Scene Listing

||

Scene Schedule

||

Scene Schedule RSS

Owner	Pose
Rita Ma	BGM: https://youtu.be/28MFoXq6zAU      'Apple Tree Island' has a hopeful ring to it. With ice caps forming and Rita still out there, there might be more real land someday. Having a name will be important then.      The artificial warpgate is still just behind the Union Busan's main deck. But now the whole ship sits at a slight tilt, and straight ahead past the roots and tentacles sprawling across the deck, a truly vast apple tree casts its shade where the garden dome used to be. It's heavy with fruit already. The ripe ones higher-up haven't all been picked.      There's no specific urgent request that leads to everyone being here, but a lot of little invitations, organically adding up. 'Come get fish skewers with me sometime.' 'Train with me. I have to get used to my new eye.' 'Help me and Brune fill out the memorial? We don't know everyone's names.' 'So Foid's working on a vaccine for the Fish Disease...' 'We're setting up electricity. I'll pay you in wine. It's not drugged this time.'      And so it goes. People are still making homes out of sheet metal and shipping containers, but someday there'll be wood, and there are already little 'streets' that feel cozy enough. Grass and gorgeous white anemone flowers are starting to colonize the island's fertile ground. The blue-white tentacles permeating the stone are already halfway hidden.      Sea monsters sometimes swirl as dark shapes in the island's deep central 'lake'. The sky is still tinged with ash, and the sun's too dimmed to burn them. But nobody's scared of them anymore. You could even swim beside them, and especially brave kids do, to the fretting of their parents.      Kana looks like an utterly different person, now that she has two eyes again, but she isn't dressed any more conservatively. Bota looks about the same as ever.      During a quiet moment, the two of them find time to rest. They're leaning against the side of the building that'll become the town's library, chewing on fish skewers. People are carting in well-loved books and National Geographics. Their own half-finished home is nearby, big enough for three. Inside, Foid picks out books and Sea Monkey (in casual clothes) watches him like a hawk.      "It just feels different, doesn't it?" "How do you mean?" "I don't know. Standing on something that won't just rust or sink someday... it's like letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding." "I'm just relieved about the sea monsters." "Have you pet one yet?" "I'd like to, but she isn't home yet." "Kanaaaa..."      The way they exist together is so comfortable. 'Like family'.
Redshift Operators	The Redshifts have been staying here. It's not a matter of them returning, they've just been residing here for a while. The giant is frequently found tending to the new gardens(!) and other land-bound growing, as well as spending time cooking in for Bota and Kana and his fellow Redshifts. The astronaut has been helping out with electrical setup, typically zoning out or sleeping throughout the day but getting a bunch of independent electrical work done overnight, and has been importing... strangely, a huge array of boardgames, cardgames, and tabletop games. The cyborg has set up a chemistry lab and worked to prepare things for Foid, but for various reasons she's not about to spend any time with him -- and aside from that, she's been sketching the dead to add material to the memorial.     And the gruff, leaderly gunman? Mostly fishing. He calls it guard duty. It's not. But who's gonna tell him otherwise?     Heading into the library, he's chattering with his fellow Redshifts and waving to Bota and Kana. The whole gang mills about in the library in a more familiar way. Red Dwarf even donated some books. Angry books. Books about society, and how we're living in one, and precisely who should die to make it easier to do that.
Ishirou	Ishirou catches a ride on Kale's ship to make it here.  His method of flight was still being repaired due to the stress it took from both fighting the Queen /and/ helping out L-Corp recently.  Walking or climbing down to the ground he looks around at Apple Tree Island, taking his time enjoying the sights and sounds. Seeing how they're building up from before, taking a moment by the lake to check out the sea monsters who don't try to eat them at first glance, awed that such a thing could happen.  Eventually, he finds his way over to Bota and Kana, giving a wave toward them and walking up.   Ishirou pauses at what Kana says about petting one, but she's not there yet and he lowers his hand and sighs.  It's true, Rita wasn't home yet, and... he isn't sure if she would ever come home.  She would always be out there, somewhere, with the power of the Queen.  It's bitter-sweet, but he does miss her.
Rena	To someone like Rena, Apple Tree Island feels... homey, in some ways. Certainly, she's been places like this before. Homes out of sheet metal and shipping containers are nothing unusual; sometimes they're the sturdiest thing around. Build out of what you have until you can build what you want. But only 'like this' in some ways. She's never been anywhere with tentacles shot through the stone. She's never been somewhere where people set up immediately after an abortive apocalypse; only lived through the time two generations later. She's never been to an island quite like this one. Rena actually arrived in the Warpgate in a vehicle; a battered old green-and-white pickup that looks like it was, at one point, roughly armoured with metal slabs cut down to size - but since then it's taken damage and while the chassis has been repaired, not all the armour has. It has no weapons; the bed instead carries a diesel generator that looks as ramshackle as the rest of it but is working perfectly well while the main island generator gets up to powering the place. Rena was previously helping with electrical work but is taking a break. The truck also supports a three-burner grill hanging off the side, which Rena has been using to grill anything people bring to her, as she doesn't have anything worth eating except giant ant. (Which, if anyone wants, she will also grill. It's a little like lobster, but not quite.) She did bring beer, though. It technically counts as small batch because it's made by an old guy in Mado in his spare time and comes in an eclectic variety of unlabeled or mislabeled bottles. She *also* brought Pochi, who has been running around like a mad dog and bringing random people sticks, balls, and anything else that seems like someone might throw for him. It is his first time being allowed to run around on an island like this and he is extremely excited to meet absolutely everyone.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine hasn't spent as much time as she'd have liked to on Rita's world, with Concord assignments taking her to numerous other worlds. When a call for an elite came up from Disaster Relief for escorting a convoy from Port Oasis all the way to Apple Tree Island, she jumped at the chance. She was expecting sea monsters.     She got people.     The sea routes to Apple Tree Island were haunted, now, by pirates too frightened of land to approach the island itself but too greedy to resist the lure of the colonists and merchants flocking to the new land. And so she finds herself in her undershirt, doing her best to wash the blood off her jacket with the last of her fresh water supply, as the island with its great tree comes into view. She smiles a little - it's almost nostalgic, even if it's only been a matter of weeks. Waking up in a strange place tends to leave a mark on memory, even a memory as inconstant as Madeleine's. Her jacket won't be dry by the time they make port. If she's going to say hello to Bota and Kana and the rest, she'll be going casual for it.     And she does say hello, and more. There's stories to trade, of life on the island and work on other worlds, updates on the well-being of those who more narrowly survived the encounter with the Queen - the former Queen, Madeleine reminds herself - and fish skewers to eat. They're the best food Madeleine's had in a while, because it's the first meal she's shared with anyone since... since Rita, she realizes. Her mouth twitches as she holds back a tear, but when Bota asks if anything's wrong she says it's fine.
Dysnomia	"Careful with that!" Dysnomia barked, voice crackling through her helmet, hands on her hips. "You have no idea how hard it was to find that!"     She was overseeing the installation of solar panels across the island. Shimmering panels trailed behind her, buoyed in the air. But she's not just suprvising. She has a multi-tool in hand, strands of wire and steel knitting themselves into poles as, slowly but surely, she carves a path for electricity to flow across the island.     She's gruff, no-nonsense and focused on her work. But even though her face is obscured, even though she speaks at a performative growl, there's something more relaxed about her here, piecing together a world for Rita's family to live in.
Combaticon	At some point after the artificial Warp Gate had been repaired, the three Combaticons had left the island. Their leader's explanation was that they needed repairs that the townsfolk just couldn't provide. One of them-- the helicopter-- had to be dragged out by the other two.     The first Cybertronian to arrive is Vortex; the black-clad 'bot exits the warpgate at a jog, her feet clanging on the deck just from her weight. Breaking out into open air, she leaps and curls her body back-- feet forward-- body reorienting, unfolding, expanding-- reorganizing into a black and red helicopter. The chatter of rotor blades carries her aloft into the ashen sky, where the noise soon fades to a dull background hum as she circles the island at a slow, leisurely pace.     The second is Onslaught, his arms folded behind his back beneath the artillery gun mounts as usual. Moving at a much more relaxed pace, the Combaticon leader exits the Union Buson with a brief duck, then casts his gaze across the village already forming around the ship's impressive wreckage. -> They've built so much so fast! These people must be really excited to be here.     Onslaught's gaze lifts to the sky, following Vortex's flight path with those beady white pupils of his. A hand unfolds, tapping the side of his head. -> Do not disturb them too much. They may not be accustomed to your mode of flight. It is quite noisy. -> Fiiiiine. I'll keep my distance. I bet they'd like some aerial photos of their new home, though. I think I'll do that.     Onslaught lowers his hand from his commlink, nodding once. Arms folding together once more, he descends from the Buson's wreckage and into the town with the faint clunk-clunk of metal feet. His course is aimed at Bota and Kana, the people he worked most closely with, but it is also a rather slow and meandering course; the Decepticon seems interested in taking in the surroundings of the fledgeling village.     "Harpoonists," he says as he approaches, by way of greeting, "Or have your titles changed?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale arrives with the East Wind, carrying anyone who needs a ride. Also riding along is a whole bunch of supplies - just a whole lot of whatever's been requested by the village that the Commonwealth can provide, more building supplies and tools, and - one crate specifically packed with farming equipment. "Right. Shovels. Might not have seen one used much, without land before - and tilling hoes. And farming books for those of you who can read. We'll bring some mechanized equipment next trip, but this is enough to start with." Kale passes it out to anyone who's showing an interest in gardening (or at a larger scale, farming) and instructing people on its use.
