Sakura sat in one of the chairs at the table in the Atori Teahouse, holding her own mug of tea between her hands and leeching the warmth out of it. She really didn't need to, not with how generally warm and humid the atmosphere was, but it held some sort of simple comfort that the rest of the environment lacked.

The place was looking tidy, tidier than it ever did with Phillip and Ren both in residence. (Not for a lack of Ren trying.)

A pot of tea stood in the middle, next to a journal and hardcover book. The book was an older volume on medicine from out of some Earth-like culture around the turn of a century, far from relevant or up to date with most all medical issues. She had a certain wicked fondness for it nonetheless, if she never got a chance to tell the one who'd given it to her why it was amusing.

She probably never would, now. Yet those weren't the thoughts she wanted to linger in, so they were brushed aside, sitting with her worries about teammates she hadn't seen for so long, for her sleeping shishou, and all the rest that she couldn't directly help. Sakura blew on the surface of her tea, focusing her mind back to what she wanted to communicate to Setsuna and his comrade. Lockon? Yes, Lockon.

She was expecting them any time now.

Setsuna, for once, was looking relaxed. Or, rather, as about as relaxed as someone as Setsuna could get, which still wasn't very. But at least he was relaxing in the Drunken Dragon, so maybe he was starting to behave like a normal human being!

Or not.

He clearly didn't come to the tavern to drink. Or talk. Or even to relax, or otherwise be social. Or, y'know, do things that normal people do in a bar.

He came there so Lockon Stratos could cut his hair.

The bar stools were the best height for that sort of thing, and while Setsuna may have been 'raised by wolves,' even wolves kept themselves clean and well groomed. Besides, if anyone was going to be holding a sharp object near his head without him flipping out, it had to be Lockon. They promised to clean up once they were done, though, even if only to pacify any potential complaints from ownership.

Still, despite it being only a haircut, Setsuna did seem more at ease than he been at any other time, at least in public. And Lockon was certainly a friendly enough sort. Perhaps now might be a good time approach them.


((ooc: Feel free to talk to Setsuna, or to Lockon ( neraiutsu ), who may be willing to cut your character's hair too.))

This was it. Endgame. The crux of the battle, the turning point, those crucial moments that would decide if the crew won or lost, that would decide if the Ohm would reign victorious or go running with their chitinous tails between their legs.

Did the crew have enough grit to win? Could they defeat a full Ohm fighting force?

With the flagging confidence of the GIA forces, it'd be up to the crew to turn the tide.

And one of the crew would pay the ultimate price to make sure the others walked away alive.

[ooc: everything is up!]

Tieria stared absentmindedly at the memory stick held loosely between his fingers as he stood with his back against the catwalk railing. Behind him towered a battle scarred Seravee.

This data… Setsuna will be pleased. He surmised wordlessly with the ghost of a smile threatening to warm his stern expression. After all, why wouldn't his fanatical colleague be delighted (in his own, stoic manner, of course) at the possibility of a new mobile suit? Beneath three, preemptive layers of firewall, the documents containing the blueprints for not one, but four possible Gundams were contained in the very memory stick he now had clutched against his palm.

This would certainly give them the advantage against their alien adversary… even though Celestial Being continued to be decidedly undecided about their relationship with the Ohm. Was 'enemy' really the only category they belonged in?

However, this information wasn't the only thing Tieria had found while he'd been diving into the digital sea of Veda's databanks, and he's certain their tactical forecaster had been the catalyst for its arrival.

After everyone and all of their ships were properly loaded the Quarter had launched successfully. The journey from Stacy to the Trojan Asteroid field trailing NiSaris took several hours, but they managed to approach the field with the people of the nearby world being none the wiser.

The problem was that the NiSarians weren't the only ones watching the skies.

As the Quarter approached and entered the asteroid field, all was quiet. But it was only going to be a matter of moments before that would change.


((ooc: See this post for instructions, but otherwise, have at it, and have fun.))

Michael sat on the side of his sniper perch, constructed on the sidewalks of one of the main boulevards in the City. Normally this was his firing range, but now he was here for a meeting - with one of the most troublesome groups on the ship. As much as Setsuna and his comrades were pains in Starfighter Command's neck, they needed every last body they could get for the mission ahead.

He'd chosen this spot since it was out of the way, where people were unlikely to intrude if the discussion got heated. All there was left to do was wait.

