Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

[voidtreckermods]

"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!

Comments

[nutkrusher]

"Ouch. Tough crowd tonight."

[light_of_willpower]

"Your fault." Trunks shot back gamely. "You've given me your best so far. That was weak."

[nutkrusher]

"Should have just went with 'your mom.' That one always works."

[light_of_willpower]

"Considering the things my mom has invented? I might've believed that one." Trunks agreed, marshmallow in the fire now to heat. "How about I heat the marshmallows, you assemble?"

[nutkrusher]

"Your mom assembles."

Indifferent to the lack of sense she just made, Cassie gathers the graham crackers and chocolate to keep close to her person.

[light_of_willpower]

Welp, time to sacrifice a marshmallow; Trunks just angles his stick so he won't have to hold it, and moves closer. Then wraps his arms around Cassie in a hug, chuckling softly.

"She does. Her Lab was my first playground in a lot of ways."

[nutkrusher]

Cassie chuckles and exhales, leaning into his shoulder as they embrace.

"Very well, I concede defeat."

She leaves the crackle of the fire to do the talking for the next few seconds.

"I remember I used to have to drag Jacqui out of her dad's garage. You could see her career choice coming from a mile away."

[light_of_willpower]

"I've had to drag mom out. Or at least bring her food and make her sleep. They sound like kindred spirits." Trunks murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm not nearly as skilled as she is, but I know my way around the basics pretty well."

[nutkrusher]

"My knowledge is mostly restricted to things that blow up," Cassie says.

"Gotta admit I haven't even taken my drone out much lately."

[light_of_willpower]

"Drone? Is that like a type of robot?" Trunks perked up slightly, and gave her a slightly tighter hug. "Knowing how to blow things up is also useful."

[nutkrusher]

"Yeah, for some reason the train decided it should come with me," Cassie says. "Last couple missions I haven't had much reason to take it out, though."

[light_of_willpower]

"When we get back you have to show me." He sounded like such an excited little kid right then.

[nutkrusher]

Cassie giggles again. "Sure, I'll show you my robot."

[light_of_willpower]

"You'd better." Pulling back and there is a mock pout on his face. One that Bulma had bought up until he'd been about 4yrs old, and then it hadn't worked anymore.

[nutkrusher]

Cassie's smile somehow grows even wider.

"Now, how could I resist that face?"

She cups her hand against his face and runs a finger down his cheek. It takes a great deal of restraint to keep from pinching it.

[light_of_willpower]

Another chuckle, and Trunks kissed the tip of her nose. "That's why I don't pull it out often. Mom never let me get away with it after I was 4."

[nutkrusher]

"You've gotta deploy a face like that strategically," Cassie says. "My dad is still an easy mark sometimes."

[light_of_willpower]

"Yeah, I doubt it would've worked on mine, even if he were alive." Not that Trunks sounded sad, more just stating a fact. "I can imagine you have a good pout though."

[nutkrusher]

Cassie's expression softens. She lets her fingers drift through his hair as her eyes meet his.

"Yeah."

Then, the smile starting to return:

"Best be careful, though. I can weaponize it when you least expect it."

[light_of_willpower]

"I have no doubt you can. Question will be if I can tell the difference. If I can't, whatever's making you pout is likely to get blown up."

[nutkrusher]

"I'll keep that in the back of my mind for the next time I need something blown up," Cassie says.

She pauses, letting her smirk set in.

"Which is something that comes up in my life from time to time."

[light_of_willpower]

"Well, now you have another partner to fight with you and help when things blow up. Or occasionally blow them up for you." Trunks closed his eyes, leaning into her fingers in his hair.

Burning marshmallows and s'mores could wait; he was enjoying holding her close.

[nutkrusher]

"It's healthy for couples to share interests in common."

[light_of_willpower]

"I'm glad to hear that, because I wouldn't know what a 'healthy' couple is honestly. Not beyond what I've read, which I always figured I should take with a grain of salt."

[nutkrusher]

"Not sure I know either," Cassie says. "But blowing shit up together can't hurt our chances, right?"