<hr/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>  Name:</strong>Abigail Brand<br/>  <strong>Title:</strong>Agent Brand or Ma'am or Miss. Not 'Hydra-Hair.'<br/>  <strong>Affiliation:</strong>  Resistance<br/>  <strong>Location:</strong>   Northern Egypt, Near Port Said<br/>  <strong>Tags:</strong>Nightcrawler<br/></span></span><hr/>Al-Abassi Mosque<br/>Current SWORD Headquarters<br/>Center of Port Said<br/>"Objectively speaking Director," Agent Hariri said, her arm still in a sling, her forearm fractured and her shoulder dislocated when a roof support beam in her bunker literally fell on her when the room she was in collapsed in on her. It took an hour to dig her out. "I think it's stupid and to any outside observer it would be stupid," she added. The Lebanese born translator narrowed her dusky eyes, obviously filled with annoyance at how the resistance here seemed to be unraveling while right on the cusp of victory. "We should be working with Count Nefaria's people and with HYDRA. There's no more good guys and bad guys anymore. All of that political shit went out of the window when this Apocalypse guy..."<br/><br/>"Mutant," Agent Marquez stated gruffly, half of his face bandaged up from burns incurred in the previous battle when the air defense vehicle he was standing near exploded during the battle. He was knocked unconscious, and nearly drowned in about six inches of water as he laid helpless on the beach before a refugee literally pulled him out of the water.<br/><br/>Agent Hariri didn't bat an eye, as some of the others shifted uncontrollably in their seats at how hateful Marquez's single word statement was, especially with the Director in the room. "Whatever he is. This is just like with Hitler. We have to ally with unsavory people and deal with what happens after, after."<br/><br/>Agent Fisher, still dripping with mud and dirt and grime, suddenly rose up from leaning against the wall, a look of disgust still obvious on her camo blackened face. "This is nothing like that! The world is burning. A billion people are already dead. If it wasn't for Tony Stark maybe... still being alive, Nefaria would've killed her," the sharpshooter said defensively. "The only use he has for any of us is as a martyr if we don't tow his line. The only reason he hasn't made a move on us is because how helpful the locals think we are and because the Israeli's, nukes and all, are cooperating with us."<br/><br/>It was then Agent Tokoro visibly frowned, and Agent Marquez just sighed, shaking his bandaged head slowly. Agent Fisher stared daggers at the two of them, looking far more menacing then it would seem her petite figure could allow. "What is it?"<br/><br/>Both of them turned to Director Brand, who was just sitting in a folding chair, her coffee having gone cold long ago. Her shirt was peeled off, ice packs taped to her shoulders from the 'gentle squeeze' Nefaria had given her. For the past ten minutes she had listened to her exhausted, wounded, and generally pissed off fellow SWORD Agents sounding off on everything wrong and their recommendations, having let them voice their concerns before weighing in. She knew that even Agent Marquez, his latent mutant hostility aside, was still completely loyal to her and her stewardship of the organization and resistance.<br/><br/>So naturally, she was reluctant to reveal her plans were shattered. "The nuclear missiles were destroyed earlier today. Apparently while the first three waves of Apocalypse's mutates engaged us, a fourth force attacked Israeli missile bases just as they were bringing some of their arsenal out of storage to redeploy and hide somewhere else. It was that force that actually attacked us from the East late in the battle. It was the one led by the Horseman, Abraham Kreios,"<br/><br/>Faces started to pale as the realization fell upon them.<br/><br/>"The nuclear weapons were destroyed during the attack. Whether by Apocalypse's forces, or by the IDF to prevent their capture, no one knows. But the nuclear option is off the table... for now," Director Brand stated.<br/><br/>"FUCK!" Agent Fisher screamed, suddenly pushing off of the wall she was leaning against and quickly snatched up a nearby stool and gave it a baseball style swing, smashing it against the wall before storming out of the room, still cursing underbreath as she walked out of sight.<br/><br/>"How did they find out?" Agent Hariri asked shaking her head. She was never in agreement with the nuclear option, but... it was always nice to have that option available.<br/><br/>"Apparently Apocalypse had been... still is... monitoring our so-called secure communications. Right up to the battle itself. The only reason he didn't know about our defenses is because he couldn't intercept or decrypt the code we were using short range. But his forces basically read every transmission we had with the Israelis. They knew all about the nukes," Director Brand stated.<br/><br/>A damned silence fell across the room before Agent Hariri futhered the discussion. "What now?" she simply asked.<br/><br/>Director Brand groaned and sighed, before ripping off the ice packs from her chest and rising up, wearing the same pants she had worn for the past two days, and an olive drab sports bra for a top. "We should all get some sleep," she then said before turning to Tokoro. "Want to man the phone in case anything comes up? Four hours minimum. We'll need our rest. Meet back here in five hours. Fair enough?" Director Brand said.