the veil is thin . . .

[thespaceopera]

[ On the night of the 16th, the feeling of tension and horrid anticipation comes to a head. Everything stops when the sun goes down-- even the ever-present music in the hoppingest part of the city center. One by one, everyone turns their eyes to the skies. The young and old alike pour out of their houses, some in bare feet, and they point to the velvety blanket of stars.

It takes a second to find it, especially if one is unaccustomed to the starscape. But even a casual observer can see it.

A brightly-shining star, larger than the others, and growing larger.

An announcement cuts across all communication channels that encourages people to evacuate to the space station, but it’s clear that these are just people and they’ll need some help. Supplies, equipment, organization, there’s something for everyone to do.

Civilization is disrupted by a panicked stampede of people vying for limited seats aboard spacefaring craft. Within hours, there will be crushed glass, looting, and chaos.

The clock is ticking. Will you help? Or would you rather watch the dying gasps of a Singing Planet from a safe distance? ]

[OOC: Please see this post for plot details. Phase two has begun! Feel free to use this post as a reaction post, mingle, etc. or make your own!]

Comments

Jacqli | OTA

[fallbythesword]

1 ♪ - Spectating
[ Jacqli has very mixed feelings - not the least of which stem from seeing the chaos as a nearly perfect instant replay of what happened when, back in her own world, she was the one destroying it all.

She feels bad for this planet. She wishes she could do something, but there's nothing to be done for a planet she has no connection to. This isn't Ar Ciel. This is something entirely different.

Also, just because she feels bad for the planet doesn't necessarily mean she cares about the people.

She's standing on the Iskaulit, in front of a large bay window, watching shuttles travel back and forth, flying people to safety. She could help, probably - engineering augment tells her she could at least help with the setup of this, that, or whatever else. But that would involve expending effort of people she has no connection to, and it's not her job to do so. Not... that... a meteor is the people's fault...

Guess there are more differences than she thought about before. ... Come ask her why she's just staring? ]


2 ♪ - Actually Bothering
[ At some point later in the week, she's finally planetside - still not doing much in the way of heavy lifting, but definitely giving some stragglers a not-so-friendly nudge or two. For example, one particular couple is swearing up and down that they can't leave the land their ancestors blessed, it'll be bad luck for generations to come, so they must go down with it!! Aaaand Jacqli "helps" with some song magic - a beautiful melody that crafts a white-hot ball of magical energy that she uses to blow up their garden. She gives them both a Look. ]

It's pretty stupid to take death over some bad luck.

[ Welp. At least it got their butts moving??? The couple sure is running toward the evacuation site now... ]

... Typical. Whatever.


3 ♪ Wilcard
(( OOC: If you want a jerk for any reason, come at me! Literally open to anything ))

[throwsdown]

Hey!

[Was that a trick of the wind? Of course not, we're in space! There's no wind in space. No, that's Takeshi, who is jogging over to the window to look out it for a moment, too; he's been running back and forth personally to help transport all sorts of equipment and animals and what not, but it's good to take a moment to breathe and look at the whole picture!

Also, to poke at new faces.]

Are you coming, too? To help out!

[fallbythesword]

[ Oh look, a child. At least Jacqli is hella short enough that she doesn't have to look too far down to see him at all~ His question catches her off guard though, and she frowns a bit. ]

Aren't there others helping? It's already chaos out there.

[throwsdown]

Yeah, but there's always room to help.

[He looks at her carefully, though, trying to assess her.]

You don't gotta if you're worried or anything, though! It's okay if it's too much at once for you.

I'll just work two times harder for the both of us!

[fallbythesword]

[ It's not that she's tough to assess, more like she's taking extra care to give off a particular poise and countenance of "nope not interested". Which, you know, could be telling enough on its own. ]

You'll just get tired more quickly. Don't do that. Especially if you actually want to keep helping. [ She shakes her head. ] What are you doing to help?

[ seriously kid you're, well, a kid. Shouldn't this be a bit... much? ]

[throwsdown]

[He flexes his arms -- surprisingly, under the odd black powersuit that covers him neck to toe, his biceps look strangely well shaped for an eight-year-old. As if he had been hitting the damn gym habitually. Pretty odd a sight, but Takeshi looks pumped.]

I'm gonna carry supplies back and forth, of course!!

[fallbythesword]

[ Wow, are they teaching bodybuilding to grade schoolers now? What the heck??

She goes a little wide-eyed, but shakes that off and quirks an eyebrow at him. ]

... Well. At least you've found something to do.

[throwsdown]

[He gives a firm nod, smiling brightly at her.]

I'd love to have some company, if you feel like it. Just give Takeshi a call!

[He jabs a finger toward himself, pleased.]

fjdskal i love him and want to protect him from jacqli who is a horrible person lmfao!

[fallbythesword]

[ Oh my word this kid. ]

Okay... Takeshi. If I feel the need to carry supplies, I'll call you.

