Network | Voice

[only_an_echo]

[Between rapid breaths, a low, almost gravely voice breaks through the network silence.]

Where am I? This isn't-

...How-

[A heavy pause hangs in the air as his breathing slows, suddenly quiet, slowly picking through the pieces before everything comes together.]


Wait. I know this place...




[OOC: Echo's been UPDOOT3d doot doot doot]

Comments

[noch]

You didn't miss this place?

[ That's sarcasm, for the record, though it might be difficult to tell. ]

[only_an_echo]

[He totally gets it now. Most of it, anyway.]

That depends on how long I'm in for now that I'm back. Merrin, right?

[noch]

[ Fair enough. She gives him a slight nod in response. ]

You must have spent a long time back home. It hasn't been so long here.

[only_an_echo]

So I've heard. But it feels like I've been away longer than...a year?

[noch]

You aren't certain?

[ Echo, what happened to you, man??? ]

[only_an_echo]

[So Much, Merrin. So Much.]

No. There were some complications. Time hasn't been great and everything I know currently is coinciding with everything I've gone through here.

[noch]

Complications.

[ Her tone is as dry as dust. Feel free to elaborate on that, because something tells her he's underselling it. ]

So it is true what I've heard? That one forgets their time here when they go home, and then they remember again when they return.

[only_an_echo]

[He's all too familiar with the tone, sighing as he gives her a summary.]

To put it lightly, the last mission I was assigned to wasn't going so well. I spent a good chunk of the war away from the battlefield as a Separatist captive before I was rescued. Everything else that followed happened all too quickly - I was on another mission with Clone Force 99 when the clones suddenly turned on the Jedi. Wasn't even an entire cycle before The Republic as we knew it became known as The Galactic Empire...

This is the only time it's happened to me, but I'd assume that is what's going on. And if I remember correctly, we've had a few people go through the same thing.

[noch]

[ She didn't understand, like, half of that. At least. But... ]

Yes, that does sound like... "complications."

[ It's not as wry as it could be. It sounds like he had it pretty rough during the war, and she empathizes. ]

You were treated poorly? As a captive.

[only_an_echo]

[He tried. But he figures it's better to slowly work from there. Echo exhales a mirthless chuff, weariness weighing down the clarity of his words.]

Yeah. Wasn't exactly first-class treatment.

[A beat passes, and he shifts to another question.]

Did anything else change here while I was gone?

[noch]

[ Too bad the Separatists are already no more. They have a lot to answer for, in her opinion, and she would've liked to make them answer.

But she'll allow the topic change. Very easily, in fact. ]

Temporarily or permanently? You will have to specify.

[only_an_echo]

Let's go with permanently. Any other disappearances or strange occurrences that may be cause for alarm?