Sam's parents live in something of a cookie cutter community; their house is not *quite* big enough to house the entire group, but it's not impossible, just a bit cramped.
Breakfast is a buffet-style 'serve yourself' with plates of bacon, eggs, muffins, pancakes, and cinnamon rolls. Mike - Sam's dad - is puttering through the kitchen, cooking more bacon and eggs, and he offers to make omelettes for anyone interested.
Linnea just puts scrambled eggs and bacon between two pancakes, before adding syrup to the lot and tucking in with evident relish.
Max Thorn asks, politely, for a Fort Blaston omelette.
[OOC] Max Thorn: which is of course spicy af, as you would expect.
Esme sifts through notes on her dex with a mouthful of muffin.
Tim, Sands, Skel, and Haley are still not present. A message from Haley on the party's pokedexes reads, "Tim's trying to rein in the Jaegers here. He thinks something's not right with them. Skel's trying to find that transmitter, which is not on the map. I didn't know there was a pokecenter where his pokedex says you are. Looking forward to your return."
Mike: "Sure. Been a while since I made one of those. I think I remember the recipe."
Esme finally also gets around to looking at that book from the strange library man.
Linnea props open her own book, looking through the table of contents (and trying not to get syrup on the pages).
Max Thorn munches on some toast as he continues to peruse his own book…
Eggs, ham, bay leaves to represent Bay Island, peppers for Rustle Fields, dragon spice allegedly first grown at Scale Mount, and a spice blend imported from Dojji, and Max's omelette is ready.
Max Thorn: "Drip irrigation, huh…that's something we should probably be encouraging here in Amoda, too," he mutters.
Sam Spade: "Hey, Dad? About great-grandpa?"
Mike: "Yeah?"
Max Thorn: "Thank you, sir," Max says when his omelette's set before him.
Sam Spade hoists the book the retired spymaster gave her.
Mike double-takes, then turns off the range and sits down slowly. "Where…did you find that…?"
Sam Spade: "One of the librarians at the Sky City library gave it to me."
Linnea's book is divided into twelve chapters: a prologue, ten waltzes and commentary thereon, and an epilogue to sum it up.
Sam Spade: "Given some of the rumors…was that a shot across the bow at you?"
Esme's book is divided into regional chapters, combining regions that share an alchemical symbolism. Oddly, Amoda, Dojji, and Gaela are not listed.
Mike shakes his head. "No. No, I've seen that before. That was my grandfather's work, but I thought all copies had gone missing."
Sam Spade: "Gone missing?"
Max Thorn: "He used a POD kiosk to print these out."
Mike: "Did the librarian…say anything about the book? When you got a copy?"
Mike blinks. "PO…print on demand? It's been *digitized*?!?"
Mike: "Heh. Guess that solves the archive problem and then some!"
Sam Spade: "Yeah."
Sam Spade: "And no, he didn't say anything. Just that it was some bedtime reading."
Esme: "He seemed to have a bunch of hard-to-find things…"
Max Thorn: "As far as I'm aware, large-scale terraforming techniques like the ones described in here" -Max taps his book- "are still mostly theoretical, even if demonstrated under biodomes elsewhere."
Mike: "Hmm. You know…just last night, I had a dream about you. You were flying on these big wings of fire, carrying a song on your back, with a force of nature and…some kind of self-aware forge, wasn't Arceus but had his plates, nearby. You were heading into danger - somewhere around the old League headquarters - because you wanted to end it."
Max Thorn: "…and I certainly wouldn't expect to see them laid out in layman's terms-the papers involved are, shall we say, jargon-dense."
Sam Spade: "…..Huh."
Sam Spade: "……Yeah, I can see how that could be interpreted."
Mike: "Oh?"
Sam Spade: "….Um. Ho-oh kinda…let me fly once. And Linnea's been, uh, touched by Meloetta, and Max has been touched by Shaymin, hence the hair, and we kinda maybe sorta met Arceus in space and Arceus thought Esme's plates were a good start?"
Max Thorn: "This isn't dye; Shaymin apparently decided I'd look good in green."
Sam Spade: "Shaymin was right, by the way."
Linnea: "Yeah. We've had a strange journey."
Esme: "Ah! I still need to finish making a whole set, but I keep getting distracted."
Pat: "Tell her about the rest, dear."
