Not with a Bang: Side Missions

[voidtreckermods]

On day nine of the month of Imagination voidtreckers may notice a new symbol on the SCA map. Lime green exclamation marks hover above several sections of Nion’s jungle. Tapping these exclamation marks will bring up additional tasks that need to be undertaken.

These appear at different times over the course of day nine and ten and do not seem to be linked to any specific team, anyone who wishes may follow their SCA to the marker and help solve the problems.

Task 1

Shield integrity is below expected levels in sector R-37. Potential for sabotage. Please investigate at the location indicated.

R-37 is a mile-wide area of jungle with a single solar station. and a cursory investigation will show that station to be the cause of the issue. Sirens wail and indicators flash red, both light and sound spilling out into the surrounding jungle.

The structure doesn’t seem to have taken any physical damage, but something is certainly wrong. The shielding in the air above this sector is flickering on and off, and no attempts to stabilise it work.
It will require a hard reset to fix; the map icon will pinpoint two towers on the corner of the station grounds from which this may be done. It will require a mix of people to physically climb the towers and access the controls whilst others reboot the system from inside the solar station building. The SCA will indicate locations and required interactions.

Task 2

Impacts upon the array have caused seismic activity in sector E-10, blocking a major river. Repair damage to the environment caused by the tremors.

It will be obvious when the Voidtreckers arrive in sector E-10, because the area is completely flooded. Trees are submerged and water is in places deep enough for Voidtreckers to have to swim, though for the most part they will be able to wade through the muddy water to find the source of the problem.

A sizable landslide has completely dammed the river running through E-10 at two points, causing the waters to swell and flood its surroundings. Whilst most of the wildlife is able to swim or climb and is therefore unaffected, one resident of the jungle is faring even better - the large plesiosaur-like reptiles that call the river home can now range much further afield in search of prey.

Voidtreckers should clear the river of debris, whilst avoiding dangers both environmental and reptilian.

Task 3

A violet panda pack has been detected in northern sector B-19, moving rapidly westwards. Given the lack of nearby solar stations, this movement is uncharacteristic. Please investigate.

Once Voidtreckers get into sector B-19 they will find the panda pack stampeding through the jungle. Some may wish to help them out and calm them down, but for those investigating the trail they have made through the undergrowth is clear.

Following backwards they will discover a blackened, smoking area of jungle, raggedly felled trees and a small crater where something has impacted heavily against the earth. The surrounding trees are partially ablaze, though the dampness of the foliage mean that none of the fires have grown large enough that they can’t be put out with concerted effort. A small river runs through B-19, within walking distance of the impact site. 

Task 4

Solar Station 29 in sector Y-5 is taking fire  from unknown assailants. None of its security drones are responding. Defend the station and identify the aggressors.

Their SCA will direct them to the entrance of Station 29. It is under attack by two large terraforming robots, identical to any of those already seen on Nion. There is also a complement of security drones with them, all painted with 29 across their chassis, and all attacking the station.

They are no tougher than any of the other automatons encountered thus far, but their attack is more coordinated compared to the simple self-defense of the stray robots. Even though they are focused on attacking the station, they will turn and fight anyone who tries to stop them.

Comments

Bonus Trek (closed thread)

[voidtreckermods]

Sometime in the afternoon of day nine of imagination another exclamation mark appears on their SCA. It appears at a moment when they are alone, slightly apart from the group and clicking on it will bring up no text. The mark does not vanish though, indeed flashing a few times as if to attract their attention.

The exclamation mark is marking a clearing not too far away, so no harm in checking it out, right?

(OOC: Please all reply in one single thread. Each round will be marked by an NPC tag and then each character may tag once before the next round begins. If you are late joining or miss a round don’t worry! Just tag into the most recent round and assume your character was always there!)

[blue_ice]

It's been a long day of routine repair work, but boring is usually good when it comes to mission work. He's started to zone out a little when repairing the bots, so that insistent buzzing startles him into dropping it.

"...what now? That's incredibly vague, even by your standards."

But of course it's useless to argue with the train. Kaiba sighs, checks his supplies...and sets off alone toward the mark. Perhaps not the wisest thing to do, but it's his choice and he's following through with it!

