february mod plot log

[savmods]

Who: Everyone
When: February 3rd to February 28th
Where: Thisavrou + New Worlds
Warnings: death, blood, violence, torture

thisavrou monthly info ( the tmi )

⋆ All information is current as of day 32 ( there are 100 days in a cycle, which started on January 1st).

⋆ The storm around Thisavrou is particularly volatile this month - plums of dark energy twist and turn. There’s an upsurge in the number of Outpost techs called in to work in an effort to monitor and research Thisavrou’s unruly cage. Weather on Kauto is a moderate 70°F / 21°C during the day and 65°F / 18 °C at night, and Chioni’s has reached record highs of 130°F / 54°C at peak hours.

⋆ Savrii Notices:

Region One grocery depots are offering fifty percent off of any item purchased between day 41 and 45.

Region Four’s population of Gorgóna are giving away free underwater training lessons on the 51st day.

⋆ Mission notices have been posted to TABs for anyone interested in earning a little extra cash. Available missions are listed below:

Day 39 (February 10th) - The locals of Region Three (R3) are in need of “pest” control assistance. Creatures called Tanglesnakes have infested the trees and are eating the natives’ homes! Anyone willing to remove them will be paid 100 sencs per Tanglesnake. However, catching them might be tricky; they are quite fast and are smart enough not to be lured by snacks or kind words of encouragement! They also have a tendency to curl around and trip up anyone after them, hence their name.

Day 47 (February 18th) - The waters of Chioni are boiling! Scientists stationed out on the third burg are asking volunteers to bring back samples for study. Anyone willing to risk the harsh climates of Chioni will be compensated with 250 sencs as well as travel expenses up to 80 sencs.

Day 55 (February 26th) - The majority of Savrii responsible for the Ingress Complex’s upkeep have suddenly fallen ill, which has left them short staffed. For those not too proud to pick up trash and put a little elbow grease into shining the windows, compensation will be given for the time. This mission pays 40 sencs per hour.

⋆ As a welcome gift to all the new visitors, Savrii will be handing out treats.

---

ingress travel info

⋆ Signatures are the base reason for traveling through the Ingress (aside from general exploration and monetary gain) and are used to discover the correct world visitors on Thisavrou wish to return to. Every visit through a different Ingress brings the technicians a little closer to finding it. The two worlds open for access this month only have a slight impact on the signature of each person who travels.

⋆ Missions are jobs or specific tasks listed on the TAB once new worlds are open for exploration. Be sure to check if Clearance Levels are required to accept some of these missions.

⋆Clearance Levels are given to visitors for the length of time they have been on Thisavrou (or traveling on the Moira). Each CL offers access to certain things or incentives that others will not have.

---

aueia

⋆ To welcome the new arrivals to Thisavrou, all visitors will be granted access to one of the worlds already known to the Savrii. Aueia (proper pronunciation here) is the native homeworld of a species some Moirans may already be familiar with: the migratory space whales. While isolated from the rest of the galaxy, the whales’ homeworld has been known to the Savrii for generations and viewed as a peaceful center of cultural exchange.

⋆ Although some disorientation is common enough with all Ingress travel, transit to Aueia is commonplace enough to make the trip relatively straightforward. A brief sensation of a fall and a wash of color (felt as much as seen), and visitors will find themselves stepping out onto the greeting dock. To leave, characters may make use of the same portal, or explore to find their own—there are multiple transit points scattered through the world, as well as a few maps designed for humanoid interpretation.

⋆ A gas giant encircled by a unique interstellar medium, Aueia holds three distinct zones.

The outermost layer, or "sea" of the planet, consists of a liquid shell inhabited by a diverse set of fluid-dwelling wildlife. A variety of tours go out regularly to explore the oceans, and platforms are set up along the boundary for those with interest in "beach" play. The fluid composing the sea is a pale green, and has no harmful effects on contact. However, human-analogous life forms will be advised against consuming the mixture, and may experience dizziness, indigestion, or mild hallucinations if they do.

