Mission Five: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

The Voidtreckers turn the tide, save the day. That isn't to say it is easy or straightforward, the battles are tough but together Red Team prevents the mega weapon getting through, orange team maintain shields, blue team fend off those trying to attack the command centre and purple fight the battle of their lives.

The system is safe and everyone who hasn't already evacuated back to the train using their SCA can gather on the space station again. There is a roar of noise as the Void Trecker Express appears in the hanger once more, noise and wind rushing through their hair it is no mystery why the army here reacted in shock at their initial arrival.

Hitrinto is there, as are many of those the void treckers have met in their week in this system. Here to thank them for their timely rescue and to wave them off.

The voidtreckers as well are reunited, the four teams back as one and it is time to re-board the Voidtrecker Express and move on to the next adventure!

Comments

OTA

[mtsilver_conquor]

"I don't think I've ever been so glad to see this in my life..."

It's an honest sentiment as she stares at the Train, travel mug of something in hand. As far as Eva knows, it is tea; smells like it and tastes like it. And very much a drink she's actually been hanging out to try but wasn't able to in the chaos of maintaining the shields and then that last desperate day. She'd managed to grab a travel mug of it, and it was already a third gone. Little does she know she's going to come to regret it.

That said, she's eager to get on the train, and once on it, she takes one of the Welcome Leaflets and grabs a table in the Standard Coach to scribble notes on it, or rearrange current information so it reads better.

It's light work with limited new information added. Oh well. They can sort everything out after the next platform when they've all had time to decompress from this mission. Not that it hurt to get a headstart on it, either.

Well, not for as long as it takes to finish her tea before she hunts down Kaito and properly explains Marsh Walkers to him.

Closed to Kaiba and Kaito

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Fuck..." She'd known what was coming since she'd seen the blotches of red on her arms shortly before she'd found Kaito. Easily hidden by the hoodie, but she knew that if it got out, the Train would take coffee away.

She refused to be the cause of that. It'd cause a riot.

She'd tried to ride it out as best she could while explaining the game to him, but with how pale she'd gotten and general hiding in the hoodie like nothing to see here, plus the general dizziness and slowly creeping visible unease. Yeah.

She'd excused herself and practically fled down the train towards Medical (or the nearest toilet, damned nausea), head ducked just enough so it wasn't easy to tell she was having an allergic reaction.

"'cuse me, coming through-"

Please move person; she doesn't feel well and you are in the way.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin comes to stand beside Eva where she sits in the Standard Coach, and he watches for a moment as she makes notes. He's looking a little disheveled and he has a bandage around his left forearm.

"Your gyarados came in handy! Thanks for the image," he says with a smile.

Closed to Prompto and Friends of Gladio

[callmegladio]

Gladio felt like an idiot. He felt that way because he was one. A monumental, colossal, all encompassing idiot. He felt ashamed of himself. Guild, anger, frustration... regret. It all boiled around inside of him, though his expression remained neutral, aside from the fact his jaw was clenched and a muscle in his cheek would twitch occasionally.

He lay in a cot at the far end of the medical carriage, one arm thrown across his eyes and his other... his other was bound tight to his chest? Why was it bound tight to his chest? Because he was a damn idiot, that's why.

How he had managed to do what he had done, Gladio had no idea. Or, should he say, he didn't know how he hadn't noticed.

The fighting had been terrible. And long. It felt like it would never end. They came at them in waves. Take one down and two would appear behind them. There had been so many near misses, not all of his fighters had left unscathed but he hadn't lost any... Though he knew there had been a loss. He hadn't known the kid who had been killed, but he did know people who had. He felt awful for them. Part of him felt he'd somehow dropped the ball, he should have been there to guard the kids. But he hadn't. He'd been up at the command center doing his best to keep the bastards from getting inside.

