Silly Plots 4: It's not particularly silly, is it?

[5a Violista]

[Blind Date]

Yeah, being eldritch or alien don't really matter as much compared to being a starfish or a fox.

"Hi, Rhin," June says, to commit that name to memory.

"So, yeah, um..." June turns and looks at the wall, where the menu is written.

Regular When you all you want is the flavor	Specials Magic is the best spice
Spine Palm Seashore Palm Swamp Apple Hogberry Savannah Cherry Genipap Rumberry Love-in-a-Mist Husk Tomato Roseleaf Bramble Musk Cucumber Hogplum Wild Crepe Myrtle Gooseberry	Jasmine Blizzard Forest Starlight Coriander Tornado Apricot Murder Mild Zombie Beetroot Kiss Catnip Wink Cinnamon Stardust Hushed Rum Lucky Howler Thyme Walk Angel Lover Flaming Bliss Frozen Crush

"To be honest, I recognize very few of these. Leaving out magic is probably the safer option, but I'm not sure if magic even has a flavor so maybe it doesn't matter." So, June focuses on the left side of the menu. "Berries are almost always good options. Things like 'Swamp Apple' and 'Musk Cucumber' are kind-of a turn-off...and Genipap, if it's what I think it is, wouldn't recommend it if you've never had it before. Has an aftertaste that reminds me of gasoline."

After a bit more thinking, June says, "So, 'Savannah Cherry' or 'Love-in-a-Mist' or 'Hogberry' or 'Gooseberry' are probably the ones I'd recommend, then."
Pause.
"They're probably the most likely to be good options, but they're probably also the most boring. I normally like trying something weird and...well, if I don't like it, then at least I tried it."

[Zefir]

The ship really recommends that she shoot Spot first!
But since Mia insists, it reduces the laser to low power and zaps the demon!
The awful smell of burning demon fills the air, and while the laser shot is perfectly survivable, it distracts the monster long enough for Spot to pounce on it and finish it off.

Spike looks up at the hovering ship.
"Mia? You have it working?"
And it's not just shooting things out-of-control?

[The Underground]

"Yes, it's a seperate ship so it's better then nothing." she says obviously worried what the ship means after all. This calls for some kind of is my friend the enemy question. While waiting Mia tries to get soem more informations out of the small ship she got. Mainly what is the bad thing about her company.

[Recaiden]

[Temple of Inari]

"Even when they're really out to get you, you have to trust sometimes."
The priest wonders for a few moments how to put it.
"Unique as in we don't know exactly what you can do or what will happen to you."

[Blind Date]

"Well, I am not worried about a little magic."
So, Mei orders a Cinnamon Stardust.
"It would be so disappointing to get something boring, wouldn't it?"

[The Underground]

The ship is more full of tactical data than context and explanations.
But it should at least tell Mia that her company are alien invaders who are out to destroy humanity. Multiple whole planets have been wiped out by their machinations. They should never be trusted!
In fact, the last time this little ship was active was to fight them!

[bc56]

Temple of Inari
Jade looks a little perturbed by that revelation. "I guess we'll just have to find out. Now, I think I have a brother to meet... That's going to be awkward. I'll be back for those lessons, and I'll wire you the money for the resurrection before then." Hopefully the temple can accept donations electronically. Getting that much in cash would be a long process. Jade then returns to the mirror portal and prepares to leave.

But true to her word, she'll be back later, a little nervous and unsure what to expect.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Burglarising for JUSTICE!]

The Second Floor...

Cantata and Fayyaad make their way through the window safely. The hooded figure continues his patrol further down the hallway, none the wiser as to the intruders behind him, leaving the two of them alone, for the moment now. The sound of footfalls on stone from somewhere behind them suggests there's at least one guard on patrol, who will turn the corner at the other end in a little while. Aside from that, there's the faint sounds of murmuring coming from one of the rooms. Sounds like two voices, grumbling to each other.

