thisavrou_log | ( may event log )

Entry tags:

( may event log )

Who: Everyone
When: May 1st and on
Where: The Moira + Amissis-Re
What: The crew finds themselves visiting the very barren planet of Amissis-Re.
Warnings:None, but please label your content!

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far from nowhere
"the trees rustle in the evening when we stand uneasy before our own thoughts."

With the events of Del Pascia behind the Moira, things are only now beginning to settle—and not very well. Through the combined efforts of some of the crew, D-E-L and her permanent residents were incinerated into the dust of space. While it’s not the most peaceful end, it is one, and not many are going to be thinking back on how nice Del Pascia’s facilities were for quite some time. Repairing what they could of the ship’s interior and putting as much distance between the Moira and the prison as possible, those aboard are informed by Navigation that they are approaching another planet. This means, of course, the potential for better supplies, as some things are beginning to dwindle, and the Captains elect to dock so long as the crew follows protocol.

WELCOME TO AMISSIS-RE

Amissis-Re is an unregistered planet with no documented histories or signs of life. The Moira’s Navigation crew have scanned the planet for any usable resources and have discovered a faint signal emitting from beneath the surface of Amissi-Re. Using the transporters and any other crafts located in the Cargo Bay, the crew are able to travel to the source of the signal. Upon arriving in its exact location, they’ll find a small series of lakes that lead to a tower-like structure that appears to be in use. Crew must cross a poorly assembled bridge system that sways and dips when weight is applied to it in order to gain access to the entrance. Once there, a woman comes out to greet them and explains, excitedly, that she is so very happy that they have come to Amissis-Re.

Everyone can go home.

Their host insists that she has done the impossible and has somewhat fixed the Ingress that’s been built on Amissis-Re a long time ago, and what’s more, she can send crew home for short bursts of time. Upon following this woman inside, crew will find that the planet is not, in fact, barren at all. Diving deep into the underbelly of Amissis-Re, it’s like an eternal factory of machines, and while vast, for whatever reason, it also seems incredibly welcoming...

☄ LEAP OF FAITH ( 05.01 and on )

The barren planet of Amissis-Re is devoid of vegetation and organic life except for a lone woman, and the planet itself is an intricate honeycomb of machines that go for miles below the surface. Yet, that seems insignificant and unimportant in comparison to the news that the crew has just received. After Thán has looked at the Ingress, he tells the crew that he cannot say for certain that it is properly functioning, but Emiri native, Ben Link, will volunteer to test it out.

An elevator takes crew down to a glass platform that overlooks an inverted Ingress portal. In order to return home, the Moirans will have to take a leap of faith and jump in. Ben, in order to show his commitment to the crew and willingness to help get them home, takes that jump with Captain Thán seconds behind him. Jumping feels like dropping through wind; lights swirl, it’s warm, and a soft buzzing encompasses you as you fall. You don’t feel the landing. One moment you’re falling, and the next, you’re in a new world.

A few hours pass before a similar elevator rises from below and to the left of the Ingress, stopping beside the platform. Ben and Thán step out unharmed.

It works, and everyone can temporarily go home. Will you jump?

☄ COMBINE THE EXTREMES ( 05.01 and on )

The woman that greeted the crew and led them to the platform will allow anyone that wants to go home the opportunity to go. There’s only one catch: it’s not permanent. She’s worked for years to fix the Ingress so that she can return to her own home but hasn’t been able to make the trip an everlasting one. Everyone always comes back. Always. They go for a few hours, at first, but that amount of time increases with each visit.

The one guideline, she says, is that you can’t go alone. Each trip requires a partner, or it becomes too much for the mind to bear. These rules are simple: the world takes shape depending on who jumps first, but if crew go hand-in-hand and leap at the same time, the worlds combine. This new world will be populated with people that existed in both and may appear to be a jarring combination of both worlds. It may seem unusual, but if the woman is asked, she’ll explain that the combined world does exist as there are more universes than can be imagined. The Ingress tries to take the person to their own home, their original home, but when jumping together, it finds the closest possible match and deposits them there instead.

From that point on, you can travel the world together or split up, but remember, this world is a living, functioning world. It doesn’t matter if it’s the home of one crew member or a combination. You meet other people. You can get hurt. You influence and are influenced by others.

