Sand-dunes and Sandstorms - A Neopets RP

[Parry]

((AA, second character accepted))

 

They once again plummetted into darkness, and depended entirely on Fireball's guidance. They certainly needed it - it seemed that Fireball had dragged them into some kind of maze. There were so many twists and turns and sudden stops that conversation was practically impossible. Eventually they arrived at another round, well lit hall. There were only two entrances.

 

"Please wait here," said Fireball. "I must talk to the authorities first. I shall be about ten minutes, if everything goes smoothly." Alesha and Beta watched as he left, and then they turned around.

 

"Did anyone remember the way in?" asked Alesha. Beta shook her head.

[jumpingbeans]

frank4t removed the person's mask. He found out that it was wearing the same clothing as the person at the hotel! frank4t was astounded. Realizing what this meant, he quickly told JB all the details about the hotel. JB nodded exciteldy, but he was also very, very happy that he was there, even if he had been knocked out; he was rich!

[Midtime]

((This seems to be the most active role-play on the forums; I'll see if I can keep up - as long as applications are open.

 

Here is the application:

 

Username: Midtime

Name: Peter Wesley

Gender: Male

Colour and Species: Blue Kacheek

Petpet: Baby Fireball (not Flame; will insert name once I think it up)

Petpetpet: None

Home: Currently an inn in Sakhmet

 

Personality: Professional most of all; somewhat overbearing when it comes to his job, since after all he knows it better than anyone else. He doesn't care as much for ethics as his brother, earning him the enmity of most petpet lovers, but even more their grudging respect.

 

Other: Peter is the brother of the more famous Stanford Wesley, and both of them take after the same profession; wrangling petpets. Stanford is commonly employed keeping Petpet herds in Meridell safe from menaces such as Balthazar - a game being based off his successes - and Peter was employed there as well, but his frequent use of light tranquillisers and the fact that Balthazar was able to sue for assault and battery put something of a damper on his career.

 

He's still well known for getting lost, kidnapped or runaway petpets back to their owners quicker than anyone else and relatively unharmed, and has found high-pay employment all over the world. He is very aware of petpet mentalities, and perhaps knows better than anyone how intelligent they can be; he has earned among his contemporaries several nicknames, most of them unprintable.

 

Present

Peter Wesley received a cable from Peopatra after the first few petpets disappeared, and arrived about three hours before the present, taking time to set up and to track the next missing petpets. There may be some friction between him and the pets already there, since he treats pets and petpets much the same.

 

Note: GMT +8, the same as AA.

 

))

[jumpingbeans]

((I think it's almost finished, but I could be wrong. You'll have to wait for Nom))

[antiaircraft]

With three Neopets shovelling away steadily, the sand covering the jet's right tail fin didn't last long. Soon, the small, oddly regular weld lines marking the junction between the plane's right tail fin and fuselage were visible, and in a few minutes the fuselage directly below and to the front of the fin had been exposed. While Gwen and Lili worked on clearing away some more of the sand to the sides, Sapper laid down his shovel and repeated the sounding test he had performed earlier on the freshly exposed fuselage. The echo was promising - if he could get through the aircraft's skin, there wouldn't be much left between him and the plane's cargo bay.

 

The Eyrie took a few steps back. "Lili, Gwen, you may wish to step aside."

 

* * *

 

Miranda sighed and took a long, slow sip from her mug of coffee. The drink had gone cold long ago, but as long as it kept her awake, it would do. She looked up from the manual she had been studying briefly to check how her team was doing. Kevin and Dan, the team's two paramedics, were trading anecdotes over a game of cards, as usual. Alex was dozing off at the radio station, one hand idly fidgeting with her headphones while she propped her chin on the other, gradually losing the battle to keep her eyelids open. She'd have a few minutes before Miranda would have to wake her up. Trak, a local doctor who had volunteered to help them out while they were in Qasala, was just outside the door, scanning the distant horizon for no reason in particular. They were all wrapped in a typical, melancholy air of boredom, although they never really complained about it. That was the worst thing about a lot of search and rescue assignments - you had to be constantly on alert, even during the long, monotonous waits between calls. Fortunately, out here the actual rescue part of the operation was usually pretty simple. You just flew out, picked up whichever odd travellers had underestimated the desert this time around, and brought them back in for treatment. Less fortunately, the actual treatment of these hapless Neopians could often be far less complicated. And then there were the people who hadn't even thought to bring radio equipment along or log their planned travel route in detail at their hotels. 'East' was hardly a usefully defined search area.