The second, gaseous layer, composes the main range of habitation for visitors and other non-aquatic life. With an oxygen-rich atmosphere and a wide distance from the denser planet core, this region of the planet includes the Ingress dock and the majority of non-native living areas. It’s also known for its low gravity! A wide array of ships and settlements can be found floating through this layer of Auiea, including trade barges, explorers, and a wide variety of schools and learning centers. The lower one goes, however, the less stable the atmosphere, and pockets of dangerous or flammable gases have been known to gather near the boundary with layer three. Gliding equipment can be borrowed or rented at low cost for those who want to travel unassisted. However, visitors with no means of propulsion should take care—falling means a very long way down. On the other hand, you’ll have plenty of time to flag a passing flier to come grab you.

A strong layer of electromagnetic distortion separates the habitable second layer from the third. Once crossed, both gravity and pressure intensifies rapidly, well beyond the tolerance of most beings. Standard materials dropped through this layer will crumple and compress before sinking out of sight behind the orange haze of the interior. Even more disconcerting are the shapes that can occasionally be seen within: odd, gigantic silhouettes brushing by the surface of their world. These deep-sea wildlife can’t cross the pressure differential on their own, but are widely regarded as one of the main hazards to any efforts to explore the lower zone. By visitors, at least-- the whales of Aueia are the undisputed masters of their planet, and the only species known to move freely through all layers of their world.

⋆ As a world visited regularly by the Savrii, Auiea has a relay station set up to enable communication through the Ingress. Some lag may be expected, but TAB functions should persist.

⋆ Clearance Information (Each person can take what is noted for their CL or below into this world.):

CL 1 - Clothing, swimming equipment.

CL 2 - Personal weapons.

CL 3 - Private transportation.

CL 4 - Small ships.

CL 5 - Extended stay or the right to build.

⋆Missions available:

Wildlife Preservation - The outer layer of Aueia is home to many creatures. Senc donations will be made to anyone that spends volunteer time cleaning up and caring for the wildlife here. (50 sencs per hour).

Object Retrieval - Samples, samples, samples. A sample (it doesn’t matter what it is) from each zone can be sold back on Thisavrou. Z-1 (100 sencs). Z-2 (200 sencs). Z-3 (300 sencs). Savrii will absolutely not purchase creatures that were hunted and killed. However, there might be visitors on Thisavrou interested in this.

(All sencs are awarded ICly when you come back through. OOCly, you keep track of what you earn.)

---

eosoros (cw: death, blood, violence, torture)

⋆ Ingress technicians have discovered an energy link to a new world. It has been marked as Exploration Class (EC’s) and all who go through will be given a drone to use for documentation. As with the majority of EC’s, this new world’s Clearance Levels will center around weaponry, and most missions focus on security, research, and object retrieval.

⋆ The Savrii are an inclusive group - when they open this world for exploration, all visitors are allowed to enter. They will be told that, as it has not previously been explored, it could be dangerous and for all to heed that carefully before entering. High-paying missions, listed below, will be offered to anyone willing to take them through and Clearance Levels will be posted and applied to TAB devices.

⋆ The ride through the Ingress might be disorienting for some, though many will notice that the temperature steadily increases as they move through the blue energy. Upon entering this new world, they’ll find that the energy dissipates as soon as the person steps out of it. Discovery of a way out of this place is found in Exploration. Broken up into what can only be described as increasingly terrible levels of horror, this world’s only exit (energy that takes you back to Thisavrou) is found at the end of the seventh sector. Each level can be experienced with the same partner or someone different every shift.

Level One - You are neither here nor there. The ground is a muted grey color, almost ashy, and each leafless tree is an exact copy of the one before it. In the center of each tree is a carving, the word - Go. Ambiguous in nature, it’s hard to tell if it means to go back the way you came or to continue forward. The choice is in the explorer’s hands. No matter what direction you walk in, the landscape never changes. Colorless and barren, but without any sense of impending danger. After a thousand steps, gait is of no importance, there will be an abrupt shift and the second level will begin.

Level Two - That same empty landscape is cut by large, violent storms so close together that there is no place for respite. The wind whips you about, debris flying through the air cuts and breaks, lightening scorches the dirt, and the screams of swept up travelers can be heard from inside the massive dark clouds. The third level starts when the electric heat of a burst of lightning can be felt on your skin.

