ximilialog | MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2

MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2

● ● ● M I S S I O N 4 . 2

INTRO • THE DREAM DEFERRED • YOUR WAKE UP CALL • FYI

// INTRO. WELFORD BRANSON  

It is barely past twilight in Scorpion’s Bend, the twin suns having just set, taking their light with them — but the moons delay, and so darkness lingers over the town as Lan Xichen’s conversation with one Welford Branson comes to an abrupt end. At the same time, all around the town, the team will notice the town natives around them stilling — some freezing in the middle of a sentence, a man with a fork in the air, a woman mid-step on the street, some youngsters with their mouths open in laughter. All of them become statues in less than a heartbeat; still, eyes vacant, like everything that made them seem alive has been taken away.

And then — a reverberating sigh, echoing heavily in the ears of all the Orbers. What follows are words, spoken by a chorusing voice now familiar to most of the team —

“Well now you’ve done it.”

The orb’s echoing sound is filled with disappointment, even annoyance.

Some may see that amidst all the frozen townspeople, an old man runs, clawing at his thinning hair. Some of you may hear his words, muttered, desperate:

“I don't understand, I thought 'twas just a bad dream, everyone was fine, don't understand, what in the name of the Eight could've done somethin' like this —”

The disbelieving mumbles trail at his wake, making it clear he does not know what is going on at all — in fact, you may have a better idea as to what has happened than he does. But as you turn to follow him, open your mouth to yell at him to stop... everything around you shatters.

The lights in the buildings grow dim and break; the smell of food disappears; the horses in the stables simply fade away. You notice that if you were wearing or carrying something you bought while here, it too disappears, your clothes turning to those you had on upon arrival, all equipment shimmering away slowly.

But perhaps most importantly… the frozen statues of people crumble into ash right in front of you. It may fill the floors of the now-silent, dusty and worn-down houses, or it may blow away with the harsh desert wind — whichever it is, sans the team, the town of Scorpion’s Bend is now devoid of people.

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// PART I.THE DREAM DEFERRED  

The town that now surrounds the team is very different from the one it used to be — the houses are quiet, filled with sand and dust; doors broken, tables turned over, drawers open and mostly empty, aside from anything not valuable. The beds in Thornbush Inn are ragged, insects of various sizes skittering along the floors. The Saloon is dusty, furniture broken, and a lone piano stands in the corner, half its keys having crumbled away. The door to the Mayor’s office is ajar, a banging sound repeating as it hits the wall in time with the wind.

1.0 In the corners of the Sheriff’s office, the school and the church, the embera slither along, searching for food; owl-shrews hide from the Orbers on the streets, while feathered coyotes howl at the five moons now lending their light to see the town’s destruction better. The team may be the only living humanoids, but they are not the only living beings in the town anymore; in the absence of people, animals have made the town their home. And coexist they must, now, to survive the rapidly dropping temperature of the night that has fallen upon them.

2.0 The next morning, as the moons disappear underneath the horizon and let the two suns bring out their scorching rays once more, the team wakes up to the reality of having to survive Scorpion’s Bend… with very little supplies. So search the empty houses, for they still stand; the fire that has burned away the people has not touched the buildings… but they have not been immune to the passing of time, or the harsh weather in the desert. You may find clothing, basic equipment, pots and pans left on a now-cold stove; but no valuables, no money, no gems, no jewelry, no weapons.

But amidst your search through the town, remember that what you need, first and foremost, is to find water and something to eat — it will not be long until the suns are high in the sky, and some of you are already in desperate need of proper nourishment, without being left to endure the scorching temperatures the days on the planet of Badrock bring.

3.0 But should you want to brave the heat, you’ll find it is now possible to leave the town and venture out into the desert. Out there, the rock dragons search for prey, while bald vultures circle above your head in groups of three or four, their shrieks growing in volume the farther you walk. If you show weakness, any weakness, they strike — and the dragons, sensing their chance, are not far behind.

And when you least expect it, the ground underneath you trembles, like a small earthquake is approaching you… and then you see it: from the sand, a whale surges up, then another, and another, arcing through the air like suspended there, before the sand swallows them once more. Should you get too close, you too may be swallowed underneath the sand; unless you’re very, very careful, or have in your arsenal something else that may help you to deal with these near-immortal giants that have swam across the deserts for hundreds of thousands of years.

