AUGUST PLOT: A LOVELY TRIP TO PLANET 10952.EG.K

[luminals]

Arrival on EG.K is non-eventful; one will find themselves about a five minute walk away from the closest village on a very flat planet. The purple and turquoise grass waves in the near-constant warm breeze under a rosy pink sky, and while the sun seems far too close to the planet for comfort, the semi-cloudy nature of the planet means one can see far into the distance without squinting constantly.

EG.K is currently a delightful 23.9 degrees in Universal Standard Temperature, dipping down to 15.5 UST at night. Visitors to the planet can expect clear skies and no rain or storms for the week. Occasional winds up 50 MPH are present, but not constant.

Make friends with the locals, take a swim in a lake, actually do whatever it is you came here to begin with - whatever it is, enjoy your week on this charming and uneventful planet!

Comments

OPEN PRAIRIE

[luminals]

LAKE

[luminals]

LOCAL VILLAGE

[luminals]

FISSURE

[luminals]

Wing will be finding the fissure, Annabeth Chase will be finding the data slug. Characters MUST keep ten feet away from the fissure after its discovery, enforced by the Cortex staff.

Namorita | OPEN

[littlecousin]

A: [Nita can get the hydration she needs in a bathtub, technically. She can also get the nutrition she needs from diet shakes, which doesn't make them good. Without regard for what might be waiting in the depths of the lake--whatever it is, she can take it--she plunges into the water from a good 30 feet in the air with the grace of an Olympic diver...and then doesn't come back up.

Sprawled happily on a rock ledge at a depth where the water is nicely chilly, Nita starts to doze off in the comfort of her other native element after only a few minutes. She's certainly not in need of rescue...but it's not like she told anyone that. On the bright side, she's capable of rescuing a would-be rescuer who gets in over their head in an entirely non-metaphorical fashion, even a giant robot.]

B: [After a good long soak, Nita's resurfaced and is splashing around in the shallows, doing...something. It seems to be swimming around for the hell of it because she doesn't want to get out of the water yet, because that's what it is. If anyone approaches her from the shore, she'll stop doing her dolphin impression and fly over to greet them, dripping everywhere while she hovers at eye level on her strange little ankle wings.]

Hi!

OOC: Not picky about format, so if you prefer prose, that's fine.

LOCAL VILLAGE

[knightoflight]

His curiosity towards organics and other societies is just about endless, but the news of the missing explorers is even moreso. He takes a quick scouting trip, the benefit of being able to fly, coming back with a double armload of stuff--remains of tents, a half-empty rucksack, all the signs of a human camp.

"Did these--?" He almost doesn't want to finish the question. "I think...bad things may have happened." He's already looking toward the waving sea of colorful grass, knowing he has to go out and find out more.

[alwaysadrift]

Drift envies that ability to fly, the utility of it especially, here in the midst of this troubling mystery. Though that wasn't exactly part of his thought process when the jet took off or as he arrives back, blue optics a little bright with earnest appreciation of Wing's grace as the jet touches down. He envies the sunlight too, the way it slides over those flight panels...

Wing's disturbed tone snaps him back to the reality of the situation though, a frown turning upon his face. "Signs of struggle?" he asks, peering at the items Wing's returned with.

[badnewsboy]

[ never one to turn down a chance for exploration, Loki takes the safest and (what he deems) most effective route. more than willing to recklessly head into the face of danger, he wasn't really one to put his tail on his line if the situation allowed (though he had a good track record of talking his way out of just about anything). so, it was a beeline to the village to talk to the locals, who most likely knew more about this planet than anyone.

the journey itself was a little strange, without any companionship he found himself talking to himself and glancing over his shoulder like someone may be there. ]

Loki without Ikol, Leah or Thori, how dully odd.

[ it was still a lot to get used to--but he was alive, and he couldn't deny that despite the awkward pit of loneliness in his gut, that he was somewhat satisfied. finding out what to do about it was the next step. it left him with a sick pit in his stomach.

saving a few worlds in the process made it all the better. ]

Onward, eh? What would Thor do? Save the universe, of course.

[ and he head into the village, rhetoric and most convincing smile ready. ]

[knightoflight]

"I can't tell. It could just be, well, old?" He holds the stuff out--he's not even sure what half of it is. "But clearly, people were out there, organics like the villagers. And they're not there anymore."

This can't be good.

annabeth chase | ota

[sophos]

[Annabeth is... flopped over on her stomach on the grass, in what looks like the barest and simplest of campsites. She's alone at the moment, but there are signs of a potential second occupant - two rolled up bedrolls, mostly.]

[In front of her is a laptop, white with a glowing blue Δ on the back, and she's typing away, reading over the screen at the same time. It almost looks like whatever she's doing, she can't do fast enough, and there's something possessive in her gaze and fingers. Right beside her is a sword, looking like it's made of some sort of bone, the handle close enough to grab in a second's notice.]

