Under the Sea: Mission start

[voidtreckermods]

After fleeing the strange shapes in the sky the voidtreckers are perhaps not looking forward to yet another mission and indeed the first few days of Fiddlesticks go by without any strange dreams, no warning that another mission might be nigh. Yet on the morning of day five their SCA's will glow with the colours of the void and a holographic message will appear.

Preperations

The dressing room is open once again, though the clothes this time are simple in choice. A wet suit for each void trecker as well as a pair of flippers, a helmet and a breathing pack. It at least has instructions and there will be a little bit of time for them to figure out how to use them. Apart from that there are some waterproof packs for supplies to be packed in.

They will have a couple of hours to get ready for their mission.

Arrival: Blue and Red

"We are now approaching world #7625000129523. Drop order is Red and Blue, Purple then Orange. Red and Blue team to doors. Arrival in world #7625000129523 in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train shudders and lurches as they exit the void, the view from the window goes from the ever shifting void to a beautiful deep blue sky. They fly through the air and swoop down to land on a sandy beach. The doors open allowing those who are taking part in the Blue and Red missions to debark. The doors close and the train swoops up into the air.

The beach stretches from one side to the other, in the distance as the beach turns into sloping green hills they can see a village. Beyond that there is a jungle. Any red team who check their SCA will see four points, the rock pools.

The villagers have noticed the huge train sweeping down onto their island and so contact is made quickly. They will be quite accepting of the help and explain the situation. They will help any of red team to the rockpools if asked.

Red

The rockpools are built up and indeed made so the water will reach a persons waist if they stand in them. The water is cold but not overly so. When the water shoots up anyone in them will shoot up also.

They will find themselves in a vortex of water, with anyone else who enters that rockpool. The water itself seems to be fighting them, tendrils of water reaching out of the whirlpool to try and drag them further into the chaos. It takes a whole lot of willpower to stay in the centre, the water can be fought with weapons, even with fists. They feel as if they are falling or flying, perhaps both. Surrounded by the pure chaos of the ocean.

Blue

Hopefully they spend the day helping with preparations because when night falls the monsters emerge from the sea. Terrifying twisted creatures. The villagers only have simple weapons but will tell them that fire is helpful against these water creatures.

Hold off the monsters and keep the people safe.

Purple

The doors close and the train flies off into the sky, flying over the island to the other side where it lands on a rocky bay, near tall towering cliffs.

"Purple team to doors." The doors open, allowing the purple team to disembark before flying off once again.

In the cliff face there is a large cave entrance, over the entrance there are symbols, translated by their SCA's. Clear mind, clear heart. Come those who seek to serve.

There are six people stood by the entrance, looking quite surprised at the new arrivals. One, a woman with silver hair recovers enough to speak first. "Ah. Void warriors. We are honoured by your help."

Once introductions are made the spiritual leaders will happily accept the escort and their adventure can begin.

Orange

They fly up and out across the ocean, a longer flight than before but eventually they descend and there is a slight juddering before they land, floating on the ocean.

"Orange team disembark, please use luggage or dressing carriage doors only."

They will step out onto an inflated platform that streches around the train. Down below are the depths of the water and their SCA's show them at the point of Bui. It is below them so all they need to is dive.

The dive takes a while, and depends on their swimming ability but hopefully with a bit of teamwork they arrive at the silent city of Bui.

Comments

Najaran - OTA - in which Najara contemplates dangerous things

[najaran]

Dressing

She had seen similar outfits in that last tournament, but she had been a little too buys trying not to die to pay much attention to them. Sos he was trying to learn now. No matter what she was NOT leaving anyone behind again. Whatever it took. Whoever came upon her as she was figuring things out might see her frowning as she tried to figure out if she could leave the device that connects her to the train on said train....


Overhead

Najaran departed the train with team Orange, but she wasn't fully trusting the missions. Or much of anything right now. And she hated not trusting. All the same she was going to do some recon before she joined her team. All dressed in her gear she waited till there was room enough on the platform then summoned Thunderbeak. "Let's see what we can see," she said to her old friend as she climbed on his back. She was oddly tired, and wasn't sure why. But she refused to let it stop her. They waited until no one was on the platform to be jostled, then the creature pushed off and they took to the air.

Najaran could be seen flhying overhead, watching the world below. Feel free to wave her down if you need help with a fight or just want to know what the wat a girl is doing mutant dino surfing in a VT wetsuit...

She was trying to ignore how thick the air seemed to be on this world, with or without the helmet....


Team Orange
Najaran had been one of the last out, but that didn't account for how much later than the others she arrived down at the city. She was out of her element. Her domains were all land bound. She had very few cards she could use underwater, so her cards were tucked inside the wet suit to keep them from being stolen, with the three that might have some possible use carefully tucked inside the wrist of her suit so she could take off her glove if need be to summon them. They were Thunderbeak, Windcutter, and shield. She suspected the last wouldn't actually help and the first two had a chance to accidentally hurt too many people so were for emergency use only. She wasn't sue any of her creatures would be able to breath, but Thunderbeak was good for an escape.

