World Tree MUSH

    Stag Cluster. For the last few hours, an unusual 'flash crowd' phenomenon has happened, much to the confusion of many. Vines have been randomly redirecting to the central asteroid in the small cluster of 11, and incidentally show that MOST of the asteroid belt is empty space, as the nearest other asteroid is quite a distance away from the cluster. Vines sometimes do this around a crisis, but the quaint and quiet town doesn't look to be anything but confused... resulting in even MORE people arriving as the Gardeners and smaller, less widespread but still curious groups send their own people to see what's happening.

    The town itself is pretty nice. Frontier-ish, with lamps dotting the area for light so far from the sun. It's a little chilly, but liveable, and somehow there is air here on the middle asteroid. The town looks nice, with even a /golf course/ on the other side of the asteroid, along with swimming pool. Considering the gravity, with the help of arcane engines, is held at around 70% of Earth's, this is a little weird.

    This is definitely a mining town though. A refinery is here, and an elaborate rail system set up intertwining the other ten, smaller asteroids being mined. Carts shuttle sealed barrels of phlogiston from the mines down to the refinery, and though the work is harsh, these miners seem to live a more comfortable life than most that stories might tell for those who know of this era.

    A hurriedly-assembled platform helps welcome newcomers too, with several booths trying to work out who is from where, and how long they plan on staying, while trying to schedule ships for those unwilling to wait for an outgoing vine to open. Justine is also here, already registered and wearing a tag that says so, though she's dressed period-appropriate now in a nice little hat and fancy dress.

    "Sorry, sir. No outside food on the shuttle. You'll have to leave your food here." Says a boarding agent to a rather annoyed looking middle-aged man currently trying to board one of the ships back to his home area. 

    "Ugh. I JUST bought this Cinnabon. I barely ate half!" The man complains as he closes the box and drops it into a garbage can as he boards the plan. 

--- 

    Shin walks up to one of the registration booths. One hand is holding a half-eaten box of Cinnabon, while the other is digging around in a backpack currently resting against his side off one shoulder, "One sec. I know it's in here. Just gimme a minute." He produces a ziplock bag with a number of documents before pulling out a Japanese Passport. He hands the booklet over with a practiced motion. 

    "Shin Tokuyama. Profession: Travelling Martial Artist. Purpose of Visit: Sage-like Wanderings. Duration of Visit: Less than two weeks. No plans to establish residency." He idly eats his found Cinnabon while checking in with the station.

    Well, this is... a town.

    A town that has Yumi Tachibana just a tad flabbergasted.

Shehe'd dressed warmly, planning to catch a vine out to Hyrule and head up the mountain to visit Snowpeak, but here she is, in an asteroid mining town, blinking owlishly. "Ah... hmm." Well, it won't take much to figure out what's going on, but... oh! Oh, there's a face she recognizes. A face she found kinda /suspicious/ last time she saw it. She could head over to one of the desks, oooor...

    "Fancy meeting you here," the redhead says, coming to a stop beside Justine. Her eyes are out on the crowd, but her position and body language make it clear it's not the crowd she's keeping an eye on.

    Arriving here was certainly an oddity. It wasn't really where 'Master Surai' had been going. Even her preprogrammed hyperjump had suddenly disengaged and here she was. The red and white defender-class Corvette was currently parked at one of the available docks, out of the way, though the Jedi Master herself was seated atop the nose of the ship meditating. Trying, perhaps, to understand exactly why it was she was here. An oddity of the tree perhaps.

    Not terribly far away from her on the dock beneath an Astromech droid wheeled back and forth while wielding a datapad that had some information written on it. It came dangerously close to bumping rudely into just about everyone but stopped short as it expertly wheeled around the crowds doing its' business. The cargo ramp to the corvette was currently down, however, and several containers were placed around the base as if cargo was either being loaded, or unloaded. At a glance it's hard to say which.

    This is not where Athena expected to end up either, but it isn't the first time this has happened. She's taken to 'vine surfing' a little to satisfy her curiosity anyway, because her own home is pretty awful. Besides, more allies are good. This didn't seem like a good place to find allies... even if there were some familiar faces here and there.

    "Sorry, I'd rather not surrender my weapons," Athena was saying. As usual she was packing a pistol and a rifle, though this time she also had a spear. Her armor, however, was a lot lighter, not even riot gear level. "I'm fine with staying to restricted areas while you settle this though, I'm not in a hurry. Handle some of these others first." It isn't charity that has her saying that, simply pragmatism. Wasting a lot of time here when it's possible something will happen soon seems dumb to her. Whether she wants to go talk to Yumi or Shin is a little harder, because she doesn't know the latter well at all, and the former looks a bit busy with... wasn't that girl in the field trip?

