The Shodan incident had left more than a foul memory, in fact, it was so bad that the details were hazy.

But he knew he'd gone rogue, and he knew that he caused a lot of damage... and hurt people he cared about. There was no excuse, this was were he belonged. That however didn't make it any more depressing. He'd missed the new crew members, and he would miss much of the going ons but Splicer was used to being alone...

He had his team back after all, even if they were back at home. For now, he'd simply sit there, slumped against the cell wall and think of the thing's he'd done.

Man... this is the shit that the other Spectres got killed for... way to lose it cowboy...

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

Stacy's voiced called the entire crew, until all of them were gathered at the Obs Deck. Then, a dossier appeared on the screens, along with the image of a rotating planet.

Planet Designation: Pelau
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Moderate flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Yes
Water: 75% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Climate varies by region.
Landscape: Landscape at the North Pole varies. Within the biodomes, significant development. Outside the domes remains mostly pristine.
Air: Normoxic concentration: 29% oxygen, 60% nitrogen, 3% xenon, 6% trace gases, such as hydrogen, krypton, and argon.

Air Pressure: 14.352 pounds per square inch.
Sky: Blue/violet with white clouds.
Sun: A class D4K, yellow star.

Warnings: Be careful of frostbite outside the biodomes.

Mission: None. Shore leave is now initiated.

[Here's a handy map of the North Biodome where the crew is being dropped]


( Read more... )

A little after the Shodan attack, Mindy would learn that both Sasami and Negi would be repodded, further darkening her mood after all of the fight: no victory, nothing to be really proud of, just a good, swift win. That was life on Stacy, so be it. What was more, for all intent purposes, "Mindy" had to make sure to look broken up about the death of her father, which was obviously not a stretch. But there was something, in her estimation, that needed to be taken care of first and foremost, which was why Ruffnut would notice that there was no Mindy around the castle for the last few days. In fact, Mindy had spent that time in and out of the Juraian Royal Palace, through the permission of Starfire, of course. This was because she was cleaning out the debris those fucking robots left behind in the one place Mindy was adamant needed to be preserved: The First Tree Cafe.

Or formerly that, anyway. The sign had been done away with, with a new sign replacing it: Negi and Sasami's Diner. Granted, the inside was still a bit of a fixer upper, but the lights were working, the chairs were clean of garbage and robot entrails, and a now dusty but accomplished looking girl was busy inside, busy cooking.

Outside there was another sign: Negi and Sasami's Diner
Under New Management
Alien Burgers
Apple Pies
Soup
Ask for anything else and you will get punched in the face.
More food to be added at a date TBD.

[To Note: Splitting this post in two: for those coming into the restaurant, and Mindy going back to the castle.]

Gods could be too arrogant. Such was the case of SHODAN, who had turned the Pods into a nightmarish zone where she could freely amuse herself and torture those that had come here.

But arrogance breeds pride which breeds mistakes. Instead of killing everyone off, she had decided to do this more slowly – watch them suffer in a slow agony, and, therefore had not expected them to fight back.

It had been a lucky shot, really, one in a million, But one of the people present that day had accidentally shot a tiny, insignificant object. A tiny little drone, that, once it had been the source of the power damper, had fallen. The tables were turned, and the goddess had been forced to retreat from the pods.

Now she was on a panicked mode, not only because some of the other people on the ship had managed to work their way into her system files, using another AI to send pointless images and sounds to her, distracting her from her task, but they knew how they could defeat her and gain their powers back.

It didn't take long for the message to be sent out, as the word quickly spread. Find the tiny little creatures, and shoot them down. SHODAN couldn't work their shields properly and once they were found, it was only a short matter of time before the powers returned to an area.

It would take time, but, finally, the tide of the battle was turning on the side of the crewmen and women. In vain, she was throwing her all; even more strange robot creatures, attacking in packs, but with hope on their side, they could win this...

[OOC - OKay go for it! NPC players, feel free to NPC as many robots as you like. Players, once your powers return, feel free to make as much scrap metal as you like, no need to have people NPC for you if you just want to write tags of them kicking ass.]

Splicer had been chilling in his pad when the announcement was made. Another day, another psycho on-board the ship. It was sort of ironic that it was one crazy AI taking over the resident crazy AI, one messed up overlord for another. Regardless of what the deal was, it was time to suit up and get shit in gear.

"I'll be heading out guys, keep the fort safe!" He was ready in a matter of seconds, armor, weapons and explosives... But there was something amiss. Besides feeling a wicked migraine, he had gotten no response from his friends.

"What? Did I do something?"

No answer. He walked over to the doll that had been sitting in front of the computer screen. "Hey, dude, don't worry, I'll fix the rig soon enough." No answer. "Fine then, be a fucking douche Miggy."

