007 ⌥ VIDEO

[femshep]

[Welp, here's Shepard. She's got a lovely pair of parallel gashes across her cheek with the hintings of an attempted third, and the deepest spots may or may not be emanating a little bit of a red glow, but that's the least of their problems, because:]

I know we've got eyes and ears out west. Anyone want to tell me what the hell's going on? Whatever it is is driving everything with some kind of survival instinct straight through central. We've got wildcats, we've got oversized wolves by the pack, we've got-... shit, never thought I'd see the day that 'dinosaurs' were a plausible theory.

You'd think something like this would call for a goddamn status report.

[Shepard is Not Happy with the general lot of you. She's vaguely wondering what the use is of having so many goddamn military-men if they're all gonna circlejerk on one end of the city and leave their collective flank wide open.

Also? Liara, Kaidan, that's your cue to report in.

To all telepaths! She noticed the distinct lack of AU!Charles and it's making her antsy, so she's swallowing her pride and putting out a 'where the hell are you' sort of wordless ping to see if she can't locate him. She needs to know if he's in trouble or just idk brooding or something. Any and all telepaths can probably pick up on this ping if you'd like them to, though she may or may not bitch at them for it.]

Comments

[text]

[seesobserves]

Look up.

[That's code for 'there's smoke in the western sky, moron.']

[text]

[femshep]

[Unfortunately, she's right near city central where the buildings are densest, so she can't necessarily see said smoke.

She takes this opportunity to climb up one of the few remaining unwrecked stairwells to the crooked roof of a three-story building, so the reply is delayed.]

Doesn't tell us much.

Explosives? Arson? Or just piss-poor timing?

[text]

[seesobserves]

Better question.

No sound of explosion. Could have been arson, or a natural event.

[thecricketer]

[The Doctor is singed again, backlit in smoke and sparks. He's a safe enough distance from the flames, but only just.]

There, ah, appears to be a fire.

[He absently pats at his shoulder. Sparks will land where they will, after all.]

I wasn't able to pinpoint the source, but I assume that's what the animals are running from. I suggest we get everyone underground.

Unless, of course, they've experience in handling forest fires. It may burn itself out before reaching the city, but there's no garauntee.

[femshep]

Yeah, I'm seeing that now. [She's scaled to a rooftop to get some sort of view, though it's still not a great one. Really, her initial post was just an impulse who-the-fuck-let-the-raptors-in rant anyway.]

If we send them underground, they'll be sitting ducks for the predators.

Video

[thecricketer]

Not if the predators can't get to them. [He's moving, now, but it's towards the fire, to see if he might find some hints to its source.]

We can station willing combatants at the entrances to ward off any unwelcome guests.

[abetterway]

[Jocelyn picks it up, and as much as it surprises her, it concerns her more. She debates on responding, but ultimately, concern overrides caution.

She focuses on the feel of the message, of the mind that sent it, and directs her words there.]

Are you all right?

[It's a gentle thought, not demanding or invasive.

As her mind works, so do her fingers, searching her device for any similar messages.]

[femshep]

[....Welp, not exactly the person she was looking for, and with a lovely and ultimately unwanted show of concern to boot.

Still, she's too focused on the situation at hand to fuck with pissing off the telepaths right now.]

I'm fine.

...

Wrong Xavier.

[abetterway]

[Well, that's - something of a relief.]

I see.

[She could leave it at that, and she gets the distinct impression the woman would like her to, but...]

I could scan for him, if you like. My reach extends about fifteen miles.

[video]

[asecondfaster]

[Ian is a bit singed too, and he's running from the flames, trying to get far enough away.]

Did you say dinosaurs?

[video]

[femshep]

I also said wildcats and packs of wolves. Now's not the time to get caught up on the 'how' and 'why'.

[But she can see the vague flicker of flames behind him, so:]

You alright, kid? I can send back-up. [Because she's cursed to forever adopt everyone ever.]

