knightsoflegend | briefing ♔ i will never know myself until i do this on my own

This is War- 30 Seconds to Mars

WHO || Wynn, Jack, Hasmed, Lis'sa, Dovan, Solace, Koraith, Christos, Tia, Nessa, Grant, Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Gar, Archer, Des, Fred Jr., Dumage, Mark, Alainn, Zero, Colin, Lan, Eric, Val'drin, Risa, Anastacia, Faith O., Max R., Belle, Kadir, Edain, Sydney, Zatanna, Aurelius, Jaina, Erky, Davin, Riddick, Jordan, Henry, Leia, Willow, Kate, Allison, Francesca, Bo, Han, Aedan, Rocket, Drax, Nathan, Maxwell, Sam, Faith L., Cora, Dimitri, Alanna, Jaime, Klaus, Gus, Andrew, Stiles, Lydia, Gold, Jackson, Adam, Miles, Penelope, David, Derek, Andie, Kali, Cara, Nels, Taradiddle, Abigail, Astrid, Bambi, Frankie, Rose, Helen, Alaric, Alice, Lissa, Alex, Emma F., Cordelia, Zoe, Sebastian, Malina, Alcide, Phineas, Fiona, Arthur, Faye, Mars, Kate, Lila, Jameson, Felicity, Thoster, Adi, Brantley, Hook, Emma, Eleven, Alisha, Will, Dean, Grimrot [Closed]
WHAT || Andres War Briefing
WHERE || Knights HQ, Round Table Room
WHEN || September 19th [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, please call dibs in the dibs plurk!

On the eve of battle, an impressive array of Knights gathers in the Round Table room of the castle. The usually cavernous room seems tightly packed with this many bodies, and places at the Table are reserved for Wynn, the Section Heads, all those who have had any hand in the Talisman mission, including New York, and Christos, but who's going to argue with him, really. The air buzzes with a mixture of impending dread and on some fronts, excitement. It's hard to deny that there are those in the room who have wanted to make a move on Andres for years.

Wynn waits for the appointed hour, before nodding for the doors to be sealed and calling the meeting to order.

"Before we begin, I'd like to thank each and every one of you, many who have traveled an extensive distance at a moment's notice to join us here today. I understand that many of you have little idea what you have agreed to, but I hope that before the end of this meeting, you will come to understand what we are doing, and why it must be done.

Andres' Isle has been held under the sway of the man who calls himself their "Prime Minister" for nearly a decade. In these ten years, he has turned what was once an idyllic country steeped in tradition into a tightly controlled fascist nation disguised as representative of its people.

Andres is far from the only country to fall to such a fate over the course of history, and it has never been the prerogative of this Knighthood to enforce our own personal vision of some sort of world order onto any nation. We are protectors of justice, and our enemy has always been both that which comes from the darkest depths of Shadow, and intolerance and prejudice that stems from this world.

But Dimitris Sarandis has proven to be an exception, an embodiment of all the ideals we stand against, who has aspired to systematize the kind of violence and hatred that threatens the welfare of countless innocents under his rule. He has used his position to exploit Shadowkind on the island to the point of conducting torturous experiments on them, designed to help him accomplish his goal of forcibly enslaving non-humans, so that they may serve what he sees as the superior race of homo sapiens.

As if this were not enough, Dimitris knows of our existence, and wishes to tear down our organization, understanding that we pose a threat to all he seeks to accomplish. To this end, he has conspired against us, kidnapped members of our organization and subjected them to brutal and vile torture, and attempted to blackmail us through detaining Sir Thomas Bancroft and now Sir Samcelot, into complying with his whims - to leave his regime alone entirely, to turn over our most ancient, powerful artifact, and for me to submit to death at his hand.

Killing Dimitris alone will not stop the system he has created, and will not help free the people of Andres. Most citizens of the country remain innocent, terrified into compliance, or completely ignorant of what Sarandis does behind closed doors. These people deserve our help, and the only way to do so is to show them the evil that lurks at the heart of their government, gain their support in uprooting that evil, and assist them in stabilizing their country thereafter.

