16781/Visiting Olivanders

Visiting Olivanders
Date of Scene:	05 January 2024
Location:	W.A.N.D: Triskelion
Synopsis:	A tour of the Triskeleton and meeting colleagues!
Cast of Characters:	Natasha Romanoff, Nico Minoru, Lucas Trent, Nikolas Kamarov

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Natasha Romanoff has posed:
WAND isn't normally a section of SHIELD that Natasha operates wtih beyond the occasional field assignment. But coordination is good; it helps with training. Or in the case of Nico, intake. The woman is new to SHIELD, and the Staff of One is something that many of the reports that Natasha has access to are very, very extensive. One of the mental notes she sets aside for herself is to talk to Wanda or Clea about it later. She doesn't presume to speak to them about Nico directly - that's something that the girl can decide for herself.

So with some others in tow, Natasha goes to lead the group through the WAND facilities. "This branch of SHIELD is primarily oriented towards supernatural threats. It's mandate is international in nature. While STRIKE covers Europe, it's frequent that WAND members will coordinate when affairs in Otherworld are at large." No one really likes Merlin.

Nico Minoru has posed:
If anything, the Staff of One is an artifact of such power that even Dormammu himself fears it. So clearly, the girl's got some serious juju about her, which begs the question why she isn't gunning for Sorcerer Supreme or something instead of being a lowly junior agent of W.A.N.D.

Still looking a bit uncomfortable in the standard uniform, Nico follows along, listening to what jurisdiction they have. She simply nods, while a seemingly enchanted tablet and stylus are taking notes, drawing things, and keeping extensive records of the tour and information thus far for her to review later.

Lucas Trent has posed:
Lucas Trent wears his own black costume, body armor covering his broad-shouldered form. He has his cowl pulled in place, grey eyes staring out. He's only recently 'come in from the cold', so to speak, after being alienated from the international intelligence apparatus for a few decades or so. He's been an independent operator, fighting the good fight but without any bosses or any rules.

Or any help.

Sick of being outnumbered and outgunned, he's taking a chance trusting in SHIELD to treat him with respect. His nanites have only barely begun to accept the SHIELD tech around him and regarding it as an instant threat. They had finally begun to adapt, however. He, too, is in need of orientation and he's decided to just hitch a ride along with the girl's. Then he sees they're going into WAND. Not his area. Oh well. Wouldn't hurt to learn.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
There are many, many stories about Midnighter. Some of them are even true, perhaps. As Lucas comes to join them, Natasha dips her head. "Agent." Deferring to Lucas if he wanted to introduce himself or not. There was a wary respect from her to the Stormwatch veteran - or survivor might be the better way to put it.

"With your permission, Agent Minoru.. In addition to the training you'll be getting from WAND I'd like to recommend you consider language classes. They'd give you more.. Flexibility." Recommend. Not require. It was ultimately Nico's decision. Also one didn't tell the lady with the weapon that even Dormammu feared to do anything.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Knowing something of the nature of the staff, there's a nod at the recommendation of different languages. "I should probably learn how to say heal or doctor in at least 50 languages." Nico says with a soft chuckle, before looking to the new arrival and bows her head in his direction.

"I heard..." and she purses her lips, knowing some rumours about WAND. "That there's a grimoire that WAND agents have access to. The Codex Grimorum or something like that?" she asks, now curious about whether or not what she heard was true.

Then to the Midnighter, she extends a hand out towards him. "Nico Minoru."

Lucas Trent has posed:
Lucas Trent nods, "Widow," he says. He has the harsh tones one would expect, a two-pack-a-day kind of voice, Clint Eastwood with a little more bass. Natasha's reputation precedes her, of course. He's fought Red Room ops plenty of times. Nasty customers.

He shakes Nico's hand, "Midnighter," he says.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would nod over at NIco, "I wouldn't know. That's something to ask your superior. It's not something which has come up in an assignment for myself. WAND is not my branch of operations, my familiarity with magic is.. Quite limited beyond personal experience with it." Mostly of which that the best way to deal with an enemy magic user was at long range with a sniper rifle. "I hope that you're... Acclimating well." SHIELD was it's own thing. Also it's own immense bureaucracy.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Were they supposed to used their nom-de-superhero names? Was it a breach in protocol that she gave her actual identity? She looks worried for a few moments, as she nods at the mention of asking her superior.

"I'll ask and consult with the senior WAND agents, though from my assignment details, it seems I'm going to be crosstraining, acting as internal magic consultant for a few of the field teams." Nico explains, "So I guess we might work together." she chirps, looking over at Lucas.

Lucas Trent has posed:
Lucas Trent gives a rather fiendish grin, "I got that field team look about me, huh? Can't help it. Half the ones who do it now are copyin' me," he says.

"I remember the Russians used to have a pretty nasty occult unit of their own, back in the old days. I remember some witch girl who defected and was workin' here for a while back in the 90s. Think she got blown up though."

"Anyway, been a while since I worked with an occultist. You seem awful young ,but so did I, once."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would nod at Lucas, "That could cover quite a few things. The Soviet Union's equivalent of the Avengers was called the Oktober Guard. They had a number of specialists with them, among those some magical ones. I'm unsure as to their current status." Natasha was never young. That was something she had lost very quickly.

"Excellent. How much experience have you had with field operations?" Yes, that's in Nico's file but Natasha wants to hear how the girl puts it herself.

Nikolas Kamarov has posed:
And what is a silver haired Russian doing at W.A.N.D? Taking a tour apparently. Newly assigned from the Russian Embassy to the UN, he is doing his due diligence in learning all the various aspects of Shield Operations. Nikolas is a military man that way.

