Entry tags:

August Event Log: Part I

Who: Everyone
When: August 9 and onward
Where: An unexpected destination
What: The newcomers go on a trip and end up far from where they expected
Warnings: Potential violence. Please label your content!

NOTE: PLEASE READ THIS OOC POST FIRST.

When the time comes for the travelers to go on the off-world trip that will help restore Thisavrou, they are not alone. Others who have settled on the planets longer and come to call them home are also prepared to travel; through the Ingress and do their part. Yet when the newcomers step through, whether they stepped through the Ingress seconds or hours apart, they will find that they have arrived at the same time, and only newcomers are in sight.

What awaits them is not a land of plenty. The land is barren, and dark storms in the sky resemble those held at bay by the Ingress complex—but much, much closer. Those who traveled on the Moira may recognize the landscape; though they have come through at a different point from the crash, they are on the Midway Hub. And there is no portal back. They are trapped.

hitting the road

Though some have been here before, the Midway Hub is not as they remember it. The storms fill the sky, leaving it dark and ominous even when they are not sweeping across the landscape—but they have clearly done so in recent times, and often. While never a lush land, large patches of ground an acre or more wide looking nothing more than utterly dead; the thistle that naturally grows is brittle, black and unable to be consumed even with the usual preparations to make it edible, and here and there animal corpses are found twisted into unnatural poses, but seemingly uninjured. These places are particularly concentrated near the broken Ingresses litter the landscape. While Midway Hub as a whole may seem naturally arid, these dead spots leave no hope that anything can possibly live there again.

The travelers have two options: stay where they are, or move on. While it might seem that they've been tricked into coming here and been left abandoned, those with the technological ability to do so may detect a sign of hope: a familiar energy source, far in the distance. Although none of the Ingresses they pass will ever work again, the faint energy shows that one still-functioning Ingress lies far in the distance, days away.

Although technological scanning or impressive memory of the landscape indicates that they are not separated from their destination by one of the gates that divide the land, they are also far from the shelter of the facility at the center of the Hub. Any attempt to travel in a direction other than that of the energy signal will result in a strange disorientation after several hours, bringing individuals back to their original path as though they've gone in circles. Meanwhile, though travelers will feel the need to slake their hunger and thirst through any natural water sources they discover, wildlife they can hunt for food and any supplies they have on them, if they don't find sustenance, they'll find that they will never pass out or reach the point of starvation. Instead, they'll be left alive and awake but feeling utterly hollow.

storm front

At regular intervals, the energy storms above descend onto the land, bringing not rain but violent clashes of negative energy and thunder so loud that nothing can be heard above it. The passing of the storms leaves some strange effects. The ground is warped and rotted by their touch, even solid stone degrading to a spongy surface. The air is tepid and oddly charged. Prolonged contact with air or ground will not supply energy, however — it drains it from organic and synthetic life alike.

Those who remember their last trip to the Hub, or simply explore in the right direction, may come across the cave complexes with their glowing surfaces and streams. The light is dimmer now, a sickly green, but drinking from the streams will still restore the energy lost, for a time. This time, however, the lethargy that inevitably follows is much more severe, and the drinkers are left with a raw, empty feeling leeching in from the wasteland around.

Those who are exposed to the storms, either by finding themselves in very close proximity or even closely observing them for too long as they approach, may lose their sight, or hearing, even much of the ability to feel touch — whatever sense they used in observation. What lingers in its place is a numbness. A hunger. And as time passes, the time between storms decreases; what seemed like hours between the storms becomes scarcely one, and their intensity grows.

wild life

Sentient beings are not the only ones affected by the storms; these creatures, attracted to sound and able to track by scent, and these panthers, which once looked normal but have been twisted by the storms into more monstrous forms, are numerous enough that travelers must be constantly alert for their presence. Though natural predators, the threat the creatures represent is not itself natural. They are also more aggressive. Some strange instinct drives them, not a need for food. While the panthers themselves can be caught and their meat cooked, it has little taste, offering nutrition but not satisfaction.

old familiar places

Although it's difficult to track the passage of time without day-night cycles, after what seems like more than a week of the travelers' unexpected trip, the storms abruptly come rushing in at the group of travelers, as if they're herding the group to move faster toward their destination and the Ingress energy that awaits them. The true nature of that destination becomes clear when debris appears on the horizon; the energy comes from the wreckage of the Moira, the interstellar ship that crashed here months ago.

