Who: Collab post between Cazali and Uva; otherwise, open!
Where: Around the sensoriums.
Summary: Cazali's trying to trick his body in to taking his core medals in the sensorium, while Uva stands "guard" outside the door in Greeed form. Both are pretty pathetic about it.
Warnings: Dumb and Dumber here may try to yummy anyone who makes themselves too available; if you don't want them to, just say so!

( Greeed are totally threatening villains, really you guys )

Hydroponics was Volanz's new favorite place, but it didn't really have a lot of competition for that title. The whole ship was disturbing and weird and unpleasant. Hydroponics, though, had fake sunlight and plants and animals running all over the place. It was still very, very strange and wrong, but it was just a little bit like home. That little bit meant a great deal to him.

It had taken him a while to finally get around to the disused laboratory near the entrance to the area. He didn't know what he'd find inside, and nothing the crew had recorded gave him much information about the place. So it was that Volanz stalked into the abandoned area as if he were walking into a known trap, shield arm ready to pummel anything that might've jumped out at him.

It was dead quiet and after a few minutes of suspicious prowling around and squinting at corners yielded nothing to hit, Volanz relaxed. He clambered onto a chair that had plainly been built for someone a good deal larger and frowned at the bank of buttons and switches and sliding things in front of him. Nothing was labeled in a way that made sense. Lots of abbreviations, if there were labels at all, and he couldn't quite pick out the meanings. What were they for?

He shrugged to himself, tapped out a quick omnicomm post, and tried to decide which he was going to poke first.

||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... )

Uva hadn't strayed far from the Observation Deck, intent on finding somewhere that wasn't full of people (and more importantly, other Greeed) as fast as possible to attend to his situation; mainly that he was full of foreign core medals and he wanted them out.

He succeeded in getting hopelessly lost. Disgusted, Uva settles for whatever far flung hall (capillary?) he's ended up in as being alone enough - and drops his human illusion. Cuz, c'mon. He'd pretty much warned off Cazali and Ankh earlier, and who else would have followed him?

A green drape lies spread across the floor for lack of something to hang off of.

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the battle with SHODAN the place looks a little worst for wear, but the crew and even Stacy are trying to be in good spirits. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, and the little stunt in trying to kill off the people in the pods, many 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), a large afro attached to a smaller girl, and talking ponies 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. But thankfully this time, there's a system that was set up to aid the new crew members with a few more experienced ones.

[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. Big brother/sister, there will be a thread for you as well!]

Erhart kneels before the great statue of the god-emperor of mankind, lost in prayer, and contemplation. His armor is bare, stripped of all the paint and embellishment that is his right to wear as the Emperor's Champion, instead it is mostly gunmetal gray, with a few patches of gold showing through in places. His Crusader and Purity seals are nothing more than tattered scraps of parchment and wax, mostly burned away. His right pauldron is shattered, his left deeply groved, there are multiple puncture and burn marks on his plastron, and he bleeds. Oh yes, inside, there are many bruises, and he can feel at least one broken rib grate as he holds his humble pose before the image of the Master of Mankind, going through a Litany of Remembrance as he does so.

He stops, after finishing his devotions, and anoints himself with an ampule of holy water from a great marble bowl set in the Reclusiam, off to the right of the statue of Him on Earth. He turns, and stands, looking out over the city, watching the flashes of gunfire and the sounds of battle. He can do nothing, for now, too tired. While one of the catchphrases of the Eternal Crusade is no mercy, no respite, he can't bring himself to go out to fight again quite yet. Not like this. He can barely lift his sword. He needs.... rest.
And so he waits. For someone? Perhaps. Or perhaps just for a few moments of rest before returning to the war.

Even as early as his "birth", Cazali had been all about quickness over strength. The assassain; the retrieval unit sent in to gather evidence, or eliminate it. Speedy legs to get him in, light to blind the enemy's defenses, and wind to cover his escape. His technique was finely-tuned to a science, almost to the level of instinct. None of the other Greeed could top Caz's usefulness in affairs pertaining to hit and runs, and that was how it would always be.

