Fierce New World- Mission Start!

[voidtreckermods]

"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.

Comments

[blitzcheer]

Doing this with Gibbs is a lot more work than it looks, though it's fortunately the kind that still puts more of the effort on the higgledy- not a high ask, when it's concerning the skill and control of water of a water-aligned being. But it's Tidus who has to keep the water in motion, which for him just means in its summoning state; a small obligation in actual energy, but its the continuous part of it that Tidus needs to keep going.

So, he should really care about how high or not high they are. Right? When he hears that worrisome call to him from his pal, his buddy, his old man of the train-

"Higher?" He's not even sold behind the idea as he says it, but there's something about the moment itself that convinces him; that in-the-moment recklessness that might be all him, might be more Gibbs than will ever be known. "--Higher!"

And higher they go, a burst of water growing louder in their ears, the world below them stitching closer together, more detailed the farther they get. But Tidus isn't looking down but up above, the way ahead when their travel starts to arch. Eventually, when Gibbers feels like it.

[adregem]

'Does he think this is funny?!' Roland thinks in a flurry of panic, but the answer is obviously yes. A long resounding yes. Or Tidus just has a completely different version of fun that Roland's never going to understand, but here they are. There's no turning back when the wind kissing his face is sharp and cold, the spray of water dampening the bottom of his pant legs and parts of his skin. Too high up even for someone who's used Water Slide to go down thousands and thousands of miles deep into an Abyss at the bottom of the ocean. Whatever calm Roland tries to exude at this point has all but disappeared, his hands to his sides gripping Tidus's sleeve while he braces himself internally for whatever end comes.

"Tidus, this isn't practice!" He tries to shout amidst the ambient noise. At the same time, his heart is practically calling for the second higgledy to manifest now that the downwards arc towards the ground begins, descending faster and faster, gravity doing the rest.

"-Aaaaaaaaawwwhoaaa! Now's a good time to come out!" Which he doesn't say for Tidus's sake, but it does stir Rannygazoo's crowned little head to pop out from beneath them, some ways away still, appearing as dots in their vision. Ten others surround him, jumping in glee. Then, a bright flash of light greets the two riding the disk of water. Where once stood small, tiny little sprites; now, an almost six feet tall giant higgledy knight bellows out deep from its hollow armor, no longer high-pitched in squeal but an echoed cry that sounds almost inhuman. The sword in his hand is planted sluggishly into the ground, so that its arms are able to hold up its huge shield right in front of its body, the width covering his entire breadth, ready to meet the spray of water in full force.

'Higgle! Brave souls, it's time for a most wonderful landing! Piiiggle!'

Get ready to use the shield to ricochet to safety - ! Thank goodness for Hibber-Gibbers's synchronized understanding of the plan in advanced!

[blitzcheer]

"Just chill!" comes Tidus's response to Roland, swallowed up by the surrounding air. Even with the man right next to him, clinging onto him with a grip that Tidus won't ever make fun of, he wonders if he hears him, but he won't bother calling a second a second time. It's exhilarating to him, this daring rush of about them; the height secondary to the way his nerves become giddy and bewildered all at once, but he doesn't shy away from watching the returning view below.

"Wooooooohoooooooo!"

Which might explain that joyous cry as they advance back towards ground level. Tidus has his own grasp on the side of Roland's shirt, more for balance than fear, his other hand pressed to the side of his forehead, the length of his arm attempting to be used as a shield to keep his eyes drying out (no, it's not working out). Fist still squeezed tight, as if some reminder of the connection he's meant to be keeper. And through the same synchronisation with his own higgledy, Tidus knows their landing is coming; giving Hibber-Gibbers nothing but the faith louder in his heart than anything he could affirm with words. What he does speak, he does for Roland, tugging on his fabric of his shirt.

"Get ready!"

Everything happens, and it happens quick, but not as quick as it may seem. Hibber-Gibbers brings them downward but follows no exterior pull but his own. Gravity? What's that? No concern of Gibbs's, as by the time the shapes of walls and paths that make the unfinished city become more life-sized than toy, the air is nearer to a breeze than the hissing it was high above. They meet the shield, and there's a sensation under them that can only be described as a bump; the disk of water indeed bouncing off from the shield, it ascends only by a few feet and then lands on the ground -

and bursts, Tidus falling backwards with a "wah!" and taking Roland with him, to join the collection of water higgledy and Hibber-Gibbers already thrown around.

There was an error here, but it wasn't Gibbs's. Right now though, there's no room for figuring that out; only the sound of laughter coming from Tidus, the back of his clothing becoming thoroughly soaked.

Don't forget the squealing (happy) higgledys, either.

[adregem]

From the apex till the descent, the noises coming out of Roland are a mix of what could be actual laughter with a healthy dose of inaudible, nonverbal sounds. But it's too hard to tell when he's trying his best not to actually scream. As if his voice could outdo Tidus's anyway; the grip against his shirt makes for an appropriate balancing act between the two of them on the water slide side by side, until he's tugged and forced to brace.

