DEPLOYMENT 11: When Blue Turned to Gray
[(Note: With respect to the recent trouble involving LiveJournal, if you'e on hiatus for the rest of the year, please feel free to backtag this in January. I welcome backtags!)]
[DREAM - DECEMBER 16 (Early Morning)]
[Balin is one of the many people to have a restless dream on the night of the 16th, forced to recall the nuclear wasteland that Mayfield subjected its citizens to after Thanksgiving.]
[Walking alone, Balin observes the landscape without comment. He's too used to seeing devastation like this, after the Bane invasion of Earth. Merely walking through it won't phase him, especially since it seems like he's revisiting the wasteland long after the fallout stopped raining down-]
"Sergeant Wilbur."
[-but hearing someone else's voice, that gets his attention. Balin whirls around to see a face familiar to all of the Receptives in the AFS-Sergeant First Class Sarah Morrison, dressed in full combat gear.]
The fu-did Mayfield get you too-
[Before Balin can finish his question, though, the surroundings start flickering between states-from the falsely idyllic town Mayfield purports itself to be, to the nuclear wasteland from Thanksgiving. Images of drone men, women, and children, popping into life, then disappearing to be replaced by charred corpses, skeletons, or mere shadows burned into the pavement. Balin turns away from Sarah to look at the town's instability.]
... The hell's goin' on?
"You can see it for yourself, can't you? This town is in jeopardy."
Yeah, well, fuck Mayfield. Fuckin' town deserves to go.
"Wilbur. Listen to me. If Mayfield falls, everyone who lives in it will be a casualty of its downfall."
Bullshit. Who told you that? Look, how long have you been here? I've talked to other people, they know-
"There's a way to spare the people of this town. And you're the one for the job, Sergeant."
[Sarah doesn't give him the opportunity to speak. The surroundings change; now he's on Foreas, in boot camp at Destination Outpost. Sarah slowly paces through the surroundings, curiously near every spot where Balin remembers having been. He follows after her, only to find the scenery changing again-to every major base assignment, deployment, and operation he's ever done. Was it his imagination, or were fewer people smiling in these recreations of his memory? More people seemed to be on the edge of despair. There was far less defiance and determination to survive burning in the eyes of everyone he'd once met. Balin's buddies in the AFS seemed less eager to join up with him on operations and missions than he remembered-but why?]
... What'a hell is'is-
[The shifting scenery reaches the point where Mayfield snatched him, right out of his deployment at White Oasis Post-and then things definitively get worse. Balin takes his eyes off his fellow Receptive, speechless and motionless as he watches the future unfold.]
[Where once the war seemed to be a stalemate-a war of attrition that the AFS miraculously seemed to be surviving-now Balin gets to watch the end of humanity in one final, definite campaign. A discovery of Earth's fate in the seven long years since all contact was lost. A return to Earth, completely ruined and infested with parasitic flora and fauna, overwhelmed by Bane soldiers. Cities and streets of old now battlegrounds as AFS forces struggle to gain footholds on the homeworld, with the primary operations zone being what was once New York City-and then, with an operation that lasted for not but a day, the overwhelming might of the galactic superpower fell upon the AFS in every theater of operations, rapidly steamrolling all resistance.]
[Sarah left her comm gear broadcasting through speakers, allowing Balin to hear for himself the desperate radio chatter as the flood of the Bane swept over the AFS.]
"-I say again, Thunderhead Base is gone, command and control have broken down-"
"-Foreas Base, do you copy? ... Fort Defiance, do you copy? ... Any surviving units on this band, come in, please-"
"-Survivors in Ligo Thunderhead, be advised we have a pickup zone near Substation E-104. IDENT on approach, we WILL shoot on sight-"
[Outposts, bases, strongholds, it didn't matter-one by one they all fell, no matter how well defended. Whetever the tide of Bane forces went, the bodies of regulars and Receptives lay in their wake-most almost certainly biologically dead, as the Bane assault handily disrupted the AFS' Wormhole network, preventing recovery of mortally wounded soldiers behind the ever-expanding enemy lines. The Neph were commanding this action personally, employing Logos powers stronger than platoons full of top-notch Receptives.]
"We never stood a chance."
