[22:53] Matt: Hey, Rusty.
[22:54] Matt: Will you be up for anything else we may do after this?
[22:54] Rusty: Of course.
[22:54] Matt: I'm glad.
[22:54] Matt: Maybe we'll figure somethin' out.
[22:54] Rusty: I hate that we can't have a satisfactory conclusion for Rock, Jam, and Green, but... Well, if need be we can say they lived happily ever after in some way.
[22:54] Rusty: Just for that closure.
[22:55] Matt: Yeah... I was kind of thinking about some sort of... writing in regards to that.
[22:55] Rusty: Yeah, like... make a sub-forum only a few of us can see. And then just wrap things up.
[22:56] Rusty: In any case, we'll probably have a more difficult time setting up something not-Sonic-related but... never hurts to try, and I think I'm through with this morally-bankrupt fandom, as you said.
[22:56] Matt: I was thinking what we could do is... almost like some sort of big news article-ish thing, but interspersed with actual action and quotes interrupting it, reflecting the truth behind what happened in those final moments of their little empire.
[22:57] Matt: And then from there maybe we could have one more actual thread or something.
[22:57] Rusty: Yeah...
[22:59] Matt: I look forward to that.
[22:59] Matt: And Mie's up for it too.
[23:00] Rusty: Nice.
[23:00] Rusty: With luck, Darren and Ben and Rach and whoever else will be game, too.
[23:01] Matt: Yeah. We can just let that forum be home to any sort of epilogue for any of their characters.
[23:01] Rusty: Right.
[23:01] Matt: I don't think there's any reason for some of them to be around for, say, what happens with Green, Jam, and Rock, but...
[23:02] Matt: They can have their own thread, at least.
[23:02] Rusty: And hopefully they'll be up for joining us for whatever else we do after this, too.
[23:02] Matt: Yeah.

If you guys do consider doing something else after this, please let me know. The best times I had were on here and gosh some wonderful peeps have taken up in the chat.

I'm in agreement with amanda - whatever happens after this, I'm still with you guys, for serious.

Whatever happens, I'm in. Y'all know that. Epilogues, future projects? Say the word, I'm there and on-board. I'd hate for this to be the end of our -- as I've been explaining it to people in real life -- collaborative internet creative writing projects.

Rusty likes the above posts.

So, what we're considering doing is some sort of finale with whatever we've got left, followed by the epilogues. I think this is kind of necessary so that our epilogues truly feel like they have placement and meaning.

Sadly, this finale would probably not be... sensibly available to the characters who were fighting Eggman. But almost any characters who were going after Chimera (or a part of it) could be in on it. We also won't have Pax—obviously. I'm trying to think of how to write around him or write him out. I'm pretty sure I can manage it.

What characters would we have to work with for this?

Confirmed as of this post:

- Rock
- Jam
- General Green

Please understand one thing: just because a character is volunteered doesn't mean we will necessarily be able to use it in this finale because of how... broken our cast is now, and how I'm just plain unsure of involvement methods. Heck, everything's gone to pieces, to be honest, so I'm really winging it here. Just testing the waters to see what's available.

This won't necessarily be a really short thread, by the way. This is the end of the end, so it may go on a while. Be aware. Beware.

On the other hand, if everything's just too soon for you and you don't think you'd derive any pleasure from being a part of it, understand there is absolutely no obligation. Mie, Rusty and I could do this by ourselves if we wanted to, I think, just for our own amusement. Do not feel pressured to contribute.

Forgot to post last night.. But I'm willing to do this as Tau as too.

If there is anything Fenn could contribute to, just let me know. I'd gladly take part.

Geoff is along for the ride as well.

Let me state in the driest possible way what events we did have planned, in sequential order.




- The GUN group fights Knuckles. Results vary minimally; either they come to an accord or just manage to escape him, because beating him miiight not be an option. Regardless, they get what they came for.

- The anti-Eggman side obtains a Chaos Emerald or two in their continued pursuit of Wild Egg.

- Pax's team is sent after those emeralds. The AI says they're necessary for the teleporter to operate stably for the amount of time it will need to function continuously in order to move a significant boarding party to the Typhaon.
-- Outcome 1: They succeed by talking things out with the resistance fighters, who decide they're on the level.
-- Outcome 2: They have to forcibly take the emeralds from the resistance fighters.
-- Outcome 3: Something ("something" here used very vaguely) happens that convinces some of the resistance fighters to join their cause, even.

- Tracer confronts the party on their next outing. She offers her services for a fee, claiming Chimera thinks she works for them, thus allowing her to be a double agent. Pax's superior wants to accept; he is vehemently against it, knowing Tracer's history (see previous chapters and all the GUN-blowing-up action). Conflict erupts.
-- Outcome 1: Tracer succeeds. Pax is likely killed, as is his superior who is present for the encounter. Casey may also be a casualty. Geoff is left in condition very reminiscent of Rock's aboard the ARK. Tracer could potentially reappear in the finale as a foe if Rachel wanted to play her.
-- Outcome 2: Same as above, except Tracer is stopped before she can successfully take the ship. "Stopped" here means "killed." There was never an in-between heroic option intended for this conflict, and Rachel intended it to be final.
-- Outcome 3: The group just defeats Tracer outright. Less dramatic, but more in line for those who just don't want to see more hardships come.

