⇨ POLARIS 3.0

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 115
Where: Polaris
What: On the morning of day 115, a couple hours before the technicians would come to pick up the test subjects, the escape plan will officially come into effect. If your character has been left out of the loop up till this point, feel free that someone hastily explains the plan during the initial phase! The meat of everything else will be played out via megathreads and any private toplevels people want to make.
Warnings: Probably violence.

PEER REVIEW↴ The plan starts with getting everyone out of their cells. Childermass is going to be using his Gilded Mark to enhance his shadow movement abilities, unabling him to teleport himself and other people out of containment. If your character has other ways of escaping they are free to pursue that, but on a base level, it can be assumed that everyone gets out thanks to Childermass. (Thanks Childermass!) Once everyone has been removed from their cells by some means or another, they will be forced to split into teams as swiftly as possible, as the moment people start breaking out, negative attention from the staff will start building. The area is poorly guarded at first, but as people become aware of the breakout, more will arrive. Gild, speaking on behalf of her inside plant, will say that those that 1) want to get their stuff back, 2) want to find Ignatius, should get the assistance of their allied Deltas to access sector A5. From there, they will have to access Polaris's storage in A3, a neighbouring sector, and find access to C2, the station where Ignatius is being held. They should expect to be met with armed resistance, but with any luck allies will be there to assist them. In general, characters will be most effective if they back one of these major objectives: ► TEAM LOOT: This team is trying to get back the items and pets that were confiscated when the group was brought into Polaris. Their objective, according to their allies on the inside, is to get to A5, and then make their way to A3. The important thing is being able to locate their stuff among a sea of other items, and to make it through security in order to reclaim it. Gild's plant has said that they will assist with this. After getting these items, Team Loot may wish to merge with Team Rescue. ► TEAM RESCUE: This team's primary focus is to get to A5 and then make their way to C2. If desired, they may wait for or join with Team Loot, or they may strike out ahead in order to take advantage of the element of surprise. The key factors are obtaining a way to access C2, as well as being prepared for armed conflict with the technicians guarding it, as well as possibly the Mother of Invention herself. Though, the ideal is that Gild will be distracting here at that time. ► TEAM DISTRACTION: This team can do their thing wherever they please, as their main intent is to sew general discord and distract the staff from the teams doing more important things. They should be prepared for armed resistance, but what tactics they pursue beyond that point are highly variable. ► TEAM FORTRESS: This team is attempting to set up a protective base of operations in the original sector in order to survive the conflict and protect their noncombatant comrades. How they accomplish this is also highly variable. Other objectives may exist, of course, and can be made with their own separate top levels. Chunks of these megathreads will have to be played out in summary form, so when characters are simply trying to get from place to place and specifics aren't necessary, feel free to stick to that format. Assume that everyone is already out of their cells for the purpose of the megathreads. Here is a shitty map of how the sectors connect, from a side view of the central Polaris hub.

Comments

[hippocarnival]

Yuya picks up the pace with Lion, following right beside him with equal urgency. Granted, Steven might be fine and Lion us just being especially protective, so he's trying to keep his wits about him.

But that's pretty soundly ended when they turn the corner and are faced to the scene in the halls. Yuya's attention locks onto Steven when he sees him. The Technician holding holding him and the scalpel. Maybe the Technician wasn't openly threatening Steven with it, but it's what Yuya sees immediately. His mind blanks briefly, and then the only thing on it is getting Steven free.

Immediately is how he acts too, all his body tensing before he hurls himself forward. He twists his staff to point it forward like some sort of blunt lance, aiming to jam it hard into the Technician holding Steven.

"Let go of him!"

[periphrasing]

That technician gets double whammied, because at the same time that Yuya jabs forward with his staff, Stumpy-- who has been cowering helplessly in the door gap and watching her friends get the shit beat out of them-- is emboldened by Yuya's arrival to make a break for it. Chittering madly, she scrambles out from her hiding place as fast as her little legs will carry her and aqua jets between the legs of the tech who is holding Steven, rushing to put the arriving backup between herself and the scary people with stun batons.

[starseedling]

Well, the aqua jet makes the floor a bit slippery, which is inconvenient. The tech doesn't immediately fall over, but Stumpy successfully runs away regardless. Good job, Stumpy!

Yuya jabs the staff at the tech, but in such a defensive position, that mostly makes them double down and actually press the scalpel to Steven's neck. The other one shoots their stun pistol at Lion and activates the stun mechanism in Yuya's suit.

