chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

[refurbished]

I just feel like it's an impressive level of dedication to the job. [ this is his way of saying he recognizes that wynn's knights are kinda cray cray skye but that he doesn't think this is a fight worth having with her right now. bigger fish to fry. and here comes one down the hall...

annnd it's dovan ]

[hacker]

Finally.

[ relieved sigh that's way too soon. ]

Dovan. Hey. Can we talk?

[ironsides]

Of course, lass. Why don't we take this to my office?

[hacker]

Seems like a good idea.

[ pointed stare at regina !!! she follows dovan around towards his office and waves coulson along with her. ]

[refurbished]

Nice place you have here. [ coulson is just gonna try to make pleasant small talk. clearly this is the time for that, as dovan heads them up the stairs ]

[hacker]

Recently remodeled.

[ smalltalk, at least, helps her ease her anxiety. ]

[ironsides]

Still strange t'think about. [ it's funny watching a dwarf climb stairs. i'm not even gonna describe it, just let ur imagination do the work ]

[hacker]

Which part? The bad guys getting through, the castle falling, or the fact that it was up again like that?

[ she snaps her fingers. ]

Or ... you know, all of it.

[ironsides]

All of the above. [ and he pushes in his door, heading into his office and clanking around to the other side of his desk. coulson quietly closes the door behind them. ] Now. What's all this?

[hacker]

The short version?

[ she settles into a chair. no point in being ready for a fight when they're this deep inside. ]

We want to help. Agent Coulson is the Director of SHIELD — the real SHIELD. He's been my contact since I arrived here. I think if we pool the Knights' resources with SHIELD's, we can get humanitarian aid on the ground for the people in LA and maybe even find out something about what the hell is going on over there.

1/2

[refurbished]

[ dovan's eyebrows lift ever closer to the ceiling as she speaks, before he looks over at coulson in anticipation.

coulson stares back, unphased, before giving a tiny shrug ] What she said.

[ironsides]

What d'ye mean by "your contact" exactly?

[hacker]

I mean that I've been reporting to him to evaluate the Knights as potential allies to SHIELD.

1/2

[refurbished]

[ dovan turns to stare at coulson like what the fuck, and coulson just says: ] Hi.

[ironsides]

I think ye'd better explain this a little more in depth. Start at the beginnin'.

[hacker]

The alien craft that the Knights attempted to recover in Guadalajara was already under surveillance by a local SHIELD facility. We left it accessible to the public longer than normal in hopes that it would draw a team of Knights out. When it did, I was tasked with ingratiating myself to them and infiltrating the operation to assess whether Wynnefalshond's mission and vision for his Knighthood aligned with SHIELD's ideals.

Carol, Malina, Alex, Kali ... they didn't save me from the Mexican government. They were targets of a SHIELD operation to plant me within your organization so that we could make our evaluation as to whether or not you could be trusted as contacts and allies to our operations to manage relations and interactions with the Shadow worlds.

[ diplomacy 31 ]

You have to understand our intentions were never to harm or disrupt your organization. Only to gather information, with hopes that we could work together in the future. I think that future has come. At my recommendation, Director Coulson has come here to open communications on what that might look like.

1/2

[refurbished]

We're not here as your enemies. We've evaluated your organization thanks to Agent Skye's reports, and believe that you could be powerful allies.





I'd like to say that we're not here as spies either, but we're... literally spies.

I know this doesn't do a lot to establish initial trust between us, but given that you all operate under a veneer of secrecy yourselves, we hoped you would understand.

[ironsides]

You're trying to tell me that entire mission was a sham? [ wtffffff ]

I... can't make this decision alone, but I think I see where you were coming from. As you said, we keep secrets of our own. But this is a poor time to be bringing up the idea of outside agents in our walls, all things considered. I'm not sure how well received it will be, and it might make people all th' more paranoid, when they already are.

What can SHIELD offer us?

[hacker]

I know this isn't ideal. But our mission needs to be more important than how this happened.

We can provide agents on the ground in L.A., any surveillance resources we have. SHIELD's research and intel on the shadow worlds and their inhabitants. And bases to harbor your people.

[ironsides]

Well, it sounds good on the surface, at least. I'm going to take this to the other section heads, but they won't be happy with the both of you sitting around in Headquarters while we discuss it.

Can you wait in London?

[hacker]

There are some people I'd like to talk to first. Can you give me a few hours?

1/2

[refurbished]

I'll gladly clear out. If Skye were looking to cause trouble, she could have done it before telling you all this.

I hope you'll give her that chance.

[ironsides]

It's going to keep making us look like the last ones to know anything goin' on under our noses if too many people find out before we break the news.

Can you promise me you're not about to send this spreading out like wildfire?

[hacker]

Yeah. I'll keep it close to the vest. I have been this long.

[ironsides]

Then don't make regret this.