Monotreme Melee (IC)

[alderwitch]

Robin frowned, listening the reservations of her team and taking in the data presented, "The last thing any of us want to do is exacerbate a situation. It clearly doesn't call for a guns blazing approach. The question, really, is whether or not the League is willing to take on a surreptitious endeavor to attempt to de-escalate the situation," Robin commented thoughtfully, "Which seems unlikely to be something they - we - ought to do. I mean, a tense situation on the brink of war is pretty different than an imminent threat. It seems like diplomatic endeavors should be more the line of response than any sort of combat initiative?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"We believe the Soviets have deployed a contingent of the Peoples's Heroes to Cuba," said McNamara, sounding deeply skeptical of the name the Soviets used for their superteam. "Under the leadership of their ice controller, Dimitri Peshkov. But Peshkov's forces have been deployed to the island's exterior to guard against a Marine invasion - which is one reason we think the Soviets are vulnerable to a quick superhuman strike." 

 

Riley stroked his chin thoughtfully, offering, "Army's just made up of normal people, even some supers don't see too well. We could prolly sneak in and take the site out before anybody knows we're there." 

 

"We believe that the use of, er, unconventional forces will be less likely to provoke a reaction than conventional ones. Besides, the Soviets know we have the advantage. With our forces in Western Europe and, er, other installations, they have more to lose from a war than we do. As long as American troops don't directly engage Soviet troops in combat, we believe we can avoid all-out wah."

[angrydurf]

Huang steepled his fingers as the other students voiced their thoughts, he didn't take these trainings too seriously usually but he seemed this time to be carefully considering the dilemma placed before them.  He finally shook his head after the secretary of defense's words, "No dice."  he said flatly, "If Dimitris there we don't have a point of entry."  he said with surety, "Maybe with prep time and a ritual we could punch through but He's not going to leave nukes bare to being portaled up on."  The young magus explained knowingly, "And we'd be lucky if all he has is basic portal warding to block entry and raise alarms, chances are he'll have much worse set in place."

 

He glanced to the group with a small frown, "We might be able to fly in under stealth but even that would be dicey little better than sending in special forces."  Huang said firmly and let out a deep sigh.  "However that isn't even the biggest hurdle."  the teen replied fixing his gaze on the president, "You send us to hit soviet installations you open up a new front in this war and it heats up."  Swinging his gaze to McNamara the dhampir continued, "And you know this, if our bases in Turkey got hit by Soviet Supers we'd be conscripted and sent in to do the same, we'd have a shooting war super on super and have to pray no one decides to start having everyone else start shooting too."

 

Leaning back slowly Huang shook his head, "Best case you send us in and use our avowed independance to establish deniability, no backup if we're captured and possibly sacrificed on the altar of tenuous peace."  he glanced briefly to his cohorts before looking back to the politicians with one brow raised, "Also gives you a handy excuse to demand all supers fall in line and serve since our 'independence' could be blamed for nearly bringing on the big one."  Was any of it accurate, hard to say but it seemed pretty cut and dry politics as usual to the child of a vampire king.

[AmyBall]

Hellbinder frowned a bit as her companions spoke up. "I tend to agree with my companions here," she said, slowly drawing a 'map' in the air with a finger that trails fire. As she sketched out the various plans of attack and entry, her brow continued to furrow and grow dark. "We're going up against older, more experienced supers, who know we're coming. It sounds like, pardon my saying so, like you're sending us on a suicide mission. Even if we succeed, we're dead." the young woman said with a slightly dour tone.

Then, turning to the rest of the group, she raised a hand to point at one of the drawings. "But if we don't go, a great many more people might die. Nukes are bad news, no matter who fires them first. War profits nobody, and if we have even the smallest chance to prevent it, even if it costs us everything, shouldn't we do it? No matter the cost, I don't want the people I care about getting hurt. I can create a ritual that should punch us right through. If we're lucky, I can hold it open long enough to get us back out again. No guarantees though, and I don't know if we have the time."

