MLC convinced me to join. Still reading through the thread so take your time finding my character or whatever.

Black Mage 1: "Sounds good."

Sanoa nods.

Kark: "Alright, ready up!"

Seven coffin-shaped metal crates, each one with four small, round AM windows, are loaded into the ballistae. Step ladders are placed and the crates are opened, waiting for their occupants to hop in.


________________________________________


Amelia: "We were still in Vran."

Elizabeth: "The entirety of Magusalto's population is divided among those two mountain bases, we can't just assume they're all dead. Investigate the north-east as deep as you can, let Ethan do long-range scouting. Don't run and poke another witch core.

Once you've confirmed the number of survivors or dead, exit the base, communicate the information, and investigate the north-west base."


________________________________________


Standing still for a moment, you try to listen for the sounds of destruction that aren't from the mysterious figure, but you don't hear any others.

Sensing the nearby area for magic doesn't reveal anything particularly note-worthy. Tabi probably isn't nearby, and it doesn't seem like there's anyone else alive in the immediate area.

Looking around a bit, if the main entrance could be referred to as "south", then the center, west, and south-west sections are already in ruin, with the creature working its way towards the north-west.


________________________________________


(STATS APPEARING SOME TIME LATER)

You wake up.

The dim orange-yellow glow from the Eitulta lamp illuminates an unfamiliar stone ceiling.

This doesn't look like your room.

Looking to your side, it looks like you're on a bunk bed, in a room with another set of bunk beds on the opposite wall. Other chirop are there, sleeping.

Oh, right, you evacuated from Magusalto along with pretty much everyone else. At the foot of your bunk bed against the wooden rail is an artificial leather messenger bag with all of your belongings that would fit.



Wonder if your family back in Nullam know what's going on.

The mages follow as you leave the room.

Amelia: "We'll wait."

Ethan lets out a grumble of some sort, and your group splits ways as the mages head for the port and you head for the Whitehawk camp.

The village of white tents is brightly illuminated with artificial lights that have the faintest yellow tint, giving it a warm, almost sunny feeling. A Whitehawk member asks if you need anything, and you're soon led to the lupus that helped you earlier, standing in front of an empty tent.

Daalmir: "Is everything alright?"


________________________________________


You hop into a crate. It's comfortably padded, and there are handles for you to hold on to. The door is closed and you lock it with latches on the inside.



Well, now's the time to say a prayer or something, if there's some greater being you believe in.


________________________________________


After rigging the needle pincushion to stay fixed to the rear of the pod (via crude AM wire armature you whipped up), you climb into the crate.

Kark: "You're married?"


________________________________________


You head back to the house, heading in and closing the door behind you.

Well, now what.

Kark: "Uh, to who?"

Kark: "Uh, huh."

The lid closes, and you lock it with a latch on the inside.



Kark shouts out, his voice mildly muffled.

Kark: "Get those angles corrected!

Everyone set!?

On zero!

Ready!?

Five! Four! Threetwoone FI-"

The windows go dark.



Hmm, that's weird. You don't feel any acceleration forces at all.


________________________________________


Daalmir: "The spirit can repair itself when it takes damage, but, yours is well past the limit of what it can fix.

If your construct breaks, you might last two hours and take reversible damage, something that a telepath can fix. Past that, you will lose core brain functions and fall into a coma, dying if you are not on life support.

Repairing the spirit, it might be possible. It is hard to say with your current state, though it would be impossible to make an attempt here. We would have to go back to our headquarters, investigate further. There are machines that are required."


________________________________________


Walking upstairs and into your room, you drop off your gear and look around.

Yup, a wooden chair with a padded seat and back. Plopping Kuori into the chair, you crawl into bed and close your eyes.



Someone is staring at you.

Not like, in a creepy way. Or, well, maybe it is creepy, you're not sure.

Someone lacking almost all emotion, the only thing remaining is desire, for safety.

Like, hiding under a blanket safety.

They're under the blankets with you, aren't they.


________________________________________


You pray to the god of crates.



Kark shouts out, his voice mildly muffled.

Kark: "Get those angles corrected!

Everyone set!?

On zero!

Ready!?

Five! Four! Threetwoone FI-"

Your stomach lurches and your head feels like it swells as the blood rushes up your body. It's not as bad as the first launch from what you can remember, but it's still not comfortable.

The pressure in your head lowers after a few seconds, but you still feel like you're upside-down and hurtling upwards.


________________________________________


Opening the latch on your bag, you review the items that you stuffed inside.

Ink pen
Bottle of extra ink (you sealed the screw-in stopper to the bottle with wax to keep it from possibly leaking)
A few candles
Blank notebook
Cheap folding knife
Thin but water-proof and highly-insulative Artificial-Matter blanket
Artificial-Matter canteen filled with water
Regenerating mana stone (that you never returned to the college lab that owns it)
A TABI (Telepathy-Assisted Brick Interface) construct that was passed around among a few students before falling into your hands, you use it as a calculator

The sound of you shuffling through your items wakes the chirop on the top of the other bunk. She rolls around for a bit before sitting up, reaching around under the blankets until she finds a small handheld construct.

"I seem to be a bit disoriented, could you tell me where we are?

Her name is Dehlii, you think. Something something cafe joke.

Dehlii: "Eh?

It's the safety shelter. Evacuation shelter? That."