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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Elvish is always a mouthful! Even for Elves. XD

"Pleased to meet you, Dyme! Yeah, there are so many more Oranges than there were even a few months ago, it's hard to keep track. I'm going to start going out on the platform on newcomers' day more often, since I'm one of the team leaders. I wasn't so assiduous about doing that before Tony asked me to be part of the leadership." He makes a humorous face, thinking of himself in that role.

But he doesn't blame Dyme a bit. Getting used to being kidnapped into a world that is not your own, and besides that, getting acclimated to this particular life, on this very weird train! -- those are no easy tasks.

"Wait, we have team leaders?" How had he missed this? How oblivious had he been? Or maybe he'd heard that somewhere and then forgotten? "So what do you guys...do...exactly?" Did they order the rest of the teams around? Did they come up with plans? He didn't know how much there could actually be to do on the train, though he imagined things were a lot different when they had actual missions.

Curufn replied, "Yes, we have team leaders, but it's not very formal. Those who are willing to take on responsibilities tend to be the ones who come up with ideas for how the team might fulfill their assignments on the missions. But no one is running around giving orders. The focus is on team-building, cooperation, and voluntary coordination. When we're not on missions, the teams don't have much of a function. Except that the train assigns housekeeping tasks by team. For example, Orange Team is on cleaning duty again this month. But that doesn't require a whole lot of thinking or planning. Oh, and we do have a sort of City Council, that is, Train Council, which deals with general issues, and I believe there was a vote for councilors once, but that was before I arrived on the train. They don't really issue orders either. They have regular meetings and discuss whatever matters of importance are on the table, and try to come up with ideas or solutions, and sometimes they invite people to speak at these meetings who have experience with the issues."

Wow, that was quite a mouthful. Ask an Elf for an explanation and get at least a chapter in response!

That was...a lot to take in. He knew about the assignments by team at least, which he super wasn't fond of, but he guessed it would be better to try and lend a hand. Maybe.

"There's a train council?" That was such a ridiculous idea that he almost laughed. But that was probably important...somehow...to keep the peace or something. He wondered what kind of issues they could possibly have. People being assholes or something? The train trying to...kill them or acting up or something? He really hoped the train didn't do shit like that, beyond missions.

"I guess that keeps things...orderly."

Lending a hand with team chores gets you points, which can be spent in the train store. But some people just blow it off, not being interested in being part of housekeeping services.

"Yes, a train council." He finds it funny too, and he grins when Dyme almost laughs. He'll try to explain the issues if Dyme asks, but they are fairly simple. And this train is a surprisingly friendly place, with few conflicts and so far none that have involved the whole train. The train has never tried to kill them or done anything -- besides kidnapping them in the first place -- that might be considered shit.

"I don't know as I'd describe our little community as orderly," Curufn chuckles. "And if we ever are, it's not the Council that keeps us that way."

"What does the council even do then?" He honestly couldn't imagine the kinds of problems that could arise on the train to need a council.

"And I dunno, I've been here for a little while and things seem pretty orderly to me. I mean, there's not chaos everywhere." Everything was just a little stressful because he wasn't used to being in such close quarters with so many other people.

"I don't know the whole of what the Council does, since I'm not on it. But I've seen a little of how they work. I was invited once to speak at a meeting, when they were trying to sort through what little information we had about an incident with the Ministry of Void Travel. They sent their inspectors to stop the train and search it and ask the passengers questions. Apparently we are not the only Void Transport that is trekking around the multiverse, and the Ministry is tasked with keeping it legal. I and one of my roomies, Arataka Reigen, went with the inspectors to an office somewhere in the middle of the Void, and we filed a complaint with the Ministry, on account of none of us ever having been asked if we wanted to become passengers on the train, or Void Warriors, as the inspectors called us. I told the Councilors everything I could remember about the inspectors' visit, including what they said. It was really interesting to be at the meeting and to witness the way the Councilors interacted with each other and they way they and the other invited speakers tried to make sense of the information."

He laughed a little. "Not that we ever did make much sense of the situation. And the Ministry never did get back to us with the results of the investigation they claimed they'd conduct."

"Other than trying to make sense of things, I can't say exactly what the Council does. But you're right, there isn't chaos on the train. We do manage to keep things peaceable, and we do get the housework done. And when mission time comes around, we accomplish the mission."

Edited 2020-04-11 02:25 (UTC)

He'd been about 0.5 seconds away from interrupting with a 'how the hell is any of this legal when we've all been kidnapped' before Curufin mentioned that himself. The idea that this was happening to more people all over the world--or worlds, he guessed--and that there was some kind of Ministry keeping things 'legal' was...weird.

"So if this is like, an actual organized thing, this whole Voidtrecker thing, why don't they have a better way to do this shit?" That was a rhetorical question. "Like, this was really weird before hearing there's a Void Ministry, but everything's super weird now."

He took a deep breath, shrugging a shoulder. "I guess the Council's good for making people feel organized and heard, like...you know?"

"I wonder about that, too. Why isn't it better organized, if the Ministry is really on the ball? Well, obviously they're not, if they've done nothing with the complaint Reigen and I lodged with them. They even told us right off the bat that a Void Transport is supposed to get the consent of those they recruit, and it's supposed to provide training if it's going to employ people as Void Warriors. Nobody can remember either of those things happening." Snort of laugher.

"Yes, I'd say it's super weird. I can't think of a better phrase for it."

Curufin shrugged too. "I don't think the Council was the train entity's idea. I think it was the first passengers who thought that up. I don't know what they were thinking, since I wasn't there."

"Maybe ours is defective?" But that really wouldn't explain why it was still running if there was something wrong with it. And clearly the Ministry didn't care too much if nothing had changed after meeting them.

"Yeah, no, I figured. That it was people's idea. People like structure and to feel organized and...stuff." And it probably helped in a kidnap situation. At least, that was what he figured. It wasn't exactly his area of expertise, so he was kind of grasping at straws.

"Maybe the train is defective. We don't know. The Void Inspectors gave us one tiny fragment of information that they wouldn't elaborate on -- they said that we passengers are an anomaly, and that's why they stopped the train for the inspection. They never explained what they meant by that. Maybe they meant that we weren't supposed to be there because we hadn't been properly recruited. Or maybe they meant some other damn thing."

Curufin was grasping at straws, too. "People do like to feel organized, and some like it well enough to actually do the organizing themselves. So I guess that's how we ended up with a Train Council."

An anomaly. "I'd like to show them an anomaly," he muttered. Like his fist in someone's face. Maybe. If he felt like they deserved it.

"Thanks for answering my questions, by the way," he added. "I appreciate it." And he appreciated knowing more about the train, even if nothing had actually changed. Now he had new things to wonder about, like a Void Ministry and anomalies and other stuff.

Curufin chuckled and his eyes darkened with delight at the thought of showing someone with a fist.

"You're welcome, and I'm always available for questions and discussion. I'm sure we'll talk again. In the meantime, you take care of yourself, Dyme."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mission Five: Conclusion

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Wanna wrap this thread and have these two catch up later?

Sure! Sounds good.

And it's a wrap!