Scene #8261: Questionable Gameplay Loop

Owner	Pose
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	.CONTINUE PLAYBACK The cargo bay is full in all aspects. The thrum of running engines, static, a faint melody. Korean spices, petroleum compounds, artificial sweetener. Bags, chairs, cots. Space is filled. The acceleration has changed directions. Two screens, a picture split between, display a navigation visualizer. The vessel has nearly contacted what is obviously a planet - bright silver against the dark. No time estimate is given, but it's obvious that it's approaching go-time. There's a soft ding, like an airline announcement, as lights brighten back to standard. A voice, tone-devoid as always, crackles through the walls; it's notable that DRYCLEAN is nowhere to be seen in the room. "Hey folks, we're comin' up on the planet. Ain't named, so feel free t'give it one for th'little bit of time it's around, ha ha. "I'll be poppin' open a storage closet for any of you folks who ain't exactly happy in low-atmos regions. Don't bleed on the suits, ha ha. Should be proper fitted for all in need." At this cue, a light on the second, presently-unused doorframe flashes as a door snaps into place within, in a similar manner to the bathroom. Another minor narrative pulse. The area inside has a few hardsuit storage units; sterilized, well-maintained, unlocked. Important if you ain't breathless. Acceleration shift. The beginning of descent. Prepare, or at least just wake up.
Wisconsin	Despite the fact that Denver is very much not organic, she isn't nuclear-powered or otherwise able to work in a vacuum, so there she goes, getting suited up. She's rather devoid of anything that appears to be a weapon though, as she gets ready to head out. "...Sparpy is okay. I've never known a Sparpy." She carefully tucks those twin tails up and into the helmet, gets her seals on tight, and bounces lightly in place. She's gonna step on a new planet. Ooooooo.
Sleek Shimmer	Properly fitted it might be, but Shimmer has some difficulty squeezing herself into the suit nonetheless. Before she dons the suit over her normal getup she's seen straining and gathering her focus... and as she does, her four majestic tails recede into her body and cutesy ears are replaced with normal human ears. But she does get into the suit. Even given all the explanations, Shimmer has little to no idea how exactly this expedition-vacation is going to go or even what they're looking for. But.. that's what makes it an adventure, isn't it? She, at least, had an advantage coming here, in that she was able to spend most of the trip in her natural fox form and zone out into her instincts to make time pass faster. Some of the other passengers might have even pet her thoughtlessly. Who knows? Though nothing terrible would have come of such. "Uhhhmmmm..." She does appear to be struggling to properly secure the helmet. Observing others may be enough to let her figure it out, if nobody decides to help her. "So... what's so special about this silvery world? Whole place isn't made of silver, is it?" That would be terrible. What would anyone eat?
Remee Halcyon	Yawn. Stre-e-e-etch. Sleepy wolf. And then, awakeness. Awarewolf. Abrupt shift from quadrupedal to anthropomorphic. "Mmmhf. Breakfast. I want bacon..." Remee goes to stuff her face in the way only someone with regeneration-powered calorie requirements can, going to make and eat whatever bacon might be available, and/or whatever other food is left over from last night. Even after that, she can be seen breaking into the jerky stash she's packed away in her gear bag. And speaking of, she gets out a rebreather mask, fitting it over her muzzle. It's somewhat permeable, apparently to allow scents in. "Alright, breakfast eaten, gear's on, guns are loaded, at the ready," she says.
Father Berislav	The priest has his nose in some kind of period romance novel--the same one he'd brought on board. He's made good progress, from about a fifth of the way to a little over half. The in-flight announcement draws his attention from the pages, an inquisitive look over the bridge of his nose towards the two screens. He nods to himself, reaches across cramped accomodations for his satchel, and tucks the book away after marking his place with a simple paper bookmark. His demeanor shifts, subtly, from quiet enjoyment to a kind of dutiful concentration. He reaches further into the bag, leaning akwardly to do so, and procures a simple leatherbound bible. Despite his concentration, he does manage to comment on the planet's would-be name. "Sparpy is good. Perhaps consider a cheeky Roman numeral after? People love those for planets. 'Sparpy IV,' maybe." Satisfied that he's found whatever passage he was looking for, he closes the scripture and avails himself of a pressurized suit, stripping off his cassock to do so. "The accomodations are appreciated, Dryclean. It should be safe to access subspace now, yes? I've a number of effects tucked away there."
