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

[horsepowered]

Around here, that might end up being a very in demand skill indeed.

[There's a smile on Chiron's face as he says it, and as their little journey comes to an end, he extends a hand.]

I believe I can soldier on from here then. Thank you very much for all your navigational help.

[horsepowered]

"I see. It doesn't sound like an enjoyable space to occupy, in truth."

If Hux took offense, then so be it. For Chiron, it was a statement of his own observations. Be they gods or men, the higher someone's position, the more concerned for maintaining that spot they became. He had the luxury of being far outside those kinds of positions, and not once did he ever feel a pang of jealousy or a desire to make it otherwise.

"How do you maintain your own well being then?"

[neutronium]

[Hux sighed, shaking his head. It was as if Kylo Ren decided to become a prankster instead of a destructive force.]

...I assume you do other things besides make crude words and gestures with your abilities?

[He gestures.]

If I had a gift like that, I certainly wouldn't waste it on those things.

[After all, he had never wasted his own efforts on (what he perceived) selfish and petty things.]

[verumdicit]

Quite. My universe is liberally peppered with magic. [ He's almost smiling - a feat in an of itself - and he brings an arm out experimentally, waiting to see if a bunnyhawk will land on his arm. Not yet, so when he speaks he lowers his voice considerably. ]

And as a man of science, how have you come to terms with both existing simultaneously?

[neutronium]

"I do what I can, because I must. I enjoy what my position allows me to do, to control--to lead our people in the cause. My personal feelings and life don't really matter in that scheme." Though he knows he's not being entirely truthful; he finds pride in what he does, triumph in each win he gains for himself--and each failure cuts. Now that Kylo has taken the place that was rightfully his, it stung.

But still, let people hate him, love him, be annoyed with him--it didn't matter. He know he had respect, despite all of that--and that was what mattered.

At the last comment, though, Hux snorted, flushing a bit when he realized it sounded a bit hysterical.

"I don't know, frankly. I suppose one day I'll crack. But it hasn't happened yet." He can crack when he's dead, crack into a million pieces, ash to be scattered into the wind.

[reillumination]

[ There's a moment of uncertainty. From the deer, from the situation – from Ryo, who tenses at the suggestion to lead instead of follow. While Ryo had never had trouble leading back home, he'd never led others beyond his friend and those he laid upon the altar of the greater good since the knowledge of the world that is instead of the world that was settled upon his shoulders as though a heavy mantle.

He'd known blood. He'd known terror. He'd known the stage of the Earth — his Earth — had been altered, the cast thrown into disarray. Humanity as he knew it could cease to be human in mere moments — their roles shed like the swapping of costumes beyond the curtain. And so, it is not even the deer that concerns him. It is not the deer, who hesitates before drunkenly stumbling into the darkness that alarms him. It is the glimmer of a knife in the dark and the presence of the person beside him. Even if he can tell himself that the knife is for the deer, that the knife is not for him — there's the spill of trepidation and paranoia down the notches of his spine, trickling slow and steady like the spider webbing of ice under tentative feet.

Fight or flight is human instinct. The surge of adrenaline, the inevitable high one gets from a flood of unrestricted energy – Ryo's come to know the vicious rise and fall. He's come to know when to ride it, to take advantage of it — he's known when to fight and when to flee, but now he tamps it down like he would tamp down a lit cigarette. He looks to the man beside him and shakes his head once. ]

I'll be fine, [ he whispers, once the deer has gone far enough for him to feel comfortable speaking again. There is no sign of uncertainty in what he says, though his mouth quirks up a touch too sharp at one corner for it to be strictly natural. It gives the impression where he anywhere else he might have laughed it off. ] You go first. I've kept alive for this long.

i c you in my inbox i welcome all kyah tags tysm

[reillumination]

[ Ryo is certainly the type to wander these days.