[Electra]

"Ooh, I have another question." Raina raised her hand. "When you say "seize control of the Soviet missiles," what exactly does that mean? I mean, are there gonna be like a pile of missiles with big radioactive signs on them that we're supposed to put under our arms and haul away? How big is a nuclear missile?" She looked to Merlin, the monkey just shrugged. "Or are they gonna be like in silos and stuff, and if we seize control, we actually have to take and hold some kind of Soviet military base for however long it takes to get missiles out of their tubes without irradiating ourselves, ideally." She looked around the room. "Okay, maybe I have a few questions. If we get the missiles, what are we supposed to do with them then, give them to you?" 

[alderwitch]

"We don't have to take the missiles, just make them unusable," Nighthawk said once she was done giving Huang the 'who are you and what have you done with our dhampir' stare. Giving a small shake of her head, she frowned - the gesture more visible since she hadn't bothered to put on her mask. She gave the President a level stare, "Are you sure that you want to set the precedent that the Freedom League takes away nukes that people don't use responsibly?" Her tone was flat, and her grey-eyed stare was not the most friendly. After a long, uncomfortable moment, she cut her gaze away, "So we can count on physical measures typical for the era, and magical measures that are not insignificant... We can go round and round all day probably. So, votes? Who wants to even attempt this?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

"That's correct, we would want to see the missiles, er, rendered unusable - but destruction is not necessary." 

 

"We trust that you know how to do your work," said McNamara mildly, seeming to focus on Robin as the leader of the group - and pointedly ignoring Huang's more pointed questions about the problems with the scenario. "We know that you're all patriotic Americans who are as eager as we are to stop the spread of international Communism." 

 

Woodsman thought for a moment, looking from one hero to another, then at the long-dead President and his Chief of Staff. They'd fallen silent for the moment, probably artificially - which made sense if the scenario was to judge their reactions, not to see how well they dealt with arguments from the President. "I can get in there," he said noncommittally. "I mean, they're gonna be expecting superheroes to fly in with lots of flashy stuff and powers 'n crap, but not just somebody sneakin' up with a bow and some bombs. But I'm not really good f'r takin' out stuff fulla radioactive materials, 'specially U-238 or refined plutonium, I mean, one accident and we've fried the whole damn countryside. They prolly aren't gonna like that." Of course, of all of them, Riley had literally grown up in a nuclear power plant and was the son of a nuclear engineer. "I don't think binary explosive and rocket fuel's gonna mix 'nless somebody with powers can come with me t'clean up the mess." 

[angrydurf]

Huang let out a heavy sigh at the non-response his words earned from the simulated politicians and leaned forward in his chair to squeeze the bridge of his nose, "Even if we had the week to put together and the power to perform a ritual that would defeat whatever Frost has waiting for us,"  he explained flatly looking from the faux president to the others as obviously they did not have that, "How bad do you want those missiles gone?"  he asked firmly, "At what cost?"  he added coldly as he trusted the pair exactly not at all.

 

Standing he turned and stalked to the back of the room shooting a hard look at Riley then Robin, "There are ways of dealing with the nukes, making sure they can't threaten the US."  he admitted, "Crack the casing and take the warheads out, no risk of detonation, then we dispose of them."  he explained offering a nod to Robin, "I have ways to take care of all the nukes we can get to."  he promised, his connection to the void more than equal the task of storing nuclear material long enough to properly dispose of it, like in the sun or something.

[AmyBall]

Sarah gulped, a bit ashamed that she spoke up so notably. Thankfully nobody seemed to really respond a great deal to the things she said. Maybe a little, but the other, more experienced teens seemed to have things well under control, and she glances to Huang especially. Perhaps he's a bit rough, but to the sheltered girl, he seemed quite worldly and more of a leader than she could ever hope to be.

[Tiffany Korta]

Cathy had been quiet for quite some time trying to both take everything in and decide if she was going to treat this simulation seriously. It was strange to watch as one by one her friends got involved in the whole thing. Oh well time for her to get involved as well.

