lifeaftr | October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: October 3rd
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The Beach: For All the Rest
The shores of Ensō are far from the tranquil, almost idyllic tropical backdrop that they should be. And so it is that while you fish, or perhaps as you go about your daily business on the islets, the first thing you will note is the persistent sound hammering at the back of your skull.

A drumming.

And it's growing louder.

The source of the drumming will, like it or not, soon become apparent. At the fringes of the trees, wielding slings and hollow, wooden pistols, is a group of large and very displeased simians who have every intent of claiming this spot of beach - yes, traveler, this spot of beach you're standing on right now! - for their own, and by any means necessary.

And they certainly don't look interested in diplomacy.

If you came armed, you might be in luck, because this conflict will require your steady hand in its resolution. If you did not...well, you may be better suited to run, or risk capture at the hands of warriors skilled, cunning, and incredibly vicious. Laugh at their monkey business all you like; they are ingenious fighters and, what's more, they're just as good at killing as they are at capture.

For the uninitiated, this particular brand of chaos doesn't usually sweep across the entire island the way it has. But those who have been here for some time will recognize the monkeys in question, and might even recognize this for what it is: revenge.

Group I: The Squeakquel
Looks like your monkeying around last month has landed you and everyone else in a spot of trouble. The monkeys in question certainly weren't happy to be confronted with others on their lands, nor are they willing to share their territory. While you may have triumphed last time you confronted them, the apes have been planning their revenge in the meantime.

Some of you were unlucky enough to become targets. Overnight, a great deal of them silently invaded the islets. Their blow-dart guns are equipped with a fairly powerful sedative that is more than capable of knocking most living creatures out - and those that were immune were simply snatched up, gagged, and bundled away.

However, it seems that some of their prisoners didn't suit their purposes, for one way or another, and thus weren't retrieved with the intention of long-term capture. Which is why a number of you will awaken in regions of the island that you've already explored.

...the really, really dangerous ones.

Whether it's a Center of Gravity, a parade of centipuppies, a contingent of Lungblossoms, a Fustercluck, or something else entirely, one thing is certain: the monkeys wanted you out of their way.

So get ready to fight for your life.

Group II: Ape Escape
If you're not one of the slightly luckier newcomers that materializes on the shore, then you're one of the unlucky ones that's managed to materialize square in the middle of the jungle. Or rather, in the middle of one of the denser, more populated parts of the jungle. The abodes woven into the canopy are crude, built of mud and sticks, but they're nonetheless sturdy.

And, as an important note - they are also swarming with monkeys. Snarling, baying, armed monkeys. Perhaps they'd be more hostile toward an interloper...if you weren't already in a cage, along with several others.

Fortunately for the newbies, they've all got something the monkeys didn't anticipate, aside from the element of surprise. Most prisoners don't arrive with knapsacks full of newly-acquired gear, and it's a good thing, too - you may very well need it, and the help of the new arrivals, to escape this place. You could always wait for the cavalry to come, but are you really willing to take that risk?

Group III: Pot Luck
As for you, you terribly fortunate third group?

You'll find yourselves suspended in wooden cages as well, though this time, to the hot curtain of whitish steam clouding your vision. It smells an awful lot like smoke down there. An awful lot like something...burning? Unlike your fellows over in the second group, these cages aren't simply a means of containing you, no. These cages are currently hanging over what might be the largest cast iron cauldron you've ever seen. All of this is, of course, for one simple reason:

Some species of monkeys are carnivores.

The acrid scent of smoke is already hot and rancid in your nostrils; the pyre beneath you has been lit, and the hungry flames are beginning to boil the water below quite eagerly. We'd suggest you hurry up in freeing yourself and your fellows - being boiled alive is not a particularly pleasant way to go. At least the monkeys weren't expecting quite so many main courses so soon, which allows you the element of surprise.

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks with their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can be found below!

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pharah isn't exactly prone to standing still. Her eyes dart from the boiling pot to the monkeys, scattered--but hostile and rousing a counter-assault against their escaped prisoners. There's chaos in every battle, but she's adept at finding the little pieces of order and pattern. She finds a group of monkeys congealing together, clustering for a more concentrated attack, and she fires a rocket into their midst. The ones that don't take a direct hit scream and scatter again.

