PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

[synfluxmods]

PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

CONTENT WARNINGS: natural disaster, PTSD, mind-control, psychological trauma, violence, delirium from heat, temporary blindness, hallucinations, dead bodies.

▶ 001. STORM CHASERS.

After weeks of searching for clues on the kaiju and missing people, the desert landscape begins to blend together. Didn’t you pass that cactus earlier today? That rock formation looks exactly like the one you passed the other day. It’s natural to loop back around when conducting a search but doesn’t it feel like everyone has been going in circles more frequently?

The heat isn’t helping either. Temperatures start to rise and continue to rise to all time highs. The sun is unrelenting and the only reliable shelter they have are their campers. Prolonged exposure outside will result in heat exhaustion, dehydration, and delirium.

Warnings will be sent to the Outsiders via their implants to keep them up to date with the weather as well as providing health tips such as reminders to stay hydrated or seek shelter during the hottest parts of the day. They will also receive warnings for sand storms and tornadoes called dust devils. The storms start of short and relatively weak but gradually begin to last longer and become more powerful. Pretty soon, Outsiders will not be able to see ahead from the dense sand and wind.

Outsiders will be told to chase after the storms and if they progress far enough, they will begin to find traces of people. They will find random belongings, articles of clothing, and occasionally, human remains in varying states of decomposition. Eventually, however, they will start to find survivors suffering from extreme fatigue and dehydration. They speak incoherently to themselves and as soon as they regain their strength, they try to run into storms while calling out to things that people can’t see.

Outsiders can wait for emergency caravans to arrive from Vegas to take survivors back to the city or they can take back the survivors themselves and use the opportunity to restock on supplies.

▶ 002. THE STORM CALLS.

The sandstorms increase and grow stronger until eventually, they last entire days. The sands shift, the grounds shake, and something thunderous can be heard in the dust. It becomes harder to see out in the desert and it’s almost like the storms are trying to hide something. At the edge of a storm, sharp eyed Outsiders may catch sight of a great shadowy serpent in the heart of the storm. Messages to their implants will urge them to get closer and investigate but be careful.

The storm grows stronger as they approach and the camper vans may slow down or get stuck in the shifting sands forcing some of them to proceed on foot to make visuals. Eventually, they will get close enough to finally establish clear visuals on their target: A giant sand worm. It’s size is not immediately clear due to the poor visibility and it being partially underground. However, the worm also sees them and when it does, it glows. The light catches on and reflects against the sand particles and that’s when it hits some of the Outsiders: A sudden splitting headache followed by an inability to look away.

Some outsiders may suddenly find themselves entranced by the worm; hypnotized. They will begin to see mirages and hear voices calling out to them in the storm. Captivated Outsiders will find themselves wanting to run into the storm to chase after the phantoms, some of them images and figures of people from their past and present back home. If anyone attempts to stop them, they will become irrational, violent, and turn on their friends and allies. Some Outsiders may begin to view their allies as enemies and attack, turning on one another in a gruesome frenzy. Some of the hypnotic beams will effect those still in their campers, turning on their friends and other Outsiders.

Outsiders will have to restrain each other to keep them from running into the desert or harming each other. In the chaos, the worm disappears into the storm. The psychic effects of the monster will weaken after the worm disappears and the storm dies down but it may leave some characters feeling overwhelmed and confused in the aftermath. Some will remain in an erratic state for several days, occasionally acting normal. In the insanity of all of this, Outsiders may have picked up another Outsider into their camper van for their protection or camper parties remain shuffled. It's up to the ones unaffected by the psychic attacks to watch over the others while retreating from the desert.

▶ 003. CITY OF DREAMS.

Following the disaster of the first sighting, LILITH will order characters to return to Vegas so they can assess what happened. En route to Vegas, some Outsiders may notice some side effects from the prolonged exposure to the sandstorm. They may experience shortness of breath and coughing as a result of breathing in so much dust. Furthermore, they may experience a splitting headache or pain behind their eyes. Their implants may lag, glitch, or go completely offline which will render them temporarily blind in one or both eyes. It seems that the fine sand and dust combined with whatever psychic damage the worm did may have messed with their implants and crossed some sensors which is all the more reason to return to Vegas for treatment.

Outsiders may become lethargic and experience vivid daydreams while they are awake or regular dreams while sleeping. In these dreams, they may relive memories. Some of these memories may be pleasant but others may be traumatic or things characters would rather keep secret. Unfortunately, being in close proximity to someone suffering from these effects will force a link through a glitch in their implants and drag other characters into the dream.

