maskormenacelogs | am I sitting in a tin can far above the world?

[ She's nowhere near the launch site or any of the other observing areas. In fact, Peej is at home watching it on the TV and when it appears the shuttle has launched both safely and successfully, she pours herself into her laptop until the government's announcement catches her attention.

Milliseconds later she's zipping out of the house, still fastening her cape on when the shock of blue catches her attention below and she descends. She's never spoken to the new Beetle, but better late than never. ]

Blue Beetle? [ That's what the files back home say. He hasn't changed the mantle. Ted would be glad. ] What's the situation?

[Jaime turns to stare at her, a little surprised to see her; Wally had said that Power Girl had been ported out, same as Robin, but he supposes she got hauled back in here too. He'd been meaning to introduce himself as the Blue Beetle before she had left, but now really isn't the time, not when they've got people to save and a strict time limit to save them in.]

The shuttle's engine's failed, and we've got people up there in it. Some of NASA's crew, and some of us, [he says. There's all this stuff going on about Russians and plots and whatnot, but that's not Jaime's concern right now. Other people can handle the big picture - he's here for people's lives.] I can get up there, but I dunno about getting them back down.

[They'd burn up upon arrival, wouldn't they? He's not up to date with his space science, and a quick google of 'could you carry someone in a spacesuit back to earth without killing them' won't do him much good.]

[ As handy as her power set is, she's with Beetle on being unsure about getting the crew down. She frowns and turns her gaze skyward, using her super vision to get a glimpse of the shuttle. It seems almost suspended in place, but occasionally it moves upward and then seems to drift back down again. ]

Has anyone been able to establish contact?

Not as far as I know. [He follows her gaze skywards, but he sees nothing but the usual beautiful, sunny sky. He had been hanging around with the sneaking suspicion that something was bound to go wrong, but despite that, he hadn't exactly planned for a crisis; he doesn't know who to go to to get a straight answer.]

But they have enough communication up to send down a distress signal. If anyone can talk to the guys stuck up here, I figure it'll be the guys receiving the signal in the first place.

[Quietly, he tells the Scarab,] See if you can track that down.

[ It's bad enough the shuttle's engine has failed, but the worst part is not knowing what else is going on up there. If they can't fix it on their own, they're all going to have to move fast and she's not sure how many of them are capable of getting up there. ]

We've got to open a channel; figure out what exactly is going on with their engine. I don't think they've ever failed that far up.

[ She lifts a brow, confused about what she perceives as an order. ]

What?

Sorry, not you. I've got some tech in here - [he taps his temple, which isn't entirely accurate, but he doesn't feel like going through the whole explanation right now] - that should be able to track down where we can go for some answers.

[He pauses for a moment, gaze a little distant as the Scarab relays some directions to him. He doesn't doubt that other imPorts have found the main communication hub simply by asking around or keeping themselves informed as to the layout of this place, but having the Scarab tell them where to go expedites the process that much more.]

Okay, got it. [He pushes off the ground, wings springing forth from his suit.] Let's go check it out.

[ Beetles and their tech. Glad to see some things never change. Peej nods and moves aside to allow him enough room to join her. ]

What've you got, Blue Beetle?

[ She waits for him to begin leading the way, although she glances back at the sky, biting the bottom half of her lip worriedly. She knows she can bring down the shuttle, but this is going to take some help from both ends if they want to proceed as smoothly as possible. She doubts NASA wants to lose their brand new shuttle so soon. ]

Just the place that's receiving the emergency signal. We can see if they've got a line of communication open, and, well... we can go from there.

[It's preferable if they can actually talk to the folks inside, but if they can't, they'll just have to figure out something else, somehow.] Unless you can think of something else to do first, because I'm totally open to suggestions.

[It doesn't take them long to reach the building that's being used as the HQ for this particular event. They could just use the front door like normal people, but like the true blue superhero he's become, he just ducks through one of the open windows instead.]

