revivalproject | Someone Didn't Pay the Electric Bill

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Someone Didn't Pay the Electric Bill

WHO: Cal Kestis, Kaz Brekker, Asterope Glass, Merrin and whoever might want to drop by
WHERE: Not-Temba/Sh'Ka's Power Station and related areas
WHAT: Cal's assembled a team to work on restoring the power and maybe establish communication from the other city
WHEN: End of August to mid-September ~~OMG WHY IS IT SEPTEMBER ALREADY~~
WARNINGS: ~~Kaz~~ N/A

Basecamp was set up within some of the offices of the power station, with a space for a rudimentary campfire outside if people wanted to heat up food or water to drink or use in general, or just enjoy the fresh air at night. Cal had brought along a couple of portable space heaters he'd cobbled together in case things got too cool inside at night, free for anyone's use.

The first day had mainly consisted of setting up a space for them to stay in and unloading whatever they'd managed to bring by way of equipment and rations, and a bit of territory scouting to see what was available for them. While the water plant, wherever that was, would have to be another project entirely, at least water itself was available, if requiring a bit of a walk from the station. Kyle's buddy system would be recommended, mainly out of concern for the large creatures that have been known to dwell within the wooded areas not far from there.

The power plant itself would be the next thing to look at to see what might need repairs, and if parts would be needed from the other city. Cal had Reeve's notes to share as well as previous experience in working on power restoration for Temba, and the similarities between the cities would make things at least a little easier. The most tedious part would be inspecting the connecting lines to make sure there wouldn't be any damaged areas that might cause problems if they went ahead and turned everything on. This would take the longest time, so the inspections would be divided up in sections, and they'd check back in after each one. The option to swap out between engineers would also be there so no one would be stuck with any one task, and Merrin would be able to bring them back and forth as she got more familiar with the layout of things.

It would be a lot of work and effort, but if there were things worth learning here, getting this done would be a key part to it.

((OOC: Feel free to treat this as a mingle and task sort of thing! Working on stuff? Taking a break? Getting chased by bunnyboars? Dropping off care packages for your hard-working engineers and friends? Do it do it do it! I will post an update on progress once I get some infos~))

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"Considering this place seems to follow a similar layout to the other city, I would've been more surprised if it didn't have one," Cal said. "But we'd still need to get the power working, wouldn't we? And make sure the connections running there are stable."

It was a good idea though, and theoretically easier since it would be located within the same nest of buildings making up the power station. "Care to head that end of things? See how much repairs need to be done, maybe start work on it?"

Usually, Kaz didn't care for physical labor but if it meant a ready supply of drinking water then he would make this effort.

"I can if you wish. If the city layout is similar, how were you able to get electricity and potable water first in Temba?"

They'd need all hands on deck with only three engineers on hand. Cal didn't expect Kaz to do it himself, but it would help immensely to have someone get a head-start on things. At least it was closer too, so Kaz wouldn't have to go too far from camp.

"That had already been established by whoever had been brought there earlier than I was," Cal admitted. "The power was already restored, and the water treatment. The project I helped Reeve with was mainly for restoring power to other areas of the city."

While engineering isn't her wheelhouse, Cal sounds pleased with their progress, and that's good enough for her.

"Good. It will be easy to travel from the train station, the water plant, and here." She spent some time getting to know the areas, so she feels confident enough to teleport now—both herself and others. It's one thing to mess things up when it's just her, but quite another to do it with someone else.

BD-1 beep-boops a cheerful greeting to her, making her smile, before zipping off again. But her smile fades as she leans back, resting her weight on her hands behind her, and tips her head up to watch the stars. "I spoke to your Jedi Master. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not long ago." There's something subdued in her voice—their conversation has been weighing on her for a while.

That's definitely good news. Merrin's shortcut will be a great help to all of them, and allow for more time to work on things with the cutting down on travel time. Cal nods, rolling himself upwards to sit.

"Oh, you did?" By his tone it doesn't sound like he'd been aware that they'd met, but he's cautiously glad of it. But Cal picks up on that subtle...something, head tilting at her. "How'd it go?"

She's not sure she understood all of that, really, not that it particularly bothers her. Instead, she's contemplating the creation of some sort of spell that sought out where these lines "ground" so she doesn't have to do the tedious work herself. Maybe she could take parts from that seeking spell...

Her footsteps are much quieter as she trails after her end of the pipe and passes into the next room. Sure enough, on the other side, they disappear into a box set against the wall, though she doesn't touch it.

