Mission 01 - Recovery: Group 4

[cityship]

Worf, Kousaku, River, Billy, Javert, and Leon all set off in the direction that Leela had indicated. They skirted the deeper parts of the forest, and seemed to have pretty easy going.

Something had broken them a trail in mostly the right direction, but what?

Or perhaps a better question was: Who?

Comments

[governmentninja]

Leon only stuck with Worf until they were near the edge of the grove. Luckily, none of the fruit there had exploded yet, so it was safe for him to take a few breaths of fresh air. The plantsuit skin was making a decent filter, but he knew it could only block out so much of the gas.

"You go on ahead, I still need to get the others."

With that, Leon went back into the grove, to track down and retrieve the remaining wayward members of their group.

[asluciferfell.livejournal.com]

Javert was walking steadily through the grove, but he didn't seem to realize it. In his mind, he was in a thousand different places- Paris, Montreuil-sur-Mer, Toulon, the Russian front.

Still, if his expression was anything to go by, he had ceased panicking and moved on to a feirce, stubborn annoyance. None of this was right, and so it was meaningless.

He was likely an easy target for herding out.

[governmentninja]

Leon used the same tactic when he caught up to Javert. Minus the knife, though, but definitely a camera flash point blank in the eyes. He grabbed the man by his shoulder.

"Javert! Come on, this way out."

[asluciferfell.livejournal.com]

Javert jumped slightly, startled. Oh. Orchard. Grove. Exploding fruit. That explained quite a bit.

He nodded sharply and started moving, out from the influence of the gas. Javert copied Leon, not bothering to cut a piece off but simply pulling the plantsuit collar over his nose and mouth to protect him as he ran.

[governmentninja]

"Keep going straight ahead," he instructed Javert when they neared the edge of the grove. "You'll catch up to Worf. The others are still lost in in there somewhere."

And he was going to go get them.

[morphitudinous]

As for the too-curious scientist who had started the whole mess, he had recently discovered that he could walk underwater. Billy's still unsteady on his feet, but he's finally moving. Not necessarily in the right direction. The monsters in his head continue to lash at him, and he continues to fight, but everything is wrong somehow.

Why is he still smelling fruit? The craziness around him wavers if he moves in a certain direction, but he's too disoriented right now to accomplish that quickly.

[governmentninja]

And apparently there are bright flashy lights underwater! And a ninja, who apparently can speak just fine despite all the water.

"Snap out of it, Billy! We need to get out of here."

[morphitudinous]

Startled, the boy prepares to swing a fist until his rational thoughts resurface, causing him to stop. That flash...no, something's definitely wrong. Memories of what he'd been doing before the assault resurface all at once. A plant had fired a gas with a scent resembling fruit in his face, triggering the others, and the gas must've had hallucinogenic properties. Grasping onto that and forcing his mind to perceive reality, he sees the field and recognizes Leon calling him. By some miracle he'd managed to not lose his glasses, but his senses are still a little foggy.

"Which way? Behind you?" Billy's brain is still too muddled to form his usual sentences of sesquipedalian loquaciousness.

[governmentninja]

"Yeah, follow me." Not that Leon gave Billy much of a choice. The kid had seemed a bit unsteady on his feet, so Leon had half pulled him along for a little bit.

It was nothing against Billy, it was just that Leon couldn't afford to spend much longer there, but he couldn't account for the entire team yet.

"Keep going straight. Worf and Javert should be in the clearing up ahead. I'll catch up to you guys in a moment."

[morphitudinous]

Billy did mind being tugged along like a wayward child, of course, but that indignation was overridden by the urgency of the situation. They were extremely lucky he hadn't triggered anything worse than a hallucinogen, he was beginning to realize.

"Right." With that, Billy carefully made his way over to the others, head lowered in shame. He turned to watch Leon in the distance as he cleared his head with uneven breaths, mind working to hammer out an apology for his severe lapse in judgment.

[cityship]

Fortunately, it's only a passing effect. When surrounded by fresh air, eventually they'll find their vision clearing, the paranoia slowly coming under control, the quaking horror abating.

One thing they'll note here near there the trees, once their vision clears, is a sign they didn't notice when coming in--it hadn't been posted near the woods where they entered, likely because that particular sign had rotted away. This one was rusted and worn down, but newer, so it was still there.

Once their vision clears, they'll be able to read it.

WARNING: Zengi fruit grove. Zengi fruit requires trained pickers to remove, as fruit can be explosive and emit hallucinogenic gas when overripe, and therefore trespassing is not only illegal, but dangerous.

TRESPASSING IS ILLEGAL. REMOVAL OF FRUIT FROM THIS ORCHARD IS THEFT.

ALL TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.

They weren't even biological weapons. They nearly just got KOed by a commercial fruit orchard.

Good going, guys.

[morphitudinous]

As they walk, Billy drifts to the back of the group. He inspects the ground for traps to the best of his ability, keeps his arms close to his sides, and his head lowered. He knows very well what easily could have happened, and he's not about to forgive himself for causing that disaster any time soon.

"I...I apologize for recklessly activating the fruit's explosive reaction. We were extremely fortunate that the explosions did nothing but release fumes, and that they were nothing more dangerous than hallucinogens. With the slightest shift in the scenario, I could have easily ended our lives." His voice is grave. He'd made numerous mistakes as a Power Ranger, sure, but he had never been the direct cause of any of their near-losses before.

"I will not act irrationally and endanger all of you again. I don't expect your trust, but I will do everything in my power to keep us alive." Words are words, no matter how strong the conviction behind them, but it's the best he has to offer right now.

This time, the shamed Blue Ranger stands rigidly as he reads the sign. No leaning, no poking, no breathing funny, nothing that could potentially trigger any bizarre thingamajigs that might be hanging around it.

"Someone's made their living on this land before, but where have they gone?" Despite the overwhelming guilt he's grappling with, Billy still has a knack for pointing out the obvious.

[sonof-mogh.livejournal.com]

Worf stands to one side, arms crossed in his usual unhappy and/or grumpy fashion. He wasn't thrilled they had almost been taken out by fruit of all things (such an unworthy death). And he especially wasn't happy that recklessness on the part of one the team members had gotten them in such trouble. But...the boy seemed sincere in his apology, so Worf simply nodded at him.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Billy. Just be more cautious next time." That's the extent of his admonishment. He examines the sign, frowns, then looks off in the direction of their pod. This doesn't seem right.

"Perhaps Stacy or the people who created her had something to do with this? Either way, we do not have time to stand around speculating, we must continue" He suits actions to words and sets off in the direction of the pod again.