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]

[Steadying his feet, he reaches to his bag, where a canteen is hanging by a hook.

He throws it at the bush, the aluminum-like material making a racket. A dragokeet jumps out of the bush, squawking " minutes! Minutes!"

Tapping onto his collarbone, Mamoru hears the dictated description. The dragokeet keeps flapping its wings around the bush. ]

Huh. These are harmless 'pparently.

[eyedrop]

[ Aizawa pulls himself upright onto the tree branch, then jumps down, the long scarf in tow. He lands heavily on the ground, disturbing leaves and moss, and then squints ahead. His eyes are shadowy and sore, limned in red.

He had definitely heard some kind of commotion.

The dragokeet hops towards them, squawking insistently, and Aizawa notices then that something's trying to follow it--it looks like a sentient vine, moving of its own accord. He throws his scarf as the tentacle whips forward to grab the bird; the scarf lashes around it first, holding it fast. ]

Get the bird.

[ Looks like more vines--tentacles?--are following, though. ]

[prizeneck]

[Hey, he knows those vines.

He's moving forward, predicting the bird to jump towards a certain direction, and taking hold of it. It quickly crawls up his chest, perches on his shoulder, peeking over the neck at the commotion. He would pay more attention to it if he wasn't super intrigued about that scarf. Just what kind of weapon was that?]

If that's what I think it is, the junction to the appendages should be dead center in the bush. Flat shell. Catch it and you get all of them.

[eyedrop]

[ Appendages with a hard shell ... he read about this thing. He glances at Mamoru, having not quite made the connection that this was the guy who wrote up the description, but wondering nevertheless. He'll have to get a name in a second. As it stands, he jumps into the bush, throwing more of his capture weapon as he does so--the vine-like tentacles keep slithering forward, and he keeps wrapping them up as they lash out, binding them together with quick, fluid motions of his hands.

He finds the shell in question--lands on it, in fact, like jumping a turtle in a video game. The whole of the creature shudders from the impact, but the shell doesn't break. Aizawa, his hands full with his scarf, calls back. ]

Found it. Come here and shoot it apart, would you?

[ Or cut it with that sword; also fine. ]

[prizeneck]

[He doesn't have to tell him twice. Dexterous hands unsheath the sword at his hip, but he knows that it's not the shell that's the crux of the animal. Cut it and it'll grow again, like a lizard losing its tail.

So he cuts the appendage, and then another one that whips next to it.] There should be seven of these things. The shell is where they connect, but the vitals are in the vines. [A look at this weird scarf.] Maybe you can strangle them.

[eyedrop]

[ He glances back down at the shell, noticing then how the vines radiate outward from beneath its shelter. Right.

As to the scarf, though ... ]

That's not really what it's for.

[ He yanks on the scarf--he has about three of the vines bound together, like a bundle of horrible asparagus--and jumps off from the shell. He nods to Mamoru, holding fast to the scarf as the vines struggle to break free. ]

Can you cut through several at once?

[prizeneck]

Huh. Never seen anything like that before, to be honest. [He twists the sword in his hands and slices them neatly with a quick jerk.] There.

[eyedrop]

[ Aizawa rescinds the scarf after Mamoru's made his cut, already glancing around for any remaining tentacles. There should be at least one more ... he squints, eyes aching, but he sees it--trying to scuttle back into the brush. He takes the gun stuck in his belt and fires off a quick shot, blasting the last vine apart.

Now the world is slightly more safe for dragokeets. ]

Nice work.

[ He loops the scarf securely around his neck as he bows his head slightly. ]

Shouta Aizawa. Pleased to meet you.

[ He says that, but--as from the start--his voice is completely deadpan. He tugs on the scarf. ]

And this is a capture weapon.

[prizeneck]

[He doesn't even flinch at the shot, even if the dragokeet does, jumping out of Mamoru's jacket pocket and wanting to crawl up his chest and his shoulder, perhaps find some shelter in Mamoru's hair. He grabs the animal a little firmer and places it on the ground.

He sheathes his sword carefully as he listens to their surroundings for a bit. He doesn't hear much, except the rustling of the vegetation around them. They should be okay for now.

A nod.] You too. Maybe you should take the shell - it can be used as a shield 'a sorts.

[And he hadn't realized he missed the familiarity of Japanese names until he heard one.] Mamoru Hijikata.

[A tilt of his head.] Huh. For immobilization, then?

[eyedrop]

[ He kneels beside the shell in question, rapping it with his knuckles. Rock solid. ]

Not a bad idea.

[ He taps the scarf with one hand; with the other, he's prying the shell loose from the remains of the vines. ]

That's the primary goal. It's made of carbon fiber and a steel alloy.

[ Aizawa's so fresh on the scene that he's barely had time to be homesick, but there is something to be said for any spot of familiarity. ]

[prizeneck]

Actually tried cuttin' it, but only made a dent. Expands with heat. Could be useful.

[He frowns behind the lenses of his shades, pushing them slightly higher on the bridge of his nose as he hears the tap on the scarf. Now that he does hear it, without the squeaking of the dragokeet and the rustle of the vines, he's reminded of certain materials his partner ordered to his team's base.] I know of bullet-resistant fabric but it's the first time I see that kind of material move like that.