revivalproject | 09 | Somebody Could Walk into This Room and Say Your Life is on Fire

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09 | Somebody Could Walk into This Room and Say Your Life is on Fire

WHO: the Soldier (

sinistral) and you
WHERE: the Peanut Party, Noth, the Agrii ship
WHAT: new tick tick tick BOOM
WHEN: from boarding the ships on the 9th through New Tick to the Agrii ship visit
WARNINGS: none anticipated

PEANUT PARTY
→ Before New Tick;

Being compelled to the ships while disturbing from the point of view of the compulsion nevertheless meant a better workout schedule for the Soldier. He would not have anticipated the Agrii to supply such well-equipped exercise areas, but he certainly did not mind it. For someone with his particular enhancements, equipment that could hold up to him without breaking was rare and he fully meant to take advantage of it.

Most often he could be found taking advantage of the heavy bags for sparring, or the climbing wall. Sometimes he worked with the weights, or gave what appeared to be lessons to Billy Kaplan. He wouldn't object if someone asked to rotate in on any of the equipment; likely he'd even act as spotter, if asked.

"You want next?"

→ After New Tick;

The workout habit by necessity had to change a little — frequency no; form yes. He didn't know whether or not he appreciated the Agrii's little gift, but it did require practice. Even if he ultimately decided not to keep it he'd have to figure out its best use, on the chance he'd have to fight with it.

Sometimes he really hated this place.

His preferred to work on this particular practice late at night or very early in the morning; when most people were still asleep and he could have the gym facilities to himself. He had thus far refused to put on the uniform, but he could be found throwing a distinctive shield over and over again until he could reliably hit his desired target and catch it on the rebound. Sometimes the wall near the door was a rebound point though; one might want to exercise caution if also looking to work out in the off hours.

Or perhaps this encounter wasn't in the gym, but rather in the hallway before or after. That shield was kind of large and conspicuous; it wasn't like he could carry it unnoticed on his way to or from his designated room.

NOTH
→ Fireworks;

The Soldier had no illusions about being anyone's idea of good company for things like fireworks shows. His training ran too deep, and the explosions of fireworks spoke too much of gunfire. It was worse if he didn't watch though; at least through observation he could correlate each explosion to its end result, count and catalog and track it all to convince himself that he had no need of retaliation. All in all, it was going quite well.

And then the glitter happened.

He cursed under his breath (in three languages, which would be fun for anyone relying on the Agrii translation technology) before tugging his own jacket off to wrap around his left arm and hand. Glitter played havoc with the mechanisms and the last thing he needed was to spend the next month trying to remove it all. Again.

→ Babysitting;

Saying that the Soldier didn't trust Agrii treats was one of the biggest understatements one could make. He avoided the generously-supplied chocolates like the plague, especially once it became clear that they had certain side effects.

His avoidance, however, didn't transmute itself to others.

The Soldier looked down at the child who had just come careening around the corner, right into his legs. Reflexively he'd reached out to prevent the younger one from falling into the snow, but he had a feeling he might not so easily be able to just brush off the encounter and go about his day. The look on his face simultaneously expressed the thoughts of why me and now what.

"Are you lost?" Good enough, right?

AGRII SHIP
→ Unintentional Popularity;

The bad part about being not only a resident of Temba but also one of the few brought from the Drift Fleet was a certain level of popularity. Quite possibly the Soldier's generally poor attitude contributed to it as well. Perhaps the Agrii were just that friendly with all their visitors. Whatever the case he found himself more and more often resulting to his stealth training to move silently and avoid detection when he had to move about the ship.

The end result was that, despite his careful attempts to slip along hallways relatively unnoticed he still managed to attract one or two followers from time to time. Perhaps some kind of monitoring system contributed to his ill luck, his brain suggested. He tried to quiet those thoughts even as his hand strayed out of habit to the knife at his side.

"Do not," he cautioned without turning around, "attempt to touch me. It will not end well for you."

