Another Pillar's lunch. (Pillars)

[king]

Kurtz knew it was time for another meeting, and more importantly knew they needed to have a good one. He had ignored the need for one for some time, they all knew their plan would have things get worse before better. This time was different though, he knew things were getting out of hand.

He knew this because as he passed the table they met at. Someone was eating at THEIR table. Kurtz's farce became distorted more out of surprise at their audacity of the act rather than thee insult itself.

He on sat on the table itself, it being well past the end of lunch. It wouldn't take long for the Pillar's to arrive since those who sat at the table now lay unconscious below him. They would skip their classes and come, and by the look on Kurt'z face, know that things were not going well.

[Darren Blayne]

Rumors in a school traveled fast, especially when the pillars wanted them to. And when Kurtz needed to call another Pillar meeting, the rumor of it was certain to spread like wildfire. It was a common trick for the hierarchy, using the students to get information to each other quickly and simply. As it stood, Darren was in the middle of his World History class, learning little he did not already know.

A student, leaning over, whispered a few words in his ear. Darren's eyebrow raised, and he let out a little "Hm" of mild disinterest. He stood up from his desk, and the teacher turned around, furious at first at such an upstart, but quickly calming down when he saw who the student in question was.

"Excuse me, Mr. Cavanagh, but I have some business to attend you. My homework will be turned in first thing tomorrow, regardless."

Without further words, or even waiting for a reply from the History teacher, Darren strode out the door, heading for the courtyard and the sole figure sitting upon a table.

"Your facial expression causes me to believe we won't be starting with our usual witty banter, Kurtz. Care to share what's on your mind?"

[king]

Kurtz brought his hands down from the front of his chin, not wanting what he was going to be said being misheard in any way. This was a serious problem, and it needed to be addressed. Even if Kurtz and Darren were the only one's to do it, it needed to be done. The others, if they missed out, would just hear of it later.

"It seems my plan is not quite working as well as i hoped....sudden changes in the board have changed the course the game should have taken."

Kurtz made no attempts, even in tone, to make it sound like his plan wasn't the one that was failing, or that the others shared the blame. Oh no, it was not out of ay virtue, as Kurtz's virtues were few and far inbetween. It was because he was losing.

Kurtz hated losing.

"In truth, it actually is doing it's job, are public displays and Ein's acceptance into the heirachy have done wonders to quell the student animosity, and many Varronites have accepted the chance for a more peaceful existance, however......"

Kurtz's voice drifted off, and his eyes looked up, as if glancing into his mental gallery in his head to check his math one more time.

"The balance is still off....we're probably gaining support from the vague group...hell, only that hippy Mason is getting less supporters than us, but is spoken more of aloud. Most of the truly dangerous threats, Kvist and Shuya's little plans, have been kept from growing by are attempts to villianize the violent, but word is Loire is using the exact same move to garner support for his movement."

Kurtz looked Darren square in the eyes now, instead of just openly speaking. It seemed all the usual games were absent from him. They were on the same team, thier team was losing, so it was time for everyone to get into it.

"This has changed the rules of the game. Instead of taking slices of the cake of Hircine, everyone is changing the flavor of thier own section. We're being quatered into those who support the current way of things, those who want to be on top, those who want to change things, and those who want to rise up against us. Are supporters who are usually apathetic are being given cause to fight....everyone else is gaining strength from this group that would normally be guaranteed in our favor. Right now we still hold the advantage, are Varron gains helping make up for the losses, but we'll end up open to challange if this keeps up."

Kurtz was giving Darren time to think over what was just said, but the next words would probably put the whole thing into prespective. It was the first time a problem big enough had come up for Kurtz to swallow his pride and actually say it.

"So Darren, what do you think we should do?"

[Gilsin]

Ein was a new pillar to be sure, but he wasn't left out of the loop. Especially not when he had the Pillar's unofficial army keeping look out for any and all information. It didn't take long for Ein's phone to ring and the information that followed was that Kurtz wanted a meeting.

It didn't take the man long to reach the table and hear the last bit of Kurtz sentence. He didn't mind that it was directed towards Darren than himself. Ein would speak as he had more experience with the situation. If they didn't like it, then he would rectify the action in someway.

"I should say watch Stern, possibly use Maverick and Leon to help with Kvist and then leave Leon be. He's slow to move and perfers talk rather than action. "

Ein's eyes would meet with the pair as he spoke. He wondered if they would pick apart his suggestion or merely take it in and add their own thoughts. One seemed more productive than the other, but either would make progress.

[king]

Kurtz turned to Ein, noting his arrival. He was glad to see him, as when Kurtz couldn't think of something himself, he wanted everyone to be thinking about it. They may catch something he missed, as he assumed when he heard that Mason should be made a priority. He personally couldn't tell much difference between Stern and Leon, and the only major one was that Stern seemed more inclined to talk where as Leon was taking action.

"I heard the two of them were already planning to do that, but I'm concerned that may be more dangerous than it seems. Kvist isn't a threat anymore, his ways can't work in this school. He's gotten some more people on his side...but his market his extremely limited....people who have a goal don't join him. If he is such a limited threat, why would Leon go after him? Either Leon knows something we don't, or it's just a political move to rally support....and it is working."

Kurtz realized that though they had access to the respective students records, he didn't know them personally...he had met both Leon and Kvist breifly, impressed by neither to much extent, but that was some time ago. Maverik he had only seen in the tournament. He hadn't even met Stern. Ein, however, had met all of them before, and his information woulld probably be useful.

"So what do you guys think of the situation? Ein, you know these guys better than the rest of us, what're your thoughts?"

[Tiao Lei Shen]

"I dont know about him, but I say we get to Kvist first."