Any others called to this spot will likely find him impatiently pushing through the brush, frown deep.

Task 2

[magicurls]

Mami is in full magical girl mode as the situation worsens...she can hear the rushing flood waters even before she sees them, and it's a bad sign. She decides to jump up to the trees to investigate the flood from a higher vantage point, swinging between them, but the flood water is so high! Fortunately it's not too fast at the moment.

When she sees someone, she calls. "Are you all right? Wow, it's worse than I expected out here!"

She's already swinging around her tree and shooting yellow ribbons from her hand, trying to find trees stable enough to build a network of rope bridges between them. It's...a lot of magic, but they have a huge task ahead and not all that much time to get it done.

[knifewithnoname]

"I do be being alright." She doesn't sound too sure honestly. Swimming is still a new skill and it turns out there is a difference between swimming in the shallows of an ocean and swimming in river flood water. But she is keeping up, clambering on trees and rocks when she can and keeping out of the water as much as she can.

"Something did be blocking the river up." Would it even be fixed if they unblocked it?

Task 1 (before the bonus quest)

[blue_ice]

Shield integrity...well, that sounded serious. Would there be another meteor before they left? It was always possible. He set off, tools in hand, and glanced down at his SCA. Upon tracking the symbols to their real-world locations, he squinted at the controls in one of the towers, then stepped out to look up.

"...so how do we get up there?" was his first question.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin looks up at the skies above Section R-37 and sees the flickering of the shields. He checks his SCA again for clues or instructions, and as he approaches the solar station, its indicators flash red and the emergency sirens scream. "Oh-oh, not good!" he mutters to himself, and then he follows the map.

It leads him to one of the towers on the station grounds, where he finds Kaiba gazing up at the tower. "Use our hands and feet, I guess," he answers. "It looks like it should be possible, though. Those towers are made of steel girders for the most part, and there are plenty of handholds. There's an enclosed platform up there, and I'd guess that's where the controls are."

He walks over and sets a foot on the lowest girder and a hand on the one above that, and pulls himself up. Then he starts the ascent.

task 4

[fionnuisce]

[Waver had just about had it with this mission, between the hiking and the pandas. So a chance to settle things in a less than diplomatic way sounded...]

[It sounded great, actually.]

[His left hand gestured sharply to the nearest security drone taking aim at him; the faintly glowing wire running between his fingers tightened around the robot's frame hard enough to crack it and send it to the ground in a sparking mess. why no i've never seen hellsing why do you ask]

...Okay, so we're doing this.

[its_dad_sanzo]

[ Why were a bunch of 'bots with 29 on them attacking... Station 29? This was suspicious, at best. Koumyou didn't know much about robots, but surely they were supposed to guard Station 29. Right? Right.

He paused near the edge of what he'd determined from earlier fighting to be about the sensor range of the machines, and watched for a second.

...Oh hey, there was that guy. The cranky walking guy! ]

Having fun over there?!

[ Complete with waving. And yes, this probably got the attention of some of the machines on the edges of the battle. Whoopsies! ]

Task 3

[sos_pilot]

"Sounds like we've got a panda-monium on our hands!"

Ignoring the inevitable groans of a truly awful pun, Della steps back, trying to make sure she doesn't get clawed. "I don't suppose anyone knows how to calm these guys down?"

[ramengroupie]

Wormmon, atop Ken's head, gulps at Della's question. Loudly.

He. He knows a way. But.....

But it's such a huge sacrifice!

Ken glances up. "...Wormmon?"

[blitzcheer]

"We panda to their every need, of course!" Tidus pipes up, hands proudly coming up too in his contribution.

Sparkle sparkle.


"...but seriously, I don't know. Violent pandas? Those things are usually chill and do nothing. We wanna bring someone along who knows animals? I might be able to put them to sleep if things get desperate."

Might. A keyword.

Two days, two tasks, Task 3 and Task 4

[10billionpercent]

Intentional Task 3

Senku couldn't help but notice the flashing notification on his SCA and upon reading what the problem was, a bunch of pandas running around he sighed a little bit. Maybe he could try his luck corralling some animals, or he could find someone there who was willing to do that part while he investigated.

He headed through the brush, knife in hand to clear his way as he prepared to encounter a mass of adorable fluffy animals he had no idea what to do with.