[An ironic echo coming from Sarah, who intones solemnly as the conclusion of the war continues apace. No, this is no war. This is a curb-stomp. In the final hours, with the last scraps of the AFS pushed back into the meager toeholds it gained on Earth and the few remaining installations on Foreas and Arieki, the covert operations division Penumbra deployed their weapon of last resort, taking all the Bane forces on the three planets with humanity in a blaze of glory. Yet it wasn't even a dent in the Bane's full might. With the extinction of humanity and their Forean and Brann allies, the Bane continued its genocidal march across the stars.]
It-what ...
"This is the consequence of every operation you were personally involved in, Sergeant."
Are you fuckin' serious?!
"Didn't you see it? Every one of the missions you undertook led to this result, directly or indirectly. You may not have noticed it at the time, but certainly you can see it now."
[Indeed, with the benefit of an outside view, Balin did get to see the outcome of a number of deployments and operations ... there were a lot more Pyrrhic victories and disastrous consequences than he thought. He stares past Sarah, looking increasingly mortified.]
"I know you were fighting to make a difference, Sergeant Wilbur. We all were. You didn't choose to be the end of the human race. Just as you don't want all the innocent people living in Mayfield to die."
[Quieter now, Balin looks down at the ground.]
... You're right. I don't.
"There's a way to turn it around, Sergeant. A way to save the people of this town, and all of the Allied Free Sentients."
[Balin looks back up in time to watch the scenery change yet again. It's a replay of everywhere Balin had been in his career-except he's not there, where he should have been in his memories. Things are going far better than before. People are happier. The Army of Allied Free Sentients isn't just holding the line, it's winning. And expanding. Wormholes opened up to other worlds in peril, new allies made of alien races threatened by the Bane, truly turning the tide years on down the line-the sole cause of which is implied by his absence.]
"Mayfield is running short on power to continue its existence. If one person were to volunteer to vanish completely tomorrow, it will prevent the end of everyone and everything here."
You don't mean ...
"I do. If you never existed, it would change the course of the war against the Bane. It would buy time for Mayfield to truly become a good place for all who live here."
[Balin remains silent. Sarah doesn't let up, though, moving on to show him what life in Mayfield would be like if he were never here. A town without the sinister, sadistic machinations of those who run it. Everyone he's ever met in the town is happy, enjoying a wonderful Christmas the like of which he thought could only happen in old holiday films. Even Caesar, by some short miracle, is a lot more cheerful. Everyone seems better off without him.]
"This isn't an order. It's a plea. You can refuse if you must. Perhaps there is someone else in Mayfield who is selfless and brave enough to accept a task like this. If you do volunteer, it will be painless. Your entire life will vanish instantly, and no one will miss or remember you-but thanks to you, everyone in this world and ours will live on."
I ...
"Consider it your final duty, Sergeant. For Mayfield's sake. For humanity's sake. For the sake of all of us."
[Balin falls silent again, in deep thought. Something seemed very wrong about this. He'd never seen Sarah Morrison in town before, or heard anyone ever mention that someone hailing from the AFS had been in town prior to his arrival. Yet even if she did arrive just a day or two ago, why would she argue so adamantly to protect a town so run by people so horrible? That ... doesn't seem like her ...]
... I ain't doin' it.
"Really? Is that how it's going to be?"
[Balin looks back up to Sarah, who seems disappointed as a veteran would be of a fresh recruit who just can't do anything right. Confidence and anger is steadily coming back to him, as he starts recalling his own memories of what happened-not just what was shown to him by this thing claiming to be Sarah Morrison.]
Yeah, it is. There's no fuckin' way I'm at fault for'a whole God-damn outcome of'a war. I'm just one guy of many. If'a AFS was gonna fall with me fightin' on'a front lines? If we're really'at fucked? It's gonna happen anyway.
And you, you ain't Sergeant Morrison. There's no way she'd eat'is kinda shit'a town does right up. I dunno who you are or what you're tryin'a pull, but it ain't gonna work on me!
So get'a hell away from me, bitch!
[And at that precise moment, Bain's dream ends with a start.]
[ACTION A - DECEMBER 17 (847 Goldberg Street, Morning/Afternoon, CLOSED TO HOUSEMATES)]
[The first announcement of Erased people has just cheerfully concluded, which Balin managed to catch. After his outburst after hearing Virginia's name, he just stands there watching the television for a full minute after the broadcast stops, trying to work out who among those names he recognizes. Then he starts ranting at the TV again.]
