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.

eaudevamp: (ᴀɴ ɪᴅᴇᴀ)

[personal profile] eaudevamp 2018-02-02 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
your words are just misleading.

[ Huff huff...



Also... whoops? Giving Solomon some ideas now. Dun dun dun. ]


urm, you are welcome.
i do hope that you at least manage to find a reason for being awake now and living in this new planet.
beats being dead and never having achieved anything.
there is so much more to life.
chin up!
dendarii: (for real?)

[personal profile] dendarii 2018-02-02 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
Trapped on an alien space station utterly at the mercy of our overlords?
playingfetch: (bless your soul)

[personal profile] playingfetch 2018-02-02 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
[Whoa whoa whoa, hey hey hey. His face is still very visible on the camera, and he's again clearly taken aback by that last part. So there really is a universe out there where Rin is his Master . . . ]

Would you look at that. Here I thought me and her just weren't meant to be in any world. Rin's here, but she ain't my Master. Never has been.

[He takes note of the rest, too. No Avenger. Geez. How many timelines are represented here by now anyway?]
nineteenfortyfive: (SIXTIES)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-02-02 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Easy, darling. [Not something she often calls Jamie, but she's different, now. Slowly, so he can feel it coming, she lightly puts her hand over his injured one.]

I know everything that happened. Remember that. [Everything that happened in that prison.] And it never changed anything between us.
dendarii: (abject apology)

[personal profile] dendarii 2018-02-02 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ah. That - sober Miles a bit. Even thinking he's dreaming, he doesn't want to be alone ]

... I suppose so. It's rather difficult to see through the glass.
eaudevamp: (ᴄʜᴏᴏsɪɴɢ ᴛɪᴍᴇ)

[personal profile] eaudevamp 2018-02-02 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Reign already liked this person. What a sense of humour! ]

i have learned long ago to not hide what i truly am.

[ Though what Reign meant was his preference to be submissive, but it could be taken generally as well. ]

i have never claim to be that powerful, merely more strength and enhanced abilities compared to humans.
are you a human?
playingfetch: (bless your soul)

[personal profile] playingfetch 2018-02-02 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
THE THOR?

[That doesn't seem like the right inflection, but he's new to this texting junk and isn't sure what else to do to signify it . . . the Thor?]

They really can drag in anyone here, can't they?

And it ain't exactly my name, but it is what I'm called.
breme: (♆ 11.)

[personal profile] breme 2018-02-02 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ He does it so easily. So easily. Something squeezes tight over his heart — Arthur gives him the flattest look, and exhales explosively. ]

Cut that out.
eaudevamp: (ʏᴀᴋ ʏᴀᴋ)

[personal profile] eaudevamp 2018-02-02 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, well... Friends can be your family as well, no?

[ Sometimes, friends were even closer than one's family members. Reign knew that quite well. So what if Chuuya was an orphan? Others may say that blood is thicker than water, but he digress.

Anyway, that question certainly was a familiar one. Reign grinned as he leaned closer, just this side of menacing. Or as evil-looking as he could be. ]


Want to try touch them? Careful, they're reaaaaaaaaaaal sharp.

[ He opened his mouth slightly, wide enough for Chuuya to reach a finger in, if he dare. ]
notsolomon: (pic#9358766)

[personal profile] notsolomon 2018-02-02 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
That is another good trait to have, though one shouldn't be over modest.

Yes I do hope to benefit people with my genius. One should use all gifts given to them for the good of others.


[And to show off. A lot.]
playingfetch: (got some bad news this morning)

[personal profile] playingfetch 2018-02-02 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
That's why I didn't say friend! . . . Father, huh?

[That's a little more pertinent than arguing semantics. Cu looks again between the tube and the girl in front of him, long and slow about it, both for show and because this warrants a good long look.]

Not that I can't see the family resemblance.

[It's pretty damn obvious.

Also, Saber is a woman and all, but hey, that's a thing magic can do, so all right. His own teacher in the Land of Shadows had known a thing or two about applying rune magic to the human body. Lancer's not quite as learned as that . . . maybe if he'd been a Caster.

He turns back to the girl, shrugging.]


But it's about as easy for me to imagine her havin' a kid as it is for me to imagine her havin' friends like me.
playingfetch: (sunshine come on down)

[personal profile] playingfetch 2018-02-02 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah, so it was that. See, he got it out of her! Score one for Lancer! Seeing her like this brings back memories that are both beautiful and sharp and bright, like reaching out for the past and closing his hand around a shard of glass. It lodges in deep. But his smile is still rooted in genuine happiness . . . it just also conveniently hides anything else lurking behind it.

He withdraws from her, though. What else should he do? Hug her? They're not those types.]


Now, I wouldn't tell this to just anyone, so don't pass it along yourself. But the only Master I've got here's the one standing in front of me right now. . . . I can't tell you how it works.
moedred: dnt (bloody hell)

[personal profile] moedred 2018-02-02 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[she squints, immediatly becoming definsive with an aggitated stomp of her foot.]

What's that supposed to mean???

[she doesn't particularly appreciate that long look between the two or what he's trying to insinuate with that final statement. in fact, she looks about ready to bust his teeth in should he dare to question her legitimacy any further.]

