"Well, you heard the voice: those of us with a green classification go to the orientation meeting and the ones classified blue go to Detranzed Square."

Stanley looks at Smoke Alarm. He had seen the makeshift shrine in the console room and noticed that she wasn't her usual cheerful self, though she seemed happy to have found her old drawing again. "I know blue is your favourite colour but that doesn't mean you have to go to Detranzed Square if you don't want to."

He looks around at the mostly empty streets. "You know I think it is better if some of us go to that introduction meeting and that the others try to talk to some of the Arsurians."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:05, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

Trav pokes her head out. This reminds her all too much cities that were conquered and cowed by one conquerer or another - she did this quite a few times herself. It was like visiting a Robotech Master mothership, or Chi Town on Rifts Earth. It was a scene she had seen thousands of times over the centuries.

"What confuses me," says Trav, "Is how a bunch of kung fu guys could roll over a habitat with an actually armed professional defense force and constabulary." She saw Lynn Kyle and martial artists in R Space do some amazing things. "Sereth, have Draconian armed forces actually encountered these guys in combat?"

As she locks up the TARDIS, Trav opines, "Unless anyone else has a plan, I think I'm going to walk up and simply introduce myself. Because, aside from either challenging these guys to a Kung Fu tournament, I can think of anything smarter to do than walk around and ask questions, which will inevitably lead to us getting captured. I want to speak to their leader, as well as get a look at that blue orb."

Trav flips a coin. It comes up tails.
15:55, Today: The Traveller rolled 2 using 1d2 with rolls of 2. Trav flips a coin. 1=heads (blue), 2=tails (green).

"Looks like I'm going with the green group, then."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:57, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

This message was deleted by the player at 21:09, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

A slow shake of his head.

"I do not believe we have faced them in battle yet. In my view; they seem to be consolidating human worlds first. Which suggests that they can be reasoned with; and also they do have a touch of self preservation beyond the brainwashing they undergo."

A frown.

"There are Draconians still on Arsuran. I should find out what they're up to; and how they're being treated. And find out what's happening on the planet from them; I'll have more luck there than blending in anywhere where there's not other Draconians."

A slightly sardonic twist of his lips.

"And we all look the same to humans, right?"

"Depends on the humans. I guess it depends on their range of experience with saurian folk. I'm not a good person to ask, I'm not human."

Smoke Alarm went dumpster-diving for a while, retrieving some more of her meagre possessions, thoughtlessly thrown in the bin, and anything else that looked interesting. Bits of blue, shiny metals that could be useful tools, some arrows she'd been working on (a pencil with a razor-sharp metal dart tied to the end), an old and well-thumbed Karkus comic book, and wallscrawling supplies, such as paints, brushes, pencils, and a spray-can.

She poked her head over the dumpster to answer Stanley with a grin. 'No ballgames, no flyposts, no doing what the big Caretaker voice says.' The Kang hopped out of the skip bin and landed neatly in the ground, hurrying over to the TARDIS to toss her painting and some other things inside before Traveller locked the doors.

Joining in, she suggested 'I can visit Mrs Maglup. Mayhaps Old Gaross and Peet. We can ask if they have any to-do with the Fists.'


OOC: I imagine Old Gaross and Peet are homeless people Smoke knows.

So, I have Trav headed to the orientation session (with Stanley?), Sereth investigating his fellow Draconians, and Smoke Alarm looking up Mrs. Maglup and her old friends.

Amanda's inclination would be to tag along after Smoke Alarm by instinct as she'd be afraid of the Kang getting into trouble, although she won't be too obvious about that.  If someone has another preference we'll go with that.

Everyone will be able to find their destinations without a problem.  Those who want to avoid observation can make a Coordination + Subterfuge roll, or a Presence + Subterfuge for a more "hiding in plain sight" option.  You can also make Awareness + Ingenuity rolls to look for clues about the occupation as you go, or pair Awareness with a skill if there's something specific you have in mind to look for.

Finding Old Gaross and/or Peet will take an Awareness + Ingenuity (+ Keen Senses of course) for Smoke Alarm.

