The first thing Hayate did as soon as she was spat out by GLaDOS was to rush back to where Zwei had been so kind to set her up in the WITCH Bus.  Of course, being the WITCH Bus, it wasn't the easiest place to get around in, especially after a long absense.  She wandered in and out rooms and halls trying to find her place

A look to the left, to the right, and then over her shoulder.  Either this brunette was paranoid, or bewildered as she wandered about.

She did eventually find her own place ... such wonderful Knight she had, everything was just as she'd left it... weeks, and not even dust was allowed to collect.

Her family ... she was certain they'd be here any time now, but just to expedite thing she would start sending little mental messages.  To Nanoha and Fate as well.

((Feel free to pop in on Hayate or bump into her in the halls))

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!]

Hayate was ever so peaceful in the hydroponics. The over lapping leaves of plants crowded together gave an atmosphere brimming with life; what's more, it was relatively quiet and calm. All in all, it was the perfect place to enjoy reading some poetry, especially poetry celebrating nature. It was an act of idealism; there was so little of the nature she was used to around here.

She crunched on little celery she picked, and swallowed, fingers flipping another page. She cleared her throat and read quietly aloud, but in the otherwise almost silent seclusion, it was audible.

A saturated meadow,
Sunshaped and jewel-small,
A circle scarely wider
Than the trees around are tah--tah, aachcoo!"



Her sneeze howls out with ear-splitting loudness, cracking the screen of her digital reader. "Ahhh!!" By comparison to the sneeze, her panicked cry was almost quiet. Or maybe the sneeze was downright deafening.



Her jaw dropped as she stared down at her damaged screen. What is this, Hayate doesn't even

... It's kind of legible on the top half still... she sniffled...

((Hayate has these effects on her right now; feel free to IM me about permissions or planning via my AIM : lichifruit, or to send a message to airgeargaigar ))

Hayate, Vivio and Zwei had a, shall we say, lackluster Christmas with all their friends and family gone. And today, after New Year's Day was over with, Hayate had one thing set in mind as she called all her friends and family to get together:

You owed her (and Vivio especially) one Christmas.

So here she was on the WITCH Bus with some past due Christmas cakes a little fake tree that was as of yet undecorated but next to a box of ornaments.

Party. Now. Your (former) boss demands it. She also demands you were the santa girl outfits. No, seriously, she's handing them to you as you enter the door. "Zwei and I were hoping you get here sooner, but whatever, we had these prepared for ya."

There's a curtain to change behind. Hayate is pointing to it.

((Yes, there's one for you too Signum. Hayate and Zwei may have pulled an all nighter. Arf, you're a reindeer. The children have elf costumes.))

Hayate sat on the observation, drinking some (not too) hard cider she'd cooked up earlier that evening. At any time she was either reading a small paper back, or staring down into the amber liquid in her mug. Occassionally, she'd refill the mug with a thermos.

No matter what she was doing, though, she was a little sullen looking. With Nanoha and Fate gone right now, well... it was the first year in about a decade that Nanoha, Fate, Vita, Shamal, Zafira, or Signum ... weren't around. It made her realize that she hadn't really made much in the way of new friends here.

Magic.

Setsuna didn't believe in such a thing. Sure, he had seen some amazing things in his life, a few of which had left him awed, but all of it could be explained away by saying "GN particles did it" science and rational explanation. But, when it came to what was happening to him, science hadn't been able to come up with an answer, thus far.

Which was why he was in the Jedi Temple, home of the Mystical Department.

Well, that was partially why. He probably should be down in the science lab, undergoing a battery of test to see just what he was changing into, but he didn't much trust this ship or this crew. At the least, he'd wait for Tieria to check the labs out, then perhaps they could get started cracking open the mystery that is "Innovation."

But while the labs were being checked out, he figured he'd at least research an alternate perspective on the matter. The Mystical Department did handle matters of the mental and metaphysical, so he figured they might have something to offer. He was in the Temple Library, looking through a number of books, in the faint hope that one of them might be able to shed a bit of light on his situation.

Hayate had chosen a relatively non-descript and empty room in the WITCH Bus; to her, it seemed perhaps the place least likely for Stacy to spy on her, but for extra certainty she'd lined the floor with some soft, thick sheets to sit on, and she had more sheets (quite large ones, in fact). And flashlights. But the reason why one could only guess.

She clicked a pen tip in and out repeatedly against the surface of blank pages on a clip board as she waited for her staff to show up. Even when everyone else save for Vita had more seniority on the ship than Hayate did, she'd been long used to feeling like the boss. The friendly boss, but the boss.

Aimlessly wandering around the city again (it was so big), Hayate had managed to stumble upon the Statuary. She walked up and down the hall, marveling at the various works of stone and metal. At first she had tried to flick some of the switches, but after three or four flips on a few didn't result in a thing, she didn't bother with they any further.

Her smile waned a little as she nervously glanced around. She didn't think anyone else was around ... and she didn't see any signs prohibiting it ... ... ... but it was probably just wishful thinking or Hayate critically failiing at spot or perception.

... Get up on the lion's back, Hayate! Yeah, alright~

She laughed a bit, hand rubbing the cold, hard, stone mane with quick affection, as if trying to give the skillfully personified rock some warmth, then pulled herself up and mounted the fierce but petrified creature.