WAYPOINT SHRIL, PT.3

[onemind]

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 )

Comments

[wrackful]

She's meeting us. [She had to be, the urgent feeling which was directing feet just as insistent about her presence.] We don't have time for anything else.

[Anyone else, if they couldn't do the same. It's bitter tasting to say, especially knowing he hadn't even thought of Annie in the immediate drive to moving to leave. But Murphy had never been a hero. He didn't know who else was on Shril or where, what they were facing or how long they had, and it left no room to consider trying to gather them all.

It's a bite of frustration, especially paired with Annie's words, and he's sharp as he glances over his shoulder at her.]

And no one hates this crap more than me right now, believe me. [Being cryptic wouldn't exactly be his preference, but if he was doing it intentionally at least it would mean he knew more. He doesn't. He knows nothing except the pull of move move move, turning another corner into another alley, adding low, under his breath:] Just give me a dumbass staff and I'll be Jaha.

[deployed]

You're not Jaha.

[ Though Murphy's discomfort and irritation are palpable. Bellamy would have read it on him even if they weren't so closely linked. A firm denial is the best comfort he can give without holding things up or distracting Murphy. His grip shifts from Annie's wrist to her hand, clasping loosely as they stride after Murphy. ]

If we all just stay alert, we'll be fine. Cities are easy to hide in.

[ Not that they're hiding just yet, but the option is there. It's better than a forest in so many ways. There are so many people, and in a transient place like Shril, they blend in to the point of invisibility. Bellamy hefts his pack higher. ]

Do either of you have weapons?

[ Just in case. ]

[sistershoggoth]

This shit sounds fucking imaginary.

[ Annie's answer to all things that sound like they break her genre, but it's a flippant utterance, because she's turning to look expectantly at Noctis. ]

Cough 'em up.

[somnifacient]

[Annie's expectant look surprises him, because he was ready to answer but not necessarily produce said weapons. Only a moment of hesitation passes before he extends a hand, and the Katana of the Warrior appears in fractured blue light, seeming to appear out of thin air. He grasps at its hilt and hands it to Annie, reflecting her expression back.]

You'll only need the one. Anything more won't exactly be very subtle.

[Not that anything about Shril is subtle, but hefting around a giant crossbow, a longsword, or a greatsword (or anything else in his arsenal) just doesn't seem conducive to the idea of escape.

He speaks offhandedly at the other two afterwards.] There's more where that came from, if it comes down to it. Hopefully it won't.

[sistershoggoth]

I got this.

[ She takes the sword with a care they don't really have the time for, but he's giving her something of his, so she's handling it appropriately. ]

Everybody else fucking focus on the escape plan.

[wrackful]

Yeah, kind of hard to do that when there isn't one.

[Even Bellamy's rough suggestions had already been turned by Murphy leading them away from the port, and they still have no idea what they're escaping from, or why. Bellamy says he isn't Jaha, but it feels a hell of a lot like operating on blind faith. If he thought about it too hard, it'd be terrifying.

As would the feeling of something on the tip of his tongue, something else he needs to say. He opens his mouth to let it out--

The obnoxious tune of the ABA! official announcements fills the air, blasting out of every associated monitor, display, handheld device. Stepping out of the alley to a main through-fare runs them into a thin crowd of people stopped or slowed, all watching and listening to the echoing synchronous of Miss Mystery's message playing out on all available devices. Even Murphy slows, despite the pull still tugging him along, catching snapshots of the message between the screen of someone's comms, a monitor in a shop front, a huge display of Miss Mystery's face projected on the street's upper storeys. She finished with a smile and the feed cuts to space, to the momentarily incomprehensible visual of ships under fire. Fleeing.

Realisation comes like a very unwelcome gutpunch. Murphy barely has a curse out before the crowd around them is moving, suddenly single-minded and frenzied with the hard hit of incentive.]

[sistershoggoth]

Fuck.

[ It spits out of her as the realization spreads between them all. ]

Fucking-- motherfuckers--

[ The fuck had been said about raiding that goddamn ship? That they needed a plan, that they needed a team that actually knew what they were doing, and instead? And Instead.]

Fuck. ( Bellamy, Noctis, close ranks. Most of these assholes will have no clue about us, keep an eye out for the few who are smart. Anyone who has been paying attention to who's been coming and going from the Station will try to use us bait, we're no good to them dead. Eyes only, keep your postures loose or we'll draw attention; we don't need it.

