We probably should make another five or six of these threads in advance and keep them in the refrigerator until they’re needed. They don’t last very long.
Continued from Part 6.
Patience, Please
This site is under reconstruction and will look strange for a while. We regret the inconvenience.
Oh good lords.
Anyway, the only reason I’m posting on here is because in the sidebar, it says “Bunny Apocalypse: The Next” and I wanted to know what it was that was next.
But nevermind.
-A
Don’t worry- I did the same thing.
((So we’ve moved from potato chips to perishables?))
I hacked into the locking computer on one of the bunny ships and popped the doors open. A ramp extended from the back of the ship, and I wheeled the cart up the ramp and into the ship.
The ship was seemingly devoid of bunnies. I would have to check and see if the ship’s computer did life-form scans.
((ANOTHER THREAD?! How many will we need? 30?! Probably at least 2 or 3 more at this rate.))
AVALONGIRL
“Groundhog,” I called up, “can you check if there’s…safe…beds in there? Letting Serafina and Crystl rest would likely be the best idea for them if we don’t want serious mental trauma.”
While waiting for the response, I turned back to Charlie. “And no, if you were going to ask, you can’t stay with Crystl unless we don’t need you at all, which is pretty unlikely. But it’s likely all the same, so-” I pulled ‘Mena over- “‘Mena, keep watch on Charlie.”
MENA
“Jeez, overprotective parents are everywhere,” I muttered to Charlie.
“Sure.” I called back. I hunted around for a medical bay, and finally found a small one near the front of the ship. It only had two beds. I wondered why a ship meant to hold so many bunnies would only have two spots in its medical bay. Perhaps the bunnies didn’t get sick much–either that or they didn’t bother healing anyone who wasn’t important enough. I scanned the room. Nothing contaminated, either with regular germs or with pink pigment. I carefully laid Serafina and Crystl in the two beds. Then I asked Jenny to watch them while I tried to find a life-form scanner.
I searched the cockpit and found one. When I turned it on, I saw several life forms on it, all labeled “Enemy.” One was labeled “Safe” though. That one was in the medical bay, along with two that were labeled “Enemy.” I froze. That meant that either Serafina, Crystl or–I shuddered–Jenny had been turned by the bunnies. I couldn’t tell who was who, since the scanner wasn’t all that accurate. I rushed back out of the ship.
“We’ve got a problem here.” I said to everyone else. “I scanned the ship, and while there aren’t any bunnies on it, either Jenny, Serafina or Crystl have been turned by the bunnies. The scanner showed two life forms that were bunny enemies in the medical bay, and one that was ‘safe.’ And they’re the only ones in there.”
((Serafina’s already turned, but she gets amnesia and forgets she ever worked for the bunnies.
Ooh, Crystl! Crystl and Serafina, mother and daughter, that makes perfect sense to me.))
((Oooh, this will be interesting, won’t it… or wait. Is Maia/Celeste/Kiyarra on the ship? If so, that’d make perfect sense, right?))
((Oh, by the way? Speaking of pairings, don’t the adults get any? I love writing romances, so I want Julianne to have a pairing! *looks around for adult males* *sees about zero*))
((Around here and active, zero sounds right. Actually, there’s three, but they aren’t active. It’s interesting, I think every character older then ten is paired off, except for myself, or nearly. Actually, Enceladus doesn’t appear to be paired off either, but I have a hard time imagining any change of heart which would lead to Callista liking Enceladus. That would be interesting, though. Somewhat cliché, though.))
((Meh, yes, rather cliché. Wish ZVX would get back here…))
((Exactly. Besides, I’ve never written romance before.))
((Yes, but do all the other characters know that?))
((Ooooo, the suspense! I’m just gonna lurk around here and read what you bunny people are posting. It’s interesting!))
((5 – hang on a second – Crystl hasn’t been bunnified! She’s still on the good side! The only one who has been bunnified is Serafina. So Crystl is good – unless AvalonGirl decides to change her. Or perhaps Crystl is in the middle of switching (hence the ‘mother and daughter’ comment in AvalonGirl’s post?) so she’d show up as an enemy. Jenny is obviously good… *trails off in confuzzlement* Could someone please clear this up?))
PADME
“William?” I asked. All I got in response was a bit of static, then nothing. The communicator wasn’t working anymore. I pushed the communicator gently into a corner, in case it would – by some miracle – work again. A wave of exhaustion washed over me – the short conversation had left me drained. Odd. I wondered what sort of concoction Lilis had put into that dart. Dad noticed my fatigue.
“You might as well get some rest, Padme. Nothing much happens in the dungeons,” he ended rather dryly. I needed no further encouragement.
One last thought lingered in my head as I fell asleep.
‘He was going to say it. He was in middle of saying it. Oh, William, I wish I could have responded in kind!’
((8-No, I got confused and thought that there were two bunnified people in the sick bay for some reason. Serafina’s bunnified but appears normal, except for the fact her eyes are hot pink…))
((Groundhog on the last thread–actually, be sorry for Errata. She’s the one editing BA:TNG. But I would welcome you on the editing thread….))
((Sorry I haven’t been posting, guys. I’m sort of confused, so I’m just lurking and hoping I’ll figure out where my characters are sometime. If someone would care to mention me in their RPs, that would be nice….))
((Ohhh. Didn’t realize that.))
At first I just tensed up and stayed still. I thought she might be faking it. Slowly, I stood up, walked over, and nudged her with my foot. She didn’t stir. I tried the door, but it was locked. I went back to Lilis and found that she had a blaster (I took it), a lightsaber (I took that, too, but I didn’t plan to use it), and…
“No key?” I muttered. “She was locked in a room with me and she doesn’t have a bleeding key?”
So I switched tactics. Taking the dead communicator, I smashed the desk lamp’s bulb, then carefully removed the metal filament. After letting it cool, I used it to pick the lock. Outside, I took down the guard, then started on my way.
((May I have a summary? I’d like to keep on doing this, but methinks I shall only keep Liss. Maybe Roberta and Zinc were captured or killed or the like.))
((Hmm. Let’s see. The bunnies are planning to tunnel to the center of the earth, that’s the main plot right now; the kids just snuck off to conduct a raid on the DoH, the adults followed them, and they are now about to head back in a stolen bunny ship. AvalonGirl and Serafina are now their original ages, Crystl and Charlie have aged to ten, and ‘Mena’s now eleven because we all fell into a timewarp thing.))
((I’m not ever going to kill off Avalon or Serafina…well, Serafina will fall off a cliff, but she has ninja skills and survives.
If I killed a character off, it’d be either ‘Mena or Serafina. Not that I’m going to, but…
Zinc…
You CAN’T kill off Zinc.))
((Yeah, no, don’t kill her off, Zinc. I like her. Besides, if you kill her, I can’t use her in my fanfic, now can I?))
((Fine, FINE, I won’t. But Roberta has disappeared, along with all mentions to her. She has been wiped away…
All righty, I’ll start RPing after soccer practice.))
((Bleh. You’re just deleting that character? Fine, I’ll have to deal with that.))
((5-Ohh, I get it. The bunny scanner picked up two people who were enemies to the bunnies. Okay, that makes sense. I was confused for while. Or am I still confused?))
Callista:
“What?” I exclaimed, in response to Groundhog, and heard others echoing me. I trusted Crystal and Jenny, at least… Much as I wanted to think it was Serefina, who, after all, had been missing for a while, and could have been doing anything, I knew it wasn’t smart to believe whatever you wished. “What do we do?” I asked, already thinking of ideas. Odds were, it was either Crystal or Serefina, in which case we didn’t have to do anything, at least not until they woke up… If it was Jenny, that was a problem…
Eve:
I stood off to the side, behind the one who had rescued me. I needed to discover her name. But then, I didn’t know what was happening to me. That girl had saved me, but did she want me around? I wasn’t any use at all, especially not with the blaster I still held in my hands. If the rest of the group was as good as the one who’d rescued me, there was no possible way. But I had to find out. I tapped my rescuer on the shoulder. “Excuse me?”
She turned around. “Yes, Eve?”
“Am I coming with you?”
She laughed slightly. I wilted, until she said, “Of course! Where else would you go?” She paused very shortly, and then continued, “I never introduced myself, did I? I’m Callista.” She glanced toward the rest of the group. “I’d introduce you to everyone else, but I have the feeling the bunnies would love to surprise us while we stood around and talked, and there’ll be plenty of time on the ship. Is that all right?”
“That’s fine.” I replied. I was impressed- I wouldn’t have thought of that danger. Maybe after you’ve been fighting bunnies for a while, that sort of thing came naturally. Or maybe Callista was just smart.
((By the way, kudos to anyone who can figure out where I got Callista and Eve’s names.))
((Summary:
First, see post 218 of part 6 for last summary.
Since then, bunnies show up in the hallway where the supposed ‘Throne Room’ is. Somebody (make that several somebodies) realize that the large room behind them is a torture room and therefore this whole thing has been a big trap. Major battling/melee ensues. Here are the finer points of that battle (hopefully in chronological order).
a) Charlie and Co. rescued a girl who they named Maia since she couldn’t remember her real name. RQ let slip that Maia is really a bunny. Her evil side’s (so to speak) name is Kiyarra while her good side’s (that is being overpowered) name is Celeste. It’s kind of confusing exactly what’s up with that character. You’ll have to ask RQ.
b) Syara torches all of our Arwings except for Padme and Co.’s because their’s was at the total opposite side of the building from where the rest were parked.
c) Syara and Selena have a mini-battle. Note – this battle is actually not posted, just assumed (due to a few things I had said in a few of my other posts, bookgirl I really hope you don’t mind).
d) Enceladus is knocked out and blinded. Errata and Rachel transport him back to the base in middle of the battle in Padme, William and Rik’s Arwing.
e) Mena, AvalonGirl, Serafina, Crystl, and Charlie fall into a time warp thing in the torture room. This causes Mena, Crystl, and Charlie to age a bit while AvalonGirl and Serafina get younger. Crystl and Serafina are currently unconscious.
f) Rik is shot in the arm and knocked out
g) Callista rescues a girl named Eve who was being hauled somewhere by her bunny captors.
h) Padme and Lilis have a mini-battle, culminating in both William (who was knocked unconscious by Lilis) and Padme getting captured.
After Padme and William are captured, the bunnies just disappeared and the battle ended rather abruptly. Everyone who was still standing took stock of the situation. Padme and William’s absence was discovered. Kittymine wanted to go after them, but was restrained and convinced not to. Everyone is currently in one of the bunny ships in the bunny hangar since we don’t have any other mode of transport.
I think that’s it. If anyone has anything to add, feel free. ))
KITTYMINE
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Serafina was bunnified and Crystl and Jenny are fine. Why else would Serafina have tried to kill me, AvalonGirl, and who knows who else?”
Just then, Connor and Aaron came on to the ship, carrying the prone form of Rik. Our discussion was distracted momentarily while Rik was settled in the sick bay (with some difficulty I might add, since there were only two beds in there).
“Well,” said Groundhog after returning from the sick bay. “We have an answer. I checked Serafina’s eyes and they are most definitely pink. So when we get back to base we’ll have to de-bunnify her. Now before we go flying off anywhere, can we make sure we’re all here? I know we’re missing Padme and William, but aside from that…”
((Cue for Liss or Zinc or someone to show up?))
PADME
I was woken by my father shaking me urgently.
“Padme, wake up! Someone’s coming!”
Indeed, the sound of heavy pawfalls hitting the floor was getting closer. A few seconds later, the door burst open and some HPBs stomped in. Grabbing us unceremoniously, they handcuffed us and tied ropes around our waists, creating leashes. Holding onto the ends of the ropes, they dragged us down the hallway. It was when we had exited an elevator on to the bottom floor that I realized where they were leading us. We were heading for the most infamous hallway of the entire cursed building: The Hall of Insufferable Torment.
It was where Elissa had died.
It was very early morning and I was lying in my bed clutching my well-loved stuffed snowman. I was having a dream in which the snowman was melting. He was squirming…squirming out of my arms…ouch!
I awoke. My snowman really WAS squirming, squirming out of my arms. But it was not a snowman. It was a bunny.
I screamed and ran out of the room, terrified. I could hear the bunny running after me. As I ran along the hall, I heard it get closer, and closer, and closer.
*WARNING: SURPRISE ENDING*
As I neared the stairs, something awful happened.
I tripped.
I fell on my face, screaming as I went, not caring if I woke up my sisters or my parents or the parakeet. I HAD TO GET AWAY FROM THE BUNNY.
It was upon me! Muffling my voice!
But it did not seem vicious. In fact, it was actually quite cuddly. And a loveable creature.
All it wanted was a great big hug, all along!
( sorry folks. I felt the urge. )
SERAFINA:
I moaned and slowly sat up. I felt tired…
And , I discovered, I had amnesia.
I knew that because I couldn’t remember ANYTHING about what had caused me to be on a bunny ship’s sick bay, but it seemed to be minor. I knew my name was Serafina, I fought bunnies, I’d adopted a daughter named Crystl and fallen in a time warp…
But everything that’d happened lately was no more than a blur.
Odd, very odd.
I sat up on my cot and waited for someone to come in who could tell me what had happened to me and my memory…
((Plot twist~
Serafina has amnesia and will have it for a while.))
((Caking writer’s block.))
((Can someone please powerplay Daisy into existence? Just mention her name once in a while, please? I’m swamped with homework, and will most likely have no free time except on weekends. Thanks!))
((Here goes…))
LISS:
I blinked into the gray world around me. My head hurt, and my limbs felt like weights. I was suffering from a massive migraine, and the horrible taste in my mouth wasn’t helping. Where was I…
Then I screamed.
I was in a prison cell.
ZINC:
“Liss isn’t here. And where’s Zinc…”
“Ahh, why the long faces?” I swung in through one of the windows, and people startled and turned around. “Heh, you thought I was dead? I just got hit on the head pretty hard. You know what happens. Well, cheerio, mateys. Hisashiburi! Long time no see!
“…and I’m weirding you out, aren’t I. Hehehe.”
AvalonGirl said, “So, back to where we were before the attention stealing egomaniac came in…”
“AVALONGIRL! You’ve gotten YOUNGER! How the heck did THAT happen? What kind of cream do you use?”
“Gaaa, shut up!”
“Zinc, please be quiet.” Kittymine said.
“I’ll shut my trap.”
“Thank you.”
PHILOMENA
I made a snarky comment to Zinc regarding her cream joke.
AVALONGIRL
“Thank you,” I forcefully said to Zinc. “I’ll tell you the story later~”
KITTYMINE
I started counting heads, ignoring Zinc and Mena. I was almost finished when I heard a small cough behind me. I turned around, my hand automatically going for my blaster. I turned to find Daisy carrying Sam.
“Kittymine, could you move please? He’s getting kinda heavy.” I almost laughed, stepping out of the way.
“Sorry – guess I was really absorbed in what I was doing.” Daisy nodded in a accepting sort of way and carried Sam to the already overstuffed sick bay. I walked over to Groundhog.
“It looks like everyone’s here,” I said, my thoughts flashing to Padme and William. “We should get out of here ASAP – we have four unconscious people and a very small sickbay. Not a good combination.” She nodded.
“Okay, everyone, strap yourselves in! We’re getting out of here pronto!” she called over the intercom.
PADME
As we were led down the Hall of Insufferable Torment, I noted that the name wasn’t quite right. Insufferable just wasn’t the right word.
‘Bunny brains – about as big as a walnut’
My amazingly calm thoughts were banished as Dad and I were dragged into the largest room of the lot – the one that had practically any method of torture crammed inside it.
((*is still lurking* This is interesting!)
I silently dropped from the vent onto the catwalk. It looked like the room I was in was empty, but I couldn’t take my chances – I hid behind a large box-thing with an instrument panel on it. Not a moment too soon – all of a sudden, I heard a group step into the room. I peeked around the corner and saw a group of bunnies, as well as Padme and her father, who were handcuffed and roped together. They walked through the chamber, not saying anything, until they stopped at some random torture device.
“Remember this, Padme?” one of the bunnies said, smirking. I couldn’t notice anything special about it. It looked mostly like every other one in the room – deadly. But for whatever reason, tears started to well up in her eyes as she said, “Elissa…”
I felt my heart break as I watched her. She had gone through so much, and she didn’t deserve any of it. I dashed across the catwalk, trying to be as stealthy as possible, until I was crouched behind an extra-large control box, which I assumed was the master one. Looking to my side, I saw a lever at head-level, and a flashlight attached to the box next to it.
What’s this thing do? I thought. My curiousity instantly took over, and my hand pulled the lever. Instantly, the whole room went dark. A few grumbles and swears from down below told me that I had shut off not only the lights, but everything plugged in.
Brilliant. Really great idea to pull the random lever right next to you, Will, one half of me said. The other half replied, Oh, shut up. YOU’RE the one that got the idea to jump out of an airplane.
“But boss, why do we have to go up to the catwalk? Can’t we just hit the switch to turn everything back on by the door?” one of the bunnies said, breaking through my thoughts. Another one – apparently the leader – said, “Because someone hit the emergency shut-off lever, you moron! And we can’t turn anything on with it in the “off” position! So just go up there, push the lever back, and get this mess straightened out!”
Uh-oh.
((Kittymine, could you please post?))
((23 – Sorry – by the time I saw your post, it was kinda late and…))
PADME
I was grappling with my emotions and terror at the situation when the lights went out. Instantly, the humming noises from the machines was cut. The room was utterly silent. My mind began racing.
‘Someone shut that off. This isn’t a fluke. Someone who’s probably on my side…’ A hopeful bubble blossomed in my chest. Unfortunately, the boss bunny had sent his fellow to climb up to the catwalk and turn the stuff back on again. Which would mean that he would find whoever had hit the switch. I needed to do something, but I was weakened by lack of food, sleep, and whatever Lilis had put in that dart of hers. Whatever I did wouldn’t last too long.
But it would have to be enough.
I watched as the bunny of the catwalk came to a box with levers on it. He called down, “Which lever am I supposed to be pushing?”
“The one at head level on the left – the one next to the flashlight!”
As the bunny reached for the lever, I closed my eyes and started using the Force to keep that lever where it was – in the down position. I felt the bunny stuggling to push up on the lever.
“Its… not… moving!” he grunted down.
Sweat was pouring down my face. It was getting harder and harder to keep this up. I leaned against my Dad, still pushing.
“Padme,” he hissed into my ear. “What are you doing?”
“Keeping the bunny from pushing up the lever,” I managed to hiss back.
It was a good thing the bunnies couldn’t see me too well in the dark. But the boss had heard one of us talking. He turned around and squinted in our direction. Unable to see anything, he reached for his flashlight and turned it on…
I stayed absolutely still behind the box. The bunny was right there, and attracting his attention wouldn’t be a good idea. But I didn’t know what else to do. If he couldn’t put the lever back into the “on” position, then that probably meant someone was holding it in place with the Force, and that someone was probably Padme. But I wasn’t sure how much stamina she had left in her – we had been in the dungeon for a long time, and flying for a long time before that.
Stepping out from behind the box, I whipped out my blaster and shot the bunny before he had any time to react.
… and a blaster shot rang out from the catwalk. A few things happened simultaneously: the bunny on the catwalk fell to the floor with a thump, the boss bunny whipped his flashlight around toward the control box on the catwalk, and I let go of the Force and slumped against Dad, who supported me as best he could (our hands were tied, if you recall). Through a wave of dizzyness I heard the boss bunny call out to whoever had shot the other bunny.
“You up there! Show yourself or I’ll just shoot until I hit something.” There was silence for a minute. The boss bunny, who was obviously not the patient type, pulled out his blaster and prepared to shoot toward the catwalk. Then he froze for a moment – he seemed to be thinking – and turned around to face me and Dad. He was wearing a really large evil grin. Not a good sign.
“Hmm…” he muttered, sizing the two of us up. The boss bunny looked from my father – who was standing up straight – to me – leaning against him – and made a quick decision. Grabbing my tow rope, the boss bunny yanked me away from my father and pulled me into a grip of iron. I felt the cold barrel of his blaster rest against my head.
“Okay, listen up you on the catwalk – I’ve got one of your friends here – one of the one’s you were trying to rescue. I’ve got my blaster to her head. I’m going to count to 5 and if you don’t come down here and show yourself by then, the girl dies.”
I felt like I was about to pass out. The bunny started counting.
I grabbed the flashlight from the control box, and hurried down the catwalk and down the stairs, deciding not to let Padme die. When he saw me, he looked a little bit surprised, then grinned and said, “Ah – William. How nice of you to drop by.”
“Let Padme go,” I said.
“You think you can just say that and expect me to do it?” he said, laughing and pressing the barrel of his blaster into Padme’s temple. “Of course not. Now look, you’ve got two options. You can drop your blaster, and join these two in a cell. Or you can hold on to it… and watch your friend die.”
I pulled my blaster out of the holster, looked at it, then threw it about 10 feet to the side. Padme looked relieved and saddened at the same time. The bunny just smiled, put his own blaster away, and handcuffed my wrists behind my back. Leading the two of us over to Padme’s father (who looked just like I thought he would), he pulled out his communicator and said, “Xeer, I have some good news for you.”
“What?” my brother said, sounding like he was in a bad mood.
“I’ve got your brother, the girl, and her father down here, all handcuffed and ready to be tortured. Which one of them shall I kill first?”
“You FOOL!” Xeer shouted, so loud that anyone out in the hallway could have heard it. “If you kill Padme’s father, that will just upset Padme, which will upset William! If you kill Padme, you’ll upset William even more! And if you kill William… well, you already know the rule about someone other than me killing him.”
“Fine,” the bunny said, apparently annoyed that he wasn’t going to get to kill anyone. He had his back to me, and at that moment, I saw my opportunity. I kicked him hard in the head, and he fell to the ground, knocked out.
Callista:
I rushed toward the seats as I heard the engines purring menacingly. The sound reminded me of the bunnies, though that made quite a bit of sense. After strapping in, I looked around. Eve had taken the seat next to me, and Daisy had taken the other one. Suddenly, I felt somewhat afraid. What if the bunnies had a surprise planned for us, after we got into the air? The bunnies were definitely capable of such deceit… I comforted myself with the thoughts that this ship was well equipped for fighting, and the bunnies had no way of knowing which ship we would take. It would be fine.
Eve:
I strapped myself in next to Callista, still wondering what was going to happen to me. Callista had seemed genuinely surprised when I asked whether I was coming, yet I still couldn’t see why. It wasn’t like they needed me. If they were fighting the bunnies, as it looked like, I would be more of a hinderance than a help. Or maybe not. Maybe I could get better, maybe good enough that I’d at least carry my weight. Or maybe I wouldn’t. I refused to think about that now, though. I was here for now, and I would try not to give them any trouble.
PADME
William was immediately grabbed by a couple other bunnies and given a sound punching for having the audacity to knock out the boss. In the midst of the tumult, the boss bunny’s communicator spoke again.
“Oh, Captain?” asked Xeer’s voice
“He got knocked out by William,” responded one of the other bunnies.
“Well, no matter. I shall just inform the rest of you that you have full permission to roughen up the prisoners, if you wish. ON NO ACCOUNT SHOULD YOU KILL THEM!!! But we would like to send that irksome resistance something to think about when we sent the demands. Besides which, I’m having a very bad day and I require cheering up.”
As we shot away from the DOH, I began to think about how to rescue Padme and William. A frontal attack wouldn’t be any good. But we did have a bunny ship, and we could probably get back into the DOH with it. What we would do after we landed there was another question. Bunny disguises wouldn’t work, as bunnies had radically different proportions than humans. Too bad I didn’t have any of those invisibility suits from my Kokommando days…
Demands? I thought. Not good at all. The bunny talking to Xeer smirked and said, “Right. We’ll make it as painful as possible, without actually killing them.”
Switching off the communicator, he turned to me and said, “You first.” He punched me several times in the face, and a couple times in the gut for good measure. After one such punch, my face hung down, and I groaned. He was grinning when I looked up and kicked him in the chest. As he staggered back, the two bunnies holding me kicked me in the back of the knees. Walking back, he spat, “That just cost you even more.”
He was getting ready for another punch when Padme said, “Wait.”
The bunny sighed, then turned to her and said, “What?”
“I’ll make a deal with you. If you agree to stop hurting Will, I’ll agree to take his punches… his torture – everything.”
“Padme, no!” I exclaimed.
PADME
I gave William a sad little smile in response. The bunny paused for a moment.
“How touching,” it said, looking at the two of us. Then it smirked.
“Unfortunately for the you, our orders are to torture all of you. But if you’d like some extra punches… we could easily give you that.” His smirk widened at the looks on our faces.
KITTYMINE
Thanks to the fact that we were in a bunny ship, we had a supersonic jet booster that allowed us to arrive at our base in about 10 minutes.
Groundhog parked the shuttle and everyone piled out. Rainbowstar, Aggie, Nilly, Armada, and I unloaded everyone in the crammed sickbay into the infirmary. There we met Callista and Rachel, who had come back earlier with Enceladus. They stood up as we entered, their faces relieved.
“Are you all okay?” asked Callista. “Well, obviously not but… anyway, we’ve been waiting for a while. Enceladus is still out of it. How did you all get away?”
“Well, in the end the bunnies just vanished. But that was because the whole battle was really a distraction so that the bunnies could capture Padme and William,” said Armada.
Rachel’s eyes widened.
“They WHAT? That’s awful! Did you look for them?” I shook my head.
“No… there wasn’t time,” I responded in a flat voice. Rachel looked horror struck.
“Oh, Kitty, I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine,” I lied, turning away. I left the infirmary and headed straight for my room. I flopped down on the bed and cried.
RIK
I woke up with a splitting headache and a throbbing arm. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in the infirmary at the base. Someone noticed I was awake.
“Rik! How are you feeling?” she asked. I think her name was Groundhog.
“Lousy.” I managed a smile.
“Not a surprise, seeing as you were shot in the arm and flung against a metal wall. I’ve bandaged your arm and head, but you’re going to need to rest for a while. You lost a lot of blood.”
“Where are Padme and William? I lost track of them in the melee. Are they okay?” Groundhog’s face fell.
“I don’t think I should tell you just now. You’re still weak.”
“Tell me anyway,” I insisted.
“You’re not going to like it.”
“Go on.”
She told me.
I didn’t like it.
((Errata’s the one that went back with Enceladus. Callista would never be so self-sacrificing as to miss a fight in order to save somebody that she hated.
))
PADME
The bunnies continued punching William until he hung limply in their grasp, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He was bloodied and bruised.
“Okay, who’s next for punching?” asked one of the bunnies cheerfully. They were really enjoying this. They pulled Dad forward, gave him a round of punishing punches, and then let him go – he didn’t get quite as many punches as William had. Even so, it was agony for me to watch, knowing that I was next.
Two bunnies held my arms behind my back and lifted me ever so slightly off the floor, allowing my feet to dangle.
They started punching.
It was terrible – there were at least three bunnies all punching at the same time in different spots, so it sort of felt like I was being rammed into a brick wall on all sides. When I received a punch in the chest, I thought I heard a rib crack. The barrage seemed to be endless. Finally they stopped, and I was dragged over to the wall where William and Dad were being held. The bunnies surveyed their handiwork – a line of three semi-conscious people who were too weak to resist. The bunnies grinned to each other, slapping the punchers on the back.
“Now what do we do with them? Which torturous machine should we use first?” asked one.
((33- WILLIAM’s alive? And the BUNNIES are punching him to death? Good Lord, what is the world coming to?))
((This is the original William’s son, William II. Who has abandoned his heritage and joined the good side. I think he humanized himself at some point too…))
(( *cracks up*
))
((Yeah, I wondered if William was human right now. Wasn’t sure about that fact. Can anyone get Errata on the Sci Fi thread, please?))
((I can’t really post anything, as it’s not when I awake yet, so… yeah.))
((Sorry. I suggest that we all crash on nearby sofas, etc., for some time, so we’re in more-or less the same time period as Enceladus, Errata, William and Padme. To clear up all confusion.))
((36.1 – don’t forget that message that Xeer will be sending about how “we have your people, hand over that key!” ))
PADME
“How about that one?” asked one bunny, pointing to the nearest machine. I lifted my head slightly to look at the said machine. It seemed to consist of a control panel, an computer screen, and a chair with restraints. I knew what it was.
“The Electric Chair” – a.k.a. shock therapy gone twisted.
‘Dear god, no… please, anything but that.’
No such luck.
By this time the boss bunny had woken up and was in a very bad mood.
“Put him on first,” he growled, pointing a furry paw at William, his face demented. They pulled William forward. He flailed as they forced him into the chair and strapped him down tightly. I started to struggle. I couldn’t bear it, I didn’t want to see it, I wanted this all to stop. The two bunnies held me tightly, chuckling to themselves.
The boss bunny flipped the switch, sending volts of electricity into William.
I snapped. All of the memories Mom had helped me repress broke through their bonds and came flooding back. I began to scream, my cries mingling with William’s as the scene fluctuated in front of my eyes – one second I was strapped to a bench, watching Elissa; the next, being restrained by bunnies while watching William.
EDWARD TESSER
As the bunnies started torturing the boy William, my daughter started screaming – a hysterical, awful scream. I turned my head in alarm.
She was crying a screaming without pause, kicking a flailing. Her eyes were wild and terrified, but slightly glazed. I don’t think she could tell where she was anymore.
The bunnies holding her were laughing, relishing in her despair. But I think it was a bit more than dispair.
I think is was almost insanity.
I screamed as the electricity flew through my body. It wasn’t only me that was getting tortured – through my blurring vision, I could see Padme screaming her head off. I just hoped that it would be over quickly.
After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped. I could barely hear my own breathing at this point. They pulled me out of the chair, dragged me over to where Padme and Padme’s father were, and threw me to the ground. Padme’s eyes were full of tears, and even slightly glazed. The boss bunny kicked me in the stomach and said scoldingly, “Pathetic. This is the William who proved to be a match for Lilis and Xeer? This is the boy who will save the humans?”
He laughed and said, “Of course not. You don’t have the strength any more. You’ve grown soft from having friends and being human.”
That did it. Over the last few days, I had been knocked out, jailed, thrown around, sliced at, and shot at – all more times than I could keep count of. And now this punk – who I didn’t even know – was coming in and taking pot shots at me.
Not on my watch, buddy-boy. I thought. Slowly, I stood up, watching the smiles fall off their faces. Standing in a kung fu stance, I beckoned with my hand. Bring it on.
((Yes, after watching The Matrix, I decided that William just has to know kung fu. :D))
((Gleep. Haven’t posted for months.))
I went into a random room in the base, needing some peace and quiet. To my surprise, there was a large flatscreen TV with a remote. Curious to see if television programs still existed, I turned it on.
It was some sort of cartoon show, with hot-pink characters singing about bunnies. I was about to change the channel when the screen went gray and fuzzy, buzzing loudly.
A picture of Xeer in his throne flickered onto the screen. “Hello, Resistors,” he said, smirking. “This message is being played at ten-minute intervals on every channel, so it’s likely one of you bipeds will see it. I’m giving you one final chance to surrender, and be reunited with your loved ones. Take a look.”
The video switched to a woman who appeared to be asleep. She was floating several feet off the floor, her hair waving lazily around her face. She was perfectly motionless, not even breathing.
The camera panned over several more ominously still floating people. After a final zoom on the calm face of a dark-haired young man, the image switched back to grinning Xeer.
“They’re in suspended animation,” he laughed. “Every one of them is connected in some way to a Resistor. If you willingly surrender within three days, I will set them free and send them to reunite with you. You’ll have a bit of time with your friends and family before we catch you. If you keep fighting us, I press a little button and they all die. Take your pick.”
The screen buzzed, then returned to singing cartoon characters.
Xeer’s last few sentences had barely registered with me. I felt frozen with shock. Because the last human the video had shown – the dark-haired young man that seemed to be peacefully asleep – was my husband. John.
((Also, apparently Rainbow can be an uncommon girls’ name, so that’s my character’s name now.))
((I-Man, my plan is to have Padme be sort of trapped within herself for a little bit (like a few hours) and then come out of it, but she’d be passive, scared, and startled easily. ))
LILIS
I woke up and jumped to my feet, searching the room.
William was gone. Obviously. He seemed to have stolen my blaster and lightsaber as well.
I was in a very bad mood.
I walked out the door, heading for my own rooms when my communicator buzzed.
“Lilis, come to my office immediately,” barked Xeer. He also didn’t seem to be to happy.
