Mission: Fierce New World

[voidtreckermods]

On the morning of Day Six of the month of Jelly (ooc: 11th January) the train on everyone’s Safety Control Apparatus will shimmer in many colours, almost like the void itself. A moment later a holo-screen will pop up with the following information.

Destination: System #2207385. The overseers of a new biosphere shell in construction around the white star Crysohale IV have sent a distress signal.

Your task is to enter the biosphere, investigate the nature of the threat and bring the biosphere back under control. The living creatures and plants of the biosphere are protected under System #2207385’s laws, so great care is needed to avoid damaging the fledgling ecosystem.

Purple Team

Find the Great-Autumn and lend them aid. Travel through the habitation modules under construction, fixing any issues and dealing with any hostiles along the way.

Red Team

Find the Great-Summer and lend them aid. Travel through the manufacturing modules under construction, fixing any issues and dealing with any hostiles along the way.

Blue Team

Find the Great-Spring and lend them aid. Travel through the pastoral modules under construction, fixing any issues and dealing with any hostiles along the way.

Orange Team

Find the Great-Winter and lend them aid. Travel through the life support modules under construction, fixing any issues and dealing with any hostiles along the way.

Additional Information

The threat is still to be determined but considering the nature of the world, Voidtreckers are advised to be on their guard and look out for one another. Despite the unfinished condition of the biosphere, it is suitable for habitation; atmosphere and gravity are fully functional and within acceptable parameters.

All the information you will need for writing the mission is below. Remember that the only information characters know about IC before the mission is the blockquoted section above, though they may learn the rest through play.

Lay of the Land

The biosphere around Crysohale IV is essentially a dyson sphere - two concentric hollow spheres built around a star, forming a livable layer between the two. Gravity pulls towards the star, therefore ‘up’ is out into space and ‘down’ is towards the star on the interior of the sphere, although the star cannot be seen, as the panels and modules harvesting its energy take in all light before it reaches the habitable shell.

The sphere is divided into quarters, with divisions from pole to pole, and is huge, approximately the same circumference as the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The heart of each segment is the overseer structure, known as the Great-Spring (hydroponics and pastoral functions), the Great-Summer (manufacturing and power production), the Great-Autumn (habitation) and the Great-Winter (reservoirs, air filtration and cooling). The quarters are named similarly.

Ordinarily, the sphere would be perfectly livable at this stage of construction, if bare in large patches, but the threat in question is wreaking havoc on the subsystems governing the habitable spaces, taking sections offline or disrupting processes. The threats in each section are different, see below. The Voidtreckers’ SCAs will always warn them if they are about to enter such an area.

The sectors are very large and so it will take the first few days for them to move through and find the overseers that they are looking for. Their SCA’s show a map of the sector they are in and pinpoints roughly where they are aiming for.

Routes

Purple / Great-Autumn

The Autumn sector is the least complete of the sectors, with shells of habitation pods and not much else. No one is expected to live here until nearing the end of construction, and so the pods are unfurnished, many missing doors, some missing internal walls.

The pods open out into ‘streets’ that run through the sector, these are wide and sturdy. The streets are built on a grid pattern. However, they will find that these streets seem to shift, walls changing or the floors even disappearing, leading to dead ends and even trapping Voidtreckers in areas for periods of time until the structures shift again.

This sector is where they are most likely to find Helpmates (see Creatures). There are small panels in the wall where one can be summoned for conversation, though these also are liable to be malfunctioning.

Red / Great-Summer

The Summer sector is, appropriately, the warmest of the quarters. It houses the power plants and the manufacturing infrastructure, siphoning excess heat out of the upper shell. The plants and factories themselves are autonomous and sealed off, though some are still under construction and can be traversed. There are clusters of building pods every few sections for citizen use, which, while unfurnished, have basic plumbing and amenities within their office and workshop spaces. These are roughly a day’s walk apart.

Temperatures in the walkways and transport routes are normally reasonable, with cooling fully online from the Winter quarter. However, due to the disruptions, temperatures and power transmissions will flare wildly, rendering certain routes impassable with boiling heat, freezing cold or blasts of electricity crackling across a section. The buildings are safe from these problems.

Blue / Great-Spring

The Spring sector houses the hydroponics and pastoral sections. It alternates between grazing land and more heavily forested areas with rows of pine-like trees in a checkerboard pattern, with empty plots interspersed. Walkways divide each square, but all squares appear able to move about as required, as though on a conveyor system.

In the grazing land live flocks of camelid creatures resembling alpacas with blueish wool, on average a metre and a half tall at the shoulders. These are tended to by Helpmates who appear on a timed system to herd or direct the flocks. These may malfunction, trying to attack any people nearby and causing the animals to panic, risking trampled crops.

