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raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
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◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.


HATCHING LOG 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR



You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:
Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:
PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

mylawn: (pic#10981955)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Even without the recent tasering, 76 feels sluggish and dazed, which he imagines is a result of falling out of a horrible alien egg. He's had his enhancements longer than he hasn't, at this point, so the feeling sluggish and somehow fuzzy is new to him. The locals shouldn't have been able to overpower him the way they did, and it's just something else to be angry about.

What he doesn't really expect is for his cellmate to be generally polite, given the circumstances. 76 looks up, still dripping, apparently thrown for a loop.
]

You seem to be taking it well.

[That's said fairly sardonically, like he can't believe anyone would just sit here in a jail cell and take it, not after waking up the way they did. He needs explanations, and he's the type of person who's not going to stop until he gets them. Once he manages to get to his feet, he's attempting to inspect the door, looking for something he can exploit.]

I don't know about you, but I'm getting out of here.
mylawn: (pic#10463781)

that's him that's the character

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Luckily for everyone, 76 has great self-awareness with regards to his creative abilities. He knows full well that nobody needs to see him attempt any of this. Leave it to the people that know what they're doing, like Trish, though whether she enjoys it or not seems to be another matter entirely.]

Let's be glad you're a good person, then.

[Not that he's necessarily opposed to doing other people favors--he just wants to get a handle on the situation, first. 76 doesn't take a seat, opting to stand, instead, surveying the area in an apparent attempt to locate all the exits. Seems like a force of habit, more than anything else.]

We've got movies where I come from. That's a pretty old song, though.

[Like something his grandparents would've listened to.]
Edited 2021-05-30 19:46 (UTC)
unclesam: ((149))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-30 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh he sees that flicker and commits it to memory - no joking with her about how she kinda sorta completes his android-alien-wizard bingo card. Seems to strike a nerve.

The way she adjusts to calling Redwing 'he' like a living creature though? That earns her a flash of a bright smile. ]


Nope, neither of those. Just technology. Advanced, mind you. See this?

[ Sam flips Redwing over, showing his "belly", and tapping a black half-sphere there. ]

Anything Redwing sees through here, I see through here.

[ And he taps his goggles. ]
unclesam: ((68))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-30 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Crow? What, you got an actual bird, or another drone?

[ Catch Sam's immediate interest, why don't you. Everyone's got a gimmick these days - doesn't mean he's not here for it. ]

Daily surveillance is in the cards, sure. Redwing can get heat signatures and track footprints, too. So anything we find worth checking out, I can send him sniffing out further.

[ And shoot missiles. Sam doesn't mention that, though. He's not about to advertise everything in his arsenal when it's not yet necessary to do so, after all. ]

If I had the tech, I might be able to retrofit some sensors onto Buckabee, too, to spread them out. Push comes to shove, though, I can give us flyovers myself as well.

[ Sam taps something on his goggles, zooming in, then adds almost sheepishly: ]

I can fly.
fossils: (pic#10792293)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-30 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Buckabee...

Hold on to that one.

He meets his gaze earnestly. ]


Because I'm trying not to rely solely on mindreading these days. [ When it comes to you, and Bucky. He tips his head the other way. ]

And because you're the one we're all looking to now.

[ Their little group. Just the way it's gonna be.

Sam knows it himself. None of them are blind loyal followers. That much hasn't changed at all, just the positions.

Got no argument with much of what Sam proposes either.

He continues, frowning to himself thoughtfully: ]


The power dynamics here aren't what I was expecting exactly— [ considering how they were greeted when they first hatched. He gives Sam an abridged version of what he's learned from speaking to folks around camp, and from that it's clear his position on Captain Childe and Major 'Buttclench' is erring cautiously toward respect as far as how they treat their people, recent pushback against the new arrivals and the care packages aside. ]

They've been surviving out here three years.

