ScreamSin

Archimedes tore the sling from his arm, and pulled Maya down as a huge gear flew at their heads. "DAMMIT!" Looking at the fights, he struck his fist against the ground in anger. "Dammit! They're doing exactly what those things want! They're separating, they have to work together! If they let themselves get herded around, those monsters will just pick them off one by one!"

Heat whirled the Wolf off his body, spinning to kick the other in the jaw. The Alpha prowled out of reach, waiting. As Heat grabbed one of their heads, crushing it in his massive claw, the Alpha suddenly pounced onto his back, biting into his neck and shredding through the metal. Heat gave a yell and spun around, using the now broken Wolf as a flail to beat at the Alpha on his back. ------------ The blind Wolf stopped thrashing as another suddenly moved next to it, making a piercing hissing noise. The blind wolf was still a moment before focusing entirely on Rose, making odd hissing noises as it leaped over to her, smashing a claw down. Maya and Rose barely had time to dodge before a hind leg snapped out, catching the doll in her chest and rocketing her into a wall. The blind Scrap roared at Maya briefly, but turned it's attention to Rose, still making the odd hissing noise as it moved towards her, apparently no longer effected by it's blindness.

Archimedes slowly opened his eyes as he felt the floor shaking. Light was creeping in through the cracks of the building. He rolled over in his sleeping roll, covering his eyes in exasperation. “Heat…stop moving…” “Heat’s not moving.” The old man blinked slowly. “Van?” “It’s not me.” SGGRAAAAGGGGHHHH!!! Bolting upright, Archimedes leaped to his feet, stumbling over the others as they awoke violently from the screaming noise that erupted from outside. Heat scrambled to his feet as the others looked around, Maya seeming rather nervous. “W-what was that?” The old man shoved the door open, feeling the cold air blast against his face as he squinted in the sudden brightness, straining to see outside. The screaming noise echoed out again, this time from above the group. Looking up quickly, they watched in horror as the roof suddenly caved in, shrieking and squealing as the metal was shredded by monstrous sickle claws. From the hole fell huge mounds of snow, and the group scattered. Heat scooped Maya, Lucy, and Julian away from the area quickly with one massive claw as he leaped backwards. Duo and Rose sprinted over to the door next to Archimedes as Grettel, Zlota, and Ishild threw themselves aside. Only Vangelios was struck by the falling snow, not able to move faster then his strange waddle. His massive frame prevented any damage as he used his staff to shove the piled up ice away from his legs. Archimedes looked up in shock. “VAN! LOOK OUT!” The massive Scrap barely had time to raise his face upwards as a huge effigy of spikes and saws fell from the roof. Making a horrid revving and grinding noise, the Scrap landed on Van’s back heavily, then kicked off, toppling him over as it skidded over the floor, stopping a short ways away. Heavy plates of metal coated its frame, which was designed to look like a massive wolf, standing maybe 7 feet tall at the shoulder and reaching 12 feet in length from end to end. However its claws were sickles and its whipping tail was a series of scythes bolted together. Along its backside was a screaming line of blades, much like a chainsaw, revving violently. It’s head was little more then a large camera eye, and for jaws it had four whirring buzz saws, two on top and two on bottom. It gnashed these together harshly, sparks exploding from its face as it made the screaming roar yet again. “SGRAAAAGGGHHHH!!!” From the roof, more holes suddenly tore open and smaller versions of this ‘wolf’ leaped into the building. They lacked the chainsaw spine and only had three saws in their mouths, but they looked just as menacing as they revved violently, surrounding the broken group. In total there were 9, plus the Alpha Wolf. Archimedes stared in horror. These designs were like nothing he had ever seen during the war. Scraps were never made for combat! Yet these monsters seemed to be designed for the single purpose of slaughter! The Alpha suddenly roared and charged Heat. The massive Scrap shoved Maya, Lucy, and Julian away, barely managing to turn to the Alpha as it slammed into him violently, sparks showering as it bit down on his frame. They tumbled through the back of the warehouse, exploding into the snow as two more Wolves dashed after them. The remaining Wolves moved to the others. One charged Archimedes Rose, and Duo, the old man quickly grabbing the girls and hauling them out the door. Two more leaped onto Van as he attempted to rise, mauling his metal overcoat violently as they tore at any exposed parts. Maya found herself staring directly at a Wolf, who revved its jaws and moved forward menacingly. Grettel was smashed into a wall as the final three charged, one body slamming her and the other two circling Zlota and Ishild like predators. She found herself staring into the jaws of the monster as it roared and charged her violently. ---------- Heat rolled as the Alpha tore at his chest gears, letting out a yell as he grabbed the beast heavily and hurled it over his head. As the Scrap twisted to get up, the other two Wolves leaped onto his back, biting into his gears and tearing bits and pieces out. Suddenly, one of his arms went spastic for a brief second before going limp. Heat twisted his body, spinning to shake them off. One flew off, but the other clung grimly to his back, tearing off gears connected to his arm. Heat reached over his shoulder and grabbed its head, hurling it away. He turned and saw the Alpha charging again, making the screaming battle cry. Heat’s camera eye circled and saw the other two rise out of the snow, their cyclopean eyes twisting as they focused on the Scrap. Heat found his movements strange and awkward, and his focus was erratic. As the larger Scrap came barreling towards Heat, the humongous brass man wind milled his functioning arm, slamming his claws against the Alpha brutally. The Scrap twisted under Heat’s massive grasp, the giant lifting the beast over his head for a throw. However, in raising his arm, he exposed his chest to the remaining two wolves, which pounced onto him and tore at the exposed gears. With a loud yell, Heat spun around; trying to knock them off as his grip faltered and the Alpha fell onto his shoulders. Losing his balance, the large Scrap toppled over, punching and ripping at the Wolves who attempted to keep him down, switching their focus to his leg gears as he pushed himself up, slashing at them with his sickle claws. With a violent kick, he sent them all spinning outwards, giving him time to rise to his feet. ------------- Archimedes covered his head as the massive Wolf smashed through the door, snapping its jaws at them as it lost its footing and slid across the snow, rotating to keep them in its eye. The old man gripped his staff, but knew he would be useless in this fight. He turned and lobbed the brass pipe to Rose. “Here! Stop its gears from moving!” “ARCHIE, LOOK OUT!” The old man didn’t even have time to turn before the Wolf shoulder slammed him hard, hurling him several feet backwards. He gave a single grunt as he somersaulted into the snow, hitting rather hard. Seemingly satisfied, the Scrap turned its gaze to Rose and Duo, saw-jaws whirring madly as it whipped its bladed tail around. Archie gripped his shoulder as he rolled onto his stomach, cupping a hand around his mouth. “STOP THE GEARS! STOP THE GEARS FROM MOVING!” ------- ((Make it interesting))

