Crashing Down: Preparation

[voidtreckermods]

Voidtreckers. I have picked up a catastrophe mission coming from system #78961112094711. Voidtreckers have urged me to be open with you all these last months and so I shall be transparent. The readings coming from this catastrophe are very unusual and I cannot determine the threats. Indeed there do not seem to be any threats in the system that would result in a catastrophe level mission.

This has been encountered before, in the Month of Egret on system #27462947582. This voidcraft was unable to ascertain the threats that could lead to a catastrophe. Known risks were calculated and mission goals created, but the Voidtreckers were put in unnecessary danger from the world destroyers.

From the data available it is not unreasonable to believe that the catastrophe facing #78961112094711 comes from the world destroyers. We still have little information. We do not have any way to stop the destroyers. However we have advantages that Voidtreckers did not have in the month of Egret.

We know what is coming. System #78961112094711 is Void Active. Voidtreckers have allies there. Saving the system is not possible but with five hours it is possible that many many lives could be saved by evacuating them to the void.

This voidcraft is sending a forward message to the ministry stationed on System #78961112094711. Due to the nature of arriving at catastrophe missions they will receive it not long before we arrive. But it should mean they are ready for us. This voidcraft has calculated mission goals to help voidtreckers organise but it should be noted that the most important goal is to save as many lives as possible.

The announcement comes out of the blue on day twenty four of the month of Quicksand. Not too long after breakfast when people are getting on with chores or other morning activities.

It is followed quickly by a holographic message setting out their team goals. They do not have all that much time before arrival, an hour or so to be prepared for the huge task ahead of them. The dressing carriage is open with warm coats, hats and other team-coordinated winter accessories.

How to prepare for such a challenge? It's going to be a very difficult day.

[OOC: This is a bonus extra for those who want to play out the preparation and reaction to the forthcoming event. It is forward dated until day 24. The actual event will go up on the 16th April and a conclusion on the 23rd. Though IC the event will only last one day.]

Comments

Usagi Tsukino | Purple Team

[another_moon]

Getting the News

"World destroyers? What the heck are those? What's going on here?!" Usagi said, completely confused. She had been here for quite awhile and this was something she was not exactly told of. What did she miss here?

Getting prepared

So, apparently the world they're heading to is Osiga. That peaceful ice world. But, why? That didn't make sense at all. Do they just attack randomly?

Either way, Usagi was going to make her way to the dressing carriage. She's going to need warm clothing, especially since she's gonna need to go full Sailor Moon and that costume does not work in cold weather.

"There has to be a way to stop them, though."

getting prepared

[flatteries]

Inigo easily finds his way to the dressing carriage as well. After all, he does have some warm clothes of his own, but he remembers what the weather there was like the last time they visited. And back then they were mostly staying inside of the city and taking it easy, rather than having to move around all over the place..

So while he's there to make sure to grab some warm layers as well, he overhears the girl's question, turning his head to look in her direction.

".. What?" He blinks, trying to think for a moment about what she could mean.. "You mean those things the train calls the world destroyers?"

Getting the News

[redprayer]

"I would imagine the clue is in the name," Rezo says, frowning over his SCA. "But I would also like to know more details."

He has... a certain idea, but he doesn't know enough yet to be sure if these are the same as the beings described, however vaguely, in Missing Worlds, a book itself that had seemed very questionable when he'd read it.

getting prepared

[blitzcheer]

"We're not gonna find the answer in five hours."

Five hours. Tidus was headed to the dressing carriage too to grab a better coat, but there's also people he wants to look out for, hoping they'll end up this way. But, for the time being-

"Those things destroy the entire system! There's nothing left after they've been through."

Masumi Sera | Purple Team | OTA

[tactlesstantei]

1. Getting the Message

Crap, those guys?! [Masumi might not have been around for what happened the first time a mission involved the world destroyers, but she's been shown what they do. Back on the fake Diagad, Chaos showed her and several others what they did to the real Diagad.

And according to the message with the actual goals, it's Osiga. The world they'd gone to for a break a few months ago. Anan's system. This isn't going to be a fun mission.]

2. Prep

[Masumi gets her prep done, but based on what info was given about the mission, it might be wise for her to test her calming power before the train arrives, to make sure she's calm enough to use it. So she walks up to someone nearby, hoping to get permission first before using it.]

Hey, you mind if I test my calming power on you? I have to be calm to use it, and it'll only be once.

Getting the Message

[redprayer]

[Masumi's outburst may not have been directed at the tall man who is now looming over her, but as evidenced by, well, the tall man who is now looming over her, it has certainly caught Rezo's attention regardless.]

Do you recognize this threat?

