trans_9

There was a lot of cleaning up to do after SHODAN and her robot armies had been defeated. Among the structural damage was parts of the Drunken Dragon Tavern: the store room and everything in it had been utterly destroyed, the pots that had rarely been used on-ship were strewn around the kitchen, and a couple of tables, one bench and a chair, and a portion of the stage needed repairs. The building next door that Kang used for half of his storage and called home had managed to escape relatively unscathed.

He had sustained some damage himself, with a few minor cuts and bruises, and a rough hole slightly larger than an orange missing from the membrane of his right wing. It hadn't healed completely yet, and the bandages didn't hide it very well at all.

He had personal matters to attend to before reconstruction could begin, though. Two draconians had been killed in the pod caverns, two that he'd known personally; they had served under him for over thirty years when he'd been Commander of the First Dragonarmy Engineering Regiment. Unlike the others that had been killed, there was nothing left of them. Vlemess, as a kapak, had melted into a pool of acid, and Urul the baaz had turned to stone, and then dust.

It was customary, because of the nature of draconian deaths, to simply place a headstone along with any personal possessions that could be salvaged. Sakura had helped Kang procure two suitable stones from the wreckage of the Great Wall, and he'd decided to place them in the little herb garden Kali had started before she'd gotten repodded (said garden hadn't been cared for since). It was visible from the tavern, and he felt that it was appropriate to have them near a piece of home.

He knelt down to clear a space on the north side of the garden, digging shallow holes for Urul's belt and one of Vlemess's bracers. He'd gotten lucky in finding their few possessions in the lockers.

[OOC: He invited/mentioned it to anyone that he counts as family or a friend, but it's cool for others to stop by too if they'd like. Threadjacking is also encouraged!]

It's probably a solid two weeks before Christmas is due, assuming that their Thanksgiving dinner was on schedule which, given the nature of the ship, it presumably wasn't. But the robot attack was terrifying and disheartening and exhausting, and Howard wants a holiday, so according to him, it's Christmas. A nice, relaxing break from things trying to kill them.

Aside from this strand of Christmas lights doing its damnedest to strangle him, that is. Howard's managed to get it around his neck, and if it weren't for the fact that finding light strands is hard enough on Stacy, would be cutting it off with scissors.

He's still a bit beat-up, bandages around his head and his knees and one looping around his torso, under his shirt, but thanks to the healers and medical technology on Stacy he's not in much pain. His foot being in a brace is the worst of it.

He's managed to salvage an old plastic tree from a run-down building. A few packets of hot cocoa from the Warehouse sit on the table. Flossy Raptor is downstairs and dressed in a Santa hat and bizarrely, a feather boa in a shade of green too lime-ish to be Christmassy. A clunky-looking dog-sized gift for Zouichi is by the couch, wrapped in tin foil and newsprint, and another is on the table for Karis, although it's unwrapped. No one else quite makes Howard's list this year.

He pulls his way out of the tangle of lights. Christmas numero dos sans his family. Christmas numero uno on Stacy. He finds he's less okay with the former than he was last year, but more okay with the latter than he'd presumed.

Anyone who walks into the kitchen of the Susono Inn will be greeted by the rare and unusual sound of Howard humming. Go Tell It On the Mountain, actually. He even sings the section of the first verse that he vaguely remembers under his breath.

"Go tell it on the mountain, up over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain, tell them something, I don't care."

The last time Allenby had been snatched up by GLaDOS, she had quickly abandoned the AI's preferred agenda in favor of seeking her out to deliver a righteous beatdown. The second time, Allenby hadn't changed anything except to get started on that before hearing GLaDOS' instructions. She hopped walls and dodged flame-shooting floor panels in her quest to get to the computer and put a fist in her processors--her soul was attached to her just fine--and just as suddenly as before, she was in mid-air. Unlike before, she was in the Hangar and surrounded by hostile robots.

