Council of War ((Open forum RP))

"This is getting us nowhere! Militia can handle this. Find out whether this creep has anything to do with the hit on Brawler, then deal with it accordingly. I suggest you tag him the same as the people released from the Ziggurat. Now can we PLEASE get on with this meeting without further interruptions.
Has anyone got anything further to report before we go over plans for a counterstrike?"

He turns partly to Brit and lowers his head, clearly agitated at the whole situation, and mumbles under his breath "... if this is the standard to which they give out licences these days, I'm going to have to apply to have mine reinstated."

Xander glared at Twilight before turning and starting to leave. "I am sorry, but my mothers confidence in me to carry out this important duty was misplaced. If someone can forward the minutes of the meeting to them, I would be most appriciative, and I will stress to them the importance of arriving in person next time."

"Sit please, Xander." Tyger commented. "Thing about war is you often find yourself side by side with people you want dead. Stalin and Roosevelt, for example. They attended thier discussion meetings - like this one and never met after that. Show the same reserve and do your duty. If Twiglet did assault Brawler - <Cold look at Shinobi> - we'll deal with it. Until then, your input could be war winning. And with that, I'll get the coffees and leave you guys to make the big decisions." Tyger headed to the kitchen.

Coile lifted his hand and spoke.

"Our people are helping in hospitals and such, Angel for example. Chi is running some kind of private clinic in Kings to help folks who'd otherwise be left without. There's people like Dee who're out of action due to injuries. Me, Sword, Mesoc and Shadowplay operate in the warzone, but I try to juggle duties from FC and HC as well... It's been less than one week and it's already taking its toll. Did someone say we had some neat plan maybe to start affecting this war instead of just putting out fires?"

Xander follows Tyger towards the kitchen area, sighing. "Thank you for what you said, but... I am just a graphics artist, I only came here on my mothers behalf because they were busy with vital repairs to Unity Tower and their suits... I know nothing about war or tactics or plans... even though I was built with inherent weaponry." he sighed, talking quietly. "Do you want a hand with the drinks?"

Tyger smiled. "Of course. Look, I'm just a soldier but sometimes the generals need to hear from the troops as they plan." Tyger paused. "What say I serve Twilight?"

"Good idea." Xander nodded. "Something strikes me as off about him.. it... everything. I will let my mothers know about that one." he said, pouring some of the hot water from the kettles into cups.

Hmm. Tyger nodded. "So, you're more of a support fighter than a front-line?" He waved a hand. "Don't answer that and don't take offence. Support fighters keep the front line upright." Tyger placed a number of coffee infused mugs onto a serving tray and took them around the delegates.

**The truly resplendent armoured figure of Mercy Knight saunters into room, and looks at the gathered freaks and capes. Silently he stands listening to the others , his face expressionless except for the disdainful turn to his smile.
Spotting Big Lunk, he frowns slightly and raises an eyebrow in suprise before speaking, his soft accentless voice dripping with sarcasm**

"Has anyone else noticed that there are aweful lot of Rikti wandering around these days?
Oh And Lunk, I thought you were dead?"

Xander smiled softly. "I'll answer anyway. I'm more of a person handed a gun and asked to look after people, while the others help out more... I am happy with my part though, I am not really much of a fighter." he said, helping load the tray before snagging a cup of tea for himself and returning to his seat.

**Throwing a data disc onto the table, Mery Knight drops into buisness**

"The gotterdämmerung company, has a roster of 20 meta humans we are willing to allocate to this security crisis. The majority of our forces will remain in the isles to combat the Rikti insurgancy there, I shall make it clear now that none of those forces will engage in humanitarian efforts without orders from myself or another designated officer of the gotterdämmerung.

As an avatar of mercy, I will openly work in the war zone as well as offering support to those who need aid.
For this crisis I shall extend my aid to all, rather than just those who are deserving...Even Longbow.

Our standard security agents are all being equiped with energised kintetic weapons, similar to conventional firearms except they utilise a depleted uranium projectile encased within a high yield energy packet derived from Rikti plasma weapons.

These agents can be placed where needed to support more militarily minded forces, they aer also being used to support security at sites I have designated useful in a logistical nature."

