They had more than a few things to get to, now that Things were Happening at an ever-increasing pace. A new Councilor to bring up to speed; plans to make and information to share; a question of how to deal with integrating new crew members into their plans... and Zetta for one was practically bursting at the binding to tell them a particularly juicy nugget of information.

(And, uh, after that whole unplanned fake traitor thing he'd pulled at Punishment, he owed them some explanations, but he didn't know that.)

Consequently, the Overlord had offered up his Fortress -- a blind spot in the City -- as the next meeting area, which he thought to be a fairly clever stroke of genius. How could it seem suspicious to meet at an extremely egotistical Councilor's home?

So the book sat in a comfy armchair which he'd had pulled up to the dining table he'd bought waaaaay back on XaXing, and waited for the meeting to come to order.

The Ridevendor pulled up in front of Zedd's Palace as the occupant of it got off quickly, a cat leaping off after him. Pulling off his helmet and taking off his gloves, Philip knew he had to hurry since he had looked up the results of this little prom and discovered something a mite confounding.

So, armed with a basket full of a rather heavy food and a bottle, he and Mikku trotted up the stairs and summarily let himself in, only to be teleported to the highest reaches.

"Zedd, are you here?"

Its time to unwind, relax and receive news of home. A pod pop occurred while some were on a mission and it's time to meet up with new friends, drink well with old, and relax.The Drunken Dragon has opened its doors and stands ready and willing to assist in forgetting the trials those on the mission experienced.




OOC: If you want a specific barmaid, just put their name in the subject. Otherwise, enjoy, intermingle and do as you like.

The plan was...well, it wasn't simple, but it sort of was.

While the CLF attacked multiple Clone Processing centers to distract the government, the group with the CLF would target one particular one in the region that'd once been New Jersey. The group with the government would offer their services in putting down their own people.

In the center, they'd split up into several groups. One would fight a fake fight, create a massive diversion, and blow up the room where the samples their DNA were being kept in the process. Another group would secure a teleporter pad. That team would teleport out other teams to steal a ship, steal some med tech to teleport to said ship, and steal a medical database. Another team would go to the main command center and hack into the government mainframe to down the sensornet around the planet so they could escape. And Nightwing himself would accompany the clones to upload the harvested memories to the Mother Brains, left unguarded because of the diversionary fighting, and make sure that was all they did.

Meanwhile, there'd be a standing order for all teams to avoid killing other crewmates, and avoid killing guards unless absolutely necessary.

It was a complicated plan. If a single part fouled up, they might find themselves dead, trapped, or worse. But if it worked, it'd work pretty spectacularly and leave them with medtech, a medical database, the clones helped, and possibly a grateful Council depending on how the fight went, because of the ones seemingly aiding the government.

In some worlds, things that were a million-to-one-chance (exactly a million-to-one) by their nature had to work. Let's hope this world is one of them, eh, mission crew?

[ooc: Only comment to threads if it says they are open here. All threads: OPEN. Characters may get injuries up to and including 7 on the Injury Scale (scroll to the bottom). Any higher, and they must ask permission of the plot-runners, just to make sure everyone isn't immobilized without enough people to help move them.]

At some time during the night, while some were still sleeping, and some were awake and wandering around the hotel common rooms--a massive explosion rocked the hotel the group was staying in.

Simultaneously, perhaps by lucky chance, or perhaps on purpose, a number of the group was mysteriously teleported away. Specifically, the ones missing were: Fate, Jr., Kang, Superboy, Zouichi, Howard, The Doctor, Lash, Nightwing, Zetta, Dr. Henderson, Rory, Ruffnut, and Sakura.

The problem was that the group likely wouldn't be able to tell from the vaporized common rooms and bedrooms that those particular individuals hadn't been in them when the explosion hit.

[ooc: All subthreads are open.]

The Maingate Hotel was pretty extravagant, and an entire section of it had been eked out for the crew's use during their stay. They had several suites, three communal areas, a conference room, their own kitchen with a chef on call if they required her.

