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I don't care.

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I don't care.

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Total Members Voted: 0

Voting closed: January 04, 2021, 02:28:47 am

[19_EgarAlnis]

Yayyyy. I've been trying to get you to realize this since the first coma. Trauma ftw!  But, +1s are important because it means you're all in agreement with a course of action for Pheobe-- you can also put her on autopilot. She's good at maintaining things.
M͏͎̜͓o̶̦̪̗r̛̠͍e͖͠ ̡̘p̭r̴̩̞̭̯̮̝̞ò̲͉͍̗̹͎̪c̹̙̤̱̥e̖͚̹̪͓ͅs͙̪̬̱̭͟s͈̀e͙̞̲͜s̴͖̙̪͖͓̹ ̗̙͓̥̥̜͍f̦̥o̤͍̳̰c̢̭̦͇͇̰̺̜ṵ̶͙̠͓s̭͚͔̠̬̥̳e̤͠d ͚̞̕m̢͙ͅo̷͓r̠̖͍̥̤̣̥e̢͓ ̣o͝p̜̜͖̗̻̪̬p̗̼̙͜ͅọ̠̮̠͎͎̀r̝͚̝t̝̪̭̜̙͢u̻̬n̡͓̗̣̣̜i͚͉͙̦ț͙y̥̣̻̝͡.͈̹̺

A̰͈̭̻̳l͓͍̻͎ḷ̼̬̻̝̰ ̧i̘̳̮̝̰͎n҉̤̱̱̩͍̯f̨̲e̹͙͖̹̦c̟͔̜͚̩te̜͍͔d͉̬̬͓ ̴p͕̗͉̪͙r̰̰̝͓͕̻o̦̘̣̝̳͍̗͟c͉̳̗̜̙e͓̘͙̺͙̙̳ş͚̖sę͔̗̟s̴͙̪̮ ̧̠̦̩̝w͉͇̤̲͖e͕̲̹r̡͓e̼̳̥̼̗̫̜ ̲͕̹̼̪m̛̥̦̩a͕d҉͔̦̤̜͇̝̼e̪̜ ͏̞̼̦d͓̥͎̺͎͙̬ơ͓̰̞͎ŕ̳̤͎̤͇m͏̳̙͙̥a҉̗̩̩͕n̷̫̱̲t͕͙̟̳̗̳̝.̞̪͕

The...the 'VOID'.

At some point, you drift to something resembling sleep, and Emma gently shakes you awake. You flinch, only to find her smiling, standing beside you. Set upon your semi-prone form is a cafeteria tray, covered with a large amount of food of various variety. [insect meat] and eggs, crisp and carmalized and dripping with fat, soft, fluffy pancakes with a grape syrup dripped over them, a bunch of grapes with thick skins that seem to radiate juiciness, a cup of wine, diluted down...potato hash browned with sweet [onion] and [carrot]. She sits next to you before you can react, taking one of the grapes and biting into it.

"I figured you needed a pick me up. Sleepless nights are the -worst-."

[Naturegirl1999]

”Thank you” Eat the food, starting with the pancakes

[ZBridges]

"You're the best, Emma.  I don't deserve you."

”Thank you” Eat the food, starting with the pancakes

+1

[19_EgarAlnis]

"You're welcome," Emma giggles, before teasing, "And you don't, but that's okay."

With the pleasantries out of the way, you lay into the food, starting with those soft pancakes. There's a slight tartness to them, from both the pancake itself and the grape syrup poured over top. The cafeteria chef obviously is trying to impress you- they're made perfectly, but you can tell he perhaps used a little bit too much chemical leavener, as there's a faint, bitter aftertaste. The hash is next, and the potatoes are sweet and crunchy, the carrots and onions adding even more sweetness to offset the enormous amount of butter and salt. The steak is devoured next; fully cooked, with a light sweet flavor, coupled with faint herbs that remind you of the mountains of your...birth?

Finally, you finish your meal with those grapes, eating a few of them before Emma devours them all. They have a tough, thick skin with plenty of white splotches, but they taste fantastic. Sugary-sweet, with a tart aftertaste and juices that threaten to escape your mouth. You eventually brush and clean your face with the offered napkin, and Emma, after stealing the last grape, rises, giving you a peck on the forehead.

