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Seeing the need to make a good first impression as an honest man Tarran decides to tell the colonist the truth. Unfortunately this coincides with Taric trying to bluff.
"Miss the uniforms much?"
"We're Unchained, we just got out of a base that was being glassed. Our AI pilot recommended we should walk, so we walked. And found those damn ants. That's about as much as you really need to know about us right now."
James laughs nervously and Taric rolls his eyes as the four strangers look on in confusion. "As ever sir you completely threw away our cover." Taric attempts a resigned slump in the cramped lift and one of the Colonists opens his mouth to pose a question when Tarran cuts through.
"What did you expect me to say?! 'We're just jogging through an ant filled forest because we can'? 'We're Technocracy and we're here to kill you'? 'We're hunting in a pitch black forest without any lights?"
"You never heard of creativity?!" Taric shoots back.
"Oh, you think you can do better? Go ahead!" Tarran turns to face Taric fully, completely shutting out the flabbergasted colonists.
"No point now is there?!"
"Thought so. You can't think up anything either."
Taric gives it about two seconds thought before replying, "Okay then. We were out walking after our vehicle got bogged in the mud, we fell out so we got covered in mud. This was the closest settlement to us so we came here for help."
Everyone is now staring at Taric and Tarran bickering like an old couple, neither of them take any notice of this whatsoever. James attempts to shake them out of it but gets met with a quick rebuttal from Taric before Tarran picks right up again.
"They'd then ask where we were going and where we're from. And why we're out here. Your idea has holes."
"Nothing I can't fabricate." Taric replies with confidence.
"Do you even remember all the colonies around? I sure don't. I doubt you've been a farmer, so I doubt you'd likely know many agricultural jobs. Also, how are you going to explain our military grade weapons?"
"At this rate, they're probably laughing at us about this. We could've said we were a repair crew for armaments and munitions and such." Taric actually took the time to gesture vaguely in the direction of the colonists without looking, who in point of fact were more on the side of completely dumbstruck rather than laughing.
"That carry gigantic guns around wherever we go?"
"Of course, we do pick-up and delivery from the workshop" Taric filled in the last piece of the now utterly irrelevent cover story.
Dom who'd remained silent for Tarran's long winded -and completely useless- lovers quarrel with Taric finally speaks up with the first sensible thing since Tarran's first sentence. "You want me to go back down the lift, melt a hole in the wall with this, and sneak in, boss?" she asked, looking over her carbine. "Because that may be the only way we're getting in."
The colonist leader latches onto this bit of sanity and shakes his head, getting ready to hazard more conversation with what is fast becoming the most surreal thing in a decade. "Alright now I don't give a-"
"Did you know that a female praying mantis rips the male's head off to initiate sex?" Teague supplies helpfully.
Everyone just sort of stares at him for a half minute while he buffs his nails on the filthy uniform. All of the colonists look like someone just reached in and removed some vital part of their brain. Mouths open and close but no words come out. Dominique is the first to recover, still staring at Teague. "Teague, what the hell are you talking about?"
[Colonist Will roll 1] After Dom speaks the leader bursts out "What the fuck are any of you talking about?!" He takes deep calming breathes and massages his temples, he looks like he's getting a serious headache. He turns away from you and addresses the other three. "Take them down to quarantine, lock them in. I will deal with them when I've had some sleep and a drink or two. Butch, you wake up Ramirez and guard them until I'm ready to talk to them again..." The monster of a woman nods and ushers you off of the lift.
Will you comply with being taken to quarantine?
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Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 536171 times)