Archive Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - Chapter 5.2: On her Majesty's Secret Service

[Joani]

Grav had arranged to open a Portal for Kevin to London shortly after he used his amazing healing powers to restore Captain Hicks' eyesight. He was still in pain and it would take some time until he could see again, but it was better than staying blind for the rest of his live.

Kevin felt torn between fulfilling his duty and staying at the hospital and help heal similar severe cases. Unfortunately time was running out and the other mutants had to move on.

He stepped through the portal and found himself close to his desired destination close to the Buckingham Palace. Using one of the public phone boothes he arranged the meeting with his superiors who quickly picked him up after a short wait.

"It's good to see you alive, Major-General Bridges. How have you been?", the man asking for his wellbeing was not unfamiliar to him, it was General Shearer himself.

(ooc: General Shearer is the highest ranking and most senior officer of the British Army)

[Stargaizer]

Kevin gave the General a respectful, yet informal salute when he saw him. He was retired after all. His tone was as casual as his salute, not out of disrespect, just familiarity (and the fact that he was easily twice the General's age).

"I was enjoying my retirement, sir, doing what I do, when those bloody aliens attacked. I was a part of the group that liberated Las Vegas, and was promptly knocked unconscious for three months; hence why I didn't return your calls. After waking up in the hospital, under the personal protection of the U.S. President, I find out that what we did paved the way for the pushing of the aliens back to only two remaining strongholds, and they're wanting me to join some mutant agency that'll supposedly be working for the new 'League of Nations', but is bankrolled by the U.S." After casually stating that he'd helped save the world and was going to be rewarded by reclining in the lap of U.S. luxury, Kevin took a breath and paused before continuing.

"So, after I tied up a few loose ends, one of my associates bent the fabric of space-time and I stepped from the Eastern Seaboard to that telly back there. That's the short version.

So how are you? It's nice to see you survived the attacks. Is Her Majesty alright?" His mention of the Queen was the first hint of formal thorough out the entire conversation.

[Joani]

"Her Majesty is in best condition.", The General answered friendly while he simply nodded to what Kevin reported about the mutants and their achievments.

"I see where that is coming from, though", he suddenly added. "The US President is trying very hard to win the elections for the League of Nations. With the mutants on his side who are the saviours of mankind it should be a milk run for him. The United Kingdom will be part of the League but we're not going to give up our sovereignity and traditions. It is a good thing that we're finally making this step though."

The limousine was passing the gates to the Buckingham Palace and Kevin was escorted to the Queen's quarters. His lack for formal attire was briefly noted with a disapproving look by her but then she put on her warmest smile.

"Welcome Major-General Bridges, I'm glad you found the time to attend to this little informal meeting. I hope you're finding yourself in good condition? How's been the flight?"

[Stargaizer]

Kevin nodded, acknowledging the General's response. He was about to ask more about the election and the specific interests of her Majesty and the Empire, but was distracted by the sight of Buckingham Palace. It had been more than a few years since Kevin had been here, but he was still here more, probably, than anybody else outside the Royal Family or Palace workers.

Kevin followed the herald into the room where he would meet with the queen, and bowed respectfully, remembering to always face the Queen. The years had not dulled his etiquette (not to mention the fact that he had had several Queens to practice with before now). Her Majesty's disapproval of his attire made him immediately self-conscious, and he mentally kicked himself for not asking the General beforehand for a change of clothes.

Kevin took the proffered place, after the Queen sat down of course, and replied in his most respectful and British voice. "It is my pleasure, your Majesty. I am well and the... trip... was uneventful. Thank you for asking." Kevin decided to not correct the Queen, and only offer additional information if asked. He did, however, spare a quick glance for the General, who knew that his 'flight' involved mutant space-time warping. He also held back the questions that he had, complying with court etiquette, and let the Queen lead the conversation.

[Joani]

"I'm glad to hear that.", one of the servants poured him a cup of tea and by gesture and mimic alone followed up with milk and suger depending on how Kevin preferred his earl grey.

"The US President is trying very hard to win this election and I think he has some strong arguments on his side. We will support him but not without putting some of our own assets into the calculation. I want you to join that Mutant Team he will propose but on accoun of the United Kingdom. At the same time I'd like you to keep an eye on any unusual activities and other questionable assignments. I don't want this to turn into some kind of disaster that will threaten the League's integrity. Our specialists don't think there'll be much trouble to worry about but I live by the credo - Better safe than sorry."

The Queen took a small sip from her tea and sighed briefly then she put on a 'royal' smile and looked at Kevin expectantly.

