Topic: Third storyline: No Sympathy for the Devil

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Friday, January 14, 2000 - 10:24:
(RP ON)
The Kurokos raised their weapons, preparing to fire back. Silence was heard all over the room, with one side waiting for the other to fire first.

Suddenly the roof exploded and various soldiers and security guards lept in from helicopters that were floating above, holding large and deadly automatic weaponry. As the final soldier landed, the Ataru clones noticed they were outnumbered 2-1 on almost every person from the new soldiers and Kurokos combined. Onsen-Mark cussed.

"You may have won this day, but I assure you, we will be back!" And with that, the figures vanished into thin air.

One of the soldiers walked towards Hudson and shook hands. "Major Brad. We've been sent to find you."

"Looks like you arrived just in time.. this would have been rather bloody."

"Well, you're not entirely out of the woods yet. General Burns from NASA has requested your presence at mission control. Our prototype shuttle that you helped build, well, it's been er.. hi-jacked."

Hudson recovered from his surprise. "Hi-jacked?! By who?"

"The pilots, who claim they were 'teleported' from the ship, state that it was one small bald-headed monk."

Hudson grimaced. "Cherry... it could only be.."

"Our choppers are ready to take you to MC now sir."

Hudson nodded, then turned to the rest of the group.

"You guys coming?"

Shutarro shook his head. "I'm going to do a bit of investigating of my own to see what's going on."

"Suit yourself. Ryouko?"

She smiled "Of course, you didn't think I came all this way just for a little chat, did you?"

Sakura, Jeriten, Majaki, and Bakuto came over and nodded, and in a few minutes they were onboard the helicopters heading to the shuttle launch site.
(RP OFF)

I'm making a peanut-sized post here since I'm tired as hell, it's 1:40 AM, and I haven't the slightest clue as to why I'm not sleeping right now >) Oh, and if you guys want a really good laugh, check out this: http://hawkworld.dhs.org/yamato.html

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, January 15, 2000 - 20:08:
(RP ON)

A few hours later everyone arrived in Florida and were being escorted to Mission Control. Everyone except Jariten, Mujaki, and Bakuto were suitably impressed with the various rockets and space vehicles on display.

"Too crude," Ten and Bakuto yawned.

"I'll say..." Sergei agreed quietly while marveling at the Saturn V. "But what raw power..."

Mujaki shrugged, "can't you humans just teleport?!"

"Not everyone's a demented monk from Tomobiki, Mujaki." Sakura sighed, she had called Tsubame in Alaska; trying to get him down to Florida to help out. Her fiance had said he would be there as soon as possible, but he was promptly hit by a flying Igloo. The hospital stay would be three days and a nice charge to his health insurance; already legendary on the Pacific seaboard in both Japan and the United States.

The group was escorted into the impossibly large mission control building and through winding corridors and halls; almost always several USMPs snapped to attention when Hudson walked into a room.

"ATTENTION!" barked Major Brad at every opportunity.

Hudson acknowledged this attention everytime with a salute and flashing a small bemused smile to Ryouko. "So Ryouko-chan, ever been to Florida?"

"Yes, twice," she said as the group walked past the stone faced MPs; who's watchful stares were not completely vacant, but filled with admiration. "Once when I was six and another time when I was nine. We went to Walt Disney World."

Hudson winced, he had gone to "The Rat" once for a press junket in the winter of '75; for him it was enough for several lifetimes. It was a friggin' candidates' forum for the Florida State Democratic Convention and subsequent straw poll...which he did not win; but polled a healthy and safe fourth place. Thus allowing him to go to Iowa and New Hampshire to campaign not looking like a completely doomstruck judas goat...and it paid off. Ryouko smiled and drew closer to Hudson, "but I'd like to go to the gulf coast someday."

Warren winked and put his arm around her slender frame. Yes, the Gulf Coast of Florida had some of the most beautiful and unspoiled beaches in the United States.

Major Brad stopped and faced Hudson, he pointed to a bald yet smooth looking man with a headset on. He was arguing with several technicians over some technical matter. "Ambassador Hudson, General Burns," Brad smiled and saluted once more.

Protocal and tradition...

"Thank you, Major," he saluted in response.

Hudson slowly walked over to Burns' area. Several technicians were starting to whisper. "That's him, man! Hudson's gonna be prez someday! Didja see that pretty girl with him? Know your roles and shut up, we've got jobs to do here!"

Warren noticed one of the wall monitors; in one corner there was his name and some text.

Hudson '88
The man from Nebraska returns!

He laughed, getting General Burns' attention.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Saturday, January 15, 2000 - 23:14:
Phew, been busy for the past few days.. just recently launched a new hardware page (*shameless plug* www.hardnews.org */shameless plug*) and I've been responsible for the morning shift on news.. blah!

