( open ) i'll fly you to the moon and back

[initiates]

Date & Time: September 21st - September 30th, 11:59 PM
Location: The Hold, the Moon Base
Characters: Any/all.
Summary: The Transports are evacuating to the Moon Base. Those on the Moon Base try to settle in and figure out their next move. Setting info can be found here.
Warnings: Talk of nuclear warheads and reference to immense loss of life. Please contact the mods should any individual thread get graphically violent or anything else of the sort.
Note: Use date and location tags in your subject headlines! Such as "On the moon, 23rd onward" or "On the spaceship, 25th" or "down at the Hold, 29th."

The Hold is a flurry of activity, grim faced members of the Initiative group directing supplies and people with the subdued air of people facing their own doom, and wondering at how to process the knowledge. None of the Initiative appears unaware of what will happen; their eyes linger on the Transports, expressions pleading, hopeful, doubtful, or immeasurably sad in turn.

Every eight hours, the space ship is sent back up with a load of people and supplies. The pilots are worked until they can't; the AI stolen ages ago by the Initiative greets and corrals people and supplies at both ends, and in the middle step between.

The network continues to broadcast on narrow channels between the Moon Base and Exsilium, up until the time that all connections are lost, with the carrier located en route to Exsilium. The first airship will pass by without dropping anything, but it's too early to celebrate. At a six hour delay from behind, the second airship arrives, and with it, the dark promise of the Black Code's nuclear weaponry.

The six hour window allows for time for those left behind, either by choice or circumstance, to be pulled to the Moon Base with the successful activation of the Transport Pad. New characters will ultimately arrive with the remainder of those not yet on the Moon Base, all in time to witness the explosive contact of the nuclear warhead with the ground of Exsilium live on satellite.

But until then, there's only the hurry, the silence, and the potential for full out rioting should the Transports spread word to the Exiles inevitably left behind to face this fate.

Comments

In the hold, 23rd - 30th

[initiatesnpc]

[ There's a scruffy scientist who emerges from his labs now and then with a bottle of fireball whiskey (haha, get it?) in hand. Sometimes it's for an errand, and he nurses the drink as he strides along the hallways, firing off slightly-slurred strongly worded suggestions to various helpers. Sometimes it's at a dash for the nearest computer terminal as some new variable or equation occurs to him, and he even sets down his bottle for those. Sometimes he just seems to be on break, slumped down on a seat on one of the many boxes accumulating, shooed away when it's needed for packing, and settling down to slump somewhere else again. It's then that his drink sees the most use, but he never seems to pass "disheveled drunk" level. But hey, the guy's here for questions, rants, whatever you'd like to share. What a sport. ]

30th, in the hold

[celestial_wizard]

[ The members of Fairy Tail waited until the last possible minute, of course. No one wanted to abandon the city they called their second home, after all. Erza had already passed through with the unconscious Natsu over her shoulder, while Lucy arrived roughly half an hour later with a bag of her own. When she saw the scientist off to the side, she was initiatlly going to keep walking.About two steps past, she stops and turns back, studying the disheveled drunk and wondering if he was drunk because he liked the sauce, or because the situation drove him to it that much. ]

...was this really the only solution?

On Earth, seriously every day until the first airship passes

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Pidonus' shenanigans are overall pretty simple. She's quietly looting locations, talking people into helping her, and also providing an alternate way to get supplies up to the Moon Base.

On that front, specifically, Pidonus is using her extradimensional space to store stuff well in excess of the hundred-pound limitation. If you bother her, she'll happily transport large and bulky items up for a fellow Transport. No cost if you're willing to, you know, trust someone who recently outed herself as a Succubus long enough for her to do so.

Also good to note: Pidonus can teleport down and up, and can move the 'entryway' to her extradimensional lair freely. So if you like the idea of getting up to space without the discomfort of a rocket, you could ask her.

Or just try to stop her from using her powers to rob shops under cover of night... Or help her. There's possibilities!]

30th

[celestial_wizard]

[ Shortly after Lucy grabbed all that she could carry from Natsu's memory shrine, carefully packing each one into a couple of bags. It's a little heavy, but nowhere near the 100lb limit. Just really cumbersome for one person - she should have asked Juvia to help her out.. But that's where Pidonus will come across her, on her way to the Hold. ]

closed to saul;

[quackery]

[She hasn't been paying attention to the tablets since the announcement went through. She didn't want to hear more about it and how inevitable it was supposed to be; she wanted to do something.

She's walking through the streets while the first people are evacuating, clearly not headed to the ship herself. She doesn't have a good plan, but if she kind a way to get some of the Exiles onto the ship somehow, it'll be better than nothing. It's a start, at least; she can figure out another way to help them afterwards. Above all, she won't let herself sit back and do nothing.]

[5055034455]

[Saul wouldn't call what he's doing "patrolling," but it kind of is. He even has his weapon slung across his shoulder — his electroshock gun, the one he still hasn't used on anyone and hopes he never has to — just in case.

There's never been such a thing as "too careful" in his book. With the impending nuclear strike hovering over all of their heads, he's being especially careful.

People are crazy.

When he spots Ahiru heading in the direction opposite the ship, he yells:] Hey!

