[192 and 193] Look out below, I know there's no decision [OPEN]

[bastionpc]

Who: Everyone!
Open: Open!
When: Day 192 and 193
Where: Skyway
What: We might be nearing the end...
Format: Any
Warnings: N/A

[Another stretch of time, another period of finding nothing new. It's been left to Zayna and her father now, to complete those maps. Which they've been doing diligently, but Zayna has been wondering if they've reached the end of parts of other worlds being pulled in to the sky above their own ruined home.

That is until day 192. And just like before, there's another three each on two different days.

So they return and like before Zayna offers off the sketches of what they've found.]

Comments

[bulletofhope]

Gonna do that right now, actually. Thanks, though!

[attheclocktower]

[Xion glances back at him slightly puzzled]

Are the ones that'd be here not as friendly?

[The only real experience Xion's had with Pokemon so far are the ones belonging to the other residents of the Bastion. So she's... a bit confused, yes.]

[gianthobo]

[AZ tilts his head at Colin's sudden change of expression. Something more personal, then.]

Just let us know what you need.

[freedom_engineer]

Just hoping that some of my team have been lucky enough to survive. I know it's unlikely, and I'm not relishing the implications. I'm going to need to gather their remains, even if it's just dust...

[He starts walking again.]

We came to this planet to study some anomalies in space time. We were probably detecting the precursor to the Calamity wave.

[chosenbylife]

BUT WHY?

[gianthobo]

... Really? Huh... if we could track it...

[He moves a little closer to Colin, though. He doesn't know if Colin will need someone to lean on, but he's here in case he does.]

[hellpyre]

Ah--...

[Quacking? How did she miss that--

No, wait. There it is.]

... I hear it, too.

[daughterofursa]

[A quack? Zuko hasn't heard it, but her attention turns towards the pond a ways off, nearly hidden from view from where they are. Maybe...]

This way.

[The quacking grows clearer as they approach the pond, and sure enough, there are at least half a dozen turtle ducks swimming there. A few of them swim towards the shore when they catch sight of her.]

...I guess I'm not the only one who made it.

[She doesn't know if that makes her want to smile or cry.]

[freedom_engineer]

The technology behind it is... complex. I was setting beacons to try and get better readings when I blacked out. I doubt we'll be able to do anything of the sort.

My empire might, but it won't be easy. Or timely. It's not a hellmouth, it isn't remaining stationary.

[Colin shakes his head as he enters the camp, looking around at the state of the place. The buildings have seen better days, but they're intact. There are ash statues everywhere, and broken equipment of varying sorts as far as the eye can see. Colin frowns slightly as he looks at the statues.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu follows along quietly, since Zuko seems to know which way to go. But when he sees the turtle ducks in the pond, he grins widely and crouches down next to the shore.]

Oh... they're... cute.

[He kind of wants to take one home. He's not a big fan of water, but surely they can find a place for these...]

[gianthobo]

[He reaches out and puts a hand on Colin's shoulder.]

Take the time you need.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin nods slightly, continuing to look over everything and everyone. He's memorizing this, and recording it as well. He reaches a hand up to rest it on AZ's briefly.]

Normally, we only devote five men to a distortion analysis team. It's dangerous work. This one was bigger, almost rivaling the Iowa Hellmouth of 616 Earth. I normally don't even get tapped for these missions, they're not my area of expertise, but the sensors had to be set and the computers had to be calibrated to account for the distortions.

Everyone here, EVERYONE here... is or was a genius in their field. Even the security team had science backgrounds.

The drain on the empire for losing this many experts will be immense...

[He steps away from AZ finally, taking off his backpack and pulling out several vials.]

I... need to collapse these statues and gather some of the remains, in the even I ever get home. These people need to go home too. Corsicans don't leave our own behind.

[gianthobo]

If... you're sure that's best.

[It seems somehow disrespectful to him, but he has no room to argue on this. It's Colin's world, Colin's customs, and Colin's way of dealing with it. He knows Colin isn't the most sensitive to other people at times, but that's no reason to be rude.]

What should we do? I don't want to set anything off that shouldn't be.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin's setting about to work on his own task. Getting these people home is more important to him than his own survival right now. Corsicans DO NOT get left behind on some alien world after dying in the line of duty.]

There's... Look around for now. There was no automated security, so you aren't in danger of tripping any defenses. Anything sensitive that's still functioning will be locked down, and weapons are biometrically linked to their owners, so you won't accidentally discharge anything.

If you see anything that looks like it's still online, let me know. Otherwise, we'll scrounge for parts when I finish here. I need a lot of this stuff back at my workshop. ... Sadly, breaking down the structures won't happen. They're designed to function in hostile environments, even if they're temporary. These things can take a beating, which is probably why they're still standing.

