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.
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no subject
[Her voice rises a little as she helplessly shrugs, moving in closer to him since he most definitely does know how to fight.]
Before this, I had two of them. Bingley and Darcy, they were able to respond when I lured them with the coral. They even came with clicking, since I think they thought they were going to get fed. I was thinking I could try luring the lot of them away from everyone, somewhere they can be contained.
no subject
[Stomp. Whack.]
Though, y’know, while I appreciate you tryin’ to domesticate ’em and all, I’m not sure you’re going to be able to do that right now with thousands of these— [—assholes—] —things trying to eat us alive. Or, well, our clothes.
MESSAGE
ATLAS cytmugalo jogosgoja, losuraot jlemoc. Uggomgyem: ATLAS cytm...
Clara has now received the maximum amount of messages she is eligible for! Congratulations!
no subject
There must be something driving them to this! If we could just find a source...
[She trails off, knowing that it's not likely anyone will want to hear it. And luckily, right at that moment, she gets another message. This makes two now, and this time she can make out the word Atlas. She makes it out twice, even. She glances up at him, more than a little creeped out. ]
Did you get any of that?
no subject
While he tries to think of something to say, he knocks away a trilobite that's leaped onto his leg.]
Is that some kinda warning, you think? Or... [Shit. This isn’t the time to be having this conversation. They’re being swarmed by a bunch of giant bugs.
He groans and throws off another trilobite, kicks another away, stamps yet another under his heel.]
Look, if there’s a source, then those others that left’ll find it, alright? But this isn’t a day camp, okay? These things are seriously trying to take the one thing keeping us alive. [He gestures at his own exosuit with its own share of nicks and rips between a few more whacks and stomps.] Would you rather die? Because they don’t care if you do, I can tell ya right now, kid.
no subject
[Rage briefly flashes in her eyes, and she takes a hard swing and then a jab at the trilobite nearest to her. She knows that her way of doing things aren't exactly the norm, but to have what she thinks and says be dismissed infuriates her.]
And we can't keep fighting, people are already getting tired and won't be able to go for much longer. We need to do more than just hack and stomp!
MESSAGE
...ara vlouseoc ym Cosgelc γ, Θ. Helquulja chlacgol junuto ug: oyutfgi-cyz kolso...
no subject
—hold on. [Shit. This is really bad time to put a conversation on hold—] Did you— Was that continuing from yours?
[What the hell?
He does feel blatantly guilty for upsetting Clara though, now knocking the bulk of the trilobites back without immediately going in for the kill when he can.]
no subject
[But it's difficult to focus on that when they're having to fight just to stay standing.]
I think we should run. [Not that she can with an injured leg, but she knows they can't just stay where they're at.] You're going to exhaust yourself at this rate. James, please.
[Carefully, she reaches out to touch at his arm.]
no subject
He has to shake his head to clear his mind. There’s too much going on and not enough time to go through it all. Clara’s words don’t register until she touches his arm, and his mind plays them back for him. She’s right about one thing: he can’t keep going like this. He hasn’t been consuming nearly enough calories, and his mind wandering is a sure sign of his training starting to fail. The Soldier can’t keep up.
But running? It’s like charging into the rain: running only makes you target to more of them. There has to be another solution. There must.
A torch. Light. Then...
He takes her hand as clarity strikes.] A bonfire. We need to start a bonfire. It’s our only chance.
no subject
That's what I suggested earlier. If you strike the bones hard enough, they'll spark and catch fire. If we make one large enough, we might be able to ward them away.]
[Turning her hand so she's better holding onto his, she nods to let him know that it's time to get moving. She'll be a little slow, but will be able to help him with whatever he needs.]
no subject
But before they move, he pauses and looks up.]
Hey. Wait. Do you think maybe these big ones could also...?
[Seems far more doable than gathering a bunch of smaller bits and pieces, at least. Also they're massive, possibly even just the right amount.]
MESSAGE
...mur kequol cakkri ug: chloo kolsomg. Cerul kumorc ehhryumo. Krouco ozseumt...
Bucky has now received the maximum amount of messages he is eligible for! Congratulations!