"Get back, or the child will be hurt!" the technician holding Steven says, obviously intimidated by the approaching Lion. Lion growls, coming up to Yuya's side, trying to push forward - but a pistol shot hits him in the side, causing him to tilt to the side, pulling back a little. He roars, which only makes the tech holding Steven more nervous.

[whattaprick]

Did you know that it's actually pretty hard on your stamina when you've been running around a shitty nasty winter fae space station for an hour with a new skeleton, alternately getting your ass kicked, kicking ass, and then having to move around a whole lot of boxes with other people's crap? It is, and that means Lion and Yuya peel ahead of Lambert while he brings up the rear, huffing and puffing. Maybe he needs to actually start picking up some of this fucking teleportation magic himself; Childermass never seems to be out of breath, except when Lambert--

That fond train of thought is forcibly wrenched back to the present when Lambert hears the tech shout and Lion's roar of pain. The reaction is immediate, the ring responding to his will, and when he rounds the corner, it's suddenly Ignatius primed for a fight, sword in hand and eyes ablaze.

"RELEASE THE BOY OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!

What the fuck, is that his voice? Well, it's his voice now. He storms forward, to all appearances ready to cut them down with the sword that's really probably comically small in fake Ignatius's hand.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's expression drops as the Technician isn't forced away from Steven as he'd hoped. But the very next second he feels pain shoot through his whole body, his knees locking as he falls to them and lets out a strangled sound as he's tazed by his suit.

Thankfully, Lambert--Ignatius? No, Lambert, that's right--comes charging down the hall for much needed back up.

[starseedling]

The wounded technician tucked against the wall literally screams and starts limping away as fast as they can - the one with the gun turns from Lion to point it at 'Ignatius,' only to go wide-eyed in fear and retreating as well. It's only the one directly holding Steven that's left behind.

...Who then immediately takes a step back and slips on the water puddle Stumpy left, landing on their back and bringing Steven down with them. The scalpel slashes upward, leaving a cut up and over Steven's jaw. Steven yelps, that feeling bringing him out of his stupor. He stares up at the approaching Ignatius with terrified eyes, as Lion slinks to the ground defensively.

The tech, themself, is totally done. They bring the scalpel back to Steven's neck, trying to make demands despite being on their back, by themselves, in a puddle of water.

"I... I'll kill him! I swear!" they shout, trying to stare Lambert down. They are obviously terrified, though. Steven squirms, but can't quite move.

[whattaprick]

There’s always got to be one last hang up, doesn’t there? Lambert’s eyes are drawn to the puddle and he frowns, every so faintly, and glances at Yuya to see how he’s holding up.

“Kill him and you lose the only reason I have to keep you alive,” He says, with a laziness he doesn’t at all feel. Unfortunately it’s too close to risk throwing a sword or something like that without possibly hurting Steven, but all he really needs to do is convince the tech to let him go... or distract them long enough for someone to else to make a move. They all look the same to him, but he still pauses to gauge their features and see if it’s one he might recognize.

“Do you think the Mother of Invention is the only fae who can bring back the dead? I can return his life, but I doubt she would think twice about yours.” He turns a hand, palm-up. Sorry, Steven, if this is scaring you shitless.

“Show mercy, and you will be spared my conflagration. My quarrel is with your mistress, not her tools.” Wow, he hates talking like this.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya twitches, trying to force his muscles to move against the stun when the Technician doing it turns tail to run instead. It's not super successful, the way he drops a little further on his knees.

"Don't--you--" He mentally curses these stupid suits. Honestly, he'll just leave the talking to Ignatibert right now, while he tries to get his wits about him. He sounds like he has a plan there.

[starseedling]

The technician doesn't have to think about it for very long. With their wits mostly about them, they are capable of making a rational decision.

They shove Steven forward onto the ground, letting him fall into a pile with Yuya. Lion immediately gets up and moves to cover the two boys, growling. However, before Lion can do much else, the tech is already standing up and running. They'll zip around the corner without any hesitation, provided Lambert let's them go.

Steven whimpers and tries to get up, looking up at 'Ignatius' with an expression of utter intimidation. It's obvious how much Ignatius scares him, even when he's ostensibly there to help. His muscles still feel limp and useless from several shocks to his suit, however, so he doesn't get very far.

