Remnants of the Earth

Riot's head snapped toward the older guy when he spoke.  This would be the consul, maybe yes?  Ah shoot, what was his name?  Nacroid?  Narcnarc?  Something like that.  Like he could be bothered to remember the name of every stuffy, arrogant politician Edanith farted out.  Pah.  This guy didn't even look that impressive.  Probably wasn't worth nothin' without his pet mages.  Good thing he had them here, all things considered.  Had to be more than a few Libra soldiers who'd like to introduce the good consul to the business end of a plasma gun.  

He made a face then put his hand out with the palm facing the consul in a talk-to-the-hand gesture.  "Tch.  Yeah, y'know what?  I was so, like, not even talking to you all right?  So why don't you turn yourself back around and mind your own business there, chief?"

He gave the Captain's command the consideration it deserved then decided to ignore it.  Even though being around these mage slaves made him all squirmy, even though he couldn't stop running his eyes over them, stealing looks at their skull bands, even though being in the same general vicinity with these people made him feel diseased with their corruption, he wasn't gonna be put off that easily.  Not even by the Captain.

"Yeah, well."  All this time he'd been slapping his helmet lightly against his leg over and over.  It was a fidgety movement, something to channel his nervous energy into.  "I'd like to have a word with you, Captain, if you would, before you make any kind of decision."

Any kind of stupid decision.

"There's something you should know, sir," he added.  "So you can, uh, make an informed decision or whatever."  He retreated to the doorway and motioned her over, to step outside with him for just a minute.

(OOC: Col projects his thoughts all over the place, so anytime you want to have Nicolai "overhear" something he's thinking, that's a-okay. ^^ )

Col wiped his sweaty palms against his pant legs.  Honestly with these Aedolis jerks you never knew what you were getting.  Some could be decent folk but some were just batshit crazy and mean.  Still, he wasn't getting that scary vibe from this guy.    He felt the man relax then caught the sour sensation of something close to pity.

People feeling sorry for him was the same, exactly the same, as people looking down on him.  He shuffled his feet and hoped the guy would dismiss him soon.

That comment about not stuttering very nearly made him roll his eyes.  Oh, don't stutter?  Why didn't I think of that?  It's a miracle, I'm cured!  You're a freakin' genius there, Nic.  Don't stutter.  Brilliant plan! Shit, didn't anybody understand he'd stop if he could?  He'd always stuttered, ever since he could talk.  Course it'd gotten way worse since coming here, and it gave him more anxiety attacks than anything else about this ordeal.  The Pilots...they weren't gonna put up with it for long.  It kept him up at nights worrying over what they'd do when they couldn't stand it no more.

Nicolai's other advice was all stuff he'd heard before, from various people and in various degrees of hostility.  Most of 'em weren't as civil about it as this guy, though, and that inclined Col to at least pretend to be grateful for the help—

—or it did 'til the guy hauled him aside and started laughing at him.  Col's face flushed bright red and he stared down at his boots while he waited for Suvan to get it out of his system.  Gods-fucking-damnit.


“C...C...Col  Savage. Sir.â€?  His tone of voice was sulky, annoyed.  It was then that he glanced up at last and saw the man's smile.  It was the kind that made ya want to stop being angry and told ya you could relax a little.  So he did, but only a little.  â€œPilot candidate.  Been here about a week, sir,â€? he said, and he wanted to return the smile but...ah...better not.  Nicolai might decide to take offense if he did and he really just didn't want to get penalties assigned for smiling at a superior officer.

“Yeah...I seen the maps.  Sir.â€?  He hooked a thumb in his pants pocket and shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.  Ain't got no use for 'em if I can't read 'em, though.  Blah, he hoped he weren't projecting his thoughts, but there was just no way of knowin'.  It was like with the reading folks' minds.  No control over it.

They were teaching him to read as part of his training, but it was freakin' slow going.  Learnin' to read was about the hardest, most frustrating thing he'd ever had to do.  Three hours out of every day he had to sit at a table in some stuffy little room with a stuffy little tutor who talked to him like he was four effin' years old and had him read shit a four year old would read.  And he still wasn't gettin' it.  It was so hard.  So many letters to learn and they didn't behave the same way all the time.  They, like, changed dependin' on the word.  He'd get so angry and embarrassed, tryin' to pull the sounds out of his memory, and the tutor would sit there and sigh at him and drum his fingers on the table and make snarky comments that, occasionally, made Col snap and rip the papers up and storm right the hell out.

He had a feeling, though, that even if he could read the maps, he'd still manage to get lost.

“Uh...I don't s'pose you could, y'know, show me where the closest cafeteria is.  Sir.â€?  Made him feel stupid, askin', but his feet were starting to hurt from runnin' all around and he was still hungry.  And suddenly he just wasn't ready to see Nicolai leave.  A week since they'd pulled him off the ground, brought him up here to a place that might as well have been another planet it was so strange to him, and he was kinda desperate to talk to someone who wasn't giving him orders or yelling at him.