These links will function similarly to how simulation training works. The dreams they visit appear to be very realistic and characters can experience pain and be hurt within the memory. They will be able to interact with the memories. While in these memories, they can try to wake up the memory holder to bring them back to reality. Who knows, maybe helping each other understand what is real and a dream may even make them more resilient to the worm’s attacks the next time they go into the desert...

▶ 004. REST & RECOVERY

As characters recover from the psychic effects and implant glitches, LILITH will try to assess everyone’s biometrics to understand what happened. Characters who need therapy or counseling after reliving some horrible memories of theirs will be provided sessions via their implants. They now understand that the worm has some sort of psychic mind control power that it can use on victims. It is currently too dangerous to go back into the desert until they can come up with a proper defense against it.

Outsiders will be ordered to stay in Vegas and focus on recovery, given two queen side bed hotel rooms again OR if they would prefer to stay in the camper vans, that is also fine, with their same room mates or new ones. They are confident that they can fix the implants with the right upgrade but they aren’t sure what to do to stop people from following the call of the desert and making them act erratically. What is important is that LILITH sticks together.

In the meantime, those who have recovered, and even those who are experiencing these issues are ordered to remain close to one another; a buddy system of sorts. Each Outsider will be given designated groups to keep tight watch over one another while in Vegas. They will be responsible for physically checking on those in their groups and making sure one another’s whereabouts are properly tracked in order to avoid losing anyone to the desert.

LILITH encourages Outsiders to hang tight and wait for instructions before adventuring back out into the desert.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

In light of the results of the scheduling poll, here is our first event with a preview of the kaiju. All side effects from either the sandstorms or the worm kaiju can last for as short or as long as players would like.

For the daydreams/memory share, players can decide how they would like characters to experience the memories, whether it plays out in front of them like a movie or if they're reliving it by acting out the scene all over again or a mix of both. We encourage you guys to have fun with it and use whatever format feels most comfortable.

As always, feel free to leave questions under the QUESTIONS thread. All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards June AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. STORM CHASERS: Outsiders, still in the now expanded Mojave Desert, face problems with heat and sandstorms, resulting in dehydration and delirium. Still, LILITH encourages them to press onward in their camper vans and desert approved attire. Many dead bodies are found, but those that survive, Outsiders can keep an eye on survivors until emergency care can come pick them up.

2. STORM CALLS: A glimpse of the creature causing the problems is seen beneath the sands surface: a giant sandworm. It attacks LILITH recruits with psychological damage, causing Outsiders to hallucinate memories of their past, act erratic and violent and turn on LILITH crew. Outsiders are tasked to wrangle in one another and retreat back to Las Vegas to recover.

3. CITY OF DREAMS: Seeking refuge back in Las Vegas, character's implants go haywire from the psychic attacks, causing a memory share between characters that are close enough to one another.

4. REST & RECOVERY: Outsiders are placed in hotels again, or if they prefer to stay in the camper vans. They are tasked to keep an eye out on one another and sit tight for further instructions while LILITH assesses their data and next move to wrangle in the sandworm. Outsiders are to wait until given instructions.

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Comments

no I don't which one,

[coordination]

[ He hears Dearka, but he doesn't even spare him a glance, because very quickly the only thing taking over his mind is moving - getting out there, getting over to him to help. There's something to note, too, to know that something is very wrong here: the way Yzak doesn't even pause or hesitate when he hears Dearka call to him with that concerned a tone. That's something he'd always find a moment to do even if he felt frustrated or rushed about something. ]

What does it look like!? [ He snaps back quickly, and then his tone shifts to something more strained and desperate. Because he's so far away... ] Nicol's out there. I have to go!

[ The I may also sound out of place, because usually he'll assume Dearka will fall right into step next to him and say we. But this urge that ripples through him is so all-encompassing that it tunnels his vision and he has no other choice but to run forward toward the false light at the end of it. And run is what he starts to do, because he has no time to waste. ]

🔪

[busternaut]

YZAK--!

[Dearka's after him like a shot. No deliberation, no hesitation, and no further negotiation. It doesn't take a genius to piece together what's going on here, given the information they've gathered so far. He executes a hasty leap down off the camper van that would probably shatter the shins on any Natural, pounding through the sand to try and close the slight lead Yzak has on him.

He lunges forward and manages to hook his fingers into Yzak's jacket collar, hastily tugging backwards until he's drawn Yzak in enough to turn that hook into a fistful of cloth. He's spooked, so his volume is a bit greater than usual as he admonishes his friend, devoid of his usual good humor.]

Like hell you're going out there on foot!

[coordination]

[ He lets out a choked gasp of surprise when Dearka yanks him by the collar, feet kicking up sand as he flails his legs to catch his balance.

