Sergeant Muldoon arrived at the debriefing dressed in a black suit, crisp white shirt and a thin black tie. Since he was not in uniform, he did not salute the Commander.

Having not participated in the last operation, his presence was to learn what he could about his new team and the opposition. So he took a seat in the corner and kept quiet for now.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Tue 19 Feb 2013.

Nightmare comes in, coffee in hand, and sits nonchalantly in the rear. If he's nervous about the debriefing, it doesn't show. In fact, he looks a little bored.

   Onyx entered the room with a distinct swagger.

   He nodded at the others, an occasional "Wassup," here and there.

   He had taken a beating the last time out.  He hoped he would fare better this time around.

Quietly, Oscillator says, "Ahem.  Vosper, over here?  I've reserved for you this vacant seat?"

Oscillator indicates the empty seat near him.  He gestures, smiles, and then looks awkward.

He'd given a bolder performance fighting the soldiers.

OOC:  Just realized that 'sexual harassment' phobia & all that wasn't in effect back then.  So Oscillator has no reason, except Vosper's rejection or a teammate straightening him out, to downplay his interest even while 'on the job'.  Also, 'golden age' comics always have some kind of romantic relationship confusion.  Plus, since he's a scientist and relatively lacking social graces ...  Gonna go for it.

Amaranth has spent her time so far mostly working her way through the library.  She's uninterested in the movies, but enjoys conversation when it's available.  She takes to making breakfast, always seeming to be the first one up in the morning, despite generally being the last one up at night as well.

...In fact, people paying attention may gradually be realizing that she never seems to go to sleep at all.

She gives Vosper a curious look as she comes in, but, after a short pause, claims a seat of her own next to Nightmare.

Sipping his coffee, Nightmare gives Amaranth a smile. "You know, you don't have to be here. They call them debriefings, because the first thing the avoid is being brief. Even though this time, there won't be much to tell."

Eddy wandered in.

He was wearing a kimono, from that strange little oriental cult/culture across the ocean.  He thought they looked cute ... and they let him 'go commando'.
He was eating Pizza, from that not-so-strange Italian culture back in the 'old world'.  He cheese dripped, and he seemed happy about that.
                                       Samurai Pizza Cat!

He flopped down into the spare seat beside Oscellator, and grinned at the egghead.
Then turned his attention to Barnes.

Vosper hesitated, but seeing as they weren't standing on military protocol, shrugged and moved to sit next to Osc.  Bloody Americans, she thought; but not unkindly.

Sitting down, she nodded at Osc and waited for Barnes to start talking.

After everyone has sat down Commander Barnes addresses the group, a slight smirk on his face as he starts; "Thank you all for arriving in at least a *reasonably* timely manner and for some at least making sure they are fully attired. That aside I hope those of you who are injured are recovering well, the staff on hand should be helping that. This is the formal debriefing of the mission and once it starts what is being said will be recorded. Is there anything anyone wishes to say before we start recording as I am expecting a reasonable amount of decorum once the formalities begin?"

   Onyx looked around the room, his arms folded in front of him as he leaned against the wall.

   "Get to it, jack," he quipped.

As he was just here as an observer, Muldoon shook his head slighty and pulled out a pen and a small pad from his pocket to take notes.

Nightmare nods, mumbling, "I'll take decorum over discipline any old day."
Sipping his coffee, he says, out loud, "I take it our participation is required, but not demanded. Not to worry, I'll be good."

"Your expectation is duly noted, Commander, however -- are you familiar with this team?"

Yes, Oscillator had made a joke!
Was it Vosper sitting by his side that made him bold, or having the team reunited finally?
The firefight had forged a bond stronger than Oscillator had initially realized.
Yes, he would probably take a bullet for anyone on this team
-- even Onyx or Poco, despite the fact they didn't seem to like him much.
Or maybe that had changed as well?

"Sir, we fully understand the situation.  I believe we're ready to begin," Vosper said crisply.  With her background with M-I6, she was more comfortable with militaria and formality.

She wasn't chiding her teammates, though; they were who they were.  The newcomers aside - whom she didn't know well - she was comfortable enough with that.

Commander Barnes briefly chuckles at Oscillator's words before responding; "I am familiar enough with the team, thus my phrasing of *reasonable* decorum. At any rate since it seems everyone is content we can begin." He glances around the room to see if anyone says anything.

OOC: So just giving Amaranth and Poco the opportunity to say anything off the record. Otherwise I will start the formalities...
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:26, Fri 22 Feb 2013.

Amaranth smiles a bit at Oscillator's joke, too, but doesn't say anything.  She gives the Commander a small nod.

A small, off-the-record, nod, that she would prefer not be quoted on.

"Yeah,", Eddy said, sliding into a more comfortable position on the chair, "try to keep it down to a dull roar back there" he called over the back of the seat to those behind.

Then, with a satisfied nod, he turned back to Barnes. "Ok, Cheif.  I got your back, you can get on with your commentary now", he concluded with a nod.

