driftfleet | it's gonna rain - and it never ends

[ It's midday, or close enough to it that the sun is blazing red hot above the planet. Everything seems ordinary - for disturbing, red-tinted values of ordinary, anyway. But the normalcy doesn't last for long.

Without warning, an explosive sound shocks through the jungle. It doesn't come from any one central point, but rather several points, scattered throughout, strategically placed to the advantage of someone. And from those massive shocks rises a wave of missiles - large, fast, and apparently, freely flying. They're guided, and they've locked onto their target: any foreign ship that is currently within Lato'li's atmosphere.

There's no way to mistake it. They're headed right for the Fleet.

The first wave feels a bit sporadic - timings might be off, but the missiles are still deadly, and if they hit, they hit hard. Shields might withstand this wave, but ships without shields will take direct hits. The ability to stay airborn is very, very quickly lost.

The second wave is much more precise, expertly timed and executed by whomever is firing from below. Even smaller shuttles get caught in the crosshairs, and those ships that lasted through the first volley will take a few more shots. If shields saved you before, they will fail here, giving out under the strain.

And the third wave comes, a little bit longer after, to finish the job. There are more of them, and they are far more advanced - they make the previous two volleys look like warning shots. This time, it's all missiles launched, all targets acquired.

Seven Fleet ships - and many, many shuttles - fall out of the sky, headed straight for the surface at alarming speed. Only four ships manage to escape the assault and exit the planet's atmosphere, retreating to orbit as fast as possible. Those lucky enough to have been in orbit can only watch as all of this happens.

But the missiles aren't the only thing up their sleeve. Just when the dust settles, while the network is surely lighting up with activity, attempts to contact one another and check on the status of fellow ships and crew, A loud, quick, terrible screeching noise shocks the network. It drowns out all communications on any connected devices - ship or personal. Ships in orbit will see all on-board systems flicker, then fizzle out, all non-emergency systems have gone completely down.

And with that.. there's silence. Perhaps too much silence. No matter what you do, no matter which buttons you press, which channels you try, there is no connection. Those who have dropped to the surface are entirely radio silent, and those in orbit have been reduced to the barest of abilities and life-support, with the bare minimum of contact.

So... What can you do now? ]

(( ooc: Feel free to use this post as a mingle for all your crashy or missile-dodgy needs!

• The following ships have been shot down: Bishop, Bloodsport, Blue Fish, Goldstone, Heron, Tourist, Twin Roses.
• The following ships are now in orbit: Blameless, Caprine, First Breath, Huntress, Iskaulit, Red Fish, Starstruck, Vanquish, Wonderduck

Good luck, Dear Fleet...~ ♪ ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Still, get Shay to look at it at some point, huh? Who knows what situation we're in- it's better to be safe than sorry.

[He waves a hand, he's okkkaaaay. For now. ]

I'm fine, promise. And from the ground? That's...deeply concerning. Shiro thinks his might be one of those planets from the nightmares we all had. The uh...hunting one.

So far, I'd say he's got a good hunch.

Yes, I will. Hopefully she's not hurt, either.

[Though Shay seems to be made of tougher stuff - quite literally.]

I believe it is, too. The forest outside? Just like the one I saw in my dream. Or at least it seems very similar. And I felt something when we approached the planet the other day, like what I felt in my dream.

Here's hoping a sprained ankle is all we have to worry about.

[Yup. That matches up with his dream too, he pulls a face. ]

We better be on our guard. The sooner I can get the shields working again on the ship, the better. At least inside'll be safe then.

[He hopes. ]

In terms of people, yes. In terms of the ship... I'm going to venture it'll be a bit more than that. Poor Fish.

[Of course she's mostly worried about the critical systems and getting it up in the air, but ugh. The paint job is probably wrecked at this point.]

I wish we had another engineer on board to help you. All the same, once I get my ankle wrapped up, I'll take a look outside. See what's around us.