He's touched at terrain he's never known in the present, in the past — he's come to find where many things hide and where he can keep hidden. Late nights spent in the quiet of his car with the music turned down to a humid buzz against the smell of smoke and the warm presence of his only preferred company — they've become more common than not these days. Or they had, but that specification is neither here nor there as Ryo lingers in the thicket. The foxweald at Ryo's side barely opens a bleary eye when the pair comes trouncing into the scene, but Ryo seems somehow much more alert than his ostensibly high companion. Even with the odd glassiness inherent across the blue of his eyes as he glances between the man and his (honestly adorable) dog, it seems only to refract something sharp and steady in them into a finer point. Much like in the way he seemed to snap to attention at the sudden appearance in general and the loud rustling that'd followed soon after that, he keeps his focus on the pair and does not let it move.

It is almost as if he's gauging — measuring and assessing for any hint of something that could prove him correct to be wary. ]

It's unlikely that they'll listen, [ he says after a moment, though by this time his attention has tracked over to the dog in indication. It is very, very unlikely. He knows. ]

[handsomefoil]

[ Makes one wonder what these fae are like... ]

You think I'm forward? Seems like a very forward comment to make.

[ Not that he seems to mind in the slightest. ]

[bivariant]

I understand that. [ she's not being obtuse this time; what percy is insinuating to her, is that eliminating her may not result in jedao's mutual end. it's a sobering thought, but she knows her value to the hexarchate pales in comparison to a general who has never lost. she has value, she has faith in her service, but of the two of them -- it's jedao who the hexarchate would work tirelessly to reclaim. ] It's all right, de Rolo.

[ it's not, jedao lets her know in the way he points out the way the bridge of percy's nose trembles, the thinning of his lips -- baring his teeth in a way that would be acceptable in most societies. her own mouth tightens, lower lip pressed up in the same way her chin rises. admiration. it warms her, but for a brief moment.

and then she remembers: ] His soldiers admired him, too. It did not stop him from slaughtering them alongside his enemies, in his madness. I would hope that it does not come to this, I would hope you would not have to do this thing and bear this weight. But if it does, you must not spare either of us -- not even for a chance. My first order of business is to turn this gun on him. Then, to turn it on myself. You are the third, in this line of defense.

Thank you, for caring this much about me, in so short a time -- but you must value the safety of COST over my life and that of Jedao's. We both want this.

do not worry i love all good good prompto tags

[reillumination]

[ There's something to be said about idle hands here, but the only plaything is Ryo's sliding sense of equilibrium. On the back of a massive fish in subspace and millions of miles from home, Ryo's expression seems to lighten in subtle degrees. But, in the end, his experiences have warped something core and fundamental. The darkness in his personality doesn't budge, even if glimmers of what he could have been and once was peer through from time-to-time. It seems that way now — especially now —, as something in what Prompto's said seems to have triggered it. What it could have been? Ryo isn't forthcoming about it. Even still, it unwinds from within like a dropped bobbin, the thread of whatever emotion is tied to Prompto's words and actions hopelessly entangling in the aftermath.

That gentleness reminds him of something he left. ]

They're clever and motivated, [ he says, almost like an agreement. ] If you're gentle with them, they're eager to mimic you. [ Almost on cue, the one that's situated itself on the hoverbike chirps back: "clever, clever!" and ruffles up its feathers, almost as if it understood the compliment Ryo paid them. There's something small that catches the corners of Ryo's lips for that, almost an upturn. Almost. It doesn't last, but there's more of a willingness to meet Prompto's eyes than before as he glances back over to him. ]

But, you're right. I'm from Earth. [ It is one of the few things he loves dearly. There's a small beat, the fingers stroking absently at the dragokeet's crest stilling. But, the dragokeet seems to have other ideas about that and prompts him back into the present by shoving its feathery, little head against his fingers in an unspoken demand. It is enough to prompt Ryo's words and fingers back into action. ]

So, that's probably from after me, [ he starts again. All things for him are large, bulky, and inconvenient when it comes to electronics. Nothing exists that is so sleek looking. ] What date is it for you?

