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

[thunders]

[ She doesn't seem terribly excited about the prospect. Thor considers this - it feels as if he's missing something, but he has no idea what. ]

It isn't complicated. [ He starts back into the water while she prepares. He thinks it unlikely that she'll be in any danger; it's just easier to teach by demonstration. ] Think of it as you would any exercise or technique. It takes time to become proficient - but unlike combat, you need not worry about mastering it.

[omniavincit]

William's stretching and shrugging the stiffness from his limbs, marveling at their surroundings all the while. It feels good just to breathe, the air light in his chest like the beginnings of a laugh. It is beautiful—how many times can he be struck by the same thought? Who knows when a person last laid eyes on this, or when they will again.

He turns at the sound of her voice. “Dolores, your shoes,” he says, despairing of himself even as he says it. They're there on the bank of the stream: he picks them up and sets them down again, kicks off his own shoes and wades in.

Unlike her, he stops to scoop a leaf from the water, turning the stem in his fingers. It glitters: of course it does. “What is it?”

[lonelywar]

After what I have seen, I believe anything is possible.

[It was a likely conclusion that Ashitaka had thought of; it had been mentioned off and on by the commander and sergeant in passing, that the sudden disappearance of the few shapers left aboard the vessel (and the fact that you could occasionally find one or two here, on the back of the coelacanth) was a little too convenient to entirely ignore.

The aether was so vast and otherwise empty that this all being some kind of freak accident also seemed unlikely. But, then again, it is all speculation. In the end there's not much reason to wondering why something happened after it already occurred, especially when there are more pressing matters at hand.

He had overlooked that newer recruits wouldn't have any recollection of the shapers, though. Of course...] They are a small, alien creature that invaded and infested BASE before we were deployed to Gallipoli. They are not dangerous, but they can encourage one to sleep, and then can link people into dreams together. It caused a great deal of strife among us before we decided to release them back into the aether, where they came from.

[A brief pause.] Not all of them, however. Which is, perhaps, why we are here. I have seen them occasionally here, upon this creature's back.

[lonelywar]

[He gives her a small smile; without the influence of exhaustion and for once in so long outside the confines of the first world war, it's a genuine sort of expression, pure in its own way.] I am happy I helped in this small way, then.

[He'd felt similarly of their small group, though a lot of the time he had spent in there he had spent walled off not physically but mentally, numbed by the sinking personal assurance that there was nothing else he could do for himself by this point: that the Regency had discovered who he was and could at any point pull him from history by the root, just as they had done to Xici.

Even if Kebechet had denied that was the case at all, for him or for her. That was something he was still thinking about, but... surely there was no reason they should trust anyone from the Regency, right?

He hates dealing with duplicity. He prefers taking everyone at face value.

Apparently that's evident enough in him that Mordred picked up on it too. His expression becomes pained, though it's something done more in jest than anything else.] I have been told I am not much use in spying and subterfuge, yes. [Really the only thing he had going for him in a non-combat arena was that people did tend to like his honesty, as Mordred said she did. In some diplomatic situations, it appealed to some sense of goodwill. But in others, where more subtlety was necessary, he quickly lost his usefulness.] I would have been fooled as well, I think, but this would be only because I feel as though you have been straightforward with me too, in the past.

[She kept things to herself, lies by omission, but even Ashitaka isn't free of that fault.

He's quiet a moment as he considers something else, another piece to what she had said. One that he hasn't really broached as a topic to too many others.]

The Regency... [His tone is slightly hushed.] If they had wanted us dead, it would have been very easy for them to do so. Even still, I think it is in their power, given what they have done in the past. [If it was true that they had been behind what happened to Xici.] They seemed far more interested in swaying us, which is why your ploy worked so well. Why do you think this is?

[Didn't they have armies enough? Wouldn't removing soldiers from COST regardless of the method be more useful to them?]

[bloodings]

[ It's a good question. Admittedly, Mordred isn't terribly concerned with the answer, at least for herself — the Throne of Heroes rests outside time and space, so even if the Regency erased her existence in the past, this version of her would continue to live on. But most of the others wouldn't share her fate.

So why, then, with the ability to change time itself, do they live on at all? ]

... They're obsessed with being "right". With perfection. Erase us, and it's the same as admitting defeat, in a way. [ She doesn't know about Xici, but she's drawn her own conclusions, based on her experiences. ] It's not like we were on their side to start with, and then betrayed them. They probably see us as misguided fools, not a credible threat.