I turned around, walked down a few more hallways, and came to Xeer’s office door. I entered at once.
Xeer was sitting at his desk watching a screen that showed William being electrified (full audio). As I entered, he muted the volume, but the scene continued.
“Ah, Lilis. As you can see, your blunder didn’t cost me anything – my men managed to capture William again.”
“Well, perhaps I wasn’t meant for babysitting duty,” I replied coldly. Xeer frowned at the inference, but did not comment.
“Do you have anything for me to do, or did I just come here to be insulted?” I watched his furry face bristle with anger, yet he still did not comment.
‘Hah – still scared of me.’
“Actually,” he said after a pause, “I have a job for you.” He handed me a disk.
“This disk has video of William, Padme, and her father being tortured. I want you to compose a message for the Resistance. I will also make one, but it will be a bit different.” I nodded and left.
Back in my room, I quickly created the message on my laptop, adding in the video clips at the right moments. I picked up my communicator.
“Xeer? I’ve finished. Should I send it off immediately?”
“Certainly – and by e-mail.”
“Consider it done.”
RIK
“WHAT!” I yelled, nearly sitting up. “William and Padme are still stuck there? When are we getting them? We have to go ASAP!”
“Calm down Rik, we’re working on that. In any case, you’re in no condition to go on a rescue attempt.”
“I’m coming with you when you go,” I replied stubbornly. “injured or not.”
Groundhog was about to reply when a groan came from a few beds away. It looked like Enceladus was waking up. Errata went over to his bed. Again, Groundhog opened her mouth to reply, but this time a yell came from elsewhere in the building.
“GROUNDHOG!! GET OVER HERE QUICKLY!”
“Coming!” she called, hurrying out of the room.
KITTYMINE
I don’t know how long I was in my room for. Hours, I think. Groundhog tried to get me to come out and eat something, but I refused. I do know that at around 3:30 p.m., Armada came in.
“Kitty, stop being so hard on yourself. You did the best you could. It’s not your fault that Padme and William didn’t listen to your note.”
“But I left them behind,” I whispered. “I left them to torture. Who know’s what it will do to them.”
A yell from elsewhere in the building came through the open door.
“GROUNDHOG!! GET OVER HERE QUICKLY!”
“Listen, Kitty, there’s no use moping over the past. Let’s go see what’s going on.” I shrugged, but followed her anyway.
The yell had come from the computer labs. ZVX and TGYPWYA were at a computer with a ring of people around them.
“What’s going on?” asked Armada.
“Not sure,” said Cerre, shrugging. “I think they recieved a message of some sort.”
“Okay, can everyone in here please be quiet so that we can all hear this?” called TGYPWYA over the din. We all fell silent. The projector screen at t he front of the room lit up and a video began to play. Lilis’s face appeared on the screen.
‘Hello, Resistance. As you are probably aware, two of your members have been snatched, taken in the heat of the battle, or should I say diversion. What lured them into capture? This man.’ The screen showed the face of a tired, gaunt man with black hair and bright green eyes. Padme’s father. Lilis continued.
‘But there is another reason that two of your brats are in our clutches. You see, you have something that Xeer requires. A key of sorts. It is the key to the Center of the Earth. Here is a short message from Xeer.‘ The scene switched, now showing Xeer. He began to speak.
‘The demand is simple – you give us the Key, we give you back your brats. You must have heard of an exchange before. If you give us the key, we HPBs will go live in the Center of the Earth, peacefully. Give us the key, and your brats will be returned. To give you a peek at what will happen to them if you don’t, here’s an example of the torture they have already been through.‘ The screen now showed video clips of William, screaming as electricity coursed through his body; Padme’s father, hanging limply in the grasp of two bunnies, bloodied and bruised; and Padme lying on the ground, her eyes wide and terrified, but slightly glazed, obviously screaming. Xeer came back on screen again.
‘You have three days.
The screen went black.
We were all shell shocked. Before we could even shake ourselves out of it a bit, Rainbow ran into the room.
“Guys! Come quick! I just saw this message from Xeer.”
“You mean the one we just watched?” asked ZVX, standing up. Rainbow looked at the computer.
“No, not that one – it’s different.” TGYPWYA, Groundhog, ZVX, and anyone else who was interested followed Rainbow out of the room.
I sat down slowly in a chair, Padme’s face flashing before my eyes.
‘It’s looks like they broke her, almost. When they started torturing William on that electric chair, her memories probably broke through and are flooding her again. Who know’s what it’s done to her mind? Nothing good, that’s for sure.’
((This includes an idea I had a while back. I don’t believe Zorgon is still active, but I’m going to PP him…))
LISS:
I screamed and screamed, until a warden bunny came in and struck me with an electric whip. I fell to the ground, quivering.
I was back in prison. Did they know if I was alive? I didn’t want to be written on to some obscure memorial, thought dead.
I curled up into a ball, shaking. I’m not dead yet, so they must be ready to torture me soon.
I shuddered. Weeks had passed; who knew what malicious devices they had developed in that time. The one thing I was certain of is that you must never underestimate the rabbits that make the torture machines.
I sensed a light flick on behind me. I turned.
It was a television set. The screen was grey, and… something was there. I crawled over to it, and huddled in front of the small screen.
A picture of Xeer on his throne flickered on. I shrieked quietly, then listened.
“Hello, Resisters.” They’re still alive and kicking! “This message is being played at ten-minute intervals on every channel, so it’s likely one of you bipeds will see it. I’m giving you one final chance to surrender, and be reunited with your loved ones. Take a look.â€
The image switched to several people hanging in the air. The camera zoomed in on every one in turn. One man seemed vaguely familiar.
“They’re in suspended animation,” He said, beaming malevolently at his evil genius. “Every one of them is connected in some way to a Resistor. If you willingly surrender within three days, I will set them free and send them to reunite with you. You’ll have a bit of time with your friends and family before we catch you. If you keep fighting us, I press a little button and they all die. Take your pick.â€
Then the screen switched to black. I prodded the machine, but it was dead.
So I sat back and thought about this turn of events. I didn’t understand; where had I seen that man before…?
Then I fell over.
Zorgon. That man back at the base.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
No one in the Resistance had any connection to him, except…
Me.
My limbs grew weak. I didn’t care. I didn’t care.
I don’t like this guy, why did they capture… him…
I fainted from shock.
((40 – Got it.))
The boss bunny scowled, and they threw themselves at me. Fortunately, I had practiced kung fu for a long time, and I took them out easily. Then I turned back to Padme and her father. Padme was still staring into space – not blinking, not moving. I asked, “How is she?”
“Bad,” he replied, shaking his head. “She won’t respond to anything, and the only thing she’ll do is move – assuming someone’s moving her.”
I thought for a moment, then said, “Well, we can’t stay here and wait for her to snap out of it.” Taking two blasters from the bunnies, I handed one to him and said, “Let’s just get the three of us out of here for now, and we can worry about her problem when we get back.”
He nodded, then picked Padme up and put her over his shoulder. She still didn’t react at all – it was both nerve-racking and eerie. I tried to shrug it off for now, telling myself that she wouldn’t be like that forever.
((37- Perhaps they could capture me later.))
((Where are my characters? I’m confused. Am I back at the base? All of me, that is?))
((This includes swearing.))
LISS (again):
I woke up, my head still spinning.
Zorgon…
Dammit, why did they have to capture him? HIM, of all people! Why do I even CARE?
To keep my mind off the situation on hand, I looked around the cell. Oh. My meal was here. I crawled over to the stale piece of bread, and chewed on it. I drank the small glass of water they gave me, and set them down.
Not wanting to think about my situation, I went back to sleep.
((44- yes- all of them. At this point, everyone is reeling from the two messages we recieved from the bunnies (see posts 39 and 40). I’d do a real summary now, but since I should really get to bed since I have school tomorrow…))
((42 – If you want, Padme’s eyes could be closed, if having them open and blank is too weird. Oh, and as far as I know, Jakob Wonkychair’s character Ligia is still in the DOH and I think Jakob was planning on having him help rescue us (at least, that’s what he said in post 180 of part 6).))
((SUMMARY:
> see post 13 for last summary. Since then…
>The battle with the bunnies was ended abruptly, and the Resistance stole a bunny ship and flew home, leaving Padme and William behind (since they were captured). Once at the base, they deposit the injured (Rik, Sam) and the unconscious (Serafina,Crystl) in the infirmary where Errata and Rachel were waiting (they had flown back earlier with Enceladus who was severely injured).
At about 4:00 pm, two messages are sent to the resistance base from Xeer. One was broadcast on the television and is seen by Rainbow. It showed a bunch of people who had some connection to the Resitance in suspended animation. Xeer said that we have three days to surrender or they will die. A second message was sent via e-mail to the Resistance’s computers. This one showed clips of Padme, William, and Padme’s father Edward being tortured. Xeer said that we have three days to hand over the Key to the Center of the Earth (the key that Zena is wearing that we found in the forest in part 1).
> Liss finds herself prisoner of the bunnies yet again. She also sees the broadcast that Rainbow saw. She realizes that one of the people in suspended animation is Zorgon (who she is PPing since he vanished).
> William attacks the bunnies torturing Padme, Edward, and himself and takes them out. The three are leaving the torture room, searching for an escape route. Edward is carrying Padme who is kinda locked within herself (when the bunnies started torturing William in the electric chair, her supressed memories broke through).
> Ligia, Jakob Wonkychair’s character, is also roaming the DOH. He wants revenge on the bunnies. ))
((Could Errata post as Errata? I can’t really figure out what should happen.))
((48- Can do. You’re temporarily blinded, right? Just making sure.))
Errata:
“You… Can’t see anything?” I said slowly, trying to process this.
“No. Can you?”
“Of… Course?” I was somewhat shocked.
“Well, why can’t I, then?” he demanded, somewhat rudely. ((I’m assuming you’ve been injured by a bunny and are therefore bunnified? Scratch the last part if you’re not.)) One of his hands reached up to see if he had a blindfold on.
“I don’t know.” I thought a moment. He definitely had his eyes open. I thought of the only believable explanation, and hesitated. Nobody could like hearing this. “Maybe… Maybe you’ve gone blind, somehow.” My very basic medical training from years ago woke up partly, and I thought of a possibility. “Did you get a severe blow to the head? Or…” I franticly thought through all possible ways he could have con blind. I didn’t come up with anything likely. “How else could someone go blind?”
((I don’t think I’m bunnified. But I think the stress is getting to me.))
“Well, the last thing I saw was his light saber, right in my eyes. I guess he could have burned them off…”
Padme’s father and I crept through the hallways. After a minute or two, I looked around the corner and muttered, “Crud.”
“What is it?” he replied.
“10 bunnies,” I said, pulling out my blaster. “Every single one of them guarding the elevator.”
“What? How are we going to get past them?” he replied nervously.
I looked back around the corner and was about to say something when an arrow struck one of the bunnies in the gut. He collapsed instantly, and all the others looked frantically around to see where the arrow had come from. Taking advantage of their distraction, Padme’s father and I stepped out and shot all of them with our blasters. We walked over, and while he checked to make sure the coast was clear, I called out down the hallway, “Hello?”
RIK
I sat squirming with anticipation for what felt like eons until someone bothered to come to the infirmary to explain why everyone had been yelling for Groundhog.
“We just got two messages from Xeer saying that we have three days to either surrender or hand over this key that Zena is wearing or something or he’s going to kill Padme, William, Padme’s father, and a bunch of Resistance-related people who are in suspended animation,” Daisy informed me in a rush.
“Say what?” asked Errata, who was standing by Enceladus’s bed.
Daisy explained again. More slowly.
“Anyway, there’s going to be a meeting in the largest conference room in 10 minutes. Everyone should come – unless your injured or assisting the injured. But they’re going to set up video conferencing link to the infirmary so that those of you who are conscious can participate,” she added quickly, seeing the look on my face.
“Good,” said Errata. “Now, Daisy, could you go find someone who could help me here? I’d like another brain to work on exactly why Enceladus has gone blind. Perhaps find someone other than Groundhog, since she’s probably sick and tired of running back and forth. Besides, she’s probably working on this meeting.” Daisy nodded and ran out.
PADME
‘”Let go of her!â€
Tarnug just laughed, increasing his hold on my friend.
“Tell the truth, Padme, or watch your friend die.â€
Tarnug strapped Elissa to a chair, putting a silver dome over her head- the “electric chair†as it was referred to by us. He hit the red button- volts of electricity coursed through Elissa. She started screaming, piercing my heart.
“Padme! Don’t tell them-†she was cut off by another shock.
“Stop it! Stop it- please!†I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Only if you tell me the truth, orphan. Where did you put it?â€
Elissa screamed in agony again. Tarnug was looking at me, his eyes malicious.
“Ten seconds, biped…â€
I couldn’t help it.
“It’s in the burrows,†I whispered.
“Ahh…what a smart place to put it. Thank you for that information…†he smiled even wider, and pressed the red button one last time. Elissa shrieked, writhing, then slumped in the chair, dead.
“Oops!†giggled Tarnug.
“Noooo! Elissa, Elissa!†I screamed. But she wasn’t moving. Tarnug giggled.
“Oops!â€
Then he strode over to me, freeing me from my bonds, but grabbing me in his paws. I lay limp in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. I heard his voice laughing in my ear.
“Isn’t it awful, biped? You couldn’t do anything about it. You were helpless, both of you…â€
“MURDERER!†I yelled with all I could muster, struggling hard against his grip. Unfortunately, my adrenaline rush was still no match for Tarnug’s iron grip. He hissed in annoyance at this outbreak of wriggling.
“Stop moving…†he hissed at me, his eyes boring into mine. In my distraught state, I couldn’t resist his hypnotic gaze. I froze instantly, my eyes still locked in his.
“You are mine, biped… let go now…†his eyes swirled, engulfing my brain. I was being pulled down, down into darkness. His velvety, warm voice echoed in my head.
“You will never forget this Padme… never forget this day… never…’
*shudders slightly* *eyes close*
Errata:
I frowned at him, looking. “I don’t think so, your eyes look fine. I don’t know what else though, I’m no doctor.” ((Is that all right? What actually happened to you, anyway?))
Just then, Daisy came in, telling us about a meeting in ten minutes. I briefly thanked whoever invented video conferencing, then spoke.
“Good. Now, Daisy, could you go find someone who could help me here? I’d like another brain to work on exactly why Enceladus has gone blind. Perhaps find someone other than Groundhog, since she’s probably sick and tired of running back and forth. Besides, she’s probably working on this meeting.â€
((What I thought happened was that the bunny charred my retina, making it impossible for me to see/ everything so amazingly out of focus, my eyes are useless.))
((Oh… Is it permanent?))
((Yes.))
((Lovely. XD What is the advantage to this in the plot, exactly?))
KITTYMINE
“Kitty?” asked a voice. I looked up. It was TGYPWYA.
“I just wanted to tell you that there’s going to be a meeting in the largest conference room in 10 minutes.” I nodded mutely. He clapped me on the shoulder in an encouraging sort of way and walked off to spread the message on. I stood up slowly and began to head for the conference room, my thoughts lumbering around sadly in my head. It was only once I had sat down in a comfy conference room chair that my conscience slapped my mind in reprimand.
‘Kitty, stop moping for pete’ sake! It isn’t going to help you or Padme. Dwelling on the past doesn’t get you anywhere. If you want to help Padme, perk up and think up a plan, for goodness sake. Get yourself some determination!’
I did that.
I walked in a daze to the conference room.
“Errata needs help figuring out why Enceladus has gone blind!” I announced to the assembling crowd, and walked out.
I needed to make sure. ‘It must have been a trick of the light. It’s not possible. You’re seeing things. You gave up hope for a reason.’
Still, I returned to the room where we’d seen the video. Someone had recorded it, and I replayed it on the screen, pausing it when it came to a woman floating suspended in mid-air.
Her eyes were closed, but she was unmistakable.
“Mom?” I whispered, touching the screen as if it could transport me to her.
GROUNDHOG
I hooked up the video conferencing link to the infirmary, remembering as I did so that I still needed to deal with Serafina’s bunnification problem.
Ack. Too much to do.
After finishing, I ran back to the infirmary to see Serafina. She was awake and looked extremely confused.
“Excuse me,” she asked. “Who are you?”
“Groundhog.”
“Groundhog… okay. Do you have any idea what happened to my memory? I mean, I know my name is Serafina and a few other bits, but whatever happened to me recently is a total blur.”
‘Amnesia – just what we needed on top of everything else.’
I peered into her eyes. They were still pink.
“Probably a result of being bunnified for a while, but I can’t be sure. In any case, you need to be de-bunnified. I can’t promise that doing so will get your memory back (‘it probably won’t.’ I thought to myself), but…” I trailed off and began pushing her cot over to the side of the infirmary where the de-bunnification machine was. My explantion didn’t seem to have helped Serafina (I don’t know if she understood what I said), but it didn’t matter. I hooked her up to the machine and waited through the agonzing five minutes until she was de- bunnified. I rolled her unconscious form back to it’s spot next to Crystl, and checked on Crystl briefly. I turned to Errata to tell her to keep an eye on Serafina and Crystl, only she was talking with Nilly by Enceladus’s bed. I waited for a pause in their conversation before quickly telling Errata about Serafina and Crystl and then running out again.
I made it the the meeting exactly on time. Phew.
KITTYMINE
Slowly the room began to fill with people, some looking tearful – undoubtedly people had reconized relatives who were in suspended animation. Groundhog came in last, flying inside in a rush.
“Sorry – busy.”
“It’s okay, Groundhog. We know,” replied ZVX.
((Sorry I haven’t been posting, Kittymine!))
Someone stepped out into the hallway – a skinny man with brown hair. He walked toward us and said, “Hello – are you members of the Resistance, by any chance?”
“Yes – I’m William, and this is Padme and her father,” I said. “Who are you?”
“My name is Ligia, and I’d like to join the Resistance,” he said. I shook his hand, smiling and said, “Done. Good to have you with us.”
Padme’s father had determined the hallway was empty, so we went into the elevator. The door closed behind us, and I pushed the button for the hangar.
((56 – should they get caught? ))
((Do you want them to be?))
((57.1 – Well, if they are captured, then the Resistance has to rescue them and everyone in suspended animation, plus Ligia. That also kills Ligia’s whole purpose. If they aren’t caught then Ligia gets to do something and the Resistance only has to worry about the people in suspended animation.
I think we should have them escape. But we should throw in a bit of action – just walking out is so not BA-like. ))
((Escape it is then. And don’t worry – I have a great idea for some action :twisted:.))
((What if they run into some bunnies or something?))
((Can someone give me a short summary? If it’s completely hopeless for my characters I won’t jump back in, but I’m still intrigued.
))
((Don’t worry, Aggie- your characters have been kept alive! Remember that Key that Zena is wearing that we found in the forest in part 1? Well, it’s really important
SUMMARY
> see post 47 for last summary.
> A meeting for everyone (kids included) is about to begin concerning Xeer’s messages (there is a video conferencing link to the infirmary).
> Ligia meets up with William and Co. and helps them get rid of the bunnies who were blocking the elevator.
> Errata discovers that Enceladus is blind.
Gotta go – brothers kicking me off. ))
We arrived at the hangar and split up to look for a ship – one small enough to not attract too much attention, but one large enough for all of us, with a sick bay or somewhere for Padme to rest. After a few minutes of searching, we found one that was just about right. Padme’s father ((I think Will should learn Edward’s name soon, so I don’t have to keep saying “Padme’s father”)) took her to sick bay while I searched the ship for any trouble.
As I checked the cockpit, I tensed up. It felt like there was something wrong. I looked around, and under the instrument panel, I saw a strange black box. While I was trying to figure out what it was, a red 10 appeared. Then that turned into 9… 8… 7…
Uh-oh.
((How fun. A time bomb. This should be interesting.))
((We’re not going to blow up, for crying out loud. Electros, does your sense of “interesting” disturb you at times?))
((Sometimes.))
((It disturbs me… XD He just likes blowing stuff up, though…ignore him.))
((Awwww, a time bomb would be cool. It could reverse time, so we ended up in the past…-coughcough12yearsintothepastcoughcough-))
((What if they disable it just in time? Or would that be too, um, nice?))
PADME
‘Memory upon memory flashed before my eyes, each one as vivid and painful as the next. Gradually, the memories seemed to move forward in time, coming to when Tarnug had taken over my mind. Re-experiencing it was almost worse than actuality. I was trapped in my own head, with no way of escaping the constant barrage of fear and terror that was surely destroying my psych. Then I saw light, the light of Groundhog’s mindshape when she was trying to keep Tarnug at bay. My memories seemed to pull away… I was falling, falling…’
I opened my eyes to find myself lying on a cot somewhere. As I looked around, I realized that I was inside a bunny ship – only the lagamorphs would paint the interior of their ships magenta on black. I tried to think of how I would have gotten here, but I was drawing a blank. The last thing I remembered was watching the bunnies put William into the Electric Chair, and then I had a vague recollection of being bombarded by all of my memories from the orphanage. Now that I thought about it, I sensed a change in myself. I felt as… as vulnerable and frightened as I had when I was 12. My memories seemed as fresh as they had before Mom helped me repress them. In short, I was back – psychologically – to the time before I was adopted.
I was afraid.
I had just finished getting my bearings when William ran in, lifted me unceremoniously from the cot, broke one of the windows, and jumped out of it still holding me. He started running away from the ship as soon as we hit the ground. A few seconds later, the ship we had just run out of exploded with a thunderous roar. I felt the force of it scoot us foward. William dropped to his knees, put me on the ground, and then leaned over me, shielding me from whatever debris was flying our direction. In my peripheral vision, I saw a figure next to me, also lying on the ground – probably Dad.
Eventually, the roaring sound stopped, the ship having been reduced to ash.
“William?” I asked quietly. William, who had been on the verge of standing, whipped his head around.
“Padme?” I said quietly. We looked at each other quietly and I was about to hug her tightly, but I stopped. She had a very frightened look, and I said, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m scared,” she said in a hushed voice, hugging her knees to her chest. Her father put his arms around her, and I put my hand on her shoulder, saying, “It’s all right… we’re here for you.”
“How… touching,” a voice said. Padme put her head between her knees and huddled into a ball, and her father and I stood up just in time to see Lilis and Xeer step out of the elevator, smirks on their faces and lightsabers in their hands.
((64 – I’m assuming that Ligia is still with us.))
GROUNDHOG
I sat down quickly next to Jenny. ZVX stood.
“Okay, we all know why we are here – we need a plan of action. Specifically, one that is feasible and can be pulled off in less than three days.”
LILIS
I surveyed the threesome – William at the ready, Edward Tesser holding his blaster looking wary, and Padme curled in a ball on the floor, shaking with fright. My smirk widened.
‘Oooh… Padme’s all vulnerable again. Perhaps I’ll find the bunny who did it and thank him. Then again, perhaps not.’
“Go,” I said to Padme’s father. “I’ll hold them off while you find a ship.” He nodded, taking Padme by the hand and heading off with Ligia.
Lilis smirked and said, “Well, well, well… brave little William is staying behind to protect his frightened little friend.”
“Leave Padme out of this,” I said, reaching very, very slowly for my blaster. “Your problem’s with me.”
“I’ll admit, you’re the one I’m here for now,” she said, also beginning to reach for her blaster. “But the reason I joined this fight is to finish the scared little girl I’ve rivaled for so long.”
((I just re-read this whole thread. Could someone write me back in, any of my characters, or should I do that? Either way, I’m excited for this time bomb stuff.))
((Aggie… Zena… Zaviar… Right. I’ll try to get to that, but I appear to be having a hard time with this thread right now. I can’t do it just now, but I’ll do it soon. I need to write Eve and Callista’s arrival at the base too…))
((No, it’s not a time bomb as in “it blows up, people get younger/older”. It’s a time bomb as in, “The timer hits 0, the bomb blows up.” No need to get so excited.))
Allll rightie then. *lurks*
((Also, the bomb already exploded, blowing up the bunny ship that William, Edward (Padme’s father), and Padme were trying to escape on.))
((13- Okay, I’m finally back. If you guys don’t mind, I’ll post the mini-battle on the editing thread when I get around to writing it, since it doesn’t really seem to fit now… To make things even more confusing, I’ll mess around with time a bit. But it’ll do the resistance good.))
Syara:
I reported to Xeer while Lillis made the threat video. I was still sore about not having captured Selena, so I decided to go harass the cleaning squad.
Selena:
I stood around in a daze, moving only to avoid being ran over by other resistance members. Since I was neither badly hurt nor completely well, everyone let me be. My head was clearing but I was still tired, so I cleared my throat and asked Errata if I could help. She took one look at me, then told me to go lie down somewhere.
Syara:
A strange whorl of light at the side of the room caught my attention. Then it vanished. I stepped closer and realized that it was not light, just a sort of spiral heading nowhere, twisting light, dust and other small nearby objects into itself. It was about three feet square- I couldn’t see if the objects came out again behind it. Interesting. I threw a dart at it. After twisting around, it fell out in back again with a plunk. I used the force to pull it back towards me, but somehow it resisted and slid off to the side. Still, it was on my side of the disturbance so I ran forwards to pick it up. It was so rusted that I turned into dust and fell to my feet. A time experiment gone wrong. Suddenly something tugged at my feet. Automatically, I tried to move back into a fighting stance. But hole was pulling nearby objects in, and I’d foolishly gone close enough to become one. My attempt at a fighting stance only made me lose my balance. I screamed and was sucked in.
Selena:
I lay on a spare cot outside the infirmary and tried to fall asleep. Suddenly my head started to hurt. I gasped as the world spun clockwise and everything went black.
When I woke up, the first thing I realized was that my feet and my waist hurt very badly. I managed to open my belt but I had to use the lightsaber to cut my way out of my shoes. My clothes were too small too. What in the world? In the corner there was a sink with a mirror. I looked in and screamed.
Syara:
Cake. That stupid …thing made me younger. Way younger. How old was Selena again? 11. Now I was that age again. Xeer was going to love this.
((Umm, I really hope this doesn’t sound rude, but can some other people who are in the base post about the meeting that is supposed to be going on now? I know that everyone probably has a ton of homework/is busy, but I don’t want to be the only one posting about the meeting.))
((Sure! I’ll try to jump in right here.))
Aggie:
“A plan in three days. Less than three days. If ever there was a reason to hate stress, it would be this.” I ran my fingers through my hair, which was beginning to thin. “On one hand, there’s our friends. On the other is the world. Both equally important.”
“We have to do something. That much is certain.” Now Groundhog paced the floor.
“We can’t give up the key.” Zena was staring down at the thing, which hung from her neck like an iron weight, glimmering faintly under the lights of the room.
“We can’t give up Padme, or her father or William.” Kitty was upset as well. I could sense it in her voice, although she tried to maintain firm composure.
“We don’t have to give Xeer either.” Aaron, who had been reserved and silent the entire time, spoke finally from the darkness. “We can pull a switch. Tell him we will hand over the key, and he doesn’t have to give us the prisoners either. The exchange can be made some such meeting place, and while he is distracted, another part of the team can infiltrate and free Padme, her father and William practically right under his nose.”
“That might work,” said ZVX, “but we would have to ensure, without a doubt, that Xeer would make the exchange himself. How?”
((If this is a bad plan, tell me. I’m making idle conversation.
))
((Oh, and also…where are the prisoners being kept?))
((Oops! My big post didn’t go through. Let me try again!))
Aggie:
“A plan in three days. Less than three days. If ever there was a reason to hate stress, it would be this.” I ran my fingers through my hair, which was beginning to thin. “On one hand, there’s our friends. On the other is the world. Both equally important.”
“We have to do something. That much is certain.” Now Groundhog paced the floor.
“We can’t give up the key.” Zena was staring down at the thing, which hung from her neck like an iron weight, glimmering faintly under the lights of the room.
“We can’t give up Padme, or her father or William.” Kitty was upset as well. I could sense it in her voice, although she tried to maintain firm composure.
“We don’t have to give Xeer either.” Aaron, who had been reserved and silent the entire time, spoke finally from the darkness. “We can pull a switch. Tell him we will hand over the key, and he doesn’t have to give us the prisoners either. The exchange can be made some such meeting place, and while he is distracted, another part of the team can infiltrate and free Padme, her father and William practically right under his nose.”
“That might work,” said ZVX, “but we would have to ensure, without a doubt, that Xeer would make the exchange himself. How?”
((If this is a bad plan, tell me. I’m making idle conversation.
))
((71 – Well, the ones in suspended animation are in a suspended animation chamber in the DOH, but where in the DOH that is is another question. William, Padme, and Padme’s father Edward are in the hangar. I-Man and I were planning on having them escape, so then the Resistance only has to worry about rescuing the people in suspended animation.
And your plan sound great. ))
PADME
Dad took my hand and led me away from the fight, Ligia watching our backs.
“Dad! We can’t leave William there to fight alone!” I said, staring over my shoulder at William’s shrinking form.
“William said to get out of the way, and frankly, he’s better suited for fighting than either of us.”
“I can fight – I have a lightsaber,” I said, attempting to look determined, but my voice shook a bit.
“Padme, you’re in no condition to fight anything, and you don’t have your lightsaber – the bunnies took it when they captured you, remember?”
We had walked a ways away from the fight and were surrounded by tons of bunny ships. Dad and I looked around at the ships, trying to ignore the sounds of battle that were echoing around the hangar.
“Ligia,” my father said suddenly, “Why don’t you go help William fight Lilis and Xeer – I’ll guard Padme and myself with this blaster. I’m rather good with it.” Ligia shrugged.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Positive.”
Ligia stood there for a second longer before walking back toward the fight.
“Dad, are you sure about this?” I asked.
“Yes – I’m not incompetent. When the bunnies came to our house 14 years ago, I took down three of the ten before they got to me.”
‘I know,’ I thought to myself, but I didn’t tell him.
RIK
The meeting had started. I was watching the going’s on when I heard a scream from outside the infirmary. I knew that Selena had laid down on a cot there. Errata and Nilly were still busy with Enceladus, and were also half listening to the meeting.
No one was watching.
I slipped out of my bed and walked outside. I looked to the left – he cot in the hallway was empty. I turned the right and saw someone standing by a mirror. A very tall someone in clothes that looked five sizes too small.
“Selena?” I whispered. She turned around. I nearly stepped back a pace.
She looked… different. There was still a hint of herself in that face, but mostly she looked like a completely different person.
“What happened?” I asked.
LILIS
I engaged William in a blaster fight. Xeer joined in also, but I knew that this wasn’t permanent. It was part of the plan.
Slowly, in a seemingly accidental fashion, I began to draw William to the side, away from Xeer. William, who was concentrating on battling me, didn’t notice. Soon only William and I were fighting. Xeer had slipped off. Unfortunately, a man joined our fight – he had come into the hangar with Willaim, but I didn’t recognize him.
KITTYMINE
“Well, Xeer may want to oversee the exchange himself – William oversaw the one twelve years ago with Alice so Xeer would probably do the same…” My voice trailed off sadly.
LILIS
“Well, William, it seems like your fighting a losing battle again,” I said. He frowned.
“What makes you say that?” he asked, shooting a blast that nearly singed my eyebrows.
“Well, ” I replied, sending a few blasts in the other man’s (Ligia) direction, “soon I will overpower the two of you, and I don’t think that Tesser will be able to protect both himself and Padme from Xeer.”
William blinked as what I had said hit home.
“But Xeer is…” his voice trailed off and he swiveled his head around. I grinned.
“Padme…” William muttered, his eyes widening. He rushed off back in the direction of Padme, where another battle had started 5 minutes earlier. (William hadn’t noticed).
I was brought back into focus as something slammed into armored arm and bit into it slightly – an arrow.
Curses. I still had to deal with this forest man.
PADME
“What do you think of this ship?” Dad asked me, pointing at the nearest one. I shrugged.
“I suppose it’s alright – they’re all horrid.”
We stood there in silence for a moment, staring at the great magenta monstrosity, when the sound of sneaky pawfalls reached our ears.
Dad shoved me behind the bunny ship and drew his blaster, waiting. A heartbeat later Xeer appeared, holding a blaster and a lightsaber. I noticed a silver cylinder strapped to Xeer’s belt.
‘My lightsaber!’
“Ah, Tesser, how nice to see you. But I don’t see your brat – where are you hiding her?” Xeer’s voice lowered dangerously.
