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

[heilt]

( oh my god jack morrison you are a child. an actual child )

When you're finished I'll be in medical.

( she didn't sign up for this. you can just stand in this hallway semi-nude. she was at least going to offer you privacy. angela is now turning to walk away. bye felicia )

[mylawn]

[You asked for this! She totally asked for this, and Jack is not about to back down. They both know how stubborn he can be--Angela wants a medical exam right now, before anything else? He will do that. He will make it happen.]

If you have time to go to medical, I have time to take a shower.

[heilt]

You know why I'm going to medical.

( considering that she was trying to get him there. she's not going to argue about it, though. she gets his want for a shower but she can't help being concerned or wanting to know what had happened, just as he'd want to know what had happened to her )

I'll see you there.

[mylawn]

[Jack gathers up his clothes and nods, stomping off to take the aforementioned shower. It's not fast, given the fact that everyone else wants a shower and there are only so many stalls available, but he tries to make it as swift as possible so as not to keep her waiting. He's not very good at keeping promises anymore, but this one is easy.

When he finally makes his way to Medbay, he's thankfully in a towel, and perhaps feeling a little better now that he's taken the hottest shower of his entire life.]

I'm ready when you are, Doc.

[heilt]

( given how long his shower takes angela does begin to wonder whether her question was right, whether he'd actually show up. as much as he wants to claim that he's changed jack does still care about her, and he'd know it would be an easy enough task for her to track him back down.

thankfully he does turn up, though less clothed than angela would have edpected. considering she'd ask him to remove them anyway this seemed to be quicker )

You know what to do.

( they'd gone through this routine enough times over the years that she didn't have to ask him anymore )

[mylawn]

[He sure does know what to do--and now that he's cleaned up, he's much more agreeable. Jack nods, hopping up on the nearest exam table. All things considered, the military has made him a good patient, and all his years with Angela means this is habit, at this point.]

Ready.

[heilt]

( her exam begins quietly, manipulating joints, checking for injuries, fingers working over old wounds. she doesn't ask anymore if something hurts, knowing he'll speak up if she needs to know something. at least that was how it used to be )

What happened after I left?

( her question is quiet, barely audible, mixed in as she keeps examining him )

[mylawn]

Jack's tolerance for pain is fairly unparalleled, but in better days it was easier to admit when he's injured. Now he won't verbalize anything at all. There's nothing overt, but he might grimace a little when she puts pressure on some of his joints--more of a sign of him wearing down than anything else.

All in all, however, everything seems fine, at least physically.]

The Regency pinned us so we split into groups to evacuate. Mine left Lone Pine to try and contact the French.

[heilt]

( she's satisfied with the exam, making a mental note of where his complaints came from but happy enough with his physical condition. the years have begun wearing on him and who knows what happened in those years of his 'death'. she drops her hands from him, pulling a chair over to sit in front of him )

Were you able to?

[mylawn]

Yeah. I went with the group charged with setting up communications.

[And it hadn't exactly been a walk in the park, but they'd had success in contacting the French, at least. It was really the only reason they got the ANZAC soldiers out of Gallipoli alive.

Jack can see that Angela looks guilty. He wishes he had something better to say about the time she was gone, but there's no real sugarcoating what they went through.]

Then the Regency kidnapped a handful of COST agents. I don't think there's anything we could've done.

[heilt]

( her eyes close for a moment. angela knows that even if she'd been there she wouldn't have been able to stop these events, or perhaps help at all. they weren't medical and in that capacity it seemed like they had done mostly alright. even though she couldn't have helped, even though she knows none of it is her fault, she can't help but feel a little guilty for not being there to share in the planning or the rescue.

angela opens her eyes again, hoping to have shaken off a little of that feeling though she knows it's going to sit with her for a little while longer )

Did you recover them?

( was anyone still lost? )

[mylawn]

They got themselves out.

[And it's incredibly lucky that they did, considering Grothia had been ready to leave them behind. She'd given him unofficial permission to go after them, of course, but without knowing how they were taken or where they were being held, Jack hadn't the slightest idea of where to begin.

It was an altogether powerless feeling, something he's never liked, even at the best of times.]

Seems it was easier to do from the inside.

[heilt]

Thankfully so.

( it always did help. though it could be tough it saved others from risking their lives. considering how few were soldiers, at least from similar backgrounds to jack, it made it a pleasant surprise that they'd saved themselves )

What now? They've shown what they can do on multiple occasions.

[mylawn]

[Jack tries to consider it for a long moment, but the truth is he already knows the answer. It's not pleasant to admit, because the last thing he wants is to be powerless, but given what they've just experienced, he isn't sure how else to feel.]

I don't know.

[Back home, he might be able to take action, even without a clear path forward. Here, he doesn't even have that.]

[heilt]

Do you think that the Commander knows?

( or chiron? and if they didn't would they admit to it? that was always the most difficult thing to do )

[mylawn]

She might.

[In that she all but admitted she's dealt with something like this before. The fact that she was forced to leave recruits behind, however, indicates that there's not much anyone can do.]

I think her hands are tied.

[heilt]

By who?

( angela wouldn't claim to know the politics of all of this. she knew that there was only so much that they could do, that the regency had more power and resources than they did, but that was as far as angela would say she understood )

[mylawn]

Staging a rescue is only going to get more of us killed.

[This is, of course, something they argued about extensively over the course of Overwatch--what is and isn't an acceptable loss. For Angela, the answer is always zero, but Jack knows that it's never quite that simple.]

She's trying to get as much of the team out alive as possible.

[heilt]

( this time all angela does is nod, surprisingly. she still doesn't agree with it, she doesn't want anyone left if there's a chance that they might die, but angela hadn't seen what it had been like back there.

she's also seen what the regency can do, with xici disappearing in front of her eyes piece by piece. it had horrified her and if sending a team in could do it to their own people-- angela believes him )

You'll make sure she can.

( she knows his experience even if not the commanders but angela knows that he wouldn't be backing her decisions if he didn't agree with them tactically )

I trust you to keep everyone safe.

( he'd certainly made her believe that was his goal all the time, whether their methods were agreed on )

[mylawn]

Yes.

[Even though he's fairly powerless in this situation, he can at least project confidence to Angela. Maybe she won't buy it, but without much else to do, that's what he can offer.]

I'm going to do everything I can.