TEAM OFFENSE PLANNING! (AS IC AS YOU WANT TO BE)

[squadgoals]

So, similar to how the old punishment system worked, this post will work as a semi-IC style of OOC posting. I'll write out my starter in character, and players can feel free to respond as IC or OOC as they like. The IC part of the whole post is ACTION. Because of this, feel free to threadjump — but please be respectful of people!

Examples of responses:
"Shepard votes for THING because COMPLEX SERIES OF REASONS. If anyone looks at her during the meeting, she is posing super cool."

Or just:

"Shepard votes for THING because it's an awesome option, A+ dude I like it."

Or forget character stuff:

"Ok I vote for THING because everything happens so much."

Feel free to get as creative or lazy as you feel you want to or need to be!

TEAM OFFENSE LEADER: COMMANDER SHEPARD (squadgoals, OOC contact via PM or nijikai)
LINK TO ALL PREVIOUS DISCUSSION!

(At an early, but reasonable hour on the 21st, everyone in Team Offense receives a short message on their MID from Shepard:

I'd like to have an organized, in-person meeting for our team to hear all opinions, and formulate a solid plan. I've spoken to the captains, and all duties are waived for the remainder of our meeting.

I understand that there's disagreement with regards to how the Captains are handling the situation, and I'm happy to hear it at the meeting, but all I ask is that you do attend, regardless of your feelings on the matter. Everyone's voices will be heard.

Attached is a location, (The Lounge) and a time (just after lunch of the same day). If your character chooses to attend, Shepard will greet everyone personally as they enter, checking their name off a list. The tables have a selection of baked goods on them — both raisin and raisin-free — as well as several jugs of water. Come on, who comes to meetings for anything but the refreshments?

Once everyone has arrived, Shepard quiets the room, and presents her thoughts on the matter. She introduces herself to those who don't know her, adding on the "Commander" part of her name for once, and highlights her background as a Lieutenant Commander in the Systems Alliance military, and a strike leader in offensive attacks, but she's careful to point out that this isn't her universe. So, while she has the technical expertise, there's people present who know much more than she does about what they're up against, having been aboard the Moira when they docked at C-Primary. Additionally, people who haven't been here long can offer incredible insight into options and solutions veterans may have missed, and emphasizes how important it is that everyone have a say.

There's a pause, and she starts speaking about the team split. Without speaking ill of the Captains, she notes that people have been unhappy with how this strategy was chosen, which is understandable, but asks everyone for their patience, both with her, and with the Captains themselves. Although they are on the offense team, what she wants to present is a strategy that equally encompasses all areas — while each team has a focus, each should also be employing parts of the others.

Shep starts outlining her thoughts so far, starting with emphasizing that priority number one is their own crew's safety — you don't have to love each other, you just have to have each other's backs. Secondly, she wants to stress that while the crew needs to work together, no one should be forced to take part in fighting. If you'd feel more comfortable helping make meals, or assist in shoring up defenses before any attacks take place, then taking to safety if or when any battles happen, there's no shame in that.

The plan is broken into several parts:
PREPARATIONS: This involves fixing, shoring up, and otherwise preparing the ship for invaders, attackers, whatever. Checking and improving artillery, training people who will be in charge of these things, sealing entrances, and much more. ADDITIONALLY, this should involve digital preparations: that means hacking their computers as silently as possible, code-breaking (if there is one), revealing messages and plans of the combatants without being caught. C-Prime ship schematics, weaponry, artillery capabilities, transporters for boarding, on-board list of materials, number of crew and their strength and capabilities — anything relevant to improving the Moira's chances. The best offense is a good defense, after all.

FIRST STRIKE: Rather than head-to-head, Shep recommends several stealth teams board the opposing vessel, teamed up with technical assistance from aboard the Moira, in order to guide them, and disable security, doors, and traps remotely. The stealth teams would strike at the ship's main points, disabling engines, artillery, tech, transporters, etc. — essentially hobbling their ability to strike at, or board the Moira herself. The "first" part of this actually comes from the fact that Shepard suggests attacking before the nine days are up. Whether that's one or three days before is up for discussion.

