Sumeragi was glad that despite it's outward appearance as a simple carrier, the Ptolemaios was, in fact, a war ship, and had both the physical and electronic defenses to match. It had taken an hour to dig up the hardcopies of the cryptographic verification scheme, another hour to actually run them and make sure VEDA hadn't been compromised by whatever had taken over everything else, and then another half an hour to get VEDA to verify the rest of the ship's systems. But they were safe.

The first thing she did after this was switch all the systems she could to manual access only, followed by locking down the bridge controls, the MS hangar, and the VEDA chamber. If she was going to invite strangers on board, she was going to be careful about it. But if the ship was clean, it would be safe - if it really came to it, they could try to cut their way out of the Hangar and drift in space until whatever this was cleared.

After a quick announcement on the comms about the ship's availability, she grabbed a rifle and went to go secure one of the airlocks, to let people in.

[Image refs: Exterior, Bridge, corridor 2, viewing room. No set layout to the ship!]

Following you awakening and talking with a few of the members through the communication systems by way of the three kind people who had awakened her, Nezaitben realized how the crew was stuck in a terrible mess.

So many of them felt sad and depressed. Considering the entire ship, it wasn't too hard to see why. The next day, there had been an unusual amount of magical flowers spreading all over the ship. Nothing that damaged the controls (she might be naive in the way humanoids were, but Nezaitben was no fool either) but they were found in the most unexpected of places. Her own awakening area was now blooming in a flower paradise, the wooden palace standing proudly on top, the smell and pink cherry blossom strong enough to carry through most of the central city area where most people resided.

Yet the ship was still sad.

This would not do.

That night, or what passed as a night for in the ship, Nezaitben took to the 'sky', letting pieces of her own essence fall on top of the sleeping populace, or those that were not sleeping finding themselves feeling the need too. Enveloping the ship into a peaceful slumber, she searched their dreams. The powers granted to her by the pantheon of gods in her homeworld allowed Nezaitben to weave a series of dreamcatchers giving her the ability to see those whose hearts connected true.

These noble souls would do. Lead by example had always been her philosophy. She would give them a great gift - communication with each other in a single body, allowing them to share everything together. Their two soulcatchers were woven together that night into a single, grand ones, hanging in the garden's trees.

A few minutes later, the empty husks of the bodies that weren't being used showed up at her palace. With a smile, she welcomed them like her own children and began to dress them for their task.

That morning, some of the crewmen would wake up to a strange surprise...and that would just be the beginning of a long, strange misunderstanding and young gods trying too much to please everyone.

[OOC - Just a few rules. Keep in mind the listed rules. You can all start your own threads of waking up in the bodies of others. If you feel like leaving a 2nd post for other people to intact with them, start a reply to your own first post with OPEN header. That way everyone else will know where to post and if you don't feel like having an open interaction post right away, you won't have to!

There will also be another post for all the soulless characters to go around spreading joy and love, so look forward to that too!]

Since he'd offered to train people, and using the Three Mountain Dojo's image still hit much too close to home to ever be comfortable, Morgan had resummoned his already-holographic mountaintop dojo. The quiet wide-open building sat calmly atop a high mountain peak, the air crisp and thin as it whistled gently through. A stream from a natural spring flowed gently down the cliffside it sat on, forming a pool not far below, around which ran a path flanked by a series of tall, slender poles.

Morgan himself sat with his back against one of the dojo's support columns, idly plucking out some chords on his electric guitar. The complete lack of electricity up here didn't seem to stop his practice one bit.

So the name of the game today is – wait for it – Find Your Fire Exits Boys and Girls, and if Aeryn comes at him, John Crichton’s determined to be able to point her toward any ships for a fast getaway. Prove to her that things his way don’t always screw up. That he can do this without her hovering like some gun-toting babysitter.

A cycle ago it wouldn’t have even crossed his mind. These days it’s different.

He knows better.

The hanger he eventually stumbles upon is insanely huge. Like “huge” as in “he has a hard time processing it in one go” huge. It’s so big that he gets slightly dizzy just looking at the sheer size of it and John has to take a moment to really adjust and get down to business, swallowing and moving on. A lot of the ships he sees so far look so big that he imagines they probably can’t pilot it with a two man crew. So. Basically they need something smaller, and when he spots what looks like robot animals, John ducks his head and hurries past, not willing to put up with that growing question of if it’s one of those things he’s also getting flashes of. Like maybe that robot dragon isn’t there in reality. Maybe it’s just him. Maybe he’s cracking up.

