Into a Rising Wind

[handsofwinter]

Winter holds the Nexus in its jaws, and its teeth sink ever deeper.

A month into the storm, the snow has yet to stop falling. The number of mouths to be fed has stopped dwindling, almost. Occasionally people go missing, and those who notice hope they’ve found a way back through their portals. It’s not enough to change the maths on their food supplies - all their supplies. Nobody is getting a full meal at a time, not any more. Isidor and Lyall have begun to enforce the rationing with iron hands. Both ignore the look that crosses Captain Kirk’s face when they upbraid a volunteer cook for being too generous – the look that lingers on Runa’s face if she’s close enough to hear. They’re doing what they must. They need a tight hold on their supplies if they want to get people through this. They need supplies even to send expeditions after more.

And expeditions are a difficult prospect now. Those who ventured into the storm and returned have brought stories that spread faster than Isidor hoped. The Crossroads Cafe has become a semi-official hub for those travelling outside or keeping watch on the bounds, a safe resting place kept warm by the combined power of Pokemon and Persona. In the long dark nights, people sit around the tables and share what they've seen, what they've heard from this scout or that refugee. Whispered tales of the creatures out there hunting in packs, hounding people from rooftops, even tearing open walls to reach them…

No-one goes out alone, now. Those brave enough to take the risk go in groups and arm themselves with the best weapons they can find. Sometimes they’re a risk to themselves. Not everyone knows how to handle that black market plasma pistol they picked up two days past. Not all of their team-mates keep their nerve when a figure looms out of the snows beside them. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s run afoul of monsters, and who of their own folly. Safer, but little less brave, are the people recruited to keep watch on that shifting line of torches. Just a precaution. The creatures don’t come past it, everyone says. But quietly, everyone doubts.

There've been bright moments, too. A strange alchemist comforting a lost child. An expedition team fighting their way home, back to back. Families brought safely through the snow by soldiers and wizards, by heroes young and old and sometimes surprising. A volunteer cook stepping up to prepare, if not quite a hundred thousand meals, then something that feels close. A young man saving the life of a stranger who'd threatened him. The past weeks have seen people who may never have known one another before come together to offer a blanket, or guiding words, or a helping hand in a search. Small moments, glowing reminders of how much good the people of the Nexus have on their side. But the Winter goes on, and the winds never get less bitter, and the smiles get more strained with every day.

Slowly the line of torches close on the Plaza, a noose no-one can afford to flee. Sheltered space is at a premium. Most of those who remain are settled as close to the centre as they can be. Whether in the big public bunker or the Cafe, people find themselves crammed all together, and tempers regularly fray among residents not too cold and exhausted for fighting. The more responsible Nexus-goers find themselves trying to duck out of (or break up) fights, or spending hours stuffing drafty accommodation with any insulation they can find. There’s snow to be shoveled from doors, pipes to be defrosted, bandages to be changed. Anything’s better than dealing with the problem of working bathrooms.

At one end of the Plaza headquarters, a makeshift screen has been dragged into place to give a semblance of privacy to Isidor’s desk. It’s painfully early in the morning, though the nights are so long and the days so dim beneath the storm clouds there’s little sense of time any more. There’s no-one around yet to wonder about the meeting going on. The only people present are Isidor, Lyall and a handful of senior volunteers – those who remain. Blaze-37 crouches by a makeshift fireplace, stacking the salvaged wood just right before she punches it lightly, setting it alight with the flames that ripple over her fist. The other robot, Ghost, is hovering over the desk playing flashlight for them, shining a pale beam over the maps and reports laid out there. Light, too, is a precious resource, as batteries die and outlets are lost to encroaching Winter. It’s the only reason those here have gotten sleep. They work until they have no light to work by.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Suou?” the Guardian asks when Isidor says they can begin.

“Officer Suou won’t be coming.”

