natha: (Default)
ɴᴀᴛʜᴀ orbiters ❰ mod collective ❱ ([personal profile] natha) wrote in [community profile] elnyan2018-01-26 12:27 pm
Entry tags:

❪ test drive #4 ❫

YOUR STORY BEGINS    

The Storm came. You only remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that.

All you know, perhaps, is that it was cold. You don't know for how long you slept, but the dreams were short, at least. You remember the expanse of stars and the universe that came in view. Every world and solar system ever known was displayed in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You have also witnessed The Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. It was a dark, thick smog — ominous in appearance and ever foreboding.

Your Earth and similar planets were immersed in The Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of it. That was when she told you what happened, and how you could help. You knew that you'd be living somewhere new, even though you never asked for it. The details here weren't clear, but you knew you'd made a deal with Darma.

Not long after, you'll wake at Thesa Station — your body is still cold.

It all felt like a dream, but somehow, you knew it wasn't — now, will you keep that promise you made to Darma?
PROMPT: THE STORM    

CW: death
You were awake on Thesa Station. But at some point you, like many other new arrivals before you, wandered into the Observation Deck. Ordinarily, this is where images of The Storm are replayed to remind Refugees of the fate they have escaped.

The Natha Orbiters' technology has evolved. They are aware of your gaps in memory. You may have doubts of The Storm even existing, or of your world's destruction. Though they do not wish reliving those last moments on anyone, they have created an experience that will do just that. Before entering the Observation Deck, you are warned that what follows will not be for the weak of heart. As soon as you step in, you will find that the walls around you begin to transform and expand.

Welcome to the Planet Cespi, in the Circinus Galaxy. Unfortunately, we were not able to save this world from The Storm's Consumption. These are its last memories.

You are surrounded by blue, grassy hills as far as the eye can see and a pleasant breeze. The atmosphere is thick with a sickly sweet smell. Before you lays the scene of a quiet village, with its residents going about their everyday lives. You aren't alone, either, with an equally confused stranger (or perhaps you know each other?) surveying the scene.

Then the world grows completely silent for a full minute. You and your partner are unable to make a sound, verbal or otherwise. Without warning, a deafening roar fills your ears and forces you to double over in pain. The villagers run out of their homes in a panic, finding themselves in just as much pain and confusion as you do. Where there was no sound before, now there is too much for a normal human body to process.

Look up. An expanding mass of energy is swallowing everything you can see. It consumes the earth, the atmosphere, the depths of space — and it is getting closer.

Your only hope is to outrun it, if you can. The people in the village certainly try to, racing past you. Their fear is very real. Their bodies are very real. You may be able to run from it for a time, only able to catch glimpses of this dark and sinister force swallowing everything and everyone. The earth rumbles and separates beneath you. Electricity surges through the sky, and then through your very body.

You fought hard, but it is impossible to outrun the Storm forever. You too will be consumed. Your death is quick, but not painless. What were you thinking, before you took your last breath?

You awaken back in the Observation Deck, next to your new friend.
PROMPT: TRAINING MODULES    

While it’s all nice and well to familiarize oneself with Thesa Station, it is most advised that new arrivals venture out a bit. Not physically. No one is quite prepared for that yet. However, there will be several virtual reality training programs set for those who dare to be adventurous. For those who aren’t and don’t dare, well — good luck, all the same. Once seated and appropriately strapped in, the system will automatically whir to life.

1. When you enter the Natha's newest program, at first nothing loads. You might think this is an error as you look around in apparent total darkness, only able to see your own virtual body if you look down, but soon enough a voice comes to life as if speakers have turned on somewhere.

Long ago, the lands of El Nysa were dominated by the ancestors of the dragons who now live among the people, tamed. It was pretty dangerous! How about a little history lesson?
And then the simulation comes to life—

a. The lush lands that blossom to life around you all at once are real enough to make you forget you're in a simulation — at least for a moment. Those refugees who have been to the planet in reality before will find themselves in territory as unfamiliar as those who are brand new, as this simulation takes place far back in history. Instead of sprawling cities and civilizations, the most you'll find is scattered villages, many of them no more than nomadic campsites at best. You've been outfitted to blend in with the natives and these simulated people won't react to you as a newcomer, but as a member of their village. Are you a doctor, or perhaps a warrior? Maybe you're even in charge! But they want your help, and they want it quickly: a dragon is coming.

