middleofsomewhere | Crashing Down: Start

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Crashing Down: Start

As the Voidtreckers are going through their morning routines on the 24th Quicksand, there comes a train announcement over the comms. When it ends, their SCAs glow and bring up a holographic screen as is common before a mission. There's a few hours to prepare before a new announcement:

Shortly arriving at system #78961112094711. Leaving the void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

The train shakes as it leaves the void. As explained by the mission brief, those who are not wearing their SCA will not be able to physically leave the train.

But for those that do, they will find their SCA lights up with their stopwatch. Counting down from five hous.

CRASHING DOWN: START

QUICKSAND 24 ~ TEAM OBJECTIVES ~ LOCATION INFORMATION ~ OTHER DETAILS
ASK QUESTIONS ~ SHENANIGANS ~ TEAM PLOTTING ~ MISSION TASKS/REWARDS

HOUR ONE

The Voidtrecker Express lands them within a voidcraft multistorey, the same one as when they came to holiday at the Irue Grotto. As soon as it does, their SCAs vibrate and bring up a message, audio and transcript (including brialle) become available from a Ministry worker: the tethering station is on the first floor, and there will be people and gear waiting for them, depending on what jobs they're taking up.

Evacuation plans have already begun, and everything is going to get hectic, fast. Voidtreckers will have no end of work available.

1. PROCESSING. For the more tech-minded, plenty of help is needed. Containers of SCAs in storage need to be scanned and made sure they're not faulty before they're loaded up and sent off to communities outside the Irue Grotto. It's a simple if tedious process, but necessary. There's also helping to process people, getting visitors to the planet back to their voidcrafts, so they can leave and make room for more voidcrafts to station.

People can help civilians through the health scanners, or help manage the cyro-pods that they'll be placed into, Setting up the pods isn't too difficult, it just requires hands and the ability to follow an instruction manual. The void scientists happily give this task to any voidtreckers availible to help so that they can get on with the tasks that require more know-how. ( ORANGE1 )

2. GATHERING. The Ministry also need help with bringing in people. Hover trams will help take officials - including Voidtreckers - into the Irue Grotto, to pick up people at farther parts of the city, and who can't walk to the tethering station. Directing people is necessary, as well as making sure that people have caught the message of the evacuation in the earliest hours; but also those less keen, not taking the call seriously will need to be persuaded.

People are also needed to begin going to further out communities. There are emergency broadcasts throughout the planet but the ministry and the local governing groups are aware that not everyone is going to have heard them. The ministry scramble to give the voidtreckers official passes, to help give credibility to their announcement of evacuation. ( PURPLE 1, BLUE 1 )

3. JOIN THE QUEUE. Help will be needed to help keep some semblance of order, to create a flow to keep everything running. Out in the streets, or even in the tethering station, people will become more panicked if they think they've missed their ride, if they have to wait for too long. It's not yet violent, but people with presence will be useful for helping keep everyone sensible. ( RED 1 )

HOURS TWO AND THREE

The work continues to bring people from their lives to the tethering stations, now packed by anxious individuals. There's aid needed for people outside the Irue Grotto, a call for drivers and more volunteers to stay back and help with tethering processing to get people onto the liminal stations. Panic rises with the tension, and there's also signs of disbelief for what's apparently going on.

The Ministry are handing out SCAs to be taken to those who can't come to the stations, to help with the tethering process. With quick training, people can tether themselves, and arrive at the liminal stations awaiting them.

1. ALL ABOARD. Even in the most busy of void hubs, the tethering and platform systems are not designed for an entire planet to arrive all at once. Those volunteering can access the void by a device at the tethering station. The ministry workers explain that it won't disrupt their own tethers, and they will be able to freely walk through the barrier back to the ministry building. The platform is larger than any voidtreckers have seen in their time in the void, closer to the transport station. There are rows of train tracks, but also docked air craft, space craft, there's even a port with voidcraft that look like traditional ships that would sail through water, if there were any water in the void.

All those tethered have tickets and so should know where they are going, but volunteers have been given tablets with an ever growing database to match passengers up to their voidcrafts. From there, it's a case of helping direct people, carrying luggage, and hurrying children along.

For those who would rather not be around panicked people, there's plenty of work loading animals, be they pets or animals from the zoo, who have their own dedicated voidcraft. ( ORANGE2 )

2. THE IRUE ZOO. Outside the Irue Grotto the planet is pretty rural. Not far from the city is The Irue Zoo, a clutter of domed conservatories customised to house creatures from across the system's planets: avians, reptiles, creatures that don't match anything Voidtreckers know. The zookeepers have already had collars delivered- devices similar to SCAs but for use on animals. They do however need help getting them on the creatures. For any tiny animals, there are chip guns - but, you'll need good aim.

