A Visit to the Hall

March 07, 2019:

Nightcrawler goes to the Hall of Justice to talk with Doctor Strange and Troia about the Sentinel attacks.

The Hall of Justice, Metropolis

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions: Iron Man

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

Earlier this morning.

The phone at the Sanctum rang, and Wong's responded, as he usually does, assuring one Kurt Wagner that Doctor Strange had not been attacked by giant robots. No, he was not in the Sanctum but Wong would tell him about the call.

A couple hours ago Strange in person called to Xavier's school and had a brief chat with Kurt. As a matter of fact someone he knew had a fight with a Sentinel recently. And no, she is not a mutant. It was in Ryker's Island and… yes, it would be best to meet in person. Metropolis is not that far from New York. It is less than a two hours' drive from Westchester. Or if Kurt chain-teleported, probably considerably less time.

It was easy to arrange the meeting, and Kurt was authorized into the Hall and led to a small meeting room. "Nightcrawler," greets Strange with a polite smile. The sorcerer is wearing a tan suite, always a few years behind in mortal fashions, but quite effective at giving the impression of a respectable medical doctor. Well, except for the golden amulet hanging from his neck. It looks eccentric.

"Troia, one of the greatest heroes of the Amazons," he says as introduction. "Troia, Nightcrawler is one of the X-Men, and a good man."


Donna Troy looked up from where she was working, a fingertip paging through some report of the other on a tablet, had settled herself at main meeting table, almost opposite Strange, but rose as Nightcrawler arrived. With her face bent to the tablet, and her hair loose, it might have been more than possible to mistake her for another, more Wondrously names Amazon, but as she rose the subtle shifts in her face that differentiated Donna from Diana were more readily apparent. As well, she did not wear anything approached Diana's Amazonian armor, but a body suit of black that sparkled with a starfield. The bracers and armbands though, were very much in the Amazonian style, as was the silver lasso at her hip. If she found the look of the man unusual or strange, it did not show on her face, which was calm and placid. "Welcome to the Halls of Justice, Nightcrawler."


Walking with his hands folded behind his back, eyes wide as he takes in the site of the Hall of Justice, Nightcrawler is clearly impressed. Tail flicking back and forth the indigo furred mutant smiles when he is greeted. "Schonen Tag, Herr Strange und" he sweeps into a genteel bow, a three fingered hand pressed to his chest, and the other flourishing to the side, "Meine Dame."

Rising and giving a tight smile. "I understand you have come into conflict with Sentinels as well, and with a recent assault in New York, I thought it best to contact the good Doctor, whom had directed me to you." hands folding behind his back again, dividing his attention between the two of them.


Strange gestures Kurt to take a seat, and sits down himself opposite to the man. "I have never seen those robots myself," admits the sorcerer, "but they are supposed to be under the government control, aren't they? Then again I have little faith in the D.E.O. ability to control anything."

Particularly anything magical. That is where the doctor has been in conflict with the agency. Not giant robots. But mishandling everything dangerous seems to be a trend for certain people.


Donna glanced at Strange, as he moved over to settle into a seat herself, before she easily divided her attention between the two men. "Weapons, no matter what the type the might be, very rarely remain only in the hands of one individual or group. Once it is out in the world, I have no doubt that there will always be those who will either steal it, buy it, or find ways to recreate it for themselves. I have had no dealings with the Sentinels, in any form, until their attack on Ryker's Island, and so I cannot speak to whether or not these are the same sort that were used by the government, as I have not had a chance to compare them. I know there have been other attacks, of course, but I was only a part of that one. But they were clearly sent to the prison with a very particular purpose. To kill the mutants housed there."


Taking a moment to look over the chair, Nightcrawler gives an embaressed smile as he climbs up onto the back rest of the seat, "Vergib mir, your chairs are… ah… Not very comfortable due to my condition." his tail flicks again, wrapping around his shoulder, the barbed point dangling like a pendulum as he perches with eerie balance.

He listens raptly to Donna as she relates the attack on Rykers, forearms resting on his knees, hands folded, "If you have video I would be most interested to see images, to see if there were differences." he produces several photos, showing the standard build of sentinal, eighteen feet tall, but black instead of the pasts shades of dark and light purple. "These ones attacked Stark Tower, seeking the Iron Man, ja? They spotted myself and reacted as expected." another moment of consideration passes before a third photo is presented, of an even more massive one twenty feet at least. "This one threatened Iron Man, and then teleported." the last words drawing a nervous frown. "I think they may have been seeking Iron Man's technology, for integration. Naturally if they were not concerned with only mutants, I thought Arzt Strange could be a target, or any of the others in New York - Punisher, Captain America… any of the Justice League that call the city home."


Strange has little to add about giant robots, really. "Ah, I remember now," he mentions. "They said it might have been a Genoshan Sentinel, right? The government denied it was any of theirs. I suppose it is plausible some of those machines have been captured by a third party during the fall of Genosha."

And they attacked Ryker's Island to kill a few mutants. He glances Donna, frowning faintly. "Perhaps to kill someone specifically? I mean, there are many mutants in New York and murdering those already imprisoned seems very wasteful tactics."


Donna shifted her attention to the photographs that they were being shown, "Yes, those were the same I encountered at Ryker's. They specifically and only seemed interested in killing the mutants who were being held in the Super Max facility. Which, is completely understandable. If my task was to eliminate some of the more powerful mutants…quite honestly, they were all in that facility for a reason." Nothing in Donna's voice was dismissive or mean-spirited, she was simply speaking honestly and candidly.