You dress shortly thereafter, and pack the formal clothes for the 'funeral' away in the black leather bag you and Emma purchased. Emma returns, wearing a comfortable looking dress, and you're stunned-- you don't think you've ever not seen her in anything but military uniforms. Which, ironically, is what you're currently wearing.

The airship awaits for you at a landing pad, not your 'personal' craft, but a large transport vessel, like the ones you've seen hauling cargo. The cargo containers inside have been retro-fitted with a number of comfortable looking rooms, and in the back you find Thornton mercenaries loading themselves up, taking seats on specially designed chairs. They all look fresh and awake, but you notice during your brief walkthrough, many of them stare at you.

Lift off is in an hour, apparently, there's an issue with fuel.

[ZBridges]

I would recommend talking to our personal guard.  We need to let them know what our plans are for getting rid of the generals so that they can back us up.

Bitter taste suggests posioning, but it's probably nothing.

[Superdorf]

Bitter taste suggests posioning, but it's probably nothing.

Eh, baking soda does that if you overdo it. Seems normal.

I would recommend talking to our personal guard.  We need to let them know what our plans are for getting rid of the generals so that they can back us up.

+1-- seek out Captain Zachary, specifically. That guy's on the level.

[19_EgarAlnis]

It's a little awkward, but you manage to, at the last minute, swap out your guard for Zachary himself. He doesn't seem as annoyed as you would think and is dressed in a fairly casual version of his military uniform. The only weapon he bares is a las-pistol on his belt, however. When you raise the question of he wanted to come, he shrugs his shoulders, "I need a vacation anyway. It was getting monotonous."

You and him take seats in one of the more unoccupied rooms. William and Emma are in the other corner, picking at some strange arrangement of fruit. Emma laughs at something William says, and once again you're struck by how similar he seems to you...its strange, as well, that Emma seems more comfortable around her older brother.

"So what do I owe this honor of a paid vacation, Mother Pheobe?"

[ZBridges]

"I'm afraid I have some bad news.  It has come to my attention that the Crusader senior leadership, including the Crusader General himself, is planning on killing me when the war is done and I am no longer useful."

"Were you aware of that?"

[Superdorf]

Hmm, do we have confirmation of that or just suspicion? I'll start looking and see if I haven't missed something...

[ZBridges]

We have confirmation from Alphira that SEED plans to kill us after the war.  This could only be possible with the support of the Crusaders.

[Naturegirl1999]

We also have the file that mentioned this

How do we know Zachary isn’t in on it? Do we know?

"I'm afraid I have some bad news.  It has come to my attention that the Crusader senior leadership, including the Crusader General himself, is planning on killing me when the war is done and I am no longer useful."

"Were you aware of that?"

”Are you with them?”

[ZBridges]

We don't know for sure, but he has told us that he will protect us through anything as long as we do our best to win the war.  I think we need his support, so this is an acceptable risk.

Also, he is very religious and seems fanatical enough to protect us from the plotters.

[Superdorf]

Hmm. We have confirmation that McCreary was murdered, from which Alphira deduced that SEED intends to do the same to us (a deduction we've since decided to trust). So too, we've confirmation that the senior Crusaders are willing to use Emma as a hostage against us. I don't think we've specific confirmation of SEED's plan to kill us, or of the Crusaders' involvement in that plan-- just some very good circumstantial evidence.

I'm thinking we want to explain this to Captain Zachary. Let him see what we've learned. Let him draw his own conclusions.

[ZBridges]

I think we need to make a stand and take a position.  We already have the Pontifex working on the civilian side of things to prepare for SEED's death.  It's important that we shore up the military side for this change, and to do that we will need his support.

The best way to do that would be to invoke his duty and tell him what we are almost 100% certain of: SEED and its servants plan to kill us.  It's too late to back out now.

[Naturegirl1999]

I think we need to make a stand and take a position.  We already have the Pontifex working on the civilian side of things to prepare for SEED's death.  It's important that we shore up the military side for this change, and to do that we will need his support.

The best way to do that would be to invoke his duty and tell him what we are almost 100% certain of: SEED and its servants plan to kill us.  It's too late to back out now.

+1