That’s part of why they’re here, Isidor explains. The torches’ march has taken them past the Grand Library. The Crossroads Café is now on the very edge of the safe zone, along with all the people sheltering there. Katsuya’s magic is the only thing that will protect it. He can’t leave. It’s a turning point that only drives home the larger problem: they’re running out of time. They’re running out of everything. Most refugees are in some kind of shelter by now; what they lack is food to keep them alive and fuel to keep them warm. Isidor’s volunteers have counted heads and counted tins and counted everything backwards and forwards and the numbers never get better. Either they do something now, while they have the strength, or the meals will run dry in two weeks. Less, if anything goes wrong.

She lets that sink in. Nobody looks surprised: she’s confirming their worst suspicions and that gets a few flinches, but they understand. They talk, instead. By the time there’s a hint of daylight outside and someone knocks on the door for the first shot at rations, they have a plan. They need an expedition, bigger than any before. They need enough arms to discourage attack, the skills to get them to any buried supplies and the numbers to haul them back in quantity. Each of them walks away from the table with a mission in mind and an air of grim determination.

They have a job to do, and they’re going to need help.

((As before, so below: the main missions/subquests for the expedition prep are listed below. Tag any of them, threadhop, or post with your own character. I suggest putting your character’s name in the subject to help keep things clear. The OOC Post can be found here! If you have any questions, feel free to message me or one of the mods!))

Threads of Note

Scouting the Expedition | A Fistful of Torches | Scrapyard Sweep | The Home Front | Medical Attention | Isidor's Expedition Call | Main Expedition: The Raid

Comments

❅ A Fistful of Torches

[handsofwinter]

Blaze heads straight for the Crossroads Cafe. All the people she knows who still move out and about gather there. She's carrying a sled by the rope harness knotted to it, which she dumps outside the door before heading in. Her boots and greaves are spattered with mud, the golden cloth emblem at her hip dirtied with- well, it's mostly mud. In contrast, the barrel of the rifle that sits at her back is gleaming.

Beneath her adorable knitted panda hat, the Titan sweeps a glowing gaze over those huddled around the tables. Then she brings her armored hands together in a clap. There's a flash of white Light, a crack that rolls like thunder off the walls.

"Listen up, people!" In the silence after, her voice rings out briskly, through the room and up the stairs. "Eyes on me! We're putting an expedition together to head out past the bounds. An expedition that's got to collect enough supplies to see us through this winter. Right now I need some smart, tough people to help me round up equipment that'll keep us alive out there. It means going past the torches, but we'll move fast and you'll have a Guardian with you the whole way. So, who's up for a challenge?"

[red_room]

Blaze's thunderous clap has the desired effect. People everywhere in the cafe are looking at her. Not everyone seems to be pleased about this, however. Some of them are just generally somber; ever since that early morning meeting Captain Kirk has worn the same hardened expression no matter what news comes up, good or bad. But others...well.

"You realize there are people trying to sleep in here, right...?"

Natasha's the first one to sidle on up to Blaze's side, an intensity to her gaze that implies that it includes people they've had to near-bully into taking their allotted time off duty. The Exo has really gone and done it now.

"What kind of equipment, though?" Since she's already beaten in the door damn near to make a fuss about it already. Might as well ask.

[rekindledtitan]

"The sooner I get a team out there, the sooner they can all rest easy." Blaze isn't exactly contrite, but she does lower her voice to a normal level when Natasha joins her. The Guardian turns to look her friend over, Ghost peeping over her shoulder to make sure the agent is doing okay.

"Beacons, mainly. Comms and sensor relays. There's a full relay station I want to haul in if we can, and..." Now she really does lower her voice. "A couple of weapons caches we can try to locate. Depends on the number of hands we have."

[red_room]

Natasha's as well off as any of them can be. Her gear's still in one piece and no one's trying to kill each other today or run off with their dwindling supplies so all in all it's been a quiet shift. The shadows underneath her eyes are telling though.

"Information and arms." Snort. It really doesn't get more up her alley than this, does it? "I'll only need a minute to get my outside gear together."

