thebastion | Event: Day 355 [OPEN]

[He takes a breath and counts to three internally, shoving down the angry retort in his head. Zahi will get his soon enough.]

Thank you Meg, but to answer Zahi's question let's do a very simple test.

[Colin turns to look at the closest cluster of Bastionites, then he looks around to everyone else.]

Hey! Everyone who knows me!

Who here wants to hear me talk at length about anything that I enjoy doing, in the way that you've all heard me do if you've been around me for any length of time?

A show of hands will suffice.

[He glances at Zahi then.]

I'm guessing since Gray got back to your group, you've at least had your people gossiping on what they know of me too. And if you're at all competent as a general, your agent with the Ura would likewise have known. I've got a bit of a rep, you know. All over, in fact.

Know what else my rep is, though? Talking. A lot. About everything except operational security. Anyone wants to know what I'm working on, all they have to do is be willing to listen to me. And believe me, I've got a LOT more than one secret project.

[He gives a cocky grin.]

I've also got a rep for helping... You know, growing enough food for two or three societies, trying to keep morale up, curing plagues, coming up with plans for macro-level housing and rescues...

I'm not expecting you'll see a lot of hands up, by the way. I'm an arrogant little shit that chases people away with my personality. Comes with being a know-it-all...

Edited 2015-10-21 04:04 (UTC)

[The general crowd consensus seems to be 'what the fuck is going on'. Most of the people here, they were either misled or had not been firm believers in what Zahi had been saying.

Zahi, however, is getting increasingly annoyed, and so are the people in the crowd who actually do believe him. They look ready to start causing trouble, but they haven't done anything yet. But for now, there is just a tense feeling in the air as Zahi speaks again, trying one more time to reason with the PCs.]

I am going to be very clear here, so there is no misunderstandings: we are going back. We are going to try again, and we are going to succeed.

Now, you can either go with me and help me, and be heroes who helped save many worlds, or you can be left behind while we handle everything. Either choice is fine by me, I can certainly understand if you did not want to help.

But you need to make that decision now, because there will be no more delays.

[Also, way off to the side by where Ibuki is, Zero pops out from behind one of the buildings to silently wave people over in his direction. Hmm what could he be doing?]

[Okay, yeah, no. Zahi outright declaring that This Is How Things Shall Be is really annoying Rob, and it takes a bit of effort to remain reasonably polite while he brings up a couple points.

He flips his wolf pelt up over his head, allowing its magic to boost his voice to a reasonable volume. The irritation in his voice isn't too hard to miss.]

First off, I didn't realize that you were Emperor of the Bastion. Apologies, your highness, for not giving you your proper due.

Secondly, everyone seems to be forgetting that not everyone is here; the Ura should be involved in this too. You want as much help as possible for this, right? Shouldn't you be talking with them too?

[Thirdly, the last Core isn't here yet, and while Colin knows in general where it is, only Rob knows its exact location. Sorry, Zahi, but no matter what happens there will be at least some delays ahead.]

['Reason?' That isn't reason. That's a declaration of war.]

[...and that's suspicious movement far too close to us. Ikuri can't move, or Ibuki will be vulnerable. But if she alerts anyone... the tension in the air is thick. Saying anything, and especially the wrong thing, will drop a spark on dry tinder.]

[A futile concern, she thinks. We're headed for a fight even now...and she cannot fight freely with Ibuki in harm's way. But Ippo...]

[She's looking at you now, brother, and possibly even whispering your name harshly to get your attention. That silent communication we do? Read her thoughts, man - her eyes meaningfully travel over to where Zero's movements took place. Something's going over there.]

[Alert everyone. A fight's going to happen. I can't protect Ibuki and drive away the invaders. She needs to be safe. If you protect her, I can stay near and protect you both. Colin had a securehouse, didn't he? Take her there if you can; my place is out here, and yours is with her. We need to do everything we can. Everything.]

[I will fill my role. You fill yours.]

[Her eyes snap back to Zahi, and the hatred behind them is ill-disguised. The rest of her is coiled, ready to move...and she makes not a sound.]