Level Three - Up to your waist, black slush stretches out for what seems like an eternity. As you trudge through, you’ll feel hands grabbing at your ankles and legs, tugging in an attempt to pull you under. The moment the sludge crests the top of your head, the hands let go. This cycle repeats until you’ve crossed two miles of the putrid liquid, and the instant that you touch land, your entire body will vibrate and you’ll be in the fourth level.

Level Four - Groups of travelers, some who have been here for a long time and did not arrive from Thisavrou, stand around groups of giant boulders. No matter which you choose, the stone will be extremely difficult to push. Grooves in the dirt show that previous visitors have pushed boulders to the top of a small hill and left them there. Whether you push your boulder alone or have help (one stone gets one person through), when it reaches the top, you’ll vanish and enter the fifth level.

Level Five - The heat and smoke surround you. There is only enough space inside the tomb for yourself and whoever else might be inside. Flames billow up on all sides and the stone coffins are hot enough to burn. There are two ways to the next level - put the fire out or let the fire take you.

Level Six - It’s a fight to overthrow. Spread out are thousands of people in various forms of battle - verbal, physical, mental. There is someone standing at the ready to explain, if visitors dare to ask them. They’ll spin a tale of the imbalance of power and how the only way to move forward is to best someone else. The method is up to the visitor, and there is only one rule - be the person with the upper hand and you can continue on.

Level Seven - You are now standing at the beginning of a cavernous, sloping landscape. In the far off distance is a storm set at the top of a craggy mountain. The energy is a familiar shade of blue - you came through energy just like it. It’s a harrowing journey, a labyrinth of twists and turns. Most get lost and overwhelmed looking for the path that takes them to that storm. Those that make it, who step into the light, return back to the place they had come from.

⋆ TABs - Functions stop after going through the Ingress.

⋆ Clearance Information (Each person can take what is noted for their CL or below. Standard methods of transportation can be taken through by any CL holder.):

CL 1 - Small handguns only.

CL 2 - Rifles and shotguns.

CL 3 - Explosive type materials.

CL 4 - Vehicles with affixed weaponry.

CL 5 - Dangerous creatures.

⋆ Missions Available:

Security - Savrii of all backgrounds are looking to hire someone to take them to this new world and bring them back safely. The standard offered rate is 1,000 sencs, but most are open to negotiations.

Research - Technicians are looking for scientific aware minds to document and look into the effects of Ingress energy on this world. They’ll pay handsomely for the information. Anywhere between 200 and 500 sencs, depending.

Object Retrieval - Samples, samples, samples. A sample (it doesn’t matter what it is) from each level fetches a fair price. L-1 (50 sencs). L-2 (70 sencs). L-3 (90 sencs). L-4 (100 sencs). L-5 (150 sencs). L-6 (200 sencs). L-7 (350 sencs).

(All sencs are awarded ICly when you come back through. OOCly, you keep track of what you earn.)

---

OOC: For questions please go here. Don’t forget to respond to the Activity Check.

Comments

[desynched]

[ Lena can't help but stare. Her face is tear-streaked, her eyes are red and puffy, but a small smile finds its way onto her face. Without the mask and the tactical gear, he looks like the Jack she remembers. It brings back memories and she feels another piece of her heart slide back into place. A little jagged, a little imperfect, but there is no longer a hole where Jack Morrison used to be.

He snaps her out of it by asking a very simple, mundane question. It completely catches her off-guard and it shows in her wide eyes and moment of confusion, as if he'd just spoken an alien language. Then she lets out a quiet laugh-- distorted by her stuffy nose and a little high-pitched-- but genuine. She's not sure she can articulate why exactly she laughed. The absurdity of a normal question in a wholly abnormal situation? ]

Surprise me.