[Stargaizer]

After decades of wandering the globe where either tea or the extras to put into it were luxuries, Kevin actually preferred his tea straight; but he always got one lump of sugar and a little milk when he was with the Queen. A way of treating himself and 'when in Rome do as the Romans'.

He listened intently to what Her Majesty was saying, and responded at the appropriate time. "As you wish, your Majesty. I just wish that more people in this world lived by the credo that you do; it'd be a sight better if the did."

With his response said, he put on the face of someone who had something to ask. If, and only if the Queen gave him leave to speak, he asked, "Your Majesty, the first task of the Mutant Team will be to finish the task of expelling the aliens from Earth. From what I hear, one of the two remaining strongholds is in Germany. I would humbly ask that, in your graciousness, England could provide supplies, support, and a staging area for us to finish the fight in Germany. And any intelligence that England's forces may have gained through fighting them or examining their remains would be helpful in us evicting them once and for all." Kevin hoped that he hadn't overstepped his bounds, but England's support and resources would go a long way in helping them out. Plus it would be a good political move, showing their support not just for their member of the team, but for the whole team.

[Joani]

The General stepped forward making clear he wanted to answer that question. After the Queen nodded at him he proceeded to speak, “Actually we’re currently part of a joint war effort to drive off the invaders from Germany and Southamerica. All great nations have pooled their resources but so far we only managed to keep the invaders ‘contained’ where they are. It’s near impossible to breach their defence and they still got a large space ship in Orbit that is capable of destroying Aircraft Carriers with a single shot. It’s a stalemate and if things don’t get worse we can maintain this for another year, maybe two. We should drive them off by then else we will run out of resources very soon and then we can fend them off any longer. Their ground forces are also very formidable capable of surviving several shots from high calibre rounds before dying. Those four armed aliens are true battlebeasts.”

[Stargaizer]

Kevin nodded, taking in what the other General said, and replaying their past encounters with the aliens in his head. "With the proper support, I do believe that the team that liberated Las Vegas can push the aliens off the surface of the Earth, out of orbit, off the moon, and even possibly all the way back to their homeworld."

With that, Kevin simply waited for an affirmation of their support, or more discussion of intel, tactics, strengths and weaknesses.

[Joani]

"Good.", the General just said and excused himself. His time was running out and he had to get back to HQ. "We'll keep you updated once our situation has changed. First the election needs to be dealt with before we can proceed with our war efforts."

The Queen looked at Kevin and sipped her tea. "So how has been your experience with these american mutants? Are they good people?"

[Stargaizer]

Kevin properly acknowledged the General's exit, with a word of thanks for the promise to keep him updated. His entire attention then focused back on her Majesty. He took a sip of his tea as well, following her lead.

His reply was proper, and to the point. "They are. Being thrown together, by the circumstances that surrounded us, most of us congealed into a very nice, and effective, group. They are all good people, some exceptionally so." He tried to answer her question adequately, going just far enough past what she said to offer her a continued line of conversation, if she so chose.

If she asked for a full 'brief', or an 'account' of what had happened, he'd go into more detail; but for now, he would stick to what she asked.

[Joani]

The Queen nodded approvingly and smiled keeping her questions on a more superficial level. It seemed that she only fainted a bit of interested while her eyes keenly soaked up every information Kevin gave.

“You’re welcome to stay as our guest until you’re ready to go on your mission. I suppose a week off should do you good, Major-General. It was a pleasure talking to you.”, she stood up and excused herself while one of her personal assistants took care of Kevin.

His quarters where located in the east wing of the palace which was reserved for very special guests only and he was given all time to get a shower, burrow some clothes and get acquainted with the commodities of a luxury live. A personal assistant was ordered to tend to all his wishes and remained faithfully waiting outside his room.

The room itself was huge and had everything you could think of in terms of electronics, entertainment and even a small library with her Majesty’s favourite collection. Kevin was free to come and go as he pleased.

[Stargaizer]

Kevin thanked her Majesty for her generosity and followed 'his' assistant to rooms that he had only stayed in once before. It was a rare treat, but Kevin wasn't used to it. For that matter, he wasn't used to sleeping, or eating, though he did still involuntarily breathe (though he knew he didn't need to anymore).

Kevin showered, groomed himself, found a formal and casual set of clothes that suited him, and then sat down at the reading desk provided with the small library. He actually did take the time to reread the book that he knew to be (or at least used to be) her Majesty's absolute favorite.

That took several hours.

But then, he kind of ran out of things to do. He didn't need to take a nap, and while he knew that he could eat food, he didn't particularly feel like it.

