PHD #510: Holocaust Tourism
Holocaust Tourism
Summary: Some of the Cerberus grew gather around the remains of an AgoraMART on Gemenon. Water, pets, and fish are discussed. Talk of the Cylon skinjobs and their future place in the fleet is avoided.
Date: 21 Jul, 2042 AE
Related Logs: None
Players:
Ciro Bannik Ekho Samuel Sofia 
Outskirts - Lampridis Town
Lampridis Town is roughly the shape of an isosceles triangle turned ninety degrees to the right, with its shorter side defined by Lake Philomeides and its longer sides flush with the high cliffs nearby. As such, the only viable approach into town is to turn off the freeway onto Highway Twenty-Three, creating a funnel through which any enemy on foot must attack. And if the general condition of this area is any indication, enemies on foot have done just that. Here, a two-mile defensive line stretches from one side of the gap between the cliffs to the other, anchored by a large Agora-Mart that stands in the center. Surrounding it are various warehouses and office buildings, many of which have been reduced to piles of rubble and scrap, all of which still bristle with anti-aircraft batteries and machinegun emplacements. Craters from mines (or bombs) have burned away most of the scrub brush so common in this part of Gemenon, making it hard to mistake the outskirts for what they are: a battlefield.
Condition Level: 3 - All Clear
Post-Holocaust Day: #510

Gemenon is, for lack of a better term, warm. In fact it's downright sweaty and dusty, and the few and proud remaining members of the Colonial Marines are tasked with the duty of standing outside in the heat, forever to keep their eyes peeled for signs of trouble while the staff of the Cerberus delve through the strange religious/political situation that they've been presented with on the planet.

Positioned not far behind the sand-bagged bunkers of the AgoraMart, Ciro has just finished his shift on top of the roof. Sniper rifle over his shoulder, he stays behind the secured perimeter and wipes the back of his neck with a wet cloth, drinking from a large glass of iodized water. It tastes like chem…but it's cold.

Planet! Sofia's just happen to be on land really. She huffs, and mercifully is tasked with helping keep the water supply up and going. She meanders along towards the sand bags, likely to check in on the Marines and their water. "Heeeeeey! Don't shoot, there's nothing important not even the chest," She calls cheerily and waves.

After such a long time, getting used to having solid ground under your feet again takes some time getting used to. Samuel won't complain about that part, though. His own shift finished a while ago, it seems that he's used some time to get used to the area outside town. Walking along the area, looking at the various craters and such, he shakes his head a little bit. Overhearing Sofia's call, he's unable to hold back a comment. "Not even the chest? And here I thought that was one of the most important things in the universe?" It's offered with a bit of a grin.

Leaning up from his position near the AgoraMart's damaged front gate, Ciro watches Samuel and Sofia approach. Keeping his helmet on, he tugs away the scarf from his neck and downs some more of the chemically treated water. Scowling, he pours some of it onto his scarf and wraps the scarf around his neck. There's no escaping the heat. In a definite no-salute area, he simply offers a nod to Samuel and Sofia as they approach. "Yeah…it's all please please please planetside until your skin starts to burn, right? I'd suggest keeping covered. All that time in the can's gonna make your skin nice and ripe for exposure."

Bannik is tagging along with Sofia, making the rounds of the Marine emplacements with her, lugging a chest of purified water with him. "Hey, everyone!" he calls out cheerily to them, as if he were on the Deck rather than on the front lines of Lamparidis's defensive emplacements.

Sofia smiles a bit. She too is covered, with a straw hat and nearly anything else she can find. "Yeah. I learned that the hard way on Sagittaron, all non-sun fire aside," She admits wryly. "How's the water holding up here?" She lifts her head. Then pauses. She sticks her tongue out to Samuel. "Two of t— no, that's just bad." Her face goes beet red. She glances to Tyr and smiles. "Tyr did the heavy lifting," She admits.

"Quite true," Samuel replies. He has an old faded Picon Panthers cap on his head, and is wearing the sunglasses he got hold of while stuck on Leonis. "Means we'd have to get used to it a bit slowly, then. If we're supposed to be planetside for a while, that is." Unable to hold back a chuckle at Sofia's reaction, he shrugs a bit, "Bad? What's bad this time?" A nod to Bannik as well, with a few added words, "Someone's in a good mood, it seems…"

From his position behind the sand-bagged reinforcements of the all encompassing retail/grocery that was once an Agoramart, Ciro can't help but chuckle. He clips his canteen away and adjusts his non-reflective sunglasses as he moves closer to the door. "Water's holding up fine, but you two are in for a good bit of heavy lifting. The amount of water one body needs a day in this heat, add in evaporation, and you're talking a lot of water for the ground troops and the ones always upstairs…" He points to the roof. "…manning the heavies. Take it from someone who's been up there all day. It's not a beach, unless you count the melted tar as sand."