Kukuru	Maybe if Kukuru keeps her eyes shut, this ride will be over soon. Maybe if she lays flat on the ground, she'll fall asleep, and she'll wake up when they get there. Any number of things could happen, and she'll just be able to skip the whole ride over! Sadly, none of those things happen. She just has to be awake for all of it, eyes wide open, jaw clenched, hands folded over her chest, and body stiff as a rod while she tries to ignore as much of the flight as she can. Every little jostle, every nudge, every movement that isn't just 'going in a straight line' has her tightening up a little more, and it's only through the miracle of being too tired to stay awake that Kukuru finally just passes out... ... In time to feel the start of that descent. Her hands are practically digging into the surface of the ship when it does, but at least there's changing into the hardsuits to distract herself with. Sadly, it does't distract herself much at all. Kukuru really doesn't like flying, but she's at least able to get words out again once she gets a mask on to somewhat help stabilize her breathing (or at least give her some ease of mind). "I-I'll get us... Some stuff once we're down on the ground. Are we there yet? Can we get on the ground faster?" She hates this so much.
AME	AME shuffles into consciousness, unfolding from where she'd curled up during transit. Her screen turns back on and flickers through what looks like the windows for some kind of broadcasting software, selecting the scene for the soda simulation. Her preparations for landing don't seem to involve much besides pulling some thick, armored gloves from her backpack and putting them on. They're long, and reach up to around her elbownearly her shoulder. Gloves on, hair tied back with a heart-shaped pin, some gear belts, backpack put back on, and the weapon debatably describable as an "axe" strapped to her back. It's go time <3!
Ishirou	Ishirou is woken up by the announcement, after having fallen asleep. You know, from experiencing the energy that no person should actually experience. Rubbing his eyes he remembers he came here for something somewhat independent of the trip itself...not that the trip wasn't also something interesting! His sensors start probing, scanning, and trying to understand the space they were in right now. The 'Blue' was something else other than normal space, and it wasn't quite soul-stuff space. While this happens, he does stand up and waves off any offer of a suit. POD disappears, and the R.E.S.C.U.E. unit, the base one not actually adding in any movement which would make him bulkier and this trip more uncomfortable, appears. Now he'll be able to survive in a low atmosphere environment.
Veve Joueur	For the past few hours, Veve has sat in quiet reverie on the floor of the KEYHOLE, eyes shut and chest still, like a figurine in a display case. When the announcement comes, her eyes slide open, without a jolt of surprise or bleariness of sleep. Veve gets to her feet, stretching on her toes with the sound of creaking wood, then nods in response to the sourceless voice. "So, DRYCLEAN, aside from harming the wildlife, what resources in particular should we be looking out for?" She regards the hardsuits with some amount of bemusement, then copies the motions that others do to get one on herself. Her steps are hesitant and unsteady as she gets used to it, pacing around the cabin, until she passes by the screens and stares at the newly christened Sparpy. "It's odd, that before a month ago, I would've considered touching a distant planet an impossible fantasy. And now..." She turns fully around to face the gathered elites, looking across all of them, "I'm here, supporting such fascinating people. It's a beautiful thing, I think."
Vantablitz Remnants	Ahn is woken from her slumber on a rolled out army surplus air mattress, covered in extraneous orange rescue blankets, by Lotus liquidly rolling off the shelf above, catching the navigation screen, and deciding to decohere herself just enough to slither crawling tendrils of black goounder Ahn's blankets until she kicks and complains and crawls groggily out from under. Acquiring a scrunchie from one of her bags and pulling up her hair (oddly, that black flower is still left in place), Ahn awkwardly kicks her way out of her sleeping bag, wobbily out into the open past the divider she'd set up, yelling "I'm up I'm up what's happening?!", promptly trips over Lotus, and then the expected crash of hurled odds and ends never comes, the yelp only followed by Lotus bonelessly tumbling out from behind the divider and hiss-groaning "Couldn't you have picked anything else? I'll remember that later!" A few minutes of rustling, rattling, and grumbling about "Thought there'd be enough time to boil up some pho at least." and "You're the one who overslept by two hours." go by, and Ahn reports hastily to the hardsuit lockers in a barely different state of dress from arriving. Halfway through merrily popping open and sorting through their contents, she pauses, looks around at her peers, and then says "Was this always here? I think I missed them on the way in, h-haha." Lotus leans over her shoulder, and makes a noise of evident displeasure at the nature of the hardsuit. Ahn is quick about disconnecting the mask and filters, dust covers and pressure seals, and leaving the bulky remainder behind. She is not good at it, but only miraculously adept at fumbling from Pin A to Locking Ring B while muttering and cursing a few times. "And um . . . Don't you mean for as long as we're around? Here?"