Mike: "It'd only embarrass her. And it was just a dream."
Pat: "You know how dreams can be prophetic."
Mike: "That's just a legend!"
Linnea: "Ugh, just spill it."
Sam Spade: "Now I'm concerned."
Max Thorn tries, unsuccessfully, to hide his blush behind his book. Given it's just a sheaf of paper and not an actual book…yeah.
Mike: "Alright." He shrugs. "The song was tied to you with…I couldn't tell if it was a red string, or a string of pure fire. Seemed to be important."
Sam Spade frowns.
Sam Spade: "I really hope that means I don't have to spot-weld Linnea to me."
Mike: "Yeah, see - wait, what?"
Max Thorn: "I probably could, actually. Spiritually, anyway."
Linnea: "Please don't."
Max Thorn: "Not without permission, no."
Linnea grumbles and continues shoveling food into her face.
Sam Spade: "Well, I can't think of whatever else it could mean."
Sam Spade says that with a straight face and a shrug.
Pat: "You know how dreams are metaphors. Personally I think he was just dreaming of you being happy."
Sam Spade: "So why would all the copies of the book have gone missing?"
Linnea: "Y'all are good folks."
Mike: "The print run wasn't very successful, and over time copies got lost. By the time I thought to preserve one, I couldn't find any copies. Huh, it's been in Sky City's library this whole time."
Pat: "Thank you! You're a nice young lady yourself."
Sam Spade: "She is, isn't she?"
Pat peers over Max's shoulder, glancing at his book. "Shaymin, you say? Thinking you might practice some of these techniques?"
Max Thorn: "I've more or less committed myself to revitalizing Dojji, now that it has weather again, yeah."
Pat: "Well, you'll want a place to practice before you take on something that ambitious. I hear Dugburg'd be a good testing ground."
Pat: "All dirt, too much churned. Grass don't have time to grow there - unless you sped it up." She taps Max's book before retreating to the kitchen.
Max Thorn: "Which I can already do, myself, on an individual level. It'd take a lifetime to revitalize a region that way, though, given I can really only do one plant a week."
Max Thorn: "I'd demonstrate, but I already gave my bonafides to Nurse Joy yesterday."
Pat: "Nothing wrong in working smarter."
Max Thorn: "Indeed."
Mike eyerolls at that, then smiles at Sam. "So, Malta can carry you, you said?"
Sam Spade: "Yeah. She's gotten big!"
Mike: "I'd like to see that, if you don't mind?"
Sam Spade: "Sure!"
Sam Spade walks to and out the front door, then whistles.
Malta dives from the sky, then brushes past Sam to the bacon!
Mike tosses a piece to Malta. "Heh. I see you've got your priorities straight."
Malta: "Talon!"
Malta closes her eyes in bliss, then turns back to face Sam.
Mike: "Another piece if you take my daughter for a ride."
Sam Spade: "Dad wants to see you carry me. Sound like fun?"
Malta: "Tal-FLAME."
Malta brushes past Sam again, but this time grabs her by the shoulders and hauls her into the sky!
Sam Spade: "Waaaaaaaa-"
Linnea: "Wh-what?"
Max Thorn: "…Normally she rides on Malta's back, not dangling from her talons."
Esme: "Trying new things, maybe?"
Mike: "No, no, this sounds like my Sam."
Mike: "She ever tell you of how she managed to tick off Team Stormcloud, almost by accident?"
Max Thorn: "I…don't believe so?"
Esme: "Was that when she first left?"
[OOC] Sam Spade: Given that it was half the plot of Foundry Town? You've heard it. =p
Mike: "Yep. Some kid nicked something from them. She took pity on him and ran interference - then Malta there ran interference for her."
Esme: "We also heard when she ticked them off on purpose, and they blew up a blimp on us."
Esme: "Still mad about that."
Mike: "That so? I'd wondered what happened to that airship they built. They haven't built a second one - I think they're sticking to smaller stuff."
Sam Spade: "-aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Mike: "Yep. Just like old times, only she's up in the sky now."
Malta flares her wings at the last second, stopping with Sam's feet less than an inch above the ground. She drops Sam, who collapses and starts hugging the stoop, then darts back through the front door and dances in front of Mike.
Malta: "Flame?"
Sam Spade pushes herself off the steps.
