DEPLOYMENT 18: The Shadow on the Sun

[walking_nuke]

[Balin once had a nightmare about this.]

[Perhaps he'll find it bitterly ironic someday that now, as far as Mayfield is concerned, he has lived out that nightmare.]

[When Balin woke on Friday, it was with memories from a future in which the absolute end of humanity at hand. It started with the AFS discovering the fate of Earth after losing contact for so many years—and HIGHCOM deciding to act upon it. After a few months of hard fighting with squads of the AFS' strongest, most battle-hardened Receptives leading the charge to retake Earth, the Bane finally had enough. They staged a massive counteroffensive on Foreas and Arieki, not unlike that which befell Earth and Erdas years ago.]

[Despite the gift of Logos bestowed by the Eloh to humanity, and despite the swelling ranks of Logos Receptive soldiers via the cloning programs in place, the resulting battles were a slaughter. The Neph, dark siblings to the Eloh and the Bane's leading race, personally saw to the destruction of the Army of Allied Free Sentients. One Neph warrior could easily best an entire unit of elite Receptives or armored vehicles—to say nothing of the veritable tidal wave of regular Bane forces that swept the two planets. One by one, every major stronghold and base on Arieki and Foreas was utterly destroyed, sealing the fate of the Brann, then the Foreans—and, finally, humanity.]

[The AFS never truly stood a chance against a galactic superpower after all.]

[And perhaps Penumbra—the AFS' covert ops division—knew it. Word about the "doomsday device" they'd prepared for this occasion had spread as the situation grew grim. One final "fuck you," designed to annihilate the Bane's invasion force along with whatever scraps of AFS resistance remained.]

[In this future, Balin fought and was mortally wounded in the futile effort to break the Bane's counteroffensive. With the fall of Fort Defiance, he was lett for dead in the Plateau region of Valverde, one of Foreas' continents. Balin doesn't have a life to return to if the town releases him—or so he believes. Humanity's last stand against the Bane has left him with little will to resist Mayfield's vile leadership. He is more sullen, more apathetic to the plight of others in the town, and will only fight to ensure the survival of himself or those he knows (and has a reason to care about).]

[ACTION - A (847 Goldberg, Morning/Late Morning, HOUSEMATES/GUESTS)]

[Usually Balin would be much more focused on his project with the homebrew perimeter defense, but today his heart doesn't seem to be in it. He does tinker with it, looking over his notes while trying to find the best way to assemble a housing for the explosive charge and the payload. Maybe it's the way his eyes look a lot more unfocused—but haven't they always been that way?]

[ACTION - B (Outside 847 Goldberg, Noon, OPEN TO ALL)]

[First order of business: cleaning up the yard. After that fight Meiling and Utsuho had the other day, the yard has been a mess, with Meiling's scales and Utsuho's feathers strewn everywhere. Balin's out trying to rake up the detritus, and he's got help—in the form of Caesar, who is also affected by his own bout of memory corruption.]

[Care to stop by?]

[Note: For this prompt, responses may come from either Balin, Caesar (commentboxtroll), or both. Specify if you want someone specific!]

[ACTION - C (Anywhere in Mayfield, Afternoon/Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Balin's still keeping to his usual physical training regimen. It may serve no purpose to stay fit for the war back home, but between Mayfield's whims and the sadistic residents, there's no reason not to stay in shape. So you might run into him around town, jogging or doing push-ups. He's also heavily armed, of course—having heard some of the genocidal declarations over the phone lines this week, if he gets caught by one of them he won't be going down without a brutal fight.]

[ACTION - D (Makeout Point, Night, OPEN TO ALL)]

[With nothing left to do for today, Balin's going to be spending some time stargazing up at Makeout Point. He's got a case of Mayfield's consumer-brand beer with him. He'd never been a heavy drinker, but the fact that he's survived death only to be a plaything to the people who run this town has overwhelmed him tonight. He might be a little drunk if you come to see what he's up to. Just a little.]

Comments

a

[bantorain]

-Maybe a cold beer and a hug will cheer you up.-

[ACTION - D]

[pkrincess]

[In a vain effort to escape some of the AU wackiness, Kumatora takes a little walk up to Makeout Point. She sees Balin and approaches.]

Hey. Whatcha' doin' up here?

[ukelelenogood]

[Don't mind the crazy pink haired lady who is just driving slip-shod around Makeout Point on her Vespa.

Well. Don't mind her until she tumbles off the Vespa and next to you Balin.]

Hey.

How're you?

Got a beer for a lady?

B

[captain_tightpants]

[Your neighbor across the street at 848 Goldberg has stepped out onto his front porch and is surveying the mess with mild amusement.]

Howdy. Looks like quite the mighty battle commenced. At least, s'far as I can gather. I'm more accustomed to scorch marks and bleedin' corpses myself.

[Despite the gory imagery Mal seems cheery as he steps down to the sidewalk.]

C

[spitefulvitae]

[There's someone else out at this hour of the early evening, just as it's starting to truly get dark. Someone that didn't quite realize that there was a jogger coming from behind her until he was uncomfortably close. She jolts, and spins, and jumps out of the way, and hisses at him...

...and then seems to catch herself, both hands flying over her mouth.]