A New Platform [Intro Post January]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

After a very quiet latter half of the month of Catfish the calendar clicks over. Passengers wake up in their beds as usual to the passenger announcement. "Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of domino.".

Those that have been on board a while know that new months usually come with new people and so the message a few hours later will not be a surprise. "Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void imminent." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform.

It will come as a relief that no one leaves this time, no one with packed bags to walk silently towards the barriers.

Added to that the platform itself holds more people then it ever has before. Twenty one figures, all the colours are represented. The ground is icy and their breath pools in white clouds around them.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see if steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles 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 but then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large and it holds twenty one figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. The air is cold, the ground icy beneath your feet. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is 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 into the cold step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. They are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is 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 not be a good thing also it’s very cold out on the platform. The train is warmer.

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. The store rooms have been restocked and it seems that water chestnuts are the month of Domino’s ingredient of choice! Any of orange team who who go to check the luggage cart will find a parcel containing gingerbread snowflakes, decorated with icing. One for each of the orange team, including new members, come share in the reward!

New passengers will find their tickets allow 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 and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view 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."

Hopefully someone warns you that you really want to heed that warning because a moment later there is 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. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to voidspace!

Comments

[enthunder]

[ She nods, obviously not knowing who Wen Ning is, but not wanting to gainsay what is probably an attempt to psyche himself back up. ]

If he's anything like your dad, he'll be fine. [ She turns fully to face him, because at this point it would be rude for her not to introduce herself. ] Right, I'm Lightning.

Platform

[knifewithnoname]

She's not in the best mood. She had felt weird ever since the train had stopped at the platform. Not only was it stupid cold but she felt very much like she did when the inspectors had been on the platform. She had seen a figure in a suit like the inspector but he was also wearing a blue hoodie and so he was one of them. She wasn't sure if he was the reason she felt like this but if he was that was stupid.

She was still a bit sullen from her altercation with the girl on the platform too and so she is silent when she approaches Peter, frowning when she saw him stumble.

"What do be being wrong?"

He doesn't look great.

[heavybreathing]

Barely five years after the formation of the Empire, then. His breath hisses out, and his aura curls, darkly amused. So. It would seem that if this is no simulation or vision, it is at least governed by a power that has no concept of time.

It also means that the boy has had no time to overcome his fear, which is an edge he didn't need, but appreciates regardless. He releases BD-1 absently.

"You are missing eighteen years, young one."

[lansizhui]

{Wen Ning is a "Fierce Corpse", so killing him again seems a bit out of the question. But still Sizhui worries. His uncle - who is not really his uncle - has a kind nature.}

... {The two men are very different, but what she says isn't incorrect. They are both strong and they don't need him for protection.} Lightning.

{Circling his arms before him, he gives her a full bow.}

I am Lan Sizhui.

The Train

[faithfulson]

Luke hears the voice as he's working to make sure purples are getting to where they need to go, his thoughts distracted. He was still dwelling on before, when they first arrived, and he doesn't think anything of how the voice sounds vaguely familiar.

"Yes," he calls back, "just down this hall an--"

He cut himself off as he looked in her direction, his eyes slowly going wide in shock. This was... she was...

Luke swallowed hard, glancing back a moment to make sure the last person he was helping was getting to where they needed to go all right, before turning his attention back to her. This train, this void; it was clearly out to destroy him emotionally this stop, and that was made all the clear by his mother standing there, alive and well, and looking... almost like she was his age? Maybe a little older? He couldn't tell; his head was spinning too much from just the sight of her alive.

"U-um... y-you're... Senator Amidala, right?" he managed to get out in a hushed voice, almost afraid that she would say no, and the sight of her would just be an illusion.

[knifewithnoname]

She is currently going around the rooms, taking note of the new names. There are a lot this time and she is determined to learn them all. She sees the open door and pauses at the unfamiliar face.

"He do probably no be being here. It do only be bringing some people and no others."

She knows uncle. Uncle is a relative. Peter had had an uncle and he had died. So she doesn't have to wonder who this man is wondering about, one of his family.

[justbecawsican]

"No. And I'm pretty sure I would've remembered." Or been told, maybe, if he'd had to take a business trip for Knight Industries. Which had definitely not been the case.

"Don't suppose you know what's going on here either, by your question." Bran grimaced at that. "Though I thought I heard someone say they had instructional leaflets around here." Though there were a lot of people milling around on the platform, and where said individual might be? That wasn't obvious.

[themasterthief]

Another brief hesitation but Garrett leaned forward and snatched the paper from her at the last minute, not moving from his position despite the bit of space still between them. He liked that space right where it was. He took a glance at the paper and noted the headline, decided it was worth a read when he had the chance, and stuffed it into a pocket for later. He nodded in thanks to her.

"I think arachne usually look more like spiders than I currently do," he responded a little absently. It wasn't his fondest memory--what part of Ryslig was really fond, to be fair--but he hadn't always been a humanoid arachne. His first transformation was much more full on body of a scorpion than his current look. That was another story though and not one he wished to go over just yet. Another time perhaps. "What's... 'san'? You keep saying it...after names?" He thought 'Ede-san' was a name? The other spider's name, but maybe it was a title. He didn't recognize the word.