The Draconian moved quietly to the sector his fellow Draconians were in; intending to find out what was happening since the occupation.

Dicerolling:
14:56, Today: Sereth rolled 11 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 1,4. Presence + Subterfuge (Hiding plain sight).


14:56, Today: Sereth rolled 13 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 3,4. Awareness + Ingenuity.

"... I am not going to answer that." Stanley says quickly and he turns to Trav."I'm coming with you to the orientation meeting. We'd better get going if we don't want to be late."

Stanley begins walking towards where the orientation meeting was being held.

OOC:
12:07, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 11 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 5,2. Presence + Subterfuge (Hiding in plain sight).
12:13, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 16 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 2,6. Awareness + Ingenuity. (looking for clues about the occupation)

Smoke Alarm looked left and right as the team started moving off in different directions. 'Do you need a guide to go lost-and-found? I know all the streets and towers.'

She made a strange gesture to Traveller and Stanley, building one fist on top of the other, before jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. 'Build high for happiness. 'Ware Fists.' she said, wishing them luck and caution.

Then she started bouncing eagerly after Sereth. 'Leg-it Sereth! Want me to guide? I know all the unseen inways.'
This message was lightly edited by the player at 00:58, Wed 22 Jan 2014.

After noting a few street signs (which have not been removed in the general cleanup and drab-ifying which seem to have been taking place) Stanley and Trav start to see some people making their way out along the streets, tending to flow in a common direction.  Stanley notices that they're dressed in everyday clothing which tends toward the plain and loose-fitting side.  There are representatives of a number of nonhuman species, though humans do make up the majority.  The expressions he sees tend toward a sense of resignation.

As they move further along, Stanley notes that a few Fists seem to be on patrol, usually in pairs.  They appear to be simply noting that the residents are making progress toward the destination.  Stanley and Trav seem get a couple of somewhat more searching looks from these than the others they are moving among, but none of the Fists says anything.

The flow of pedestrians leads towards a small recreation area that appears to consist of a running track surrounding a number of small fenced areas, apparently for some kind of ball game -- Stanley is reminded of tennis courts, except that these have an octagonal layout with colored walls on each side.  In the middle of one of these courts is an improvised platform, where a couple of Fists are standing.  More Fists are arrayed around the track, where most of the residents are filing in.

Stanley notices one woman among the assembling citizens who's wearing an angry expression; her hands clench into fists momentarily, then she releases them.  She's wearing a green shirt and slacks that remind Stanley of hospital scrubs.

Sereth and Smoke, with Amanda bringing up the rear, make their way to the far side of the district, where Sereth knows a family of the Throne's subjects is staying.  There are Fists out patrolling in pairs, and they watch the big Draconian very carefully.  But they seem not to notice his honor blade, and Smoke seems to vanish and rematerialize as the Fists come and go, while Amanda trails at a discreet distance.  The Fists, at any rate, make no comment.

Sereth (and the others, hanging back) arrive at a small and slightly shabby two-story building where Szezak Desad runs an electronics repair shop.  There's a sign in the window reading CLOSED, despite the time of day.  When Sereth presses the comm button to signal the apartment above the shop, where Szezak, his mate and his daughter live, there's a pause, and then Szezak's tinny voice comes over the speaker.

"Legate?  Legate Sereth?"  Szezak's voice is hopeful and perhaps slightly frantic.  "Sir -- you should get off the street.  Here; I'll unlock the shop for you."

There's a buzz and a chunk as the bolt on the shop door releases.

"Heaven forbid we be late to our appointment with the bad guys."

As they move, Trav is striding like she owns the damn place. Stan notices that she's left her pistols back at the TARDIS - it seems that she senses some kind of code of honor is at play here, and that carrying the turbopistols will send the wrong message.

As they walk, Trav slips her arm into Stan's. "Been so busy, I haven't had a chance to ask you how you've been, babe."  As she tips her fedora to passing by Fists, she says to him, "glad to see you're still OK about all of this."