    Hours ago, a small magitech airship crashed through a vine, fleeing a full-scale aerial battle on the other side. Since then, two notorious sky pirates have been shuttled from one line to another, growing increasingly impatient with the whole affair.
    Balthier, the human male of the pair, is simply but elegantly dressed in white silk shirt, gold-chased vest, and black leather leggings. His partner Fran is a tall, white-haired, dark-skinned woman with the ears of a hare, which swivel this way and that even though her expression is stoic.
    With nothing to do but wait for the repairs, the two had allowed themselves to be shuffled from line to line... to a point."
    So, spotting a familiar face, the two sky pirates shake their head at the attendant trying to collect their weaponry -- an antique-looking rifle for the man and a greatbow for the viera. They turn away and saunter as one, straight for Yumi.
    "...You know, I could say the same of you," he says, from the vicinity of behind Yumi's left shoulder. His hands are still in his pockets. The same magitech rifle is over his shoulder; Fran has her woodland greatbow. His smile is bland.
    "We've really got to stop meeting like this," he remarks, conversationally.

    Ryuunosuke arrives via Vine... and then curses under his breath. The one time he manages to slip his overprotective 'babysitters', he ends up very much NOT in the place he had intended to end up. Murphy's Law must be in full effect today.

    Approaching the group, then, is a man in black. Long black hair, Asian features -- well mostly Asian features. He also kind of look like a snake. No really -- his nose is kind of flat, there's a weird seam from the corner of his mouth to just under his ear, and his eyes are completely blood red, save a black, triangular pupil.

    The woman in the booth - most of the men were in the mines when this happened, so their wives had to handle this - squints at Shin's passport, but it looks reasonable. "Japan?" She knows what it is, but the fact that someone would BE from there is a little more weird. "Well, not the weirdest passport I've seen today." At least she seems to have had a crash course of some kind. Sage-like wanderings has her pretty confused, but the more experienced man on her left- who seems to be from out of town, leans in, "It means he's just wandering to experience life."

    The man in front of Athena is also experienced. "We don't really have restricted areas, but you can stay on the platform until you're willing to relinquish your firearms." And spear but... that isn't really important in light of what is happening soon.

    "Could you watch your robot?" One of the dock workers is shuffling around, trying to keep things under control. The dock was never meant to handle this much traffic, so it has a few extensions hastily laid out, which is kind of dangerous... but Jai-el, or 'Master Surai' rather was being given wide berth... so wide nobody was sure who the droid belonged to and random people were being asked about it. Nobody is bothering a meditating monk on the ship.

    Justine dips her head slightly. "Hello... to both of you." Balthier is even given a respectful nod. But Yumi's little implication isn't lost on her! "I'm as confused as you are, I'm afraid. I arrived but moments before, and have no idea why I'm here. At least it's my world, just not the right place. I was trying to go to Venus."

    Fortunately, there are a lot of weird characters about. Even Ryuunosuke isn't given much attention... though if he wanders too close to the locals, they will give him a bit of distance, until and when he decides to actually register.

    It is about then that something DOES happen. A bright blue flash from one of the nearby asteroids. No noise... it's too far away. But a few moments later, a ripple comes down the rail line. It's a durable line, mostly capable of withstanding this... mostly. A few ties twist and shatter, and there a tiny break, just a snap that doesn't break all the way. This brings with it a sparking short... both on the rail and at the base.

    The secondary short, along with the faint rumble that is transmitted through the surface, results in a loud *BOOM* from nearby, and the docks splinter upward, squeezing ships together and crushing many of the clamps. Some of the smaller ships even suffer some damage, but mostly it just makes the entire mess hard to extract from.

    "EXPLOSION IN MINE NUMBER 2!" "WHAT? HOW?" "GET THE RESCUE CARTS!" "LINE'S BROKEN, WE CAN'T LAUNCH!" "IS THERE INCOMING?" "YES!"

    The rail line is damaged and an incoming cart is headed for it. Meanwhile, ships can't launch until some clamps are cleared away.

    Oh, the sky pirates again. "I'd have to agree. That's two weird situations for two," Yumi replies. "At least this time you don't have a gun pointed at me." She turns to listen to Justine intently, her expression wary; but for now, at least, she seems to be on the level. "Well, that puts you closer to your destination than me. I'm-"

    Her eyes are right on the distant asteroid when that silent blast goes off, and her entire sentence cuts off instantly. Oh, that's going to be /bad/. She's already taking a step or two in that general direction when the rail breaks, and then things get troublesome very quickly - a live rail, an incoming cart, and ships that can't break free.