Despite the trauma of impact, large sections of the ship remain surprisingly intact, though few of them are properly vertically oriented. If travelers are able to make their way inside the damaged sections of the ship, they'll find familiar territory, if they are one of those who traveled on the Moira, as well as shelter—something that's increasingly necessary as the storms seem to center over the ship, leaving little hope for survival outside. Useful items may be scavenged from the ship if they are willing to explore, but no personal items of any kind remain.

Strangely, the deeper travelers go into the crashed ship, the less familiar their surroundings will seem, regardless of their orientation. The inward-leading paths into the ship become generic metal, and as with the travel on the surface of the planet, they may find themselves back where they started. And no matter how far they go or how hard they try, they will find themselves unable to make it to the Ingress chamber itself...for now.

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[ Pepper had almost had a meltdown when the Ingress had spilled them out at the Midway hub, remembering only all too well her initial introduction to the barren rock. If it was possible, the place seemed to be even more hostile than the last time, which was just par for the course. Why would they ever catch a break or anything so ludicrous? It's another stinging betrayal after the shadow incident, for this isn't exactly the horn of plenty disguised as a planet the Savrii had sent them to visit.

What the hell were they to do now? Was this the Savrii's plan all along, to get rid of the strangers on their doorstep who turned out to be more trouble than worth? Were they doomed to be stuck here indefinitely, to be picked off by the storms and the wildlife? Every question crowding in her head weighs on her as certainly as the gnawing emptiness inside, this despondency settled over her like a blanket. They've at least found shelter in the wreckage of the ship, but what's next? They couldn't stay here for long.

Pepper hugs herself for feeble comfort, ignoring the tiniest, lingering twinges to her ribs from the shadow encounter as she traces Tony's path to the cavernous engine room. If nothing else, at least she'd had the foresight to grab her pacdisc before leaving, on it slightly more appropriate clothing for this environment than what she'd been wearing; including the pair of boots she'd found on this very same rock all those months ago. ]

Should I come back later? [ The jokey quip falls flat despite her best effort, not quite feeling up to bantering like she normally would. ]

[ This whole cursed field trip has stirred up some emotions best left to lie, in Tony's opinion. Memories of Pepper's arrival are among them - even after all these months, he hasn't sorted out how he feels about it all. Every day he's grateful just to be able to see her, talk to her, hold her. But as they crawl their way across this barren, deadly landscape yet again, he can't help wishing she were safe at home, where all the horrors of this place wouldn't be creeping in on her all the time.

It hasn't even been a few weeks since she was attacked in their own home. "Home."

And so it's a mix of guilt and good old fashioned paranoia that keep him close to Pepper's side for the duration of their journey. His jaunt to the engine room is one of the first times he breaks off from the group at large, perhaps thinking he can put something inside himself to rest if he does.

It's not working.

He half turns when Pepper calls out, her voice an almost a welcome interruption from the unnaturally silent room. ]

Hey. Sorry, honey. Just having a moment with the ex.

[ More quips that fall flat. They're on a roll, these two. ]

Already luring you away from me, huh? What a bad bitch.

[ More wan quips, and definitely an out of character thing for her to say -- Pepper really hates that B word, having been on the receiving end of it a few times too many. But what does it matter? What did anything matter now, stuck in this dump until whatever end? She knows it's not like her to be this fatalistic, and a part of her is annoyed at herself for it. But larger part just doesn't give a crap, to be honest.

With a small sigh somehow containing a world of weariness in it, Pepper takes a seat on a nearest flat surface; an overturned container of some sort. Her back hunches a little and she picks idly at the brace around her left wrist, the sprain still not healed completely in the wake of the shadow attack. Maybe she should have left Tony alone for whatever closure he'd come here to look for, she does feel a bit bad about bothering him. Something tells her he has some unresolved issues regarding the crash of the ship, but she'd never pushed him about it-- since they arrived to Thisavrou, it hadn't seemed relevant. She should have known better.

But at the same time, Pepper couldn't stand the way this unnamed feeling of some malcontent kept growing and gnawing at her all the more when left to her own devices, even though she was with people she recognized. She never did have any illusions that they were anything less than completely codependent. ]

Sorry for interrupting. [ For what it's worth. ]

[ A little profanity is more than earned, by Tony's estimation. He hasn't quite figured out how they're going to get themselves out of this situation, not this time. Which isn't to say that he's given up, because that's just not what he does - but they're still in that grim period of frustrated, exhausted helplessness.