Using drones, those piloting them can also help to make sure an area has been cleared and no one left behind, without the person piloting even being physically present. ( PURPLE 2, BLUE 3, ORANGE 3 )

2. OSIGA VILLAGES. In the villages, there are families who just don't have easy access to reach the Irue Grotto: not everyone has a vehicle. Some eagerly climb into the Ministry ride that Voidtreckers take to reach their communities, while others will need help to go to them instead. They might have family members who can't make the trip, others are more worried about their pets or farm creatures, for those lucky to have indoor farms. Luckily the SCA packs that voidtreckers were given also contain the animal tethering collars- the ministry had factored that into their evacuation plans.

More of a challenge are those who refuse to leave the lives they made, who've barricaded and are making it difficult to be helped. They might not trust the ministry. They might not believe that the threat is real. Or they might resist the idea that this threat cannot be fought, after all they are Osigan, not a weak people at all. ( ORANGE 3, RED2, PURPLE2, BLUE3 )

HOURS FOUR AND FIVE

As their countdown clocks tick to two hours remaining there is a message from Anan. The main bulk of people have been processed by now, freeing up those helping in the grotto to move out to further flung communities. Almost all efforts are now on the portable tethering kits, voidtreckers encouraged to travel by speeder to get to as many places as possible.

1. OFF WORLD. Anan waits at the main transport hub next to a space ship. It's not particularly large, clearly made for short inter planet journeys rather than long durations in space. She looks understandably worried, Chiff sat like a hat on her head, but she welcomes people on board for half an hour before they leave.

They're headed to a space station, getting there not for the faint hearted as it's situated in an asteroid field. Luckily, Anan can pilot her way through safely. The station is mostly occupied by elderly people and small children, suspicious people, a couple even tangry at Anan for leading strangers to their door. She takes their ire with humility but is quick to get down to business.

Here like on Osiga people have varying reactions to the news. The children are frightened but generally tough souls. Some of them know Anan and Chiff already and that helps with coaxing them. ( RED 2-3, BLUE 3, PURPLE 2-3 )

2. ON PLANET. The easily convinced have been evacuated by now, which leaves those who are, for variety of reasons, more difficult. Some are the furthest away from the Grotto, the travel time longer. Here, there is often unrest. There's been a couple of hours for people to work themselves into a state of panic. Even those ready and prepared to be evacuated are frustrated.

As they travel they might even find bands of people moving towards the grotto, angry and assuming they have been forgotten, abandoned. They can be calmed, especially when they learn that the voidtreckers have tethering kits and are here to help. But it will take some loud voices and calm personalities to break through that fear and anger. ( BLUE 2, PURPLE 3 )

3. THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE. But what of those who are adament they will not leave? The refusers are not one homogeneous group. Some refuse to believe what is happening. World eaters? Whose heard of them? Who are these strange people who are trying to empty their world? They never did trust the ministry, setting up in Irue like that...

Others truly believe that leaving their home to an otherworldly threat is an act of cowardice. Surely they should stay and fight. Stand against this threat and drive it back. They have weapons, surely if everyone just made a stand they could stop what was about to happen.

Others just can't bare to leave their homes. They are old and would rather face their fate in the comfort they know rather than leave to go to the void- they might know of it but that doesn't mean they trust it. Others are very aware of what this means, they survive but their bodies do not.

Some can be convinced, others are more stubborn. It may be best to focus on those who do want to leave, but there is no easy answer. ( RED 2-3, BLUE 3, ORANGE 3, PURPLE 2-3 )

All the time the skies are calm and clear, no sign of the approaching danger present. In some ways, this makes it harder; te only indication they have is their SCA clocks counting down. Hours turning to minutes, counting down to catastrophe.

OOC NOTES

OOC Post ~ Questions ~ Shenanigans ~ Tasks Check-In & Rewards
This event will last for 1 IC day, and OOCly runs from 16th to 22nd, with a conclusion going up on the 23rd.

CHARACTER AID: Lan Jingyi will be offering transport over distance, Lea can create keyblade portals to move people; Thanatos and Tidus will have functioning transgates to allow movement between where they are and back at the tethering station. Elidibus will also eventually be creating portals and force-teleports.

Art Credit: Header

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hour One

[Panicking crowds? Impending doom? Seems like just another day for Shen Qingqiu. Does he like it? No. Is he doing something about it? Yeah, sure, that's his job or something.