[It's not so much a greeting as it is an attempt to get her attention.]

the hold (21st-29th) + the moon base (30th-onward)

[ladyspitfire]

a) the Hold

[Elissa comes to the Hold once in a while, though most of her efforts have gone into helping those who would try to help the Exiles escape. She takes them down to where the boats are, day in and day out, and tries to get them to safety. Any effort is better than none. She just needs to do something, to make a difference. It's not the glory but the meaning behind it that she clings to. If she can save one life, just one, then it will be enough.

Just one life saved this time...]


b) the moon base

[In the end, Elissa is unsuccessful. She knows it, too. The Exiles will die. What she's been told about the bomb only confirms this. And so she's alone on the base, secluded and to the side, where she has confiscated one of the stray and lone cats from the cafe that Anders had shown her long before. The animal is mangy and will need to be cleaned and fed, but it's the sentiment that counts. Atticus lays at her side, curled around the cat protectively, and is grooming the feline.

She watches the outside of their new home, the emptiness she feels threatening to overwhelm her.]

b

[oncearanger]

[Billy is feeling rather hopeless by the end of it all. Yes, he understands that this was the logical course of action, and he's loaded his memory crystal with plans and ideas for things he can build on limited supplies, but he still feels the heavy burden of guilt from all those deaths on his shoulders.

He's decided to stay alone for a while...but this plan is impeded when he encounters a woman and a cat in the first spot he'd intended to take.]

That's an interesting companion you have there.

[He doesn't even know why he says it. It just seems right.]

Outlands/The Hold; 23rd-27th || Moonbase; 28th onwards

[strategic_guile]

A. Outlands | [Blaine was moving through the rubble and abandoned buildings in the outlands with slow, measuring steps. He had a lot of weapons he had cached in various places from his monthly missions. Now he was turning over rocks and pushing back slabs of concrete to get to the little alcoves where his bags of guns, ammo, and various other supplies were hidden. Pulling out a navy blue bag, he tossed it to the base of the rubble and sat in the opening he just created, looking around. He doesn't look particularly happy, but no one is right now, right?]

B. The Hold | [At least once a day Blaine is in the Hold. Sometimes he's turning in a box of ammunition or a gun he knows he can't pack or just feeling how bad the mood has gotten. If you're struggling with your 40kg bag he'll offer his strength.]

Need some help?

C. The Moon Base | [They are on the moon. No matter what anyone says, it is amazing. He's staked out an area to call his own and littered it with his belongings, but now he's at one of the windows and looking out. There was the Earth. Behind it he could see stars. More stars than he'd ever seen with his own eyes. He can't help but look a little amazed, though no smile was gracing his face right now. Even he couldn't lift the morose mood caused by letting half a million people get nuked.]

Happy anniversary to me, I guess.

C

[trustycrowbar]

That's right... this is the year's anniversary to when you first showed up, isn't it? Huh... Helluva way to spend it.

[Blaine isn't the only one who can't seem to buoy his mood no matter how amazing the view. The glowing blue membrane of the Earth's atmosphere is less brilliant blue then he remembers seeing in pictures, but it still held that same sense of vitality. This is a living planet. Asphyxiated, diseased, and battered with nukes, but still alive... somehow.]

[...Like another Earth he remembers.]

I'd go get a drink with you, but I get the feeling everyone's drunk us dry already.

in the hold, up to the 29th } on the moon, 30th

[oncearanger]

a)
Billy spends the first day frantically fighting against the inevitability. Surely there has to be another way? Their job is to be heroes, to do the impossible and save the day---not to leave their city, those innocent people, to die! He tries to concoct plans that can be executed in the week remaining, but the supplies and manpower just don't add up.

By the second day, he's curled up in his lab, hands fisted in his hair.

By the third day, he no longer leaves his old lab, not even to sleep. He spends every remaining moment with his supplies, planning which are the best to take and what he can do to make the load lighter while maximizing its usefulness. Blueprints are drawn and redrawn, bags unpacked and repacked.

In the end, it isn't even a bag at all. It's a simple cage made of wires that can easily be repurposed, and there's enough for a small generator. When he finishes his packing...he stays curled up in the lab, though the door's open.

Sometimes he peeks outside, saying something that might be audible.

"...this is the ultimate cowardice, isn't it?"

b)
Finally, unhappily, he's sent off to the moon on one of the last ships. There's something almost nostalgic for him about working in cramped and terrible conditions in space, but there's no warmth of love here. Only cold, harsh reality.

He starts work on restoring the laboratories almost immediately, only pausing when he finds there is nothing else that can be done until more supplies are gathered. Oh, how familiar that sounds.

He slips out into the hall back toward the dorms, and what he really wants to do is curl up on a bunk and process this familiar tragedy. But that's not as productive as he'd like.

So instead he's taken to the ground in a sparse corner somewhere, obsessively tinkering with an ancient leather-strapped wristwatch. Anyone who knows a thing about watch repair will know he's not really doing anything with it this time: he's just tinkering to keep busy, working to keep his mind rolling down any track but the one that looms biggest.

Occasionally, if someone passes, he'll joke with them.