It'd be enough to sap anyone. ]

Nah. [ Directed at the apology, presumably. For his part, Tony paces (seemingly) aimlessly, hands running over familiar surfaces - a turbine, a vent, a console, a now-empty and broken work table. It's probably easy for Pepper to imagine the long hours spent in this particular room. ] Just a trip down memory lane. This place was - something else once.

[ A marvel of engineering, if he's being honest. Not just the engines, but the entire ship itself. ]

[ It's all too easy for Pepper to imagine. It brings a wan smile to her lips if only for a moment, watching him run his hands over the bits and pieces of the space with evident fondness, almost. She knows without saying this was where he'd felt most comfortable staying, back when the ship was still in shape and one piece. She can picture it vividly, the way he would've known every nut and bolt here. ]

I'm sure it was. I'm sure this was your home away from home. [ Sighing audibly, she glances about, the hopelessness creeping back in at the reality of their current situation. ] And now, it's pretty much a pile of junk.

[ It's maybe a bit uncharitable. But she's having a hard time seeing how this wreck could serve them in some tangible way, beside sheltering them from the storms outside. But for how long? That's the question. ]

But there's supposed to be an Ingress onboard somewhere, isn't there? [ Wasn't that the weak energy source they'd followed to the wreckage? ] Do you think it could still be working?

[ "And now, it's pretty much a pile of junk." He could argue it was always that, but at least it was in the sky before, taking them where they needed to go, providing them what they needed to survive.

He runs a dusty hand through his hair, trying not to think about that too hard. ]

It's on another deck, but it's here. "Working" might be a long shot, though.

[ The thing was on-and-off even when the Moira was functioning fine, nevermind the catastrophe that occurred when they activated it properly. He never had time to check what the damage to it had been, and now it's been six months on top of everything. ]

[ That's more or less what she'd expected. The hopelessness tightens her throat again, the steady despair welling in the background since this little excursion began rearing its head. She's been fairly good at mostly keeping a lid on it so far, but it's getting more difficult as their troubles pile on. Bracing her elbows on her knees, she rubs at her eyes and exhales a heavy sigh caught between disbelief and annoyance. ]

I still can't believe they just dumped us here like yesterday's garbage. Who does that? I mean, first they blatantly lied to our faces and then found the least hospitable rock they could to strand us on with no means of getting back-- or going anywhere. Seriously, what kind of people do that?

[ Her voice hitches a little towards the end, betraying her upset. She's dealt with some major assholes in her days, but this seems like the ultimate dick move to her. It just doesn't compute to her that the Savrii could be so cruel, though maybe that kind of thinking was naive of her. Everyone's out for themselves, right? She sniffs once, but forces back the tears of impotent anger that want to well up in her eyes, dropping her hands. ]

So what the hell are we supposed to do now?

[ Tony doesn't have an answer to the first questions. It's something he's been mulling over himself - it's not that he can't believe they did it, there's something in him just cynical enough to fully believe it - but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow. After an hour of pondering the various motives, he'd decided it was sapping too much energy that would be needed elsewhere.

Like figuring out how the hell they're gonna get out of this mess.

Tony drops down next to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders while he surveys the general sorry state of everything. What now indeed? This isn't a cave in Afghanistan - definitely not - but it feels similar in some ways. And just like back then, they have the tools they need to overcome this. They're just not in the right configuration yet. ]

Well, we're crafty when we need to be. Fixing the Ingress isn't out of the question - we've done it before. [ He sighs and sits back, the heels of his boots sliding against the grated floor. ] Hell, that's how we crashed this damn thing.

[ Pepper straightens up when he takes a seat next to her, leaning slightly into his side as she glances over with a faint frown. He's never really spoken about the crash of the ship, or at least not about the cause of it. ]

How do you mean?

[ Talking about the crash just isn't something that's come up - either you were there and there's nothing more that needs to be said about it, or you weren't and nobody wants to dwell on ancient history. The months they've spent on Thisavrou have been pretty good at shoving the whole thing out of sight and out of mind.

It's a shame Tony's ancient history has a habit of coming back to bite him. ]

We had an end goal, once upon a time, back when this thing was still in the air. We'd get to the Midway Hub - some fantastic golden land of bountiful technology or whatever - where the creators of the Ingress would fix their broken shit and send us home.

