Event | Satellite | Spectres!

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: May 23 - 26, 2013
Location: Keeliai, turtleside, ARSHEPHELIOS cluster remains
Situation: Repairs and salvage operations operating innocently have triggered an invasion of spectres that possess and wreak havoc upon all they see.
Warnings/Rating: Please put CW in your subject lines

Satellite Crash Event

Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres


Questions | Keeliai | ARSHEPHELIOS


Salvage is sweet, but not all is well on board the ARSHEPHELIOS cluster. The seamless cylinders salvaged from debris and the cluster, now being frequently traded, turn out to be pods the first time one is penetrated or cracked open. Each breached pod releases a flood of energy-based apparitions hellbent on world domination -- or, more accurately, person domination (and it's not the fun kind).

These apparitions -- spectres, if you will -- are driven by a need to protect the technology of the satellite cluster that their pods are associated with. They will stop at nothing to see this through. Each is immune to physical attacks, but seem to be injured or dissipated entirely by things like electrical shock or other energy-based projections. If people touch them, there is also a brief window of vulnerability, but it acts also like a door that swings both way. Through contact, these spectres can and will invade one's psyche, take over their body and cause them to attack friend or foe alike! Should the possessed body be subjected to sufficient electrical shock, the possession should fade. Strong natural will can also drive the spectres out, but it is no walk in the park to do so. Possession is not the only tool in the arsenal, for these spectres use electricity as their main offensive weapon. They'll leave deep-tissue burns on anyone they fight, and show no degree of fatigue after constant use of it.

Ten thousand of these creatures will be freed from pods, resulting in a veritable flood of Keeliai, the turtleside, and the satellite cluster. With such a driven enemy, it comes down to killing or being killed.

Meanwhile, those taking shelter indoors may notice that the spectres will get into the biomechanical functions of Keeliai. Consoles will be malfunctioning during this time, with lines of mysterious code and strange, ghostly images. One might hear people screaming for help or hours of patchy radio static.

Comments

[alpha_squad_leader]

[As the temperature keeps dropping and the ice spreads, Vic ends up dropping to the rooftop and curling into a tight ball to try to keep warm. He tries to reach out of grab Jack but he's moving far too slow and can't feel his fingers anymore anyway. He's starting to black out as the ice pours over the side of the building, silently hoping Jack can break free of control.]

[wintershepherd]

[ Seeing the cold affecting Victor, Jack throws everything he has against the specter's control, sacrificing for the moment the protection of Winter in desperation to protect his friend.

No, no! I won't let you hurt him!

And the cold wavers, stopping its arctic plunge as the two war inside Jack's mind. ]

[constants]

[ The Archive noticed the fight as she was passing by and slipped behind a veil to watch it unfold. There was no good reason to interfere, but Jack had seemed nice enough when they had conversed, and he had been helpful. She supposed stopping him from killing someone who appeared to be a friend was enough to repay his help.

She unveils a couple meters behind him, her face as passive as ever, and speaks in a clear voice. ]

Excuse me, I need to ask you to stop trying to kill him.

[ She has no expectation for this to work, so it's shields up time and she's got more than a few spells gathered at the back of her mind. ]

[alpha_squad_leader]

[Victor's grateful for the waves stopping. Or he would be if he weren't too busy trying not to freeze to death in what he's hit with already. Covered in the sleet, he tries to call out to warn whoever owns that new voice he hears but he just can't manage it.]

[wintershepherd]

[ The suddenness of the new voice behind him stumbles his concentration and the specter seizes control once again, turning towards the young girl (Jack recognizes her too, panics, no she's just a kid!) and gathering a fist size ball of ice in one palm. ]

[constants]

[ This clearly is not going to be solved peacefully, so she starts with something indirect. She sweeps her hand across her body, and hundreds of candle sized flames pop up across the roof top, slowly starting to raise the temperature. ]

I will ask you once again: desist.

[alpha_squad_leader]

[Victor manages to turn enough to see who's around. He doesn't recognize her but he sees Jack making ice and those fires appearing. Gritting his teeth, he forces himself to speak.]