The dragon is larger than the mount-sized breeds that exist on El Nysa today — much larger. It's a good six stories in height, bestial, and angry. Maybe it's then that you notice the lands that surround you are littered with scars of scorched earth, some of them several yards across, and there's a reason these people don't live in one place for very long. But don't linger too long on the makeshift grave markers sticking out of the burnt countryside — the dragon is coming.



b. If you're looking for something a little less violent, perhaps another area of the historic simulation will be up your alley. This one finds you on a cliffside, waiting among other villagers for an event the people are talking about in hushed whispers, some of which you can identify as prayer. When the white dragon raises its head up from the depths of the ravine, towering impossibly high over you and the others on the cliffside, it's no wonder most of the natives fall to their knees in awe and wonder. This dragon doesn't attack, only looks at the people on land with an ancient and strange wisdom.

Then it speaks. Not in words, but the low rumbling sound that starts in its throat and becomes a full trumpeting bellow to the sky seems to have meaning, and somehow, you can understand its cry as it entreats the people to praise and worship. The natives around you are already starting to give offerings with their prayers, food and carvings and — blood? Is that someone's arm being offered up?

That's different.



2. Let us now travel forward in time, shall we?

a. The Olympian settlement around you is quiet — until the screaming starts.

Guerilla fighters from Wyver flood the streets, knocking civilians aside and breaking down doors and windows when they find their way barred. They move methodically, advancing toward the nicer parts of town where the politicians reside and leaving terror in their wake.

They're here for the politicians, people say. They're here to punish the people who made the decision to advance into Wyver in the first place. Blood for blood, as the saying goes. Where they'll be taking them once they have them is anyone's guess. A soldier emerges from a building, dragging someone in elegant clothing out by the hair. Looks like they've found one.

Will you rescue them? Make a run for it yourself, lest you be mistaken for one of their targets? Or maybe they've already caught you and some other unfortunate Refugee who's been dropped into this simulation, and the two of you need to figure out a way to escape.

b. CW: branding
You find yourself in the midst of a bustling crowd gathered at the Temple of Thesa. Robed acolytes stoke fires on either side of the altar at the front of the temple, where miserable-looking people who seem to be from a village in Wyver await, bound in ropes.

The priest, at the front of the crowd, picks up a metal brand from the altar and gestures for another acolyte to bring a prisoner forward. The crowd watches with interest as the prisoner is forced to kneel in front of the altar, their arm laid out flat on the marble surface.

Another cry — "For the glory of Olympia!" — and the crest of the city is burned into the prisoner's arm.

The crowd cheers, deafening the cries of pain. The priest ushers forward another prisoner, and then another. Is that a familiar face you see in the lineup, thrust into this bit of history by the simulation's whims? You have to do something. Or are you unlucky enough to find yourself bound? ...Well, hopefully someone else in the crowd has more scruples than this priest.
3. And now, the present.



After all those enlightening scenes, the simulation finally brings you to a more quiet area of Olympia. You are deposited out somewhere in The Outlook, a place the very first group of refugees had to trudge through before they found their homes. You've arrived in the early evening — but sunlight is waning, and soon you'll be under a sky full of stars. Luckily, their old campsites aren't too overgrown.

The intention here is to get you familiar with some of the local flora and fauna. What sorts of plants will you encounter? Do you find yourself under a Verillum Tree, suddenly compelled to be painfully honest and truthful in conversation with a complete stranger? Find yourself behaving erratically in the presence of Whistleweed? Or perhaps you'll have to break the spell of being trapped in a Vena Amoris' vines... with a kiss.

PROMPT: STASIS UNIT    

You have found the massive section of Thesa known as the Stasis Unit. There’s no special access required to enter this part of Thesa Station, but refugees are warned that it may not be for the faint of heart. Here, in large pods that nearly cover every square inch of the space, are all of the people the Orbiters have managed to rescue. Your loved ones, your greatest enemy, your next door neighbor — you might find them here. These people are in a state of deep cryosleep. Due to the damaging effects of The Storm, their bodies are not yet ready to be awoken.

