(open) crash into me

[whatsupcroc]

Date & Time: Mid-afternoon Sunday, May 5th
Location: The Hold and Housing Complex
Characters: All who wish to be in the vicinity!
Summary: The Initiative asked for the Housing Complex to be evacuated starting early morning on 5/5, in preparation for the expected landing of the spaceship stolen from the United Earth. The landing goes horribly wrong when an undiscovered bomb detonates onboard the ship, causing partial engine failure. The ship proceeds to be crash landed into the Housing Complex; no lives, however, are lost.

Warnings: Spaceship crash landings it's all horrible!
Notes: Respond in action tags or prose, as you please!

The ship breaks cloud-cover as a spot of light in the dreary skies, leaving behind the beauty of sunlight above the broken cloud layer as it continues to descend. With the Initiative having instigated an evacuation of the area ahead of time, just in case, those watching in the light drizzle may find it an interesting sight to behold.

Doubtlessly, the United Earth, from its great distance, may have also found it interesting.

The first sign of something going wrong is an explosion visible from the ground. People who hear it might startle; the ship itself goes from a smooth, controlled flight path to one wobbly and filled with dark, flaming smoke. The whine of its remaining engine is slower to reach the ground, though the ship itself seems to pick up a spiraling speed, still controlled to those familiar with watching things that fly come crashing down to the ground.

The Initiative members on the ground are calling for people to get back and take cover. Inside the main Hold, one man at the transport pads hears his radio blast to life and swallows past his own fear, glancing at the active pad waiting to pull in another unlucky soul.

When the ship hits the Housing Complex, it demolishes the upper levels, though the force with which it hits doesn't seem to be the same as what it should be. Combined telekinetic buffering and excellent piloting from a former Guardian of the Universe Galaxy keeps damage to a catastrophic minimum.

Welcome to the fallout. What will you do from here?

Comments

[whatsupcroc]

( She continues to lean against his leg, exhaling slowly. Two down, eight to go, but chances were the majority were okay. Onyx had to be by technicality, and that meant a decent probability for the rest. )

< Everyone teleported down fine, I bet! Besides, we're not so hard to track down, even with all the smoke and fire and really gross smells that burn my nose. >

( She snorts, opening her mouth along with a little mental snigger. )

< We're a pretty pungent lot right now! >

[commentboxtroll]

For a boat full of gold, we better have all teleported down fine.

[ He'll be lodging a complaint with a certain mage otherwise, though it might get him incinerated. It's more Collette's comment than that thought that gets an amused sound out of him. ]

Even worse than before, huh?

[whatsupcroc]

< Exactly how big is this boatload supposed to be, again? >

( She sounds amused, though she really isn't: Onyx is predictable in a sense for the way her greed moves her, but at the same time, unreliable in being only moved by that greed. She won't forget her playing around over Caesar's life anytime soon.

It's just not what you do to a teammate.

In response to his question, she breathes in the quick, rapid way of a dog sniffing out a scent, then wrinkles her nose, sticking out her tongue. )

< Oh man, way worse! This is the stinkiest yet. Did you know, I think you could even style your hair as something other than bed-head right now? Greaser Caesar! Making all the girls swoon. >

( It's easier to joke and make light of what she can, tease where it's applicable. For her, at least, it means normalizing. Forgetting the stuff that shakes her up, and focusing on the better possibilities. )

[commentboxtroll]

Did you know she never demanded I specify that? For someone so obsessed with getting paid, she really has no mind for making deals.

[ And a boat, rather than a ship, can be very, very small. He just wishes he had the energy to be smug about that. ]

Greaser... [ He gives in and reaches to pat his hair, making a face of his own. Bleh. ] I need a shower. Except we crashed into our place. So we don't even get a shower... I guess you're stuck with this smell for a few more days.

[whatsupcroc]

( Her laughter echoes as a feeling more than sound; Thought Speak was, by technicality, silence. )

< The horror, the horror! Now's the time to investigate if they've got any decent public showers... or, you know, let me drag you to the pool for once. Two words: locker showers. >

( And if she doesn't sound just a bit smug, then she's not projecting it enough. She knew her habits had a purpose, other than all the purposes they already had! )

[commentboxtroll]

The pool has showers?

