Log:Operation Full Tango

2020/02/19 	 Chen Victory Baker Cade Artemis

1

This week's Agents of Starguard opens up to a set of familiar faces sitting in Ready Room #1 getting a SITREP from Agent Frank Rede. The projection system shows a three dimensional map of a foggy grey bubble superimposed over a topographical map.

Roads seem to go in and out of the area. At the center of the bubble is the name of the place depicted: Guntersville, OK

A cursory glance gives three pieces of information:

Population: 16,049

Current Time: 02/19/2070 09:36

Operation: Full Tango

"36 hours ago Command received reports about a city- well, a small town vanishing. When we got eyes overhead this is what we got." Agent Rede says, pointing to the grey bubble. "It looks as if there is some kind of fog that is acting as an electronic buffer of sorts. We can't get signals in or out. Naturally, we sent two teams ahead of you but haven't heard back from them in over 24 hours. That's where you all come in. We've got a hypersonic transport fueling up as we speak to deliver you outside the bubble. From there, we'll need to know what is going on. Each of you have been hand chosen for your abilities in the field. You know yourselves well enough to know what's expected of you- get in. Get our people out and if possible get to the center of this fog too. Disable it with all due prejudice. Any questions?" He asks before returning to an attentive stance.

Victory nods. "What were the two teams like that went in to investigate? Waht kinds of specialists or metas did they bring along?"

Artemis is seated a little awkwardly to accommodate her scabbard, listening. Sort of. "No questions from I. Just point me to those in need or the fiends that bind," she smiles, already ready to go in knowing very little. This is what the Godflora do, after all.

Baker listens quietly, rubbing at his temple with one hand and nursing coffee with the other. Why is it that sudden emergencies always tend to happen outside of normal duty roster schedules and/or rotations? "Aside from that," he nods towards Victory's pertinent question, "nothing here."

Agent Rede clicks a button and the projection system zooms in on an area outside of the bubble. "Two five agent strike teams." He says as the projection pulls up both strike teams. Pictures, ranks, and other relevant information shows up. "We had a single Delta Powersuit on each squad but we didn't dispatch any metas. Besides using the shielded Powersuits as our primary offensive unit, each team was assigned an environmental scientist, forensics specialist, a scout & of course a local field commander so we'd have someone who knew the area a bit better. This mission was supposed to be purely recon & to confirm the population inside was intact & uninjured so Command didn't think a meta-force would be required. It seems they've changed their minds considering we've brought in a Lancer for your deployment. They also thought having a teep from Psi division would be useful." He nods towards Artemis and then Baker in turn.

Victory nods at the answer. "No further questions. Anything else will likely have to wait until we see what's happening on location."

Artemis rises up from her seat, thinking this is the time where they depart. It may be premature.

A teep who might have a headache, though the coffee seems to help. That or he doesn't want to waste it. He slugs the rest back and also stands up. "Let us go see what awaits inside of today's mystery fog..."

On the tarmac, Agent Cade Crichton is using his telekinetic abilities to hold the final panel in place as a maintenance crew member finishes the welds, sealing the flight systems up.

"Have we a way to seal rifts?" Artemis asks Victory. She looks over to Baker and smiles. "Where is this lancer we wait for?"

Victory chuckles. "I think the 'lancer' is you, Artemis. Freelancer. As for sealing rifts...if that's necessary, we'll report back and find someone who can deal with it. This is partially recon.

Baker is slow on the draw and Victory beats him to the explanation, though he still gets his smirk in place, at least. He nods, then saves the comment for when they step out onto the tarmac and he spies Crichton. "Wonderful. It's always a good sign when they're -just- getting the ship put back together from the last crew as the new one's about to get on board..."

"A free lancer?" Artemis asks in puzzlement as she joins the group to the ship. "Yes..." she says as if she understands. Her delivery is the opposite of that, though.