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// PART II.YOUR WAKE UP CALL  

Time passes at a snail’s pace without the comforts of the town you were used to. Scorpion’s Bend is now a wasteland you must survive, and it clearly isn’t easy. Some of you might question whether retrieving the orb is still an endeavour worth pursuing after all of this, but the rest of you know that it is. That you’ve come this far and you’re nearly there; you just need to band together and form a gameplan.

As the suns begin to set over the horizon on yet another grueling day of scorching heat and rough, dry sand in the ghost town of Scorpion’s Bend, you might begin to hear a distant thunder that has nothing to do with an oncoming desert storm or otherwise. It rattles at the already weakened structures of the old Saloon and the General Store, bits of broken glass and debris vibrating with the raucous sound of clattering hooves, feet, and paws. And as the sound of the invasion grows louder – you’ll hear the unmistakable manic howling and bellowing in accompaniment: these are the Bouldersnakes that some of you have already heard much of.

4.0 The Bouldersnakes are not a group to be taken lightly, and have garnered the fearsome reputation that they now hold for a reason. Kicking up dust, they arrive like a cloud of chaos in different sizes, shapes, and forms. Some have the ability to shrink and grow in size to match their opponents in physical size and weight. Other Bouldersnakes are agile and quick; and others yet are superhumanly strong and robust – either way, they make for formidable opponents when you, yourself, have been weakened from weeks of a lack of proper nutrition and sleep. The individual members of the Bouldersnakes are like a band of bloodthirsty brothers: from all walks of life and all colours and creeds, with a severe and mean streak to them, who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

What goals, you ask? Should you listen carefully, their leader, riding a winged lizard-like creature, shouts to their underlings:

“Find it! This is where it told us to come to. We missed it last time, but no more! I don't care what we have to do, we're getting our hands on that thing!”

As it so happens, you are not the only crew in search of that elusive orb; the Bouldersnakes have been tracking down the whereabouts of this mysterious and all-powerful object themselves, burning through towns – quite literally – to get it. News that Scorpion’s Bend has seen a resurgence of life and might still be the resting place of the orb has the bandits seeking out the town again. Their first round through Scorpion's Bend about a year ago had them coming up empty-handed (save for a few bits and baubles), but this time they are determined to find what they've come here to find. Though if there’s anything left here to salvage... they’ll ransack as they please.

Whether you confront them head-on or they catch you in hiding, they won’t easily back down from a fight. It will be best to keep your distance if you can manage it, and hope that they’ll pass you by. But the Bouldersnakes have their weaknesses too: once maimed, they still bleed, and none of them are immortal, though they are notoriously difficult to kill based on their talents alone... and when they carry weapons, too, well — those not accustomed to battles may find it best to hide. And even for those with fighting experience under your belt, teaming up with your fellow Orbers and combining your shared skills will be your best chance at survival.

5.0 By the time the suns have disappeared and the moons have risen, the Bouldersnakes invasion will make the bandit attack from the other night seem like a childish tussle. The Bouldersnakes don’t play nice and have adapted to the harsh lands as ruthless survivors. They arrive like a wave, many equipped with weapons: guns, sabers, pistols and small knives. A few others have engineered their own specially crafted weapons made of metal and magic (in the shape of guns, blow-torches, and blades) that wield a special element harnessed from mined ore called ‘pulsefire’. It is this pulsefire, glowing a deep blue (like the hottest colour of flame), that has the capability to destroy all living beings and allows the bandits to systematically ravage unsuspecting towns down to ash, reap its benefits (either for the town’s riches and wealth, or and especially: for any supply of ore), and then leave without a trace.

The best way to fight against pulsefire is to acquire weapons of pulsefire of your own and best a Bouldersnake before they best you. (Think high stakes, noon-time duels of the pistol.) Of course, this is a very risky and very dangerous affair as one shot by pulsefire could mean your untimely demise and the element itself isn't easy to put out either, so it might be best to work in teams to strategically disarm and swipe a pulsefire weapon to use before they manage to overwhelm you.

