Author Topic: Welcome to the Jungle (Jada & Solluk)  (Read 2677 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Solluk

  • Shadow Fleet Reserves
  • Legendary Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3397
  • Life is not endurable without a sense of humor.
  • Awarded to players who go above and beyond what is asked of them. Three year award Awarded by the FCO to the CO who has shown the best leadership. Awarded to players who guest star in another SIMM. Awarded to players in recognition of their recruitment efforts.
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: Welcome to the Jungle (Jada & Solluk)
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2017, 11:01:57 am »
[Holodeck]

Solluk waved away any concerns Jada might have had.  "On Vulcan, succinct and direct language is often favored over politeness.  It can even occasionally be the case that politeness is a cause of personal insult.  It's an interesting duality.  One kind of politeness can indicate fondness, but politeness of a different kind is something often reserved for outsiders."

Outsiders.  As he had himself become.  His face hardened for a moment when he remembered his fiance' carefully couching her language when she suggested breaking off their arrangement. 

Well, that pain had been part of what brought him here.  Perhaps he should be grateful.

"In any event, you need not concern yourself over giving orders.  Not to me, and not to anyone in Starfleet.  It's just efficiency.  I don't think anyone is likely to take it personally.  Though... I well understand the difficulty in shedding the taboos of one's culture.  I still often feel shame when I smile.  On Vulcan, a small smile is akin to laughing maniacally in a crowded room."

As she explained how her culture differed from place to place, tribe to tribe, world to world, he nodded in appreciation.  "We ousted oddities, on Vulcan.  Anyone who didn't conform was invited to leave.  I think we are poorer for it.  Sometimes I think of the Romulan Empire, and I think, 'This exists only because my people couldn't stomach differences.'  I suppose we've matured a bit, since joining the Federation.  There was a time when IDIC was a sentiment barely expressed, despite it being a founding principle of our philosophy.  Though I suppose many people fall short of their ideals."

'I was sold to Boss Ngachi up there, for the Forestry Services. He paid such a high price, and my parents were so proud. I was so excited, it was my first job.'

Solluk blinked at this news, delivered not just matter-of-factly, but even happily.  Though he considered Jada a friend, he could not help but also think of her as a deeply damaged being.  Her brain had not been cooked by an energy discharge, but it had surely been injured by psychological traumas the likes of which he could barely imagine.

He resisted the urge to fix her, however.  Such feelings would be the death of any truth or respect that could exist between them.  A true friend helped you when you needed it, but loved you for who you were.  Friendship should not come with a maintenance plan or a refurbishment schedule.

He followed her lead, down through this jungle of revelation and horror.
My Primary Shadowfleet Character:


Offline Jada

  • Shadow Fleet Reserves
  • Honoured Member
  • **
  • Posts: 2821
  • #greenlivesmatter
  • Awarded to players who demonstrate consistent high quality posting skills. Awarded to any player who has been with the Fleet 2 Years Awarded to players who are always online and posting. Awarded in January and July to the player who writes the most engaging posts. Awarded to players who continue to contribute to the running of the SIMM.
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: Welcome to the Jungle (Jada & Solluk)
« Reply #16 on: July 08, 2017, 03:31:15 am »
Nozama'kar, Holodeck

"I still often feel shame when I smile. On Vulcan, a small smile is akin to laughing maniacally in a crowded room."

'You shouldn't,' Jada remarked, 'You have a nice smile.' with a small one of her own. But privately, she was disturbed by what Solluk described of Vulcan culture. When she'd first heard of Vulcans, filtered through Orion gossip and misinformation to far-off, reclusive and xenophobic Thirat, to a child's ears, she'd pictured beings lobotomised to avoid all feeling and emotion, cold arrogant psychopaths who cared nothing for the feelings of others. The reality on coming to the Federation was very different, meeting people who seemed just impassive and repressed, and generally kind of boring and dorky. Solluk stood in counterpoint to that, balanced, open-minded, and charming, yet still the exception that proved the rule. But what he described now, with subtle flaws only an insider would realise, revived some of her old ideas of Vulcans. She couldn't imagine a people so similar and yet so very different to her own.

She led Solluk on through her village, or rather, this virtual reconstruction of it, steadily climbing the hill as they circled around it. The effort of climbing in this high gravity was wearying, and soon explained Jada's strong legs. On the way, she pointed out more sights, some mundane like a grand hall that was a community centre for meetings and events – 'Of course, this is the new one. The old one was destroyed in a fire three centuries back. It was really beautiful.' she described, as though she'd seen it with her own eyes and not through her parent's stories, as though three centuries old was still new. But then she had talked about being here ten thousand years.