From the far side of the room, dark brown eyes bored into Twilight as he arrogantly preached his message of doom. Scorpio Rose had had suspicions about his loyalty for weeks and now he had publically exposed his duplicity, she figured he would not only be wanting for work from both sides but would probably not be long for this world either. In her superiors' absence she'd signed the TLF up to the treaty knowing full well that they would be left out in the cold if they didn't. She smiled wickedly wondering what Hatesman would do to him when she exposed their traitor.

Putting such thoughts aside, she stepped forwards, trying not to jostle her left arm as it rested in its sling. "There's little to report from the TLF I'm afraid," she announced. "We've scattered, gone underground where we can to avoid the Rikti. Our battles with them have occurred in back alleys and the underground. We're using guerilla tactics but at the moment it's all we can do to resist their incursions. If they push harder we'll have to abandon our positions and regroup. So far however, damage has been minimal."

Feeling suddenly exposed, she stepped back into the shadow of her bodyguard who in the past week had acquired a few more scars to add to his growing collection.

((Sorry, about half a dozen places I would of liked to reply, but have to work in evil DIY shop during the day.))

Britanic fought to contain his anger over Tyger, and especially Twilight's outbursts. In the short time he had been acting field commander of the Militia, Britanic had worked hard to look after, and encourage both it's members, and associates, while trying promote a positive image for the group.

In one short swoop, Twilight had managed to publically associate himself with the Militia, thus totally compromising his usefullness as an intelligence operative in the Isles. At the same time Britanic had no doubt Twilight had damaged the Militia's standing with this council.

As for Tyger, the fact he was even there at all had obviously not been appreciated by some members of the council. Worse still, his own contribution to the discussion, though with the best intentions, had done little to placate the situation.

It seemed evident to Brit that with the Militia commanders Mer'de MIA, Crimson Archer, and Force Commander currently unavailable that Brit would have to take more direct, and heavy handed control of the Milita.

Britanic looked over to Partisan who was no doubt sniggering under his mask before addressing the council.

"First off I'd like to apologise for the disruption to this meeting. Please be assured that I will personally be dealing with the elements, that I can influence to ensure any further meetings are affected."

"Also I'd like to apologise for my own language in this meeting. Though I meant those who were using the war as a smokescreen to continue their own criminal activities, I realise that the word "scum" was innapropriate, and those engaged in criminal activity before the outbreak of hostilities may have thought I was referring to them. I'd like to say that anybody who is part of this council, and abides by its rules are deserving of equal respect from myself, be they normally hero, or a so called villain."

"If we can get back to war business. Before we can effectively start planning decisive strike against the Rikti. We must establish our current standing, resources, and contingencies."

"As Coile has pointed out, the war is taking it's toll and we are taking injuries, and even deaths. the emergency teleport network has been disrupted or stretched to its limit, and more of us are having to rely on more conventional medical treatment. No doubt some of us will end up fighting in unfamiliar territory at some point. Should there be injuries id like for those who are part of this council to agree to provide medical aid, and shelter to other council members irrespective of their normal base of origin.Meaning should I get taken down in Port Oakes, I want to know I got somewhere I can hole up, same for Lunk if he was in the Row, etc"

Xander nods. "The Unity Vigil is already treating and sheltering members of the various criminal organizations in Paragon City, and providing shelter if they behave and help out if possible. One of the groups members, a Peacebringer attatched to the PPD's Awakened Division brought in an injured member of the Void Stalkers, which can be seen as a testament to the Unity Vigil's willingness to assist those in need no matter their creed."

"Our number of medical staff are pretty low, but most of our agents have first aid training. We'll help any way we can with those injuries we encounter in the field."

"So now it's not just a ceasefire, it's a treaty?" asked Scorpio Rose. She shrugged nonchalently. "Ok. I guess. We all visit either the city or the isles at some point so I guess you're making sense there. If we fall down there because of some alien with an attitude, I don't want to be facing bars. I'll do what I can to let the rest of the TLF know."

Jakob frowns uncomfortably. "Zhe vorkerc - ", he stops, glancing at Xander, then continues, speaking more slowly and deliberately. "The Workers would do what we can to help, but we simply don't have the manpower to vet or watch those who may still be our enemies. I don't like the situation - especially considering the kindness America has shown me since the end of the cold war - but it's a question of simple practicality. May I suggest that those who are vouched for by Freedom Corps use our facilities in Kings Row and Galaxy City whenever practical, so as to free the better equipped groups for the more...ah, sensitive casualties?

