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.))

It hadn’t been long since Sirius had woken from podsleep. He had gone exploring but somehow he kept coming back to hydroponics. It was so different from the rest of the ship. He’d heard that the entire ship was alive but it felt smothering, not like it was here where everything was vibrant and colorful. Here he felt truly free.

Sirius sat against a tree. His legs ached. He had spent too long in Azkaban (although apparently not as long as he should have). His muscles had not withered completely but he was still weak. For now it was enough to rest here and gaze at his surroundings, so unlike the cell he’d left behind.

An open-gate policy at Castle Wyvern, as Goliath had feared, wasn't doing them any favors in the event of a shipwide attack

He would have made a comment to that effect, if he'd yet been awake to have the thought.

Fortunately, the gate was mechanically sound and could be opened and closed by the humans who lived there, if they reached it in time.

||Attention, Attention. The following personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. The following personnel please report to the Observation Deck.
( A sweet little trip to Gummiring begins )
It was a nice, fluffy planet with a nice, fluffy name. Bound to be as nice as Happy Happy Fun World, right?

Inventing a new spell; a most tricky and daunting proposition. Beyond most wizards. Lupin flattered himself by thinking he had a chance, but if pressed, well, he had helped with the Marauder's Map, had he not? He knew a thing or two about Defense Against the Dark Arts, and this was not dissimilar.

Besides, what did it hurt to try? (Besides the very real chance of an injurious backfire.)

Lupin came to the City, seeking out a place by the river where he (probably wrongly) thought no one would venture close enough to be harmed by his experimentation. Once there, he sat down on the grass without much regards for his dignity, and began writing on the book he had liberated for such a purpose.

"Protego Minutiae," he began, writing the words down as he spoke them.

 After dropping off some of the crew at Balisair, it was time for the crew to set course for Lirath. The situation greeting them wasn't the most promising.

The cracked surface of the moon called Lirath was one of its most unmistakeable features. One of the three moons of the planet Kehoe, it had been terraformed and served as a settlement for a hundreds of different species, some humanoid, some not. Despite occasional class struggles, environmental issues, and speciesism blocking their way, the darker parts of Lirath's past were largely left behind, and an era of peace and tolerance had reigned for quite some time. The only problems they'd had recently were with a terrorist group whose cause for their actions had been a mystery, but they weren't tied to any particular species or social group and had been likened to a cult and had largely gone quiet in recent years.

Now the peace on the moon of Lirath had been shattered by the invasion of the Ohm.

The capital city had been destroyed. Now, all that was left of the peoples of Lirath was evacuating from one of its smaller cities, one known as Smyteval. A desert city, existing in a valley in between a rocky range of canyons and mountains, even though it was in the low ground, the natural channels of rock served as bottlenecks for any Ohm attacking from the ground.

GIA squadrons patrolled in space, locked in explosive warfare, protecting the Bleed-gate that had been activated to see the evacuated ships to the refugee world, and a shield created by massively-powerful shield generators extended around the city and up into the atmosphere, creating a shielded tunnel so ships could escape.

Word had come that there was a vital weapon to be deployed on Lirath, one that needed to be destroyed, hence why the Transmigration 9 had been called in. Given the diverse crew, and the ships that were in its hangar, there was at least someone or something on board that could blow the weapon up if it did show.

There was no sign of it yet. Right now, there was just chaos, streams of evacuees boarding ships, armies of Ohm engaged with GIA soldiers outside the shields, and forcefields that everyone hoped would hold out just a little bit longer.

The crew would be following Leon's orders but finding themselves fighting side-by-side with GIA platoons, full of various species that were currently all getting their asses kicked severely.

[ooc: STAGE 1 is now open! Please do not tage STAGE 2 until it's announced as open as well.]

[ooc: STAGE 2 is now open!]

 After receiving the warning the Tapestry had provided them, along the order to begin preparations from Councillor Kang, the crew had been getting ready for upcoming combat with the Ohm.

Unfortunately, the rather vague nature of the warning they received meant they had no particular way of knowing exactly when this battle would occur. Understandably, this put some of the crew on edge, but at the very least they had some prior warning that they would be facing the Ohm, rather than being thrown blind into such a dangerous situation. Combat drills, vehicle maintenance and armory inspections seemed to be regular sights for the week or so following Kang's message. Not much time to prepare, but the crew worked with what was given to them.

Eventually, however, the call came.

||Alert, Alert,|| Stacy called out throughout the ship, ||Priority One message from GIA High Command. All crew members please report to the Obs Deck. Repeat, Priority One message from GIA High Command, All crew members please report to the Obs Deck...||

Stacy kept repeating the message over and over until the crew began making their way towards the Obs Deck to receive the message.

