  
WELCOME TO THE TEST DRIVE and thank you for your interest! Though the game hasn't started yet, we've put together a mini-mission with a few different goals for your characters to pursue. In the interest of flexibility and allowing players to experiment with the game mechanics, we invite you to pick your own broodmates, experiment with abilities and specializations, talk to each other and maybe make up some pre-established cr, and generally play around however you like. This test drive will not be game canon, so take this chance to go nuts!
For the full experience, we strongly encourage players to write up a short blurb about what their fellow characters might know about them either through shared time on the Station or through the Nest mental link. Handy links can be found at the bottom of this entry if you have any questions or want to place a reserve.
HELINOS TOZ
...is the smallest galactic empire located in the second disk of the Silver Halo Galaxy. For thousands of years, the neighboring CONFEDERATE OF BAL and INIVIAL COR(P) have eaten away at Helinos Toz's territory and now have reduced the once-great empire to a single moon ruled by the Last Empress. Though she is a child who owns little in the way of property on the galactic stage, the Last Empress still holds a precious seat in the shrinking Galactic House of Chairs. From this seat she and her allies have managed to keep a stranglehold on the throats of Bal and Inivial’s expansion efforts into the fourth and fifth disks of the Halo. She has accomplished this task by viciously excising loopholes in galactic regulation. Paradoxical though it may sound, the outer rings view the Last Empress as one of the few remaining heroes for the common man against the absorption of either the Bal or Inivial, a symbol of the dangers the two great empires present and a name and a heritage that even today commands respect. While Bal and Inivial may have radically different galactic goals and famously spend their time hounding one another in the house of chairs, they can agree on one thing: the Last Empress and her tiny moon kingdom are a thorn in their side. In an effort to pluck it, Bal and Inivial have joined forces to do away with the Empress and her moon forever.
While a direct attack on the ground empire moon would be an undeniable act of war, and would result in heavy sanctions which would only serve to set their goals back further, there are ways to destabilize the moon without actually putting boots on the ground. Inivial has decided to sacrifice one of their own assets to achieve this: the planet which the moon orbits. Helinos Prime is a cold, dead rock, without it's own atmosphere, as well as the site of a significant Inivial mining operation. It's this very operation that Invivial intends to utilize. By mining directly to the planet’s core, they will harvest a massive amount of heavy elements, cutting heavily into the planet's mass and degrading it's orbit in space-- making it a risk to surrounding inhabited worlds. Galactic regulation demands such a threat be absolutely absolved- by total destruction. Further, it states that these dangers must be dealt with in no more than eight hours, regardless of any other sanctions or treaties. The act itself is quite sterile: a beam weapon located in the first ring which is capable of destroying most planets in a single shot as long as alignment is correct. And once the planet goes, so too does the empire moon.
But even getting rid of the empire’s last land holdings wouldn’t do away with the Empress herself, which is why the Confederate of Bal’s massive armada has opted to choose today for a sprawling training exercise in their space above the empire moon. As is their right under the Secrets and Sanctions treaty, they have refused the operation of any other space traffic in that sector until their exercise has been completed. The paperwork is filed, notarized, and finalized. Under the guise of the Bal and Inivial’s mutual animosity, the two super powers mean to trap the Last Empress with the very rules and regulations she’s spent her young life manipulating to keep them both muzzled.
In summary: the Last Empress and what remains of her small royal envoy are stuck quite literally between a dissolving rock and the hard place of the Confederate of Bal’s guns with no diplomatic wiggle room. Should the empire of Helinos Toz fall, the majority of the house of chairs will turn in favor of expansion and it won’t be long before the Halo’s outer rings become the stage for a vicious war between Bal and Inivial. Those citizens of the outer rings will find their lives drastically changed as those two powers dash to make opportune land (and space) grabs. If the Last Empress can be saved, she might be able to successfully reveal this act of aggression for what it is, and use it as a way to rally the rest of the house of chairs, around her and the interests of the outer rings she stands for, against Bal and Inivial.