It takes awhile and a glimpse of shuttle white that makes his heart flutter in his chest. He jogs without realizing it. John rounds the corner and there it is, the second most beautiful thing he’s seen recently aside from Aeryn Sun. His module. Good Ol’ Reliable.

John walks around Farscape One, ducking his head under one of the folded wings as he checks the ship out. It might not be top of the line out here. Maybe it’s equal to throwing rocks at someone with a pulse rifle. Doesn’t matter. It’s a little piece of Earth and she’s been through everything with him, no matter how much she’s cobbled together now with space duct tape. John runs a hand over that faded American flag, lost in thought.

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. They are also told they must read information about their current situation and a survival guide with their new omnicom. New crew-mates might see a tall dragonish guy with wings (but don't call him that) and purple 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.]

Sumeragi glared at the console, and instructed the computer to bring up the simulation once more. It was a fairly simple one - just dodging an oncoming asteroid field - but she'd run it three times now, and each had ended with her ship as an asteroid bug-splatter not too far in. She could drive a car just fine, but the finer controls of the ship eluded her. She had imported the Ptolemy's basic design and control scheme into the program, so at least it was a ship she was vaguely familiar with.

Nonetheless, ten minutes into this fourth run, a fairly loud stream of curses - in more than one language - could be heard outside the door to the sensorium she was using.

Let it never be said that Stacy was not benevolent toward her crew. Truth was, she loved them, to the point of risking her own life. And thus, she'd been busy for quite some time... silently she had worked, trying to get into her own archives and cross-checking references. She was going to help boost morale and give them a gift - show them people they cared about, wake them up for a single day as proof that, yes, they were there, close by. She was going to give them a day to awaken, to see their loved ones again and to go back, knowing that their time would come one day or another...

It sounded so beautiful and poetic on theory. In reality, it could become a true disaster. Spent of most of the energies doing this task, in complete secrecy to keep it as a surprise, Stacy's never-ending work was only stopped by its own Warden program, which pulled the plug on the ship's search to find everyone at least someone they cared about. That, unfortunately, left her not only spent of energy which was dangerous in itself - but it also meant that some of the crew would be deprived of seeing their close ones, no doubt leaving some of them bitter.

The road to hell has always been paved by good intentions.

Stacy's voice was decidedly more cheerful than normal as she spoke to the entire ship.

|| Transmigration Nine crew, please report to the Observation Deck. I have a gift for you. ||

She repeated the request, and waited.

Once most of the crew had made their way there, she continued.

||I have been working on a...|| she couldn't quite find the proper word and settled on the next one, || present for you. While many of your records are locked to even me, I have worked to find the pods which contain people close to you. I...apologize if some of you may end up with no one, it is not my fault I...|| suddenly Stacy's voice seemed a little less cheerful, ||The Warden stopped me before I could finish everything completely. Please do not feel like I targeted you specifically, I really did my best to get as many of your friends and companions awake as possible for today.||

Now was the hardest part to explain.

||And that is, unfortunately, all that can be given to you. Because their avia are not yet ready to be properly awakened, they'll be here for a single day. Please make the most of it, so you can feel better and continue our mission with renewed vigor . I hope that meeting those that care about you will give you a boost of energy that you all need.|| Spoken like a mother who put her children before herself. ||But if you can...look at it this way, it means that they are here, and one day I will proudly awaken them properly when they are ready.||

Her voice was becoming strange as she went on. Not static-like, but raspy, like someone who was running out of breath.

||And I am afraid that I must go offline for a few hours due to the strain this is putting on...me...|| It sounded really painful for her to speak, completely spent and only going because she wanted to at least give them a proper last word. ||I...hope...you...will...be...happy...a...lit--||

For the first time in a long while, Stacy was completely silent.

[OOC: GO FOR IT.]

Morgan having made the call for anyone interested in their potential class to come meet them in the city, they awaited everyone who said they would be attending. The location itself, at least, was easily spotted by those looking for it, so Tim had approved the suggestion by Morgan for the meeting spot. And it did have a training room.

Tim himself was willing to give them a window of time to arrive, though he wanted to be organised and punctual enough to not keep people waiting either. At least they were able to mingle with each other in the mean time.

First they would have a meeting for those interested in assisting-- as teachers for specific skills or otherwise-- so that they had a firmer idea of where they stood with what they could teach. After that, of course, was the meeting for interested pupils, to organise. After that, they could get sanction to begin.

