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]

That's exactly it. [It was why he didn't stop Jim or anyone else from pushing themselves to the edge, just tried to limit the damage taken from it.

Anders nodded to the request, grateful for the chance to do something that actually felt like helping. He ripped a few strips from the roll and held them out as Kirk needed.]

Do we have what we need to get the ship running? At least in theory, seeing as we'd likely just be shot again.

[universal_charm]

In theory, yes. In actual practice? We'll have to see. Chekov and I are working on the most important systems as we go. My goal is to ensure life support, comms, and then hopefully patching the holes so we can leave orbit safely.

_{[ Getting up there by themselves? Nothing something he thought necessarily possible at this point, but he didn't want to worry Anders anymore than he was sure the healer already was. But he was a believer in being honest as well. Lying in these sorts of situations, fudging the reality, never did any good. ]}

In all honesty, in realistic terms, we're most likely going to have to hold out until the remaining ships in orbit can get down to us.

[apurrstate]

[He sighed, but more in a disappointed way than despairing.]

Yes, I was afraid you might say that. I might not know much about these ships, but even I can tell devastating damage when I see it. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the locals trying to have us for dinner or bleed us dry for whatever blighted blood magic they're looking to do.

In your travels at home, have you been stranded like this before?

[universal_charm]

Once before.

_{[ He paused in his work, looking at the broken circuits, recalling the feeling of watching his ship be torn apart. ]}

She was utterly destroyed by a fleet of drones. Torn apart, and crashed into the nearby planet at the time - Altamid. She was beyond salvage or repair. We ended up getting off the planet by using another ship that had crashed almost a century before - just barely. But it worked. So this isn't my first rodeo.

_{[ His hands began moving again, working at the wiring and holding out his hand for a bit of tape from Anders again. ]}

Don't know if that brings you comfort or not, though.