[Zuko really hoped this wouldn't come to violence. That's seeming less and less likely, and her body is tensed for action, but she's trying to keep her voice level. Zahi probably won't listen to reason, but the people with him still might.]

Rob's right. This isn't just your decision. It's not even just our decision.

What exactly is your rush, Zahi? If your plan is to reverse time, then what difference does it make if we use the Bastion now, or a week from now?

I've jumped into plenty of things without thinking. By now I've figured out that impatience isn't the mark of great planning.

[Megaera's annoyed look continues through Zahi's rant. Quietly, she communicates to each Bastionite she trusts, and also Colin, through telepathy, one by one...]

{He needs the rush because he has people who are agreeing to a hasty decision. Force an actual delay, and we force his hand. I've got three charms and two suggestions. Gimme the plan if you've got one.}

[It'll be possible to respond to her telepathically if you wish - she's not able to read unintentional responses, though.]

[Ippo heard the harsh whisper and without taking his full attention off Zahi, turned an eye to Ikuri. It was a meaningful exchange between them and no matter how much he wanted to disagree and insist that he stay out here with her...he knew full well she could handle any threat that was thrown her way.

Ibuki needed to be safe first and foremost; Ikuri was right that Colin had a safehouse set up and with Zero's signalling, he knew that was were he needed to be.

He gave Ikuri a nod and a confident smile, letting her know that he trusted her to handle things out here before he put a hand on Ibuki's shoulders and started to lead her quietly towards where Zero was, whispering silently in her ear as they moved.]

Ibuki, we should get to Colin's safehouse right now. Ikuri's going to handle things out here for us and she promises she'll meet us there as soon as possible, alright?

[This is what I'm for. Don't fear for me, Ippo.]
[The wolf in me is not tamed yet.]

[there's a split-instant surge of panic in the second it takes to recognize Megaera's telepathy, and she urgently relays a message back.]

{Enemy!! Outsiders, near area...!}

[Recognizing what's happening, she summons the mental image in her mind of the place she saw Zero...]

[Relay this to the others!]

[don't look now Ikuri because apparently Ippo lead Ibuki right over to Zero... whether he's actually an enemy or not would probably soon become apparent, as Ibuki gave Zero a questioning look; too distracted to really pay attention to what Ippo said]

Um, Zero-chan, what are you doing...?

[Colin eyes Zahi, and he just smirks. Darkly.]

An ultimatum from a failed general who hasn't be able to do much more than slaughter a single member of our group and use a child as a scapegoat for his thievery?

Who failed to steal a core in an ambush against a completely unsuspecting target?

Whose best plan appears to be naked aggression in the middle of a safe zone protected by a pacification field?

Who doesn't realize that his grand coup is insufficiently supplied?

Who doesn't seem aware that the grand majority of his invading force has already been separated from the innocents, painted, and sitting right in the cross-hairs of gods only know how many turrets?

I'm not impressed. This is why you lost the war, you know. And as I recall... You didn't just lose. You got your shit pushed in.

[Never taking his eyes off of Zahi, Colin leans to the side slightly. He also takes the time to address Meg's question.]

{Rob's got a data pad, and I've painted the definitely Hostiles in red. Probably hostiles are yellow. Innocents are green. You've got a moment if you want to check before things go south. I'm going to try to bait them into doing something stupid.}

That, by the way, is a hint. Here's a more blatant one. Anyone who doesn't want to get caught in the fighting of a coup attempt should probably get away from the monument.

If Zahi was clever, he would have tried to sabotage the turrets he knows about. I've already checked my turrets, ALL of them. Including the ones that I DIDN'T tell him about. And as Mr. "Do As I Say, Or Else" over there has pointed out, I'm way more advanced than any of you.

So if you're still planning to cause trouble, ask yourself... What are you going to do in the split second before a turret pastes you to the wall?

You can try to make your one punch a good one... or you can do the smart thing and not fight. And then you won't have face your maker with the shameful news that you helped a man whose grand scheme will result in the deaths of everyone you know, everyone you knew, and everyone who might ever be descended from you in the future.

Who knows? You might get lucky.