Other than that, there's several other doors into other rooms the two could duck into, to hide from passing patrols.

Meanwhile

Past the front gate

Wren sneaks in.

The cube, uh, floats in. "You're awfully good at that sneaking thing, aren't you? Why, I imagine I'd barely know you were there if not for all those explosions outside!" Quite the chatty fellow, isn't he? Might cause a problem in the long run if he keeps talking away.

It probably doesn't help when, for all his care, a couple of the stairs still stubbornly creak on the way up. Mercifully, it does't cause anyone to come running with sharp pointy weapons or anything.

Up on the second floor, Wren has the option of a door to the left or right. Those muddy bootprints on the stairs lead on through the door to the right, if he wants to keep following them.

Wren does indeed follow the muddy bootprints over to the right, creeping carefully up to the door and leaning against the wall. He'll place his palm carefully on the door, casting a quick spell to attempt to listen in on any noise happening inside the room beyond, if indeed there is any.

[5a Violista]

[Blind Date]

Luckily!
The magic is 100% safe for all humans and humanlike people, probably! The more humanlike you are, the more guaranteed to have no effects whatsoever.

"Oh, you're right, that one's probably pretty good," June says, ordering the same. "Guess a little magic won't be a big deal." June has taken some fairy-succubus potions before, and they weren't that bad. Had no long-term effects, and just slight little bits of magic was okay.

"I mean, yeah. If I'm going to just get something that I could get anywhere, that would be a huge waste."

They need to wait a little before their smoothies get here. Which is a perfect time for conversations!
"So are you from Inside? Riverside? One of the other small towns around?" June asks. "I've been living in Riverside since I came to the Nexus, but I've been to Inside once and it was pretty wild." That's a decent way to start a conversation, probably.


After a little bit of conversing, the smoothies arrive. They both ordered the same, so they can both equally share in the delight or misery of its flavor and they don't have to worry about mixing up whose is whose. It's a lost opportunity, though, where they could have split half and half if they had ordered something different.

Cinnamon Stardust tastes like a blend of a couple different flavors. It's slightly sweet, but not very sweet, and yes it does taste like cinnamon. In addition, it's got a tart undertone underneath its cinnamon-sweet flavor, and smells citrus (without the citrus flavor...if that makes sense. Not really, but that's how it is.) Like, green apples if apples were a sort-of citrusy fruit and had a grapey feel. Something like that.
Also, it has a magical effect that lasts for twelve or so hours that changes your hair and eye color, to make them look like swirling galaxies and cosmic dust. Looks very pretty.

[Zefir]

[The Underground]

The ship is more full of tactical data than context and explanations.
But it should at least tell Mia that her company are alien invaders who are out to destroy humanity. Multiple whole planets have been wiped out by their machinations. They should never be trusted!
In fact, the last time this little ship was active was to fight them!

[The Underground]

Mia listens carefully and tries to save as much data as she can. Even the tactical data can be usefull if they are like reports of those fights. This can't be discussed here and she tells this to the ship. Even with the ships help she is in a bad situation. She needs to get those informations to the surface and her ally. This schould calm the ship. She promisses to come back and get it out to make it see space and sky again.

Then she tries to land it again and get out.

"Thi might be the best we found so far, but if there are more of those around here we shouldn't stay for to long in one place."

She will then head for the engine room if I remember right. Because now they got a suit to get inside and repair it despite the radiation.

[Hattish Thing]

The Golden Kettle

Nahira simply blinks at Edgar's question, somewhat confused.

"Whatever are you talking about, dear? You look perfectly grand as you are." She smiles at that, though the expression is odd, as it always is with her.

Her eyes narrow before she delivers her request. "This place, it is rather drab. Bring me something fascinating."

"Something unique!"