Cade salutes Victory and then nods to the others cordially. "Its not ideal, that's for sure but we've got people out there and after talking to some of the big brains in Logistics we may also be working with the clock against us. I've gotten more details on what Astrophysics thinks we're dealing with. We've got a 24 minute flight time not counting preflight checks- so I'll update you all en route to Guntersville, Oklahoma." He replies as floats down to ground and steps towards the hatch leading into the aircraft.

Artemis piles into the transport, eager to get on site to face whatever lies before them.

Victory climbs in as well and straps in, getting ready for the flight. At least he's not piloting this time.

Baker wanders on in, and straps himself in, too. The sooner they bring the defogger, the sooner he can get back to ... filing reports about the defogging, most likely.

He taps the comms button to speak with the pilot in the cabin. "This is Crichton. Away team is aboard. We're ready to depart, Captain." He says before turning his head towards the console and plugging in his PDA to it as a slave drive. He begins working on gathering the data he has in a comprehensible way- astrophysics is just a bit outside his comfort zone.

He takes a deep breath and continues tapping away at the interface.

Cade's work begins showing fruit as diagrams and graphs begin coming on screen in rapid succession.

Victory takes deep breaths as they start to get ready to take off. A bit of a ritual he has for this kind of thing. There's a need to remain calm.

Artemis is calm and cheerful as can be. Eager, even. "Worry not, friend Wade. What is there we cannot face together?" she grins.

Baker just rubs his temples, while making a scribbled mental note to hydrate more. When he's not confined to the aricraft cabin, that is. While it's not exactly a ritual, per se, it appears helpful.

"Alright- hopefully you guys all have your college physics courses at the front of your mind- because things are about to get weird." Crichton says as he stops working on the console. A picture of a grey, foggy bubble is on screen though this one is surrounded by a green, hilly area- nothing like the images they've seen of Guntersville, OK- in fact it says that this is a remote area in Switzerland. The centerpoint of the bubble is tagged CERNA & the date is 07/25/2057.

"This is the area above CERNA labs almost 13 years ago. Looks familiar right?" He clicks a button and image splits showing half of the Guntersville bubble on the right & half of the CERNA bubble on the left. The right side is notably arid & almost barren looking in comparison.

"'So Cade- what's a Bubbleverse?' I hear you all thinking. Well, I spent the hour you were being briefed picking their brains about just that while they worked on a new toy for us to field test." Crichton explains & Artemis' finds the view outside much more stimulating.

"So this Manning-Cavus Gravitational Inversion is caused by gravity transference into a bubble dimension. It is thought that these bubble dimensions are not true parallel universes, but instead an unstable field of spacetime. Molecular-ly speaking the math shows the area is a copy of the geographical area where the gravity transference was centered, overlaid on the original are, but this harmonic replica is inherently unstable. That's where our clock comes in. The one over CERNA 'popped' in 49.024 hours. We're at hour 37. That gives us a little under half a day to get in, find out whats causing this and most importantly- we need to use these..." Crichton holds up a small disc like object with a visible reserve of an orange nanofluid within. "...to prevent a worst case scenario & they double as our tickets out of the bubble."

"We were lucky because the original field happened in a relatively rural area in the Swiss alps. This is not that. We have 16,059 people in there- That's local population plus 10."

He turns and with narrowed eyes & a wave of his hand he telekinetically pulls a small container from the overhead storage to his lap. He opens up the container to reveal 14 more small disc devices, each identical to the one he just showed them. "Five for us. 10 more for Team Alpha & Bravo members. There is enough nanofluid in each to tag & secure just over fifteen hundred people each, though the clock isn't on our side. Logistics doesn't think we can save everyone so we need a Plan B to prove them wrong."

Victory raises a brow. "Do we know what caused the original incident at CERNA?"

There are times when Baker envies Artemis. Mighty. Chipper. Even blissful ignorance could be useful right now, to include others' acceptance of the same. Unfortunately, he doesn't have that luxury, and his brain is already mildly sore. He skips the terminology and physic. "So, we need to tag or evacuate everyone, including ourselves, before this bubble bursts. Twelve hours. Sixteen-thousand people..." he checks on the validity of his summary.