"Well, this is a grand time we're having."

Because sometimes he frowns and frets so much that the situation becomes absurd enough for a smile.

b)

[interspace]

[ It isn't that Misha isn't paying attention to her surroundings, it's just that... well, after her sojourn back to collect a whole slew of new distraction material, she's been partaking in some of it herself. ALFRED has an audiobook running in the background, so when it cuts off and is replaced with someone talking beside her instead, she stops immediately and turns to regard Billy.

Oh.

ALFRED raises his visor unasked, unmotioned. The AI has been getting more and more disturbingly intuitive as time goes on, and it seems to be rubbing off to the point where Misha can almost anticipate his warnings — or, at the least, act on them as soon as they show. Probably something to do with Exsilium's sentience infusion. Still... handy as it is, it takes a bit of getting used to.

She doesn't kneel down next to him just yet, but she does regard Billy and answer the question. ]

Certainly is. Some people'd kill to have this kind of adventure, right?

Moonbase; OTA

[the_human]

[Finn is sulky as he hoists his backpack a little higher. He glares at anyone unknown who meets his eyes; his mouth is pursed into a petulant frown; his fingers grip the bag tightly. This isn't right; you don't just abandon people to die, even if you hate them, even if they're jerks to you. You just don't; that's the opposite of being a hero.

But what can he do? He's already tried leading some natives with them, but that hadn't worked out too well, and now he's got people watching him to make sure he goes to the base.]

[oncearanger]

[Something about seeing this guy so sad bothers Billy quite a bit. He sighs, falling into step next to him.]

Nothing about this feels right, does it?

[charming_jerk]

On terra firma

[Up until the 29th, Johnny will be doing his best to collect supplies and warn the Exiles. He doesn't care how much the locals didn't like him, how many had spit on him in the past, or treated him badly. They didn't deserve this and no one did. They deserved to know to be helped with evacuations. And while he has no idea what to do, really, he'll do whatever it takes. He's warning them. They deserve to know.

You'll find him among the town, completely in edge. He hadn't had time to recover from being locked up for over two weeks with the UE, and now this. His emotions were raw, and he was drained from the stress and lack of sleep. His short temper will be set off easier than ever, even when trying to help people. Yelling at the Exiles and getting in their faces with isn't helping, but it's not like they're reacting well either. But he's trying. He wants to help them escape.]

On the moonbase
[By the 29th, he has to be dragged by the collar away from Exsilium and to the station. He doesn't bring much in the way of possessions - just some clothes and some food, and the amp Claudia made for him. His guitar was long lost in the UE compound though. He wants to marvel at the fact that they're he's travelling in space, that he's on the moon. It's extraordinary. But he can't. He's drained in every way. You'll find him either lying on his bunk bed, staring at the ceiling, or at a window of the base, staring down at Earth. He just needs some time to rebound, but it's going to take some time.]

Earth

[strategic_guile]

[Johnny is getting up in someone's face and Blaine spots him. He's been watching for him when he can, but he has other shit to do. The blonde understands, but it is a hopeless, thankless task to try and get the Exiles to believe him. Those that do just get to be terrified for days, knowing they're going to die. It seems pretty cruel to Blaine, but he doesn't say so. He just calls out and physically puts himself between the half-incubus and the people he has shouting at.]

Johnny! Johnny, back off!

[He tries to catch the man's eyes.] Come on, let's go.

maiden voyage on the 21st;

[retraced]

[One good thing about needing to haul two sleepy kids to the getaway-ship is that they're conked out enough not to argue when Gilbert picks them up and carries them all the way to the Hold. Both Oz and Collette would argue about leaving, he's sure. They'd insist on staying, get caught up in more trouble and risk getting hurt or killed by the end of this terrible week. And that's not something that Gilbert is willing to risk.

They'll be the first group to leave, he learns as he arrives. As much as he wishes he could wait for confirmation that this wasn't a terrible trick, they can't turn away now. If anything goes wrong, Gilbert knows he can simply use Raven to get them somewhere else in a hurry, even at the cost of his own stability.

It doesn't take him long to pack up everything that they own. No one in this city has much of anything sentimental, but Gilbert has made sure to pack away anything that he finds in both Collette and Oz's rooms that looks important. He even rolls up the things that Collette has displayed on the walls of their apartment and stuffed them into the knick-knack bag. Their clothes are all collected up and packed into two separate bags as well, along with their tablets. Gil's own clothing, save for a change of socks and underwear, has been abandoned. They need to account for Collette's wheelchair along with everything else, after all, and he has nothing of sentimental value to account for.

You might catch sight of him on the way to the Hold or inside of it preparing to depart, a sleepy blond haired boy on his back, and an equally sleepy young girl being pushed down the street in a wheelchair, several heavy bags hanging off of his arms and a violin case swinging on two fingers which are also grasping the wheelchair handle. He lingers around the Hold once they're strapped into their seats, but only long enough to send messages out to a few people that he hasn't run into yet. After that, he's on the ship with the rest of them.]

But tell me, did you sail across the sun?

