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.

panzersoldat: (suit4)

II

[personal profile] panzersoldat 2018-01-27 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
Reinhardt came here with another. But he left them to their privacy in the Stasis Unit. There are some things that just need privacy. They don't need an old man as an audience to their time with whomever they came to see. He takes that time to stand before the viewing window. To look at the planet below and wonder about it.

He finds he's not alone when he approaches the glass. He stands for a moment behind and clears his throat a little, so that his huge presence isn't suddenly intimidating before he strides up next to the man to stare at the window as well. "Strange isn't it? I've seen it so many times now, and every time I'm struck by how small it makes me feel to see it from here. And I wonder about all those places I see that I haven't seen yet." He glances to his side. "It's not bad down there, I promise."
inacan: (008)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
Peachy.

[ If this was real Tony would be feeling it in the morning - he's not getting any younger and he doesn't have super soldier healing like Cap. But whatever, this is VR, and he's already kicking out with his legs, aiming for the priest's head to try and knock him out cold. ]

Maybe you can take care of my ropes when you're done over there? Tit for tat, kinda thing...
persistor: (pic#11971621)

1a!

[personal profile] persistor 2018-01-27 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Fighting the Spine was bad enough, probably. Giant, towering monsters don't really scare her ( if they did, she wouldn't be here right now ), but she's also starting to realize how frail she is in comparison to ... all of this. Any of this. The village slowly going up in flames, as its citizens try to keep themselves safe. Get away as quickly as possible ( what a familiar sight ).

She can't actually do very much, without the Transistor in her hand. But she's gone ahead and got herself stuck here anyway, so she might as well do something about it.

... Starting by answering the stranger, here. With a very solid, very decisive shake of her head. Nope, not even a little. ]
araearyrha: (011)

[personal profile] araearyrha 2018-01-27 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Well... No.

[Even she couldn't miss the whole being on a giant spaceship in space and not around Earth deal.]

It's just that's such a long time.
revlon: (308)

struggle is real

[personal profile] revlon 2018-01-27 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
An Earth, yes.
20th, surname.
And yourself?
diamondize: (Sometimes the most spiritual thing)

Training 2B

[personal profile] diamondize 2018-01-27 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
[They're not sure how they got caught up in this, but no amount of explaining that they weren't on anyone's side here, this was a misunderstand, really! Was enough to deter the Olympians apparently out for blood.

So despite looking like a rather frail and helpless young girl, Diamond's found themselves in this file of soldiers, looking rather out of place if only for how pristine and bright they look, though they've obscured their actually sparkling hair with a headscarf to try and keep some attention off of them.

It's a strangely fascinating thing, even if they don't feel scared of what's to come. They're more concerned about what will happen when the coal burns through the powder substance that makes up their make-up to look more human and less like a humanoid chunk of diamond. Probably nothing good with this crowd. They could probably easily make an escape when they untie them to fix the brand, but they're reluctant to use their strength against more-or-less helpless humans.

Their eyes scan the crowd, a mix of awed and baffled and disgusted with the lack of compassion and how no one's speaking out about this or... Well, doing anything. They drop their gaze back to their feet, frowning, as the line pauses briefly and Dia becomes aware of someone at their side. They glance up around the headscarf at them, head tilted in curiosity.
] What...? [They're awfully close?? This is strange. Dia just really hopes this isn't an angry native who's about to try and shank them or something. Their body is 100% pure diamond, it'd be a pretty nasty shock.]
inacan: (003)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
not far off then
21st, stark. surname, that is. got a first name? i'll show you mine if you show me yours
meinwaifu: (Truly fascinating isn't it ♪)

Stasis!

[personal profile] meinwaifu 2018-01-27 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[It was already uncommon for Mephisto to run into anyone during his weekly check-in at the Stasis Unit, making sure a certain older brother of his was still asleep. But to see this many people out and about? It was immediately apparent that a new slew of refugees must have just awoken.]

My, I would sincerely hope not! I'd hate to think of what would happen if they were to awaken too soon.
poolhall_killer: ([Xrd] staring)

Omage - un: BishopRunout

[personal profile] poolhall_killer 2018-01-27 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
And what would you like for me to speak about?