((ooc: Appropriate subthreads are up for everyone!))

Setsuna wasn't the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. Most people would probably even wonder if he had a heart, half the time. But he did, even if he rarely did show it. And he might be slow with people, but given enough time, he could figure them out.

Now that most of his memories were back in order, he was able to figure out what Fledt had been trying to tell him all this time. The thought brought a frown to his lips, however. Not because of what she had been trying to say, but that he wouldn't be able to her that he finally understood.

Feldt was gone now, sent back to the pod caverns. Apparently, even here, fate decreed that they would be apart. Which is why Setsuna standing on the bridge of the Ptolemy, next to the chair that Feldt had occupied for years, his usual stoic mask cracked into a slightly sad/forlorn expression.

Well, that wasn't the only reason he was there. There was something he needed to discuss with the Ptolemy's commander. He just... got stuck looking at that empty chair while he waited for Miss Sumeragi to show up.

Once everyone had had time to read her announcement, Starfire started preparing for the day. There were signs to hang, streamers to wave, and plenty of people to greet with her usual affection. Language would not be a barrier, so the signs simply consisted of drawings of two happy blobs coming together and embracing each other. Arrows below the pictures pointed any visitors to the right place in the city's park, where Starfire's cheerful calls could be heard. She floated above the crowd, that wide smile ever-present on her face.

"I welcome you all to our offering of friendship! Please join us!" She was not going to give up easily, no. "You do not need to embrace us or each other to participate today. Your kind words of support and open ears are more than enough, but I would like you to open your arms if you are able. Offer your affection to your friends and extend your kindness to new ones!"

That said, she pointed to the arrangement of signs attached to several big trees. One had a rather deformed picture of a smiling Starfire in front of it, and others were left blank for volunteers to draw their own pictures. Those wishing to receive hugs or friendship would walk through the appropriate tree to stand behind.

It was a simple setup, but one that she hoped would be effective. Love for everyone!

((Subthreads are up! Similarly-inclined volunteers can take their own hug tree, and everyone is welcome to visit any of the trees. Tags from Starfire will be sporadic while I am at school, so you may wish to thread with others at first.))

In the aftermath of the battle at Lirath, Stacy had been severely damaged. Though she still eventually managed to build up enough power to resume course, she was obviously struggling, her pace far slower than normal. She could barely even manage to directly address those who needed to speak with her, instead allowing the more monotone voice of the Warden to speak up wherever she couldn't.

Several days after the battle, however, she once again stopped course suddenly and without warning, and let out a message throughout the ship.

||Notice to all crew members, Daligig Vessel Horizon is approaching. Archon Yavek is requesting to board so repairs can begin on this vessel. Please report to the Obs deck to recieve Daligig personnel and begin briefing. I repeat, notice to all crew members...||

Those going to the Obs Deck to check out the commotion would see the Horizon just out the observation window. It was massive, nearly half as long as Stacy, and likely had enough room for over a million crew members. The ship was colored a brilliantly bright white, with sleek, smooth lines, making the ships the GIA had that the crew had seen in the battle at Lirath seem like ancient relics.

Not long after the crew had arrived at the Obs Deck, bright, crackling lights began to appear towards the far end of the room as figures began teleporting in.

The first to appear were...not the Daligig. Instead, the first figures to arrive were massive, 9-ft tall reptilian soldiers, each decked in thick armor carrying equally massive battle rifles. At their fore stood one of them wearing lighter armor, carrying a tall metallic staff. He appeared older than the other reptillians, and wore a red sash that seemed to mark him of higher rank than the others. He raised the comm unit on his wrist to speak into it.

"Situation green, Archon. It is safe come over."

At that point, more figures began teleporting over, much smaller than the reptilian soldiers that came before. In fact, they were even somewhat shorter than normal humans, the tallest among them barely six feet tall. These were the Daligig, strange looking and varied in appearance. Each of them had devices on their arms, apparently small but powerful micro computers, each with different colors denoting the rank of the wearer. At their side were numerous tiny beings, each barely 4 feet tall, who almost immediately fanned out, obsessively observing and picking at Stacy's techno-organic structure.

Suddenly, one of the Daligig, wearing a dark blue arm unit, stepped forward with a rather grim, serious expression on his face. This, apparently was Archon Yavek.

"Who is in charge here?" he demanded bluntly.

