OPEN PLAYER PLOT: OPERATION LOST BOYS

[forcevisions]

WHO: Anyone
WHERE: A research outpost not far from New Amsterdam proper
WHEN: November 28
WHAT: The Displaced arrive to save the captured Morningstar agents, including one of their own.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, mentions of interrogation/torture, etc.

> DEPARTURE BY TRAIN Early in the day on November 28th, Prompto and Poe will conspire to get an out-of-service train car onto the same tracks where the Displaced were guided by Cassius earlier this month. By all measures, the train car doesn't look operational. There are telling dents in the side, and it does not appear to be powered on. Yet those involved in the rescue operation already assembled are climbing on board like they know that this is their ride. Inside, the train is fairly battered. Some of the seats on the far wall seem to have been damaged when the train collided with something during the EMP, and the rattling of the crash took out some of the internal handrails as well. Once everyone is settled, though, the car begins to move. At the front of the car, Poe uses his power to move the train car on the tracks and out of the city. As they hit a checkpoint, the car doesn't slow down to be inspected; instead, it accelerates and blows right through the barrier, which makes for a pronounced jolt for all the passengers inside. Once the train is rolling outside of the city limits, the Displaced can grab scrambler masks that have been provided by Morningstar for use in infiltrating the outpost when they arrive. It is imperative, El suggests, that they don't allow their identities to be compromised. They will also remind the Displaced to keep this project under wraps, lest Morningstar as a whole has its operations compromised. This is a good time to solidify any plans about what to do when the outpost is reached. The train ride won't be especially long, but long enough for some tension to settle over the car. > INFILTRATE THE OUTPOST The outpost they arrive at is a less grimy version of what the Displaced saw earlier in November. The interior is almost identical to what was present there, with some wings repurposed as jailing sites. There are bright, fluorescent lights with white walls and a sterile smell throughout. Even cleaned up, these labs do not recognize any of those that the Displaced may have seen in their dreams. The description below is borrowed from the arrival log for reference: The building is six stories tall. The first floor has a lobby/waiting area, a cafeteria, and some office spaces. The second floor is the dormitory floor, which is where the employees would usually sleep if they chose to stay at the facility while working rather than returning to the city in between shifts. This is where the new arrivals woke up. Floors three through five are dedicated to lab spaces, which is where the actual research work is usually done. Most of these laboratories are going to be locked, but that won't stop Displaced from breaking into them if they want. Some of the lab rooms also have exam rooms. Displaced will be able to swipe lab equipment and medical supplies, such as syringes, vials/beakers, first aid supplies, scalpels, bandages, multi-lens microscopes, etc. The top floor is dedicated to offices for higher-ranked scientists, so think of it as the C suite. All floors also have bathrooms, of course, and the dormitory wing also has showers. ✦ Notably, this outpost is also empty of scientists. However, stoic soldiers stand guard at every door. These well-armed warriors are with the UNA, who has taken over the outpost. These soldiers are not an easy fight. In the fights with UNA soldiers, PCs might die and need to be revived in New Prague by Morningstar. ✧ DISTRACTION: Some of the PCs may choose to deal with the UNA by attempting to distract them using wit, charm, or apparent helplessness. PCs may search for a way to draw attention away from some of these doors to let others sneak past. ✧ INFILTRATION: Those who sneak past will find the jailing areas similarly guarded, and eventually, stealth and quiet infiltration is no longer an option. Rey and the other Morningstar agents are being held in well-secured cells, and UNA soldiers must be engaged in order to get past them. ✦ Inside the jailing sites, they find the missing agents in terrible shape. These Morningstar operatives have gone through extreme interrogation, and if they can get persuaded to talk sense--or talk at all--they might impart on their rescuers that the subject of that interrogation was most recently about the blue technology. However, most are catatonic, seemingly unaware of who they are or where they are, and some react negatively and violently toward anyone who displays the blue glow in front of them as the result of a conditioned response. ✧ Agents from the September raids will explain that Rey's arrival worsened the interrogation. Some of these agents may admit to confessing that Morningstar started helping a new group that emerged. It was clear in their interrogation that the