[crocodilesmiles]

( Collette stretched her arms over her head, blinking her bleary, weary way back to the world of the wakeful and looking around. Gil had said something about getting moving -- was it a mission? something to follow up on them escaping, to get them out of the UE's notice? -- but this didn't look like the usual rooms in the Hold. It looked familiar in a way she couldn't pin down at first, which only made her frown and straighten up, adjusting how she sat and pulling at her lap blanket.

Looking around confirmed a few things. One, she was strapped into something that wasn't her chair. She'd thought she'd dreamed that part, but here was the reality, and she was startled. There were other people and baggage all around, with a familiar face close at hand.

Collette felt her heart rate accelerating. This didn't look right. She reaches out to Oz, tugging on whatever's closest. )

Oz? Oz, buddy, are you awake?

Exsilium, 20th-23rd / mission, 24th-25th / moon base, 26th-30th

[interspace]

a) in Exsilium (sept. 20th to 23rd)

[ For an island about to face utter annihilation... it's surprisingly peaceful. Not completely, but more than any place in the situation has right to be. Misha is keeping herself calm, quiet and determined. She has no real way to help anyone should she tell them of their looming fate — so she focuses instead on running as many errands as she can all over the island. For the Initiative, for any Transports that might need someone quick in the air, for any of the natives who might give her the time of day.

It makes her useful, it makes her busy and distracted. It means she can bide her time with her ear low to the ground. She keeps this up all the way 'til the 23rd when she catches wind that the Initiative might be temporarily disassembling the Transporter and takes her chance soon as she can. She tries to hop into the interspace... and finds herself stuck up on the base instead when it rubberbands her back into their clutches.

Damn. ]

b) time-traveling game collection (sept 24th, 25th) [closed to Claudia]

[ Misha, hands over her chest from where she lays on her lower bunk in the assigned room, stares into the visor of ALFRED playing some old cartoons he has on file. It's dismal, boring and tense up on the base with nothing left to do but wait. Everything eats at her in the stillness, Claudia's presence included. There's got to be something she can do... ]

So. Claudia. I've been thinking.

c) putzing about the base (sept. 26th onward)

[ With several thousands of dollars of entertainment media acquired, Misha goes about setting it up. The first day is taken mostly to hooking up all the technology and working with Claudia to figure out power requirements, failsafes and ways to keep this endeavor from being a tax on the base itself.

Every day after that is Misha throwing herself into distraction. The VR room gets used for training. She uses some external speakers and ALFRED's help to compose ditties and songs and other little things to keep herself occupied. The worst part is that she's still stagnating, stuck up on the moon where her endurance and speed means shit when she can't use it to get back to earth in any reasonable amount of time even if she had the equipment.

What's a girl to do? ]

Gee I wonder which one to choose

[acts_of_claudia]

[Claudia had been sprawled on one of the top bunks, her laptop propped up on her knees as she worked at cracking into the drive she'd stolen from the facility. It was slow going and she wasn't entirely sure she was making any headway at all but it was something to do. Something to keep her mind off of the fact that she's basically trapped... again. But this time she's at least trapped with friends and she's not being poked and prodded by scientists every day.

When Misha speaks it pulls her out of her zone, though not unkindly. Her fingers cease typing and she leans over a little to peer over the edge of the bed.]

Uh oh. Careful, I've heard that can be dangerous.

Exilium, 23rd-30th Close-ish.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Kevin has decided to stay and fight, which means he will lock himself in the ruins of St Paul's and pray until he gets some freaking answer, please God just this time, please!, or hopefully amass enough strength for whatever is coming in the direction of the increasingly panicking Exiles. He has raised enormous crystal barriers before, but the chances of deploying such power here and now are very slim.

Still, it is not like he can abandon the alternate version of the people he is supposed to protect. And he will not.]

[ audio/private ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ Ding-a-ling-ling-ling

Hope you brought your tablet to your prayer session, Kevin, because someone's trying to call you. ]

Hi hiiiii~!

[ You're a moron and an overgrown pigeon, however.... somebody might owe you one. Maybe.




Pick up, idiot. ]

ota!! even for a mcbroodybutt

[limitstorm]

a. exsilium; 23rd-27th.
[ his arm is in a sling.

it doesn't stop him. it's supposed to be healed by now, but any further magical healing just irritates him and riku--... riku knows better, but he just doesn't have the patience to sit still when everyone he knows and everyone he's met in the past year and a half (almost a year and a half, almost more) is about to be wiped off the map.

he's not supposed to be walking. his arm is in a sling. he isn't eighteen yet and he's zooming around on his cruiser, stopping every now and then to help exiles in any way he can. the people he's spoken with that used to snap and snark in his direction give him pleading glances and he hates it, but endures, tries to make them as comfortable as he can.

he tries to make a large-scale barrier. riku is good at shields. he'd wanted the power of the guardian since he was a child and he had it, and he raises it high to try and expand the sphere of iridescent hexagons so it's higher above his head and covers more area. it's barely working--he can start going over a twenty-feet area, but he's not making progress. ]

b. moon base; 27th-30th (first person to volunteer to be the person who dragged him up here gets it)
[ he awakes in one of the rooms--jolts awake, rushes outside into the hallway, stumbling over himself as he gets to the nearest window.

before he can even get a look outside, the back of his head pounds mercilessly, almost mocking him. he knows the sight that he's about to see, eyes shut tight against the glowing light as he presses a hand against the back of his head. he's going to see exsilium below him, the entire world, while he's floating safe in space and--

cracking his eyes open, his heart stops and sinks, lips pursing and jaw clenching. fingers curl into a fist, knuckles white. ]

Sora would've saved this world by now.

