The Swarm: Stay

[atlasmods]

Who: These Interlopers
When: IC Day 5.5-6
Where: The Boneyard
What: The Swarm Event

THE SWARM: STAY PRELUDE. Five days have passed since you, The First, woke on the strange and barren planet of Kharas. Four days since the pods housing you exploded when tampered with, and Three since the strange Trilobite-like sand crabs began hesitantly crawling their way into and around the boneyard. At first there was only a few brave specimens to be found, keeping mostly to the shadows and scuttling this way and that. Now, however, at least a hundred of them can be found in and around the boneyard in various placed, commonly grouped together in batches of two or three, sometimes even four. Notably they do not interact much with one another despite their groups and are much more interested in scouting out their surroundings for fibrous materials. On the odd chance that they manage to obtain any scraps they will begin to wander back towards the tracks your counterparts began following earlier. Odd, isn't it? As the softer morning sun overhead slowly begins to heat up with the encroaching afternoon more of the Trilobites begin to fill the area. Only unlike their predecessors these ones do not wander around aimlessly, and instead beeline their way to any Coral stalks that remain in the area. They bury into the sand beneath them to avoid their harsh shells and attack the roots until they topple and collapse under their own weight. Once this happens they practically swarm, working to segment it into pieces with their mandibles. When the Coral's shell cracks the Trilobites pry all vegetable matter from within and begin dragging it into the desert. And that's not all: these new Trilobites seem much braver and more interested in you than their predecessors. They will openly wander up to characters and gnaw uselessly at their ankles or feet, chittering and chattering. If enough of them happen to get together around an individual they will form a tiny ankle-gnawing mob intent on clambering all over you. As the daily eclipse nears their numbers will begin to grow even further. Odd tremors can be felt beneath the ground, even in spite of all the sand, but characters won't get much of a chance to look into the matter before their wrist communicators begin to emit that same strange static from the mist. ...Only there's none to be seen in any direction whatsoever.
OOC	IC Days 5.5 - 6 (Oct 26th - 28th)
This log starts during the afternoon of IC day 5.5 and continues on until the morning of day 6 (with the rest of that day being the aftermath/conclusion). There will be a time-sensitive event which will run for 24 hours starting on the 27th at 8:00AM EST. It will conclude on the 28th at 8:00AM EST. This time-sensitive event cannot be "failed" by running out of time and will affect the lore of the game. Please direct any and all questions about this event here.

Comments

PRELUDE

[atlasmods]

All prompts & threads for the Prelude go here.

Inui | OTA

[dateme]

A: Underfoot

[ This is...weird. It's weird, right?? I mean it was funny when Lance's face got bitten by Darcy and went numb but that was before so many of his cohorts began to show up. Now they're all over the place and Inui has to make a conscious effort to make sure he doesn't step on any when he moves around.

And what's worse: ]

...They're eating all the food. Has anyone else noticed they're eating all the food?

[ Seriously. Look at those things go, it's like they're perfectly adapted to taking these suckers down or something. They kill the plant first and completely avoid the stinging part. ]

B: Stop telephonin me

[ No seriously, the static coming out of his wrist communicator is starting to creep him out. Since the first message there's been nothing, and the only other time static happened was when that strange mist around and now it is definitely absent why is it making noise. ]

...Wow. If this isn't ominous I dunno what is. It's like they timed it for the exact moment most of us left.

[ Still, just in case? He'll peer around for any signs that maybe mist is hiding somewhere before coming up empty-handed, and turning his gaze back down to the inactive-looking communicator. Which is still spewing static everywhere. ]

C: Tremors

[ And then? After all that? The damn ground is starting to rumble and it's about at that moment that Inui decides nope, he's out and he starts waving his arms to get everyone's attention. ]

Okay, I'm calling it! This is creepy and weird and I don't think we should be here anymore--who's all for following those guys out into the desert?? [ ANYONE? ]

ota

[employable]

[Luke Cage had stayed behind for many reasons, but mostly because he didn't like giving up their shelter when there were plenty of others staying behind. Someone needed to stay behind and be the muscle, because nobody had informed him about actual Superman being around.

But things get a little testy when he finds himself defending the plants from the insect things. He didn't like the plants or even think they were all that tasty, but damned if he was going to let their salads be taken away. He had previously managed to make himself a good club-like weapon by jamming a twisted metal pole into a skull-sized stone. It wasn't elegant, but it made dealing with these oversized bugs a bit like a game of hockey.

As the swarm intensified, it came down to simply crushing them instead. But this was by no means something any of them could keep up indefinitely.]

They just keep coming. We can't keep this up forever!