“You won’t touch my daughter again, you twisted charcoal lagamorph,” Dad spat, raising the blaster higher and loosing a volley of shots at Xeer.
I used Xeer’s distraction to Force pull my lightsaber from his belt. I was afraid that he would see the glint of silver, or feel the lightsaber sliding from the beltloop, but apparently not.
Unfortunately, I was unable to help Dad – my terror-stricken body wouldn’t budge.
‘Padme, get up and fight! You know how!’ yelled the 14-year-old part of my brain.
‘But… he’ll kill me in an instant! I don’t stand a chance!’ replied the larger part of my brain that seemed to be 12 years old again.
‘Padme, get over it! It all happened in the past! You’ve changed – you’re not longer the little girl you used to be!’
‘Sure feels like it.’
The two halves of myself continued to grapple with each other while I watched Dad fight Xeer.
As I watched, I saw Xeer pull a feint and then fire two blasts at Dad while sending two that Dad had shot flying straight back at him.
Time seemed to slow down as two of the four blaster shots hit Dad in the chest. Dad crashed to the floor and lay there, unmoving.
Time froze for a moment as my mind argued furiously for another few seconds.
My 14-year-old side won.
I stood up and walked around to the front of the bunny ship.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” I said coldly to Xeer, extending my lightsaber. Determination flowed through me once more. Pain and grief would come later.
I hurried through the maze of ships until I saw Padme and Xeer around the corner, their lightsabers flashing. As Xeer knocked Padme to the ground, I silently crept up behind him. As I got right behind him, he smirked and said, “Dosvidanya, Padme.”
“Xeer,” I said bitterly, “go and die, won’t you?” As he whirled around, I punched him in the face. Hard. He staggered to the ground, unconscious, as I helped Padme up. “You all right?”
“Yes,” she said, “but my dad…” As she threw her arms around me and cried into my chest, I looked over her shoulder and saw her father – he had a blaster mark on his chest. I returned the embrace and said quietly, “…I’m so sorry.”
((75 – yeah, I kinda had to kill him off because it would be akward if Padme was adopted, but her father was alive…
And what language is Dosvidanya? Russian?))
BA
PADME
Eventually my sobs subsided somewhat. I let go of William and walked over to my father’s inert form.
His chest was bloody, but blood had mostly stopped flowing from the wound since his heart was no longer beating. His face was frozen in an expression of pain and shock. I held his cold hand in mine, tear flowing freely and silently down my face. My body was trembling and I felt nauseous.
“What are we going to do with him?” I whispered in a choked voice.
((Is there anyone else in the meeting room who can help me keep the story moving?))
((77 – Well, I can post for Groundhog and myself, but not so many people have been posting lately. ))
((77-78- I’m sorry. I’ve been around, but I don’t seem to be inspired anymore, which I know is a really lame excuse, but it’s true. I’m having trouble with Callista and Eve, and I can’t get motivated. I’ll work on it right away.))
GROUNDHOG
“Yes, William did that, but we’re still working with perhaps and maybe. We need a solid plan.”
“Also, ” added TGYPWYA, “if we tell Xeer that we’ll hand over the key without exchanging anything, he’ll get suspicious. I mean, since when are we so willing to give things to the enemy?”
Aggie:
“But what can we give him that would be of value?” I asked.
“A hostage. We need to give him another hostage.”
“Why would we hand over one of our own?” Groundhog looked confused.
“We could call him or her a traitor,” I replied. “He’d believe it, you know how many of our own have turned against us.”
“You’re right,” said TGYPWYA.
“It’s out only hope.”
“We need to act soon,” ZVX said. “As soon as possible. When can we be ready?”
“By tonight, I think we could have all ships ready,” said Aaron.
“First, though, we need to make contact with Xeer,” said Groundhog. “Leave it to me.”
“I’ll go with you,” Zena said, but I cut her off.
“No, I think I’ll help on this one,” I told her quietly as the room subsided into chatter.
“But Mom…” she protested silently. “I can do this! I’m old enough!”
“Not until you’ve seen what we have seen or done what we’ve done,” I said, putting my arm around her. “I’d rather you stay back on this one, okay?”
She nodded slowly. “I guess.”
To be truthful, I felt scared. My daughter now held the most important key to the world’s survival. I couldn’t let Xeer know. If anything more were to happen to the people I loved…I didn’t know what would happen, and I didn’t want to find out. I gave Aaron a quick kiss, hugged Zena and Zavier goodbye, and left without another word behind Groundhog.
“So, how are we going to make contact?” I said, catching up with her in the hall.
((Hmm.. gotta hurry up escaping…))
((81 – So who are we giving as “hostage”? ))
((Okay, I am confused. I would post more, but I have no idea where I am….help?))
((82- Well, someone who posts a lot…who do you think?
))
83- You’re probably in the meeting room right now. We’re/they’re still discussing the new method of getting the hostages out of Xeer’s clutches, which is now exchanging a hostage, claiming they are a traitor and having them all escape under Xeer’s nose…which also somehow needs to incorporate getting to the center of the earth,so…use your imagination.
((Okay, thanks….))
((Um…can someone please bring my four characters back in?))
((SUMMARY
We are working with three main groups:
1) Padme, William, Padme’s father Edward, and Ligia who are in the DOH.
2) Errata, Enceladus, Nilly, Serafina, and Crystl who are in the infirmary (Rik and Selena are in the hallway outside).
3) Everyone else is in the largest meeting room in the Base discussing what to do about Xeer’s messages.
Group 1
William, Ligia, and Edward (who is carrying Padme) get to the hangar, find a bunny ship, and enter. Padme is put in the sick bay where she wakes up to find herself in the same place, psychologically, as she had been when she was 12. Basically, she’s scared out of her wits.
Unfortunately, the bunnies booby-trapped the ship with a ticking time bomb. Everyone makes in out of the ship before it explodes. The group is then confronted by Xeer and Lilis. Edward, Padme, and Ligia walk away from the fight while William holds Xeer and Lilis off.
Xeer removes himself cleverly from the fight and goes off to find Padme and Co. who are looking for another ship to steal. William doesn’t notice.
Edward tells Ligia to go back and help William fight. After Ligia leaves, Xeer shows up. Edward hides Padme and fights Xeer, resulting in Edward’s untimely demise. Padme, who up until this point had been hiding, jumps out to fight Xeer, having vanquished the 12-year-old side of her mind.
Lilis “lets slip” that Xeer is going after Padme and William runs off to help her, leaving Lilis to battle Ligia. William comes in time to keep Xeer from killing Padme and knocks Xeer out.
Group 2
> Errata and Nilly are listening in on the meeting with half an ear while trying to figure out why Enceladus has gone blind.
> Serafina and Crystl are currently unconscious. Serafina was de-bunnified by Groundhog.
>Selena had laid down outside the infirmary. When Syara (who is in the DOH) accidentally gets sucked into a hole that switches her age with Selena. Selena wakes up to find herself Syara’s age in clothes far too small. She screams. Rik heard Syara scream and sneaked out of the infirmary to find out what was going on.
Group 3
Everyone is in a meeting trying to figure out how to rescue the people in suspended animation and Group 1 (Note: the rest of the Resistance doesn’t know about Ligia and William and Co are going to escape by themselves). The plan right now is to do a hostage exchange – we exchange a “traitor” for the prisoners and pull the switcheroo under Xeer’s nose. Groundhog and Aggie just went to contact Xeer. ))
((Aggie, I just thought of something. Xeer said to hand over the key otherwise the prisoners will be swimming with the fish. Xeer only wants the key. Why should he take a hostage instead?))
((86 – Maybe we give him the key AND a hostage?))
I knelt down next to Padme and said gently, “We’re going to bring him with us and take him back to the base.” She was on the verge of tears, and I added, “Hey – look at me.”
She looked at me, and with a serious but comforting look in my eye, I said, “And we’re going to give him a proper burial, and a funeral.”
She nodded sadly, and the two of us carried him into the sick bay of the ship. Just as we finished, Ligia came in, having knocked out Lilis. We lifted out and started heading back.
KITTYMINE
Groundhog and Aggie had already left the room when a thought struck me.
“Hang on – why is Xeer going to go for a hostage? He only wants the key!”
“What did you say?” asked AvalonGirl. “I missed that.”
LILIS
Unfortunately for me, the fighting style of this forester man was unfamiliar and unpredictable. The fight culminated in the man whacking me on the temple with his hard bow, knocking me out.
‘Not again…I should really take some time off to train some more.’
PADME
There were three seats in the cockpit- one on the far right, a center one that appeared to be the pilot’s seat, and one on the far left. Ligia sat on the left, William in the middle, and I lowered myself into the chair on the right. William lifted us off smoothly and hit the supersonic jet booster.
“We’ll be there in 10 minutes,” said William to no one in particular. I sat back in my seat, my body still trembling. I was exhausted. Despite the horrors of the past few hours, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
((If we gave him our leader, though, it could in turn bring him “valuable information” to lead us to our destruction, so he would be able to get both the key and the Rebellion leaders, which would be a win-win for him. Of course, we’d have escaped before he even knew what we were doing, and we could use the key to lure him away from the prisoners.
Wait, so do we even need to rescue them anymore?? I’m confused.))
((There’s two groups of prisoners. One (William, Padme, Padme’s father, and Ligia) is escaping right now. The other one (everyone in suspended animation) is still prisoners.))
((88.1 – good plan. Let’s go for it. ))
KITTYMINE
I repeated my query. AvalonGirl frowned.
“Good point. Let me go ask Aggie.” She left the room.
After 10 minutes, we landed in the Resistance hangar. Ligia got up to explore and I was about to tell Padme we’d arrived, but she was sound asleep. So I let her sit there and exited the ship. Walking over to the door, I saw a communicator built into the wall. I turned it on and said, “Hello? Is anyone there?”
There was only static for a few seconds. Then someone’s voice said, “Hello? Who is this?” It sounded like Groundhog.
“This is William,” I said, feeling exhausted.
“William?? Is that really you?!” said a second voice. I think it was Aggie’s.
“Do I really sound so different?” I said amusedly.
“Well… kind of…” said a third voice that resembled that of AvalonGirl. “But listen, you’ve got so much to tell us! What happened? How’d you escape?”
“It’s a pretty long story, and…” I started. I looked at Ligia – pretty unscathed, but still looking tired. Then at myself – I was caked in dried blood and exhausted. Padme was still asleep in the cockpit of the ship. I finished, “I don’t really think any of us are in the state to tell it.”
“OK,” Groundhog said. “Do you need anything?”
“No, just some rest,” I said, ending our conversation. Ligia and I went back to the ship, where I got out a medical stretcher and told him to take Padme’s father to the infirmary and lie him down there. Then I went into the cockpit of the ship – Padme was still asleep there. Gently picking her up, I carried her in my arms to the girl’s dorm.
As I lay her down on a bed, I felt a little nervous, and couldn’t help but check her pulse to make sure she was alive. She was fine, of course, so I whispered, “Good night Padme.”
Heading back to the boy’s dorm, I collapsed onto a bed and instantly fell asleep.
((This is kind of random, but am I correct that it is currently late afternoon on the third day?))
GROUNDHOG
“Good question. It’s not that hard to connect with their radio frequency, since they control all except my encrypted one. Or we could email a video.”
We had reached the computer lab and communications area when AvalonGirl arrived.
“Guys, Kittymine just thought of something. Why would Xeer take a hostage? The only thing he wants is the key!”
Aggie was about to respond when a voice issued out of a speaker in the wall.
“Who is this?” I asked.
“This is William,” said he, his tone exhausted and somehow different.
After a short conversation, he assured us that all he and the others needed was rest.
“Let’s hold off on the contacting Xeer bit for a second,” I said after disconnecting with William. “Things have probably changed – we’ll pick this up after dinner when William and Padme are refreshed. In the meantime, let’s go tell everyone that they have returned.”
KITTYMINE
AvalonGirl came back, but she was accompanied by Groundhog and Aggie. Strange.
“We need QUIET!” hollered Aggie. The hubbub subsided and Groundhog stepped forward.
“Guys, we’re going to hold off contacting Xeer and resume this meeting after dinner – which is in about 4 hours – because Padme and William have returned.” She paused for a moment to let everyone cheer, hoot, clap, exclaim, etc. before continuing.
“The situation may have changed and we need their input, but they are obviously drained at the moment.”
I stood up and ran over to my sister.
“Where is she?” I asked, overjoyed and somewhat apprehensive.
“She’s probably in the girl’s dormitory.”
I ran out of the room and made a beeline for the girl’s dormitory. Padme was lying on a bed, fast asleep. I crept over and sat on the edge of the bed, my tears brimming over. I stroked her cheek lovingly.
“Padme, oh I’m so glad your back,” I whispered.
((I think it’s… the………………….. 4th day, instead of the 3rd? Not entirely sure…))
((91.1 – I was thinking that it was the fourth also… ))
AGGIE:
It was delightful to have Padme and William back. I didn’t see either of them come in, but Kittymine rushed to the dormitories immediately to check on Padme. I looked around for Zena, and my heart struck a sudden pang of fear. She was gone.
I ran over to Aaron. “Where’s Zena?” I asked, frantic and trembling.
“Relax.” He placed his hands on my shoulders. “She went out to get some air. I don’t think she’s feeling very well.”
“Oh,” I sighed, letting out the air I had sucked in.”Just checking.”
“I understand,” he said, “but don’t worry so much. We’re safe here.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“You’re with me,” he said, drawing me into a hug. “I’ll keep you safe.”
We stood like so for a few moments, as the meeting room cleared of people chattering under their breaths, and then we departed the room. I switched off the lights, as I was the last to leave. I didn’t look back. Darkness was beginning to frighten me more than anything else.
I walked down to the kitchen to see if anyone needed help preparing food. There was nobody there, so I took out a frozen turkey, the last in the refrigerator, and turned on the oven. Potatoes and meat sounded good, for a homecoming feast.
ZENA:
I walked briskly from the room as soon as we were dismissed, behind my mom’s back and out the door. I wandered aimlessly down hallways, through corridors, looking for Padme. There were things I needed to know, that I had to find out.
Finally, I found the girls’ dormitory. I burst through the door to find Kittymine sitting on the edge of Padme’s bed.
“Oh,” I said. My face burned.
“It’s all right,” Kittymine replied. She looked down at Padme. “She’s sleeping.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll come back later.” I stepped back out of the door, ad rushed down the hall. There was an empty supply room nearby. I got inside and shut the door.
Here it was safe. I felt like nobody was watching me, that nobody cared, and it was quiet. I liked silence.
Slowly, I drew the gleaming key from underneath my shirt. It glinted in the light of the faintly flickering light bulb that swung back and forth on a string over my head. It seemed to draw my eyes, making the wider. It had a strange tooth pattern, in the shape that resembled a large E, with the middle tooth smaller than the others. It was mesmerizing, and at the same time I had the strongest urge to smash it into a million pieces. I wanted to desperately. Then, someone barged through the door. (insert character here)
((Ooh, me, me! *needs to insert self into story again*))
KAYE:
So much was happening… William and Padme were….here? Not here? Dead? I had no idea. Nobody was telling me anything. And now Zena was missing too?…
I needed to get away from all the craziness here.
I walked out of the common room ((am I in the common room? If not….oh well)) and down the hall. I needed to go somewhere quiet…. I was getting a headache. But when I opened the door to what I thought was the girls’ dormitories–
–it wasn’t. It was an empty storage room–or empty except for Zena, who was standing in the middle of it, holding…something.
“Zena?” I asked. “What are you doing?”
((Darn, have to go. Go ahead, Aggie.))
“Oh, nothing,” I lied, quickly tucking the key beneath my shirt again. I did a double take. “Hi Kaye!”
“Hi,” she returned, looking around. “What are you doing in a closet?” She gave me a funny look.
“Nothing, just…trying to get away, I suppose,” I replied truthfully.
“Same,” she agreed. “It’s stressful right now.”
“I know.” I sighed.
“Have you seen Padme or William?” she asked.
“I think Padme is sleeping, and I’m not sure about William.”
“You want to get out of the closet?” she said. “I think a walk would do us both good.”
“Agreed,” I smiled. We walked down the hallway. It was quiet for a long time, and then she spoke.
“What do you think of the plan?” Kaye asked.
“I’m not sure,” I replied. “If anything, above all else…I think I’m scared.”
KAYE:
“I know what you mean,” I said quietly. “Xeer is….not someone to mess with lightly. But what else can we do?”
Good question,” Zena sighed. “I mean, we can’t abandon the prisoners….”
“I know. But it seems like a rather risky plan, even so….I mean, the last hostage exchange, with Alice, didn’t work out terribly well.”
“Yeah, Mom told me about that….but maybe this time’ll be different.”
“I sure hope so.”
We walked on in silence down the hallway.
((94s – it had better work out well – for ZVX or Groundhog or whichever leader’s sake
))
((
XD True.))
((I’m baaack! At least for now…))
I headed off to the kitchen with Jenny following me. There were a few chef-bots there, but they all needed charging. I plugged them in, and their battery indicators began to flash. “Jenny?” I said. “I’m going to the lab. Do you want to stay here and tell the chef-bots what to cook, or come with me?” A huge grin appeared on Jenny’s face. “And no, you can’t tell them to make ten tons of donuts.” Her face fell. “But you can tell them to make any dinner foods that you’d like.” Jenny’s face brightened somewhat. “Okay, I’m staying here.” she said excitedly. “All right.” I replied. “Just tell them to keep the food warm until dinnertime after they finish. And to make enough fro everyone here.”
I walked down to the lab. If we were going to send one of our own to the bunnies, that person would need some sort of covert weapon. No guns, obviously, or anything that could be detected by a body search. That narrowed the possibilities considerably though. If the person getting traded was a Force user, then that would help, but impending bunny torture had a way of breaking one’s concentration. I sat down at my table and began to brainstorm.
JENNY:
I waited for the robots to finish charging. When they did, they unplugged themselves and said “What would you like to eat today?”
I thought for a few minutes. “I want spaghetti with three-cheese sauce, garlic bread, pizza, sweet potato fries, ketchup, a bunch of different drinks, hot cocoa, donuts, and pie. For twenty-five people.” The robots whirred and beeped. “Would you like salad as well?” they asked. I made a face. “I guess.” I said, knowing that the grownups would want salad. “Lettuce, peppers, and baby tomatoes, with lots of croutons and shredded cheese.” I said, hoping that the croutons and cheese would cover up the taste of the rest of the salad. “And make a few types of dressing.” I added, since I knew that my mom would want dressing.
The robots whirred and beeped some more. “Very good.” they said. Then they rolled over to the counters and started to put stuff together. Soon, the kitchen started to smell really good. The best part was that the robots let me taste the food whenever I wanted to. After around an hour and a half, they told me that the food was ready. “Um…okay…keep the cooked stuff warm until dinnertime.” I said. “When is dinnertime?” the robots asked me. “Um, eight o’clock, I think.” I said to them. “Very good.” they said. I hopped off of my stool. “Um, bye…” I said, heading for the door. One of the robots followed me. “Wait.” it said, handing me a donut. “For you.” “Thanks!” I said, taking a bite. It had raspberry jelly inside. I munched on it as I looked for the lab where my mom was.
((96: Just guess who would be perfect…}:) ))
((97 – Yeah, yeah. I know, you’re all planning on trading me…))
GROUNDHOG:
I had decided on using ginger ale as the main ingredient in this covert weapon, but I was having trouble finding a way to conceal it. Unless the bunnies wouldn’t even get to the body searching part before the weapon was used. If I mounted several tanks of ginger ale on a harness, and then rigged them to spray everywhere, that could work. Then whoever had gotten traded could just walk out. I checked my watch. Five minutes until dinner. Time to take a break. I left the lab and headed for the dining room.
JENNY:
I wandered around the halls, looking for my mom. I couldn’t find her, so I went back to the meeting room. It was empty, but the chairs were comfy, so I sat down there and waited for someone to come in. No one did. I sat there for a long time, until it was time for dinner. Then I ran to the dining room and grabbed a good seat.
Callista:
I walked along a corridor with Eve. She had been clinging to me, but was rather silent. “What should we do now?” I asked her. She shrugged. “Are you tired?” She shook her head. I sighed. Not helpful. “Maybe we could stop by to see how Mom’s doing. That sound all right?”
She nodded. “Okay.” I could barely hear her voice.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, and I didn’t ask farther. “Infirmary’s that, way, she should still be in there.”
We got there shortly. “Hey Mom.”
She looked up from her conversation. “Hi Lissa.”
My childhood nickname made me feel almost like life was normal again, for one moment. But it left behind fresh reminders, so I quickly spoke. “We were just wondering what you were doing.”
“Nothing much. Endecalus- Encedalus, sorry, has gone blind, and we were trying to figure out why.”
I stared down at the figure lying on the bed. “Blind?”
“Apparently so. We haven’t really figured out anything, so all we can do is hope that it’s temporary. Do you know of anything that could cause blindness?”
I thought. “I don’t think so. Well, there’s some illnesses for sure, because Helen Keller’s blindness was a result of one, but she was deaf too, wasn’t she? But I don’t know much more than that.”
((Finally! I’ve had the worst block for the longest time. But after subjugating Callista, Eve, and Errata to long lectures about how they wouldn’t exist if I couldn’t write them, they finally let me.
Anyway…
I really need to figure out more of Eve’s backstory. I put her in with a rough outline of where she was going and what she’d be like, but beyond that she’s a blank. Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.))
((Umm… Here are some diseases that cause blindness.
Cataracts (lenses of eyes are opaque, no light can get through)
Diabetes, but that takes a long time so…Glaucome, but same as diabetesTrachoma (a virus that affects the cornea and the conjunctiva or lining of the eyelid)
That’s about it. Catarcts seem like a good choice. Maybe Endecalus got hit by a blaster in the eyes…?
((Actually, we do know why he’s blind, but our characters don’t yet. Thanks, though, if we needed somebody to go randomly blind and didn’t have a way to do that, that would be really helpful. Besides, it’s informative for me. I know no more about this than my characters.))
((Yes, it’s because I got hit with a lightsaber in the eyes.))
PADME
I opened my eyes to find myself in a bed in what appeared to be a large dormitory room. And sitting on the edge of my bed was…
“Mom?” I breathed. She smiled. I sat up and hugged her, tears streaming down my face. All of my worries seemed to vanish for a moment.
“Oh Padme, I’m so glad to have you back.” Mom gave me an extra squeeze before letting me go and observing me at arm’s length.
“How are you feeling?” she asked. I shrugged. I wasn’t quite sure how to define feeling. On the one hand I had been physically tortured, so my bruises and abrasions still hurt. On the other hand, I had been bombarded by the past and watched my father die.
But how exactly does one try to descibe all that?
“Lousy. No, that’s not adequate… Horrible? Nah… Oh, I don’t know. Bruised. Battered. Shall I go on?”
I woke with a start from the dream I was having. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I thought in it, Padme and I were k-
As much as I know you’d like to, don’t think about it, my brain said. Else, it’s just going to drive you mad for the next hour. I lied back down, then rolled over, fell onto the floor, pushed myself up, and decided to go check on Padme, since it was still 10 or 15 minutes until dinner.
A FEW MINUTES LATER
I walked into the girl’s dorm to find Padme and her mother chatting. They both looked up as I entered – I paused, then said, “Sorry – I’ll leave.”
I was on my way back out the door when I was caught in a crushing bear-hug. After choking a little bit, I was spun around by Padme, who said, “Why leave?”
“Because you two are family, and you were talking, and I’m-” I started. She put a finger to my mouth and said softly, “And you’re part of our family. Now come on – have a seat.”
((Wait, I’m sorry I haven’t been posting, but my brain is sort of dead right now creativity-wise. Thanks for keeping Ligia alive, everyone, but please just ignore him until I rejoin the story, so I can keep track of where I am.))
((Kittymine, could you please post? (And feel free to ignore my post if it seems kind of stupid)))
((Sorry, I-Man! I’ve been buried in H.W. And you post is NOT stupid.))
RIK
Selena turned around, startled.
“Rik… I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I’m sorry – I heard you scream so I came out into the hall to find out what was going on. What happened to you?”
“I don’t know – I mean, I know who I look like but I’m not sure how it happened.”
LILIS
After regaining consciousness (I was only out for a few minutes according to my watch), I went back inside the base, wandering a bit aimlessly. As I passed a row of rooms, I heard a shriek issue from one. I walked over to the door where the sound had come from and silently opened the door, my jumpsuit blending me in perfectly in the gloom.
I looked around – the room appeared to be empty. Then a movement in the corner caught my eye – something swirly. I turned my head in time to watch a figure fly out of the swirly patch, seemingly out of nowhere. The figure stood, looked at enself, and cursed. I pulled out my blaster.
“You there – in the corner. Show yourself.”
PADME
I pulled William over to the bed. He sat down, still looking sort of bewildered.
“Padme was telling me about what you three went through – are you okay?” asked Mom. William shrugged.
“Fine really – nothing a bit of rest couldn’t cure.”
“Some food would probably help too,” I added, looking at my watch. Mom smiled.
“I’ll go see when dinner is – unless Jenny feels like announcing it this second.” We waited for a moment for that only-in-the-movies scene to occur, but alas – Jenny did not come over the intercom. Mom stood and left.
“William,” I began as the door closed behind my mother, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“Remember the radio conversation we were having, while we were both still locked up?”
((Before I post this, an explanation: my day was REALLY crummy today, so I’m feeling a little bit angry/harsh/sad/bleah/etc.))
“Yeah, what about it?” I said, feeling somewhat confused. I did remember the conversation, but what was important about it? She seemed hesitant for a second, then asked quietly, “Did you really mean it?”
“Mean what…?” I said uncertainly. I had no idea what she was talking about. She was starting to look slightly panicked, for no apparent rea-
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh… right, I thought. Suddenly, I remembered what I had said – or rather, what I had almost said. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Tears started to well up in Padme’s eyes, and she burst out crying. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t, and after a few seconds, she ran out of the room crying, slamming the door behind her.
Smooth. You handled that excellently, Will, I said to myself. Slowly, I stood up, walked over to the wall, and hit my head against it. Hard. “Idiot!” I muttered.
((Ummmm…. ookaaay…. I’m not sure that Padme would have reacted quite so strongly. She’s a bit more level headed. But then again, she did just lose her father and such.
I’m sorry your day was so crummy – *hugs and choklit* Mine haven’t been so hot recently, but at least I have Swim Team to work it all off. ))
((Meh… I guess we can ignore that if you want – I just don’t really want Padme and Will to get together yet, because I had a REALLY good idea for later.))
((No, no, we can use it! Not a problem – it does work.))
((In the everlasting words of the short-lived veronica, why is everyone always hatin on the bunnies?))
((109 – Ummm… anyone else want to answer that? I’m under a minimal-rudeness-policy ))
PADME
I ran, tears streaming down my cheeks. The hallways were deserted – everyone else was at dinner, it seemed. I went up the elevator and exited the base into the cold, refreshing night air ((it is currently about 8:00 at night in November)). Switching on my flashlight, I ran into the trees, leaves crunching and crackling under my feet. I looked around for a suitable tree and upon finding one, scaled it quickly. I secured myself somewhere in the middle of the tree, where I was sitting slightly behind the trunk. Not that it really mattered, since the only source of light out here was the moon.
I cried.
It felt good, in a way. I hadn’t really cried during the entire ordeal in the DOH – only a drop after William knocked out Xeer and I had gone over to Dad’s body.
The thought made me cry harder.
((108 – Well… are you sure you’re okay with it?
109 – Because bunnies are pure evil, and they belong in a pit of fire.
…Just kidding. I don’t think anybody here hates the bunnies – I, for one, kind of like them. I think we just started the whole Bunny Melee/Bunny Apocalypse/BA: The Next Generation for fun/because we were bored/etc.))
((…and of course, right after I post that, Kittymine’s post comes on.:P ))
((111 who is responding to 109 – true – I take back what I said about the rudeness thing. That was insensitive. ))
((ACK – SFTDP
111 – Definitely.))
((113 – OK, then.))
After hitting my head against the wall a couple of times, I walked out of the girl’s dorm and to the boy’s. There, I laid down on a bed and stared at the ceiling for a while, until ZVX rapped on the open door and said, “Hey – dinner’s up.”
“Not hungry,” I replied, continuing to stare up at the ceiling. He sat down and said, “Are you feeling okay?”
“No,” I said, sighing and telling him all that had happened. When I finished, I added, “Am I a jerk?”
Lay down on the bed.
Intransitive (subject but no object): lie, lay, have lain.
Transitive (with an object): lay, laid, have laid.
I suspect that my generation will be the last one for which “lie” and “lay” will be separate verbs. Perhaps that’s just as well; things will be simpler with fewer tenses to remember. (And as Lady B. will no doubt point out, the distinction was largely created and enforced by grammarians anyway.) Still, for whatever they’re worth, those are the rules.
((I KNEW I would screw that up. Kind of pathetic, since we only talked about lay and lie in E10H a few weeks ago :oops:.))
((114.1 – “Just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait….” ))
((ACK, wow, lots of posts!))
ZENA:
Kaye and I continued walking in silent wonder down the long corridors. I finally asked her, “Would you like to get some dinner? It’s probably ready now.” My stomach quaked with a low grumble.
“Sure,” she replied. “I’m pretty hungry.”
We walked faster now, in anticipation of good food. Suddenly, not watching where I was going I rounded a corner and went smack into Padme, who had been running down the hallway. We tumbled to the ground.
“Ow…I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I exclaimed, getting up and helping Padme along with me.
“That’s okay,” she said, her voice sounding choked and sad. “I should have b-been watching…” She slumped against a wall and began to cry.
“Are you okay?” asked Kaye, walking over.
“What’s wrong?” I added.
“N-nothing. There’s just a lot going on right now.” She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. I offered her a hand up, and she took it.
“We’re going down to have dinner, why don’t you come join us?” I offered, smiling. “It would be a good way to…get your mind off things.”
((116 – Padme’s outside at the moment.))
((Oh. I’ll just pretend that we were outside then.
))
((Okay – Don’t feel bad – I’ve screwed up a couple times too. Like when I thought that the DOH was in middle of the Pacific Ocean.))
PADME
I stayed up the tree for a long time, my pain flowing down my cheeks in a salty turrent. I thought about my conversation with William.
‘The fact that he didn’t recall our conversation immediately wasn’t really his fault,’ reasoned my forgiving nature. After all, the events subsequent the that radio conversation had totally eclipsed the matter. I supposed that his absentminded, slow reaction response had simply been the last straw.’
‘You forgot insensitive,’ added my injured feelings.
My forgiving nature was silenced.
I looked at my watch – 8:10. I had been out here for ten minutes already. Mom was probably worried. Reluctantly, I climbed down the tree and headed back toward the base, flashlight on. I was so preocupied with my thoughts that I wasn’t looking where I was going and walked straight into two figures. We all fell to the ground.
“Ow…I’m sorry, I’m sorry!†exclaimed Zena’s voice. A hand took mine and hauled me to my feet. I pointed my flashlight around – it appeared that I had crashed into Zena and Kaye.
“That’s okay,†I replied quietly, my voice a bit hoarse. “I should have been watching…†My voice shook slightly and a sob escaped me.
“Are you okay?†asked Kaye, walking over.
“What’s wrong?†added Zena.
“Nothing,” I replied, shrugging. But my voice gave the game away. “There’s just a lot going on right now,” I added. Zena and Kaye smiled sypathetically.
“We’re going down to have dinner, why don’t you come join us?†offered Zena. “It would be a good way to…get your mind off things.â€
I wasn’t quite sure about the “get your mind off things” bit, but since I was going in anyway, I nodded an followed them inside.
Callista:
I left the infirmary with Eve, since Mom wanted to stay behind and make sure everyone got food. After a moment, I suddenly stopped, and told Eve, “Go on. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I leaned against the wall in a little nook-thingy, and looked at the opposite wall. Enceladus had gone blind… Just one more reminder that nothing ever stayed the same. Dad was gone… No. Don’t think about that. But it was too late. The tears were already on their way out. Why must the bunnies do these things? Why can’t they leave us alone? Why? I was sitting on the ground now, curled up in a little ball.
Just then, I heard sobs. They weren’t coming from me. Padme was running through the halls, crying. I watched her go in amazement. Just more proof. We’re all emotionally fragile right now. I wonder what pushed her over the edge. It wasn’t anything big for me, but she was pushed farther… It wasn’t my business. I wiped my eyes, and went to eat something. This war was becoming a drain on us all.