Only, naturally, we couldn't actually get to the Midway Hub because we couldn't use the Ingress to teleport the ship like it was designed to. So we hurtled slowly and uselessly through space for a while before figuring out how to restore the Ingress to full power and launch us at our destination.

[ He uses his free hand to offer a contemptuous flick of the wrist at their surroundings. The barren and inhospitable Midway Hub, the broken down husk of the Moira, all of it. ]

You can see how that turned out.

[ He doesn't dwell on his prominent role in that catastrophe, but it's probably obvious whether he likes it or not. Pepper's always been too smart and intuitive for his own good. ]

[ Pepper watches him in staid silence as he speaks, condensing months of life onboard this vessel into a few sentences neatly. There's such weight, such heaviness, to the explanation Pepper knows she can never fully understand, not having been there herself. But she knows and understands Tony, her hand settling on his leg right above the knee in silent support. ]

Golden land, indeed. [ It's a rueful mutter, followed by a deep sigh of resignation that makes her shoulders jump up and down. Her gaze roams across the dinged gunmetal gray walls around them, taking in the wreck once more. ]

So, how much of that are you determined to take on your shoulders? [ Her lips flatten into a faint, sad smile as she looks at him again. She's never pulled her punches with him, in good and bad, and she isn't really about to begin now. ]

[ He snorts, like she's told a funny joke and they're not trapped in a broken, powerless ship on an electric death planet because of a mistake that should very well have been laid to rest by now. ]

I mean, my shoulders were enjoying a pretty nice break before our field trip back to ground zero.

[ An admission wrapped up in a deflection is probably the best he can do.

He tilts his head back and stifles another heavy sigh, eyes roaming over the cavernous roof. It's probably not even structurally sound enough for them to all be in here, but it's almost certainly a safer bet than facing the storms outside. Lose/lose. ]

I really didn't want you to end up in this mess.

[ He puts his hand over hers where it rests on his leg and feels selfish, for the millionth time, for being glad to have her here. ]

[ Well, that's all she needs to know; confirmation to what she'd really already known. Her heart breaks a little for him, but that's nothing new either. ]

I know you didn't. [ She leans in to press a soft kiss to his jaw and lays her head on his shoulder, sighing soundlessly through her nose. ] It's not that I'm crazy about these near death situations and the like, I'd pretty happily skip those. But I'm not sorry to be here for you.

[ They were a team before he had a Team of the superhero kind. ]

[ Tony tilts his head so that it rests against hers, the brush of her hair on his shoulder a familiar comfort despite the occasional roar of the storms beyond the Moira's hull. They sit there in silence for a while, just like that. It really is almost nostalgic, in a way. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts against the world, even years before they'd figured out the romance part.

It's a while before he chooses to break the silence. ]

What are your thoughts on novel writing?

[ ... Apropos nothing. ]

[ To Pepper's credit, she doesn't even blink at the complete 180 turn. She's very much used to Tony changing the subject on a dime by now. ]

Generally positive, but I suppose specifics would depend on the context. [ A smile creeps into her tone now, continuing to rest her head on his shoulder. ] Why, are you planning on a career change? Gonna jot down your memoirs?

Me? God, no. I can string words together, but not in any combination that's acceptable to the general public.

I was just thinking, y'know, when we get out of this - [ Which they will, someway, somehow. This may be the most dire things have ever looked, but he's not ready to give up yet, that much is clear. ]

This would make a killer sci-fi novel, don't you think? We could pitch it to a movie studio. Or just start up Stark Industries film division.

[ This is hashtag coping. ]

[ Okay, it's just idle chatter to take their mind off the less than pleasant realities of the moment. She can roll with that. ]

A new frontier, huh? Well, I'm not against such industrious spirit.

[ At least not when they're just shooting the breeze. Neither of them would actually remember any of this when they return home, but she doesn't want to think about that. Not when they've made a life -- as slapdash and patchwork as though it may be -- here to leave behind. Not when they have people to leave behind. ]

I mean, we don't have an Oscar, yet. [ Because obviously you gotta go big or go home!! ]

Edited 2017-10-06 01:25 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

August Event Log: Part I

hitting the road

storm front

wild life

old familiar places

iii. old familiar places

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