NOTE: If your character is alive, your character will be vulnerable to the effects of pulsefire. Unliving things such as buildings and infrastructure will not be affected. Pulsefire has a slow spread-rate over unliving things, but its effects on the living are instant. Once in contact with the element, pulsefire quickly consumes the living body and spirit until it is turned to ash. Putting pulsefire out over unliving things is relatively easy, but once pulsefire has touched the living, there's little to no chance of making it out in one piece.

All through this, you must still remember your goal — it is not to stay in Scorpion's Bend, or even fight the Bouldersnakes, but to find the orb... and that means finding Welford Branson. How will you convince him to give you the orb, when all signs point to him not even knowing what it is, or what it has done? That is what you must decide... if you survive the Bouldersnakes in one piece, of course.

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F Y I

• The events in this log take place ICly right after the end of the NPC thread.

• The voting for how to get the orb is now open! Please head HERE to submit your idea for how the team should proceed to get the orb, or +1 others’ ideas.

• The conclusion of the mission and the return to the station will be posted on February 13.

• If you have questions about anything in this log, please direct them HERE.

• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪

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Intro

[It's sudden- as the illusion falls apart, Sabriel's awareness shifts- and suddenly, what she'd pressed to learn, what the orb had actively tried to block her from sensing- becomes suddenly, horribly clear.

Scorpion's bend was not a large town, but even so, the echo of so many deaths, all happening in a single, horrible moment-

Sabriel has to choke back a scream. Anyone with her at that moment will notice her shaking, trying desperately to keep herself from shaking, even as she looks at the piles of ash that had once been the tea shop's patrons.]

So many- it all happened at once.

[Sabriel grabs at the wreck of one table to try to keep herself upright, as she tries to tamp down her death sense, and block out the echoes of what happened here.]

1.1

[But the dead are dead, and Sabriel feels no spirits stirring, trying to cross over to Life, despite how thin the boundary is, worn down from so many dying at once. It's one less thing to worry about, at least.

So she throws herself into helping, catching embrera and owl-shrews to cook, and keeping what little shelter they have standing and as reinforced as possible. It's easy to steel herself against the small, animal deaths, and she makes sure they die quickly, before she picks them up, taking them to be skinned and gutted.]

1.3

[Sabriel's eager for any excuse to get out of town, away from the constant sense of death, and a chill that even the midday heat can't fully chase from her bones. She's visibly more at ease the further they get from the town, despite the heat and the danger, although she's not blind to the latter- pointing to a large rock formation a short ways off, where a handful of plants are growing.]

Can we climb up there? We can see if any of them look edible, and- what's that?!

[Because out of the corner of her eye, Sabriel sees the upper shell of a rock dragon as it surfaces slightly, cutting through the sand like a shark through water.]

Your Wake Up Call

[Sabriel moves swiftly as the fight starts- she's no stranger to combat, and she doesn't like the way some of those weapons gleam, shining eerily blue.

Sabriel fights at a distance, most of the time, aiming spells, and occasionally bullets, at her opponents, drawing her sword only when her foes get too close to her or another crew member.]

Watch out!

[These people are dangerous, and even if Sabriel isn't always striking to kill- there's less of the guilt this time, even if there's no satisfaction in the sensation of their deaths as she tries to block them out. These people are trying to kill her, and the friends she's made- and they've already wiped out this town, and who knows how many others they might kill, if they're not stopped- or if the orb falls into their hands.]

Wildcard

[None of these work? PP me at

sarahthesilent or DM this journal if you want a custom starter.]

Edited 2022-02-03 05:59 (UTC)

[Percy goes still, then readies Bad News, eyes narrowing at the rock dragon coming just a little too close for comfort. He loads it up with bullets, but he's not stupid enough to fire a shot first at it, so he starts to walk up the rock formation (thank you, boots of spider-climbing) before he stops and looks at Sabriel.]

Can you climb up there on your own or do you need help?

[Because if she needs help he's willing to pull her up, but he isn't quite as strong as other people.]

I think I can handle it.

[Sabriel's clambering up the rock, testing for hand and footholds even as the rock dragon keeps getting closer.

