Catch-All for Operation Get Our Stuff Back

[highprofilerichkid]

Characters: Tony, Sokka, Valdis, Gene, Cain and YOU
Date: December 12 onwards
Location: The Hotel
Situation: Tony is pissed about SI falling into kedan hands, and more levelheaded people have to talk him out of doing something stupid. Once sense and discretion have prevailed, it occurs to Tony et al. that the foreigners might be able to more rapidly regain some leverage in Keeliai if they worked together to befriend/infiltrate the gangs, especially the three major families. Devious plotting ensues.
Warnings/Rating: None so far


[1 - the common room of the Hotel - December 12]

Tony returns from his meeting with Zanru after less than two hours, and he is seething. Sokka had asked him about the status of his job at Stark Industries, and Tony had promised to go find out right away (he'd put off meeting with the new "boss" of SI long enough already). The meeting had not gone well. To put it mildly.

Now he's back at the Hotel, looking for Sokka, to deliver the bad news. And poor Sokka is about to get an earful.

[2 - around the Hotel - the following days and weeks]

Tony had - miraculously - been talked down from teleporting his entire lab and all its contents out of SI and permanently alienating the Metalworker family. A longer-term strategy of insinuating themselves into the families' good graces had been suggested, and Tony, grudgingly, had acquiesced.

Since then, word has been getting around. Anyone who hears about that discussion and wants to ask Tony about it or offer their help should be able to locate him pretty easily around and about the Hotel. That's where he's spending most of his time, after all, since he is currently unwelcome at SI.

[3 - Make your own starter!]


[ooc: the initial discussion will be closed to Tony, Sokka, Valdis, Gene, Cain, but anyone who wants to have their character hear about it second-hand is welcome to post a thread here. You can request a thread with Tony or any of the other original conspirators, but it isn't necessary - anyone can thread out anything related to this plan in this log.

Keep in mind that this is not (currently) a conspiracy to depose the families or destroy the gangs or take over Keeliai - merely an attempt to organize the foreigners so that they can pool information and coordinate their negotiations with the gangs without making the kedan more distrustful. However, this is supposed to be on the DL, so if your character accidentally or intentionally lets the plan slip to the kedan, expect there to be IC consequences!

The ooc plotting post for Operation Get Our Stuff Back can be found here.]

Comments

1 - closed to Sokka, Valdis, Gene, & Cain

[highprofilerichkid]

Unbelievable, [Tony snarls, pacing in front of Sokka.] They've kicked us out! All the foreigners! They're using our labs and offices, working with our equipment, and that Zanru woman who thinks she's the boss made me wait an hour just so she could tell me to fuck off! And forget getting our jobs back - my name is on the building and they wouldn't even hire me to sweep the damn floors!

[He looks like he wants really badly to punch something. Unfortunately there's nothing in reach that his Extremis-enhanced strength wouldn't break, and since he is currently UNEMPLOYED, he has no money to pay Anton back for repairs.]

[theideaguy]

[For the moment, Sokka is a mixture of being just as upset as Tony is about the lack of a job thing and "please don't direct your punches at me thank you." So in this, at least, there is no sarcasm or angst sent Tony's way; all of that can be given to the kedan.]

All of it? They're using all of it? Even my little corner? [Well, isn't that something.] You know, if those guys are just going to come in and take over Stark Intergalactic, [yes, the name has stuck.] at least have the respect to either not make you wait an hour, hire you back even as a worker, or at least change the name!

[highprofilerichkid]

[It's very unlikely you're as upset about this as Tony is, Sokka. Tony's anger management issues are pretty spectacular.]

After everything we did for them - we got kidnapped from our universes, and as far as we know we're stuck here, and they made us fight Malicant, and... and they think they can just waltz in and take all our stuff while we're trapped in the Dreaming fighting their battle, and not give us anything in return except a boot in the ass?!

[It's unclear if he's actually responding to Sokka or just continuing his rant where he left off. He's still pacing furiously, and his voice is raised enough that it can probably be heard in adjacent rooms.]

[theideaguy]

[Okay. That's a completely fair point. Sokka is still upset about it. There goes his science dream job.]

No kidding! I mean, do they know just how crazy our lives have been since we got here? I'm still in the middle of fighting a war back home... and apparently one I help win!

I mean, what do they expect us to do if they're not going to give our jobs back? I mean, it's not like we're made out of juulan here!

[Sokka for the most part thinks he's contributing to the conversation, but clearly it's only having the effect of goading Tony on.]

[highprofilerichkid]

Starve to death, it sounds like, [Tony answers bitterly.] Now that we've solved all their problems for them, I guess we're just inconvenient.

[He narrows his eyes.] But if they can just take whatever they want from us, there's no reason I can't do it too, is there? It'll be a whole lot more inconvenient for them if I go and take back all my stuff and start up my own company and put them out of business.