UNA was not involved in the June firefight because they only then put together that the Displaced were involved in it. They're only aware because they were tasked with cleaning up after it. ✧ Some of the agents taken during the raids will still be resentful of the Displaced, and this will help convince the UNA that the Displaced are separate from Morningstar. Once the agents are freed, the Displaced can make their way back to the exit of the outpost, where Poe Dameron waits in an armored truck liberated from the UNA. This flying truck is meant to transfer large numbers of UNA soldiers for load-outs, so despite the Displaced and rescued agents' numbers, it will be sufficiently spacious to fit them all. Though it flies, it's smarter to stay low in the interest of staying off trackers on their way to New Prague, where they can hopefully wait out the heat of pursuit by the UNA. > NEW PRAGUE When they arrived in New Prague, El contacts local Morningstar agents to escort them to a safehouse. Notably, El will warn the Displaced that no other parts of Morningstar know about zeir identity as an AI. El is hoping that the Displaced will keep their secret, but is more concerned with helping than with keeping them separate from the New Prague Morningstar chapter. These Morningstar agents will bring the Displaced to an abandoned chain convenience store at the edge of town, Zesco. The convenience store is located near the edge of the city, and it's meant to be a temporary stop. The upper part of the store is just an empty space, though there is a wall where it's clear that there were once icee machines. All of the Morningstar agents will be held under an abandoned convenience store. ✦ The inside of the safehouse is like most safehouses, but since it's meant to be temporary, there aren't any clothes or food in place to help someone out. There will be Morningstar agents who come in to supply these things throughout the stay, showing up about an hour in to help out. ✧ It will be apparent that this safehouse is not one of the ones that's typically used in New Prague, but instead one of the miscellaneous ones that they've had around. Unlike New Amsterdam, most of the safehouses in New Prague weren't compromised. Of course, there is a high likelihood that this safehouse will be decommissioned after all of this. ✧ Notably, the New Prague agents are all quite impressed that the missing New Amsterdam agents were able to be saved at all—previously, NPC Morningstar cells had believed rescue to be impossible. ✧ Anyone who kept their scrambler mask on during the infiltration of the outpost is allowed to leave the safehouse and explore New Prague. Anyone else … can do that if they want, but it's not a good idea! The safehouse won't be fun, but jail will be worse. Please reach out to the mods if you do this. ✦ Beyond the safehouse, New Prague is a large, beautiful city housing around 30 million people. Unlike many of its brethren, it pays homage to the "Old" Prague in a number of ways: there are impractical cobblestone streets, and the architecture adheres to an older, gothic style throughout the city. In fact, there are ordinances that demand the city continues to look as if it harkens to an older past and time. Above all else, New Prague is very green: there are trees everywhere. Throughout the city, there is a large, man-made river that cuts through to the underground, causing there to be beautiful falls underneath the main city itself. This river is called the New Vitava River, once again paying homage to the Prague of Old. The New Vitava River is maintained to the degree that there is no littering in it, and there are strict local rules about doing anything lewd in it. (That includes using it as a toilet. Don't do that!) There are bridges all over the city to easily cross from one side to another, and all public transit has been constructed to adhere to the river and also offer its citizens views of it on the regular. ✧ The weather here is just as extreme as it is in New Amsterdam, so anyone who's not been checking the news will find that the world really was screwed over by Cassius. ✧ Food throughout the city is just as eclectic as it is anywhere else. Visually, it looks like they want to remember Prague, but culturally, it's just as varied. This isn't an Eastern European city in anything but aesthetic. > THE RETURN The train ride back to New Amsterdam will resemble the ride to and from New Tokyo, but it is a considerably shorter trip. There is no stop for the train at New Amsterdam, so they will need to devise a way to get off the train without dying in the process - this will be difficult, but not impossible. This should not be too much of a surprise, as some of the New Prague Morningstar agents will join them on this train ride, and will explain the situation. Once they're outside the city, these agents will get them back into the city, as they've done this rodeo before. They can sneak in easily through the opening made by Cassius earlier in the month, which if it has been found, has not yet been addressed.

