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

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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

When it comes to the citizens of Andres, we'll be making it a priority to protect all echelons of the people from becoming casualties of this battle. To that end, Sir Colin Banks will be leading a large group of Knights into the rest of the city proper, in order to rally those of the human populace will flock to the cause of the Prince's return, and also gather the people in a safe location. The purpose of this is two fold - both to protect them, and also to root out supporters of Sarandis who might seek to undermine our efforts while we are there.

He will be supported in this task by Sir Dragomir, Sir Karamazov, Sir Frost, Sir Chase, both Sirs Weiss, Sir Organa, Sir Nessa Harvey, and Sir Daniels. [ his eyes flit over the psions in the group ] It may prove necessary to monitor the thoughts of those gathered in order to ascertain any potential betrayal brewing amid the nobles who remain loyal to Dimitris. Keep them from getting out and causing any trouble - but I encourage you to find methods beyond force to restrain any such instigators. The image we present to the powerful elite of the Island will certainly shape matters in the wake of this fight.

[ If Alisha seemed at all uneasy before, she's even more so now. She recognises her name in there, but she doesn't know any of the others. That just makes it all even more unnerving. And then there's the whole thing about monitoring thoughts.

She looks around a bit. Feeling more than a little lost. She's even considering going and standing near Nathan. God help her. ]

Ah, monitoring the children. Certainly not the part of teaching I’ve missed the most.

[ Not the other knights, dw. The Andresians. At least Emma knows that her people are big babies. She rolls her eyes briefly. ]

Splendid.

[ Directing her attention from a cursory look around the room to determine which of her fellow knights have been elected, she looks to Wynn. ]

You’re sending a number of telepaths on a mission meant to root out Sarandis’ loyalists. I feel it's only prudent to ask: does your recommendation against force include a spot of mental persuasion against their fearless leader?

[ as if lissa wasn't anxious before, now she sure is. she's not a telepath, of course, she is usually the cleric of the team, but something about wynn's words trigger an involuntary reaction in her, fingers tightening against max's arm when emma asks the same question lissa was thinking.

mental force is something she is more than adept at if avery and her brother were any indication. lissa doesn't need to remember to know that she drove someone insane with the sheer force of her will. yay...? ]

[he follows wynn's glancing to get an idea of who his teammates are — the names he doesn't recognize, anyway. he can't read minds ... but he can charm people. and creatively restrain them. :) it'll be gr9.] Oh, yeah, brainwash them. That won't cause any problems down the line if it happens to wear off. Not at all. [the sarcasm is palpable.]

Forcing them into supporting Marcus, even simply into opposing Dimitris, sets a poor precedent for any regime that would follow. [ he shakes his head simply ] And as Sir Karamazov says, when the dust settles, should it be made known that we did so, it would illegitimatize the claims Marcus will be making about the people's support of Dimitris' fall.

[While Adam is glad that he's not going to be in the D-D-D-DANJUH ZONE, he feels like Wynn is grossly under-utilizing his best assets. That would be the telepaths for those of you not following along at home. Psion master race tbh. At the same time, the restrictions make perfect sense so he can't really complain about it either.

He is a little curious as to why Tia wasn't included in his group. Maybe because she was more invested in this whole thing than a lot of the people currently present were, or maybe because they needed another telepath elsewhere. He's going to make it a point to try and talk to her after all of this is over, though.]

Edited 2014-09-12 23:57 (UTC)

[by now rocket's climbed up on drax's shoulder so he can be a gossipy bitch... or because he's tired of standing on the table.

no it's totally because he's being a gossipy bitch. He is probably recounting the tale of how he knocked adam on his ass in snickering whispers.]

[but are you telling him the part where a redhead girl almost shanked you with a scalpel? are you including that part, rocket?????? it's important.]

[that part was cut for time....

Also for the record, Bambi can now actually SEE the fucking raccoon and she is so pissed off that Astrid wasn't lying. GODDAMMIT.]

It is inevitable that despite our best efforts, some citizens may find themselves caught in the crossfire. And we may, of course, suffer injuries of our own. To that end, Sir Solace will be directing a team whose job will be to respond to calls from groups positioned around the Isle, for medical aid. Sir Gesundheit, Timbers, Hobbs, Vergara, and M‪ädchen will remain under his command, until dispatched where needed.

[ oh alice has a question! ] There is a team cutting off communications between the palace and the rest of the island, but will that be cutting off communications island wide or should we be worried about the men in Sarandis' pocket that aren't in the palace being about to band together and work against us on their own?

[ not that she is even near any of the operations that would have to deal with that, she's just curious if the communications break down is going to be island wide or specific to cutting off sarandis from his supporters and she can't remember if that was addressed.

meanwhile abigail is the picture of insouciance at her assignment but it's a lie, especially if the way her eyes immediately flash between will and belle is any indication. she is a firm champion of solace and trusts him as a cleric for certain ear shaped reasons, but she does not want to be far from will. or belle as a second choice. ]

[TARADIDDLE'S GONNA HEAL PEOPLE SHE DIDN'T EVEN STAB FIRST she's so excited.

