TDM 001

[etrayamods]

⏵ arrival⏴ Arrival goes as anticipated. Characters awaken in the pristine, new hospital, greeted by Aurora and potentially getting a rundown of what's happening depending on their approach to being dropped somewhere new. The door to their room opens, and new arrivals are left free to explore their new environment. Or what exists of it anyway. Exiting the hospital will show that there isn't much of anything just yet. Generally, Echo can build new facilities before new arrivals awaken, but it appears that this time… well, it didn't happen. The apartment complex exists, standing just beside the hospital, and there are a few facilities that are half constructed, companion bots carrying around rebar and other necessary bits and pieces, but they're not quite ready. Oops. But maybe, just maybe, one of those half-built facilities is familiar - a childhood home, a favorite supermarket, the run-down garage they worked at as a youth, a grounded spaceship in the middle of one of the massive bridges connecting land over rivers. The companion bots will offer quiet apologies if approached; they were expecting new arrivals to touch down, but not quite this early. They'll be ready soon! A few more days at most, they promise. In the meantime, do not stray too far from the hospital. While most of Etraya looks habitable, they have not finished verifying that it's safe for its new inhabitants. The apartment building and hospital are safe, and the land directly around them is fine, but beyond that? Stay away. But hey, the hospital's cafeteria is fully stocked with cuisine from across the multiverse! Please feel free to settle in, choose an apartment, and get to know your new friends. ⏵ water you doing?⏴ Decide not to listen? Well, the companion bots had offered their warnings. Etraya is a new establishment, one that received newcomers before it was ready. And as such, the land has not quite been prepared for their arrival. Wandering off the land the apartment building and hospital are settled on comes with very, very poor results. Take a step down into the river below, and you'll find yourself uncomfortably hot. Or cold. Or hot and cold, because whatever that 'water' is, it wasn't meant to be played in. The only way to resolve the temperature regulation issue, as Aurora informs, is finding a buddy to cuddle up with. Those who are lucky may have a nearby friend they're familiar with and don't mind leaning a shoulder against. Those that don't? Well. . . have fun having a very uncomfortable conversation with a stranger, asking them if it's alright if you lean into them or hold their hand for a bit. Any physical contact will do, as long as it's directly skin-to-skin. Except that's not where the contact stops. Characters will find that, for the next several hours, they'll feel everything that their companion feels. Frustration, anger, amusement, homesickness that comes from being so far away from their families and friends - all those feelings? They're not your feelings, they're our feelings now. No explanation is given for how the empathy bond and the temperature regulation are related, but it may have to do with how since they had decided not to listen, it was time to test how well they could cohabitate with their new friends. ⏵ bonding bingo ⏴ Maybe it feels a little too much like Obi-Wan had when receiving Leia's message, but all new arrivals are their universe's only hope. Except they're not the only ones arriving, and not the only ones who are trying to keep their worlds safe. Instead, they've arrived with several others who carry the same weight on their shoulders. And they aren't meant to go through this alone. The people they've arrived with are both their new companions and their competition. Both comrades to fight beside and enemies to battle against, depending on what the specific mission of the month is. But currently? They're here to bond. It's important to get to know those who they'll be spending the next unspecified but lengthy amount of time with, isn't it? To that extent, Aurora's hologram waits just inside the hospital's front doors, offering bonding bingo cards to those willing to participate. It's not necessary, but she does specify that this is one way to get ahead: cooperation is important, especially given what they're going to face together. Bingo cards are three long and three across, and offer a multitude of activities you can do to check each box off. Some examples include: Learn someone's biggest secret Get into a fight Tell someone something that you've never admitted out loud to Throw a drink on someone Win a game of pool in the apartment building's recreation room Cheat on a card game without getting caught Hug a new friend Get stabbed Steal something important to someone Pull off an elaborate prank on a stranger ⏵ matchmaker ⏴ When the earpiece is put on, a nice green HUD(head-up display) lights up in front of new arrivals. It asks them for their name, which is fairly standard for these. Except it seems it wants them to put together a profile to help pair them off with other new arrivals. For some, this information may autofill with what Aurora was able to discern about them from watching them in their home worlds. But some lucky individuals may catch their profiles before they're posted live, and have the opportunity to edit out information included in fields, even if they're not able to clear it out entirely. Welcome to Aurora's idea of matchmaking. Have fun getting paired off with a buddy or four, with your profiles exchanged between one another. Maybe they're the perfect match. Maybe this is a nightmare in the making. <center><table style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 2;"><tr><td width="260" align="center"><img src="IMG URL HERE" style="width: 245px; border-radius: 15px; border: 1px solid #7F7F7F; box-shadow: #8D8D8D 1px 1px 1px;"><br /><b><big><big>CHARACTER NAME (CHARACTER AGE)</big></big></b><br><div align="justify"> CHARACTER BIO</div></center></td></tr></table></center> ⏵ OOC ⏴ Welcome to our first TDM! We're excited to have you here. For more information on character arrivals, click here. For any questions relating to the TDM please reply below. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

