suspicious mage is suspicious

[touchallthebooks]

Who: Khadgar | OPEN
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Windrose
When: now

[Look, someone is actually taking it easily, making notes and recording everything that happened lately so he can go through it all later and pick thing apart.]

I'm probably looking too much into this but-

[He shifts, wincing slightly as he sits more upright.]

We're here for entertainment right? Could Atroma have staged that attack? It doesn't seem like they gave a damn during the attack and, I mean, the Marsiva wasn't touched, was it? What would be more entertaining for people than seeing us all in real danger?

If they're willing to just kidnap us, they wouldn't be above this!

Comments

Video

[forsometimenow]

I've suspected for a long time that they were going to pull a stunt like this, yes.

Video

[touchallthebooks]

I'm more surprised that it didn't turn out worse. I wonder if that other fleet was supposed to help us or not.

Video

[forsometimenow]

I'm glad it didn't, but all the same- the attackers WERE pretty vicious, so I'm also surprised we didn't have more casualties.

[She rubbed her chin.]

That's a good question. There's the fact that we just HAPPENED to land on a planet with plentiful supplies right after the attack, which makes me believe Atroma staged it. But those others... I can't decide if that was part of the script or not.

Video

[touchallthebooks]

Wouldn't that really get people excited though? Watching us fight for our lives, knowing someone might die? Maybe a favorite?

It's too convenient. Everything is, the fact that no ships were lost, that we were relaxed, we let our guard down.

Video

[forsometimenow]

I'm torn on that part. In the past, I feel like Atroma's only put us close enough to danger to give the show a sense of danger and peril, not actually in the way of bodily harm. Like that's not what the audience wanted. It's possible their tastes have changed, though- maybe they're bored and want higher stakes.

[She nodded.]

There's that, too. We were all at a resort, after all- nobody would've expected this so soon after.

[universal_charm]

I already had suspicions about a previous incident, frankly.

And while I don't think they all out coordinated this one, I don't put it past them to use it to their advantage whatever that might be. If nothing else, they saw opportunity and took it.

[touchallthebooks]

Yeah, Belthazar mentioned that the fleet that came to our aid have attacked before? That's definitely suspicious.

They could have put word out about us, that's all most thugs need to attack.

[universal_charm]

It's true, they could have. Or one of the many places we have visited could have sent out word as well. We left an impression on a way station not that long ago, to say the least.

_{[ Because Fenris and some others were murdering salvers and Kirk might have sent out massive amounts of their confidential data to the quadrant, but that's not worth talking about now. ]}

That's why I say if nothing else Atroma could have just taken advantage of the situation rather than engineered it. There's no evidence here, only theory and supposition. Still, doesn't make me trust them any more than I did before, and before I didn't trust them at all.

[touchallthebooks]

Atroma is so secretive, how can we really get evidence at all? Especially since the raiders ran off so quickly, and with their injured. And so did the fleet that came to help us, we can get answers from them either.

[He wishes he was better with technology, that he could get back to the Marsiva and take the answers from their systems.]

I wouldn't put it beyond them.

Video

[passingthrough]

Sure. [This was a thought-provoking answer to get, right?] Lots of things are possible.

How are you doing? All rested after everything?

Video

[touchallthebooks]

[So thought provoking, his thanks.] I just can't trust this place to have proper coincidences.

[Faint nod.] As rested as I can get.

Video

[passingthrough]

That's a good place to start, but coincidences could still happen. You could lead yourself around in circles that way.

And somehow that answer sounded less than reassuring.

Video

[touchallthebooks]

Good thing there are experienced people here to tell me when my suspicions are all wrong. [he's not... completely against help.]

You aren't wrong. [Deep breath. Ow.] I broke a couple ribs, sleep isn't easy.

video

[stormfist]

[ So maybe she just got here, but she's already got some thoughts... ]

Might be trying to confuse us. Two fleets - one of 'em apparently attacked us before just to help us this time, and the other one wants to scrap us and take us for slaves? Yeah. Sounds like blockbuster entertainment to me. Good way to keep us from thinking about them, too.

video

[touchallthebooks]

Yeah, it'd definitely take our minds off Atroma for awhile. Not that some of us will let them off so easily.

I am still curious about that other fleet though.

video

[stormfist]

[ She nods her agreement at that - it's good to stay vigilant. She's glad someone else realizes as much. As for the other fleet, though... ]

So am I. Doubt we'll get any information about them... and I don't like that. If-and-or-when they show up again, it'll be a guessing game how we're supposed to react, I think.

Re: video

[touchallthebooks]

[He did grow up being trained to protect the world, can't do that unless he keeps track of everything he can.]

Next time they show up, I'll try to get messages to them right away. A communications augment will come in handy at least for that.

video;

[draughter]

[ Being a new arrival herself, Lancer doesn't really have answers for the man or anyone really. What does get her attention is the talk of kidnapping (rude really, she's a grown woman in her eyes, not a kid) and being thrown into danger just for entertainment. Really, who does this pig think he is?

So here's an indignant little girl who looks like she's straight out of the Nether herself with her curved horns atop her head and her long black tail, though the latter may be harder to see over the network. ]

No fair, did I miss something fun before I showed up? It's as if I'm a part of the second round of contestants. [ They... probably passed "the second round" months ago, Lancer. ]

video;

[touchallthebooks]

[It's impossible for him not to gawk. Just a little. He's never seen anyone like her, the only exception being when Medivh's human form burned away in the fel font to reveal the demon beneath.]

I wouldn't call it 'fun' exactly. We were just attacked by a group of raiders, and boarded. Several ships were damaged in the fight and I believe they were planning to enslave whoever they could grab.

[Not that Atroma would have let them make off with their entertainment.]

video;

[draughter]

[ He can look all he wants: she enjoys the attention. If he looks too hard, she might just demand he marry her instead, so tread carefully. ]

Enslave? I'm no man's servant. [ Or woman's, to be precise. ]

Which is a problem... umm.

[ Why is that a problem? She'll never say, at least not without being asked. Fortunately for him, she's shifting right back to the former subject instead of fixating on her own problems. ]

Who do these raiders think they are? I'll show them if they board my ship. [ A ship she just got recently assigned to, but it's her ship nonetheless. ]

video;

[touchallthebooks]

[Would she like a flustered mage? Because that's what she'll get.]

That was the idea, I believe, but I don't think you have to worry. Between all our crews and the other fleet, we were able to hold them off. They'll feel this loss for awhile.

[Not that he'd let anyone be enslaved if he could help it. Almost incorruptible, this one.]

I hope you won't have to. Not for awhile.

Video

[stabsbothways]

Does it matter?

Video

[touchallthebooks]

I think it does. Better to know, or find out, for sure what they do. Eventually we can find a way to deal with the source of our problems and our kidnapping.

Video

[stabsbothways]

Everything I've heard about this 'Atroma' is that they are unreachable, incomprehendable, for all intents and purposes omnipotent.

A god, so to speak.

If the choice is whether or not Atroma caused the attack, or if it was the Maker himself, does it matter?

I mean, if you've heard something to the contrary- discovered any concievable chip in its invisible armor, I'm all ears. But idle speculation is a waste of time.

Video

[touchallthebooks]

Nobody is ever truly unreachable. There's a way from the Marsiva to these ships, there's a way back. They're cocky, mistakes can and will be made.

The point is to gather information, understand them and their motives. Know thy enemy, if the phrase exists on your world.