He turned and frowned, looking at where the other two had been at. Alice brushing Lil's hair. "You two too?"

No answer.... Lil would never not talk to him... He took long, hurried steps towards the doll and picked it up. "Lil... Lil, can you hear me?" No answer.

A cold fear gripped his body for the first time in decades. That feeling of cold dread that he felt that day, the day they died. But they didn't die! They were here with him weren't they?! They escaped that planet! They survived and they were on board Stacy with him!

"Talk to me damnit! Lil! Alice! Mig?! Anyone?!!!" The silence that permeated through the room was only broken by the heavy breathing of the mask.

"No... nononononono NO!" He couldn't lose them, He couldn't fail them. Not Lil!

Stacy... And now this other fuckwad Shodan.... They did this. THIS WHOLE FUCKING SHIP DID THIS!

There'd be hell to pay. Everyone had betrayed him, he could hear them. Laughing. After all he tried to do for them... Especially that nut and bolt sucking bitch.

Splicer, no. Agent 779 loaded up on his stash of explosives and weapons. It was about to become a lot more heated in this place.

[[OOC: Here you have a black ops specialist gone berserk! Who also happens to have a mighty fine stash of explosives and weapons and is now convinced that the crew, and especially the ship, have betrayed him. he's currently attempting to add nice, new vents to Stacy with random explosive charges all through the City. Go on an easter egg hunt to deactivate them, or run into a bullet from his high powered sniper rifle! Or just go fight him during one of the times he's placing one of his bomb packets! Either way, he's extremely dangerous to the crew right now. Needs to be stopped!]]

( Terrible song parodies and terrible pictures beyond the cut. )

[Chell and Aya are out and about in the City, wherever you need them to be. I sincerely apologize for this post. The end.]

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.

The TV flashes with a new message.

Tyrant Mail,

If you want to win, you can't be chicken!

Fiercely in Love,
Tyrant

After some time to change into their now-mandatory 8-inch heels, contestants are led to an stiflingly hot arena where 'devoted fans' (i.e. confused people prodded into the auditorium by casting agents) are watching. A giant catwalk, made to look like a barbecue with real flames and coals, rolls out before them. At its feet giant fried chicken-themed thrones hold the judges, all of whom are surrounded by fans buffeting their hair about and keeping them from getting a thick shellack of sweat.

"Contestants!" Jay Emmanuel strides up to them, impossibly-perfect skin still smooth and dry. He may, in fact, be part android. "Let's get you to styling! For your challenge today. You have to embody the spirit. Of fighting animal cruelty by dressing as a couture piece of poultry and strutting your stuff! Get it? Strut?"

The contestants are led away by the stylists, with the knowledge that their number will be at least one fewer by the end of the challenge.

[OOC: I will continue to backtag makeover threads for as long as you like!]

Jr. didn't use too much imagination for his trip to the Sensoriums today - at least in terms of landscape and specific places. He settled on an empty field and a blue, cloudless sky, because his focus was more on setting up things in his immediate area. He knew Howard would probably be starting on basic things, and if anybody else dropped by who was more practiced in the art of shooting, things should at least be set up in advance. And with a little organization.

A closet appeared next to the red-head, doors opened and showing off an assortment of different firearms. Old and new, bullets and lasers, handguns and rifles and machine guns and tons of other things to choose from. Their ammunition was in a box sitting on the floor next to the closet. Nearby, Jr. set up your very basic shooting range; un-moving, paper targets with markers slowly making their ways further away from them. Next to that, more or less the same thing, only the targets moved slowly, and there were less standing markers. Slowly the difficultly level made its way up as you walked along, markers disappearing completely and targets getting smaller and faster, moving even off the ground and into the air at the later levels. Some of the targets buzzed and hummed, and blindfolds could be noticed hanging from hooks by them.

And then props and environmental changes made their way in as you moved even further along, the practice ranges getting bigger as a result. There were rocks and trees and things to duck and hide behind, things to climb and leap off of and hidden traps in the ground that tried to make you lose your footing and concentration. And finally over toward the end were targets that fired back (though the bullets they fired were physically harmless and only there as indicators to whether or not you got hit) and looked more like some crazy obstacle course with optional moving (and flying) vehicles to ride in or give chase to. There were strange machines, too, with hidden points of vulnerability that a gunslinger had to find themselves, and quickly. Dummies hung from ropes, some of which swung back and forth and required a keen eye and great accuracy to shoot down. Basically, there were tons of things from action movies but also different scenarios that could very well come into play during a multiversal war. Jr. was looking to cover all of the bases if more than just Howard decided to drop by.


[ooc: open not just to characters who want to learn how to shoot, but anyone and everyone who wants to have some target practice fun or just pop in to say hi and marvel at the setup!]

Stacy sends out the call for certain crew members to present themselves at the decks. Once they are all rounded up, they are presented with the following information before being shuffled off into a shuttle to the nearby plant.

