( event )

[hownkai]

Who: The crew of the Moira
When: 9/18 to 9/30
Where: Planet and ship
What: Main event; all info inside
Warnings: Effects from Exuo, heavy and graphic themes

PENUMBRA

"Into the darkness they go..."

As the crew enters its third week aboard the Moira, the majority of supplies have been gathered, and everyone will find themselves with more free time than before. The marketplace has offered numerous diversions, as well as the opportunity to trade for items they need or want. Life on the Moira is relatively peaceful, and there have been no unusual occurrences. Excursions onto the planet have yielded an invaluable resource called Exuo, which has been determined to be a rare mineral that is used for multiple purposes. A general awareness has spread among those aboard the Moira that, while it is used as an additive to food and drink, resulting in a slightly elevated change in demeanor and leaving a person feeling generally better, it is also in the air they breathe. The effects of Exuo will vary from person to person.

Yet...

Things have started to change. The once vibrant sunlight that hasn’t given anyone a moment’s reprieve is now slowly beginning to disappear, and with it, a shadow is being cast across the horizon. The red dust is more noticeable now than ever, blanketing every surface, and the planet’s true grunge surfaces.

☄THE EMPTY MARKET

The hustle and bustle of the marketplace has slowly started to taper off, leaving behind empty stalls and hastily closed up shops. What visitors the crew have encountered are no longer so friendly; they won’t say a word as to where they are going or why. All that’s left are the few things they could not carry with them to their own ships before leaving. But is it worth the peculiar looks the natives are giving as you traverse the now quiet streets to take them? What is this abrupt feeling of unease weighing down on your shoulders?

The only living things that remain, aside from them, are the members of the Moira, but it’s not a comforting notion, especially if you step into the ever-growing shadows.

☄THE NATIVES

With light dwindling quickly, nothing is safe anymore. Those people with the plain masks and hoods worn to hide their faces? They’re not so quiet and not so friendly now. Their behavior drastically deteriorates the darker it becomes, shifting from harmless and complacent to feral and dangerous. They lash out at anyone who gets too close, and they don’t hesitate to drag away those foolish enough to get closer. And those masks and hoods? They, too, have been tossed aside with the slow setting of those distant stars.

● Aside from physical outbursts, some of them may be found trying to damage the transporters to prevent return to the Moira.
● Their mouths appear sunken in, stained red like the Exuo this planet is known for. Or is that something else soaked into their skin? Are you sure all those visitors made it back to their own ships? Their small black eyes never seem to close either.
● They are thin in stature but relatively strong. It will take more than one person to overpower them.
● If approached, they will retaliate with sharp nails and teeth. Their movements are aggressive, meant to disable but not kill.
● Killing the natives comes with no reprimand from the captains.

☄PURLOIN & OBLATION

The suns have eclipsed.

What light there is can only be found through artificial sources, and with the lack of light also comes alterations in the crew’s own mood. Where MIDs had detected a decrease in stress and increase in endorphins, that is no longer the case now. Some may find themselves irritable for no reason, while others are torn between fits of paranoia and excessive anger. The pleasant sweetness of the Exuo in the air has dissipated, leaving a staleness behind, and those that have been exposed longer to the surface of the planet suffer extensively more than those who have not left the safety of the Moira for extended periods of time.

However, most crew members will find themselves desperate to return to the empty marketplace or even the mines. Perhaps they are in search of more Exuo, or maybe they simply want to find those natives to question them or take out that aggression on something not so fragile. During this time, disappearances are more noticeable than ever, and those who go in search of friends and crew may find more than they bargained for.

●the seized: The darkness is unerringly quiet, and the natives that still linger on the planet have faded away with the sun. Maybe you find yourself in the deserted marketplace, or outside the wreckage of a transporter that’s been torn apart. The sounds you hear come from your left and grow steadily louder beside you. The sudden irritability that the crew has been experiencing multiplies and transforms into a paranoia that leaves you wanting to beg for the sun to return. Thin but strong arms wrap around you, long fingers with sharp nails dig into your skin. They don’t speak, or attack with the intent to hurt you, merely pull you away and back into the shadows. Whether you struggle or fight back doesn’t matter, try to get free.
●the subjugated: With your arms and feet bound, you wake up in an unfamiliar place. It may be hard to remember where you were last, or it may be crystal clear. You were taken by a group of the planet’s natives, tied up and thrown into a hollowed out pit in the ground. The dirt smells sickeningly sweet, metallic, and it overpowers your senses. There are others around you, both crew members from the Moira and people you might recognize from the marketplace. You know now that the disappearances weren’t random, or normal, and are the result of the natives capturing explorers and traders for their own unknown reasons. **
●the scarified: They want the the light back. This much is clear now. The natives believe their sun was stolen, and the only way to guarantee its return is through offering worthy sacrifices. With whatever dim lighting there is, you make out the shape of an altar slathered in something wet and dark. You are on your knees beside others that were chosen, waiting in line to be sacrificed. The person ahead of you is lifted and carried to the altar, and with the natives gathered together,chanting growing louder, there are quick movements before everything goes still all at once. Are you next? Or has someone come to save you?