Yeah, fuck you too, Mayfield! "Maybe if you chose differently"-I knew'at was a fuckin' trick! All that shit about how "oh, just one person can save'a town" an'en you go an' get-sonovabitch how many people was'at? Like'a hundred?! Why don't ya just kick us all out if you're'at eager?!
[Balin turns away from the TV and stomps off into the kitchen, still growling Philly rage through his teeth.]
[ACTION B - DECEMBER 21 (Anywhere in Mayfield, Morning/Afternoon, OPEN TO ALL)]
[Among soldiers of the Army of Allied Free Sentients, today is a day of remembrance. December 21st, 2007, marked the day that Earth fell to the Bane, known forevermore as Defeat of Earth Day. In 2012, on the fifth anniversary of the Defeat of Earth, Human and Forean forces mounted a counterattack on the Bane and retook Foreas Base, proving that not only could the AFS stand up to the Bane, but earning the human army the trust and support of the Foreans. Every year since then has seen a major operation by the Bane to take or destroy Foreas Base, but they have never succeeded since.]
[A tradition practiced by many soldiers during today is dyeing a piece of their uniform or armor red--back in 2013, General British himself oversaw a memorial ceremony of the day, with plenty of Receptive soldiers attending who upheld the tradition. Normally, Balin would consider himself a full-time observer of this practice, given his blood-red suit of Mech Armor back home-but here in Mayfield, all he has is his PT Uniform. Still, even with the sparse conditions in Mayfield, Balin's determined to find a way to keep the tradition of his army alive.]
[Today, wherever you may be in Mayfield-outside doing housework, Downtown shopping for supplies or Christmas gifts, or hanging out at John Doe park-or maybe you're one of the Erased that Balin knew, and you're looking for him to see if he'll remember you. In all cases, you'll find Balin tending to his own business, wearing a long-flowing bright-red armband, something like wearing a Japanese hachimaki, but on the arm. It's clear he tore it off of some other piece of fabric. There's also a message in the Eloh language written on it, with a black marker:]
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[Feeling curious, Mayfield?]
[DREAM - DECEMBER 16 (Early Morning)]
[Balin is one of the many people to have a restless dream on the night of the 16th, forced to recall the nuclear wasteland that Mayfield subjected its citizens to after Thanksgiving.]
[Walking alone, Balin observes the landscape without comment. He's too used to seeing devastation like this, after the Bane invasion of Earth. Merely walking through it won't phase him, especially since it seems like he's revisiting the wasteland long after the fallout stopped raining down-]
"Sergeant Wilbur."
[-but hearing someone else's voice, that gets his attention. Balin whirls around to see a face familiar to all of the Receptives in the AFS-Sergeant First Class Sarah Morrison, dressed in full combat gear.]
The fu-did Mayfield get you too-
[Before Balin can finish his question, though, the surroundings start flickering between states-from the falsely idyllic town Mayfield purports itself to be, to the nuclear wasteland from Thanksgiving. Images of drone men, women, and children, popping into life, then disappearing to be replaced by charred corpses, skeletons, or mere shadows burned into the pavement. Balin turns away from Sarah to look at the town's instability.]
... The hell's goin' on?
"You can see it for yourself, can't you? This town is in jeopardy."
Yeah, well, fuck Mayfield. Fuckin' town deserves to go.
"Wilbur. Listen to me. If Mayfield falls, everyone who lives in it will be a casualty of its downfall."
Bullshit. Who told you that? Look, how long have you been here? I've talked to other people, they know-
"There's a way to spare the people of this town. And you're the one for the job, Sergeant."
[Sarah doesn't give him the opportunity to speak. The surroundings change; now he's on Foreas, in boot camp at Destination Outpost. Sarah slowly paces through the surroundings, curiously near every spot where Balin remembers having been. He follows after her, only to find the scenery changing again-to every major base assignment, deployment, and operation he's ever done. Was it his imagination, or were fewer people smiling in these recreations of his memory? More people seemed to be on the edge of despair. There was far less defiance and determination to survive burning in the eyes of everyone he'd once met. Balin's buddies in the AFS seemed less eager to join up with him on operations and missions than he remembered-but why?]