[ No resting on their laurels and taking handouts, but they gotta remember that they don't have the same experience as the Adamant survivors. He's not advocating for sucking up by far, but they gotta give credit where credit's due. ]
Edited 2021-05-30 20:07 (UTC)
mylawn: (pic#10433702)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yeah, 76 kind of picks up on that, but he figures he's in no real position to judge. There's just simply not enough he knows of other worlds or versions of Earth, though he does tilt his head a little in apparent thought, processing the new information.]

You're one step ahead of me, then.

[That said, he knows he's adaptable. Falling in step around base camp is not necessarily one of his concerns.]

Gotta wonder why nobody ever found the crew.

[That is, the people who have made a life here. The Adamant is too big a ship to just disappear, but he supposes the universe is even bigger.]
Edited 2021-05-30 20:08 (UTC)
spalten: (pic#14544826)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-30 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
... I wonder.

[ vidar is thoughtful as he says it. ] If you're going to make a voyage to somewhere permanent, and with the amount of cargo and an exorbitant price tag on a vessel - which, well, I can only imagine how much it cost - wouldn't you want to make sure it's always on sight and kept an eye on?

There are plenty of things that could go wrong in space, of course. But three years in this strange planet with no signs of rescue ... I keep wondering what the story here is.
dissemblance: (pic#8645201)

[personal profile] dissemblance 2021-05-30 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Just all right?

why are you staring, you weirdo??
spalten: (pic#14544816)

1

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-30 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he can't sleep.

he's been staring at the back of his eyelids for so long that vidar thinks, surely it must've been hours since he did that, but no. it's not even. time moves slow when the body is unfamiliar with its surroundings and every single noise and smell is unwelcome. furthermore, he can't actually say that he's had worse than this, because his rank and privilege as a bauduin prevented him from enjoying the gentle swaying of a hammock.

that, and he's just way too tall for this thing and he's terrified of it breaking and having him suffer an embarrassing fall.

so he completely understands the frustration. he finally gives up on closing his eyes with a sigh when he hears her. ]


... they're tired, it's our first day in.

Give it a few more weeks.
neversmall: (016)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-30 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, she sees.

Nina supposes she understands; Alina has a lot to get back to. She wants to help Alina get back to it, but having already made her choice to turn away... well, this place is a place where, truly, there do not have to be Grisha or drüskelle. It's a relief to be here in so many ways that it's hard to put herself in the place of someone who must desperately want to go back home. Still, Nina tries. ]


I'm not a betting woman, but if I were, I'd said our coming here has more to do with the creature we saw in our dream than with a calcified dragon corpse. [ She brings up her hand and rubs over her heart, where the mark is. ] Didn't you feel it? The sense of welcome?
mylawn: (pic#12190501)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
You got a problem with a call sign?

[It's on the back of his jacket and everything! He knows full well that people are going to find that weird, but 76 is too old and too tired to care much about that kind of thing. Maybe sooner or later he'll start giving out his name, but right now he doesn't know enough about the situation to be that forward.

In time, perhaps.
]

I charge people to make jokes like that.

[Age jokes, of course.]
fossils: (pic#10792283)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-30 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, better than alright, all things considered...

[ With you know, compared to losing half the universe. Losing his friends.

He is FINE.

AND STILL STARING. Peering at those roots. ]
Edited 2021-05-30 20:26 (UTC)
unclesam: ((90))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-30 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
And they've been doing an impressive job of it.

[ They're on the same page, and Sam's glad for it. While the pushbacks against the care packages rankle something in him that is still caught on feeling Karli die in his arms, on the need to prevent emotions boiling into a similar direction here. Much of what Steve shares overlaps with what Sam's heard, and it visibly puts him at ease.

And yet there's a tension in his shoulders.

Sam's arms are crossed - it rarely tends to be a defensive stance with him, just a way to pull into himself a little, to stand and center himself around a few thoughts.