Catching Big Lunks eye briefly, the Doctor got to his feet
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we are losing sight of the issue. What has been formed so far is essentially a coalition that will stay in force until such point as Earth no longer needs defending from an external threat. Henceforth, all those willing to fight the Rikti are our *allies* in this coalition, and no support should be withheld.
The steps taken to deal with the effects of the war are admirable, I applaud your efforts. However, though the Vanguard have kept the Rikti bottled up so far, it is only a matter of time before they break through, an invasion force many times the magnitude of what we fight in the streets. In this case, the best form of defense is attack. We must find a way to destabilise their operations before they grow strong enough to attempt such an assault...an assault that would cost us dearly in terms of materiel, lost ground and casualties."

The Doctor looked around the assembled leaders
"Now...what plans have been made to bring the fight to the Rikti?"

"Problem is how to strike a decisive blow. Last time Hero 1, and his Omega team got through, and managed to close or destroy their main portal. Since then the Rikti have either managed to repair or build a new one. Sure we can try doing that again but is that just going to buy us another five years?"

"Five years is a long time in politics. If we can deal a heavy enough blow to the pro-invasion faction, the general populace may withdraw their support. And if not..well, it buys us time to come up with a more permanent solution."

Xander raised his hand. "Umm... question, but what stopped then last time exactly? Did it just take them five years to rebuild a portal? I mean, from the numbers they have for this war, you'd think... well, they'd have the manpower to rebuild something like that."

Britanic rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, and looked a little uncomfortable.

"Unfortunately,...I..I wasn't active in the last war. My intelligence on what actually happened regarding closing the portal is sketchy at best. Also my knowledge of dimensional portal technology isn't great."

"Perhaps the Rikti could have opened a portal back, or breached whatever defense Omega Team had set up disrupting Rikti portal travel long before now. Maybe, like Dr. Helios said this new invasion is the result of politics on the Rikti homeworld, rather than a continuation of their last campaign?"

"I have two possible theories on this. Number one, because the defensive shielding was placed around the earth, they could have found an alternative route. This would probably mean they would need its co-ordinates, and somewhere close aswell. Second, we all now should be aware that dispite the heroes of paragon," he said sarcastically," trying to stop them, the Rikti have master magic. Now they are known to hate it, but desperate measures call for desperate times. They could be trying to unseal earth from their portal technology. From what I know about magic, they would probably need to know not only what sealed them off, but probably the object or chant or spell or whatever that did so. Third, whilst working with Virgil Tarikoss,I learnt you can use technology to not only detect a barrier, but should allow you to circumvent it. It is also possible the Rikti have had some success in those areas. However these are all theories." He looked at the people gathered there, wondering if they would even listen. Althought he knew it pointless, he decided to try to defend himself. "Look, so I ruffled a few feathers? Was I saying anything that wasn't true? Despite your little meeting, heroes and villains are still going to clash, and you need to learn that you can't stop or prevent it. No amount of paper work can do that." Folding his arms, he spoke again. "I for one believe that the only way we could ever win this is to work together, but like I said.. guys gotta eat." he said looking at xanders direction. "You wanted a counter attack that would hurt them hard? Take down their chances of stablising the portals further and help me blow that ship up before they can repair it. Ya never know we might not always have States to fly threw a saucer for us..." he said with a chuckle.

Twilight then turned his attention to Rose. With a fierce glaze he said coldly, "Considering your involvement in our last plans , Tara, maybe I should inform the TLF of our actions, whatever they may be..." A smug look grew across his face.

Lunk nods in agreement with Britanics comments "I would say it was most likely. We sent them home with their tail between their legs the last time, it would of has a major blow against support for another attack. But that doesn't matter, as they're already here. What we need to do now is work on how to boot the b*stards back out, and people are right in saying one of the keys to that lies in their beachhead in White Plains... the crash site from the last war."

Scorpio Rose just shrugged. "Go right ahead Twiglet," she retorted, "if you can find them that is. You wanna run headlong at the mothership? You go do that. I'll try and find something nice to say at your funeral."

She took a seat next to Bruno and smiled. "Meanwhile we'll try and keep our two sides from tearing each other apart, fools with Halloween props notwithstanding."