THE AMAZING BASE.

[agogemod]

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Welcome home, nerds.
WHEN? Outside time and space, in the aether between dimensions.
ANYTHING ELSE? There is also a fish. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

MYSTERY FISH;

question the mystery fish

DEPARTING GALLIPOLI

The order comes the day after the Marie Antoinette sets sail:

PACK UP AND GET READY TO MOVE OUT. WE'VE DONE ALL WE CAN HERE.

DEPLOYMENT: BASE.

WE NEED TO RESTOCK. BE PREPARED FOR MORE TRANSFERS ON ARRIVAL.

STAY SAFE. TIME-STEP EXPECTED TO BEGIN WITHIN THE HOUR.

FOR THOSE OF YOU NEW TO COST: FIND A SECLUDED SPOT AND TRY NOT TO EAT ANYTHING BEFORE THE JUMP.

The Time-Step

The transfer begins like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, just a hum of sensation.

But the vibration spreads. Veteran COST soldiers often refer to this phenomenon as "the buzz". The feeling builds, not unlike standing near a great engine or the wind-rattled branches of a massive tree. There is a long moment of motion sickness and you can't be sure if the world is shaking you from the inside out or the outside in. It may be better to close your eyes against the growing nausea, as the world blurs out of focus.

A star shines in the distance. You may hear the faint rustling of leaves. Some swear they hear voices in this moment, indistinct words echoing off nothingness. Others say they feel a touch of the divine, that the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle and nothing more than the suggestion of sound. Or maybe it's only an illusion, brought on by the powerful technology grafted into your skin.

One thing is for sure: One moment you are here and the next you are not.

The shift takes you from whatever solitude you could find aboard the Marie Antoinette to the temperature-regulated hallway of what looks like a very poorly put together space station. Droids rush up and down the long hallway, fixing broken bits of machinery or just chattering with each other. A few crows sit on high ledges, looking down and watching. Someone mutters something about a centaur around the corner.

And you might just notice, provided you were in Gallipoli long enough to acquire stowaways, that the parasites lurking on your skin are mercifully gone.

For new arrivals who didn't experience Gallipoli: You, too, will appear in this long hallway, filled with droids and crows and humans (still filthy and clad in ANZAC uniforms, carrying battered equipment from the first World War). And you'll be wearing the minimal COST-issued athletic underwear and holding whatever one item you were allowed to bring. Surprise!

READ THE BASE INFOPAGE.

home away from home

Those who have been to BASE before may find a strangeness to it all: BASE seems...still. The windows show a verdant world instead of the usual aether (though with the typical paranoia), and the halls are bereft of all but a few crows. A man stands at the end of the long hallway you arrived in, waiting for you to get your bearings before he speaks.

Except, you know, he's not a man. He's a centaur.

"It's been barely a week since you left, by my reckoning. But for you, I'm sure, it's been much longer. Still, much has changed. You may have noticed we are...becalmed. This is due, it seems, to an error in our ways. We kept something that does not belong to us, several wild creatures that are meant to be free. They seem to have psychically called out to their home, and their home responded; we are now somewhat stranded.

"But let me explain—the Aether is the nexus between worlds and times, but it is not a dead thing. Creatures live in it. We have crashed onto the back of one such creature, a mighty beast, as large as a small country and entirely undiscovered. We have found why the creature has intercepted us: we have accidentally taken captive some of its children. Shapers, the wild creatures I mentioned, it seems they form a symbiotic bond with the creature, and live happily within its stomach."

He frowns, considering this.

"Shapers, I should mention, are creatures that briefly infested our fair BASE. The issue was dealt with, though we kept some for experimentation. The coelacanth took issue with this, it seems. It can speak, of course; we are stranded very near its head, and if you wish to ask it a question, I implore you to do so. The creature is older than creation—older than me—and only speaks once to any creature it encounters. It's said its wisdom brings kings to their knees."

His eyes crinkle in humor.

"My name is Chiron and I am the caretaker of this place, for those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting. More importantly, I am a trainer and a teacher of some experience; if you wish training or schooling of any sort, do summon me. I will be happy to assist."

He's easy to contact, often found in the library, the training area, his capsule, or elsewhere in the station, attempting to fix what he understands and arguing with crows.

"We intended to spend this time exploring, for this is a rare opportunity to discover more of an entirely uncharted world. I hasten you to see if anything on the coelacanth can be of use, but be careful. Take only what you need, not what you may want. I intend to learn my lessons well; these creatures are not pets. Takes food, water, and any materials of use to us for our survival and perseverance, but no more. We task you with this: explore the coelacanth, and see what of it can be understood. Bring us back samples, but do try to interrupt the natural habitat as little as possible. We are guests here."