A week off... usually that wouldn't be very long, but he'd promised the 'team' that he'd get back to them. And while he absolutely loved being back 'home', he was still duty bound. He couldn't help them, or 'look after' them as the Queen wanted while he was still here. Still, he could at least get them word... if only he knew how to contact them.

Maybe Sly was listening in on his thoughts, but he knew that Ms. Storm had a cell phone.

His first request of 'his' assistant was to get the personal contact info for the President of the U.S.'s Secretary, Ms. Storm. And his second request was a ride to the nearest hospital. While he was in town, he had a few other friends to catch up with.

Click to reveal..

OOC: I think 'Secretary' is the proper title for Ms. Storm... but I don't remember. Kevin would. If the title is something else, feel free to change it, I don't have time to go back and check right now. I'll look it up after I get off of work tonight.

[Joani]

Kevin’s assistant nodded briefly and flatly stated. “Your transport is waiting for you in the vehicle park. I’ll get your call transferred to the limousine. Your driver will take you to any destination you desire. Is there anything else I can do for you, Sire?”, his British accent was sharp and to the point with a faint nasal quality.

The Limousine was a very comfortable Bentley the size of a battleship. Once the doors were shut the outside world was virtually gone. There was no sound except for Kevin’s own occasional breathing or readjusting in the leather seats. A black window that separated the drivers canopy from the passenger area opened halfway and the driver looked into his rearview mirror addressing Kevin directly. “There is a call from the United States Secretary on line one. Just push the green button, Sire. Where to?”

[Stargaizer]

Kevin's reply was casual, though there was definitely an undertone of awe in it. "Thank you. And to the largest area hospital, please. Oh, and take your time, no rush..."

With that Kevin started his search for the phone and the elusive 'green button'. It didn't take him long, but it was still longer than he would've liked. "Ms. Storm, sorry for the wait; the bloody phone is hidden in these things. Anyways, I have spoken with her Majesty, the Queen of England, and I would like to join the mutant team, but on behalf of the United Kingdom. Also, her Majesty has given me a week's leave before I would start. If you could tell my friends on the team that I'll be back in a week, I would greatly appreciate it. Sly, Grav and myself should be able to coordinate my return between us." After that, he waited for Ms. Storm's response. He hoped it would be ok that he wanted to join on behalf of another country.

[Joani]

The driver nodded and set the car in motion while the window shut again to give Kevin the required privacy.

“That’s interesting news, Mr. Bridges. I see no reason to deny you your request. If we had more time and better resources we’d probably ask more prominent Mutants to join the Division from all over the world – but most Mutants are either dead or MIA. I’m glad you decided to join in the first place, I don’t care on who’s behalf if you asked me. I will relay your message to your friends – anything else?”, Kevin could hear that Ms. Storm was obviously not in her office but walking around somewhere in a crowd. The Secretary was a busy person but she seemed to handle the situation without trouble.

[Stargaizer]

Better resources?!?! What better resources would they need, the entire global bank?

After his momentary shock, Kevin thought a bit. "If you need to reach me, this is the number to call. I won't answer, but I check my messages when I can. It's the best way to contact me. Could you also give this number to Sly, Grav and the rest of the team, and tell them to leave their numbers with their messages. And don't worry, it is completely secure." With that he gave the number for leaving a message for him. It was a completely different number than the one that he had called to check his messages, this number was strictly for leaving them; kind of like a blind drop... but you knew who was getting it.

After that, he waited for Ms. Storm to give any last remarks, and for the car to arrive at the hospital. Maybe, if there was time, he'd call ahead, to see if Dr. Samuels was anywhere around... but then again, he never called ahead...

[Joani]

Kevin made his visits to old friends and even helped out where he could which was simply his nature. It was good to see some familiar faces after so long time and it seemed as if his wandering days may finally be over. Part of him would be missing the constant travels but he was also glad and looking forward to end his hiding – at least for the time being. Who knew what the future would look like? Maybe they would lose this war – that never occurred to him.

After spending half the day well into the late hours he decided to go back ‘home’ to his quarters. The driver picked him up and drove him to Buckingham Palace announcing that there was one call from the US for him. He left all details in his quarters and a call back number. It looked like his friends were trying to make contact with him.

(ooc: if you call back I ask you to post in 5.1 - depending on how it will be resolved I either close this thread or continue it until you rejoin the others)

[Stargaizer]

After the phone call ended, and Fox and Kevin had finished their "conversation", Kevin went to the collection of books in his room. He was thinking of some light reading, but decided on something a little more... appropriate. He looked for a copy of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". It had been forever since he'd read that book, and he'd actually never finished it. Tonight would be the night.