[ he hisses to himself, all inward malice and hate; his free hand summons way to the dawn on instinct, and he has to turn his head and dismiss it before he bumps his head against the window, eyes closing again, fist still. ]

Not much of a Master, looks like. Yen Sid ought to rethink his decision.

a!

[pauldron]

[Unable to do much to help, and understanding the Initiative's call even if she doesn't want to run and hide--which really is what they're doing, when she thinks about it--Lightning is sitting on a bench on a street corner, just watching the rain and the people. These aren't her people. She shouldn't want to help them...but she does. It's why she hasn't left just yet. If there's anything she can do, she has to try.

Still, seeing him cast when she can guess what that sling means makes her stand, walking a few paces closer. Hopefully he doesn't zoom off before she gets there.]

Hey. You should save your strength. You might need it later.

On the moon, 30th

[hejhej]

[Lisbeth doesn't know why she joins the others in the Observatory as the live feed shows the island they called home. She's been here a day already and it sucks hard. The food was worse than what it was in Exsilium and most of her showers came out cold. She likes her showers hot and lasting an hour with or without Jesse. Now she saw no point in showering if she was going to be standing underneath a cold water jet for five minutes.

But back to the feed. Maybe it was nostalgia for a place she still hardly knew. Maybe it was disappointment that yet again she was moved to a new place. Or it might have been some grim curiosity of what a nuclear explosion might look like.

Everyone talked about it in theory in her reality. Now she was finally going to see one. With her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket, Lisbeth lifts her head to watch the screen.

[cesar]

[ The base feels claustrophobic. It may be bigger in size than even Rome but the enclosed space makes Cesare feel restless, and the more he paces about the habitable area, the more he feels trapped. Only the scenes shown on the live feeds remind him why he should count his blessings.

He stops at a polite distance from her (him? he can't quite tell), crossing his arms in front of him and frowning at the monitor. ]

Curiosity or sympathy?

[hyanaimne]

a. Around (Up until September 29)

[from the moment the first ship leaves for the moon, she starts up an almost destructive routine. Self-destructive, mostly. She's at the Hold every morning, watching ships leave or return, looking for people she hasn't seen since the attack on the UE and making sure the few people she'd consider friends have left or are leaving.

And when she gets too angry and upset at everything she retreats, either to her room or the hospital. She avoids everyone, takes stock of what they have and what they'll need, what they're sending and what she'll happily go on a mission for. Because eventually, she knows something or someone will force her to the moon. So she takes a mental checklist, because she still needs to be doing something, still needs to be useful in some way, and needs the distraction from the tragedy that's about to happen]

b. The Moon (September 30)

[she's angry. No, she's pissed. Here she is, on the bloody moon, against her own wishes and she has nowhere to go to set something on fire. Could she even set something on fire in this damn base? She wasn't sure, but she was waiting for the moment she could leave to go on a mission so she could, without worry of screwing up whatever tech was making this possible.

As it is she just wanders until then, moody and dearly wishing they'd left her on the damn planet]

30th

[heroxide]

[Catching sight of her wandering the base and taking in her less-than-pleased expression. He vaguely recognizes her in the back of his mind, and truth be told he could use some conversation. The moon really does suck a whole lot.

Commenting:]

You look like a right ray of sunshine.

Early side of Evac Week (OTA)

[anotheryosuke]

[This guy's probably been scarce at the Hold all week (not that any of them have been 'home' much lately, that's the thing, isn't it?); he's much too busy wandering around random corners of Exsilium where you probably wouldn't normally expect to see a Transport, carrying a whole lot of grocery bags whenever he does pop up.

He stops once in a while to enter a shop or to speak to some Exiles with suspicious seriousness. There's a bit of underlying familiarity there, but mostly he just goes away with an ever-increasing supply of grocery bags.

Occasionally, he can also be spotted at the side of the road cursing at his ubiquitous navy-and-orange motorcycle as he attempts to stuff said bags into its storage. Oddly, although he does have some trouble you never seem to see him take bags out of there. Sometimes bags of ice end up going in, too.

One afternoon, though, it finally happens: some of the little Exiles get curious about the big shiny vehicle pointlessly parked in the road and never properly going anywhere, and Naoya comes back to his motorcycle to see one of them literally disappear headfirst into the storage trunk.]

H-Hey! Seriously, don't go in there! I mean the rest of you!

[As the rest of the children freeze, he drops his bags and dives for the trunk. Sticking his own head and shoulders in is the obvious solution, even if from the outside there's just no way the compartment should be big enough for that. Or for an entire kid to disappear inside, but details.]

