Giga City - Main Concourse

 

        Built on a series of floating platforms suspended over the ground by antigrav generators, this city is built over what was once Vancouver, a vast irradiated bay created by the crash of Starhaven into Earth. Known formally as New Hope, it has been renamed Giga City by its mostly-reploid inhabitants.

        The main concourse of the city is a series of small stores, factory shops for the reploid miners that come here searching for Force Metal and other valuable material, now that the place has cooled down enough to work at and mining has become a valid options. Lurid signs and small stands provide goods at inflated prices, and much can be found here, both legal and less than legal. Smaller rooms lead to clubs, bars, an seedy theaters, and the place is usually abuzz with activity. Transports can be easily found here that lead to the various mining sites that surround the city, and elevators lead up into the central hub of the city, known as the Central Tower.

 

 Contents:                               Contents:                     

 Steel Massimo [Steel] [H]               Cortana [Labcoat] [RF]                

 Solder [Temp_Armor] [RF]                Colonel [Cape] [RF]                   

 Vanishing Gungaroo [Roo] [RF]

 Repliforce Mobile Fortress V <F5> [RF]  RA Base. No, the cool Ones <RABNtCO>

 

 Up <U>:                   Giga City - Central Tower

 Shuttle One <1>:          Giga City - Lagrano Ruins

 Shuttle Two <2>:          Giga City - Vanallia Desert

 Shuttle Three <3>:        Giga City - Ulfat Factory

 Shuttle Four <4>:         Giga City - Gimialla Mine and Melda Ore Factory

 Shuttle Five <5>:         British Columbia

 

Bon Bonne arrives from the Central Tower.

Bon Bonne has arrived.

 

With a flash of white light, the Colonel changes into the white coat and hat.

 

Giga City! Strangely, the city remains under martial law, but in one particular area of the concourse, there weren't any guards, except for the soldiers gathered to participate in a little holiday fun. Colonel's large frame was seated in what seemed to be a throne, santa hat perched on his head, with garland wrapped around his massive shoulder spikes. He was festive today. He didn't even look unhappy this time. Then again, he was hard to read like that.

 

Sonata arrives from the Central Tower.

Sonata has arrived.

 

And on a somewhat festive Rush, sitting there with a little glowy red nose and antlers, Heal Bluebird approaches, she is in no shape to be dressed up unfortunately, as her wings and legs are still missing, she smiles and waves as she approaches holding onto Rush with her other hand as he takes her closer.

 

Standing next to the throne is Cortana. She is dressed up in a red velvet dress lined with white fur, and a santa hat on her head, however she still has her weird swirly glasses on. As opposed to the larger reploid, she looks like she's having fun, and waves over to any passerbys.

 

"I shall now direct your attention to article fifteen, subsection twelve." Storm Owl says in a loud, commanding tone. "Your time allotment with Santa Colonel shall not exceed three point five minutes. However subsection thirteen can overrule this with a joint agreement consisting of two thirds majority between Santa Colonel and his elf helpers. Subsection fourteen indicates that Santa Colonel has veto power over subsection thirteen."

        The war bird, one day after his battle against Pharaoh Man, is not looking to be in great shape. Thankfully, some of this is hidden by his Storm Elf gear - his Repliforce beret has been replaced with a green elf hat & ears, making him look like a gay Vulcan. He is with a troop of about fifteen childlike Reploids. As mentioned by someone, there are a lot of lonely robotics experts out there wanting a family. Light isn't the only freak. Owl and the Reploid children are slowly making their way towards the Santa Colonel line. "Ah, article sixteen... this is slightly more complicated, however no less important..."

 

         "Baaaaabbbbuuuuu!!!"

         That is what would be heard before the youngest Bonne turned around the corner, the large round frame and huge arms, with eyes that take up a rather large part of his face almost glowing as his sight lands upon Santa Colone-laus! And then there's a birdy and elves! The Bonne walks in and joins the rank of children behind the war bird! And what would a Christmas be without a few servbots following Bon!

         They are there so Santa understands him, obviously, but marvel and act just like kids themselves. "Oooh! Look at that!" "Yay Elf!" "That bird looks kind of odd..." "He's talking all funny!" The chatter between them continues as Bon falls in line behind Storm. "Baaabbbbbuuu!" "Saanntaa!"

 

On the rumor of Santa being here, many kids couldn't respectively keep home when the throne was ready and open to all, and Santa's lap was right there for all to perch on. Gigabolt Man-O-War, the littlest acting Gate kid had opted to come and see Santa for himself, since there wasn't much room for a Santa Sigma, and his father was much to busy to play Santa this year, or any year, to his knowledge.

 

Being the ripe age of about half a year, he also joins the line, being not so large and in charge as Bon, but about as young uhh.. mentally. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Santa! SantaSantaSantaSanta!" the maverick bounces, looking to Storm owl and pointing, "Elf!" and then to Cortana, "Elf!" And then back to Colonel. "SAAAAANTAAAA!"

 

Whether RF wants it or not, there is a merry new elf joining the party. Out from the city, from the RA base, the greatest reindeer plows out. Big and burly, his entire body of armor covered in brown felt(except for his shoulder spikes), his boots painted black, and some jinglebells around his arms. On his mask is a rather big red LED nose, and perched on his head are two massive fiberglass brown antlers. Behold...

        Steel Massimo! The Red Nosed Reindeer!

 

         Some small excited steps could be heard as the small Gungaroo was coming..excited. The few previous days were boring, very boring so he needed something to do. And what is better than seeing Colonel as Santa Claus? He was waving his arms slightly in happiness and hyperactivity. "Oooouuh! Santa is here tonight!" he said smiling widely, making his big feet skid on the snow until he spots Storm Elf. His eyes big and round, staring at the 'elf', scared. The poor kid is probably traumatized about Santa's elves now.

 

It seems someone else has INFILTRATED Santa Colonel's entourage! Or perhaps she just asked at some point and is now in an absurd getup just to confuse Colonel. Either way, HELPER ELF, who is totally not Sonata, is standing at the other side of Santa Colonel's mighty throne from Cortana the Science Elf. "I got a friend to come along," she explains to Santa. "You'll like him. I just hope he got those spikes off, or I'll have to put him on the naughty list."