The only reprieve from this nightmare is the familiar sound of the Moira’s transporter ships landing nearby. The crew has banded together and are on their way to free you. **

☄ASCENSION

The planet is no longer safe. Through a series of disturbing events, it has become clear that the crew cannot stay. Supplies has been gathered, hopefully enough to last until they can find another place to dock, and the captains, through the MID devices and in person, are ushering everyone back to the ship. It is imperative that everyone board swiftly so that they can make a hasty retreat. There is nothing left for anyone here.

( ooc; ** These options are for those who signed up for the event. All other characters are encouraged to rescue their crewmates from these situations as quickly as possible! For questions and/or plot, go here. )

Comments

[commontype]

Eggsy'd enter the launch codes if they had a nuke, that's how much he thinks of this place. He'd get all the innocents off, and then take care of the place. He knows that this planet is dangerous, that people are getting hurt, and he couldn't give two fucks about Exuo or how much people might want it. Want it enough to leave this place open to visitors when it's clearly got fucking aliens that want to sacrifice people on it.

He nods back, ducking down behind a pile of something that Eggsy knows if he truly analyzes, he'll just be disgusted and upset.

"We'll go as soon as he turns the other way." He gestures to a particularly large and loud native.

[forwardmomentum]

Miles nods, keeping his gaze fixed unblinking on the alien until his eyes start stinging -- and then the alien in question, who seems to be in charge or something here, finally turns away, back to the altar to sacrifice another unlucky son of a bitch. His belly shivers, nauseating him.

He gives Eggsy the slightest of nods before he moves, and then they take off, moving as fast as they can without being detected, and as carefully as they can without slowing down too much. Even as the chanting starts to fade in volume behind them, Miles doesn't dare raise his voice above a breathless whisper, and he doesn't dare look back.

"So what happens when that start noticing their dwindling supply of human sacrifices?" Miles mutters under his breath. This little one-by-one operation will only get them so far. "Do you have a bigger extraction plan, or -- " Or are you just resigned to sacrificing some to the slaughter for the greater good? He doesn't know Eggsy from a hole in the ground, but Miles know he's not prepared to resign himself to that. No, there has to be another way. There's always another way.

[commontype]

"To be honest, you're my first."

And he'd been partly using Miles to get a lay of the land. He had to get him to safety though, then he'd go back and save more people, but he had no weapons and now he was sure he needed them.

"I was tryin' to see what was goin' on, what I need to do. I ain't got weapons for this, but I'm gonna find some."

He stops then, a hand up to stop Miles, too. They're far enough way now that they don't have to worry.

"Do you wanna help me or should I just drop ya back at the transporter?"

[forwardmomentum]

Miles almost barks out a laugh at Eggsy's answer, though he keeps his mouth tightly clamped, a tight, thin-lipped grin spreading across his face instead. Ah, yes, the old "take it one step at a time and figure out the rest on the go" approach. He's familiar with that one.

"I mean, I'm not exactly in fighting condition," Miles mutters, cradling his bad arm a little more tightly against his chest. It hurts like a son of a bitch. He grimaces at Eggsy being unarmed, shuddering a little. "But like hell I'm going to just sit on my hands while you attempt a -- " Half-planned suicide mission?

"Take me back to the transporter. I can't let you go back there unarmed -- you'll get yourself killed. Look, I've got a few weapons up in my cabin. I'll bring them to you. I'll provide what cover fire I can and help the prisoners out." He really isn't in fighting condition, but he can't bring himself to sit this one out.

[commontype]

Eggsy's eyes narrow in on that grin, and he rolls his eyes, pretty much ignoring it. He realizes how it sounds, now, but Miles, really, they can joke later. It does make him more comfortable around the man, so he guesses that's something.

"Yeah, you look pretty banged up. So, we'll do that. We'll get your weapons, come back and you can cover me while I shoot as many as I can."