 

“I think it’s best Mr President if we plan all this away from the here, that way you can honestly claim you didn’t know the details of what we decide.” after a second she added “Though we’re not saying that we’re going to carry out this mission of yours.”

As much as she wanted to test her skills against what she guest was a cold controller, like her, she wasn’t completely convinced that they should go ahead and take out these missiles.

[alderwitch]

Nighthawk took in the reactions of her classmates and then gave a small, short nod. "We'll take care of the situation," she agreed finally, "But on our own - our own way." Nighthawk pronounced before tipping her head to the booth and their instructor. "Could we move the scenario to some sort of deployment vehicle, or headquarters to plan what we're about to do, please?" She requested directly as it seemed absurd to pantomime leaving what was, in effect, a simulated room. 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Everyone stand up." 

 

To everyone's surprise, at that point the walls of the room shifted and faded away into nothingness - or rather, into the oddly-colored walls that had produced the holograms they'd interacted with. "No, the historical scenario is complete," said Relentless. "You've taken this scenario as far as it's likely to go." Above, Relentless was finishing up notes on her clipboard. "Historically the Freedom League told President Kennedy that the League wasn't an instrument of American foreign policy - that they would defend America if it was attacked, but they wouldn't invade a sovereign nation on behalf of the United States unless there was no other way. At least that's what they did in this reality, anyway," she commented, a sharp smile on her face. 

 

"Aw, so we don't get to go in and blow up the missiles?" said Riley, now on his feet and next to Robin. "That's lame," he complained cheerfully. 

 

"It doesn't matter if you took out the missiles or not," said Relentless, now walking down onto the simulator level to join them. "It's true, the Freedom League could probably have taken out the Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. With your skills, and the intelligence the US had, your team probably could have done the same thing." Relentless looked from one to the other before saying, "But there were more nukes in Cuba than Kennedy knew about - cruise missiles, bombers, and other weapons. The Soviet commander had orders to launch them in the event of an invasion of the island - and they were scattered too far apart for any one team to take them out. If the US had gone into Cuba, either conventionally or by super, Miami and Key West would have burned - and then the world after them," 

[angrydurf]

Ouroboros let out a heavy sigh at the entire discussion and nodded agreement to Robins assertion moments before the simulation drew to a close.  He shook his head forlornly, "Yea declaring themselves independent of the government did wonders for their reputations too."  he said with a smirk his demeanor falling back once more to his facade of feckless teenhood.  "The world got thirty more years on the edge of its seat if it was going to be wiped out the next time egos clashed and everyone starts to wonder whose side is the league really on."  he looked to his classmates, "An excellent lesson in how doing nothing about the big picture is a heroes mandate!"  he laughed off the exercise and glanced to Robin and Cathy, "We might have been able to pull off taking out both sides nuke sites without triggering a war, but we'd have needed to turn the Soviet heroes to do it."  

 

He stalked out of the room with a shrug, "You know all the grads talk about how awesome their team building exercises here were."  he said to Relentless, "And it seems like all you folks do now is twisted mind games making us mistrust each other or just straight up resent you all for doing it."  He shook his head and looked at the other students with a vague smile, "You know we may not be as bright and polished as some of your little cub teams out of here."  he said a bitterly, "But we're still all heroes so stop with the games like we're not just because we don't fit in your little boxes."

Edited February 10, 2016 by angrydurf

[alderwitch]

Robin exhaled in agitation as the simulation ended, a scowl darkening her features. She wasn't able to find Riley and Huang's good humored take on the matter as she folded her arms up stiffly in front of her until the leather creaked,  "Not everything is black or white. Just 'cuz that's what the Freedom League did, didn't make it the only path through. Huang knows the Frost dude that was guarding the missiles. Could'a talked to him instead of leaping in blind and seen if we could help work things out. The UN uses supers now to play ambassador - could'a started up something like that and ended in the cold war in the 60's - or burned the world. We don't know its just all some sort'a thought exercise."

 

Robin's expression flattened as she clearly cut herself off from saying more, her distrust of the school's authority once more clear in her wary grey eyes, "Awesome, so, training's over then?"

