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

for willow and ota?

[bowtimeandspace]

war, huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

That is the Doctor's general feeling's on war. And John Smith too, whoever he might be. He's seen plenty war, enough for a lifetime. He'd never truly volunteer for it again. But then there are so many young people here, people who have no idea what war really is. He'll go, if only for them. He doesn't know his team, but he'll wait outside in the corridor a bit and linger, maybe to speak to some of the people, especially those who might look a little lost.

[olreliable]

Willow is sort of terrified. She's only been here a couple weeks! Barely that! And now war? But she signed up to do the right thing and this is definitely the right thing. Even so, coming out of the briefing, she's distracted- so much so that she collides right with the Doctor. Or John. Whichever he's deciding he is now.

"Oh! Sorry!" Her eyes flash wide as the apology tumbles from her lips. Definitely grade a soldier material right here.

[bowtimeandspace]

As Willow collides into him, the Doctor... trips and almost falls over. (balance 5). He rights himself quickly, and turns his head to see his assailant in the form of a small ginger girl.

He likes her already. Could be the hair.

"Careful," he smiles, and lifts a hand touching it to her arm. "You okay?"

[olreliable]

"Yeah, I'm..." Willow still feels terrible for not paying attention. But there are a lot of people milling about, so it's possibly not as much of her fault as she thinks. Plus... war. She's a got a lot on her mind.

"I think I am. Ask me tomorrow, maybe?" She jokes, because hey- this could be over tomorrow, right?

[bowtimeandspace]

Tomorrow might be a whole different ball game. The Doctor doesn't like to think of what might happen. He doesn't like to think of all these young people going off to do what they think is right. That's always how it is, isn't it? Always how it starts, but it always ends with meaningless loss. How many times does the same thing have to happen again.

War never has a winner. Not really. And that's why he's going. He'll do all he can to stop this turning into some sort of blood bath.

"What's your name?" he asks gently. She can give him hers. He probably won't give her his.

[olreliable]

"Willow." She says, then decides maybe he needs more than that. "Rosenberg. Willow Rosenberg." She offers him a smile with the introduction. "This whole thing is...kind of like being thrown into the deep end for newbies like me."

She just assumes he's a full knight. He's older and seems to know what he's doing, at least.

"Sorry, what's your name?"

[bowtimeandspace]

"Willow. Nice name." He smiles in return, and it's only then, a few moments later, that he realises her surname. "Oh! You're on my team!" He finds himself instantly pleased. Because of course that's the only reason he's here, isn't it? The only reason he's sending himself on this little 'adventure'. For those younger, those that might need help. He used to do that once, maybe he can do it again.

"Me? Oh! I'm the Doctor."

The words are out before he catches them. The first time in quite some time it's just felt like the natural response. That should mean something, but he's too busy for the moment concerned over his own mistake. (Rolled a bluff and it was a crit fail so...).

"Or John. John Smith."

[olreliable]

Since Willow didn't crit fail her sense motive, she definitely sees that he slipped up in some way, but doesn't really get how.

"Doctor Smith? Or... were you a doctor before the Veil but not sure if you want to be now?" She doesn't mean to pry, but he sort of opened the door for questions with that stumble.

"I think a lot of people sort of... use the Veil to try to be different. It's okay."

[bowtimeandspace]

She couldn't ever really realise just how accurate her summation is. But it is. In fact it's just about as close as she could get without it being the truth.

"Something like that, yeah," he agrees with a touch of a wry smile.

"Not sure I'm much of a Doctor any more." There's a frown a moment before he shakes that off, looking back to her.

"You think so?" he asks, curious. Sometimes the younger see things so much more clearly.

[olreliable]

She can't help but think of Spike- how he was apparently good here. And Faith too. The Veil was like an etch-a-sketch to the way people were before. Or it could be. Willow still felt like herself and she couldn't really fake being any other way. Still, she nods along to confirm that she definitely does think so.

"What kind of doctor were you, though? Before?" Well, she's still a curious girl, isn't she? Can't just let that one go.

