The Bunker of Nariba Relia | OPEN PLOT MINGLE POST

[theroadwarrior]

Who: Everyone!!
Broadcast: N/A
Action: The bunker in the surrounding desert.
When: Sometime recently, see this post for full information. Below is the excerpt of information listed there. Feel free to make a top comment and thread out the sad truth and whatnot.

[Records buried in the library, the research facility, and cues from the power plant will eventually reveal the bunker in the surrounding desert. The passageway leads several yards underground, and it doesn’t appear to have been used in a long time. Those brave enough to venture inside will find that it is not much more than a tomb. Eerily enough, the emergency lights are still on, casting a soft red glow over sheets and the once-bodies beneath them.

It has been long enough that paper journals, books, and personal belongings (like bags and such) have deteriorated to the point of being extremely fragile. Handled with care, however, they are eager to tell a story.

“The engineers should have been more careful. I’m not sure I’ll be able to recoup my losses from this… At least I have enough money to buy a ride off this planet!”

“No one could have known this would happen. Hopefully it stabilizes so we can go home soon. In the meantime, I’ve been teaching my daughter how to count. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, and I don’t know what to tell her.”

“It’s not getting better. So many people have died that we’re running out of room in the morgue. We had to move all of the food to another room so that the smell doesn’t leach out, but we all know what’s back there.”

“The replicator was supposed to repair us, too.”

“I don’t know if we can go back yet, but it doesn’t matter. Even if the city was back to the way it was, there’s no cure for us. The dead are dead, and we lay down next to them as we wait for our turn.”

There is nothing that can be done for these people except to give them the eternal rest they deserve. Ultimately, the fate of Nariba Relia is a sad one and not altogether preventable.]

Comments

[rebuildyourruins]

[Growing up Asgardian as he did, Thor was always taught about the honour of dying in battle. 'Those who have died a glorious death.' The idea of perishing slowly like this gives him chills, but neither does he like the idea of innocents dying through violence. Hela had slaughtered so many before he could even get back to help. There was little glory in what had happened. The lustre is gone.]

I would rather fight as well. I've been wondering if I would have done things differently, had this happened under my watch. With my people.

[He crosses his arms over his chest, staring at the words on the rock until they become nothing but lines.]

But I can't answer that. All I know is that I wouldn't wish this on anybody.

[watermarks]

[She raises her gaze to him curiously. 'With his people?' Katara might be vaguely familiar with Thor and Loki from their shared time in Luceti, but never to the extent of uncovering their histories and responsibilities. They were people who were around, she didn't know them, and his statement makes her curious. Even in light of that curiosity, she's not sure now is the appropriate time to ask.

So she just nods.]

Agreed. Both in that there's no way of knowing, and... [she glances at the memorial stone again[ ...it's hard to imagine that anyone could wish this on anyone.

[But she knows that's not true. What Sozin did to the air nomads was a thousand times worse than this. What Ozai wanted to do to the Earth Kingdom was just as bad as what his grandfather had done. There were those who could wish this on others.

...she's glad, in this moment, that this isn't what happened here. At least there endings weren't filled with hatred or indifference. Maybe that's something encouraging she can share?] At least their endings weren't filled with hatred or indifference. That's something.

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor shifts on his feet, casting a look up at the sun.]

It is indeed. By leaving this stone we might yet spare anyone else who ventures this way from seeing it, or accidentally causing the same thing over again.

[It would be so easy, he thinks, for something to go catastrophically wrong on the Statesman. This place has brought that truth to bear with frightening weight. All that separates the remains of his people from the emptiness of space is a few metres of ship wall.

Shaking his head, he watches Katara again, thoughtful.]

You said you were used to this in war. [It's a statement only, but open enough as a prompt for her to explain what she meant. If she wants to.]

[watermarks]

Ah... not usually so many. [She thinks to ruins of Earth Kingdom villages they passed through on their journey, and she thinks, more intimately, of the Fire Nation raids on her village. Her hand instinctively comes up to touch the stone of her mother's necklace.] ...or from so long ago.

[Skeletons are better than the ruins of human life that she's seen; much cleaner. The smell of burned flesh is one of those things you can never forget.

She isn't trying to be vague or cryptic - she's just... caught up in thought. She'd answer more, and willingly, if she knew he was interested.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[It's answer enough. To know the consequences of war means not needing to speak of it. Thor merely nods, looking away again. He's been charging into battle for centuries, knows what litters the ground in the aftermath. And he knows in a more sickening way how it felt to see the slain bodies of people fallen in his home, the palace grounds, as he sought a way to draw Hela off those who remained.

This isn't so immediate. It's dust... it can't be so visceral. It can only echo.