[AmyBall]

Sarah stared quietly at the instructors before allowing her costume to fade off. Within moments it had been replaced with her street clothes. "So that's it? You drag us down here for training and screw around with our heads a bit before sending us home?" she asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she did so. The young woman seemed to contemplate things for a while before she strode out after Huang. Tapping him on the shoulder, Sarah stood up on her toes to murmur to him. "I think we should meet up privately later. Just you and me and maybe a couple of very CLOSE friends?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Not having committed as much to the simulation as some Cathy wasn’t quite as upset as the others when it ended, though she was disappointed that she wouldn’t have a chance to go against this Comrade Frost. Though that might have been due to being called Frost, Jr. She followed the others out of the simulation trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Well obviously we need to show them how it’s done and form our own team with Blackjack...” she gave a little hopeful smile at her lame pop culture joke.

[Electra]

Raina hung back when the others left, leaning against the wall of the simulator and playing with her lighter. On her shoulder, Merlin pretended to be looking at his phone, but both their attention remained on Relentless. "Looks like a tough gig here," she observed dryly after the door slid shut behind her classmates. "I'm guessing there was some point to all of this that the drama club failed to get, but it really was a pretty crappy exercise to run us through cold. How come Archer is still the trainer here? I've heard all kinds of stories about him this year already." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman was reluctant to leave, having no real issues with the scenario himself - but he wasn't going to stick around when Robin had left, especially not when the early end to the session gave them a few minutes outside together in the middle of the day. "You wanna grab a tree for a minute?" he asked her once they were outside, a brooding look on his face in the aftermath of the scenario. "Beats loafin' inna hallway." 

 

- 

 

Relentless looked away for a moment, trying to keep her voice light, but Raina sensed there was something more going on. "Eh, you should have seen what my brother and I did when we ran through the scenario. I thought for sure the government was just going to grab us once we left the White House, so I had him take Kennedy and McNamara and make for the helicopter. We got quite a talking-to." She looked back at Raina and her monkey and said, "Sanderson, you've got liberty. Do you really want to spend it down here talking to me about Archer? There can't be that many complaints," she joked, "it's just one semester in."  

[alderwitch]

Once she'd walked out of the room, Robin's expression smoothed out. Tucking her hands into her jacket pockets, she had taken long strides towards the hallway, pausing when she heard Riley's distinctive footfall. "Could'a stuck around. I just... I don't like that room. I don't get the point." She offered before  giving a small jerk of her head in agreement. "Sure. Wanna walk, or maybe run?" She slanted him a teasing smile then, aware that her top speed exceeded Riley's foot-speed but she largely considered them equals as Riley had a great many tricks up his sleeve that Robin lacked. "Race you?"

[angrydurf]

Huang stopped in his tracks at the suggestion from Sarah.  He was a teenage boy after all so his mind did not leap immediately to the realms of assembling an illicit super team of trusted teens.  Looking back at her he pondered how exactly to respond, Set after all would be more likely than most partners to be interested in the suggested arrangement.  Taking in Cathy's commentary however he put together her intention and managed to mostly disguise his disappointment, "Ah yes then."  he murmured as he tried to kick his mind back into gear.

 

Running one hand through tousled hair he considered options for a long moment, "There might be a few people to bring in but,"  he paused with a wry shrug, "There's alot of big personalities in our class.  Without an authority figure laying down the law it might be a bit too many chefs spoil the broth."

[Electra]

Raina and Merlin both listened to Relentless, then turned to confer with each other like attorneys at a deposition. "Archer's a problem, isn't he," Raina asked, except it wasn't a question. "Not just to the students, there's something going on with him, and you don't like it." Merlin nodded agreement to this assessment. "I don't have him for PE because I take outside classes, but I've heard stories. He doesn't show up, he yells at the students, the exercises don't make sense. I know gym teacher's usually a pity position for ex-football coaches who can't make the cut anymore, but the kind of PE we have to do here seems a little more important than a semester of badminton or volleyball." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Up in the tree, Riley was contemplative, his eyes watching the movements of students in the quad with a cool, practiced eye. "Hey, babe." He reached over and squeezed Robin's knee, then asked her a frank question. "Why'd everybody get all hot'n'bothered over that thing?" Robin had seen, more than once, that there was a lot Riley didn't understand about the children of Earth-Prime that he went to school alongside. The question wasn't hostile - it was curious. 

