this is dr. death defying signing off

[thespaceopera]

[Metal and pipes echo hollowly through the empty ship. The Paisley, after more than a year of service, floats along without anyone to poke at her innards or bang pots in her kitchen or destroy the blender. A terrible fate indeed. The ship wanders on its own, slowly but surely moving to pass by the Marsiva to circle around the rest of the nearby solar bodies.

Those who happen to be at their communicator consoles will notice a sudden sharp uptick in energy, some kind of invisible wave that sets out from the Marsiva itself. The type of energy is impossible to define; the instruments scramble for a minute or two. It's not unlike the effect a massive solar storm has on electronic devices. Personal communicators may also be affected by this.

But windows still work, and all the other ships have a clear view of what happens next.

As the Paisley wanders within range, the Marsiva in all its awkward rounded glory splits vertically. It's less like a mouth or a hinged jaw and more like a void. There are the tiniest hints of stars if you look closely, but stare too long and you'll be overcome with a sudden and completely irrational fear of the darkness and/or falling. It opens wide, its size dwarfing the small ship like Earth meeting a gaseous giant, and then--

-- the Paisley is gone.

The Marsiva resumes its normal shape. A deep vibration knocks the consoles back online, like the belch of a universe.]

Comments

text;

[sylphid]

Well... that just happened.

I wonder if ships have flavors.

to Voltron cast

[tempredmental]

WHAT THE QUIZNAK DID THE MARSIVA DO TO LANCE'S SHIP?!

[pidge_out]

THAT WAS LANCE'S SHIP???

[tempredmental]

YES! Why would it do that? Have you heard from Lance?

[pidge_out]

N--No, I haven't. [Sorry Keith, she's kind of in shock and freaking out internally.]

But that- Was that real?? Did it really do that???

[tempredmental]

Did you see it? That ship...

It just...

It opened up and just swallowed the other ship!

[pidge_out]

I saw it but I just-- [Can't believe it.]

He may not have been on it. Or- Or maybe he got pulled onto the Marsiva! Wh-Who else was on that ship, on his crew? We should try to contact them, or someone, like now.

[tempredmental]

I... I don't know. A lot of the crew on that ship has either transferred off or disappeared from the Fleet.

[Keith sounds really distressed. He didn't handle loss well.]

[action, outside in the Huntress' hall]

[sylphystia]

What? What happened?

[HE'S BLIND HE CAN'T SEE SHIT]

[tempredmental]

[Keith's door flies open. Sorry, Dezel, but he's bursting out of the room at you.]

The Marsiva ATE the Paisley!

[His voice was definitely distressed by this, and even cracked a little.]

[sylphystia]

[Dezel takes a step back, quite alarmed. He felt that energy wave but he wasn't sure of what it was, so he has to wait on other people to tell him what happened.

Unfortunately, this makes even less sense than he expected.]

... The big ship ate another ship. You're sure about this?

[tempredmental]

YES!

[Okay... he needed a minute. Panicking wasn't helping anyone or anything. He took a moment.]

Okay... So, the Paisley was coming around, and the Marsiva just opened up... like a giant mouth? And then it moved over and swallowed the Paisley. It was just... gone! It closed up again like nothing happened.

When it opened up, there was this like... void... maybe some stars? But it was really unnerving to look into.

[sylphystia]

[Dezel swears under his breath.] What the hell...

[This doesn't sound good for any of them if the Marsiva can just-- do that. At any time. Dezel's scowl is distinctly shark-toothed. Still, he's... trying to calm Keith down. He has to.]

If you're worried about someone, there's a list on the communicator with the active crewmembers. It's in one of the menus when you look at the network.

voice

[musicalhost]

Did...

[So horrified.]

Did the Marsiva just eat that ship??

[More importantly:] Was anyone on board?

Video

[darksmokerising]

...yeah, sure looks like it got eaten.

[Merlan makes a face at the thought of anyone actually being on board.]

I hope not. I'm still trying to recover from the fact that the SS Paisley was my first stop before I was abruptly transferred out. It was incredibly light staffed during my very brief stay.

Video

[musicalhost]

[She switches to video, trying to be polite.]

I hope everyone that was there got off. That was...

Ships get decomissioned anywhere but not like that.

so late tagging back :(

[darksmokerising]

It'd be pretty horrible if anyone got, ah, eaten. My planet doesn't even have technology like this but I'm pretty sure shark ships aren't a thing even in our wildest imagination.

not late at all

[musicalhost]

Mine is pretty advanced, I'm a member of Starfleet, but we don't have ships eating ships. I don't think we ever will.

[darksmokerising]

I would hope not. It's pretty creepy. [Merlan shakes her head and makes a face.]

voice

[padadin]

[A reassuring tone cuts in.] There wasn't anyone on board, don't worry.

voice

[musicalhost]

[And she just lets out a relieved sigh.]

Good. I couldn't stand the idea of anyone dying.

[padadin]

I understand. But my guess is that it-- "ate" it because it was empty.

[musicalhost]

[She brushes her hand through her hair.]

I really hope you're right. I mean, I'm sure you are, I'd hate the alternative being true.

[padadin]

[A sympathetic look.]

I promise I am. The Paisley pilot transferred to my ship because there were only two or three of them left and they were all leaving.

SS Bloodsport - At a window

[darksmokerising]

Good lord. [Merlan watches the scene with wide eyed wonder, pulling her .]

I was originally assigned to that ship until I was moved here. That's a little creepy if you ask me.