Task 4 - Wrong place, wrong time

A very specific combat-oriented mission, Senku would've never volunteered for happened upon his doorstep, all because he was foraging around station 29.

He realized the problem slightly before the alert, mostly because of the fact he very suddenly had to duck.

"Damn it." Senku cursed under his breath. Of course, this was a problem, wasn't it?

The terraforming robot was coming closer to him, and he wasn't clear if he was the target or what, but he did the only thing he could think of - pull out his new handmade crossbow and fire an arrow at it.

Which promptly bounced off the chassis.

"Why is this thing always useless?" If Senku hadn't caught attention before, he definitely had it now, and it set its sights on the somewhat defenseless scientist.

Think, think, think.

Task 4 DANGER ZONE

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Well, that's one way to do it," Koumyou called down helpfully, from where he stood on a tree branch. When had he arrived? Why was he up a tree? "Like ten more shots and you might chip the paint!"

Why... he was talking so loud that the robot was no longer solely focused on Senku. What a happy accident!

When the robot started shooting energy blasts, it was mostly aimed up at the priest. Though it could probably multitask well enough to send a few Senku's way, too, that crossbow bolt hadn't been enough to mark him as a particularly high-priority threat.

4; hiiiighwaaaay toooo theee dangerzone

[fionnuisce]

Waver Velvet hated a lot of things: unfounded arrogance, himself, early mornings, and heights. But what held a special place in his heart was the idea of being indebted to someone; someone in his position required the exact opposite. So if someone was to do something for him, he paid it back immediately.

"Nice shot, though that may have been a bit of a mistake."

A blast of what looked like pale green light smacked into the robot sentry, with the professor standing a short distance away holding his left hand like an invisible pistol and smirking like he was finally having fun around here. The magecraft hadn't done a whole lot of damage, but it hadn't needed to. The weak concussive shot had been a quite literal slap upside the head, robot turning to the apparent immediate threat.

"Although that's probably a bigger one."

task 3

[blitzcheer]

The pandas have gone wild. We repeat, the pandas have gone wild.

Which is the most activity many will have seen from the pandas, usually docile to the point of indifferent. But once Senku finds the pack, he isn't the only one to: Tidus is stepping at as one of the pandas gives out a guttural yell at him, more deep than a sound that carries.

"Hey, I'm just trying to get through! I don't speak panda!" is Tidus's protest. To the panda. Waving his hands in front of him. Don't come at him, bro!! He's not here for this part of the sidequest!

Task 3 - Panda tiem

[fun_thementalist]

Gen crept along behind Senku, seeing the flashing on their wrists - apparently there was something nearby that required attention. He very much hoped it wasn't something that'd turn lasers in their direction? If that happened, he supposed they could ... run very fast in another direction.

Instead, they're met with a bunch of very adorable, roly-poly pandas.

"Well," Gen sounded amused, but at least he didn't say 'dawww' aloud, "at least this should be easy?"

[ramengroupie]

[ Task I ]

After reading the situation on his SCA, Ken jogs up to the closest person who has also responded to the call.

"It takes both climbing and work on the system," he reports. "Which will you be doing?"

Wormmon, on his head, watches this placidly. He's ready to go, no matter how Ken-chan divides and conquers.

[ Task II ]

Another day assisting the Voidtrecker Express, another day where Ichijouji Ken is removing his clothes in public. Somehow, this has become a habit.

"Ken-chan, let me!" squeaks an adorable....bagworm? A creature whose head and arms pop out of of a protective cover resembling a pinecone. "I'm done taking my break now! I can do it!"

"I'm not risking you running out of energy in a river." Even under emergency circumstances, Ken is neatly folding his clothing and placing his shoes side-by-side. Here he is in his underwear, in the jungle. "I'm the stronger swimmer. You spot for me."

"Ken-chan!........"

.....

"You're so KIND!"

[ Task IV ]

"Th-this is--!!"

Ken pulls up in alarm, running out of the jungle, his backpack heavy on his back, full of automaton parts. On his head, Wormmon hops down to the ground and joins him in staring at the fracas.

In an instant, Ken's glance is flickering from the solar station - the sustainable energy source - to the security robots - 29 means they're attacking what they're supposed to protect - to anyone else around.

