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Aberrant: Stargate Universe - SG22: Mission to P3R-881


Mr Fox

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Aradia cringed at the thought, a little overwhelmed with the whole situation.

Son of a fuckin' bitch - we freak out about two bombs being dropped decades ago on our world, and this guy has over two hundred of these damned things set up, rigged to blow a whole planet? That scale of warfare is fuckin' nuts - it's almost enough to make me wanna be a pacifist or something, like Livy!

Outwardly though, she just shook her head slightly and stayed quiet, trying to keep an eye out for anything unusual, as she had been instructed.

Click to reveal..
Roll for Observation: 5d10 → [3,5,9,6,1] = 1 suxx
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Steve thought for a moment and said, "300 is probably months worth of work depending on how far spread apart these things are. That leaves the paradise option, or..."

Well aware that it was a reach Steve said, "If we assume that a fleet is coming, then we could warn it off and maybe avoid all of them going off. Easiest way to do that is to... set off one of them ourselves. Of course I don't know how to do that safely and I also don't know where to put it so that it would do the least harm."

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"Warning the fleet wouldn't work, it would scan the planet just out of suspicion. Can't fuckin' do 300..." Vinny mused, tapping the bomb with his foot. "Asgard porter would be nice, but not fuckin' likely."

"'Less we convince the natives to do some diggin', this planet is fucked 7 ways from Sunday. KT, Steve, do a little chat-probe, see what it would take to convince them to excavate."

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"We'll probably have to change our tactics with them, then. They're ignorant, but not stupid; if Ba'al wanted these things dug up, he'd have sent a contingent of Jaffa and just done it."

She rubbed her arms and thought about it. "I could give the various village leaders a mental image of what the things are designed to do to their world. Or we could look for dissenters that might help us. Either of those plans has huge holes in it, so if someone's got a better idea, I'm all for it."

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Thinking out loud Steve said, "Truth won't work. Some of these bozos would die for Ba'al and it would only take one."

"We have to con them. Some idiot put Ba'al's stuff on the wrong planet. It's our ass if we don't get it back. No, it's their ass if we don't."

"Um... they're punishment devices that Ba'al wants for a different people."

"They're immortality apples that we can use to reward them."

"They're weapons that they can finally use to... um... help Ba'al."

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"They were told that the devices were there to help them, to help their crops. By digging them up we're taking away their 'miracle' from Ba'al and destroying the very crops he supposedly sent the devices here to give them." She shook her head, "Without some other official trappings, like a contingent of Jaffa, we're not likely to get far on the 'Oh, Ba'al just wants them back now' line. We'd have to accuse someone of blasphemy or some other way of making the people 'unworthy' of the gift if we're going to keep claiming to be emissaries of Ba'al."

She pursed her lips, "About the most reasonable story I could think of, given their religion, would be to say that the crops are proof of the faith of the populace, and their faith has empowered the devices to be used in the holy war. This assuages their egos, we provide a higher return of crops over what will be disturb recovering the devices in reward for being so faithful, and we get their help in digging up the bombs and getting them off the planet."

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Steve said, "So it was this season. Um... These devices balance life and death. It was always known that you would fill them with life as shown by your crops and faith, but you have done a better job than expected. Ba'al is pleased but would use the coming death against his enemies. He requires that you dig them up and bring them here."

"That work?"

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She shrugged. "That's basically the same thing as I said, only without the Eastern philosophy bent. I'll go take a stroll in the village and see what the people are thinking. Maybe that'll turn up something we can use to better effect."

With that she stood up from the steps and started back towards the village, her mind seeking out the thoughts of those nearby as she settled into an easy stroll.

Click to reveal.. (TP roll)
(13:33:13) ChatBot: (Kyria) rolls 5d10 and gets 5,8,3,10,7.

First die is mega, so 3 suxx. Just skimming surface thoughts for anything interesting as she passes by villagers.

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"Could just tell the fuckers that it wasn't really Ba'al, and that an enemy Snake buried the bombs and plans to blow them all to shit. They should believe the people with the powers over some contingent of Jaffa. We're convincing."

Vinny shrugged his shoulders, "The easiest lie is the one that is more true."

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Steve replied, "Easy isn't what we're looking for. The most believable lie is one people want to believe. Try to tell them that they've been fooled by Ba'al's foe and you'll get resistance. They're not going to want to hear that they were fooled, they won't want to hear that the big man might be pissed."