Other sights were more unusual or shocking to Federation ears. 'That's the home of the lodubyaln – what you Federationen call Orion slave-girls.' The house was one of the largest and more beautiful, even palatial for this village, adorned with flowers and colourful pennants. These included some laundry, scarlet knickers included. Yet once again there was more beneath the surface. 'We only have one and her apprentice. D'lila is our chief entertainer – music, singing, poetry, dance, you name it, she can do it. She's a brilliant storyteller, knows all our tales and history and customs, especially when we forget. She organises celebrations and processions and helps negotiations go smoothly, keeps us getting along.' Jada spoke fondly of her; she sounded less like a resident prostitute or more like a keeper of culture and peace, even a much-loved leader. This was the traditional lodubyal of classic Orion culture, not the tawdry imitation rented to outsiders. 'Good with her tongue too... I mean, she always knows the right thing to say.' she corrected hurriedly.

'She's owned by Chief Zorba, patriarch of the clan, and Momma Vada, matriarch. My great great grand uncle and aunt, I think.' She pointed to another house, far away from the slave-girl's and not nearly as remarkable, nor seemingly that interesting.

Yet there were some things Jada didn't explain, mention, or even look at, like the sealed hatch that led underground.

Walking through this holographic representation had stirred up so many memories for Jada, of happy times and sad times, too many to tell them all. She'd only been gone a few years, but after being in the strange alien environments of Federation worlds and Starfleet ships, everything seemed unusual or different, not quite familiar but not strange. Just... off. She couldn't trust that this was an accurate simulation or not. Were the windows too big? Were the trees too short? Was the grass the right shade of green? Like how things seemed bigger when you were a child, memories of home seemed more idyllic than the harsh used world lived in every day. And this was before the war, before the damage and the doubtless occupation and repossession by the Nomab. The holodeck presented virtuals and ideals, not the reality. This wasn't Nozama'kar, only holographs and memories. But that's all home ever really was in the end.

Jada went on with her earlier story, her voice tight and bitter in sad remembrance of their defeat. For a proud warrior, defeat was hard to accept. 'In the end, we were lost in the boardrooms and courtrooms, and in the fields. We had no chance... But we evacuated rather than let the Nomab take us and split up the Nozama. We destroyed our slavery contracts so they had no claim on us, withdrew our money before they seized our accounts, and spent our savings on a berth on a dingy transport off world. We were refugees. But the other Colonies didn't want us Thiratin... Thirat hasn't been willing to take refugees in the past, thinking that because it's so hard for others to live here, no one else should live here. They forget we had to adapt to this world as much as new people would... And we Thiratin kinda scare other Orions.'

Then we remembered d'Jada Nozama – I'm named for her. She served in the Orion Space Navy, and was an exchange officer in the Earth Starfleet over two centuries ago, fighting in the Romulan War. She brought back stories of Earth. So we went to the Federation, hoping this connection would be remembered. It wasn't, Starfleet apprehended us as illegal immigrants, but they gave us aid. I think the Federation feared us Orions too. We petitioned Holcomb's Planet, since they'd accepted Orions in the past. We settled their tropical region for them, exploring and finding pharmaceuticals, and keeping ourselves out of trouble.'
It was just as well, Jada thought. She didn't want to see the Nozama corrupted by so-called civilised life like so many other Orions were, falling into crime. It was important to hold onto the roots they'd planted deep in the earth.

'My cousin and I joined Starfleet, to repay the Federation, to be hostages to our clan's good behaviour, according to our custom. s'Metra's a cadet, but I couldn't wait and enlisted in Security. Lots of Thiratin going offworld become mercenaries, we're good at fighting, so I guess it's equivalent... No, we're of the Federation now, and I still need to protect my clan, so this feels like the best way. And maybe I just couldn't shake the military life.' she admitted, musing on her various reasons for joining Starfleet. Far from sounding uncertain, she felt more confident in her choice. She didn't have to have only one motive for doing anything, while multiple reasons only strengthened her resolve.

Reaching the top of the mound, they came to a pleasant clearing that surveyed the whole village and even saw open sky through a gap in the jungle canopy. It was the only large flat area around, and could be used for sports or large gatherings. Jada stomped the ground. 'This mound is built up from the old bones of Nozama'kar: our buildings, plumbing, rubbish, even our bodies. Every part of Nozama'kar has been destroyed and rebuilt, again and again. But Nozama'kar remains and rises ever higher. The trails here were worn by our feet, making grooves in the land. We've shaped this landscape like water on a boulder. We've been here ten thousand years, long enough to evolve an immunity to the local s'm'kax spider. The ground all around here is soaked with our blood, sweat, tears, and, hells, other bodily fluids. They say if you sample the ground you'll find Nozama DNA. This will always be our land.' she declared, voice full of pride and determination, in full understanding of her connection to the land, one that went beyond legal claims, buildings, or custom, but to genetics and the soul. It was a promise, not just to herself but to her clan that one day they would return, no matter how long it took.

