Kevin Sydney (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xp_changeling) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
xp_logs2025-01-04 06:33 pm
xp_changeling) wrote in xp_logs2025-01-04 06:33 pm
Operation: We'll Always Have Paris - Log 2
X-Force meets for a full meeting regarding the situation and the plan for tomorrow night in Paris.
Snow Valley’s conference room was packed, especially since it really needed to accommodate the majority of the team. Tucked into the corners were visitors Hope Abbott, Sue Storm, and Christian Kane, who sat next to Emma Frost, arms crossed and eyes flitting from face to face, no doubt storing them away in his vast mental rolodex of names and faces. Kevin and Marie-Ange at the head, with the screen behind them showing the key points of the mission. They’d already forward a basic briefing document, with all the background, so they could get to the meat of the discussion. Once everyone had found their seats, hot beverages and one of a selection from the bakery on the ground floor, Kevin finally stood up.
“You all know why you’re here. We’ve assigned the others to keep the lights in the shop on for the few days we’ll be deployed. Emma, thank you for bringing the rest of your court in. So, I want to be clear, we’re going in here blind. We don’t know who might be targeting the Paris magical library, but clearly, they think the hustle of the election of a new king and queen of the Gold and Silver Court represents an opportunity.” Kevin said. He motioned over to Christian who stood up. “For those who haven’t had the dubious pleasure, this is Christian Kane, former head of Her Majesty’s Secret Service for several decades. He and I came up in this world at the same time so you can trust his experience for an operation. Trusting him with anything else is a terrible idea.”
“And that’s exactly why you remain alone and unloved, Sydney.” Kane said in his warm Scots burr. “The operational profile is simple. We will infiltrate the Paris Hellfire Club event through multiple avenues; as legitimate members of the White Court and the Silver Court, as Ambassadors with temporary status from the London Red and Blue Court as well as the New York Black Court, surprisingly, and as part of the London HFC majordomo’s staff selections for the kitchen and servers. Once inside, we’ll work the floor, gathering intelligence to see if we can locate the threat prior to it revealing itself and reinforce the defense for the magic library. I’m told Ms Sefton and Ms Maximoff can best explain what the threat the library represents if it went up for open auction.”
Glancing at Wanda, Amanda took a sip of her tea before sitting straighter. "This library's... there's probably nothing else like it outside of Kamar-Taj. The HFC's been amassing it for a very long time and there's volumes in there on just about everything. Summoning magic, curses, blood magic... it's all there. And if it winds up on the open market, the magic community is fucked, to put it bluntly. It'd be like selling nukes at an NRA convention."
"Worse, even," Wanda responded, rubbing at her temples with a sigh. "It will be a magical arms race unlike any other in our time. And those who would potentially fighting over these, they either have the money needed to snap up what they want right away or they'll have the power to take it from someone else. It will get ugly and fast, and that's even before they start using these."
"So, in the interest of not unleashing utterly destabilizing magic forces, we're to secure the building until the elections of the new courts take place. Once that happens, the existing magical protections of the library will keep anyone from outside from accessing it. Now, I believe our White Queen will be attending with her court beside her. How do you plan to deploy them?"
“My position is constrained,” replied Emma. “The election of the new King and Queen is important Court business and all of the Courts need to be… let’s say, invested in the ceremonies until they are finished. At the very least, we will all have to be making the right sort of chit-chat with the right members of the other Courts the majority of the time. Hope, particularly, with her new role as Bishop will be of interest to the other Courts, who will be testing out how suitable they consider she is for the role. As such,” Emma gave the smallest of shrugs, “we will all be there and ready but assume we’ll be occupied with our duties until the situation becomes clear. Then the Courts defend their own, so we can freely provide whatever assistance is needed.”
"We're also lucky we have the Blue Queen heading to the party. That's several ways that we have to infiltrate the party." Christian said.
"We also have legacy people." Kevin said and pointed to Felicia. "Do you think you can use your family cred to get inside?"
"I suppose." Felicia gestured in a circle with her coffee mug, looking what could only be described as trepidatious and mad about it. "They'll expect North with me, so that clears him as well, but my mother is going to be fucking livid, so someone in this room owes me furious old lady wrangling after the fact. I don't care who it is, just don't tell me if you sleep with her."
North drank deeply from his coffee mug and in an act of self-preservation, chose not to take up that line of conversation. "Do we already have the list of ambassadors to be appointed?" He asked Kane instead.
"Anyone that doesn't have existing credentials or who isn't coming as a plus one." Christian said with a nod. "There's a few from the Red and Blue Court we can pass out, especially to my fellow countrymen for cover, as well as a pair from the Black Court that Emma convinced them to offer for us."
