Cole had only been on the ship for a few days now, and was still figuring out all the twists and turns, so he got to where the distress call had been broadcasted from later than the others.

He had no idea where the flash had taken the people that got here earlier, but he got the feeling that something big was about to go down.

He'd sent out a message over the comms for anyone to get down here, though maybe he should've been more specific.

Still so far one person had said they would get here, but nothing else so far.

(OOC: Cole's omnicomm message went out two months ago, so you can respond there. Or just decide to help out of nowhere.)

There was no warning before all of Stacy's holograms throughout the ship turned on, showing a very grim-looking Kanil.

"This is Admiral Kasna, of the GIA High Command."

The face, and the name, was familiar to some of the older crew.

"We are in dire need of assistance in the Pari'qa'dul System of Universe SL1609P. Recently, several of the planets and moons in the system have come under a coordinated attack, and we do not have the manpower to handle it. If anyone is close enough to hear this message, please, we need your help as soon as possible. Coordinates, as well as information on every hotspot, are attached."

The message repeated one more time before the hologram of the Admiral was replaced by Stacy.

||Attention crew. This was the distress call I received moments ago from GIA command. Universe SL1609P is a remote universe with limited resources on some of its planets and colonies, accessible by only a few routes in the Bleed and as a result, the GIA, who are currently in the midst of heated battle with the Ohm, are unable to send aid. Moments before we received their distress call, the Tapestry went active, providing visions of crew members taking on this mission.||

A list with the names of the crew members appeared.

||Whether or not these crew members take on this mission is their own choice, but the mission's success and the lives of civilians may depend on it. As for information on the threat, GIA intelligence is receiving reports from military and local law enforcement on the affected colonies and planets that this is not an attack by Catastrophists or any other known terrorist or piracy group. This new group is entirely unknown and is attacking these GIA worlds with a variety of MOs used for their criminal acts and acts of terror. The only connections that have been found between these individuals and groups is the timing and scattered communication between them--they all seem to be geared towards destabilizing the planets' governments and causing chaos.||

||This group needs to be investigated because it may be a new player in the overall war, innocent lives hang in the balance, and this is a chance for the crew to strengthen their alliance with the GIA. The Daligig are already spreading propaganda against the Trans 9.||

Newslinks and video of the Daligig denouncing the crew as going rogue flashed across her holographic screens.

||We need some way of offsetting it or we may be cut off entirely from GIA resources.||

[ooc: People in any place in the ship can ask Stacy questions or discuss this development with other crew members. The people on the lists provided by the Tapestry are whichever people sign up for the miniplots oocly.]

Once the call had gone out after his initial announcement 'Vadum had set himself to assessing the current stock of weapons, armour and vehicles available to them. They had access to the GIA armoury so they had little shortage of the plasma weapons they utilized, he had managed to procure a number of crates of assorted weapons, now currently stored in the Quarter.

That done, he'd made his way to one of the many sensoriums, the simulation of a fairly typical human constructed base and training field off to one side, including a firing range for those who needed to test their aim, an obstacle course for those who wished to test their agility as well as many other such structures that could be utilized to test the abilities of those who wished to sign on. The whole installation ringed by a clearing which then expanded out into forested hills. Filling a measure of this clearing to one side sat a number of vehicles of all sorts from those familiar to the Sangheili commander to others he had only observed in passing.

Off to one side near the firing range a table arrayed with all manner of weapons, both ranged and close combat weapons sat waiting to be test and used on the range. It was here that the Sangheili Commander waited.

------------------------

[OOC: Sorry to everyone for the lateness of this, have been eaten up by Uni lately, nearly to the end of semester though, so I should have time very soon.

As to the workings of this, I'll have two main those wishing to play through the sign up process are welcome to, characters in the infantry regiment can have either 'Vadum or Roger Maxson for their sign up. Those who don't wish to play out the process are more than welcome to hand-wave it.

The second subthread will be primarly a mingling part for those who wish it. Squad listings can be found here.

The third subthread will be a non-bendytimed training thread for those who wish it.]

Neuropathy sat to one side of Engingeering, dark save for the blue glow of the monitors on all sides displaying brainwaves and technical readouts. Above, trolleys hanging from the framework are sillouetted against the sporadic glow of neurons firing like so many shooting stars. Those who have never been to this area before might wonder why they've never bothered, but to those who have it's just another day at the office.

"And so the crew of the Transmigration Nine has DOMINATED the tournament, coming at last to the semifinals, where four brave souls now strive to see which of them is the best!" the leg-mustached orb announced to the camera cloud! It paused, then continued in a more witty tone, "Of course, there are no rules against selling your soul for the power to advance, so maybe I'm being a little too charitable, huh?"

Pause for laughter, and...