[Deathkeeper]

The Golden Kettle

Edgar smiles and stands up.
"Well, it just so happens that I have a great treasure that I won in your name. Let me fetch it.
Though for the record, I've gotten larger since I last spoke to you and some of your decorations are a bit small for me to get through. One moment."
He bumbles his way out, only to return a few minutes later wheeling in the suit of jewel-encrusted armor that he won in the poker game (which had been left downstairs).
"A unique suit of armor made for a king. I won it in a poker game with several very powerful local entities. They challenged you of course but the game was invented while you were in your vessel so naturally I took your place so you would not be forced into a disadvantage." He looks down.
"Oh right, I'm afraid that while this is only one of my many winnings, I lost my sense of fashion in one of the rounds. I don't suppose you'll mind making me another outfit? I outgrew the uniform you made me and it's rather a pain to keep tying this sheet around me." It also clashes horribly with his golden manacles but he's incapable of noticing that. "I need to be fancy since I'm a Count now! Oh right, I also won a County. And I got a date. You missed a lot."

[Recaiden]

[Blind Date]

Luckily!
The magic is 100% safe for all humans and humanlike people, probably! The more humanlike you are, the more guaranteed to have no effects whatsoever.

"Oh, you're right, that one's probably pretty good," June says, ordering the same. "Guess a little magic won't be a big deal." June has taken some fairy-succubus potions before, and they weren't that bad. Had no long-term effects, and just slight little bits of magic was okay.

"I mean, yeah. If I'm going to just get something that I could get anywhere, that would be a huge waste."

They need to wait a little before their smoothies get here. Which is a perfect time for conversations!
"So are you from Inside? Riverside? One of the other small towns around?" June asks. "I've been living in Riverside since I came to the Nexus, but I've been to Inside once and it was pretty wild." That's a decent way to start a conversation, probably.

After a little bit of conversing, the smoothies arrive. They both ordered the same, so they can both equally share in the delight or misery of its flavor and they don't have to worry about mixing up whose is whose. It's a lost opportunity, though, where they could have split half and half if they had ordered something different.

Cinnamon Stardust tastes like a blend of a couple different flavors. It's slightly sweet, but not very sweet, and yes it does taste like cinnamon. In addition, it's got a tart undertone underneath its cinnamon-sweet flavor, and smells citrus (without the citrus flavor...if that makes sense. Not really, but that's how it is.) Like, green apples if apples were a sort-of citrusy fruit and had a grapey feel. Something like that.
Also, it has a magical effect that lasts for twelve or so hours that changes your hair and eye color, to make them look like swirling galaxies and cosmic dust. Looks very pretty.

How safe is it if you're not a human, but rather something completely different in disguise as a human?
Asking, uh, for a friend who likes smoothies and might want to come by.

"Oh, I'm from a place that doesn't exist anymore. It was destroyed by triskelions." Mei answers, a bit pensive.
"But I travel all over. There's places way wilder than Inside." But with that, she sounds perfectly cheery again.
"How long ago did you come to the Nexus? How about that?"

When the smoothies are ready, she spins her around before taking a sip.
"Oh wow, it tastes like fruit, but not any single fruit I've ever had..."

[The Underground]

Mia listens carefully and tries to save as much data as she can. Even the tactical data can be usefull if they are like reports of those fights. This can't be discussed here and she tells this to the ship. Even with the ships help she is in a bad situation. She needs to get those informations to the surface and her ally. This schould calm the ship. She promisses to come back and get it out to make it see space and sky again.

Then she tries to land it again and get out.

"Thi might be the best we found so far, but if there are more of those around here we shouldn't stay for to long in one place."

She will then head for the engine room if I remember right. Because now they got a suit to get inside and repair it despite the radiation.

The ship will fully cooperate in getting Mia data. Logistics, tactical analyses, maps, whatever.
It will be disappointed, to the extent that it can be, when she has it land (right-side-up this time) in the hangar once more. But she won't have any problem setting it down and getting out.

Correct! With the protection of this suit, she should be able to enter the port engine room.
Once she's in there, she should see that it's a simple matter of some magnets having been cracked by the force of the crash.

