Galaxy's Edge Space Bar (archive)

[Myitt]

<I killed my brother, and his host,> Corliss says harshly.  <And I don't mean one of the thousand or so that are loyal to the Empire.  Raiker was a part of the resistance from the beginning...it would have been far worse if I hadn't done it.  He would have given us all over to the Empire, not that he would have meant to, of course.  It's unavoidable...>  

As Corliss finds himself lost in thought the ultrasonic clicks cease, and with them the strange mental sensation of words.  

Finally he speaks again.  <My point is, maybe I could have saved him.  Maybe things could have gone back to the way they were.  But he was damaged, and a risk, and I killed him and his torturer so our people could live another day.  Was that the right decision?  It didn't feel like it then, and it doesn't now.  I have to live with that remorse, and be thankful that I am still living.  

Was killing Tamora a mercy killing, too?  You tell me, Terenia.  You've done things you regret, but that doesn't make you a murderer.  It doesn't make you some harbinger of bad luck.  It just makes you...fallible, and a little unstable, and who isn't in this wretched war?>

---

Myitt smiles at the navigational controls, waiting for the ship to purr fully to life. 

"You want to invite Ossanlin and his crew on a little rendezvous with the Empire?" she replies with a huff.  "Ossanlin, I'm sure, would try to help us on his own...good luck convincing the rest of them, and hiding the fact that we're working with them.  You must know how many people it takes to pilot a Dome Ship.  What should we do, remain cloaked all the time?  Wait until we start shooting, or a cloak fails, and have some idiot aristh start shooting back at us?"

[Terenia]

Terenia is shocked into silence for a long moment. At first, she is trying to wrap her mind around the idea of Corliss murdering someone in the way she had murdered her siblings. For some reason she finds it difficult to wrap her mind around someone as kind and understanding as he is doing something so terrible. Then her thoughts drift to Tamora. Was it a mercy killing? she repeats the question, immediately inclined to say yes wholeheartedly. Something still nags at her though.

<I killed Tamora because if I didn't she would have been a slave her entire life,> Terenia says at last. <With or without a Yeerk in her head. She was unstable and...and she's better off this way. Now she can't hurt anyone. I wish I had more of a chance to talk to her, though. To rescue her on my own terms. If Ossanlin hadn't taken her from Earth things may have panned out differently.> There it was again. Things always seemed to lead back to Ossanlin. She feels a fresh flare of anger at the Andalite, but it is hampered somewhat by his recent involvement in saving her from nothlitism. She feels confused, more than anything. <I understand why he did it, I guess.> she goes on. <What I don't understand is why he brought her to me when he knew I would...> She cuts off, the pain of her decision fresh in her mind.

<He says that he hoped I would decide differently, but that was a lare gamble, and the odds were stacked against him. And he knew that. Yet he took the risk anyways, laying her life down because...why? That's what I don't understand."

[KitsuneMarie]

Illim chuckles at this. "As much as we're always seeking a host above nearly all else, hosts can really be a pain," he agrees. "Especially the unwilling ones." Illim's tone becomes more serious. "I really hate the guilt that comes along with that. I'm lucky Serid and I don't hate each other too much. So when you take a host, do you find them dead, or do you do that, yourself?"


Tora bites her lip and murmurs, "I could pose as a member of the military." Being away from the base that long, and without any guarantee of ever going back, it not in the least appealing, but she has considered doing this several times before. Perhaps now it is time.

That is, if there were a worthy assignment.

[Stephquiem]

Fiona looks mildly horrified. "I don't possess dead things!" She shakes her head. "Ugh. No. Fiona's definitely still alive. It's more like... well, the closest thing is 'demon' possession, I suppose." She taps a finger to her temple. "She's still in there, technically. Just... sans consciousness." Fiona shrugs. "She leaves when I leave." She glances toward the door. Again. "Though, at the moment I can't leave until I've cleared up some unfinished business."

[RAFrukh]

No..., Vogefac thought, I need to make sure the more important thing is done first.

"Frederick? I will see you in 28 minutes then. I've decided not to see Morgan. I need to take care of something much more important. My honor is yet agan at stake. Will you tell Morgan I said goodbye, and it was...nice...to meet him?"

[KitsuneMarie]

Shifting uncomfortably, Illim glances towards the door as well, as if expecting this person to show up any moment. And why not? Fiona certainly seems to.

"Right, how silly of me," he mutters, giving her a skeptical glance, reminded that she is most likely pulling his leg.

<<Of course she is,>> Serid remarks. <<You should believe her no more than Myitt believed you.>>

Giving an irritated grunt, he murmurs, "Well, I hope everything turns out favorably."

[Stephquiem]

"Me too," Fiona mutters. She sinks down in the booth, annoyed now. He'd get here when it suited him. As usual.

"So, what are you actually doing in this dump?" Fiona asks Illim. "Not that it's any of my business. But seeing as how I just told you my life story, and as I seem to have a lot of time to kill..."