 

Children. Elves. Bon Bonnes and Servbots.

            Wait a tic. That guy was huge. The presence of the Bonne wasn't as troubling as it could have been.

            Slash that. Maverick presence. It was bad. Colonel masked his displeasure behind a very obvious forced smile. He had to look happy for the children. Iris mentioned something about not traumatizing the little ones, or he wouldn't get any cookies. This was motivation enough to make him pretend!

            "....Spikes? I'm...not asking. No." Then to Storm Elf, "Begin sending the children over, if you would." Pause, "Ho Ho Ho."

 

Storm Elf stops his kid troop movement, turns to face the children again, glances down at his clipboard for further notes. "Article sixteen deals with appropriate questions and requests that one may make of Colonel, as well as a note that requests compliance are not guaranteed either by Giga City, Repliforce, or Santa Colonel himself." He flips the page over, still looking down at the notes. "Article seventeen involves the non-disclosure agreement."

        Storm Elf briefly looks up to make sure all the children are paying attention, and then looks back down again. Wait... what was that? One of those kids looked a little off. And sounded /way/ off. Storm Elf looks up again. Young falcon mech, young turtle mech, little girl kitsune mech, humanoid toddlerish mech, Bon Bonn-what? The war elf peers back at Bon Bonne, listening to what the big baby is saying. Making a point of trying to decipher Bon's language at some point, Storm Elf glances briefly at the Servbots for the translation. "I am not funny," he informs the Servbot translator.

        To Santa Colonel, the elf fires off a salute. "Sir yes sir! Child #1, step forward." A young beaver mech does so.

 

Rush carries Heal over to the back of the line slowly, though she stays back a bit from the hyperactive gungaroo.. Heal smiles and offers a small wave to the others in the line as she settles in place on Rush's back in line.

 

Cortana keeps that grin plastered on her face, and pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose nervously. However, when the /huge/ Bonne kid comes tromping in, that grin turns into a gape. "Holy technological singularity ..." he says under her breath, which only those nearby would hear. She glances at Colonel, then to Storm and the line of kids and suppresses some laughter. The science-elf steps forward, and whips out a big box of candycanes from behind her, smiling crookedly. "Happy holidays, kids!"

 

Iris arrives from the Central Tower.

Iris has arrived.

 

Riot arrives from the Central Tower.

Riot has arrived.

 

In a show of initiative, the Colonel bent and helped the little beaver reploid up into his lap. The forced smile was still there, and the forcing was more prevalant due to the Maverick's presence. He took a moment to send a message off to the Repliforce at large about decontaminating before giving the small one his attention.

            "So, young one, what would you like Santa Colonel to bring you?"

 

The jellyfish like reploid maintained a few inches off the ground, hovering instead of waiting on the carpet that was laid out. The tendrils continue to float freely off the ground as looks towards the elf that is handing out candycanes, which in this case being Cortana. "Can I have a candy cane elf?" He asks with a down tone, stretching out candy-cane as if he was sucking on one in his mind. "... ... happy holidays!" the gate bot replies, still waiting for his turn to talk to Santa! His first ever christmas with a Santa Claus, and first Christmas all together.

 

         Vanishing finally took his place in the line to see Santa. He already got his list of things to ask, much smaller than before! He couldn't hold it, he couldn't wait! Especially with a robodog's rear with an amputee on it in front of him. He softly tries to push them forward to make the line move faster, trying to be subtle.

 

         The servbot looks up. "Okay! If you say so!" And then immediately turns and huddles with the other servbots. After all, he couldn't just bring one! "Doesn't he look weird?" "Nah he looks okay!" "I think he looks good!" "Elf! He's an elf!" "Don't any of you believe me?" "Nope!" "Nu-uh!" "Well he's slightly weird."

         And if the servbots saying this bothered Bon, then it didn't show at all! "Baaabuu!" < Santa! Santta! > One of the servbots cried out. And then Heal, the jellyfish, and Gungaroo joined in line after him! And then this nice lady passed out candy canes! It was turning out to be great! Watching Santa Colonel bring the beaver in his lap, Bon claps, giggling. "Baabbbbuu."

         GASP! IT'S RUDOLPH. Or something close! Hey Bon's a big kid. Maybe that's just a reindeer like him! Nevermind the fact it's human looking, it has a red nose and antlers!

 

Cortana blinks, though it's hard to tell behind teal lenses, at the tentacles reaching out for her. Creepy. "Err ..." she goes, leaning back out of their way and clutching the box to her chest. "You need to wait your turn!" But, she does take one out and hand it to the little beaver kid. Glancing around the area, she notices ... a very very big reindeer, and a dog she recognizes as Rush carrying a bluebird. She briefly waves over to them.

 

"Nyo-ho-ho-hooooo!"

            Steel Massimo moves towards The Throne O' Capitalism to spread his arms and laugh merrily. "Greetings children of the Giga City! I bring cheer and joy and holiday spirit from the Righteous Acquaintances! I am Rudolph, Hero of the night and of CHRISTMAS!" He flexes a few time, bending and twisting and GLOWING. "And I would like to tell you that they are a great bunch of guys and girls! Especially that Steel Massimo! He's a very sexy strong man! That fights for all the children!"

            The children shout, "Yay Massimo!"

 

Helper Elf, Whom Is Not Sonata, also eyes the incoming swarm. This should be....verrrrrry interesting. Following Cortana's lead, she bounces forward, and smiles broadly. "Hello, children! Happy holidays, and welcome to Santa Colonel's place!"

            She'd give them the Kiddy Version of the Rules, except WetBlanket Elfenheimer over there already gave them the dry version. She wonders if /any/ of them understood it. She also wonders if she's gonna have to kick Massimo, but the kids seem to be liking it, which is the important part.

 

Bon Bonne says, "BaaaabuuuuU! < Yay Rudolph! And Massimo! >"

 

Storm Elf watches Bon Bonne as the young beaver (He is Toddler Beaver, named in such a way that can only screw him over when he gets older) gets lifted up into Santa Colonel's lap. "I'd like a Playstation 2218!" he exclaims. "And the game Counterstrike 231 - the one where you get to shoot up all the Mavericks and it's all ultra realistic!" He flails his stubby little hands into the air. Violence + videogames = great gift. The beaver also greedily takes one of the candy canes from Cortana, but not before shouting, "Thank you, ma'am!" to her.

