agogelogs | THE AMAZING BASE.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ shower first, capsule second. or something like that — shepard only makes it to her assigned capsule between the third and fourth showers she takes, because between the others, she just circled aimlessly around BASE trying to figure out if she wanted to take another. whether she's going to actually rest is debatable, but she figures that she might as well make nice with her roommate, if they're present. no telling how much time they'll actually spend together, what with exploring the coelacanth on the agenda, and the possibility that said roommate will find better things to do than socialise with her.

it might be nice to sleep.

maybe.

the capsules aren't half bad, by her reckoning. compact, definitely cosier than she was used to, having her own fancy cabin in the normandy, but it's nice, and she doesn't use that word lightly. nice is really damn nice after gallipoli. she has half a mind to knock as she enters, but doesn't. it's her capsule too, after all. ]

Anyone in here?

[ i mean. you could have started with hello, shepard. ]

[ ryo isn't one for propriety at all, so he doesn't care. in fact, that makes itself quickly evident from the way that he's got his stuff spread out before him in the adjoined sitting area. it's all clean, at least. there's a few shells and a few cigarettes he'd snapped up from the trenches. and that pipe, which he was glad enough that he was able to keep. he supposed.

but, there had been some mention of roommates. and so, he isn't too immediately on edge when they call out. he does glance up — it's easy to tell he's wary, the pale of his eyes don't allow him to hide much. ]

Yeah, [ he says, after a moment. there's no attempt to really cast his voice, but it's always carried well enough on its own. if shep steps in where he is, she'll be greeted with some teen bundled up in a long trench coat and whatever fatigues they've been supplied, hair still wet from the showers earlier. he'd been tapping away at his BCE in hopes to figure it out. 80s technology, you know? ] You're my roommate, then.

[ they both really suck at greetings, i guess. ]

[ following the voice, she climbs to the capsule's more communal area, taking stock of the capsule as much as she does of ryo. he looks young. he looks like entirely the wrong kind of person for COST to be taking anywhere.

after gallipoli, shepard wouldn't blame anyone for being on the wary side. hell, there's generally very little about this situation, about becoming part of COST, that don't warrant wariness. it's probably a good thing that shepard has plenty of experience interacting with people that don't trust her, or actively dislike her, though she's sure anyone could have walked in here and received the same response. ]

That's right. I'm Shepard.

[ she doesn't bother with her first name. no one's really called her "jane" for literal years, and she isn't ready to let anyone break the habit now. ]

[ on the other hand, ryo's brief assessment could tell him that she looked more like she could belong here. she's built the way many others are — stronger, sharper, more athletic. in comparison, ryo can hold his own in some respects, but he was never built to fight his own war no matter how many hits he could withstand.

but, shepard's guess isn't off. he'd be wary of anyone, everyone. it's hard to know who to trust, especially considering what he is accustomed to. ]

Shepard, [ he tests out. his eyes touch on her, for a moment, before flitting past her. ] Asuka is fine for me. [ it's pretty formal, but it seems odd to give out his first name here no matter his dismissal of certain norms. ]

[ he pauses for a moment, attention returning to her with decidedly more focus. ] The rooms are pretty small, but they're not too bad, [ he adds, like an afterthought. ]

Good to meet you, Asuka.

[ and she means that, despite the circumstances. most of the harder edges to her voice have been washed out along with the dirt and dried blood. her body and her tongue have loosened up, in a manner of speaking. ]

After Gallipoli, I'd say these are practically luxurious. So long as I've got a bed that I fit into, then the size of the room around it doesn't matter to me. [ nodding at one of the nearby seats, ] Mind if I join you for a while?

[ seems reasonably polite to ask, especially if he's adjusting. maybe he needs some space, and while shepard supposes seeking space in a shared area would be an interesting choice — she might not be a people person, per se, but she's decent enough at reading them. ]

[ ryo wasn't as accustomed to being alone these days — or maybe he was so accustomed to being alone that he never expected anyone except maybe the one person to come by. so, despite his typical lack of propriety, he gives her a small nod of agreement. his mouth hikes into a small, but reasonably polite smile.

even if he isn't sure what to make of her yet, it was probably better to not tread too hard on toes straight out of the gate. ]

Yeah, [ he says after a short beat, if only due to the way he clears some of his menagerie off the shared table with a comparatively calm hand. half of it goes into his pockets and the other half goes to the seat beside him. ] You can take a seat.

[ it might be a bit evident, actually, that he usually doesn't have much of anyone to talk to or doesn't intentionally engage. either way, he occupies his hands by idling lacing them over his crossed knee and adds: ]

I was used to having a lot of space to myself. [ it feels odd to say that now, but the whole scenario was a bit strange even by his standards. ] But, considering Gallipoli, I can't disagree. I'd say the whole place is a lot roomier by that comparison.

[ with trenches only just wide enough for him to fit the width of his shoulders in some spaces, he'd definitely say so. ]

THE AMAZING BASE.

e. party capsule is live

🎉🎉🎉

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