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze nods approval, and clasps the agent's shoulder a moment. Hopefully some open air and an uncomplicated task will be a change of pace for her.

"It'll be good to have you at our back. Go ahead. We'll gather a few more before the briefing."

[walking_on_fire]

Blaze, your entrance is appreciated, but not like this. Especially not while Natalie has been trying to sneak in some extra sleep in between shifts. With Katsuya now focusing on protecting the outskirts of camp, it's up to her to pick up the slack with keeping people warm. Thankfully Pokemon need less food and water while in their Pokeballs, but that doesn't say much for the trainers commanding them. She's been using sleep as a deterrent to hunger, less time awake means less time eating, after all. But now that the Exo has woken her up, it's time to see what's going on.

"Hey...can you please be considerate to those of us who are in need of rest. I understand the importance of getting volunteers, but some of us are coming off a shift." It's meant to be politely worded, but there's a defensive edge in her voice. She's already sick of the weather, let alone the attack she faced days ago. Thank god the family she stopped to help are doing better, but it's only a matter a time...

"How far out are you thinking about going? Visibility is poor and a quick journey could take a while."

[rekindledtitan]

"Mmm. I apologize." It's reluctant, but she makes the concession when she sees just how groggy the woman is. "But we need to get this job underway ASAP, for everyone's sake."

She almost looks away, but then Natalie asks her question and the robot soldier gives her a better look. More assessing. "Anything much more than half a mile out is scrap already. Still leaves a lot of ground to cover, but we know the locations we need to look in. Weight's not so much an issue: I can haul all the gear we can fit on the sled."

[walking_on_fire]

The apology is accepted without argument, as there's no point in getting riled up over something so small. It's easy enough for people to become upset nowadays and Natalie knows that she can't fuel that fire. Listening to Blaze carefully, it's reassuring knowing that there's a clear destination in mind, instead of wandering lost outside of the Plaza.

What bothers the Pokemon trainer is how many younger people resting in the cafe and starting to talk quietly among themselves, pondering over Blaze's call to arms. The youth do not need to be going out there. "If you can cover the weight, I could provide you support with my Pokemon. I'd rather volunteer, instead of having unfit people risk their lives for this mission."

That and she needs to get out of the campsite, especially after her near death experience.

[rekindledtitan]

At that point the tiny robot peering over her shoulder pipes up, "Oh, we wouldn't bring anyone who wasn't fit to go out there. Don't worry."

Blaze nods, but her attention is already on the more important part. This one is willing to come, and she looks able. She folds her arms as she thinks, brow plates drawing into a frown around her eyes. "Pokemon, huh? Those could be useful. They able to stand the storm for a while?"

[walking_on_fire]

The appearance of Ghost is surprising, since most technology is hit or miss during this cold weather. How is Ghost able to keep working? Those are questions she isn't going to bother asking, as the information seems irrelevant to the topic at hand.

"Yeah, I'm a master of Fire-types, so they can handle the cold better than most others." As for herself, well, she'll be commanding them at best. No superpowers or abilities for this woman. "I'll gladly volunteer if it helps keep everyone safe."

[eumenis]

Furiosa hates sleeping in this place. Too many variables, people she doesn't know and doesn't trust, and if she had the Sisters or her crew around, she could snuggle up back to back with one and rest that way, but not so much here.

There are one or two people she'll bunk with for security if the opportunity arises, but it's not the same. She sleeps light. So, she's really not that upset when the interruption comes, twitching awake with a sputtered swear that is directed at no one in particular. And she comes over slowly to see what the stranger is on about, metal arm hanging loose over her shoulder.

"Equipment." She repeats thoughtfully. "You're going out on foot? You're going to need to go armed."

[rekindledtitan]

Ah, they've seen this woman around before. Blaze takes in her hardy appearance and cool-headed demeanor, optics flitting for a moment to the prosthetic over her shoulder. She has the feel of a soldier to the Exo. At the very least she won't rattle easily. That's reassuring.

