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the outer gate
"Open up, and let them in."
The Moira is no more.
With the damage done to the ship due to the timeslip, all that remains is a burning wreckage and parts to be taken—if the crew can find anything in the pieces. Recovery and headcounts are the main objective for the first several hours of being planetside, and once things have settled just enough, Captain Ira calls for a meeting and addresses those who are able in person to explain the situation. He draws a rough map of the area and explains where he believes they are - according to the terrain - and where they must go. For anyone who’s listening, he describes things like an “Outer Gate”, an “Inner Gate” and “gate sectors”. Believing this to be the best course of action, all crew are asked to explore and gather what they think they’ll need to make the long journey towards the central point of the Hub. Because the MIDs are no longer working due to the lack of a network, the Captains distribute a newer tech called the TAB. It serves the same functions as the MID but is lighter, slimmer, and has the ability to stick to any surface.
WELCOME TO THE MIDWAY HUB
Now that the smoke from the crash has cleared, and injured crew have been tended to, the Captains get everyone ready for departure by explaining what they know of the Hub. Almost stone-like, the creators built a domed workspace in the largest solid space on the planet they could find. Gates are the only way inside, and anyone who catches a glimpse of the compound will see that parts of the dome are cracked. Yet, everything still appears to be relatively intact. The Midway Hub’s terrain is very rocky and difficult to walk on at times. Below the surface is a honeycomb of intermittently dense and brittle stone that makes travel difficult due to the unpredictable nature of what lies beneath the crew’s feet. Those who can develop the tech from what’s left of the debris might be able to create something to determine which route is the safest. Ships and small crafts can be used to fly, but landing is a problem—rocks jut up in sharp peaks and the clearer spots can't handle their weight. Vegetation is sparse, consisting of twisted dark gray thistles that have sprung up from cracks in the rock and burn when in direct contact with skin, and what could be considered small animals here can be seen scurrying away the closer crew get to them.
☄ WEEK ONE
Crew are asked to hook cryo beds together and to use any appropriate vehicles that can be made or fashioned to fit the terrain to carry injured crew on the journey to the center of the Hub. Supplies are gathered, and the Captains, as well as any crew who want to, give the Moira a proper sendoff, heads bowed as they say goodbye to what’s been their home. Traveling starts out slowly, a line of a hundred-plus crew members making their way slowly forward. Stops are frequent, but camping for rest only occurs at night. Crew are assigned watch shifts, fires are built, injured tended to, and those who are able are asked to explore nearby caves and hunt for food.
Something akin to deer, though striped and only to be found in pairs, can be stumbled across at night. Throngs of dark purple mammels begin to follow the Moirans on their trip as well. They are friendly, curious, and eat the thistle. Meet the intelligent, watchful predators that aren’t easily scared away and follow the crew from a distance as if waiting to pounce. The thistle can be eaten, but only if cooked first, and those who sample the chewy plant raw will experience a burning sensation in their throat that doesn’t go away until the cooked version is consumed. During the first week, water can’t be found.
Anyone who does hunt, gather, or explore should make sure to that their TABS are on and it’s suggested that nobody goes alone.
Nearing the end of the first week, an Ingress can be spotted close by that crew can explore. If anyone dares to go inside, they will find the texture of the ground and surrounding walls to be rather soft. If inspected closely, crew will discover that what they originally thought to be rock is actually a living organism that’s fed off the energy of the Ingress it’s attached itself to. It’s not harmful and squishy to the touch. If pressed hard enough, it secretes a turquoise liquid with the consistency of water that might make a good substitute for that very thing. ☄ WEEK TWO
When crew finally pass through the sector gates, a strange sensation encompasses them, and a depowering of sorts goes into effect. The creators put in security measures meant to put all visitors on equal footing as well as to protect themselves from harm. All crew will essentially have the strength and abilities of the average human. An unforeseen issue, this causes Captain Thán to slip into a coma as he is no longer able to continue to recover at a steady pace, and with the loss of the former Captain’s abilities, crew can no longer be brought back if they die. For the first time, all Moirans are subject to permanent death.