He starts walking again, faster though, because every second counts.

"And you better not be tryin' to be a hero when we get back. No just doin' whatever without tellin' me first. We gotta work as a team, ya get me?"

[forwardmomentum]

"Oh, no, don't worry," Miles says with a suddenly wolfish grin, and he suppresses the urge to laugh as much as he can, but a little giggle still leaks into his voice. "I'm not the type to play the hero."

A bald-faced lie, of course, but what's a little white lie in a crisis like this? Miles keeps pace with Eggsy, despite the height disparity and his noticeable limp, riding the rush of adrenaline. He'll crash later, he's sure, and probably hard, but what was that about taking it one step at a time again? "I think if we don't work as a team, we'll both likely end up dead, which I'm not too keen on today."

The pain in Miles' arm is starting to dull by the time they get to the transporter, somehow, though he knows dimly that that's just a trick of the mind. It'll start hurting like crazy again later. "Don't go anywhere til I get back," he tells Eggsy before he steps into the transporter. "I won't be long."

As soon as Miles is back on the Moira, he doesn't hesitate. He just books it for his cabin, arm clutched against his chest, not letting the stitch in his side stop him. He'll stop noticing it after a while. The cabin's empty when he gets there -- probably for the best, he doesn't have time to explain and neither of them is a good candidate for roping into a last-minute rescue mission -- so he snatches his nerve disruptor and plasma arc both, hurriedly buckling his holsters onto his belt. He pauses only long enough to tear a length of fabric off of a spare sheet and use it as a makeshift sling. There. One thing taken care of for the moment.

He's panting by the time he rematerializes planetside, nodding at Eggsy. "I've got a couple of guns," he says breathlessly, unholstering them both, and he glances down at both weapons in his hands before he decides to keep the nerve disruptor to himself. The plasma arc can be dangerous, but the nerve disruptor is almost always fatal. He hands the other gun to Eggsy.

"That's a fully charged plasma arc. It's an energy weapon, and it packs a hell of a punch. Be careful with it, it'll tear through just about anything it hits, and we don't want to hit the crew, so -- " Miles holsters his nerve disruptor again with another grin, this one a few shades more manic than anything else. "Aim high."

[commontype]

Eggsy shakes his head but doesn't slow his pace. Whatever the fuck is happening back there is enough to have him on edge, and he's not really in the mood for waiting around and hoping this turns out for the best. He'll have to ask Miles about that giggle and how it made it seem like he was lying another time.

"Right. Better communicate with me no matter what, ya get me? It's important."

The trip back up is quick for Miles, kudos bruv for being so fast, and Eggsy rummages around the area outside of it while he's waiting but he doesn't go far. It wouldn't make sense, really, to go far because then Miles wouldn't know exactly where he is when he comes back. The search doesn't turn up anything, but at least he tried.

"Yeah, okay."

He's never heard of the weapon, but it makes sense. Eggsy frowns a moment before nodding his head, he doesn't have time to test the kickback, range and all that, but it'll have to do. Sighing, he turns back, beginning to walk again.

"I'll go in, take as many down as I can quietly. When they notice me, that's when you give me cover."

[forwardmomentum]

"You're not going to take out many of them quietly with a plasma arc," Miles remarks, though he nods judiciously, adjusting his sling slightly as they set out back toward the cave where the others wait. He licks at his lips, finding them dry, his heart a steady pulse in his throat, but everything is clear and sharp, his rapidly turning mind focused on the now. You've done stupider, scarier, harder things, he reminds himself, but then: Yeah, well, you've never taken on a bunch of murderous aliens before.

First time for everything, though.

He unholsters his nerve disruptor when they get back to the scene, the lead alien still chanting in what sounds like an increasing fervor. Miles flips off the safety and the end of the nerve disruptor glows a faint blue. He nods quickly at Eggsy. On your mark.

[commontype]

Eggsy's eyes flick to the gun, and he frowns.

"Well, nothin' like goin' in guns blazin' and hopin' you don't die."

As long as he got those people out, Eggsy would be satisfied. He'd come to terms with the fact that dying wouldn't be half bad if he went saving someone.

He tips his chin up, gun raised. Two fingers in the air, swiping them towards the man. Then he's standing and running. He aims at the lead alien as he goes, pulling the trigger - "Fuck." The kickback is more intense than he'd thought it was going to be and then they're all looking at him. Another soft fuck under his breath, then he shoots another, only to be barreled over by a different alien. He swipes a leg out, connecting with one, shooting an alien in the chest.