PROMPT: OMAGE    
Upon receiving your mobile phone, you will be asked to set a username. Voila, you can now access the network! You can choose to send a message to the entire network, specific usernames, or you can try out the Orbiters’ service, Omage, which connects you to a random user. They thought this might be a good way for their new guests to make friends with each other...
Connecting to server...
Looking for someone you can chat with...
You’re now chatting with [username]... Say hi!


PROMPT: WILDCARD    
You are welcome to write any scenarios in Thesa Station! Characters have been granted temporary access to the Observation Room, and are encouraged to study it carefully.

FINAL OOC NOTE    
These threads may be carried over as game canon if players choose! Players are encouraged to submit TDM threads as application samples, but they are not required. Please direct any OOC questions to the questions thread below! An AC-length thread may be submitted for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS after acceptance here. Please submit by February 18th.

We will no longer be providing overflow posts. In an event where the post hits CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals or create their own catch-all post. These threads remain eligible for REP.

There will be an application cap of 60, and no reserves. Please read here for more information.

beknight: ([ jl ] 177.)

[personal profile] beknight 2018-02-01 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bland, but in a way that suggests he's unimpressed (or immune), ]

Oh, I see that already.
pebblestone: official art (fe:a) (pic#11550778)

2/2

[personal profile] pebblestone 2018-02-01 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ —is all he manages to get out before his brain catches up to his eyes and nearly explodes.

That sure is a very naked lady not that far in front of him. A very, very naked lady. ]


I—that is—please forgive me!

[ AND HE IMMEDIATELY TURNS BACK AROUND AND SQUEEZES HIS EYES SHUT. Goodbye cruel world, he's going to go die now. ]
braidedwonder: (There is no road there is no place)

[personal profile] braidedwonder 2018-02-01 02:35 am (UTC)(link)

[ He tried to save a girl once, shot a guy for her too... still ended up the bad guy. There's a bit of a non-committal noise before he gives a careless flicking motion, the blade easily sliding out and locking in to place. He's done this a few times, probably, by the way he flips that shiny, sharp blade over and starts cutting away at the rope. It starts slipping away near immediately, the blade sharp enough to make fast progress. ]


S'not like I know you from anyone else here at all, you know.

[ Pause, then - ]

It's a sim, anyways. Chill out.
oldser: (pic#11637948)

[personal profile] oldser 2018-02-01 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ He bows his head. Would that he could simply take what troubles her and carry it himself. An old man's shoulders have learnt worse weights. ]

Yesterday, Your Grace. I searched amongst the sleepers for you, and now I find you here, in this strange realm.
dontgiveabuckland: (The times they're gonna love you)

[personal profile] dontgiveabuckland 2018-02-01 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
[It's ok. Just be glad Cam didn't include the last name, which Cam is still unsure of it's correct pronunciation.]

Yeah, she's a friend.

[He cuts off the explanation short because the TV is fading to black again (what's with all of these darkness spells?) When the spell fades, there's a close up of peachy skin, then a woman's face. Not Bernadette. This woman is way more attractive, her lips painted red and most of her clothes are missing. She is sitting on top of a giant perfume bottle. Pushing the plunger down, the spray from the bottle hits another woman, who is also not wearing many clothes, and the liquid drips from the woman's face.

Cam has no idea what's going on, but this is great.
]
prettier: (079)

[personal profile] prettier 2018-02-01 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
And you're telling me stories from the war. It's like sexting the History Channel.

It's interesting, though. I mean, not the war stuff, obviously. Just the way you deal with being pissed off is telling me you know I'm trying to piss you off. Like that means it hasn't worked.
alibabas: (pic#11453395)

idk she probably makes bank off of hacking, so i don't see why she wouldn't

[personal profile] alibabas 2018-02-01 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ann's attempt at comforting Futaba was. A genuine attempt.

But what she says only makes her feel Even Worse. She slips her phone back into her pocket, now that it's officially useless ( when's the last time she called her phone useless?? This is the worst ). Takes a moment to mourn the loss of her favorite units, who carried all her teams to victory.

And all her other units, raised all the way from level one. Rest in peace, her soldiers.

