voidtreckermods: (voidtrain)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2020-07-09 04:39 am

Deep Dweller: Start

After the dreams some of the voidtreckers report on day Four of Grasshopper those that have been on the train for a little while will be expecting what comes the next day. Their SCA's glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preparations and Arrival

As promised the dressing carriage is opened for optional extras. There are flight suits, similar to those they wore into space but without the helmets. There are instead hard hats and some basic climbing gear as well as bags to put supplies in. There are even a few red tents if any of those planning on tackling red's mission want to grab one, they hold six people in two inner compartments and are relatively easy to put up and take down.

They have a few hours of preparation before the announcement comes. Soon approaching system #789327772. Planet Terra. Drop order: Orange, Red, Blue, Purple. Orange to doors. Leaving the void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. A sharp jerk, a judder and the view from the window changes from the void to dark cloudy skies and very red sand.

They land smoothly, and indeed it seems they have landed on train tracks. A few moments later they pull up outside a huge metal and glass building.

Orange Team

Arrival

Jumping down from the train they will find themselves outside large metal gates. Noticable is the spotlights that shine even in the day time, reflecting oddly off the red sand. It is hot and dry outside, a slight breeze sending red dust rolling around their feet.

The gates aren't locked. There is no lock though they will notice devices that are probably security cameras. The doors are glass and inside is light and airy. They enter into a large lobby, a large circular desk in the centre and a glass walled waiting room to the side.

It is empty. No people at all. All the lights are on. Time to explore.

Exploration

Going up two floors and down five the lab is large and full of all manner of interesting things. Scientific equipment, monitoring stations measuring chemical levels in the air, temperature, water levels. Where to even start is a good question. The lights remain on, which might be annoying at night.

Red Team

Arrivals

Red team to doors. The train continues travelling along the train tracks, looking out the windows they will see endless rolling red sand. Factories rising up from the ground, dotted across the landscape. As the train gets close the air outside seems hazier, through the fumes. They may even see in the distance, strange silver floating orbs.

Eventually it pulls up at a station. Just a raised block really, but easy enough for red team to disembark.

The land stretches out around them. Train tracks criss cross the surface but apart from that there don't seem to be any boundaries. No fences, roads or sign posts.

It won't take them long to find the first orbs, strange silvery spheres and seem almost liquid, until they are not.

Night Time

It grows dark quickly after sunset here, which might take them by surprise. Taking them more by surprise however may be the scraping, scuttling noises in the dark. Skittering close. There is no light out here on the surface, they are far away from the research facility that Orange found themselves in.

If anyone manages to catch a glimpse they will see grey, long limmbed creatures. They shy away from light but anyone in the dark is likely to be attacked. They fight with claws and teeth.

When the sun rises they are gone.

Blue Team

Arrival

Blue team to doors. The train continues across the landscape, passing more orbs, just floating there silently. It stops at the entrance of a cave.

The cave slopes downwards into darkness and soon turns into small tunnels. They don't need to go far when they meet the first ground of Gry. A group of young Gry, practising with spears in an wider section of cave.

Despite being very surprised at the sudden visitors no weapons are pointed at the voidtreckers, instead they are met with curiosity. They are soon led further into the tunnels and soon come to the living areas.

The Gry lead simple lives but they are all pretty fascinated to see their visitors and will allow them to look around their home and answer any questions they have.

Night Time

Most of the Gry sleep in a large communal sleeping area and the Voidtreckers are welcome to join them, though the Gry won't be insulted if they choose to seek out a more private area.

If the Voidtreckers awake in fear in the night, after strange dreams they will find they are not alone. Many of the Gry have awoken too and will reassure the Voidtreckers, tell them it is an honour to communicate with The Burrower.

Purple

Arrival

Purple team to doors. The train continues on the tracks and soon enters a tunnel itself. It's a bit of a bumpy trip, this train was clearly not made for warren systems but after some uneasy twists and turns they pull to a stop.

They are at a train station, not that it's easy to see because it is pitch black. But it is clear there are people around, some looking very confused at the very odd train.

Once the last of those going on the mission leave the train it speeds off into the darkness.

The Terran's are large and tower over most of the voidtreckers but they are friendly enough, if a little confused, once it is explained that they are here to help. They will be led over towards the collapsed section of city.

There is a lot of activity. People digging at rubble, others using their sheer size and strength to hold up beams. There is an array of rescue equipment and a group of official-looking Terran's holding large devices that are comparable to a tablet-computer and discussing solutions.

There is plenty to do to help, smaller rubble to clear, injured people to tend to. Worried Terran's to calm and reassure. Those brave enough can volunteer to use their smaller size to help get supplies through to those trapped and those with any scientific know how, great strength or magic can put their skills to good use.

Rest Time

Throughout the day people are rescued and other parts of the tunnels stabilised. There is more work to be done but the Terran's seem to be working in shifts and they will encourage their surprise allies to rest as well. They will offer to host them.

They live in large groups and will happily invite the voidtreckers into their homes. They will be curious about the voidtreckers but will also answer questions. Telling them about the strange storm and the collapse of the tunnels. They are urged to sleep early and the next day it will be back to work.

(OOC: Information is here)
popotostudies: (pic#13848239)

[personal profile] popotostudies 2020-07-12 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"First, I think it'd be a good idea for you and the others to get some rest. It's only sunrise, and nightfall is quite some time away." Very slowly he levers himself upright, picking at his now tattered hoodie with a scowl. "Those of us who don't really need sleep can wake the rest of you with plenty of time to conduct further experiments."

Sleep is very important for young bodies he's relying on to keep him from not dying, after all! And by his estimate, dark isn't for over eight hours from now. "Once everyone's rested, I suppose we should begin seeing who actually knows how to conjure light instead of darkness. Or lots of fire." Not that there's much to burn around here..
exspeariment: (laugh)

Day 2, Sunrise Ish

[personal profile] exspeariment 2020-07-12 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Undyne had mostly recovered from dealing with the creatures that had attacked her, and the rest of Red Team. She was able to prevent any of them from dealing too much damage to her, though she was aching in a few places. She wouldn't give up, though. She was determined to figure out what the hell was up with these spheres and those creatures.

In the distance, Undyne saw someone approaching her, though they were too distant to make out right away. Focusing with her robotic eye, she recognized them as one of the people she met when she first arrived at the station. Fandaniel, that person who wasn't human, but just in the body of one, and he was bringing two spheres with him. As he stopped a bit away from her, he began to speak, requesting her help with trying something with the spheres.

We still don't know much about these spheres, and this could help us learn more. What if it does go badly, though? ...SCREW IT! Whatever this could be might solve all this! We need answers!

"Let's do it!" Undyne yelled enthusiastically.
blitzcheer: (arms folded time!!)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-07-12 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Is she seriously standing up and saying that in front of Tidus.

Because Tidus is standing too, the question about the orbs dropped for now, the pieces of his things picked up between his hands, shoved against his abdomen as he tries to get them into the bag.

"Nooo, you're gonna get some rest," he tells, not asks. "We're fine--if you want someone to give you an update or whatever later, pick someone you know to do it and go to bed. But you know we've got the train doctor with us," he adds. "Don't make me grab her to scare you!"

Because nobody likes to be given a Look by a doctor on any planet or any culture, and so that threat works even if Tidus has had minimal to no contact with Wen Qing to know what she's actually like.
sunbloom: ([+T] I'm not sure...)

[personal profile] sunbloom 2020-07-12 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Itsuki is occupied enough that it takes her a second to notice the other girl settle next to her, but once she does, she smiles, even if it doesn't entirely reach her eyes. "Madoka-san," she greets softly. "I hope so. It feels like it's important work, and I don't want to mess up. It feels like the other teams are doing more involved work, too. I don't know, I'm just... unsure?" Her expression is complex but largely neutral.
exspeariment: (abouttopunch)

[personal profile] exspeariment 2020-07-12 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
A loud smack was heard as the sphere collided with the ground with enough force to crack boulders. The sphere soared into the air, before falling back down, bouncing at decreasing heights, until it stopped a bit above the ground. Undyne, standing back up, frowned as it floated as if nothing happened. Nothing she had done did much of anything to it.

She heard a voice, and turned around, to see a human flirting with her, calling her "princess". An idea entered her mind. Within seconds, Undyne's arms were around Reno's torso, and he was lifted into the air. She began to lean back, taking Reno with her, before suplexing him into the sphere she was researching.
popotostudies: (pic#13848237)

[personal profile] popotostudies 2020-07-12 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"I like your enthusiasm."

He can make use of that. "Now what we do know is these spheres ARE the creatures!" He pats one of the spheres. "A good dozen of the things popped out of a single one. Upon being shrouded in darkness, they change. Daylight kills them, but also seems to multiply them."

Now that Fandaniel's made a proper rundown of exactly what he's learned so far.. "So! We need to determine if this ..fissioning keeps happening or if it's a one-off! We also need to find out if there's viable ways to trap the things without destroying them if they DO keep splitting, because then we're just going to have a starfish situation on our hands."

