Survivalist Plot: The Envy of Eden

[meat_mooks]

Day One

Stacy calls Cedric Diggory, Diana Ladris, Guru Clef, Howard Bassem, Karis Needleteeth, The Master and Maxine Hunkel to the deck.

Planet Designation: Eden
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Sparse levels of flora, no natural fauna
Semi-Sentient Life: None
Sentient Life: Small human colonies created to mine Eden's limited precious elements. As of last Eden 'year', population 300. Settlers do not typically make permanent stays.
Water: 75.6% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Dry and moderate during the day. At nights temperatures drop to below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Infrequent rains, risks of flash floods.
Landscape: Desert and sedimentary rock mountains. Most water is retrieved by wells or from cargo ships. Sparse vegetation.
Air: Type I (breathable)
Sky: Grey
Warnings: Electrical storms may interfere with omnicomm function.
Mission: Investigate source of distress signal picked up on Stacy's sensors.

For the most part the trip down to the atmosphere goes uneventfully, even if it is a little cramped in the shuttle, but as soon as they get within a few thousand feet of the ground things start to go wrong. Communication with Stacy cuts off; Stacy herself is cut off mid-sentence while warning the crew to use iodine in any tap water they find. The omnicomms go similarly blank. The shuttle lurches through the sky and tilts sideways. One of the engines blows. The automatic seatbelts unlock. A section of the shuttle's roof rips off, letting in thin, hardly-breathable air.

More terrifying still, the superpowered members of this crew may have time to notice that they no longer have their abilities.

About thirty feet above the ground the shuttle tips into a barrel roll, the autopilot fritzing out as it tries to right things, and the crew goes tumbling out and scatters amongst the town moments before the shuttle crashes into a far cliffside.

[OOC: Tag into your designated subthreads! In a little, once we've established what's going on a bit more, while I'll put up a thread for them all to reconvene. I will be NPCing monsters in these threads, so please drop me a line if you want the monsters to do anything specific or if I'm being slow on a tag.]

Comments

[syncopath]

Well, the Master was expecting something a bit more sinister than a little girl. Maybe. But still he remains where he is, looking on her with more disgust than pity. As if she might infect him with her helplessness.

"Why not?" he asks, ignoring her request for water entirely and getting on to the more important questions.

"What's in there?"

[windwitch]

"Not with me," Maxine replies quietly, looking over the girl and biting her lip. "Do you have any?" she asks the man quickly, hoping that-- by some off chance-- he does, since he hadn't said. But it doesn't take long for her to be distracted.

Stepping forward quickly to the little girl, she reaches out with a hesitant hand. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you alone? And why shouldn't we go in there? We can handle things you know, so if you were attacked by something we could help and get you away from here I think."

[meat_mooks]

It's a lot of questions at once. The little girl looks confused. And then her eyes fill with tears. "The monsters got them. Please, I'm thirsty and it hurts to talk."

She reaches out and grabs Maxine's hand, with a glare to the Master to show that she realizes he's not going to help her any. "I just want water so bad."

[syncopath]

The Master rolls his eyes. Monsters. Every child thinks it's seen a monster at one point or another. The Doctor would be having a field day with this, but he's already bored.

Maxine has already made more promises than he's willing to keep, so he wanders off toward the church entrance, wanting to see for himself.

"I'll leave you to the babysitting, then," he remarks dryly over his shoulder.

[meat_mooks]

The stench should hit the Master before the sight does. The inside of the church is littered with corpses, as if people were assembling for mass and suddenly put into a thresher. There are even body parts hanging from the sconces on the wall.

[windwitch]

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry," Maxine says, squeezing the little hand that took hers before she kneels down and hugs the girl. "It's okay, you're safe now. We'll get you to the rest of the group and we'll find you some water."

She looks up at the Master, without letting go of the girl. Quietly, she asks, "Is there anyone else okay in there? We have to help them."

[meat_mooks]

For her part, the girl clings to Maxine, glad to have finally found someone to hold onto. She rests all her weight on Maxine's shoulder, trying to keep it off her injured leg.

Apologies; apparently I cannot track this specific thread >:/

[syncopath]

He's stopped at the top of the steps, staring into the church as if in a trance. Now, the Master may be a murderer-- he may have even perpetuated a genocide or two in his day. And he may have no love lost on humans and their like. But he has even less of an attraction to seeing what's inside them, hundredfold. Or what happens when they're left to rot. It may be funny, perhaps even glorious, to see them put in their place-- but that smell.

And then there's the desire to put as much distance between himself and whatever did that. As quickly as possible.

He puts a hand over his nose and turns away in disgust, trotting back down the stairs. Still, his voice is far more casual than what might call for the situation.

"They're long beyond help, I'm afraid." They need to move, now, but first the Master rounds on the girl, staring at her with hard, cold eyes.

"What did this? Why were you spared?"

[meat_mooks]

"I told you. Monsters."

The girl groans a bit and huddles closer to Maxine. She smells a bit like the inside of the church herself, although the more pressing stench is the stink of infection wafting from her wound. A close examination shows she's hurting in other ways - her lips are chapped and the skin around her face is tight, reddish and shiny. Her eyes are gummed up in the corners. Her breathing is phlegmatic. She looks up at the Master with wide, honest eyes, as if completely unaware of how little he cares for her life.

"I hid under a pew."

[windwitch]

Maxine's eyes flick up to the Master briefly, from the little girl, concerned. Because he may be being callous and cold, but it's a valid question. She's smart enough to know that that's something to be careful about.

But she also doubts that a child so small and hurt and scared could be a cause for concern. So she wants to believe the story about hiding and being lucky-- and she does. She knows it happens.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Maxine says instead. "We'll find you some place safe."