...Well, the purple team seems to mostly be helping with directions and things like that, but f that noise. No, this little fox has chosen to go out and practice his vaguely self-taught fox powers on unsuspecting passersby! Fellow voidtreckers might catch a flash of blue in his eyes as he compels the common people to calm down and follow directions. (it works a good chunk of the time, if not fully or perfectly...)]

Hour 2-3

Is there really a point to saving all of these little beasts? I'm sure there's better things we could be doing with our time.

[Like leaving? Or saving more of the people, I guess. Complaints aside though, he is, in fact, working hard at getting collars on all the zoo animals. He will! Subdue!! Might've overused the fox powers on the crowds earlier, sadly, or he'd be cheating again right now.]

Other

[i ran out of brainpower but feel free to wildcard me]

Think of future civilizations that will forever miss the chance to meet this...uh, chimera-bird? I think?

[ It looks scary. He stares at it, holding out the collar. Thankfully it can't fly far. ]

C'mon, you. You want to go with your friends, right?

[ The bird hisses. Jake sighs. ]

It looks to me like it would much rather go down with the ship.

[Is that squawk a squawk of agreement or--we're gonna say it's agreement. Yes.]

Was there any rule about ensuring all the creatures were alive? It would certainly make things easier.

[As he knocks out some kind of hyena shark with a chop to the neck.]

Animals always get panicky when they sense disaster coming. They're way better at detecting it.

[ which is currently making his wrangling very difficult! He gets one collared, only to have to chase another. Then, of course, he hears the rest and spins on his heel. ]

Of course that's implied! Void-selves are souls---they die, the soul's not there anymore, collar does nothing, we just wasted our time.

[ At least...he thinks that's what the general idea is. Could be wrong. ]

Edited 2022-04-19 20:19 (UTC)

Surely they could be content with just a couple of souls and forget the rest.

[He doesn't comment on the disaster detection, because to be honest he's feeling a little of that too--maybe that's why he's being so irritable?

Glaring at another creature as he approaches it...is he planning to collar the thing or murder it? Impossible to tell just from appearance alone.]

They've gotta rebuild somewhere, right! Don't you need genetic diversity? I don't think Noah's Ark is gonna cut it. But it gets kinda weird when we're all wandering souls, I guess.

[ Jake watches him warily...hm...then crouches and offers his palms. Easy...easy, little squid-bear. It flaps a tentacle at him, which he dodges...then slips a collar on. Success. Sorta. ]

Noah's what? Try speaking in terms a teammate might understand. [who the heck is Noah!

Also this particularly uncooperative corgiraffe has suddenly frozen to the spot like someone stopped time. Did Shen Qingqiu's eyes flash blue for a second there? Either way, he walks leisurely over to throw on the collar before brushing his hands like it's a job well done.]

Oh! It's uh. An old story. About a world that got flooded, and God told one of his followers Noah to round up two of each animal so they could refill the world after the flood. But with modern knowledge of genetics, we know that you need a bigger gene pool to save animals from extinction.

[ He stares at that display of power...but the creature was collared non-violently. That's awesome. ]

...you're actually that good with animals?

The entire world was flooded, and all your god could do was tell one man to save the wildlife? That certainly is memorable.

[Sorry about him, he's naturally acerbic. Also playing it cool right now! Just look at that unconcerned air, as if he didn't just cheat with mind control powers.]

With the right skills, any beast can be tamed, no matter how unfamiliar the species. Perhaps you could consider doing some training of your own.

...huh. Yeah. Haven't had a pet in a while, my girlfriend back home's allergic.

Is it all about projecting authority?

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foxyou - 2022-04-30 01:32 (UTC) - Expand

[She is doing less well at calming people down. She understands panic, knows why people are frightened. World eaters... It's a concept that is hard to even get her head around even if she has seen them before, witnessed what they could do.

She spots Sen Quingqiu and sees how people calm down and listen to him.]

You do be being good at that.

[Oh, they're listening to him alright. Is it his commanding presence? His confident orders? The innate fox ability to mess with people's minds? Let's not dwell on that question.

Jiu finishes directing another small group in the right direction before turning to his fellow voidtrecker, wearing a purposely indifferent look on his face like this business is totally no trouble for him. Totally! For real!]

I used to run a school, after all. This sort of thing is nothing.

You did be running a school?

[She knows about schools, people have told her about them but she can't imagine this man running one.

But it seems he had skills that were useful.]

That's right. Students and all.

[Though he might've delegated a majority of his classes, and he definitely wasn't known to be friendly at all, but...details.

He waves a dismissive hand at the departing crowd.]

All it takes is a commanding presence and the power to back it, and few will dare to defy you.

That do be being a good thing. We do be needing to be commanding. [And that's difficult when you barely come up to peoples chests. Persephone was right, being tiny wasn't always very useful.]

