[Video - Arrival]

[generalgrievous]

[A skull-like being appears on the network - but no, it's not a human skull and it isn't the creature's actual head. Instead it is some sort of mask, through which yellow eyes glare angrily. These are the only part that looks to be truly alive, however. Much of the rest of his body is hidden by a cloak wrapped around his shoulders, but what other parts that can be seen are robotic, yet skeletal - including a claw-like hand currently clutched into a fist. Some may be able to tell he's some sort of alien cyborg. His metallic voice is harsh.]

Where are these so-called City Guardians and your military operations?

Your explanations are not satisfactory. It was a mistake to bring me here and I demand that you return me to my ship at once.

Comments

[captain_by_the_book]

No. No. I was a child when you...

[Reduced to stammering. This is embarrassing, but it's the first time it truly hits him what meeting people from different points in time means. He shakes his head to clear it.]

I'm sorry, sir. I was a child in your time. I heard of you.

[generalgrievous]

In my time? What are you saying...?

[He hasn't come across the alternate timelines yet, or indeed anyone else from their galaxy.]

[captain_by_the_book]

I have been taken from 19 years after the war was lost, sir.

[Sorry. He sucks at being a good messenger of bad news.]

[generalgrievous]

The war... The war was lost?

[That's clearly bewildering and bad news to him. But was it to be believed? His clawed fists clench tightly.]

Why should I believe your words?

[captain_by_the_book]

[He takes a moment to think about that.]

You should not. I can't prove it. The only confirmation is the word of others as unreliable as myself. But you won't be able to pfove me wrong either.

[generalgrievous]

Are you going to next say that only time will tell?

[A small growl abruptly turns into a brief fit of coughing.]

[captain_by_the_book]

I'm not one for puns but... Yes.

Nothing we learn here can be confirmed. No identities, no backstories. I don't expect you to trust me.

[generalgrievous]

They tell me there is no war here.

What do you have to say about that?

[captain_by_the_book]

Our war is not being fought here. There are other, local threats, but they are not on the level of the threat of the Clone Wars. There are also security forces which will interfere if there is too much unrest.

[generalgrievous]

So any unrest is dealt with swiftly?

[captain_by_the_book]

[ Again, Cassian hesitates. ]

I'm not certain, actually. I have assumed so, since there are very many powerful people here, yet it is mostly peaceful. But there is a certain number of violent crimes here...

[generalgrievous]

I've yet to speak to the City Guardians but some have claimed to be their deputies. They tell me they are the ones to keep the peace.

[There's something in his tone that says he doesn't quite believe it - whether he doesn't believe their power or that war has avoided this place is harder to judge.]

[captain_by_the_book]

They are, and they seem to be mostly effective. But either on purpose or by lack of power, they don't prevent all crime. There is actually a thriving market for bounty hunters here, and one of the towns is a wellspring of conflict.

But our wars aren't fought here. Truce seems to hold when people from different sides are here at the same time.

[generalgrievous]

Bounty hunters have their uses.

[And it sounds to him like many warlike urges were turning to crime instead, if that was the case.]

Truces can always be broken.

What do you do here, Cassian Andor? Do you hunt for bounties?

[Or maybe you're a criminal.]

[captain_by_the_book]

No. I'm a proper soldier, not a bounty hunter. They have their uses, for sure, but...

[He shakes his head. No, he has his pride.]

I work in security for Schnee, the biggest company in the cities. It pays the bills.

[And he's still hoping it will give him access he wouldn't have otherwise.]

[generalgrievous]

Bills... bills... The red bills? That is the currency here?

I got some of them... I arrived with them, although with no memory of being transported here.

[There's a touch of bewilderment again before he shakes his head, growling.]

This is unacceptable!

[He seems to have gone off on a different tangent.]

[captain_by_the_book]

[Cassian waits, a bit at a loss what to do about this outrage. He wants to be helpful, but... There's nothing he can do about these demands.]

I realize that. I wasn't pleased either. But currently nobody knows what to do about it. There are people, or at least one person, who has spoken of trying to break the shields around the cities, but I don't think there are any proper plans in motion. None that I know of, anyway.

[generalgrievous]

Then the people must rise up and destroy the shields in order to be free.

[It sounded simple enough to him.]

Why are they not doing so?

[captain_by_the_book]

[Well... In real life the General's more exhausting to deal with than what Cassian saw as a kid on the HoloNet.]

As I understand it, the shields are the only thing protecting us from... creatures. I don't truly understand their nature yet. But I've been told they are lurking outside the shields, and have in the past pierced them and attacked. Nor do we have any idea what lays beyond the shields, and since they are powered by magic, our means of bringing shielding down wouldn't work either.

I suggest you speak to Emerald Sustrai, she is working on this.

[generalgrievous]

What sort of magic? Do you mean the Force?

[captain_by_the_book]

No. Magic magic. That pull white rabbits from a hat magic trick magic. I can't explain it. They say that the fear of Everglade's population powers the shields.

[generalgrievous]

Everglade?

[captain_by_the_book]

One of the cities.

[He thinks for a moment before adding, judgement in his voice.]

You didn't pay a lot of attention to the initial briefing, did you, sir?

[generalgrievous]

[He makes a dismissive huffing sound at the words.]

It did not give me the most important information. It was a travel brochure. A distraction.

You seem to have accepted this situation.

[captain_by_the_book]

[ Cassian pauses, face carefully blank. His military posture becomes a little stiffer yet at his discomfort. ]

Not as such, sir. It's... complicated. This place can bring you here, though you have died. I died. I assume whatever keeps me alive here though I should be dead will cease to function once I leave this place. Otherwise I would be a lot more impatient to return to my duties.

[ Another moment of hesitation. ]

I'm also still not convinced it isn't an elaborate set-up. Some kind of prison or interrogation based on psychological warfare. In which case nobody here can be trusted, escape attempts are part of the simulation, and I'm just a rat in a maze.