((Ugh, I hate Writer’s Block.))
((Gah, Daisy might as well be dead… I don’t post enough…))
The meeting had probably ended by now…
I vaguely wondered what they had decided, but it didn’t really matter…
‘What is the point of all of this? The bunnies always come out on top…’
Dinner would be served soon. I got up from where I’d been sitting on the floor, and walked to the cafeteria.
ZENA:
We walked in tense silence towards the cafeteria. I didn’t want to ask Padme my question right now. Maybe later would be better, she seemed to not want to talk. I could sympathize. I felt like I was losing my voice for lack of using it.
We got to the dining hall quickly. I sought out Zavier, who had been out of the picture for quite a while. I found him eating in silence at one of the tables.
“Hey,” I said, walking over and sitting down next to him.
“Hi,” he replied, not looking up.
“Whatcha eating?” I poked him in the arm.
“Turkey and some reheated potatoes,” he said, chewing quickly. “They’re in the kitchen.”
“Thanks,” I said, patting him on the arm. “I’ll be right back.” I quickly followed Kaye into the kitchen to get dinner. We loaded food on our plates, and then walked back out to where Zavier was sitting, as well as Padme and some others. It was quiet. A bit too quiet, in fact.
ZVX thought for a moment, then told me, “I don’t think you were a complete jerk, per se… you just made a mistake that guys your age typically make.”
I thought this over for a moment before deciding that he was right, then asked, “So what should I do?”
“Just let it slide. In a few days, she’ll realize this whole thing – and I mean the whole thing, back to when it started in the DOH – was an accident, feel better, and things will go on like nothing ever happened.”
“But but- what if it wasn’t an accident?” I said, then winced as I realized what I had just done. He looked at me, confused, before a huge grin broke across his face and he said, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
“Yeah,” I sighed, slapping my hand to my forehead. “Can you please not tell anybody?”
“I cross my heart and hope to die,” he said, smiling. “Now, as for what I would do in that case – just let it slide for now, and she will feel better. After that, wait for your next chance to come up, and just try not to be too stupid about it.”
“Hmmm….” I said, thinking. After a few moments, I asked, “Wait a second… what exactly do you mean by ‘it’?”
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” he said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. I fumed and exclaimed, “I am not an idiot! You know what – get out of here!”
I began to chase him out of the room, but before long I was laughing with him. We went to the kitchen to get some turkey and potatoes, then ZVX sat with adults while I chose a table where Rik was sitting alone.
“Hey,” he said as I sat down.
“Hey,” I replied. We began to eat, and at one point I looked across the room. Padme was sitting at a table with Zavier, Kaye, Zena, Slythix, and Jenny. She noticed me looking at her, glared angrily, then put her hands on the table and buried her head in her hands. Thankfully, she restrained herself from crying.
AGGIE:
Emotions and tensions were running high. I tried to keep a level head as I watched my children eat in silence. And then, the magnitude of the recapitulating events that were taking place hit me like a thousand tons of steel. I suddenly realized that what was happening was really happening. And it was happening all over again.
I couldn’t recall the last time I had seen something truly terrifying happen to either one of them. Pain is something you never forget, especially when it happens to someone you love. In that space, while I sat alone, slumped against a metal sink in the kitchen of our base, I remembered torture, agony, fear, and hate all at once. And finally it came to me. There was a realization in my heart. I never wanted my kids to have that kind of pain. I was going to protect them, all of them, everyone I held close to my heart. We were getting out of here alive. It needed to end.
It was then that I left the small space to seek out Groundhog. I wanted to confront Xeer right now. Before he had a chance to hurt anybody else.
ZENA:
There was something unexplainable and tense going on between William and Padme. I saw them look at one another, and Padme’s head dropped into her hands. I honestly didn’t know what to say.
“Guys,” I offered quietly. “Whatcha gonna do.”
((121 – BTW, the meeting ended, but we didn’t come to a conclusion – since Padme and William returned, the Powers That Be (i.e. Groundhog, TGYPWYA, ZVX) decided that the meeting would be postponed until after dinner so that any information that Padme and William had to add would be included. ))
But seriously, this is going to be hard – I’m a very forgiving person.))
((123 – Ooh, I get to be nasty
RIK
“You mean you’ve changed into another person?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Selena nodded.
“Syara – she’s my Aunt ((right?)) and she’s a Lietenant for the bunnies. She must have gotten sucked into some sort of age-changing vortex or something, only it turned her into me and me into her.” The enormity of her predicament seemed to hit her. “Oh, Muses, now everyone will think I’m Syara! And where will I find clothes?”
“Well, perhaps you can borrow from someone’s closet – like Kittymine’s or something. As for everyone thinking you’re Syara – everyone is at dinner right now, so if I go into the cafeteria with you, we can go up to the adult’s table and explain.” Selena looked at me.
“You’d really do that?” she asked, looking slightly taken aback.
“Sure.” I shrugged. I didn’t see what the big deal was.
I waited for about 10 minutes while Selena changed. When she returned, we walked to the cafeteria and went straight up to the adult’s table. Sitting there were Kittymine, Aggie, Aaron, Errata, Kokonilly, Connor, Groundhog, and TGYPWYA. Their heads turned as we approached and I noticed them stiffen. TGYPWYA reached for his blaster.
“Wait!” I said quickly. “I know that this looks really bad, but I can explain. This is Selena.” TGYPYWA sat down slowly, but still looked wary. Selena began to explain. Since it appeared the the initial danger was gone, I left Selena and went to get some food. By the time I returned, Selena was sitting with the adults and they were plying her with question, obviously trying to figure out how to fix the problem. I sat down at an empty table and began to eat. A few minutes later William and ZVX entered, laughing. William grabbed some food and joined me.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” William replied. I noticed him looking at the table behind me and saw Padme shoot him an angry glare before burying her head in her hands. I turned back around quickly.
“I take it she’s not very happy with you,” I said, raising an eyebrow again.
KITTYMINE
Where was Padme? Dinner had started ten minutes ago, for heaven’s sake! I was about to get up to look for her when she came in with Zena and Kaye. I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to my dinner. A few minutes later Rik entered the cafeteria with someone who looked a lot like…
‘Syara! No, it can’t be…’
TGYPWYA reached for his blaster, but Rik forstalled him, explaining that Syara was really Selena. “Syara” began to explain, and as she spoke I realized that this definitely was Selena. The voice was still the same. Once Selena had finished her explanation, Nilly slid over so the Selena could seat between the two of us.
“I wonder if there’s any way we could reverse this,” mused Groundhog, thinking hard.
((124 – Whoa…. did I just, like, drop an atom bomb with my post or something?
))
“Yeah,” I said, hanging my head and scratching the skin of my potato. “I kind of screwed up talking to her.”
“About what?” Rik said curiously, leaning forward. Always inquisitive… that was him. I considered telling him too what had happened, but I wasn’t so sure. He was a nice kid, and we were good friends, but… this was something big for me. And I’d already told somebody about it.
Finally, I said, “I don’t think I really want to talk about it right now.”
He nodded and leaned back in his chair – still curious, but willing to wait.
Callista:
I got to the dining hall, and went to get food. I took my time selecting it, and went to sit down with Eve. A few minutes later, Padme, Zena, and Kaye came in. They sat down and started eating, but didn’t say anything. It began to get slightly awkward, and it didn’t help when Padme, who was looking at something I couldn’t see, suddenly buried her head in her hands. Zena said something quietly, and I didn’t quite hear what it was. It was as if there was some sort of extreme damper on all our emotions, stretching across everybody. What was happening?
((Ooh, a dramatic romance sub-plot. Should be interesting. ))
((Yeah, Jake, it’s sorta been going on for a while….if you hadn’t noticed… XD
We should do something with our dramatic romance subplot. If you still care…))
PADME
I got a grip on myself. This was ridiculous – I was being far to open about my anger with William and I could tell it was starting to effect people. My table seemed oddly quiet. I sat up.
“Guys, I’ll be right back.” I stood up and walked out of the cafeteria into the hall, ignoring the sort of relieved looks on my tablemates’ faces. I entered what looked like a small conference room. After locking to door, I had a sort of quiet hissy fit, getting all of my anger out. There – much better. Now I could just act like everything was fine and ignore William.
I went back into the cafeteria and rejoined everyone. I sat down with a smile.
“Sorry about that guys – I’ve just had a rough day, but that’s no reason for me to get the rest of you all miserable.” Zavier raised an eyebrow, looking a bit confused, but seemed to accept my explanation.
The tension melted away and the rest of the meal went smoothly.
ZENA:
I smiled, glad that everything was all right…although I was still a tad confused. Guys were the least of my problems right now.
After dinner was over, everyone seemed to congregate around our table. Mom sat down next to me, Dad by Zavier. The other adults seemed to settle in, glad that we were all together, at least for now.
“So what are we going to do now?” Mom asked. “Let’s make a plan.”
((Ack, sorry, haven’t been here in ages.))
CHARLIE:
Great, just what I needed, more drama. As if the whole Crystl weirdness wasn’t enough, now there was this–Padme and William weren’t talking, and their stony silence seemed to be rubbing off on everybody.
Including Crystl, which I really didn’t need. I went to sit with Maia instead, ignoring the little alarms sounding in my head.
More stony silence. Maia wasn’t talking to me… was she mad too?
“Please say something…” I said.
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking.”
“About what? Oh, hi, ‘Mena,” I said over my shoulder as Philomena sat down on the other side of me. “…Crystl….” I mumbled as I noticed her sitting with ‘Mena.
Dinner went by in silence: awkward, on my part, I don’t know about anyone else. I was glad when everyone started going over to Zena’s table and Aggie asked what we were going to do next.
I sat down and looked around curiously. It was unusually quiet today; it seemed tensions were running high.
I picked at my food, my mind preoccupied.
How could people just sit here when there was rescuing to be done? I felt impatient to get going and do something.
((131 – I thought Crystl and Serafina were still in the infirmary. But then again, it’s been hours since everyone returned from the DOH. Serafina was debunnified and Crystl was simply unconscious, so I guess it’s safe to assume that they joined everyone else at dinner. ))
KITTYMINE
After dinner was over, everyone sort of congregated around/on the table that Zena, Zavier, and a bunch of other kids had been sitting at for dinner.
“Well, this looks like as good a place as any to continue our meeting,” I said.
“So what are we going to do now?” asked Aggie. “Let’s make a plan.”
“Hang on,” said ZVX, holding up a hand. “Before we go planning anything, we should make sure that our information is up to date.”
“Which means that Padme and William need to tell us what transpired while they were in the DOH,” finished TGYPWYA.
“We should also tell everyone about the Syara/Selena thing,” added Groundhog.
Together, we both explained what had happened in the DoH and introduced Ligia. When we got to Padme’s father’s death, Padme seemed to hesitate, so I quickly circumvented that for now. After that, Groundhog explained to us that several relatives of Resistance members were being held in suspended animation in the DoH, probably for the Key. She also explained that somehow, Selena and Syara had switched bodies. After this, TGYPWYA stood up and asked, “Now, before we make a plan, is there anything else we should know?”
I glanced sideways at Padme, who was sitting right next to me. She seemed to be avoiding my eye, but we had to bring it up sometime soon. I said quietly, “We need to prepare for a burial.”
“A burial? Whose?” Aggie asked.
I hesistated – Padme looked like she didn’t want to hear this. After a few seconds, I sighed and said, “Padme’s father.”
((134 – Can I just forgive you and get over this already? It’s driving me crazy.))
((Yeah… I suppose it is getting a little awkward…))
((135.1- I’ll wait until the next morning. That way it’s logical.))
((Can somebody else post something? I think Kittymine’s out of ideas, and I know I am…))
((Does anyone know where bookgirl went?))
RIK
“WHAT?” I gasped really loudly. I noticed a few heads turn in my direction, but I ignored them. My eyes sought Padme’s. Our identical gazes met and Padme nodded inperceptively.
My thoughts were reeling. Okay, so I had never actually met the man, but my parents had been searching for him and Padme for 12 years. The fact that he had been alive and then snatched away before I could even meet him was almost too much to bear.
KITTYMINE
My eyes filled with tears at the news. I walked quietly over to Padme and gave her a hug, holding her tightly. I felt her shoulders shaking underneath me as she sobbed. I noticed a very subtle undertone of hysteria in those sobs. I shifted my grip on Padme so that my arm was over her shoulder and led her unobtrusively from the room, whispering to Groundhog that I’d be back in a minute or two. She nodded.
I walked with Padme to her dormitory. She collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. I sat down next to her and began to calm Padme down. I realized that the combination of her experiences in the DOH, her father’s death, whatever was going on between her and William, lack of sleep, and the lateness of the hour ((it’s about 9:00 pm)) had taken their toll. In short, she was exhausted.
PADME
Slowly, my sobs subsided and I sat leaning against Mom, hiccuping slightly. It was at that moment I realized just how tired I was. I yawned.
“Bed,” said Mom gently yet firmly. I didn’t even bother complaining that I wanted to go back to the meeting – I was too exhausted to talk.
Five minutes later I was in bed, out like a light.
LILIS
The figure in the corner turned, en’s face still in shadow.
“Lilis – it’s me, Syara,” I lowered my blaster slightly, recognizing the voice, but something here was very off. It came to me as the figure who called herself Syara came into view.
It was Syara alright – but she looked about 11 years old, wearing an adult uniform that was far too big.
“What the cake happened?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and trying not to laugh.
‘I wonder what Xeer will think of this… hee, hee, hee!’
KITTYMINE
I left Padme’s room and walked back to the meeting. I sat down, listening to what everyone was saying. It appeared that they had finished figuring out what to do about Padme’s father and were now discussing plans of action in order to rescue the people in suspended animation.
“… things haven’t changed too much,” said ZVX. “We can probably still go on with the old plan.”
“ZVX, what was the old plan?” asked William. “I wasn’t here, remember?”
“Okay, so Xeer gave us all these messages saying hand over the Key to the Center of the Earth within three days or your friends die,” began Errata.
“Technically speaking Xeer wouldn’t take a hostage in exchange,” Kokonilly interjected. “However…”
“…if we gave Xeer a valuable hostage, like a leader who had gone ‘traitor’,” continued Rainbow.
“Then Xeer would happily take the hostage,” finished Armada. “Xeer would see it as an opportunity to get information from the hostage, information that would lead him to us. Then he would be able to just waltz in to take the Key.”
“But we can’t let Xeer leech information from one of us!” said William, raising an eyebrow.
“Right – so the plan is to hand over the ‘traitor’ and while Xeer is distracted, go rescue everyone else,” explained TGYPWYA. “The hostage will be armed with hidden weapons to ensure that no danger will come to him or her.”
Callista:
I was sitting there, listening with interest to what was going on. Eve was beside me, but she wasn’t talking much either. Then Mom spoke up.
“Have we figured out a hostage yet? I could go. I think I’m one of the oldest here,” she cast a look around to confirm that, “so it would make sense if I was a leader, but I’m not, so it doesn’t do any harm if I don’t come back.”
I sucked in a deep breath, preparing to stand up and shout. But then I let it out, slowly. This is war. I reminded myself. Sometimes, in war, you have to make sacrifices.
I curled my arms around myself to take away my sudden coldness, and listened to the meeting.
((Yay, plan in motion! So how should we do the communication with Xeer? I don’t want to cake anything up.
))
((141 – We radio him, I guess. Or Skype. Whatever.))
KITTYMINE
“We are NOT going to lose anyone,” I said firmly. “Errata, if you were to go, then we’d send you armed – just not obviously armed.”
“But we really need to send a leader, otherwise Xeer will get suspicious,” added ZVX.
There was silence for a moment as we all thought about who to send. We really didn’t want to send anyone, but we had no choice.
“What if we send Groundhog?” asked Nilly. Everyone turned to look at her.
“It makes sense – Groundhog’s a leader. She’s the one who’s been making this unobtrusive weapons, so she knows how to work them best. And Xeer would love to get his paws on her.”
(( …Caking writer’s block.
142 – Skype?
))
((143 – Hee, hee, hee!
))
((Okay, this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but I have to get it out.
I just donated my hair.
It was really long – I cut off about 10 inches. It still fits in a ponytail (thank goodness, I’d go crazy otherwise). ))
((Aww, I’m sorry. *hugs and choklit* That must really suck.
(If you don’t mind me asking, however, how exactly did you donate your hair?)))
((It really wasn’t so bad – it was my choice, after all. And I’m helping someone who is sick. The hard part right now is getting used to a shorter haircut – my hair used to be about 2 inches from my waist, and now it’s a little longer than chin length.
Now as to the donation part: My mom divided my hair into quarters. Then we measured about 10 inches from the bottom of the hair and put in a hair elastic. Then my mom braided the ten inches. She did this for all four quarters, and then she chopped the hair off slightly above the elastic. To finish it off, my mom evened the ends, cutting off as little as possible.))
((Well, it’s good that you’re OK with it. And shorter hair does have its perks – for example, now you’ll be more accident-safe in science labs.))
((I hope nobody minds, but I’m going to do a bit of PPing here so that the plot keeps moving.))
KITTYMINE
There were several nods as the idea was digested. ZVX stood up.
“That idea does work. And since there’s no point in sitting here all night, all in favor raise a hand.” There was a slight hesitation before the hands started shooting up. TGYPWYA and ZVX began counting.
“Okay folks, that’s a majority – unanimous really,” said TGYPWYA
“Congratulations Groundhog! You’ve hereby been named ‘hostage’,” I added jokingly. There was a ripple of laughter.
“Now,” said Aggie, “we need to plan our attack.”
KITTYMINE
“Well, the basic idea is simple,” said Errata. “We hand over Groundhog while a bunch of us sneak in. While Xeer is gloating we rescue the others in suspended animation and then have a few people make sure that Groundhog gets out okay.”
“But we need figure out who’s doing what and assign groups,” added Rainbow.
“Let’s start with making a list of who’s here,” said Armada.
“I’ll write it down,” I piped up. I took out my notebook and a pen from my Backpack-That-I-Carry-Everywhere. I titled the page, “List of Resistors as of November 24th, Day 4”
>ZVX, Cerre
>TGYPWYA
>Armada, Juliet, Kaye
>Aggie, Aaron, Zena, Zavier
>Groundhog, Jenny
>Kittymine, Padme, Rik
>Kokonilly, Connor, Rachel, Sophia
>Julianne, Charlie, ((Maia/Celeste/Kiyarra – not sure if she’s still here or what her status is in Good vs Evil))
>Errata, Callista, Eve
>Rainbow, Sam
>AvalonGirl, Philomena, Serafina, Crystl
>William
>Slythix
>Enceladus
>Koppar
>((Ligia – he’s here, but I know that Jakob said to hold off on Ligia until he can post, so as of right now the only people who know about him are William and Padme.))
“Finished!” I called. I handed ZVX the page.
((FIDDLESTICKS!!!!! That wasn’t supposed to be entirely bold. Only the title. Nuts. ))
((147 – Thank you, GAPAs.))
((If there’s a sneak attack, I’m in.))
((150 – Well, we’re not actually trying to attack, just rescue. But I’m sure it will involve killing the bunnies who discover the intruders.))
((151: Sneak invasion, then. If it’s a sneak invasion/attack where we kill bunnies, I’m in.))
((Oh – NOTE: Selena should also be on the list of resistors. I forgot to put her name down by accident
))
KITTYMINE
A large discussion ensued over who should do what, where everyone should be, etc. By 11:00, we had the following list created:
((NOTE: I typed this list up on my computer, trying to put all of the characters into a section that they would like. I hope this worked out. If anyone has any complaint, I can move characters around.))
Rescuers
TGYPWYA
Aaron
Aggie
Armada
AvalonGirl
Callista
Errata
Kaye
Padme
Philomena
Slythix
William
Zavier
Zena
(Ligia)
Hostage
Groundhog
Backup (for Groundhog)
ZVX
Connor
Crystl
Kittymine
Kokonilly
Koppar
Rachel
Rainbow
Rik
Selena
Serafina
Sophia
Ground Control
Cerre
Charlie
Enceladus
Eve
Jenny
Julianne
Juliet
Sam
(Maia/Celeste/Kiyarra)
“Okay folks, let’s hit the sacks!” I called, having just finished writing the chart. There was a cheer as we all stood up and left the room. I smiled.
‘Important and this meeting was, planning is boring work!’
((Tomorrow morning will be day 5, November 25th))
((Daisy isn’t on there either… but it’s ok… I’m not very active on MB these days…))
((Sounds good!))
((153.1 ARRGGH!!! Why do I keep forgetting people? Well, Daisy, where do you want to be?))
((Backup is fine. That way i’m not vital to the story and won’t cause trouble if I go missing from MB…))
((I’m looking to join this RPG (although you might have enough people), and I was just wondering if I could have a summary of what is going on right now. I’ve been reading back, and I understand that there’s a plan unfolding soon… like an attacking of the bunny base?))
((Never enough people- half, or more, are always gone. Yes, there is an attack. Post 86 for last summary. I’d tell more, but I should probably wait for Kittymine. She is the official summary writer, after all.))
((My character is still blind.))
((156 – Yes…I put him in the ground control just to put him somewhere (for the sake of organized thoughts on my part). He can be moved elsewhere if you wish. ))
((SUMMARY:
> See post 86 for last summary. Since then…
For the sake of clarity, I will continue using the three groups outlined in post 86. However, I am adding a forth group – Lilis and Syara.
Group 1
The threesome stole a bunny ship and flew back to the base in Yukon, landing at about 5 pm. William insisted to the relieved Resistance that they were all fine, but exhausted. Padme and William headed for their beds while Ligia brought Padme’s dead father to the infirmary. (His character now vanishes for a bit, by request of Jakob Wonkychair.)
After a few hours of sleep, Padme woke to find her mother at her bedside. While they were talking, William entered. Kittymine left to see when dinner would start. William and Padme got into a sort of fight which concluded in Padme running outside in tears. William spoke to ZVX, recieved some advice on the matter, and then headed to dinner with ZVX. Padme, after sitting outside in a tree for about ten minutes, headed inside and joined everyone in the cafeteria.
Group 2
> Errata and Nilly, having gotten no farther on a cure for Enceladus’s strange blindness, exit to go to dinner.
> Serafina and Crystl regain consciousness. Both are fine (though Crystl is still a bit traumatized) and exit to the cafeteria for dinner.
> Rik found Selena, asked what happened, and Selena explained her theory – that Syara had gotten sucked into some sort of time vortex or something and now they’ve switched ages. Rik offered to escort Selena to the cafeteria so that she could explain her predicament to the adults without fear of being thought of as Syara and being subsequently stunned or something.
Group 3
Upon the arrival of Padme, William, and Ligia, a decision was made to suspend the meeting until after dinner so that Padme and William can give their input and fill the Resistance in on any new developements that may have occured. The Resistance adjorned to the cafeteria.
Group 4
After she regained consciousness from her short fight with Ligia, Lilis walked around a bit and heard a noise from a room. She entered the dark room to see a figure seemingly appear out nowhere. Investigation revealed that it was Syara reappearing after being sucked into the time vortex. Syara now looked to be Selena’s age – 11. Lilis found this turn of events amusing.
Now after dinner, everyone gathered in the large conference room to figure out a plan. William and Padme tell everyone about what happened in the DOH and that Padme’s father had died. Padme, overcome with exhaustion, grief, etc. burst into tears and was led out by Kittymine.
When Kittymine returned, the current plan of action was being explained the William (for that plan, see post 139). After a bit of thinking, it was decided that Groundhog would be the “traitorous hostage”. Kittymine then wrote down a list of all Resistance members (for that list, see post 147 – NOTE: Daisy and Selena are missing from that list. There are supposed to be on it) and then a large and rather boring discussion (not really posted, just inferred) took place to divide everyone into groups based on the Plan. For the list of the groups, see post 153.
END))
((157- Thank you so much! I wanted to jump in, but I had no idea what was happening…))
Selena:
“Thanks, Rick!”, I said, very relieved. Being mistaken for Syara was not one of my priorities, and we looked very similar now. Or I did, having no idea what she looked like now. “I’m starving!”
Syara:
“This is not funny!” I sputtered furiously, as Lillis grinned malevolently. “On the contrary, I will find whatever bunny neglected to guard that unstable experiment and make en suffer!” Lillis laughed openly at this. “You’ll even be the same height!” she said with mirth. “That’s not funny.” I retorted, grinding my teeth together and resisting the urge to stamp my foot. “I’m going to report to Xeer.” I said, trying not to let Lillis get to me. Surely he would have a solution for this!
((158 – *cracks up*. Oh, BTW – Rik’s name doesn’t have a “c” before the “k”))
PADME
I woke up the next morning feeling calm, secure, and yet there was an undercurrent of misery. Odd. As I lay there thinking it came to me – my fight with William. I sighed, kicking myself. It was all so petty – why on earth had I gotten so worked up over practically nothing?
‘Raw emotions’ suggested my mind. Yes, that was definitely an explanation. But of course, now I had to go find William and apologize. And find out what had missed at last night’s meeting. I looked at my clock: 8:30 a.m.
“A good a time as any to get up,” I muttered to myself, careful not to wake up the other people asleep in the room.
I took a quick shower, dressed, and then wandered toward the cafeteria, thinking vaugely of breakfast. As I passed the lounge, I noticed that somebody else was also up at this hour – a male somebody.
‘No… really. This is way to much of a coincidence…’
There was William, sitting in an armchair drinking a mug of coffee or something. He was doing something on a laptop.
Callista:
I woke up fairly late, after the late night last night. The clock said eight forty five. Not too late then. Looking around, I saw that the only other empty bed was Padme’s.
I stood up and stretched, thinking vaguely of seeing if Padme was in the mood for more training, since she was presumably up anyway. Of course, if the training room wasn’t soundproof, training at this hour would wake people up… I was distracted by this line of thought by movement from one of the previously silent figures. Eve sat up and looked at me.
“Oh, good morning, Callista.” She yawned and stood up.
“Good morning to you too, Eve.” I looked at her. “You’re a mess.” She was. Still wearing her prison uniform, which was adorned with a few charred spots from where blaster bolts had gotten slightly too close for comfort, and generally looking like it hadn’t been washed. I was suddenly aware that I’d never changed out of my clothes from yesterday. They weren’t in better condition than Eve’s.
“I guess I am too. Let’s go see if we can find something else to wear.”
((Sorry I haven’t been posting much; I’ve started working more seriously on some of my own work, and stopped concentrating on roleplays. I’m still here, I promise. I’ll try to post more in the future.))
((Okay, guys, I’m really sorry. I haven’t posted here in forever. I’m leaving on Wednesday, and I won’t really be on much on Tuesday since we’ll be packing hectically….so, Kitty or RQ please RP Kaye for me while I’m gone? People can just PP Armada and Juliet, I guess. I’ll be back on…March 16th. I think. 16th or 17th…. around there.))
((Uggh, my final is FINALLY over, so I can get to work on BA.
159 – *squee* Thank you, Kittymine! I had no idea what to write…
……and… I still don’t. Don’t worry – I’ll think of something soon.))
((162 – which subject?))
((History of Science. Fun class.))
Monday, December 14, 2009
11:17 AM
ZENA:
I got up in the morning feeling as though I had swallowed a barrel of lead or nuclear explosives. In other words, I was not feeling good. At all. Maybe it was nerves, or something in the air, but I felt strangely uncomfortable as I got up and changed clothes. I pulled a black tank top over my head, tugged on a pair of army pants, boots, and then tucked the key under my shirt. It burned my flesh slightly today, not in a hot way, but like ice, as though it knew that it was going to be destroyed sometime soon.
I left the room and walked down the halls, heading towards breakfast. Suddenly, as I was looking down at my shiny boots and not thinking very much, I ran smack into someone.
“Oops,” I said for the second time, as I ran into Padme. ” I seem to have a habit of butting heads with you. No pun intended.” I laughed and offered her a hand up, which she took. We stood in silence for a moment. “Want to go do something? Breakfast?” I offered.
“I’d rather not go in there right now,” she muttered.
“Oh. Okay,” I replied. “How about just walking? I need to get away for a bit.”
“All right,” she sighed. We began to walk.
“So,” I said after a while, “how are you feeling this morning?”
“Not so great,” she replied.
“Me either,” I said. “I feel really nervous, and usually I’m not a very nervous person.” I fell silent for a moment. “Do you feel like…maybe we’re in over our heads? I’m only a fourteen year old girl, after all. Sometimes I don’t think I’m ready for this kind of thing, fighting and killing bunnies and protecting people I love.”
PADME
William looked up as I entered the lounge.
“You’re up early,” he said in a neutral sort of voice. I shrugged.
“I suppose… but I went to bed a bit earlier, I guess.”
‘Stop hedging! Just get out and apologize!’ yelled my conscience. I swallowed hard.
“Um, William?”
“Yeah?”
I hesitated for half a second.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” I blurted in a rush. “I don’t know what came over me. The whole thing was so petty and stupid…” My voice trailed off as William held up a hand.
“Hang on – you’re apologizing to me?” he said incredulously. “If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I acted like a total jerk!”
“No…I was the jerk. How dumb is it to get mad at a – a friend, just because they couldn’t remember one tiny little detail? I mean, come on.”
We stood there for a moment, each treating the other to a fierce ‘it-is-so-not-your-fault’ glare, before we both burst out laughing.
We talked for a little while – okay, fine, it was about two hours – where William filled me in on what had happened at the meeting.
At around 11:00 am, I left the lounge to get some breakfast when I walked straight into Zena.
((Got to go eat dinner – post more later.))
((155 – That makes two “William-thinks-he-should-be-apologizing-instead-of-Padme”s in just a few months. We are on a roll.
))
As Padme was leaving to get some breakfast, she turned and said, “Hey, Will?”
“Yeah?”
She walked back over and asked, “How exactly did you get us out of the DOH yesterday? I know you knocked out Xeer in the hangar, but before that…”
So I told her. When I finished, she asked, with a surprised look on her face, “You know kung fu?”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling as I thought back. “I taught myself while I was living with my dad. I found an old book in the basement when I was nine, and since my dad thought I was going to… well, he and my brother helped me practice.”
“Can you teach me?” Padme blurted out. Then she put a hand over her mouth and turned a light shade of pink, as if she had said something she hadn’t meant to.
“Teach you kung fu?” I said, my eyebrows raised. She started to turn away as she said sadly, “Yeah, I knew it was a stupid idea.”
“No no, it’s fine!” I said quickly. She turned back as I continued, “Look, how’s this for a deal: if you teach me a talent or skill you know, I’ll teach you kung fu. Deal?”
“Deal!” she said, smiling brightly. We shook hands on it, and she left to get some breakfast. I smiled – someday… somewhere… I would tell her the truth.
((Aggie, do you mind if I post that Padme and Zena go to breakfast instead of going for a walk, since Padme and William have made amends?))
((167- No problem!))
((166- Oh, ho! The sub-plot thickens
))
((168 – Thanks. I wanted Padme and William to make amends already and then it would be sort of odd for Padme to be miserable – Oh, hang on. I have an idea…))
PADME
“Oops,†said Zena. †I seem to have a habit of butting heads with you. No pun intended.†We both laughed and I helped her up.
“Want to go do something? Breakfast?†asked Zena.
“Sure – I was going there myself.”
We walked into the cafeteria and piled our trays with breakfast – I grabbed two croissants, a mug of hot chocolate, and a bowl of assorted berries – and sat down at a table. As I ate, I noticed that Zena was picking at her food a bit.
“You okay?” I asked. She shrugged.
“I dunno…I feel really nervous, and usually I’m not a very nervous person.†She fell silent for a moment. “Do you feel like…maybe we’re in over our heads? I’m only a fourteen year old girl, after all. Sometimes I don’t think I’m ready for this kind of thing, fighting and killing bunnies and protecting people I love.â€
“I know what you mean. We’re supposed to be kids, doing things like riding bikes and hiking and sports. But here we are, risking our lives… all because of some evil pink lagamorphs!”
We sat there in a companionable silence as we concentrated on our food. I had just finished eating when a thought crossed my mind.
Dad’s burial was today.
‘Boy am I glad I remembered this after I finished eating.’
My thoughts must have translated on to my face because Zena looked at me, her face a bit concerned.
ZENA:
Uh-oh, she’s remembered, I thought to myself, studying the anxious and sickened look on on Padme’s face. I instantly tried to create a distraction. My mind whirred.
