Welcome to Gaia! ::

The guardian cat stopped in mid motion to adjust her eye line towards the civilian killer everyone suddenly decided to complain about to see Bischofite's familiar face.

The position she was frozen in was a careful and measured attempt to encapsulate a whole cookie in her greedy teeth, and it was quickly abandoned back to it's plate before it had been fully bitten so she could sit upright and lick her paws with a snide and pompous, "Troublemaker," Purr towards the general's reveal.

She shifted to her humanoid form, standing at her full height with cat ears and all so she could daintily take the cookie she'd already been pawing at and walk around. Her shoulders squared and arrogant posture didn't hint at any concern, and she didn't feel there was a need. There were other guardian cats present, they could suppress the large aura, and anyone expecting typical guardian cat services from her would experience disappointment.

She never considered that in this particular group, a large mirror based aura could possibly cause trouble.

A small wave of her fingers acknowledged General Bischofite and WP as she flounced by with eyes focused straight ahead, arriving at a different target she recognized.

Threan was a special creature, a senshi that had appealed to her needy instincts to offer advice and guidance to senshi who had attractive goals. For that one night he had played at being a charge to a cat without a court, let her ramble about magic and origins and factions, he had endeared himself to the Mauvian. More than he possibly meant to or any sane person would assume they had.

But she still approached with familiarity and cooing, lightly touching a strand of blond hair. "It is an absolute pleasure to see you present," She gushed, clearly insincere in her formality, although the positive reaction to his presence was genuine in its joy.

She very deliberately crunched her front teeth into the cookie and scanned the room a bit more, taking note of Europa and Kallichore and various attendees in disguise. Poor Kalli's nod had been sadly missed due to the opportunity for baked goods, and now the madness senshi had the respectful gesture returned by wide eyed, amused staring as Zirconia's bushy tail flicked behind her. Overall, the guardian's expression seemed alight with entertained curiosity than anything that would indicate the seriousness or solemness an operation of war should bring.

"Although it feels more like a school dance committee than a gathering for battle."

Shift from cat to catwoman, the spike of distinctive energy, it was something that would someday need getting used to. Thraen offered Zirconia a marred half smile in greeting, nodding to her, "Your presence is welcome. I expect no one here, as much as they've faced the Dark Mirror, would know better than you what we're up against."

She knew so much. She must know something that would help them in trapping at least some of the enemy. How they most likely travelled, how to prevent their escape, how they might handicap the members of the darkened Mirror that no longer matched her self. The thought of that isolation, and the willingness to face and help the destruction of one's own fallen, brought more empathy and tenderness to his mien than much else. "We need your help."

The knight's query, however it was phrased to others, caught Garden's attention. "Fractious be our own, facing a two front war not long tenable. Worse, two sources of corruption are not in our favor with how the number of stars that bleed black. They might strengthen without the strife, but so might we all."

It was certainly a unique assortment that had gathered at the White Phoenix's request, the type that would otherwise risk attracting unwanted attention and cause trouble. Thus far, there were energy signatures of every kind, except a fair amount of Mirror senshi, but that was to be expected, General Buddingtonite thought. The invitation he received made it very, very clear that the mirror walkers wouldn't be welcomed in these parts and honestly it'd seem weird if there'd be one there.

Which there was one there, despite what he'd suspect, but the moment he spotted the source of the somewhat-mirror-senshi energy but not quite, his curiosity was quelled. He met her once before and she was an enigma then. This whole gathering felt that way, to be honest, but he cared little for the rising tension or exchange of words. Oh, it wasn't that he didn't understand what was going on, and it wasn't that he didn't care. From where he stood, Caprisun in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other, he was watching the exchange between a senshi he recognized and genuinely feared and her posse, a knight that brought some noble morality or what Buddingtonite figured it to be, and his own officers. He almost chuckled when Ganymede called Bischofite a civilian killer but thankfully he held down the urge, otherwise there'd be juice and cookies everywhere. Between the ones that had gathered, two of the White Moon's senshi had managed to strike fear into Buddingtonite's heart, that being Ganymede herself and Thraen, and the longer he went without getting their attention, the happier the rose-clad general could munch on the baked goods that were provided.

He may have had dicey run-ins in the past, but tonight, for his sake as well as Phoenix's wishes, he was willing to get along. Just so long as they aimed their aggression AWAY from him...

Thus far, none had noticed his arrival and he'd gladly throw in his two cents, but for now, he was enjoying his momentary animosity and his treats, looking that part of a mingler that was only there for the food but taking note of the White Moon senshi and the knights that were gathered. All of them were there for some deeper meaning, and if they were willing to work alongside their enemy, even if only for a night, then maybe he could work in a good deal for them joining their ranks? It was certainly worth him being there...

Also, the cookies were fantastic. He offered some to the beautiful lieutenant that had accompanied him, keeping a pleasant tone about himself despite the rising tension, despite the fact that many of them were likely going to cause a catastrophic schism between all factions. "Here, try this one- it's gooey and the chocolate practically melts in your mouth. Try it..."

Even with all the changes in his life, even with the way he treated others so flippantly, he found himself treating Turquoise a little different. Was it genuine affection for the lieutenant or guilt still poisoning his soul? He wasn't sure, but he moved the plate to her line of vision, hoping to entice her.

