event } what's yours could soon be mine.

[seeingyou]

WHO: All you passengers who got left behind.
WHAT: It’s a heist, baybee!
WHERE: On Navi, then onward to Estax City on the planet Thelnillion.
WHEN: Now until Oct. 31.
WARNINGS: Add these to your comment subject lines as needed! And if you fail your trap check and die, please report it on the death page.

You may notice, when you wake, that you are missing a mental connection, and a harsh silence has taken its place. If you had a partner before, that link has been severed. Also - when did you fall asleep? You don’t remember planning that.

The mental link that remains, as always, is Navi. Their voice is as calm as can be expected, given that a number of passengers have abruptly disappeared off the ship, and Navi too can sense a blackout period of their consciousness. It’s a little frightening, to not be in complete control of their senses, a little too sharp of a reminder of what it’s like to be under the Zerentians’ control. But there’s no time for navel gazing, or whatever the Navigator equivalent would be called, since they don’t possess a navel - because there is a task ahead, and time is of the essence.

If you can hear me, please come to my room, as quickly as you can. It’s important.

That’s all Navi will say, until the remaining passengers have gathered. Navi still taps away at the screens in front of them, retrieving star charts and maps for paths to known planets. They’re agitated, but doing their best to keep it contained.

Navi has also acquired a new friend - a small dragon, like the ones found on Cor Leonis. The coloring of its scales are an ombre of deep rust, burnt orange, and golden yellow shades, and it rests on Navi’s shoulder, tail curled lightly around Navi’s neck. It keeps a watchful eye on the assembling group, but doesn’t speak until Navi acknowledges that the passengers have gathered and are ready to listen.

“Hello,” the dragon says, finally addressing the group, “my name is Ra’ahnn, and I have a job for you.”

Comments

[melodiouspacifist]

Waking up in a strange place wasn’t really the most exciting thing to ever happen to Demyx. The fact he came upon a group of people discussing the rescue of a dragon, well, that was more interesting.

He could keep lurking in the shadows, just peering at them, or he could participate.

Decisions, decisions.

He decided on the latter, took a deep breath and pushed off the wall, into the doorway proper. He smiled cheerfully and held up a hand in greeting.

“So what, in and out, rescue the small dragon kinda thing?”

Nevermind that none of them knew this stranger, for the time being he was hoping to just blend in a little bit.

[relance]

While Julia is paying attention to what the stupid little fucking dragon is saying (and it doesn't exactly sound like a bad plan--if they were in a movie anyway--she still doesn't like trusting anyone that much with their safety) she's definitely caught sight (smell) of something else. The dragon itself has that weird off world scent that Julia has gotten so used to during all the different planets that they've visited, but the appearance of a brand new scent? Well, that pisses her off.

Pissing off a werewolf who's primary emotion is pissed off is never a good thing, but it's especially not one right now. There's too much tension, and too much anger and too many things on the line. So, she just literally growls at the man, her voice deeper than it had been and holding all of the monstrous of the wolf inside of it. "Who in the Mickey Mouse club fucking bullshit are you?" The words are sent directly to the newcomer and if need be, Julia is ready to take a step towards him because this is suspicious as fuck.

[bilocates]

This dragon has had the misfortune of encountering some of the least trusting on the ship. Them being all that's left, however, he's just going to have to deal with the third degree while they travel to their destination. Simon, being the master of rejecting social graces had one more question arise, thanks to the dragon's reminding him.

"Weren't they selling your kind as pets on one of those last planets we went to?" He's pretty sure it's the one he got a terrible sunburn from. The implication of the question was clear, was the dragon's sister stolen or was she sold? Not that it changed much, this princess still sounded like a real piece of work. Simon would have to see for himself before he decided just how violent to be about the situation.

However, at the new voice, his unblinking stare snapped to the new fellow. The dragon's plan didn't sound bad so he had no comment there, but who was this new person? Volunteering for the mission? He wasn't going to be annoying, was he? Julia had the "who are you's?" on lockdown, so it was back to watching for Simon. He's not about to get between a pissed off werewolf and a stranger she might decide to kill.

