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

[decisions]

[ percy knows all about curiosity, and won't shun it. he adjusts himself for better comfort, draping arms over his knees as turns his eyes to meliorn and gives him a nod. ] There are many arcane things where I'm from. I'm a man of science at heart, but I've seen some things that are unfortunately hard to disprove. The feywild is one of them. Not my most favorite trip made, but a necessary one. And we made it out all right.

You as well, I take it?

[ryuji]

[That is the RUDEst thing he's ever heard and quite simply not true.]

Nah, I usually covertly use a wall to rub my bum if I gotta. Saves me the trouble of lookin' like a bonafide ass picker.

[Teaching her all the subtleties of being atrociously gross in public, yet entirely hidden.]

Anyway. Mornin' princess.

[decisions]

[ trinket has slobbered on vox machina enough that puppy kisses are hardly anything in comparison to fish breath... percy listens to her escapades with a light chuckle, giving her ears a soft rub before holding her out for siegfried to take on. she is his, after all, and percy would like his jacket back and not covered in white-gray puppy fur.

you know.

please. ]

She gets herself into enough of it - Mischief wouldn't be too far off the mark.

[ percy shut up. ]

[ryuji]

[He nearly needs a moment to stop himself from saying something totally inappropriate and ruining the moment.




Nah, he still does.]

Ride... anything?

[Don't.

Just don't. He sidles up behind her, holding back a monkey-like grin, letting her get used to the controls, or whatever moment she needs to read the mana-structional guide to getting this thing running. He has a moment of weird resistance where he's not sure how he should... hold on... to her, and decides to do just as he's seen in all the movies. Right around the waist.]

Let's say you were a rider class. Would you use a motorcycle like this?

[gerechtigkeit]

Convenient and a return to something familiar, then.

[The response gets a headtilt, but he snorts in amusement as time passes. He shifts, trying not to disturb the sleeper on his leg.]

"Spirited" certainly fits her. She tends to get more into trouble than want to listen to me completely, though.

[gerechtigkeit]

A decent fighter always uses them. [A correction, slight, but there.] But a good fighter knows well enough to study his opponent before diving in headfirst.

[Is he jabbing at the fact that Mamoru tried to crack his skull open out of nowhere? Yes, he is. Sure, they fought alongside each other, but even Siegfried would choose to stay his hand rather than simply outright attack an ally as a way of testing their ability.

He listens to Mamoru's description of the weapon in his hand, and headtilts just slightly. "A razor?" Hmm. Since Mamoru wishes to fight only good fighters, it would make sense for him to bring along the best he has. Siegfried has no desire to hold up the inevitable, but he doesn't want to show off, either.

So, he reaches to his side, bringing out Balmung, placing the sheathe and cloak on his back, letting the blade itself rest against the ground.]

How often have you fought someone who uses a greatsword?

[prizeneck]

[Shoulders shaking just slightly as he chuckles, breathy and almost without much sound, he's smiling.] See, the fact that your feet almost always rest at a 30-degree angle even as you're resting means that you're used to heavy charges, heavy weaponry. Same as the width of your stance, used to holding a weapon with two hands.

[He pauses, but it's not something he just thought up just now.] That's why you broke the bayonet, right? Shitty material and using too much momentum from sheer habit - perhaps a little more stress than usual, that helps, too.

[He tilts his head.] I don't charge without thinking, but there's no other way to know if you can defend a true killing blow out of the blue unless someone's willing to strike it.

[When he brings out Balmung, that smile, discreet even despite its insolence, widens. He takes in the weapon, long, sharp, and weighty. Even though it's only displayed as gridwork, he can tell that this is by no means mass made. It's absolutely one of a kind.

He's almost giddy when he declares:] Not nearly enough.

[gerechtigkeit]

[There is a long moment of silence as he lets him speak, quietly lets the words filter through his mind and settle. Mamoru speaks with pinpoint accuracy, a tale that tells of Siegfried's footwork from having only seen him with a bayonet, and it catches him by surprise. Things just got more interesting, it seems.

Someone's done his studying long before coming here.]

I stand corrected, then. [No use in denying what should be given, as far as where credit is due. Siegfried actually smiles at that, mouth twisting just slightly to show his appreciation. Mamoru may be unpredictable when he determines to test someone, but there is something Siegfried finds he enjoys in that- a moment where he may be caught unaware and have to react accordingly.

Besides Karna, no one has done something close to this since the time he was alive. He looks forward to it.