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

Jade quietly returns to the temple via the mirror portal. She should really find out where it actually is if she's going to keep coming back here. Her life has been strange, almost surreal, since the last time she was here. She's not sure what to do about having a brother now, she had to buy new clothes that accommodate her tail, and she was introduced to a bunch of inventions she doesn't remember making. And she's had to adjust to some new ways of life. Daily prayers, gardening, etc. She's not sure what to think. Hopefully these classes will help clear some things up. She doesn't at all know what to expect.

[5a Violista]

[Blind Date]

As long as they don't have a negative reaction or allergy or something to cosmetic magics, then it still should work pretty fine, anyway.

June, for example...
It doesn't work exactly as intended on June since keratin and chitin are slightly different chemicals, and so on. Instead of just it happening to June's hair and eyes, the freckles and fingernails and even lips have the same effect. Having no adverse reactions to cosmetic magic, there's little other effects.
You can tell that friend that it's probably okay unless their doctor told them to stay away from magic.

"Triskelion?" Now June is imagining a three-headed skeletal lion. "Those sound pretty terrifying."

"I came here a few months ago," June says. "Wait, more than that. Several months, already? Wow, time goes by fast. Still not a year yet. Just woke up in the middle of a crater one day, with the remnants of a destroyed barn around me. Got out of there pretty quick, so I didn't have time to figure out how."

June drinks a bit more: "I think it tastes a little like...um...whatsitcalled...I've had something that tastes a bit like this, a tropical fruit." Backtracking the conversation, June asks, "So what are the weirder-than-Inside places even like? I don't think I can even imagine something like that."

[Rebonack]

[Enchanted Forest]

The pookas ears droop once again.

"Aaww... but what if they're trying to hit me with a hammer? Or- or! What if I want to eat a rat? Rats are mortal too, you know, do they count?"

Sounds like it isn't going to just up and agree to your demands, Adir.

The little creature puffs out its chest defiantly!

"No, you aren't bargaining. I am. If you want my help then you take me with you. Otherwise you pay the waystone with your own precious memory."

Uh oh, Adir.

It's throwing down the gauntlet here.

You can take its offer or leave it.

Or maybe threaten it with violence?

Though that plan may backfire...

Adir may get the distinct impression that the stone finds this whole scene quite delightful. This is the most excitement it has witnessed in a while.

[Recaiden]

[Temple of Inari]

Jade quietly returns to the temple via the mirror portal. She should really find out where it actually is if she's going to keep coming back here. Her life has been strange, almost surreal, since the last time she was here. She's not sure what to do about having a brother now, she had to buy new clothes that accommodate her tail, and she was introduced to a bunch of inventions she doesn't remember making. And she's had to adjust to some new ways of life. Daily prayers, gardening, etc. She's not sure what to think. Hopefully these classes will help clear some things up. She doesn't at all know what to expect.

She could just turn out the door when she arrives. There's a street sign at the end of the path.

The temple complex contains more than just a temple, of course.
It's also a farm, a botanical garden, a portal to other worlds, a fortress that stops ancient evils from reaching the surface world, a pokemon gym, a hospital, a military outpost, and a school. Jade will want to head out the back towards the 'school' part of things.
Today is a typical busy morning. People in line to get drinks from the vending machine, folks being released from the hospital taking the mirror portal to get back home, a speech being given at the altar to a small group of acolytes.

Jade's class is for people who are completely new at being a fox-person.
As such it is mostly attended by little children, but there's also two other older students: a man with the grey ears and tail of a forest fox, and Honeysuckle, who took Jade on that spa trip to help acclimate to being a woman. The teacher pauses in the chalk diagram he's drawing to welcome Jade to the class.

[Blind Date]

As long as they don't have a negative reaction or allergy or something to cosmetic magics, then it still should work pretty fine, anyway.

June, for example...
It doesn't work exactly as intended on June since keratin and chitin are slightly different chemicals, and so on. Instead of just it happening to June's hair and eyes, the freckles and fingernails and even lips have the same effect. Having no adverse reactions to cosmetic magic, there's little other effects.
You can tell that friend that it's probably okay unless their doctor told them to stay away from magic.