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	Blue. Outside the bubble projected by the now-scannable shroud, readings begin returning as bizarre non-data. Space is (SMALL / CLOSE / FALSE) and contains (COMPLETELY SATURATION / DIRECTED OUTPUT / I HEAR YOU PAL) radio emissions, seemingly (CONSTANT / NON-PRESENT / READINGS AIN'T GREAT HERE). Data spikes, temperatures invert - then stabilize. Everything (MATCHES / TRIES ITS BEST / IT'S SUBJECTIVE Y'KNOW), then further, as it begins (REFLECTING ISHIROU'S EXPECTATIONS / REFLECTING DRYCLEAN'S EXPECTATIONS / REFLECTING G-D19916-TA20-0'S EXPECTATIONS). (IT THINKS WITH / IT THINKS BACK / IT THINKS THROUGH). That sure is strange! Meanwhile, a quiet, instructive voice plays through Shimmer's helmet as she fumbles with it, explaining the process. The voice still has overlap, though the presence of actual tone and a gentle cadence means it sounds like a completely different person. The same voice makes a quiet comment through Ahn's helmet as she's taking it apart - "I do know what I said." In parallel, speech continues to ring out through the main cabin. "Planet's crystalline. Ground's mostly various alkali salts, like sand. Watch your step on the dunes, ha ha. "Main objective's gonna be, ah, takin' down one of the large fellas. We'll be kickin' a tumor, so mind comms, ha ha. There's secondary stuff, but it ain't anythin' I need. Scans showed high silver and plasma concentrations in the strata, so feel free t'grab some ore, if you're really feelin' that. "Brace for hyperspace exit." Once everyone exits, the two doorframes flash red before the actual doors quickly flash out of existence. Not a moment passes, before suddenly there's something opposite of a sinking feeling - it gradually builds alongside the hum of the engines as acceleration mounts. External fields show kaleidoscopic white, dunes folding into visibility, shroud pulling back, realspace rotating along a non-axis. It stops. The feeds are still, now. The vessel hovers a short distance above sprawling dunes and somewhat blocky crags of silver stone. Pinpoints of red and grey dot the landscape; resolutions are too low to make out what they are, though. A short drift downwards, and the bay door slides open anticlimactically. Nothing blows through the opening, though there's a somewhat different quality to the atmosphere outside. Dust on the wind. "Well, here we are, folks. Sparpy Four. Enjoy it while it lasts."
Ishirou	Ishirou is...oddly interested in what he's getting back. He's getting back multiple readings for what he should be getting...as if what he's detecting his changing. Is...the Blue some sort of waveform? Is it an entity, or a reflection of the entities that look at it? Is it...just is? Honestly, Ishirou could just fly a ship into the Blue itself and try and study it for hours. It's /intensely/ fascinating. While he's adjusting to the ground and the atmosphere being let in so they can get out he ponders what he's learned. He /does/ want to ask the two about it...but right now he feels it's better to do what they came here to do. Though it's obvious by looking at him that he's excited about /something/. Stepping out, he's already taking surveys of the local area. Are there aggressive entities near them? He also tries to get a map of the local topography. Something he can share with others as they move. "Oh is...there a time limit to this place? What is the thing we're here for anyway, so I can start tracking it down?"
Remee Halcyon	> "Scans showed high silver and plasma concentrations in the strata, so feel free t'grab some ore, if you're really feelin' that. "... Wait - silver?" Remee was about to step out onto the ground. "Okay, just..." she goes to quickly swap into some heavy duty boots, ones more suited to swamp treks. "Just don't kick up too much dust here, okay?" she asks everyone.
Sleek Shimmer	The final arrival, leaving the shroud and eventually landing, leaves Shimmer feeling vaguely nauseous and unsettled, but she stumbles out down the ramp and onto the sandy ground without any real incident... yes, stumbles. With her tails fully receded her sense of balance has shifted and she's still adjusting when walking around. But she alertly scans the surroundings. As the eyes aren't much good at detecting the truth of things, she closes them and awakens her other senses instead, reaching out to try and touch the flow of natural power through the world, feel out the presences of living things and the balance of the elements, presence of nearby dragon lines or similar places of power...
Kukuru	After getting into her hardsuit with only moderate difficulty, Kukuru is back on the ground! Of the KEYHOLE, that is, not quite able to really enjoy any drinks or food at the moment, and just sort of hoping that everything holds together by the time they make landfall. It's not even that it's a particularly unpleasant ride, especially compared to some she's had involving planes subject to gravity the entire time, but something about all of it still has her on edge until the craft finally stops. Only then does she finally let out a massive exhale of relief. "Crystalline? Oh, that sounds... Pretty." She laughs softly while picking herself up off the ground, then takes a quick little detour to get herself some water. "Oh, make sure to wear sunglasses. If it's too bright out, the reflections could hurt your eyes like when there's a lot of fresh snow out." She doesn't follow her own advice, of course, just wearing her usual fake glasses inside her hardsuit's helmet. The mention of silver, plasma, and ore goes right over her head, but she does still seem excited over the talk of 'large fellas'. "Do we need to keep them arund for anything, or just beat them up and... Can we take some parts home?" Kukuru asks, her mind alraedy wandering towards all sorts of potential cooking applications for whatever it is they're all hunting despite the fact that she hasn't seen anything yet. Compared to flying earlier, being able to just drift down is child's play. When it's her turn to exit, she just walks right out of the KEYHOLE into a cloud of inky purple and black darkness, reappearing on the ground from a matching cloud close to the rest of the group. Once it's time to start looking for their quarry, Kukuru starts hopping in pace, teleporting far upwards briefly to get a farther view out before teleporting herself back down so she doesn't have to deal with accidentally falling too fast to survive coming back down.
