COME ON AND SLAM

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

WHO: Everyone! Especially YOU!
WHERE: The International Moon Research Base, Mare Nubium, THE MOON
WHEN: April 18th, all day
WHAT: Aegis Force, the government-funded imPort peacekeeping team, is hosting this month's Swear-In to promote their ideals of teamwork and cooperation! Come compete and spectate in the SPACE SLAM, the sporting event that's out of this world! Also featuring a LUNAR DISCO, a DIPLOMATIC EVENT, and a BATTLE AGAINST ATTACKING ROBOTS! Wait, what was that last one?
WARNINGS: Violence, awkward locker rooms. Any questions or issues, hit up the OOC post!

PART I: THE SWEAR-IN

Welcome to the Moon, imPorts! You arrive through the Porter in the base's atrium dome, designed in a futuristic style that emphasizes sleek, spotless white surfaces. You will immediately notice how much less you weigh here in the Moon's low-gravity environment- be careful jumping, or you may hit the ceiling!

Before you can get to the main event, you'll have to pass through strict security comparable to an airport experience (if the airport was surrounded by merciless vacuum and filled with flammable oxygen). Any weapons will have to be surrendered and locked up by base personnel during the event, unless you can convince officials to make an exception. Once past security, airlock tunnels will lead to the Base's other domes, where the main body of the Swear-In will be today.

The RESIDENCE dome is the largest of the interlinked habitable bubbles that make up the main Moon Base, holding tourist hotels, staff apartments, restaurants, and even a grassy park beneath a glass dome offering a view of the Earth above. Crowds are thick today, as plenty of people have flocked to the Moon to behold the heavily-advertised SPACE SLAM. The Slam is an Aegis-sponsored live-streamed sporting event, game show and fundraiser where imPorts assemble themselves into teams of 2 - 6 characters and compete in different challenges, held in hotel gyms and in the park. Giant screens and bright holo-displays notify of the different causes benefiting from today’s event, including the Endeavor Centre, SELF, and HOPE. Participating characters can choose any or all of:

1. Basketball - but of course. A court has been set up, and the stands are packed with cheering fans. Two teams face off and try to get the ball through each other’s hoops!
2. Battle Royale - the obligatory superhero sparring fight, available in free-for-all and team-vs.-team editions. Square off against with your rivals in an open arena and show the world who’s the toughest- just don’t kill or seriously maim anybody in the fray, or you’ll be disqualified!
3. Low-gravity laser tag - the less violent alternative to the Battle Royale, again in free-for-all or team-vs-team options. Grab your vest and plastic light gun and bounce your way into the neon-lit Zap Zone for a match!
4. Irritation Lane - a particularly challenging event, part demolition derby, part go-karting race. Your team must choose and customize their own ground vehicle(s) in a garage with sixty minutes to spare, working from pre-existing chassis like rugged old-fashioned moon buggies, light and fast hover cycles, and the massive heavy-footed Lunar Construction Mech. Decorate and modify your creations as you please and outfit them with nonlethal weapons like glue-foam missiles, EMP mines, net launchers, and smoke screens. Then put on a space suit and face your rivals in a thrilling race around the track that’s been constructed outside the base, complete with soaring low-gravity jumps and daring shortcuts through twisty, narrow canyons!
5. Charades - livestreamed to the entire planet so EVERYONE can see you choking as you try to think of how to mime a banana without looking like a pervert.
6. Competitive karaoke - livestreamed to the entire planet so EVERYONE can see you choking as you try to hit those high notes on ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’
7. Cooking contest - hop into a futuristic, well-stocked kitchen in one of the hotels with your team and roll up your sleeves. You’ve got an hour to whip up a dish that will impress, after which you’ll share your creation with other Swear-In attendees. The more delicious your cooking, the more votes you’ll get when it comes time for judging!
8. Dance-off - does your team have the moves to win over the audience? Put together a killer routine and show what you’ve got!
9. Bouncy castle endurance contest - A massive bouncy castle awaits in a huge room on one of the lower floors of the dome, with protective pads covering the walls and floors and ceilings. Get on the castle with your teammates and jump, jump, jump sky-high in the lowered gravity! Keep jumping no matter what, even if the opposing team tries to knock you off the castle. The team with the last people still bouncing wins this contest!
10. Lunar volleyball - the moondust on the moon’s surface is kind of like sand, isn’t it? At any rate, someone has set up a net outside the Residence dome and space suits are available for those who want to see how hard they can spike a ball in low-gravity.