He's pulling him back, slowing him down, even as that voice calling to Yzak gets louder and more desperate. Why the hell is he doing this when they've got to get out there? This isn't the time to hesitate, not after what hesitation has resulted in so many times in the past.

Yzak snarls. His head snaps back and he twists his body, reaching a hand over the opposite shoulder to grab Dearka's forearm and wrench himself from his grip. Which is difficult because his partner's got a tight grasp on him, but Yzak isn't a pushover, knows how to get out of holds much more constrictive than this, and is running on a quickly accumulated amount of adrenaline. ]

Get off me, you bastard! You're wasting time!

[ And then Dearka will feel the hand clamped around his arm loosen as Yzak makes to attempt to quickly turn away from him and keep moving. Because Dearka has to understand how urgent this is, right? He should be rushing in right alongside him instead of stopping him...! ]

[busternaut]

[God dammit. He doesn't want to escalate things, but he will. Yzak isn't giving him much of a choice.

Dearka doesn't say anything. He just lunges again, and this time he throws both arms around Yzak from behind, grabbing him in a sort of bear hug and pinning his arms to his sides before rearing back to bodily lift him about a half an inch off the sand.]

[coordination]

[ No, Yzak is not giving a single inch here. Thanks, sandworm. Double thanks, consistent simmering guilt inside of him.

Dearka grabs him from behind, and will feel the immediate resistance as Yzak wiggles and tries to pry himself free from those arms, his hands balling into fists and his shoulders jerking. ]

Dearka!

[ One thing Dearka doesn't have a hold on is Yzak's head, which lurches back with as much force as he can muster to slam the back of it into his face. ]

cw: bones breakin', noses bleeding

[busternaut]

[...Insert extremely easy joke about Yzak being hard-headed here. He probably should have seen that coming, but even if he had, the result would've been the same. He would either have to take the hit or let Yzak loose, and the latter was absolutely not going to happen. He's not giving an inch either.]

FUCK--

[Pain explodes across Dearka's entire face. He's pretty sure he hears a crack from his nose, and in the next instant he both tastes blood and feels it streaming from one nostril. Yzak has apparently succeeded in headbutting him hard enough for him to cut his lip open on his own teeth too, but that's not something he's actually paying much mind to at the moment.

He staggers back another step, for a moment barely keeping his balance in the stupid sand, but he doesn't relent. If anything, he grips Yzak harder and strengthens his resolve not to let go.]

It's not-- REAL!!!

[He gasps those words as he executes a motion to... Basically throw the both of them backwards onto the sand. Then he tries to take advantage of the brief moment of confusion by rolling them both over so Yzak's face is in the dirt, and he's on top. Shut Up this is very serious and not homosexual at all.

All jokes aside, there's a sort of feral desperation here. The more Yzak fights him, the more terrified Dearka is that he's going to get loose somehow and run off to get himself killed. He refuses to let that happen, no matter how many punches Yzak throws.]

[coordination]

[ Yzak lets out a grunt, all breath spilling out of him as he slams hard onto the ground. When he goes to inhale to get his breath back, that's when he's having his face shoved down so he gets a nice mouthful of sand and starts frantically coughing. Sand in his mouth and nose and his clothes and everywhere, and he feels Dearka's weight on his back pressing down on him, feels the warm drip of his bloodied nose land on the back of his neck.

One thing that happened in the process of Dearka throwing them down was Yzak managing to slip one of his arms loose. ]

You're— [ He hacks between his scratchy words. ] —just bullshitting me!

[ That free arm swings back to elbow Dearka hard just under his ribs, and then shove himself upward with that forearm with full force to roll them both back over onto their sides. It's long enough for Yzak to wrest himself free and scramble to his feet.

He does not run, though. Not yet. He's temporarily set his anger on Dearka and wants to get him to leave him the hell alone first, so he can do what he needs to do. So now he faces his best friend with an aggressive stance, as if he's about to lunge at him again.

What he does instead, feeling the itch of sand on his face and his skin, under and in his clothes, is reach his hand into one of his pockets and



throw a handful of sand straight at Dearka's eyes. ]

[busternaut]

GHHKK--!!!

[The elbow to the ribs is already bad enough. He's winded, and if he weren't trained to push through this sort of thing that would probably keep him down. He manages to stagger to his feet as well, albeit much more slowly than Yzak does, straightening up just in time for--]

FUCK!!!!!

[--Pocket sand. It's horrible? The worst possible thing. It stings and scratches, his eyes start watering-- He hates sand, he hates the DESERT... Dearka has a near endless amount of patience when it comes to Yzak but this is starting to test even HIS limits. Which is maybe unfair... He's clearly not in his right mind at the moment. But even so...]

