[Away Mission:] Arrivals Post, Alemar III (Party Post!)

[ten_fwd_npcs]

"Welcome, everyone, to geothermal field two-nine-one," Dr. Johanna Sk'Amor says, once everyone has gathered in the entryway.

The shuttlebay the group has just left is behind them, while the large entrance to the facility is directly ahead. The building is quite spacious, and despite the high volume of visitors no one is cramped for space while standing here. It's like a museum lobby, with fixtures in the center of the room and wings on either side. While the design is not as bright and clean as the Enterprise, the high ceilings and white walls give a feeling of spaciousness. To the right is the main observation room, where the convex wall making up one full corner of the drilling facility is primarily floor-to-ceiling windows. The vistas beyond are stunning: tall, grey mountains and low valleys, all covered with snow. To the left is a winding staircase that leads to an upper level, and beyond that are several labs.

"This is one of five scientific outposts located on Alemar III," the doctor continues. "At one time we had seven, but two have been destroyed by earthquakes. Alemar III is highly geologically active, so our remaining facilities have been reinforced to withstand even the most devastating natural disasters. There's nothing to worry about, our engineers are some of the best in the quadrant, but if you feel some tremors while you look around just keep in mind that this is normal.

"Two of our outposts are at the polar north and south of the planet, while the other three, this one included, are evenly spread across the globe. Our staff is small, only about ten scientists and five archaeologists, and enough engineers to keep everything in working order. In all, the entire planet only has about ninety occupants at any given time. It's rare that we're able to entertain guests.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you some of the work we accomplish here."


[ooc: This post is open to those who signed up for our game plot only! As it's being run party post style, all characters are encouraged to tag in and mingle; since teams have not been divided yet, any participating character can tag anyone else, you don't have to stick only to those on your teams. You may also tag in as many top level threads as you choose if you're doing the full tour, just be sure your character ends up in the room where their team will be positioned for the rest of the plot (for those who will be divided in the mines due to cave-ins, the main mine connects to many other rooms and alcoves, so simply tag in under the Main Mine subheading and have your characters move around the different passageways to explore. Wherever rocks fall, that's where the rooms will be divided). Threadhopping and backtagging are encouraged! This post will remain open for as long as it takes all characters to tag in.]

Comments

[stark_spangled]

Steve's been hanging around the back of the group, alternating his focus between the tour guide and the milling people. He's interested in everything, make no mistake, but he looks a little lost. A man out of time yet again.

He's been idly watching Harper for the last few minutes, curious about his body language and temperament coupled with the way he looks at the tech here like it's child's play. It's an interesting combination.

"I'm going to guess this isn't your first time on an alien world?" he says conversationally, stopping by the food table. He looks over the spread, but doesn't touch anything yet.

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper looks at most things like they should be toys for him. That's just his way. Boy loves his tech. Most of the stuff found here so far isn't impressing him much. It's a long way from what he's used to. He's a little out of time too but more at home than Steve.

"No. Though this isn't the best one but it sure as hell ain't the worst I've been stuck on." He looked up. There was something about that guy that already reminded him of Dylan or at least something familiar about him. "This your first time?"

[stark_spangled]

Steve has presence. It's what made him a star selling bonds, and what made him a captain America could believe in. He smiles lopsidedly, flashing Harper a little of that charisma he's so known for.

"Am I that obvious?" he jokes, nodding his answer. "Where I'm from, we're just getting used to the idea of..."

He waves his hand. Other worlds. Aliens. Intergalactic travel. Not being alone in the universe. He breathes a quiet laugh, reaching out to touch one of the alien fruits. It almost looks like a kiwi. "So you get around, then?"

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper decided then that this guy would get along well with Dylan. He probably got all the girls he could want as well.

"Aliens." The engineer finished the sentence. "You should meet some of the ones where I'm from. Give you nightmares. Not that it's all bad. Y'know." He nodded. "Been here and there across the known systems. Seamus Zelazny Harper, chief engineer of the Andromeda Ascendant ." No fake rank this time and he even offers a hand while the other one is pocketing food. Old habits.

[stark_spangled]

Harper might be pleasantly surprised. For as much as Steve gets noticed by ladies, he hasn't quite mastered the art of talking to them. He reaches for the proffered hand, pretending not to notice the devil's hands at play, and gives a firm shake.

"The Andromeda Ascendant?" he repeats, brow beetled. He smiles. "I think I met your captain. Dylan, right? The name's Steve Rogers, US Army Captain. Uh, Earth."

He's still getting used to clarifying that.

[deus_ex_harper]

Well if that's the case then do not, DO NOT let this man ever try to give advice or 'help'. Ever. In fact, run. Just run. Far away. It would only end up with getting slapped or the woman in question try to kill you. That's Harper's taste. It isn't great.

Harper's shoulders slump at the mention of Dylan. Of course he'd met the Captain. "Yeah, that's my boss." He did however brighten a little at the mention of Earth. Then the name. The stack of comics he'd found one day, there were a few issues of Captain America, so the name is familiar to him. Not the others on Andromeda, they had no class, no sense of history.

"From Earth myself, Boston." With everything that had happened to the poor planet during the long night. "What's left of it."

[stark_spangled]

Steve has enough to worry about with Natasha and Clint poking around his love life, thank you. But if he's ever in the market for a wingman, he'll be sure to lose Harper's number.

(Who are we kidding? The good captain wouldn't leave him in the lurch like that. If he's going to get slapped, then they'll get slapped together.)

