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ataraxionlogs2016-02-09 10:41 am
ataraxites) wrote in ataraxionlogs2016-02-09 10:41 am
Entry tags:
ARRIVAL ▒ 006
CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Basecamp, Medical and beyond.
WARNINGS: Implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness. Gore and violence.
SUMMARY: The Tranquility jumps again, while the camp is beseiged by bloodthirsty monsters.
NOTES: Can be found at the bottom of the post. This post is also a plot post.
LOCATION: Basecamp, Medical and beyond.
WARNINGS: Implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness. Gore and violence.
SUMMARY: The Tranquility jumps again, while the camp is beseiged by bloodthirsty monsters.
NOTES: Can be found at the bottom of the post. This post is also a plot post.
| T H E C A M P ( C U R R E N T C H A R A C T E R S ) The Tranquility sirens have been wailing since daybreak, heralding a jump, but they don't command the same attention as usual. The air tastes smokey and there are fire-glows blossoming up from the tree line in the southern portion of the jungle, but there's a more immediate problem to contend with. Jungle creatures come barrelling from the tree line, making bad, frenzied dashes across the expansive crash path, directly for basecamp. Shrieks, growls, and the thump of bodies and scrape of claws against wood and metal, all connote the besiegement that those on the ground can't clearly see. A monster, bigger than a black bear, with jagged bony growths breaking through its skin, slams its paws into wooden walls, where overgrown claws strip splinters from them, shaking them, testing their strength. It leaps, snapping, blood spatter from its open maw painting ruined wood. An animal that looks like a cross between a heron and some kind of feline, scrambles up into the trees, and launches itself down onto an unsuspecting crewmember, who screams as tooth and claw slice through his clothing, flesh, muscle. A horse-like creature with a bony head slams itself recklessly into the wall, pieces of wood shattering, provoking cries of alarm from the people within. And on and on. The initial wave eventually dies off, but the animals persist, and so do the fires in the distance. Those brave enough and capable enough might investigate and put a stop to it themselves, and perhaps gain an idea as to how they began. Those that stay behind have the arduous task of defending the camp, dealing with the swiftly rotting corpses of infested jungle animals, and fortifying the camp. It's ten hours later when the jump happens, sneaking up on those preoccupied with the current crisis. There's a tremble in the earth, shaking up through the trees, and the wreck of the Tranquility begins to cord with lines of white light, threading across the hull like veins, some patches remaining dark, standing out against the vision like splotches burnt to the back of the eyelids. There's no great sound. In an instant, the ship is gone, a soft whomp, a feeling of air rushing past, the trees bending towards the site as if blown by a fierce wind. It's only a second. With a crack, the wreck returns, a rumble rolling through the air like thunder. The earth shakes. The trees tremble. The ship groans, the sound echoing out like the cry of a wounded beast. The jump has passed. Most of the crew and the passengers are unaffected, but some experience a moment of unbalance, the world going black at the edges, and a sudden trickle of blood running from both nostrils, or bursting the fine veins in the eyes to make annoying red splotches on white. The moment passes, and the immediate nausea subsides. There is still work to do be. M E D I C A L ( N E W A R R I V A L S ) You wake up, alone in the dark. There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Through the fog you can see shadows of movement, the muted sound of alarms crying. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're suddenly dropped several feet onto the opposite wall. The impact is painful, winds you, and it takes several seconds to overcome and persuade uncooperative limbs to move. All around you is chaos: the sirens of alarms are shrieking in your ears, close and claustrophobic in the wreckage of the medical bay you've awoken in, lit dim and red. Around you, others are waking up, falling from other gravcouches, stumbling to their feet. Light catches your eye, and you look up to see a huge rend in the outer wall high above you, overhung by broken structural beams and damaged cabling. Climbing up takes all the strength you have. You emerge to air that smells smokey and a little gory, surrounded by an immense, vast jungle. As your vision clears, you realise you stand on the hull of a colossal spaceship, crashed on an unknown world, two moons hanging heavy in the sky above, visible as the sky begins to darken. In the distance, far out on a great swathe of torn up earth through the jungle is a campsite, surrounded by walls, and seemingly beseiged by sporadic attacks of monster. Hopefully, someone will think to come and help you. Otherwise, you best be ready to run. N O T E S |
no subject
"With so many of them, don't we need everyone fighting? You and M'sieur Rogers?" Standing around guarding someone who wasn't about to kill everyone wasn't as important. They needed to protect the camp.
no subject
It's easier for Etrepa to default to the notion that she is under orders: a comforting illusion for her, a state of affairs more familiar than all this autonomy. The truth is that this decision is entirely her own, and appears increasingly ill-conceived.
"I will engage if the attackers get this far," she promises, for what that's worth. She wants to inspire confidence, for her own sake as much as for the small citizen before her. To this end, she adopts a smile. It's not quite as strange as it was when she was first trying it out, but it's still appears weirdly out of place on her face.
"Consider me a last line of defense."
no subject
"Even if he did steal something" And he's never actually heard what he's supposed to have stolen that's so incredibly important "That isn't as important as making sure we all survive. We should worry about stopping the creatures first."
no subject
"However, I cannot leave if Citizen Rogers expects me to be here. It would be improper for this segment to abandon its post."
no subject
no subject
Until then, apparently, all else is deferred. This intransigence may seem irrational, and to some great extent it is. AIs can be crazy, they just go crazy in a distinctly AI-ish fashion.
Because this situation is uncomfortable for her, a clash of priorities that is not being clarified by orders, just jostled by suggestions. The ambiguity and agency tangle unpleasantly on a mind that, for all its longevity, doesn't have much experience with it. This irony is only heightened by proximity to this young, decisive person presently cajoling her.
"You are remarkably steady for your age. What is your name, citizen?"
no subject
no subject
If Etrepa is surprised to hear this estimate of Gavroche's ages, if is she is incredulous, she gives no sign. She receives the report with the same fixity of expression with which she receives the young person's urgings to act.
"I had lieutenants not much older than you. And a few of them rather less steady. I suspect you would have performed well on the Aptitudes." Whatever that means, and for whatever it's worth.
"Still, I suggest you find somewhere to hide until the situation is under control."
no subject
"I'm going to find someplace I can help." He's not helpless. They need everyone, that means him too.
no subject
Etrepa makes a small bow to Gavroche, just a slight incline of her head and shoulders. In different circumstances, she'd bow lower, but now is not the time to be losing sight of the perimeter, even for propriety's sake.
"Take care, citizen."