    "Balthier, Fran, right?" she calls over her shoulder immediately, turning to look directly at the two. "Are you willing to evacuate people if we need to? If we can't get all these docking clamps unstuck..." She's already starting into a jog towards the nearest one... not that she has any idea what she's going to do. Maybe grab a piece of debris and start prying? Maybe look for a control panel? There's got to be something.

    Wait, wasn't that...

    "Shin! If you could break a few of these docking clamps open, that would be really helpful right about now!"

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> Asking if Balthier&co. can/will evac if need be. Hunting for some way she can start releasing docking clamps. Calling out to Shin.

    "He's more or less right. I'm travelling the Tree to try to find martial artists I can pick up tricks from. Right now I'm like level 10, but like any protagonist, I'm trying to pick up XP so I can hit the end game eventually." Shin remarks as he finishes off the Cinnabon and drops it in a trash can. He doesn't really get to eat like this when Kiyohime is around, so it's a rare treat for him at the moment. 

    Shin takes back his passport and puts it back in his ziplock bag with the rest of his documents (in case he falls in a river) before shutting his travel backpack again and hoisting it up across his shoulders, "Thanks, Customs Guy and Customs Lady NPCs. I will absolutely come back later to see if your dialogue updates." 

    And then there's a huge commotion that abruptly erupts, "Oh nutbars." Shin says as he grabs onto the counter to steady himself, "It's a fuckin' even trigger. Figured. You guys clear me and it trips a flag, right? Now I gotta choose between Mysterious Option, Neutral Path Kuudere, and Unassuming Sister, for this scenario, yeah?" Who he is precisely is referring to with each title is left up to the imagination. 

    "Damn I wish the dragon were here. She's way better at this kinda stuff than I am. There's no punch-based solutions currently." He grumbles. 

    And then Yumi shouts to him, "Oh hey! My path chose itself. Musta been a time-limited thing."

    From a distance, Shin gives Yumi a thumbs up before dashing towards a few clamps. Like Yumi suggested, Shin tries to send a spinning heel kick to one of the clamps to release it through brute force and let some of the mess untangle.

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> More or less babbling at Customs agents, then at himself, and then taking Yumi's suggestion.

    As Surai meditated, the previously peaceful woman seemed to squirm a little. At least, if any were watching her. Something felt wrong, like something was about to happen. But what? She tried to focus on it, to figure out what, or where, but before she had a chance there was a sharp nauseous feeling pushed through the Force straight into her and she started to lean to the side, catching herself with one hand. She'd felt a few deaths, though the following explosion that rocked the area took her by surprise. The Miralukan found herself jerked forward thanks to the ship being landed and clamped onto the docks, the clamp pulling it with the rocking motion in such a fashion that she was hurtled off.
    One might think she was about to go head first and splat on the docks but she managed to twist at the last moment and land on a foot - jumping in a rather nimble manner and landing safely.

    Her droid wasn't so fortunate. There was a wail from the astromech as a piece of the splintered dock managed to spear through its' chassis, pinning it in place. She let out an annoyed sound and reached out with her hand, palm towards the droid as the astromech seemed to shake briefly only to lurch backwards off the small spike and land back on its motorized tracks.

    But she could see it, people scrambling, a focus was being placed onto the crafts to get them untethered. Some ships were damaged, being further damaged. Already people were repairing. "Don't focus too hard on saving the clamps, cut them if you have to. The more damaged they are, the harder they will be to make servicable!" the woman called out, only to raise her hand as a pair of cylinders floated out from behind her. The flashlight-looking cylinders suddenly flew towards the nearest clamps and arced towards the thinest portions, blades snapping out - one blue, one green - intending to outright sever her ships clamps fully at the least. She was far more useful if not tied down after all.

>> SUMMARY[Ryuunosuke] >> Snarking at the person in the booth, sending serpent drones to suck out some of the electricity.

    Well, Ryuunosuke DOES have an ID. No passport though... mainly because he didn't expect to run into a checking booth now. And because he really isn't supposed to be out here without his babysitters from the Shrine. So he'll probably have to fight with the person in the booth. Verbally, of course. He's not that great at negotiation. But maybe he can sweet-talk the person...

    Then again... with the fecal matter impacting the ventilation fans, maybe they'll be more lenient? "Yes, I know you have regulations," he notes, his voice still calm. "But that--" He points to where the issue is "--Really isn't going to wait for you to clear me. I would suggest that you might make a temporary exception this time. I may be able to assist, but not if you do not allow me to enter."

    Of course, he's not going to wait for clearance to do something, no. Even if he can't just run past, he still might be able to do SOMETHING. "Whoever can repair the rail, please do so," he notes, to the group at large. He isn't just waiting around for someone else to do the thing, no. That rail is live, and will zap the hell out of the first person who touches it. Unless...

