July Arrivals

[sixthiteration]

WHO: Arrivals
WHERE: The fountain park
WHEN: July 1, 12:00 PM
OPEN TO: ALL
WARNINGS: N/A
STATUS: CLOSED

---

In the snug circle of an old park, a fountain sits burbling beneath a broad, midday sky.

Once-neat paving stones have buckled and cracked from the slow nudge of wayward roots. Benches stand covered in lichen and rust. Three paths push into the underbrush like the spokes on a wheel, the encroaching forest creating lush tunnels through the dark.

But the fountain stands singular and pristine, brightly splashing in open rebellion of the deep, muffled sounds of a place long ago gone to seed. A vibration hums through the ground, there and quickly gone, and the water in the fountain trembles, lapping against the high walls of its cool, pale reservoir.

It is the first of July.

It is precisely twelve o'clock in the afternoon.

Comments

[thenewways]

Nerys opened her mouth to exclaim in surprise, but paused and frowned, wondering if Mark, like Peggy, was from somewhere isolated, or some other when--tricorders were pretty damn basic, after all, and had been for centuries.

"It's a handheld computer," she said, and hoped she wouldn't have to explain exactly what a computer was, to the point that it was probably visible on her face. "Scans and processes and records, though it's not extensive by any stretch of the imagination. Even so, we'd be able to make educated guesses instead of stabbing around in the dark."

Re: Arrival: Jo Harvelle

[thecatinahat]

"Years," is all Cougar says, because he's been to enough ghost towns and deserted villages to know the difference between weeks, months, and years worth of desertion. He shakes his head when he comes back from the last room, not finding anyone or any hint that anyone's been here recently.

It's not a good sign. "What next? Another house?"

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[womanofvalue]

"Or maybe there's a reason that they're not so easily found," Peggy adds, a wariness in her words. If there's some natural predator or some possibility of something that could harm them, she can imagine that people might go underground or hide away.

"We'll need to do a thorough investigation, I think. Only then can we know if we're truly here alone or whether the civilization has simply evolved to something else."

[generalginger]

"You're making excuses." There are more pressing matters to attend to, of course, though he just barely resists pointing out that Ren could've potentially had access to the entire legion. All that needed to be done was calling in for it.

Figuring out their current circumstances is more important, but Hux doesn't have the answers that he wishes he had. "It's possible that this planet is more like a holding cell. Whatever brought us here might not originate from here."

[generalginger]

The wet clothing was uncomfortable, but Hux was enduring until the wind started to pick up. Arkanis rained constantly, and Starkiller's weather was either freezing or more freezing, but in both of those environments, he always had adequate clothing. The same can't be said for now, so finding shelter was even more of a concern.

"We should hurry up before it gets worse!" He could just barely understand Jon over the wind, and the siren made things even worse. Hux grimaced, and after gesturing toward the building in which they were closest, he broke into a run. He wasn't sure from where the sirens were coming, but the winds alone were foreboding.

[generalginger]

Hux has studied a number of wars over the years; it's a necessity for his career, and though he's genuinely curious about the tactics and strategies for this supposed world-war, it's neither the time nor the place. He's tactful enough to get the impression that it's not something Peggy wants to discuss at length right now, anyway.

"Looks like there's something over there." He gestures to some buildings off in the distance. They're not that far away, but the sooner they get there, the better.

[womanofvalue]

She gives a firm nod, old habits taking over as she allows the soldier part of her mind to take over. It's just like being with the Howling Commandos again, she tells herself, following along to an objective that's near. "Are you going to come?" she asks, taking the moment to study him. It could be that he has other plans, but she thinks it's still smarter to stick together for now.

[andrend]

She has a point. With the strength of the sudden gales, it hardly made sense to keep trying to fight the direction the wind is pushing them. Logically, Ren is sure the wind is a natural force that isn't actually actively trying to direct them. But the idea of being forced along by anything, nature included, doesn't sit well.

He digs his heels in and grabs her arm without asking. She likely doesn't need the help, but it would be easy to find themselves thrown to the ground with the right gust from the wrong angle.

