exsiliumlogs | (CLOSED) My hands are tied, for all I've seen has changed my mind

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(CLOSED) My hands are tied, for all I've seen has changed my mind

Date & Time: Forward-dated to Nov. 16 0300hrs through Nov.19th ~0230hrs
Location: Observatory, East Loading Bay, Transporter Room, Various (read: everywhere)
Characters: Pro-Initiative and Mutineer action teams
Summary: With mutineers occupying the transporter room and vital base systems hamstrung, Pro-Initiative forces work against mutineer teams to bring those systems back online and reach the transporter room.
Warnings: None yet (will update as necessary...because lbr ‘none yet’ isn’t going to last long)
Notes: All threads, with the exception of the Transporter Room B, are open for posting beginning now. Transporter Room B will kick off on Nov.16th proper in order to incorporate decision making from earlier action team’s choices and to maintain tonal cohesion. Community wide mingle log for the mutiny will go up on Nov. 16th.

[At 0300hrs on November 16th, things suddenly go wrong. The network cuts out, lighting abruptly goes from artificially sterile to the unsettling flickering of red emergency lighting. Furniture, supplies and even Transports suddenly find themselves untethered from the ground as the base’s gravity regulation abruptly shuts down; moreover, it isn’t long before Transports begin to realize they’ve been locked off from anything but the housing(/restrooms), vr and cafeteria sections of the base. Not long after:

Click-HHHSSSHK-click!

A woman’s voice speaks over the moon base’s PA system, echoing through the dark corridors and off the odds and ends gently floating through them thanks to the lack of gravity regulation. The voice is rich and accented, with a certain practiced ease to it - one that sharpens to a point the longer she talks:]

Testing. Testing-- are we good? Christ, I'm not echoing, am I? No?

All right good. Listen up, fellow transports. As you might have noticed, some of the base's general systems have gone offline: this, I assure you, is absolutely intentional. There's no need to panic.

So moving on from the understandably frustrating to the even more frustrating, I'm sure you all have also noticed the fact that we're currently all stuck-- starving and defenseless-- on the bloody moon. In a base that was, up until a few days ago, overrun with zombies. And before that, thousands of lives were bombed right out of existence, and before that, an entire world-- and before that we were all still being thrown at the United Earth for the sake of dying off repeatedly in a war we never stood a chance or had a say in. Transports have been treated like pawns since day one, and I'm sorry, but we don't deserve it.

If we're giving up our lives and our freedom, I'd say it's about time we earned ourselves a little equality.

We deserve a say in what goes on in this fight, and with that in mind, a few of us have decided to hold onto the transporter for a while. Just until the Initiative agrees to treat us like people instead of ammunition. Trust me, we’re not here to hurt anyone; none of this has to end badly. But it does need to end. Things have got to change. And if this is what it takes? This is what it’s going to be.

We need your help; please don’t make it any harder for us.

[The PA clicks off, pitching the base once more into complete radio silence.

Over the course of the next four days, pro-Initiative transports gather their resources and individuals form impromptu (or well planned) teams to bring these systems back online and out of the hands of mutineers so they can ultimately reach the transporter room and set things to right -- whatever that “right” may be.]

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[they're not all accounted for, the people Blue sensed on his way into this conflict.

it might just be damn good (bad?) luck that Blue catches sense of one, decidedly moving away from his initial goal. with the situation here in the security of the savvy and stronger, Blue himself withdraws to a safer space, away from the chance of trampling or questioning, and sends his mind out after him.]

( leaving the facility irked him a little (which was to say, he was surprised the operation ran smoothly for as long as it did), but there was no shame in renouncing one tie to serve another. inviting as many sides to a question and shuffling through the perspectives they offered was exactly what he in store for this little insurrection. besides, delta had enough brute force on their side to handle themselves just fine back there.

and if they didn't? well... it wasn't worth entertaining the thought.

the gravity situation made footwork quite tricky, but it was nothing he couldn't work with. he slows to a pause at the end of a short corridor, only to rehash his mental map of the area and readjust his bearings. )

[he turns, and stands before a ghost. Blue's stare is hard, but more like something static than really alive; that'd be a lot of work, manifesting a shape that shifted with false breaths.]

You abandoned your comrades so quickly.

( what in the hell--

kaji ignores the thoroughly damning accusation -- coming to a slow halt just as he was about to make headway to look up at the source of the noise with a restrained expression. the face doesn't register. this one wasn't a mutineer, that much was for certain.

of course, that doesn't make him any happier as his stare is returned to him. that look seemed convey that the man knew damn well what kind of information he had kept, while at the same time implying he would have no trouble reciting everything back to his face if the mood took him.

for the moment, however, he stands his ground -- or as much of it as he can physically reach. )

Ah. You almost had me here.

Who are you? Why are you doing this?

[prompts that need no vocal answer; simply posing them opens the door to many streams of thought. Blue's not in a terribly courteous mood about it, either; if this man is a threat, he'll have that knowledge as soon as he can touch it.]

( shit, he can hear this one in his head. his jaw tightens as soon as he senses it -- along with all the more troublesome implications -- and as he tenses momentarily for evasive action.

blue is able to tap into the reasons for withdrawing, and the manner of questions kaji hoped to have answered. he refrains from knee-jerk responses as he stares blue down. he'd always kept one foot ahead of the field by safeguarding his thoughts. and now? he isn't quite sure of the extent of this luxury.

all of this is bothering him in a major way. he just needs to know-- )

Who are you aligned with?

