August Event Log: Part I

[savmods]

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.

Comments

3

[nishizono]

Wow, you're a show-off.

[ he appreciates the view, don't get him wrong. it's straight out of a sentai show, if the rangers had twice the normal headgear size and were punching their way through a cat. for his part he's not really "camped" out so much as sneaking into people's tents and taking a break there where it's empty - but hey, he's not stealing anything. he's just... borrowing space.

he hasn't hoofed it this intensely in a while. rules are still the same, at the very foundation, but the open fields of an alien planet is a lot harder to slip through compared to an urban jungle like tokyo.

also: dead fucking panthers, apparently killed by hand. ]

Nice helmet.

[squadgoals]

[There's no reply at the comments, not even a tilt of the head towards Tetora — although after a moment, shaking the blood off her omni-blade, she seems to notice him for the first time, and gives a little wave of a gloved hand, the universal "hey".

There's a few taps on the TAB at her side, and a message pings up on her companion's screen.]

I can't hear.

[nishizono]

[ that's just wonderful. they can't hear. a quick twitch of the eyebrow and a bit of a shrug, and tetora's firing off a reply at the text. he only recognizes the ID halfway through typing, but he's committed - he maintains the thread of duh he started out with. ]

then take off the giant muffler
no one's gonna come after your face
those cats are already dead

[squadgoals]

[She glances at her TAB reply, and after a moment of thought, does unclip her helmet from the hardsuit, pulling it off with a shake of her red hair.

No helping the helmet hair, though. Pieces are sticking up and out all over the show.

Placing the helmet to the side, she spreads her hands in front of her — and shrugs, before finally replying to the text.]

You never know.

[nishizono]

[ well she's familiar, at least. seeing her properly with his two eyes is different from the digital searches he's made on everyone he's encountered. (it's not creepy. it's smart.)

he walks over, detouring a little to kick at the carcasses strewn about just to prove his pettiness. ]

Dead as dead. Did you kill them for fun?

[squadgoals]

[Watching him wander over, there's no reaction at the kick — but it certainly earns a mental note, the motions and intentions scrawling themselves alongside it, footnotes and curious questions blooming together. At the question, she shakes her head as the TAB displays his question, typing out a response.]

No.

They attacked.

And there's no reason to waste it.

[nishizono]

Food is food, yeah. Sure.

You know me, right? Know of me, I mean. We've talked on the network before.

[ He crouches down by the dead cat, eyes watchful for the cat's eyes slowly dulling even under the poor light of the landscape. It's fascinating to him how the body changes when it's dead - it's still the same creature, down to its molecules, but it becomes profoundly different once it's stopped breathing. ]

How much do you need to eat, anyway?

[squadgoals]

[Shepard nods once, eyes meeting Tetora's as he asks, tapping the reply as he continues.]

I know you. Thisavrou's big enough that we've managed to miss each other, in person until now, but I know you.

Tetora, right?

[She watches as he crouches, examining the dead creature, watching the interest in his eyes as he stares at the corpse with the certain morbid curiosity of the young. Inclining her head towards some butchered meat, she scoffs lightly.]

This is for everyone. How much do you think I need to eat?

some days i just don't care for capitalization, sorry

[nishizono]

Depends on how much that suit's depending on your core muscles to move it. It looks heavy.

[ faster metabolisms, bigger appetites, greater caloric needs - there's a lot of things to note that would please an arm-chair nutritionist. if any of it mattered in fucking space, anyway; panther meat might as well be cardboard for all tetora's concerned, given that the taste is something he's not entirely keen on.

he gives an idle wave in acknowledgment of his name, before turning his attention back to her. ]

Shepard. With that party invitation from a while back. [ he hadn't gone, for various reasons. ] Sorry I didn't make it.

I wasn't keen on people.

capitalization is debatably important

[squadgoals]

No apology necessary. Not everyone is.

[She waves lightly, then gestures to herself, before tapping out another reply.]

Medium weight standard weave combat hard-suit, layered with silicon carbide ceramic plating. It's lighter than you'd think. The biotics are what take the calories out of me.

[nishizono]

Should I know what biotics are supposed to be?

[ it's like talking to a moving vending machine; the lack of a face is jarring enough to feel weird, but not enough to bring the conversation to a full stop. ]

So how much do you need to eat? I can do with a thigh or two and be good for the rest of the day, but that's me.

[squadgoals]

[She offers half of a good-natured shrug.]

Not a good idea to assume what people do and don't know. "Biotics" is the technical term for the ability generate mass effect fields, which can be used for the manipulation of dark energy for various advanced abilities.

When I do a lot of it, I use a lot more calories, that's all.

[There's a pause as she stops to consider how much.]

I probably need a couple thousand more a day, if I'm extra active. It's the same as any act of physical labor — exertion on your body.

[nishizono]

...Sounds like a lot of advanced science.

[ it also sounds a lot like superpowers aided by tech, which... it's something he's somewhat familiar with, to a degree. his whole existence is a science experiment, after all. ]

So you're telling me it's like a really extensive workout, but with tech? That sound about right?

[squadgoals]

[She shifts her stance, mulling it over.]

Yes, and no.

It's with tech, but unique to my case. I'm mostly cybernetics at this point. [It's only half a joke.] My biotics are something I was born with, and they're focused with a biotic amp — and that's the only tech most human biotic users have to deal with. The best comparison would be what humanity used to consider "psychic powers".

[nishizono]

...Huh.

[ that's interesting, he has to admit. it sounds like a selective mutation, not that he'd know, but there's something about the biotics system that piques his interest - probably more than it should, too. he files the information for later. ]

So your superpowers give you extra strength... energy blasts too? What else can you do?

[squadgoals]

Party tricks.

[Extending her palm, there's a quiet noise that may have been a grunt of exertion — and an entire panther corpse rises off the ground, surrounded in an aura of gentle blue foxfire tongues of energy. Shepard is equally surrounded, remaining that way until she floats the grotesque display back to the ground.]

Strength isn't a part of it, though — that's just my own rank and file training, and any extra force the cybernetics lend me.

[nishizono]

[ what the actual fuck - is she flying?! tetora's expressions go from surprised to awed to annoyed on an extreme level. ]

It's fucking telekinesis, what the fuck.

That's not fair!!!

[squadgoals]

[Only the corpse, luckily. As she lowers the panther down, his shift in expression is noted, and somehow, extremely humorous.]

Technically, no. Telekinesis is a mind power — this is just a energy-based manipulation on mass.

[nishizono]

[ powers are funny when you're on the giving end. tetora's learning that lesson right now. ]

"Energy-based" whatever, it's telekinesis with fancy words.

If you get a blood transfusion from someone born with biotics, does it pass on to you?

[squadgoals]

[What an interesting question. She seems to mull it over, before shaking her head.]

No, I don't think so. For humans, biotic nodules are developed from exposure to element zero, generally while the child is still in utero, and even then, it's pretty rare to develop the abilities.

[Or in some cases, keep living at all.]

[nishizono]

Sounds like a comic book plot, I feel like I've read this before.

[ he sounds a little disappointed by the answer - and who wouldn't be? superpowers are good. superpowers are cool, especially if they come along mostly consequence-free. ]

--Wait, so your mom exposed you to radioactive rocks or something?

[squadgoals]

Not on purpose. There was an accident with transporting a shipment of Element Zero. My mother didn't think anything of it, or even know she'd been affected until years later, when I figured out I could levitate my breakfast.

[That had been a fun morning.]