Angela	Lobotomy Corp doesn't really have a good reason to visit Apple Tree Island at this point if you really think about it. They sent their best fighters to help in the battle against the Queen and lost half of them and that's more than what Lobotomy Corp would spend on already established allies let alone friends from another world who probably will have much bigger issues in the near to mid and frankly long term than being able to send aid back to Lobotomy Corp. As far as Binah's story is concerned, L Corp probably should've wished them well and parted ways at this point now that several worlds are no longer in danger from the Queen's plan. ... .. . But you don't get involved in a long campaign without forming friendships and friendship, it has been said, is not always about what you can get out of it in return. The Disciplinary Team made genuine bonds here that fly in the face of profitability and so Nonon and Shajo are using one of their 'days off' to pay a visit to their friends on the island. Nonon intends to save some to fulfill her promise to Rita but she and Shajo think the others are plenty great too and so when they get an invitation for fish skewers... "Yoooooooooooo!!! BOTAAA! KAAANAAA!" Nonon says, as boitserous as ever. She still has one of her arms in a cast and Shajo still moves a bit stiffly. "Woah...! It's true!! You got your other eye back! AWESOME." Nonon offers Kana a hifive. She pauses a moment and then lowers her hand a little bit so it's easier to reach. "What the heck is that?" Nonon adds, glancing to the library. Shajo is carrying an armful of a plate of fish skewers. "Uffh... Max'n'the others are on the memorila right? We'll have to save time to visit it. Pay respects." Shajo says. Nonon spots the giant and rushes over to him to give him a big hug. Shajo doesn't bother to chase after her. "I swear she acts like she loves barely escaping death." He mutters, fondly. He does have an L Corp pad with him but it's presently off. L Corp has no work left to do here and so... MEANWHILE Someone arrives who didn't get an invitation at all. A woman with white hair with her blunt bangs framing the sides of her face like two droopy rabbit ears steps through the Warpgate. She has red eyes and a scowly expression on her face and an assault rifle on her back. She also is presently wearing a white nurse uniform with a dress cut around the knees and a white nurse cap with a red plus sign in the center of it. She has added a fascimile of the blue and black jacket--close to what Odette had showed off earlier but clearly picked for approximating the look rather than being part of an actual uniform. Under one arm, her power armor helmet (with rabbit ears) rests. The rest is in a duffle bag she has slung over the other shoulder. She seems generally pissy and also looking for something or someone in particular she has yet to actually find. Or confirm the presence of.
Candy	A fair few invitations to the island come a certain farmer's way. So many of them are things that Candy feels tempted to indulge--to help with electricity, or to keep an eye on Foid, to bring something for the memorial.     But the most tempting is the prospect of just unwinding with Bota--Candy had said, in a private conversation, that it was high time for him to start thinking about what -he- wants, while there's still enough of him left to go after it.     Through all of the hardship, loss, and anxiety, what he really wanted to see was a world where Rita, Kana and Bota could be happy. It's here, in its infancy, and he intends to enjoy it, today.     A breathable white work shirt is unbuttoned just enough, sleeves rolled past the elbows, tucked into brown canvas work pants held up by suspenders. How rare must it be, for work boots like Candy's to stand upon and leave their treadmarks on sloid ground? He knows--he'd been one of the voices, excitedly proclaiming its existence as it crawled towards the Busan from over the horizon.     "How about you pet me instead, ah?" Candy grins toothily at Kana and Bota, thumbing his suspenders with an energy that belies the places where bandages peek from beneath his clothing. Neither of them are particularly good at parsing his jokes, historically--but that only makes them funnier to him. "There's enough of me to go around."     Removing one hand from his suspenders, there are suddenly three bottled beers, of a favorite brand from Amacuzac, in it. A trail of blue-grey smoke is carried away and dispersed by the island breeze.     "You want?" he asks, wiggling the beers. "I'm making the rounds with these. Sea Monkey is next. That slimy Foid, he sure drives *me* to drink."
Kukuru	Bota had her at 'fish skewers'. Kana had her at 'with me'. Sonia had her at 'Help me', Sea Monkey at 'vaccine', and the list goes on. Even though Kukuru's not the most suited person to help with many of these things, she can't turn down these kinds of requests and offers from tangential family members no matter how much she wants to sleep in for the next month or three. When she does arrive, Kukuru still looks like her usual sleepy and smaller self: Three inches shorter, flatter in every respect, but her clothes actually fit this time! Instead of just trying to wear her usual stuff like nothing's wrong, she's actually opted for a lighter hooded jacket in a pale reddish-pink color, dark black shorts made of that crinkly swimming-friendly material, and plastic slippers that she forgot to change out of before leaving. She arrives with her usual bag full of snacks and drinks as she tends to do, packed with various land-based meats and ???-based sodas and hard lemonades to provide the settlers of this new island a little more variety in what they have to eat and drink between all the work that still needs to be done. Remembering that the fish disease is still a thing, of course, means she also has a poncho in a bag. She might need it to help out with the Fish Disease, after all, even if it's a vaccine this time instead of her more direct methods from weeks ago. The quiet moment, of course, just so happens to have Kukuru loitering nearby. She's hanging off the edge of the roof of that library-to-be, dangling precariously off of it from the torso up so she can still see Bota and Kana and all those people carting those books in. "It's peaceful. This is what it's like to really relax, without having to worry about aaanything." Kukuru chimes in, yawning lazily and looking like she's about to fall right off as she stretches her arms out way past her head, somehow not falling off while flirting with the likelihood that gravity will just pull her right off that roof. "You two built up that house, too, yeah? It's looking really nice so far..." And then, without warning, she just slides right off the roof and lands on her back besides the pair before yawning like nothing happened. (The nanites help.) "Have you been eating better since then? I beeeet... You've both been learning new recipes to surprise her later, right?"
Aidan Proudpick	Twenty minutes ago, "So, looks like something came up, but I figured you might like a bowl of barley soup and some acorn bread like from Quicknest!" NOW. Aidan caaaaarefully clings to the bottom of the East Wind, claws dug in to the wood, face low, tail tucked in to lower wind resistance. He still feels bad about not reaching out earlier to Rita Ma. He feels bad for a lot of things. The biggest lesson he learned was feeling bad doesn't do shit. He lets go of the bottom of the East Wind as it is travelling in. He's wearing a skin tight martial artist top, no arms, and fairly tight pants, so he can aim correctly. His tail moves back and forth, carefully angling his body, which lifts almost like a paraglider, allowing him to land with a little bounce. NORMALLY, this would be easy. This badly hurt, he takes a stumble, pinwheeling his arms. He has a backpack. A big backpack. It's a huge hemp rucksack. "Hey! I bro-" He sees Kale brought TONS of farming equipment. "Seeds." Pause, "And mushroom starters!" The rucksack gets handed off to someone, preferably where Kale can't look at him and be any sort of smug. He makes his way towards Rena, smiling at her. "Did you bring any mushrooms? Maybe some watermelon?"