        Storm Owl, meanwhile, just watches as the Servbots banter amongst themselves. He's dealt with their kind many times before. He recalls, one year ago, when Prismatic Spider claimed they were 'unbelievably cute'. Owl doesn't think so. Once Colonel is done with the beaver kid, Storm Owl gestures to the next kid in line. "Child #2, step forward!" This happens to be... Bon Bonne!

 

Gigabolt Man-O-War says, "AWwww... I wanna candy cane now though...." The attention of the maverick is taken from her to Massimo, the tentacles clapping together to produce a not so appeasing sound, "Rudolph! Hero of Night! Christmas Massimo! Yaaay!" The gate bot giggles, "Hurray!"

 

Heal grins and waves back, and Rush pants happily, Heal moves forward slowly with the line, getting nudged forward by the maverick "Heya!" She looks to Massimo and says "Umm.. No comment on that one.." She shakes her head and mutters something about tainting childrens minds.

 

Bon Bonne drops The Servbots.

 

The brunette elf (or possibly elfess, depending on how adorable one wants to be) emerges from a nearby Helper House, holding a tray full of delicious Christmas cookies! She moves towards a refreshment table, tottering a bit under the heaping load of holiday cheer.

            Despite this, Iris seems happy, although it might just be from the elf hat.

 

 

The beaver child got the standard Santa answer of "Be good, and I will see what I have in my pack on christmas." Kids these days. When he was this one's age, he was reading Sun Tzu and Patton. There's just no accounting for taste.

            Before he sent the young one on his way, Colonel reached down into the LARGE RED BAG next to his throne and pulled out....a Flame Hyenard plushie that went 'Ahwooburntotheground' when squeezed. With a less forced expression, he handed it to the beaver and set the boy down. "An early gift from Santa Colonel."

 

         Bon was busy taking everything in still and then Storm Owl calls out his name! And he forgets to move forward. Hearing his name Bon looks to the bird. "Baaabuuu?" And a servbot, on the ground, pokes Bon. "It's your turn next! Yayyy!" "Yeah it's our turn!" "You mean his right?" "I thought all of us could go on!" "We have to ask Santa!"

         And then Bon moves forward quickly towards Santa Colonel. "Baaaabuuuu!" The servbots also follow after, chanting what Bon said. "Santa! Santa! Sannntttaaaaa!" The humongous child, wide and heavy, nears close after the beaver child was put down! It's time to be a good big boy and wait for Santa, yep! He won't just jump onto his lap! Nope! That'd be very very bad!

         So many elves! Some of them he kinda knows too! Which is both good and bad for them.

         He is a Bonne, but he can be an innocent child longer, riiiigghhhtt?

 

The beaver takes the candy cane in one hand and the Flame Hyenard plushie in the other, just staring at it for a while, as if totally floored by this thing. Stunned, the beaver waddles off towards the exit line, where presumably another helper will make sure they don't get lost and irradiated by Force Metal.

 

Cortana blinks at the beaver kid, but shrugs ... until suddenly it's a lot darker around her.

            Oh, wait, that's just the shadow of Bon Bonne. The scientist looks vaguely horrified for a moment, but then grins cheesily and turns around only to pull out MEGA CANDY CANE, which is almost as big as her. She holds it up as an offering to the gods. "Eggh ... happy ... holidays!"

 

Helper Elf squints at Bon Bonne. OK, just keep him happy and everything will be fine. She smiles, in the vacant tradition of her people. "Go on, and tell Santa Colonel what you want!" she urges.

The Colonel looked up after setting the beaverbot down and...oh. Well then.

 

"Hello, Bon." Colonel swallowed thickly, dreading what came next. "Climb up then and tell Santa what you want for christmas." There were servbots here? He couldn't see around the huge pirate to tell! He hoped the chair would hold.

 

The jellyfish continues to float, amused by all the spirit around him. So amused that the light along the bottom of the U.F.O. looking armor start to light up as the energy passes across it, the light spouting a beam from the color, and being passed to shine an even brighter light from the next until the rainbow was fully completed. This continued on for a small period of time.

            Gigabolt then spun around quickly, a bunch of little jelly fish drones being formed from the electricity that the maverick loaded from the night before, a half a dozen jelly fish in order being produced and floating around Gigabolt as he stopped the electrical spin, and continued to bob up and down. "Hey! Hey!" The maverick cried happily, now with little buddies.

         OOOH! CANDY CANE! No really. That's one big candy cane! And then Bon's face lights up as he takes it, picking it up with almost no problems at all! He'll eat this later, for now it almost looks like he has a rattle. "Babbuuuu!" < Thank you alot miss! It's so big! >. The servbots stare in awe. "That's a pretty big candy cane." "Oh wow." "Yaaay! You think he'll share?" "Of course!" And then they cheer.

 

         Looking to the helper elf Bon nods quickly and then looked to Santa, his eyes growing wide with adoration for Santa! And he would do everything Santa wanted, because just like a kid, Santa was alllways watching you! Bon would slowly climb into the barely larger reploids lap. "Baaabuuu!" A servbot climbed up also, sitting nearby possibly on the side of the chair. "Hello Santa! I've tried to be a good boy this year!" "Babbbbuuuu!" Servbot translation! "Umm.. I want a firetruck! And a large stuffed plushie from the saturday morning cartoon plushie! Also for Tron and Tiesel to not go away like dad and mom never ever!" Alright. Maybe he's asking for a biiiiiiit much. Just a bit.

 

Heal looks back towards Gungaroo quietly and smiles "Hello." She looks ahead again and pats Rush gently on the head and leans over to say softly in his ear "Thank you." Before righting herself looking cheery.

 

Cortana just sort of steps back for the moment, watching Gigabolt with interest - but, watching Bon climb onto Colonel she snickers. "We need a camera here, stat!" she hoots over to nobody in particular. She idly adjusts her dress, then, it's kind of fluffy.