DEFENSIVE: There is always the chance that the C-Primers will have foreseen all of this, so there HAS to be people on board the Moira ready to defend. This is, she notes, probably the most offense-like part of the plan. This team will be made up of people skillfully using the Moira herself, as well as their own powers and abilities to trap, disable, and beat back any invading groups. As the goal is non-lethal combat, this will involve a good deal of finesse. She breaks this down into scare, subdue, and detain. These can all be done via a number of methods, but she notes that everyone should do whatever they feel most comfortable with. There's a pause, and she touches on the fact that, while their goal is non-lethal, in the event that a combatant comes at you, or a fellow crew member, and there is little to no chance of repelling them in a non-lethal manner, deadly force is acceptable. Crew is paramount. She dryly notes that the Captains (and others) may not agree with her on this point, since the ship has the ability to re-surge the dead, but she refuses to sacrifice fellow crew like immortal pawns.

NEGOTIATIONS: The C-Primes have made it clear that, unless they are wiped out, or give up, they probably won't stop pursuing the Moira for retributions. Ideally, this step doesn't even need to happen — the C-Primes give up on their own, and leave. But realistically, that's a pipe dream. People will have to push them to reach a compromise. It may not be a mutually beneficial one (in one way or another), but the right negotiation will result, at the very least, in an agreed-upon ceasefire and cessation of combat in the long-term. Shepard asks if there's anyone who feels particularly confident in the abilities of their silver tongue, pauses, and specifies that she meant table negotiations.

Finally, she stresses again that while non-lethality is the goal, crew safety is the primary concern. All attack positions, stealth, defense, and otherwise, are on a volunteer basis. As long as you can find some small way to assist your fellow crew members, you are helping and taking part. No one will be forced into a role they don't want to do. There's a beat, and she smiles.

"Except for being a part of this team. Alright, Floor's open, people. One at a time."

Comments

[skelepun]

Well this sure is organized! Sans shows up about midway through the meeting, even if nobody would be able to see him come or go -- he just... shows up. In the middle of things.

He brought donuts. They might be a little stale, but have at it, kids.

As far as opinions, he did some math out of boredom, seeing as C-Primary happened very shortly before he arrived on board. About only 15% of the current crew was present for the whole Planet Shattering deal. Suffice to say, hopefully negotiations can touch on that, even if it is a pipe dream. Reparations are reparations, of course. Symbolic deaths matter more to some people than actually punishing those responsible.

As for stealth, well... Sans suggests they don't fly crafts over. He's got a better idea and it involves a little magic but mostly a lot of math.

But he's gonna need some information first unless they all want to get stranded in deep space. If we're doing this, someone's gonna need to fly recon -- a really good pilot that won't get themselves shot and can get some readings for him.

[soldiergenes]

Snake would make sure to get there on time for the meeting. At first, at least, he's not going to realize that this Shep isn't Clone Shep, but that may be something that's figured out as their interaction goes on.

Those who know Snake might be able to tell that he looks a little off his game. He just recently got the cure for this virus he had in his system, but it's got some nasty side effects and he may or may not have spent the previous night curled up in the bathroom. So if he looks a little pale or slightly out of it, that would be why, although he doesn't make any mention of it. EVERYTHING'S FINE.

He'll stay quiet throughout Shep's explanation because for the most part he agrees with what she's saying. The lack of sarcastic comments interjected during her talk is a good sign! He'd be hanging out at the back part of the room at first, mainly just listening to what everyone else has to say.

He'll be volunteering himself for the stealth effort and will want to be put in contact with anyone else who would be handling that side of things, whether it's those who would be sneaking onto the enemy ship with him or those who would be providing support. He'd explain that he's got the experience and training to carry out whatever stealth/infiltration is needed, but for anything overly technical he might need someone to talk him through it.

He'd want some more information from Shep on her idea to carry this all out before the nine days are up. He's all for it, but does that mean they're acting outside of the captains' orders? He's also okay with that, but if they're going to do that they'll need to be careful about how they go about it.

In general, he's in agreement that the way this is all set up is dumb, but he figures that if they don't go along with the captains' strange sense of organization, then nothing might get done at all. And he'd also agree with everything Shep has to say about their crew being first priority.

