middleofsomewhere | 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)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Let's hope not!" said Curufin, with an answering smile. Though his was as wry as Lea's. "Wouldn't want you getting chomped on by strange beasties."

"I'm not really a lab kinda guy either. Unless it's a lab that studies the properties of metals, what with me being a metalsmith and all. Or. . . explosives. I did learn their uses when I was mining for iron and gemstones. Saves a lot of shovel time. I don't think I'm going to be all that useful in the lab, except I was going to contrive to get to at least one of the labs that was blown up. I thought maybe I could determine what blew it up."

Now that caught Lea's attention. "You work with metal too?", he said. "I mean, I'm not a professional or anything, but I did get really into a kind of magic called Forging on the last world I was in. It basically involves, well... forging thing like metal and glass into magical objects by working magic and spells into them as you go along."

"My dad actually did something similar for a living, back when I was a kid. He ran the accessory shop back home, so he'd make both regular jewelry and stuff that had magical properties, usually protective ones. Except back home, we don't use spells; instead we use bits of special metals or crystals that already have magic in them, and work those into the finished product. Forging did that too sometimes, but useful magical substances tended to be kinda hard to come by."

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand... "Though yeah, if you know a thing or two about explosives, that might help. At least you might be able to tell whether they blew up by accident or someone did it deliberately."

Curufin explained, "I do work with metals. I'm a forge master. I wonder if that kind of magic that you call Forging is anything like Elvish magic? What I learned from my father and my mother's father was not just straightforward metalsmithing, it was about using spells as well."

"That's interesting, that your father was a maker of jewelry and other metal objects, and that you know something about it, too. I'd love to hear more about your family history sometime. But as for the metallurgy, maybe if we ever find a way to stay on a planet long enough for me to build a forge and a metalshop, you and I could start some projects and compare notes on what we know?"

And as for explosives, "I'd love to get into the ruins of those labs that were destroyed and see if I can analyze the fragments. I think I might be able to determine the cause and the purpose, if I have the right tools and supplies."

"Yeah, that might be interesting," Lea said. "If we can get our hands on some materials and equipment, we could probably even try making some small stuff on the train. Heating things wouldn't be a problem, since I have fire magic, but we'd need to be sure we could contain everything safely." That would likely be the biggest issue when it came to working on the train: safety. No one wanted to cause any more damage to the train than had already happened.

And regarding the explosives, "Hopefully you can get a hold of the right supplies for it then. I'd give you a hand trying to find them, but I wouldn't know what to look for. I will let you get back to doing that though. We can talk some more later on, alright?"

"You have fire magic, oh good! That would simplify things. I think we'd have to get the train to give us a separate facility for such work. I wouldn't want to be sharing space with any of the current carriages. Not safe! Containment would be essential, just as you say."

He nodded. "I'm going to try. I haven't yet searched all the cabinets and storerooms, so there's no telling what might be in there. We can talk some more later, though. I'd be up for that. Meantime, good luck in the caves!"

Deep Dweller: Start

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Want to wrap this one and use it for July-August bonus challenge points? XD

Yes lets! :3

And it's a wrap!