"Whoa!" Instinctively, she punched the first one in its banana-shaped head, wincing at the unexpected pain. The hell--bam! Whack! She grabbed another one and hurled it at some of its comrades, which were taking aim at her. It didn't go as far as she'd hoped... ducking and dodging between them and some nastier-looking big guys, she spotted what she was looking for. "Nobel Gundam! Let's go!" she yelled, and launched herself up towards the cockpit.

It became apparent about halfway up that, well, halfway was all the way this time. That made it certain. Something was wrong with her. Had GLaDOS done this? And what the hell were all these robots trying to kill her, anyway?!

It would be a lie to say that Allenby wasn't afraid as she started to drop. But she was too pissed off now to think about being scared. With a bloodcurdling roar, she slammed herself into a clump of battle-bots and went right back to work, trying to ignore the question of how long she'd be able to keep it up.

The television in the living room lights up.

Tyrant Mail,

However many models will appear for judgment. However many minus a few will remain in the competition.

Fiercely in love,
Tyrant

The contestants are then led from the mansion to the judging room. The judges sit behind a long counter with a screen behind them to replay the highlights from the runway challenge.

Thanks to Transmigration 9's crew, Geartopia was fairing much better than a few days ago. The Mayoress having support of her townsmen in near full now thanks to what they had uncovered allowed for most people to go hide into the farms on this day, while everyone else prepared their guns, polished their boots and readied their steam-powered weapons and horses. The air today was dry, with not a cloud in sight. Another typical arid desert afternoon.

Tumbleweed passed by in the city, undaunted by such crazy theatrics that were about to play out.

What they didn't quite expect nor grasp was Snidley's entire plan. They knew of the planned attack. They just didn't know how much he didn't care even for his own men planted there.

First came and earthquake. Or rather, what felt like one. If they looked up at the mountains surrounding the towns, they might notice, slowly, more and more red dots appearing and running down and down towards the city. Shepofalant were, by trade, a very peaceful animals, so much so that most of them had been allowed to stay in gigantic herds of ten of thousands. It made hunting for their meat and clothing that much easier, considering how they could survive practically anywhere.

However, when one allows such things to happen, the consequences can be deadly, if used by the right people with twisted minds.

"Stampede!" Someone yelled out, breaking the silence as they watched.

The townsmen moved frantically, trying to get everyone out of the way. They expected men with guns, not this first wall of frantic, bleating creatures who aren't sure where they are going, just away from what scared them off. Everything stands to be run down by their hooves, buildings, crops...people. There is simply too many animals to shoot everything down without causing the entire ecosystem to crash.

"The farms! We have to go to the farms! Most of the children and the elderly have been kept there!"

[OOC - OKay here's how it's going down. During this phase, there will be giant creatures descending in mass, that should, perhaps, remind you a bit of this scene from the Lion King. Feel free to NPC some goons running around during the chaos trying to attack your characters, making NPC helpless people situations for other characters to rescue, and helping out people using the meat_mooks account! Helpless kids nearly about to be run over, people standing on top of buildings, robots turned to scrap metal for your characters to play their big rescuing heroes on, its all good!

People getting kidnapped (Cazali, Jamie, Kalyee, Punchy), please start your own threads and I will NPC some goons taking you away.]

In the days following podpop, Maxine had been around the ship enough to try and get a hold on everything-- there was a lot to take in, certainly, especially with how big the ship was. A lot had taken some time to sink in, as well, with the stories of destroyed homes, but Maxine was doing her best to not dwell on that too much, to not let herself get upset, and instead just let herself be overtaken by the fascination she had in the ship as whole. Which wasn't that hard to do, considering that Stacy was huge and amazing and so very, very cool. Maxine could really appreciate it, and she wanted to get to know her as much as possible. She just hoped that once she figured it all out, she'd be able to fit in okay, too. Or at least get a handle on things.

In the meantime, she was making an effort to take a dent out of her city exploration, considering the enormity of it (she wasn't really sure if she could explore the whole thing, even with her flight). Humming to herself, she flew low to the ground, just a few feet above, a whirlwind of air carrying her around the city, while she kept an eye out for anything interesting she might encounter, or even just people to talk to while she was there.

