driftfleet | Alert! Alert!

[bright and early one Sunday morning, proximity alarms begin to blare. could it be another set of disorienting malfunctions?

no... this one is for real. the Drift Fleet is under attack!

any ship with a scanning array will pick up a small swarm of ships--roughly the same caliber as the ships in your fleet--swooping in fast from distant space. any pilot, engineer, or communications officer who remembers those strange blips in the radar over the last several months can confirm that this is that very same group that's been following them. this time, they're not leaving room for negotiations, and they will not respond to any hailing or threats. they are on a mission.

within minutes, weapons are live, and the fleet is fired upon. suddenly, the casual drifting of the fleet turns into something much more real, and much more dangerous.

do you follow your augment's call and run to your station? do you flee your responsibilities? do you wish you could help and can't? are the captains leading or floundering, and are their crews even listening?

for a few terrifying moments, the fleet will be hammered, and Atroma is silent. you are all on your own, dear passengers. your little ships are not prepared for this, you have not been trained--and your enemies have no such trouble. a few ships are even shot down, forced to make crash-landings on nearby stations.

things look grim as the terribly-outmatched little fleet fights to defend itself... until the attacking fleet suddenly turns and bolts back into the darkness without warning.

maybe the attack was a warning. maybe they were just testing you. maybe something frightened them off.

whatever the reason, you are all left beaten and confused, without explanation at all.]

ooc post → here
this is a little event to kick off April! and it is essentially a glorified themed mingle, so there is no rush to reply to this immediately. the outcomes of the ships have been predetermined, based on the augments of the crews. all of that information and more (including info for people on hiatus and who wish to opt-out) can be found on the ooc post as well.

flourish or buckle under the pressure, help or hinder, and most importantly-- have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... I would agree with perhaps half-

[ But then Cole adds that last bit, and Duke isn't quite sure how to take it. There are quite a few options, and so he decides to push them aside. He doesn't shrug out of that light touch, but he is a little uncomfortable with it. ]

... Does being a spirit of compassion mean you are aware of the sufferings and misfortunes of others? [ Unless Cole has been talking with people that ... aren't here, Duke can't figure out where that came from. ]

Yes.

I feel the hurt, see the memories and shapes and scars.

[He drops his hand away.]

You did what you thought was right. It wasn't. But you thought it was and that does matter.

[ He's... not entirely surprised. Spirits are beings beyond anything else, so... Well, he just didn't think hard on it.

There's a bitter hint of a smile. ]

I was also very angry. A great deal of things seem right then, when they wouldn't otherwise.

You did the right thing.

That's what matters. Don't let you tell yourself otherwise.

[ Duke takes a long time to.. attempt to get words in a row. ]

If I can ammend right, but terrible, and not try to be proud of it, I think I can keep that in mind.

Forgiveness isn't conditional to action, but to regret.

I forgive you.

[And Cole gives the impression he knows exactly what forgiveness is needed for.]

[ Duke is..

Just going to slowly blink and stare blankly at Cole. It's starting to be a bit much now, because that tone and...

Duke rubs at his temples for a moment. Okay he can word now, right? Maybe. ]

.... Thank you. [ He's a little numb sounding. Thank you, person he has to live with, for making him feel like you know everything. This is awkward. ]

It's all right. You won't usually see me. And I won't tell anyone your secrets. They're yours, not mine.

[It might be more than a little apparent that Cole is psychic in some way.]

[ Okay that second bit was the real worry. ]

At the moment, it is more startling than anything. [ He's aware of the ability to talk through minds - Dhaos, from Paradisa, had been able to, and it was also something that Entelexeia could with krityans, so picking up thoughts wasn't too terribly odd.

Maybe. ]

... And thank you, again.

I can pretend I can't hear anything. That makes some people feel better. Would that help?

... I assume you mean "can't hear anything" to be "hear things because I am a spirit", rather than ... hear with your ears. If you started to pretend you couldn't hear things said, I think that would only worry me.

[ And that would bring up the question of whether healing magic worked on spirits. ]

Yes. Words are... they don't always work for me. Hearing and hearing aren't the same, but the word is.

Too many... implications?

[ That should be the right word.

Okay but on the original subject. ]

Would it be .. too much trouble, if you .. pretended at first to barely pick things up, and later to pick most things up? I could get used to it.

[ .. And it could potentially be handy, if Cole could listen to things most of the time. ]

I'm not goo at pretending but I can try?

[People got used to him and his abilities. He's witnessed that.]

[ Duke just thinks a slow increase of how much the abilities are noticed would help less.. awkward. ]

Trying is good. And if you eventually forget, that is fine as well.

I can keep things inside. I've been practicing.

... Thank you for wanting to do something you don't normally to make others comfortable.

[ ... He feels like he should just say that so this doesn't go in a circle. Which it sort of seems to be going, so. Get that out there. ]

[Cole tends to pull things in circles. He's not always the most helpful guy.]

I want to make people feel better. Help them.

[ It's particularly confusing when someone is shocked. ]

Over what I am assuming is your own comfort. [ Or nature. That seems to be a blurry area. ]

I just want to help people. If that means keeping things inside, I can do that. Sometimes... letting things out hurts people. I'm not good at picking when that will happen.

[ Duke .. sort of smiles. It's a sort of grimace, because he can see that having been his reaction if he didn't have three years of cooling down. ]

That might be when people are not quite ready to heal.

Maybe.

Why would people not be ready to heal?

[ That is a hard question. ]

... They're not ready to give it up. The hurt makes them feel right about something they otherwise wouldn't feel right? If they heal, they can let it be in the past.

[Cole contemplates this for a while.]

I understand. I've felt that. Seen it. Sometimes, the hurt makes something right. I don't like it, but... I can't change it.

Alert! Alert!

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