"Of course I'm in a good mood." For one, Bannik's always in a good mood. On the other: "We're down on the planet. We're making progress towards the future of the human race. What isn't there to be happy about. We're here. We can help people." He makes his way over towards to where the water has been stored, topping it off from the stock he has.

A long day, but the end of the day. Apparently, as the marines are coming in to relieve the shift that's spent most of the worst hours of the heat out in the middle of it. Which might be for the good, considering the sunny redness already colouring Ekho's cheeks, after only a few days down on the surface. It's hard to tell, though, if the MP unit is in good spirits or not, looking as serious as they ever do, but at least they're not trying to kill anyone. Yet. The squad moves out, filing away into their designated positions, "Sondray, your relief is here." With the business out of the way, a nod of greeting is handed out in turn to all of the others in the general vicinity.

An amused look at Samuel. "Nothing," Sofia waves a hand. "It's good to see you guys." She nods. "I'll help get the water upstairs. You have one end?" Sofia looks to Tyr. She is offering to help, not wanting to be lazy it seems. "I can also grab an empty one," She nods. She's definitely not gonna let poor Bannik do ALL the work. She smiles up at Ciro then blinks. "Oh… Yeah? That's right we have to go up there too." Sadface. She sags a moment. Then a smile and a wave to Ekho. She's not sadface for long. "It's been quiet I bet?" She nods at Bannik.

"Thanks, Inoue." Ciro grunts as he peels off his operator's helmet. His hair, slick with sweat, strays out in all directions. He reaches out for Ekho's shoulder and squeezes it, a gesture strangely different from the typical marine smacking-and-cracking, but it's an innocent gesture in the least. Turning, he hooks the helmet onto a clip at his side and shoulders his rifle. "No." He says bluntly to Sofia, Samuel, and Bannik, turning to whistle into the mart. "Frenx, Loras. Water delivery to the roof." He motions the three newcomers to a collection of rear seats of minivans that are resting just inside the door, in the shade. "Why don't you all get some water before you pass out on behalf of humanity…" He chuckles.

Frenx and Loras, despite a small grunted complaint, take the water cannister and lug it towards a dolly inside, preparing it for delivery to the roof.

Samuel nods a little bit as he hears that, "I see…" he offers, before he offers a bit of a nod in Ekho's direction. Chuckling as he sees how Ciro handles the water delivery, before he glances around the area for a few moments. "Passing out isn't that bad," he remarks a bit lightly. "As long as there's no wild animals involved, at least." He moves with the others for the shade, though.

"That's right, grunt, turn the noncomms into beasts of burden. They're used to it. They like it." But there's more than a little humour in her voice as she gives that bit of 'advice' to the mostly newly minted staff sergeant, the touch from Ciro accepted, rifleless hand rising to touch his forearm, before she steps away, getting into position on the ground. Clearly, the whole being on the top of the building usually works better when the sniper trained marine is up there. Or at least those who have done it more recently than Ekho has. Eyes track the trio heading towards the mart, "Hey Sofia. He's got you shlepping too?"

"I've got no one out of my chain of command doing the heavy lifting." Ciro chuckles, defending himself with a tilt of his head in the direction that the two grunts left with the water. His broad smile is directed towards Ekho, eyes widening as his tone borders on flirtation. "Frenx and Loras are fresh bodies down here and are pulling mostly indoor duty, so they've had their ass kicked up and down the line since they landed, doing light deliveries by tags pulling more rank than I. Here shit rolls downhill and hits what doesn't stink of sweat." Carefully, Ciro wraps the long scarf around his neck again, keeping it loose beneath his chin. "So, since I'm not in any of your chain of command, feel free to not do what I say, but after lugging that shit up here at the least you should get some water, huah?"

Sofia pauses. She rubs the back of her head. "Ah!" A nod. "Sure. Do you want some water while we're here then?" Sofia offers. "And yes it is! You could get cooked before anyone found you." Oh the horror. She pouts a bit in mock horror at this fate. Ahem. Although she will move along. She grins at Ekho. "How do they know? And yup! I'm glad to see you here," She nods. She seems amused. "I'll fetch stuff if you need," She offers. "I don't mind so much. There's not /too/ much electronic or plumbing that needs tending to. But otherwise I think I'm going to work on fishing stuff. I totally saw this /huge/ fish and I bet he's tasty."

