The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicomms and comm rings. They are also told they must read information about their current situation and a survival guide with their new omnicomm. New crewmates might see a tall dragonish guy with wings (but don't call him that), a large afro attached to a smaller girl, and talking ponies 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. But thankfully this time, there's a system that was set up to aid the new crew members with a few more experienced ones.

[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. Big brother/sister, there will be a thread for you as well!]

Hiccup had effectively run out of ideas in terms of where it was best to get extra scrap for blacksmithing. People were fortunately bringing him metal to work with when they wanted something made but he knew that at some point there was going to be someone that needed something made or repaired very badly that didn't have access to any metal to bring to him.

And while there was some in the city, it wasn't always the best quality. Daja had taught him a lot, but he couldn't work miracles.

So he decided to be industrious and broaden his search around the ship for metal to work with.

Which was why he'd turned his attention to the hangar. Oh sure, there were some things that he absolutely couldn't touch, like the spaceships and more modern vehicles and all that, but were they really going to need a Model T or some of the other cars?

Some of the smaller vehicles that were clearly rather useless, he started cracking away at with a crowbar and putting the metal onto a little hover-cart he'd acquired from Stacy. For some of the larger vehicles whose possible use was a little more nebulous, he jotted down what they looked like and where they were, so he could ask Command (or what was left of it) and the rest of the crew if it was alright to scrap them and if any departments like Engineering wanted some of the parts for their own use.

In the long run, it felt better to be working. With Astrid running mazes and all this madness going on with the Daligig (getting concussed again had been a blast), and his problems with his nerves and sleep making him have to drop his position with the Council, he felt the need to distract himself.

Less than an hour after the ship leaves Agrestic's orbit, an announcement is broadcast throughout Stacy.

|| Attention, crew. Your crewmates, Howard Bassem and Charles Merriman, have been apprehended attempting to desert. They will now be given Punishment. According to established guidelines, you are all requested to report to the Observation to witness the Punishment. Attendance is not mandatory, but highly suggested. This will serve as a reminder of the consequences of treason and desertion. ||

On the observation deck, Archon Yavek, Archite Rekkti, two other Daligig and a handful of Kessek soldiers stand outside a spherical force field. Inside the bubble, Orc and Howard are suspended by tentacles looping around their wrists. Orc's ceased thrashing around and struggling against his restraints; rust-colored fissures have developed around his shoulders and forearms from the strain, but now he simply hangs there, looking defeated. Howard's nose is bleeding, and every time a drop falls to the bottom of the forcefield there's a small sizzle. He's weeping and begging the Daligig with every plea possible, but they act as if they aren't listening. Instead, they wait for an audience.

Ildraniath had found a small park that was out of the way of most of the main streets. It was quiet, shaded. Perfect for a little get together. If people had read her message on the comms, they ought to show up. And if they didn't, she would figure out another way to proceed. Even if she had only a handful of people she could rely on, she would press on. Better than inactivity and waiting for results that never came. She knew patience, but this? Was simply waiting for the sake of waiting.

She folded her hands into the sleeves of her robes and waited, stone still. Once they arrived, she'd have a few words to say to everyone. And then they could begin bandying ideas and organizing.

( The ship stops on the planet Agrestic, a Jupiter-sized behemoth in the galaxy. )

As Stacy's shuttles bring the crew down, they're treated to the sights of massive mountains to dwarf even the mightiest Earth mountain range and golden, green and purple grain fields that take up more space than some entire civilizations have managed to colonize. The shuttles finally settle at the primary port city, Rura, which is ideally situated near and equidistant to a sprawling ocean, the base of a mountain range and a swath of farmland.

The people of Agrestic, including humans, Helians, Kanil, and plenty of other races, are for the most part hard at work and rushing from place to place. Very few pay much attention to Stacy's shuttles, as travelers stopping at this city and incredibly commonplace. Those that aren't working are relaxing, unencumbered by technological gadgets - while the technology here is very advanced, it seems primarily used to aid workers in their duties, and not for leisure. Fresh produce brought into the market is scanned by tiny mechanical beetles that inspect each piece for defects, but the children are more likely to be playing with sticks and rocks than anything else.

The crew exits the shuttles to find themselves at a large air-port like building, which opens up to a farmer's market and a strip of restaurants. As they exit the shuttles, some of the human port workers apologize for any inconvenience.

"We're sorry you couldn't bring the whole ship down, but the Truce specifically forbids Daligig to enter our airspace. You're lucky we managed to get clearance for shuttles of Daligig make to come in!" they say, before rushing off to help the next arrivals.

To return to the ship, a crew member may enter a shuttle and the autopilot will zip them back up to Stacy's underbelly. The crew may make as many trips back and forth as they like.

[OOC: This post itself will be for interactions with NPCs. Please do not set up subthreads in this post unless you are an NPCer. If you would like to create a new location on Agrestic, or do an open/closed log on the shore leave, please set up your own log. This will make it easier for our NPCers to know where they're needed.]