[lansizhui]

Her phrasing confuses him at first, but her sweet face gets a smile. Leaving his rucksack, he walks towards her and crouches down.

"Then I'll have to go on without him." he gives her a comforting smile, "I just didn't want to leave him behind on purpose."

He knows Wen Ning will worry and it breaks his heart that he is doing that to his newly found kin and friend.

[usernamesarecool]

For as observant as the Doctor is, he can also be very oblivious. As such he's so preoccupied with taking stock as it were-he's grabbed hold of the rucksack and is pulling everything out to see what's in it.

"Well who else would it be?" He asks as he pulls out a pair of pajamas, they look familiar. Aren't they those jimjams he wore on Christmas? How'd they get here? Is there a satsuma in the pockets? He tosses them aside and digs in further. "Ah! There you are!" He pulls his screw driver out and turns to face Clara.

The smile on his face falters and melts slowly into a frown as he notes the watery state of her eyes.

"Clara." He says her name again, moving over to scoop her into a hug. She needs a hug, right? "Everything's alright. What's wrong?"

[deductionrival]

Hattori had heard the warning and sat down. He glanced around the standard carriage for the new people and just so happened to look at Bran when they were jerked into the Void. He could hear the reaction, but the bright light kept him from seeing the man for a few moments.

"Hey, you okay? I promise, it's only rough the first one or two times before you get better prepared for that. You're safe though."

[heavybreathing]

And there it was. He felt the presence recoil for the first time, felt uncertainty replace brighter emotions. It had been a long shot, he supposed; he never particularly cared for deception on a personal scale. Now he had had the time to inspect the mind brushing his, it seemed that there was far more to the vision than a simple mockery. The influence of the Dark Side - it felt as though it had been interwoven with his son's brighter presence for years, like a trellis and vine. If this wasn't real, and he was starting to doubt that... What would this even test, to present him with a son who did not fear him? Barely halfway across the platform, Padmé's softer presence was flickering with a familiar courage as she spoke with another, and he drew his awareness back in abruptly. What would seeing her again outside of his dreams accomplish?

Only the Emperor would know even half of the information necessary to construct something like this, but that was unthinkable; if he was caught in one of his Master's tests at this late juncture, it was already too late. No outcome of a test such as this would be pleasing to the Emperor, and they both pretended not to know it. It could have been something he had fallen into with no outside help, but even then- he glanced up at the train, at the milling strangers, and dismissed that notion.

It was no strain at all to call the saber on his son's belt into his empty hand - his saber, last seen plunging into a maintenance shaft months ago - and with that guarantee, his own deactivated with a flicker of the Force. He held up the hilt to confirm that it was indeed Anakin Skywalker's saber. Well-cared for, too.

"What is this place?" He asked rather than respond, as he paused halfway through the motion to clip both sabers to his belt, only to be stymied by the ridiculous overclothes he was wearing.

[hashtagparkerluck]

"Yeah, probably should." He agrees, dreading the idea of Iron Man vs Darth Vader. Dreading or would pay money to see, he's a little undecided. He sniffles again and looks back at the train. Hot tea sounds better than it normally does-as does a nice long nap.

"No, I'll get tea later. I Wanna see who all is here." Cough. "'Cause I mean... like... Aunt May turned up so like... I don't know. Maybe someone else I know will?" He's not saying word for word, but he means his Uncle. What if Uncle Ben turned up?

Train

[themasterthief]

"What did you expect?"

The voice came from an unexpected place if one tended to expect a voice to come from around human height measurements. This one was almost directly above the man with the glowing stick. Because above the man was an arachnid-humanoid clinging to the ceiling as if it were no big deal. He honestly liked it better up there especially when other people were around. Gave him a bit of space. Well, usually. Some of the taller people became a bit of trouble getting around.

What the thief really wanted to ask was what that glowing stick was. The glowing part was what concerned him. It was almost the same color as his eye--the one that had absorbed a portion of Primal energy and given him extra feats. He could tell that he'd gotten that connection back to the Primal now that he was away from Ryslig, something he hadn't realized until he'd settled down a bit and entered the train to explore his new settings. It was strange to him to have both the arachne abilities and the Primal from back home. He'd always been stripped of one or the other depending on where he was. If this man was the reason why Garrett felt that Primal energy again... well.

The point was Garrett didn't trust the Primal energy and he certainly didn't trust anyone trying to use it. That never ended well.

[luckybucky]

The only reason Princess's jump doesn't startle him is Bucky's prior experience with cats. He blinks down at the creature's face, huffing out a laugh and sliding his hand down its back several times.

He's relieved when Eva shows up, flashing her an awkward smile as he carefully tucks his metal hand out of sight. "Depends on who else finds me out here," he admits. "What is he?" he asks, turning his attention back to the Pokemon in his lap. "He acts like a cat, but I've never seen one like this. Not even when I was near Pripyat," which was honestly the most likely place in the world to find a weird cat with wings.

[enthunder]

[ She gets it, she worries about her family every day. Her expression twists in sympathy, but smooths out again for his introduction.