To do this, we will need to go beyond the usual parameters of our missions, with a militant, strategic push into the island designed to seize the castle, and take down Sarandis' rule." He pauses there, letting that sink in. "What I will not stand for is a callous attitude towards the innocents who we seek to protect on the Island, during this insurgency. Their safety will be paramount to our operation, and as such, speed is important to what we will be accomplishing. Dimitris expects retaliation, but he also underestimates our tactics. As such, rather than attacking the castle with an army, you will be deployed about the Island in a number of small teams, each with an objective that will help us cut off Dimitris from contact with his supporters, secure Sir Bancroft and Sir Samcelot's safety, free those who are imprisoned, and confront Sarandis, taking the castle in the process.

Details of these individual operations not withstanding, I imagine there are some questions. I open the floor to you to speak."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hey. [Stiles turns at David's tug, moving over with a nod.] I'm... I don't really know, honestly.

[He nods a bit, because that's at least an honest answer. Lying and saying that you're okay never really helps anyone.]

You still sure about this?

I want to help. [He's definitely clear on that part.] I'm just not 100% on how I plan to survive a war.

Sort of an important part of the whole gameplan, though.

[Yeah, David knows this feeling - how it feels to be just a kid and thrown in over your head with no idea how you're going to get past it. He knows the heart thumping terror of thinking you're going to die, far from the people you love and where no one may even know.

Stiles' situation isn't exactly the same as David's was, but it's close enough.]

You keep your head down. You stick to the cover. And if you need to, you run. A lot of people may say it's cowardly, but it's not. Living to fight another day with a better plan can be just as important.

[Stiles nods, knowing that the advice is solid.]

I don't even know how much of an actual fight I'll be seeing. It sounds like we'll just be warning people of what's coming?

[There were... a lot of missions. He might be mixing shit up. He's not sure.]

[He nods a bit.]

My team's supposed to provide cover for yours while you get people out of there. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared. You're going to be traveling into a war zone - or what's about to be one. Anything can happen.

Just because you're there for diplomacy doesn't mean you won't have to fight.

I've been training a lot. I'm getting...better. [Which is very relative.]

You'll have my back out there, though- right?

[There's an easy nod of agreement.]

Absolutely.

[It's not a hard thing to promise, when it's the only thing he knows how to do, but that doesn't make it any less true.]

Do me a favor? [He turns and tries to discretely point out Lydia in the crowd.] If you have to choose to save my ass or save hers? She's it, alright?

[Yeah, that's not so easy to promise, as much as he may want to. Things aren't always that simple. But he understands the feeling, and he's the hero. He wants to promise he'll be able to save everyone, even if he can't.

Having someone's back is different than actually saving them. But he'll try.]

Got it.

[Though the tone is "shut up, I'll save you both."]

Thanks. [He catches the tone but just gives a slight smile, rather than argue about it.]

...I'm glad they stuck you with me, though. Makes it a little easier to stomach this whole thing.

[He reaches over, placing his hand on his shoulder gently.]

You'll be okay. I wasn't much older than you when I got thrust into something like this. Just stick with your strengths and you'll be fine.

[Not that David is unscathed by any of it, but he survived, and so will Stiles. All he has to do is use his brain and trust his instincts.]

Strengths. Right. I totally have those. [He does and he knows he does. He's just having a hard time remembering them right now.]

[He huffs a bit, amused, before placing his hand on his shoulder gently.]

You're being sent there to talk, Stiles. In my experience, you're pretty good at talking.

Just a matter of doing it fast enough that they don't realize what you didn't say.

[He jokes.]

But hey- maybe you're right. I've made it through my life this long with sarcasm as my only defense.

At least it's a weapon you know how to use well.

[Which can make the difference between alive and dead. Or at least it's what his Everworld experience dictates. It's why he learned to use so many while he was there, and why he learned to use a gun.]

If... [He stops and corrects himself.] When we make it out of this and get back, I want you to show me how to fight. You know... hand to hand stuff.

[David is very glad he corrected himself, because if not David would have done it for him. None of that. But he nods in agreement without a second thought.]

Sure. I'll teach you everything I know.

[Which is a lot, because, well, Viking.]

Sounds good. I'll see you around. [He definitely will. On the mission. And there will be an elf woman with the hots for David and another elf woman getting banged. It'll be great.]

[Yep. Awesome all around.

David will just give Stiles one last squeeze on the shoulder before turning and heading off to find Lissa.]

briefing ♔ i will never know myself until i do this on my own

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