... Once she's finally made her peace, she nods. Miserably. They're not going to get anywhere at this rate. ]
exaomori: (🐍 21)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-02-01 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
[For a moment, Shura debates whether or not to give her name. One bad encounter with a dumb fox was enough to make her cautious, but this one didn't seem too obviously nutty.]

it's shura
larsenist: personal commission / dnt (pic#12040563)

[personal profile] larsenist 2018-02-01 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ No need to tell him twice. He casts one last, searching stare through the settlement, listening carefully for any muted cries for help, before finally evacuating himself. (He's ready to put as much distance between them and the dragon as they can. ...Even if he knows it's only a simulation, it doesn't feel like one. The air is thick with ash and smoke, practically sour with fear, and the quiet sobs of the little one in their care sound all too real.)

They travel mostly in hurried silence, other than the few placating noises they attempt to offer the child, before he finally asks, ]


How long have you been here...?

[ (Awake, he means.) ]
inacan: (004)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-02-01 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Tony chuckles. ]

To be fair, I don't want anything from you at the moment. But it was a pleasure to meet you, Alan. Call me sometime, we can compare dragons.

[ Because Tony has worked in teams often enough to know when someone is comfortable in a combat situation. Especially a weird one. ]
pebblestone: garbagebird@tumblr (Default)

[personal profile] pebblestone 2018-02-01 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Cam please.

Frederick has no time to wonder more than a single though - perhaps a close lady friend? - before his attention's sucked back to the box before them, and the scene slowly coming into view.

A very scandalous scene, enough to turn his eartips bright red and his face a mottled tomato, and it's not long before he's carefully turning his face to the side and clearing his throat awfully loudly. ]


Are you sure we ought to be watching this?

[ When will the disappearance spell strike again, please let it be soon... ]
inacan: (003)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-02-01 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
you're giving me way too much credit
i'm not nearly so subtle when i'm actually pissed off
you were more interesting when you were trying harder
but nice chatting with you
adisaster: (pic#6437774)

[personal profile] adisaster 2018-02-01 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
i assure you this is no tantrum.
adisaster: (pic#6437775)

[personal profile] adisaster 2018-02-01 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
[ there's no type for a few seconds but after a moment an image does upload to the chat

it's Gilgamesh, staring at the camera with a rather thoughtful expression, like he still hasn't quite figured this out.
]

WILL THAT SUFFICE
tricksune: (o21)

[personal profile] tricksune 2018-02-01 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
That isn't...

[ They're more or less figments of their imagination. The pain they'll feel if they get caught is, however, very real—his expression twists a bit into a pinched, harried frown.

But truthfully... he does understand. Maybe this guy's new to the whole process, or maybe he just really has enough heart to go save some virtual folks. Even for him, it's hard to close off his ears to their anguished cries, no more 'fake' than they would sound in reality. Either way, there's not much time to argue, and Yusuke suddenly bursts into his full thief's outfit, his clothes magically replaced in the blink of an eye. ]


Fine, but only if you hurry. Also, stand very still.

[ There's another, very sudden flash of light, this time shaped in a crescent arc. It slices through what remains of Cam's bonds as Yusuke drives back the first of the men approaching them, shoving him backwards until he slips on an ice slick. It mostly clears the path, but there's not much time. ]
prettier: (103)

[personal profile] prettier 2018-02-01 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe I am. It's just something people learn to do when they have a thing with anger. Learn to recognise it instead of feeling it. Even if they're not actually angry. Even if it's just the smallest step on the way. Get there first and identify it. Like that neutralises it somehow.

I know people who have a thing with anger. I've always wondered if it actually helps.

I wasn't really trying for anything. Like I said, it's fucking quiet at 3am in space. But all right.
micromania: (f20)

[personal profile] micromania 2018-02-01 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
Is he from London?

[ That seems like a safe question. ]

I don't think any of us can be normal no matter how hard we try, but. How did that work out?
micromania: (f34)

huzzah!!

[personal profile] micromania 2018-02-01 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
I like to think of myself as a highly efficient and effective person who is not easily overwhelmed. Occasionally, I am...in fact, overwhelmed, but I wouldn't say it happened easily?

[ Wow, she thinks to herself, she sounds like Dirk.