Nightcrawler does, still, look a little nonplussed at the casual bandying of 'if I were to be killing mutants' comment. Tail tip flicking, he leans forward slightly once he's gathered himself once more. "Does anyone within your organization have a means of tracking something that teleported from vanishing point?" looking to Strange next, "Do you have means of doing similar with your… arts?" brows knitting together again.


"As long it was using magic, easy," replies Strange. "Otherwise I can attempt to, but my power over the physical world is more limited. And robots… they don't even have a spiritual signature to latch upon. Clairvoyance and the like tend to fail with mechanical creations," he admits. "The Justice League technological resources we can bring to the case are very extensive, however. But so are Stark's."


Donna considered the problem of Strange, before the spoke again, though her words were directed at Nightcrawler. "My apologies if my words seemed too casual to you, Nightcrawler. But this is a war, and in my experience, which, I admit, would not best please my sister, wars are not won by emotion. They are won by overcoming them, by focusing on the task at hand until the battle is won." Only once she'd finished speaking, did she turn to Strange, "I do not know about all of the Sentinel attacks, but at least at Ryker's they were also working with men, who were tasked, or so it seemed, with subduing the human guards and allowing the Sentinels to do their work."


"We must not lose our humanity, lest we become the Evil we face. A war is as much with oneself, as with the enemy, and one must not turn from the light of Gott, regardless of which side one is on. He does not choose battle lines among mortals, save for when they ally with The Enemy." Kurt frowns, tail flicking side to side before wrapping around his ankles again. "Dame Troy, I would like to speak with Herr Stark, and my own people - perhaps the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Justice League should join forces, to face an enemy that threatens us all. A bundle of sticks, as opposed to many, battering at a foe, ja?"


"I'd advice discretion in this matter," comments Strange when Kurt proposes an alliance. "These machines are tools of the government and they might be acting on behalf of powerful bureaucrats in Washington. The political situation seems volatile. So much talk about this Registration nonsense." He sighs, leaning back, "witch hunts are not so far in the past, my friends."


"War is not about losing your humanity," Donna began, "Is it about learning to rise above your most basic human instincts, fear, rage, the need for vengeance to do what must be done for the good of all, not just yourself." And then she was quiet, as she listened to the Nightrcrawler's plan, "Strange is right. You do not want to draw attention to yourselves, when you do not yet know the source of the danger facing you."


"Ach, Dame Troy - they were hunting Iron Man, and identified me by name. The Sentinels are old enemies of my kind. The X-Men may now already be targeted, since I was identified." Nightcrawler smiles again, tight but warm. "I think that He inspired me to seek out Arzt Strange, who in turn led me to you. There are so few coincidence of such type without the touch of Providence. I must still discuss the sighting with my people, but perhaps we might have a means of cross-discussion, ja? Share notes?"


"War is the continuation of politics with other means," quotes Strange.

That is Clausewitz for you. So what policy are giant robots enforcing? No policy: not a war. “Nightcrawler is correct in that if you wish to solve find out what is going on, you should pool the information. There has been a number of incident regarding these Sentinels, but none of them involved my field of expertise. The supernatural,” so he is not feeling competent to investigate this case. There are other events going. Like a group of vampires trying to raise a darkness demon of some kind.


Donna nodded, "They were hunting him, yes. But they may not have been hunting him for the same reason that they have been hunting the mutants. And given that you are not yet sure who all or most of their targets are or what their objectives might be above and beyond the destruction of your kind, it is safer not to be seen to be putting together a strong force to combat them until you are more certain of what their goals are. Not to mention that you will also need to identify who is funding them and determine how they can be eliminated. Quite often, when someone believes they are going to be attacked, they will strike harder and faster to defend against that." She nodded to Strange, before she returned to Nightcrawler. "So I am not saying do not look for ways to cooperate, I am simply saying it is best to be circumspect in your dealings until you have the information you need and are ready to strike."


"Dead drops perhaps? Between yourself, the X-Men, and the Avengers then?" Nightcrawler posits, "Surely more traditional methods of communication would be harder to…" he then looks to Dr. Strange. "Das konnte funktionieren…" lips pursing as he looks a little excited. "Herr Arzt, perhaps you might be the link to allow for clandestine sharing of information?"


Strange hrms. "I am told the Justice League communication channels are very secure, but if you mean mystical means, they are not very practical except among sorcerers." He frowns, thinking for a few seconds. "Although if you need a secure place to meet in New York my Sanctum is open to you, as always. When I advised discretion, however, I merely meant to keep this out of government agent ears as well as the press."


Donna nods, as she listens to both of then. "I have no doubt that you will find allies and those with the skills you need in all of the groups you might draw into this war. if you can trust that they are not already somehow involved in the opposition. Given the names you mentioned, however, that is, at least, and unlikely state of affairs."

Donna Troy says, "I would return to Stark, however. I managed to salvage a head of one of the Sentinels, before the DEO arrived at Ryker's. It was given to Caitlin Fairchild to be passed on to Stark. It might have some useful technological information, though, given the way it managed to continue fighting eve after I tore its head off, the primary systems are more likely to be in its body.""


"Naturally, Meine Herr." Nightcrawler notes to Strange. "It would be the Avengers that this caution may need to be impressed upon. We in the X-Men do not often appreciate press coverage, ja?" to Donna he nods "Ja, Meine Dame - they are in the chest we discovered. The head is all sensors." he claps his hands together, "Wunderbar! Progress at least. Even a little progress ist gut, ja?" sharp toothed smile showing through.

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