Apparently he fully expects Undyne to understand what he means. "So, do you feel better about traps and snares, or with straight up trying to kill off two dozen of those things from last night?"
blitzcheer: (tfw yuna tbh)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-07-12 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
but daaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddd

"Alright alright, sleep after this, then figuring out what to do." Tidus cracks into a small smile, since he can't argue about that after arguing about healing Fandaniel. Which can be taking as long or as little as make sense. Tidus knows up to cura, but nothing higher than that.

"My friend used a seed last night that kept a fire burning. I don't know how many he has, but I'll ask, later." Later, after sleep as promised. "We should check out if we can use the undergrounds to hide out at night, or get a teleport over to one of the other teams."
so_dark_a_road: (an oath may not be broken)

[personal profile] so_dark_a_road 2020-07-12 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"I guess that's a compliment," said Curufin, laughing as well. "Right, don't I look like a torch?" He mimed flaring up like a suddenly-fueled flame, picking up the mass of his braided hair with his hands and lifting it up into the air, making a hissing sound as of spouting fire.

He checked the bag and smiled again. "Lembas and apple crisp! Just the thing to energize a Void Warrior for a mission." Glorfindel was right, Curufin did intend to share it with his teammates.

He nodded to Glorfindel's description of the Purple Team tasks. "It does sound like heavy labor. It's too bad I can't go along. That's my kind of assignment: sort out the wreckage of a city; rescue whoever is trapped in there; shore up whatever structures you can." He snapped his fingers as though to say, Damn! Why can't Orange Team go? "I hope you do manage to save the civilians, and best of luck on that! I sometimes wonder why the train entity thinks Orange Team is smarter than any of the others." He widens his eyes, lifts a fist and knocks on his own head as though to check to see if there is really a brain in there, and makes a doubtful face.
blitzcheer: (post-suteki da ne)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-07-12 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmmm. You know Kitty Pryde?
so_dark_a_road: (a vision of war)

[personal profile] so_dark_a_road 2020-07-12 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Nothing special, nope!

He nods and smiles. "The train entity doesn't know everything, and there are things it has no need to know! Why tell it if you don't have to?"

The Ministry of Void travel was one subject Curufin wanted to know more about, just in case its inspectors caught up with the train again, or in case Void law enforcement did. But he didn't think the train would necessarily want to think about that.
sunbloom: (Good.)

[personal profile] sunbloom 2020-07-12 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Itsuki checks at the figure speaking to her for a moment, before shaking her head just a bit. "Not really. Just having a hard time winding down tonight, and I didn't want to keep everyone else awake. What about you?"
enthunder: (creys ☇ whhhhyy)

[personal profile] enthunder 2020-07-12 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
He wouldn't.

The look he gets from Lightning is almost doctor-like in its intensity, but lessened somewhat by her inability to stand up straight. "She doesn't scare me," she argues, at first. Like a liar. She can't help the glance around, as if mentioning her would summon her. "She okay?"

But bed does sound pretty good right now, so objections for posturing's sake aside, she takes a step towards Tidus, as if preparing to follow him. "And what about you?"
laurefindil: (Look over there!)

[personal profile] laurefindil 2020-07-12 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Glorfindel grinned at her. "You are very helpful. I am sorry you ended up away from your friends and family, but I am so glad you are here!"

He turned to the Terrans who had been listening and were already putting plans in motion. "Right."

He looked at Kitty. "Want to scout out some more areas?"

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-07-12 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Nita nods, this time much more enthusiastically.

"Exactly! So, that aside... Take care, okay?"

She smiles.

"I want Orange Team to come out of this intact, okay? No matter where you go exploring! And we'll try to do the same on Blue. That fair?"
laurefindil: (Default)

Re: An Internet's Return | Preparation

[personal profile] laurefindil 2020-07-12 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"Aside from being quite concerned when you disappeared, I fared quite well. I did manage to get a couple of new outfits from the store, though the shoes with built in lights are a bit of a learning curve. They came with a remote."

"Oh!" There was a thought. "Perhaps I should loan them to someone with a similar shoe size in case they need to see where they are going. Neither the Terrans or the Gry need light to see."
laurefindil: (Chilling)

[personal profile] laurefindil 2020-07-12 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Glorfindel opened his bag and broke off a piece and handed it to her. "It's quite filling for such a thing," he cautioned. "It's also known as Elven Waybread. It stores for a phenomenally long time, it nourishes the body and the spirit, and can keep a grown elf going for hours and hours." His wasn't as good as the original, but it was as close as he could get it on the Train.
laurefindil: (Sideeye)

[personal profile] laurefindil 2020-07-12 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Glorfindel gave him a Look. "You'd also have better jokes." He wrapped his light around Duo to hopefully help put his mind at ease. "What's going on? You've been working hard, your body needs to rest."
blitzcheer: (not that i care or anything huffff)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-07-12 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
If anybody asks, Tidus didn't make a grimacing face and shrink like he was about to turn into the husk of a human being under that expression shot his way, with some ability to keep himself upright, and standing his ground. Absolutely not at all.