Be cautious, and enjoy your visit “home”.

☄ LINGER ON ( 05.05 and on )

The more times the Amissis-Re Ingress is visited, the more it seems that your trips last longer and the experience becomes even more vivid. More real and harder to distinguish from the current reality that you know. It’s difficult to explain why, but you get the feeling that maybe if you went without the aid of the host, that perhaps you’d be able to stay. Forever. It takes some subterfuge, but in time, you see your chance: she’s nowhere in sight, and you take it.

The world you are in now is completely your own, whether another crew member accompanied you or not. The people you know are there, everything around you is exactly as you remember. A few hours pass, and you don’t feel that familiar tug, that invisible hook at the base of your spine that signals that your visit is over. Even more time goes by, and you’re still in that world, your home. When the first day has passed, you begin to question if you’ll ever go back, or if life on the Moira was all a dream. The person with you won’t be able to convince you otherwise, and they’ll start to feel less real, a stranger that you used to know.

There’s only one way to go back to the Moira. Someone from the other side has to come in and retrieve you both. Once in, contact with a third will jump-start a link through the Ingress, and it will pull all crew back to the platform.

( ooc; For questions, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"There's only two of us. They're not going to make a big deal if we get sort of close, right?" She can be optimistic, even if she has a feeling she already knows what the answer to that question is.

With a half-sigh, she follows him to the terminal, practicing holding the gun another moment before she pockets it into her belt and lets him get to work. Behind him, she gives a quick and grateful smile before it's gone. At least he's on her side for that much, if for differing reasons.

"Sewers give you the heebie-jeebies? We can always take that route."

"Even if they're not hungry they really don't like humans. I can't figure out why; we're all so nice and friendly and lovable here." The last said with lilting sarcasm.

"I like sewers. There's a lot of nasty creatures that don't usually show up in sewers. We'll probably run into some radroaches, but those are easy. Maybe ferals, but they don't carry weapons, so as long as you take them out before they reach you, you're good."

"Oh, fantastic," she mutters, rubbing her upper arms briefly. "Ferals and roaches or super mutants." What a fucking choice. But it beats staying here, and she'd like to give the both of them a reprieve from the dust and dead. Still, she doesn't know her way around and doesn't think she'd make a good decision if left up to her.

"You pick, Deacon. I trust whatever decision you make," she says, and means it. He knows his world better than she ever will, after all.

The door to the collections room opens and he steps out into the hallway that leads to the lobby, sniper rifle out just in case something's decided to take up residence here.

"You shouldn't do that, I make terrible life choices. Like drinking beer before liquor, or wearing pastels out of season, or not waiting half and hour after eating to swim."

They're getting out of here, walking away, so his humor is starting to return, a little less forced than before.

"But above ground is going to be a lot faster and more direct, so that's my vote."

On his cue, she draws her gun and follows with caution, eyes scanning the lobby room and her senses open. She doesn't seen auras - so no humans - and the only heartbeat she hears is his own. It's a comfort for the moment to know they're alone and not about to be swarmed.

Unless, of course, ferals and Super Mutants don't have heartbeats.

"Yeah, well, you know this place better than I do. I'd rather trust your instinct than go on my own in a place like this." She tilts her head forward, gesturing with her gun. "Go ahead. And when you need to hang back and do your thing - let me know. I'll take point."

Deacon crosses the lobby and pushes open the door a crack.

"Sweet. It's nighttime. Above ground was totally the right choice."

Door opened fully, he pads down the steps of the museum, glancing back and forth looking for signs of super mutant activity. Out of that building, away from the remains of fallen comrades, he's beginning to feel calmer, more stable.

"So how's a nice Old World girl like you end up practiced at survival tactics? Back in that prison, you said that you had to kill to survive, but it sounded like not everyone in your world lives like that. Not like here. So how'd you get unlucky?"

Ava breathes a brief sigh of relief at that, waiting until the door is pushed open before she begins to follow Deacon down the stairs, her eyes everywhere to watch for anything suspicious. She doesn't trust anything in a world like this, and though she's certain Deacon will make it abundantly clear if they run into something unsavory, she'd like to at least be able to give him a head start if she sees something dangerous in the dark.

