agogemod: (Default)
⌞THE AGOGE⌝ MODS ([personal profile] agogemod) wrote in [community profile] agogelogs2018-03-17 12:45 am

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.


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.


bloodings: ♫ break } before their eyes (sometimes i feel)

[personal profile] bloodings 2018-03-29 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Mordred just ... absolutely deadeyes him. Since she's riding tandem, he's not wearing her armour, so he gets to see her full unimpressed expression; tempered only by the promise of getting to drive. ]

They didn't. But we had horses. [ Slight difference. Climbing on the bike, she looks over the controls — she doesn't understand any part of it individually, but that won't matter once she starts. ] It's a Servant thing. So long as I have a place to sit, I can ride just about anything.

[ The innuendo






Mordred's head. ]
ryuji: (083)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-04-09 04:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[He nearly needs a moment to stop himself from saying something totally inappropriate and ruining the moment.




Nah, he still does.]


Ride... anything?

[Don't.

Just don't. He sidles up behind her, holding back a monkey-like grin, letting her get used to the controls, or whatever moment she needs to read the mana-structional guide to getting this thing running. He has a moment of weird resistance where he's not sure how he should... hold on... to her, and decides to do just as he's seen in all the movies. Right around the waist.]


Let's say you were a rider class. Would you use a motorcycle like this?
bloodings: (over and over again)

[personal profile] bloodings 2018-04-10 08:01 am (UTC)(link)
Right. A horse, a car... probably not a spaceship, but anything short of that. Oh, and dragons are out, too.

[ So Daenerys still has that over her, at least. Ryuji's arms don't seem to bother her, even though she's wearing very little (as usual), and she hms in thought. ]

In battle, I'd probably just ride a horse. Nothing special. Out of it, though... a surfboard showed up in my room when I got back. Well, it's actually my father's shield, but you could say I repurposed it. [ How does that even work... ] A Rider class me could probably do all kinds of stunts on it. Right now, though, I'd just be like an expert-level human.
ryuji: (298)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-04-16 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
[There's that whole mention of using something from her father to repurpose into a surfboard that Ryuji doesn't touch with a ten foot excalibur, but there is a small moment where he's got his position behind her, and he's smirking a little bit.]

I bet the feeling of surfing into the ocean like that would be freedom, huh? The wind in your hair, hand touching the water in the pipe. [A pause-] Hot bikini, too.

[Casually skeeves on her. Yeah, because your board shorts make you look so attractive, Ryuji.]
bloodings: (f4)

[personal profile] bloodings 2018-04-16 07:52 am (UTC)(link)
A bikini? So that's what it's called... [ Completely oblivious to his meaning, she just sounds curious. She thinks back to the red outfit in her room, and her brows furrow in brief confusion. ] ... But no way something that small would be hot. Actually, it looks kind of refreshing to wear. Heh, guess I'm all set to hit the beach.

[ Maybe she'll get the chance, but not yet. The bike roars to life beneath them, thrumming as it hovers above the surface. Mordred has to raise her voice to be heard; even if she could easily switch to telepathy, it wouldn't have the same impact. ]

Let's go check out your weird rock. You ready?
ryuji: (274)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-04-17 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[Things he doesn't need right now: imagining his Servant getting into said bikini, saying something dumb to her, her not getting it, him feeling dumb. Alternatively, her knowing what he was thinking, and her killing him. Yet, still...]

Like... hot as in babe hot, attractive ho--- [And then the bike comes to life with a roar, blazing a sound through the serene tranquility of their relative position in the middle of nowhere. Probably best to give it up.

And fuck, he's so sentimental over the smallest things sometimes, but when you're kicking it out in the wilderness in search of weird rock formations and there's nothing around but you and one of your best friends.

It can't really get better than this, y'know?]


It ain't a weird rock! I'M TELLIN' YA, IT'S A PORTAL TO ANOTHER DIMENSION. [Yeah, telepathy is a thing. But so is being heard, being loud, being free. It's all good.]
bloodings: (and all the ugly people)

[personal profile] bloodings 2018-04-17 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
We'll see about that!

[ Maybe he's right. Maybe he's wrong. (He's almost certainly wrong.) But Mordred isn't going because she thinks something special is waiting for her there. She's going because Ryuji wants to.

The bike isn't terribly fast, but Mordred pushes it to the limit, until she can feel it shuddering in protest under her. Not satisfied with the speed, she darts close to flora and fauna; dodging a jaybear one minute, a giant tree the next, always barely an inch from disaster. It's getting dark, but she doesn't seem to take that into account, and whoops with joy when she launches the bike off a rock formation. ]


Hahahahaha! This is surprisingly fun! [ ... For her. How it feels for Ryuji is a different matter. ]