Zirconia's chime in was chilling- a new soul and parasitism? What happens to the original soul? Consumed? Imprisoned? Lost?

His experience directly with the Dark Mirror was limited to a single wraith and one senshi he'd failed to hinder early on in his senshi career. It didn't inform much about their origins, how they worked, what they were or what they could do. It was an oversight of massive proportions now, faced with taking on any number of them, and he wanted to plumb further- a voice from aside, muffled slightly by a mask.

Asking at least one of the questions he himself wanted to ask. The hand that ghosted, instinctive near the throat was casual and unthought of in seeming as a poker tell. There was a chance it was a reaction to the unknown Knight. To Zirconia. To himself? Already there were two he recognized between the wing-breasted, blondes-have-more-fun corrupted and Bischofite. It was some sort of taunting reunion of all those who'd skirted final sentence for dime-store pardons or posse rescues from execution. I will not flinch.

But which COULD it be? That voice was female.

The list of Agents he'd tangled with was slowly growing, breaking or being broken in turn. Those not visible but possible were the black haired woman, the pink, and a blonde. The black far too bold to wear a mask, he expected. The pink or blonde then? Either was possible. He couldn't clearly remember the colour of their eyes, and couldn't quite make out this one's from behind a mask, at night, and across enough seats to make distance.

"We'll at least need working names...like 'WP'...for everyone. "

A delicate hand reached up to take a cookie from the plate the general was offering to her. Lt. Turquoise always paid attention to her public image, whether she was in uniform or in civilian form. Gracefully she moved the cookie close to her, enjoying the scent of chocolate for a moment before taking a small bite. Indeed, it tasted good! Maybe needed a bit more brown sugar but in overall, it tasted good. "You're right, Mister Buddingtonite," she said quietly after her mouth was empty, careful to not disturb others who had gathered here. "It is delicious." For a moment, her gaze moved upwards, finding his face, studying his mood and admiring his features. A small, brief smile formed on her lips before she realized she was staring at him again and quickly she turned her gaze back to events happening in the room, took another small bite from the cookie and forced her usual serious expression back. No, he should never know. They should never know. What she was really feeling towards the general was her secret only.

Turquoise's experiences of Dark Mirror Court were nearly non-existant. Even her general experiences of life as a officer of Negaverse were limited. She had only heard stories and read the info. Of course, back in days when she had been spending time in a prison called the Surrounding she had encountered senshi and she wondered would she recognize anyone here but so far she hadn't found any person who looked familiar. Maybe it was better that way. Either way, this was an interesting event and the brand-new lieutenant watched happenings keenly, happy to stay on the background and out of the heat.

The lieutenant in the mask (Zircon) had her question met with a grim expression. Zirconia's research had garnered plenty of answers about the nature of dark mirror senshi souls, but none of them were truly weaknesses. At least not in combat.

"One on one? I would say arm yourselves with as much knowledge as possible. They are ignorant and sheltered little creatures to maintain the illusion of safety. In large battles, I have no idea. Just stay away from true mirrors when around super level or higher. And don't be afraid to kill them," She cleared her throat and nibbled on a cookie. "If someone had taken over your face and came home to your life every day after killing off your very soul, I'm sure you'd want your stolen body put to rest as well. A dark mirror senshi is just an animated White Moon corpse, and death is the most humane option."

The catwoman carelessly allowing her mirrrorwalker aura to fly freely and put the burden on other cats to suppress it seemed uncharacteristically displeased at having attention called to her by WP.

Her shoulders shifted and her lips pursed as she looked out on the crowd, attempting to maintain composure.

"Yes, well. I highly doubt he'll be fighting on behalf of his court. If at all. He's a super level senshi with a blue overlay and glasses. Dark hair gold eyes..." While Orpheus was an anomaly in that he was considered 'hers' it felt completely distasteful to be calling for mercy for a dark mirror senshi in front of a crowd. A betrayal to her image, and adding a layer of complexity to alliances that were just little seedlings she didn't want to endanger.

"He's valuable to me, and death is an option I wouldn't like to have him granted just yet, should you come across him. The rest, though, feel free to go wild," She ended by shrugging one bare shoulder and breaking eye contact with disinterest.

"But if anyone has any concerns or questions about mirror magic, I'm here."

Europa debated for a moment what she should tell these people about her relationship to Leto. This was mixed company of the highest degree... so it was probably safer to keep some things back, she decided. "It's personal," she said to Bischofite. "All you need to know is that that face-stealing b***h has taken someone very important to me and I owe it to her to put her down. I've promised WP that he can take her starseed, and that's the only compromise I'm going to make on the matter."

She had no use for Leto's starseed, after all. She couldn't even get at it.

"I understand where you're coming from," she added to Sessrumnir. "We really don't have any reason to trust WP's word. We've been double-crossed and ambushed enough times in the past to be twice shy. But if his word is good, then every officer here is risking their rank and their life to even be here, discussing this, and it's to our benefit to listen. Striking the DMC as a united force is a great opportunity to simplify the war."

"And if you're not going to listen to me," she sighed, "Then listen to Zirconia, because seriously, she knows what's going on better than anyone else here."

If everyone could just get on the same page, she thought, reaching for another cookie, she would just seriously appreciate it. And it would do wonders for her blood pressure.