"There is something here," she calls out.

So Obi-Wan hadn't told him about it. The cautiousness in his tone doesn't go unnoticed, and she realizes that maybe he shares Ezra's... worry, that the two of them wouldn't get along. At least that part of their conversation wasn't the part weighing on her, so she can give him some relief there.

"We had much to talk about. He is a kind man," she says thoughtfully, turning her head to meet Cal's gaze. Not what I expected of a Jedi is what she might've said before, but she's found that after all the Jedi she's met—Cal, Cere, Ezra, Obi-Wan—Malicos seems to be the exception, not the rule. "He invited me to visit the Temple."

He's not too surprised that they had a lot to talk about, but he can be glad that it's apparently gone all right. Cal smiles then, relieved that Obi-Wan had invited Merrin himself.

"I'm glad you got the chance to finally meet him," he says. "So what all did you two talk about?" He wouldn't have asked if he didn't feel that there was something Merrin wanted to bring up from her conversation with the Jedi master.

She falls quiet for a moment, her brow wrinkling as she turns her head forward again, staring ahead unseeingly. After her talk with Obi-Wan, she thought that she just needed a little time, to process the truth of her sisters' fate, but even after so long she still feels... lost. Time hasn't given her the clarity she wanted.

Wordlessly, she curls her legs up and rests the circle of her arms on her knees, as if she's cold despite the heat from the fire. "He knew who it was who murdered my sisters. The armored warrior," she says finally, soberly. "And he knew who ordered the attack. General Grievous... and Count Dooku. They were Separatist leaders."

How strange, to know their names and deeds but little else. General Grievous she can still see in her mind, even now, as she saw him then, a metal monster ruthlessly cutting down her sisters with his lightsabers. But Dooku... she knows so little of the man, can't picture what he looks like at all. For all the pain and grief he caused her, he's just a dark shadow, barely anything at all.

Cal watches her quietly, and the way the crackling light from the campfire casts a warm tone to her usually pallid features. As she changes her position, hugging her knees as though she might close herself off, Cal shifts in his own position, turning where he sits so that he can face her better, if not be a little closer.

The first sentence makes it clear enough why Merrin seemed so hesitant. She finally knew the name of the one responsible for wiping out her sisters. Names, and not just any, but ones that he knew well, if only because of the involvement in the very war that he and the Jedi were made to fight in. And they were both gone, weren't they? Not an easy thing to digest, especially when you'd spent so many years harboring vengeance.

He's not sure what to say to that. There really aren't words to offer that can make anything better, especially when you're not sure what you should be trying to offer. But he lifts a hand, setting it over the closest of her's, giving it a squeeze.

Her smile dims somewhat as she follows his gesture with her pale gaze. "It almost seems like you're trying to confuse. Don't tease, Tony. Please?"

It's alright—just his hand on hers is enough. It pulls her towards him, comforting and strong, and she turns her hand over under his, so that they're palm to palm, and shifts so that she's angled towards him. Her knees brush against his legs, but... she doesn't move them away.

"He said that Count Dooku betrayed his apprentice, Asajj Ventress. One of my sisters. I remember when she returned home and took a mate." At the time, she hadn't thought much of it, beyond the wonder of a long-lost sister returning so suddenly. Nor did she know why. "As our sister, we would've helped her seek revenge. But it must have failed."

And then Dooku struck back. It's the only explanation that makes any sense to her—she knows the Nightsisters well, and they do not suffer betrayal from anyone, not even Sith Lords. Revenge would be the only possible route to take against a man who wronged one of their own.

And it was their destruction. More than anger, a bone-deep sadness settles over her, and she grips Cal's hand a little tighter, her head lowering. "All this time, I have wondered. I thought that knowing would... bring peace, but it does not."

She can feel tears start to crawl up her throat and sting the corners of her eyes, and so she closes them, shutting out the image of their entwined hands between them, blurring. "There is nothing more I can do. Dooku and Grievous are dead, and so my sisters cannot even have their revenge. There is nothing," she repeats, softer.

"I'm not--" Tony started to interrupt, only that wasn't strictly true and her plea did sound like she might be hurt. Not that it was intentional, just a natural barrier that came easily for Tony to stay behind as he tried to talk as fast as he could think, and while it was very much intended to confuse, it wasn't usually meant to harm. Feeling a bit like she had taken a shield away from him, Tony tensed, shoulders up and gripping the ledge that they sat on. If she were older, he might have taken that as a challenge. "Sorry," he muttered instead, and kept his focus on the forest, avoiding any more damaging insight that might come with eye contact.