... What'a hell is'is-
[The shifting scenery reaches the point where Mayfield snatched him, right out of his deployment at White Oasis Post-and then things definitively get worse. Balin takes his eyes off his fellow Receptive, speechless and motionless as he watches the future unfold.]
[Where once the war seemed to be a stalemate-a war of attrition that the AFS miraculously seemed to be surviving-now Balin gets to watch the end of humanity in one final, definite campaign. A discovery of Earth's fate in the seven long years since all contact was lost. A return to Earth, completely ruined and infested with parasitic flora and fauna, overwhelmed by Bane soldiers. Cities and streets of old now battlegrounds as AFS forces struggle to gain footholds on the homeworld, with the primary operations zone being what was once New York City-and then, with an operation that lasted for not but a day, the overwhelming might of the galactic superpower fell upon the AFS in every theater of operations, rapidly steamrolling all resistance.]
[Sarah left her comm gear broadcasting through speakers, allowing Balin to hear for himself the desperate radio chatter as the flood of the Bane swept over the AFS.]
"-I say again, Thunderhead Base is gone, command and control have broken down-"
"-Foreas Base, do you copy? ... Fort Defiance, do you copy? ... Any surviving units on this band, come in, please-"
"-Survivors in Ligo Thunderhead, be advised we have a pickup zone near Substation E-104. IDENT on approach, we WILL shoot on sight-"
[Outposts, bases, strongholds, it didn't matter-one by one they all fell, no matter how well defended. Whetever the tide of Bane forces went, the bodies of regulars and Receptives lay in their wake-most almost certainly biologically dead, as the Bane assault handily disrupted the AFS' Wormhole network, preventing recovery of mortally wounded soldiers behind the ever-expanding enemy lines. The Neph were commanding this action personally, employing Logos powers stronger than platoons full of top-notch Receptives.]
"We never stood a chance."
[An ironic echo coming from Sarah, who intones solemnly as the conclusion of the war continues apace. No, this is no war. This is a curb-stomp. In the final hours, with the last scraps of the AFS pushed back into the meager toeholds it gained on Earth and the few remaining installations on Foreas and Arieki, the covert operations division Penumbra deployed their weapon of last resort, taking all the Bane forces on the three planets with humanity in a blaze of glory. Yet it wasn't even a dent in the Bane's full might. With the extinction of humanity and their Forean and Brann allies, the Bane continued its genocidal march across the stars.]
It-what ...
"This is the consequence of every operation you were personally involved in, Sergeant."
Are you fuckin' serious?!
"Didn't you see it? Every one of the missions you undertook led to this result, directly or indirectly. You may not have noticed it at the time, but certainly you can see it now."
[Indeed, with the benefit of an outside view, Balin did get to see the outcome of a number of deployments and operations ... there were a lot more Pyrrhic victories and disastrous consequences than he thought. He stares past Sarah, looking increasingly mortified.]
"I know you were fighting to make a difference, Sergeant Wilbur. We all were. You didn't choose to be the end of the human race. Just as you don't want all the innocent people living in Mayfield to die."
[Quieter now, Balin looks down at the ground.]
... You're right. I don't.
"There's a way to turn it around, Sergeant. A way to save the people of this town, and all of the Allied Free Sentients."
[Balin looks back up in time to watch the scenery change yet again. It's a replay of everywhere Balin had been in his career-except he's not there, where he should have been in his memories. Things are going far better than before. People are happier. The Army of Allied Free Sentients isn't just holding the line, it's winning. And expanding. Wormholes opened up to other worlds in peril, new allies made of alien races threatened by the Bane, truly turning the tide years on down the line-the sole cause of which is implied by his absence.]
"Mayfield is running short on power to continue its existence. If one person were to volunteer to vanish completely tomorrow, it will prevent the end of everyone and everything here."
You don't mean ...
"I do. If you never existed, it would change the course of the war against the Bane. It would buy time for Mayfield to truly become a good place for all who live here."
[Balin remains silent. Sarah doesn't let up, though, moving on to show him what life in Mayfield would be like if he were never here. A town without the sinister, sadistic machinations of those who run it. Everyone he's ever met in the town is happy, enjoying a wonderful Christmas the like of which he thought could only happen in old holiday films. Even Caesar, by some short miracle, is a lot more cheerful. Everyone seems better off without him.]