    Two telescoping metal rods, each with a small metal bulb on the end, unfold from his back. The bulbs open, like flowers blooming, and two wireframe serpents take shape from the now larger, flat base. And then the opened bulbs disconnect from the metal rods and fly towards the rail. With one serpent on either side of the rail, near where it's broken, each serpent seems to 'bite' the rail, and they begin to draw power out of the rail, into themselves. He'll send more if need be, but for right now, he's trying to drain the rail of enough power to make it possible to touch the rail.

    Hmm. Who to talk to? Oh... isn't that the man from her world Athena ran into? The goddess squints, wondering what he's doing here... but then the explosion happens, and it's pretty obvious he's not behind it. Most rush for the docking clamps, which makes sense because getting a ship out to the asteroid is a good idea. Athena wagers on them having that handled, but if the cart hits the break...

    "Little Owl," Athena says, causing the drone to pop off its mounting on her shoulder. "I'm going to head up to the breach. You fly up with me and see what we can do." She's already dashing up the rail line, using her tech sense, when she gets close enough, to try to nudge it in the right position. With Ryuunosuke's help this is maybe possible.

    A bright flash on the distant horizon, and Balthier is distracted from any witticisms he might have been preparing for the orange-haired girl. Instead, his head whips around at the word 'explosion,' and gone is his usual affable charm; his almost sleepy regard. For a moment he looks genuinely alarmed. Is the Strahl...?
    But no, it's a mineshaft, not his ship. He glances back to Fran. Horrific stuff, but they're not in the business of search and rescue. Unless they get drafted into it.
    The sky pirate shrugs a shoulder, although his affable gesture is undermined somewhat by the way he shifts his weight restlessly. Sky pirates don't enjoy having their wings clipped. "That's right. And while I'd simply love to do my civic duty and help ferry people, the Strahl is a little... indisposed, at the moment. She's in no shape to ferry anyone, let alone refugees." He sounds just a whiff annoyed by that.
    His eyes narrow when she indicates breaking open the docking clamps to the martial artist. The idea seems sound; he and hisviera partner exchange a look. Even if the martial artist guy sounds like he's crazy, he can roll with it and ignore the crazy, scanning the situation with narrowed eyes.
    "Fran. The docking clamps."
    "A hindrance, to us."
    As one, the sky pirates unsling their weapons, taking aim at the clamps from afar. And they fire; Balthier steady in spite of the rifle's recoil, Fran unruffled by whatever the monstrous pull of that bow must be.

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Balthier hopes that isn't his ship exploding, and then attempts to help destroy damaged docking clamps with Magitech Sky Pirate Rifle.

    The town is still panicking, but... despite the reputation companies have for being careless with their workers, the response this time is looking REALLY well-organized, with doctors and rescue workers forming up almost immediately. Of course, short of hijacking the rail lines, the only way to get there with supplies is... by ship. And the ships can't launch right now. A few mechanics are starting to work, but they're still gathering tools when the others are leaping into action.

    Yumi finds debris easily enough. A long support is easy to wedge in there and start prying. A prying that pops it RIGHT open when Shin applies some force with the heel of a well-swung kick.

    On the other side, a lightsaber slices through another clamp, making the ship settle oddly... but that is progress. Jai-el will see the ship 'sigh' as one half of it sinks to the proper level, even with the docks. One of the workers calls out, "Is this your ship? Can it be used for rescue?" No doubt they'll clear out some of their own too, but the first one out is important! A few of the workers move to assist Yumi and Shin...

    Then Balthier just shoots the thing. Now Justine is actually caught up, and while she doesn't move to help, she also doesn't hinder. "That was a swift decision," she muses. "Good luck, everyone. I think I will stay right here."

    The rail flickers as it is drained of energy, the sparks fading. The cart is still coming in fast, but now Athena can actually time a good kick to try to wedge it further into proper position. It will need a bit more work, but it's a good start. It's still busted, after all. Even if the cart doesn't hit it badly, it won't hold together for very long, but maybe there's still time.

    "Then we'll see about getting you out of here too," Yumi replies briefly to Balthier, giving a thumbs-up over her shoulder when she can spare a moment. With grunting, and effort, and a well-placed blow from Shin, a clamp releases, and then without skipping a beat, she moves right on to the next one, giving the martial artist a quick burst of words in passing. "Thanks, good to see you, don't miss the optional objectives!" Whatever it takes to get him looking around and being more on his guard.

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> More clamp-prying, saying the Magic Words(tm) to Shin.

    "You got it, Ostensibly-Harmless Imouto Path," Shin says to Yumi as she darts by him to shotgun some words in passing. Shin makes some fingerguns and fires them Yumi's way as she darts by too, before turning to focus on the task at hand with a sigh. 