"We can't let this continue!"

And he runs. Right for the mess. Pulling something out of his pocket as Wormmon bounces along behind him.

He's not apparently concerned that he might get hit.

[ Task II ]

[its_dad_sanzo]

And here came Koumyou Sanzo, wandering out of the jungle. His attention was on his SCA, and he had no problems thinking out loud. "Let's see... so this is sector E-10, and that's definitely... a lot of water. Oh!"

He'd just spotted a mostly-naked Ken and, presumably, Wormmon. "Is that you, Wormmon? I didn't know you were a shape-shifter!"

People stripping clothing off for one reason or another didn't phase him, at least. It was pretty obvious what was going on here.

"...Did you lose a bet, Ken-chan?"

That didn't mean he wouldn't be a troll about it, though.

[Task I]

[wizard_redfive]

Dairine looks up from her laptop at the sudden question.

"Uh..."

Honestly, she hadn't decided yet. The young teen has just hear there were more technical troubles and figured she could help. "...Depends on where I'm needed most? How about you?"

[blitzcheer]

TASK 1;

Well, that climb is a Thing, isn't it. Tidus didn't come out this way with the expectation that he would be able to fix it, just to give a hand in defending if it was necessary. But now he's seeing up where people need to go, and he's... wondering. Arms folded, peering up the structure.

Or, he may be doing something more. Like creating with his hands to the ground what appears to be a small...geyser of water, a creature beside him. If your character is good of heart enough to be able to see them, anyway. Otherwise, it's just Tidus on his own, and when that small blue creature appears to throw itself into the pillar of water at random, disappearing within, and making it shoot up at an incredibly higher amount.

... ... ...

is he thinking about doing what you think he is.

(the answer is yes.)

TASK 2;

"People get paid to deal with this kind of work!"

It's a wet mess. Tidus usually likes a swim, but there's nothing fun about a swamp. One tree has fallen in the rumblings that caused the landslide, and he stand atop it, trousers half-drenched and clinging to his legs.

"Wonder if one of Piccolo's blasts will clean this up in a sec?" Nevermind it might also deepen the river....

TASK 4;

"These things are getting wilder by the day! Since when were these guys attacking anything?"

Especially by their own bots? Tidus isn't about to stand around and let them though, jumping straight into the fray with weapon out, taking incredible leaps in the space between himself and a bot to bring his sword slashing down in a flurry of water. But there's more bots around and he's just one guy - he can do with the aid!

( if you would like to do task 3 with tidus just feel free to wildcard that, it cool. B) b prose or brackets are fine! )

Task 2

[knifewithnoname]

"We do be getting paid to be doing this kind of work."

She is not happy about this wet mess either, she had thought she had grasped swimming but it turned out that in boots and clothes and this much mud and leaves it was a lot harder than in a calm ocean cove.

Stupid swamp.

task 1

[flatteries]

Of course Inigo can see what's going on here. In multiple senses of the word. He can see Hibber-Gibber, obviously. But he can also see where Tidus is trying to go with this idea - or he's pretty sure he can, anyway.

"Tidus."

There's some exasperation to the tone, though it's coming from a slight distance away, but then there's the sound of Inigo jogging up to him, followed by another-- "Tidus!"

Look, he goes to ask some people to try and fix the situation inside of the station for three seconds, and you think up this plan the moment he's gone?

"You can't be seriously thinking of doing this." What happened to regular old climbing like a normal person.

[longforgottenpromise]

Task 3

Panda Rescue

Taiki had followed the point on his SCA to where the pandas were acting strangely. He has been helping out in whichever ways he can over the last couple of days but he had found it easiest to help out with the animals.

These creatures were clearly scared, some of them smelled of blood but that didn't stop him getting closer to the rampaging animals.

The best thing to do would be to draw them away, to try and calm enough of them that the rest calm as well. He doesn't plan to put himself in danger, he knows better to get in amongst a whole pack of animals like this.

He gets close though, when he sees one of the smaller pandas looking confused and disorientated. He reaches out to try and grab it, and pull it away from the stampede.

