The City looked like a cake that was starting to crumble around the edges; the dust of ruined buildings drifting in the streets like sand. Anwei coughed as she walked, and tried not to imagine what would happen if the City lost gravity. How many of these houses and temples and castles were being held together only by their own weight right now?

She'd been searching in a desultory fashion for a potential place to live, but so far every building that had looked promising either had no electricity or had been tagged by Maintenance for demolition. With no firm goal in mind, she let her feet steer her to Howard's warehouse. He might know what areas had electricity and which didn't, from his scavenging.

"Hello!" she called as she walked up. She didn't want to startle him. "Anyone home?"

Finding Orc in the Media Library is something that strikes Howard as just about as weird as walking in on hippos wearing tutus and dancing ballet - certainly unusual enough to make him doubletake, but given Stacy and her Stacy-ness, not totally out of the realm of possibilities. Stranger things have happened than the illiterate taking a sudden interest in libraries.

Howard, for his part, is looking for more driver's ed material, so once he's located that he wanders over to the space on the floor Orc's occupying and takes a seat next to him. He has a the numbers to punch into his data pad and bring up some nice instructional videos on defensive driving, although for the life of him he still can't find a good instruction manual for a stick-shift car.

"Hey, man, what's-" Ah, Orc's wearing headphones. Probably can't hear him. Howard taps Orc on the shoulder. "What are you doing around here?"

Not terribly surprisingly, Red Robin was out of his proverbial hideout for the time being-- there was plenty of work to be done elsewhere, after all.

But the basement of the otherwise unimpressive building was still out of the ordinary, even when not occupied by the vigilante that had arranged it. A lot of equipment was down there, along with supplies-- enough so that he could easily work on whatever needed to be done, outside of his actual work places. There was a cot in the corner, but it was covered by a few spare parts. It was the perfect place for him to work on whatever he needed to.

Howard doesn't like to share. Anyone who's known him long enough, and by long enough that would mean twenty minutes, would piece that together.

So while delivering some homemade jam to a friend might be, in the hands of others, a neighborly gesture, for Howard it's a lot more important than that. It's practically sacrificial. The jar in his backpack feels heavy, and each thump of it against his spine feels like a reminder of how many calories the stupid thing is. Howard picks up his pace and wishes he brought his bike.

Finally, he gets to the Cedric's room, and shuffles foot to foot in the time-honored Dance of Awkwardness while he waits for Cedric to answer his knocking.

DAY 6

The break of the new day finds the crew members scattered. Clef and Maxine have made it to the radio tower; Cedric and Howard have woken up in an abandoned house and are making their way there to join them; and having been attacked, Diana has been separated from Karis and is somewhere in the town.

With their opponents growing more and more clever, the time to escape is now. They may be dead before they get another chance.

Howard made sure they arrive to Med Bay early, not just because he doesn't want to be late but because if he impresses on Orc to hurry up, Orc might not have time to get completely smashed before they do this thing. Howard would rather not deal with blackout-drunk Orc, but at the same time he doesn't want Orc sober enough to be obstinate or miserable, so they did a stop at the beer tree before coming here.

He invited Barbara and Ian because they were very game for the food excursion, despite is propensity for total revulsion. He invited Anwei because he wants to be close with her again, at least, as close as he gets to people who aren't Orc. And because she brings a new perspective to Stacy, one that's been proven to be more viable than he presumed.

He wanders through the hospital beds and sets up the coffee pot. No reason not to go into a brand spanking new adventure caffeinated. The Medical Bay is large enough that meeting here doesn't even register on the people working actual shifts.

"You want coffee?" He fills up a mug for himself and glances over at Orc. He hopes they aren't waiting long enough for Orc to get impatient or lose interest.

Who: Crematia and Howard Bessem
Where: Entrance at the Hydropodics
Summary: Crematia asks for a cow, and gets both a cow and a job.
Warnings: That poor cow. :( Trigger warning for sadism on Crematia's part, but how much will that apply is undetermined.

So a deal was made. Well, she thought there was one - this place was so barbaric that there's no monetary system. If there was no money, no gold, and infighting inside the ship-beast was strictly forbidden so decorating any lair with the skulls of her enemies here was out of the question.