[In the middle of a wide open prairie planet?? Plenty to explore and see?? The clear solution is to be on a computer, obviously.]

[She's compiling her own information and thoughts, not that it's clear to conclude at all.]

[timeywimeyorb]

[Having gotten as much information as she was going to out of the villagers, Setsuna had decided it might be in her best interest to press outwards. They were only able to tell her so much and after her time on the space station she had learned that exploring things for yourself was never a bad idea.

She wasn't quite an expert hiker, but she had prepared as best she could for alien territory. It isn't long before she leaves the village behind in search for potential answers out here. What she wouldn't give for a decent library database or even a search engine to use that wasn't completely alien.

Strangely enough it's about that time that she notices the small campsite on the horizon. It would seem she wasn't the only one breaking away from the village.]

[sophos]

[Engrossed as she is, she's not oblivious to movements around her; her senses are too sharp for that. Annabeth looks up and squints - it's a woman, fairly young, though she can't tell how old exactly from the initial distance.]

[She doesn't do much though - just keeps typing away on her laptop, though she'll watch the woman's approach out of the corner of her eye. It's not like campsites aren't tresspassable, though she does end up shifting into a seated position by the time the newcomer gets close enough for exchanging words without shouting them.]

[Not that she exactly starts a conversation herself either.]

Drift | OTA; brackets or prose welcome

[alwaysadrift]

Drift hasn't seen this much open space in a very long time. Just being under a clear sky seems to have put some lift in his step despite the gravity of the situation, but the plains stretching out before him make Drift feel downright frisky, a playful grin spreading over his face.

"Oh. I know what to do with this." He says with a grin, folding down into his altmode, his speedster's engine roaring to life as his tires touch down into the dirt. Sure he's supposed to be going somewhere, searching for the missing people and this village whose communications have gone dark, but he can have some fun while getting there right? Frolic time? Yes, frolic time.

Drift | OTA; brackets or prose welcome

[alwaysadrift]

Someone's been driving around the prairie like he's an off-road vehicle. Except Drift most certainly is not, and when he reaches the lake and pushes out of his altmode, there's a clear grimace at the scrunch of grit in his transformation seams and the press of soil and grass caught in his wheel wells. The speedster isn't entirely filthy but his white and red finish has definitely seen better days.

That's secondary though; Drift is too taken with his newest discovery, this lake that is like none he's ever seen before. It reflects the rosy pink sky across its gentle surface, just barely kissed by the wind, creating a vista more pleasing than he's seen in a long time. Lake Michigan was never this beautiful or this serene. Drift moves to stand at the edge, water gently lapping at this footplates, just enjoying the atmosphere while his cooling fans whirl in recovery from the driving exertion earlier. The swordmech himself is not as serene as he looks though, occasionally shifting or squirming like he's got something out of place. Given the bits of purple grass sticking out of strange places? It's not hard to see why.

"Hmmm..." he makes a thoughtful noise as a hand idly passes over one tire seated in the back of a thigh, "I wonder how deep it is...?"

[sorrynotguilty]

[ missing explorers, huh? as if that isn't familiar enough, right? well there's nothing else that really pulls Megatron's interest. glorious organic landscapes? pass, thank you. playing around in the water or behave like someone freshly sparked aka Rodimus and occassionally Drift? not really interested in that either.

besides, he's supposed to be on the path of making amends as it were. this seems like a good way to keep on tack.

that's why he's out heading towards the village as well. while Megatron could just walk there, he supposes, there's something to be said about moving about in alt mode. Megatron has had many throughout the ages, but there's something satisfying about using his original one.

have fun with a massive tank coming up behind you there, Loki. doesn't seem like he's too inclined to stop. ]

[knightoflight]

Wing's led an impromptu search party into the wastelands. All he can think of is that damaged equipment, trying to conjure lives, faces, histories from it. Who had carried it into the wilderness, why? Had they been afraid? Had they had friends in the suddenly-fallen-silent village? It haunted him, and so after the others had settled into a camp, he'd gone for a walk, trying to clear his thoughts, trying to find a clue.

He was almost on top of it, a strange, almost misty shifting of light. It felt like an EM field, some kind of energy, but not. He stretches out a hand, as though feeling for a contour, taking a few steps to trace the perimeter. It was big. Big enough for a whole village to be in?

He drops his hand, stepping back, moving to the slight rise in the grassy dunes, heading back to camp. "I think I've found something!" It sure was a something, at least. Good detective work, Wing.

[sorrynotguilty]

Megatron's mind doesn't wander into specifics like that. Given his indifference to organic creatures in general, trying to identify with them seems like a wasted effort on his part. However, he does want to find out what happened. How it happened. There's still a part of him that wants to know because perhaps their own lives could be at risk.

He's following Wing and this merry little band because more minds put towards the task is better than one. Of course that's not his only reason. Perhaps he wants to observe Wing. There has to be a reason Drift seems to cling to this particular jet.