[ceruleo]

[ Lance has a piece of bone he used as a kind of bat against a coral plant—long story. Point is, he's using it now to fend off the trilobites, using the sparks it makes when it impacts the ground to send waves of them skittering off. ]

Tell me something I don't know! [ Unlike Luke, Lance is already visibly struggling, patently glad for the protection. He hangs close. ] Just try not to get bitten, okay?

[anewhope]

[ Clark had held back for now. He wasn't a fan of hurting anything, whether human or alien. Lexa's words about picking sides flickers through his mind and Clark finds his resolve solidifying. He glances at the power level of his suit. The chances are this would drain it considerably. Possibly. But it would buy them some time to fortify themselves against the swarm. ]

Pull back. I have an idea.

24-HOUR EVENT: TRILOBITE SWARM

[atlasmods]

Yikes. Things seem normal at first: the surface temperature of the planet is beginning to cool as the eclipse begins overhead like it does each day. The sun's light gradually fades as it disappears behind the closer of the two moons and brings with it that eerie purplish twilight...and that's when all hell breaks loose. As if summoned by some signal only they can sense, the trilobites all over the camp--regardless of what they were doing only moments prior--begin to act in a frenzy. They scurry and run, they chitter and snap, dozens upon dozen cascading down from the sandy dunes, the crag-like walls of stone, even from within the massive skull. And that's only at first. They start in smaller numbers, but within ten minutes that number has doubled exponentially as more and more begin to appear from the direction their tracks originate, bursting up through the sand beneath your character's feet. And as docile as they were before? It couldn't be further from the case now. Their mandibles snap and pinch as they swarm, rushing for interlopers left and right with the intent to tear and feast upon their exosuits. The fibrous material draws them in, and like locusts they rush to devour any and all scraps they can tear for themselves. If they happen to catch a little flesh along the way...well. That's not such a big deal to them when they're this worked up. Mindless and rushing forward blindly, the Trilobites are easy to kill on their own. But there's hundreds, no, thousands of them now. And they're hungry. Characters will find out very quickly that what the Trilobites really want is their suits. They'll do anything to get at the material, and the more of their suit that's consumed? The harder it is to breathe and the faster their suit power drains. If they catch you there's enough of them to strip a suit bare in under a minute. You'd better run. OOC The Trilobite Swarm Event will not have its own thread and players are encouraged to make their own prompts here and reply to those of others. Once a characters reaches a certain number of comments made in this section they will gain a 25% chance per tag to receive part of a transmission up to a maximum of (2) per character. These transmissions will be tagged into the thread by the mod journal. Unlike the Trilobite Queen Event this thread will remain active after the deadline. However, after October 28th at 8:00AM EST there will be no more transmissions to receive and that portion of the event will be finished. Please feel free to continue tagging and threading after transmissions close!

[anewhope]

[ A switch had been turned on.

Clark didn't even think, couldn't afford to linger on the doubt. The minute the swarm started pouring in from all sides, he pulled aside anyone who was close to him and immediately stepped in front, his eyes blazing a furious deadly red. A wave of power shot around, circling the shelter of bones and warding off some of the trilobites. It won't last but it's a deterrent.

Immediately afterwards, he shouts out, broadcasting his voice. ]

Head for the top of the bones! We need to reduce the area they can reach us! Go!

[ Using his heat vision will cost him power, but it's power that'll save the others.

There are no more hesitations. ]

[ceruleo]

[ He's trying to keep his wits about him, but even that feels like too much effort. His heart is hammering in his chest like a rabbit's—when Clark lands, Lance is almost too disoriented to notice him, at first.

Until Clark fires off his heat vision, lighting up the darkness. Lance ducks his head, eyes watering, Clark's voice ringing in his ears. The top of the bones, the top of the bones— ]

What about you?! Clark!

[ex_bossily211]

Clark!

[Clara's not close to him. She's been separated from the others by the waves of bugs that were arriving, and as she's being chomped at she's finding herself having to keep backing away so that she's further separated from everyone. That's not really her focus here, since she's in a good spot to try and run from camp if she wants to.

She doesn't, not with the others there. She needs to stay with them, so they can figure out a plan to control this mess. So she moved through the swarm as best as possible, proving herself to be agile enough to make it halfway to him. As she felt the sting of cloth being torn from the suit on her body, she gave a surprised gasp, and panic was in her eyes as she realized that these creatures would very much so eat them all alive if they didn't do something.]

[falsesmile]

[ It was certainly a very noble thing to do. Noble, kind, brave, helplessly stupid -- not her style, personally, but something she could appreciate. And it was a fascinating ability
.
In the short run, the safest thing to do would probably have been to listen to him -- to scramble up the bones and wait for the danger to pass. But in the long run -- he would be a useful person to have around later, and an even more useful person to get thinking well of her.

