| A Black Panther Has Landed |
| Summary: | Princess Shuri of Wakanda comes to the Xavier School for a visit, and her first encounter is Star-Lord? Something has to be wrong there. |
| Date: | 2017-01-02 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
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There really isn't any warning. The sensors at the Mansion do not pick up anything in advance. Not even the telepaths in residence initially have anything that gets their attention. But then the communications stations at the Mansion - and those of any other systems present capable of picking up and decrypting the message traffic incoming - will pick up a clean burst transmission signal. Native triangulation systems then sound minor alerts and demand that humans pay attention to their output, as they have located the estimated source of that message … a mere mile outside the property boundaries of the mansion.
"Attention please, Xavier's School for Gifted Students. This is Whiskey-Tango-Baker-Zero-One Actual on stealth approach, requesting clearance to close on school grounds for Victor-Tango-Oscar-Lima landing. Repeat, this is Talon Backer-Zero-One Actual on stealth approach, requesting clearance to approach and land victor-tango-oscar-lima. I am at one mile limit, awaiting your instructions."
The sensor systems still don't pick up anything definite, but with the reason to focus such things as fine-detail magnetics and mutant powers in that direction, a shape can be picked out. It is small, compared to a commercial aircraft, but large for a single-person fighter. It is hovering in place, as the communication intimated, at precisely one mile's distance from the boundary markers for the mansion property. And there still is no radar signature, and almost no auditory or visual cue to its presence.
Stealth approach is right.
Once clearance is finally given, the craft moves forward gently but agilely, crossing that one mile in seconds and then lowering itself nimbly down over the basketball courts, even as they yawn open to admit the craft. A craft that de-cloaks just as it is finally crossing the vertical boundary between 'airspace' and 'underground space'.
The craft is a sleek ebon shape with silver details, an A-frame not entirely divorced from something like an FA-22 Raptor, but most definitely not the same. There are no exposed weapons ports or hatches on the aircraft; it even has to cycle open the hatches to deploy landing struts, and does so smoothly. It alights so gently there is barely any sound, though the sound baffles that were keeping it so stealthy can do nothing at this range to hide the thunderous rush of air around the thing as vectored thrust keeps it afloat until it is no longer.
Then the air rush ends, as the basketball court closes overhead. A brllliant blue-tinted silvery light shines from a hatch on its aft quarter as another hatch cycles open and a gangplank extends itself down to the deck. And then emergies a lone figure, six foot tall, wrapped in ebony with the tiniest of silvery highlights, a female figure with obvious feline motifs. A spear is carried in the left hand, point down, tinking softly on the ground as she walks down that plank, lensed eyes looking around interestedly.
A Black Panther has landed.
Peter's ship is parked out of the way of incoming landings. Upon hearing the commotion of the hangar opening, Peter ducks his head from his seat at the pilot's console to try to view the incoming aircraft. Then as it lands, he dashes aft of the bridge to come through the airlock and out his own ramp, slowing suddenly like Principal Rooney trying to look like he's not running past the classrooms. He seems to be playing music on his ship's internal PA system, as the sounds of some sort of classic rock are faintly heard before the hatch closes.
Peter pauses at the foot of his ramp to observe the arrival.
The masked Panther visage turns to regard the man coming down from the other vessel, but nothing is initially said. She walks down the plank to the floor, and then reaches across with her right hand to tap something on the bracer on her left arm - the one holding that spear in as non-threatening a manner as she can manage - and then the plank folds back up and retracts, the aircraft sealing up behind her without even a glance.
"Hello?" comes an altered, digitized but feminine voice, with a curious accent to it. An accent that would be familiar to those who picked up that transmission from earlier. It is not the same accent as Ororo Munroe. But to be fair, it is not entirely dissimilar, and that might well be the closest comparison most can make. The figure regards Peter patiently, apparently unsure if she should be waiting for someone else to be arriving to say hello, or if he is in fact the official welcome mat.
Star-Lord comes a little closer, then suddenly glances down. Good, holsters empty for the moment. As if figuring out the unasked question, he says, "Yeah, hello… I'm not exactly the official welcome, they're probably still getting prettied up. I just had to come out and admire your craft." He stares up at it, then back down. "Peter Quill," he introduces himself. "Sorry if I'm butting into anything formal."
"Greetings to you, Peter Quill." that crisp, accented altered feminine voice responds, with a slight inclination of the head to acknowledge him. "I thank you for your welcome, unofficial as it may be. I am Princess Shuri of Wakanda." She gestures with her open hand. "And this is Talon. Or rather, this is my Talon." She looks at the craft from which Peter has emerged, taking it in. "That … does not look like it would fly without antigravity propulsion. Is that what it uses?"
Star-Lord glances back to his ship for a moment, and responds, "Good eye, yes, she does rely on antigravs most of the time. But she has retractible wings for atmospheric maneuvers if hanging around sub-orbital." there is a subtle bragging tone, he does love his ship. "But that… that's a work of art," he expresses, now turned to the Talon craft. "What's brought you here, official business that probably nobody will tell me about? Or maybe you have a friend or two here, as I do?"
Shuri's lensed gaze focuses on the spaceship for a bit, probably trying to imagine where the retractable wings come out and how big they may be, in what shape. "So yours is a transorbital ship? Impressive. The Talon cannot do much better than stratospheric skipping. But thank you." It is beautiful, and she knows it and is proud of it. Not because she has one, but because it is the work of Wakandan technology and Wakandan engineers, and she would put them up against anyone, anywhere. "I came," she offers, "to discuss matters with the school regarding a new mutant student to our school in Wakanda. Advice and suggestions, if you will. But also, we do have friends here. Miss Ororo Munroe was our Queen, until recently. And we have always supported the cause of this school, if not always as publicly as we do now."
Star-Lord nods when Storm is mentioned, and when he responds, he smiles. "I haven't had occasion to meet Miss Munroe yet, but I've heard of her of course, one of the living legends. I don't suppose… the person I know best here is Kitty Pryde—if you've encountered some of the X-Men before, maybe you've met?"
"I have met a few of the X-Men in passing, mostly through Ororo. But there have been others." Some came to Wakanda, after all, and Shuri did meet them and made a point of knowing who they were. "If Ms. Pryde is available, I would be happy to see her again. She was, after all, in charge of this school until somewhat recently." Shuri knows this, and it makes sense they would have interfaced during that time … when Shuri was alive. Long story.