<<This is Rogue Three, ready for launch.  Update needed on the current situation,>> Arha said over the radio, making sure her chin strap was securely fastened and her helmet was properly sealed.

<<Rogue Three, you are cleared for launch.  Please be advised--it is messy out there.  We have a frigate down.  They will need evac.  Escort Evac Shuttle 1 and 2 to the given coordinates.  Heavy enemy fire incoming,>> came the clipped voice of the communications officer on duty.  <<Stay sharp, Rogue Three.>>

<<Copy that,>> Arha snapped, <<primed and launching.>>

There was a certain thrill that came with a proper launch and she did it the way she'd been taught--nice and smooth.  The two shuttles were flanked by several other fragments of wings.  It was their job to shoot down any missile fire either ship took.  Arha sidled up to Evac 1, taking its wing as the rest of the formation solidified.  It was an uneventful run until halfway back when missiles started coming in like worms on a shield.  Arha grit her teeth as she shot down another and twisted away to go after an enemy fighter intent upon ramming Evac 1.  She wasn't satisfied with the near miss at all and struggled to maintain formation, shielding the shuttle craft with her X-Wing as well as shooting down anything incoming.  She worked with the pilots, her mind racing to predict and interpret from her Jed-Eye and Bene Gesserit senses.

Arha had no idea how long she'd been at this, but it was getting to the point where she was actually sweating--something she rarely did thanks to her control of her body.  She cursed in Fremen as a swarm of TIE fighters closed in.

Wedge waited quietly at the front of the squadrons ersatz assembly room, watching and waiting as pilots took their seats. An eclectic and strange group, to be sure, but he was determined to mold them into a fighting force to be reckoned with. They had the potential. They just needed a push in the right direction. He took a breath, waited as the last few pilots took their seats, then began.

"Welcome. I'm glad to see that all of you managed to make it through our latest ordeal in good health, and I hope you've all had a chance to rest up and recover from the experience. First of all, I'd like to introduce you to two new members of our squadron." He gestured to the two people standing behind him and off to one side.

"This is Colonel Tycho Celchu and Lieutenant-Colonel Jaina Solo. They're both experienced pilots and they'll be helping with training and getting the squadron into shape. And to that purpose, I'd like all of you to go around the room and introduce yourselves so that they know who they're working with. Your name and a little something about yourself." He nodded at the first person who came to mind and waited for their introduction.

Welcome to the Unholy Cathedral at the heart of Escherville. It is here, in this place, that the Nightmare King has made his bid for release.

And he will not be stopped by the likes of you.

More monstrosities pour out of every angle, intent on ending this adventure. These monsters are every bit as horrific as the ones you all faced to get to this point, though you will quickly notice there is something drastically different about them.

Magic does not affect these creatures. At all.

Your spells do nothing. Your prayers are meaningless. The power of your God is useless against them.

No force in heaven or hell can affect them.

Nothing at all Magical can hurt them.

You're the ones who are good enough (or lucky) enough to be close to Escherville. You've had the good fortune to be scooped up and now you need to regroup and get ready to take on the Nightmare King himself. Time to reorganize and gear up as best you can with what you've got. The Nightmare King isn't going to wait for you.

Get moving.

_{((OOC: This is for the various groups/peoples who will be fighting the Nightmare King directly or assisting in that endeavor. If your character was in one of the Challenge from Beyond Groups, tag them in here! Feel free to do some tagging back and forth and enjoy yourselves. Please get tagged in by Tuesday night, March 2nd though, so we can get the Final Fight properly organized. ))}

Cissie had been trying to keep busy. She had been trying to avoid sleeping, to avoid seeing the funeral all of again. It had to be the worst day of her life. So she was busying herself around the med bay. Cleaning the floors, folding blankets, and other random things. She even sorted all the medical supplies alphabetically. When that had been done, she did it by type. Then back again.

She was actually busying herself with scrubbing a spot on the floor now. Her hair tied back in a knot as she focused just on this.

There are ghosts on the ship, apparitions of those long dead and those still alive. They aren't real and yet, may as well be for how they can hurt the crew and affect the physical environs of the ship. In this case, these malingering spirits aren't haunting particular places--they're haunting specific people.

What happens on Obs Deck is a clear indication of that.

One moment, she's talking with someone else casually.

The next moment, something invisible scratches her arm, right through the plantsuit.

The crew will see them slinking off, disappearing around hallways--shifting shadow shapes and the backs of heads ducking around corners. They're always people they think they know. Dead loved ones, perhaps, or loved ones they're not sure are dead or alive. They lead crew members into dangerous places, sudden drops, parts of Stacy where things can go wrong.

And they do go wrong. Floors drop out. Ducts become damaged somehow, invisibly, and suddenly spew hot steam. Around the children, items slam into walls--poltergeist activity.

