fandomtownies | Somewhere Hidden In The Back Of A House On Serendipity Street, Monday Afternoon

The house was abandoned.

It was hardly the only one - there were many places on Fandom that had seen better, or at least more occupied, days. Here, the stairs creaked, the floors sighed, and the boards against the windows kept the moonlight from streaming in.

Quiet. Empty.

Well. Unless you looked closer, turned the right doorknob, went through the right entrance, then down. Then, you might have the luck of finding Peter Wiggin, bent over his desk, still operational after all this time, the holograph's light dimmed to avoid attracting too much attention.

What he was looking at was a map.

"I'm telling you," he said, "It's got to be now. It's been a few weeks since the new batch came in. Enough time for them to be processed - but not enough for them to know the lay of the land. I might not be the resident tactical expert, but even I know an opening when I see one."

Kate Gregson	There had been a time when Kate Gregson would probably not have let that comment pass without an immature snicker or a dirty joke (look, 'opening' could be a funny word). But, that time was long gone now. Instead, she was looking at the map with so serious an expression her poor parents might not have believed it was her. "Sounds good enough to me," she said. "Not that I'm an expert anything." She was just very very committed to their cause.
Ender Wiggin	Ender was looking at the map with a somewhat more critical eye. "It's a good time," he agreed, "But that won't cut it. There have been plenty of 'good times' before. We have to be organized this time. It can't just be a cell-- we've already proven that stealth won't carry us down through Umbridge's door."
Ace McShane	"That's what C4 is for." Ace was Just Saying. Ace might have Just Said that a few times before, yes, but she very seldom felt plastic explosives were a bad idea.
Peter Wiggin	"We could probably blow a hole in the castle walls that way," Peter noted, "But we will need manpower to actually accomplish the raid." Yes, Peter. Go ahead and make that sound like you weren't poaching your brother's thoughts from five seconds ago.
Ender	Ender shot him a dry look, but he didn't comment. "I think that's fairly obvious," he said. "But even with what we've got, Umbridge outclasses us in raw - pardon the phrase - superpower." He reached out and touched the castle. "Because ours is mostly stuck in there."
Kate	"Yes, Ender, I think we're all aware of that," Kate drawled, though it lacked bite. Out of respect, or something. "Basically it's like we have some of the neatest weapons in existence but they're locked in someone else's safe. This is old news. So how do we get them out?"
Billy Kaplan	"We have some weapons," Billy pointed out, peering at the map. "The problem is, if we blow this, a lot more people are going to end up stuck in that safe after their covers are blown."
Ulrik of Denmark	"What if we distract them?" Ulrik mused. He was with Ace on the whole 'explosives good' train here. "Attack another viable target- loudly and with as much fanfare as possible?" He grinned, suddenly, remembering something a friend back down-time had told him once. "Perhaps even literally..."
Ender	Ender shook his head. "We've tried that, and it didn't disperse her forces well enough," he said. "I think we need to trickle this down to the rest. They've got the solid manpower, we've got to be maneuverable. Adaptable. Get everyone thinking towards this one goal, each in their own way."
Ace	"If it's got to be now--" And Ace didn't disagree with that at all; the logic was sound even when you filtered out her own constant urge to kick the doors in this minute. "--then not so much trickle as sploosh. Pull in everybody we can, fast as we can."
Peter	Peter looked like he was about to argue. Then again, Peter always looked like he was about to argue. "Fine," he said, "Dump this on everyone we've got: we take detention on Saturday. All plans welcome." He shot Ace a look. "And get us some C4."

[NFI, For-Resistance-Reporting-Only, Establishy, Offer Void in Quebec.]