THE GOTTALA XES THER

[capemods]

WHO: ImPorts.
WHERE: Gottala Xes Ther of TíraFórsae.
WHEN: April 21st 2013 noon to April 25th 11:59 PM.
WARNINGS: Possible violence, gore. Possible invasion of privacy.
SUMMARY: Off-world adventure on EARTH KLADSUO834LKSFDLKJ8718=LAJD
FORMAT: Whatever.



[It translates roughly into the "storm lover", something you might pick up on if you're exposed to lower cant. And that's a fairly accurate description of this Gottala: the Xes Ther is smaller and swifter than your average city-ship, keeping never more than 374 individuals aboard. Its housing is clean but minimalistic, its gardens have no decorative value: only essential nutrients are grown. There is a heavier reliance on fishing upon this Gottala, and no sight of field-fed livestock that is common on others. No beef, no poultry, no pork.

Just fish.

And sprawls of laboratories.

Laboratories that connect like honeycombs: they octagon sprawl into each other, forming larger segments of the same structure. And in these labs? Storms are made. Or, more precisely: the effects of weather patterns are mimicked and induced. Xes Ther is a craftsman city-ship, and all of its members contribute to creating, controlling and selling weather-born energy.]

Comments

[out_of_time]

[Three days of meddling aboard a city-ship full of pirates has resulted in Jack making himself fairly unpopular, so when the alarm goes out for people to help defend another Gottala, he seizes the opportunity to make himself scarce before his luck runs out and someone shanks him aboard the Treifyu. Jamming a knife in his belt and steeling himself for what's to come, he dives into the oceans of another world and swims with powerful strokes toward the embattled Xes Ther. He hauls himself out of the water and loses no time plunging into the fray against-

-what the hell are these things? Repulsed, Jack draws the knife and slashes at the nearest mer-thing, backing toward the first familiar figure he spots.]

Archer? What the hell is happening?

[swordedpast]

[Enjoy having the decapitated head of one creepy mer-ape fly at you, Jack. Archer just managed to slice it clean off after narrowly dodging its teeth.]

If I had to guess, I would say that sea creatures are attacking this ship.

[His tone is dry.]

But shouldn't they know how to defend themselves from such things? How annoying.

[He catches sight of one coming at Jack.]

--to your left, Bauer.

[Hey, something other than his full name!]

[out_of_time]

[Jack ducks away from the flying head.]

Gee, thanks, I hadn't realized.

[One of these days Jack will learn to just stop asking him questions. For now, he thrusts at the beast on his left. It backs off for the moment, but two friends are right behind it, advancing. Jack's knife suddenly seems kind of small, and he looks around for a sturdier weapon. Enough have been dropped by fallen or fleeing crew that he has lots to choose from. He dashes to his left, snatches up a long brass-and-steel harpoon, and immediately thrusts its barbed tip into the heart of the nearest monster, grunting as the beast dies.]

That's more like it.

[swordedpast]

[Sometimes Archer can give an interesting answer. Unfortunately, it seems like "while fighting sea monsters for his life" is not one of those times.

He slices into another ape-eel, and it staggers back a bit, bleeding, which allows him to finish it off (somewhat gruesomely). So he glances briefly back at Jack.]

Oh? Lances, too. You can fight from any range, I see. That's pretty admirable.

[out_of_time]

[Jack gives Archer a look that says 'are you seriously evaluating me right now?' Then he stabs from the hip, harpooning another creature through the throat. That leaves one left, at least in this wave. It circles Jack warily as he pulls the point free from dying flesh.]

I haven't had any training with this thing, but it's easy to pick up. [He raises the harpoon to his shoulder, feints at the beast.] Do we have a count yet on casualties from this attack?

[swordedpast]

[Of course he is. A simple fight like this would be boring otherwise. Not that he's exactly much for entertainment.]

I don't think anyone's gotten their wits together enough to say so.

[He steps a bit to the side to cut off one avenue of escape for the sea beast, driving it back into Jack's range.]

