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ximilialog2022-11-08 03:24 pm
MISSION: THE DARKEST WILD
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 0 . 0
It’s the middle of the day when the ping! of a new mission file is broadcast across every crewmember’s communications device. Whether you were in the middle of your meal, or occupied in one of the other rooms, you might want to pause for a moment to check on the file and hear what Viveca has to say.
You’ll have the rest of the afternoon to figure out what to pack with you, and it might not be a bad idea to seek some advice from those more experienced with the great outdoors; and when the morning comes, it is time to head to the teleportation platform once again.
It’ll be up and running when you arrive, its’ hum now a familiar sound — and beside the platform, Viveca awaits the entire team to shuffle in. Once everyone has gathered there, she takes a quick headcount and then smiles.
With that, the machine’s hum grows louder and louder, its lights blinding —
And then all of a sudden the lights shut down, the hum of the engine cutting off as if by a knife’s edge. Perhaps you are part of those who are left standing on the now-quiet platform, Viveca’s quiet curses in the dark the only other sound … until sudden laughter is carried into your comms, a woman’s voice echoing in your ears.
Or it may just be that you are one of those that the machine takes with it, suspended in the middle of nothingness with the multiverse surrounding you, waiting to be pulled towards the right direction — in your ears, there is the whisper of many voices, telling you what you must do in order to receive their help.
And then, just before you can open your mouth to shout for help, you find sand beneath your feet.
Somehow, some way, you’ve arrived on Noth 11X8.
The pale yellow skies of Noth 11X8 are dark and storm-filled when you arrive. Rolling thunder booms in the distance, and fat raindrops fall around you, leaving you drenched in seconds. At your feet are the pale sands of the island’s shoreline, and stretching out beyond that are the wild, torrential waves you’re meant to cross.
You might take a moment to gather your wits about you, but it won’t take long to realize there are fewer of your number than you last remember. If you try to reach out to the missing crew, you’ll only find static through your earpiece… similar to the way it sounds whenever you try to reach Viveca or Degar during a mission.
Wherever the rest of the team are, whatever happened to them — those are answers you won’t find in the wilds that stretch out around you. What you do know is this: there is an orb waiting for you on the next island over, and the faster you get to it, the faster you can hope to find your missing people and finally get the sand out from between your toes. (You know, if you’ve got them.)
1.0 Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if the storm will let up any time soon. (In fact, it won’t until seven hours later.) Those of you who are perhaps feeling antsier than the others might genuinely consider attempting the trip even with the waters raging as they are. Who knows, maybe you’ve got skills and abilities of your own that would make the journey from island to island mere child’s play.
2.0 Maybe you notice the giant turtle dragon peacefully slumbering along the shoreline, whose entire length, as far as you can see, stretches the distance between the two islands. With its tough, armored skin and the rock-like formations along its shell, the turtle dragon almost appears… hikable. It’s definitely a risk, but is it any riskier than braving the churning waters yourself? It doesn’t even seem to notice the commotion happening all around it, so what are the chances it’ll notice a little ant like you crawling along its body?
Of course, you can always choose to wait the weather out. By the following morning, the skies will have cleared, and you can now see the main island in the distance. There, rising right out of its center, is the volcano that houses the orb. Thanks to the mission file you know it is active, but right now it sits dormant, save for a faint cloud of crackling energy floating over its peak. The more you look at it, the more unsettling it becomes, until eventually you find yourself forced to look away.
You refocus. One quick look around you will make clear that the turtle dragon has disappeared, likely sinking back under the cooler waters to avoid the rising heat from the planet’s trinity of suns. The air is thick and humid now, tasting of the previous night’s rains, but the ocean is calm and welcoming. What better time to venture out than now?
