"Another life threatening waste of time...great."

After offering his usual complaint Gareth accesses the active panel and attempts to deactivate the launcher before searching for historical records.

Gareth is able to access the antiair vehicle's controls, and finds that not only is it immobilized, it's fuel tank is empty and the battery is nearly depleted. It will run out of power and shut down in a few minutes. He shuts it down anyway, and the system reports the fact.

The facility's logs have been deleted, but there is a maintenance entry dated 12/IX/1165 regarding setting the facility to autonomous operation.

Veronica and Joxe are able to scavenge about two hundred kilos of spare parts for the ship and even some spares for the air raft. Notably, there are no personal items or food packages left in the facility.

Brent searches around the corners and cabinets of the facility as his team works.  When they've finished their work he gathers them all in the control room.  "Let's shut this place down gently and then get the salvage to the ship.  Then I think we give the people at the city hall a proper burial, perhaps immolate them.  After that, Joxe, is there anything you want to explore?"

Brent finds only empty cabinets.

"Perhaps we can lift off and land outside this building?" Veronica asks.

Joxe nods. "My parents' quarters are, or were, a few blocks from the government center." She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I'd like to take everyone there right before we leave."

Brent nods.  "Gareth, let's go back to the ship and I'll bring her over.  No one should go about alone in case there are more of the robots about."  He reaches out and takes Joxe's hand.  "We'll visit with you if you want."

Joxe squeezes Brent's hand through their gloves. "I want everyone there. It won't take long."

Brent leaned forward and touched helmets with Joxe.  "We're all there for you."  He waved to Gareth and took off at a trot to the ship.  Once there he activated the engines and slowly hovered over to land in front of the small building.

Wanderer settles to the ground just in front of the disabled antiair vehicle, stirring up dust as the pads settle down. It takes fifteen minutes to load and stow the parts and supplies.

Joxe steps into her quarters for a moment, and then returns to the cargo bay. "Are we ready to go back into the dome for a little bit?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:37, Wed 08 Aug 2018.

Brent helps with the loading and as they finish he walks over and takes Joxe's hand.  "We're ready.  We have unfinished business here, all of us."

"I would like everyone to come with Brent and I to visit my parents' former home," Joxe says.

Veronica steps over to Naimh and, in a bold move, takes her by the hand. "Will you go with me," she asks over a private channel between the two of them.

"I'll gladly go," Malcolm says as he walks a few steps toward the dome. "Gareth, are you coming?"

Gareth thinks of a thousand reasons not to bother, but decides earning the trust of his subordinates has some value.

"Yes I will go."

Reserving further comment Gareth joins the departing group.

Brent turns to Joxe; "I think everyone wants to join you.  Lead us if you will."

With Joxe at the head of the group with Brent, the team makes their way back into the dome and through the streets to the government building. "What will we do with the remains? There's no oxygen in here, so we can't set a fire."

Brent frowns as the sight of the bodies again.  "It would be long and grisly work to carry all the dead to one place.  The best thing to do might be to drop the building on them if we could do so."

"That will work if we have enough explosives on hand. Otherwise we will have to leave them as we found them. It is not wise to linger here."

"We could hit them with the ship's laser," Veronica suggested quietly.

Brent looked at Veronica and nodded. "That would be very appropriate.  Could we also use the main engine exhausts?"

"I don't think so," Veronica replied.

"No, the dome is too tough. Oh, it might fail after ten minutes or so, but only locally," Joxe put in. She led the way down the street by the government building, turned down a side street, and stopped in front of a group of houses that lined the block. "This is it."

Brent considered their options.  "Can we target the lasers well enough to do the trick through the dome itself?"

When they reached the house he squeezed Joxe's hand.  He looked at the houses, memorizing the area as the tragedy of the world hit again, hard.  "Do you want us to follow you inside Joxe?"

"Sure," Veronica answered Brent's question, and then she turned to face Joxe.

"Yes, please come in." Joxe tried the door release, and found that it operated easily. The party filed inside one at a time. The front room was a sitting area, further back was a dining area and a kitchen. A small lift set into the central wall apparently led to more rooms on other levels. The house wasn't large, but it seemed comparable to the quarters the others had seen at home.

Joxe touched the fabric of a chair, and she gave a small cry of dismay as it crumbled under her gloved finger. "We can stand in the dining area," she said as she led Brent by the hand. They all gathered in the open area between the dining room and the kitchen.

"I asked Brent to bring me here, to my family home," Joxe began. "He and I have something we wish to announce to you, our friends." She looked to Brent.

Brent nodded to Veronica in agreement.  He walked in silently behind Joxe and sighed to himself as she looked around her home.  He squeezed her hand again and followed her into the dining room.  He looks around again at evidence of Joxe's former life and takes a deep breath.  Brent looks into Joxe's eyes and smiles and then meets the eyes of the assembled team.

"Friends...you are all my good friends here.  I want to share with you the most important moment in my life."  He looks down again at Joxe and smiles at her; "Our lives."

Another deep breath.  "In the midst of the tragedy and loss I want to pledge to you all our friends to the future.  Joxe and I have decided to marry and build a future with each other and with all of you our good friends.  We want to perform a brief ceremony here in her home with you as witnesses and fellow travelers."

Veronica reached out toward Naimh, and the physician moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with her. Malcolm clasped his hands behind his back and smiled at Brent and Joxe.

Joxe turns to face Brent. "I have come across time and space to find you and bring you here, as close to my family as I can."

Brent turned as well to face Joxe and took both of her hands.  "Through the emptiness and darkness I have found you to join together to continue that family."

Joxe clung to Brent's hands. "I don't remember how the wedding vows are supposed to go, but I will be your wife as long as we both live, no matter what."

Brent smiled broadly. "I've never been married and only plan to do it this once so I don't really know the vows either.  As captain though I think that I have all the authority I need to wed us."  He squeezed her hands. "I will be your faithful and loving husband as long as I live through everything."  He pulled her to him and pressed his faceplate against hers.