[The holo-display shifts suddenly at a mental command from Colin. It displays a video scene from one of the most iconic moments in Terran film history.]

Edited 2015-10-22 05:00 (UTC)

[For at least some of the Bastionites that's all the warning they need. Weapons may not be drawn yet, but hands are definitely on them, ready to go the second shit starts hitting the fan.

And for a good few seconds following Colin's movie-based threat it almost seems that's exactly what's going to happen.

But then surprisingly, a voice rings out through the crowd.]

STOP!

[Though armed, Zayna pushes through the crowd physically rather than violent force she could be using. More than once she has to give a command of "let me through!" to get to where she needs to be, but at the very least her cry has gotten attention.

She comes to a stop next to Zahi, though she makes absolutely no threatening movement towards Colin or the others.

She doesn't want to, and it's written all over her face.

Especially when she starts speaking not to him, but to Zahi.]

Father, stop this. Please. I'm begging you... don't push this any furhter! It's not fair to anyone here! These survivors don't deserve to have their emotions toyed like this any more, and those of us that came from here don't need to start another war just so you can have your second chance at saving our family!

[As Zayna suddenly steps in after Colin's panicked threat, Megaera decides to do two things. First, move towards Rob and his datapad. Second, again one by one, signal every person she trusts - plus, again, Colin - about Zero's presence and location. She's wary, but not going for her weapons yet.]

[AZ watches all of this go on, his Pokemon still on high alert. All of them except Floette, who flies over near Zayna, looking at Zahi seriously.]

[Her voice is high and thin, and her words aren't understandable to people who don't know how to speak Pokemon, but the feeling is clear, especially when she starts trembling and crying.]

[No more.]

[AZ steps forward, gesturing to his Pokemon to stay still, and collects Floette into his hands, stroking her head gently with one finger.]

I've seen war. I've stopped a war. I will admit it again - I stopped it with something that caused horrific damage. We will not allow something like that to happen here again. I will not allow you to keep going with something like this. Violence only inspires more violence, and should you live through that you will inevitably come to regret it should you have any sort of conscience, general or not.

[He smiles a little bit, but it's a bitter one. Maybe there will be retaliation for his words... but he's lived a long time anyway. He's not afraid.]

[Hearing voices in his head is very disturbing to Rob, and he desperately hopes that his every thought isn't being read because that would be terrifying. Just thinking about the possibility of someone reading his mind is distracting him and splitting his attention.

His datapad loading something on its own is also disturbing, but he at least knows that Colin is capable of installing stuff remotely and can only assume that this is a message he's being sent. The meaning is fairly self-explanatory, but what he's supposed to do with that information isn't. He has access to two Pokémon and four magical robots, yes, but the crowd is huge and getting any of them into position can't be done subtly. Except...

He pulls out the Reflecting Mirror and, cupping it in his hand to make it harder to see, uses the wolf pelt's magic to drop his volume to the absolute minimum needed for this.]

Hovermyr: Circle 30 feet above the crowd near the Monument.

[The Hovermyr is in position a few seconds later, having been nearby already. Considering what's going on, how many people are going to be looking up right now?]

Colin, stop encouraging a fight!

[This is why his job is so much harder. It's because of you.]

[For once, however, he seems a little bit distracted in his angry scolding. It's not nearly as aggravated as it should be. He's still riveted on Zayna, relief practically leaking out of his heart.]

[It wasn't fake.]

Listen to her, Zahi! We don't need to fight- we don't need to cause more harm and pain than has already been done!

[Colin you are lucky that Zayna and Zulf are distracting him, he was about to have something very Not Nice done to you.

But before he can give the order, suddenly people in his space. And his voice is switching to the kinder one he uses whenever he talks to Zayna, because precious child of his.]

You know it has to be done, sweetie. Your mother, your sisters...this is the only way.

[And then, to Zulf.]

You're right, we don't need to fight. Just lend me your strength, and we can do this. Together.

[Sorry guys, but Zahi is not backing down on this.