    "Well fuck me. How'm I supposed to slack off when she's mentioning bonus objectives?" Shin sighs to himself before pushing one fist into his palm and slowly cracking his knuckles, "Better actually pull my weight so I don't look like a normie." 

    Shin slowly walks towards one of the docked ships currently being held down by some faulty clamps that is left. He knocks the front of it, "Seems strong enough. Might give it a bit of a dent or scuff the paint. Hopefully they won't be too mad." 

    Shin slowly adjusts his stance, focusing his ki inward and taking a slow breath as he makes a circle with his hands over his diaphragm, "The flow of Ki like a river. The immovable land that becomes the unstoppable force at the same time. Now." His eyes flash. 

    Shin slides forward rapidly, his arms moving to throw most of his momentful into his shoulder as he slams it the side of the spaceship in question. There's an almost visible circular explosion of Ki from the moment his shoulder makes impact as all his body's momentum combines with channeled supernatural force, "TETSUZANKO!" 

    From the impact, Shin attempts to just dislodge an entire ship, probably causing it to rip off the docking clamps with it. Immediately after, Shin rubs his shoulder, "A ta ta ta. Ow ow."

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Shin tries to dislodge a ship, docking clamps and all, to free up some space.

    While Ryuunosuke's serpents drain energy, the man himself tries to get to the break in the rail, to see if he can assist some. Fortunately the disaster seems to have everyone running around without bothering much with whether he's got his papers in place or not. So he can hopefully get to the break in the rail as well.

    And of course, there he sees Athena. "Well, well... small Tree, isn't it?" he quips. The rest of his serpent heads -- five in total, if he's sent two to slurp the energy from the rail -- unfold from his back in similar ways as the first two. These, however, don't disconnect from the extendable metal rods. No, these lean down to grab the rail and try to force it back into place as well.

    Now, Ryuunosuke might have the soul of an ancient serpent god, but his body very much has the strength of a teenage boy. Those wireframe serpents, however, have quite a bit more strength than that, despite looking like mere wireframe holograms.

>> SUMMARY[Ryuunosuke] >> Heading to where the rail break (and Athena) is. Using his serpents to try to force the rail back into place too.

    There. It's aligned. She saw vaguely that Ryuunosuke did something, so calls back down, "Thanks, whatever that was!" Can't hurt to let him know she knows he's there and helping. That's good. It also makes her job MUCH easier. Reaching out to grip the rail, she TWISTS to put it in proper position. "Okay Owl, do your work."

    She isn't Heracles, but with Ryuu's help, she can hopefully straighten it enough for Owl to get welding, the laser not meant for this but... well, with her knowledge and crafting, maybe it will work?

    "No kidding," she replies. "But it'd be nice to meet when not under attack or mid-crisis."

    When one follows the vocation of piracy, shooting things is usually a fairly reasonable option.
    So, Balthier attempts to shoot the faulty docking clamps to open them. They're already damaged, so it might forcibly break them away from their warped tracks, allowing some of the ships to free themselves from the tangle. One can worry about the cost of damage later.
    Or never. They /are/ pirates.
    "The leading man must know when to leap into action," Balthier throws over his shoulder to Justine, though his eyes remain locked on the clamps he's firing on. Sparks spit and smoke clouds with every shot, as though it were some kind of flintlock, but those shots travel too fast and too far to be that. Must be magitech!
    Balthier glances briefly to Yumi. "While I appreciate the offer, I'll have to respectfully decline." He pitches his voice to be heard over the loud report of his own firearm. "I've crew aboard the Strahl, still, and I'll not leave them behind. They are effecting repairs as we speak, and should be finished within the next few hours' time."
    Still, he must have been raising hell somewhere. He looks exhausted and there are shadows under his eyes. Whatever altercation he'd fled through the vine from must have been a long-running battle. He raises the rifle again to his shoulder, squinting down its ironsights, and not so much as flinching at its moderate recoil.
    "We'll be /ju--st/ fine," the sky pirate sing-songs distractedly as he squints down the sights again, voice one of distracted, subtle cheer. "I trust you managed to find your way home after that little incident in the palace?"

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Balthier thanks Yumi for a ride out but no thanks, shoots clamps.

    The noisy droid was hushed up as Jai-el physically picked him up with the Force and threw him right into the open loading ramp of the ship. It whistled and screamed like a teakettle stuck with a sword and fired a set of hidden booster rockets to right itself as it landed atop the ramp and scurried into the ship with a rude beep.

    Anyone familiar with binary might realize the droid just gave Jai-el the mechanical bird so to speak.

