epidemiology | EVENT ★ THE FRACKING FIELDS

THE EARTHQUAKE

One day, early in the morning before the mechanical rooster at Amos Zephyr's farm even crows, there's a sudden rumble in the distance. Perdition's Rest shakes and the ground roils, knocking things off shelves and startling the mechanical horses in their pen. Look out the window and you'll see Qorral locals blearily stepping out into the street, murmuring anxiously amongst themselves: Earthquake.

Ever since the argecite mines started to dry up, the Qorral colonists have been turning to fracking in order to pull all available argecite out of the planet as quickly as possible. The technique has caused more and more earthquakes to shake the planet, though the fracking fields are far enough away from the town that damage is minimal.

However, the fields and mines aren't as lucky. The mayor rushes out into the street, his assistant and Sheriff Holladay flanking him, and asks for any willing heroes and adventurers (that means you!) to venture out to the fracking fields and assess the damages. Though the tunnels aren't being actively mined, there were likely miners and other workmen inside, so there will be rescue needed as well. Get your provisions ready and hop on the train: you're going to work.

THE FRACKING FIELDS

The fracking fields are a wide open swath of land peppered with looming, iron machines going on for miles. These machines are the Qorral's final attempt at scraping the last remnants of argecite from the planet before abandoning the colony and moving on for good. This destructive practice is causing obvious instability to the planet, but they don't seem to care. This is what their species does: seeks out argecite, mines it, and moves on.

The fields are dry and dead, with no plants around -- and now, after the earthquake, there are sinkholes. The iron machines are falling into the sinkholes, slowly being swallowed by the planet, with desperate workers trying to pull them back out. They could use the help -- but be sure not to fall in yourself.

Grotesque alien birds circle overhead, searching for the dead or the dying, workers caught in the collapsing earth. Save them before they're swallowed by the earth or swallowed by carrion birds -- and if you're too late, the locals would be happy to have their loved ones returned to them intact.

Also found in the fields is the Argecite Refinery, a massive factory filled with machinery meant for the refining of the crystal before it is to be shipped back to the Qorral home planet. The outside of the factory is surrounded by a 610cm (20 ft) tall electric perimeter fence, whose energy shorts out sporadically after the earthquake cracked the service box. If you're quick enough to make it through one of the gaps in electricity, don't relax quite yet -- there are malfunctioning guard drones throughout the facility, the earthquake rattling their sensors and making it impossible for them to tell friend from foe. The drones resemble dogs, though they are capable of folding their legs in for aerodynamic superiority when they take flight. They are equipped with energy lasers to destroy, sticky glue to slow trespassers, and a thin blade in the tail to poison attackers. The poison is quick-acting, causing hallucinations and fever, but it is not deadly.

Inside the factory, the machinery has collapsed in on itself from the earthquake; electricity sparks from damaged wires, dangerously nearby spilled oil drums or pools of standing water. Fire can start at any second. There are factory workers here that need rescuing, but also a variety of inanimate objects, including barrels of argecite, machinery parts, files, computers, etc. Anything that isn't bolted down needs to be moved outside of the factory before it explodes. Of course, no one is really keeping track of what's inside...

THE MINES

The Qorral have been digging in the mines since arriving on this planet 30 years ago, but recent efforts have shifted to fracking after the argecite veins slowly became depleted. The mines are still maintained by a skeleton crew of workers, making sure there is no build-up of dangerously flammable gas and patrolling the tunnels to look out for cave-ins -- which, after the earthquake, have happened in spades.

The tunnels are winding and deep, turning in on each other and ending in dead ends or sudden, steep drop-offs into the dark. There are workers trapped within, and some at Perdition's Rest have said that their thrill-seeking relatives -- typically teenagers -- have gone missing. It's possible that they have found themselves trapped in the mine, so it may be a good idea to look out for them as well.

And even deeper in the mine, there is a writhing, pale danger: sand worms, blind and hungry, wait in the dark. The earthquake has begun to drive them further up the tunnel, their tooth-lined maws open as they slither through toward the surface. Those focusing on the fields above may find a straggling sand worm or two, thrashing wildly in pain from the unfamiliar heat of the sun. This will definitely put a damper in the rescue and recovery efforts, so take them out as quickly as you can -- with as little damage to the fracking equipment, please.

OOC NOTES

Please direct all questions pertaining to the mission to the dossier page to keep questions and responses in one place for easy player reference. General game questions should be directed to the FAQ.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Now, there's a few things in his life he hasn't seen, and he's always super excited when that happens. One of those things happens to be a giant woman with a glowing crystal nose, so probably against any and all better judgement, he's not only unafraid of this quartz alien, but he looks absolutely excited when she actually talks to him.

Even if the question is rude at best, and her tone is pretty terse.]

Iunno. A while. I got lost in the dark.

[Why does he sound so goddamn happy.]

But then I saw a glow and it turned out to be your face. That's really cool.

[A maniac, an absolute maniac.]

Do you need some help with those guys?

