( march intro log )

[hownkai]

Who: Everyone
When: March 1st and on
Where: The Moira + Ceta
What: The crew finds themselves on the planet of Ceta
Warnings: Potential sci-fi creature death. Please label your content!

I N T R O L O G

by the inquest "Arguments on their nature are refuted by those who return to shore, wide-eyed with tales of their savagery." All Moirans are woken to the sounds of the ship coming to a rather grating halt some time in the early morning cycle. It’s no faster or slower than any other stop, but it is unexpected as the captains didn’t mention an upcoming disembarkment. Shortly after, a message is sent to every MID: Navigation has informed us that we’re approaching bad traveling conditions: an overactive star. Instead of stopping on Liant El, we’ll be docking here on Ceta. Please exercise caution while gathering supplies and during excursions. Follow their safety guidelines. If the chance allows, we’ll also be signing new crew on the planet. Please greet them first and show them to the ship. Thank you. The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and nothing is familiar. For those few who come through Ceta's Ingress, there will be crew of the Moira there to greet you. They tell you of the Ingress, how it is broken, even on this planet, and that the ship is headed back to the origin of this technology. This planet’s Ingress is set precariously atop a floating rock formation, the only way from one area to the next is on small air-propelled boats. Crew members will guide everyone back to the Moira and take them to the Medbay; contracts will be signed posthaste. WELCOME TO CETA At first glance, Ceta seems mostly inhabitable, and that's because it is. The atmosphere around the planet is surprisingly thick in most places, sometimes thin in others, and without some way to filter the air, it is mostly unbreathable; it's a giant gas planet, its core made of various molten metals and the atmosphere a mix of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrous. Ceta's gravity is also uneven, meaning that some areas will have stronger focal points than others. The terrain, when it is visible, appears rather rocky—hardly the best conditions for life and stable living. What's more unusual, however, is that despite this fact, there is, indeed, a small populace "living" among the mist and clouds, but it's clear they do not live here year-round. It's hunting season, and they are there for the bounty. These visitors have built small platforms that are hooked together by ropes and swinging bridges, which they call "temporaries". Unstable buildings are rare, dangerous, and spread out over these temporaries to prevent damage or accidents. The temporaries float along, swaying and shifting with the planet’s atmosphere, and posted at every point of entry and all open surfaces are a particular set of rules that everyone must abide by. They are written in dark ink and large block letters so that all passing by will stop and read them: NO FIRE. Flammables, ignition sources, matches, lighters, and anything that creates a spark is prohibited. The atmosphere has higher levels of hydrogen, and the smallest spark will create a problem. AIR BREATHABILITY. Monitor your vitals. Wear masks or re-breathers if needed. WATCH THE EDGE. All walkways are the only thing from you and falling. Be cautious and watch your step. These signs should be given their due attention. The edge is just that: the end of where it is safe to walk. If a wooden plank gives way beneath your feet, you will plummet through hundred of miles of atmosphere before hitting the planet’s thin surface. The captains reiterate that crew should be careful and stick to the main temporaries, gather supplies, visit at their leisure, and then go back to the ship. ☄ IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! The organisms that have evolved on this planet are unintelligent—a fact that is told to you by the other visitors. As there is no solid materials or ways for them to interact with their environments, these giants float along within the atmosphere, though it appears that they are flying when they are merely navigating through. They travel in groups of three or more and sometimes come close to the outskirts of the temporaries. Because there is an invisible filtration dome around the temporaries, this allows the creatures to pass through without harm and return again into the mist as they please. They are difficult to see at night and are rather skittish in the presence of sudden light. ☄ @ THE MUSEUM Every evening when work is done, artificial light sources illuminate the streets of the temporaries. There is one bar, if you can actually call it that, but the main attraction is a museum. The support structure appears to be made out of the skeletal system of the giants that "swim" and live on Ceta, and though the outside seems rather unassuming, the inside is not for the faint of heart. As it's considered informative, there are displays of the internal structures and functions of the very creatures that seem harmless and as unintelligent as the visitors claim. There are sections of the museum dedicated to their anatomy and what makes them so valuable: inside their air sacs, which is what gives the illusion to flying through the atmosphere, is a mineral that, when harvested, attunes and sharpens the senses so that brain capacity and function excel over one-hundred percent efficiency. Likewise, aside from these informative areas, there is also a history of how and when the visitors began to hunt them for this valuable, unnamed resource. ☄ HARVEST SEASON Are you looking for work? Or perhaps you're bored with your duties aboard the Moira and prefer to see just what it is these visitors do during the day? Hunters will often pay for menial labor to help with the killing and retrieval of the giants of Ceta. It is by day, not by hour, and once aboard one of the many ships, you will be put to work handling equipment or being on the lookout for "signs" of the creatures. Once they've been spotted, the real work isn't in capturing them or even trying to subdue them—though they give a good fight. It's in the harvest, done below deck once they have been safely brought into the ship's cargo areas by the tethers, that can get quite gruesome. As a defense mechanism, cutting into the skin creates a rather noxious emission that can cause disorientation, hallucinations, or unconsciousness. Worst case scenarios can often result in death. ☄ WORD LIMITS As things are beginning to wind up (or down), something seems to have gotten into the MID systems and caused a malfunction. On the morning of 03.13, it suddenly becomes clear that communicating with others who are not from the same universe or similar timelines seems very difficult. Understanding each other becomes rather hopeless as the day continues, and these repercussions can be felt across the entire ship. The Captains send out another MID message that appears as a jumble of unusual letters and symbols. However, there is one word that can be read by everyone and (hopefully) understood: RATCHET. Figuring out this problem shouldn't take long if everyone can leap the language barriers and work together. ( ooc; All New Arrivals: you have the choice of coming through the Moira's Ingress OR Ceta's Ingress. For questions, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )

Comments

[tsunclonus]

Ceta's Ingress - Arrival

The moment Cyclonus feels he is on solid ground again, his hand is reaching for his sword. He's not certain where he is, but that's not an entirely new experience when traveling on the Lost Light. Suddenly appearing in places you were not previously is usually a sign of trouble brewing, however. The fact that he's suddenly missing Tailgate's horn, not to mention that he's stiff and his back covered head to toe in bullet holes, only sours his mood further.

The floating rock formation is interest, though not the strangest place he's found himself. It's certainly no Dead Universe, nor does it appear actively hostile.

He frowns at the small organic creatures gathered around the area, some of them trying to speak with him. Many appear to be human, and for a moment he wonders if this is somehow another holomatter planet incident. They're trying to tell him something about a broken ingress and a ship, but he's not especially interested in listening.

He's considering taking flight to see if he can track down the rest of the crew. Perhaps someone more familiar can make him stay put and listen for a moment?

The Moira - Hallways

So he's been convinced aboard the Moira, and he's not particularly happy about it. Like he wasn't stiff enough already from all the slowly healing bullet wounds, he has to make his way through the positively claustrophobic corridors of a spacecraft designed for species far smaller on average than his own. For once he envies Tailgate for his small stature.

Suffice it to say, he takes up a great deal of space wherever he walks, and has to be very careful where he's putting his feet.

Ceta - Whalewatching

Having escaped the tight confines of the ship as soon as possible, Cyclonus is now doing what he does best: stoically watching life pass him by with his arms crossed. Though for once he doesn't need a window, given that this planet is all wide open spaces.

Part of him aches to stretch his wings and go flying through the thick mists, outpacing the serenely floating whale-creatures, but the high hydrogen warnings have been keeping him grounded.

All in all, he makes a rather dour purple statue of a watcher. You'd think the lovely view would make him happier.

Wildcard Let me know if you want to arrange something!

hallways

[daintylegs]

Tailgate did a double-take. Then a triple-take. He considered doing a quadruple-take, but by now he was absolutely certain that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. His first instinct is to run at him as fast as he can and give him a big ol' hug. Maybe once he started hugging him he'd never be able to let go. Up until this moment it hadn't really sunk in how much Tailgate missed him. He could feel his eyes starting to heat up with all that emotion he didn't know he had.

"Cyclonus."

He moved closer. His optics glowed under the dim hallway light. This was a good thing. This was a very good thing. His Most Important Person was finally here.

"You're-!" He started, but instantly stopped when he realized that Cyclonus' body was riddled with hundreds of bullet holes. "You're hurt! What happened? Are you going to die?!" Horrified now and deeply upset, Tailgate ran at him and stopped just short of touching him. His hands hovered fearfully over the wounds. "Please don't die! I only just got you back!

"I'll... I'll.... I-" Do something he yelled at himself through his panicky haze. You have to do something!

[tsunclonus]

If anyone could read his thoughts right now, Cyclonus might be embarrassed by how relieved he is to hear Tailgate's voice. He had been worried, coming to after the incident with security only to find the Minibot passed out under mysterious circumstances.

"Tailgate-" he begins, turning to face his small friend, only to be interrupted by a stream of words.