Whether these are really those lost souls, or just illusions, is hard to tell. Either way, those that are part-ghost or have supernatural powers will have a helluva workout. The upside is the presence of the ghosts might disrupt the Waking Dreams to allow people to escape them more easily.

Which is good because the dreams will start to cause injuries now. Real ones.

And refusing to go to sleep doesn't save you when the dreams can happen while you're awake.

[ooc: Waking dreams will continue--and start causing injuries. Furthermore, ghostly apparitions will start to cause poltergeist activity and lead the crew into danger. Start to raise the alarm, meatship. It's starting.]

Asuka coveted her new position in Rogue Squadron. It gave her drive and purpose, something to go for aside from her martial arts training with Luly. Well it was diverting, it just filled up space. The lack of purpose had gnawed at her. It had been slowly driving her up the wall when the call had gone out for pilots. Naturally, Asuka had jumped at the chance. She'd been training just as long as the others, but for some reason she felt inadequate. She wasn't the worst trainee, but she wasn't the best either. Middle of the pack. Mediocre. Unnoticeable. Average. Run-of-the-mill.

She hated it.

So, that explained why she was flying a simulated X-wing through a simulation of the Battle of Endor. She'd heard that General Antilles had been putting others through it, so she was trying it for herself. Her craft jinked, dodged and swooped through space, explosions, laser blasts and other fighter craft zipping through the void around her. The half-finished Death Star loomed in the distance, while the small blue-green moon (which reminded her so much of Earth) hung suspended below it.

She yanked her craft hard over into a dive to avoid an enemy fighter coming up on her tail, then tried to scissor in behind it. Her finger squeezed the trigger and red energy bolts stitched through the sky, trying to track the fast-moving TIE Interceptor. Her bolts flew wide of the mark and she gritted her teeth in irritation, trying to track it. Her HUD flickered green, the tone of a good target lock pulsing on and off.

"Stay still, you stupid target!"

Her yell of anger and irritation filled the cockpit a split second before her fighter craft disintegrated around her in a ball of fire and light. A moment later she was standing in an empty hanger, her fighter sitting on the deck, patiently waiting for her to try again. Through the magcon field she could see stars. For a moment, she stood stock still in surprise, before what had happened finally caught up with her. Down in flames. Again. She'd been at this for a few hours and it seemed every time she started to get the hang of it, she'd end up over-compensating and slamming into the side of capital ship or a enemy fighter would pick her off with a well-aimed deflection shot.

She snarled and hurled her (simulated) flight helmet against the side of her X-Wing, "Why won't you work, you stupid piece of junk? This is impossible!"

Honestly, Dustin hadn’t really thought of doing something like this until Danny forced him to prod at areas he shouldn’t be prodding at. Of course now that he had, it was possibly the best idea he’d thought of so far for solving The Major Issue.

Yes, capital letters. It is that important. It is important enough, in fact, that Dustin was risking another potentially dangerous encounter with the Command Crew and some self-righteous ghost child to achieve his ends—not to mention, a second crack at Stacy’s programming.

That would be the reason for why the scruffy man, a crazed look on his face and cellphone in hand, was running at top speed towards Neuropathy before he met opposition.

A quick check to his Omnicom told him that he was too late; Shitface and this Kennedy fellow were already on his tail. Frankly, those two were the least of his worries. Unless they were able to squeeze through the vents (or they were already in the area when the notice went out), Dustin had a healthy head-start on his target and should be able to get inside the Engineering Core without opposition.

So far that theory had gone according to plan. Dustin could see the door now, open and beckoning him inside; he could almost hear the AI whisper quaintly in his ear, ’I look forward to having you hack into my mainframe and temporarily shut down my internal physical defenses, it would be my pleasure to make this task as easy as possible for you…’

The haggard genius picked up his pace, a crazy glint in his emerald eyes. “See, Dustin?” he panted to himself just as he was about to cross the threshold, “That wasn’t so hard, was it?—“

((ooc: Mainly for Dustin and Danny, but I already know Security is going to pop in here, and onlookers are always welcome~ One main thread would be nice, though.))

Tonight, once again, the dreamscape of the meatship has been altered.

However, this time, the dream was the same, no matter the dreamer, and was neither good nor bad, but simply odd.

Only a portion of the crew would have this dream, some of them intentionally, others whose mind simply happened to drift upon it in the dreamscape.

Regardless, it starts out the same for each dreamer:

The dreamer finds themselves standing on some rocky, barren world.

( Read more... )

[ooc: This is just Seer's way of checking up on the crew. Once again, posting isn't mandatory, but if you want your pup to meet/interact with Seer, feel free!]