[ Who bothers with front doors anyway? Peej follows him closely, tucking her arms against her side to zip straight through the window. Not a moment later she's sailing beside him, eyes focused straight ahead, though she keeps her head tilted slightly toward Beetle's side to indicate she's listening to him all the way. ]

Talking with them as quickly as possible would help us get a better sense of the situation. If they need to land, we need to find out ASAP before gravity hauls that shuttle down.

Yeah. Let's just hope they didn't knock out their communications at the same time as they knocked out their engines.

[Or their life support, god forbid. They must have some emergency functions to rely on, right...?

Everyone in the room parts for them, not so much out of recognition of who they actually are, but out of recognition that they're superheroes, ostensibly here to do what superheroes do: fix the problem.]

So hey, what are your powers anyway? Are you someone who can fly into space too, or...?

[He should probably know this by now, but he frankly has no idea what she can do beyond fly. It's a little embarrassing, not knowing much about someone as well known as Power Girl, but he's never been too interested in superheroes, not before he became one himself.]

Crossing my fingers, Beetle.

[ She can only hope it's simply an issue with the engine failing and not something else aboard the shuttle. Nobody launches a faulty shuttle, so the question she has is what happened when they reached the bridge between Earth and space?

She finally peers at Beetle from the corner of her eyes, nodding once to indicate he got the space part right. She wonders if Booster has said anything and then immediately begins to ponder as to his whereabouts. He would be good to have on hand right about now. ]

Breathe, fly, endure; the whole shebang. But there are several people up there and I can't risk opening up the shuttle even if they have suits.

[ If she had extra arms. ]

Do you know Booster Gold?

Yeah, I know him. It'd be nice if he was around for this, but he got ported out a while ago - before you did, I think. [Booster had that handy dandy portal thing, didn't he? Jaime had been too happy at the time to still be alive to ask Booster what the deal was with that kind of power, and he had completely forgotten about it ever since - not that Booster comes to visit all that often. Despite Booster giving him his name, Jaime figures he sees Guy a heck of a lot more often than the guy in the gold.]

KF told me that you got ported out, [he says by way of explanation.] So it looks like you came back just in time.

[They still need to think up a plan, but the future's looking a lot brighter with another hero by his side - particularly another Justice League hero. He may not know much about Power Girl, but he knows that she's the real deal.]

Damn him.

[ One less pair of hands they could have used. ]

Nearly the whole month. I'm still playing catch up.

[ But that can come later. This shuttle business takes precedence over the Porter until they've smoothed the situation. She looks away from Beetle, slowing herself down as to not get too far ahead of him when he's the one paving the way. ]

Remind me to fill you in once we've rescued the crew.

[That's when, not if, and that's how he prefers to keep it. What's the point of an entire community of superpowered so-called heroes if they can't save people when they're in trouble?

Eventually, Jaime turns the corner into the very back of the building, and at the very end of the hallway there's a door clearly marked as being for authorized personnel only.

Well, they're just going to be good enough.] Here we go, [he says, swinging the door open.]

Beetles first.

[ She motions for him to go through. She doubts they're about to run into any trouble down here, but she's right behind him and faster if she needs to cover him for whatever reason.

While she's good with computer and programming security systems and fail-safes, Peej hasn't an idea how to work a shuttle's programming from inside or on the the ground. She could probably learn if she cared to, but there's no time for that. ]

Is this where the signal's being received?

[It's not a problem for them to simply stroll into the room when all's been said and done, but Jaime himself has even less experience with technology than Peej, let alone technology powerful enough to launch a rocket into space.]

Yeah, you got it, [he says, though the monitor banks are covered solely in an endless array of stats he can't even hope to comprehend. There are plenty of people here who do understand, however, still staring at them inquiringly as if expecting the flashily dressed imPorts to have something to say about the matter.]