Planet Designation: Exotic Location
Status: Terrestrial.
Non-sentient life: Wild flora and fauna has been all much eliminated by homo sapiens. Domesticated flora and fauna present in limited quantities.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens.
Water: 89.3% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Earth-like
Landscape: Dense cities on all land masses except 'photo shoot' regions.
Air: Normoxic concentration.
Air Pressure: 89.6 kPa = 13 psi
Sky: Orange, with variable cloud cover.
Sun: A class G2V, white star.
Mission: Diplomatic mission with ruler Tyrant Banks for 'confidential, fierce information regarding the Ohm'.

The shuttle takes the scenic route, passing over cities filled with skyscrapers and billboards the size of small towns. Finally, it lands on the outskirts of one city, between the downtown and the beach. The shuttle docks, and the doors open to a room with black walls and a single flatscreen television at the far end. No doors are in sight.

On the television, a black and white PowerPoint seems to have been set up. It reads:

TYRANTMAIL,

Your welcome gift will be a real heavenly surprise!

Fiercely in Love,
Tyrant

The message is accompanied by a jpeg of Tyrant Banks riding a motorcycle in the tundra while wearing a bikini. She looks incredibly fierce.

The Metacrisis Doctor is restless. That's not very unusual, really. He's often varying shades of restless or impatient, it's part of who he is, and it's not something that's gone away as a Metacrisis so much as it's changed shape. His restlessness and impatience was on a far grander scale than it is now, for instance. So far, he's managed to live a fairly domestic life with Rose in a home that doesn't move constrained usually to one planet. His old self would never be able to handle that, but sitting still and paying attention to things, or lazy Sunday afternoons drive him mad.

He's more restless than usual now. If he believes everything he's been told (and it's a stretch to say he does, but saying so) then his new universe, his life, even his Rose are gone, and the only hope of getting them back in one piece is finishing this mission. Yet the ship seems to stop as often as a luxury liner on a tourist show across the omniverse. Or something equally slow and aggravating.

He's spent far too long this time standing in the obs deck, glaring down the stars and willing them to start moving again. It's getting a bit ridiculous even for the man who's trying to stare down stars.

Eventually, he fled to the City. It's almost Earth-like, and to his dimmed (and somewhat desperate) senses, it reminds him of the home he's apparently got to retroactively save. If any of that is true. Which he hasn't really decided on yet.

For now, he sits under a tree, watches people pass, and waits for Stacy to start moving again.

Red Rose was a bar in Western Side that only a few brave men and women chose to venture into. Once the private property of one Snidley Pridlash, the bar was still full of sympathizers and men who could easily stick a knife into your back.

Which is why, of course, they'd only send the best for the job. At least they thought.

Allard, Nomalanga's right hand man, didn't really know the people he had picked out for it, but he was a good judge of character just by a person's eyes and attitude, and so, the quiet peace of this small place and all it's terrible men was interrupted by five people dressed in their best cowboy attires, looking about as dangerous as everyone else inside. Granted, their eyes first drew to the only lady of the group, Aya (aka Sharp Shooter), but she was flocked only by Stacy's best; Ash (Aka Iron Hand), Mal (Aka Lonesome Cowboy), Eine (Aka Fire Hands) and Han Solo (aka Han Solo I mean Scoundrel). Did they really need those nicknames? No but you had to admit it sounded cool.

They had been dressed up to fit even more with the decor, sporting pairs of leather pants, spurs (they made the best noise) and a leather belt which held their guns, they looked as local as any of the other wild animals in this place. The musicians stopped for a minute, but once no one else tried to kill them, they continued.

The bar was modern, sleek and very steampunkish. Lovely ladies in tight clothing stood near the entrance, eying the men with approving gazes. There were rows of tables and wooden ones farther down all playing one game;

Poker.

And that's what they'd come in to do. There mission was to find information about Snidley by playing card games and beating the locals. There was word of a five man team that was unbeatable; A humanoid with four hands named Fingers, a Lion named Leo, a Meerkat named Tim, a robot named Bolts and a Warthog named Stinks.

The liquor was hard, and the game would probably last all day. And hell, if they managed to play good, they might actually walk away with this with not only information, but some money to boot.

[OOC- Just so you four know, I don't really know that much about Poker and it's going to be more about the CR and stuff with dramatic hands than real games of blackjack, so no worries if you don't either.]

Most of the recently-awakened people had probably heard of the Drunken Dragon tavern within a few days of getting accustomed to the ship. Some had already visited it, and a few had probably even become regulars already.

As usual, the door was open, and Kang and his helpers were there, refilling drinks and being sociable.

The stage was free for anyone that wanted to share a story, sing a song, or play an instrument, and it was more than welcomed, for what's a tavern without some form of entertainment?

