wilderlogs | [OPEN] A Tale Told By an Idiot

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[OPEN] A Tale Told By an Idiot

Who: Revan and Whoever
What: Misled by the badass title, Revan attempts to read The Sound and the Fury
Where: Philly library
When: Towards the end of the Philly stay
Warnings/Notes: The Sound and the Fury is basically a nonstop parade of awful, so if you want, we can just stick to Revan not knowing what golf is or whatever to avoid dealing with early/mid-20th century race and gender issues and horrid people being horrid to each other.

[Anyone less stubborn would have given up days ago. Revan, on the other hand, is seated at a table in the reference section, surrounded by books pulled from all over the library, none of which seem to have any relationship to each other. A copy of the Concise Oxford, still large enough to brain livestock. A single-volume history of Germany and another one about the state of Mississippi. The official rules of golf. A biography of Thomas Jefferson and a history of Cambridge, England, both pushed off to one side. Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century, published of course by Harvard University Press. Several slim books about Easter, all obviously for children. And so forth.

Directly in front of her, stuffed full of flimsy paper bookmarks printed with the library's hours pilfered from the circulation desk, lies the cause of all the trouble: an unassuming paperback copy of The Sound and the Fury, with all the terrible stock photo cover design a cheap reprint of a classic entails. Revan herself is scribbling something in a spiral-bound notebook with a ballpoint, her surprise at the sheer amount of paper in the city long subsumed by irritation over this maddeningly incomprehensible book she's found.]

Why does it even matter?

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Yes. Something like this... would have killed my gene-sire, but turned him into a monster instead. I wish it had killed him.

[ He looks at Revan and asks her directly. ]

If I look to be... becoming something else. End it.

[Whatever a "gene-sire" is. She assumes Loken means biological father, and it's not worth side-tracking the conversation over, anyway. Not when he's asking her to agree to a mercy killing. But...he's not wrong to worry about the possibility, and she's seen him in a fight. There are only a handful of others in the group who'd have a chance, and of them, she's not sure how many would have the stomach to kill something wearing the face of a friend.

Revan takes a deep breath before nodding.]

If you become a danger to others, I'll take care of it.

[It's not quite what he asked, but Revan is a Jedi. They don't believe anyone is ever beyond the reach of the light. She'll kill him only if she can't cure him.]

My thanks. I've had to give that sort of mercy to others before. I know it is distasteful, but I suspected you'd be willing to do it, should it come to that.

[ He smiles, a little sadly. ]

It is my intent to find a more honorable end in the service of the people of this caravan before, if I can.

[Revan acknowledges his thanks with another slight nod, hoping she won't have to do anything to merit the gratitude.]

You might get the chance. I doubt our pursuers have given up, and we're no better armed than we were before.

[Unless something changes, she doesn't like their odds.]

Perhaps we should ambush them and turn the odds around. A few snares, an elevated position, and we could end a few of them and give the children a chance to get clear.

[Revan gets a pensive look. She doesn't hate the idea, but there are practical concerns.]

If anyone gets too far away, they'll be teleported back to the main group. We could leave a token force, but the rest wouldn't be able to get much distance without pulling the rearguard after them.

[She grins.]

Great way to stage a retreat if you time it right.

Like a teleportation attack in reverse. It has promise.

[ He grins back, already considering the tactical options of such a strike, and how best to coordinate it. ]

[Revan taps her fingers on the table.]

If we're serious about this, I want to bring in Arturia and Brainiac.

[Arturia's an experienced general. Brainy's a prickly jerk, but he's smart.]

Agreed on Arturia. I haven't met Brainiac.

[ He looks at Revan expectantly. Damn PC charisma. ]

[Having someone instantly defer to her just seems normal. and Revan falls into the commander role without noticing.]

If we need to improvise weapons, he's our man. Touchy, but a genius.

I'm familiar with the type. I'll step lightly around him and let him do his work.

That still leaves the question of basic equipment and weapons, though. I think Arturia has the only sword I've seen on our side, thus far.

Sariatu and Shuichi both have swords, and there might be others I don't know about. Dixon's shield works as a weapon, but he's in terrible shape. [Does she mean the injury or the fact he's a heavy smoker who doesn't exercise? Yes.] Shuichi is...barely more than a child, really, and not willing to use his.

[So, she's agreeing with Loken.]

My own weapons don't work.

[Still pissed about the lightsabers? Still pissed about the lightsabers.]