'I think I've found something.' Well that's certainly going to draw his attention back to their original purpose. "Couldn't come up with something more original than that..."

People these days have no sense of suspense and dramatics.

[littlecousin]

Namorita might be humming the Jaws theme as she skims along the bottom of the lake, up to where Drift is standing on the shore. The water's much too clear for her to have a chance of sneaking up if he's paying the least amount of attention, but she's darn well going to try.

She slips as close as she can. Since his legs are much too large for her to simply grab an ankle and pull him under the way she would one of her human friends, she just gets the fingers of both hands in around the edge of the plating on his foot...and yanks. Her slight frame notwithstanding, she's superhumanly strong, and while she's not trying to do damage, that's definitely more of a tug than someone her size should be able to manage.

She's also giggling madly, but whether he can hear it all the way up there is another question.

[knightoflight]

But all these different races and species, here and on the ship--it's all so fascinating, especially for the jet who's spent the last few thousand years underground.

Wing comes up short at Megatron's words. "I. Uh. I don't know what else to call it?" It's definitely original, but Wing didn't think 'I found a weird shimmery light energy color thing' to be much of an improvement.

Pharma | OTA

[organ_pharming]

[Pharma sits motionless and monolith-like in the grass, staring out across the horizon. His thoughts are a massive jumble of paranoia, uncertainty, and fear. Relaxing has never been his thing, even before Delphi, but now it proves impossible. Nothing here is in his control. His future is undecided, his former goals now obsolete.

Megatron is right. The people in charge here dictate what their residents must do in order to stay. The mandatory teleportation had finally proved it to the medic. So here he was, on an organic planet, grasping at the tufts of grass as if they were his own puppet strings.]

[alwaysadrift]

Drift is far from the expert on these things but he's going to take an item or two from Wing anyway. The tent he inspects appears pretty damaged, but it's hard for him to tell if it was the elements or more hostile forces. He shakes his helm, a frown spreading over his mouthplates.

"Whatever happened it's been out here a bit. The winds seem to get pretty harsh but..." That certainly doesn't explain what would have happened to the people. "Maybe...natural predators?" Because organic planets have a lot of those things right? You know, food links and stuff?

[alwaysadrift]

If Drift was on his guard, you bet he'd notice. But it's a rare moment of peace after so much strife, beauty a rare thing after long centuries of war, and all he can think of is how Wing should see this.

So, understandably, he's plotting how to get his crush out here and somehow make that work to his advantage. Maybe he shouldn't be thinking such things right now though when other people might be in danger though, so perhaps is instant karmic return that happens next.

The Cybertronian is not all that knowledgeable about aquatic environments given there aren't many on his homeworld. And during the war you didn't really stop for a biology lesson. So of course he thinks the worst when something wraps tiny tentacles around his foot that wedge themselves under his plating. Suddenly he's horizontal, crashing aft-first into the watery domain of unseen attackers... and there's a decidedly unmechly shriek that splits the air.

He'll notice that laughter in 3... 2... 1...

[littlecousin]

Oh Father Neptune, even better than planned. Nita darts out of the way to avoid her victim, letting the waves generated by his fall carry her backwards. Her giggling has changed to outright laughter, but it's good-natured, a friendly sound from someone who hasn't got a mean bone in her body--plenty of mischievous ones, though.

At first glance, a Cybertronian might mistake her for human, especially when the waist-high water hides her winged feet, leaving only her pointed ears and strangely high-arched brows as clues to her heritage. Of course, there's also the fact she's strong enough to unbalance a Transformer...and apparently blase enough about giant robots to play a trick on one.

"Ha, I so got you." Adding insult to injury, she splashes water in the general direction of Drift's head to underscore her point.

SLAMS INTO THIS

[rodders]

( Do you know who else had the exact same idea, Drift? Here's a hint, he's speeding past you. Sure, Rodimus has spent most of the past few years on a ship, but being on his ship and being on a giant decapitated head aren't the same thing.

He sees Drift take off - it's hard to miss any of them when they're easily the tallest things around - and grins, transforming to follow him. They can deal with the problem later. Right now he's just going to enjoy himself.

Which means ribbing Drift when he passes the speedster. )

I remember you being faster than this, Drift.

[alwaysadrift]

Oh, he's familiar with that flavor of laughter, a sound that rings with mirth and not a note of ill-will. It reminds him of Wing, as if the jet is here in spirit, though the voice is most certainly not familiar.

Thank Primus for that! Let's just not tell Wing or any of his other friends about that scream m'kay? He has a reputation to uphold. (Well, what's left of it at anyrate.)

Drift sits up just in time to take that splash to the face, one optic squinting shut as he twists away. "Alright! You did! Mercy!" He can't hold the frown though because the laughter is infectious, his own dry chuckle following the exclamation. It's the only part of him that's dry though, sitting in waist deep water as he is, vents gurgling. Yeah, he's wishing he'd sealed those about...1.5 minutes ago.