weep not for the memories

[brushoff]

WHO: Everybody!
WHERE: all cities
WHEN: March 4 - March 6
WHAT: it's a catch-all log, sucka! Tag here and thread around for the Dorian Ruins Everything Guilt Extravaganza part of the overall March plot. Please check out this ooc post for details!
WARNINGS: Traumatic memories. Possible talk of murder, death, blood, other nasty things. I'll try to update if the warnings needed but please use content warnings if it gets super nasty!

It starts off on March 4th, the early morning before the sun's even risen. You know those weird mirages that were hanging around the day before? Well now it's getting a little personal.

These mirages come and go seemingly for no reason. They might stay for a minute, they might stay for an hour. The images vary between person but the unifying factor is that the mirages consist of people the player characters have hurt, whether people in-game or from their homes. Whether they murdered them, slandered them, or even had a petty little argument, the unifying factor is the guilt each character feels towards or about this mirage. After all, you know you hurt them somehow. You know their existence somehow makes you feel guilty.

Another unifying factor? The creepy way these mirages just seem to stick to you. They'll follow you if you try to leave, staring you down with their creepy unblinking mirage eyes. And whoops: everybody can see said mirages. Hopefully you're not being stalked by someone you and somebody else both know, wouldn't that be awkward?

Have fun confronting your traumatizing past and/or wondering why your buddy's got some creepy ghost guy following him, imPorts!

( ooc: this is a catch-all log! Make starters of your characters getting haunted by their creepy mirages, have other people react to said creepy mirages, ???, profit. Hit me up on the ooc post if you have any questions! )

Comments

[dun_moch]

Lucky indeed.

[Dooku's voice is about as dry as Tatooine. He looks from Han to the Hutt and back again.]

Jabba was a great power in the underworld even in my time. Both the Republic and the Separatists had to negotiate with him for control of hyperspace routes. He employed many bounty hunters... and smugglers. I imagine age has not improved his disposition.

[If Han is indeed a minion of the Hutt, his character is likely even lower than Dooku first imagined. Distasteful, yet also potentially useful.]

[carbonfrozen]

Still is. [There's a faint sour note to Han's tone. He wishes he could say he was surprised that both the vaunted Republic and the Separatists dealt with Jabba.] And you'd be right. I dumped some cargo of his just once and he sends bounty hunters after me.

[Han sounds truly offended by this reaction, folding his arms and shooting a glare at the Hutt's image. Yes, he knows he wronged Jabba the Hutt. Yes, he also thinks this is a completely disproportionate reaction for a crime lord used to his every order being followed to make.]

But I'm gonna make a wild guess and say you're not here to talk about Jabba.

[dun_moch]

You dumped his cargo? Well, now. You are fortunate to still be alive.

[The Count raises an eyebrow. He knows Jabba does not forgive. Solo will be hunted to the end of his days, or until the debt is paid.]

But as you say, we have other things to discuss than Hutts. Please, come with me.

[He holds out an arm to indicate the direction of a nearby park that's better suited for talks than the middle of the street. Dooku had hoped to do this discreetly, but now that there's a giant Hutt following Solo for all to see, that's going to be more difficult.]

[carbonfrozen]

[Han coughs. It sounds suspiciously like a half-hysterical laugh, cut off almost immediately, which probably says something about Han's general state back in their home galaxy.]

Yeah, real lucky. [There's an edge to his tone now, a warning that they're skirting too close to things Han doesn't actually want to talk about. Bespin is not quite as fresh in his mind, anymore, but it's still not something he wants to think about. Especially not with Dooku, who Han barely knows.

The Hutt, unluckily for the both of them, follows Han to the park, a giant, slimy reminder of some of Han's stellar decision-making. Han, for his part, keeps his eyes on Dooku, partly because he really does not want to remind himself that Jabba is right there at the moment and partly because Dooku's presence draws much of his attention anyway.

A Separatist leader. The Separatist leader, if Han remembers correctly, and now that they're facing each other, he thinks he can see why. He feels a little sorry for the guy, that his side lost the Clone Wars so long ago.