[ He can understand the laughter over Onyx's folly, but the smugness? Over showers? ]

[whatsupcroc]

< No one, even in the far future, wants their hair to turn green from chlorine! Pools have locker rooms. Locker rooms have showers! They've even got soaps and towels if you ask! >

( Something else useful. There's only one big thing she regrets right now. )

< I was looking forward to a night in a bed again. >

( This time she just sighs with a bit of a whine. Still, even that's for show. She's reassured about the rest of their friends, figuring their luck can't be as bad as hers after being teleported safely. She kept her worries on Gamora and Nathan tucked in close, right next to the faith they'd be okay.

Instead, she turns her thoughts outward. )

< You did good, you know! From the start, right up to now. >

[commentboxtroll]

If there's something in the pool that does that, why even swim in it at all?

[ Usually one would go to a lake for swimming! But he could see how that's not plausible here. Still, the showers, even without the pool part, are tempting. ]

I think I'll do that. [ Too bad he won't get the chance to, but, well, maybe next time. ] Now a real bed... That's what I miss for sure. Pillows, mattress, blankets, hmm.

[ Then he looks down at her again, eyebrow quirked. ]

Of course I know. What would I do besides good?

[whatsupcroc]

< Average! >

( She teased, not missing a beat. She wags her tail for added effect.

Her groan isn't mental this time. It's all doggy half-whine, half-sigh. )

< Sheets... No, no, stop! At this rate I'll even be missing the hospital beds! >

( That'd be a horror indeed! )

< Chlorine keeps the water clean. Besides, not all of us can afford to trek ten miles to get to the next nearest body of usable water to get our exercise! >

[commentboxtroll]

Average? [ He scoffs. ] I'm anything but that, though... Hmm. Hospital beds. Do you think the clinic will have a few spare ones? Maybe if we pretend to be hurt?

[ It's be a place to sleep! A bed! But no, he doubts he'd be able to pull that lie off with so many magic-based healers floating about. ]

And also makes your hair green, apparently, but I guess that means free showers, so there's that.

[whatsupcroc]

( She laughs, shaking enough to be felt at his side. )

< Like anyone will believe I'm hurt! Besides, with this... it's amazing more people didn't get hurt. >

( A moment of solemnity. )

< Guess the Initiative isn't so incompetent as people all like to think, all the time, after all. >

[commentboxtroll]

They're a people used to crisis. It makes sense they would know what to do in cases like this.

[ Even one as out of this world as a spaceship hitting a building. ]

[whatsupcroc]

< I wonder how many people are getting that, and not just focusing on what the Initiative can't do. >

( Which is so, so much more, in many ways. Still... )

< I was planning on trying to sniff out the rest, and wait for Gamora and Nate to make their dramatic post-crash entrance. >

( She hesitates before asking explicitly if he'd like her to try and track him down to crosscheck the list, or if she can get distracted by whatever else comes up, and handle that, too.

She's not terribly ready to leave yet, but it seems like the sort of thing he doesn't need to know. It's a comfortable respite. No flower pots to the head, and reassurance that things had turned out all right. )

[commentboxtroll]

We can say 'just you and me' and likely be spot on.

[ He does not have so much hope in the other Transports. Sorry, Collette. ]

I've been looking around for them myself, but maybe you'll do better. [ She'll get her ears ruffled one last time before he takes his hand away from her head. ] If you want to do that, I can stick around here and keep an eye out for our wayward pilots.

[whatsupcroc]

( She doesn't agree with his assessment; she has more faith in their fellow Transports than he does, even if there's more than enough times where she wonders how information gets into people's brains!

She shakes her head and sneezes after the ear ruffling, throwing him a comedically wounded look as she danced away and pawed at the ground. )

< Watch the ears! They're ticklish! >

( She gives another slow wag of her tail, nodding with an exaggerated dip of her forelegs down. )

< Aye, aye, Captain Silverberg! >

( With that, she wound off through the gathered bodies. Time to get her headcount k-9 badge! )