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

[prizeneck]

[Are you sure you can complain, Samus. In Gallipoli he had to be a sniper.

A blind man, a sniper. Think about that.] I worked with just the one most of the time, some throwing knives. Though we had a couple of others in case the composition of the main sword didn't... [for someone with excellent control over his body, Mamoru's lip keeps insistently tugging at the corner ] quite cut it.

[He shrugs, bad joke behind him. ] It's not like that one could cut an entire master wall, after all.

[prizeneck]

[He shakes his head, and his voice sounds part relieved, part cutting, as if he had spent a long time arguing about it.] She's thirteen. She's of more use there than here.

[Even if she did want to. But her predictions showed her back home, at least of what she could see. A good thing, too; her will to follow him at all times tended to err on the side of guilt-tripping. Even terrifying, at times. Not just because where he tends to go is no place for a kid - she has proven herself resilient enough to stand some of the violent dealings. But she kept predicting the several ways Mamoru would die, over and over, until finding a viable future where he survived.

He tries not to think too much about how he should've kept some distance from the kid.] I'm not sure if her precognition would be valid here, either. With different timelines and worlds. She has to be emotionally involved for it to work, too.

[prizeneck]

I get it. Kinda. Not to the same extent as you, but--

Even a guy in Gallipoli called me a "cheater" when he found out about my shades. [He snorts. It's not like he's playing the disability card at all - except when it's to put people on the spot. But then again, the guy in question seems to be... troubled, somehow, though that's not the word he'd really use for it.

He doesn't need a history lesson, because of that. Part of him would be hopeful that with new technology, the world would easily accept its access, the abilities that they provide; the new challenges, the new chances they could offer. It's all very rose tinted and he's aware of it.

Another part of him isn't surprised at all that society somehow made it difficult. Debatable, even. He wouldn't be surprised there would be extremists regarding that very same issue, too. It's part of human nature.

He shakes his head. ] Guess it's only through dissonance that we can evolve.

[raisedbybirds]

Not much but... it's unique. [She might get a little cagey talking about it because it's so unique, and on more than one occasion have enemies and comrades alike have tried to replicate her equipment for their own gain... and with no success. She'd like to keep it that way. But she thinks giving some very basic cliff notes to him would be harmless. They're allies, it would be beneficial to know each other's strengths and weaknesses... and extra limbs, as it were.]

Armor and weapons crafted by my adoptive parents, an ancient race now gone from the cosmos. It normally works on conscious materialization. [You know, good ol' video game hammerspace.]

I'm sure when COST has the resources for it, it'll come. It would be greatly advantageous to the cause, even if I have to modify it to work with their technology. [She's careful about saying their cause or our cause, even if she felt convicted enough that COST's battle would be both her and everyone's problem if not addressed. The fact is she still thinks about returning to her corners of dark space after the Regency's threat has been vanquished.]

[raisedbybirds]

[She doesn't want to think about that. At all. Or anything like it.

She's watching him carefully as he talks, zeros in on his face as he slows and gives way to a pause, the kind that would precede something important or be delivered with a heavy gravity. She leans her head forward slightly in anticipation and--]

...

[Maybe he can hear her eyes rolling back up into her head.]

Master wall?

[Who uses a sword to cut through a wall... that's what drills and explosives are for.]

[mylawn]

Sure.

[Not wildlife like this, and it occurs to him that Samus likely has no idea where or what Indiana is, meaning the joke was lost on her.

Oh well.]

Where are you from?

[mylawn]

Well, at least someone draws the line at child soldiers.

[It's a joke, but the sentiment behind it is clear. 76 would rather fight this war if it means other, younger people get to stay out of it, despite his general misgivings about the state of COST. He finds himself wondering, again, if Ana agreed to enlist with him and found herself in a different cell, and here he is, unable to remember any of it.

At least Mamoru has that luxury.]

You've got someone holding down the fort at home. That's what matters.

[mylawn]

[76 is special forces too, all things considered. If the Crisis hadn't happened, it'd be easy to imagine a future where humanity foisted warmaking off on the omnic population, but where he's from, they learned that lesson the hard way.]

You don't mind it?

[He understands, on some level, that an android will be programmed not to mind it, but having come from a place where the robots put their foot down, he can't see this ending well.]

That the humans made you to fight for them.

[doublejumps]

[ If war is something that is specific to humans, then Genji wouldn't be able to guess at the reason for that with any certainty. He's seen humans be cruel many times, has been on both the receiving and giving end of such acts. Even with the enlightenment he's received from Master Zenyatta, he still finds it hard to wrap his mind around such things. Zenyatta would claim that it's the discord that exists in each person's soul that's to blame, and only a path to harmony will allow for change.