This is nothing, [ she says, almost automatically. It's true that she doesn't need any assistance carrying them, but it's also deeply engrained in her to fire back at any implication of weakness. This includes innocent offers of help! Her followup is slightly more measured. ] Can you even carry one?

[ He seems... less than substantial, but if she needs to fight, or she finds another lost Qorral, passing them off on this bystander would actually help in that it would make maneuvering much less awkward. Also, she has learned that injured Qorral don't like being dropped on the ground, and she doubts they would enjoy being banged against the side of a tunnel any more. ]

Edited 2016-10-20 13:03 (UTC)

With muscles like that, I bet you could carry ten more. [And you bet your entire ass that despite her rough, cold answer that Luffy's going to answer with gusto, a laugh on his voice and a grin on his entire face.]

Yeah, I could carry both, too, if you wanted. But that wouldn't be fair. [And of course, despite how this guy looked like a noodle on legs--he's far stronger than he appears. Not that Jasper would know that on glance.]

Then get over here.

[ SHE AIN'T BUYING WHAT HE'S SELLING. But if he's more than just talk, she can find out now. If he's not, it'll be more entertaining than just talking to him! And since he's lost, Jasper doesn't have a choice about whether or not this human follows her. Might as well take advantage of it if she can.

She wraps one of her arms around the Qorral draped over one shoulder, to hold them in place, and then hunches over and attempts to lower the other one as gently as she can. It is not very gentle. Since she only has one hand free and the Qorral's legs are dangling over her front, she's basically just leaning down enough for them to slide off of her, perhaps directly into Luffy's welcoming, vermicelli arms! She has probably botched this move at least two times with other Qorral in order to do it relatively smoothly now, and gotten yelled at by the people in triage for her trouble. This mission is the worst.

While she's doing this, she adds: ]

I know the way out. And it's not my face.

[Doesn't need to be told twice! While he doesn't like being ordered around--(He's the captain, he gives the orders)--he's been here long enough to understand that everyone here were supposed to be a team and therefore helping out was just a normal part of the otherworldly adventure.

A bounce in his step and he's moving right up to the giant alien gem, and he opens his arms to recieve the Qorral she drops into his arms a little unceremoniously. Much to her surprise, he'll receive the poor thing without as much as a hitch. Turns out the pastaman can not only back up his claim of being capable, he hefts the guy over his shoulder in a pretty fluid movement, standing straight.]

Looks like you'll be leading the way out, then, big lady! And it's a little bit your face. You're lighting the way, after all.

[Shishishi. What a laugh.]

[ She's not precisely impressed, since it takes more than that to get to someone as space bigoted and battleworn as her, but she's certainly surprised when Luffy and his vermicelli arms handle the load deftly. There's a pause after he responds where it's just that weird laugh echoing through the tunnel, but then she straightens up and makes a dismissive sort of wave with her now Qorral-unburdened arm. ]

Jasper.

[ She's not a huge fan of formal introductions to humans, but she's also not a fan of spending however long this takes getting called big lady. Jasper keeps walking in the same direction she'd originally been going, which seems, counterintuitively, to slope downwards rather than up. She figures Luffy will follow her! ]

It's more reliable than the handheld devices you lot have got. [ Actually... ] What were you using?

Luffy! [That's what we're doing, we're exchanging names, right? He doesn't seem too bothered at how cold and condescending the alien woman was being. Accepting the cold, gruff answers like they were absolutely normal.

It was weird, but he seemed to talk to a lot of cold, grumpy people. Why was that? He doesn't really know, and he shrugs the thought off easily enough as he arranges the Qorral on his arm easily enough.]

I was using this! [And from his pocket, he produces a flashlight. One of those ones you'd find in emergency kits, or in a car's glovebox. Big enough to make a pretty nice shine, but... he flicks the button and it flickers on, and the light dims before fizzing out completely.]

The power ran out so I got really lost. So I owe you a big thanks for helping me out from stumbling around back there.

[ She eyes that flashlight, clearly less than impressed, then directs her gaze back ahead. ]

Don't be grateful over a coincidence, [ she says, immediately brushing off the concept of any kind of thanks being owed. ] It's not like I was looking for you — you just got lucky. If anyone should be thankful, it's the rest of the team. Now they won't waste time on a search party.

[ "Because of your poor planning" goes unsaid, but implied. She'd probably keep on doing this dressing-down routine if she hadn't just realized the implications of what Luffy said. ]

You kept on going in the dark?

Why not? Even if it was just a coincidence, you still helped me. Just take the compliment.

[Sorry, Jasper--he has no time for that negative stuff. He's still grinning like an Idiot as he pockets away the torch, deciding to ask Nami to help him find a way to get it working again later. He likely has no idea what batteries are.]

And yeah, of course I kept going in the dark! A captain never gives up, even when he can't see. So I kept a hand to a wall and just kept going until I saw you glowing.

[He ... sounds so impressed with himself.]

I couldn't just sit and wait for my crew to find me.

EVENT ★ THE FRACKING FIELDS

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