 

Miranda smiled slightly. Unlike the rest of her team, she generally preferred the evening shifts at the Qasalan DoN Volunteer Search & Rescue station. It was quieter outside, not quite as stuffy inside, and generally provided a better atmosphere for contemplation. And on top of that, there were the sunsets, beautiful enough to make you forget the arduous ups, downs, and more downs of the job. All in all, she didn't really mind filling in at the desert medical station. It was almost a vacation compared to some of their other assignments.

 

Suddenly, Alex jumped bolt upright, her eyes flaring open and a string of silent words flashing across her lips. Probably cursing herself for almost falling asleep, thought Miranda with some amusement. But it was more than just that.

 

"Ma'am- Sir- uh... Miranda! We have a call!" the radio operator blurted.

 

That got everyone's attention pretty quickly. They jumped to their feet and started grabbing equipment, almost before Alex had finished speaking.

 

"Emergency channel?" Miranda inquired, donning her helmet and other pilot's gear.

 

Alex shook her head. "Uh-uh," she replied, cocking her head to one side and counting off the pips. "It's a DoN beacon. Set to medevac."

 

A DoN beacon? Miranda connected the dots quickly. The only other DoN guy within range is Kylar.

 

"Looks like Kylar needs a medical team on site pronto then," Miranda announced, grabbing her bag and heading out the door towards the helicopter pad (Trak was already climbing into a passenger seat). "We'll be in the air in five."

 

"Kylar?" Alex wondered. She hadn't been in the DoN service for very long, and still wasn't familiar with all its faces.

 

"She means Sapper." Kevin explained helpfully.

 

"Oh!" exclaimed Alex. Now that was a name she could recognise. "You don't think he's injured do you?"

 

"Not likely," answered Kevin, strapping a stretcher to his back and heading for the door, "when Sapper's involved in something... well, other people get injured."

 

"Pack some extra body bags!" advised Dan, moving to follow the others.

 

((The medical team should only be here for a couple of posts.))

[livvy]

((I won't be able to post for the next day or so (I'm using my host's laptop at present), so if you *absolutely* need to move Lili out of the way or something, you can do that. But don't go characterizing her. *clings to Lili* She's mine. :angry: Same goes for Alrik.))

[Parry]

((Midtime, accepted; believe me, the plot's nowhere near over. And livvy, that's fine, I'll get Midtime into the dune first.))

[Midtime]

((Hooray! :D Is it still day-time?))

 

The street blazed; blinding white seemed to reflect off every stone, every wall not shaded; the sun might have scalded the Kacheek's eyes if he had looked directly into it.

 

It wasn't noon, either. He remembered a summer like this. It had been a veritable nightmare.

 

Peter Wesley adjusted his hat, standing otherwise motionless as the Wadjet crawled along. It was a pity, he thought, he had not found a quicker quarry; but from his study this one was likely to end up in the same place as the other petpets.

 

The weight of his tranquilliser rifles on his back was beginning to shift; he would have to adjust that, too.

 

The Wadjet edged a little further along. Hurry up, the Kacheek nearly snarled at it. Apart from the important fact that it was his only lead, he knew that this petpet did not belong to his client. It lacked the distinguishing slightly green tone to its yellow bands, polite excitability and probably the sluggishness that a tame member of its species would usually sport, and more prominently the bright red tracking tag was missing from its neck. If it had an owner, he could be sued for touching it. Depending on how rich the owner was, he could be sued for whispering 'boo!' in its vicinity.

 

Hurry up, the Kacheek thought, so that I can stop crouching on the raking cornice of this rooftop on one foot next to a ten-metre drop and desperately trying to stay out of sight.

 

A small, bobbing Baby Fireball materialised between his eyes. "Go away, Hakan," he muttered.

 

The Wadjet inched another three centimetres along the gabled roof. It was fortunate its species had nearly no eyesight.

 

Hakan darted across the roof, allowing the Wadjet to feel a small amount of his heat. It moved a little further, no doubt seeking shade. The only reason it was on a roof-top at all was because Wesley knew that cool Wadjets never went anywhere.