Orange / Great-Winter

The Winter sector’s primary concern is life support. Huge banks of air scrubbers form artificial cliffs, while other sections are tanks filled with water in varying stages of processing or recycling.

Here, as is the case in Summer, temperatures are likely to fluctuate, and this is causing issues with the pipes. Several sections are flooded to varying degrees. There are patch kits to be used by Helpmates but here almost all the Helpmates are malfunctioning, more likely to cause more damage to the machinery than fix it. A simple reboot at their panel can fix it. The patch kits do not have any instructions but are simple enough that anyone with a basic knowledge of how to fix things should be able to figure them out- though the more knowledge and expertise they have the better the fix!

Creatures

Helpmates

Throughout the biome there are hardlight holograms called ‘Helpmates’. In some sectors these appear to undertake routine maintenance tasks. There are also panels where they can be called to give assistance. They are not full AI but rather simple constructs for aiding the future citizens of this world.

Unfortunately many of them are malfunctioning. They wield no weapons but they will attack with hands or tools. The best way to defeat them is to find their panel and ‘reboot’ them. They can be fought normally and if dealt enough damage will ‘deactivate’.

Other Notes

At the first stage of the mission it is not possible to get into the technological systems of the world. There doesn’t seem to be any access points, computer terminals or ports. The closest they can find are the panels for the Helpmates. Hacking into these is difficult but possible for those with them know-how. Those that do so will be able to de-activate the ‘local’ helpmates.

Though it is a work-in-progress it may be worth looking here for ‘background’ mission preparation. Other initiatives are listed here and here is the list of community supplies that you can assume characters have access to.

Dates

This mission will run from the 11th to the 24th January. A post will go up on the 11th January (J6) and will cover the initial infiltration of the biosphere. An ongoing post will happen on the 17th January (J9) which will cover finding the Overseers. A final challenge for all teams on the 21st January (J11).

Rewards.

Taking part in a mission in any way will earn you five team points. You claim those by submitting a link during AC.

Also threads of 10 comments or more where mission goals are being worked towards will also earn you 10 team points. To claim those please fill in the form below and reply to the rewards header.

<b>Characters:</b> <b>Mission goal colour:</b> <b>Link:</b>

Please feel free to use this as a plotting post. Remember there is nothing forcing your character to do the task assigned to their group so if you wish to do a different one, feel free! If your character decides to not do any of the tasks at all that’s fine too, just let me know! Please reply under the colour you decide to go with once you decide for definite!

Have fun plotting!

Comments

Questions?

[voidtreckermods]

[10billionpercent]

If they look up into space, is there anything to see or is it just darkness? Also, are there any weather systems that would prevent a clear look at the sky?

Is there anything to be picked up on the void radio?

Is the train staying on the world with them or ditching them there to return after the mission?

Presuming in a stable area, if people did remove their SCA are there any effects to doing so; and does it matter who does it?
(Senku, Tidus, Gen, Inigo and maybe Roland)

[adregem]

Hello!

1. What do Helpmates look like? What do their panels look like?

2. Will the passengers receive an IC copy/IC notice of said System #2207385’s laws which protect the biosphere? If not, can they find it somewhere in the biosphere?

2a. Are the shells of the habitation pods, especially those that are incomplete, be harvestable? Related to #2, will this be against the System's protection laws, and if so, what are the punishments to expect for it?

3. Is there a day and night cycle in place already?

4. Who are the people located in the Great-Spring sphere? Do they look humanoid?

5. Is the Great-Autumn sphere expected to be deserted/empty since it's the least constructed?

6. How much actual habitation/sentient presence should be expected in this WIP civilization between 0% - 100% occupancy? (Helpmates aside)

7. Would also like to clarify that it would be near impossible to travel from sphere to sphere in a short amount of time without teleportation aid because of the breadth of distance among each pole, correct?

Thank you!

Re: Questions?

[only_one_wei]

In the Purple, when the walls cut us off, can those who fly go over them, or do they go all the way up?

And the patching kits are only available on the Orange Mission? The rest of us will mostly be disabling the Helpmates? If there are technically minded folk, can they fix them without the the patch kits? (Not that mine are going to be trying it!)

....and how pettable are those critters in the Blue mission? (asking to see how many times they'll need to drag team mates away ;)

[sciencegirl]

-So Entrapta's very first episode had her servant bots going amok. If she could solicit the help of some computer-savvy people, could they manage to fix some of the Winter Helpmates?

-How readily available will maps, construction guides, power grid layouts, etc. be or will that take some looking?

[lanxichen]

Out of curiosity, would energy bursts (such as spiritual energy music or talismans) affect / slow down Helpers? Would it damage them? (Since 'magic' + technology mix is always unpredictable.)

Re: Questions?

