( open ) i'll fly you to the moon and back

[initiates]

Date & Time: September 21st - September 30th, 11:59 PM
Location: The Hold, the Moon Base
Characters: Any/all.
Summary: The Transports are evacuating to the Moon Base. Those on the Moon Base try to settle in and figure out their next move. Setting info can be found here.
Warnings: Talk of nuclear warheads and reference to immense loss of life. Please contact the mods should any individual thread get graphically violent or anything else of the sort.
Note: Use date and location tags in your subject headlines! Such as "On the moon, 23rd onward" or "On the spaceship, 25th" or "down at the Hold, 29th."

The Hold is a flurry of activity, grim faced members of the Initiative group directing supplies and people with the subdued air of people facing their own doom, and wondering at how to process the knowledge. None of the Initiative appears unaware of what will happen; their eyes linger on the Transports, expressions pleading, hopeful, doubtful, or immeasurably sad in turn.

Every eight hours, the space ship is sent back up with a load of people and supplies. The pilots are worked until they can't; the AI stolen ages ago by the Initiative greets and corrals people and supplies at both ends, and in the middle step between.

The network continues to broadcast on narrow channels between the Moon Base and Exsilium, up until the time that all connections are lost, with the carrier located en route to Exsilium. The first airship will pass by without dropping anything, but it's too early to celebrate. At a six hour delay from behind, the second airship arrives, and with it, the dark promise of the Black Code's nuclear weaponry.

The six hour window allows for time for those left behind, either by choice or circumstance, to be pulled to the Moon Base with the successful activation of the Transport Pad. New characters will ultimately arrive with the remainder of those not yet on the Moon Base, all in time to witness the explosive contact of the nuclear warhead with the ground of Exsilium live on satellite.

But until then, there's only the hurry, the silence, and the potential for full out rioting should the Transports spread word to the Exiles inevitably left behind to face this fate.

Comments

A, 23rd i guess?

[keep_smiling]

[One of the times Caesar is headed to the apartment roof, he'll find a familiar yellow raincoat already there. Elmer is sitting on the ledge of the building, looking out over the area. It was a flurry of activity from the Transports, and he watched it with a curious expression. When he hears someone approach, he turns and smiles, and gives Caesar a little wave.]

Hi there! Come have a seat while you still can.

[commentboxtroll]

[ This shouldn't be a surprise. This guy, he's always up here, isn't he...? Of all the people to meet, right now! But Caesar closes the door behind him and crosses the roof to the ledge anyway, even if it does mean spending more time with the strange Mr. Albatross.

He even takes a seat on the ledge next to him, having done this enough times here and in his own past that it's no worry to him. ]

Hey, Mr. Albatross. Nice day to sit in the rain, is it?

[keep_smiling]

[He always laughs when getting called "mister".] Please! Just Elmer. Or Elel. [No wait no one calls him that. Don't listen to him.] And every day is a nice day to sit in the rain if you live here. I figure if I get to do this again, things will be different, so I better get it in while I can.

[commentboxtroll]

[ Elmer, no, he isn't going to call you Elel. That's just so... ]

Elmer. Alright. [ He still feels he should call him Mr. Albatross. The first name seems too personal, especially when he doesn't really want to be considered a friend here! ] And I guess so.

[ He turns his head, looking out over the city now. ]

Whatever we do to bring it back, it won't be the same.

[keep_smiling]

[He nods.] Right. Even if it looks mostly the same, it won't be. We won't be able to make everything 100-percent again. Maybe if I study this view enough, I'll be able to tell what the differences are once we get back. [He seems pretty calm for a guy who's possible about to lose the second world he's lived on.]

[commentboxtroll]

You could always just take a picture, you know. It's not as if those would change, too...

[ Only... wait. He frowns at that thought. ]

Or would they?

[keep_smiling]

Let's find out! [Elmer whips out his tablet and, doing his best to shield it from the rain, and snaps a photo of the scene below.] But the point is to more enjoy the moment as it is, because you can never get it back. [Advice from Immortals™]

[commentboxtroll]

You really don't let anything get you down, huh?

[ This guy, he's always going to be a mystery. Surely people like that don't really exist! And yet! ]

You'll have to let me know if the picture changes after, once this is all reversed. [ Purely for curiosity's sake. Though, on the topic of never getting things back. Caesar turns his head just enough to watch Elmer from the corner of an eye. ] What about things you can get back? What do you do with those?

[keep_smiling]

Not really, no!

Hmm? What sorts of things? Situations and circumstances are always different, so something might not affect you the same way it used to previously... But as long as it gets you to smile or be happy, then I guess it's still good.

[commentboxtroll]

[ Caesar shakes his head. ]

No. I don't mean me. I mean you. Before all this happened... [ He gives a vague wave to the city. ] Or will happen, anyway. I was working on a plan to reverse what happened to your world and I think I've come up with a solution, only now I doubt we'll have the time and resources to put towards it, much less the general support for it...

[keep_smiling]

[That gets a wide grin from him.] You were? That's great! Well, once problem at a time, yeah? I'd like my world back, even if it's not 100-percent the same place it used to be. I plan to go back there someday. Though now that Huey and Monimoni are both here, I'm in less of a hurry. Once we get things smoothed over here, we'll work on that. One step at a time!

[commentboxtroll]

[ Which gets Caesar looking down thoughtfully rather than having to acknowledge the grin. ]

Well, in this case, chances are it'll remain untouched entirely by this fight, so it should be the same. [ Though that other thing Elmer said, that has him looking up again. ] There are more people from your world here? It isn't just you?

[keep_smiling]

Yep! Huey and Monica, of course, and also Keith. [He also thinks for a moment, looking puzzled for a moment.] And possibly one other. But those three I know for sure! Huey and Monica are good friends of mine.

[commentboxtroll]

Great. Now even more people will have to be involved from the start...

[ He isn't really thrilled by that, but what can you do? ]

But that'll have to wait, anyhow, just that now I need to make a few extra copies of my notes, in case I end up vanishing before I can talk about it.

[keep_smiling]

Ah, that would be a shame. Well, once you're ready, I'll be ready. I'm sure lots of other Transports will be willing to help, too.

[commentboxtroll]

We can hope so. It may call for doing something they won't like, though, so we'll see.

[ But they won't know until they get there, so he just shrugs it off. ]