EVENT ★ GHOST TOWN

[futurologists]

BONEYARD JUNCTION Thanks to efforts from your teammates, the path to Boneyard Junction, the abandoned town at the end of the rail line, has been cleared. The train will not go this far, so recruits will have to walk the rail from the next stop over at the Fracking Fields. Most of the danger has been removed, but there still may be a few straggling giant lizards or bandits along the way, looking for a quick meal or an easy robbery. The ghost town itself is smaller in scope than Perdition's Rest, with several familiar-looking buildings -- the mayor's office, the sheriff's office, a general store -- but the main difference is that the town is halfway sunken into the desert. The ground here is shifting and unstable, with sinkholes and quicksand a constant threat. Venturing inside the crumbling buildings, left to rot in the desert for the past thirty years, is equally dangerous; there's a good chance that upper stories will simply collapse underfoot or overhead, and many venomous, aggressive reptiles and arachnids have moved in since the Qorral moved out. The Qorral have not been back here since abandoning it, so there is a lot to scavenge, from tech to money or tools to toys, both businesses and residential buildings are ripe for the plundering. The bandits have been through here in the past three decades many times, stripping the town of many of its valuables, but determined recruits ought to be able to find secret caches or overlooked boxes. Those who venture into the lowermost parts of buildings, however, will find objects of the greatest value, though not necessarily monetarily -- familiar-looking tech, corroded with sand and rusted with age, is littered about basements filled with sand and debris, as if the further the buildings sank into the desert, something beneath the town rose up to meet it. Upon further inspection, the tech will react when placed next to jewelcomms, lights blinking and static-filled screens turning on: this tech once belonged to ALASTAIR, its age clearly dating it much further back than the Qorral's arrival on this planet. But before Audentes can investigate further, there's an interruption . . . AMBUSH There's a sudden cacophony of shouting and gunfire from all sides of Boneyard Junction as heavily armed figures storm in, on the attack. They aren't from Perdition's Rest. They could be bandits, but bandits usually ask for money first -- plus, these people seem much too well-equipped to be bandits. Their clothing isn't haphazard, their weapons are well cared for. If recruits survive the initial onslaught (better be good at dodging bullets!) and pay attention to the shouting that can be heard above the gunfire, the identity of the attackers may slowly become clear: they speak of salvation and digging deeply. These are the Deemers. Previously unseen and ostensibly peaceful, the Deemers are now showing themselves to be anything but. They fight recruits with a savage intensity, injuries seemingly not slowing them down. Their only weakness appears to be injury to the head, after which they will immediately disengage and attempt to flee. Though they shout about salvation as they attack with a religious fervor, they also occasionally say something about recruits getting too close to something -- perhaps something in Boneyard Junction itself. Jonathan Black, leader of the Deemers, makes an appearance, spouting fire and brimstone in an unnaturally loud voice that can be heard above the gunfire and screaming. Any attempts to confront him will be met with vicious attacks from his bodyguards, a pair of shrouded Deemer women who fight with curved swords. Eventually, though, one recruit manages to break through. Once Black is dead, the Deemers will fight with more desperation than before, now trying to flee rather than attempting to kill recruits. Any Deemers that are captured will not share information, even under torture; they will only babble about deliverance and redemption found through drilling deeper into the planet. After they are driven off into the desert (or disposed of in other ways), the rest of Boneyard Junction is free to be explored without interruption. Perhaps collecting more ancient ALASTAIR technology will bring answers. OOC NOTES IMPORTANT: After the Deemers have been driven away, upon return to Perdition's Rest, Miz Poppy and a vast majority of the saloon workers have mysteriously vanished. The remaining workers have no idea where they've gone. All entertainment at the saloon has been postponed. 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. If you haven't already, make sure you check out the Bounty Board for side missions! Remember you can also request bounty missions or submit player plots at any time.

Comments

FOR REY

[futurologists]

The Reverend Jonathan Black strides to the symphony of retribution. He lifts his arms as he walks among his disciples, shouting above the din of their good work, "Repent! Repent! For ours is the way, and ours is the truth!"

He gestures wildly as he moves, kicking up sand and kicking aside any debris in his way with such force that an onlooker might think the squalor here offends him. Indeed, he occasionally stops for a moment to brush dust off of his lapels.

"My children, we have sinners in our midst! Strangers come to deprive us of our truth. We must deal with them swiftly! Harshly! We must not let them bar our way! For if we stray from our course, I swear to you, the consequences will be dire. You will suffer. Your families will suffer. None shall be spared."

He takes off his top hat and holds it tight against his chest. Beside him, his bodyguards stand at the ready, their swords drawn. They are lithe, silent Qorral women with shrouded faces and unnaturally bright, amber eyes. They move with him as shadows do, watching, waiting.

The Reverend booms. "Therefore I say to you, my children, be not afraid of this fight! It is holy! It is necessary! Strike down these interlopers, lest we be struck down in their wake. Do not let them find what they surely seek. For if they do, I promise you this! All will be lost. All will be lost!"

[forcevisions]

Although she gritted her teeth first in annoyance with the interruption, for she was sure she was about to find something more worthwhile among the wreckage of the ghost town that she and Anakin had helped worked to clear, by the time the Deemers began to fire upon them and drag Audentes away from their work, that grit turned to anger.

She muscled one of the Reverend's lackeys away from her, jabbing the butt of her quarterstaff into sensitive viscera and forcing her way back to her feet, backtracking as she closed the strap of her bag around the money and tools she'd scrounged up already. But when the Deemer didn't stop, even after she'd clocked him over the head with her staff twice, she realized with great reluctance that there was only one way to stop such zealotry.

The same method she'd planned—no, the warped, futuristic version of herself had planned—for the first Order.

Rey seized the staff by its middle and ducked a wide swing of one Deemer in order to chase the chanting of their leader, the Reverend. She advanced on the circle of bodyguards in tandem with some of the other Audentes caught in similar position, too scattered by the chaos to call out for real help or try to muster a plan to get at him; all she could do was try to pry her way between the bodyguards, who looked too slight to pose much of a barrier.

Félix De Sauveterre ♕ Open

[blessure]

Boneyard Junction
[How unstable the ground is should have been something of a warning to Félix that perhaps he shouldn't push his luck and venture into the buildings themselves, some of them tilted at almost ridiculous angles, looking like something from a child's storybook of a strange, fantastical world. But there's a chance that there's something useful in the buildings, and despite how aware he is of the danger... he's never been as skilled at keeping out of harm once his curiosity is aroused.

So he's investigating the upper level of one building, intent on moving lower later, placing each foot carefully as he hears the floorboards creaking threatening. But it seems he's not careful enough as he shifts his weight and, with only the barest groan of protest as a warning, the floor suddenly cracks and gives out entirely.

Félix yelps as his foot plunges through the floorboards and others give way as well, leaving him scrabbling for a grip on the others to avoid a nasty fall.] Help! Can anyone hear me?!


Ambush
[Chaos had broken out without warning and Félix reflects that he's fortunate that this isn't the first time he's been in battle. The Deemers fight with an intensity the rivals the cultists he'd fought in the past, and he's forced to take cover from the gunfire and resort to springing on those he can catch off-guard with his rapier.

He's barely dealt with one such unfortunate when he's forced to take cover as a bullet clips his arm, tearing through fabric and flesh and leaving a wet, red stain behind. He falls back behind a building, wincing in pain but focused on the sound of the Deemer approaching, bracing himself for a fight to the finish for one of them.]

ambush

[paintjobs]

[ The Deemers can't do much to a 20 foot tall robot, but Knock Out would still rather not have them trying and scratching up his paint (or hitting anything vital, if they really go at it). So he's mostly been taking cover in his alt mode, a gleaming red luxury car. He's not exactly blending in as part of the scenery, but they at least don't tend to assume he's anything sentient in need of attacking. It works for him.

That is, until the Deemer closing in on Félix keeps trying to take potshots at him, missing, and hitting Knock Out instead. The bullets bounce off of his sides, leaving little flecks of chipped paint in their wake, exactly what he'd been trying to avoid. He would be flinching under each hit if he weren't currently a car.

He waits, patient and vindictive, until the Deemer is right next to him. And then there's whirl of metal, an explosion of moving parts as Knock Out folds out of one shape and into another, much taller one. An arm forms even as it takes a swing, knocking the Qorral off of his feet and clear into the sky. He clears the nearest row of buildings and lands somewhere out of sight, leaving Knock Out to inspect his forearm (formerly a car door; you can still see the paneling and window of it) for bullet chips.

With a scowl: ] Rude.

[twinpeak]

ONE
[ A real, actual ghost town! He's always wanted to explore one. The crumbling structures and rotting wood may be an unwelcoming sight to some, but to Dipper, it does nothing short of beckon him to take a look. Despite the myriad of risks that come with venturing through, he wastes no time to explore what's in store.

Maybe you've decided to tag along, or maybe you just so happen to be passing by; Dipper is currently tugging at the rusted handle of a door belonging to what is potentially a former residential home. The hinges creak and wood rattles, but even with his best efforts, the door hardly budges an inch. ]

Darn. It feels like something's blocking it from the inside...

[ Adjusting the strap of his backpack slipping off a shoulder, Dipper backs up a few steps, assessing the worn down structure. ]

Where else to climb in from, then...

TWO
[ The ambush occurs as sudden as flipping a switch, and Dipper is wholly unprepared for it. With guns blazing and Deemers storming in, instead of a plan of attack, he flees; perhaps a "tactical retreat" is a kinder way to put it.

Though as he runs, he's also being followed. A pair from the enemy side come chasing as Dipper bursts through a hole in the wall of a former business, stumbling over debris and into a back room. There's a fallen table to take cover behind, but who knows how long that'll last, given the exchange shouted in the not-so-far distance:

"He must be inside here!"

"That couldn't have been anything more than a child."

"Who cares? He is still one of those sinners!"

With panicked glancing around, Dipper whispers to himself with a shaky breath: ]

Plan—I need a plan. A plan, a plan... Oh gosh, what do I do—

[ Help a kid out? ]

WILDCARD?
[ I'm good for any different scenarios involving any of the prompts, especially in the aftermath of it all! Slap something down or PM me for any plotting one wishes to do. o/ ]

1.

[racking]

[ The sound of rattling carries, catching Shiro's attention. He's already had a near cave-in while picking through the structure two house down, but emerged relatively unscathed. He picks his way over to Dipper after catching sight of the familiar backpack and taps his shoulder to get his attention. ]

Maybe I can try it?

[ Though Shiro is a little worried that breaking down the door would collapse the house. His impression of the ruins is that they're all somewhat unstable. ]

If I can't get it to open I can boost you up through a window.

[ And immediately follow him in, that goes without saying. Shiro's inviting himself along on this venture. ]

Haise Sasaki | Tokyo Ghoul:re

[ex_adept136]

I. Buddy System
[When Haise spots one of his associates wandering by, he'll signal them to join him in investigating a particularly large building among this town's decrepit structures. The faded sign dangling precariously over its entrance by one frayed length of rope suggests that this was once an inn, its entrance a yawning, shadowed maw.

The stairs groan under their shoes as they venture inside, Haise taking point with his red, sword-like weapon in his grip. His grey eyes scan their surroundings cautiously, his footsteps light as though he's feeling out the terrain beneath them. All around, reached of the building are cast in deep shadow, coated in dust and cobwebs.

Old wood creaks from somewhere above, and Haise comes to an abrupt halt, throwing an arm in front of his companion without a word. In the very next instant, the old chandelier poised overhead crashes to the floor right in front of them, churning up a cloud of dust.

Haise coughs and waves a hand in front of his face, attempting to clear the air]

It's like a haunted house, isn't it?

[Said a little too airily when they just narrowly missed that chandelier dropping]

II. Wealth of Information*
[It seems that the most important discoveries are underground, and despite the fact that buildings seem inclined to crash down around them, Haise eventually ventures into the basement level of an old house. Everything exists in a stage of dry decay, half buried in pale, lifeless sand. As though the earth were salted, this town feels utterly barren, and Haie can't help but feel reminded as he looks at furniture half sunken into the desert terrain.

He pads his way across the sand that now composes the floor, approaching something metallic glinting lowly in the slivered lights filtering down from the floorboards overhead. When he gets close enough, he kneels, dusting off some sort of device that he finds familiar and yet not with a thoughtful frown]

Is this...?

[What sort of relics are down here?]

III. Bullet Hell**
[When the uneasy silence of the abandoned town is shattered by a chorus of gunfire, Haise rushes out of the building he was investigating. His quinque held tightly in his hand, he rushes the nearest of the Deemers, crashing into them with swiftness and force. The masked individual stumbles back before rearing forward again, babbling something about delving deeper and deliverance. It's a process that repeats itself several times before Haise finally clocks the Deemer over the head.

That rather easily remedies the annoyance, the figure of his opponent going limp and slumping against the sand. He puffs out a quiet sigh, wondering just what sort of armor these people have in their possession, but there's no time to investigate that right now. Then he pivots to attack another foe, only to stop short.

Nearby, he sees one of his associates facing off against several Deemers, guns poised to fire. There isn't time to rush in and stop them all. Haise grits his teeth, only a brief instant allowed him to evaluate before he must act.

His kagune erupts into existence, a large red limb emerging from his lower back. Serpentine scales glint faintly in the moonlight before the appendage punches into the sand, only to spring up from the ground in front of his colleague in the next moment, red spikes lancing up between the Deemers and their would-be target, clustered together to form a protective barrier.

Much as Haise tries to avoid its use, at least with all hell breaking loose, it may go unnoticed...or at least unquestioned]

IV. Wildcard
[Want to do something else with Haise? Hit me up to plot or throw a prompt here]

[ooc: *The Man Who Sold the World bounty quest.
**First two characters only. Be the person he helps, be an onlooker, roll another option...pick any which way]

II

[predomination]

[you would think after all that disaster in the mines, Urahara would be inclined to never ever go underground in an unstable area ever again. what it really amounts to is he is not going to do it unless it's alone and he doesn't have to concern himself with the safety of other people. Chihiro is probably going to scold him for not bothering to invite her, but he can handle the scolding of a ten-year-old girl. he can't handle a situation he wasn't prepared for.

things he was definitely prepared for? not being the first one with this idea. his geta make a muffled sound on the steps, gritty with sand, as he makes his way into the basement, completely unsurprised and unconcerned about the other person here. hell, in general, he's just surprisingly chipper and casual for someone on the prowl.]

My, my. When they suggested the secrets of the previous ALASTAIR mission may have been buried, I didn't think they would be so literal about it.

aang | ota

[twinkle_toes]

[ooc: i'm still in the throes of death via too much work so i'd like to limit this to two people per prompt please! i'll try and catch the rest of you next time. :c]

EXPLORATION
[About half an hour into his exploration of the ghost town, Aang finds himself wedged neatly in a hole in a basement wall. There'd been a glint of something in the darkness, bright enough to catch his magpie eyes, and he'd squirreled through the hole without fully scoping its size. Big mistake. When two minutes of wiggling doesn't pop him out of the hole, he makes up his mind.

There's only one thing to be done about this.

He sucks in a big lungful of air, waits a second, and then blows, the force of his exhale combined with the extra push from his airbending enough to expel him from his current lodged state. Freedom at last! Of course, in his deep concentration, he completely misses the footfalls of someone else passing through, so when he goes flying back, rather than slamming into the wall behind him he slams into another person, buttfirst and right into their face.

Don't worry, he bathes daily. Probably. (Nope, not at all.)]

AMBUSH
[The problem with being the protag of a PG-13 Nickelodeon kid's show is that when shit goes down - really goes down - it leaves Aang at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed. Yeah, he's fought guards and entire armies before, but that had been with the help of his friends and the spirits still present deep in the earth's roots. Here he's alone, without access to the Avatar state and with only his wits, and there are a million tiny pieces of shrapnel flying through the air he's not sure what to make of.

(Another problem - guns so aren't a thing yet in fantasy Asia.)

Ultimately he settles for rescue over attack, making good use of everything he's been taught by Monk Gyatso and Toph to scurry his way across the makeshift battlefield. In particular, he leans heavily on earthbending, alighting down next to any teammates in need of an extra hand and encasing them in a dome of densely packed earth. It's a little damp and musty inside but it'll hold for a few minutes, long enough to plan.]

Are you okay?

[They can figure out a plan of escape once that's determined.]

ambush!!

[heritors]

[ The moment the attacks begin, Lucina suddenly feels lost.

It's not something she's used to — battle fields are a familiar sight. Too familiar, regardless of whether or not she wants them to be. Despite the terrain she's confident in her ability to navigate through them, defend her comrades, get to the other side — until the bullets show up.

She doesn't know what they are. She's never seen something like this in action before, faster than arrows or spells. She can barely see them, the sudden bang! coming from all directions making her head turn, and she can't focus. It's not until a bullet whizzes past her, way too close, that she manages to gain control of herself, grit her teeth, and attempt to take a step forward —

( She doesn't see the gun aimed right at her forehead, the Deemer getting ready to fire at the sitting duck in the middle of the field — )

When suddenly she can't see the sky, just the earth, all around her; and officially, her day can't get any more confusing. ] Er, [ She blinks at the child that came out of no where. ] ... yes, I am.

[ Her head turns to take a better look at the dome around her. ] ... Was this your doing?

Motochika Chosokabe | OTA

[dokyuu]

I. Boneyard Junction

[Faced with a multitude of abandoned building, many still holding their contents, Motochika can't help but want to poke around and see what he can find. He is a pirate, after all. And hell, it's not like anyone here's likely to miss this stuff.

He finds a promising looking building, trying the door, and then, when it won't open easily, kicking it. It gives, but the whole building creeks ominously, and he gives the structure a warry look before just shrugging and heading inside. The interior is covered with sand and dust, and he spends a little while pocketing anything interesting from the interior space before being faced with a choice.

There's a stairway going up, and a hole in the floor filled with a slope of sand, leading down to some subterranean space cloaked in darkness. He starts up the stairs first, but the treads gives such an ominous sound that he quickly retreats again.]

Shit. Don't think I'm going that way...


II. Ambush

[The shooting starts without warning, but he's been in enough fights that instinct kicks in just as quickly. He's ill-equipped for a gunfight--can't charge into the middle of it the way he would with more conventionally equipped troops, so he moves through town using whatever cover he can. He's already got a myriad of scratches from flying debris, but he's avoided anything more serious so far.

Occasionally, some of the Deemers get close enough that he can hit them outright with the flaming end of anchor, leaving them crumpled heaps on the sand, but the rest of the time he's forced to take cover, occasionally loosing the end of his weapon on its chain to lash out and knock back those firing at him.

It's a losing situation, though, his weapon isn't a good counter for theirs, and eventually, he's forced into hiding behind the collapsing remains of a shed, bullets
flying by from two directions. He's pinned down and someone's going to get a shot in eventually if he doesn't get out of there, especially if they figure out how to use his limited vision against him.]

Come at me like real men instead of hiding like cowards!

[Okay, taunting wasn't going to help, but it made him feel a little better.]


III. Wildcard

[Any location/situation! Or PM me and I'll see what I can come up with.]

I

[sengetsu]

[Kojuro gives the stairs a deeply suspicious look at the creaking]

Good idea. This whole thing seems in danger of coming down on us.

keith | ota

[secondnature]

a: boneyard junction: investigation and salvaging

[After the time that Keith has spent on this world, he has more than a few questions that he wants answered. Some of those are apparent the moment he walks into town here, ground unsteady beneath his feet as he tries to figure out a path to take. He's done an investigation before, and this seems like it's not unlike that. Dig up information. Figure out what or how these people will survive—if they'll survive. And figure out where those crazy ideas mentioned on the mission briefing came from.

But first things first: clues.

Keith isn't always the best at making sense of clues once he finds them, but he thinks pooling them together in the end will provide a bigger picture. He gets to work fairly quickly, but once he runs into a wall (so to speak), he climbs out of wherever he is to wave a hand to catch someone's attention.] Hey, get over here! I need an extra hand.

[Just below could be anything: a box of money, a bunch of information, or even ALASTAIR tech. Keith won't always know what he's looking at, but he's eager to find it regardless.]

b: ambush time

[It's not the first time Keith has been ambushed since he arrived on this planet, and he was beginning to get the idea that it wouldn't be his last. But the weird thing about these Deemers is that they terrify him. Their religious fervor and dedication to their cause is nothing like anything he's heard before. The Galra may be egotistical and he's gotten into fights before around the Garrison, but it was nothing like this—

Before long, he realizes that they're fighting for their livelihoods. He realizes that they're fighting because they're afraid, and all their drive and passion is going into it.

By now, Keith has gotten better at both wielding a sword thanks to practice and dodging bullets (thanks to dog lasers just outside of the refinery), so he holds his own whenever he can manage to pull together a one-on-one battle.

But every now and then, he gets distracted, either by the Reverend's words or the Deemers themselves, and he gets knocked back in a rather ungraceful and weirdly bent pile on the ground. He grunts, slow to get up, but it might be because he's listening to the Reverend's words, and he's not liking what he's hearing ...]

c: after Black's death

Yeah, you'd better run! We're gonna find out where you live and finish you off!

[Maybe not the best choice of words, but Keith doesn't feel like he's gained much of a victory. Black's death rattles him, especially Rey's involvement in it, and he stumbles forward and falls to his knees after the last Deemer abandons the fight with him.

When it comes to fighting, Keith can be fairly relentless. Still, it's apparent that he's pushed himself too far—both mentally and physically. His head tips down as he considers the ramifications of everything that just happened, and the Deemers running doesn't feel like a victory at all. His stomach twists at the implication of it all, especially since ... these are people who want to live. And they might not want to destroy planet after planet to do it.

It might not be immediately obvious that he holds where he is because he's troubled, but it might be in time. Keith doesn't know what to make of what just happened, but he knows he isn't pleased.]

d: wildcard

[Keith will be mostly doing what's described above, but if you want to fiddle with a prompt to make it work better or come up with a more specific scenario, I'm game! If you're not sure, feel free to drop me a PM.]

b;

[agrizzlysin]

[Before Keith manages to regain his footing from one of his less graceful tumbles, several loud, metallic clashes ring out over his head, and an unnatural wind rushes past. If he has it in him to look up after that, he'll see an ornate Medieval spear spinning in circles through the air with such speed that it reflects bullets. Rebound shots send the nearby Deemers in scattered directions as something lands softly behind Keith's back.]

I thought you said you were good with your sword.

[There stands King, shorter than his own damn spear, with one hand in the air. An effortless wave is all it takes for him to slow the spinning weapon and position it for the next strike.]

So why aren't you using it?

riza | closed

[strictdiscipline]

EXPLORATION - ROCKY
[Riza takes exploration of the abandoned ghost town with all the gravity she takes every other task assigned to her. She makes a bit of an alarming figure as she passes through the town, rifle slung on her back and two guns nestled in the crook of each arm, but her steps are quiet as she makes her way up the steps of the nearest empty house.

All the windows have been broken in, from bandits and thirty years of neglect, but shards of glass outline each windowpane, glinting threats at anyone who dares approach too close. The door itself is blocked, the front awning collapsed in a heap of fractured and rotting wood. She crouches down, thoughtful. It'd take time to push all these out of the way, and more effort available to one single woman (lacking super strength).

A conveniently-timed hand would be great just about now...]


AMBUSH - KOLTIRA
[They arrive with the swiftness of a winter storm, voices crying out long before their bullets do.

By luck or otherwise, Riza finds herself in the bedroom of an abandoned house when they arrive, guns held high and prophecies of salvation rolling forth off their tongues. There's a bed and a small cabinet near one wall, and a window peering out towards the street and providing a perfect view of—Koltira, surrounded on all sides by Deemers but holding his own, Byfrost sweeping in arcs around him and tendrils of his magic spiraling forth. All well and good, but she's not about to let him fend for himself for the rest of this fight. She swings her rifle off her shoulders, carefully resting it on the ledge of the windowsill as she takes aim. The trigger's pulled once, then a second time. Two of the Deemers surrounding him stumble, movements jagged for a few moments before they halt their attacks and head back for the hills.

What's up, Koltira. But just in case he needs a bit of a helping hand in determining the identity of his faraway assistant, she fires off a quick message.]

On your left.

[And through a grimy window on the second floor of the abandoned house nearby, blonde hair visible above the windowpane.]

[friendlykillingmachine]

[Conveniently-timed hand at your service! Rocky rounds the corner of the house in time to spot Riza crouched before the heap blocking the doorway. Not one to pass up an opportunity to be of assistance, he approaches, the screen of his TV head lit with a smile.]

Hi there! [His voice sounds very close to human, albeit absurdly cheerful.] This place sure is a dump, huh! I can help you clear some of that stuff away if you want.

[He offers, climbing the steps onto the cracked and crumbling porch, half of which is slanted and buried in a drift of sand. Once at the top, he appraises the heap and starts moving aside some of the loose debris.]

rhys | closed

[dbag]

[ closed starters below, pm me if you want one! ]

» miles

[dbag]

[ It's eerie here. Abandoned towns are indisputably creepy, and Rhys can't help but feel like something's going to pop out and start screaming. So, he's a little jumpy. He crawls through the window of a half-sunken house and quickly finds out an abandoned house is worse than an abandoned town; it's so creaky, and he feels like it's about to crumble into tiny little pieces every second. He's just about to book it when he hears another, louder creak from behind him and whirls around. ]

Oh, my god, please don't k— oh, hi. [ Turns out it's not a horrible ghost murderer zombie, it's this Jake-Gyllenhaal-looking motherfucker. ] Sorry. Iiii thought you were... uh. Never mind.

for Evan

[onethousen]

Chihiro lifted the rusted metal out of the sand, bracing it against her hip while she frowned down at it. Unlike parts of the other rusted pieces littered throughout the region, this one looked like pieces of technology she's seen teammates with, or back in Oska.

By now, it was probably not one of the better ideas to be roaming around with Evan, but past him burning himself up and then running around wearing Urahara's clothing because he'd been left butt naked and slime covered in the tunnels they'd been trapped in a few weeks earlier... past all of that, he was still someone she'd survived through some nasty events with and trusted a fair bit more than she had before going through all the nasty bits. For one, she couldn't be surprised with fire on his part any longer. Knowing what to expect left her better at ease.

Hence she hefts up the rusted technology. "Evan, does this look familiar to you? I don't think it looks like what the Qorrals have back in Perdition's Rest."

Unbeknownst to Chihiro, the Deemers were close to hitting Boneyard Junction. They had maybe five minutes before hell would break loose.

Again.

[evantuality]

He accepts the piece of busted-up technology from Chihiro, shaking sand from it, picking a loose piece of glass from the front. The shape and the heft are familiar, even if the logo embossed into the busted-up brushed steel is foreign to him.

A theory in mind about it, he grimaces. "Oh, someone's probably missing the heck out of this," he admits. "I think it's someone's tablet. Not that I think they'll be thrilled to have it back now."

Still, Evan's a conscientious sort. He waffles, and then tucks the discarded tablet into his satchel. "No reason to leave our litter on someone else's planet, though."

sheriff graham — ouat

[dishearten]

GHOST TOWN.

( there's something uncanny about the emptiness of the abandoned, sunken-in town. something deep that cuts to the bone, lives in the marrow — even for a man without a heart, something about the emptiness of it all sets in. it's rare for an emotion to be so intense that Graham really registers it, yet seeing the forgotten ghost town is enough to unsettle him.

for some reason, it reminds him of Storybrooke. Storybrooke of before, during the curse. those memories felt just as vacant and empty as the town standing (just barely) before him. ghosting through a graveyard for twenty eight years, and all of those years were an uncomfortable jangle still knocking around in his head. memories of loneliness, emptiness, and forgetting his socks under the bed every Saturday.

it's thoughts he chooses not to process, most of the time. even heartless, it doesn't seem to make them much easier. without a heart, he can't feel it racing, nor really understand bodily reactions to panic he can't feel. instead, he leans against a none-too-stable remnant of what could have been the post office and tries to wait for the sensation to pass with eyes closed. )

LET GHOSTS LIE.

( eventually, he manages to shake the discomfort that is stirred up by simply being present in the forgotten town to move on to be a bit more productive. he will find a partner or work on his own, carefully rifling through the buildings and taking anything he think might be of value to the investigation. if it doesn't seem to be valuable, Graham leaves it to the town. it seems wrong to disturb things of the gone or worse. if they were alive, surely they'd have come to collect these pieces of their past?

the huntsman is rather frozen by a doll in dusty plaid gingham, yarn hair falling apart by time and the elements. none of the bits and pieces of old lives have been particularly easy to face, yet the remnant of a child is even worse. the only thing that jars him from silent introspection is a sound behind him. he turns to spot the source — a fellow teammate, of course — and frowns. )

What did you find? ( he saw it going in a pocket, so surely, it has something to do with the mission... right? )

LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

( it takes longer in exploration to find anything that hadn't simply been left by the Qorral. things Graham has little interest in disturbing, yet surely there's something here to find. he's already had a long day of searching with little reward by the time he spots a cellar door, half caved in yet calling for someone to pay it some mind. )

Can you help me? I need another set of hands. ( he asks, nodding towards the capsized door. with two they might be able to pull it open, despite the damage and weight pressing down in the middle of it. it's either that or break it in further, and that might cause the entire structure to collapse. they'll never know what could be underneath if that happens. )

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
only one responder for this one, please!

( when the attack strikes, he's not prepared for it. a part of him wishes the wolf might have been with him; Brother would have heard the ambush before he ever could. if he'd heard it coming perhaps they'd be safer, and now it seems as if it's two against dozens. maybe more. attackers that move so seamlessly and aggressively it feels almost hopeless to stand against them. that fact is what makes Graham glad that his brother isn't present. it's too dangerous for the wolf, and he's safer back in Perdition's rest.

his teammate might notice that the huntsman only fires non-lethal blows. hands, legs, shoulder. they'd be painful but clean wounds, easy to clean and recover from given the chance. the problem with these seem to be that they don't slow the attackers down at all, and they encroach quickly and ferociously. ) Nothing slows them down, ( Graham mutters to his teammate, hardly audible over the fray.

his attempts at being merciful clearly aren't working. Graham has killed enough in his time, and yet killing is preferable to dying. when he aims next, it's for an eye. when the arrow lands, it's deep enough that it likely scratched the back of the Demurr's skull, yet their attack falters and they fall slowly to the ground. it's a success, yet it's paired with a failure; he doesn't duck into cover fast enough, and he suffers for it.

when he stumbles back against the disintegrating wall of faded brick, it's with the numb realization he's been hit, even if it hardly hurts. ) I'm all right, ( he says to his teammate, whether they asked if he was or not. he can't tell, there's an odd ring in his ears. when he touches his chest, blood comes back onto his fingertips, blooming through his vest like an angry fire tearing through forest. Graham doesn't even know what to say, staring at the blood on his fingers and the realization stuck in his head, like a record stuck.

he'd have been shot through the heart, if he had one. )

WILDCARD.
totally game for something else, if you want Graham for something during the battle or before hmu. no after prompts, please, he's gonna be injured and down for the count in the aftermath. feel free to contact me via pm or goplayzelda!

LET GHOSTS LIE

[dokyuu]

[Something to do with the mission, suuuure. Motochika looks up at (what's left of) the ceiling for a moment, before smiling a little sheepishly and pulling a string of beads from his pocket. Probably the remains of a necklace, and probably not valuable in the least, but they were shiny. And of utterly no value to the mission what-so-ever.]

Can't imagine anyone missing 'em...

[So it was no harm if he added them to his magpie-like collection, right?]

Ban | Open

[perma_banned]

Searching
[Digging through the rubble and decay of buildings would be dangerous for most but Ban showed no concern at all for himself as he threw boards and planks aside without a hint of stress. Rotted, decrepit wood didn't bother him. Rusty and broken nails didn't bite into him quite the way they should have. The risk of a beam falling on him didn't register as an issue. Creaks and groans of wood as things were moved had become a dull noise to the immortal. He kicked over a collapsed beam to dislodge it so he could get access to the basement--which seemed to escape major collapsing. With a whistle, he grinned as he spotted a few intact crates. He had searched along with the others for awhile until he managed to find that treat of a spot.]

Well~. Looks like I found something deceeeent. [Turning to whoever was at his side through all that, Ban hummed his approval.]

Let's take a look.

[Ban had nothing to say about the gigantic dead lizard he had set on the ground by the ruins of the house. That bad boy was for later.]

Ambush - Start and Middle

[When the first volley of bullets tore up the scenery, Ban had been striding down the street with the sole intent of finding a usable stove in the midst of it all. Cast iron stoves were valuable and he didn't mind taking one from the abandoned town. With that in mind, he didn't react quite quickly enough to the first sounds of gunfire. Normally, he wouldn't care much for preserving his life but it wasn't as if he was alone at the moment. Once it registered to him that the dust at his feet had kicked up and slivers of wood were being torn out of the buildings around him, Ban startled. Rounds whirred past his skull and he threw himself down to gain some cover. Irritably, he stalked out and jumped to another set of cover offered by a collapsed home's walls. As the gunmen closed in, he stalked towards one of them from a blind spot. The twist in Ban's hips and the stance he settled into was practiced and strong. His knuckles dug into the gunman's side. It was just a practice jab, at best, despite how intense the result was.

The gunman was struck hard in the side and flew, smashing through the sheriff's door, sending splinters and dust up in the air. The wall was dangerously close to collapsing from the comically circular hole Ban put in it with the air of his missile's body. Even so, the gunman got up, dusting himself off with a crazed shudder. He wasn't just alive and well--he was gearing up to rush Ban with a knife the second he stood up. Ban's eyes flew wide at what realization he came to. He bobbed and weaved from more gunshots, running to find cover, again. The gunman found him and the end result was the same. Ban put him through another wall with another solid punch to the side. That time, Ban swore he felt ribs break. The gunman's reaction didn't change. He stood, approaching Ban once more.

The next time wasn't so merciful. Ban drew his sacred weapon from its cloth scabbard--the four-section staff curving in an arc as he took off the gunman's head. Giving pause, Ban waited to see if the body would rise up. It didn't. Even so, he realized just how hard he actually had to swing to get that effect.]

These guys--they're no joke! Take 'em seriously! [He called out, looking to grab somebody's attention before someone jumped in as quickly as he had. Ban was well aware that he could stand to make mistakes. Immortality gave him a lot of options. Other recruits weren't as needlessly fortunate as he had been.

The fighting wouldn't last particularly long. Battles rarely did. Ban hammered more of the gunmen with strong blows, still disturbed that they could get up despite the fact that he hit them with quite a bit of force. It was unnerving, knowing he wasn't holding back quite as much as before and he still wasn't putting them down enough for them to 'take naps'. He was suddenly being reminded of very persistent knights in training.]

Ambush - End
[It hadn't ended easily or quietly. There were quite a few dead among the gunmen but it wasn't an easy or simple victory as their other encounters had been. Even the confrontations in the mine had been bearable for the group from what Ban could tell. At least one of them had been captured from what he had seen but even more of the gunmen managed to simply run away into the desert. There was no reason for them to be pursued, though. Among the recruits, there was confusion and injuries. Chasing enemies into the void of darkness seemed like a bad idea, regardless of their skillsets.

Ban wouldn't have thought much of the risk before but it became suddenly apparent that those attackers were much more organized and much more intimidating than the goonish bandits that surrounded Perdition's Rest from time to time. The intensity and level of that encounter had skyrocketed. Yes, for once, Ban decided on playing it safe.

He searched around, looking through the ruins for anyone who had been hurt beyond normal repair. With a little bit of privacy, he supposed he could help them. It all depended on whether or not he could hide them away, he thought. His way of helping wasn't exactly a way that most people would approve of.]

(OOC: PM me on DW or at dannication if you'd like an additional prompt!)

searching;

[agrizzlysin]

You would get excited for this part.

[Despite his condescending tone, King's characteristic snort in the face of Ban doing pretty much anything holds a hint of something more than just annoyance today. To walk through an abandoned settlement like this, to see everything left to its own devices after the residents have all vanished... It's not so much spooky to the centuries old fairy as it is a heavy reminder that nothing is permanent. What Ban sees as loot, King sees as a memorial. He's down here with Ban for the sole purpose of making sure at least one person treats this place with the respect it deserves, but...

It's hard to admit that he's just as curious as Ban is. Fortunately for him, the way he leans over to get a good look says all that for him.]

...It better not be more rotten fruit.

Sakura Kinomoto l Cardcaptor Sakura

[keystaff]

Junction:

[Most of this could be avoided simply by using the Fly card constantly. But that doesn't necessarily give Sakura the best look at what is going on. And she wants to help investigate. So of course, she's on foot.

Which is probably a very bad idea, given the state of the buildings, the reptiles and arachnids. She's just found some of the old technology and is picking one up to get a better look when one of said creatures approaches.

Sakura grips her staff, activating the Shadow card to try and capture and trap the spiders. But whether that's enough, after her initial screech of panic and fear.]

Is....is that all of them? [Please say that's the last of the spiders.

It probably isn't, let's be real here.]

Ambush:

[The problem with the cards is, that Sakura can't just automatically activate them. Which is how she is caught off-guard and one of the Deemers get a shot off that actually hits her before she activates Shield.

And. Well. It hurts. Sakura's never actually been shot before. Shot at, with the robbers on the train on the way from Oska, yes. But she wasn't actually hit. And the first thing that registers is the pain, as she falls down, sinking to her knees, crying out at it and the initial shock. Shakily, instinctively, she raises a hand to the injury, feeling the blood.

She doesn't take in what they were yelling about. All she knows is that something's gone wrong and she should help. So she attempts to stand, to get up and help somehow.]

Wildcard:

[Roll with something else? The aftermath? A different possibility with these prompts we were given that I initially went with in the top level? I'm down.]

Ambush

[dokyuu]

[Motochika hasn't been paying much attention to the yelling either, but he does catch sight of Sakura going down and--well. He might be a scoundrel of a pirate most of the time, but watching kids get shot is not something he wants to see. With a rattle of iron chain and a curse, he sends the flaming end of his anchor flying into several Deemers, taking a split-second to make sure they're down before he reels it back in and turns back towards where Sakura is trying to get to her feet.]

Sonofa--stay down.

[It's a rough curse of a command, but he doesn't want to see her get shot again while he closes the distance between them.]

How bad they get you?

[Might as well get a sense for how urgent this was while he tried to spot some cover.]

lucina ( ota )

[heritors]

EXPLORATION.

[ The town reminds her of her own world — the abandoned houses and stores that are a mere shell of what they used to be ( could have been ). It's no reason for her to stop and reminiscence, though, not when the entire team seems to be buzzing over finding something, figure out the mystery to this place.

She's determined — unfortunately, there's something called too much determination, and Lucina tends to fit that description more often times than not. Her searching, while thorough, could probably stand to be a little more careful. Especially when she notices something glinting at her feet, and with one forceful tug she pulls it out of the ground.

... and the rest of the house ( what was remaining, anyway, the few wooden pillars just barely standing ) crumbles down, as if what she just uncovered was the only thing keeping the entire mess together. ] Er— [ Lucina's not sure if she should be embarrassed or worried that someone may have gotten stuck underneath, but her body definitely seems to be voting for the former. Her cheeks turn a faint shade of pink, looking around — she didn't just break down the entire house, honest. Maybe no one saw. ]

AMBUSH.

[ It turns out that swords aren't exactly the best defense against bullets; she can't stand in the middle of this battle and expect to come out unscathed. Her reflexes are only human, after all — dodging, or deflecting, isn't exactly an option. So she does something that she hasn't done in a very, very long time; she runs.

Not away, because she still needs to fight and a couple of metal shells aren't going to be enough to stop her. Her plan is to move out, around, and into the enemy backlines, where her Falchion shines the brightest.

Unfortunately, she doesn't go unnoticed; her path is blocked by a Deemer in an alleyway, with two more appearing just behind her. They sneer and taunt, weapons drawn and pointed at their target. There aren't any wyverns or pegasi to swoop in and save her, no mages or archers that can distract her attackers —

She can go down fighting, then. ] I will not be stopped by the likes of you. [ She spits, sword unsheathed as she gets into a familiar stance.

... But she probably needs help. ]

WILDCARD.

[ leave me a comment and pick between exploration, ambush, and aftermath ( + any other details )! i'll write you a prompt. c: if you want something a little more fleshed out, feel free to pm me! ]

closed to olivia.

[heritors]

[ Lucina manages to get closer to the enemies than ever before, just at the edges of the battle, a good midway point where she can theoretically punish the Deemers who have grown too over confident in their ambush. It works, too — sort of. It frustrates her, the fact that she can't be in the middle of the battle field, but she's not reckless enough to go running down the middle, to die trying.

But she forgets that the edge of the battle field has its own dangers. One moment, she's readying herself for another attack, the next — the stray bullet grazing her arm stings like never before. She almost watches her vision go black from the feeling, the pain foreign to her body, especially compared to the usual weapons her enemies like to wield. ] Gods— [ She gasps out, resisting the urge to crumple to the ground, then and there. She grits her teeth; the longer she stays here the more vulnerable she becomes.

It's through sheer willpower, as always, that she manages to reach the back lines, dragging her body through the cover of buildings. Her eyes are searching wildly for a lanky, robed blond, barking orders. He's not here, though ( none of them are ). And the grip on her wound tightens until she's wincing from the pain again.

Suddenly, a familiar flash of pink. ] Mother—! [ She just barely manages, moving to lean against a stray post, hoping that Olivia heard. ]

Twisted Fate | OTA

[fateality]

♠ boneyard junction
[Now, normally, he's not one to go scavenging much over the dead like this. Often, a ghost town means that more than a few have already scoured over any potential goods and made off with them, and with bandits in the area Twisted Fate expects that is most certainly true.

He could be a good, upstanding member of the organization and actually look for anything useful, or he could see if there are any potential treasures or even money that's been overlooked.

Twisted Fate, ever looking for potential ways to benefit himself, is definitely looking for money.

At the moment, he's crouched in front of a door, humming to himself as he works on picking a lock. The card shark pauses only for a moment, frowning before he's throwing a card suddenly.

It explodes in front of a large arachnid, which hisses.]

Go on. Scamper off.

[With another hiss, it definitely runs away for now. Twisted Fate returns to the door, then grins when he unlocks it.]

All right, Lady Luck; let's see what you got in store for me today.


♣ wildcard
[Choose your own adventure! Ask for a prompt, or place one yourself.]

♥ closed to koltira

[fateality]

Ah, hell.

[Normally, Twisted Fate is very good at being elusive, but an ambush is another thing. True enough, his cards trembled, warned him of where to not go, but these are some determined bastards. And well armed.

He's ducked and dodged most of the onslaught, throwing down his enchanted cards to cover his tracks, but he can't get a moment to concentrate long enough to actually let him disappear from here. He reckons, after all, that everyone else can take care of themselves.

Two shots are fired. One goes through Fate's shoulder, the other grazing his side. He lets out a strained yell and clutches his shoulder, causing him to drop his card.]

Sinner. [It is spoken accusingly by the Deemer responsible for shooting him.]

Ah, hell. That and some. [Twisted Fate winces, snapping out another card, but feeling significantly outnumbered by the Deemer's pair of friends approaching.]

OTA

[sekimorinashi]

a. - Scavenging

[ It most definitely isn't wise, but Tsukuyo is convinced that down is the way to go if you want to find anything of worth. Especially after she's scoured the higher floors first and found little worthy of note except some knives she's sure will be useful.

She moves carefully, every step light so as not to disturb the sand beneath, always pausing in case it starts to shift. And then finally she does find something noteworthy. Something different. It isn't at all like anything she's seen in this world, but it is something she has seen.

And when she gets closer, it turns on. ]

Looks like ALISTAIR's old equipment's here.

[ It's loud enough that anyone nearby will hear her, even if she's talking to herself. ]

b. - Capturing a Deemer

[ As soon as the Deemers start running, Tsukuyo is hot on their tail. It only takes a few seconds for her to block one's path and try to pin them down by embedding a few kunai in their legs.

Their response, however, is to fire several panicked shots in her direction and she only just manages to duck under them. In her attempt to get behind the Deemer and disarm them, one bullet hits her ankle and she makes a partly startled, partly pained sound as she drops down on one knee.

Some help would be appreciated. ]

B.

[whatshimadayou]

[From the direction of one of the nearby rooftops, an arrow fires out and embeds itself into the Deemer's hand, disarming him effectively. Shortly after that, Hanzo leaps down behind them, hooking his bow against the man's throat.

He peers over the Deemer's shoulder at Tsukuyo.]

Elevate your leg. Did the bullet pass through?

[sengetsu]

i
[It's not the first time Kojuro has seen an town devoid of human life like this - but at home, the forests and fields are quick to reclaim the space humans had abandoned. Not so here, with only sand for hours. The partially-collapsed buildings look a little like massive skeletons, to his eye - all hollowed out and desiccated. Or maybe he's just being paranoid. Still...]

I don't think I like this.

ii

[That isn't to say he's just going to sit around outside being paranoid about things. They came here in search of answers, and while hunting around like this isn't exactly one of his specialities, he's doing what he can. He digs something out of the sand of one of the buildings' floors, and as he holds it up to get a better look, it comes to life]

...Is this an ALISTAIR communicator?

[except it looks like it's been buried here for a lot longer than their stay so far...]

iii
[Fighting, on the other hand, is something he knows. It's a little more perilous than usual here, given the guns have a great deal more range than swords, but that isn't enough to stop him. The Deemers seem to be made of tougher stuff than the bandits - or, for that matter, of most of the opponents he's faced before. Usually a slice that deep across the chest is enough to make a man stumble, but this one barely slows down]

Just die already!

iv
[WILDCARD. Start something, or message me to work out a thread!]

shizuo | ota

[longtempered]

A;
[Ah, these really old buildings, though. This sort of thing wasn't a terribly frequent sight, back in Ikebukuro, where most dilapidated buildings in the most publicly frequented areas don't exact stay around for long before the tearing down comes around. Shizuo can't say he's ever actually tried going inside one himself, either--he sort of missed out on those 'go in the haunted building' dares as a child, for a variety of reasons.

But now it's better late than never, apparently--even if it happens to be on a completely different world in a completely different context, this time.

Shizuo isn't exactly expecting much, and on that front he's not disappointed; for the most part things are pretty unremarkable, apart from maybe the sheer falling-apart state of everything here. Poking around the first floor of the remnants of a two-story house doesn't yield much more than a lot of dust, but the set up stairs leading up are still mostly open and mostly climbable, and Shizuo sees no reason not to check on things at the next floor too.

So that's where he is, should the door at the top of the stairwell open again behind him and you happen to be sticking your head through it. It's not much more than a small room up here, somewhere between a bedroom and an attic, complete with dilapidated bed and a wardrobe and a few chests long since broken open and emptied by past bandits. A little startled by the sudden new company, Shizuo turns to blink at you, straightening in front of one of the chests in question.]

I think you might as well move on...doesn't look like there's anything up here. [He turns fully, starting back towards you and the doorway--or at least, that had been the plan. But something decides to go pear-shaped about halfway through the process, in the form of a part of the floor suddenly giving way under Shizuo's steps--and, with an alarming crack of splitting wood, Shizuo suddenly has one leg knee-deep in a hole in the floor.] --Ah--well, shit.

[Significantly...less perturbed about this than he probably should be?? and looking faintly irritated at this new position more than anything else, he leans down to brace a hand against the floor and attempts to pull himself up out of the hole. It's pretty snug around his knee. Even more creaking and cracking comes from this attempt, as the floor almost visibly sags around him. ...Alright, so maybe that's not going to work.....]

B;
[Maybe the Deemers are markedly different from the bandits in plenty of ways, but as far as Shizuo's concerned, they nearly might as well be all the same. They're both being enormous pains in the ass in this world, after all--and now they've both burst in uninvited to perfectly peaceful places with firing guns and ridiculous demands. Bandits or Deemers, it doesn't matter, they're seemingly going after everyone in the abandoned settlement and it pisses him off.

The fighting is beginning to wind down by now--there had been a sudden, strange shift, as if something had happened, and now the majority of these strange people have started drawing back and fleeing, as opposed to the nigh-rabid attacking earlier. Shizuo's having an exceptionally angry back-and-forth with a particularly tenacious Deemer man when the change in atmosphere hits--but, temper still burning hot in his limbs and thoughts, Shizuo only irritably lunges and grabs when the man abruptly tries to turn tail and run, snagging his collar and hauling him back over with a practical snarl.]

Where the hell do you think you're going, ah?! [The man jerks and kicks and struggles; Shizuo only digs his fingers into the front of the man's shirt and lifts him higher, until his feet are dangling off the ground, teeth set in visible disgust. Instead of anything even vaguely resembling a cognizant response, the Deemer begins ranting and screaming about deliverance and redemption; Shizuo is thoroughly unimpressed.] What? What--hey! Hey! What are you saying?! You're not making any goddamn sense, you piece of shit!

[In his flailing the Deemer attempts to orient the arm carrying his remaining gun; Shizuo moves first, ripping the thing right out of his hand and flinging it aside. Gun neutralized, he can use both hands to grasp around the Deemer's collar, now...all the better to start. Shaking the man like a rag doll.......] You realize you sound like a damn crazy person, right?! You're--oi, shut up with the screaming already! What the hell is the matter with you?! [THE SHAKING INTENSIFIES....]

C;
[Wildcard!! Hit me with a prompt of your own :V]

B.

[grunehexe]

[The gunfire is beginning to die down- at least, Sieglinde is pretty sure it is. Her heart is pounding in her ears, competing with the sound of metal and ricochets and screams, eyes dilated and broken out into a cold sweat, breathing too shallow, crouched behind a pile of rubble and her shield spell wavering as the occasional stray bullet hit the barrier.

What if it broke, like when Koltira had smashed through it using only his hands? She couldn't concentrate on the spell, not when she kept remembering the last time she'd heard these sorts of sounds, the night her entire world had collapsed around her.

And then there's a gun, thrown? from somewhere behind her rubble pile, and Sieglinde reaches out a shaky hand, hesitating before she curled her small fingers around the grip, jerkily managing to drag herself up onto her faltering knees, peeking over the stones in alarm.]

Sanji | open!

