tushanshu_logs | [OPEN] You can rebuild or conform

Entry tags:

[OPEN] You can rebuild or conform

Characters: Tony Stark and whoever else wants to show up. ANYONE? People. If they have seen this post and want to drop by, they can, or if they've been told by a friend, etc.
Date: backdated to August 19th
Location: Metal Sector
Situation: Assembling some Avengers and anyone else who wants to discuss Malicant's evil schemes. And just general collaboration efforts from Camp Stark.
Warnings/Rating: None, I hope? Shenanigans, maybe.

[Plenty of people probably ran into Iron Man flying through the Metal Sector, and if they know him, the invitation might remind them of Tony Stark throwing a house party. But it is not a party. It is in his suite, though, which is thankfully two floors so he can make an announcement without shouting across the room. He says in the suit for that part, because it's more impressive in the suit. What he says is probably somewhat expected. That there are plenty of trained individuals on the turtle, some of them full time heroes in their world, and it's their responsibility to do whatever they can to prevent general public disaster.]

Mally's made his first move. I know this isn't our backyard, but I hope we're all big enough to pull together despite minor details for the good of the community. Because while we're here, it is our backyard.

[The rest he lays out in his reasoning for the meeting: there are new people in and out routinely, and while they can keep warning people about the do's and don't's, they can't guarantee there won't be problems. Malicant already made it clear he's planning on pulling something, and while they could individually try to hash out a response whenever something happens, if they get cowed by his tactics and avoid talking on the network, they'll only give him openings. So they should have some sense of solidarity. They need to count on each other even when communication fails. Having a second line of defense and response set up in advance is just practical planning. Speaking purely from his own experience, of course. He's shown interest in the eggs, so the question is what are they going to do about it? All split up and pretend it's not a problem or that they don't know each other?]

I'm not asking anyone to fight. If we can work together, I'm actually hoping to keep the people who don't want to be stuck with it out of that part of the drafting we've ended up in.

[Here he shoots a look to some familiar faces. Just a quick glance, but those who have expressed avoidance and the kids attending get a little of the gesture.]

No unnecessary risks. If we pull together and act smart about this, we won't need them. But we start by working together first.

[That said, he doesn't keep anyone who isn't interested.]

[OOC: The idea here is generally to mingle and advance some CR. If you want to go between threads and chat or have shenanigans, that is fine. Tony is going to discuss serious planning on two fronts. The first is mainly wanting to coordinate a network for getting heroes to emergency situations in groups, just in case they need to do something and the network is down or they can't get to a console. The second is more selective and insular. Tony wants to discuss the meat of Malicant's greeting. Basically, that Malicant has confirmed he's there (and was not physically before) and therefore might be tracked. Also what they may be "missing" according to him. Otherwise, this log is open to use for all the CR.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It shouldn't matter if he can read what we say. If we have a system in place, he'll still have to make sense of it. And if we talk the way we're supposed to, we'll be able to circumvent his actions across the consoles like any other communication breach.

It's not an all-or-nothing situation. We still have a good chance of acting when we need to, but we need to cooperate.

God forbid we trust each other to have gatherings where we talk face-to-face. [A wry sort of smile crosses Shepard's face at that.]

I've always made it a habit to talk to the people under my command. Builds a sense of camaraderie that you don't get otherwise. Trust is earned, but everyone deserves to be given a chance.

God has nothing to do with it. I get the feeling people here are just used to being on their own. Maybe it's part of the targeting system for whatever brought us here, or maybe it's just a fluke. We do seem pretty bad at it though.

[Tony returns the smile with a little more humor than exasperation.]

But that just means we've got to push past it. Is anyone from your world here?

I suppose I could be the fluke. Wouldn't be the first time. [She smiles, but it's a little sad, and she shakes her head.] I'm the only one. Maybe that makes it more of an uphill battle for me, but I've had plenty of those, too.

If you're the fluke, we're all in trouble. Your ideas are what we need. We can't do this all on our own.

[He's becoming more convinced of that the more he sees of everything. Sometimes he's not the best team player, but he is practical.]

Well, Commander, maybe we should consider putting together a squad for you. Although it might not be as big as you're used to.

