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

[xue_yang]

He smirks as he walks back to her, ready for when another robot should show up. "Probably better. I've learned a few things since then." A lot of things since the last she remembers of him. But he is definitely not one to be modest about his skills.

"If I wasn't any good do you really think Wen Ruohan would have used me?"

Or Jin Guangyao..or even Jin Guangshan. There was a reason he wasn't killed after he had been captured. Everyone seemed to think he'd be far more useful alive for their less then legal endeavors.

[radishlobbyist]

She eyes him, eyes narrowing slightly before she sheathes her sword again. There really is no need for that, he has proven his point about his battle prowess quite nicely here.

"Chief Cultivator made many questionable decisions," she points out with a hint of wryness to her voice. "But I suppose you were not one of them."

And then, a moment later, "Thank you." For handling the fight by himself. Watching over her.

[xue_yang]

"These almost seem like compliments. And you are even thanking me. Are you feeling alright?" He laughs as he stops in front of her. He slides the swords back into the pouch concealed beneath his robes. Not only does he get to enjoy this mission with weapons, but it feels more natural being in the robes the spider gave him. He's been feeling more like himself then he has in a long time.

[radishlobbyist]

Irritation sparks in her eyes at the laugh until she decides that he is - maybe - not laughing at her. At least not foremost. That hostility from their earliest days on the train has passed, for the most part.

So she just purses her lips slightly and goes back to walking in the direction they had been going when they came across the robots.

"I acknowledge help given and skill when I see it, Xue Yang," she says firmly, "Just don't get used to receiving praise."

[xue_yang]

"If I was used to it then receiving it would be boring." It's no fun to get praise all the time. Far more well received when it is unexpected.

He follows after her, keeping his eyes wandering to make sure no other robots decide to join their party.

"Are you staying with red team this time?"

[radishlobbyist]

Her lips twitch a little at that response to her little jab, finding herself appreciative of it despite herself.

Xue Yang really isn't half bad company, as long as you aren't the target of his wrath.

"I'm only helping out for a day while you're expecting to deal with more robots than usual, I promised Lightning I'd be at her disposal when she needs me." Or when Wen Qing thought that Lightning needed her, at that.

[xue_yang]

"It's only going to get harder after this. It always does." But at least he feels better about this mission then he would have if he was still unarmed. Having swords..even if they aren't Jiangzai..is a great improvement over what he has had to deal with before.

Something unusual always happens on these missions and he's learned to be ready for anything.

[radishlobbyist]

She nods curtly, wishing she could argue with him but he's right. "That's always how these missions go, isn't it? The deeper we dig and the closer we come to the goal, the bigger the problems we run into."

So, maybe she should have left her time helping out with Red for later but. Too late now.

"If Red needs additional healers, I will be helping again. I enjoy the work with the pandas but my actual duty here should be to work as a field medic." She pauses, eyeing him. "Do you enjoy it? The work you do here on the train?"

[xue_yang]

"It's not exactly what I would chose to be doing, but what choice do I have? It's either this or nothing." Because he can't exactly go home..all that his future holds is death. He might as well enjoy a second chance.

"I get to enjoy enough freedom to do whatever I want that it isn't disagreeable."

He doesn't have to take part if he doesn't want to. But it gives him an excuse to kill things usually.

[radishlobbyist]

"This or nothing," she echoes, thoughtful. "I'm in the same position." There is only death waiting once the train is done with her. "I think as far as having no choice goes, this is the best place we could have gone. We can make a difference here, we can help people."

Well, maybe he won't care about that, she realizes belatedly, eyeing him from the corner of his eyes.

"Or be in the company of the people we want to be with, at the very least," she adds.

[xue_yang]

"There are only a few that would fall into that category." But lucky for him, the one who does has finally come back to the train. But he is also being cautious. When Xingchen came before he had left quickly after. He doesn't want to feel too comfortable only to lose again.

"We seem to keep gaining more and more from our world here. Not all of them are too happy to see me."

[radishlobbyist]

"I suppose they wouldn't." Which, honestly, she can't blame anyone for. She hadn't been too happy to see him either and the only time their paths crossed, they had been on the same side.

