warning! warning!

[thespaceopera]

[The nebulas are beautiful in this region of space, at the very least. They gleam as great distorting clouds of space-stuff that your scanners don't even want to attempt to analyze. They affect the ships' instruments much like other areas of disruption have in the past, but these are actually visible as large swathes of light--like giant flames frozen in their swirling shapes, suspended across impressive stretches of space. For once, there's something like scenery to look at, out here in the black...

And then, the proximity alarms begin to blare.

From a gap between the two nearest clouds comes an assemblage of ships! Familiar to some and new to others--they do not respond to hails or communications of any kind, and they're gunning straight for the Fleet without slowing. Their weapons are locking on and firing as soon as they are in range.

Many passengers have been through this before, and many of the ships are bigger and better than they'd been in the previous skirmish. Today, the Drift Fleet will put up a better fight, even punch a few holes in their attackers.

Your augment knows where you need to go! Do you run to your station? Do you dodge your job? Are you unsure how to help? Are the captains giving orders or panicking, and are their crews paying attention? Everyone's got a chance to fight back before the enemy fleet runs them into the nearest nebula--and things suddenly take a bad turn.

As soon as each Drift Fleet ship hits the nebula, its systems overload and short-circuit before going dead. It stays silent for minutes, no radar, no comms, no network. Stubborn stragglers are ganged up on and forced into the cloud, followed by the poor ships on autopilot being bodily hauled into the nebula with tractor beams. Once the entire Fleet has been set adrift as sitting ducks, before the Marsiva can get too close, the attacking fleet... turns and flees through the cloud, seemingly untouched by the nebula that scrambles your ships.

Eventually, the systems flicker back to life, blinking on one by one. It will be several hours before any other effects of the attack will be noticeable. The network shows up as live again, but Atroma never shows up to explain a thing...]


ooc: the out-of-character event post is over here! respond to this post any way you like; you can have action, comm messages, play during the attack, being stuck in the nebula, checking in after the network comes back online, or whatever else seems fitting.

Comments

BISHOP

[everydayhero]

[TO THE BISHOP]

[the alarms start alerting the ship, and hiro lets them go off for about ten seconds before he cuts the sound and comes over the PA system.]

Heads up, Bishop, our friends from April are back! Everybody needs to be on their stations, we are not letting this be a repeat of last time! Pilots, set a course for the Three Twins! Belthazar, if you can help Tadashi keep the lab in place, that'd be great!

Show no mercy, guys, they're not gonna show us any.

[as soon as the announcement cuts, anyone trying to rush to the bridge will get to see hiro fly past them down the hall to the engine room. time to pull what he did last time and repair the shields as they're damaged.]


[INO / voice]

We're coming to you. If Allen asks, tell him to tell Sokka you're the meeting point.


[ALEX / voice]

Bishop is on course to the Three Twins, you should get over there if you can. Be safe.


[DURING THE BLACKOUT]

[hiro will be stuck in the engine room trying to get things to come on properly again. someone should probably get him out of Captain Mode and get him to chill out; his hands are a little burned from fighting the damage, like they were last time.]


[AFTER THE BLACKOUT / text to everyone hiro has ever been friends with]

status report

Start of Attack

[initforthemoney]

[Action - on the bridge]

[Frobisher was minding his own business, kicking back in the bridge with his flippers up, filling out a personality quiz in a decades-old magazine they picked up at the last rest stop. It's turning into a rather relaxing and enjoyable day...

That is until the alarm's start blaring. He reacts with total complete professionalism and definitely isn't knocked out of his chair in surprise. He's only just climbing back into his seat when Hiro comes in over the comms and... yeah those guys do not look friendly out there, do they?

Frobisher buckles into his seat, morphing almost in instinct to bullet-proof his skin. You can't be too careful.]

[Audio - to Hiro]

On it, kid. You sayin' these guys attacked here before? What the hell's their damage?

audio

[everydayhero]

No idea. Last time, we didn't have a pilot or any security. We almost lost the Bishop, but the First Breath came to save us. Their captain at the time was pretty much my best friend here.

But this time, we're ready. We can do this, and I can keep the shields running.

Action

[preformthisneigh]

[Sup, buddy, Cheese will just hop into the seat beside him. If he has to pick between hooves or flippers for avoidant dexterity, he'd let flippers win any day. He squints out of the window, carefully sizing up these attackers. ]

I wondered when the running and the screaming would start happening.

