[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]

[Mara considers this. So not all missions are altruistic in name, intending to further the course of advancement. Some are simply using the Nest for menial labor.] At least they didn't leave you completely defenseless. When did they decide you'd succeeded?

[erbier]

[ This makes Ilde quite peevish, although her anger is not directed at Mara. ]

We did not, and I was credited as the catalyst of our communal failure by the Prince. Others prefer to blame Ren, as he killed more men.

[snaphiss]

[Well, that's a red flag. How do they determine failures and successes, here? And how are punishments and rewards doled out?]

What were the initial objectives?

[erbier]

Salvage.

[ Look okay, the whole try not to kill anyone thing was not a mission directive, and Ilde is still not sorry. ]

Don't come to harm.

[ If anyone had failed the mission it was Adam Parker. This is Ilde's interpretation, anyway. It might be better to check with someone less irritated about the Avera Training Mission.]

[snaphiss]

[Mara tolerates so few people, she'd rather be biased in their favor given the opportunity. Of course, she doesn't think that consciously; consciously, she only rankles at perceived bad leadership.]

[So she rolls her eyes and flips her hair, all dismissive gestures.] If self-defense was grounds for mission failure, I can't wait to find out what they've outlawed in Concordia.

[erbier]

[ A soft sigh. ]

This mission is very strange. I am not certain why we are here, what business of ours is it? Some of the others feel very strongly, but I question that we can force this grand change they hope to. At least not quickly, and I tire of this world.

[snaphiss]

It's our business because they say it is. [She shrugs. As much as she preaches about choice and reason and freedom, a mission is a mission.] I don't care what these people do with their time, but I won't let them stand between me and completing the objective. I don't fail missions.

[Which is, of course, a lie. She failed, once, but only once. The image of a desert comes to mind, and a laughing slug the size of a car. She clears it from her mind, and hopes it didn't bleed through their connection.]

[erbier]

[ That does seem so strange compared to all that Mara has said thus far. Ilde considers it. ]

My life is more important than their missions.

[ She does not want to die for something she does not believe in. ]

[snaphiss]

[Mara, stuck so firmly in remembering her own failures, and the mindset she held at such a time, takes note of this with surprise. At Ilde's age, Mara would have felt completely the reverse. Her life was just a tool of the Emperor, nothing more.]

[It's good that Ilde doesn't think that, and then Mara idly wonders why she cares. A second more, and she knows the answer, and stows it away ambivalently. The symbiote is already making itself known.] Do you think it's in danger here?

[erbier]

Always. Death is everywhere.

[ She has seen so many people die in so many terrible ways. The carrion of it all is a tremendous weight upon her young shoulders. ]

[snaphiss]

[Maybe to anyone else, that would sound overly intense. To Mara, it sounds appropriately cautious. A morbid way of putting it, maybe, but the sentiment is correct.]

This world is soft, but you're right. It hurts people in stupid, silly accidents. What's your specialty? Blasters?

[She assumes the girl can fight. At her age, Mara could shoot the eyes off a bantha at thirty paces.]

[erbier]

We did not have such weapons in my world. I am best with a knife, but I can manage bare-handed.

[ She smiles faintly, because that's what she does when she talks about Angel, ]

Angel has been instructing me in firearms. I have not used one in combat yet, but I practice aboard the Station.

[snaphiss]

[She's from a very primitive world. Mara will try to keep this in mind. Until then, she puts her right arm on the table, and gestures quickly, a little flick of her wrist. In that moment, she's plucked a very small blaster from her sleeve.]

You need a holdout weapon. Do you know where to get one?

[erbier]

[ She looks so curious. She's never seen one that small before. ]

No, all I have for this mission is the electric taser. The Prince was quite severe that I not harm anyone during this mission... That is how I have ended up pretending to be this woman 'Saffron'.

[snaphiss]

[With a flick of her wrist, the blaster disappears back inside Mara's sleeve.]

If they've got an eye on you, it's best to stay under the radar. [Of course, in Ilde's position, Mara would make sure she was properly armed regardless of what authority said. But Mara isn't sure Ilde knows how to properly conceal weaponry, and doesn't want to risk it.] Holdout weapons are a good place to start. You said you were being trained?

[Yep, just gonna elbow on in there. What is social decorum.]

[erbier]

Well, Angel's skills are in technology, but she has not seen battle either. The Prince taught me some, but only in his non-lethal way. I work with Cathaway to improve my symbiote ability... and Ren sometimes helps to train my mind through his use of the Force.

[ So a little bit of this, a little bit of that, none of it as comprehensive as it could be. ]

I need to improve. I dislike being helpless.

[snaphiss]

[Mara frowns, before stating, as bluntly as possible:]

You need hand-to-hand training, defensive and offensive. You're small, but you can use other people's weight against them. You should work with holdout weapons as well, and you could benefit from stealth training.

[She doesn't offer, that still feels like a vulnerability. But it's clear through the bond of the Nest that she considers the matter her responsibility. If no one steps up, Mara will make sure.]

[erbier]

I would like to learn from you.

[ As emotionally constipated as Mara is, Ilde is just as forthright about what she wants. She sees no reason not to be, how else is she going to improve. ]

[snaphiss]

[Mara raises a brow.]

I don't go easy on people. I'm not patient. I expect results and hard work.

[But she doesn't refuse.]

[erbier]

Very well. I can abide those rules.

[ Whatever Mara has to throw at her, Ilde is certain she has been through worse. ]

[snaphiss]

[Mara studies her a long moment, trying to decide if this is what she wants. It's a responsibility, but Mara is used to responsibility. It's a risk, but she's used to that as well.]

[It's something else, too, but Mara doesn't know what it's called. That curiosity is enough, in the end.]

Fine. We'll meet twice a week, somewhere your fans won't see you. They shouldn't know you're capable of combat.

[erbier]

[ Ilde smiles, this time specifically for Mara with no underlying irony. ]

It was good to meet you, Mara.

[snaphiss]

[And Mara... doesn't know what to do with that. She's not sure what to do with any of this, so she keeps crashing on brazenly forward, hoping it will make sense by the end. She blames the symbiote bitterly, but isn't sure, beyond that, what to think.]

[At least she can keep her composure.]

Contact me when you're ready. Wear something athletic. [And she stands. She's never been good at goodbyes, or, for that matter, hellos.]