Holographic and force field technology is in play during these events to ensure everyone's safety in the fragile environment of the Moon Base. Teams of metahumans are also competing, if you want to play out your team playing against NPCs. Before and after your matches, you may want to huddle with your team to discuss strategy and get psyched, engage in some trash talk with your rivals to get in their heads, and give interviews to clustering reporters about how you and your teammates are going to play hard, you know, just give it your very best. Locker rooms are also available for you and your teammates to get changed and shower in, which may or may not be excruciatingly awkward for you. Good luck and have fun, imPorts!

Once you’ve had your fill of the adrenaline of the Space Slam, why not move into the Embassy Dome for a more relaxing and mingle-friendly time? A LUNAR DISCO is happening in the gorgeous Grand Ballroom at the dome’s top level, with huge windows offering a gorgeous view of the cosmos, music to groove to across the marble floor, and a spread of free appropriately-themed snacks and drinks. Among the refreshments is finger food from The Nickel, and Abigail Hobbs will be playing the harpsichord. If you feel like you need to get outside for some (lack of) air, you can also step away for a moonwalk tour, ambling across the desolate gray lunar landscape in a space suit or a clear sealed 'hamster ball' under the supervision of base staff.

You may also find yourself on the Earth Viewing Deck, an elegant lounge dominated by a vast window view of the Earth, with soft music, low lighting, and private alcoves for personal conversation. Here is where the political aspect of the Swear-In comes into play. Not only is there a desk staffed by a government official where you can declare yourself Registered or Unsettled, but there are also optional conversation-starting name tags available with prompts like ‘I’m (INSERT FACTION/ALLEGIANCE HERE), ask me why’ or ‘I am a (INSERT SPECIES/PROFESSION/OTHER RELEVANT IDENTITY HERE), ask me anything’ or ‘I’m (REGISTERED/UNSETTLED), change my mind!’ The goal of this event is encouraging imPorts to talk to each other and resolve issues within their community peacefully and proactively, easing possible disputes before they end up making more work for Aegis.


PART II: ROBOT ATTACK!!
Things run smoothly until late in the evening of the event, when the buzz is immediately killed by a shrill siren, cutting through conversation and competition alike. A hushed silence falls over the gathering, broken by nervous murmuring. Those with experience in these things already know what’s happening: a Swear-In is about to go to hell again.

An eerily calm announcement sounds over the base’s PA system: ”Red Alert. Red Alert. Hostile forces closing on base perimeter. Lockdown protocol now in effect. All civilians are directed to proceed in a calm and orderly manner to the Atrium Porter for evacuation to Earth. All security staff and heroes to your emergency stations. This is not a drill.”

The announcement repeats once, and then the siren resumes. Time to make a decision, imPorts. Are you a civilian who will be evacuating with other noncombatants? Or are you a hero who will stay behind and defend the Moon Base from the oncoming assault?

If you’re evacuating, you can still help to guide and assist the streams of civilians- scientists, VIPs, reporters, tourists, some of them panicking- back to the overcrowded Porter. Once you’re safely back on Earth via the Porter base of your choosing, there’ll be little left to do but huddle with others and wait for news of the crisis unfolding far above the sky, as bits and pieces of information trickle in from the news and social media.

Those of you who choose to buy time for the evacuation by staying to defend the base will find yourselves in a dire situation. Because the Moon Base was built for tourism, science, and diplomacy as a symbol of peace, and thus has no real defenses. It has sensors though, and base staff report at least fifty contacts approaching from all around the base, most of them headed for the Science Dome, home of the base’s labs, lecture hall, and archives, with maybe ten minutes before they arrive. Barely enough time to retrieve your gear (if any) from security and come up with a plan!

First, you’ll have to decide where to make your stand. Will you don a space suit and venture onto the lunar surface in unarmed buggies and shuttles, trying to intercept the enemies before they reach the base itself? Your daring may spare damage to the base and its inhabitants, but out there on the bleak grey dust of the Moon most of you will be only one suit rupture away from a terrible death! You’ll be safer defending from within the base itself, where at least there’s shelter.

The oncoming robots come in two varieties: beefy KILLER ROBOT SPACE LIZARDs, and more subtle COPYCAT DROIDS. The lizards are seven feet long, tough and armoured, equipped with razor teeth and claws, an electric tail, and laser-beam eyes. They also lay ACID-BOMB EGGS that characters will have to disable or dispose of before they burst, corroding the Moon Base still further and causing structural damage. But they're really just the demolition crew for the base, and not that dangerous to imPorts compared to the smaller cats.