Darcy's hum of understanding was soft enough to not be heard over the video feed, but the short pulse of the high bell's tone she sent to indicate her desire to speak cut into the soft murmur of the room as readily as a knife tapped against crystal. "I will be one of the Black Court's ambassadors, Sir Kane." She winked at Kevin through the feed to his phone, chin-length bob tickling the side of her face as she circled her finger in a silent request to face the person she was speaking to. "Work regrettably keeps me from being present in person today, but I do look forward to meeting the infamous Sir Christian Kane in the flesh," she continued, smile bright and friendly for the older man as she quietly tapped one perfectly manicured nail against the edge of the black notecard in her hands. "Save me a dance, handsome. I've no doubt this one will plant himself back of house and deny me the pleasure of his company." Her head tipped towards Kevin as she made the request, with an air kiss thrown in for her own amusement as the screen went black and her mic went silent.
"I could get in with Doug, but too many in the magical world know me alongside Amanda." Marie-Ange pulled a lock of hair out of her bun. "Time to dye this and be boring. Amanda too. Apologies, neither of us gets to be pretty this time. Non-slip shoes and aprons for us. But ... Topaz.." She looked down the room at the other British witch, and the scowl already on her face. "Topaz is far less notorious. Can we get Topaz in as a .. - well, most of us remember from before, her alternate self? Was Hellfire. Can you fake it again?"
Topaz shrugged. "Evil and utterly lacking in morals? Sure." She took a few notes as she spoke. "I'll just need help dressing for the part."
"I can assist you with that if you wish. I will need to make sure I make the right impression myself, so I was planning a fitting session with a personal shopper. I can arrange for two easily." Hope took a few notes herself before tapping her pen thoughtfully. "Do we have names, photographs and mini-biographies of all the players involved here? Not just the court. I will be making the rounds... a lot of them."
"Hi, have you met me?" Doug asked his fellow White Court associate. "Of course I have a dossier, and of course it was already going to go to everyone here." His tone was chidingly playful. "Some of the backgrounds are a bit thinner than I'd like for the minor players, but it covers at least the broad strokes of anyone you'll be expected to know about ahead of time."
"I am not that well known in the magical community. I mean, unless they have tags on the Ancient One and who he trains. But that might work to my advantage." Clea said. "I could be an ambassador for one of the Courts."
As was sometimes the case in these sort of high level, all staff meetings, Jubilee felt that whatever needed to be said had already been added. It did mean she could eat the offered snacks without feeling like she’d be asked to report something important at any moment.
Still, she did control herself and didn’t steal the last ham and cheese croissant that was sitting on the table looking bereft from not being in her stomach.
"I can probably get in on Hope's arm, the eye candy, drift around as a free agent if you need me to do something while you're all restrained by your position," Sue noted with a nod at Emma. "Enough people there would know me, but not well enough to draw too much attention so I should be able to drift through the crowd and act as a go-between if needed."
"Good. Our objective is intel for now. If all goes well, we'll never have to break cover. If not..." Kevin shrugged. "I'd like us to be a real bad day for any party crashers."
Snow Valley’s conference room was packed, especially since it really needed to accommodate the majority of the team. Tucked into the corners were visitors Hope Abbott, Sue Storm, and Christian Kane, who sat next to Emma Frost, arms crossed and eyes flitting from face to face, no doubt storing them away in his vast mental rolodex of names and faces. Kevin and Marie-Ange at the head, with the screen behind them showing the key points of the mission. They’d already forward a basic briefing document, with all the background, so they could get to the meat of the discussion. Once everyone had found their seats, hot beverages and one of a selection from the bakery on the ground floor, Kevin finally stood up.
“You all know why you’re here. We’ve assigned the others to keep the lights in the shop on for the few days we’ll be deployed. Emma, thank you for bringing the rest of your court in. So, I want to be clear, we’re going in here blind. We don’t know who might be targeting the Paris magical library, but clearly, they think the hustle of the election of a new king and queen of the Gold and Silver Court represents an opportunity.” Kevin said. He motioned over to Christian who stood up. “For those who haven’t had the dubious pleasure, this is Christian Kane, former head of Her Majesty’s Secret Service for several decades. He and I came up in this world at the same time so you can trust his experience for an operation. Trusting him with anything else is a terrible idea.”
“And that’s exactly why you remain alone and unloved, Sydney.” Kane said in his warm Scots burr. “The operational profile is simple. We will infiltrate the Paris Hellfire Club event through multiple avenues; as legitimate members of the White Court and the Silver Court, as Ambassadors with temporary status from the London Red and Blue Court as well as the New York Black Court, surprisingly, and as part of the London HFC majordomo’s staff selections for the kitchen and servers. Once inside, we’ll work the floor, gathering intelligence to see if we can locate the threat prior to it revealing itself and reinforce the defense for the magic library. I’m told Ms Sefton and Ms Maximoff can best explain what the threat the library represents if it went up for open auction.”
Glancing at Wanda, Amanda took a sip of her tea before sitting straighter. "This library's... there's probably nothing else like it outside of Kamar-Taj. The HFC's been amassing it for a very long time and there's volumes in there on just about everything. Summoning magic, curses, blood magic... it's all there. And if it winds up on the open market, the magic community is fucked, to put it bluntly. It'd be like selling nukes at an NRA convention."
