The Will to Fight: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

The battles rage loud and ferocious at the gates of the city and off in the ruined wastelands of Erda, and on the walls a struggle of a different kind occurs. The team who stayed behind at the towers are small but determined as they move stoically across the walls to right the stones that have become misaligned, even as their friends battle not too far away.

The city begins to hum. It's a quiet hum, not loud enough to be heard out where the others are fighting but it vibrates even through stone. The recovering monks assure them that it is done, the wards are back up and no demon will be able to enter the city.

Eventually the battle is won, all three battles. The demons fought back and killed, a major blow to their gate system that will keep them back for hopefully a long time. Those waiting in the caverns return to the city and by the time they get there the illusions are gone. Everyone can see the world for what it really is.

But despite the ruins of their world the people are relieved, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through their veins and the mood is one of hope. They will build again, their people will survive.

All Voidtreckers please return to the Voidtrecker Express. Departure will be in a few hours

It has landed not too far from the city, cloaked to make it unnoticeable to the citizens, for all the good that does. No one has been particularly subtle this last week. People can begin regrouping, packing up the camp and getting any wounded not already healed to the train.

However roughly half an hour later another message appears on their SCA.

Passenger Persephone has requested we remain on system System #86525656412355 for an additional day to further assist the people of Erda. The Voidtrecker Express will depart on the morning of Day Fifteen of the month of Kazoo.

The train remains where it is, so the voidtreckers can use its facilities. There is definitely a lot that can be done to assist those of this world and the citizens will welcome any helping hands.

After an extra day they finally depart, returning to the void once more.

(OOC Note: Once the wards are up any characters who are demonic in nature will not be able to enter the city either!)

Comments

[10billionpercent]

Senku returned an amused smile. "I'm not prone to lying." He quipped easily enough.

cw: mention of death

[helborn]

"I do my best to not lie, either. ... I just want you to be alive, even if you're not always 'safe'. Dying's no fun." He sighed and gestured to Senku vaguely. "I don't need to be told how long it takes to bleed out. I already know. I don't want you to have to go through that."

cw: mention of death

[10billionpercent]

"I believe you're not alone in that. I've died before, but it wasn't nearly as grisly as that." Senku responded, considering it.

"Direct shot to my cervical plexus." Senku said, rubbing the back of his neck, a habit he'd picked up because he'd made it a habit, but now he can't quite quit it.

"Fortunately my suspicions surrounding the nature of the petrification was correct and removing my last bit of stone repaired the damage sparing my life."

[helborn]

Oof. That was rough. He nodded and tried to not push too hard. "Well, it looks like you're fine, so I'm not worried." He needed to get off of this topic. "... What's the most complicated thing you've ever built?"

[10billionpercent]

Perhaps surprisingly or not, that didn't seem to bother him. "I am fine." He confirmed with a nod.

"In my life? A rocket that made it to orbit." Senku said, musing thoughtfully. "Nothing took more time, effort or expense." A pause. "If you mean since petrification, it would have to be the Perseus. It gave us quite a bit of trouble too. That's our ship."

[helborn]

"Woah... that's pretty awesome!" All the way to orbit? And huh. Wait, the Perseus - "Oh, because of the turning to stone thing. That's why the name. Building a boat is super impressive too, especially with the level of tech you described..."

[10billionpercent]

He snickered lightly. "You picked up on that pretty quick." Senku was impressed.

"I didn't do it alone of course, I was just the architect. A lot of the heavy lifting I can't help too much with, but I can try and ease the creation of various parts. It's a hybrid of oil and wind power." He explained. "It should hold up nicely to travel around the world."

[helborn]

"Even before I knew about the whole godly parent thing I was a mythology and occult nerd..." At least he was never creepy about it. He's heard... horror stories.

"Makes sense... I'm assuming you're refueling as you go. I can't even imagine... how many people does it hold?" He's guessing more than something like a longship, but there's no way it's as big as a lot of modern ships...

[10billionpercent]

"No, probably not, it's very difficult to get gasoline out in the wild. We had to dig up the Sagara oil field so we have to factor in as much as we can carry, but likely we'll be relying on wind power more than that." Senku hummed.

"We're planning on being about thirty." He said after a moment.

[helborn]

"Oh. ... I guess that makes sense." Obviously they don't have access to oil rigs. He's not sure what Sagara oil field is other than 'in Japan, presumably'. Still, thirty people... "If you're not sticking right next to the coast the whole way around - wait, shit."

He points his hands one way, then the other. "Unless you were going up the Russian coast and down past Canada you'd have to sail right through open ocean, duh. I'm going to make a wild guess that you want to avoid arctic waters." It'd make the most sense. "But... that's pretty awesome. Longship probably doesn't have enough storage so... a galleon?" Which is still insane to think about.

[10billionpercent]

Senku shook his head. "Straight across. We're short on time. We need to make it there before December." He explained. "It was the end of September when I left my world, so...presumably we'd be able to make it, with a little luck, but you're right. It's a galleon." He grinned.

"I'm rather proud of that design." He admitted. "It was almost as fun as designing a car."

[helborn]

"Makes sense. Probably changes in the wind, the currents... ot to mention risk of ice is way higher." It sounded awful. Though to be fair the idea of being on the water on a long-term basis also didn't thrill him.

"You made a car?" Holy shit, dude.

[10billionpercent]

"There is that, yes." Senku nodded his agreement. "But more, we're going for the corn in San Francisco, and the season for corn should end about the first week of December. For us to find it and be able to take some, we need to be in time." He explained, looking thoughtful.

"Ah, yeah." He grinned. "Just like building a huge model kit. We only used a single piston though so it was only so useful, but Kaseki's added a second one and we have a paved road now, so Gen stopped complaining about driving on terrible landscaping." He gushed a little bit. "This is our third car now, we killed the second one and turned it into a tank." He did a lot of recycling.

[helborn]

"Ah, makes sense. If it's been so long, I imagine it'd be growing wild all over the place now..." Unless there were people waiting for them there, which would be an issue.

".. I'm not sure whether to be impressed or mildly horrified. Maybe both."

[10billionpercent]

"That's correct, nothing but overgrown, untouched wilderness for the most part." Senku confirmed with a nod.

He let out a delighted snicker. "So I hear all the time. Due to the weight, we used paper to make our tank. It was reinforced with plastic, making a carbon fibre, which kept it strong and nearly impenetrable from spears, at least."

"The car we have now is a different, upgraded one for hauling steel, although Kaseki's he just uses to travel between what was once the Kingdom of Might and the Kingdom of Science. It's not too bad. Balloon's faster though."

[helborn]

"Definitely both." Carbon fiber? Holy shit.

"Balloon is faster based on terrain issues, I imagine. But how do you direct it?" He's never really understood how hot air balloons do that, anyway.

[10billionpercent]

"When you travel from west to east, it's easy because the air flow will naturally take you there, anyone can manage that. It's heading east to west that takes some finesse. My captain does all of that." He grinned.

"While primarily interested in boats, he also knew how to fly, at least he was flying helicopters, but what knowledge he does have is how to tell how the wind shifts and what actions to take for a successful trip." Senku explained. "I can tell about the weather, somewhat, but I can't fly like he can."