Thomas Price | Blue Team

[thepriceforalife]

Getting the News

It's clear there is context Thomas is missing here, and he's yet to find if anyone writes up missions for later use. So he's going up to random Voidtreckers to ask "What do you know about these world destroyers?"

News

[wewillwewill]

Ask and you shall receive. Elidibus had been standing somewhere, musing over the recent announcement. His answer is frank enough as he focuses on Thomas.

"They are as described and much more. A force that appears as geometric shapes and devours all of the place they appear in. And it seems not simply a 'world' but the very reality that shapes it."

Welcome to the type of person that can say this like someone describes a very windy day.

[happyends]

It's not a surprise that there's someone going around asking about them, huh? Sure, the train referenced them so casually, but Madoka knows that there aren't a whole lot of people still around who were also on the train when they first encountered those things..

But she still frowns when she notices Thomas asking her that. Not because she's bothered by the question, but more just because thinking back on them just.. isn't nice.

"I mean.. I don't think most of us know a whole lot about them. Other than that they're really dangerous.. The train seems to be very scared of them, sir." And honestly? When Madoka saw them herself, she can't say she was very fond of that moment either.

[blitzcheer]

"Kind of in the name?" It's not sarcastic despite how it sounds, but a helpless 'what else?' in his tone. "No one knows anything about them 'cept they were behind what destroyed some places. Even the Ministry didn't know about them. They're something new."

Or, so he's guessing.

LO/Buttercup | OTA | Red Team

[knifewithnoname]

She's not surprised to hear the trains voice as she wakes. It happens every morning after all and she's not surprised for it to be longer than the usual morning greeting. After all she is expecting an announcement of a platform.

But the train isn't talking about a platform and it's still dark and...

Oh. She tried to sit up and hit lid. Hands pushed the suitcase open and she blinked into the luggage carriage. Stupid tether. Stupid train.

What's it saying? Five hours, evacuation to the void, ministry, save lives. Had she been gone so long it was a new month? Her SCA lit up and she began to read even as she made her way through the luggage carriage towards the door.

By the time she got to the dressing carriage she had read the goals. But she's still mostly confused.

"What do be going on?" She asked anyone close by. "I did no be hearing it all. What did the train be saying?"

[tactlesstantei]

Hey, Buttercup! [It's Masumi, rushing to get ready in a panic over having to actually deal with the world destroyers. She's happy to see Buttercup back, but now isn't the time for normal greetings.]

We got a new mission. Train thinks that the world destroyers are going to hit Osiga and we have to go save as many people as possible.

[irrationally]

Alice absolutely does not look great.

Somehow she seems even paler than usually - or maybe it's just the dark circles around her eyes being even darker than usually, making her skin look even whiter in contrast. And despite the fact that she feels miserable, she still dragged herself over to the dressing carriage all the same, perhaps out of a lack of not knowing what else to do under the current circumstances.

It's as she's sitting there that she notices the girl. .. Wait, she hadn't been around for a while, right? Alice hasn't noticed much during the past while, but it has been difficult to not notice the younger girl's disappearance when she was forced into sharing a room with the other.

Or so the names next to the door said, anyway. (As much as one can call that a 'name' for the other girl.) Not like Alice ever actually got to see the other there.

"Another mission," she simply answers.

Yes, this is a very helpful explanation, thanks.

[subcircuits]

"Buttercup!" Explanations later, scooping now. This is what you get for accepting Devero as a dad, kiddo: snatched up and squeezed (carefully) when he sees you for the first time after your name had gone gold.

Nozomi Yumehara | Purple Team

[cureofmanyworlds]

As the train is telling everyone what’s going on, you might hear something in the background. A thumping sound. Constant thumping.

In the kitchen, you can find Nozomi hitting her head against the wall. During the last mission, she felt so off with how easy it was. She knew something bad was going to happen.

But, this wasn’t the other shoe that dropped, this was the entire shoe rack.

“I knew it. I knew it!” Nozomi grumbled. “I knew that last mission was too easy.”

[invigorates]

It wasn't a long before Nozomi's forehead connected with something significantly softer as Lioriley's hand shot out between the young woman and the wall.

"Nozomi. Calm yourself."

[happyends]

With the sort of mission this is, Madoka doubts they're going to have much time on that world at all.

But still - she can't help but worry a little about whether or not they should bring food along, especially since no one expected another mission this month. It's why she ends up rushing to the kitchen after having grabbed some warm clothes already..

.. only to find the other girl there. And with the way Nozomi is bashing her head like that, Madoka can't help but gasp.

"H-Hey! Are you okay..? You shouldn't do that!"

Her concern mode is activated immediately. Of course it is. It's not every day that you find someone doing something like this, especially out in the open.