"This isn't an order. It's a plea. You can refuse if you must. Perhaps there is someone else in Mayfield who is selfless and brave enough to accept a task like this. If you do volunteer, it will be painless. Your entire life will vanish instantly, and no one will miss or remember you-but thanks to you, everyone in this world and ours will live on."
I ...
"Consider it your final duty, Sergeant. For Mayfield's sake. For humanity's sake. For the sake of all of us."
[Balin falls silent again, in deep thought. Something seemed very wrong about this. He'd never seen Sarah Morrison in town before, or heard anyone ever mention that someone hailing from the AFS had been in town prior to his arrival. Yet even if she did arrive just a day or two ago, why would she argue so adamantly to protect a town so run by people so horrible? That ... doesn't seem like her ...]
... I ain't doin' it.
"Really? Is that how it's going to be?"
[Balin looks back up to Sarah, who seems disappointed as a veteran would be of a fresh recruit who just can't do anything right. Confidence and anger is steadily coming back to him, as he starts recalling his own memories of what happened-not just what was shown to him by this thing claiming to be Sarah Morrison.]
Yeah, it is. There's no fuckin' way I'm at fault for'a whole God-damn outcome of'a war. I'm just one guy of many. If'a AFS was gonna fall with me fightin' on'a front lines? If we're really'at fucked? It's gonna happen anyway.
And you, you ain't Sergeant Morrison. There's no way she'd eat'is kinda shit'a town does right up. I dunno who you are or what you're tryin'a pull, but it ain't gonna work on me!
So get'a hell away from me, bitch!
[And at that precise moment, Bain's dream ends with a start.]
[ACTION A - DECEMBER 17 (847 Goldberg Street, Morning/Afternoon, CLOSED TO HOUSEMATES)]
[The first announcement of Erased people has just cheerfully concluded, which Balin managed to catch. After his outburst after hearing Virginia's name, he just stands there watching the television for a full minute after the broadcast stops, trying to work out who among those names he recognizes. Then he starts ranting at the TV again.]
Yeah, fuck you too, Mayfield! "Maybe if you chose differently"-I knew'at was a fuckin' trick! All that shit about how "oh, just one person can save'a town" an'en you go an' get-sonovabitch how many people was'at? Like'a hundred?! Why don't ya just kick us all out if you're'at eager?!
[Balin turns away from the TV and stomps off into the kitchen, still growling Philly rage through his teeth.]
[ACTION B - DECEMBER 21 (Anywhere in Mayfield, Morning/Afternoon, OPEN TO ALL)]
[Among soldiers of the Army of Allied Free Sentients, today is a day of remembrance. December 21st, 2007, marked the day that Earth fell to the Bane, known forevermore as Defeat of Earth Day. In 2012, on the fifth anniversary of the Defeat of Earth, Human and Forean forces mounted a counterattack on the Bane and retook Foreas Base, proving that not only could the AFS stand up to the Bane, but earning the human army the trust and support of the Foreans. Every year since then has seen a major operation by the Bane to take or destroy Foreas Base, but they have never succeeded since.]
[A tradition practiced by many soldiers during today is dyeing a piece of their uniform or armor red--back in 2013, General British himself oversaw a memorial ceremony of the day, with plenty of Receptive soldiers attending who upheld the tradition. Normally, Balin would consider himself a full-time observer of this practice, given his blood-red suit of Mech Armor back home-but here in Mayfield, all he has is his PT Uniform. Still, even with the sparse conditions in Mayfield, Balin's determined to find a way to keep the tradition of his army alive.]
[Today, wherever you may be in Mayfield-outside doing housework, Downtown shopping for supplies or Christmas gifts, or hanging out at John Doe park-or maybe you're one of the Erased that Balin knew, and you're looking for him to see if he'll remember you. In all cases, you'll find Balin tending to his own business, wearing a long-flowing bright-red armband, something like wearing a Japanese hachimaki, but on the arm. It's clear he tore it off of some other piece of fabric. There's also a message in the Eloh language written on it, with a black marker:]
[Feeling curious, Mayfield?]