Enough dawdling, then. Blade raised just so, Siegfried only says two words, but they speak louder than something vocally ever could.]

Then come.

[mylawn]

All right. Fair.

[He doesn't seem keen to argue the semantics of it much further--he's made his point, and she made hers. If she wants to think of this as him going above and beyond, well. Maybe next time he'll be a little more careful with his altruism, even though putting everyone else before himself is something he does without even thinking.

In lieu of saying much more about that, he brings the glass to his lips and gives it a cautious sip.]

Where I'm from, the older it is, the better it is.

[He coughs.]

But it depends on how it's stored.

[mylawn]

They got themselves out.

[And it's incredibly lucky that they did, considering Grothia had been ready to leave them behind. She'd given him unofficial permission to go after them, of course, but without knowing how they were taken or where they were being held, Jack hadn't the slightest idea of where to begin.

It was an altogether powerless feeling, something he's never liked, even at the best of times.]

Seems it was easier to do from the inside.

[mylawn]

We'll cover more ground if we split up.

[If it were anyone less experienced, 76 might offer to adhere to the buddy system. Chiron, however, has been nothing but competent, so he feels comfortable enough going their separate ways for now.

He offers something of a wry smile.]

Just give me a holler if you get in trouble.

[mylawn]

Don't really know how to use one, unfortunately.

[Not that he doesn't think he couldn't figure it out, but a knife is about as large a blade as he knows how to handle.]

You might have to teach me.

[mylawn]

Yeah? Who?

[Not that he's going to vet them or anything--except he's totally going to vet them. Jack knows he's not the most personable character in the world (at least, not anymore), so his experiences with their fellow recruits are going to be markedly different.]

[mylawn]

I am into guns.

[76 says that matter-of-factly, indicating that he is entirely unashamed of this interest. Even so, guns aren't necessarily his hobby, just his weapon of choice. Given the amount of time he spent on Overwatch, he never really had much time for recreational activities. Sometimes training on the range was the best he could do.]

You'll thank me if we run into something unfriendly out here.

[faenthras]

[ It is a little strange to think of gods who have a direct influence on events or people, rather than a distant one. Strange and a little unsettling.

She shakes her head, pushing the thought aside. ]

Trinket is an impressive sight even without me upon his back. [ Pride fills her voice, her expression. ] But you're right, we're terrifying together.

[faenthras]

Not much of a night person, are you?

[ She glances towards him, giving him a quick look over. ]

Vex'ahlia, you can call me Vex.

oh my god uh cw: animal... cruelty....

[reillumination]

( the intent comes precise and clean — quick. it comes as quick as his sense of fight, flight in the seconds following. it floods into his blood, jerks him graceless into a position that could be called defensive, hand immediately closing on the hunting knife he'd taken from the trenches of gallipoli. it's a wicked looking thing, polished to a sharper edge. any momentary glance would confirm he'd known just how to care for it, as he levers the point in offender's direction.

he's used it once. he's used worse once. he's used worse more than once and all the muscles in his arm lock, eyes wide, the white of them visible even against the looming dark. his mouth twists into something indefinable, his voice caught up his throat, breath shallow — short.

his father once went out to the garden. his father once took his canary, cut into the soft of its body. yellow feathers had lead him to it, its wings spread across the earth and cobble. his father once went out to the garden again, with a shovel in hand. john had been a good dog, the most loyal he'd ever had. we'll get you a new one, his father had said. that one went mad. he recalls blood up to his elbows, blood cut across his face. a perversion of war paint, something he knows now had slaked the thing inside him — stretching beneath the confines of human bone and flesh.

his father never went back to the garden, but soon the knife was turned on him.

he sees that now, in this place, where the context is enough to throw him into all he'd left behind. humans, humans were terrified and ugly things — demons would take what they could get. and ryo, ryo can't divide what he knows from what he does not know anymore, the knowledge too immense upon his shoulders to simply rend away from rationality with brute force.

it doesn't matter that he asks if he's alright. logic doesn't skid into his perspective, not right now. not like this, his chest constricting, pulse too fast. )

Why would you do that?! ( his voice comes out raw — stilted. he doesn't lower his arm. the knife still gleams. he can't look down at his feet. )

[lonelywar]

(ooc: s-sort of..!!)

