acatalepsy_rpg

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[ when the feed comes on, riza's expression is tense. controlled. she's looking straight into the camera. there's an air of professionalism to her as she speaks, but that's to be expected.

she's lived through enough warzones, calamities, and nightmares to know how this goes. ]

My name is Riza Hawkeye. I know some of you, but-

[ not important. she blinks herself out of that. roy was always better at this, wasn't he? okay, breathe. ]

We need to regroup. I'm sure everyone has felt some part of what is going on, but things are getting out of hand. We can't turn on each other at a time like this, not with whatever is happening down below. I know a lot of us are scared, but if we're going to get through this, we need to pull together.

[ a beat, and then she exhales. riza doesn't look fantastic, honestly. she hasn't slept in who knows how long, and with everything going on around the ship?

but she's trying, that has to mean something, right? ]

Anyone who needs help, come find me in the lounge. I know basic first aid and can see what I can do. If anyone has any kind of healing abilities that are working? I can help with those too. I'm trying to collect what supplies we have, but help is appreciated.

I'll be in the Lounge if anyone needs to find me.

[ and then the feed cuts.

ooc timeline wise! this is happening semi-post the event log but pre the wrap-up log! meaning that people who went down in the first log can be back up, but all the dead bodies haven't made it up. she is open for network stuff but also if you just want to action meeting her in the lounge......feel free.

also.....no one has told her about roy yet so. that is open. c: ]

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See you soon.

[ when shiro arrives, riza is on edge - tense through and through with a look of equal amounts exhaustion as practiced determination. it's the look of a soldier, so shiro probably knows it well. the first thing she picks up on, though, is shiro's own tension. the way he carries it with him, and even as he relaxes just the slightest bit when he settles his bag into a nearby chair.

she nods with him, moving to find a place nearby. she doesn't know yet if she could really sit, or settle, for any extended period - but he's right. she does need to eat, so she goes to start fishing out what he's brought. ]

What did you find down there?

[He helps her fish out the food and sets the kit down on a lounge table. It gives him time to settle a little more. He leans against the table instead of sitting down.]

The remains of the crew and what did it. I was right, it is definitely feeding on something. Likely fear. Once we got down there our watches went out. My team has their powers twisted. We didn’t realize it until we tried to use them.

[He grimaces, they’re both being soldiers and he went from content to be a team player to leader of the pack out of a reflexive need for stability and to protect his teammates.] I don’t know if it was the source of the whispers in our heads but I’ll bet it was. I saw it once.

...It moves through the shadows. It phases or seems to. Some of the corpses look like it had played with the victim before they died.

[ she does find a place to settle, leaning up against another chair and starting to eat. she doesn't really enjoy space goo, but it is food. she can't complain all that much.

even when what shiro goes into gets a bit gruesome, riza continues to eat, the movement more mechanical than anything. put it in her mouth, swallow, breathe. repeat. ]

What do you mean 'twisted'? It makes sense if whatever is down there is messing with the magic of the watches, but if it can mess with our powers too, that's something we need to take into account.

[ and it's not good. a bit of the color drains from her face as he continues, her hand pausing a bit from where it hovers with her next bite. ]

So it's intelligent, then. Playing with us.

Yes. [He eats because he has to. The facts are terrible and brutal in a gruesome sort of way but he'd long ago learned he has to eat even if he feels sick. He takes solace that he does feel sick.]

Our powers were changed. I became an ice dragon. As small as I was in shift when I was with Qri. Keith's flight became a healing ability. He could sense others injuries and that played with his head too.

[He's very unhappy about that. It grounded Keith in a way but he doesn't like he had that on his conscience too.]

We were also lured into rooms where it threw fakes of people we care about against us. [He had been combing the halls for Lance. He needs to see him and see he's alright. All of them.]

[ they have to survive, somehow. and sometimes all it takes is sitting down and putting food into their bodies. she focuses on that as a grounding force as shiro goes on. ]

Is Keith okay? And your other Paladins? I know a good amount of them went down under with you.

