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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: ♪ ♪ ♪
yzak+sabriel+itachi | cw: gun violence, death
There's another one-- behind that building.
[he can feel the hostility billowing from that direction, matching with those who are already hot on their tails. Blue ducks his head behind cover as directed while Yzak tries to thin the herd a little, aided by a thin, transparent psionic barrier to catch bullets flying his way. it can't go on forever, and they have to make a move.
when it's time to make a break for it, Blue releases a pulls of psionic energy to kick up dust and try to unbalance the enemies near enough so they can get up and start moving. he takes Yzak's hand for the help up, ready to get carried out of here an--
BANG. BANGBANG.
--shots hit the barrier, each drilling further than the one before. Blue hesitates to refocus his energy in the direction those shots came, but the next ones come from an entirely different direction, whizzing past their limbs. two make it through and hit true, and Blue jerks with the force of impact, the last thought in mind lost in a bang and a breath.
one just grazed an arm, but the other found its way in and through him, piercing through a lung, the shock of which drops him right away. blood will flood in there quite quickly where it oughtn't be, and if the shock doesn't kill him quicker, drowning that way sure will.]
no subject
No.
It's not just the surface-level impression anybody can get of Blue that he's physically as weak as he is. He knows why - his age, the toll his power's taken on him, the fact that Mu are already born weaker in contrast to their powerful psionic abilities. Yzak knows instantly that a blow like that is...
No.
He moves with the only two desires he feels within himself in that moment; to take out the Bouldersnake before he can make another move (and because he's going to pay for this), and to help Blue. Quickly, urgently, practiced and focused as that blood now seethes in his veins, he aims his gun with deadly precision and pulls the trigger with zero hesitation, shooting the bandit clean through the head. He keeps the panicked anguish at bay like he's had to in other moments of peril before, so it doesn't hinder him, because he can't afford to allow it to do so when he needs to act.
The Bouldersnake's lifeless body doesn't even hit the ground by the time Yzak's confirms there are no others to put them in immediate danger and then drops to his knees next to Blue. The image of his bleeding body instantly burns into his mind. (this is going to be great to haunt his dreams, later) ]
Blue-! Blue!
[ His hand immediately thrusts out to hover over his chest, tracing out a Charter mark for healing. One, two, three of them in a row because he knows one isn't going to be enough. Will three be enough? Will anything...
He refuses that last thought. ]
Shit. Shit, shit, hang on—
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...it wasn't, though; he wound up on Ximilia. it didn't stop him from being here. here is...
...where?
very quickly, Blue's ability to string conscious thought together vanishes, and he has little chance to even ponder on this at all, to consider the reverberations of panic that come from outside himself -- completely different than the first time a bullet bit his skin. he's already consciously gone, even as the clock ticks down and magic struggles to find and bind the wound flooding his lungs and starting to choke him.
color drains from his features, his eyes going glassy as blood wells up and spills a small stream out of the corner of his mouth. it might be a small mercy he doesn't sputter or cough - that takes bodily effort he no longer has.
instead, he just...stops. fades. still.]
no subject
Sabriel.
She's stronger. Her healing magic's stronger than his is by far. She can ... maybe she can... ]
Sabriel!
[ He cries out to her, dire. ]
Sabriel! Help him!
[ Still clutching his weapon in his hand tightly, Yzak looks back down to Blue, who's now gone still. He feels his breath leave him, eyes wide. ]
No...
no subject
And then she sees Blue's body, and realizes that one of those deaths she felt wasn't a bandit's, and suddenly, all the strength goes out of her legs, and the marks fade from around her hands as what's happened starts to sink it.
Blue is dead. The kind, patient person who she'd healed on arrival, her friend is gone.]
No.
[It's less denial, and more an absolute refusal. Sabriel reaches out to the Charter again- different marks, this time. Marks to repair damages lungs, to close a bullet hole.
She's got a bottle full of water. And there's plenty of ash around.]
He- there's a chance I can still save him.
[Phrased as if he's not actually dead, because it's easier to think of things that way, even as Sabriel presses the spell into Blue's bloodied chest.]
But I'm going to need all of my focus on that, and so you'll have to guard us.
no subject
That's all Yzak needs to hear to put his complete trust in Sabriel and his complete devotion into covering her. As Sabriel approaches while Itachi hangs back to do as requested of her, he stands, sucking in a deep breath through grit teeth to keep down the choked sob of despair that had begun to bubble up from his throat seconds ago. Everything still feels like it's moving slower around him than it actually is, but he's been here before, surrounded by death and having no other choice in the moment but to move. ]
—Whatever you need!