Archimedes poked Duo in the back with his staff. She looked back and saw he was holding a lantern and a blanket. "It's pitch black out here, and well below 0 degrees." The old man threw the blanket around her shoulders. Archimedes looked at Duo cautiously. "Look, don't think I haven't been alert since Rose mentioned she saw something. But paranoia will only tire us out. There's a difference between cautious and obsessive. We have to be watchful, but we can't think everything is out to get us, or we'll go insane and turn on each other. I've seen it happen before." "...back with your squad?" Archimedes flinched slightly. Everyone who knew him remembered that he had been wandering the Wastes for two years with his old military squad, trying to help people out. No one knows what happened, Archie never spoke of it. All they do know is that he was found collapsed outside of the Skycleaner, smeared in blood. Rosa had probably told Duo the story at some point, since everyone in this group was far too young to have even been alive when Archie was found. She noticed the old man's sadness. "I'm sorry Archie..." "No, it's alright. Don't stay out here too long. You can't see anything anyway, with no moon..." The old man turned and walked back inside. He looked at Lucy, who simply stared back at him with her usual cold stare. The old man smiled and walked over. "Mind if I sit with you for a little bit? I can't get to sleep right now anyway..." "....." The old man slowly sat next to Lucy, hunching over his knees. He didn't speak, just quietly sat and shut his eyes, leaning over his knees as he went over the events in his mind. If there really was something watching them...it couldn't be a Scrap, they'd freeze in this weather without some kind of protection. The Scraps had never grown beyond their duties during the war, showing no intelligence short of gathering large numbers to mindlessly charge the humans. If they were humans...that wasn't plausible either, Scavenge City had been gone over so many times by the Skycleaner's inhabitants there was nothing of worth here. No human in their right mind would decide to inhabit this place, and even if they did, they wouldn't have survived or gone unnoticed from the daily scavenge teams. ----------- Heat sat facing everyone in their huddled sleeping rolls. He tapped his claws softly together. Not being able to sleep gave him a lot of time to think during the nights. Back in the Skycleaner, he could distract himself with the junk lying around. But here, he had to be quiet, so as to not wake the others. He overheard Maya talking about monsters. "Fine, but if big scary monsters attack us, are you getting all this, then I'm going to tell you I told you so!" Heat reached over and tapped the floor with one sickle claw, getting Maya's attention. The huge Scrap spoke in a crackly whisper. "If monster attacks, Heat keep Maya safe! Heat promised, so Heat will keep his promise!"

Archie rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll prove it to you guys that we're alone. Heat, come with me." Outside, Archie stared up at the unmoving metal structure. Heat packed a large snowball in his claws. Archie pointed at the fluttering cloth. "Hit that, Heat." Heat arched back, his claw dipping to the ground as he braced his legs. The others watched the roof carefully as Heat suddenly hurled the snowball with surprising accuracy. The giant orb flew smoothly upwards and smashed into the metal, which shook, but didn't move. The building gave a low rumble as Archimedes folded his arms. "See? It's the scaffolding. Anything that wasn't braced wouldn't have taken that impact without moving a little. Can we drop this nonsense now? We're not in any danger here. We need to worry about other humans as we get farther north." "Other humans?" Archimedes rubbed his arms as he headed back inside, Heat walking around the back to the garage opening. "Not everyone has reacted to these times with the same amount of sanity as we have. There are some who have gone insane and others who've grown violent and desperate." As Heat rounded the building, he tapped the side of his head. The strange buzzing whisper had also effected him. Afraid that he was breaking down or the weather was affecting his head, he wouldn't vocalize these fears. A broken scrap couldn't help everyone on this trip, and Heat wanted nothing more then to be of use to this group. ----------------- Clinging to the side of the tower, they watched the group return to the house before settling on the other side, digging into the metal and hunkering down. They had almost been seen, but managed to move before the repair scrap had taken a closer look. As the sun set completely and pitch black night settled over the Waste, they waited in silence in the howling wind for dawn to approach.

Archimedes glanced out the window, straining his eyes. "She's right. Probably just the metal. A lot of these buildings have crumbled in the weather." "What about the cloth?" "The Scavenge team uses those to mark where they've already searched, to prevent double overs and such." Maya chimed in at this. "That's right! It's to make sure we don't search the same area twice!" Archimedes stared at the tower for a moment longer. "There's nothing to worry about Rose. There are no living animals outside anymore, and all the Scraps froze in the weather near the end of the war. The only ones to survive were those taken in by humans."