At last, Jada sat on the grass, stretching her legs out, feeling the blades tickle her bare skin, green on green, and gestured Solluk to follow for a break. The perspiration and effort of getting here took a lot out of one, and Jada had done a lot of talking and hard remembering. 'Computer, flasks of water and jellied wing-slugs.' Two flasks and a bowl of slimy dead slugs with membranous wings appeared before her. Playing a good host, she offered a flask and the bowl to Solluk. 'Please forgive me, I've been monopolising the conversation. Would you like a jelly slug?' They would be sweet but chewy.


OOC: Way too much probably, but I'll wrap up the tour and story and let you take the lead. :)
Academy Chief of the Boat  (Personnel File)

Offline Solluk

  • Shadow Fleet Reserves
  • Legendary Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3397
  • Life is not endurable without a sense of humor.
  • Awarded to players who go above and beyond what is asked of them. Three year award Awarded by the FCO to the CO who has shown the best leadership. Awarded to players who guest star in another SIMM. Awarded to players in recognition of their recruitment efforts.
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: Welcome to the Jungle (Jada & Solluk)
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2017, 12:16:52 pm »
'You have a nice smile.'

That was all it took to get a smile out of him, and a brighter one than usual. 

They proceeded through the simulation, and Solluk found that it was not the programming skill which made it come alive, nor the marvel of modern holographic projection technology.  No, it was Jada.  This place was alive in her mind, and she made it alive for him, too.  As much as this place was a visual record of her lost homeland, Jada herself provided the oral tradition and passion that gave it a soul.

As she went on to describe the home of the Orion slave girls- a subject of much titillation and rumor in the Federation- he came to see that the experience of being this kind of slave was very different from what he'd imagined.  They seemed to be treated almost as queens.  And yet he wondered... if they were actually slaves, did reverence and riches matter? 

Well, it probably mattered if you were a slave who had to make do without reverence or riches.

They proceeded on, and a door built into the ground momentarily caught Solluk's eye.  But since Jada didn't say anything about it, he assumed it was something unremarkable, like a Sewer entrance.

"I do not think there is shame in fighting and losing," he remarked as she described the failure of her people to hold the planet.  "And though battles may be stretched by a hundred years, a lost battle does not mean the war has ended or found its final victor.  The Vulcans and the Romulans are proof of that.  We are still fighting a war that began millenia ago.  Littered with battles of ideas and battles of blood, it is a war that infects everyone who comes into our spheres of influence."   

It was, perhaps, a dramatic way of putting the case.  His schoolmasters would have accused him of excess sentimentality in his appraisal of history. 

When Jada described the substance of the ground beneath their feet, he wondered to himself if- in addition to simulating the dirt itself- she had filled it with the skeletal remains of countless generations.  He would not be entirely surprised if she had.  Her attention to detail was religious.  After seeing this remarkable simulation, he feared that the gift he'd prepared for her would seem paltry and sad.

When she materialized food and water for them, Solluk eyed the food with some visible suspicion.  But it did not seem right to refuse what was no doubt a delicacy among her people.  "Thank you," he said, sampling the offered creature.  It was...  it was not good.  Not the flavor, which was pleasantly sweet, but rather the uncomfortable, cloying mouthfeel of the thing. 

Gratefully, though he did not have the ironclad control that a Vulcan was supposed to have, he had a fair amount of practice in pretending to be a stoic.  "Mmm," he remarked noncommittally as he chewed and swallowed.   Then he guzzled down the water to wash away the creepy sensation of the thing on his tongue.

"It is logical to consume the available fauna," was the only additional commentary he offered about the dish. 

Then, "Please do not consider your narrated tour to be a monopoly of the conversation.  I am learning a great deal, and if my lips are often closed it is only so that my ears can be open."

In the course of their travels, a leaf had fallen upon and become caught in Jada's hair.   He reached out to pluck it away, and for a moment he had a curious sensation.  No, not a sensation.   An impulse.

His fingers, momentarily frozen in indecision, finally did their duty.  He pulled the leaf away. 

A replicated object, no doubt.  Anything that could be fully enclosed in a fist, or possibly consumed, needed to be replicated instead of simulated with light and forcefields.  This included the water in streams, or the snow of wintery locales.  Or the food and drink they were consuming now.  The computer would recycle such objects if they were still inside the holochamber when the simulation ended.  But not if they were inside you, obviously.