[ooc: Meant to get this up a week ago, but school got the better of me, so sorry, guys! First thread that I put up will be the main expositionary thread, but feel free to make more threads for you characters to react, talk to each other, or try and talk to the Daligig and their companions. Basic info on the Daligig can be found over here.]

Lowe couldn't help but feel like a part of him died when he saw the mess inside the Hangar. It looked like a war zone tore through the area... which it did, what with a variety of Ohm parts still scattered across. A lot of the damage was easily fixable, thankfully. However, he had to write off a ZAKU that was cleaved in half along with a forklift that was destroyed the same way. There was also that one Variable Fighter that was destroyed in the space battle...

The Junk Guild tech couldn't help but let out a defeated sigh. He wanted to find the people who decided tossing ZAKUs and forklifts at bad guys was a good idea, especially those who could do what they did to the thrown items.

He did make mental notes of what could be salvaged from the unfixable items, though. Best not to let these things go to waste, eh?

Now, it was just a matter of getting it all fixed up.

[This is for Team 1: Lash, Zetta, Martha, Howard, Doctor, Chell, Doc, Sumeragi. The first shore leave / observation deck post is here where they can say goodbye to others.]

As they arrived and landed, there was just a small track of land with one large wooden boat. A man, clothed in black, ushered them in. He didn't answer anything, in fact from the way he squeaked from rust, it was easily to see he was mechanical. Even the water didn't look that deep until near the end, as what looked like sharks swam around them menacingly before disappearing abruptly as they arrived in the middle of a black obsidian castle. The landing wasn't gentle, and everyone was pushed against each other, as the boat lifted itself up and dropped them all together on top of stacks of hay.

There were two rooms leading out. One had carved in "YOUNDER MALE OR WHATEVER SPECIES" and the other "YOUNDER DEM BEAUTIES". Inside, each would find leather outfits, and white underwear so there would be no chaffing. They could use their plantsuits for that too. Soft moccasins for their feet too with a note that while it was not era-perfect, they figured they would appreciate not having too many bruises on their feet (at least for now). The leather was pretty fresh from the smell and looked to have been made just the right size for each person too.

Kinda really creepy when you thought about it.

But that wasn't the worst of it, oh no. The doors would not open until everyone was fully clothed. For those that still refused, ghostly white hands came out of the walls and did the deed for them, removing all weapons and putting them in the appropriate attire before giving a thumbs up and disappearing again.

As the second door opened, with a red glowing orb turning green, they could see many doors leading around twisting, moving stairs that somehow didn't quite seem possible.

The sound of a gong going off somewhere. Again. Three times. Suddenly the weather shifted to sunset (and never changed) and one could swear those ghost hands were now throwing plastic seagulls in the air, as they mostly flew for a few seconds and crashed into the walls. Seawater was blasted off from tiny little spray bottles.

A large scroll appeared, dusted itself sending dust bunnies flying into the air and unwounded before them.

ATTENTION CONTESTANTS! WELCOME YE FAIR OF MIND AND BODY, TO THE GREATEST PHYSICAL CHALLENGE IN ALL THE UNIVERSE!

After what sounded like someone thinking about it, coughing, a few more words appeared.

PLEASE HOLD ON WHILE YOUR HOST GREETS YOU, IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. THIS IS OUR PLAN, WHICH WE ARE TELLING YOU, THE CONTESTANTS.

Several significant data reports were still trickling in, and already Billy's overworked mind knew one thing: this workload was going to be one of his least favorites. Overwhelming, exhausting, sometimes confusing, and with the pressure of time attached as well. Stacy could simply not be relied upon to give the crew a break, and thus they needed to be prepared for a battle like that again. As soon as possible. But how soon was that? Today's meeting's purpose was to make it as soon as possible.

On the board against one wall of the lab, he threw up a starting list of repairs that needed to be made. All the significant weapons and armor that had been turned in, important communications equipment, crew items requiring immediate attention for that person's full functionality, the most often used generic vehicles, and the specialty/personally owned vehicles. That group would be the easiest to select, he hoped.

How easy or difficult this would be would not be fully known until he saw a spread of who was assisting, and how many. Could they complete everything fast enough for the crew's satisfaction? That would be the main worry from here on out.

Billy was almost relieved when they started trickling in. As he waved, not quite as energetically as usual, they might notice one or two signs of the battle. His movements didn't look quite as easy as before, some trace of pain still behind them, and a long bandage now tied around his forehead. Some would look better, some would look worse. He sincerely wished to see more of the former than the latter.