Why the hell would I bullshit you about this of all things?!

[Shouted through a mouth and sinuses full of blood, while he coughs and spits and tries frantically to clear his eyes. He can't let Yzak get too much of lead on him, he needs to move--]

[coordination]

[ Lucky(??) for Dearka, that aggression toward him hangs for a little longer, because Yzak can see that he's still very god damned determined to keep coming at him. And in turn, he's ready to fight him off even if that mental pull is urging him to make it fast, in the form of Nicol's voice; louder, more distressed. Grief entwines with the hostility that the hypnosis has spread to hijack rational thought, so it spills forth in the ugliest way possible. ]

Because you know I'm not afraid to go out there. [ He speaks with that bluster where it's like he's trying to prove that fact to himself. ] And maybe after all of those times we called him a coward, the reality is that you've been one all along!

[ He digs a foot into the sand, crouches slightly, shoulders raising. ]

Now fuck off and let me do what I need to do!

[ And then Yzak lunges forward, swinging a fist at him again. But even through the blood coughing and the sand in Dearka's eyes, Yzak isn't being sneaky about it, his movements straightforward, clear, easy to read. Ironic, that the sandworm causing all of this undiluted rage brings Yzak's fighting back to that reckless abandon he used to reach on the battlefield back when Nicol was still alive; the same sort that always got him into trouble. ]

[busternaut]

[Still blinking sand from his eyes, Dearka swipes a hand under his nose to clear some of the blood, then turns his head slightly and spits out a bit more onto the sand.
Other than that... As he often does when Yzak goes off on a tear, he listens with little interruption. It's beneficial in this case, since doing so lets him catch his breath and assess the situation over again. But by the end... Well. It takes a lot to get him really riled up, but he's starting to see red now.

It's not that he's particularly sensitive to being called a coward. Even hearing it from the man he trusts the most in the world, the words only sting for a moment before they just ring hollow, because he knows in his heart that his friend doesn't really mean them. But what makes him furious is that this creature is fucking with his head to such an extent. He absolutely cannot forgive that... And so he's also done pulling his punches and telling himself it's for Yzak's sake.

Yzak rushes forward. That sloppiness just another sign that something is horribly wrong with him, as if what he's saying wasn't clue enough... Scowling, Dearka tightens his stance and waits until the last possible millisecond to move.

The action here is a blur. Dearka goes low, so that the entire punch winds up as a swing and a miss and puts Yzak slightly off-balance. In the same ducking motion, Dearka goes into a low spin and sweeps Yzak's legs with his own. When Yzak goes crashing down, and that's when he pounces: He straddles him, grabs a fistful of jacket collar, and clocks him with a solid right hook across the face.]

Nicol is dead, Yzak!

[He's shouting, shaking him a little bit by the collar, his voice strained and also marred by nasally quality of someone who can't breathe through their nose at the moment. Thank god his eyes are still full of sand, so he doesn't have to worry about whether they're getting teary for other reasons right now.]

As much as I wish he wasn't... Maybe then I could apologize to his face for all the shitty things I said to him while he was still alive. But he's gone, he's been gone, and that giant sand prick out there is fucking with your head!

[He lets Yzak drop then, panting, wiping more blood off his face. Its slowed to a trickle now, at least.]

Now, either you get it together and start understanding that, or I punch you out cold and drag you back to the camper with me! We've been picking up corpses from this goddamn desert for days. I'm NOT about to sit back and watch you become one of them!

[coordination]

[ The missed swing does ultimately prove to be his downfall, as he puts so much power into it that when it misses he can't recover from the momentum in time. Later, Yzak will be glad for missing that one, since he's messed up Dearka's handsome face enough. But right now, to him, it's more than deserved for the amount of pestering he's been put through by the other man about this. The absolute waste of his time when Yzak needs, needs to be out there!

Maybe that's why it takes this much to stop him. The kaiju's power of sway and mind-warping is powerful on its own, but when there's something that it can easily dig its hooks into and use as a catalyst, it becomes so much easier. Dearka is right to dismiss those barbed words because they're simply not true. But in Yzak's mind like this, those false, clouded visions wrap around very real and very strong feelings so tightly that untangling them is going to need something like a nice punch to the face to kickstart. Because after all he's said to Nicol in the past, what does it make him if he hesitates here? If he succumbs to Dearka's attempts to stop him? He'd be the coward. He'd be the weak one. And as a result of that weakness he'd just lose his comrade (because does he even deserve to call him a friend?) all over again, when he's out there and if he can get to him then maybe he has a chance to fix something, to take away even some of the weight that the last four years have dropped onto his shoulders...