But at some point he'd been shot by one of those space guns. Oh, he'd been shot before by them. He'd managed to dodge them for the most part. The burns on his hip and arms were proof of that. Somehow though, this particular shot hadn't been dodged as effectively, and he'd earned himself a coin sized hole straight through his shoulder. And Gladio hadn't even noticed. He'd just kept fighting. He hadn't stopped until the Enemy just stopped coming... and a cool hand had touched his arm, and a much loved voice told him everything was alright.

It had been like his strings were cut. Gladio had fell to his knees in a daze and barely remembered how the hell they had gotten to the train, but Prompto had gotten him there. Somehow. He'd been patched up. Blood loss, they said. Couldn't use his left arm, they said. Nothing they could do about him being a complete idiot, they didn't say, but they didn't have to. Gladio knew.

/hopeful friend of Gladio!

[afterburner]

Renee shoved her way in, though she knocked on the door jamb a little just to announce her presence. In one hand she had a plate with a fork--but those clearly were for veggies, as there was also skewered meat on it too. It at least looked like it was probably beef...

"Figured you could use a snack. How ya feeling?" Though it was clear by the look on his face that Gladio wasn't happy in the least, and probably not actually feeling all that hot, either. "You got enough pain meds? I brought you a snack."

Yeah, with Gladio, she figured that probably was just a snack. "Gotta keep all that strength of yours up, ya know."

[bethereprompto]

Prompto reached over from where he sat next to the medical bed and smoothed back Gladio's hair from his brow. "Glads, you were so focused on the fight! Come on.. give yourself a break."

He felt for the large man, who was such a respected fighter back home. The blonde felt bad too for not preventing Gladio from getting hurt in the first place. He'd managed to stop another blow that would've been fatal, but Gladio had gotten hurt anyway.

"Because of you, we held the force back from reaching the kids on our team. You should be proud of that. I know I am."

[les_magique]

Samata poked her head in to check on him, having only later heard he'd been seriously injured. She had a look of elaborate friendliness that was clearly masking deeper concern. "How's the hero of the command center doing? Heard you were feeling a bit under the weather..."

[happyends]

It takes a while before Madoka shows up. She has enough terrible things to deal with already, after all. She's so worried about the people who disappeared, and she feels so bad that someone even died, and it's just been really difficult to do much of anything at all when her heart feels so, so very heavy.

But she did hear about what happened to Gladio, and she would feel much too guilty if she just sat around feeling sorry for herself. Maybe the only thing she can do right now is put on a brave face and try to help others.

So after that while Madoka does show up - although she's probably just a hesitant voice from the distance at first from where he's lying.

"Um.. Mister Gladio, are you awake..? I.. I made some cookies.."

Her voice is even softer than usually (although maybe that's a good thing, given his current condition?) and after a moment she finally ends up next to his cot, holding a plate. She smiles at him, although there's something so obviously sad about it.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't ask what kind you liked.."

OTA! Though mostly handwaving Narrative here. XD

[unfavorableinstigation]

Most people trying to talk to Nita will have to deal with a metaphorical wall of exhaustion, first - that last trick she'd pulled off had taken a lot out of her.

But she made sure to thank Hitrinto and their comrades before making her way back on the train, briefly wondering where it had been while the fighting had gone on...

The peridexis took note of that as well.

People could still catch her for a chat, of course, but at this point it might have been best just to let her collapse on her bed in Cabin 4:B.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin came to look for Nita after he got back on the train, wanting to make sure she was all right. When he met her in the passageway, she looked exhausted, and he was tempted to just let her head for her cabin. He was fairly tired himself, but he hailed her anyway. "Nita! We should be proud. We did it."

OTA

[blue_ice]

a. shellshocked
Kaiba had to rest at the station for a good few minutes before the train arrived. He was more shaken than he'd like to admit---he'd pulled through the battle and forced back the enemy ships, but truly going into battle wasn't quite like a video game. He could be found leaning against a wall, arms folded tightly. They did it. Great job. Still, even in this state he kept an eye out for familiar faces and lifted a hand in greeting.

b. scrap tetris
When he got his wits back, he then started on asking the crew for small bits of metal and wiring to bring back. He needed to start inventing again to keep his mind on other things. Just how much could he stuff in the empty spaces of his rucksack? You might find him with a pile of spare parts strewn around him, carefully measuring wire.

