Meeting

[mystique]

Mystique quickly got the video link up to Emma's network and then sat back, flexing her fingers together as it connected.

Unlike Pyro, she'd had a year to reflect, plan, and was now running full speed towards the future. Maybe it would give him time to catch up. If he couldn't, then something else would have to be done.

Emma doubted him. So did a few others, she was sure. But so had the X-Men, and they learned to regret that. There was a day people doubted Raven Darkholme as well. Most of them were now dead.

She looked up as Pyro stepped into the room, greeting him with a muted sort of half smile.

[Pyro]

He nodded his head to her in return, an almost non-committal gesture. This was a good sign that he had fully composed himself. He'd called by the office on the way to pick up some of the printouts and aerial maps of the NovaTeX complex - and what he had gleaned on the Sentinel programme.

"I thought," he said, more to himself than to Mystique - but seeing as she was in the room anyway, he may as well run the idea past her - "that I'd open the whole thing up for group discussion: ask people what they want to do. I've done a lot of thinking and I reckon that storming in there isn't going to be the best strategy. I have a few ideas which I'll put to people, but the Brotherhood is THEIR unit."

He paced a little.

He did that a lot, she'd noticed.

Almost unconsciously, he loosed the smallest of small flames into his hand and passed it absently from one hand to the other.

[mystique]

"It's a good idea." she nodded. "We have a valuable team here, even if they're small."

Mystique watched him, as always difficult to read. She would see how much he already knew about the sentinel program, and how closely he'd listened to her when she brought up Frost International. The meeting wasn't the place to give him all the information, and she still wasn't sure he needed it. Most of that decision was up to Emma.

But then if Emma had wanted to make it, she wouldn't have given Mystique the disc.

The video window opened and she focused her attention on it. "Alright, Ms. Frost, I'm here." It was a different tone than on the phone. Mystique always had a public face for her more intimate friendships. "Can you hear alright?"

[emmafrost]

"Alright, Ms. Frost, I'm here. Can you hear alright?"

Emma looked up to the computer on the desk, the screen of which was now a video window. She was very grateful to be off-screen and out of sight as she quickly continued to button her blouse. When she got the buttons closed high up enough to cover her bra, she stopped and moved briskly into view of the camera. 'Screw it,' she thought to herself. What would a little extra skin hurt? She was covered.

She slid gracefully into her seat, eyes on the screen. "Perfectly," she answered with a warm smile to the familiar (and still beautiful) face on the screen. "I hope I find you well?"

As though she hadn't spoken to her five minutes before. Well, first, a lot could happen in five minutes. And second, there was no need to establish to the others how much they kept in touch. Emma couldn't see a reason such secrecy might be needed then, but it was impossible to know what might come in handy in the future.

[mystique]

Mystique looked at Pyro for a moment, then back to Emma. "Quite well actually. We have a larger team than I anticipated. Not everyone has joined us yet, so it might be a few moments."

She turned the screen a bit so Emma's video was facing more of the room.

"Emma you're familiar with Pyro, of course..." She turned to him again. "Ms. Emma Frost, of Frost International."

[Pyro]

"Emma you're familiar with Pyro, of course...Ms. Emma Frost, of Frost International."

"Ms. Frost."

John moved to stand in front of the screen and politely nodded to the blonde at the other end. Strangely enough, his eyes didn't instantly light with the same sort of appreciation that most males showed when they encountered her for the first time.

As John would have said, if anybody had asked, "I prefer brunettes."

"It's a pleasure to meet you - albeit virtually," he added and shot a quick smile. "I'm afraid I'm a little behind in my business paper reading, so you'll forgive my ignorance, I hope." He glanced over at Mystique.

"Mystique has spoken most highly of you," he said. "I am grateful that you have chosen to support our cause. My research has led me to believe that we're up against some considerable defences."

[deadman]

The stench of death followed Dead Man wherever he went, though his was almost sweet – somewhat gingery. It could’ve been how many bodies he consorted with, or could simply be an aspect of his mutant power – but there was no denying it's potency. The sweetness took the edge off of it,however, even if to some it only made it worse. He smelled good. He made death smell good. That thought alone troubled his companions in the past.

He strode into the meeting hall with his cane clanking on the concrete, his movement jerky and graceful – another juxtaposition that made up the bizarrety of his person.

He nodded to Pyro and Mystique, and offered a brief, stiff half-bow to Emma. He didn’t know who she was, but she was quite taking. So much bloodless white in her color, if only her skin had matched her perfect hair.