Archimedes was a ways ahead of everyone else, and staring at a small metal compass, alongside what appeared to be a very old map. Staring down at it, he confirmed they were heading in the right direction. The sound of singing reached his ears, and the old man smiled to himself with a small chuckle. It was a long journey, he was happy that everyone was trying to keep spirits up. He waited till everyone caught up to his location, folding the map and pocketing it. “We’ll head to the outskirts of Scavenge City, and take shelter there for the night. We can’t travel at night, the temperature drops even lower, and its pitch black out here.” The singing died down and Archimedes suddenly whirled on the girls. “What nonsense is this!? Why has the song stopped?” “You were talking!” “Nonsense! An old man’s demented rumblings mean little! All of you, sing! Come along now, this isn’t all fun and games!” Maya giggled at the antics of the old man, who was twirling his long beard and rolling his eyes as if truly touched in the head. As the song started again, the old man joined in as the team marched onwards. Heat tapped his claws, but couldn’t manage to follow the words. Wracking his mind, he remembered a song Archimedes had sung to him a few times while trying to improve the Scrap’s vocabulary. His voice suddenly bellowed out over all the others, causing a few to jump. “ITSY BITSY SPIDER! UP THE WATERSPOUT!” “HEAT! SOFTLY!” ------------------------ The temperature had dropped quite a few degrees as the group meandered through the snow filled ruins of Scavenge City. Called such since it was the main supply of junk for the Skycleaner, it had long been cleaned out over the years. Zlota kicked open the bent door of the building they had chosen for the shelter. As the group stumbled in, Archimedes glanced back at Heat, who stared through the very tiny doorway that was far too small for him. Vangelios had barely managed to squeeze his own girth through the frame. The group looked around and Rose pointed out a large garage opening in the back. “This place was probably a warehouse.” “Heat, move around through the back, we’ll let you in there!” “Ok!” Heat’s crunching footsteps receded as he rounded the large house. Archimedes kicked at a spot on the ground that was fairly dry, unrolling his sleeping mat. Lucy looked at him. “Isn’t this place too cold?” Archimedes smiled. He never seemed fazed by Lucy’s brutal honest and bluntness. “Sadly, in the Skycleaner we had the steam pipes heating the place above freezing, but there’s nothing to burn for a fire. We’ll need to huddle together to keep warm. If it was just me, it wouldn’t be that big a deal, but noooo, everyone insisted on coming along.” He looked up and was surprised to see a couple faces looking rather hurt. “We didn’t want you to go alone! The thought of you huddled on the floor here…by yourself.” The old man immediately cursed at himself in his head. He quickly smiled. “No, no! I was just kidding. I’m very happy that you all came along, really I am.” “Really?” “Absolutely! I wouldn’t have it any other way. The only reason I didn’t want anyone to come along was because I was worried it would be too dangerous. I didn’t want to be burden to everyone.” As the sleeping rolls were unpacked and the others began to pull out the dinner for the night, Archimedes, along with the help of Rose and Zlota, pried open the garage door in the back to allow Heat’s massive frame into the warehouse. Archimedes sat down, leaning his brass pipe against his shoulder as he stared at the dried bread and cured meat, along with a canteen of water. He gave a sigh. “Almost makes me miss the mess hall…” Duo nudged the old man. “Got a craving for some of that oatmeal?” Archimedes shivered, making a wonderfully disgusted expression. “Oh God no!” Several chuckles echoed in the large warehouse. ------------ They watched from the roof of a ruined tower, staring intently at the warehouse the wanderers had entered. Long trailing pieces of cloth wrapped around their joints kept the gears from freezing in the weather as the 5 sentinels stared silently at the prey that had just wandered into their territory. Not tonight. The darkness was a disadvantage to these predators. Dawn. When their eyes could see, but the prey was still sleepy from their rest. That would be when they die.

Harold Rain had indeed overheard the conversation, and while he now knew that Christophe held the info he wanted, only a fool would try to extract that information in the Lair. Being the only one of his kind, the Revenant had no support here. A fight now would merely end with his second death. His yellow eyes stared coldly at everyone, he hadn't moved at all from his spot as he eavesdropped. He would need to find a time when Christophe was alone, preferably out of the Lair, where he didn't have the parasites at his back. Their fawning loyalty was disgusting, but it was loyalty nonetheless. The Revenant's eyes darted over to the young fox demon, following her briefly before he turned his sights to the Reaper walking around. There were more visitors here then he cared to number at any given night, but tonight seemed to be rather unique. He flexed his long bone claws restlessly, meeting the eyes of the fox demon. With unblinking pale yellow orbs, he stared at her silently, watching irritation creep over her face. He flexed his claws, the molding gauze around his wrists stretching with soft creaks. Suddenly, he stood up. Walking slowly and smoothly, he headed towards the exit, halting at the door, obviously in the way of several younger vampires. He glanced over his shoulder and locked eyes with Christophe. Neither blinked, both stared into each others eyes for a moment. Christophe's, calm with an air of smugness. Harold's, fiery and utterly devoid of fear. The message was clear. Harold had overheard the conversation. He knew Christophe had the information he wanted. The Revenant turned as a Vampire grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, move it!" With a sharp hiss, Harold wrenched the creature's hand off his shoulder, twisting it around slightly and shoving him hard against the door. "Don't touch me, parasite!" Releasing the wrist, the Revenant walked out of the room. Alone. He needed to wait till Christophe was alone. And the way things were going that night, it probably wouldn't happen for awhile.

Harold stared out of his corner, sitting on the chair with his heels against the edge, arms over his knees as his pale yellow eyes roved over everyone who passed by. The Revenant had entered the establishment at dusk and had taken his usual spot. He was listening carefully for anything he could use, but he was beginning to get tired of this place. Parasites, degenerates, hedonists, and addicts...useless. He had haunted the corners of this 'Lair' as it was called for a week and had found this place to be little more then a watering hole for weak minded bloodsuckers playing at elegance. A couple of the patrons glanced at him with cold eyes, but his steady gaze caused them to falter and look away. Useless. If no information surfaced today, he would have to go out and beat it from the lips of one of these creatures. His eyes flicked as a demon left the dining room. Harold never went in there, he found that the majority of the vampires who frequented the place to be way too arrogant and sure of their own false elegance for the Revenant to even be able to stomach their company. He stared as the demon left. Maybe he needed to talk to one of their kind instead of the parasites.

((Against my better judgment...)) Name: Harold Rain Race: Revenant Gender: Male Appearance: At 6'0" and 100 lbs, Harold looks like an emaciated young man with sunken skin and gaunt eyes. Incredibly pale, his teeth are all sharpened fangs and his eyes are a sickly yellow. With short pale olive colored hair and long bone claws at the ends of his fingertips, Harold looks like a monster. He hides his appearance in a dull brown bomber jacket and a leather Stetson cowboy hat. His claws he makes no attempts to hide, his hands wrapped in medical gauze and the claws left out in plain sight. With worn down and faded blue jeans, he has the appearance of an undead cowboy. The smell of grave dirt follows him and his voice is little more then a hissing whisper. Personality: Rain is obsessed with his revenge, and anyone who tries to divert him is nothing more then a nuisance to be swatted aside. Generally he ignores anyone who attempts to speak with him, mulling around in his own thoughts. He only reacts violently to those who knowingly and intentionally halt his progress towards revenge. He views vampires as nothing more then blood sucking ticks and parasites, and generally refuses to associate himself with them in any way. He reacts with hostility to any attempts to solicit help from him, as it distracts him from his quest. History: Harold Rain was a big rig truck driver, when he witnessed a large scale slaughter at a rest stop by an unknown man. To prevent witnesses, the man murdered Harold in a brutal manner, enough so that his corpse couldn't be identified without a DNA test. Returned now as a Revenant obsessed with avenging himself, Rain has, through various unsavory methods, tracked his prey to the city. However, he lost all trails leading to the unknown man, short of the knowledge that he may have been a vampire. As such, Rain has taken to hanging out at the Lair and watching the customers intently from his corner. Sitting silently and listening for anything that could be of use to him. Most people ignore him, as he doesn't disturb anyone or anything. He really doesn't do anything other then sit quietly and stare. ((For those of you wondering, a Revenant is an undead spirit returned to fulfill a specific purpose, usually to avenge it's murder. They don't eat or sleep, they're completely consumed with the task they returned to accomplish.))

