Asuka felt terribly alone. The people who'd actually given a damn about her on this stupid ship were long gone - repodded by the stupid ship. Not that she actually care all that much, of course! She didn't need anyone. She had herself, she had a working Unit 02 and that was all she needed. She was still one of the best pilots on the ship. Sure, she had Rogue Squadron and she'd flown in the last engagement (every time she went out, she was terrified), but what the Hell did they care for her?

So she found other ways to keep herself occupied. Away from the others, so she could be by herself. After all, she was the only one she could rely on time after time (even when she was scared). The great Asuka Langley Soryu didn't need anyone.

Of course, the one place on the ship where she could actually go swimming was the Sensoriums (or she could've scoured the city for appropriate facilities, but that would've taken too much effort). In the Sensoriums, she could have an Olympic-sized swimming pool, all to herself. Never mind that all the open space and the echo of her solitary splashing gave the whole room a sense of loneliness and emptiness. That didn't matter to her.

She had to keep herself in shape - running and swimming seemed to be the best options here. Both let her be alone with her thoughts, both were easily doable. And she was good at them. She hauled herself out of the pool, water pooling underneath her feet as she stretched.

Maybe she ought to do a few more laps.

_{[[OOC: Thought I needed to put Asuka out there a bit more, so come bother her! Open to everyone who feels like dropping by.]]}

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!]

 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!]

Taking some time from other projects, Celena had once more brought down her Paired Gate device down to the park in an attempt to work on a number of issues of the operation of the device while in the Bleed. After all if a stable gate could be established, even for short periods of time, it could make for quick travel about the city and about the ship in general.

Thus in her usual draconic form she had set herself before the primary end of the gate device in the middle of a large clearing in the park, with the secondary portion of the device not a hundred feet away. After some time in pondering the problem she had decided to take a break from her work. Locking the device down she stretched herself out and padded away to wander the park for a short while before taking off to stretch her wings. Keeping her general flight path around the vicinity of the park itself.

[OOC: Feel free to run into her at any point, whether while she's working on the device, wandering the park or even flying around overhead!]

The City didn't have weather as most people knew it, but it was nonetheless a beautiful day - warm weather with a nice breeze, Stacy's sun-equivalent shining in the sky... almost as if it was reflecting the emotions of at least one of the ship's crew. In the middle of the Park, someone had set up a little white lattice archway amongst the hedgerows, decorated with ivy and roses and lilies that looked remarkably real (if they were, in fact, synthetic). In front of the arch were several rows of white chairs, more than enough for anyone who cared to show up.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding.

And frankly, Nanoha needed it. After the chaos and confusion; the rage and terror on Galilee... she didn't think she could ever forget that horrible sense of loss and emptiness when she'd thought that Fate was gone, if only for a day or so. But this would go a long way toward exorcising those demons - a day that she'd dreamed of for years.

Of course, she couldn't go greet anyone yet. She was in her wedding dress, after all! These things needed to be proper.

(ooc: Tag the respective subthreads, please! Mingling is highly encouraged.)

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.]

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.

And here he'd hoped to get to her before she could say something stupid.

Oh well, everyone was allowed to put their foot in their mouth every once in a while.

The wizard waited patiently out in front of the Jedi Temple, waiting for Signum's arrival. Lucky break, in his mind, that he'd been available to meet her. Maybe he could help her get through this, somehow.

Stranger things had happened.

As the Clock was destroyed, all of the stolen time rushed back to it's original owners, causing them to rapidly age back to normal. But as the crew would soon notice, it seemed that the stolen time didn't always go back to exactly the right place...

[[ooc: Time to get back to normal guys! This is basically a case of very rapid ageing - they'll basically speed through the years through about a couple of minutes or so. Of course, everyone won't get back to exactly the right time - most will only be out by a pretty insignificant amount of time (such as a few minutes, or hours, or days, etc - depends how close significant events are to the point they're from.) For those who are using this to change canon point, they're going to end up at a different point, obviously]]

She'd heard it from Einhart, and she'd heard it from Kang - and that Signum was going around the ship and attacking those with magic left no doubt in Nanoha's mind. She, like Reinforce - like Fate - had reverted to an earlier point in time. Signum was reliving the Book of Darkness incident all over again, and stealing peoples' Linker Cores... but without Hayate to tell her no, how could she be convinced otherwise?