[ She wipes away any stray tears with the hem of one of her sleeves. ]

[mylawn]

[It's probably not at all surprising that this is, in fact, a tea household. Caffeine doesn't really do much in the face of Jack's super soldier metabolism--coffee is more a placebo than anything else, and Ana's always been a tea drinker, teaching him a thing or two about it in the process. The choice, then, is obvious. Maybe he also thinks that tea is better for Lena's British sensibilities. Either way, he's putting a kettle on the stove, then joining her back at the table.

Jack doesn't sit right away, spending a moment just watching her, taking in how she might have changed, too. He slowly pulls up a chair, then speaks a little quietly.]

How have you been?

[desynched]

[ While Jack has changed substantially in six years, Lena looks exactly the same, almost eerily so. Perhaps appearing timeless is a side-effect of chronal disassociation.

No, everything that's changed about her isn't easy to see. It's the way she asks that one extra question to suss out a person's real motivation. It's the way her loyalty has taken on the edge of protectiveness, sparked by a fear of more loss.

She notices that he's watching her, and she gives him a questioning look accompanied by an amused smile. 'What are you looking for?'

He asks how she's doing and Lena finds it hard to remember what it felt like before this moment. ]

Pretty good. This is loads better than the Midway Hub. Got my own treehouse and everything.

[ It doesn't occur to her that he might be asking about her life back home. ]

[mylawn]

That's not what I meant.

[The fondness in his voice is back, but it's a little sad now, too. Jack knows full well that he's missed a substantial chunk of time in everyone's lives. Maybe it's sentimental of him (and he knows better than anyone that sentimentality is dangerous), but he wants to know. These are his people, after all, and he cares about them. Wants to know how they were doing in his absence. There's only so much that snooping around can tell him--given the opportunity to hear straight from the source, of course he's going to take it.]

I missed a lot.

[desynched]

Six years is a long time.

[ It's a weak admonishment, but she's not willing to be harsher. ]

Let's see. [ She frowns and looks off into middle distance, trying to decide where to begin. ]

I moved back to London-- got a little flat in King's Row. [ She deflates a little. ] I didn't have anythin' to do after it all happened. Couldn't be a pilot anymore and no one wanted an ex-Overwatch agent. Bad PR, I suppose.

[ She won't lie-- the way the world completely turned their back on Overwatch had stung. Even so, she never could turn her back on the world.

In true Lena fashion, she brightens up almost immediately. ]

So I improvised. It was little things at first-- stopping bank robberies, rescuing people after accidents, pulling people out of burning buildings. [ With an amused twitch of her lips. ] Even rescued a few cats from trees. Eventually people came to me for help, and I built my own little network of contacts. Someone halfway across the world needs somethin', they contact my contacts who contact me. And I fly on out and lend a hand. Irritate Talon as much as possible whenever I have a spare moment.

[mylawn]

[Six years is a long time—and yet, somehow not long enough. Overwatch disbanded in disgrace, but there are already statues of him. They have a museum. He’s not sure what everyone’s getting at with something like that, but in the end it’s not his choice. He doesn’t get to dictate his entry in the history books. That was decided for him a long time ago.

So he offers little more than an affirmative noise in the back of his throat as Lena tells him what’s been going on. Of course this is what Lena’s been doing. You can’t exactly stop an irrepressible force for good from doing what she can whenever she can.

Jack just hopes she doesn’t get in over her head, but it might be too late for that already.]

The museum.

[He imagines that counts as ‘irritating Talon’. Jack takes a long sip from his mug,
an eyebrow raised.]

[desynched]

[ There's a part of her that wants him to approve of what they're doing. Overwatch had been Jack's more than anyone else's-- he lived, he bled, he "died" for it.

But he doesn't approve. She can tell in the way he keeps coming back to the subject and by the look on his face now. ]

You asked me what I thought you'd say. Was I wrong?

[mylawn]

It's complicated.

[She wasn't wrong, and of course they did the right thing, but this isn't a simple black and white issue. The UN isn't going to excuse their actions just because they did a good thing. In fact, Jack is willing to bet they're letting them get away with it so they can use them as a convenient scapegoat later.

He leans back in his chair a little and scrubs at his face.]

They're going to throw you in prison, Lena.

[Yes, he understands how difficult it is to look out at the world and not want to do something, but he doesn't want them to do something stupid and throw it all away, either. The museum stunt seems to fall under that category.]