Sam Spade: "Why'd you have to offer her bacon?"
Mike hands Malta bacon with one hand while petting her head with his other. "Good talonflame. You keep taking care of my girl, you hear?"
Malta: "Flame!"
Malta chomps the bacon.
Pat: "Because you know he likes to have blackmail material. When you finally do get hitched, he's half expecting to pry it out of one of your pokemon before you speak of it."
Mike eyerolls and blushes, but does not deny it.
Chicklet: "…Bribes?"
Pat: "Yeah. Why, do you like bacon too?"
Chicklet: "Yes!"
Pat: "Well, here you go then." She tosses a piece to Chicklet. "So, does Sam fancy anyone yet?"
Chicklet: "Yeah! She likes Linnea! That's probably what the red string you were talking about was."
Pat: "Huh. Is Linnea a good singer?"
Chicklet: "She's amazing!"
Pat: "I'll have to hear her sometime. Probably not right now, though." She hands Chicklet another piece.
Linnea: "Haha, well, it's something I like doing."
Chicklet enthusiastically crunches bacon.
There is an explosion in the distance. Off in upper Sky City, smoke streams to the sky. Moments later, Sam's pokedex rings with an incoming call.
Max Thorn: "…Back to the grind, I guess."
Linnea: "Ugh…"
Esme stretches. "Good break, though!"
The ring soon echoes to Esme's, Linnea's, and Max's pokedexes.
Linnea picks up. "Yes? Linnea speaking?"
Haley: "Can you get back here soon, please? THEY KIDNAPPED TIM! Sands and Skel went after him. Many of the Jaegers here were bots, setting up to infiltrate Team Jaeger." Haley, apparently in the pokemon center, is being bandaged up by Nurse Joy.
Sam Spade looks at her pokedex and fumbles, trying to answer it.
Sam Spade: "THEY WHAT!?"
Linnea: "Jaeger…bots?"
Sam Spade looks at her parents.
Sam Spade: "We gotta go! Love you, Mom, Dad!"
Haley: "I know! They had everyone fooled, until Skel bumped into one hard and tore the disguise. I think only the four of us - and you, now, and Joy here - know."
Max Thorn: "Pleasure to meet you!" Max waves as he bolts out the door.
Linnea takes off after Max.
Pat: "Take care!"
Mike: "Have fun storming the Stormclouds."
[OOC] Max Thorn: *punts WC* ¬.¬
Pat: "Think they'll make it?"
Mike: "It'd take a miracle. Fortunately, that's what Sam is."
Esme hoofs it. "Stay tuned to the news!"
Back in Sky Undercity, everyone appears to be taking shelter as debris occasionally rains down from above. Not a soul is in sight outdoors, but through windows can be seen people looking out in worry.
As the party passes the pokemon center, Nurse Joy waves to the party from behind the closed glass front doors. At least, it looked like glass, until a large chunk of steel bounces off the ground right into it - and bounces off, though not without removing a sizable divot.
Linnea: "We'd better head in and get more information."
Sam Spade: "Yeah."
Linnea: "… Also I'd like to switch some pokemon out."
Nuse Joy opens the door just far enough for the party to enter single file, just long enough for the party to enter.
Linnea darts in.
Max Thorn: "I think I'm going to ask Dmitri if we can launch that pichu in to the sun." You're not /entirely/ sure he's joking…
Sam Spade: "I don't want him getting away to stir up more trouble."
Sam Spade: "I'll settle for Chicklet punching his face until it breaks."
There is the muted babble of people in an emergency shelter during an emergency. Nurse joy double-checks that the door is closed and secured before addressing the party. "I hope you know what's going up there. All I know is, power's out, we're on backup generators, and…" She gestures outside, just in time for another large piece of debris to make a small crater.
Max Thorn looks around. Are Skel or Sands present?
No sign of Skel or Sands here - or Tim or Haley, for that matter, though Haley was at the topside pokemon center.
Sam Spade: "From the sounds of it - at least some of the local Jaggies were humebots built by Stormderp."
Max Thorn: "…I could make a lock ball, but those are highly illegal in Gaela and I wouldn't want word getting around that I'd done so."
Sam Spade: "…And I guess that means they're at the other pokecenter. Linnea, can you…?"
