driftfleet | Out in the Snow

Entry tags:

Out in the Snow

Who: Ulaz and you!
Broadcast: yes
Action: Blameless and planetside
When: throughout December

Action - Planet side exploration, various options
[What did a certain Galra do when faced with a wide open expanse of snow? Go exploring of course. There was a lot to see in this place apparently. When he wasn't spending time around the fleet or the rather friendly locals, he was out in the wilderness, enjoying the silence of it all. He was still far to used to spending time in space ships that being on planet was different for him.

Of course it was different. The rivers of this place seemed to be glowing blue. Quite remarkable. He did of course have wonder why they were like this.

Not only was he out in the fields of snow, but he eventually discovered the ice caves. He wandered quietly through them, looking with interest at the formation created by the ice, but also the distorted images that they created]

Action - Hot Spring
[It was probably safe to say that Ulaz was adventurous and curious enough to investigate many parts of this planet. When he had heard about the hot springs, he decided to at least go up and look at them...

Not that he had actually decided if he was going to try them out or not. But he could at least say that he had been there.

Maybe someone could convince him?]

Open Broadcast / Closed Action on Blameless - sometime near the end of the month

[Ulaz is very quiet for a moment when he starts this then speaks]

I find myself constantly confused by what these worlds are able to accomplish. I got this from that tree on the planet.

[He holds it so it can be seen. It's an image of two female Galran, one probably slightly younger than Ulaz's age and a younger one, still bright purple in color. Both have completely solid yellow eyes like Ulaz and the background looks very... desert like.

He moves the picture back so he can look at it again before speaking]

My mother and my sister from more years back than I can count. I don't know how this could have been obtained.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[While Hux was curious about how the tree could have provided such a personal object, he was more curious about the story the pictre told.]

What was your family like?

[He had no photo of his mother or even one of his mentor Sloane. He was surprised that the Galra had something so personal. It didn't seem like they held such personal objects from the little he had learned.]

[To be fair... they didn't. This may have been taken sometime when Ulaz fell into the category of "teenager", but it wasn't something that he'd ever really had in his possession... and certainly not as an actual picture that he could hold like this]

My father was a zealot for the military. Being more... scientifically inclined was something he disapproved of because it wasn't fighting. My brother eventually became like him. My mother had more patience than I can imagine anyone else having, dealing with me and my father at odds, when he was around to do so personally. Like all Galra she wanted us to be tough, but she understood the value of an intellectual mind. My sister was still young the last time I saw her. She was adventurous, wanting to explore especially in areas she wasn't suppose to. Drove our mother crazy, but I approved of that spirit... which probably encouraged her.

It sounds that you and your father didn't get along to well. He sounds a lot like mine. I am glad that you at least got to know your mother and siblings. It was something I never had a chance to do so.

No, we did not. When I was younger, we must have. He believed the military was the answer to all problems and attempted to train us to believe the same. Of course an army can only go so far without scientists and medics, but they were unimportant in his mind.

It must be something that is universal in militaristic societies, fathers disapproving.

You didn't get that chance to know your mother?

No. I was taken from her when I was four by a bounty hunter who was there to retrieve my father and I. Our fallen empire needed children so I was essential to their cause whether I wished to join or not.

When I asked about her I was rebuked. If he did mention her he viewed her in an ill manner and said it was a mistake. I was considered a bastard child. His wife disliked me and made it well known I wasn't wanted. I'm sure if the empire didn't need children I would have been left alone. I was merely tolerated for the sake that I was a tool to their cause.

[There was silence for a long moment after that before Ulaz spoke again]

I am sorry. No one should have to go through that. It was bad enough with my father believing I had failed him and eventually my brother... In times of war, people stop being people and start being possessions. That is not the way it should be.

[There was some hesitation before he responded and he tried to sound more nonchalant then what he really was.]

It is what it is. Nothing can be done about that now.

Your are lucky to be able to connect with the majority of your family. It seems that fathers are hard to please.

No, nothing can be done about it, but it should not have happened. The world should not operate that way.

They do seem that way, especially ones loyal to the military. My brother used to never be like him. But when he neared the age where he would be in the military, he changed. Tried starting a fight with me to prove he was better simply because I was intellectual and they thought I'd be better suited for technician than soldier.

I suppose my father had wished he had a son that was more like him. But I proved to be a thin build and one more for intellectual. He considered me to be weak and made sure that if I didn't prove myself worth while for the cause that I would be easily replaced.

What did you wish to do? Did you want to be a technician?

That always seems to be the case. I was shorter than my father when I reached full height. My brother probably would have been taller than me, but he never saw that. In a culture based on fighting, such practicalities are more important than they should be.

I preferred the option of being a technician. It seemed to be more... satisfying position. I had little interest in the actual workings of the military unit. If I'd really desired a fighting position, they would have allowed it - with many attempts to convince me otherwise. My brother, who was less inclined towards intellect, would have been laughed at if he had insisted on a technician position.

I'm glad to have had no siblings at all. Having to compete with them and deal with my father at the same time would not have been pleasant. It was not common for our people to....make sure that those who stood in the were gone.

Did your position allow you more freedom? Or was military protocol still expected?

I agree. It was not pleasant when my brother discovered this part of himself. My sister may have as well since that is a normal part of being Galra even in times of peace. Adolescent Galra are... difficult by nature. But my sister liked me. My brother wanted to be liked by our father and I was the best target since our father was already disappointed in me.

I didn't join until later. [Falling off the grid, becoming a member of an underground resistance, and only joining as a spy... you know, the usual stuff] Military protocol is different among technicians. Of course you are expected to know chain of command of your ship and the like, but among technicians, there are other things to focus on than who outranks whom. My position ended up being different because I was helping Zarkon's witch with some of her projects.

[A position that he thoroughly hated but gave more information to the blade than any other position a technician could have given]

You are lucky to have an allies at least.

That sounds about right. You guys are doing a lot of behind the scenes stuff not necessarily on the forefront of things. You help keep the military running. Your people had a witch?

[He wondered vaguely if this was much like the Force with the Jedi and Sith.]

We have someone with special powers as well.

It is good to have allies. It is very difficult when you don't have them.

Yes, technicians keep things running smoothly. There are some that are more powerful than others, but the majority of them are not.

We did. She worked mainly on projects of matters great importance to the Empire along with her druids, including the gathering of quintessence. She is not someone to mess with.

Your witch sounds very similar. Perhaps that can be another discussion at a different time.

Do you know anything else of your sister and mother? Did they participate in the war as well?

Yes, we can discuss that later. In person.

[Since Haggar's on the network]

My mother's only participation in the military was her association with my father and breeding another generation. I tried to prevent my sister from being absorbed into it as my brother was, but I lost track of her. However, there were no records of her name in any military databases.

Then perhaps that is some comfort there. She may have found a life outside of military.

That is my hope for her. That she never had that life, not one of fighting.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Out in the Snow

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