Day 11, Morning, Open

[resnipstance]

Who: y'all
When: Early on Day 11, as everyone's still getting breakfast
Where: Around... idk the communal campfire...??
What:

[Ahsoka bangs on a piece of scrap metal until it seems like she has most people's attention.]

Hello? Hey? Is this everyone?

... I'm sorry to be all business so early in the morning, but this is important. I know some of you have already noticed, but... by my count, five of our original number are missing.

If it were just one or two people, I'd be inclined to write it off. But five is more concerning. Especially when the cases all seem to be identical. In each case, as far as I can tell, we don't have any record of the people concerned saying that they were going off on their own somewhere, and nobody saw them go. If anyone else has any information to the contrary, please speak up.

Of course, there are plenty of logical explanations, but I think we should start taking precautions so this doesn't become a pattern. This might be an unpopular suggestion, but I think we should discuss setting some ground rules that we all agree on. Such as nobody goes off on their own without at least one other person with them, and when you do leave to go somewhere, you tell someone else and leave a record of it-- the direction we're going, how long we plan to be away, that sort of thing. Maybe we could set up a log book.

... I also think it might be worthwhile instituting a daily headcount in the morning and in the evening. That way if anyone else does go missing, we'll know sooner rather than later, which gives us at least a chance of tracking them. Prints disappear quickly here, so by the time each person's disappearance was noticed, it was too late to find anything to track.

What does everyone else think?

Comments

[naberrie]

[ padmé, pale and withdrawn, her beauty a haunted one, lends her voice to ahsoka's. ]

It's a sensible suggestion.

[ she does not smile in encouragement at ahsoka because the girl does not need it. she had always been proud of ahsoka, never more so than in the present. ahsoka has risen to the occasion spectacularly. it hurts somehow, but it's a rare good ache.

addressing the rest, padmé continues in a voice that has no difficulty carrying to those furthest, ] I have the means to keep a daily log. If those who know the missing will facilitate me with their names and features, I can keep the list.

[ in case they're found. her hand subtly rubs the still rounded expanse of her abdomen ( since reduced in size, but the proof of her children lingers. ) hope isn't something a mother can give up. ]

[resnipstance]

[She doesn't smile-- it's too serious for that. But the look Ahsoka shoots Padmé is grateful nonetheless.]

... Thank you, Padmé.

As for those missing... I know three, personally. The first is Taura. She's about eight foot tall and difficult to miss. The second is a person named Bel Thorne. They're a medic. As for the third-- well. You know them already.

The other two I'm not so sure of.

[naberrie]

[ padmé files the information away. taura, eight feet tall. bel she recalls, having met briefly. as for the third… padmé turns her head. she barely moves at all, otherwise, as dignified in a technological suit in the middle of nowhere as she was in a floor-length gown on the floor of the senate. ]

Others will know.

[ tipping her chin down, she again looks to ahsoka. a ghost of a smile this time tugs at the corners of her mouth. ]

If I'm to start, I'll need my supplies. Will you partner with me today?

[ she doesn't need to be rescued from anakin except she totally needs to be rescued from anakin. ]

[resnipstance]

Of course. You don't need to ask. Lead the way.

[She falls in step beside Padmé. After a few moments:]

Let me guess. Anakin's going stir crazy?

[Her smile isn't so much amused as it is sympathetic.]

[naberrie]

[ bless you for getting her to laugh, ahsoka. padmé shakes her head. ]

That might be me. I don't do well without something to do.

[dendarii]

[ Miles is especially sober, given that two of those six are his own people. ]

I agree whole-heartedly with all of that. Headcounts and a partner system at least.

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka nods, looking grateful.]

Padmé has volunteered to keep up a log, too. Though I'd like something publicly accessible that people can just sign in sign out of, if Padmé isn't around.

I would also very much like to find out where people keep disappearing to, too. This is starting to become a pattern.

[anewhope]

[ Five people? That number seemed higher than Clark had originally estimated. He frowns, deep in concentration. ]

Do you really believe they all just . . . left?

[resnipstance]

I don't know. That's the problem. We just don't have enough information.

All the cases are exactly the same: nobody noticed them gone until after a day or so had passed, so there wasn't anything left to track. None of the missing people informed anyone that they were going anywhere, as far as I'm aware.

[anewhope]

I haven't heard anything. Or felt anything to indicate that they left. Or worse.

[ Because the worst has to be considered but Clark doesn't believe it can happen without a trace. ]

[resnipstance]

[She hesitates.]

... In ... at least one of the cases, I have to assume that he's either dead or no longer on the planet. If he were still here and alive, I'd be able to sense him.

[anewhope]

[ That helps. Clark didn't need the guilt of knowing he failed someone. ]

Then I don't think they left willingly. They must have been picked up somehow.

[resnipstance]

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

But then again-- if that were the case, you'd also think one of us would spot a craft approaching. It's not exactly like the landscape or the sky here is dotted with possibilities, you know?

[anewhope]

[ He shakes his head. ]

We're working with the confines of what we know. But everything about this — how we came to be here, the places we come from and the disparities between them . . . is it so surprising that we wouldn't see them?

[resnipstance]

[She folds her arms.]

I guess they could have some kind of cloaking device. But I don't get it. Why all the secrecy?

[anewhope]

Why not?

We don't know what they want or why we're here. Nothing about their motives are clear.

[resnipstance]

Argh, I know! I mean-- why dump us here and then take us away again, for that matter? Nothing makes any sense!

[anewhope]

[ Clark remains calm in the face of her frustration. ]

Not to us. At least not yet. But we'll find the truth.

