voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post March]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day One of the month of Kazoo. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The fog is thick, the air is warm and humid and there are rumbles of thunder, the air heavy with the promise of rain.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alfredo Martini, Daia, Enna Alchiba, Lord El-Melloi II, Natsuno Yuuki, Nita Callahan, Saku Gyousou, Sakura, V and Wen Qing

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, glass and dark stone rising in sturdy arches around them. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large, and seems smaller with twenty-seven figures scattered around. All facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist.

A roaring sound, and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). Those not new to the train will note the addition of an eighth sleeper carriage. The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, it seems the month of Kazoo is defined by the tomato and there are plenty of them.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers as thunder rumbles further and the storm threatens to break. The doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I haven't heard about much of anything yet." But missions are familiar. She's used to having missions.

She'd been in the middle of one, after all. Sometimes it helped to have anything familiar.

"Ask away, if you want. I got these to put away." He nods to the bottles he's stacking up into the locker. So, he had the time. "What do you wanna know first?"

Best to let them to ask whatever, right? Or he could easily talk if it turned out they didn't know where to start.

"I saw the very general information." Mostly that missions exist. "How coordinated does this end up being?" She hasn't had a chance to really get a sense of how these passengers actually work together.

He hums, arms folding and being distracted from his task for this one. How coordinated...

"There's some room to move, but I'd say pretty decent? We have the leads who keep check on the people who go with their teams, and we keep in contact over the comms. All the teams are usually separated," he says with a finger swinging around, as if mimicking the distances between them. "--but we've got a cool girl onboard who helps move people around if they need it, you know? Like more fighters over here, or healers over there. You just let her know what's up, and she'll get teleporting!"

Which was always a handy power to have around.

"Teleporting," she repeats. SHe's flown enough extractions that it has her attention. She would have thought it was impossible yesterday but she's been dragged most unceremoniously off Lothal so she's considering other options. "That changes everything tactically."

"Useful," he agrees that much with a pinch of a smile, "but she's just one spider too. But, it's not that much of a problem either! You a...used to battles kind of person? From an army?" he asks.

Since just from speaking to her this much, he's getting something of an inkling.

"I guess we probably count as a real army now." It's a strange thought after years of much looser missions and scattered cells. But she'd argued enough with Kanan about the subject. "We've only really been that organized in the past two years."

"The last two years? What," he's trying to think of what that means; if it's taken them two years to become an army, then, "is the place you're with new? Like a baby...town? City?"

There's bigger, better words there maybe, larger territories Tidus has heard about before, but he can't remember them right now.

"Not exactly." The base is new, but that's not really what he's asking and she knows it.

Guri said they were free of Imperial entanglements here. She's probably safe to say it. "We're a rebellion."

"Oh? Yeah?" That sparks an even easier look of interest to read on Tidus's face, mixed in with surprise. A rebellion? "What are you rebelling against?"

Sounds pretty interesting, if you ask him! Don't meet rebels every day.

"An Empire that only sees its world and its people as things it can use." He'd better be careful, if he gets her started she might not stop.

"They have us outnumbered, but we can't let them keep doing that."

A story about the smaller person beating up the bigger, awful people?

"Good on you guys! If there's a will, there's a way, right?" Tidus is absolutely here to back her and her rebellion's corner with that amount of info necessary. "You can't just give up 'cause there's a less of you. It can't be a bad cause if more people are backing your side."

Things can be tough, but you have to stick up for what you believe in. Tidus knows what it's like to go against the grain. ...kinda.

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

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