Oh dear, he's panicking. The last time that happened he'd apparently let out an energy wave and fallen unconscious. He'd like to avoid that.

Quickly getting down on one knee, he places a firm hand on each on Tailgate's shoulders. His voice is soft and calm when he speaks. "Tailgate, I am fine. Velocity has already tended my wounds. What remains is superficial."

The question about what happened worries him though, and he resists the urge to place a palm against Tailgate's forehead. "You don't remember what happened?"

[daintylegs]

It takes a couple moments for Cyclonus' voice to properly register, and it's by then that Tailgate begins to calm down. He doesn't like to see Cyclonus injured, but he knows that the purple not!decepticon is a lot tougher than most bots on the Lost Light combined. Silly him for thinking that a bunch of holes would take Cyclonus away!

"I think I'd remember something like this!" Tailgate squeaks out eventually. He places his little hands on Cyclonus' arms and gazes up at him tearfully. "What happened to you? And where's your horn?" He says that last bit a little shyly. That horn is important to both of them, and he doesn't like that it's not there. Some irrational part of him wondered if Cyclonus took it off on purpose. Getaway did say...

[tsunclonus]

"It seems you passed out rather spectacularly after I lost consciousness," Cyclonus says, hiding his worry. His worrying certainly won't help Tailgate calm down. "Perhaps your memory was affected..."

He frowns, one hand reaching reflexively to the empty spot on his head. Though slight, the missing weight is glaring to him, heavy with the emotional weight of having lost something important.

"It was gone when I... arrived."

[daintylegs]

"But..." Tailgate says slowly, deeply confused. "You didn't go down to see the Necrobot! Which is super too bad because Censere seemed to be really nice, even if I didn't really talk to him. But I ended up here just after our visit ended, and... and I don't remember meeting up with you!"

Time shenanigans? Probably.

"I'll make you another!" He says brightly. "At least the ship didn't give you back those scratches you had a while ago too. Your face looks better when it's not beaten up."

[tsunclonus]

"The Necrobot?" Yes, he remembers that occasion. He'd refused that particular adventure, finding the very concept ridiculous. He wasn't surprised to find out the so-called Necrobot was simply another Cybertronian, albeit a rather old one. There was a significant gap between then and his run-in with security.

Hm. "How long have you been here?"

He inclines his head slightly, pleased that Tailgate has calmed down. "If you make it, I will wear it."

Whalewatching!

[dragonspride]

The draconian wandering out is staying similarly grounded, with one of the face-covering environment masks on; there's an occasional bit of smoke on the inside clouding the clear parts, quickly filtered out with a few faintly confused sounding "something isn't right" chirps from the mask.

His wings are folded in close and he's carefully keeping to the walkways himself.

For a while, he'll join in watching over the edges of the railing; he's completely unbothered by the edge, for obvious reasons, and about as happy for similar reasons.

Eventually there's a very level, "....Have you been here long?", with little more than a sideways glance from the dragoon.

[tsunclonus]

Cyclonus givess his unexpected companion a similar sideways glance, barely shifting except to look briefly down. Not a human this one, or not a human as he recognizes one. It's a bit refreshing. The crew of the Moira seems disproportionately composed of humans. Apparently the Ingress has some sort affinity for them.

"Not long," he finally says after a long moment of silence. "It seems I arrived at around the same time as the Moira."

Unless he means how long Cyclonus has been standing here, in which case it's been hours.

[dragonspride]

Well, he guess was right; Kain sighs with a faint slump of his shoulders and a sigh that fills his mask with smoke and sets the sensors to chirping again. "So you don't know any more of this than I."

With the hope of finding someone who's been around longer popped for now, he shakes his head. "The cosmic 'joke' of ending up somewhere alien with strange robots wasn't funny the first time." After a beat, he does glance sideways at Cyclonus. "No offense meant."

[tsunclonus]

"Cybertronian," Cyclonus corrects helpfully without specifying what he's correcting.

He gives another side glance at the chirping mask. Presumably not designed for whatever lifeform this one happens to be? He's not overly curious about it. Mostly reminded of how much more efficient it is not to have to breathe.

After a moment he decides to actually try to be a little bit helpful. After all, he does have some empathy for those ending up in strange places with strange people.

"You have been to the Moira?"

[dragonspride]

The correction jags something familiar that makes the 'bad joke' all the more fitting, and however good Kain is at minding his expression, the raised eyebrow and brief look of recognition isn't guarded.

"I have, although I came here through the Ingress on the planet." He gestured off in the direction of the island and the occasional passing silhouette of the airships coming and going. "You've also been thrown in with the 'crew'?"