Lilian Rook	'it's like letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding.'     At that precise instant, Lilian Rook, who had just managed trudge all the way down from the deck and force one foot in front of the other to the cozy little house by the coast, notices that she is holding hers, and exhales a little too suddenly and loudly to make it a coincidence. She tries to play it off with a laugh. It comes out less tense than she was expecting, and surprises her all over again.     "You know, when Rita told me that she'd never been on land before . . . Every time she looked so overwhelmed and starry-eyed by dirt and green things, I thought it was really cute." says Lilian. "And a little sad. And something I couldn't possibly imagine." She looks at the space precisely between Bota and Kana, not quite making eye contact with either of them. Breathing. Preparing.     "I used to spend hours thinking about it; what that must feel like, and if it's anything like how I was when, I first got to the Multiverse too." She forgets to explain what that even means. "But--" Lilian deliberately scuffs the ground under her shoe. "I feel as if I sort of get it now."     Finally forcing her stiff legs up the rest of the incline to the door, Lilian lets her gaze wander out to the horizon; across the giant apple tree, and the houses by the lake; the playing children and the neighbours lending a hand to build the home next to theirs. "I grew up on land, and now it feels like I just set foot on it for the first time."     Hauling herself out here was clearly an effort. Lilian doesn't have to-- and doesn't have it in her-- dress up for a respectable meeting with the equivalent of a school board. Her arm has been properly seen to by now, but the wear and tear on her is deeper than the remaining bandages and the exhausted friction in her movements. The wrappings are pretty much only to hide the sight of where her neck meets her shoulder on one side and her lower waist on the other anways.     She can't bother with contacts and makeup. The discolouration in her eye and her scar has receded somewhat, but Kana and Bota didn't see it in the first place. It's all heavier on her shoulders and her gaze; a constant weight pressuring them both downwards that she has to fight against. The fact that she's thrown on a billowy chemise-style tank top with a summer skirt and cross-strap sandals and called it a day is more a hopeful sign than a worrying one.     "I hope you don't mind if I invited a plus one or two." Lilian says, returning her attention to the house. "A couple of my juniors. They really took a liking to Rita, and . . . I felt bad enough keeping them out of things before, so I couldn't say no to letting them help." she says, attempting to wave nonchalantly. "Grid, supplies, inspection, this and that for health and good fortune, and some sea food at the end. Normal things."     At last, Lilian forces herself to look up. ". . . Yeah. She was right. You really are family, now that I look at you." Lilian coughs. "I may have to . . . belay training requests. At least serious ones."
Hibiki Tachibana	'Help me and Brune fill out the memorial? We don't know everyone's names.'     "...Yeah. I'd be happy to help."     And thus, a day that got off to a terribly rotten start and would have otherwise been spent at home is instead brought to Apple Tree Island.     Probably for the better. On the one bit of actual land in the entire world, made from a miracle and carrying hope on it, every other problem someone would have seems... really far away. Even just watching the sea monsters that caused horrendous amounts of death under the Queen's rule, now skipping along in the water alongside people...     ...it's hard. For anything heavier to reach here, it feels like. Although nothing will really get rid of the constant feeling that Rita isn't back yet to enjoy it too. There's something that feels wrong, taking all of this in while she's not here... with Bota and Kana. But until then...     They'll just have to help make sure she has something nice to come back to. "I brought along a couple things, too." White lilies, in fact. Hibiki wouldn't come all this way and not want to pay her own respects, too. Along with it, there's a little bag of seeds for the same - just a small pitch-in for the future.     She's pretty content to be out this way, figuring Kana and Bota will have plenty of socializing already on their plate. So spending her time lending a hand to Brune and Sonia, she mentions off-hand to the both of them, "...You guys had me really worried, you know? But it makes me really glad. Seeing... all of this. And you guys helping with it."     That's her roundabout way of saying she's happy they're both here, and still able to be with each other.
Rita Ma	"Nonon! Shajo! You made it?" It's ambiguous whether Bota means 'you lived?' or something else. Kana eyes the high-up hand and takes it as a challenge before Nonon can lower it, kicking off the library's metal wall to casually hit a five-foot vertical hop. "It's a library. A communal place for books. I'd never seen one before Busan, either. It's a pretty idea, right?"      "I swear she acts like she loves barely escaping death."      "It gets the blood flowing," Kana says to Shajo while looking past him. That doesn't say anything about whether she enjoys it too.      Bota puts his arm around Ishirou's shoulders, but doesn't greet him beyond a nod. He seems to sympathize with the need for quiet. Everyone's softly amazed by Rena's car- they wouldn't have those here, would they?- but they aren't about to question help, or drinks. Kana pops the cap off a beer with her thumb and pounds back half of it in one go. Then, after Bota takes one of Candy's beers, she thinks real hard and takes a second one from him too.      "Careful now," Bota says while beaming and messing up Candy's hair (just as invited). "I don't know how she can hold her alcohol." "Better than you, Bota."      The arc of his smile is achingly familiar.      When Kukuru falls, Kana gracefully evades as if her plummet were an attack, and Bota lunges to catch her. "Yeah. It already feels like a place we could live in," he says while setting her down, with his goofy lopsided smile. "I've been..." "He's been teaching me to cook, yes." Bota grimaces. "Look, maybe leave the coming-home meal to me, Kana?"      "Or have your titles changed?"      "The tattoo doesn't come off," Kana says. Hers- the anchor-in-a-circle, stylized symbol of Busan on her bicep- has a new red star above it. Bota has the hint of the same symbol on his bicep, visible where sea-spray has made his white shirt translucent.      Kana, as always, knows better than to comment on Lilian's battle-damage. "Things are rough where you're from too," she offers. "Seeing land for us... I bet it makes you feel like there might be something on the other side of your struggles. If your friends are friends of Rita, they deserve to see it too."      "I may have to . . . belay training requests."      "You should..." Kana stops, puts down her half-empty beer, then straightens back up to her full (5'3") height and covers one eye with her hand. Suddenly she looks every bit the terrifying monster-slayer again. Her voice and gaze prickle ominously.      "You should take a break. You've earned it. Good work, Dame Commander."
Rita Ma	Up on the roof, Boss Huorong claps Mia on the shoulder. "YOU HEARD HER! You drop that thing and you're picking up pieces for a week!" Even if he really can't do much to keep up with her telekinetic assembly and Neutron's single-minded focus, it's nice to have him around for morale and reassurance.      When he furrows his bushy eyebrows and then nods in approval, it's almost a better reward than the seaweed wine.      Sonia and Brune smoothly welcome Hibiki into their duo-dynamic, like there's a natural spot for her there. "Worried for us? Hell. I was worried for you," he says over his shoulder, glancing between the slab of hull he's chiseling and the sheet of paper by his knee. "Bruuuuune. She took care of herself just fine, you know."      "Rrrgh. Move your hip, I've gotta put a name there." "Okayyyy~ I love your flowers, though, Hibiki. What gave you the idea for that?"      . . . After a bit, someone yells from down by the shore. It sounds like surprise, but not alarm.
Ishirou	Ishirou smiles at Bota's arm wrapped around his shoulders.  He returns the gesture and gives him a nod and a smile too.  It was... sad, but it was also a time to be happy, so he tried to smile through some of the tears, so to speak.  "Sorry I haven't been around to help, but if you have any work that uh..." he looks at his hands, "These hands can do, or my eyes can I'd be happy to help more!" It's easy for Bota to see his damage is still there, some wounds aggravated by the multiple meltdowns at L-Corp, and he's not just getting to rest and heal in earnest.   At the sound of noise at the beach, Ishirou waves toward Madeleine and walks over to the surprise yelling.  "Hey, what's going on?" He asks from a distance, having to raise his voice a little.
Rita Ma	A middle-aged man in a baggy green jacket takes possession of the agricultural supplies, with just a little trepidation (and some well-hidden staring).      "Oh, like the ones we had for the garden dome! But you're right. We'll need a lot more shovels and seeds now. I hear that when the rock starts eroding, it'll make even more rich soil." People are remarkably quick to organize around him and get them carried off to some kind of central depot.      Then he glances between Kale and Aidan, with a look of devastatingly innocent perplexity.      "I'm sorry. Is it common to not be able to read?"
Angela	Myo sees Lilian in the distance and sees Shajo with that pad of his. She starts making her way over that away, a determined expression on her face. She isn't inclined to let Lilian GROAN her way out of the deal...? At this point Myo may have lost track of what she was actually aiming for when she popped up on the banter channel. Aidan takes a tumble into her path (sort of) and she comes up sort. She doesn't really know him by sight but then he speaks and Myo freezes. Her gaze tilts down towards squirrel...man? He surely can't be... She watches after him as he bounds back up and makes her way towards someone her files indicates is also another mercenary. Not really Myo's problem. She casually draws her assault rifle and presses it to the back of Aidan's head. Her finger rests on the trigger and she damn well is about to press down when-- ''Deliver him alive and I'll get you someting nice'' She considers pulling the trigger anyway but ultimately says, "Good for you kid, she wants you alive. You gonna come along peaceful like?" Nonon turns her head to shout at Myo to 'No, don't do this you idiot' but-- ''Deliver him alive and I'll get you something nice'' Nonon hesitates and then shrugs both shoulders before turning back to Bota, grinning at Kana using super maneuvering to catch her hand. "Hot damn! You're as spray as ever!". She looks to Bota. "Yeah! Even Ceri made it! We're all still kinda recovering though." Nonon beams. "A library? What's a--" Bota explains. "Oh yeah," Shajo says. "Angela had us visit Touta's dragon library a while back. Er, that is, there was a dragon there. It was kinda fucked up. Yeah, it sounds good. Doubt you'll ever find me in one but maybe sitting outside to admire the shade..." ''It gets the blood flowing.'' Shajo's head snaps towards Sonia. He doesn't approach but he does smile a little, rubbing at his nose briefly. It's Nonon who notices the noise coming from the shore first and turns her gaze that-a-way curiously. MEANWHILE If Aidan doesn't resist, Myo totally intends to drag him all the way over to Lilian via his arm, trowing a wave to the middle aged man saying "Dame Commander's Orders."