(RP ON)
Butthead was digging through some compartments in the back room of the cockpit when an explosion was heard and the ship suddenly lurched with a groan, sending Butthead flying from his feet and into a pile of spare garbage bags.

He stumbled to his feet, laughing.

"Huh huh.. that was cool.." he said, then began making his way back to the cockpit.

Cherry had recovered suddenly when the explosion had occured. He looked over the intruments, confirmed that they would still reach their destination alive, mumbled "It's fate", then went back to his meditation.

Beavis flipped the switch a few more times, then bit his lip.

"Um, the light's broken or something. Heh heh."

He turned around as Butthead walked into the cockpit. "Damnit Beavis, the ship like, exploded or something. Huh huh."

"Yea and the light's broken and stuff. This sucks."

Butthead was thrown off his feet again as the ship suddenly came out of sub-space with a lurch.

Inside of the massive ship, Cygni peered down the darkened hallway. The night shift had just come into effect 5 minutes ago, and most of the ship's lighting was toned down as a result.

At the end of the hallway was the group of pods she had first awoken from. She was in a crouching position at the other end of the hallway, holding a bag that was nearly filled to overflowing. She closed her eyes slightly and tried to make out what was at the far end.

"Looks like a couple of security cameras.. disarming them will be difficult, since they're both in perfect view of each other. They weren't there before.."

("Looks like they're expecting you.")

"Whoever the hell 'they' are anyways. Lesse here.."

She unzipped the bag and pulled out a small white grenade. She read the label.

"Flash Grenade. DO NOT SET OFF IN FACE. Duh..."

She carefully pulled out the pin and chucked it down the hallway. It landed right between the two cameras.

"Here's hoping.."

She covered her ears and closed her eyes, and felt a loud rumble as the grenade went off. A small flash echoed down the hallway.

("Better move, NOW!")

She quickly rushed down the hallway and punched in the lens on both of the cameras, easily destroying them. She then walked over to the pods and looked around.

"Hey, Ataru? What's he doing here?"

("I don't know, but the whole damn ship is gonna be down here in a minute or two, so you better hurry.")

She stabbed the green button next to Ataru's pod, and it rolled open with a hiss, revealing his unconsious form. She then went around the room, repeating the process for Lum, Kintaro, and Megane. After a moment they stirred and recovered to consciousnous.

Ataru looked around in shock. "Where.. what.. what the hell is this?"

"Where am I?" asked Megane.

"I'll explain later, but unless you feel like dying horribly, I'd suggest you come with me." said Cygni, pointing down the corridor.

The group looked at her, stunned. Cygni suddenly remember the ear piece, tore it off, then repeated herself.

Kintaro sneered in defiance as the rest nodded and began following her down the hall. "I'm a man! I don't need anybody!"

Cygni shrugged and said "Suit yourself", then turned off into a small storage area, similar to the one she had first escaped into. Kintaro stopped a moment, looking in surprise, then began running to catch up, yelling "Hey! Wait for me!!"

Once everyone was inside of the cramped room, Cygni palmed the door shut and smashed the panel, sealing it.

"Oooh nice one, now how do we get out?" said Ataru.

Cygni glared at him. "Are you gonna work with me here, or should I just leave you behind?"

Lum glared back at her. "You wouldn't THINK of leaving my darling behind!"

"Try me." said Cygni, clenching her fists. Megane held up his hand.

"Now ladies, lets not start a cat fight here..I think we have a bigger problem on our hands.."

("He's got a point you know.")

Cygni sighed, then crouched down and reached into the bag, pulling out 3 white uniforms similar to the one she was wearing.

"You're gonna kinda stand out, so I suggest you put these on.."

Megane, Lum, and Ataru reached over and grabbed a uniform for themselves while Kintaro scowled.

"Hey, what about me?"

"I couldn't find any extra-extra-extra small ones, so you're gonna have to ride in here." she said, holding up the bag. Kintaro looked mortified. "WHAT?"

Cygni glanced at her watch. "It was the best I could think of under the circumstances, and we've got 15 minutes untill our ride leaves, so either shut up and get in or stay here and figure out something yourself."

After making a variety of faces, he sighed in resignation and crawled into the bag. He fit perfectly inside.

"Hey there's lots of guns in here!"

Cygni smirked. "And if you want to stay alive, I'd suggest not setting them off." She zipped the bag shut, leaving a small crack open for air, then looked over at the rest of the group. Lum glanced over at Ataru, who had just finished putting on his uniform, and smiled.

"Oh darling you look so professional!"

Ataru scowled. "I don't want to look professional, I want to get back HOME!"