It was only completely excruciating trying not to talk, so it didn't take Tony long before he was blurting the most innocuous thing that came to him, "You sounded happy. Before. With the violin."

"Used to play as a kid. It was a test, everything was at the la--as a kid. But it wasn't a painful one, wasn't too hard to be successful at. And it's nice to try again now, not on their terms. To play without it being for someone else, trying to meet standards. To pick what to play."

She can't pinpoint why she didn't tell him about the lab. Maybe because she didn't want to see how it made his face look, if she did.

Even with the careful omission, this was particular enough phrasing for Tony to raise his eyebrows curiously. Particular, but Tony thought he might have understood what she meant, in a way, to be tested under severe scrutiny when you were still expected to hold hands when crossing the road. "It was languages, for me, that came easy," he tried to feel out, watching her out of the corner of his eye as he gestured loosely like he was just listening to his own voice again. "I mean, listen, everything comes easy for me, I'm a genius, that's the whole shtick. But my old man didn't expect me to speak Mandarin or whatever to him at home, and he wasn't checking my code when I built something, either it worked or it didn't, or it was a waste of time in the first place, you know, dad stuff. They weren't really things he could drill down with me about, they were--binary. I could do it, pat on the head. Metaphorically. Scotch on the rocks if he was feeling generous."

He has no words, but he can listen. And when Merrin turns her hand to grasp his, he holds hers obligingly. Given what he knows of Dooku and Grievous, they weren't people to be taken lightly. It still hurts all the same to know that they had also had a hand in something so heinous.

There was no reason that such knowledge would bring anyone peace. Cal can't blame her for that, although at the same time he wishes it weren't so. When her hand tightens, he squeezes it back a little more in turn. He can sense her anguish, the hopelessness. It's a space he knows well, when you don't know what to do and it just seems like you're left to drown in everything and nothing.

He pulls at her with that hand, pulling her towards him to wrap his arm, and maybe the other around her if she relinquishes her grip, a firm embrace. "...they left a void that you filled with a desire for vengeance," he says, his voice just above a whisper at her ear. "You just need to find something bigger, something better to fill that in. But that's something only you can choose."

Merrin hasn't given up all this time. He doesn't think she will, even now, but it's a rare thing to see her so vulnerable, so open. He wants to protect that, to let her know that whatever choice she makes next, she doesn't have to do so alone.

"Your sisters still have their revenge. You've survived. Dooku and Grievous are gone. You can continue to honor them just by moving forward."

Down Below

Cal volunteers himself to have a look at the nearest substation relays that Kaz had mentioned to him, not that there are many hands on deck to begin with. He figures that he's the most used to climbing and crawling around dark, potentially treacherous places, although in comparison to working on the gutted remains of starships, the subterranean tunnels beneath the power station are downright cheery. Thankfully the equipment isn't in too bad a condition, ready to divert power after some basic maintenance, once the main power is switched on.

Catch him when he actually remembers to come up for- oh, just kidding. More tools. Or find him down there to remind him to take a break.

Wavering Frequencies

Work on the main generator isn't too demanding. The power station had been relatively well-preserved, and Cal suspected the majority of problems would be in the outlying connections to the rest of the city. Naturally the place had gathered quite a layer of dust, so most of the work he finds himself doing is cleaning things up and making sure ports and vents are clear.

It's when he's cleaning up the control panel itself that he pauses, brow furrowing. He closes his eyes, letting his hand rest there a moment, but it's only after a few seconds that he shakes his head, opening his eyes and after frowning thoughtfully at the equipment, resumes his work.

Progression

The work has been hard, but setting up some parameters to work within so they won't overstretch themselves has been extremely helpful. Once they'd gotten the connecting lines checked and reinforced for the area most directly within and around the power station, the focus was turned to the power generator itself, if not assisting Kaz in making sure the water treatment plant wasn't going to fall apart or implode as soon as they flipped a switch. He'll count their efforts a win if that much works once they power the station on.

"I think we're ready to go. Anyone want to do the honors?"

There's barely any relinquishing at all—she folds herself into the circle of his arms, sinking into all the comfort and strength of his embrace, letting it surround her. How odd it is, how unthinking and easy—it's only because it's Cal, and because she trusts him with the vulnerable parts of her.

She squeezes her eyes shut against tears, buries her face in his shoulder and breathes, but his words seem to strike her directly in some small, weak place, and there's nothing she can do to stop them anymore. It's been so long since she last cried over her sisters, but... this feels like an ending of a story that started years ago. An ending where her sisters are still gone, and always would be.

