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]

I thought that I'd cut off what Snoke did, but it clearly didn't work and I don't- I can't do it here.

[She's not strong enough here, just like he isn't, just like everyone with some sort of power isn't. It's a little bit of a relief to know he's been hobbled, really, what with his tendency to lose his temper and murder... well, anyone in sight. She's developing connections here, making friends, and she's had enough of losing that because of him.]

Do you think it's possible for us to be friends?

[She knows her answer, but she wants to hear his first.]

[ergosphere]

[Before she'd bested him twice, he'd assumed he was the stronger of the two of them, having been trained all his life on how to use the Force. He might therefore take it upon himself to try and close this connection, seal it off for good, but -- he wouldn't. Whether because he couldn't, or didn't want to selfish reasons, even he wasn't sure. It was hard to let go of the only other thing in the galaxy that understood your power and talents.

Kylo was silent, mulling over her question and constantly tripping over the word friends.]

I think we've proven more than capable of working alongside one another.

[When the conditions were right, namely, fighting Snoke's guards. You didn't have to be friends to make an effective team, and she'd likely read that answer into what he'd said.]

[garbagepilot]

[Except she doesn't think they can be friends, at least not now. He's done too much, to her and to Finn and his family, to the whole galaxy, and she's just not in a place where she can forgive and forget. The loss of Han still tears at her heart, but she knows they can't go on like they have been.

Something has to shift before they tear each other apart.]

I think so too. [And she looks at him, stares right at the apparition of him, and decides to try.] In some ways you were right about letting go of the past. Maybe we should try to do that here. We're both working for COST, after all, so we're on the same side.

[If she only knew...]

[ergosphere]

[On the same side. Right. It would be better to find a way to close this connection, before she managed to find him out. But it was also tempting to use it as he'd wanted to originally, as a way to reach her, spy on her, get the truth through to her. Of course, she was taking his directive to let go now, of all times, which might not bode well for how well he thought he could manipulate her.

Honestly, he had very little hope of that. She was naive, but still defiant in ways that he envied.]

We can't start over. [He was still a monster; that much she'd been right to insist on before.] But we can... start somewhere.

[garbagepilot]

[It shouldn't be a comfort that he's aware of that, that he knows there's no starting over after all the baggage that's between them, but it is and just that is enough to make her frown, shift a little uncomfortably.

She needs to get past that if she really wants to do what she's saying, form some kind of connection to him, because being unhappy that they feel the same way shouldn't be a bad thing.

And yet, here she is, doing exactly that. With a sigh, she leans back against the tree behind her and gives him a critical look.]

What did you tell people about what happened in the throne room? They can't be happy with you killing Snoke.

[ergosphere]

I told them you killed him. They have no reason to question my word.

[Hux hadn't been convinced, but he'd fallen in line nonetheless. Getting rid of him, ironically, was going to be harder than getting rid of Snoke. The Supreme Leader hadn't been quite so intricately involved in the finer details of how the First Order operated.]

Besides, it's not that far from the truth. I wouldn't have had the means to do it without you.