driftfleet | 002: Nightmares...

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002: Nightmares...

Who: Wanda Maximoff and others
Broadcast: Yes - Fleetwide (with additional filtered, private messages)
Action: SS Starstruck and Dust Planet
When: Over the past two weeks

[Week One After Nebula Incident]

[After the whole attack and nebula misadventure, Wanda began noticing a few strange occurrences. There were the obvious, random technology and lighting malfunctions on the Starstruck, but those did not take too long to fix and restore to relative normalcy. It was more personal oddities that were beginning to concern her. The first of which was the near constant headache that started to arise not too long after the ship passed through the nebula. At first, it had been nothing more than a dull, but still noticeable ache; however, it seemed to be slowly growing with intensity, and, while it would originally come and go, it also seemed to be becoming more constant. The periods in-between decreasing with each new wave of pain.]

[And then, there were the nightmares... She'd only had three so far, but they were the most troubling. They each started the same, but they were increasing in duration and in detail. She decided to keep the specifics to herself for now, but she had to know how others in the fleet were fairing and perhaps if anyone was experiencing something similar.]

[When the video feed clicks on, Wanda clearly looks somewhat disheveled. The nights of restless sleep brought on by the nightmares had clearly taken their toll on her. She looked tired, frustrated, and also a little bit scared. She does her best to appear calm, however, and speak in a level tone as she addresses the fleet.]

This is Wanda Maximoff on the SS Starstruck.

Has anyone in the fleet been having any headaches after our trip through the nebula? Or perhaps some kind of nightmares? If so, how long have they been lasting for you? If anyone has any advice on how to... numb these effects, please let me know.

[Week Two]

[She had hoped it would all pass: the headaches and the nightmares, though now she wasn't so sure these were mere nightmares she was having. Unfortunately, they only seemed to be getting worse and worse with each passing day. What had started as periodic waves of dull annoyance, had now become full migraines that left her almost reeling for a minutes at a time. Nothing she had done in attempt to quell the pain had lasted for very long, if it even worked at all. In addition, the "nightmares" were becoming much more frequent. It seemed like almost every time she closed her eyes now, she fell into them. What was worse was that they were affecting her surroundings as she slept.]

[Wanda's friends and shipmates will likely have noticed that they have not heard or seen much of her over the week. It seemed like she was trying to distance herself more and more from those around her. Anyone who does see her will be able to tell that she is not looking well. The effects of her lack of restful sleep are apparent in her face and her posture. She looks tired, and even more apparent... she looks scared. Thus, anyone who attempts to engage her will find her to be rather evasive, trying to wrap up their talk as quickly as possible for heading off somewhere. In fact, her shipmates may have noticed her entering rooms on occasion, only to flee when she notices someone else in the room with her. Any visitors to her sleeping quarters will see damage to the walls, ceiling and various fixtures. Items Wanda has collected from previous planetary visits are strewn about on the floor, and some are heavily damaged. It's also likely that Wanda's shipmates will have heard some screaming and banging coming from her room or the cargo hold.]

[The past three days...]

[If Wanda's communication with her friends and her presence on the ship had been dwindling the previous week, it was now completely gone. Anyone who cares to look for her on the Starstruck will not find her. Digging a little deeper, one would be able to find that one of the Starstruck's shuttle logs details a trip in which the shuttle departed for the nearby planet, only to quickly return to the ship on auto-pilot.]

[Wanda's friends and shipmates will find a short, text message from her on their communicators. It reads:]

Do not come looking for me.

[Those who do venture planet-side looking for her in town will not find her there. However, the townspeople have begun talk of strange, supernatural occurrences up in nearby desert mesas. It seems that those journey by have heard what sounds like screams or wails coming from them. Anyone who has tried to investigate has been attacked by red, etheric swirls of light, knocking travelers off their feet or transportation. No serious injury has been done to anyone yet, but it's clear that it's scaring the townspeople.]

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[Open to anyone who wants to contact Wanda over the Network or in-person action aboard the Starstruck.]

[Private Messages via Network to Wanda or in-person action aboard the Starstruck.]

[Open to any of Wanda's friends looking for her on the dust planet, or to anyone investigating the ghost rumors spreading in town.]

Edited 2015-09-30 18:47 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure after... all of that.... nightmares are probably going to be pretty common. We were almost vaporized by an unknown enemy fleet, then left stranded in space without power. That kind of shit's scary, it could mess with anybody.

[ She's got nothin' for the headaches, though. ]

So you've been having them too then?

[Wanda looks a little relieved at the prospect that other fleet members seem to have been affected similarly.]

Yeah, here and there. All that chaos in the attack was one of the most intense moments of my life, and drifting through that nebula afterwards, with no engine or lights or anything, I wasn't sure if we'd make it out all right.

[Wanda nods her head. She'd been in combat before, fighting off an army of Ultron bodies with the Avengers. However, it was a completely different experience when you are confined to a ship. Makes everything more nerve-racking.]

It seems all the ships managed to make it through more or less. It makes me wonder what our enemy's real objective was. If they had wanted to destroy the fleet, why did they not follow us through the nebula to make sure the job was done?

Well, they were definitely trying to get us into the nebula. I don't know why, but... [ But she knew it would make them stop firing, so she purposely led her own ship into it. Even if it meant leaving them without power. Way to go, Max. ]

...Maybe they thought the nebula would hurt us enough to make it worth it.

[Wanda gives a slight one-shoulder shrug, crossing her arms in the same movement.]

Perhaps. But if these were the same attackers from before, then that makes twice now that they have done this hit-and-run style of attack. If they mean to destroy us, they seem to be doing a poor job of it.

Oh, that's right. I did hear something about this happening before. I wasn't here for the first time.