So in that, it's not only the image of Nicol he thinks he sees that he's chasing out there.

Yzak doesn't make any bit of this process easier for Dearka. The moment he gets his legs swiped out from beneath him and hits the ground, he's immediately making to move to recover from it when Dearka clambers onto him. But when that fist connects with his face, that gets the relentless squirming to stop. Yzak's head snaps to the side and a loud, pained groan tears from his throat. His eye catches the brunt of the swing, the impact temporarily tunneling his vision, and his nose gets the hit from Dearka's pinky knuckle hard enough to knock a stream of blood out of it (thankfully it's not as hard as Yzak's head, so no breaks here). He sees stars as he brings a hand up over that half of his face, heel of his palm wiping at the blood there which only just, spreads it around. ]

Damn it-

[ His ears ring from the punch, so Dearka's words are muffled, but he still hears him. He hears them but he still hears Nicol, and the latter keeps weaving and twisting while Dearka's words pull as hard as they can against the knotted mess that his mind is right now. He glares up at him, bloodied hand moving to grab at the front of Dearka's clothes, his one eye twisted shut. ]

If there's even a chance that he's out there- [ Yzak hisses through gritted teeth, and he nearly sounds like he's pleading. But who he's pleading to, what he's pleading for doesn't seem as clear in the moment. The desperation is a good thing, though, it means the influence itself is loosening, hanging on to control as best it can. ] -we should still do something! Because we hardly did a god damned thing for him before! [ His voice cracks, and the stray winds from the nearby storm kicking up sand could likewise be blamed for the stinging Yzak feels in his eyes (outside of the sting the hit one already feels)

What is it that manages to further pry the hold on Yzak's mind? Dearka's words? The part of Yzak that really hears those words and struggles to take control back? The way that he stares up at Dearka and knows that the teary-edged redness of his eyes aren't from the sand, just like his isn't? He feels a sudden, sharp shudder just behind his eyes, a wave of pain like his head is about to explode. He winces, squeezing his eyes shut and letting Dearka go, rolling to his side and slapping his hand back over his head as if the motion is going to somehow help. ]

Shit...!

[ The pain that stabs into his head feels ... different, though, like struggling through a storm as powerful as the one he was trying to run into. The same one he squints through the pain to look toward once it starts to subside as though reaching the other side of it finally.

He doesn't see anything out there anymore. He doesn't hear that voice anymore. ]

[busternaut]

[The way Yzak's voice cracks shatters something inside of Dearka as well. These words hurt far worse than the petty insults did, because hasn't he thought the same thing countless times before? If they hadn't been so reckless, if they'd been more diligent, if he'd just gotten back into the fray just a few minutes sooner... Would it have made a difference? Would Nicol still be alive?

Over the last 4 years he's had to come to terms with the fact that chasing these hypotheticals is a fruitless endeavor; that he's only tormenting himself by entertaining them. But those thoughts still rear up now and then regardless of distance in time. He understands all too clearly, in this exact moment, why the chance to finally do things differently would make for such potent bait.

There's nothing he can say to all of that. All he can do is look down at Yzak quietly, his expression awash with pain and understanding. The silence he holds conveys more than words ever could.

At least it seems like Yzak is finally coming around... A massive relief, regardless of how painful the process of doing so may be for him. Wearily, as if the gravity of the earth has suddenly increased upon him ten-fold, Dearka struggles to his feet, and then quietly reaches down to offer his partner a hand up.]

[coordination]

[ What-ifs do so often decide to creep up into the backs of their minds like shadows, some more painfully than others. But in the end, they're all the same: burdens to carry. Yzak learned quickly when he took command of his own team, that the results of all decisions he made were things he'd have to shoulder, for better or for worse. And he accepted that. But, does that acceptance make anything easier to take on? Not really. The weight of the mistakes he makes now with that acceptance and that knowledge is the same as the mistakes he made in the past when he didn't give a shit about accountability. They're all things he equally thinks back to from time to time, wishing they'd gone differently.

Yzak's face is still twisted up in bewilderment as the mental hold releases its grasp on him and he comes to his senses, the reality of what just happened now setting in.

It was fake. An illusion. Caused by the hijacking of his mind.

"Nicol is dead, Yzak!"

Everything is still the same.

Were it anyone else, Yzak would ignore the offered hand. His emotions are raw and painful and he doesn't like being perceived in such a vulnerable state.

But Dearka's seen him at his worst, and that was a hell of a lot messier than this. Dearka and him have jointly been in worse, arguably more embarrassing places. And just as easily as he silently offers his hand now, he's always offered Yzak his shoulders to help carry those burdens and those moments of shame, just as Yzak does for him in turn. Seeing each other at their worst, supporting each other to be their best now, they do so without hesitance since they know they're so much better than they used to be and can give one another the right support that they never used to have.

With all of the yelling and the fighting and the voices in Yzak's mind, the silence now it jarring. It's heavy. It hangs over him. But what can be said after all that? Just by looking at each other they can tell what the other is thinking, how they're feeling.

Gazing at Dearka, his swollen, crooked nose and his bleeding face, he's almost too ashamed to take the hand. But after what transpired, there's that part of Yzak that feels so strongly the emptiness of loss, as if coming back to his senses was like losing a companion all over again. So he wants to hold on that much tighter to who he still has here with him now, to ensure that his best friend isn't some illusion, too.

He sniffs as he sits up, sand caked in the blood smeared all over his nose and chin, and reaches to grip at Dearka's arm just above his wrist to hoist himself up to his feet. The hold lingers there when he looks out to the desert storm one last time as it starts to slow, but not as though he's searching for something anymore. He's scowling, angry, like if he could he would stomp right out there and kick that sandworm's ass. But as Yzak has learned better than to be so reckless (thank god), he simply promises to himself that he is going to pay that fucking thing back in spades.

And then he looks back to Dearka, one-eyed as the second is shut and starting to swell. In particular, he looks at his nose, and Yzak tips his head slightly, frowning, because... ]

That looks broken.

[busternaut]

[Dearka, being more or less on the same page, can see the hatred in Yzak's eyes. He's just relieved his friend's at a point where rushing in isn't his first choice of action anymore. They're going to get away, regroup.. And then they're gonna come back and take their pound of worm flesh. He's ready to help. Fucking count on it.

They really need to get gone and hurry back to the camper right now, but Yzak's comment... Dearka can't help but falter and laugh at it. Which, hurts. Any kind of sharp breath or noise emitted that sends any kind of vibration through his sinuses fucking hurts.]

Feels like it's broken, too. Haven't I always said that you have a hard fucking head? Now I've got proof of it.

[He quickly mimes rapping Yzak's skull with his knuckles, then grabs his arm and starts urging him back towards the camper.]

C'mon! You need to get the fuck out of here, and I need to go get Lightning Buster, so I can make sure no one else wandered out into this mess.

[coordination]

[ Does Yzak take that hard-headed comment as an insult or a compliment? Yes. But his expression doesn't really change to imply one or the other since the comment came from Dearka ... who of course needs to make a quip like that in the middle of this.

He hardly needs to be urged to move, since the storm nearby begins to kick up again meaning they aren't out of the woods just yet. The depth perception is a little off at the moment with one eye twisted shut, but it's not as though Yzak hasn't jumped into his Gundam in the past with one working eye, and having Good Coordinator Eyesight makes up for it enough. ]

I must have hit you hard, if you're saying shit like 'I need to'. I'm going back out for the others, too. [ Because he has zero intent on hanging back now that his brain doesn't feel like it's rattling around in his head anymore. And especially since more messages are starting to come through the network about needing to regroup, fall back, because this run-in has unfortunately ended in failure.

But so long as the team gets out of it alive ... that's what matters.

Another moment of reluctant gratefulness at how easy it is to use the ocular device, because once they've put enough diatance between themselves and the storm, Yzak's already sent him Ratio's username. ]

Go see him about your nose.

[ He doesn't specify when: now, later, he trusts Dearka decide how urgent he feels he needs to get it tended to. ]

[busternaut]

[Dearka fumbles his steps for a second, and the look he shoots over at Yzak is a complicated cocktail of exasperation and worry.]

Yzak...

[He shouldn't be surprised. He REALLY shouldn't be surprised. And he knows he's not going to win this debate that he's winding up to launch into, but. He still has to try.]

We don't know how this thing's powers work, you might...!

[He can't finish the thought. What if he's out there and the effect flares up again? What if Dearka's not fast enough to stop him this time? He normally has complete faith in Yzak's ability to handle himself, but after what they just went through... Well. He is feeling uncharacteristically anxious about this idea.]

[coordination]

[ This whole situation is one that's left them both on edge, anxious and emotionally sore, so Dearka's words, his tone, the concerned exasperation, all of it is palpable to Yzak because he feels it, too. It's in part exactly because he also feels it why he doesn't want to slow down or stop, lest doing that lowers his defenses and makes him susceptible to something again.

