voidtreckermods: (voidtrain)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2020-11-13 04:28 am
Entry tags:

Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

"Good Morning passengers. Today is day seven of the month of Imagination." The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preperation

They have about an hour to prepare, a little less than usual but perhaps expected, given the urgency of the task.

The cupboards in the dressing room are open to reveal rows of tents, in all four team colours as well as some basic camp cooking equipment. They are in bags that should be easy enough to carry.

"Shortly arriving on System #6416. All passengers get ready to disembark. Next stop world 6416. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." The train rocks and lurches, bright colours of the void filling the space and then fading as they fly downwards towards a very green landscape.

Arrival and Initial Task

The train lands in a clearing, curving round in an attempt to fit. Once everyone who wishes to disembark has done it flies back into the air, vanishing from sight.

The air is heavy and humid, though it is not currently raining. The clearing is open to the sky and looking up will reveal a worrying sight. The sky is an angry red colour, colours shifting as if the clouds themselves were on fire. It's an unnerving sight.

Their SCA's show three points, one Orange, One purple and one that is half blue and half red. The three control centres. Each are a few hours treck through the jungle and it certainly feels like there is no time to waste.

Those that don't want to treck through the forest can start setting up camp, though the darkening sky might be a little distracting. As time goes on flecks of fire drift down, though they extinguish before hitting the forest floor.

Orange are to travel to the north, Purple to the south and Blue and Red must travel together to the west. Each route takes them through thick and unrelenting jungle. Flying is difficult here unless you can get up past the canopy layer, which means vision of the ground is severely hampered.

The control stations themselves are half buried in vines and require cutting into. If voidtreckers are unlucky they will meet their first security robots here, firing on the intruders. They might even meet their first giant Armadillos, the creatures are curious and may wish to investigate. They are not helpful or constructive to trying to power up the stations and prevent the destruction of the planet.

The control stations are simple enough to operate, but there's quite a lot that needs to be done in way of repairs and clearing. It will take a team effort to get it in working enough order to activate the shield.

The shield itself, when it is activated, is mostly invisible but there is a loud humming sound. The meteor, which has gotten more visible throughout the five hours, hits the shield and splinters, fire enveloping the whole sky. It is visibly terrifying, but no fire falls to earth, no rocks get through, the planet is safe.

Ongoing

Once the planet is safe the voidtreckers deserve a rest. But once the next morning dawns it is time to start with their next tasks, to make sure that this planet stays safe from future threats.

Red

The robots at the control stations are not the only malfunctioning security robots around. They roam the jungle, or are more often stranded in the jungle, powering up only when faced with a new threat.

Some are benign, terraforming machines whose only crime is using up precious power. These need to be dismantled so that power can be saved for the shield system. Others are security robots that will attack the intruders to the planet.

Though the machines are scattered they are often obvious, emitting warning alarms or flashing lights. Their SCA's will show some areas where there are larger clusters but machines can be found anywhere.

Purple

Their SCA's are filled with hundreds of purple dots, each a solar stations that needs cleared and brought back online. It's not the most glamourous job, the stations are deep in the jungle, the treck is difficult and most of the work needed is weed clearing.

But once the weeds have been cut away they will need to patch up the station, doing basic maintenance to get it back online. In some cases wires need to be patched back together but it shouldn't take any great feats of engineering to get the stations up and running.

They may run into some of the security automatons, needing to fight their way into the stations before they can begin the clean up operations.

Orange

Like the red team their SCA will show areas where there are clusters of the small insectoid automatons that need to be rescued and restored. However they can be found anywhere throughout the jungle, they are not too suited for the terrain outside of the stations and so they have gotten tangled in vines. They can be found powered down, stranded and in dire need of maintenance.

Tools and spare parts can be found in many of the solar stations that purple team have been locating. Actually repairing the robots takes some engineering knowledge but once they are restored they will go about their tasks in the stations. They will need help getting to the further flung stations as well as the main control centres.

They are very basic in design and follow pre programmed instructions rather than being able to hear and listen to orders. But once in the correct place they are very effective at their job.