[desynched]

[ She knows. They're walking on very thin ice-- she's sure people are speculating that there's a Recall. The UN included. ]

They can't prove there's a recall. It's just me and Winston.

[ It's a thin defense. The Petras Act is very clear and the mere suggestion of a Recall is enough to bring the UN to their doorstep.

She sighs. ]

D'you know why Winston put out the Recall?

[mylawn]

If I found it, then the CIA can.

[Among other international intelligence agencies. Jack is good, but he's not that good. Even without the backdoors he's been using, they'll find it eventually, if they don't already know. The UN's decline to comment in the wake of the museum incident tells Jack everything.

Of course, he doesn't think that will stop the two of them. He can imagine it very clearly--Winston, alone in Gibraltar, tapped into the news 24/7. Seeing everything that's happened in the wake of Overwatch's fall and wanting desperately to do something about it. Having the means, or thinking he had the means. Slamming that button in an overly-idealistic impulse, not thinking far ahead enough to realize what it really meant.

Jack can't exactly fault him. Jack was the one who made him that way, sort of. Well, him and--]

What was it he used to say? Never accept the world as it appears to be?

[They'd agreed on that, once.]

[desynched]

[ With quiet amusement: ] He still says it. And he's right.

[ She hesitates briefly, uncertainly. Knowing Soldier: 76's identity and Reaper's identity makes this part a little tricky. ]

Numbani isn't the first time he'd fought Reaper.

[ She's not sure how much he knows about what happened at Watchpoint: Gibraltar. But it's a part he needs to know. ]

[mylawn]

I know about Gibraltar.

[So Jack knows it's personal to Winston. In saying this, he also reveals that he's kept his ear to the ground, tapping into Overwatch information lines with the use of his strike commander back doors. He's privy to much more than Winston is aware of.]

You know who Reaper is?

[It's not exactly a secret here on Thisavrou, but if no one's told Lena, the next part of this is going to make a lot less sense. He might as well get this out of the way.]

[desynched]

Yeah. I found out here.

[ She's... still not sure what to do with that knowledge. How she should feel. There's no love lost, not after what happened in Switzerland. He betrayed them, pure and simple. He killed Jack (or tried to) on top of everything else.

Still, it's hard to reconcile in her mind. ]

[mylawn]

So you know that this goes deeper than Winston probably realizes.

[Especially if she found out here and was, presumably, ignorant to Reaper's true identity back home.]

I'm not sure what Reyes is doing.

[Besides systematically eliminating Overwatch agents and running with Talon--though how much of Talon was in Blackwatch all along is a piece he hasn't fit into the puzzle yet. What he does know is that if Reyes isn't running the show, Talon has another thing coming if they think he answers to them. Gabriel had always been good at the long game.]

But I do know he didn't mean to blow himself up, too.

[Implying, of course, the involvement of a third party.]

[desynched]

[ She looks down at her hands tracing an unseen pattern on the tabletop. She should've known there was more-- and part of her did but... ]

Everyone thought he'd slipped up or didn't care if he died at that point.

[ She sighs. ] Nobody really wanted to look harder. We had a name, a face, means and a motive. I don't think it settled well with everyone but...

[ She smiles wanly. ] It's easier when you have someone to blame.

[ She could have-- should have-- looked harder. But Lena didn't see any point in sifting through old bones and digging up more sins. Overwatch had fallen and, one way or another, Reyes was responsible. Nothing she found would change that. ]

[mylawn]

That’s what they wanted everyone to think. Public bought it easy enough.

[She hits the nail on the head—it’s a convenient story that closes the book on Overwatch while discouraging people from digging around any more. That’s what makes his position so advantageous. No one’s expecting anyone to uncover the answers, much less a dead man.

Of course, Jack wonders if Gabriel’s after them, too. How much he already knows. How many steps ahead he is, and how it’s going to cost Jack in the end.

But that’s for him to worry about, not Lena.]

His mutiny was real, but someone wanted us out of the way. They used it as an excuse. Who do you think sanctioned black ops in the first place?

