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

[wynn]

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."

Comments

lila & alex ♔ open

[bittersweeter]

[ it takes her a while to find alex. not in part because even with heels on she is like a miniature doll and there are an astounding number of giant men in this castle at any given moment so he's easy to lose and hard to spot. but because she's been stubbornly avoiding the inevitable half sad half sarcastic good luck don't die goodbye they're going to have. but she finds him, eventually, and instead of saying anything she just sort of walks into him. it's not a hug, because she's not holding him, arms limp by her sides for now, she's just pressed her forehead to his chest and isn't moving. ] Hug me.

[ambitionist]

[here i found a gif of them for u. i was going to text it then i said fuck it and put it in the tag.

anyway, alex was ... on his way out to have a smoke when he runs into lila headbutting him. but he obliges her, putting his arms around her in a hug.]

Hey, hey. It's gonna be fine.

[bittersweeter]

[ once his arms go around her she hugs back, thin arms winding around his waist with that surprising strength that only shows up when she's climbing out windows or choking someone. now put to use with hugs. ]

Evil island known for torture prisons. [ yay... cages... and probably electroshock therapy... she reflexively twitches, rolling her shoulders like a bug landed on the back of her neck, goosebumps sprouting across her skin as she flashes back to anton's smirking face as he deposited her back in her squalid cage while cassel looked on blankly, not realizing the cat was his best friend. she attempts to push the feeling down, but it makes her a little nauseated. ] Not the vacation I thought we'd go on.

[ambitionist]

You're not even going near the torture prison. The torture prison that's ... going to be torched by a talking raccoon, apparently. [he quirks an eyebrow like do you even believe the shit we just witnessed.] Don't worry, we'll get our vacation sooner or later. Maybe after all this bullshit.

[bittersweeter]

Shit stopped being newsworthy when a choker named Tony took my order for cinnamon sticks. [ never 4get. she was a cat. animals that are people happen. ] I vote Fiji, for the record. Or Hawaii, I'm not picky.

[ambitionist]

[he wrinkles his nose like the prissy lil bitch he is.] Aw, come on, you know I hate the beach. Can't we go to Aspen or something?

[bittersweeter]

No. Aspen is for February and March. [ god alex, don't know how rich people operate??? ] It'd the a waste in fall.

[ambitionist]

[NO. NO, HE DOES NOT.] Blue Ridge Parkway?

[bittersweeter]

....you want to go on vacation to a highway? [ wat. ]

[ambitionist]

It's not just a highway, Liliya. You look at the trees and go hiking on the mountains and shit. And then you stop somewhere like Asheville. I was just trying to think of somewhere fall-appropriate for you.

[bittersweeter]

[ the more he talks the more she makes a face. she doesn't hike. trudging through an underground cavern in scotland was more than enough hiking for her lifetime. ] What the fuck is Asheville?

[ambitionist]

A place in the south where rich people go to look at trees and mountains and smoke pot.

[bittersweeter]

Oh. [ a beat. ] The South. [ that capital is practically verbal. ] How about Madrid or Pamplona. We can see a bull fight.

[ambitionist]

I'm half from the south, you know. Sort of. Do you even speak Spanish?

[bittersweeter]

Si. Por favor hable más despacio. [ she... does not, actually. she knows a total of three phrases and the study song from community. but languages come naturally to her so it sounds good at least. (int 20 total) ] You said you were from Brooklyn.

[ambitionist]

[he rolls his eyes at her ~spanish~. it almost feels like he's bickering with beks, which ... makes him feel more annoyed than fond tbh.] I am. My mom's family is from D.C.

[bittersweeter]

[ her nose wrinkles slightly. ] Heathen.

[ambitionist]

How am I a heathen?

[bittersweeter]

[ she shrugs, moving forward to finish his walk outside to have a cigarette of her own. ] That doesn't really count as you being from the south, you know. You were born in New York, weren't you?

[ambitionist]

[fuck yes going outside to smoke.] Yeah.

[bittersweeter]

So you're a New Yorker. [ she pulls out her cigarettes, but as she is so used to faye lighting her up... ] Shit. Can I use your lighter?

[ambitionist]

Uh, sure, whatever. [he pulls out a cigarette and lights it, then hands his lighter over to her when he's done.] Smoke 'em while you've got 'em feels pretty damn literal right now.

[bittersweeter]

Is that why you took it up again? [ because... far as she was aware he'd only smoked when he was her age. like a chimney if she remembers correctly. ]

[ambitionist]

Ha, no. I took it up again ... around the time I got the hit on me, I guess. [he shrugs and takes a drag.] It helps me unwind when I'm stressed. I probably go through a few a week. Cigarettes, not packs.

[bittersweeter]

Must be why I only caught you that one time. [ she briefly makes a face, remembering when he guessed her full name. jerk. ] You're going to be fine. Convincing rich people to follow you shouldn't be too hard, just smile and don't say words and you'll be aces. [ she is very scared for them so her optimism doesn't exactly ring true. ]