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

[bryces_pup]

Kiter is my mabari. Not full size, mind, but it's still hard to miss him.

[Riona whistles again, and her worry grows when she hears no answer. She hurriedly leads them down towards the hall where the bedrooms are. Some doors are hanging open from the impact, hers being one of them. For the moment she stops leaning on Cyril and hobbles over to her door.]

Kiter? Shit, it's a mess in here. [Some stuff is knocked over, blocking part of the room off.] Give me a hand, will you?

[samahl]

[The idea that there are animals who might be in this mess makes everything seem even more dire.

Dire enough that he doesn't even stop to make a joke about her choice of words at asking him to 'give her a hand.' He just moves to help her push the items out of the way she they can check on her dog.]

[bryces_pup]

[Oops. She does like cracking terrible jokes and puns, though this time it was unintentional. Which goes to show just how worried she is.

After getting part way into the room, there's a low whine from under the bed.]

Kiter!

[Riona drops to her knees, peering under the bed. Kiter's curled up in the far corner, terrified out of his mind from the crashing.]

Oh, you poor thing. Here, it's okay. It's over.

[He whines again, not moving. Little guy's pretty spooked.]

[samahl]

[Cyril stays back because he doesn't want to spook the dog any more, but he doesn't leave either because he knows Rinoa will need help standing back up from that position.]

Are there treats we can give him to coax him out? Or a favorite toy?

[bryces_pup]

Uh... his rawhide bone might be in here somewhere.

[She leans back to look around the room.]

I had a little chest full of his things. If you can find it in this disaster, it'd be in there.

[samahl]

[Cyril takes to looking around for the chest to let Riona focus on trying to coax the dog out.

When he finds it he does have to work to uncover it from the mess, but he doesn't mind that task if it will help out.]

[bryces_pup]

[When he opens it, he'll find the bone in there, jumbled up with everything else from the crash.]

Come on, Kiter. Cyril is going to get you your bone. But you have to come out to get out.

[Another whine, though Kiter tentatively inched forward.]

...shit. Are you injured?

[Affirmative whine.]

[samahl]

[Cyril brings over the bone once he rescues it and comes back over to offer it to Riona. The dog basically confirming that he's hurt, though,
makes Cyril frown deeply.]

Do you have any healing supplies? I can seek out those while you keep him calm.

[bryces_pup]

I might have some bandages. Hard to say what I need though until he comes out. Not sure if it's a cut or something's broken.

[Riona thanks him for the bone before taking it and holding it out towards Kiter.]

Look at what I got. Your bone! Just scoot close enough for me to reach you and then we can see what's wrong.

[Kiter whines again, but inches forward, his nose wiggling as he smells his bone.]

I promise, the worst is over. We literally cannot move. Please, just a little further...

[Ever so slowly he comes forward, until finally he's within reach. Riona snatches him, pulling him gently out from under the bed. While Kiter chews on his bone, if not a little pitifully, Riona inspects him. She quickly discovers a gash on his back.]

Oh, ow. Oh you poor thing...

[samahl]

[Cyril winces at the sight of the wound.]

Let me find those bandages then. Were would they be?

[bryces_pup]

They were in a container under my bed, but I didn't see them when I was moving Kiter. I imagine it's somewhere within this mess. It's - do you know what plastic is?

[samahl]

[Cyril nods at that. It's something he only recently discovered,
of course.] Shiny and unnatural looking. What color?

[He starts looking around for some kind of plastic box while asking for more details. He wants to make sure her dog is tended to as quickly as possible.]

[bryces_pup]

Clear and colorless. The lid is clear as well, though it's a bit dirty.

[Kiter made it a chew toy once before Riona put the kabosh on that. She rubs his ears, trying to comfort the injured doggo.]

[samahl]

Right. It does that too.

[It takes him a moment but eventually he's able to fish out the box. When he does, he brings it over to her.]

How's he holding up?

[bryces_pup]

He's a tough cookie. Think he's more shaken up than anything, though it does look like it stings a bit.

[Kiter whines for dramatic effect as Riona thanks Cyril, opening up the container and pulling out what she needs. She rubs a bit of alcohol onto the wound to disinfect, holding a hand to Kiter to keep him still as he jerks and yelps.]

Sorry pup. Better to do this than risk infection. Then you'll truly be miserable.

[After a few minutes of bandaging the wound, she's finished, closing the container and setting it on the bed for easy access. Kiter looks disgruntled but otherwise all right.]

Okay. I'm going to try carrying him out. You... might want to go ahead. I don't know how well this will go and I don't want to take you down with me.

[samahl]

[Cyril nods and pulls away.]

I can also make sure anything that might impede your progress with him is out of the way.

[He leaves the area to do just that, giving her the space she needs to get her dog out.]

[bryces_pup]

That would be much appreciated.

[She nods, indicating for him to go ahead. After she does, she bends down and hefts Kiter up in her arms. Thank the Maker he's not full grown, or this wouldn't be possible. All the same, he's kind of heavy and she's straining as she tries stepping her way through the room.]

Ugh, maybe we should lay off the treats for a bit, Kiter...

[That earns her an argumentative bark.]

We'll discuss it when we make it out of this bloody room.

[samahl]

[Cyril focuses his attention on clearing the way to let Riona and Kiter through.
Once he knows that she'll make it, he guides her through the hallway.]

It's a shame potions aren't as common here... Or whatever you give mabari instead of potions?

[bryces_pup]

Usually I just pour a poultice on his wounds, but we're short on those, too.

[Kiter whines again as Riona follows Cyril through the hall.]

Or just... shout for a spirit healer. That works, too.

[samahl]

We don't happen to have one on hand do we?

[bryces_pup]

A poultice, no. A spirit healer... not on hand, but there is one in the fleet. On another ship.

[Anders is probably occupied with whatever is going on with his ship at the moment.]

I may have to stitch it up. I'm not the best seamstress but I can stitch a wound. Would you be willing to help keep him steady?

[samahl]

I'll do whatever you need me to do.