[MISSION LOG] GET IN THE CAR

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Avera 9
WHEN: Day :156 - 160
SUMMARY: Welcome to the jungle muddy junk pile in space. Avera 9, pt.1
WARNINGS: None; will edit if necessary.

THERE IS AN EXPECTATION that all hosts meet on the flight deck; that much is obvious on waking - something that, strangely, all new hosts seem to have done at the same time. Pack your things, says a gut sensation. It's time to go somewhere different.

ONCE ASSEMBLED, it isn't long before Prince and Cathaway make their own appearances. They have a set of kits with them - one for each young host - and a square that unfolds into a data pad with mission details. Each kit contains some of the materials hosts will find helpful for their assignment, and the equipment is not to be traded away or sold, Prince explains. The rest, Cathaway adds, will be provided once travel is complete. And then it's time to get underway. Today that means piling into a sleek, arrow shaped ship with plenty of space to carry personnel and equipment. There are a number of bikes lashed in the cargo area, places for hosts to stow their things, and enough seating at each side of the carrier's interior for hosts to be comfortable. It's a short trip, Cathaway assures and then makes her way with Prince to the cockpit. Today, they're coming with.

Initial checks. Engines go. The landing circular landing pad under the ship turns, lowering down into the flight deck floor as it goes. The ship comes with it, descending into the cool dark depths of the Station. There's a shudder as it locks into the launch tube, as the channel overhead is sealed; there is no countdown, just a pulsing moment of anticipation-- and then rocketing, teeth rattling momentum and a bright, hot flash of joy as the ship is projected from the Station - as it sears through time and space and a hundred versions of the same universe until it comes to rest here: smacked out into real space hung above a murky brown planet, clearly visible through the massive viewscreen at the front of the ship.

It's a good thing there's not much to look at; Cathaway doesn't waste time before deftly setting a course, slicing down through upper atmosphere with hardly a shudder from the knife point shaped ship. The planet comes up rapidly and a hum passes through the carrier as it lowers - cresting down through dark clouds to be battered by rainfall and the cross cutting of wind. But it flies steady, sure, and in time they streak at ground level across muddy flatlands and massive stone slabs - skim across inert bodies of water in the slow process of expanding from the constant sluggish rainfall.

The ship eventually comes to rest in the middle of what must be a massive valley; it sets down with hardly a shiver, then something clangs loud and the ramp at the rear descends. Cathaway unhooks her harness and rises from the pilot's seat.

"Here we are. Be well and do well; try not to kill anyone." Yourselves included, being the unspoken addendum. "Make sure to return here at the specified time. We can't extend our time table to account for stragglers."

There is a pause before Prince adds, with an edge of silent reluctance, “If you find yourselves in a situation you cannot handle, call and we will come.”

And then you're free to go wherever you like. Welcome to Avera 9.


(click to zoom; blue is water; yellow is lowlands/flood plains/etc; green is higher, drier terrain; brown is for ridges/high ground)

---

((OOC Notes: You'll notice that this log only covers the first few days of the mission; this is to allow for player character decision making to effect the back half of the mission. That said, feel free to make your own logs and posts on the IC community as you see fit - just be aware that dating past day :160 may get a little wonky depending on how events proceed!

If you have any mission specific questions, direct them to the OOC post here. For exploration and salvage discovery, we've decided to give players a largely free rein for what items can be found. However, if you want specific mod-generated items for your characters to stumble across during their salvaging, feel free to use THIS thread to request that!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[circumspector]

[ It's better shown rather than explained for Angel at least, her abilities had always been hard to explain to others. Like trying to explain what it was like to move an arm or leg. It came intrinsically, if somewhat haphazardly at times. An understanding that if she twisted her thoughts just so and moved the light through her in just this way, it all came apart under the force of will and twisting forgotten things.

At that attention, she assumes she likes it, isn't terrified by it. Rather, she doesn't say anything after that, just lets her explore this great expanse. Its details, -- that are in almost constant movement, never stagnant, always shifting as light shifts, moving like atoms do. It shimmers with its information, as close to life as she can make.

After awhile, and it does seem to go on without note in here, she speaks again. Softly, reverberates through the leaves and the path and the stones. ] ( I can build like this wherever I want. So if you ever want to see it again... )

[erbier]

[ A charming offer that Ilde has no interest in. A pretty picture to indulge in, but... ]

( It is false. )

[ Perhaps one day it would be appealing to lose herself inside that garden, the one now written into a safe place inside the many files of Angel's mind. But for now... there is so much else to be done. ]

[circumspector]

[ She nods the once, sighing, and it shimmers and dissolves like it never was at all, and once more they look over a city of code, walls that teem with life. She gives a sigh as it goes, and settles back flat on her feet. ]

