VoidTrecker Express Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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middleofsomewhere2020-01-11 09:12 am
voidtreckermods) wrote in middleofsomewhere2020-01-11 09:12 am
Let it Snow: Red Start
The doors slam shut, the train moves. Through the snow this time but the shuddering is almost worse that entering the void. "Red team to doors." The visibility out of the window is low but they are moving further up the mountain.
The doors open, allowing red team to jump. The snow here is thick, there is little protection from the howling winds and biting cold.
Their SCA shows a route, following it will, presumably lead them to the gang that caused these problems. Here on the low slopes of the mountain there are some homesteads. Much fewer than in the town itself but cottages and small farm houses. All seem abandoned.
For now there is not much to do but to walk, forge a path through the snow. Fight the snow and ice monsters that attack and do their best to survive as they follow the map towards their goal.
The doors open, allowing red team to jump. The snow here is thick, there is little protection from the howling winds and biting cold.
Their SCA shows a route, following it will, presumably lead them to the gang that caused these problems. Here on the low slopes of the mountain there are some homesteads. Much fewer than in the town itself but cottages and small farm houses. All seem abandoned.
For now there is not much to do but to walk, forge a path through the snow. Fight the snow and ice monsters that attack and do their best to survive as they follow the map towards their goal.
no subject
Fëanor didn't think to take a spare blanket. Planning ahead is not a skill he uses very often and he needs to be more awake to do this than he was before this mission. He can, however, share the one he did take. It needs a bit of struggle to open the nearly frozen-through backpack. Good thing he can melt it back to its original condition.
He throws the blanket to Tony. It's not much but it's dry, warm and another layer of protection from the cold.
"You can sit closer," he says. "Contrary to popular opinion, I really don't bite."
Even if it shields them from the wind, the cave is still a rather chilly place. It would be perfect to have at least a small campfire going but for that, they'd need to get fuel. Wood, shrubs, anything, that wasn't deep-frozen. Good luck with finding that. So for now, Fëanor is the only source of heat. He is extremely unhappy with that fact.
For the second time, he has the impression they are woefully underprepared for the mission.
no subject
He's surprised when Feanor goes and gets a spare blanket for him. He might have hesitated at the gift in most other circumstances, but he knew Feanor didn't need it and he was freezing his ass off. The invitation was equally surprising, though he couldn't just leave that alone. "A pity." He scooted a little closer and then with a sigh, went ahead and scooted right against Feanor's side. What? Stop looking at him.
"Have you noticed that despite us getting more people on the train, our missions haven't gotten easier? Logically, they should've as we have more individuals to achieve our goals. It's as though the missions are escalating to compensate for those who have joined the train. Either that or it's the reverse. The train is kidnapping the individuals it needs based on the upcoming missions. If that's the case, it means the conductor knows what these missions are much earlier than he tells us." That wasn't too surprising, but it did worry him.
no subject
It's all a distraction though.
"Yes," he replies. "The difficulty, and the danger, seems to be escalating. We are getting more people, true, but we still aren't getting better supplies." He means weapons. Truth is, they need weapons. They can't rely on scavenging all the time.
"Look at the current one. Sure, it would be hard to die from exposure. The SCA won't allow it." So the cursed thing better not break on any of them. "Still, it's really bad outside. Even without the wind, it's so cold I doubt that I would be able to survive it. Yet we are supposed to climb up the mountain, a feat in itself in good weather conditions, and somehow deal with the lunatic that's causing all this mayhem." Not great on precise objectives either.
"I do wonder if there is a conductor at all." He wouldn't be surprised if there weren't.
no subject
Tony nodded in agreement with that. "Even if we do get some supplies during a mission by the time the next mission starts we have at least a dozen people who don't have those supplies." It had been really frustrating that the last mission they had to turn in the guns they'd used to the people they'd helped. He understood it and it had been the right thing to do, but as voidtreckers, they needed them too!
"I agree. This would be an impossible task without the SCA's for most of us." He probably would be able to do it, but he'd be in far worse shape than he was right now. Having a friend-shaped space heater was helping a ton on that front.
"Do you think there's an organization behind the messages we receive or an AI instead of someone directing it? I don't believe there is anyone on board with us, but I believe someone or some group is behind it." It was easier to say 'conductor' even if it wasn't entirely accurate.
no subject
“Exactly” he agrees “And to some resources that we do get, we loose access once the mission is over.” Like appropriate clothing.
Fëanor would have no qualms about keeping the guns but then his attitude to what was other people’s property in situations where he needed what they had. Eh, let’s just say it wasn’t laudable. So he’s aware his views might be skewed a little.
Good for Tony to trust his armour but Fëanor already noticed whatever is causing the cold is interfering with technology too. For some reason it doesn’t hinder SCA.
“Either or both. I don’t think they exclude each other.”
Clearly there is an organisation behind void travel as such. He just doubts it’s responsible for that particular train.
“There’s one thing more. For all the unpleasantry of their visit, the Inspectors got me thinking. They were surprised, Tony. That’s what was most odd about them. Quick to dismiss anyone’s lack of knowledge and ascribe it to void sickness, yes, but they treated seriously the complaints of those of us who wanted to make a complaint. Exactly as I would expect from a well organised bureaucracy.”