Murphy. Keep driving. )

[ She doesn't even mean to boss everyone around. It's what would have gone through her mind, because she's fucking trained for this, and with the symbiote it goes out as a series of orders immediately. ]

[deployed]

[ And the danger reveals itself. His gaze cuts from the tension in Murphy's shoulders to the rapid fire series of orders from Annie. They have whatever weapons Noctis can materialize, and a head start. They aren't at as great a disadvantage as they could be. And Murphy— ]

( We'll follow you. Trust yourself. ) [ The encouragement is projected to Murphy as a murmured aside. The comparison to Jaha was like a crack, revealing self-consciousness Bellamy understands. Their powers are unknowns and hard to acclimate to in the heat of the moment. Bellamy's mind thrums with clear confidence, even as he falls into step behind Noctis. ]

( Annie's right. We have an advantage they don't know about yet, and we should keep pushing it. If we stay close and alert, we'll get through fine. )

[ This wouldn't be like the competition events. Bellamy could handle himself in a fight. Being faced with a familiar obstacle is practically a relief. ]

[somnifacient]

[The announcement causes his adrenaline to spike, and Noctis reminds himself that despite the increase of movement in the crowd, they're not in a fight yet. Annie's voice in his head proves to be a reminder for him; release the tension in his shoulders, stay calm, stay focused, stay moving.

He sorts through his weapons concealed by his magic in his head. Wonders which he should keep at ready, magic thrumming at his fingertips, invisible yet tingling at his skin. He stays close.]

(Things are getting chaotic out here. If we're lucky, everyone will be too busy tripping over themselves to even notice us.)

[For once, Shril's unpredictable nature might prove useful.]

[wrackful]

[He'd been right. It's a ringing chord in Murphy's head, for a moment stronger than anything else - the crowd moving around them, Annie's orders, Bellamy and Noctis' response. This hadn't been the immediate of the robot's frame threatening to crush in around them, the fight they had to "win". He'd woken up sensing danger with no root for it to come from, inexplicable, crazy. But he'd known. And he'd been right.

The feed of the ships tumbling through space is still being projected on the buildings above, and he remembers the conversation he'd had with Pidge, following on Ilde's warnings of the same. If they were running, the station needed to run too. And if anyone wasn't on it, they'd be left behind.

Trust yourself settles through his mind. Seemed like it was time to find out just how good this thing the symbiote was doing to him was.]

( This way. )

[He doesn't wait to make sure they're following. He thinks his path before had been towards another side street, but now it slices sharp through the crowd towards a building half in construction, already abandoned as the workers join the rush. There isn't even a pause before he enters the open face, the structure above creaking unsteady.]

[deployed]

[ There's a nagging panic in the back of Bellamy's head that reminds him over and over he doesn't have a gun. It's a useless reaction. A gun might not be helpful. For the moment, all they need to do is keep up with Murphy. Bellamy's mind links into Murphy's like a hand on his shoulder as he leads them towards what's hopefully safety. ]

( Keep an eye on our tail, ) [ Bellamy's directing the statement to Noctis, presuming Annie will keep an eye on where Murphy's leading them. ] ( If anyone gives us trouble, we'll have to drop them fast. )

[ Murphy's sense of urgency has been well-heeded. They can't get bogged down in a fight they couldn't immediately win. And Bellamy can't rely on his own power. Even if it triggers and was useful in the moment, it'd leave Bellamy too sick to be helpful. A liability. He doesn't reach for Annie's wrist again. ]

[somnifacient]

[A nod in the affirmative, a ripple of agreement through their shared link. A casual glance behind his shoulder, relying on his peripheral to catch any undue movement that might be trailing them. It's difficult, given all the commotion. It's like trying to pick out a single insect in the swarm, a task that would require all of his focus, and Noctis still has to play the part of someone looking unsuspicious, unalarmed.]

(Yeah. I got it.)

[Of course, if a fight does break out and they happen to quell it quickly and efficiently, their cover is still as good as blown. They'd have to make an unceremonious break for it, and he sure hopes everyone here is quick on their feet if such a thing happens.]

[wrackful]

[There isn't another pause in Murphy's pace. One beat, halfway through the construction site, where he scoops up a loose length of pipe and passes it insistently to Bellamy. Otherwise he walks, fast and steady, navigating like he's always known the way, neatly avoiding any obstacles as if he knew exactly when and where they'd appear.

It's minutes, but it feels like too long by the time he suddenly stops. They're over the other side of the waypoint, right next to the Graveyard. He jitters on his feet, the drive in him splitting between the still-ongoing press to move and a certainty that they have to wait, hidden in the thin space between two buildings. He dismisses any questions or comments on it. Wait. Wait.

Finally, a doorway across the street opens, and two perfectly identical blue snake-like aliens slither down the steps and away. Now.