They were all teleported from the main teleport pad of the hotel into the conference room, which was a large enough room to be able to hold a group their size and had plenty of chairs arranged in a circular pattern so they could mostly all face each other or whoever was in the middle of the room.

Everyone had to settle down so they were all able to talk, and the meeting itself would have to be carefully controlled so they wouldn't all talk over each other. But they were up for the task, right?

[ooc: Guardian Setup, General Mingling, Clone Checkup, Newbie Briefing, General Briefing, More Mingling, Back to the Meeting, and The Idea Guy sections are open. Backup characters introduced to the plot can join in the mingling subthreads if they want. The opening of new subthreads will be announced here and the ooc. Please read the linked OOC post for a plot timeline.]

The trip down was uneventful. The view was gorgeous when the viewing window shields were raised again when they were through the atmosphere, especially as they passed down to Megalopolis, the simply-named giant city that was this world's capital. To the Earthlings there, the continents of this world would look vastly familiar, but that didn't mean anything, did it?

Eventually the sparkling city spires of the mega-city, interspersed with flying traffic, rose up to meet them, and Obs Deck, attached by its massive shielded umbilical cord, deposited them at the Council's private spaceport. It retreated back up to Stacy after they'd disembarked.

This world was a gorgeous world, that much they could likely tell while standing there on the landing pad, looking at the rounded curves of the beautifully designed spaceport. Buildings rose up above them in shades of white, paneled with multi-colored glass, in creative architectural designs. The air traffic weaved neatly in endless lines between buildings, and the overcast sky was in shades of orange and pink, with occasional slips of a bright blue peeking through.

The Council of Five was waiting for them in person, clearly glad to see them all, dressed in resplendent clothing.

"Welcome to the Megalopolis, our capital city, and welcome to Galilee. We are the Council of Five, and we're honored by your presence."

[ooc: The first subthread is now open. They have split into groups! All subthreads are now open! Please do not set up new subthreads. The plot-runners will set them up as needed as we go.]

A large group of crew members was gathered. In fact, given the mission briefing provided, it was curious that there'd be such a large number for a diplomatic mission.

Planet Designation: Galilee
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens. [Various translations of "human" appear here so everyone understands it]
Water: 69.5% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Earth-like [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: Varied.
Air: Normoxic concentration. Slightly elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue. Often overcast.
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.
Warnings: Wildlife and plant-life can be hazardous. Humans can be hazardous. A human cultural and legal database is available. [click here]
Mission: Successfully negotiate with the Galileeans in exchange for their advanced medical technology.

It was very little to work with, so the crew gathered there possibly had a lot of questions.

It had come to her just a few days after returning to normal. Why not have a beach party? ...Well alright, her first thought had been 'why not have a war party' but then she wisely realized that not everyone would enjoy something like that. But everyone had enjoyed the time they had spent on the beach a year ago! ...At least until the Ohm came and ruined everything, but it still had been fun!

But her? Organizing a party? On a beach of all places? It would take research. Books. A lots and lots of books. A few days in between all her other usual routines and activities, the wunderkind was unusually quiet, her head stuck in between pages and taking down notes. After reading and thinking herself good enough (of course she was! She was the wunderkind, right?), Lash had finally gone into the Sensoriums and prepared.

The beach itself came from a mishmash of ones she had read up on along with her single experience a year and a half ago. The sand was warm, free of any debris a normal beach might have had and colored pearly white. Seashells dotted the shore, in intervals so that it wouldn't be too annoying to go into the water, some comically large but how could you argue with someone who didn't know about this? The water was clear, slowly fading from view as it got more and more blue reflecting the cloudless sky. A few schools of colorful fish could be easily seen, moving away whenever someone got too close to them.

The sun was warm, but not overly so. Humidity was at a comfortable level. Dreamlike perfect weather. If you looked really closely, you might notice that the sun itself changed from orange to yellow to red once in a while, giving the beach a subtle tint.