    Still, she focused on the task at hand before pulling the weapons back to her, the blades vanishing from sight as it reattached to the clasps under the robe she had on. "Thank you for the assistance. And yes, this ship can be used to rescue, it can hold a fair share standing. However, we should hurry and..." she pulled out a comlink with a motion of the hand and spokoe into it, "Droid, start the ship now, take off with or without me I shall catch up. Fly us as close to the rail as you can without interfering." And with that the ship started to light up and quickly raised to take off as the final clamps fell away and let go. She ran forward as it started to take off and leapt onto the ramp, landing nimbly and running inside to close it.

    The ship itself pulled around towards the break in the ramp and she reached out with the Force, feeling along it while using her rather extensive knowledge of electronics and the likes to try and find out how much it could take. Though she eventually discovered the break. "There, droid." As she nudged it towards a certain way. And when it got close, she reached out with the Force and began to exert a fair amount of pressure right onto the damaged portion to try and hold it together while the cart should hopefully be able to pass through with the assistance.

    Docking clamps are easier now that some have been cut. This puts more stress on the remaining ones... letting that be leveraged, with Yumi helpfully guiding and helping. Her response has helped spur the workers into action, and they're doing the same with their gear on the other ships. It's odd, but when Shin uses that ability, it gets some oohs and ahhs from nearby people, but... not any real shock, like it's something they know is around, but hadn't seen themselves. It also happens to snap the final mooring, allowing Jai-el's ship to lift up and away.

    Balthier moves to shoot some of the other clamps. Despite the ship being free, it's good to have MORE ships, so this will provide some much-needed backup. The motion of just one ship allows something of a ragged cheer to rise, but there's a secondary explosion on the asteroid to remind that there are people to rescue.

    Fortunately, the incoming cart is not going to explode. It's not PERFECT, but when the rail twists into position from Athena and Ryuunosuke's strenght turning it, then the laser giving a quick spot-weld, it helps straighten the track enough. It SHOULD hold, at least for one more cart, long enough for real repairs to be done. And there is a ship nearby for Athena and Ryuunosuke and the others to make their way to the mines!

    As for the mines themselves, rubble and debris now choke the entrance. Rumbling and smaller collapses are obviously happening, so just blasting through might be dangerous... or might not, depending on where. There is one good sign though... the asteroid has large pumps on the outside with a small phlogiston-powered generator near them, pumping air into the mines. Those pumps, and the narrow shafts for the vents, are still operational. Unless they're in a gas pocket, the miners shouldn't suffocate... the problem is the instability of the asteroid now.

    "Alright, that's about all the work I'm willin' to do for free," Shin says as he rubs his sore shoulder a few more times and then lets out a slightly tired yawn as he folds his hands behind his head, "I'll leave the mine to you guys while I inexplicably vanish off to the side at what seems to be a convenient transition point of diminishment in the actual action." Shin takes one hand off his head and waves vaguely, "Good luck everyone." 

    And then he starts walking back towards Customs. Mostly because his player kinda lost steam.

    Out goes the last clamp, or at least the last needed; the ship jam is more or less alleviated, and Yumi can step back a pace or two, brushing her hands off. "Alright, so next-" And she looks up in time to see that Athena, Ryuunosuke and Jai-el have fixed the rail too. Okay, so that's both major crises dealt with. Which means now they can get to the heart of the issue - the mine explosion.

    One of the freed ships is able to get them across the gap, and by the time they get there, Yumi's managed to dig out her cricket bad from her pack, ready for any possible non-environment threats. But for now, they don't have much more than the asteroid itself to contend with; frowning faintly, she turns to the rest of the group. "I'd lead the way, but I'm not... well, if something hits me, I'll be lucky if 'injured' is the worst that happens." She actually sounds a little bothered by that. "Someone willing to take point?"

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> Let's all go save the people. ...Could someone please tank? I forgot my job stone.

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Let's do this thing! Pirates on point?

    Once it's clear that the work is done, the sky pirate hefts his antiquated rifle to rest over his shoulder, though his eyes still roam the immediate crowd. Neither does his viera companion quite shoulder her weapon, either; her red-brown eyes scanning the crowd where Balthier isn't looking, mottled hare's-ears swivelling this way and that.
    Their job isn't quite done yet, though, and it looks like the next natural phase of progression is to go check the mines for trouble. Being in it mostly for the curiosity and the possibility of sudden wealth somewhere further on down the line, Balthier and Fran both sidle onto the ship that seems to have the most people intending to ride it.
    He'll stay mostly unobtrusive, and uncharacteristically quiet, for the ride. Fran will say nothing, staring at Balthier as though the two were using some kind of silent communication, flicking through a few subtle expressions in rapid succession.
    Once they disembark, the sky pirates casually ready their weapons again. Why? Because there's no telling what they're going to be walking into. They'll stride forward into the unknown, Balthier for his part with a cheerful but toneless whistle.
    "With you we will stay," Fran tells Yumi, red-brown eyes flicking down to the orange-haired girl. "We are not soldiers. For us, distance."