Samuel is unable to hold back another chuckle, "If so, I'd make sure to roll over halfway so I'd get cooked on both sides…" He trails off, shrugging a little bit. "You know what I miss the most? Hunting and actually doing some cooking myself." At the mention of the water, he shakes his head a little bit. "Still got enough for now," he replies, after a few moments of pause.

"That might be changing soon. I got the dailies before I came down, they're planning a salvage run in the next few days, seeing what we can get to supplement what we've been using up." It's been months since they've been able to resupply from a colony the needed metals and materials to keep the fleet going. "They're looking at possibly having a science team go down as well, see what plants or possible livestock it still viable." Ekho settles into position, keeping easy hold of the conversations going back and forth, "And you wouldn't want them to feel as if they get the rest of the shift off, right?" Clearly still speaking of the two marines moving in to secure the water to be moved up to the roof.

Ciro's mouth widens into a toothy grin, again flashed in Ekho's direction. "It's an honor to get food and water to the troops at their posts here. Give me ten and I'll probably be taking the next one up." He then twists his head, looking to Sofia and Samuel. "Hear that, folks? Sounds like you guys are gonna get put to use maybe trapping, stripping, and de-cabling old blown out cars for useful shit. I did see a deer and some birds when we did the recon of this place, so I know there's animals alive out there. In what capacity I have no clue, but with how long it's been I doubt that frakkin' deer I saw was pre-war. There's got to be more available on this planet, so when that detail hits we'd better grab it fast."

"Hmm. I still prefer not to be baked either way," She considers Samuel. "Okay," Sofia nods. "And really?" Her eyes widen at Ekho's words. "That sounds great," She admits, clearly pleased. "I'm hoping to get in on the fishing then. Miss Ximena needs a fish /army/." FISH ARMY. Poseidon would be proud. Sofia's a well meaning supporter though. She nods at Ciro. "Got it. And good thing I brought my gloves," One eye closes. "I imagine the wildlife persevered better than we know. It seems so." She takes a deep breath. "Aah, but let me know if you're any good at fishing? Dynamite doesn't count," She holds up a finger.

"And we do it for the honour, right?" The not so small woman takes a knee, settling in as comfortably as one can, given the circumstances, "Clearly there has to be viable food, for these survivors to have made it this far, especially given the number of them that were suffering the effects of prolonged radiation exposure." She is so not touching the whole cylon angle, no she is not. 'Fish army.' Ekho mouths that back to herself, before she shakes her head, "I like a good fry-up as much as the next girl. But I imagine, if it's viable, we'll harvest meat, like we did on Aerilon."

"Hunting some deer sounds good," Samuel offers. "Time to get revenge, after all…" He pauses at the mention of fishing. "I know the basics, at least. Wouldn't have been a real Blaine if I didn't, after all."

"Just make sure you go out in a group, Blaine, you never know what kind of wildlife is out there. I just said I saw a deer. For all I know there's shit out there that escaped from the zoo." Ciro grins, nodding to Samuel's FACE. Yes, it's a reference to bear attacks. "Though…I'm not sure if Gemenon actually had any zoos. It doesn't seem very…Gemenon-like to have a place to showcase animals, unless there was some sort of cult connotation for it." Once again, he takes out his canteen, sipping. "I once tried to fish with a spear, if that counts, Wolfe. I didn't catch shit, but for that one moment I was Poseidon personified…"

"Yeah," Sofia seems to agree. She grins at Ekho. "Well, we want some to stock the fishery so we can keep raising them," She admits. "And totally not because I miss having pet fish," Totally not! No ulterior motives here. "The tanks are really nice," She offers. Then a pause at Samuel. "You should still wear kevlar and armor," She states simply. There is a pause. "Or bears making a comeback," She notes. "And yeah?" A grin. "That's kinda cool. People are still welcome if they want or I get permission to get something going," She nods. She seems fond of Ciro. Commencing hero worship. "Maybe a fishing pole might be more practical though."

"I never had pet fish. I did have a cat once. It liked to bring dead things home. Mostly it brought home bugs. I don't think he had the brain power to bring home anything more edible." Settled in, and prepared, as much as one can be for the heat, but it isn't much. She's turning redder almost fast enough to guage. So long colonies. So long sun block. So sad. And it's not even high noon. Such a shame. her skin is so not marine tough. "You'll jinx him." Poor animal unfriendly Samuel.

Samuel chuckles, "See, will be revenge this time around," he remarks lightly. Pausing at the part about pets. "Only pet we ever had was our dog. I miss him," he says, after a few moments of pause.