"Ok, everybody ready?" said Cygni. Loud footsteps were beginning to echo outside of the door as a massive commotion was heard.

"I guess so, but Ataru does have a point, how do we get out of here?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out 3 more of the ear pieces that allowed them to communicate in the other language. "Slip these into your ears, they'll let you speak in the other language they're using."

"Who's 'they'?" asked Megane.

"The hell if I know, and I'm not sticking around to find out. Now hurry up."

Cygni slipped her own piece back into her ear and watched as the rest copied the process.

"All set? Good. Now.."

She put her ear against the door as yelling was heard from outside, and listened intently.

"THEY'RE GONE! All of them!" yelled one person.

"DAMN! They'll kill us for this!"

"Everyone split up and find them, now!"

Additional footsteps were heard, and Cygni suddenly stepped back as a rapping sound was heard on the door. Additional talking was heard.

"Sir, this one has been sealed off! I think someone is inside!"

"Breach it!"

Ataru's face whitened. "They'll find us for sure!"

Cygni smiled. "Exactly what I'm expecting. Now play along."

The group stepped back from the door as lightning sparks began flashing along side of it, then suddenly the door came crashing down, and 3 armed soldiers stepped in, their weapons raised.

"It's them sir!"

Cygni scowled. "YOU IDIOT! When the explosion went off, it damaged the panel! I've been here TRYING to give a tour to our fresh recruits, and here you are bumbling around and making a mess of everything! And put those damn guns down, you're scaring them to death!"

The soldiers reluctantly lowered their weapons. One of them began stuttering "But.. but.. you, and.. uh.."

"Do I sound like I have time to sit here answering questions all day? Get your ass out of our way and let us through!"

The soldiers snapped to attention and arranged themselves at either end of the door in an impressive display.

"Thank you. Come on."

She waved to the group behind her and walked out of the door. They stared a moment in shock, then began following.

The group had nearly reached the elevator that led down to the launch bay when suddenly alarms began going off. Cygni cussed.

"That was quick.."

A loud voice boomed over the ship's PA system. "ALERT! Unknown vessel has emerged from subspace! Possible hostile intentions! All units, intercept and destroy!"

Cygni blinked, then sighed in relief. "Close... come on guys, lets hurry up."

They piled into the elevator. Cygni quickly stabbed the button marked "Launch Bay" and the doors began to close. Suddenly a hand stabbed out and held it open, nearly giving her a heart attack. Three pilots and one guard piled into the already crowded elevator, filling it to capacity and shoving everyone elbow-to-elbow with each other. The elevator began to descend, and Cygni let out her breath silently in relief when she noticed the people weren't there to capture them.

The trip downwards was for the most part silent, untill Cygni adjusted the bag slightly and heard a muffled "Ow!" One of the large pilots looked down in surprise.

"Something in that bag miss?"

Cygni glared back. "None of your godamn business!"

The pilot smirked, then occupied himself with watching the gauge marking the elevator's progress.

Ataru shuddered as he found himself standing next to a largely oversized female pilot. He attempted to look away, but it was no use, a small part of her flabby body was always visible in his peripheral vision. Lum smirked at him from across the room, taking great joy at watching him finally run into a girl he had no interest in.

Megane unconfortably glanced up at the massive guard, who seemed to take great joy in cracking his knuckles in front of his face. He looked so strong that he could easily smash Megane into the ground just by breathing on him.

The elevator finally finished it's descent and the doors opened with a chime. The pilots and guard piled out. Cygni looked around at the empty elevator, and the busy hallway behind it, then waved to the group and checked her watch.

"Alright, 5 minutes, lets go!"

They ran out of the elevator just as another group of people piled into it behind them and rushed towards the flight deck.

When they finally reached it, Cygni looked around at the bustling activity going on around it, as various pilots piled into their craft and took off into space. She spied the large red craft sitting at the far end of the deck, away from the confusion, then nodded to the group.

"This way!"

They rushed across the deck, gathering around the massive cargo pod sitting at the bottom of the craft. Cygni checked her watch and cussed.

"2 minutes, damn, I hope he's not late.."

Ataru looked at her in surprise. "Aren't you flying it?"

Cygni shook her head. "I could probably learn, but I'd prefer to have someone experienced with us. And anyways, I haven't the slightest clue how to get home, while he does."

Megane spoke up. "So when are you going to tell us what is going on?"

"When we have some time to ourselves. A luxury currently not available.."

She checked her watch again.

"Geez, he's waiting right till the last second. He damn well better not be late, or I'll have his head.."

