what I've seen of his other gear. But until he answers me, I won't know any specifics." Kara answers with a shrug, sipping more of her coffee. "I did get to talk with Iron Man for a bit. He has some really big ideas for an extension of an artificial intelligence system he feels he has pretty perfected. Paired with some of my tech, we're pretty sure we can build computers that will be a quantum leap ahead of anything else out there, and should be able to run most of the station's systems without much personnel intervention. We're intending holographic displays and three-dimensional interface systems. He's also looking at what I've provided, with an eye towards teleportation technology, and intra-orbital flight craft."

Diana smiles a bit. "Batman does not strike me much as the commuincative and sharing type. That is not to say he is not a capable and valuable ally, just that he…plays things close to the chest?" Diana finishes off the rest of the coffe and gets up to dispose of the cup. "We have talked about training together as a team…what are your thoughts on when and where that should happen? I have a large gymnasium in the Embassy that can cater to such training. And it is built to withstand my level of strength, so it would be ideal for Power Woman to use as well."

"I wish I could offer more in the way of technology but the alchemical engine only works for me and, beyond that, compatibility with any other form of technology would be low." Laurel says with a faint, embarassed smile. Diana's question does bring some thought. "That might be a good idea for now, Diana. Though I think we need a wide open space for any real training. Too many of us have powers that are highly destructive or just count on having a lot of room to move. I don't want Iron Man tossing off cluster bombs in your house."

"Given the holographic and computer technology we're working on," Kara answers, "I think our plan is to build something based on that. Probably something really big: a huge, adaptive open space. With repulsor tech, we should be able to even make it feel real." Yes, the Kryptonian has a lot of big ideas. But she has a lot of resources to make those big things happen. "But until we get that done, Diana's gym is probably our best bet in the short term." But yeah, cluster bombs going off in Diana's Embassy seems like a Bad Idea (tm).

That said, Kara blurs off, and can next be seen blurring around the Peripshere, scrubbing the walls, the floors, the entire dome. She burns through more mops that way.

"I am sure it will be impressive, Kara," Diana says with a smile. As Kara cleans the entire Perisphere in a matter of seconds, Diana looks amazed. "Great Hera…you would give Hermes a good challenge in a race." She turns her attention to Laurel. "Your contributions are just as great, my freind. You offer as much as you can to assist the Justice league, no less than any of us would in similar circumstances. And the more diversity we have in our skills and resources, the more effective we will become."

Marvel Girl comes in at that moment, and thankfully has the telepathy to notice Kara's rapid-cleaning, and the telekinesis to lift herself out of the way. Then she looks around and smiles, "Well, it definitely looks a lot nicer than the last time we were here." She waves to the others, and levitates herself back down to the ground.

"Hello, Marvel Girl." Laurel says. She finishes her coffee and lunarkinetically levitates the empty cup into a bin. "We've been working at cleaning the place up. Discussing headquarters, options. Things we want the League to be and become. I'm going to talk to Pepper about signing over my merchandising rights to the League so it can be under one umbrella. Right now, my mother handles it and the money goes to various charities to help young women in STEM programs."

Of course, along with all of the scrubbing - the place is pretty much pristinely sparkling, with cracks and such all sealed up - the Perisphere has also seen a significant upgrade in its tech base, with the outdated and largely dead computers from the 1940s now replaced with top-end Stark computer systems, which are up and running and collating massive amounts of data shared from other members of the team, including a recent download from Laurel's Alchemical Engine in the Lunar Villa, Diana's from Themyscira, and Kara's own as well.

The crimson, blue and white blur of Power Woman resolves, holding the third burnt-out mop and bucket as the air swirling around finally comes to a stop. She actually never came close to hitting Marvel Girl, because she is always aware of her surroundings when moving at that speed, but she appreciated being able to get to those spots without stoping. "OK. I'll get rid of these and be right back. Don't start without me!" And whoosh, she's gone again. She'll be back shortly, to be sure.

"Hello, Marvel GIrl," Diana says, smiling at the woman. "I believe that there is a cup of coffee that Power Woman brought that is still available." She returns back to the table and helps straighten up the chairs. "How have you been these past few days, marvel Girl? Have you had any contact with our other members?"