But first thing first: food. Not that awful slop, but actual meat, with the tender heart and delicious brain, with blood as intoxicating as liquor might be. Of course, there's the issue of a steady supply of cows for her appetite. If there were very little of cows, she might need to come up with another revenue for payment for this lowly protection offer. 

But that can be figured out soon enough.

Walking in her human form - a tall, curvy woman with long red hair and bright eyes - she approached the entrance of the Hydopordics and waited.

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!]

Diana was walking through hydroponics. With Jinx. And Provisions. Like some kind of warped, family outing.

( Why? )

It's a beautiful day for soaring in the sky. At least....it's a beautiful simulated day, Cedric corrects himself. He stands in the center of a grassy field, hoops standing tall on either side. Racing brooms that will soon take to the sky with their riders are laid out in neat rows on either side of him, and a case containing the many balls of Quidditch rests at his feet.

He's exchanged the loose-fitted clothing he'd taken up after his injuries for loose-fitting yellow and black robes, and even that small change brightens his mood. Cedric Diggory is in his element. His cheerful, dangerous whirlwind of an element, the finest sport the wizarding world has to offer.

This should be a fun one to watch!

((And go! Use the subthreads, or start your own threads to chat and trash-talk and have a good time! Threadjacking is totally encouraged.))

Zouichi, for once, wasn't in the City on patrol. Instead, he was making a systematic search of the city's streets, looking for telltale stray robot parts that might lead him to what he was looking for. Unfortunately, during SHODAN's attack, not all of the crew (except him! okay not really) had been terribly judicious about the property damage they were inflicting on the nearby buildings.

So there was rubble everywhere. Oops.

But it had been in the middle of a robot attack, right? Sometimes you needed to break a few eggs to make an omelet, right? RIGHT.

[This is the log for searching for robot parts and a SUPER SECRET ENGINEERING PROJECT okay it's not that secret but IT SORT OF IS. Feel free to have someone try and peek in on the Engineering thread and have Lash furtively cover her test paper.]

The Kohaku River ran diagonally through most of the City, past Central Park, winding its way between Castle Wyvern and the Bathhouse and Awesome World, and finally ending somewhere in Escherville. Its pristine waters would therefore be an excellent vehicle through which to introduce a convenient new source of protein.

Or so Tarrant reasoned when he began the project. Now, about a third of the way through, the fry he'd introduced into the river earlier (or at least the ones that survived notice by the native carp) were growing rapidly, establishing themselves and their territories.

[The river is open for fishing! The fish species Tarrant is aiming for are the following:

• ayu/sweetfish
• trout
• bass
• catfish
• whiting
• croaker
• freshwater eel
• minnows and an assortment of small prey fish

They are not all exactly like their Earth analogues, and some may come from alien fish species with unusual colors, fin shapes, habits, or other physical attributes. With every successive generation, however, they will become more and more like their target species in behavior and appearance, barring a few changes to make them better adapted for life in this particular habitat.

Feel free to mess around in the river, fish, or bug Tarrant.]

In the Tower of High Sorcery, those ertswhile examiners of items magical and mystical would find a score or so of opportunities to put their knowledge and reason to the test -- provided, of course, that they got the proper permission from Aibghalien, who was even now pondering a horn made of brass, but shaped like one from a ram's head...

[OOC: If you want to handwave the permission process, just post to the Examination thread and I'll pick somethin' for ya!]

If they were going to rebel (well, no longer a matter of if; a matter of when), Ildraniath knew that they were going to need more firepower than the average crew member tended to carry on their person. She, of course, had no need of further firepower. Her armor and her mind would serve her well enough. For many of the others, of course, they would need something more. Which was why she was paying a visit to the armory. In theory, Stacy might give her away. However, following that interesting performance at the punishment meeting, Ildraniath had reason to believe that Stacy wasn't about to give the crew away.

A gamble, of course, but Ildraniath was willing to risk it. So, the Eldar was perusing the armory. She tapped a button on her omnicomm and called up a blank document. She was going to need a list. And people to cart it all off later, but for now:

"Stacy. A list of all available small-arms and protable heavy weapons. Powered armor. Ammunition counts. And their effectiveness against heavily armored opponents."

|| Acknowledged, Ildraniath. ||

She bent over the control panel as the lists began to scroll past.