“So…more eggs?” I facepalmed myself in my mind.
“No, thanks, I don’t feel so good,” she said.
“It’s going to be fine,” I heard myself say, even though I knew it wasn’t. “I’m sorry,” I corrected myself. “We’ll all be there for you, though, remember that.”
Three more figures suddenly appeared at our table. Callista, Eve and Zavier sat down, their trays making heavy clunking noises on the table as they slid in on either side of us.
“Good morning, all!” chirped Callista.
“Hi,” I mumbled.
“What were you two talking about?” asked Zavier conversationally.
“Eggs,” I said, my head falling into my arms.
((Expletive. I’ve been primarily offline. Sorry. I haven’t posted at all on this thread…
Well, there’s no point in reviving my character if I’m going to vanish like this. Sorry, guys. You may PP me all you want. I may temporarily revive my characters, but by and large I’ve forgotten what they’re like.
))
((Could someone PP my characters into existence? I’ll take over once they have somewhere concrete to be…. thanks!))
((Oh, and Maia/Celeste/Kiyarra is Maia right now. She doesn’t have any memory of going crazy last night, but everyone who was there is slightly afraid of her now…. no one else knows, and the people who were there aren’t about to tell them. She’s going to be okay for a few days, to make everyone think it was just a false alarm, she can control herself, etc, but in secret she’ll be helping the bunnies, as Kiyarra.))
((171, 172- At this point, you can still rescue your characters! Everyone is waking up right now, so you could just pretend they’ve been there the whole time.))
((172- Maia/Celeste/Kiyarra is confusing. Don’t worry about it, though. Here, I’ll get you in.))
Callista:
We’d found some clothes that didn’t look like they were attached to anybody in a closet, and changed into them, after showering. Feeling much cleaner, we made our way toward the dining hall, encountering Zavier on the way. He was going to get breakfast too, so we went on together.
We all got food, and then went to sit down at the one occupied table.
“Good morning, all.” I said brightly.
A few more words were exchanged, and then a silence fell. Padme and Zena were mostly finished, but they sat around with us. Then the silence was broken by the door opening. The girl… What was her name? Mia, I thought, came in.
“Hi!” She smiled. “What’s up?”
“The ceiling,” I answered, smiling slightly.
KITTYMINE
I woke up around 10:30, dressed, and headed for breakfast. I picked up a tray of toast, cocoa, and yogurt and headed toward a table where Errata, Aggie, Julliane, and a few others were sitting. As I passed the table where a bunch of kids were sitting, I paused to talk to Padme, who was sitting with Zena and looking a bit anxious. I tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, kiddo – you alright?” I asked quietly. Padme turned around in her seat and shrugged.
“Oh, I’m okay, I guess,” she said, but sounding quite the opposite. I put my tray down on an empty table and sat on the bench across from Padme.
“It’s the burial, right?” I said softly. Padme nodded shortly and swallowed hard. I gave her a quick hug.
“Don’t worry – we’ll all be there for you.” I gave her a pat on the back before picking up my tray and heading toward my table.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what was that about?” asked Kokonilly.
“The burial of Edward Tesser at 12:30.”
“Ah.”
((SFTDP, just a note – I don’t want to make a big thing about the burial of Padme’s father. It’s just a side point that needs to be dealt with. ))
((*appears* *coughcoughKittyorRQpleasePPKayeformecoughcough* Thank you! *disappears*))
((177- As soon as I find some time – I’m a bit overloaded at the moment
))
PADME
12:30
My father’s burial was short, almost hasty. Nevertheless, it felt like the longest hour of my life. I cried silently through most of the proceedings, standing next to Rik. Together, we found a large boulder and put it by the head of the grave in place of a tombstone. Then Rik and I stood silently facing the grave for another few moments before we and the rest of the Resistance went back inside.
After walking inside, my mind seemed to switch gears. Now it was time to execute our Plan. We were back in the large conference room, getting all of the groups together.
“Okay,” called ZVX over the hubbub, which quickly dissipated. “On this paper that Kitty wrote up last night are the groups for this plan. ((to see that list, see post 153)) I’m going to call out who is in which group. Once all of the groups are created, you will get more instructions.”
ZVX began to call out names, with TGYPWYA directing traffic. Once everyone was grouped, Groundhog stood up.
“Okay – right now, we plan on getting to the DOH this evening. That means that we have most of today to train and such. So, Rescuers and Backup should go to the training rooms to practice fighting, defense, etc. Ground Control should come with me to the Control Room where I’ll train you. After I get the Ground Control set up, I’m going to need a few someones to help me stage the whole “Groundhog-is-a-traitor” message for Xeer – I’ll send a message over the intercom.”
Since I was in the Rescuers group, I went to the training rooms.
“Hey, Kaye – want to do some lightsaber dueling?”
“Sure!”
I led the Ground Control people down to the control room. “Okay, these are all the things you’ll need to monitor this mission. The large screen on the wall has a picture-in-picture function, so you can watch everything at once if you need to. The controls for the screen are clearly labeled, so I don’t expect that anyone will have trouble with them. The row of smaller screens on the opposite wall are connected to the control computers. Each one controls something different, and are labeled as such. Lastly, the emergency shutdown switches are behind that metal door. They are only to be used in an emergency, which means a situation in which keeping the computers on would only make things worse. There are two switches, one for regular emergencies, and one for a bunny attack. The regular one just shuts things down, the bunny attack one permanently deactivates everything, and activates the foot-thick Pietanium blast doors, so that everyone has time to run for it.”
I took a deep breath before continuing. “The main thing that you need training for is teamwork. The machines here are easy to use, but only if you all work as a team. Each of you should sit in one of the chairs, which are all labeled with jobs. Then, I will tell the computers to simulate a situation which will require everyone to participate in dealing with it, and I’ll see how well you work together to solve it.” I watched as they each chose a chair, and then pulled open a panel and flipped a few switches. Let’s see how well they could deal with a spy outside the building…
PADME
Kaye and I began dueling in earnest – our lightsabers were shielded, obviously. The room was soon filled with the hum of lightsabers, the zapping of blasters, and the yells of karate.
A few minutes into our duel, Zena and Zavier cut in with their own lightsabers, creating a two-on-two fight. As we fought, an emotion swept though me. It took me a minute to name it.
Belonging.
I smiled. Then Zena’s voice shook me out of my thoughts.
“Do you feel like…maybe we’re in over our heads? I’m only a fourteen year old girl, after all. Sometimes I don’t think I’m ready for this kind of thing, fighting and killing bunnies and protecting people I love.â€
((I want to join, but I kind of need a summary first, if you have time…))
((SUMMARY:
> see post 157 for last summary
>since then…
Everyone woke up the next morning at various times and trickled toward breakfast.
At 12:30, Padme’s father (Rik’s uncle) was buried.
After the burial, everyone went back to the conference room and divided into their groups for The Plan (for the plan, see post 139. for the list of groups, see post 153). The Rescuers and Backup went to the training rooms to practice fighting and such. Groundhog led the Ground Control to the Control Room and showed them how everything worked. She then flipped a few switches, starting a simulation of a spy outside the building. The Ground Control group is now working with that as practice.
What is next on the list is for Groundhog and a few others to contact Xeer, pretending the Groundhog has turned traitor.))
((Hmm, okay. I know the Plan, and I just read over the groups. Would it be possible for me to be on Ground Control? Oh, and just to make sure, there’s no magical powers, right?))
((Absolutely not. There are, however, lightsabers.
))
((Okay, here we go;
Name: Flynn Hypatia
Age:15
Personality:Spitfire, but is nice(ish) to her friends
Looks:Tall, imposing, really long blond hair with brown streaks, commanding gray eyes, has a scar through her left eye from the bunnies. Now, how to write myself in…))
((Actually, the only people with magic powers have been Force-Sensitive on BATANG, (Bunny Apocalypse: The Next Generation) but on BA, there were several people with random magic powers.
It appears the rule has changed, though.))
((Magic powers are on Magic RPG. ))
((I just thought everyone should know that I’m in the process of making a trailer for BATNG. Depending on how much time studying allows me, it might be ready in a few weeks.
))
((Cool!))
((183.1.1.1 – Well, Ground Control has just been set up with a “spy attacking the base” practice, so you could start posting with that. No one else in Ground Control has posted yet, so you could start the ball rolling. ))
((Set up with a what?! Could you elaborate, please?))
((185–Oh, wait. I think I got it. Disregard post 185.1. But what would we do? Send someone out? Activate some sort of lasers against the spy? Send out guard dogs dressed as HPBs? :lol:))
FLYNN
I rushed in the Control Room, late as usual. Groundhog looked up. “You’re late,” she said in a monotone. “I was just explaining how everything works Your seat is over there.” She pointed to the leftmost seat. I quickly sat down and Groundhog continued her explanation. “Now, this switch controls the lasers and that switch controls the ((blank)). I’m going to set up a simulator,” Here, she pressed a few buttons and switched a lever, “for a spy attacking the base.” A fuzzy image appeared outside the windows, which soon cleared up to be a man dressed all in black, slowly creeping along. “Good luck,” And with that final word, she swept out of the Control Room to go set up the connection with Xeer.
((186 – Whatever you want, really. We have lots of cool technology that we make up as we go along
))
((NOTE TO EDITING PEOPLE: In post 181, the phrase should be “four for all” instead of “two on two”.))
PADME
“I know what you mean,” said Kaye ferverently. “Since when is childhood supposed to be like this?”
“Hey, whatever happened to the ‘were-grown-up-too-please-include-us-in-your-plans’ position?” asked Zavier, sending a set of blows in my direction. I parried them easily.
“Look, whether we’re ready or not, those bunnies are out there,” I began. “It’s not like they’re going to wait for us to all legally adults before attacking. So if we’re going to blame anyone for snatching away our youth, we should blame the Magenta Menace. As for Plan Involvement, if we’re already being forced by the bunnies to fight in the Resistance, we have a right to be included in the plans. We’re mixed up in all of this whether we like it or not, for Muse’s sake!”
((Sweet!))
((SFTDP I’m just going to put in random people. If your character wouldn’t do that, go ahead and rewrite it.))
FLYNN
“Well, it’s a spy, right? I think we should just zap him on the spot!”
“No!” cried Enceladus. “He might have valuable information!”
“But what if he escapes? He would probably go right back to the bunnies and report all of our information, ruining the Plan!” said Cerre. We argued back and forth like this for another 30 minutes, until we finally reached a consensus: We would zap the spy with a harmless, albeit painful, knock-out ray. Then, we would send out a cargo robot and dump him in a cell until interrogation. Enceladus pulled the knock-out ray lever, and we saw the simulation writhe in pain as it took affect. Then, the simulation buzzed, and faded out.
((Just so you know, my character has gone blind.))
((Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me!))
((I wrote out a complete post and tried to post it but I completely lost it. :cries:
I’ll rewrite it later, but right now I can’t really.))
((Aww, I’m sorry! *hugs*. How exceedingly irksome.))
((Yeah. Ugh. Need to rewrite it, but I can’t get inspired… *sigh*))
((So….what happens next? We did the simulation, now do we just keep an eye out for trouble?))
((I think we’re still just doing simulations/training/etc. until tonight, when we will initiate the plan.))
((190.1-Okay, I’ll continue with that. Thank you!))
FLYNN
“Okay, now what other trouble can this piece of junk make?” I asked. Cerre gave me a hard stare, then flipped a few switches and fired up a simulation of a total automatic defense meltdown. “No problem,” I murmured, then activated the sweeping lasers and released the guard dogs. Then, we did simulations of an attack on the base, a short circuit in the laser wiring, and ((something else, I can’t think of anything else)). Good, good, and good.
((What about an air raid?))
((That sounds good! I just couldn’t think of anything else.))
((I-Man, in reference to post 166 – what sort of skill is Padme supposed to teach William?))
((Just… a skill, you know?
OK, I know that was a lame answer
. But really, I didn’t have anything specific in mind. It doesn’t even have to be a War-related skill – say, playing an instrument, or… playing a sport, or something. You kind of get what I’m saying?))
((How many threads? 13 since April 2008? That must be some kind of record.
FAME, LEGEND, DOMINANCE, IMMORTALITY! MWAHAHAHA((I agree, it probably does.
BA’s been going on for almost two years now? Wow, time does fly. But then, I’ve been a part of it for almost a year. Anyway…))
((193 – IBCF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you rejoining or something? Or are you just lurking?))
((Aggie, could you please post Zena and Zavier? I don’t like PPing everyone.))
((192.1 – Yup. Thanks! Now I just have to think of something…))
((The really funny thing is, I don’t actually know kung fu myself. So this could become a slight problem
))
((195.1 – Yeah… This shall be interesting. I suppose William could teach Padme, just not be specific. Or you could do research (I am a fan of doing research). ))
SFTDP
agrrrfishi’s speeded up Cebú song was funny too.
Why thank you
“Great job!” I exclaimed after the group had finished several simulations. “It appears to me that you guys can run this place perfectly well. If some of you don’t mind hanging out here, then please do, so that in the event of a real attack you’ll be able to call everyone else back and start defending.”
I left the control room and went to find ZVX and Aggie. I couldn’t believe that I was about to willingly give myself over to the bunnies, but if it helped us to win…
Half an hour later, ZVX, Aggie and I had dressed and made ourselves up to appear that we’d just been in an intense fight. Then we set up a camera with a transmitter that routed through a public radio tower, so that the bunnies wouldn’t be able to triangulate us when we sent the message. They cuffed my hands behind my back and turned on the camera.
“Greetings, Xeer.” Aggie said. “We have a proposition for you. Our compatriot, Groundhog, has turned traitor. And while we would normally shoot her at dawn for such an offense, we have decided to allow you a chance to bid on her in exchange for the hostages that you are keeping. We assure you that the information that you will be able to glean from her far outweighs anything else that we could give you.” I shot Aggie and ZVX dirty looks, and attempted to wrench my arms out of their grasp, as each of them had a firm hold on one of my elbows. “If you choose not to barter for her, then she will be killed at dawn tomorrow. You have until then to respond.” Aggie finished. ZVX stepped forward and turned off the camera.
We quickly got out of our costumes and washed off the fake blood and bruises on our faces and arms. Then I headed off to find Jenny.
“Ugh, fine.” I said. “I’ll stay here. But I’m hungry.”
((Too tired to write.))
Callista:
I finished breakfast in silence, since most of the other people were gone. Afterwards, I glanced around, then decided to go train some. Couldn’t hurt.
In the training room, I found several others. Padme, Kaye, Zena, Xavier. I took out my lightsaber and set it to shielded, and joined in.
KITTYMINE
I was working with my blaster, shooting at various moving targets, when Zavier, Zena, Kaye, and Padme started moving in my direction. As they passed, I caught some of there conversation.
“Well argued,” said Kaye, sending a ferocious attack in Padme’s direction. She parried it, but with a bit of difficulty.
Callista then joined the combination fight/theological discussion group, creating a 5 on 5.
“Well argued it may be, but I’m still of the opinion that we are in over our heads,” said Zena.
“True, but hopefully we will be able to learn to tread – metaphorically speaking – by doing all of this practice,” said I. Padme turned her head, noticed me, and then rolled her eyes.
“You just had to continue the metaphor, didn’t you?” I grinned.
“What are English Majors for, anyway?”
Padme laughed and their group moved away.
I ate a rushed breakfast – some toast and juice – and headed down to the training room.
Grabbing an arm-blaster similar to the one that I had used before, I joined Kittymine at the target system.
Behind me, I could hear Callista, Padme, Zavier, Zena, and Kaye sparring and talking. They were talking about the same thing that had been on my mind all night long.
My thoughts went around in circles; ‘We shouldn’t have to do this… It would be so much easier if the bunnies had never existed… It all seems so pointless… We’re just a small group of rebels, up against a massive bunny army… It’d be so easy to just give up…’
I finished target practice, missing only a few shots, and decided to try some hand-to-hand combat. I fired up a fighter bot and, arming myself with a knife, began to fight.
Callista:
After a few moments of battling, I spoke up again.
“If you’ll forgive me for continuing the metaphor still farther, I’m hoping to learn to swim, and not just tread water. I have a life to avenge.”
My eyes glittered slightly, and I swung a bit harder at Xavier than was really called for.
((WHEEEE!!!! GIANT SNOWSTORM HEADED IN MY DIRECTION!!!!!))
PADME
“Join the club,” I replied, thinking of Dad and Elissa.
((Erg… writers block. nuts.))
((Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!! *gives PoPoPo officer 5 tons of choklit*))
((204.1 – Hmm, I think I’m going to take back some of that excitement. *winces in pain* I hurt my back and shoulders shoveling.))
KITTYMINE
We practiced until noon and then took a break for lunch. After everyone was in the cafeteria, ZVX stood up.
“Okay, let’s get a progress report. Cerre, how’s Ground Control doing?”
“Great,” she replied. “We’ve defeated all simulations that Groundhog threw at us.”
“And then some,” added Flynn.
“Good – Rescue and Backup groups, how is the training going?” asked ZVX.
“Getting there,” said TGYPWYA.
“We’ve been doing very well all morning – everyone’s working hard and there was visible improvement,” continued Kokonilly.
“But we still need to rotate a few more times so that everyone gets to practice everything,” I added.
“Fine – keep up the hard work. Remember, we’re going to execute The Plan tomorrow evening. Speaking of which, the message to Xeer was sent earlier, but he has not responded as of yet.”
FLYNN
I took my sweet time getting back to the control room. Groundhog was about to scold me, then thought better of it. I was the first one there.
((I’ve got writers block, too.))
PADME
After lunch, I returned to the training rooms. Instead of practicing more with my lightsaber (my main weapon), I took a turn with a blaster. I used it for around an hour or so and then switched back to my lightsaber (I really don’t like blasters). This time I was battling a robot similar to the one that Groundhog had made for me. The robot had 25 levels, increasing in difficulty. I zipped through the first 15 and then concentrated on completing the next 5 levels.
RIK
Despite the fact that I could use my slingshot as a weapon, TGYPWYA insisted that I practice with a blaster and a dart gun.
“You never know what weapon will be available – and if you lose that slingshot, you need to know how to use another weapon so that you’re not defenseless.”
I conceded to the point and began pitting my wits against a bunch of moving targets. My aim’s pretty good (has to be if you want to use a slingshot well), so I assumed that shooting a blaster at the target wouldn’t be too hard – except for the fact that blaster bolt move in a straight line and rocks tend to fly in an arc. I had to relearn how to aim so that the blaster shots would hit the targets – the moving targets.
Boy, did I have my work cut out for me.
LILIS
Syara stalked off to give a report to Xeer. Still chuckling, I headed for my rooms. I quickly changed into my workout suit and entered my private training room. I practiced everything, from weapons to martial arts. I knew that the Resistance would be back – it was only a matter of time – and I wanted to be able to meet them in full strength. Besides, I had a few personal vendettas against some of the Resistance members.
An hour or so later, my communicator buzzed. Scowling, I put down my blaster and picked up the call.
“Yes?”
“Lilis, report to Xeer’s office immediately.”
“Fine,” I replied curtly. Honestly, the lagamorph had absolutely no sense of timing.
‘One of these days, I have got to do something about him.’
I changed back to my normal outfit (black) and headed for Xeer’s suite. The bunny guards saluted as I approached (finally, a bit of respect) and let me through. In the main room sat Xeer, Kaninen, Syara (looking thoroughly irked) and a few bunny higher-ups. I sat down.
“What’s this all about?” I asked coolly, folding my arms and arching an eyebrow.
“We’ve received a message from the Resistors,” said Kaninen, her pink paws opening a slick laptop. She turned the screen to face the rest of us and hit the ENTER key. A video flickered on to the screen, showing three resistance members – Aggie, ZVX, and Groundhog. All were bloodied and bruised – Aggie and ZVX were restraining Groundhog.
“Greetings, Xeer. We have a proposition for you. Our compatriot, Groundhog, has turned traitor. And while we would normally shoot her at dawn for such an offense, we have decided to allow you a chance to bid on her in exchange for the hostages that you are keeping. We assure you that the information that you will be able to glean from her far outweighs anything else that we could give you. If you choose not to barter for her, then she will be killed at dawn tomorrow. You have until then to respond.â€
“This meeting is – obviously – to discuss this unexpected turn of events,” said Xeer smoothly.
My mind was racing. It was obvious to me that this message was bait – and very clever bait at that. The Resistance knew Xeer well – the thought of getting inside information on the Resistance would likely make every pore of his furry body tingle. Practically speaking, it would be very unwise for Xeer to bite the carrot, so to speak.
But…
If I said nothing, if I let Xeer follow his nose, then the Resistance would likely show up (to rescue their friends while Groundhog distracted Xeer, probably) and I would have another chance at cracking my whip at the Resistance once again.
Additionally, I was getting tired of the bunnies. I felt that it was time for me to move on, to find some other ‘evil’ group and apply as an assassin. I was definitely not getting the scope for my talents here. This would mean that I would have to kill Xeer so that he wouldn’t send bunnies after me (not that he would get anywhere doing that, but it would be a nuisance to be constantly killing small band of bunnies).
But…
If I let the Resistance show up, they might very well end up killing Xeer for me.
I zoned back into the conversation as Syara spoke.
“I’m not quite sure if that video is authentic – it would seem rather odd that a leader of the Resistance would just turn traitor.”
“Then what does that make you?” I demanded. “When you ran away from the bunnies to try and get your memories back, you joined the Resistance. As an adult, you joined the ranks of the higher-ups. You eventually returned, along with information. And speaking of your brief stint with the Resistance – how do we know that you don’t harbor Resistance tendencies?” Syara opened her mouth the respond, but I overrode her. “You may have returned, but your niece is still with the Resistance. Perhaps you are just trying to keep Xeer from getting more information from the Resistance.” Syara glared at me.
“How dare you suggest such lies!”
“Call them what you want – but even lies have a grain of truth.”
“Enough,” said Xeer, holding up a paw. We fell silent.
“I have come to a decision – I will take Groundhog as a hostage in exchange for the other prisoners. She is a veritable gold mine of information, having been a leader of the Resistance for the past 10 years. With her help, I will be able to crush the so-called Resistance in one fell swoop. No,” he continued as Syara opened her mouth to argue. “My mind is made up. This meeting is now dismissed.”
((Sorry for the really long post!))
((I-Man, in reference to a skill that Padme could teach William – does William know hypnosis? I mean, he was an HPB at one point (though not a black one). ))
((Mmmmmmmmmmnnah.))
((209.1 – That was a no? And if it was, does that idea make sense/good idea?))
((That was a no.))
((And although I personally don’t like the idea, it is a good one.))
((210.1.1 – That’s odd… my post didn’t come through. Anyway, the post said to scratch the idea. I decided I don’t really like it myself. Now then…*starts thinking again* ))
((Although this has nothing whatsoever to do with BA, I was thinking about the Blog Siblings thread and realized that you and I are kind of blog cousins
))
FLYNN
Groundhog had since left to do the broadcast, so I sat, my feet propped up on the control board. Jenny walked in and ((something Jenny would do, I’m just picking names at random.)).
((Bleh, I have writer’s block. Could we have an attack on the base? That would add some action.))
Callista:
I ate, and then stood up and thought for a moment. I didn’t particularly want to go back to practicing at this moment, so after a few moments, I decided to go explore.
I skipped the dormitories, and went to a section that I hadn’t seen anybody using yet. A few doors led to rooms that I didn’t explore, full of random junk. The next went to an armory. That looked somewhat interesting, so I went in.
There were lots of blasters of various models, darts with accompanying dart-thrower-things, large amounts of lightsabers, basically everything you could fight with. I spent perhaps half an hour in there, finally coming out with a small, silvery blaster that went into an arm holster. I was quite happy with it. Then I decided to go back to the training room.
((If you’ll forgive me for the Star Wars reference, the blaster looks a lot like the ones the Naboo had at the end of the 1st movie.))
((213 – You’re forgiven. Isn’t that our job, to borrow from every SciFi and fantasy ever created?
))
((It’s part of our job, to be sure.
Matter of fact, I recently got an idea for The Resistance Files that’s a blatant, flagrant, shameless rip-off of Serenity/Firefly – at least, Serenity as I view it from a video I saw with this one song played against some clips from the movie. Methinks I should watch them both – the show and the film…))
Of course.
We’ve already borrowed extensively from Star Wars, of course. But a little more can’t hurt.
Didn’t somebody say we should publish this? Right. As soon as we get it edited to the point where it would be even conceivable to get it published, we’ll start working on getting around all the legal issues.
((Just hiding in the backround until an attack plan starts. Hint, hint.))
((211.1 – There’s a Blog Sibling’s thread?! This is what I get for never officially being a neophyte.))
((215 – We’re getting there as quickly as possible. It would help if more people posted…))
PADME
I was engaged in a fierce lightsaber battle with a training robot when ZVX’s voice came over the intercom.
“Sorry to interrupt everyone, but we got a response from Xeer.” The room quieted so quickly it was like someone had turned off the sound.
“Xeer took the bait. There is a slight change in scheduling, however. At lunch I had said that we would be attacking tomorrow night. However, due to the fact that Xeer responded this afternoon, vs early tomorrow morning, we will be executing the Plan TONIGHT.”
There was a buzz of excited conversation immediately following this announcement. After exchanging high fives with Rik, Kaye, Zena, Zavier, and Callista, I turned to the training robot, reaching for the RESUME switch. My hand was inches from the button when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around sharply to find William standing behind me.
“Hi,” said I.
“Hey. I had a question – seeing as we’re going to be attacking the bunny base tonight, do you want to start learning kung fu? I mean, we probably won’t get far enough for you to do much in the way of defending yourself but…” William let the sentence hang.
“Okay, sure – I could use a break from weapons training.”
((216 – No -phyte potion for you! *shakes finger* *shameless Percy Jackson reference*))
Eve:
We were still practicing. Simulation after simulation. Each one varied and interesting. I wasn’t bored yet, despite a somewhat smallish role. We had now moved beyond attacks on the base, and were working on backup for an attack on a base, coordinating all the different groups, hacking into the bunny systems so we could warn them of bunny backup coming their way, etc. It was hard, but fun. I smiled, suddenly. I didn’t feel useless here. I felt like part of the group. Not an outsider. My smile grew. Maybe I did have a few uses.
I was still blind, but I tried to do the simulations with Eve anyway. I didn’t help much, and got in the way a lot.
When I heard the message over the intercom, I had already been training for four hours, at least. What do you expect me to do all day? I get bored fast! Anyway, I trained for another while (And by training I mean practicing my witty taunts while slicing robots in half), when I noticed that Padme had been standing there for a good five minutes. I stopped slashing an already-dead robot, and walked over.
FLYNN
“Great,” I thought after the message over the intercom. “And I’m stuck here.” I stood up, nearly knocking Enceladus over, and walked to the training room. Padme and ((Slythix? Is that your character, electros?)) were talking, and a buch of other people were already battling, so I picked up a blaster and started on a robot. In about 5 minutes, it was a smoldering heap of twisted metal. I dropped the blaster and walked around the base. Callista had apparently found a storage room, because I passed her in the hallway, and she was carrying a very old model blaster.
((221: Yes.))
((I-Man, Electros, could you guys post?))
LILIS
I returned to my suite and spent the rest of the day training. I paused at about 6:30 to eat a hasty dinner and then went back to practicing for another hour. I then showered and dressed, prepared for the inevitable attack by the Resistance.
((I will on Friday – right now, I have a stupid concussion that’s still not fully recovered, a ton of homework/related stuff, and I still haven’t done any research on kung fu.))
((And I just did.))
((223.1 – Ouch! Feel better! Good luck with all of the homework and such.))
((223.2 – I mean, you just went over to talk to Padme, but I have no idea what you want to say to her, so I don’t know what to post.))
PADME
I was about to follow William out of the room when I felt another tap on my shoulder – Slythix. Groaning inwardly, I turned around, had a short conversation, and then made some excuse so that I could get away.
I hurried out of the training room and walked down the hallway to a room that looked like a mini-gymnasium. William was standing next to some of the punching bags.
((I-Man, I looked up Kung Fu in the encyclopedia, so I have an idea of what William would be teaching Padme, if you want me to post some of that. On an unrelated note, how are you feeling?))
KITTYMINE
I practiced with my blaster for a while, then switched to dart guns and then to gymnastics. I wanted to be as limber as possible when the time came to fight.
RIK
I continued practicing with a blaster, noting ruefully that I could get used to using one. After blasting targets and robots for about an hour, I saw Kittymine doing gymnastics in the far corner of the room. I went over to join her.
((226 – Sure thing. In fact, I had a good idea for a post to stall for time :lol:, but it can wait ’til tomorrow.
And I’m feeling just about normal by now.))
((I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long, I feel like I’ve missed a lot. Please feel free to PP my characters whenever possible!))
AGGIE:
I walked back to the main common room, feeling…uncertain, almost empty. We would have to attack tonight. There didn’t seem to be any time in which to explain how I felt about my children fighting so soon. I didn’t want to prepare. I had enough hatred to be sure that, when the time came, I would tear Xeer apart with my bare hands if I had to.
Aaron came over and put his hand on mine. We sat, there, waiting, together in the silence. Then, he broke the quiet barrier around the room.
“It’ll be all right, you know,” he offered.
“Do you know that?” I sighed and looked at him with quiet disbelief.
“I never have, but we’re together, and so I’ll believe.”
ZENA:
I took up a lightsaber and signaled Zavier over. “C’mon, let’s get sparring.”
He complied and we began to fight, hand to-hand combat with the matching blue swords. “Are you nervous?” he asked me, letting his guard fall for a moment. I simulated a blow to his right leg.
“Almost,” I returned as we resumed combat. “I just want our friends back.”
PADME
“Okay, ready to start?” asked William once I had reached him. I nodded firmly.
“The first thing we would need to do is some stretching – but since everyone did that before sparring, it’s a moot point. Therefore, we’ll start with strenghthening your hands and feet and then we’ll move on to some of the stances.”
William pointed to a few padded wooden boards that were on the floor next to us. He showed me how to pound on them with my hands and feet – we started off more softly and then increased in power.
After a few minutes or so William set the boards to the side.
“Okay, there are 6 kung fu stances: Closed Stance, Forward Stance, Back Stance, Horse-Riding Stance, Cat Stance, and Crane Stance. We’ll start with Closed and move forward.”
((229 – Thank you
))
“Closed Stance on its own is really simple – just keep your feet parallel to each other and move them slightly apart,” I explained as I demonstrated. Padme mimicked my position, and I continued, “Good. Now, there is also a defensive Closed Stance where you hold your arms in front of your face, one hand curled around your fist.” I demonstrated that one as well, then finished, “Now let me see you try.”
She did it so that her hands were blocking her eyes and said, “How’s that?”
“Hmm…” I said doubtfully. Realizing what was wrong, I walked behind her and corrected her arms as I said, “Your hands are a bit too high – if you move them down a little, not only do you have more visibility, but you’re slightly more prepared to block somewhere else on your body. OK?”
She was silent for a second or two, but just as I started to think she was in some sort of trance, she stammered, “Oh – uh, OK. Got it.”
((All I can say is, if you recognize this scene, you watched far too much Nickelodeon 4 or 5 years back.))
PADME
After my stammered assurance, William had me demonstrate the stance again before we moved on to the next one.
“Okay the next one – the Forward stance – is mainly used when attacking or counterattacking. Put one of your feet forward and lean your body in the direction of that foot. Most of your weight should be on the front leg. The foot should also be turned inward slightly.” William demonstrated and I mimicked the move.
For the next hour and a half, William taught me each stance and then had me repeat them in succession. Eventually I was able to demonstrate each stance as William called its name.
After finishing, I checked my watch –
((AAAAAAHHHH! I just realized that we have a major time problem. In post 183 I said that we buried Edward Tesser at 12:30 p.m. and then began training. In post 205 I said that we paused for lunch. But we started training at 12:30, AFTER LUNCH!!!! *headdesks like crazy* Umm, so, shall we say that we paused at about 4:30 p.m. for the progress report and then at about 6:00 p.m. ZVX announced that we would be attacking that night?))
After finishing, I checked my watch – 7:30. Still some time before we would leave, seeing as we would attack late at night. But when would we have dinner? That would effect whether or not William and I would go on with more kung fu or wait a bit. The thought had just crossed my mind when Groundhog’s voice came over the intercom.