[periphrasing]

It's really hard to be Stumpy right now. First, she'd rushed to hide behind Yuya and Lion, thinking she'd be safe that way. Then, this huge scary fire guy showed up on the scene, and it turns out he is even more intimidating than the guys with the stun batons! It's just! Bad! She really super wants to run away from this whole scene and get the heck out of dodge, but she's also loyal enough that she doesn't want to abandon Steven and Noodle to a fiery death.

Her courage finally finds her after the final tech leaves. She snaps and makes the decision to run back over to Steven, zipping past Lambert to put herself between him and all her friends on the ground. She's trembling so much it looks like she might just vibrate out of this plane of existence, but she also has her bristly, weird... Isopod tail? Raised and spiked out, like she's ready to attack in order to defend her friends from "Ignatius".

[whattaprick]

Talking is the plan, Yuya. That's mostly it.

Luckily for Lambert, it works, and luckily for the technician, he won't give chase. It's more important to attend to Steven right now, and how obviously scared and injured he is. He'll wait for a few seconds listening to the technician run away, keeping a careful ear out for the sound of any returning footsteps that might indicate they've found their courage again, but only when he's gone will he turn back to Steven.

"Steven--" he begins to say, in a cadence that's far less Ignatius-like, only to pause when the -- well, he never actually fucking knew what Stumpy is, just that she's Peridot's -- comes between him and the boy. It's genuinely tempting to shove her out of the way, but he remembers that sudden spray of water from earlier and 1. the technician falling on his ass was sort of useful, 2. she was obviously trying to protect Steven ... and if she's here, it must mean Peridot sent her with Steven. He doubts she can do him any real damage, but all the same, he grunts and shapeshifts into his least threatening form right now.

Which is, for better or worse, Alolan Childermass, which mostly means a very dour looking Englishman in a shirt with purple flowers on it.

"Steven," Lambert repeats again, this time in Childermass's low rumbling tone. "It's Lambert. This is just an illusion." He crouches to put the sword down -- coincidentally a position that lets him reach out to offer a hand to Yuya, since the paralysis ought to be wearing off by now. Also, Yuya just generally seems like he's better at dealing with emotional things in general, so maybe if he can get him up on his feet he'll make the correct noises to calm Steven down so Lambert doesn't have to ask inane questions with stupidly obvious answers like 'Are you okay?' when he fucking isn't.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya rolls his attention to Steven as he's thrown close. It's a little hard to turn around to see everything going on, so he mostly just sees Steven shaking in terror and leans over to put his arms around Steven's shoulders stiffly, if he doesn't pull away.

"It's okay, Steven. We've got you." Lucky for Lambert, he's already making comforting noises in an attempt to soothe Steven, apparently moving on from his complete failure to actually help save him--he's really grateful for Lambert right now. "Lion's here! And Lambert, and me, it's gonna be okay."

Lambert who he isn't totally paying attention to until he offers Yuya a hand, and Yuya looks up at him. "Thanks, Lam--"

Hawaiian shirt? "--Bert?"

Childermass? Hawaiian shirt??

[starseedling]

Steven was in Alola at the same time as Childermass, but he hadn't quite been on his radar to the same degree. With the weight of the knowledge he has now, this aesthetic is completely bewildering. Lambert is here but... he looked like Ignatius... and then Childermass? But with a flowery shirt?

"Why... is Childermass on vacation?" Steven asks foggily, leaning against Yuya as he tries to work out how to move again. It's not that he doesn't intellectually know that is Lambert, apparently, but right in this moment the nature of the illusion is all he can think about.

Drops of shiny pink blood drip down his chin and neck, already beginning to crystallize.

[whattaprick]

Uhh, sure. Childermass on vacation, Lambert can work with that.

"It doesn't matter," he shakes his head. "We need to get you out of here. Can you get on Lion?"

Except, of course, now that he's thinking about it, there's a pretty obvious reason Steven is here and not with the others, isn't there.

"You were looking for your gem, weren't you?"

[hippocarnival]

Honestly, Yuya would like to know too? But Steven actually asking it is hilarious, and a grin splits across his face as he laughs.

Yuya moves to try and help him up, or maybe help them both up together with Lambert's help. And when Lambert asks about Steven's gem, Yuya looks and listens expectantly. That makes the most sense, and if that's the case then he already knows they have to help.

[starseedling]

Lion is already butting his head against Steven and trying to get him to slide onto his back. It's slow going, but Steven tries to oblige. Mostly, he's pretty caught up in looking ashamed and embarrassed. He got caught red handed doing something dumb.

"I... I didn't know if we'd have to leave, and... everyone else was busy with stuff... I wouldn't be able to leave without it. So I thought..."

