E
V
E
N
T
L
O
G
|
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.
|
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-05-01 09:04 pm
no subject
He took a bite, and decided he might want to get another sometime right then and there. Good stuff for someone who was a big fan of junk food. While he took another bite, he noticed the woman heading over to them, and then Niko's glance. Alright, that was a little weird. Liquid raised an eyebrow, looking over at Niko.
And then he looked back at the woman when she spoke. He wasn't really used to people just... asking him for help. Not like this, at any rate. Was this a normal occurrence around here? He'd ask Niko, but it didn't seem like the sort of thing to do with the person right there, so he'd just have to ask later.
"So... you think something's happened to him, then?" he asked, gesturing with his half-eaten hot dog. He glanced over at Niko again for verification. Were they even supposed to help? He didn't want to agree to something and have that be the entirely wrong thing to do. Well, normally he wouldn't care so much, but things were a bit strange here, and this wasn't his world. But if this was going to involve a good fight, he was pretty inclined to get involved.
no subject
"That's true." Niko agreed once his mouth was empty. "So. Where did he go?"
"They said they saw him heading for Shinnecock Avenue."
Ah. Yeah. Where Faustin used to live. Niko gave a grim nod and a slight wince, like he didn't really want to go there. But obviously would anyway. Especially after another pleading, "Please" from the woman.
"You in a big hurry?" He checked with Liquid. He didn't think so. But, you know. He could always meet back up with him and make super quick work of it.
no subject
See, he didn't even know where the hell that street she'd mentioned was. But judging by Niko's expression, he sure did. And it seemed like he was going to head over that way. And he got confirmation on that front when he asked him if he was in a hurry.
He finished chewing up another bite of his hot dog and shook his head. "Not in the least. I think I can handle a detour." Like he was going to miss a fight. He hadn't had enough fighting even with that training room being available.
He nodded at the woman, turned to Niko, and grinned. "Let's go, then."
no subject
"It's about two blocks from here. We can run it." He didn't even need to take a car.
"His car is an old Futo. Red. You can't miss it. He never washes it."
"Yeah, yeah. I will look out for it." He nodded to the woman, before setting off at a jog. Great way to immediately work that hot dog right out of his system. Not enough energy for this adventure.
The road took them past a big carnival, finally active and open after the repairs it had been going after for many of Niko's early months in the city, to the front of a gated community that could barely be called that. No one was in the booth. All the houses were ridiculously nice, owned by rich and powerful men, and that red P.O.S. car was a beautiful sore thumb in a line of expensive vehicles.
Right in front of the house that once belonged to one of Niko's employers.
"Oh, good. Some other asshole bought it. At least I know what the inside looks like."
no subject
He followed Niko as he ran, making sure not to veer off course. Although he was momentarily distracted by the carnival while they ran by, he could always look at that later, and he kept going.
Liquid stopped when Niko did, crossing his arms as he looked at the house the car that had to be the one the woman had mentioned was parked in front of. That easy, huh? Damn, that was a big house, though. Didn't fit the look of the car at all. It would have had 'suspicious' written all over it even if they hadn't gotten a description.
He glanced over at Niko, an eyebrow raised and his head inclined a bit. "So, we just burst in, metaphorical guns blazing, or do we take the stealthy approach?" Because as much as he was familiar with the stealthy approach, really he just wanted to go straight to the important part. He was kind of itching for it.
no subject
Then he gestured at the house. "That place has a basement. I actually got tortured in it. Not exactly a good time. Then I had to work for the guy who used to own it. He's dead now." If it came down between loyalty for a boss and loyalty for family, Niko knew his choice every time. The Bratvas were no real brotherhood, despite the name.
"The back door is probably the best way to get in."
no subject
He paused when he mentioned having to work for someone who'd tortured him here. "...Had a bit of a similar experience in the Middle East, actually," he said. Not his favorite thing to admit, but he had something like empathy here. "You think they'll be in the basement, then? Running with a theme?" Seemed like they'd have at least a little bit of exploring to do otherwise.
"Back door it is, then." Keeping an eye out for anything going on close by, he started heading around to the back.
no subject
Niko passed around the side, hopped up to grab the wall and easily vaulted it. On the other side he waited for Liquid, oddly blase for a man that had been tortured in this house. As if it were another fact of life. But that's how he coped with all the shit he went through; it was normal, right? All of this was normal.
He at least had enough stealth to sneak his way over to the backdoor. But the moment he realized he didn't have a lockpick? He just reached into his waistband to pull out a gun.
"Going to kick the door in," he warned. So much for the very vague attempt at a silent approach as he slammed his foot so hard the doorframe splintered around the locks.
no subject
"Be my guest," he said, arms out to the side in a loose, dramatic shrug. "I hope it brings them running." He pulled one of his knives out of his coat, flipping it around a bit in his fingers. He was aware guns might be involved, but there was something a little more satisfying about knives and fists.
Unless, of course, he had something over-the-top like a helicopter. Unfortunately, this wasn't something they had ready for them. So he'd have to go with what he had.