Not everyone wants to change, though, and without that element in play, war will continue. The most they can do here, as members of COST, is to make sure that events play out the way that they're meant to, as ugly as they might be.

Both of them have some experience, and that's good enough for Genji to press forward into the unknown wilderness with little concern. He doesn't intend to disturb any wildlife (or plant life, for that matter) without due caution, but so far he navigates the immediate area with an easy confidence. ]

Let's hope the things out here don't like the taste of humans... or elks. [ Genji smiles, wanting to make it clear that he's making a joke. While it's entirely likely that they could get attacked by something predatory, he knows how to handle himself in a fight, if it comes to that. ]

Where were you traveling? Before all this.

[ It's going to be a day-long walk, most likely. They may as well make conversation. ]

[doublejumps]

I've spoken to those who remember, and those who don't. Apparently it's just a 'glitch,' but...

[ It seems natural to be suspicious, especially when Genji, Angela, and Jack all experienced the same thing. What are the odds of that, if it truly is random?

He shrugs, because all they can do is speculate. ]

You said you had stories for me, about your time here.

[horsepowered]

[Chiron doesn't pry for any further details. But he listens, and he hooks into the sentiments that come with the armor. How many wepaons like that have his students had over the years? There's familarity in there, even if the technology is worlds away from his own. It puts a smile on his face, soft and wistful.]

I'd be extremely interested to see it. Not to divine any information, but to see how it functions for the sake of it.

[desynched]

[ Lena sits back on her heels and chews her lip. ]

We're that bad off?

[ She's not daunted, but knowing how desperate they are is sobering.

It's strange, being on the underfunded, understaffed team this time. ]

[doublejumps]

[ Genji can't imagine what would have happened to the planet if the omniums had continued to produce more and more war machines, if the Crisis had never stopped. Overwatch is to thank for that, and it's a shame that the organization has fallen into such disfavor, given what its founders had done for the world.

9S' situation sounds just as dire, if not more so. Genji pauses for a moment to meet the android's gaze, even as that strange pull continues to tug on him. ]

I wish you luck, in your fight. Even if it's been put on pause for now.

[ Apparently there are bigger battles at hand, though it doesn't feel that way now, with them stranded on the back of this massive creature. ]

[neutronium]

Most of those creatures were unknown to him, but Hux decided not to ask about them. Given the differences in worlds, it wasn't so surprising, and really to speak on all the differences would mean they would be here for ages. He gained the answer he was looking for.

Though it did lead to one question that had some pertinence. "For you, what is the difference between spirits, gods, and demi-gods?" For Hux, he would have thought they would be one and the same.

"Yes, I suppose. I've experienced hyperspace jumps for as long as I can recall--and those can cause sickness in people who have never felt it. I suppose the feeling is similar...even if the result is different."

[handsomefoil]

Perhaps, if you're thinking run-of-the-mill beam swords.

[ But enough of his boring world! With a little theatrical inflection to his voice, he sorta gestures with his hand as he speaks: ]

And what about you, Thor? Are you truly a norse god that we, as children, have all read about in school?

[horsepowered]

"Well, there's a hierarchy of sorts, based on parentage. There is a pantheon of 12 major gods. If they have children with mortals, those children are demi-gods. Usually my charges." That was the easy part. "Spirits is sort of a catch all, perhaps legendary creatures would be a bit more fitting. They're not born of gods, but they're non-human consorts of them, usually associated with aspects of nature."

That's about as simple as he can make it, in the end.

"Mm. May I ask what they are then, or perhaps more precisely, how they transport an individual?"

[doublejumps]

[ Had it not been for the fact that Genji has sparred with Lena before, that move certainly would have thrown him for a loop. He still has to guess at where she blinked to, but given that he doesn't see her in his peripheral vision, there's really only one option.

He spins around -- his reaction time is quick, but she'll still have the advantage. (Time is on her side.) He aims a kick at her, to force her to react and possibly throw her off-balance. Not that he expects it to be that easy, with Lena. ]

[doublejumps]

[ Peace. A difficult concept, to be sure. Genji had worked for an organization that touted peace as its mission, but his role in it had been that of an assassin. Those two things might seem opposed to each other, but peace is something you have to fight for.

In other words, there are no arguments to Samus' statement from his end. He hums to himself, the sound reverberating against his face plate, and nods. ]

Something the Regency doesn't seem to understand.

[ Peace cannot be forced, the way they've attempted to do so. It defeats the whole purpose. ]

So what will you ask it? If galactic peace is possible?