<br/><br/>There was a line of ragged nods when Agent Duchamp, his head also bandaged and with a plethora of small cuts and brusies on his skin and tears on his uniform, finally rose up. "I'm going to do a final security check," he said with a nod before heading out and meeting with a Kurdish peshmerga commander outside of the room. Ever since Nefaria and HYDRA showed up, they had decided that they'd need reliable guards for their compound just in case Nefaria was bold and attacked. Thankfully a force, for lack of a better term, of Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga had trucked in all the way from Northern Iraq to offer their services in what was being termed as a Jihad by every surviving Islamic scholar and learned man that they had heard.<br/><br/>Abigail meanwhile half walked, half shambled to the washroom facilities which was located past some empty offices and living quarters that were currently occupied by SWORD personnel but as she passed by the dressing room and looked up ahead at the open shower area, she frowned. Getting undressed and redressed seemed like a hassle. Instead, she glanced off to the side and saw a comfy looking bench alongside the hallway, with an army cot mattress rolled out on top. She looked around, shrugged, kicked off her dirty pants and flopped half conscious onto the improvised bed, propping her head up on her backpack as a pillow.<br/><br/>Her eyes felt like lead almost immediately as she let the exhausting numbness finally surge through her body and slowly her vision focused into lids as she saw the curtain separating the showers pulling open and a petite, athletic blonde slowly stepping out, a towel wrapped around her naked curves. "Fisher..." Director Brand purred, barely lucid before slipping off into sleep, her body feeling a surge of warmth as she slowly closed her eyes.<br/><br/>It felt like a second later, she was hearing her voice being called. "...Brand," she heard a voice calling.<br/><br/>Her eyes groggily, but immediately flashed open before Agent Tokoro could even repeat her bosses chest. "I'm awake," Director Brand said as she practically willed her head up off of the backpack she was using as a pillow and felt a horrible ache simmering through her neck and shoulders, forcibly eliciting a groan from her lips. "Damn I need a massage."<br/><br/>"Feeling tense?" another voice said, as Brand turned and focused her eyesight on Agent Fisher. Thankfully, for her own sanity, Fisher wasn't wearing a towel anymore, the weird temptation she felt earlier was gone as the sniper walked up to her wearing a gray tee shirt and a pair of shorts. "This is my sleepwear," she said, before holding up her carbine with nightvision optics attached to it.<br/><br/>Director Brand smiled before turning to Tokoro. "What is it?" she asked as Tokoro handed her a coffee. She immediately started sipping it.<br/><br/>"Agent Kang has encountered one of the X-Men while doing a security sweep," Agent Tokoro said after pausing, unsure how else to frame it.<br/><br/>"Kang?" Director Brand half asked, half shouted, her eyes growing wide with horror that in addition to this Apocalypse guy and Count Nefaria, Kang the fucking Conqueror had now shown up, completely mishearing what she said.<br/><br/>"Agent Jin-Tae Kang, from Kazakhstan," Tokoro clarified. "He encountered one of the X-men. The blue one."<br/><br/>"Hank?" Director Brand asked, her eyes lighting up.<br/><br/>"Isn't his name Henry?" Agent Fisher interjected all of a sudden.<br/><br/>"No... the smaller one with the... fingers," Agent Tokoro replied thoughtfully, pressing her fingers together in pairs and wiggling them so it was like she had three digits. "He says he has pressing intelligence as to another attack on our forces soon."<br/><br/>"Nightcrawler?" Brand asked, figuring that was the only one left that fit Tokoro's vague description.<br/><br/>"The Nazi?" Agent Fisher asked, her Southern drawl escaping her lips, her brain to mouth filter obviously not working due to lack of sleep.<br/><br/>Both Tokoro and Brand gave the redneck an evil eye, silencing her solely with their glares alone. To an outside observer, it would look like telepathy. When that was settled and Agent Fisher shrugged, Director Brand looked around. "Nightcrawler. I should find my shirt, I can meet him in the conference room. Two minutes."<br/><br/><em>Other SWORD Agents:</em><br/><br/>Agent Hariri (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Class/PaulaGarces.jpg) (Lebanon): Linguistics and Diplomacy.<br/>Agent Marquez (http://i.imgur.com/xmUcy.jpg) (Philippines): Intelligence Analysis.<br/>Agent Duchamp (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Guys/PatrickCote.jpg) (Canada): Weapons Specialist.<br/>Agent Fisher (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Class/PaigeWyatt2.jpg) (United States of America): Reconnaissance Marksman<br/>Agent Tokoro (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Class/AmiTokito.jpg) (Japan): Communications Technician<br/>Agent Kang (http://i.imgur.com/fzF5tH7.jpg) (Kazakhstan): Weapons Specialist.