[bowtimeandspace]

It's a bigger question she knows, and his answer doesn't come straight away. There's a silence, and a frown that etches deep into his brow. He wishes he knew the answer, but then that's something he's been searching for for years, and the only thing he could ever find was everything he'd ever done wrong. Everybody he'd ever hurt. Or hurt because of him.

"One who tried to help, I think," he says after a moment. It's possibly not really an answer, or at least not to the question she thinks she was asking.

[olreliable]

Confusion twitches at her brow as she tries to smile, not really sure what sort of answer that is, but getting the feeling that it's part of a much bigger question that she didn't realize she was asking.

"That's why we're here, right?" Half her mouth lifts in a smile, trying to be reassuring in a way that only a young person can, full of optimism and hope that so quickly burns out in older years. "To help. So maybe there's still some... doctor left in your, after all."

[bowtimeandspace]

Is it? Is that why? He'd thought maybe it was but then is it just a fool's hope? Oh he really wants to believe it isn't. He wants to believe he can do some good. But going back to his old ways... it's a scary prospect.

But then looking up at her, young with that hope in her eyes that people lose as they get older.

It gives him hope too.

"Maybe," he says with a slow smile. "And maybe there is." He pauses a moment, thoughtful, before looking back to her.

"Will you help me find it, Willow?"

[allaboutme]

[ considering graduation at sunnydale high involved arming the student body against invasion by demonic forces and a giant snake, this whole 'battle' thing didn't sound too overwhelming at first for cordelia chase. but seeing the big round table room chock full of grim faces, discussing political ramifications, and making it sound like half the castle wouldn't be coming back? ok, that might be throwing her vibe a little. especially because she doesn't really feel like she knows anybody here yet, aside from her mentor knight and the familiar faces from sunnydale - which weren't always comforting considering that one was spike, and another was faith. talk about the psycho jackpot. she's pretending to be unaffected as she follows the traffic flow out, but anyone really looking at her can see the glances out of the corner of her eye as she studies everyone else, trying to figure out where she's meant to go, or how she's supposed to get ready for this. ]

[bowtimeandspace]

[ It's hard not to be... well, himself. Especially when he can see people looking unnerved. And he notices her (spot? idk, he rolled a nat 20 so whatever he notices). He steps over towards her, head dipped a little as he looks. ]

All a bit mad this, eh? [ Casual, almost flippant. Because sometimes that helps. ]

[allaboutme]

Please tell me this isn't every other Tuesday around here. I thought Sunnydale was bad.

[bowtimeandspace]

[ He thinks about it. It might not be a real question, but he's definitely going to treat it as one. ]

Maybe every other Friday. [ Which as is universally known to be much much worse ]

[allaboutme]

You know the sales pitch really focused on the glamorous end of this whole Knighthood thing, and downplayed the going to war part.

[bowtimeandspace]

Yes well that'd be salespeople for you. Never trust them as far as you can throw them. Or further, actually, because that's probably not that far.

[ He frowns a little as he looks at her. Because it's all words and bravado, really he knows a thing or two about that. But underneath? Well, things might be a little more raw. ]

Are you okay? You don't have to go, you know.

[allaboutme]

You think I'd be letting them ship me off to Nowhere Island if I didn't want to go? Please.

[bowtimeandspace]

No? Not one to follow the pack then, are you?

[ He raises his brow a bit. He knows how easy it is for people to be swept along. Especially when they're young and somehow think they should be acting so much older than they are. He did that when he was young. Silly old man he was then. ]

[allaboutme]

Are you kidding? The pack follows me. That's how it's always been.

[ a grudging beat ] Or was.

[bowtimeandspace]

[ And there lies the story. ]

What changed? Other than, well, ending up here.

[allaboutme]

A bunch of deadbeat losers, and a town doing the 24/7 Monster Mash?

[bowtimeandspace]

Is that some sort of dessert? The monster mash. Or is it potato based?

[ Yeah, he's bad at this. ]