People don't stay dead here anyway, it's fine.

[misterbrekker]

The plan the dragon offered was neat and tidy, almost too neat and tidy. Considering this type of thing was what Kaz did for a living (and, sometimes, just because he could), he was well familiar with all the angles there were to consider. It was already a risky endeavor, and going in blind on limited information would only increase that risk factor.

While Julia and the others accosted the newcomer, Kaz fixed his eyes on the far wall, cocking his head and lost in thought. If anyone from his gang were here to see it, it's what they would refer to as Scheming Face, and that was indeed what he was doing. After a few moments, his eyes came back into focus and he scanned them across the room, before glancing at the dragon again.

"Liberate the captives? So now we've gone from nicking one dragon to freeing the lot of them? And what will we do with them once they're out, assuming we get them all out? A ruler that cruel and oppressive is going to have strict security, a show of force to keep unhappy subjects under thumb and discourage them from doing exactly what we propose to do." Kaz tapped his cane against the floor to punctuate his point, studying the dragon closely for a moment, before letting his gaze drift away to find Jack in the group.

"Jack, was it? Those defensive wards you do, would you be able to put them on a dragon?" He remembered the post where she talked about her abilities a bit, but he wouldn't say he had a firm grasp on what exactly she was, or could do. Simon's question about the pets being sold on the previous planet was going to be a good lead-in for what he was going to suggest next, though.

[sisterswitch]

The room was already rippling with tension, but Simon's question sparks a visible change in the dragon's demeanor. While he's seemed somewhat affable until now, that attitude is shattered by a sudden iciness that one might find unusal for a dragon aligned with the element of fire. Eyes narrowed, he hisses an answer in Simon's direction.

"Have your people never been sold or stolen? Taken captive, trafficked like property?" He snorts angrily, and this time, a small flicker of fire escapes from his mouth.

"He's right," Jack gently interjects. "Humans don't have a great track record when it comes to slavery - which has been entirely legal, at different points in history. But just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right."

That's all the soapboxing she'll do on that subject for now. Kaz's question already has her mind kicking into gear with ideas.

"I should be able to, yeah. There's a shield wall spell I've used in the past for protesting, I should be able to tweak it a bit for a dragon's use. What did you have in mind?"

What they'll do with the liberated captives depends on what they end up planning, so put a pin in that for the moment.

[bilocates]

Well look at that, emotion. Good, that was a good sign. Though that wasn't really the purpose behind his rather insensitive question. Simon didn't seem particularly moved by either the display of anger, nor Jack's gentle lecture.

"Never said it was," Was his only response to that. After all, he wasn't asking as a defense for what was going on, only some context for what they were walking into. Were they going to go in as saviors of the wrongfully indentured... or as lunatic animal rights activists "liberating" someone's pets? This would affect the kind of resistance they were liable to run into especially if they had the misfortune of bystanders getting in the way.

[melodiouspacifist]

Mickey Mouse club bullshit? Demyx offered a chuckle, not looking the least bit concerned by Julia’s ire, at all. “Sorry, don’t know the guy.”

He’d never had the pleasure, or likely displeasure, to happen to run into the king in question, and he somewhat liked it that way.

Demyx had a plan, of course. His plan was to engage in whatever they were doing so he could have the ability to get a sense of where he was and bail on a potentially dangerous situation at the earliest opportunity. Playing along so he could wait until everyone’s back was turned was just the best course of action. He did not, however, answer Julia’s question.

The discussion of things like wrongfully trapped dragons or pets or anything like that was beyond above his pay grade, which admittedly, was exactly zero munny. He wasn’t going to weigh in on the ethics of anything, he was going to smile and make himself seem non threatening.

“Sounds like we’ve got somewhere to be so…” He shrugged. “Let’s go.”

Get him into a different environment so he could make his escape, that was all he wanted to do. He had a friend he needed to get back to.