A

[afterburner]

"'Sup Stilts!" Renee called from where the pilots were disgorging themselves. She was more than a bit sad that Team Fandango was probably not going to keep rolling now that things were done--but the redhead would be damned if she'd stop being friends with Prisoner and Spinel. Or Seto himself, for that matter.

She gave him a very gentle pat on the shoulder. "How you holding up? You don't look bruised, which is good." Renee probably wouldn't be quite as chipper if she hadn't been through this sort of rodeo, in its way, once or twice before, but she had no problems attempting to buoy him up.

A

[sizedoesntmatter]

Yugi really didn't know what to think. It was certainly something. Their first mission was not what he was expecting. But the young man was trying his best to keep going and to try and focus on other things instead of what just happened.

So he was more than admittedly relieved when he spotted the familiar face. It was a good enough distraction.

"Kaiba...It's good to see you after this hectic time"

B

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin spotted Kaiba with his pile of spare parts, and smiled to see him. "Got a project in mind?"

Curufin was looking more than a little frazzled after the last battle he had fought along with Red Team. His black hair was wild, his eyes a little shadowy, and his left forearm was wrapped in a bandage. But he was happy about the victory they'd managed to pull off. . . and he, too, had a rucksack full of hardware.

B.

[diamondsfortears]

Daia happens to be passing by, having stopped in the kitchen for a bag of blood, and notices a familiar face sitting down with wire and parts about him. Curious, he scoots up closer to look at Kaiba's pile of supplies, and interest sparks.

"Oh! Hey, can I help? I learned a little with the mission!"

Well, probably not a lot. But he had people help him out when he was trying. Wires look fun, anyway. He's got lots more to learn, and he's be happy to help.

On Train: CW: Joss' Death: Closed to Waver and Tony's friends

[runs_on_batteries]

Bucky had vanished while sitting right next to him on a two person ship. Maglor and Maedhros both had disappeared on this trip. Romeo and his precious Buttercup had gone missing. Ignis was gone. Ignis! And Joss..

He'd been so close to having a son. No, Joss had already become a son to him. It just hadn't reached the technical or legal levels yet, but the love had been there for a while now. The boy was such a complex creature being both ancient and so naive and childlike. How had they gone from insulting words that very first day to the familial relationship they had now? Had. Past tense. His son was dead.

He'd been treated briefly in the medical room and came back to his room to freshen up. Now he sat in his lounge pants and a robe draped on his shoulders on his bed, head in hand. The teddy bear he'd bought Buttercup in his lap, his other hand holding it.

Edge was right. It was a selfish desire for Tony to want to do the ultimate sacrifice in place of anyone else on this train. A part of him understood the ninja's resentment towards it, but he also believed it was his youth that was making it hard to understand fully. The truth was, once you were dead, you didn't hurt anymore. It's the ones you leave behind who have to grieve and he'd already grieved so much in his life. Now he got to add a son to that list and it was more than he could bear. Would he see Ignis again or just his shadow leaving on the next platform? He didn't know and wouldn't until it was too late.

[happyends]

The end of this mission was just awful. People got hurt. Someone actually died. People are disappearing left and right. People she knows and likes - without being able to know for sure whether they'll be back or not. Even Ignis. Especially Ignis. Her papa.

It made her half expect - fear - that Tony would also suddenly be gone by the time the teams would reunite. Thankfully he's still there, but when she sees him sitting there like that in his room, it makes her stomach tie up in knots in a different way entirely. He looks very much the way she is feeling right now, if not even worse.

