Phase 13 Part 2
Disclaimer: I do not own any movies set up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars movies, cartoons, games, books, or comics. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with a commercial aim. It is not for sale or rent.
SWORD HQ
New York
"Reinforcements are on the way to secure the site and artifacts. Mr. Stark and our visitor are on the way to a military hospital under heavy guard. We chose the place in question due to its proximity to elements of 1st Armored Division that can deploy in defensive posture before the casualties are airlifted there," Danvers reported in front of the whole Oversight Council and the President, who was very interested in the fact that Aliens apparently brought a civil war or a coup attempt to US soil.
"Can we keep things quiet?" Councilor von Holstein inquired.
"So far, we have no major leaks. Persuading the population of the town in question to lie through their teeth and blame everything on a weird weather phenomenon will be going to be expensive and might require twisting hands," Danvers did her best not to grimace at thinking about SHIELD. "As per our operational agreement, such cover-up operations are SHIELD's responsibility due to long-term experience. The agents who attempted to create an interstellar incident might do something constructive for a change."
"We will discuss that later in the meeting, Madam Director," Akira noted. "What are your preliminary evaluations and recommendations?"
"We should remain in a heightened state of alert. Until and unless Prince Thor's people re-establish contact, we won't know the outcome of the coup attempt we suspect occurred. We might see additional attacks aimed at his assassination. We can only guess at this time who might ultimately win. If it happens to be the loyalists, allowing Prince Thor to die in our custody will earn us no favors. The reverse is true if the coup is successful. Keeping the Prince alive will lead to further incursions to see him removed as a threat. However, the lack of follow-up strikes aimed at him might indicate an ongoing civil war, in which case either side's continued survival might not be a priority."
"What do you recommend?" Yen asked.
"I am giving you the facts as we understand them, Councilor,' Danvers calmly explained. "No matter what we do, we face potential dangers and boons in the long run. However, we lack the information to make an educated decision. We must decide how to handle Prince Thor, mostly blind."
"That's less than ideal," Hawley pointed out.
"While true, we can't change the fact facing us. Regarding actual recommendations and observations, there are various things of note. First, we might need to invest in hardened transport infrastructure for rapid deployment that doesn't rely on air transport. This means overhauling and expanding the railways in case of Jotun incursions or such by other entities with a similar way to weaponize and control the weather. At the same time, we will require investment in faster, armored transports to facilitate rapid deployment of combat elements into or near contested regions. The strategic mobility the Asgard demonstrated means makes this critical."
"More investment in R&D and infrastructure. I am sure we can agree on this. There will be benefits beyond the direct military ones. Are there any scientists left on the planet who aren't neck-deep in work?" Hawley wondered aloud.
"Councilor Stark will know. We can ask him when he recovers," Danvers suggested. "Another observation is that for the Asgard, small arms might be obsolete and unable to provide sufficient effective firepower to be worth it. Instead, they appear to favor literal enchanted artifacts and weapons. The sheer durability and self-repair capabilities demonstrated by the combat platform deployed to assassinate Prince Thor backs this hypothesis. Bringing anything short of anti-tank firepower might be pointless if we have to engage Asgard forces, rogue or not."
"Well, we lack magical weapons or the way to mass produce them," Yen grimaced. "So everyone expected to face Asgardians should be carrying anti tanks missiles?"
"Heavy weapons that people can carry thanks to exoskeletons might be useful against regular Asgardian infantry. From what we saw, the Asgardians who engaged the Destroyer were nowhere near as durable as that thing. However, we would almost certainly need proper anti-tank firepower for anything that is not infantry. HMGs and auto-cannons might be useless against light vehicles and, as demonstrated, heavy infantry units."
"Exoskeletons might become from nice to have to indispensable when facing aliens," Yen concluded. He would like that China was already making a killing selling the passive ones.