His cane was tucked under one well dressed arm.

[Jane]

The meeting room wasn't far from the fourth quadrant (if she took that to mean the beach outside the hangar doors), which was good - Jane didn't have to spend much time walking through hallways with the Dead Man. She definitely wasn't going to get used to him anytime soon.

Thankfully, the whole way she was able to put someone between her and the newest recruit - usually Cain, which was lucky, as he was huge and provided a better shield - so she didn't retch into a corner or anything, as she'd been tempted to earlier.

She slipped into the room quietly, sticking to the walls and not sitting down. She probably wouldn't have to stay too long, would she? After all, Jane wasn't anyone important yet - or possibly ever.

Though she wouldn't want to get stuck staying at the base all the time with Gill. Maybe she'd speak up once. Something like 'harumph' or 'oh yes, excellent idea.'

There was a blonde woman on the screen - very beautiful and thus very intimidating. Jane ducked slightly, and about a third of her face hid itself behind her hair.

[emmafrost]

Emma turned her piercing and yet inviting blue eyes onto Pyro as Mystique introduced him--as though his nervous fire-juggling hadn't already caught her attention and given her a satisfactory idea of who the young man was. She smiled warmly in greeting as he spoke. He certainly seemed very put together, very much...like a leader.

Fortunately, Emma did not have to simply rely on the often innacurate opinion which was one's first impression. She had spoken enough with Mystique to know that underneath the business-like mask he was sporting was a very nervous and very unconfident young man. However, as long as he kept the place of leader, she would play into it. As Mystique had said, after all, his ego ought to be bolstered. Emma knew better than anyone that a leader must have complete confidence in themselves before they can have confidence in any cause.

"My research has led me to believe that we're up against some considerable defences."

He paved the way smoothly to get right down to business, which Emma was more than happy to do. "Your research is correct," she said with a nod. "How familiar..."

She paused, if only for a moment, as another appeared in sight in the room Mystique and Pyro were in. Emma had been in meetings with businessmen who were, for lack of a more polite term for it, creepy. She had had to strike business deals with them and glean insider secrets from them, all of which required her to ignore the more slimy aspects of their personalities.

This was her saving grace when the creepiest of all creepy-looking men came jerking and yet gliding into the room. If there was ever any mind she never wanted to read, his was it. She masked all of this perfectly well, returning his bow with a nod and a smile before continuing what she had been saying to Pyro.

"How familiar are you with the sentinel project?"

Another figure moved into the room--this one much less unnerving than the last. Pretty, even. In a very...green way. She seemed nervous. Emma chose not to address either newcomer until introduced. If introduced.

[mystique]

Mystique watched Jane with cool eyes. The gaze tracked Jane's movement without pause. There was something twitchy and shy to the girl- something she despised seeing in women. Her reaction was usually somewhere between pity and disgust- this time was no different. Fortunately for Jane, those thoughts never made it past her eyes.

When Emma mentioned the sentinels, Mystique crossed her legs but showed no other sign of reaction. She hoped Emma wouldn't give too much away. Certainly not about the information she'd handed over to her before they last parted.

The thought flickered away as she continued to watch Jane, sizing her up with a calm expression.

[Pyro]

"How familiar are you with the sentinel project?"

"I'm as familiar as my low-level research has made me," John replied, after a pause during which he turned his thoughtful gaze on the arrivals. "I've spent the last twenty-four hours digging as deep as my rudimentary computer skills will let me - which I'm ashamed to say isn't all that deep."

He closed his hand, the small flame popping out of existence, and dug through his pile of papers.

"Of course, having said that, we have deduced that NovaTeX are actually in cahoots with the military. This led us to try to work out why which in turn led to us - that's Jane and me, by the way, the young lady over there with the touch of green about her, she was INVALUABLE - discovering that this Sentinel programme exists. We've established that it's headed up by Bolivar Trask, and we have seen a couple of rough schematics and mission briefs that helped us figure out what it is."

He began his ceaseless pacing.

"Super-armoured body suits with enhancements," he summarised, swiftly. "Not quite robotic; but piloted by a single human being who's quite literally plugged into the whole kit-n-kaboodle. Obvious questions are: what are the enhancements and what are the vulnerabilities and liabilities of the suits?"

He was uncharacteristically verbose, something that only really happened when he was enthusiastic about something.