He bows and the action shows a slight limp in one of his back legs.

"I would join you, but I am far too old for such activities. Still, do pepper me with any questions you should encounter. I am always available on the network, or in person, within this hulking mass we call home."

And then he leaves you to find your capsules and rest.

CAPSULE ASSIGNMENTS

Once you've found your room and settled in—perhaps taken a shower, collected clothes, and eaten—a droid will approach you with camping equipment and give you a brief explanation of how to access and use the database. It's time to get your gear and go.

Of course, you can decline. You can stay and tend to the fort, maybe try and clean up this patchwork jumble of metal and machinery. But seeing the sights on the back of a giant fish flying through non-space? Who can say no to that?


the undiscovered country.

BASE's airlocks open into a lush valley, vibrant with color and rustling with life that has thrived on the coelacanth's back for millennia. It's a striking shift from the rot and gunfire of Gallipoli, unmarked by shrapnel, bombshells, and never-fresh air.

No, the air here is clean in a way that can leave you breathless, untouched by pollutants and stirred into a gentle breeze. It's a marked departure for anyone used to a more modern Earth or rough equivalent; letting the air sit on your tongue leaves a crisp, unsullied taste behind. And the whole forest feels alive, in a way that reminds you of how small you really are.

A white crow perches in a tree near BASE's exit, too high up to properly engage but a stark contrast to the bright leaves around her. She merely watches recruits come and go with a shrewd eye, feathers fluffed against the light chill. There are other crows scattered throughout the wilderness, some easier to find than others as they flit through the trees, sit on camping equipment, or hitch rides on the hoverbikes.

Besides those brief flashes of black feathers, however, you're left unsupervised.

Try not to fuck up anything too badly.

EXPLORE:INFOPAGE|DATABASE
talk to a fish | destruction report

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

Comments

[mylawn]

You don't have to call me sir.

[masque]

[... siegfried looks way too natural with a dog. the resemblance is uncanny.]

Well. [...] She probably wants to eat something new. Talk about feisty. [a little like ryuji.]

[masque]

ma'am.

[mylawn]

Yeah, you don't have to call me that either.

mordred..............

[masque]

[... WELL...

he's already reaching for something to defend himself with but he recognizes the armor up close. it's mordred. ryuji's mentioned—...

..............]

I can't believe it's beating you. [HAHAHA this is pain as he finally covers his ears] I think you're just making it worse...!

[masque]

amigo.

but yeah, i'm covered.

[decisions]

[ holding on would probably be a good idea, so with bad news tightly strapped to his chest, he grabs hold of the back of the seat with a firm grip, setting his feet firmly on whatever little ledge there might be. it's a tight fit, but it somehow works, albeit a little precariously. still, nothing's quite as precarious as hanging off of a broom, so really. he's seen enough to know how to keep steady on a narrow, moving object.

he gives ryo a brief nod before the hoverbike lifts off at a slightly faster speed (a breath's worth), but it's enough to make percy's eyes pop open wide, his other hand flying up to push his glasses further up his face as he moves with the jerk of the bike.

sure. why not floor it. great. fantaaaaaastic. ]

Fuck - !

[ there's a very unbecoming yelp from behind, but percy doesn't deign it with any kind of recognition beyond the swear, merely clearing his throat as they move from the base. he pulls up what information he can on the bce, scanning it while holding (white-knuckled) for dear life. ] There's a nearby stream - it shouldn't be too far off of that.

[mylawn]

I do have a name.

[decisions]

[ it's all hideous. don't worry. wouldn't want to clash with something super attractive or fashionable or chic or w/e. ]

You weren't in Gallipoli with us?

[latrodectus]

[ Natasha's own posture was erect, even breezy. There was no point in appearing timid. ]

She'll get out of the way. Or she could trip you. It depends a bit on her mood.

[ There wasn't really a threat— it was how the cat acted, much to Natasha's frustration. Her old apartment had had stairs, and Liho had always crowded them, once causing Natasha to stub her toe. But if he takes it as one, so be it. ]

What's in the box? Do you need help carrying it?

[ She didn't think he did. ]

[latrodectus]

[ Natasha isn't injured, so there's no real point in eating the fruit beyond general curiosity.

On the other hand, she's always been an intensely curious person. So, she takes the smallest piece, slightly bruised, one she doesn't think will survive the trip back to base. ]

Let's hope not.

[ She takes a bite. ]

[latrodectus]

She's a pet.

[ Natasha agrees. And as a pet, Liho likes having her chin scratched. She starts to purr— perhaps not an obviously contented sound to someone unfamiliar with the species. ]

And these lothcats. Are the curious?

