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

[apurrstate]

[He gave an amused sigh and accepted the silent offer of help to get back o the clinic. It would be faster and easier to rely on his friend's support than to lean along the wall as he'd been doing.]

No, I haven't. I haven't had much of an appetite since I almost literally lost my stomach out of my body. [Being impaled through the gut just kind of ruin the appeal of anything to be honest.]

Plus, even Jarvis' skill can only go so far when we need to rely on the protein pastes while we're stranded.]

[whatisright]

[Justice hums in acknowledgement as he takes Anders' weight on his shoulder. He keeps an attentive ear on the psychic noise Anders overflows with, listening for any new spikes of pain as Justice carefully wraps one arm around him to keep him steady and supported as they walk.]

You should have something. Mortals are not meant to last on nothing. [He says, as if Anders doesn't already know that. Anders hasn't gotten quite so far in their anatomy and medicine lessons for Justice to know much about food, and Riona still hasn't covered that in her 'how to pass as human' lessons, so he turns instead to Kristoff's memories, trying to find instances where Kristoff had dealt with someone recovering from a similarly grievous condition.

Kristoff had been in charge of men in the Gray Wardens, and he wasn't a gentle leader. The Gray Wardens were rarely ill, but when they were, it was a serious sickness that sapped the strength from their bones. Kristoff had never forced solid food on his men in that condition, but he had pushed weak broth and water. Justice doesn't know how to make broth, except that it involves bones.]

We have animal bones. I can make a broth if you instruct me on how to do it. [Leftovers from what game Justice has dragged back from the forest.]

[apurrstate]

[Anders moves carefully, but with Justice's help, it's still easier than it had been on his own. He gives an amused huff and shakes his head.]

You're asking me to call on knowledge from over twenty years ago, Justice, and during a time I thought I'd have many more years to learn various cooking things from my mother. This might strike you as odd, but I was a perfectly irreverent child who barely minded his parents. [That's sarcasm through and through, but it wouldn't surprise him if it went over Justice's head at least a little.]

I think it has something to do with cooking the bones in boiling water? Of course, if those bones are from this planet, who knows what might be in them; I might turn into a cannibal.

[whatisright]

You have not cooked since you were taken to the Circle? That explains why you are so skinny. [Is he taking Anders too literally? Or is he learning how to sass? The world may never know.

But either way, Justice isn't seeing any signs of popped stitches and Anders is feeling well enough to talk even as they make their way to the clinic. That's a relief. Justice is tempted to forget what it was like to see Anders on the ground, mutilated and rapidly bleeding out, but he needs to remember what happened with Anders' boyfriend for the future, and the two memories are too closely intertwined to forget one and not the other.

Under any other circumstances, Justice would have put his foot down and spurned any mage that suddenly grabbed at him like Anders' boyfriend did. Sharing power is dangerous already with mages that don't know what they're doing, and that danger was increased a hundred fold with the distrust between them. Added to the haphazard way they tumbled into it, it's no small miracle that both of them got out of it unscathed. It was not an experience Justice wants to repeat.

But Justice would do it all over if it meant that he didn't have to see Anders gutted like that again. Justice has to remember so he can learn from this experience if ever a time comes when he's forced into sharing himself with Anders' boyfriend again. (Which, for both their sakes, he hopes never happens.)

But why should he think about that when he can fuss about feeding Anders?]

Perhaps I will boil the bones and see what happens. Others ate the meat--I will be sure to inform you if they start nibbling each other.

[Is that an attempt at humor? Or is that just a statement of fact? It's hard to tell.]

[apurrstate]

[Anders scoffed, stuck between genuinely amused and shocked.]

Are you...being sarcastic? Hold me, I might just pass out from shock. Before you know it, you'll be making jokes and, Maker Forbid, smiling!

What have we done to you?

[whatisright]

I believe you are perfectly demonstrating what you all have done. [He doesn't smile, and he can't be truly cheerful as long as he's stuck not fulfilling his purpose, but his eyes do have a flicker of playful amusement if one pays close attention.] You have surrounded me with mortal habits. It was only a matter of time before I imitated some of them.

[So if he becomes a sarcastic little shit, just know that he learned it by watching you, Anders.]

[apurrstate]

I'm so proud. [He says it with a smile, but there was a kernel of truth to it. Every time there was an instance of Justice showing his own personality, his own humanity, Anders felt more pride than he knew he could ever explain. Perhaps the more Justice built and settled into himself, the better he would be able to process the truth he'd eventually be made to swallow.

He hoped these moments helped instead of hurt in the future. He hoped these times when they could just be friends and he could let on a little what Justice still meant to him would be enough when it mattered.]

Here. This is the room I share with Wolfe, you can deposit me here. It's close enough to the clinic that I can get to it if needed and I'm less likely to annoy people in here.

[whatisright]

[He says it with a smile, but Justice can feel the sincerity radiating from his skin. It's a surprise, but it's not the first time Justice has felt a surprising amount of care from Anders.

He doesn't know what has happened in these past ten years. Anders was cagey about questions about it and his boyfriend refused to answer anything. But Justice does know that not only has Anders changed, but Anders' feelings for him have changed as well. Ten years have made him warmer, more affectionate and caring.

Justice, of course, doesn't draw any kind of connection between these two changes. He just assumes that Anders has grown closer to him after ten years of friendship. Justice doesn't believe that he will ever get used to being the subject of this kind of warmth, but he thinks, perhaps selfishly, that he enjoys it.

He reminds himself that there's nothing wrong with him enjoying something freely given to him, even if it's a little strange for a spirit. He loosens his grip on Anders, but he doesn't let go entirely, allowing Anders to be the one to let go of the support if he chooses.] Very well. Is there anything else you need?

[apurrstate]

[Anders does pull away, slowly, but mostly to ensure he could carry his own weight well enough to go the rest of the way.]

No. Thank you, Justice.

[He pauses but then speaks up again.]

I want you to know that I appreciate what you did. You just...appeared, like some sort of guardian, and then helped save my life.

I am grateful.

[If not just for himself, then for Wolfe as well. If Anders had died, Hawke would have been alone. Even if Anders knows Wolfe deserves better than him, Wolfe doesn't seem to know that and Anders knew his love didn't need any more loss in his life.]

[whatisright]

[Justice tilts his head, unblinking gaze fixed on Anders. The corners of his eyes are soft, though. Despite any appearance of glaring, Justice is appreciative of the recognition, though it confuses him.]

Your gratitude is unnecessary. You are my friend. Of course I came.

[And it's just that simple for Justice. He was compelled to save Anders, just as he is compelled to hunt the Vieziri or snap at thieves. It was the right thing to do. More than that, it was the thing he wanted to do, because he doesn't want Anders to die.]

[apurrstate]

Well...you have it anyway. [Justice might never know how important it was to Anders to be able to say things like that, it wasn't a luxury they'd had for a decade. Even if the spirit didn't know why Anders felt the need to say something particular, it wouldn't stop him from saying it.

One day, maybe, he would understand it better, but Anders hoped that day would be far off.

For now, he offered a flash of an onld, familiar, sort of smile and wished his friend goodnight as he stepped into his quarters.]