Who: Barbara and Anyone
Where: The Media Library and possible roaming
Summary: Research, tea, discussion and all that jazz. Feel free to simply come and bug her.
Warnings: None

After watching the Daligig slaughter the previous crew twice, Barbara went in search of any kind of material on the Daligig, Stacey, pod-popping and the crews which had traveled on Stacey. She didn't expect to find much more than what GLaDOS had told her but it was worth a look. Especially with all this talk of rebellion and distrust.

So, in a corner of the Media Library Barbara sat with piles books, stacks of visual recordings and audio recordings, plus pot of tea which had been sitting empty for a while. She was lost in her own world, memorising what she could and trying to gain a better picture of the ship, the war and everything else which could be considered relevant.

It's been a long time since Howard engaged in some harmless graffiti. Two years, if not a little more. He's exhausted from a long shift in Med Bay and then hitting the Media Library for his new Leon-appointed position, but it seems like the urge to vandalize things has been pent up for so long that he has all the energy in the world to do this.

The memory-statues and painting under the giant lit-up head in the Art Hall are as good a place as any. Using permanent marker, some pink spraypaint and his knife, he starts to carve and mark things into the shifting wall.

DGIG KILLED 1ST CREW

STACY WIPES MINDS

DON'T TRUST THEM

The paintings and statues shift and mold to his memories, images both calm and terrifying, images he remembers and ones he's long forgotten. There's him playing basketball in his driveway. There's Orc's face torn open by flesh-eating worms. There's a massacre, and there's a busy cafeteria, and there's Disneyland, there's the first time he broke his nose and there's him sleeping in math class. The statue becomes a child's corpse and then an impatient P.E. coach and then his grandmother. On the wall, the images keep shifting, but the marks he's making stay where they are, black and pink and chiseled.

WRITE IT ALL DOWN

The two women had waited until a good number of people had gathered in the sensorium next to where the Tapestry was kept. Sakura glanced toward Howard, wanting a visual reassurance that he was there with a recording device. He was someone she could count on for the paranoid sensibilities that she sometimes put aside in favor of other practicalities. With everyone gathered, they turned toward each other, and the sensorium came alive.
( Such a sight as we have seen... )... leaving everyone standing in the sensorium's blank interface as the mental replay shut down.

[ ooc: Feel free to make your own threads and discuss as your characters are want to do! You are absolutely not required to respond to either Barbara or Sakura's question threads. That is optional! ]

River had been told to wait, to be sneaky and sly, to follow the carefully laid out plan that the Master had come up with. He wanted her to turn the Doctors against each other and then strike in the midst of all that lovely chaos. Unfortunately, the Master hadn't taken into account just how impulsive River Song could be. Sure she was psychotic and wholely the weapon that Madame Kovarian and the Silence had programmed, shaped, and raised her to be, but she was also impulsive. She wanted to finish off the Doctor now, not five months from now.

That's why she'd devised a plan of her own. By sending out a message on the psychic paper.

Meet me at the tower, I want to tell you everything.

xoxox

Short. Simple. Impossible for the Doctor to resist. Of course, he might wonder why she wanted to meet up at the very place she had been kidnapped and held against her will by the Master.

Now she waits for him to show up. Silly Doctor, so trusting of River Song. He really shouldn't trust her. Hadn't she told him as much? There was a gun in her hand and two bullets with his name on them. One shot to kill. Another shot to prevent him from reaching his next regeneration.

What on earth had she seen in him in the first place?

Who: Ronnae, Billy, and various wedding guests!
Where: In Light's Hope Chapel, with party to follow at the Drunken Dragon Tavern.
What: Two are getting married. Will someone faint from shock? Will anything break? Will it be a happy night? Stay tuned!
( One cloudy morning... )

Who: The Doctors, their assistants and friends, some visitors [Open], and the Master.
Where: The TARDIS, the blue police box located in the Hangar.
Summary: Somebody's made a mess of the old ship. The Doctors are very unhappy. Time to dig in and clean up! Also, there's some necessary hashing-out of titles and ownership between three men who happen to be the same person. And a bit of a problem arises...
Warnings: Possibly mild swearing on Nine's part.
( He didn't like the transport tubes. He was liking what he saw here even less. )

The Tapestry had spoken. Not in words, but in ideas and images, ciphers and cryptic nonsense that had been laboriously deciphered, interrogated with spells and technology, pieced together from scrap. They had led here.

( The mission statement was a bit confused and confusing... )

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the battle with SHODAN the place looks a little worst for wear, but the crew and even Stacy are trying to be in good spirits. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, and the little stunt in trying to kill off the people in the pods, many 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), a large afro attached to a smaller girl, and talking ponies 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. But thankfully this time, there's a system that was set up to aid the new crew members with a few more experienced ones.

[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. Big brother/sister, there will be a thread for you as well!]

[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... )