[Shenmue654]

Mar winces at the mention of Trey's name, as if he were hoping that the conversation were going in a different direction. Other than the fact that Trey is a young man involved in his Elayne's time, Mar isn't sure exactly what it is he doesn't like about the boy. Perhaps it is his damnable innocence, a quality which he delights in in young women but often detests in boys of Trey's age. Such people always seem to foil his plans.

"I suppose it isn't...the end of the world if you assist that boy," mutters Mar, rolling his eyes. Mar puts his hand on his chin, trying to look less frustrated and failing miserably. "I just don't particularly like him. Such innocent people rarely meet good ends, as it were. I think if I attempted to help you help him, I would resent it the entire way through. I am therefore unsure of what my next move should be."

[Kitulean]

Vanessa was quiet, chewing her food thoughtfully while Trey explained about the Yeerks. She thought there was more specifics there, about his own situation. But he didn't seem to want to get into it, so she didn't pry. Instead, the girl simply nodded slightly when he mentioned that the yeerks, among other aliens, did exist.

When the boy asked about her own world, Vanessa shrugged. "Unless they're keeping it really secret? There's no aliens that I know of, anyway. Errr, there weren't. Not until this happened--errr, obviously there WERE, I mean... are... you know what I mean."

[RAFrukh]

Vogefac walked up to Bear first, "Do you forgive me for the trouble I caused you? The PR/E I mean? I would not blame you if you did not want to speak to me again..."

[KitsuneMarie]

Illim gives a shrug and says, "Just looking for a place to rest. Truth be told, I was hoping to find a member of the Yeerk rebellion here and join them, but turns out my host had a bit of a spat with another rebel, so that's not going to work."

<<Do not belittle me. It is not some childish sibling rivalry,>> Serid speaks up in irritation.

Illim awards his comment with a pregnant pause before speaking to Fiona again. "I guess it's a good place to stock up and figure out what to do with myself before the bounty hunters converge on me."


"Don't be jealous of him... if that's what it is," Elayne says, biting her bottom lip. "He's like a little brother." She gives a sigh and then shrugs, straightening so she isn't leaning on him any more. "I'll try not to annoy either of you. I'm so used to having a duty to the end that he's trying to achieve; you understand, right? I don't know how to take a break."

[Stephquiem]

Fiona nods, smiling wryly. "Arguments do tend to get in the way of being productive." She finishes her glass and sets it on the table. She eyes Illim's plate, wondering if she should get some food after all.

Instead, she says, "You know, I don't think I've ever met a rebel Yeerk. That I know of, anyway. I've spent a lot of time with some self-serving Imperials, though." She grins. "I like their brand of loyalty--it's primarily to themselves. I can relate to that."

She raises her eyebrows at him. "What the hell'd you do to get bounty hunters after you?"

[Myitt]

<Perhaps Ossanlin simply didn't want any more blood on his hands?> Corliss suggests mildly.  <He knew you would kill Tamora, but instead of stopping it from happening he handed her to the one person who had a chance of going through with the inevitable.  I suppose that means he agreed with you, even if he didn't like the idea.  Maybe Tamora was beyond repair, and this ended her suffering.>  He pauses.  <Even though she, of course, wouldn't have called it so.>

---

Myitt barks a laugh.  "You, go back to the Andalite military?" she says incredulously.  "Tora, you know they'd find out you were communicating with us at one point or another.  Do you really want to risk actually being exposed as a traitor just for a few gains in our military intelligence and support?"  She shakes her head.  "Don't be silly, it's not worth the risk.  Now are you ready to leave, or are you still pining over your Andalite friend in there?  I can always leave without you, if you'd like...though then I'd have only Tara to play chess with, and that's no fun."

[KitsuneMarie]

Illim's shrug is nonchalant, but his expression is more pained. "I killed a few Imperials. It was enough to get me kicked out of both the Empire and the Yeerk Peace Movement." He watches Fiona with a frown, trying to decide whether he's ambivalent towards her or whether he flat-out doesn't like her.


Tora grits her teeth in irritation, but then she sighs and sits down in the co-pilot's seat, strapping herself in. "I can sympathize with Illim on one point:" she murmurs to Myitt, "I am tired of not doing anything. We work ourselves to the breaking point, but to what end? What have we truly accomplished?" She turns her head to look at her. "I agree with our ideologies, and I believe it is the right place for me to be, but I am discouraged by our handicaps. At some point, we are going to have to take greater risks and hope that they will lead to greater results."

[Myitt]

Myitt sighs, slumping back into the big metal chair, designed for Hork-Bajir, that has been unceremoniously bolted down in front of the navigational controls.

"No, you're right, of course," she says tiredly.  "I just don't want you to risk going back to a bunch of uncooperative hypocrites and put your life on the line while you're at it.  You know as well as I do that most of the Andalites we've contacted will have nothing to do with us."  She leans on her arm on the armrest.  "Maybe we're barking up the wrong tree."