The human voice pulls at her focus as she lines up another shot, just in time for Pharah to notice the crackle of power across her skin. She's not suited up for a fight, but she doesn't seem defenseless, either.

"Limited ammunition." Five shots left. "You punch like that all the time?" Maybe she should try that instead. This suit is more conditioned to take damage than to deliver it, but it's also meant to stand up to Omnics. Organic creatures are a lot less durable than metal robots. A good punch from a metal suit might put a good dent into anything fleshy.

But that question was mostly rhetorical with the slightest hint of humor. The next one isn't.

"We need to get these people out of those cages. Are you in?"

Shepard gives a low level smirk. "Only when I'm in the mood."

She aims the coconut gun and shoots one ape down. At least with coconuts she doesn't have to be terribly accurate with her aim.

"Absolutely."

She looks back to the people in the cages and the pot beginning to boil.

"These apes are strong in numbers but I've fought them before. They're not as clever as they think they are."

She feels for her biotics, feeling the tension and mass effect fields twisting within. She's gotta wait a bit longer for another Nova but she's got more tricks up her sleeve.

"We need a quick and easy way to break the other captives out of their cages before we get overwhelmed."

"I have this." She drops a hand from her gun to withdraw the multitool from the satchel at her waist. It's what she used to cut herself and Finley free from their cage. While it's useless against the wood, it can slash through the rope knots in a matter of seconds.

"You might have a better chance of using it than I do. Those cages aren't really meant to support this thing." She gestures at the suit she's wearing, which is made of metal and definitely very heavy. It was one thing when she was already standing in a cage, but with the hover function not working, she's more likely to snap the ropes suspending the cages simply by jetting onto them. Not the most helpful rescue.

"If you can get up to them, I'll cover you," she offers, holding the tool out.

Shepard nods, taking the multitool and looking it over in her hands.

"This should help tremendously."

It gives her another tool to use outside of her semi-buried biotics. Looking around the battlefield again, she really wishes she had slept with her armor on. Maybe she'll do that from now on...

"I don't think these guys have ever seen the kind of tech you're sporting. It doesn't look too much like what I've seen with Cerberus at least."

God, she really, really hopes that this woman isn't secretly a part of Cerberus and she'll have to deal with that fallout when this is over. But that's not the priority right now.

She's already turning towards the cages and shoots the other woman a grin.

"Sounds like a plan. Let me know if it gets too much; I've got your back too."

Then she Charges herself towards one of the cages, effectively slamming into the bars and clinging to them tight as she begins to climb up to the rope.

Cerberus. That name doesn't mean anything to Pharah, but she'll keep it in mind. She's a little grateful that she seems over-equipped for this situation, unlike some of the others that were caught off-guard. Why she was allowed to keep her armor, she doesn't know... but she'll take any advantage that she can get.

"I'll be fine. Just worry about those cages," she calls after, watching for a few more seconds to make sure she gets up there alright. There don't seem to be any problems there, so Pharah turns back towards the monkeys, firing another shot into a group that seemed to be eying up their rescue attempt. The resulting explosion scatters and dissuades them from coming this way.

But her ammo is limited, so she's careful not to over-extend herself. Some of the apes are dealt with more personally, relying on her hand-to-hand combat skills to clobber anything that gets too close. And she'll keep up with that until her rescue partner is done.

As Pharah becomes the definition of badass on the field, Shepard commits to becoming monkey-like all her own, climbing until she reaches the rope that binds the bars together and getting to work. She looks to the inhabitants inside the cage and barks a quick reassurance that she's gonna get them out of there and begins to cut quickly. All the while she keeps an eye on her surroundings, occasionally glancing back at her companion to make sure she's not overwhelmed her self.

After a few minutes of dedicated cutting the ropes come undone and Shepard jumps to the side as it falls apart, watching to make sure the people inside get out safely. When she does she sees more monkeys getting closer to cause trouble and she lets out a quick Shockwave to blow them back.

"How are you doing over there, soldier?" she calls out, enjoying the rolling feeling of biotics over her fingers.

October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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