"No, no, the Old World isn't exactly full of trouble like yours. Not obviously, anyway." What happens at night or in the underworld of the supernatural, of course, is another story. "I told you there were...monsters in my world." For lack of a better word, and to keep from being specific. "I didn't know they existed until a little over a month before I came here. I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted to stay alive."

Hey, at least she's being honest, if vague.

"L.A.'s full of weird shit but almost everyone can float through life there without ever encountering it." Unlucky her, indeed.

"So, when you say 'monsters' do you mean, like, psychopaths with soulless eyes and no humanity who collect eyeballs in cigar boxes, or is it more like giant mutant sewer rats with green fur and glowing eyes kind of monster? Or both. I guess you could totally have both."

He sees movement on the road ahead of them, too far away to make out what it is in the dark. Too small to be a super mutant. Raider? Feral? He can't tell. He slows his steps a little, approaches cautiously even though they're in the shadows and still much too far away to be detected yet.

"A lot of column A, a little of column B. I mean, I've never gone up against a mutant sewer rat yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. The sewers haven't been that bad in Los Angeles." Probably because the Nosferatu make sure things look good while they scurry around. She can't imagine needing to use the sewers for the rest of her life. She pities them.

Ava doesn't see movement at first but sees colors, and she reaches for his arm. "Deacon." A warning, low. She pulls out her gun to be ready.

He freezes at her warning. The thing up ahead moves again, and from the way it walks he's leaning towards feral. Which means if there's one, there's probably a lot more crouching among the rubble and the burnt out remains of a city bus, and he hasn't seen them yet because they're not moving.

"You've got younger eyes than I do. What can you see? And more important, how many?"

Not quite younger eyes, really, but better ones. She sees the one that's moving, crouched down, and then she can see another and another nearby. They seem to be curled up, probably asleep. What little aura is left she can see through the clutter and the color is concerning. It's nothing good. They look human...but even she can see they aren't wearing clothes. What are they?

"I see a couple." She tries to be vague but in a situation like this, she can't afford to be. "Only one is moving around." Ava bites absently at her lower lip. "He's...looking for something." He? It? She doesn't know.

"Maybe scrounging for food, if they're ferals. We'd better just take them out. We'd be doing them a favor. Every ghoul who's ever talked about it has said they'd rather be dead than be a feral."

And there's always something, whatever path you take, so even if they tried to go around, they'd just run into raiders instead, or super mutants, or gunners. At least ferals don't have guns.

"Ferals?" The name isn't what concerns her but what he says, that they'd be doing them a favor and what others have said. Ava's gaze drifts back across the way to look where she had seen movement, her frown deepening. So they used to be cognitive and now they aren't. What a way to go.

With a brief and clipped sigh, she looks back at Deacon. "Do you need to get a better place for a shot, higher ground? I can get close enough to take a few out before they start attacking, I think."

"Sorry, feral ghouls. They used to be people, a lot of them as old as the War, but radiation hit them hard. There's no person there any more, just hunger."

He never feels guilty about killing ferals.

"The second story of that house over there looks good." Half the exterior wall had collapsed, so there would be a clear shot from any angle and with ferals he doesn't have to worry about cover; they won't be shooting back. "I should be able to pick off a few before they know what's hit them. Then the whole pack of them is gonna swarm towards me, like the worst groupies in the world. You can ambush them then. If we're lucky, they won't even get close to us. If they manage to get up and personal, they've got nasty claw and a bad bite--like, gross pus-filled infection central. So if there's a whole lot of them, aim for the legs, that'll slow them down and give us more time to off them."

"Geez." Monosyllabic, but enough to convey the anxiety at the thought. There's no person there any more, just hunger. If Ava looks uncomfortable at what is said, it quickly disappears, masked again as she turns to look at Deacon, then at the building.

"Sounds good. Head on up and I'll find someplace a little safer to start picking them off once they're headed towards you." She checks how many shots she has until she needs to reloads, counts and memorizes, and then takes the safety off of the gun. "Yell if you think you need to book it out of there. I'll make sure I get you some time and we can regroup if necessary." She just has to worry about bites...which won't be too bad. If she needs to, she can pull up a shield to keep them off of her. Deacon's her primary concern. "Let's just hope nothing else hears our shots."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll call if I need back-up to help make a get-away. Or I'll, you know, scream in terror. Either way, it'll be obvious there's a problem."

