VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2021-01-11 05:58 am

Fierce New World- Mission Start!

"Good Morning passengers. Today is day six of the month of Jelly." 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.

Preparation and Arrival

They have a short time to prepare for their mission, enough time to read their briefs, make decisions, meet in their teams and gather anything they may need.

A few hours later there is another announcement. "Shortly arriving on System #2207385. All passengers get ready to disembark. Next stop world #2207385. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train judders as it leaves the void, the colours from the windows turn into the blackness of space but quickly white as the train descends into the entrance of the biosphere.

The doors of the train open and passengers can enter the large white-walled holding bay. Currently, they are the only vehicle inside. There are four large doors around the bay each labelled with where they lead. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

The doors open easily, and their SCA’s show a basic route, though the non-linear nature of the sectors mean that obstacles will need to be navigated. While they are in a closed world, there is a day and night cycle: the panels far up above are designed to make it seem like there is a natural sky, brightening and dimming every ten hours.

Red/Summer

Empty Streets

Wide streets divide sealed-off factories and manufacturing pods that tower up towards the ‘sky’. It is hot here, though the fumes from the factories are vented out, leaving the air breathable if overly warm.

Sometimes the pods are not yet finished, empty shells that can be sheltered in. There are also stations for living, with plumbing and basic amenities scattered through the sector. Places to rest as they move towards the center and the Great-Summer that they seek.

Helpmates

Where factories are still being built they will find Helpmates, operating machinery or moving materials.

They will not pause in their tasks for long but are programmed to answer questions so can be drawn into a conversation. Or, if the Voidtreckers are unfortunate, they will find those that are malfunctioning turning on them as they approach.

They aren’t too difficult to fight, but can do some damage with the machinery if they manage to take a Voidtrecker by surprise. They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down outright.

Wild Weather

Though warm, the corridors remain a constant temperature that is not too unpleasant for people. For the most part. Unfortunately, due to the malfunctioning state of things routes may become impassable. Boiling air, freezing blasts, electricity crackling across a pathway.

Their SCA’s do a good job of warning them, allowing them to change direction or shelter in nearby buildings.

Purple/Autumn

Exploring

The Autumn sector is the least complete of the sectors, with shells of habitation pods and not much else. No one is expected to live here until nearing the end of construction, and so the pods are unfurnished, many missing doors, some missing internal walls.

Outside the streets are wide and clearly made to be pleasant to walk on; it is airy, bright and spacious, if a bit eerie due to the quiet.

There are panels on the walls, to call Helpmates to appear. Here they are primarily for helping citizens, giving directions and offering aid.

Malfunctions

Since there are more helpmates there is more risk of them malfunctioning. They attack with or without weapons, using any tools they can pick up to attack. They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down.

They won’t chase people into the houses, their privacy programming preventing them from doing so.

Turned Around

The roads seem simple, built in a grid pattern around the houses. However, whatever is going wrong here is affecting the very streets themselves. Sometimes there will be a wall where there wasn’t before or roads go in circles. Sometimes they find themselves at a dead end, trapped until structures shift again.

Their SCA’s do their best to keep up but it can take a while for them to reroute and by the time they do, that path might be blocked too!

Blue/Spring

Patchwork Forest

The Spring sector houses the hydroponics and pastoral sections. It alternates between grazing land and more heavily forested areas with rows of pine-like trees in a checkerboard pattern, with empty plots interspersed. Walkways divide each square, but all squares appear able to move about as required, as though on a conveyor system.

There are clear walkways to avoid stepping on any newly growing plants. In the grazing land live flocks of camelid creatures resembling alpacas with blueish wool, on average a metre and a half tall at the shoulders. Helpmates appear here as if on a timer to feed the animals and tend to plants.

Destruction


If the Helpmates here malfunction they attack anyone nearby, cause havoc to any farming equipment and frightening the animals.

They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down. The panels here are less obvious than they are in the more urban sectors, low to the ground, looking almost like energy panels. But once they know what to look for they will be able to use them to shut down the Helpmates.

Stampede

Frightened animals are likely to flee and unfortunately in this case it means rampaging across the grazing land to the newly growing trees.

