v i d e o ▒ FORWARD-DATED JULY 30 ▒ 0 0 9 ░▒▓█▛▟▛▙▚▞▗ ▘

[archimedeia]

[ In a string of familiar faces, two more appear on the video to join in. Devon Resnik, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, crew jumpsuit stained with some mixture of grease and blood, looks tired as she speaks. ] He makes an impression, doesn’t he? By now, what he’s offering might have started to sound pretty good, but you can’t let yourselves be blinded by desperation.

[ With her warning out of the way, Ward steps in, expression flat and hard. ] You can't let him have the ship. You know what you're capable of now. You'll be putting that power in his hands.

[ Side-by-side, in an indistinct hallway of the ship, broadcasting from what seems to be a sturdy, built-in terminal, Ward and Resnik continue to snowball one another’s comments, picking up from the end of one another’s sentences as fluidly as if they were their own. ]

And all that control you think you’ve gained over the ship will be for nothing. Do you think it was an accident that it wound up back in Miraxian space?

It wants to be here. You've been fighting. This isn't where you stop.

[ The emphatic insistence in his voice edges on hard desperation. This isn't a day they'd ever wanted to see. ]

We have no intentions of letting van Rijn get his hands on this ship or any of its tech. You don’t want that either, so let’s figure out a plan and stop him.

Comments

video;

[cabins]

[Laura is still in comms, running on coffee and a prayer at this point already. Blaster at her side, she's already prepared for what may come. She's been here before, after all, to a degree.]

How much access do you two have to all parts of the ship?

[She'd briefly mentioned the idea of jumping away to Jax Teller. She'd commanded a fleet to do the same before. If it'll work here, she doesn't know. But it's worth a shot. Worth asking about. If the jumps were automated still, with no way to over-ride them, then they were sitting ducks. But if the FTL drives could be booted up and forced to bend to their will, then that was something else entirely.

They could survive this.

Because Laura Roslin would not surrender.]

video;

[tranquiliorem]

As much as it gives us.

video;

[cabins]

I see.

[She takes her glasses off.]

So theoretically, if we knew where the jump drive was located...

We just need the ship to work with us.

[Oh gods.]

video;

[theroadwarrior]

The plan will have to involve shooting them all down with what we have on board.

[We'll need more than one kaboom, boyo, the Keeper of Seeds says beside him, gleefully excited and ghostly.

And Max nods at that.

He'd just got finished with a similar enough situation back home.

He's just as ready to kill a roadful of people as he was a month ago.]

Unless you have anything better to get us out of their territory.

video;

[tranquiliorem]

We've got enough to do some damage.

[But one against thirty is odds he doesn't think he needs to clarify.]

video;

[theroadwarrior]

[Mmn.]

Figured as much. What are your odds?

[Give him an idea of how futile this is, so he can rank it properly.]

[video]

[circumitus]

"It wants to be here".

...

Don't suppose this would have something to do with the "better option" you mentioned the last time we spoke?

[video]

[tranquiliorem]

You don't need our help to connect the dots.

[video]

[circumitus]

Thought as much.

What is it you two plan to do? Is there anything you can do?

Video

[oldmanhusker]

I don't believe in accidents any more.

[Is it really paranoia if they've historically been out to get you]

I've seen odds at least as bad as this before. We can manage if we're... surgical.

[He has ideas. But he's not comfortable detailing them on a network they can't secure.]

Video

[archimedeia]

This is a time for specifics, Adama. Not war stories.

Video

[oldmanhusker]

Tactical specifics aren't generally discussed openly. But the short version is stalling them enough to get the frak out of here.

[ryuuzaki]

Why does the ship want to be here now?

[He sounds weary, and the question sounds close to rhetorical. Does the thing that rides with them want to be here, maybe to continue the program of retribution that had started in the early days of the Tranquility, or is it something else?]

It seems to me that the intention is for the offer to sound good. But as propaganda goes, it's almost insulting -- I'd be more surprised if he did treat us well than if he didn't. He's always been like this?

[archimedeia]

Consider your source.

[ Resnik's smile is thin and bitter. She's sure L knows better than most how much she detests van Rijn. ]

But this thing we're dealing with has its own ideas. Whatever van Rijn's planning for it, he doesn't realize what he's trying to bring home. It's stronger than he realizes, and it'll overwhelm him.

[ryuuzaki]

That's my impression. I don't know if this is what it wanted, but if most of what we think we've learned is correct, I can't imagine that it would ignore the opportunity to finish what it started.

[A pause, and then he adds, dipping into a gentler tone,]

I consider the source reasonably reliable, Miss Resnik.

My impression is that Mr. van Rijn either doesn't really think we're going to capitulate, or he's prompting us to generate the soundbites that he'll use to explain to the population how justified he was in the actions he's about to take. On the other hand... at this point, does he need to explain himself to anyone?

[video]

[tongueamok]

It wants to be here?

[Sigh sigh sigh sigh. He pushes his glasses off his face, rubbing an eye.]

I have yet to see an offer that seemed the most favorable, and I don't suppose the two of you have any better ones.

[video]

[tranquiliorem]

We aren't here to make offers. Whatever happens will be on you.

[video]

[tongueamok]

Perfect. One of you says you have no intentions of letting this vessel go to the other guy, then the other says we're responsible if it ends in a mess.

voice.

[forgodssake]

Is it looking to finish what it started?

[ His voice sounds a little rough. Harried. Multitasking. ]

With us, or with them?

[tranquiliorem]

We can't tell you what it's thinking. We've never been able to understand that much. But we know it doesn't want you anymore.

[And all the implications that came with.]

video

[fugax]

[For a long moment all the video shows is Charlotte's face: a frown pinching her brow, reluctance in her eyes. She hasn't spoken on the network for a long time, but the importance of this... She can't avoid it.]

They're stronger now. Maybe strong enough to push.

video

[archimedeia]

That's a big what if.

video

[wiped]

Strong enough to push what?

[kutte]

I was wondering when you two were gonna come out of the woodwork. Wanna pitch in and help, or you just gonna stick to the peanut gallery?

[tranquiliorem]

Does it sound like we're going to stand around and watch?