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

[slay]

[ Buffy looks pretty embarrassingly slack-jawed on that note. In her eyes, anyone who’s been around on the talisman mission can see a film reel of all of her embarrassing moments with Mark rolling past. Remember that time she tried to kick the Prince of Andres off the mission for being emotionally compromised? She remembers that time. ]

You … But …

[ Does not compute. ]

Bwuh?

[ Okay, fine, real questions. Catch-up. She squeezes her eyes shut, shakes her head, and fixes a more serious, concentrated look on him. ]

So, your parents ...

[graveflowers]

[ well that explains the weeping over the lion king. :(

but while vi looks slowly proud of him for speaking up, she is chiefly surprised. mucho surprise. her will save is all that keeps her from throwing her bag of caramel creams at him. that and, you know, she doesn't want to waste her candy.

but aww, simba. ]

You have your own island?? No, wait, not important. Who... how? There was a whole death thing, right? Didn't you die? No, ignore that, too. What Buffy said, seconding Buffy.

[nosdacariad]

[ ♬ somewhere i belong - linkin park

mark catches myri's eye and gives her a grateful half-smile back, but is distracted by alainn's hand brushing his and stares down at her for a second, obviously finding it strange to hear his real name spoken.

he turns back to address the others. ] When I was sixteen, I was woken up my the armed guard of the castle I'd spent my entire life in, dragged out of bed, and informed that my mother was dead - and that I was the chief suspect behind it.

You can't... know what that's like, seeing everyone who I'd known and trusted staring at me like I was a stranger, a strange capable of hurting my own mother, as they dragged me to a cell. I was still a kid, in a lot of ways, and it barely felt real.

There were clues I didn't pick up until it was too late, things that wouldn't make sense until after the fact. Dimitris had served as the royal adviser to my father for as long as I remembered, but I'd never really picked up on the fact that he was obsessed with my mother, thought he was in love with her.

His ambition grew with his proximity to the throne, I think. From what I can gather, he tried to get my mother to turn on my father, to marry him, and when she wouldn't--

He made it very convincing. There was a forged note among my mother's things, discussing her fears about my own ambition, thinking that I would do anything to get the throne before my time.

My father didn't believe it for a moment. And when Dimitris pretended to support him, he had no reason to doubt his loyalty. Dimitris advised my father to sneak me out of the tower before I could be sentenced, to smuggle me out of the castle via the underground tunnels, and send me out of the country.

But when we made it to the tunnels, Dimitris was already there, with an armed contingent of guards. He showed his true colors, telling the guards that he'd suspected my father was a traitor, and ordering them to seize us both.

[ he struggles for a moment to say it, but finally manages: ] My... my father drew his sword to hold them off. Told me to run. To run and get on the boat, and not look back.

He gave his life so that I could escape. Dimitris took my father prisoner, beheaded him in public, and told the country I'd been killed in the fight.

The family that took me in, the one my father had waiting on the other side, introduced me to Colin Banks. [ he looks across the table at the man, who is also looking at him with pride ] Colin brought me to Wynn, and when I explained my... circumstances, he agreed to hide me in the ranks of the Knighthood until a time came when I was strong enough to return to Andres, and reclaim what was stolen from my family. To rescue those I had to leave behind.

[attollores]

[alainn listens in growing horror at his tale, her stomach knotting at his words. her hand tightens on his, fingers tangling tightly as if she could transfer some of her strength to him though the touch of her hand.

she can't believe that mark is...this prince that he says he is, this marcus. but the name fit him in a way that felt right, and so many little ticks and quirks of his character that she had picked up on over the years seemed to fall into place.]

[witchwoman]

[Hearing Spike's comment (listen 28), Myri tears her gaze from Mark and his story so that she can give him a stern look (intimidate 18.) It only lasts a second before she goes back to listening.]

And you are now. [It's not a question, just reaffirming what she hopes he already knows.] And we'll be stronger for it, too. The people of Andres... the ones who need us are hungry for hope, to believe that a life can be lived without fear. You can give them that hope. You can inspire them.

[She's just so damn proud.]

[socialgraces]

[ francesca is just as surprised as the others, but she respects mark (and wynn) enough to not speak up. besides, she and mark were never that close.

she does, however, do the slow head tilt in christos's direction, all 'did you know about this??' given that cryptic statement he made last night about wynn's yet-to-be revealed plans. ]

[pathology]

[meanwhile, astrid is eyeing mark like if she married him ... she could be a princess. ~*A REAL PRINCESS*~

then she remembers marriage is gross and she's like nm.]

[lionbrave]

[A prince? Jaime's attention is piqued. There isn't much royalty to be found in this world. Less still that anyone cares about. He wonders if he should bow or kneel or swear fealty, but no one else is doing it. So he stays where he is. But privately, he vows to defend the prince with his life.

It just feels like the sort of thing he's supposed to do.]

[immuno]

Not that this story isn’t touching, tragic, et cetera where appropriate, but just to confirm: this means we have a government to reinstate when we depose their current dictator.

[ She looks to Mark, then back to Wynn, eyebrows raised. Mark, of course, needs to agree to it and be ready to actually lead instead of running away from his country, but Wynn is the one with all the intelligence on the country here, so she opts to ask him. ]

How do we know these people will even follow him? A disgraced prince who was supposedly killed in battle?

[beatupgrass]

You never met Lara and her band of revolutionaries.

[Because it's Lara's band, even though Michael's the Enjorlas. Spoilers... Rocket probably doesn't even know Michael and Dana's names. So it's less about him being a stan for Lara and more that he actually remembers who she is.]