"Triskelion?" Now June is imagining a three-headed skeletal lion. "Those sound pretty terrifying."

"I came here a few months ago," June says. "Wait, more than that. Several months, already? Wow, time goes by fast. Still not a year yet. Just woke up in the middle of a crater one day, with the remnants of a destroyed barn around me. Got out of there pretty quick, so I didn't have time to figure out how."

June drinks a bit more: "I think it tastes a little like...um...whatsitcalled...I've had something that tastes a bit like this, a tropical fruit." Backtracking the conversation, June asks, "So what are the weirder-than-Inside places even like? I don't think I can even imagine something like that."

Oh, well in that case, on Mei, it works fine, turning her hair and eyes to swirling starscapes. And the friend would have no problem with smoothies.
"Oh, absolutely. Second most terrifying thing to happen to me. But, it was a long time ago." she says, putting away the possibility of more detail on the three-headed skeletal lions.

"Oh, wow, that's the magic of it? It's lovely."

"Well, the nexus has everything, right? So you'd think it's the weirdest. But if you take away a few things, like gravity, or doubt, then how people react can get really out there." She starts to explain. You might have to see the places to believe them, though.

Doing a bit of backtracking herself, she asks - "Landed in a crater, huh? Has that ever happened to you before? I hear it's pretty common way to show up in the nexus. I came here on an airship." But usually not for mushrooms, which aren't known for surviving hard impacts.

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

Jade awkwardly waves to Honeysuckle and takes a seat nearby. She looks at the chalkboard. What's being drawn there? She's mostly concerned with listening to the lecture and actually learning about what happened to her. But she's really out of her depth here.

[Murkus]

[Enchanted Forest]

The pookas ears droop once again.

"Aaww... but what if they're trying to hit me with a hammer? Or- or! What if I want to eat a rat? Rats are mortal too, you know, do they count?"

Sounds like it isn't going to just up and agree to your demands, Adir.

The little creature puffs out its chest defiantly!

"No, you aren't bargaining. I am. If you want my help then you take me with you. Otherwise you pay the waystone with your own precious memory."

Uh oh, Adir.

It's throwing down the gauntlet here.

You can take its offer or leave it.

Or maybe threaten it with violence?

Though that plan may backfire...

Adir may get the distinct impression that the stone finds this whole scene quite delightful. This is the most excitement it has witnessed in a while.

[Enchanted Forest]

Adir decides to go for the middle path. "If I hear about you doing anything I don't like, like hurting kids? I will find you. And I'll send you back here in pieces like the last few guys." Adir thrusts out a hand, gesturing past the pooka. "Otherwise? Fine. Deal."

[Arkhosia]

Mountain Trip

Spoiler

Show

Mountain Trip

Jenette closes her eyes and focuses as she takes a few steps ahead of the others. She tries her best to sense what lies in wait in the darkness ahead, but with all the birds singing and water splashing not far off, it's more or less a complete waste of time. Even if she did have incredible supernatural zombie senses (she doesn't), there's just too much noise behind her, and too much of a confusing echo ahead.

"We should probably make sure we're not breaking into some bear's house, at the very least," she points out, perching her hands on her hips as she peers into the darkness. If any grizzlies want to make an issue of their borrowing of this cave, they've got some seriously supernatural fists to contend with.

[Mountain Trip]

"We will not need to explore it very far. Just enough for St. Lazarus to train," Calm Reed says as she joins the knight at the mouth of the cave. The darkness beyond is quiet, except for the sound of dripping water somewhere. There's also no distinct smell to it. "If anything bigger than a bat lives here, we ought to discover its signs pretty quickly."

Fidelia's eyes widen for a minute little second. A bear? Those things' hides were tough. She glances at the knife tucked away in the sheath at her belt with a little concern as to how well it'd hold up to trying to cut through something like that. She was good, but not that good.