Archimedes stared at the large footlocker, the only thing he had kept from his years as a field medic in the military. As he gently folded his clothes into the backpack, he glanced at it again. There was no avoiding it. Walking over, he unclipped the lid and opened the large metal trunk. He stared at the contents for a moment before hastily shoving them into the backpack, burying them under his clothing. “Let’s hope I never need it…” “Archie.” The old man flinched and turned quickly as Rosa’s voice reached him. “Oh, Rosa…you startled me.” “What are you thinking…you’re 77! You shouldn’t be out in the Wastes. And Maya’s going with you too?” The old man smiled at her, clipping the pack shut and slinging it over his shoulder. He grabbed his brass pipe zipped up his deep red parka, pulling his fur hat down low to the brow. “I have to do something. There was a time when you wouldn’t have doubted my ability.” “That was when you were young, Archimedes! Not now, not in your current state!” “I have to do this, while I still have the strength to! I am dying here, we all are! How much longer will my luck hold out, how long before I catch a sickness that you can’t cure? Before I die in my sleep, before my body just gives up!” The doctor was silent at these words. Archimedes walked over and hugged her tightly. “Rosa, you’ve been a great friend to me, you understand me better then anyone. You know I have to do this. It’s better for me to try and fail…” “Then to not try at all…I know…” The old man smiled, and then pointed to the stacks of books, notes, and various knickknacks he had collected over the years. “Make sure no one trashes this stuff, I’ll be back for it with the Key.” Rosa stared up at him quietly, then leaned up and gently kissed the old man’s cheek. “Don’t die out there! I’ll never forgive you if you do!” Archimedes smiled, straightened his shoulders, and left the room, leaving the doctor alone to her thoughts. ------------------------- “HOW MANY OF YOU ARE COMING?!” Archimedes stared in shock at the large group that had organized. Eight people had organized and were standing ready. Zlota stood next to Maya, who was eagerly hopping up and down with her makeshift pack strapped to her back. Duo, holding a large bag of medical supplies, stood with a hand on her hip. Lucy sat quietly on the outskirts, also holding a large backpack full of her belongings. Ishild stood behind Maya, smiling somewhat nervously. Rose and Julian nodded to Archimedes. Behind the group stood the three older Scraps. Grettel, toying with a huge scarf that was wrapped around her neck; Vangelios stood in a somewhat dramatic pose, looking at Archimedes. And behind them all was Heat, shuffling back and forth like an excited puppy, with a huge makeshift canvas bag strapped to his back. “We’re going! We’re going!” Jonathon walked up behind the old man, Dolly shuffling slowly behind him. She still looked sick, but it seemed Duo’s bread idea had gotten her over the worst of it. The young girl walked over to Duo to say goodbye as Jonathon tapped Archimedes on the shoulder. “We loaded Heat’s bag up there with any spare food we had, along with some sleeping rolls. We didn’t have enough fabric for a tent for you guys though; you’ll need to find some kind of shelter.” “Don’t worry John. We’ll think of something.” Dolly hugged Duo around the middle. “Goodbye Duo…we’ll miss you.” Other members of the Skycleaner had gathered and were saying their farewells. Ron, the new Scavenger, walked over to Lucy, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hey…I heard you were going too? Look…uh, thanks for helping me with the sled today. Good luck, and…uh, be careful.” Archimedes walked up to Maya and crouched in front of her. “Maya. Listen to me carefully, it’s dangerous out there.” “I know Archime-“ “Listen to me. When we’re out there, you listen to the others. You listen to us all. If something goes wrong, you find Heat, you keep close to him. Heat! Come here.” The large Scrap lumbered over, tapping his claws together. “Leaving?” “In a moment. While we’re out there, if anything happens, you protect Maya.” “Protect…Maya.” Archimedes grabbed Heat’s head and pulled him close. “No matter what happens to me, you keep Maya safe! You don’t let anything bad happen to her!” Heat nodded vigorously, and then pointed at Maya. “Heat keeps you safe! Heat promises!” Archimedes straightened his backpack, and headed to the end of the garage. Rosa, Scotts, Boris, and Lyle stood. Rosa didn’t make eye contact, hugging her elbows. Scotts and Boris stared silently at the old man. Lyle stared at him for a moment, the two standing toe to toe. Lyle held out a hand. As they shook, the engineer forced a smile. “Don’t die out there, old man.” Archimedes smiled. “Keep this place running till we get back.” Archimedes took a few steps out of the garage, boots crunching in the snow as he took a breath of the freezing air. He turned to face the assembled group. Heat hopped up and down excitedly. Archimedes adjusted his fur hat and then waved a hand. “Let’s go everyone. We have a Key to find!” “YAAAAY!” Heat gave a crackling shout of joy and practically skipped out of the garage. Sliding to a halt a few feet ahead of Archimedes, he vigorously waved his hand “GOODBYE! GOODBYE!”

Heat tilted his head, obviously not really understand a majority of what Van had said. The huge Scrap glanced at Duo, then picked up the canvas he had gathered and the bundles of wire. "...confused." Duo blinked. "He wants to know why we're so happy when everything is so bleak." Heat tapped his claws together for a moment, then spread the canvas out. "Heat is happy because Heat is helping! Archie keeps Heat working, Heat likes Archie." The Scrap began to fold the canvas into a bag of sorts, using his sickle claws to poke holes that he would thread the wire through. "Some here not like Heat. Say Heat is junk pile. But Heat wants to help! So, Heat will help!"

