The surprising thing about Stacy was the Doctor hadn’t thought she couldn’t be more beautiful, in all her (sometimes) slimy, brilliant glory.

Then he saw her true face, right before she fought back with the rest of the crew.

Ah. So maybe he can be wrong from time to time, the Doctor finding that life on Stacy with the rebellion was easier in that you weren’t stumbling over Daligig or Kessek giving their impressive glowers, as if it was difficult not to just step on you and be done with (well, that and trying to avoid them when they decided enough was enough and it was far too long since they’d shot anything)…and then there was the clean-up. Considering how hard the Daligig had fought back, the Doctor had to say he expected far more casualties than Stacy’s crew had and this was probably the part where that voice in the back of his head bothering him with all sorts of things like niggling feelings.

It was probably telling him all sorts of annoyingly logical things, like in the end they probably should have been spacedust. He told it to shush.

The Doctor threw himself into trying to fix the TARDIS now that he had a second wind of sorts. With Stacy being twice as beautiful as before, the work was coming along much faster than before, now that she wasn’t resisting him. In fact, he’d go so far that she’d even given him advice – not that he’d be ready to admit to his companions that yes, the Doctor could at times need jiggery-pokery tips from a ship. At this rate, he thought he could actually tell Jamie, Barbara, Ian, Victoria and all his other friends a proper when instead of hedging around it and sending them on errands to get parts he didn’t even need. The Doctor roamed the halls of Stacy, sometimes in the hanger, sometimes rummaging about the City, picking his way through the damage and looking for anything that could stand in for an influx injector (or a toaster. A toaster would actually be better than a standard-issue injector!).

So yes. Right! The Doctor was in need of a toaster/influx injector. He just may temporarily kidnap anyone – or anything – he thought might be useful on that front.

[The Doctor will have met your character and kidnapped them for this. This is basically for characters okay with having somewhat short-term CR with Eleven (probably a few months OOCly?) and continuing CR )]

The two groups were free, Punchy had been safely left in a shield bubble, and now that Brainiac 5 was free from his mother's control and closer to himself again, it was only a matter of stopping Brainiac 4 from enacting her plans to harm the crew.

That task was probably easier said than done, of course.

Things were looking rather dire for the captives of the Brainiacs. They were very securely trapped, no one knew where they were, the old Brainiac 5 appeared to be completely gone, incapable of his old morality, and apparently, Brainiac 4 had some sort of plans that involved getting past Stacy's defenses.

There was no sound in the hangar, where the signal could be traced to something transmitting it that was hidden among the ships. The omnicom itself that was in Brenda's possession was transmitting, but there was something else in the hangar that had been amplifying the signal and carrying it along through the shielded depths of the ship back when the omnicom had been in the lab and wirelessly hacked by the strange mental array attached to Brainy's brain, and that was what they were tracing the signal to rather than the omnicom itself, months of hard work finally letting them crack the code.

There were no sounds of running or of someone being chased. That was possibly alarming. Silence, when someone had been running for their lives, was a bad thing.

[ooc: Closed to: the Brainies, Danny Phantom, Brenda, Red Robin, Zuko, Shoutaro, Jeka, and Punchy. Cole-player, I'll give you your cue to hop in and witness the trap going off by email and give you a setup when it's time.]

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!]

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.

( 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.]

||Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention, all personnel...||

Stacy's voiced called the entire crew, until all of them were gathered at the Obs Deck. Then, a dossier appeared on the screens, along with the image of a rotating planet.

Planet Designation: Pelau
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Moderate flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Yes
Water: 75% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Climate varies by region.
Landscape: Landscape at the North Pole varies. Within the biodomes, significant development. Outside the domes remains mostly pristine.
Air: Normoxic concentration: 29% oxygen, 60% nitrogen, 3% xenon, 6% trace gases, such as hydrogen, krypton, and argon.

