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!
unfavorableinstigation: Nita looking right, holding a book. (I'm In The Book)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-16 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
It's a few seconds after the shield disperses before Nita lets out a breath.

Bobo?

/Still here, boss. But yes, he's right./

With that small reassurance from the voice in her own head, she shakes it.

"I'm fine. How about you?"

The linac gets powered down, but isn't put away just yet.
namethattune: (The opposite of falling)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-16 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
The reassurance eases the last bit of combat tension out of his shoulders. No injuries. Good. "I am alright. Fortunately, the barrier deploys quickly." And if there is an issue, kinetic grasp can at least buy them some time.

"We should move on. We are low on time." He continues on, making sure she is keeping pace before fully turning his attention back to the jungle. He has questions, but for the time being, he would prefer to make sure they are not ambushed again.
unfavorableinstigation: Nita looking directly at the viewer, mouth slightly open, as if she's in the middle of an important or unamused expression. (Focused)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-16 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"No argument there."

She'd neglected to manifest a proper holster for the linac earlier; fortunately Bobo was on-call for that, so that once she slid it into her cargo shorts it wouldn't get set off again easily.

It would be some quiet minutes before she could really believe that danger had passed.

"That was a neat trick, back there. What sort of shielding is your specialty...?"

The question sort of fell out of her mouth, and she finds herself shaking her head instead.

"Wait, hold that thought. Basics first. Mind if I have your name? I'm Nita, Nita Callahan."
namethattune: (There were moments of gold)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-17 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Siebren is still a bit on edge - keeping an eye out for potential hostile encounters will do that - but the continued walk with no further issues is certainly helping. He would normally spare a thought to make sure he doesn't completely outstrip his companion, but the dense jungle foliage is moderating his pace for him, perhaps a bit more than he would like.

He cannot help but smile at the introduction. "The basics can be helpful, yes. My name is Siebren de Kuiper." Nita. Where has he heard that name-? Oh, yes. "You are the one who speaks with the train, correct? Xander had mentioned you."
unfavorableinstigation: Nita working with a Kernel (Wizardry Is Kid Stuff)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-17 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Siebren de Kuiper... nice to meet you, despite the scenario we're in."

Nita doesn't actually straighten up a little at Siebren's tangent, but to her it feels like she does.

"Xander and I are friends, yeah. He's helped me try and reach it before; I think our methods sort of complement each other? ... He's a good person."

And she knew that; one of those things she didn't have to question.

"He even just plain helped me a few months back. Back when I- when I wasn't sure I deserved it."

She doesn't sound as if she wants to go into it, but she wants to impart at least that much about Xander's character.
namethattune: (There were moments of gold)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-24 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
"A pleasure." The circumstances may not be ideal, but they do not dampen Siebren's enthusiasm - he'd been interested in meeting Nita ever since Xander had spoken of her work several nights ago.

"He does seem the type, doesn't he." Siebren has only met him the once, but he has a good humor about him that is infectious - one that is difficult to imagine as anything but genuine.

"You said your methods complement each other - if his method is his empathy, what is yours?"
unfavorableinstigation: It is dark, but Nita is inside reading a book. (Reading Indoors)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-24 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
Nita's of two minds, here - describe, or describe-and-demonstrate?

After another not-so-casual sweep, because this would be a moment prime for interruption, she opts for the latter: the next words out of her mouth are both of a strange language, yet perfectly intelligible, as if they were in Siebren's native tongue:

/It's called the Speech - the language all Life understands, no matter what form it's in. The universe itself listens to those who use it, and those with the right permissions can make the universe do certain things, if they persuade it properly./
namethattune: (It's a mess)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-25 09:58 am (UTC)(link)
He's been looking forward, keeping eyes ahead for rough terrain or further attacks, so when he hears a language that is both intelligible and entirely not come out of Nita's mouth, he visibly starts and whips around to look at her.

And he listens. And he thinks.

Between Xander feeling emotion from the train and Nita being able to speak to it, the train is very much alive, likely sentient, and possibly sapient. Incredible, and the perfect pair of talents to be able to gather the data for it.

His thoughts take a turn as he remembers a conversation with Gen, and he cannot help but ask. "Can it be taught?"
unfavorableinstigation: Nita looking right, holding a book. (I'm In The Book)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-25 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Nita holds her gaze, making up for Siebren's surprise.

/The language itself? Absolutely./

Like any other language, it had an alphabet - well, syllabary, in its case - and a pronunciation guide that she could pass on.

/I can't give others the same permissions wizards have, though. That one's more than a bit above my own jurisdiction./

Given that the Powers weren't actually here.

/It works somewhat like the train's own autotranslate, even - whatever language others are speaking, they can understand you and vice versa, though some nuance does get lost. Like in jokes, or cultural references./
namethattune: (There were moments of gold)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-26 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
The answer is honestly more than he had hoped for. "But even without-" He gestures, a bit uselessly. "-permissions, it is still universally understood, correct?"

He is excited - linguistics is not his forte by any stretch of the imagination, but this is too good an opportunity with far too many far-reaching implications to pass up. Imagine the advances in biology alone-!

"Would you be willing to teach me?" A beat. "After the mission is over, of course."
unfavorableinstigation: Nita Callahan rendered in Undertale-style graphics. (Nita.jpg)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-26 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Nita only nods, a smile forming on her face.

His excitement is catching.

"I haven't gotten to really teach it-"

The offer brought on memories, both on the train and from Nautilus, of friends she'd made and then lost, one way or another.

"But I've got what I need to make it happen, no problem."
namethattune: (I was left to my own devices)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-26 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Confirmation brings a bright smile to his face. It will be work, yes, but hard work has never intimidated Siebren before, and the vast amount of knowledge to be had is more than worth the effort. "Thank you-"

Which is when laser fire zings by his ear from a trio of sentries. He turns to face them and deploys the shield again, fully intact from its time to recharge. "Must you?" It's an expression of frustration - there is nothing quite as annoying as having a conversation interrupted by useless violence.
unfavorableinstigation: Nita looking directly at the viewer, mouth slightly open, as if she's in the middle of an important or unamused expression. (Focused)

Hm - to fade out, or thread another encounter? Am good for either.

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-11-27 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Nita feels herself snap back to attention as well.

"Better get back to it," she says, her linac whining into life again.

Such is a day in the life of Void Warriors, apparently.

She lines up her next shot, aiming for the sentry in the middle.