Murphy leads the way across, up the steps, through the door. The inside is a sudden shift, incongruous to the even more ramshackle than usual appearance of the other buildings outside, this close on the Graveyard. It's immaculate, glowing and glass, rows of thin shelves on every wall, supporting items each carefully, individually displayed. The narrow length of the store leads to a counter at the far end, a tall and slender, bone-pale humanoid seemingly the only staff. Murphy doesn't hesitate. He stands at the counter, waits for her to turn all three neon yellow eyes his way.]

Morning. [He says, with no idea of the words coming out of his mouth.] We'd like to take a look in the junk room.

[He doesn't need to wait for her reaction. He yanks on Bellamy, on Annie and Noctis: here, there, there. The store's side rooms, open entranceways damn near invisible in the shine of glass and light, and the aliens suddenly moving out of them. Security or other staff, maybe family, it doesn't matter. The first comes directly at Murphy's left, right in Bellamy's path, the second two slower and much bigger, fists raised, lumbering from a room behind.]

[deployed]

[ It's eerie, following Murphy. He trusts Murphy's intuition, but he can't shake the fear that disaster is about to befall them all. Walking unimpeded through the city feels like too much to ask for, and none of them are sure where Murphy's leading them. Interrupting to question Murphy is likely going to be counterproductive, so Bellamy holds his tongue, but his discomfort and concern radiates outwards uncontrollably.

He assumes that's why Murphy shoves a pipe at him. It's an effort to placate him, maybe, and keep Bellamy from putting them all on edge. Bellamy's thoughts have been spinning around to weaponry since they left their rooms. A pipe is about as close to one as he'll get, and he takes it happily.

And it turns out, it's useful. Whether or not Murphy had foreseen it, Bellamy responds to the electrifying tug on his mind by swinging the bat directly at the alien's head. It connects with a sickening crack, and Bellamy kicks it in the stomach immediately. (Some distant part of his mind is reeling with guilt, but there's no time to indulge it.) He catches Murphy by the elbow as he shakes dark-colored blood off the end of the pipe. ]

What next? Are there more?

[ His mind hooks directly into Annie and Noctis, monitoring them as he immediately prepares to put himself between Murphy and anything else that might appear. ]

[sistershoggoth]

[ Annie's focus is reptilian in its cool, cutting, edge. Her irritation with the rest of their host is a distant thing, muttering in the back of her cavernous mind. But her thoughts are sharp, direct. She doesn't joke that she's spent her whole life doing this, that she's trained, conditioned, brainwashed to be a great fucking soldier. She is silent and alert behind Murphy in the shadows. She doesn't ask what they're waiting for, is merely ready to react when the time comes.

Goddamn precogs, she has never liked taking their lead, but they tend to know, especially when it came to the immediate future, reach too far out and shit got muddy, easy to misinterpret, but Annie doesn't want to think about that right now. She shuts it off, comes deeper into the room as Murphy approaches the counter. She's already covering one of the doors when a figure tries to come out of it. Didn't need to be a precog for that, to watch the goddamn exits. First impulse is just to try to stare the thing down, but the group makes their hostility against hers known.

She doesn't waste time trying to block with the katana, she raises it blade up and pulls, blue blood spattering across her front as it slices whatever appendage that is. Just as quickly, she's brought the hilt back around and slammed it into the alien's face. Down, down, down.

She steps over the body to look into the next room, looking for more problems, looking for more exits. ]

[somnifacient]

[Noctis has gone quiet, indicative of a sharp focus, a willingness to follow instead of lead. When the telltale tug at his mind adjusts his attention towards the aliens (that one there, specifically, he can feel Bellamy and Annie taking action against the other two), immediately magic crystallizes around his hand. It’s no blade this time, sharp steel replaced with something obsidian and silver, weighted and balanced in his grip. A crossbow, inlaid with intricate designs echoing an origin universes away.

Annie may be the sort to cover the entrances directly, but Noctis is in the habit of standing at a feasible distance; he’s been trained to warp in, to close the distance between himself and the enemy in a flash. It was easier to do so when he could judge just how far to throw a weapon, just how much magic he needs to put into his efforts. Even as he feels the katana — clenched in Annie’s hands — taking the life of one of the other aliens, he ignores it. Instead, an arm lifts and aims his weapon, releasing an arrow with a thwick, a noise that sounds too innocuous for what happens next.

A millisecond later and the arrow is embedded in the alien’s skull, through it, easily piercing brain matter with how deep it sinks in. It crumples to the ground almost immediately, and just like that, Noctis dismisses his Royal Arm. The crossbow dissipates, along with the arrow implanted in the alien. Already, it’s bleeding out into the floor, and Noctis frowns, looking back at his fellow hosts to see if they need backup.