It's not letting him go. And because you're the one we're all looking to now. Sam swallows, and for a moment it's clear that even as he listens to Steve and agrees with him - his thoughts are still hanging back on something else. ]


You shouldn't... it's not... it's been you, Steve, and it still is. [ His voice has gone quieter on that, softer. He's searching Steve's eyes for that. And then he echoes what Bucky said. And it had hurt in the moment, badly. Doesn't make it less true: ] It ain't about me, Cap.

[ Never was. ]
unclesam: ((39))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-30 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A small snort of amusement. ]

Nah, we good, Batter.

[ What was that about a call sign? Coming from the guy who's used to calling other people by their made up superhero names. Sam has no room for judgment, but all the room for fun. ]

What, you gonna tell me to get off your lawn?
mylawn: (pic#10433709)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's not that he doesn't understand--76 is a little deceptive in that regard, having picked up some know-how and working vocabularies from his subordinates over the years--he just knows that other people are much, much better at this than he is, and he's content to leave it to them.

Nate, thankfully, does not drop the crate, and 76 is quick to move them both in a direction away from the children. Where they're going doesn't really matter, because they look productive, and they've managed to avoid additional storytime.
]

Don't mention it.

[Really, don't. 76 doesn't necessarily give the impression of someone who likes doing favors. He seems a little begrudging about the whole situation, but doesn't slow his pace.]

It's all a little much.

[He gets it.]
psychometries: (102)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-30 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Cal opens his mouth to reply, but immediately closes it in surprise when he feels something... strange in the Force, like a surge of energy that feels very linked to the girl sitting across from him. Not good or bad, really, so much as just odd—at least to him.

And judging by the way she'd dropped her fork the moment he sensed it, he kind of gets the impression he's not the only one who felt it, but he's not sure what to do with that information either. She doesn't feel Force-sensitive to him, but he's not sure he trusts his senses enough to be confident in that. His skills are still a little rusty there.

BD-1, for his part, is completely oblivious, so the droid is actually the one who responds first with a series of beeps that are completely unintelligible to anyone but Cal. He snaps out of his confusion—he'll have to puzzle the mystery out later, maybe in meditation—and translates: ]


He says it's alright. And he's sorry for shining his spotlight in your eyes like that.

[ As for her question, Cal can answer that himself. ]

I didn't—I definitely can't assemble a droid from scratch. He's a BD unit explorer droid that I picked up a little while ago on this old, uncharted planet, Bogano. [ BD-1 trills in protest, and Cal corrects himself with a smile. ] Right, we picked each other up.
mylawn: (pic#10467983)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
If I had a lawn, yes.

[But he's already said that he's okay with some company, at least when it comes to scouting the perimeter, so there's an exhaustion his his voice that suggests he realizes the bed is made. The good (???) news is that 76 seems to be the kind of person who can put up with a certain degree of this, especially because he's a little self-deprecating himself.

76 doesn't reply further than that, keeping up the pace and continuing to trudge toward the perimeter. After a moment, however, he seems to decide there's something he wants to add.
]

Was always more of a basketball guy.

[He will regret this. He knows this already. But if he's going to suffer through sports-related nicknames, he at least wants it to be the correct sport.]
mylawn: (pic#10981957)

A

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Alex is not the only person who has returned to the terrible egg room--76 would be a little remiss in his meticulous combing of the entire base camp if he didn't return to the place where it all began, if only to check for anything he may have missed. He's not so optimistic that he thinks it

The good news is that upon closer inspection of the busted-open eggs (ugh, gross), he sees that there are still things to be found, and some of them are familiar. Once he makes that realization, he wastes no time tearing into them (awful, disgusting), until he comes up with something he recognizes.

76 does not even want to think about how this is possible, but he's not about to complain about getting his equipment back. He's currently gathering everything up (jacket, visor, overly-large gun) into a soggy armful, but some noise gets his attention. He's not surprised that there are others in here, trying to figure out what's going on--what does surprise him is the creature this guy is currently reuniting with.