Jean chuckles, "Don't have to offer it twice…" She telekinetically snags the last cup, taking it in her hands when it gets close enough. She then hmms, "I did meet up with Tony after the meeting, Pepper took me over and I had an interesting talk with him. I think he'll be on board, though I'm a little concerned about Batman…" She pauses, "I don't have that many reservations about him, directly, but it's the whole 'works and plays well with others' thing."

"Not everyone can be a people person. I think when the chips are down, Batman will come through to us." Laurel steps away from the computer and walks over to the central meeting area. She takes a seat. Four people in a room that once held dozens. "Did Tony and Pepper arrange for the internship you asked for? It would be a neat experience."

With another rush of air, Power Woman returns to the Perisphere, and plugs a glowing crystal into one of the data ports of the computers, then initiates a download. "Back now. Sorry about that." She smiles to the others. "I agree with Laurel, though. I think Batman will come through, and I think he agrees that us working together is a good thing worth supporting. I'm sure he has some reservations of his own. We just have to put forth effort, all of us, to try to work to bridging that gap. We need to have some faith."

"Agreed. Batman will be a valuable teammate," Diana says as she nods. "He is a hunter, like great Artemis. One who works better alone and at night, but will join with others when the need is great and noble." She sits back down at the table, looking around. "Well, I suppose this is going to be all of us for tonight. Shall we begin the meeting, then?" She looks over at Kara and smiles ironicly. "Yes, you should feel ashamed of holding us up a whole second, Kara, you snail."

Jean nods in agreement, then laughs, "Not yet, though I'm hoping to get some other offers… we'll see how things go I guess." She hmms, "Obviously trust doesn't come easily to the Batman, though the fact that he accepted the invitation shows that he is definitely willing to work with us. I just hope we don't get too many ruffled feathers there." She hmms, "But there's a lot of different personalities to get to work together. Should be interesting."

Iron Man lands through a retracted hole in the roof. He lands in a very precise spot in his signature three point stance. Rising, even as the floor opens around him and robotic arms begin the task of removing the pieces of of the power armor. It does't take very long, seven seconds at most, before Tony is revealed underneath - wearing one of his top shelf suits. This IS a meeting after all - and he saunters towards those gathered with his fifty gigawatt smile, "Afternoon, ladies. Or whatever time it is in your home time zone." he slows up as he gets within conversational range of everyone.

"In the current time zone it is close to ten in the evening, Tony." Laurel says, clearly amused. She's sitting on one of the benches. This was once the meeting place of the All-Star Squadron - home of literally hundreds of heroes banding together under the direction of FDR. "Glad you could come tonight. We missed you last time. Though Pepper did a fine job as your proxy."

"Miss Potts was definitely impressive." Power Woman offers, nodding towards Tony. "I was just starting to fill everyone else in on the tech we've been discussing." But she'll let Tony do it, now. She doesn't exactly need people to be associating her with 'advanced tech'; that is all too close to her secret identity, after all. "Glad you could make it. Sorry, but I didn't get a coffee for you, I don't know how you like it." And Pepper isn't here this evening to have made other arrangements.

At the arrival of Iron Man, Diana gets up from the chair she was sitting in and walks over to the armored hero. "Mr. Stark…I am Diana of Themyscira. It is a pleasure and an honor to meet you." She holds out her hand in greeting. "My mother spoke very highly of your father, of his inventiveness and his courage; she was sad to learn of his passing. However, it is good to know that his legacy lives on through you." There's an almost girlish smile on her face. "I understand that your armor is a marvel second only to something made by Hephaestus himself." With the introduction done, she returns to her chair. "Now then, let us begin this meeting. Is there any concern anyone wishes to bring up at this time?"

Jean glances around, currently in her costume as she sips from her coffee, "I don't have anything at this time. I mean… well, no I have nothing right now." She chuckles, having talked about internships with both Tony and Diana privately in the past.

"We'll need to make formal announcements as to our existence to the public." Laurel points out. "They'll need to know we're out there and that we mean no harm. I'd like to suggest that one member be on watch duty at all times."

"We should establish a means of outside contact, as well. A relay so that people can reach out to us. But obviously we don't want it to become a burden on our members to sift through erroneous requests." Kara offers up.