A squad, huh? [She has to smile faintly at that. Deja vu, or something. Didn't she just finish putting together a team? Maybe, but it's kind of the story of her life.] I'm pretty adaptable. My last team was a core of twelve. The one before that was six.

Someone has to be the leader. Why not the one who wants it most? [He's just saying. She has the ability and the desire, so she deserves the chance in his professional opinion.]

How about it, Commander? What do you think our odds are?

I'll do whatever I can to help, no matter what.

[She has to smile a little, though.] I usually actively avoid thinking about the odds, though. In my experience, get enough good people working together, odds don't matter too much.

That's pretty optimistic. I can see why you'd be a good leader. Someone has to believe in success against all odds. If only we could get more people to think that way.

[Which is the hard part, really. But he's going to say that like it's not a problem. Attitude is everything. He knows they are struggling, but part of this meeting is to encourage a good attitude toward each other.]

Optimistic, or maybe a little crazy, depending on your perspective, I guess. [She smiles faintly.] So what are these avengers, anyway, and what are you avenging?

Maybe a little of both. It's not a bad thing. [He's definitely met worse crazy.] The Avengers? That's the name of my team. Where I'm from, we're kind of superheroes.

[No easy way to say that.] We don't really "avenge", just protect like everyone else. The name's just an early decision that stuck.

Kind of superheroes? Is that your professional assessment? [If anything, Shepard just looks vaguely amused - particularly at the idea that anyone would call themselves a superhero - list it as their occupation, or whatever. It's one part of being here she's never quite wrapped her head around.]

Okay, we are superheroes. Professionally, we do what the police can't do. In a lot of cases, what the military can't. We just happen to have the training and advantages that give us the advantage.

[He senses Shepard's skepticism and smiles.]

It's not as weird as it sounds.

Sounds pretty weird. I mean, I feel like I should be a little offended at the idea that the military and police can't do their jobs to such an extent where you're from that civilians - no matter how powerful - feel like they need to step in.

[She's smiling vaguely though - she's not really offended, just kind of curious, maybe concerned.] I mean, having abilities is one thing, sure, but that's not the same as actually training for combat.

Things get weird. Sometimes it's weirder than the local police can handle, and sometimes it's beyond military regulation. We're not just civilians. I work with the government whenever I can...

[He can't actually dispute the training part of her point, though. While many of the others were trained and have professional experience, Tony is still just Tony. His training was pretty much restricted to on-the-field experiences.]

They do a good job, but sometimes weird takes on a whole new level of meaning. You need to throw some weird back at it, and that's where we come in. It's worked out for the most part.

I get weird. I even get having to work outside the usual parameters, sometimes.

[She scratches at the back of her neck absently.] That's sort of what my job was, back home. They made me a Spectre. We can work outside the law if we have to. I admire people trying to do good, though most of my experiences with organizations that don't answer to anyone have been pretty bad. Even when I've had to work with them. [She's not assuming that Tony or his avengers are bad; she's just stating a fact. Cerberus was supposed to be a protector of humanity, but everything about it got corrupted.]

It's no different than organizations that belong to the government. We just have a little more freedom to move.

[Tony smiles, making it clear that he's not bothered by her opinion on the matter. He's not even entirely in disagreement, and the way his eyes cast around the room distractedly suggests that the topic is one he's not completely decided on. They do good and that's all that matters, but sometimes those lines make it hard to work. Everything has it's pros and cons.]

We answer to someone. We all answer to the people we protect... and each other.

[They aren't perfect. Tony recognizes that, and he's willing to accept that not everything goes the way they would like it to. Shepard isn't wrong about free agents. Still, he believes in the team.]

Some just need a few more lines to keep them in check than others. But that's why we need both types of heroes. Right?

Maybe - though I'd still rather see civilians helping out in non-combat roles, if you know what I mean.

[She tilts her head a little at him, quirking her eyebrows.] Whatever lines may or may not be in place.

Yeah. Me too. And I do. I mean, I also help outside of combat... I've done non-combat things.

[Yeah, that was smooth.] It's just that sometimes we're needed. But I respect your position too, Commander. Cooperative effort.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[OPEN] You can rebuild or conform

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject