logsinthenight | EVENT CONCLUSION: BEYOND THE SEA

Entry tags:

EVENT CONCLUSION: BEYOND THE SEA

characters: everyone!!
location: in the helix station under the lake, and back to the surface! (hopefully)
date/time: july 19th ish
content: After successfully exploring the Helix Station, characters have all they need to deal with the world eater stuck in the portal down below. How are they going to do it? Click and find out!
warnings: injury, body horror, monster horror, blood, maiming, you know, the usual

game plan.

Based on the votes, the consensus is quite clear: it's time to see if a creature that can destroy worlds can be killed. Characters are well armed from the finds in the test lab. Having recovered Weaver from the R&D wing, they have her assistance in attempting to use the MK VIII to assist with this task. The Key Extraction group found strong potions that might help to pacify the creature long enough to fight it. They have all they can hope to in this impossible fight — the idea is simple. Open the doors, distract the monster with brute force and attempt to pacify it with the narcotics they've recovered, while Weaver does what she can to get the drone restarted and hopefully in place for a killing blow.

If things go badly, though, the team has all agreed on a Plan B. If the tides start to turn, then the group will finish what Alastair started and shunt that bad boy back into space. It's not possible for them to change the trajectory, the World Eater will end up back where it started. However, it won't be in their lake anymore, so that's still some sort of a win. As Weaver is controlling the drone remotely, she will be the one in the control room, and will run the reversal routine if the attack begins to fail. Cao Pi is in charge of the radio to call if things start going south. Hopefully someone taught him how to use it!

boss battle.

Javert, Fitz, and Law (armed with a key Weaver provided him), with a coordinated use of the lockdown keys, manage to open the Portal Bay. Even with power restored, it is practically pitch dark in the room. It's as if the World Eater trapped in the portal manages to suck in and contain any light that dares get too close. They can hardly see the monster before they brave entering the room, though as they walk deeper into the darkness the group can see its shadowy form lodged in the portal. It's trapped around the torso, with only a small part of it visible to the group. Impossibly huge, and perhaps somewhat reminiscent of something that might have resembled a green eyed spirit, once, though it has started growing new extremities and limbs, as well as a few more sets of eyes. It rouses as they enter, and just looking at the World Eater manages to send an unspeakable wave of unease, anxiety, and hopelessness through the group.

Gregor, Stone and Jill throw the fragile bottles of sedative. They crack and settle on the skin and wide empty eyes of the monster. While it's clear it did not incapacitate the World Eater, the mental effects lessen and its movements seem to slow.

With that, it's a free for all, all members of the party armed to the teeth and determined to fight for all they have. The weapons recovered by Cao Pi, Link, and Reiju prove especially useful, though as they cut and slash, the World Eater seems to recover new limbs, new tendrils, seem to generate at random. Like a hydra, every piece they cut down seems to restore itself. Braving closer to its torso leaves the creature leaking toxic black blood over the floor. Touching it proves it is bitterly caustic, easily burning through rubber and clothing and flesh alike. It's a bitter, ugly battle, and not without damage to the fighters themselves.

The fight seems doomed to fail, even with the World Eater slowed and mostly immobilized. It's more than just slashes, heavy hits that can send bodies flying across the room. A flash of attention can leave an attacker immobilized, dark swirling terror clawing through them strong enough that they might try to hurt themselves or their company instead of the monster itself. Worse yet, any time the World Eater seems to lull, it seems to draw the living energy from any lantern nearby, rousing itself and dampening the fighter that might have been feverishly fighting a second before.

However, with the distraction provided, Weaver successfully reactivates the MK VIII. It sounds much like a giant sized bumble bee, until it rockets through the air toward the monster. The beast manages to swat the drone away, once, and for a moment all hope seems to be lost. Until the device lurches in the air and zooms right back to its task, landing on the monstrosity and scuttling deftly over the surface of the World Eater in attempt to find a weak spot. The battle swells, attempting to keep the World Eater from clawing the drone from its body before the drone has a chance to work properly.

It feels as if it takes hours for the drone to locate a weak point, though the reality is it doesn't take much longer than a handful of minutes. The sickening churn of flesh, bone and blood resonates in the room as the drone buries successfully inside the monster. Those lingering for the fight aren't spared, as even as the device whirls inside of it, the World Eater keeps up the fight, reaching for and lashing out at whoever remains close enough. There's no running for cover, as the fight rages until the very last.

There's no warning for when it happens. The World Eater cries out, a terrifying bellow that echoes throughout the station. With the cry comes a flash of bold light, brighter than any of them have seen since arriving in Beacon. The light builds, pushes outward, and the explosion deafens suddenly and completely. The room is bathed in light and anyone in the Portal Room is thrown to the sidelines, bouncing like ragdolls off the sturdy metal walls. The implosion paired with the light existing inside the creature floods through the room, likely to leave characters blinded and deafened for a few seconds after.

However, as they come to their senses, they find the World Eater felled, lying in multiple bloody burnt pieces. Troubling, some of them do seem to keep twitching and moving. Still, it seems to be over. The fight was not without consequences, and certainly not won easily, but it was won all the same.

return to the surface.

With the beast felled, and the party much worse for the wear, the group collects back in the submarines which have thankfully had a chance to charge this time around. The ride isn't exactly fun, but there's no alarm messages or rides in pitch darkness, at least. Even if there's still a good chance that characters might suffer decompression sickness, dizziness, queasiness, and headaches as they head back topside.

It's a battered and bruised group that makes it back to the docks. Plenty will need medical attention, and there might even be some with broken lanterns that will need to be taken to the lab and repaired immediately. Those that died in the fight will awaken in 3 days, however, there might be some consequences when they revive.

Those that are in better shape have a lot to share. What they've seen, what happened, and what should happen next. They've had a rough go of it, characters on the surface have their own oddities to share, too. There's a new guy in town, after all... And boy does he have some ideas and opinions.

ooc notes.

For refreshers on the first part of this event, please see the first event post! The results of this event are based on the voting found here. If your character was involved in the portal room fight, we have provided a comment for injury rolls here. If your character died in the fight, please head over to the Death Page to report it. Thanks for taking part in the first major event of our Next Night! It was quite a ride but we hope you had as much fun as we did!

Feel free to use this post for action tags set during the fight, as well as meeting up and sharing information with the others topside. As of this event, new NPC Weaver will be ashore with her submarine to offer her aide to the residents of Beacon after their help with the Helix Station. Keep an eye out for more from her soon! She will be staying at the docks in a submarine. If anyone has a cot a bunny can borrow, hit a girl up...

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"Yes." They sound unperturbed by this statement, or by the (expected) growl. They're settling back into mixing ingredients to pop into the pan to stir-fry up. "Ask Rosinante. He hates it. Never lets me help him at all unless he's close to dying." This is a slight exaggeration. But only slight.

It seems like making lunches and helping out with learning and protection don't quite measure up to a thoughtful, perfect, home-made gift... but Soldat confines their uncertainty to a mildly dubious expression. "Still gonna make gifts, even so."

There's... fewer people to make them for, now.

They stab the cake a little harder than necessary, but follow up by shoving a good-sized bite into their mouth, at least.

That is sulky, Soldat.

"We love you, y'know. Pretty much everybody here. We appreciate you, and we care about you, and you work hard for us." No sulking or she'll get to the nice-talking. "But gifts are fine anyway. You'll need to drop some hints so I can rustle up something for you, too."

Even the smallest shred of hope is something. "I'd always assumed we'd lose more than we saved no matter how cautious we approached this. I do think this is helpful as a sort of scouting mission, with a smaller one that was already trapped. We know more now than we did before."

And everything they learned seemed to be setting them up for disaster, but nothing to be done about that. He wouldn't ever simply lay down and die. "I doubt we could trap a full sized one in a portal, but perhaps Doctor Solis had some other plans we could draw upon. She had said something about a weapon at one point."

The sulk in this case is coming from loss rather than denial of her point, at least. They duck their head a little more, not about to explain on the day they're celebrating her birthday. Instead they finish another bite of cake-- their piece is pretty much gone, now, actually-- and set the fork down to reach over and grasp her wrist. "Love you, too, Misty. I'll try to think of something you can get me." They're not at all sure what that'll be, but they'll think on it.

Ashford hadn't known that, actually, and he hums low in his throat as they make their way.

"And here I was beginning to think such a thing was a myth."

The average life expectancy of Belters falls somewhere in the 30s and 40s. Poor nutrition. Dangerous living conditions. Hazardous work.... not to mention being always in the crosshairs of Earth and Mars' pissing contest.

Ashford, near 70, is an exception. And even then he never expected to get to die a 'natural' death.

"What is it like? Dying of old age?"

"Nah, it happens. Not around here much, but in a peaceful court, it happens. Seen plenty of it in my time." He isn't surprise Ashford doesn't know. A lot of people don't quite realize until he tells them, just like most people don't realize he's a lot older than he should be until he tells them.

He considers the question. "It felt like being tired. I used to be the strongest in the colony. Raksura grow stronger with age, right up until the end when we fade to white. But when the last of the color goes, about a turn of the seasons before the end, so does the strength and the energy. Frustrating, but still, I was ready. It was my time, finally."

Ready. The idea is a lot to consider.

"I thought I was ready. Ready to die in battle. Or suffocation or thirst." He'd been witness to and had imagined these scenarios time and again.

"But," he wheezes a low laugh, readjusting his arm to steady Stone better, "I cannot say for truth that I could have been ready for being crushed by the Mormon's idiotic farming equipment."

Edited 2020-08-24 07:14 (UTC)

Ask him about it, and you'll get the actual story of living three or four times longer than you should, Ashford.

For now, there's an efficient distraction. "You were crushed by farming equipment?" Stone repeats, incredulous and sympathetic. "That is a shitty way to die, I'm sorry. How'd that happen?"

"Our ship, the Behemoth, it was originally built for the Mormons. Their church. They called it the Nauvoo. But certain things happened and in the end we needed it. So we made it a warship. First in the Belt."

There's still a touch of pride when he says that.

"But because it's overhaul was all done very quickly and out of sight we still had all the Mormon's agricultural machinery in the hold. They were going to use it to build a paradise, they said." A waste of a perfectly good ship if you ask him. "Then our ship suddenly lost all forward moment in a single moment. It was a disaster. I was in the hold. My co-captain was in the hold. And the machinery shifted dramatically in their restraints and crush us both. Crushed my ribcage, punctured my lungs. We were stuck there long enough to know we were dying. But not long enough for any help to come in time."

He shakes his head, "It still makes me mad. I would not complain to die for the Belt. But that was for nothing."

"Well, that's awful. That would make me mad, too." Rather like his first death here, smashed into the surface of the lake unexpectedly by an unseen, invisible force. He absolutely gets that futile anger at a stupid, stupid death.

He gives Ashford's shoulders a squeeze. "At least it wasn't for nothing, here. You dying then means you get to help this world, now, instead."

Being noncommittal is a survival strategy. However, she can see when the strategy is backfiring, and sometimes there's a need to say more.

"Based on past events, I have far more to be worried about from Pudding than she does from me." Surely Law is smart enough not to be deceived by the sweet-little-girl act. "But she and I have... reached an understanding. And I don't intend to cause problems here. I'd like to think that my actions here to date can attest to my intentions." Her tone is firm, but not aggressive; Law is, after all, not wholly unjustified in his concerns. Germa 66 is not a name that instills confidence in anyone but their employers.

"I thought she was talking about the one Pluto was working on. Pluto was the weapons specialist, after all. And that bomb did work," he says, frowning.

"She might be gone, but we have Weaver still. I suppose we just need to ask her about how that bomb was made. See if we can't get started on another one. A bigger one. Or lots more."

Look, he's not gonna lie, he's always loved explosives. They're very effective.