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Boba Fett | Star Wars: Legends

[shabuir]

i. arrival

[ This isn’t the first time in the past couple of decades Fett’s had to subvert a massive existential threat to the galaxy. Nor is it even the first time he’s had to act as a representative for a mass of people he hardly embodies and largely doesn’t care for.

He’s not happy about it this time, either.

He steps out of the hospital onto a quiet, unfamiliar city street—or rather, a quiet, unfamiliar city block. There are a handful of half-built buildings, a few droids hauling supplies, and beyond that, nothing but stark, river-crossed wilderness. Ensconced in his Mandalorian battle armor, expression hidden behind the foreboding black visor of his helmet, Fett scans his new surroundings, hardly impressed. It doesn’t exactly bode well that the supposed savior of their universes is already scrambling to even accommodate her new subjects.

He won’t offer any word of greeting to any of the other newcomers milling about. Indeed, it almost appears as if he’s ignoring them; he doesn’t even turn his head to mark their passing. Yet, beneath the concealing cover of his helmet, Fett’s eyes track his fellow conscripts. He wonders how many people must live in their universes combined—how many lives must hang in the balance.

In Boba’s own galaxy, he can count the people he can actually claim to give a damn about on one hand, if that. Yet, he feels no sense of conflict nor remorse about what he’s being asked to do by being here.

He’ll let each and every one of these people’s universes burn if it means that that tiny handful of people in his own gets to live. ]

ii. bonding bingo

[ Sintas. Mirta. Beviin. Medrit. Sintas. Mirta. Beviin. Medrit.

Boba repeats the four names in his head like a mantra as he looks over the ridiculous card. Galled as he is at the thought of partaking in anything called “bonding bingo,” the holo-projection had said that it was one way to get ahead—which might well mean improving his chances of saving his galaxy.

Not that he particularly cares about the vast majority of the people therein, but…

Sintas. Mirta. Beviin. Medrit.

He sure did choose a bad time to grow a conscience.

At least there’s one square on here that looks like it won’t be too difficult for someone of his disposition…

He locates someone else holding a bingo card and walks over. Stares dubiously at them for a moment through his helmet’s T-shaped visor. And then— ]

I don’t actually like tiingilar. Too many spices.

[ Turns out, it’s pretty easy to think of things you’ve never admitted out loud when you don’t talk very much. ]

iii. matchmaker

No (71) He

[ Guess who managed to delete most of the text off his profile before it went live? ]

Arrival

[politicallyinclined]

(He stands out - and not just because he keeps himself completely covered and anonymous. Padmé thinks she recognizes the make of his armor - relatively, anyway. Thus she won't let him ignore her.)

Excuse me. (She raises her voice, authoritative.) We need to speak.

[shabuir]

[ He still doesn't turn, though his gaze does slide over to the woman beneath his helmet. She's a Human, like most of the people he's seen here so far, with nothing in particular to mark her apart from any of the other strangers milling about. There is, however, a certain significance to her tone—it doesn't seem like she's approached him randomly. ]

Triple Zero, [ he says, his eyes fixed on hers under his visor, watching for any flicker of recognition. ] Mean anything to you?

[ Might as well figure out now whether or not they're on the same side. ]

[politicallyinclined]

(Triple Zero? A droid? No, that number indicates a planet, doesn't it. Padmé narrows her eyes speculatively, standing at her unimpressive height of five foot three inches. Yet, even at her petite stature, she has a presence.)

You are referring to a droid? Or Coruscant? I have never met the droid Triple Zero if so, but I have visited Coruscant many times.

(But this does, at least, seem to indicate that they are from the same galaxy.)

Are you a bounty hunter?

[shabuir]

[ So she knows Coruscant. Fett doesn't know the rules of the multiverse well enough to have any absolute certainty that this means they're from the same universe, but it's probably a good sign. ]

Yes. Though I don't think credits will cut it out here.