At last, it seemed the new version of Rogue Squadron was going to be getting off the ground. It had been a good morning run, followed by a bit of calisthenics and some cool down time. Then breakfast and the squadron had been reassembled at the Sensoriums. Wedge looked over the assembled recruits, his helmet tucked under one arm.

"Alright. Today, we'll be starting with the basics. Take off, landing, basic flight maneuvers. Maybe more if we have time. You'll break into your flight wings and take separate sims. I trust all of you to do your best. If there are any problems or questions, you can contact me on the comm rings. Let's get to it."

After the holiday planet, someone's gotten a cheering up. It seems that Jaime Reyes is finally turning his bad mood around, finally recovering some from the bridge run, finally coming to terms with everything.

It's helped that he's taken time to grieve, but having taken time on the mission to just help others has helped even more.

In fact, Jaime's used his spending money for presents. Some of it for people he knows, but he also picked up stuff he could give to just anyone on the ship, and he intends to just...give them stuff to cheer up whoever needs it.

So, Meatship, there is short Latino teen going around the ship giving random people presents. Enjoy!

"Who wants cookies?"

Of course, the task entrusted to our beloved heroes of the Meatcrew won't be easily accomplished. They're being watched. Small, robotic Arctic foxes, a product of Macrohard, studies the crew as they come through the portal. They watch the set up; they see them go into the realm of the Holiday Spirit, and leave in their flying cars to spread joy in the world. The portal is left open--this is their chance to strike.

This joy, this happiness, this plan? Unacceptable. These creatures are the surveillance for Macrohard. The crew's plan is out, and this corporation is not pleased. The crew's efforts are threatening Macrohard's dominance of the season, but the most effective tactic isn't fighting the crew--oh no. What they'll do instead is go after the Holiday Spirit itself. There is no other option: the threat must be eliminated, once and for all.

Luckily, Macrohard happens to have access to the most technologically advanced weaponry available. The most dangerous mercenaries are on their payroll. Troops of mecha nutcrackers, cybernetic polar bears, and candy cane-wielding arctic ninjas are on route to the North Pole to finish up the job.

[OOC: These are small teams, so try to keep Infiltration Team in one thread, and try to do a LOT of group threads in the others.]

There is a resounding mental alarum that sounds through the ship. Nearly "deafening." Lights flash from places for extra emphasis, making it impossible to ignore.

||Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention, all personnel...||

It's entirely likely that she won't stop repeating the announcement until, well, everyone reports to Obs Deck. Outside the windows, a very Earth-like planet is visible, hanging in space. The mouth in the huge statue opens, revealing a screen. On it, the dossier for the mission flickers into display, understandable to every person there. Smaller copies of the dossier appear in holographic form in front of everyone.

The planet's stats, right next to a rotating holographic picture of it, marbled blue and green, are as follows:

Planet Designation: Earth-78734XM45
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens. [Various translations of "human" appear here so everyone understands it]
Water: 69.5% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Earth-like, in the throes of a mild nuclear winter [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: Varied.
Air: Normoxic concentration. Slightly elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue. Often overcast.
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.

Warnings: Wildlife and plant-life can be hazardous. Humans can be hazardous. A human cultural and legal database is available. [click here]

Mission: Revive the spiritual entity at the North Pole.

--

Following that, there are various maps and things visible. The version of Earth this world is may be very recognizable to some, but vast cities dot its surface.

||Attention, podmates. Attention.||

Apparently Stacy wants their attention.

||It is critical that you pay attention at this time.||

A few people will be able to avoid the call by being in the right place at the right time, but most will be gathered up on Obs Deck.

[ooc: Organization Post | You can post into the gathering thread. I'll add more subthreads with explanations of aspects of the mission as we go. Note: If you don't have time to post to this mission briefing but still want to have your character in the plot, that's fine. You can just pretend they were there the whole time. If you DON'T want your characters to be in this plot altogether, however, don't have them in the briefing--Stacy could have missed snagging them.]

Jack is looking for somebody.

Loudly. And rather inefficiently, really.

"FENTON!" he yells, storming around the ship trying to locate Danny.

He has no idea it wasn't Danny sending him bizarre messages, but the ghost dog chewing on Danny's omnicom.

She's mad. She hasn't stopped being mad for the last few days.

She was mad when the zombies hit, mad when she found out what happened to Paco, madder and madder and madder for B5 and Jaime and Querl and no matter who she's talked to or what she's done she's frothing and nauseous with how USELESS she feels to change any of it.

She's barely slept, can't stop thinking, can't stop herself from lurching her way through little crying jags every time a bad thought or memory seeps in. Her oldest scars ache like they're new again... Her new bed in the crew quarters is so comfortable but she ends up back in her podsleeper some nights just for the close warm security of feeling shut away in a bubble for a while. She still can't quite drop off to sleep but it's better than feeling so exposed.