Archimedes shook his head, then turned to Heat. "Started off as you and me searching quietly for the damn thing, now we're getting our own personal army!" "You know, an army could always use a strategist..." "I'M NOT TAKING YOU MAYA!" "WHY!? YOU KNOW I'LL PROBABLY JUST SNEAK OUT WITH YOU ANYWAY! And the risks of me dying here are probably higher then out in the Wastes, as I said with accidents and me disobeying everyone anyway, and besides, you said I could be useful! Are you getting all this?!" The old man pointed a finger at Duo. "SHE said you could be useful! I didn't even want HER to come with me, nothing personal Duo, I didn't want [I]anyone[/I] to come with me!" "Go with you where?" Archimedes looked up as Kilo walked, setting a toolbox down. The old man threw up his arms. "Oh for the love of God!" Heat hopped slightly, clinking his claws together. He pointed at Duo and Rose. "Coming?" "Yes, they're coming!" "Maya too?" "Yes she can...wait, what?" Heat picked Maya up gently in one claw, holding her close to his camera eye. "Maya comes too!" "No! I'm not taking a child with us!" "Maya smarter then most!" Archimedes sputtered for a moment before resigning himself to defeat. He was never really good at arguing with people. Heat set Maya down gently, then pointed a claw at Kilo. "Coming?" "I don't even know where you guys are going!" "ARCHIMEDES!" Everyone went silent as Lyle walked into the garage. He strode over to the old man, angrily stomping his foot down. "I thought this was just going to be you!" "I didn't tell them, they overheard our discussion and apparently listening to me is out of the question!" Lyle whipped around. "None of you are going with him!" The chorus of yells was enough to make the engineer take a step back. Archimedes rubbed his eyes. "Much as I hate to admit it...you can't prevent them from leaving anymore then I can Lyle..." "But...but one of our best doctors? A child? One of our search and rescue!?" Kilo held up a hand. "Would someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" Lyle threw up his hands, then slammed one onto Vangelio's leg. "Well, why don't you just take ALL OUR Scraps! How about Vangelios here? Leave us nothing!" "I'd be delighted to accompany you all on this grand quest!" "DAMMIT I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!" At this point, people were starting to gather at all the commotion and yelling going on, mumbling with one another over what may be going on. ---------------------------- In the cafeteria, people were running by the doorway towards the garage. Those eating lunch began to get up to see the commotion. Johnathon, who had been cleaning the tables next to Lucy and Ishild, grabbed someone's arm as they passed by. "Hey, what's going on?" "Archimedes is leaving the Skycleaner! He's gonna search for the Key!" At this rather loud proclamation, almost the entire mess hall emptied out towards the garage. Ishild raised an eyebrow to Lucy, and both got up quickly and joined the movement, being pushed along by the moving bodies. ---------------------------- Inside the garage, almost the entire Skycleaner had gathered, listening to the yelling argument between Archimedes, Duo, Maya, and Lyle. "YOU SAID YOU WOULD GO ALONE WITH HEAT!" "AND I WANTED TO, BUT I DON'T CONTROL THE CHOICES OF OTHERS!" "What about the Skycleaner?! We're already short on people almost all the time! Now one of our doctors? Our search and rescue leader? TWO SCRAPS?!" At this, Duo joined the fray. "Three if you count Rose here! And besides, most of you think Heat's a waste of space anyway, how many of you have told me how you wanted him gone?!" "A CHILD?! You'll willingly put Maya in danger out there in the Wastes?!" "HEY! I'm smarter then half of the people in here, and I've gone out on enough Scavenges that I'm more capable then most as well!" Rose held up a hand. "If I may - " "AND WHO THE HELL IS SHE?!" Archimedes had fallen silent for awhile, his face steadily turning red in anger as others joined the argument, taking sides. He picked up his brass pipe in both hands, walked over to Heat, and patted his leg. The Scrap nodded and shifted slightly. Archimedes swung his pipe against the metal shin of Heat, causing an ear deafening gong to ring out. Above all the voices came Archimedes, yelling in a booming voice that didn't match his appearance at all. "[SIZE="4"]SILEEEEENCE![/SIZE]" The entire garage went quiet as the old man's voice echoed throughout the halls. He stared around in fury at the group. "ALL OF YOU WILL BE QUIET NOW!" This side of Archimedes had never been seen, the man was usually unnervingly patient and soft spoken. The old man rounded on Lyle. "I understand what you're saying Lyle, I do! But you have no control over us if we so choose to leave! With us gone, there'll be more supplies to go around, we'll take a bare minimum of supplies with us! NOW!" The old man turned to the crowd, his face now calm and regular. "Anyone who WANTS to come with me, you may! It seems I will lose any argument against the matter, so if you desire to accompany us to find the Key, then speak now, because I have no intention of remaining here so long as it causes this amount of stress amongst you! But you must know! This is dangerous and there?s no assurance that we will succeed! There is a high chance that you will die out there! Anyone willing to join, go get ready, pack your things, and meet here at the garage in an hour to move out!? With that, the old man gave a huff and pushed his way out of the crowd, heading towards his room. Heat?s camera eye circled to the crowd. He pointed in confusion at them, and then looked at Duo. "....coming?" ------ ((Figured it's time to get this party started.))

Archimedes leaned in, examining Van's busted tubing. "Strange...Scraps don't have fluids. Van? VAN!" The large scrap looked down at the old man. Archimedes pointed to the broken piece of tubing that was leaking the fluid. "Van, when did you put this in?" "He put this in?" Archimedes glanced at Duo with a quick smile. "Yeah, you haven't met Vangelios yet? He tinkers with himself a lot, though I've asked him TO STOP DOING THAT because he sometimes ends up damaging himself!" The elderly man rummaged through a nearby junk heap and grabbed a rag. Leaning into the metal cloak of Vangelios, the old man wrapped the rag around the tube and tied it tightly, helping to stem the flow of the red liquid. He patted Heat's massive claw, who nodded and pulled away. Even though Vangelios was a massive Scrap, Heat was the largest in the garage, standing over 12 feet tall. Archimedes whacked Vangelios on the leg with the palm of his hand. "Van, is this tube necessary? What does it connect to?" The large scrap tilted it's head before speaking, flourishing the massive rod as he struck a pose. "The line that runs through me is connected to my quest to fully understand my destiny and brings me one step closer to fulfillment!" "Oh god, not again..." "What does that mean?" "It means that he probably doesn't understand what the line connects to either, it was one of his experiments that didn't really work and he doesn't want to admit it..." The old man glanced at Heat, then walked over with a smile and patted the massive Scrap's leg. "Hello my friend. Do me a favor, grab me a piece of canvas from the junk piles around here, a big one, and some lengths of cord. We need to make you a backpack for our little trip." Heat suddenly leaned forward quickly, obviously very excited as he went camera-to-eye with the old man, who didn't even flinch. "Trip? TRIP! Going somewhere?" "Yes. You and I-" "Ahem" Archimedes sighed. "And Duo...are going out to look for something. I'll tell you more after you get the canvas OK?" Heat looked around excitedly, shuffling back and forth before choosing a pile and galloping over to it, causing shelves and stacks of junk to topple over as the garage quaked with his movements. "HEAT! SLOWLY!" The massive Scrap tossed junk aside as he looked around, began to run to another pile, but seemed to catch himself halfway over, and slowed his pace to a rapid lumber. The hissing in Vangelios was heard again, causing Archimedes to look over as Duo was sprayed with the red liquid. She leaned in to Vangelios, shoving her shirt against the leak as Archimedes ran over, helping her grip the leak. Heat moved to help, but the old man stopped him. "No, we got it. Just find the canvas for me."