He returns the look he gets, and the one eye that does has that bullheaded determination in it that serves as an answer in itself. But it's also clear and very much Yzak, unlike the lost, not quite there way his expression looked before. ]

If anything feels off by the time we get to our mobile suits, I'll hang back. [ He relents that much, because concern from Dearka isn't something he just dismisses, as he knows it isn't something in turn just given over every little thing. ] Alright? But I'm okay now! [ Spoken in that way that seems to threaten fate itself if it was considering testing him there. ]

And, [ He looks forward again, and now that they've got distance from the storm, they can see more clearly the groups of campervans they just came from, buzzing with sudden rushes of people likewise returning or already moving back out or prepping to leave the area entirely. ] it's not that thing or its tricks that we're focusing on anymore.

[busternaut]

[Dearka's own expression is strained, worried, and he still looks incredibly conflicted about this. But after a long moment of meeting that razor sharp glare, he lets out a resigned sigh. He knew from the get-go that it was likely to be a pointless endeavor, trying to talk Yzak out of doing this...]

OK, boss. [Even his agreeing sounds resigned.] Let's do each other a favor though? Make sure we both keep checking in periodically over the comms?

[It'll give him at least a bit of peace of mind.]

[coordination]

I'd expect that regardless! This whole thing may not be set up like a proper military, but you and I are still a team!

[ Big words from the guy who isn't worried about residual psychic brainfuckery in his partner. But Yzak always has that assumption that even if the two of them are busy with their own actions, they'll always ensure to keep a link between them no matter how busy they get or how far they are from one another. (beyond times like this, too)

And off they go, to ensure any other Outsiders that require a hand get as much and return to the safety of the vans, however those other encounters go. As promised, Yzak keeps careful tabs on himself, but then again when doesn't he do that, always hyperaware of what's going on around and inside of him when he's on what he considers to be a battlefield. He checks in with Dearka and vice versa, and hell, the two of them probably decide to meet up in their mechs to venture into the more dangerous parts of the storm at some point, in case any of their allies were caught up that deeply in it. That part's a little slow-moving, because as it happens, even with the upgrades and alterations of the Duel and Buster, they still don't work very well in the sand. They struggle and stomp through dunes before splitting up to cover more ground.

When everyone is accounted for and immediate needs are tended to (like, you know, broken noses!!), they make their way back toward the city. With the amount of injuries and the ocular glitching causing blindness in so many people, it's a good thing Yzak and Dearka know how to drive because they'll be doing it more often on the way back.

At the moment, neither of them are on driving duty because night has fallen and the crew as a whole has deemed it best to let everyone rest for a while. Even their Coordinator bodies need a bit of a recharge, because the aches they're feeling were ... caused by each other. Oop!

By now, Yzak's eye is slightly less swollen, though it's got that nice black-and-blue coloring blossomed around it. He reclines on the bed next to Dearka's - which is right next to him as the vans are cramped, but at least it's a comfortable enough set-up to get some rest for a bit. He already feels some of the tension leave his body now that he allows himself to actually rest, and god damn it feels good. He turns his head on the pillow to look at Dearka, some of that silky hair of his spilling down over his cheek, for not even the humidity of this desert can ruin it. ]

How's that feeling?

[ The nose, obviously. Now that it's bandaged up. ]

[busternaut]

[Dearka's already down for the count as well, kicked back onto his bed with his hands under his head. The chaos of rounding everyone up and organizing a retreat had kept his thoughts busy for a time, but now that there's actually quiet to be had and a moment to rest... Emotional exhaustion is starting to hit him as well. Everything that he and Yzak had argued about before, the old wounds that had been reopened, the desperate fight to keep his best friend from wandering out into the wilderness to fucking die...

Yzak's voice, ironically, draws him back from the mouth of the grim spiral he's teetering over. He grunts and turns his head slightly as well, cracking one eye open to glance across the small gap between them.]

...Better. You might have to put up with more snoring than usual though. [He pauses, frowning at Yzak's black eye... Not for the first time since that whole incident happened. He does feel bad about inflicting it, even if it had been necessary.] Looks like that's already doing a lot better, too... Glad to see it. Your eyes are too pretty for you to be walking around with one swollen shut, heh.

[There's laughter in his voice as he settles back on his pillow and closes both eyes again, a small smirk on his face. He had to make a joke. He has to not look at Yzak right now, and distract himself from the way some part of him just physically ached to reach over there and tenderly brush that hair back from his cheek. Sleeping in this camper is seriously going to kill him. More than once when he has looked across the narrow gap between the two beds it's been far too easy to imagine they're actually sharing one... And he can't afford to entertain those kinds of thoughts.]

[coordination]

I've slept through worse.

