tushanshu_logs | LANDFALL | TAVIMBI

Entry tags:

LANDFALL | TAVIMBI | MARCH MINGLE LOG

Characters: ALL!
Date: March 1 - 31
Location: City of Hatal, Tavimbi
Situation: Tu Vishan is still anchored just off the coastline of Tavimbi, and the city of Hatal continues to welcome kedan and Foreigners alike.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

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The Tavimbians continue to be welcoming to their guests, and while Foreigners are still required to carry their issued pass stamps while in Hatal, they are starting to become recognized. The stamps are made of a brassy metal, a little larger than a credit card, and inscribed with their information, their date of arrival, and whether they've had any run-ins with the laws in Tavimbi (it will be stamped accordingly by the authorities if such happens.)

OOC: There are starters in the comments for various areas of Hatal, or you can use the rest of the post for anything on Tavimbi which doesn't fit under those headings. All city descriptions, as well as NPC contacts for threading, can be found in the Tavimbi OOC post, which is currently stickied in the OOC comm.

Be sure to also check the March Itinerary for up to date happenings in Hatal, and to tag this entry with your character tag when you join in.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pepper hadn't managed to get down to the Lorn level much yet before the earthquake happened, but now she's wishing she'd spent more time exploring and less time shopping. In any case, she'd suited up as soon as she heard what had happened.

Because the armor makes her far stronger than she normally is, Pepper can be seen lifting large sections of rock. On rare occasions she might use the repulsors to cut or blast away pieces as well. She leaves the faceplate open except when she's searching for survivors under the rubble using the suit's sensors.

When she does find those who are injured, she's also able to make quick assessments of their condition and report them accurately to the healers and doctors who are tending to the wounded.

Tony had rushed down to the Lorn level as soon as he heard about the earthquake. Disaster relief isn't his usual gig, but he knows it's something he can help with.

A quick call to Pepper confirms that she's already there and working on the cleanup, and he heads straight for her. He doesn't bother making a stop at the makeshift infirmary that's been set up. His suit is normally stocked with essential pharmaceuticals for emergency medical treatment in the field, but they've all long ago run out or expired, and he wouldn't know how they'd affect Kin'nal anyway. And the medical scanners will be useless on alien biology. He'd be useless. Sitting around with a bunch of dying people he can't help would just be a depressing and upsetting waste of time.

But he can blast rocks and clear debris and take seismic readings. So that's what he does. He gives Pepper a businesslike nod when he finds her, and gets to work.

Pepper leaves her faceplate open, but Tony keeps his closed so he can keep a constant eye on the readings displayed on his HUD. At the moment, they're working on clearing a large section of collapsed tunnel - there are several life signs just beyond it. As they shove one huge piece of rock aside, Tony picks up a small aftershock on his sensors. It's too small to feel, but along with the excavation they've done, it's enough to cause critical stress in the cavern beyond.

"Wait, stop!" He holds up his hands and takes a step back. "I just picked up an aftershock - this whole tunnel is destabilizing. If we move anything else we could bring down the whole thing. We need to find another way around."

Even if it's for disaster-response, working with Tony like this feels right. It's a huge part of who they are now, helping people in extraordinary ways.

She freezes at Tony's outburst and steps back with him. Good thing he's been monitoring the sensors; it wouldn't do anyone any good to get trapped themselves. She closes her helmet as a precaution, as well as to give her a better idea of what their options are.

"Assuming there is another way around. This place is like a maze," she replies. Large portions of the Lorn level have been mapped out already by the Sinayg, but it's hard to tell where there have been cave-ins or other hazards due to the earthquake. "Looks like there might be a few smaller tunnels back that way," Pepper observes, pointing through the rock wall that bends around behind them to the left. "No way to know if they're open, though. Or stable. But it's either that or punch through."

Which was an option, but not an appealing one.

As grim as the work is, Tony's glad to have Pepper by his side. Despite his solo antics and sassing Fury about not being a team player, he works best when he knows he has friends he can count on.

"If we can find a stable section of rock, we may be able to drill through," Tony says. Counterintuitive, maybe, but: "It's less likely to bring down the whole thing than trying to clear the rubble, if all the collapsed sections are still unstable."