Some risks were just worth running.

She moved toward him through the swarm with gymnastic grace, a thin shard of pod wreckage in each hand like clubs or swords. She ducked away from some trilobites, batted others away with her bludgeons, and -- subtly, without needing to gesture -- used the Force to nudge others just slightly past her. She couldn't avoid them all before they got to her suit, but she was still in surprisingly good condition by the time she made it to his side. ]

I have your back, [ she said, pitching her voice loud enough to be heard over the swarm but otherwise calm under fire, and smacking an incoming trilobite away for emphasis. ]

[ex_bossily211]

[Clara's just nearly dozed off for an early night of rest when the swarm begins. She jumps awake as the initial swarm begins, confused by what's going on. Thanks to being caught in a couple of stampedes, she quickly recognizes what's going on. Unfortunately, by then it was a bit too late. With her injured leg, she had to rely on the others to help her up to the top of the bones, and now that they were there she was in crisis mode. They needed to find a way out, and she had to think of just the right way to do that.]

Do you think there's a noise that might frighten them away? Fire? Anything? We can't just sit here like this, it's like we're just waiting to be devoured!

[Panic had settled in for her, her fear showing a stark contrast to the usually chipper and near whimsical personality she usually had.]

[dateme]

Smash the bones with stuff! [ Inui yells over at her from his own perch atop a rib, clinging to it desperately because he's...well. he's had more than one close call so far, and by now they've taken off at least a few scraps of his suit from various parts.

It has him feeling lightheaded, but that could also be the mild panic he's suffering from right now. ]

The sparks scatter them!

james buchanan "bucky" barnes | ota

[lefthandfree]

[Well, ain’t this damn peachy. He’s grateful he’d at least been awake—a walk; couldn’t sleep—but that’s hardly any cause for preparation either, even as it was already growing evident that the insects were feeling more and more eager to hang around where they weren’t wanted.

He tries to get a feel for how to better attack the swarm as he fights them off on his own while searching for any others that may need help keeping the trilobites at bay. After some minutes, it becomes clear to him that the creatures are after whatever strange material the suit he’s wearing is made of, but there’s really no means of escape. They’re everywhere, and regardless of being a grounded insect, the speed with which they swarm makes walking about a poor option. The best choice is really to fight with others, back-to-back. It narrows the scope of damage quickly and makes defense easier overall. Which is especially beneficial in Bucky’s case since he’s short an arm and all that.

He just hopes no one's been overwhelmed by it all yet. The attack doesn't seem like it'll be letting up anytime soon, and losing one’s exosuit would seem like the worst way to be left defenseless on this barren waste.]

[boldlyemoting]

[In his mind, McCoy can see himself cramming one of these trilobites into a sealing container and beaming the hell out to safely poke and prod at it in the medical labs of a starship well out of the swarm's reach. Oh, how nice that would be.

The doctor doesn't have a tactical mind, he isn't thinking what the best option in. Bucky will find he's just pressing back against a looming bone, not stopping to think of whether the trilobites will just crawl down that to get to him. Yeah, there's nervous sweating. But he does at least manage to kick at critters to try keeping them from getting too close.]

Where's a damn phaser when you need one?

[ex_bossily211]

[Clara's not technically a fighter. She works better with clever plans and manipulating her way out of trouble. This isn't one of the situations where she can manipulate anything, since she's certain the bugs aren't exactly looking to sit down and have a talk. Not with how crazed they are. When Bucky finds her, she's in the middle of waving about one of the bones that's on fire in the direction of a line of trilobites that are advancing on her.]

We need more firepower than this! We're not going to last at this rate.

[Slight bites and shreds of her suit are missing now, and she's greatly concerned about the fact that it's easy for another bug to slip it's mandible into the area and just tear more away.]

[dateme]

Hey! Why're you still running around down there with those things?? Hurry and get to higher ground! [ ...Yells this fabulous specimen of bravery, who, like Lance, has been lifted to higher ground thanks to Clark. He doesn't exactly have a weapon like Lance or Clara, but he's high enough that when the Trilobites begin climbing up towards the rock and bone he's perched on he can kick them off--or at least, away. ]

[anewhope]

[ Clark finds himself staring a little as he shakes the ground with his foot. He's been trying not to kill them unless they're in direct contact with another person. People take priority and Clark had learned that the hard way. He won't fail them again. ]

You should get up there. They'll need your help.

[ He can't be in two places at once. ]

lance - ota

[ceruleo]

[ He thinks that it'll get easier once the heat of the day abates and the bugs calm down. It's stupid, but it only dawns on him how stupid when the twin moons begin to rise and with them, a low, rolling hum that makes the ground quiver. His face gains an ashen cast when the first of the mandibles start peeking out of the sand. ]

Uh, guys...?