Tony Stark shakes Diana's hand and nods, returning the smile with one of his own. "I'm afraid that my father didn't mention you or your mother more - I might've paid more attention to my mythology courses." he says with a slight chuckle, "Seriously, your words are too kind. I only do the best I can with what I have, be it my own technical ability or a pile of missiles." he glances around and offers greetings in the form of smiles and nods to all before grabbing himself a cup of coffee and having a seat, listening to what's brought up. "We should hold until we have governing policies in place, basically so that the UN and NATO and all their associated nimrods will see us as a legit orginization rather than a gang." he sips is coffee and sets the mug down in front of him, and to Kara's statement ccounters, "Or we let local heroes mind their own turf indepdently and only step in when requested, or if the threat level is validly global? I see that we're in our small numbers already rivaling the power at the command of those that used to roam these halls. We shouldn't be busting our asses to get bank robbers and purse snatchers."

Jean nods at Tony, "Right, we're a group that gets together to fight giant monsters trying to eat nuclear reactors and the cities they come with, not getting cats out of trees." She hmms, "We need to be very careful. Our getting together can be easily twisted into some sort of threat, and we want to avoid that at all costs. Though, would it be better to make a public announcement first, or talk to the respective governments first?"

Diana listens to everyone in turn, and nods to them. "I agree that we need to have our charter in place before we announce ourselves. But that time will be coming soon; hopefully this week. As for exterior contact, I believe that is best left in the hands of our technical expert, Mr. Stark. And he will include that as time and resources allow." She pauses to let things settle in before continuing. "I would disagree, Mr. Stark. Each time we perform a service to the public good, that helps our appearance in the public eye. However, I would say that each of us, for now, need to opperate as we see fit, choosing which crimes and ills to oppose given our tallents and circumstances. As for the UN, I will begin talking with the Secretary General to inform him of what we are attempting here."

"Given Diana's position as our duly elected leader, and the one amongst us specifically talented in diplomacy, I think it is ideal for her to work on broaching the subject of our unity with the governments of the world, starting with the UN. The ideals of the UN most closely align, I believe, with our hopes and goals for this team, so that seems the right place to start." Which isn't to say she doesn't identify, personally, as American. She simply respects that the team is probably better off identifying as 'of Earth', and defending everyone as best they can, without prejudice for country of origin. "Do we have any outstanding questions, right now, regarding our charter? Anything we should discuss?"

Tony Stark sits back, "Yeah..let Diana here handle the politicos. I..don't play well with them. You can check me out on the C-Span archives for that one. I made a couple of senators and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff look like some Saturn Five doucherockets." he looks around, "Okay, so I'll get us outfitted with comms that will scramble frequency across some unmonitored bandwidths that the FCC hasn't locked down yet, that will all change at the same time at irregular intervals. Sound good to everyone?"

Jean considers, "The fact that they are probably didn't help matters." She nods over at Tony, "That makes sense, we'll need some secure communications. Batman gave a few of us communicators, but not enough, and I honestly don't know the encryptions."

"All right," Diana nods. "I will begin a dialogue with the proper authorities starting tomorrow. And, I think our charter should be ready for review and voting in a matter of days." As Tony talks of C-SPAN and rockets and frequencies, Diana blinks some in confusion. "If…you think that is what's best…" It takes her a moment to set aside the technical jargon in her mind and get back on topic. "Speaking of communications, Marvel Girl, you said you were a telepath? That could be quite useful in combat. If everyone is agreeable to having her link our minds in that way. It is something we should discuss and schedule training for, so that we are accustomed to it."

"Absolutely." Kara responds, regarding Diana's suggestion on Jean's telepathy in crisis situations. That's what we said when we first got together, so I agree we should start practicing that, make sure everyone is as comfortable with it as possible." The Kryptonian smiles at Tony's antics. "As to the communicators, that sounds right. Rotating encryption keys as well, I am assuming?" Then she remembers they should discuss actual training. "Our facilities will need to include space with sufficient reinforcement for team practice with full powers, and probably some means of making the area adaptable. For now, Diana has offered the use of a gymnasium in the Embassy, which is sizable, and reinforced to her strength, so it should be useful as a temporary solution. Should we also schedule another meeting, for going over the charter?"

In a room. With four globally hot women. And one of them wants to read his mind?