Tiao Lei Shen emerged from behind Kurtz, their positioning only allowing Darren to see the approaching pillar unless the other two turned their heads. Tiao had some business of his own to attend to before the meeting. It went a little too long, and as a result he was a late arrival. He was frustrated that he missed a few things, but at least he caught the last few things on the way up.

"If Leon is rally this just to gain political support, lets just beat him to the punch and get him first. He's no real threat which has been proven enough when Darren and I took care of that Neo-Nazi lackey of his, Dean. Unlike other Varron legends, Kvist is hated by all but his own. We take him out, we remove some of those that allied themselves with Leon by showing were on top of things. To ours, we make it look like we took out another dangerous Varronite; while to the less battle-ready Varronites we did something Leon and others failed to do in the past, and made their school that much safer."

Tiao looked to Ein. He had nothing against him, though he didn't particularly trust him simply because he was an outsider. However, the newest pillar proved on more than one occasion he believeed the system worked, and showed the intelligence and strength to get the job done.

"However, I think we should keep this purely pillarship. That means no involving of the student dean. Using Maverik and Leon would only make them look better, which isn't overall good for us. Leon will be an opposer soon or later, and Maverik seems to try and be the counterbalance to our side of the system."

[Gilsin]

"The problem with getting rid of Kvist is that his men will merely float over to Stern." Ein's eyes leveled at Tiao as he spoke. He had afed good points in the image of Leon and Maverick, but other than that he was merely chomping at the bit to take someone own.

"The last thing we need is Mason getting more men for his shadier business. He's dangerous enough as is. I assure you from everything I know of these foes and I have met all of them, I fear Stern's plots the most. He's clever, he's without the typical obsessions of those like Kvist and unfortunately he goals may be very similar to theirs."

Ein sighed somewhat, as much as he would have loved for his typical rather passive nature to work for him, the situation demanded action now. Obviously attacking Kvist could only strengthen Stern, but perhaps there was another that could be dealt with.

"Leon. We can take out Leon, his men have only one other place to go and that would be to Maverick. Maverick's group isn't made to start trouble. Of course this is barring that they would just try to rebel on their own but if we shatter Leon enough that would be insignificant."

Ein would ponder over his decision as he waited for the other's to speak. From what he could tell it seemed like it would be the best decision over all, but there were so many other factors....

[king]

Kurtz, looked to the side, rather dsgruntled. Darren had never had a chance to answer his question, but it seemed increasingly likely that was because he was listening to what they all had to say. That only confirmed a growing fear that became a knot in Kurtz's stomach.

There was no best solution to this problem, and things were sipraling out of controle. Darren was the best of all of them for shouldering responsibility, so Kurtz turned his direction back to conversation at hand, hoping to strengthen some resolve to whatever decision was made.

"I read Stern's record's, good public face and shady background dealings. The thing is these background element haven't really made a move yet, which is out of the ordinary. I don't think Mason is going to use the same moves twice, espcielly with an audience that already knows them well."

It was a known fact that the mojority of the Varron transfers who actually came to Hircine had criminal or violent histories, using the move as a way to escape it. They were the ones who felt Mason's plan last time the most. This time, it was mostly Hircine's that were follwing Mason.

"If we take out Leon, many in his group will flock to Mason as well. I wouldn't trust a student dean after feeling our wrath, and I would side with the one who agrues less violence so I would not have to face us again....also, Leon's alliance is the strongest opponent right now. Shattering that will cause large pieces to scatter, and will not be an easy fight. All that would happen is that we'd be more exhuasted and Mason would recieve a bigger piece for his front operation."

Kurtz spoke in entirely militeristic mind, not bringing his political thoughts into it, as Darren would keep what he said earlier in mind. If they struck a Leon, the nutral sutdent's, those who had yet to pick thier side in the changing school, who be affected. Crushing those whose open agenda was to deal with someone openl dangerous would cause doubt...as those who followed them held the schools best interests at heart. It was the major effect of attacking any of those in charge.

If they struck Leon, they lost. Struck Kvist, they lost. Struck Stern, they lost. Struck Maverik, they lost and the boss would kill them himself. Even Shuya, a minor player, was offered a minor protection from the situation. The polarization of student opinion had become a trap, and even if they didn't take a piece of bait they might not survive. All these groups danced in concert, as if being pulled by unseen hands into....

~So that's what his plan is....~

"I was wrong about Mason, he is the threat to watch at the moment. He has even protected himself from the one ploy we can take without losing face to the masses. We have to have a publilc enemy for everyone to follow, to fill the vacuum of basic Varron hate. We have to frame someone, for something bad, then crush them abosolutely. The people without a side aren't the issue here, it's those who have yet to pick. Mason pulled into a tug of war, and hoped we weren't smart enough to get some of the rope for ourselves."

"It can't be Maverik, that shows internal weakness, and no one will believe Stern started something with his current public face. Leon, Kvist, Shuya, it doesn't matter...we need to slay a dragon to become the knight in shining armor for the people. After that, we may have enough public footing to simply cursh everyone else."

Kurtz gave what he thought was the best plan, though it was a bit underhanded....or suprising as Kurtz would say bragging about it in his later years. The only other safe option was to let everything stand for now, maybe start a recruiting campaign, and try to feed off the naturally growth everyone else did, and in the end hope they managed to keep thier strength....though sitting back on hoping they would be strong enough to win when the attack eventually came was not the Pillar's style.

~Too many unanswered questions....why has Mason constructed this trap, where does Maverik stand, what actions are Kvist and Shuya planning? I need to see these people play to know if they're bluffing, but they're out of sight.~

Kurtz became unsually quiet as the conversation continued letting them take in what they said. He was, most frighteningly of all, not in the mood to joke.