[wrathfulkhan]

[Ah, yes. The telltale sounds of Tony Stark having a complete tantrum.

Gene loves his boyfriend, but holy fucking shit is he immature sometimes.]

I take it that your meeting did not go as planned, [he drawls, striding in.] And if you yell your plans much louder, Zanru will hear you clear from the Metal sector, and counter you. [While his words are chiding, his attitude is pensive. Zanru refusing to hand over Stark's assets could have been expected, especially if Tony had gone in with an attitude like...well, like this.

In his life, Gene has dealt with setback after setback, and while he understands the desire to pitch a screaming hissy fit after a setback of this magnitude, he plays a long game. It had been that, or die under Zhang's 'care'.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony's mood visibly improves as soon as Gene walks in, though... his sudden shift in temper is not necessarily a good thing.]

Gene! You can help me teleport stuff, right? [He frowns thoughtfully.] We don't have anywhere to put things right now, but there should be plenty of room to set up a lab in the Palace once we've explored it and cleaned it up...

[theideaguy]

[Sokka really hasn't had the opportunity before to interact with Gene much before now, so his entry into the room is a little surprising. He quickly glances back and forth between Tony and the newcomer, more to Tony to get a reading off of him to know if this is a conversation that should continue with him, though given that Gene seems to already know about the whole thing already given Tony's raving, well, it's too late for that. Besides, Tony seems happily comfortable with him here, so there's that too.

[While Sokka is indeed very upset by the whole ordeal (because, after all, this was one of the happier parts of Sokka's life on the turtle), everything starts to quickly shift with Tony's new thoughts and his possible plans. In some regards, though angry, he's much more reluctant to just go in there guns ablazing. Especially since Sokka's never really fired a gun before.]

Whoa whoa whoa, time out here. You want to just go in there and steal our stuff back? [Granted, Sokka's not really out anywhere NEARLY as much as Tony is, not even by a long shot. But given that this new leader of Stark Industries seems to be a big deal... and that the foreigner collective isn't exactly the most loved group of people on the shell, well...] Hey, I'm all for fairness, and I'm not actually opposed to thievery when the odds are in our favour, but this isn't the most, ah, circumspect idea you've come up with, Tony.

[wrathfulkhan]

I could, [Gene agrees. It's certainly within his capabilities. But...he nods to Sokka.] I won't.

Unless we've decided that we really want to make ourselves pariahs. Like it or not, this place changed without us. The structure of power changed. We could gut the labs right from under Zanru's nose...if we want to give the kedan any more reason to distrust us. We do that, we burn every chance we have at a working relationship with the new masters of Keeliai.

2

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis had been trying to do odd jobs for kedan who were unaffiliated with the major families. Mostly because he was still mildly annoyed about the fact the hospital was basically Snake territory. It was enough to make a man go back to mercenary work... which he was considering, since it paid better, but would mean knowing the complicated web of alliances and grudges since he couldn't outrun his problems here.

Damn that.

But he'd heard that some kid was trying to put together an attempt to consolidate power, so he went looking for Tony.

/shows up fifteen days late with Starbucks

[highprofilerichkid]

If someone is looking for Tony, they might want to check the Hotel's kitchen, where he's sitting on a stool at the counter, examining the dismembered remains of a toaster. He's got a notebook next to him, and is diligently copying the sigils on various components of the magically-modified appliance. He appears to be quite absorbed in the task.

as long as you brought enough for everyone...

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis cleared his throat, to give Tony time to put down tools and not trigger any magical accidents. "Heard you were the go-to person for getting all us Foreigners on the same page."

[highprofilerichkid]

"Huh?" Startled, Tony looks up and turns around. "Uh... Where'd you hear that?"

Oh, shit, what has he gotten himself into? Lesson learned: never, ever vent in a semi-public space. Because it might end up with you becoming one of the ringleaders of an accidental secret gang. Somehow.

"I mean, I guess I, um... maybe? What do you need?"

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis shrugged. "Around. I'm not exactly the sort to organize people, but it needs to be done. especially given that that's how the kedan operate."

[highprofilerichkid]

"Yeah, that's what Valdis and Gene and Sokka say." Tony shrugs and smiles a little. "Go Team Foreigner, right? The whole thing was their idea, really. Valdis has had some dealings with the Snakes, and I need to get back into SI... It makes sense to talk with each other about what the gangs are up to. If anybody learns anything interesting, maybe we can use it to our advantage."

He spins around on his stool so he's fully facing Zelgadis, putting aside his pencil and notebook for the moment. "So, what's your angle in all of this?"

[gathersnomoss]

"I'm a Foreinger?" Zelgadis said. "And our options either seem to be individually affiliate with one family, at a disadvantage, or make it clear that we have at least some strength in numbers, but are willing to play ball."

