The surface of Ake. It was the sort of thing there were no postcards of. No cute little plastic coins that would project a tiny volumetric landscape would be available in the Origin gift shop upon their return from this inhospitable wasteland. When they were all out under the scorching sun on the other side of the volumetric field that kept the breathable air in camp, the group was presented with a never ending ocean of orange dirt which had been rain-soaked and then dried up so totally by the sun that a perfect pattern of rippling cracks wormed their way in every direction. It has been said more than once that this landscape is a brownie. As perfectly nutritious as it looked from a distance, the moment the first boot pressed into the soft and dry dirt it was revealed that such a delicious confection was instead made up of tiny sand which sparkled in the mid-day light. Wait, it was still mid-day? Hadn't it been mid-day when they arrived? Of course, the sun on Ake is cruel indeed. Because of the planet's obscene tilt, those equatorial crater lakes were in such a spot that during this time of year the sun would rise around three in the morning and settle on the horizon by nearly ten the next day if one went with the standard clocks that were used on Nepleslia and Yamatai. In the winter, the opposite would be true.
The walk to the other landing site was mostly silent. It can be certain that Akemi opened her fat mouth more than once, and that Franklin probably made a few cracks-wise on his own; but otherwise it was a laborious hike and the breathing masks that everyone except the two Neko had to wear made holding any sort of decent conversation difficult. Also, it took place during a timeskip while I put all of you on plot-rails. Nothing interesting ever happens during those times. Unless someone decides to write a JP about it later anyhow. Either way, they all went to the landing site.
What awaited them was a circle of flattened dirt. In the basic sense, it had been that. On the other hand, there were a few items of interest. There was a spot of raised dirt on the ground, where the soil was mixed with sparkly black rocks that reflected the sun especially well. More interestingly, there was the burnt out remains of a GP-ORV pick-up truck. Whatever color it had been, it was now black. Whatever equipment it had, it was now charcoal. It'd been set ablaze and left to burn out under the harsh Ake sun for so long that the fixtures themselves had melted and warped and only the basic shape of the chassis remained. Perhaps more interesting than that, however; was the ear. It was an Elysian ear by its size and shape, lying shriveled and dry on the sand in a thick red stain that had probably once been dry blood, and just plain blood before that.
As for anything else? There was no sign of anything else. Anything else wasn't even involved in the equation. This land was aside from these items of interest as barren as the rest of the land on the planet. In the distance, foothills and mountains were formed beyond the wavering veil of hot air. In the other direction, the shape of their home landing site could barely be made out beyond a similar haze.
Seeing that there wasn't much to do, Franklin spoke up first.
"Ain't much t' do I reckon." He surmised. "Might's'wull get to it, I guess... Aghyughp."
The walk to the other landing site was mostly silent. It can be certain that Akemi opened her fat mouth more than once, and that Franklin probably made a few cracks-wise on his own; but otherwise it was a laborious hike and the breathing masks that everyone except the two Neko had to wear made holding any sort of decent conversation difficult. Also, it took place during a timeskip while I put all of you on plot-rails. Nothing interesting ever happens during those times. Unless someone decides to write a JP about it later anyhow. Either way, they all went to the landing site.
What awaited them was a circle of flattened dirt. In the basic sense, it had been that. On the other hand, there were a few items of interest. There was a spot of raised dirt on the ground, where the soil was mixed with sparkly black rocks that reflected the sun especially well. More interestingly, there was the burnt out remains of a GP-ORV pick-up truck. Whatever color it had been, it was now black. Whatever equipment it had, it was now charcoal. It'd been set ablaze and left to burn out under the harsh Ake sun for so long that the fixtures themselves had melted and warped and only the basic shape of the chassis remained. Perhaps more interesting than that, however; was the ear. It was an Elysian ear by its size and shape, lying shriveled and dry on the sand in a thick red stain that had probably once been dry blood, and just plain blood before that.
As for anything else? There was no sign of anything else. Anything else wasn't even involved in the equation. This land was aside from these items of interest as barren as the rest of the land on the planet. In the distance, foothills and mountains were formed beyond the wavering veil of hot air. In the other direction, the shape of their home landing site could barely be made out beyond a similar haze.
Seeing that there wasn't much to do, Franklin spoke up first.
"Ain't much t' do I reckon." He surmised. "Might's'wull get to it, I guess... Aghyughp."
