To: Everyone

[earthborn]

This is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy SR-2, Systems Alliance.

I know by now that that won't mean a lot to most of you; this world, this planet at least, is a bit farther down the tech curve than my normal. I'm given to understand that for a certain portioned of my fellow summoned, this is not the case. So I'll ask:

How many spacers are here, aside from myself?

Sound off. I'm willing to bet we have a hell of a lot more in common than anything else, no matter who says we ought to be at whoever's throats, or why.

Comments

[frontlinetitties]

[Gideon snorts in dry amusement, reaches again for her drink.]

Did you tell it to get better lines? It sounds like a comic book villain talking like that.

[She knocks back another swig of ale, and thinks she kinda gets it. Easier, certainly, to bury one's head in the sand. A stupid move if annihilation if on the table, sure. But in her experience, those in power tend to make stupid decisions that she won't pretend to understand.]

Heavy shit.

[She concedes, eventually.]

So I guess you wanna get back to where you were? Finish what you started?

[Unlike her, who has nothing much to go back for. She and Harrow are here. Fuck all the rest.]

[earthborn]

Look, assuming this is some kind of alternate dimension...

[She gestures vaguely upwards, indicating the ceiling so as to signify the universe entire, as well as their situation here, as summoned.]

It's possible that I never actually left. Like, some kind of split timelines thing, where I'm both places and neither one is the real me unless the whole... quantum thing gets collapsed. I'm not an engineer, I'm a soldier, I don't pretend to know how it works.

But I do know... That there's a friend of mind here, who's months out of synch with me on what the date is. And I know that whatever the singularity is, it's not a joke. And I know that if I'm not there to kick the galaxy's ass into gear, they are all gonna die, so... [She lifts her drink, toasting Gideon with it in a vague approximation of a salute, and then downs the last of it in one incautious chug.] ...No point in getting existential about it. I'm here now, and that's the problem at hand.

Work the problem, not the solution, as they say.

[frontlinetitties]

[Gideon listens, but the look on her face is one of vacuous uncertainty. There's a certain glaze to her gold-coin eyes that suggests too much more of this kind of language and Shepard will have thoroughly lost her. Alternate dimensions? Split timelines? Quantum thing?? These concepts are all beyond her area of expertise (which is swords, and hitting things with swords), perhaps touched upon in a comic she may once have perused, but she was more interested in the depiction of voluptuous women in tight outfits than the storyline, if she were to be entirely honest.

Even if this is an alternate universe timeline dimension or some shit like that, wouldn't they still be the real version of themselves? Would it mean there are just multiple real versions of themselves? Would this mean there are multiple versions of Harrowhark Nonagesimus skulking around various other universes? A terrifying thought--

--and one that suggests she's getting side-tracked. The toast, at least, is one she understands, and she's swift to knock her own drink back in kind.]

Now we're talking. We're here, so may as well settle in for the ride. And speaking of rides, I'll get another round in. It sounds like you need it. And maaaaaaybe you could tell me about some of the other battles you've been in while we're at it. You know. To lighten the mood.

fin.

[earthborn]

You're not really officer material, you know that, right?

[She likes you very much, kid. That fond sort of a smile, shaking her head, definitely shows it.. But, this nerd shit has a use, and you do gotta learn it if you wanna fight properly.]

But thank you. I'll never say no to a free drink. [Shepard laughs] Alright, then. Let me tell you about the time...