On that note, Sign ups are closed.

((Amazing what happens when people post.)) ------------------- "Archie, this really isn't the time for stupid stories..." Archimedes moved closer as Lyle sat back down at the table. Scotts stared at the two quietly as the old man placed his hands on the cold metal. "It's not a story, Lyle. This facility proves it! You've seen the technology used inside the core of the Skycleaner. You're a brilliant engineer, and you can't even figure out how any of it works!" "Archie, the cleaner is dead! This place may have worked at some point, but all those systems, all that tech is completely inactive! It has been for decades, the Key was just a rumor that was used to give us hope! We didn't want to believe that the Skycleaner was broken, so we made up the idea that the Key was stolen and that finding it would magically solve our problems!" "You know that's not true, this place has a purpose. That tech is in pristine condition, and you're going to tell me that of this entire facility, not one piece of those mysterious machines is in working condition?" Scotts' eyes flitted over to Lyle, the point hitting home. "He's got a point Lyle." "Aw dammit Scotts, not you too! This is all bullshit, and you know it! We've gone over those goddamn machines how many times together? They don't react to any form of stimulus whatsoever!" "What have you got to lose?" Lyle fell silent at Archimedes' words. The old man folded his arms. "Archie..." "I'll look myself. I'll take Heat, he'll go with me, you guys have been wanting us out of here for awhile now." "That's not true, and you know it!" "If I search for the Key and I find it, we can save the planet! We can save humanity Lyle!" "And if you don't find it? If you end up dying in that godforsaken wasteland?" "What will it matter to everyone here? Either I go look for it, and possibly die, or stay here, and get abandoned when you have to inevitably move anyway." The room was silent. Archimedes turned towards the door, but paused for a moment, not bothering to turn around as he spoke to the two. "You know you can't actually stop me from choosing to look for it Lyle. I'll go by myself, I won't tell anyone where I'm going. Heat will come with me, he can protect me. Don't worry. I may be old, but I'm the only one here who was in that war. We didn't lose hope then. I won't lose hope now." With that, the old man walked out of the room. The two men stared at each other in cold silence.

Lyle threw the papers across the table. “I wasn’t even close with the other estimates!” Scotts held his chin pensively, hand shaking slightly. Boris ran a hand over his head. “What do you mean? We don’t even have a year?” Lyle rubbed his eyes. “If we kept the current rate of food and water intake, yes, but as you said, the Scavengers are finding less and less material in their hunts! We’ve exhausted our supplies in this area.” “We can’t go any farther out, the Skycleaner is the safest shelter around, and if the team goes much farther, the risks are too great!” “I know Rosa! But with these numbers, we don’t have a choice!” “How long?” Scotts looked up from behind his glasses at the engineer, who exhaled slowly. “If the resources keep dwindling…we’re talking 7 months before we’re completely out of food and water.” “Shit…” Lyle and Boris looked at each other and gave a small nod. “I think it’s time we consider…leaving the Skycleaner.” The room was silent before Rosa slammed a hand down. “Are you insane? We can’t leave this! We have no idea if we’ll find another shelter capable of holding 200 people!” “Rosa…” “No! Listen to me; I have sick people, wounded people! They can’t be moved in their condition! Healthy people die out in the Wastes, what makes you think we can bring sick people alongside us?!” “We can’t…” Rosa froze. Then realization crept in. She moved closer to Lyle. “What are you saying?” “…if we left, we couldn’t take the sick, injured, or elderly with us.” “…you…you’d leave them here? Leave them to die in this place?” Lyle was silent. Boris turned his head away as Scotts shut his eyes quietly. [SIZE="4"]SMACK![/SIZE] Boris and Scotts stared in shock as Lyle recoiled from the massive slap Rosa just dealt across his face. She stared in rage at him. “Go to Hell you bastard! I’m not leaving these people to die!” The doctor stormed out of the room. Lyle hopped out of the chair, moving after her. “Rosa, wait! Wait goddammit!” He grabbed her wrist and whirled her around. “Look, that’s the last thing I want to do, but I have to think about the majority! I can’t risk the future of everyone here to keep a few people alive!” The doctor was quiet. Lyle let go of her wrist. “Look, I swear to you I won’t even consider that option unless it’s absolutely necessary. But we have to consider all of the options.” Boris walked by him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Lyle, I gotta get my team moving. Can you hold off any decisions until I return?” The engineer sighed. “Yeah…yeah, go ahead.” Rosa looked away from Lyle’s eyes. “I have to get back to my patients…” With that, the doctor turned around and strode down the hallway, leaving Lyle and Scotts alone. “Are there any other options here Lyle?” “…at the moment, no, but I’m sure we can think of something.” “May I make a suggestion?” Both men jumped as Archimedes walked out of the adjacent empty room. The old man stared at them intently, obviously having overheard the entire conversation. “Find the Key.” ---------------------- Heat waved a huge claw at Maya as she ran off, squatting on the floor awkwardly and clutching the cup in one massive claw. “Goodbye Maya!” A loud creak was heard and Rose looked to see that Heat had crushed the cup accidentally in his massive claw. The massive Scrap swiveled his eye to look at the destroyed cup before looking at Rose. He dropped the cup and swiveled to face her directly, reaching out with one massive sickle finger to gently touch the top of her head. "This…different." The claw moved down and prodded her chest gently. "This…same." Rose smiled slightly. "Yes, we are the same, though…how?” “You don’t know?” “Sadly, I do not.” Heat drooped a little. Then looked up as Julian walked in. “Julian! Want tea?” Heat looked around and picked up the crushed cup, holding it out to the man. The camera eye swiveled to the crushed metal as Heat slowly pulled it back. “Sorry. Wrong cup!” The massive Scrap looked around for another cup to give to Julian, causing the entire room to shake as he pivoted and fidgeted. Julian quickly held up his hands. “Whoa whoa, stop! Heat, stop!” The massive Scrap froze on the spot, camera eye swiveling to Julian. “No tea?” “No thanks. No tea.” Heat sat back down with a loud clang. A man leaned into the room. “Hey! Move the fucking junkyard to the garage dammit! It’s going to collapse the whole damn floor!” Heat immediately got up, knocking over a few things as he squeezed his massive frame through the door into the hallway. “Sorry! Sorry!” The Scrap turned and leaned through the door, holding out a massive claw to Rose, who gently took the tip of one of his fingers. “Goodbye Rose! Goodbye Julian!” With that, the Scrap lumbered off to the Garage. ------------- An engineer leaned in to Ishild, who was finishing up the last bit of welding on the broken steam pipe. "Oi, Ki-what the? Where's Kilo?" "He got burned pretty bad. Why, what's up?" "Shit. Look, we need a hand over here, one of the catwalks is buckling pretty bad, looks like the support beam is breaking! We need a hand stabilizing and reinforcing it, you can turn that pipe back on afterwards!"