[diablejambe]

1. Some Simple Scavenging
[Honestly, as much as this whole mission beats the babysitting they were doing back on Zeta-12, Sanji hasn't quite been able to shake that something is a little... off. Maybe it's the strange clashes here, maybe it's the way the locals seem mostly unconcerned with stripping an entire planet dry of resources, or maybe it has something to do with that information fragment he and Sai had picked up.

What this all means, of course, is that Sanji is more than a little curious as to what the hell is actually happening around here. Which... is why... he's sort of done that typical Sanji thing and snuck off from the main Straw Hat group in order to see if there's something he might be able to pick up on without Luffy charging headfirst into whatever danger might be lurking in this abandoned place.

He's paused for a moment in one of the more in-tact houses, falling to a crouch and reaching under what must have once been a table. Carefully, he pulls out what was once a simple doll, now tattered and caked with so much dirt and mud it's barely recognizable. As he turns it over in his hands, he catches sound of someone else approaching.]

Oi! [He leans back a little, trying to peer around the nearest wall to see who's passing by.] Found anything interesting?

2. The Man Who Sold The World
[The instant Sanji catches wind of ALASTAIR tech being found underneath the ruins of Boneyard Junction, he's on the mission. Sure, he knew from the get-go that something was bound to be here, but he was figuring it would be some stray piece of broken machinery left behind by the locals and passed over as something of little value by any scavengers.

He wasn't expecting anything like this. And honestly, he's a bit out of his element. Sure, he'd grown up around technology. Sure, their shipwright was a cyborg with a man to rival Vegapunk's, but that still didn't quite prepare him for the magnitude of what was turning up under this half-buried town.

Still, he's trying not to seem too obvious as he sifts through the various tech piles. Trying not to seem like he's actually looking for something as he reaches for each piece with his right hand, making sure the ring on his middle finger comes into contact with it, brings that old tech back to some semblance of life.

It's not that he's trying to keep secrets, per say. He'd just much rather know information himself before it's shared to everyone.]

3. Ambush
[Well, then. This is proving to be a little bit of an issue.

It's not that Sanji isn't used to getting shot at, it's just usually said shooting happens at sea, over distances far enough that it's hard to even get a bullet to land in the vicinity of someone. And, you know, usually they have a very hand rubber shield for situations just like this.

But these guys are tough, their guns are a little more advanced than the muskets and rifles Sanji's used to seeing, and they may or may not have gotten a lucky shot off right at the beginning of the ambush. Which is kind of why the chef is standing on one leg in a gap between the houses, facing off with one of these weird attackers that just won't stay down.]

Bastard. [He's snarling, impeccably balanced even if he does have his bleeding right leg pulled almost up to his chest. He jabs a finger forward, livid despite the mostly dire circumstance he seems to be in.] That was a damn lucky shot, and you know it! You couldn't even see me, you cheating asshole!

[He scowls around his cigarette, and as the Deemer ambusher raises their gun again, he seems to... shift. What happens next is a little. Uh. Well, interesting might be a word for it. See, it seems like Sanji jumped up into the air, kicked his uninjured leg once to propel himself forward, tucked into a slight spin, caught on fire, and then shoved his heel right in his opponent's nose. All before doing a backflip and coming to a hopping stop on that same, uninjured leg.

Either way, the Deemer sets themselves to retreat, and Sanji's limping his way over to nearby wall, leaning against it and taking a much needed drag from the cigarette still just smoldering away in his mouth.

Here's hoping there isn't anyone else coming this way.]

2

[kikoku]

[You think you're being slick, but Law is an observant person. When you spend your life being quiet and broody, you learn to watch people and analyse their behavior. That said, he doesn't know what it is, but there's just something that seems off to him, in the way Sanji is just rummaging around turning things on.]

I don't think just turning all those on is going to accomplish much unless you have some sort of plan on how to get them back to town.
[Honestly, he's interested in them himself. The fact that their jewelcoms turn them on suggests they belong to ALASTAIR but... Why would it be buried here.]

Alice Liddell - OTA

[digophelia]

Boneyard Junction

[ If anyone accompanies Alice, they'll be able to notice a refusal from her to use a lantern in any dimly lit areas throughout the buildings. It makes searching through each of them a bit difficult to say the least, but thankfully, Alice is a stubborn sort who keeps going. Once she hears a distant hiss just as she's about to step over, however, she momentarily pauses. ]

Mind your limbs, I guess.

[ She'll go around, not wanting to step on something that could potentially bite her. That wouldn't be alarming, it would be more obnoxious to her than alarming. ]

Wait-

[ Just as luck would have it, as Alice makes her way over to a flickering light. This device... it looks somewhat familiar, doesn't it? Or at least, something she's seen a few times in Oska, perhaps. ]

Was this left behind?

AMBUSH

[ A knife and a hobby horse are certain weapons no one should bring to a gunfight and yet, here Alice is. She has one advantage of dodging, dissolving into a gust of butterflies to avoid any gun fights. It's about timing, she supposes, this time, she focuses on the knightmare rather than the vorpal blade. Anyone that catches sight of Alice will understand why -- each time she cleaves it back, even if it hits the ground, it's able to temporary send redeemers into a mild state of panic. Alice can't stay in one spot for long, she continues to dodge, stopping momentarily to, once again, swing her large weapon at anyone close enough in the knightmare's reach. ]

Boneyard Junction

[grunehexe]

[There are certain things about Alice that Sieglinde had learned to leave alone- certain ticks and topics that weren't to be breached. ... She could respect that, if only because she herself had more than a few secrets she didn't plan on sharing with anyone.

The dark was inconvenient, and the hiss a bit alarming, but she's managed to mostly keep up with Alice now that it's been a few months since she'd unbound her feet, carefully tottering along...

Until the light captures her attention as well, eyes widening in the dark as she awkwardly steps closer, arms slightly held out to her sides for balance.]

This does not look like the machines back in Perdition's Rest...

Sieglinde Sullivan ⚝ OTA

[grunehexe]

01 ⚝ AMBUSH

[Sieglinde almost hadn't come along on this expedition. She hadn't made much progress at all on Haise's medication, and she needed to run further tests on Koltira's blood, let alone work on Graham's heart, on SuLIN...

But people might get hurt, and she was the Green Witch. She had to be on hand to heal, clinging to that role even as she felt herself being surpassed by those gifted with ALASTAIR's spells. But her heart isn't in the exploration, the actual mission, despite her efforts to focus on it instead of the experiments half done on her desk back in Perdition's Rest.

The sound of gunfire cuts through her thoughts, one, two, then too many to count, and she looks about in a surge of confusion, searching for the source of the attack.

A sudden whisk of what she thought was wind cut by her face, cutting through the hennin headdress that held her hair in complex style, the right "horn" tumbling down as a line of blood suddenly welled up along a pale cheek.]

- eh?

02 ⚝ WILDCARD

[Sieglinde will be ducking for cover during the ambush, but setting up as soon as it dies down to try and treat the wounded. Feel free to throw anything my way! If you want something custom hit me up via pp or plurk!]

01

[kikoku]

[Honestly, when he first dashed over upon noticing a little girl alone in the midst of the attack, he hadn't even realized it was Sieglinde. He'd had several conversations with her over the communicators, but somehow this was the first time he'd properly seen her in person. Maybe she'd convinced some part of him that she was older than she actually was, but he hadn't expected her to be so... small, somehow.

Granted, Law himself is a bit imposing at 6'3", but even still, it doesn't seem like she has any way to defend herself. Whether or not they normally get along isn't something he can bother to concern himself with at a time like this. So he points at the nearest thing to hide behind, a pile of rubble that maybe used to be part of a house.]

Stay down, Sieglinde-ya!
[It's barked out, almost like a command, but regardless of whether she processes the words he's putting himself between her and the nearest group of Deemers, the ones who fired at her.]

Widowmaker | OTA

[araigneedusoir]

A: Curiosity killed the spider?

[She hadn't helped out during the earthquake, not to the extent others had. She'd kept herself at a far distance, picking off mutant birds and robotic dogs, having been entirely uninterested of getting in the thick of it. To her she'd still done her part, just in her own way. Not to mention all the hours her and Ban had spent clearing the pathway to this place of rocks and miscellaneous riffraff. Then she'd had another run in while scouting and decided perhaps she ought to at least try to stick with the rest of the team.

Now she'd found herself at least slightly alone, aware there were others nearby exploring different sections from herself. She was mindful to be careful of where she put her feet, keeping to more solid wood even as the lot of it groaned under each step she took. She hadn't bothered to go up stairs, not when the first step had caved immediately under her foot when she'd set weight on it to test it.