[stompadour]

Jasper is extremely cranky about this entire setup, and while she's not a whiner, she won't hesitate to voice how vehemently she disapproves of it if asked for her input -- they should be working with the other two groups to come up with a plan together, not wasting their time making up competing ones that cover different vital areas. THAT SAID, Shepard clearly knows what she's about and has won Jasper's approval and respect with this, so she'll cooperate, at least.

She volunteers for training people in combat to help prepare for defense & infiltration. Come n punch her

[sketchycharacter]

Nate is there from the beginning, serious face on, but he doesn't say much aside from make a couple of unusually subdued wise-ass remarks that aren't even that sharp.

He'll ask a couple of questions and suggest improvements to one or two minor points, but otherwise throw his support behind Shepard's plan. While not committing to anything 100%, he suggests that he has some experience stealthing into secure areas and dealing with alarms and such. (If Shepard shows interest in his background, he will admit in private that hypothetically he might have extremely inside knowledge about breaking into secure museums that most thieves have been killed breaking into. Hypothetically.)

[linefacingforever]

Yu arrives obnoxiously early -- probably the same time Shep gets there, maybe even earlier. He sits in the back, taking notes through the whole meeting, but not contributing much. C-Primary means pretty much nothing to him, just that something bad happened and the people that had to live through it are pissed. He can sympathize, but at the same time, he's not going to just turn over someone else just because of an accident, or however it happened, nor is he okay with people dying just because they're on the same ship.

In regards to stealth, if asked, he'll say it's not his strong point. He would better serve as a distraction for those that are trying to sneak around, rather than doing the actual sneaking.

[armsmode]

Genos attends, and while normally he's rather rude and prickly to the people around him, his mind's set on the mission. These people have the same goals, the same intentions, and the will to fight - he has no quarrel with that.

He does, however, chime in when the subject of the First Strike comes up. Through possibly way too long and redundant an explanation (even pausing to tell someone to shut up and be patient, he's getting through important details, when he's told to get to the point already), Genos says that their goal on the stealth mission should be to do as much damage to the enemy ship as possible. Destroy navigation, ruin the engines, destroy even things that aren't necessary for the enemy's assault but are necessary for their ability to manage space travel, everything that isn't immediate life support should be torn apart - after all, any of those things will make the urge to retreat and repair stronger and strengthen the ratio of offense and defense on the Moira proper.

He reminds his teammates for the First Strike mission that he has delicate sensors that he will use to aid their navigation and stealth through the ship, as well as extreme destructive power to aid in his own goal for the team.

[hatesimprovising]

Wash arrives on time because, let's be real, military training tends to make a person punctual. He hangs somewhere off toward the back of the room, not exactly looking thrilled to be here but he still listens intently as Shepard speaks. There aren't really any thoughts he wants to add--it seems like a pretty solid and well thought out plan.

Whenever he does finally opt to speak up, he gives his approval of the strategy and even if he doesn't sound enthusiastic, he really does like the plan. He comments that he could be part of the stealth team, but it's likely he'll be more useful on the defensive. Subduing and detaining are more along his skill line, anyway. He's been trained in a specialised military program and, while his area of expertise is more within firearms, he's skilled in hand-to-hand and shouldn't have a problem handling opponents with non-lethal intentions.

The only part of the plan he shows any disdain toward, and even that is mild, is the scare tactic. Mostly because he has no intention of dressing up or painting his face to look "intimidating", thanks.

[heartscold]

Cold arrives punctually, and takes a seat near the front and off to the side. He declines the baked goods but takes a cup of water, and sips on it thoughtfully while he listens to the other opinions, watching everyone else's reactions.

When the idea of First Strike comes up, he tilts his head slightly in approval before speaking up. "What do we know of their ship's defenses?" he asks. "What about how many of them there might be, and how well armed they are?" He wasn't on the planet that was destroyed, so he doesn't know how their weapons might operate, and he doesn't like not having information.

He also doesn't like rushing in without a solid plan.

[that_cost]

Charlie'll be standing in a corner, listening t the whole thing. This whole hot god damn mess isn't something she's entirely unfamiliar with. Something bad happened, injured parties want revenge. She played the rolls of both one who wanted revenge and one who someone wanted to enact revenge on.

