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

47 | Red Team + OTA

[rieper]

I. Initial Task

He didn't hesitate, didn't voice any worry, didn't spend any time staring at the sky. That wouldn't do him or anyone else any good. If he couldn't do anything directly to his target then there was always the indirect route. That meant doing the task assigned to them already and powering up the stations to get the shield back online. That was what they had to do in order to survive this and that's what he focused on.

The trek through the jungle was familiar. At least there wasn't a man-eating jaguar around this time. He made good time despite the terrain. Anyone following him probably had a hard time of it.

At the station he helped clear overgrowth and, perhaps surprising some but not all, quickly assessed the damage to the electronics and began repairs. With everyone working together it made for quick work actually and soon the shields were up in time.

II. Ongoing

47 had brought his pistols with him but most of his battles were fought with the laser rifle slung over his back when not in use. It was far more effective against the robots than the 9mms.

When he wasn't destroying rogue security robots, he was dismantling the other malfunctioning machinery. He had a bag that he slowly stuffed full of wiring, power sources, and random pieces of robot into. He had a set of tools from the space station that he had brought along as well as some more traditional tools that he used to accommodate this. When he'd filled the bag he dumped it into an Arms Band and then pulled out another to start all over again.

II. Wildcard

[Camping, random encounters, petting fluffy animals. You know, anything else goes here.]

ongoing

[knifewithnoname]

She had kept up with red as usual, helping clear the way to the control station, setting the shield. Luckily they didn't all get blown up, that was a relief.

And now she is smashing robots, she's not exactly got the weapons or the shear strength for it, but she's doing her best. She has noticed the man with the number for a name, obviously. She usually keeps him in her awareness on missions.

So after a particularly successful run of robot smashing she walks to her side and dumps some random metal and wires at his feet. She has no idea what it all is or how useful it will be, but he seems to be collecting.

this is way too cute for these two. i love it.

[rieper]

He glanced down as the pieces were placed next to him. They were completely random but it was the thought that counted right? Well, 47 wasn't that sentiment or at all moved by such emotional concepts as that but he saw a helping hand when there was one.

The assassin bent down to examine the materials she had brought over. As he shifted through them he took out some of the better pieces to add to his collection. He took very few from her pile.

However, when he was done he looked up over at the lifeless machine she had taken down. "Come here," he said to her as he got up and walked over to the robot.

Re: this is way too cute for these two. i love it.

[knifewithnoname]

She tried to not look disappointed when he barely took any of the pieces from the pile she had fetched him.

Metal was metal but she sort of understood that parts of a robot were probably better than other parts. She just had no idea which parts were which.

She followed him silently over to the smashed up robot and glanced up at him, ready to listen.

[rieper]

She had the right idea and 47 took the silent obedience as a good sign. He knelt down next to the robot and started to rummage through the inner workings. He grabbed something and yanked it out.

"This is useful," he told her and held it up for her to see. He repeated this process for a few other parts that he found most desirable, pointing them out and showing her how to remove the tricky ones without damaging them too much.

[knifewithnoname]

She knelt down as well, so she could see what he was doing better. She looked closely at the part he had shown her, memorising it and remembering where abouts he had extracted it from.

The inside of the robot seemed like a mess of wires and metal but as he continued she could tell the different shapes, that they were different parts and not just all the same.

"What will you be doing with them?" She picked up one of the pieces, to examine it more closely.

[rieper]

47 watched her idly as she messed about with a part, unconcerned. Then he resumed his own actions, gutting another one of the robots and stuffing the pieces into his bag. He replied slowly as he worked.

"Electrical parts can be used for a number of things. Wiring is even more useful. I...can build useful items with them." Mostly bombs. Because that's what the train needed more of, right? Yeah.

[knifewithnoname]

She moved over to a nearby robot, and began taking parts out of it, trying to remember the parts he had showed her and separating them into piles of useful and not useful.

"Can you be building a robot?"

A useful one that would fight on their side.

[rieper]

He didn't have to consider that question for very long.

"...I could reassemble one of these." Fixing machines was much easier than building from scratch, at least in 47's opinion. "It would need reprogramming to function properly."

Which really wasn't in his purview. If he had the tools, he could maybe hack one for a short time. However, that didn't mean the train didn't have other experts that could provide such skills.

[knifewithnoname]

"What does reprogramming be meaning?"

And could he do it? That was the most important question, because if he could put one together and get it to work, well having a robot to shoot their enemies, that sounded very useful indeed.

[rieper]

"It means I'd have to rewrite its programming--the code that governs what the robot does, how it acts and reacts to certain stimuli." He looked at her. "Such as whether it viewed us as friend or foe."

Initial Task

[zechs_isonfire]

Zechs didn't think he was in poor shape, especially when he had made good use of the train's training room to work out and keep himself in shape. But his injury slowed him slightly, and his inexperience with dealing with jungle terrain outside of a mobile suit.

Still. His eyes were sharp, and he's watching. Brush moved, and he warned the man ahead - "Three o'clock!"

[rieper]

The reaction was instant--in fact, it was almost as if the man reacted before the call out came. A pistol appeared in his hand and it was aimed at the bushes to his right. He didn't, however, fire.

A low keening noise came from the bushes and then out popped a rather roly-poly little cuteness of a panda. Rieper didn't lower his gun but rather kept it trained on the bushes beyond it. He glanced down at the panda as it clambered towards him.

His instincts flared though as he heard another noise from the bushes, further away out of sight. Something else was coming through the trees, headed towards them. 47 could practically see it as it clopped through the foliage. He aimed and fired. A plink could be heard in the distance.

It was definitely a robot headed this way. 47 made to switch out his weapons.

