06 ☕ Voice

[psychic_hotline]

[Filtered to free humans living in the ruins and travellers she's encountered before]

Okay, everyone. Can't have escaped your notice that we've got some visitors. I spoke with a member of their crew - he said they're independent. I'm taking that to mean a scavenger craft, but it's not like we know the political situation out there.

There's about a hundred of them. They may have food and medical equipment to trade. Be smart about it, don't get greedy.

He said they're going to make repairs and leave; that might not happen. Anything you do to or with these people, assume you might end up with them as neighbors indefinitely. If you're hearing this from inside the Nest, safety of camp and crew come first. Always. Anybody who screws us over for some novelty or other is going to wish the Vanquish got them by the time I'm done.

[Anyone who knows Sara knows this is not an idle threat.]

[Filtered to 'visitors' i.e. free Barge characters who know they're from the Barge.]

My name is Sara Pezzini. I represent the Nest, a human encampment under the city. We can trade shelter, a little food and medical expertise in exchange for any equipment and non-perishable supplies you can spare. If that's something that interests you, contact me for access coordinates.

We're also looking for anyone with expertise in surface-to-ship communications tech.

[Open spam for assimilated 'natives' & visitors]

[The Nest was once part of a complex network of subterranean transport and supply lines. During the Vanquish's initial attacks, it became a bomb shelter - and now it's the only real, of-fixed-abode community left in what was once a millions-strong city. Sara was voted leader five years ago, but that doesn't properly describe the situation - the job was forced into her hands by the majority. It's a burden, not an honor.

Right now she's walking the tunnels, checking on things - the hydroponic farm, the medical ward, the school (inconceivably - so to speak - people still have kids occasionally). And if anyone shows an interest in visiting she'll go to one of the concealed entrances (far, far from the camp, via tunnels lousy with traps and pitfalls) to check them out.]

Comments

[darknessb4me]

[Huh. Okay. Well, clearly someone has to kill her so she doesn't get left behind, not not right now.]

I don't suppose you can tell me what happened here.

[psychic_hotline]

[Tersely:]

Over two decades ago, this colony was attacked by the Vanquish. The conflict wasn't enough to drive them off or destroy them, it just grounded everyone and cut off our communication with our fleets. They've been punishing us for that ever since.

[darknessb4me]

The Vanquish being the outworlders? How did you ground them?

[psychic_hotline]

There's a lot of versions to that story so I'll just be honest and tell you I don't know. Most of the people directly involved with the assault are dead.

[darknessb4me]

The whole world is in roughly this condition? Or worse?

[psychic_hotline]

This continent is consistent. We've got no reason to believe anywhere else is better.

[darknessb4me]

Alright.

I've got potable water if you have a map of the area to spare. How many of you are there?

[psychic_hotline]

We have internal filtration. Here.

[She sends over a map of the city ruins and surrounding environs. The location of the Vanquish settlement is marked, as is the Barge's location. The human encampment and its entrances are not marked.]

I don't feel comfortable discussing our exact numbers. It's a functioning community, probably one of the larger. I'd estimate ten to twenty thousand humans altogether on this continent. Three times that many Vanquish, at least.

[darknessb4me]

[He starts trying to memorize it anyway.]

Perfect. Thank you. Is there anything you'd be willing to share about local outworlder species and their weaknesses?

[surfaceshine]

[Why hello, Sara. It takes Dean a minute to get his head into the right place because she's probably safer as she is now than the rest of the Barge passengers are, and if they're stuck here, she definitely is. But it's still weird.

However.]

What's information worth to you? I have ammunition rounds [Since my fucking Colt is useless now.] and some painkillers I can trade. A good knife, if that's something you're interested in.

[He has the feeling he's going to need the rest of what he has.]

[psychic_hotline]

Knives and painkillers we can always use. Not many of us bother with projectile weapons. What information do you need?

[surfaceshine]

I'm looking for anything you got on the arena where the fights are going on, and labor camps. Location, size, security, anything.

[psychic_hotline]

[A long pause. Her voice is a little mournful.]

That kind of data's what we've paid most for. But I don't charge for it now.

[She transmits a scale map of the Vanquish settlement. The structural basics are accurate; the locations of labor camps, the arena, patrol patterns etc. have obviously been added later.]

I can't vouch for accuracy. The arena is fixed but the camps move around and I'd guess they change their security arrangements on occasion. Generally when a person goes into the Vanquish settlement they don't come back out.

[surfaceshine]

[Dean is quiet for a few minutes while he looks over the map after getting over his mild surprise that it's that easy; he's used to paying through the nose for any information at all, one way or another, and that only seems to get worse the harder it is to survive. He's nodding.]

Yeah, that's what I hear, but we're gonna give it the good ol' college try I guess. I got a guy in a labor camp somewhere, says it's like a cave, and they're being guarded by big grey dog-faced jerks. Got any clue which of these labor camps that might be?

[He hasn't heard about the testing sites, yet, or he'd be asking about that, too.]

[psychic_hotline]

The mining caves are all on the south side of the settlement. [She highlights them on the map; there's five or six.] Generally they only work two at a time. Your friend could be in any one of them.