[ It's not a lie! She didn't just lie to a kid! It's just also, you know, very highly unlikely that she's going to feel the need to carry supplies. Yep. ]

bless ye, dont worry he's dealt with the worst of em

[throwsdown]

Thanks, miss! I'm proud of you. It's not always easy being a hero.

[Ah, but moral officer skills. He's used to being the cheerleader of the group, mostly after the Tranquility; that was his job there, you know! To boost morale. Sometimes with speeches (though really, maybe they were just inspired by him being small and cute, just don't tell Takeshi).]

What's your name, by the way? Since we're teammates now.

[fallbythesword]

[ Proud of--... oh my word this kid!! But at his question, she scowls a bit, looking away with her arms crossed. ]

I guess we are, aren't we? You can call me Jacqli.

[throwsdown]

Jacqli, it's nice to meet you.

[He offers a hand out, for a good and proper handshake; now this he learned back home, but really needed to practice more of, because it's important to shake hands with a new teammate, right?]

And welcome to the fleet! Sorry it's all kinda butts right now...

[#professional captain

Thanks Heather for the awful lessons in vocabulary.]

[fallbythesword]

[ Why do humans do this weird thing with extending hands and holding them when they've just met someone? Like, why does that make any sense to anyone? How is this a thing?

Whatever. She's not about to be mean to a kid because she thinks human things like this are ridiculous. So she shakes his hand, even if it's a little hesitant. "Butts" though... Okay, that's amusing. She actually cracks a bit of a smirk. ]

It's not your fault it's butts. Don't apologize.

[ Bless this Heather person and her fun word choice lessons. ]

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose isn't sure what she's doing on the Iskaulit, except for that it seems like the least miserable ship on the fleet. With everyone down helping below, the ship seems practically deserted.]

[Minus the one other person she manages to find.]

You aren't going down to help?

[fallbythesword]

[ Jacqli's more surprised that someone's actually speaking to her. It pulls her attention away from the window, and she looks at Rose, mildly curious. ]

Nor you?

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose shrugs. It's not that she's above heroism, she just doesn't like the stupidly self-sacrificing kind.]

I was down there earlier, and it looks like they have more than enough help as it is. I risk my life often enough at home, I'm not going to step into danger when there are other people more willing.

[fallbythesword]

[ Hm. So a hero type, but not necessarily for a cause or a home that isn't her own. Jacqli definitely respects that - it means this woman has a proper head on her shoulders. ]

Sounds pretty fair to me. [ She crosses her arms, looks somewhat absently out the window again. ] I don't know the whole situation, so I'm not sure how I feel about interfering. And besides, like you said, there are plenty of people already helping.

[poisontippedcure]

[And Rose respects Jacqli in turn; in situations like this, she's usually pestered into doing something for the greater good. This is a nice change of pace.]

Yes, we don't know the whole situation. Who knows what that comet is hiding?

[Is it a dragon? It could be a dragon. Just saying.]

It looks like everything is going fine now, but I can almost guarantee that something is going to go wrong. It always does.

[She can tell because she has protag powers (tm).]

[fallbythesword]

[ She actually snorts at that, amused, and nods in agreement. ]

Of course it does. That's how the world works. [ Shut up, Jacqli - you're the antagonist, it's usually your fault things get worse for the protags. ] Sure, a comet seems pretty final, but maybe there's more to it, and we won't know until it's too late, or something.

[ Or is it already "too late"? That sure is one doomed planet, man. ]

[poisontippedcure]

And if there is more to it, it's dangerous to put ourselves at risk.

[She takes another look at the planet. That's definitely most of the Fleet out there, all right.]

It looks like we have a good number of heroes with us.

[The tone she uses to say 'heroes' makes it pretty clear that she also means 'idiot.']

[fallbythesword]

[ Lady, she has no idea who you are, but you are speaking her language. ]

Looks like we do. Wouldn't surprise me if they dragged a bunch of heroes [ Same tone~ ] into this Fleet thing on purpose.

[poisontippedcure]

[The feeling is mutual. Very mutual.]

Nor would it surprise me. If they were looking to create a spectacle, this would be one way to do it.

[Not that she was 100% sold on the 'entertainment' angle.]

[fallbythesword]

[ Yeah, she's not sold on it either. "Entertainment" is a pretty convenient excuse for constant monitoring - there's so much else going on here, she's sure of it. ]

Well, if they all want to get themselves in over their heads, I guess that's their choice. I'm not going to stop them.

[poisontippedcure]

Neither am I.

[She frowns. This really boded well for the next odd year of her life.]

I was down there earlier, and many of the citizens were holding up evacuation efforts. If they want to risk their lives, that's fine, but I'm not going to gamble mine for a group of people I don't even know.

[fallbythesword]

I think that's wise.

[ High compliment, coming from her. Honestly, this is just... super refreshing to hear, given all the optimistic and inspirational heroic speech bullshit she hears back home like, daily. ]

Like you said, we've got a good number of heroes out there. So, looks like you won't have to. Besides, the ones who make it out of this will be fine. They'll have to adapt, but that's hardly impossible.