He'd been distracted by the ship. It had been fun, and what felt like three months of solitude and "peace" was downright miraculous for any Greeed. He'd been plagued with foreign sensations, and some stupider part of his sentience had debated if some of it was due to "emotion". It was only natural that jitters had set in, and the cat doubted it was just him. Ankh had to have been feeling it too- the paranoia, feeling eyes on you, gritting your hands and teeth and insides, feeling the emptiness within. They could cover it up, but the emptiness was- and would always -be there. But it could be lessened. Ankh had some of his medals, Cazali was sure of it.

He'd genuinely not wanted his medals back for most of the time. The Greeed wasn't sure why, it just hadn't been...as strong a desire as it once had been. Sure, he'd always intended to get his medals back, and he'd shot himself in the foot by discussing his "feelings" with Zou, but it would come later, it could wait. But, that discussion had put the seed of a plan in his head- why had he assumed he'd need to get stronger to get his medals back? Had he completely forgotten his purpose, his chief skill? Speed was what Cazali was- all he needed to do, really, was get his medals. Defeating Ankh could come later, and would be much easier with more than one core medal inside him. Swipe the entire set- Ankh surely carried them with him. Hole up somewhere, slowly feed on the more useful ones (Mezul's? Maybe he would finally get to try Uva's...?) and lie in wait. The bird would come for him, right in to his den, and then...that was it. No more running.

The sudden realization had been too much. The desire had flushed through his system, driving him to standing in the same hallway day after day, waiting. Even as he went over his plan for the thirtieth time, his hands were shaking. Most of the crew was busy with some body snatching nonsense- it was the perfect time. He'd waited long enough. All he needed to do...was to steal the medals...and run...

(( OOC: All interested posters, please go here if you want to join in on kicking Caz's ass! There's a few things I gotta sort out, first! ))

Waking up covered in slime and naked had been strange enough. One minute she'd been sleeping peacefully in the humid, mildly sticky jungle, the next she'd been waking up in the humid, EXTREMELY sticky room with the stacks and stacks of pods bulging from the walls, surrounded by humans, more humans than she'd seen in months. More naked humans than she'd seen in her life. And then Jane had found herself in a maze.

And another maze. And another one. With . . . something, that was most certainly a machine, but so much more advanced than any machine she'd ever seen - and much more vindictive, too. Had GlaDOS known somehow that of the few things she'd missed about England, cake had been high on the list?

Jane, deposited on the Observatory floor, stood from her ungraceful landing still livid with frustration from her weeks of 'testing.' Whatever that had been for.

"Oh! You wretched - you vile machine, if there were cake, why I'd jam every one of your gears with it!"

Oh! It appeared she was no longer in the strange, awfully austere mazes anymore. Jane looked around, considering that her surroundings had suddenly become much more like the strange room she'd been in before being captured by that terrible thing that had promised cake and not (for it's own good, no doubt!) delivered. Perhaps some of the people she'd seen around when she first woke up in a place not the jungle were available to answer some of her questions.

"Excuse me! Is - is anyone here? Hello? I don't suppose there is cake after all?"

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.

When he'd first arrived, Cazali had sort of scoffed at the use of something like the sensorium. It was all all a lie, and indulging in a fake reality was pretty disgusting. Of course, he'd indulged once or twice for fun, and...quickly found it wasn't nearly as horrible as he'd thought. Which totally didn't mean he was warming up to it, no way.

But one day, he got an idea. His core medals- he hadn't yet gone to harass security about their return, and part of him didn't know why he was hesitating. Maybe it was hopelessness, or maybe he just needed to remember why his medals were so vital. So, he'd strolled in to the sensorium- bringing Besel with him, setting the confused kitten on the ground -and concentrated. The setting was barely a thought- it was just default blue sky, default grassy field, nothing special.

Cazali was more intent on remembering each of his medals individually, two through nine. With each new medal his body changed, growing stronger and more armored, coloring returning slowly- until he finally absorbed the ninth, and he felt that familiar surge of power. But it was a lie, and he had to remind himself of that as he looked his nearly-completed form over. This was just the illusion working. He hadn't actually gotten his medals back, of course.