Victory shakes his head, and does some quick math with his PDA, "That's like...22 people a second. Assuming we How the heck are we going to administer that to those people that quickly. That calculation assumes they're all there waiting for us to administer it, too."

Crichton nods to Victory. "Good question CERNA's still a household name with high energy physics research of course- so its no surprise this was the result of one of their experiments. But to date, any attempts to recreate a HCGI have been failures. No team at CERNA or abroad have been able to duplicate the event."

He turns to Baker and gives him a quick double nod. "That's more or less the mission."

He smirks at Victory and says, "Well when you put it that way, you make it sound impossible. Same as Logistics. That's why I was hoping we could brainstorm on the way- figure out another way forward."

Victory nods. "From a logistical standpoint, it IS impossible. We'll need to find out what's causing hte problem instead, if we're going to save everyone." "That was my thinking too. Hopefully Alpha & Bravo have more intel but clearly we can't depend on that. Which means either we split up inside the bubble, tag as many people as we can while we each try to find our way to the cause or we, as a team decide mass tagging isn't an option and we go forward seeking an answer inside the bubble." Crichton says in agreement. "You're in command Sir, so regardless of what is decided- you'll have the final call."

Victory nods. "We might have to fan out to try to find the source anyway. It's not a large town, though. It shouldn't take too long."

Baker didn't do or verify the math, but nods his agreement at the assessment. "Starting in the center of the bubble doesn't seem like a terrible idea," he offers.

"Alright. Sounds like a plan. Get in the bubbleverse. Get to the center. Save the day." Crichton says with a visible smile on his face. Someone is feeling confident. "Easy."

A few moments later the HyperLight thrusters kick in and the craft is sent hurtling towards its target, passing through the initial Mach speeds rapidly until reaching a hypersonic speed.

Once the craft is set down, the cargo bay doors open to the rear. Due to the angle of the craft's parked position the only thing to see is the bubble and the dirt between.

Artemis was busy staring out the window and was celarly not listening at all. "Oh, we're here. Excellent!" She unstraps herself and gets ready.

Victory nods. "At best, I think we'll only be able to save a small portion of the town unless we find the source. Let's make that the priority."

Victory unbuckles and stands up, getting ready to head down the cargo ramp.

Just after the craft lands, the port stern thruster module falls off with a loud thump as the support frame goops into a puddle and then forms into Chen. "Hi. Remind me to have a strong word with the duty mechanic when we get back."

Baker wobbles a little stepping out of the craft, then looks over at the loud noise. "Well, then.." He looks to Cade with an accusatory eye. "Looks like you missed a spot..."

Victory looks over toward Chen, "You were riding on the outside the entire time we flew out? Why?"

On the ground, Cade hands each member of his team a Quantum Oscillating Injector Disc (TM). Once they all have one in hand he clips his to his uniform. Then he begins to instruct the others on the usage- or so was the plan, which is disregarded pretty quickly by Chen's arrival and the dismantling of the port stern thruster module.

Victory says to Cade, "Go ahead and show us how those work. We might need to use them. We can brief Chen on the way, assuming she's going to come along to help out?"

Artemis summons her shield and prepares herself for whatever may come. She accepts the disc and slides it beneath her bracer.

Chen nods, "Yes, and yes," she says to Cade and Victory. "Oh, it wasn't him." She points to Cade. "It was the mechanic with the beer belly and sideburns. I was passing through the vehicle bay when he asked me to hold up the thruster module while he repaired the support bracket. He took so long coming back I fell asleep. Only woke up when the craft was already in the air."