[maddeninghatter]

[ Gilbert left in a hurry, on the first ship, with Collette and Oz in tow. Meaning, of course, that he had no opportunity to shop for supplies. Break knew full well that tensions were likely to rise over the course of the week, as information filtered through to the Exiles; so after waving a lazy good-bye to Gilbert and his sleepy charges, he headed out straight for the market.

Now he has his own set of grocery bags, too. Exsilium foodstuffs are hardly luxurious, but he strongly suspects they'll be better than what they'll find on the moon. He is heavily laden, with packets full of dried applepears, flour, raw nuts, sugar, canned not!chicken, rhubarb berries, and other mutated foods selected not only for his own tastes, but that of Gilbert and Oz and Collette (he'll make sure the food appears mysteriously and disavow all knowledge of how it got to the moon, of course).

Thus may Naoya possibly run into him: a slightly-built, white-haired man awkwardly managing four sets of bulging grocery bags and a cane. ]

moon base, 20th onward

[polarization]

[ It's the best birthday present a kid could ask for, realistically. Going to the moon for your sixteenth birthday? Sure, why not, who in their right mind would turn that down? Except Sefton's not in his right might. After being kidnapped and experimented on, saved and shoved onto a shuttle with little presence of mind to resist rather than reduce, he now finds himself on the moon for his sweet sixteenth when no one even knows his name.

Most of the time, he's curled up in his room. Whether any of his new roommates* bothers him or not is up to them; he isn't out to make overtures, but the blue hair seems to be attracting a whole lot more attention here than it would back home. Whatever. Honestly, he sleeps for whatever time he can manage alone and ignores all the time others must have come in while he was unconscious and defenseless.

Other times, he's rooting around for rations in the cafeteria and trying to ignore the guilt that they're going to be low on supplies extremely soon. He can't help it if he's a growing teenager.

His explorations are thorough, curious and as inconspicuous as he can manage. Once, he tries the simulation room. A bustling city, hoping to drown himself out for just a short while. He only lasts ten minutes in the feeling of not the same, something is wrong with the picture before he hightails it from the room and doesn't go back. ]

[ooc: Sefton is rooming with Regina Mills and Utena Tenjou if any of his roomies would like to prod him. Note that physically prodding him has strings to it, though! ]

[limitstorm]

[ riku knows hunger pains, so when he does catch a blue-haired teenager rooting about, all he does is shove his rations into his face instead. he doesn't even have the decency to look angry, but resigned and empathic.

he may only be a year older than sefton, but that's not stopping him. ]

Come on. Just take it.

WE LIKE THE MOON, sep 29th

[chosenfake]

[Luke is in a state of shock. Many of his belongings (and some of Asch's) have been shoved into a box, currently sitting by his feet. He stares at the monitors in the Observatory and tries to make sense of it all. He's brought basic food ingredients, some clothes, a pillow and blanket, his journal, salvaged tea. Little things. It's like he's going camping, but this is so much worse.

After everything they did for Auldrant, he feels like he's giving up. He's been backed into a corner and no amount of fighting will solve anything. Right up until the end, he's tried to smooth things over between the Transports and the Exiles, and yet it doesn't matter, because he was dragged up here anyway. At least he was able to keep busy.

He feels sick to his stomach. His hands are shaking. Some kind of unfamiliar music drifts out of the headphones attached to Asch's old iPod, and his fingers tighten around it protectively.

They can go back in time and prevent this. He knows that, logically. He also knows that they were supposed to do that for Elmer's world. It doesn't erase the fact that billions of people have died or will because of the UE and their (his) inaction. Even if the victims reappear and continue living as if nothing happened--

-- Luke will remember. The boy who exists only in memories will continue to remember.

And so it goes.]

[limitstorm]

Luke.

[ riku didn't do well his first day. he's still not doing well--but he can be strong for others. has to be, so he puts on an impassive face and looks stern as he sits down. very carefully, he puts a hand on his back, trying to bring him out of his thoughts. ]

Hold-side, 21st - 30th

[commentboxtroll]

[ Caesar's only remaining behind to observe what's happening, up until the end, so he isn't up to any trouble in particular. When not going over the rooms to make sure only what's really necessary is packed, he'll be...

a. Spending time on the roof of either the Hold or the apartments, sitting up on the very top of the highest perch, within reason, he can find, even with the rain. He's watching the city, probably thinking, or maybe not trying to think at all. One or the other, it switches around a lot.

b. On the 24th, he'll be going off into the city one last time, but only in one direction in particular. His stops include a small candy shop, where he makes a purchase. After that, it's a small hole-in-the-wall place that might be a tailor's shop, but it's hard to tell. It looks like he's made a purchase there, too, when he leaves again, with something wrapped in an oilcloth tucked under his arm. His trip out isn't more than a few hours, but it's hard to miss the shock of red hair in the crowd. ]

A, 23rd i guess?

[keep_smiling]

[One of the times Caesar is headed to the apartment roof, he'll find a familiar yellow raincoat already there. Elmer is sitting on the ledge of the building, looking out over the area. It was a flurry of activity from the Transports, and he watched it with a curious expression. When he hears someone approach, he turns and smiles, and gives Caesar a little wave.]

Hi there! Come have a seat while you still can.