Wisconsin	A brave new world, and such wonders in it. Denver's hardsuit shifts as she touches down outside, the door... and immediately gets to work. She knows she's here for fightin' something, but the little knight KNOWS she's going to get a talking to if she comes to a new world and DOESN'T get samples for the team back at the port. Akashi would chew her the hell out, is what. So Denver shifts her attention inward for a moment, reaching into her digital storage, to come out with... A large suitcase appears in the girl's hands, and she plops it on the nearest sand dune. Silver dune. Dust Pile. Whatever. She kicks the side, and it pops open, deploying... a makeshift research and extraction station. The thing unfolds a little gantry, and starts poking at the dirt with probes, sucking down the ambient plasma, and examining the hell out of the place. Just in case they need to come back and liberate this rock from... whatever they're about to fight. Once that's done, she hustles over to join Kukuru, and then chirps up as well, the noise echoing through her helmet and into their comms. "Oh, right, how uhhh... are you going to mind if there's chunks missing?" She says this, as she deploys her Rigging. In a moment, there's an array of... well, ship bits that are floating around the girl, that manifest in a digital wash of particles and energy. Turrets, hull plating, a conning tower, all of it forms in an instant, and there's the sound of marine combat engines spooling up. She's not a subtle thing.
Veve Joueur	Veve is awestruck by the vista of the alien planet, laying her fingers against the part of the mask covering her lips, and blinking in surprise when they fail to connect. She watches others step out onto the sandy surface with trepidation before following, lowering a foot to the ground with all the tentativeness of someone dipping their toe into a pool. She walks clumsily across the sand, tottering with limbs much stiffer than she's used to. Fog builds up inside her suit like condensation, briefly clouding up her face before becoming transparent. That's kind of a problem, isn't it? Veve can't contribute to the mission if this hardsuit turns her into a helpless pressure cooker. Veve glances furtively at the rest, all focused on their own tasks, and opens her mask a crack so that air and ghosts can both rush out. She doesn't actually understand what dangers space poses to her, only really wrapping her head around the concept of it in the past 24 hours. Thankfully, she's plenty resistant to the flood of radiation and thinned air that results from her brief exposure to space.
Father Berislav	"Bracing, thank you," says Berislav, cheerily enough, his gloved hand on a solid portion of bulkhead. The priest watches the viewscreens with a mix of curiosity and concern, his reading glasses having been put away before the suit's helmet was sealed. Waters waits his turn to depart, more than glad to after-you virtually everyone else on board before stepping onto the white dunes of the newly christened planet. His boots on solid ground, he makes a series of stretches, a few short hops intended to test gravity. "'One of the large fellas,'" he repeats, before walking a short distance from the rest of the group. For a moment, the inside of his exosuit bears a gentle orange glow. A wound in space opens up in tandem with a gesture from him--a curtain of burning orange that spits out an imposing weapon of war. Gleaming silver reflects rays of sun bouncing from a flat hammer of a head. Flowing desert air rustles a red canvas cloak, upon which has been stitched in gold: ISAIAH 3:14 The mech's red sensor-eyes, one-over-the-other, glow dim against the albedo of white sand. The mech's knee towers over the priest--it's on the smaller side of such weapons, but still notably larger than a person. It looks built for a blend of agility, strength and resilience if its balanced, humanoid frame is any indication. Black 'ribs' at its midsection fold open, sunlight filtering into an otherwise dimly-lit cockpit. In a single bound, Father Berislav runs up the leg of the mech, springs from the knee and deposits himself into the cockpit with a midair twist. "I'll do my best to fight downwind of you, Remee," Berislav's voice comes piped through the mech's loudspeaker.
AME	It almost looks like AME is the only one not particularly fascinated by the sand planet, though it's unclear just how true that is. She's been uncharacteristically quiet and stoic since gearing up, not paying much mind to anyone's various quirks as they were themselves gearing up. Instead, she's staring out at the sands, fully unbothered by any of the environmental hazards they present. With no expression to her screen, it's hard to read what she sees in them.
