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!
ramengroupie: (heroic)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-16 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
The bug eyes Siebren coolly, hovering in place. Behind him, Ken comes running up.

"Is everyone all right? How many were there?"

He's trying to keep count so they know how many they need to fix or adjust programming in later, when it's time to keep the control centre safe from "intruders" again. He is also completely heedless of the threat posed by this giant creature!

Which is now turning to swoop towards him!
namethattune: (I was left to my own devices)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-16 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Had Siebren a few moments to think, he may have been able to put the pieces together: that Digimon are able to change form with the aid of a certain device; that Ken received a package from the train at the most recent platform stop; and that Wormmon is currently nowhere to be found - an odd circumstance, given that he is normally quite attached to Ken, often literally.

But Siebren has been under fire and is already struggling to keep himself together, the insect has proven itself to be dangerous, and there is no time-

He has two choices: call out a warning, or unleash Sigma.

Ken is in danger. It is hardly a decision at all.

He rises into the air, floating a good six inches above the ground as is his wont, accretion already in the works. He calculates the angles as debris - rocks, vines, even robot parts - compacts into a tight boulder near his left hand. Given the creature's velocity and angle of approach, point of impact should be there-

He hurls the makeshift boulder in a tight arc at the creature, already looking for a followup as the melody swells louder in his ears. Given relative speed at time of impact, leaving allowance for unknown variable of creature's hardiness, its next position should be here-

And there go the hyperspheres, arcing in to implode where the creature's head should be, if his calculations are correct. It is only then - a pause in the equations, a break in the melody, a brief respite from efficient violence - that he turns his attention to Ken. "Get inside!"

It is Siebren's voice. It is not Siebren's tone.

Sigma, after all, has a very different approach to things.
ramengroupie: (heroic)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-16 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Fun fact: math done by a rocket scientist (or, okay, astrophysicist, but let me have the joke) is devastatingly accurate! Not expecting an assault, the bug is knocked off-guard in midair, head positioned perfectly to receive Sigma's next attack -

His response time saves him from direct impact at the last second, twisting to shield himself, but he's still blown backwards.

Ken gapes, legs starting up unconsciously when yelled at to run - except instead of heading inside, he too swerves and puts himself between Sigma and Ken's "assailant". Throwing out his arms, he lifts his head and yells.

No time. No time to second-guess whether he's right. What he has to do now...what he has to do now:

"Don't fire!" There's a crash from behind him. Nerves and focus alone keep Ken from wincing. There's nothing he can do for his partner right now except this, the most important thing. "It's not a threat! It's Wormmon!"

Or does he need to rephrase this? Based on what incited this -

"I'm not in any danger right now!"

He says, a vanilla human squaring off against a mad scientist. But the fire in his eyes is sincere.

He's not in any danger right now. Right?
namethattune: (Endlessly the noise goes on and on)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-17 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
Sigma glares. It is not the first time a teammate has ignored a direct order, given for their benefit, but it is irritating every single time it occurs. His ability to ricochet his skills is limited to a certain range of angles, and an ally in the way needlessly complicates the equations-

Which is when Ken's words finally sink in.

It- it is- how could that be-

But it seems there is finally time enough to think. One by one, the pieces come together to form the whole. The variables are all accounted for; the equation is sound; the results, irrefutable.

His feet touch the ground. The glare melts off his face, to be replaced with slow, dawning horror, as Sigma fades and Siebren is left to deal with the consequences of what he has done.

"That...is Wormmon?"
ramengroupie: (discuss)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ken still can't be one hundred percent certain what had happened to Siebren, just now, but realization is a good sign. He also knows sugarcoating a hard truth is pointless, when one's actions have unintended consequences.

So he nods. "His evolved form."

There is a flash of light from the jungle, swooping back into Ken's pocket. He pulls out a smartphone(?), studies its screen, frowns. They don't have much time before that meteor strike, not even enough time for him to try and figure out how he feels right now, but -

"This way."
namethattune: (Endlessly the noise goes on and on)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-17 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
Siebren can appreciate truth, painful as it is. Anything built on incorrect data - on a lie - is temporary at best.

(His peace of mind, for example. His friendships on the train, for another. As long as Sigma remains a secret, he cannot be sure they will last. They will find out eventually...)

(Perhaps today is that day.)