So she's not entirely comfortable with either situation. They all suck.


But...at one point, she offers the following; what if they just tried to scare them off? Silly as it probably sounds. She doesn't want to hurt anyone, thinking it'll just cause even more problems than they have now. But if they were to try to find some way that screams GO FUCK OFF WE ARE BIGGER THAN YOU that works, she'd be down.

Not that she won't go after people if she feels threatened. She'd just rather not and it should be noted that she says this in a very 'been there done that' tone.

[ersatzeverything]

Deacon largely keeps a night schedule, so he's sleeping when Shepard's message arrives. He wakes up briefly just before noon and sees that his MID has a note on it, reads the note, swears, throws on a ratty T-shirt, threadbare jeans and his sunglasses and arrives at the meeting five minutes late. He takes a pastry--with raisins--and slouches in a chair. He's quiet for the most part (possibly napping, hard to tell behind those dark sunglasses).

But he comments on the First Strike plan. General agreement, volunteers to go be stealthy, and mentions that the more targets they try to go for the riskier the operation becomes, so they should focus on a few high-impact targets for their sabotage.

He also asks if anyone on the Moira knows enough about the Caducean physiology to know what kinds of drugs would knock them out, because if they wanted to get really ambitious, maybe they could set up something in the Caducean's air vents to non-lethally gas the whole ship, then the Moirans would have free reign to totally strip their engines, disassemble their weapons, and draw little mustaches on their faces while they sleep. Or, if they can't pull that off, use tranq darts for non-lethal ranged weapons during their defense of the ship.

[chain_dash]

Drifter comes in, slightly late, but mostly on time, choosing to sit in front cross-legged on the ground. He's listens attentively for the most part, but when the point is brought up about the intent of the offensive being not to kill, he narrows his eyes in slight disbelief.

He has one question after Shepard is done: If the C-Primes are attacking with lethal force, why attempt mercy at all?

After the meeting is over Drifter will pull Shepard aside with another inquiry: Why are the C-Primes attacking the Moira?

[ryuuzaki]

L ambles in quite early, makes sure that there's coffee, and takes up a perch with his cup. He listens carefully to all discussion of plans. When he chimes in, it's in a calm, lucid, serious tone.

The first thing he points out is that if offense is necessary, negotiation has either failed or was pointless to begin with. He will not claim that he's confident in the abilities of his silver tongue... if anything, he'll have to make a point of playing nice... but he's negotiated successfully in the past. Aren't there any trained diplomats on this team? If so, what are their accomplishments? If not, he's willing to try, but it may be better to check in with the Negotiation Team and determine their plans or consider a partnership.

That said, he feels that he would be most useful to the Offense plans in one of several areas. He has a lot of experience with hacking and code-breaking, both in his original home (where he used it on a near-daily basis) and on his previous ship (where that kind of work was his entire job description: he was the head of the Communications department). He's capable of creating a special tough encryption to work under in this project, but extremely wary of relying on its security under these circumstances.

He is not himself the best candidate for membership on a stealth team when people who are more used to field work are available, but he's an excellent communications liaison and/or stealth team director. Essentially, he can help with the technical backbone of all of this.

All that said (and here, he starts to sound dismayed), if the C-Primes are determined to attack with lethal force, there is no choice but to respond with it. Everyone should be prepared for mass casualties, whether or not they would ordinarily choose the least violent means at their disposal.

When Sans shows up with donuts, L takes one and sniffs it, preparing to bite into it. A strange look crosses his face before he gets any further, and he carefully sets the donut down to the side.

Sans, why.

[bloodbinds]

Ava is there pretty early, wanting to hear everything and get everyone's opinions before she even begins to contemplate what she wants to offer or side with.

Eventually, however, Ava votes to opt for either First Strike or Defensive due to lack of deadly force. She makes it clear that she's not interested in killing, especially since it seems like the Moira and its crew (and Banner) directly caused a massive loss of human life. Still, that doesn't mean that the people who are here deserve to pay for it with their own lives. It's a bad situation and she totally understands that they're in a bad fucking position here...but she agrees with Shepard: crew lives first and foremost, end of story. Get in quietly, take out everyone possible by whatever means necessary, and book it the hell out of here.

