EOD BARRACKS
The barracks are large, prefabricated war tents that house the small company detachment always present in Xavier mansion. They are entirely self sufficient and capable of housing some thirty agents at once, probably holding a good amount of supplies inside. Entrance into the Barracks is forbidden for mutants unless they have special clearance badges. It is also suicidal, considering the amount of company agents that are generally stationed inside.
X-Men EoD Time
Wednesday, August 13th
The large barrack tents loomed ahead of
Lire as she slowly walked closer. While she was still relatively far off she drifted off to the side, circling the tents from a distance as she studied the occupants and watched their antics. She wasn't quite sure what she had in mind just yet but she was certain an idea would come to her if she waited long enough. After several minutes she stood up and walked closer. She knew she probably wouldn't get inside but she wanted an idea as to how close she could get and reactions before she planned anything. Plus there was someone she wanted to meet anyways having overheard some soldiers grumble.
As Lire approached the large tent complex that made up the barracks, she noticed soldiers hurrying out to make their rounds and whatever assignments they had for the day while exhausted guards from the night rotation made their way to sleep, for the most part all of them seemed to ignore her, though. Sitting out on a bench in front of one of the barrack tents, Lire could see a comely woman with dirty blonder hair and green eyes that had a cat-like quality to them cleaning a sniper rifle with all the care in the world. She was wearing combat armor not unlike that of the other company men, only hers had a grey and black urban cammo pattern to it. Next to her, hung haphazardly on a sort of weapons rack was a strange looking cloak, grey, covered in what seemed to be thousands of little solid hexagons as tiny as a person's fingertips. Lire knew this woman, she was Sarah Nils, closer to a robot to many than a mutant or a human, she served as second in command to Company troops in the mansion, had no sense of humor and an absolute sense of duty.
Lire tilted her head as she approached. There were very few people she respected here; but Sarah Nils had made it into that small group. She'd never really stopped to talk to her however and wondered if she could manage to engage her in conversation. She sat down next to her; and glanced down at the sniper rifle, "Sad we have to use those." Lire said with a shrug although it was hard to tell if she meant sad people had to die or sad that a person couldn't get close enough to do it in person. In fact she herself wasn't sure which one bothered her more.
When Lire approached, Sarah simply lifted en eyebrow and let get eyes flash upwards for a second, as if simply to recognize who it was that was approaching her. Afterwards she simply continued to clean the rifle, as if Lire's presence did not change the status-quo for her. "I reckon you prefer to go up close and personal." she replied simply in an entirely professional tone as she grabbed the rifle, pointed it up to the sky and looked carefully through the scope, as if to check the alignment. The woman was obviously referring to Lire's predisposition to kill with blades and poison, but she did not specify further, quickly changing subjects. "You here to see Commander Nemecek?"
A second later, the built in communicator on Lire's X-men badge went off and Vlad's voice could be heard coming through, albeit a bit choppy; "Team, meet me in the war room in an hour. Be suited up and ready to go."
Lire shrugged. "It's more challenging that way... and usually you can have a bit of fun with it." She smiled, about to agree that she wanted to see the commander when her communicator crackled to life. "Well apparently not anymore." She said although she couldn't quite hide the small note of excitement that had crawled into her voice. "Looks like I finally get to play for a bit." She turned and started walking back.
Sarah had always been a bit unreadable, it was hard to know what her true feelings were n any situation past the most complete and unflinching sense of duty and proper military behavior, so Lire couldn't know if the blonde approved or disapproved or her methods when she replied to an unassuming nod. As Lire walked away, she simply added, "Have fun. I'll tell the commander you came by." and went back to her rifle.
Lire didn't really care if her methods were approved of. She was quite certain most of her fellow X-Men were quite sickened by her habit of playing with her targets. She nodded in acknowledgemen
t to Sarah's finaly words before making it to the EoD Mansion Grounds
Pushing back the large flap to the tent, Vlad took a look around the place, standing a good head and a half over most of the humans that milled about him. He was looking for Sarah, but more importantly, her commander. Elizabeth was always his top choice but she seemed lethargic this morning and wanted to cover all his bases.
