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

[wipesfaith]

[He nods weakly, resting his elbows on his knees as he works open the second bag.]

This has gotta be some kind of record for screwing up the fastest.

[wise_maiden]

Now you're being hard on yourself. This battle isn't exactly well organized, and this is your first time up against them, isn't it?

[wipesfaith]

[He's silent a bit too long for him, with the bag open and ready to be devoured but he doesn't move to eat more.]

...They don't look all that different from us.

[wise_maiden]

Were you expecting something else? [ She takes out one of the canteens. ] The war is less about looks and more focused on ideology. ... Although there is a lot of contempt about the wings, either way.

[wipesfaith]

I know, I know... Who the hell would try to kill someone just for how they look? I just mean...they're human too.

[He can't be the only one bothered by this, right?]

[wise_maiden]

You'd be surprised by what wars are started over. Many wars only involve humans. Many wars involve humans and other races. Countries fight over property. This situation ... it's not far from any of that. Polarizing ideals, with extremists on both sides. And we're caught in the middle, against our will.

[wipesfaith]

I get it, but... [It's still a foreign concept to him.] It still seems like a waste to me.

[He starts on the second baggy of food she'd given him.]

[wise_maiden]

Is it something you've never experienced? [ She doesn't disagree; but there's something naive about his reasoning. ]

[wipesfaith]

[A light shake of his head - he's still recovering from dizziness - and he swallows the wad of food in his mouth before speaking.]

Humanity isn't divided like this...not enough for anyone to want to start a war. Why make more problems for yourself?

[wise_maiden]

[ A certain strategist might comment that it seems unrealistic, but he had also said the same about Raine's world. She shakes her head a little at that thought. ]

Well... then you've been lucky, in a sense. Though I know you've had other problems outside of yourselves. If those problems weren't there, though ... you haven't seen disagreements over ideology, or anything like that?

[wipesfaith]

["Lucky" is a word he would rarely use to describe himself, and never his world in general. But it's true that the walls don't house conflicts of this scale.]

Of course people disagree and believe one way is better than another - like what the best way to deal with the titans is, that sort of thing. [While he has never volunteered much in the world sharing class, the existence of the titans is one detail that's impossible to gloss over. He continues speaking like he's making a list:] There's a class divide. You sure as hell don't see any rich kids in the military, and you don't gotta be rich to complain about your tax money going straight into soldiers' mouths.

[A stiff, one-shouldered shrug.] It's just human nature not to get along perfectly.

[wise_maiden]

Exactly. Human nature... and without outside things to focus on, turning on one another might sometimes be inevitable for some societies. When the divide between rich and poor becomes too great, for instance, or a desire for change... idealistically it wouldn't involve fighting at all. But when the sides become too divided, the results follow.

[wipesfaith]

[While she talks and he listens, he remembers to keep eating. Chew, swallow, speak. It's a cycle.]

It makes sense, but...at the same time, seeing it like this-- [he gestures with the hand clutching the nearly empty baggy of food to the dim, muddy battelfield around them] --it's hard to make sense of it.

[A half-hearted laugh that's nothing more than a dry breath that carries no humor.] I guess that sounds pretty stupid.

[wise_maiden]

You... fight for what you believe in. That's what they're doing, and what we must do as well to survive. Even if "fighting" shouldn't be taken as literally as a physical battle, but that's what it's come to.

It's not wrong to be an idealist, but you also have to take into account the reality of the situation surrounding you.

[wipesfaith]

[Him, an idealist. It has less to do with ideals and more to do with the reality that killing someone who looks like you is hard, because it's more than just the fundamental action of moving your muscles to swing your blades, it's the result that follows, the absence of a life because of you.]

...And the reality is that if I won't kill them, they'll definitely kill me. [His eyes fall to his shoulder.] I know. And I know I'm not ready to die.

[wise_maiden]

... yes.

You bear the responsibility of those lives. If you want to avoid fighting directly, there are measures you can take, but others will step in until they can't, any longer.