The Stargazing Meme

[unfavorable]

the stargazing meme

oo1. comment with your characters
make sure to put names, series, & preferences somewhere!
you can use < ! > sans the spaces to make the comment "blank"
oo2. reply to others in character
oo3. use the rng and enter 1-10
oo4. play out what happens—anything goes!
oo5. profit? oh yeah!

prompts

one → meteor shower you just saw a falling star! and another! make a wish!
two → aliens what was that? was that really? omg no way a ufo!
three → lunar eclipse you've been sitting out for hours, waiting for this. it's so cool!
four → comet does it move fast or slow? either way, it's amazing.
five → full moon the moon is so huge! just don't look too long, it's really bright too.
six → star dust anything can happen in space. make up your own plot!
seven → solar eclipse this might be happening in the middle of the day!
eight → planet sighting is that a new star? nope, just a neighbor in the solar system!
nine → constellations do you know the stories behind these odd patterns?
ten → deep space normal stargazing isn't that much fun. you got a telescope!

Comments

[one_one_se7en]

He only turns to her to nod, before turning his sight back to the glittery skies.

"The rest trust me. You'll be alright."

It's something that had been happening a lot. More and more, even Fred and Kurt, who seemed better than him in some ways, trusted his decisions a lot. They asked him what to do.

He tries not to think of it. John looks at the sky for a long while.

"I just wanted to see this."

[waterfell]

"It's not that I don't trust you," Ami admits. She'd just thought... maybe he wouldn't want someone else there if he was trying to find a moment for himself. But he's saying he does, and that makes her smile.

"It's pretty. I wonder if people make up new stories for them instead of the old ones."

[one_one_se7en]

John turns to her for a moment, with a smile, as she softly bumps her shoulder. A gesture to tell her it's alright, before he turns back to the sky.

"I only know most legends from Deja." His old teacher's lessons are hard to remember. "She told us about what we have. Of people being unhappy, and starting wars because of it."

It was a too simple life where he used to live. While it makes him eager to be prepared to save mankind, it scares him to know there was a lot more danger in the galaxy than he used to see.

"I remember wondering what's out there. If they know more than we do on how to fix this."

[waterfell]

"If they do, we can learn a lot from them." She'd like that. No matter how voraciously she devoured their books and lessons, there was so much she still didn't know...

She wanted to learn about it. It wasn't a matter of simple or complicated, to her. It was just that there so much more to the world. So much to see.

[one_one_se7en]

"They'd know how to make peace without weapons."

He doesn't come to wonder what kind of technology would they have. He had seen a lot of what they could reach in science fiction. Almost resembling magic. Even beyond that of the Inner Colonies.

"But... I think they'd like to know what it's like here. Almost like people from different planets."

[waterfell]

"They'd have really amazing computer systems." Ami had a bit of a one-track mind when considering meeting another civilization. "They'd have better medical technology, too." Why not let herself dream a bit? She could imagine learning to cure wounds easier, eliminate illnesses that had plagued humans for centuries and thousands of years...

[one_one_se7en]

"It's been a while since I saw any movies, or holo-vids for fun." He doesn't remember what kind of aliens and futures were shown in them. Only that things almost looked like magic. "It's just... maybe they're something different. Something more."

"It's funny that we haven't found them."

[waterfell]

Ami shakes her head. "Look up at all those stars," she points out. "It's big. Maybe they're on one that's still far away."

Exploring, and even colonizing, space was normal by now. But there was a lot of it. And if they colonized this much without running into others... it was fairly empty.

[one_one_se7en]

He looks up at one of the stars Ami sees, a dim light barely noticeable even in the night sky away from the bases. Even Deja once told him that there was a limit to distances humans could travel.

"Deja told us the universe is big. They have to be someplace."

He recalls. That the galaxy was but a dot in the grand scheme of things. Something humbling... but that reinforced what she said about protecting humanity.

"You think we might see them someday?"

[waterfell]

"I hope so." It'd be like being a part of history herself: being alive, being here, when that type of meeting took place. Ami lets her eyes stay on those most distant stars. She invites John to enter into the half-fantasy, half-dream: "You, too?"

He's talking about it as if he wants to see it for himself.

1/2

[one_one_se7en]

John turns to Ami.

"I..."

His expression freezes. A part of him remembers.

There's a helmet beside him.

A chill runs down his spine. He feels defenseless. Terror runs through.

He remembers. They burned Reach. They destroyed all in their path. They killed his friends.

They--

2/2

[one_one_se7en]

A massive burst of a plasma blast hits the dirt.

He tries recovering his senses as molten glass washes over his armor. His ears rang. As he stares up at the skies filled with Seraphs and Longsword Fighters, he only notices his helmet had been knocked away. In front of them was a massive storm gathering kilometers away, deep into the Covenant position.

A Warthog laid overturned to his left alongside his helmet. He doesn't find Ami.

He stumbles, muttering. Barely hearing himself.

"Ami...?"

[waterfell]

Far too long goes by with nothing to see but the chaos of the battle, nothing to hear but the screaming of incoming weaponry. There is no sign of her.

Then, finally, in stark silence amid the catastrophe, Ami's acknowledgment light winks green. She's not far distant, but even running towards John doesn't seem to bring her any closer in this maddening dream.

[one_one_se7en]

His helmet blinks a tiny light inside it. He crawls towards, almost desperately putting it on. Back to where he was safe. Inside the sealed place that was his armor. Separated from the world, but also from all that wished to hurt him.

SPARTAN-117 ignores the rest of the transmissions for the moment. His radar spots a yellow dot approaching him. Ami. He almost staggers towards her before he recovers himself.

"Status?"

Not of the battle. The question is for her.

Are you alright?

[waterfell]

Ami takes it as a question about the battle anyway; of course. Her helmet jerks to indicate the nearby cliff. Not a word about whether she's injured, or what happened. They have a mission to fulfill. Crisply, she delivers her message.

"There are Covenant back that way. Quickly, and we can take them by surprise." She provides the details of their numbers and likely combat strength. Whatever state she's in, she's ready.

[one_one_se7en]

He takes a look at her armor to inspect it, then checks through his TeamCom to revise its' status. Nothing seemed wrong. He nods, still not giving himself the time to rest.

A burst of plasma whistled in the air.

"Incoming."

He hears himself clearly this time. He throws a canister to the ground -- before a blue explosion burns everything above a sphere covering the two of them.

[waterfell]

It's easy to focus on his voice, to let it make the din of the battle recede. Keep herself reminded of what she's here to do.

They'd better move. She waits until the explosion dies away, and the sphere fades, before she signals to John. Then she runs. This body is faster. Some dim part of her notes she's never run like this before. It feels... like the ground doesn't even matter. She barely touches it before her foot springs away again.

She reaches cover. They can regroup there before they take on their foe.

[one_one_se7en]

His body synchronizes with Ami's as they run, moving amidst molten snow levitating in their eyes. Plasma rounds crawl around the air.

Several red dots appear in his radar. He hurls a pair of grenade before he slides beside Ami. When he slings his rifle into his arms, guttural roars of anger fill the air, knowing they were being attacked.

He nods to her.

[waterfell]

She's already aiming. They've announced their presence forcefully, and drawn the enemy's notice. They'll have to, how did he put it? Shoot their way out.

She feels a certain energy in the air that has nothing to do with the plasma and everything to do with the battle, the confusion all around them.

She fires. Her aim is good. Precise. Measured.

And quick.