While everyone else was busy going shopping down on the planet, Setsuna had more important things to do. Namely, take his Gundam out for a test run.

Everything had gone smoothly, and all systems were functional. Which bothered him a little bit. There had been certain subtleties to the 00, sometimes it would pull on a hairpin turn, an occasional rattle in the cockpit when he pushed past a certain speed... none of those things were there. The suit was perfect. Too perfect. It was almost as if the suit was brand new.

Except the 00 Raiser had been through hell, and the odds of its GN drives being repaired after Exia and 0 Gundam exploded were faint at best. It did have all the hallmarks of Celestial Being's craftmanship, but even so, Setsuna couldn't help but wonder where did this suit come from? And its GN drives? Two more questions to add to the growing pile, and he still had no answers.

"Gundam..."

As he exited the machine, he half expected to have Trudy screaming at him again about him not asking permission before launching previously. As if he needed her permission, or anyone else's, to take his own suit outside. But as he lowered himself from the cockpit to the ground, those concerns went right out the window as he noticed the two suits docked behind Dynames.

...so, he was here now. And off in the distance he could see that Tieria's suit, which had disappeared briefly, was back again. Which meant that the four of them were together again. The thought brought the smallest of smiles to the corner of his mouth, though only for a brief moment.

"Allelujah..."

As his feet hit the hangar floor, he scrapped whatever plans he did have. After all, if Arios, along with its predecessor Kryios, were both here, his comrade was sure to show up soon enough looking for them. Setsuna would just hang out by his own suits and wait for him.

A silvery-white fog shot down from the City's sky to land in the midst of a street, where it reformed into the figure of one Remus Lupin. His first act upon Apparating was to cry out in pain and collapse as his broken leg buckled beneath him. His second act, which came some time later, was to marvel that he had not splinched himself in the course of his escape.

He could only hope that he had bought the other people on the ship enough time to mount an attack that had some hope of stopping KAIN. He had known from the beginning that he did not have enough magical might to repel the being... he would feel rather foolish if all he had done was get himself injured to no cause.

Rolling onto his back with a groan, he thrust his wand skyward and shot from it a cascade of sparks high into the air, in the hopes that someone might come to investigate, and perhaps render some aid.

Now Duo wasn't one to call himself an expert on the subject, but he knew it was one of those things he knew he just had to get involved with when he saw it. Just like that guy and the princess.... Duo shook his head as he slid down Deathscythe's wrench to the hangar floor, determined in his intent.

He was gonna make sure that Setsuna and Feldt didn't screw it up.

Strolling across the Hangar floor, he moseyed himself along towards Celestial Being's machines- specifically, towards the Gundam Dynames, trying as best he could to be unseen or at least innocuous looking to Setsuna and Feldt as he did so.

After that, if he could convince Lockon, it was just a matter of the Team of Two breaking the will of Captain and Lady Lineface.

 Alex sat beneath the shade of a large tree in a decent sized park. Those familiar with New York might recognize the sky scrapers in the distance, even if they didn't recognize the park itself.  Parked on a small service road was an ice cream truck with a merry vendor, who claimed that it was customer appreciation day, and was thus giving ice cream away for free.

Alex was already enjoying a chocolate and strawberry cone covered in sprinkles and caramel syrup, wondering if anyone would bother showing up to spend time with him, or even be interested in sensorium ice cream in the first place.

Either way, Alice seemed thrilled, as she pulled what appeared to be pink chocolate chips from a jar labelled "Yogis".  Reaching out to pet Alice, Alex laughed a bit, "Don't get used to eating s-so many." sensorium food might not mess with her health, but once they got home, it would be the real thing once again. He figured that she deserved the treat as much as he deserved the ice cream anyway.

[OOC: Post to Alex or to other people if you'd like.]

Sofia rose above the city, riding on the wind. Even though a lot of the city was a mess, there was something calming about seeing everything from the air. It brought her a sense of peace and perspective. But mostly she liked using her powers, especially after thinking she would never be able to use them again.

[[OOC: If your character can't fly they can just say hi after she's settled on the ground.]]