[ she has a feeling as to what the answer is, but she has to ask anyway, lifting her eyes to watch him. ]

Keith is okay. We’re both combing the network and the halls for any sign of Allura and Pidge. Hunk checked in. Lance is missing from the list.

[He meets her eyes, not bothering to hide his worry or his fears. He can’t focus and he has hope but he’s not a fool to ignore possibilities.]

Maes is fine. He was on my team. His power twist seemed to really rattle him. [He won’t offer it unless she asks but he is ready to share that. They trust each other and Maes obviously needs a friend who knows him well to support him.]

I keep checking the watches every hour.

[ she meets his eyes with the same look of worry, having been around long enough to know what that means. after a second she does lean and reach out to grab his arm, squeezing once and trying to be reassuring. she knows how it feels. before she sits back and nods. ]

Maes came by to check in. We've had no word from Roy yet. [ there's enough weight to that last statement to speak for itself, but riza takes a moment anyway to let out a breath.

she's also talked to maes, so thankfully shiro doesn't have to be the one to explain that. ]

And how are you? After all of that?

[He lightly touches her hand and sits back, looking as exhausted as he feels.] I'll be fine in time.

[He'd have thought Haggar's words and the whispers would haunt him. Strangely they don't. No, the wounds inflicted were by using those he trusts and believes in most. He can't let himself think about that too hard. Not yet. A little longer, he promises himself. He raises his head and squares his shoulders, pushing it all down for now.

Right now, he's co-leader of Voltron. His voice comes out quiet but there's strength returning to it with every word.]

...that creature has to be stopped. It's too dangerous and if anyone of this reality is looking for this ship they won't be prepared to take this beast on.

And we don't know how it spreads. It has to be contained here. [He reaches out to lightly touch her arm.] And we need to find out what happened to the others. We'll come up with a plan, put together supplies, and head back down.

This is the best way to do it if we're to find out what happened. A team must occupy the creature. Or it will repeat what it did to us.

I know you will. [ she gives him a small, empathetic smile. because above it all, they both do know how that all feels. the weight, but also the responsibility to come back to their roles. their team. she watches him square his shoulders and pull himself back together and all she can really do is nod, feeling herself grow a bit more centered. ]

I agree. That monster, and whatever it's doing, can't go on like it is. The messages we found up here prove that. That...thing is what killed the last crew. All of them.

[ he touches her arm, and some of that resolve crumbles from her face. just for a moment, but riza lets it. ]

You're going to need two teams- one to go after the monster, and one to. [ a pause, and then she swallows. ] One to retrieve the bodies. We can't leave them down there.

Team retrieval will need just as many experienced fighters. ...just in case. [He briefly glances around. They’re alone. His shoulders sag a little and the care worn expression he’d been hiding is on his face. His grey eyes are faintly haunted. But just as that mask’s removal shows his pain it also shows the will to see no one else hurt. The haunted light is tempered with a sharp intensity.

He turns what she told him over in his head. His priority is to learn all he can and come up with a plan to kill the creature. While he’s at it to see to the team that had been up here. ...as much as he can.]

I want you on the retrieval team or on guard up here. You’re level headed, reasonable, and if they need to retreat I know you will see it done. [Shiro shuts his eyes for a moment. One moment. It’s all he can afford.] We don’t know if we’ll succeed in dealing with the creature. Please keep an eye on Hunk. He’s honest and a good man to have with you. As a healer and an engineer.

[He opens his eyes, a sad smile on his face.] I know I’m asking a lot of you. I wish I didn’t have to. If you decide to come down on the team to fight the beast, I’ll welcome you all the same. It’s your decision.