Moon base, 25th onwards. OTA

[notadamnvampire]

[Alucard is, like most others, frazzled and stressed and scared. He does his best to hide it, and he's good at that, at least. He spends his remaining time in Exsilium collecting supplies and keeping to himself and out of the way of both Transports and Exiles alike. He wants to help, but he feels it's pointless. There's nothing he particularly can do to stop any of this, so he feels his best option, if he wants to help, is to remain calm and out of the way of those who are helping.

Once on the base, he's even less sure what to do with himself. He doesn't have much in the way of possession, but he does have a peculiar 3-headed hamster in a cage with him sitting in his new room. Running missions seems like a good idea, as they're going to need a lot of supplies to keep this place running. He'll also be stoping to speak with Initiative employees to see what they've got to say about this crazy situation, and what they think their chances of fixing everything might be.

You'll also find him wandering the base alone, orienting himself to his new surroundings. You'll find him in every wing looking things over. Like many others, he'll also be enjoying the view of the Earth and space, to a point. He'll be staring out a window, muttering quietly to himself.]

It looks far too peaceful from here...

Re: Moon base, 25th onwards. OTA

[pride_of_amarcia]

Yeah, huh.

[The girl who happened to be next to Alucard as he spoke was carrying a backpack full of stuff.]

Blue Earth... But soon, there will be nothing for us there.

[Open]

[mach_n_roll]

[Earth, 21st]

After dropping off the canteen of glowing blue stuff (and marveling at the way they happily scrambled off with it. Wow. They musta really wanted that stuff.) he takes off to the transport bays.

Even in the tension and dismal silence, he still has a smile on his face as he bounces from cargo pile to cargo pile. "Hey, y'need some help?" He'd ask people who look lost.

[Moon, 30th]

Sonic's not the type for introspection. If he has time to sit and quietly think, then he has time to think while he runs. But he can't run here. Not really. It's too cramped. Too enclosed. Too full of structure and rigidity.

People can find him, swinging on his little hammock made out of a torn cargo net in the living quarters, or up in the upper domes staring out at the stars, or even in the simulation chambers, trying to get some decent exercise. Where he'd been cheerful and talkative before, now he's strangely quiet. Was it just his dislike of enclosed spaces taking hold? Or something else?

30th please, and I'm sorry in advance

[curatesecrets]

[Artie's been aimlessly wandering, for the most part, trying to not only familiarize himself with yet another completely foreign set of surroundings, but to sort out his mind, his thoughts on this whole turn of events. everything has all happened like a pile of dominoes toppling - each clicking flat down and knocking into another before he has time to even decide how he feels about it. ... honestly, he's been glad for how relatively quiet the moon is if only for the break to think.

but during his wanderings up to the domes, this particular day, he sees something he's been looking for, someone Claudia told him about that he's been both hoping for and dreading running into: a blue hedgehog. there can't be many of those, after all. his jaw tightens, and while he doesn't quite approach, there's no mistaking the tension in his tone]

You.

exsil-side! [ closed ]

[implying]

[ He's made rather good use of himself, he feels. He hadn't even bothered trying to hide away his enhanced strength, as he usually does — and of course, everyone had been far too busy to care. So he's been working near tirelessly, hauling supplies here and there, packing the ship on its returns. But his resolve to do even that had dwindled by the 28th, and he'd wandered out into the city. The city that won't be standing much longer.

He hasn't brought an umbrella, for once, but the rain at only a light sprinkle. There are the customary dark looks for his obvious Transport-status, but when all he does in return is offer a sad smile, there's generally no further issue taken. He stops to talk with those who will speak with him, looks up various old friends among the natives, even helps out with chores and errands here and there.

Maybe he will just stay. Despite it all, Exsilium is a better home than his own. And if he slipped away here, and died in a flash of light, well... he'd hardly be doing anyone any more harm. ]

what's going on, i felt kind of bad for him there

[applethief]

[ there are always enough people willing to help in exsilium that marduk has felt entire comfortable doing nothing at all. instead, he's taken to wandering the streets, drawing a map of the city as he goes. it's not like there won't be any record of the city after it's gone, not with the tablets the way they are. probably. he's pretty sure about that, at least, but it's always nice to have records of your own.

the hardest part has been keeping the book dry. even though there's not much rain, after enough hours all paper gets wet enough to tear. the best solution he's come up with is himself, of course. bending over with the hood of his cloak does a passable job of imitating an umbrella... at the expense of being able to see anything else. marduk's vision is focused enough on the ground he almost walks right past vanadi, until something in his mind clicks that there was probably something important that he just missed.

he turns back, straightening up a bit but still holding the book close to his chest. ] Oh, hey. It's been... a while? [ he tilts his head. that sounds right, anyway. ] What are you even doing out here?

moon base, 23rd onward, ota!

[bloodbiter]

[At first, she felt it couldn't be real.

She didn't come from a time that had yet reached electricity, let alone nuclear power, so there's confusion as to what exactly is going on. Of course, the idea of traveling to the moon in a ship through the stars seemed impossible to her as well. When she began to understand the situation, though -- it still took a while to accept. How could anyone plan something so awful? To murder so many people, children, in one strike? It's almost beyond her grasp, that level of reprehensibility.