Sarah was just finishing work on her rifle just outside of the main tent, easily recognizable wearing her combat armor, next to the strange cloak she wore out on missions.
Vlad spotted Sarah running a smooth rag over her impressive gun and started making his way towards her when he was cut off suddenly by a line of Company soldiers that didn't seem to care much that they just barged in front of a human tank. Vlad waited, his brows darkening over his eyes until they passed, his eyes ever fixed on his destination in suppressed impatience. Ignoring the tentative nod that the last straggling soldier offered him, Vlad pressed forward until he had closed the distance between him and Sarah, his glance momentarily distracted by the almost-blinding reflection of her cloak's special hexagons. "Excuse me, Miss Nihls?" he asked in a polite, but authoritative tone, walking slower as he approached so that she would have time to receive him.
Sarah's green eyes flashed upwards as Vlad approached, even before the man spoke, as if she had sensed his presence coming from a mile away. When she spoke, however, the woman quickly but carefully put her rifle down on the bench, as it was mostly clean, and stood up. "Sir." she said simply with a military style salute as a way of greetings and then put her hands on either side of her body, maintaining an attention pose. "What can I do for you?" she asked.
"At ease," Vlad replied instantly, hooking his thumbs on the inside of his X-MEN belt, standing with his feet shoulder width apart as the overwhelming militarism of the barracks got even to him. "I am working on my plan B for the day and wanted to know if your commander was free to speak to me about using you in the field." He would rather use mutants on the escort mission but wanted her keen skills on their side for the acquisition of information since he knew her loyalty to be absolute.
"I'll be on guard post duty tonight but I'm on down-time until then, sir." replied simply Sarah, her stance becoming slightly more relaxed, with her hands crossed behind her back. "Commander Nemecek is inside, though. You can speak to him about having me reassigned." she added with a slight nod towards the large barracks tent behind her, her blonde, pony-tailed hair whipping behind her as she did so.
"Yes, thank you," Vlad answered, giving her a polite dip of his head as he passed by her and her flipping ponytail and into the tent. He had to duck, being very nearly 7 feet tall, and then stood up to his full height as he searched left and right for Commander Nemecek.
The inside of the central barracks tent was more a command center than anything else. Three long tables had been set up with computers, maps and stacks upon stacks of papers and reports. Each report was classified with a red stamp reading, "Confidential; McCaffrey Security Company." Amongst the soldiers, aid ran back and forth, analyzing reports, marking areas in the maps that had been surveyed, making inventory and filling expense reports. On the far side of the tent, opposite the entrance, stood a man in combat armor, probably in his mid to late 30s. The man, Niles Nemecek, or as he was commonly known, the commander, had a military style cut light brown hair, almost as if it was faded. His face was clean shaven and stern, with a noticeable burn mark about the size of a thumbprint on the left corner of his mouth, a straight nose, pale ashy skin and cold blue eyes. His eyes were fixed on a large board that occupied part of the far side of the command tent, on the board Vlad saw many of his old friends, now pictured as wanted posters for people known to cooperate with the MLA, as well as pictures of many other mutants and human terrorists. Many had been crossed out, stamped as captured and deceased.
Still over a head taller than the majority of the occupants of the busy command center, Vlad peered up over the heads of the others and saw the stately physique of none other than Commander Nemecek. He parted through the people like a bear wading through water, neither rushing nor yielding until he has crossed the central strip of the tent, where the majority of the activity seemed to thrum. He cleared his throat as he approached the militant man from behind, holding his hands behind his back in a casual 'at ease' as he finally came to stand a few feet behind Niles' shoulder. "Excuse me, Commander Nemecek. A moment of your time," he stated as his eyes were immediately drawn to the board where he could see the posters of his fellow mutants. His grey eyes skated over to those posters with Xs and then to the posters of Shana and Lucas, wanted dead, gaze lingering but showing no more than passing interest. In truth, he wanted them all back, all under one roof again, one force, united. But that was a fool's dream, sadly, and they were no longer his friends, though Vlad still struggled sometimes to view them wholly as the enemy.