Once she knew where Sereth wanted to be ougoing, Smoke Alarm showed him and Amanda some good inways to get there, with options of direct, unseen, and "fun". Naturally, the egg-head chose the direct route. She preferred to stay off the open streets herself, away from outlooks, especially when there were Fists or other forms of caretaker about. So Smoke Alarm often slipped off out sight, out where it wasn't so shiny and clean and blank walls, and scampered off down the alleys and climbed over low walls and fences behind the towers. But she was always there when needed, usually before she was wanted, or when she wasn't wanted at all. Especially when she wasn't unwanted.

There was some method to her meandering though, as she sought out common hide-ins, sleepy-holes, and brainquarters for Arsuran's homeless, beggars, street-kids, itinerants, and a few petty criminals. She also eyespied for the wallscrawls and other secret signs the long-termers left for each other, marking certain places and ways, while watching out for gang territory markers. But the cleaners had cleaned up so much that it was hard for Smoke to find much. In particular, she eyespied for signs of Gaross, Peet, and others she knew, and wondered what the Fists, the big meanie-head caretakers, would do with those they couldn't so easily clean up. The talky-man Zeres had something about disposing of transient individuals. Had they all been taken to the Cleaners?

She joined Sereth and Amanda as they came to the Draconian shop, looking up at the two-storey tower. Two storeys! They must be rich!


OOC: Moving stealthily, avoiding noticing, taking back alleys:
13:24, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 15 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 1,6. coord +  subterfuge.

Tracking for Gaross, Peet, or other street-kids:
13:25, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 17 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 5,3. awareness + ingenuity + keen senses.

What have the Fists done with the city's poor?
13:48, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 14 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 2,3. awareness + ingenuity + keen senses.

The Draconian spoke quietly.

"Very well. Have some friends with me as well."

He ushered Smoke and Amanda inside before he stepped in himself; not speaking until Szezak had locked the door again.

"You can trust this pair. Like you, they fall under my protection."

In reply to The Traveller (msg # 16):

"Yeah well...I just think we need to help Ru and the people of Farhaven. I think it is a good thing we went here to try and solve the problem instead of...er...instead of going to Space Vegas." Stanley says, keeping his voice down. He looks at the woman with the green shirt and the angry expression. "Looks like the people here aren't very happy with the Fists either. I wonder how they classified everyone?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:53, Wed 22 Jan 2014.

In reply to Stanley Newton (msg # 19):

"To be honest, I was afraid that my getting involved would result in their being more bad trouble I couldn't handle. I'd have just dived right in if I were younger. That's why I need people like you to show me the right thing to do. Every time I do this alone, it ends up in disaster."  Boobie never had any doubts. He's stroll right in and fuck shit up. Was he terrified? Of course he was. But he could always hide it, I never can. Don't let fear paralyze you, Trav.

Trav takes off her hat and strides up to the angry woman, after taking a look to make sure no cops or Fists were nearby. "Hello, Miss? You seem a little upset. Is everything OK?"

14:36, Today: The Traveller rolled 14 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 4,5. Trav approaches angry woman - 2d6+Presence(3)+Convince(2).

Smoke covers a lot of ground in her searching.  She feels pretty confident that she's been able to move about without any Fists being able to eye-spy her, and she has even managed to steer the Leg-it around a few of the patrols.

She is able to make her way to a place that she and Peet found one day when they were seek-and-finding, a disused sparky-box that held the gadgetry for running the up-lights that shone down when the Ring turned and the streets would have gone dark.  The box is made of metal and there is enough extra space inside it that Smoke Alarm or Peet could fit, if they were careful about the wires and techy-bits.  It was a handy place to hide things for a short time, when you were out and about and not close to your box.

Peet isn't there, and he hasn't left anything behind that Smoke recognizes -- but she does eye-spy something scratched into the metal, inside the box where only someone small as her could wriggle back.  It's a symbol like a Tee drawn inside an Emm inside a diamond, and she can remember finding a symbol just like that when she and Peet were exploring one day, down in the tunnels beneath the streets.  The symbol was on a big round door set into the floor with a wheel for a handle.  She and Peet had tried getting into it, but turning the wheel made a big screeching noise and they'd run off in case anyone heard them.