When she got to the city and saw all the sleeping people, she checked ones that had already been checked, without knowing that, because she was so far behind. She was too cold to look for teammates. By the third or fourth person though she started feeling like maybe they had the right idea...

"Mmmmm, maybe a short nap... wouldn't...be so bad..." she mumbled into her comn as she noticed a bed, wondering if she could lash herself to it, if she could find a blanket....

Team Orange - assuming this is the second day or so...

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita knows what diving looks like. She knows what diving as a whale feels like, and why in all other cases she needs either a shield or just flat-out any life-preservation spell.

Falling asleep under the water? Not good, under any circumstances!

"Najaran!" she called through the suit-comms, having elected to stay human and use the more normal diving suits today.

She swam, breathing intently, eyes narrowed inside her helmet.

"What are you doing?"

Prep: Duo Maxwell | Gundam Wing

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo was very glad to have returned when he had. While he would have loved to have had more time to question where the hell it was he'd gone in the first place, he decided that could wait. There were more pressing matters at hand. Mainly a Mission.

Now, he was a little on edge as it was, and after the last mission he was not sure what to expect. But he was eager to try again.

He entered the dressing room and was amused to find wet suits. And... flippers? Oh hell no. He laughed but grabbed himself a wet suit and took himself off to one of the changing rooms to get into it.

On stepping out he was grinning like an idiot. "This is so flattering." He laughed to himself and, since he didn't know if he'd need the flippers or not, he grabbed his pair and shoved them into one of the packs. Just in case.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin was rummaging through the equipment in the dressing carriage when he heard Duo's remark.

He grinned and started to sing, "Void Warriors, Void Warriors, trekking through the multiverse! We'll save you, we'll save you! Provided we don't make it worse. . ." He added the last line for the sake of the rhyme scheme and for laughs, since Duo had already heard it with just the first three lines.

"Yes, what a flattering superhero costume. But at least yours is purple, not orange."

Khary - OTA

[sell_tickets]

Dressing

Sorry, Khary was just holding up the suit and laughing. And he had thought that other one was odd. "Well, last least someone has a sense of humor..."


Team Blue
Khary had been helping those willing and able to learn with basic lessons, teaching them enough moves to get them to someone who can help them if a monster comes. And really, anything could be a weapon. He had quite enjoyed the look on so many faces when he showed them that certain kinds of pan had the right heft to be thrown consistently and accurately, and showed them how. Kitchen knives also made useful weapons, and it just took a bit of creativity to figure out how to rig up fishook traps.

When times to rest came, he took them and the offered food, teaching verbally then. When the Monsters came he moved to the front lines, calling in his long bladed stick. He had his shields up around himself, as he always did. He put one around the buildings where the more vulnerable were sheltering. He staggered a step and looked at his Jewel. This was the first time since he'd been here that he felt any serious pull on his reserves. He dropped the shield from an Opal to Yellow, which helped. But something was wrong...

Except then he was under attack and there wasn't time to think.

For those who want to join him, Khary is fighting alongside a number of the more promising youths. He himself was using a long bladed stick and given what they'd been told about fire, occasionally calling in fires under the monsters. Less and less though as that drained him oddly. Not enough to be dangerous, but he was aware if it and didn't want to feed his power to the web uselessly.....

The Sapphire around his neck was shining brightly with dark inner fire.

Dressing Carriage

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin grinned and answered, "At least your outfit is blue."

He was standing there in his orange diving suit with his orange gear, holding a pair of orange flippers.

Prep and Arrival - Lightning / Red team

[enthunder]

Preparations
A waterworld, huh? She recalled the discussions a month or so ago, the ominous question from the train about their swimming abilities. Made sense now. Without knowing anything about the state of the other side of the rockpools, Light just grabbed a short-sleeved wetsuit and its accessories from the dressing carriage, and went back to 1-A to change. The usual voidtrecker uniform would be too thick as an underlayer, she decided, and ended up just pulling the wetsuit on over her lightweight sleepwear. One of her red hoodies around her waist completed the outfit, more for identification than any feeling that it might be necessary.

Thus attired, she headed back into the communal areas, to go over the information and discuss next steps. At least she'd grown up in a seaside town, she'd at least be able to help people work out the wetsuits and diving gear if nothing else.

Arrival
Even with two teams disembarking at once - or three, as she sees the black armbands of the fifth team here and there - it wasn't particularly crowded or chaotic. She got clear of the landing site as quickly as possible, and stood squinting in turn at the beach, the crowd, and the train. It really did feel like a Fal'Cie more than a vehicle in these moments.

She'd wait for more of Red team and their temporary recruits before heading to the world's greeting party and from there, the rock pools.

Prep

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"You're looking good," Edge said appreciatively, as he came on her just outside of the dressing area. "How do those things wear, though?"

