Players:
Summary: Jericho calls four to his aide to lead select missions.
Date: June 14, 2020
Secret Missions
Rating: PG-13
The Future - The Underground - Meeting Room
One of the bigger tunnels has been turned into a meeting room for those who are plotting the next stab at freedom or the next sentinel attack. There are lights hanging from the pipes above and table in the middle of the area where people can stand around as there isnt really room for chairs. Papers and maps cover the table and there are boxes on shelves with information thats been gathered. This is the only place down in the mutant tunnels that has some electricity from a small generator that's charge via mutant powers and its used sparingly so that the Rebellion can gather information to make their next move.
Evening. Things have begun to fall into place in the right way. At least, in Jericho's eyes. He sits in the meeting room and waits. On the table are five pieces of paper. Folded. Stapled. He waits. He's called four people to meet him here. Three that he trusts. One he knows can just get the job done. He adjusts the patch on his eye as he waits.
While Robyn seems like the first to arrive, he's not alone. Pushing him along in what might come as a surprise to others is Volk. Dressed down into a hooded top instead of his usual 'work' attire, no visible weapons on him, the man appears almost monkish as the hood remains in place. The only giveaway are his naturally glowing eyes. Getting Robyn settled at the table, the man pulls his hood down and off before getting himself a chair a few places down. In the spirit of the meeting, he has his PDA unit back, and sets it on the tabletop.
It's been a long day for the redheaded mutant, and by the sound of things, looks to stretch longer still. Entering from a brief stop in the Underground to check on the hydroponics, Rashmi rakes a hand through her hair, eyebrow rising at the sight of the papers on the table. "…Well *this* will be an interesting meeting… Formal operational plans, sir?" Without waiting for a reply, she moves over to one of the seats, nodding a greeting to Volk and Robyn, tugging out a chair and lowering herself in to wait for the last to arrive.
Betsy literally steps out of one of the shadows, since it's one of the safest ways for her to travel about. Plus since the Crimson Dawn literally lets her move continents away it makes it easy for her to get supplies, such as whatever it is that she's got in the Styrofoam ice chest she has in her arms. "I knew this meeting was coming soon," she says, placing the box in the center of the table. "So I brought a few things from one of my secret stashes." She takes a seat and lifts the lid off the ice chest to reveal glass bottles of soda of a variety of flavors, sitting in a layer of ice cubes.
Robyn is wheeled in by Volk and his left hand is covered with a bandage with some blood and something black seeping a bit through. He looks around at the people in the room and nods. "So I guess you found something out Jeri? And after this meeting I wanna discuss something with everyone here as well." He wants to bring up Heather and what he mentioned to Rashmi as right now it's just an idea.
"I did. Two things actually. First, I'm sure there's a mole in our operation. Someone inside leaking our motives and strike plans to the other side. Second… MY mole in their employ has given me a few… imporant locations." He explains, looking to BEtsy's gift. He chuckles slightly but will let the younger go first.
Volk seems to just tilt his head a bit and looks not at Jeri, but at Robyn and Rashmi for a moment, before tapping out and passing to Robyn to read. He doesn't reach for the sodas either, though the telepath is given an uncommonly polite smirk and nod in reply. The text reads -That stands to reason. The mole may not even know they are a mole. Programmed sleeper agent so they can pass into the psi-net.-
Rashmi's eyes widen as the sodas are set out, a brief look of bliss flickering over her dark features. "…This… is a very happy day for my taste buds," she murmurs, nodding her thanks as she reaches out to snag one of the more-numerous flavors of soda. Twisting the cap, she looks between Robyn, Volk, and the note, and nods. "Quite a few new developments. I'll be following up on Robyn's report if you don't mind, sir."
"I've suspected that for years," informs Betsy, "But I wasn't about to say anything in case I tipped off the mole, at least until I was sure of who it was." She shakes her head and sighs, "I haven't found anything concrete. I have a small… very small… list of people that I know are trustworthy. People that have willingly let me dig around in their minds, and I've had Addison look at mine to make sure it wasn't me." Remembering that experience still sends shivers down her spine.