“Attention folks! We will be eating a quick dinner at 8:30 and then we will pack up, gear up, and leave for the DOH. Repeat: dinner is at 8:30 and we will be leaving shortly thereafter. Thank you.”
((Kittymine, do you know where I got that part of my post from? If so, I’m both very proud and slightly ashamed (very slightly) of you…
And this is why organization, while a bit more tedious, is twice as efficient as the way we do things
))
FLYNN
Groundhog’s voice came over the intercom. “Attention folks! We will be eating a quick dinner at 8:30 and then we will pack up, gear up, and leave for the DOH. Repeat: dinner is at 8:30 and we will be leaving shortly thereafter. Thank you.â€
I passed Callista and headed back to the Control Room. A couple of people were still there, silently twiddling their thumbs. I took a seat in my favorite chair, an office chair with hot-pink splashed with red and “Down With Bunnies” all over it.
((Can we have a spy attack or something? The Control Group won’t have much to do.))
After hearing yet another announcement, I prepared for battle. I ate one pill of rather strong stuff that made my eyes water. I sharpened every single one of my assorted blades. I practiced against bunny-bots. I did logic puzzles to improve my battle strategy. And I wore my lucky T-shirt. Then I ate.
The mood at the table was excited. People were preparing. People were eating quickly, then talking rapidly to other people, who obviously were spreading rumors. I smiled grimly. I wanted only one thing. Bunny blood.
((231.1 – Actually, I was going to comment on that and then deleted it. In answer: Nope. I’ve never watched much Nickelodeon. I think the sum of my experience is when I was about 12 and I watched Sponge Bob at my next-door-neighbor’s.))
KITTYMINE
I practiced various acrobatic dodges and evasions for a while and then headed for dinner. I bolted whatever the Cafeteria Bots had made and ran to my room to pack my backpack.
“Okay,” I muttered to myself, “Notebook – check; Writing utensils – check; Book-to-read – check; Stun grenades – check; Blaster – check; Communicator – check. Oh, and BunnyProof suit to put on – double check.”
I tied my hair up again, donned the BunnyProof suit, and headed for the hangar.
PADME
For the remaining hour, William taught me a couple of blocks and some attacks. I was nowhere near proficient at this, but it was definitely a start. At 8:30 we went to the cafeteria to wolf down dinner like everyone else and then parted ways in order to pack and change.
I pulled on a brand new BunnyProof suit that Groundhog had kindly put on each person’s bed, made sure that my lightsaber was clipped to my belt, and took a blaster just for good measure.
RIK
After gobbling down some dinner I headed for the hangar. I didn’t really have any packing to do since the only weapons I owned were my slingshot and the blaster that I stole from a bunny. As I walked down the hallway, I ran into Groundhog who was going toward the Control Room.
“Hey, Rik! Where’s your BunnyProof suit? There should have been one on your bed.”
“Come again?”
“There’s a jumpsuit on your bed that will help protect you from the bunnies. Put it on!” Still slightly mystified, I nodded and went to my dorm room to put on the suit.
ZENA:
Zavier and I headed down to dinner, and sat with the others as we gulped down our food. I couldn’t eat much, though. The food seemed to get stuck in my throat as so many thoughts crossed my mind. This could be my last meal.
I trudged back to the dorm, my body feeling heavy like lead. I wasn’t ready for this, I knew, but as I slipped on my tight black suit and clipped my lightsaber to my belt, I felt an obligation i had never known before. This was for my friends and family, that i was going to fight now. It was serious. I combed my short hair and then walked back out into the main chamber, where people had begun to assemble. The key was cold against my chest, under the suit.
“What now?” I asked, to nobody in particular, but needing an answer.
I slid on the rather small suit. Bunny proof, you say? I thought. More like Bunny resistant. Have you ever noticed the difference between water-proof watches, and water-resistant watches? Ah well, it might work. And there were plenty of pockets in unseen places for my weapons. I slid on a pair of gloves. I didn’t need them, but they looked cool. I was ready to go.
PADME
As I walked toward the hangar, anxiety began to gnaw at me in the pit of my stomach. It’s one thing to fight with a robot – quite another to fights with an adversary that’s actually trying to kill you. I wasn’t quite as worried about the bunnies as I was about Lilis. I knew that she would be there, prepared. I wasn’t quite sure why she had such a vendetta against me specifically.
RIK
I pulled on the jumpsuit, making sure that my slingshot was accessible. I stuck the blaster into a built-on holster. Thus armed, I walked to the hanger, joined by many others. We were all silent, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts.
((Note to Editing People: in post 216, it should say ‘this evening vs early tomorrow morning’ instead of ‘this afternoon vs early tomorrow morning.’))
((SUMMARY
)
> see post 183 for last summary
> Chronology of Events (since yours truely mixed up the times)
– It is now November 25th, day 5
– 12:30 pm: Padme’s father Edward Tesser is buried.
– from 12:40 to 4:30: Training. Rescue and Backup groups were in the training rooms, Ground Control were in the Control Room. The “Goundhog has gone traitor” message was sent to Xeer.
– 4:30: Progress Report (post 205. I know it says that we broke for lunch. That is a mistake
– 4:30 to 6:00: more training.
– 6:00: ZVX announces that we have recieved a positive reply from Xeer and we will be attacking that night.
– 8:30: Dinner, which is wolfed down as people are hurrying to gear up and pack before we leave for the DOH.
– Everyone who is in the Rescue or Backup groups are currently assembling in the hangar.))
((Sorry I’ve been gone.))
Callista:
I had trained all afternoon, and though I wasn’t at all sure I was ready, I was confident that I wouldn’t be too terrible. Just before supper, I went back to my room to find the Bunny-Proof jumpsuit. I put it on, making sure my new blaster was accessible, clipped my lightsaber to my belt, and went down to supper. I saw Eve sitting over in a corner, and started heading towards her. She was talking, and I glanced across the table she was sitting at, to see who she was talking to.
Enceladus. I stopped, turned, and walked over to a different table, frowning.
I put down my plate, and sat down. I stared at it a moment, decided I wasn’t hungry, and sat waiting for everybody else to finish. While I was doing that, I pulled out the blaster I’d found earlier, to examine it again. The silvery metal was both cool and warm, somehow. It appeared almost to tingle beneath my skin. I turned it over, wondering why I had been so drawn to it. It was pretty, of course, and I now knew it was effective, but I hadn’t known that, and there were others in the armory just as visually pleasing. It fit well in my hand, probably better than any of the others I’d held. Maybe that was…
My thoughts were interrupted by Mom’s voice.
“There you are, Callista.”
I looked up. “Hi Mom.”
She smiled. “How are you doing? Ready for the attack?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
She didn’t answer right away, and I glanced at her face again to find it almost frowning, staring at my hands. I glanced down and realized she was staring at my new blaster. Then she spoke. “Where did you get that?”
I could hear a bit of excitement in her voice, and I was rather surprised. “In the armory. Why?”
No reply. She stared off into the distance, her face almost smiling now. “The armory… I’d forgotten about those…”
She turned and left. I looked back down at my food, confused. What was going on?
Errata:
I walked quickly, towards the armory. It had been a shock to see my old blaster in the hands of my daughter. I had not expected ever to see it again, after I’d had to leave it in its hiding place in my old house, which I was sure had been burnt… Or, at least, it would be no place to live anymore. Too many memories, all of them painful.
I should have remembered the spares I had put in the armory here, in case it was destroyed. Spares of the one blaster I truly felt comfortable with. It somehow worked with me, fired where I wanted it to, in a way no other blaster did. I smiled. I could take on legions of bunnies with any of Tatiana’s twins.
KITTYMINE
After about 10 minutes, everyone in the Rescue and Backup groups has assembled in the hangar. Groundhog stood up on a crate and called for attention.
“Okay, I’d like to give you all a few instructions concerning the new BunnyProof Suit.” I grinned, rolling my eyes – time for a speech.
“I’ve updated the depigmentizer darts so that they will work on the current HPB, who has somehow managed to build up a resistance to the old one. The darts are loaded into the gloves of the suit – just point a finger and press your palm. There are spare darts in a hidden pocket on the left side of the suit.”
“The helmet now has a thermostat built into it, as well as an updated visor, which will give you even better protection from an HPB or black bunny’s eyes. It’s also bulletproof, dartproof, etc. Oh, and I have also built in earplugs that will activate if a bunny is trying to hypnotize you.”
“Finally, the suit itself is tear-resistant – ”
“Guess we haven’t progressed to tear-proof,” mutter Slythix under his breath.
“- with pietanium and kevlar woven into the fabric/polymers. The outfit is 100% bulletproof, dartproof, and the chest and back will deflect minor to moderate blaster shots. Oh, and it is also tar-proof, in case the black bunnies decide to go for low-tech.”
She stepped down from the crate and ZVX took her place.
“Thank you, Groundhog. Now, each group will need to divide into sections with three or four per Arwing. Cerre, TGYPWYA, and myself will be in a seperate Arwing with Groundhog to ‘escort’ her.”
We divided up quickly, climbing into blackout, stealth Arwings. We ended up with the following groups:
RESCUE
Arwing 1 – Aaron, Aggie, Armada, Errata
Arwing 2 – William, Padme, Callista, Slythix
Arwing 3 – AvalonGirl, Philomena, Ligia
Arwing 4 – Zena, Zavier, Kaye
BACKUP
Arwing 5 – Crystl, Daisy, Serafina
Arwing 6 – Connor, Kokonilly, Kittymine
Arwing 7 – Rik, Selena, Koppar
Arwing 8 – Rainbow, Rachel, Sophia
ZVX, TGYPWYA, Cerre, and Groundhog were of course in their own Arwing.
PADME
I climbed into an Arwing, followed by William, Callista, and most unfortunately, Slythix. William took up the pilot’s chair, Callista the copilot, leaving me behind the two of them next to Slythix.
“Okay, get ready to take off,” came ZVX’s voice over the radio. “Once we’re in the air, Groundhog will send a message to each Arwing that will show up on your navigations screens. It will show where each group is supposed to land.”
“Everyone belted?” asked William, his hand on the joystick. We all nodded. William gunned the engines and we lifted off, soaring out of the hangar.
I stayed behind. I couldn’t fight, since I was, well, blind. I listened regretfully (Though I didn’t have any) as Kittymine and everybody split up into groups for rescue.
((I think you’re in ground control, so you wouldn’t be going.
By the way, I meant to write a post where Eve guided you to a small group of buttons to press when certain noises played, but I forgot. I’ll go write one and reply to your post, to get it in there.
That’s why you were sitting beside Eve and talking to her at dinner. I hope you don’t mind?
Eve may or may not develop a crush on you, though I’m leaning towards not. I would like for her to become friends with you, however.))
((Okay, I’m going to be here on and off for the next two weeks, so people can feel free to PP my characters.))
((If the thread moves enough for that to be necessary, I’ll be sure to do just that. *prods thread sadly*
((*repeats Errata’s statement and action*))
((*repeats*
Callista:
After I finished staring at dinner and forcing myself through a few mouthfuls, I went to the hangar with everybody else. I climbed into an Arwing with Padme, William, and Slythix. I got copilot, and busied myself with preparing for flying. I had a sudden feeling that if I stopped worrying about the battle ahead, I would feel very sick indeed. Nerves, I was sure, but… I again buried my concentration in flying.
((I’m back again – if but briefly.))
PADME
“Any idea how long it will take to get to the DOH?” I asked in the general direction of the pilot area.
“Well, we are equipped with supersonic boosters, but we aren’t supposed to hit them until we’ve flow a certain distance – ZVX or someone should be sending us a signal soon,” said William.
“So basically, not a long time,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
((Let’s hope we get to destroy bunnies in very cruel ways very soon, so I can use my demented mind to think up rather torturous deaths for bunnies.))
“So basically, not a long time.” said Padme, rolling her eyes. I was too busy checking, preparing, and otherwise doing stuff with my weapons to respond with a snappy comeback. Plus, I was checking out the new(installed by yours truly) weapons system. It was big, with lots of weapon controls. I think it was somewhere around a dozen of almost everything. I grinned. I was going to enjoy this, even if I wasn’t out there in the heat of battle.
((Nearly forgot about my resolve to post once every day!))
Eve:
I watched the Arwings off, then went back to the Control Room. I almost wished I could go. Almost, but not quite. I turned back to the control room, smiling as I went. I could be effective there. In a battle, I was nothing. Here, a vital link in the chain.
˙ǝɯıʇ ʇɐɥʇ ƃuıɹnp sqoɾ ɹıǝɥʇ pǝʞɹıɥs sʃʃǝɔ uıɐɹq ɥsı-000'ގ punoɹɐ puɐ ʎʃʇuǝɔǝɹ ʇno pǝuoz I ¿uıɐƃɐ 'uɐ⠽ ǝɥʇ s؛ㄥ⇂ᄅ8#⅋ʇɐɥM
could i join this (although iu am in another rpg already but i love them!! :-D)
((Okay, at first, we just let it fly because you were a neophyte. But now, it’s just getting annoying. I don’t think anyone is going to tell you anymore. USE PROPER GRAMMAR/PUNCTUATION/SPELLING ON MUSEBLOG!!!! IT’S GETTING VERY, VERY ANNOYING TO READ YOUR POSTS. THIS ISN’T A CHAT-ROOM. It really is. You can join, I’m in at least 5 RPGs already, and one RPW. And, please, try to use double parentheses on RPGs. It helps separate the story from the discussion.
((Okay, LBK, that was kind of too much. Really. You don’t need to yell at Puffpuff, you can get en to listen just fine with this kind of writing. Using THIS kind, rather than helping the phyte, will just scare them off.))
((Whoops. I thought I had changed my name back…))
((Gah! There it goes again! This time should have fixed it…))
((Sorry, I just…UIYTADIUQNYIUD!!!!!! *pant pant* We’ve told en so many times before, I just kind of snapped. I have a very short fuse for stuff lik that.))
True dat. 8)
Not about the fuse but the first thing SR said.
Errata:
I had gotten pilot’s seat in my Arwing, and I was flying it. I had always loved flying… Snapping back from reminiscing, I concentrated on flying again. I wasn’t so good anymore that I could space out at all. Out of practice. I’d need to fix that.
I felt my blaster, back in its old sheath, and wondered again that Callista had happened to pick that blaster when she was choosing a weapon. I supposed it clicked with her too, somehow. I was glad, in any case. I would have a much easier time in the upcoming fight.
The fight. I smiled. I was looking forward to it. I could exact some revenge on the bunnies. I hadn’t been thinking about that last time, since I had just been worried about Callista most of the time. But I was confident she could take care of herself now. I could concentrate less on her, and more on the bunnies. I could hardly wait until we got there.
I heard ZVX beside me reaching over to the comm. system, and moved my hand to the supersonic booster lever.
((Whoops, forgot to de-adminify myself.))
((247 – see post 139 for the plan))
((SFTDP, had to get off suddenly.
Also I-Man, see post 238 for a Chronology of Events.
As for right now, we are all in Arwings (the Backup and Rescue groups at any rate) heading for the DOH. You are piloting an Arwing with Callista, Slythix, and Padme in it.))
((Yes… I am stuck in an Arwing with you three! I am happy and you aren’t!))
((But you are going to DIE!
(or rather, you would have, if I had gotten some time on April 1st to post some stupid joke RP)))
((Dying is no issue. In fact, I’d probably revive as an undead, which would make even more awesome.))
((But then Lilis, who would be a dog, would tear you to pieces, eat each individual one, and then vomit them all up in different countries. (This is starting to get too ridiculous, even for April Fool’s Day)))
((Okay, I have a question: Should we make this rescue mission the end of BATANG? Should we kill Xeer or should we just rescue everyone and then do the Trojan Bunny Idea (Part 5, post 393, plan b under “Plans for Ending This Thread”)? ))
KITTYMINE
I climbed into an Arwing after Nilly and her husband Connor. There was room for the three of us to sit in front – one pilot (Nilly), one copilot (me), and one gunner (Connor).
After flying for about five minutes, a transmission came through from ZVX.
“Okay, hit the supersonic jet boosters. Estimated time of arrival is in ten minutes. Your navigations screens will show you where to land.”
PADME
I refrained from saying anything after ZVX sent the message to go supersonic. I felt that more pathetic remarks of the ‘when-will-we-get-there’ variety were quite unnecessary.
((My vote is to rescue everyone and then do the Trojan Bunny idea sometime afterwards. Or Xeer somehow gets the Key and we have to chase him down to the center of the Earth anyways.))
((Ditto.))
((Oh dear. Let’s hope we upgrade to fireproof by then…))
((Have you read Journey to the Center of the Earth or seen the movie(s) based off it? Because I think that’s what we’re using as inspiration.))
((I really should, but I’m too lazy. But that sounds about right…))
((Correction: “what we were using as partial inspiration for the ‘center of the earth’ idea”.))
((Okay, could you guys please post RPGs instead of comments? I don’t like being the only one posting the story.))
((Sorry, I was going to roleplay every single day, but then I got off track. I’ll try even harder in the future.))
((Kay. Why don’t we give the Ground Control something to do by getting them to remotely fly the Arwings around, causing some trouble?
And I’ll second I-man’s idea. Let’s just stick with the Trojan Bunny though, ’cause I think we’ve really complicated this enough. I don’t know, though. We could do something else.))
Eve:
I listened to ZVX’s announcement over the speakers. Our radar, which had been showing our fighters, suddenly showed blank. I smiled. Not long to battle.
Callista:
ZVX’s voice came over the radio. William touched the jet booster lever. We sped off. I dropped my hand to my lightsaber, holding its cool metal ridges. Not long until we fought.
Errata:
I pulled the lever as ZVX talked, too impatient to wait. We suddenly sped up, to be there soon. I smiled, eager to fight.
((Trojan Bunny it is!))
((254 – Good idea… Hey, should we have a mini dogfight with some bunnies on air patrol? That would give the Ground Control something to do…))
JENNY
I watched my screen with ever increasing boredom. Now that the Arwings were in the air, there wasn’t much to do, unless somebody got into trouble which was highly unlikely. The people piloting the Arwings are ‘big people’ – they know what they’re doing.
I wasn’t the only one getting bored – to my left, Charlie was fiddling with his headset while gazing around the control room. I sighed. I wished I could just amble off to get some doughnuts, but I knew that Mom would get upset if she found out that I slacked off on the job.
I turned back at my screen in time to notice that our Arwings had showed up again – but there were pink blobs starting to show up on the edge. I turned to my right where Eve was sitting.
“Eve? What do those pink blobs mean?”
FLYNN
I flicked at the air, pretty much bored out of my skull. Jenny turned to Eve, and asked her what the pink blobs on the radar meant. “I rolled my eyes and said, “Well, obviously they’re pink. And the only thing we know of that’s pink is HPBs. Therefore, they are HPB planes.”
JENNY
The impact of Flynn’s flippant words hit me.
“HPB planes? Then – ” I cut off as I turned back to my computer screen. I pressed the TALK button on my headset.
“Attention all Arwings! Attention all Arwings! There are bunnies coming up on the radar. They are probably not in view yet, but they are coming!”
I sat at the back of the arwing. Crystl and Serafina were piloting, so I absentmindedly examined the ship’s defense system.
“So what’s it like to be bunnified?” Crystl asked quietly.
She had been talking to Serafina, but she didn’t seem eager to answer.
“It’s simple,” I replied. “Worry-free. You don’t have to think for yourself. The only thing that matters to you is obeying orders. There’s no guilt, because everything just seems so right, so obvious that it can’t possibly be wrong.”
I caught a glimpse of my reflection in my arm blaster. Is it just me, or are my eyes vaguely pink? I shook my head.
The speaker switched on.
“Attention all Arwings! Attention all Arwings! There are bunnies coming up on the radar. They are probably not in view yet, but they are coming!â€
I got behind the gun controls.
“Get ready…” Serafina said.
GROUNDHOG
I grabbed the radio as Jenny’s voice issued from it.
“Ground Control – How many bunnies?” I asked urgently.
“It looks to be about 10 or 12,” replied Eve.
“Okay – thanks for the warning.” I answered. I turned to ZVX.
“Looks to be a regular patrol, judging by the numbers.”
“Yes, but we still have to get past them AND not let them realize how many of us are coming. That would screw up the whole plan,” he replied, frowning.
KITTYMINE
A few seconds after Groundhog finished her conversation with Ground Control, ZVX came over the radio again.
“Okay, here’s the plan – since we can’t let the bunnies know how many of us are coming, some of the Arwings are going to have to dodge the bunny ships. That means go over, around, under, etc. Just MAKE SURE that they don’t see you. You are in steath ships, so use that to your advantage. Arwings number 3, 6, 7, and 8, prepare to dodge. The rest of you should get close to my Arwing. If the bunny patrol fires – which they likely will – feel free to fire bakc. Distract them even, so the the other Arwings can get through. Oh, and keep an ear out for instructions from Ground Control and turn off the supersonic jet boosters.”
As ZVX spoke, Nilly and I grasped the joysticks in front of us while Connor readed the external blasters, just in case. As the bunny patrol started to come into view, we turned the joysticks simultaneously, sending the craft into a steep dive downward, under the approaching bunny ships.
PADME
William steered our Arwing toward ZVX’s while Callista turned off the booster.
“Padme and Slythix – command the external blasters,” called William from the cockpit. I turned my seat toward the panel at the side of the ship where the controls for the external blasters was. I was ready.
RIK
After ZVX’s transmission came through, Koppar and Selena prepared to dodge while I took up the external guns, just in case. A minute later, the bunny patrol ships came into view.
JENNY
I listened as ZVX gave orders and watched as the Arwings regrouped. I hoped that Mom and the others would be all right.
SLYTHIX
“Padme and Slythix- command the external blasters,” Willam said from the cockpit. Finally, time to murder some bunnies! I whipped to the controls, and launched a immensely thick barrage of laser fire. So thick, that their sensors were likely shorted out by now. Just to be sure, I fired a few ion cannons(remember them? they short out technology) into the barrage.
CHUCK AND BILL((New bunny characters who are rather unluckily stupid. They also are immortal, but they don’t know it.))
Chuck and Bill were playing a video game. At least, that’s what they thought it was. It was actually the weapons control systems, but their boss knew this was the only way they’d do it. At that moment, however, everything had shorted out at once.
“What do we do, Chuck?” said Bill, the younger one.
“Let’s eat ice cream.” said Chuck, the older one.
Therefore, they ate ice cream while their boss yelled about the ship being attacked, and that the ship would be wrecked if they didn’t stop it. Chuck and Bill were too busy eating ice cream to listen.
SLYTHIX
“One down,” I said, as I watched a ship spiral lazily down to the ground.
We were staying close to Groundhog’s Arwing, shooting down any bunnies that shot at us or got too close, when Callista peered at the dashboard and asked, “Hey, William – what’s this gauge right here?”
For a few seconds, her question didn’t register in my mind. But when I finally looked at it and saw what it was, my eyes widened and I breathed, “Ohhhhhh, this is not good…”
“What?” she asked nervously. I ignored her and thought for a second. The gauge was our energy that was used to fly the ship, and it was running out. There was only one thing we could do, and it might make things worse…
“Guys, we got a problem!” I shouted back to Padme and Slythix. “Our flight energy is running out and we’re going to be falling soon. The only way we can stay up is by firing impact shots at the ground, and at the right strength level, we’ll need 3 people keeping us up, leaving only 1 person to shoot at the bunny. Who here has hyperactive reflexes from drinking too much soda at dinner?”
((I feel too lazy to decide who the one person is on my own.))
PADME
“I’ll do it – I’m not exactly hyped up on sugar, but I think the Force will do. Oh, and we should probably alert Ground Control as to what’s going on so that when we land they can tell us where we are.”
SLYTHIX
“Darn!” I said. “I just ate some pie this morning! Ah well, my massive amount of rockets I have will help.”
“Why did you eat pie for breakfast?” said William confusedly.
“…I was hungry?”
PADME
William nodded. While I readied my blaster, I heard Callista calling in to Ground Control.
“Okay, everyone ready? NOW!” yelled William.
William, Callista and Slythix starting shooting, sort of steering the craft at the same time. A few bunny ships – noticing that we were dropping – began to shoot at us. I closed my eyes, concentrated on the Force, and shot back. I was rewarded for my efforts with wonderful explosions.
The craft started to spiral. This was good because it made it harder for the bunnies to shoot us. However, it just made things more confusing.
how do i join?
i want to but i dont know how
Uhh…where did you come from? And please, use punctuation.
*pounces on unfamiliar pseudonym* Are you a neophyte/newbie?
((Hello! You’re new, right? Welcome to MB!
I would recommend stopping by the Neophytes thread so you can get your welcoming pies!
Also, I guess I have to ask you to please use proper grammar and capitalization- it will save you a lot of trouble later (people tend to get snappish).
If you want to join this RPG [Role Playing Game], just create a character and tell us a little about what she/he looks like and en’s history. I would recommend reading the summary at post 238 (earlier summaries that go into more detail are mentioned) so that you know what’s going on. Then just write up a believable scenario of how you join the group.
Also, when you’re in a RPG and you aren’t posting your character’s actions, use double parenthesis, like these -> ))
(a tall ,5’11”, light brown haired man with an eyepatch is standing at therebel base lurking and waiting for the resistance to return)
->))do i need to post my backstory
((No, no. This is how you do double parentheses. And yes, a backstory would be a good idea.))
((Hi! So, as you will probably have ascertained, I wouldn’t mind joining this RPG. I’ve currently on two RPGs and one RPW, I believe, so I think I know how these things work. I’ll try to read through the threads before so I can understand some of the story, but meanwhile it would be helpful if someone would post a very very brief summary of the whole thing, not just specific events, because all the summaries I seem to have read (at least on this thread, anyway) really only detail the last few events that have happened, and I can’t really glean an overview of what it’s really about. If someone could do that, that would be extremely helpful, but as I said, I’ll try to read the threads in the meantime as well.))
Would anyone like to assign me a place I can start out at (maybe tell me which group I could join)? Thanks.
((SFTDP but I forgot to double-parenthesize! Argh! Sorry!))
((OVERVIEW SUMMARY
It all began on November 21st, 12 years after the original Bunny Apocalypse. After 12 years of uneasy peace, the HPBs came out of the woodwork again with a new leader, Xeer. They kidnapped most of the old Resistance members, who had since married and had kids. With the help of ZVX and Groundhog – two old Resistance members who were not captured – the next generation of Resistors go to rescue their parents. After several interesting fights, many escapes from old hideouts, and the discovery of a silver Key in a forest, the Resistance, now including the rescued parents, go to a Resistance base in the Yukon. There we receive a message from Xeer to hand over the Key, which goes to the center of the earth. The claim: you hand over the Key, we will go to the center of the earth and live there in peace.
Yeah right.
The message also included pictures of various people in Suspended Animation, all of whom have some connection to the Resistance members (i.e. Relations, characters who vanished from the thread, etc).
The Resistance couldn’t hand over the key, so we came up with a counterplan. We sent Xeer a message that made Groundhog out to be a traitor and offered Xeer Groundhog in exchange for the people in suspended animation. We would then bring Groundhog, rescue the people in suspended animation, and then get Groundhog out of there.
Xeer accepted, clearing thinking that if he get’s Groundhog, then he can get tons on information on us and then kill us all, stealing the Key at his own leisure.
Thus we divided up into groups: Ground Control, Rescue, Backup (for Groundhog) and Hostage(i.e. Groundhog). After training some, all groups except for Ground Control left for the DOH (Dungeon of Horror, a HPB base in Mt. Saint Helens).
If you start reading from post 240 of this thread, you should be all caught up to current events.
NOTE: The plan for the end of BA:TNG (if we ever get there) goes as follows: After rescuing everyone from the DOH, we stage some sort of battle or something and make it look like we’ve been defeated. To prove our compliance, we send the bunnies a huge Trojan HPB. Xeer has this big unveiling and we detonate explosives inside the Trojan HPB, killing Xeer and all of the gathered bunnies.
((Oh, thanks Kittymine! I understand much better now.))
ok i heard from an old friend about these bunnys and im so conceited that i needed to be the hero out on the front lines slaughtering bunnys and saving the world just for the greater glory of myself
((Punctuation and double parentheses. Try to remember those things. In particular the double parentheses.))
((Hey, is that you, Josh? *waves* This is Sahar, BTW. (Not exactly an ‘old’ friend, but…))
((Oh, and hi, the rest of you guys. I’m really sad about this, but I’m not sure I can keep up with BA:TNG anymore. I’d love a summary, and I’ll try to rejoin, but I may have to bid Armada, Juliet, and Kaye goodbye….
))
((Last summary is in 251. Semi-summary, anyway. More comprehensive, probably less useful to you, one in 271, which you’ve probably already noticed.
I’m ignoring the possibility you might drop out, because you’ve been a part of the BA:TNG I joined for so long I don’t think there’s any way I’d accept you dropping out.))
((Thanks! So, erm, have all my characters sorta disappeared from the story, or are they assigned in a particular group?))
Erm…. hello?…. *waves hand around vaguely*
((Oh, sorry. Kaye’s a Rescuer, and Juliet is in Ground Control. The list’s in 153.
I didn’t notice you’d posted, sorry. I’ve been somewhat patchy recently, so you probably posted during one of the days I was gone.))
((Oh no you don’t!))
((Sorry to bother you again, but what exactly are the roles of each group? Just to be clear….thanks!))
((Rescuers go find the captured friends and family and free them. Backup finds Groundhog, I assume, and makes sure she makes it out all right. Ground Control I’m not sure, I suggested that they should get remote control of the Arwings once everyone’s out of them. Not sure what else they could do.))
((What was the last thing that happened to me? I want to rejoin, but I need to find a place to come back in.))
((Hm… I don’t remember. You’re probably in one of the groups… Nope. You weren’t assigned. I guess you can just choose, then.))
((What are the groups? Also, I figured out a suitable ending for my character. Seeing as we already have figured out the ending, I thought maybe character-specific endings would be good to figure out.))
((Wow. I just said the phrase “figure out” 3 times within 2 sentences.))
((yeah it is sahar like my character it was argued about with jake for 2 hourers befor he finaly let me play this one))
((Haha! *laughs* I can just picture that. Well, welcome! :D))
(( the first thing im going to say once someone gets back is “so your the rebels ok i want to join which sith am i killin first
((May I join?))
((All right, thanks Errata. Which one has the least number of people?))
((fireh – probably. I’m only just joining myself, so I’m sure it’s all right. Which group are you planning on joining, by the way?))
((*jumps for joy* Lots of people are joining! *hugs all around*.))
((273.2 – Noooo!! Please don’t leave Armada! But if such a terrible thing should occur, your characters will not vanish into obscurity (take ZVX for example – he vanished long ago but his character is still alive and well). ))
((278 – Feel free to join. For an overview summary of BA:TNG, see post 271. To see who is in each group (this is explained in 271) see post 153. To see which Arwing the Backup and Rescue people are in, see post 240.))
((275 – feel free to jump back in – just choose a group to join (posts 153 or 271))
LILIS
I was sitting in the control room of the DOH, listening in on the transmissions of the patrol that was circling the DOH.
‘Just a routine mission – Ha! Those bunnies sure are thick,’
And then, ‘I really should work on getting out of here.’
After a frustrating half an hour of listening to lots of pathetic bunny banter, I was getting ready to give up and go back to my rooms to practice. Then –
“*chuckling bunny* What the – AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! *exploding sounds*”
I smiled. The Resistance had come.
((OK, so does anyone know what Ground Control does?))
((Ground Control does a couple of things.
a) keep an eye and an ear out for problems with flying aircrafts
b) warn any flying arcrafts of upcoming obstructions (such as HPBs)
c) watch the security cameras around the base to make sure nothing sinister is trying to sneak in.
d) command external defenses
Note on the Yukon Base: It is underground and the only way to get in is through an elevator hidden in a tree or through the hangar exit, which is disguised. There is a sophisticated defense system planted above ground, as well as several cameras hidden in the surrounding forest area. Oh, and as of right now the bunnies do not know the exact location of the base. ))
((is that a good way to join))
((OK, thanks. I think I’ll join Ground Control, is that all right? I’ll post character details later on.))
((SFTDP but…I have a lot of questions
What sort of things should I have in my character info? Is it just the usual stuff or should there be something different from other RPGs? Also, what’s the average age of everybody on here (character-wise, I mean)?))
((I think it’s basically the usual – name, age, any family details (like, say your character is married, has kids, etc), backstory, talents/abilities, etc.