The gaping hole in the pipe is a simple fix, but Ishild and Kilo were scheduled for an all morning maintenance. Which means they're in the pipes until next shift. Also, the pipe has to be turned back on *I thought I had mentioned it was deactivated...yes, I did "The blown out section of the pipe was shut down, preventing steam from escaping into the area."* so technically there shouldn't have been any burning, but we'll pretend another pipe did it or something. As for food, mostly vegetables since they use hydroponics, but there's a lot of packaged dry meats and bread that they scavenge. There are no animals in the area. Most of the food they scavenge is in decent condition due to the freezing temperatures that preserve them, but bread and anything that isn't made to preserve *like cured meats* usually starts to rot after thawing. So think vegetables you'd grow in a garden, packages of cured meat and bread. They don't have the space for large wheat growth, but they make enough to make that oatmeal paste. Does that help?

Quick notice: Sign ups will remain open until all accepted characters have departed from the Skycleaner. I expect a week tops. So anyone who wanted to join but didn't get the chance before, now's your opportunity.

Thank you. Those inks took FOREVER, though I'm very proud of how they turned out, and happy that they keep getting such upbeat reviews.

((Length is good, hell, look at mine!)) --------------- The engineer turned to Ishild. "I have no - " His radio crackled and he listened for a moment, then turned back to her. "He's on his way, he had to drop off the food rations for the infirmary. Hey, can I leave this junk pile to you? I got a lot of work to do, some wires busted earlier and cut a guy up, I need to take over and fix them before they get any worse." Heat readjusted his footing, causing the catwalk to quake a little bit. The engineer gripped the sides and shouted at the Scrap angrily. "Oi! Stop moving you idiot, you're gonna bring this whole place down!" "Sorry!" Heat froze on the spot, camera eye circling to look at the engineer. "Not moving." The engineer mumbled something in irritation, then turned to Ishild. "Look, just make sure the junkyard doesn't break anything, I really got to go. Kilo's on his way." The engineer hung up the radio and walked off, climbing the narrow ladder to the upper levels. Heat spun his camera eye and focused on Ishild. "Don't worry, won't move, Issshhild!" The Scrap's voice speaker broke out in static as he tried to pronounce Ishild's name. He always had trouble with SH, usually only managing a long static hiss to make the noise. --------------------------- Archimedes moved fairly quickly, much faster then most people would figure he could go. He rounded a corner and nearly tripped over Maya. "Oh my! Maya! My dear, you shouldn't run around like that! I nearly tripped over you!" "Archi-I mean, Mr. Archimedes! Sorry!" The old man smiled and patted her head as he continued heading down the hallway. "It's alright dear, just be careful you don't run over any old codgers like me while you're rushing around! What are you up to?" "Ishi won't let me help her out with morning tasks, so I came to see you!" "Ahhh. Well, actually I could use your help, if you don't mind helping me carry some moldy bread." "Moldy...bread?" "Yes, a young girl is sick and we need to make some medicine. So we're hoping that the mold is Penicillium." "I thought that [I]was[/I] a medicine?" "Oh yes, I sometimes forget how intelligent you are. They're basically the same thing, the mold can make a weak version of the medicine without refinement. Actually, it's pretty clever of Duo to think of that." The pair entered the mess hall. --------------------- Boris glanced up at Zlota and Lucy. "Oh good. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it girls. Ron's setting up the main hauling sled over there, go help him out, he's having some...difficulties." The two looked over and saw a 16 year old boy with incredibly light blonde hair struggling with straps and buckles on a heavy metal sled. Boris sighed. "He's new to the team, and isn't particularly well coordinated. But ever since we lost Cash on the last trip, we've been having trouble finding volunteers to go with us." Cash was a brutal reminder of the dangers of the Wastes. The young man had been searching through an old warehouse when the roof collapsed in on him, burying him under 16 feet of snow and debris. By the time they dug him out, he had suffocated to death. Boris looked at Lucy and forced a smile. "Go teach him how to set things up before he ties himself to the damn sled!" "Boris." The hefty scavenger turned at his name and Lyle pushed his way to the group. He ignored the girls, instead leaning in close. Lucy and Zlota could overhear his words. "We have a problem we need to discuss, come with me." Boris nodded and turned to the Scavengers. "Oi, get everything ready! We're out there in one hour!" Then he walked off with Lyle, hurriedly whispering with each other. ---------------------------- Maya burst into the infirmary, holding a bucket full of bread. Archimedes tapped in behind her, carrying a large sack with more bread in one hand. Rosa looked up. "Archie, what are you doing? You shouldn't be doing heavy lifting!" The old man rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, I may be old, but I've still got more oomph then some of the younger people do! Duo, here's the bread, Johnathon's worried sick about Dolly now though. I told him you'd do your best, but there's no way we can be sure of anything." Rosa was about to say something more when Lyle and Boris stepped in. "Rosa, a word please?" "I'm really a little busy right now Lyle!" "Rosa. Now." The tone made Archimedes raise an eyebrow. He watched as Rosa glanced at Duo, who nodded. The doctor stood and walked out as Archimedes and Maya went over to Duo. "Duo...has Rosa mentioned anything to you?" "Like what?"" "Anything that could have the head engineer on edge?" "Not that I can remember..." Archimedes stared at the medic for a moment with his hazel eyes before turning to Maya. "Maya, stay with Duo and help her out please." With the old man strode out of the door at a surprising pace. More surprising was that he did it without the aid of his bronze pipe, which was leaning against the wall near the door.

