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

[monolike]

I will! I mean, I am! [STOP YELLING okay okay okay. Sorey backs away from that clamp, what can Dezel do-] Honestly the best thing you can do is keep circulating the air in here and keep things cool. The heat's the biggest problem.

[sylphystia]

[He nods. Okay, keep the air going. Simple enough. He eases his hand away from where the clamp had blown and works his magic instead, gently swirling the air in and out through the vents. Keeping it like this takes some concentration, but not so much that Dezel can't talk while he's doing it.]

Are you hurt anywhere? [He's just barely raising his voice above the clamor, wanting to be heard but not wanting to scream the whole time.]

[monolike]

....umm, [The fact that he can't say for sure 'yes' or 'no' is probably evidence enough to how busy he's been. Of course, he knows the trouble he'll get into if he just lies about it so as he ties up a bunch of hoses to keep them out of his way he admits sheepishly,] I might have a few burns somewhere? I don't know.

[sylphystia]

[Dezel doesn't wait for Sorey to give him a more satisfactory answer. That umm is fairly self-explanatory. He pauses the engine room ventilation for a moment so he can concentrate on a healing spell. He releases it, letting the cool magic wash over the beleaguered engineer.

The circulation begins to slow again, demanding Dezel's attention, so he gets right back to it.]

That should keep the edge off.

[monolike]

[All of a sudden his arm feels much cooler as Dezel's healing arte washes over him and Sorey sighs in relief; yup, he'd gotten burned after all.] Dezel, thanks, that's a lot better. I've almost got this thing finished, then I can turn the heat sink back on.

[sylphystia]

You should see someone later. Seraphic artes are great and all, but sometimes you need just a little more. [That's where gels and salves come in.

He twitches his fingers to send another tiny whirlwind dancing through the vents.]

What a damn mess. I think everyone's all right outside, so just keep doing what you're doing.

[monolike]

Edna's okay, [Sorey offers, because he'd been obsessively checking and re-checking their connection. She feels distant, but not really distant in the way they all feel when he goes planetside and they're still in orbit, or vice-versa. He thinks he saw the Blameless out there when he checked earlier, but she doesn't feel like she's in horrific danger so she must be okay.] And Zaveid, and Mikleo. We're okay.

[It's not what Dezel mentioned or asked, but it's been pounding in Sorey's head like the beat of a drum since things started getting frantic again. They were always with him when these things happened back home; all of them, safe inside his soul or fighting at his side. He hates the separation this place necessitates. Hates it.]

[sylphystia]

[Dezel does appreciate that bit of reassurance, even if didn't openly ask for it. He figured he would've heard lots of screaming otherwise. The wind tells him a lot, too, but he's concentrating on keeping the engines cool instead of eavesdropping through the halls like he's wont to do.

He gives Sorey a nod.]

We're okay, [he repeats, and turns his focus back to circulating the air.]

[monolike]

[Finally Sorey can fit the maintenance panel back on over the coils, tripping the switch for the circuit; almost immediately a new hum joins the rest of the noise, and the room begins to cool that much faster with Dezel's help as all the heat that had been seeping into engineering is now dumped properly back out into space with the rest of their emissions.] ...okay. [Sorey sighs and leans back from the console, wiping his forehead.] Okay, I think we're good. Dezel, thank you.

[sylphystia]

[Even Dezel looks a little tired as he straightens, too, but he doesn't complain. He just tucks his hat down further over his eyes and gives a fangish flash of teeth.]

You did all the work. [A blind guy isn't about to fix engines.] I'll go check the rest of the ship while you take a breather.

[monolike]

Ah- Dezel, [Sorey calls after him worriedly, though he doesn't really get much further than that. He doesn't need Dezel to stay; there's really nothing else he can do here, but.

Still.]