[resnipstance]

[honestly clark you would make a good jedi]

... Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[anewhope]

[ Clark nods, his tone gentle. ]

As long as we have hope, we'll get there.

[resnipstance]

[A sigh.]

... Hope is important. But I'd rather have results and progress.

What do you think about the idea of having someone on watch at night? We've been assuming that we're alone out here. But if we aren't, that makes it pretty dangerous for all of us to sleep at the same time.

[anewhope]

[ He considers this. He doesn't think they're alone out here. ]

It would certainly make things safer. And it gives some of the people who are less battle-ready some security.

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka nods.]

I'll put up a roster for people to sign up.

Four two-hour watches?

[anewhope]

[ He absorbs that steadily before replying in his steady cadence. ]

That seems fair. It'll take the edge off.

[resnipstance]

Preferably in pairs.

It helps with staying awake.

[anewhope]

[ He smiles. ]

I think everyone is open to getting enough sleep and being safe.

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka smiles back with good humour.]

I'll say.

I never thought I'd say this, but... I miss caf.

[anewhope]

Caf? . . . Oh, right, caffeine.

[ Clark doesn't generally drink much of that, though he enjoys a cup or two. It doesn't do anything for him after all. ]

I imagine there are a lot of things people miss.

[resnipstance]

... I don't miss that much, honestly. Food is the main thing.

But that one surprised me.

[anewhope]

Why?

[ It seems normal. Granted, Clark hasn't had time to sit down and think about it. There's too much grief to fully process. ]

[resnipstance]

I think it was one of those things I just took for granted. I never really thought about it that much until-- suddenly, it's gone.

[anewhope]

Isn't that how it always is?

Still . . . I don't think that means it's gone. It may be out of sight for a while, but it'll come back.

[resnipstance]

[That makes her think about the Order-- there one day, gone the next.]

... I suppose it is.

[anewhope]

[ He looks away. ]

There's more than one way to keep it alive.

[resnipstance]

[She gives him a long look, then.]

... Are we still talking about caf?

[anewhope]

[ He smiles faintly with a shrug. ]

Caf is very important to some people.

[adamance]

I want to know why you haven't concluded that they might have been taken.

[It's not that Lexa disagrees with the proposals, but she does think that there are other factors to consider. Thinking that some of these people just wandered off will limit their perspective.

But then, she wonders if she is alone in her experience here.]

[resnipstance]

It's definitely high on the list of possibilities.

But I don't think it's a good idea to start a panic over something we don't have direct confirmation of yet.

[adamance]

It's less the matter of "panicking" and more that we may be able to prevent these abductions if we know what's causing them. [Or who, but she doesn't go that far, not yet.]

[resnipstance]

I'm definitely thinking about setting up a watch shift at night anyway.

What would you suggest?

[adamance]

[It's been so long since her people started being taken that she realizes she should have meditated on this already to speak to the other Commanders. Without that available to her in the moment, she knows she has to wing it and depend on her knowledge. It will have to be enough.]

A system so that when someone is taken, they are able to leave a marker behind. It's not dependable, but it could be a start. Watches may have to occur at all hours.

[resnipstance]

Hm. I like that idea-- the markers. Good one. It would have to be something easy enough to make and carry around, but distinctive enough for people to find. Things getting lost in the sand is a real problem around here.

As for watches, let's start with nighttime first. See how that goes. If it goes well, I wouldn't be opposed to stepping it up.

[adamance]

My people train scouts for these duties. They're warriors who can handle themselves. Before we left for the swarm, I had spoken with a number of people about instating them.

I believe we would still be best suited for having scouts who will go ahead, and report back to the group.

[resnipstance]

... Hmmmm. What you're talking about is a lot more organised than what I had in mind.

I mean-- honestly? I agree. That would definitely be the best approach. But a lot of people here are civilians. I think you're going to have a hard time convincing them to stay put and follow orders.

[adamance]

My people don't have as hard of lines drawn between what makes a warrior and what makes someone else. We can't risk it. We'd be unwise to set it aside.

[She agrees that there are some, like Inui, who shouldn't be doing that in a million years. But there are others who can handle it.]

[resnipstance]

Really...? Does that mean everyone where you're from can fight?

[adamance]

[She frowns for a moment before shaking her head.]

It's more that we can't afford to be unable to protect ourselves. People are cruel. [She is cruel. She hopes that goes without saying. Lexa never hides how vicious she can be.] Each village has its warriors, those inclined to fight, but our society lacks ... the structure that would divide people that way.

There are, of course, those who are better suited to farming, to making clothes, and to trading goods. But we are all aware of how hard life is for us. We can never forget that when we set upon our individual paths.

[falsesmile]

... there's a simple explanation for that: they died when the bugs swarmed.

[ She folds her arms distastefully, and her Force presence has a definite edge of uncertainty and unease because, fuck her life, that teenage Luke Skywalker disappeared before she had a chance to figure out what was happening, and she's not sure if his possibly getting eaten by swarming trilobites will bust the space-time continuum, and will it change for the better or worse, and doesn't trying to alter the future unleash Abeloth please no she's had enough of Abeloth, and ugh, Ben is going to have even more reason to shoot her in the foot the next time they run into each other. Even in their absence, Skywalkers are the most irritating people in the galaxy. ]

[resnipstance]

At least two of them were with me and the group that went to fight the queen, though, and they stayed out of the action. Not much bug swarming going on there.

And one of the others, he-- [how do you say "They're strong in the Force and I don't think they would die so easily" to a regular person when you're trying to hide your identity as a Force user?]

I... don't believe he would've been caught by bugs.