Comments

rey (star wars)

[forcevisions]

> THE OUTPOST (closed to rey rescuers)

[ behind an exam room door on the fourth floor, rey lies strapped to an examination table. the front of her shirt has been cut away from her sternum to expose the area that usually glows blue with their powers, and needle marks have left tiny spots and smears of blood behind. when the door opens, rey isn't entirely conscious. on top of going several days without sleep, she seems to be under the influence of a minor sedative that slows her responses.

as people draw closer, though, she tenses up, wrestling against the medical restraints the keep her on the examination table. the light of the scrambler masks eventually processes, though, and she settles down as she's released. it's incomprehensible that people have come for her. it shouldn't be, but it is. she'd attributed finn's choice to do that on starkiller to exceptionality in finn, setting aside anything it reflected about her being worthy of that sort of overture.

through the jumble of her thoughts, she manages to croak out a confused— ] Ben?


[ later, as she's being carried out, she's still too dazed for coherent gratitude, but she does manage to say: ]

They're holding others here. [ she's not positive it's the agents like she suspected, but she's positive that they've been going back and forth between interrogating her and interrogating other morningstar agents. ]

> NEW PRAGUE SAFEHOUSE (open to anybody)

[ the agents of new prague make it explicit: rey isn't to set one foot outside of this safehouse. one of the agents who arrives with supplies, alexei, has seen the videos on her cooltalk and knows her for a troublemaker. he seems to take it upon himself to keep an eye on her while distributing the supplies. she's just stupid enough to be a flight risk if she made those, even though she keeps assuring people she isn't.

she's finally coherent by the time the supplies arrive. the drugs haven't entirely worked themselves out of her system, but a shower and a new shirt helps her feel human again. so she's ready to have a real conversation with those who come around. a. anyone who was directly involved in her rescue, she'll start with thanking them very sincerely. others might get, b. "Where are we?" c. or "Did we find them all?" ]

> THE TRAIN HOME (open to anybody)

[ alexei and the other agents warned them that there was no stop in new amsterdam on this line, not given the damage done during cassius' attack. that doesn't make it less alarming to be hurtling towards it so close. sleep has made rey feel more herself, and something had happened while the UNA had her in custody. whatever they did to successfully provoke her power seemed to draw out more of it. ]

I can do it. [ she interjects this into the discussion around how to get off the train safely. ] If we jump off near the city, I can slow our fall. I can do it.

the outpost

[warfares]

I know.

( by now the agents will have been moved from their cells, ushered toward whatever transport they've managed to commandeer for themselves, and while he would like nothing more than to revel in the triumph, he has greater concerns right now. namely, getting rey out of her restraints. touching as much of her as he can to assure himself that this is real. that she is real. )

They're safe. ( an assumption, but he tries his best to force sincerity — the scrambler flattens out much of the inflection, turning the words rumbling and electric. a funhouse mirror's take on his original mask's vocoder. ) Now it's your turn, turhaya.

[forcevisions]

[ turhaya.

the recognition flutters her eyelashes. it is him. the masks, she'd clocked for morningstar on sight, but that seals who's behind the mask for her. she settles back against the exam table. it wasn't just the lack of sleep; the interrogation had exhausted her fight. between that and the drugs, she isn't entirely sure this isn't just a dream fabricated by her mind, desperate for relief.

it would be impossible for ben to be here, after all. he was gone. she was just hoping, blindly. that was what she did.

but then her hands come down. first one, then the other as he unbinds them. still bleary with sleep, rey nonetheless forces her eyes open then. ]

You came back. [ hesitation and dehydration make her voice crack. ]

[warfares]

Of course. You still have my dice.

( as well as the implicit promise that as long as she held onto them, he'd find a way to return to her. an inspired gift made all the more valuable in this moment. perhaps she will finally allow herself to see him as a man of his word. )

I'm going to lift you. ( a warning to brace herself. she's in rough shape — and he isn't sure where to even begin to process that, so he doesn't, pushing down the rising anger in favor of dipping down and lifting her up and into his arms. )

Stay with me, if you can.

safehouse (aka let's do some more h/c)

[inherited]

[Riku worries.

