middleofsomewhere | Not with a Bang: Side Missions

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Not with a Bang: Side Missions

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.

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You wish you'd enjoy it that much-!

[Leaving that mess alone, the wires moved and snaked around his next target. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to stand around and let this guy get killed.]

Ohh? Is it really about what I'd enjoy?

[ Koumyou you freak, this is how you got Ukoku so obsessed with killing you. And also wanting to do other things. Eat or be eaten, indeed.

But a whole lot more machines were on their way, so Koumyou finally got back up and clapped his hands together. Once, with full intent.

Out of thin air, a burst of fire streaked toward some other oncoming machines, lengthening as it flew, turning sinuous and whiskered, mouth opening in a roar before it crashed into the targets. Dissipating for a second with impact, the fire dragon reformed just a beat later to coil around already red-hot metal bodies.

The wiring inside wouldn't last long, and then the dragon flew on to a new target. Koumyou, meanwhile, jumped over a downed robot and kicked another right where he'd found a weakness in the machines' leg joints in previous fights.

Yeah, no, don't worry, he could fight just fine. ]

I just met you, and I think I already hate y...

[...Oh. Okay. Well. At least that meant he could pull the wires back to worry more about covering himself.]

I'm not entirely sure I believe you~

[ But shit was starting to escalate as more and more machines turned away from their attack on Station 29, and came to deal with the threat the two of them posed instead. Koumyou didn't have time for banter soon enough, moving at full speed as multiple robots descended on him.

Gunshots, energy blasts, Koumyou's dragon roaring across the impromptu battlefield. The priest ducked here, palm-strike, evade, block, kick, break a robot's leg clean in half -- backflip out of a pincer maneuver. Gunfire, swallowed by the dragon who had now retreated to swirl around its creator.

Block, dodge, duck. Koumyou's attacks were starting to get less frequent in favor of defense as the machines just kept on coming. Even the two big terraforming robots were starting to turn away from their original goal, now, as Waver and Koumyou rose and rose on the priorities list shared between them. ]

[There was a problem Waver had been lucky enough to be able to hide. If anyone from his world that knew him at all had been on the train, it would have been a tough secret to keep. But as it was, it had up to now been incredibly simple to act like an archmage befitting his title.]

[Because no one knew Waver Velvet was a terrible mage.]

[The wire bird alone was high-tier thaumaturgy he could only cast in such a limited form; its full potential was a devastating onslaught he could never even hope to attain. Instead it glided between machines and tangled them in razor-thin metal--breaking some apart, tripping others to crack against the ground, but he was turning pale and starting to fall behind. A couple shots went by a little too close to his head, and he cursed under his breath.]

So how screwed would you say we are, right now? Because I'm willing to call this 'a problem'.

Not at all!

[ Despite everything. Despite how pale Waver had gotten, and despite how a few attacks from the robots had finally slipped past Koumyou's defenses -- he was still human, after all. A lifetime of training and fighting, often right on the edge of death's door, hadn't changed that little fact.

A blow caught him upside the head and the priest went flying, ragdoll and seeing nothing but bursts of light for a moment.

He landed heavily, with a sickening crunch that told him from experience that at least one rib had probably just thrown in the towel. Now that they had all of the robots' attention, Koumyou climbed back to his feet and spat out a small glob of blood from his split lip.

Fine. Light.

Let there be light.

There was no chanting, no warning, no lead-up. One moment, the battlefield was a grim affair full of bullets and pulse charges and big metal bodies that wanted to crush their small fleshy ones.

And in the blink of an eye, everything was so bright it was like the sun itself had come down to stand on the ground. Too bright to see anything, really, though Waver might feel the brush of tendrils of paper all around him in the bright void. Crunching, and the screaming of tearing metal, popping robotics, and several trees had just toppled to the ground in massive thuds.

Light.

Just a white, empty void, even sound itself seeming to be swallowed up after that initial din. ]

Edited 2020-11-19 01:29 (UTC)

Are you--?!

['Okay' never left his mouth. In fact, nothing else did. Beneath a sky aflame with the end of the world, he'd frozen solid at a great and terrible light he almost felt like he knew from somewhere and sometime far away.]

[The elements coalesce, amalgamate, and bring forth the star that interweaves all creation, he could hear the words in his memory even now. Could almost see the swirling and spiraling crimson power that gathered all the sky around it only to rip it all asunder.]

[Was it the overhead flaming red sky at the end of the world that had kept that sight in his mind, or was it that primordial light which set it off? Later, Waver would curse his own weaknesses and try to deny anything had ever bothered him in the first place.]

[But right now, everything stopped. His breath froze in his throat, heart pounding so fast it seemed as if it might explode. Miles away he heard the shrieks of twisted and broken metal, the collapse of a chunk of the forest, and very vaguely he registered his legs giving out as he dropped to the ground with the black cane clattering beside him.]

[Enuma Elish, called the voice in his memories, and amidst his primal terror of the Sword of Separation he almost felt stunned resignation to the fact that the third time he witnessed the light of creation itself was going to be the time that finally managed to kill him.]

[ As he fell, the brush of long, thin tendrils of paper floating through the air parted, just barely touching him at all. No attempt to catch Waver, or otherwise impede his knees meeting with the ground.

It could seem like forever, in that void, but really it was only a few long, long seconds. The light began to dim, blinding white fading to a brilliant gold that emanated from the infinite number of paper tendrils floating in the air all around.