Vantablitz Remnants	"H-hey! Hey! I asked about that already! Explain!" Ahn whines at the ominious intercomm message. Lotus drags her away from protesting by sliding her fingers under the arm-holes of her shirt and hauling her away from the lockers to the ramp with a sudden jerk. "Ack! Cold! Why are your fingers cold?! We were both in the same place!" "We're not even yet~ Now put your mask on." "I can hold my breath!" "Who knows how long we'll be down there though?" "The ship isn't going anywhere!" "Mmmm, maybe. But I want to get out and stretch my legs, if you know what I mean~" Ahn fixes the breather in place, sans its hardsuit, and then securely fastens a forearm-sized can of compressed air to her lower back, in an empty section of tan webbing where radio equipment might normally go. Lotus waits at the ramp, and then frictionlessly glides down it as it opens; the bracing tension leaves what should be her joints and causes her to practically flow down it, until she hits the dunes heels first and struts out. Her carapace is blinding out here, and would be difficult to notice against the dunes were it not for the black 'skin' between it. She stretches her arms a little too far, arches her back a little too deeply, rasps a satisfied sigh-sound from somewhere behind her mask, issuing forth a gush of steamy condensation, and with the same sluggish gestural language as a back-popping shrug, tiny vantablack flowers bloom along her sunwards facing arms and shoulders and 'hair', like a mat of wild clover, greedily drinking in the sun. She wiggles her feet into the dune, and-- "Oh. Eugh. Ugh. Ick. It's all--" "Salt! Didn't you listen?" "Ugh, couldn't we have gone to a water planet? Or a jungle?" "Do you have any idea how rare those are?" "No, I basically slept through all of those David Attenborough specials." "Wh- You really are inhuman!" "I'm still going to take your water~" Then there is a mecha. Ahn sucks in air through her filter so hard that it still sounds like an 'uuuuoooooohhh!' despite the machinery. She runs over, eyes sparkling at the Isaiah, and pretty soon Berislav is being bombarded with nineteen variations on "How?!"
Remee Halcyon	Remee glances up at Bersilav's mech, and the inscription on it. She pulls out her phone with her free hand and goes to search. (Fortunately she has a decent library downloaded, so being light-hours away from a decent connection isn't too much of a problem.) "Oh, huh," she says softly to herself, and goes to put her phone back away. "Makes sense..." "Thanks!" she calls up to Bersilav. "Don't worry too much about me, though, I'm gonna try to keep my distance from most everyone anyway."
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	It's bright. The salt and sand, though described as crystalline, doesn't quite sparkle in the way some might be hoping - but the sun reflects off it all just as bright as a beautiful winter day. The giant formations extending from the dunes gleam in the thin atmosphere, mostly just compacted silvery sandstone but wondrous regardless. It's a sight to behold! Kukuru's birds-eye-view of the place makes it look even more impressive, and she's able to properly make out what those points of red and grey were - movement. Large hulks of plating and tentacle, roaming humanoid figures, tendrils pushing up out of the sand. They're everywhere, but not dense. Denver's analysis returns that both the air and sand contains trace amounts of an unknown volatile compound - probably that plasma that was brought up. It could easily be refined, with the right equipment. Everything seems pleasant but moderately hostile... ...but those that scan past the physical have a far different picture. Practically everything that isn't salt about this place is wrong. Ishirou's topographic map returns a decent outlook of the immediate area - some caverns, a small structure deep within the sands, vague movement across the planet - but only out to a certain degree. As he scans further from himself, things start to return strange in that same way - readings show that the planet itself might not be any larger than a couple city blocks. That's obviously wrong, but it just won't stop showing it. Shimmer somehow reads even worse. Everything is alive. Everything wants to help her. Everything wants her to hurt it. It's natural in a false way, like a distillation of some cycle. Nexuses are dotted across the landscape, through the ground, moving and expanding and overpowering any other aspect that might be present. Nausea rises, just a little. ... From behind, the KEYHOLE expels the host of this whole escapade from somewhere that is decidedly not the main bay. They dust themselves off, hands on hips and striding forward with that inerrable sense of confidence. "Glad t'see you folks came well prepared, ha ha. Here's the rub: we're gonna be aimin' towards the nearest, ah, tumor, puttin' a hand on it, then puttin' holes in whatever comes out. "Don't touch anythin' stationary other than the designated target, and don't put anythin' into your mouth. Got it?" They don't seem to be following behind any groups moving out to find them. Those that have a broader view, through scanning, magic, or just a higher vantage point, can immediately see what they're referring to. Round, pulsating masses extending from the salt are dotted around - not quite flesh, not quite ash. For those who come close to one, you feel like you'll be rewarded for touching it. ... ...what?
Remee Halcyon	Any temptation Remee has to go and touch the things she's not supposed to touch (or eat) are heartily dispelled when her nose wriggles and she gets a whiff. "... Oh, ew." It's bad enough that she has to reach up with her free hand and cover her muzzle. "Ugh, why didn't I take the hardsuit..." She's starting to regret this mission more than a little. Poisonous ground, things she can't eat, one of the Paladins freaking out over the radio about something or other... "Yeah, let's go shoot the thing we're supposed to shoot... and pick up some air fresheners on the way home?" Onward!