"Worse, even," Wanda responded, rubbing at her temples with a sigh. "It will be a magical arms race unlike any other in our time. And those who would potentially fighting over these, they either have the money needed to snap up what they want right away or they'll have the power to take it from someone else. It will get ugly and fast, and that's even before they start using these."
"So, in the interest of not unleashing utterly destabilizing magic forces, we're to secure the building until the elections of the new courts take place. Once that happens, the existing magical protections of the library will keep anyone from outside from accessing it. Now, I believe our White Queen will be attending with her court beside her. How do you plan to deploy them?"
“My position is constrained,” replied Emma. “The election of the new King and Queen is important Court business and all of the Courts need to be… let’s say, invested in the ceremonies until they are finished. At the very least, we will all have to be making the right sort of chit-chat with the right members of the other Courts the majority of the time. Hope, particularly, with her new role as Bishop will be of interest to the other Courts, who will be testing out how suitable they consider she is for the role. As such,” Emma gave the smallest of shrugs, “we will all be there and ready but assume we’ll be occupied with our duties until the situation becomes clear. Then the Courts defend their own, so we can freely provide whatever assistance is needed.”
"We're also lucky we have the Blue Queen heading to the party. That's several ways that we have to infiltrate the party." Christian said.
"We also have legacy people." Kevin said and pointed to Felicia. "Do you think you can use your family cred to get inside?"
"I suppose." Felicia gestured in a circle with her coffee mug, looking what could only be described as trepidatious and mad about it. "They'll expect North with me, so that clears him as well, but my mother is going to be fucking livid, so someone in this room owes me furious old lady wrangling after the fact. I don't care who it is, just don't tell me if you sleep with her."
North drank deeply from his coffee mug and in an act of self-preservation, chose not to take up that line of conversation. "Do we already have the list of ambassadors to be appointed?" He asked Kane instead.
"Anyone that doesn't have existing credentials or who isn't coming as a plus one." Christian said with a nod. "There's a few from the Red and Blue Court we can pass out, especially to my fellow countrymen for cover, as well as a pair from the Black Court that Emma convinced them to offer for us."
Darcy's hum of understanding was soft enough to not be heard over the video feed, but the short pulse of the high bell's tone she sent to indicate her desire to speak cut into the soft murmur of the room as readily as a knife tapped against crystal. "I will be one of the Black Court's ambassadors, Sir Kane." She winked at Kevin through the feed to his phone, chin-length bob tickling the side of her face as she circled her finger in a silent request to face the person she was speaking to. "Work regrettably keeps me from being present in person today, but I do look forward to meeting the infamous Sir Christian Kane in the flesh," she continued, smile bright and friendly for the older man as she quietly tapped one perfectly manicured nail against the edge of the black notecard in her hands. "Save me a dance, handsome. I've no doubt this one will plant himself back of house and deny me the pleasure of his company." Her head tipped towards Kevin as she made the request, with an air kiss thrown in for her own amusement as the screen went black and her mic went silent.
"I could get in with Doug, but too many in the magical world know me alongside Amanda." Marie-Ange pulled a lock of hair out of her bun. "Time to dye this and be boring. Amanda too. Apologies, neither of us gets to be pretty this time. Non-slip shoes and aprons for us. But ... Topaz.." She looked down the room at the other British witch, and the scowl already on her face. "Topaz is far less notorious. Can we get Topaz in as a .. - well, most of us remember from before, her alternate self? Was Hellfire. Can you fake it again?"
Topaz shrugged. "Evil and utterly lacking in morals? Sure." She took a few notes as she spoke. "I'll just need help dressing for the part."
"I can assist you with that if you wish. I will need to make sure I make the right impression myself, so I was planning a fitting session with a personal shopper. I can arrange for two easily." Hope took a few notes herself before tapping her pen thoughtfully. "Do we have names, photographs and mini-biographies of all the players involved here? Not just the court. I will be making the rounds... a lot of them."
"Hi, have you met me?" Doug asked his fellow White Court associate. "Of course I have a dossier, and of course it was already going to go to everyone here." His tone was chidingly playful. "Some of the backgrounds are a bit thinner than I'd like for the minor players, but it covers at least the broad strokes of anyone you'll be expected to know about ahead of time."
"I am not that well known in the magical community. I mean, unless they have tags on the Ancient One and who he trains. But that might work to my advantage." Clea said. "I could be an ambassador for one of the Courts."
As was sometimes the case in these sort of high level, all staff meetings, Jubilee felt that whatever needed to be said had already been added. It did mean she could eat the offered snacks without feeling like she’d be asked to report something important at any moment.
Still, she did control herself and didn’t steal the last ham and cheese croissant that was sitting on the table looking bereft from not being in her stomach.
"I can probably get in on Hope's arm, the eye candy, drift around as a free agent if you need me to do something while you're all restrained by your position," Sue noted with a nod at Emma. "Enough people there would know me, but not well enough to draw too much attention so I should be able to drift through the crowd and act as a go-between if needed."
"Good. Our objective is intel for now. If all goes well, we'll never have to break cover. If not..." Kevin shrugged. "I'd like us to be a real bad day for any party crashers."