It didn't seem like a very good way to find crewmembers, but it also was a situation he was still trying to learn about.

[tsunclonus]

Cyclonus inclines his head, barely a nod. Another one like him, who arrived on Ceta rather than the Moira. Remarkable timing. Had the Ingress on the ship interacted with the one on planet to bring them here around its arrival?

"I've been assigned a job." Evacuation Specialist. What in the world.

whalewatchingggggg

[knaval]

Take a wild guess as to who is not going to let Cyclonus stand around being miserable after spotting him?

His name rhymes with Piptide.

It's a shame Cyclonus is himself, because if it was anyone else Riptide would probably jump up and try to scare them. He is well aware of the fact that Cyclonus would probably run him through, so he doesn't. Instead he opts to do the next best thing.

He finds a few small pebbles and flicks them at Cyclonus, aiming for his armour pauldrons.

[tsunclonus]

Wow Riptide! He's not miserable. He does this all the time, when he's happy, when he's sad, when he's angry, when he's bored... It's what he does.

He ignores the first few pings of pebbles of his shoulders, though his expression slowly shifts from his regular RBF to a deeper frown. Then by sheer chance, a small pebble manages to soar straight through one of the mostly closed bullet wounds - most are merely deep dimples rather than holes now - and there's a series of clinking noises as it bounces around inside of Cyclonus before coming to a rest somewhere in his chest.

He very slowly turns to stare at Riptide.

[knaval]

Riptide feels his soul leave his mortal body as the pebble clatters through Cyclonus. It ascends into the heavens.

"...You should probably get that looked at."

[tsunclonus]

Very, very slowly, Cyclonus turns to fully face the dead mech Riptide, his mouth turned down in a deep frown and his optics blazing with their usual lovely shade of red.

At least he's not reaching for his sword, right?

[knaval]

He takes a step back, hands going up into an I surrender position. And then another one. Riptide's terror is palpable.

"Good to see you here, Cyc. Can I call you Cyc? Just-- continue the eerie, terrifying silence if it's not okay."

[tsunclonus]

"Did you want something?" Cyclonus grates out, each word pronounced solidly as though he's talking in lieu of punching.

This does not mean it's okay to call him 'Cyc', though, please don't misunderstand his lack of terrifying silence.

[forcefulgift]

[Ade finally had his powers back which meant that he was actually going to go ahead and do his duties at finding his buddy. Cyclonus was one hell of a name and after some interrogating he found out that what he was actually looking for was a giant robot.

Which was daunting. Ade could hold his own in a fight if he pissed of a stranger but a giant robot? His experience with them so far in life was pretty awful; giant robots tended to be sentinels, government kill squads against mutants.

But he goes off anyway, intent on finding him... which is when he happens on a giant robot aboard the ship, one of the hallways where Ade had just turned the corner to be confronted by a giant foot. He calls out.]

Oi, giant robot bloke, are you Cyclone? [He's already gotten the name wrong, fuck.]

[tsunclonus]

[Cyclonus is glad he's been paying particular attention to where he's been putting his feet when the human rounds the corner. He really doesn't want to be the one to accidentally kick or crush one of his soft crewmates.

Staring down from his lofty - rather cramped - height, he gives Ade his typical Resting Dour Face.]

I am Cyclonus of Trixylix. A Cybertronian.

[Not a robot, gosh.]

[forcefulgift]

[Thank Christ... Ade had finally found his robot. Now that he knows its the right one he jumps lithely upwards, his powers picking him up and carrying him to face height at which point he nods swiftly.] Much better. Name's Force, nice to meet you mate, I'm meant to be your buddy.

[tsunclonus]

[Cyclonus's surprise barely shows on his face, but it's there. He hadn't known humans could fly outside of their fiction, but then he didn't know much about humans beyond a few movies and sitcoms.

There are more important things to be dubious about, however.]

What do you mean by 'buddy'?

[Because whoa there, awfully presumptuous to be assuming friendship when they've barely met.]

[forcefulgift]

[Ade felt a lot more comfortable now he was eye level with Cyclonus, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing the robot up.]

Ain't like I'm trying to be your friend or nothing mate. Just means that I'm your tour guide, your 'welcome aboard the Moira' crew member. Not saying we gotta braid each others hair and tell secrets.

[tsunclonus]

Ah.

[That makes more sense. The reference to hair braiding less so, but the sarcasm is fairly obvious.

It is also quite odd to be eye level to a human without using his holomatter avatar.]

I don't believe I will require your services. I have companions on board who can assist me.