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

[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.

[alsohawkeye]

[ Kate just stares back at Lydia, like are you even hearing yourself right now. ] You are literally making my point for me. [ She's definitely about to keep going, but Gus jumps in - probably for the best - and Kate listens. ]

Look, I'm sure Mark here is a good guy. If he's the figurehead that'll rally people to throw out Sarandis and his crew and start over, fine. I'm just saying that putting leaders in is very different from taking leaders out - even if they're benevolent dictators instead of evil ones - and we should be doing our best to make sure the citizens really are free to make those decisions themselves once we're done.

[socialgraces]

[ francesca can't take anymore of this right now. tensions were high already. and squires are the worst x( ] I don't believe anyone's arguing with you, dear, nor has anyone said we wouldn't do just that.

We just can't make the same mistakes we did with Slovechnia, so we need to accept what this is going in, and have a contingency plan for when this government topples. [ and then she turns her exasperated expression on christos, because she knows he's sharing her frustration (or he's just actively ignoring all this and that's not fair because she's not as good at ignoring people as he is). she may be telepathically willing him to make them stop with her eyes. ]

[bigbad]

Besides, say what you like about Prince Marcus here, he's not the sort to torture innocent shadowkind. Speaking as one of the tortured, that makes him a better choice in my book. The country can work out the details past that later. You know, once we've rescued out people.

[Let's not forget this isn't all about the political upheaval. Kat and Thomas are more important to Spike by a long shot.

Also yes, Mark, that was almost an actual compliment. From Spike. I know, I don't believe it either.]

[nosdacariad]

[ mark watches the meeting spiral into an argument over his potential reign with a slightly sinking expression, opening his mouth for a moment here or there only to be steamrolled by loud and angry squires, and wynn doesn't say a goddamn thing the entire time, even when mark glances over that way like DAD HELP - he just watches mark with a patient, encouraging expression the entire time.

it's when one of mark's usual teammates, probably the last one on that team who'd he'd ever expect to say something in support of him, speaks up, that mark seems to find his voice. and when he does, there's something in it that encourages people to listen, an air of authority there that he wears a lot better than most people who know him might expect (diplomacy 29): ]

I think Spike hit the heart of it. The country will work out the details. I'm not looking to swoop in and become another Dimitris, and I'm not even looking to set things back to exactly how they were before.

Whatever else Dimitris has done to Andres, I refuse to believe that the heart of the people there has become corrupt. I won't become their King without their support, and I won't remain their King unless it's what they deem best.

If that's a monarchy, then it won't be an absolute monarchy. They've suffered for years, been lied to and manipulated by someone who stepped in after my parents were deposed with all the answers, someone who convinced them how bad their previous system of government had been for them.

That won't happen again. When we take Andres, I work with the people to rebuild it. The people who actually live there, my people.

If I do this, those are the terms I do it under.

[ambitionist]

[alex has been sitting here taking in all the dysfunction, but something markastasia says in his monologue makes him stop to comment. not very loudly, just ... to whoever's sitting near him.] You don't vote for kings. Sort of defeats the whole purpose.

[beatupgrass]

[rocket would faceplant on the table if he weren't currently standing on it. as such he just rins his paws down his face.]

Maybe we oughta focus on gettin' Sarandis out before we worry about what comes after.

[ex_psionic439]

[Adam is s-so unimpressed with all but like two or three people in here who have spoken up, y'all don't even know. Or maybe you do because he is not exactly hiding that shit from his expression while this debate drags on toward nowhere fast. Rocket is the latest to receive his "is this bitch real" look and his imaginary award for dumbest suggestion of the evening thus far, before he just up and blurts--]

Seriously? We waited until the eleventh hour to actually consider any of this?

[He really hopes that Wynn just likes to watch his knights bicker like some real life version of a telenovela, but for real. Please tell us there is an actual contingency plan of some kind, and that this "war" wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction so that everyone can stop flashing their idiocy like it was going out of style.]

[charismapotion]

[ Mars was listening in on all of it. Keeping hold of Venus in his arms as he watched the others speaking. He really didn't have much to offer. He was here for one reason, to help and do what he could. So for now he just stays quiet and listens.]

[nothingsodivine]

I swear to God if one more person under the age of twenty opens their mouth-

[make the children stop talking.]

[autorevive]

I'm twenty-two! Does that mean I can say whatever the fuck I want?

[THAT WASN'T A CHALLENGE, NATHAN.]

[allaboutme]

Considering we're signing up to go risk our necks for His Highness over there? I think we at least deserve to express ourselves. [ if you thought cordelia wasn't all goo-goo eyed over the actual real live prince in the room, however, she's also going to flash him a big, charming smile (charm 23), and give him a once over right in front of everyone, that he definitely notices. the attention turns his ears red because man, this is... not what the last ten years of his life have been like, telling you that right now. ] I mean, not that he's not totally worth fighting for or whatever. But on principle.

[mydesigns]

She has a point. [will graham: patron saint of teenagers.]