Scarab, keep me updated, [he says quietly, just in case the Scarab is getting anything out of this, but in the meantime, he approaches the monitors to see what the workers have got to say about the state of the shuttle beyond what they saw fit to tell the larger population.]

[ Why can't she just solve this problem by punching it? She needs a vacation ― a real one. Not the sort where a sentient machine goes mad with power and kidnaps people possibly for its own agenda.

She lowers herself onto the ground, no longer wanting to flit around in a room packed with sensitive and delicate technology, not when she doesn't have the JSA's funding. She glances from one monitor to another and though she doesn't fully understand, she figures the current readings indicate a major issue.

The workers are surprised when two costumed heroes enter the room without warning. She raises a hand, placating. ]

We're here to help. What can you tell us about the shuttle?

[Jaime lands beside her, and waits as the workers talk, listening attentively. Some of the details here and there are beyond him, but this isn't quite like the movies; these guys know they're not fellow NASA workers, and they know how to phrase things.

The essence of the problem as Jaime understands it goes something like this: the technicians both in the air and down below know how to deal with the problem but whoever sabotaged them had been smart, smart enough to keep the programming constantly rewriting itself to keep the necessary components offline.

It's not good news, but it's what they've got.]

It couldn't just be easy, [Jaime murmurs to himself, shaking his head, but that's not helping matters much.] What I'm getting out of this is that we can't count on their tech to keep them up there, [he says, clearly concerned.]

We need a back-up, or something.

[ Only more bad news. She grimaces, looking from Beetle to the monitors. ]

Maybe we can buy them time? [ They've got to act now. ] The longer we sit here wondering, the more likely that shuttle's about to come down.

[ She folds her arms over her chest, leveling Beetle a firm stare. ]

I can hold the shuttle up while they try to solve the problem from down here and inside, but we need to know if they can fix it from inside or out. [ She looks toward the workers. ] Their communications aren't down, are they? We've got to relay them a message, let them know help's on the way and have them tell us what else they need.

[Jaime follows Peej's gaze over to the workers as they let them know that yes, their communications are indeed down, meaning that everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong.]

I'll be able to get reception from space and talk to everyone down below, [he says, thinking as quickly as he can.] So that's one branch done. If there's anything I can plug into, or any tech I can talk to on the shuttle, chances are I can talk to the people trapped inside the spaceship too. It'll be a heck of a lot slower, but it's better than nothing.

[But if they're going to go, now's the time. Jaime nods once, having determined the best approach that they've got, when a certain arrogant sounding someone comes striding through the doors, offering her specific expertise.]

[ At first she's skeptical and a bit annoyed by the sudden appearance of yet another imPort, but finding out she's got the perfect skill set to help out in the situation has that minor irritation drop fast. Maybe luck is on their side today after all. ]

Never liked having a telepath in my head, but now's not the time for nitpicking.

[ She hoists herself back into the air, heading out the way they came in. ]

Can you keep up?

This is my first telepath, [Jaime mutters back, almost as unnerved by the telepathic connection as he is by going back into space. Can everyone hear everything he's thinking? Even the stuff he doesn't want them to think? Oh god, can they hear the Scarab?

But they do have a mission to do, and whether Jaime likes it or not, the communication is a much needed boon. He follows Power Girl out the window, and in one smooth motion, his wings disappear back into his suit only to be replaced with a large jetpack.]

Yeah, I can keep up, [he says, though it's more of an educated guess than anything else. There's a quiet whirr from his suit as he revs up, ready to blast off at a moment's notice.] Let's do this!

[ Being susceptible to mental invasions and attacks makes Peej less than enthusiastic about having a telepath in her her specifically, though she should probably stop focusing on that in the case Emma takes offense to it. ]

Good; let's go save that shuttle.

[ A Blue Beetle and Power Girl, oh it's been ages.

As soon as they zip through the window they had entered previously, Peej picks up the pace, cutting through the air in true superheroine fashion. ]

am I sitting in a tin can far above the world?

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lmk if that works!

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