And the symbol hadn't been here inside the sparky-box the last time Smoke Alarm remembered.  Could Peet have left it as a sign?

The front of Szezak's shop is empty when Sereth and the others enter, with a screen drawn down over the window, and the door self-locks when Sereth closes it.  Around the place are several worktables with half-disassembled gear, tools and diagnostic equipment on them.  Sereth knows the stairs to the family's apartment are through the back of the shop.

But he hears Szezak calling from that direction.  "Come, please bring your friends up so we can talk."

At the top of the stairs, the door to the apartment is open.  Inside, Sereth and the others find Szezak and three other Draconians -- two, Sereth recognizes as Szezak's mate Penya and his daughter Fadreen.  The fourth is a young male that Sereth also recognizes, whose name is Gilso, and who Sereth knows for a bit of a layabout.

"You've returned," Szezak says breathlessly.  "I couldn't decide whether or not to try to make it to the spaceport, until it was too late, and then there were no more ships.  My shop, you see," he goes on.  He's babbling a bit.  "It would have meant starting all over again.  But now -- it might mean that anyway, I think."

"If you're lucky," Gilso puts in.  He meets Sereth's gaze arrogantly.  "Well, you came back, I guess I've got to give you that.  Figured you had cut and run for good."  He makes a dismissive gesture toward Smoke Alarm and Amanda, the latter of which is hovering hesitantly at the doorway to the apartment.  "Who're they?"

The woman stares at Trav.  "Okay?  Are you kidding?  Where have you been?"  She takes in Trav's outfit.  "Kind of pushing your luck dressed like that, aren't you?  Appearance codes came out a couple of days ago.  I'm surprised they haven't confiscated that hat for a start!"

Although the woman's response is on the belligerent side, there's a ragged edge to it: Trav and Stanley can both read how brittle her anger is.  She's probably lashing out because she's found someone who she understands, on some level, won't lash back.

He held Gilso's gaze steadily.

"Just... don't."

He then gestures to each in turn.

"Smoke. Amanda. They've been helpful. And now it's time for us to see what can be done for the Draconian citizens still stuck here. The Fists have delivered an ultimatum to the Crown; no matter how delicately they phrased it."

He then turns back to Szezak.

"How bad are things here? Catch me up to speed."

OOC:
14:13, Today: Sereth rolled 14 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 4,1. Presence + Convince. Trying to calm down Gilso.

Smoke Alarm reached into the sparky-box and traced the tee-emm sign, thinking of Peet. The Boy was fun, and she liked playing and running with him, but he made her feel funny inside. It was a good kind of funny. She hoped this wallscrawl meant he was sound-and-safe. Maybe she could come back here later and meet him.

*

At the egg-heads' home-sweet-home, Smoke Alarm paused at the door, wary of entering until Sereth gestured her in. She still hovered near the door of the apartment, quiet and closed, and ready to run in case of danger. She remembered Rezzies would sometimes invite Kangs in to their apartments, give them sweets, then make them unalive and eat them up. So she actually managed to stay still and quiet, though she eyespied curiously at a collection of Draconian origami, raising a finger to a paper War-Saurus...

Sereth glanced at Smoke; and for possibly the first time, addressed her clearly as an equal, without any sign of condescenion, and moved towards her, looking directly at her.

"Don't fear these people. I vouch for them, and, whilst you and Amanda are with me, my oath of protection to Traveller holds to you as well. As I said, you fall under my protection."

Smoke Alarm paused and retracted her finger from the paper monster. She looked up at Sereth, nodded, and promised 'Brave and bold.' With Sereth's promise, she relaxed a little, drifting another step into the room.


OOC: How old is Fadreen? Maybe Smoke might talk to her.

In reply to The Guardian (msg # 23):

"Yes, where have we been?" Stanley asks, half asking Trav, half trying to pass this off as a rhetorical question. "I mean Arsuran has changed a lot since those Fists took over."

OoC: Sereth what happened to the green text?