He's a little alarmed, to say the least.

"What the hell is that thing?"
mylawn: (pic#12190500)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-30 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
That's what I'm thinking about.

[To be stranded this long...then again, he has no idea what kind of time it takes to get around this particular solar system. It's possible help is on the way, but is just taking a while. Establishing this kind of functional society in the meantime, however, seems like a huge commitment, though he of course is no stranger to doing what he needs to survive.]

You talk to the captain yet?

[76 is holding off for now, preferring to approach her when he's a little more informed and things have cooled off a little. He can't imagine she's enjoying having forty extra people dumped on her.]
fossils: (pic#8214043)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-30 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sam'll find in his expression a mix of question and concern. His chin dips slightly, gaze lingering on the shield for a few seconds before returning to meet Sam's eyes again. ]

How's that?

[ How's any of this not about you?

He's trying to listen, now. Finally. ]
Edited 2021-05-30 21:17 (UTC)
unclesam: ((107))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-30 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The way Sam looks at Steve is trying to communicate a loud and prickly 'well, screw you' for asking that question, but really, Sam isn't annoyed. Steve asking just catches him off guard.

And for a moment, he opens his mouth, and he's on the verge of just shooting from the hip, but... he can't. Sam snaps his mouth shut, jaw clenching briefly. He's not sure he's got it in him to explain it all to a Steve who has never even reached the point of making this choice without ever asking Sam. A Steve who left - and in leaving chose something for Sam that Sam couldn't carry the way Steve and Bucky wanted him to. ]


Holding a shield doesn't make Captain America, Steve.
psychometries: (106)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-30 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Son... that may be the first time anyone's ever addressed him that way, but it does remind him a little bit of Greez's affectionate kid, and that's enough to make him suddenly miss his little crew, like a punch to the chest.

He takes her proffered hand with a small, grateful smile, but he's still a little shaken up from the echoes of the crash—they could only have been from when the Adamant had gone down—so he doesn't reach for the memories in her sleeve. He just lets the fleeting glimpses of cleaning and scrubbing flow over him like rushing water. ]


Thanks.

[ Antennae lowering, BD-1 replies to her question with a downbeat whistle that Cal isn't s sure he appreciates right now, much as he loves the droid. If it leads to questions, he's not sure how he's going to answer them, or if he even should. ]

I'm okay, really. Beedee just gets a little worried about me. We've been through a lot together. [ True, but also an understatement. ]
fossils: (pic#8214044)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-30 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He pulls in a breath, trying to pick his words with care.

Been trying all this time (mostly all this time). ]


Choosing to pick it up's a good start, though. [ Another quick pause, his eyes narrowing slightly. ] As long as you want it.

[ Then it's yours.

This isn't him trying to thrust it on Sam without talking to him like he does some years from now or some months earlier, depending on your perspective. But he's not going to easily back down from it should be yours.

You need to talk about it, let's talk about it. ]
spalten: (pic#14544841)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-30 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Eventually.

[ rather amused - ] There seems to be a line up, and as charming as I am, pilots and captains don't often get along.

[ there's a natural tension there, in his experience, and the only time he'd agreed to a captain it was out of a debt he couldn't repay. ]
psychometries: (127)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-30 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Believe it or not, the explanation actually... makes sense to Cal? He himself didn't actually hold rank in the Grand Army until he was old enough to be a Padawan Commander, so he was technically a non-combatant attaché for a while. Sure, he might not have seen frontline battle then, but he was still very much a part of the battalion. He can only assume Vidar was in a similar position.

The comment gets a quiet little huff of laughter from him, though it's a little subdued. He steps into the room, looking all around. ]


We're definitely not the first ones here.

[ Not that he'd really been expecting it—the echoes here have the same feeling as many of the ones around basecamp, since so much of it was built using pieces salvaged from the Adamant. Cal's scrapper's eye picked up on it immediately. ]