Rena	Rena didn't entirely expect her truck to be a common item here, which is why she brought it and not, say, an obvious military vehicle. Her tank has a bigger engine and can mount a bigger generator. She absolutely wasn't going to bring Red Wolf here. Apple Tree Island deserves better than to have war brought to it again, even second-hand. Beer is available to anyone who wants one. She gives Kana hers with a half-salute with her own open bottle, and Lilian a bit of a wince with her nod. Doesn't look great, to her, though she's no doctor. "Good to see you again," she says, a lot more casually than the last time she was here at first. Rena is not in the habit of asking for ages, either, though she won't give it to anyone who looks, say, about thirteen or below. Past that she doesn't seem to think it's much of an issue; a teenager ought to be mature enough to handle it. (This means the only visitor who is in danger of being turned away is Kukuru, because Rena has never seen her small before and thinks this is some kind of Kukuru Junior.) Rena recognizes quite a few of the people who go by, both local and not. Certainly she recognizes Aidan when he walks up to her, though she has to shake her head a little apologetically. "The only mushrooms I got are little ones," Rena says. "Not much for grilling, except maybe on a stick. And I had a melon, but it got ate. But what I do have is..." Rena bends over, and from behind her stuff pulls out an entire goddamned pineapple. "I've only had this once or twice. I didn't even know you could grill them, but apparently you can. Just got to open it up first," she says, pulling out a rather large knife. It's actually a kukri by style (not the same one as she's used in combat; this one's a little differently shaped), though she pulled it out from her grill bin, so it must be a kitchen knife; she certainly uses it like one. Rena does not know how to optimally cut open a pineapple. Fortunately, it's not so complicated that she's not going to get *nothing* out, even if she might have lost a bit up near the top. She eventually gets slices arranged for grilling, though they're pretty thick so you're mostly going to get pineapple with a hint of the caramelization. Pochi is attracted by noise and runs toward the beach. He is carrying... well, it's not driftwood because there's not much wood to drift, yet, but it is wood and it has clearly been in the water for a while. It's not much use for building, but it's a good stick for him.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine tenses at the shouts from the shore. Unexpected arrivals, she's learned, are not always good. It could be that the pirates were finally bold enough to come ashore... no time to head back to the ship for her spear. If things go bad, her ritual knife will have to do. Checking its place on her belt, she hustles to the beach.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan blinks several times at the man. "I... uh..." He is having a rough day, so being reminded of that is a little rough. "Just where I come from." He glances back at Rena. "Oh! One of those! Well, sure." Aidan looks at the pineapple tapping his chin, thinking about what day it is, "Yea! Give me a whole bunch of that." He beams at Rena. Only for his face to form into a rictus. A gun behind him. Aidan's mouth goes dry. What would Lilian even want with him. He's a nothing. Just a watch member. Would it even be worth it? "Are you sure you want to do this in front of everyone? Everyone here is having fun. Let's not ruin the party by trying to spray my blood all over." Aidan twitches his nose at Rena. To the left. His left. Is this helpful information. A gust of wind blows out of Aidan's nose, and a RUSH of wind shoots up behind Aidan. He starts scrambling to the left, fishing his shield out to get prepare to fly. "I don't know what she'll do to me, but I'm not going to like it!"
Redshift Operators	Maybe Red Dwarf *was* on guard duty, because his hand immediately goes to his side, where a firearm is surely kept, before he gets a handle on the level of alarm in the shout. "Hell was that?" He mutters, stepping out with a cautious speed that slowly turns to a speed-walk. "God. What's going on with the shore now?"     "I... don't know? Whatever it is, it's too unexpected for me to predict." The ninja medic is on her way too, alongside the rest of the Redshifts. "Definitely not any kind of monster attack... but you can hear that already. What is it...?"     They're all heading for the source of the sound!
Combaticon	> "The tattoo doesn't come off"     Onslaught cants his head slightly with an air of understanding. After a moment, he shifts his posture so that the purple face-like Decepticon symbol in the center of his chestplate is clearly visible even for someone sitting down, "Yes, of course. I understand completely."     Straightening his stance, the robot turns in place to glance back across the encampment, "You have certainly wasted no time settling in. My warmest regards for your new home." His head turns back, such that only one eye is visible from where Bota and Kana are seated, "'Apple Tree Island', is it? I will ensure the records are correct for this."     There's a faint beep or pip sort of sound when Myo and Aidan get into an attention-grabbing scuffle. He follows the squirrel's movement with his eyes while continuing to address the duo of Harpoonists, "Now that my quartermaster is ambulatory again, I came to offer his services. I presume you will be in need of building materials for quite some time. Of course--"     Shouting at the beach.     Immediately, Onslaught's hand unfolds and lifts to his commlink headpiece, "Vortex. Report." -> I don't see anything where I am. It must be on the other side. I'll swing around and take a look.     "Meet me there," When Onslaught lowers his hand from his head, his wrist splits open. The blaster flips out into his waiting grip. A look is cast towards Bota and Kana before he sets out for the waterline himself. As he walks, the robot fits an energon magazine into his weapon.     It wasn't a cry for alarm, though. Perhaps he's just paranoid.
Rena	Guns come out in front of Rena. Rena... Rena tenses, shifting her grip on her knife. She *does* have her pistols, but she doesn't pull them out as Aiden twitches his nose at her. Does that mean he has a plan? She thinks that probably means he has a plan - Oh, that's the plan. Well, it's better than none. Aidan attempts to escape, and Rena vaults the grill, trying to plant herself between Myo and the direction he's moving in. "If you shoot him," she says, flatly, "half this island is going to try to kill you. No violence. This is peaceful. Okay? Have a pineapple chunk. It's free." She does not offer Myo a beer. She *does* keep trying to stay between her and Aidan, even if she tries to get around her. A pause. "Nice helmet," she adds, either because she thinks it might defuse the situation or because she's being honest. Pick one.
Candy	Candy is taken surprise by Bota actually taking one of his invitations, and a soft noise escapes him to that effect--but not a displeased one. "See?" he says, acting as if he expected it. "T-that wasn't so hard."     Another beer, this one for himself. Seeing land for us... I bet it makes you feel like there might be something on the other side of your struggles.     He pops the cap off with one hand, taking a swig. "This place... it's beautiful," admits the farmer. "There were times I was scared you'd never get to see it. God knows there are people who shoulda been here for it." The person that smile reminds him of is one of them, certainly. At least she can come back, when she's ready.     "I don't just mean the land, you know. Not just the place." Moments like this, where a person can be something other than a tightly bundled coil of nerves, were always had with the tinge of uncertainty for 'tomorrow.' It isn't *less* uncertain now--but the things that lurk in that figurative shadow are a lot less unfriendly than they were, before.     "I've wanted to see faces like the ones around me since I first starting helping you guys. And I'm glad I got to." The shout from the beach sets his brow raising.     "Huh. Big catch, maybe?" Candy asks, looking between Bota, Kana and Lilian, before shrugging his shoulders and heading for the shoreline out of curiosity.
Dysnomia	"YOU HEARD HER! You drop that thing and you're picking up pieces for a week!"     Hidden behind her helmet, no one could see the shadow of a smile crawling across her face. But, more of it leaked through her voice than she realized, "Yeah yeah," she scoffed, then spoke again, to his men. "I expect nothing but the highest damn quality from the engineers that kept the Busan floating for a hundred years. So don't you dare disappoint!"     They couldn't keep up with her, but they tried. Filling in the little spots where she didn't need to be, hammering a way at roofs to install the panels, piece by piece. It made her fingers itch. "You've got a damn good team, Boss Huorong." She said, falling back on formality as she felt herself nearing a threshold.     The yell from the shore got her attention, gave her enough of an anchor on the outside to push away. "That's a good of a sign for break as any." She needed a little space from these bright, earnest minds to reorient herself. To keep herself from getting drunk on them. "And make it a good one. I mean to bring this island online before the end of the week!"     Her tools and materials settled down, gently, on the ground. With a long exhale, she meandered down toward the coast. Part of her feared for another monster attack. But, for the first time in a long time in this world, it wasn't a strong fear.