[ Welp, today just went from bad to worse. A lot, lot worse.

He levels the piece of bone he scavenged and slams it down on rock, spraying sparks. The frenzied trilobites don't really respond much to it, but it does give him just enough of a break to grab the nearest hand and start running. ]

C'mon! We gotta vacate!

[dateme]

[ "That hand" being Inui's, who's honestly going to be grateful for it later. When the first of hundreds of mandibles start poking up out of the ground and Trilobites begin emerging by the dozens Inui's frozen in a state of morbid horror ans fascination. Sort of like unconsciously being frozen and unable to avoid a Bad Ending.

There's just so many of them that he locks up, not at all used to this sort of scenario. And how could he be...? He's only a teenager in his second year of high school, completely ordinary save for a rather rotten personality. He's never had to deal with aliens or swarms of bugs or any sort of real combat or survival before waking on Kharas.

It leaves him woefully unprepared for this, to the point where he just stands there...until Lance grabs him and likely saves his life. ]

There's so many--why are there so many??

[ceruleo]

You're asking me like I know!

[ Inui hadn't really talked much about his life before now, aside from mentioning he'd gone to school. The realization he's dealing with a civilian hits Lance like a ton of bricks. Not that he's so far removed from that, himself. ]

Hey, Inui, just—focus on me, okay? Just keep going!

[ And whatever you do, don't stop. ]

CONCLUSION

[atlasmods]

A TIMELY SUPPRESSION As soon as the Trilobite Queen is dead, all Trilobites stop swarming and attacking and begin to scuttle about in confusion, aimless. The majority of them disperse, and the battleground is littered with numerous bodies of their fallen. Those who remain are now hostile towards characters. The static which appeared prior to the Trilobites' arrival finally fades out and all broadcasts cease, but it's clear now and something is out there and that something? Talks. Characters who picked up transmissions will have them saved on their suits and they can be played back when desired. If characters interface with one another these messages can be shared. Characters are now also free to leave the boneyard and search for those who departed without hassle. Happy threading! OOC The Swarm Event: Trilobite Queen is now complete! Thank you one and all for participating, we hope you enjoyed yourself! As of now the Trilobite Queen and her new resource are open and available to all characters and have been added to our Flora, Fauna & Resource page! They can both be used in Discoveries as well. Characters have preliminary access to the Ruined Hull found in the largest of the sinkholes, but cannot enter it yet. They are however more than free to go look around inside the sinkhole where it lies! There we be no mod comments or threads under this heading. Characters must make their own.

regrouping thread

[lefthandfree]

[And just like that, it stops as suddenly as it had started. Whatever had been guiding the trilobites in their fury seems to have lost control, and even though there’s still the few trilobites that insist on hostility, they now react more defensively than offensively. Something must have happened. But what?

Bucky’s ears are ringing from the sudden decrease in noise. It feels like the end of a strange dream, except things shouldn’t be left as they are. He huffs to himself, gathering his bearings, and assesses the damage with a quick scan of his eyes.

Well. It could be worse.

Looking up to others that moved up to safety, he calls out.]

Everyone okay?

[ceruleo]

[ Lance is hobbling on one leg, the other one partway paralyzed, the ankle swollen from trilobite venom. His suit is ripped up to his calf, one hand fully exposed, and his suit peppered with little holes. He's having a hard time breathing, leaning on a piece of bone as a walking-stick. ]

Still in one piece. [ Mostly. He looks and sounds exhausted beyond belief, and yet his eyes keep darting around, his shoulders still stacked around his ears. The fight hasn't quite gone out of him yet, nor the panic abated. He might cry later, but for now he settles on jitters. ] If anybody else got bitten, the effects go away after a while.

[anewhope]

[ Once they stop, Clark doesn't move. Then he comes down the bone structure and leans against it closing his eyes. It's over. And not too soon, considering his power level. Even moving felt like a chore and he felt worn down. Fighting was the least favourable aspect of his powers and Clark hated using it for violence, no matter how necessary it was.

Clark closed his eyes, breathing quietly. He didn't want to celebrate. Or check up on people. He wanted to sit and pretend that people didn't see his powers - didn't see him as strange or threatening.

He didn't want to see what kind of consequences he has wrought. ]

[dateme]

No... [ Inui is still on his damn rock, tears in his suit all over (and luckily? somehow none of them are as bad as Lance's. But he still feels a little lightheaded from the affair). He's also sprawled out on his back, not even caring that he's probably lying in crushed trilobite guts. He's just So. Done. With this. ]

I can't feel my legs.

[ No really. They bit his legs and he can't move them because they're all numb. ]