[Juggers]

"It's a big tin man then," the Juggernaut cut in as he stomped into the room, "ya push it an it falls down, jobs a good'un." He parked himself heavily in one of the steel seats, which sagged alarmingly.

Python ambled in seconds later followed closely by a cigarette smoking fish. Well, not entirely fish. It had the arms and torso of a man but the tall, narrow head and goggle eyes of your average trout. He walked on wide, slapping feet that could be heard just about anywhere on the base if you kept quiet enough.

"Sorry I'm late," Python apologised, "had to wait for Gill here to extract himself from the security system." Gill barely left the security centre. Ever. He was virtually a base fixture. He monitored the cameras, kept an eye on the perimeter system, smoked like a chimney and spent a good amount of time hooked into Guild Wars.

Python smiled brightly at the video screen and the lovely blonde-framed face displayed. "Good morning," he said smoothly, "I have been remiss in my manners, my name is Python, I do all the hard work around here," he gave Pyro a sly wink before turning his attention to Mystique.

"And Mystique my dear, it has been too long, I must say you're looking radiant given the circumstances surrounding your, uh, departure."

Cain raised an eyebrow, "yeah, about that I ... " he started to say when Python shot him a warning glance.

[emmafrost]

"...she was INVALUABLE - discovering that this Sentinel programme exists."

Emma let her eyes glance to Mystique as Pyro turned to point out Jane. Clearly Mystique was letting him find things out for himself. Which was wise--he needed to build the skills if he was going to lead them all. Clearly, it wasn't as efficient as simply handing him all of the information straight from the source--namely, herself--but it would have to do. Besides, they didn't want him to have all the information the source did. No one had all of that information; Not even Mystique.

She smiled once again and murmured greetings as she was greeted by one who introduced himself as Python. She scanned the other two--her attention caught at first by the fish-looking man that Python called Gill. She had to wonder what his power was, but was fine with not knowing--almost as fine as she was not knowing the greasy-haired man who had walked in earlier. She looked over the huge man who clearly had some sort of super-strength. The Juggernaut, wasn't it? Him she remembered seeing on the news a few times.

Turning her attention back to the business after more introductions were made, Emma cleared her throat. "As of now, yes, they are very basic. The only thing that they have against mutants is being able to tell who is one, and who isn't." The way she put it might have welcomed a false sense of security. And she put it so very purposefully.

[mystique]

Mystique greeted all three of them with one of her elusive smiles, expression lightening. "Hello gentlemen." She looked at Cain for moment, an eyebrow lifting slightly. "Please, have a seat if you wish.."

She turned her attention back to Emma and Pyro's conversation. "Yes thank -goodness- for Jane." She smiled with a certain professional veneer at Emma's face on the computer screen. "Initially I wasn't anticipating them showing up, but they're being a bit too clear with certain facts. Given their complete lack of publicized government regulation at this point, we'll be running into more than NovaTeX's security."

She paused, lifting her chin a bit. "Have you been given any information as to whether or not they'll be showing in Baltimore?"

[deadman]

The Dead Man was a wooden doll, sitting stock still in his chair in what appeared to be an uncomfortable stature. His face expressed no discomfort, though, as he seemed to be lost in some deep thought.

He spared Gill a side glance, turning his head to regard the fish-man with unmoving red eyes. He seemed to muse on a thought, and then turn back to the screen.

“Giant robots now? Correction: Giant powered armor suits now. This should make things most interesting. It seems as if the casualty rate for this fiasco is going to be charming, if they send military vehicles to stop us. The area will quickly become a battlefield.”

No smile touched his lips, but his eyes were lighted with glee.

“Excellent.”

[Juggers]

"Yeah," Cain said conversationally, "we've been doin' alright 'ere, me an Pyro an Python. Jane's done alright by us muties too, fixed Pyro up good didn't she?" He looked directly a Mystique and then turned to look at John.

"How many tin men you reckon we gonna be knockin' down?"

Python cleared his throat, "more to the point, what sort of firepower are we talking about? I can't imagine the President sending in any heavy military hardware given his new, mutant friendly image."

Gill opened his expansive mouth and expelled an expanding cloud of smoke, "even more to the point," he said in his weird, hollow sounding voice, "what is the objective of this mission? Are you going to destroy all of the cure? The building? The Sentinels?"

He paused and took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Not that I'm going with you of course."

[Pyro]

John finally sat down and steepled his fingers under his chin.