Parasols of all shapes and colors dotted the sandy landscape, nestled between palm trees of various sizes and large tropical flowers and a single human-sized large Venus Flytrap. A few hammocks were also strewn between two tree trunks, for those that desired a prolonged rest. There was also a volleyball court in the shade.

Lash had taken a few trips to get as much food slop as she could carry, and had turned it all into typical beach food (at least what the books had explained to her anyway). Hot dogs, hamburgers, tropical fruits, seafoods of all kinds and, curiously, large bowls of chocolate pudding were presented on...well, bare-bones picnic tables with no decoration whatsoever. She wasn't one to make things pretty. Another note stuck nearby told visitors to create more food if they didn't find anything they liked. Next to all of that, a large wheelbarrow filled to the brim with a sweets of all kinds for no real reason (watch out not to eat too many of the poprocks!)

The next few tables held all the alcohol and juice bottles. Lash, again, had been getting reference from the library's liquor books, trying to pamper to everyone's personal likes. However if you looked closely some of the bottles had unusual names on them; "I guess this is supposed to be vodka? What's vodka?" and "Green stuff! I don't know what it's supposed to be but, it looked cool, tee hee." Empty coconuts shells with rows upon rows of miniature umbrellas acted as drink holders. However if you wanted to use a cocktail shaker or other specialty tools to get all fancy, you'd need to create one yourself, Lash didn't know about them and therefore hadn't herself. Large buckets of ice stood nestled in larger blocks of frozen liquid nitrogen (hey...it was Lash, after all).

A robot band played close by to the food, each sporting a small name tag 'HI MY NAME IS ___', filled out with ones she had found in various music media (Bill, Ted, David, Nigel and Derek) sporting a fine selection of wigs that might remind people of the original musicians themselves. It was possible request a song, if you were able to think of it. Currently, they were playing something that sounded good to Lash's ears. But then when no one was asking anything, they'd play something with a little bit of more of party time.

This almost looked like a typical beach!

...until you noticed the two giant pirate ships in the middle of the ocean, and the giant sand castle farther away from the main beach area. Oh.Of course. Both had everything true pirates could ask for, even working cannons, treasures, hats and weapons. Yeap, that sounded a lot more like Lash's style. Look, she just really needed excitement in everything.

When everything was done, she put on her best swimsuit (and shades) before sending out a message to everyone (well the girls in particular) but didn't bother locking it to just them. After all, what was the fun if the boys didn't show up? Either way, it was going to be fun.

[[OOC - Feel free to jump into each other's conversations if you like or start new threads with an activity like 'so and so serves drinks', 'pirate ship battle' or 'this guy marches into the sensoriums with his speedo' etc. Have fun!]]

Time was still moving forward. Yet looking at Lash you could never guess that, as each day did not increase her age by one, but continued to slowly recede into the past, the body around the massive hair growing smaller each day. And with a younger age came a much greater degree of immaturity and a certain disregard for the rules, even if compared to some of the other children on board, she still had her wits and mind. Perhaps a little too smart for her age, it might be argued.

A very, very dangerous combination, then, when she realized how bored a single wunderkind was, and how many other people on the ship were not. Surely, she thought, they could be made to do things for her own amusement! Lash was the six year old wunderkind prodigy, she demanded to be entertained! Her backpack filled with many little trinkets she had gathered (perhaps stolen from where they should have been found) and she carefully inched around the ship in relative silence, waiting to spot a poor soul or two. Maybe even children her age! Tee hee, imagine how fun it would be to spray them with a water gun, or to glue their hands, or even tie their shoelaces together! At least she wasn't thinking about ways of blowing them up. They should be thankful for that.

Tiptoeing to the next person, she peered from her hiding spot...

[OOC - You want your character to get pranked? Simply reply here with where they were currently and how much pranking you're fine with. Lash is moving all around the ship and this can happen over the course of several days. Levels are gentle, medium, and cruel. There might be other characters involved in the pranking. Don't worry, Lash isn't never going to destroy anything important to your characters, just causing trouble and doing jokes a six year old would likely do. Levels are just for how much leeway we have. Feel free to just talk to her/scold her too!]

