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

[garbagepilot]

[Rather than show off, Rey gives in to the flicker of a desire to show off, meet his sense of flair with her own little show of power, and so she reaches her hand out and gives it a shot.

Just beside him a pile of little rocks forms, shifts into letters that spell out a simple YES in the dirt.]

You could say that. I'm Rey.

[inconstantly]

[The display causes John to grin widely, responding in a single loud clap of appreciation.]

Well done, Rey. Looks like this place hasn't managed to quash the cheek from you yet.

[In playing off her declaration, the lighter is withdrawn again, and after covering his hands, John makes his own introductions through smoke and flame.

J-O-H-N C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-E

He winces, wringing out his hand.]

Yes, well, sorry about the wait. I hadn't anticipated my surname taking quite so long.

[It's interesting that she doesn't seem to have one. Wouldn't be the first person he met here like that.]

[garbagepilot]

[She watches from her perch in the tree, following the drifting letters as they form and wondering if it's possible to try to twist fire like that with the Force.

She may try, but not with an audience, not when she really has no idea what she's doing. Dumb luck and guessing can really only take you so far.]

You must be from Earth. [The way she says it, pronunciation just slightly off, should make it clear that not only is she not, but it's a fairly new concept for her.] Most of you get all particular about last names.

[inconstantly]

Well I like my name, has a good kick to it. But you can call yourself whatever you like. Back home I know people with all sorts of names, though usually there's a funny costume to go with it.

[The fire fades fully into smoke and John regards Rey again, lifting his chin to better see her in the tree.]

But yeah, Earth. I suppose the next thing to do is ask you where you're from but I can guarantee I won't have heard of it.

[garbagepilot]

It's a planet called Jakku, but it's not much. All desert, not really worth visiting.

[Or going back to. And now that it seems like they're going to keep this conversation up Rey shifts in her tree, puts her hands on the branch she's sitting on and swings down to land gracefully just in front of him.]

When did you get here?

[inconstantly]

Top marks for that, by the way.

[He motions vaguely to the spot where she landed. Maybe Rey was some kind of athlete back home or performance artist? He'd figure it out.]

I arrived during the final push at Gallipoli. Not enough to see everything, but I still experienced plenty.

[His until now previously light tone becomes slightly more sober.]

What about you?

[garbagepilot]

[That earns him a grin, quick and sharp and amused by the compliment. Since it comes as she's reaching for her staff where she left it leaning up against the tree, she turns the movement into a little bow, arm sweeping outward as she bends forward.

The thing is, ever since she left Gallipoli she's been overcompensating when it comes to putting forward a tough face. It's easy to act fine, draw on the Force to keep her nerves calm, and pretend like nothing happened.

But something did happen, and her eyes narrow a little, she searches his face when he asks the question to see if there's something hidden there, something that will tell her if he knows she was one of the escapees, one of the kidnapped who fought their way back to freedom. Does he know about the torture? Has anyone said anything they shouldn't have said?

No, she thinks. Better to just hope for no.]

I got here just as we went there. I was there from the beginning.

[inconstantly]

[The change in his voice is due to his own experience. While John knows that he wasn't in Gallipoli for the long haul, many others were. If what he saw was only a fraction of what they did he had no business being flippant.

Nothing about Rey's history there registers on his face, but his eyes do furrow at her revelation.]

I can't imagine what you've experienced. [He doesn't expect to be told, and frankly doesn't want to be.] But this place has to be better. [The corner of John's mouth quirks a little at his attempt to lighten the mood somewhat.] Lets you make shapes with rock anyway.