Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

[voidtreckermods]

"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!

Comments

Itsuki Myoudouin | OTA

[sunbloom]

[A | initial task: purple]
[Itsuki is off like a shot as soon as she disembarks, not even waiting for her teammates, grim expression etched deep into her face. It's not desertification, but... this won't be too far off if they don't stop the thing. She stays in civilian form as long as she dares, wanting to conserve her power and making a token effort to continue to preserve the masquerade, but occasionally she can't force her way through a heavy section of foliage, and since nobody can see her through the stuff anyway, she'll shift, blow a hole through the vines, dash through to make up time, and eventually change back. This has the strange side effect that, unless whoever she's with has a fair bit of firepower behind them, traveling together makes her more nervous, not less, and she stops just short of rambling - or purposely leaving people behind. But it's a near thing, if she can get away with it. Once she finally arrives at the station, she's got a lot of pent-up annoyance and discomfort to vent; she's quick to move in and engage the unlucky security robot in her way without even bothering to transform again. She'll slowly cool off as she helps with repairs and clearing space... right up until she looks up at the sky, and the tension will come right back.]

[B | initial task: climax]
[It's a few minutes before expected impact and Itsuki has more or less made her way back to base camp in record time; she makes no effort to hide her spiking anxiety over the incoming meteor. She's short, frazzled, and her fingers keep twitching. Twitching toward her pocket with her Perfume, wondering how strong an Aegis would have to be to stop a meteor. Yes, they've turned the defense system back on, but... will it be enough? If it isn't, will they be able to do anything about it before they all end up in a whole lot of trouble?

A couple minutes pass before she can't take it anymore, screaming in frustrating as she dashes into the thicker underbrush. A muted yellow flash heralds Sunshine coming out again, as she shoots toward a tree she can run up the side of, looking for the best angle as the sky turns red. Might want to stop her before she does something she won't have time to regret before it's over, not that she knows that now.]

[C | intermission]
[Between her high-strung but draining tension and a long day of pushing herself, Itsuki's wiped out. Camping is surprisingly soothing, so long as she doesn't end up with anyone she can't handle, and she came... mildly prepared. When the train had announced they'd be camping, she'd smuggled some supplies from the kitchens and was now set up with a stick, cooking over a campfire. Not that she's done it herself before, but it can't be that hard, right? She helped with the tents and staked out a place, feeling like she'll be tired enough not to care about sleeping more or less on the ground. It's fine. She worked hard today, and as long as she can get a few hours of rest, she'll keep. But she won't be averse to talking or mild shenanigans before then, even if she starts drifting off a little earlier than normal or intended.

She'll stay relatively calm over the course of the mission and will be up for Camping Adventures in the evenings after work.]

[D | onward: purple]
[Itsuki is not the would-be botanist of her team; that's Tsubomi, even if she's spent some time at the botanical gardens herself. So she's not exactly suited for dismantling plants, unless someone shows her where to grab the things to yank them out - and what she's not supposed to be pulling. She learns pretty quickly what not to touch though, her SCA reminding her a few times when she finds the worst offenders. She is a good fit for the occasional security robot, though, agile enough to avoid taking fire for the most part. Unless asked to transform ahead of time, she stays out of her magical girl form, sticking to mostly-standard human abilities, even if she's stronger than a 15-year-old girl should be. It's monotonous work, but easy enough, and it gives her time to think. And even when she is under threat, none of this is even remotely close to a pile of Sunackies charging in, let alone anything actually dangerous. That's... probably not a safe attitude to take about all this, but it's hard to worry about that kinda stuff after the first day. If she does get winged, she'll deal with it. Really, if you need Itsuki's help with much of anything - or just someone to talk to out here in the rainforest - just ask. She's in a decent mood now that things aren't actively going to hell around her.]

C

[happyends]

[ .. well.

That sure was An Emotion to experience back there. Not that Madoka herself hadn't been tense already, worried, scared-- but there definitely was a burst of even more emotion, coming from what felt like something outside of her own. And she knows there's only one person that could have come from.

So the moment they're back at the base camp with all teams together, Madoka quickly tries to find Itsuki, even if she has to wait for a bit for the other to return later. But regardless of when it is, the moment Madoka first spots Itsuki, she's already heading over to her, worry in her eyes. ]

I.. Itsuki-chan! Are you.. okay?

[sunbloom]

[Itsuki is visibly drained when Madoka finds her, sitting on a fallen log and staring into the distance. She's... calming down, but it's not quite a finished process. The pink hair catches her attention, and she's initially concerned it'll be Tsubomi to tell her off for pushing herself - entirely her own fault, mind - which makes her refocus. It turns out to be Madoka, though, which... may actually be worse. Tsubomi has at least seen desertification and would kinda sorta understand what Itsuki was worried about. Madoka... she'll have to explain.

