video

[revivo]

Who: Sara Lance
Broadcast: Everyone, new arrivals as they appear.
Action: Aboard the Marsiva.
When: This week.

[sara awakens with a gasp, shooting not just upright but to her feet and reaching for -- coming up empty-handed. she frowns, dropping her hand, and pivots on her heel to take a good look at her surroundings. this is...different. once she's convinced there's no immediate threat, she searches her bunk for what she knows is missing, and eventually notices the open feed on her communicator. there's a brief moment where she eyes it sharply, then clicks it off.

we were trained by the league; no prison can hold us. it's what she wants to say, but when she turns the feed back on ten minutes later, she seems more relaxed; some people might recognize the tune she briefly hums.]

So, [she draws out the word: sooooo] what's a girl got to do around here to find a little company?

Comments

[imahologram]

Any time. We're in this together, after all.

[Their enemy should be the Atroma, not each other.]

Not a lot of actual diplomacy--but conflict resolution and things of that nature.

[revivo]

[together. what leia says so simply sparks a lot of thoughts, half-formed, stemming from a familiar sense of shame and guilt. sara went back to the league of assassins willingly, and she owns that choice; maybe she wasn't much of a hero, but she can still fight evil in her own way. maybe oliver was right, months ago. she's lived with those feelings for so long that they just feel normal now.

(maybe they should.)]

I wouldn't have figured the FS Starlight for a rough crowd. [just. that name.] Just goes to show you.

[imahologram]

Last week I helped someone negotiate a price on a secondhand shuttle. Trust me, it's not always thrilling.

[But it pays well enough that she doesn't have to eat powdered meat, and that's something.]

[revivo]

[she smiles, understanding -- work is work, especially when you don't have money.

but...]

What's stopping any of us from buying a shuttle for themselves?

[and leaving. it's possible that everyone she's met are just the people who don't want to brave unknown parts of space on their own, but that doesn't quite seem to line up with everything she's heard.]

[imahologram]

[Her expression takes on a rueful tinge. She likes Sara--it's too bad she doesn't have better news to answer her with.]

That was my question a month ago. Has anyone told you about the augments yet?

[As she asks, Leia taps the little bump behind her ear. If Sara hasn't heard about them yet, she'll at least know where to look.]

[revivo]

Augments?

[surprise flits across her expression, and she mirrors leia's movement. raising a hand and gently pressing fingertips to her skin reveals the bump; she freezes.]

[imahologram]

Yes.

[It's grim news, and she knows it.]

They add them when you're brought into the Fleet. The augment gives you the knowledge you need to do whatever job they've assigned you. It also acts as a leash, in case you decide you want to try and escape.

[revivo]

[in a way, it's almost a relief. here is real, tangible proof that the atroma are the enemies. pleasant conversations and half-decent space food aren't enough to make sara (make the canary) forget that she and others have been kidnapped here for someone else's entertainment, but this blatant violation serves as a reminder.

her hand curls into a fist, then drops out of the frame; her eyes are dark. this conversation would've been better suited to text, without need to consider how her reactions would look.

to the others, of course, not big brother.]

Implants. So if you try to get away -- [zap! she imagines] they remind you who's in charge.

[imahologram]

You've got the idea.

[Leia takes in the clenched fist and the way her expression shifts. Whatever else might be true of this woman, the two of them are cut from the same cloth in this regard.

It's strangely comforting to realize--the suggestion of an ally in this fight.]

You can try buying a shuttle, or getting passage out of here. It's a big station, and we aren't the only ships that have stopped. But you won't get far.

[revivo]

[there are so many ways to cage a person. sara knows that better than most. you don't need bars on the windows or shackles or even locked doors to keep someone trapped. lian yu was a natural prison, impossible to escape without help. the amazo kept everyone on it captive whether they were in the cells or not; even her, obedient to escape becoming one of them, and even, she thinks, anthony ivo. he called the shots, but was he really free? his obsession with the mirakuru kept him out there in hell with the rest of them.

talking to leia now just maps the dimensions of their current prison. she could see slade using a sick idea like implants if he had the chance. no one who'd do something like this deserves the chance to talk or prove they won't change.

(ollie would probably disagree. but ollie isn't here.)]

And I'm going to guess that trying to take them out -- same thing.

[imahologram]

Worse.

[Leia's mouth presses into a thin line. Aside from the entire I'm here instead of at home, rebuilding issue, the augment is her least favourite part of what the Atroma have done to them.]

I wouldn't mind trying, but it apparently causes indescribable pain. They've made sure throwing off their leashes won't be easy.

[revivo]

They always do, [she murmurs, crossing her arms. there's a memory pricking at her mind, something dig had said once about ARGUS's task force x. she hadn't paid a lot of attention to the story of what went on when he was called to help lyla -- they'd had bigger problems, with slade in starling -- but she remembers hearing about a similar mechanism to keep their squad in line.

thanks, waller, for giving alien kidnappers ideas. not that she's going to rule out ARGUS involvement.

she'd turned her gaze downwards as she took that in, but they flick back to the feed now, fix on leia.]

I'm sorry. [she says it low, honest.] No one deserves to be trapped like this.

[imahologram]

Sometimes they leave flaws they shouldn't have. [Like thermal exhaust ports.] But we haven't been that lucky here.

[Leia nods gravely, the sort of expression one needs when one has to answer members of the Alliance looking for answers.] Present company included.

[revivo]

[she nods. there are always flaws, and she intends to find the atroma's sooner or later. they've made a mistake already: bringing her here.

her lips twitch into a smile in the face of leia's composure, nodding slightly in acknowledgment. it's a kind sentiment from a good person, and she's appreciative.]

Yeah, well. From what I hear, the Marsiva's got the best food of the whole fleet. I'll have to stock up before it's all gel all the time.

[imahologram]

Get everything you can when you can visit the Starlight. [Her expression is rather more wry now.] Some ships have better galleys than others, but none of them are all that great.

[revivo]

Great. I've always wanted to try alien sushi.

[she'd normally say she's tried just about everything, but space food is a new one. sara isn't sure if leia's going to recognize sushi -- she doesn't remember a lot about the movies, honestly -- but it seemed like a better bet than okonomiyaki. she could go for some, alien or not.]

[imahologram]

If you find it, let me know.

[She has no idea what sushi is, but she's willing to find out.]

[revivo]

You got it.