Towards the end, and hesitantly, Ava volunteers to go in for stealth or for defensive. What she also offers up (with more than a few glances around the room) is to either avail herself as a distraction en masse or to try to take out as many as she can using an ability she has (which she does not name nor does she go into too much detail about). She simply offers that she can command people one at a time with simple tasks ("stop", "don't move") or make them forget that the Moira was even there. However, she's only done this one at a time and while there is a possible chance that a broadcast to the entire other ship MIGHT work, it's risky, and she doesn't know if they have the wiggle room to test it at this juncture.

[breakin_ur_lore]

Med'an listens earnestly throughout the entire thing, and actually seems pretty heartened by Shepherd's leadership. He volunteers for the First Strike team, offering short-range teleporting and (limited) invisibility spells. He hopes that this phase will be so successful that they won't have to go into any others.

[diamondhack]

Isha shows up fashionably early, mostly listens to everyone and silently judges. She'll offer her skills as a hacker as well as anything stealthy along with her dog Q-11. She'll be of a mind that the best way to do this is to have a diversionary attack as some select members go in and infiltrate/disable the ship. She can't guarantee that she can hack the ship, but give her some time, she can probably figure it out. This is alien tech to her, she's learning this on the go.

She doesn't really know what the hell is going on but low-key she wants the safety of the crew before anything else. If it means dismantling the other ship, so be it. She'd want to essentially hold the ship's computing systems as hostage in case shit hits the fan fantastically. Her priority will be disabling offensive tech. She won't be above disabling literally anything else.

If the stealth thing goes, she might have the time to at least get some sound canceling gear going. She'll want to know who else is on the stealth op and what everyone can do before running in. Basically, Isha wants battle plans even for just their stealth crew. Like now. Because she doesn't plan on going in without plan A, plan b, and plan c.

[otiosity]

Hawke shows up 30 minutes late and doesn't even have Starbucks.

She actually looks mildly hungover and there's a big dog the size of a small horse following at her heels and trying to eat the donuts that Sans brought. Aaaand she's not doing anything to stop him. For the most part, she keeps quiet, just rubbing her eyes and forehead and seeming exhausted at the very conversation. And that's how she feels. She wasn't part of the previous attack and she doesn't want any part in a fight that's not hers. Unfortunately, she needs this ship to get home and knows that the captains demand a price for that. This included. Maker, she's going to live in the bar after this.

So when eyes turn to her she'll casually throw out that she can do magic, offensive and defensive but that her powers here are limited. She figures there's no point in jumping into trouble and that they ought to wait for an attack to see if they can sidestep the worst outcome.

[freiheiten]

SUPER LATE WOW

Anyways Levi shows up a little after the meeting started, and while okay yeah Shep it's a good plan and all; he doesn't like it. To him these people came to their home and the already admitted that they are trying to kill them. It's obvious they hold a grudge. even if the crew is just defensive attacking what is stopping C-Prime from retreating, collecting themselves and more weapons, and attack again in months?

So Levi isn't really for the whole scare, subdue, detain. He thinks that they need to kill them in order for the crew to be safe. That isn't to say that he won't go with the plan, because right now it's the only one they have, but Levi will be more likely to kill in order to protect.

[coolskeletonnyehntyfive]

I'm late AF but Papyrus arrived a little early and probably offered to help set up.

He wasn't around when the original drama went down, but he's worried about people fighting. There could be injuries, or worse! Maybe all these people need is a hug and a nice steaming platter of spaghetti! Everyone feels better after they eat and spend time with a friend, and he bets they're good people who will see reason and not want to do violence against the people on the ship!

Especially since so many of them had nothing to do with C-Prime's issue.

Failing that, he's going to assert that he's very cool and strong and will try extra hard to look after his friends.

TEAM OFFENSE PROPOSED PLAN

[squadgoals]

-> Priority number one is the Moira's own crew's safety.
-> Main goal is bloodless victory via non-lethal engagement.
-> While the crew needs to work together, no one should be forced to take part in fighting. If characters feel more comfortable helping make meals, or assist in shoring up defenses before any attacks take place, then taking to safety if or when any battles happen, there's no shame in that.