"Keep your head down." He has no interest in being blinded by the storm, and he continues to dig in his heels even while moving with the wind, his head ducked down with only brief glances toward the buildings around them to get his bearing.

[andrend]

"Good. That is the kind of thinking that I like to see." Ren studied Jon as he spoke. If the man was a skilled enough fighter, and with the temperament he seemed to carry himself with, Ren was certain he could find uses for Jon. There were plenty of reasons to want to keep a fighter around and more or less on his side. Perhaps he could do with a few temporary allies.

Longer, if they did not disappoint or betray him.

"If they were looking for us to be fighting one another, they would have left us with weapons. I think the motives behind this are a bit different than that." He still believed they were captives of slavers.

"Did you have many enemies in Westeros?"

[andrend]

"I assumed slavers, but-" He hesitates for only a moment, the words freezing in his mouth as he realizes just how much he has actually been paying attention to their fellow captives. "They seem to have collected resourceful and intelligent individuals, if a bit naive to the ways of the galaxy."

There had o be a purpose. As much as Ren would have liked to believe so, he had to admit they were not the primary targets alone. So whoever had grabbed them did not only have issue with the First Order.

"I have not heard of anything like this." He would understand the Rebellion, slavers, bounty hunters, even kidnappings for entertainment on the more barbaric planets that liked to host death matches, but this did not read like any of those.

"We are trapped with people who did not even know they could leave own planets." Petty disputes had to be set aside. Not permanently. They were both too stubborn to let things go so easily. But even Ren could realize their focus was needed on this matter and not the past.

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[thenewways]

Thorough investigation sounded enough like Odo that Nerys nearly smiled, though she stopped herself easily enough by remembering the gravity of the situation. "Once we have the resources to do it," she said, agreeing with reservations. "Gotta get enough food to keep ourselves able to do more than, well, just finding food."

[dnr]

He'd been wondering if she had a military background - is still wondering, really, if she might be army or something, but the answer she gives isn't what he's expecting. As much as he's expecting anything right now, at least. He squints over at her sidelong.

"As opposed to what?" Some kind of right place? Is there a good way to learn the things that have keep you alive? He shakes his head. "Experience is experience - wherever it comes from, use it."

Which is what he intends to do, apparently, as he finishes he circuit of the fountain, adrenaline finally settling into an even sort of high alert that looks close enough to calm.

"You want to tell me what you've seen so far? Anybody else, any guards or anything?"

[womanofvalue]

Peggy lets out a sharp cry when he pulls on her arm without her needing any help or asking for it, but this sudden windstorm doesn't exactly leave much room for bickering. She shoots him a sharp glare, but does as he says as she moves along with the push of the wind.

"I'm hardly a ragdoll!" she snaps at him. "I won't simply float away if you let go!"

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[womanofvalue]

"Yes, I would rather avoid the part where we all starve trying to be neighbourly," she tries to joke, but she'd much rather simply not return to rationing if at all possible. Those are years of her life that she'd like to avoid.

"Still, I would rather not have to worry about sleeping with one eye open. A thorough investigation to see who else is here would help with that."

[tobeclosetohim]

That actually stops Jo for a second, because it's getting eerie. He sounds more like the type she grew up with than the other 98% she ends up surrounded with in these places. Even when she bunks down with those like her, together they still make it a nails curve sliver of the percentage of people pulled into these things. Except.

Except for last time. But. No. No, she's not going to think about. Not yet. Not now. Not with these people.

Jo looked off, back to the people gathering, helping each other. It makes her want to rub her arms and move more, but then so does this damn scratchy, billowy, stuck to her like a damp stamp off pants choice. "No one yet. I came in first, but no one's popped up to see what the commotion is over here."

Re: Arrival: Jo Harvelle

[tobeclosetohim]

"Can't hurt. Double check that maybe this one and the next one are the same?" Jo was headed back for the door, because it was good as this being an empty, forgotten place. Which was strange. Once upon a time, nearly a decade ago, she would have assumed something like this was gone and forgotten because it was haunted. Ghosts. Monsters. But that's not here either.