He showed her the leaf and smiled.  But rather than let it fall away, he closed his hand around it.  He did this without planning to, as though a part of his mind was operating independently from the rest of him.   

"I am glad that the Federation took your people in," he told her, "and that you felt the need to sign on in repayment of that gesture.  I feel that Starfleet is enriched with your presence.  As am I."
My Primary Shadowfleet Character:


Offline Jada

  • Shadow Fleet Reserves
  • Honoured Member
  • **
  • Posts: 2821
  • #greenlivesmatter
  • Awarded to players who demonstrate consistent high quality posting skills. Awarded to any player who has been with the Fleet 2 Years Awarded to players who are always online and posting. Awarded in January and July to the player who writes the most engaging posts. Awarded to players who continue to contribute to the running of the SIMM.
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: Welcome to the Jungle (Jada & Solluk)
« Reply #18 on: July 14, 2017, 06:28:58 am »
Jada looked surprised as Solluk removed the leaf from her hair, not that it was there but at the intimate gesture. She could duel a stranger for that, but found she could forgive Solluk; she didn't mind. What did that mean? 'Keep it as a souvenir.' she remarked laconically, trying to sound cool, and later kicking herself. She wasn't as comfortable making a similar gesture, there was too much of the proud and standoffish Thiratin in her.

She'd not even noticed the leaf; in the dense jungle, she'd gotten more than used to picking up foliage, like the j'snio flower still tucked behind her ear. That, and the sweltering heat, were practical reasons for her short hair. Which had grown a bit long recently on the cold Federation ship; she probably needed a haircut.

'I'm glad I enrich you.' she returned, lacking anything better to say. With the focus on riches, it sounded like an Orion sentiment, one she understood, but she as not sure it really carried the same value. She scoffed a handful of jelly slugs, hiding her thoughts and emotions.

'Oh. Another lesson in Orion culture. I've already broken a few taboos telling you all this.' she began, aware she'd been lecturing him all this time and indeed breaking codes of secrecy and misinformation, but unable to help it. 'Computer, night setting. The daylight disappeared, the village was plunged into darkness, and the small patch of sky glimpsed through the gap in the canopy turned inky black with a rich scattering of brilliant stars. This deep into the wilderness, there was no light pollution to obscure them. Jada drew her legs in, hugging her knees. 'I said space is like the heavens, but that's just known space. Everything outside is the Outer Dark.' It sounded ominous, even in the chilled way she said it. 'It's everything outside our territories, space we don't know about or have forgotten. After the old powers fell, Orions were almost alone in space for a thousand years. In the Outer Dark, ships disappeared, colonies were never heard from again or were found long destroyed. Our legends tell of violent alien marauders flying bird-like ships, crystalline entities, tentacled monsters winging through space... The Outer Dark recedes as we explore its fringes, it encroaches as our colonies and trade routes fail.'

'Now, with the Federation and the other big interstellar powers exploring space, the Outer Dark is pushed back almost beyond sight. But most Orions prefer to stay in home-space, on our ancestral worlds with our feet on the ground, where we can see the home-stars of Rigel and Yuhso or whatever we were born under. Some still say the Federation and the Klingon Empire are the Outer Dark. On Thirat, the Outer Dark is practically everything beyond our system. Only pirates and crazed explorers venture into it...'
She smirked to consider what this said of her. 'You may decide which you think I am.'

Looking up at the stars, she paused to catch herself, licking her lips and trembling a little (a chill from the sudden drop in temperature, she would insist). She wasn't sure if she was more nervous about the Outer Dark or the admission. It was a break of cluros to reveal a weakness or fear, but the best thing to do was get this off her chest. It was no weakness to speak truth to a friend. It was a greater strength, higher cluros. 'I didn't want to come to the Gamma Quadrant.' she said, voice breathy and hollow. 'Unknown Gamma Quadrant. This is orders of magnitude deeper into the Outer Dark than ever contemplated in our horror stories. I'm so far from home not even the astronomy lab can show me Rigel, let alone Yuhso. I've gone further than any Orion ever.' she said, in shocked awe at herself. She swallowed her shame, and said 'But I'm... afraid. It doesn't make sense, but that's it.' But it was cluros to master her fear.

'It's why I ran this simulation, to get in touch with home.' she explained. 'Thank you for experiencing it with me. Because ultimately the Outer Dark is no closer than the nearest Orion.' she said thankfully, laying a heavy hand on his shoulder.
Academy Chief of the Boat  (Personnel File)

 

RPG-D Sci-Fi Avatars RPG Initiative RPGfix RPG Initiative Fodlan Chronicles