"By my reckoning, there shouldn't be more than half a dozen or so. Each one of the damned things must cost a fortun - and even Trask's budget is going to be finite." He turned his attention to Gill. Gill had been a fixture of Genosha probably even before Magneto had got there. "The objective? I'm glad you asked me, Gill."

"I want rid of the Cure," he said, standing up again. He was never still, this boy. "I want to decimate NovaTeX's stocks. I also want to destroy all their research equipment, all their computers and any of their current store of chemicals. If that means destroying the building...so be it. It'll be interesting to see if we can destroy the Sentinels as well, but hey! If we're gonna go the whole destructive hog..."

He leaned forward on the desk and met the eyes of Emma Frost.

"How about destroying the X-Men as well while we have the chance?"

[mystique]

Mystique's eyes sparkled playfully at Juggernaut. They were just going to have to deal if she felt the need to double check Pyro's decisions on new recruits for a bit.

Sitting back quietly, she eyed Emma for a moment, and turned her pen in her fingers in a slow, precise movement.

She would likely end up explaining to Pyro the Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen theory. Hopefully before Baltimore turned into a fiasco.

Something was telling her she should have just gone in there with Emma and Dead Man as she had originally planned.

[Jane]

It was not so much a burning through her forehead as a freezing, really, though Jane really couldn't expect much less. Mystique had seemed purposefully, permanently frigid since she'd flounced onto the scene. Maybe it was because of the vague bubble of condescension that seemed to surround her or maybe it was because she actually knew what she was talking about, but something put Jane very much on edge.

Jane finally steeled herself (much more quickly than she might have otherwise, but she had managed to maneuver herself to the opposite side of the room from the Dead Man) and looked up as Mystique eyed her. But before she could give a bitch, please look, Pyro mentioned her to the woman on the screen and her attention was diverted.

"...This led us to try to work out why which in turn led to us - that's Jane and me, by the way, the young lady over there with the touch of green about her, she was INVALUABLE - discovering that this Sentinel programme exists."

One of her hands, which had been behind her back while the other was in her pocket, twisted under the sudden spotlight, but she didn't show any other reaction except for a brief smile at John. She hated having to keep her composure. It always felt wrong, even if it was more imposing than displaying everything you felt.

The Juggernaut, Python and Gill ambled in seconds later, though, after John wrapped up his monologue (or at least a section of it), diverting the group gaze.

"Yes thank -goodness- for Jane."

The bitch, please glare did actually come out that time. She couldn't help it.

"Jane's done alright by us muties too, fixed Pyro up good didn't she?"

Jane bit her lip to keep back a smile, not that it was very efficient. She pushed her hair back behind her ears, though, ready to face the room without a veil between her and the scary, scary freedom fighters.


"I want rid of the Cure," Pyro said, finally catching Jane's attention enough that she actually paid attention to the meeting. "I want to decimate NovaTeX's stocks. I also want to destroy all their research equipment, all their computers and any of their current store of chemicals. If that means destroying the building...so be it. It'll be interesting to see if we can destroy the Sentinels as well, but hey! If we're gonna go the whole destructive hog..."

There was a pause, almost practiced - theatrical.

"How about destroying the X-Men as well while we have the chance?"

Ooer.

[emmafrost]

It seemed as though too many people began to chime in at once. Emma reacted smoothly, though, focusing on each one and catching much what each had to say.

"How many tin men you reckon we gonna be knockin' down?"

Emma looked from Mystique to Juggernaut, answering both of their questions at one time. "No one that I have met with has had even the slightest bit of unsure knowledge that the sentinels will in fact be stationed at NovaTex, awaiting our arrival. However, they were created to capture mutant criminals, and it seems likely that Trask and his forces would jump at their first chance to show the beasts off to the public."

Then listening to John's plan--which sounded to Emma like 'I'd like to trash the place like it's Halo III'--Emma tilted her head just enough to the side to cause her white-golden hair to slide in front of her shoulder. "Then there is nothing inside that might be of use to us? No information on any other storage locations of the cure, or anything of that nature?" She wondered if he had researched this or completely overlooked it.

She chose to say this, and not to acknowledge his comment about the X-Men, though she immediately wanted to remind him that this was about getting information, destroying the cure, and possibly sizing up the sentinels, and that any petty revenge he wanted to take on his ex-friends had better not undermine these things. But she reminded herself that he held the title of leader, and that the best way to go about this was to save his ego and the mission by simply putting the thoughts out there for him.