Alert! Alert!

[thespaceopera]

[bright and early one Sunday morning, proximity alarms begin to blare. could it be another set of disorienting malfunctions?

no... this one is for real. the Drift Fleet is under attack!

any ship with a scanning array will pick up a small swarm of ships--roughly the same caliber as the ships in your fleet--swooping in fast from distant space. any pilot, engineer, or communications officer who remembers those strange blips in the radar over the last several months can confirm that this is that very same group that's been following them. this time, they're not leaving room for negotiations, and they will not respond to any hailing or threats. they are on a mission.

within minutes, weapons are live, and the fleet is fired upon. suddenly, the casual drifting of the fleet turns into something much more real, and much more dangerous.

do you follow your augment's call and run to your station? do you flee your responsibilities? do you wish you could help and can't? are the captains leading or floundering, and are their crews even listening?

for a few terrifying moments, the fleet will be hammered, and Atroma is silent. you are all on your own, dear passengers. your little ships are not prepared for this, you have not been trained--and your enemies have no such trouble. a few ships are even shot down, forced to make crash-landings on nearby stations.

things look grim as the terribly-outmatched little fleet fights to defend itself... until the attacking fleet suddenly turns and bolts back into the darkness without warning.

maybe the attack was a warning. maybe they were just testing you. maybe something frightened them off.

whatever the reason, you are all left beaten and confused, without explanation at all.]


ooc post → here
this is a little event to kick off April! and it is essentially a glorified themed mingle, so there is no rush to reply to this immediately. the outcomes of the ships have been predetermined, based on the augments of the crews. all of that information and more (including info for people on hiatus and who wish to opt-out) can be found on the ooc post as well.

flourish or buckle under the pressure, help or hinder, and most importantly-- have fun!

Comments

[principality]

[He looks over at the screen. Hold on, he's seen a few specials about naval warfare! This can't be too much different! It looked like the arcade games the youth would play back home.]

Ah, I see. Erm...can we fire at...this one, here?

[He points at one of the dots, one that was hovering close to them.]

[puro]

[A loooong pause]

...I'm going to take it you're not going to.

[noctiphile]

They'd give us a new one, wouldn't they? I doubt they'd bring us all this way and then simply leave us. Particularly when they're the reason we didn't have shields in the first place.

[Thankfully, Mattias is blissfully ignorant of Felix's misfortunes, scrutinizing the bruise with clear concern.]

We should get ice for this.

[He stands, dusting himself off.] I'll be back.

[And, in a matter of minutes, he is, with a bag of ice and a thin bit of fabric. He wraps the bag with the fabric and sets it on the bruise, holding it there as he resettles beside Felix.] I'm sorry. For how I acted earlier on the bridge. I'm not—I get brusque in situations like that.

[transferedfate]

[Ringo replies with a look. She is so not in the mood to deal with attitude right now.]

Look, if you want to do something else that's fine, but you're not going to just sit here and do nothing while the ship is literally on fire!

[twocomplex]

Megaman, is it?

[He says that with a laugh, but it could very easily come across as just him being good natured. Because, well, he is. Of course.]

If that's the case, I'm Prettyman. [He thinks it's a great joke.] The pleasure is all mine, naturally.

[killedwithlove]

[Cole reaches up and touches the sparking dome, smiling ever so faintly.]

Barrier, bars and shields and shelters.

[Cole relaxes once they're away from the sparking bits.]

[paeon]

[ Her eyes flicker from one console to the next. She sees where Aziraphale points and adjusts the array appropriately before she manages a lock-on and begins to open fire. For however unfamiliar everything is, a fight is a fight and she has no reluctance in defending herself and her own. ]

Yes... A good choice, it would seem. Another!

[radiantwingedone]

[ Duke idly wonders about the pairing of barriers and bars for a moment, as bars seemed to be a little weird compared to the rest.

Maybe it was bars like bars entry, so it was barriers doing all these things.

