[closed] mission: carnivorous harvest

[bunnyhopped]

who: hana song, genji shimada, x'rhun tia, shigeru miyata, keith, shiro
what: the carnivorous harvest mission
when: sept. 15-18
where: the jungle; outside of the abandoned city walls
warnings: none foreseen; will update as necessary

TRAVELING, CAMPING

[ It’s early in the morning when the team sets out from the Perimeter Guard’s base of operations; they have a long ways to go to reach the jungle, which lays beyond the outerwall that surrounds the abandoned city. The Guard has equipped them with supplies for traveling, including camping gear, containers for collecting the Lababerries in, and of course the information they need to reach their destination within the jungle.

Passing through the abandoned city before reaching the outer wall is quicker than the traveling they will do outside of the wall; while the abandoned city is grown over, there were still paths that were relatively clear for the party to travel along – there won’t be much of that out in the jungle. That does not, however, preclude any sudden appearance of the monsters that may have broken through the outer perimeter of the city.

Traveling concludes during when night falls, which puts the team just within the confines of the city: it would be easier for them to take on what may lie beyond the fence once they’ve rested for a night. They camp out around what would have been an old house on some small plot of farmland at the very outskirts of what would have been settled before the Quarantine was compromised. At the very least, it provides some solid shelter in the event of a freak weather event, but vines and other vegetation have overtaken it to the point that it was really barely a shell of its former structure. The area around it is open and well-suited for setting up tents and a fire and everything else.

Members of the team, of course, take turns keeping watch through the night.

The plan would be to find a suitable campsite for the following evening within the jungle but away from the area where the Lababerry plants grow; it wouldn’t be wise to camp near carnivorous plants, after all, although there’s nothing to say that there aren’t other dangers lurking within the jungle. After examining the search area and locating the plants, they would harvest the fruits and then journey back, likely making this a four-day trip in total. ]

SURVEYING THE SITE

[ After about half of a day’s travel into the jungle from the outer perimeter, they reach an area that had been marked down as habitat for the Lababerry-growing, carnivorous plants. The party will have to make camp at least some distance away come nightfall lest they be eaten in their sleep, but in the meantime they can get to work by surveying the habitat area and pinpointing the locations of the plants; both for data collection purposes and to make it easier for the seasonal harvest that will take place once the plants are once-again dormant because, in an environment as rapidly-growing as the forests outside of the Quarantine, things are constantly changing.

The Lababerry plants grow on a shrub that enjoys the shade and dampness of the jungle’s understory. At first glance, it is almost indistinguishable from most other plants growing beneath the large trees, but closer inspection would reveal the Lababerries themselves growing in clusters directly along the shrub’s stems. But closer inspection would get your hand and/or face possibly bitten off by the leaves also growing on the stems. They appear to be completely unsuspecting until someone gets too close, at which point the leaves split and reveal toothy openings much like a venus flytrap’s that can elongate and extend from the stem almost like a vine, and snapping at its prey much like a snapping turtle. So, good luck fighting off the plants while making sure the berries stay in tact (which probably means less fire and explosions, more hacking and slashing). The goal, for now, would merely be to observe the plants’ behavior and come up with a good strategy for harvesting later.

Oh, and making sure the party doesn’t get attacked by any of the other monsters dwelling in the jungle. ]

HARVEST

[ After a day of surveying and clearing the area of any outside threads, it’s time to harvest! If the team has prepared sufficiently the previous day, this should be the easiest part of the mission! Hopefully. Barring, again, any angry monsters coming through.

Using the information they gathered on the plants and coming up with a good way to extract the fruits, the team will have to fight the plants without completely destroying them to leave enough crops for the next harvest season and collect them in the containers provided by the Guard before making their journey back toward the inhabited area of the city. ]

Comments

[verflair]

Gods, I hope not!

[ In spite of the circumstances, the monster with tentacles and far too many teeth and breath like a stagnant sewer in the summertime, X’rhun laughs. ]

Just look at it! It doesn’t need to be worse than it already is!

[ The vines might not grow back, but the morbol has more than enough to spare. Despite X’rhun’s assault, it remains steady and upright, and supremely pissed off. The creature focuses its ire on X’rhun once again. The crystal on the end of X’rhun’s sword glows again as he focuses another spell, and as the morbol lunges at him, it gets a face-full of fire for its troubles.

