( 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

[5055034455]

Yeah, I know.

[He looks at her, but he doesn't quite meet her eyes.]

Do you need someone to help you pack?

[quackery]

No, I can do it on my own.

[5055034455]

Can I come with you anyway?

[quackery]

Even if I said no, you would come anyways.

[5055034455]

Yeah.

[She's so smart.]

C'mon. I'm really good at folding things.

[quackery]

I can fold my own stuff even if you're going with me.

[5055034455]

Alright, alright. Fair enough.

[He pulls away.]

Ready?

[quackery]

Of course not.

[But she doesn't really have another choice, so she brushes the last of the tears off her cheeks and starts walking towards the apartment building.]

[5055034455]

[And he follows her, silently. This might not be his fault, technically speaking, but it feels a lot like there's something weighing him down as he trudges along behind her, and he's pretty sure it's guilt.]

[quackery]

[After a while, she looks over her shoulder at him. It's hard to remember when she feels like she might burst with anger (at herself, at everything) and a deep sadness, but of course, he must be experiencing the exact same thing.]

...Did you get your stuff already?

[5055034455]

[Time to lie!

Saul knows he can't tell her he's not going up until the end of the week, so he won't.]

Yeah, I'm packed.

[So that's not technically a lie; he is packed.]

[quackery]

Okay. Do you want to go to your apartment on the way to grab your stuff?

[5055034455]

[Shit.]

I'm leaving a little later. I still have some work to do.

[quackery]

[She looks up at him in surprise, stopping in her tracks for a moment. How can he ask her to leave when he won't do the same yet? But — no, that's naive. Nothing about this situation makes sense, really; nothing about it is fair. Did she suddenly expect that to become different? Even if she did, it's not as though there's anything she can do to change it.

She looks down at the ground once more and continues walking.]

Okay.

[5055034455]

[That look is almost enough to break his heart. On the one hand, he loves this place; he loves having people like Ahiru in his life, people who really care about him.

But he hates what these circumstances make him do to those people.

He might as well be back home, at this rate.]

I'll come find you as soon as I'm up there, okay?

[quackery]

No, that's...

[She pauses. She wants to find a way to say this without making him feel like she wants to avoid him, a way that doesn't make him any more worried about her than he already is. Maybe that's impossible, too. She pushes a hand through her hair with a sigh.]

I think I just need to be alone for a little while.

[5055034455]

[It's not impossible; he gets it.

So he nods, though he still looks sad.]

Okay. Then you can let me know when you're ready to talk.

[quackery]

[She nods, thinking. She wasn't lying when she said she'd rather not be around people, but as long as he's here, she doesn't want an uncomfortable silence surrounding them.]

Hey, Saul?

[5055034455]

[He's used to those. But the sound of his name makes him look over at her, one eyebrow arched curiously.]

Hm?

[quackery]

You kind of work with the Initiative, don't you? Do you know how long it's going to take for us to be able to get back here?

[5055034455]

I dunno. But I know they'll be working as hard as they can.

[They'd better, anyway.]

[quackery]

Yeah. I know all of us will.

[She wonders, though, how long it'll take until that's enough. Most of them had been trying up until now, she thinks, and still they've been fighting what seems to be a losing battle. Will retreating really help them?]

[5055034455]

[At least retreating doesn't end in all of them dying.

...probably.

Saul worries his lower lip for a moment, then forces a smile that isn't entirely false.]

Keep the faith, duckling. It'll be okay.

[quackery]

[Her face tightens, enough that it almost looks as though she's going to start to cry again. She takes a breath, though, holding it at bay. She doesn't want him to know that she's wondering if that's true; she's ashamed to be thinking it herself.]

Yeah, I know it will.

[Years ago, she knows that would have been said with much more conviction than it is now. She tries not to dwell on it.

They're finally approaching her apartment, though, and she reaches into a pocket to dig out her keys.]

[5055034455]

[He doesn't believe her. He doesn't even believe himself, so...

You know what'll lighten the mood?

Hair-ruffling.

That always works, right?!]

Hey, c'mon. Chin up.