![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ximilian) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ximilialog2022-02-02 06:57 pm
- ! event log,
- ! open,
- altered carbon: takeshi kovacs,
- critical role: percy de rolo,
- doctor who: clara oswald,
- doctor who: river song,
- doctor who: the doctor (11),
- fear street: ziggy berman,
- grishaverse: alina starkov,
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- knives out: marta cabrera,
- marvel comics: gwen stacy,
- mass effect: kaidan alenko,
- mcu: daisy johnson,
- mcu: shang-chi,
- pacific rim: newton geiszler,
- pacific rim: raleigh becket,
- star trek aos: james t. kirk,
- star trek aos: leonard mccoy,
- star wars: finn,
- star wars: luke skywalker,
- supernatural: dean winchester,
- the 100: clarke griffin,
- the old guard: andromache,
- towards the terra: soldier blue,
- transformers: drift,
- transformers: megatron,
- twisted wonderland: deuce spade,
- yakuza 0: goro majima,
- yakuza: zhao tianyou
MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2
● ● ● M I S S I O N 4 . 2
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 —
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
F Y I
• 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: ♪ ♪ ♪
no subject
Peering out from behind the building, Daisy then looks over to Aleksander,]
You want to stay here while I take care of them?
no subject
[Information was bountiful on the network, everyone so open with their lives and the tragic tales of their homeworlds, but the limitations to their endurance never seemed to come up.
Well-
That was a clearly a mistake, as he shakes his hands out, eyes going from Daisy to the empty space before the building curves in to a shallow alleyway and the sounds from a new group of bandits arriving.]
No heroics. An hour? A night?
no subject
[Daisy says, her voice low as she looks from the direction the bandits are coming from to him.]
It's easier with my gauntlets.
[Which she has on this time, thanks to Newt.]
What about you?
[It's not the first time she's noticed that, as powerful as he is, his powers seem to drain him faster than hers do.]
no subject
[Then shadows are deep and plentiful, almost eager to swim in to his Small Science and do his bidding. The rush of power and invigoration that flows through all Grisha who uses their powers, beats through him with every flex of his fingers and every swing of his arms.]
It's harder during the day. Less shadows to call upon.
[Hardly any, of a planet such as this. But he was the most powerful Grisha to ever walk on his world and the shadows came, even under the twin suns and in the desert.]
Ready?
no subject
[And despite the severity of the situation, Daisy's smiling at him. She likes working with him.]
Can you cut off their vision? Make it so they can't see us coming.
no subject
Yes.
[The Darkling's head tilts back as he brings his hands together, and the shadows around Daisy's feet leap up before rushing around the corner. several voice call out in terror, screams of pain and the babble of the confused- my eyes! My eyes!- as his shadows tear in to the soft parts of their eyeballs, dripping in to sever the optic nerves of the Bouldersnakes nearest to their location.
Or most... from the ones he'd seen, not everyone seemed to have eyes but the only way to know, is to take a look.]
They can't see you now.
no subject
...Not exactly what I meant, but that works too.
[Not wasting anytime, Daisy moves around the corner and sees for the first time just how bad it really is. Blood is pouring down their face, and half of them are crumpled on the ground. The others running on adrenaline are blindly trying to attack whatever is within reach.
One of them makes a grab for her and she takes them by the arm, swinging them around to collide in with another of their teammates.]
no subject
There's no reason to kill these men, they are no threat and he steps around the flailing arms easily, letting his shadows push the nearest one away from him as he follows Daisy through the throng of men.]
Be more specific next time.
[A general once again, commanding and imposing as he steps away from the Bouldersnakes and on to the main street.]
We need to find everyone else, and locate the leader.
no subject
[Daisy says dryly, moving out of reach and forward towards where a bunch of people are fighting. Her eyes scanning quickly to see whose an Orber and who isn't, it's absolute chaos. Not everyone knows how to fight, much less fight this many people. So far she doesn't have eyes on their leader though.]
And when we find him?
no subject
[His hands fold together, fingers twisting until the shadows crowd around them to cover their tracks as he leads the way. Barely. One step in front of Daisy, eyes darting back and forth, watching for more Bouldersnakes trying to sneak up on them.
Watching for- the rest of the team.]
That might deter the rest in their fruitless search of this place.
no subject
[Daisy offers. Things are already chaotic as it is, do they really want to be making that worse? She keeps pace with him, catching sight of one of the Bouldersnakes trying to sneak up behind one of the Orbers she uses her power to send them flying off to the side just before they can attack.]
Not everyone here is capable of fighting them off.
no subject
[Too many came down from the station with only the most rudimentary ideas about fighting, and this sort of fighting - in the back alleys and faced with superior weapons, was not simple.
It wasn't a barroom brawl or something to walk away from, not with the town coming down around their ears, not with the bandits shying away from nothing to get answers. But he would find answers of his own.]
They can be protected somewhere the Bouldersnakes won't look. The mines, or one of the buildings far from the center of town.
[Mind already spinning away in plans, how to set up barriers to keep the bandits from overrunning them, even as the rest of him is planning how to chase them out of town completely. Or kill them all.]
The only way to know which one it is, is to kill him.
no subject
[That place is far from safe, especially now. Lips pressing together as she tries to figure out how they could even get everyone on the page, especially with all of the panic cries for help over the comms.]
And you think the rest of them will just, what? Fold?
[Daisy’s got a hard time believing that. Sure, all of the Orbers have been working together thus far. But at the end of the day, selfish people exist. They’ve all seen what the Orb can do to people, so if their leader is gone will they actually stop? Daisy has a hard time believing that.]