After a moment, he speaks again.]

It hurts more when it's a war you know.

[There's a mercy in the fact that they never witnessed this happen. There's a distance there. Thor finds himself grateful for that, even if it seems callous.]

[watermarks]

[Katara glances back up at Thor, taking in his eye patch and the peculiar quality of contemplative quiet coming from him.

She wants to ask: Is that how you lost your eye?

But she's not a child anymore.

So instead, she simply shares:] My people have been at war for a hundred years. Sokka's from a point in time when it's finally over, and the Fire Nation has been defeated. I'm not. Yet. So I know what you mean, and how seeing this can just bring up... echoes.

[Because she is talking about villages, not battlefields. Villages, innocent and defenseless people, being swept away as if their lives were worth less than a single man's ambition. The loss she has seen on battlefields is far more recent... but this does not remind her of Luceti, this reminds her of home.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[Sokka's mentioned a war in passing, but not much beyond the fact that someone from the other side of it was once here in the Fleet. A hundred years is nothing to shrug at... especially not for mortals who might be outlived by a war going on for that long.

He nods, and says with some sympathy.]

Then at least you know the war will end, even if you haven't seen it yet.

[That must at least be a comfort. Though he doesn't know how much right he has to speak of war, given what he's learned in recent times of Asgard's own bloody history.]

[watermarks]

Yes. [And that will never stop being a source of comfort and joy to her. It's likely reflected in her expression. Her gaze shifts, however, to something out in the distance, focused on something she can't really see.] But I'd really like to get back there and finish what I need to do.

[rebuildyourruins]

[It stirs his own restlessness, hearing Katara speak of things left unfinished. Every day he spends here embeds that feeling deeper in his heart. Thor dips his head for a moment, letting out a sigh.]

Yeah. That's the worst part about being in the Fleet, at least for me.

[He hooks his fingers into his belt, fixing his gaze on the horizon.]

We recently lost our home, and a great many of our people. I was brought back here only a few days after it happened - not a day goes past where I don't think about all the things I need to be doing back there, but cannot.

[watermarks]

[Katara's gaze darts back to Thor, empathy quick to kindle. She doesn't know him, not at all really, but she does know, intimately, the loss of a home.

The loss of a great many people.]

Oh, I'm so sorry. [It's murmured, aware that sympathy can not even begin to bridge the ocean of that loss. The only thing that had really helped her was rebuilding, with Sokka, and GranGran, and Dad when he'd been there... and then doing something about it, to try to make sure it never happened to anyone else again -- that had helped. It hadn't filled up the loss, but it had... expanded the territory of her heart, given her new places to live instead of out of lack and pain.

She's not sure what the right thing is to say. She hesitates for a moment and then:] I understand what that can be like. My village... [Her hand goes to her mother's necklace for a moment] ...was one of the ones I've seen destroyed by raids. So - I know how hard it can be, if you'd like to tell me what happened. I can listen.

[rebuildyourruins]

Thank you. [Sincere, but brief.] And I am sorry to hear about your own village.

[Even if it seems like it was longer ago for Katara, he expects it still causes heartache. Something he's all too familiar with these days. When she offers to listen though, it gives him pause. Plenty of people told Thor he could talk to them when he'd woken up in the Fleet again with Ragnarok's fire freshly burning in his mind. He couldn't do it then, not for most. It had been enough to lay out the details for Natasha and Steve, to explain why soon enough he would be arriving back on Earth with the remains of Asgard. Delving into how it felt, though...]

I can, but it is a complicated matter.

[watermarks]

[She nods. She's not going to try to force him into talking about it. It obviously happened somewhat recently, and she knows that talking about a thing too soon can hurt more than it can help...

But she's also not afraid to deal with complicated matters, so if he's trying to politely provide her an out, she's going to do her best to politely maintain her offer.]

We can walk and talk, if you think that will help? Or we don't have to talk about it at all. [...] But sometimes... it helps... to say things out loud. It hurts, too, but... [glancing down and away from him, not wanting to move into a lecture or a trueism, but knowing in her bones that it's true:] ...we have to let things out to deal with them so we can adapt.

[So if not her, then she hopes he talks to somebody.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[After a moment, Thor nods. If nothing else then he's glad for a reason to depart the bunker.]

Let's walk back to town. I haven't much desire to stay out here for longer.

[And he might need a drink at the end of this discussion.]

[watermarks]

Alright. [She glances back to him and gives him a quick smile. She turns and her gaze snags on the memorial again before she turns and puts it behind her. The fate of these people will linger in her thoughts, but there is nothing she can do for them. (She hates that. She hates that so much.)