[ A mistake, she thinks. Whatever the others are capable of, she alone can crush armies. (But if her confidence could win a war, they'd already be done here.) ]

[lonelywar]

[Ashitaka cannot find it in himself to be off-put or offended by the reaction. If pressed, he might admit that he found it more natural than most he has seen, that most other people had their mindsets of things outside the natural world of humans so diluted by their own experiences or situations that his own curse was something banal in comparison. In his own time it was something he had kept quiet from the vast majority of people, knowing that a mortal curse given by a god or a demon was something normal peasantry would want nothing to do with, having enough problems merely providing for themselves that they did not wish to help shoulder those of someone who had done something so unforgivable as kill a god.

In a way he is foolish. He feels less trepidation now, trusting in two things: that laissez-faire attitude so many others seemed to have towards such matters and also the fact that the mark itself would react towards intentions of violence and goodwill, giving him at least a second to prepare himself if someone's perception of him transmogrified enough to cause them to lash out. Regardless of the mark's (currently foiled, stayed, stopped) intention to claim the life of its host, it did not want to allow anyone else the pleasure; it would not allow Ashitaka to die so easily by other means. It would give him the strength to defend himself, the tenacity and stamina to continue onward for some time even after having been shot through the chest, all because it itself selfishly wanted to tear his soul from his body and would have it no other way.

Laughter is a strange response that the body often has, often coming up with such a thing when nothing else seems to fit; he decides to not be fazed, instead watching cautiously, knowing exactly where his sword and his bow were, how long it would take to get to either or to get Yakul to his feet, swing onto his back, and get moving. He keeps all of this information like a hand of cards close to the chest, and to his merit he lets little away, still but to a trained or keen eye visibly tense, the line of his shoulder like the string of a bow drawn back.

One that is slowly relaxed as the moment itself passes, the fleeting electricity of alarm easing away into nothingness. By the time Ryo speaks up and reaches for the cigarette, Ashitaka finds himself free enough to move as well, pulling the sleeve back over his arm and beginning to fasten the ties that keep it in place.

Ashitaka does not often speculate. It is not in his nature. The words described to him as the quest that might lead to an absolution of his curse did not allot for such a thing. He had merely been asked to see, to travel and to watch and to learn, to piece together the full picture of something in a way that was free of his own preconceptions and biases, unclouded by the hatred that they might bring. Perhaps after that point, he would feel called to make a judgment and to act upon it. But until that point, he does not guess, he does not judge. He merely watches, listens, and attempts to understand.

If it is not something Ryo will give away willingly, he will not force it from him, and he will not draw his own conclusions. He merely thinks to himself that they might share more than he lets on, simply because his reaction was strong enough to allude to such a thing.

"May be." Uncertainty is, in itself, a curse unto itself.

He thinks this, and he moves on.]

I was told once by a man that the world itself is cursed. [He says this as he moves a bit from Yakul's side, to where he'd placed a small pile of gathered firewood. He begins to set up the fire once more, giving it at least an hour or two more to burn.] And a monk upon the road told me the same, that I should not feel so unique even with this mark upon my body. I have thought a great deal about this, about what it could mean, what it could be cursed by. A cynic might say that it is cursed by mankind, for they are the only creatures on its surface that think themselves important enough to change it for their own benefit. [He grows silent for a moment, seeing reflected in the fire the forges kept stoked all hours of day and night by the women of Irontown. They found freedom in the metal they pulled from the earth - freedom from the emperor, from cruel feudal lords and their samurai, from societies of men that would seek to control them. He didn't know the answer. To seek control of the forest for its resources, to kill its gods to assert such a thing, these were evil in the eyes of many, but was it the same when it was done for such a reason?

He continues.] I think it is closer to the truth that the curse is something we all bear: that what is best is often more difficult than easier paths that might lead to outcomes we did not intend. [He's usually not so open and free with such things, but he's very rarely around people more close-lipped than himself. He spares a single glance for Ryo's expression before he finishes what he was doing with the fire, returning to Yakul's side. The elk lifts his head for a moment to nudge him, nose snuffling at his hair.] If that is the case, there is no cure for it. It is just the way of things.

[horsepowered]

"I suppose I'm just more willing to apply the term more broadly." Anything else is just getting into a semantics argument, and Chiron can't say that he's in the mood for one of those. Regardless, he keeps apace with Hux, straining his own ears for anything that ay be up ahead.

Or behind, one could never discount that.

"Well, if one's in a stomach, a low survival rate would only make sense. If there's a particular composition of the asteroid that they're attracted to though, perhaps that might give some hint."

HOLY SHIT I NEVER GOT THE NOTIF FOR THIS I AM SO SORRY

[dorzalta]

It takes her a moment, blinking the sleep from her eyes, willing her heart to cease hammering so violently in her chest. She stares at Henry long at hard, palm resting against the ground.

It comes, albeit slower than she cares to admit. The calm, the control. But it comes, and she leans back against the wall, shaking her head.

"I was wandering." Still bleary-eyed and exhausted. "Must have drifted off."

Lie, she'd walked and walked until exhaustion hit and she settled in this space to claim some sleep.

[lonelywar]

[With what he had seen and heard from Kebechet himself, he knows what she says to be true. They were obsessed with the idea of something perfect, with taking something as wild and organic as time and history and regulating it into something ordered. Perhaps at its core there is something understandable in there, the human desire to make structure in chaos, but how they go about it is so indefensible he has little personal impetus pursuing that train of thought.]

You are right. [He nods, his expression grim.] Convince us that COST is wrong, or plant the seeds of doubt within us, and they could dismantle their efforts from within. If they merely killed us, those that remained might become stronger in their resolve, having an averse effect.

[He is silent a moment, a breath escaping him in a short sigh.]

This is frustrating, facing an opponent which tries to convince you that the fighting is due to a fault of your own.

[mylawn]

[76 offers a shrug, one that very clearly says well, that's why you were bothered, but otherwise drops the subject. It's not exactly the hill he wants to die on, and he's content enough to move on from here. The bikes are what's of interest, anyway. He's got to make sure they aren't going to fall apart underneath him the minute he takes them out.]

Most of COST's equipment is like that.

[Salvaged or otherwise scavenged, in need of a little TLC. 76 invites himself to squat, getting a better look at some of the inner workings.]

It's not really my forte, but I'm good at holding tools.

[An implicit offer.]

[horsepowered]

I'll need to explore it then. I admit, I primarily rested and then was far too excited to come out here than examine what was new back on BASE.

[Chiron is slightly embarrassed by that fact, but only slightly. He's still only himself and can be distracted by things.

But Ashitaka's description has him rapt. He hasn't gone towards the tail yet, and so to know what lies ahead is an absolute thrill. While he isn't descriptive on scenery, the feeling of it, that counts for so much. What Chiron hears in those words makes his heart feel light.]

I've gone east and west myself, exploring up to the legs to see if there was any sort of symmetry in the landscape. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a greater asymmetry instead, and I've only just found myself here. Perhaps I shall go towards the tail next.

[It'll be good to do it on four legs. The terrain will feel like the mountains of Greece.] Wildernesses, while different in what lives there, perhaps all share a similar feeling of place. Or at least, that is my guess.

[It could be a good one, it could be utter crap. Who is Chiron to say?]

Yes, that's a factor as well. But I am not so fussed about that yet.

[mylawn]

Well, we'll see what happens.

[But it is good to know that he has a potential teacher, if he decides to go through with it. What's more surprising than her offer is the disclosure of her real name. It hadn't really occurred to him that she was using an alias--in fact, both of these names sound like aliases.

He's not, however, going to rebuff her in the face of Progress. It's a simple request, one he can certainly oblige.]

Okay. Mordred.

[mylawn]

[Jack doesn't recognize the first name, but he nods at the next two. He might have a few things to say about Thor, but seeing a genuine smile on Lena's face for what feels like the first time since their reunion makes him not want to ruin it.]

Could've done worse.

[These friends are acceptable, not that they have much choice. Mostly Jack is thankful that the awkwardness seems to be dissipating, and that she isn't angry.]

It's good to know how to rough it.

[thoughtimight]

She stops herself before the sunlight filtering in through the cave wall vanishes entirely. Between shadow and light she catches what she instinctively knows to be the best angle of the trees with a shine that would put the moon itself to shame. The quiet in the presence of something so bright is eerie. Even on the full moon, the cattle mulled about and bellowed from time to time.

"Come here," she's beaming, climbing up on some rocks from the stream and holding her hand out to him.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?"

[mylawn]

I like it fine.

[76 chooses not to comment further on the ghosts, mostly because ghosts aren't real. Talking about the outdoors is something a little more concrete, even if he's loath to reveal too much about himself.]

I take it you don't do a lot of camping.

[reillumination]

[ Ryo is light, all long limbs and lean muscle. He isn't built as though a machine or built much like others he'd known back home. Nowadays, even the one closest to him could easily outpace him, pick him up as if he weighed nothing at all. He's accustomed to being tossed around, at least, so there's that to 9S's advantage as well.

Ryo follows 9S's gesticulation without pause once he's settled, his balance oddly sure and firm despite the new height. He gives a glance back to 9S, a small "thanks" caught and silent at the corners of his lips. The distance he builds between himself and others seems to momentarily shorten, but within the next moment it returns. He knows he's letting him go first, likely for safety's sake (primary function, he'd said) – but, Ryo hesitates.

To show one's back was to be blind to others behind him. It requires a trust that no one will bring harm to him and Ryo – Ryo lacks that. He's lacked that for a long time now, knowing no one else to be worth relying on besides Akira Fudo. Besides him.