Cade straightens up and flies right. Well, actually he lands & gets back to business since Chen seems no worse for wear. He nods despite being impressed with Chen's durability they don't have much time on the clock. "They're pretty easy. Keep them attached to your person at all times. On the side there is a switch. Activate it before we head inside. I'll use my abilities to surround us in a TK field and ... well there's no good way to say this. Throw us at the bubble at the right speed and angle. If we're to steep- well we might not end up anywhere. Too shallow we bounce and stay in our neck of the universe. Too slow and we may have to deal with temporal torsion fields which will sheer our atoms from each other as they are pulled along the different temporal rates that Astrophysics is expecting the bubble to be reinforced by."

He taps the top and point pops out the side. He pulls it and reveals the outside contains a length of cable with a crystalline tip. "While the devices are active inside the field, you can pull this and touch the head to the anyone you find inside. The system will automatically inoculate them with a quantum field that will allow them to survive the bubble's pop." He says before mulling all that over a moment more. "I'm pretty sure that's it. We've got 72 hours of power, 1500 applications in each. More than enough to get the job done."

"Friend Chen Li, I think you'll enjoy joining us, then. After your nap, surely you must be eager to rescue the hoomans of this hamlet!" Artemis says boisterously.

Baker almost wishes he could've traded places with Chen... if it weren't for the exterior and 'don't drop this' nature of it: not so conducive to naps, at least for him. He pulls a disc to himself, as well, though hopes they'll be able to unbubble the situation before anything bursts in a catastrophic manner. "When we find whatever's causing this, we call you in to disable it properly, yes?" he queries in a followup to Cade.

Chen nods, "I could hear you talking. Sound conducts well in metal. Just couldn't talk back. Cade, I heard you say those disc things have a nanofluid in them. Is it like a real fluid or something physics'ey?"

Victory takes one of the discs and follows the instructions. "Hmm."

Cade nods, handing Chen one of the QOIDs. "Yup- that's the idea. We all go in. First one to find something calls the others for backup. I'll disable whatever is causing this- or I'm hoping I can. If not, we extract as many people as we can and pray. Which isn't really my bag so its an all or nothing situation." He says before telling Chen, "I suspect its an actual nanofluid. Support pulled some stuff up from the vault for this one and repurposed the tech for this. So a bit of column a and a bit from column b? All I can say is, 'Do not drink it'." He looks to Artemis for that bit of advice.

Chen grins. Injects herself. And tries to copy the nanofluid from her own body mass.

Artemis had taken out her disc to examine it. She stops as Cade gives her that look, raising a brow and looking innocently not like she was tempted to taste the fluid that looks strangely like an Alisian Brew.

Baker makes sure that his QOID is attached to himself, and that the cable-to-dispense-more-at-people pulls out and functions. "Alright. Let's go find things."

Her bioform shifts and undulates but it may be the exterior housing that does at least some of the magic.

Chen reshapes herself. Into a six tentacled pink furry blob. The tip of each tentacle is a nanofluid injector. "Okay. Leave me some of the Alpha team to organize the townsfolk getting to me and I can inject six of them at a time. So that's plan A. You can go do plan B. Call me if you want my assistance."

This being an Agent of Starguard mission it should be a surprise to no one that dispatch chimes in their ear. ansib,<<"Copy that. Astrophysics is on standby and we've got eyes on the HyperLight. Eyes on your team. We're tracking now. They're crunching numbers. Standby for confirmation Charlie team."

<<"Copy that. Astrophysics is on standby and we've got eyes on the HyperLight. Eyes on your team. We're tracking now. They're crunching numbers. Standby for confirmation Charlie team."

Artemis leans over to Victory. "Be that another language of Urth's they are speaking?"

Victory chuckles. "It's um...science stuff. And some military jargon."

Artemis nods slowly, not looking very illuminated after she straightens up.

<<"Charlie team- Confirmation received. Insertion is 5 by 5. Good luck. Over."

Cade Crichton swallows and keeps them charging forward. He doesn't acknowldge. His mind is hyper focused on the task at hand & he knows the SGC is watching.