She's not looking forward to that. But she owes it to her friend to try, even if her voice is quiet and tentative.]

I think I am now, more or less. That meteor... really spooked me.

[happyends]

I..

[ She starts, then suddenly gets less unsure of what she was about to follow it up with. Would it be a rude thing to say? Then again, it's just a fact..

So Madoka does end up saying it, even though it's a bit carefully. ]

I know. I.. I think I felt your panic. [ As odd as that is. But it really didn't feel like Madoka's own feelings - also panicked, but with a different nuance to it. Not the same desperation. ] That's why I wanted to find you.. I was really worried about you. Especially since I didn't know what might be going on with you.

[sunbloom]

[Itsuki's head snaps up to stare at her fully, her own discomfort totally forgotten. Sure, she's magic, Madoka's from a place with magic so it's half credit, Jema'grethy Island was clearly magic even if she can't prove it, but. What the hell.]

That's... that's really strange, even if it explains some things. I- um. I guess I should apologize for scaring you, then, first. I'm sorry, Madoka-chan. I reacted badly. I'm not as used to all this as I probably made it sound before.

[Does that mean she should be careful when she's feeling emotional, or that she should embrace it? Ugh, feelings are hard.]

[happyends]

[ She shakes her head. ]

It's okay! You don't have to apologize to me!

[ It's a bit more forceful than Madoka would usually be, but it's just important to get this point across. With how awful the other girl must have felt, the last thing Madoka wants is for Itsuki to feel guilty towards her now.. Especially over something neither of them could do anything about. ]

Everyone reacted badly to this, I think.. I was really scared too. [ She's not afraid to admit that, openly, honestly. ] You didn't get hurt though, did you..? D-did something happen to you?

[sunbloom]

[You say that, Madoka, but she's going to feel guilty anyway. The both of them have enough problems, adding more is. Going the wrong direction. Still, she can try.]

O-okay. I'm so- ah. No, I'm not hurt, I just... [Itsuki pauses, frowning.] I didn't trust the planet's shield to stop the meteor, and I have this power, so... I felt desperate. I've seen something hit a planet before.

B

[sos_pilot]

[ Della hears the scream, and drops her own plans to immediately head towards the sound. Something's up, and she has a bad feeling about this. ]

Hey hey hey, what's going on around here!

[sunbloom]

[Sunshine very nearly ignores the inquiry to just try and do something, but with tension in every line of her body, she turns to Della; maybe she'll have an idea.]

I can't just stand here! There's a meteor right there! What if the shield doesn't hold-!?

[sos_pilot]

[ Della has... SEVERAL questions about this outfit and look but not the time or place. She's got a kid to placate. It's Mom Time. ]

And what if it does? I know things look bad, but we've got this! You're not in this alone!

[sunbloom]

[-oh no, mothering, one of her weaknesses-! With a flourish she thrusts one arm out to her side; her Shiny Tambourine forms from thin air and falls into her waiting hand, with a vague jingle.]

What do I have this shield for if I'm not going to use it? I... this is what I do. I'm purple, I'm supposed to keep people safe!

[sos_pilot]

[ She wants to ask about the magical item SO BAD, but she has to focus!!! ]

We need you to keep yourself safe, too. You're a vital part of our team, so we can't afford to lose you doing something you have no guarantee will work.

[ She takes another step forward, both hands out. ]

We trust you... but you need to trust us too. Please?

[sunbloom]

[Itsuki gets that. She remembers... certain things. Someone important to her almost going off the handle this same way, but to do something much less agreeable, for an arguably much better reason. That person had let herself be talked down. But still, she wants to go. She has to-!

-slowly, Sunshine forces herself to relax, slumping a little. She doesn't move otherwise.]

It's hard. I trust everyone, but... we haven't dealt with something like this.

B

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita's on her way back to camp herself - a pitstop on her way to checking on the other teams in general - when she hears the scream.

More importantly, she's close enough to catch a glimpse of someone heading upward.

Nita is swift to follow - and using the Speech to amplify her voice, shouts:]

/The shield is holding! What are you doing?!/

[She's running on air-steps, now, but she may have to switch to telling gravity to buzz off, soon, depending on how fast Cure Sunshine ascends.]

[sunbloom]

[Sunshine has a lot of jumping power, but without her fairy partner (or Marine) she can't actually fly, so she's going to have to push off from the top of the trees and hope she can get enough height from there. That means she has to take a few hops up, and it's during one of those Nita's voice reaches her - with some force. Sunshine shouts back, tension very much audible in her tone.]

