Event: Day 355 [OPEN]

[bastionpc]

Who: Everyone, everywhere
Open: Open
When: Day 355
Where: See threads for specific locations
What: The last day, which is the longest day ever.
Format: action
Warnings: E N D G A M E


See threads below for locations.

Comments

[amphibian]

You got it! [She hops down from her perch, offers a quick salute, and scurries right off.

...She might just completely run past Colin without acknowledging him if she sees him at all; sorry Grandpa.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin glances at Nathan, then at Zahi, and he nods.]

Why do you ask, Meg?

And anyway, Nathan and I can go get everything we need to set up a test. Nathan, wanna come with me to my workshop and we can see what we can whip up?

[Take the hint, Nathan.]

[twinked_witch]

... I just recall what happened then, and with some of those who have joined us since...

[bastionpc]

Sure, you guys wait here, okay?

[He's not quite getting the hint, because Zahi's plan sounds like a good one if the core is safe to use. But he will go with Colin anyway.]

[polariity]

Aw fuck.

[Well put, Psii. Grumbling, he narrows his eyes even when he opens them.]

Can go ahead. [He's speedy, even if he hasn't shown it. Although he might pass out from the effort.] Take thomeone with, too.

[Who wants to go flying with the alien, raise your hands.]

[hellpyre]

[Yeah, basically. Rin can agree with that sentiment whole-hearted.]

I'll go. Pretty sure between the two of us we can take out anythin' that tries to get in our way.

[Sorry, Kintarou. You're staying behind. Be a good Pignite and keep everyone else safe.]

[freedom_engineer]

Thanks. Ikuri, keep an eye on things here for me, would you?

[Please let her realize that's an indication of just how worried he is right now...]

[Colin turns and moves at a light jog to his workshop. He's setting his personal sensors to alert him if ANYONE besides himself and Nathan get within 200 feet of the workshop.]

[Of course, once he's out of earshot of the groups...]

We're in trouble. Unless everything is EXACTLY as it looks, we've got maybe a thirty percent chance of seeing the next sunrise...

We've got a couple of minutes, I need you to do a couple of things for me.

[darkshooter]

[Perhaps not, Colin. She doesn't see it as anything more than another instruction - not in itself, anyway. It's too likely that many of the subtleties were lost on her, but that's not the same as saying she's not on edge herself...for whatever that's worth right now.]

[She gives him an answering nod before he departs. Ibuki's out here, so she's staying out here too.]

[bastionpc]

[Well then. That certainly gets him worrying right away.]

Right, what do we need to do?

[bastionpc]

Wait, take this with you!

[Grey is offering the core to Rin and Psii.]

You might need it, if things get bad.

[freedom_engineer]

I think Zahi has a plan. He knows I don't trust him fully.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what the plan may be. Turning the enemy against each other would be great, but we have no guarantee that it can happen. That core, however, I will wager is not an option for us.

The alternative is that Zahi is acting against us. A decent possibility... but it doesn't feel quite right to me. I'm not the best judge of character.

[He reaches into his belt and pulls out his pad.]

In the meantime... I want you to swipe through these pictures. Quickly. There's roughly 250 pictures in there, some of them aren't clear. They're taken by the cameras I've trained on the entrance.

If you recognize ANYONE, if you even think you recognize someone... Let me know.

My turrets, all together, can in all likelihood kill fifteen to twenty people, and immobilize another one hundred before they're neutralized. We're still outnumbered. We need to play along as long as we can. If we can identify their leader and neutralize his or her influence, that will go a long way. But we're still in trouble.

Have you got any backup plans for when things go south? Ghaleon might. Zuko might. Zuko's gone with the other group though, because damn if anyone listens to me...

There's a slim possibility that they really do want peace, but I don't believe it. The timing is too suspect. Our heavy hitters, other than our dragons, are out of contact.

[notachickenhawk]

[Oh shit. Well. This isn't good.]

<I'll fly ahead! Alucard, you come too. We've got to get back to them now.>

[The core is important, but making sure that the others don't die is even more important.]

[bastionpc]

I don't think I can go through all of them in just a couple minutes...