Yes, that means he thinks their situation is some kind of rogue initiative.
no subject
The other possibility was what Feanor was thinking, that they really hadn't been asked at all and this train was breaking the rules. "As wrong as it is, if we weren't asked, it doesn't change the fact we've been desperately needed at all of these worlds we've been to. That part- the need for help- I can say with confidence has been legitimate."
no subject
He can be persuaded to do irrational bordering on stupid. Especially if it aligns with his own views or someone manages to get him angry enough. Nerdanel is too reasonable to be fooled. It wouldn't have worked with her.
"And there's one more reason; we hardly ever forget anything." The past is always with them no matter if they like it or not. In intricate detail. Reliving their memories is, in part, how they rest. Even if Fëanor has quite a few memories he'd be most happy to do without he can't erase them. Though someone capable of stealing his spirit from under Mandos' nose might actually be able to make him forget things.
"I don't deny those we are sent to need our help." He stops, hesitating. Here's another theory he has given a lot of thought to. It may seem far-fetched. And yet. "I would even go as far as to call our kidnapers well-meaning. Not for us, obviously. For the worlds they send us to."
"What if there are powers that should be doing what we do. Only they don't. Maybe they are too slow to react. Maybe they don't care. I can imagine how someone watching them repeatedly fail to to do what should be done gets gradually more and more irritated and disillusioned. To a point when they decide to act on their own. Even if it's against the law or rules. Or divine mandate. Even if it means crossing a few lines and I don't know..."
Fëanor looks away. His gaze wandering from walls of the cave the chose as their shelter. It passes over the faces of all members of the Red time huddled together trying to escape the cold and protect whatever little warmth they have. His wife, his sons. Before coming back to Tony and the slowly growing circle of dark rock around both of them as the snow and ice flee from his fire.
Oh, he can relate. He doesn't like it but he can relate.
"Maybe even kidnapping a few people to help with the good cause?"
no subject
He continued to listen and found himself agreeing with the rest of what was said too. Hadn't they all broken a few rules for the greater good? Most everyone here had been put in a bind. "Is it wrong to hope that's the case? I don't even care that their care for us might be limited so long as they're doing it because they're desperate for aid elsewhere." It sure beat the feeling that the conductor or whoever had much more nefarious aims. "What I still don't get is why May Parker? Why Happy? Why Darth Vader? The first two aren't exactly people I'd pick for an army and the last is someone who is evil."
A pause.
"Although some may see my life and conclude I'm evil too."
no subject
For all the wrongs that were his doing, for all the deaths, and blood, and suffering that he directly or indirectly caused, Fëanor does not consider himself evil. None are evil but the Enemy and his thralls.
Not him. Definitely not Tony Stark, Iron Man, the Avenger, protector of the Earth realm.
Fëanor does not consider even Vader evil.
"Vader? I wouldn't call him evil. He is far from good, yes. I wouldn't ever consider him an ally. He is a dangerous man. Cruel, angry, broken and unhinged. His heart is black, twisted beyond recognition by great anguish. But his passions run too high for him to be truly evil. Evil is cold. He is not. I wouldn't say he's completely beyond redemption."
no subject
His eyebrows rose at hearing Darth Vader could be redeemed. He wouldn't have expected that. "Feanor, my friend, you're going soft on me. Are we starting a program to rehabilitate misguided and falsely assumed 'evil' people on this train?"
no subject
"Speak not of evil in such fashion," he finally says "Haven't I told you that I have fought evil? So grand an evil that the foe you had waged war against would seem but a pawn to? As a meager slave he would be! Useful but ultimately insignificant. For the Enemy has numerous servants of far greater power. And think not that I diminish the threat you were facing. I may know nothing about that foe of yours but I can read the signs. I see the marks that toil has left on your soul, and the soul of your son, and his aunt... The scars that none in Creation should be forced to endure."
Fëanor shudders and takes a deep breath; as someone coming up for air after a long dive. The past never truly leaves them.
"None are beyond redemption but the Enemy and his thralls." He says quietly. "For they have discarded the very concept of it. Do not wish to be counted among their numbers for you know not what you are speaking of."
He has to believe it, for him and his sons to have a chance at all.
no subject
He was quiet after that, wishing they had a fire or something to stare at besides all this snow and dark. He tried to think of a segue to something else they could talk about, but he was tired and now feeling haunted by Feanor's words.
"I'm going to go check the parameter again. Stay here and keep an eye on everyone else." He got up and his armor encased him again in a matter of seconds. Without looking back at his friend, he headed out with the hope that something was out there for him to pound on and just maybe get his mind too tired to think.
wrap, if a creepy one
Maybe if he wasn't that tired. Maybe if all this snow and ice weren't getting on his nerves. Maybe if they had a fire or at least means to make one. Maybe...maybe then the echo of the horrors would not be so close to the surface to scare others away from him.
He has to shake this darkness, it's not helping. And yet he can't. The past never... His past is a curse that stains everything.
"I will," he says but Tony has already left. Fëanor shudders, though it's not from the cold. He looks around. This. He has to concentrate on the present.