Are we just going to trust it'll hold when we already had to turn it back on? That's too much faith, isn't it!?

[...she's panicking a little and it's driving her actions.]

[unfavorableinstigation]

/What if I showed you the energy readout?/

[Privately, she warns the peridexis to start readying that data from the control centers in a hurry...]

/If the integrity in any area fails, we've power enough to get an alert, and we can shore those areas up!/

[All this information delivered while near-yelling.]

[sunbloom]

[That gets Sunshine to stop; if her Aegis will be better served somewhere specific instead of just trying to add more shield, she can work with that. She's still keyed up, but she jumps back down a branch or two, waiting for Nita to come closer instead of chancing jumps around that strange stuff on the trees. Politeness isn't quite something she's up to right now, but it'll be easier for Nita to tell her where to go if she's closer, so despite herself she doesn't keep shouting across the clearing. Thankfully she's moving pretty fast, so it shouldn't be a long wait.]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita parks herself in midair to meet Sunshine, pulling out her Manual and flipping to a ready page, tilting it just enough so the other girl can read it too.

On it scroll lines and lines of data; lots of it, and fast - but none of it consists of error messages, at least right now. (For added benefit, Nita has Bobo translate it to English on the fly.)

Nita lets herself heave a sigh of relief as she reads through.]

It's holding. If we get any cracks later, though... we'll call you.

[Or the train will, not that Nita knows that.]

How were you going to add power to it, anyway? Do you have a go-to method for that sort of thing, or...?

[Trying to calm her down with shop talk. How is this Nita's life, again?]

[sunbloom]

[And translating it to English lets the SCA translate it to Japanese; not that Itsuki's ever seen the Speech to recognize it either. She doesn't entirely understand what she's seeing regardless, eyes flicking over the text and a look of slight puzzlement coming over her, but Nita's sigh of relief is clear enough.]

Okay. I can handle that. Um, I wasn't going to add power to it, though. I was going to, well... be more of it?

[Summoning her Tambourine up here seems ill-advised if she's not actively using it, but even without it Sunshine's got a shield, still. Holding one hand over the open air but not between herself and Nita, she shapes the power and a small, yellow square of light, the size of a small windowpane, appears in the air. It occurs to her that this will... probably invite more questions, but so be it.]

Shields are my specialty.

d

[blitzcheer]

You know, if it rained like this all the time, it wouldn't be so bad.

[ It's a light shower that's falling outside the solar station, nothing to be immediately concerned about. For the time, there was still enough inside the station that needed decluttering to deal with, ivy that had made its home across every surface high and low. An easy pull, if fussy, and luckily none of it poisonous to set off their SCAs. Tidus tears into the greenery, dropping it into clumps off the floor; enjoying the door left open to let in the air. ]

Better than the last mission though, right? Which one was you on? Purple again?

[sunbloom]

[She'd remembered her raincoat, thankfully, even if being coated in an extra layer of purple made her uncomfortable after her earlier escapade. She smiles back at Tidus as she yanks a couple large weeds out of the concrete, not wanting to get in his way - he's sure getting a lot more work done than she is, but she's a little smaller so she can fit between the overgrowth a little better.]

Mm, purple, but... the mission before this wasn't difficult, really. There was a lot to do, but the tasks themselves were simple.

[blitzcheer]

You didn't have those golems barging too close to the villages? [ That's about the extent of what Tidus knows -- them and the goblins, which he remembers as he pauses, waiting to see how well using brute force is going to get him through this particularly hardy vine. ]

How about the goblins? I came checked out Purple later, but it was quiet by the time I got there.

[ Were they ever an actual problem, or...? ]

[sunbloom]

They got a little closer than I'd like, but we muscled our way through them pretty quickly. The golems and the goblins both. [Itsuki is in the very strange position that she's already used to fighting both big things and crowds; she honestly wasn't very put out by any of the threats on that world.]

I think they were a problem, to be sure, but... not a complicated one? [Said as she yanks a few more clumps of vegetation out of the way of an access panel, speaking of uncomplicated problems.]

[blitzcheer]

Oh yeah? [ Hey, Tidus is willing to believe it, humour in his voice, vegetation in his hands, as he remarks, ] You're stronger than you look! You got some kinda secret power you were out there climbing and beating them with?

[ What highschool-aged girl on the train didn't have a super cool secret power? Or a majority of the passengers, for that matter. ]

[sunbloom]

[Excuse you, Tidus, middle-school-aged. look, at least it's not Nanoha Still, that's not for public consumption yet, so...]

Oh, I train. I was heir to my family's karate dojo for some years. [Hands briefly free, she drives a fist into her palm, satisfying meaty sound somewhat muffled by dirt.] I know how to defend myself.