Rezo Greywords | Red Team | OTA

[redprayer]

Preparation and Information Gathering

Rezo has gotten dressed for the mission in a hurry: Over top of the usual voidtrecker hoodie-and-cargo-pants uniform he is wearing a long red coat, a purple hat, an orange scarf, and purple gloves.

Other than that, he’s not sure what kind of supplies he’ll need; it’s an evacuation, it doesn’t sound as if they’ll be fighting the world eaters, and he’ll probably be mostly using his magic if anyone gets injured or belligerent.

(Even if he needs to be more careful with his magic than he used to…)

At any rate, in between rereading his SCA message- others may notice the semi-tangible braille hologram- Rezo is going to ask other people he runs into what they know, or if they know anyone who does know. Thus:

“Do you know anyone who was here during Egret? Or anyone who is familiar with Osiga?”

[myblueskies]

Romeo had only just woken up. Not in his bed but in a suitcase. Everyone is preparing for a mission and it looks like it's going to be a very scary one. Those world eaters were bad! He just hoped they could really rescue as many people as possible and take them into the void.

He was looking for mister Zetta. Or anyone really, to see what he could do to help everyone get ready when he saw the man he had met on the last mission. The man who had been helping the goats.

"Oh I was here in Egret sir! And I went to Osiga too! That wasn't too long ago when we went there."

[subcircuits]

"Egret, no, Osiga, yes." Devero has raided Soldat's stockpile of mission food, filling a trunk with the packets of lembas and other stable, hardy food. That trunk is currently being carried by Claudette, the sparring bot, and he's circulating among the passengers, encouraging people to take at least one packet with them, not the evacuees if nothing else.

"What do you want to know?"

Senku Ishigami | Orange Team

[10billionpercent]

I. The first thing...

[ If anyone is sharing the same car as Senku, the first thing he does after the announcement is not scramble to get things gathered, he goes to the ICP, swipes his ticket and immediately types a question to the train. ]

II. Preparation

[ It's been awhile since they've had a catastrophe mission, and it's only five hours so he doesn't go for food preparation this time, but rather he heads to Medical to prepare a kit. Just in case. He won't take everything but they're dealing with evactuation here, and potential injuries in service of that.

Senku then heads to the dressing carriage, not to find a coat as he already has one or boots really, he's looking for a good sturdy pair of gloves with decent movement he can use. He tries them on, flexes his fingers a few times and might reject them. Just in case, he wants to be dextrous. ]

III. Wildcard

[ Maybe someone wants to pester him about the kinds of things he knows about catastrophes. Maybe they accidentally dump water on his hair. Who knows? Anything could happen. ]

i

[blitzcheer]

What?

[ That's not a 'What?' aimed at Senku, but Tidus trying to wrap his head around what he heard, to believe his own ears. How should they be preparing for this? How are they going to do this? Was this really happening?

His eyes land on Senku, and he walks up to him, somewhat still distracted, but- ]

How long did the train say we have?

Najaran | Looking for Leia but open to all

[najaran]

Najaran wouldn't have noticed the announcement, she often missed them because she payed so little attention, especially when doing chores. But Gremlin dragged her over to the nearest ICP to listen.

She dropped the laundry she'd been carrying as she listened. Grim. Her lips pressed. Determination filled her. She had to get ready, but not the way she usually did.

The laundry can wait. She called back all of her Cards except the Woodfolk. She put out the fire but otherwise abandoned everything she had been doing and went to her room. She quickly gathered what she needed, resorted her book, then went to look for Leia. Curufin was gone. And while she did have other friends on the train, Leia was the one who remained that she trusted most to ask what needed to be asked.

Because she wasn't going to go through this again. The train said they were to save as many lives as they could. She wasn't leaving so long as anyone who wanted to escape was unable to. She was going to do whatever it took to get as many of them out as possible.

She knew that meant she herself might be lost. so she had to prepare for if that happened. Knight and the others were with her. She knew that. She could feel their determination resonate with hers. Goligan wasn't complaining, which generally meant he agreed.

But she couldn't drag Woodfolk into this. And wouldn't. There was nothing they could do to help, bringing them would risk them to no purpose. She would have resummoned them to conserve her energy, but if she died, they'd be trapped in their Card form with no other Cepters to protect them. So she would have to deal with less power. But shirt of that, she was prepared to give her all. Even if it really was her all.

She just needed to know Leia would take care of Woodfolk if something happened to her, would protect them. But also... She had one thing that had to go back to Duo if he ever returned. She needed to ask Leia to see to that as well.

And then she would pack up food and other supplies and she would go. And she would see to it that everyone that could be saved, who wanted to be saved, would be saved. And part of her...

Part of her, despite being scared of the world destroyers was also hoping for a chance to fight them. If she could stop them, if they could stop them.... no more worlds would be destroyed by them. No one else would have to be evacuated leaving behind those they could not save. No more homes and lives would be destroyed.

