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.

quipper: ᴀʀᴛ ▴ ʟᴇᴇ ɢᴀʀʙᴇᴛᴛ (POPCORN.)

[personal profile] quipper 2018-01-28 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ steph's done some world-hopping in her day. it's aight. ]

[ she hums in acknowledgment of the theory and adds casually, ] Or it could be a timeline thing. You never know. [ shrugging. she once punched dracula, so discrepancies in history? it's whatever. ] At least they still do waffles here at the end of the world bar and grill.

[ priorities, my dude. ]
Edited 2018-01-28 18:41 (UTC)
rightfully: (pic#7915155)

[personal profile] rightfully 2018-01-28 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It ought to be his. Really, out of the two of them, Lucina fully believes she's the expendable one. However, with nothing she can do for it now, the best she can do is simply live. Continue. Hope. ]

He ought not to be here at all. He has a family who need him, and a newborn child.

[ Her, technically.

It's weird. Just go with it. ]
inacan: (012)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-28 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tony pauses in what he's doing to glance at the - okay, it's a talking raccoon, awesome. He was having a Moment with his sleeping best friend and along comes a talking raccoon.

He glances over at Rhodey, as if - if he was awake - he'd be exchanging a look of pure bafflement with his best bud. And then his attention is back on the animal in question. ]


Well - she can run biometric scans, for one thing.

[ I'm not equipped for species not originating on Earth, Boss, FRIDAY chirps at him even as he's keying something into the watch. ]

Uh, this is an Earth species. You're from Earth, right?
exaomori: (🐍 34)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-28 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
they say it's because of corruption or something

it's bs all around no matter what.
ukase: (Records really?)

[personal profile] ukase 2018-01-28 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
So you unintentionally annoy them and they're too polite to tell you about it. Right, that makes sense.

[Rumlow had good friendships, even if he was also the type of person who would only hesitate minimum three seconds before putting a bullet in them if it became necessary. Of course, he knew that would be reciprocated too. It was a happy medium.]

Not all friendships work the same, chump.
ukase: (Rough)

[personal profile] ukase 2018-01-28 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[No one just stood there looking like the wind had been sucked out of their lungs for no reason. There was someone that this guy valued to the point where seeing him lazing around talking to his own comrade like Rollins could respond meant something. He wanted to ask about it, but he figured doing so would probably result in a fist fight at the very least.

He raised an eyebrow, lifting a hand to air-motioning that he was turning the volume down on this guy's voice. God, he wasn't deaf, pal.]


Maybe you'll find who you were obviously imagining when you came upon me. You sang songs to an captainicle before? Your lost love? Your better half?

[So much for not picking a fight. Poking emotionally constipated people was super fun though and sometimes rewarding.]
exaomori: (🐍 34)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-28 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[Typing...]

[Typing...]

[The last time she helped someone like this, they went on the network and said some weird stuff about her in an effort to locate her and thank her, so does she really want to give her name out again??]

[Typing...]

it's shura, and don't worry about it
trample: (Default)

jes did nothing wrong

[personal profile] trample 2018-01-28 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If only he could hear her inner thoughts. The bonds she made and the love she had for those dearest to her. The purity of it all. He would be irreparably jealous. He's already getting to that point, really - she's said more than enough already. What with her her genuine concern and noble look and a bunch of other things that he's grumbling about in his head - thankfully, she can't hear any of his inner thoughts.

To her offer, he shakes his head. Not in a manner that implies he's taken any offense (he might have. Just a bit. Only because it's some goody-goody doing it.), but rather that of resignation. Yeah. This is his life now. ]


I'm about as right as I can be. [ He looks at her, squinting just slightly. What the hell was up with her eye? Was it one of those "contacts"? If her noble getup was nothing more than a costume, he'd be forced to reconsider his opinion of her - possibly into something more positive. And that, he didn't want to do. ] Travelling is a slow, but I manage. And there's not much reason for me to go anywhere to begin with. It seems to me, though, that you're the one that needs help to get a move on. Lingering here is bad for you.
almaredemptoris: (Default)

[personal profile] almaredemptoris 2018-01-28 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[He thinks that it is not rebellion to defy the law when the law is unjust. It is less a defiance and more a compliance with the law of God, whose forgiveness Jean Valjean received on the condition that he live honestly and righteously - and to him, it would be dishonest to ignore the suffering of one who stands before him, when he knows precisely this brand of debasement.

Seeing how she fits herself into his work, he continues the deception by affecting a harsh tone and crying aloud:]


Quiet, you!

[In such a fashion, they blend into the scene that unfolds around them and thus they are paid little attention. Jean Valjean is swift in his work, keen from his experience in the way that a knife is made keen by the sharpening block. What he has drawn from his pocket, and what he now obscures with his coat sleeve, is a convict's dearest possession: a large coin that is hollowed out in the center to accommodate a tiny saw, with which he files through the ropes that bind her.]
beneath: (08)

omage, un: GODofTHUNDER

[personal profile] beneath 2018-01-28 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm afraid you're stuck with this one.

[ reliable information!! ]

What would you change it to? Completely theoretical question, of course.
thetaintedsorrow: (: /)

[personal profile] thetaintedsorrow 2018-01-28 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Oi.

[Chuuya’s heart aches for this guy, it really does, but if there’s one thing he’s learned from being in the Mafia, it’s that you can’t just let this kind of shit get to you. Live it, learn from it, drink about it later, but don’t let it break you; that’s his philosophy, anyway, and he kneels down next to the guy and reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder.]

Look. It sucks that this happened to real worlds, but you’re alive, right?

[He’ll just treat this like talking to one of his subordinates...who are probably dead now...]

Get on your feet. You gotta make the most of being alive right now.
phykios: (♆ mmmokay.)

stasis

[personal profile] phykios 2018-01-28 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh. A what?

[ it's not that percy likes being in this room. for one thing, it's creepy. for another, everything about it -- the greyness, the quiet, pod after pod of people, some of the faces painfully familiar -- makes him want to take his sword to something or someone, and not just in a stupid simulation.

still, he can't help coming back here. what's he supposed to do, pretend his friends and family aren't being kept here in creepy glass boxes? as if he could.

admits, ]
I have no clue what you're talking about.
dendarii: (for real?)

[personal profile] dendarii 2018-01-28 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
An Arkadiy. You know, the name. Since I've no idea what his actual name is.

[ He's still not convinced any of this is real. Miles continues to look up at the anonymous person in front of him, musing. His gray eyes are bright and curious in the dim light. After a moment more, though, he turns towards Percy. ]

Nor do I know yours, for that matter...?
notwagging: <user name="bittenbittern"> (11)

[personal profile] notwagging 2018-01-28 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it is totally time for jokes. it's not like Alphinaud is going to fly into space (literally) and never come back! ]

That sounds like something a plant would say. [ said casually, off-handedly, as he now has to take his gloves off in order to peel the the weed off. easier to do when they float at eye level. ]

Oh! [ this is when he starts to smile. ] Your sister? She's your sister?!

[ a brief pause, then a sideways look. ]

Huh. Are you sure? Can you prove it?
warchetype: (7)

[personal profile] warchetype 2018-01-28 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Thesa Station, east of the hangar bay. I'm wearing an eyepatch.
I go by Snake.
dorzalta: (pic#11766542)

[personal profile] dorzalta 2018-01-28 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
It's the same for her, refusing to glance further down the row where she suspects Drogo sleeps. There would be a time where she would visit him, but for now... there is enough to wrap her mind around without gazing upon a body she'd personally burnt to ash.

"I'm sorry to hear that. For both of you." She glances at this woman now, and though she doesn't frown, her eyes reflect that regret. Understanding, as well, though she refrains from making mention of her dead husband. "It sounds unnerving to be placed back into the pod without warning. Did they explain what happened to you?"

Mention of one Jon Snow does draw a cautious smile and an inclining of the head. After Theon's reaction to Jon, she's careful in how she makes mention of him.

"Jon Snow. You know him?"
phykios: (♆ QUEST...ions.)

[personal profile] phykios 2018-01-28 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
The name, [ percy mutters, sarcasm evident, ] obviously.

[ which is to say that yeah, no, he's not familiar. ancient greek, latin, no problem; but he's not too up on his russian names. (or his russian...anything.)

the guy turns to face him, finally, and percy finds himself wondering for a second -- beyond the stature and appearance, everything different about him -- if he isn't a relation of athena's. it's the eyes: gray and sharp, taking in everything around him, the kind percy's seen on so many of the goddess's children. a space station after the end of the world is the last place percy would expect to run into an unfamiliar demigod, but you never know. ]


Percy. [ perseus, actually, but hardly anyone calls him that. ] Percy Jackson. And I could say the same to you, dude.

