driftfleet | When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

Who: Everyone! EVERYONE!
Broadcast: IF YOU WANNA
Action: Everywhere! EVERYWHERE!
When: Mid-September - Mid-October

[How's your ship doing, pardners? Is it still pretty damaged? Is it glitching out hardcore? Well, there is one place to land to take care of all that, and that's on a dusty old moon in front of a planet that no one wants to go to. On this moon, you'll find a civilization that looks a lot like one's stepped into a wild west movie, hardened cowpolk and mutant horses and all. Will you become a vigilante, hunting bounties and stopping gangs from doing their dirty work? Will you go exploring planetside, with a cowboy hat and a stalk of wheat in your mouth to complete the look? Good luck with that; there is no wheat. This town ain't big enough for all you flooters, but make it so! For the ratings!

In other words, it's a planet mingle! Get 'er done!]

[September Planet info here]

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[The gesture is unfamiliar to Vima, but it's not difficult to figure out what she's supposed to do. So she awkwardly grips his pinky with hers. That's right, right?]

Well, some people have gone and come back, right? And they seemed like they hadn't come to harm. [Just annoyed.] Of course, there's also the times when someone's fallen asleep and woken up older, with accurate memories of time spent at home... I don't know what Atroma's up to, but it seems like its powers are hard to comprehend.

[all that time-space nonsense.]

[Completely correct! Stefan smiles in relief as he gives a light shake.] There. Now we can't break it.

Me either. Everyone's from a different time or place, and sometimes even different points in time from the same world... Whatever Atroma's agenda is, they've got quite a bit of power to accomplish it.

[What a depressing thing to talk about! He manages a smile, though it's thin.] I only hope they actually want a reality show.

Okay. [She lets go and gives a firm nod.]

Yeah, Dr. Crusher said that she's known beings who can manipulate time and space with ease... I have no idea why something like that would bother with the entertainment industry, but she also said that she could believe they'd do something like this for fun.

[Vima still sounds skeptical of that, though. She trusts Crusher, but it still sounds implausible. Phenomenal cosmic powers, and this is how it uses them? She notices that Stefan doesn't seem happy talking about it, though.]

It could be worse, though. At least we're not getting tossed into gladiator matches or something really barbaric.

[you would be surprised how often this happens in the galaxy far far away]

Sounds about right. You have enough power to move the universe, and things like conquering the world seem a lot less impressive than creating a reality show.

[He knew a guy back home with similar powers; nothing quite Earth-breaking, but the guy could create anything out of nothing. Including fighter planes and entire refugee camps.

At the mention of gladiator matches, he frowns at Vima. She's so young - too young - to know about these things, and for the first time since he's met her, he feels like she needs a big hug.] I... I can imagine, yeah. The fighting here's entirely voluntary.

[What's with that frown? Oh, wait. Oh. Vima waves her hands.]

Don't worry, I wasn't involved in anything like that! [just you know, some droid ambushes and one of her teachers dying to defend Jedi artifacts from a Sith Lord and other fun features of interstellar war that she's also probably too young to know about.] I grew up surrounded by Jedi Knights, so it'd be pretty hard for a slaver to get to me.

[Well, unless it was one of Atroma-like powers. She grins ruefully.] ...Any normal being would have had a hard time, that is. The time-space entities of reality holos obviously have more clout.

[She says that, but also being surrounded by Jedi Knights... Stefan bites on his lip, because he's imagining his own siblings in her shoes and his stomach keeps twisting into knots. She's too young. They're all too young, when he really thinks about it.]

Good. [He manages a smile, though it's thin.] You certainly sound more protected than I was - I think I had my family, and they're all kinda doctors.

As for Atroma, well... I'm never sure what they're up to. All that power, and they use it to make TV? It's the weirdest set of priorities I've ever seen.

[Mmm, that doesn't seem to satisfy him. Maybe he's guessed that "surrounded by Jedi" doesn't make for a particularly quiet childhood either.

But what does that mean, he thinks he had his family? That doesn't bode well.]

Sounds like they were dedicated--being a doctor's not easy. But you sound like you're not too sure about it?

It's a bit complicated.

[How does he explain this... Stefan sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.] I kind of remember living two lives. One of them had a normal childhood with doctor relatives. The other? He sorta grew up with a widowed dad, and he wasn't exactly the most supportive dad of the year.

[He won't mind further questions, since it isn't something he brings up to most people, if he does at all. Stefan's faith doesn't believe in reincarnations and yet - here he is, living, breathing proof that some universe has them. What're the odds of that, really?]

[Wow. Complicated is right. Just one life full of noise and confusion is more than enough for most people.

