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: (interest)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-16 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
....Ah. Ken blinks.

"Sorry. To the left of that."

Wormmon works his mandibles, making a face. These vines taste yucky.
blitzcheer: (very gud thinker)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-16 01:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Wormmon you are SO lucky right now!!

"O-oh. Right." Okay, switching it up and passing it over. And while it make not sound like it-

"You actually know what you're doing?"

That's a compliment, as baffled as it comes out.
ramengroupie: (object)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-16 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Ken wouldn't even know a tactful compliment if it smacked him in the face, so he averts his eyes as Tidus completes the pass.

"Not as much as I'd like. But I'm familiar with hardware, and we don't have time to wait for a sure thing."

Mission Ken is a little...tenser....than Train Ken.
blitzcheer: (and i can barely breathe)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-17 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
A huff. "Guess we're not completely helpless on this side of things after all!"

At least they have people like Ken around. Too many of them...only know how to smash. Him included.

Which. Speaking of. "You think any of the scrap pieces from the bots we're breaking'll be good to leave around? See if there's any useful parts in 'em for these ones if we don't fry them too hard?"
ramengroupie: (discuss)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-17 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Repurposing..." Ken thinks about this as Wormmon finishes his latest vine cluster and drops off for a break. He can keep going! He is sure he can! He can do anything for Ken-chan! But....blech.

After thinking it through, Ken nods. (Is it just him, or does Tidus seem....less upbeat...than usual...?) "It's possible. This whole system is supposed to be self-sustaining. Spare parts would be useful."

It's not an idea he would have thought of, either, but it makes sense.
blitzcheer: (:O)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-17 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh yeah?" --well! Tidus wasn't thinking too seriously about that suggestion, but considering he's been collecting so far for another in Orange-

Tidus shifts himself onto his knees to point his body in a different direction from the rest of the tools, his right hand... ... ... just point at the ground. There's nothing for a few seconds until, with a puff of gold glitter a whole lot of what can only be described as robot junk pours out from nowhere.

A lot of it.

Tidus plops back down, grabbing a wonky leg and starts twisting it around, examining for some kind of opening to knock off the metal. Squinting as he gets into it. "Mmm, maybe all the useful stuff's in the torso?"
ramengroupie: (huh?)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-18 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Ken and Wormmon (mostly Wormmon; Ken is elbow-deep in extant machinery) would love to help sort through all that. In a moment.

Right now, they're both staring. He'd had.....that much....?

Ken figures it out before Wormmon does, but Wormmon's the one who voices it, wiggling up to the pile.

"So that's where the toaster went."
blitzcheer: (oh it's a dweeb)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-18 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)
It's cool, it's cool, Tidus is fine with going through all this! It gives him something to do, which he likes more than sitting around and feeling useless.

But oh, hi Wormmon.

"Toaster?" ...Tidus looks back at the pile. Begins twisting his head around. "The toaster's in here?"

Wait, no, didn't he put that in the luggage car? He looks back at Wormmon, putting a hand over the golden band around his wrist.

"Are you hungry? I've got other food. What do you like?"

Clearly this is what Wormmon was thinking about...! (no)
ramengroupie: (interest)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-19 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Um...snacks!"

Not what Wormmon meant, no, but Wormmon is also easily distracted.

Ken, however, can follow through. "We're impressed by your storage ability. If I'm not mistaken, isn't that how you stowed the kitchen appliances?"
blitzcheer: (dreamin' dreamin' dreamin')

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-19 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Snacks?? Tidus has snacks! Just let him put out a hand as he did before and-- oh, get distracted by Ken??

"Oh- oh yeah, it's this thing." He wriggles his hand, where on his wrist is a gold band. "It lets me put whatever I want in it. Or nowhere. Same difference to me." Heh.

"Means I don't have to worry about the weight though. And we can bring more supplies on mission. You ever run out of food or need healing, just ask for it! A few of us have them."
ramengroupie: (object)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-19 11:13 am (UTC)(link)
"A few of you?" Ken is extremely intrigued by such a practical device. Wormmon comes up to Tidus and makes grabby pincers. Can he touch it? Can he see? That's really cool. "From the train, or the same world?"

He has recently, you see, encountered a small issue. The small issue is that they have yet to fix this station and yet he is already out of food. Ken has not shared these worries with the culprit, however.
blitzcheer: (put some clothes on)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-19 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Want him to hold out his wrist, Wormmon? Tidus doesn't take it off, but he'll do that for a moment, so the guy can look at it.

Oh, no wait, he wanted a snack didn't he? Though Tidus does get distracted once more by Ken as he's remembering that detail.

"They're from a guy's world! He showed us them, gifted me this one, and then we got more for missions. They're forty-five points a piece, but worth it." Especially when it means you don't need to be carrying two or three bags, depending on the middle. But -- tada! In that gold-glitter that disappears as quickly as it shows, a duffel bag appears. Tidus moves it to get into the straps, and he starts digging around inside.

"What do you eat? Do you like...nuts?" There's a bag in here, isn't there...there's chocolate in a few of these smaller bags he takes out, jerky, and--aha. Here's the trail mix. In a simple tie-string pouch that Tidus undoes, holds open for Wormon to poke his.... ... ... mandibles in??
ramengroupie: (hat)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-20 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
Mandibles are poking! With gusto! Cronch cronch crunch.

"Thisshish gud! Thshank yuu!"

Even bugs are hard to understand when they speak with their mouths full.

"So we can even request items from other people's worlds...." Ken will have to look into his options, when he's back on the train. Knowing he has the points now doesn't help their current situation.

...He really shouldn't think about "what if his being underprepared costs them this shield", should he. It's not going to happen. He won't let it.
blitzcheer: (very gud thinker)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-20 01:40 pm (UTC)(link)
He hums, nodding. Putting the duffel bag to the side.

"Sure, and it doesn't matter when it existed. I got something that existed a few thousand years ago..." A pause. "Or, maybe I did... the train's pretty weird about how anything works."

Now he's paused, holding onto scrap metal that he was going to pull apart.

"But I did try buying a never-emptying bento like a friend has, but that didn't work." Sigh. "That would've been handy."
ramengroupie: (hat)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-20 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Those exist?"

No, wait, that's not the important part, the important part is that it didn't work....

Wormmon paws at the trail mix. "Can I finish thish?"

He has pieces of nut shell stuck to the zigzag down the center of his mouth.
blitzcheer: (oh it's a dweeb)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-11-20 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"--Yeah, go ahead, I got more bags." Here, let him even open it up better so that big bug head can get better. It'll just take a second before Tidus returns to Ken.

"That's what I hoped, but I guess not." His mouth frowns into a tight line. "Well, the one my friend got, it was a gift from a god he did some work for. But I figured somewhere out there would just sell them on some world, right? We had a guy who could make food appear, like that!" With a snap of fingers. "So why not."

That was Tidus's logic. It was flawless!!

The train didn't agree.
ramengroupie: (interest)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-11-21 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Perhaps there are standards." Ken thinks about this for a moment, but the train's finicky behavior when it comes to item supply isn't as time-sensitive as a meteor about to obliterate this planet, so when he can't come up with a conclusion that satisfies him, he steps back towards the machinery.

"I could help test it later. For now, could you - "

Let's see. What's he need.

"Salvage any non-rusted wires you find?"

Wormmon, meanwhile, has a munch.