Also, the turrets Colin mentioned? Zahi gives a hand signal, and the ground under them is blown up, launching the turrets off to the Skyway. This only covers the visible turrets, that Zahi knew about beforehand, but it still takes out several of them.]

Or, at the very least, do not try to harm us while we do the right thing.

[He would actually have preferred to have that not-nice thing done to him. The uncertainty of the Bastion's own defenses is the only thing keep him from attacking.]

[That said... He's not the least bit fazed by his turrets getting blown up. He lost a couple of turrets, big guns, but he doesn't seem the least bit concerned.]

[In fact, in the face of very bad things, Colin is smiling.]

[And he isn't speaking. Not for the moment, Zayna's got her shot first, everyone else has their shots first... Colin's just waiting.]

By Althena's bones, you really are a stupid bastard.

[With those words, a certain healer looms out of the crowd, having had quite enough. Although he's dressed in the usual light robes he prefers when working as a doctor, the lack of the long gloves that normally hide most of the scarring on his arms and the almost predatory way he's walking are sure signs that Ghaleon is most certainly not here in a peaceful role.]

You come into our home, we treat you as a valued member of the community, and this is how you repay us? By manipulating all these people desperate for a bit of hope into following along with you, even if it meant the deaths of people whom also desired a better tomorrow? People whom you lived beside, people whom you knew.

Crona and Ragnarok are dead. The residents of the Ura settlement could have died in a most painful manner had different measures been taken. Who knows how many of the people who arrived here today have died because they were discouraged from seeking aid from we who live in the Bastion? Many more could potentially die today in a battle for control of a machine with the potential to change the world.

All because of you. All because you decided that your grief over your dead family was more important than finding a fucking reasonable way to go about this.

And you know what pisses me off the most? The fact that you seem to think that all the pain and suffering that has been caused over this is lessened because your method will make it so it never happened. But the scars will remain. Oh yes, the dead will live again. And the ones that died here, after the Calamity hit? They will remember the moment their hearts stopped.

As a person who has died - well and truly died, and violently so - I can assure you that it is something that changes a person.

I am Ghaleon, once a member of the legendary Four Heroes, and once known as the Magic Emperor, a villain so feared that the God of Destruction made certain when pulling me from the grave that I could be destroyed from anywhere should I give the barest hint that I might again decide to protect the world I loved so dearly. Perhaps I have revoked my right to be referred to as a good person, but I can say this for certain:

[Ghaleon raises his arm and points at Zahi to emphasize his declaration.]

Perhaps your motives can be sympathized with, but your methods are that of one who will be known as a villain as well! If you do not stand down, I assure you that you will end this day having returned to Mother, by my hand or that of someone else, because today? Today you made a lot of people with a lot of power very. Very. Angry.

[In other words, a certain someone is about to have a b a d t i m e.]

[It was probably a good thing there were those being as calm as they were. Unnerving as such a reaction could be in lieu of what had just happened, it was keeping a lot of people from freaking out.

There certainly were a lot in that group who didn't seem to think Zahi was capable of such violence, bloodless as it had been...

Zayna barely had the time to brace herself for the rocking of the Bastion following the explosions, but in stumbling back and needing to reorient herself she gave Ghaleon a good spot to deliver his own soliloquy on the situation.

Afterwards she returned to Zahi's side, pleading with him yet a second time with genuine sadness in her eyes.]

Father, he is absolutely right. They all are. And even if they weren't... Mother didn't die because of the Calamity! You say it'll bring her back along with my sisters, but it won't!

[She dug in the cloths wrapped at her waist, pulling out a jeweled turquoise necklace, holding it out to Zahi.]

My mother, your wife was lost to us long before the Calamity ever came down on our people! Remember that! And think for a moment, if I am against this while I'm living what would your other daughters think of what you're doing?!

[Following the explosion of the turrets, Ikuri's rage had nearly bubbled over. Tremoring with wrath, her hand had snapped to her sword hilt, and she'd nearly launched herself at Zahi then and there.]

[Nearly, and then she'd stolen a glance at Colin. That glance, in turn, had stopped her cold: actually caused some of that wrath to drain out. That feeling of menace, directed at their shared enemy, the traitor... that wasn't illusion: neither bluff nor feint, nor mere bravado. He knew. There was something he knew that no one else did. Control had not left him. This situation...]