He trails off. It was really dumb to do this by himself and put Noodle in danger.

"I'm sorry... I messed this part up."

[whattaprick]

Lambert can't really say 'it's fine' with any honesty, but he really should have predicted Steven would do what Steven wanted whether he took him along or not. Regardless, there is one obvious thing to say:

"Well, we're here now," he says, matter-of-factly. "So let's go find it."

Without waiting for any agreement, he concentrates on the idea of the mark he can't see, calling on the Gilded Mark's power: find Steven's gem.

[hippocarnival]

Once Steven is on Lion, Yuya pulls back a big. He nods in confirmation with Lambert, although oblivious to just what exactly he's doing to find it.

"We'll get your gem back and then go meet up with everyone, okay?" His gaze flicks down briefly before he looks more determined. "And we'll put you back together, the way you should be."

[starseedling]

Gild's Mark will appear in Lambert's palm, and then morph into a small glowing arrow that floats in the air like a compass. It will lead to a nearby room, and Lambert will get a sense that what he wants is inside. It's unfortunately not the door that Noodle already beat open, which just makes Steven feel more dumb about the whole thing. He was close, but not quite.

Steven blushes deep pink at Yuya, still looking really embarrassed. "Thanks guys..." he says quietly, mostly worried about upsetting Lambert, which is even worse when he looks like Childermass. That form really isn't relaxing at all.

"Noodle, are you okay?" Steven will call back to the Pokemon. She'd been a bit drugged, it seemed like.

[whattaprick]

Lambert's mostly just relieved they apparently don't have to go too far, so he's actually fine with this. The less time the spend away from the rest of the group, the better.

He tries to give them both a reassuring smile (it doesn't really work on Lambert's face, it's downright terrifying on Childermass's) as he steps over to the door, sword still in the non-Mark-emblazoned hand. He'll get it open and take a wary peek inside.

[hippocarnival]

"It's no problem!" Yuya grins, shaking off the last of the effects of being stunned. He glances curiously at Lambert's new compass mark, before moving around Lion so he can try and help Noodles.

Noodles is kind of big, but he stretches his arms out in an offer to do his best. "Hey, can you move?"

[periphrasing]

Noodle sings a wavering note and tries to lift her head verrryyy very slowly. It seems to be taking her a lot of effort just to do that much, muscles still too weak from the tranquilizer to obey her properly. She seems mostly okay otherwise, though. Maybe her electric type resistance did her some good against the technician's stun guns after all.

Stumpy-- who has just been totally bewildered by Lambert's change of disguise-- picks up that there's no immediate threat present here anymore, and zips over to the dragonair. She can't do much to help, other than to chitter and wiggle her antennae sympathetically against Noodle's side.

[starseedling]

Steven leans away from Lion to kiss Noodle on the snoot, using as much healing energy as he can muster (which is probably around 25% right at this moment.) He doesn't know if that will help with tranquilizers, but unfortunately he doesn't have an Awakening to use, so it might at least help with other stuff.

The door will be locked when Lambert finds it, but Lion already knows what to do. As soon as Steven is done kissing the Pokemon, Lion leaps over and knocks Lambert out of the way, roaring a very short range portal through the door. It's unduly exhausting for how brief of a jump it is. Then, Lion headbutts Lambert into it.

"Lion, whoa!" Steven gasps as they get warped to the other side.

It's a lab room with a bunch of things in vials and glass tubes, being examined by various scanners and beams. Somewhere in the middle is Steven's gem, propped up on a metal stand, as if it's in a jewelry store. The base of the gem has a layer of metal around it, much like the hole in Steven's belly.

[whattaprick]

“Don’t— gah!” It’s too late for Lambert to register his protest, so through the portal Alolan Childermass goes flying with an undignified yelp, though reflexes have him twisting around and landing with a far too heavy thunk.

Well, they’re in here now. Lambert looks around. The gem looks unguarded enough, he supposes, which makes sense because they really didn’t expect anyone to come back here.

He looks the gem over, inspecting it for damage, then glances at Steven.

“I’m going to pick it up,” he warns. “If you feel anything weird, tell me to stop.” He reaches out, gingerly, to pluck it off the stand.

[hippocarnival]

"Lion! Hey, be careful!" Yuya protests while he tries to help move Noodles, supporting the pokemon by his arm or shoulder if he can.

He'll shamble through the portal shortly after them, looking around the room. Lambert has the gem covered, but he's watching it too.