He rounds the corner just, seemingly separated from his group, just as Natasha talks of Oktober Guard. The silver haired Russian stops in his tracks. "Ah.. That is a group that that I have not heard from in quite some time." The Russian isn't in his military gear, instead opting for a pair of nice slacks and a form fitting mock turtle neck. "They are around in some form or another."

Nico Minoru has posed:
Giving Lucas a bit of an appraising glance, she cants her head to the side and flashes her pearly whites in his direction. "You don't look exactly like a desk jockey. Have a bigger build. If you were, then I'd wonder what your workout routine is." Nico says rather matter of factly, as she listens to the mention of the Russian occult unit. The mention of the defector blowing up causes her to wince.

"Well, I don't think I'm powerful enough to blow up, so no worries on that end. And maybe they had to scrape at the bottom of the barrel since there are so few of us."

The arrival of yet another voice causes her to look in Nikolas' direction as she hears the accent. "Were you a member?"

Oh, and she's asked a question! "Uh, I stopped the world from getting destroyed by Elder Gods that my parents and their friends summoned." she says. "And then I did it again except with this time, my ex trying to destroy the world with the same Elder Gods." And that's what led to her sapphic phase, which she is most likely out of.

"And um, I trained with the Avengers after getting kidnapped into a Battle Royale slash Hunger Games rip off by Arcade?" And when she says that, she instinctively rubs her right arm.

Lucas Trent has posed:
Lucas Trent shrugs, "My workout routine is simple: cracking skulls."

He regards Winter respectfully. They may have crossed paths here or there in the past, on various sides of the never ending shadow war. Midnighter chucks his chin in stoic acknowledgement.

He listens to the recitation of Nico's particular deed and snorts, "Worst part is, I know she ain't even makin' it up. World ain't nothin' but a freakshow," he says. But he doesn't really sound that bummed about it.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would nod at Nikolas, "From what little I'm aware, most of the members survived in one form or another. I'm sure that the Russian program still exists in some way." The Soviets had been extremely fond of their superweapons programs. Not nearly as fond as the CIA, or remotely with the budget the CIA had. But they arguably had a slightly better success rate.

"And the world's been in this state for the last seventy years. And well since before then, merely not as acknowledged." She would speak to Lucas.

"Then you have a good deal to start wtih. Whomever will handle your training, if anyone, will make an eavluation for how to best incorporate you." Also possible they'd say that she didn't need training. or that practicing casting spells with the Staff Of One was a wee bit of a waste.

Nico Minoru has posed:
There doesn't seem to be any sarcasm in her tone, as those things definitely did happen. Considering the number of potentially world destroying events, hers was just one of the unknown ones as she dealt with a pseudo Hellmouth in LA.

"I can do big things, but I'm primarily here to train my magic without the need of the staff. Using the staff is like always using a bazooka to kill a mosquito. Too much power for a small thing. I should be able to do the small stuff on my own."

With that, Nico flexes her Witch-arm and offers a toothy smile to her colleagues. "The training is one of the reasons I asked about the rumoured codex."

"And if you need help cracking skulls, I could summon up some skeleton warriors maybe?" she offers to Lucas.

Nikolas Kamarov has posed:
"Nyet," Nicolas replies to Nico. "I had other duties." Namely killing ALL the things. The blood on this mans hands would take hundreds of years to wash clean. Thankfully he has that time and then some.

He looks towards Natasha and gives her a nod, "The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just different actors playing the parts of heros and villains."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would glance at Nikolas, "We all do. We have different objectives and methodology." She would shrug at Nikolas, "Don't mince words. We've never been heroes or villains. Merely insturmentations of different ideologies." She puts it in rather nicer terms. But there's an impressionable child present

Nikolas Kamarov has posed:
The Russian with Silver Hair looks over to Natasha and shrugs his shoulders. "Mince words? Nyet, nyet. I am soldier, plain and simple. There is nothing to mince about. We Soviet soldiers follow our orders." There a firm resolve in those blue eyes of his in regards to that staring Natasha down. There is a silence for a moment, before he grins and winks at her. "Thankfully the Soviet is no more."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would shrug, "Oh, we are more than soldiers. Soldiers aren't trusted to take initiative or given leeway when they do. We're troubleshooters. We're given issues, and we resolve them within a given framework. And yes, along with the ashes of many such things in the past that deserve it."

Nikolas Kamarov has posed:
"You may have had that luxury. Me?" Nikolas's hands come up, palms out as he shrugs his shoulders. "I was given an objective, but there was only one way it was to go down." He shakes his head, his hands dropping to his side. "We are killers, in the end, Nyet? At least in the past. Who knows what our futures truly hold." He may have incredible powers, but telling the future isn't one of them.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would shrug, "We are many things. Foremost among them killers. We resolve things. For others agendas. And our futures hold steady. At some point we will die. Sooner or later." People. Universes. Existence. Everything passed away.

Nikolas Kamarov has posed:
"I am not so sure about that last part," Nikolas says with a somber note of in his voice. "Some may die, but others.." He shrugs his shoulders, "Are very hard to kill and may live for thousands of years. Who knows?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova would shrug, "Yes, and there are thing sin the universe which to them is but the lifespan of a mayfly. Everything is but a manner of perspective. We may live a long time, we may live a short one. But we all die in the end."

Nikolas Kamarov has posed:
"Nyet, Miss Natasha." Nikolas says. "Unless I am killed, and I a very hard to kill, I will not die. I will likely out live this star and many others. But the only thing certain. Is that Siberia will cool hell down when it's time for this world to be no more."