These bad kitties are prowling for imPorts, and will fire energy beams at them from their heads, attempting to steal their talent powers. If the beam strikes true, not only is the imPort de-powered until the Copycat is destroyed, but the Copycat will also morph into liquid metal and shift into a metallic copy of the imPort in question, complete with their powers and any specialized gear they may have, which they'll immediately use to wreak havoc on imPorts and natives alike. Get ready to experience firsthand what it’s like to be powerless in the face of a superpowered attacker!

As lasers flash, heroes smash, and robots explode, the Moon Base will begin taking damage despite the best efforts of characters. Injured staff will cry out for assistance and rescue, falling debris will threaten to pin people to the floor, hull breaches will threaten to drain the base’s oxygen and blow people out into space, and fires and explosions will wrack the Science Dome in particular as the robots try to detonate its volatile experiments and power sources to wipe out the entire base!

By the end of the fray everyone at the Moon Base will have been evacuated alive if not necessarily uninjured while all robots are disabled. However, there will have been heavy damage to the Science Dome in particular. Your characters can get started on repair and recovery if they want to stick around. Either way, the bravery shown by imPorts defending the Swear-In will result in EVERYONE being declared a winner at the Space Slam!

In the aftermath, characters will be able to glean more information about what just happened and why. It appears the robots ‘hatched’ from pods buried around the perimeter of the base in response to an activation signal. Apparently these pods have been lying in wait for over a year, while the Moon Base itself was still under construction as a highly-public imPort-led project! Those who are familiar with the history of the Otherworld Technologies Organization (OTO) may find familiarity in the design of the robots and pods. It would hardly be the first time the more extreme OTO elements were alleged to have pitted their killer machines against imPorts and civilians alike…

Comments

[numberthree]

She might be trying to keep herself open to all of this, but it still sounds so strange sometimes.

Like someone is carrying on the most elaborate joke, and they'll keep getting her to go along, nodding with each new ludicrous thing and then someone will jump out and yell Gotcha! any second, like those stupid tv programs that come on at past midnight, but not yet dawn. All the things everyone read about as children, and pretended to be when they were young enough to pretend -- though what really was pretend was that they were ever young, that they ever truly played.

Dragons and fairies and all the like. She wants to say Claire would have loved it, or Diego, or Ben.
Except she's smarter than that. Knows their own history, and how people rose-color it.
She's better at reading people than that, too. Even ones she barely knows.


It's hard to phrase what she wants to, and she has to hope it will make sense, even as she accepts she might have to write it all the way out if it doesn't,

Nice or not?

[iliveidie]

"We Guardians are hard to kill, so don't worry about that bit." Because she certainly wasn't worried. She was more concerned with the fact that her regular old knives weren't quite cutting it.

She threw down a Void grenade to gather up and keep a few of the bots busy just long enough for her to put a bit of distance between herself and them. The small group clanged into each other as the power of the grenade pulled them in. In that short period of time, Kasia sheathed her knives replacing them with Void. Her form became suddenly shrouded in purple-black flames with two blades made up of the same energy in her hands.

"Just let me know when," she responded before disappearing from sight only to reappear behind the now free group of robots as they fell to the ground in a broken heap.

[fireandhoney]

Turns out he's a better artist than he seemed at first. Finn also should have guessed that not every world has sharks. "It's a shark. A sea-dwelling predator. They exist in my world as well as this one."

[iminthebook]

Harry smiles. "Good question. Most never ask. And the answer is that they are people, mostly. And like humans, they vary. Some are mean, some are manipulative, some are kind, and good. Most are afraid of humanity and thus a little angry at us, as they have to hide, they know, for most of humanity would fear them, and what humanity fears, they destroy."

He nods, sadness in his eyes.

"I would be glad to sit down sometime and tell you all about it. It's a lot."

[planetary_bonds]

According to a monster game he was in once, yes Because aesthetic, that's why. Yusei just shrugs, unaware of how odd he looks to Nate.

"Never went to school, but I imagine that was the best part of class."

At that, a fierce gale whips out, almost like an arm separating itself from the barrier, striking one of the acid bomb eggs laid by the lizardbots. The bomb is pulled into the shield's rotation, blinking dangerously as the impact clearly triggered the detonation countdown. Yusei tenses, his concentrating expression unchanging save for a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"And then...take this!"

The shield launches the bomb like a catapult, bowling over a few lizards and knocking them back towards the entrance before exploding mid-air. The explosion sends their body parts flying - some clearly damaged by the acid and heat, but otherwise still useable. Winds start trying to guide them back to Yusei and Nate, but it's starting to be clear at this point that Yusei's finer points of control still need to be worked on...he can only roll them across the floor rather clumsily and only a few at a time. Some claws and a couple of electrified tails start being blown their way over, rolling along like tumbleweeds.