Air Pressure: 14.352 pounds per square inch.
Sky: Blue/violet with white clouds.
Sun: A class D4K, yellow star.

Warnings: Be careful of frostbite outside the biodomes.

Mission: None. Shore leave is now initiated.

[Here's a handy map of the North Biodome where the crew is being dropped]


( Read more... )

The term ironic didn't even begin to describe the situation Azula found herself in.

She stood gazing out over the city from one of the higher balconies of the Southern Air Temple with a blade in each hand watching the mechanical minions of that insipid voice crawling through the city destroying anything worth their attention.

Any time now they would turn their attention to one of the last bits of airbender culture, and she was loath to admit she would have to defend it.

Any other day she'd have let it burn, possibly even set fire to it herself, but now the stakes were higher and the situation had adjusted.

For one, she was living there. What few items she owned were stored in a small safe room deep within the temple. A room that she had felt safe in. Her time spent sharing a body with Nima had taught her one invaluable fact. As much as she looked down on her, Nima was trustworthy.

And so to protect the one place on the ship where she felt slightly less like she was going to be murdered in her sleep she had abandoned Kaya and Zouichi in Hydroponics and had escaped to make her stand here.

A snort and low whine reminded her she was not alone.

She sighed and turned to face one of Nima's Glow Sloths. It had been separated from the pack and Azula had found it in Hydroponics. Against her better judgement she brought it with her. If nothing else she could always eat it she supposed.

At least that was how she justified it to herself. She certainly didn't care about it. Either way she shooed it back into the temple where it was less exposed and turned her eyes back to the city.

Hiccup was overjoyed by the presence of his special visitor and that was why he'd left her to go to his forge. Quickly gathering up all his plans and drawings, he made his way out.

He wanted to show her everything he'd thought of, every idea he had, wanted to share absolutely everything he could about himself in the day he had.

This was the first he'd get to know his mother, and the first she'd really get to know him, and he wasn't going to waste a minute of it.

A good number of those affected by the clock had reached childhood, and required supervision. Several of the adults had offered to help, and no one was quite sure anymore who had first suggested it, but it was decided that one night, there should be a sleepover, something fun for the children. The idea had grown; Eva had offered Cassie's house, after getting permission from the other non-deaged resident, Aximili.

In the end, it turned out to be a packed house. There were about twenty children running around, and thankfully, there were five adults and two teenagers supervising. Luckily for Eva, she had made sure to childproof the house the best she could beforehand.

It was going to be needed.

[Planning post is here. HAVE AT. A description of Cassie's house is here, and if you have any questions about it, you can ask Lisa (Eva), Blue (Marco), Cait (Rachel) and Kaylin (Ax). Start up subthreads for stuff, and try not to wreck the place. :D; ]

"Toothless! Oh, Toooothless! You hungry, bud?"

Hiccup still preferred to feed the dragon, even if Toothless could will up food anytime if he wanted. It was their way of spending time together. Hiccup would feed him, Toothless would happily regurgitate some, Hiccup would politely decline and maybe fry up his own, un-eaten fish, and they'd just spend an hour or two in each other's company.

Toothless wasn't there in his Sensorium, though, but that didn't worry Hiccup at first. The dragon was free to wander where he wanted, and he could've been anywhere.

So he took to the halls.

"Toothless! Where are you, buddy? It's dinnertime! Toooothless!"

Not in his forge. Not in Daja's Forge. Not in the Drunken Dragon. Not near the river, not on Obs, not in the halls, not in any of the other Sensoriums, not there, not there, not there, not there.

Hiccup was in something of a panic towards the end.

"Toothless! Buddy! C'mon, where are you? Toothless! This isn't funny! No hide and seek, okay? Where are you?"

He knew. In his heart of hearts, he knew.

It was in the Spacewalk that he finally stopped, late, very late, when most were sleeping, when Astrid would've been expecting him come to bed, and there, heartbroken, he asked Stacy the question he knew was going to get an answer that he didn't want to hear.