"That is our preliminary conclusion, yes. The primary issue was that the weapons our infantry carried, except Javelins, simply had insufficient firepower. It should be noted that we have indications that Asgard isn't mass-producing this kind of combat robot. However, the existence and demonstrated capabilities of the Destroyer should compel us to assume the worst in that regard," Danvers explained her thinking.
"We will take this under advisement. It's a good thing that we have a friendly, high-placed source of intelligence about Asgard's capabilities," Hawley smiled. "Prince Thor should be eager to tell us what we should prepare against if for no other reason than so, we could better keep him alive. It's not like we will be a strategic threat to Asgard anytime soon."
"Further debriefing of the Prince after the doctors are done with him is on our to-do list," Carol confirmed. "My final recommendation, for now, is that we continue to utilize Councilor Stark as our point man for first contact. His performance was exemplary both from a diplomatic and military perspective, including defusing an ugly clash between agencies."
"Yes, our colleague continues to prove himself supremely capable. That will be a problem for some people when combined with the increased profits, power, and influence of Stark Industries," Yen scrunched his nose as if trying to chase a headache away.
"Because he is too powerful and independent for the taste of many?" Hawley hummed. "It's a good thing that Tony is one of ours then, isn't it?"
Danvers noticed several Councilors nodded without reservation while others looked less than pleased at the declaration. Apparently, even an alien incursion wasn't enough to keep the political games at bay.
"Speaking about meddling groups, SHIELD," The General grit her teeth. "Do we have an explanation of what Fury was thinking, or better yet, those who aimed to cause a diplomatic incident?"
"From what I gather, until it was too late and the four other Asgardians arrived, no one was taking the Prince Thor situation seriously enough. There were people and groups within SHIELD or able to influence it that saw this as a perfect opportunity to compromise SWORD and, depending on how much Councilor Stark overreacted, use the fallout both against us as an organization and Mr. Stark in particular," Danvers didn't like the picture Hawley painted at all.
"What are we going to be doing about it?" The General asked.
"You and SWORD, Director? Nothing. It is our job to deal with such… mistakes," Yin reminded them.
Phase 13: Ripples
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Part 2
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Part 2
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SWORD HQ
New York
"Reinforcements are on the way to secure the site and artifacts. Mr. Stark and our visitor are on the way to a military hospital under heavy guard. We chose the place in question due to its proximity to elements of 1st Armored Division that can deploy in defensive posture before the casualties are airlifted there," Danvers reported in front of the whole Oversight Council and the President, who was very interested in the fact that Aliens apparently brought a civil war or a coup attempt to US soil.
"Can we keep things quiet?" Councilor von Holstein inquired.
"So far, we have no major leaks. Persuading the population of the town in question to lie through their teeth and blame everything on a weird weather phenomenon will be going to be expensive and might require twisting hands," Danvers did her best not to grimace at thinking about SHIELD. "As per our operational agreement, such cover-up operations are SHIELD's responsibility due to long-term experience. The agents who attempted to create an interstellar incident might do something constructive for a change."
"We will discuss that later in the meeting, Madam Director," Akira noted. "What are your preliminary evaluations and recommendations?"
"We should remain in a heightened state of alert. Until and unless Prince Thor's people re-establish contact, we won't know the outcome of the coup attempt we suspect occurred. We might see additional attacks aimed at his assassination. We can only guess at this time who might ultimately win. If it happens to be the loyalists, allowing Prince Thor to die in our custody will earn us no favors. The reverse is true if the coup is successful. Keeping the Prince alive will lead to further incursions to see him removed as a threat. However, the lack of follow-up strikes aimed at him might indicate an ongoing civil war, in which case either side's continued survival might not be a priority."
"What do you recommend?" Yen asked.
"I am giving you the facts as we understand them, Councilor,' Danvers calmly explained. "No matter what we do, we face potential dangers and boons in the long run. However, we lack the information to make an educated decision. We must decide how to handle Prince Thor, mostly blind."
"That's less than ideal," Hawley pointed out.