As for the average age… ummm, hard to say. We’ve got adults (aged 20s to mid 30s) and kids (aged 2 – those are genii – through 15 at most (I must note that we have a LOT of 13/14 year olds. You can feel free to join the ranks.) ))
((I’ll post my character now. Tell me if anything’s wrong or needs correcting.
Name: Solange Willoughby
Age: 17
Location: Ground Control (Yukon Base)
Job: assistant to whoever’s in charge of Yukon Base’s external defence system
Background: An orphan. Before her parents died, they entrusted her to their colleagues at the Base if anything should happen to them (both of them worked at Yukon). Solange was brought up by her parents’ best friends, and had access to the best training at the Yukon Base from an early age. She is now a fully-fledged member who is in charge of protecting Yukon Base from any enemy intruders by enhancing existing barriers and creating new ones as technology becomes more and more advanced.
How was that?))
((Brilliant!))
((Thanks!))
Everyone else at the Control Room were busy guiding the Arwings through the bunny ships. It seemed like they didn’t need another person helping – there was already at least one person for each Arwing – so I wandered off to the side of the room to study the instrument panel. Everything seemed to be fine, until I caught sight of the radar map that showed everything around the mountain where Yukon Base was situated. At first, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but as I looked harder, I realized there were two unidentified aircraft flying at the edge of the map. I quickly called _____ over. ‘What do you think this is?’ ((Who wants to be the someone? And also was that okay? I don’t know if it stuck to the plan or not.))
((As of now, who is still at Yukon Base?))
((288- Whoever is listed as Ground Control in post 153))
((Oh, they’re all still there? I was thinking maybe some of them had left…anyway, thanks.))
Solange
I quickly called Enceladus, who was the nearest person to me, over. ‘What do you think this is?’
He examined the map for a minute before standing straight up and exclaiming, ‘I don’t believe it!’
‘What don’t you believe?’
He was now striding away from the map, looking around the room for someone who wasn’t busy guiding the Arwings through the bunny flotilla.
‘Jenny! Jenny!’ he called. ‘You have to take a look at this. It’s too small and I can’t be sure, but I suspect it’s something bad.’
‘What?’
‘The radar map!’ I cried. ‘Come on, you have to help us!’
Jenny quickly walked over to the back wall and carefully looked at the map. ‘I don’t understand. Everything looks normal,’
‘No, no,’ I interrupted. ‘Look, down at the bottom, there! Don’t you see it?’
She looked harder, peering at the bottom left hand corner of the map. ‘No..’ she whispered, shocked. ‘It can’t be…’
Beside me, Enceladus looked worried. ‘I thought it might be too,’ he said, ‘but you can never be sure. And I had hoped…’
Jenny straightened up. ‘It must be something new. They barely show up on the radar, and yet they do.’
The mysterious objects were floating around the screen, drifting over the map almost carelessly, as if by mistake.
‘They can’t know where we are!’ I said frantically. ‘We’ve been here for years and they’ve never known!’
‘I know,’ Jenny sighed. ‘But I don’t think they’re here by accident. The idea of two bunny ships that just happen to be flying near Yukon Base isn’t very plausible. There has to be some sort of explanation.’
‘What are we going to do?’ asked Enceladus.
Jenny looked around the room. ‘It’s important, but we need to wait until all of our Arwings are safely guided out of danger. For that, we need everyone who’s already working – we can’t ask anyone to leave the Arwings they’re guiding to help us.’
She thought awhile, and then nodded. ‘I think I know what we can do, for now. Enceladus, you stay here and watch the map. Make sure they don’t come any closer: if they come within 200 metres, tell everyone. Solange, run down to the find security and alert them to our situation. Tell them to be on their guard and to activate every defence system we have. Help them if you need to.’
‘Yes, of course,’ I said, my voice urgent, and Enceladus voiced his agreement.
((Ack- sorry, I forgot to tell you but Enceladus is blind at the moment. But don’t worry – you can keep your post. When the thread gets edited later on, that can be fixed. ))
((Oh. Oops. Sorry. You can change Enceladus to someone else then, when we edit. I just picked the first one I saw on the list.))
((Don’t worry about it. Easily fixed. (I’m nominally editing. Actually, I haven’t been for some time. I need to do that again… Gah. So much to do.)
I’ve been gone for a while, sorry about that, but I got my computer taken away. I’ll try to be on more often from now on.))
PADME
William, Callista, and Slythix kept shooting at the ground. Slowly we stopped spinning like crazy and began to settle, flying lower over the ground. The bunnies had all but forgotten about our Arwing.
JENNY
A few minutes later, Callista’s voice came over my headset.
“Attention Ground Control – or at least whoever I’m speaking to – ”
“That would be me, Jenny,” I replied.
“Okay, Jenny – just telling you that our flight energy is running out so we’re going to be firing impact shots at the ground in order to stay up. Once we land, would you be able to tell us where we are in relation to the DOH?”
“Sure thing,” I replied. Then I heard someone calling my name from the corner of the room. After quickly asking to Eve (who was next to me) to take over the task that Callista had asked for, I ran to the corner. Solange and Charlie ((that’s instead of Enceladus)) were standing there. They were pointing to a radar map on the back wall.
((sorry, gotta go, I’ll finish later!))
Callista:
I was concentrating hard on shooting in the right places, at the right time. I tried to use the Force, without too much success. I wished I’d practiced on it more. Sure, my blaster would keep me alive in a fight, but if I never got to the fight, there wasn’t much point. Fortunately, we managed pretty well. Once we had gotten more or less straightened out, I called Ground Control, and updated them on how we were doing.
((Who is going to be the person that Solange has to tell?))
((I’m back again.))
((Selenium, do you mind if I make this next post basically the same as yours, just from Jenny’s point of view and using Charlie instead of Enceladus? That means that I’ll be copying/pasting much of your post into mine. Is that okay with you?))
((Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t mind at all.))
((296 – Okay, thanks!))
JENNY
I looked at the radar map.
“I don’t understand – everything looks normal.”
“No, no,” Solange interrupted. “Look, down at the bottom, there! Don’t you see it?”
I peered closely at the bottom left hand corner of the map. Under close scutiny I saw…
“No…” I whispered, shocked. “It can’t be…”
“I thought it might be too,” said Charlie worriedly, “but you can never be sure. And I had hoped…”
I straightened up. “It must be something new. They barely show up on the radar, and yet they do.”
We watched the mysterious objects float around the screen, drifting over the map almost carelessly, as if by mistake.
“They can’t know where we are!” Solange said frantically. “We’ve been here for years and they’ve never known!”
“I know,” I sighed. “But I don’t think they’re here by accident. The idea of two bunny ships that just happen to be flying near Yukon Base isn’t very plausible. There has to be some sort of explanation.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Charlie.
I looked around the room. “It’s important, but we need to wait until all of our Arwings are safely guided out of danger. For that, we need everyone who’s already working – we can’t ask anyone to leave the Arwings they’re guiding to help us.”
I thought hard for a moment. “I think I know what we can do, for now. Charlie, you stay here and watch the map. Make sure they don’t come any closer: if they come within 200 meters, tell everyone. Solange, run down to the find security and alert them to our situation. Tell them to be on their guard and to activate every defence system we have. Help them if you need to.” Both Solange and Charlie nodded assent. I went back to my station and told Eve about what was going on.
Things were definitely starting to get complicated.
((Sorry, I haven’t been on in awhile!! Those “things” on the radar map are bunny ships, right? I need to know what my character, Flynn, needs to do.))
((SFTDP I just figured out they aren’t bunny ships. What are they?))
((They’re…something to do with bunnies, but not exactly fully fledged warships, no. Perhaps a smaller plane. I’m not really sure.))
((Thanks, Selenium! I just had a brainstorm. I will put it into this post.))
FLYNN
I took down my Converse sneakered feet from the control board. Now it was business time. Overhearing Solange and Jenny say something about small ships on the radar, I quickly pulled out my Hyper-Real-Lenses and put them on. “Activate Remote Airship Bunny Identifier and Eradicator System,” I said. RABIES ((Clever, huh?)) were designed to automatically seek out and destroy HPB ships, with a little help from yours truly. Two ships flew out of the hanger and joined the battered Arwings, with me at the (virtual) controls. They were virtually invisible to radar, with a shape like a normal airplane with the wings bent back. They were chameleon-like, since their surface absorbed all light to become nothing more than a shimmer. “Fire laser,” I said into the HRL’s microphone, and the RABIES fired
SOLANGE
Flynn had decided to use RABIES to get rid of the bunny…things…which was a good idea, but it had been without permission. We needed to understand better the cause and nature of these ships before using such extreme measures such as RABIES. Leaving Jenny to deal with Flynn, I raced down to find ((um…)) Cerre ((is that all right?)), who had been put in charge of external defence systems in case of bunny attack. This didn’t really classify as an attack, but we needed to be prepared for anything that might happen.
((300 – yes, that’s right.))
((299 – the bunny ships/thingys on the radar map are seperate from the Arwings. The Arwings are miles away, near the DOH where they are fighing the patrol. The weird bunny ship/thingys/etc. on the radar map were roaming around the ground area above the Yukon Base.))
SOLANGE
I ran down the corridor, the sound of my feet muffled in the thick carpet. I ducked into Cerre’s office and called, ‘Cerre! We need you!’
Cerre looked around. ‘What? What is it, Solange?’
‘There are these weird bunny things that are showing up on the radar map…they’re hovering dangerously close to the base and we suspect they’re not here by accident. Jenny wants you to activate all of our defence systems in case they manage to find a way in. Can you do that?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Cerre’s face was completely serious. ‘I’ll go tell some other people to help me close off every door and entrance – do you want to come?’
‘All right,’ I said, and we both walked quickly down to the main defence control room.
KITTYMINE
The Arwing flew smoothly, easily avoiding the notice of HPB patrol crafts. As we flew toward the growing form of the DOH, our radio was kept busy as bits of conversation came though. Here’s what we heard:
“Arwing 2 – what’s your status? You’re dropping,” said ZVX’s voice.
“Ohhhhhh, this is not good…†said William’s voice. My stomach knotted up – Padme was on that Arwing.
“William, what isn’t good?” asked ZVX. William’s voice issued out of the radio again, but he didn’t seem to have heard ZVX at all.
“Guys, we got a problem! Our flight energy is running out and we’re going to be falling soon. The only way we can stay up is by firing impact shots at the ground, and at the right strength level, we’ll need 3 people keeping us up, leaving only 1 person to shoot at the bunny. Who here has hyperactive reflexes from drinking too much soda at dinner?â€
“Oh – so that’s what’s going on. Arwing 2, you should inform Ground Control,” said ZVX.
Again, Arwing 2 didn’t seem to heard what ZVX said.
“I’ll do it – I’m not exactly hyped up on sugar, but I think the Force will do. Oh, and we should probably alert Ground Control as to what’s going on so that when we land they can tell us where we are,” came Padme’s voice.
“Oh, forget it,” said ZVX’s annoyed voice.
> > >
“Attention Ground Control – or at least whoever I’m speaking to – †said Callista’s voice.
“That would be me, Jenny,†replied Jenny.
“Okay, Jenny – just telling you that our flight energy is running out so we’re going to be firing impact shots at the ground in order to stay up. Once we land, would you be able to tell us where we are in relation to the DOH?â€
“Sure thing.â€
> > >
After a few minutes we landed somewhere outside the DOH.
“Ground Control, this is Arwing 6. We’ve just landed outside the DOH. Where are we and what is everyone else’s status?”
The defence control room was similar to the main one, but it was slightly smaller and there were fewer people in it.
Cerre quickly took charge and said to everyone, ‘Whatever defence system you are working on, activate it now!’
Everybody complied, and it was only after all the entrances had been closed off that someone asked, ‘What happened?’
‘We’re not sure, but we think the bunnies might have found out our location,’ I said tersely. ‘There are a couple of smaller ships hovering around the Base,’
SOLANGE
‘All right,’ someone said from the back of the room. ‘I’ve locked it,’
‘Good,’ said Cerre. ‘That means everything’s covered now. All we can do is wait,’
‘Wait?’ I echoed.
‘Wait,’ she nodded, and we fell silent. Turning to go, I said to Cerre, ‘I’ll be back at the main control room. They might need me for something. I’ll keep an eye on the radar map, don’t worry,’
She gave her permission and I left the room, walking back up the corridor to the main control room.
When I got there, Charlie was still watching the map apprehensively.
‘Any news?’ I asked.
‘Not really,’ he replied. ‘They’re starting to drift closer, it seems, but it’s so random and almost careless that I can’t really tell. The ships are just drifting around, but it looks like they’re slowly edging towards the base, making their way towards us,’ Charlie looked slightly worried.
‘Cerre and I have just been down to the defence control room; they’ve locked down the system and closed down all entrances.’
‘But what about the Arwings?’
‘They have someone watching the Arwings, don’t worry,’ I tried to say reassuringly. ‘If one comes close and needs to land, they’ll re-open that entrance, but only at the last minute. We can’t afford the bunnies noticing how to get in,’
Charlie nodded. ‘Solange, could you help me watch the map for a few seconds? I’m going to help Jenny, it looks like she’s having some trouble with Callista’s Arwing.’
‘Okay,’ I said, and I resumed watching the bunny ships at the bottom right corner of the screen.
((I’m just going to repeat for clarity’s sake: Our Arwings are MILES from the Yukon Base. They’re near Mt. Saint Helens, which is where the DOH is.))
((Was that to me? Oh. I sort of knew…well, I guess it’s just in case anyone needs to fly back here. Somehow.))
((SFTDP))
KITTYMINE
Julianne’s voice issued out of the radio in response.
“Let’s see… You are currently situated on the Eastern side of the DOH. Arwings 3, 7, and 8 – the other ones that had to dodge – are also in around the same area as you are, give or take 200 feet. Arwing 2 is currently coming in for landing right near you – a sort of bumpy landing.” I heard a dull thump and heard Julianne wince.
“They just landed – don’t worry, they’re all fine. Just scraped the underside a bit. As for Arwings 1, 4 and 5, they seem to have managed to stick relatively near ZVX’s Arwing. That group is still getting past the bunny patrol crafts. The should be landing a bit north of your current position. Hang on – ” There was a pause and the sound of Julianne typing.
“Okay – look at your navigation screen. The location of the other Arwings should be on there, labled and highlighted. I have some of the other Ground Controllers send these to the rest of the Arwings.”
“Thanks Julianne.”
PADME
“Okay guys, we’re coming in for landing. Hold on!” yelled William. I did just that. We hit the ground sort-of-softly, scraping the underside of the craft. We sat there for a moment, catching our breath. A few seconds later our navigation screen lit up and showed us where we were in relation to the other Arwings.
“Oh good – we’re right near the others who have landed,” said Callista.
RIK
Our craft dodged smoothly. Some bunnies shot in our direction and I shot right back. Then they sort of ignored us as they were distracted by the Arwings near ZVX’s or were blow to bits. Our Arwing landed with a little jolt, but otherwise it was fine. Our navigation screen was showing us where everyone else was.
A few minutes later, ZVX came over the radio.
“Okay, we have successfully gotten past the bunny ships. Arwings 1, 4, and 5 are heading in the direction of the rest of you. My Arwing will be landing near the main entrance of the DOH. Rescuers, head for the North entrance – sorry, I know this means you have to fly again. Backup, go in the East entrance.”
Callista:
We landed safely-if bumpily- and I exhaled loudly. “Oh good – We’re right near the others who have landed.” I reached down to my belt and felt my lightsaber. I wasn’t sure I was ready to fight, whether I was good enough, but I was certainly eager.
Errata:
I listened to ZVX trying to get through to Callista’s Arwing, steering with a bit more pinpoint precision than usual. I hoped Callista would do all right, and I knew there wasn’t much I could do to change how she was doing. It made me very, very, nervous.
But things were fine. Callista and the others landed safely, and we landed just a bit later, safe as well. We were just waiting on the others.
SOLANGE
One of the bunny ships was flying closer and closer to the 200-metre mark, and I waited for it to cross it before yelling for someone.
‘Jenny! Charlie!’ I called across the room.
They both looked up. ‘What is it, Solange?’ Charlie asked.
‘One of the bunny ships has crossed the 200 line, and the other looks set to follow,’ I replied grimly. ‘They’re on the east side of the Base,’
‘Solange, I’m afraid you’ll have to run down to the defence control room again to update them on the situation,’ said Jenny tersely.
I nodded, and left the room to go back down to Cerre and the rest of the defence system managers.
‘Cerre!’ I shouted as I ran through the corridors. ‘They’ve crossed the 200 mark, they’re heading for the east side of the Base!’
Cerre was immediately alert. ‘Send a third of security to the east entrances, but spread the rest out along the other three sides. They might try to get in from another side if they think we’re concentrating our defences at the east side only,’
Someone left the room to alert the security personnel.
‘What are we going to do?’ I asked, nervous.
‘That’s a very good question, Solange,’ said Cerre grimly.
((What do you want to happen with the bunny ships, anyone?))
((They shouldn’t take over the base. We’ve had to move too many times before. Maybe they’re Nicegoodius?))
((Sure. Or maybe they don’t manage to find a way in.))
((Something. But I’m tired of moving. I said that, didn’t I.))
((Yeah. You did.))
((310 – I second Errata’s motion.))
((Third it.))
((OK. I fourth it.))
((Fifth it. But what’s “Nicegoodius” mean?))
((Basically, it’s a bunny who’s nice and good, instead of violent and sadistic.))
((Sixthing it would just be overkill, but… I’m sixthing it anyway.))
((So are the bunnies going to be Nicegoodius (we could train them as spies! Or not…) or should they be evil and just not manage to find an entrance to the base?))
((I think they should be Nicegoodius, and we train them as spies. It’s an excellent setup for the Trojan Bunny.))
((For the what? Anyway, sure. So should we have them find an entrance?))
((The Trojan Bunny. Our plan for ending this thread, after this battle. (Don’t worry, BA will continue. I don’t think anybody could bear to have it end.) We’re planning on feigning humility and all that and sending a peace offering of a Giant Pink Bunny, which explodes just as soon as all the bunnies are together celebrating.
Leaving a bunch of others outside for us to discover later, of course.))
((312.1 – I second that (there’s a lot of seconding and thirding going around recently…). ))
Errata:
We were all climbing out of our Arwings all around. I looked. There weren’t too many more people that weren’t here yet, which was good. We needed to move before the bunnies realized we were here. I was somewhat antsy, ready for the battle to start.
Our arwing landed bumpily, and Serafina, Crystl, and I clambered out. Other groups had already arrived so we joined up with them, eager to go inside and fight.
((NOTE TO EDITING PEOPLE: in post 240, Cerre should NOT be listed as one of the people in the Arwing with ZVX, TGYPWYA, and Groundhog.))
((Oh, by the way, I’m pretty sure that the people in Ground Control will be able to hack into the DOH security system to watch what’s going on. And everyone has com cards to communicate with.))
KITTYMINE
As the Rescue Arwings headed off to the North entrance, the occupants of Arwings 5 through 8 climbed out of the crafts as quietly as possible. As we group together near the door, I took a head count:
Crystl, Daisy, Serafina, Connor, Kokonilly, Rik, Selena, Koppar, Rainbow, Rachel, Sophia, and me.
“Okay, everyone remember what we’re doing?” asked Nilly. “We go inside and sneak around. We create a diversion so that the Rescuers can rescue the people in suspended animation successfully – because personally I don’t think the Xeer is above backstabbing us – and a few of us may go to help ZVX and TGYPWYA who are watching Groundhog’s back. Not that she can’t hold her own,” added Nilly as an afterthought.
“Okay, let’s just get inside already,” said Daisy impatiently.
PADME
The four of us exited our Arwing (since it wouldn’t fly anymore) and squished into Zena, Zavier, and Kaye’s Arwing for the short flight to the North entrance.
Once we had all landed, we regrouped near the door and Errata took a head count:
Aaron, Aggie, Armada, William, me, Callista, Slythix, AvalonGirl, Philomena, Ligia, Zena, Zavier, Kaye, and herself.
Ligia had a good map of the DOH (not sure where he got it), so he quickly showed us where we were headed. After knocking out the cameras outside the entrance we opened the doors. We were met by two dozing HPBs, who were quickly dealt with.
We were in.
LILIS
I watched as the Resistance Arwings fought with the HPB patrol crafts. I noticed 5 ships heading for the main entrance. Their number was lessened to four as one suddenly started dropping.
‘Must have been an engine failure.’
Then the number heading toward the entrance whittled down to one ship, the other Arwings turning away and vanishing into the darkness.
‘Vanishing – ha. More likely doubling back.
I did not know what had become of the rest of the Resistance. I seemed unlikely that they would only send a few Arwings. The whole Resistance was here. It was just a question of finding them.
This question was easily answered by viewing the camera monitors in the control room. I waited patiently for about 10 minutes. Then the cameras outside of the East and North entrances stopped working.
I leaned forward, staring at the next two screens that showed the view from the cameras at the inside of the entrance. For a split second, before these cameras also blacked out, I caught a glimps of a bunch of people outside each door – at least ten outside each, possibly more.
I stood up and exited the Control Room, moving purposefully through the corridors. The other HPBs had no clue that anything was happening.
‘But they will soon’
It was time to battle with the Resistance once more.
GROUNDHOG
We landed outside the main entrance of the DOH. The three of us looked at each other.
“This is it,” said I.
“Good luck,” replied TGYPWYA.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” added ZVX.
After one last moment we exited the Arwing. My hands were handcuffed behind my back and ZVX and TGYPWYA each took hold of one of my arms.
Callista:
We took out the cameras quickly, quietly, and efficiently. The bunnies inside were asleep, and those cameras were out just as quickly. We were on our way to rescuing the others.
((Back! Sorry I was away for such a long time, I had to direct all of my writing effort towards my final paper in British Lit.))
ZENA:
After ZVX and TGYPWYA grabbed Groundhog and began leading her inside, our group of rescuers snuck through the entrance after them. Two lazy and snoozing security guard bunnies were easily drugged and put into a long sleep as we walked past, blasters and lightsabers at the ready.
The inside of the DOH was strange, and yet somehow familiar. There was only one light, a pair of torches at the head of a long corridor that stretched into blackness and out of sight. There was nobody else besides us, as far as I could tell.
“Does everyone have their flashlights?” Nilly whispered.
there came murmurs of assent as white beams clicked on and snaked into the unending blackness before us. The walls were made of thick stone, and I saw strange pink stains on many of the rocks.
“It’s…quiet,” my mother said as we all crept back to back down the long, dimly lit front corridor.
“Too quiet.”
Callista:
“I know what you mean. I feel like it’s been too easy so far. Only two bunnies on guard? Since when have the bunnies ever been that careless? Could they be planning something?”
SOLANGE
There were now several of us gathered around the radar screen in the defence control room, identical to the one upstairs except for that in this one, all the entrances were highlighted. The bunny ships were still floating around, making their way around the perimeter. Suddenly, one of the radios ((what do they use for communicating?)) crackled to life and the voice of one of the guards issued from it. ‘There’s a couple of bunny ships requesting permission to land. What should I do?’
‘They’re requesting permission to land?’ I said incredulously. ‘What do they think we are, crazy?’
‘Now, now, Solange,’ said Cerre calmly. ‘We don’t know for sure that they’re evil.’
She spoke into the two-way radio. ‘Tell them to land just outside of the entrance, and have ten of your men go and search the ships for any threat. Actually, make that twenty – ten for each ship, just in case. Make sure that you leave most of your forces behind to guard the main entrances though, if they decide to attack.’
‘Right away, madam,’ the security guard’s voice said, two seconds later. The radio stopped emitting static and fell silent.
‘Solange, I want you to go down to the entrance where they want to land and make sure everything’s happening as I said it should. They can have as many men as they want searching the ships, but always remember that there should be a majority protecting the actual entrance in case of battle.’
I nodded. ‘Of course, Cerre.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Use the two-way radio down there if you need anything. I’ll be staying here.’
((I think that would be com system. And by the way, it would probably be robots rather than guards.))
((Or robot guards.))
((Well, yeah.))
((Oh.))
GROUNDHOG
As we approached the main doors, lightening flashed –
Where the heck did that come from?
– and the giant, metal double doors swung outward, revealing Xeer and a few bunny higher-ups. Xeer was wearing a cloak which was streaming behind him in the breeze.
Okay, where’s the hidden fan? Seriously Xeer, totally over the top.
We walked forward – I pretended to look excited.
“Let go of Groundhog – she can come forward on her own,” boomed Xeer’s voice.
Ooh, loud voice. Really scary.
ZVX and TGYPWYA let go of my arms and shoved me forward. I turned and gave them my best twisted smile and then turned to approach Xeer.
“As for you two gentlemen, I suggest you exit in a rapid fashion or I may be tempted to kill you here and now,” boomed Xeer’s voice. I turned my head ever so slightly. In my peripheral vision, I saw ZVX and TGYPWYA back away into the darkness.
I reached Xeer and the other bunnies – the doors closed with a menacing thud behind me. Xeer beckoned and I followed him, noting that the other bunnies had formed a furry circle around me.
Errata:
I rolled my eyes slightly. My daughter, who had no clue of the bunnies’ existence just last week, pretending she knew that much?
“So, Callista, just how would you know how careless the bunnies are? Because you have a long, perilous history with them?”
Callista blushed. I laughed.
“No, you’re right. They usually are more careful than this.”
SOLANGE
I reached the control room of the main entrance, and found chaos. Security robots were running in and out of the small door. ((Someone)) was sitting at a computer, making sure all the robots were in the right place.
‘Have they got anywhere near yet?’ I asked.
‘Almost,’ he replied, typing busily. ‘They’re circling the area around the entrance now, and should try to land soon if my flight predictions are correct.’
‘Okay. I’m here if you need me.’
He nodded his reply and continued working.
KITTYMINE
As we sneaked around, looking for a good place to make a diversion, ZVX and TGYPWYA showed up.
“You’re not trailing Groundhog?” asked Connor.
“No – Xeer went all dramatic, so we couldn’t follow her in,” replied ZVX. “So we circled around and came in your entrance. Any sign of Groundhog?”
The words had barely left his mouth when we heard the sound of approaching pawfalls. We shrank into the shadow (which were plentiful, luckily). A few seconds later Xeer came into view, followed by a bunch of HPB higher-ups (you could tell by their uniforms). Just visible, surrounded by the HPBs, was Groundhog. I resisted the instinct to jump out and slay all of the bunnies who were surrounding my sister.
“Any idea where they’re taking her?” asked Daisy.
“Probably to some room with some machine that sucks information out of people’s heads,” mused Rik. I paled slightly.
“Okay, some of us are going to have to follow that group of bunnies,” said TGYPWYA. “Who wants to volunteer?” Daisy, Rik, and Selena raised their hands.
“Okay – TGYPWYA, you go with those three. Keep us informed,” said ZVX. TGYPWYA nodded and the foursome left.
PADME
“Okay, the Suspended Animation chamber isn’t too far from this entrance,” whispered Ligia, consulting his map. “Let’s go.”
We walked as quietly as possible, knocking out cameras and blasting the occasional bunny as we went. My nerves were jangling, my palms sweating like crazy.
‘Where the heck are the bunnies already? They must have noticed that the cameras are blacking out. This is seriously unsettling.’
After about 10 minutes (still no hordes of bunnies), we came to the large double doors of the S.A. chamber. Armada melted the lock with her blaster. After waiting a few seconds for the metal to cool, we all pushed against the doors, forcing them open.
A horrible sight, straight out of SciFi movies, met our eyes.
There were about 12 of them, each in their own individual cylinder, floating like pickled rats in a jar. Monitors in the bases of each verticle cylinder displayed information about the occupants vitals.
LILIS
The question was, which group to target first? There would most definitely be a group going toward the S.A. chamber. Others would be elsewhere, making sure that their friend Groundhog would be able to get away.
‘Decisions, decisions…’
Luckily, my decision was made for me by a call to my communicator.
“Lieutenant Lilis, we’ve go a problem,” said the furry voice of a slightly nervous HPB. “a bunch of humans got inside somehow and now there’s a melee going on level 2. Should I dispatch more HPBs to the scene?”
“Yes, Private Killer. In fact, send a group toward the S.A. chamber as well. I have a feeling we’re going to need them.”
“Yessir, right away!” replied Private Killer, an undercurrent of confusion in his tone.
I headed toward the S.A. chamber. I’d leave the melee up to the bunnies, but I resolved to stop by a little later, after it had wound down a bit and the Resistance fighters would be tired.
((AAAAHHHH!! I just wrote a really long post and when I clicked submit, it vanished! Help!!!))
It’s there. I fished it out of the spam filter.
((325.1 – Yay! Thank you Rebecca! Now how it got sent to the spam filter is another question…))
GROUNDHOG:
I was marched down the entrance hall, flanked by several uniformed bunnies. I was surprised–normally, bunnies didn’t bother with clothing. After several turns that appeared to be designed to be confusing, the bunnies led me into a large chamber that looked like a throne room. Xeer seated himself on a thronelike chair, while the other bunnies stood around him. I was left alone in the middle of the room.
“The famed Groundhog…” Xeer said slowly. “I can hardly believe that you would betray your comrades…Still, I am not displeased that you have finally seen sense.” He shifted on the padded throne, making himself more comfortable. “You will find that switching sides will be the best choice that you have ever made, especially since you will be allowed to remain mostly human. Your transformation will be considerably less painful that way.” “I am honored.” I replied with a bow. “When will this transformation take place?” “As soon as we synthesize the pigment.” Xeer replied. “In the meantime, you will wait in one of our laboratories.” “Thank you, Lord Xeer.” I replied. The bunnies surrounded me again, and marched me out of the throne room, with Xeer leading the way.
After walking through several labyrinthine passages, the bunnies stopped at another set of double doors, which swung open automatically. The space beyond them was dimly lit, and was filled with devices meant to restrain and torture. I realized that this was no laboratory–this was the DOH. “This is quite a laboratory.” I said to Xeer, raising my eyebrows. “Frankly, it looks more like a dungeon.” “I see that you are not as dim-witted as you appear, biped.” Xeer replied. “We would not allow you to simply switch sides. Not after everything that you have done to us. No, we will torture everything we need out of you before we bunnify you. You will beg for death before we are finished.” “We will see about that.” I said defiantly.
JENNY:
I watched the monitors closely. They were tuned to the landing strip cameras’ channel, so I could see what was happening. The ships landed and their doors opened, revealing several…HOT PINK BUNNIES!!! “Get out of there! Quick!” I shouted into my radio.
RIK
With TGYPWYA leading the way, the four of us followed the group of HPBs. After several twists and turns, Xeer led the Groundhog and the HPB into a room. As we moved closer, we were able to catch a glimpse of a large throne room before the doors closed with a thud. We ran to the door and placed our helmeted ears to the door. TGYPWYA whispered something about a hidden mike in the helmet that would pick up the sound in the room so that we could hear the conversation in our helmets. That seemed a bit odd to me, but lo and behold, after a few seconds I began to hear the conversation!
“The famed Groundhog…†said Xeer’s voice. “I can hardly believe that you would betray your comrades…Still, I am not displeased that you have finally seen sense. You will find that switching sides will be the best choice that you have ever made, especially since you will be allowed to remain mostly human. Your transformation will be considerably less painful that way.â€
“I am honored.†replied Groundhog’s voice. “When will this transformation take place?â€
“As soon as we synthesize the pigment.†Xeer replied. “In the meantime, you will wait in one of our laboratories.â€
“Thank you, Lord Xeer.â€
There was a sound of pawfalls coming toward the door. Without further ado we scurried back around the corner into the shadows, not a moment to soon.
“That did not sound good,” muttered Daisy. “It sounds like they are going to bunnify her!”
“I know – that’s what we’re here for; as backup to make sure that does not happen,” replied TGYPWYA.
We continued after the HPB group. We didn’t meet any other HPBs, most luckily. But as we moved farther through the labyrinth of passages, we realized where they were leading Groundhog – to the dungeons. After Xeer led Groundhog and the other HPB into a dungeon, we again ran foward to listen in. What we heard did not improve our sense of apprehension.
“I’m going to call in for more people – this is looking bad,” said TGYPWYA.
KITTYMINE
When we got up to level 2, we were met by a small group of HPBs. A minor melee ensued. But before more bunnies could come and make it a major melee, ZVX told us to get out of there. I turned – ZVX had backed away from the fighting, he face looking troubled through the visor of his helmet. We knocked out the remaining bunnies and hurried over.