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Let's do this thing! Pirates on point?

    "Away from the rail," Ryuunosuke cautions. "When my serpents release the rail it will become electrified again." Not to mention what the overload of energy is going to do to him when the serpents re-connect. He's not going to reconnect them until this is over, since he needs all his faculties to deal with the rest of this. Once everyone's away from the rail -- including Ryuunosuke himself -- the serpents release it, allowing the power to flow through the rail again. The wireframe serpents used to drain the power are... brighter than usual. MUCH brighter, in fact.

    He'll head to whatever transport is being used to get to the mine, tucking the still-attached serpent heads away again, the two detatched ones following behind. He does give a nod of thanks to the departing Shin however, before hopping on that ship and heading for the mines.

    Once there, he sends one of the still-detached drones into the ventilation system, though he may need to fold it up again to slip the drone inside. There won't be much he can do about the cave-in or getting the rock out of the way, but he can at least try to locate the miners. Yumi's words get a nod. "That will, unfortunately, make two of us, miss," he notes. "However, I will be attempting to pinpoint the locations of the miners inside. If I can map the area quickly enough we may be able to avoid much of the danger."

>> SUMMARY[Ryuunosuke] >> Cautioning everyone to get away from the rail so his serpent heads can let go without zapping anybody. He doesn't reconnect yet though, because he's gonna get zapped if he does it now. Gets to the mine in whatever way available, sends one of his drones into the ventilation system to try to find the miners. @Yumi: Yeah sorry, I'm squishy too, but I'm trying to figureout exactly where everybody is, maybe that'll help.

    "Thanks for the assist," Athena whews, hopping off the rail as warned. Was that to Jai-el(or her current identity, to be specific) or to Ryuunosuke? Both? Either way she is now on her way to the mines, which are the major problem.

    Once she's met up, Yumi immediately states the problem. She raises her hand. "I don't have any skills that could help clear the rubble much faster than anyone else. I'm stronger than a human, but not so much that it would make a difference here." She unshoulders her spear. "But I can take point. I doubt there are enemies here, but I might be able to lever rocks out of the way. At least we can breathe. I AM a soldier though, so I guess I'll be front line just in case."

    That's when Ryuunosuke gets the idea to send a drone down the shaft. "That's a good idea. I'll send Little Owl as backup. Maybe they can help guide us to where the miners are trapped. We can see where the blockages are."

    Little Owl detaches to send after the snakedrone, as an armed backup, but Owl has sensors, not navigation.

    Once the cart is passed, the Corvette that Jai-el rode made its way over and the ramp lowered, the woman dropping down and landing to look towards the others who were seemingly planning on going in... ready for battle? "What kind of mines are you used to where you need weapons to enter? This is a peaceful mining town, are you seriously expecting beasts?" She seemed confused by this, though she threw a communicator towards the group, and threw a few more towards the other rescue leads nearby. "I shall stay outside. I see the world differently than others, as a result I will be able to help coordinate even from here." At which point she sat down beside the entrance and seemingly began to focus once again. "Focus on getting out those who are uninjured before crowding more into the mines. Rather than stuffing them more full, in the chance of another explosion, thin it out then work on those who are caught or injured. I am Surai, Jedi Master, for those who care. I will communicate to you through these communicators and offer directions."

    Assuming anyone /listens/ to her and actually leaves the woman alone to concentrate and focus on working out a plan.

    Ryuunosuke nods to Athena's words. "A more complete map of the inside would likely be of great use," he agrees. He mentally directs snekdrone #1 to send out a wireless request for interface to Little Owl, so they may 'share senses'. Their skills are different and could potentially accentuate each other well in this case.

    More workers are arriving, so there is help, but the biggest obstacle is SO MUCH rubble. It's going to take HOURS to make any progress, without large equipment that is still on the way, and also might cause more collapses. At least, that's the initial thought.

    The group getting together though has more subtle ways of helping. Yumi, Balthier, and Fran will be needed after all... because the mapping of the drones and the triangulation with 'Master Surai' sensing the trapped miners discovers a side shaft with a thin wall. It would be easier to just bust through the wall and let Yumi and the others haul up the miners from there. It's not all of them, but it's a start.

    "It appears that there is a reasonably stable point where the wall may be breached to reach the trapped miners," Ryuunosuke points out. "Short of waiting for heavy equipment, I can only think to breach the wall where it is thinnest. I will call back my serpents, and use them to mark the point on the wall. Anyone with the ability to, fire at the wall between them."