The training complex was always busy, always filled with people, but he'd never felt so alone in his life.

THE CHARACTER
Name: Chapel Meridia
Gender: Male
Species: human
Rank and/or Occupation: Captain
Location: Cancer

[center:31oliixx]

Elijah Lyre, fugitive[/b]

(Catch him if you can.)


Keep holding on
When my brain's ticking like a bomb
Guess the black thoughts
Have come again to get me
Sweet bitter words
Unlike nothing I have heard
Sing along mocking bird
You don't affect me

Wait, I'm coming undone
Irate, I'm coming undone
Too late, I'm coming undone
What looks so strong so delicate
~Korn: Coming Undone[/center:31oliixx]

Current Threads:
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[right:31oliixx]Completed Threads:
...[/right:31oliixx]


__________________IDENTIFY YOURSELF[/b]

Name:
Elijah Lyre (last name sounds like 'liar'); goes by an alias now

Nicknames
Eli

Gender:
Male

Species:
Human

Age:
28

Height
5'5"

Home:
Unknown

Rank:
former Imperial of Aedolis; current situation unknown


__________________THE REAL YOU[/b]

Appearance:
Current appearance is unknown; it may have changed drastically since his short time as Imperial.

Personality:
As a candidate he was at first quiet and seemed to have a brittle quality. As time went by he became increasingly irritable and angry. He made for a harsh Pilot.  By the time he was made Imperial, he'd built a reputation for having a short fuse attached to a dangerous temper.  He was not a happy person.  When he wasn't snapping at his subordinates, he was sullen and quiet, often melancholy.  Among friends, the irritability ebbed and he could even be pleasant if you caught him on a good day.

History:
His dragon was Absolute, who chose him specifically for his psychic ability. Absolute is not a dragon who regards his Pilots as equals. They are there to obey.  In Elijah Absolute had a powerful human puppet that enabled him to take the Imperial position, a goal he had long striven for.  Absolute was able to use Elijah's powers when Elijah himself could not.  In fact, it was only by pairing with a dragon that his psychic powers found an anchor and an outlet that could actually make use of them.

Their stint as Imperials was marked by tyrannical dominance over the other Pilots, but it was short-lived. About a year after attaining the position, Elijah disappeared without trace or trail.  Aedolis wants their hands on him if he's still alive.  There's a ridiculously high bounty on any solid information regarding him, as Aedolis is convinced his disappearance is related to the Gospels or to foreign spies.

Strengths:
With the proper instruments, his psychic powers could be made usable and devastating, but they've had only limited success in achieving this result.

Weaknesses:
The strength of his psychic power is considered freakish and so extreme as to be useless without some form of artificial control system imposed on him, usually in the form of electronic instrumentation attached to his head.  His power is not physically controllable and never will be, even with years of training, and results in numerous health problems including brain tumors that must be regularly scanned for and removed. Went to live in the ATC at age 10 because by then he required special treatment to keep his psionic powers safe.  Without it, he tended to short out electrical equipment with only his presence.  To a large extent, he has remained unable to use his psychic powers at all. He was made a Pilot for the sole reason that he makes a very useful avatar for a dragon and because his condition was of great scientific interest.

Likes:
Not much.

Dislikes:
Aedolis, Pilots, Dragons

Commentary:

A klaxon suddenly shatters the silence of the Upper City of Teinar.  The alarm blares for a few seconds before a voice crackles loudly over an ancient announcement system.

"Pilot approaching. Repeat, Pilot approaching the Upper City from the southeast.  He's coming in fast.  ETA in 15 minutes.  We're holing up in five. Get inside or get caught."

The klaxon resumes it steady alarm for sixty seconds before cutting off.

From outside the conference room came sounds of muffled arguing and one particular voice raised in obvious discontent.  No words could be made out by those inside, but after a few moments the door slid open and in stalked a youth in the form-fitting body suit of a Libra fighter pilot, helmet still on and obscuring his face.  The colors of the uniform marked him as a squadron leader.

Riot ripped his helmet off, revealing a young man in his early twenties, wild hair poking up every which way and his mouth set in what could only be called a pout.  "Ey," he said, gesturing with the helmet as he spoke, his attention all on the captain.  "Just what the hell?  Why was I called back?  Why aren't we out there shooting those douchebag slave traders out of our space, huh?"

It was only then that he noticed the other people in the room.  The older guy at the table, him Riot didn't recognize.  He looked important, and Riot would've sworn he was at least familiar with everyone of importance on the Libra.

Then his gaze shifted upward to the people arranged against the wall and he had to blink at them a few times.  He had to because he couldn't possibly be seeing what he was seeing.  Edanith mage slaves on Libra?  No.  No way.  But there they were with those damn unnerving skull collars, right in front of his eyes.

Other possible explanations:  uh, maybe he was hallucinating?  Cripes, he knew those drug trips in his teens would come back to haunt him.  Or maybe this was just a dream?  Scratch that, a nightmare.  Maybe the captain was throwing a sodding costume party?