They will need to be calmed, returned to their grazing lands and the plants restored. Or it might be that the Voidtreckers can stop the Helpmates before the creatures get too spooked.

Orange/Winter

Exploring

The Winter sector’s primary concern is life support. Huge banks of air scrubbers form artificial cliffs, while other sections are tanks filled with water in varying stages of processing or recycling.

The paths here are a lot narrower than they are in other areas, sometimes requiring moving between pipes or scrambling over layers of railing.

There doesn’t seem to be any easy or straightforward path through the sector, their SCA takes them on wild winding routes through the machinery.

Help or Hindrance

The fluctuating temperatures here are causing problems with many of the pipes, several sections are flooded, others are in danger of being so.

There are patch kits in easily opened panels, designed to be used by the helpmates and indeed there are many helpmates out.

But some are less helpful, those that are malfunctioning are more likely to cause more damage than they are there to fix. They will attack any one who tries to interfere with them. They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down.

Patch Job

Once the malfunctioning Helpmates are dealt with the pipes still need to be fixed. The patch kits do not have any instructions but are simple enough that anyone with a basic knowledge of how to fix things should be able to figure them out- though the more knowledge and expertise they have the better the fix!

For those that don’t, many of the jobs will need more than one person and so for those that don’t mind taking instructions they will find an extra pair of hands is always welcome.
nutkrusher: (dafuq)

[personal profile] nutkrusher 2021-01-13 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"I hear that," Cassie says. "I can fly over most of 'em, but not all of 'em."

Her face twists into a half-grin, half-grimace.

"Fortunately this isn't one of the 'not all of 'em' ones."
adregem: (dad's thinking)

Prep & Arrival

[personal profile] adregem 2021-01-13 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Bulma's not the only one getting the vibes from the doors, and the mission as a whole. Though he's not one to play video games often, if at all, so his point of comparison is a little different. ]

That's a pretty good way to put it. [ Roland frowns deeply, marring a youthful looking face with worry beyond his years. For the most part, he just sounds like he's thinking out loud, at least. ] Or even worse, if all doors actually lead to the same outcome. Where we all meet each other in the end, and it's just one big chaotic mess. I mean, we're here on a distress call, but look at this holding bay. It's pristine. So is the threat already through one of these doors, or was there just no forced entry?

[ The mystery thickens. ]
firewalled: (You can make it on a wish)

[personal profile] firewalled 2021-01-13 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, obviously. And even if they're just watching, they creep me out."

It's certainly not because they look painfully familiar or anything.

"If I move fast, hopefully they won't bust these pipes down when I'm done with 'em."
adregem: (so this is where they kept it.)

Preparation

[personal profile] adregem 2021-01-13 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Roland makes final rounds throughout the train, making sure he's got everything he needs, but he manages to catch the tail-end of Romeo's heated declaration despite his own whirring thoughts.

"When who gets back?" He's keen to ask, meeting him halfway as he descends from the library himself. "Sorry. Were you talking to someone, Romeo?"
blitzcheer: (mrhrhrhrhrhgghgh)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2021-01-13 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"Noooo."

......Ugh. "Do we have to?"

His initial response may have been reactive, a pause taken and then an reluctant concede taking place with a second look at the capsule-shaped pod before him. Once night hits... that actually takes Tidus's thoughts elsewhere than the terror of sci-fi movie sleeping.

"If we're even gonna have time to sleep. Who knows what'll happen if this place has a night? Something's gotta happen."

What if that's a something that comes out at night?
so_dark_a_road: (these are my brass knuckles)

Curufin | Team Orange & OTA in first section

[personal profile] so_dark_a_road 2021-01-13 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Preparation and arrival:

Curufin collects his gear and talks to teammates and anyone else who happens to be near.

"I did receive a vision yesterday morning, though I didn't post it, and it seems no one else did either. I can't make much sense of it, and maybe no one else could either. I seemed to be taking a nap while some nearby machine was whirling its gears and hissing with steam. There must have been other Void Warriors nearby, since I had the feeling that we were managing our work efficiently, but I don't have any picture of exactly what we were doing. There was a sense of the color green all around me. And then bubbles began to rise through it, as though it were water, and I experienced a sudden discomfort."