"Stacy, where's Toothless? Where is he?!"

||There is no one named Toothless on the active crew roster.||

Repodded.

Hiccup knew he was safe, he knew he was even safer than if he was outside, he knew he'd see him again, but all the things he knew didn't matter when juxtaposed with one, simple fact. His best friend was gone. His best friend, who'd been by his side near-constantly since they'd taken their first flight together, was gone. His best friend who'd comforted him through the end of his world, through horror and being bed-bound with injuries, who'd kept him sane even when trapped in another form in Fairplay, who loved him all the times he couldn't love himself--he was gone.

Gone gone gone.

If anyone were to come by the Spacewalk, they'd find a teenage boy sitting on the floor, staring out of the clear panels of the tunnel there, at the stars and twisting dimensions going by.

"I'll find you, bud. She can't hide you away forever, and if she tries, I'll find you. I swear."

His knobbly knees were drawn up, with his arms around them, and he was very pointedly, very purposefully, not crying. He wasn't crying at all.

[ooc: Can be a standalone, as he's emo-ing pretty badly, but if anyone's nice to him during it, he'll probably seek them out and try to be friends later.]

As the Melting Clock causes Zuko to de-age, he loses more than just years. Growing younger has given him a certain . . . symmetrical quality that wasn't there before. Now what could be missing?

He stalks the halls, less angrier and restless than in his last state of aging. He seems more pensive than frustrated, but something may STILL have pissed him off.

Zuko's mind was in a whirl. He had wasted, and would unfortunately continue to waste, so much time. The Avatar was free on the ship, and although Zuko could easily find him at a moment's notice, he had no way to restrain the airbender - and even if he could, no way to deliver his prize to his father.

How had he been able to do other things? Meditate? Explore the ship? Train the peasants in arts of war that their backwards breeding would never allow them to fully comprehend? It was all of it a waste of time, made tolerable only because these small actions might help him restore his nation - and with it, his chance to get his honor back.

He needed a plan, and he didn't have one. It was driving the prince of the Fire Nation crazy.

He stalked the halls, an unfamiliar person with a familiar scar, gleaming vivid and new, his armor too heavy to be practical in the ship's warmth. The scar was much more visible now that most of Zuko's head was shaved, the remaining portion of his hair pulled back into a dramatic ponytail.

His stalking brought him to a podroom in the Media Library, where he sat down, heaving a frustrated sigh. He was without a plan, without honor, and his feet hurt. The whole situation was intolerable. As if in response to his mood, music began to issue forth, the angry words and harsh chords combining into a cacophonous noise. It was bitter with rage and disappointment. It spoke to his troubled soul.

The medical care available on Stacy is far beyond anything that the Four Nations had, better even than the powers of skilled waterbenders to heal. Which is why Zuko is lying in discomfort now, not raging agony, as the burn on his back heals.

Because of the location of the injury, he's lying on his stomach on a specialized cot, with his arms supported by low rests below his body. The open welts on his back are not entirely healed, and have been left exposed to the open air to allow the heat to keep fading. Occasionally Zuko breathes out as he uses his own firebending to try to expel some of the burn's excess heat.

He could ask to be put to sleep while the healing process continues, but he hasn't. He has too much to think about.

This could not be happening. It could not be happening. They'd been called into a briefing.

"You want us to what?"

Stacy explained again.

"I heard you the first time! I just meant--are you--you want us to what?"

Stacy explained again.

"Rhetorical! That was rhetorical! And yes, I realize I'm slightly hysterical, but this--Stacy, this is crazy. You can't possibly be sending just us." He just couldn't believe it. He'd been skeptical from the moment she called him and Toothless--and just him and Toothless--in for the briefing.

||After running multiple tactical scenarios, it has been determined that the only crew members necessary to complete this mission are yourself, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the Third, and the dragon designated Toothless. Sending you both on this mission--alone--guarantees the greatest and perhaps only possibility of success.||

The could not be happening. Not when everything was finally going so well. Not when he'd finally, you know, ahem, with Astrid, and there was the possibility of more of it happening on a regular basis. Not with a ship full of warriors and soldiers and mages and--and people that weren't him, people that could do this mission easily and not get killed horribly.