"Sure as hell will." She reaches back to pat the rifle at her back. "I can lay hands on spares if you're short a reliable weapon. Has to be on foot, though. The scouts have all our working vehicles. The little engineer- Tamminy, I think - she's still trying to collect the parts for something snow-adapted." Makes her wish she hadn't accidentally smelted her own bike before all this started. Ah, well. If wishes were rockets, as Shaxx says.

[eumenis]

"They're armed," she explains. "I was out there earlier and we saw rifle fire. Maybe energy weapons rather than projectiles. Hard to tell for sure. You take a small group out, you're looking at any encounter you have being with greater numbers and fairly advanced weapons."

She doesn't look rattled. Even if they barely escaped with their lives before, they did escape. And knowing more means better opportunities to plan. Still...

"I think you'd better be prepared with some kind of shielding, too, if you can."

"I have guns, but there's only a couple shots left in the Glock and I've only got two clips for the Taurus right now, so overall I've got less than thirty rounds before I'd be stuck with hand-to-hand fighting or death. I'm in either way, if you want me, but if you've got an extra rifle, I'm a better shot with that. Not quite sniper-distance, but pretty damn close."

[rekindledtitan]

"You were on that expedition." It's the little bot at her side who speaks up, his voice hushed as he watches Furiosa. "You went to Dia'ndria's ship."

"Sounds like my kind of battle," Blaze says, before she catches her partner's optic and amends, "but not so good for anyone else. Sounds like your team did well making it out of there. With a civilian in one piece, if I heard right before. You got a good look at the enemy? Any read on their tactics? Short range weaponry?"

She goes to rub at an antenna, ends up adjusting her woolly hat back into place instead. "We'll come back to weapons, then. Energy shields are hard to come by. I could try calling one up if we're desperate but I'm not so good at defending. Think there'd be any use in putting together some simple bucklers for people?"

[eumenis]

Furiosa blinks at Ghost, briefly quizzical, but then dismisses the fact that she's never seen anything quite like him before as irrelevant to the current discussion. She'll ask questions in the Spring if she lives that long.

"That's right," she says, and then smirks faintly at Blaze's enthusiasm. "If you like terrible surprised, bad odds, and being shot at with minimal cover to shoot back from, it was great."

She didn't enjoy it. She's good at fighting, but she really only enjoys a battle if she's on a vehicle. "I'm not sure I'd call it a good look, given how they clung to shadows, and how poor the visibility was, but I can tell you they had knives and rifles, possibly smaller sidearms. They were different sizes; some were about human-sized, a couple were significantly bigger."

She falls quiet for a moment, then says, "The tactics didn't make a lot of sense to me. If they have any hierarchy, it looked pretty rudimentary. Closer to an animal pack than a military unit, I would say. And that's been bothering me."

She folds her arms, foreshortened limb tucking under the full right arm. "With better tactics, they could have had us, if they'd wanted. They were already on the ship by the time we noticed them, so they must have a good sense of stealth in the snow. They could have surrounded it and picked us off one by one, and the fact that they didn't means either they weren't as interested in killing us as they seemed to be, or they're not as bright as they want us to think."

"That's just my take. Harley has a good head on her shoulders and she was closer, so you might want to ask what she thinks. But whoever or whatever they are, I don't understand their behavior."

"Bucklers might be worth the time to build them. I'm not sure what they were firing at us, but I'm sure I'd love to not get hit with it."

[lovesuwithknives]

Azwel would like to say that he looked up casually from his coffee at that. It'd be so much more dignified than the reaction he actually had, which was to hork and spurfle hot liquid everywhere and fumble the cup, sending more coffee flying in a graceful arc. He coughs and splutters but manages to catch most of Blaze's announcement.

Right. Well. Despite losing his coffee over the idea, he figures this team will need his help. So he picks up a towel and rubs the worst of it from his face. Then he refills his cup. Adds the sugar and cream. Strolls over to where Blaze is standing.