3.0 Daylight reveals the smaller island to be rife with natural resources that can easily make a handy raft, should you have the skill to fashion one. The trees alone would suffice: tough wood, sturdy and flexible leaves, vines for rope, and sap so sticky and waterproof it would give any artificial glue a run for its money. (Careful not to get it on your hands! The only way to remove the sap from any surface is to use the juice of the tree’s fruits ... a fine idea of course, except for the rank smell that lingers for at least two days.)
4.0 Further investigation will reveal the planet’s fauna to be just as helpful as its flora. Basking along the shoreline are a herd of irkals. While the males are only about 2 meters long, the females average around 3 meters from the tips of their snout to the tips of their tails. They are friendly and playful when approached, to the point where it doesn’t take much cajoling for the irkals to wade into the waters with you. By that point, why not test your luck? This time around, fortune favors the friendly — any who attempt to get a ride off of one of the irkals will find them agreeable. In fact, they might even make a race of it…
5.0 Should you choose a more direct route, you’ll find the waters during the daytime a tepid temperature, just a degree or two shy of feeling uncomfortable. Swimming the distance will clock you in somewhere under three hours, and the trip will be (miraculously) relatively uneventful. Save for the group of irkals, the waters are quiet. As you get closer to the main island, you may happen across a lone gevvin hanging around just outside of the shoreline. Though it will find you curious and swim closer for examination, it won’t prove aggressive unless provoked first.
Regardless of how you get there, the moment you step onto the main island’s sands, you can feel the difference. The air here is thicker, almost tangible and electric. In fact, the closer you get to the island’s center, the denser the atmosphere around you will feel, as if something invisible is physically trying to prevent you from approaching.
But that’s a problem for future-you. Right now, you’ve still got the rest of the island to get through. Those of you with teleporting abilities or enhanced speed will find they no longer work accurately, and the more you try, the more disastrous every outcome gets. Hopefully you’ve packed some water to keep hydrated, because it looks like you’re stuck doing it the old-fashioned way.
At least the view is nice. Like the island you first landed on, the main island is overrun with nature, with plenty of vegetation and fruit to provide sustenance. Flora of various kinds thrive in vivid, brilliant colors, providing a lush backdrop to your otherwise tenuous trek.
6.0 But as the day wears on, the planet’s suns prove to be an obstacle all on their own. In the middle of the day when the suns are at their highest in the sky, the heat will be so unbearable that only a handful of seconds under direct light will result in second degree burns. It may be in your best interest to find shade and shelter with your fellow teammates until the worst of the mid-afternoon sunlight has passed.
7.0 Nevertheless, the majority of your traveling will probably be best done during the daytime. At night, Noth 11X8’s only moon plunges the planet into a bone-piercing chill. Even if you can withstand the freezing cold, what little moonlight that manages to make it through the tree’s canopies makes for overall poor visibility, hindering any productive travel.
8.0 And be careful not to get too distracted by the scenery either. Many dangers await you on a planet deemed ungovernable by its own neighbors. Apart from the creatures of interest listed on the mission file, the island is teeming with wildlife who may not take too kindly over being disturbed. They may be encountered during the day as you're trekking through the island, or at night when you're trying to rest, so make sure to familiarise yourself with them beforehand so you know what to look out for.
• Dregzeok: Nocturnal. They hunt in pairs using their razor-sharp horns/antlers and the glowing orbs along their body, which gathers energy from the planet’s moon to create concussive energy blasts.
• Bladed Iris: Named for their coloring that matches many of the island’s wild flora, these solitary reptiles main weapon are the numerous spikes along their tail and frill. If that doesn’t work, they can also spit out a corrosive acid the same orange color as their markings.
• Thrilqoils: A symbiotic species, each thrilqoil is host to at least a dozen qoils (miniscule, gnat-like insects). While relatively peaceful, they can be very territorial of their nests found along low-hanging branches of trees. Just one sting can cause the flesh to swell up to the size of a small melon.
• Swamp Boars: Found only in swamps, their tough plating make for good armor. Though these herbivores keep mostly to themselves, they have been known to maul and gore any would-be threats.