[horsepowered]

For some reason, Chiron wasn't expecting an actuall response that gave such a level of detail. But he recieved it anyway, and it's an interesting insight into Hux - far more than anything he's seen so far. Well, it isn't a surprise, that so far given what he's just explained.

Chiron's movements slow as they move deeper into the cave, his own ears picking up some kind of...well. It's some kind of noise but he can't quite ping what it is or the source thereof.

He allows for a few moments for Hux's words to settle before replying. Especially that life comment. That's the kind of thing that deserves a moment's contemplation. "That is a remarkable sort of dedication. Not everyone can find that sort of ability within them."

If Chiron knew what Hux's people, what his cause was about, he'd have a very different opinion indeed. But living in ignorance, well, it is what it is.

"You hear that faint song as well, yes?"

[mylawn]

[As if to prove a point, he takes a large sip, immediately grimacing at the taste. 76 doesn't let the expression stay on his face long, however, bracing himself and then swallowing it down. He lets out an audible exhale after he manages to down it.]

I've had worse.

[It's bad, but he's going to finish the glass, if only because she's asking him about home, and if he misses it, which of course he does, but that's difficult to actually speak about.]

Yeah, parts of it. It's more that I have unfinished business.

[mylawn]

[76 makes a hm noise in the back of his throat, considering. It's not unusual for him to hear that people have ended up here without anything from home--it had been the case for him as well. Doesn't discount materials popping up later, but right now they're going to need to work with what they have.

Either way, he's curious enough to pursue the conversation.]

I've got time.

[He's got nothing but time, all things considered.]

Show me what you've got.

[ergosphere]

[Before she'd bested him twice, he'd assumed he was the stronger of the two of them, having been trained all his life on how to use the Force. He might therefore take it upon himself to try and close this connection, seal it off for good, but -- he wouldn't. Whether because he couldn't, or didn't want to selfish reasons, even he wasn't sure. It was hard to let go of the only other thing in the galaxy that understood your power and talents.

Kylo was silent, mulling over her question and constantly tripping over the word friends.]

I think we've proven more than capable of working alongside one another.

[When the conditions were right, namely, fighting Snoke's guards. You didn't have to be friends to make an effective team, and she'd likely read that answer into what he'd said.]

[mylawn]

Collecting is different than eating.

[In that there is likely a whole host of resources on this fish that are inedible but otherwise provide some kind of benefit.]

But I'm glad it didn't poison you.

[Poison her immediately, anyway.]

[mylawn]

I know Henry and Thor.

[And feels mostly neutral about both of them, but apparently his feelings aren't negative enough to warn her about anything.]

They seem like all right people.

[All right is about as good as it gets for Jack nowadays.]

[garbagepilot]

[Except she doesn't think they can be friends, at least not now. He's done too much, to her and to Finn and his family, to the whole galaxy, and she's just not in a place where she can forgive and forget. The loss of Han still tears at her heart, but she knows they can't go on like they have been.

Something has to shift before they tear each other apart.]

I think so too. [And she looks at him, stares right at the apparition of him, and decides to try.] In some ways you were right about letting go of the past. Maybe we should try to do that here. We're both working for COST, after all, so we're on the same side.

[If she only knew...]

[mylawn]

Yeah, that's an idea I can get behind.

[Perhaps it might surprise Vex, but this is not necessarily a man who cares about aesthetic. Using feathers as knives is both ingenious and vaguely appealing--in a weird sort of way.]

Creative. Practical.

[desynched]

[ Even as Commander, Jack never seemed to hand out praise unless it was particularly warranted. A lukewarm reaction doesn't seem too strange, though it's more transparent. He's too world-weary to pretend to like someone any more than he actually does.

At least she knows that he really means it. ]

We seem to have some pretty good people in COST.