It's that little bit of pity that moves him to be at least this generous:] Where do you wanna start?

[dun_moch]

[The Count turns to face Han (and Jabba) again, hands clasped behind his back. He looks like he is about to discuss stellar trade negotiations, not his own death.]

Let us start with this Empire you live under. What can you tell me about it?

[carbonfrozen]

[Not for the first time, Han finds himself missing Leia, or Luke. One of them could explain the Empire better than he could—Leia especially, for her experience in the Imperial Senate. Han himself doesn't dwell on his own previous experience with the Empire, tries not to.

He shrugs.]

It's the kind of Empire that'd blow up a planet, to get its way.

[It's simple and short, but there's a heavy note to it that says he was there—for the aftermath, at least, for those moments of sheer confusion and disbelief when the Falcon jumped into realspace to find an asteroid belt where Alderaan used to be.]

[dun_moch]

Ah. That kind of Empire. How terrible.

[Dooku frowns, but inwardly feels a slight glow of satisfaction. So, the Ultimate Weapon was successfully constructed and deployed. A fine step toward finally bringing peace and security to the Galaxy.]

I sense you are not speaking hypothetically. Please, tell me: which worlds have they destroyed?

[carbonfrozen]

Terrible's one way of putting it.

[If Leia were here, Han's pretty sure she'd have already prepared a speech. But she's not, and he is, so—]

Their Death Star scratched Jedha and a good chunk of Scarif off, but they only managed to completely destroy Alderaan before the Rebel Alliance managed to blow the Death Star up.

[Which is a very condensed version of what actually happened, no mention of Luke or Leia or even Han himself. Three years of being a rebel, and his time as a smuggler before that, has drummed the habit of paranoia into him too well.]

[dun_moch]

Alderaaan?

[The Count recoils, and this much at least is not feigned. Jedha, certainly- such a vital planet to the history of the Jedi could easily become a target? But Alderaan? Their pacifist ideals were contemptible nonsense, of course, but the art! The culture! The architecture!

Dooku's noble blood churns for a moment to imagine the loss. To destroy such a world is more than ruthless. It is sadistic. And Count Dooku is many things, but he has never been sadistic. What became of his vision for the Galaxy? And why hadn't Dooku himself been around to speak against the destruction as part of the Imperial leadership?]

I... visited Alderaan many times, before the war. It is a magnificent world. To meet such a fate...

[He shakes his head.]

I warned the Galaxy time and again that Palpatine was becoming a tyrant. That the Republic's corruption was transforming it into something terrible. If only more had listened.

[carbonfrozen]

Was. [There's a sympathy there, a sign that there's something hidden beneath Han's deliberately casual demeanor.] It was.

[Three years on, and there's still nothing quite like the shock of dropping out of hyperspace, expecting a planet, and seeing only asteroids and dust where it used to be.]

Yeah, if only. [This may be one of the few times Han might ever agree with him on something. Now, what else?] Besides that, I've got a friend whose whole planet's under the Imps' control. From what he told me it used to be a pretty sight, but when the Empire moved in—

[He shrugs, mouth twisting into a bitter, tight line. He misses Chewie something fierce, hopes he's okay.]

Not much of a pretty sight anymore, with all the slaves and the labor camps.

[dun_moch]

[The Count paces a little, slow, measured strides, speaking as though to himself, regaining his composure.]

That does not surprise me. I often thought that the Republic was on the path to slavery during the war. Using cloned soldiers for their army was the first step. I am... sorry for the fate of your friend's world.

[Like Hell he is. Slavery is the natural order of things, the strong controlling the weak, as well as an efficient source of labour for sustaining the great works of a mighty empire. Sidious had explained as much to his apprentice during his teachings, during long conversations that seemed to hold the dark and hidden truths of the Galaxy.

Then again, Sidious had also explained that Dooku would be indispensable to the New Order. That they would rule together after the war.]

And the Jedi Order? I suppose they help to enforce this brutality?