[ he's right. of course he is. she knows he's going to be, because it's almost exactly what she would say if their situations were switched. but more than that, she feels the way his body relaxes, a sign enough to her that they're alone.

the rest of what she'd been holding together collapses to the floor, and riza leans forward, pressing her hands to her face. she's exhausted, but more than that she's terrified, and she hates what she says next more than anything, but because it's shiro, she can say it. ]

I should go down there, but I don't know if I can. Roy's still- [ missing, gone, probably dead. the words die in her throat as she sits there for a moment, her face still in her hands. then the moment passes, and riza takes a breath, sitting back up and watching as shiro closes his eyes.

of course he's thinking about hunk, his paladins. riza lets out the breath and nods. ] I'll stay up here. Act as a base for you to come back to. Hunk will be needed, especially if he's a healer. [ and then, as shiro gives her his smile, she returns one in kind. ] You don't ask that much of me, Shiro. We're here for the same reason. But- [ there are too many possibilities, too many chances, images, scenarios. she doesn't know if it'll help anyone for her to go down there and then get caught up in who knows what just to look for him.

not when she can be of help up here. ] I'll stay here. Make sure there's somewhere set up for the retrieval team.

[His heart twinges when she stops hiding behind her mask. He knows how he would be if it were Keith that hadn’t returned. A mess that has no business going back down but would charge into the fray anyway. But he would be at his most effective that way. Riza knows where she will be strongest.

Shiro reaches for her shoulder. It’s because their public faces are off he can do this. If she allows it he pulls her into a hug. Otherwise his hand just stays on her shoulder like a steady port in the storm.]

I’ll do what I can down there. No matter what happens, I’ll make sure it won’t hurt anyone else.

[He will stop it even it costs his life and he knows Keith feels the same way. This can’t be allowed to continue.]

[ she will let him pull her towards him for the hug, tucking her face into his shoulder as he does so. it's easier knowing they both get it. that she's not showing weakness, or have anyone to hold it together for. she closes her eyes, breathes, and listens to shiro talk.

but a moment later, she will pull back, her eyes hard when she looks to him. she knows what he's saying, and she can't tell him no, but. ]

Come back. [ don't tell her whatever it takes. don't. ] Finish it, and come back. Okay?

[He relaxes as she settles against him. The last bit of tension he’d been keeping fades away. He expects it when she pulls back with eyes like two chips of ice. His grey eyes meet hers.

She didn’t tell him no to the underlying promise. But, she is asking him for something else. He isn’t used to having a future that stretches out far and wide. He might not actually have that but it feels like that’s what he has. He trusts his instincts.] We will finish it,

[His voice is heavy with certainty. He would find a way to survive. He would bring the team he took down there right back up when it was over.] And we will come back.

[ she's not....well. she's not thrilled with that answer, but not because of anything that shiro says, but because she knows just as well as he does that he has no real control over it.

still, his agreement and the serious expression on his face helps, and riza nods. okay. okay. because it will have to be enough for her right now.

and after another moment, riza runs another hand over her face before she moves to stand. there's a restless energy in her that she just needs to walk out. ]

What do you know about it? The monster.

[He lets her go and braids his fingers into one fist in front of him. He had gone toe to toe with the beast a few times. Is his magic back to normal? He is afraid to check. Focus.

The facts come out clear and precise as if he were staring at a screen and reading off the data.] The creature has the ability to phase or warp. I can’t tell which it is. It’s faster than a human and as long as it has ample darkness it can cover distance in seconds. Attacks vary. While it hits you mentally and slows you down, it could be lashing out at you with its limbs.

It’s intelligent and self aware enough to recognize threats. It tried to go for Maes while I was with him because it knew I would try to protect him and possibly leave myself open.

It hates light. It might be feeding on fear. Some of the victims look like it was toying with them to get the most out of the kill. I don’t know how much higher order functions it has. It never tried to communicate.

But the fake versions of people it generated to use against me were all people I care about. When that didn’t work it,

[He falters. She needs to know and he trusts her. He takes a breath in and continues. He doesn’t notice he talks a little faster..] It sent the witch who did experiments on me against me.

It has a limited ability to make these fakes life like. If you know someone very well it’s closer. Haggar wasn’t even a shadow of the real thing. It was all attacks from the only battle I’ve had against her. Keith and I killed the fake.

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