[He'd like a subject, at least.]
panzersoldat: (canned beef)

[personal profile] panzersoldat 2018-01-27 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
I could make you fly, my friend. In that armor, you weigh what? I think I could throw you. [ Surely Tony doesn't weigh half a ton. He can swing that huge hammer around, Tony couldn't be that much more. ]

Really? That sounds exciting to see. I hope I can meet a real legend some day then. Though by then, we'll have a legend of our own, Ja? Brave dragon slayers!

[ At least Tony has a sharp pointy object. Reinhardt has a hammer. A hammer that hits like a truck even without the rockets on back. But man, his back is going to hate him forever for this. ]
diamondize: (Don't ask me how)

[personal profile] diamondize 2018-01-27 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Diamond winces when one of Tony's feet connects solidly and the priest goes still with a groan. Alright, well. That's one down, and people are hardly paying attention to them now with the rest of the rioting now going on.] Oh, of course!

[Once their legs are free, they hurry to Tony's side and kneel, carefully burning through the ropes around his wrists]

Thank you for helping me. That was rather brave of you. [They smile gratefully, then look around with a sadder expression at the fighting as the ropes fall away] Is this how humans were...?
wallofbriggs: (003)

[personal profile] wallofbriggs 2018-01-27 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
At least we agree on the pointless arguing.
revlon: (Default)

[personal profile] revlon 2018-01-27 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ 21st? But Stark isn't a common last name by a long shot, and she's sure the only Stark she knows wouldn't like sharing it with another out there.

She could be wrong. Or she could be right and her good friend is much older than she remembers him being. ]


Howard?
shashka: (that's... a thing)

[personal profile] shashka 2018-01-27 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ Adam nods. ...nine years ago. right after the explosion. or maybe a little while longer after (the thought of him and John being the same age seemed wrong to him, and he'd always still think of the other man as older). after all, he was out for a long time. ]

Sometimes, we remember being pulled from different times. Don't ask me how it works. You're lucky they got you then. When the Storm hit for me, it was 1984.

It wasn't easy.

[ and so, he begins to explain it. about the coma, just like he had the first time John woke up back home. how he found himself dancing once again to the beat of Zero's drum, because what else could he do. how he spent nine years alternating between his cover as a soviet officer in Afghanistan, doing work with Miller (he tries his best not to let any disdain show through), and keeping an eye on him. how he finally woke up after nine years.

he doesn't mention Venom, and everything else that happened. not yet. this was still a lot for him to take in. ]
eaudevamp: (ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴛɪʟᴛ)

[personal profile] eaudevamp 2018-01-27 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, okay.

[ That was a relief to hear, and it was evident in the way Reign's shoulder relaxed. So she was a vampire-like being called a 'Chiropteran'? Strange term. ]

Never hear such a word before. And yes, I'm a vampire, but I'm not undead. Nothing like that classical Dracula.

[ Reign rolled his eyes a little when he said that. He couldn't understand how a living corpse could function. He tensed again when she got up and walked towards him, and despite him being the taller of the two, Reign felt rather small in her presence. ]

My father, of course. The Bloodlord of the East, Overlord Fear. Urm, I think your way of siring is different from mine.
adisaster: (pic#5313072)

[personal profile] adisaster 2018-01-27 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ His grin splits even wider watching Reinhardt charge in. If he was expecting praise or awe for showing his treasury he doesn't show it, instead - - more and more portals appear, expanding outwards until dozens of weapons are on display - - and with Reinhardt leading the charge he fires.

They shoot faster than arrows, swords and tridents and spears and axes alike being fired with a deadly velocity. Even still - - they're toothpicks compared to the size of the beast, and they certainly don't stop the dragon's ceaseless onslaught alone. He doesn't make a move to move forward just yet, waiting to see how Reinhardt fares, if the simulation of this creature is as powerful as the real deal might have been.
]
inacan: (011)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
Please tell me your favorite Norse god is Thor.