[ Time. Protection so she can keep her focus. He'd even let her siphon every ounce of magical energy he had in him if it were possible to offer it. He keeps his eyes forward, not daring to look at Blue in that state again lest it causes him to falter even the slightest bit and ruin this chance.
Shielding. Spells of immobilization. Yzak begins to cast where he can, and to shoot where he can't, not intending to let anything near the two of them. ]
no subject
[For Blue, or of her, Sabriel's not even sure which she's asking for, as she finishes up the spells that will repair Blue's body, and make it fit for a living spirit to inhabit once again.
And speaking of the spirit... The mark Sabriel traces over her forehead is blood as well as ash, the already drying blood feeling sticky against her skin as she raises up the water bottle and starts to chant, trusting that Yzak and Itachi have things well enough in hand... and won't hate her for what she's done if this goes wrong.]
no subject
sabriel's assertion makes his mouth turn down faintly at one corner (what is dead should remain so) but rather than voice that aloud, he does as sabriel asks and turns away from them. he does not have the chakra for a barrier — it would require three shadow clones, and he has already been at this fight a while.
amaterasu also comes at a cost — but less of one than the flame barrier, at least as far as chakra goes — and so he raises a diagonal wall of black fire, buying them space between them and their enemies at least on his front. amaterasu is something the bandits have not seen before, and they are not so foolish as to be unwary of its sudden appearance. it is so hot it scorches the earth even where it does not touch, and it towers over them all, several meters high. itachi rubs the blood from his eye with one lifted shoulder, looking back to sabriel to see if she requires additional support.
he still has no intention of killing their enemies — revenge has never been a driving force for him — but he can at the very least keep them back. ）
no subject
In the midst of all that's happening, it's a moment of safety and comfort- one that ends as Sabriel upends the bottle over Blue's forehead, screwing her eyes shut against the sudden flash of light and surge of magic as all the power in the bottle flows into Blue.
But as she opens them, blinking rapidly, Sabriel lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. The mark she traced over her own is disappearing... and reappearing on Blue's forehead. Only one last thing to do then, now that the Charter has accepted the baptism.
Even without the fighting, the deaths of all the townsfolk have created an easy path into Death- one unlikely to fade for decades, if not centuries. It takes no effort to pass into Death, Sabriel's body in the real world stiffening and starting to frost over as mist starts to billow around her.
In Death, it's a simple matter to grab Blue's spirit, hauling him out of the water and over her shoulders as she makes the short trek back to the border with Life as she pushes against the current- and then she realizes that it's not just the river pulling at her, but the Orb as well- it's that same draining feeling as before, growing stronger as she pushes forward, into Life.]
no subject
Hlk-! Gh!
[--and the sharp pain in his chest from the attempt to draw in breath and instead getting a windpipe full of blood. he has to be turned on his side so he can cough it out and take in air in sharp, rattled breaths, disoriented and still in the process of finding himself in this space again.
alive, though!]
no subject
Sabriel, carry him towards the saloon. Yzak, you're their vanguard. I will follow. Move.
（ there is a little of that old anbu captain in the way he says the orders — self-assured and with an expectation that they will be followed. the longer they stay in the open with someone who is vulnerable and indisposed, the greater risk they will all be in. saving blue will have been pointless if it leads to the rest of them being killed. ）
Sorry for the delay!
All the death feels strangely distant- shock, Sabriel tells herself, as she focuses on getting to the saloon.
Right now, all she can do is trust Yzak and Itachi to make sure they get there safely.]
no subject
—he pushes it all down until later. Right now, he's making sure barriers cast stay in place or be replaced if they shatter. And light spells, light can temporarily blind, but he's not taking that chance for any quick recovery. Lightning can strike, hurt, immobilize, so if any of these fucks get too close, he lays into them with that. ]
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what is...going on? where to Sabriel come from? they aren't safe, he can tell, but he feels so...sluggish...]
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he clears one of the booth seats of debris with one hand, and gestures for sabriel to set blue down properly. ）
I will secure the building.
（ he says, and then flickers away with shunshin. ）
no subject
Oddly, it doesn't seem particularly hard, a fact that she's distantly grateful for.]
I hope they get the orb soon. Before...
[Before they're completely overwhelmed. Before someone else dies.]