Yeah she's...really been hit hard. But she has before, and she always bounces back with some TLC.

[He's trying to keep it light to stop panic from spreading- that's the last thing any of the ship needs. They've got a bunch of new folks who haven't had to deal with the worst Atroma has to offer before. Best keep it...calm. ]

Okay, but don't go too far. The communicators aren't working and we need to be able to hear you. Maybe get someone to stand on top of the ship and keep an eye out. Whoever shot us down are absolutely still out there.

[She has the same worry as him, concerning not just the ship but the new crew. No one but them and Eithan have been through an emergency situation like this, at least in the fleet. Granted, they all seem capable enough, but still...]

They're not working? [Okay now that's really worrying.] At all?

[It was still a shock to the system. ]

Nope. No communications between ships, the person ones aren't working either. It's like a complete and utter blackout.

[He gives a tired laugh. ] But hey, good job I was super paranoid about Azula that one time and made us a decent door lock, right?

Lovely. Just bloody lovely.

[This was a planned, staged attack. Not born out of panic, but malice. Somebody wanted them on this planet, and wanted them cut off and isolated. The hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge.]

Thank the Maker for those locks. Will they still be able to work, even with so many of the systems down?

[Someone absolutely had it out for them. After the last planet...well, it's really starting to feel like Atroma are upping their game- and it's not good for anyone. ]

They should. I rerouted them so they should function with low power. They won't take from the emergency systems, but I'd rather make sure they were all pretty solid before we take that chance.

Better safe than sorry, yes.

[She pauses, and a haunting thought occurs to her.]

...er, I know this might not be the best time, but... what'll happen to all the food in our refrigerators and whatnot? [In particular, the meat.]

[Oh, well. That sure is a look of sad realisation crossing his face. ]

Oh noooo the meat.

[He lets out a groan.]

Well, we can hope there's good hunting here, or we'll have to get the replicators online quickly. Because that stuff'll be a lost cause within a day or so.

Our stock has been getting low. In this case, that's a good thing. I'd hate to be in the kitchen if we don't save the food and it starts to go bad. [Rotting meat's an assault to the nose.]

Well, we're in a forest, and I saw animals in my dream. There has to be some kind of game here.

That would be pretty gross, and we wouldn't want to throw it out too close to the ship. Who knows what it'd attract.

[Nothing good, probably. ]

And hopefully they're edible animals. And not...weird alien poisonous ones. I mean, someone shot us down right? So there's people here, they have to eat something.

[Ha. Ha. ]

If it comes down to having to toss it, I say we suck it up until we get into the air, then toss it out the airlock as we go. Rather a stinky kitchen then attracting a horde of... whatever to the ship.

[The locks can only do so much.]

One would think. And the people in the towns scattered around eat as well, and I doubt they import much, given the state of things.

Too true. We can live with a smell, not with...well. Whatever will obviously want to kill us here.

[He sighs. It strikes a little too close at home for him. ]

Yeah. Living in constant terror or raiders will do that to you. They'd stick close to each other and not stray too far out of areas they know are relatively safe. It wouldn't be safe to import things- I'd bet most of these villages have been completely isolated from one another for years.

No, very likely they haven't been out and about much since these Vieziri showed up. Even ships aren't safe, given how we got shot down from the damned air.

[STILL FEEL LIKE SHIT ABOUT THAT.]

I should get going and see what's going on out there. Unless you rather I stick inside and try to make sure everyone's all right first?

It would make a lot of sense to stick to one place.

No no, it's cool. You go see what you can see, I'll see if I can do something with the ship. Call if you need me. Really loudly.

[Seen as no comms haaaa.]

No worries, I will scream at the top of my lungs if I run into trouble.

[The smart thing to do would be to grab someone else to go with, but...]

Be careful. I won't be gone too long.

That's a great plan and I approve.

[That WOULD be the smart thing, but they're the Blue Fish, so!]

Okay, see you real soon. Stay safe.

it's gonna rain - and it never ends

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