 

         Oh noes! The Gungaroo was caught pushing Rush to make the line goes faster. No that he cared, he kept pushing, grunting a "Hello!" while doing so.

         Why was it so long? ..Why he wasn't first in the line anyway?! The small egocentric 'rooploid' was tired of waiting, 10 minutes was LONG for him.

 

Storm Elf listens to what Bon Bonne is saying. Firetruck? Sure. Plushie? A-ok. Tron and Teisel not being put behind bars for the rest of their lives? I think not. Course... that's if we ever manage to catch them... Storm Elf shakes his head and looks back at the line. "Captain," he says to Vanishing, "You'll be up next once Santa Colonel has dealt with Bon Bonne's requests." Though why a soldier would want to talk with Santa Colonel is beyond him.

 

Steel Massimo still flexes and poses, handing out flyers about how Hunters and RFers are your friends, and to go to the RA Barbecue. And there's more flexing. Lots of flexing.

 

Firetruck is doable, as is a plushie, but Tron and Teisel not going away? Well, he can't guarantee anything. "Be very good, and I will see what I can do, come christmas." Standard answer! That done, he wiggled a bit under the somewhat weighty Bon, and reached down into his bag, pulling out another plushie. This time it was a General Plushie, all shiny and golden and it said 'Repliforce!' in a higher pitched version of the real General's voice.

 

Waaaaaaayyyy way....way at the back of the whole line stands one reploid, not exactly a kid, but he's only seen one Christmas before. He sticks his head out to the side, messy brown hair and sunglasses shift to the side as he looks at the massive line "Oh boy...I'm not even sure whats going on for a line up like this."

 

Iris gets the cookies all spread out in a properly festive way about two seconds before some grabby little reploid steals one of the sprinkle-stars. Sigh!

            She turns around now, stepping over towards Santa Colonel.

 

Two other Repliforcers - an ash-blonde humaniform and a towering spider-form - step out, and move behind the refreshments table. The spider declares, "Form an orderly line to recieve your dispensation of fruit extract compounds! May the planetary orbital apogee be a pleasant time for you and those with whom you have emotional connections!"

Heal watches the giant baby quietly with a smile, you know, he's kind of cute.. She shakes her head and watches the new arrivals.. Arrive, and give Massimo a very odd look "You are.. So.. Odd, though I like the posters." She chuckles softly.

         Bon's face lights up as much as possible, giggling. "Baaabuuu!" He claps, yaying, as does the servbot. The other three on the ground are rather happy too. With his eyes still fixed on Colonel, the Santa, he takes the plushie of General and hugs it, the General being squeezed, but not with all his might, as it cried out "Repliforce!".

 

         Bon slowly slid off, looking to Colonel still, wide with joy and glee! He'll have to be a good boy! .. But he needs to go get things also for the Io's another time! He'll have to ask Tron and Tiesel, yep! They always knew the right answer. Leaving Colonel's lap, Bon took the servbots, the plushie of General, and the large candy cane, walking to the side as he tried to keep his eyes on Colonel for the most time! Bon really must be enchanted with Christmas!

         He'll have to tell his friends and family!

 

Cortana frowns. No picture? It was a Kodak moment! Oh well.

            She steps back next to Santa Colonel and shifts the box of candy-canes in her arms.

 

         Vanishing let a small eek out when Storm talked to him, still scared by the hat and ears. He then takes his natural arrogant expression. "About time! I am a /captain/..I should have passed first.." he said to the Owl elf. He had his list ready, so it would have been FAR faster from the start.

         He was holding his small rolled list in his boxing glove-like hands, impatiently bouncing and grinning. Only a matter of seconds now!

 

Riot just gives the spider reploid a confused look "With emotional connections... You mean Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones?" he scratches his head with a frown.

 

Santa breathed a sigh of relief. No more fat Bonne on his lap. "Send through the next young one, Comma---Storm Elf." This was kind of weird.

 

Storm Elf, for the record, is not making a plan that will require him to pass by the cookie table and, for the benefit of morale, take a few. Once Bon Bonne slides off of Santa Colonel, the elf nods to Captain Gungaroo. "You're up." Then, as if an afterthought, adds, "Do not disgrace the Repliforce." He then peers in the direction of the towering spider-form, but doesn't say anything. He just thinks to himself.

 

The huge Massimo turns around to the kitchen table with a smile. "Yes! Partake in fo-DEAR SWEET ODIN'S ALMIGHTY BEARD!" Massimo positively leaps, shuddering back. It's too big... a giant spider... huge! So slimy(not really). And scaly(not really). And EVIL!(possibly). He leaps nearly ten feet into the air, and shoots right for the safest spot.

            For Storm Owl's arms.

 

The maverick continues to hover, waiting for his time to come. He idly spins with his fellow jelly fish as they start to rotate around him, his own place in line not being as big of a deal as it was a matter of time. "Peppermint!" The maverick cries out for no real reason but to amuse him self. "Weeeeeee!" The gate kid cried, amusing himself as he kept in line.

You don't have sufficient rank to do that.

 

.... Heal bluebird /stares/ at Massimo, well, hmm.. I wonder if Rush can take pictures of this... Might be fun. She grins and then shakes her head, nah I'm not /that/ evil. Heal smiles a bit as she waves to Storm owl, sitting calmly on Rush's back.

 

Technician Tarantula watches as Steel Massimo leaps. He blinks with all eight of his eyes.

            Then he looks to Thunder Deva, standing besides him. They look at each other for a moment.

            Then, they both shrug.

 

         It was now the small marsupial reploid's turn! The young Gungaroo will finally have his time with Santa! He quickly skipped to Santa Colonel, not even listening to what Storm said, always with his small-looking list. He then jumped on his lap, giving a WIIIIDE smile to Santa, staring at him blissfully. Vanish paused with that expression for a few seconds before shouting: "HIII, SANTA! I got my list ready!". He then unrolls the list, which rolls on the ground for about 5-6 meters. He then start talking quickly with all his endless desires. "Ok first, I want a bwand new t.v. The one in the docking bay is old and doesn't even have satellite! I also want the new Playstation, the one have since a month or two is already out of date. And if you could include all the new games coming with it, it would be nice! OOoooh and new action figures of everyone! I melted all of the others in the microwaves, so I need ones. Perhaps some that can un-melts? And perhaps a new wide armor? The one I got still works but..you know, new is better! And.." and he kept taking and talking and asking, making lot of gesture when asking. He's dangerous.

