Doug nodded in agreement.

Anna wanted to shrink under the disapproving eyes of the elders. Being on the moon was uncomfortable enough and now she feared they'd never make it back to earth. She hoped that Raider's words would be received well not taken as an attempt to trick them into a trap.

If things could get resolved peacefully she'd be happy to leave right there... that is, if they let her. Right now she had the feeling of being judged and sentenced to death at the whims of their captors.

What choice did he have? They knew he was there and told him that his hiding wouldn't work. Now he stood there in front of these strange people who wore robes of different colors. His mind still plotted some sort of excuse or lie to escape their current situation when Raider spoke.

I guess honesty would work too, Gregory said to himself.

They listen in silence and as the echoes of Raider's words faded once more the one in red leans forward, "You knew of the comet then? Was it your actions that caused its fracture? That sent certain destruction tumbling toward us? Tell us what you know of the comet and how it was deflected from its course."

Raider frowned briefly at the rudeness of their reply but maintained a very polite tone. "The city of York planned that, and I helped them implement it, but I was not aware that anyone lived here. Moreover, we did the only thing we could to stop it from destroying all life on Earth. Sending the piece in your direction was completely unintended as we had no way of calculating trajectory of possible fragments."

It was on the tip of Doug's tongue to say that York wouldn't have cared about them being here even if they had known, but bad mouthing the Earth might be counter productive and he had no clue whether these people would respect Strength or Morality or what. Instead he tried to gauge what kind of deals were possible.

(OOC: Activate Lie Detector)

"You and your people surprise us. We did not anticipate such levels of technological knowledge. We also did not expect any sane novas to remain, or are you newly erupted novas?" The blue clad man asks his face curious, the first tangible expression you have seen from these people. Doug finds that the man's words are truthful if generic enough to be evasive at the same time.

The man in yellow leans forward again, "You clearly have the power to escape from the earth. Why did you remain? Why did you seek to stop the comet?"

Doug rotated through the link, *Careful here. They've been raised with the idea of "The Earth was Destroyed because it was Evil".*

Doug said, "Oh, we're not newly erupted. For novas, staying away from aberrations can be done but it's not obvious how to. It's one of those things you just have to be taught."

"As for stopping the comet, most people on Earth are baseline, like yourselves. For that matter all of us were baseline at one point or another as well. How could we let our friends and family die even if we personally could have survived?"

The woman in red leans forward, "If you wish to speak to your companions you will speak. Out loud."

As she leans back the man in blue leans forward, "We understand how the nova physiology works. And for your kind these mutations you call aberrations are inevitable. It is a simple fact of biology." He leans back and the three lean in close together and whisper amongst themselves before the man in yellow, who you now feel must be their leader, or perhaps a first among equals, leans forward to speak again. "You are wrong about us. We are no more human than you are. And we are not nova either, though we share similar aptitude.

Tell us, what would you do with the earth? Have you achieved peace between all people? Have you conquered the petty sins of greed and jealousy? Or are you no better than the society from whose ashes you have risen?"

"Whoa there," Ashley said abruptly. "Hold on a second. We're not claiming to have saved humanity from its own worst side. We're just doing the best we can to hold on to something like civilization."

She looks around at the other novas around her and quickly plows on.

"You guys clearly pulled together and did some amazing things up here, and that's great. The situation on Earth has been a bit different though. You've got all these little bands and hideouts, all paranoid and looking out for themselves. And you've got a few places that managed to hold onto, or rediscovered, the things that can make a society work. But no one's in charge down there, and no one's going to be in charge for a long time yet."

"We don't speak for Earth, in other words. We just speak for one little city, that's trying to be a light in the darkness."

Okay...that was corny. True...but corny.