Angela	Myo says, "You're not going to like what I'm going to do to you if you ''don't'' go! Don't be such a baby!" She has enough time to pull the trigger before Rena gets in the way but his wind barrier slows the bullets down to a crawl, giving Aidan enough space to maneuver around them. It's when Myo moves to chase after Aidan that Rena gets in the way. "Outta the way, I have a job." ''Half this island is going to try and kill you'' isn't going to deter Nurse Myo, it seems. The pineapple slice almost works. Myo stares at it, reaches for the pineapple-- ---and then attempts to push Rena out of the way, slide on her helmet, and throw her combat knife for Aidan's leg (it's actually more of a short sword with a serrated edge. "Yeah, my helmet's great but I do the job's I'm hired for. Don't you? AIDAN GET YOUR FURRY ASS BACK HERE!" A glance to Rena. "That wasn't shooting I'm in the clear right? Yeah I'm in the clear."
Kukuru	"Keeping the blood flowing is nice sometimes... It's important to stay active even when things are safer now." Kukuru affirms to Shajo and Kana with a satisfied chuckle, yawning once and draping herself over Bota's arms for the moment until he puts her down. She lets out a lightly strained noise as she stretches again, rolling around a few times before settling onto her back with her own goofy smile directed back at him and Kana. "Yeah? That's wonderful... You two really worked hard for this. If you'd like, I could even teach you two some recipes from home~" She offers, already having the gears turning as she kicks her feet up, then slams them down to fling her upper body up into a proper-ish sit on the dirt. "Something fried, maybe...? Or... Oh! I've been practicing baking more, too, if you wanna learn the same stuff I'm learning. Donuts are fun to make, but they're pretty light if you want something heavier..." Kukuru is going have to think it over more. Spotting Pochi, she recognizes him as Rena's dog! That means he's not meant for eating, but for a gentle pat on the face and an offer of fried meat. Whenever Rena passes with the grill and the beers, meanwhile, Kukuru digs into her pockets and retrieves... A slab of meat! It's not clear what animal it's from. "Oh, speaking of cooking... Reeeena. Here! I got this from a desert-y area, and everyone back home liked it." She explains without giving any other potentially relevant information. Thankfully, It's safe for human consumption! Just a little gamey. She's also totally going to try and get some beer from Rena without realizing that she might be visually recognizable as she is. That business between Myo and Aidan, meanwhile, has Kukuru tapping her chin lightly to see what's going on. In such easy-going conditions, she just takes it as a friendly game with them and Lilian, and she starts laughing even when the knife/sword gets tossed. "Oh, be careful, kids! Make sure to clean up when you're dooone!" She calls out, just in time to start approaching the shouting from the shore.
Lilian Rook	'The tattoo doesn't come off'     "So it doesn't." says Lilian, known tattoo-haver. Hers means something completely different, yet almost the same in spirit. Bota had only asked about it once.     'Things are rough where you're from too. Seeing land for us... I bet it makes you feel like there might be something on the other side of your struggles.'     Lilian looks back at Kana. Her gaze wanders automatically to where the eyepatch should be, and then her lips twitch at the suggestion of a smile. "Careful, Kana. People will think you took 'depth perception' too literally, if you keep saying things like that out loud." she says. Her shoulders shake with the slight motions of a soundless laugh. "There have been, though. Struggles smaller than the end of the world; even if they felt like it at the time. I'd be lying if I said I weren't dreading seeing a day like the Queen ever again, but I'm prepared to believe that there'd be something on the other side of that too."     'You should take a break. You've earned it. Good work, Dame Commander.'     Lilian is still three inches taller than Kana, but seeing her cover one eye unfortunately has the exact intended effect of making her spine stiffen and her attitude steer course twenty degrees formal-fawning-serious away from warm and tired familiarity. "Thank you for your understanding." she says, dipping her head a little, ever so graciously. "If only breaks were so easy to take as simply deserving them." She rotates her more wounded arm on purpose. It isn't the one she hurt fighting the Queen. "But I'm afraid I'm not so fortunate just yet, if I even am deserving."     "I'll be sure that I take it here, though, when I get one."     'Look, maybe leave the coming-home meal to me, Kana?'     Lilian, who has been 'getting around to' learning to cook for nearly a year now, says "Just for the three of you, right? Otherwise, I imagine the whole island would be pitching in." The word tastes odd on her tongue. She mouths it silently.     There's a lot of sound and commotion not far from her. Lilian doesn't dare turn around. A desperately weary sigh escapes her, and she looks to Bota, asking, "Do you mind if I sit?"     She's already tapping her radio, turning around to mutter something about "Arina, Satsuki, convene on my coordinates in two. Yes. Yes you may. No, don't bring the civilians along. Yes it's like that."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Sorry," Hibiki says back to Brune, with a small, apologetic smile. "...And thanks, Brune. For protecting us back then. Maybe we're all just good at worrying each other?" Being able to make jokes about all the horrific things they all went through back then... yeah. She really is glad things are quiet enough now for that.     She takes a knee to place her lilies down carefully out of the way of Brune's current work, while looking back towards Sonia. "These kind are actually common for things like funerals where I'm from, but I guess I wasn't really thinking about that. It's sort of like..." The seeds get set down, too. She thinks it'd be nice if they were planted close by here.     "...Flowers start as tiny seeds, but then they take in all the warmth around them to grow and grow, reaching up towards the sun. And even though they'll wither away one day, they still leave something behind that'll carry on a little stronger in their place. On and on, into the future. That's the kind of thing I'd like to leave a memorial."     Hibiki's attention drifts down to the patches of grass still in the process of coming in on the island, the tiny smile still on her face. It's a bit wistful now. "I'd like lots of them to bloom here, one day. Your kids, and their kids, and their kids getting to enjoy them... and hopefully the world is even more peaceful each and every time."     She looks back to Sonia properly, glossing past her full belief they're going to have a long and enduring family there. "...Plus, white matches the ones already growing here, right?"     And that's about when the yell hits her ears, and she looks back over her shoulder, and then back to the two. "...Huh. I better go see what's going on, just in case. Be right back!" And she's up and off, towards the shoreline as fast as she can when she's still sore all over.
Aidan Proudpick	At his full strength and well rested, this would be an easy escape. Aidan could simply fly away, erect a series of walls, or any number of things. Instead, he is pumping his arms up and down, trying to just keep breathing hard enough to keep himself going. Aidan's eyes dart around. Tree tree tree tree tree tree tree tree tree tree tree tree "Where are all the breezing TREES!?" SHUNK! The mighty blade flicks across the intervening space. It's too BIG to really stick into his thigh like a throwing knife. And Aidan is moving too fast for it to plunge in. It does, however, make a massive gash up the side of his thigh. Blood gushes down his black pants in a sudden rush, skin and meat ripped open by the blade. He glances back at Rena with a desparate nod of thanks, just as he starts staggering. Aidan's leg falters. The aegis fills up with wind as Aidan rockets to the docks. The East Wind. Hazelthistle. No. If Lilian is involved, so would be Kale. He can't put that on her. He can't run up there and claim sanctuary. Not this time. Aidan cuts the shield and collides with the Union Busan like a sack of meat, hitting one of the sides of it hard, flopping to the ground as he does so. Just a little more to go. Get to the warpgate. Get out of here. Go anywhere.
Rita Ma	Gunshots startle the sleepy island a little, but less than you'd think. It's just loud firecrackers to them: real guns here hiss and whistle. People peer out their windows or around doorframes anyway, and workers stop their labor, casting an uncomfortable hush. Farmer guy puts up his hands and backs away, obviously cowed and not keen to be involved.      Sea Monkey is though. They lean out the side entrance of the library, gripping the neck of Foid's shirt behind them white-knuckled. "Hey," she says, voice and eyes and slightly sweat-matted bangs perfectly portraying someone on their very last nerve from babysitting. They level their needle-firing sidearm on the ambiguous space between Myo and Aidan.      "If I hear any more shots, I'm killing whoever's still standing, o~kay~?" "Hhk. Let go of..." "No~."      Bota tries to awkwardly ignore the standoff happening way over there, and Kana eyes it sharply before deciding it's not her business. "Of course," she says to Onslaught. "This is still the Pacific Desert. There's a lot of scrap around here, but it's sunk deep. The Warpgate will help with trade, but trade isn't aid."      "I'd love to learn your recipes, Kukuru," Bota says, and means it. "But unless it's raw meat, Rita can't have it. I've been thinking about a crab dish." It's so strange to hear him just admit it out loud. But then, everyone here has seen Rita span one horizon to the other. She doesn't have any secrets to keep from them.      "That's true," Kana says, both to Candy and Lilian. She sighs softly, shuts her eyes, and leans back against the scrap-metal wall. "No matter who dies, tomorrow always comes. It's awful. But sometimes it's beautiful too."      "... That's really beautiful," Brune murmurs, awed, to Hibiki. "You're a really smart kid, aren't you? Like, emotionally." Reluctantly, he goes back to his chiseling. "I guess you'd have to be. To be, like, a prodigy hero already. I always thought it was just because flowers are pretty."      "'Our kids'," Sonia repeats while settling in to lounge on her side. Her eyebrows raise. "Hey Brune. What do you--" "Oh my god, not now." "Ahahaha~. ... I'll look after those seeds, Hibiki. I promise."      "They better be good," Huorong confides in Mia. "Trained most of 'em myself. Who'd you get the trades from? You, Rena, that diving-suit guy..." But it's only an idle question. He looks off to shore too. "Hey, you can take a break whenever you want, but the rest of them..."