There's a coke in there, Robyn doesn't know the last time he's had one of those and he reaches out and takes one. "Betsy….you're a woman I'd go straight for right now." He can't resist but joke since she has coke. He takes a small sip, savouring it, before looking at the note from Connor and nodding. "I think we all know there is a mole…just…the mole may not even know they are a mole. Programmed sleeper agent so they can pass into the psi-net." He reads off of the note. The Betsy says what she does and Robyn runs a finger around the rim of the bottle. "Should we have Addison check us all out thoroughly as well?"
"It probably wouldn't hurt. I've let them rifle through mine, but I don't care. I only have one secret and that's not it. It's just some things I've seen that I don't want anyone else to see." Jeri says with a nod. He grabs a cherry coke. There may not be anything cranberry, but he'll deal with it. "That's why… I'm sharing what I've learned in pieces. Each one of you is getting one of the strike targets. I only know what one of them is. And we ALL know what that one is."
The talk of Addison going into his mental landscape makes Volk shift in his seat and he gives an immediate look to Betsy, a rather subtle shake of his head coming with the crease of his lips before finally he reaches in and takes out a vanilla soda of all things. Taking the edge of his hoodie, he wipes around the edges before popping the top, and wipes again before taking a sip. Despite the sudden tenseness around him he remains seated and watching Jericho.
Betsy catches Volks shake of his head and echoes it with one of her own. "I can vouch for everybody here, including Volk. He let me in the other night… something he even won't let Addison do… and he's clean." She purses her lips thoughtfully, "And there's a few things from that session we need to talk about as well." Nodding to deference to Jeri, she takes a soda of her own, cracks it open and lets him talk.
Robyn winces and shakes his head. "Shit Volk, I forgot." He doesn't want to force Volk into that it's just been a lot lately. Then Betsy says what she does and he nods. There's something that he's thinking but he just goes with it all. "Okay so lets get down to business, you have five strike targets? And you want us to…lead a team in?" He says sounding unsure but he wants to get things down to business and not let it wait.
Rashmi nods slowly, picking up her papaer and turning it over in her hands. At Robyn's question, the redhead looks up, quirking an eyebrow. "That'll be a lot of coordination, Robyn. Even if we're each leading a team in, or taking over main strike planning, we're going to want to have support from about twice as many fighters, just to keep casualties down. Either way, though. Is there a connecting thread to these targets, Jericho?"
"Yes. If they're taken down, they'll seriously weaken the sentinel force. And after they're all taken, find the point where they all intersect to finish the job. At least, that's what… my mole has said. They don't ever make things clear, because of potential interception. But they gave exact coordinates." He says, as he starts distributing the five pieces of paper. Each is different. Coordinates are all that are written on them. "How you proceed is up to you. But me, I'm planning a strike on mine, when I learn where it is. Someone… will have…" He sighs slightly. "Xavier's."
Volk picks up the scrap of paper and flips it open with one hand, looking at the coordinates for a moment, before finally he takes up his PDA, and brings up a coordinate tracking program. Looking up once at Jeri, he goes back to his work attempting to locate his target and situation.
Betsy takes the paper that's offered to her, and looks at the coordinates. It takes her a moment to memorize the coordinates. She closes her eyes and sighs. Xavier. "I'll be taking mine alone. I work better that way." She taps her fingers against the table thoughtfully. "We should all strike at the same time, to keep them from knowing what we're up to, to keep them from being able to consolidate any of their resources."
"Five targets, five teams… It's a nice thought, but I'm not sure that wouldn't stretch us far too thin in any one place." Rashmi's paper is opened, frowned speculatively at, and folded back up. "*Especially* if Xavier's is one of the targets. That's a short hop from Salem Center. And I'll admit… the idea of wiping that place off the map entirely is a nice thought. But without serious logistical support, it's a doomed operation."
"I was worried about the stretch as well. So do we split up the numbers we have or do we see about reusing people for this?" Robyn asks as he unfolds his player and looks at it for a while before slowly nodding and balling up the paper. He'll probably burn in once this is over. "Nothing is a doomed operation…there are ways to see about doing things just…well JEricho, how much time do we have?"