Honestly, even if he wasn't receptive to more questions, Vima might ask anyway because it's something she's never encountered. So she asks the first one that comes to mind before prying into the finer details.]

How did that happen?

Usually? You go and get reincarnated.

[He takes a deep breath, sitting down cross-legged because he suspects he's gonna be here a while.] Which is also what happened to me, and a lot of people I knew back home. Most people don't remember their past lives, but a small group of us got memories back piece by piece, usually by doing something that we would've done in that past life.

[There's a small, hesitant pause:] Other times, you'd get a memory or an object back because of weird stuff going on in the world. Like using a teleporter or seeing some strange constellation... but you always knew when it happened, because you'd get a massive headache.

[...All right. Vima's vaguely familiar with the concept as religious--and not accurate, at least when it comes to Jedi Masters. But this is different than an article of faith. As far as she knows, those don't come with headaches.

It sounds like--something that was deliberately done. Cloning hasn't been developed in her part of history, or she'd think of that word.]

It sounds like someone took your souls and started them in new lives deliberately. And didn't quite take all the memories away.

[Hit the nail right on the head. Stefan nods, failing to hide the frown on his face.]

You wouldn't be wrong.

[Problem is, he likes his new life. A lot. So he can't quite rage against the entities that stole his soul in the first place.]

I was born and raised on Earth, but another Earth - in some parallel universe - decided that I was capable of helping it. So they pulled my soul, along with about a hundred others, to their planet in the hopes that when something attacked it, we'd be able to fight it off. Pretty terrible circumstances, but I can't exactly complain about it either.

[.......Parallel universe. Uh. Okay, maybe Dr. Crusher hadn't misspoken back in that first conversation about spacetime and travel times.

She might just skip over the "HOOOOOW" right now.]

At least that's a worthier cause than reality entertainment. [She kicks her heel against the rock. A battle for the world would not have everyone come through alive and unscathed.] That sounds like an ordeal... I'm surprised you seem so positive about it.

[Good thing she does, because he wouldn't be able to tell her HOW. Even he's kinda bemused at it some days.]

Trust me, I wasn't so thrilled when I found out. Being a reincarnation isn't exactly a badge of honor. It's... it's kind of like learning that you're drafted into a war. [He stares down at his lapis lazuli ring for a second, gripping it a little tighter.]

But the life I was born into? I'm starting to like it a lot more than the life I had - and it's weird, because I feel like I shouldn't be.

[She looks at the ring when he does, curious. But getting drafted into a war... her mother was, more or less, and so Vima was too by extension. Jedi are renowned and respected throughout the galaxy. But there are many times that it's been a terrible burden.]

Sounds like a hard set of feelings to get a hang of. [She looks towards the horizon for a moment.] Horrible as it is, being in a war can bring people much closer than they would have been otherwise.

[He scoots closer to her, holding out his ring so that she can see it better. It's an ornate ring, with the Salvatore family crest in the middle - and it's clearly old. Far older than Stefan looks.]

Sounds like you know some of these feelings. [He manages a smile, though it's a sad one.] I'm... getting the hang of them, bit by bit. It takes a while, for this kind of thing.

[Not to mention, there's someone on the Fleet who was well-acquainted with his past life and expects him to be this past life, when he's not even sure he wants to be that guy.]

[Vima's not up on the jewelry trends and timelines of Earth, but it does look like something that's been handed down from one generation to the next.]

There was a war starting around the time my mother became a Jedi Knight, ten years ago. I was too young to remember everything about it, but... some things stay with you.

[mostly the emotions, the smells--remembering how your ribs got bruised when you were almost kidnapped by a war droid.]

And now we get to sort it out in front of millions of interstellar viewrs--fun, huh? [She grins.]

[At least she's taking the "raised during war" thing pretty well. He'd feel bad for his metaphor, if it didn't end in actual planetary war - Earth versus alien invaders, no less!

He's not sure if she's good with physical affection or not, so he settles for brushing his shoulder against hers.] We're kinda lucky that way.

Hey, I know I don't see you much unless we're off exploring planets... but if you're ever bored, you should drop by the Paisley. My crew definitely won't mind.

[She grins and bumps his shoulder with hers back.]

Yeah? Well, since I'm the pilot, I won't have any problems doing that. I'll be sure to drop by when we're not fending off alien fleets or collecting funny hats.

[and tbh she'd probably drop by whether his crew liked it or not.]

Sounds good.

Just so I'm sure, what kind of funny hats're we talking about? The ones on the cowboys here? [Even though he has yet to see any kind of cow, he can't associate them with anything else.]

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When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

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