"Just- Just as long as we're not to far from fresh air," she comments, looking back up at the sky. "Don't want our only choice to be running deeper in. If um, something shows up in there, I mean." Fidelia would also kind of like the chance to see a night sky not blotted out by all the ambient light of a city for once, though she's a bit too shy to voice it.

[Zefir]

[The Underground]


The ship will fully cooperate in getting Mia data. Logistics, tactical analyses, maps, whatever.
It will be disappointed, to the extent that it can be, when she has it land (right-side-up this time) in the hangar once more. But she won't have any problem setting it down and getting out.

Correct! With the protection of this suit, she should be able to enter the port engine room.
Once she's in there, she should see that it's a simple matter of some magnets having been cracked by the force of the crash.

[The Underground]

Simple matters are good. since she assumes some tools are here or if not she tries her magic to mend the damage. You might think why not using magic all the time? It's not as effectiv. or better said the power needed in relation to working is much higher. Since itis simple the magic should do the trick.

If it works she tries to get controll over the energy. Trying to make out which areas might be damaged or have other problems. Also she would like to find out more about the layout as her scans are just giving her a general layout but not the description of the rooms.

[Recaiden]

[Temple of Inari]

Jade awkwardly waves to Honeysuckle and takes a seat nearby. She looks at the chalkboard. What's being drawn there? She's mostly concerned with listening to the lecture and actually learning about what happened to her. But she's really out of her depth here.

A wave? "Hmm? Is that Jade? What are you doing here?" Honeysuckle didn't recognize her at first, with the tail.
Wait. She has a tail, and it's not because of that weird magic? Oh no! She'll be too cute!

The lecture is about the elements. You know, the 42 building blocks of reality. Now, 42 is a very large number, so there are lots of diagrams, repetition, and moments to ask questions of the students to be sure they know that, for example, "out of water, earth, air, and fire, which one doesn't belong?" It's fire, of course. Fire isn't a primary element; it doesn't even have Substance.
You might wonder, what does any of that have to do with anyone? Well, of course kitsune are associate with a particular element, aren't they? Does anyone know which one? Maybe the newest student has an idea, Jade?

[The Underground]

Simple matters are good. since she assumes some tools are here or if not she tries her magic to mend the damage. You might think why not using magic all the time? It's not as effectiv. or better said the power needed in relation to working is much higher. Since itis simple the magic should do the trick.

If it works she tries to get controll over the energy. Trying to make out which areas might be damaged or have other problems. Also she would like to find out more about the layout as her scans are just giving her a general layout but not the description of the rooms.

There are tools scattered around, tossed here and there in the impact from the racks where they rested. But without a precise replacement part, Mia will need to use a little magic.
The magically-healed magnet seals back into its slot, and under Mia's expert guidance, the power plant clicks and hisses and reactivates.
Power flows out through the ship; The huge vessel has three reactors: left right and center. But if you don't expect it to fly or fight, just one will be enough.

Lights come on (some light bulbs do not make it after their long idleness). The artificial gravity spins up; down is redefined as 'towards the floor' despite the angle the ship rests at.
Alarms begin beeping to alert the crew to the fact that the ship is buried underground.

Mia can watch the electricity flow up into the spine of the ship, as well as out to nearby installations. They are on the port side of the ship. Ahead and behind are small maneuvering thrusters. Further to port is the hangar with its small ships, and row upon row of lasers, as well as fuel tanks and bays for repairs and supplies, and vast passages for moving the fighters and machinery about. That part of the ship is badly damaged from the crash. The opposite side of the ship is the mirror image of this side. In the middle are the interesting things: the warp ring, the main engines, the bridge, communications devices, the lifeboats, the sensors, the cabins and mess halls. There is a void in the cargo bay where no power is getting in at all. Something must be badly damaged, but the machine itself can't tell what.

"It's active again! What can you see?"