Linnea tries to find a network PC to switch out Foless for Ysayle. "Huh?"
Sam Spade: "Yeah, that."
Linnea: "What?"
The PC is finishing up a reboot - apparently it briefly lost power. It takes half a minute before it is ready for Linnea's use.
Sam Spade: "Nurse Joy, where's the nearest elevator?"
Linnea switches pokemon, muttering to herself. "Yessss…"
Nurse Joy points. "They're out of power. The emergency generators won't cover them. You'll need to provide a power source, or find some other way up."
Sam bites her lip.
Max Thorn: "…Kinda wish I'd thought to attract a dedenne."
Sam Spade: "Max, Esme, Linnea, how many of you would need a lift to get over that chunk of ramp the Jaegers throw people off?"
Linnea: "Uhhh-"
Max Thorn: "Depends on the size of the gap; Antheia *might* have the range for it."
Linnea: "Mia might be able to teleport me over?"
Esme: "Hrm… Alexis could maybe heft me over, but…"
Sam Spade: "Or…power? Do we have any pokemon that could power an elevator?"
Max Thorn: "Esme can probably come up with something shard-based that'd work."
Esme: "Luc with some outside help, maybe. We made it work back in Onix peaks, remember?"
A screen flickers to life behind the center's main desk, with the other Nurse Joy. The downside Nurse Joy addresses it. "Phew, finally. Sister, what's going on up there?"
Topside Joy: "Stormcloud and the Jaegers are going crazy trying to take down two ground-type pokemon."
Linnea: "Ground-type - do you know which ones?"
Topside Joy: "The local flying pokemon are helping them out."
Topside Joy: "Oh! Umm…I think I saw you with one of them, if that helps? Here, a moment…"
Max Thorn: "Those're humebots, not actual Jaegers."
The picture swivels as Nurse Joy grabs the camera and points it out a window. Sure enough, Sands and Skel are dodging fire - they almost seem to be dancing together through the blasts. The pattern seems similar to one of the waltzes in Linnea's book. Flocks of flying pokemon force pokeplanes away, and occasionally send a Jaeger toppling over the sides of the walkways - in each case, revealed to be a humebot, the pokemon within ejecting with a parachute.
Linnea: "Good grief…"
Sam Spade: "And the falling humebots are hitting here now."
Max Thorn mutters.
Topside Joy: "Do you recognize them?"
Sam Spade: "Yup."
Chunks of walkway and building keep getting blasted loose too - forming the holes in the railing and walkway for humebots to get toppled off through.
[OOC] WC GM: So, what does the party do?
Sam Spade: "Okay. So either we head up the walkway and use Malta or our other pokemon to get us across that gap, or we fire up the elevator."
Sam Spade: "Esme, is Luc up to it?"
Esme: "Worth a shot!"
Esme: "Can't imagine the elevator's less maintained than that mine shaft one…"
Max Thorn: "I think I'd prefer the elevator…"
Linnea: "Let's try the elevator first."
Nurse Joy opens the door just wide enough to exit. "Hurry and you should miss the debris."
[OOC] WC GM: Assuming you dash to the elevator: Acrobatics, Combat, or justify-a-skill check, all.
Linnea darts back out.
[OOC] Sam Spade: Sam is ignoring everything except her route - Focus?
[OOC] WC GM: Sure.
[OOC] Linnea: Lin is sprinting toward the elevator - Athletics?
Esme makes less of an effort to dodge, and instead just goes for run-plowing ahead as fast as she can.
Esme rolled up 6d6: 22 (4 6 5 5 1 1) (Athletics Maybe)
Max Thorn rolled up 6d6: 20 (4 4 2 1 5 4) (Combat)
Sam Spade rolled up 6d6: 25 (2 2 6 6 4 5) (Focus)
Linnea rolled up 5d6: 22 (4 5 6 5 2) (Athletics)
The party easily dodges the rain of death, and is soon in the open and unpowered elevator.
Esme in particular manages to parkour through the debris, letting one already-landed piece shield her from another incoming.
The debris seems to dodge Linnea a bit.
Sam simply isn't where the debris is. Max comes closest to getting grazed, but the closest particle misses by about 20 centimeters.
Esme slides into the elevator. "Alright, work time." She pulls out a screwdriver, starting to pry off some paneling before releases Lucrece. "Luc, if you don't mind, hop in and give it a jolt?"