( Yes. Think of it like a painting that you can walk around in. ) [ she's right, there are other things to be doing, a great deal, and others she needs to give information too when they come to her. ] ( But whilst within it, I decide what is perceived and what isn't. It can be incredibly hard to break, I've practised it a great deal. ) [ Which she says not to brag, there's no arrogance in her tone, she's not there to say she's all powerful, to lord it over others, rather it's just a statement of use. Illusions have their place, and one day, if she ever needed misdirection, it could be useful and Angel would always be willing to help. ]

[erbier]

( I should mistrust you. You are the very definition of a witch. ) [ Their pretty faces, their sweet and gracious ways, their mastery of illusion which hid the ugly ugly things inside of them. The women who had risen up to face the man who would burn through the world. ] ( Cathaway too. She dazzled me with light and noise. It does not make her pure. )

[ A very severe topic for Ilde. Purity. It was important to her, and she wrestles with her desire to have and do what these other women show her. What would it make her, if she took on such guile? Not the girl the King had loved. ]

( I think perhaps he would forgive me. To be strong and thrive, he would forgive me. But perhaps I flatter myself. )

[ She steps back, just enough to loosen her finger's from Angel's and leave the illusion. It is becoming exhausting. ]

Perhaps I can wield such things with love in my heart.

[ Love for Him, so that she would not become what he most hated. ]

[circumspector]

[ She lets Ilde detangle from her, mentally, physically, and it is exhausting, a shuddering shake that moves through and the programs held deep within her mind chatter with concern. When she lets it drop, it's like letting go of a breath she was holding onto. She staggers, catching herself on the terminal, head down, sucking in like she'd been running. It kicks her like a craving, sharp to her stomach, the want of eridium. She would have no trouble with it coursing through her veins again, and her fingers curl around and in a need to hold steady.

But -- no, that's just exhaustion talking and she shakes her head. She chose this, she wanted this, she would keep wanting this, she's not what Jack wants her to be, she wants to be who she wants to be. ]

Trust me, or don't. That's up to you, but I can tell you I'm no witch, and I'm not an angel either. I'm not here to lie to you and pretend I'm pure either, so you can make of it what you want. I'm done with... with all of it.

[ For good or for ill, whatever that came of it. ] But I do know these powers are what we make of them, so... if it's love then, that's as good as anything else I've ever seen it been used for.

[erbier]

[ She has no idea what love is. She does not know if she feels it for her brood, for her King, for herself. Love is nothing more than a word to her, and she doubts herself that she can make it into anything else. She has never loved, all she knows how to do is save herself.

She hadn't meant to vocalize such a thing to Angel, she had gotten overtaken with one too many thoughts, and perhaps for a moment she was back in her garden alone with only the plants to hear her. She gives the girl an uncertain look, lips pursed. She likes Angel. But... yes, mistrusts her, assuredly. Her eyes are too pretty, it is dangerous. She is too kind and too helpful and Ilde is certain she will need her assistance again. Such is Hive.

(So perhaps, it is herself she mistrusts, most of all.) ]

I'm sure you're right.

[ A somewhat sour and distant platitude. ]

[circumspector]

[ She pushes herself upright, working through the craving and the need. They'd saved her definitely, but it wasn't without its side effects. Maybe if she were in a stronger mood for it, she might spell out what she means more directly. For now, she just presses her lips together and frowns a little at the tone. ]

Really? I'm not.

[ She shakes her head, finally letting go of the bench and wipes her palms on her pant legs. Flicking out the numbness and the crackle of electricity that sparks on her fingers like it's so much unwanted water. ]

[erbier]

[ A sideways glance, unapologetic but grimly contemplative. ]

I suppose that is the wisest position to take.

[circumspector]

[ She shrugs with a lift of her shoulder, she's a little too open with her tiredness at the moment. This is more exhausting than she ever remembers it being.

It might be nothing really, after being so close as they were, it feels odd to stand apart from her now, being watched and contemplated. ]

We'll work it out, somehow. [ It's a plainly given smile and something of an offer, to help, to muddle through this with someone who knows what it is to have to deaden the soul to survive what must be done. ]

[erbier]

[ Ilde purses her lips. It occurs to her that perhaps Angel's good humor is just a determination. Ilde herself had a few behaviors, more subtle, but the same in that she simply enacted them because the alternative was unbearable. They each dealt with their strife in their own way.

To call Ilde empathetic was not quite correct, but she was quite willing to let people be as they were. ]

Somehow.

[ Soft agreement, and then in a tone slightly sharp, a symptom of her conflict. Perhaps she feels vaguely sorry for insinuating Angel was a witch, but by all definitions she knew the girl was one. ]

This excursion has barely begun, you should not expend all your energy too quickly.

[circumspector]

[ Embarrassed somewhat, her hand comes up and brushes against the back of her neck. trying to hide the faint shake in them. She's right -- just, gotten too excited. ]

I over estimated a little, it's nothing that resting for awhile won't fix.