Wetsuits were well beyond any garment from back home. If he had to guess, he'd speculate they were unpleasant to wear -- but he sure hoped to be wrong.

Arrival - Kumoko / Orange

[kumoko]

First trial - realising she couldn't take her speech machine on-world again. Mime it was! Second trial - assuming she'd be fine going without equipment and then being handed a... creepy spider wetsuit? Who made these? Why were these an available product? Were there worlds with sentient spiders who wore clothes and liked to go scuba-diving? Why wasn't she on that world?

Ahem. Third trial - she'd never actually tried to swim before, but seconds after she jumped out of the train into the ocean, she had her answer. Apparently! Spiders! Just floated! She was useless! What the heck! All that effort trying to get this weird fetish gear wetsuit onto her body and strap on eight flippers, and she couldn't swim!

Dispirited, the spider bobbed around next to the inflatable platform, fiddling with her SCA, until the screen flashed and she found herself sinking.

Aaaaaah!

Fourth trial - she was gonna die!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Oh, you don't even know what problems are," Zetta grumbled as he floated by, flat on his back in the water and lacking limbs to even try to control himself with.

Sleepy Ash - OTA

[sobothersome]

Dressing Room/Prep:

Maru (AKA: Sleepy Ash) was stood in the dressing room looking at wet suits. His was orange. Bright orange.

"Nope." He turned away. Did they think he was stupid or something?

The watch thing had told him he should come to the dressing room. Madoka said it was a mission. And he would be going with her. But there was no way he would be wearing a wet suit. He was fine with what he had on thank you very much.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin was in the dressing room, already dressed in one of those ridiculous orange diving suits.

"Not going to wear one of those?" he asked his teammate. "Are you staying on the train?"

Nita - Orange - WHALE TIME!

[unfavorableinstigation]

From the moment they had exited the void - in fact, from the moment the SCA had pinged them, given there had been no vision at all - Nita could feel an increasing sense that something wrong was ahead.

And then came the minute the peridexis went silent, and not only didn't speak up again, but couldn't.

No. No no no no! Not again! Without thinking, she ran, fumbling for the basic blocks of the Speech in her mind.

Blocking of spiritual powers, the SCA had mentioned. Only it wasn't just the natives, but theirs too!

Finally making her way outside, knowing on some level she was going to regret not having a proper swimsuit, she leapt - off the flotation platform and into the ocean.

She swam, trying to call up something, anything - her sense of life in the area, muted. A more focused detection spell? Nothing. A simple light? It flickered, but in her distraction and panic it quickly went out again.

She needed something more, something real.

I am real. I am a wizard.

When she was far enough out, she struggled her way out of her clothes and dove.

The water was deep enough, at least, and she narrowed her mind only to the task of remembering what it was like to live in a whale's senses. To steer using fins and flukes. To have eyes facing completely opposite directions. To be able to not just see but hear underwater, all the depths and peaks that could never reach a human's ear-

The exhaustion didn't surprise her, when she found herself calming in the familiar form of a humpback whale, but when she surfaced it was with a sense of relief.

/Hey everyone, I'm here! It's me, Nita!/ she called out loud. It'd be funny if it turned out there was a suit in the train to cover this!

[blue_ice]

"What."

That's Kaiba's response. He's sitting on the platform above the ocean, dressed in his gear and waiting for the first scout or two to come back. It's close enough to proper diving gear, but he hasn't trained to deal with the pressure. And that's a problem.

So he waits, and then he hears that strange echoing. And sees a whale.

"Nita, what did you do."

Allen Walker - Purple - OTA

[mynameisallen]

Prep
Well this was certainly different than the last time, thought Allen at this point also was not holding out hope for the train to keep them around the whole time either. So while he was glad that they were going to get off to help, deep down he was worried it would happen all over again.

So he chooses to get ready regardless and soon was standing around shirtless, the scar on his right side and abdomen clearly showing as he started to fidget around with the wetsuit in hand. he had no clue how this worked at all.

"Just what is this and why is it like this?"

Arrival - Purple
When they arrived, Allen simply was glad to be off the train for the time being an focused on the task at hand. Looking around he was checking to see who else was around. Maybe there would be someone he knew, someone he didn't. It was just good to know who you are working with.

So walking over he smiled. "hey, I guess we're both on the same team this mission. I'm Allen. Nice to meet you."

For those he is already aware of his wording will be slightly different as "Guess we're in the same team. let's do our best, okay?"

[myblueskies]

"We are! I came to help Joss out! So I think we will all do our best and get this sorted out!" He is wearing a blue wet suit and is quite excited about getting started, he's never been on a purple mission before!

Nor has he been in an underwater cave before so this is very exciting!

Romeo- OTA

[myblueskies]

Preparation

He has wore a wet suit before, when he had visited the beach on a trip with the heavens so he knew how to put it on. The helmet and breathing machine were new but he sat on the floor of the dressing room reading the instructions carefully. "So this pipe goes into here and then it makes air go in!"