[ Because Jesus, the similarities are uncanny. Also he misses that guy. Hasn't seen him in a while.

Tony hops behind a rock, letting Reinhardt tank for a bit, because really, this should be easier. He's got a brain and he knows how to use it.

The beast rears up, going for the big guy with the German accent, and Tony darts out, slashing upwards for the soft underbelly.

It usually works in the movies. ]

[personal profile] fiendennor 2018-01-27 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
It is. [She nods.]

There's quite a bit that's strange here. [Diana sighs.] I should've suspected that the first thing you'd do when you woke up was run around discovering new life forms to transform into. That's so like you.

How long have you been awake?
reek: (pic#11611948)

Stasis. he's nice now....but when he finds out you're a baratheon...

[personal profile] reek 2018-01-27 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
Theon can pick out the Westerosi now. It’s almost an art, really. There’s something different in the way they walk, the way they speak, the way they stare at the sleeping faces in the stasis pods; some of them with hatred, some of them with love, but they almost always find a reason to be unsettled. Everyone in Westeros has known death, but this place has stripped away every meaning of the word.

He had come here himself to see if Ramsay was truly back in stasis and to scowl at Robb for a bit. It’s a habit, but he harbors some illogical sort of hope that it may someday spark him to wake once more. Instead, he’s found some unfamiliar Westerosi gazing at Robert Baratheon’s stasis tube.

"What do you want with him?," he asks. "Wondering how they found a tube large enough to fit him?"

He smirks from the opposite side of the corridor, though there’s something hard and bitter in his gaze. He hates Robert Baratheon, though he’s never exchanged two words with the man. He hates him for everything he helped to take away from him.
inacan: (007)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
Hell if I know, this feels more like some edgy HBO fantasy show than real life.

[ Tony's gonna ignore the brave thing - it's not even worth a mention, really - and rubs his wrists a little as the ropes fall away. ]

You got a name?

[ He turns, landing a punch to one of the acolytes who decided to be brave. Not a good move, acolyte. ]
colorature: (Default)

[personal profile] colorature 2018-01-27 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
Your father?

[Bloodlord of the East, huh? It'd be a lie to say she's not interested in what he has to say, what with the way her eyes are focused keenly on his as she looks up at him.]

Being undead is rather silly, isn't it? People stay dead when they're killed.

[She'd know from personal experience. A lot of it.]

How so?
foxhound: (and half corrective surgery gone wrong)

[personal profile] foxhound 2018-01-27 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
[(it has been MANY YEARS and I never even played GZ so forgive me, etc, rip.)]

[He grunts. Partly evasive, mostly just reticent by nature. But he echoes the question back, as if by reflex, or a force of trained habit. Things to do, no time for dancing around it.]

With you? Not really. [Honest. If nothing else.] I'm just here to get the job done. They didn't ask us what we were fighting for before they threw us in here.

[Which is sure as hell no grand declaration of loyalty, and no easy tell of his own opinions, save for that they seem to work in the same vein as BB's...for now. Just a statement of intent. What Big Boss makes of that is his own business.

Though, after a beat, and guarded—
]

It is Big Boss, isn't it?

[Must be. VR construct or otherwise. There's little mistaking it. Or so he likes to think. (Never been fed more information than people think he needs his whole life. He'd broken free of that, after Shadow Moses. But the reservation remains. The uncanny familiarity. He'd never known him this young. But there it is. The eyepatch, the curve of the jaw, the striking familiarity in the voice.)]
inacan: (013)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
your name is howard carter? what a coincidence my dad was also called howard
i'm tony
eaudevamp: (ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇᴍᴘʟᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴍᴏᴅᴇ)

omage | un : perfume

[personal profile] eaudevamp 2018-01-27 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Reign was going to happily answer that question when he remembered that physics wasn't his strong suit, in comparison to the other two sciences. ]

you will have to take into consideration that this happens in outer space.
but i am not very well versed in physics so i cannot answer accurately.
good luck though!
revlon: (305)

[personal profile] revlon 2018-01-27 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
No, don't be absurd
Your father's name is Howard Stark?
Bloody hell