The Call To War (Pre-mission briefing!)

[Bastille Amtrum]

Bastille would appear in the imperators box, or the emperors seating area in the lower two tears of the coliseum. Her red eyes looked on at the people with a bored expression, and she kept her distance for now. Along with her came a large black lion, its mouth opened in a loud yawn as it took its seat next to its leader. Bastille was dressed oddly. Instead of her usual garb that she wore into almost every scenario with its medieval stylistic features, she was wearing something even more....elaborate. Dressed in the ancient egyptian style, complete with lion mask- Bastille took a seat on one of the stone chairs there, kicking up her feet and setting down next to her the swords she usually carried. She couldn't very well wear them, they didn't exactly match. Setting the mask to the side she was wearing a plain silver circlet underneath with a cobra coiling in up in the front.

She would watch from her seat quietly, not exactly moving to intrude on any going conversation but instead watching from her point in the auditorium. This was her husbands show, and he was his own war god. She could sit back and happily be amused by the interactions taking place.

Ironically for once, she was barefoot. Dont worry, her boots along with the rest of her usual apparel was well within reach. Her lion laid down fully and Bastille reached down to pet it behind the years. It had taken her all of six months to tame the thing- she was glad it was finally listening. She had the claw marks to prove it- but that for another time. For now she sat on watching, poised and ready to snicker at any juicy drama- oh please she was hoping there would be some. It'd been far too boring as of late.


[[ooc; photo credit to Shoomlah on Deviantart.....because she is beautiful]]

[David B.]

David eyed Mathew, curious.

But said nothing as the man laid out his battle strategy.

[Marcus Prasad]

Mathews responce caught Marcus off guard for a moment.
After picking up the slack for both the civil war AND the defence of Fullerton.....

"Well. Wouldn't mind another chance to show you up again."
He replied. A friendly bite accompanied by an impish grin.
Looking down at the table Marcus finally noticed the pieces which appeared symbolic, each in their own way.
He had to surpress a snort of amusement at the sight of the werewolf piece. Which he guessed represented himself.

So the earth dragon had a plan for him, eh?
Only thing he could do right now was wait and see what it would be.

And figure out how to avoid getting himself killed by it.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"We'll see I suppose."

He said with a smirk as he placed the piece that represented Marcus inside with him. Next he put in Blaze's piece inside as well.

"Levi will be leading the apprentices and a small force behind the compound to force them to split their attention between both points. That will allow us to move in underground and reach the heart of the compound with minimal resistance."

He glanced at Bastille and frowned. If he had his way she would stay home with the babies. Just in case things didn't work out well. But he also knew that if he ordered her to stay home she would just sneak out.

"You coming or going?"

Because he needed to know if he needed to place her or if he could do this without worry.

[David B.]

Davids eyes came up to Mathew as the man took his piece- He knew that was just how Amtrum thought. They were all pieces on a board. Pawns to him. He wanted to rule the world and he didn't care who he had to use or twist to get it done. He fooled so many...but David always saw him for what he was.

Still, he couldn't deny that the man had a knack for planning.

Having David on the inside, with him, was probably the best road to take. At least, in Davids thought, Barker was likely to have his strongest generals in the center of the compound, around him. Mathew could handle one of them, and David would take Barker himself.

At least, thats how David wanted it. But in the end, he didn't care who killed the madman, as long as he was dead.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien looked over the board, all the pieces were being put into place. The arrival of Marcus brought a smile to his face, but somehow, he had known of his presence for a while. As the Alpha approached to mirror Delilah, he felt slightly out of place, being in the forefront of his commanders. A few days ago, it would have felt so wrong that he would have immediately jumped back behind them. Now, he felt he needed to be there. For them to show their support, it would be an awful insult for him to back down.

There was no backing down.

He didn't have any qualms about taking the outside flank while Marcus, Mathew and David took the main front. The decision to put Delilah on the opposite flank was questionable, because of her skills she might be suited for a closed environment... At least a little more than Marcus was. Even though his Qi was extremely powerful, it was not biased. His comrades would get caught in the blast too.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

Rai stayed silent through the going ons but continued to watch and observe the surroundings of the room, so many faces, some of them friends, some he had met, and yet there were a few he hadn't even met before. This was going to be a big shin dig thats for sure. I wonder what will happen next...

[Kyrie Blaze]

"I have a question. And this is nothing personal at all; I have faith in the capabilities of our forces combined. I simply wish to understand the reasoning. Why leave Delilah on the field and take Marcus? Is it a figurehead ploy to keep their attention..?"

Kyrie's gaze, clear and serene, slid to Mathew from his board of chess pieces set out, to look from everyone, to him. Questioning with the intent to understand.

[Marcus Prasad]

"I'm not gonna lie, as much as I don't like admitting ANYONE being better than me at anything...."
A Pause here as Marcus shot a wink and a grin in Delilahs direction.
"You want a cold assassin on the inside and a Rampaging beast on the outside. I could render Barkers forces outside into Fat vapors within seconds then breach the walls without breaking stride By the time The Firsts already shredded through Barkers best and Brightest."

Knowing so little, Marcus wasn't sure whether or not his pride should be feeling stung or not.

Either way, he knew a battlefield was certainly a waste of the woman's true talents if HALF the stories he had heard were true.

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew shook his head.

"No, we want someone that can rally troops and a strong leaders on the outside. Barker's going to have Generals acting as guards if I am right. People like Mitsoumi. And Generals on the outside as well."

He started to place more generals for Barker's forces on the map.

"I am aware that Delilah is a skilled fighter. But when Barker starts playing trump cards we need to make sure we have enough force of will outside to stop our men and women from scattering. Delilah is better at that than you are Marcus."

He shrugged.

"My guess of how the outside battle will go down is we will surge for an early victory until the generals and some of the tastier freaks take the stage. They will likely rip through our wave here."

He points at the map.

"And without a strong general in both battle and leadership the flank will falter and allow the bulk of Dragon forces lead by Olesya to be hit on two sides."

He paused.

"Three if the new Dragon proves himself to be unfit for his title."

Way to make his test endanger everyone. Good job Mathew.

[Your Mom~]

Olesya had been listening attentively up until this point, though felt the need to speak up for a second.

"Depends on where the concentration is. If more of the people are on the inside, you'll want to be able to upset them there. Delilah is a great tactician. She is a good asset for a wider playing field."

[Marcus Prasad]

Aaaaaand STUNG!

The man's nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed as he felt heat rise to his cheeks, prompting him to bite the insides of them and play an old Mantra in his head to calm himself. Those were fighting words. The kind that got the fires of Competition stoked to a volcanic level within the man.

'Not as good, huh?'

"Then I'm what? A Meat shield for you guys on the inside then?"
His words were spoken at a casual volume, but the heat behind them could melt butter.

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew gave Marcus a level look.

"Yes. Because I need you as a human shield. You caught me. Because when I think you I think defense."

Sarcastic thumbs up.

[Marcus Prasad]

"A Clumsy Deflection, you KNOW what I meant."
The man growled, eyes growing flinty and hard.
"My Point still stands. Since you guys are having so much fun pointing out what I'm supposedly NOT good at, then why not explain what I AM good at and how that relates to my role in this shit show?"

[Mathew Amtrum]

"You want to know what you are good at? You are good at fighting. I have fought almost every single person in this room, and I think you are one of the most skilled fighters I have ever faced. Especially when you are out matched."

Straight eye contact.

"Delilah is good. She is damn good, and impressive. And she can lead. Which is why she is slotted where she is. And I think your biggest strength is how you pull through when you are against someone that should just turn you to paste. Now do I need to keep jerking you off or can we move on?"