[ This time, he does turn to face her. It offers no better vantage to him than if he had continued to watch her through his helmet's 360° viewscreen, but it does signal that he's paying attention. ]

Looking to thin out the competition?

[ Between his deadpan delivery and that implacable black visor, it's impossible to know if he's serious. ]

[politicallyinclined]

We're a long way from any planet that will accept credits. (And, really, that is the least of their problems. Padmé hasn't really seen anything to buy or, more importantly, any ships they could potentially take to leave.

Well, at least she has his attention. Her brows rise in unison at the flat question.)

I'm no Jedi. (She holds up her hands to reveal that she is unarmed.) My name is Padmé. I have no reason to interfere with any mission you have.

(Unless it endangers someone. Which they usually do.)

[shabuir]

[ Funny, that she thinks he'd mistaken her for a Jedi. No, he had been wondering if she was a would-be client.

Not that Boba is looking for work in this of all places. The mission they've been tasked with already is worth his full attention. ]

Relax, [ he says gruffly. ] Same galaxy, same side.

[ He'd like to think that he's taken a few levels in diplomacy over the past few years. He'd been named Mand'alor, for one thing, and had even managed to break bread with a Jedi. He thinks he'd even be able to stomach working with a Vong if it meant keeping his tiny remnant of people alive.

Knowing his luck, he just might. ]

You meet anyone else from our galaxy so far?

[politicallyinclined]

(No, Padmé isn't the sort of person who would hire a bounty-hunter. If she does anything, she is honest about it and upfront. Of course there are times she might encourage a Jedi to join her and use their senses to determine if anything worrisome is afoot, but that's much different. Everyone knows a Jedi's skills.)

I'm glad to hear that.

(She relaxes minutely and approaches him.)

Yes, one. (Since they are on the same side - there really is no reason for them to be at odds with one another here regardless.) Anakin Skywalker is present.

[shabuir]

[ Skywalker? He knows that name: a young Jedi he'd been hired to track for Vader, back when the Empire was still in power. Yet, for all that it's been decades, Fett does remember one distinguishing detail: the boy hadn't been named Anakin.

Perhaps the one here is some relative, then? It's still quite the coincidence, though, that out of all the billions of people in their galaxy, one of their fellow conscripts should be another Skywalker. Perhaps it's meaningless. Perhaps it's not. ]

Name doesn't mean anything to me, [ Fett lies. ] You know him?

bonding bingo

[revengeisalie]

[ Poor Rin is currently very busy trying to wrap her head around what's happening. She is from a low-tech, largely non-magical world, so absolutely zero percent of this is making any sense to her whatsoever. She wonders if she has died and crossed into the afterlife.

Perhaps irrationally, she checks her pulse. Still there, as ever, if a bit fast.

And then her heart jumps in her chest as she is approached by a tall stranger in what appears to be a full suit of armor, including a weird helmet that obscures his face, talking about... food?

The shock is clear on her face, but she answers, voice trembling slightly. ]

I, ah. I don't know what that is. Sorry.

[shabuir]

[ Boba ignores the woman's quavering, already scanning over his card again for any other challenges he can get out of the way. He just needs three in a row, right? ]

You ever want to stab someone? [ He holds up the bingo card's accompanying ballpoint pen between two fingers. ] It'd be non-fatal.

[ This is his idea of being sociable and reassuring. And, more importantly: efficient. ]

[revengeisalie]

Hah?

[ Excuse you, Rin will just. Stare. Does not compute. ]

[shabuir]

[ Fett stares right back at her for a beat before looking back at his card. Okay. So maybe she's not the stabbing type. He studies his options for another moment. ]

Do you... [ SIGH. ] Do you know any card games?

[ He sounds like he would've preferred the stabbing, actually. ]

[revengeisalie]

[ Finally, Rin takes a second to just gather herself. Accept this, and just talk to this guy as if any of this is normal.

And she has yet to really take in the suggestions on the card. ]

Oh, right. They want us to, uh... "bond". Why is stabbing a suggested bonding activity? ... I can play karuta.

[shabuir]

Didn't say it had to be a positive bond.

[ Personally, Fett is skeptical that any of this is meant to be about bonding. If anything, it's about testing to see what they're willing to do to get an edge over the competition. They might start them out small—a bit of awkwardness here, a little spilled blood there—but he's under no illusions that things will stay so simple.