He checks his sniper rifle as he talks, plenty of ammo, good. And just to cover all contingencies, he checks his laser pistol as well, in case the rifle jams or he needs something for close quarters. The pistol's now painted purple with bits of blue and decorated with copious sequins, having been turned into the Girl's art project one afternoon.

"I'd love to see your voice hit that kind of octave, but not if it's going to result in your untimely--" And that's when she sees the laser pistol. Ava's mouth twitches into a smile, like it's some kind of foreign thing on her face, and then she actually manages a laugh.

"O-Oh, oh my god, that's...adorable." She has no idea if he's done it himself or if someone else has, but the idea of Deacon in all of his spying and pseudo-seriousness-in-sarcasm carrying a sequined laser pistol into the heat of battle against monsters is too much. Ava suppresses her laughter by pressing a hand to her mouth. "Oh man, that's-- That's hilarious."

"Yeah, I'm hoping I can build up a reputation with this. 'The mysterious man and his deadly sequin pistol.' I want the sight of purple sparkles to strike fear in the hearts of my enemies. I think I can pull it off."

Building any kind of reputation at all would undermine his ability to gather intel, but it's a fun fantasy. If he ever comes back the Commonwealth permanently, he may have to retire the gun but for now he likes his pistol. He likes that the Girl enjoyed making it and likes that it made Ava laugh.

"Dress yourself up like a lunatic or a hitman, and you'll be all set. You could use a bedazzler on your clothes and get a whole look going." She's going to be laughing about the mental image for far too long, she realizes, and she clears her throat to try to sober up the mood.

"If I keep laughing, those things are going to hear me." But she's still smiling behind her hand. "Go ahead, I've got your back. Once they start headed your way, I'll take them out as quickly as I can."

"If I go that route then I'll need a super hero vigilante name. Like, 'The Purple Protector' or 'The Violet Violence' or 'The Amazing Aubergine.'"

Okay. Right. Back to business. There's still a pack of ferals to deal with. He nods once and gives her a thumbs up and begins trotting towards the building he's chosen as his temporary sniper nest.

Ava waits until he's well on his way to getting into the building before she goes to take her position by one of the abandoned cars nearby. It doesn't fully help her view of the hiding ghouls and she doesn't expect it to, but it gives her enough cover while she readies herself for when Deacon begins to shoot. It also sets her up for a straight shot once they will eventually start headed for him.

Carefully, she checks her ammunition and pulls the gun out, taking careful aim at the first ghoul she can see. Then, all she needs to do is wait for Deacon to begin shooting.

Deacon doesn't rush the shot; the ghouls haven't spotting them yet and they're not in a hurry, so if he can drop one of them with one bullet before the others even know they're under attack, that'd be swell.

The shot, when it comes, rings out loudly in the night. One ghoul, dressed in rags, drops to the ground, its head a mess. The others are alerted, running, searching for the source of the gunfire. He has maybe one more shot before they figure out which direction he's hiding. They're moving too quickly to get a good bead on one through his scope at this distance, so his second shot only wings one on the shoulder. That's one less functioning arm to claw them with, but that's not good enough. He sets up another shot while the swarm of ghouls start running his way.

Shit, there's more of them than he thought.

The first one drops, a bloody mess, and Ava waits for the others to come out of hiding. Her vision lights up with the lot of them, more auras than she initially could see, and she grimaces already. What's worse is they're fucking fast, faster than she anticipated, and quite a few of them are already making a beeline for Deacon. Ava takes her first shot, getting one in the back and in the spine, dropping it immediately. Whether it's dead or not, it makes no difference; she's probably crippled it enough that it won't cause a problem. The second shot gets one in the leg, making it stumble and fall, and it's slow to recover to get up again.

Ava climbs up onto the hood of the car, crouching so she can get off another shot, this time landing a blow in the head of the one Deacon has already injured. A fourth shot nabs one in the chest as it turns to look at her, a few realizing that there's a second source of noise. There's still quite a few, frenzied with hunger and rage, that seem set on trying to get up to Deacon, something she'd like to avoid. She shoots again, forcing one to stumble and hit the ground, hopefully buying the both of them time to line up their next shots.

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