This world is one of never ending winter. No one is really sure how the sun was blocked, or who did it. Maybe we did...maybe they did. It's been so long. All we know is that when they finally stopped, it didn't matter. We fought for this Hell. And now?we have it all to ourselves?in this world of never ending winter?humanity shall take its final breath. ------------------------------------------------- Lyle stared at the papers and calculations he had been working on. It had taken him five hours, and he had checked the numbers 16 times. There was no getting around it. Rosa put a hand on his shoulder. ?Bad news?? ??at this rate?we?re going to run out of fresh water within a year?we?ll eat through our food supplies in two years. I have to tell Scotts and Boris.? ?What do we tell everyone else?? ?Nothing right now. We?ll discuss it further before announcing it.? The doctor nodded quietly and walked off. Lyle stared at the papers silently. ??this place is going to collapse all around us?if we don?t do something fast?? ---------------------------- *tap?tap?tap* The heavy bronze pipe clicked against the metal halls as Archimedes slowly made his way down the stairs. The sound echoed through the complex, the metal walls and roof serving to heighten all the noise in the massive shelter. Wearing a thick brown turtleneck under his heavy red parka, the old man was practically smothered in the oversized clothes. He moved slowly, the pipe clinking alongside his own shuffled footsteps. He hummed softly in a strange irregular tone as he turned the corner, standing close to the wall to avoid the quicker moving traffic in the middle of the corridor. Most of the people had already finished their breakfast and were going about their daily tasks of cleaning, organizing, and maintaining the large shelter they all lived in. As he entered the mess hall, he looked around. Not many people left inside. He slowly made his way over to the counter, grabbing a bowl with one hand and a spoon with the other. He bit down on the spoon and shouldered the pipe, holding the bowl out to the server with both hands ?Morning Archie.? ?Hello Jonathon. Everything going well?? The cook smiled as he ladled a pale, clumpy paste into the bowl. Oatmeal or what came close to it in this place. It had no particular taste whatsoever. Archimedes found that it was about all he could stomach in the early morning hours. ?Dolly?s a bit sick?got a fever.? ?I see?didn?t she recently start a job maintaining the boiler room?? ?Yeah?I?m hoping its just exhaustion. She isn?t used to hard labor.? ?I?m sure she?ll be fine. Maybe Duo could take a look at her for you?? ?I?m going to ask her when the morning maintenance is done. You know they?ve got everyone working down there.? ?Yes. Makes me wish I could do more then hobble around and tell stories.? ?You did your part during the war, Archie, from what I hear. Besides, you do plenty around here.? ?I only clean and repair clocks and gadgets. Useless trinkets that have no purpose but to amuse.? ?You?ve kept Heat in working order, haven?t you?? ?Yes?I suppose there?s one thing I?m contributing, though I know most just want to throw him out.? ?He is a little glitchy, isn?t he?? ?He?s aging rather poorly?I just don?t have the parts needed to fix him completely. Still, long as he?s useful, I have a reason to stick around.? With that, Archimedes took his bowl and hobbled over to a table to eat quietly. ---- Down in the pipes, a steam valve had ruptured, injuring two workers. The blown out section of the pipe was shut down, preventing steam from escaping into the area. An engineer stood nearby, making sure no one accidentally wandered in, when a loud series of clanking and whirring reached his ears. As the catwalk shook with each step, Heat rounded the corner, hauling a heavy piece of sheet metal on his back as he lumbered towards the damaged pipe, gears popping and spinning swiftly as the camera eye pivoted onto the man in front of him. ?Fix! Fix!? The engineer nodded and stepped aside as the Scrap moved into position. He picked up a radio phone nearby and rang the top levels. ?Hey, tell Kilo and Ishild that Heat is in position and waiting for them to get down here with the welder torch. Tell them to hurry up too, this hulking mound of garbage is shaking the entire level with his damned stomping.? Heat waved to the engineer with one massive claw. The man nodded at the Scrap, turning his back to the robot. ?Fucking junk pile?? ----------------- ((Now I?ve sent you all PMs on what you?re ?morning tasks? include, thus go about that and let?s have some fun, shall we?))

I may need to make something very clear here folks: Clockwork is NOT streamlined. It's bulky, it's complex. This isn't our world, it's a different world. Think steam powered. Steam punk would be a way to describe this. Technology is not what we have, electricity is unknown. To the Scrap Characters: You are clockwork. Think old fashioned robots. While I have no problem with certain aspects such as cameras, speakers, radio blah blah, there is no electricity that YOU know of. Alot of the technology that the Scraps use is unknown and ancient. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT. THE PAST IS FORGOTTEN. To the human characters: You all seem to have done it well, but I want to make sure of something: Please no special powers. That is all. [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=60617"]PLEASE GOD READ THE BACKSTAGE AREA HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION![/URL]

My little pet project, Universal Chaos, recently took a jump via my completion of a promo poster for it. Take a look. I provided two links because I know sometimes the internet hates people and makes the links go bye bye. Thus you have two options, comicspace or deviantART. [URL="http://www.comicspace.com/screamsin/comics.php?action=read&file_id=302365"]This link goes to Comicspace[/URL] [URL="http://spawnling.deviantart.com/art/Universal-Chaos-Promo-A-133493983"]This link goes to DeviantART[/URL] This other piece is inkwork. Called Outrun, I've been getting good reviews on it. Again, two links for your diverse tastes. [URL="http://spawnling.deviantart.com/art/Outrun-132434137"]This link goes to DeviantART[/URL] [URL="http://www.storm-artists.net/view/75611"]This link goes to Storm Artists[/URL]

Well done, we got some interesting characters here. People seem to enjoy tattoos. Alright, to be perfectly honest I thought this was dying, but it seems to have come back in stride, SO! I shall keep sign ups open for a few more days, and we will begin shortly. Sign ups will probably remain open even after we start for a spell, but not for long. I'll send PM's to everyone when we start.