DEPLOYMENT 17: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Boomstick

[walking_nuke]

[Balin's been a really rare sight at the house ever since the Friday before last. He's spending almost all of his waking hours in town, even on Mother's Day. Outside of work, he's become a lot more focused on accomplishing something with his demolitions projects.]

[Though today, he gets a belated birthday present. As he heads out the door to work, he spies a package lying on the porch. Rather than taking it inside, Balin's curiosity gets the best of him and he opens it on the spot ...]

[... To reveal a shotgun. One big enough to have its own zip code and mean enough to come with its own postal worker. It looks suited to being a turret on a scale model battleship rather than in the hands of a human. Its ammo belt already has a few canisters pre-loaded into it. The sight of it makes Balin's eyes gleam.]

... Now we're talkin'.

[ACTION - A (Anywhere in Mayfield, Morning to Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[You might catch Balin on the streets while he's out running his personal errands. In place of the Remington 870 shotgun he'd been carrying around with him for months, he's going to be carrying the Series 3 Triple Incendiary Shotgun. It comes with its own back-mounted holster, so he doesn't have the shotgun sling on him either.]

[ACTION - B (John Doe Park, Morning, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Balin's taken a detour on his way to work in order to test out his latest piece of regained hardware. He's standing in a spot of open ground with a pail full of water from the nearby pond—just in case things get out of hand. Taking aim at the open sky, he pulls the trigger, and a flesh-searing armor-melting inferno that's twenty meters high at its most potent spews forth. Enjoy your wakeup call!]

[ACTION - C (Neutron Diner, Morning, Afternoon, or Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Balin's also been frequenting the Diner for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, since it gives him a place to sit down, eat, and work on brainstorming and planning—and the drones don't seem to bother him at all, provided he sits down at a booth. You'll likely see him jotting down notes or making rough sketches in a journal while taking bites out of a hamburger or a pathetic imitation of a Philly cheesesteak.]

[ACTION - D (Jonathon's Tools, Early Afternoon, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Balin's taking a look around the hardware store, though he doesn't seem to be buying anything today. He's making note of construction materials and any items the store has pertaining to electronics or electric wiring, as well as checking up on the different kinds of paint for sale.]

[ACTION - E (339 Brady Lane, Afternoon, HOUSE RESIDENTS)]

[While Balin was able to rig up simple detonators from what he found at the construction yard, doing something on the level of what he had planned would require some help to get right. To that end, he's stopping by Quinn's house to see if the guy's home. If the garage is open he'll be taking a peek to see if the technomancer's hanging around. If not, he'll head over to the front porch and ring the doorbell.]

Yo, Quinn! You there?

[He really should have phoned ahead ...]

[ACTION - F (Mayfield Outskirts, Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Like he's been doing for the past week, Balin continues to test and experiment with the C-4 he had created in the past week or two. By now, all the test detonations in that field have created some ready-made earthworks for future testing—a short trench five feet deep, beyond which are other shallow craters where more bricks of C-4 have gone off.]

[Balin can be found out here doing a final battery of experiments with what remains of his first few batches of C-4. Which means there'll be the occasional explosion coming from the outskirts of town—just mind the sign by the side of the road if you head out that way to investigate.]

Comments

Bah! Four days old tagback is nothing. XD

[walking_nuke]

[Seieng she picked up on what that meant, Balin's expressions softens a little. Thinking about it still gives him bad memories. He looks to the side, running a hand through his hair.]

It's ahright. Well, I mean—it ain't ahright, but'ere's nothin' I can do about it. Nothin' I ain't already doin' back ... where I'm from, that is.

[photonicfighter]

Yeah. It's not really alright, but... well. You're still fighting? That counts for something. [She smiles carefully. It's likely a touchy and delicate subject.]

We're having problems of our own, where I'm from. But it hadn't gotten to that point, when I... left. I hope it hasn't progressed....

[walking_nuke]

People've told me that when'ey send us back, it's at'a exact point we left.

What's happenin' back home for you?

[photonicfighter]

True. That's what they say. But it's possible that reports are unreliable? Mm. It's hard to think of time being... halted, like that.

I'm not from Earth. I'm from the Gurhal system. We've been invaded by something called the SEED. They arrive like seed pods or spaceships, then burst open and infect the local wildlife. And reproduce like mad. And they're violent. We're managing to beat them back, mostly... but we can't quite seem to defeat them entirely. There always seem to be more.

1/2

[walking_nuke]

Oh, huh—so you ain't just an android, you're an alien android. Guess'at's why you got purple skin, huh? Take after your creators?

[Balin's expression mellows out a bit as he processes the rest of what Dakki said.]

2/2

[walking_nuke]

... An you got aliens of your own to worry about, huh. Yeah, I know all about shitty odds.

[photonicfighter]

Er... no. I just like purple. I had some input into my design when I was... repaired. [She blinks innocently.] Humans and Newmans and Beasts generally have the same range of skin tones that I've seen here.

...so your Earth fell to aliens?

[walking_nuke]

[Dakki's explanation for her purple skin gets a nod of acknowledgment. Balin's more curious about her hesitance to say she was repaired. That and the bit about Newmans and Beasts.]

It did, yeah. Galactic superpower called'a Bane came down on us hard. Almost outta nowhere. ... Never really stood a chance.

[photonicfighter]

[Dakki, for her part, is curious about this "Bane" business. Her expression remains inquisitive.]

I've already said it... but I'm sorry. You've still been fighting them?

[walking_nuke]

Yeah. Long an' short of it is, there was an operation by'is group called'a Britannia Project to get as many people off-planet as'ey could. Had a lot of government backing.

They were takin' everyone'ey could, but rescue priority went to soldiers, scientists, an' Receptives. An'at last one, that's what I am. Only reason why I lived.

