[hatch log] the stealth ship's running out of fuel

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: The Station + Concordia
WHEN: DAY :29 - :30
SUMMARY: A new brood hatches; two new hosts arrive in Concordia.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

YOU WAKE UP. Something is different - something unnamable, but palpable. You aren't the same person you were the last time you were aware of yourself.

You might not know it right away, though. What you do know: you're in a just slightly claustrophobic compartment. A gentle white light diffuses from the top panel. You're wearing the clothes you remember from wherever you came from. You feel... good - regardless of what condition you might have been in before you came to this place. Whatever injuries you might have had, whatever agony you may have been experiencing, whatever fear dogged your heels, they’re all gone. It’s quiet. Lastly, there’s a faint pinch at the base of your skull. Reach back to it and there's a small cable connected to the base of your neck and running back into the rear wall of the compartment. Disconnect it. Then it’s not so quiet anymore. Wherever here is, you aren't alone. You can feel that in your head: something big taking up space.

Welcome to Station 72, Mara and Murphy. All new hosts will have one day aboard the Station before being whisked off to Concordia to join the others. Get to know one another, ask the guardians of the Station - Prince and Cathaway - any burning questions you might have, explore Station 72. At the end of the day, a slick stealth shuttle will arrive in the hangar to take you to Concordia.

The pilot of the craft of a young man who buzzes across the fresh mental connection. It's loud enough to be irritating; he apologizes for it a few times during the trip through the pieces of the multiverse, as the ship pops into existence over the planet, and descends into the bustling inner city of Concordia in the dark hours of the morning on DAY 30. Nirad lands the stealth craft in a garden district; once you've disembarked, the ship reverts to an autopilot sequence and lifts off of it's own accord.

From there, it's just a short tram ride to the Bearings Apartment block building. The hosts, Nirad explains, have rented out Level 13. There are still some empty rooms there if you want one (you probably want one). That said-- if you don't want to go to Bearings and meet your new family comrades in arms ...friends...?

No one's stopping you. But some of them might come looking.

---

((OOC Notes: This is a mini-hatch log for Mara Jade and John Murphy; on-Station prompts should be closed to either one another or Station NPCs, but Concordia prompts may be open to everyone.

If you have questions about the mission specifically, direct them to the most recent calendar post HERE. You can find a more detailed overview of the hatching process HERE; you might also want to take a glance at the MISSION CONCORDIA BRIEFING. For all other questions, please hit up either the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages.))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[snaphiss]

I don't need luck. [But, for once in her life, she realizes how impossibly cocky that sounds, and adds,] Maybe divine intervention.

[She shakes her head, and goes to the window. Space is always a calming view.] Mara. How long have they had you here?

[wrackful]

[Divinity sits about the same level as luck in Murphy's mind. Whether they're needed or not, they never come. But he doesn't say as much, just leans his shoulders back against the wall, eyes more on the corridor than the window or her. He doesn't want to be startled again.]

Couple of hours, I guess. [There aren't any clocks that he's seen. Not that he's been looking; he's used to going without them, but up here there isn't the sun to judge off.

Besides, there's a more concerning thread of answer to her question:] Awake.

[snaphiss]

There's no sign of forced feeding or nutrient implants, and we haven't been in contact with bacta to heal it, I checked. [Welcome to The Paranoia Train, Murphy.] But they could have technology more advanced than I'd know to check for.

[At least, she thinks, he agrees with her in this. Determination bubbles through the bond, reaching out to encourage and reassure. They'll make it through this.] There's no way they can keep people forever.

[wrackful]

[Any idea of asking what the hell bacta is gets lost at the press of feeling, quick and close. Murphy frowns, unsettled by the sensation even as his mind's already accepting it, ringing the same chord - resilience, survival - back in turn. He hadn't even had a chance to do anything to stop it. Was this what it was going to be like?]

Yeah? They have anything like this where you're from?

[A vague gesture at his head. Part of him doesn't want to doubt her, but the only thing close to this he'd known was ALIE, and she'd only had the one kill switch.]