She sighed and leaned against the side of the cargo pod while the rest of the group looked around at the massive activity going on in the bay.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Wednesday, January 19, 2000 - 08:46:
*The sound of crickets chirping fills the room*

(RP ON)
Burns took an excessive sip out of his mug of Coffee, wincing as it burned down his throat. He set the chipped mug on his desk and glanced at it. An old mug that said "NASA: Taking me into space", and had a worn out image of a shuttle taking off. He turned to Hudson.

"As you probably already know, a small monk has taken over one of our prototype shuttles and, well, took off with it. I was told you could help us out."

Hudson nodded. "I'm quite familiar with this person.. a buddist monk named Cherry is probably the one you're talking about. He's a bit crazy, but when he wants something, he usually gets it."

Burns raised an eyebrow. "So you're familiar with him then. But why would he want our shuttle? The pilots say he mumbled something about 'great lives in danger' or some other prattle."

Hudson stopped to think a moment. "Could Cherry have... no, it couldn't be..."

"What? What is it?"

A faint hint of a smile was seen on Hudson's face. "General, do you have a fix on the ship's current position?"

He nodded. "Yes, we do, but it's in an unknown system... and our star map exchange with the Oni hasn't been completed yet. Why?"

Hudson's grin extended further. "Because, General, I do believe that your prototype may end up playing a crucial role in a dilemma of mine.. can you show me where it is now?"

The General turned and pointed to the large screen at the front of the room. "Right there, the green blip."

Hudson turned and waved to Sergei, who was chatting with a few techs nearby. "Sergei, I'm gonna need your help over here."

He nodded in acknowledgement and walked over, then turned to the screen and looked it over.

"It looks like it's in the... Omicron Erandi system.. "

Hudson nodded. "Excellent. Now we need a method to reach there.." He glanced at Sergei expectantly, who reached into a pocket on his coat and pulled out a small transmitter. He switched it on.

"Captain Hayes, this is Sergei. We need a lift on Earth, get here as soon as possible." He pressed a green button, then closed up the device and returned it to his pocket. General Burns simply blinked in surprise.

"Is there something I don't know about?"

Hudson turned to him and grinned. "All in good time General, all in good time..."

Onboard the mysterious ship in the Omicron Erandi system, the scientists gathered together in the meeting room. The leader spoke.

"You have failed. The subjects have gotten away, and we have no clue as to where they are on the ship."

The guard who was the subject of his speech, a small person who was shivering nervously, stammered out a response. "I-I, er, that is, I'm sorry sir!"

"You have one chance. Find them."

The soldier managed a shakey salute, then turned and walked out of the room. The leader turned to the other 2 scientists.

"Things are not going to plan. The mistress will not be pleased."

The larger of the 2 grumbled. "These incompetent guards couldn't find their own hides if they were expanded to 3000 times their size and delivered to them on a platter!"

The leader shook his head. "The guards merely follow orders. The execution is irrelevant, so long as the task is completed. And our tasks are NOT being completed. This is disturbing. How do they get away?"

The smaller scientist, a stout man with glasses and white spikey hair spoke up.

"According to my analysis, they seem to be using a method of subterfuge in order to move around the ship. They could be anywhere."

The leader raised an eyebrow. "What of the double?"

The smaller scientist referred to a few of his notes. "This is where it gets confusing. We have one report that says she is in her quarters, partaking in... er...."

A small hint of red was seen on the scientist's face as he worked out the words.

"...uh.. personal activities.. while the other says she is in the launch bay preparing to leave."

The leader nodded. "She was given orders to depart soon for Earth. The one in the launch bay must be the double."

The large scientist sighed. "That may be, BUT, our records do not indicate that the REAL Cygni partakes in such acts as those going on in the quarters right now!"

The leader frowned. "There may have been a mis-calculation..."

The large scientist slammed his notes onto the table and rose from his chair, leering over the leader.

"Why are you so intent on letting her get away? Are you too blind to see it? It's her, in the launch bay!! The real one!"

The leader snapped his fingers, and 3 armed guards walked into the room. The large scientist looked up in surprise, then scowled. "You won't get away with this! She's the one, I'm te-"

He was interrupted as one of the guards walked over and delivered a blow to his mid-section with the butt of his rifle. The other two guards walked over and grabbed him by the arms, then escorted him out of the room, kicking and yelling. The leader straightened his notes.

"Incompetence such as that will not be tolerated. Understand that." He nodded to the smaller scientist, who nodded back.

"I will get on finding her true location immediately."

"I expect progress."

The leader turned and began walking out of the room. The smaller scientist cleared his voice.

"One more thing. What of the mysterious ship that warped in?"

The leader paused a moment.

"Have it brought aboard, and it's inhabitants interrogated. I wish to know how they found our location."

"It could have been an accident."

The leader turned and stared at the smaller scientist, who coughed.

"Right, this place is too well secure.. sometimes I loose myself in my work.."

"Progress. Remember that."

The leader then walked out of the meeting room, leaving the smaller scientist to ponder what he had gotten himself into.
(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Thursday, January 20, 2000 - 05:14:
Hmmm, I'm not so sure how to handle Hayes' entrance so I'll just stick to background noise.

(RP ON)

Burns tapped Hudson's shoulder, "hmm?"

General Burns whispered very low, "the press knows something is wrong. I'll have to make a statement in about twenty minutes...they also know, er, that you are here with Mendou support."

Hudson frowned, "oh great... Who told them?"

Burns grimaced, "they mainly connected the dots between Tokyo, Las Vegas, and here. Not to mention that they called Mr. Mendou and he eagerly told them damn near EVERYTHING."

"And the Mendou end of things is primarily my responsibility when I can help it," Hudson nodded. "Y'know, General. I've worked with that family closely for damn near ten years and the only thing I've learned is that I love them (especially their daughter) and what can be summed up in two words...know what they are?"

Burns smiled, "Don't ask?"

"Smart man," Hudson grinned.

NASA Press Room...

Reporters clicked pictures of the two at the podium.

"And so," General Burns declared, "there is no cause for alarm at the moment. We have everything under control, the shuttle WILL be found, the culprits arrested-" Hudson gave him a hard stare, "-or properly dealt with. Please direct any and all questions to Ambassador Hudson."

Hudson took over the podium, a flurry of questions assaulted him. Hudson winced, "let's start with the man in the blue blazer," he pointed.

The AP man stood up, "Ambassador Hudson, I believe I speak for all, when I ask why...and how you are here in Florida when you are the United States Ambassador to Japan? There are also reports that you were in Las Vegas not more than two hours ago."

Hudson smiled, "I helped design that space shuttle. It's part of my responsibilities in association with the Oni agreements."

Warren pointed to a slim woman from another wire service, "yes miss?"

She stood up, the woman was obviously from Japan, she spoke in Japanese; "Hudson-san, does this have anyhting to do with Dr. Ginkobot?"

Hudson smiled, and gave his answer in fluent Japanese, "I honestly don't know."

Everyone immediately began murmuring, Warren turned to Burns, "What did I do?" he asked perplexed.

Burns chuckled, "most people in this room are not as talented with languages as you."

"Oh...yeah."

Another reporter raised their hand, "yes?" Warren authorized.

"Who is Ryouko Mendou and what is she to you?" the reporter smiled.

Hudson smirked, "a rather bold one at that! Can we please keep the questions on topic? I'll be having a semi-personal interview with Time magazine in a few weeks; so I can discuss my public-personal life then."

Meanwhile, back in Vegas...

McKnight was at his desk doing paperwork when a knock was heard at his door.

"Come in, Jenkins."

Jenkins opened the door, "we have three teenage boys downstairs who insist they should be in space."

"Probably tripping," McKnight snorted.

Jenkins sighed, "they're from Japan, sir. And they demand to see Warren Hudson."

"Christ..." McKnight grounded out.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Thursday, January 20, 2000 - 06:50:
(RP ON)
The stormtroopers piled into McKnight's small office, each pulling themselves up a chair. McKnight set his papers down and looked them in the eye.

"So, you want to see Hudson, eh?"

Chibi nodded, then spoke, sounding out the best english he could.

"Yes, we must find Cygni! We believe she's in danger!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! And Hudson can help us find her! We must hurry!"

McKnight sighed. "Well kids, I hate to break it to ya, but you basically just missed him. He's down at NASA."

"Can you us there?" The group peered at him with excitement. McKnight sighed.

"How do you propose I go about doing that? Do I look like a taxi service?"

Perm fumbled about in his pocket for a moment and pulled out a crisp $1000 bill, then delicately placed it on McKnight's desk. His eyes widened in shock and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"Er, right, taxi.. uhh.."

He coughed and stood up from his chair.

"This stuff can wait anyways. Come on, lets go!"

The group cheered and followed him out of the room.

On the stolen shuttle, Beavis and Butthead watched as 3 fighters came out from the massive ship in front of them and deployed large arrays around the vessel. It gave a massive shudder as a pulling force was applied to it from all sides, then began slowly moving towards the cruiser. Cherry stood in his chair and nodded.

"This is-"

"Uhh, why do you always like, say that and stuff. It's getting annoying. Huh huh." Butthead frowned.

Cherry didn't reply, but instead raised his staff into the air and began chanting. After a moment, their figures vanished, aside from their eyes.

"This will disguise us so we can complete the prophecy" he murmured. Beavis laughed.

"Heh heh, we're like, eyes and stuff. This is cool."

They watched as the cruiser loomed closer. Deep at the back of the shuttle, the stray pilot stepped into a small pod marked "Escape Unit X-221A" and hit the green button inside, jettisoning it and sending it on a direct course back to Earth. It disappeared into subpsace in a flash.

Onboard the cruiser, Cygni tapped her foot impatiently and checked her watch.

"Shit! He's 10 minutes overdue! When the hell is he gonna get here?" she said outloud. Megane turned to her.

"Are you sure he's coming?"

"I hope so, for his sake" replied Cygni, letting out a small growl. She peered behind him as a helmetted figure walked into the launch bay and began walking towards the group. She hissed at Ataru and Lum, who had wandered off to check out the bay. They heard and came jogging back. The pilot came to them a few moments after and removed his helmet, revealing himself to be Ron.

"About damn time you showed up!" Cygni said, glaring at him. He shrugged sheepishly.

"Sorry, was a little bit delayed..." He turned to the group. "These are your, uh, personal things?"

Cygni made a face. "They happen to be my backup. You have the room?"

Ron nodded and pointed to the large cargo pod at the bottom of the ship. "It'll be a bit bumpy, but it'll do."

Cygni nodded, then turned to the group. "Alright people, pile in and lets go!"

The group slowly piled into the cargo pod, glancing around and sitting down on a few crates. Cygni placed the bag inside then silently signalled to Megane to open it up once the pod was closed. He nodded, and she turned back to Ron, who bowed and pointed to the rear seat of the open cockpit.

"Ladies first.."

She offered a small grin in return, then scaled the small steps leading to the cockpit and hopped in. Ron followed shortly after, hopping into the front seat and flipping a small switch that lowered the canopy. He then pressed a button on his console and a loud whine was heard behind them. A female computerized voice spoke.

"Cargo pod closed and sealed. Life support systems: online."

Ron began strapping himself in, and Cygni followed suit. She glanced around the cockpit.

"Not a bad craft.."

Ron chuckled. "May not look like much, but she's got some kick where it counts. You ok back there?"

"Yup. Mind if I ask a question?"

"Shoot." Ron began pressing buttons, bringing the ship up to power.

"What the hell does MSS stand for?"

Ron laughed. "You don't know?"

"Never bothered to ask."

"It stands for Miss Shin-huh?" Ron began listening intently to the radio attached to his ear.

"What, what is it?"

"Ah, nothing much.. just been temporarly refused launch clearance, they say they're hauling in a big ship of some kind."

Cygni made a face. "I'd like to get going right away."

"Same here, but I also prefer to keep my job, y'know?"

Cygni sighed and leaned back in her chair, glancing out the cockpit. She watched as a small ship approached the launch bay, then gradually began floating inside. She peered at it closer.

"Looks almost like one of NASA's shuttles.. but it's been modified.."

The ship slowly floated across the launch bay, then settled down with a loud thud. Security teams began piling inside. Ron spoke up.

"Alright, that should do it. Ready to go?"

"I've been ready to go for the past 40 minutes! Lets haul ass already!"

Ron pressed a green button on his console, and the computerized voice spoke.

"Systems startup initiated. Weapon systems: Online and charged. Capacitor status: 100 percent. Cargo pod: Secure and loaded. Navigation, ready. All systems: Nominal."

"Here we go" said Ron, pulling back on the flight stick. The ship lifted itself off of the flight deck and slowly began cruising forward. Ron hit a button and the landing pads retracted. After a few moments, they shot clear of the cruiser and out into open space.

"You're SURE they're ok down there?" Cygni warily asked.

"Safe as a whistle. It'd take quite a concentrated stream of fire to break through that old crate." Ron chuckled, then continued. "The sub-space drives are charging now.. it'll be a little while before they're up to speed, so we'll just float around for a bit."

He brought the ship around and began commencing a few low passes near the cruiser. Cygni simply folded her arms and watched the view.

Down at NASA, the group gathered outside as the UNO slowly settled down in the empty parking lot. A short moment later, the airlock opened, and Captain Hayes walked out. Burns sighed.

"I'm still not going to get used to this.."

Sergei walked up and met Hayes half way, saluting smartly. Hayes nodded and spoke.

"So you said you need a ride?"

"Aye, I believe I've got a good idea as to where Cygni has gotten to."

Hayes raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even know she was missing."

"I didn't want to concern you with this unless it was necessary. You don't get time off that often."

Hayes sighed. "The distraction would have been welcome.. they've been making me drill new recruits for the past month."

Hudson walked up and shook hands with Hayes, who then turned to Burns.

"And you are..?"

"General Burns. My pleasure." He walked over and shook hands as well, then coughed.

"It's a tad nippy out here, so why don't we go inside.."

"I agree, I'll need to know where were heading before we can go there.."

They walked inside, the automatic doors closing behind them with a hiss.
(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By ataru devo on Friday, January 21, 2000 - 05:51:
You've probably figured it out by now,
but there's no way I can post anymore;
there's just to much work. It was
fun, though. Enjoy the rest of it,
no matter where it may lead. ^_^

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Friday, January 21, 2000 - 21:26:
Sorry to see you go, even though you didn't post much, it was interesting to read >) Hopefully we'll see ya around again sometime!

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, January 22, 2000 - 01:10:
Awhh, damn it! Bye Ataru...hmmm were has the Blade of Kintaro disappeared to?

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, January 22, 2000 - 01:39:
(RP ON)

7:37PM
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Meanwhile inside a NASA waiting room Sakura was calmly waiting; smoking a cigarette. Ryouko was absently watching TV. Various news channels were blaring about the "Space Hijacking," she sighed, when a strange thought hit her.

"Sakura-sensei?" Ryouko asked.

"Hmm?" Sakura looked over to her.

"Have you seen Shinobu-san recently?"

Sakura blinked, "well, of course...eh." When she really starting thinking about it, though, she realized she had not seen Shinobu ANYWARE for at least a week. "No, now that I think about it, Ryouko."

Could Shinobu be in trouble? Without wasting another moment she picked up a phone and started pecking out numbers. Ryouko dialed the Miyake residence but received no answer.

"No one's answering," she said to Sakura.

Sakura took another drag, "call Ran."

Tomobiki...Ran's wonderful spaceship...

Ran had just gotten finished feeding lunch (an entire convenience store load) to Rei, who was now snoring happily in his Tiger-Bull form on the floor.

Ran giggled and began cleaning dishes when the phone rang. "Hello...? Oh Ryouko-sama! How are you? !!! In Florida?!? Oh I'm going to get Rei-san to take me there-what? Where's Shinobu-san? Where else would she be? Not at home and you haven't seen her around lately. Okay, I'll go see if I can find her. Yes, I'll check with Inaba too. Bye, Ryouko-sama!"

Ran hung up the phone. "Now where could she be...?"

In the next room Rei belched loudly in his sleep and Ran giggled, thinking 'he's sooo sweet!"

Back in Florida....

Ryouko hung up the phone and Sakura sighed, "why Ran?" Ryouko asked.

"Well, why not?" Sakura huffed, "nobody else is there, except for Onsen-Mark. And you never know when Ryuu or her father smashes their telephone! And I don't have a means of contacting Inaba or Kotatsu-Neko..."

"True, their numbers are at the very least unlisted." Ryouko nodded.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, January 22, 2000 - 04:30:
(NOT AN RPG POST)

http://a148.g.akamaitech.net/7/148/51/8206a1102dcdc9/www.apple.com/main/media/trailers/newline/magnolia/magnolia_t_trlr/magnolia_t_trlr_ISDN.mov

Okay, kids. This is the type of format I would want a trailer for our UY RPG to have.

Cool enough neighbors?

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Saturday, January 22, 2000 - 07:59:
Uh, wow. So you're actually planning on making a trailor for this? Or did I just mis-interpret? >)

While I'm as enthusastic about having software from Apple on my machine as I am for having a tornado run through my house, I may make an exception...

And yea, where did Blade-O-Kintaro go? Seems like he vanished off the face of the planet..

I'll get an RP post done in a bit, just having some fun with Unreal Tournament..

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, January 22, 2000 - 19:23:
Yes, you misinterpreted. If I COULD make a trailer for this, I would.

It appears that Kintaro is just plain as gone as gone can be.

I wonder how many people read these rpgs anyway?

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Saturday, January 22, 2000 - 20:58:
Who the hell knows? We DO need more people around here however.. I just may end up getting one of my pro-writer friends to join us, he's got a kick ass character that would be good to introduce.

Hmmm.. lemme ask him.

(RP ON)
Cygni glanced around the co-pilot's area, centering her view on the small screen sitting in front of her. She hit the button marked "Menu", then called up the camera views. She looked over it, then nearly turned white when her eyes rested on "Cargo Pod Camera". She selected it, then frowned. As she had expected, Kintaro had already gotten out of the bag and was sitting in full view of the camera, chatting with the rest of the group.

"Damn! Hopefully Ron's too busy to look.."

She winced when Ron spoke up. "Hello, what's this? Looks like we have a stowaway.. that looks like one of the kids from the chambers.."

Cygni's hand moved to one of the large pockets in the uniform where she had hidden her Desert Eagle.

"Wait a sec... these guys suddenly look familiar...you wouldn't happen to be.."

He turned his head around to look at Cygni just as she pulled out her gun and aimed it at him, growling.

"You know I don't want to do this." she said. Ron's head turned back to the front of the cockpit, and he cussed.

"Where to?" he muttered.

"Earth, same as before. And I suggest you get your hand away from that ejection switch, or I'll fill you full of holes and take over this thing myself."

He sighed and returned his hands to the flight controls, checking over his instruments.

"3 minutes untill we jump."

"Fine." Cygni relaxed into her chair a little, keeping the gun pointed towards the front of the cockpit.

Down on Earth, the group boarded the Under New Ownership. Burns had elected to stay on Earth to keep the press down while the rest went after the shuttle.

As they walked onto the bridge, Sergei took his chair and gave it a little spin. "Ahh, it's good to be back!" he said, grinning.

Hayes took up his post at the front of the bridge, while the rest of the group sat down at various places. He turned to Sergei.

"Are we ready?"

Sergei hit a few buttons on his console. "Airlock secured and ready for launch."

"Very well, take us up."

"Aye skipper!"

Burns watched from the entrance to the base as the landing pads retracted into the vessel and it took off into the sky. He muttered to himself about "bad day, need more coffee", then turned and walked inside.
(RP OFF)

A bit short, but I'm busy at the moment, so I had to make it quick >)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Monday, January 24, 2000 - 06:10:
(RP ON)

Just as the UNO was blasting its way out of NASA Cygni's Stormtroopers arrived on a special charter flight from Las Vegas.

Once they arrived at the launch/control complex Kakugari pointed at a small point of light which winked out after a few seconds, "We're too late!"

Perm moaned, "now we'll never rescue Cygni-sama!"

Chibi snapped his fingers, "Never say never, Perm!" He walked over to one of the news people who were reporting on the current situation with the hijacking of the shuttle.

Kakugari watched as Chibi began communicating rapidly with one of the news people. "What's he doing?" Perm asked.

"I have no idea..." Kakugari replied as he watched with wonder as Chibi was telling an American reporter whats-what.

Meanwhile on the UNO...

Hudson, Ryouko, Sakura, several Kuroko, Mujaki, and Jariten were sitting in a large common area enjoying refreshments.

Hudson sighed, he glanced to Ryouko and Sakura sitting besides him, "You know, I should really get around to telling Sergei and Hayes what a nice decor this starship has."

Sakura shrugged, "why?"

"Because I've only gotten to appreciate the beauty of the UNO on the outside," Warren said softly, "and even then I was mostly contemplating the best way to vaporize her with fusion warheads." He grimaced darkly, "and I almost did."

Ryouko regarded him for a moment, "maybe you should get some rest, Warren-kun."

"Yes, maybe." Hudson sighed, "for the first time in the last six months I'm starting to really *feel* my age."

Ryouko got close, "you were up writing letters again last night, weren't you?"

"Yes," Hudson whispered. "I'm down to 153 now, pending that I don't send anyone to their deaths this month..."

Ryouko took his hand firmly, "thank you," Hudson whispered.

Since July, Hudson had spent almost every spare moment writing letters to the families of the people who, as he saw it, had lost loved ones by his direct, or even indirect, actions and/or orders. Each letter was as personalized as possible, extending his deepest sympathies.

Ryouko remembered an incident a few days after the first war with Dr. Ginkobot when she had found Hudson sitting at a desk in a very dark corner of the Mendou Mansion crying as he wrote a letter to a Mendou guard's mother who had died under his command. When Ryouko made her presence known she had asked him why. All Mendou staff and their families know the risks and perils of duty when they sign up and serve. There was, of course, financial compensation for loss of income, life insurance, etc. The families and spouses were all taken good care of by the conglamorate. Ryouko understood that Hudson had some ugly personal baggage from command but she felt he honestly shouldn't be damn near killing himself over personally apologizing to everyone.

Hudson had nodded, but gestured to the healthy stack of letters from that night, and to the official list of all wounds and casualties in the battle. And he slowly said, "because I know that somehow I probably could've done better, and maybe some or all of these people would still be alive."

"Come," she had said to him, "at the very least you should not be doing this alone, Warren-kun."

So she had stayed up with him writing another one hundred letters of condolence and apology until 3am.

Ryouko was shook out of her reverie by Mujaki huffing something about "humans always crabby about age." Ten floated over, "hey Mujaki, you should try to be a bit more happy."

Mujaki shrugged, "oh I guess you're right, little tyke."

Ten frowned, "I'm GOOD BOY! Not a...a...little tyke!"

(RP OFF)