If she was going to do this, she was going to do it properly.

Despite the uproar that had taken place only a day earlier, it was all quiet at the Susono Inn. Well... mostly quiet, anyway. It was home to some of the most stubborn crew members on the ship, almost all of whom had gotten involved in the brawl with the Kessek.

Allenby's arm had been broken. Simon had taken a hard one directly to the ribs. Zouichi would probably take a week to get back to real fighting form.

And Howard... well, it would probably take Howard a while to recover from what had happened.

[Visitors welcome!]

Less than an hour after the ship leaves Agrestic's orbit, an announcement is broadcast throughout Stacy.

|| Attention, crew. Your crewmates, Howard Bassem and Charles Merriman, have been apprehended attempting to desert. They will now be given Punishment. According to established guidelines, you are all requested to report to the Observation to witness the Punishment. Attendance is not mandatory, but highly suggested. This will serve as a reminder of the consequences of treason and desertion. ||

On the observation deck, Archon Yavek, Archite Rekkti, two other Daligig and a handful of Kessek soldiers stand outside a spherical force field. Inside the bubble, Orc and Howard are suspended by tentacles looping around their wrists. Orc's ceased thrashing around and struggling against his restraints; rust-colored fissures have developed around his shoulders and forearms from the strain, but now he simply hangs there, looking defeated. Howard's nose is bleeding, and every time a drop falls to the bottom of the forcefield there's a small sizzle. He's weeping and begging the Daligig with every plea possible, but they act as if they aren't listening. Instead, they wait for an audience.

Day 3 and 4

The remaining hours of the night are tense and ugly, marred by the smell of blood and the complete distrust sewn by Bridge's death. When the sun finally rises, it feels as if the night's been far too long and yet their chance to rest was cruelly short.

The sun peeks over the horizon and onto the parched desert. In the bright sky, if one squints, it's possible to make out that lights are still flashing on the radio tower. The rest of the town is dead, as usual.

Tarrant strode along the bank of the River, eyes trained on the invisible, delicate web of power that stretched out even to this remote location. He picked out eddies in the flow, interpreting minute fluctuations as an animal might discern a faint scent in the air or vibrations along the ground.

There was life here, yes. And the river should provide adequate housing and space. Combined with the equipment in the Castle, supplemented with supplies from the various shore leave planets...

He pulled out his datapad, slender fingers dancing along the screen -- rapidly charting out the flow of the water, the depth, the amount of shade. Yes, this might do quite nicely.

He's got his passport.

He's also got a fake birth certificate, a fake ID card, a fake driver's license and insurance card, and hopes for a brand new life. And he has the same for Orc. That and a suitcase for each of them.

He has to leave the cats. That is, he thinks, the only downfall to the planet. You can't import live things, and he doesn't know how to smuggle them in, so he's going to entrust them to Cedric. Between that and the food stash, the knowledge that he's leaving things behind, things that he'll never get back, hangs heavy on his mind.

He's leaving people behind too. He can't forget that. He wanders through the streets of Agrestic with his new papers and his suitcase looking for the people he wants to say goodbye to before he and Orc escape this war forever. He's not even thinking about what he's going to say to them, hoping that somehow the magic words will appear on his tongue. But he has to say goodbye before he goes.

Away from the Daligig. Away from Stacy. Away from missions and more importantly, away from the threat of the FAYZ. Scared and sad as he is, there is a little skip in his step.

[OOC: he's looking for his closer CR, so new people may approach him but he'll probably brush them off. If your character hasn't met Howard and would like to thread with me drop me a line and I'll set up something new!]

Zouichi slipped past the human port workers, nodding politely in response to their apologies. A planet that forbade the Daligig from approaching it... how interesting. Clearly, their hosts' reach wasn't as all-encompassing as they liked to let on. There were things to do aboard the ship as well, but for now perhaps it was time to do some long-awaited searching for supplies.

Food, seeds, gadgets... and weapons. Afterward, perhaps he'd find a crew member or two to have a discreet chat with. It was now or never, now that they were finally (temporarily) out from under the ship's constant monitoring. He sent out a quick message on his Omnicomm, then made his way along a row of storefronts.

Weapons first, he decided. Then food.