They got a lot of clout and the chutzpah to make that whole island follow them if they had somethin' for the rest to look to. That's all they needed to get anywhere. A lot of people over there believe in this guy even now, whether he was comin' back or not.

[Aren't you glad you left him to bond with the Andresians??]

[nosdacariad]

It's hard to believe they held on to believing I was even alive this long, let alone-- [ he shakes his head ] But if they do, and if he's right, then I think I can win them back over.

[arrested]

[ Alisha is so out of her depth here it's not even funny. So she's just going to stand back a bit and look around and wonder how the hell she got involved in this. ]

[theshameofcain]

[From the back, Bambi has to stand on her tiptoes to yell.]

Is anyone else getting Anastasia vibes from this? Because if Dimitris is anything like Rasputin in any incarnation, we're gonna need, like, rocket launchers and the Blood of Christ to keep that bitch down.

[pathology]

[it is all her amazing will save mod can do to keep her from yelling GOD KAREN BAMBI YOU'RE SO STUPID from across the room. she just rolls her eyes instead.]

[alsohawkeye]

[ Kate has been listening from toward the back of the room, and when she speaks up it's more directed at those nearby than at Wynn or Mark directly, though it's loud enough that she clearly doesn't mind if they hear. She wouldn't be surprised if they did even if she were inclined to whisper; she's learned her lesson about supernatural senses. ]

So, we're seriously planning to re-install a king? I mean I get that Sarandis is bad news and I know we've got this Arthurian obsession or whatever but please tell me this grand plan to free the people of Andres is at least a constitutional monarchy?

[65]

[wow finnick actually ... got that reference. idek how. maybe vi made him watch some don bluth movies, too. but yeah he's replying to bambi.] Dimitris has cyborg supersoldiers to protect him, I'm sure you'd have to go through those to leave a mark.

[autorevive]

[meanwhile, nathan just noticed kate, so he elbows logan and kindergarten "whispers"] I wanna see her tits.

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi looks so affronted by the cyborgs, but since she's also in the back and probably near Kate, she leans over and says:]

Shhh! The British don't like it when you try to tell them about democracy.

[bittersweeter]

You know that Britain is a parliamentary democracy, right, Bambi...? [ jsyk. ]

[theshameofcain]

Yes.

[omfg she's not a dipshit, lila.] I'm just saying- it's not really our place to be all "wow monarchies are old hat. Try Parliments. Or voting Democrat."

[alsohawkeye]

[ Kate leans to see where Nathan's comment came from, and gives his general section of the room the finger and rolls her eyes. To Bambi: ] If we're going to go pulling down their current government and deciding what they get next then yeah, I think it kind of is on us to maybe not trade one sort of dictator for another.

[reallywicked]

[Okay so a series of reactions by a bitch on work with only 15 mins to spare...

Regardless of the outcome of statue Emma, Faye reaction remains so fuck it. WE HAD A PRINCE THE WHOLE TIME??? Remember when she and Lila talked about finding her a prince to date? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Except she's growing as a person so she's just glad that they have some sort of secret weapon. But still. Mark isn't so bad to look at. Hmmm.

Helen's completely floored over here because he sure was around when Mark first showed up so she's just all misty eyed over his poor life story and being a den mother like she do.

Thosters already writing a song in his head to rally the troops behind Marks banner. You're welcome.

Andrew grumbles about how it fucking figures. Because of course a guy in the Hide is really a secret prince. Of course.

Stiles doesn't know enough to care but he's sort of wondering how well they can pull all of this off. Even with secret weapon prince.

Myri actually doesn't speak up. Because she doesn't want to fight the battles for Mark- and more than that, she hopes that others will realize for themselves and speak up on their own.]

[immuno]

Sure. And once we're done in Andres, we can swoop into the other two hundred plus countries with governmental systems that we as a private institution disapprove of, and impress our systems of belief on them, too.

[ A beat, entirely for effect as she comes to a faux-realization. ]

No. Wait. That's insane.

[ Dropping her saccharine sarcasm, Lydia shoots a steady look in Kate's direction. ]

That's not our job. The Andres Isle has always operated as a monarchy: we're deposing Sarandis to put a stop to basic rights violations against the people of the country, not because we don't like how they run things. If the revolutionaries of Andres want a change, that's one thing, but we don't get to decide that for them. [ A slight, finishing scoff. ] We're not the U.S. Government.

[nothingsodivine]

[oh my god, guys, when des thinks you're being tactless, YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE.]

Can someone switch channels on the FOX News broadcast coming from the peanut gallery. It's like our Once and Future King ain't sitting right there.

[druidisms]

[ calmly passing helen a tissue (and keeping his arm around malina to make sure she doesn't jump the gun on "so... when do we get to melt his face off???"), gus wasn't going to say anything... but he does anyway. mark is going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life, better to start with people he knows care about him. ]

They do have a right to voice their concerns, same as Mark deserves to hear them. And they both make good points. [ not... you know, bambi and lila and nathan, but kate and lydia. and gus was here when tiny little mark showed up, so while he is 100% behind the kid, not everyone has been here for the past decade to get to know him. ]

Part of the mission is to take down Sarandis because we don't like how he runs things because they're not exclusive to what he is doing to Shadowkind -- he is Prime Minister in name only, despotic dictator is putting it mildly. That's why we didn't do it ten years ago, or five years ago, or two days ago when they were there last. We can't depose of their government only to let the same government take over under a different name with one of the men in his pockets.

Mark, however, is highly doubtful to be a dictator in his own right and he is the rightful heir to the Andresian throne. Right now, he is what the island needs. If that changes, then their government can change as well, but that is up to them once they're free to make those decisions. Besides, he's spent the last decade in England, if anyone knows how to run a decent monarchy it's them.