The monster has spent too much time in the waters of the swamp for the fire to catch, but the heat and the flames in its face are a good distraction, and it screeches in pain and surprise, tentacles flailing wildly. ]

[bunnyhopped]

[ Well, that sure is a giant ball of fire.

Freakin'. Sweet.

She knows it was meant to distract the morbol, but jeez, she can't help but look at the giant eruption of flames, too. Unfortunately, it's enough of a lapse in her focus that by the time she snaps back into clarity, she barely, barely has time to dodge a few vines whipping over— ]

Ah, crap!

[ —as one manages to wrap around one of Hana's cannon arms, further hindering her ability dodge any other forthcoming attacks. Hana helplessly pulls and pushes on her controls, trying to wiggle her arm free but finding no success. ]

Gramps, I'm in a bind!

[verflair]

[ There are several things he’d like to respond to there, chief among them being “gramps”, but with Hana in the clutches of a morbol, this isn’t really the time.

X’rhun extends his free hand, and a thin strand of light, so thin it would be easy to miss, shines out from his palm to the vine currently clamoring for purchase on Hana’s mech. In an instant, X’rhun is propelled forward with a burst of speed so sudden it could only be magical, leading with his blade which he drives through the vine.

With a sudden jerk, he yanks his sword upward, severing the morbol’s vine, and without the strength to grip, it falls away from the mech’s arm.

But now they’re both on the same side of the thing, and guess where it’s now facing?

The morbol seems to smile as it rears back, preparing to breathe noxious fumes on the both of them. ]

Move! Move!

[bunnyhopped]

[ She has no idea how he got over here so fast, but can't complain; she feels the give on her left stick as soon as X'rhun cuts the vines binding her mech, and her celebration at being free of the morbol's clutches is completely short-lived when she looks up and finds it facing her - no, them. Since now X'rhun is here. Which means they collectively have its undivided attention. ]

Shit.

[ There's no time to think and she hits her boosters, pushing her flight sticks forward just as X'rhun is calling for her to move, in a last-ditch attempt to put some distance between the mech and the morbol, and X'rhun. Maybe if she gets away fast enough, it'll end up doing the nasty breath thing between them instead of at them!? ]

[verflair]

[ When Hana bolts off in one direction, X’rhun opts to move the opposite way. Just as quickly as he had zoomed in, he leaps back out again— what would normally be a simple backflip affords him sudden distance thanks to a small blast of magic that propels him backwards, and he lands nimbly on a low branch of a nearby tree.

In the instant he and Hana both cleared the space in front of the morbol, it lets loose a spray of noxious fumes from its mouth, a sickly purple cloud that lingers in the heavy jungle air for a few heartbeats before dissipating.

From his new vantage point, X’rhun opts to seize the creature’s attention by calling, ]

Over here, you great oaf!

[ The morbol turns, snarling. X’rhun, in answer, snaps the crystal onto his sword again, bringing the pseudo-staff up and sweeping it down again in one fluid motion. A pillar of bright white light comes spiraling down through the treetops, slamming into the morbol with a sudden flash.

Morbols apparently really don’t like getting slammed with verholy, and it shrieks. It’s looking rather charred now, thanks to X’rhun, and unsteady on its vines as it swings around to look for Hana, deeming her the easier prey. ]

[bunnyhopped]

[ Excuse you, Hana is not easy prey!

But she also doesn't have giant fireballs to hurl at this thing, so she kinda gets it. She has to take a moment to catch her breath before she pivots back toward the morbol just in time to witness X'rhun's spell - or at least she thinks it's a spell - and be impressed by it briefly before she dives right back in, fusion cannons firing into the morbol's backside to take advantage of its apparent unsteadiness. ]

[verflair]

[ Well, to be fair, morbols aren’t exactly smart, so in its weird little plant monster brain, it just figures that the one not dropping pillars of white magic on its head has got to be easier to deal with.

It quickly realizes that may have been a mistake as the bullets bite into its already haggard vines. The morbol wobbles ungracefully, trying to find some way to keep its balance, but considering a morbol is like 25% vines, 75% head, and about 200% unpleasantness, it topples over. The creature hits the swampy ground in a splash of gray-green water and a wet-sounding thud.

