middleofsomewhere | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Siebren is not the only one who's not going to miss something like a meteor impact.

Senku doesn't look worried about the barrier at all, and honestly, he's got bright, wide eyes and a grin. ]

Never going to see that again in my lifetime!

[ He can appreciate the excitement of the moment. ]

[Ah, Senku. He knew he could trust Senku to be of like mind in this matter.]

All the more reason to witness it now.

[Though after a few moment's more observation:] Though there does not seem to be any debris at all, more's the pity.

That'd be the work of the shield. Good for saving the planet, bad for collecting free space rocks.

[ He agrees wholeheartedly. Should they be watching so closely? It's probably fine. ]

I wasn't gonna miss it, if I could help it.

We shall simply have to find another opportunity for free space rocks.

[As though opportunities like this come along frequently.]

Who would? The cleanup can wait for ten minutes; for now, I believe we can afford the time to enjoy our success.

[ It's probably going to take time to break up against the shield right? He can remain enraptured for a little bit. ]

Maybe we'll get the chance. Space rocks are fascinating, of course.

[ He expects Siebren agrees with that. Cleaning up would last for awhile, whether they started now or later. ]

Of course. Slightly outside my specialization, but nonetheless.

[It does not make them any less interesting.]

...I assume that not all missions are like this.

Not much of a geologist? It's really interesting. Did you know several rocks taste different? Also, a skarn deposit is the best treasure you could ask for.

[ He wants random science information, right? ]

I've only been on one before, and no it was nothing like this. Nothing so spectacular. A bird tried to peck me on the last one.

[ Which was not at all, completly his fault. ]

...I would ask why you know what rocks taste like, but I am not certain I want to know that answer.

[Senku has a decidedly reckless side to him, and Siebren doesn't necessarily want to indulge it, and no, that was not an invitation for a reply.]

[As for that mission recap:]

Well, as long as you did not live out a Hitchcock movie, you can likely consider that a success.

[Whether Senku will even understand that reference is a gamble - albeit one with no stakes.]

Speaking of missions, I was wondering whether you would be willing to do me a favor.

[ Come on Siebren, don't you want to lick rocks? It's educational. ]

Ha! Nah, that bird had it out for me though.

[ He absolutely was not the one causing problems, nope. ]

What kind of favour? [ He won't blindly agree, but unless it's something truly horrific, he'll probably do just about anything. ]

[He does not comment on Senku's assessment of the bird's intent, but he does pointedly raise one eyebrow. He cannot say what happened - he was not there - but given what he knows of Senku, there is...room for doubt, to put it politely.]

[As for the favor, he gestures to Senku's hand.]

That is an arms band, correct?

[It differs in size from the others he'd seen, but the design is similar.]

This? Yeah. It's a magic item from Roland's world. Great, lets me carry around all kinds of stuff without having to actually carry it.

[ It's kind of a big thing to him, he sucks at carrying things. ]

A few people have them, that I know of.

Yes, I received the briefing.

[And requested further details, and now has plans for the future regarding arms bands, but that not relevant at the moment.]

Our team's particular mission is to repair robots, and while I would like to accomplish as much as possible, I highly doubt all of them will be salvageable. I also find myself in need of computer parts. If you find any robots that are completely irreparable and cannot otherwise be used for repair parts, would you mind storing them for me?

[Seto had said he'd wanted to create and stock a lab space. It is entirely possible none of it will be usable, but attempting nothing gains nothing - he may as well try.]

Uh, well...

[ He doesn't mind, exactly, it's not the storage part that makes him hesitate but he also wants those parts, but he's got Tidus on the case for him too, and probably between the two of them they'll collect enough for him to keep some and share some. ]

Yeah, sure, I don't mind I guess. You got a space you're intending on putting them on the train? To limit myself, I mean, frame of reference.

[The hesitation is noted but not commented upon. Whatever Senku's reasoning, he has agreed in the end.]

I do.

[He does not. The lab is Seto's project; however, Siebren is willing to improvise in this regard.]

And if it is inadequate, there is always the luggage car as a temporary measure until I obtain an arms band of my own.

[ He laughs a bit, he does, but he won't tell him? Interesting. ]

So you want as much as I can get you. Deal.

[ Senku grins, a little more enthusiastic about it now that he'd thought it through. ]

[So much for that initial hesitation, then.]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

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