You clearly don't know anything.
never_seemecoming: (this is SHIELD?)

[personal profile] never_seemecoming 2018-02-02 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
Let's find out. [As long as they have something warm for her to drink. Especially the sort of thing that they didn't get so often after their parents died.

He pays no attention to the other pods as they walk out of the room. The only person he really cares to see is here with him right now.]


I hope the food is good.

[Who is Pietro kidding? He'll eat anything, as long as it vaguely resembles food, and even sometimes if it doesn't.]
beatupgrass: (✘ you can't pick up chicks in a tank)

[personal profile] beatupgrass 2018-02-02 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
In that case, thanks. My sarcasm is legendary around here.
almaredemptoris: (Default)

[personal profile] almaredemptoris 2018-02-02 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[He had already seen the ropes which bind her ankles, but when she stamps her foot against his in feigned fury, he uses this as pretext to drop to a crouch as if in pain.]

You would strike an old man!

[There on the stone floor he sets his file to work once more, shortly freeing her feet. No sooner does she feel the tension of the rope go slack between her ankles than Valjean is rising to his feet once more. His movements are so many in so short a space that the eyes can hardly untangle it all: in rising, he replaces the false coin to his pocket, removes his overcoat, wraps it around the woman's shoulders, and pulls her into the mob. He moves like a man of far fewer years, like water dripping through the cracks that will accommodate it.

It is undoubtedly bold to stage an escape in a room so full, yet the fullness of it will be what provides them cover. As the crowd jostles one against the other, Jean Valjean guides the woman through what gaps open, slowly but steadily slipping away from the altar at the front of the temple. With the crowd so enraptured by the spectacle of the prisoners, they are as ghosts.

In the shadows of his mind, he regrets that he must leave behind the rest of the prisoners, but he is but one man, one pitiful soul - and so he presses on.]
vulpining: (pic#11989134)

[personal profile] vulpining 2018-02-02 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ Had she more common sense among the literal end of the world, Tamamo would have gotten more information from Bazett — would have learned more to find similarities, but alas...

she finds herself dreaming.

Maybe?

Of course she means sleep. ]


Shhh, nooo... dying was ...zzzzz... tiring...
vulpining: (pic#11989134)

[personal profile] vulpining 2018-02-02 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
...Hm. Hmmmm...

[ She hums out loud. Very loudly. ]

Interesting... you don't recall Moon Cell at all, do you?

[ Maybe it's for the best. Remembering dying sure was a bitch. But, for now. She's grumbling under her breath. ]

If there's more of you out here, why has my Master not awoken yet?! It's not fair! Simply not fair!
vulpining: (pic#12011191)

[personal profile] vulpining 2018-02-02 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
That — [ She bites her tongue. ] Not the point!

[ She is halfway to reaching to offer him assistance but he seems to do fine on his own. Graceful, her fingers lance behind her and she rocks on her heels. ] It's not how I feel, it's — ugh! Here!

[ And he's down, but she's offering a hand. Okay, maybe both hands. ]

Emotions have nothing to do with this.
asmilebettersuits: (07)

[personal profile] asmilebettersuits 2018-02-02 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
I do not think of it as modesty, my friend!
'Tis a greater compliment for the words to come from the mouths of others, rather than my own!

Genius, you say?
almaredemptoris: (Default)

[personal profile] almaredemptoris 2018-02-02 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[He watches her carefully, for where the stark words presented on the screen lack emotional context, her expression and body language as she writes provide such clues. When she shows her response, solemnly he nods.]

Indeed, we are blessed with the Lord's protection, through the acts of these Orbiters.

[Jean Valjean does not yet know what to think of his saviors, who use their power and resources to aid all those within their wide reach, whom he must rust fully yet who remain utterly unknown to him.]
seeingscarlet: (twins; 070)

[personal profile] seeingscarlet 2018-02-02 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[She reaches for Pietro's hand, as she's done countless times before, but now it feels like he might disappear if she lets go.]

It could be green, you know. Or bright pink. And then what will you do?

[She's teasing - she knows that wouldn't stop him - but it's so easy to fall back into old habits as if they were never separated. Now, last month feels surreal, like some sort of terrible nightmare.

She'll just have to do a better job protecting him this time and make sure it never happens again.]
ukase: (Game Face)

[personal profile] ukase 2018-02-02 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
[He liked to consider that he had plenty of good advice. Some of it he might even share. Not right now, of course. Maybe over drinks or when his head wasn't quite ringing as much as he currently was.

He nodded his head to the name, accepting it easily. Names didn't make a person in his books; they were just identifiers.]


Rumlow.

[Alan hadn't earned his first name. It was a soldier thing.]
ukase: (All business)

[personal profile] ukase 2018-02-02 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Oh?

[He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation to that one.]
ukase: (Default)

[personal profile] ukase 2018-02-02 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[With being agitated? That figured considering her continued dry irritability and proximity. She hadn't yet gone back to where she had started out this little pod journey.

He glanced up at the pod filled with his second-in-command.]


One of many occupations. Are you a librarian?