"We need to start with Ba'al is happy with them because they did a good job. That's what they want to hear."

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She came back from her quick stroll, shaking her head. "Claiming anything negative of Ba'al is pretty much a quick jog to a lynching mob. People already suspect of us of being imposters, and any attempt to move the bombs is going to take a lot of fast talking or greater proof that we serve Ba'al. Ba'al had a pretty light hand on this world so they've had little reason for discontent."

She crossed her arms and looked to Vinny. "It's your call. What do you want to do?"

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Aradia had been quiet through most of the debate. Something had been bugging her, but with everything else everyone was saying, it had taken her a while to really put her finger on it. Finally though, she bit her lip, and spoke up, having realized what it was that was bothering her.

"Besides, there's one thing we haven't really thought of. If we take all these bombs, and leave the people, we're probably handing them a death sentence anyway. Or at least a really fuckin' miserable punishment. I'm pretty sure Ba'al's gonna be more than a little pissed that they "let someone" come along and take the bombs, no matter how we accomplish it. Evacuation is probably the only way we can keep these people from getting killed, one way or another."

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Fuck the snake-lovers, kill 'em all, let the Ascended sort the shit out. Vinny let out a sigh. What would Hadley do?

He pulled the cigar from his mouth as he looked out over the fields. "Better to have a pissy Snake than no planet."

Hadley's voice rang through Vinny's memory, They have to want to live Vin, otherwise there's no point. We can't save everyone...

Vinny turned back towards the group, the cigar having found its way back to his mouth. "We tell 'em the truth. Show 'em if we gotta, but its their shitball, their lives. Let the ass-tards choose their own fate."

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Quote:
Vinny turned back towards the group, the cigar having found its way back to his mouth. "We tell 'em the truth. Show 'em if we gotta, but its their shitball, their lives. Let the ass-tards choose their own fate."
Steve's expression didn't change and he looked out over the field and by extension the planet. Giving large numbers of people a choice meant some of them would choose wrong, and Steve was intensely glad this wasn't the Earth.
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Kyria nodded. "Alright. We should start with the headman or priest or whatever he is here in this village. If we try a mass education, it's just going to blow up in our faces."

She started back towards the village, assuming the others would head out as well. Well, it's their home and their lives. I suppose it's their choice, even if they're going to make the stupid, superstitious one.

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Vinny followed Kyria as she walked back towards the village, commenting as he moved through the flora.

"KT, Steve, flip a coin, which ever one of you wants to do the convincin'. You're both a helluva lot better at the chit-chat than my ass."

"Gumby, we've seen your radioactive chicken, think you could do a freak Mole or some shit, help dig up the bombs? They don't seem all that fragile."

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Steve stood still for a long minute, calculating the odds and feeling his approach, then he nodded and went to find the 'chief'.

Steve said, "I... I get the feeling that no one has told you what's going to happen? That you and all of your people are going to die from these devices?"

{Trickster On}

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Steve struggled to come up with an answer that the elder could understand, then he decided to mix truth with lie.

Steve said, "Do you know what a fishing lure is? You take a live worm or live insect, put it on a hook, then toss it out and hope a fish eats it."

"These devices, they're the hook. The fish is one of Ba'al's enemies. You? You're the worm. Any benefit you get from the lure is going to come with a large cost. Ba'al didn't give you these things for your benefit, he gave them to you for his own."

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The man was even more confused, how could this be? The great Ba'al using his people to catch an enemy god? Certainly Ba'al punished those who were disobedient or those who displeased him, but he had always been good and just to the people here... hadn't he?

In the face of these new gods, for surely that must be what they were, it was hard not to see things clearly as they wished. There were tales whispered in the dark, things told to misbehaving children by their mothers about Ba'al the vengeful, that he had ended the world and started over once because of the disobedience of the people. But should the people prove their loyalty or flee hoping to avoid their fate?

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More fully informed, Steve said, "You're probably thinking about whether this is a punishment. You should stop that. You haven't been disobedient and this isn't a punishment."

"We keep farm animals. We do good things for them. But we do it for our benefit, not theirs. When our needs conflict with theirs, they end up on the dinner table. It's not a 'punishment', that's just the way it works."