Cade flies up and touches his hand to the ceiling of the bubble and it too begins to glow orange as his QOID's quantum injector charges it up to deal with the temporal sheering. Then suddenly they are /inside/ this foggy field. The whole outside world whirls around teh edge of the bubble as spacetime is split and wrapped back in on itself. The only thing keeping them from actually experiencing that kind of 'globular lasagnafication' are their QOIDs. Nevertheless, even from safely inside the process is disorienting for all- even those who Are (Godflora).

Inside the bubble the team will find themselves still thoroughly disoriented. Mortals would be forgiven for feeling like their bellies are turned inside out but would do well to keep from actually giving up their breakfasts.

The QOIDs nanofluid immediately begins glowing, much the same as Chen's bio-emulated nanofluid now that their functionality is in active use.

Baker is packed in with the others. Hopefully that's not a sword jabbing him. "That was a fancy way of saying 'Hold onto your butts and hope this works,'" he translates wryly for Artemis' benefit.

"Hold on...to your...butts?" Artemis repeats slowly like she's trying to grasp that. She shrugs, then goes to grasp what she was instructed to. Just not hers.

"oh god... that was awful..." He says in between retching.

For those who aren't reliving their coffee break during the cram session, the whole town seems to be all around them. Every solid surface is duplicated above and below and all around. Even weirder- nothing at all seems amiss. The population of the town is here, living their lives as if nothing is going on though a few people seem to be upset about something and are shouting to a lone police officer sitting on his hood trying to take notes about what's got the townsfolk up in arms.

Victory doesn't notice Artemis going for his butt until it actually happens. He turns to look at her again..and lightly swats her hand away. "Not what was meant. Besides, I'm taken, remember?" He chuckles quietly.

Chen says, "I don't like this place. I mean I really don't like this place."

Artemis blinks innocently at Victory as her hand moves away. "I was just engaging in your Urth safety Protocols as Agent Baker said. What does your being taken have to do with it?" She looks at Baker. "Did I hold on incorrectly?" She seems unaffected by their transit.

Baker keeps his coffee where it needs to be, and likewise doesn't realize his faux pas until the paw is on his faux. He rubs his face. "No, you were fine. That was my fault."

Victory chuckles. "Umm...it's an idiom. We can talk about it later." He furrows his brow and looks at the area while Baker and Cade work on recovering. "We have a rough idea where the epicenter is. We should head there first and work outward as necessary."

Update: Baker keeps his coffee where it needs to be... until AFTER he looks to Artemis to take the blame. Then he loses it. Shields are dishwasher safe, yes?

Artemis is quick to raise up her shield, an energy field expanding around it to block the coffee discharge.

Chen sighs, "I bet the local sheriff is going to shoot at me when I go to talk to him. Wonder if they've ever seen a meta or alien here. But he can help getting the townsfolk organized." Having said that she bounces off toward the sheriff and gathered locals.

Once all that's done he tries to orient himself.

Victory tries using his comms to contact the first two teams, since they're in the bubble now. "Starguard agents arrived on scene from Colonial Bay. Can anyone hear me?"

Artemis gives Baker a disgusted look and a shake of her head. With a flick of her wrist, the field is cleaned off and vanishes, leaving her still clean. "Ugh. Sorry about that," Baker wipes his mouth with his sleeve (it's a duty uniform; that's what they're there for) and tries to get back on mission. He waits for Victory to attempt contact, first.

Everyone is treated to Victory's voice warped to new heights & octaves by the warped spatial area, blueshifted by multiple orders of magnitude. Its likely very painful, but no doubt the big brains back on base will be most curious about the effect- if they make it out.

Victory blinks. "Well....that didn't work. I guess we'll have to get moving, then. Do this the hard way."

Cade grabs his ear and yanks his ear peice out as he shakes his head. "No- no no. Not here. Ahh. Ouch. The edge of the bubble is refracting the radio waves back at us but across multiple dimensional strata. It might work if we get closer to the center- but.." He dry heaves again.