 

Cortana looks down at the loooong list rolling its way down the carpet. Idly, she measures it in her mind - 6.45555 meters! After appearing to stare off into space a moment, the science-elf shakes her head and then turns to Gungaroo, giving a little salute and a grin, before handing him a cane. A candy one. She looks to Gigabolt again. Hm.

 

Colonel stared openly at Vanishing's brazen attitude. When the list unrolled, he gaped at the Gatebot. That was ridiculous. Christmas was for giving and family and those kinds of things. His irritation grew with the gesturing, Colonel had to duck a swinging gloved fist, grunting in exasperation.

            "I am sure that if you are good, and listen to your commanders, I will have the things you need in my pack, Captain." Vanishing needed a spanking and a lesson in charity. Red was getting a new assignment.

            Nonetheless, Colonel reached down into his seemingly infinite bag and pulled out, strangely enough, a Shield Shellfish plushie! When squeezed it went 'Grr Lasers' and its eyes lit up. How neat. This was handed to the gloved wonderkund before he was shooed off Santa's lap towards the cookies.

 

Storm Owl is superb at catching things. He has an exceptional hand to eye coordination, granting him the ability to snatch things out of the air or catch them with the greatest of ease. Thus, catching Steel (weight notwithstanding) will be a snap. That is, if Storm Owl did so. Peering upwards as Steel Massimo jumps/falls towards him, the war bird does what he feels is the most logical thing in this case. He takes two steps backwards and lets Steel fall on the ground.

 

         Bon moves to the side, looking at the refreshments and cookies! COOKIES! Bon went towards them, letting the servbots carry the plushy and large candy cane back! They are pretty good at that at least, carrying things! So he has a few still. The leaping Massimo was odd, but kind of funny, and so Bon giggled when he saw it, happy!

         And then he went to the refreshments, looking to the elf, women, and Spider! Nothing's wrong here! Not at all. And he takes a cookie! "Baaabuuu!" < Thank you! >

         Thud? Oh he fell!

 

Fianait arrives from the Central Tower.

Fianait has arrived.

 

         "Wha-? But I wasn't done!" Gungaroo said, being taken off Colonel's lap. He took the candy cane and plushie angrily. He was upset, very upset. He still had more than half of his list to ask! At least he got a plushie of Shell to tortu-..play with.

 

Sewa tries to pick up Javelin, when they are suddenly attacked by a rabid fish.

 

Heal is now at the front of the line (I think) And she looks towards Storm Owl oddly now as he just lets massimo drop, Oh well, not in any condition to help massimo. She gently has rush take her forward a /tiny/ bit.

 

Massimo proceeds to Massimo Press the ground. He goes in a good few inches, a firm shockwave waving out through the area as he is pounded right into the ground. He twitches a little, shifting his arms against the ground.

            "I can see China."

 

Steel Massimo strikes Steel Massimo with his Massimo Press attack.

 

Iris stands near the edge of Santa Colonel's enclosure, watching him with a rather sweet smile. This may be authentic emotion, or a ploy to get the towering fist of the Repliforce to be nice.

 

Thunder Deva and Technician Tarantula, meanwhile, work to distributed baked goods and punch in reasonable quantities to all comers. The punch bowl trembles slightly at the Power of the Press.

 

Helper Elf, Who Is STILL Not Sonata, comes back from her coffee break.

            Wait, she was gone?

 

The jelly fish was waiting for a few moments longer before he couldn't stay still anymore, the jelly fish and himself floating up and over the bars that kept the children in line, and over to the cookies. "Cookies! Cookies! Hey!" The maverick grabs one with each tendril, as each of the six jelly drones float over, grasping a cookie between their beak like jaws and lifting off into the air where they could feast on said nummies. Did he give up his place in line? Momentarily.

 

Storm Elf's gaze once again drifts off towards the cookie table, but only briefly. Checking his clipboard, he motions towards... Rush and Heal? Arching an optical brow, he says, "You are next." In a rare show of tact, Storm Elf refrains from saying 'step forward'. And as for Steel Massimo? Storm Owl doesn't even comment on it. You wouldn't even know that poor Steel had smashed into the ground. "Helper Elf-" it must be Sonata's codename, "I wish to ensure the satisfactory nature of other sections of the event. Please cover for me." Storm Elf calmly steps towards the cookie table.

 

Heal and Rush move forward, and Rush gently deposits Heal in Colonel's lap, she smiles a bit "Hello." Then thinks of what she wants "Hmm.. I want a nice plushy actually I think, I think anything else i want right now errh.. Isn't possible." She glances towards the sockets where her missing legs /should/ be.

 

Steel Massimo twitches in the ground. He doesn't look able to stand as of the moment. Actually, his helmet is lodged in the ground.

 

        The Mavericks must make their move! Now, quickly, while everyone is concerned with kindness and goodwill, they must STRIKE!

        ...or maybe Jav's gotten into the eggnog a little bit early.

        Either way, the former Javelin Whitetail is wandering her way down to the main concourse along with all the other gawkers. She is not attempting to be sneaky, mostly because she's wearing a loud jingle-bell harness. And some antlers. And a glowy red nose held on with some elastic. ...and really, not much else. Yeeeaah. Someone's been celebrating! o/~

        She doesn't make it to the Santa Colonel line quite yet, because on her way there she discovers a Steel Massimo embedded in the ground. Fianait eyes the Hunter carefully, before nudging him in the side with a hoof, very lightly. Maybe he got into the eggnog too.

 

Colonel was being nice. He didn't even make any unpleasant faces at Heal's current legless predicament.

 

"A plushie is something I can handle." The hatted leader reached down into the bag and grabbed a squishie toy at random. He drew his arm back up and in his hand was a little doppelganger of Colonel! It's in his caped armor though. When squeezed, it went 'Grr. Neo Arcadia.' It was adorable. If you were into chibi squishy versions of giant deathbots. With a smile that may in fact be genuine, Colonel handed the legless hunter the toy. "Perservere, young one. You will be whole again soon."