Feldt couldn't stand being around a lot of people for very long. The crew of the Ptolemy was a very tight knight crew and they were pretty much the only family that Feldt had ever known. There were a lot of other people in this place and she didn't like it. She couldn't wander around the City without feeling uncomfortable or like she was being watched. The hangar was a nice place for her to go to, since she grew up around the Gundams and she knew how to repair them. She was also more comfortable around the machines than she was other people.

Still, going to the hangar presented other dangers. There were a lot of other mobile suits around and the other pilots didn't like Celestial Being that much, rather, they didn't like the ideals of Celestial Being. She had grown up with them and the rules of secrecy. She had broke them once to tell Lockon about her parents and how they had died, but she hasn't done it again.

Everyone she had talked to here had good points. It may be against Celestial Being's ideals to fight in a war, but they were fighting to survive here. The world that they were trying to change was no longer around. She wasn't sure if she should be helping the other pilots out, she was a skilled CIC officer and could coordinate the mobile suits in battle, but she didn't know if Tieria would let her. She wasn't going to go against the Meister's orders, after all, he was the only one with a connection to Veda.

She found her way to the Spacewalk and could only stare. It was like the viewing deck on the Ptolemy. It reminded her of what she had lost and as she gazed out at the stars moving past, she could feel a tear falling down her face. She wiped it away and shook her head. She needed to think about what she was going to do here, not what had gone on in the past.

Wandering the ship had quickly become boring - surprising, considering how large it was compared to the Ptolemaios or his limited, secretive movements on Earth. He'd never really known what to do with his free time as a Gundam Meister. Visiting the graves only took so long, and he couldn't stand to be there longer. The Sensoriums had quickly become disgusting. As much as they helped, he couldn't help but be constantly conscious that they were mere illusions, replicas of things that he had known and seen and, to some extent, cared for.

Even a small task would help. Which is exactly how he latched onto Setsuna.

Surprisingly, when he came out of the changing area bearing scissors and towels, the tools of his accidental trade, Setsuna was already there, waiting patiently, washing his hair. Grinning, Lockon sat down next to him and waited, splashing water idly over his bare skin.

He was just waiting for Setsuna to either say something or finish so they could get on with the haircut.

There were some unusual sounds in the Hangar today. Namely, the sounds of a large particle rifle discharging several rounds, followed by the sound of whatever was on the wrong end of those shots quite violently becoming shards of scrap metal. Occasionally, there were also some loud thump, thump, thumps, as a pair of mobile suits would periodically reposition themselves.

Yep. Mobile suits. Or more specifically, the Gundams known as Dynames and the 00 Raiser.

( Read more... )

"Target row cleared. Hit rate: 100%" he spoke over the comms, his voice as emotionless as it always was. "You can commence firing at the next row at your discretion."

Still, while Setsuna's attention might have been focused on Lockon's ability, the fact that there were two giant robots blowing stuff up indoors might draw the attention of others as well.

[Feel free to talk to Setsuna or Lockon or both, or whomever else is around. Thread crashing is encouraged, though you might want to ask first just to be safe]

Feldt was slowly getting used to the ship. She had found her way to the hangar and knew that the 00 Raiser, Exia, and Virtue were all there and looked to be in good shape. She had also learned that no one else had been working on them besides Setsuna and Tieria. She wasn't sure what she would have done if anyone else had been working on them. It was against Celestial Being's rules to let anyone else know about their technology. Someone else had already stolen the GN Drives from them.

On this trip to the hangar, she had the Red Haro with her. She could use the robot's help with the system checks. She looked around the hangar as she stepped inside. She had met several other pilots in here already, and none of them seemed to understand Celestial Being's thoughts on war. They were supposed to be stopping it, not engaging in it, even if it was for survival.

She was thankful that it was empty right now. She didn't want to deal with the probing questions that she couldn't really answer. The quiet would allow her to focus on her work and she'd be able to get it done faster and let Tieria and Setsuna know that they had been doing a good job on the upkeep of their suits.

This time things were different. She could only stare at one of the newest suits in the hangar. For a moment she thought that it was Cherudim, but no. It was a similar suit. It was Cherudim's predecessor, Dynames. She could only stand and stare at the suit for a moment as she remembered the suit and pilot. Dynames had been mostly destroyed the last time she had seen it and it's pilot had been killed. The first Lockon Stratos meant a lot to her. There was no way that he could be alive again.

She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt the tears falling down her face. Lockon, he was here and alive. How could she have missed him?

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | 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. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake 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.]