thebastion | Event: Day 265 [OPEN]

Who: Several NPCs and you
Open: Open
When: Day 265
Where: The Bastion in general
What: Everyone adjusting to the new land, plus some bad news from Nathaniel.
Format: action
Warnings: Lnone

[First, the good news: everyone came back more or less alive and well, and they had a core! After some deliberation, eventually it was decided upon that adding more land to the Bastion (as well as improving the efficiency of power use in the Bastion, so that the extra land is not a strain on the already limited power) is the best use of this Core.

Once the core has been integrated into the Bastion, the land expanse is almost immediate. Several chunks of the nearby Skyway (monster-free, thankfully) attach themselves to the Bastion, nearly doubling the available land. In addition to the flat plains, lake, river, and hills, there is much more flat land, and a few sharp peaks (nowhere near tall enough to be actual mountains, but they are made of rock and have the same jagged edges and steep inclines that a mountain would have) have attached themselves to the north-eastern side of the Bastion.

In addition, several empty buildings have sprung up in the south and western parts of the Bastion, along with a large empty area clearly left open for tents or more structures. With all of the new land and buildings, the Bastion should be able to hold several hundred residents comfortably. Provided the people could be found to fill those spaces, the Bastion could be a small town now!

But today is not entirely a day of good news. Around midday, Nathaniel calls a meeting by the monument to discuss some things, and he doesn't look happy at all.]

Okay guys, I'm just going to be honest here. We've got some trouble brewing.

For starters, I haven't been able to pick up the energy signal from that other core. Either it's been buried, or it fell off the Skyway, or something else got to it. It may come up later, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Along with that, we've got another mess on our hands now. Remember that group of Ura that you guys have been talking to? Well, they left this letter in the place where we leave written communication with them. Zahi translated it for me, and long story short, their crops failed and they're asking us for help.

We can give them supplies, but the farm doesn't grow enough to feed both us and them. If we found another core we could expand the farms to make it feasible, but there's no telling when we'll find another core. Our other option is to start growing our own farms on top of what the automated farm grows for us, but that won't actually help for several weeks, even months. They could possibly starve by the time that pays off. There's also the problem of how to get the sheer volume of food they need out to where they are. Their numbers are about equal to ours, and it's not a trip we could make every day, and most foods would spoil by the time we got it to where they are, so that's something to keep in mind too.

As near as I can tell, we can either help them out until they can grow more food, or we can ignore the request and let them fend for themselves. If any of you guys have another idea of what to do, we can discuss it.

I'll leave the decision up to you guys, but whatever you choose, make the decision quick, so that whatever you decide to do can be put into motion as soon as possible.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's someone hanging near the back of the group because... well. He doesn't really know anyone, or what they're talking about. But he does speak up.]

... Why do we care about these people?

[They're not the people he's sworn to protect, so.]

They're tentative allies in a world where we really don't need enemies.

[Colin still has yet to weigh in with his own thoughts, 'cause he's still formulating them...]

Are they? What good are they for us?

[He's not exactly unfamiliar with political maneuvering, though most of it that he knows is from the yakuza.]

For one, they're better armed than us as a whole.

And for two, they know this world far better than just about anyone here, with the possible exceptions of Raile, Zahi, and Zayna.

I'd rather feed them and have them thinking positively towards us, than withholding aid from them, and making them think they need to start shooting at us to get our stuff.

Hm. Guess that makes sense. I can take out a lot of people, but... with enough shots even I would go down. At least like this.

[He misses his armor.]

They've been traveling in fire teams, and they're good with guerrilla tactics. I wouldn't want them as an enemy if I could avoid it.

[Colin nods slightly.]

Mm. Like yakuza groups. I get it.

...Eh?

They're people! They haven't done anything wrong and they're in trouble—isn't that enough?

[She's one of those types; good luck Yosuke.]

[And he's one of those types, sorry Aoi.]

Not really? I mean, I don't exactly know them since I just got here a couple days ago, but... if they're not useful, then they don't exactly deserve help.

[oh this'll be good]

Th-that's not how it works! It isn't right to decide when it's okay to let somebody else die!

Why not? It happens all the time.

It shouldn't. It wouldn't be hard for us to keep a lot of people who don't deserve it from dying... If we don't help them, it's too cruel! It's wrong!

Yeah? And what about us? Giving up our resources to keep someone else alive isn't gonna help us any. And the world's cruel. 'Too cruel' isn't a good enough reason.

Keeping someone alive is more than a good enough reason! We have the farm and rations and hunting, so if we work together, we can get by fine. All of us. The world doesn't have to be that cruel! It shouldn't!

As long as they're useful. If they start cutting into our resources to the point where we can't make it, cut them loose.

[Are you arguing with Aoi? Why are you doing this?]

None of us has any right to decide who's "useful" or not, and we aren't going to. If it gets to the point where some of us might not make it? That's something all of us should figure out, together.

I'm not making this an "us versus them," because it shouldn't be.