[personal profile] ayes 2018-01-28 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
It's really pretty! [You says, approaching her.]

What village was that?
warchetype: (2)

[personal profile] warchetype 2018-01-28 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ sounds like it'd be ripe for another MSF, but John's not ready to make that leap yet, especially when he hasn't experienced anything "planetside" for himself.

disappointing that even here - where the stars themselves clump together in strange and unfamiliar constellations - nothing much has changed. still two superpowers fighting over trivialities.

at least it gives him job security. Adam's familiarity with the area and - yes, John does know him - his like-as-not encyclopedic knowledge of the inner workings of the conflict make it all the easier to get started. ]


Can you swing me a job in the guard?

[ it's the best place to be, when information-gathering. if he chooses ultimately to retreat to a cedar cabin in the jungle - assembled log by log with his own hands, of course - it's only to be expected. ]
nineteenfortyfive: (CASE)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-01-28 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"They didn't explain in a way that made sense or helped matters." A mistake. The same mistake that sent Jamie back to stasis, and the same mistake that had her decades older in the relative blink of an eye. It's agitating, but now, Claire can't fathom being thirty and living her, living a life in which she didn't know Brianna at all.

"But, what's done is done."

The displeasure that's worked its way onto Claire's face lightens immediately at the confirmation.

"I do, in fact. I live with him, his father, and sister." Brought into the fold of the Stark family, and quite happily.
pebblestone: official art (fe:a) (pic#11550774)

[personal profile] pebblestone 2018-01-28 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ hey!!! he's too much of a gentleman to ever do something like that. ]

thank you [ miss? mister? lady?? lord?? oh gods, what if he insults this strange person on accident, he'll never live it down ] shura

i can only hope everyone else in this place is as kind and generous as you are
warchetype: (Default)

[personal profile] warchetype 2018-01-28 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Snake1964: Ah.

[ nothing wrong with having needs - Snake's a soldier, he's been a soldier for all of his life. this sort of thing? well, it's not that uncommon.

the hard part is actually having a conversation about said ... needs. Especially concerning Ocelot. ]


Snake1964: Not gonna say I understand it, but I guess it doesn't matter if I do. I'll keep my mouth shut.
phykios: (♆ been there done that got the shirt.)

wildcard

[personal profile] phykios 2018-01-28 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Had any luck?

[ if percy can't help sounding dubious, well. he can't imagine who'd willingly buy textbooks for any reason, but especially up here.

(to be fair, his girlfriend might. but annabeth's sleeping in stasis, in a pod he visits every day.)

still, it feels kind of mean to point that out. besides, who knows? people here are from all kinds of places. maybe there's even a world where it's normal to brush up on your calculus, just for fun (shudder). percy might look almost college-aged himself, at 17, but from his raised eyebrows and tone, it's probably obvious he's not an interested buyer. ]
song_of_ice: ([Jon] Love In The Eyes)

[personal profile] song_of_ice 2018-01-28 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
He chuckled under his breath, the last of it stolen away by her. He had forgotten what it was for a tender expression to settle on his features, for too long he had been hard and stern. Now, with her here, he can feel his eyes soften and his smile emerge from the recesses of his heart. "I bent the knee, your grace. I'm no longer king."

He hadn't been certain of the position among the Royal Guard at first, but he had grown prouder of it. He accomplished the things he wanted to in the Night's Guard. It felt like there was real honor and more men he was glad to serve alongside. It wasn't a rare handful as his friends had been.

But all of that falls away as he watches her reaction to the carved dragon. Her look lifts away the pressure he had been carrying about his shoulders. He looks and feels younger next to her, less world weary and worn. She was his quiet place away from the hardships of the world, even though she has shared it since they met.

He curled her hand around the dragon, raising it up so he could press a kiss to her fingers. "I can speak from experience and say that Drogon's teeth are nothing like these."
beatupgrass: (✘  yippie-kie-yay mr. falcon)

[personal profile] beatupgrass 2018-01-28 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Rocket bristles, as if he's expecting to get scanned, even if that's literally what he was about to ask. Biometric scanning technology has a lot of uses, but not if it's not keyed into anything from earth.]

A lot of people make that mistake. [The assumption doesn't really bring his chill level up. He may be finally getting over the raccoon nonsense, but he still doesn't like being assumed one by default.] Here I was hopin' with tech like that, you might be more advanced that what I know Earth's got.