Her own bow is more of a motion of her upper body, but after meeting Lan Wangji she was expecting something like it and at least doesn't hesitate this time. ]

Nice to meet you. Wish it was in circumstances we'd chosen for ourselves, but we'll just have to make the most of it.

[flatteries]

Considering that was about the last reply he'd imagine to get at that statement, he just stares blankly at the man for a moment. His mouth even near-comically opens and closes a few times like a goldfish until he manages to find his words once more.

"Well.. Yes, I am aware of that. But I thought you were going to try and use that-- whatever it is to try and open the wall."

Arrival

[tinkerheart]

Fëanor, true to his promise, got out onto the platform this time. He even took some of the informational leaflets noticing as he did that they will need a better way of producing them soon. At least other than copying by hand. He has forgone the dreaded train uniform in favour of his new robes, courtesy of Arma.

It takes a royalty to recognize royalty. Or at least a former royalty. So when a woman, one of the new arrivals, asks him a question he bows out of habit.

"None of us do, lady. Please, takes this. It's little but it's everything we, who are here longer, were able to gather."

He gives her the leaflet. It's not much but already more than he got in the beginning.

"I am Fëanor. May I ask for your name, lady?"

Re: Platform

[hashtagparkerluck]

Man that sure was some vertigo. Weird. He shakes his head a little to try and reorient himself but that was a huge mistake. Buttercup's sudden voice causes him to jump and spin around to face her. He might have heard her heart beat or sensed her coming but the presence of the actual Darth Vader is kind of taking priority. Plus the headache and coughing and stuff.

"Uh.. nothing, just... dizzy." He coughs, being sure to cover his mouth when he does so. He might be sick-which he's not-but even then he notices her mood's a little different than normal.

"You okay, Buttercup?" He sniffles.

01C

[deductionrival]

[Hattori was just that person who was wandering by when he overheard someone struggling to pronounce a word. Leave it to Mr. Know-It-All to stop to help. If Naruto is familiar with Japanese dialect at all, he'd notice an accent (and to be frank, it's a little 'country').]

Fire Extinguisher. It's an emergency device in case of a fire. It's that thing over on the wall there.

[He points in the direction near the entrance of the carriage where a red canister is hanging on the wall. The other fellow looked pretty lost so with a resigned sigh, he gave up on his trek back to his room and moves closer.]

I'm Hattori Heiji.

[lansizhui]

{Their traditional bow is...a lot. He certainly doesn't expect a foreigner to copy him. The fact she tries - or returns the intended meaning, at least - makes him smile wider.}

We can't help any of that. I have...things from home. Useful ones. I wasn't sure what was in my rucksack.

{He moves back to it and pulls out a sword.}

[kumoko]

That was exactly what she's supposed to be, she would have said. She probably doesn't help the growing image in Peter's mind by subsequently pulling out her prize biscuits in their smart orange box and stuffing one in her own mouth, but the smell of the soup had made her hungry and she can't help it.

Or, she can, but she doesn't want to.

departure

[flatteries]

Inigo is used to the departures by now, despite never having seen a train before this one in his life. It's just what happens when you do it often enough. Someone talking to him during the departure happens less often though, and it almost seems as if he's snapped out of his thoughts when he hears her speak.

He glances over to Padmé, and while she may not necessarily be speaking to him, he is the closest nearby in earshot. So speaking back up to her is the polite thing to do, right?

"Truly? Are you saying no one has offered a lady as lovely as you a ride before?"

.. Maybe that was a little bit more the smarmy than necessarily the polite thing to do..

[usernamesarecool]

The Doctor makes a face of concern and then looks back at his screwdriver, to the wall, and to Inigo again. "With a screw driver?" It wasn't as if he'd never opened a door that looked like a wall with the screwdriver before but that's besides the point and also it was still a door.

"I might could do if it wasn't a wall-but therein lies the problem. It is a wall and I want to know what's on the other side of it.

[faithfulson]

Luke's mouth opened in protest as his lightsaber went flying off his belt, though he didn't say anything, instead clicking his mouth shut and giving his father some approximation of a pout. What did he think he was going to do with it? Attack him? He was his father; he would never, unless they were training. Still, the act of him attempting to navigate around his ridiculous clothes (the train uniform was really unbelievable on him in the worst ways), the faint twitch of a smile almost appearing on his face.

Instead of commenting on it, he discreetly reached out to the Force, helping him tuck the hoodie in a way that would make it easier to get to his belt. He shifted as he did so, hiding the action from immediate view of the others as trained habit took over, and he settled into a loose parade rest before the Dark Lord.

"This is the void, my lord," he began, like this was just a briefing before any other mission. "We've been pulled from our worlds by an unknown force. We don't know yet who is responsible, or who is controlling the train, only that we need to ride on it, travelling to whatever world the conductor decides to take us to. These are typically worlds that need help, in some fashion, and these events usually happen every calendar month."

Luke paused a moment, a worried look crossing his face as he glanced at the mess his father made of his sack, but he didn't comment on it directly.

"You should have a ticket, my lord," he said. "It will be important for you to hold onto; it's what gets you into your quarters on the train, among other things."