Akranon Mission Log

[ironwood]

Characters: Bucky Barnes (trainwrecked), Hellboy (histruename), Hal Jordan (animosus), Natasha Romanoff (chernaya), Saint Walker (burnseternal), Zelgadis (gathersnomoss)
Date: Now.
Location: Akranon, the vast desert.
Situation: A small group has been tasked by the emperor with exploring a new land. Is this the place where Malicant originated? Or is it just a false lead?
Warnings/Rating: Possible violence, adult language. Will edit as needed.

Magic will only take one so far. The swift transport from the edge of Asti's shell to the beach in the east takes less than four hours, but to cross the desert...that will take determination.

And water.

At the edge of Akranon, the beach is littered with shells, and the carcasses of dead animals, crawling to the sea to die. Sun-bleached bones are scattered across the endless sands, the only grave markers they get. One walks with caution here, in this place. The emperor was blunt, in his orders regarding this place.

Anything you find, even if it seems inconsequential, bring it to me. We must have more information.

The sun burns overhead, so close and so oppressive. How can anything exist in this place of fire and sand? What can be found in this empty landscape?

Comments

[vdova]

Natasha also eyeballs the green jet, and shakes her head. "The Emporer said get as much info as we can. We can't do that if we fly the entire way there," she says before pausing for a second.

"We don't even know which direction we should head."

[trainwrecked]

Bucky eyed Hellboy, a half... smile? Of sorts, playing on his face.

"So you remember having been here before. Welcome back, I guess?"

Then he crosses his arms. "Recon from the air and then deciding how to proceed sounds like the most sensible approach, however. But if it starts feeling strange over the desert, come back. The no-powers-away-from-the-turtle thing ain't a joke, and you end up stranded somewhere, that'll be bad."

Information was important. Not losing people was important, too.

"You all wanna take stock of who can do what, before we get started? Or find out how far we'll going and then share the info? Other than, clearly, Green Lantern stuff."

What. He knew Kyle. He had some idea about it.

[animosus]

Hal drops the construct and splutters at the insinuation that one of his constructs could possibly fail. This is almost as bad as saying he's a bad pilot. Hellboy is saved from his manly posturing by Bucky bringing up the possibility that their abilities may fail when there was enough distance.

But his pride is still bruised and he's more sullen as he replies. "Walker and I are Lanterns which means we're the best thing you guys have got. We operate in space, one desert on a tiny planet is nothing."

[histruename]

Hellboy barely has time to tip his head at Bucky in acknowledgement before he catches Hal starting to throw a fit. He only gives the guy a deadpan look, half a challenge to go ahead and say what's on his mind, half already done with the situation. The others talk, and that seems to shut him up, but it doesn't last long before he's opening his mouth again.

Jeez, that guy's got an ego, he thinks. Too bad he doesn't have the time or patience to deal with that crap right now. Hal's not the first pilot he's offended, probably won't be the last. And he can't deny the guy's got some impressive power, and sure, he'll be an asset, but he's obviously let that go to his head.

"Riiiight," he says, finally breaking his gaze from Hal. "Looks like we're reaching a consensus. Whoever can scopes out the road ahead, maps out where we need to go. They check back with the people on the ground."

He looks from face to face, gauging their reactions. "Anyone else know how to fly?"

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis raised a hand. "Magic spells. I'm also hardy enough to take a crash if the magic does give out, and I have supplies."

He didn't know a thing about these 'Lanterns' but a sorcerer from Zelgadis's world could be pretty versatile.

[burnseternal]

"I can also fly, as Hal Jordan helpfully pointed out," Saint Walker said, mouth curved in an amused, though not unkind, smile. He would contest the idea of the best they've got, but the fact remained that their skills would be of great use to their comrades in arms.

"But that may not be the most practical use of our skills. Hal Jordan and I may use our rings to communicate with each other at great distances. I would suggest that he and his group venture ahead to see what they find, and I will remain with the rest to provide a point of connection between us. Does this sound acceptable?"

[histruename]

"All right," Hellboy agrees with easy confidence. "Then Hal and Zelgadis will fly out ahead. The rest of us head out on foot."

His eyes flick between Hal and the sorcerer. He has his doubts about letting a cocky son of a bitch like Hal risk running into any trouble, but Zelgadis seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy, and he likes that. At least if the magic starts failing out there, Hotshot won't be stranded in the middle of the desert with nothing but his jammies and his decoder ring.

