middleofsomewhere | Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

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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

I know a little about mechanics and electronics.

[He wasn't a genius when it came to such things but he knew enough. It helped in his...endeavors so he picked things up from time to time.

He knelt down next to her and looked at the innards of the robot.]

Finding the power source would be useful. Or the motherboard for its central processing unit.

[ Unfortunately the inside of the robot isn't exactly looking great anymore. Which is most likely due to Alice's initial attack to take it down like this in the first place, considering there's a big, big dent in the robot's side.

But the fact that she was poking in there with her knife sure didn't make things look any prettier. So much of its insides are either completely broken or all scrunched up by now. ]

... A.. "motherboard"?

[ Look, she's from Victorian London. What do you expect. ]

I assume that has nothing to do with an actual mother. Even I know these things aren't born.

No, but it is a central piece of equipment that processes the rest of the machine's functions and actions. [a beat] Think of it as a brain.

Typically, it looks a bit like a board with metallic wires and pieces running all along it. It can be programmed for many functions. [And he could use it to program many of his devices or...you know, make bombs out of all this. Fun stuff.]

A board with metallic wires..

[ She repeats, as she starts rummaging with her hands through the insides of the robot's chest area. That shouldn't be too hard to find, even though she has zero idea about how these things work, right? She knows what a board is. And what wires are, and--

Ah.

Alice fishes the motherboard out of the robot, holding it up towards the guy so he can see it.

It's completely folded in two. As if someone whacked the robot so hard with something massive that it just folded in on itself. ]

.. Is it supposed to look like that? [ Could've fooled her, really. ]

[His face remained impassive as he stared between her and the motherboard and back again.]

No. It shouldn't be folded like that. But you have found the motherboard.

[So at least she had learned something.]

It could still be used for parts. [Technically.]

[ She makes a noise like she's considering it, and then nods. ]

Let's take it along then.

[ Alice is absolutely unsure what someone could do with it, but sure, if it's useful to someone, might as well take it along.

Though there's one small problem with this. She holds it out in his direction. ]

Can you carry it?

[ Do you think Alice took a bag along into the jungle? Of course not. She's just here to smash things up. ]

[He took the piece from her hand.]

Not a problem.

[Because of course he had a bag! The most prepared Red Team member ever. Probably.

He stuffed it inside with the rest of his pilfered goodies.]

[ Honestly, considering what he's like - always so stoic, seemingly under any circumstances - coupled with what expectations Alice has of other people - really, really low ones - she.. didn't quite expect him to agree as easily.

Which is why the girl finds herself standing there and blinking at him for a moment, looking vaguely surprised.

It's a good kind of surprise though. Because a moment later her lips involuntarily curl up into the ends, making her almost look kind of amused. He's almost like the world most stoic babysitter, just taking the part from her and putting it into his bag like that. So prepared. ]

Why, let's go find another one to take care of!

[ At least it's putting her into a good mood, shrugging off the embarrassment of having been found in the middle of singing a moment ago. Or maybe she's just excited about smashing things.

She's already starting to walk. ]

Surely these robots are no problem for you at all either, right? They're quite the cakewalk!

[That was certainly a reaction. Had 47 been anyone else he surely would have been amused by it, and happy in return. Of course, he was him and he didn't show much of anything.

However, he seemed fine and more than willing to follow along. That probably spoke more than words would have. If he didn't like her, well, it would have been more obvious.]

They're more annoying than a problem. [He admitted freely.] Hardier than organic matter. But my laser weapon can still damage them. And joints are easy targets.

[For someone like him anyway.]

You have a laser weapon?

[ Maybe it's her relative good mood, or maybe it's the fact that it's hard to find this guy annoying when he's so.. well, inoffensive, for the lack of a better word. Less diplomatically she'd probably put it at 'having a personality equivalent to a rock'..

Or maybe Alice likes talking about weapons.

(It's probably a little bit of all columns, really.)

At least it makes her sound pretty interested as she speaks up. ]

Like the ones we used back in space? [ She remembers that mission. Heck, it's the only reason she even knows what a laser is in the first place. ]

Yes. Exactly like the ones in space.

[Because that's where it had come from. Technically, he had several but he typically only carried one or two with him. One pistol and one rifle. This mission he had brought the rifle.

He had two 9mms as well but those weren't laser guns.]

The enemy didn't have any objections. [Once they were dead.]

[ It's funny. He doesn't even say that part out loud, and yet Alice catches onto the implication instantly - because it's exactly the way she thinks. Nothing wrong with killing some enemies and looting their bodies, right? ]

Well, I certainly can't imagine they would have had much opportunity to object. [ Hence why she seems lightly amused as she says that. She catches the drift. ]

Though I remember those weapons just feeling very odd to me when I tried to use them back then. Not exactly what I like to use to fight. [ If not just since Alice is more about general brutal force. She's not very refined. ] But you must like them, if you have bothered to hold onto them all this time.

They didn't.

[That was as close to admitting they were dead as he was going to get. But really what point was there in denying the fact. They were all on this train together and it had been a mission. A mission in the middle of a war. Of course there were casualties. So what if he was responsible for a few.]

I'm used to guns. They're a common weapon where I'm from. I was trained extensively in them. [Though the truth of the matter was he was trained in a lot of things, other weapons included.]

They're from a time far beyond my own, from what I've understood. [ Or, well, these are. Guns in Alice's world are still rather antiquated, to a point where they look nothing like what she would see anyone here use..

And yes, that is what she's choosing to remark on. Hearing that he trained that much with them is really not much of a surprise to Alice, considering she has seen him fight on missions now. It's not exactly a secret that he can hold his own. ]

Do you prefer them over other weapons? Or is it just that you're more used to them?