Nothing prickling at the back of her neck and warm in her palms.
No single sensor in the light sigils on her shoulders, check and back trembled slightly.

Headed down the stairs, she went back to it. "How many years? Five? Ten? Half a century?"

Re: Arrival: Jo Harvelle

[thecatinahat]

He gives a nod of his head, because more information in this case can't hurt. More information in general can't hurt, even if Cougar can't shake the feeling that he's doing recon without an actual purpose.

"No," he says, dragging a finger over the table and eyeing it. "Two possibilities," he says. "Not many years and there were people." Because dust comes from dead skin cells and that means if there are people, then this type of dust layer doesn't mean much. "No people? Could be decades," he agrees.

[rangerbecket]

"You might not believe me if I told you," Raleigh says cautiously, trying to test the waters. If they're not from the same version of the universe, he doesn't exactly want to sound like a crazy person when he explains what's going on.

"I'm a ranger in the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. We stop kaiju incursions along the shoreline."

If he's from his version of the world, he'll know what that is. If not, it gives Raleigh some information to work with.

[generalginger]

It was an observation that Hux actually appreciated. He'd only met a couple of people so far, but if he was to be objective, he could say the same for them. They were obviously ignorant about the galaxy and caught up in mundane interplanetary affairs, but they definitely seemed to have good instincts.

Why they were all here wasn't something he could explain, but it at least it would be useful to them in the meantime.

"The intent must be to use our combined skills for something." It made sense: if there was to be some sort of endgame here, it would make sense to bring people with some level of usefulness. Just how useful these other people were, Hux couldn't say, but...

[tooktheblack]

Jon took his lead and started to run himself, trying to keep the other man in his sights as he headed toward the closest building. They needed to get inside some kind of shelter before the winds threatened to knock them flat. It was something he hadn't experienced on the Wall without a storm following; Jon didn't want to be out in the open if rain or snow was forthcoming.

Once he reached the building, he ducked inside and tried to catch his breath among deep, struggling gasps. He'd only just caught his breath after the fountain before the winds. "Are you all right?"

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[thenewways]

The joke felt to Nerys a bit like a rebuke, but her interpretation was that it was a joke of a kind she was used to from Odo, so there wasn't much sting. What bothered her more was the fact that she hadn't thought that there might be danger from others, had assumed they were alone, but Peggy was right.

Clearly, she was getting soft. "It's a good point," she agreed. "A surprise attack...those are the worst."

[generalginger]

Hux always liked to keep himself in good shape; it was a necessity when he was essentially raised in and continued to live within a rather Darwinist society; there was no room for weakness in the First Order. But there was a difference between using the gym facilities aboard a star destroyer and running against the wind on a planet that has a completely different environment that to what he was used.

Needless to say, he was relieved to be inside the building. He only hoped that it could withstand whatever this storm through at them. "I'm fine." After catching his breath, he glanced outside. Of course this would be a place with horrible weather. When he turned his attention back to Jon, it was with an extended hand. He did have manners, after all. "General Hux."

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[womanofvalue]

"Yes, especially if we're the ones thinking that everyone will be friendly," Peggy admits, trying not to think about those long nights in the war, not sure she wanted to sleep because of what might come over their lines in the middle of the night. "Then again, I know from experience that it's no way to live. Maybe we can set up alarms. Traps?"

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[thenewways]

"Me too," Nerys agreed, looking at Peggy's face as she mentioned experience. Her own was written into her bones. "Alarms, maybe, though everyone here will need to know exactly where they are. Traps if they're needed, but until we know..."

It wasn't really worth the effort until they knew they were trapping someone malicious.

Re: Arrival: Kira Nerys [OTA]

[womanofvalue]

"Alarms, then," Peggy says, because she wouldn't want to lose her leg on a perfectly normal walk just because someone's paranoia drove them to setting up something with a great deal of sharp edges. "Maybe something that won't harm anyone if they come across it without knowing. I'd hate to limit our already apparently small population."

She nudges the door to the structure they've arrived at open, having to use her shoulder to give it a bit of a push.

"What do you think this is?" she asks, of the large building.