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

[aspearing]

... I see. [ She offers a smile. ] I'd like to thank her later for the assistance.

[ When he speaks again, her expression grows more serious - frowning at the thought of their comrades gone missing. ]

... Yes. It would be best if we search together. [ They don't know what might be out there in this world. ]

Let's start by searching close by the ship and continue from there.

[moseyin]

The cargo bay is a wreck. I want to check in there before we go outside the ship; if they're trapped under something, they could die before anybody finds them.

[aspearing]

[ She's a little surprised to hear that that hasn't been checked by anyone else who's able to, but she nods, already beginning to move. It's more or less a cue for Cloud to follow her. ]

Let's go quickly. [ The sooner they get there, the more chance they have in saving anyone who needs it. ]

[moseyin]

[Yeah things tend to be hectic when a spaceship crashes into the ground. Cloud only got a look at it as he passed by to find his own important people first; he imagines it must've been the same for everyone else.

The cargo bay is still a wreck when they arrive, but a little less of one than he'd previously thought. Only a couple places that could hide a body, so he zeroes in on the first one and grabs a leaning slab of metal to lift it up.] See anything underneath?

[aspearing]

[ She starts looking through the next parts that were large enough to be suspicious - thankfully finding nothing underneath on her end. ]

No. I assume that there's nothing on your end, either?

[moseyin]

I don't see anybody. [Drops that slab and heads over to another section to pull some crates out of the way.] Dunno if we should be relieved or not. I didn't see any hull breaches outside engineering; if they're not on the ship then they gotta be good enough to walk away at least, right?

[aspearing]

[ She stays silent for a moment or so before speaking. She doesn't want to fear the worst - not while there's still hope. ]

Let's start searching for them.