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

"It's a long story." Jade conspiratorially whispers back to Honeysuckle. "I don't really understand it myself."
Oh great. She has to study their wrong outdated understanding of how the world works. Of course fire isn't an element, it's a reaction. But water isn't either, it's a compound, and air and earth are mixtures. And...
Oh crap. He's calling on her. Jade has horrible flashbacks to elementary school. Quick, guess! "Um... Air?" Right? Getting her fur wet isn't very comfortable, and she doesn't feel particularly earthy.

[Recaiden]

"Tell me sometime"
Honeysuckle whispers back.

Of course they're mixtures. Otherwise they would be undifferentiated Substance.
The teacher gets that particular disappointed look.
"Well, no. Air is more associated with the tengu, in this case. Our element, is fire."

This hardly seems like a fair revelation. If you were looking at the diagram, the fourth option would be force, motion. Fire is over on the other side of the board with the secondary elements. Even in this mystical system there's no reason it should have been the answer!
Magic is just like that.

"How many of you can already do something like this?" He snaps his fingers and a ball of foxfire appears over his hand, flickering and glowing. A few students raise their hands, but not many. "You'll all learn to. But first..."
He slides up the blackboard to reveal another blackboard, and launches into a dreaded safety discussion. Unlike the magical creatures who deal with substantive elements, kitsune have to be very careful~

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

Jade nods to Honeysuckle. They can talk as soon as class is out.

What? He just said fire wasn't an element! Jade looks a bit annoyed she was wrong.
Then actual magic stuff gets mentioned. Jade doesn't raise her hand. How does that even work? You can't just create fire like that, you need fuel for a reaction, and a source of energy to start it off, and oxygen for it to react with. (Well, there's probably oxygen. But the other two are missing!)
Okay, now something she vaguely understands. This is going to be a fire safety lecture, right? She understands that at least. Don't play with fire, kids.

[Zefir]

[The Underground]


There are tools scattered around, tossed here and there in the impact from the racks where they rested. But without a precise replacement part, Mia will need to use a little magic.
The magically-healed magnet seals back into its slot, and under Mia's expert guidance, the power plant clicks and hisses and reactivates.
Power flows out through the ship; The huge vessel has three reactors: left right and center. But if you don't expect it to fly or fight, just one will be enough.

Lights come on (some light bulbs do not make it after their long idleness). The artificial gravity spins up; down is redefined as 'towards the floor' despite the angle the ship rests at.
Alarms begin beeping to alert the crew to the fact that the ship is buried underground.

Mia can watch the electricity flow up into the spine of the ship, as well as out to nearby installations. They are on the port side of the ship. Ahead and behind are small maneuvering thrusters. Further to port is the hangar with its small ships, and row upon row of lasers, as well as fuel tanks and bays for repairs and supplies, and vast passages for moving the fighters and machinery about. That part of the ship is badly damaged from the crash. The opposite side of the ship is the mirror image of this side. In the middle are the interesting things: the warp ring, the main engines, the bridge, communications devices, the lifeboats, the sensors, the cabins and mess halls. There is a void in the cargo bay where no power is getting in at all. Something must be badly damaged, but the machine itself can't tell what.

"It's active again! What can you see?"

[The Underground]

"In short?" Mia says as she watches the flow of energy on her device. She also uses one of the working stations nearby(I guess you got one in the machine room) to get the informations from the ship itself. Likly running the selfscan programms most of those high tech structures have.
"The power is working and many places have recived energy." She starts her report. "It is clear that the ship is underground and nothing seems to change that. I got a list of rooms that work again, like bridge, warp room and some more. I will try to improve the system and move the energy from some structures away. After all we won't need the outside weapons. Then we should head for the bridge. There we should have access to all the Systems."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Burglarising for JUSTICE!]

At the rear of the fort, second floor

Cantata and Fayyaad find themselves in a sparsely furnished room - something that may have perhaps once been part of a barracks, or equally a prison cell. Bunk beds line the cramped quarters, thin and worn metal frames hold tattered matresses that look more uncomfortable to sleep on than the floor. Plenty of cover, but nothing particularly easy to fully conceal oneself behind.