He shrugs. "No idea what any of that meant. It was more cryptic than these visions usually are."

The train descends into the large white holding bay, and Curufin disembarks and looks around. The instructions said that Team Orange was to go through the Winter door, so he and the rest of the team take that route. He checks his SCA for directions and a map.


Exploring, and also defending against the Helpmates:

The designated path winds through masses of machinery, air scrubbers, water tanks, and large pipes running everywhere. Some of the pipes have been damaged and have flooded some parts of the path, and Curufin wades or occasionally swims. He finds the panels that contain the patch kits and he and his teammates collect the kits.

Unfortunately, they have to fight some of the Helpmates. Though these things are holograms, they seem to have physical existence and are therefore dangerous when they decide that Orange Team is there to interfere with their work. Curufin fights a number of them and also runs to help others defend themselves against the unhelpful Helpmates.

"Haul your hologramic asses out of here and let me do my job!" he yells, wielding his sword.


Fixing the pipes:

"Never thought I'd be a plumber!" Curufin jokes, while wrenching the pipes, removing sections of them and patching the holes or replacing the sections. Bang, bang, bang, scrape, scrunch, squeak, twist, clatter! Oh, the cheerful metallic music of maintenance and repair work!
Edited 2021-01-13 16:50 (UTC)
blitzcheer: (coolio dealio)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2021-01-13 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
poor Roland vocal cords, what a burden for a man to have to raise his voice.

Tidus is figuring his luck has left with the road he was supposed to be taking (or trying to take, thank you very much!), head hung and the bitter taste of putting up with his circumstances settling in. Trying to figure out which way he can go now, but there's only one way going forward. Except-

"Eh?" Roland? He hears the instructions, and his feet are ready to move, darting some way for about two seconds before they abruptly stop.

"Hey! What if I tried jumping over?!"

Note: How incredibly high the wall is separating them. Is there an actual top to it that can be crossed? You tell us.
blue_ice: (standard pose)

exploring

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-01-13 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"This is ridiculous," grumbles Kaiba as usual. He's right in the middle of the muck with Curufin, wading over to the next panel. He has his toolkit strapped to his back, an old rag wrapped around his neck for drying his hands...and he's shivering a little, but it's nothing he can't take.

"How're you holding up?"
ballseeker: (you tryna make shit so concrete)

[personal profile] ballseeker 2021-01-13 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)

Well, guess we'll see. With my family on board you're probably more likely to see an explosion here or there from someone on the train than not. [ Knowing Vegeta, anyway. Bulma's not one to think too hard on it at the moment - so far as she's been told, orange team is there to do repairs and technical things, so she's thinking they won't face too many threats. ]

Which team are you with, though?
ballseeker: (actin' tough)

[personal profile] ballseeker 2021-01-13 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)

Those things- [ Said with a particular vehemence as she tucks her wrench back in to her pocket - ] Like to come after you while you're poking around and repairing panels. I've already got a bruise forming on my leg where one got me when I had to crawl under something to do a patch.

And - [ Because Vegeta's here and she can show him the ruddy red of her fingers, roughened from work but delicate in size - ]

- My fingers are so cold they hurt but the faster we get this done, the faster we can get out of here.
ballseeker: (you tryna make shit so concrete)

[personal profile] ballseeker 2021-01-13 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)

Yeah. I've got them positioned where they need to be so the less jostling to get this in place the better.

[ Bulma's way of saying she's flubbed this and had to reset them once or twice trying to be stubbornly independent in her own way, she means. Either way she doesn't offer that information at the moment, simply looking to Kaiba to confirm he's got a grasp of what they're achieving here. ]

When you're ready.
ballseeker: (blame the game it's all the same)

[personal profile] ballseeker 2021-01-13 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)

Bulma makes a little squeak of surprise as she's grabbed and pulled back, snapping back to attention rather quickly, of course, with the jarring return to 'Earth' or void.. whatever. For a half a moment she looks like she's ready to snap something out about keeping his hands to himself before the situation fully registers, and then she's backing away from the edge a bit more of her own volition, peeking down at where she may have dropped if he hadn't pulled her back.