If he found it in his room, he pulled it off the shelf and tossed it on his bed before going to the door. If he didn't, he just went straight for the door. Either way, he opened the door and asked his 'attendant' to get together all of the military, intelligence and trusted civilian reports having to deal with the fight with the aliens, their capabilities, their tactics, their current strongholds, and any other correlated data. Plus, if he hadn't been able to find "The Art of War" in his room, he asked for a copy.

Once the attendant scurried away, Kevin went back to the reading chair and cracked open a book; either the one he wanted, or a random one while he waited for the one he wanted.

[Joani]

The library didn’t disappoint him. He found the book he was looking for and spent time refreshing his memory and finally finishing it.

His assistant was busy gathering the requested data and it took him the rest of the day to have a portfolio done which included all the gathered data.

The portfolio contained a huge number of statistical information. Number of populace, number of ground forces and any other thinkable number of military value. Kevin quickly analysed that any kind of ‘frontal’ attack would cost an incredible amount of money and manpower. The aliens had managed to ‘recruit’ the populace which was fighting for their cause in an organised army and the aliens additionally have their own ground forces who are obviously stronger and more resilient than humans. The ground forces consisted of strong and brute four-armed and heavily muscled aliens who got support by the well known metal hulks.

Germany and South America were both well defended and the aliens could easily try to conquer neighbouring countries but they haven’t made a move in the past 4 weeks. All they do is keep their territory defended and well guarded.

Communication systems are still unreliable specifically in Europe. The rest of the world has access to Satellites and normal landlines again. Even the internet is back to it’s former ‘strength’.

One of the key elements of the aliens organisation are both ‘motherships’ and their base on the moon. Constant traffic of smaller vessels has been reported that fly from the moon base to the motherships and vice versa. Whatever is going on up there – the moonbase is of as much importance probably as the present forces on the planet. Looking at the results flatly and with a sobering realization Kevin must admit that he doesn’t see a way to chase them off the planet unless they have access to some kind of miracle weapon or something that would give them an advantage…

[Stargaizer]

Well, they had humanity's miracle weapon, 12 of them in fact, well 13 including himself.

They'd dealt with the metal and smaller aliens, but this was the first that he'd heard about the 4-armed aliens. He wondered what their capabilities were, and if they had any exploitable weakness. Being a doctor, he also wondered about their physiology, and how their 4 arms worked, their skeletal system, biological requirements, etc.

He went and asked his 'attendant' for any and all information, tactical, especially medical, and any reliable anecdotial reports. He was specifically interested in any autopsies or other medical tests that had been able to be preformed on corpses or captured aliens.

He then went back to his room, grabbed a sheet of paper, a pencil, and jotted down each of the abilities (without any names, and being intentionally vague with 'Telepath', instead putting 'Phone/searching') of everyone in the group, including his own. He then assigned a 'combat reliablity' number to each person baised on what he'd seen and heard about their past exploits.

He then tried to start coming up with unconventional tactics. Ridged military thinking is what had lost the American Revolution for Brittian and 'unconventional' tactics had won it for America. There was a lesson that could be learned from that. It was also the precision use of undeniable force that had won WWII... that was a consideration as well.

He considered everything from using Grav's portals to strategically plant nukes to a variation of what they did last time, to hijacking one of their ships.

Some of the plans needed more information, such as if the twins would be able to control and maintain a livable atmosphere in an area big enough for the entire group, as they traversed on the moon's surface for a bit, or what types of forces travelled though Grav's portals (such as gravity, vaccum, radiation, etc.), and how large and far away she could make them (both from herself and the exit portal).

He made a range for these variables, from the 'barely usable' to 'enough for this purpose', and made varying plans that could be used based on if the person in question had the lower level, a mid-level, or was at the upper end of his range.

It was times like this that Kevin was glad that he didn't have to sleep, eat, drink or go to the bathroom. He kept working through the day, night and until he was completely exhausted of ideas and/or mentally fatigued beyond use.

He also gave special attention to the reports that his 'addendant' brought back, whenever he did.

Click to reveal..

From what Kevin knows of the moon bases's location, and the current phase of the moon, is the base lit or in shadow, and how long will it stay that way? (And just because it's on the 'dark side' of the moon doesn't mean it's perpetually in shadow... I know this, Kevin knows this, and I'm assuming that you know this too (this explination is then for those that don't who happen to read this).