 

Hakan made another pass. Succumbing to the heat, the Wadjet curled up and seized its tail between its teeth. Goodness help me, thought Wesley, why do I keep him around in the first place?

 

((Note: Hakan is a native American name meaning 'fire'.))

[Parry]

((I guess it's daytime, I don't know if it is actually xD))

 

Peopatra was throwing another tantrum, and it was getting worse. Almost a fourth of her stock of Petpets had disappeared, and she was still blissfully unaware of the sand-dune. Nobody could calm her down, and in a wretched fury, she forcefully shut the shop and gave anybody who dared challenge her a sharp kicking with her hooves. Whilst she did so, she was even more unaware that behind her, a Mauket had escaped and was headed in Peter's direction, although it was clearly targetting the sand-dune.

 

Poor Peopatra, thought Marik as he watched the shop close. Hmmm ... I wonder where sister has gone?

 

((Midtime, Marik is Alesha's older brother, and he's a Palace Guard. He's not important to the story though, unlike Alesha.))

[jumpingbeans]

((Nom: Really? I thought it would be almost over, with the petpets, and the plane.))

[Midtime]

((Then, which cardinal direction from Sakhmet is the dune? - and the crashed aeroplane?))

 

Wesley glanced sharply downwards as a scuffling sound interrupted his focus. A small Mauket was dashing swiftly down the street below, from the direction of Peopatra's store. A small, frayed red ribbon tag fluttered about its neck, dispelling any doubts about its origin.

 

Abandoning the Wadjet, Wesley dropped off the roof, rolled, and ran after it, a blur in white khaki, with a streak of playful fire following behind.

[Parry]

((You know the Lost Desert map, and how the river continues into somewhere, past Sutek's Tomb? That's where the sand-dunes are. Once you get there, the Mauket will take you into a darker coloured dune and you'll be met by a guide. They take you into the hall, and then into the maze that Alesha, Beta and Alrik just went through. Once you meet our characters, and once livvy can post again, then I'll move the story on))

[Raichi]

Gwen took Lili by the hand and stepped aside as Sapper asked, just wanting to make sure Sapper had enough room to do what he was about to do. As soon as she got herself and Lili out of the way she let go of Lili's hand.

 

From there she payed great great attention to what Sapper was doing, from a safe distance of course because she didn't want to bother him. She also felt it was her responsibility to make sure Lili wouldn't disturb Sapper by moving too close or to an inconvenient spot.

 

OOC: sorry for being so short, didn't know what else to say.

[livvy]

((Thank you, Raichi, I'm glad Lili is safe. ^_^))

 

Sitting on the sand beside Gwen, Lili watched Sapper with interest and concern. She wasn't worried about him having a plan; if there was one thing she'd learned about this Eyrie, it was that he was always prepared. Rather, she was concerned about his health. While they were digging, he had retreated alone to the tent in apparent pain. He had returned of course, and with good news of approaching help, but still... Lili was worried.

 

Lili shook her head to clear her mind of the matter, and directed her focus towards Sapper's current plans.

 

((I would update Alrik, but a sudden wave of tiredness has crashed over me (I blame quasi-college life) and drained my ability to form a cohesive sentence. He'll get updated tomorrow, Nom. Don't move too far ahead; I apologize for the delay.))

[antiaircraft]

((I'm guessing it's probably late afternoon.))

 

Once Gwen and Lili were safely out of the way, Sapper took several more steps back, angling for a clear line of attack. Twirling his staff around so that it was supported rigidly under his good wing, he sighted down it as if it were the barrel of a gun, carefully aligning his run-up. A second later, he drew in a heavy breath and charged forward, sprinting across the distance to his target in a barely visible, feathery blur. The tip of his staff slammed into the jet's fuselage at an almost perfectly perpendicular angle, delivering the entire force of the impact (comparable to a loaded freight train) onto a single small point, right next to the tail fin. The metal plate buckled only slightly, allowing some small seams to form along its edges, but it was enough.