If anything, that's what Riku has always done best. His mind is always racing, rushing, trying to find a way to deal with a problem. Growing up, he always had the problem where he thought too much. He could never get out of his own head. He's trying to be more relaxed about it now, but after Caroline disappeared and Rey subsequently followed? He's starting to realize he should be worrying more. Not just following his heart. Not just assuming things are fine.

It's doing a number on him.

But it's easier when he has a focus. Right now: that focus is Rey. He waits until other people have had their time with her to sit down beside her. He's been out already, and intends to go walking around some more.

Still ... she's his friend. That counts for something. His friends are who he worries about the most.]

Hey. I know you probably didn't plan on this, but what you did—I think you saved all those lives, too.

my favorite how did you know

[forcevisions]

[ He's trying to reassure her, and strangely ... Rey thinks about Jyn. She hasn't in a while, but the conversation comes back to her now. About credit in the rebellion. About whose names history remembered. Rey, tucked into her cot and well-showered, shakes her head. ]

It's alright.

[ She smiles. ]

It doesn't matter who did it. They're alive. And they're safe. That's the important thing. Morningstar saved those lives. [ A collective effort amongst all of them. The win matters, not whose name people ascribed to it. And she certainly feels the bolstering of confidence from it, regardless of the fact that she'd needed saving too. They'd come together for it. The job got done. Her operation, the one started with Fitz and Peggy months ago, was a success. That's worth celebrating. They'd be so glad, if they were here.

Rey softens further, somber as she regards him pointedly and adds, ] And mine.

[inherited]

[That's the thing. Because of how Fitz had treated him in the dreamscape—had brushed him off, deciding that he knew where Riku was coming from in a heated moment—he hadn't joined Morningstar. Riku had only wanted to do good. But he sees where El's coming from now. And he cares for Rey a lot.

He doesn't correct her about his lack of membership. That doesn't matter. Fitz is gone. Hadn't someone reported that? And Riku wonders if his own frustrations with the man would have otherwise kept him out of this. Kept him from being by a friend's side. He needs to consider his priorities.

But that's for later.

For now—]

It matters. You followed your heart. You did what you felt you needed to do. [Even if it had been emotional. Riku wants her to feel good about it, to know that they wouldn't be here without her. After all, Riku's the one who's letting a series of tense interactions keep him from having the access to help this world.

And what does that mean? Well, that he's following his heart in a different way, but maybe with his head involved too much.]

the train home

[followhim]

[ the only thing that leaves him feeling worse than literally every aspect of this journey (because he is Responsible and rey belongs in his dexter kill room despite being alive) is rey seemingly ready to yeet herself into an aneurysm. like he did no less than 24 hours ago. he hates being kristy thomas. it gives him stress hives. how did leia do it?? ?? ]

You sure about that?

[forcevisions]

Yeah. I think so. Yeah.

[ She wavers on her commitment, but ultimately, she nods, drawing quick breaths to prepare herself. Inflating her lungs isn't happening right now. She's too nervous. ]

I've done it for myself. During the raids, and the EMP. [ She's very good at controlled falling. This is just ... a lot of controlled falling. She can do that. ] All I really have to do is slow us down. [ She surveys the train car. Second thoughts surface. There are a lot of people in 'us.' ] I can do it.

[followhim]

[ he looks concerned more than dubious. there are phantom glow box pains in his chest. ] Just doing it for you's different than everybody. I just don't want you to overdo it and hurt yourself.

train home

[recompleted]

[Roxas very nearly hadn't made the train to this rescue mission. Sora and Riku had gone, the only people he actually knows in this world, but they're not his keepers and he has no intention of following them wherever they want to go. He doesn't know this world, doesn't know Morningstar or UNA and doesn't trust either.

But he remembers waking up alone and lost in that hospital, hunted by monsters before he could even make sense of what had happened. He doesn't have a real reason to go on this mission, but he has even less to stay behind, passing the time doing not much while someone else needs help. So he'd gone, pipe strapped to his back in a makeshift sling, and he'd done his part. Now he's ready to jump and roll and take his chances, but Rey's sudden declaration has him holding back for the moment.]

What? How? Is that your power?

[forcevisions]

Yeah. I can sort of ... change gravity.