No, the only thing to do was to stop her herself. And that was Nanoha's job - she and Fate had fought the Wolkenritter before, and she would fight the General of the Raging Fire again.

The only problem was that she had no idea how to find her.

Nanoha kept her power ratcheted down as she flew through Stacy's endless hallways, trying to sense a spark of magic that she recognized. She had no doubt that Signum had been trying to avoid her intentionally - if she'd been collecting the energy from Linker Cores, why wouldn't she have been one of the first targets? No, the knight was too smart for that; she'd likely been trying to avert a showdown of the sort that Nanoha was now trying to force.

Signum might be trying to avoid her magical signature... but it'd be significantly more difficult to avoid something barely more than a blip on the radar.

"Wide Area Search, Engage."

Six tiny orbs of pink light burst from the head of Nanoha's Device, each zooming down Stacy's corridors in a different direction, instructed to lock on to the nearest powerful magical sign. And Nanoha herself still flew, waiting for a result.

(ooc: Locked to Nanoha and Signum. If you want to get in / be an onlooker, just hit us up on AIM first.)

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.))

Down one of the back alleyways, one might stumble across a small sidewalk market full of peculiar shops. To one side was a store selling hub caps, to the other was a man who'd try to convince you that his potions would bring you eternal youth, really.

But in the middle, was a clock shop. It's collection of clocks in stock was peculiar, made of strange materials and working in odd ways (and if you wanted a cuckoo clock, here you could get one with a real cuckoo). But by far the most striking clock was the one that was draped across one of the back tables. The fact that it could drape at all was a big hint to the clock's strangeness. It looked like a giant, metre-wide clock face that had an unfortunate accident with a Bunsen burner and gone all floppy as a result, like it was melting. And yet, the clock still ticked.

The merchant spoke. "Do you want to see something strange and mystical?"

[[ooc: Alright, this is the post that kicks off the Melting Clock! The clock store Merchant here is Jeepers/Peepers, who's being NPC'd by Allen. Since people other than the Melting Clock guys might want to tag Jeepers/Peepers, please mention in your subject line whether your character is to be affected by the clock or not, so Allen knows who to set the chime off at!

Important Note! If your character is to be affected, make sure that you've signed up, guys. If you haven't filled out the form, you haven't signed up]]

Another Important Note: No more new threads please! If you really really want to thread this out, please ask Allen directly if he's able to. Otherwise, just handwave them coming to the shop.

After the briefing, the Orbs Deck disconnected from Stacy, making it's way down to the planet and landing on the top of what looked like...a mall.

Outside, a mismatch of buildings stretched as far as the eye could see on a backdrop of a sunny green sky, a few golden clouds lazily floating across it. Here there was a mall, there there was a endless parade of street shops, and over there was a bazaar. And everywhere you looked there was advertising, selling everything from kitchen knives to starship engines to pet cosmetic surgery.

And populating this world was a practically endless number of species's, all of them brought together by one thing: trading. Credit was being exchanged everywhere you looked, from the shiny exclusive stores to the the dark and dangerous spaces in-between.

As the crew stood around, a peculiar looking alien with a mustache approached them, his oddly-shaped legs and knees making it looks as if he was walking backwards even though he was coming forwards. And as he moved, his accordian-like midsection made moved, making a weird, wheezing noise that might remind some of the crew native to Earth of the sound of Fran Dresser's voice.

<Welcome to XaXing, strangers!> he said to them in thought-speak, eagerly rushing towards everyone. <I am Guide! Your ship has already arranged accommodation for you, and I have been employed to guide you there and answer your questions! But if you would just sell me your memories then I can also guide you to all of the best stores and markets...>

[[ooc: After this post, everyone is free to make their own posts on the planet! Just tag all logs for Shore Leave with !plot: shore leave.

Also, if you have any questions you can ask Guide! ...just be prepared for him to also try to buy your kidney.]]

It had not taken long for Reinforce to realize Hayate had been taken. The interference in their connection was subtle - Hayate was still near and healthy - but she was sensitive to such things, and it had not taken much time to confirm that she could not physically locate her.

Less certain was what she might do about it. She had always felt that those who railed against the AI overreacted; those it took were always returned unharmed, and while their absence could be inconvenient that was all it was. A passing hardship to be endured. Not worthy of a crusade, not in such a time and place as this.

