station72 | WAYPOINT SHRIL, PT.3

Entry tags:

WAYPOINT SHRIL, PT.3

CHARACTERS: All (New Hosts may tag anything from their arrival date on Waypoint Shril forward.)
WHERE: THE FAIR HEART, WAYPOINT SHRIL & SURROUNDING SPACE
WHEN: Day :038 - :039
SUMMARY: A theft, a rescue, and of course - the grand finale of the galaxy's most fabulous competition.
WARNINGS: N/A, will update as necessary.

LATE ON DAY :038, a select group of Hosts makes their way to the imposing mobile headquarters of the ABA!, the retrofitted prison ship known as The Fair Heart. The goal? Steal those prizes, break out the captured rescue team, and make a clean getaway.

Or just get away at all. That works too.

THE FAIR HEART
     A. THE RECON TEAM Congratulations, you're in a cell and stuck with a tracking bracelet. But it isn't all bad. The food's okay and the company is-- well, whatever. It could always be worse. Sure, getting interrogated isn't the best part of the day, but if you're lucky you might get to sit down and have a conversation with the mercenary group's second in command, Vinka. Vinka is nice. He cracks jokes. He plays space chess. He's clearly the good cop. If you're unlucky you'll get stuck answering the questions of a very dry, humorless cyborg called Bradd who likes to use his arm attachment to shock people.

But eventually you begin to sense the minds of your fellow Hosts nearing. Time to prepare for an escape.

     B. THE HEIST TEAM You all know where you're going, right? Now it's just a matter of getting there more or less safely. There's a bunch of security measures between you and your goal, so proceed carefully. Or don't. After all, the rescue team is headed in the opposite direction and someone will need to cover their tracks won't they?

     C. THE RESCUE TEAM Here's what you know: somewhere in this labyrinthine ship your friends are being held captive. Where they are and how to get to them is a goshdang mystery. And once you figure it out, it looks like you're going to be getting very close with The Fair Heart's personnel. On top of that, shouldn't you be helping to distract security from paying attention to the vault? Boy, you've got your work cut out for you.

     GET THE HECK OUTTA DODGE Once the prizes are removed from the vault or the prisoners are taken from their cells, an alarm will sound. Time to go! Fight or cleverly elude your way out of The Fair Heart. Get a ride (any ride will do) and take off. Mind The Fair Heart's guns, darling.

     FASTER. FASTER WOULD BE BETTER. What's that saying? Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Once you've escaped The Fair Heart, you'll be facing off with a literal armada of ships trying to blow you out of the sky. Luckily you've got backup. Station 72 is the biggest thing in the sky and it's moving. Towards you. Through other ships. There's a lot of explosions.

WAYPOINT SHRIL
     LET THE GAME BEGIN! Remember how everyone had to carefully register their team and jump through a bunch of hoops to get to the finale of the ABA!? Well there's been a scheduling change. Thanks to Miss Mystery's announcement, everyone and their great grandmother is now an official competitor. And lots and lots of them are taking it seriously.

     GET TO THE CHOPPER! There's a mad dash to take to the sky. Waypoint Shril has been transformed into utter chaos. Platform Alfa is a mess. Ships are being hijacked. ABA! employees driving shuttles are now ditching their jobs to compete. Waypoint civilians who stuck around through the madness are taking their ships out of their garages and taking off through the Jump and the Graveyard. If you're a Host on Waypoint Shril, it might be a good idea to get off it.

Luckily if you were competing in the ABA! you're practically ready to go. After all, weren't most of you building a ship to compete in the finale with? If you take the fruits of your labor, you better hope your astroengineering holds up to a high stress environment.

CAUSE A RUCKUS: Your friends are flying against an armada. Shooting down the competition might be a good idea.

THE GRAND FINALE
GUESS WE BETTER JUMP: Just make sure to get to the Station before it jumps to the void. It would be very, very easy to get left behind. (Be aware that if a Host is left behind, you will be dropping the game.)

((OOC NOTES: This log is the catch-all for the finale of Waypoint Shril. It covers the heist, the rescue and the escape from The Fair Heart in addition to any events taking place concurrently on Waypoint Shril. It covers the escape from this universe and taking the Station back into the void. Questions? Check out the OOC POST. If you have additional questions that aren't answered there, feel free to either drop a note in the log-specific questions thread or touch base with us on the Mod Contact page.

'Wait, can I NPC this character?' When it doubt, the answer is probably yes. Use your best judgement, but we encourage you to go wild. Should you desire mod input or for us to bounce into a thread, feel free to reach out to us and we'll be happy to accommodate. We may also be threadjacking some of these threads, however don't feel compelled to wait for us to do so. Have fun and don't get killed!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

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[ They made it. They're safe.

For all her strident optimism, Misato must resort to mental gymnastics to convince herself that the series of recent events are real, not imagined. That they really stole into an alien prison ship, that they were captured, that they were rescued and somehow made out with the prizes on the way out. That they were made into a bounty target and there were a thousand and one ships in pursuit and any one could have evaporated them in a single shot but none did, and the Station almost left them, but they made it in the nick of time. They made it against all odds.

She is exhausted, slumped against a wall with an arm over her stomach still catching her breath. Her mind betrays a heady elation, nearly enough to make her cry but instead she finds herself laughing, a cackle, loud and echoing in the hallway, still giddy from the adrenaline. See, even here, she has cheated death. And maybe, maybe it was never the Dead Sea Scrolls that won her battles for her, but herself. Maybe it was all her. ]

Damn. We really did it.

[ Nasu placed a hand over her heart in a gesture of relief. She didn't seem out of breath, but slightly ... deflated? She seemed smaller, anyway, than she had whilst breaking out of the ship. ]

We did. But were those prizes really worth all the fuss? Particularly the space yacht.

[ Like was it at least a time-traveling space yacht because that shit was GAUDY. ]

Are you all right?

Ha!

[ It sounds like a bark. The space yacht, indeed. She thinks Nasu is joking, because it was never about what the prizes were only that the Nest deemed them worthy of acquiring, so she trusts that they must serve some important purpose. But wasn't that the same blind faith that got her the last time?

Turns out she doesn't take to cynicism as easily as she likes to think. ]

We're alive. [ Answer enough. The look she gives the girl carries the words says far more, what more can anyone expect given what they just went through? And still: ] Are you hurt?

[ Nasu shook her head. ]

I'm fine. I think we all got a bit of a jolt when security got involved.

[ Security had gotten more of a 'jolt', though, which was probably why there was a streak of blood along the prow of the yacht. ]

Are all the missions like this? Are we going to find out what that egg is?

[ With great effort, she rises to her feet, leaning against the wall still for support. She's miraculously uninjured too, aside from the red marks left behind by the tracing bracelet, the fatigue in her muscles after having pushed herself beyond her usual limit. The things adrenaline does for you. ]

A jolt? My, you're a master of understatement.

[ Pot, meet kettle. ]

This is my first mission too. You'd have to ask someone else about that, and the egg.

[ Even under more serene circumstances, Misato's mind hummed with adrenaline. Now, in the wake of their frantic escape, she's a livewire. Bellamy's breath catches as their minds brush. It happens without thinking now for him: his attention turns to a member of the nest, and he hooks into their thoughts instinctively. His hand finds her elbow as it had in the club, steadying her as he staves off the urge to laugh in relief. ]

It was touch and go there, for a bit.

[ Not that such tenuous plans were anything new for Bellamy. This wasn't the first and likely wouldn't be the last escape he made by the skin of his teeth. ]

You're not hurt?

[ As if he isn't already certain she isn't harboring an injury. Bellamy's tone is faintly apologetic. The intrusion happens too quickly sometimes for him to stop himself. ]

[ Well, isn't he a special one? Barely finished with his growth spurt and already taking on the weight of the world upon his shoulders, a father to everyone he meets, or is it mother?

When he finds her elbow, her hand rises to find his cheek. So maybe that's too bold, too intimate, but the threat of certain death brings people together like nothing else. The smile she wears is equal parts amused and fond. Bellamy, you are cut from the same cloth of the very people she thinks should have died out long ago. ]

By all rights, I should be, huh?

[ She angles her arm to show him a gash on her upper arm, still numbed by adrenaline. Just a flesh wound, as one says. ]

Somebody out there really loves us.

We got lucky.

[ Bellamy's thoughts flicker to Murphy, bolting upright with a warning to get out vibrating outward from his mind. It had given them an advantage. For Misato and her team though, not so much. His fingers tray from their grip on her elbow to the edge of the gash. ]

Sam's going to want to help you with that.

[ But in the meantime, Bellamy doesn't have anything to bind it with to tide her over. Her hand is warm on his cheek, and he's loathe to break that contact just yet, even though every instinct he'd carried here from Earth informs him that the injury should be treated quickly rather than risk infection.

They're not in danger of infection here. Bellamy has to keep reminding himself of that, even as the time spent away from his home stretches on. ]

You make your own luck.

[ She responds so quickly, she might as well have said polo to his marco. Luck has nothing to do with anything. There are no miracles other than the ones you make for yourself.

His next words prompt a huff of amusement out of her. They're so alike, him and Sam, that she thinks it's him who wants to help her, if only he could. The intent count. But she shakes her head and steps aside, dropping her hand away from his cheek and hiding away her injury. It's really just a scratch. She can hardly feel it. ]

He won't get to, you can trust me on that. But has anyone asked you if you're okay?

