  
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?
|
|
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
onemind) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
emptynesters2016-02-03 09:43 pm
Nathaniel Horn | original character
ONE
[He really could care less about this whole mission. Maybe it's a remnant of his race's doctrines that's making him think that - they always were the type to keep their heads out of other people's problems. If there was galactic wars raging around them, or diplomatic failures threatening to ruin alliances across the galaxy, his race would just twiddle their many thumbs and hope that it would all pass over quickly. They had nothing to worry about, personally. In the eyes of the other races, they were just useless busybodies who had no precious resources to their name. Honestly, their planet could be blown apart the next day and nobody would miss it.]
[Nathaniel frowns as he stares out of the windows, watching the ships go past - there is a very real chance he could die in this mission, and he's not liking the thought of that one bit.]
What a mess. [He murmurs, before turning towards some other hapless person awaiting to be sent off. He gestures to himself, his mouth breaking wide into a grin - he can tell other people are nervous, and he wants to help with that if he can.]
Hey, tell me the truth. This thermal suit doesn't make me look fat, right?
THREE
[They may be on a super time-intensive mission where the fate of the empire hangs in the balance, but somebody seems to be ignoring that. There's a good flock of dragonbirds hopping and flapping around this young man, who seems to be enjoying himself immensely. Empire, shmepire. He has a bunch of new friends, here!]
...And I'm going to name you Roberta, and you look like a Steve, and you, you adorable guy, you just have to be...uh? Hm.
[He looks up at whoever is passing by, gesturing to one of the dragonbirds in front of him with a frown.]
Hey! What do you think I should name this guy? He looks like a Francis to me, but I'm not sure.
WILDCARD
[Nathanial can be found making fun of some of the other recruits by shapeshifting his face and voice accordingly (feel free to discover him making fun of you), lounging around doing nothing, poking his nose where it doesn't belong, or actually being a decent guy and helping to carry stuff/help people out/try to cheer people up. Whatever you want to do, I'm up for it!]
one
[Hand on her hip, tilting her head with a grimace on her face like he just said the most offensive thing she's ever heard and she's ready to fight him about it. What.]
no subject
Not at all. If you said no, I would've been disappointed. [He pats his stomach - even though his tone is light, he doesn't seem to be saying it in bad taste.] I've been working on getting a bit of chub on because you instantly get ten times the huggability. That's totally a word.
no subject
[Skinny bitches, such as Gerty! Who is really just fucking around with him because she's grouchy.]
no subject
[He cuts himself off, raising his arms like he's flexing - his muscles balloon under the suit, straining at the fabric, before they shrink to the point where there seems to be nothing but bone. He winks, and they expand back to what he had before he started this discussion.]
See?
no subject
Dude! What the hell? The fuck is wrong with your arm?
[That can't be real.]
Quit playin'. [She's coming over to grasp his arm, check for muscles. He's bullshitting this somehow hey.]
no subject
Want me to do it again? You can feel it, verify for yourself.
no subject
I'll punch you in the face, man. Don't fuck around with me. [And yet - ] Do it again.
no subject
[He laughs and does it again, but this time only to the arm she's holding - she can feel the muscles swelling under her grip, like little balloons.]
Bet I could beat anyone at this ship at arm wrestling with these guns, right?
no subject
[But could Gerty? She should think this through. There's some business to be made here, friend.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
three
Who cares?
no subject
How would you feel if you didn't get a name to have people call you by, huh?
no subject
Why don't you ask the more sycophant members of our nest.
no subject
[He's not going to give up - she may want nothing to do with this, but he's not going to take "no" for an answer.]
So, come on, just one name, please? Don't go breaking this little guy's heart.
no subject
They're all going to die in a few hours.
[ She points this out bluntly, possibly actively trying to break a little guy's heart. ]
no subject
Which is why it's so important to name them. Let them have at least something before this planet gets destroyed, y'know.
no subject
[ Clearly she is brimming with empathy. She has never gotten on well with animals... Every pet she had ever owned as a child had died in some terrible neglected way. The only one she had ever killed purposefully had been her brothers iguana, but that had been retaliation for a slight she no longer remembers who instigated.
With that in mind, she points to a pair of runty ragged dragonbirds, ]
Donovan. Jerome.
[ Her brothers. She hopes they're dead. ]
no subject
[Boy, does he personally know that phrase well. But the names placate him, and the grin is back on his face like it never left.]
See? That wasn't so hard. Donovan and Jerome, huh? [He bends down to give them both a pet on their heads.] I'm sure they love them a lot.
no subject
Prince isn't nervous- at least not in the way the young Hosts are. He has other worries, no concern for his life- he would not be accompanying them on this mission. He and Cathaway would stay behind and wait and the result of their training and their efforts would not be known until these same ships were once again docked. But he does have ears and eyes and a face that is decidedly unamused.]
If that is a concern of yours, I would suggest you devote more time to training.
[It may have been a joke, if it weren't for the fact that Prince's uniform left very little to the imagination. Someone did a lot of push-ups.]
no subject
[He says, saying the word like he's eating garbage - if there's anything he hates more, it's being told he needs to do something he doesn't want to do. Training? Who needs that? He's probably, like, allergic to training.]
[He suddenly gets a very mischievous look as he looks Prince up and down. (You can practically see the light bulb go off over his head.) He concentrates - suddenly, his average physique bulges and grows, muscles straining against the fabric of his suit. Prince should recognize it as a direct mimicry of his own body.]
[Nathaniel gives him a wink (his boyish face looking absolutely ridiculous with his now muscular figure), flexing his arms as he speaks.]
I mean, who needs training with guns like these?
no subject
Strength unearned is worth nothing. On the day you find that trick isn't enough to save your life, you may regret your flippant behavior.
[You could almost wonder if anyone had ever told Prince he would regret his own imperious behavior- clearly if they had he had not taken it to heart.]
YOU ASKED FOR THIS three
At this most important question though, she tilts her head to the side, humming most thoughtfully.
And then.]
Have you tried asking her?
I DID, YES
[He looks at Flora, quirks an eyebrow, then looks back at the dragonbird. Hm.]
Well, I could, but I'm afraid I'm no expert in Dragonbird-ese.
no subject
Just pay attention.
no subject
[Instead, it reaches its head forward and clamps down on his earlobe with its mouth.]
Hey! Hey, ouch, hey!! [He cries, with a yowl, pulling away and rubbing his poor ear.] You're supposed to tell me something, not use my ear as lunch!!