For the tiniest moment she wonders if maybe she should leave him alone, if she might not just make it worse, but then Madoka quickly shakes her head. No matter how bad she feels herself, she should at least try. Nothing is worse than the thought of her dad feeling miserable all by himself.

So the girl slowly enters the room, making her way over to him until she's close enough to put her hand on top of his hand that's holding the bear.

"Dad.."

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter isn't taking the loss well. He hasn't seen Thor, or Loki, or Bucky, or Buttercup and he's just feeling the weight of the Parker curse more intensely than ever. He also feels like it's somehow his fault-his fault for daring to get close to people when he knows what happens when he does. His fault because he should have been pushier about getting some other form of communication device made. Maybe if they'd had that then maybe they wouldn't be missing so many damn people. He's almost afraid to check given all the people he hasn't seen come back to the train but he goes to Tony's door and knocks hesitantly.

"Uh... M-Mr Stark? A-are you in there?" He asks, barely holding onto his emotions and fearing the worst.

[littlefury]

Waver seemed...out of it, when he finally got back to the room. When the worst happened as it had a time or two back home, he'd found he had a tendency to just...shut down once he'd gone beyond the point of panic. It was in that weird state of shellshock that he walked in, as quiet as possible before sitting on his own bed. He didn't know what had transpired, but being in the medbay and now feeling the atmosphere of the train itself was enough.

...God, he wished Lancer was here. He'd know what to do, or at least what to say to get him to snap out of this.

"...you okay?"

Early Hours The Next Day

[callmegladio]

He shouldn't really have been out of bed, but he'd heard about what happened and he was damned if he could just lay in bed and do nothing.

Sneaking past Prompto had been the hardest part. He'd had to wait until the blonde was well and truly asleep. The exhaustion of the battle and the stress of everything else had soon taken it's toll though. Prompto had fell into a deep sleep and only then was Gladio able to slip out from under his watchful gaze.

He pulled on pants as awkwardly as a guy with one working arm could, and made his way toward Tony's cabin. He wasn't 100% yet but it was only occasionally that he would have to reach out and grab at a wall to steady himself. Gladio blamed the painkillers, they made his head fuzzy and unfocused. Still, he knew enough to know this is where he needed to be going.

It was only once he reached the door did he realise what a mistake he'd made. Tony could have been asleep. His cabin mates would be asleep. It was the middle of the night and most everyone was asleep. What the hell was he thinking? Still... he knocked. Someone opened the door. Tony was not there and kindly go away. That was fair. Gladio apologised and went on his merry way.

It was as he was walking past the quiet rooms when he heard a sound in one of the rooms. Gladio stopped and looked at the room, he recognised the room for some reason. It clicked. Tony's room. He moved closer to listen more. A clink? Okay, someone was in there. He knocked and wondered if he would be told to go away again. If it happened a second time he'd take himself back to Prompto.

[marriedanidiot]

"Tony?"

She comes to him in the evening, when the others are asleep, her own eyes red with weeping.

"Oh Tony... come here." She opens her arms to him.

OTA

[swansongs]

The first chance he could, Dyme collapsed into the nearest empty seat on the train. He felt like he hadn't actually done much to help out, but at the same time he was exhausted. He hoped every mission wasn't going to be this stressful and tense and full of fighting, or else he wasn't sure how he was going to handle it. Navigating the stress of the music world had been one thing, but being on the sidelines of a literal warzone had been something else entirely.

His hands weren't shaking anymore at least when he rubbed them over his face, heaving a sigh. If there was one thing he'd learned over the last few days, it was that he really missed home, more than he had any other time while on the train so far. Home had Salem and his band, people he could vent to, maybe get drunk with, forget the stressful things for a while. Here he...hadn't made friends like that yet, and he didn't think there was alcohol readily available anyway. The second thing was probably for the best.

"I don't ever want to do that again," he muttered.

[irrationally]

"I don't think there is much of a choice."

