first one to make that doctor who joke loses

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Everyone! All of you!
Broadcast: Maybe!
Action: Definitely!
When: Anytime during the toxic moon event!

---

[boy oh boy, isn't everyone just so excited to explore this... charming... place...?

this is a game-wide mingle and the timeframe isn't super-important, so throw in with whatever you want! play war games, go shopping for gas masks, get lost in the wilderness, hide up in the Iskaulit and refuse to set foot on the moon, anything goes.

here's the main event info post for reference! have fun!]

Comments

[axiomed]

If you don't mind.

[ He can manage otherwise, but he won't turn down help. ]

Can you bring my chair a little closer?

[pain_train]

Sure!

[She pushes herself back up to her feet and gets the chair righted and moved closer.]

That work?

[axiomed]

That's perfect, thank you.

[ He manages to pull himself towards the wheelchair, propping himself up on his elbows. Then he climbs on, turning himself the correct way to seat himself on the chair. ]

[pain_train]

Okay, good. And you're welcome.

[She waits until he's got himself settled back in. Then she grins and gives him a cheery salute.]

Hey, we gotta stick together.

[axiomed]

[ He peers at her before his expressions. ]

Ah, you must be part of the Fleet. I'm Charles.

[pain_train]

Part of the fleet, part of the gimp squad, take your pick.

I'm Wrath! First office of the Windrose. I guess you must be pretty new? I don't recognize you.

[axiomed]

[ Gimp squad . . . ? Ah. ]

I just arrived a few days ago. Communications officer for the Golden.

[ Not that he spends much time there. ]

[pain_train]

Awesome! I hope that the Golden is a good ship. [She hasn't heard much about it one way or the other, so that's... probably good.]

Technically I'm a security officer, which is pretty good even if the weapons here aren't that special.

[axiomed]

Yes, I assumed a lot of the roles we're given are more . . . symbolic than useful.

[ At least that's what he gathered. The ships need to run and the Atroma would hardly endanger their prized entertainment. ]

[pain_train]

I guess sometimes? I mean, some people, it's really weird compared to what they do at home.

But for me...

[She shrugs.]

I was a soldier for like... over twenty five years? [The exactly time period eludes her, with her memory getting increasingly spotty the further back she goes.] Til my back got all FUBARed a couple months ago. So I'm pretty happy where I'm at even if my job effectiveness could be a lot higher.

[axiomed]

[ He's surprised how open she's being about her disability. Charles barely got over his and it took a great deal of time and work on his part. ]

May I ask what happened?

[pain_train]

Oh, sure! It's a fucking awesome story.

[The fight was good. The result... not so good. But she tries, ferociously, to focus on what is good.]

So like I was still on the corporate merc billet because... it's kind of weird and awful and I don't really get it, but anyway. So these fucking assholes broke into the tower and headed straight for the top and I got scrambled, stopped 'em at floor ninety-nine. They sent me in with a bunch of like fucking kids, they couldn't do more than cover fire so I took on like five little jumped up space marines in power armor on my own and it was great. Awesome fight. Shep ran off, I got York in the kidneys with my plasma sword and took him out, then I cut off Malcolm's leg. Threw it at North, then fucking headbutted North until he was unconscious.

Then Carolina threw me out the window.

[Shrug.]

And I fell.

[axiomed]

[ Quietly. ]

I'm sorry to hear that. I know it's no mean feat to cope. I'm glad you took something from it, in your own way.

[pain_train]

I was... really good at my job. That's the important thing. [The only thing that matters, that ingrained pattern of thought insists.] So now I'm being the best security person I can be and the best first officer I can be.

I got to be friends with everyone later. They're all really nice. [It's another conflicting thing she has to believe or lose her footing entirely. It's okay when it's not combat. It's okay that she was good at her job and on the wrong side, since now she's on the right side. What matters is fighting hard and doing your best.] So everyone did their best to help me when I got out of the hospital and my bones were all fucked to hell.

[Even in those awful moments when she'd wished they hadn't.] I had a really good partner! And that helps too.

[axiomed]

[ If Hank hadn't been there - or for that matter, Erik when Charles lost the use of his legs . . . ]

Having a good partner always helps, I find. What was your job?

[pain_train]

Lieutenant of Wrath Platoon. Proles Army, mobile infantry division. I ran the close combat specialists, so we took out armored vehicles with plasma blades. Good stuff.

[Until the dome got finished, and then they weren't needed any more. But she'd volunteered for... something. It's a memory path that dead ends and she still hasn't figured out how she got from there to Bifrons. No one else seems to know either, so she glosses over it as best she can and remains positive about what she does know.

And she does know she's been talking about herself an awful lot so far.]

What about you?

[axiomed]

[ He rubs his knees absently. ]

Friendly fire. I was in a fight during the Cold War.

[pain_train]

[She has no idea what that is. Maybe she didn't pay attention in compulsory schooling, or it's just among the swathe of things missing in her brain. Though it would be ancient history from her viewpoint anyway.]

Oh, that really sucks. Friendly fire is the worst. And being cold isn't any fun either. My feet are always fucking freezing.

[axiomed]

[ He . . . finds himself briefly bemused. This was a somber topic, but it looks like she's making the most of it. It's infectious. ]

I can imagine.

[pain_train]

[The power of determined positive thinking and having no fucking clue what other people are talking about.

A little more seriously.]

Are you okay with the friends who got you? That's the hard part.

[Like being friends with Carolina after the fall. Remembering that it's not personal. That's really hard.]

[axiomed]

[ He winces a little, his expression slipping. No, he had not been friends with Erik after that. Even with knowing that it was an accident, Erik left him there. Sometimes, he thinks of the "What if" of that situation, if he had been taken to a doctor quickly enough.

He tries not to. Losing his legs was not the worst thing that happened to him. It was not the reason why he took the serum to help him walk again. Perspective helps. ]

Yes. I am . . . okay with him.

[pain_train]

[Wrath is silent for a moment, thinking, then offers:]

I still hate the doctor who fucked up my back and then turfed me out of the army. Even though I know that's not the way a kind and generous person should feel.

[axiomed]

[ His lips quirk, despite himself. ]

I think you're allowed. We can't be generous and kind all the time.

[pain_train]

But it's important to try right?

Though it's also okay to fail when it's not live fire.

So it's okay if you're mad sometimes too.

[axiomed]

Yes. It certainly is.

[ He's come to terms with it. The uglier emotions that dwell within him. ]