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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
He turns to Carlisle now, the wariness back in full force. AJ isn't exactly what he'd call a reasonable person, but she's pretty damn angry and this guy's acting pretty damn suspect. "What were you tryin' to do?"
It's no accident that his bloodied knife happens to be brought into plain view when he folds his arms.
no subject
Having once been victim to compulsion before, she isn't faced with the subject in kind. She doesn't miss the niggling feeling of her actions and words being controlled by something else. And she most certainly does not appreciate the prospect of it being used on her friends-- Friend. Firo.
Before she can ask, Firo's already asked the next query itching on her mind. She grits her teeth, her left hand balling into a fist as she waits for Carlisle's answer. It's the only thing that's keeping her grounded at the moment.
One thing is for certain -- she does not look happy. Still fueled by the adrenaline of recent events, she is still pumped full of unused energy that needs to go somewhere. And it's leaning towards the anger side now.
no subject
He doesn't like this: doesn't like people turning against him, doesn't like being caught for what he is... but those are consequences of his own choices. They're ones he made in a panic, but ones that damn him all the same. Worse, somehow, is being called a liar. He hadn't brought his protectors to him -- not as far as he knows.
Carlisle grits his teeth, finding his voice as he coughs up an answer. "I was trying to protect myself. Trying not to get mauled by a creature I have no hope of fighting. I didn't drag you from the walls of the camp. You were already here -- both of you." That wasn't denying that he had been digging in their heads at one point, but it was the truth.
no subject
"someone out here felt like they were pissing themselves and the next thing I know I'm getting chowed on by that thing and your whine's ramped up to eleven in the back of my head! I'm Wall crew, I don't just come out here unless there's a good fucking reason." The look she's casting Carlisle's way suggests that, right now, he is not one of those reasons.
Turning her attention to Rey and Firo properly, now, she says, "this is the sort of shit that Shouting Rock crazy was talking about, getting inside someone's head and changing their minds about something. We should lock him up right next to that fart-brain she already has tied up."
no subject
...Not that he's feeling merciful, though. "Or we could just deal with him here." He glares at Carlisle, "I wanna hear exactly what just happened. Everything."
no subject
Damned if it isn't tempting to punch a hole through someone's face right now, though. Not just for the compulsion, but for endangering her family, no less.
Her eyes dart towards the jungle, and then back to the others. "Assuming we have the time to stand and chat about it."
The fire's still blazing, which meant that it could only be a matter of time before they're accompanied by more of those animals.
no subject
His eyes fall to the ground as certainty leaves him, what little color he has fading. He didn't actively reach out to them, no, but... it's not impossible that he could have done it unconsciously, having lost control of his curse in a moment of panic.
And that terrifies him nearly as much as the depths of his cowardice: there are aspects of himself he cannot handle, ones that would see others dead before himself. In lieu of self-control, he'd compelled others to protect him. He knows better than to cave to such vices, has sworn himself to teachings that speak out against such vile acts... and he'd done it anyway, deciding he'd rather be damned than face a second death. What does that say about him? About who he is? About his lineage?
They would be disappointed in me, he thinks in inward revulsion. They always were.
His mouth carves itself into a grimace, his teeth grinding behind his lips as his stomach turns with disgust. He is no better than any other monster. His cowardice knows no bounds, and apparently, neither does his shame.
He will have to wrestle with his own sins later. Rey has a point: they do not have the luxury of time, not when there are still creatures roaming the woods and fires on the horizon.
"I didn't call you out here," he insists again, quieter. "Not on purpose. What I did choose to do was influence you to fight in my stead, and I am all too aware of how awful a thing that is to do to someone."
no subject
It's certainly tempting, though. Carlisle deserves it.
"You'll do it again," she promises, seeing his shame painted clear across his face and going for the throat, as it were. No need to hold back, there. "You'll 'accidentally' lose control and really fuck someone up, and when you do, I'm going to hunt you down and slit your throat." At least Firo and Rey are here to witness it; her reasons are air tight as far as she's concerned.
no subject
For all that Firo may complain about the justice system of his world, he's not exactly interested in offering Carlisle a fair trial here. The hypocrisy is totally lost on him.
Rey's right, though--how much time could they have here? He casts a look of irritation toward the smokiest area of the jungle... and then smirks as he looks back at Rey. "We could just throw him into the fire."
It's a little much, even by Firo's standards, but he wants to see if the guy will squirm. After all, they could always pull him right back out once he's learned his lesson.
no subject
But then, she also knows Firo, and the type of person that he is. While Rey doesn't entirely know that much about AJ, perhaps giving their perpetrator a scare would sate her. Perhaps not. Either way, even she isn't satisfied with the prospect of a 'fair trial'.
Instead, she follows her friend's lead, and nods.
"Better than just leaving him here to try that shit on anyone else." She casts a sidelong look to AJ. "What do you think?"
no subject
The twice-cursed are damned by their mere existence, but his damnation is justified. He has no right to serve his goddess, no right to seek redemption, and no right to be alive. That thought alone makes him sick to his stomach, and is something he should have considered before choosing to side with his cowardice over courage. It's his fear of death that pushes him toward that -- he knows what awaits him on the other side.
He takes a step backwards, his legs feeling unsteady. "W- wait," he stammers, "I didn't say I'd do it again. I didn't say I wanted to do it in the first place! I am a healer, not a fighter, and I- I panicked. That doesn't ex—"
A rumble beneath his feet cuts him off -- the ground shakes as the ship prepares for a jump. It's there and gone in an instant, leaving the trees around them billowing in the wind. Carlisle finds himself similarly staggered, and brings a hand to his head -- it thunders painfully behind his eyes, the world spinning wildly around him as blood trickles from his nose once more. It's not a punch to the face that did it this time, though.
no subject
That was before the Tranquility tried to jump again. As it rumbles in the distance, AJ gives a cry as its accompanying psychic blast slams through her skull. She staggers forward and clutches her face, finding herself dazed by the unexpected blow. For the moment, she's incapacitated.
no subject
The timing of the jump seems to be fortunate, even if it's painful for all of them. Like those who haven't been exactly diligent in training their skills, Firo doesn't suffer the full brunt of the jump effects. But he feels them all the same, gritting his teeth as the headache strikes. "Damn it!"
no subject
That was when a rumble shakes the earth, and Rey stumbles onto her knees.
The world spins, and seems to grow bigger. If only because she doesn't yet realize she's on her knees, more preoccupied with grabbing her face bleeding from eyes and nose.
no subject
A wave of vertigo forces Carlisle to close his eyes; he takes another step backward, wanting to put more distance between himself and the confrontation before him, only to lose his balance and end up flat on his back. He doesn't try to get to his feet after that, opting instead to curl up like a bug, his head in his hands as he waits for the sickening sensation to pass.
And it does, after a moment -- his nausea subsides, though blood continues to flow from both his nostrils. He cracks an eye open: his vision is blurred again, tinted slightly, but he finds he's not the only one who has been seemingly and suddenly crippled by some unknown force.
no subject
But looking around, the only contenders around her for more trouble are reeling, too, and AJ knows better than to fall prey to coercion now; and nothing's pressing her her mind but a powerful headache.
"You did this," she grates, rusty as a shrew, in Carlisle's direction, never mind that he's bleeding as badly as her. "Stop it!"
no subject
His eyes then light on Rey, and any defense of Carlisle is immediately forgotten. He sets his jaw and rushes to kneel by her side, ignoring the pain and sickness--she seems to have it much worse than he does, if she's on the ground.
He won't ask it in front of others--potentially dangerous others--but the implicit question in his searching eyes and the hand he places on her shoulder is: are you okay?
no subject
Rather than saying anything as well, she just nods. After all, she's been much worse than this...
"It's the jump," she groggily manages to speak in response to AJ's accusation.
As much as she'd like to torment the man who put her family in danger, even Rey knows better.