And so, Ryo gestures more with the jerk of his chin that if he goes, Ryo will surely follow. ]

[millimeter]

[He's...not totally sure he got all of that. He got the gist, at least, but he's definitely going to fuck up the name if he ever has to refer to it in the future.

But, more importantly: that is totally super cool. Which shows super transparently on his face; he is so impressed.]

Yeah! It doesn't have anything to do with time, though. It's just teleportation. [Good thing Noct isn't here to hear him refer to it as "just" anything.] We call it warping.

[desynched]

[ Lena half-shrugs as she digs out her container of purified water. ]

Never know where we'll end up next! I might as well learn as much as I can just in case.

[ Lena refuses to be a weak link in COST. Their mission is too important, and she has people to protect. ]

D'you know them? Meliorn, Henry, Thor?

[desynched]

[ Lena looks just a touch bashful at his enthusiasm. It's been a long time since she's gotten that reaction, and she's forgotten what it feels like for people to be in awe of what she can do.

She looks at him with curiosity and fascination. ]

Magic?

[ He assumed her ability was magic, so maybe his friend's power is magic. ]

[bivariant]

[ he's fast, and he thinks with a predator's mind -- animalistic, focused. while he navigates the drumcrown herd, she pulls her own weight, by using her weight. she bears down on the drumcrown's bone mantle, wrenching it to one side in the moment that its neck and shoulder muscles relax, forcing it to twist sharply on its wounded leg and stumble. cheris positions her hands lower along the side of the mantle, as hei draws even with the stumbling beast.

wisely, she shifts her leg away from where she's been feeling its pulse hammering, strong and low, against the inside of her knee. it allows her to brace herself, and to push on the drumcrown's mantle instead of pulling. forcing its head down and to the side, further and further as it startles from hei's speed and sudden presence. the act exposes its neck, and cheris looks to him in the moment -- silent and expecting, in this fragment of a moment.

they can communicate more, once the wounded one is downed. ]

[neutronium]

[Hux appreciates her shake, and lets his hand drop after a moment.]

It is, yes.

I'm not in the habit of having people use my first name.

[He hates it, anyways. He only used it in the last mission as it fit; but luckily most people were willing to shift to his last name as necessary.]

I realize that it's uncommon, [He has noticed how familiar people are, here.]

But it is what I feel most comfortable with.

[He is also not in the habit of explaining himself; he feels awkward. But to have people call him Armitage after the last mission would be like them jesting at his expense without realizing it.]

[desynched]

"Some people with strong personalities might have trouble. Sort of like," she affects a (bad) southern accent, "'there's only room for one of us in this town.'"

Lena can think of a few people to whom that would apply.

"But it's good that you get along with yourself! Makes things easier, means you always have a friend, yeah?"

She hums thoughtfully. How to explain it... "A group of people fightin' for freedom from oppression. Usually kinda rag-tag, a little disorganized, but persistent."

Lena hasn't been here too long, but it does feel a little rag-tag so far.

here i am for i am a slow turtle

[millimeter]

I didn't realize they were such good mimics. Or that they were so soft.

[Prompto sounds delighted by it; where Ryo is hard to read, Prompto is utterly guileless. He keeps petting the dragokeet, which chirps, "soft, so soft" back at him.

He looks back at Ryo and then down at his camera, head canting to the side.]

Oh, uh, are you from Earth? [It's a totally random guess; he has no idea what to even look for, to determine if someone is or isn't from Earth.]

Orrr never mind. I think Earth has cameras like this at some point? But I don't really know when, so you could be from before or after that. Assuming you're from Earth at all!

[neutronium]

Hux is not attempting to get into semantics; he genuinely enjoys these conversations, but he also understands that his love of minutia can be annoying to others--there is more than a few reasons why he doesn't have many people close to him in his own world.

Still, he lets the subject drop, frowning a bit as he hears some sound of an animal, but decides it isn't anything dangerous.

"It is a logical conclusion--so far we haven't found an correlation. But again, there are so few samples it is hard to draw any sort of extrapolation." After a few beats, he snorts, shaking his head. "Forgive me, I often speak like a detracted creature. The enlisted corps actually started a rumor that I was an android because of it."

[millimeter]

Isn't breathing kind of inconvenient? I mean it would suck if someone tried to drown you.

[Prompto. Dude. Why are you like this.

In any case, he's not sure he gets the distinction between androids and robots and machines as 9S would define it, beyond breathing. It's precisely because they're metal and circuits that people have always figured MTs were robots, after all.

Maybe his frame of reference is just wrong.]

But so you're fighting aliens on behalf of humans? If I'm getting this right.