We've got a lot of skilled people in the fleet, though. It doesn't surprise me that we made it through.... mostly okay.

[ Actually, the ship she's on was pretty badly damaged before Max fixed it. Not exactly something she can advertise, though. ]

It was a little before my arrival here too, so I suppose it could be a different threat entirely. But those who were around for the first attack seem pretty sure it was the same foe.

[Wanda lets out a short, frustrated sounding sigh. She also raises one hand to her temple and rubs it a little.]

If this really is all one big reality show as we have been told, it really makes you wonder who would want to attack us.

[ ...Light bulb moment. ]

Do you think the show's organizers would do it? I mean, something like this has got to shoot up ratings something fierce. And it would make sense why they wouldn't actually kill any of us.

[The thought had occurred to Wanda. In fact, Natasha had originally offered the idea, and there was a certain chilling sense to how plausible it sounded.]

Hard to say. True, they have failed to inflict any really significant damage to us. But this recent attack, guiding us into the nebula... If Atroma was orchestrating these attacks, why risk all the damage to the Marsiva? All the technology glitching out... it seems rather dumb of them to risk knocking their own show off the air.

[Of course, this line of reasoning was relying on some major assumptions of its own.]

Maybe, but we don't really know how they film anything either. I haven't seen anything like a camera aboard the ship I'm on.

[And there was one of those assumptions right there.]

That is true. I have yet to find any kind of camera myself, and I do not recall anyone else claiming to have uncovered any kind of video equipment on any of the other ships.

[Wanda lets out another, sigh this one sounding more pained than before. Her hand returns to her temple, and she winces slightly as a new headache begins. Damn, they were becoming annoying.]

With the kind of technology they have, I'm sure there's a million ways they could do it.

[Wanda nods her head again, still looking somewhat pained. When she opens her mouth to respond, however, she suddenly lets out a cry of pain. She clutches her head with both hands, as she staggers a bit almost losing her balance. The pain, it felt almost exactly like when Hawkeye had gotten the jump on her with one of his tazer-arrows. Thankfully, the sharpness of the pain dulls quickly. She shakes her head, reflexively trying to clear it after that hot flash of pain. She lowers one of her hands, but one stays near her temple tenderly rubbing it with her middle and fore finger.]

I- I am sorry. They- the headaches, they were not this bad before.

[ WHOA jeez ]

Dude, that sounds pretty serious. Does your ship have a med bay or something?

[The headache seemed to be fading, so Wanda's hands both drop to her sides. She quickly folds them again across her chest, trying to look calm and in-control despite the earlier scene just now.]

Yes, we do. Admittedly, I have not visited it nearly as much as I have the ones on some other ships, but I know where it is.

[Natasha may not know all that much about Wanda, but she knows that the woman's behavior over the last couple weeks has been anything but normal. Typos in text messages growing more prevalent, erratic conversations, the occasional way in a video or in person she'll catch the young woman clutching at a temple...something's wrong. Something really bad. And after the events of August, she's especially worried when she sees the text from Wanda on her comm.]

[So here she is, on the mesas, with camping gear and a pack just in case. She's heard the stories back in town, came armed just in case, but she's beginning to form a theory about these occurrences. A theory she hopes she's wrong about, as she rides out, searching.]

[During the day, there is no sign of the so-called "red spirits" supposedly haunting the mesas. There is also nothing that sounds like a scream or a cry to be heard either. If Wanda is here, she seems to have done a decent job of covering her tracks of any noticeable markers. A life on the streets with her brother, she's clearly picked up on a thing or two when it comes to finding places to tuck herself away in.]

[However, when night falls, that's when things go awry. The first noticeable detail is the sound of a scream, something sounding like a mix of pain and terror. A swirling cascade of crimson light flows through the various holes, cracks, and caverns of the landscape. As the light passes over some bits of rock formation, fragments may even break of. Some shards go flying in odd directions, while others crumble in midair as if being ground into dust by a large, invisible hand.]

[Knowing the people he does, that's an open invitation to come looking for her. Still.]

I will respect your privacy, if that is what you wish. However, should you need or want anything, simply name the time and place.

[Wanda's response is a little erratic, looking like she was having trouble hitting the keys to type out her message.]

Vjsiom? I- I m sprry. My pwers, myhead itsll hrts. I dpnt knw wgat tp do.

[It took him longer than it probably should have to notice. It was a little like the Starstruck was suddenly haunted, and Wanda was their personal poltergeist. At first it's easy to miss amid his own troubles - the faint ache at the base of his skull and the sleeplessness that has less to do with trouble sleep but an abundant amount of energy. He isn't on board the ship much, or distracted by his own thoughts when he is.

It's hard, however, to not notice the screaming.

Felix isn't a generally confrontation personal when it came to the wounds of others, but after another nightly disturbance, he manages to corner her somewhere on the ship.

Something was wrong, and he was determined to find out what.]

You've been scarce lately.

[there is a man out in the desert today, following rumor and spreading fear. because--as one who has been the source of many a ghost story himself over the years--he has his suspicions about their source in this case. he has a hunch that these myths have a face, and that this face is trying to hide.

so, naturally, he's trying to find it. besides... distance from the ships and crowds might do his own headaches and nightmares some good. he isn't dressed for the climate, he brings no supplies, and he doesn't carry a weapon. all he's got is immortal confidence, and an overabundance of curiosity.

and he keeps his senses open--all of them. he searches far and wide for hot-spots of high energy, and he lets his own aura bleed out as well. he is sure that sooner or later, one anomaly will eventually detect the other. he'll just have to be patient.]

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002: Nightmares...

Week One

Week Two

Past Three Days

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Searching on the planet:

Mesas

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Searching the land!