it's gonna rain - and it never ends

[thespaceopera]

[ 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...~ ♪ ))

Comments

[pain_train]

If you know the Ghost Wolves theme song, I can sing it with you. [Please no.

Wrath heads for Sawyer to offer him some support if he needs it.]

I'm still going through the ship. Putting people in the bridge for now since it's not too badly damaged.

Fuck. [She was hoping it's just her comm.]

[rednecking]

Can't say I do. Know some other themes, though. [both of them, just no.

He waves off her support with a grunt of thanks, moving to stand under his own power. He's good, he's fine, he's been through much, much worse]

Sounds like an idea. Good thing there ain't that many of us. [at least in this instance, a small crew is beneficial. Past that? Probably not] Any clues as to what took us down?

[pain_train]

Okay, if you know any I know...

[Her expression gets even more grim and coldly furious. She was on the bridge when it happened. She saw.]

Surface to air bombardment. Not that well-coordinated, but it fucked us up proper. I think we weren't the only ones who got shot down.

[rednecking]

Dharma didn't have no training for that in their damn books. [it's muttered mostly to himself before he grunts out a curse and runs a hand through his hair, frustration equalling her rage]

Well that's just swell. [on a planet with unknown hostiles - it's hitting a little bit too close to him for his liking. Idly he wonders if Sayid was shot down and is making the same parallels - if he survived.

. . . fucking hell]

Okay - okay. Let's worry 'bout us first, get this place secure, yeah? Then we can move onto the people partyin' down here with us.

[pain_train]

[She has no idea what he means about Dharma, but she'll ask later. There's a job that needs to get done first.]

Agreed. I'd rather have a fortified base here first than have everyone running with their asses out through the jungle or forest or whatever. We don't know what's out there.

[rednecking]

[he'd almost laugh at the irony. At least he has the experience for this]

Yeah, works for me. Then we can find out what we're dealin' with.

[pain_train]

You any good at first aide stuff?

[rednecking]

I got a steady hand, if that's what you're askin'. Know the basics and some other stuff.

[pain_train]

Okay, then get to the bridge and take charge of that for now. [She's fine at first aide... when she has the supplies she's used to. Without nanopatches and tissue glue, she has a harder time being useful.]

[rednecking]

I can manage that, probably. [that was stuff usually left to—no, he isn't following that train of thought. He frowns for a moment, then reaches up to wipe the blood from his cheek]

After that - you, me, and Bucky - let's get a perimeter set up. That's the fancy way to say it, right? [...] Crashed into a jungle once before and I ain't all that keen on repeatin' all the rest that came with it.

[pain_train]

[Just a short, sharp nod. Of course he can manage it.]

Yeah. Perimeter first, then start fortifications. [Her eyebrows go up a little.] You'll have to tell me more about that later.

[rednecking]

That works for me. [he doesn't quite look at her, because he knows exactly what kind of look he's getting] If we fortify and all that fancy shit enough to sit and drink, sure. It ain't a sober kind of story.

[pain_train]

Understood. [She acknowledges this with a sharp nod and turns to head back down the hall, all business.]