The doctor might not scare her but Tidus knows who scares him right now....

But he recovers, somehow, somewhere in the question regarding Wen Qing's health; giving a small "huh?" before he realises who she's asking after, and then she looks prepared to move.

Oh, alright, sure. Tidus can do this! It's even better when he's sure he can turn around and not have to face Light a while, to compose himself while searching for a familiar 'landmark' for the entrances.

"I'm fine, I had Yuna with me--we kept each other healed up." He has that instinct to show an arm that had been slashed last night, his upper sleeve tattered some, but there's nothing to show for it other than that, so it's a pretty useless display. "The doctor's fine too, far as I know. I'll check around. I think most of the people are doing some last minute heals before we all try to get some more rest, you know?"
iamnotgod: Webmind projecting a smile. The robot is wearing an orange hoodie. (A smile!)

Re: An Internet's Return | Preparation

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2020-07-12 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Webmind looked up at that.

"Those sound quite curious shoes indeed, Glorfindel. And that does seem a wise course of action, to share them."

He tapped his own SCA, then projected pure while light onto his 'face'.

"I wouldn't make the best contender for a recipient however, I fear."

Turning the lights back off, he projected a winking face next.
laurefindil: (Look over there!)

Re: Helping Out

[personal profile] laurefindil 2020-07-12 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not everyone is injured," Glorfindel pointed out. "Some are just trapped. The Terrans are in communication with most of their people. If they were to explain to them, find out which are brave enough, it would cut down on how many we have to dig to. We could focus that more on the injured."

"There are 83 Terrans missing, only 65 are accounted for. I could use help locating the remaining 18 as well. If you want to. There are so many ways you can be helpful in this mission, I'm sure you have about fifteen ideas yourself," he said with a grin.
only_one_wei: (Default)

[personal profile] only_one_wei 2020-07-12 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Mine does too," Wei Wuxian confided in her. "But that's the fun of new and exciting things, don't you think?"

"Just...be smarter than me. Take some reasonable precautions. Like let someone on your team know where you are and what you plan to do. That way, if you need help, it will be easier to get it." He smiled at her. "You can even call me on the SCA, if you want. At the very least I can tell you if it is something I would do, so you know not to do it."
only_one_wei: (Flute)

[personal profile] only_one_wei 2020-07-12 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"You are welcome. Song of Clarity is for moments like this," he said with a grin. "Helped me too. Last time I was in a cavern...there was a very large monster who wanted to eat me."
blitzcheer: (water five four up)

idk if you wanted 2 prep threads but we can B)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-07-12 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Discrete? Guess who's going to take that in a different way, laughing lightly as he brings out a can.

"Not really, just that we don't have many or I'd been handing them out to everyone! Did you want to take one?"
only_one_wei: (Default)

[personal profile] only_one_wei 2020-07-12 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Wei Wuxian would totally nominate Lan Zhan if he knew how. Totally a leader type, as he is one back home and all. Wei Wuxian can also lead, but last group ended up dead. They were going to die anyway, so at least they lived longer, but it still hurts a bit. Well, there are the Juniors, but he just gives them guidance. And occasionally nightmares.

"Oh, good," Wei Wuxian said, his grin bigger. "That's a speciality of mine. My old clan's motto was to Attempt the Impossible, you see."

That got Curufin a look. "Isn't he like, super tall? Why would he take on the Blue Mission with the shorter tunnels? Or is he now the only Team Leader?" That poor man was going to end up with a headache and probably back pain.
theturksway: (005.)

[personal profile] theturksway 2020-07-12 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"Wha-what?" Her unexpected move--attack??--took him by surprise and he had little time to react as she lifted him into the air. Which was a good thing because generally speaking he was either quick on his feet or quick to counterattack if given a reason. Instead all his mind had time to register was 'well, this is oddly familiar' combined with 'haven't had this happen in a while' before he was thrown into an orb.

There was a muffled cry that cut off mid-way through and then Reno started to kick his feet in the air. Panicking wasn't going to get his head free from the orb it was now stuck in but it was a reasonable reaction to ...getting his head stuck in a foreign silvery orb, probably.