Pierce listened intently to Brayden's speech, trying to wrap his mind around the concepts he so nonchalantly threw around. He was somewhat sure he had understood the basics. He didn't have time to learn every little detail in anyhow.
The news were quite depressing in any case. He had no wish to return to New Hong Kong's endless battlegrounds, and suspected he would most likely be wrecked due to his absence even if he did. Still, the Federation the sergeant hailed from seemed quite powerful, even if he had been boasting. Perhaps they could be convinced to destroy that place with whatever weapons they were bound to have at their disposal. He smiled at the thought of his unseen puppeteers burning alive. While he watched, preferably. Or would that be too quick? They deserved to suffer for what they had done. Samuel wondered if the 'plane' of Brayden still had disease of any kind.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the soldier's last question. He realized he had missed some of the man's words. Atleast with this body, Brayden couldn't see his embarassement.
He pulled out his flintlock pistol and showed it to the sergeant. It was a fine thing, of dark wood and silver, a far cry from the crude killing machine the Federation soldier carried. He had admired it for its beauty many times before, but it seemed to practically glow in the desert sun. There hadn't been much art in his old life, though his memories insisted he had seen things he had thought beautiful in the past. But unlike those memories, this was real and solid. He gripped it tightly, feeling the weight against his hand.
'I... don't think I've ever actually had to reload this thing before.' he said after a while. That hadn't seemed odd until now. Was there some amazing device hidden inside the pistol that could produce shots out of thin air?
'It doesn't matter.' he said, trying to change the subject. 'The New Hong Kong I speak of hosts massive battles each day for the masses to follow, like in Rome of old. Hundreds - perhaps thousands - of... artificial humans die and are recreated in each battle and put to fighting again by their unseen masters.'
He didn't mention he was one of those created beings, unsure of how Brayden would react if he told him. To the Samuel Pierce of his memories, the idea would've seemed revolting. He would have to be careful not to alienate any potential allies.
'We should follow them, in any case.' he said, pointing at the lizard man and the woman who seemed to be on fire. 'We need to stick together for now.'
((EDIT: How long are the turns? Does it end when we reach the oasis, or after a set amount of time?))