Norfolk and Waypal.

"Ummm..yeah, I don't think having my brain poked about with is gonna help any of us, there. I, am, as you know..not a team player..more of a solo flyer..doesn't play well with others.." Tony says, coming up with excuse after excuse, "Yeah. Rotating encryption keys, DOD level security or better. Probably not up to Batman's standards, but you know..I do what I can." he says looking around and sipping his coffee.

Not awkward at all, no. Not a bit.

Jean chuckles, "I didn't say I wanted to read your mind, Tony. Just that I can set up a mental link. Instant communication. It doesn't project anything you wouldn't say anyway." She hmms, "I guess what I'm saying is that it would be faster than even radio communication, more responsive. But that's only if people are comfortable with it. Obviously I wouldn't go somewhere I wasn't invited."

Diana smiles reassuringly. "No-one is talking about her directly reading your mind, Mr. Stark. Just a surface connection link that cannot be hacked by any technical means." Her smile grows wider. "And I don't think that you are nearly the lone wolf that Batman is. But, as Marvel Girl says, this is not something that will be forced upon anyone. However, on a related note, I would like to know what your experience in hand-to-hand combat is. While your suit is unarguably powerful, it is always good to have back-up experience and training in case things go wrong."

Tony Stark hmms, "Fair enough, then. I'll be open to it..I just didn't want to make poor Jean..er..Marvel Girl's head explode is all." he clears his throat, "Moving right along, then, yes. I have been fully trained in hand to hand up to SHIELD level standards. I'm not Bruce Lee, but I can hold my own in a scrap. The suit just makes everything..better."

"Let's all keep an open mind. Pardon the pun." Kara offers, as she eyes Tony, hoping he'll get with the program to at least try Jean's telepathic links and see how it works. "Answering for myself, I will admit I don't have much training in hand-to-hand. Some basic self-defense courses when I was a teenager, and that's about it."

Jean grins a bit, "I have a black belt in aikido… my school was pretty firm on self-defense." She gives Kara a curious look, at that… as she might know what the school is, but she doesn't elaborate too much, "And well, living in Gotham is definitely something that leads oneself to knowing how to defend yourself."

Diana nods as the answers are given. "That is all excellent. Kara, if you wish more training, I can offer it to you, and my strength level is a match to yours, so we can spar without question or fear. Jean and Tony, if I may use your first name, both of you are well trained also, but I think sparring with Captain America would be best for training. And we should probably schedule group sessions as well, so that we understand each other's capabilites. If that is something we ll agree on?" She looks around the room for comments and approvals. "As for our next meeting, I think we will have a charter ready to review and vote on by Wednesday. Again, if that is acceptable to all?"

"Definitely acceptable to me." Kara offers, with a nod to Diana. "I would very much enjoy the chance to train a bit, Diana. I'm not sure how good I'll be, but I'll give it a real shot." If she can learn to have skill as well as her powers, that'd be darned handy.

Tony Stark nods, "Well that works for me. I'll be continuing to update and upgrade the tech through here and start working on the more advanced aspects of the base. I think working downward is best, so chances are we're gonna end up with several sublevels. No reason for people to think anything is going on here."

Jean hmms and nods, "Definitely sounds like a good idea. Especially with the sublevels. Something to keep things subtle and not advertising too much." She glances at the others, "And then Diana is going to be talking with the UN, so that should be good… and I do know a few people at SHIELD, as well."

"It is a good idea," Diana adds. "But remember, this is going to be a temporary base compared to the permanent one. Let us not expend more resources than neccessary here." She looks around again. "All right, then. I think we are… in the home stretch? Almost done. I would say that we meet back here again on Wednesday for a review and confirmation of the Justice League charter? Also, I believe that we should have the paperwork for the Foundation to support us ready by then as well."

Tony Stark nods, "Sounds good to me. As for the base here..I believe in doubling up. This base might be temporary, but I fully plan to utilize it as a last home-slash-resort. If something happens, and all other avenues fall, we can rally here." he looks at those gathered. "There will be surprises here for everyone. Promise."

Jean arches a brow, "Now I /am/ almost tempted to read your mind with a comment like that." She smiles a bit, obviously joking, then she nods, "But a bit of redundancy is not a bad thing at all."

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