[surfaceshine]

[This isn't exactly awesome news - Dean doesn't know how much time Jesse has, or how much time he does himself, but he studies the new information anyway and then nods seriously. Nothing to it but to do it.]

Thanks. This'll save me a lotta time and energy. Is there anything I can do for you guys out here?

Voice

[lesliemonster]

[As far as Leslie is concerned, she's been assisting in support and day-to-day living operations in the Nest for nearly a year. She's not sure if an influx of new survivors is a good or a bad thing.

What she is sure of, however:]

We may need to put together an orientation seminar! I'm great at orientation seminars.

Voice

[psychic_hotline]

[Sara just makes a sort of 'pfft what even are you' noise. She likes Leslie, she couldn't ask for a better recruit, but she must have found out what an orientation seminar is from colony-building literature that's long, long since passed out of relevance.

Or maybe it's coming back in and Leslie's ahead of the curve.]

You know, I think you may actually be right. If they end up staying, that'll be a bigger intake than we've had in five years or so.

[filtered to free humans]

[aggravating]

They're gonna get us all killed.

[But this weapons maker looks as curious as he does annoyed]

What sort of supplies do they have? Like, specifics.

[filtered to free humans]

[psychic_hotline]

Nobody's given me their manifest, but I've been offered medical supplies, ammunition and clean water. If they are a scavenger craft it'll depend on how long they've been away from their base colony.

[filtered to free humans]

[aggravating]

Considering the pretty spectacular crash and the fact they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that all they're really going to be good for is keeping the Vanquish off our backs for a few days and a new source of scrap metal.

[Someone's just a little disillusioned and desensitized, after all this time on the run.]

[filtered to free humans]

[psychic_hotline]

I sent out a couple scouts to have a look at their ship. All they reported back was cosmetic damage. Hard to believe they could have suffered much internal damage in light of that.

[As far as she's concerned this means they can leave any time they want and they're choosing not to, which means they're not leaving without the Vanquish's captives, which means they're just going to keep dying until one of the more intelligent survivors leads a mutiny and takes what's left of their crew off-planet. Or until they are literally all dead or captured.]

Just - don't make their lives any more difficult, okay?

Voice

[ladyofgotham]

[Barbara sounds a bit haggard - she's been on the run for a while now - but her voice is steady and strong.]

I'm not an expert with spacecraft specifically, but I know comm tech. I could lend a hand.

I've got rations and med supplies, too. Not much, but enough to share.

Voice

[psychic_hotline]

Help is very much appreciated. [She supplies the locations of three access ports via a private filter.]

Keep the rations, we've got food to spare, but I'll take the medical supplies off your hands. Are you injured at all?

Voice

[ladyofgotham]

Superficially. I've managed to avoid them, for the most part.

Voice

[psychic_hotline]

Good.

Use the entrances in the order of preference I gave you. If you have reason to believe anybody can see you, even if they're on your crew, switch out and try the next one. If you burn out all three, contact me again.

Spam?

[ladyofgotham]

Noted.

[It's the second entrance, ultimately, that she enters. It might well have been simple paranoia that chased her from the first, but she can live with that.

It's almost comforting, crawling through the dim, dank tunnels. Until she narrowly avoids the first trap, anyway.]

Spam

[psychic_hotline]

[After that the tunnels are tall enough to stand in - and Sara's there, holding a wind-up lantern in one hand and an energy gun in the other. She makes a noise that could maybe be laughter.]

Not that I'm faulting your eagerness but I more meant come in and wait.

Spam

[ladyofgotham]

[Her grin is sharp and bright and utterly unapologetic as she straightens.] I can't resist a tunnel.

And I thought standing around out in the open might attract unwanted attention.

Spam

[psychic_hotline]

There's a few metres inside the entrance that won't try to kill you. Hopefully you won't need that for future reference. Follow me, step where I step.

[She's disabled most of the traps for the remaining two hundred metres of the tunnel, but some are impossible to disable - they're purely mechanical, lest they're attacked and lose power in the process. She holds the lantern low to the floor so Barbara can see where she's placing her feet.]

Didn't catch your name.

Spam

[ladyofgotham]

[Barbara nods, and follows along with light, careful steps.]

...Barbara. [She almost says Batgirl. It feels more natural, in a situation like this - and it's just as much her name, really.]

The traps are impressive, for what you have to work with. Have they ever been put to the test?

Re: Spam

[psychic_hotline]

Occasionally. Sometimes people have to be told to leave, and sometimes they try to come back.

[Her tone is uncompromising, but there's more than a hint of regret there, too. People are exiled from the camp only when their behaviour is actively threatening the lives of others; they're better off dead than permitted to return. But that doesn't mean she has to like it. She clears her throat.]

We've got a lot of natural mechanics in camp, but what we really need are technical experts. Anyone my age or younger's grown up without a formal education, and most people older were killed or taken in the first raids. I've been trying to transmit an SOS for a long time - we've got the equipment but not the encryption. I can't risk it being traced back to source by the Vanquish.

Spam

[ladyofgotham]

Understood. [She does, too; she understands the pragmatism in sacrificing the few to save the many, when those few threaten everyone's safety. Even if she didn't, she's in no position to judge anyone here.]

Education is something I've got. Might be able to share some of that, too. [It would be better to leave some knowledge behind.]