Sure, it's probably the last thing Dyme wants to hear right now. And it's not like Alice doesn't realise that. He was most likely just trying to vent a little, but she still can't help but point it out just as she was about to walk past.

She stops walking, instead crossing her arms and staring at him. The young woman probably looks relatively calm, considering what they just walked back from and how many people are looking pretty miserable.

"This train doesn't seem to have much regard for people's wishes when it comes to that."

[internetsexsymbol]

a. well thank god that's over (ota)

It takes Reigen a minute to register that the train is there and that they're safe in the hanger, but people seem to be celebrating, which means they did it! He gives a shaky laugh, somewhere between relief and exhaustion. "Ha...piece of cake, right? How are you holding up?"

b. I abandoned my boy (closed to established CR) CW: CHILD DEATH, RELIVING TRAUMA

Not long after the mission ended, Reigen found out what happened to Joss. It didn't feel real at first. Joscelin is a vampire, he'd said how hard it is to kill him. It's ridiculous for someone who's lived that long to disappear just like that. At any moment, Joss is going to come back, probably irritated that people assumed him dead.

Once Reigen starts to return to his room, however, and realizes Joss isn't coming back, it all hit like a ton of bricks. He can't bring himself to go inside knowing that Joss' stuff is in there, waiting to collect dust forever, so he shuts himself in the luggage car to keep anyone else from seeing him.

Why hadn't Reigen done more to make sure Joss would be alright? Joss is--was essentially a child. He never should have been doing something that dangerous to begin with. Now Joss is dead. Reigen had been completely useless again to protect someone he should have. Covering his mouth to prevent sobs from escaping, he leans against a suitcase for support against the crushing feeling of loss coming over him.

a

[stealsyourheart]

"Ehhhhhh" Kaito waggles an exhausted hand at him.

"All's well that ends well? How bout you, Reigen-san?"

OTA

[les_magique]

-1-

Samata was walking along with the group, but something was bothering her: the pounding headache of maintaining 3 separate simulacrum spells and 3 remote viewing spells for a full week.

"Wait that's IT!? We risk our lives saving all these people and then we just get a 'thank you' and back on the train!? I didn't sign up for this! I didn't sign up for ANY of this!"

-2-

Later, with all that out of her system, Samata was feeling calmer. She was also feeling like she hadn't had a chance to properly bathe for a week. Unfortunately, so was most of the train, and there were only like 6 showers. That meant a lot of people standing in line, waiting for their turn and hoping there was hot water left when it was their turn.

"Incredible. I never thought I'd actually miss student housing." She said, her previous outrage replaced with mild grumbling.

-1-

[mtsilver_conquor]

"None of us did, but this how it goes."

Eva sounds so resigned to the fact, to the idea that it's just how it is with the train. "You can vent to the Wall. Just don't punch it."

ota

[littlefury]

[a; medical]

[Waver seemed to move on autopilot when they began to get back on the train; a distant look on his face, he walked to the medical carriage without a word. He didn't seem to be injured himself, more that he was still locked in some kind of routine--other people would be, and he could still do something about that. He could still move, still cast magic, still keep stock of their supplies or something.]

['Shellshocked' probably wasn't the right word for what he was at the moment, but anyone clearly in need of help might have just met with a small orange team teenager coming to meet them.]

[b; dining]

[Late at night, when things began to settle as much as they were going to, Waver could be found at a table alone--a cup of black coffee and an open book close at hand. Whether he was reading the latter or just staring at it was anyone's guess, but he didn't look like he'd be sleeping anytime soon.]

[c; wildcard]

[anything else; he'll be lingering around the infirmary and library mostly, but i'm open to whatever!]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin was also heading for the medical carriage. He had an ugly-looking burn on his left forearm. Once the arm was cleaned and bandaged, he rose and went to talk to anybody who was in a talking mood. He saw Waver, who was on Curufn's team, and he greeted him. ]

Hello! How is it going?