"That's where some of us go alone. I'm… taking mine on my own. At least for recon. If you have contacts outside of the Rebellion and the Redemption that are interested in helping, and yout rust them… use them." Jericho says plainly. "Robyn, if you need to scout, send Jordan. He'll do anything for you. And if he dies, he'll be back tomorrow." Cold, but true. "Go alone, or go in groups. Take strike teams if you like. Do what feels right. But if we can each do it… we can make a strike that'll cripple them. At least, according to Su… my mole." Jericho coughs. He almost gave away her name. "I would say a week or so before they realize we've been given information. I trust my mole. I don't trust them." He looks at his own, "Mm.. New Hampshire."
Quickly tapping on his PDA, instead of passing it over to Robyn, he instead pitches it towards Jericho, actually floating and stalling it's path in air before it settles before him, with the words glowing softly, -I'll take Domino and Arsenal if they're available. I can pay for them to. I've got a pipeline on some new supplies for you all. Ammo and weapons for Scourge, Med supplies for the rest, possibly some others depending on what's there. This will also get them out of he caverns for a bit. Mercs are making the rest uncomfortable, even if Domino was vouched as an X-person. They'll work for me, and follow orders.-
Rashmi nods quietly. "Good choice," she murmurs. "I'll definitely be taking Chloe with me, but, I'll need a day or so to work out more details. I might even have to ask you for transport, Volk," she says, looking up at the mercenary. "But anyway. There've been a couple of other things that bear noting, Jericho. Like, maybe even a way to stop the war before it begins."
Robyn is really quite and nods. "Jordan will be with me, and maybe I'll talk to Kael." He says quietly as he just plays with the balled up piece of paper. Then Rashmi brings up what she does and Robyn nods. "Yeah, I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you about it but Heather, Ahab's using Heather." He says as he waits for Rashmi to tell more.
Betsy nods at Robyn and Rashmi. "Yes. He's fracturing the timeline in doing so, as well. I don't think he realizes what kind of damage he's doing to it." She shakes her head, "I don't think he's the type that would /care/." She gives Rashmi a considering glance. "I'm not entirely sure using the same kind of ability to stop the war before it even began wouldn't cause the same kind of damage."
Unless someone went back to Maintain. If I could go back and stop them from killing my fam…" Jeri stops himself. "No. We need to protect what we can. But… How do you know he's doing things?"
Rashmi nods in Betsy's direction. "Volk was the one to alert Robyn and I… but apparently, Cam and Jeremy were never *supposed* to be Hounds. And awhile back, Heather had left a message at the drop where she used to leave our chess game moves; that Heather Brown is dead, and to kill her on sight. She's a confirmed Hound, Jericho, and apparently she's not a speedster; she's a *timebender.* Betsy confirmed how things were supposed to be… And Volk has memories of meeting Ahab ten years ago… *and Ahab calling him Volk.*"
Volk simply taps the side of his head, then makes a motion like opening a book, and motions towards Betsy. Sitting back, he floats his PDA back to his hands, and settles back to savor his drink for a bit longer.
"I've seen it," Betsy says flatly. "His memory, that is. It's nothing like mine. For me, Cam was /never/ a Hound. I was there when he just kind of popped out of existence. It damn near broke Dunstin since he got both sets of memories."
Robyn listens and still sips a bit on his coke. "Also I had the idea, with Heather, if she is the one hound we can capture maybe we can deprogram her some how and have her help us with time travel. You know she might be able to help us, even for her to get a somewhat normal life back. I know we've never been successful with figuring out how to deprogram a hound but we've never been so desperate."
"When it first happened ten years ago… When Cam became a hound I remember looking it up. The hounds have been around before. Twice. And twice hounds were turned back. Each time by a different person. Jean Grey. Rachel Summers. But… I couldn't find out more. The hounds themselves… Well…" Jericho shrugs. He doesn't know more than that.