[There's much to be said for trusting in the mien of a person, regardless of their physical appearance; the latter was certainly a lot for the two of them to handle (especially Yakul, who had just been shuttled into this situation, and is also an animal), but there's something to be said for how calm and patient Genji's demeanor was. It is probably that over anything else that allows the elk to enter an area of acceptance, and Ashitaka is swift to join in this judgment, though over the months he's grown much more understanding of things that would've previously left him suspended in disbelief.

The elk remains still when Genji reaches out, liquid eyes blinking slowly. Maybe it feels a little odd to him too, but he doesn't seem to mind enough to shy away or anything of the like.]

Oh. I see.

[He wouldn't have thought of it in such a way, but it would make sense there would be distinctions between someone having a mechanical limb versus having so much of it integrated with their entire body... But that's also so many hundreds of years from the forefront of his mind, it's all things he wouldn't have ever considered.

His brow knits a little at the question. Perhaps someone who had grown up in a different place, with a different form of education or manner of being raised, might've known. Ashitaka, having grown up with a secluded people, is not the best person to ask for specifics.]

I am afraid I could not tell you the exact year. [He looks thoughtful for a moment.] It is a time where the introduction of rifles to warfare was brand new. When lords and emperors sought to use them to win sovereignty of the land from the gods.

[He isn't even sure if that's useful to Genji, to help narrow it down, but it's what he'd seen when he'd left the Emishi.]

[horsepowered]

[For Chiron, active (perhaps overly active) gods is the norm. What scares him is when gods hold themselves apart and do not give any sense of who they are on a daily basis. The remoteness it's...it's a terrifying thing, in truth.]

Perhaps he'll find his way to you as well. It seems a common theme lately.

[horsepowered]

[Chiron laughs at the implication that he'll get in trouble. It's a rich, warm laugh, one that does acknowledge that he could get into some kind of very stupid trouble.]

I shall. And keep me in mind if you need a hand yourself.

[horsepowered]

Very much so. Although I will admit, I think I'm going to default to this form whenever I can.

[He really did miss being himself, as nostalgic and sappy as it sounds. He chided Achilles for softness on the battlefield, after all. There was a flavor of hypocrisy for indulging like this.]

Well, she's a baby, for all intents and purposes. Take it from me: they aren't inclined to listen.

c I'm late as fuck

[gerechtigkeit]

[He's not often the type to wander far from everyone else, unless he knows the terrain. But someone decided that she had to get all her small four grubby paws into everything, and it's been a complete chase after her ever since. Finally, for once, she's tired out, and resting in the bag on his back as he tries to make his way back to BASE to put her in his capsule-

And runs into Ryo and the foxweald instead.

So congrats, Ryo- a tall as fuck dude just showed up out of nowhere (with a gratuitous tiddy window, you're welcome) and is currently staring at the both of them with a bit of confusion.]

Ah- [He pauses, because something rustles very loudly from behind him, before his puppy pokes her head up from the bag and barks loudly upon seeing Ryo and his friend. Siegfried sighs.] You should be asleep.

[Definitely talking to the puppy, at that. Oops?]

[gerechtigkeit]

[The slight smile given back at Genji for his answer should say enough.] I wouldn't even try to do something like that. I'm more the kind to protect than to destroy.

[A testament to who he is, rather than what he's capable of. Siegfried knows he could easily crush armies as he stands- he's had to, before- but here, in a spar? It isn't necessary.

A hand grabs the hilt of Balmung, placing the blade on his shoulder with ease. You'd think, with a greatsword, it would have to be two-handed (and he does that too, this is more in a relaxed state than fighting), but Siegfried tends to surprise people like that.]

I'll gladly give a challenge as much as I can. [Offered honestly, as he really only wishes to spar Genji for a good fight, not to overwhelm him. He snorts in amusement.]

Whenever you're ready.

[desynched]

[ Lena's still getting used to people not knowing about Overwatch. Or her, really. ]

It was a global peacekeeping taskforce. The best of the best from all over the world were brought together to do everything from resolving hostage situations to discovering entirely new branches of science.

So I got to know a lotta different people from all over.

[ She sounds wistful. ]

[desynched]

That clearly wasn't the answer the was expecting. She's well-versed in time travel, but alternate universes are the stuff of comic books. Still, it's not impossible. And it's certainly one explanation for the multiple Chirons.

"Didn't think it could get any more interestin' than a time-traveling band of freedom-fighters, but I guess I was wrong. It's kinda interesting to know if you'd get along with yourself, though, isn't it?"