 

Hm. Iris Elf steps over towards the fallen Massimo with a look of mild trepidation on her face. She crouches down and asks him, faintly, "Sir? Are you alright?"

            Technician and Thunder continues distributing goodies. They snap to attention, salute with hand or pedipalp, and then resume service as Storm Elf draws closer.

 

Cortana is still just sort of standing next to Santa Colonel like a good elf. She's wearing a red dress and santa hat, though her glasses are still on. She doles out candycanes for those who care for them, and otherwise just hangs back and watches.

 

Heal Bluebird takes the toy with a happy smile "Thank you sir." Then she shifts back up onto rush and reaches out carefully, asking politely "May I have a candy cane?" As she hovers there on Rush, in her other hand she holds the plushie, yay chibi, so cuuute ^^

 

Riot's head turns as he hears the jingle jingle of sleigh bells, and sees a reindeer... nothing odd about that, it's Christmas!. Blink, peer... he tenses up and suddenly looks away with teeth gritted. Must not kill, it's the holiday season, must not kill.

 

The Mighty Rednosed Man of Steel pulls himself up suddenly, springing up to his feet and smirking at Iris. He puts his hands on his hips and bellows with heroic laughter. "Of course! I was just showing the kids what do to if your chest is blazing with great flames!"

 

Storm Elf has abandoned Steel Massimo to Iris's good graces, and is now at the cookie table, peering at them. He returns Technician and Thunder's salutes with curt military nods and tests out several of the cookies for the benefit of morale. Yeah, these are Iris's alright. Perfectly balanced, each carefully constructed from prime materials. It's almost too bad that Iris didn't go into the airship construction industry, Storm Owl notes.

 

The jelly fish that was off to the side thrusts his way now into the next spot for Santa Colonel, as before anyone is called at all, the shocking bundle of Gate's joy is now implanted between the runner up to meet Santa, and Santa himself. "Me me me! Now now now!" The maverick squeals, electricity obviously flowing around his frame as the tenticles wildly flail.

            "Saaannnttaaaa!" the child lets out a yell, as all the jelly fish circle around him, each still with a cookie, although the cookie is only visible in the watery mass that keeps them together. They have to suck the nutrients out first, as well as every other thing the drones could. "Myyy turrrrrrrrnnnn!" The maverick insists. And boy, does he insist.

 

Colonel just stared at the Maverick, the urge to hurl him into orbit rising, but...he was here to spread happiness and joy. He had to be mercifful, to be compassionate. Mavericks weren't made evil. It's all Sigma's fault. Likely, if the squid wasn't infected, he'd just be as annoying as the Onion. He can deal with that.

            "Come...whatever your name is. Tell Santa what you want." He was going to need a bath after this.

 

Fianait peers upwards at Steel Massimo. That explains a lot. He always /did/ strike her as flaming.

        The tiny Deer edges around both Steel Massimo and Iris, weaving towards the cookie tables with only the faintest scowl at Riot. She heard that Gigabolt was here somewhere; and /someone's/ got to keep an eye on the kid if Earthrock isn't around. At least, she thinks that until he tears back up into the line at the forefront. Then she decides maybe it's best if she just kind of hangs around and doesn't say anything, and maybe he'll get distracted and wander off again before anything explodes.

        Fianait might have a certain sense of responsibility towards the younger Mavericks, but it's trumped by her sense of self-preservation.

 

Helper Elf, Who Might Be Sonata But Only In An Alternate Dimension, smiles vapidly at the Maverick, knowing that if it tries anything funny Colonel can totally throw it helluva far. She wanders over and adjusts the ElfCamera, preparing it for the inevitable photograph.

 

Riot tries to think of a nice loving Christmas present for the deer, like a night stick...

         In her face.

         Another time perhaps, or maybe he'll send her a copy of Deer Hunter.

 

Heal Bluebird and Rush fly off, Heal cuddling the mini-colonel with a happy smile on her face as she heads back to base. A wave is given to all as she passes by on the robotic dog.

 

Iris has her back turned to Fianait, which is perhaps a good thing in the long run. She says to Massimo, gently, "Are you alright, then? I can help you up if you need this." She doesn't want to hurt his pride unneccessarily, after all.

 

The two Logistics personnel continue to distribute the high-quality well-balanced cookies. They are largely geared towards the reploid palate, but then, there wasn't any need to cater to the human need for things like 'sugar restraint to avoid insulin shock'.

 

Storm Owl may be busy ensuring the quality of the cookie situation, but he's still making sure the rest of the event is going smoothly. He's taken note of Javelin here. Oh yes, he has. But, as this is supposed to be a peaceful setting for everyone, there's not much he can do about it beyond make sure that she doesn't get herself into anywhere that she shouldn't go. Calmly and discreetly, into his radio, he warns security of her and Gigabolt's presence. Just in case. Another job well done. This deserves another cookie.

 

         The Gungaroo was skidding in the snow, leaving a big trail behind him. He noticed the table with the cookies not too far. "Oh cookies!" The kid's short attention span did it's work and made him forget his time with Santa and now needed cookies! He takes one and nibble son it, smiling.

 

Heal Bluebird takes Rush.

Heal Bluebird goes home.

Heal Bluebird has left.

 

The jellyfish hovers into the lap of Colonel, the armor landing into his lap as the stingers make themselves known as low emitted points of electricity can be felt on his arms and legs, "Oooooooooh Santa! My names Gigabolt, Santa. Gigabolt Man-O-War! My dad named me that. You know my dad Santa, he's always a good boy!" The jelly fish giggled as the drones hovered around the scene, electricity pulsing in the cookies as they all dematerialize them.

            "Sanntaaa! Ummm... I want Earthrock to be happy, and.. umm, I want sissy to play we me more often.. OH! OH! I want MOST of all that daddy be seen as a hero like he is! Pleeeassssseeeee! Oh...and I wanna whoopee cushion... anna sound thingy that makes it louder. Oh! I want a tape recorder tooooo! The new kind with kung fu-action! Uwwaaaahh!" the jelly fish, of all things, kept on going. But, he's a kid, so you have to understand. He is also a Gatebot.

            One of the Jelly fish, however, had found a hat. The other, a big, red nose.