Down though it may be, it’s certainly not out, as its remaining vines squirm for purchase, trying to lift itself upright again. For now the worst of the danger is over, with a morbol gurgling ineffectually face-down on the ground.

X’rhun hops from his perch, landing lightly on the ground. ]

Best to finish it off, but I would be quick. Morbols are, regrettably, not solitary creatures.

[bunnyhopped]

[ That is very sound mathematics as far as Hana is concerned regarding this... whatever it is. Bormol or whatever. The MEKA unit lands with a small splash into the shallow swamp and Hana grimaces because, man, she's gonna have to wash her mech down really well after this mission is over... and she trudges over to their somewhat-fallen bounty.

Hana does nothing to conceal the utterly disgusted look on her face as she watches the creature squirm and slither and skulk in the nasty swamp water.

And then she just kind of.

Pokes the thing with one of the canon arms of her mech. ]

Ew.

[verflair]

To put it lightly. I don't suppose that machine of yours comes equipped with a flamethrower?

[ Sure, X'rhun's own fire didn't do much, but a healthy application of the stuff should work wonders. ]

[bunnyhopped]

God, I wish it did. I should talk to someone about adding flamethrowers to my baby...

[ She's still poking the tentacles with her cannons... ]

[verflair]

Hana, please don't--

[ "Aggravate it", is how he had hoped to end that statement, but there are sudden and unpleasant wet and slimy noises coming from the swamp. X'rhun brings his blade to bear as he whirls around to see no less than a dozen morbol seedlings come crawling out of the muck. ]

Ah, wouldn't you know. It was a mother.

[bunnyhopped]

[ The mech, along with Hana, pivot to face the direction of those gross noises - but she finds herself perplexed at the sight she's greeted with. Like little baby versions of that... thing... And then X'rhun's words confirm her suspicion. ]

Aww! Baby ones!

[ Aww ??? ]

[verflair]

Hana!

[ X'rhun sounds positively scandalized by that "Aww", and he motions with his hand at the still-struggling morbol as if to say "This, this is what you just called cute!"

But the little ones are quickly closing the gap. They may not have as many teeth as their mother, but what they do have is still wickedly sharp. X'rhun would much like to keep his ankles in tact, so he flings out a quick spell with his rapier and crystal. A wave of orangey light sweeps over the ground, gathering around the seedlings' vines and binding them in place. ]

They will still eat us, if given the chance.

[bunnyhopped]

[ Hana sighs the most put-upon sigh to ever be sighed in this jungle and says, ] Fine.

[ as though X'rhun was asking her to clean her room or something. Slowly she pivots in her mech to face the direction of the seedlings, all bound up from the red mage's spell as Hana approaches... slowly.

It's really too bad that these little babies grow up to be horrible tentacle ball monsters... ]

Sorry, dudes. Can't have you growing up all gross!

[ Then she blasts them with her fusion cannons. ]

[verflair]

[ The morbol seedlings screech and cry as the mech's fusion cannons tear into them. Some of them fall under the hail of gunfire, which makes mama morbol very unhappy if the ungoldy shriek it lets out is any indication. However, some of the seedlings manage to wriggle free of X'rhun's spell and starts swarming towards Hana.

X'rhun quickly incants and fires of a a scatter spell, striking the seedlings with a burst of branching red energy. A few of them that a re a little worse for the wear topple over, and some of them branch away from their siblings to charge at the red mage while the rest still go for the mech. ]

[bunnyhopped]

Ugh, just go away already!

[ Her response to the chunk of morbol babies (morbabies?) swarming her is to move her mech's cannon-wielding arm, sweeping and swatting away at them in an attempt to get a bit of distance. Then she takes aim with the cannons and fires, again, hoping that'll take care of them. At that juncture, she's not sure if she should go and finish off mama morbol or back X'rhun up, so she turns in his direction and calls out, ]

Are you good over there, gramps?

[verflair]

I can handle myself!

[ Those swords of light are back, hovering just over X’rhun as the tiny morbols make their advance. ]

Take care of the big one, if you would.

[bunnyhopped]

Roger that!

[ She knows she can count of him. X'rhun has proved himself more than capable over the (so far, brief) course of this mission. So she turns in her mech and boosts toward the big mama morbol, fusion cannons firing as she goes, ammo aimed at its eye. ]

Get owned, you ugly tentacle monster!