[But he still takes it, and he tries.]

I have a plan, but it's not a good one, and I hope I don't have to use it. I need to be by the monument to do it, too.

[He doesn't want to say it out loud, in case anyone is listening to their conversation.]

Still in the Bastion: lots of NPCs

[bastionpc]

[While Colin and Nate go do their thing, the majority of the new NPCs stay around the monument, as do Zahi and most of the other Bastion-NPCs. Some of the new NPCs are wandering around the Bastion, though, checking out all the cool places here.

Want to get a conversation in with them before things get interesting? This is the place!]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko narrows her eyes at Grey. She doesn't think he's a bad person, but his loyalties lie with his own people. So why encourage them to get the core back as fast as they can? Does he think that's good for all of them, or just his own?]

It might not be a good idea to rush a core into the middle of a potential conflict.

You guys go ahead. We'll take the long way. Let us know what to expect before we bring this thing home.

[bastionpc]

B-but there's monsters and this thing is going to bring them here eventually!

[Loyalties may play a part in it, but Grey is a chickenshit too.]

[scary_music]

[Ibuki's bouncing around the newcomers, leading one of the chocolate chip jerky cows around as fast as it will tolerate. The musician is likely being followed by Ikuri as well]

Ibuki welcomes you to the Bastion! Land of donut trees and magical jerky cows!!

Try some chocolate chip jerky!!

[freedom_engineer]

We've got a bit of time. Throwing together a quick test radio is easy enough for me. I just needed to get you away from the other group so we could talk.

Just use your fingertip to flip through the photos, it doesn't need a lot of analysis. Just... if anyone looks familiar, makes you say "wait a second...", then give them a little more attention.

I've got several turrets in place watching over the monument, I can at least keep you covered there. I might have something that can give you a moment's respite, too. Of everyone here in the Bastion, I know that you're not going to mess us up.

[He gives Nathan a smile.]

Whatever we may think of each other, engineers know how important their jobs are. I trust you here.

[fuckthemancers]

[From somewhere in the distance-]

Ibuki, don't scare off the newcomers!

[bastionpc]

[Several newcomers seem absolutely disgusted by these cows.

One newcomer, a guy who is maybe 18 or 19, seems interested. Not in the cows, though.]

...Ibuki? Is that you?

[Hey, a familiar voice! You may have heard him over the phone a few times.]

[scary_music]

W-whoa!!

Z-Zero-chan?!

[between her sense of hearing and her memory, of course she'd recognize the voice]

[bastionpc]

[The words of encouragement and the promise to help do reassure Nathaniel, and he nods to Colin. Then he starts looking through the pictures, trying to find familiar faces.

After a while, he frowns. Not because he recognizes an individual person, but because of something else.]

Some of these people, they're Caels. Not anyone I recognize, but I know what my own people look like. There's a few Ura, too. But everyone else, they're a patchwork of different people from different planets.

But why are there Caels in that group? The Bastion, it ended up pretty close to the ruins of Caelondia. These people should have come across us first.

[bastionpc]

Ha! It IS you!

[Look at that smile, he's so happy to be finally meeting people he talked with.]

See? I told you I would make it here eventually!

[scary_music]

Yeah! Yeah! You made it!

[she's going to grab for Zero's hand excitedly]

You really made it! You're here with all your friends, too, right? Woooooowww you made like a ton of friends!! Way more than Ibuki did, Zero-chan!!!

[freedom_engineer]

My thinking is, and I'd really love to be wrong... That there's an enemy agitator in that group. Someone who knows what the Bastion is, and wanted it to fail.

Someone in that group has been lying to them about us. What we don't know is why. We need to find THAT person. If I had to guess, I'd say they lead the Caels AWAY from the Bastion. That's what makes sense to me.

It's not the only option, but it is the one that explains why people who should be here... aren't.

[While Nathan's working, Colin's putting together another radio that they can use to test the core. He's ALSO installing a dead man's switch and a self destruct charge... 'cause he'll be damned if he's going to make himself sick a second time.]

[He really wishes he knew what Zahi was thinking...]