#hope01

Lucille was at the carnival alone, which normally wouldn’t bother her, but it was almost hard seeing all these people paired together or in big groups. She couldn’t help but let her mind wander to Xiu, and she had to quickly shake away the thought- she hadn’t spoken to her in years, and there was no reason getting worked up over it again. 

Having walked around for so long, she decided to just sit, and people watch for a while but the only open seat she saw was next to another resident of the island. Reluctantly, she made her way over to the other and asked, “do you mind if I sit here?”

Exploration hadn’t been Luke’s thing for some time.  He’d gone to Ahch-To specifically because it was isolated and people “exploring” wouldn’t happen upon him as easily.  Circumstances demanded it though.  He’d learned from locals that the Sea of Crises (where he’d awoken) was one of three locations.  Not a one of them had been able to tell him anything else useful, mind.  Every time he asked ‘Where, Force damn it, am I?’ the strange rats had just dodged the subject and moved on.  It didn’t seem like a conscious choice, but he had no functional telepathy to prove that theory.

And so after many an exasperated questioning of the odd rat people, he’d departed to the Sea of Nectar.  The sight that greeted him was decidedly more fitting of the label of ‘sea’ than the broken nightmare he’d awoke in.  Sandy islands as far as the eye could see with oceans gorgeous enough to make Scarif pale by comparison.  Whoever was behind all of this had... varied design tastes, to be sure.  As he stepped off the train, the ever-present sun vaguely reminded him of home.  Sure, there was one less sun than he was accustomed to, but the way it beat down on him was familiar all the same.

As he made his way down from the train platform he began to sense something.  Something equally familiar but also not.  He tried to probe at the feeling, to expand on its nagging on his mind.  It was for naught, though.  Looking about he immediately noticed that the locals here were in fact not rats.  They were anthropomorphized tropical birds of varying colors and plumage.  Among all the color Luke stuck out like a cranky, sore thumb in his drab tan-and-grey Jedi robes.  A few of the locals tried to strike up a conversation with him but found the Jedi lost interest when they couldn’t answer his questions.

Luke was ready to move on when he spotted something in the crowd.  A human, and a large one at that.  He studied the man’s face from afar.  It was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.  The haircut, clean shave, and general body language suggested military of some sort.  Luke’s brow furled as he racked his brain for minutes before it dawned on him.  He came up with nothing but a vague sense of familiarity.  Luke tried probing out with the Force, focusing it in on the individual in question. He felt an even stronger resistance when he tried, though he couldn’t ascertain if it was a conscious defense or not. 

Normally Luke would wait and observe.  If there was anything the Jedi had taught him it was that acting rashly was a fool’s idea.  Usually sound advice, but the situation was anything but usual.  And so it was that he began aggressively wading through the crowd of birds like a man possessed.  The locals may not have answers, but the only human he’d seen in nearly a full day just might.

Logo no início da minha exploração em Aphelion, enquanto eu seguia em busca do mirante, a sensação de isolamento em Persephone começou a ficar ainda mais intensa. O planeta já tinha aquele clima silencioso e desconfortável, mas dessa vez parecia que algo diferente estava escondido sob o gelo. Conforme eu avançava pelos cenários congelados, comecei a perceber sinais estranhos e pequenas distorções que aumentavam ainda mais o mistério em torno da missão Hope-01. A cada novo corredor explorado, eu sentia que Ariane estava se aproximando de respostas perigosas. O que você irá encontrar no vídeo de hoje? 00:00 – Início da Missão O Pulso | Em Busca do Mirante 22:25 – Investigando a Junção | Mistério em Persephone

One positive thing that Delilah can say about the Ark is that it’s given her a bevy of new experiences. New sights, new food. New people. The food part entices the hungry street urchin in her, though. Even back home-- when she was able to eat well, she did. And she ate well. Extravagantly and heartily, something that Breanna had always felt the need to point out, as charming as she seemed to find it.

The latest stop in her ongoing tour of new foods is a small shop that advertises something called... frozen yogurt. It looks similar to ice cream, which intrigues her. She knows she’s seen yogurt before, but... frozen?

She’s taken a long look at the menu, but she’s still uncertain. She casts her gaze around instead at the people sitting on the patio that looks out over the oceans of Nectar. There’s a man sitting alone, with a cup of frozen yogurt of his own. Hm.

Moments later, Delilah pulls out a chair and seats herself across from the man, a cup of frozen yogurt in her own hand.

His next stop was Tranquility.  Much more suitable to his tastes, it was covered in woodland as far as the eye could see.  There were buildings embedded into trees big enough to make a Wroshyr look average by comparison.  Bears walked the streets here, and if you ventured off the path you could find all manner of flora and fauna.  He inquired at some point about hunting, and was more or less told to just help himself.  Some strangely helpful locals even sold him some basic supplies.  He made a mental note to check if any of the gear was defective before using it.

Hardwire made his way out into the more secluded wilderness and felt himself starting to relax.  As he followed tracks and droppings, he figured out where to put down his traps over the course of an hour.  And he moved on, reminding himself to come back later and check them.  He kept on until he came up to a small lake.  Wide-open sight line, minimal brush for anyone to hide in, and plenty of room for him to fish.  Baiting the hook and striding up to the lake’s edge, he tossed it out and sat himself down.  For the first time since waking up here, he let himself relax.  Hunting and fishing was one of the only times he could unwind on Kashyyk.  Imperials rarely ventured into his usual hunting routes, so he was always able to be by himself, free of the paranoia.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t Kashyyk.  So he was only able to relax so much.  Every few minutes, he kept scanning for potential threats.  Nothing ever came.  Still he kept searching, and very nearly missed it when he got a bite.  Halfway through reeling it in he spotted someone on the horizon.  Hardwire blinked a few times to be sure it wasn’t his anxiety playing tricks on him, but there was definitely someone out walking along the treeline.  Whoever they were, the strangers was headed in his general direction.  They hadn’t made eye contact, so he had a decision to make.

His first instinct was to run.  Drop the fishing pole, ditch his traps, and make for town.  But as the stranger drew closer, he began to make out their face.  “Impossible.” The words came out of his mouth, but he didn’t recall making the motions to form them.  Coming down from the treeline was a person that looked exactly like how he did back during the... clone wars.  Again he got that instinct to run, but this time he forced himself to think.  The Empire had stopped cloning from Jango’s template, and this clone was far too young to be one of Vader’s 501st.  So he was safe, mostly.