Those seeking to slow and stop this madness. [a leading pause.] There is no single camp where that mindset resides.

[Barbara hasn't moved from her own terminal; chances are high, she thinks, that her surprise ally will find her. For once, she's okay with that.

She glances up when she sees someone approach, arching her eyebrows.]

[Shekel probably did not look like someone who should have been doing what she had, barely three and a half feet tall, looking about nine, dressed in a pair of brown shorts and a pink T-shirt. But her softly glowing blue eyes were probably a clue. And the terminal she was carrying.]

[When she spots the woman on her own terminal she hesitates, her eyes slightly narrowed, before she approaches. How to ask...]

Were you attempting to repair the network?

[Her voice is flat, almost emotionless, though there is a hint of curiosity.]

[Her lips quirk, just a little. Way to put it right out there - but then, it's better that they don't waste any time.]

I was, yeah. Am.

[Her eyes narrow, just slightly, as they assess the girl. (But then, she might be older than she looks; it can be hard to tell at home, never mind here.)]

I'm guessing you were, too?

Yes.

[Another pause. Whoever had damaged the system could be using repairing it as a guise to keep tabs on it. But the woman Had fixed some sections of it.]

We would be more efficient if we were not attempting to repair the same sections at the same time.

[The smile deepens.] Probably, yeah.

[She gestures to the terminal beside her.] What have you done already?

[Another thoughtful pause before she steps forward. She has to stand on her toes to examine the other redhead`s screen, but finally she indicates what she had already worked on with one finger before she steps back.]

[A slight nod, and she shifts her focus somewhere else. She looks perfectly at ease as her fingers fly; this is her element, this is what she's been missing, even craving.]

You've done good work, so far. [Most times, she'd go back and check, but she's already seen it's not necessary.]

Of course.

[Shekel doesn't do modesty. After a moment though...]

Your own work has been acceptable.

[Amusement flashes in her eyes. It reminds her, a little, of Bruce's high praise.]

Thank you.

[She's no more modest than Shelke; she knows damn well how good she is.]

I'm Barbara, by the way.

[A faint nod at the thanks, but nothing else. As Barbara works, Shelke looks around before sinking down against the wall with her terminal in her lap. She looks up when the woman speaks again, her head tilting slightly to the side.]

I am Shelke.

( funny, that's what he would have used to justify this whole thing. his brows raise; he edges back with one hand in his pocket. a gun is on him. but he won't use it.

isn't that the truth.

unspoken words, but telling enough. )

Yet your hand in this seems to dictate your intentions lie elsewhere.

[he doesn't blink, but there's a hardness that starts to fill the image of his eyes.]

[Ziio is in the hallway, positioned where she can see anyone approaching. She is tensed and alert, her hatchet in one hand and a crude set of throwing knives she has crafted from scavenged shrapnel wrapped about her calf. She is there to provide cover for the others dealing with the machine that she does not understand, and as she hears the tell-tale sound of those approaching, her hand travels to her calf, fingertips brushing the knives as she braces herself to react with force if needs be.]

When you phrase it like that, it sounds like I've been conspiring with the United Earth.

( here, he almost looks mordant. even though this method of communication brought with it the comfort of remaining undetected by anyone who happened to be searching the surrounding area, it fails to remove the bigger concern: that this stranger had an interest in exposing him to... whomever would listen on either side. and that was more than inconvenient. )

[a hand lifts, palm up – a level, conversational gesture that almost doesn't blend with the stony, unmoving expression the apparition wears.]

Sounds can deceive. Actions, too. [the hand draws toward himself, fingers curling in.]

What do you mean by doing this? [there's a worried tremble in the "voice" that doesn't match the expression.]

( he knows. he's fully aware of the superficiality behind words and actions; it's these very same lapses he has learned to taken advantage of, skew to his liking.

Know it and live it. and he continues to meet his gaze, making slow distance between them using the pith of his fingertips against a supporting wall. his feet can't make contact with the ground. I only want to see the whole picture with my own eyes.

by golly if it isn't apparent he's trying to stop thinking about thinking right about now. )

Edited (icons...) 2013-12-12 03:14 (UTC)

No matter who is harmed along the way?

[Blue's expression gives very little away, just a placeholder of a face. it's the tone, rather, that impresses meaning beyond the words.

the thing about not wanting to think on thinking is that you wind up thinking harder about the things you don't want to be thinking about at all.]

( I don't let myself be restrained by assumptions. framing these things as hypotheticals do much in fostering thick skins.

emptiness as an unavoidable byproduct, also. he can feel himself sweating. damn him.

I'd much rather see things resolved peacefully, if they can. Are you going to keep me here forever? )

Edited 2013-12-15 02:38 (UTC)

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(CLOSED) My hands are tied, for all I've seen has changed my mind

SLIGHTLY AFTER THE FACT;

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i'm sorry NO NOTIFS

it is okay.

i always find it ironic when i have computer/internet problems

it is universal karma for babs.

you break the internet ONE TIME

oops?

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/slips in here super late oops sorry guys ;;

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gomen ˘︹˘

shh pats u its ok

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