 

- 

 

"I think you would know better than to trade in the school gossip mill," said Relentless with an easiness that Raina didn't quite buy. Under normal circumstances, she probably would have gotten booted out of the room at that - maybe gently, maybe with laps around the track. But it didn't seem like these were normal circumstances. "What have you heard?" she asked.

[alderwitch]

"Hhn?" Robin's soft noise was clearly an acknowledgement that she'd heard the question. It took her a few more moments to answer as she tried to find a way to put the issues the others had into some semblance of order. She shifted on the branch, drawing one denim clad leg up under her butt to get more comfortable in her spot against the trunk. Robin grimaced as the bark snagged over a thin spot of her jeans and ripped a small hole. One more to patch. Absently, her fingertips found the threads of the fraying denim to pluck at as she tried to answer Riley's question. "Well, everyone kinda had different things that torqued 'em over Archer's latest head game, but mostly kids are just frustrated, I think, that we can't ever do anything right in the Danger Room. I 'unno. It's just... it's messed up to present something without showing you how t'go about solving it."

 

Her breath huffed out in a soft sigh but it was clearly more the agitation of trying to put feelings into words rather than renewed aggravation over the scenario itself. "Like, so, I get that they want to toss us in and make us think and all but the heroes that made their call about not getting involved in Cuba and what have you - that choice they made isn't sacrosanct. Like, if you want to do the thought exercise then have it go all the way through. Let us go to Cuba and see what we do - and then have a talk afterwards about what WE thought we did and what the heroes did and why and then discuss what worked and what didn't. I could see that being a good learning experience but what Archer does... it's like he just wants us to doubt ourselves. They cut the scenario off the moment we agreed to act - we didn't even have a plan. And yeah, it could have blown up in our faces but its like... I dunno. Half the time, it seems like we're just being tested to see if we're to dangerous to be let out among the public. It feels too much like being a rat in maze, hoping that you'll get the cheese and not zapped. Does that make sense?" Robin paused then in what was really a rather long tirade that certainly showed the Fens native rampant mistrust for the adults in her life.

[Electra]

"If there weren't a problem, you wouldn't care what I've heard," Raina countered, leaning back against the wall and focusing on the older hero. "And if you know there's a problem, it's because you've been hearing the same things I have. Merlin looked Archer up, you know, he looked up all the teachers here because he is a delinquent with too much time on his hands." Merlin nodded at this assessment. "Archer really used to be something. And some of the first Claremont graduates say he was instrumental in making them into heroes. That he'd get right into the mix and work with them, that you'd never find a more dedicated teacher. Is he just a burnout case, you think? No partner, no kids, too old to be doing real hero work. It plays. But if somebody wanted to sabotage an entire generation of heroes from the start, you know there's only one place to do it." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Relentless frowned at that - and for a moment, Raina thought the young woman was about to say more. But the barriers between instructor and student were pretty high - and it looked like Relentless wasn't ready to reach over them any further today. "You'd better get out and enjoy the air, Sanderson. Too much time down in the Doom Room's not good for you. I'll clean up down here, all right?" 

 

-

 

"I guess," said Riley thoughtfully, not having considered Robin's idea. "Maybe that wasn't the point of't. I dunno." He frowned, then said, "It just...doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Nobody was really in danger here, and it doesn't bother me they thought our idea was stupid. They think a lotta important things are stupid here. I just don't like t' make a big deal outta it." He'd talked with Robin, a little, about Woodsman training - about how they started young on their 14th birthdays, working with rifles and setting traps, and how they killed their first Feral (Riley had used the steel hatchet he still wore) before they were fifteen. "Maybe they were testin' to see how well we take somethin' unfair."