There were three things Hoshi wanted to do after the mission: get Phillip back from wherever he was taken, go take a nice, long shower and then go to sleep. She also was rather hungry, too, and didn't feel all too cheerful right now.

After she found Phillip's book that he had dropped, she went off to find him. Somehow, something told her to go to Zedd's palace, so she drove the HardBoiler over in the direction of it. It looked absolutely evil, menacing, like a place that she shouldn't go into. She steeled herself and got off of the bike, placing her helmet down and then she began her walk into the palace.

"Um, excuse me, but if you have Phillip, can you give him back? I don't mean any harm or anything of the sort."

"Phillip."

The communication with Hoshi alerted Phillip instantly as memories of the encounter flooded in. Assessing the situation immediately, he rected.

"Ah," said Phillip, shutting his book as the connection kicked in. "They'll need cover fire, so let's give it to them. LunaTrigger should suffice." He clicked his Memory. LUNA!

Swinging his arm across his side, he proclaimed, "Henshin." And slotted the Luna Memory into his DoubleDriver. It vanished in a sparkle of yellow 0s and 1s and with a boneless flop, fell over unconscious.

In the middle of the city.

(ooc: he's truly unconscious. No amount of manhandling will wake him. have fun.)

Somewhere inside the vast dome of the City, Signum floated, transformed into her battle gear, eyes closed and mind reaching out to the ship for magical reactions. The presence of Stacy's mind - not magic per se, but still psychically loud - was a constant buzz, but her senses floated to smaller, brighter sparks, aided by what she held in her hands - the "Book of Darkness" that she had taken up last week. She'd been confused, then, but now that the Administration Program was back in her proper place, it was time to start filling the pages again. She'd dawdled too long on this ship, trusting 'Stacy' to keep Hayate safe (ha!), even socializing with the time-displaced Bureau mages who had been trying to stop her before all this...

She reaches out for magical reactions. People she knew - Nanoha and Testarossa (avoid at all costs), Aibghalien (noted), Hayate (...) - and others she didn't, or whom she was merely acquainted with through the Magic Department.

Ha. A Wolkenritter joining such an organization. That was possibly her least thought-out bit of subterfuge here. They had nothing to offer her, unless some bleeding hearts were willing to sacrifice mana...but that clearly wouldn't happen. No, no, it's definitely time to go back to doing this the old-fashioned way. The very old-fashioned way, since her comrades were all still in the pods.

Yes, she'd have to be careful, but the danger was worth it. To live quietly with her Master, even in this besieged cave of a starship...that was what mattered.

She focuses in on a magical signature and swoops quietly towards it, preparing a Barrier to isolate herself with the victim. Hopefully, they'd fall quickly and painlessly...

((Okay friends, reply to this post if you a) have magical powers and want to have a fight with Signum over them or b) spot Signum and want to stop her. Threads will probably take place in skewed pocket dimensions called Barriers for privacy, but these can be broken into if you like. Expect fighting! Signum isn't in the mood to talk. Further details can be found here. If you signed up to get mugged and want to do it in another post, just let me know.))

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.))

"Yes! YES!"

In the hangar, amongst the various vehicles and machines that line the expansive room, Lord Zedd had found something he had been looking for for the longest time: Serpentera. Exposed within the damaged area from KAIN's attempt to kill Sasami, the head of the massive Warzord stood exposed and, at its base, the self-proclaimed "Emperor of Evil", excited to see his weapon of mass destruction on board the ship. From the angle where he was looking at, though, it was hard to see just how big the thing was, especially since it was laying down.

"So, it seems not everything has been lost. Serpentera still stands, thus I still have some sort of power here." Zedd said. At that moment, a few of Zedd's Z-Putties started to flank him. "Putties! Guard Serpentera. I'm certain Billy's told everyone about me by now. I refuse to let anyone take advantage of that. If they're going to win this 'war', they're gonna need my help! Like it or not!"

With that, Zedd began pacing the Hangar, eying various leftover vehicles in an attempt to see what would make excellent monsters.

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.]

[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... )