"Hullo. I've been accused of being smart and tough a few times. I carry my own weapon so I won't need to use any supplies in that regard. I also have field medicine training. So I'd like to join you."

Coffee sip.

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze caught that liquid arc, though sadly she didn't get the chance to admire it, so busy was she in drumming up recruits. She's talked to a couple of people while Azwel replaces his coffee. When he approaches, the robot soldier turns to greet him with a fierce nod, the glow of her optics brightening a little.

"Glad to hear it. We can always use a trained medic on the team. What's your skillset? Close combat? Ranged?" She's looking over him as if counting weapons, the little floating bot at her side watching him curiously.

[lovesuwithknives]

Azwel smiles. "Both, more or less." He flicks his fingers and, with a surge of several different kinds of energy a dagger made of red light appears, then drops into his hand with a satisfying solidity. He tosses it into the air and it vanishes again. "There's a lot more where that came from."

[rekindledtitan]

"Hah! Nice trick!" She means it, too. Infinite daggers? Blaze knows plenty of Hunters back home who'd be jealous. "Got any others I should know about, stranger?"

[lovesuwithknives]

"Thank you," he grins. Hey, he'll take compliments wherever he can get them. He looks at his hand again and realises he just did that without actually wearing his guantlets.

Well, then.

"I've a few more, but nothing I can demonstrate inside here." The last thing he needs to do is start flinging swords about and spooking the shit out of everyone. "My name's Azwel. And you are?" He's... not actually met Blaze before.

Main Thread: Also There Will Be Loot

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze has dragged a table into the lee of the wind beside the café. Nearby sits the heavy-duty sled with its rope harness in place. Spread out on the table, weighed down by a brick and a few ammo packs, is a weatherproofed map of the central Nexus: one of the first things Kirk insisted on distributing, and a piece of kit whose worth Blaze initially underestimated. It’s been annotated since then by the scouts and foraging parties who’ve used it. Ghost is busy adding to those notes, floating over the map with a red permanent marker taped to his shell.

His Guardian nods to each of their arriving team-mates. It’s warmer in her vicinity, and not just because they’re out of the wind. “You’re all here. Good. Maybe some of you know each other already.” She straightens, gesturing at each person she names. “Natalie and her Pokemon will be our scouts and, hah, fire support. Furiosa and Agent Romanov are on weapons; Azwel here is our field medic if it comes to it, but here’s hoping you only have to use your blades, right?”

Blaze sobers, then, and folds her arms. “All right. I’ll lay this out for you. This expedition we’re putting together is gonna be a big one. It has to be. Furiosa, you’ve seen the kind of opposition we’ll be up against. We need the strength to fend them off and haul back enough supplies to last through this damned winter. I won’t lie to you all: the way things stand, our situation could get extremely ugly a couple weeks from now- if we don’t do something about it. This expedition will make that difference. That means we have to do this job right. The people here are counting on us. And out there, each of us is counting on the others. Stay close, keep your eyes and ears sharp, and if you’re told to get down, do it. If anyone needs to take some fire, it's going to be me. Understood?”

Some of this, for some of them, is old news. She knows. But now she’s at this point the Exo… finds herself uneasy about the responsibility she charged into. Saying it out loud is reassurance for herself, too.

“Here’s our objective. Ghost?” She taps the map. Ghost backs away, his single blue optic flicking into a bright flashlight mode that he turns down onto it. “Thanks. Each of these red dots marks a beacon. They’re designed to relay secure communications and sensor data picked up from the surrounding environment. We laid them out in a standard pattern around the Nexus a while back, so we know their approximate positions. Most of them have gone dark in the last few weeks, but there’s enough left that we could use them to guide the expedition and maintain contact along our trail. Now, we’ve only marked the ones close enough to be worth trying to retrieve; that still gives us plenty of ground to cover. These two marks in purple? They’re weapon caches. We get a chance, we’ll go for those too. Any questions so far?”