For now, though: card games. He may as well take easy points where he can get them. ]

Do you have a deck?

[revengeisalie]

Uhm, sorry, I don't. Maybe we can try something else?

[ She doesn't know what to make of this guy, but he certainly doesn't seem very interested in being friendly with her. Just crossing items off the list. Which makes her wonder... ]

Why are you so eager to engage in this at all, if you're not out for... "positive bonds"?

[shabuir]

Why do you think?

[ It seems obvious enough to him, but then, he knows he's not the best litmus test for what could be considered normal assumptions or reactions. Maybe there are people out there who would be motivated to pursue these tasks out of a genuine desire to bond with their fellow conscripts. Maybe there are even people who would find it fun. For Fett, it's all just a means to an end—and a rather unpleasant means, at that. ]

Because as much as it would deserve it, I don't want my galaxy to go up in smoke. And from what I can tell, that's contingent on impressing the one who brought us here.

[ Which means playing her games, as much as he hates it. Deciding that that's quite enough of baring his soul for now, Fett turns his attention back to card's other challenges. He notices a location mentioned on one of them... ]

There's supposedly a rec room somewhere in the apartments. [ He cocks a thumb back towards the building. ] Might be able to find what we need to complete a few of these in there.

[ A deck of cards, "a game of pool," new and more convenient objects to stab one another with—the possibilities are endless. ]

matchmaker

[myagic]

[Rita, still in her "pajamas" (actually a black and white prison uniform), is idly looking at profiles that come up out of mild curiosity, all while she sips at her second cup of syrupy-sweetened coffee.

She very nearly spits out the coffee when she spots this newest one, and proceeds to exclaim loudly enough for anyone nearby to overhear-]

S--seventy-one?! Wow, they brought some old geezer into this, too?

[shabuir]

[ Fett, who is sitting nearby trying in vain to get the blasted profile removed, overhears the remark. He's not particularly self-conscious about his age—in other circumstances, he might've even found the comment amusing—but he is annoyed that his information is being blasted out in the first place. ]

Trust me, [ he deadpans. ] The geezer's not happy about it either.

[ If she turns, she'll see the same inscrutable figure from the picture—or, at least, someone with identical armor. ]

[myagic]

Oh...speak of the geezer, huh.

[The armour is pretty conspicuous; she doesn't even to compare it to the picture to recognize it from the profile. Seeing it in person, though--her gaze flickers up and down his form with mild curiosity; it doesn't look like any armour she's seen before, and she can't help but wonder what material it's made from...]

Hmm...is there something special about you? I mean, why else would they go for a seriously old guy? Any older, and you'd be a historial artifact...

[shabuir]

[ The girl's preoccupation with his age would probably be more understandable to Fett if Humans didn't regularly live decades into their hundreds in his galaxy. Presently, he assumes she's just grasping at straws in an attempt to psych him out. ]

Nothing special about me at all, [ he says, his attention turning back to his device's holographic display. ] Maybe I'm the diversity candidate.

[myagic]

[On the one hand: her world has a partially-medieval level of technology, so living to even one hundred would practically a miracle for a human. On the other hand: she is just kind of a heckling teen sometimes.]

Diversity...? Oh, like, you represent all the ancients or something?

[It's a flippant suggestion, because she doesn't believe for a moment that it's true.]

[shabuir]

Something like that.

[ He doesn't sound like he's listening very closely. Indeed, he's still more concerned with the holographic interface in front of him—which now interrupts his attempts at sabotage with a cheery trill and a popup window that appears in an animated spray of hearts. "MATCHES FOUND!" it informs him triumphantly.

Fett stares. Processes. And then closes the interface.

Why couldn't Echo's selection criteria have been a nice, straightforward fight to the death? ]

[myagic]

[Hey, is he ignoring her? He's totally ignoring her, isn't he? How is she supposed to have fun heckling him like this?

She huffs a bit, seeing that he won't be as easy to needle as some, and after he closes the interface, she changes topics to what actually interests her a bit more.]

That armour you're wearing's like nothing I've seen before. [And she doesn't sound particularly surprised; after all, different worlds, different stuff--but she's still curious.] Is that the knight getup where you're from?

[shabuir]

[ Fett isn't much for conversation even in the best of circumstances. Now, faced with a bratty teenager who had first made herself known by trying to insult him about his age, he's even less interested. His response is monosyllabic and detached. ]

No.