Oh, and the vultures are circling lower now too. Lovely.]

Think that thing can climb?

[Even if it can't, Sabriel is redoubling her efforts.]

Even if it can't, I'd still be worried. Monsters' mouths in my world tend to be very dangerous places to be near, on account of more than just the teeth.

[He eyes the vultures, troubled, and skips over a crack in the rock as he just walks on up like this is a horizontal surface.]

Let's just shoot down what vultures we can and go before we find out for sure. All we really need is the meat.

Do they breath fire? Or is their breath just exceptionally foul?

[Almost to the top- just a little further.]

True. Maybe we can gather some of those plants, so someone back in town can check if they're edible.

Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes both. Other times they could spit out ice, poison, lightning, acid, or worse, spells that could get you killed if you were unlucky enough to be in the way.

[He speaks as if he has intimate experience with all these things, death included. Kind of wild to hear from someone who looks as classy as Percy does, although at the moment he's more of a noble fallen on hard times. And these are hard times, he supposes.

As soon as he makes it up to the top, he turns around to kneel down and offer a hand to Sabriel to help her up.]

I have a spare pair of gloves if you need some. [He glances over to the plants with no small amount of suspicion.] Considering how things have been going for us lately, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these plants could poison someone on contact.

Oh. Sounds like some of the nastier entities in an Old Kingdom bestiary.

[Admittedly, as both an Abhorsen and a graduate of a very high-class boarding school, the contrast doesn't strike Sabriel as being particularly jarring. Not when she took fighting arts and magic alongside etiquette.

She takes the hand gratefully, surveying the plants.]

That's... probably a good idea. The last thing we need is to make more work for the medics, they've got their hands full already.

[ Megatron had been with her in the guise of Meriwether, hovering nearby to aid his mistress--and then it all crumbles. The patrons turning to ash and dust and the houses crumbling into disrepair right in front of them as the illusion falls away. His initial reaction is a grim sort of shock--he's inured to the horrors of mass death in some ways. Then again, he doesn't have the sense for it the same way she does.

His holoform reaches out to steady her, follows her gaze to the ashen remains. ]

Are you alright, Sabriel?

[ He sounds distant, if only because his real body is slowly rousing itself to stretch out its various sensors, trying to determine what can be detected at felt at the edges of the town. ]

Edited 2022-02-03 16:59 (UTC)

No.

[Sabriel's too stunned to even try to lie. She sways slightly, as she tries and fails to control her breathing, even as she clings to the holoform.]

They're all dead. They all- I can feel it.

[This is the truth the orb was trying to hide. That they've been living in a town full of- not even ghosts, Sabriel realizes. The townspeople weren't even that, just... echoes. Sabriel laughs, the sound awful and hysterical.]

Everyone in this town, they all died at once.

[ Megatron can still remember the time he heard the screams. So many of them. All of them. Every victim he had ever snuffed from life crying out in pain and anguish and terror.

He had never wanted to hear anything like it again. Imagining that Sabriel had felt something even vaguely similar was enough to freeze the energon in his fuel lines. The holoform wraps an arm tight around Sabriel and urges her towards the door. They need to get out. Away from the buildings. Away from the echoes of the dying. ]

That seems to be what happened, yes.

[ He agrees in a quiet voice, distracted. On the outskirts of town, an engine roars to life and disregarding the need for a door, promptly smashes through the wall of the crumbling, decrepit barn that he had been hiding in. ]

[Sabriel follows, too rattled to really ask where they're going, because anywhere she doesn't have to look at a pile of ash that had just seemed human sounds better than here.

As she hears something smash out of the barn in the distance, she starts, jerking her head in the direction of the sound.]

What- What's going on? Are we under attack?

No. I may have been hasty in my egress.

[ The sound of a rumbling engine and squeaking caterpillar treads grows closer as Megatron gently holds Sabriel up. ]

I think it might be best if we got you away from the buildings for a moment. You seem rattled.

[ The engine noises grow louder and louder and the looming shape of a Cybertronian armored fighting vehicle turns onto the street and begins to slow to a stop in front of the pair. ]

If that's agreeable to you?

