I've been chillin' out on a star with my 5 star view

[lucetimods]

Who: All draftees
What: The space battle commences
When: After 3PM on the 19th to the 23rd
Where: In Space! On the Moon!
Summary: The battle finally begins! First there's asteroids to take down, then we finally arrive!
Rating: SPACE

MORE SPACE

All the details you need are here, so read up on it. This didn't get mentioned before, but you can tag the cultists instead of killing them. Details on this are on a previous draft post. Using the scanners are optional!

There will be a thread for interacting with NPCs, but they may not all go up at once, so keep an eye out for them.

Note: A log for the events in the village will go up on the 21st, in time for the hurricane and droid incursion.

Comments

<33!

[geniustheveil]

[Instead of the thick of battle, Viral finds Mercury also resting up, no worse for the wear than some wear to her uniform and a few minor cuts that will heal on their own (or momentarily, if she takes this moment to use Nala's power).

More importantly, she's alert and notices he seems a bit tired. Her eyes look him over, though she notices no injuries immediately.]

Were you harmed? Out there?

[no_compromise]

[He tosses his head aside to avoid her returned gaze, heavy bangs hiding his own expression. Even with the string that Sabriel gave him, the tail wasn't near enough to bind everything into place.]

This body of mine doesn't sustain injury. [A short beat.] You know Mars, don't you?

[geniustheveil]

Eh? Not injured at all? Invulnerable? [She eyes him with a new respect, but brings her mind back to the subject at hand after just a moment.]

I know Mars. She's a comrade of mine from back home. We fought together to protect our planet.

[no_compromise]

I see.

[It explained her attire as well then, if they were from the same unit, though not the blue hair...

Different worlds. Anything was possible.]

...It's exactly as you say, but that doesn't make combat less stressing.

[geniustheveil]

[Blue everywhere, from the uniform to the hair to the water she uses. She's been asked more than once if it's really natural.]

Of course; you still push yourself very hard, and use all your strength. Are you alright for the time being?

[A good opening to ask about the suit.]

[no_compromise]

[Mars assured him when CJ made his announcement that she didn't need to breathe in the vacuum of space, nor even require any protective gear. He can only assume that Mercury is the same, even if he doesn't understand the magic involved in such a feat.]

I am. Just taking a break. What about you? [Because magic didn't excuse a soldier from combat fatigue.]

[geniustheveil]

I'm alright. The fighting isn't easy, but I've fought before. [She tells herself that: that being used to it makes it easier to cope with, makes it easier to do and to understand. She doesn't always convince herself.]

[no_compromise]

[Like Mars. It was good to know that the combatants in this battle more than made up for the presence of non-combatants, but that didn't make the conditions right. But, even the most hardened warrior has moments of weakness.]

Many of us have, but that doesn't change things. The problem is, we don't know what we're fighting for. [There was only so far that a soldier would be willing to go if they had no reason, and only so much that could be done on the battlefield when the people in charge were disorganized. He was starting to realize this from his observations of Simon both inside and out of prison.

If what the High Commander said was true, then his government was just as disorganized as the Malnosso.]

[geniustheveil]

I know what I'm fighting for. [The words are quiet, but firm. She's made up her mind to them.] It's not for the Malnosso, or even for Luceti.

It's to protect my friends and the important people I've met here.

[Despite that certainty, she's well aware of the disorganization and lack of information. And she's never liked anything about the Malnosso.]

[no_compromise]

[Such dedication was admirable in any one, soldier or not. Viral nodded, a ghost of a smile tracing on his lips. It was a sentiment that he understood.]

...I'm here to protect a few people too.

[Barely known acquaintances, mostly, but their very presence in this battle was enough to send a cold fury threading through his veins. There was no point in fighting just for the sake of it--he made a career on it, and nearly faced execution when he disobeyed unjust orders because of it. Without honor, without reason, fighting was no more than an empty exercise.

It was the emotions involved that made fighting valid.]

[geniustheveil]

It seems we're alike in that. [In many ways, really; this has turned out to be a fortuitous meeting.]

Also, I haven't forgotten that fighting by the Malnosso forces could give us insight we might be able to use later.

[no_compromise]

[His complete lack of desire to return home colored his perceptions on that matter...but it was a valuable consideration. Though he wanted to stay, he didn't want to remain trapped behind a bubble. That was as bad as the underground prison cell he left behind.]

That's a good thought. We're their blade for now, but we can still strike on our own when the time is right. For now, though, we're just soldiers.

[geniustheveil]

You could say we're just waiting and biding our time. [The words strike a faint chord of unfamiliar memory; but they feel right. ]

[no_compromise]

That's a good summary.

[Because it was the only thing that they had.]

...you and Mars must make for an impressive team out in the field. She called herself the 'Senshi of Flame and Passion'...how do you fit in?

[geniustheveil]

I'm the soldier of Water and Wisdom. [The blue of her hair and uniform makes the water entirely unsurprising, perhaps. Her focus on strategy and tendency to disclaim power or strength of her own is probably also explained.]

[no_compromise]

['Flame and Passion.' 'Water and Wisdom.' An element paired with a virtue..Viral chuckles at this. Whomever these soldiers were, they were exceedingly similar to the old tales he found buried in ruined cities during his many long nights alone.]

This is straight out of one of those stories that humanity's forgotten in my world. You and Mars. This is too odd.

[geniustheveil]

[Jupiter: the soldier of Thunder and Courage. Venus: the solder of Love and Beauty. They all have their titles, and they take some pride in them.

If she could explain everything, she could admit that it was a surprise to them, too, that she'd be shocked to find out she was apparently the reincarnation of a guardian soldier living in a kingdom on the Moon, tens of thousands of years ago, reborn now to fight again. That she had special powers, magical powers, when magic was said not to exist.

As it is, she disclaims anything quite like the fanciful terms Viral puts it in.]

Our powers might be unusual, but we fight like any soldier in any other force. We're soldiers.

[no_compromise]

That's a sentiment I can appreciate.

[Because it was. She had a point, like Mars did. A soldier was a soldier regardless of what else they brought to the table with them.]

You and Mars...are a lot alike. It's good to see such honorable individuals around here.

[geniustheveil]

Maybe it's why we were meant to be comrades. [She believes that now, entirely: that they all met for a reason, as Rei herself would say. Oh, she's not so much the type to rely on fate as it stands. But she can see what meeting each other did for all of them.]

[no_compromise]

So it was fated, huh?

[He's oddly reminded of his fortune reading from Rei Hino, and their discussion on faith and fate. Strange, that it would come up in this context too.]

[geniustheveil]

I think so.

To tell you the truth, when I first became a soldier, I just knew I wanted to be with the others. I didn't even fully understand it myself. A feeling like that, couldn't it be said to be fate?

[no_compromise]

It could be.

[Though it was a concept he didn't understand that well, even at this point.]

[geniustheveil]

Anyway, as we met and as we fought together, we really became the friends I was hoping for. I think that's the most important.

[no_compromise]

[Viral nods silently, understanding that concept.]

It is, and a few of them are here with you. It sounds...nice.

[geniustheveil]

It's selfish of me to think it, but even though of course I wish it wasn't somewhere like this, I'm glad for them being nearby.