It will only be getting worse.

Things can always get worse, no matter how bad they may already be. [That's a simple fact of life.] If you considered that a word of warning, you can rest assured that I'm in no need of a reminder on this front.

[Because he's a pessimist....]

Good. As long as you do be knowing.

[He had a good attitude. Things could always get worse. It meant they would need to work harder.]

[ Madoka is trying to talk to some people as well. She may not have any special compelling powers, but she does have a powerful set of puppy eyes that help under these circumstances..

But just as she's convinced a family to head in the right direction, she turns her head to spot the other there - and see that odd colour in his eyes.

She isn't sure what it is, but she does notice a few people - most of the group he's talking to - immediately nodding along with what he's saying. But somehow there's one of them who only starts looking more agitated in the face of it all..

(You know, like maybe the power didn't fully work on him, though Madoka sure hasn't reached that conclusion yet.)

Staring nervously between the two, Madoka steps closer. ]

Um, is.. everything okay here..?

[Jiu sees that nonconformer, and narrows his eyes in the man's direction.]

Everything's fine, [he says without actually looking at Madoka, then continues:] Sir, did you not hear my instructions? We are evacuating. Please head in this direction with the others if you wish to join them.

[The rest of the group is going, at least??]

[ Part of their duty here is done, indeed.. Madoka turns her head, looking at the people who are moving to leave. For a moment she wonders if she should accompany them to make sure they will all find the processing point, but then she looks back at Jiu and the man..

.. and she decides that maybe it's better to stay here, just in case. Jiu can handle himself, but with Madoka being Madoka, she still can't help but fuss over the other all the same.

(As if she could do something here if this would turn into some physical altercation, when she is barely five feet and has trouble opening particularly heavy doors.)

Before she can say anything though, it's the man that speaks up, staring at Jiu.

Why should I listen to a runt like you? How do you even know anything is going to happen? You lot could all be lying! ]

[...Did this guy just call him a runt? Is that an actual word he just heard, spoken in his actual direction?

Jiu doesn't actually get murderous, he's not quite that silly, but he does give the man a look strong enough to kill if you gave it physical weight.]

You are free to ignore this runt if you prefer. Though if you do, then your resulting death will certainly be none of my concern, don't you agree?

[madoka please you are the single magical girl peace mascot and both these guys are belligerent]

[ Madoka is dying.

Even though nothing is being directed at her here, not from the man and not from Jiu's side, she is absolutely dying just witnessing it. Madoka is like Tinkerbell, except it's not a lack of belief that kills her, it's a lack of harmony. She's terrified of the way this situation is escalating between these two, especially since she feels like it'll end up with someone here being hurt.

And said person being hurt does not necessarily have to be Jiu, considering he was ready to fight a wolf last time around. ]

P-Please! [ She sputters, stepping between the two of them. Like she's trying to physically keep them from approaching each other further. ] Um, what he's trying to say is--

[ Yes, Madoka is taking the duty upon her of trying to translate this into something more polite.

Godspeed. ]

That things really are dangerous right now! We just really don't want someone to get hurt...

[ Are you sure that's what he just said, girl. ]

[This is kinda like Jiu's the one saying someone's gonna die, and Madoka's the one saying OF FUN except in this case there really is kind of a threat of death going on here but uh

Jiu does actually tone it down slightly upon seeing her attempts to play interpreter--if his ears and tail were out right now maybe you'd see the fur coming down from its poofed-up state, but as it is the expression on his face simply loses a bit of its danger vibes.]

...It's as she said. You're in danger the longer you stay here, so unless losing your life is your goal for the day, I suggest you listen. [To her at least, if not to him.]

[ The man glances between the two of them. He doesn't necessarily seem convinced by these two - outward-seeming - children telling him about all of this.

But something about the hostility around him fades. Not a lot, but.. at least a little bit..? Maybe the someone's gonna die OF FUN meme is compelling him here, bit by bit.

At least it's enough for him to instead say: If you know there is some sort of danger coming, can't you just stop it?

.. at least he believes them now? Even though he still doesn't seem eager to just go get processed along with everyone else so he can be saved.. ]

[Maybe it's the fact neither of them seem to be joking? Either way, the look Jiu gives him is the kind you might give to somebody who just asked why you can't turn the sky green.]

Should we be flattered you think so highly of us? As much as I wish I could call myself that powerful, I'm afraid there's a reason our instructions are to evacuate rather than to fight.

Crashing Down: Start

Shen Qingqiu (AU)

hour 2-3

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will i ever truly be alive

watch out people we've got a zombie

yipyapyip (translation: braaaiiiiins)

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