"But there is more to you than what we saw at home, and... Well, I don't know if they will come to see that, or if they will care. I'm still avoiding many of them myself," she adds, a little sheepishly. Cowardice, yes, but it's hard to forget how she died. "But all we can do is live our lives the best we can, and let others judge as they wish."

[xue_yang]

It's not that Xue Yang has been avoiding, he has just managed to not encounter them. An impressive accomplishment considering they are in such an enclosed place.

"I think they are pretty set in what they think about me. I did remove one of their heads from their body." He was ordered to do so but he still did the deed himself so he is aware that his own head is probably in jeopardy.

[radishlobbyist]

...and here Wen Qing's feet don't quite obey her, and she needs to do some impressive waving of her arms to keep from landing face-first on the ground.

"You did what?!" she snaps, giving Xue Yang a wide-eyed look caught somewhere between horrified and outraged. "If this is a joke, it's a terrible one!"

Well, if it isn't a joke that's even more terrible but...

[xue_yang]

He laughs at her surprise over it. He forgets that she was not aware of anything he did during that time with Jin Guangyao.

"I was tasked with cutting off Nie Mingjue's head. You can ask Jin Guangyao if you really want to know the reasons why. Which means both members of the Nie sect are not exactly fans of mine."

[radishlobbyist]

He... What.

"Explaining it doesn't make it any better," she says dryly, though the humor has sharpened now. It is a stark reminder that Xue Yang is dangerous to his enemy, something she has been all too willing to let herself forget. It isn't wise to become his enemy.

"How have you managed to survive on the same train with Nie Mingjue for weeks? Does he not know what you did?"

[xue_yang]

"He definitely knows. I think I've got Meng Yao's protection in a way. Pretty sure he has tried to make sure Nie Mingjue doesn't come after me."

Xue Yang isn't quite sure how he still has his head attached. But he has managed to avoid being hunted down somehow.

[radishlobbyist]

"Meng Yao? That bastard of Jin Guangshan's who killed Chief Cultivator?" She gives him another puzzled look, though this more confused than downright shocked. "I didn't realize you two were friends."

Was it when Meng Yao worked for the Wen? Had they known another before? How strange.

[xue_yang]

He smirks, "You could say he recognized my talents and thought I could be of some use." The Jin clan was just as dirty as the Wen clan had been..they just liked to be less showy about it.

"And he had some pretty interesting plans." And Xue Yang likes it when things are kept interesting.

[radishlobbyist]

"Interesting plans," she echoes dryly, her face tightening with distaste. "If his plans were anything like Jin Guangshan's plans... That man tricked us, you know. It was only to be my brother and I dying. Instead, he had my entire family killed. Last I learned before he burned me alive was that he would hang from the walls of the Nightless City."

[xue_yang]

"Well your brother was never actually killed. He had bigger plans for him." Which..it probably shouldn't be mentioned that Xue Yang got to play with his brain and some very large nails.

"I was eventually tossed out by him anyway once it was determined I was too dangerous to keep." There were reasons for it and Xue Yang doesn't really hold it against them. It..kind of worked out better this way.

[radishlobbyist]

"I'm not surprised that the Jin sect tired of you," she says wryly, unable to keep a little bit of bite out of her voice. It may be uncharitable but her only context for Xue Yang interacting with sect leadership is with Wen Ruohan. "You were... a lot to deal with in Nightless City."

Fortunately, she doesn't know how Xue Yang had been involved in her brother's torment, or she would be far less friendly towards him.

"But I know my brother survived. I met him, a him from many years after my death."

[xue_yang]

"I never stopped being a lot to deal with. I like having my own agenda." And not necessarily staying in line with what those in charge want him to do. But they can't deny that his skills can be put to good use. And he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty since eventually he gets what he wants out of the deal as well.

"It doesn't matter what sect it is. They all desire power and will use anyone to get it."

[radishlobbyist]

She hums a little at his claim that he has his own agenda - something that doesn't surprise her, but it is indeed a good reminder for her, too.

"Of course they all desire power, all sects are the same in this. But most of us don't see that as a reason to seek out our own personal power instead."

[xue_yang]

He shrugs, "If I don't seek out my own then when they do toss me aside I won't be able to hold myself up or find a new place to be useful."

Might as well have the power and ability to stand on his own feet when he needs to.