Brenda's had about enough of not sleeping though, she just wants to REST, and working herself down to exhaustion seems like a way to get there. So she's been camped out in one of the sensoriums, plowing her way through beating up opponent after spectral opponent, working already aching muscles into a mass of cramps and pain. Another hour or so of this, a hot bath, and with any luck she would be too tired to stand much less resist a comfortable bed.


[ooc: Will you mentioned wanting Leon to thread with Brenda some time? Feel free to hit this one. Sair, the Luthor thread I asked you about yesterday exploded in a whole other direction so maybe DSP can hit this one? He and Brenda should talk. ANYONE ELSE PLZ FEEL FREE TOO! ♥]

Even in the mess hall, Allen is at work.

To do:
- Bionic limbs project
---- Paco (arm - presentation with blueprints, then proposition.)
---- Leela (finger - propose first. Could put in a laser. Who doesn't want laser fingers?)
- School stuff
- Talk to Dani

His to-do list set up, Allen closes out that program on his omnicom and plugs in his secondary touchscreen, drawing out plans as he eats his sludge. This bionic arm ain't gonna plan itself.

There was a invisible being currently sneaking around the ship. Unobstructed by walls or other solid objects and having free reign over most of the ship, which itself was miles across, said creature might've gone completely unnoticed for a much longer time than it had. That is, if it hadn't entered the Medbay in it's exploration.

As Danny, who had not left the room due to wanting to stick near the only living family member he had now, rested his eye, he was startled awake by the cold of his ghost sense.

"Oh no. Not now." He groaned.

The crew meeting doesn't take place in the Obs Deck like it usually does. It takes place in the Medbay, because that's where most of the crew is gathered, and it's plenty large enough. Those that are still getting treated can sit on the beds, and those that just need to sit can sit on the beds.

When the last stragglers rejoin the others in the MedBay, when almost all the injuries have been treated, the Bridge Team finally returns, but they do not return triumphant. Most of their expressions are somber. One of their number, Paco, has come back missing an arm, and quite a few have rather nasty injuries, black eyes, burns, and so on. Jaime Reyes' armor is healed over his eye, and though said eye isn't gone (well, at least it won't be for long), it looks as if it is.

But their greatest casualty is being carried by Brainiac 5 with a flat pane of yellow shielding like an impromptu stretcher. Robin lent his cape to cover the body out of respect, but the green hand of the robot Brainiac is visible despite it.

The organic Brainy peels off from the group to silently carry the body into Special Weapons Division, to place it on one of the work-tables, as if the room is now an impromptu mortuary. An autopsy of sorts needs to be performed, after all, to ensure with absolute certainty what he already knows--that there is no way to repair their lost comrade. He will be absent from the reunion, and most likely chase out anyone that comes in.

As for the rest of them, they need medical care, probably need hugs, and mostly just need to see that the rest of the group is okay. They also need to meet the new people--who need to properly meet everyone in general, really.

[ooc: MEETING THREAD. Everybody, start subthreads and tag subthreads. This is for new people to meet folks and get a few more explanations, and also folks from the different teams just to reunite with people and see if they're okay, and all that. After the reunions and all that, free threading will resume. EVERYONE would be here, most likely. By this time, most folks would probably have joined the others.]

They now know what they're up against: space pirates. Interdimensional kidnappers and ruthless scallywags, that hijack ships, and sell the ships themselves and their contents for profit.

Their spaceship is rammed through the hull of the bridge, they're outnumbered fifteen-to-one, and the pirates have some very shiny tech on their side. But even with Stacy suppressed, the crew has her on their side, as she's trying her best to hide them from view and not allow her internal defenses to be used against our stalwart Meatcrew.

Now, in the area outside the bridge, which is home to a wide open space surrounded by a network of hub tunnels and the like, the crew is going to make their stand against the pirates--and the success of this fight will decide the fate of the rest of the crew. It's not easy task, either, considering the powerful weaponry the pirates have at their disposal, and the physical strength, cyborg augments, and powers a number of them have. But they do have a plan.

Will Team GTFO succeed, reopen the ship, and be able to go back to help the others fight against whatever was released against them? (Is it already too late to help them all?) Or will they fail, will those Left Behind have to cross their fingers and hope for the best, will the crew be doomed to a horrible fate in the meat markets (both literal and figurative) of the of the pirate black markets known as the Chopping Blocks?

[ooc: As usual, old threads are still open. And subthreads will be left open so folks can tag them. For instance, even after the subthread with the pirates retreating goes up, the pirate FIGHTING can still be tagged. You can also tag multiple subthreads, since it's a big-ass brawl and you can do fun stuff like having your character flung across the fight.

OPEN FOR TAGGING]