YOUR MISSION is to help the Last Empress escape the empire moon before it can be vaporized by Inivial, and to slide her and as many of her retinue as possible through the lines of Bal’s armada undetected.
PROMPTS
ONE • DEBRIEF: NOT AS SEXY AS IT SOUNDS
You've been given your mission file (see above) and outfitted with the appropriate gear to see it through. Today that means thermal suits designed to withstand face melting temperatures and a small cadre of ships that seem awfully familiar... if you're not mistaken they're the same ships currently in formation above Helinos Toz. You can ask Prince where he got them or Cathaway for some flying advice, but you probably won't get answers that makes any sense. Hopefully some of you know how to fly. Hug your friends, say your prayers, and wave Station 72 goodbye because it's time to...
TWO • HITTING ROCK BOTTOM
...sabotage a giant plasma drill! Down on Helinos Prime, Inivial's massive mining operation is a veritable labyrinth of tunnels and substations. Luckily you've been provided with schematics (if you feel like using them), and with some trial and error you should be able to navigate your way to key points in the mining operation. It won't be possible to completely stop the machine from coring the planet, but you just need to buy a little time. Suggested targets are the drill's targeting interface, its coolant systems, and its auxiliary stabilizer vents. How do you do that? Time to use your imagination. On the plus side, no one's around to stop you. Inivial already evacuated their on-site personnel which, come to think of it, might be a bad sign.
THREE • HURRY UP AND WAIT
With Inivial's drill momentarily on pause, it's time to rescue an Empress. Does she even know you're coming for her? Well, she'll find out eventually. There's room for six extra people on the ships provided, meaning you have exactly enough room to smuggle her and her closest advisers off of the empire moon. You've got six hours before you can (and really SHOULD) leave. Right now it looks like there's time to kill. Get to know the locals, the moon's bustling trade port, or its local population of cute dragonbirds. You have a collapsing planet below you and a veritable wasps nest of ships above you. Enjoy it while it lasts-- or bypass it all and wait for your window of opportunity with the Empress and her envoy.
FOUR • INTO THE WILD BLACK YONDER
The stealth ships can travel invisibly while in atmosphere, but there's no tricking the sensors of the Bal's ships. Luckily you fit right in-- almost. Pretending to be Bal ships might make the most sense, but what if someone notices you're out of drill formation? Even worse, what if someone detects you leaving the empire moon? No Bal ship is supposed to be down there. You could always try finding another ship to take into space, something with a little bit of stealth or maybe a harmless trading vessel. Then again, no one's supposed to be coming off the moon and into this space at all. Think fast, talk faster, or hope your pilot is really good.
FIVE • WILDCARD
Honestly? This is your show. Go surfing on some subterranean lava flows while stalling Inivial's mining efforts, try to take all the Empress's gold leaf dining room chairs with you when you evacuate the empire moon, or maybe you're done with this whole mission alltogether and want to try hijacking a ship from the Bal's armada and flying it out into space until this whole thing blows over. There's a whole galaxy out there; what else could be waiting for you?
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emptynesters2016-02-03 09:43 pm
no subject
[He walks up to him. The first thing he learned how to do is keep other people out of his thoughts; it's a blank slate. not unlike the eyeholes of his mask.]
Are you coming, or do you stay here?
no subject
Instead he takes far more note of the quiet of his mind. It was no simple task, and it wasn't comforting or kind, but simple comfort was far less valuable to him than personal responsibility and control. Virtues he stressed. Frequently.]
My place is here. The station must be manned.
[Without it, the singular linchpin that kept this branch of the Nest safe, they would all be lost. It was his responsibility, as much as the education of the young Hosts. And his personal desires mattered little in the face of that.]
It is for you and the others to complete this mission. I believe it is within your abilities, if you apply yourselves.
no subject
After getting an inspiring speech like that, I feel like I could run a whole marathon. I hope you selected some spaceship pilots.
no subject
Having it thrown back doesn't please him in the slightest. Not much does.]