[ She really believes it, but the way she glances at him suggests that she wants him to warn her if someone seems dangerous to them. Lena has good instincts, but he's more cautious as a rule. ]

[verumdicit]

I'm not like most. [ Meliorn's smile is genuine, almost gentle. If he wasn't sometimes forward, sometimes a little blunt, he wouldn't have been chosen to be here in the first place.

Come to think of it, that means he wouldn't have met Henry. ]

Is that such a bad thing, being forward? Or honest with someone?

[ergosphere]

[On the same side. Right. It would be better to find a way to close this connection, before she managed to find him out. But it was also tempting to use it as he'd wanted to originally, as a way to reach her, spy on her, get the truth through to her. Of course, she was taking his directive to let go now, of all times, which might not bode well for how well he thought he could manipulate her.

Honestly, he had very little hope of that. She was naive, but still defiant in ways that he envied.]

We can't start over. [He was still a monster; that much she'd been right to insist on before.] But we can... start somewhere.

[garbagepilot]

[It shouldn't be a comfort that he's aware of that, that he knows there's no starting over after all the baggage that's between them, but it is and just that is enough to make her frown, shift a little uncomfortably.

She needs to get past that if she really wants to do what she's saying, form some kind of connection to him, because being unhappy that they feel the same way shouldn't be a bad thing.

And yet, here she is, doing exactly that. With a sigh, she leans back against the tree behind her and gives him a critical look.]

What did you tell people about what happened in the throne room? They can't be happy with you killing Snoke.

[neutronium]

Hux was a bit surprised he responded as well; then again, being around people who weren't attempting to stab him in the back at the earliest chance was one of the strangest situations he had ever been in. Even as a child he had been taught to be ready to take out another's throat because every other person was just waiting to take out yours.

Here...it wasn't like that. He knew that was only due to their short-sighted nature, their desire to 'help' in ways that he believed made them soft...but Hux still found the adjustment a bit more awkward than he thought it would be.

"No, I suppose they don't. But it's my destiny to rule the Galaxy, one day. I've known it since I was young--and I've worked to earn it since." There is pride in his voice, and he means every word. It isn't easy, and he knows it might be 'lonely', but he doesn't care--it's what he wants.

Still, when Chiron shifts the subject, Hux pauses, and strains to listen, frowning.

"...I do, yes. The echo makes it difficult to pinpoint where it is coming from exactly, however."

[deem]

[It sounds like something out of some Old World fairy tale. No creature was truly capable of such a thing, back where he comes from. Nothing natural, at least. He supposes that certain methods of hacking or technological errors could produce a similar effect, but it's difficult to imagine this happening to flesh and blood organisms.

Humans were not capable of interfacing in the same manner, and so he is left to question how. And yet this remains true of everything he has observed since joining COST on the slim hope that he might yet be of use to mankind, as flagrantly dubious as it all sounded at the time.

Now, here he is, in a sea of impossibility engaging in conversation with the extinct, atop a being of such magnitude it should not exist. Here he is, and his thought routines could be working on it for the rest of his life, however long or short it might be this time]

So then you believe we were...collateral damage, more or less?

[He asks with an idle wave of a hand to indicate their surroundings, supposing the meaning is that they were brought here only because these creatures were returning to this environment. It would explain why their presence wasn't necessarily a desired one, he admits, though surely other methods must have been possible]

[deem]

[9S' expression falters, scarcely more than a twitch of his lips. He's good at pretending that nothing is the matter, or concealing whatever might be on his mind. Taking point would be the natural course of action if the danger were ahead of them, but it concerns him that the creature would be behind them, and he can only hope it's incapable of climbing.

With its lack of coordination this seems a safe assumption to make, and yet where the safety of any human is concerned, it becomes insufficient in his eyes. Nevertheless, any action he might take to the contrary would not make this human any safer, and might attract the deer-like being's attention.

So with another stiff nod, 9S turns to lead the way. He may not like it, but nothing is stopping him from pausing to glance back at the guy and ensure that he is indeed following, and that nothing is coming after them.

If that is all he can do, that is naturally what he will do]