| Three Heroines and Another Meteor Storm |
| Summary: | Another big, dangerous meteor shower approaches the Earth, and three heroines fly out to meet it and prevent the destruction it could bring. |
| Date: | 2014-06-06 |
| Related: | Bowling for Meteors |
| NPCs: | NA |
| Scene Runner: | Moon Maiden |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
This would be the second set of rogue asteroids that Earth's path has wandered into this year. And, just like last time, these astroids are big enough to cause serious damage if they hit the surface. There's twenty or thirty of them ranging from a hundred cubic feet in size to the largest which ranges a good half a mile in size. Which is why three of Earth's finest are hovering in space. Moon Maiden has her armor to give her oxygen. Miss Marvel has no need of oxygen and Karen's grabbed a simple oxygen mask and tank. All three are equipped with JL commlinks to keep in contact.
"The big one will take all three of us." Laurel says as she holds up both hands before her. "Let's clear out the small ones, first." Silver sparkles surround one of the small fish and she twists, sending it crashing into another of similar size. There's enough force that they both break up into small chunks. Small enough that most will burn up upon entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Power Woman really only needs the air so that she can talk and be heard on her League communicator. But for that reason alone, it's good that she has the tank of air. "Agreed. And stay in touch. Anything could go weird up here. We're a team, so let's act like it."
That said, the mighty blonde Kryptonian flies across the surface of Earth's atmosphere, scooping up one of the meteors, and then carrying it forward as she smashes it - and herself - into another and another, skipping across the envelope of atmosphere, rendering them all into tiny, mostly fist-sized chunks that shouldn't cause any problems for anyone. On her way looping back, Power Woman then starts scanning the next weave, making sure to keep her eyes 'peeled' for anything unusual or problematic.
Miss Marvel is thrilled, both to be flying in space and to also be working with the League. She smiles, happy to be a part, even if it as on a temporary basis. She sees a wave of small asteroids and set her approach o the middleone. She hits it in such a way that it splits in half an knocks out the ones on its sides as well. "Acknowledged." shes says to Moon Maiden and Linda's cousin. She blushes before she shakes the thought out of her head. She needs to forget about that for now. She can't admit to knowing Linda without giving away her secret. She pauses and watches the other two before the next wave arrives.
"No reason we can't have fun." Moon Maiden grins as she dives backwards and draws her arm back. "Six ball. Corner pocket." She thrusts her arm forward and a small asteroid is lunarkinetically slammed into a large one. The larger one is thrown backwards into the next one and that one into the next. Each breaks into smaller chunks which go shooting off at angles, breaking apart still others. "My dad's going to be glad my degree in mathematical engineering hasn't gone to waste."
"No reason at all. I remember the last time we did this. We had lots of fun." Power Woman offers, smiling as she passes behind MIss Marvel and scoops up several small, very dense chunks from one of those Mary destroyed. She then turns and takes a 'pitching' pose, before releasing first one, then another, and another, and another in rapidfire succession and with incredible speed and force, aimed right for the fault lines and weak points in another of the larger (but still not the staggeringly huge) asteroids, shattering it too into small chunks headed on longer, round-about trips of the atmosphere, sure to incinerate before they can become a threat.
"Laurel, I need you to take that one, over there. And, preferably, do /not/ let it break up and head into the atmosphere. I'd really rather there not be /more/ of that stuff on Earth." Kara offers, as she points out the one she's concerned about … while staying well and truly clear, almost as far away as she can get from it without leaving the mission.
Miss Marvel nods as she flies, looking for another one. "I understand, but we need to be vigilant of the debris. Tough it should burn up in atmosphere, there are dowens upon dozens of satellites and we need to make sure they don't get hit." She looks to the one that Kara points at. "Perhaps the two of us can just redirect it out of orbit to go somewhere else? That way there won't be fragments left behind."
"I understand." Moon Maiden says. There's only one reason why Power Woman wouldn't want to touch an asteroid, after all. Or go near it. "Miss Marvel, I've got it. I'm going to push this one to the moon and land it there. You help Power Woman finish clearing the field, please." Laurel takes a deep breath and then directs the Alchemical Engine in her Lunar Villa to grab hold of this particular asteroid. She said 'push' but the truth is, she's pulling it to the moon using the moon's own gravity.
"It's true. We do need to be vigilant of the satellites." Kara agrees with Mary, nodding. She visibly relaxes when Moon Maiden seizes the problematic asteroid with her silvery sparkles, and starts to move it towards the moon and away from the Earth - and Kara. "Thankfully, their orbits are pretty steady and easy to predict. At least, for the engineers amongst us." Power Woman isn't bragging; it's just the truth. She doesn't yet know all that Miss Marvel can do, or she'd include her, despite her not being an Engineer.
"OK. Let's get to work and clear out the last of these smaller fry. We're going to need a plan to take on that big huncher, especially without Laurel's help." Power Woman mentions, as she starts slicing apart some of the asteroids with her heat vision. Then she flies in and scatters the pieces, sending them in different directions to slam into and redirect - and reduce - a few of the others.