Rita Ma	Someone yells at the top of their lungs. "IT'S--      Kana recognizes that tone of voice. Her half-drunk beer bottle smashes on the ground. She's covered half a block towards the beach by the time Bota takes off after her.      --HER!"      A humanoid shape is emerging from the surf, with the sunset at her back. It's Rita, of course, with a bottled message in her hand. But it isn't Rita exactly as anyone's seen her.      A long-sleeved blue-white dress extends to her knees. It looks more like real fabric than her old "true form's" frills. There's no more cold blue eye; they're both honey-brown like Bota's. No more tentacles, either.      But there are subtle blue dots symmetrically up her throat, and the water doesn't soak her hair or 'dress' like it should. It just runs off like a raincoat. She looks more human than ever. She isn't human at all.      Loudspeakers crackle with the announcement. Huorong's orders or no, the entire island's trickling down towards the beach, from the shovel-toting man to Brune and Sonia. Kana skids down the ten-foot cliff-face to the sand. Bota clears it with a jump.      The look on Rita's face is new, too. It's a fragile, almost nauseatingly delicate hope. This is the moment she wanted. This is the moment she was terrified of. Anyone can read that expression: 'After all this, can you really love me? And what does it mean if you do?'      Neither of them are waiting for her permission to answer it. She almost vanishes behind Kana and Bota embracing her. Rita breathes in like she's going to speak, but the sound that comes out is a near-sobbing little squeak.
Ishirou	Ishirou watches the violence break out between Myo and Aidan, watching Myo chase after Aidan, who seems to be trying to throw himself out of the area through the warp gate.  He sighs, Aidan doesn't ever make it easy on himself, all he had to do was go to Lilian and take whatever words she had for him.   He does wince in sympathy at that dagger move, and thinks it's a bit much for the weapons to come out like that, but... well, a trained mercenary being paid to bring someone in isn't going to hold back either.  He continues on his way to the beach before... Word hits him faster than he can get there, SHE has returned.  At first, he worries it's The Queen, but nobody is running for weapons and there isn't a fight breaking out.  That could only mean... He stops before Rita, beaten there by both Bota and Kana who smother her in a hug.  The expression on her face was new... the delicate hope, but not unanswered as the two smothered her with their affection.  Ishirou tears up slightly, surprised to see Rita, happy she is back, and full of joy that it happened while they were all there.   There is an intense curiosity to reach out with his senses to understand the new form he is witnessing... but he stops himself.  No, Rita is a friend, and as he said before Rita is Rita.  The form she is now is the form she wants to take... and he's learned that in this last year.  Instead, he wipes the tears in his eyes so that she doesn't have to see him tear up like that, and instead takes a step forward.   "Welcome back, Rita.." he says, trying not to tear up again.
Angela	Myo unzips her bag and pulls on her power armor. It snaps into place and a faint glow. Her eyes are GLOWING as she's now reconsidering doing as Lilian asked or if she should just go ahead and murder this prey animal. She is stalled for a moment by Sea Monkey saying she'll kill whoever is left standing if she hears more gunshots. Myo exhales and tosses her gun to the side. "Waste of ammo anyway." This doesn't mean she isn't going to pluck up her sword-length knife as she hefts it out of the grass, stalking after Aidan. Did her voice color just change with her glowing eyes? It did. It can be felt, the change in Myo's demeanor as she has now hit the limit of her patience. "The Rabbits have come to graze the grass!" She calls out to Aidan, making her way towards the Union Busan, the Warpgate. "Precious little prey animal, little baby knight who can't even protect himself... Too scared to face a knight, little weak legs failing him." She drags her knife across the floor. Aidan can hear her getting closer. Closer. She isn't stalking slowly, but she is moving with a steady movement rather than a full on sprint. Once he rockets to the docks, she gives chase. "Rodents. Lowest form of life in The City. Have been jerked around enough. What do you think that the Dame Commander is going to do to you that you are more scared of her than me?!" That glow in her eyes can be seen through the helmet. She makes a thrust, now going for his chest. She can just kill him a little and ampule him back up to living and throw him to the Commander. That's what she can do. Aidan can escape through the Warp gate moments before that blade strikes home as he'd like. She won't follow him through it. MEANWHILE Nonon asides to Bota, "Don't worry, she's just taking him to the Dame Commander. So long as he doesn't make it annoying for her, she won't do anything crazy." But then they make it to the beac. It's... Her. Nonon and Shajo rush their way to the beach, though they don't rush in for the hug (there's no space with the family there first). Nonon and Shajo see the expression. Nonon grins widely at Rita in response. "Well, you really kept us waiting, Rita! You should see your new house! Your family worked hard on it! Ga ha ha ha! Did you see Kana's NEW EYE? Looks good on 'er, Yeah??" Shajo meanwhile just quietly draws out the pad and taps at it. Gebura, is looking off screen until Shajo says, "Hey...Gebura. Look 'ere." Gebura turns her gaze forward and sees her. There is a moment when that hard, exhausted, angry look turns on Rita. And then it sees and recognizes her and her expression relaxes for a moment--then her expression gets hard again as if to push that aside. "Well, you really kept us waiting--" "Already said that, Gebura!" Nonon teases. Gebura exhales and turns her gaze askance. "...Yeah, welcome back. You did good. Enjoy a nice long vacation."
Combaticon	Onslaught has no interest in getting in between Myo and Aidan. The squirrel person seems to have his own extrication well in hand, anyway. Instead, he lifts his loaded laser blaster to his shoulder, aimed towards the sky, as he nears the crumbling igneous sand at the water's edge.     She appears. For a brief moment, Onslaught's eyes widen just a touch in surprise. Quickly, his forearm splits open and, in a smooth motion, the blaster pistol swings down and back inside to tuck away nice and safe. Then he lifts his now-empty hand a little further, pinching the brim of his 'hat' between thumb and forefinger and tugging it down until his eyes are hidden.     After a moment of thought, the robot shifts his posture and spreads his feet shoulders-width apart. His arms swing down and back, folding neatly against the small of his back beneath the cannons. Despite her drastically different appearance, Onslaught seems to have recognized her right away.     The approaching sound of a helicopter draws Onslaught's gaze to the sky. Vortex passes by overhead, swings around, and starts hovering in a lazy circle a respectable distance away.     A screen inside the helicopter's cockpit clicks several times on the wide shot, then zooms in as Rita is buried beneath her siblings. A few moments later, the helicopter tilts forward and splits open-- rearranges-- folds up-- until a humanoid robot less than two meters tall hits the sand at a jog. She stumbles, flails, avoids falling, and closes in to a respectful distance where she comes to a stop beside Onslaught.     "It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?"     "Mmm?" The taller Decepticon glances towards his subordinate.     "You know the brief better than I do. It's been a long time for her, right?"     "Mmm," Onslaught returns his steady gaze to the Ma trio, "Welcome home."