Kukuru	Bounce. A giant plate. Bounce. A big tentacle. Bounce. People? There's so many things to see and so little time to see it all that Kukuru's lost for choice, so she just relays her findings to her companions. Once Ishirou mentions that touching anything with her bare hands is dangerous, though, she stops teleport jumping, instead standing right in place to dig into her hardsuit's pockets. 'Don't touch anythin' stationary other than the designated target, and don't put anythin' into your mouth. Got it?' "Got it!" She chimes upwards towards DRYCLEAN as she hears their voice, waving towards the KEYHOLE while she pulls her hands and a pair of torso-sized claws out of her pockets. She slips them on over her hands, gives the tips a light wiggle that looks a little too natural to be the steel attachments they are, and then she continues onwards towards... Actually, she's not sure which way she's going. Recalling those big pulsating masses from when she had jumped so many times before, Kukuru just starts heading in the direction of the closest one. "It's okay if we touch the big fleshy things, right? Just not anything else." That lines up with the thought probing into her head, foreign as it obviously is, but she's sure it isn't anything bad. After all, DRYCLEAN and AME are both on the same page about it. That means it has to be fine, and that alone is enough to get Kukuru to keep marching forward at a relaxed pace without a care in the world. She's even swinging her claw-clad arms idly at her sides while she walks, clearly enjoying this little outing with everyone despite the danger. Just in case, though, she sticks near Ishirou and pats his head gently every now and then, even trying to pull him in if he doesn't pull away.
Father Berislav	"I understand, and I assure you," comes the priest's voice from the loudspeaker, "I'll resist the temptation to imbibe anything on the planet." It was a strange request--but his voice doesn't convey any bewilderment at all. He takes it very seriously, it seems. Isaiah's movements through the sand are like a larger-scale human. There's virtually no loss of grace from the abstraction of piloting such a complex thing. It crests dunes in imitation of a human traveler, upper body making minute adjustments to maintain balance as the legs purposefully make their strides. Pauses are mixed in to give others time to catch up, but barring direction from the more perceptive sorts, the mech is clearly moving in search of one of the aforementioned tumors to 'touch.'
Sleek Shimmer	Nausea indeed. Shimmer stumbles again, nearly doubling over and forcing herself to keep upright, stay balanced. The rush of twisted, wrong sensations coming from every direction through, has her doubling up and almost vomiting. She makes a few queasy noises that are very much on the verge of doing so and drops to one knee briefly while regaining her composure and tuning down her senses to the bare minimum to stay abreast of anything coming close. There's the immediate urge to flee. Her instincts are SCREAMING about the need to do so. This place is wrong. Wrong in a hundred, terrible ways. Wrong beyond her ability to describe with words. And the worst part of it all is that her fellows don't seem to have any IDEA just how bad. As soon as she staggers to her feet, the suited-up young woman clenches her fists and inhales deep of her suit's internal air supply. Keeping her external probing abilities largely sealed, she instead turns inwards and begins to circulate her qi in strengthening patterns she rarely needs to use. Tapping into the elemental patterns of her own body instead of drawing it inwards. For water, blood. For earth, bone. For air, breath. And for fire, life. Blue, red, green, and brown colored light flows from her like an encapsulating plasma. In a scant few moments it begins to circulate, building into a swirl and then coaelscing into a filmy white aura with a krak. Whatever that ritual was, it seems to have reignited her confidence. She decided to journey with the group. And she pulls up alongside the only person who seems remotely like her: Remee. "This place isn't anything at all like I expected. More like some kind of... living nightmare. Can you FEEL how wrong it is?"
Veve Joueur	Veve is blissfully unaware of the upsetting properties of this planet. As far as she's aware, every alien planet is dotted with red tumors and barely masking a sick and hollow distortion of reality. It's actually very pretty, in her opinion. The shimmering sand and throbbing tumors, the indistinct sensation of being diseased. There's something pleasant about it. <J-IC-Scene> Ishirou says, "You could have said something. Given some warning. Provided /any information/ at all!" Veve frowns and waddles over to Ishirou as he freaks out in the radio, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ishirou, please calm down. We're not going to die here. Whatever this world may be, we're here to gather resources for DRYCLEAN, then leave, and then it'll all be alright afterwards." Her voice is soft and soothing, humming like a smooth engine. Veve is endlessly willing to manage these emotions, of course, but it does disrupt the serenity she was enjoying. She follows along behind the rest, occasionally venting her built-up fog as she walks, like smoke signals spreading across the dunes. One of the elites should be the one to trigger whatever event DRYCLEAN is looking for, as much as she wants to explore.
Wisconsin	It's true, ya'll gone and dropped poor Denver on a desert planet and told her she's gonna fight. And, she's up for that, certainly. Especially as some of the others show misgivings about being here. It's nothing that she can detect at the moment, so she's just going to follow orders. Though as Remee starts to look woozy about things, the light cruiser scoots over. And that's floats over, actually, like she's floating a few inches off the ground. She was ordered not to kick up dust, so she's not using her full speed, though. Flank speed on sand dunes sounds... nasty. "Heya, Miss Remee, I'll be your knight here if you need one, don't worry. And..." A happy grin from under the helmet, and the turrets on her deck swivel joyfully. "We're comin' home with some great stories!"
