Day 7: Screw your courage to the sticking place: Start

[voidtreckermods]

For those who have been on the train a little while they will be expecting this, the beginning of a new month, after certain passengers have strange dreams. Early in the morning of day seven of the month of Egret their SCA's glow the colour of the void and a holographic message appears. Their next mission. Another world to save.

Preperation

Those that go to the dressing room will find flight suits and helmets, one per passenger. Those who are not human shaped will find ones adapted for them, some of them quite odd. The flight suits are tight fitting and light, but once they put them on they will feel quite warm. Each is the colour of the Voidtreckers team and have a black train symbol on the chest, the helmets have clear fronts and coloured backs.

They have an hour or so to prepare for their mission. Time to make sure everyone understands what a space ship is, at least. Hopefully.

Arrival

"We are now approaching System #7212108." Finally it is time. "Warning: Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A jolt, a flash of light and suddenly the colours are gone, out of the windows they will see they are in a large hanger.

And outside of the train there are five scaled humanoids with guns pointing directly at the train. Those that try the doors find they do not open.

"What void transport is this?" One of the creatures demands. "We didn't request void help, explain yourselves."

Another speaks. From where they are stood near the engine. "Voidtrecker Express."

Even though the voidtreckers are unfamiliar with these people the surprise is clear in the creatures eyes.

"Stand down." They snap at the others, who lower their weapons and step back.

The commander looks worried. "Give them anything they need." They turn to hurry out of the hanger.

The doors open, allowing the Voidtreckers off the train.

One of the remaining guards steps forwards.

"I am Hitrinto, I apologise, we were not expecting you." They look worried as well. "We have everything under control but if you are here..."

At that moment there is a clatter of noise over the radio.

"There are reports coming in of a second wormhole in the system." A second voice spoke almost immediately. "Shield Station Two has been hit. I repeat Shield Station two is taking heavy fire." A third soon after. "More enemies ships sighted, reports of a second wormhole confirmed."

Hitrinto looked at the Voidtreckers grimly. "Come with me."

If the Voidtreckers indeed follow them they will find an array of ships. Hitrinto quickly explains the basics, two person ships are easier to pilot. The controls can be shared or can be set so one person drives whilst the other concentrates on fighting. They have solo ships but they are difficult to pilot and they will only give them to those who have ship fighting experience.

Another guard hands out blasters and will give quick lessons to anyone who is unsure on how they work. For all that they were surprised they guards seem to accept the presence of the Voidtreckers and work quickly to get them armed and ready for battle. Choose ships, have a quick practice of weapons and get ready to go!

Onward!

Blue team are already where they need to be, they can begin to explore the station, get the lay of the land and figure out a plan of helping guard this place.

Everyone else is off, purple and red are off to the second wormhole, orange to the shield station that needs help! Board your ships and set off to help!

(OOC: Team posts detailing the next part of each mission will go up on the 15th March)

Comments

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin answered, "They do look a little odd, don't they? Even as compared to what we normally wear on the train! I think they are flight suits -- sort of a uniform for people who get into flying machines and go up into the stratosphere or out into space. The suit and the helmet together are air-tight, so that the air that is supplied doesn't escape and leave you suffocating. They're also warm, as it's cold up there as well as airless."

Curufin was delighted to see Khardeen.

[sell_tickets]

"You do realize I understood maybe half of that, right?" he asked with a chuckle.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin had to laugh. "I do," he said. "You came to the VoidTrecker straight from your own world and so didn't have the chance to familiarize yourself with strange new cultures and technologies. But I am sure you'll find some way to contribute something valuable, in this place, on this mission. You are Khardeen, after all! An intelligent and inventive person. Not to mention a Warlord."

[sell_tickets]

"Well yes, but all the confidence in the world doesn't answer questions," he said with a laugh.

[so_dark_a_road]

"No, but asking the questions might get some of them answered," said Curufin, with a smile.

He was always so pleased to see Khardeen's face, and that infectious grin. And talking with him was always a pleasure.

[sell_tickets]

"I did. Not my fault you started talking gibberish," he teased. He liked having Curufin around too. It wasn't unlike spending time with Aaron.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin's shoulders were shaking with silent laugher. "Hey, I'm of the Noldor clan; Gibberish is my specialty!"

[sell_tickets]

"They must be very proud of you indeed."

[so_dark_a_road]

"I'm sure they are!" he laughs.

[sell_tickets]

"Despite that, can you explain?"

[so_dark_a_road]

"Do you mean about the flight suits, and what they are for?"