"Oh yeah? Beantown, huh?" he says amicably, smoothing right past the negative reaction to Captain Hunt's name. For as friendly as he looks, his eyes sharpen just a fraction; Dylan seemed like a decent guy, which means something has clearly happened. Not that it's any of Steve's business. "I'm from Brooklyn. Don't worry, I don't carry any grudges with me."

They seem especially ridiculous now, out in the reaches of space. Just so long as Harper doesn't speak ill of the Dodgers, they'll be just fine (even if some schmuck traded them off to Los Angeles while he was sleeping). "What do you mean, 'what's left of it'?"

[cw: death, assault, violence, generally this is not a happy tag]

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper is used to it. Or they come on to him to then try and kill him. It's a close call. Sometimes he even gets them trying to do both. He' really knows how to pick them. He's just jealous of Dylan.

"Those aliens, well, where I'm from they came, they saw, they decided to make Earth their own personal diner. Then along came those pesky Nietzscheans who decided Earth just wasn't all that down on it's luck and it needed something more. So ends up most of the population that isn't getting turned to Magog chow into slaves for the ubers. We're all stuck living in camps and fighting for what we need to survive. Needless to say I got out of there as soon as I could. Wasn't like I had a lot to stick around for in the end."

He gave a sort of shrug. It happened. He couldn't change that. No matter how much he wanted to. Even going back to Earth after so long hadn't helped. He'd just made it worse.

"Next you're going to ask me about the Magog." If Harper made an unhappy face about Dylan then the one he made speaking about the Magog was worse. Dylan being so angry was sunshine and rainbows compared to them. Even if it did feel terrible. There was a reason he was staying away from the rest of the tour where there were caves. The little jaunt to the Magog world ship had left it's mark. In a literal sense as well as psychological. "Trust me when I say you do not want to meet them." Rev was the exception. The only one as far as Harper was concerned. After what they'd done to him. How he'd come so close to death.

"Just be glad that none of them are here. You can keep killing them but still they'll be too many. If you're lucky you die. If you're not, you get all the fun." There isn't enough sarcasm to mask the hatred behind those words. He's gone from at least vaguely cheery to a much darker expression. One that somehow doesn't sit quite right with him but there is familiarity to the way he wears the expression like he has had to before.

"They lay their eggs in you. Of course grow, feeding on your organs. You're alive the entire time, usually paralyzed." But he wasn't, he was still walking around. Trying to drown his sorrows in beer but couldn't even do that. They took it all for themselves... "I couldn't even get drunk but I could still walk around." He looks up at Steve, wondering what the man must think of him now.

Seamus Harper may not be like the rest of the Andromeda's crew, he's not a pixie, heavy worlder, uber or just genetically enhanced. He may be just a human with a crappy immune system, malnourished and seemingly weak. But Harper had done a lot to stay alive given his life so far. Nothing had been easy. He'd never let it get to him. Let it show. He was still the cheery engineer who was always joking around. Though this was a rare glimpse of something else that he could be. There was something that could be a lot darker and nastier hidden away for when needed. That was the part of him that kept him alive sometimes, when the worst happened. He may not be proud of what he'd had to do to be able to stand there then but he was there for a reason. Maybe following Dylan was always part of the Divine's plan for him.

Just as the mood had come it was clearing. Maybe not gone completely, it wasn't quite that easy to get rid of, but he felt there was a change needed. Before it became too late. The food was a distraction.

"You should try the orange things. Taste like Cali-melon." Which was pretty much watermelon.

[stark_spangled]

Steve's quiet through the whole story. It's not because there isn't anything for him to say, but rather because he knows something about sharing a difficult experience with someone, and most of the time you aren't looking for sympathy, feedback, or pity. It's enough just to get the words out, pretend like everything is normal, and move on. So he stays attentive, respectful, nothing but the deepening lines in his brow commenting on each new word.

Not everything he understands, but he can piece together the gist from what Captain Hunt told him and the expressions that flit across Harper's face. He glances down. If Loki had won, and the Chitauri had taken New York, Earth would have come to a similar fate in his time. Domination, slavery, and death. He can still see them spilling from a hole in the sky like a cancer, an open sore, and as Harper goes on about Magog eggs he can only wince. 'I couldn't even get drunk but I could still walk around.' Steve's fingers twitch against an imagined shot glass, and he can smell the smoke and cinder of a burned-out bar where he tried to drink the death of his best friend away. Only he couldn't. It's no match for what Harper's talking about, nothing so horrific, but sometimes this body still doesn't feel entirely like it belongs to him; it heals, metabolizes, moves too fast, robbing him of the relief of pain, alcohol, sickness. To feel fallible, just for a second. To have something he could control.

He glances back up, following Harper's gesture to the orange fruits. He twists a smile in reply, huffing a laugh, mirthless and quiet, under his breath.

"So I guess you haven't been to a ball game in a while," he says, because he can be a lot like Harper when he needs to be, playing off horror and trauma with a snarky joke or an offhanded reply. It's the Brooklyn in him coming out, informed deeply by the soldier; fighters don't talk their feelings, they act them. So he picks up a piece of fruit, and tosses it lightly in his hand. "A couple years ago, we almost lost New York. I don't know what it is about Earth that says 'hey, come enslave us!' but part of the reason I need to get back home is because nobody, nobody should ever have to know what that feels like."

He looks Harper straight in the eye, and nods softly. It's as much a sign of respect as anything, from one Earth kid to another. "Thanks for the recommendation."