[zechs_isonfire]

... A panda. Well, that was anti-climatic. Zechs looked around the creature, likewise trying to keep alert for those who'd come through the brush to harm it or them - not allowing the adorable creature to distract him. A little suspicious that those 'adorable creatures' might be dangerous after all, anyway. It'd be the perfect trap for unsuspecting prey.

The robots, though, weren't subtle. The bullets seemed to be pinging uselessly off of its metal chassis, so Zechs pulled the borrowed sword from his Arms Band. Keeping low - Rieper might have a ranged weapon with better suited ammunition - Zechs moved quickly to close distance.

Either the other man would provide cover, or it would be Zechs who'd serve as distraction and draw its fire. Either way, one of them would get close enough to take it out.

[rieper]

He had the space rifle with laser fire that, he hoped, would prove more useful against the robot. At the least, he could provide cover fire for Merquise as 47 noticed the other pull out a sword.

He brought the rifle up and began to fire. It was hard to see through the flora but somehow 47's shots managed to ping against their targets. He was having a hard time hitting weak spots from this distance with little line of sight though.

47 kept the fire up so that Zechs could get in close.

[zechs_isonfire]

Which was appreciated. Zechs wasn't exactly used to fighting in this terrain, but he moved through the brush quickly all the same, eyes sharp and mindful of any returning fire. But it seemed as much as Rieper couldn't get a good hit on the robot due to the flora - neither could the machine.

There's first a solid slice against one of its legs to unbalance it, cutting through where he'd judge bracing and hydraulic lines would be. Then, he stabbed upward into its center chassis. Hard to say if he hit anything vital on that strike - but center of mass was usually a good bet for any enemy.

ongoing

[blitzcheer]

"You...hoping to use some of this stuff later, or is this all for other people?"

Tobes Tobias was resourceful, but also, Tidus didn't exactly think that getting dumped with bags of carefully dissected robotics was going to be a thing that was going to happen. He's been doing it himself, but absolutely not for himself -- but, he was also waiting 'til later to be so meticulous about taking about the things.

Suffice to say, it was...impressive? Is that what this is? Or curious?

(Read: Yank at them and hope nothing breaks.)

Re: ongoing

[rieper]

47 glanced down at the bag of parts that he had set down for Tidus to get to. He considered his answer for a moment.

"...it could be useful. I know enough to make use of the parts. And certainly other people can do other things with some of them as well."

Diplomatic answer. In other words, it was for himself but could be easily handed over to someone else with an idea for them.

[blitzcheer]

That definitely has him all the more interested, a small amazed hum sounding behind his mouth.

"I didn't know you were good with machines!" Well, 'cause he doesn't know anything about Tobias, but that's beside the point. "You have any robots like these, or is it just knowing what to do with wiring?"

[rieper]

47 paused to consider this answer as well. He wasn't really that informative about robots but he had seen a few, knew the basic mechanics behind them simply by understanding mechanics in general. They were a mixed bag in his world so far: most robots were puppets used for entertainment purposes, like in amusement parks and museums. But companies like Kronstadt Industries were well on their way to creating combat ready robots for warfare--and 47 had used one to kill one of his targets recently. Recently, as in before the train.

"I don't own a robot or normally work on them," he informed Tidus. "I know mechanics, electrical wiring, how to combine them for useful applications. I could fix a car or motor engine with ease. I could work on one of these and probably get it working again. But programming one would take more refined ability than what I have without tools from home."

[blitzcheer]

"That's still handy! Yeah." Tidus is nodding, thinking about the pieces he's seen come from the guts of the robots, the bits and pieces sticking out and strewn from the fighting. "You're a jacks of all trades type! Don't suppose there's anything other than the electricals you want that you know about too, is there? Someone's already got me collecting some of the plants and the vines- we're taking some of the trees too. For woodwork."

If as much as they could deal with, and get inside. There was no slinging full-sized trees into the arms bands, no matter how handy the things were. But if Tobias wanted anything in particular, it was more interesting than just yanking at the plant life or cutting robots down.

[rieper]

"That depends on if we run into anything else," he replied. So far the robots and power stations were the most useful things they'd run into around here. And if Tidus was already collecting robotic parts and specific plants then there wasn't much more 47 could ask of him.

47 pointed to one of the sleek pieces he'd pried from the robots. "Any robots or stations that aren't using those anymore are useful power sources. If you find any tools we could always use more of those."

This mission alone exemplified that. There wasn't much to work with around here but what they'd brought with them. Thankfully, 47 had a toolkit from the space mission he'd brought along but others might not have been so lucky.

[blitzcheer]

Tidus took a closer look at the pointed out piece, though it was certainly something better to examine later, once he'd finished grabbing the assorted robotics for the day. Sorting came later for him, once the air was cooler and he could sit. Gave his easily bored hands something to do.

"No problem." That was about all that look needed then, after all. But the bag goes, poofing in that arms band way. "You need an ammo refill by the way? How about food and water? I can do water now, wherever we are," he shares. He had a little friend to help with it!

"I'm gonna keep sticking closer to Purple this time since they need help clearing out the stations. But these robots are everywhere, so it doesn't make much of a difference."

[rieper]

It was a solar panel, specifically. 47 had been collecting them along with other bits and pieces.

That was right, it was easier to get ammo these days. He was used to conserving his ammo for missions. But last time he hadn't had to, and this time he could just get the others to give him more. Since Tidus was offering...

"More ammo for the rifle would be the most useful." It was the most efficient against the robots.

[blitzcheer]

He'll hold out his hand then to take the gun once offered, to send it away into the arms band and then bring it back out. Saying during the process, or from the start-

"What do you think about getting guns from the train shop by the way? Was talking about it with Cassie - you know her? From Purple. The weapon price is steep, but she figures it'll be worth it the long run. I don't know a lot about 'em one way or another."