(He is not prepared for today to be that day-)

He nods silently and follows, attempting to steady himself, to stop his hands from shaking, to hold it together, to hold it together-

He has made things worse, and they do not have time for him to collapse.

Hold it together.
ramengroupie: (brood)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
It's not long before Ken is bending over and also, well, holding something. A crumpled, pale-green something, with a leaf draped over its blobby body.

He turns to Siebren to show him. "This is Leafmon."

Leafmon gives a little sigh and sucks on his - oh, no, he's a baby with a pacifier. "Ken-chan?"

Ken-chan is here. That's good. And...

Oh. His...his friend. That's good too.

Leafmon gives a little smile, peering out in sore, exhausted bleariness from behind his leaf. "You protected Ken-chan, didn't you? Thank you."

It's okay. He doesn't care that the person Siebren protected Ken-chan from was him. When Siebren thought Ken-chan was in danger, he didn't hesitate to keep him safe.

Leafmon is very happy to know that.
namethattune: (Endlessly the noise goes on and on)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-17 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
...Leafmon.

For the moment, Siebren just...looks, and tries to steady his shaky breathing, to little avail. It is...a baby. This is what Wormmon has been reduced to. What he has reduced Wormmon to. Sigma had performed the act, as Sigma always does, but...for the first time, it had been Siebren's decision to bring Sigma to the forefront. This wasn't mission parameters; this was his choice.

He'd had the data, and he'd failed to process it. He'd made the wrong decision, and this is the result.

And Leafmon is- is thanking him-

What is left of Siebren's strength fails, and his expression crumples. He clamps one hand over his face and the other across his chest, as though he can hold himself together simply by maintaining his grip, and it does not work that way, and he can't, but here he is anyway, shaking, breathing erratic, overwhelmed with guilt and shame and trying so hard to hold it together hold it together hold it together HE CAN'T-

He must- he must-

There is a mission still at hand. There is a meteor headed for the planet. The apocalypse will not pause for his impending breakdown, and so he must not have one.

He is still shaking- he is still a terrible mess- but-

"We- we do not have- time. For this."

For the mess he has caused. For his weakness. He barely gets the words out, never mind considering how else they may be interpreted. At the moment, it is all he can do to hold on.
ramengroupie: (discuss)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Ken watches Siebren, conflicting emotions also fighting beneath his surface. Years of practice help him examine them:

Anger. He's angry. Why? Because Stingmon got hurt. Because Stingmon got hurt badly enough to devolve to Leafmon. Unnecessarily. If he lets his mind dwell on that, hot pressure rises inside of him enough to start choking off his windpipe. So. Next feeling.

Sympathy. Siebren is exhibiting body language Ken recognizes. He has no idea what has happened in Siebren's life to make him able to change like that - confusion, there's another feeling, he doesn't understand the particulars of what happened - but, while Ken doesn't feel like he can draw too many conclusions about others' emotions, he remembers what this sort of realization is like. If it had been him, he'd probably be screaming right now. So yes. He feels for Siebren.

He feels for Siebren, and he's furious at Siebren. People are funny. These are both him. Yet they also feel like they might be a cover....?

Oh. Of course. He hasn't grown out of this habit. The person he's angriest at is himself.

That's as far as Ken gets by the time Siebren is able to remind them both of their task, and it's a sound point. So while he looks a little grim, a little torn, he settles back into mission mode and nods. "Let's focus on the station."

And he turns to head back, trusting that Siebren will follow, or perhaps just still trying to focus when, now that he's realized what's really going on, it's harder. But he can do it. This is a bad habit. He can overcome it.




......if he'd been faster, no one would be hurt.
namethattune: (Endlessly the noise goes on and on)

[personal profile] namethattune 2020-11-17 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
He takes a breath and lets it out, then takes another. He is still shaking; it is a slow, awful process, trying to put a lid on a landslide that is threatening to become complete collapse; but collapse is not an option right now. He has some understanding of mechanics; he will be needed, and the mission will not wait.

It is only that - the return to actual mission parameters, and the constant reminder that his job is not done - that pulls Siebren back from the edge, just enough to function.

He lets Ken get ahead of him - he cannot stand to walk beside him right now, to see Leafmon and to know - and follows him back inside. There is still a mission to accomplish. He will worry about this- later.