[punchingly]

[ She breezes in to the bridge and takes her place at the controls for the weaponry like she was born to war -- which is probably true, considering how aggressively neutral she looks about the situation. ]

[ Except she's never used high tech space guns before and the augment only goes so far so this is probably gonna be more of a POINT AND SHOOT AND PRAY situation. So like every fight in Final Fantasy basically. ]

Um...

[ She looks over at Frobisher and motions at the seatbelt. ]

What is that? Do I need that?

[limitstorm]

awake

[everydayhero]

good morning sleeping beauty

welcome to the climax of the season

[it's a joke, but hiro has no idea how right he is]

anybody hurt?

post-blackout

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Bloodsport crew all alive and accounted for. Computer's finally up.

Vague sense of dread. How's the Bishop?

[everydayhero]

we've been worse. two pilots and a security officer later, the bishop is finally ready for action, apparently. we took a little damage, but i think everybody's okay.

audio;

[preformthisneigh]

[He'll be heading off to help Froboisher with the piloting, but at least he doesn't sound panicked. Living in Equestria, combined with time in Paradisa could make anypony ready for just about anything. ]

Do I want to know what happened in April? I have a feeling I should know what happened in April.

audio;

[everydayhero]

They attacked for a bit and then flew off. Half the fleet was on its last legs, and we were one of the worst. If I hadn't had that alarm installed, the First Breath wouldn't have been able to cover our butts.

hiro/voice;

[ino]

Got it. Be careful. Let me know if you need us to come to you first.

voice;

[everydayhero]

Will do. Right now, just work on defending yourself, and we'll be there to back you up.

text

[got_it_memorized]

Remind me never to nap that long again.

text

[everydayhero]

does everyone from your world sleep until the important stuff happens

[arcanepower]

[Start of the attack]

[His urge to hide under a table is overwhelming, but Hiro actually ordering people around gets him to at least try to be around, try to help. This isn't the first time this has happened. He speeds down to the lab to help.

He lashes equipment to the walls and stashes loose things in cabinets in case they roll. He's discovered that he can keep his mind off the fear if he has something to do. Unfortunately, some things he can't get to in time and there's broken glass but... it could be worse. He'll clean that up when it's over.]

[Engine room]

[When the action is over, he runs into the engine room to make sure his bff is okay.]

Hiro! Hiro, are you all right?

action!

[punchingly]

[ You look like you're panicking and like you need assistance -- not that she should be doing things like oh, shooting at those ships. Whatever. Video game logic says that helping out other people in side quests leads to better rewards, right? ]

Here.

[ She reaches to catch a glass that's awkwardly lurching off of a table, holding it out to him. ]

[everydayhero]

[hiro's sleeves are a little scorched, and there are a couple things sparking, but belth will remember the engine room being in much worse shape last time. hiro is hard at work already, even though the systems are running on backup power.]

I'm fine!

[he straightens, and drops what he's doing to rush over to belth. he can't really help the concerned hands at his shoulders, or the careful inspecting.]

What about you? Are you okay?

[you were the one who got hurt last time.]

voice

[punchingly]

They have come before? What happened last time?

[ Her voice is smooth and professional, albeit quiet; she doesn't seem to be overly stressed about the ordeal, at any rate. Fighting things is her specialty, even if the controls are new and the security augment only goes so far to explain all the features to her. ]

voice

[everydayhero]

Last time, they showed up and attacked when we were nowhere near as prepared. I had to call the First Breath over to save our butts. We almost didn't make it. This time, thanks to you, we can hit back. So hit hard.

[voice]

[delincuente]

We can head there, but we've got no guns. Just dodging where we can.

[voice]

[everydayhero]

Definitely get there, then. We'll cover you.

Text;

[save_the_souls]

We took some damage, but everyone in the Blue Fish is accounted for.

Text;

[everydayhero]

good. that's a relief. can sokka handle the damage to the ship?

[faithfulwisdom]

[On the bridge, start of the attack]

[There sure is a lot of failed hailing going on at the communications desk. Finrod's calm but frequent calls go from the standard 'lower your weapons,' to the also standard, but more demanding 'cease fire!' before he gives up the attempt. Not that he really expected it to work, but better to try and fail then not try at all.]

And so it begins again.

[On the bridge, during the blackout]

[And now Finrod is frantically trying to bring back the comms stations, predictably, with little luck. He mutters a curse in Quenya under his breath.] Blind, deaf, and dumb. Brilliant.