[ She figures she might as well try to find out what she can about this man, where he's from. He looks human, but she knows aliens often do. That doesn't mean they have human abilities. Further observation might be required. ]

[reillumination]

[ Ashitaka had a certain way of speaking that Ryo finds familiar – a separated, parceled sort of cadence. Ryo had not long ago adopted it, after the advent of his father’s death, the legacy he left behind. He doesn’t sleep as much these days, as much as he dreams restlessly and finds himself half-awake in bed, the scent of gasoline and charred skin permeating the thoughts he has in-and-out of consciousness. If there’s any interruption, it’s rarely kind to him – any pleasant dreams have become sore in profound absence and the ones that have haunted him since he could remember, those bright and full of light, left him even less likely to sleep than before.

But still, there’s a sharpness that resembles his own in structure – the blade different, but the composition seems a curious parallel, one that he notices when Ashitaka confirms his suspicions that no one else would likely care as much as they chose to. It’s something that comes only with an understanding of the true nature of humanity, of all living things.

Yet, as Ashitaka reveals more about his own home, there’s something Ryo’s expression that comes through at the edges. It’s something unknown, untouched. He has no cognizance of it while Ashitaka talks, but the distance between where he is and where he seems to be is almost incalculable. Whatever it is in what Ashitaka says, it hooked in him something almost instinctual, primal. He’s always felt at home amongst the nature that spanned on around him, but he never understood why it was that he did. It was something ineffable, ingrained deep into his skin – into his flesh and bones, the very chemical structure of him. There was something to be said for the concept of “genetic memory” – individual ontogenesis. There were some things he was not capable of understanding, some things that were bound to destroy him if he did. But, the appeal in the knowledge and the odd feeling of being bereft seems to go as soon as it floods in. Like stars dotting out under sunlight, too dim to be seen whenever it rose to the forefront again.

And Ryo, as he becomes more present, is just like that.

In an odd pause, Ryo's knuckles go whiter, only briefly, before he lets out a laugh. Unable to keep it in, it’s a tight, nervous sound – painful in its origin. He can’t look up, but under the dark of his lashes, his eyes are almost too blue against the dim. It’s almost too on the nose, he thinks. It’s something that he probably should have thought a long time ago. ]

If that’s what you’d like to call it, [ he says, at once soft and sardonic. A terrible inheritance would have been more apt, but – finally, he lifts his gaze from the ground beneath their feet. He doesn’t look so much at Ashitaka as much as he looks past him, unseeing. ] A curse, an inheritance, ill fortune – what do you name something that inevitably touches everyone? [ Whether he means it is something exclusive to his world or not – himself or not – he doesn’t specify. He doesn’t even let go of the lapel of his coat, only breathes out after a long moment. ] There’s a reason you’re asking me this.

[ Ryo might not care for many, but there’s something to be said for what he does know about humans and how they work. He doesn’t form a question around what it is he says, but the question exists in the speculation. It does not expect, but it lingers nonetheless. ]

[inconstantly]

For what it's worth, you wear that grooming handsomely. Not that you didn't already know that. [John shrugs, taking another drink as he settles under the weight and subsequent body heat of Dorian's legs. He turns his head to regard his companion.] I hope you gave everyone directing you hell.

[For the briefest of moments John imagines a child with a fully grown mustache running away from his handlers. The thought is so absurd that he's able to push it out of his mind quickly.]

I'm certain you can tell by my significant lack of both manners and hygiene that I had nothing like that growing up. Or ever. Didn't stop me from my own expulsions though.

[He gestures toward Dorian with the bottle.]

Restrictions are a look best not pulled off by anyone in this room.

[mylawn]

Yeah, I'm old.

[Not that old, but certainly older than everyone here (at least physically, anyway). He's well aware that it makes him stick out, but Gallipoli had been extremely stark in that regard. Most of the soldiers there were kids, but then again, he was a kid too when he went to war.]

Or did something else give it away?

[reillumination]

[ Ryo is a wary teenager with enough taste for danger that you'd call him the kind of boy you wouldn't take home to your mother. Ryo, however, doesn't have to worry about parents. He can barely remember his mother and his father made more than sure he wasn't coming back before everything careened off any logical edge.

Ryo fills the quiet with sound because that's all he's accustomed to now. Late nights spent out hunting made certain of that. ]

That sort of music isn't supposed to be quiet.

[ It isn't full of teeth. Ryo states it as 76 states it: like fact. Music like that has a lot of weight in it — it's the only thing he can trust to remain as is.