Miss Marvel isn't an engineer but she is a superb strategist. She understands where Kara was going with that. She nods to Kara. "Well, there's a couple different theories. We can handle it like we did with the house on the island. We could also send it into the Sun so it will burn up. I'm beginning to grow concerned as to why the number of these are increasing. Do we know where they're coming from?" She smashes through a couple more, before sizing up the large one as she floats next to Kara. "Also, let me know if you start to get low on air. I can go back down and bring back a canister right quick."
"Miss Marvel has a good point." Moon Maiden says into the comm unit. "This is the second swarm we've dealt with this year. Events like these are supposed to happen once a millenia. It could be coincidence or it could be they're being directed. We'll sit down later with the data and see if we can't plot a course. Iron Man's computers should be able to help there. Maybe we can borrow Hubble to get some intelligence once we have more information."
"Agreed. We should plot these out and see if we can find any commonalities that explain where they're coming from, or why they're headed this way." Power Woman answers, only too happy to turn this into a science problem. Just, y'know, later. Not now. "You doing OK, Laurel?" she inquires, checking in since she can't really spare time to look. She's examining the big one to the best of her ability, but it's a lot of area, so it's taking time.
"I'm pretty sure if we try to push it out of here, it's going shatter along a few primary faults, and the pieces would still each be so massive they'd surely be devastating when they crash." Kara offers Miss Marvel, as they try to make their plan of attack. "And there would be too many pieces for you and I to be assured we'd get them all safely." Naturally, the big one would turn out to be a tough bastard. Isn't that always the way. "If you have better ideas, I'm listening. But the best I can think of is … If I slice it, neither of us will be too close when it breaks. We can take it in sweeps, working our way through each set of broken pieces, and keep it up at speed. I just need to slice them apart so that each piece will be reasonably stable and solid enough to take force without breaking before you can impart enough momentum to get them going."
The question is: Can Power Woman really do all of that?
Miss Marvel shakes her head. "I can't think of anything better. That sounds like the best plan. Where did you want to bring these pieces to?" She asks, for clarification. She speaks into the earpiece. "Once we have a reverse trajectory, I can go into deep space without needed rest or air or food." She adds.. "I'd just need a good alibi." She says, actually letting a joke go through.
Moon Maiden follows behind the small asteroid piece as it travels towards the moon. "I'm fine. I just needed to give it a push. Intertia's doing the rest for me. I wouldn't even bother to tag along… but if I'm not there to help set this rock down it might hit the moon too hard. We wouldn't want that." A broken moon is only mildly better than a broken Earth, after all. "Miss Marvel, we'll want to send a team I think. I don't doubt your ability but anything that can send weapons of mass destruction Earth's way deserves the League's attention." She smiles. "You included, I hope, soon enough."
"Amen to that. Both parts." Power Woman ammends, as she takes up position. "I'll go second sweep. Get ready, should be three pieces in this first set." she explains for Miss Marvel. "There's some pretty significant titanium deposits in one of these pieces. So I'd say impart enough momentum that they'll stay clear of the atmosphere, and then we'll rope them and bring them over the Watchtower site point, and use them as raw materials to smelt down for more plating." Oh. Wait. Did she not explain what the 'Watchtower site point' is? Well, that'll have to wait for later, one supposes.
As agreed, Power Woman heats it up, firing long, furious beams of heat vision to slice apart the asteroid in sections, then slicing open the sections into smaller chunks and pieces. She works hard to make sure that she cuts each on a fault line that wouldn't stand up to the stress of physical force sufficient to redirect them. This should mean, if she has done her job, that each is relatively stable, and can be pushed wherever Miss Marvel's strength - or Kara's, when she gets a chance - wishes to push it.
Miss Marvel nods. "Understood, Moon Maiden. The offer stands whetehr I'm a member or not." She then turns to Kara physically and raises a brow. "Watchtower? Seeing as I don't know what that is, you'll have to tell me the coordinates, and tell me when to close my eyes. I undertsnad the need for confidentiality." She says as she flies towards the first one, getting a decent hold for it and feeling the momentum. "Ready when you are."
"Like I said, just get them floating out here in stable enough orbit. We can come back to move them later." Power Woman offers, as she smiles at MIss Marvel. "The League is going to work on building a base up here in space, not tied to any country in the world. The name we're bandying about right now is the Watchtower. I voted for Skywatch, but Watchtower is leading in votes, so far." Until new members are elected to the team! Any day now!
Power Woman keeps evaluating the huge asteroid and slicing it up, creating more and more hunks in swaths. She takes a break from that, and sweeps in to gather a few of those pieces, pushing one into another and another, and then hurtling them off into a slow but inexorable orbit around Earth. "That next trio have lots of nickel and iron. We'll want them with your first set." Isn't this fun?