[ The inquiry takes him aback. Bellamy isn't often on the receiving end of questions like that, especially when it's clear he's physically unscathed. He raises his eyebrows at her, then shakes his head. ]

I haven't seen Sam yet, so no.

[ Which is a little bit of a deflection. But the few bruises Bellamy was nursing were nothing worth mentioning. He'd spent six months walking around in a state of constant injury on Earth. This is just business as usual. ]

I'll be better after I've gotten some sleep on the Station.

[ Assuming he's relaxed enough for that. The adrenaline high of a mad dash towards safety is wearing off slowly, but he's still jittery with it. ]

[ Misato laughs again. Somehow laughter escapes her so easily this time. So blame it on the adrenaline. It turns her magnanimous, generous with her joy, when she's rarely accused of being generous. ]

Is Sam the only one who asks?

[ Her smile is amused. That does sound like him. What would they do without Sam? She gestures for him to follow as she starts making her way down the hallway, breathing deeply, head tipped back. ]

I guess now's a good time as any to say thank you. We kinda rained on your parade there a little bit.

[ The question seems to be driving at something in particular, and Bellamy's braced against it. His own well being has never been high on his list of priorities. Having other people raise it as an issue is unexpected and he balks at accepting the expression of concern from Misato as much as he has from Sam. He brushes past the query as he falls into step beside her. ]

I don't think anyone minds.

[ Well, some people might. But Bellamy had been wrong-footed by every task in the competition. He wasn't particularly put off by not having to see it all through. ]

So long as we got the prize, nothing else matters. And it kept us off the stage.

[ Clearly the latter is what Bellamy's most appreciative of. ]

[ You can't win without breaking a few windows is Misato's life motto. If there was a time in her life (and there was) when she made herself small and pleasant for the benefit of others, when she tried to be good, she has long since buried it away. What matters is the result. No one should mind. Her apology is only for any offense caused by taking the spotlight away from Bellamy and company, and since none seems to be taken, she chuckles lightly, still riding the high. ]

I like you.

[ What use is subtlety? ]

You think we could have won by playing fair and square?

[ Surprise colors the link between them. Misato snaps out the declaration straightforwardly, without any hesitance. Bellamy has known very few people in his life who make their opinions of people known so easily, even less when it's a positive opinion. He doesn't question it, but he hadn't expected it from her. ]

Maybe.

[ Bellamy would like to hope that one of their teams could have come away with the prize, but he isn't going to pretend that stealing it isn't more effective, and more certain. ]

If we hadn't, we could have still tried to steal it from whatever team beat us.

[ They'd have been back in the same boat. He doesn't begrudge them for taking a more efficient approach. ]

See, that's why I like you.

[ That can-do attitude, the mission above all else mentality, the conviction that no matter what they must find a way even when it seems impossible, because it's necessary. It's like looking at a forgiving mirror of herself, and because he is so similar, she finds herself willing to admit her doubt, slowing her steps and turning around to face him. ]

Actually, what I wonder is, do you think it was really us? Or were we just lucky.

[ Lying is hard for Bellamy now. He'd never been overly adept, but he'd at least had a fighting chance. With their minds so linked, his intentions and impressions are too easily plucked apart.

But he doesn't particularly want to lie to her. Misato doesn't strike him as someone who needs to be coddled, or to have people soften their opinions for her benefit. ]

I don't think you'd have pulled it off without some kind of luck.

[ Which, from Bellamy's viewpoint, isn't a condemnation. Luck has been a saving grace for him over and over even before he came to the Station. ]

But it matters that it was you, and the others. It's not just one or the other.

[ His gaze doesn't waver as he gives her his answer. ]

Not that it matters now. We got what we came for.

[ And there's only so much rehashing of a mission that can be useful before it just turns into a useless exercise. ]

[ Misato knows, now, that her luck is anything but some vague and benevolent force catching her fall each time she nearly stumbles. It is a handful of scrolls. It is a roomful of men deciphering them, bending the words to suit their needs and tugging her strings to fulfill their prophecies. But that was then, and this is now. She is as free as she has ever been. Her luck is her own.

Bellamy's words is no condemnation. Her smile widens a touch, revealing in the way she tips up her chin in pride. ]

We did. We'll look back one day and see what we did right, but for now-- we just know that we did.

[ The luxury of looking back and rehashing fondly is beyond Bellamy. The uncertainty of it is clear in his mind for a moment as he boggles at the concept before shaking his head. ]

Maybe.

[ No need to rule it out, however strange Bellamy found the idea of it. ]

You should rest. And I need to check on Murphy.

[ A flicker of concern creeps into his thoughts, displacing everything else as he squeezes her shoulder, moving past her. ]

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WAYPOINT SHRIL, PT.3

AFTER THE AFTERPARTY | OTA

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