Perhaps you will get the chance. There are some among you who are pilots, and there are some otherwise qualified.
[They were not complicated vessels, which was why they were chosen. There was an elegance to their operation that even he could appreciate. Doubtless Cathaway would have liked to procure vessels that provided more of a challenge, but she wasn't unaware of their limitations, despite the few quirks she still retained.]
If this concerns you, I would suggest you consider learning yourself. It would serve you well.
no subject
I'm generally concerned by things, but these ships are from these people. Not to mention, I don't know if you fit practice lessons into the rescue schedule. In my experience, it's hard to find time.
[A beat.]
Unless we're just going to have to save the same empress over and over. Or the whole galaxy created the same ship. Which - I may be a mere human with a very small frame of reference but - seems unlikely. I welcome your feedback.
no subject
You can apply yourself to learning after you return. Many starships have many similarities, and those we requisition are modified to push those similarities further. What is it they have on earth- [There is a pause, remembering a word he rarely uses, not a necessity for most who had been hosts as long as he had.] automobiles. If you can drive one, you can drive most others adequately, if not with great skill.
[Most ships they requisitioned were modified until they began to approach the ships the Nest itself favored, connected seamlessly to the pilot's mind, inoperable by anyone but a host. But the young ones were too unpredictable and too weak in their connection, so the first few were simply changed to be familiar. In truth, truly advanced Hosts rarely required a ship catered to them, capable of tapping into the knowledge of past Hosts to operate nearly everything, but there was a comfort to it. Something like how the walls of the station curved, perhaps.]
Many missions will utilize some form of starship. Your training will eventually include standard piloting, but that is Cathaway's realm, and she prefers to wait to handle the group until they are more grounded. Individuals are encouraged to learn whatever they wish, and to improve themselves in whatever ways they can.
[Said with the implication that anyone worthy would want to improve themselves.]
no subject
I guess you guys do put some effort into making sure everyone is, heh, compatible.
[The chuckle sounds like a hiss when it escapes the mask. He crosses his arms and lets the silence stretch between them.]
What if the Empress can't make something from this alleged nothing?
no subject
If you decide to pursue it, you may let me know after your return.
[The question bears no immediate response, as Prince blinks, slowly, and shifts his attentions momentarily to the spooling engine of one of the ships. Thinking, clearly. It was not an answer he would give flippantly.]
It is a possibility. Our only goal is to get her to where she can tell the truth to the people. If nothing comes of it, if Bal and Inival are left unchecked, then there is nothing we can do about it. At the very least the truth has been heard, and perhaps someday it will be acted upon.
[It was less than a complete failure, but it was nothing like a success. That was not unusual. They were fighting a losing battle. It had been that way for far longer than he had been a Host. A reality the new Broods would soon have to face.]
Either way, we will not stay in this place long enough to see the results for ourselves.
no subject
[When Prince turns away, his head turns back out towards space and the ships. He draws a gloved hand over the suit sleeves idly, trying to understand the material more. This is the kind of thing he could use, if he still had a planet or a universe. But he did what he could do there. Whatever's next will be someone else. He is not meant for sitting behind a desk. He is meant for putting a mind alien on his neck and saving the universe. When the man, generously speaking, turns back at him, he makes eye contact. Or eye-mask contact, at least.]
[Additionally, he hears fighting a losing battle perfectly clear in Prince's explanation. Oh boy, has he long known that feeling. It's comforting and familiar, in the way darkness is.]
Well, if that's the case, I look forward to always thinking that we have always had the best possible solution for all of these missions. No one can tell me otherwise if we leave before the end of the movie.
no subject
[To go further was meaningless in this situation. He taught all kinds of things. Everything he had learned in hisamy years, to the best of his ability, with some level of patience and a genuine wish to see them usewhat he taught to survive.]
If that is what will bring you comfort. As long as it does not discourage you from applying yourself fully to the task at hand.
[Don't get lazy now.]
no subject
If fighting hopeless uphill battles wasn't the name of my game, I wouldn't be here.