[hellpyre]

Ohhhh...

[They're...

strange.

Adorable. But strange. Ducks with turtle shells?

Zuko your world confuses Rin.

(But then again Rin's world would confuse Zuko plenty)

She inches closer to the water, crouching down and holding out a hand in hopes one of them will venture close.]

Hey there...

[daughterofursa]

[Neither of the people crouching by the shore are Azula, so the turtle ducks seem comfortable enough swimming right up to them. One of them pecks at Rin's empty hand and then looks up at her expectantly. Where is the bread?

Zuko hangs back for a moment. If this little flock survived, is there any chance some person within the palace might have? Or maybe it's just a fluke, like the demon they'd found in Rin's home. There'd been no one to find there.

She returns her attention to the turtle ducks, joining the other two in crouching by the pond.]

They won't fare too well out here, will they? If anything from the Skyway finds them.

[gianthobo]

[He nods, and goes to look around, checking it out. Golurk sticks close to AZ, careful to make sure it doesn't miss anything. It doesn't really trust that there's no danger.]

[amnesiadragon]

No, they probably won't. Should we take them home?

[Maybe his Dragon's Eye will help tame them. Then again, he doesn't know how to intentionally make that work.]

If they'll follow us, at least. Do we have any food that we can give them?

[freedom_engineer]

[Fortunately for Golurk and AZ, it really does seem that there's nothing else in the area to be a threat. There is absolutely no plant life to be found, no sign of any animals in the area. Even the only sign of water is a discolored patch of ground near a wrecked vehicle, seeming to indicate a puddle of water that's long since evaporated.]

[In terms of items, there's plenty of wrecked, broken, and charred equipment littering the area. Nonfunctional data pads, inert rifles and equipment that looks like it was made to be held in the palm of ones' hand, long-dead consoles for equipment that may once have been quite advanced, but is now little more than a paperweight.]

[Inside the titanium structures, however, there's less damage. Still lots of broken equipment, and several ash statues, but the damage is less severe. And every so often, there's a flicker of light from amidst the debris.]

[hellpyre]

Oh, yeah.

[She could tell the one pecking at her palm really wanted something to eat, and Ryu just confirmed that. She couldn't imagine there was much left here for them.

And once they left, the skyway creatures were going to get in...

She shrugs her bag off, digging through the pockets until she was able to pull out a large cloth wrapped bento box. The food inside wasn't nearly as Japanese as the container would have suggested, but freshly baked bread was among the meal.

She sat down properly with the box in her lap, tearing off chunks of the loaf to hand to Ryu and Zuko, taking a bite of her own before putting some crumbs in to her hand for the turtle ducks.]

There ya go.

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko follows suit, holding out a handful of crumbs to the turtle ducks. Some of them were content to mill around in the middle of the pond before, but the prospect of food brings all of them eagerly crowding over.]

I don't think we'll have much trouble bringing them along.

[There's something strange, though, about sitting here again, doing something that was so familiar and comforting growing up, with two people who never belonged here. She should be grateful that there's anything left and that anyone wanted to come with her, but this isn't how it was meant to be.

She might be tearing up a little, okay.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu holds some out to them too, but moves a little closer to Zuko as he watches her. He doesn't want to crowd her, but he knows how emotional finding these places can get.]

We can sit here a little if you want.

[He's not sure how to do the comforting thing. Nina was always better at that. But it hurts to see other people hurting.]

[gianthobo]

[AZ pokes around through the debris, gently trying to sort some that looks less damaged. The weapons get a wary look and very careful nudging into their own pile. He leaves those for Colin to look over when he's up to it, and moves on.]

[The flickering light gets his attention, though. He has Golurk stand by as he digs through the debris. He's glad for his gloves, as old as they might be, since some of this stuff looks like it could cut him if he's not careful. Still, a light might mean something that still works...]

[hellpyre]

[Rin catches that. It's hard not to. She's always paying far more attention to what other people are doing over herself anyway.

She picks up one of the turtle ducks carefully in her hands, making it quack excitedly at her, and scoots over so she's sitting closer to Zuko.

She doesn't say anything, but she does nudge the other girl, giving her an encouraging smile.

It's okay to feel sad about all of this.]

[freedom_engineer]

[The light appears to be an indicator for a console of some sort, covered under other debris. Should AZ clear the debris, the console's screen will activate, flashing several messages that are unmistakeable as warning indicators, as well as a simple message reading "Welcome, guest user."]

[Needless to say, something seems to still be working.]