"You find anything, let us know. And if you feel like you're getting weaker, head back before you get yourselves stranded."

It feels like a solid plan, but like most solid plans, it'll probably fall apart pretty quick. So they should get moving before anything comes up.

"Everybody ready?"

[animosus]

Having to follow everyone's pace on foot would have driven Hal crazy in no time so it's a good thing for him he's getting sent ahead as a scout. And luckily for them, he wasn't against partnering up. If there was one thing his time in the Corps had taught him, it was learning to work as a team.

"Don't worry, if there's anything out there we'll take care of it for you." He turns to Zelgadis, "Let's see how magic fares against Oan tech."

Hal glows as he takes to the air.

[vdova]

Natasha's unimpressed as she watches it, turning to the others on the ground as Hal and Zel take to the air.

"So, which way are we headed?"

Because she's not going to stand around baking while she waits for the pair of flyers to return.

[trainwrecked]

"The peaks there would be an easy point to get our bearings, until we have more info?"

Not getting lost, as well as dead, is pretty high on Bucky's list of priorities. And, until the stars come out, that's the best orientation point that they have.

[histruename]

The mountains are just ghosts of giants towering on either side in the distance, a cold blue-gray against the yellow, barren landscape. Their faces are like a towering maw, opening wide into the endless desert, beckoning them in.

Getting that far wouldn't be easy for anyone, and it's not a journey Hellboy's willing to brave for something as simple as a vantage point when they just sent out two guys to do that for them.

"I don't think so," he says, mostly to Bucky. "It would take most of the day and night to get there, and climbing mountains is harder than it looks."

Though he's sure Saint could conjure up something that could get them up there in a second. But that's not the point of staying on the ground.

For now, he'll just start walking. Straight ahead's as good a direction as any, and standing still isn't gonna get them anywhere. They can walk while they talk things out.

"Let the guys in the air cover the bearings, kid. We'll tackle the mountains if they find something up there."

And as far as communication goes, he'll leave that one up to Saint.

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis took to the air when he saw Hal do so, maintaining a close enough distance to be in shouting range. Maybe he should have asked if they could have made the radios small enough for him to carry a transmitter, but he didn't know if that was even possible.

His own spell was only slightly visible as a bubble of air around him, and a change in the wind direction and speed, surprisingly subtle for his sort of magic.

"See anything yet?" he called to Hal.

[animosus]

Hal doesn't yell, his ring ensures that his voice carries well enough to not need to over the rushing wind.

"Sand sand and more sand. Maybe we need to kick it up a notch." He doesn't know how Zelgadis would be able to keep up so he's pacing himself.

[gathersnomoss]

"I'll head off as fast as I can," Zelgadis said. "If all else fails, I don't mind catching a lift." He could cast a spell quick enough to slow his fall, and he has flown dragonback before.

[animosus]

"Then let's test your limits."

Hal cockily salutes before shooting off, breaking the sound barrier. They'll probably have to double back more than a few times to make sure they didn't miss anything, but they'd still be far faster than the people on the ground. He also has his ring set up to notify him if something pops up.

If he doesn't see him soon, he's heading back to give him a construct he can ride on instead.

[gathersnomoss]

Zel's going to need that construct; he's fast compared to a bird, but not anywhere near sonic speed.

[animosus]

Hal speeds a head for a few seconds before he loops back.

"So I take it you might need a little help?"

[gathersnomoss]

"Yeah, a bit," Zelgadis said.

[animosus]

Hal grins and lies back in the air. A green construct couch appears beside him.

"All aboard the Green Lantern express!"

Would of been more appropriate if he'd gone with a train instead.

[gathersnomoss]

"That thing will hold me up?" Zelgadis asked. But he was settling in. "What keeps me from flying forward when you stop?"

[animosus]

"This thing runs on willpower. It won't because I'll will it not to. Anyway, I'm the best damn pilot you'll ever meet, but you can have seatbelts if you're scared."

Hal clearly thinks seatbelts are unnecessary and are for nerds only, but seatbelts do show up.

[gathersnomoss]

"Cautious," Zelgadis corrected. "Also, being slammed against solid rock hurts. I know that from experience."