 

Not missing a beat, the Eyrie reared up and drove his claws into the plate, raking them downwards with a deafening screech. The plate yielded some more, the seams around it widening reluctantly, millimetre by millimetre. Eventually his claws lost their purchase, and he thudded down heavily, raising a small cloud of dust. He repeated the exercise twice, each time forcing the fuselage to fold a little more. Soon, the gaps were wide enough to allow someone to peer through them into the darkness beyond.

 

Sapper picked up his staff again and shoved it firmly into one of the gaps, pulling back with all his strength as he ripped the exposed plate away from the rest of the fuselage. His staff, cut by one of the finest craftsmen at the Mystery Island Training School, began to bend, but did not come anywhere close to breaking, even as he adjusted his position and strained for even more leverage. Subjected to more stress than it had ever been designed to handle, the unfortunate plate finally failed, snapping loudly away from its internal bolts.

 

Sapper finished his work quickly, deftly extracting and discarding the sensors and other electronics layered within the fuselage. Using his beak, he swiftly severed the reinforcing straps that ran around the plane's circumference. Another powerful wrench with his claws made short work of the inner layer of metal, spilling the desert's harsh afternoon light into the cargo compartment within. The next few minutes were spent widening the gap until it was large enough for most Neopets to squeeze through.

 

"It's imperative that the survivors have access to fresh air and water as soon as possible," Sapper explained, stepping inside. "Gwen, if you're ready, you may wish to help me identify and extract them."

 

The Eyrie proceeded towards the front of the plane, nudging aside the contents of the assorted luggage that had been scattered by the crash. He soon found a short ladder leading up to a locked access hatch. One last forceful impact, and he was climbing up into the plane's cabin.

[Midtime]

((I'll assume that the map of the Lost Desert is from an eastern point of view, then, since AA has told me he thinks it to be afternoon, and the sun is shown in front of you, above the river. Any disagreements?

 

Also, livvy posted that apart from the one dune, the ground was completely flat. Is this correct? I see discrepancies between posters; I'll see if I can create a compromise, since there are no dunes around Sakhmet or Qasala.))

 

Peter followed the Mauket out of the south-western gate; the guards didn't bother to question a tourist chasing a petpet, particularly one with a pair of weapons strapped to his back. He had no doubt that this one was headed in the same direction as the rest, and felt some mild irritation as it turned towards the sun, which was beginning to set a fiery hue to the western horizon. It was certainly strange for it to keep running for this long - Maukets usually sprinted for quick, short periods. They were not physically suited for marathons.

 

The Mauket gradually made away from the winding river as Sakhmet approached the horizon behind Wesley; he'd heard that some spell the inhabitants had sowed into the sand stopped dunes from naturally forming, and he was glad for that - flat sand, however loose, was always easier to navigate. Still, this far out the enchantment was not half as strong; small ripples were visible on the surface.

 

It was with some consternation that he found himself approaching a sudden steep grade. It seemed nearly out of place, and though it could merely have been the lighting, it was substantially darker in aspect than the sand around it.

 

Most intriguing was the way that the Mauket, not pausing, plunged directly into the sand, leaving no more than a brief indent; without hesitation, Wesley followed.

 

((To what extent may I control the Mauket, and Wesley's petpet guide?))

[Parry]

((There's a whole valley of dunes once you get there, but you can see the darker dune immediately. You can take control of the Mauket and his guide up until when you get to the room where Alesha and Alrik are. Flame will take over from there. This post describes the route that Flame took: http://www.tdnforums.com/index.php?/topic/21914-sand-dunes-and-sandstorms-a-neopets-rp/page__view__findpost__p__406817 also scroll down to my next post))

[Midtime]

((Hmm... so the Mauket may be my character until then?))

 

As he entered, Wesley heard the sound of wind cascading down a stone chimney; his immediate response was to, jumping off the ledge, bury a metal blade in the opposite wall - he hardly wished to trouble himself making his way back to the top without a rope, as sand made poor leverage. Letting himself down by the rope he'd attached to it, he found himself in brief darkness. Strangely, he heard no hint of the Mauket's escaping feet, which might have given him some sense of where he was; there was certainly not enough light to adjust to.

 

He might have retrieved his night-vision goggles from his pack, but at that moment Hakan floated down the shaft, and illumined the walls. They were as remarkably precise - though Wesley wasn't to know - as the pyramids that had been raised to the kings themselves, if not more so, and here and there were noticeable small annotations of text, probably used in the construction of the passage.