So now was the time focus on the present, and who she was walking with. She glances up at Thor as they begin, but as she isn't sure if he wants to talk about it or if he just wants to walk back to town, she's not going to break the silence just yet. She doesn't want to push him, but she doesn't want to move past the opportunity she gave him either, so it's his move.

Part of her absently notes as they move side-by-side, just how much taller he is in comparison to her.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor finds it easier to walk away from the memorial. While the bunker has occupied his mind of late, there's not much room to spare with all the other matters from home that already have residence.

He does keep his stride short in consideration for Katara's smaller size; he's gotten used to doing that for many people. After a few minutes walking, he speaks again.]

When I say we lost our home, I do not mean just the city or the buildings. The realm itself was destroyed.

[watermarks]

[...not just the city or the buildings... the realm.

The realm.

The -- she stops short to look at him in horror.] The - whole land?

[She is thinking "kingdom", like what Ozai wanted to do to the Earth Kingdom.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[In essence, that's what it was, so Thor nods. Asgard as a realm always had been smaller than most. It would have fit on Midgard dozens of times over. Yet that doesn't diminish its weight in the universe, or its meaning to those who had lived there.]

Yes. My task now is to settle everyone in a new land. My hope is that goes as smoothly as possible, given the circumstances.

[Hope won't get them through it, not entirely. But it certainly needs to push them the rest of the way.]

[watermarks]

[Okay, so, survivors. That's good. That's - very, very good. But Katara is still horrified, to the point where she hasn't started walking again.]

Oh, I'm so sorry. [She can't help it; she knows the words don't really help and she can't help say them anyway.] Is there no chance of resettling?

[She's just... trying to picture the damage. It's easier (though still horrible) to measure in loss of land than in loss of life.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[He simply shakes his head. Noticing that Katara has come to a halt, Thor stops a few paces away, looking back to the girl with a slight frown. There are reasons he hasn't spoken much of it to others around the Fleet. Part of it is the sheer enormity of the destruction is hard to grasp, even for Thor. Much moreso for anyone hearing about it secondhand.]

There's nothing left of it. We need to go elsewhere and start again.

[After a moment, he tilts his head, expression clearing.]

Which we will. I'll see to that.

[There is absolutely no doubt in his mind or in his voice.]

[watermarks]

Oh.

[She... tries to imagine that kind of devastation. Even after fire had torn through a place, after time, life found a way.

Nothing left.

For a moment, she's speechless. She really should say something... but all she can do is bring herself forward and start to walk with him again.

It takes the movement, coming alongside him to jolt the words loose, words like: I'm glad, and I'm sure you will and I hope so.

But they're not enough.

...and she doesn't know him. She can't imagine he'll appreciate a hug very much, even though she's tempted to do so. But once she comes alongside him she does, for a moment, just reach out to put her hand on his shoulder. She stands with him in this, without words.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[The gesture is a little surprising, but not unwelcome. Thor lets out a breath and just allows the silence to fall for a few moments, thoughts distant. Soon enough he speaks again.]

None of us will forget what happened. Not like this place. [And that's what really disturbs him about Nariba Relia - that so many died and seemingly no one noticed. The very idea that the same could happen to the survivors of Asgard under his watch makes his blood run cold.] But Asgard isn't a place - it's a people.

[watermarks]

[She lets her hand fall back to her side and tilts her head up to meet his gaze searchingly.

The pain and the determination are both clearly displayed in eyes. She can hear that sentence like it's some sort of - core truth for him. She doesn't have the words for it, but she recognizes it by the feel. She has a few of those herself.

Simply:] It's still hard. But it's good that the people have lived to be able to start again.

[rebuildyourruins]

[That truth is what keeps him from despairing at having ordered the destruction of the whole realm. The people were what truly mattered, and he believes that. Thor doubts though that he will ever stop seeing Sutur's sword being driven through the heart of Asgard in his nightmares.]

It is. It's what I was working on before I got brought back to this place. [Crossing his arms again, he casts a glance towards the town, where at least one of the Fleet ships is visible parked nearby.] The Atroma have terrible timing.

[watermarks]

[She listens and nods after a moment, serious.] They do.

[It had to be killing him to be so delayed, to feel as though he'd left his people unprotected after such a terrible thing had happened.

The wasn't sure what else to say, but this wasn't about what she could say - it was about listening.] ...how did it happen?

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor glances down at Katara, tilting his head while he thinks of how best to explain this. There's so much bound up in his family history and Asgard's place in the universe... but the bare facts should be easy enough.]

It was a consequence of having to defeat my sister, Hela. She had taken over Asgard and was preparing to conquer the rest of the universe.