The Greeed sighed, letting himself fall backwards to lie on the grass (and missing Besel by a few inches). Was his desire for completion returning...? Not really. He just felt sort of lukewarm about it still. What the hell was wrong?

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.]

Zouichi sat by a the mirrored black water of a small pond. Nearby, a wisteria plant was coming into bloom, dangling its delicate, curved violet flowers toward the earth.

As promised, a tray of chilled watermelon slices was set to the side, near the wooden steps leading down to the garden and free for any passersby to take. For his part, however, Zouichi occupied himself with feeding a small group of googly-eyed baby goldfish, who darted back and forth through the water to gobble up stray flakes of fish food.

It was nice to take a break from exploding ghost wolves lions once in a while.

||Attention all crewmen, shore leave is now in progress, attention crewmen, shore leave is now in progress...||

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: Geartopia
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens, Homo Animalia, Machina Erectus.
Water: 20.6% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Earth-like, Arid desert
Landscape: 70% Desert..
Air: Normoxic concentration.
Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.
Warnings: Wildlife, humanoids and plant-life can be hazardous.
Nomalanga has given us a map with which areas to avoid.
Mission: Shore leave, and preparing for an attack in a few days, planet's time. Nomalanga has promised food, clothing and animals in exchange for your cooperation in aiding her.

( You are then given more information, from what you know... )

[OKAY ALL DONE GO FOR IT. You are also free to create additional places, to post your own private logs involving the town! Contact me if you need extra information about Geartopia either via PM to things_go_boom's account or by AIM, I'll be happy to answer. NPC goons if you want to do a bunch of bar fights, just think typical cowboy stuff. Shore leave will last until the 31st and players can go to and from the ship to the city each day, so you can have your characters stay for a day or two and then come back.

People in the miniplots, the mini plots will start up in a few days! There will also be a general fight for anyone who wants to join in on the 29th. Thank you and enjoy yourselves!]

Following the instructions given to him by crew members here and there, Cedric stepped through a green archway tucked on a corner of the fifth floor and entered a grey void. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the sort of place that would be perfect for a day of flying. He imagined a bright grassy plain, a large lake, and a forest off to the side. Vague memories turned into vivid images surrounding him, so thoroughly convincing that he really believed he'd been taken from the ship and placed on a field back on Earth. It was quite a convincing illusion
.
All it needed now was the key piece: a group of brooms. He thought for a moment on which brooms to provide them with. Firebolts were the world standard, but he'd never known one well enough to be able to picture it accurately. The school brooms, Shooting Stars, were nice and safe for new riders but not quite reliable. In the end, he knew his own broom best: a sleek Nimbus 2001, gifted by his father. As long as he instructed the fliers to go slowly, they should be safe on those brooms.

Visitors would find Cedric side-mounted on a broom in his black and yellow Quidditch robes, gliding just slightly over the grass. As soon as he spotted them, he'd greet them enthusiastically and move to touch down. "Hi!"

((ooc: wide open for everyone to join in! We'll be doing some group exercises too, so thread around! Fly as a group when you're ready!))

Deep from the dank, dark bowels of the Media Library... IT CAME! FROM THE CELLULOID!

Five terrible movies guaranteed to give you CHILLS! THRILLS! Or maybe just, I dunno, a vague sense that the universe has wronged you somehow and you want several hours of your life back.

Today, anyone walking into this particular Sensorium would be greeted by the sight of a late 20th century darkened movie theatre, playing a quintuple-feature consisting of old Earth movies that were honestly not very good. At the bottom of the seating area was some dude giving out free popcorn, candy, and drinks.

Howard, Zouichi, Allenby, and Jr. were around, and anyone else was welcome to walk in and join in.

[each of the movies is listed below, just tag in wherever you want. I put a small link in each movie's post so you can have some idea of what the movie is about, although honestly I would say that the movies themselves often do not actually know what they are about. All threads are open unless labeled 'closed'.