- The survivors of the party pull themselves back together and look at what they have to do. With or without the airship, they have everything they need to make the teleporter. They still have contact with GUN, which has the rest of the chaos emeralds they need. They work together with the next superior up the chain, who turns out to be more level-headed, and also gives them the support they truly need. A character in the party is set as the new commander of the task force (Geoff?), and the organization of the final assault begins.

- There is no time to waste. The AI seems to somehow be getting increasingly impatient. It suggests that Rock is onto them and that they have to move immediately before the teleporter network is altered or destroyed. The task force, supported at long last by the very best agents GUN has left to offer, enters the teleporter immediately, headlong into unknown danger.

- The finale begins.

Finale confirmed cast:

Chimera:
- Rock
- Jam
- Caruso
- Tau
- Lots of Capsule Troopers
- Lots of former Eggman robots

GUN:
- Geoff
- Fenn
- GUN special forces
- GUN robots
- Is Dennis getting in on this? It might just plain be impolite not to invite him. If so, maybe Desmond.


More to come.

I guess the multiple choice options will be determined by the... for want of a better term, the "faction manager"? Or, like in the resistance's case, by way of discussion among the players?

I'm honestly not sure which option would be best for us. If any of our side did jump ship for GUN, I can't fathom it would be Tabitha. As much of a hippy as she is, she'd never ally herself with such a notoriously fascist organization, even as an enemy of their enemy, so I can't see her conceding to work with them, either. I think for her, it'd have to be option 2.

Looks like these are the events we're deciding on. We're not playing these out; we're just assuming that they've already happened. If anyone has objections, this will be the last opportunity to speak up about'em, probably.



- The GUN group encountered Knuckles on Angel Island but managed to get away with what they came for.

- They next swiped an emerald from Tabitha, Pilot and Scout, probably by force. The AI said emeralds were necessary for the teleporter to operate stably for the amount of time it will need to function continuously in order to move a significant boarding party to the Typhaon.

- Tracer confronted the party on their next outing. She offered her services for a fee, and Pax's superior wanted to accept, but Pax would have none of it. In the resulting conflict, both Pax and his superior were killed by Tracer, Casey was left in critical condition, and Geoff was severely wounded. Geoff was forced to act on a split-second opportunity and kill Tracer himself to stop her from completely wiping out the entire crew and stealing the airship.

- Geoff and Fenn, two of the only survivors still willing to keep fighting, got back in contact with GUN immediately and continued onward with the plan to construct the teleporter. They worked together with the next superior up the chain, who turned out to be more level-headed, and also gave them the support they truly needed at long last, rather than treating them like a second priority. Geoff was officially signed on as a contractor like Casey and put in charge of what used to be Pax's task force. The organization of the final assault began.

- The AI soon suggested that Rock was onto them and that they had to move immediately before the teleporter network was altered or destroyed. The task force, supported at long last by the very best agents GUN had left to offer, entered the teleporter immediately.

- The plan: Take and hold the command center while Fenn and other GUN technicians work to hijack control of the Typhaon. An offensive force will move through the ship to keep pressure on, while the AI turns as many of the ship's defenses against its owners as possible.

- Begin finale.



Conditions as of finale beginning:

- Geoff, Fenn, and as many GUN troops as are able enter the Typhaon through the command center teleporter.
- Rock, Jam, and General Green are alerted to the intrusion and immediately hop in Chimera fighters to fly to the Typhaon.
- Some CTs already aboard the Typhaon do their best to defend and set up a second teleporter to bring in reinforcements.
- Everything goes nuts from here and we get to the meat of the plot, which I wish I had actually gotten to foreshadow more, but, well... I trust you'll forgive the suddenness of it all when it happens, given the unfortunate circumstances of our RP.




Again, if I misunderstood anyone, speak up and let me know. (For example, Rachel, if you're like, "wait, I didn't mean for Tracer to be dead already, I wanted to play her in the finale," you'll wanna pipe up now. But if I understood correctly, you did not want to have to play her in the finale.)

If I can join, I'll do whatever I need to help forward the chapter.

I suppose we're at the point where we should start talking about the actual ending ending.

I'll be the first to admit the finale thread wasn't really all I hoped it would be, but, then again, our setup was crap, and it was sort of a labor of love. I think it was still pretty cool, but, I wasn't able to set up for all the stuff I wanted to make the final fights more significant, dramatic, etc., and we had to speed through it, so, again, sorry. Or perhaps I should just say "sucks to be us." At least we have a new prospect on the horizon, right?

Anyway, the epilogues will help us set up for that. If you have any questions about the state of things at any point in the future of where the finale thread left off (be it a year or five years or whatever) let me know and I'll answer specifically, rather than trying to issue any kind of blanket statement—that is, if I have any kind of answer. A lot of it will probably just be up to us all to make up. Nonetheless, I can serve to help make sure we stay consistent.

I'd recommend we have such conversations in this thread, for the benefit of others who may have the same questions.