middleofsomewhere | Mission Five: Conclusion

Mission Five: Conclusion

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!

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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.

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."

Nita mustered a grin for Curufin - her compatriot when things had really gotten rough.

"We did," she echoed.

"There's always a price, though. Or... just loss."

She held a hand forward, leaning herself precariously on the nearby shop display frame.

"Think we really gave that Empire what-for, though."

Curufin met that grin with one of his own. He did feel connected to her, and it was true they worked well together in tough situations.

"I am hearing that we lost some people," he said, softly. Seeing Nita's fatigue, he stepped a little closer in case she needed to lean on somebody. Or maybe the shop display sign would do perfectly well.

"We did land a few hits on the Empire," he agreed, using understatement to make the point that they WON.

"I don't think it was even because of the mission," Nita admitted, staggering a little as she leaned, pulling herself straighter.

"People just... go home. Either they're called or something sustaining them's been lost. That's how it worked in the last place I was."

Curufin's next comment brought her back a little, from that dark place of memory inside her.

"I doubt they'll forget that fact anytime soon!"

"I don't know why we lost them. Maybe this is something the train does, just to keep us all off balance. But if it was the train's responsibility, then we're likely to get those people back. At least, some of them."

He considered what she had just said. "I know. In the last two worlds I lived it, sometimes people just vanished and never returned. Their friends usually said that they must have gone home. But I was never so sure about that. I hoped that was true. But someone I cared for disappeared, and I knew that he had fallen into the darkness of non-being. I didn't have that same sense of annihilation with others, though." He had his own dark memories, and he realized he probably shouldn't have evoked them at this moment.

He rallied himself and smiled. "The Empire is henceforth going to quake at the name of the VoidTrecker Express and the Void Warriors," he said.

She nodded. "For some people, going back home is the last thing they want... even if they don't precisely like wherever they end up."

She'd met several people, here and in Nautilus, who were dead back home. And that wasn't the only reason to avoid such a thing.

"They did catch on to who we were, right? 47 mentioned something like that in his debriefing."

"Indeed. Most of my relatives are dead in our world. For that matter, so am I. But they would probably be trapped for centuries or even forever in the Halls of Mandos, our death-god's dim underground castle. I myself refused the summons of Mandos and remained in Middle-earth as a disembodied spirit, so at least I wouldn't be imprisoned in Mandos. Long story, which I won't tell right now. Besides, I may have mentioned it before. Much as I miss Middle-earth, I don't think it would be the best idea to go back there, and I hope my relatives have gone to other worlds instead of home. Yes, just as you say, we may not like where we end up, but we shouldn't go home."

He gave Nita a look of puzzlement. "What did 47 say in his debriefing? Who caught on to who we were?"

Edited 2020-04-09 05:28 (UTC)

Nita whistled - or tried to, the effort resulting more in just a narrow stream of air.

"Sometimes the past should just stay in the past."

There was nothing good in making someone stay in a mold - or just a place - they didn't need to be in any longer.

"Just that they'd caught on to the unexpected aid. They didn't see the train itself, or we'd probably have had more problems."

And even in the cases of those who did fight the Voidtreckers, not many were surviving to report back to the higher-ups about their color scheme...

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Mission Five: Conclusion

OTA! Though mostly handwaving Narrative here. XD

no subject

Still not sure which is better - just one wormhole going down? Two? Their whole system?

Not sure either! I'll go look at the information again before I venture an opinion. XD

The interplay between 'suitably epic' and 'not godmodding' is a delicate balance. ;)

True, and I still haven't reviewed the mission logs to see who was doing what, at the end.

The Purple Finale log was pretty dang quiet, as I recall. Somewhat disconcerting ICly!

Purple Finale was EMPTY! Also, I plurked you some info and a question.

Answered~ Hopefully we can run with it.