Everybody who made it out, we're all soldiers now.

[photonicfighter]

[It's an astonishing story. Dakki's eyes go wide as Balin tells his abridged version of it. How horrible that is. And how brave he is.]

That couldn't have been easy for you. It's a hard life. Ah... what do you mean by "Receptives"?

[walking_nuke]

By that? I've got'a right set of genes to receive information on Logos from'a Eloh.

[A beat.]

It's kind of ... well, that's gonna be a long story too. One I only started learnin' about after survivin' bootcamp.

[photonicfighter]

Oh. [None of it was terribly enlightening. Logos and Eloh... what? There were so many interesting questions to be asked! But...]

I don't mind long stories. But you're not out here for stories, I'm sure. You've got that nice new incendiary shotgun, after all. Although... how much ammo did they give you?

[walking_nuke]

Nah, I don't mind sharin' it, just it's long, yeah? Not somethin' I can explain too easy—

[He glances back at the shotgun while considering Dakki's other question.]

—an' not'at much, actually. Not enough for an extended firefight. An' all our thermal weapons use canister-based ammo. Nothin' like we had on Earth, 'specially not durin'is time period.

[photonicfighter]

Maybe you can compare it to something? ...Aaah, not much?

[Back to weapon matters!] That's a shame. It's nice to test it out, but I'd be reserving my ammo for an emergency. Were you around for the "zombies"?

I wonder if you could find someone to make you some more....

1/2

[walking_nuke]

Heh, if anybody could, that'd be nice. I could, 'cause I'm a combat engineer an'a Postman sent me a workstation we use for fabricatin' stuff in'a AFS, but to do that I need schematics an'a shitload'a micromech.

[Why, that sounds a lot like a Partner Machine!]

2/2

[walking_nuke]

[His face sours at the mention of the zombie outbreak, though.]

Yeah, I was. I had almost nothin' with me at'a time, too. Now, though, I got other stuff on hand. Some of my Logos Abilities, f'instance.

[photonicfighter]

Aah, that sounds quite a lot like what a Partner Machine can do. But you lack the proper materials and schematics, is that it? The town hasn't provided those?

[And back to that word, "Logos"... maybe it was time to ask after all.]

I hope you made it through alright! I didn't do so well at first... mm, what are Logos Abilities?

Finally able start tagging again! Sorry about the long wait!

[walking_nuke]

I made it out okay, yeah. All'a people in my house lived through it fine.

[That phrase, "Partner Machine," makes Balin curious—that would be a strange glorified name for a piece of stationary equipment. He'd ask about it, but Dakki's own curiosity about Logos distracts him.]

Logos is'is system an alien race came up with like thousands of years ago. I'm talkin' way back. It allows a sentient mind to affect'a physical universe. Way I heard it from people who work in Logos R&D, the Eloh figured it out after they came up with a grand unified theory or two. Stuff we ain't worked out yet ourselves.

[He glances down at one of his hands, flexing it for a moment.]

Not just anybody can use Logos, though.

No problemo!

[photonicfighter]

[Dakki looks quite interested as she takes in the discussion of Logos. Such an interesting history!]

Aah, that sounds like some sort of TECHNIC method. [She looks down at the hand that he's flexing, and gives a little nod. That sort of confirms it.] That's not my area of expertise, though. I'm useless with TECHNICS. They've got equipment where I'm from that can allow almost anyone to use them... it takes a truly talented Force to be able to do it without wands or rods, though.

I don't suppose you could give me a demonstration? [She's already smiling excitedly at the prospect!]

[walking_nuke]

[He nods wordlessly every now and then while Dakki mentions TECHNICs. What gets him, though, is the mention of actual rods and wands. He can't help but imagine what the wizards from her world must look like.]

[Which means he's thinking "robe and wizard hat."]

[He refocuses on the here-and-now at Dakki's askance, though.]

—Oh, a demonstration? Yeah, sure, I can do'at. Lesse ...

[Balin glances around the park for a moment, turning about and considering the locale. Trees, lampposts, signs ... He eventually settles on a lone tree not too far from the two of them, off to Dakki's right. He points at it.]

Watch'at tree'ere.

[With a gesture that looks a little like pulling down window blinds, a holographic image appears in front of Balin's left hand. It looks like a softly glowing blue tablet, with diagrams flickering inside it that Dakki may recognize as having to do with electrostatic discharges. A moment later, a large ideogram appears within the tabula—]



[Balin pulls his hand back, then thrusts it out palm outward—launching a bolt of lightning from the palm of his hand that strikes the nearby tree, leaving a smoking charred spot where the bolt hit it. Despite being this close to Balin, though, Dakki shouldn't be adversely affected by the discharge.]

[photonicfighter]

[There are some pretty silly clothes, back in the Gurhal system. Robe and wizard hat isn't too far from the truth...

But yes, there's a here and there's a now and there's interesting possibly-photonic manifestations happening! Dakki takes it in with much interest, leaning slightly forwards to better see what the diagrams and ideograms are forming....]

Aaah!

[Though she jumps back when the bolt actually goes off.]

That's very nice! That's different! Not quite exactly TECHNIC-like... that's very interesting!

[walking_nuke]

[Balin turns back to look over at Dakki with a smirk.]

An'at's just what'ey teach'a Recruits at bootcamp.

[photonicfighter]

That's some boot camp! [Yes, she looks quite impressed.]

How long did it take for Mayfield to let you have that back?

[walking_nuke]

Uh ... lesse. Well, they gave me back my PT gear the same month they kidnapped me, an'en my tabula in September. Didn't get my actual Lightning back until after Thanksgiving.

[Looking just a little bitter.]

Really coulda used it'en, but it wouldn't've mattered anyhow. Anyway, I still ain't got everything I normally have, Logos Abilities included.