During this week of travel, broken ingress machines and parts will be found scattered among the rocks, and new crew will come through. Unfortunately, these Ingresses aren’t in good shape, and anyone coming through will be in varying states of distress—some physical and some mental. New individuals will either have suffered an age slip, growing older or younger than their original body, some form of body transformation (perhaps that shiny thing they were wearing is now part of them somehow), or an extreme weakness they had never been subjected to before arriving on the Midway Hub. The new people will be offered to join their group, once found, and seasoned crew will be asked to explain to them where they are going and what they know.
The rest of the week will be a mix of greeting the new arrivals and continuing to travel to the center of the Hub. The closer they get, the less frequently they’ll see animals, and more caves will begin to pop up. ☄ WEEK THREE
Entering the third week of travel, settlements and houses begin to crop up and are prime areas for exploration and general supplies. Those who go inside may find items that have been left behind and evidence showing that those of varying species and cultures lived in the homes. Some appeared to have been scientists while others were explorers, but all living quarters are deserted. Crew who are less lucky in their search might come away with no fresh supplies, and others might walk into traps or safeguards left behind by previous tenants; these come in many forms, from mild paralysis to temporary unconsciousness. As there are more residences, there are also more caves. The entrances vary in size, and light sources will be needed to explore. Once inside, crew can find purple underwater streams, which can be consumed, and glowing surfaces. When crew drink the water, it temporarily restores powers, a few minutes tops, and then, extreme lethargy settles in for a couple of hours.
Further into the cave systems, crew will come across these lovely creatures that are attracted to sound and track through scent. They are highly dangerous and attack simply to feed. Killing them, though, is surprisingly simple as they are just as vulnerable and weak as everyone else. They are vicious in demeanor but only as strong as an average human.
The closer to the Inner Gate crew get, the less homes, wildlife, and more caves there will be. ☄ WEEK FOUR
The Captains, aware that the crew is exhausted, stop and make camp for the first few days. Someone mentions that it’s the holidays where they’re from, and the Captains do their best to throw a party. Set up at the base of a cave, tents are built and fires roar. Soft music is played in the form of guitar, thank you Ira, and Cúrre brings out some legumes that taste like cherries when roasted. There isn’t much in the way of decorations, but crew are encouraged to dig through their pac-discs and contribute to the festivities.
After a brief respite, crew learn that the entrances to Gate A and Gate B are inside one of the caves but any signs or markings have long since worn away or been destroyed. Groups are split, TABS are synced, and crew explore carefully until an entrance is found. Crew discover Gate A first, and all crew are contacted to gather there. The Captains will remain at the cave entrance until all crew are accounted for, and then, they’ll enter through the gate together.
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hohnkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-12-02 06:54 pm
no subject
I'm also wagering I'm going to have to scrounge for something oily to get this taste out of my mouth.
[Again he pulls a face, the wincing eyes mostly hidden by his glasses. Though he does consider Snake's assessment. It's very possible. Though he's wondering about some of the things in the caves- the ones that look almost human.]
[Either people didn't want to kill their friends, or they did want to change them.]
I found a flashlight in there, a little bit of preserved food, but not much of use. What about you?
no subject
Since Miller seems to think he'll be all right, Snake starts heading for the next building, though he's going to take a lot more care not to trip any traps now. ]
Got a few cans of food, some clothing... no luck on any water yet.
[ It's one of those resources that someone would take with them if they had a choice in the matter, so they might be shit out of luck when it comes to that. Which means getting creative about finding sources of water in the environment.
Judging by how the thistle tasting has gone so far, Snake isn't very encouraged. ]
no subject
We found some water. Sort of. It's purple. But people have drank it and suffered no ill effects. [It's something at least.] But the cans should have less questionable water in them. Enough for us to survive on.
