Home Plot: Day 2

[verynaughtymutant]

The Askani were a warrior people, their armed rebellion was in many ways the thing that defined them, that marked the clan from outsiders. And so when an Askani camp was attacked, all of its members joined in the defense because all of it's members knew how to fight.

In this case, nobody was quite sure who the attackers were, whether it was the Chaos Bringer or forces from the Cannanite government but they were warriors, they knew how to fight no matter the enemy.

There had been a bombardment, first, bombs and shells falling onto the camouflaged camp and then attack from several directions, by flying vehicles and soldiers suited up in combat exoskeletons. And nearly every man and woman in the Askani camp was trying to repel them.

The anti missile auto-systems were in full flow, shooting down the shells and everywhere there was hand to hand battle and gun fire. Here a robot man was dispatched with a psimeter, there a giant mutate who looked practically reptilian was shocked by an electrical bolt tearing through her skin. To the north a towering black man was commanding an artillery barrage that was driving off the attackers, while to the south two askani priestesses, Aliya and Hope, were leading another force in hand to hand.

But of the two leaders of the fight, Cable and Stryfe, the Askanisson and the Chaos Bringer, there was no sign at all.

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[blonderussianspy]

Her thoughts roiled, almost all in Russian, and though he was huge and she knew she was dangerous, in the moment she could have given a damn. She swung her gun onto her shoulder, grabbed his shirt with both hands and pulled.

"One," she snarled.

"What the hell are you thinking?!"

[verynaughtymutant]

He opened his eyes at that, as well as his mouth as she grabbed a hold of him.

"I am thinking," he replied grimly, in english, as he lashed out at her with his teke, breaking her grip and forcing her back across the tent, "that I have already fought this war once, for real, and I have no particular desire to do so again for our captors entertainment."

"This is not real. It is a game and one I don't want to play."

And with that he flipped himself around so he was right said up again and lowered his legs to the floor.

[blonderussianspy]

"Who says it isn't real?" she demanded, keeping her balance though the use of telekenesis was jarring, almost frightening in its unfamiliarity. It didn't show.

"If not for us, for them? Even if this world ceases to exist the moment we wake up, or go, or find a way out, who says the fear they are feeling, the panic and desperation, that isn't real? It looks real, Cable! It feels real, to me! People are dying, your people! How can you sit here?" She couldn't remember the last time she'd reacted so passionately to anything. She wasn't sure what that meant.

"What if this is the last time you ever see them? What if this is the last moment you ever get to help them? Real or not, how can you not take it?!"

[verynaughtymutant]

"The last time I could have helped them was years ago," he replied, though his blank expression had shifted into a slightly concerned frown and he switched to russian. "My people are dead, my culture eradicated. That will not change, no matter what happens to these ghosts."

"What does it matter when they die?"

He knew why it mattered, he did, deep in his soul he knew. But he feared that if he allowed himself to get involved, if he allowed to himself care again, he'd drown in his grief and guilt again. It was only by diligently repressing the past and focusing on the future that he kept himself useful. And only by still being useful did he have any right to still live.