That sounded a bit weird but that's what the instructions said!

He keeps an eye out for Joss and Elfnein as well as any other friends and Inigo, Joss had come with him on two missions now, both had gone a bit bad. But he didn't want to leave Joss alone this time either. Especially since he knows Joss can't swim very well. So he thought it would be a good idea to help purple this time. He feels a bit bad for not going with blue, but his friend needs him!

Purple arrival

He hopped off the train when they arrived at the bottom of the cliff and looked up in awe at how tall the cliffs were! He stuck with purple team as they met the leaders of these islands and made their way through the entrance into the cave.

He keeps up easily enough, he is a good climber and a very strong swimmer. He will make sure to help other people, especially those who are a bit nervous about swimming or going underwater, happily making underwater tunnel trips multiple times to help get everyone through.

He mostly sticks near Joss though, to make sure his friend doesn't come to harm!

Monster trouble

Nearing the end of the first day there is a strange sound and all of a sudden a big mean crab scuttled into view, rushing right for him.

Romeo brought his hand up, fingers pointed and drew a line in the air. "Line!"

Nothing happened. No shimmer of a borderline and the crab just kept charging.

Preparation

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita had been feeling a descending sense of wrong since they'd woken up, but she wasn't going to sit in her room worrying over it!

Still, she wasn't sure how to feel about the diving suits.

"Yeah, it's pretty nifty," she admitted, holding the 'box' part up to study the fan.

"That and the helmet-comms. Though why we didn't have those for the space mission, I don't know..."

Taiki- OTA

[longforgottenpromise]

Arrival

He and Lord Gyousou had read through the different missions and Lord Gyousou had decided on the Blue teams mission. He had spent the couple of hours getting ready. He could swim at least, even if he was not the strongest at it, he knew how. He knew Lord Gyousou would not expect him to fight the monsters and helping the villagers stay safe and away from the fighting was a task he was willing to do.

He stood by the doors as they were called and braced as they jolted out of the void onto the world. And gasped outloud. Gyousou was gone.

No. He wasn't. He was still there, by the door. Yet the ouki... He can't feel it. It's gone. Lord Gyousou is there but in his heart, it is like his king has gone.

He is frozen, almost floored by this feeling.

Blue team: On the island nearing nightfall.

He is less alright with Gyousou going off to fight when he cannot sense him at all. It's still there, if he sits still, quiet and uninterrupted he can still sense his king. It's not the ouki, almost like if their covenant has been put in a box inside of him.

But they have people to keep safe. He works on helping everyone get ready for night time.

island

[magicurls]

Mami has sort of made progress with her new bow by now. She can at least try to fight the monsters without magic, but the idea still scares her. She needs to be brave.

"Ah...hello. How are you doing?"

She should check in with her temporary teammates, she thinks.

Kaiba - Orange (OTA)

[blue_ice]

train/prep

Again with the suits, huh. He dresses quickly, double-checking and triple-checking his equipment, then steps outside to let the air hit his face. It's been a while since he's been near an ocean. And now he's expected to deep sea dive. That's...something.

He hangs back to wait for the first scout's report, but he knows he'll be going. They have a job to do. But first he'll look at the crew left on the train, hanging back to check on those who seem hesitant or afraid.

"We don't have to all rush it. It'd be stupid to. Prepare."

The Dive (day 2. eventual target: market)

Initial reports say they'll be fine. It'll be a tough journey, but he's up for it. Early in the day he hits the water. Hopefully with at least someone at his side.

"Ready? This won't be a walk in the park."

The Dive

[sizedoesntmatter]

Yugi was sitting on the edge looking down at the water for a moment. He knew that they were going to dive under the water and that seemed fine at the time, but now he was sitting on the edge and looking in and really thinking about it he started to feel a sense of dread that he couldn't quite understand.

"I mean... This mission could have been like the one in space. So it's already easier than that one." Taking a small breath he finally got it. That was the easy part at least. He felt okay just swimming on the surface.

"So we're just going quite far down, right?"

Mami - Blue (as a visiting purple) OTA

[magicurls]

Arrival

The train reaches the first destination, but she hesitates. Normally, she'd be confident, her soul gem glowing bright, but her head hurts. Her powers are usually bubbling under the surface, close at hand even in her normal form, but even the slightest reach for them sends her reeling. And her team's supposed to go on a long trek through underwater caves.

Mami clenches her fist tries one more time and full-body flinches. She's not suited for close combat, especially without her magic. "I'm sorry, I can't---"

First teams are disembarking. Time to make a decision.

Blue mission

The island air at least gives her a little more room to breathe. She spends the day smiling at children, asking adults about the situation, and tentatively touching the older weapons. She has to fight somehow...her sharp eye is suited to long range, but can she learn to use a bow in a day? She's out trying in a desolate area, at least.