"At this point the bigger the better. And quantity as well. How accurate did this drone of hers need to be? The general vicinity of the creature or somewhere specific?" Rosinante had said something about dropping it inside and he certainly hopes they don't have to pilot these things with that amount of precision. A better option would be to launch a dozen missiles at once and wait for them to hit. Firepower isn't his preferred method of fighting, but when the situation calls for it he can be somewhat adaptable.

Both.

[ with a raised eyebrow — he's not exactly expecting her to tell how she got them... but it's obvious there's a story to it all. ]

I'd say you're not a stranger to fights like the one we just had, either.

There's a part of him that wants to argue back — in his opinion, what he did is far more than just give him the tools, but this is neither the time nor the place to try and convince him of just how grateful Law really is.

He sighs and keeps walking, glancing back to see that Cora follows... and doesn't fall over again.

"Did I miss much?" While he was unconscious, that is.

"I'm surprised he doesn't try to help others even then," Law says, darkly, a statement that ends with a sigh. As much as he loves Cora-san... he's absolutely the worst when it comes to self-sacrifice.

"... thanks. For at least trying to help him." Even if he doesn't accept it... Law appreciates the effort.

"It's what I do," Soldat shrugs the thanks off. It's no big deal, after all. They'd be helping everyone if they only could. "Besides, he's been good to me. Handles my freakouts like a champ. And we work well together when he's not bleeding or refusing to eat or something."

That gets his lips twitching slightly — oh, he's far from being deceived, mostly because the first time he met Pudding, she screamed bloody murder and yelled curse words at him. No sweet-little-girl act anywhere in sight.

"Hm, fine. Have we reached an understanding, too, then?"

He is willing to accept that she's sincere in her promise not to cause problems... as long as she'll accept that he'll go after her the moment it seems like she's breaking that promise.

He's silent for a moment, then, almost seeming like he might just walk away, but then...

"Were you the one who gave Black Leg-ya the raid suit?"

"Inside it. So half the fight was just trying to tear into it enough to get an open wound, half was trying to keep it distracted from her flying that robot. I didn't see the final moments. Had to get Law out."

Look, if there hadn't been anyone else he would have fought to the death to give her a shot. But there were others, he'd already taken a hit, and so when Law got sliced wide open, it was time to leave.

"No, nothing important. Everyone needed to rest up after that fight. Weaver's not settling in, she wants to move back to the station, and she's asking for help in making it livable again. But otherwise... no."

His birthday, but. That's not a big deal. He got drunk and stumbled right back to the submarine. Discovered eventually with some certainty that he craves raw flesh and nothing else, but he's not comfortable enough with that himself to even think about it right now much less bring it up.

[ there's stories behind all of them, mostly involving fights. there are a few on her arms and legs that are from the green eyeds trying to cut her open and pour their blood inside the wounds, but they'd mostly stuck to reopening the wounds that had killed her for that purpose. ]

It's never been on that kind of scale before. [ they'd fought an unwinnable battle before, the one that had gotten her killed, but that had been multiple enemies and one who had resurrected, not something like what they'd just barely won against.

the fist on her opposite hand tightens because she's reminded immediately that they didn't all win against it. ]

"You're welcome." He crouches in front of her where she sits rather than leaving immediately, like he probably should. And, after a pause, he says, "You did good, in there. All of you."

( Javert frowns, his lips twisting as if there's another argument waiting on them, but he doesn't voice it. The light of Matt's lantern continues to flicker, fading in and out, and the inspector eyes it warily as he leads him on. He doesn't let go of the other man's arm, but does at least let him walk under his own power, to a fallen tree nearby where he makes him sit. )

What if it never goes away? ( He murmurs, still concerned. ) I don't want to risk you hurting yourself while on patrol.

Of course. Why wouldn't they need to both get close enough to damage this creature, but somehow far enough away to not have their lanterns extinguished, and then pilot a bomg into the damage they've caused. Why not. Seems simple.

"This is going to be a nightmare to do long distance." He's not giving up hope, but can't help but being real about their situation here. "We're going to need so much more firepower than we have."

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Page 10 of 11

EVENT CONCLUSION: BEYOND THE SEA

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omg I am SO SORRY feel free to ignore if you want

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