Commander Barnes smiles slightly and nods in return, reaching for something just offscreen; "Very well, I am now turning on the recorder. Today is December 28th, 1963 and it is 14:30 hours. Beginning formal debriefing of SMITE Group Colorado and the securing and retrieval of advanced guidance and detonation systems. At approximately 17:00 hours the team was deployed by parachute 3 miles outside of Arrowhead, New Mexico, site of an underground advanced research facility. Under radio silence were directed to enter the town, determine the situation at hand, and enter the facility. Primary objective was to make sure the technology did not fall into Soviet hands. Secondary objective was to locate and secure any possible hostages, especially research scientists.

At this point I would like a summary of what transpired upon reaching and approaching Arrowhead. Who would like to speak on this?" He looks back and forth around the room to see who will take the lead, an expression of curiousity on his face.

OOC: I don't want everyone to feel like they have to jump in. Perhaps the group can elect one person to be the primary reporter of events. Discuss this IC or OOC, whichever you prefer.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:41, Tue 26 Feb 2013.

Vosper looked down and flushed and swallowed to stifle a laugh.  Shaking her head, she composed her features before looking up and steadfastly avoided looking at Poco.  That way lie hilarity, and laughing whilst reporting bad news to one's boss was generally a good way for demerits, demotion, or - in her case - deportation.

"Sir," she said crisply, "we approached the base with caution but saw no sign of activity until we encountered snipers atop one of the buildings.  Once we dispatched the sniper, we moved indoors and used the elevator to descend."

She glanced at the others, raising a brow and allowing them room to add any details.

Oscillator smiled at Vosper.  She had ton a great job.
"Precisely."

Oscillator wanted to be a team player -- but, the problem with being a science nerd, is that he had never been ON a team.
"Only missing one detail; that team mates had been shot at this point."

He thought a bit more.
"Actually, another missing detail was our exposure to the Russian's chemical weapon, "Drema", which was likely ingested by Poco and perhaps other teammates.  Upon our return, I tested for others but haven't found anything -- yet."

He smiled at the teammates, looking for acknowledgement.  When none came, he became more awkward and looked around.
Then he tries to hum.
"Ahem.  Errr, that is what I recall, more or less.  Hmmmmmm  mmmm mmmmmm."

"Quite right," she nodded to Osc, "but said exposure happened once we were in the lift.  It was quite well-trapped.  Descending to the lower levels, we encountered..."

Soldiers, who kicked the living crap out of them.

"...an elite team of soldiers.  Frankly, their skills were amazing.  They were able to hit me at speed and avoid our attacks quite well.  We fought them to a standstill, but then they appeared to have some form of unseen aid... someone with the ability to influence minds."

Muldoon sat quietly and took notes.

Commander Barnes takes in all the information, appearing to jot a few things down himself; "The soldiers were highly trained KGB operatives not your run-of-the-mill grunts. The Soviets must really want that technology because they blew a number of deep-cover agents out, agents that must have been carefully groomed for years after being clandestinely recruited from among our own soldiers. Added insult to injury being shot at with our own weapons. From the descriptions the other day and what you are reporting right now it is obvious the shadowy figure is an super known to us as Shroud. He is a known teleporter as well as possessing the ability to become invisible and walk through walls. Fortunately the defenses of the technology included forcefields or he would have just waltzed in and out.

That brings us to the woman, Usurper is what we call her. She must have been brought in to try and use one of the researchers to shut down the security systems. We were fortunate that the few with the access code were away on leave with family, their intel must have been just faulty enough to miss that detail. Apparently the agents used Drema on the entire complex, waiting until it went inert before infiltrating it. They must have carefully arranged for them all to be topside on patrol. Once the base was subdued Shroud and Usurper probably moved in. I wish you could have caught one or both of them, but your mission goals were accomplished and now we know they are in the States. Does anyone have anything to add or any questions?"

Oscillator raises his hand, waits, then asks his question.  "Commander Barnes, did you have any fore-knowledge that we'd encounter Shroud or Usurper?

I was mentally dominated by her psychic powers, and I didn't appreciate the experience.  If you might give us a-priori warning when you possess relevant intel, that could improve our strategic advantage."

Oscillator was basically saying, 'If we have radios, we expect field support' and also 'I never want my mind hi-jacked again.'   Hopefully the message gets through...?

"We were lucky that only Vosper, who has super-healing, was significantly injured.  Our exploits could just as likely have resulted in a more grim outcome."

Commander Barnes listened to Oscillator's remarks, nodding and smiling slightly for a moment before replying; "We had no knowledge whatsoever of who had infiltrated the base. Our first knowledge of a problem was the loss of communication. Knowing what was being worked on we deployed the closest SMITE group, which was your group. We were unclear of whether there would be supers involved at all or the potential level of resistance. So I am sorry if you feel we dropped you into something with little knowledge but we were equally in the dark and it had to be done. Prior to this Shroud was an elite assassin for the Soviets, something he did quite well with his gifts. In retrospect those gifts could be used equally well for espionage, something we have noted in his file.

It is entirely likely that many future missions may involve sending the group in with little knowledge but when you have to act at a moment's notice sometimes you have to make hard decisions. That is a fact of military life I have become accustomed to over my years of service, and the group should likewise be prepared to not always be prepared or informed."