Standing in the shade, Ciro watches Ekho's skin already starting to burn. He reaches to his neck and unhooks the long scarf and steps over to her. Nudging her shoulder, far from her wireless, he offers the scarf to her. "It's…damp, but it'll wrap around and give you some protection." He murmurs, patting her shoulder before he retreats back under the awning. "Wolfe, Blaine, this is still a war-zone and these defenses are here for a reason. If you go out hunting for supplies it's going to be with an armed escort no doubt, and you'll be issued standard armor and covers. Bears aren't the only thing out there. Despite what some people would believe there's a reason why the cylons and humans that live here deigned it necessary to set up bunkers. Watch your collective ass."

"Oh?" Sofia tilts her head to listen. She smiles a little. "Or maybe being a cat he thought those were perfectly edible," She nods. Poor Ekho, she looks sympathetic. She almost aws a bit at Ciro's handing over the scarf but thinks better of it lest he kick her over or something. "Well, try to stay in the shade a bit okay?" She nods. "I know. Still…" She eyes poor Sam.

Ekho sets aside her rifle, long enough to accept the scarf, pausing as she seems on the edge of saying something, then offers only a, "Thank you," before she puts it on, settling it as best she can to both protect her face and keep her sight lines clear. Some things you don't forget, even after you end up behind a desk, so to speak. "It'll be sundown soon, with any luck. He never ate them, though, he just brought them in and dumped them at your feet, as if to say, 'I have brought home food to be cooked, slave."

"Naturally," Samuel replies to Ciro, before he adds, "And besides. It was only after the wildlife got radiation powers that they started winning, you know…" He then shakes his head a bit, one hand reaching to remove the cap atop his head for a little while.

"There's all sorts of talk about salvage missions," Bannik interjects himself into the conversation, returning from distributing some water to the troops that have had to stay in their foxholes. "That's one thing we can offer, for sure. People have just been bunkering down here, trying to ride it out and dig in. Not sure how much there is to find that isn't radiated, though. Fabrication up on Cerberus could use some raw metals."

"I thought, once, of getting a dog but I never went through with it. Always travelling on rotations with the SST, didn't have the heart to put a dog in the kennels, and since all of the fam was back home and I was on Scorp…wasn't much point." Ciro stops short of going into his previous room-mate situation, pausing for another sip of water. "Honestly, Bannik, I'm sure even old car-hoods could be used to reinforce something, if not get re-fabbed into something to provide just a little extra armor. We can't be choosy, but we can be takey." Ciro smirks, marvelling at his choice of words. He's easy to please.

Sofia seems amused by Ekho's assessment. "Who knows? Cats are mysterious," She offers. "And I think so, it's been day awhile." Intrepid explorer, that's Sofia! She goes quiet as Bannik interjects. "Can't radiation be dealt with though? Especially in metals or am I thinking of something else?" Sofia hates it when that happens. She peers over as Ciro starts to talk then pouts as he cuts himself off. She'll get the beans out yet. But she doesn't push it. "You invent words too," She seems amused and pleased. "Hopefully things will turn up."

"Cats also end up living with your parents when you get shipped out. I suppose she must have found a way to break him of the habit. She hated bugs." That said, Ekho seems content enough to shift from taking a knee, to sitting back with her leg folded under her. Enough to take some of the pressure off, but still leave room to be able to get up and into position quickly. "You all should be inside."

"We can do a lot of things to decontam metals and other materials," agrees Bannik. "But each decontam takes resources and man hours, and those are two things that we don't have a whole lot of. So we need to prioritize. What we can get the most material out of for the least work."

"Speaking of useful things that could be found, if anyone of you get hold of guitar strings, I'd be grateful," Samuel offers after a few moments of pause. "But as for now, I need to go get some rest so I'm ready for my next shift. Be safe, all of you. Like he said," a momentary gesture to Bannik, "we don't have too many mn hours…"

"Well…" Ciro starts, eyes narrowing behind his glasses as he tilts his head in the direction of the temple of Aphrodite. "…if hands are good enough to wave around incense they're good enough to scrub metal. Clearly we're not occupying the place, so we might be getting some additional man-power coming our way. Frak…half of them are skinjobs, and those arms I'm sure can scrub-it-down double time." Ciro smirks, dipping back beneath the AgoroMart's awning. "They want our protection, put them to work for it. This ain't a pleasure cruise."

Sofia nods. She grunts softly, "And there's shade for people here," She offers a smile. She does seem concerned. "We'll see what we find. No sense counting our money before we've got it." A now outdated, but still wise expression. "Of course," A nod to Samuel. "Be well," She waves. A look over to Ciro. "Hmm. We'll see. I don't know. I'm still surprised by everything, but - definitely lots to look forward to." Nod. "… maybe even new socks." Sigh.