[Zahi was walking into the lion's mouth. Colin knew it. He anticipated it.]

[Ikuri understood all this on an instinctive level, but her rational side - the part of it that managed to remain awake despite escalating mutual hostility - was briefly puzzled. It was enough to make her conclude that attacking right away was not necessarily the best course. Colin, the Bastion's defender along with the rest of them, was not threatened.]

[And then Ghaleon spoke.]

[It astonished her, held her in place, but in a way she hadn't expected: his words lit a fire in her, stirred her will to fight in a manner entirely different from what Zahi had accomplished. Ironically it also served to calm her, to return her to that one place her loved ones said was most important, that place of focus and control.]

['Remember Crona.' This man had killed her. To make matters worse, he'd marched into their home with his little army, openly intending to usurp control of the Bastion to fulfill his aims. If either act alone had been his only sin, he would deserve to die for it. But everything else...the risks he took, the danger he placed Ibuki in, and Ikuri, and indeed the very world if Colin was to believed (and Ikuri absolutely believed him); the horrors that he could bring down on each of them and he. didn't. care.]

[The dark-haired girl spoke to him next, his daughter...and Ikuri did find some part of her softening, just for an instant. He wanted loved ones back...she understood that. yes, she did. of course she wants hers back, too. But at what cost? At what risk? Ibuki would be torn apart if it didn't work as Zahi predicted...Ikuri too, for that matter. And by Colin's account, the fabric of space-time would be damaged for it, eventually bringing horrors forth...all without the assurance that anything would change at all.]

[Yes, you can say it's about your loved ones, but is it really? Her thoughts are kin to Zayna's; what would they think if they saw you now, or rather, what you did to get to this point? Or were you even thinking that at all? Perhaps you were confident that all it took was rewinding time, and it would wipe memories clean. According to Ghaleon, that won't happen either.]

[No. She will not take the chance, nor suffer it to be taken. And you know what else? Like so many people here she really. Really. Really does not appreciate that you tried to force the matter.]

[And nothing here can excuse all you've done and intended: no argument made today can absolve you. You've directly threatened the Bastion, their home, her home, her family, for the sake of your agenda...you fired first shot, and now you threaten their future. Crona is dead. More could still die. All because you live in a universe of one.]

[That...will not go unpunished, whatever is decided today.]

[Ikuri reaches for her black blade once more, this time in a determined and even motion. Grasps the hilt, slowly draws the blade out; a dull shine dances off as light catches it. She's still up on stage, in full view of everyone.]

[Her stance shifts, still battle-ready but this time it's as much to command attention. Not of the crowd itself, no...her eyes lock onto Zahi's face: onto his own eyes, if they should meet.]

[It's probably not hard to guess what sentiment is behind them.]

[Even if you surrender, you're not seeing day's end unmarked.]

[You may not see it at all.]

Edited 2015-10-25 18:45 (UTC)

[Sorry Zayna, getting lectured at isn't helping him. So he's going to respond to Ghaleon now.]

Do you remember anything from the first Calamity? The one Zulf experienced before this one? Because I certainly don't.

This has all happened at least once before, yet nobody here besides a select few remember the first time. I suspect that it will happen exactly the same way, that only those alive currently will remember all of this. I believe this to be true, because by Zulf's own word I did not survive the first Calamity, and I have no memory of it occurring that first time.

So those who are dead, they will likely not recall any of this. Which is why it is so important that those of us who are still alive make the right choice here.

Sorry, Zayna. He knows that.

[Still smiling, Colin has yet to take his eyes off of Zahi.]

He's too smart not to.

Either way... Reversing your mother's and sisters' deaths is NOT why he's doing this. It's just an excuse he's feeding everyone to get them to go along with him. A pretty story to distract from the horror of what he wants to do, and what he's already done.

Or he's insane. There's a decent chance of that.

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[1/2]

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'scuze all the grammarderps

thread 1, for Zahi-talking

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thread 2, for Zero-stuff

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