Soon after, though, her shock faded into anger, solidifying into determination. To leave so many people to die did not feel right, but if they weren't to leave, those people would never have the chance to live again someday. It is a hard truth to swallow, but a truth nonetheless. She still felt guilt and shame and a great deal of doubt as she boarded, but she could not allow those feelings to control her actions.

So now, after she arrives at the moon base, she decides she will no longer sit by as she's done since coming to this strange world. If she can help prevent another tragedy like this, then it's her duty to do so. Meryl would have agreed, she knows.

But for now, a bit to rest, to try to collect herself. At the moment, she's sitting in a place where the stars are in view. The sight is a comfort, though her chest still aches with sorrow. She does not believe what they've done is right, though she understands that there was no better option.]

30th

[hyanaimne]

[usually, Tempest doesn't discriminate when it comes to who she takes her temper out on. She's glared at any number of people walking past her, muttered threatening things to a few (mostly Initiative employees). But when she passes Addie, she can't help but stop. She remembered her, from their discussion of magic that one day. So in a way, it was nice to see a face she knew, and one she knew who was from a similar time, at the least.

Well-hidden in her cloak, Tempest approaches, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. Another deep breath follows, because she's never been good at starting conversation. But finally, something comes to mind]

The view is a bit different up here, isn't it.

[demonbloodblade]

A. [In the Hold, the 21st to the 27th:

Meliantha is doing what she can, trying to grab whatever she can that's not stealing but not nailed down, really. From what she's gotten straight, there's got to be a need for supplies. If it seems edible or potable and no one else has claimed it, she's going to try to. And with a magic bag, a little more to bring might not be a bad thing: if you can bring 100 pounds of stuff in a bag that only weighs 10 pounds, that's 90 more pounds someone else can bring, be it food or medical supplies or what.]

B. [On the Moon, late on the 27th to the 30th:

Someone needs to move things around. Meliantha's strong. Thus, she's moving stuff around. She also has a bunch of booze, and anyone who seems to need it gets some. No longer thinking about making some money, just making sure people can get what they need.]

C. [On the moon. 11:50 PM on the 30th:

She's in the monitor room. Watching.

Someone needs to remember this. Someone needs to watch it. Someone needs to be able to testify to the horror.]

c)

[oldsoldiersneverdie]

[She's not alone in feeling that way. Even if he didn't argue, didn't try some stupid last-second heroics this time - he was too old, too worn out for it. Particularly after this month. More than ever, he just wanted to be at home, with his daughter.

But just as he could recount almost every person who had fallen when he led Clan Chosen, he couldn't turn away from this. Even in a war he'd never agreed to, every loss deserved remembrance - particularly the ones not willingly made.]

observatory, 30th, ota

[reversemole]

( this wasn't the first time he's suffered through a nuclear attack. back then, even the most optimistic estimates reported that a complete recovery from subsequent destruction usually took decades on average. if exsilium was in a similar or worse state than original toyko, exactly how long they'd be stationed here might well be hardly worth the optimism.

that is, if you wanted to save yourself the headache.

for now, the die was cast, and kaji takes to watching the live feeds by virtue of a morbid need of closure. the main holding dock was beginning to fill up, in accordance with the number of last-minute remotions, so he obtains his own space against a wall to play bystander. his expression is not quite a mask of perfect indifference. )

[ensorceler]

[ Anne has also spent an unreal amount of time in the Observatory, though she refuses to bring Robert here, thinking it will only hurt him more to see his parents and friends die. No matter what 'reports' say, there is actually no telling when the bomb will drop, and so Anne's eyes are always drawn to those screens before they can even think to gaze upon the beauty of the stars whenever she walks in. She always stops in passing, as if forgetting where she was originally going, both hands pressed to her breast with fingertips stroking the cross resting just above.

So if she's suddenly in this guy's space, well sorry about that. ]

Moonbase, the day of arrival

[notpeterparker]

[Carol's had a very eventful past few days, much like everyone else. Her attempt to rescue the other prisoners went as well as anyone could expect when you send a little girl on a very dangerous rescue mission, and Carol ended up with a few bullets in her leg while escaping from armed soldiers. She's spent the past few days being treated for it, and she still finds herself flinching at any loud sound. Her leg hurts, not nearly as agonizing as it did when she first arrived, but it still hurts too much for her to be mobile.

Before she had a chance to recover from a traumatic incident like that, she was being evacuated with all the others. Ever since her arrival, she's been watching ships come and go, bringing more people with them, and still trying to catch up with the fact that she's on the moon and that Exsilium is currently facing destruction. Right now, she's stuck in a wheelchair and rolling around the moon base while trying to figure out what's happening. A lot of ships were coming back, but to evacuate a whole planet...

What was going to happen to all those people? She had to find out more, so she starts wheeling herself through the halls, accidentally bumping into people as she goes.]

O-oof, I'm sorry! Excuse me!

[moralperil]

[The girl collides with a tiny, dark-haired man equipped with a carrier carrying two very distressed (and frankly, stinky and sick) kittens. He's just as surprised and confused as she is.]

No, no... it's okay! [He places a steadying hand on her shoulder.] Where are you heading?