Why does Roland have a feeling something else influenced the higgledy knight waiting for their descent...? This definitely doesn't feel like it's part of the plan he agreed on before Rannygazoo disappeared out into the wide open dome. But whatever reservations grow in his mind are useless at the point they're incepted. Rannygazoo lifts the shield at the wrong angle, whereas the original plan was supposed to be to help them softly land on their feet. So at the impact, and the subsequent pull towards the ground, Roland rolls onto the wet ground, completely soiling his clothes, with the entire charade ending as he manages to stare up at the empty ceiling of their already suspicious mission.

There's a lot to take in here, between the ringing of Tidus's laughter and the sharp cries of higgledies who seem to believe they were successful in this venture. Rannygazoo is actually on top of Roland's chest, dancing that higgledy dance, telling him in the very back of his mind that he thought this was the most appropriate course of action.

Traitor. He answers inwardly. But on the outside, Roland is heaving, smiling but not quite, a hand on his forehead while his other arm is laid out to the side. So much for a safe, TRUST ME WHEN HAVE I EVER LET YOU DOWN experiment.

"This is insane," he manages to breathe out, the grin finally forming more soundly on his lips. "I can't believe we've never had a single experiment of yours actually follow-through with the plan." Roland's definitely not angry, but as he sits up to squeeze the water from his ponytail, it's also quite clear he's a little bit more amused than he should be.

"Are you okay? Did you land fine?"

[blitzcheer]

"Don't blame me!" comes Tidus's protest, whatever else could follow -- explanations, reasonings -- put aside as Gibbers comes to Tidus's head in all cheerful glory. They know what happened, but are ether of them flustered or disappointed in themselves? Not at all, by the cool jiggy the higgledy is continuing to do along with its other watery brethren, the chuckle that Tidus is lifting himself off his back with.

He doesn't know what there's to complain about, really. This went pretty well, in Tidus's opinion!

"I'm fiiine," he drawls easily, following that up with a shake of his head like a dog trying to dry out its fur. Included: mouth noises like 'hughgughug' as it does so. "Nothing's gonna knock me out easy! I just need to work on my side of helping us fly more. Keeping magic going isn't easy, you know!"

Even with a water-gifted being like Hibber-Gibbers on his side dealing with the actual water and directing. But Tidus should probably think about picking himself out of this puddle he's in, slow as he is to get up and onto his feet.

"How about we try it again closer to ground?"

[adregem]

Is Tidus actually a dogfolk, though???? Do dogfolk even do that when they get drenched? Roland has questions...and a look to throw his way, while he can get away with it. Settle down, boy...

And while Roland could say something about that too - wanting to ask how it feels to channel pure magic the way the others can with their wands, spears, swords, weapons - today is not the day for it. He squeezes his ponytail from base to the tips of the strands, not quite shaking himself out of water the way Tidus does, but coming to stand carefully in his own puddle. Eyes on the pro as he decides there's no saving his hair today, so it's re-tied back into a bun instead.

"I just called you crazy for that stunt, and your first suggestion is we try it again?" Should he be expecting a different outcome at this point. "Okay, what are you changing apart from the height? Is that all? That makes a difference?"

Look at Roland still not saying no, though.

[blitzcheer]

Here's the face of someone feigning innocence at a remark they've surely heard before in their life. But that small detail isn't going to stop Tidus, and luckily, it doesn't get in Roland's way as he continues, a smile rising on Tidus as he shakes his legs. Will it help with drying off his pant legs? Absolutely not.

"Less time I'm using magic," he points out. No, don't ask him why he has trouble simply up and over a wall with it, then. "If I lose control, then we'll hit the ground easier." Or softer? Doubtful.

Tidus holds out a hand, twisting and turning it as he thinks, eyes closing. ...which lasts for only a second before he puts a hand to rub the side of his head.

"Uh, but let's walk a while. Just until my head stops feelin' fuzzy."

[adregem]

He has something to say about manifesting the right kind of energy here - how it should be landing and not hitting the ground no matter how hard or easy it is compared to the first round...but Roland is already concerned when Tidus's steps grow unsteady. He's by his side with a lingering hand by his shoulder no sooner after Tidus asks for a time out.

"Hey. That's enough practice for today." He says, straight-edged and sure. The hand drops finally, attempting to steady him as his other bare one summons something out of his arms band. An Ether, which he knows is for replenishing things for magic. "Let's not walk until your head clears up. Come on, sit down. I gotcha." For whatever reason Tidus might come up with to delay the inevitable of Roland trying to get him to plant his butt down on drier ground will be met with equally stubborn resistance. The Ether is already being directed into Tidus's chest for him to take and drink as soon as possible.