 

Sonata, who is not here, suspects that Colonel will someday throw Gigavolt Man-O-War out of a window. She speculates, entirely without the context of this scene, that today might be that day.

            Helper Elf, who is indeed here, and by utter coincidence is having THAT VERY SAME THOUGHT, says, "I just bet he can do that!" cheerfully, and then adds, "Now smile!"

            She gives Colonel about ten seconds to get over the horror of what he's going through, pretending to fiddle with the camera, and then takes a picture.

 

Santa Colonel listened to the strange little reploid's droning on and on and he just nodded like he was actually paying attention. When Gigabolt stopped, whenever that was, the Colonel sighed a bit and produced the same trite line he's been using the whole time. "Behave yourself, and we will see what I have in my pack on christmas." Likely explosives and a beam sabre through the skull.

 

Colonel was pondering that pleasant thought when the flash went off with the maverick on his lap. This was bad. His hands clenched on the arms of his chair, and his eyebrow twitched. Calmly, too calmly, he reached down into his bag and pulled out another pkushie. This one was bigger than some of the others. It was Burn Dinorex! Big and red and dino-y. Colonel shoved it into the Maverick's tentacles almost hurredly, and shooed him out.

Long distance to Shield Shellfish: Storm Owl taps his foot.

 

Steel Massimo bellows with laughter. "I'm fine! Absolutely fine! I'm not hurt or afraid of spiders in any way! In fact! I mock spiders! Just like I mock Mavericks! Mock! Mock! Mock! They are so weak and evil in my wake! Because I'm a human! In a very special suit!" He stops... "Is that a three headed monkey over there?!" He points and hurries away from Iris to the cookie table.

 

Gigabolt momentarily was stunned by the camera, sending a short pulse of electricity through himself, and some finding itself to Santa, "Oohhhh! Pictures!" Gigabolt giggled.

            The maverick grasped hold of the Burn Dinorex plushie, the tentacles holding it tightly as he flew through the air. "Thank you santa!" the reploid cried, "I promise to behave myself!" The maverick hovers off, squeezing the plushie every few seconds. The maverick also grabbed a candy cane, along with two other jelly fish that hand mostly digested their cookies. "Seeyaaatterrr Santa! Thank you!" And the maverick trailed off into the sky, hovering away with his new plushie.

 

Helper Elf lazily holds out the polaroid to see if the Maverick would come back to claim it. She will keep it as blackmail material against Colonel if he doesn't!

 

The maverick does not come back, but one of the jelly drones, the cookie lover with cookie crumbs all over its ... mouth.... grasps hold of the single picture and grasps it tightly. Wiggles it out of the helper elf's hand, and floats towards Gigabolt.

 

Storm Owl finishes ensuring that the cookies are all safe for consumption and are up to Iris's usual high quality standards. He's about to turn away to resume his duties at the kid line when Steel Massimo and Vanishing Gungaroo come on up to the table. "What exactly happened to you two point eight minutes, Ms. Massimo?" Storm Owl asks, mildly curious about what made the human leap up into the air like a sissy girl.

"...ew," Helper Elf, Who Is Still Not Sonata, mumbles. She flicks something on the camera to save the picture. She has...A PLAN. She then sets about preparing for the next child. If there is one.

 

Iris looks faintly relieved as Massimo rights himself. She goes back to looking at her brother with wide, sparkly eyes.

            Technician Tarantula wiggles his pedipalps a little when Massimo starts approaching. This may be malicious.

 

Steel Massimo ignores it. He puts his hands on his hips and begins to bellow with laughter. "Of course! I was trying to protect you! I sensed the Mavericks coming! But I can understand that you are proud and don't like help." He wags his finger at Storm Owl, then sees the spider again. He gulps and pulls the cover up on the cookie table... and proceeds to duck under it. Of course, he's huge, so the table lifts up some.

 

Fianait might comment to Storm Owl, except that with a whole bunch of jingling she has to dart out of the way all of a sudden. Lest she be trodden on by STEEL MASSIMO, purveyor of justice and pursuer of foodstuffs. She takes a moment to readjust her antlers and harness before sampling the cookies. Maybe they have alcohol in them.

        But the Maverick is thwarted! Mostly because she's only four feet tall and a gigantic armoured reploid is hiding under the table. Fianait scowls for a few seconds, before crouching down a bit to peer at Steel Massimo face to face, considering for a few seconds.

        "Did you know your head is on fire?"

 

Santa smiled at Iris. This may, in fact, be why he has a fanclub. It's really a big change from scary to pleasant. As it appeared the line was through, Colonel reached into his bag and pulled out a placard before standing up and sitting the sign on the seat. The sign read 'OUT TO LUNCH, BACK IN TWENTY MINUTES'

            He wanted it to say Out To Punch, but his secretary talked him out of it, saying it wasn't funny. What did that bookworm know anyway?

            Colonel moved away from his seat to mingle with his people. Namely, he made a beeline for the cookies before Fatty McButterpants, er, Storm Owl ate them all.

 

Cortana is busy measuring the exact diameter and depth of the crater Massimo made. Don't mind her.

 

Bon Bonne goes home.

Bon Bonne has left.

 

Helper Elf makes sure all the photos are in order. Wait, photos? She only took one!

            Yes, but /other/ photos were being taken. Really. When she is satisfied that they have all been downloaded to a small, concealable datacard that she hides in her tights, Helper Elf, who CONTINUES to not be Sonata, trots after Santa Colonel toward the cookies. "Oooh! Turkey!"

            She waits a few seconds for that to sink in.

            "I mean, cookies!"

 

Storm Owl stares at where Steel Massimo has ducked under and shakes his head slowly. This is the hero of San Angeles. The brave cop who was cut down in his prime by Elec Man, yet rose back up despite all the odds to once again serve his people. A greater display of courage and honour would be tough to find. And here he is, cowering under the table. Those wounds he suffered truly did mess with his mind.

        At the word 'turkey', Storm Owl instinctly glances over his shulder at Helper Elf. Wait, no, she wasn't talking to him.