"Victory and the prize seems assured for these warriors... or DOES it?" Pause for gasp. "We need some motivation for the best fights to come out! We can't let them go easy on each other! So from here on out..." Aaaand pause for dramatic effect...

"The loser will surrender ALL their powers to the winner! That's right! Lose this round and walk away a boring, ordinary human being, dragon, or whatever that purple guys is! This is for ALL the marbles, kids!"

The program cut to commercial, as the MC turned to the eliminated crew members. "It's not true, by the way, but don't tell your friends that. Your electric-man friend especially seems to have way too many scruples for him to go all-out without motivation. Let them think the stakes are high. It's good publicity."

The majority of the crew had fallen.

And thought Stacy's valiant warriors comprised most of the quarterfinalists, they still have a chance to lose it all, if a few of them should fail.


[Results are due by the end of Thursday -- one extra day because this didn't post right!]

Day three of the tournament. With less than half of the entrants remaining, and many of them having grown substantially in power with their conquests, the fighting was building to a fevered pitch destined to end in a crescendo of glory. But this far out, it's still anybody's game...


[Results are due by the end of Thursday. Contact me if you need to know your power gains for the last round.]

|| Attention, crew, Attention. All personnel who wish to attend the funeral of Howard Bassem and Cedric Diggory, please report to the Observation Deck. ||

Once again, the Observation Deck is prepared for a sending-off of the dead. A hard pod containing Howard's body sits in the center of the room, with a much smaller pod containing Cedric's wand sitting beside it. The observation window is open, showing the attending crew a stunning view of a nearby fiery red star: the final resting place of the two fallen crew members.

Before the launch, though, there are goodbyes to be said.

No sooner did the Obs Deck descend to Arena Planet LXIII, and the crew allowed to disembark, than they were met by a veritable cloud swarm of cameras. Sleek, elegant things that might have been living, might have been machines, maybe were even magical... but were definitely nuisances as the swooped around to capture video of the crew at all conceivable angles, close up and far away. Their every move from this point on would be on camera.

In front of a small crowd of retainers stood what appeared to be a great circular orb whose only distinguishing features were a nose, and what appeared to be the most overblown mustache ever, which actually appeared to be supporting that two-foot-diameter orb at shoulder height to a tall man. Then the orb took a couple of steps forward,revealing that no, those were actually just really, really hairy legs. A seam cracked open on the creature, and in a voice loud enough to echo across the broad open plains without any need for amplification, it bellowed, "AND NOW! STRAIGHT FROM THE TRANSMIGRATION NINE VESSEL! OUR NEWEST COMPETITORS! FRESH TO THE STAGE OF BATTLE, BUT NO STRANGERS TO WAR--"

It went on like this for some time.

Under cover of this introduction, a small man that to all appearances seemed to be the love child of Richard Nixon and a particularly aggressive Furby stepped forward, and in a bored businesslike tone recited, "Welcome to the tournament. There will be one battle per day. The arena in which you battle will be determined by random draw. Our medical crew will perform all healing necessary and ensure no deaths so feel free to not hold back. Please refrain from accepting any bribes or favors from on-planet spectators--"

"--ARE YOU READY?!" the orb bellowed even louder than before, completely swamping the smaller man's recitation. "THEN STEP THIS WAY!"

And so saying, the orb and its procession began a clearly well-choreographed procession towards a large, medieval-looking fortress that hung dramatically just on the edge of clear vision. (Conveniently, this procession passed several large advertisements.)

||Attention. Attention. Volunteers are requested for a mission. This mission will require active combat in a controlled environment against other sentient beings as well as fellow crew members. No fatalities are expected. Successful participation may be rewarded with increased personal power. Successful completion will result in increased resources for crew usage. Volunteers report to the Observation Deck.||

( For those that choose to answer... )

There was no sound in the hangar, where the signal could be traced to something transmitting it that was hidden among the ships. The omnicom itself that was in Brenda's possession was transmitting, but there was something else in the hangar that had been amplifying the signal and carrying it along through the shielded depths of the ship back when the omnicom had been in the lab and wirelessly hacked by the strange mental array attached to Brainy's brain, and that was what they were tracing the signal to rather than the omnicom itself, months of hard work finally letting them crack the code.

There were no sounds of running or of someone being chased. That was possibly alarming. Silence, when someone had been running for their lives, was a bad thing.

[ooc: Closed to: the Brainies, Danny Phantom, Brenda, Red Robin, Zuko, Shoutaro, Jeka, and Punchy. Cole-player, I'll give you your cue to hop in and witness the trap going off by email and give you a setup when it's time.]

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicomms and comm rings. They are also told they must read information about their current situation and a survival guide with their new omnicomm. New crewmates 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!]