"Oh, well that's a long fall." Granted, Trunks is here somewhere and probably could've caught her, but - "Guess I got a little caught up in my own head there... thanks."
ballseeker: (pic#)

[personal profile] ballseeker 2021-01-13 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)

I don't know what it's trying to achieve but that.. helpmate.. thing is trying to attack me while I'm under here! [ And it took her by surprise, which only made the dramatics in turn even worse. She could have been an actress if she'd wanted to be, and only if the roles were very, very dramatic.

Still from her hiding place Bulma grumbles out in frustration: ]


How are you supposed to focus on work if you have to worry about that too?!
ballseeker: (actin' tough)

[personal profile] ballseeker 2021-01-13 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)

Yeah well, I can't fly or do any of the fancy brawny things, and without a gun on me... [ Bulma puts her hands up as if to say she's pretty much up shit's creek. Granted, she isn't completely defenseless, but she's definitely not as well guarded as she would normally be. ]

Oh well. If it's just repairs I can fly through it quickly and get it over with.
blue_ice: (and that's the tea)

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-01-13 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
All right. Let's move.

[ Thankfully he does seem to have the hang of this, and when she moves, he has what she needs in position. ]

Hopefully we can patch this before the next ambush.
blue_ice: (k bye)

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-01-13 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"---thanks," he breathes, pressing himself up against the rail. Senku to the rescue.

"No plans to drag you down," he confirmed, taking a moment to dry his hands before moving on. "With any luck we'll make it through the entire mission this time."
blue_ice: (asking questions)

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-01-13 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'll speed it up." And he does so, fingers flying. "Drop the shield if you have to, I'd rather risk a chill and some blows than see you collapse."

Preparation

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2021-01-13 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Nita looks quite bemused.

"I think we had the same dream. Though, it might not have been Void Warriors... maybe one of those overseers we're supposed to visit?"

She shifts her stance, changing the angle at which her pack rests across her back.
unfavorableinstigation: Nita Callahan kneeling in the woods, drawing a glowing blue diagram on the ground while reading from a book. (Drawing a Spell Diagram)

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2021-01-13 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"... Thanks."

Nita looks just a bit flustered - but she compensates for it, diving back into her 'conversation' with the pipework, dropping the shield belatedly along with it.

But they almost definitely have incoming!
happyends: (lies in the palm)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-13 05:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, now that's the cutest portable charger she's ever seen.

Of course Madoka knows it's a Pokemon. She doesn't even have to know, she can just tell from looking at it - especially since Madoka both knows that Katsuya has been handing them out, and that it was his cute pony in the first place that had been cleansing Mami's gem. So there probably were more out there that could do that, right?

"Oh, she's so cute..!" Okay, it's more important that it's keeping Mami safe, but clearly we can't ignore that aspect of it. "I'm glad you have her with you, Mami-san. I imagine Katsuya-san can't always be around, after all.."
reluctantjinrou: (Who's Following Me?)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, actually." Natsuno shook his head. "She killed Tohru-chan. He's the one who killed me, on the orders of the ones running things."

He grimaced and frowned and ran a hand through his hair, exhaling. What was with him?

He was going beyond sullen teen to potentially being overwhelmed fast, but Natsuno was not having any of that. No. He was going to refuse to deal with his thoughts on the matter for as long as the train deemed him necessary to be alive.
sos_pilot: by <user name=cupcake_graphics> (so kiss me)

[personal profile] sos_pilot 2021-01-13 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She glares at him, takes a step forward...

... Then slaps him on the back. ]


Hahahaha! Oh man, you should've seen your face!
reluctantjinrou: (Glancing Around Corners)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's true." Natsuno agreed, turning back. He was just walking on the ground, but he couldn't help but look up at him briefly.

"...How long can you do that?"
reluctantjinrou: (Holding It Together)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
His hand, at least, was warm and he looked around quickly.

"This way." Natsuno said and gave a tug. "Run with me!"

The faster they got out of the worst of the cold, the better.
reluctantjinrou: (Glancing Around Corners)

V

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
He couldn't help but catch sight of his teammate and roommate stopped in front of the electricity.

"Come on." He called from behind him. "That's not a good way to go."

Natsuno frowned, looking at the map on his SCA.