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

lena oxton ► oh my god someone help this poor woman

[desynched]

base

settling in

[ BASE isn't a wild departure from the time she spent in Overwatch's less glamorous bases, though it's both more technologically advanced and substantially more cobbled-together. As she passes one of the exposed pipes in the wall, she sees that the leak has been stopped up by a wad of gum.

Lena, like others, makes her way to the showers the moment she can. Although there are plenty of showers, there aren't enough for everyone in BASE to bathe at once, so she's dutifully waiting in line, still wearing the underlayer of the ANZAC uniform. Lena smiles, tired but very glad to be off of the front lines. ]

Hope they have infinite hot water.

[ She can also be found in the cafeteria. She made the mistake of trying to order shepherd's pie and got a big pile of goop that looks like it's either flavorless or too flavorful. Either way, she's not entirely keen on eating it. Maybe someone should tell her not to give the bots complicated orders. ]

the coelacanth

camping

[ Lena started this excursion the way she starts everything-- with a lot of optimism and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, that's not enough to make her a good survivalist. She has no camping experience on Earth, so an ancient alien fish is an even steeper learning curve.

It's not hard to miss her-- the faint blue glow of her Accelerator gives her away-- but that's not the only thing. Lena can be seen trying to put up her tent with a lot of frustrated grumbling and very little success. ]

Did they even give me all the parts?

[ Maybe they did, maybe some parts got lost on the journey here. Hard to say.

She tries her hand at fishing with mixed success. The only problem is that she isn't quite sure what to do with the fish once she's caught it. Perhaps someone stumbles on her while she's trying to fish (unsuccessfully, since sitting still isn't her strongest suit) or trying to figure out what to do with said fish (turning it over in her hands as if looking for a 'pull here' tab that will remove all of the scales). Maybe she'll just give up and live on fruit.

Please, for the love of god, help this poor woman. ]

cafeteria

[prizeneck]

[He can't see her, but the scent of whatever the goop she ordered carries captures his attention. He can't really place it, not having been to the UK and therefore not tasting any British dishes before.


A couple of seats to Lena's side, he stops from leaning into the noodles between his chopsticks, turns his head, nostrils flaring just a little to try to capture more of it.] What's that...?

[desynched]

[ Her thick Cockney accent gives away her nationality, at least.

Lena looks down sadly at her food, such as it is. ]

Supposed to be shepherd's pie. It's mostly a mess, though.

[prizeneck]

[It is tell-tale, even if he doesn't really recognize it as Cockney - merely British.]

'Shepherd's pie'? [He heard of it, or at least the name sounds familiar, but he's not really sure where from. Probably mentioned by someone from The Wall? They were a team of people from all over the place, after all.]

's the thing with the kitchen here. It smells okay, but the taste... ain't really right.

[desynched]

Mashed potatoes and meat, more or less.

[ Her order was just a touch more complicated than that. ]

I'm sure it's better than rations, regardless.

[ Just to emphasize the point, she takes a bite. Lena wrinkles her nose and swallows with a little effort.

But it still is better. ]

[prizeneck]

[His lip twitches at her grimace, more the way she hitches her breath as she takes the bite and the dismayed sigh that comes next. He can understand that eating bland or food that tastes off can be really disconcerting. Hell, for someone with one sense less than most, that an important one such as taste is neglected feels kind of off-putting.

But he's ordered enough things since he arrived - the man has a big appetite - to have noticed a couple of patterns.] Think the more complicated your order, the worse it gets. I have to try asking for separate ingredients. That may work better if you're willing to cook.

[desynched]

[ Lena had been dearly hoping for a taste of home, especially after Gallipoli, so her disappointment runs a little deeper than having to eat bad food. But she perks up at Mamoru's suggestion. ]

I think I can manage that. [ She giggles. ] We could all even work together a potluck. Share our tastes. Take a little pity on people who can't cook.

[prizeneck]

[Her enthusiasm is almost contagious and honestly refreshing, Mamoru finds as he finishes up his noodles. He's still hungry. He's been training over and over and he feels like he could eat a horse, hooves and everything.]

Ya gotta try and get everyone to be awake at the same time, then. [He raises from his seat, picking up his plate and resting the chopsticks on a folded napkin. He already knows how to walk from his seat to a machine without needing his cane, but he still needs to run the back of his hand over the counter to figure out where the machines are and back on the table to find his things.

He places a bowl of rice and scrambled eggs and before he starts eating, points his chopsticks at her.] But that's not a bad idea.

[desynched]

[ Lena watches him make his way across the room and back. Blind or hard-of-seeing. A part of her is ready to help, should he need it, but she refrains from doing anything else. He seems experienced with this, and she doesn't want to patronize him.

She grins when he actually encourages her. ] I can't believe nobody's thought of it before. When I was in Overwatch, we'd bring snacks from our home countries and try 'em out. [ Mischievously: ] Sometimes we'd go outta our way to bring some of the stranger snacks.

[prizeneck]

[He does move rather well for someone who's completely blind, even having left his super speshul shades back in his room. It's been a couple of years, after all, muscle memory helping - and developing each time he goes to the kitchen to eat, which is... quite a lot.

He chews thoughtfully while listening to her. The rice seems slightly off, but he's too hungry to really care at the moment. He had been going at a long bout of training before this.

He stops, giving her a curious look.] What's "Overwatch"?

[desynched]

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

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

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

[ She sounds wistful. ]

camping oh my god she needs help

[handsomefoil]

[ It's one of his many treks across the fish's back, still contemplating a question to ask should anything come up for him. Doesn't take too long to come across what looks like a haphazard attempt to make a campsite. His bird's-eye view helped in finding her, as he'd taken to climbing trees and scoping out areas that he might've missed before when he'd been trekking on the ground. A bit risky, being up here where he may accidentally run into dangerous creatures, but he's been down this trail before at least. No crazy wildlife encounters (yet).