But he's right. She survived, and Dooku and Grievous didn't. They failed—the Nightsisters still live on, even if it's just through her. Even if she doesn't know how to move forward without vengeance—what her something bigger and better is. Thanks to Cal, she feels like she's just started to scratch the surface of how wide the galaxy is, but... that just makes her place in it an even bigger question. She's a Nightsister without sisters, with a half-empty planet to call home.

"Moving forward," she echoes quietly, muffled against his shoulder. At least... she has Cal by her side, and Cere and Greez, back in their galaxy. At least... she has Cal with her now, here in this place. That's a start. "It seems I have little choice this time."

Edited 2021-09-08 06:54 (UTC)

He holds her tighter as those tears finally can't be held back anymore, feeling like he's physically trying to hold her together, even as he lets her know it's all right to just let it out. There had been no one to comfort them in their loss all those years ago, no one to offer a shoulder to cry on when everything had been taken from Merrin just because her sisters had been drawn into a power conflict. Cal hardly thinks that this will make things right nor make up for the thens of yore, but it's something he can offer now, and he feels that's just as important.

The concept always comes back around, moving forward. It's what she'd told him he'd offered her when he apparently returns to Dathomir. It's what he's decided, even after arriving here on another alien planet, broken and once again uncertain. It seems like all they can do, and yet he knows the alternative is to not do anything at all.

"Still a choice," he says. "But whatever you choose, I'll be here for you."

Guess who is in town! Obi-Wan hadn’t been back in awhile but the Jedi is pleased to have an excuse to return to the city filled with trees and wildlife. He knew that Cal had come with the team to help with the work on the power station. With communication still not possible as of yet, he wanted to check up on Cal and see how he was doing. Following the Padawan’s presence in the Force until he finds him working on the generator.

“You certainly have been keeping yourself busy,” Obi-Wan says. The Jedi coughing a little at the dust that was in the air, stirred up by Cal’s cleaning efforts.

"It makes you want to work harder, to push yourself more, to do anything just to get that pat on the head." She lets out a sound that isn't really a laugh, even if it's shaped like one. "Were you ever in competition with anyone? Trying to be one of the worthy ones out of many?"

That was a little more revealing, and Tony nodded slowly in encouragement, like she could speak freely here with someone who understood the same pressure. External motivation for Tony more typically took the form of the threat of the stick, rather than the promise of the carrot--and whether he was trying to avoid that stick or provoking it changed rapidly. This girl didn't make it sound like she would be putting her feet up on the dean's desk any time soon.

Tony's worth was a different performance altogether, and he hesitated then, openly studying her this time as he considered how to get her to tell him more. "When I was your age..." he guessed, head tilted slightly with the question, how old was she anyway?, but continuing nonetheless, "I thought I was untouchable. It wasn't a competition, I had already won with the opening move. I was a complete asshole, of course. Now I know better, I've seen more past my own dick, and I spend most of my time trying to keep up. It's still not really a competition, I don't--...I'm buying my way into the game, every day. I know that's not going to end well for me."

"Maybe if you'd been back there, you would have been one of the successful ones. Usually, it was the strong or fast ones. People wanted them as soldiers, as infiltrators. To serve in the wars. The smart ones, too. Strategists."

She doesn't place herself in any of those categories, though.

"Were you engineered, too, Tony?"

If all it took to succeed in this place the girl was talking about was an inflated ego, then Tony grinned and nodded, sure, maybe he would have. It wasn't lost on him how she hadn't included herself in either party as she spoke, either the product or the buyers, and his plastic grin faded as he considered where that left her with 'too'. All of the pieces she had offered of this puzzle so far were producing a hollow dread in his stomach that made his shrug heavier and less casual than he intended as he replied, "Nah. Baseline. This face was the luck of the draw," with a flourish and renewed, dazzling smile. It took on a distinctly predatory cast, eyes coldly intent as he asked, "What were you supposed to be?"

"Enhanced senses. Better ability for math. A failed experiment. It leads to getting overwhelmed, in crowded or loud or bright places. Deficient, unwanted. Stayed until the lab was taken down by American special forces. The irony is, at least one person on that team had grown up there. Good enough for the Americans."

She doesn't look at him as she speaks, instead glancing down over the edge of the building. So she misses that predatory smile, that frost in his gaze.

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Page 5 of 7

Someone Didn't Pay the Electric Bill

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Wavering Frequencies

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