So instead she'd stuck to the first floor as she slowly made her way through what she dared to, looking at the former life laid out in this place. There wasn't much, wasn't anything of particular interest that caught her attention for more than how long it took to glance over.

It was when she wandered deeper; when she gingerly picked her way down another collapsed staircase -- that had left her hopping down the last few steps and faintly jarring various bruises and cuts -- that she found something that was worth more than a quick glance. While she hadn't been with ALASTAIR long, she had seen enough to know that what she was looking at belonged to them. As she drew closer she watched with some form of fascination as it reacted to her presence.

Widow lifted her hand, touching fingers to her com, assuming it's what might have caused it.]

Well, aren't you interesting.

[So coming here may really have been worth it.]

B: Mistakes were made: The Ambush.

[Weak floors made it hard to move as fast as she'd like and left her wondering if she could find a place to even shoot from. It wasn't going to be in this building, not with the holes she'd seen upon arrival; letting moonlight filter in through the roof as well as what was left of windows. She didn't stay inside, bulling through the attacker that had come in after her and spiling them both out onto the street again. She was gone a second later, bullets thudding into the sand and splintering wood behind her where she'd been.

These people were far more organized; more of an issue...and a few of the fools had decided to chase her, leaving her ducking and weaving between hails of gunfire and returning fire blindly with the rifle she'd gotten from her earlier job. It was better than wasting bullets from her own gun; at least until she could find a better place to shoot from.

She hears one go down; then another tripping over his fallen comrade before she loses the rest with a carefully placed shift of direction. Then she starts picking them off one by one, the thundering crack of her own weapon splitting the air once again and joining the cacophony of gunfire and shouting.

It's a tell to some odd kind of skill when she's spotted again between shifts for cover; a lucky shot cutting across her cheek and ear as she ducked behind something decidedly not useful.]

Merde!

[So she had to give the Deemers credit, making her retreat again and take another path.]

C: Post Ambush.

[AKA Wildcard! Widow will be looking over corpses and mourning the fact that her coat now has a bunch of bullet holes in the tail, though she supposes it's a hell of a lot better than herself being riddled with them.]

B

[perma_banned]

[The start of the firefight had been rocky enough to startle Ban--someone otherwise unshaken by most surprises. The level of organization and ferocity in the opposing force managed to pry him out of his bored stupor. As ALASTAIR's own had taken cover and begun the fight in their own way, Ban joined them. He scowled, reaching into the bag of holding to remove his Sacred Treasure. Had he been alone there would be no need to put in a huge amount of effort but in the group he followed there was a whole new motivation to give it his all.

The four-sectioned staff Ban usually carried split when he muttered an incantation, becoming twin nunchaku. The crack of a familiar rifle piqued his attention and he spotted Widowmaker, taking the initiative to rush for cover. A few of the Deemers aimed in her direction and found, with sudden clarity, that their bodies were too weak to hold their weapons. Falling to the ground, they struggled to keep themselves awake as Ban stepped over them, lifting the sharp ends of his nunchaku with every intent to bring them down upon their heads.]

Better hurry~. We might get overr-- [He spoke up to Widowmaker mid-stride until a hail of gunfire cut him off. He turned and stepped aside just as energy-based rounds burned holes in the ruins he hid behind. ]

Tcch! These guys are pretty serious.

SUYUMKHE | OTA

[gunah]

AFTER BLACK'S DEATH.

[ Shuyi spent so long hiding behind a dilapidated cupboard with hands over her ears, torn between fighting to save her teammates and sparing her hands from more bloodshed. Intimidation didn't work against the Deemers, who seemed all too willing to die for the cause. Only when the noise peaks with shouts proclaiming the leader's death does she step out of her hiding place in hopes of helping the injured.

But the closest person she finds is a Deemer writhing on the floor with a gash across his legs, which makes no difference to her. He shoots his last bullet toward her but misses, pulling at the trigger desperately before tossing his gun away to pull out a stout knife with warnings against anyone coming closer.

That's when she calls out to the nearest Audentes. ]

Help me hold him down so I can stop his bleeding.

WILDCARD!

[ Anything goes! I'm going to be rather slow until the second week of November, but I'm game for everything if you don't mind the wait :) ]

[friendlykillingmachine]

[He could ask her why she would want to help the enemy but there's no time for curiosity when there's a knife being brandished at her. Rather than ask questions, Rocky responds by crouching behind the Deemer against his warning and shoving the Qorral's shoulders against the floor. Of course, the blade slashes at his arm but to no avail — in situations like this, it really helps to be made of steel-titanium alloy. The Deemer tries to struggle under his inhumanly strong hold but already he can feel him succumbing to exhaustion.]

Got him! [Rocky chirps, a cheerful smile on his screen.] Do your thing!

miles upshur ( ota )

[upshur]

i. boneyard junction // investigating & scavenging

[ to begin with - that's not a ghost, haunting its way through the various abandoned buildings, it's just miles. he certainly looks like a ghost; wan and unnerved, his attitude growing more and more terse by the minute, as he continues the work he's started for ALASTAIR. prowling through discarded shit, opening drawers, rifling through the sunken homes with as much care as he can take. the ground's still unstable, and the creaking and groaning of the wooden beam he's perched upon while he picks his way through an old chest ( eat your heart out, link ) threatens to give way at any moment. there's absolutely no way anyone is going to be able to discourage him from this, so might as well lend him a hand.

he's definitely eyeing the routes that lead even DEEPER into those buildings, ready to venture forth.

in other moments - he can be found pick his way gingerly across open ground, making a path for heaps of scrap and glass. he's looking for something, and can be seen matching up old, abandoned Qorral tech to his camcorder, then cussing under his breath, and repeating the action several more times. he doesn't seem inclined to hunt for caches of loot, and it would be entirely against his character tropes to be so lucky to stumble across one. he seems fairly content with casually picking through the junk for replacement parts. ]

ii. ambush & aftermath // kick a man when he's down

Someone. Make him, shut the FUCK up.

[ he's had enough. enough of preacher's shouting litanies and gospel at him ( this is personal, he's taking it personally ).

when the bullets started flying, he hit the ground running. possibly taking one of the team down with him, or maybe it was an errant traveler from town. tucked behind one of the buildings close to the fight, for the duration of the skirmish, with his thumbnails tucked fitfully between his teeth and - not fear - but fury boiling hot behind his eyes. something sickly vicious and vindictive, weighing on his lungs, making him breathe ragged and quick, like a winded animal that's about two shakes from lashing out. something about him GLITCHES. black and electric, held back only by the proximity of a living being close by. ]

I swear to fucking GOD, if I have to listen to some wannabe prophet yell about how being balls-deep in this planet is the path to salvation -- !!

[ so, really. with a reaction like this, it's no wonder that AFTER the ambush, the first wounded Deemer he encounters that proselytizes at him, he assaults. ]

( CLOSED THREADS )

[upshur]

[ ;) ]

( closed )

[winces]

( due to time constraints and olivia's general unavailability because of all the ~personal stuff~ going on, i'm afraid i will have to limit my threads for this log! i apologize for the inconvenience and will try to be more available next event! ;; )

achilles

[winces]

[ when the bullets began to rain down upon them, olivia had been outside one of the old, abandoned buildings, distracted by saffron's antsy state as he paces around the room back at the desert flower. she regrets leaving him in there as she had, but hadn't anticipated a trip to the boneyard junction to take as long as it's taking. the woven collar around the lion cub's neck is like a beacon to olivia now, telling her how much he doesn't appreciate being cooped up.

in her distraction, she hadn't even noticed the ambush until it was too late. suddenly, shouts filled the air, and the thundering noise of bullets overwhelmed them all. olivia, upon instinct, upon remembering the last time she'd been shot, had ran and ducked for cover upon the first instance. but as the fight continued, and her mind began to return to her, remembering enough of herself to be ashamed for this cowardice, she'd ran back out, raising her sword and striking as best she can.

but she is no warrior, and her training with the weapon had been severely neglected. more than that, she had no shield to protect her from bullets, and in a battle between sword and gun, when so many outnumbered the former, the gun will always, always win.

she is shot, for the first time, in her gut again, the red of her blood blooming across her midsection like a solemn flower. it steals the breath from her, like before, the pain so intense, so startling, that she can do nothing more than fall back onto the sad, and grasp at her side as her mouth parted around a choked gasp. the shock and pain of it leaves her immobile for a moment, encouraging her shooter to leave her post and draw closer to finish her off.

sinner, the deemer hissed. repent and you might find salvation! ]