 

Normally, Hakan would stay inconveniently close to Wesley; it was strange, therefore, that he at once moved onwards through the passage.

 

"Might I inquire as to how long you'll be standing there?"

 

Being a Kacheek, Wesley was ill-accustomed to looking down to find who was talking to him. In this case, though, he was forced to.

 

The Mauket, holding a scrap of red ribbon in its hand, continued, "I think you'll pardon me for exempting you from the welcome speech; I, for one, don't think you deserve it, but you were the only one I could persuade to follow me."

 

"Really," said Wesley laconically. He had enjoyed a wide and varied career, and had built up a tendency to remain unperturbed; and this petpet reminded him very much of the people he had spent his childhood among. He was confident that he could probably restrain it in about two seconds, intelligent or otherwise.

 

When he gave no further reaction, the Mauket sighed. "No entertainment? Ah, well. You'd better come this way, if you're to find what you've been searching about for."

 

((I have a tendency to merge characters. :P I was also thinking of introducing a second of my own - but if you think it'll be crowded enough already, I'll abstain from that.))

[Parry]

((If you want a second character, I don't mind.))

[Midtime]

((All right. :P Best to introduce this character as soon as conveniently possible, I feel - I just thought it would be tiresome to not have someone to appreciate the wonders of the land underground.

 

Username: Midtime

Name: Evelyn McCoin

Gender: Female

Colour and Species: Blue Xweetok

Petpet: Mauket

Petpetpet: Draphly

Home: A quite simple house in Sakhmet

 

Personality: Generally quite active and friendly, she tends to turn extremely preoccupied when confronted with something she finds fascinating, that is, most things in the Lost Desert.

 

Other: Dr. McCoin is one of the world's more famous archaeologists. Having obtained her master's at the age of twenty, she enjoys nothing more than wandering around places rather like Sakhmet, where all sorts of fascinations await her; and has enjoyed a very successful career thus far. [if possible, I'd like it to be that] Professor Alrik was once one of her lecturers.

 

Present

Evelyn recently finished a dig which unearthed an old step pyramid outside Qasala. She would have left already, but she had been considering a very nice Mauket which she was planning to buy to-day, only to find that the shopkeeper Peopatra, who had been in a strangely sour mood for the last few days, had suddenly closed up, and apparently the Mauket had escaped. She tracked it - slowly - all the way out to the dune.

 

Note: The Mauket that Wesley encountered had actually impersonated an escapee from the petpet shop.))

 

Wesley didn't trust narrow tunnels like this; it was common - as he had found while crawling through narrower gaps - that there tended to be... misunderstandings, inside them. These often led to him being subjected either to a protracted rant, or the end of a knife.

 

The worst ones had been designed to be inaccessible. Many of those had been filled with improvised traps. This one reminded him of them, somehow.

 

There was no call for stealth; his rubber boots echoed loudly on the stone floor, so he was carrying a fluorescent electric torch. The Mauket padded along and ahead with relative quiet, and paused presently only to spring over a small pit-fall, proving Wesley right; though it was no danger to some-one who could see where he was going, and with the bulk of his backpack he doubted he could have endeavoured to fit himself in a space so small as to allow him to step over it.

 

The Mauket paused as he did so, glancing back at him. Wesley knew slightly better than to suppose it was ensuring his safety.

 

After a half-hour or so of navigating such small dangers, and a few possibly unintentional low ceilings, he turned a corner and saw a rather strong light at the other end. He flicked off his torch and put it away as he proceeded towards it; directly above the doorway, which was quite wide, were indecipherable words in some ancient text, but he didn't notice them; as his eyes adjusted to the light, he made out a vast crowd of petpets milling about, and roughly at the centre a handful of Neopets like himself. How strange.

 

Rather than going at once to meet them when he emerged, or pausing to examine the marvellous vaulted ceilings and ornate Effluent* pillars, he glanced briefly at the crowd of petpets, marking their movement patterns and the entrances towards which they might decide to move; there were no aerial egresses, but the considerable height of the hall might well serve as a brief haven for the flying petpets, and there were eight ground exits merely from his own vantage point; possibly many smaller ones, as well.

 

He shook his head, and began scanning the herd for red tags.