[ ... ]

Though I guess that's debatable. [ Wow a joke, everybody applaud. Really, though, it brings some solace to the emotional fog that still hangs over the both of them, because Yzak is spent there, too. He doesn't mind so much when it's Dearka that sees him in such a raw and exposed state, but it's still a state that repulses him to be in and he finds himself desperate to claw his way out of it as quickly as he can. Especially when there's the embarrassment and guilt of it all, dancing around him as if mocking him. It happens from time to time without the whole mind controlling sand worm, but at least in those cases it comes up naturally. To take those emotions and twist them into something so ugly and volatile... and dangerous...

He makes one of those harmlessly fussed grumbles in his throat at that (very!! accurate!!) comment about his pretty eyes, and even though Dearka has his own closed he can for sure feel the glare sent his way. And it's probably good for Dearka's heart that he doesn't see the way Yzak's face twists up and the slightest bit of pink rises to his cheeks.

Now, that's not a compliment he hasn't already heard many times before. Yzak will meet some new person at the job or speak to some kind old lady while he's out to lunch and they'll be the sort of people who are just straightforward and honest enough to exclaim wow, your eyes are so blue! How pretty! So thanks to that (and his mom probably), Yzak's ego has been stroked enough that he is Aware of the striking beauty of his own eyes.

And Yzak's reaction is pretty standard, too, because he simply gets flustered over things like this. He'd have the same sort of response to pretty much anyone saying it! But there's something to be said when it's Dearka who makes the joke, as it causes a feeling small and deep in Yzak to stir ever so slightly, as if making it known that it still exists.

It comes, and it goes with the untensing of his scrunched expression. Yzak turns his head to look to the window, out to what little he can see through the crack in the closed blinds, the occasional play of shadows from those on the team who are moving about outside. And when he speaks his voice is softer, more serious. ]

Thank you for doing it, actually. Before I said or did anything more stupid, or fucked you up harder.

[busternaut]

[He steals another glance again, almost just to see if Yzak is reacting the way he expects, and... Yeah. Staring out the window, like he thought.]

Ah, don't mention it. I'm sure you wouldn't have thought twice about doing the same, if our positions were reversed.

[Dearka's dismissive, because he kind of doesn't feel like he deserves any kind of accolades for that?? It's nice to be appreciated and all, but... He just did what any good friend would do.]

I don't know if that thing even has an ass, but eventually we're gonna get back out there and kick it.

[coordination]

I wouldn't have. [ Because as much as may not seem it based on first or even early impressions, he's empathetic enough that he knows other people would have hated to be left in such a state as much as he just did. And he will, in, fact, always do someone a solid. ] And I'd even suggest that if something like this ever happens to me again, to do what you did quicker and even harder if it gets the job done.

[ He says that, as he closes his eyes and brings his hand up to his own face to lightly brush his fingers over the blackened eye. Still swollen, still tender, it did fucking hurt to get. But between that and the alternative ... he'd rather get double this and more and just need to deal with it and rest like he's doing now. At least this part is tolerable and will be shorter lived thanks to being a Coordinator. ]

Psychic powers and manipulations of the mind ... those Foundation guys could do that sort of thing, right? The Accords.

[busternaut]

[Dearka's listening intently to Yzak's words, trying to read between the lines and get a sense of how upset he still is. He knows this must have really fucked Yzak up, getting tricked like that... Being deceived and misdirected is a sore point for both of them, for obvious reasons.]

Mm. You got it, boss.

[He means it. He also considers making a joke about being ready to punch him in both eyes next time, but. His heart's not really in it?? He hadn't actually taken any joy in doing what he did, after all.

Mention of the Accords is an interesting change of subject, but not an entirely unexpected one.]

...Somehow, yeah, according to the official reports, and Athrun. Though I don't think his method of defeating those guys is going to do the trick on a huge mindless worm.

[Presumably, Athrun was sort of vague/coy in his account of the means he used to get around Shura's mind-reading, so Dearka doesn't actually know the specifics?? But. Y'know.]

[coordination]

[ Athrun u fucking horny ass bastard. ]

[ At the moment, he seems more focused on not trying to reflect back on what happened earlier too hard. Keep stepping forward so those thorny shadows that love to lurk behind him can't catch up and tangle him up completely. We'll see how long that lasts once he actually stops thinking about other things for a moment and tries to sleep. : ) ]

It's a sound strategy when you think about it. Focusing your thoughts, trying to think of things that can distract before those powers can ... dig into you. [ There's a tight emphasis on dig, there, because that's how it felt for him. ] Depending on how sapient that thing is, if at all, something similar could work. We'll get to see how capable LILITH's researchers are in a pinch, at least, once they go over our reports and come up with something to try and counter it.

It's odd, though, isn't it. Not long ago we wouldn't have had something to compare this to. It'd be as wild as the concept of magic being real.