[ooc: As implied by the post, we're assuming the crew's ICly had a one-to-two week heads-up about the battle. It was supposed to be played out, but RL timing prevented this from working out. Feel free to come up with the details of your character's preparations on your own

Also, as usual, please wait for subthreads to go up before tagging in.

Edit: It's up! Feel free to start tagging in!]

Celestia had lived a long life, but the past few days were the strangest she had ever experienced. She had awoken from a pod in a strange chamber, only to find herself whisked away to a strange maze soon after.

This maze had had her most concerned - as Princess of all Equestria, she had duties and responsibilities, after all. She could only hope that her sister Luna was managing on her own, and do her best to escape this maze and return to her beloved subjects.

Escape came unexpectedly though, when Celestia found herself suddenly dropped from the mess hall ceiling, where she landed on top of one of the tables with a thud, her hooves sending plates and trays and cutlery flying in all directions. Have a rather elegant pony - or perhaps a horse? - with a long horn on her forehead, graceful wings adorning her back, and a mane and tail that was a multicolour and gravity-defying sight standing on your table, diners, looking rather bewildered.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I hope I didn't ruin your meal," she said, with a chuckle. Then she looked around at her surroundings, her expression turning concerned. "Now this doesn't look at all like Equestria..."

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.]

Goliath is still working on that thing where every time he ventures out of his castle to socialize, everyone he knows reminds him that he really ought to get out of his castle and socialize more.

So rather than patrol again, he's taking care of another matter. Bronx needs his exercise. Normally he'd be getting plenty, with criminals to chase and the Trio to play with, but without both of these things, it falls to Goliath to ensure the gargoyle beast stays in good condition.

So out in front of the towering, still slightly damaged castle, a gargoyle and his species' equivalent of a dog are playing fetch. With a heavy steel pipe.

The game is limited to a long, open street, empty in the late hours of the City's dark night. The pipe is already scored with deep marks from Bronx's powerful teeth, and a litter of broken scrap - chain links, and the twisted wreckage of other pipes - surrounds Goliath's feet.

The source of the litter can be seen when Bronx returns from retrieving the makeshift toy, and Goliath grabs it, pitting his strength against Bronx's in a game of tug-of-war. The metal warps and groans under the pressure and suddenly snaps into two twisted pieces, one of which Bronx bounds off with to savage into a crumpled heap. Goliath tosses his half of the destroyed toy aside, and Bronx returns to his master's feet, panting with pride and looking for approval. Goliath kneels down to scratch his family pet behind his large, fanlike ears.

It's good to have at least one member of the clan back.

With Celena and Aibghalien's help, Thom looked better than he had since he'd arrived on the ship. The dark circles under his eyes weren't as pronounced, and his fever had cooled slightly.

But there was still a long way to go before he had his Gift under control again, and Roger's magic still raved at the back of his mind, pressing on his temper. He had taken to the less used parts of the ship, trying to keep himself away from any people who might try his patience.

Hydroponics remained his favorite spot for meditation, near Alastirra's garden. He and the draenei had formed a cautious friendship of sorts - the kind where they mostly left each other alone, with the occasional conversation about magical theories between their disciplines. More often than not, Thom spent his time in deep meditation, dropped into his center of magic and slowly pulling his and Roger's magic away from each other.

Sweat dripped down his forehead as he worked, and suddenly he jumped up from his customary seat on a stump and whirled around, throwing out his hand. A ball of orange flame leapt from his fingertips and scorched a blackened groove in the wood.

"Damn."

Paco hopped up on a box to survey the work already done.

It was getting toward “evening” in the City. They’d hung a sheet up on the Great Wall, and a couple people were currently adjusting the movie projector that had been constructed in Engineering so that the picture would fall exactly on the sheet. He’d collected the recordings from the Media Library himself, everything on there was appropriate for pretty much everyone who might show up.

At the other end of the space he’d picked for the party, a few people were testing the sound system (also constructed in Engineering) and arguing with each other, probably about the music. Well, he’d done his best, anyone who didn’t like it could throw their own dance party somewhere else.

In the middle, up against the outer wall of a building they’d hung lights from, Kang and his helpers were putting the finishing touches on the drinks area. And there was plenty of space for people to mingle or play tag or whatever if the shows and music weren’t to their taste.

Paco grinned and cupped his hands around his mouth to form a megaphone.

“OKAY EVERYONE,” he shouted. “TRY NOT TO DO ANYTHING THAT WILL LOSE US OUR PARTY PRIVILEGES AND LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!”

[[OOC: Post-Melting Clock! Mix! Mingle! Make fun of the music, thread with people you haven’t threaded with before! It’s like a Pod Pop for oldbies!]]

He'd put this off for far too long, for various reason which were, when he came down to it, simple cowardice. Fear of prejudice, fear of isolation... Nevertheless, the time had come to admit the truth.

So Lupin went to the med bay, seeking out a Healer -- best make it two or more, in case the worst should ever happen -- and hoping he could trust in a reasonable level of confidentiality.