[out_of_time]

[Jack's so glad he's keeping Archer's engagement up, except not really. The mer-ape turns to face Archer when he moves, and Jack seizes the opportunity to spear it in the back. It shrieks, piercing, then flops forward onto the deck and dies. For the moment, nothing else is trying to kill them, although yells and cries and clanging weapons can still be heard from elsewhere on the city-ship.]

We need to know, and we need to find out who's organizing the defense here. [Jack pulls the harpoon out of the dead body, then just stands there dripping for a moment, soaked both from the swim and the sweat of the fight.] Have you figured out how to talk to these people at all?

[swordedpast]

[Archer doesn't put away his blood-spattered swords just yet, either.]

It doesn't seem like anybody is. Jeez, do we have to do that too?

[He takes the opportunity to start looking around him.]

I've had some help figuring out the basics of their language. In this situation I should be able to communicate roughly.

[out_of_time]

[Of course. No one can be in charge of an organized defense or disaster response, that would just be too easy. Jack groans a little, then hefts his harpoon.]

Fine. We'll head toward the nearest combat and see what we can do. Follow me.

[The command comes out of sheer habit, not any pretension that Archer is Jack's subordinate, or that putting the Heroic Spirit behind the fragile human is in any way intelligent.]

[swordedpast]

[Fortunately for Jack (or unfortunately, if one takes into account how squishy he is in comparison to the guy he's now in front of), Archer is very used to being more of a follower than a leader. With a nod, he falls into step behind Jack.]

I'm sure they'll do their best to communicate with us if we're defending them.

[out_of_time]

Yeah...

[Jack speaks quietly as he moves forward, crouching behind some kind of enormous, multi-forked lightning rod. He surveys the brawl they're approaching, and doesn't like what he sees. A group of the ship's crew are trying to force the beasts back by spraying them with a high-pressure hose presumably intended for fighting fires. Just like in Pokemon, using water on a water creature is not very effective. Jack sees one or two of the mer-apes slip backward over the edge, but more of them crawl out of the water and surge forward, getting closer to the crew.

He sees no immediate tactical options, so he turns back to Archer.]

Any ideas?

[swordedpast]

[A small sigh escapes Archer.]

If my powers were working as they usually do, this would be easy.

[Summon half a dozen swords, hurl them at the mer-apes, and then cut down the survivors by hand while they were panicking. He's done things like that to groups of foes more times than he could possibly count. But his grasp of projection is as slippery as the eel-beasts right now; he's been lucky to get Kanshou and Bakuya back at this point.]

This place is some kind of power generator, isn't it? Why don't they find a way to turn their electrics on the invaders? Jeez, they're not thinking as fighters at all.

[out_of_time]

Good thinking.

[Jack kneels further down, looking at the base of the massive lightning rod. A wire-tangled box near the bottom catches his attention.]

I think this might be a capacitor. The lightning strikes the rod and the current gets stored here. If we can find a way to release its charge...

[Jack has reached the limits of his technical knowledge however, and can do nothing but grimace and shake his head. He has no idea how this thing works, and might electrocute himself if he tries to mess with it.]

Do you know anything about working with electricity?

[swordedpast]

[A small snort.]

I've worked with swords with electrical elements before, but that's not really what you're asking.

[But he crouches by the lightning rod and the box at its base.]

But that's only in combat. Outside of it, I've certainly tinkered with such wiring.

[He touches the box, carefully avoiding the wires themselves until he knows more. Trace--on. The picture that appears in his head is shadowy and far more vague than usual, but--]

Yeah, I can work with this.

[out_of_time]

All right, do it. I'll cover you.

[Jack stands up and moves in front of the rod and the box Archer is working on. In front of them, the mer-apes have closed with the crew and the hose is spraying aimlessly as its operators fight for their lives hand-to-hand, desperately swinging wrenches and axes at the jaws snapping around them. Some of the monsters have seen the ImPorts too, and have broken off from the fray and headed toward them. Jack clutches his harpoon and readies him.]

Heads up, we're going to have company! I'll hold them off as long as I can!