The Agrii might find the prickly attitude endearing, however; the cautionary statement probably had as much of a chance of encouraging the hug as it did dissuading the determined alien. Perhaps it was time to jump in?

WILDCARD
→ Network;

Want your character to text or call this guy? Drunk dials? Really bad memes that you've made? Consider this your free for all invitation.

→ Something Else;

Have another idea? Come at me, or hit me up at

sometimesamuse or via PM. Want a more specific starter for your character? Let me know, I got you. Want to handwave something? I'm fine with that as well, let's hash it out. And while I write starters in prose I'm happy to match brackets if that's your preference.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Maybe they ran out of ideas. Although they also gave me my climbing gloves so I can't complain too much, I guess." Climbing gloves that he kind of sort of stole off of a dead Nightbrother but no one needs to know that.

He shakes his head then. "Unfortunately they don't. I know they mean well but the only real familiarity they have with us is by watching us by whatever means they have." He sighs, giving a shrug. Can't be helped unless they get the message through to the ones higher-up on the Agrii food chain.

"Were you headed anywhere specifically? If you don't mind me tagging along, I can help herd off any more of them."

Is it really theft if it's for the greater good? Probably, but the Soldier was the last person to judge. Cal had a good heart, and he trusted the man.

"Complaining might be dangerous anyway. Next year it'll be socks that are too big and more peanut butter food." Harmless, but annoying. The Soldier still didn't know why the Agrii were motivated to give gifts once a year but couldn't provide things like building supplies.

Ultimately though, Cal was correct in his observations. The Agrii were touch motivated by mostly harmless; aside from the physical discomfort they weren't hiring him. "Nowhere specific, just seeing what I can see and what might be of interest. You're welcome to come along if you've nothing better to do."

Totally for the greater good. Helped him outclimb a giant bat-winged owl thing once, so worth it. ...at least until he ran out of cliff to climb. But he's climbed many other things since.

The Jedi laughs, giving a weary nod. "Too true. Wonder if anyone's gotten to the bottom of the peanut butter thing." Cal had never had it before he got pulled into this universe and while it wasn't bad, there are certainly plenty of other, better flavors to experiment with. Damn Tony and his introduction of cheesecake.

"Was wanting to explore either way. It's been a pretty long while since we were last here, right?" Longer even, for him given that he'd been back and forth from where he was supposed to be. Being back on the alien ship is kind of like remembering a dream.

Definitely the greater good. Giant bat owl things sounded unpleasant enough without the hard climb.

"Even if we asked, do you think they'd understand the question? Or us the explanation?" To say the communication gap was steep was an understatement.

But having a partner for exploration sounded pretty good, especially someone like Cal and his droid companion. "Last time we were here I think we spent a fair amount of time holed up repairing and upgrading the ships. We were a little preoccupied." Now though they didn't have such obligations.

Cal flashes a pained smile at that. "Already this is going to get complicated and we haven't even tried," he chuckles. Not that it's a big secret that talking with the Agrii can be a bit of a headache.

He nods, ready to follow the Soldier's lead. "That's right... You know, after seeing the map they've given us of the place, I'm kind of glad we'd been able to get our objectives done back then without getting hopelessly lost."

"Isn't everything with the Agrii like that?" Talking, getting straight answers, sometimes even the situations into which they're thrust. A lot of what they're asked to do doesn't always make sense, or could be made a ton easier with appropriate materials and tools. But the Soldier doubted they'd change anything about their alien hosts any time soon.

"You and me both," he agrees, though he'd spent most of last visit in heavy lifting of ship parts. He had very little acumen for directing repairs but took the direction of others well. It had worked out nicely for their makeshift construction crew. "May as well keep going on this direction, I guess. See what we can find."

Point made. Cal at least hopes their being here and the Agrii being more open to communication is at least a start in a right direction though.

He lifts his hands in something of a shrug. "Sounds good to me," he says, nodding. It certainly isn't his first time running around places without much direction, but at least here he doesn't expect he'll be needing to solve puzzles by rolling huge boulders around ancient death traps or something.