But, Ryo is a quick learner. While he's not familiar with alien technology, he does know a thing or two about what's under standard hoods and what is in standard motorcycles. He's making some good approximations here and there. Some of it looks familiar enough for him to chance at. The worst that could happen, after all, is that he can't get it to run the way he wants. Putting it back together isn't the problem for him. ]

It's fortunate they even started at all, [ he says, glancing back into the engine. ] Needing a good cleaning isn't the problem, it's the rust and wear. [ If he cared to bring up his BCE, there'd be a good collection of notes just on that. ] The connections are almost worn through in some areas.

[lonelywar]

[That makes him feel a little better, Mamoru, thank you.

There's a brief pause before he answers:]

Through text?

[There's a bit of trepidation there. He's just worried he'll use words or terms for things he doesn't understand, just because this technology is literally hundreds of years from his understanding.]

yeah...

[bloodings]

It's not beating me! It's running away!

[ Very important difference. Mordred stalks over to the edge of the campsite, and her eyes spot a comet flower group — in an instant, she rips the whole supporting vine out of the ground and chucks it into the distance. ]

You want it? Go fetch! [ And it does, screaming all the while. Finally, the noise grows more quiet, and Mordred lets out a sigh that totally isn't relief, because she totally wasn't losing. ]

[bloodings]

Hmph. That's not why I care.

[ She grumbles quietly, but it's weak. He's right, because the people who live there fall under her protection as well. ]

Something big happening in your retirement home, huh? [ How does she know what that even is... ] With all this weird time crap, we'll probably go right back to where we were. Don't worry about it too much.

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian brings his hand to his chin thoughtfully, since it's a prospect he's quite interested in. Technology does genuinely fascinate him, and if this young man (...He supposes?) is just a part of it, the rest of his world must be just as full of marvels he wouldn't have guessed humanity would have achieved. Though in this case, he supposes time is helpful. ]

I would be quite interested in that, yes.

[ The line moves up, and Sebastian's thoughtful expression turns to a smile and a soft laugh ]

—Though later, perhaps. There are more pressing matters for the time being. [ But still, to make sure that happens, introductions seem necessary. It feels out of place to give a proper bow considering the setting, but he does bring his hand to his chest and dips forward very slightly. ] Sebastian Michaelis, by the way.

[mcscouty]

[ Good. He's either got a sense of humor, or he's too stiff to argue against it. Either way? It means his prattle goes uncontested, and he smirks vaguely to himself inside of his helmet as they make their way. ]

I mean, you tell me. You're the one playing tour guide, right? Show a guy around town, make him feel special.

[ Because honestly all of this is new and strange where he's concerned. Might as well start somewhere. Here? Good a place as any. ]

[mcscouty]

[ Good instincts. Figures. She struck him like the type who'd have them, in the brief time that they talked.

Her pause puzzles him for a second, but then the answer becomes clear: a chance to lure him closer, make that blow count for more. It raps against his stomach and he steps back, though a low, huffed laugh was probably not the intended outcome. ]

Not bad.

[ Alright, change it up. He steps in, arm swinging in and crooking to catch hers, with the intent of twisting it back behind her arm. Pretty basic hold. Let's see what she's got to answer that. ]

[thunders]

Aye. Prince of Asgard, and God of Thunder as well, but I don't like to brag. [ Thor grins. He's absolutely bragging - but that's what he's accustomed to, when meeting other warriors, and he generally expects the same in return. She must be a fighter of some skill of COST has taken her on, and that's evident in the way she carries herself. ]

It was not an unpleasant surprise. I only just arrived during the last mission - I'm glad of the company.

[doublejumps]

[ Dactyl? Genji isn't sure what the man means by that (he hadn't actually paid attention to what the little droids were called), so he tilts his head in confusion. ]

Ah... my name is Genji.

[ This guy is in some serious need of help, though. Technologically impaired, from the sound of it, which isn't something Genji is used to encountering, at least not with this kind of severity. ]

Look for an app called Futhark. If you open it, it should automatically recognize the bike and allow you to pair with it.

[ Of all the things, he didn't expect to suddenly have to provide tech support! ]

[garbagepilot]

[It's impossible not to grin as well at the joke, his sense of humor, and she gets the feeling that he and Poe would get along very well.]

A prince and a god? Will I get a prize when I beat you in a fight?

[He's not the only one that's maybe a little too cocky for their own good, but she doesn't have any fancy titles, any special descriptors. She's just Rey, and that's going to have to be something she starts getting used to.

The mention of their last mission makes her smile dim, though. Every time she comes across someone that arrived halfway through Gallipoli she has to wonder what they know, what they saw, how public the information about members of COST being taken was.

How many people know that she was one of the kidnapped soldiers.

He doesn't seem to, though, so she just pushes right through the doubt and worry of being thought of as the Regency's victim.]

And glad of a shower, I'd guess. That place was disgusting.