But when it was Hayate... it stirred her, a deep feeling of restlessness that might have been mere discomfort at her absence... and might have been buried anger. She was her master's device, and for her before all others, so she almost expected this hypocrisy of herself... but there was more to it than that. She knew Hayate would return as all those who had gone before had, knew she would not fail Hayate if she only waited patiently... and still the feeling persisted.

She... needed some time to think on it. It was not as though she lacked for time to think usually; much of her free time she spent roaming the ship doing nothing much but thinking. But... right now she needed it specifically. For this.

So she sat, off to the side on the broad stair that led up to the entrance to the temple, and thought.

Vivio wasn't in the best of moods.

That was probably an understatement right there - she was downright crappy. After her argument with Sherry, Vivio had retreated into the Sensoriums, mostly to work out her frustrations the best way she could - by training.

Bringing up a training room and setting herself up for practice, Vivio began by striking a punching bag, fists and feet flying as blow after blow connected. She could feel herself slow just a bit - Sherry's punch still stung. But, it was probably worse than that.

It's just that you're so stupid sometimes I can't stand to be around you!

Sherry hated her for a reason more than just being there. Vivio's reaction to that proved it, but she couldn't understand way.

Stupid...? Vivio mused to herself. H-How am I stupid? What have I done to make her think that?

As Sherry continued on, the words kept ringing through her head, kept calling her "stupid". Her face contorted in rage before, briefly, she took up her adult form and struck the bag hard enough to knock it off its chain before returning to normal.

"I'm not stupid! I'm not! You're the one who's stupid! You always will be!" Vivio shouted to no one in particular before slumping to her knees, sniffling as she did.

Mrs. Yagami Signum feels restless. After the mission to get the map (which she hadn't really helped that much on, now that she's thought about it) and filling out the paperwork to join the Magic Department, she hadn't done anything she'd felt was productive. Exercising in the Sensoriums and taking care of Hayate's and the Reinforces' "shopping" (such as existed on this ship) was all well and good, but there was work to be done here and she felt she wasn't doing it when she could be.

However, barring an actual opportunity for action, there's only two ways Signum can work out this feeling of restlessness. Exercising more in the Sensoriums (which she'd done already today, up to her tolerance for the illusionary setting), or meditating.

Sitting atop the Jedi Temple, which was both conveniently high and conveniently in tune with the ambient magic on the ship, Signum folds her legs under her, sits, and contemplates on nothingness, clearing her mind of the distraction and frustration of daily life on the city ship...

((That's your cue to bother her))

Once Domalai made sure the crew was fully informed of what was expected of them in the upcoming rituals, he showed them over to where the Rituals of Judgement and Joining would be performed.

As they neared the gate that led into the city of Orongo, they could see many other people milling about, waiting for their turn to undergo the rituals themselves. The crew, of course, being a special case, are moved to the front of the line. Thankfully, everyone seems to be in a good enough mood that no one puts up a fuss about it.

The first area they were brought to had a simple stone circle, around which were three smaller circles. Two Moai priests were waiting there as they approached, and Domalai moved over to join them before speaking up.

[ooc: wait for subthreads to go up]

[ooc2: Ready! Tag away!]

Once those who decided to go along on the mission were gathered on the Obs Deck and had time to go over the mission briefing, the detachment procedures began.

As with the missions before, the doors to the Obs Deck closed before it detached itself from Stacy, tethered by a massive umbilical cord. Those who had been on missions before would find the experience familiar if still somewhat unpleasant, but for those of whom this was their first mission, the sudden lack of gravity and lurching feeling as they entered the atmosphere would come as a surprise.

Thankfully though, the ride was quickly over as they landed safely on the planet below, the gravitational dampeners of the Obs Deck gently dropping the crew members back on their feet. One of the walls opened up, forming a ramp to the ground below. There was a sudden, slight gust of air as the door opened as the thick air rushed in. Even so, the air felt quite warm and refreshing.

Looking outside, the crew would see the bright yellow sun looming overhead, quite close in comparison to the sun on most planets. A handful of small, silver clouds dotted the blueish purple sky.

Ahead of them stood a rather impressive looking plateau, surrounded by a tall, ornate stone wall which was covered in tribal markings. Directly ahead was a large gate through the wall, with several small stone buildings in front of it. Beyond the gates, a larger settlement could be seen. Surrounding the plateau and covering the surrounding region were numerous strange, blue and purplish trees and plants.

[ooc: hold up until subthreads are set up]

[ooc2: ready! feel free to tag!]