[ It's the most articulate she's ever been in describing it. ]

I think it will work. I've done it for myself before, out of windows. Off buildings. [ A crowd will be much harder. She hadn't even been strong enough to levitate a group up to the pyramid, though it had been suggested. But something happened back there at the outpost. She feels ... stronger, now. The sleep has helped it settle in. ]

[recompleted]

[It's vague, but that doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't know what she's doing—he wouldn't be able to describe his own ability in more concrete terms. (Then again, he's not sure he does know what he's doing with it.)

What the heck.]

Okay. Sounds good [ish] to me.

SAFEHOUSE

[tribridfreakshow]

[She wasn't directly involved with infiltration, using her more rudimentary abilities and lack of magic to simply cause distractions for the soldiers, but she had been glad that it was enough to get the job done.

Every piece of the puzzle was important, after all.

By this point, they're sequestered in the New Prague safehouse, supplies having arrived and passed out as necessary. She sits down near Rey, carrying a couple of pre-packaged snacks and/or rations of some kind, and she holds one of them out to the other girl.]

Want some? [She just trying to help pass things out, and she noticed the young woman across from her looking worse for the wear just an hour or two earlier.] I don't know what it is, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

[forcevisions]

[ Rey is getting comfortable in her new, dingy if effective Morningstar donation clothes when Hope comes by. She stops fussing with the neckline and looks over the snacks. It's been ages since she's eaten, and she's ravenous. She reaches out for two of the packages. There seems to be plenty to go around for the agents, and everyone else can make their way out into New Prague without issue. She doesn't feel bad for taking extra. ]

You're a lifesaver. Thanks. [ She immediately rips it open and takes a bite out of what tastes like highly processed cardboard. ] You're new, right? Just before the EMP went off. [ She tries to keep an eye out around the safehouse. She lowers the ration bar. ] I can't believe you came out here for this.

[tribridfreakshow]

No problem.

[Hope hands them over more than willingly; she's not particularly hungry herself and it's clear that Rey certainly is. She keeps one for herself, handing off the last to someone nearby, before she opens her own, slowly chewing on the first bite.

It definitely doesn't taste great, but Hope doesn't seem to particularly care about that. Instead, she swallows and gives Rey a nod.]

During the festival, yeah. [Not a much better association than the EMP, but at least some people had fun at that even if she didn't. She shrugs her shoulders a bit.] I've never been all that good at just sitting back and letting someone else do all the work.

➤ safehouse

[kgbs]

You look terrible.

[ of course he was going to be blunt about it. he has no bedside manner and besides, he imagines that she knows what she looks like. several days in enemy hands means you are not going to come out looking your best. ]

But, I am glad to see that you're awake.

[forcevisions]

Good thing you told me before I uploaded that selfie to my CoolTalk. Hashtag jailbreak. Hashtag kark the UNA.

[ There's a dry quality about her voice, but it doesn't seem resentful of his comment at all. If anything, she's making fun of herself for the habits that got her in this position in the first place.

Fortunately, Rey's never much cared about her appearance. She's fortunate in that no one ever told her that she needs to be a decoration before a human being. She reaches up to tuck damp hair behind her ear. It's only barely long enough to go up when it's dry; she can't pull any of it back while it's wet yet, so it clings to her neck instead. ]

[kgbs]

Are you all right?

[ perhaps it is a silly question and he doesn't expect a completely truthful answer but he asks anyway. ]

Besides the obvious.

i can't be tamed by your prompts

[dragonwarder]

[When the signal is given, Daenerys does not waste any time in leaving the outpost. There are plenty of others to handle the agents -- she has drawn too much attention to continue to be of use without risking herself unnecessarily.

There is relief in her eyes when she spots Rey on her way to the showers, safe and sound if not dizzy and run down. She has to break into a light jog to catch her arm in the hallway, and when the other woman turns around, she will find Daenerys struggling to unpack and repack her emotions. She is relieved, but she is also concerned. And somewhere in there mixes frustration and anger -- anger that she had gotten into this situation, frustration that so many people were now at risk because they had to come for her.

And then relief again, knowing that they still managed to succeed. All of the emotions momentarily steal her words from her as her eyes drop to the hole in her shirt. The talk she'd had with Octavia comes rushing back to her in an instant, and bile sticks in her throat.]