The voice next door is muffled, but odd words come through. "...Had en-....Bull-"

Until Cantata puts her ear against the wall, which helps clear it up.

"We've delivered everything she asked for, and what do we got for it? Not a damn thing!" A voice, male, angry, with a distinct rasp to it.

"Oi, shut it, Cans. I know what I'm doing." A second voice, male, sharper than the first.

"Coulda fooled me."

"You know the deal. Once she's got what we wants, everything else is ours."

"Buncha crap."

"Enough, Cans!" There's a thud, as someone is knocked into the wall on the other side. "Crap in our hands, not in hers. Now you keep your damn mouth shut and be bloody patient."

The doorway remains clear, for now.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fort, on the second floor

The other side of the door seems clear. Not a sound from- creak- no, wait, there's the faint sounds of the floor creaking as a guard moves round. Wren's door connects round to another part of the hallway Cantata and Fayyaad entered from the back. Seems this hall loops right the way round the second floor, with at least two guards patrolling it, halfway round from each other.

By the faint sounds of muttering under his breath, the guard's probably none too thrilled about this job, and might be quite easy to get the jump on.

The cube floats up beside Wren, mercifully silent for the moment.

[bc56]

Forman House

"Right. This is the place." The man in grey coveralls walks through the overgrown garden up towards the front of the house. "Don't know what's in there. Just that it's available. But better safe than sorry. That's why I have you." Part of the money Saramond Goshen is saving by claiming one of the numerous abandoned homes that slide into the Nexus is going towards the mercenary bodyguard he's hired, in case it's abandoned for good reason. The rickety two-story manor house looks like no one's touched it in some time. "She's a bit under the weather, but nothing a bit of work can't fix." There's a tumbledown shed off to one side of the building, even more worn out than the house itself and barely still standing.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

The broad-shouldered minotaur looks down at the Vigil engineer.
"Sounds like no problem. Don't worry, you're in good hands." Krayger rumbles. He wasn't expecting any issues with a simple house inspection so he didn't bother wearing full body armor. He did bring his massive revolver, and his axe is still on hand if he needs it. That should be plenty for so simple a job.
"Just say the word, boss."

[bc56]

Forman House

Saramond tries the door. Locked, of course. But he expected that. A few minutes of work with a tool from his belt pops the lock open and gains the pair entrance to the once-grand foyer of the manor. A large staircase ascends to the upper floor, while doors lead out to the two wings of the house. The house is noticeably colder than outside. "Let's do a sweep of the building. Make sure there's nothing unexpected here," Saramond suggests. But it's clear Krayger has more experience with these sorts of things, and if he has a suggestion, Saramond will probably follow it.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

"Sounds good. Just let me know fi you'd rather I take point." Krayger lays a hand on his holster just to be safe. He's the hired muscle so there's nothing degrading about being the client's shield.
"You wanna start at the wings or just 'round here?" he asks. Hm. Cold. Maybe he should have worn a shirt. Eh, it's not that cold.

[bc56]

Forman House

"Wings first. And yes. You can go first." Saramond understands the point of that request. As much as he doesn't want to get Krayger killed, it makes sense. The mercenary is going to be far more resilient and much better at fighting. "West wing first, I think." The door into the west wing leads to a dining room. A couple more doors go west again and north. Saramond steps into the room behind Krayger and wipes dust off the table with his hand. "Seems abandoned, at least." As soon as he says it, a voice as cold as ice cuts through the room. "LEAVE THIS PLACE." "Or not."

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

Krayger stops and draws his revolver. Sounds like a spook. Well, armor wouldn't have done much to that anyway so no harm done. Unless it's a poltergeist.
"Sounds like a haunt, or someone playing at one. You still wanna go on?" the mercenary asks.
If the man says yes, Krayger will head west first.