• Khulgruns: These giants can be easily confused with the trees found scattered near rivers, but the khulgruns themselves are not actually the wood, but rather the glowing bulbs encased within them. Once fully matured, a khulgrun will burrow itself into a tree, uproot it, and use it as a vessel for its body.
• Oltir: While a useful plant during the evening, ingesting the bulbs of an oltir will cause the eater to feel incredibly intoxicated for the next three hours as it digests.
Despite it all, you reach your destination. By now, the orb’s power is downright palpable in the air surrounding the volcano. Gravity feels stronger, making each step heavier than the last. At its peak, pink-purple clouds swirl overhead like a brewing storm. Maybe you feel a sense of unease at the sight of the omen, but you also know how close you are now. There, nestled into the volcano’s caldera, sits your ticket out of this hellscape — the orb.
Then it happens — a daunting rumble.
9.0 Like a tidal wave, the rumbling ripples through the volcano, making the ground beneath your feet shudder and groan. Without any further warning, scorching lava spews out from the opening, erupting into the air and running down its craggy sides. Riding the fiery currents are magma crabs, looking for an easy meal by snatching up any scorched creature the lava leaves behind. You’ll probably want to get out of the way.
And yet, you know you have to find a way to brave the lava and the fumes of the active volcano, because leaving the orb there is not an option — so it's in your best interest to put your thinking caps on, plan with others, and figure out a way to get to your goal.
F Y I
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• To submit a suggestion for the orb retrieval, please do so HERE.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪
no subject
[ it's all a plan along the lines cassian would put forward himself and he's happy to go along with it, happy someone else smartly suggested it first. so he nods easily at her. ]
There is potential for drier brush and wood for the fires under the canopies as well.
no subject
[A joke, deadpan. She shakes her head a little.]
Not that I don't have a couple of things that would work, but I'd really rather not try to fight a shark with a knife.
[She turns, booted feet scuffing up the sand, and walks against the wind toward the trees.]
How are you at starting campfires?
no subject
Assuming shark is the biggest enough concern. [ they got a bit of a bestiary, but the ocean is big, and he assumes there is potential for creatures unknown too. ]
[ but he follows after her when she starts for the treeline. ] Decent. I have matches, but they may not work very well in this weather.
no subject
[Is that a joke? If you're Natasha, it's a joke. But it's also the kind of joke that's true.
She's already considering modifications for her next set of gauntlets.]
Same. And some dry tinder.
[Outdoor survival isn't her specialty, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know how to prepare. She's thankful for the starter wick in her pack, considering how damp everything is.]
Hopefully it's not like this the whole time we're here.
no subject
With luck, the trees may provide a natural awning as well, enough to keep a fire or two going. [ he is not expecting that because he is realistic, but it would be incredibly convenient. ]
It is difficult to say when we have no data on the planet's typical weather formations and patterns. Perhaps our boat experts will have a plan for rain too.
no subject
[Boat experts and weather experts. She means it as a joke, but at the same time...
Well, they could use a few of those, couldn't they?
Fire first.
The shelter of the trees is marginally better at least, with the broad leaves overhead doing as Cassian suggests, giving them a bit of shelter. The wind still wips between the trunks and rattles the branches, which creak concerningly.]
Next time we get a brief for an abandoned world, I'm bringing a tent.
no subject
[ he considered bringing a tent - but he didn't want to deal with the potential consequences of only one. ]
Perhaps that is a request we can make of Viveca. [ he's figured out she handles the supply drops et all, but he hasn't figured out her limits just yet. ] A handful of ready-to-go and easily pack-able tents.
no subject
[Natasha glances up from her work briefly, looking back toward the water, and considering how many nights they'll be sleeping out here.
At least one more, and that's if they're lucky.
How common are these storms?]
