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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"There will be."

He blows out a breath, to steady himself. Throwing himself into a fight after the shadow incidents so soon probably wasn't the best idea. But what else was there to do? Let it eat them? "There was a lot more wildlife when we were here last."

Before he can ask her the same question, if she were hurt, she's reaching for his arm. And he's pulling it back, slightly.

"It's not hurt, no." And then, because she deserves more of an explanation... "It's not real. There's nothing but metal and wires under my armor."

She lets his second statement go with a slight nod--she's heard from others that the ship most of them arrived on, the Moira, had crashed on this planet. She's heard whispers that its core is the energy source they're headed towards, but she can't even imagine what it might look like or what they'll find when they get there. It seems as if she'll just have to wait and see.

The moment he pulls away, Diana recognizes that perhaps there is something more than just "metal and wires" there. So she lets her hand drop back to her side, tilting her head slightly as she considers him.

"It is as real as anything I've ever seen," she says, holding back the thousand questions that have sprung to mind. They've just claimed victory, and she won't spoil it now with unwanted probing. But she will not forget this, either. "Metal arm or no, I would not have had anyone else fighting by my side just now. You are a great warrior, Shiro."

He smiles at her, at her words. But it's a fleeting thing. A brief thing. It's funny -- around the others, the thing is hardly a consideration. It barely registers anymore. New people, new faces, he stops really knowing how to handle it. Especially when people ask questions.

But Diana doesn't. She offers a compliment, instead. Something to smooth over something she didn't mean to step in.

He's grateful.

"Coming from someone who handles herself like you do, that's saying something," he tells her. That smile coming back for a moment. "Thank you. I'm glad I could be your backup."

"I received a lot of training." She states it as a fact, rather than something she's proud of or embarrassed by. Antiope was the greatest general the Amazons had ever seen, yes, but she had never acted that way. Her soldiers had respected her because she had earned and deserved it, not because of any great battles she had won or enemies she had slain. Diana feels that she can only hope to be respected like that some day.

The fire cracks, and she looks over towards the camp again before scanning the dark woods once more. "As am I, since the night is not yet over. I fear I will be awake for its entirety."

"Then they trained you very well."

Nothing but respect there, nothing but admiration. If she were looking for someone to see her as a great warrior, he's right there next to her. Just two confrontations and he's already thinking she'd be someone to have at their backs in the fight for the universe.

Wondering if Allura would like to meet her.

"You up for company?" he asks her, something almost apologetic in the question. "I didn't plan on sleeping, either."

Part of her wants to tell him it's alright, that he should rejoin the others and rest. Not everyone has the near inexhaustible endurance of an Amazon. But the way he asks strikes a chord in her, and she can't help but smile, despite the situation he's putting himself into.

"I would be honored, Shiro." And she means it. Two sets of eyes are better than one, and the time will pass much faster with company.

No, not everyone has that kind of endurance. Some people just put themselves through those kinds of situations and make themselves do it anyway. People like himself.

The smile is worth it, though. He's returning the expression, without even thinking about it. "So would I."

August Event Log: Part I

hitting the road

storm front

wild life

old familiar places

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