Ishirou	Ishirou is getting weird feedback, like the Blue. Worse, he's getting warnings about how dangerous this place is, and the... organisms. He shakes off the feeling and starts coordinating with the transfer units to send something through. A hand on his shoulder gets his attention as he looks toward Veve. He sighs and deflates slightly. "Look, I feel they knew more and left it out on purpose. That's not good in any way trying to build trust. Just...ugh. I'm going to get some altitude." Moments later a flying device comes out of a portal and splits into several parts. The Parts connect to the R.E.S.C.U.E. Unit itself and form like an exoskeleton. Connected to this are flight pieces, adjusted to be able to work in the low atmosphere location. Taking flight, Ishirou tries to get a better view point. Then specifically starts trying to scan one small area of this 'cancer' trying to force his sensors to start making sense of it.
AME	She follows behind the group, axe(?) now held in both her hands. She has an unusual lack of focus on the others, and with no apparent speed abilities to her name, she has to run to catch up with most of the group anyways. There's something about the way she runs that seems almost suited to the planet. Her running posture is different here, heavily forward-leaning with the axe(?) held close to her body. Boot-reinforced digitigrade legs hit the sand in a way that looks natural to them. Something seems familiar about the run, and something feels missing from it.
Vantablitz Remnants	"How am I not even supposed to touch the ground?" "Oh don't be a brat." "What- hey! What does stationary even mean then?!" "You, if you don't quit whining~" Ahn snickers at the rest of the warning. "Yeah, don't go putting anything in your mouth~" "Oh alright. I'll have to settle with just you for now." "A." The walk goes relatively uneventfully. The military boots that Ahn has 'acquired' seem to handle the sand just fine, and she doesn't particularly sweat with the burden of her expertly assembled pack. The mention of a 'designated target' has her remove a collapsible survival axe, but she keeps it loose as she walks. Where she flinches away from the pulsating tumours, Lotus drifts behind her and lingers behind, leaning or kneeling by them and peering as closely as she can without touching. After the fourth or fifth, she speeds up to follow and asks aloud "Can anyone tell what those things are made of? Please~ I'll offer you a reward~"
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	Scanning. Everything extends downwards - (DOWN ALONG A NON-DOWN AXIS / THE MONSTERS ARE DOWNWARDS / HEARTS IS DOWNWARDS). (MINERAL SCANS RETURN SILVER / SILVER SCANS RETURN GROWTH / GROWTH SCANS RETURN CYCLE). Medical scans of the monster(s) returns solid (INTERACT / ASH / ASH). ... It takes little time to find a tumor. One is close by, just two small dunes away (or was it three?), filling and expanding from a crack in a stone outcropping. It's about the size of a person, red and grey, a soft light within. Touching it is a fantastic idea. Comms fill with quiet, flowing static. A faint melody is audible through it. "Alright, folks, there's a good one. Ain't even got to navigate too hard, ha ha. Touchin' it won't hurt you or anythin', just step back before it, ah, bursts. Y'got a few second window. Weapons hot."
Ishirou	After taking flight, Ishirou's panic has turned into more honest curiosity again. Everything keeps touching on something he doesn't know, and while he's not happy about being completely untold about what to expect, he's clearly being lost in what he's seeing. Downwards, so what happens when he focuses his scans down? He looks for the cancer they were here to get... Starting his scans down from the source that wants to be touched. What is down there? Is it connected to something bigger? Is that why it was trying to hide how large the planet was..? Ishirou demands information. More..! More..! He also hovers above the soon-to-be-released boss battle, watching with interest.
Wisconsin	"Weapons hot?" Denver hears the Magic Words. Touch it and start shooting. That's Very Easy. She pats Shimmer and Remme on the shoulders. "Get ready to shoot! But not me, okay?" A happy grin from behind the big bubble of the hardsuit, and the light cruiser scoots over the sands to the big ugly glob of stuff. Touch me. Denver exposes her hand as she takes off her glove. Touch me. And then she reaches over, the synthflesh sinking into the surface until... whatever it is supposed to happen happens. Touch me.
Remee Halcyon	And... there. The tumor. Remee peers down her rifle scope at it. "Yeah, that looks like-" She startles as Denver pats her. Yay, pats! Wait, no, no pats. "Yeah, go and... do that," she says. "I'll be back here." She retreats a bit further, and finds a decent spot to get set up at. She's a little wary of trying to lie prone on a silver-rich planet, but she's at least got a camping chair to sit and get comfortable in while she does her final equipment checks and draws a bead on the tumor, figuring that's where things will come out of.
Father Berislav	An 'oh you' sort of chuckle transmits from Isaiah's loudspeakers. The mech's one-over-other eyes had been focused on Ahn and Lotus. At the tumor, the mech takes a knee, metal hands outreached towards the pulsating mass. The hand is large enough to hold a person easily. Touching the tumor is not a fantastic idea, says the motionless, mirrorlike expanse of arctic water reflecting miles of open sky in Berislav's mind. It is simply necessary for what comes next.