Aidan Proudpick	Weak, a fresh Myo behind him, hot on the heels of Eggman's threat, Aidan isn't about to find out if those are 'words' or 'getting thrown in jail' or 'making him into a stole'. Escape, for now. Pure terror isn't quite it. A desire to live. His breathing becomes more ragged as the knife gets closer. Aidan turns, blood pumping in his ears, tail flopping back and forth as he tries to get his feet underneath him and scramble up onto the next deck of the Busan, up towards the warpgate. "Hey, I don't mean to be insulting, but I've seen her fight!" Aidan lets out a wild wheezing laugh, scrambling to get his good leg underneath him. At the last moment, he swings his shield around, groaning in pain as he moves his leg in a circle to get it in front of him. The Aegis unfurls with a ROAR, just enough energy from his breath to send the blade away from his chest and into the bulkhead next to him, splintering the wood with a thunderous crash. Aidan takes that brief moment to fly up into the warpgate and flee, leaving a sticky trail of blood.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine picks up her pace at the sound of gunshots. Even if they're not coming from the shoreline, even if guns don't sound like that here, it can't mean good news. Someone got their hands on an off-world firearm, somehow, and everything was about to go to shit. This precarious island could only have lasted so long anyway. It all ends. It all ends.     Then the cry goes up - "It's her!" - and someone's coming up out of the surf, and Madeleine is so shocked at the sight that she drops her ritual knife, which lands point-down in the sand. She scrambles to pick it up and put it back on her belt, and by the time she's up and moving again a small crowd of Elites and harpoonists has gathered around Rita. Kana and Bota are embracing her. Everyone's offering their greetings and congratulations and reassurances, and doing a better job of it than Madeleine could. The huntress thanks her lucky stars that she had time to change out of her bloodied clothes before stopping at the island. Even so she hangs back at the edge of the group, unsure of her place in the proceedings. She's only known Rita for a matter of weeks, less if she doesn't count Rita's time away. Does she even have the right to be there, crowded by faces more familiar, offering her well-wishes alongside them all?     After a minute or two she gets over herself and steps forward, joining the assembly. It's fitting, Madeleine thinks to herself, that her spiked jacket is back on the boat. This is one time that she might want to *not* look threatening. When her chance to speak finally comes around, she hardly knows what to say. So she settles for...     "Heya." And a little wave. Even as she mentally curses herself for being dumbstruck, her face says what she could not put into words: I'm glad you trusted us enough to come back.
Dysnomia	Trained most of 'em myself. Who'd you get the trades from? You, Rena, that diving-suit guy..."     "Don't know about all the rest, we came from different places. But, that story's complicated, for me, I guess. I had a knack for it, so I was put on spacewalk duty. Since I was pretty small. Keeping the station together. Between that, and my teacher it's mostly..." She considers the best way to answer. "...Practice."     She is utterly unsurprised to see someone shooting and chasing Aiden, after everything he's done today. It's not until she pins down the voice yelling after him--connecting it with Lilian's impromptu job--that she allows herself to relax. Let the boy sweat. He'd earned it.     As she heard the scream, she felt something seize in what should have been her throat. She approached at a slow walk, tension mounting. What had she needed to be ready for today? Whatever it was, Dysnomia hadn't found it. She was still searching for it when she crested the hill, watching her family clutching Rita like she was their last tracking, spiraling into deep space.     A lance of acidic something burned through her stomach, and she shook her head, trying to chase the thought away. Her helmet hissed, retracted, releasing a stream of fog behind, in spite of herself. Her eyebrows knitted together in effort, leaving her face mostly opaque and normal. For Rita.     "You've come back to us." She said, as though it had been a matter of course, as though she'd never doubted. "Good to see you in one piece. We couldn't have done this without you." A line of smoke swept around her in gesture, spreading briefly across the island. "Gate's still ready for you. And so is everything else."
Lilian Rook	Exactly who Lilian asked for is on the scene to deal with the commotion. The commotion that Lilian unknowingly caused with a flippant comment. She hasn't even gotten to see Myo's nurse outfit yet.     "Ah. Is. This normal?"     ". . . Cosplay?"     "Haha, y-yeah. It has to be right?"     "They're being real rough with it. No wonder they're so annoying."     "I'm sure they have a reason . . ."     Neither are dressed in their more recognizable uniforms, but Arina and Satsuki are known faces. The blue-eyed blonde catches up by air, disturbing the breezy summer ruffles of her beach dress, but still has her decorated mask slung around her shoulder, and her hand on her staff. The brown-eyed brunette hops up over the railing of the ship from hopefully just one deck up, in a striped camisole and tie-up sun shorts, hair pulled back in a ponytail and pinned with flower mon needles so as not to get in the way of the odachi hilt over her shoulder.     Aidan running off is, fortunately, not really their problem; it's more the fight itself. Arina's grip on her staff is loose, and her voice sounds nervous, but the unmistakable signs are that she's poised to point it. "Miss . . . if you two have a problem, I'd be really happy to hear it. It's just . . . this is supposed to be a day off for the Commander, and she doesn't get many, so . . ."     Satsuki has no issues taking over where Arina loses the thread, but she watches Aidan retreating with the look of someone considering dropping a knee on his back anyways. "Ours too. We don't get many, and she gets even fewer, and we could all use one as much as we get little, understand? You can just tell us who he is and we'll handle it."     "Yeah! Like that."     "Unless you're the problem"     "Ah. Please don't be."     But elsewhere--     'IT'S--'     Has Lilian already moving. Her comfortable seat is abandoned in a heartbeat; barely moments after she'd started to be able to enjoy it. It topples over behind her from the suddenness of her lightning rise. Even sandals are enough to churn up dust in her wake, where she goes skipping and sliding down the hill and shore as fast as she can.     The moment where Lilian-- battered and bandaged, face marred with a hint of gold, spots Rita herself, is the moment where the stormy shadow lifts from her eyes. Her vision clears for what feels like the first time in weeks. Her mouth opens, and the words freeze. Her arms come up, and her hands hesitate. She stands in frozen . . . is that hesitation fear or awe? Is it gut-dropping, second-guessing alarm? Or a moment too much; too precious and too magical; for her to risk breaking the spell of?     It comes down to waiting for Kana and Bota. She isn't family, so Lilian couldn't dare bring herself to interrupt that moment, but she hovers around the edges, seeking out Rita's eyes at every opportunity, until she has her chance to close the distance and squeeze Rita herself; even if it has to be from behind, throwing her arms around her shoulders like a 'guess who' in exactly the last quarter anyone wants to be. The salt water freshly pressed to Rita's neck is only a trickle, small and hot.     "It's you. It's really you, and I knew it, and I was still so scared, and it was so hard to hold on, but I know it was harder for you, and you were more scared, but it's really really really you and I can't--" Lilian's burnt fingertips curl against her. "I'm so happy. It just wasn't the same without you."
Kukuru	More shots! Bleeding! Alas, Kukuru's already in the middle of eating, so she has no interest in following that trail, and she's fairly certain Myo and Aidan will be okay by the end of all that. After all, Sea Monkey's keeping an eye on them, and Foid's also there! There's a moment when Kukuru considers giving Foid a little scare, but she decides against it. She's still discussing food with Bota, and that's far more of a priority to her. Her eyes actually light up more when he brings up raw meat for Rita, too, as it just serves to confirm what she already knew about him being an absolutely beautiful brother. "Aw, Bota... That's so sweet of you! I hear flash-freezing the meat first can make it safer for humans, although I don't thiiink I've ever gotten sick eating raw meat straight from the animal. Maybe you could try both to see~" She'll figure out it's her nanites and biology one day. Today, however, is most certainly not that day. Today is the day she hears someone shouting about HER, and Kukuru looks more awake than she has all week. She chases after Bota and Kana with convenient teleportation, clearing huge distances in supernatural bounds until she reaches the cliff-face and sees a familiar, yet new shape. It's Rita, and Kukuru's eyes go wide once again as she starts sprinting right for her. Unlike Bota and Kana, she's not nearly athletic enough to leap or slide like they do. She's hurrying so much, even, that instead of trying to do either of those things, she misses it completely and just tumbles all the way down, only remembering to teleport herself in time to go from the very bottom of the cliff-face to the water behind Rita. "R.. Ritaaaa!" Kukuru calls out with a joyful squeal as she scrambles back onto the shore, moving with considerably more grace that way than she did hurling herself off that cliff. She definitely has no qualms about throwing herself into that excited hug, although it's more around the legs and waist at first between coming in from the shore and also still not being used to her own reduced height. "Ohh, you've been gone for a bit... Have you been eating alright? Washing up okay? Everyone's been... Oh, look at you. Look at you..." Kukuru's voice goes lower as she lets go long enough to look her over a few times, circling around with more of those relieved noises each time. She eventually buries her face against Rita's back again, really illustrating the height difference between them now. Despite that, she doesn't bother hiding how much she's tearing up and sniffling from the overwhelming happiness hitting her all at once. "You've grown so much... Welcome home, dear. Welcome back..!"
Redshift Operators	"RITA!"     "Rita--?!"     "Rita!!"     "Rita...!"     All four are shouting as they run for the shore. White Dwarf is the one who knew her most of the four, but less than the others. Still, the return, the reforming of the body... "This is wonderful! I'd-- I couldn't even start hoping something like this could happen! The idea of doing something like... is this like what happened on the trash-island? No-- no, don't tell me. Don't tell me a single thing. Surround it in mystique and leave it unspoken forever. This is so wonderful, this is *so amazing*!" She's practically bouncing with happiness right at the edge of the hug.     "Thank *god*, you all deserved to keep the damn family together. You'd better be staying for good, this island needs a lot of family on it and you've got a backlog to work on." Red Dwarf rambles, as he paces back and forth, filled with repressed excitement.     "Tell me." The gravel voice speaks -- for a moment, without menace. "Whatever happened, whatever you did -- can you share a meal now? I'm going to go cook something for you three." For the first time, the exhausted giant has no hint of fear.     "Phew. Objective done. Finally. Family's back together." The astronaut, overflowing with feelings, still doesn't manage to engage with all of this the way the others do. But they're fondly watching, and takes in the experience like an essential nutrient.