Another podpop meant another round of simulations to see what the new potentials could do. At 1500 hours, the squadrons were just finishing up their sortie and combat exercises - the inside of the Sensorium showed the Quarter's main hangar, with the pilots coming down the landing ramp to store their craft.

"Company dismissed!" Trudy said, her voice carrying over the comms and the hangar with just enough volume to make herself heard. "Clear out and make way for the recruits - you're welcome to stay if you don't have other duties, but no heckling."

Trudy was in her duty uniform, the green bomber jacket with its General's stripes and Rogue Squadron's patch on the sleeve. She turned to face the 'door' of the Sensorium, which in the simulation just led further into the starcraft carrier itself, and stood at parade rest. If the new recruits were worth anything, they should be there any minute.

Rin's arrival unto Stacy had been well received for the most part. He easily overlooked things, didn't notice others, and his usual naive/oblivious demeanor kept him unfocused and uninterested as far as the details of their current predicament were. To him, this just seemed like a weird, new themed attraction, then he learned that they were in some war with another group of people who needed help. To someone like Rin, all he needed was the basest of information and he'd do what needs to be done...

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[[OOC Note: The first cut is locked to Yukio; once Rin goes out into the City it's open to anyone. Keep in mind that Yukio will be following his brother, so feel free to approach either of them. Chances are, you'll be getting tagged by both, especially if you approach Rin since Yukio still doesn't trust the crew around him. Everyone and all CR is welcomed though!]]

Erhart was quite intrigued by the Sensorium demonstration, so he immediately starts utilizing it for his own needs, creating a huge scene from one of the many battles that grace his roll of honor. In this case, the battle of Carrion Gulf, third year of the Torment crusade.

It was a manufactory world. All large buildings with huge smoke-stacks, clattering conveyor belts, and downtrodden citizenry. And then Chaos came, turning the citizens into frothing cultists, and populating the world with the dark reflections of Erhart, the Chaos Space marines.

His fighting company rides the lighting, bombarding the planet in ceramite and steel drop pods which crack open like eggs, disgorging black-armored paladins like himself inside the capital. Bolters roar from friend and foe alike as the defenders of the faith, and the defilers of the faith square off, ripping into one another at range.

"INTO THEM!"

Erhart roars, through augmented external speakers, before thundering down the assault ramp of his drop pod, and decapitating a corrupted Chaos Marine with a two-handed swing from the Black Sword, the crackling of the power blade drowning out even his battlecry for a moment as it bites through armor, flesh, and bone.

And so it begins....

Two scenarios here, pick your poison!

--
In the Hangar...

Sometime after podpop and the chaos that went with it, Simon found himself down in the hangar. He'd scrounged up a couple of rags, and some soap and water - Gurren and Lagann were here, but they were in good need of a cleaning. Well. More of a dusting and polishing, but if he's gonna go to that much trouble, he may as well go all-out, right? Simon and Boota both are working at it, with the little pigmole taking care of the details and crevices.

--
Anywhere, really. More locations, the better.

So, where-ever you are and whatever you're doing outside of a room or building, you spy an odd sight - a metal face with arms and legs, and an open head--with legs sprawled out of them. It's faint, but there's also a snoring sound coming from the thing. Simon's been exploring the ship, and once he got tired, he's parked Lagann somewhere out of the way in whichever area he stopped in and just zonked out in the open cockpit.

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. They are also told they must read information about their current situation and a survival guide with their new omnicom. New crew-mates might see a tall dragonish guy with wings (but don't call him that) and purple girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

Instructions: Post your character with one post establishing them as being podpopped. Tag each other in groups of 2's, 3's, and 4's, to get some interaction to start with. If a thread doesn't already have 2 or 3 people tagged in, tag it with your character's podpop popping near the other people, rather than making a new subthread. If you would like to play out them talking to the AI, please send an email to the mods making the request--we do this only by request. Then move onto the big Newbie Meeting. Once your character has gotten the rundown from the old crew, you may start posting entrance posts and freely tagging.]


||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounds out to all the podmates through the ship.

In the Pod Caverns, there are the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There is condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slide out onto the floors, covered in slime.

--

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