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

[Instead of answering right away, Snow conjures up enough ice to dust across Sokka's captain's chair.]

I'll see what I can do.

[Magic is cool, right?]

I want to go check and see if there are survivors from the other ships, but ours is my first priority. If anyone's staying, I can make sure the controls are set to be easy for anyone to use against whatever's down here.

[Oooooh~ The first thing that Sokka things is waterbender- which he knows isn't right, Snow isn't from his home world. Still, the thought brings a fond smile to his lips. ]

Cool! Literally.

Good to know, and I get wanting to make sure other people are safe, too. Everyone has friends on other ships, after all. Just stay safe when you're out there, okay? Make sure you take plenty of weapons and food with you.

[Magic was something that wasn't really a huge thing for people until they all left Cocoon for Gran Pulse. And even after that it's not like it was a super easy thing to learn. But, Snow's special. The last and only l'Cie from his home world. And he has no problem calling on the magic that his curse allows him. Even if the damn brand hurts him when he does.

Helping others, especially this strange crew of misfits that has accepted him just the way he is, will always be a priority over his own safety.]

I don't need the weapons. [He punches one fist into the other, lightning sparking at the contact.] I've got everything I need right here. One of the good things of being from a world with magic.

[And that sort of mentality would earn him some real brownie points with Sokka. Putting the crew first is always the fastest way to his heart. ]

Oh wow, lightning too. [Perhaps he can control all the elements? It's a little jarring seeing such power from someone who ISN'T Aang. ]

Or at least being from a world with magic where you can use magic. Still, the staying safe thing remains the same. I don't want anyone getting hurt out here.

[The one constant in Snow's long life has always been his desire to make sure that others are safe and looked after. He might not extend the same courtesy to himself, but others are more important anyway.]

Small gift from a friend long time gone. [And if there was ever a fal'Cie that Snow would call a friend, it would be Cactuar. That guy was pretty stand up. For, yanno, a wannabe god and all.] And I won't do anything too stupid, but I'm not making any promises either.

[He knows himself way too well to do that anymore.]

[Boy does Sokka know how that goes. Better to keep your loved ones safe, you can deal with yourself later.]

Nice gift- did it come wrapped in a bow?

Okay, how about we just cut that down to 'try not to die?'

[Exactly. Stop being his brain twin. It's creepy.]

Not quite.

[But he's not going into how he was literally branded with something that will turn him into a mindless murdering zombie monster thing.]

I'll work on that then. I don't have any phoenix downs.

[He would not blame Snow for a second there on that one. ]

Oh, like...the fire bird? [The last time he heard THAT word, it was Phoenix King, so it's not exactly his favourite. ]

[Yet another reason why Pulse is terrible, okay.]

I guess? Phoenix is... was sort of a god-like thing on my world. I guess that's why they named that particular sort of potion after him.

Ohhhh.

In my world, crazy world conqueror gave himself the title Phoenix King while he was trying to quash the rest of the resistance against him. He didn't win! But yeaaaah, he thought a lot about himself.

Hope yours was less psychotic.

He controlled the weather. Pretty much acted like a big artificial sun for the feeding pen I was raised on.

[He's not even fucking kidding.]

Oh, well that's-

...No wait. Step back. Feeding pen?

[Snow let's out a laugh that is somewhere between annoyed at himself for letting it slip and amused at Sokka's reaction.]

It's a long story. And I don't think that now's the time to go into it.

Let's just say that Cocoon wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

[And he laughs at that, because Cocoon had been cracked for a while.]

...I have no idea what that is, but that is absolutely a story to save for when our lives are not in the balance.

[It's okay. No one would be crazy enough to think that joke is funny. It's not. Not even to him.]

Ask me again later. Right now, there's meat that needs to be kept cold, right?

That's right! Thank man, you deal with that and I'll deal with getting everything else back online.

You deal with your job and I'll take care of mine. Once I ensure the food, I'll check out the others. We'll meet back here in a few hours, I guess.

Sure will, see you soon buddy.

[And off he goes to FIX THINGS]

it's gonna rain - and it never ends

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