 

         Vanishing softly walked away from the cookie table lifted by a guy with a flaming head. He saw the small sign on Santa's throne. Shiftily looking around, grinning at his own kiddy plans, he took the sign off and sit in the chair. "I am the /king/, give me things!" he shouts to everybody, with a red hat on his head going over his eyes.

 

Steel Massimo is still underneath the cookie table. Until Jav tells him something. That's when the big reploid flings himself up, sending the cookie table into the air. "DEAR SWEET LORD MY HELMET IS ON FIRE! HELP ME! MY HAIR IS ON FIRE!" He puts his hand up and catches the table. "IT BURNS, IT BURNS! I can feel it eating away at my face!" He proceeds to catch each of the cookie trays with the table. "IT'S BURNING INTO MY BRAIN! MY BRAIN!" He then seats the table down and moves to the side and proceeds to stop drop and roll.

 

Riot pokes his head up amongst the crowd "Did I hear there was Turkey?" theres no real way he's in on the joke, or that he's playing along....is there?

 

        "No turkey," Fianait comments, "but an awful lot of chicken."

        She backs away, lest she be rolled over upon.

 

Iris turns her head around... just in time to see all of her cookies...

            They all fly, up into the air. Thunder Deva and Technician Tarantula seem nonplussed by this turn of events.

            Iris's eyes glitter, lightly, perhaps in anticipation of tears. All her baking...

 

Alas, a single cookie escapes Steel Massimo's heroism! Who can save this delicious morsel! Who!?

            Helper Elf casually reaches out and snags the cookie out of the air, taking a bite. Mmm, chocolate chip.

 

Colonel had apparently walked into chaos. Cookies sailing through the air, Massimo acting retarded (acting?), Iris, apparently, on the edge of tears.

            Heads would /roll/ for this!

            "What is this /madness/?!"

 

Through all of this, it is only Colonel's question which gets Cortana's attention from her investigating the crater. Then she twists her head around and looks at all of the myahem.

            She adjusts her glasses awkwardly. "Wow."

 

Storm Owl's optics widen as the table is suddenly /thrown/ up into the air. He does the same thing he did with Steel Massimo and backs up a few steps, not wanting to be involved with whatever comes back down. Storm Elf ain't paid enough to catch cookies. He shakes his head. This is the sort of thing he's come to expect from Maverick Hunters. This is why he's so aloof whenever Dr. Light visits the Fortress V. He doesn't say anything, but his disapproving shaking of his head towards Steel speaks volumes.

 

Steel Massimo makes sure the table is set back in place. The truth is, Massimo would save a cat from a tree while he was being beat up by Sigma. He finally leaps to his feet as Colonel speaks, smoothing his helmet back. "Nothing's going on. Everything is just fine. I was just showing Storm Owl how a Hunter would... duck, cover, throw up a table full of explosives, make sure none of them explode, then how to break dance!" He nods quickly and fetches a cookie, showing it

into his mask as if nothing was going on.

 

Riot watches the table go up...up...then down, and watches the cookies and trays come down as well. Then all of is caught.

         Riot applauds politely "Oooohhh."

 

The tears are averted when most of the cookies are caught.

            But what of the punch bowl, Steel Massimo? WHAT OF THE PUNCH BOWL?

 

Vanishing Gungaroo actually had something..on the head. Called punch bowl.

 

Fianait pulls out her usual small flask. It is, in fact, filled with eggnog. She nods to Colonel at Steel Massimo's narrative.

        "Wonderful dancer, he is. You should be tryin' it sometime."

        Did I say Fianait had a sense of self-preservation? Uh, I lied. Sorry about that. Proceed accordingly.

 

Colonel frowned and tugged the santa hat off. The deer got a glare for a moment, but then he smiled. It wasn't pretty.

            "This event is over. Non Repliforce personnel and allies are hereby ordered to vacate in....now."

            Oh snap.

 

Helper Elf does not have Sonata's gravity powers, because she's not Sonata. You may rest assured that if she did, she would totally gravity kick Fianait's head off. As is, she settles for going out back to fetch the backup punch bowl. The event may be over, but punch is delicious.

 

Storm Owl skeptically shakes his head at Steel Massimo. "Of course," he replies in a non-committed tone. "Thank you all for coming and spending time with Santa Colonel. Refreshments, such as they are, are available on the way out." He glances once again at the table, as if inspecting it to make certain that nothing is out of place. To Colonel, Storm Elf comments, "I believe this was at least as successful as last year, sir."

 

Steel Massimo looks around, grabbing a few more cookies, and rushing towards the RA Base. He is watching you, Spider. Ooh, he will find you one day. And he will RUN. And SCREAM. Like a GIRL.

 

Cortana hmm, furrowing her brows, but she gets up off of her knees and brushes off her dress. "Well ... that was fun!"

 

"Agreed. I am returning to the Fortress to catch up on work I missed. If things occur, keep me informed."

            With that, the Colonel started towards the city teleporters. He had business to deal with. Like planning Arcadian punching.

 

Riot says, "More fun then working mall security during a clearance sale." he swings by the cookie table "And I was gonna ask for something for n-..." he glances around then ducks his head down. Moving on."

 

Fianait snatches another cookie or two, on the go. She does in fact +retreat, jingling all the way!

        SHE'LL BE BACK, GIGA CITY. MARK HER WORDS.

 

Vanishing Gungaroo removed the bowl from his head, then looked at himself. "Oh no! Now everyone will think I peed on myself..". He then jumped off the throne, rolling in snow to remove it, only making the case worse, with snow stuck on him.

 

Cortana blinks, just noticing Riot by the table. She looks at him over his shoulder. "Sounds like a pain! Anyway -- looks like it's time for cleanup." Sticking her hands into pockets, she walks on over back to the throne.

 

Storm Owl fires off a salute to Colonel, "Aye, sir. We'll clean up here." Well, the worst part about the worst time of year is over. Now all Storm Owl has to contend with is those people that keep wanting to redecorate the ship in Christmassy themes. At least, if it winds up going ahead, it'll be confined to the non-secure areas.

 

Gigabolt Man-O-War goes home.

Gigabolt Man-O-War has left.

 

Riot lets out a sigh "Madness, pure madness." he chomps on the cookie, mmh, sugar.

 

Fianait goes home.

Fianait has left.