"So what you're saying--correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is what you're saying--there is this world with dragons and--I'm sorry, does this say elves? And dwarves. And something called moppits. And there is some sort of Lord of all Darkness casting his shadow over everything that is, sending out whole armies that devastate everything in their paths."

||Yes.||

"And in the face of all this, instead of sending out, oh, the small army on the ship with the lasers and guns that go pwew pwew, you're sending the single, admittedly awesome dragon, and the scrawny Viking with the limp. This seems like a good idea to you."

||Yes.||

Hiccup tilted his head a the ceiling, a difficult maneuver, but one of many skeptical gestures he was something of a master of. Then, eyes wide, he blurted out:

"Daa daa daaa--" he beat out the next few beats on a nearby chair, just because it needed percussion this time, then turned to his best friend with a snap of his fingers. "We're dead."

After the crew finished up with the Rituals of Judgement and Joining, they were permitted to enter the city proper.

Orongo was even more impressive than it appeared from outside the wall. Despite the primitive seeming architecture, the city was alive with lights and sounds and colors. The numerous stone buildings were covered in bright paints in beautiful swirling designs, each one a unique piece of art. People milled about the city in droves, many of them various examples of random alien species, though there were quite a few Moai and knee-high Rapa Nui moving about.

The priests that directed them into the city indicated to them to the Consummation Huts, where they would be spending the night, regardless of whether they chose to use them to their...eh hem...full potential, or not.

As they entered the city, each of them got the same message from Stacy.

||You will be spending the night in the city as per the Moai's instructions. Arrangements have been made to meet with the Moai Elders in the morning. For now, you are given leave to explore the city as you wish. I have transferred each of you an allowance of credits to purchase supplies or entertainment tonight.||

||Do try to have fun.||

[ooc: And they're off! Feel free to have them explore. You can also start doing open posts on-planet now, if you want. Have fun!]

Retreating back to the hotel, Katara could feel those overwhelming feeling of despair and whys me's echoing in the back of her head, but they didn't play to the surface. So Will was back. So she knew Matt would be conflicted, would have to decide what he wanted to do. Well she had a decision too. She could let him go, or she could tell Matt something different. In any case, part of her tried to insist their world was theirs, and she had no say. But Katara had too much training to allow herself to give up like this: she was a fighter, and she cared for everything that made an impact to her: and that was why she decided what she would do before she started her exercises.

Here it was simply the pool water in the hotel, but real water was a bit more of a comfort than artificial water from the Sensoriums. She wanted to bend it, move it as it should: for her, water had always been her calming space and her anchor. No matter where she went, it would be the link to her people, distinguish her on the ship.

Katara of the Southern water Tribe.

She was so caught up in her quiet streaming she wouldn't even notice someone approaching.

 Alex stood in the sensoriums, once again without his sweatshirt. He checked his omnicomm for the fifth time this  minute and rubbed at his arms, unaccustomed to the feeling of air against them. He was wondering if he had gotten the wrong time, or gone to the wrong place, or something else equally as distressing, even though it hadn't even yet hit the agreed upon time.

He inadvertently summoned his house- specifically his room. It was ridiculously bare, with a low coffee table to house his sensorium-laptop, a bed with a broken frame, and a floor lamp that was a little off-kilter, though at least it had a shade. From the other room a base-ball game could be heard, his father occasionally cursing at it in German.

He laid back on his bed with a heavy sigh. Was he really missing this place of all places? Well, he didn't miss his father, but the familiar sounds of the street outside, the hum of his laptop fan, the sound of the TV, the feel of his bed under him as he stared at the familiar ceiling, it was just all so familiar and in it's own way comforting.