Blue

Once the shield is up there is a faint humming that can be heard throughout the jungle if they listen closely and find it among the sound of rain and insects. But once they hear it, it is obvious where it is louder and more prominent.

Their SCA will pin point some of the larger control boxes but there are truthfully too many to show on a map. Not all of them have attracted Violet Pandas, but many of them have.

They are curious creatures, both of the power boxes and the voidtreckers. They are protective of each other but not so much of territory and therefore it is not difficult to move them on. Keeping them away is another matter, the power humming is interesting and they will unearth wires and chew through them. It doesn't seem to do them much harm, there is clearly safety stops in the system for such eventualities. It does however cut power off to entire solar stations and require a lot of patch work.

Good luck voidtreckers!
hisblueskies: Blond-haired boy looking off 3/4 stage left, looking dubious. (Concerned)

[personal profile] hisblueskies 2020-11-16 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"I guess the train really can be helpful, in some ways," Alfredo observed.

At least some of its priorities were straight!

"What about the SCAs? Voice messages come over them, sometimes; do you think that will display text, too?"

Has it done so already? It's such a small screen...
hisblueskies: Blond-haired boy stares 1/4 stage left, neutral expression. ("Really?")

[personal profile] hisblueskies 2020-11-16 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think I've seen him, but not met him," Alfredo replied after a moment.

And given the alien was a leader in Blue, perhaps he really should fix that!

"... What if I watch you both train, then? Or are you using chi in the same way?"
ramengroupie: (serious)

blue

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Professor!

[ The panda's weight lifts off of Waver, grasped beneath the forelegs by a....giant green Kamen Rider monster, you know, as one does.

On this creature's back, Ken Ichijouji pops his head up around a spike and calls down (this is somewhat uncomfortable, honestly, as he's gotten quite a bit taller since he first started riding his partner, but dignity matters less than practicality). ]


Have you seen any smaller robots around?
unfavorableinstigation: Nita looking right, holding a book. (I'm In The Book)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-17 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Let's give him a while."

Until they got back to camp, maybe.

"Did you get to work on any of the maintenance bots, or did that - interruption - find you two first?"
its_dad_sanzo: Burial-era (talkin' shit)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-17 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't really train like that," Koumyou shrugged a shoulder, and walked around the base of a huge, vine-covered tree in the way. "Apparently he can fly with his! Which is something I've never tried. The rest sounds pretty similar."
ramengroupie: (jog)

camp

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
The stars are different.

[ THE PLANTS ARE TALKING oh, no, it's just a dog-sized larva who's doing a bang-up job of accidental camouflage, as one does ]

The scientist showed me how to find the North Star. But the pointing stars aren't here.

[ He sighs, then looks up at his impromptu companion. ] It really is a different world, huh?
Edited 2020-11-17 00:04 (UTC)
unfavorableinstigation: Nita Callahan kneeling in the woods, drawing a glowing blue diagram on the ground while reading from a book. (Drawing a Spell Diagram)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-17 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
If Nita's experience was any indicator, it would either be entirely inscrutable... or an absolute troll.

As it was, Nita knelt by where the unwanted opening in the solar station was; frowning, she fetched a sheet of scrap metal from her backpack to use for raw material.

"One of the first things I did, even," Nita admitted, once she had the intended spell laid out in her mind for replacing the rusted parts and sealing everything over.

"For the most part, it just stonewalled me. I can read emotions off it, though; there's a mind in there, somewhere. Holding itself back."
fionnuisce: (that right here by your side i can stay)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks. I haven't noticed anything the others don't have handl--whaaaaaat the fuck.

[Guess where in that sentence he decided to look up.]
Edited 2020-11-17 00:07 (UTC)
10billionpercent: (Satisfied)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2020-11-17 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
"Very observant of you." He quipped. "Mind you, it's not just him, every gathering we have is filled with nothing but candy."

He was pretty sure he was the strange one here. He would, however, put forth the many hours to turn cocoa into chocolate if that was something people wanted, and since he knew at least Gen would want it, it would have to be done.