"Whoa."  He shook his head and rubbed at one temple.  "Okay, like, am I having a stroke or what 'cause this is like...like whoa." Sure, the guys in the fighter bay had said something about the captain treating with those slimy Edanith fucktards, but he'd thought they were just yanking him.  "Captain?" he said, and it came out kind of whiny but damn.  He was looking for an explanation, a reassurance, something.  And not just him, but his whole squadron was wanting an answer.  Just about the only thing they hated worse than Aedolis was Edanith, and it wasn't sitting well with them having a war ship hovering around like it had any right to be here at all.

The situation against Aedolis wasn't so bad that they'd have to resort to this...was it?

THE CHARACTER
Name: Zachary Noel
Gender: Male
Species: human
Rank and/or Occupation: President of Thanatos Inc.
Location: Thanatos Inc. Earth Headquarters
Personality: i don't know yet :B
Appearance: will be in his bio
Background: ditto

Times like this, Col wished he could read.

And it weren't just the electronic map screen in his hand he couldn't read, either, but all those signs and monitors with like...schedules and names of things and stuff all over them.  Shit was all over the complex, givin' directions to folks who could, y'know, actually make some damn sense out of them, which he couldn't.  Some words he knew, the easy ones.  Like 'bathroom'...he could read that one.  Or 'elevator'.  A lot of the essentials, well, he got those all right, but actually findin' his way around, that was another thing altogether then wasn't it?

Weren't fair, those asshat Pilots plucking him up from the ground, from the lowest caste there was, and just droppin' him here to fend fer himself or drown.  A test of character they called it, seein' if he could manage on his own, but wandering lost through this damn rat's nest of a complex like he was now, it made him just wanna shrink right up and disappear.  They knew, they could all tell.  They all looked at him and saw he came from the gutters and fuckin' judged him for it.  That weren't just paranoia talkin' neither, no, that's what he picked up from their thoughts.  They saw him in the iron grey uniform of a Pilot candidate and got all smug like they just knew he'd never make it through the training.  It didn't help any, but he ducked his head and stared at the ground as he walked, which come to think on it probably was the reason why he was lost in the first place and not any closer to getting' where he wanted to be.

That would be the cafeteria.  Or...one of the cafeterias.  Place this size, ought to be a few.  He could read that word on his little electronic map, just couldn't seem to find a way to get to it.  His stomach was startin' to growl at him.

A very distinctive kind of mind came within his range just then and he looked up sharply.  A Pilot!  Talkin' to...someone.  Another military guy, and damned if Col could even remember all the ranks let alone tell them apart.

He ducked back around the corner and waited there.  Last thing he needed was to be runnin' into a Pilot who might try to give him something to do.  Nuh-uh.  Wasn't gonna happen. This was the one free day he got off a week, but that didn't mean nothin' to those douche Pilots.  'Course, his thoughts were probably projecting all over the damn place right now.  It'd be surprising if the Pilot didn't know he was here by now.

A few moments later, though, he felt the Pilot's mind move out of his range and finally he took a breath.  He hadn't even realized he'd been holdin' it.  But when he wheeled back around the corner to continue, he had to draw up short to keep from runnin' into someone.  Gah!  It was the dude the Pilot had been talking to!

“I...s...s...s...â€?  Agh, stupid stutter!  He clamped his mouth shut before it could embarrass him any more and tried a salute.  First he used the wrong hand but then he got it right.  Least he thought it was right.

“S...s...sorry.â€?  Col bit his lip and his eyes darted here and there.  Seemed bad to look at these military guys direct like, and they all made him so nervous anyway.  â€œUh, sir!â€? he added.  â€œW...wasn't payin' attention.  Just t...t...tryin' to avoid the P...Pilot, heh.  Sir.â€?

Stop talking now, idiot, he told himself.

His mind sifted through the man's surface thoughts on it's own.  No help for it.  It got all stupid when he was nervous, just like his stuttering.  Couldn't control it for nothin'.  Nicolai, that was the dude's name, and he'd just come from the gym, and...agh!  Enough of that!  Had to think about something else, stop reading the guy's mind.

How long was he supposed to hold a salute for this guy?  He couldn't remember how it worked.  Did you salute then stand at attention or hold the salute 'til they said otherwise?  And could he just, like, leave or did he have to wait to be dismissed now or somethin'?

O' course, his stomach chose that very moment to growl...loud.  Ugh, he could just die right there.  He must've looked real stupid, a seventeen year old, unkempt Pilot candidate holding a shoddy salute and clutching that dumb, useless map in his other hand.

Name: Col (i'll figure out a last name for him I swear)
Gender: Male
Species: human
Location: Aedolis
Personality: in profile
Appearance: ditto
Background: ditto again

Alternatively, you could have specific sections of space in the Outer Space section:

Outer Space:
Inner Solar System (earth, mars, cancer, TRIM)
Outer Solar System (libra, outer planets, etc)
Open Space (everything else)