[OOC: If your character wants to speak to a tavern person in particular (Kang, Kaylee, Nima or Kali), just make a note of it in your tag. Threads here can pretty much cover any time from the most recent podpop to just after Happy Happy Fun World; backtagging is our friend in T9. :D

Newbies, please make sure to read the tavern link! It's got all the info on the setting, available drinks, etc.]

"Welcome-a to Videoland!" tells you an animatronic, rusted and chipping man. "My name is-a Somari the Spaceman! It's-a very good to see you, woohoo, ha ha!!" Next to him a green (also chipped and rusted) fat Hedgehog statue dressed in green and with a leather outfit stands close doing a peace sign. "And I'm his good buddy, Scory the Porcupine! Welcome to Videolang Buddy!"

Ahh Videoland! Popular no less than ten years ago, it has began a recent decline compared to the other parts of Happy Happy Land due to most of their clientele simply growing too old for it and going off to the other parts of the planet. Still waiting for a new deal with a game provider to use their licenses, it becomes older and more jaded, still trying to have the same magic as a while ago, but the dream being long gone. The world is now a dangerous combination of video games bordering bootleg and strange creatures and things that are just the right amount off not to be written as simple copied parodies. Costumed men and women wear the suits of the mascots, and a few pretty girls wearing the Princess Lana, Ruler of Videoland™ costume don't look as bright and cheerful as they should be. Every four hours, there's a Captain N: The Gamemaster show, with the typical theme park overacting and asking kids questions as anagrammatic versions of Mother Brains, Eggplant Wizard & King D'ippo capture her and have to be saved by Rock N' Rollman, Solomon Belmont, Kid Icarus and, of course, Captain N, the Game Master.

Everything seems sort of wrong. Like a marketing gimmick that caught on. The annoying young kids seem to like the show, mind you.

However if you're not here to watch terrible theater productions, the park is divided into six subsections, accessible by a monorail. Well, when the monorail is working anyway (and it is today! LUCKY YOU!) When you arrive you are standing near the Palace of Power, large, impressive (and pink) castle that apparently belongs to Princess Lana.

( KONGOLAND! Where arcades and tropical food reigns. )

( SPACEPIRATE LAND! Your Horror XTREME!!! COME GET YOUR HOROSCOPE. )

( MEGALAND, Futuristic theme part of rides and booths...available TODAY! )

( MOUNT ICARUS....LAND! It's where the kids go while their parents go elsewhere )

( CASTLEVANIALAND! The medieval land of horror, magic and the biggest coaster! )

With all these sections it might take a while! Or you'll just run off in horror to another park and never, ever look back.

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

Stacy's voiced called the entire crew, until all of them were gathered at the Obs Deck. Then, a dossier appeared on the screens, along with the image of a rotating planet.

Planet Designation: Happy Happy Fun World
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Medium flora and fauna. Primarily domestic.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: A significant number of species of intelligent life.
Water: 25% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Climate varies by region.
Landscape: Landscape has been significantly terraformed and is highly varied.
Air: Normoxic concentration: 29% oxygen, 60% nitrogen, 3% xenon, 6% trace gases, such as hydrogen, krypton, and argon.

Air Pressure: 14.352 pounds per square inch.
Sky: Pink with white clouds.
Sun: A class D4K, yellow star.

Warnings: Crew should be cautious when consuming the popcorn.

Mission: None. Shore leave is now initiated.

Hey, what's not to like about a planet called 'Happy Happy Fun World'?

[[ooc: Time for Shore Leave! Post reactions to the announcement here]]

In an island area of the park is the sometimes staid, sometimes festive Yamato Sector (which seemed strangely familiar to some of the crew, no doubt). Souvenir swords? Okonomiyaki? Sunset beaches filled with the SPRINGTIME OF OUR YOUTH? Medieval warlords drinking wine from human (shaped) skulls? They're all here!
[Set up your own locations as you wish or tag into one already existing!]

So Splicer had actually enjoyed that for the most part? This last pod pop had been smooth enough, at least compared to a few others. One thing he enjoyed the most was the people he had met, one of them who he would be taking around the ship in a personal tour. He didn't mind of course, always one to enjoy pleasant company and any chance to chill and relax with someone new.

Life after popping was chaotic, sometimes stressful for most. He on the other hand, had been through a similar situation, just not as enclosed as being on board Stacy, so he did his best to help others relax and make the best of it so that they might feel at ease and focused while on board.

He lit a cigarette as he leaned back against one of the pulsating walls, clad in his usual get up of black leathers, t-shirt and jeans, donning one of his many shades as he waits for the girl he had met and promised a day out; passing the time by making the smoke that comes out turn into small smoke baubles and sending them off in a random direction.

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.

--

( There was nothing... )

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.]