[highprofilerichkid]

"I mean, have you dealt with any of the gangs yet? Do you know anything about how they operate? Before we make any big moves, we need to do some information gathering, figure out what we have that we can negotiate with. Information or skills that they need, or anything we can use to play them off each other."

2 - Open to anyone who Mike might suddenly appear behind.

[michaeljangelo]

[Mike is in the building. He's sulking through the hallways using any and all poor sightlines and shadows to his advantage. Whether you noticed him or not really depends on how well fortified where you are is, and if it could be easily breached by someone with the tech understanding of a layman from 1986.

Choose wisely.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony knows he shouldn't be doing this. Gene would be furious with him if he knew, and if he gets caught he'll be in even hotter water with the Metalworkers than he is already. And with the foreigners, too, for that matter.

But he won't get caught.

He's got the armor's stealth mode on, and every sensor in his suit is pulled up on his HUD. He could pick up a fly sneezing from half a mile away; there's no way anyone's going to be able to get the drop on him. Besides, he's not doing anything nefarious, really. He'd just wanted to scope out some warehouses that SI owns. He wants to get a better sense of where the business stands, financially, and what resources and tech they've got stockpiled. Just harmless curiosity. Nothing wrong with taking an interest in the well-being of his former company, right?

He's just doing a perimeter sweep, at first, checking out how many guards there are, what the security's like, that sort of thing. He's coming around the back of one of the buildings, sticking to the shadows despite the suit's invisibility, when he notices one door that's slightly ajar.

The temptation is too much to resist. Double-checking that there are no guards nearby, Tony pushes open the door and slips inside.

This building isn't a big open warehouse: he's looking down a long, dimly-lit hall with several doorways, and periodic gaps where more halls branch off. It's probably mostly storage rooms and some offices for maintenance staff. His sensors pick up some movement a few halls down, and, assuming it's a guard, he almost ducks out again. But he hesitates when he notices that the movement is slow and irregular - almost like someone else is creeping through the building, trying to avoid being seen.

Interesting. Could it be a kedan from a rival gang? Is it possible he's stumbled onto a case of industrial espionage? Curiosity gets the better of him again, and Tony zooms down a different hall (he's hovering on very low-power repulsors, to avoid making any sound with his footsteps), trying to loop around and sneak up on the other person from behind.

When he gets to the hall where he'd picked up the movement, he slows, peeks around the corner, and sees... Mike?!

He flies up behind the turtle and decloaks.] Mike? [he hisses, keeping his voice as low as possible.] What are you doing here?!

[michaeljangelo]

[Mike, who is cautiously crawling along the ceiling as ninja from time to time are wont to do, very nearly falls from said ceiling at the sound of his own name.

Being said behind him.

By someone he had no idea was there in the first place.

Dirty pool, man. Dirty pool.

At least he doesn't yelp like he normally would, so he's got that going for him.]

clearly not being ninja enough...

[Wait...is that just the robot or is Tony actually in there? Mike isn't entirely sure, what he is sure of is that this has got to be one of the more awkward conversations he's ever had.

And that's saying something.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Ha ha, Mike, very funny.]

Seriously, man, [Tony continues in a whisper.] What are you doing here? If either of us gets caught... God, we are going to be in such deep shit.

[He nervously runs another scan, but doesn't pick up any signs of anyone else nearby.]

[And, somewhat belatedly:] ...And how are you climbing the ceiling like that?

[michaeljangelo]

[He's a laugh riot!]

What do you think I'm doing here? I'm ninja'ing.
Someone took something of mine, and I'm going to find it.

[Mike shifts slightly, redistributing his weight.]

I could tell you but I'd have to kill you. And...we're only in deep shit if we get caught, which we won't, so stop worrying about it.

[highprofilerichkid]

[Yeah, Mike, sure. But whatever; Mike's secret ninja powers don't really concern Tony right now.]

What are you looking for? How important is it? I guess I could help you look, but...

[He is worrying, despite Mike's reassurances. Two people are a lot more likely to draw attention than one, especially since Mike can't turn invisible like Tony. And he definitely had not snuck in here planning to pull of some kind of heist.

He is starting to question the wisdom of this little stunt - which is a big deal for Tony, who rarely questions the wisdom of any of his actions.]

[michaeljangelo]

Someone took my cousin's sword while we were napping.

[There's an edge to his voice that typically isn't there.
Leo/Leonardo's sword was taken from the suite he was sharing with Don.
Mike wants it back, and he really doesn't care who he has to go through to get it.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Yikes. And Tony thought he was salty about the changeover in Keeliai. For a guy who's literally an overgrown turtle, Mike can make a pretty scary face.]

So, that was a, uh, special sword, then. Did you get intel that it was here?