So...that is why they spared you.

[She finishes closing the gap, and only forces herself to release Rey's arm once they are mere inches apart.]

I was not certain the others would reach you in time.

[forcevisions]

[ Rey follows Daenerys' gaze, a little fatigued as she does. Slow on the uptake. Slow enough that she doesn't even react to her arm being grabbed, in fact. Just lets herself be tugged. It's been a long three days, and though she had woken from her initial sleep, she's still exhausted. It won't let up. She'll be asleep again soon. ]

Why they ...? [ She studies her ruined shirt, searching for the answer. ] I don't think they let me live because of my tits. [ Point blank. She's fuzzy, so she's not quite following the implication. Her shirt is keeping the blue glow from activating from Daenerys' grip, which would otherwise seal the connection. ]

safehouse

[lighthearted]

[ Strange as it is to be in a new city, for once Sora doesn't have much interest in going out and exploring. It's not that he isn't curious, because he is and he knows they won't always get the chance to see another part of this enormous world.

But really, he's just worried about Rey. He, Riku, and the others had made space for another group to free her and the other people who'd been abducted, and he's glad that they were successful in that. He hasn't yet had a chance to talk to her himself, though, and he won't feel at ease until he does.

First Caroline, now Rey. Why does this keep happening to his friends? Sora wishes that he could make sure it didn't happen to begin with, rather than having to rescue them or check in on them after the fact. But he knows it isn't always that simple. He'd had to do a lot of rescuing back home, too. Some of those people had been lost or in danger for much longer.

He waits until Rey's alone and doesn't look completely overwhelmed before approaching. When he catches her attention, she asks him something ("did we find them all?"), but Sora doesn't respond, at least not immediately.

Instead, he marches right up to her to give her a hug, his face pressing into her shoulder. ]

[forcevisions]

[ The hug nearly knocks her over, but the good thing is, when she loses some of her balance, when her legs weaken beneath her, Sora is there. It's a strange feeling. Rey is so used to not having anyone to catch her, and now here are all of these people who loved her enough to risk their lives. Tears sting the corners of her eye as the realization surges forward, unbidden, in the warmth of his embrace.

She buries her face in the crook of his shoulder, trying to sniff back the tears. She's not ashamed of her feelings, but rather, she doesn't want Sora to misconstrue her tears as sadness instead of relief. ]

I'm here.

[ They'd won. They'd saved her, and the agents. She murmurs this because when Kylo had first taken her into his arms, she hadn't been positive it was real. But it was. Everything's alright, now. ]

new prague ..... ish ......

[ex_dictator317]

[ When Kylo moves to wander outside, it falls to Octavia to hover in the interim. Never mind that she's still sore, the wound on her back freshly healed and scarred over — rubbing uncomfortably against the back of the chair she's taken up at Rey's side.

Vigilant, watchful, and unnecessarily so — but Octavia knows what will happen if they're found here, and who they'll choose to target in the chaos. Rey doesn't deserve that fate; even a few moments with her have solidified she's a better person, better than most Octavia comes across. Maybe even too good for Morningstar, Octavia thinks bitterly, for what she's been through.

She's taken an interest in a less than fascinating spot on the wall when she sees Rey stirring, shifting to get up. Octavia's eyes move, betraying none of the concern she harbors, despite the question that comes out of her mouth. ]

Shouldn't you stay in bed? [ This is how nursing someone back to help works in her mind ? ? ? She's no good at it, she knows; Clarke would be an improvement over Octavia, but like hell she'd trust Clarke with this when Octavia barely trusts herself with it. ] You're still safe. The UNA hasn't found us. [ That bears repeating, especially when it's followed by, ] Go back to sleep.

[forcevisions]

Octavia?

[ She sounds distant. Confused. The safehouse is dingy, the lights flickering. The grocery store is long since derelict, and the plumbing and electrical are as dubious as that would imply. These details all tell her immediately to trust Octavia's assessment. They got out of the outpost. She sinks back to the cot gradually, catching her breath. ]

Where are we? [ She thought she'd seen Kylo. She was sure he'd been back. That it wasn't a dream. ] How did we get out?