Koumyou, finally visible in the middle of the sea of paper, seemed to glow as well. Cooler, more silver, the moon himself reflecting the sun's light.

And finally, the gold even started to die down, revealing all the robots and trees and boulders that had met their fate in that instant of activation. Some slid off the ends of the indestructible, floating paper. Others had simply been shredded to slivers. The Seiten sutra's tendrils writhed in the air, some actively coiling around the priest who controlled it just like his fire dragon had done earlier.

And then, it was all gone. In a blink, the sutra was back to being a peaceful, dormant piece of paper slung over Koumyou's shoulders. The only hint that it was anything more, before, had been that it had never budged during all the fighting and flipping and jumping the priest had gotten up to.

But now, Waver knew. Koumyou watched him without his usual smile, his hands tucked peacefully in the pocket of his sweater. ]

[The light faded, and he was still alive in the midst of a ruin. Again, again he'd lived through some kind of cataclysm beyond mortal reckoning. The sky overhead still blazed in apocalyptic scarlet, and Waver was completely blinded to all of it. He clutched at his chest and struggled to unstick short, sharp breaths from his throat, and he seemed to have forgotten Koumyou was even there as if that light had completely wiped out any semblance of composure or higher thought processes.]

[ Not an unheard of reaction, from an outside observer's perspective. Koumyou had no way of knowing what all was happening in the guy's head, but it was clear something was up.

The priest approached, and crouched down beside him. Not touching, but certainly within range to do so. ]

Hey, you're okay. Listen to me.

[ Would his voice be able to reach the guy? ]

Lancer-

[He choked that out as if calling to someone, shock and desperation strangling any attempt he made at raising his voice past a whisper. But something about the failure to speak anything more than that seemed to be a cold bucket of water dumped over him, Waver suddenly going very still.]

[Concentrate. What the hell are you doing, asked his common sense, trying to gain traction in his head. Archer was long gone, and even this damage didn't hold a candle to what he was capable of. He wasn't a nineteen-year-old child anymore, and whatever had shoved him almost a decade into the past for a brief moment had quieted down now.]

[Slowly, he took a few careful breaths and pulled himself back to his feet with the black cane in a white-knuckled right hand. The left was pressed to his face, Waver slowly shaking his head.]

...I'm sorry. That-...what...what happened?

[ Koumyou rose to his feet, too, hands still tucked into his sweater. ]

Oh? Nothing much.

[ Here came that smile of his again, if a little gentler than the usual goofy expression. ]

Nothing much at all. Are you okay?

Do I look okay.

[He did not, having turned ashen pale, breathing just a little too hard, and starting to seem like he wanted to punch something.]

Look, I don't give a shit what kind of secrets you're keeping. I can keep my mouth shut, and your problems aren't mine to go spreading around like a bad rumor.

So what the hell did you just do.

Oh, it's not a secret at all, you needn't bother.

[ If anyone decided the sutra should be theirs instead, they were welcome to try to take it from him. Wasn't that the point of a Sanzo priest? Wasn't that why they wore their sutra on their shoulders, in plain view, to show that they would carry their karma without fear? ]

I'm the guardian of the Seiten Sutra, one of the five Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth. I used to actually guard a second one, too, but the Maten has a new protector now.

[ He took a hand out of his pocket to pluck meaningfully at the end of the green and white paper draped over his train-issued clothing. The black text scrawled across it was inscrutable.

And it was back to doing a very good impression of just regular old paper. But everyone back on Koumyou's world knew what they were looking at when they glimpsed a Sanzo, which made it an unspeakably dangerous job to hold. ]

I woke it up, that's all.

[ Like it was that simple. ]

[Still looking like fainting was on the table at the moment, Waver mumbled something indistinct into his hand that sounded oddly like 'fucking Noble Phantasm' at the tail end of it.]

Just-...fuck. Thanks? I guess, I mean you did just get us out of a lot of trouble.

[ Koumyou went to tuck his hand back into his pocket, and paused to prod at his own side, instead. That rib was still crunchy -- he really missed the tight, compressing inner shirt of his Sanzo uniform right now.

He hummed thoughtfully as he prodded around, checking it out through his sweater and shirt. It felt cracked, but not shattered. Good! Didn't need to start coughing up foamy blood right now; a collapsing lung could be a real annoyance.

Back to his usual cheer. ]

--Well! I suppose we should try to figure out why these things were attacking what they're supposed to be guarding, right? Though I don't think any of these are going to be trying for a second round, there could be more on their way!

[ Most of the metal on the battlefield looked more like oily confetti now than dangerous attack robots, at least. ]

Could be, or it could just be a malfunction localized to this station.

[Deep breath. Slow exhale. He didn't dare look at the sky for even a second, sharply focused on Koumyou as if trying to evaluate what the hell he was.]

...Are you hurt? I've magic reserves enough to see to that now if you think it'll be difficult to make it back to base like that.

Oh, no, I had worse thrashings every day as a trainee!

[ Koumyou waved the offer away, tucking his hands back into his pocket. Still missed his long, billowing sleeves -- he was absolutely going to be purchasing a proper uniform, when he could. Civilian clothing just didn't suit him anymore. ]

Besides, I haven't set foot in base camp. Sounds awfully dull. Shall we look around in the station?

[ No matter Waver's answer, the priest was already turning to go do exactly that. Coming with? ]

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Not with a Bang: Side Missions

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