Kukuru	While the scans are going on, Kukuru takes her time to check on each person in their little group. Denver gets a bit of fussing from her thanks to being so close, of course, and she also loiters a bit to let AME catch up. It might not mean as much since Kukuru can cheat by teleporting back to the middle of the group instead of having to run herself, but she is at least keeping an eye on everyone to make sure nobody falls behind. "It'll be okay. Don't worry! Even if you die, you'll be okay as long as I'm here~" When it comes time to touch the weird thing, Kukuru sticks by Denver just in case things start going to crap faster than expected. She watches the tumor curiously, too, eager to see what's going to come out of the thing, but she's also prepared to hoist her younger charge away if need be.
Vantablitz Remnants	'A few seconds' and 'weapons hot' makes Lotus look to Ahn and Ahn look to Lotus. "Well, we might as well." says Ahn. "Better to put on a good showing~" says Lotus. "We don't know how tough it'll be too." "And I want to get a good taste." Ahn tosses the survival axe lazily up into the air, and extends her arm. Lotus reaches out to touch, and her matching arm bursts apart, unravelling in three dimensions and flowing up Ahn's arm in helical lines. A brief, shocking explosion of white carapace and slick blackness, frozen after ten frames and reversed at equal speed, snapping back down on Ahn's extremities up with the toothy crackle of enamel and the gory splash of constricting fluid. Loose interior growth is replaced with warm human muscle. Invigorating breath is drawn deeply through layers of microscopic geometry. Rippling ferrofluid contorts and hardens into a skin of braided black iridescence. Red markings bleed to the surface of hard white flesh, fitted down to every finger joint. Ahn catches the axe as it drops. Lotus reads the motion without lag and mimics it faster than flesh and bone. The improvised weapon is spun loosely around the wrist and thrown up over the shoulder, a gestalt of kinesthetic skill and non-newtonian motive biology. Ahn's voice vibrates from her mask. Lotus' voice rises breathily from her skin. "Ah, but if you die, don't be upset if you have any missing or new pieces~" "She probably won't. Don't worry."
Sleek Shimmer	Everything that Sleek Shimmer has ever learned about ascendant arts is warning her that touching this strange tumor thing could be an incredibly terrible idea. It might try to eat her. or curse her. Or turn her into goo. Life feeds on life, and being surrounded by something that feels almost like life, but wrong and foul, has her completely on edge and suspicious of everything. She approaches to about twenty feet of it. That is as close as she DARES get. And so, instead of touching it, she raises a hand. Ivory-white light spreads into the sky and what seems like a very localized storm of energy comes together into filmy, translucent... well, they look very much like great fangs. The teeth of great, ferocious predators, expanded to the size of daggers and swords. They number in the dozens. The sky, like a great maw clamping down, rains energy fangs upon the tumor, biting into them and trying to peel and rip it away.
Veve Joueur	Veve stands back as everyone else either rushes to touch the tumor or freaks out about not touching it. She appears to be neutrally in between, gaze glued to the object with rapt curiosity, but staying a considerable distance away, giving way to the more adventurous types. Remee, being the closest one to her, feels a gentle rush of cool, damp air across her body, touching her skin even through protective equipment, humming with subaudible harmonies vibrating through her. The visible fog clings tighter to Veve, swirling in lazy orbit around her.
AME	Axe(?) in hand, fighting pose. Very little distance from the tumor, all things considered. Looking woefully underarmored. AME is ready.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	More..! More..! (THIS IS THE KEY / MORE SCANS NECESSARY / SIMPLE POWER)..................... (PROTRUSIONS AS A WHOLE / SOMETHING LARGER / NOT EVERYTHING IS VISIBLE)..... (THEY AREN'T TELLING YOU / YOU CAN FIND IT YOURSELF / YOU'RE BETTER AT THIS) (AUTOPSY OF THE CANCER / THE CORPSE WILL BE USEFUL / IT WILL BE FUN)........ ... There's a clip of an impressed whistle. "Ain't takin' any chances with th'thing, huh? Don't blame you, ha ha. Back up, now." The tumor collapses in on itself on first touch, a small plume of dark ash puffing out as more attacks rain upon it. There's a pause - unsettling silence. All at once, the remains pull back into the crack, and alongside a deep screech from within the planet itself a large, skeletal hand suddenly bursts out from where it was amidst a plume of lava. The ground at the tumor's location continues to crack and melt as the arm pulls itself out further. Though the form of it is definitely built upon a twenty-foot ashen skeleton, the torso and head are completely covered by a roiling mass of skulls - bubbling, staring, collapsing, all in the same shade and material as the rest of the bone. As it pulls completely out of the small patch of glowing slag, it stands for a second - sockets flash red skulls bubble and float off it enters a stance skulls approach at breakneck. It doesn't look friendly!