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!
adregem: (mister president.)

[personal profile] adregem 2020-11-25 11:14 am (UTC)(link)
He takes the correction with a twitch of the mouth. Not a name. A title? - is his only logical conclusion. The words are repeated, this time, correctly with an upward glance of recognition. "Sorry. Koumyou Sanzo."

The second hand is done up just as fast, the salve still cold despite the jar remaining open for all that time. The magic of ancient elf recipes, he assumes. Roland also looks around for a moment, just to confirm it. He did carry all of this out here, huh?

"Hm. Well, I've got a nifty little solution for that, if you happen to have the points to buy it." Roland sits back to give himself some room, the jar of salve set aside and his right hand reaching back to grab the hilt of his sword, laid on the ground. While it looks like he would be admiring its blade up close, he demonstrates something else; the entire thing disappears like a magic trick, evidence of it ever being there found only in the spray of gold dust and sparkle it leaves behind. Then, Roland outstretches, and away from any accidents poking the blonde, the same sword reappears in the same storm of gold, as if it was never gone.
its_dad_sanzo: Ibun-era ("doves came out too")

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-25 11:23 am (UTC)(link)
Huh. Nearly everyone else Koumyou's corrected so far has defaulted to just calling him 'Sanzo', just to keep it simple. Points go to Roland for the effort.

And indeed, everything that's here... either already was, or came with Koumyou on his back.

It's the main reason there's no proper tent at this little camp site. The lean-to Koumyou's sheltering under has been fashioned out of the local vines and leaves and even rocks, in places. Lashed to a pair of sturdy trees on the high end, and weighed down with stones on the low end.

A tent by itself wouldn't have weighed much, per se, but the poles would have been annoying. All he has to pack this sort of thing around with is the backpack he'd arrived with, after all.

"Oh!" And Koumyou watches, attentive, before clapping his hands together with enthusiasm. "A magic trick? Illusion?"

Not that those would be useful for carrying things, but the priest sure does enjoy acting like an airhead.
adregem: (the coast is clear.)

[personal profile] adregem 2020-11-25 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"A magic trick, yes. An illusion, not quite. It's real."

He indulges it, not really thinking of how authentic his reactions were. What's important is he cuts to the chase, of which he does by pulling up a sleeve to his bicep, revealing a golden band embedded with jewels, glinting under the low light from the fire pit.

"It's called an arms band. I brought it with me from my world, and now you can buy it at the train shop for forty-five points." He pulls his sleeve back down and the sword is returned back into the hammerspace. The task of helping him out is not forgotten either; now Roland takes a first aid kit from his arms band, and unzips it to get gauze. This is deftly unrolled and another gesture for Koumyou Sanzo's hands is made, as Roland takes to wrapping up his work.

"It's never going to run out of space, so all this - " he cranes his head slowly to gesture to their surroundings, to the camp site he nests in. "- won't need to be hauled in a backpack. Neither would your weapons have no place to go. You can keep three melee and one ranged weapon in here at all times."

Now to wrap up the other hand...
its_dad_sanzo: doujinshi art (havin a chit chat)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-26 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Huh!" Koumyou, as before, is highly tolerant of the fussing, and offers up each hand in turn. "That does sound terribly useful. I've had a bit of an adventure just trying to keep this backpack's contents dry."

Spare clothes and all, which he's currently wearing. The set he'd had on during the day is draped over something inside the lean-to, but near the fire, to hopefully dry out by the time he's ready to move on again.

"Perhaps after I buy my uniform back. Ah, and cigarettes."

Lots of cigarettes. He's not the chain-smoker his son grows up to be, but not having any to smoke this whole time -- while out kicking ass, no less! -- is making him want to hoard plenty of tobacco at his first opportunity.
adregem: (lost in thought as per usual)

[personal profile] adregem 2020-11-29 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
The job is done nicely and Roland decides to hand him the jar, now closed up and ready for transport. "Keep it. If you fight with your fists, then you might as well have it on you. I've got potions and elixirs on hand anyway."

He sits back now, though a little closer to Koumyou Sanzo and the fire pit. The tea he sets aside cooled slightly, but still good.

"What's your uniform? Are you an officer of some kind where you come from?"
its_dad_sanzo: Ibun-era (actual high priest Koumyou Sanzo)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-29 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"Are you sure?" Koumyou asks, automatically taking the jar when it's handed to him. "I have healing, if something's actually serious."

For now, he just sets the jar down where either of them could pack it away accordingly, and picks up his tea as well.

"Ah, well, I'm a priest. Highest ranking in all of Buddhism! So I'm not used to civilian clothing anymore, after wearing the same stuff every day for a few decades..."
adregem: (deja vu.)

(darts around 4th wall; an earth-AU as he is!)

[personal profile] adregem 2020-11-30 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
He waves that off casually, no problem.

"I see." There's a religion that sounds similar to that, with priests too, and other such designations he's had to stay familiar with during diplomacy trips abroad. But he's learned that on this train, the vastness of the versions of his world is too much to comprehend, so he just nods in understanding. What catches him more is the highest ranking part...and he supposes that his nonchalance and casualness about these things might be explained by that fact alone.

"Well, I can understand that. It feels better to look the part, I agree. The sweats and hoodies aren't exactly what I'm used to anymore, either."
its_dad_sanzo: (shading eyes)

(knowing Buddhism is fine, just don't expect me to be a pro OOCly XD)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-11-30 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Nothing I'm wearing right now moves right," Koumyou sighs, before sipping his cooled tea. "And the sleeves are terrible for hiding things in."

Honestly, it just doesn't suit him at all. It looks fine, but he'll never be as comfortable in the train-issued clothes as he will be in his proper Sanzo attire. Not after so long.

"What are you used to?"
adregem: (now there's an idea.)

apologies for the lateness ;; work got me busy.

[personal profile] adregem 2020-12-04 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"Heh. That's a rather unique way to use sleeves." And something he can't quite imagine. Hoodies had nice pockets, didn't they? "I hope to see you in your uniform as soon as you receive it, then."

He'd make a joke about asking Koumyou Sanzo to store some of his own goodies inside of those spacious uniform sleeves, but after explaining arms bands, maybe it wouldn't be as funny.

Roland finishes his tea before speaking. It's grown cold, but he finds it still delicious regardless.

"A different sort of casual. I haven't worn hoodies in decades. I'm more used to a little bit more formalwear now." Which in itself is strange just for the idea that someone who looks twenty seemed to talk as if he's been alive for much longer, but he didn't look so bothered about it for some reason. Roland just chuckles and finds it ironically funny. "Have you met Spider Seamstress onboard? For a small price, she can actually tailor special clothes for you. Give her a visit in the Dressing carriage one of these days. Can't miss it with the spider webs."
its_dad_sanzo: (well that's just the usual)

no worries

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-12-05 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sure you will, it's very distinctive and the train isn't that big," Koumyou assures him, about seeing the priest in his proper attire.

"I haven't met her, no. Maybe someday!"