More Pandas

The trail goes further back but Taiki is aware that he will likely not be useful there, indeed if there is some sort of predator that has made the pandas run like this he will be more of a burden than a help. So instead, small panda in tow he follows the herd. He tries to keep his distance and to soothe any pandas he comes across. He knows they will stop running eventually and once the initial panic has subsided they can be helped.

TAIKI'S GUARD DOGS ARE HERE

[blitzcheer]

"Hey you! Fluff balls! Come on! Here! Eat-eat-eat-eat!"

Who else could be the source of this chaotic shouting than who it usually ends up being? Tidus has placed himself into a position opposite from Taiki, or as best as he can get; spotting the man's efforts, and deciding to go for the first plan that comes to mind to distract the more wild bears.

Which is: wafting around a branch of bamboo leaves like it's a salt shaker at them. Look, he grabbed them on the way when Taiki first got worried about the pandas. Pandas like them, people told him! Even if he's just being annoying with it now, they're coming at him!

Task 2 + Task 3 | OTA

[fun_thementalist]

Task 2
Gen's really not sure how he managed to wander out this far, gathering the materials that Senku wanted. He was a fair swimmer, but it wasn't exactly in his plans today. There's a bit of beeping on his SCA, but. Look. He's just one guy. Someone else with actual arm muscles could bully the debris out of the way, right?
Well, okay, some of that debris looked robotic - was that an intact arm to one of the sentry robots? He'd like to scavenge that real fast, it didn't even require getting shot at first.

Of course, he didn't notice the head or the massive body of the pleiosaur creeping up behind him, eyes ducked low between the waterline, as Gen carefully hopped between rocks to get there. Maybe someone would try to help Gen from becoming dinosaur lunch?


Task 3

To be fair, Gen was just trying to find some lovely foliage to forage. He's just gotten a teeny, tiny bit side-tracked.

"Oh wow, you're really not afraid of people, are you?" Gen asked, and - wary it'd suddenly bare its teeth and bite him - cautiously reached out for a pet. "Oooooh. You're soft! Super soft!"

But if his goal was to comfort all the creatures for ... whatever reason, they are simply too many for one person. And he had no idea about the forest fire that had caused them to flee, either.

Task Two

[knifewithnoname]

This was the worst. She was only here because Mami was, because she was trying to help her partner. But she was out her depth. She'd learned to swim, in the mission that required it and later in the few days they had spent on the island. But this was different and she was scrambling around trying not to fall in and avoiding the creatures.

Like that one there... Heading towards that figure. Some stupid person who hadn't even noticed it yet, she could yell, but then it would turn and she's too close to it to get away quickly... Staying still and quiet is smart. Even if the stupid person gets eaten. Saves them right... Right? No one could blame her for not wanting to be eaten.

But then his head moved slightly. It's the boy who taught her the magic trick. She sighed.

She should still let him be eaten... If he hasn't noticed then it's his own stupid fault...

"Be watching out!"

She grabbed a floating piece of wood as she scrambled over a tumble of rocks and tree trunks and used it to wack the pleiosaur as hard as she could. If you were certain you couldn't outrun a fight then the only thing you could do was run towards it.

Task 1 & Task 3 -- OTA

[consider8]

Task 1: Like a Salmodid Going Up A Waterfall

Eight had been looking around to the others to head to the top of the tower; but she was reasonably sure that it wasn't going to be enough. Though she didn't want to make anyone else uncomfortable with what would no doubt be seen as weird abilties, the success of the mission took precedence.

With bucket in hand, she throws some ink on one side of the tower. After waiting for a second for the bucket to refill, she hops into the splash she made and begins to ascend it, popping out at the highest point to throw more ink to a higher part of the tower, or a ledge of it is available. Once she finds a place to secure rope, she propels her octopus form to the bottom, snags some rope and makes the ascent to tie it up.

It's slow going, yes, but with a little work they'll have a rope ladder heading to the top!

Task 3, Part 2: Fuego Caliente

While everyone was working on the pandas, another thing bothered Eight. What was causing them to stir...? Perhaps the explanation would come through the broken brush that was so painful to get through the other day.

It was there that she discovered the broken clearing. Oh... CARP. Okay, yeah, everyone needs to know about this. There was no way she could do this on her own. She breaks the clearing waving her hands to anyone who might notice. "FIRE! They're running from fire!!"