[video]

[standsentinel]

[By the background, Kaidan's just exited the ship. The datapad held in one hand and angled upwards, it shows him lifting a hand to his eyes and peering out at the horizon. He speaks on the heels of a long indrawn breath.]

I don't have eyes on the situation, but that's smoke in the air. Reminds my of my grandparents' place in the Interior... If you've got animals where they shouldn't be, I'm thinking fire, and a big one--

Wait--

[He looks one part bemused to one part tentatively curious.]

Did you seriously just say 'dinosaurs'?

[video]

[femshep]

[The background to her reply's a little different than her initial post--sky instead of buildings. It looks like she's climbed to a better vantage point in the meantime.

To his question, she gestures vaguely to her face.] What the hell'd you think gave me this? [But her voice is absent of the expected 'don't be stupid' tone--she's just as confused by the dinosaurs as he is.]

Yeah, I'm seeing the smoke now. [But she's never been to Earth, and there weren't exactly any wildfires on Mindoir, so she has to ask:] With a fire that size, how do we put it down?

[video]

[knightoflight]

[Wing is really glad she didn't use the circlejerky language aloud or he would shrivel in embarrassment. Or ask some really odd questions.]

I haven't wanted to risk venturing too far from the ship lest I draw the Authorities' attention back to us.

[video]

[femshep]

We've got their attention, whether we like it or not.

Is there anything you could do to help us push back the fire? [The odds are pretty low that he's packing a Wing-sized fire extinguisher, but there might be something he can do.]

[truth_is_cold]

Burning.

I can smell it. It's getting larger.

[femshep]

How do we stop it? [This is one of the few things she doesn't have hands-on experience with--she's spent most of her life on Alliance ships, and the rest on a colony without a wildfire in sight.]

[gavehislife]

Dinosaurs are a lot more plausible than you might expect.

Recommend you stay well out of their way. They are not going to be hunting, but that does not mean they will not trample or take down anything in their way.

Fairly certain we've got a wildfire situation going on.

[femshep]

Should've thought to come to you on this one. [After all, he's the only one she knows with any kind of firsthand experience.]

Sound advice you've got, but there's no way in hell I'm sitting back and watching the parade.

[hunt4commonwealth]

We should get an evacuation plan ready just in case our efforts to keep the fire away don't work. If those flames hit the city, the whole place is going to go up like a tinder box.

Maybe we should break up into three teams. One to deal with the predators, one to work on fire control, and one to prepare for evacuation so we're not caught flat footed if the worst should happen.

[femshep]

[She shakes her head.] It won't work. It's ideal, sure, but there's no way to get everyone's ass in gear on this short of notice. By the time we got any kind of organization in place, the fire'll have half of the city.

And besides, the predators are too widespread to just up and 'deal with them', and there's no real evac prep besides 'get the hell moving'.

[A contemplative pause as she mulls over some sort of plan of action.]

We need everyone who can't fight the fire to grab whatever supplies they can get ahold of and head for the ship. The combatants can guard the door and keep the rest of them safe. That way, the predators are only incoming from one direction--that'll cut the danger in half.

[Feel free to amend the plan if you see the need, this is just how she brainstorms.]

voice;locked

[fireofunknown]

Fire. Wild fire.

[And that Shepard, is Fox's scared voice.]

I can feel it. It's just-- gonna get worse.

[femshep]

[And this, Fox, is Shepard skipping straight over the 'do you need back-up?' step.]

Where are you? [Her voice is sharp. She's coming, whether you like it or not.]

[Audio]

[relicrebellion]

I would give most of my credits for a handful of functional fire-suppressant mechs right now.

[It's a little bit breathless.]

If we could just divert the path of the stampede...

[Audio]

[femshep]

Call me down my ship and I'll get you all the fire-suppressants you can ask for. [But really, she knows neither are really all that possible, so it's more of a half-joke than anything.

But to the second part, she's definitely serious:]

It's worth a shot.