When night falls and the ominous rumblings approach, she steadies and raises a bow. No backing down now.

Blue mission

[pleple]

"You've never done that before?" she asks the obvious question. Ple Two has pointedly dug up a crossbow anytime 'medieval' is the weapon style of the day, and without a trigger to pull around here she's got a sword sheathed at her side.

[knifewithnoname]

Early morning: For Tony

She hadn't been awake very long at all when the mission had appeared on her SCA. So she was still on her bed, lying against her pillow as she read the words that appeared up off her watch.

They were going to an island and red team had to go into people eating rock pools? It sounded weird but she had no doubt they would be fine. They always were, even if nothing was known about what they might face.

She does wish she knew how to swim though, it seemed silly that her guardians had never taught her. After all Gauig was on the coast.

Preperation: OTA

It is a very annoyed girl who is sorting through the wet suits in the dressing room. These were even worse than flight suits she grumbled to herself as she pulled the suit on. She wrinkled her nose at the helmet and then picked up a flipper.

"What in the name of darkness do these be being?"

they were the most stupid things she had ever seen.

Preparation

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin is already dressed in his bright orange dive suit and carrying his equipment.

"Those are flippers. You pull them over your feet and they help you swim. When you kick with your feet, they give each kick more power. But don't put them on until you're ready to jump in."

Sven - OTA - Red team

[aggressivelygood]

Dressing room.

By now, Sven was getting used to feeling surrounded by things he doesn't understand, but it was harder when it was quite this...literal. He raised a hand to brush his nose, only for his fingers to contact the transparent dome encasing his head like he's in a fish bowl.

"Yeah, this? This I don't like very much. Where in damnation am I supposed to put my weapon?" The Petals of Nil lay on top of his discarded hoodie, within easy kicking-distance of anyone who tries to pull a fast one, its single glass flower casting a glow over the red fabric. The odd tree branch that Sven usually kept in his hair was not going to fit inside the dome, and even if it did, it would be about as useful as an actual hair ornament if Sven can't get it out again when they're in the water.

Arrival.

He felt more in his element once the train pulled in on Red Team's stop. The scent of salt and plants that mingled on the thick air was almost overwhelming. Sven sucked in air greedily, raising his hand against the sun and staring up into the deep blue that stretched above.

Things started to feel more like what he was used to as he moved among the planet's natives. He spoke to as many of the local peoples as he could, asking about the disappearances, asking after whatever information they could give him about their lives on the planet. Smiling, touching hands, offering sympathies and promising they were going to do whatever the could to bring the people taken by the rock-pools back home and safe.

He'd check in with his fellows too, introducing himself and making enthused conversation about how beautiful this planet was. "...So I'm used to forests," he'd say, "but wow. Wow. I've only read about tropical climates. I know warm, but this kind of hot, damp air really clings to you, huh?"

Red Team mission.

The charcoal prayer marks streaking over his eyes and the bridge of his nose had smudged all across Sven's face by the time they reached their destination, distorted by sweat. You wouldn't think a guy who wouldn't even burn if you set him on fire could get sweaty, but this cloying dank atmosphere is something else entirely.


He was already in his red wetsuit, foregoing gloves or flippers in favour of bare hands and feet. Stepping up to the edge of the pool, he pulled the Petals of Nil from his frizzing black hair, tying it with the string appropriated from his team hoodie so it wouldn't distract him all bunched up against his face on the inside his helmet. He looked down into the waters, the Petals of Nil still in its regular form in his clenched fist. Somehow the weapon felt heavier than usual to hold. Was that just because of his distance from El'Nil'm?

Shaking off his irritation at the bubble trapping his face (and stuffing down his worries about whether or not such a contraption would really protect him from suffocating down below), he turned to the person next to him. "Alright. Survive it through the pools into the great, wet unknown. Well, here goes nothing, I guess. Are you ready to do this?"

Dressing Room

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Does it need to be in contact with skin? We could maybe jury-rig an arm strap..."

Or come up with a new purpose for the diving set-up, with the fan and 'backpack.'

"Give it its own bubble, maybe?"

Creed OTA - Purple - CW BAD MEMORIES/CHILD DEATH

[thebetterweapon]

Dressing

Wet Suits. Fucking wetsuits?! Hell, he knows how to swim, he just hates damned wetsuits. They brought back...

The night is silent. All he can smell is the salt of the air, and the decaying bodies of fish that always seems to permeate the air around a body of water. All he can hear is the distant music of the cantinas and the occasional honk of a car. His silence rifle spits, taking out two men on the beach. He slowly walks out of the water, and doesn't look back. His team is with him. But then he hears it, the pattering of small feet and paws on the sand. He turns to tell his team back to the water, when two rifles spit and he watches as a child and dog fall to the sand. He turns and his own rifle takes out one, then his claws take out the other. "Let's go." He says to the remaining two...

He shakes his head, clearing the memory, as the hair on his arms stands up. He shoves himself into the wetsuit, and goes back to the dressing carriage. Time to go.

Into the tunnels

They smell. They smell a lot. He hates the smell of damp and dying things. And has he mentioned lately that he hates crabs. Because he really, really does. Though, maybe these are edible. He wonders...

Re: Creed OTA - Purple - Tunnels

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel approached him, tapping his short spear on a rock so he doesn't sneak up on him.

"Are you point with me, outrider, flank, or floater?" he asked. He was assuming Creed wasn't the type to stay with those being escorted to wait for danger to come to them.

Misa OTA

[sensitiveapple]

Dressing

No. Nope. NUH UH. Not going to happen. She took one look at the skin tight clothing and said "No." And stood at the back. She's not going. You can't make her. But she's still got her knives on her, and she plans on giving one to Geralt, since he's going with Purple and will probably need a weapon (or two) to with him.

But she's hanging around if others need help putting their suits on, and if there's something else.

Orange Mission

Got to be kidding. The train has got to be kidding. First, no warning dream, and then THIS?!

No. She settles into the dining car with a peanut butter sandwich, and refuses. She'll be here if anyone needs help or anything, but she's not going in the water.

Orange Mission - a day or two into the mission

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita stumbles into the dining car, not as wet as she'd been on first coming back from the train, but still looking about as drained.

"How's things going up here?" she asks, as she pulls herself onto one of the benches and lets herself slump.

"Nothing's tried to get on the train, have they?"

Ple Two - OTA

[pleple]

Prep

Wetsuits. Diving equipment. Nothing Ple Two is exactly familiar with, although she understands how it all works; she can swim, probably, well enough. She might not find out anyways, if her team is handling shore defense, but she'll at least be prepared in case the situation evolves.

"Maybe we can get a speargun or something..." she mutters.

Blue Stuff

There's a far more distressing problem than just not having a speargun here. Ple Two could feel it when they touched down, long before the fight, impacting every bit of how she moved and communicated. A barrier of some kind was blocking her Newtype senses - from feeling any of it - and reinforcing just how much she relied on those.

Which would be a much bigger problem in combat.

Ple Two had acquired a nice little short sword to defend herself when better weapons weren't imminently available, and by the time the fighting had started she'd discovered that she could use some of her Newtype senses with great effort. Fighting with a headache, though, was too far from ideal. When the monsters arrive, it shouldn't be too hard to notice that her reactions are dulled, far more jerky and panicky, especially when she's sent sprawling on the sand to avoid getting her head taken off by some... massive appendage swung her way.

A little help?

Prep

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin is already in his orange diving suit, carrying his gear.

"I wish the train would think of that. We don't have weapons made for this kind of mission. A speargun would be perfect."

Whisper - OTA

[silentwoof]

Dressing

"Huh..." Even in a train full of humans they've got wetsuits that fit all of them. The right size, accommodating her tail, her slightly different body shape. This train is certainly more than a mere machine; or else someone running it is almost god-like.

Well, she's not complaining, and swimming's never been a problem for her. And it is a perfect fit, too. And being in the water should mean she doesn't have to keep getting squished against other people, right?

Cave Adventure

...oh, fine. Caving. Not as much swimming as some teams, but still damp enough to require all the apparatus. Her wispon should be find in saltwater for a while, and there's enough storage for her wisps to come with her, but she ends up deciding to cut down on the bulk, bringing just cyan and blue without her coat to easily store them. One for long range, one for close range - just in case.

There's still no easily avoiding contact with others as they progress, though, and that just keeps her a little teensy bit on edge.

Re: Whisper - Cave

[laurefindil]

As he got ready to head into the caves, Glorfindel was checking with his team so he would know where everyone was as the mission went on. He tapped his short spear against the rocks as he moved about so he wouldn't sneak up on anyone.

Seeing Whisper, he approached her. "Hello, I am Glorfindel, a member of the Purple Team as well. Do you know if you are going to be staying with those we are escorting, or being Point with me, an Outrider, bringing up the Flank, or will you be a floater?" he asked.

Geralt - OTA, purple

[willnotchoose]

He makes his way to the doors, having familiarized himself with what he needed to. He doesn't much care for the strangeness of the place, but it's at least a direction. Something to do, and he doesn't work for free but there's probably something to be made at the end of it. He doesn't kill men, only monsters, and that's what the place promises.

He can swim well enough, but he familiarizes himself with the new tools. Dons what he needs to and packs the rest away before making his way to the doors, joining the group. His introduction is brief, because the group doesn't really matter. They're the payload but not the target; he'll leave the others to the handholding, he strikes on ahead without a word to scout the area, the knife from Misa a reassuring weight at his side. It's not his own sword, and he doesn't have his elixirs, but he'll manage. He always does.

[thebetterweapon]

Mutant. But not, exactly. Creed doesn't know what the tall man is, but he sure as hell isn't human. That's alright, he doesn't care. But, when the crab drops behind the man, Creed grunts, jumps on it and then rips it's legs off.