"While true, we can't change the fact facing us. Regarding actual recommendations and observations, there are various things of note. First, we might need to invest in hardened transport infrastructure for rapid deployment that doesn't rely on air transport. This means overhauling and expanding the railways in case of Jotun incursions or such by other entities with a similar way to weaponize and control the weather. At the same time, we will require investment in faster, armored transports to facilitate rapid deployment of combat elements into or near contested regions. The strategic mobility the Asgard demonstrated means makes this critical."
"More investment in R&D and infrastructure. I am sure we can agree on this. There will be benefits beyond the direct military ones. Are there any scientists left on the planet who aren't neck-deep in work?" Hawley wondered aloud.
"Councilor Stark will know. We can ask him when he recovers," Danvers suggested. "Another observation is that for the Asgard, small arms might be obsolete and unable to provide sufficient effective firepower to be worth it. Instead, they appear to favor literal enchanted artifacts and weapons. The sheer durability and self-repair capabilities demonstrated by the combat platform deployed to assassinate Prince Thor backs this hypothesis. Bringing anything short of anti-tank firepower might be pointless if we have to engage Asgard forces, rogue or not."
"Well, we lack magical weapons or the way to mass produce them," Yen grimaced. "So everyone expected to face Asgardians should be carrying anti tanks missiles?"
"Heavy weapons that people can carry thanks to exoskeletons might be useful against regular Asgardian infantry. From what we saw, the Asgardians who engaged the Destroyer were nowhere near as durable as that thing. However, we would almost certainly need proper anti-tank firepower for anything that is not infantry. HMGs and auto-cannons might be useless against light vehicles and, as demonstrated, heavy infantry units."
"Exoskeletons might become from nice to have to indispensable when facing aliens," Yen concluded. He would like that China was already making a killing selling the passive ones.
"That is our preliminary conclusion, yes. The primary issue was that the weapons our infantry carried, except Javelins, simply had insufficient firepower. It should be noted that we have indications that Asgard isn't mass-producing this kind of combat robot. However, the existence and demonstrated capabilities of the Destroyer should compel us to assume the worst in that regard," Danvers explained her thinking.
"We will take this under advisement. It's a good thing that we have a friendly, high-placed source of intelligence about Asgard's capabilities," Hawley smiled. "Prince Thor should be eager to tell us what we should prepare against if for no other reason than so, we could better keep him alive. It's not like we will be a strategic threat to Asgard anytime soon."
"Further debriefing of the Prince after the doctors are done with him is on our to-do list," Carol confirmed. "My final recommendation, for now, is that we continue to utilize Councilor Stark as our point man for first contact. His performance was exemplary both from a diplomatic and military perspective, including defusing an ugly clash between agencies."
"Yes, our colleague continues to prove himself supremely capable. That will be a problem for some people when combined with the increased profits, power, and influence of Stark Industries," Yen scrunched his nose as if trying to chase a headache away.
"Because he is too powerful and independent for the taste of many?" Hawley hummed. "It's a good thing that Tony is one of ours then, isn't it?"
Danvers noticed several Councilors nodded without reservation while others looked less than pleased at the declaration. Apparently, even an alien incursion wasn't enough to keep the political games at bay.
"Speaking about meddling groups, SHIELD," The General grit her teeth. "Do we have an explanation of what Fury was thinking, or better yet, those who aimed to cause a diplomatic incident?"
"From what I gather, until it was too late and the four other Asgardians arrived, no one was taking the Prince Thor situation seriously enough. There were people and groups within SHIELD or able to influence it that saw this as a perfect opportunity to compromise SWORD and, depending on how much Councilor Stark overreacted, use the fallout both against us as an organization and Mr. Stark in particular," Danvers didn't like the picture Hawley painted at all.
"What are we going to be doing about it?" The General asked.
"You and SWORD, Director? Nothing. It is our job to deal with such… mistakes," Yin reminded them.