"You can help me grab those plants too." He pointed at the passionflora. "Those fruit are edible and the plant is medicinal." Senku had no problem putting Roland to work.
ramengroupie: (object)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
Ken shifts his hold on Wormmon so his partner's head won't be jostled, cradling him like a baby. "We've started collecting them. Most seem out of power, so we're hoping to find a charging method back at the control centre."

Wormmon mumbles something about No Other Bugs. Maybe.
its_dad_sanzo: Burial-era (just Sanzo-ing around)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-17 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
"Holding itself back from what, I wonder?" Koumyou pondered aloud, "Maybe it's going to eat us all!"
fionnuisce: (a wish together i'll set them free)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Luckily, this man deals with teenagers for a living and is still miles from losing his temper.

"This is already going to be something of a long day. Please don't make me want to punch you."
ramengroupie: (huh?)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ you know, i really couldn't say

Ken's eyebrows raise. ]
Is everything all right?

Buzz, goes the faint hum of Stingmon's wings on either side of Ken.

Loom, goes Stingmon's shadow over the jungle.

This is fine. ]
fionnuisce: (that right here by your side i can stay)

1/2

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
[just]

[looks at ken]

[looks at the enormous green bug]

[adds 1+1 in his head]
its_dad_sanzo: Ibun-era (ha ha we may be fucked)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-17 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
"You can certainly try!" Why yes, that's complete confidence, right there.

"...But you'd still have to catch me!"
fionnuisce: (though it's dark)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
...If he gets any bigger than this, please warn me before popping up like that.
fionnuisce: (could my tears carve a path)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't tempt me, or I might find a hill to throw you down once I do."

This is how we make friends.
its_dad_sanzo: Burial-era (uhhhh)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-17 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
"...Is this your way of calling me over the hill?" Koumyou pouted dramatically.

Through-out all of this, he'd been walking backwards. Gotta keep facing the people he's harassing, after all, while not letting anyone actually get close enough to turn into a wrestling match.
fionnuisce: (a wish together i'll set them free)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Your words, not mine. But you do make it very easy to want to trip you, at least."
ramengroupie: (daisuke)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ oh ]

He shouldn't. Several factors prevent it.

[ The bug swivels its head and asks, in the deepest and most heroic voice imaginable: ]

Ken-chan, where should I put this?

[ Hands full of panda. ]
namethattune: (Endlessly the noise goes on and on)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-17 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
Sigma glares. It is not the first time a teammate has ignored a direct order, given for their benefit, but it is irritating every single time it occurs. His ability to ricochet his skills is limited to a certain range of angles, and an ally in the way needlessly complicates the equations-

Which is when Ken's words finally sink in.

It- it is- how could that be-

But it seems there is finally time enough to think. One by one, the pieces come together to form the whole. The variables are all accounted for; the equation is sound; the results, irrefutable.

His feet touch the ground. The glare melts off his face, to be replaced with slow, dawning horror, as Sigma fades and Siebren is left to deal with the consequences of what he has done.

"That...is Wormmon?"
fionnuisce: (a wish together i'll set them free)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Try sticking it in a tree if you don't mind, maybe it'll get distracted and forget about eating the wires.

[He's so tired of all this already.]

Everything going alright on your end?
its_dad_sanzo: Burial-era (talkin' shit)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-17 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
"I'll have you know I'm a very hip and groovy forty-seven year old guy! My hip wouldn't even break if I fell, but yours might!"
fionnuisce: (a wish together i'll set them free)

[personal profile] fionnuisce 2020-11-17 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
"...I'm twenty-eight."

Absolutely deadpan.

"And no one talks like that anymore."
ramengroupie: (discuss)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ken still can't be one hundred percent certain what had happened to Siebren, just now, but realization is a good sign. He also knows sugarcoating a hard truth is pointless, when one's actions have unintended consequences.

So he nods. "His evolved form."

There is a flash of light from the jungle, swooping back into Ken's pocket. He pulls out a smartphone(?), studies its screen, frowns. They don't have much time before that meteor strike, not even enough time for him to try and figure out how he feels right now, but -

"This way."