For a moment Volk sits there, but then he reaches over and touches Rashmi's shoulder, before he then holds up a finger to forestall anyone else. Looking at Betsy, he taps the side of his head, and motions towards her once more. Then he relaxes back and waits…
Rashmi nods. "Well… that means there's precedent, at least. Related, Theo's shown up recently. Turns out, he's spent the last entire duration of the war holed up in a bunker, doing Sentinel research. This is good for us, for two reasons… well, three really. First, he has a fully equipped robotics laboratory, powered and wired. Two, he's doing research into using nanites to just basically destroy Sentinels without them able to form a decent resistance. Third… in a pinch, that gives us the facilities to stash thirty or forty refugees, if we ever get *really* screwed."
Betsy looks back at the mercinary and nods. "Heather's indoctrination isn't ike the others. She's still more self-centered than the others." Not her words, per se, but Volks. "He found her last night… and took her on. Something's changed. She's saved some children who were caught in the crossfire and Volk… made her angry. Angry enough to break the conditioning some." She gives the Mercenary another considering look before adding. "And if we can't break her free, there's one other person who might be able to do the same things she does."
Robyn listens and nods. "I really think that we need to let everyone know that we can that Heather needs to be captured not killed. We have to do what we can and hope that she's not too broken from her conditioning. I mean I don't know how horrible it is what Ahab does, I just know it's not pretty. And with Theo….can we get Betsy to do a mental scan?" Just to be on the safe side is what Robyn things. He then looks at Betsy as she says that last part. "Who else?"
"Who can?" Jeri asks, raising an eyebrow as he pockets his location. "And what do we need to know?" He says, finally sipping at his soda and just waiting to hear the rest.
Rashmi glances from Robyn to Betsy, then back to Jericho. "Should that fail, Jericho… there's another option—exceedingly remote and likely to fail, and a highly unpleasant one, but, an option just the same. If we can't turn her back to us… We could keep her under sedation at the lab, and try to find out exactly *how* her powers interact with time… reverse-engineer a method from studying her." Frowning, the redhead looks down, shaking her head. "It's not an option I'd prefer, sir. But either way, she'd be out of Ahab's ability to use, and that alone makes her capture worth nearly any cost." Blinking at Betsy, Rashmi furrows her brow. "Um… actually that's a good question, who else can?"
Giving Betsy a slight smile of thanks, Volk finishes off his soda and takes a breath, tapping a few more commands on his PDA, and examining the results, waiting for the telepath to speak up.
"Most likely, /he/ can," says Betsy nodding at Volk. "Sorry, luv, but they've got to know. Somehow his mind is wired to the Nexus, a kind of… central hub where all realities touch. Sure it's limited to all the other versions of himself, it also includes the /earlier/ version of himself. At the very least, I'm pretty sure I can work with him to send messages back to that person. At most we may be able to use his own power to send more than that."
"Most likely, /he/ can," says Betsy nodding at Volk. "Sorry, luv, but they've got to know. Somehow his mind is wired to the Nexus, a kind of… central hub where all realities touch. Sure it's limited to all the other versions of himself, it also includes the /earlier/ version of himself. At the very least, I'm pretty sure I can work with him to send messages back to that person. At most we may be able to use his own power to send more than that."
"For the most part, I'd prefer not to mess more with the past than we have to." Jeri says with a nod. He looks back and forth amongst them all. "For now, lets focus on the present. But… Volk? I want to talk to you soon. Before you go on your mission." He says, rising. "Thank you all for coming. I have… much to think on and plan. And, keep your plans for your own areas close.
Rashmi nods, rising from her chair and tipping the mouth of the bottle to Betsy. "Anytime, sir. And thank *you,* Betsy. I have missed this stuff so much… thanks."
Robyn looks at Volk for a bit and nods staying quiet. After tonight he has a lot to think about. "I think I'm gonna go and start making some plans." He says making sure to take the paper, which will be burned within three minutes of him being out of the room, with him. He gives Rashmi and Volk a look before turning to head out. He's also gotta talk to Jordan and maybe Robin or Kael.