[lightresearch]

It’s probably a little worrying that Ienzo wasn’t particularly distressed about waking up in a strange, new place without any real memory of how he’d gotten here. It’s disturbing to him, sure. Definitely something to look into. But it seemed like a solveable problem. Especially since Navi was so very friendly.

He could figure out later if she was trustworthy, but for now, he’d work as if her information was reliable.

According to her, there were others on this spaceship, and they were in some kind of meeting. Ienzo was perhaps more unsettled about going into a planning session completely blind and uninformed than waking up alone, though. So he made a pit-stop into the kitchen, whipped up some coffee, and found a portable carafe to carry it in.

There. There’s no group or planning session that wasn’t brightened by some legal stimulants.

He knocked on the doorway first. “Ah, sorry for sticking my head in, but I have some coffee - my name is …”

Ienzo blinked in surprise. “Oh, Demyx, you’re also here?”

[relance]

Julia just mutters softly, the dismissal and dislike evident in her voice when she says it, because she's Julia. "Of course your stupid ass doesn't know who Mickey Mouse is. Why the fuck would anyone care about shared experience when some random assholes just show up at the last fucking second. It's pretty convenient that these fucks show up when half of our people are missing." By the end of the statement, it's pretty clear that Julia doesn't care about keeping herself quiet. She's angry (well, Julia is always angry, but right now she's angrier) because some of the people who she's actually cool with are gone, and now there's a dragon and also fucking new idiots.

Julia looks to Jack and Simon (and even Kaz, because while she may have threatened to eat him in the past, he's familiar and thus a part of the crew. As far as she's concerned these new people were as alien and untrustable as the fucking dragon.) But the question that she asks is to Navi themselves, her eyes narrowed sharply. "Are you sure we can actually get to the people in time if we leave now? Can we make it to do this dumb ass rescue mission. We agreed to one dragon, not saving a whole shit ton of them. I'm not saying that we should leave them all," it's a concession to Jack that Julia is even agreeing to that much. "But I want assurances if your sister is the only one we can get out. So that's something you need to decide, dragonboy: can you live with it and keep your word if we're not fucking Harriet Tubman?"

[misterbrekker]

Kaz Brekker wasn't called Dirtyhands for nothing, and considering he'd done his own fair share of lying, stealing, and killing, he wasn't one to stake any claims on the moral high ground. Privately, however, he did harbor a special disdain for slavers and those who would take advantage of the weak and vulnerable, and while it wasn't a hill he'd publically die on, he did find a certain pleasure in seeing them brought low.

Considering the fact that tensions are already rising, he's not sure how his next suggestions are going to be received, but Julia's point seems to leave him the best opening. Looking over his shoulder, he glances at Julia out of the corner of his eye to address her.

"I've been burned by deals before, and becoming a more trusting person isn't a leaf I plan to turn over in the next week," he started, shifting to lean on his cane. "Maybe his word is worth his weight in gold, but I'd personally prefer a little insurance, which is why I suggest that when we get her out, we don't release her until we have what we want."

He put his emphasis on the word suggest as he had no aspirations or desires to fix himself as a leader of the group and make himself responsible for everyone. To him, it seemed the obvious solution, but considering he still largely considered everyone here a stranger, he wasn't sure how keen they would be to make the switch from rescuing someone to holding them hostage.

Of course, the rest of Julia's question was valid, but she'd made the point well enough he didn't feel the need to elaborate on it further. The logistics of what the dragon was requesting came close to bordering on absurd. Even if they did get in and manage to break all the animals out, what were they going to do with them? Where would they take them to ensure they weren't recaptured immediately, and how many of them were dangerous?

Finally, he shifted his gaze back to Jack, to answer her question. "We have an easy enough opening to get in, but considering we don't know exactly what's waiting for us in there, and we don't have a lot of time to waste finding out, I'd feel better if we were able to get some defenses in our favor inside without raising suspicion." With that, he turned his gaze back on the dragon, fixing it with a pointed stare to make his intent clear. "The easiest way to do that would be to give her a gift, and it just so happens we have something she'd want."