Ekho's attention strays, following the line of people heading back under cover, before she turns her eyes back towards the chokepoint, adjusting how her rifle's sitting, though not without a glance up to gauge the passage of the sun, though the way her eyes shift to the area, moving from defensive position to defensive position, she seems more concerned with seeing how the shifting light affects the cover around, and less wondering when it'll finally be gone.

Ciro looks over to the seats, finding Bannik gone. He frowns. "Interesting. I thought the little guy would have an interest in that topic. No clue where he's weaseled off to. I guess he needed to find one of his yes-men." Ciro shakes his head, turning his attention back to the ladies nearby. Ekho's begun checking the firing lanes, but she's still close enough to hear his words. "I think it's still undecided as to whether or not this is a rescue mission. So…you've got to figure that if we are taking on Cylons as refugees at this point. They're going to have to either enter into civ-pop or start working to keep the fleet safe."

Sofia watches them a moment and tilts her head. "I don't know," She admits quietly. There's definitely tinges of guilt in her voice. Perhaps she was a betrayer. Ahem. She takes a deep breath. "I can't tell you. But I hope it ends well for us and that the 'RAWR DESTROY EVERYONE' sorts don't get their ways." A shrug. "That's the big goal anyway. But I suspect we can beat this subject so hard we have paste. Do you want any water before I resume cooking?"

"I wasn't on the first trip down, but from what I've heard, it doesn't seem as though the Cylons are looking for a rescue. More like trying to make amends for something that can't be amended." There's a tilt of her head, before she goes back to tracking the sun and the shadows it casts, "But there's no way they could settle into civilian population. It would be all out war. And considering they already have their own ship, I'm not sure why they'd need room on one of ours." She pauses, "Of course, their ship has enough nukes to destroy us three times over, and the raiders to back it up. No, I'm fine for water. Thanks though."

Ciro nods with Ekho's reply, turning his gaze to Sofia. "Wolfe, cmon." Ciro frowns, shaking his head from side to side. "The problem is that the subject isn't some sort of emotional decision between 'rawr blow everyone up' and 'let's all love each other'. It's about the survival of an entire species in the face of a bunch of Cylons, skinjobs or not, that have used infiltration and lies as a means to killing off literally billions of people in the most cowardly way possible." He smirks. "Frakkin' damn, girl, you're great and smart and everything but sooner or later someone's going to have to be reminded that being careful doesn't exactly mean being an asshole. The refugees are the one that put more than five machine guns on top of this building and put an Ay-Ay system in place capable of hitting ships in orbit. We didn't ask them to do that. The skinjobs are training civilians how to shoot rifles. Now I don't care if this pisses you off or upsets deck-boy and his little cadre of frakking idiots that can't seem to understand that people were investigating these options long before they were…but letting down your guard can be fatal, or worse it can get the person next to you killed. Soldier up."

Okay. That makes Sofia turn around and sigh. "Did I /say/ that?" She frowns at Ciro. "I most certainly did not. I /said/ I understand people who feel the way they do. I meant the gaggle of skinjobs and people who'd happily wipe everyone out." She seems displeased. "Geez." She takes a deep breath. "What upsets me is when I'm misunderstood," She points out. One eye closes. "So there." She's displeased with the mohawk. She nods at Ekho. "No problem. Be well." With that, she just kind of wanders away, watching the ground as she goes to attend to something else. There's a bit of sadness as she goes.

"Let her go, Sondray. She's doing the best she can, just like we all are. Pushing her isn't going to help her change her point of view. She knows better than anyone that if things turn bad, she's going to be one of the first people that ends on being burned alive for her sins." It's no secret that Sofia is friendly with the Elevens, and supports the pro-peace movement-ers. She'd be thrown on the pyre of retribution like kindling. "When are you heading back to the ship?"

Ciro turns his head, letting Ekho keep the watch as he's off duty. "When you do." He replies quietly, with a smirk. "Truth is I don't mind it down here so much but they're not going to let Dog get the full rotation, now with the rads down here, there isn't exactly running water either but if I hold out till then at least everyone else will be down here when we head up…" He nods slowly, emphasizing his point. With the other marines rotated down there will be hot showers, short lines at the mess, and privacy. "Until then we've got to deal with herding kittens that don't want to be herded." He looks back in the direction of Sofia, frowning. "We should probably send something up-line about extending the perimeter to keep people from sneaking off looking for lost artifacts without permission. Sure, it'll interrupt some frakking, but sometimes people need to be forced to not be stupid."

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