Though it's the first mission I've been we've needed them. Usually the work is more urban.
no subject
[ he makes note of the apparent commonality of urbanization. he's more used to working in a city, but the wilds aren't strange to him either. ]
How many have you been through so far?
no subject
[Has it really been that long? It seems like it's gone faster.
On the other hand, not having anywhere else to be probably colors her feelings on the time. If she were in a hurry to get home, she imagines she'd be impatient by now.]
The others were all more or less in urban settings.
no subject
Urban seems easier to navigate, given there are actual populations to track it through.
[ he offers out some drier kindling brush he found. ] I am Cassian.
no subject
[She introduces herself simply, taking the kindling to feed the nascent fire.]
At least it seems like you can get to work quicker.
[Which may be her bias talking, but in other missions they've been dropped into Natasha has felt like they could start gathering intel immediately.
Instead of trying to stay warm and dry.]
no subject
[ there's still intel to be found, he supposes, it's just more like climate and setting data rather than facts and figures. ]
[ he takes another stick and idly pokes at the fire just so, catching the flames on more of the kindling. ]
no subject
I suppose you're not wrong about that.
[It is a slightly different skillset. Natasha's training encompassed survival, but with the understanding that the enemy would almost always be people, governments, organizations.]
You have a lot of experience with this kind of recon?
no subject
[ not a lot of orbers seem to be as familiar with space as he and jyn, so it's becoming an easier fallback. ]
And with all manner of climates, you just need to be prepared for that variety.
no subject
[Which she doesn't mean as an argument. She manages a little humility even.
One world was usually enough for her.
But here she is.]
At least this isn't too unfamiliar so far.
no subject
[ he's certainly been to planets with variety. and who knows what tomorrow may bring here? ]
Nor to me. [ unfortunately. his last beach experience was not great. ] Which means with any luck, the storm will not last so long.
no subject
But at least Cassian seems to know what he's about.
She figures that gives them some kind of an advantage when it comes to actually surviving this.]
So we weather this. Try to keep our food and matches dry.
no subject
[ it's not going to be the first time he's been delayed by weather, but usually he has to just worry about himself, which is easier than collaborating with a group. hopefully the orbers don't prove........... too chaotic. ]
You do not seem the type to let this bog you down too much. We're all in the same boat, or we will be tomorrow presumably.
no subject
Natasha might wish they weren't, but that also might be a bit hypocritical of her.]
I try not to. If we did, we wouldn't get very far with these missions would we?
[The we there meant to imply she imagines the same about him.]
Tomorrow there will definitely be another hurdle, and another one after that. I expect dangerous animals at some point.
no subject
I have read the files and see the success rates so far, so you have a point. [ he knows that not everyone thinks the missions were all wholly successful, but fortunately for cassian he is used to calling a success even with fuck ups and loss along the way. ]
We are disrupting the ecosystem just by being here, so there is no telling how the animals will react to us. The dossier had implications, but we will have to wait for how they react in realtime.
no subject
And she does understand the frustration of leaving a mess behind, even if in her estimation they haven't left anywhere worse off than they found it.
They've also never failed at their primary objective which should count for something even if she doesn't trust it.]
I'm really hoping we'll be out of here before anything big shows up.
[Literally and figuratively.]
Luckily I doubt there's too much damage we can do long term.
no subject
Hopefully you did not just jinx us. [ he says it with a small lilt in his tone, half teasing as the fire wholly settles. as long as it doesn't get soaked from above, it looks decent enough. ]
No, I think the real problem is going to be whatever is waiting for us on the next island.
no subject
[Not especially seriously or worried that they will. They have more immediately problems to deal with.
To his point:]
And whatever it is, it will be better to face it with as much rest as we can get tonight.
If you want to try to sleep, I'll take care of the fire.
no subject
[ he doesn't sound particularly worried about it either. ]
[ but he shakes his head. ]
I need to find someone first. I will bring them back, and then you can get your sleep.
(no subject)
(no subject)