Lucrece bubbles and then buzzes approvingly, in that order, before zipping itself off into the wiring.
Lucrece rolled up 6d6+5: 31 (4 5 2 6 6 3) (Tech Ed)
The elevator soon rumbles to life - and apparently Lucrece even managed to fix the music system, providing some muting from the destruction outside.
[OOC] WC GM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzzg2gWKeTk
Esme claps her hands together. "Not even any help from me! They grow up so fast."
Sam Spade: "Amazing."
Slowly the party ascends, eventually coming out in the library, down one flight of stairs from the lobby. The librarian, at his desk up above, looks down and nods. "Hmm. I'd joke about booking it, but now's not the time."
Sam Spade: "No, now it's time for punching a pichu in the face."
Librarian: "Yes, about that. I don't think Stormcloud's nominal leader is as in charge as he thinks he is."
Sam Spade: "I'm more surprised that anyone thinks he is the leader."
Esme gives Lucrece a big squishy squeeze once they're all out of the elevator before recalling them. "A treat for you later!"
Esme: "Is there a mutiny? I'd love to see him caught in a mutiny."
Linnea: "Then who's our real target?"
Linnea: "…Come to think of it."
Linnea: "We've been in spitting distance of the fellow, yeah?"
Linnea: "Have any of you ever tried to just… capture him?"
Max Thorn: "You know he's not my type."
Linnea: "I mean more like- imprison him, turn him in?"
[OOC] Max Thorn: "I don't think turning him inside out is really in the cards, as pleasant a thought as that is." :V
[OOC] WC GM: <Librarian>"That could be arranged. A malfunctioning pokeball, make it look like an accident…"
Max Thorn: "I *have* been looking at getting him kicked out and returned to Gaela to face his wife…"
Sam Spade: "Unfortunately, his wife is one of his biggest enablers."
Max Thorn: "Was, anyway. That might not be the case now she knows he's cheating on her."
Sam Spade: "Not relevant now, anyway."
Sam Spade: "Sir Librarian - who do you think is in charge? The drifblums?"
The librarian shakes his head. "You know how pokemon just fight sometimes? Why they agree to fight for us humans so readily?"
Sam Spade: "Yeah?"
Librarian: "What happens if you give *THAT* spirit, purpose and tools?"
Librarian: "But no guidance."
Librarian: "I believe this pichu has heard something like the phrase, 'In order to lead, figure out where the crowd is marching and get out in front.'"
Max Thorn: "Sounds like we need to handle the whole swarm, then, and not just the pichu."
The librarian nods. "This? This is a riot if I've ever seen one. Riots may think they have a target, but have you ever seen a riot that wasn't all about collateral damage?"
Librarian: "And this is a dangerous place for collateral-" There is the TWANG of another tower being severed, in the distance. "-damage."
Linnea: "We need to stop them from destroying the godsdamned city."
Librarian: "That would be nice."
Sam Spade: "Then let's GO!"
Sam marches out of the library, Chicklet behind her, fury on her brow and lightning in her eye.
Linnea starts off after her!
Max Thorn: Max follows along, looking far more composed, as long as you don't look at his eyes.
Esme rolls her shoulder, marching in tow. "Let's do it!"
Pokeplanes and flying pokemon swarm over the walkway, Skel and Sands in the center of it all. Surrounding them on the walkway is a small horde of humebots in Jaeger costumes, still hard to discern from real people, especially at a distance.
The far side of the walkway severs, sending the humebots on that side falling. Sands, Skel, and the humebots on the near side scramble up to the platform surrounding the Stormcloud-taken-over factory. The flying swarm moves with them.
[OOC] WC GM: How does the party approach, and what are the party's first targets?
[OOC] Max Thorn: Max will have Minerva out for this one.
[OOC] Linnea: Lin will bring out Lulim and have her charge the humebots!
Sam Spade is moving towards the fight, loudly, and openly. She's pissed. She's not being sneaky. She's about ready to yell once she figures out which words go where.
[OOC] Esme: Esme's gonna walk into the middle of everything and summon a friendly!tornado
[OOC] WC GM: Alright, that's enough for round 1 to begin at the start of session 100.
Session 99
page revision: 1, last edited: 06 Apr 2019 06:27