"Mr.Shostakovich." said simply Nemecek to acknowledge Vlad's presence in an accent that was clearly eastern European, not Russian, but maybe polish or Austrian. Though his pronunciation of the words were perfect, the accent could not be hidden. The man spoke without turning around for a second, his eyes scanning the images, row after row, as if counting how many they had left to neutralize in his head. Finally, the commander turned around and walked towards a nearby table. A small shot glass and a half empty bottle of whiskey sat on the table, and Nemecek poured himself a glass and downed it with equal celerity. "Can I offer you something to drink?" he asked almost is if it was rhetorical, setting the glass down. "What do you need?"
"I came to ask about potentially using Miss Nihls on a mission today," Vlad answered readily, not one to tip-toe when it came to Commander Nemecek. The man, like him, seemed to appreciate a succinct report and a professional demeanor, something that Vlad strove towards since it helped him manage his increasingly more emotional life. Vlad was still giving the impression of only passively looking at the familiar faces on the board when the commander turned to receive him, and allowed his gaze to linger. When offered a glass of whiskey, Vlad gave a nod, figuring that a single drink couldn't hurt.
"Sarah?" asked simply Nemecek, lifting an eyebrow as he poured Vlad a glass of whiskey and quickly capped the drink. "What do you need her for?" asked the man as he handed Vlad the shot glass. It was clear that Nemecek wasn't about to send any of his subordinates in a mission without being briefed on it. "Company protocol is that we're here simply to enforce the quarantine..." he said, sitting on behind the table and crossing his hands in front of his face. "... with 'extreme prejudice'" he added with air quotes, more as if he was quoting a memo than speaking his own mind. "Now, towards that end i'm not against lending your team a hand, but not blindly so. None of my operatives are expendable, you know?" he added. "Well.. maybe Blocht." he continued, with no hint of a joke in his face.
"Indeed," confirmed Vlad as Nemecek inquired whether or not he meant Sarah. Vlad took the shot and then lifted it a little before tipping it into his mouth, swallowing and setting it down on the desk without the slightest wince, despite his appreciation for the quality of his fellow Eastern European's taste in liquor. "I understand, sir" Vlad replied, pulling a chair from the nearest table so that he could sit across from the man whom Vlad willingly gave his trust. The way he spoke of his duties and the cavalier respect he portrayed to the mutants was appreciated, especially these days. Taking his seat, one knee raised further than the other as he rested his foot on the bottom rung of the black leather stool. "The city of Salem has asked us to escort a generator back from the Quarantine Wall. Insert obligatory warning about extremists here," he continued, making a stern joke, though he allowed a small grin to grace his handsome face. "And I don't want Blocht," he added, his grin broadening slightly before he let it fall into a more professional expression.
"No one wants Blocht." replied Nemecek with what seemed to be a small sigh. "So it's just a regular escort mission?" continued the commander, leaning back on his chair slightly. "Why do you need a sniper on an escort mission?" he added with a slight shrug. Sarah was a quick and precise shot, but she shined sniping from a stable platform, and far away. "I guess if you and your own people are going, and you're not taking her near the Sprawl, you can have her in your detail. Get her back here by tonight, though." he continued, lightly stroking his chin and the area where he had been burnt, almost as if it was an involuntary twitch of sorts.
"Heh," chuckled Vlad, indulging in the shortest of laughs as Nemecek chimed in with what everyone around the mansion had come to know in due time: that Blocht was an insufferable doofus. "On a mission like this, it's not really Miss Nihls gun that I am interested in. With her cloak we can at least hide it," he said. "I am not certain I will need her yet today but if I find myself one man down I don't want to grasp at straws and given some of my other choices, eh," he said, shrugging, indicating that this was kind of a last resort. "I apologize for interrupting you but I needed to make a plan B, so to speak. I hope it is all right to notify you as soon as I get back to the War Room and let you know," he said, and then waited for Nemecek's approval before giving him an appreciative nod and then ducking back out of the tent into EoD Mansion Grounds.
ACCESSIBLE AREAS
EoD Mansion Grounds
X-Men: End of Days * X-Men EoD Characters
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