Two other alien bodies on the ground tell him that, no, they probably don’t.]

[wrackful]

( Her. )

[Response to Bellamy's questions, unaware that he's made the switch away from speaking. Unaware of most of what's around him, the shop reduced to razor lines of focus between one point and the next, keys unlocking knots in a chain, momentum now pulling him too quickly to think of anything else. He doesn't look back to know Annie and Noctis have dealt with what's behind him. He doesn't look at Bellamy as he shrugs off his grip, vaults over the counter. Doesn't look as the clerk who'd ducked behind it rises now, some kind of gun pointed at his head. He knows Bellamy will handle her. He walks forward, straight towards the glowing glass back wall of the store, and then through it, the holographic disguise barely disrupted by his passing.

Behind, there's a dingy corridor, two locked doors, one stood ajar, and a stairwell. And at the end, an airlock door, hull of a ship making up the back wall. He doesn't hesitate. He heads right for it, flipping open the cover on the access panel as if he'd always known it was there, and starts keying in symbols.]

[deployed]

[ This entire situation is stressful. Altercations where their lives hang in the balance always are, but Murphy seems so detached that it ratchets the stakes up higher than they may need to be. Murphy indicates a clerk with a gun without even a ripple of fear, so Bellamy feels it for him even as he lunges across the store in Murphy's wake and cracks her across the face with the pipe.

She's going to die after that. Bellamy had felt the damage the blow had done. He doesn't need to look. He kicks the fallen gun away as he tugs hard at Annie and Noctis. Stay close infuses the action, but Bellamy doesn't turn to yell back at them. It's more important to watch Murphy's back. Whatever his power has done for him, Bellamy knows how fast conditions can change in the middle of a fight. ]

( Murphy's got our ride lined up. )

[ And Bellamy apparently wouldn't need to knock anyone else around. This might be the home stretch. ]

[sistershoggoth]

[ She gives the side room a solid sweep with her eyes, standing still in the doorway and listening: for any restrained breaths, gasps, movements. Then she turns, coming to fall back in line with the boys. She can feel the twang of Bellamy's stress, it stutters in the empty hollow left by Murphy's preoccupation with the future. It should possibly concern her more, but she is satisfied with the facts: there's a ship, and Noct has kept his head together. She was always the type to doubt until proven wrong, and it's a distant satisfaction to know none of the boys are as useless as she assumes. ]

( Load up, let's go. )

[ She doesn't want to waste any more time on this shitty adventure. She wants to headcount her brood and be done with it. ]

[somnifacient]

[There's no need to tell him twice. And no mental response from Noctis, only a tug of acknowledgement across the web that connects them. Again, he moves along with the group, motivated by the pull of urgency and focus. The secondhand feeling of knowing where to go and what to do, courtesy of Murphy.

He waits as the man keys in symbols on the panel, glancing back at the way they came with a frown. It might be the home stretch, but Noctis won't feel particularly at ease until they're actually back on the station, safe and sound. In the meanwhile, he's staying close as instructed, and outwardly nodding at Annie's comment.]

(Hope flying it out of here won't be an issue.)

[wrackful]

[The keypad isn't the last line of security on the door, and Murphy turns to lift the pipe in Bellamy's hand enough to gather some of the alien blood off the surface. He smears it across a sensor at the bottom of the panel, and the door gives a cheerful beep, finally starts opening with the sound of hydraulics and disused metal.]

( Bellamy'll handle that. )

[He answers Noctis, automatic, still following the flow of certainty in his mind. But the answer itself is a surprise, enough to immediately throw him, turning to look at Bellamy.]

( Wait, since when do you know how to pilot? )

[Behind him, the power in the ship flickers on, the now-open door revealing shelves and stacks of disorganised items up to the ceiling, a huge miscellany filling all available space in sight through the entrance. There's only a thin gangway left empty, curving to the right.]

[deployed]

[ Murphy isn't the only one startled by the immediacy of the answer. Bellamy's eyebrows raise, but he doesn't contradict him. ]

( He's right, ) [ Bellamy projects immediately, looking from Noctis and Annie then back to Murphy. ] ( Cathaway showed me. I'll be able to figure it out. )

[ Though obviously this wasn't going to be exactly the same. But the implication of Murphy's statement means Bellamy will likely be able to adapt, and that's faintly reassuring as they all head down the gangway. ]

( Quickly. There might be more if we tripped a silent alarm. )

[ Or maybe Murphy would have been able to keep that from happening too? Bellamy isn't entirely sure where the outer limits of Murphy's ability begin breaking down. ]