Other people might have thought it a foolish waste of money, but it spoke too much of home to ignore.

He had not only obtained a cup of tea; he had obtained several boxes of tea leaves, or at least leaves which might possibly pass as tea leaves, and with those in hand he would be able to duplicate more as necessary. Quite pleased with himself, he sat cheerfully at outside seating of what might have been a tea room if it were not called a 'Schlumdingler' and also in the business of serving large, extremely gelatinous circles that also looked like pastries.

The tea, however, or whatever it was, was quite good.

Of all the duties of a summoner, the Sending was easily the hardest for Yuna to face. Every time she took up her staff and danced, it meant only one thing: more people had violently died, needlessly died, shouldn't have died, wouldn't have died had an outside source not torn them apart. Left alone to wander the universe with their anger at sudden death intact, their lost souls could coalesce into an even greater threat.

This time, she thought with a painful clench of her heart, she wasn't guiding the souls of a small army's soldiers or the scattered casualties of a ruined town. If their information was to be believed, with the possible exception of her guardians, all Spirans had perished in the Ohm's violent strike. Knowing that meant she was likely the last summoner still living---thus the responsibility for their souls fell to her.
( How many millions now lost... )

Negi had been released from the hospital, and he was actually standing. Chamo had gone off somewhere, but he had been driven home from the medical wing to the home he made in the city.

However, he had found a letter addressed to him, and a brass key. As such, Negi flew over to the shop which was locked up tight. Atelier Elric. The store was brightly colored and there were tasteful decorations everywhere, as well as several circles and such inscribed into pasteboard.

Negi had spent hours there in between training, goofing off with Devlin and otherwise reading when he wasn’t being foisted off on Ren and Phillip, and there were really good memories. He picked up the jacket that was laying in the corner, and hung it up respectfully.

A book of notes stood at the side, and he opened it up, reciting the quote that lay there. “Humankind cannot gain without giving. To obtain, equal amount must be given. This is the law of Equivalent Exchange.”

A little sticky was attached to the bottom of it and Negi smiled, reading it. “Magic on the other hand, is totally wonky with its own set of rules. Turn the world inside out with it. – Ed.”

With great flourish, Negi threw the curtains open as he put up the sign. He would do his best, for now.

It was still Atelier Elric in spirit, as Negi added a sign in the shape of a white wing, proclaiming the site.

“Sleep well, Ed.” Said Negi as he began to do something he hadn’t done in ages – potion making and magic-based alchemy.

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.

KAIN was here. KAIN was here.

How could this have been possible? Why was that thing here?! It should have been dead, destroyed when Kiyone fired that Dimensional Cannon Washu had made! Could the ship have rescued him? If it did, why? Why was this beast so important to save and not, say, the rest of her friends and family?!

In a panic, Sasami had ran from the Palace and towards somewhere safe. At least, somewhere she thought was safe. Negi, Ronne, Aqua and Hikari were coming. They'd protect her, right? Negi was powerful, Aqua had her magics, Hikari her Digimon and, well... who knew what Ronne would do!

Hiding herself away, Sasami hid herself away, hoping that KAIN wouldn't get her before one of the others did...

((OoC: Alright, here's the deal: there'll be two sets of posts - one that's gonna be private, setting up a few things and one for everyone to go nuts on. I'll set both of those up and you guys can feel free to hit the go crazy one whenever you're ready!))

Today would find the Farseer hock-deep in uprooted dirt and grass.  She was humming to herself as she dug, working out a little garden plot for herself in an undisturbed corner of Hydroponics. Her frostsaber lay sprawled out of reach of flung dirt-clods, sleeping peacefully, though every once in a while an eye would open to check on his mistress' progress.

"Aiie, Snowy," she said when he opened an eye again. "I really should have tried to invest in some tools while I was down on that planet."  The 'saber just heaved a great sigh, and nestled his head against his paws.

"You're no help."

At least she was finding enough rocks to edge her garden, so it wouldn't look like some beast had decided to go on some haphazard digging spree...

Starfire had to consider herself fairly lucky. Yes, they had damaged parts of the City, and she would have to find Beast Boy as soon as she was cleared to leave and comfort him, but it was over and no one had died. Her dear friend would be all right.

Even she would be all right soon. The burns on her arms and legs were somewhat extensive, but with some care they had healed nicely, protected by wrappings. The other change was in her hair, now sporting an uneven cut and coming to just below her shoulder blades due to burn damage.

Ordered to stay in bed, she satisfied herself by rebelliously floating up under the blankets, seeing how far she could go before being told to touch back down. It didn't hurt too much anymore, luckily. The pain was more of a phantom than a physical reality by this point.

"When will I be allowed to leave?" Starfire was impatient. Her body was healed enough, so she felt the calling to begin the emotional healing.