 

*Effluent: from old Alt. euluus, lit. 'pertaining to the structure/architecture of Altador'

[livvy]

Alrik's fascinated observation of the underground society was brought to an end when Flame led them down another corridor. The passage was very dark and narrow, having been built for petpets. Alrik tucked his wings to his side to avoid any further damage to them. Not only was it cramped, but they seemed to be in some sort of elaborate maze. The Fireball led them down corridor after corridor, around innumerable twists and turns, past countless dead-ends. Alrik made great effort to memorize every turn; he had always had a mind for maps, a fact that had often come in handy. Presently, they arrived in a brighter, more spacious room. The Fireball told them to wait there, and Alrik took the opportunity to stretch his wings and sore leg.

 

"Does anyone remember the way out?" he heard Alesha ask as soon as Flame left the room.

"Yes, I- I think I do," Alrik answered, recalling the mental map he had pieced together. "Working in the middle of nowhere all day, one develops a sense of direction. Now, we started..." He frowned slightly. Already the details were growing fuzzy. Still, it was better than nothing. Pulling a journal and pen from his satchel, he began to sketch the tunnels for Alesha and Beta. The elaborate maze covered two adjoining pages with a network of lines and X's. "At least," he said, passing the journal to Alesha, "that's as my old brain remembers."

 

He would have continued - he did so love to talk - but before he could, the tiny Fireball re-entered the room.

[Raichi]

Gwen nodded. She wasn't much of a fan of heavy labor, but in cases like these it was necessary. She carefully climbed down the gap, staying close to Alrik.

 

The pilot had fainted right after the crash, but thanks to the airbag and seatbelt didn't receive any damage. Fiwawou's dancers tried to escape, dragging along the unconscious pilot, but the sand pressed the exit closed right after Chuukou and Fiwa exited. They were trapped. All they could do was wait as the oxygen became less and the temperature higher, until after a long time Iris also lost consciousness. It was a good thing the girls were both desert aishas though, Truffle even managed to keep consciousness until rescue came.

 

All three sat together, Gwen getting a very bad and uncomfortable feeling inside the hot jet, every bone in her body telling her to get out. She quickly approached Truffle who was the only one with her eyes on a light peek "Is that you Gwen?" "Ye; yes it's me"

After a bit of struggling she managed to get the barely dressed skinny dancer on her back and made their way out of the gap, leaving Iris, Truffles twin sister and the pilot to Sapper. Once out she lay Truffle into the sand, who started to shiver a bit from the little breeze that was the wind. Gwen would of offered her blouse as a blanket, but she wore but a bra underneath. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine.." she said stroking her hands through Truffles blond ponytail, she knew she was only with her for 50% but faith had been kind to them for which she was thankful.

[antiaircraft]

Sapper manoeuvred around the cabin and slowly lifted the unconscious pilot and the second Desert Aisha onto his back, careful not to place them in a position that might inhibit their breathing. Flexing his wings and rolling slightly from side to side, he was able to shift them into a stable position before he dropped cautiously back into the cargo bay and clambered out of the jet. He laid the two pets down right next to the first, then proceeded to give them a quick once over.

 

"They're dehydrated and suffering from heat exhaustion, but any hypoxia effects seem to be minor and hopefully temporary. We should give them some water."

 

The Eyrie stood and headed towards the tent to fetch his water supply. On his way back, he glanced towards the horizon in the direction of Sakhmet, then turned towards Qasala. Assuming the team on duty had picked up on the beacon immediately, it could still take them upwards of half an hour to reach this location... There! Barely visible against the backdrop of glaring sand, a small glint of light winked at him in the distance, reflected off the nose of an approaching aircraft.

 

He turned back towards the three pets lying on the sand. Their chances of getting home unscathed had just improved dramatically.

 

* * *

 

"Got another ping, eight hundred metres out, bearing eighteen degrees right!" shouted Alex from the copilot's seat, straining to make herself heard over the gravelly roar of the ageing helicopter's engines.

 

Miranda nodded her acknowledgement and made the necessary course adjustments, angling a little further forward as she traded some altitude for additional speed. They were flying very much on the low side, but fortunately the endless desert dunes afforded the aircraft plenty of clearance. Besides, the helicopter was an old heavy lifter - far too slow to allow any nasty terrain surprises to sneak up on it.