[ That's a question born out of curiosity rather than judgement, reflected in Alice's voice. After all, her own choice of weapons is so.. odd.. that she's hardly going to judge anyone else's over theirs. She's the one running around with a huge metal hobby horse, after all. ]

[Well, to be fair laser guns weren't exactly on the menu in 47's time either. But they operated similarly to his usual weapons so that as long as he had the ammo for them they were basically the same. Even taking them apart and cleaning them had been easy to figure out.]

These are different from what you'd find in my world as well. But they're similar, and they hold more ammo at a time. [Which made them quite useful.] They're efficient and customizable for a variety of tasks. Each gun has a particular usage and the more I own the better equipped I am for various missions.

[a beat, and then]

If I cannot have a gun on hand for any particular reason, there are plenty of other methods and weapons that I can utilize.

[ Alice lets out a breath. There's almost something kind of excited about it - by Alice standards, anyway. Which means it's still just a vague hint, but it's there. ]

You sure know how to make it sound exciting. [ And that's not meant in any sarcastic way, for once. Despite the way Alice looks - somewhere right in the middle between 'dainy Victorian lady' and 'Hot Topic teenager' - she is very interested in weapons. Especially creative weapon usage. ]

Are you saying you could just use practically anything as long as it could be used as a weapon?

[It may have been faint but it was the first time he'd noticed Alice show this sort of interest in a topic. Certainly they'd had conversations where she was interested in what he had to say--but it was an intellectual pursuit usually, a serious matter under scrutiny, idle interest in a sharing of knowledge and opinions.

This was (still subtle but) much more excited. An active interest.

It didn't bother him in the least that it was about weapons. He was just curious to see it and note it down.]

Yes.

[And then some. Even if it didn't seem possible to use it as a weapon, 47 had probably used such an item as a weapon anyway at one point in time or another. He was a very resourceful man.

Either that or he grew very bored over the years and started coming up with odd ways to entertain and challenge himself.

Maybe both.]

Truly?

[ Yes, now that's definite excitement. Maybe not as over the top as it may be for people who display their emotions in a more straightforward way, but by the standards of how Alice regularly acts, it'd be obvious to even people who aren't very observative now. There's some edge to it that feels almost oddly childish, a big contrast with how Alice looks and usually acts.

Especially since she turns to look at him as she speaks. ]

What an ability! You do have to show me sometime. I mean, it wouldn't be hard to imagine alternative uses for a croquet mallet, but you'd certainly have to get more creative with other things!

[47 eyed the girl out of the corner of his eye as they continued along. Now that was definitely noticeable. Furthermore, as she made it clear how she would be delighted to see him in action doing such things--well, that was decidedly different, and very noticeable indeed.

He hummed softly under his breath, a considering sound.]

When you know what you want to do, and how to do it, its not hard to then use any means, methods, or items to accomplish that goal.

[He was being a bit vague but the point was he knew what he was doing. He knew how to kill people effortlessly. And thus could use just about anything to do it.]

[ Alice considers those words. In a way, doesn't she know them to be true? She also grabbed practically anything she could get her hands on to make her way through Wonderland, right? Coincidentally most of them were actual weapons though. ]

Even when you're limited?

[ It's a bit of a vague question, and it's not made much clearer by her pausing and humming as she looks at him, before looking away and continuing-- ]

Well, I doubt someone like you ever had something stand in your way. [ If there's anything Alice has learned from society back in London, it's that adult men can practically do anything they want unchecked. ]

There's always a way.

[As the saying went "where there's a will there's a way." It helped to have training and dozens of years of experience, too.

He didn't think much of what she said about him. She wasn't wrong...although he didn't realize her thoughts were off on why.]

If options are limited, you can always take a step back to regather and start anew. [Not his favorite option but it happened sometimes.] Build back up, gain new supplies, make new options available. [beat] Or just use your hands.

Sometimes easier said than done. [ Alice replies, lifting her arms as if to show off her point: mostly that she's absolutely stick-thin. She certainly doesn't look like someone who's been eating very well all her life, for one.

Although that might make one question how she can use heavy weapons the way she does. Just don't think too hard about it, really. ]

I tried using a spoon once when I really had no other option, but there's only so much that can do when you're up against an entire group of people.

With training and practice, that's not an excuse. [Says the large man literally made for warfare. Still, as a child he'd had a number of disadvantages and his trainers had made certain to teach him how to get past them. As adult he kept those in mind still--because one never knew when one might run into a larger problem than the usual fair. Even he had to use his brain when fighting a larger opponent and, yes, it did happen on occasion.]

Was it a large spoon? [Was that a joke??] I've had worse options. [a beat] There are other tactics to employ in such situations.

[Although granted, he did understand her troubles with that last concept. It wasn't fun to go up against an army of gun-toting mercenaries when you were only equipped with a concealable fiber wire and nothing else.]

[ Was that a joke? Alice is contemplating the same thing for a moment, but then everything else he says distracts him. Something about her expression shifts a little. Not to full disinterest, since she's still very much invested in the conversation - considering Alice isn't the type to keep those up if she doesn't care for them - but perhaps from her amusement over towards something that's a little closer to pouty, despite her age. ]

Not all of us had the chance to train.

[ Sometimes you're just shoved into an asylum when your age hasn't even reached double digits yet, and you're stuck tied to your bed for years and years.. ]

I was just desperate back then. I wanted to do anything at all to fight back.

[His eyes slid to her and he replied deadpan (noticeably moreso than usual):]

Some of us didn't have a choice not to.

[And sometimes you're cloned in a facility and treated like a piece of property while enduring the most horrendous training possible to become a fierce weapon and nothing else.

He didn't linger on it.]

I...understand. Even with training, it's not always possible to escape.

Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

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