[He stops to go through what he's salvaged, and offers Snake a flashlight. He might need it more. Miller's been sticking close to camp for the most part. Better to make sure the ones going further with exploring are stocked up.]
no subject
It'd be pretty pathetic if after all this, after the distances they've traveled, that they'd end up dying of dehydration.
When Miller offers the flashlight, Snake raises an eyebrow but takes it all the same. He isn't going to turn down something that's bound to be useful, and he assumes Miller has more where that came from. ]
Where'd you find this purple water?
[ It might be questionable, but if that's all they have, then Snake wants to know how to access it. ]
no subject
[He'd rather get away from this place and hopefully get something to wash his mouth out with anyway. He stops to use his borrowed hair-tie to pull his growing hair back again, getting it away from his face in a short ponytail, which would be more meaningful if he wasn't trying to blink the sting out of his eyes and not sway in place.]
I'll have to keep an eye out for more of those traps so I can disable them. We could probably use the parts to make our own. [Hopefully they'd be luckier than the people in the settlement.]
no subject
It's probably too much to ask that we find a gas mask somewhere around here. If you're gonna be purposefully triggering traps, you shouldn't do it alone.
[ No doubt Venom has some experience with it too. ]
no subject
Andyr was asking about code names, by the way. In case it ever comes up.
[He continues off in the direction of the caves as he talks.]
Do you know him very well?
no subject
Snake falls into step with Miller, shifting so that he's side-by-side instead of trailing behind him. It seems more appropriate. He isn't really in need of a mentor anymore, but that doesn't mean that Miller isn't still one of the most important people to him.
He's not expecting the subject to turn to Andyr of all people. He raises an eyebrow, but answers the question all the same. ] Not well, but... he told me about his situation back home. It's nothing good. I've offered to help him learn how to adjust his fighting style so it's less kill or be killed, but he hasn't taken me up on it yet.
[ It's no skin off his back, so Snake just shrugs. ] What about code names?
no subject
[He coughs against the back of his hand again.]
I think he should take you up on it. Right now he's used to fighting in waves. Thing is, you put him in a long distance front lines situation, he'll be in over his head. At the very least, some stealth training would be a hell of a benefit.
Anyway, I was just telling him what they meant. Made me kind of miss training again.
no subject
[ Snake has never been much of a teacher, not the way that Miller was to him. It doesn't mean that he's not capable of it; he'd managed to give Raiden plenty of advice during the Big Shell Incident, and it's only in the aftermath that he realized how much he'd stepped into his Master's shoes. But he's not sure Andyr's training should fall only to him. ]
I think I need to get the basics cleared up with him before I start getting into stealth, though.
[ Knowing how to subdue someone without killing them, even in a hand-to-hand encounter, is vitally important. It means delving more into CQC than he'd like, but it's necessary in this case. It's not like there are a lot of tranq guns to go around, anyway. ]
no subject
[A little at a time, though. He's not sure that he's the type Andyr would listen to. So far on the ship, he may have been the Head of Security at one time but all it amounted to was a whole lot of doing nothing.]
I've never been the best at CQC. I was introducing him to some stealth tactics, though. Just a start.
How have you been, by the way? [Which is more of a question about his mental state. It seems hypocritical, coming from him, but his own experience has taught him that too much continued stress wears you down to near nothing. For the same reasons he told Venom to return to base, he checks on David now. Just as another him would have in his future.]
no subject
That doesn't make the question any easier to answer, though. Snake thinks all of them are stuck in survival mode right now, just trying to get by and put one foot in front of the other. ]
I'm managing. [ Snake shrugs, his focus mainly on the cave opening that's now looming ahead of them. ] Getting kind of sick of being led to dead end after dead end, but I was pretty much expecting it. Now I'm just focusing on making sure no one starves to death out here.
[ No one deserves a death like that. ]
no subject
[In FOXHOUND his investment in other's well-being would be less. This place was nothing that would have his personal investment, not a home he built for himself, not the sort of businesses he or his family toiled to create. So to a (possibly other) future self, he can only worry about those that he trains.]