They needed all the healthy help they could get.

||Attention, Attention. The following crew members must report to the Observation Deck...||

Stacy began to name off sixteen members of the crew, repeating the message until everyone had arrived. When they did, they would find the following information being displayed.

Planet Designation: Unknown. No records of a system existing at this location can be found. All information is based on preliminary scans.
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Unknown.
Sentient Life: Obsidian medial castles and crystal cities scattered all around, but no signs of humanoid life detected.
Water: 80.8% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Similar to Earth's Tropical zones [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: What little remains of area is deep thick tropical forest with forests and abandoned towns.
Air: Non-toxic. Elevated levels of oxygen.
Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue.
Sun: A class G V, yellow dwarf star.
Warnings: No records of this planet exist. Suggest taking extreme caution while planet-side, as dangers that have not shown up on preliminary scans could exist. Please bring appropriate tools and weapons.
Mission: Scout planet's surface and locate the twin signals.

Being sent off into the unknown was part of the risks that being on the ship had brought them. Thankfully they were getting a chance to stock up before heading out.

But just what was waiting out there?

[[Just so you all know, this is bendy time for around the 12th on the meatship, so those who were hurt during the battle should be much, much better. This is also the only post that will be open to both groups before they split off, and anyone who wishes to see them off can do so. In fact, it's encouraged!]]

Ugh. Eventually, the tide of patients he'd had to deal with had decreased, leaving Soren finally able to take a moment to breathe. He was rather uncharacteristically slouching in his seat on the Obs Deck, staring balefully out at the view outside.

He hadn't realized what a chore it was to have to pick up healing duties. Where he came from, every army had a contingent of clerics to supplement the use of vulneraries by the common infantryman. That he'd seen none in use by the forces fighting on the ground was dismaying. He'd attempted to save what lives he was able to during the events on that moon or planet or whatever (Soren was not great with the proper scientific classifications of celestial bodies), but without adequate support, he knew a number had simply fallen through the cracks. There was only so much a single unit could do, especially with the tools at his disposal.

Healing wasn't even his specialty; he'd studied the use of staves mainly to better fill gaps in the Mercenaries' pool of abilities. Better than learning knives, at any rate. If he'd only had a Fortify staff...

After fighting in a massive planetary battle -- well, less 'fighting' and more 'healing people, occasionally from literal death' -- the Akashic was, in a word, exhausted.

Not necessarily physically; regardless of how grueling shifts in Medbay might be at the moment, he made a point to stick to his schedule, sleep plenty, eat (ugh) enough gruel, and keep his body in shape. Not necessarily mentally either; good health and self-care, along with meditation and discipline, helped in that matter as well.

There was just a certain level of core, deep, ground-in exhaustion that couldn't be banished that easily, though. So that left only one thing to do for the best relaxation:

Snowboard in the sensorium.

Who wants in on this?

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!]

 As the battle raged outside, those remaining aboard Stacy had their hands full preparing for the incoming flood of refugees.

Positioned near the Bleed-Gate orbiting Lirath, Stacy stood ready to receive the refugees. Ship after ship ascended as quickly as they could, some of them making a break for the Bleed-Gate itself while the smaller ships were forced to dock at Stacy, unloading their cargo of refugees before setting off again for the planet's surface again to take on more passengers.

Several small units of GIA soldiers were also sent up to help the Transmigration crew take in the massive amount of refugees, many of whom were tired, wounded, and scared. It wouldn't take long for the ship to begin filling with people.

With the battle raging outside, and the Ohm clambering outside, trying to get in, it would be a tall order to keep all of the refugees safe and calm, but the crew didn't have much choice.

[ooc: Open!]

Having free time again had remained a novel concept for a little while - not worrying about the next mission, or if they were all going to die tomorrow, or any of those things. But after a few days, the old worries started to seep back in. The old guilt. So it was throw herself into work, or into drinking, and there wasn't quite enough privacy to do the latter. Not enough alcohol, either.

Which meant work - analysis, tactics, all of it. Learning what she could to keep more people from being killed. Setsuna's report had been informative, certainly, but the file she'd been sent - ah, that was gold. Which is why she stood in the Sensorium, watching a battle play out in miniature in front of her, as she scribbled notes on paper she'd brought in. That felt a bit odd - but she didn't have a computer rig to back her up right now, and sometimes it was easier to think in handwriting.