Oh- your real body?

[But the idea of getting out of town, away from all this death- that's definitely appealing. Sabriel can still feel it, pressing on her like ice water, making her shake.]

Yes. Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea.

Correct.

[ The holoform steps forward begins to urge her upwards onto the deck of the tank. It's strange--the older man seems to have the strength to easily handle her weight, though his touch is as gentle as ever. Once she seems to be safely set somewhere she won't slip off, the holoform gently fizzles away. ]

Hold on to something.

[ Or you know climb into the hatch. He's not a cop. The tank's engine revs and the vehicle begins to move at a fair clip for the edge of the town. ]

[Sabriel instead clambers into the hatch- out of the sun, and away from the sight of the ruined town.]

It- I'm not sure what happened, but- they felt alive, up until they didn't.

[ The hatch rather conscientiously swings shut behind her to block out the rays of the sun. There's a hum of fans as climate control kicks on and the small space inside the tank's control room begins to cool almost instantly. ]

They seemed quite alive from my own scans.

[ Megatron's voice almost seems to emanate all around her, surrounding her in an armored shell that does its best to block out encroaching feeling of death. The tank lurches into motion and the various viewscreens at the driver's position flicker on to show an expansive 180 degree view of the dusty, abandoned street. ]

Do you wish to speak of your feelings? Or would a distraction be more appropriate?

A distraction. Talking... isn't going to help.

[Sabriel makes no move to touch the controls, instead watching the view screens, and fixing her eyes on the horizon.]

A distraction, then.

[ What that distraction is going to be, he really has no idea. He's not a therapist, though he's been to therapy. He doesn't quite know how to shake her free of that malaise and the aching psychic pain of death. They rumble out past the outskirts of town, finally free of the artificial limitations imposed upon them, and start up a small rise. Beyond, the view stretches out into badlands, plateus, mesas, and hills all dusty and arid. ]

It's amazing that anyone chooses to live in a place like this. Especially organics.

If it's what you're born into, if you grow up with it... it just seems normal.

[Like Sabriel with magic and necromancy. When you grew up with such things, they didn't seem strange or frightening. And as they get further out, away from the death, and any sign of human habitation, it's easier to think, and Sabriel starts shaking.]

Besides, the mines were everyone's source of livelihood. To them, that place must have felt like home.

[Up until it had been wiped out. All Sabriel can hope for is that they didn't suffer.]

I suppose that's true enough for anyone. If you begin your life surrounded by a certain system and environment, you don't notice the way it seeps into you. Surrounds you. And then when you do notice, what does that mean?

[ Megatron is silent after that for a few moments, the rumble of the engine and soft whirr of the air conditioning the only sound. Then: ]

The mines did feel like home. Awful as they were, at times. Not these, but... when I was first brought online I was a miner. I lived in them and worked in them, constantly.

[ Yzak was a bit busy in the immediate moments after the illusion around them shattered - coming face to face with a couple of rock dragons that he managed to get away from, but not without a nice memento from them in the form of a bandage draped over the left side of his face for the remainder of ths mission. However, he did hear Sabriel's initial message on the network about the dead, how she sounded...

So now that he's back on his feet properly and refocused on getting things done, he comes to find her and offer to do said skinning and gutting. Teamwork. ]

These'll do for now.

Right- no point in wiping out all the local wildlife.

[Not when they've no idea how long it will take to get the orb. Not when they're all dealing with the effects of eating nothing but ash for up to a month.]

[ He puts down one of the owl-shrews, but doesn't reach yet to grab for a knife. He's still helping, but it's not the primary reason for coming here. Yzak came to see if she was okay. So he looks to Sabriel. ]

I haven't gotten to see you until now. Are you okay?

[ Yzak gives her a pointed look, she'll know what he means by that. ]

I'm- better than before. The sensation hasn't faded, but I'm getting better at ignoring it- especially since there aren't any spirits near here.

[Which is odd, but... Sabriel's just glad they don't have the restless dead to deal with in addition to starvation.]

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MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2

● ● ● M I S S I O N 4 . 2

F Y I

Sabriel | OTA

1.3

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Intro

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1.1

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