April 29, 2015:
Ozymandias goes before Congress regarding the death of the President
US Capitol
Characters
NPCs: Ballard, Traverstein, Ross, Stewart, Jimenez
Mentions:
Plot:
A Dark Hold
Apocalypse: Only the Strong
Blood versus Family
Bones Of The City
Breaking the Universe
Cyberdata War: First Strike
Dangerous Esterikos Wonderous Mystikos
Dark Gods & Times
De Oppresso Liber
Demon Lord of New York
Diaz de Muertos
Don't Tell Thanos The Babysitter's Dead
Empire of Tears
Escape from Sakaar
From the Ashes
Gateway to the Stars
Genosha: Rebirth
God Of The Dead
Hacker, Sass-Mastah, Engineer, Spy
Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung Setzen
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
The committee seems downright pissy after their rather short interview with Peggy Carter. Soon after, Ozymandias is called before the stand, asked to be sworn in, and the questioning soon begins. Ballard, the Senator from Delaware who heads the investigation, begins. "Please state your codename for the committee, and give the most detailed description of the events of that night in Orleans."
The thought of this being on his bucket list does cross his mind, but he would have preferred during it under different circumstances.
"Thank you for allowing me to speak with you today. My name is Ozymandias. There was a distress call sent out to the Justice League. I arrived with Wonder Woman in her jet along with Mockingbird. By the time we landed, Captain America was already making his way to the President with some others. We heard that there were people in trouble to the west of our location, and Wonder Woman asked for me to go to their aid. I went to their aid as quickly as possible, and stayed in that location until the zombies started flee."
There's almost an audible sigh of relief as the committee finally gets some answers from someone without any attitude.
"Thank you, Ozymandias," states Reese Stewart from California. "Sir, would you please describe your understanding of the chain of command within the JL:A structure. Both generally and on that night?"
Ozymandias claps his hands together as he intertwines his fingers, "Yes, Ma'am. There is a council of members that approve new members, but I must confess I have not been available for all of the missions to give you a factual account of the chain of command structure of the Justice League: Avengers. I know at times different members of the council have asked for my help, and they seem to have done most of the work of taking the lead of the mission."
Ozymandias unclasps his fingers and states, "This is still a very new group of people coming together, and I know that there are member of Congress that are veterans or the sons and daughters of veterans. It takes time for a group to come together to form a cohesive unit."
Ozymandias says, "But, I can say without hesitation, our inexperience working as a team played no effect in our inability to save the President. On that night, I believe that the people who went to helped the President knew each other and have similar training. The very fact you have the Sentinel of Liberty leading the charge inspires men and women to fight. If you have to be in a foxhole, you want to know what the other people are capable of, and I believe that was the case. Wonder Woman was helping clearing a path, and she even checked on me during the battle."
Ozymandias nods his head, "It was a very chaotic battle, and I believe everyone was doing their best to save innocents, defeat the Zombie Horde, and protect the President. So to summarize, I believe the fog of war, preventing anyone from proclaiming their decisions over other members of the team, led to the death of the President. I know that seems like a cop out to you and to the American people, but it is the truth."
"Thank you for your response, Mr. Ozymandias," says Pete Ross of Kansas. "Are there certain things you saw that night that may have led to the President having lived? Either specific to that mission or maybe systemic with the JL:A, secret service, or what have you?"
"No Sir, I did not see anything on the night." Ozymandias emphatically states. "In the military after every mission and after every drill, there is debrief and people go over lessons learned, so that they do not happen again. I believe intelligence gathering felled the President more than anything else. Hydra did not roll over that morning and pull off this plan. If there was even the slightest blurb about am attempt on the President's life, we should have been called in before that occurred. Our powers may seem like we can perform any sort of miracle that we desire, but we cannot. We cannot protect everyone. We cannot be everywhere."
Ozymandias leans back for a moment as he ponders the other parts of the question, "There are more powered individuals appearing every day, and the secret service needs to be trained to deal with them. They need equipment and training that allows them to stand an attack from Hydra without needing Shield or the JlA. The President needs to be riding around in the best protected vehicle that exists. The security technicians that make up the Secret Service need to have technology that helps prevent attacks from powered individuals."
Ozymandias grinds his teeth for a moment before he speaks again, "I have no doubt that the Justice League will look at this mission's lessons learned, and use it to strengthen our team. I just hope that this Congress and America people knows that we are committed and dedicated to making sure a catastrophe of this kind never happens again."
The committee seem rather satisfied with Ozymandias' answer and all give him a nod. Even Traverstein who seems to have had it out for the heroes to the hilt. It is she who asks the next question.
"Thank you sir. Switching gears now, would you discuss Supergirl's decision to incinerate the HYDRA carrier? And can you tell us in your remarks, if you will, was she ordered by Captain America, Wonder Woman, or anyone for that matter, to do so?"
Ozymandias shakes his head, "No, Ma'am. I did not hear any order given to Supergirl to incinerate the carrier by any teammate. I must confess on this issue I have a personal hatred towards anyone who has history that can be linked to Nazism. Ozymandias mind is filled with the memories of his fellow Tirailleurs Sénégalais being massacred by Germans as they swept across France. His left hand grips the edge of the table lightly as he speaks into the microphone, "It was a mistake that she made that she will have to live with. She was trying to protect lives. She may be powerful, but she is still a young person. A young person that is new to this world and to America, but yet she tried to fight to protect its President. This country has a history of many minorities fighting for this country when they were being treated like pariahs at home. Do we continue this trend with Supergirl? She made a mistake. The same names you just called, Captain America and Wonder Woman, can teach her and guide her to prevent her from ever making this mistake again. She fought against the Atlanteans. We cannot allow people like Hydra to turn those who stand against them into monsters."
Traverstein looks as if she's about to state something, but stops. She opens her mouth as if she will state something else, then abruptly stops again. "Does anyone have any further questions," asks Ballard. Traverstein and the others shake their heads. "You are free to leave, Mr. Ozymandias. Thank you for your time and your insight."
Ozymandias dips his head and states, "Thank you, Mister Chariman and the rest of the Committee members."
Ozymandias rises from his seat and makes a mental note to see if any Senators will be in heated battles next election. Depending on how this turn out, there might be need to support their competitors in someway. If not the next election, then the one after that. Time is always on his side in these matters.