[sell_tickets]

"Yes, and how we're supposed to be defending these people."

[so_dark_a_road]

"The flight suits are pretty standard in worlds where they have flight. When you go up in a flying machine, you're going into a different environment than the familiar one on the ground. For one thing, it gets colder as you go higher. And for another thing, if you go high enough, the atmosphere gets thinner, in fact it thins out altogether at some point. That's when you get to the boundary between your world and space itself. So, you have to wear something that is both warm and light, and you have to seal it so that when you pump extra oxygen from a tank that is usually strapped onto your back, the oxygen doesn't leak out. Oxygen is the most important ingredient of air -- for us oxygen-breathers, that is."

And on to defense: "The short version is that these people are being attacked by another interstellar civilization, who call themselves the Empire of the Stars, who want to conquer these planets and use them for their own purposes. We're supposed to help the defenders fend off these enemies. We help them with the technical side of things, that is, we help them repair the stations that have been attacked and damaged, and we help them directly by participating in the battles."

[sell_tickets]

"We have flight, but most Eyrians don't wear anything like this, would interfere with their wings. Never heard of a machine that flies, though." He was still learning what machines were in the first place, and wasn't fully sure that he was understanding it properly. "Seems like shields could do the same thing as these suits though, if I store my own air?" He'd never heard anyone saying that they had those issues flying too high, but he could accept that it might be true.

"Interstellar? Planets?" Hi, have fun.

[so_dark_a_road]

"You have flight? You mean some people can fly? That must be interesting!"

Definitely Khardeen's world is different than a 'modern' one!

"You may be right about the shields. If there were anybody who could generate a protective shield magically, I would think it could protect a person's whole body and keep the stored air from leaking out. I don't know how to do that, however."

And as for the astronomy: "Yes, interstellar. All the suns of all the worlds are actually stars, like the ones you see when you look up into the night sky. They are very far separated, though, and it takes a very special means of flight to get from one to another. That's referred to as interstellar flight. Many of those stars have planets, that is, worlds, just like your sun has the planet you live on -- and maybe others. There are apparently many civilizations that have developed spaceflight, and some of them are very acquisitive. They want to form empires, and so they conquer other people's worlds."

[sell_tickets]

"Yes. there are a few races with wings in Kaleer. There are none in your realms?"

For the rest of the explanation have a look of "what the what...?" on Khary's face. Because... what...? Huh?

[so_dark_a_road]

"No human beings have wings in my world. Elves can't fly, mortals can't fly, Dwarves can't fly. However, there are the Valar and the Maiar, the angelic powers of the earth and their servants who are much less powerful. Unlike the rest of us, both of those can change their forms at will, and sometimes they adopt a winged form."

He smiled a little at the WTF expression on Khardeen's face as he heard Curufin's exposition of the nature of space and the celestial objects, the stars and planets. "Am I making no sense whatsoever? Sorry about that."

[sell_tickets]

"None whatsoever. And, well," he shrugged grinning, "A number of my teachers and friends have wings. I guess I just got used to it. Hearing Yasi complain about tailors is one of my petty little joys." he chuckled. "Mostly because I generally have a different tailor."

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin grinned back at his friend. "You know people who have wings? I guess you'd get used to it, especially if they're friends or teachers. I suppose a tailor would have a devil of a time cutting a garment that would allow for wing-holes! And maybe such a tailor would get so used to tailoring for winged people that he or she would forget not to add wing apertures?" He laughs. "Good thing you have a different tailor, then!"

[sell_tickets]

He laughed. "Oh Lord Aldric would never make such a mistake. He'd never give Yasi the excuse to just wear breeches as he'd prefer." MArin would have Kittens and Saetan... would have a quiet word with Aldric that would ripple through Kaleer. Besides, like many others who served the people who lived in the Hall directly, Aldric felt a lot of pride in his work for the Court.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin was laughing, too. "Goodness gracious! No tailor worth his salt would allow a customer to go about unclothed above the waist, not even to accommodate wings! That negligent tailor would be run out of town, or laughed out of it, by the other tailors."

[sell_tickets]

He laughed. "There is that."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Think Aldric would like to make flight suits or space suits for Void Warriors?" Grin.

[sell_tickets]

"If Jaenelle asked it of him, he'd be thrilled. If i asked... he might only laugh for an hour." Grin.

[so_dark_a_road]

"As long as all he does is laugh, okay. Watch he doesn't grab his tailor's shears and fabric, and make you a shirt in an unflattering color!"