    As he speaks the glowing drone flies out of the vent again, and both the still-detached drones form up around an area where it looked like the wall was the thinnest from inside. Though he does caution, "Please do not fire directly at the drones. If they are struck, they may release the stored electricity unstably... explosively. Which may bring the wall down on us."

    Ryuunosuke will wait until whomever has the capability to do so fires on the indicating point on the wall occurs. And then the wireframe serpent heads of his overcharged drones strike out at the wall, discharging the electricity they'd absorbed, via their fangs. They release the energy directly into the wall, at the instant that the wall is fired upon. Hopefully this will both aid in the destruction of the wall as well as release the energy so Ryuunosuke doesn't have to eat it later.

    Athena will nod at the idea suggested. She does have an energy rifle, and a careful blast at full power does help cut through the wall. From there, she passes her spear to Yumi.

    "You said you were a little fragile. Use this to brace while you get the miners out. I'll be right ther ewith you to block any rubble that comes down, while you get the men out."

    The sky pirates look to Jai-el when she seems so distressed by the appearance of weapons. Balthier merely raises a brow, tilting his head and looks her over so nonchalantly that his regard seems almost sleepy. "Beasts? Maybe just a bit. You never know when you dig too deeply and find something you ought not find, disturb a dragon; that sort of thing. Also, because any number of malicious blackguards love to hide in deep, dark holes." He waves a hand at the shaft around them before adjusting his silk shirt's cuff. "And as soon as something like this stops being used... well."
    One of the communicators is snatched from Jai-el's pile and stuffed into a pouch slung at his hip, a brief and dubious look shot to the Miraluka. He shrugs to Fran in answer to her questioning look, and both he and Fran venture deeper into the mines, thusly armed.
    They're there to help with the wall, firing where Ryuunosuke directs them to fire, with rifle and bow. It might help, even if it's not supercharged with magic or anything. Hey, it's something. As to what may happen after /that/, they're wary, and watchful, keeping always to the fringes of the loose group.

    "Relatively," Yumi clarifies, taking the spear. "For a girl my age I'm pretty tough, and I keep in shape. I'm just not bulletproof or Heracles-strong." And with the help of the spear, she'll be able to get down in there and start helping to haul people out. That much, she's capable of, even with human-level strength.

    For her part, Surai was silent for a long while. Almost as if she wasn't planning to help. Though eventually one of the communicators did float up and she, much to her words, began to offer instructions. Each communicator had a number on it, so it didn't take too much effort to start divying up the 'orders'. Of course, people could choose to do their own thing, but if they did take the Miralukans suggestions they would find themselves directed into areas where they were both 'out of the way' so to speak for those who were already evacuating, and also able to move in a fashion that let them reach those who were injured in a timely manner. "Let us avoid swarming the mines. Two people per victim should be enough unless extenuating circumstances arise. If we work in an orderly fashion we can keep things tidy in, tidy out."

    The wall blasts open, and there are some coughs from within. It was a slightly bigger blast than expected, thanks to the phlogiston remnants, but in its saturated form it's more of a slow burn than explosive. A pocket of several miners is there waiting to be rescued. "Already! That was fa... who are you?" Not that they're going to mind the hand up Yumi gives them at all. Looks like a large portion, at least three dozen, are right here.

    Well, the 'heroes' are doing their own thing, but the workers are definitely listening to Jai-el, because, well, nobody else is calm during this. The evacuation starts going more smoothly as the panic subsides and hospital ships are called in from a nearby cluster, resulting in some casualties, but a good bulk of the miners saved.

    Balthier and Fran are waiting beside Yumi when the girl is there to offer a hand up to the miners hidden behind the wall. They raise their brows at the emerging miners, Balthier hooding his eyes and shrugging one shoulder. Who are they? "Nothing to concern yourselves over. This way, please. Yes, that's it. Follow the medics..."
    Both sky pirates begin to back away from the greater group, leaving Yumi alone with the refugees, since she seems to be handling herself pretty well. They slowly walk backwards until a curtain of people swirl in front of them, hiding them from Yumi's watchful eyes.
    When Yumi looks that way again, the sky pirates are gone. Off to cause the next mischief and mayhem, no doubt.
    Further in the facility, Balthier has his back to a crate of phlogiston ore, Fran has her back against the other end, and they're lugging it in the direction of their ship in all the commotion. No doubt they can improvise some way back to the Strahl from the mines with their ill-gotten gains.
    What? You can't just put a fat, juicy stake in front of a Behemoth and expect it to behave itself... of course the sky pirate's going to go for the easy score!
    The question is how long it'll take the local authorities to realise it's gone...