Hopefully it's a step in the right direction. For all they know, maybe they'll just get jelly to go with the peanut butter.

"There's worse places to be." And worse company to share it. At least the two of them work well together, and Cal's presence outside of working doesn't irritate the Soldier. And really, the worst thing they should encounter is a locked door, right? No weird puzzles or death traps or flying bullets. "And honestly, it's nice to be out of the weather. I was starting to get tired of snow in my boots all the time."

It'd still be progress! ...maybe.

Locked doors won't be a problem for either of them, at least. Cal laughs a little, nodding his agreement there. "Same. At least it was nothing like Ilum. A lot of ice and blizzards. I'd definitely pick Noth over the two, but I think I've had more than my fill of snow." BD-1 trills something that sounds like he's conceding that point. At least as an exploration point, he's built pretty sturdy!

"Wonder how long before we're sent back to Temba? We'd still have more snow to deal with, depending."

Depends on the jelly...

"I was trained in Siberia." Cal had probably seen flashes of it in that weird vision he'd gotten from touching the Soldier's arm. "It was much the same."

And then there was the whole cryogenic storage thing.

He smiled acknowledgment at BD-1; though he hadn't needed to use the droid as a physical prop, he agreed that the little guy made a pretty good exploration partner. "That's a good question. And do we even have enough data to know if this is typical weather, or just a stretch of a few snowy winters?" Though without a snowplow infrastructure a little snow could turn into a lot of work, very quickly.

Quiet sobbing.

Cold. Ice. Snow. It's a vague recollection, but there aren't too many pleasant memories to be had in such environments. Cal can't help but wonder if taking a bunch of younglings to an ice cavern to find their lightsaber crystal is really the greatest idea. Even without Imperials now crawling around it, it was a treacherous place. ...but then perhaps that was the point, finding that breaking point where you found out what you really relied on.

"True. The last time winter came around, it blended with one of the big storms if I recall correctly. And then we had a volcano so who knows if things are just going crazy all around, planetside." Cal grimaces a bit. "I hope the Funfronds and Barrys are doing all right, but then if they've survived things well before and after the Agrii were there, then doubt we have to worry too much about them."

He frowns thoughtfully. "...what do you think we might be expected to do next? We get new ships that are made to be lived in. It can't be without reason."

Maybe they both just deserved a long beach vacation. A nice one, not an Agrii-fied one.

He did remember the storm — and the frostbite it brought — vividly. The Soldier felt quite happy to not have a repeat performance. But Cal made a good point: they really didn't know enough about the weather patterns, and that volcano had been pretty extreme. "I wonder if the Agrii have any data on the weather phenomena. That volcano came out of nowhere and fast, and it's like to know if it's typical."

Or alternately, should they be asking the planet's residents? Cal made a good point about the Funfronds and the Barrys.

"I can't believe the ships are for extended living. Why are the Agrii so determined to have us save the planet, if they have the means to go elsewhere? They've got to be for taking us elsewhere. Maybe to get what they think are supplies?" It sounded far fetched but he didn't know what else to think.

It only works if they both know how to even relax.

Cal shrugs. "Might be a thing to ask. They do have an advantage in tracking things when they're above the planet's atmosphere. I'm not sure how they caught on about the volcano. But I think in regard to that kind of event, it'd be better to consult with the ones who've lived on Agra Ten longer."

He shakes his head then. "No idea. But I mean, that's part of what I mean. The shuttles we've used weren't suited for anything really long term but most of the time we've spent off-world anywhere was planetside of somewhere else. These ships... I don't know what's next on the itinerary. They usually don't say until last minute."

Relaxing? Sounds fake.

"Can't hurt to ask them. Who knows, maybe they'll get us a weather satellite for a gift next time." Probably not, but surveillance from above would surely help them have even more warnings about incoming phenomena.

"That's a good point." The new ships seemed much more equipped for long travel as opposed to short trips. Perhaps Cal's suspicions had some merit. "Capacity and capability for long trips. It makes me wonder but also makes me want to know if the Agrii want us to be away from their planet for some reason."