Grimrot, meanwhile, clears her throat, speaking up as soon as Alice finishes. She's been mulling over this question for a while, but she hasn't felt an appropriate time to speak up until now.]

And as for our own communications, is it truly safe to be using a network created by a knight that's been compromised? How do we know Sarandis won't be listening in?

[astrid's all like "OH COOL WE'RE LIKE EMTS :D " but doesn't say that out loud bc unlike nathan young, she actually ... learned to keep her inside thoughts inside at some point in her life. really fucking recently, but still.

will looks back at abigail, but his expression doesn't really give anything away because he's okay with her placement. less time he has to spend being concerned about her tbh.

speaking of nathan and his inability to keep his thoughts inside...]

All you ladies better hope he doesn't leak your naked pics.

I had to step in and fix a flaw in the kid's system once already. Gave me a good chance to get a look at the guts of the thing. Everything's been recoded while you were all sleeping last night, and her frequency's been locked out, replaced with a loop of old recordings. Dimitris can listen to people go on about Candy Crush or whatever all day if that's what floats his boat. But he won't get any of our communications.

[ wynn nods ] As for Sir Lincoln's question, that's why we have Sir Banks and company seeking to shut down any such alliances as soon as possible. Communications on the rest of the island will be down as well, for as long as we dictate.

So... [Stiles has been quiet through most of this, which is a feat in itself, but he slips in during a break in conversation to clear his throat.]

What are out chances here, really? Not that I'm not all for this. I mean... I'm here. But I just want to lay it out.

[He's a squishy baby squire with a soft marshmallow center okay.]

[hahahaha.

i feel like this is the moment where drax and rocket have to share a meaningful look~. HAHAHAHA REMEMBER THAT TIME WE WENT UP AGAINST A VERY POWERFUL RACIST ZEALOT WITH THE ODDS STACKED AGAINST US AND WE WERE SURE WE WERE ALL GONNA DIE AND ALMOST DID???

HAHAHAHAHA

/cries deeply.]

Having lost Knights before to villainous despots, I will not downplay the potential danger of what we seek to do here, lest our overconfidence make us lose all caution in how we proceed.

But without exaggeration, I can say that if I were to entrust the task to anyone to accomplish in this world or any other, I would always feel safe in placing it in your hands.

I believe fully that we will succeed. That we will return here with triumph in our hearts, leaving Andres a better place than we found it.

[ For as quiet as she's been she's a bit wtf about how people seem to think this shit will work? ]

Sorry but what if this all fucks up, yeah? I mean that's a lot of people doing a lot of shit that you expect to go right. What happens when it all starts going wrong. Because that nice little plan of yours might be worth fuck all.

[It's possibly because he's naturally offended by literally anything that calls his intelligence (even indirectly) into question or possibly because he is putting a hell of a lot of faith in a hundred people he doesn't know. Or maybe he's just cocky because twelve percent of a plan and some improvisation killed Ronan the Accuser at the height of an infinity stone bloodrage and if a bunch of roughnecks can do that a freakin' army can do just about anything.]

'Cause I would hope that you know what you're doin' enough not to fuck up. [Because note that he mockingly... says that the way Alisha just did. I'm so sorry.] If a plan don't go the way he thinks, you make a new plan and keep doin' that until it actually goes right.

[Or you die a bloody, violent death. But the dice say he has more tact than to say that out loud.] The chances of this playin' out all neat and orderly like this are freakin' slim.

[Han rolls his eyes glancing over at whoever's next to him. Probably Leia or Jaina.]

Kids. What, do you think it'd be better to charge in without anything?

[Clearly not someone who has ever been in a real fight.]

Things change. Least we'll all be going in with a goal.

That'd be a solid "no" on back-up plans. [ Kate deadpans from nearby. She's still pretty unimpressed with all of this, particularly the responses that questions keep getting. ] How dare you have doubts about this really sudden and extremely complex plan, Alisha. Don't you know adults made it?

[David holds up a hand before this turns into a whole other tirade like it did with whether or not Mark should be king. He leans forward from his seat at the table, before speaking, his voice is calm, probably because he's done stuff like this before - which he has (diplomacy 18).]

With regards to back up plans on the ground - we haven't even seen the actual plans yet. This is what we need to happen and who's going to do it. The specific hows and whens are probably going to go to the mission leaders. This isn't to say that we're not going to have to be flexible and things might not go according to plan, but right now, we don't have to see the back up plans. This is just what needs to be done, and the back up plans are going to come later, when we're meeting with our individual groups. It's not going to be as easy as walking in and doing what we need to do. We know that. Wynn knows that.

[He takes a breath.]

I'm not saying things won't go wrong. They probably will. War isn't easy, and a coordinated strike like this has a lot of moving pieces. But it's also not impossible either. I've done more with less. The important thing is keeping a cool head and doing the best you can to get the job done.

[Oh, look, he is good with words. Who knew?]

[ Wow, an actual answer that isn't just dismissive condescension. Kate spreads her hands and looks around at the others like how hard was that?

To David she nods, even smiles just a little. ] Makes sense.

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