[snaphiss]

A little. We have technology for this sort of thing, but it doesn't look like this. But people will notice I'm missing. [Karrde will. And Karrde is loyal to his people. He'll look, but who knows how long that will take? She doesn't intend to idly wait for him.]

You? They couldn't think taking people from primitive worlds is a good idea.

[wrackful]

Just an AI trying to brainwash everyone.

[Does his world count as primitive? Probably. They'd been wiped out, after all, the grounders left praying to garbage while arkers welded as much of it together as possible to survive. It isn't stung pride that causes the roll of derision in his manner. It's the idea of her way out being waiting for rescue.]

No one's crossing the multiverse to come and find me, if that's what you mean.

[Even if they had the tech for that, there's only one person he could believe would care. And he doesn't even know if she survived, if his coming here had been enough to save her.]

[snaphiss]

Sounds fun. [But from her tone, she doesn't seem to think that sounds fun at all!]

[She sighs.] Don't believe everything they tell you. The universe is big enough without pulling a 'multi' into it. [But anyway.]

Are you a fighter? [She suspects, from his bearing, that he is, but she wants to hear him say it. It's like a pact. Promise that you have the skills to be useful.]

[wrackful]

[But I should believe you? doesn't get voiced, but it's there in the look he gives her, flat and unimpressed. He had no more reason to trust her than anyone else here - the pull towards her in his head didn't change that.]

No. [Fighter brings to mind the guards on the Ark, the grounder warriors. He'd never put himself as one of them.] I'm a survivor.

[If that meant fighting, he'd fight. If it meant running, he'd run. In his experience, the latter tended to be the smarter option.]

[snaphiss]

[Mara returns the skeptical look full on, only intensified by Murphy's odd answer.] If you're not one, I don't see how you can be the other.

[wrackful]

Then you haven't been where I've been.

[It'd probably be easy to dismiss as teenage dramatics if it wasn't for the look in his eyes, the weight of experiences he doesn't want drawn to the surface rolling in his mind. He looks away, gives a short shake of his head as he pushes away from the wall.]

All you need to know is that I can look after myself.

[He didn't need her, or anyone.]

[snaphiss]

[Mara rolls her eyes, but that's the extent of it. She can't bring herself to be truly annoyed with him, which is... new, to say the least.]

And you haven't been where I have.

[But still.] What can you fight with? A blaster?

[wrackful]

[He doesn't want to answer. He'd wanted her to drop it, but instead she's sticking with it. Any other time and he'd probably just walk away, but he doesn't, and he couldn't say why.]

I don't know what the hell a blaster is. [Not walking away, but patience gone for weird words.] We have guns. Knives. Stun sticks.

[A whole bunch of other things in between. He can't be bothered to list all of them, when the general point is that he'd use whatever he could get his hands on when he needed it.]

[snaphiss]

A blaster. [Is his world really so primitive they don't have those? Mara flicks her wrist, and a blaster appears in her hand. It really isn't hard to figure out where it came from, considering the tiny thing is small enough to easily hide up her sleeve.] You point them and shoot.

[wrackful]

[That is really tiny.]

A gun.

[He echoes back. He doesn't have one hidden up his sleeve, but he does have the image in his mind, the memory of the weight of a rifle in his hands, the sensation of recoil and the sound of gunfire.

Blaster makes sense, really. If you were naming things for what they did.]

[snaphiss]

[Mara frowns at the image.] That's a slug-thrower. [Because that is what they Actually Canonically used to call guns in the EU, fun fact.] This shoots energy bolts. You should have one.

[A second too late, Mara wonders why she cares.]

[wrackful]

[Blaster had made sense. Slug-thrower didn't.]

Yeah, well, if you see any around, let me know.

[He thinks he'd prefer a gun, or a knife. He knows exactly what damage can be done with those. But he wouldn't say no to any weapon.]

[snaphiss]

[Mara raises a brow.]

Is that a request?

[wrackful]

[Murphy's chin tips up slightly, and he shrugs.]

You said I should have one.