[desynched]

[ The idea of a shadowy figure behind it all is hard to swallow. The other explanation had been simple, difficult to accept but easy to follow. Like she said-- they had a name, a face, and a motive. Sure, some of it didn't make complete sense-- she had, in fact, wondered how Reyes could miscalculate on that level-- but she'd forced herself to let go. She told herself that she was chasing ghosts.

Lena feels a cold shiver run down her spine. ]

Why would anyone do that? [ There's grief and anger tinged in her voice. ] Why would someone set us up to fail?

[mylawn]

It's always good to have a scapegoat.

[So, perhaps less set up to fail and more convenient to keep around for when things start going south. Everything's a pendulum, and Overwatch lasted twenty years. It was only a matter of time before public opinion of them changed, not that Blackwatch did anything to help that. Gabriel was never supposed to go off the rails the way he did, Jack imagines.]

And they didn't like their dirty laundry getting out.

[If they weren't the ones leaking it in the first place to get Overwatch out of the way.]

[desynched]

[ Overwatch had belonged to everyone. To the world. Everything Overwatch did was meant to make the world a better, safer place. They responded to crisis after crisis, from natural disasters to terrorism. They built cutting-edge technology that saved thousands, developed cures and treatments, delved into advanced studies of climatology.

The thought of someone using them for their own ends strikes a nerve. She can't fathom the depths of that darkness. She clenches her hands until her knuckles turn white. ]

So whoever it was decided we weren't worth the trouble anymore, that it? [ She grits her teeth. ] Told everyone they didn't need us. That we're makin' it worse, that we're criminals.

[ The last one hurt the most. ]

[mylawn]

[Jack's a little more intimately acquainted with the politics of running an organization like Overwatch than any of his agents. He learned a great deal about how the world works over the course of twenty years. How it's not as easy as doing the right thing--how often, doing that very thing will come back to bite you in the ass later.]

It all comes back to money and power. Not even Overwatch is above that.

[People will do a lot of things for both. There are a lot of opportunists out there.]

Wind was changing. Someone saw an opportunity they couldn't pass up. If that meant getting rid of us, well. Maybe we'd overstayed our welcome.

[desynched]

[ Lena knows the world isn't perfect. That is, after all, why Overwatch existed in the first place. But she doesn't understand how anyone could live with themselves after selling out an organization that was, on the whole, doing good in the world. ]

Just... tore everythin' apart because it suited them. [ She shakes her head, eyes stinging with tears again.

But it's soon replaced with anger. ] We have to find 'em.

[mylawn]

What do you think I've been doing?

[That's the whole point of this, and he wants to keep them out of it. The road he's walking leads nowhere good, and he won't drag the rest of them down it if he can help it. The whole point of staying dead is to keep the rest of them from blindly following. Of course they want to clear Overwatch's name and set things right, but Jack is adamant that it's his job to do, mostly because he doesn't expect to come back from it, once it's over. He won't put any of his people in the line of fire, no matter how much they want to do it.

This is what he didn't want--he needs them to get on with their lives. Let him chase the ghosts, because he's the one who's already dead.]

This is my mission, Lena. I can't let the rest of you follow me on this one.

[desynched]

[ Her anger spikes and her knuckles go white around the mug. ]

You're not "lettin'" me. Overwatch was mine too.

[mylawn]

Not like it was mine.

[His voice falls to a low growl. Unfair of him to say, perhaps, but Jack devoted more than half his life to the organization in one form or another. He put everything he ever was into Overwatch, often to his own detriment--when it burned up, it took him with it and he's not sure how much of him is left. He won't let the rest of them follow him down this path.

Jack might be trying to distance himself from the man he used to be, but it seems he can still take on the commanding air that served him so well in years past.]

This isn't up for debate.

[desynched]

[ Lena feels something in her snap. All of the anger she'd been holding in bursts out of her all at once.

She matches his growl with a piercing glare. ]

You lost the right to give orders when you abandoned us.

[ Because that's what it felt like. Abandonment. He knew what they were going through and just... let it happen. Let them mourn, let them ride out the furious whirlwind of the aftermath. ]