"Think they're worth eatin'?" Because he wants seafood. Somehow, he doubts they're going to get any fishing in on this trip.

And he's rarely one to waste his kills. But that's alright, these smell funny. At least the boars had smelled like meat.

Persephone | Orange | OTA

[springforth]

Dressing

The wetsuits are more complex than what she expected. A proper suit with a cap to tuck her hair in, perhaps? It makes sense, she's heard of such things for deeper colder waters, but she's never encountered one in the wild. She holds out the orange wetsuit with both hands and then disappears to go try it on. It takes some time.

When she steps out in neck to toe orange, with those little flippers on her feet, she looks at herself in the mirror.

"Oh my gods, I look like a duck. Look at this." She waves the flippers on her feet, "An orange duck."


On the platform

Dipping her toes in the water is nice. Just having a moment to sit under the bright sky and not actually go right to work is just as nice. The world is beautiful, with clear skys and seas. She'd pressed her face to the windows at the first stops, the beaches bright with sand and beauty. Even here she can see fish and life moving beneath them in the water but not the city so far down.

"It's weird, how this hardly seems like a world in danger. I'm sure it is but out here--it just seems peaceful."

She lifts her feet up to latch on the fins.

"What is this is like the last world where they didn't seem to think anything was wrong?"

Exploring

It takes time to get down deep enough to spot the city. Half of that is because she had to fiddle with her SCA halfway down to get a light on, and half because--well there was so much to see. But a mission is a mission. And she wasn't going to get a reputation for shirking.

It doesn't stop her from stopping completely still at the sight of the first people, asleep or dead, draped over a table. Sorry for whoever was behind at this moment.

Exploring (any particular location in the city?)

[unfavorableinstigation]

There's a whale above and behind her, unfortunately - the form helps in covering a larger area at one go, in addition to being able to hear better - and Nita has to backfin quickly to make up for Persephone halting in her tracks.

/It's haunting, isn't it?/ Nita says, none too softly.

/But we're here to do what we can for them./

[so_dark_a_road]

Preparation:

Curufin braids his hair to keep it from getting in his eyes in case it gets free while he is underwater, and then he gathers his equipment. He grabs the leaflet and scrabbles through the pages to determine how to hook it all together. Then he appraises the diving suit and equipment with a critical but humorous eye. "Orange! Eternally orange," he remarks, with a snort of laugher.


Orange Team arrival:

Orange Team is the last to be dropped off. Curufin is hanging onto a handhold in the luggage carriage, trading funny or anxious comments with other team members. He knows, of course, that not all his teammates are going to dive with him, some are staying with the train.

With the usual shudder and jerk, the Voidtrecker Express drops out of the sky once more and sets down on the sea platform. He exits the train onto that platform and looks around. The sea is wide and blue and stretches out to the horizon, the sky is clear and blue. He lifts his wrist to check his SCA and looks the map over, trying to determine where exactly the city of Bui is, in relation to the platform. He makes a mental map.

And while he's doing that, he notices that his normal psychic sensitivity to his environment is somewhat muted. He tries to reach out with his mind and sense the temperature of the water and the speed of its flow, and this faculty returns no real information. He's going to have to rely wholly on his senses and his analytical abilities. All right, he can do that. He's smart and he's acutely attuned to his environment in purely sensory ways.

"Let's do this thing!" he says to his nearest teammate, and he puts his mask on and runs to the edge of the platform, vaults over the edge and down the ladder and dives. The water is icy cold but clear. He surfaces for a moment, and then plunges under again and heads downward, swimming with powerful strokes and keeping an eye out for signs of a city on the bottom of the ocean.

Preparations

[tinkerheart]

Fëanor is glad to see his son in such a good mood. He's not exactly as much excited himself but it's good to leave the train and go exploring. Only the fact that they are required to don some abomination of an attire again dims his enjoyment of the mission.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from train-provided equipment at this point. At least this mission does not require stealth."

Because red and orange will be visible for miles.

[tinkerheart]

Preparation

It would be wrong to say Fëanor has been defeated by the diving gear. Far from it. The instructions are clear and the apparatus itself is not complicated. It just doesn't make much sense to him. He would have built it completely different. Yet, it took him several tries to assemble the cursed thing properly.

"This is completely ridiculous."

He kept connecting pieces in all the wrong ways. Or rather wrong from the point of assembly instruction. This whole set-up begs for modification. He's not even commenting on having close to a lizard skin as attire.


Red Team Arrival

From the moment the train exited Void Fëanor feels ill at ease. They land on the beach, both not only Red team disembarking makes for quite a commotion. So it is only when the train leaves for its next destination that he realizes the source of this strange feeling. It is as if he suddenly has gone deaf even if he can hear all the sounds. It's the echo of Music, the voice of the world itself that he's missing. This is what he was trying to grasp not fully consciously and couldn't. It is there. It didn't go completely silent but it's faint, barely audible. It should be all around him but instead comes as muffled and distant. As if a curtain has been drawn between him and the world.


