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

[ceruleo]

[ He thinks of Blue. Thinks of seeing her for the first time in that cave, that indescribable feeling of safety and belonging, of knowing exactly where he was meant to be. ]

Everyone should want to fly. Flying's awesome. [ He smiles, even though it's shaky. He's recovering from all the emotion. ] But...I get it.

[anewhope]

It's definitely worth it.

[ Clark remembers his first flight, even when it involved crashing into mountains. But once he got the momentum right - everything was perfect. The howl of the wind in his ears, the freedom to speed through the world and think, this is what I can do and it was beautiful. ]

[ceruleo]

[ Lance laughs softly, because the expression on Clark's face is one he knows intimately, remembering the rush of flight, engine humming, controls alight under his fingers, Blue's roar making his soul quake. ]

Yeah.

[ He disengages, feeling much better for the memory, grinning outright up at Clark. ]

You're pretty good at this, you know?

[anewhope]

[ He smiles softly, his teeth showing. He's not but he won't belay the point. ]

I'm working on it. Like you are.

[ceruleo]

[ Lance ducks his head, flustered again, and spots his wrist communicator in the movement. Suddenly, he's looking back up sharply, eyes wide. ]

Quiznak! Before I forget—did you get one of those strange messages, too?

[anewhope]

[ He blinks quizzically. ]

I did. My suit translates parts of it for me.

[ceruleo]

Only parts? [ Better than nothing. Still a little disappointing. ] I got two messages. We should probably check 'em out...

[ If he can even get his communicator to work. ]

[anewhope]

It might not help us much . . . but every little bit counts. Can you replay them?

[ceruleo]

Maybe? I haven't tried yet.

[ He lifts his wrist between them, and with some fiddling, manages to play back his two communications. ]

[anewhope]

[ Now those sound interesting. His brow furrows. ]

Atlas detected. And something about a Kharas section.

[ceruleo]

[ Lance sighs. ] Well, these are useful.

[ Not. Still. ]

'Atlas detected', huh? Maybe we're not on such a wild goose chase, after all.

[anewhope]

Atlas . . .

[ On a whim, he looks at the symbol on their suits. ] I wonder if we're a part of Atlas.

[ceruleo]

But if we're a part of it, why do we have to find it?

[ He frowns, tilting his head. ]

What do you think Atlas is?

[anewhope]

It could part of something bigger.

[ Idly, he traces the symbol. The House of El, the S echoes in his mind. He found himself missing his suit, one of the few remnants of his heritage. ]

Like a corporation. Or something on a galactic scale.

ok to wrap up?

[ceruleo]

[ Similarly, Lance thinks of the Voltron 'V', then shrugs. ]

Well—whatever it is, I guess we really are in this together.

[ All of them. ]

sure

[anewhope]

. . . We are.

[ It's still difficult to process, to believe but Clark will put his faith in these people once more. ]