[doublejumps]

[ Cheater? How rude! Genji doesn't get the sense that Mamoru makes a point of his blindness most of the time, so that makes the comment even more inflammatory. While Mamoru might have been willing to brush it off, Genji has an idea of how he would have reacted, had he been present. ]

I'm sorry that was said to you. It's never a good feeling.

[ Genji sighs to himself and shakes his head, recalling the various things he'd been called over the years. Not to mention everything he'd thought about himself, in the dark parts of his mind.

That last statement from Mamoru has quite a ring to it; it almost sounds like something Master Zenyatta would have said. ]

Maybe you're right. I believe that we can make progress with it, given time. Everyone here has been polite, at least.

[ Some were curious, having never seen anything like Genji before, but that he doesn't mind. It's the judgment and distrust that bothers him. ]

[mylawn]

I've had worse odds.

[Nobody was supposed to survive the Crisis, let alone win it. That said, he'd only been fighting for one world at the time.]

Been the underdog before.

[lonelywar]

[pause . . .]

It is not a powder, so I believe they are tabs.

[If that's what you call these things he's holding up, in his capsule.]

Is one sufficient?

[lonelywar]

[It is a peculiar puzzle.

Xici had known that she would die, but the manner in which she had been executed had been a shock, even to her. Ashitaka has to assume she expected that COST would execute her as an enemy agent after they had extracted whatever information they could from her. If it was true that COST had the ability to erase her as she had been, why would she have been so shocked and betrayed? It would have been something she would be expecting.

This is the primary reason Ashitaka is not convinced by Kebechet's defensive maneuvering. He had seen Xici's deep conviction to the Regency (or the Empire, as she called it), and the level of betray she had exhibited could only come from the same place.

So, what was it? Had Kebechet lied, or were they simply not privy to the level that decision to kill Xici had been made on?

There's a spark to the young man's eyes as Soldier continues.]

That must be it! The Windhoek Accord.

[Interfering with the timeline and how things had previously been established to happen was very dangerous. It was why they made such a dreadful mistake in Paris, allowing the queen to escape. It was something Ashitaka had taken it upon himself never to do again, even if it must call him to do something he would prefer not. The ripples of these actions extended far past their immediate understanding.]

I believe it is more that they are willing to overlook their own rules, if they believe enough that it is necessary. [He had certainly gotten that sort of impression from Kebechet himself.]

If COST has the ability, Xici's reaction seems strange to me. She expected to die, presumably at COST's hand. But she was so shocked, saying that it was a death meant for traitors. [He pauses, frowning, considerate.] I do believe that she was loyal, upon speaking to her. So it would have had to have been the Regency's hand instead.

[desynched]

[ His idea of 'worse odds' isn't saying much-- humanity not only surviving but prevailing was a miracle.

Lena grimaces. ]

'fraid that's not very comforting, Jack.

[ There's only a split second of hesitation before she says his name this time. The fight they had at the meeting was the most successful way to knock down some of those walls rank had built between them. ]

[lonelywar]

[It was a difficult pill to swallow, that sometimes the way that is right for things to progress so that history will remain unaltered and unbroken is a way that feels wrong in his own hands, to his own heart. What they had done in Gallipoli, to him, had been pointless and soulless, more akin to the work of monsters or demons rather than human beings with hearts beating in their chests which could comprehend the pain of others and minds which could, if put to task, devise other ways to decide grievances. And yet what they had done had been what history demanded, and so they had no other options.

The only way he can make peace with all of it is to continue forward, and fortunately enough, they had been served this wilderness to lose themselves in. It was the perfect panacea to help distance him from what they had just left behind, though he knows it will not be so easily to escape in entirety.

Ashitaka returns the smile.]

Yes, true. But even should misfortune befall us, we will be able to defend ourselves.

[In Ashitaka's experience, predators would prefer easier targets, but perhaps the beasts in these lands were a bit different.

Here's another question that's difficult for him to answer. He was unaware of the name of most of the area he traveled through, only heading west, as he had been told to. And perhaps the names had changed between his and Genji's time...]

I traveled west from the village of my birth to a place called Irontown, built upon the edge of a lake, on the outskirts of the forest and the mountains. I... am afraid I cannot be more specific than that.

[There were other people who were Japanese among COST's members, and it hadn't really rung any bells with them. He thinks it's unlikely it would with Genji, but you never know...]

The only other things that I know is that it was ruled by a woman named Lady Eboshi, and it was besieged by a man named Lord Asano.

[desynched]

[ Lena grins to herself. She's sure she only thew him for a split second, but it's still gratifying. She's not surprised when he guesses where she is, but she doesn't quite have time to back off. Instead, she has to block. It doesn't throw her off, but it keeps her in one spot for a split second. Enough time to follow up, if he chooses. ]