[unfavorableinstigation]

If anyone with appropriate abilities tries to communicate with the star, would they receive any answer (in the Speech or otherwise)?

(If the answer is anything along the lines of 'it's complicated', skipping this question is fine. |D)

[runsfast_rollsfar]

When you say temperature flares wildly from boiling to freezing I have to ask this because Prisoner's body is nonliving and only a puppet: is this hot/cold enough to cause structural damage to the actual body itself? As in: will tissue slough off from heat, will tissues freeze to the point that limbs will break off if he tries to move them, etc?

round 2!

[hisblueskies]

1. Judging from previous answers, is this world Void Active?

2. Will any attempts to 'listen' to the biosphere for energy patterns (not necessarily ways to hack it, mind) have success during this first part of the mission?

3. If a character elects to stay on the train, but can teleport, will they be able to catch up with those in-system before the mission's end, or are they stuck on board?

Re: Questions?

[unfavorableinstigation]

Some post-mission things:

1. Will characters be able to interact with the Overseers after being kicked out of the system, so as to figure out whatever the source of the corruption was?

(Can be psychic communication, or via computer - or both?)

2. If characters try to travel all the way to the 'South Pole' after the mission ends, and then evac, would they have anything interesting to report?

3. Has all the damage in the various sectors been repaired/reversed as of the end of the boss fight?

4. If characters poke the Helpmates one last time, can they find out if anyone's scheduled to visit the biodome any time soon? (Say, the System's local void ministry outpost...)

NPCs

[voidtreckermods]

If you want to interact with a Helpmate. Please comment here!

<b>Team:</b> The team of the mission you are doing <b>Link:</b> Link to the post/thread where you want them to turn up. <a href="LINK">Post</a>

[rieper]

Team: Red Team!
Link: I don't know what I'm doing but here it is.

[happyends]

Team: Blue
Link: Post

Re: NPCs

[unfavorableinstigation]

Team: Orange!
Link Nita and Conan, NPC would go next!

[firewalled]

Team: Orange, though everyone seems to have grouped up now
Link: Here!

Re: NPCs

[gentle_jim]

Team: Orange
Link: Post

Rewards!

[voidtreckermods]

Remember these must be threads where mission goals are being worked towards!

Re: Rewards!

[unfavorableinstigation]

Characters: Nita, Entrapta
Mission goal colour: Orange
Link: bip

Characters: Alfredo, Madoka (+NPC)
Mission goal colour: Blue
Link: bloop

Characters: Nita, Conan (+NPC)
Mission goal colour: Orange
Link: beep!

[blitzcheer]

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Xie Lian (lucklessgege)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Demyx (melodiouspacifist)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Della (sos_pilot)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Madoka (happyends)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Nita (unfavorableinstigations)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Cassie Cage (nutkrusher)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Raven (azrthmtrnznthos)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Inigo (flatteries)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Inigo (flatteries)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Taiki (longforgottenpromise)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

Characters: Tidus (blitzcheer) and Romeo (myblueskies)
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Link

[knifewithnoname]

Characters: Little One and Natsuno
Mission goal colour: Red
Link: Here

Characters: Little One and Tidus
Mission goal colour: Red and Purple
Link: Here

Characters: Little One and Otoha
Mission goal colour: Red
Link: Here

Re: Rewards!

[myblueskies]

Characters: Romeo and Yoite
Mission goal colour: Blue
Link: Here

Re: Rewards!

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Characters: Raven, Xie Lan
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link:
Raven to Xie Lan, mission
Characters: Raven, Cassie Cage
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link:
Raven to Cassie Cage, mission
Characters: Raven, Tidus
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link:
Raven to Tidus, mission
Characters: Raven, Della, Yuume
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link:
Raven top level on mission start.
Characters: Raven, Madoka, Kairi, Cassie Cage, Tidus, Ple Two
Mission goal colour: Purple, Blue
Link:
Raven top level on Ongoing

[longforgottenpromise]

Characters: Taiki and Xie Lian
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here

Characters: Taiki and Inigo
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here

Plotting

[voidtreckermods]

RED

[voidtreckermods]

BLACK AND WHITE

[kumoko]

Hoooooo this is a big world huh.

Okay so because they have relatively little information going in, the spider is going to be doing daily check-ins where she'll swap people around if any team/sector needs it. So if your character starts in one sector, they'll be able to hitch a teleport in the evenings to another sector.

More impromptu movements may happen if required, but in the interests of MP management she won't be careless with it.

Re: BLACK AND WHITE

[light_of_willpower]

Pending question of if super-speed flight is a reasonable option, Trunks can home in on Red Team and Blue Team and Purple Team via a familiar ki signature in each (Vegeta, Piccolo, and Cassie C. respectively) if he needs to find them. So unless it's an absolute emergency, Kumoko doesn't have to teleport him.