He nods when she points to the branching tunnels. "Let's check it out. We'll update the 3D map as we go. If we can't find any rockslides that are safe to clear, maybe we can find a wall to cut through."

"When all else fails, build your own door. I like it," Pepper replies approvingly. "Or, you know, cut your own door, in this case."

She looks back at the pile of rubble between them and the Kin'nal they're trying to reach, as if to somehow imbue a message into the stone that help is still on the way. This work is far slower than what she and Tony normally deal with back in New York, and there's an element of frustration in that.

"Fingers crossed," she declares, and heads towards the second tunnel. "Too bad this isn't like one of those disaster movies where you can fix things with a nuke."

"Every wall is a door when you have enough lasers," Tony quips, with some measure of his usual good humor. "And lasers are usually more useful than nukes. Besides, I didn't bring any nukes with me."

Before they turn away to start investigating some of the other passages, Tony turns up his speakers and announces, "We're going to try a safer route through. Hang in there, and don't try to move any of the rocks. We're coming for you." He has no idea if the trapped Kin'nal will be able to hear them, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Tony consults the current map projected on his HUD and picks out the tunnel he thinks is likeliest to loop back around to the collapsed chamber. "Let's try this one first," he says, and starts off down the passage.

"Do you even have nukes to bring with you?"

She's some kind of shocked and fascinated, because the idea of having a nuclear weapon just sitting in a closet somewhere is sort of ridiculous and amazing.

Hopefully the survivors they're trying to reach can hear Tony's message, but it's impossible to tell. All they can do is find another way in.

"I bet the USGS would have a fit if they came down here," she mutters, following behind Tony.

"No, of course not. All of our nuclear material is used in reactors or for experiments." Duh, Pepper.

He responds much more seriously to her muttered comment. "No kidding. I can't believe the kin'nal live like this. I had no idea it was so bad down here. Collapses like this must happen all the time."

"Just thought I'd check."

Tony could probably build a nuke out of scraps in a cave if he had to, though.

"They don't seem to be a really high priority for anyone except for what they produce," Pepper points out, probably needlessly. She was likely preaching to the choir. "It's one thing to choose this kind of life, but this..." She trails off; it didn't seem fair, it wasn't fair, but she's not sure this is a battle they can take on, much less win.

"This isn't right," Tony finishes. "No one should have to live like this." He shakes his head, frowning behind his mask. "I don't get it. The city needs the resources they produce. They should have enough economic bargaining power not to be living like... this. Why don't they, you know, go on strike?"

Pepper considers this briefly, running through what she knows of Hatal's history.

"Well... I mean, they used to be prey. And they all seem to get along okay now, but it's not like they can forget that it used to be that way. Maybe... maybe they're afraid things'll go back to even worse than they are now, if they try to improve things for themselves," she speculates. And then she shrugs, almost helplessly, as they move through the tunnel. "It's not like they have a lot of options. They should, obviously but if things got ugly they aren't really built for a fight."

"...I guess." There's a stretch of silence. After some thought, Tony continues. "But the major religion here says all the races are equal. And there are more Muin than any of the other races, and they get along just fine with the Kin'nal. It seems like if they fought for their rights they'd have a lot of support."

The whole situation frustrates him. He wishes there was more he could do. He wishes he understood why so many of the Kin'nal seem accepting of their lowly station.

"Yeah. Maybe. I'd hope so, anyway," Pepper says, sounding troubled. "It seems like we'll be here for a while; we might make a dent just talking with them."

That might make things complicated in terms of relations with Hatal, but if the Kin'nal wanted something better Pepper knows she'll do what she can to help.

"Maybe." He hopes so too. Tony feels like it's his duty to help people - but he's not sure what to do with people who may not want to be helped.

The tunnel takes a sharp turn, and Tony stops, consulting his map. "We're close to the cave-in. I think we may be able to tunnel through this wall." He runs a scan. "Looks stable to me. You picking up anything?"

Pepper stops with Tony, watching the readout on her HUD as she scans around the area Tony's indicated. Nothing significant pops up as risky, no new tremors. She nods.

"Nope. Looks like a good spot." She holds her armor-covered hand to the wall, taps it with her knuckles. "Well, good as any. How big of a hole do you think we need?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

LANDFALL | TAVIMBI | MARCH MINGLE LOG

After the earthquake | OTA

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