"Sounds like it'd be counterproductive..." Cal muses. "But then the last couple of times we were sent to other worlds, we were supposed to...find clues of some kind?" His brow furrows as he tries to dredge up those memories. He vaguely remembers returning to Coruscant of a time not his own. He can't remember much of the other place, much less what they'd found, if anything.

"Well, if we run into any Agrii, maybe that's a thing to ask too. What's our next objective."

"Yeah, it's always stuck me as weird." Then again, communication wasn't the Agrii's strong suit. Maybe they'd just been unable to get the full extent of their objective across.

It was worth a try asking though, Cal did have a point. It would be a lot easier for the Agrii to remain distant with the advantage of physical distance. Here it might be harder to duck questions. "Do you think it'd worth trying to locate the bridge of this ship?"

Cal considers briefly before nodding. "As good as any. Someone there should be able to answer at least some basic questions we have." He pauses. "Hopefully."

It's hard to get his hopes up when it's been difficult getting any answers out, but they've finally been willing to open up to them, so the Jedi would hope that includes answering their questions about what more they're getting themselves into.

"Maybe." Then again, a lot depended on which Agrii they ran into, if any. Some of them were better at communication than others — 'better' being a relative term.

"Tell me if I'm being intrusive in asking, but you haven't sensed anything from them the way you did with me?" He wasn't sure if he should even ask the question, or if it would make Cal uncomfortable to remember the inadvertent invasion of privacy. Not did he want to make it seem like he was asking Cal to willingly invade someone's privacy. But a few answers would be nice.

It's a fair question, one easily neglected considering only so many people knew about his ability, here. Cal shakes his head.

"Not intrusive. It's not fun but it can be useful sometimes. I haven't sensed anything off though, not like the first time we were here." He only remembers some vaguely ominous sensation, but he'd felt similar recently enough. It surely can't be coincidental.

"Usually I have to be in contact to really see things attached to those sensations, and that's only if the impressions are strong enough."

"Tell me if that changes." He valued the friendship they were building and didn't want to offend Cal. Even though the other man seemed pretty easygoing the Soldier still didn't want to cross a line, even accidentally. They were in enough of a weird situation as it was.

"Maybe we need to wrap you in plastic, keep you from touching anything." It was meant to be a joke, but the Soldier looked around quickly to make sure they weren't overheard. The last thing they needed was for an Agrii to interpret his words as a literal suggestion.

Cal laughs at that. "That sounds terrible, no, not ever doing that," he says, shaking his head.

"Fair suggestion though. Thankfully I usually have a head's up when I sense...well, I've always called them echoes. Memories of someone's past. A lot of the time the ones I sense aren't happy ones though." He looks around. "There's one I remember from the museum in Temba... It was bright and there was so much joy in this one room, something the Agrii were drawn to. And then it just cut off so abruptly. That's probably the happiest memory I've ever experienced in this place."

"It does sound terrible, doesn't it?" Hopefully little BD-1 had a way to cut plastic, just in case.

Interesting about the museum though. Given the impression of such happiness, no wonder the Agrii wanted to get back to their home. But too he wondered what had caused the events that drove them out in the first place. If only they could know, then they'd probably be a lot closer to getting out of here. "I'm still sorry you were hurt when it happened with me."

Unfortunately BD's not as equipped with tools as an astromech would be, but he'd certainly try anything if he could help out his Jedi buddy.

Things are still so vague, but Cal wonders if they just aren't looking where they should. It's difficult to narrow down, but surely being back aboard the Agrii ship is a good place to try and get back on track.

"Still not your fault. Neither of us knew it would happen," Cal's quick to say, shaking his head. "And at least it wasn't in the middle of something dangerous. The last time it happened, I was in the middle of a fight, trying to keep something away from someone. I think I ended up out of it a lot longer."

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09 | Somebody Could Walk into This Room and Say Your Life is on Fire

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