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

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.]

[padadin]

The whole Paisley crew transferred. [Shiro has that STOP MAKING BIG BRO TIRED tone in his voice.] We're having a little talk about communication after his birthday is over.

[the_tailor]

Shirooooo. No lecture!

[Pout.]

How was I supposed to know the Paisley would just get nommed on like that? I was going to tell everyone this weekend I transferred!

[padadin]

You should've informed everyone regardless of ship eating voids.

[...]

And don't think I didn't hear you laugh.

[the_tailor]

I was distracted by the birthday stuff!

[.........]

No idea what you're talking about, buddy. You must have been hearing someone else.

[tempredmental]

HE COULD HAVE TOLD US THAT WHEN HE DID IT!

[padadin]

I know. [A sigh.] I thought he did.

[tempredmental]

Nope. Not a word.

[ANNOYED.]

[the_tailor]

I'm here! I know your lives and the universe in general would suffer without my presence within it, but worry not, my friends! I, uh, I transferred to the Blameless like a day or two ago. I was going to tell you all once all the birthday shenangins were done with.

[pidge_out]

[Oh good, Lance didn't get eaten.]






[And now that Pidge isn't worried, she's pissed.]

You ass.

[the_tailor]

[Oh no. Oh no, he knows that tone.]

What??? I really didn't know it was gonna end up being a big deal!

[tempredmental]

You transferred how long ago?

[the_tailor]

A day or two! I didn't think it'd end up being such a big deal!

[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.

[tempredmental]

[Keith's eyes widened a little.]

So... I can check to see who's still here? Is it updated that quickly?

[There might be a tiny bit of hope in his voice.]