He readied the knife and stood there, ready to follow Niko in closely behind once the door was opened. This wasn't going to end well for the perpetrators here, he was certain. Maybe a bit cocky, but hey.
no subject
Niko decided at this point he didn't give three horse shits about stealth, obviously. Shouting out. Better to give the guys downstairs a bigger thing to worry about than some two bit debter. And he had guessed correctly, he could hear men heading both up the stairs and back down.
He took up a position further from the door, within easy range of shooting, hoping he could lure a few through.
"So who is going to show your faces, huh? Come at me, assholes!"
He still said "assholes" like "ehssholes".
no subject
Not his favorite way to go for things to start with, but ultimately pretty effective. Luckily, it wasn't so much sneaking around as just staying out of sight where he was.
Anticipating some entertainment, he idly flipped his knife around as he waited, but it didn't take too long for those footsteps to start heading their way. A grin spread over his face and he readied his knife once again.
"So kind of you to join us," he finally spoke up when someone took the bait. Okay, maybe he was having too much fun already to want to stay completely silent.
no subject
Niko ducked back behind the counter in an effort to lead the guy the rest of the way in, put him within Liquid's grasp. There would always be some bitterness towards the Russian crime families, something he couldn't shake.
This was a great way to vent it.
"Took your fucking time!" he yells, raising the gun to get the next guy that came through. Liquid could have that jerk.
no subject
"Haven't been behaving at all, have you?" he mocked, shoving the man so he stumbled and tripped.
Liquid didn't have any sort of emotional connection here or anything, but, well, he was exactly the sort of person to enjoy any kind of fight and he was in his element. Good enough.
He leaned down, grinning at his opponent (although with how easily he'd gone down could he even be considered an opponent?). "Looks like you havent made a very good decision." He straightened up for a moment and glanced over at Niko. "Call it a hunch, but I'm guessing these aren't the brains of the operation." If you could call it an operation.
no subject
Still holding the pistol, Niko crept to the door, lurched around the corner, and sent a man slamming into the floor from the other side of the doorway, blood splattering from where his face hits hard linoleum.
"Come out come out wherever you are!" Never was one to take things lightly whenever he was found out. "You want to make this easy on yourself, give up!"
no subject
Liquid kicked the guy he'd shoved over as he went by, following Niko along. He nodded approvingly at the bloody mess as he moved past that, almost casually elbowing another guy who seemed to appear out of nowhere (but had just been hiding a bit).
"Don't just toss your minions at us!" he called. "They're embarrassing. At least give us a proper fight!"
no subject
"You hear that, you fucks! We're coming down there."
And that's when he noticed it. Movement from upstairs, a flash from a gun. Niko was a sturdy guy, he'd taken a lot of bullets, and normally he would have ducked out of the way only with a burn or a nick the moment he noticed that. But this time he was just too aware, too prickly, and whatever had been done to him after the station kicked in and he ducked under a spray of semi-automatic metal vomit like he was limboing.
And when he came back up? "Really?" A question that he asked at thin air as he shot into the darkness and the man came sliding down the steps on his ruined face.
"....I think there are more men upstairs." No, Niko, you think?
no subject
He took a step, ready to head down with him, but Niko seemed to spring into action immediately as someone started shooting. And Liquid really couldn't do much else but watch as he masterfully avoided the bullets. He tried not to look too impressed. He did a bad job of it.
He watched the sliding guy for a few moments, then looked at Niko with a grin. "Nice." That particular 'nice' had a hell of a lot of compliment in it for a four-letter word.
He peered up the stairway, careful in his movements. "Seems like upstairs is the way to go, then. Unless they're meant to be a distraction, but something tells me they're not quite smart enough for all that. Unless you'd like to split up? But I'd hate for either of us to miss the action either way."
no subject
"If they come up? I can pick them off. But I suspect they will try for stand-off." He still looked a little baffled at the spray of bullets, though. Thick skinned and hard-muscled (if lanky), he was used to being a sponge when he needed to be.
Whatever had been done to him had been startling him.
"I will get them if they try to run down the stairs, too," he reassured him.
no subject
"If I'm not back in a reasonable amount of time, I've been systematically destroying these guys and I'll be back in a bit." Confident, it seemed.
And so there went Liquid Snake, taking a couple of knives and fists to a gunfight. Alone. And he was perfectly alright with that.
Still, he paused before heading up, one foot on the stair in front of him, as he turned to look back at Niko. "You alright? Not down here, I mean, I know you'll be fine. You've proven the hell out of that. You just seem a bit on-edge."
no subject
He was sure. Even distracted, his reflexes seemed to be on the ball. Even that was sort of disconcerting, but maybe it meant he'd not have to worry about getting stabbed in the back again. Not that it ever swayed him from talking to people, he warmed up to them easy.
But that didn't mean he still wouldn't be dicked over at some point.
no subject
"Alright, well, if you're doing fine, I'll be heading up. Don't worry, I've got this."
He went up the stairs as quietly as he could, peering around once he made his way up. He turned a corner and was immediately accosted by a gun in his face.
He laughed, which was enough for his wannabe assailant to get surprised, and even moreso when he knocked the gun out of his hands, kicked him to the floor, and picked up the weapon. Well, that'd do. Although he'd still prefer his knives or fists when the time came, it'd be helpful. "Alright, I'm armed," he called down the stairs, and also to any potential attackers. Bring them on. Look out, here comes Liquid.