Miss Marvel nods and pushes them over into orbit where they can sit stably. "Interesting. Hopefully I'll get to see it once it's finished. I'm not much into construction but I can at least help manuever supplies. I don't need to breathe out here." She knows she keeps saying it, but the Mary inside her is still in awe of the fact. She returns for another batch. "The name matters not as long as the mission remains." She says, by way of tossing a little Wisdom into the conversation.
"OK. This set, I have to get moving towards the sun. Nasty stuff." Power Woman comments, as she slices up the rest of the massive asteroid, and then gathers up the next batch to come sailing free. "You should be safe to break up the rest of those, if you want." Then Kara takes some time to build up a good bit of fractional-C momentum, hurling the rocks full of heavily radioactive materials on a (slow) path towards the Sun.
"It's neat that you don't need to breath up here, I have to admit. I can hold my breath for a really long time. But with talking, I have to inhale and exhale." Hence the air bottle, which she hasn't explained. "When Marvel Girl helps out, we don't need to talk, which makes it really convenient." Hey. Telepathy is cool! "So, what other awesome things can you do? I'm curious." And she might be taking notes for a membership vote later. Shhh!
Miss Marvel nods and starts pushing the remnants of the rocks to where they need to go. "I understand. Like I said, if you run low, let me know. We could always head back down for some atmosphere for you." She says, as she figures out what to do with the remaining. At the question of her powers, she blushes. "Well, I'm strong, I'm fast, I can fly. Let's see.." She thinks. "I'm giving you the quick version.. I've had to go through the list too often lately. I'm embued with wisdom and clarity, and I can endure nearly anything." She shrugs. "Practially perfect in every way." She laughs slightly, an obvious joke. "Perhaps some other time I can go through the whole list, when I'm not in the mood to be so humble."
"Imbued with wisdom and clarity, hunh? That sounds like it could be interesting. We'll have to talk about that one later." Power Woman opines, as she finishes taking care of the radioactive pieces, and then returns to help clean up the last pieces, also sweeping to check and make sure none of their debris is going to come anywhere close to the satellites or anything like a plane in flight. Always better to be careful. "I'm guess your powers are some kind of … magic?" Otherwise, how could she keep talking without air to push through her lungs? If she's going to violate biophysics, Kara's going to guess magic.
Miss Marvel nods and finishes her sweep. "It's magic. A powerful wizard chose me to be his champion. For some reason he thought I was virtuous enough to handle it. The wisdom is to help guide me, to ensure that what I do is right, and to not go off irresponsibly with such raw power." She says as she floats, folding her arms over her chest. "Looks good?" She asks Kara. She then speaks into the com unit. "Moon Maiden, we're done with the rest here. Do you require assistance on your end?"
There's a lag to the comms, at these distances. Nevertheless, Moon Maiden's voice will come back after a bit. "I'm doing alright Almost have this landing perfected. I'm not going to stay out here long, but I want to get it tucked away safely where I don't think anyone is going to find or disturb it. Then I'll head back. Why don't you two take a sweep and make sure there aren't any more, or any problems. I should be free to join you soon, and we can go get milkshakes."
And for the first time since they got up here, Power Woman positively beams with pleasure. "Oooh. Nice bribe, Laurel. Say hi to the Watcher for me." Then she turns towards the moon and waves energetically … just like the 20-year-old she really is, instead of the incredibly mature woman she always seems to portray. "Hey there! See anything you like?!" she shouts, though of course her voice won't actually carry there except through Laurel's JL comm unit.
"OK. So, super-magic smarts. Strength. Flight, which is totally amazing, right? Resistance. Sounds like a pretty Marvelous package." Yes. Kara is teasing, with a bright smile on her face. "Totally suits you."
Miss Marvel blinks at Kara's behavior and then blushes, not giving an opinion either way. At the summation of her powers, she shrugs. "Thank you. I didn't pick the name. It was granted to me by the wizard." She blushes and begins to fly around the orbit, slowly, in order to keep a good eye on things, and also to keep in touch with Kara. "Alright, Moon Maiden." Marvel refrains from using real names out in the field. It's too easy to slip a 'Mary' in there.
Well, with Miss Marvel and Marvel Girl, they're going to have to eventually figure out something to call Mary that she'll be comfortable with. The shorthand allowable because of their friendships can be very handy. And working together is what builds that rapport. Power Woman takes her own flight through a few cycles and circles of Earth's orbit, checking on matters. Then they can meet up with Moon Maiden for those milkshakes.
High Earth Orbit — Solar System
Outside of 100,000 miles from the surface of the Earth, she looks like a large blue green marble hanging softly within the starry background. Quite breathtaking and peaceful, one could stare at the Earth and not know the troubles upon her surface, only know the beauty of this sight. The only natural satellite that orbits the Earth, Luna/The Moon orbits around one hundred to three hundred thousand miles away depending on its current orbit position, but is much closer than any of the other heavenly bodies. Also within this field of vision the Sun is quite detectable in all it's rage and glory.
*Obvious Exits:
* [DN] - Western Hemisphere — Low Eart
* [M] - Landing Area — Earth's Moon
* [UP] - Inner Planets — Solar System