"You're at the right place at the right time. That's all. The only question is what you're going to do about it."

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Kyria relayed what she'd pulled from the farmer's mind to Courier, then spoke aloud to the frightened man. "I can show you what we've learned and what such weapons can do, if you want. No one will be endangered; I have a gift that will allow you to see without anything actually happening. It will be....strange for you, but not dangerous."

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Steve replied, "The farmer is always good to his animals, up to the point where he isn't."

"The star gate is horribly expensive and the entire planet has one. Those devices he buried are akin to it, and he gave you 300 of them. Ask yourself this question, 'How does he benefit from this? Where is the profit for him?'"

"He didn't do it for you, he did it for himself. Those extra crops, even if they're not an accident, would they pay for something like another star gate? 300 of them? No? If not that, then what?"

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The farmer was a bit disconcerted by Steve's continued words. He didn't like to think of Lord Ba'al that way, it wasn't an image he was comfortable with. Rather than deal with it he turned to Kyria and nodded. "I will witness what you have to show me."

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Kyria nodded and reestablished mental contact with him. She began with a mental image of the device and the basic ideas of what a bomb does (by way of memory pictures of bomb explosions she has seen on videos for the most part), then with a simple explination of how much more powerful these devices are and more mental pictures of explosions/aftermath of weapons of this magnitude. She stayed focused on the facts of the situation of the planet, keeping her own opinions of their culture and beliefs firmly behind private walls. After the slide show and share of simplified information she gently spoke in the man's mind.

*Ba'al is in a war with other beings like him. He has decided that your planet and the people on it are more useful to him as a potential weapon, as a bomb the size of your world that could take out a rival fleet or army if they approach your world from the sky or through the chappa'i, than it or you are as an agricultural resource. For him it is a numbers game, pieces on a map to be moved and sacrificed as nessessary for his agenda. For you, it is your life and the lives of your people.

You have a decision to make about what you do now with this information and that choice. We can help you leave, which would be the safest course. We can try to disarm the devices and leave you here, that is a dangerous path. We can remove the devices to somewhere not harmful to life through the chappa'i. That is moderately dangerous. We can leave and leave things here as they are. You will probably die, along with everyone else on this world. The choices of what happens next start here with you.*

She waited, still nestled in the man's mind to observe his reaction and doing her best to keep her own emotions and opinions out of the equation.

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The elder was very confused. He could feel that what the godess showed him was true, but it went against everything he was taught to believe the Ba'al was anything but just. Once he thought it all through he knew the truth. There were tales of the people, ancient tales whispered at night that the first people of the crop, had displeased their god and been killed man, woman and child. These lesser gods who had come through the chappa'i were convincing.

Even so he was unsure what to do. Should they flee? But then would Ba'al not find them and punish their disobedience? But to stay was to die... For long minutes the the decision went unmaid as he weighed the various options. Finally he spoke, "Can you hide us? Find us a place safe from the displeasure of an angry god?"

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Aradia breathed a relaxing sigh, her tense and frustrated expression melting into one of relief. She had been afraid that these people wouldn't believe them, that they wouldn't be convincing enough. She glanced at Vinny, tilting her head slightly.

"If you want boss, I might be able to change into something fast enough to deliver messages to different villages or something.. we don't have any technology on this world to deliver it to them otherwise, do we? Maybe the elder here can write some kind of letter that would convince other people to come too? We need to get em all here to the Stargate, right?"

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Kyria glanced at Steve, and in a move that was likely to get her yelled at by one or both of the men on her team she added, "We can take you somewhere that Ba'al does not rule, that none of his kind control and that as far as we know is outside their areas of operation. We can also keep in contact with you and even provide support such as education and tools once you are relocated, if you wish. Those are the guarantees we can give. We can also offer our friendship above our assistance."

She was used to being respected, even regarded with wonder, but this near worship was making her both irritated and uncomfortable. She was a rationalist, just as Andrew and the Paragons had intended those of her generation and world to be; religion made her uncomfortable.

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The man was shaking his head. "No, you have convinced me and my village will follow me I think, but other villages will not be convinced just by a letter from me or even by my words alone. If you would convince them then you will need to visit each of them in turn. Words alone could not have made me decide to flee my home, I had to see the visions."

((We do not have to play this out with you going to each village. I can narrate it if you wish. Let me know if there is anything more you wish to do.))

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