Zompania Draft - Draftees only, days 1-3.5

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: This is your death. Followed by your time-traveling life and desperate bomb hunting.
When: From May 22 to May 20 to early May 23 (days 1-4)
Where: Zompania
Summary: Information post here
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post is for the draftee-only portion of the Zompania draft--the day 3 death, time travel to day 1, and then the events until the arrival of the reinforcements. Be sure to use the above info post for any plotting needs you might have. Enjoy!

Please note that there is a specific top-level comment thread for:

• The day 3 arrival of the draftees and the 6 hours that follow until the bomb is dropped
  
• Death--This thread can be treated as REFERENCE ONLY. Responding to it isn't necessary.
  
• Threads prior to departing for Zompania--post resurrection freak outs, arguments over how to proceed, etc.

All other threading, from day 1 until the reinforcements arrive, should be conducted as normal.

Be sure to tag this post appropriately: [canon] character name

Comments

[lastfonmasterguardian]

Until we find the people who dropped that stupid thing!

[Speaking of blinding, that last rock she kicked could have probably actually blinded someone. Anise was in too much of a berserker rage to really care, though.]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[That was quite the overappliance of energy. Jade continues to muse onwards.]

My, it sounds like you'll be able to solve this problem singlehandedly. [He rubs at his chin, pretending to be in thought.] I wonder what will become of Ion and the others while you're focused on this goal.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

[WOW that was a low blow.]

[It was also probably exactly what Anise needed to hear.]

[She's got enough anger left that she'll kick one last rock, and then her expression drops considerably.]

Guess that won't work, huh?

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He gives a light nod and looks directly towards Anise.]

I'm afraid that not even someone as tenacious as Anise Tatlin could manage to protect all of her friends while focusing on destroying all of her enemies. It is true that stopping the bomb is one of our highest priorities, but it is actually part of fulfilling our true highest priority: getting all us out of here alive.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

[As terrified as she still was, she'd have to put it past her. The Colonel was right; the situation was awful and dreadful and she really just wanted to kick in someone's face, but they had to make sure they were all getting out.]

[Except, that still left her with one major worry. They hadn't even seen the bomb until it was on top of them last time; what if it happened again? And what if they didn't get the redo this time?]

But, how do we make sure this doesn't happen again?

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He places one hand to his temple in thought.]

We have several days to find that answer. The bomb is almost certainly hidden somewhere within Zompania. If we can reach the city, find it and disable it, then we'll be able to save our lives. By sending us back in time, the history may already be changing. Events may not transpire in the same way. We have to take all every step that we can to ensure that this does not happen again.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

So, if we're able to find the bomb, we can disable it, and then take care of the people who dropped it in the first place, right?

[She pauses for a second.]

But what about the rest of the soldiers?

[yourfononsarewhack]

That's quite right. The rest of the soldiers should only be engaged as much as is needed to ensure our survival. [His glasses gleam.]

Our utmost priority is self-preservation, not the utter destruction of all of the Cultists. As beneficial as that would be to us, we're not a formal military. It will be enough of a victory for us to hold off the enemy and keep ourselves alive until the Malnosso can see fit to pulls us out.

[Jade can often be harsh and pragmatic on the battlefield. But he cannot truly consider the war against the Third Party to be his own when people who shouldn't be a battlefield are drafted and when there's so much about the situations that he's kept in the dark about.]

[lastfonmasterguardian]

Do we know when that's gonna be?

[From what Jade said, it sounded like all of this fighting had been going on for a long time. The drafts were something that had happened before, but nobody had really said how long they were, and how long they were expected to be there.]

[And that left a lot of unanswered questions, too. Even if Anise didn't really give a lot of thought to the battlefield or have a lot of experience with war, there was still a lot wrong with the entire situation. When they left, would the rest of the soldiers still be fighting? How long would this war last, anyway? What i they got drafted again?]

[yourfononsarewhack]

No. I do not. [He adjusts his glasses grimly.] I only know that typically, it's rare for these battles to last longer than a week. It might not be too long.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

A week? But what about the rest of the fighting? You said that this had been going on awhile, right?

[yourfononsarewhack]

You mean the entire war in general? That's a very different story, Anise. [He sighs.]

I'm afraid that it has been raging on, and it seems it's been for quite some time in this world's history. It will go on after this battle ends and we're returned to Luceti, most likely. I may have lived through several wars, but that has only taught me that the nature of war is unpredictable - in when and how they begin as much as when and how they end.

Not to mention... that there's too many unknown variables about the world outside the enclosure. There seems to be much more to the war than what the Malnosso will show us, and until we have more facts, we can't know for sure what the future of this war may look like.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

[Anise frowns, taking it all in. It was unsettling, to have the war constantly raging in the background, but what about the bomb? If they made one, they could make another, right? What if they dropped it on the enclosure?]

Hey, if it's so unpredictable, how do we know they won't attack us in the village?

[yourfononsarewhack]

We don't. [He goes straight for honesty.]

In full disclosure, Anise, a number of Cultists were able to infiltrate the enclosure last year. However, we were able to fend them off. Another incident apparently occurred several years ago. [Buffy Summers apparently was the hero of that battle, but she's gone now. One less veteran in Luceti's ranks.]

However, the barrier of Luceti apparently keeps us safe from most of their attacks. The Malnosso also seem to have a number of other fail-safe measures in place so that any direct attacks by the Third Party should be extremely scarce. Regardless, Anise... That's why we must stay sharp and be prepared for emergencies.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

Oh...

[That...definitely wasn't comforting. She'd actually really been enjoying it in the enclosure; everything was really peaceful and calm, and it felt like somewhere they could relax without having to worry about fighting all the time. But this draft had definitely been a (rather rude) wakeup call.]

[But, as terrified as she was, she couldn't afford to let it show longer than a few moments. Jade was right, they still weren't clear of the draft yet, and with the possibility that the enclosure could be attacked too, they needed to be in top shape. Even if it sucked. Even if it was unfair.]

[It takes a moment, but her expression does eventually perk back up.]

So we need to beat them so hard they won't come back, right!?

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He grips at his glasses tensely.]

When we can, yes. But overall, our primary objective should be protecting ourselves and each other.