PLAN BREAKDOWN
PREPARATIONS/GATHERING INTEL: This involves fixing, shoring up, and otherwise preparing the ship for invaders, attackers, whatever. Checking and improving artillery, training people who will be in charge of these things, sealing entrances, and much more. ADDITIONALLY, this should involve digital preparations: that means hacking their computers as silently as possible, code-breaking (if there is one), revealing messages and plans of the combatants without being caught. C-Prime ship schematics, weaponry, artillery capabilities, transporters for boarding, on-board list of materials, number of crew and their strength and capabilities — anything relevant to improving the Moira's chances. The best offense is a good defense, after all. A lot of this has already been done and shared by Tony Stark & others. Locating paths to disabling (rather than destroying) equipment and over-riding and taking control of autopilot functions are key here.

NEGOTIATIONS STAGE 1: Organization of brief cessation of hostilities, prior to 9 days being up. Team of negotiators attempt once more to approach C-Primary ship to talk terms of ceasefire and understanding. Although it's generally understood that they won't accept this, this step may help underscore for later that Moira crew are interested in compromise and understanding rather than a battle.

FIRST STRIKE: A large stealth strike team, broken up into units with individual leaders, boards the opposing vessel with the space-warping assistance of Sans (thanks to the pre-testing and stealth mission to figure out relevant data), who will also be dropping off the remnants of C-Prime's artifacts from aboard the ship — statues, garden display, etc. Each unit is teamed up with technical assistance from aboard the Moira, in order to guide them, and disable security, doors, and traps remotely. The stealth teams would strike at the ship's main points, disabling engines, artillery, tech, transporters, etc. — essentially hobbling their ability to strike at, or board the Moira herself.

During this time, the technical team is also working to override the autopilot, and re-program it for C-Secondary, or a similar set of coordinates near their own home planet. If we can get them out of our space, we won't need to fight them at all. If successful, we may not even need to move on to...

Of the offense team, people who have volunteered for this part are: SANS (transport), Snake, Nathan Drake, Genos, Captain Cold, Deacon (also: non-lethal gas grenades!), L (tech), Ava (specifically using dominate to clear paths, and change minds), Med'an (short-range teleportation, invisibility), Isha (tech, building sound-cancelling shoes for stealth ops).

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE: There is always the chance that the C-Primers will have foreseen all of this, so there HAS to be people on board the Moira ready to defend, no matter what. This team will be made up of people skillfully using the Moira herself, as well as their own powers and abilities to trap, disable, and beat back any invading groups. As the goal is non-lethal combat, this will involve a good deal of finesse, broken down into scare, subdue, and detain.

BUT: While the goal is non-lethal, in the event that a combatant comes at you, or a fellow crew member, and there is little to no chance of repelling them in a non-lethal manner, deadly force can be used. Moira crew is paramount and not to be treated as disposable.

Of the offense team, people who have volunteered for this part are: Jasper (training people, helping shore up the Moira, and defense in general), Yu (using... demons and gods, but not the real ones, for distraction and fear tactics), Wash (definitely not wearing skeleton facepaint, good hand to hand specialist and helping to train), Charlie (dangerous fire, walls of heat, fireballs, incineration if threatened.), Ava (dominate skill to control people's minds), Hawke (offensive and defensive magic), Papyrus (pasta, assistance, being cool).

NEGOTIATIONS STAGE 2: The C-Primes have made it clear that, unless they are wiped out, or give up, they probably won't stop pursuing the Moira for retributions. People will have to push them to reach a compromise. It may not be a mutually beneficial one (in one way or another), but the right negotiation will result, at the very least, in an agreed-upon ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in the long-term.

Of the offense team, people who have volunteered for this part are: L.

All attack positions, stealth, defense, and otherwise, are on a volunteer basis. As long as you can find some small way to assist your fellow crew members, you are helping and taking part. No one will be forced into a role they don't want to do. Since the selected plan will be being used by the entire Moira, hopefully more people can be slotted into the different areas, and more comprehensive planning can be done for each.