Hibiki Tachibana	You're a really smart kid, aren't you? Like, emotionally. I guess you'd have to be. To be, like, a prodigy hero already.     "Ahahaha... not really. I've just been thinking about that sort of thing lately." With that reticent, tiny grin still on her face, the natural assumption would be Hibiki just being humble and laughing it off. But the words hit deep, in that bittersweet sort of way. Not enough to do all sorts of things that should be easy.     What would be a slight damper on her mood is struck next by Sonia's banter with Brune, and her promise. She slows to a stop for a moment, in the middle of leaving shoreward.     In the calm after the storm like this, all the problems that make her mind run in endless circles don't only seem far away, they seem completely silly. What in the world is wrong with her...?     "...Yeah. I know you will!" When she starts forward again, it's with a tiny bit more energy than before.     But there's nothing that could prepare her for what's waiting at the edge of the water. Standing at the top of the cliff for so long that Sonia and Brune catch up from behind her, Hibiki stares wide-eyed down at who the waves have brought in. Her jaw goes slack, barely quivering with unspoken words, and her fingers are trembling.     It's her. There's plenty of differences, if you look close. More human. More inhuman. A change that can't be taken back. But all of that gets glossed right over. Because more important than any of that, it's--     "RITA--!"     She half-jumps, half-skids down the ten foot drop, just to totally fail to stick the landing and hit the sand. Without letting it slow her down at all, she scrabbles up into a full and messy sprint straight ahead to see her, even though Bota and Kana have rightfully already beaten her to the punch when it comes to a hug. That's been a long, long time coming, and she knows it.     And by the time it would have ended, the only reason she doesn't run in first chance she gets is because she's too busy sniffling and pulling back choking sobs so they don't leak out, and it takes a lot of lip-biting and swallowing to make it so she can open up teary eyes and put on a shaky smile.     "You're finally... f-finally..." No, she still needs a second so she can say it straight. "...Welcome home. I was waiting to see that hug for forever, it feels like..."
Candy	If I hear any more shots, I'm killing whoever's still standing, o~kay~?      That's right. Tell 'em. God, let that be enough. Please. Candy swears under his breath. <for Sea Monkey> <Thanks for showing me the kindness of Teon Ma. Here's a little of mine, my friend.> -Candy     The note is in the library, weighed down by a plate of food wrapped over with a towel.     It's comfort food--stretching for fancier than that is a little beyond his current ability. But, it's good. A few tacos, two tortillas each, one over the other--'armored,' we call 'em--filled with rice, hard boiled boiled eggs, diced chilies, onions and pleasantly spicy ground sausage.     "Fuck," Candy, snapping his fingers on the way down to the beach, realizes. "Do they speak Spanish?" *She'll figure it out.* HER!     Candy stops in his tracks, as she emerges.     Ah. ...That towel was a good idea.     He doesn't blink across the beach--he doesn't even run. Either would be too much for him, this soon after. But his brown eyes betray a frantic impatience, as he approaches.     He stops, then, when Rita is embraced. Every bit of tension leaves his body. He exhales, breathlessly, sniffling as he's momentarily overcome. Wiping his forearm across his face, he ambles, slowly, towards them, standing a few feet off.     "I hoped you'd be here, to see this. I'm, ah... glad you are," he says, gently kicking at the sand with one leg. It just wasn't the same without you.      Candy nods, his hands held behind his back to keep them from anxiously being wrung, or stuffed into his pockets. "That's right," he says to Lilian. "We love you. Everyone loves you.      "You worked so hard to make this possible. So... if you're here, to take your seat at the table, and enjoy it with Kana, Bota, your friends, and neighbors... I'm really glad about that, too."
Angela	Myo, missing her quarry, makes her way back down, prying off her power armored suit and shoving it back into her bag along with the knife. She makes her way down to the beach, aving heard everybody rushing off that away and has returned to wearing the nurse outfit and nurse hat (and nurse jacket, though she has put her helmet back away. Her eyes slowly shift from glowing red to red. "Hell is goin' on here?" She asks before nudging Shajo. "Hey. Nonon. What's going on?" Nonon glances back as does Shajo with the Geburapad in hand. Gebura looks at Myo. Myo, slowly, looks towards Gebura. "..." Gebura looks at Myo. She isn't saying anything. Her expresison isn't even a hard stare, she's just looking at MYo and not saying anything. Myo looks back, looks down,w then looks back up to Gebura, "..." She doesn't say anything either. There is plenty of moments between them where nothing is said. Then, Gebura is the first to break. "So, Rita. This is Myo. She's a nurse." Gebura says, looking back to Rita. "She's about as dangerous as a rabbit so be gentle with her, okay?" Myo's face contorts into something truly incredible.
Rita Ma	Rita nearly leaves the surf when Bota picks her up to squeeze her, and Kana presses their cheeks together. The words that pass between the three of them are hard to hear.      "... sorry. I'm so sorry. I should've..."      "Don't be. I love you, Rita. Just stay..."      "... enough that you're you. Nothing else matters."      Repentances, and regrets, and self-recriminations flow out of her mouth until she's empty and choking and hoarse. (So she did give herself back the ability to cry.) It feels like a minute, or maybe five. And then they fill her heart back up with love. That gives her the strength to stand on her own again, but she's wobbly. It's been weeks since her legs bore her weight. Or since she had legs at all.      She finally peels away from Bota and Kana's warmth, now that they're both near-to-sobbing too, and stumbles forward to wrap as many people up in her arms as she possibly can at once. Rita squeezes just a little too tight. But that's fine.      It'd been hard to see 'til just now, but isn't she a bit bigger than Lilian, even? Her lips touch Rook's brow.      "It's me," she says, stupidly. "I'm back." A little quavering teary laugh boils over. "And you're all... were you really all here, for me?" After everything, her voice is still exactly the same.      Her misty brown eyes drift up to the workers and harpoonists on the ridge. They're cheering for her. Her smile looks so heartrent. But it's still a smile.      "I'm staying," she says. "Of course I'm staying. A-and, and..."      "Whatever happened, whatever you did -- can you share a meal now?"      She looks back at Kukuru, then up at Red Giant. "Do you, have any, of-- um." A wracking little sob-laugh interrupts her joke. She gasps for a tiny breath.      "Is there any of Mr. Miller left?" Rita jokes desolately.      The noise Bota makes should be recorded for posterity. Kana just smiles.
Combaticon	The Combaticons may have fought and 'bled' for this world the same as anyone, but their late arrival on the scene has a cost. That cost is that none of the robots have nearly the emotional investment that Lilian or Kukuru or Hibiki or the elder Ma siblings or anyone else really has in this moment.     All the same, Vortex and Onslaught take their role in stride, supporting from the side. The helicopter 'bot seems pleased to just be a part of it; the taller commander... Well. His default expression seems to be 'thoughtful scowl' at all times due to his faceplate, but even he looks relatively relaxed.     After a moment, there's a hiss and a little, tinny transformation sound. Onslaught's faceplate retracts into the sides of his face. The 'bot actually does have a mouth. His eyes close (or dim, really), as he lifts a hand to his face. A storage compartment opens and, using metal teeth, he withdraws a cylender that resembles a cigar.     "A cygar?" Vortex glances his way, leaning forward to peer up at his face, "Wait, you just have a battle mask on all the time?!"     "One is allowed to indulge when it's time to celebrate," Onslaught mutters. A jet of plasma flame erupts from his thumb, heating the end of the device. After a moment, he inhales, then lets out a thin plume of white smoke. The cygar is lifted and, for a moment, he examines the red-hot end, "Enjoy the moment, Vortex. This is hard-earned for everyone involved."     Vortex cants her head with an audible, faint 'pip' sort of sound, then emits a series of soft beeps as she straightens her posture. Turning away from him, she raises both hands, "This beautiful moment should be immortalized, let's all gather up for a picture! Everyone get together!" She lifts off a bit and glides out over the surf so that she can use the island itself as the backdrop-- so that she can frame all the other island inhabitants as well. Lining up, she centers Rita in her vision, raising her hands with thumbs and forefingers extended to border the frame she's focusing on so everyone can gather appropriately.     Of course she'll wait for people to be ready, though it's possible the impulsive Decepticon has already taken some candid shots to add to the print collections she's already planning to deliver later.