[monster_san]

No, so far I've escaped injury. [She looks him over. He's well-equipped for the situation and doesn't seem to be hiding any pain, either.] But if it's all right, I think I had better stay close to you. These robots are capable of more than just hitting hard.

[Which they are, nevertheless, quite good at.]

[therewillbeorder]

"Oh, I will." Hux was pleased with himself as he watched Jacob retreat. It was a small victory but he would take it.

[112ounces]

Moon sitch?

( Carl has no idea what that means. )

Yeah, I'll catch up with you.

( It took a little while, but Carl figured out how to put on the suit. By the time he returned, Finn was already there. )

Had any problems suiting up?

[112ounces]

"So...like a cop?"

That's how Carl is following it. His dad was a cop. Carl knew cop-ish things, though it take a while for him to remember.

[by_candlelight]

For a moment, Ruby doesn't know what to think. Adora seems sincere. Not merely playing at it - no, there were usually a few tells here or there when someone was trying to corner you into believing they were sincere when they were really just trying to manipulate you, but Adora had none of those signs. It was almost hard to believe that anyone else who had been a soldier could be so sincere when saying such a thing, but there had been one or two of her peers that had been.

It hadn't ended well for them.

For just a bit she was prepared to blow off Adora's kindness, more out of concern for her future than anything else - she seemed so nice, and it would be a shame if she died trying to somehow keep Ruby safe. Instead she decided that wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to keep people distant, not when it wasn't required for her own survival. Besides, if Adora was looking out for her, that meant she could return the favour and look out for Adora, since it clearly looked like Adora didn't have an insincere bone in her body and people were prone to taking advantage of that sort of person.

(Maybe, just maybe, Ruby was trying to make some sort of excuse to make herself feel like she had something to offer in return. But really, what was the harm in that? She'd find some way to provide worth.)

Instead of blowing Adora's kindness off, she allows herself a small laugh.

"Food sounds great. Mind me taking just a little longer in here? Warm water is good for keeping you alert when the adrenaline wears off." Not as good as cold water, but she'd spent months in winter before coming here and had quite frankly had *enough* cold for a while.

[planetary_bonds]

...Great.

[Lovely. Excellent. Scintillating, even.]

They stole yours? [He can't think of any other reason why this guy would just be standing there.]

[by_candlelight]

"I appear to be afraid of the vacuum of space. And I have a problem with that." She sounded so very determined, and insulted, at that. Like fear itself was just being really stubborn and she had to show it that it was wrong and shouldn't be there.

[cannotrest]

[Ashley laughs, but nods.]

Will do. It's good to know who else is still up here.

[Especially who else is still here with healing powers.]

[governorkang]

"Well met, Luther," Kang smiles, noting that hand and the man's scent being very close, but not completely human.

He looks down at the pin and shakes his head. "I'm... not really the superhero type. I am, however, the director of a nonprofit organization that works to make the lives of non-humans on this world a little less difficult, a little easier to navigate. We're called the Sentient Life Fund, or SELF for short." After a pause, he adds, "We're trying out this new logo."

[solarcharged]

[ The fact that so many people have brought up the previous moon Swear-In - well before any mention of this moon Swear-In - is telling, Apollo knows. The imPorts who were here for it clearly haven't forgotten. They aren't over it, and maybe they never really will. Apollo's hardy surprised; it must have been pretty god damn traumatic.

Jacob really had balls bringing it back here, to make a statement like this. Apollo likes that. ]

It's definitely good, [ Apollo agrees emphatically, with none of Quatre's spacey vagueness (which was rather sweet, in an odd way). ] Not just because of that, but it shows we aren't afraid. OTO can throw their best of us but we'll always come back -- [ He nods over his shoulder at everything behind them. ] -- and throw a damn good space party while we're at it.

[solarcharged]

It'd be nice to think so, wouldn't it?

[ And perhaps that's what they - the Authority - tell themselves occasionally. The reality is far less simple. ]

Realistically speaking though... I'm not so naive as to believe that. I don't think anyone is. But there are some of us - enough of us - who are doing their damnedest to make the world a better place. That counts for something.

[ Not much, but something. ]

[solarcharged]

[ Apollo knows that's working because he can feel it working; he can feel his powers beginning to seep back in to his muscle with every blast of cold that swathes to copycat droid. And when he can feel just enough strength returning to his body, he throws the hose aside and surges forward, leaping at the droid with a snarl to put a fist directly through its chest chassis.