I don't know how long we'll be able to hold an enemy we can't hurt. I'm not willing to spend lives to achieve nothing.

[Don't mind her, just instinctively assuming it's her call to make.]

Even a moment's more time is worth a life, as long as we can gain it. and it isn't like I have long anyway, I suspect.

[ He frowns more deeply when she mentions her weapons doesn't work and says. [

What sort of weapons did you use?

Lightsabers, but hang on.

[Revan holds up a hand to forestall the shop talk that she really would like to do, because lightsabers, but this is important.]

You don't know what influence they'll be able to exert over you. Maybe you wouldn't be going to your death.

[The implication being he'd be going to something worse. The dark side is tricky like that, bro.]

You think they could bend me to their will?

[ Loken isn't sure if he's worried or insulted. He's always remained loyal to humanity's cause. ]

[He doesn't get to arrange a mercy kill with someone and then be insulted when she starts talking worst-case scenarios.]

Just touching one of the blades knocked me out. Back home, I'd have been able to shrug it off. Something about this place is weakening people.

[A tactful way of driving home her point, just ignore all the people who gained powers, please.]

So yes, I think it's possible.

A good point. If I had my abilities from home I'd have made that entire hilltop a charnel house.

Or even just my boltgun, really. That would have been enough, let alone my war plate or chainsword.

[She snorts. It's almost a laugh, but too tired for that.]

I'd have made short work of that mess, too. Even a working saber would have changed the odds.

[Revan shifts around in her seat to let her reach under her robe to the small of her back where she's moved her useless sabers. If they were still on her hips, she might try to draw them by accident.

Emitter safely pointed away from Loken, she flicks the power switch, and once again nothing happens.

Sigh.]

We're not really ranged fighters.

[Except for all those times you throw your saber or deflect a blaster bolt into the person who fired it or sweep people ten meters away off their feet with the Force, Revan.]

Edited 2018-06-05 00:17 (UTC)

What is that? Looks like a lasweapon, or a digital laser? Maybe a torch of some sort?

[ Loken blinks a few times at the lightsaber then says. ]

No. You're holding it like a hilt. Is that a power sword without any actual metal on the blade?

Plasma blade in a magnetic sheath.

[Revan holds her hand out to indicate the length of the blade when switched on.]

It'll deflect ranged weapons and cut through just about anything.

[She locks down the power switch in the off position and flips the hilt around in her hand, offering it to Loken if he wants to take a closer look. Normally she wouldn't be so cavalier, but the weapon's pretty much decorative at this point.]

Ah, makes sense. Fairly deadly, in the right hands. [ He takes the blade and gives it an appraising look. ]

I prefer things with a bit more heft, but I can see the artistry of it. This wasn't mass-produced, was it?

A Jedi crafts their own at the end of their apprenticeship. The focusing crystals alone are rare enough to kill over.

[Another snort.]

Very artistic, very valuable deadweight.

[Still, telling Revan her lightsaber is awesome (she knows, thank you) is an excellent way to get into her good graces.]

Well, a thing still has value, even if it doesn't serve the purpose it once did. I kept a length of wire I used to slay an opponent I fought over the course of a week in my quarters, simply because it was the best and hardest fight I ever fought. I wouldn't use it as a wire, or a garrotte anymore, but it was a reminder of a well-earned victory.

[ Aren't all of his tales just lovely? ]

But what is a Jedi?

[Revan, always good at picking up a cue, reacts with the same degree of casualness with which he tells the story. That's...charming, Loken.]

We're a monastic order, mediators and peacekeepers. Warriors when we have to be.

[Which is basically always, if she's being honest.]

We take in children who're...I'd say Force-sensitive, but you called me a "psyker" when you saw me use telekinesis.

[And he didn't seem happy about it.

She holds out a hand, levitating The Sound and the Fury above her upturned palm.]

I am familiar with such things. They are not unknown to the Imperium of man, though they were strictly regulated and forbidden amongst the rank and file of the Adeptus Astartes. In fact, there was a large trial of sorts and those that manifested such abilities within our ranks were ordered to experiment no further with it. It was enforced. For a time.

[ He sighs, still uncertain of the wisdom of the judgement of Nikea. ]

Which was also a monastic order of a sort, though a far more militant one. We were warriors first and foremost, the tip of the Emperor's spear as he carried the light of enlightenment into a benighted galaxy that had nearly destroyed humanity.

I shall be honest, such things stand close to sorcery to me, and it was sorcery that has set my galaxy afire. So I am... upset by it. Forgive me.

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