 

"Got 'em! Visual!" Alex called, eyes straining against the afternoon glare. Miranda followed her gaze and immediately spotted their target. The tail of a jet aircraft protruded crudely from the surface of a dune formed by a recent sandstorm, with several small Neopet-shaped figures on the ground beside it. Some distance away was the outline of a portable tent.

 

"Get ready to touch down!" Miranda yelled, shifting in her seat as she wrested the controls around. The helicopter swung around sluggishly and descended towards the ground, setting down some distance away from the crash site to avoid blanketing the whole area with flying sand. Dan was the first on the ground, leaping through the open door and dashing towards the downed jet, first-aid kit in hand. Kevin and Trak followed immediately afterwards, carrying a stack of stretchers between them. Alex untangled herself from her seat and headed out a few seconds later, lugging a massive pack loaded with assorted medical equipment after her. Miranda stayed in the cockpit and kept the engines running at full power, ready to lift off immediately in case anyone needed a rapid airlift to a hospital.

 

The Mynci surveyed the scene as Dan finally reached the other Neopets, conversing briefly with a large Brown Eyrie (with an unmistakably mangled wing) before moving to check on three other Neopets who were lying on the ground - apparently survivors who had been pulled from the jet's wreckage. After only a few seconds, he turned towards her and signalled that there was nobody critically injured on the scene. Miranda immediately throttled the engines down to zero and toggled off the master switch, then unstrapped herself and fished around for a few items that the rest of the team usually missed. She stuffed the equipment into a large sling bag and moved to join the others, leaving the helicopter to slowly spin down its engines.

 

By the time she arrived at the crash site, Dan was already strapping a pure-oxygen breathing mask over the face of their last patient, while Trak and Kevin were working on laying out the stretchers. Alex was standing off to the side wearing the typical newbie "What should I be doing?" look. Miranda tapped her on the shoulder and passed her three packs of hydration fluid, indicating that she should help Dan to get them administered. The Mynci then turned her attention to the Brown Eyrie who was currently scrutinising the jet's tail section.

 

"Good afternoon Scratch," Sapper said, pre-empting Miranda perfectly.

 

"Blast it Kylar, I told you not to call me that," she grumbled in reply, glancing around irritably. "And please tell me that you didn't end up somehow shooting down a private jet on one of your sporadic insane side missions."

 

"The jet was brought down by the sandstorm," answered Sapper calmly, not bothering to explain that he wasn't even equipped to shoot down a high-speed aircraft. Miranda had no doubt already checked his mission loadout. "Look, there's severe grind damage visible all along the aircraft's rudder and elevators. It's likely that it suffered accelerated damage to both of its engines, leading one of them to eventually fail. The control surfaces would have been too unresponsive to compensate, forcing the pilot into a rapid descent. A subsequent failure of the second engine would have made recovery impossible."

 

"I'll take your word for it," Miranda growled. "Look, once we get these people to a hospital we're going to have to find whoever's in charge of taking care of them. The sooner the better. Our wards are crowded enough as it is."

 

Sapper nodded. "You'll want to talk to Gwen over there. She represents their employer."

[livvy]

Lili, not wanting to get in the way, waited anxiously above ground while Sapper and Gwen ventured into the downed jet. When they emerged, two of the pets were unconscious, the other only half awake. Sapper, upon examining them, ordered they be given water. As he left to presumably get his own, Lili dug through her bag and pulled out her remaining supply. She went first to the semi-conscious Desert Aisha - oh, how she envied the colour. Kneeling down, Lili tilted the Aisha's head back and poured a small amount of water into her mouth.

 

Lili's ears perked up. Overhead, she heard some type of aircraft approaching. Moments later, a small group of Neopets swarmed the unconscious dancers and pilot. This must be the help Sapper had told them about. Lili stepped back, waiting with Gwen out of the way while Sapper spoke to a Mynci from the crew. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she thought she heard the Mynci call the Eyrie Kylar. Interesting, Lili thought. Nothing about this Eyrie is what it appears.

 

((Explanation of Lili's fascination with Sapper: it bothers the heck out of her when she can't read someone.))

[antiaircraft]

((Random detail about Miranda (in case you haven't guessed already): she stoically refuses to use call signs. :yes: ))