A shower of sparks, and the droid shudders in to a screeching, grinding halt. Annoyed but relieved, Apollo pulls his hands out of the robot's icy chest. ]

Where the hell did these assholes come from?

[cannotrest]

Ashley chooses to set aside the issue of blame (spoilers: it's still her fault) in favor of OTO's surprises. "Speaking of unexpected, those robots - I couldn't control more than a few at a time," she says. "You saw what I did with the satellites last year, you know I can do more than that. It was like I was being blocked or something."

Okay, no, Cayde's temporary death and his own lack of reaction to it are still bothering her. With a sigh, she sits down on the debris.

"But when I broke my leg, it hurt too much to control anything," she says. "So Cayde got overwhelmed, and decided the best move was 'a little tactical death'." Her finger quotes are more reminiscent of Sparatus until she turns them into an ironic pair of fingerguns to drive home the Cayde impression.

[hampire]

I suppose that all depends on what you're willing to eat.

[The tiny smile playing over his lips just a touch mischievous, given his 'lunch' generally was free, at least in a monetary sense. But he supposes that depends on what a life might be worth, be it human or animal.

Oh yes, he certainly can sense all that solar energy and no thanks, he's going to pass.]

Eccarius. And better not— I've had a cold lately. Wouldn't want to pass along any germs!

[cannotrest]

What she'd noticed during that glance at 622 was that her Copycats are starting to thin out the herd, thank God. It's sort of impressive how many beams he got hit by, and she can definitely think of some other powers she wouldn't want these things to catch.

His pointing out the pen puzzles her at first - Alliance gear doesn't include one - until he makes a decent suggestion. Unfortunately: "They're only ours as long as I'm actively controlling them, not permanently," she says. "I want to ditch them once we've cleared more of them out, don't want to confuse people."

She pauses, considers. "Could mark you, though."

[myownprice]

Maybe because you want to get out of here alive? [he retorts. He only stares as she pulls out her phone to take a picture of his blaster, eyes narrowing behind his visor.] Is this really the time? [he mutters, though he doesn’t move to stop her.

They’re interrupted by another blaster bolt colliding with the edge of the wall, metal glowing orange where the shot had landed. Boba responds by crouching low and inching towards the edge again. He counts to three in his head, then leans out, blaster raised. It should be the work of a moment, even with his off-hand, to pull the trigger. But when that familiar visor snaps down towards him, his aim wavers just slightly—and he scrambles back under cover, just quickly enough to avoid another blast.]

Fierfek! [he snaps, glaring down at his yet-unfired blaster as if it’s personally wronged him.] I’m—This shouldn’t be that hard.

[knaval]

[fortunately, he doesn't actually need to argue this. riptide clomps towards the airlock, shoving himself in as best he can and changing at the absolute last minute.

it's at the moment he knew: he fucked up.

he feels pain a lot differently in his natural form. when he switches to human-- he could deal with a gash on his face! but the broken and gouged out collarbone? riptide splatters blood all over the floor of the airlock as he falls to one knee and absolutely loses it.]

[solarcharged]

[ Apollo's fine with blood. He's seen far too much of it - mostly all over his husband - to shy away from the sight of it. But this is definitely way more than he'd expected, judging from what the damage had looked like before he'd shifted. ]

Fuck! Riptide...

[ He clamps his hands forcibly over the wounds but that doesn't do much to stem the oozing blood. Apollo slips a little on the bright red as he quickly kneels to take as much of Riptide's weight as the other man is prepared to give him. ]

Shit - shit, okay. I'm going to get you some help...

[myownprice]

[Boba thinks that if the droid copied his aim, then it should be a pretty good shot, but he keeps his mouth shut. There’s no reason to dissuade her from helping.]

Okay. If you can get its attention off me, I’ll take a shot. [His words are lacking their usual confidence. Normally, he’d have no problem blasting a distracted target but when he pictures lining up that familiar visor in his sights… He frowns. It’s just a droid. He can’t let himself become distracted like this.]

There should be a weak spot on its back, [He lies.] Can you get it to turn around?

[knaval]

I'm always-- always amazed at how fucking weak and stupid human bodies are! Primus!

[he groans in apollo's Large Grip, wiggling a little and hissing when he touches the wound. it feels SO WEIRD. why can't he just, like, switch it off? it would be way easier if he could just pull the whole arm off and throw it out then get a new one, right?]

Can't you do something? You have like a zillion powers!