While events unfolded on the other side of the door, the Rearguard team would soon find that things were going to hell in a hand basket for them as well.

Not long after the Quarantine section was opened, the lurching, prowling, and mostly-rotting figures began pouring through the ship, a significant portion of which found their way to the Hub. This, of course, meant the zombies were now being sent to nearly every level of the ship.

Which means that now, they were making their way to the upper level where Team GTFO were, coming through the team's only way back.

Life's a bitch sometimes, ain't it?

They'd soon start to hear them approaching, some moaning and shuffling slowly towards them, while others could be heard growling and gibbering madly as they quickly rushed forward, running the whole gamut of zombie archetypes.

The 'bots and Khel didn't have too much to worry about from them, though, as they couldn't be infected, but they weren't what the zombies were after.

No, they were hungry, looking for the nearest source of fresh meat.

Mei Ling.

They'd best get themselves ready for a shitstorm, 'cause there's some clouds a-brewin'.

Pikachu was fighting for his life.

At least, that's what the simulation was. He hadn't bothered making a holographic Samus, not with the real thing on the ship. Even if she didn't know him, it'd just be creepy to make another version of her. Ridley roared out again, the force of his cry pushing the Pokemon backwards. It was hard hanging on, but Pikachu would rather take a little damage than risk falling off the platform. "PIKACHYUU!" he cried, releasing a massive bolt of lightning at the violet behemoth.

"Piiikachuuuuu!" he continued, the blast of lightning arcing across the sky to collide with the monster before him, knocking it backwards. "Piiika."

Wyn is Not Happy. Her best-friend-from-the-future is onboard the ship, which is nice, but something clearly goes horribly, horribly awry. Since he won't tell her what's wrong (thanks, Caden!), she's got to do something to take her mind off her questions. The little scout robot idea she's had bouncing around her head sounds like a good plan, but she doesn't quite have the parts she thought she would (thanks, Julian!). So basically, Wyn is glaring staring at her notebook, twirling what looks like an eyeliner pencil between her fingers and trying to come up with a workaround that doesn't involve ridiculous amounts of magic.

... well, she might not have much of a choice on the magic thing, but she'd prefer to avoid writing with her eyeliner if at all possible. She's got priorities.

After being released from stasis, having the slime removed from their bodies and clothed in the creepy, pulsing leaf-suit that everyone wore, and being taken to the Weapons & Possessions lockers to collect their belongings, the new arrivals would find themselves standing in the Observation Deck. Round windows lined the fleshy walls, revealing the bright display of lights that was inter-dimensional travel. They would also discover that there were people--members of the command staff and crew that had woken earlier--waiting for them.

"Stupid slagging diode-blooming meatship downgrading meee-eeeeee!" Sentinel roared his displeasure as he veered around another corner. He was still getting used to the different sense of balance with his reduced size. The change in mass was playing havoc on his handling. How did the damn Bumbler deal with the change?

He clipped another corner, not slowing down as he refused to give up. Hopefully none of those skittering organics would get in his way this time.

"ORGANICS!" Sentinel shouted, rumbling along in his vehicle mode as he sideswiped another wall. Damned change in size throwing off his sense of control; damned meaty ship whacking him when he hit the walls too hard, damned Decepticons and glitch-flunkies not listening to him!

"Organic Spicer, and Organic '5'! I require your barely adequate technical knowledge!"

When they blast down the door to the Medical Wing--and they'll have to, to get in--the group of newly podpopped crew-mates will bear witness to an interesting sight. Several individuals are strapped to med-beds, restrained by insect-looking legs pinning them down. One of those individuals has a cape and domino mask that may be familiar to one of the new crew-members--even if he's older than that crew member last remembers. Medical scans and monitors blip away. There are test tubes and other medical equipment around, including a flask with some sort of nasty gray slug curled at the bottom.

A few individuals are standing around, standing guard, including a girl with a bow and arrows. In the back of the Medical Wing is a woman with a scared-looking little girl.

Sitting on a stool, leaning over a shaggy-haired young man (who appears to have suffered a horrible head wound), is that green-skinned, blonde-haired individual shown by the AIs earlier. Some freaky looking goggles are over his eyes, and a strange and sinister-looking surgical glove, attached to an apparatus on the ceiling and full of rotating micro-lasers and mini-scalpels among other things, is on his hand.

It is, unfortunately, not an image that lends itself to easy interpretation.

While the newly pod-released members of the crew happened to mostly miss each other in the Pod Caverns and the clothing chamber, they all happen to congregate in the Weapons and Possessions Lockers at the same time. This cavernous warehouse of a chamber has shelves and shelves and racks of belongings and weapons that go off as far as the eye can see. Everything from massive sidearms to impossibly huge swords, to Hello Kitty lunchboxes.

Their own belongings are here near the front--they've been moved to make finding them more easy, but it will take a bit of hunting.

Either way, they won't be searching alone. Everyone's piling in at the same time.

It was the worst possible time for it. The crew was about to be embroiled in a battle for their lives. Half of them were infested with alien parasites and restrained in MedBay.

||Pod Release Protocols Initating,|| Stacy's familiar voice sounded out to all the podmates.

In the Pod Caverns, there were the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There was condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slid out onto the floors, covered in slime.

Pop. Poppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiissss.