ZippyWharrgarbl

IC: Kororia - Noooo

"Aw, are you sure? I was gonna go on a tour of this place, but my tour guide was really sick so he couldn't. So I was gonna see if my new friends wanted to come and show me around!"

She pointed to the Hammer Friend. "Slif is new, too! So I thought it might be fun to look around together, if Slif wants to come. You don't have to, though, we can always hang out some other time. My room is right over there, I put a sign on the door so people can find me if they wanna hang out and be friends."

You and Rylinth can just chat in the Hero ship until it arrives, I guess. Since it seems like everyone involved is a bit too busy to post, I might have it arrive soon, probably tonight when I have my laptop with me.

Also a fair warning to all players: Nato, who is the GM that designed this mission and has asked the other GMs to take over his mission, is currently Too Busy to do much and as such is probably too preoccupied to prevent me making the Starwhale actually shaped like a giant whale. You might be boarding a big ol' whaleboat.

IC: Nathaniel Zib - Hero Factory

"We've lost contact with him, including any information on his current whereabouts and status, shortly after taking off with a crew of villains. He apparently told them he was Rotor."

OOC: I'll get to some other GM posts soon, when I have access to something that isn't a phone.

IC: Rorohiko - Follow Those Spies

He glanced around, And his eyes settled on the path of destruction carved through the area. He thought he could hear sounds of fighting from that direction.

"Do you think he went that way?" Rorohiko asked. "I thought I heard him yelling. Maybe we should make sure he's okay... or we can go back to the ship and wait, I guess. Or both, like checking to make sure he's all right and then heading back."

He wasn't really one for heading into danger, but it would be wrong to leave Xaril if he was in trouble.

IC: Armani - Rude

Her smile didn't falter. "Oh! If you were seeking monetary payment, citizens, then sadly I am not the one who arranges that sort of thing. You would want to speak with the Captain of the Guard, Branar!"

After a second, she added, "Though, if you ask me, that is a very handsome reward, from a very handsome Lieutenant!"

IC: Kororia - You Can't Run From Friendship

She tilted her head quizzically. "Are you sure you're okay? You look really scared. I promise I'm not gonna hurt you! I just wanna be friends."

IC: Kororia - With Friends

It wasn't too weird for people to refuse help back home. It was, however, strange for them to look kind of scared while doing so. She walked around the fallen Rahkshi so she was back in their line of sight. "I'm Kororia. I just came here today. Do you need help getting up? I can lift you up! I'm strong!"

IC: Armani - At Corpse of Corpses

She placed a hand on the pilot's shoulder. "Thank you again for your tremendous act of bravery for the good of New Atero. Now, I believe your friend has been waiting for you."

OOC: I think Threiaa's best buddy is there but that was a while ago so I could be wrong

OOC: The Hero ships have already taken off.

IC: Nathaniel Zib - Hero Factory, Mission Control

"Head to Mission Control and I'll show you. It's not a good situation. You should probably hurry. I'll sum it up with telling you he's on a villain ship unsupervised."

IC: Nathaniel Zib - Hero Factory, Mission Control

His hand was on the communicator almost immediately, bringing up Plume's number. "Plume, there's a situation on the Starwhale mission regarding Gyro. Where are you?"

IC: Armani - The Boon Is Its Own Reward

She laughed, perhaps thinking the pilot was joking. "That badge represents the great service you have done! I'm sure there will be people who will see it and be grateful to you. But, what is more important is what it is to you. What you did took courage, and it is easier for some to remember such courage when given a physical representation of it."

IC: Armani - Granting A Boon

"No need to be humble, pilot! Whatever your reason for doing so. You have done New Atero a great service today. Well done!"

She reached into her pocket and removed something, which she placed on Threiaa's armour. It was a badge with a magnetic back for sticking to metal, and on the front was a cartoony picture of Armani's grinning face and thumbs up, accompanied by the words "GREAT JOB!".

"Your actions were commendable, and I- and New Atero- offer you our deepest thanks. Your bravery saved many lives today. I am very proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself, too."

IC: GyRotor and XPlode - Villain Friend Ship

The ship flew smoothly, almost expertly. Well, at least the Hero wasn't bluffing about knowing how to fly the ship. He considered the situation. He wasn't sure how long those Heroes had been there, but they'd almost definitely seen him... and, they had seen HeRotor on the ship. Their presence suggested to him that perhaps they had no idea beforehand that their friend was on the ship, as they surely would not be staking out the area- or doing so that obviously- if the fake Rotor was attempting this according to some premeditated plan. Which meant he was working with a Hero who... had a Rotor costume lying around along with some experience in impersonating Rotor? Perhaps some kind of hologram technology? Why did the Hero even consider this to be the best course of action? He would seek these answers later, when the Hero wasn't flying the ship under the childish assumption his plan was working.

Once they were in open space, he stood up and grasped the faker's shoulder. Besides a fraction of a second wherein the Hero looked like he might scream, there was nothing amiss. There wasn't even the very slight give of hardlight holograms- this wasn't an easy thing to detect, mind you, but XPlode had enough experience to know the difference. It was metal, it was real. That was puzzling.

"What?" The fake Rotor asked roughly. Pitch perfect, if a bit short. Not saying much; that was clever. Less mistakes to pick up on that way.

"Keep us on course, Rotor," he told the Hero with a smile. "And do try to pick up the pace. We want to get there before those Heroes do."

"Heroes?" said the fake Rotor. "What Heroes? I mean, the ones we saw were way off. No way they'd know where to look."

"there were several Heroes circling the ship. You were likely too busy tapping away at your screens to notice, hm?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I musta been." HeRotor, almost hesitantly, increased his speed. XPlode smiled and turned to the others.

"Do not fret, everyone. I have arranged a surprise for the Heroes at the vessel. I am sure they won't cause any trouble. One more thing..."

Having sent a request to a 'bot who owed him a favour to pick up the real Rotor, XPlode ambled to a switchboard and flicked a switch. There was a crackle, but nothing else visible.

"A little failsafe, for the Heroes on our tail," XPlode smiled. "No electronic signals- or messages- can get in or out of this ship. We don't want them listening in on us, do we?"

Unseen by anyone else, Gyro gulped.

~

IC: Nathaniel Zib - Hero Factory

Zib had been busy. Gyro's impromptu decision to dabble in spy work had resulted in a whole lot of raking his memory banks for sufficient protocols, because this was just ridiculous. In addition to that, Gyro had turned off his communicator, so while he was getting camera feed, he wasn't able to communicate with the kid. He had advised Bulk and Nex in their decision, and was now keeping an eye on Gyro while he sent routes to the Hero ships on Antropolis and filled in Stormer on the current situation. Unfortunately, this would guarantee Gyro the lecture of a lifetime. Maybe not even just from Stormer, if word got around. There were other grizzled veterans on their way to the Starwhale.

He would call Plume, of course. There wasn't much she could do, but she needed to know, even if the kid begged for the opposite in his email. Well, this was what he got for such a dangerous stunt-

And then, the feed went dead.

~

OOC: I can't remember if everyone's on board the Hero Antropolis ships yet so if you're not just post like you got on

IC: Bulk and Nex - Hero Ships

Quickly, both Heroes took off for the Starwhale's coordinates. Nex joked, "Well, now I suppose we have two groups of villains to worry about, if whoever took it's still there. Maybe the bad guys will tire themselves out fighting each other?"

OOC: Sorry for the wait between posts! GM posts take longer than what you'd think for some reason. Or it could just be XPlode's italics when typing on a mobile device.

IC: Matilda - Bedtime

The tiny blanket looked pathetic set on her massive bed, but it would have to do. She flopped into bed, tossing the blanket haphazardly over herself. Her sleep had a penchant for nightmares, and she'd only woken up relatively recently, but she was so tired and fatigued now that she was lying down. She yawned wide with an almost animalistic growl, allowing her eyes to drift closed.

~

IC: Rorohiko - NERD SQUAD

"Thanks," he said with half a smile. "I didn't mean to be rude. I'm just not good at fighting, or really doing much about someone dragging me off or whatever. There are some decent people here, I know, but I've been warned that there aren't really town guards that'll stop someone carrying off a screaming Matoran like there are in other settlements. That's the part that makes me nervous."

IC: Kororia - Helping

The newcomer looked too stunned to reply. Kororia tottered over to help them up. "Are you okay?"

IC: Matilda - Let Her Sleep

She took the blanket. "Thanks. 'Night, kiddo."

The blanket was Garuda-sized, meaning it definitely didn't fit Matilda. She wasn't going to argue, though. She'd make do.

IC: Kororia - Gobsmacked

"No parents?!" she gasped. "But then, who tucks you in when you're at home?"

Any further questioning was interrupted by the newcomer. She greeted them with a very cheery, "Hello!"

OOC: Sorry I forgot I hadn't posted

IC: Matilda - Tilly's House

She parked her vehicle, carefully landing so as to hide the offending words from passersby, and stowed the paint thinner on a shelf in the parking bay for Future Matilda to deal with. And also out of reach of curious Zesk.

She opened the door, feeling the slightest tingle of concern about it being unlocked before she remembered Garuda and her guest got here first. They weren't immediately inside, and from the roof's creaking and the door to Garuda's room open, she figured they were upstairs. She really had to fix the wall up there properly one of these days.

She called "I'm home!" before disappearing into her room to change out of her heavy armour. She was in comfortable sleepwear- she'd woken up fairly recently, but it hadn't been a good sleep- when she finally realised her blankets were missing. She sighed heavily.

"Garuda," she shouted- well, more of a tired raising of the voice than a sound with any real anger behind it- towards the stairs, stretching her tail from the stiffness it had gained from being curled up under her armour. "At least leave me something to sleep on, kid. Come on."

~

IC: Armani - Interrupting Corpse Looting

Armani grinned at the other pilot. "Ah, good to see you are all right, pilot! That was a very commendable act of bravery, what you just did. Very good work!"

IC: Rorohiko - NERD CREW

He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. You guys came back, and nothing happened, so no harm done, right?"

He still felt a little downhearted, but at least he was fairly sure it was an accident. He wasn't sure what Fifteen's deal was, though. He kept close by Karanta while following Fifteen.

~

IC: Matilda - Moping To Herself

She set off shortly after the other two. She had no idea why she was letting this get to her to this extent. It was a mistake, her mistake. It was pretty embarrassing, really.

She found someone still packing up their store and bought a few bottles of paint thinner, because she tried to have some on hand whenever she could. The shopkeeper had smirked at her ship, but tried very hard to hide it, so she let them be.

With the thinner safely stowed, she travelled home. She hoped Garuda hadn't made too much of a mess. Realistically, she hadn't been gone all that long, but the Zesk had surprised her before.

IC: Rorohiko - NERD CREW

Rorohiko tried to assure himself that Fifteen's casually not responding to his request was not anything to be worried about. It could have been an accident, after all. He hoped it was, though he'd had this happen before. Still, these guards hadn't asked to be completely paid up front. That was a good sign. He hoped.

"Sure," he said, hand on the arm that hid his booper.

~

IC: Matilda - At Trash

"Huh?" She looked up from the words scrawled on her ship. Something about it made the whole situation worse. "Oh. Yeah, it is. Can't wait."

She tried a smile, but she had a feeling it didn't look all that convincing. She tossed Garuda her house keys. "You two go on ahead. I need to get that paint thinner. You can give our friend the grand tour of the place, I won't be gone long."

OOC: Sorry for the huge holdup! There's been a bit of reworking behind the scenes, and some issues with the mission. We're trying to get it sorted out, but we really appreciate the patience, so I'm going to get the ball rolling. Morphos has not returned to the ship, but he can timeskip in when he comes back.

IC: GyRotor and XPlode - Villain Friend Ship

XPlode had turned to ensure this fake Rotor wasn't setting up a beacon or anything when he saw something outside the front window. His eyes narrowed. It was someone on a nearby rooftop- maybe a Hero, or at the very least someone he did not want to hang around for.

"Let's go," he said, patting the back of the duplicate's chair. "Take us to those coordinates, Rotor."

"Aight," said the fake Rotor with impressive accuracy. He did as he was told, and XPlode sat back down as the doors closed. The real Rotor had replied to his message with an attempt at lying about being still on the ship, waiting for his return. He stifled a laugh, and replied with a quick, sneaky photo of himself with his new friend when he was sure neither Blink nor the HeRotor were looking.

He immediately received a reply.

~

IC: Rotor and XPlode - Exchanging Messages, In Spoiler Tags For Length

~

OOC: Do you know how long I have had this picture for, just in case I had to use it while I didn't have access to something to draw it with

I've been waiting to do this part for so long

~

IC: Dunkan Bulk and Julius Nex - Summoning The Heroes

Upon receiving Gyro's message, Bulk and Nex had deliberated and decided that the best course of action would be to head for the Starwhale, hopefully get there before the villains, and attempt to regroup with or rescue Gyro there. Attacking the villains now would only put the kid in more danger, since he was, according to the rookies currently watching the villains' ship, sitting inside what was essentially a tin can full of criminals.

"I'm just surprised they bought it," Nex said to Bulk as they hurried back towards the Hero ships. "Are villains getting stupider, or is it just me?"

Bulk finished sending a message to the other Heroes, sans Gyro, for them to return to the ships immediately. "I don't like it. There's some new faces, from what the kids were seeing, and maybe they're gullible enough to buy whatever excuse that Gyro kid offered. But they definitely saw XPlode, and he's not easy to fool like that. He and Rotor are near inseparable. Why is he playing along?"

Nex shrugged. "Like you said, we can't just barge in there. If we show up, all they'll have to do is level their weapons at him and they have a free head start on the Starwhale. I don't want to have to make that call, and I doubt you want to, either."

"I still don't like it," Bulk grumbled as they reached the ships. "I guess we just gotta hope the kid gets to the Starwhale in one piece."

IC: Matilda - Vorox Squad Plus A Zesk

She knew what the answer was going to be, but it still wrenched at her insides a bit. She shrugged and turned away, walking for her vehicle so she could get a hold of her expression.

"Come. We take you. Follow in ship."

It wasn't their fault. She couldn't blame them in the slightest. She almost wished she could.

~

IC: Rorohiko - NERD CREW

"No, I think I get what Fifteen is saying," said Rorohiko, a little defeated but perking up when he looked at his items. "There's not all that much else, from what I could see. Just... would you mind staying with me outside Capstone? I know in here, people can't really seriously hurt me unless they drag me outside, but if I'm outside, that's the hard work done for them."

He gave a tired half laugh.

~

IC: Armani - Quite Apart From The Pity Party The Other Two Characters Are Throwing Themselves

She dragged the vehicle free, crystal tinkling to the ground below from the process, and set the other craft as carefully as she could to the ground. She then dismounted and approached the vehicle to ensure that the pilot was fine and able to exit their craft.

IC: Matilda - Being Guilted By A Child To Hand Over Her Groceries

She didn't think she could feel any worse, but she'd been surprised like that before. It took her a moment to register Garuda's words. "Not enough for whole village. But..."

This chieftain had come a long way, and obviously had nowhere to stay. And, Matilda was certainly curious about the lack of a tail- was she simply hiding it, too? "Voyin may stay with us while waiting for day. If she likes."

IC: Matilda - Stinger Tail Squad

The mountains? No wonder she had a funny accent. "You come late. Village is day walkers, they trade in sun. Have to wait."

She paused. She couldn't help asking, and she hated herself for it. "You... come alone?"

IC: Matilda - You Can See The Exact Moment Her Heart Breaks

She glance only very briefly to Garuda, not even slowing in her fast pace. "There's a ship here, covered with decoration from the Bara Magna Sand Tribe. I just-"

She stopped when she reached the pilot of the ship. Or, she assumed they were the pilot. A Glatorian, but not the Glatorian she was looking for. It wasn't him. She felt like an idiot. Why did she ever get her hopes up like that? Sadness, anger, and a bit of loneliness sank in the pit of her stomach.

The pilot spoke to her in Sand Tribe tongue. The accent didn't sound like it came from around here. Matilda said in the Sand Tribe language, trying to keep her despair out of her tone, "Wanted to know who flies. I Matilda, this Garuda. Why you in our territory?"