P.S. I'M SO SORRY I SHOULD HAVE PUT THIS UP EARLIER]

Nothing felt quite so good as to have a project on its way. If this one features slightly less graphical and arbitrary annihilation of all sense and reason to the universe so that his will and desires may stand paramount in all creation, it's no less important or relevant for all that.

Aibghalien has set aside a few of what appear to be practice areas for interviews and assessments, hoping these are large enough to use for any demonstrations necessary. If not, the courtyard outside allows plenty of space for particularly pyrotechnical displays.

[OOC: Those willing to help interview may start their own threads for people to comment on (but Abby would like to get your own lists!) If your character would have come, but you aren't able to thread it out for any reason, just put the information in the Handwaved thread for later compilation.]

((Sorry this is so late, My life took over for a while.))

Who: Dr. Samuel Henderson, Medical staff, and YOU
What: Introduce yourself to the medical team, get your physical, or give one!
When: Shortly after podpop
Where: Medbay!
Why: Because you're required! >O

( Anyone needing Medbay goes within! )

Welcome to Kittenland, the most adorable place in Happy Happy Fun World! If you didn't like Kittenland, you probably had no soul at all.

There was the Kitten Go Round, a Merry Go Round where everyone could ride a kitten; the Nyan Cat Coaster, a rollercoaster where the carriages were in the shape of kittens with pop tart bodies, racing along a rainbow track to the constant sound of 'nyanyanyanyan'; the Kitten Petting Corner (with real kittens!); and the Hello Kitty Teacups.

And then there was the merchandise - the Nyan Cat Coaster had a shop of it's own, as did the Hello Kitty Teacups, both with a considerable range in merchandise; there was Kitten Candy, kitten t-shirts, kitten magnets, and more. Oddly enough though, you couldn't buy actual kittens.

[ooc: Feel free to make up any other kitten related rides or merchanise if you want!]]

Ankh's first concern was gathering information about this place; the hawk candroid was already flying around where it would and he'd follow it to anything useful later. His next concern then, was returning to the pod caverns. It would be easier to do after all the new crew members had settled, and so he had to wait, no matter how pissed off it made him.

Still, now he got the chance to return. The air was still horrible; he still felt like he was going to choke or explode and he still didn't know why he was so bothered by it, he had spent a year in a human body already, damnit! And that just made him angrier which made him more frustrated which just reminded him how frikkin' hot in here it was. Wearing the damn suit sure didn't help. Nevermind, he'd be sick about it later.

Right now, Ankh was perched on the spiral walkway, staring down at the cavern of pods. He seemed to be staring off into space, but he was actually just concentrating very hard; he had set to work who knows how long ago, using his Hawk vision to scan the pods for any sign of a certain handful of individuals.

They had to be here. There's no way he and that stupid cat'd be around and they wouldn't. They were too dumb to get themselves killed just like that. Not like that.

Yet there was no sign of them. Was his Hawk vision failing him? It never had before. Everything was red, but there was....static. He was used to seeing static, but not with Hawk vision, and not like that. And he certainly shouldn't have had Greeed vision right now.

This was ridiculous. His Greeed arm had long since encased the human arm out of mounting frustration, and he was tightening his fist so hard that he probably would've bruised something by now if it wasn't for the arm. He gave a yell; Nothing. Ankh turned away from the pods and violently whipped his arm forward to point and shoot a blaze of fire at the ground. He didn't care if this place was alive, or if he'd get in trouble, he had been searching for hours and come up dry.

And after his minor fit he was just standing there, breathing heavily, glaring at nothing in particular, and remembering how sick this stupid ship made him.

Sitting around and watching the ship's network wasn't achieving as much as it had done back home. There, he'd been able to keep a hand- er, cellphone -on the pulse of the city's population, and survey them without having to leave relative safety. Here, not only was he completely alone, but the population was irritatingly careful about their messaging. Cazali could have gone to get his 'information' from that Kamen Rider, but...he didn't want to seem dependent. Especially to someone who apparently knew about him. So, he had to go about gathering intel the old fashioned way- stalking.

( Science Department - Open )

( The City - Open )

( Maki Mansion - Closed )