[lovesuwithknives]

One wouldn't have pegged him for such, with his elabourate clothing and love of creature comforts, but Azwel is a seasoned traveller. He arrives in full kit and then some, though he's replaced the floating ribbony thing with a couple more robes and a thick woolen cloak, not to mention several packs of supplies.

He seems a lot more energetic than he's done the last few days, but those who are really astute will notice it's a kind of crackling, artifical energy. Stimulant energy. Still, he's quite, quite lucid.

His gauntlets gleam on his hands, looking a bit disturbingly familiar to some until they realise there's two of them and they only have one crystal each, the right one red and the left one blue.

He listens carefully during the briefing, then looks to the others to see if they have any questions. He's pretty confident he knows what he needs to do.

[red_room]

It's difficult to pinpoint (heh) the exact moment with Natasha joined this group outside. She had after all been the first to approach Blaze and the first to leave to go and gather up the gear she'd need for this kind of mission. She's standing off to one side, leaning against the wall of the building with her arms folded over her chest.

The spy's blonde hair and most of her face are covered by a hood and scarf she has wrapped round as much of her face as she can manage to counteract the cold. The rest of her gear is all military issue tactical gear. Thick weave sweater and heavy duty black pants that tuck into her combat boots with a windproof jacket on overtop. While the Exo explains their situation she says nothing and watches carefully.

"You realize some of us are pretty used to getting shot at ourselves." Is her only comment when the Guardian stops to speak. Less a personal worry of hers and more a warning that it might not be heeded. "Whatever needs doing I'll be there."

[eumenis]

Furiosa arrives in the same outfit she's been wearing, scarves wound around her head and neck and padding her metal arm. An extra bottle of antifreeze coaxed from somewhere in the supply room has joined her canteen on her belt, tucked under her coat. Sooner or later, she fears, her arm is going to break down, but the longer she can put it off, and the quicker she can repair it if it fails, the better.

She looks around the little group as they gather, and the only one she hasn't met is Azwel. She's immediately wary of a field medic putting off the kind of intense energy he is, but after watching him for a moment, observing how he's attentive to Blaze and willing to follow her orders, she decides he's all right. Kind of interesting that their group here is mostly female. She approves.

It's still weird for her to follow orders, after having been Imperator for years and then sort of a de-facto warrior queen, but after listening, she thinks she likes this mission better than the last. It's bigger, better equipped and the objectives are a little more clearly-defined. Furiosa makes a better supply-runner than an explorer, maybe.

"If you're taking a lot of fire, what's our contingency plan if you get knocked down and out? You may be tougher than the rest of us put together, but no one's invincible."

"I can follow orders, and I will, but don't be afraid to delegate." She glances around at the others. "Do, uh, we want to do a quick round of talking about our experience under fire?" Judging from their assignments, Blaze knows who and what she's dealing with on her team, but the rest of them might not.

[walking_on_fire]

Right behind Furiosa is the least-intimidating member of this scout party, Natalie, bundled up in a thick coat and scarf. Trundling behind her is an assortment of Pokemon, sans one Roserade who will do terribly in this cold weather. Most of her team is anti-snow, focusing of fire, water and rock types moves should be of some help to the team. That is, of course, if their trainer can keep up.

The debriefing seems familiar enough: most Pokemon trainers come up with plans when trying to scout out new areas. Instead of looking for new creatures to befriend, this is about trying to find survival caches for the sake of human lives. The pressure is truly on. Scouting is doable with her Pokemon, and for a second, there's a reassuring look on Natalie's face. They can do this. Blaze mentioning 'them' is the nerve-wrecking portion of the briefing, causing her to raise one gloved hand quickly.

"What exactly are they? Do they move fast or slow? How do they attack?"

If she's going to put her Pokemon on the front lines, it's best to know what battle strategy to take beforehand, instead of floundering on the battlefield. Beyond that, she seems good about taking the scouting position, already coming up with which Pokemon to leave out for the task at hand.