Not...not Jack! He's possessed!

[wintershepherd]

[ The specter, unused to a body regulated by temperature (or any body at all, for that matter) didn't see the inherent danger of the flames and launches the ball of ice at the girl. While in midair it grows spikes like a free-form mace head, flying directly at her. ]

[constants]

[ She already guessed that he was possessed, but the confirmation is good. ]

I will not do him any permanent harm.

[ There is barely a reason to be interfering after all.

The Archive flicks her hand at the ice ball and it shatters as an unseen force smashes into it. A quick wave of her hand casts a concentrated burst of flames to melt the shards, and then fades. Hopefully she can distract the specter enough to cast a strong enough force blow to Jack's head to knock him out. ]

[alpha_squad_leader]

[Victor wants to help. He wants to make sure his friend doesn't get hurt or hurt anyone else. But he's not much use right now. Still shivering, he's trying to drag himself towards the nearest of those flames. Not much progress being made though.]

[wintershepherd]

[ Ice shoots across the surface of the rooftop, looking to encase the young girl in ice the way it had for Victor. ]

If you cease fighting I won't kill this host.

[constants]

[ The ice hits her shield and stops in its tracks. This time she doesn't move her hands but the same small fires pop up around her, and the air shimmers with heat. She's not willing to risk any ice getting near her. ]

I don't care one way or another.

[ But despite her words (and the truth that prompted them) she decides to put an end to it. Letting him go would result in the death of the other boy, and she had set out to prevent that.

He didn't seem to be human, and the name "Jack Frost" would have most likely belonged to a Winter Faerie back home, so she goes with the assumption that it will take more force to knock him out than a human. Once again she doesn't bother with a hand gesture to cast her magic. For something as simple as this, it's more of a technicality than anything. The Archive shoots a ball of force with an impact zone approximately the size of a baseball straight at his head. It hits a lot harder than a baseball, though. Even if he isn't knocked out with this blow, it should be enough to stagger him and hopefully distract the specter possessing him so she can try again. ]

[alpha_squad_leader]

Electric...electricity hurts them!

[Victor slumps as he calls out, not able to keep up with how cold he is. He tries one last time to drag himself towards a flame before passing out right there.]

[wintershepherd]

[ Against the specter's will, Jack's body recoils from the rising heat in the air, the absence of the chill he'd so recently commanded making the warmness feel even more potent. The apparition didn't fully understand why its host body had such a visceral reaction to the temperature change, but it had little time to ponder it as the blast of force hits. Jack's head snaps back and had he been human, likely there would have been a serious injury just there. But instead the spirit is staggered, dropping to his knees on the gravelly rooftop, dazedly casting about for something to throw back at the girl. ]

[constants]

[ She doesn't feel like using electricity to hurt the specter. She doesn't even want to hurt the specter. It's not her place, after all. The fire seems to be fairly effective though, and she isn't surprised by this discovery, considering his affiliation with winter elements.

Since the specter seems to be distracted, she discards the element of surprise for the benefit of reducing power consumption and uses hand gestures. The Archive waves her hand toward Jack and a couple dozen more flames pop up, and she follows up the motion with a flick of her hand, hurling more force at his head this time. ]

[wintershepherd]

[ The combined heat and the second blow is enough to render Jack and the specter too dazed to continue the assault and he slumps over onto his side, his eyes taking on a blank look suggesting neither of them is in control of the body at the moment... however this leaves him uncomfortably close to some of the flame lights. ]

[constants]

[ She waits a minute before concluding that the fight is finished, and waves her hand across the roof. The fires flicker out of existence like candles blown out, and she moves over to Victor. After a few moments of debate she flicks her hand a handful of small flames spread out in a ring around him. They'll last from half an hour to an hour, hopefully long enough to undo the cold from the ice.

With that her task is done. The Archive casts a final glance at the two bodies on the rooftop, gives a mental shrug, and departs. ]