[Separated from Cipher, from his suspicions, from his ability to watch with intense paranoia, it's been easier to ask.]
It's not easy. [Not that he doubts that Snake is a survivor. The helplessness is a weight neither of them are good at bearing.] We'll have enough. Worse comes to worse we can attempt a deep well and irrigation system. There is enough food that, properly rationed, could last us a few months. And enough people that don't eat that could be put on heavy lifting duty.
Consider it an investment in long term survival. [Who knows if the people here have the patience to mind their hunger though.]
no subject
That obviously shifted, both in Snake's past and in the current moment, and Snake doesn't doubt that when Miller asks after him, it's genuine. They're in this together.
It doesn't surprise him that Miller has the sort of knowledge necessary to help them last through this lack of a steady food supply, and while he nods along, he doesn't sound entirely convinced. ]
Sure, but... we also probably need someone in charge making sure that everyone's only eating their fair share, and I doubt anyone wants to take on that job. [ Maybe it's not that dire yet, but depending on what they find at the end of this long hike, they could reach that point. And Snake can already guess that it could get really ugly really fast. ]
no subject
Yeah. But the food appears to already be rationed. So... for whatever little that means.
And I've been making sure the dogs have gotten food. But most of it was what we acquired earlier.
[The dogs can stand to eat week old charred meat.]
I'm glad some of the kids got out of here. [He means specifically the ones he'd been looking out for, keeping an eye on. One by one, most of them had left.] Not sure some survived the crash. [Which isn't easy to take. But when has loss every been easy to take for Miller? All he can say is that he's glad they're not around to suffer through this situation.]
no subject
[ There had been enough resources on the ship that Snake had been able to keep Jaegar on a solid protein diet, supplemented with whatever else was needed to keep him strong and healthy. It's a different story now, but for the most part the husky has remained loyal despite the changes.
Unlike Miller, Snake hadn't gone out of his way to befriend any of the younger members of the crew, at least not any more than he had to, and this is why. The sting of realizing some of them might have died doesn't hurt quite as much.
There's still one person he has to ask after, though. ] You never found that Bucky kid, huh. [ With no confirmation either way, they'll probably never learn the truth of what happened to him.
They're approaching one of the caves, which is good. It'll give them something else to focus on. ]
no subject
[But that part he doesn't talk about, how the absence of that relationship has been affecting him. At this point, it's almost a drop in the barrel of endless losses.]
I couldn't find Fury, either. [Which is a terrible way of suggesting that, if Bucky didn't make it, at least he didn't go alone. Not something he wants to think about either, though, as it's small consolation.]
no subject
[ They could assume that Bucky got to safety somehow, that he took off to a different planet, but they both know that isn't true. He wouldn't have left without saying goodbye to Miller, at least.
They reach the mouth of the cave, and Snake sighs and shifts back so that Miller can take the lead. He could say he was sorry or offer condolences, but what good will that do? ]
no subject
[It seems dismissive, but it's the only way he can deal with it on top of a mountain of other losses. To section it off as yet another loss, another person that needs to be recognized, someone else he needs to struggle to honor, to hurt for.]
[Which isn't the healthiest either, but who's counting. And he's still under the delusion that he comes off as strong to Snake. He doesn't want to break that persona. He wants to keep that respect.]
[But he does reach down and pat Mama when she wanders over close, anxiously looking for her people because it's been too long. Like he's consoling her for something bad that's happened that she isn't aware of. (Or maybe she is. She's been attempting to keep pretty tight track of him.)] Go back. You can't go with us. You'll walk into a trap.
no subject
So he only nods, letting that subject fade away so that he doesn't force Miller to dwell on it any more than he already has. The dog offers a good distraction, and Snake watches the display, waiting to see if the husky will follow Miller's order. ]
You won't take her out into danger the way Ahab does with his dog, huh. [ It's not said with any judgment. Snake wouldn't want to take Jaegar into those caves, either. While dogs are certainly capable of excelling in combat situations, Snake would rather keep Jaegar out of that part of his life. ]