She was grim and determined, jaw set, as she stalked the halls. She was looking for Leia, didn't think about all the other people who might see her and stop her. Many of whom knew her history with these things. Many of whom just knew her and knew that she rarely did grim and determined on the train...

[motherofresistance]

As it happened Leia was looking for Naja too, having heard the announcement, so she was fairly easy to find. Her own expression was grimly determined, going over the mission information. No matter how quick they were, no matter how many other craft and crews helped them, five hours wasn't enough time to completely evacuate a planet. Some of the people there were going to die with their world. And she suspected that everyone on board, including Naja, knew that. But they could save as a many as possible. And they would.

"I take it you heard?", Leia said, not bothering with pleasantries as she saw the young woman. "Did you also read up on the mission information provided?"

Devero || purple team || preparation

[subcircuits]

Five hours. Five hours to prepare for a large scale evacuation of a winter world-- and not a random winter world, oh no. Of course not. Osiga, that sits warm in his heart as the place Koumyou Sanzo agreed to marry him, as a world that felt more like home than anywhere else they've been since he was first picked up by the train.

He tries to remember back to his Guard training, and realizes quickly that very little of it applies here. He doesn't have access to the tech he needs to use Guard methods, and there will be too many people anyway, and the end goal of the evacuation too different. So how best to prepare? How to contribute? What can he do?

--Well. It occurs to him, as he's thinking about ARMS bands and equipment, that maybe he can prepare by helping others prepare.

So find him soon enough circulating through the train, trailed by the bipedal sparring bot from the training gym. Claudette has a trunk with the lid removed strapped to her back and it's heaped high with food parcels Soldat spent so much of their time on the train making. A peek inside will reveal lembas and meat or veg pies, granola bars and fig bars, and even some cookies.

(Vices, what he wouldn't give for Soldat to still be here for this-- Soldat and Yondu, steady folks both. Damn it.)

"Take one," he encourages anyone who passes, passing out parcels. "For you, or to pass on to evacuees. It'll keep you moving while we're doing this. Make sure you've got water too, yeah? You ready for this?"

[blue_ice]

Seto is already bundled up in a winter coat with a variety of gizmos and whatsits tied around him. Someone's clearly going to be a little busy...but the layers are so thick that he's squeezing through the halls with somewhat more difficulty than usual.

As he pushes through, he comes across Devero with the rations. He stops, thinking about how much to take...how long will these things keep? Another question to ask, but first he gives the man a serious look.

"Mm. People are less rational when they're hungry...we need to keep people feeling safe enough to evacuate. But five hours isn't much time."

Preparing for the Worst

[notquitedracula]

Rude Awakening
This was Soma's first time hearing the train give anything other than its regular announcements, and it was more than a little disconcerting. Having just finished washing dishes - he knew it was purest folly to trust himself with preparing meals for others, but he wanted to do his part regardless - he's half soaked with sudsy water. Cursing silently, he tosses his apron into the linen bin and heads for the nearest terminal - doubtless he's not the only one doing so. If he's going to help, he needs to know what this place they're heading to is like, first and foremost... and he needs information about those 'world destroyers'. Do feel free to enlighten the FNG to the dangers posed by these things, will ya?

Gathering Materials
It doesn't take a person long to get from one place to another when they can both move at incredible speeds and stop time for short durations. Those with the ability to resist such effects will still see little but a blur of purple and white rushing by as he makes his way to the luggage car.

The more perceptive might just hear the Doppler effect applied to a litany of curses as he passes.

Being familiar with magic, he was well versed in the concept of reality bending. Edging around the rules of causality, physics, geometry, and other such constructs was kind of the bread and butter of your average magic user, at least where he came from. Reality destruction on the other hand? That... that was the purview of gods, and godlike beings. Breaking the absolute bedrock rule, that energy can neither be created nor destroyed? That wasn't something he'd ever encountered personally before. And frankly, it scared him.

He's less concerned with clothing than he is with finding materials. Even the smallest scraps of crystal - not that there are many, if any at all, to be found - could prove useful, and once he's through here he's going to be heading to wherever they keep the healing supplies. Every erg of energy he can wring out, he's going to put to use. Lives are at stake.

Anyone paying attention can probably tell he's panicking...

rude awakening

[flatteries]

.. well.

It's not too much of a surprise to be joined by someone else, sure, but it's a little more of a surprise when he realises that the guy standing next to him is.. a little soggy, somehow?

It makes Inigo glance up from the information, and instead over at Soma. He blinks in surprise, and then speaks up with:

"Is.. everything alright?"

Look, given the sudden mission and this mission information, there are a lot of reasons as to why Soma wouldn't be alright right now. But still, Inigo can't help but ask.