“TGYPWYA just called in for reinforcements,” ZVX informed us. “Apparently the bunnies brought Groundhog to a dungeon and are planning on torturing the information out of her. What’s more, she can’t fend them off herself because there are half a dozen bunnies plus Xeer in there, which is more than she can handle. Let’s get down there before more bunnies show up here.
Unfortunately, things are never that straightforward. As ZVX, Crystl, Serafina, Rainbow, and Koppar rounded the corner, Lilis showed up along with a HPB reinforcements.
“Go on!” I yelled to ZVX as the bunnies advanced. “We’ll hold them off!” Connor, Kokonilly, Rachel, Sophia, and I all turned to attack the horde of bunnies and Lilis.
This was going to be difficult.
PADME
We stood for two whole seconds, just absorbing the horror of it. Then we jumped into action, moving around the room to take up a position next to a cylinder. Since there were 14 of us and only 12 cylinders, William joined me by mine; Zena and Zavier shared another.
This wasn’t going to be simple – we had to make sure that we wouldn’t accidentally suffocate the lot of them while trying to get them out.
To make matters worse, the P.A. system suddenly came to life.
“Hello Resistance members,” said Xeer’s voice. “Do you really think that I’d let you free my prisoners?” he laughed and then spoke in a high pitched voice.
” ‘But you promised!’ Oh, you poor naive Resistance – I lied.” He laughed once again. Silence fell, but you could faintly hear, far above, the sound of HPBs marching along. Coming closer.
“Guys, from the looks of thinks, we have about two minutes before the HPBs come,” said Armada.
LILIS
It was perfect.
I reached level 2 – HPBs and Black bunnies in tow – just as some Resistance members rounded the corner. Five were left behind.
This was too easy. I smiled, pulled out my blaster, and started firing.
((Sorry I haven’t been around. I’ll try to do better in the future.))
Callista:
“How long will it take to release them?” I motioned toward the inert figures. “Do we have enough time? And is there any way to get more time?” This was a worrying development. Even if we could get them out, I was guessing they wouldn’t come out of the tubes with no side effects, ready to fight. Our position would be severely weakened if we had to defend twelve weakened figures as well as ourselves.
ZENA:
“We’ve got to try, and fast,” my mom said. “If we can release them and get them reanimated before the bunnies reach us, we may have a better chance of coming out alive.”
“But will there be side effects?” Errata made a good point.
“Maybe we should try to release them one at a time,” I offered. “Seven of us can guard the door while the other seven remove resistance members.”
“Whatever we do, we have to do it fast.” The sound of impending doom in the form of small, pink paws became louder and louder upon our eardrums. Panic began to set in. “We have to get them free, for the sake of our survival.”
With that, we set to work trying to free the first prisoner from the cylinder.
PADME
“Perhaps we should see if any of the others are able to come and help. That is, if they can get here before the horde of bunnies,” I added. As a William began to work on freeing the person in the cylinder before us, I pressed the TALK button on my helmet.
“ZVX? Come in ZVX!” I said urgently.
“This is ZVX,” came ZVX’s strained voice. It sounded like he was running.
“We have a problem – hordes of bunnies are coming toward the Suspended Animation Chamber and we can’t hold them all off. They’ll be here in two minutes, tops. Do you have anyone you could give up?” There was a pause.
“I can send two – Groundhog doesn’t need five of us. Crystl and Serafina are on the way. I’ll also tell the others who’re fighting on level 2 that you need help – hopefully they can wrap that small melee up.”
The line dropped. I turned to the others.
“Okay – Crystl and Serafina should be here in a minute. I also vote with Zena’s idea.” Without further ado, I went toward the door. I was joined by Aaron, Armada, Philomena, Ligia, Kaye, and Errata.
“Is there anything in here to re-enforce the doors with?” asked Ligia.
KITTYMINE
The only good thing about the melee was the fact the it was a melee. Confusion could be our ally, and the relatively small number of bunnies meant that we had a chance of wrapping the whole thing up.
A few minutes into the fight, we had dispatched about a third of the bunnies. It helped that the new BunnyProof suit was deflecting many shots back at them, since stronger laser bursts weren’t practical in such close proximity.
Suddenly ZVX’s voice issued inside my helmet.
“Backup – This is ZVX. Don’t bother responding, I know you’re all fighting. Just letting you know that if the five of you have any way of getting out of there or wrapping things up, please do so ASAP – the Rescue group is having a bit of a bunny problem. Or they will in about a minute.”
‘Joy – this just keeps getting better and better!’
RIK
After about 5, agonizing minutes, ZVX, Rainbow, and Koppar showed up.
“There would have been more of us, but we had to siphon off two to help the Rescuers. Any good news?” asked ZVX.
“Well, they haven’t started torturing Groundhog yet -and that’s because Xeer left a few minutes ago to go do something and told them to wait,” said TGYPWYA.
“He should be back any minute,” I added.
“Then let’s do this before he get’s back,” said Koppar fiercely.
Callista:
I saw Zena and Zavier begin working on their hostage. I glanced down at my pad, then decided there was no way I could do this without help quickly enough to be of any service. Instead, I went to join the small group gathering near the door.
ZENA:
Zavier and I freed the first hostage with great difficulty. Even going quickly, the entire process took almost two minutes. The hostage, (insert hostage here), was limp for a moment, the vitals machine making a long, drawn out beep. Then, the heartbeat recommenced and the hostage opened his eyes.
“Welcome back,” I said kindly. “Can you stand up?”
“I think so,” he replied. Shakily, but with the ability to balance, he got to his feet. His clothes were soaking with the clear goo in which he had been suspended. “Wh-what happened? What’s going on?”
“You’ve been held hostage by Xeer for a very long while,” I replied. The disoriented man stared at me with a blank look on his face, as though I had just begun to speak Swahili. “But we need your help now. There is an army of bunnies marching to this room right now and we don’t have enough people to take them. Can you fight?”
The man thought for a moment. “Do you have any laser guns?”
“Here, take my lightsaber,” I offered. “I need to keep freeing hostages.” I handed it to him, and he went off to help barricade the door. Zavier had already begun working on the next tank, when suddenly, there was a pounding against the doors.
((New thread, maybe? This is the 485th comment.))
PADME
I thought for a moment. Just I was about to open my mouth to say my idea, Crystl and Serafina ran in.
“Hurry – those lagamorphs are only seconds away!” panted Serafina.
“Close the doors!” yelled Kaye. Aaron pressed the button and the heavy metal doors closed with a satisfying THUD.
“Okay, now what?” asked Crystl.
“Well,” I began, “the best course of action would be to use whatever this room provides. I would guess that this room has some rather good defense mechanisms inside it, considering what it has been holding.”
LILIS
Curses.
The jumpsuits that the 5 Resistance members were wearing we doing a good job as deflecting blaster shots. That is, there wasn’t enough room to use the strongest laser bursts.
‘So you’ve got high-tech covered, Groundhog. But what about good old low-tech?’
I pulled out a pistol and shot a few bullets in the direction of the nearest Resistance member. No luck – the bullet did not penetrate. I dodged to the side as the said person turned around, heading toward a new target. I tried a dart gun on a second member – again, no luck. I thought hard – these suits couldn’t be invincible…
I stood at the side in the shadows, watching for a moment. Then I realized – it was only the chest and back that were deflecting laser bursts. A the legs and arms were vulnerable (only to laser bursts) and a lightsaber would be able to go through the reinforced sections of the jumpsuit.
I grinned – I now had a plan.
((What should we do with the harmless bunnies?))
((SFTDP Never mind, I figured something out. Right after I pressed ‘comment’. Argh.))
SOLANGE
The bunnies lay scattered over the ground, unconscious. I ran outside and quickly covered them with blankets and towels as their bright colour made it easy to spot from air. We carried them inside and into an escape-safe room, lined with steel, just in case they woke up and wanted to escape.
‘What do we do with them now?’ I asked.
‘Wait until someone with the authority – like Cerre – to come down and interrogate them.’
‘Okay.’ I went off to call her.
((Hey, guys, I’m confused.
I am also AvalonGirl, if you wondered.
What’s going on? What should my characters do?))
((Well, who are your characters and where are they at?))
((I play AvalonGirl, Philomena, Crystl, and Serafina.))
((I think…yes, your characters were mentioned in post 316, where we were organized into groups. And Crystl just spoke in post 335. So you’re still here!))
((Yeah, but I’m confused about what’s going ON.))
((Well, I only really know what’s happening at Ground Control (Yukon Base specifically) since that’s where my character is. (I only have one. Shocking, eh?) Are any of your characters there? I can post a quick summary if you have characters at Ground Control.))
((We’re freeing the resistance hostages in the DOH. See posts 324 and below.))
((Gimme a post in which the four of them are PPed? If they’re fighting bunnies, I can take over from there. If talking, well, sorta.))
((Again, Crystl and Serafina were just PP-ed, see post 335. It shouldn’t be too hard to go from there.
))
((So…we’re inside a room in the DOH? At least, Crystl and Sera are?))
((So what they need to do would depend on where they are, right?))
((SUMMARY:
> See post 238 for last summary and/or post 271 for an overview summary.
> since post 238, the attack on the DOH has begun. The groups stand thus: Backup, Rescue, Ground Control, and Hostage.
> Backup, Rescue and Hostage groups assembled in the hangar and divided up into flight groups (see post 240). While flying toward the DOH, they were met by a patrol of HPBs who were flying around the perimeter of the DOH. After much dodging, diving, and shooting, all Arwings managed to get to the ground. The Rescue group went in the North entrance, Backup went in the East entrance, and the Hostage (i.e. Groundhog) was escorted to the main entrance by ZVX and TGYPWYA.
> Due to the fact that so much is going on, I will now be switching back and forth between groups.
Ground Control
> Members: Cerre, Charlie, Enceladus, Eve, Jenny, Julianne, Juliet, Sam, Solange
>After helping the Arwings get through the HPB patrol, Solange and Charlie noticed something strange on the radar map. It appeared that some HPB ships were coming toward the Base! Using security robots, the HPBs were knocked out as the exited their ships. Solange and others (not mentioned) helped cover the HPBs and drag them into an escape-proof room for interrogation (once they wake up, that is). NOTE: these bunnies are Nicegoodius.
Hostage
> Members: Groundhog, escorted by ZVX and TGYPWYA
>Groundhog was greeted by Xeer and HPB higher ups, who sent ZVX and TGYPWYA away. After leading Groundhog in, Xeer and Co. escorted Groundhog to the Throne Room and then to a dungeon.
Backup
> Members: Crystl, Daisy, Serafina, Connor, Kokonilly, Rik, Selena, Koppar, Rainbow, Rachel, Sophia, Kittymine
>After sneaking inside, they were joined by ZVX and TGYPWYA. TGYPWYA took Daisy, Rik, and Selena to trail Groundhog, who had just passed by with Xeer and Co.
The rest of Backup went up to level two. While there, ZVX received a message from TGYPWYA that Xeer was going to torture Groundhog and more help was needed. ZVX, Crystl, Serafina, Rainbow, and Koppar rounded the corner, but then Lilis and HPB reinforcements showed up, forcing Kittymine, Connor, Kokonilly, Rachel, and Sophia to stay behind to fight the melee.
While fighting, they received a message from ZVX that the Rescue group needs help, so if the melee could be wrapped up quickly, that would be great.
Rescue
> Members: Aaron, Aggie, Armada, William, Padme, Callista, Slythix, AvalonGirl, Philomena, Ligia, Zena, Zavier, Kaye, Errata
>After sneaking inside, they quickly located the Suspended Animation (S.A.) chamber and entered it. While inside, Xeer came over the intercom and informed them that hordes of HPBs were coming to stop them from rescuing the 12 people in S.A. Padme radioed ZVX for help – he sent Crystl and Serafina to the S.A. Chamber.
Aaron, Armada, Philomena, Ligia, Kaye, Errata, Padme, and Callista went to block the doors. After Crystl and Serafina came, Aaron closed the door. They are currently trying to figure out a good way to barricade the doors, since the bunnies are banging on the other side. Behind them, the remaining members of the Rescue group are freeing the people in the S.A. cylinders.
Hostage
Still trapped in the Dungeon, but Xeer had left to go “do something” – i.e. talk to the Rescue group over the intercom. TGYPWYA, ZVX, Daisy, Rik, Selena, Koppar, and Rainbow are currently outside the doors of dungeon, about to burst in and help Groundhog overtake the HPB higher ups that are in the dungeon.
So, to sum up where everyone is now…
> Aaron, Armada, Philomena, Ligia, Kaye, Errata, Padme, Callista, Serafina, and Crystl are working on barricading the doors of the S.A. Chamber.
> Aggie, William, Slythix, Zena, Zavier, AvalonGirl, and Kaye are working on freeing people in S.A. Zena and Zavier have already freed one person, who went to join the people barricading the door.
> TGYPWYA, ZVX, Daisy, Rik, Selena, Koppar, and Rainbow are outside the dungeon the Groundhog and the HPB higher ups are inside of.
> Kittymine, Connor, Kokonilly, Rachel, and Sophia are up on level two fighting Lilis and a bunch of HPBs.
> Solange and others (un-named) are bringing unconscious HPBs into an escape-proof interrogation room, to be interrogated by Cerre once they wake up. Others (also un-named) are keeping radio contact with the Resistance members who are currently fighting in the DOH.
I hope this helps. ))
SOLANGE
I ran out of the elevator, hurtled straight into a surprised Cerre, and tripped onto the floor.
‘Sorry!’ I gasped, picking myself up and dusting myself off. ‘So sorry, Cerre! It’s just that the bunnies have been, um, collected and they’re now waiting in the room. Apparently you need to go interrogate them.’
Cerre looked thoughtful. ‘Hmm…do they look evil?’
‘They look harmless, but you never know,’ I said wisely. ‘Half of them are unconscious anyway.’
‘Okay, I’ll be right down. Let me put these things down first.’
I waited impatiently for her to come out of her office again and she quickly returned empty-handed. We rode the elevator down together to the first floor and ran into the defence control room.
‘Where’ve you taken them?’ Cerre wheezed, panting.
‘They’re in this room here…’ I pointed to where the bunnies were, the awake ones sitting, shivering against the wall while the knocked-out ones were lying, mouths open, on the floor. Cerre grimaced, and let herself in.
‘I’ll be needing the rest of them awake!’ she called as she disappeared through the door.
JENNY
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help Solange, Charlie, Eve, and Julianne drag in bunnies, since my 5 years did not allow me to lift much of anything, let alone an unconscious HPB. I busied myself with following the radio conversations of the people in the DOH. What I heard did not sound very good.
And I was also scared for Mom.
I looked around me. The bunnies had been ordered not to do anything to me until Xeer returned. Time to make my move. I opened my mouth and started to sing “Dig a Pony.”
The effect was immediate. The bunnies surrounding me began to scream and writhe in agony. I upped my voice to make myself audible over the noise, and started to make my way towards the door.
Unfortunately, my singing hadn’t completely incapacitated the bunnies, and they started lurching towards me. I tried the door–which was, of course, locked. The bunnies were closing in, and I had nowhere to run. I used the Force to push them backwards, but I couldn’t hold them back and sing at the same time. All I could do was let them come closer, shove them backwards, and repeat. And repeat. Hopefully someone would open the door soon, and I’d be able to leg it.
RIK
Just as we were about break into the room, a strange noise started coming from the other side.
“Is that… singing?” asked Selena, her helmet to the door. TGYPWYA started cracking up.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“She’s… she’s singing in 3/4 time! How backhanded is that?” He laughed for a couple seconds more and then became serious again.
“However, that singing is not going to hold off half a dozen bunnies for long. We have to get in there.”
“Let’s see… we probably don’t have to burn through the door, because there’s a button here on the wall to open the door,” said Koppar, fingering the wall.
After double checking that our weapons were up and ready, Koppar pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
“Must be coded to only accept HPB pawprints,” said ZVX. “Okay guys, stand back.” ZVX pulled out his lightsaber and shoved it through the door.
((Okay, Groundhog and I are going to be on vacation next week and internet access will most likely be limited. Please PP us and our other characters!))
((*is confused* * does not see how that is possible, as has only missed one thread* *will attempt to hop back in* *probably with character adjustments*))
SERAFINA
I rolled my eyes. “Worst strategy ever, Groundhog, worst strategy ever. Is it even possible to sing in 3/4 time?” Both ‘Mena and Crystl were glaring at me for that, but I ignored it.
AVALONGIRL
It was horrible…they were in stasis, physical stasis, and it scared me…I needed to help these people. And so I’d do it by freeing them.
((345 – Crystl is in the Suspended Animation chamber))
KITTYMINE
We had whittled the number of HPBs down from 50 to 15, sustaining a few minor injuries along the way. Thank the Muses for Groundhog’s new suits – they were really helping.
“Okay guys! Let’s wrap the rest of these!” I yelled. As I blasted another bunny that was heading my way with a lightsaber, I suddenly felt something hit my left leg and experienced a load of excruciating pain. I let out a yell of pain as my left leg collapsed underneath me, sending me down to the hard floor. I looked around and saw Lilis crawling away with a blaster in hand, blending in easily with the black marble floor.
“Guys – watch out! Lilis is crawling around on the floor!”
PADME
I began to scan the room, looking for something to use. I noticed a control panel on one side of the door. I walked over to it (ignoring the pounding on the door) and touched the screen. The monitor and the keyboard below it lit up. The screen read: “Enter password”.
Great.
“Guys, I found a control panel here, and I bet that it enables the external defense mechanisms, but it’s locked with a password,” I called over to the others standing by the door.
“Perhaps it’s the same password that locked the control panels on the cylinders,” suggested Callista. She turned and yelled over to the people opening the cylinders (of which two had already been opened).
“Hey – Zena! What was the code you guys used to enable the control panels on the cylinders?”
I felt heat on my back and jumped away from the door in alarm. Next to where I had been standing, I saw the tip of a lightsaber poking through the bulkheads. Thank God. I didn’t think that I would be able to sing for much longer, what with how I had to practically yell to be heard. “Picture yourself on a boat on a river–” I sang over the din. Then, a loud clang reached my ears, and I turned around. There was a four-foot hole in the torture chamber’s door, and a four-foot disc lying on the floor next to it. I slipped through the hole, using the Force to put the piece that my comrades had cut out back. It probably wouldn’t hold for very long, but it was better than nothing.
“Thanks guys.” I said, accepting a helmet and my lightsaber from ZVX. “My voice was about to give out. Where’s everyone else?”
Can I join this thread? If so, what do I need to do? It sounds awesome.
((Okay, now that summer’s here, I can actually rejoin. Like, for real this time.
I’d love to be filled in at this point…)
((348 – see post 271 for the Overview Summary and post 339 for the most recent summary of events))
((349 – Hi again, Nilly! See post 339 for the latest summary – hopefully it should clear a few things up.))
((I’m going to start out in one of the stasis chambers. If this isn’t OK, tell me and I’ll come up with something else.))
I was suspended in nothingness. It was not dark or light, warm or cold, here or there. It just was. Or more accurately, wasn’t.
((351 – That’s a fine idea. It would probably be helpful if you also posted your character’s profile.))
((352 – Oops
. Sorry. Uh, what exactly is needed for a profile on this particular thread?))
((Okay, I’ll just jump right in.))
KOKONILLY
Kittymine shrieked and collapsed. “Guys – watch out! Lilis is crawling around on the floor!” she yelled. I looked down and, sure enough, she was poised with a blaster there. I quickly dispatched Rachel and Connor to go help Kittymine while Sophia and I attempted to fight off Lilis. We tried to get her, but it was very hard to see her if she stayed still. Fortunately, she moved around a lot, so I scooped up the toddler and let her ride on my back, covering me, while I attempted to find Lilis again.
((352 – Name, Age, Background (where you came from, how you’re connected to the Resistance/know about the bunnies, etc.) ))
((SFTDP))
KITTYMINE
Connor and Rachel hurried over (blasting the remaining bunnies out of the way) and carefully dragged me to the side of the hallway.
“First aid kit is in the largest pocket of my backpack,” I gasped, rolling over on to my stomach so that they could get into my backpack.
‘God, this hurts’
I was perspiring like crazy, so I lifted my helmet’s visor to get some air. Rachel handed me a water bottle and I took a few sips while Connor worked on bandaging my leg.
“At least it’s my left leg and not my right,” I muttered.
RIK
“Well, Nilly, Connor, Rachel, Sophia, and Kitty are on level 2 fighting some bunnies and Lilis. Everyone else is in the S.A. chamber,” I replied to Groundhog.
“Why don’t we head over to level two to help the five of them finish up and then we can all head down to the S.A. chamber,” suggested Daisy.
So we did that.
PADME
“The password was ‘LORD XEER’, all caps,” Zena yelled back. I tried the said password – it worked. The screen now showed a bunch of buttons, one of which was labeled ‘lasers’.
“Here’s hoping,” I muttered and pressed the screen.
((Name: Randomosity 101 (R101 or Random for short)
Age: 14
Background: Just random girl who happened to have an interest in karate, her parents were attacked by HPBs in front of her house. She followed her now-bunnifyed parents to the HQ. She managed to avoid getting caught long enough to see some people with guns yelling about music in 3/4 time (Resistance fighters), before getting captured and put into a stasis chamber.))
Time did not exist here. No thoughts or feelings could penetrate the silence. It existed nowhere. Mind and heart had no meaning in this place that wasn’t.
((Could someone open the stasis pod? Or cylinder, or whatever it is?))
PADME
A firing sound came from outside the doors, along with a bunch of shrieks and screams from the bunnies. I grinned – this was going to work!
Then I remembered the others – Groundhog and ZVX and Nilly and such – who were still elsewhere in the building but would probably head this way soon. I pressed the TALK button on my helmet.
“Attention all Resistance members who are not already in the S.A. chamber. We are using the room’s defense mechanisms to attack the bunnies outside, so BEWARE. That is all.”
((Hello?))
((Can someone wake me up?))
((360 – T’would be nice, I grant you, but it appears that this thread is deserted
T’is a shame, indeed. I do hope that the others will return soon.))
((360, 361 – I’m bak! (Seriously, how long has it been since I posted? Nearly 3 months? *whistle*) Unfortunately, all I can think about doing is introducing my new character… Hm…))
((362 – *cheers and does a little jig* Welcome back! See post 339 for the summary of the latest events.))
((To be honest, I’m waiting for something earth-shattering to happen; I only have a vague idea of what’s going on.))
((Would somebody from the group opening stasis cylinders open mine so I can be thoroughly confused?))
((365 – for that we really need Aggie or I-Man to post since their characters are working on freeing the people in S.A.))
RIK
When the eight of us reached level two, we were met by a sea of pink. There were about 25 bunnies lying on the floor in various states of unconsciousness or worse. Only a few bunnies were still standing and trails of blood told us that some bunnies had fled after being wounded. Kokonilly and Sophie appeared to be scanning the floor while Connor and Rachel were kneeling on the floor next to Kittymine, who was sitting with her back against the wall.
“Hey guys!” yelled Daisy. The few standing HPBs looked around, saw us, and attempted to scamper. We dealt with them quickly – no need for more bunnies to be alerted and subsequently show up.
“Kitty, are you alright?” asked TGYPWYA once the dust had settled.
“I’m alright – just a blaster shot to the leg. Lilis’s work,” she added darkly. “Kokonilly and Sophia are working on taking her out. She blends in with the floor a bit too well, unfortunately.”
Just at that moment there was a whoop of triumph from Sophia, a yell, heavy smacking sound, and then silence.
“Got her!” crowed Sophia. “Mom pinned her down and I hit her with a charge from a stun blaster.
“Great job!” said Koppar
“Okay, now that things are as finished here as they’ll ever be, let’s get down to the S.A. Chamber,” said ZVX. “Kitty, can you walk?”
“Good question. Let me try.” Kittymine stood carefully, holding on to the wall, and gingerly put weight on her injured leg.
“Yes… I think I’ll be able to walk. But not very quickly I’m afraid. I guess I should go back to the Arwings – I won’t be much use fighting.”
“Okay, then someone should probably escort you just in case a bunny shows up. Who would like – ” ZVX was cut short as a message came through our helmets.
“Attention all Resistance members who are not already in the S.A. chamber,” said Padme’s voice. “We are using the room’s defense mechanisms to attack the bunnies outside, so BEWARE. That is all.â€
“I’ll go with Kittymine and then join you guys outside the S.A. chamber,” offered Rainbow.
“Fine, let’s go with that,” replied ZVX. “See you in a few minutes.”
KITTYMINE
Rainbow put her arm around my waist as we walked back toward where we had parked the Arwings. This allowed me to move a bit more quickly, though my leg was still throbbing like heck.
“Thanks for coming with me, Rainbow,” I said gratefully.
“No problem.”
JENNY
After about a half and hour, Cerre emerged from interviewing the HPBs.
“Good news – the HPBs are all Nicegoodius and are willing to help. They said that they had a vague idea of where our base was, but no specifics, which is why they were floating around like that.”
“Great,” said I. “But we don’t have much use for Nicegoodius bunnies around here.”
“Here, no,” replied Solange with a smile. “But what about in the DOH? Perhaps these bunnies could go back and help out our friends who are fighting in there.”
“We’d have to mark them somehow so that the others don’t mistake them for evil HPBs,” noted Charlie.
((At your service! I’ll be back in a few hours.))
((366.1 – Thanks Aggie!))
((Sorry about the extended leave of absence! Randomosity, this is you.))
ZENA:
As Padme unlocked the lazer panel and began firing at the bunnies outside the chamber, William, Zavier and I fought to free the prisoners from their chambers. When each recovered from the initial shock of re-animation, they quickly helped to barricade the doors.
I worked on one of the last cylinders, which contained a young girl no older than me, suspended with a look of blank shock on her face. I had become quite fast at the process of opening tanks. Using the code to unlock the hinges of the tank, I tipped it off balance and onto the ground very carefully, then broke off the top of the lid, spilling the hostage onto the floor. She lay still for a moment, then burst back into motion with a loud gasp.
“W-where am I?” she asked. “WHERE DID YOU TAKE ME?” This one seemed a bit hysterical.
“You’re fine, you’re safe now,” I said, trying to calm her down. “Well, not exactly safe… you’re in the middle of battle.”
((Thanks, agrrrfishi!))
I processed what my rescuer had said.
“Wait, you’re not with them? The pink-bunny things? What are those things?” I asked hopefully.
“No, I’m part of a Resistance that is fighting them. They are called hot-pink bunnies. They are evil.” She replied.
“They took my parents, made them go all pink and fuzzy… Did they turn into bunnies?!” I shrieked.
((Thanks, Kittymine!
Oh, and I may kill off Connor. Four people is way too much work, and he seems fairly useless. Stay tuned; I’m deciding how violent/morbid his death should be. Or maybe someone else could do it; deaths I write seems to be melodramatic and unrealistic.
Oh, and from what I can tell, ZVX, Crystl, Serafina, and Koppar are with us now. Correct?))
KOKONILLY
After Sophia and I triumphantly pinned and stunned Lilis, we weren’t sure what to do with her… so we bound and gagged her. “Potential hostage?” I asked, to the general approval. ((Note: I don’t mean to PP her, but we could interrogate her for… something…))
Then Padme’s tinny voice said, “Attention all Resistance members who are not already in the SA chamber. We are using the room’s defense mechanisms to attack the bunnies outside, so BEWARE. That is all.â€
Rainbow volunteered to go with Kittymine to the Arwings. We waved goodbye, and left with ZVX for the SA room, with Rachel and Sophia holding hands with Connor and me with Lilis slung over my back like a sack of potatoes. I said, “Mind, if she starts to wake up I don’t think I’ll be able to handle her, so stun her again if that happens.” The others nodded and we made our way to the SA room without incident.
We knocked on the door ((hey, I don’t know anything about this room)) as soon as Rainbow skidded around the corner, panting. “Met… a bunny… along the way….”
ZVX nodded curtly. “They might come any time. We have to get in.”
((Now, I don’t know how to get in, and I don’t want to write any more for fear of PP-ing.))
((So, from what I understand, we’re all – with the exception of Kittymine, who is resting in an arwing – either by the door of the S.A. chamber or inside it. At the same time, there are bunnies trying to get into the room, but this must be at another entrance since the group outside the door is not currently fighting off HPBs.))
Once Rainbow returned, we knocked on the door.
Not far away, I could hear the sound of many bunnies blasting and shouting, presumably trying to get into the S.A. chamber. It seemed we had found a back entrance which wasn’t used much, because there were no bunnies here. That wouldn’t last long though.
“Why don’t we just attack the bunnies now?” I suggested. “They won’t be expecting an attack from behind, and then the people in the S.A. chamber can back us up once they’re done freeing the hostages.”
((370, 371 – Yes, for the sake of things, let’s say that there is a lesser known smaller door to the S.A. chamber that the dumb bunnies have not yet thought of attacking. And Serafina and Crystl are inside the S.A. chamber. Koppar is not.))
PADME
I moved away from the main door to see if anyone needed help freeing people from the cylinders. One quick glance showed me that no help was required – only two cylinders remained closed. Suddenly I heard a faint knocking sound from the far end of the room.
“Guys? Is it just me or is someone knocking back there?” I asked Zena, who was nearest me.
KITTYMINE
Luckily enough, Rainbow and I did not meet any bunnies on the way back to the Arwings. After helping me clamber into one, and making me promise to keep radio contact, Rainbow sped off back to the fight. I turned the main radio on and pulled out a book in an attempt to ignore the pain in my leg. It was no use, and besides, I felt a bit guilty sitting here reading while everyone else was risking their lives. I decided to radio the Base and see how things were going there.
“Ground Control, are you there? Come in Ground Control.”
GROUNDHOG:
As I helped release the people from the stasis tubes, I heard a shriek from the last one that Aggie had opened. “Did they turn into bunnies?” I staggered over, an unconscious woman on my shoulder. “Calm down.” I said, waving my hand in an attempt at a mind trick. “I know it’s hard, but panicking will not help you.”
((Maybe the woman over my shoulder could be Randomosity’s mom?))
JENNY:
“We could give them some of our armor.” I said to Charlie. Just then, my Aunt Kitty’s voice cam over the loudspeaker. “Ground Control, are you there? Come in Ground Control.â€
“This is ground control.” I said, grabbing the mike. “I have good news–some nicegoodius bunnies just showed up here, and we’re going to send them to help you!”
((The point is, her parents were bunnifiyed right in front of her. I’m arranging a seen in the far-off future where she has to kill them, knowing who they once were.))
“Sorry.” I said. “I just don’t know what’s going on. Those bunnies showed up at our house and kidnapped my parents. I followed them onto the ship to see if I could rescue them, but then the bunnies did something, and my parents started shrinking and turning pink. Then the bunnies got me, and put me in that stasis thing and I have no idea how long I’ve been in there or of what’s going on!.”
I hadn’t meant to raise my voice, but I was so disturbed I was shrieking again on the last sentance. I realised I was being hysterical, and made a huge effort to calm myself.
((Oh. Glad we got the door thing sorted out… And I forgot Daisy was with us.))
KOKONILLY
Nothing happened. We waited, listening to the ever-loudening sound of the battle. Then Daisy spoke up:
“Why don’t we just attack the bunnies now? They won’t be expecting an attack from behind, and then the people in the S.A. chamber can back us up once they’re done freeing the hostages.â€
“Good thinking.” I nodded. “Connor, you take Lilis and stay here. I’ll fight.” He nodded and rapped harder on the door.
I heard a muffled voice say “Guys, do you hear something?” and breathed a sigh of relief. I turned back to the group. “Guys, we need to be quiet. They won’t be expecting us, so we need to surprise – ” But it was too late.
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” ZVX screamed as he ran into battle. “Oh for goodness’ sake,” someone said.
((This sets it up beautifully for Connor’s death – and maybe Lilis’ escape, but I think she’s pretty heavily sedated. I also don’t know ZVX’s personality, but seeing as he hasn’t been on the ‘Blog in a while I doubt he’ll see this or be offended in any way.))
((This is rather late in coming, as well as random, but I had been meaning to mention the fact that I made a BA related program for my final project in Visual Basic this past year. The program has login, sign up, homepage, history, and game pages.))
((Nobody is posting. Perhaps a new thread would help?))
((That’s been true for while now. But we broke 300 posts an age ago, so we really should get a new one. GAPAs?))
((Thirded.))