As he comes across her while she's staring helplessly down at the fish, he decides to stop his surveillance and drop down right next to her without so much as a 'Geronimo!' While certainly no expert in camping, he knows how to scale a fish and figured he might as well help. Plus learn about the new COST member. ]

Not a bad catch, lass. Waiting for it to tell you your next instructions?

[ Feel free to hit him for basically jumping you, Lena. ]

[desynched]

[ Lena jumps when someone suddenly lands next to her. She manages to restrain herself from knocking him back. It doesn't take long for her to recover, though, and she smiles at Henry. ]

Looks like I caught the only one that didn't come with instructions attached.

[handsomefoil]

[ At least she recovers quickly enough and seems friendly to boot.

As he's not looking to sear her fish right then and there, his hand pauses over his hip to forgo the lightsaber (just a habit) before reaching into his pocket for knife much more suited for scaling. ]

I'm much more suited for the posh city life myself, never really went out of my way to go into the wild and catch fish or the like. But can't say my father never taught me a thing or two.

[ He gestures towards the fish, if she's willing to part with it. ]

[desynched]

[ Lena hands over the fish without a second thought-- she's not doing any good with it. But she will watch him closely. There's no knowing where they'll end up next, so she may as well pick up as much as she can. ]

I'm a city girl myself, but I'm not sure my life is quite "posh." I would like to learn a thing or two, if you're willin'. From one city-dweller to another.

[handsomefoil]

[ He laughs softly as he takes the fish from her and readies the knife. Needing a flat surface, he goes in search of one near her campsite. He considers her accent, wondering if she's also from an Earth similar to his. She'll be able to recognize his Irish accent as well. ]

But of course. Since we're outside, we don't need to worry about all the scales flying about but you just set them down like this, hold it by the tail, then use the back side of the knife to push the scales towards the head like so—

[ And he demonstrates on one side. The scales go flying all over and would normally make a mess in a kitchen, but that's the great thing about being outdoors (he guesses). Then he presents the handle of the knife to her. ]

Want to take a go at it, Miss City-dweller?

[ Right, he should probably ask her for a name. ]

[desynched]

[ Lena watches carefully, committed to learning what she can. She does, of course, recognize the accent but hasn't been here long enough to think immediately of other worlds and times. Just trying to wrap her head around an alien fish and centaurs is a stretch.

Lena holds her hand out for the knife, a stubborn set to her jaw but a playful sparkle in her eyes. Challenge accepted. ]

I would, Mr. Camping Master.

[handsomefoil]

[ He snorts softly, watching her hands as she handles the knife. ]

That's really about as far as my camping knowledge goes. Feel free to be a little disappointed.

[desynched]

[ Lena has no problems handling the knife, but there are a few false starts as she tries to gauge the amount of force to use.

She looks up from her attempts and grins teasingly. ]

I'll try not to hold it against you.

[ The knife slips, but she recovers quickly and resumes. ]

Least I can actually eat what I catch now.

camping;

[verumdicit]

[ Meliorn had been meditating.

Had, of course, being the operative word. He's quite good at blocking out distractions and strange noises, yes, but there are certain things he's keen on listening for, or that trained to zero in on. Cries for help, for example. This isn't quite a cry for help but there's certainly a lot of splashing around, and Meliorn opens one eye from the spot on the ground he'd been meditating on to see a blurry movement behind a thick bunch of trees. Sure enough, there's a mundane. Probably their first time camping. He sighs, rises, and goes to inspect the noise. Once closer, it takes all of half a second to put two and two together. She's trying to fish. ]

Noise will only scare them.

[ Not very many people are use to pointy eared, facially scarred men with blue streaks and vine markings along their skin, so he keeps his distance so as not to startle her. ]

[desynched]

[ Lena had been trying to find the best place to fish, but her patience for both camping and fishing has run low. It doesn't help that she's always been the restless sort.

She hadn't noticed how much noise she was making until Meliorn pointed it out. To her credit, she only stares a bit. After meeting two literal centaurs, anyone humanoid doesn't get much of a second look. ]

I didn't realize I was being that noisy.

[verumdicit]

Are you from a city? [ He uses this as an invitation to step forward, seeing as she doesn't look wary at all. He also takes a brief moment to relish the hypocrisy of him asking that question - he's from New York, after all. ]

More to the point, would you care for assistance?

[ The fish here has to bee better than what they're serving at BASE. He's sure of it. ]

[desynched]

[ Lena knows next to nothing about most people here, so Meliorn could say that he's from the moon and she'd have no reason to doubt him.

Lena smiles-- she's really getting that question a lot, but deservedly so. ]

I'm a Londoner and not a very outdoorsy one at that. Any help would be great, really.

smashes in here a million years late!!!

[verumdicit]

London. [ Meliorn offers a smile, polite and true, and glances around, scanning the area. ] I've never met a Londoner I didn't like. [ It's not like he goes to England on a regular basis, though, he stays quite happily in New York. He spots a fallen branch long and (hopefully) sturdy enough, and rises to grab it. ]

Earth seems to be a popular basis for recruitment, I've noticed.

smashes back in here!!!

[desynched]

[ She grins. ] Well I hope I won't be the first.

[ Lena hangs back and watches him. He's making a fishing pole, perhaps? ]

It's kind of strange. I wonder if we're special somehow. Or particularly crazy.

[ Because leaving everything behind to join a rag-tag group like COST is practically the definition of crazy. ]