Oh well, Duke keeps the spell up on the walk to the kitchen. While there is a little bit of sparking, its only in one corner and thus much easier to avoid. ]

[killedwithlove]

[Cole promptly sits up on the table, legs swinging idly and out of kilter with any normal rhythm.]

I haven't met you before. You're a mage. Do you use spirits to do magic?

[radiantwingedone]

[ Duke frowns a little at the idea of using spirits for magic, before shaking his head. ]

The spirits of my world were only recently formed, when I left. The magic I use flowed freely about the world, and through study, mages learn to direct it into spells.

[ A pause, and he might as well be extra polite. ]

My name is Duke.

[killedwithlove]

I'm Cole. I'm not recently formed. Spirits take a long time to become spirits.

... or maybe they don't. Solas says they do.

[radiantwingedone]

The spirits of home were made, which is likely the main difference. But that world is better off for having them.

[ There's... a bit of unease when he says it. It hadn't been his choice of paths, but.. it was likely better. Probably. ]

[killedwithlove]

[Cole hums and hugs himself.]

Not my choice, my way, but maybe a better way, if they can just see the bigger picture...

People aren't bad. Most of them just do their best.

[He reaches out to touch Duke's shoulder lightly]

Even the ones who hurt people are hurting.

[radiantwingedone]

... I would agree with perhaps half-

[ But then Cole adds that last bit, and Duke isn't quite sure how to take it. There are quite a few options, and so he decides to push them aside. He doesn't shrug out of that light touch, but he is a little uncomfortable with it. ]

... Does being a spirit of compassion mean you are aware of the sufferings and misfortunes of others? [ Unless Cole has been talking with people that ... aren't here, Duke can't figure out where that came from. ]

[killedwithlove]

Yes.

I feel the hurt, see the memories and shapes and scars.

[He drops his hand away.]

You did what you thought was right. It wasn't. But you thought it was and that does matter.

[radiantwingedone]

[ He's... not entirely surprised. Spirits are beings beyond anything else, so... Well, he just didn't think hard on it.

There's a bitter hint of a smile. ]

I was also very angry. A great deal of things seem right then, when they wouldn't otherwise.

[killedwithlove]

You did the right thing.

That's what matters. Don't let you tell yourself otherwise.

[unconfines]

You're welcome.

[Briskly. He's more used to not being thanked than the other way around, but he still has more important things on his mind.]

Now, shall we? There's a place called not here that I'd like us very much to be, as soon as possible. [He lifts his hand to indicate a direction, and off he goes.] Come on, if we can get back to the bridge, we can get some kind of plan. Maker willing.

[unconfines]

Well.

[A beat. How does he put this in a way that doesn't sound terrible.]

People. Ordinarily. [The ship's hull sways and groans, and he shakes his head.] But maybe this is a conversation better suited for somewhere a little less dramatic.

[pompous_today]

[Simon paused at the wave and turned back around. The girl still seemed awfully unconcerned, and it was nagging at him.]

Ah- you do know what you are doing, right?

[hymnals]

[Anders takes much longer strides than Adra, unsurprisingly--Adra's neither tall nor physically fit--and it's not long before Adra's outpaced. With a frustrated scowl, Adra's fingertips twinkle with magic like starlight. His next step takes him clear down the corridor, and just ahead of Anders besides.]

Almost right behind you.

[radiantwingedone]

[ Here is an agreeing noise.


... Sorry Crowley, Duke's done with talking on this topic, at least. He's just terrible at picking new ones, sooo... silence from him again. ]

[radiantwingedone]

[ Duke takes a long time to.. attempt to get words in a row. ]

If I can ammend right, but terrible, and not try to be proud of it, I think I can keep that in mind.

[unconfines]

[Anders jerks, surprised and startled, and presses one hand dramatically against his chest.]

Andraste's ass, warn a man next time, will you? What is that, that's cheating.

[lord_wizard]

[He's at least collected himself a bit by the time Mattias gets back. He lifts a hand to hold the ice, rather than forcing the man to keep playing nursemaid]

Implying you've been in situations like that before.