Rock pools

"Not that impressive."

Fëanor certainly expected something more... ornate? Bigger? He's not sure what exactly was he expecting. How can you possibly lose people in what is not more than two feet of water? Then he hears a rumbling, the calm surface breaks, and the pool erupts into a water column shooting up, then falling down. And all is still again. The same process repeats at regular intervals.

"Oh, that's a bit more."

Rock Pools

[xue_yang]

"Jump right in. I'm sure the water is fine." Xue Yang has his arms folded in front of him, clearly not interested in getting pulled into whatever trap that water might be. He's watched it do its thing for several minutes and he can't figure out why anyone would have been foolish enough to get trapped in it.

Danny - OTA - Red Team

[schrodingersghost]

Dressing:
Danny is ignoring the purple wetsuit and the matching waterproof pack for now, in favor of frowning over the instructions.

"Okay, so the breathing pack connects to the helmet here. I think? Or does it connect on the other side? How do these things even work?"

Maybe it would just be easier to go intangible the whole time.

Arrival:
Danny jumps back in alarm as the rockpool just in front of him suddenly erupts in a geyser. He definitely hadn't been expecting that.

"Looks like somebody was ready to blow their top."

Too bad the surprise wasn't enough to prevent the pun.

Dressing car

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin is in his orange dive suit, and he's reading the instructions to figure out how the breathing apparatus is connected up.

He turns to Danny. "That's right, the pack is connected to the helmet, with this hose. Right here." He demonstrates by connecting his own. He figures that if Danny sees how it is done, he'll be able to do it himself.

"I don't know precisely how they work, but it looks as though the pack thing extracts oxygen from the water and pipes it to your helmet."

Conan - OTA - Team Orange

[deductiongeek]

Dressing:
Conan had known this was coming, even since that survey about swimming. He still wasn't prepared for this mission to be happening right now. Not when he still hadn't figured out what to do about the fallout of his change, the subsequent identity reveal and now Ran's presence here.

But the mission was here, and he only had so long prepare.

He grabs the smallest orange wetsuit in the room, along with the rest of the equipment and heads off in search of Ran. Although knowing his luck, she wouldn't be the only one he would find.

The Dive:
Conan steps out on the platform and walks over to kneel at the edge and inspect the water below.

The Dive

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin has already been out in the water, just to test the breathing apparatus. But now he starts climbing back up the ladder, and then he spots Conan looking over the edge of the platform. Curufin looks up.

"Going down under, Conan?" he asks, cheerfully.

Dyme | OTA

[swansongs]

A. Preparations

He had absolutely no intentions of going into the ocean, not just because he couldn't swim to save his life, but also because the ocean was fucking terrifying, but he wrestled his way into a wet suit anyway. The only thing he had trouble with was zipping it up in the back, which left him floundering for the zipper while the burn scars spread across his upper back were left uncovered. He'd feel a lot more self-conscious about them if he wasn't distracted with the zipper.

"Um. Sorry. Could you give me a hand?"

B. Blue Team Part 1

Before ending up on a crazy train in space, it hadn't actually been too long since he'd been on a beach. The downside was that it reminded him of someone he was missing. It was a little hard not to get distracted while he was on patrol, but he was equally worried about some kind of horrible monster coming out of the ocean.

Between the two of those things, he was so distracted from where he was walking that he stepped barefoot on a broken seashell. "Ow, ow, shit," he swore under his breath, hopping around on one foot to check his other. He wasn't bleeding very much, but it still hurt.

C. Blue Team Part 2

So far, ditching his own team to help another had been pretty stress free, all things considered. And he'd only ditched because of the whole 'can't swim' thing. Also, you know, the ocean being terrifying. He'd never been in the ocean before. Ever. He couldn't imagine being down under the water right now, experiencing who knew what, the whole time expecting something to attack him.

Alright, so he was still expecting something to attack him at any moment, but that was exactly what blue team was supposed to be working on, so it wasn't exactly a surprise. And besides, there were far fewer directions for something to come from while on land. Still, when something started emerging from the ocean, something large, horrible and wrong, Dyme scrambled backwards.

"Problem! We've got a problem here!"

Rushing up the beach, he nearly slipped on the sand, but made it to a torch, snatching it up and turning back around to face the thing from the ocean. It hesitated when it saw the fire, but it was still too close for Dyme's comfort.

"I will...I'll fuck you up," he said, but he didn't sound very convincing, and the thing didn't look very intimidated.

A. Prep

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin was already dressed in his own dive suit and carrying his equipment.

"Sure, no problem," he answered. He set his gear down and came around behind his teammate and pulled the zipper up. "Is that all right?" He had noticed the burn scars and wondered if the garment would be uncomfortable for Dyme, with that long steely zipper up his back.