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

[bittersweeter]

[ she runs through his team again quickly. ] You, Alisha, Nessa, Adam, girl who has to be Adam's sister or something, Lissa, person I don't care about, person I don't care about, that blonde chick, Colin. [ she reaches out to pat his arm consolingly. ] Have fun with that.

[ambitionist]

[his shoulders roll in a shrug. not biting at the consolation tbh.] I know who's on my fucking team. Why don't you worry more about yours?

[bittersweeter]

Because it's me and Faye, therefore I don't have to? [ her team is flawless. that optimism, at least, isn't forced. she and faye are a great team. ] Imagine me and you on a team but with more fire.

[ambitionist]

I'd rather not. [he takes a drag from his cigarette. god, faye. he's going to need another.] Glad to see she made it out of Auschwitz though. [don't lie alex no u aren't. you were perfectly fine with putting off your come to jesus with her for the rest of your life.]

[bittersweeter]

Can we not talk about that right now? [ bc she will get pissed off all over again and ain't nobody got time for that. ] Ten bucks says there is a mass promotion after this shit is over, Wynn handing out titles like Oprah.

[ambitionist]

That's usually how it goes after a war, isn't it? [a beat passes while she unlocks one of his level 4 friend stories.] My best friend back home was a Marine. I always thought he was a dumbass. But he was a dumbass before that, too, so, you know. Whatever.

[bittersweeter]

[ gently, so as to not jar him out of continuing: ] Boys are always dumbasses.

[ambitionist]

Self included, I guess.

[bittersweeter]

Only sometimes. Do you still think he's a dumbass?

[ambitionist]

Oh, yeah, definitely. But now I mostly miss him.

[bittersweeter]

[ she nudges her hips against his lightly. ] Sorry.

[ambitionist]

Hey, hey. It's fine.

[bittersweeter]

I hate this. I hate... feelings. [ she sighs a cloud of smoke and scuffs her boots against the grass to get the ash off of them. it's not necessarily true, she likes some feelings. she likes happy feelings even if she sucks at them. she does not, however, like being scared. ]

[ambitionist]

Me, too. [he takes a drag from his cigarette, then glances over at her.] You're not gonna cry or something, are you?

[bittersweeter]

No, you'd probably try to kiss me again. [ snarky fuck. ] Don't worry. Tear free. [ maybe, probably, she's too busy watching her shoes to look up and prove her eyes are dry. ]

[ambitionist]

Fuck you. Wasn't any "trying" involved. [such a functional friendship.] Hey ... can you do me a favor?

[bittersweeter]

[ oh... maybe this is what zero felt like because when she does look up, her eyes narrow in suspicion. ] What?

[ambitionist]

[he purses his lips at her like seriously??? at her expression.] Don't fucking look at me like that. Just ... let my family know if something happens to me.

[bittersweeter]

[ her expression clears a little because it's a reasonable request even if she hates thinking it might happen. instead of answering though, she pulls out her phone and opens up the note app, pulling up one labeled "just in case". under it is a very small list -- a, v, n, s -- with the appropriate numbers next to each and another initial underneath that. it doesn't have a number, just a series of question marks following b. ] You really didn't have to ask, Alexander.

[ambitionist]

I know. Maybe I just wanted the peace of mind. [he taps the series of question marks and b with one finger.] Who's that supposed to be?

[bittersweeter]

Rebecca. I couldn't find her number in my googling after the Hudson thing.

[ambitionist]

[HE THOUGHT SO, he just didn't want to presume.] I've got it. I mean, she could've changed it, I guess, but I've got what it was ten months ago. [i actually rolled for him to remember it and he did good. alex u r hopeless.]

[bittersweeter]

[ she hands over the phone so he can put it in and she can focus on soothing her frayed nerves with nicotine. ] You know you have a brother in law, right?

[ambitionist]

[he puts in the number, holding his cigarette in his mouth while his hands are occupied.] Yeah, I know. [he hands the phone back so he can ... make annoyed hand gesticulations properly.] I wasn't even invited to the wedding. Well, that's not true, Nat called me up like, I want to invite you, but I think it would be better if you didn't come. Fucking bullshit.

[bittersweeter]

...why? Did you, like, blow her husband and it would be weird and awkward?