Oh well. That's not so terrible.
]

I'd rather have a warning if I am going to be given a choice!
inacan: (012)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-02-01 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
fascinating
its never too quiet as long as you've got a good soundtrack
try ac/dc
anyway really gotta go now i've got data to compile

IronMan has left the chat...
planetary_bonds: (polished by me) (small quirk of the lips)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2018-02-01 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Mmn. It's good to have others to help you keep things in perspective.

[Sometimes, he can even stop questioning why him?, just for a little while.]

Ah... [He'll try not to smile too much.] Understandable. There's...a lot here.

[He motions behind him, in the direction he'd just come from.] This way.
beknight: ([ bvs ] 59.)

[personal profile] beknight 2018-02-01 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ Don't you want to know which one of us is faster on the draw? That question leads to only one place. ]

If that one was yours.

[ But ultimately, that told either of them nothing, so it would be discarded. He hums. Like a yawn, to show teeth. The single eye of something awake, and lazily stretching its leather wings. ]

Do you come with a leash?

[ Any other day, from anyone else, it might have been debonair, a careless flirt. But it's quiet, said not like a secret, but like becoming aware of another presence in the room, when one thought one was alone. ]
planetary_bonds: (what did i do)

[personal profile] planetary_bonds 2018-02-01 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[what? got a problem with being called a shrub, shrub?]

Er, sort of? There's a way to call them to teleport you back up, although you can only do it once a day or so...
almaredemptoris: (Default)

sorry for the delay

[personal profile] almaredemptoris 2018-02-01 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
That any man could defy that which brings an end to the world...

[So he muses to himself, ending in confounded silence. He has a dim idea that he is aboard a vessel that floats through the cosmos, and that the earth has been swallowed by this storm. Such truths are unwieldy, slippery in the mind. It seems impossible and yet at his core he accepts that it must be so.

Perhaps it was men who had salvaged the survivors from the wreckage of the world, but surely it is by divine intervention that they were granted the power and wisdom to do so.]


Thanks be to God.

[Then Jean Valjean darts his gaze toward the exit. He has seen enough of darkness: now he seeks his light.]

Then are all refugees in that chamber where I first awoke?

[If he feared upon waking, then it was only for not knowing the whereabouts of Cosette. He remembers her slim arm in his as they fled, and there his recollections of her end, all narrowing to a dark haze. He had stalked the rows of caskets like some frantic creature of the night before he was directed here to the Observation Deck, and now that he is no longer occupied by the simulation his worry tangles him once more. His heart cannot settle until he can be certain that she is safe.]
almaredemptoris: (Default)

sorry for the delay

[personal profile] almaredemptoris 2018-02-01 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
[While he is faintly aware that all of this is fabricated, his senses make a fool of his mind. The people jostling against him in the temple had felt true to life, the rage marring their countenances and the clamor of their shouts as real as anything Jean Valjean has seen and heard. The stench of the branded flesh had curled his nose, the wretchedness of the prisoners had cut him to the bone. But real or not, he feels a sense of duty to this girl.

This side of the hill is covered in grass that reaches past his calves and through it sprawl clusters of shrubs. As he weaves his way down, he periodically checks to see how she is managing.]


No, I haven't any reason to join in their hatred. I am one like yourself, who was saved from the Storm and brought to that station.

[In the near distance, nestled among the hills, is a swath of the village. Modest houses squat on fenced-in parcels of land with a patchwork of lanes connecting it all. It is hard to know where might provide sanctuary, of the mob at the temple represents the regnant view of the town.]
moedred: (peeps)

[personal profile] moedred 2018-02-01 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
[girls, maybe. Mordred? nah.

she's an ungrateful brat, sad but true. she's not ever going to be apologetic about it, though. not really. however when it finally seems as though Ozy is fed up and has decided it's not worth his trouble to keep trying, it does spark a sense of panic.

she feels a little betrayed, honestly, he'd said he'd help her down and now he seems entirely content to give up and leave her stranded. not that he was... really getting very far in the first place, but that's beside the point!]


You're giving up??? Okay, okay! I take it back! Just don't--

[anything more she'd intended to say is silenced by the fact he now finds himself in the exact same predicament, flipped upsde down and strung up like a fool next to her.]

Bravo.

[SARCASM INTENSIFIES.]