  
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
II
[She doesn't like his mask. Though she doesn't need to see his eyes to know what he's necessarily thinking, it comes across like he's trying to hide something. Visual cues were easy to give and catch when you could use your partner's eyes. The Ghost headgear was different -- but she doesn't have it with her, so its inconsequential.
His proximity to her is also becoming increasingly irritating. She isn't a babysitter, and any motherhood she might have obtained was bred by raising zerglings -- and nobody wants to be a zergling.]
If your ideas were any better, then you'd be in command. You're not.
[Neither is she, and she is equally unhappy about it, but she also hadn't had a better idea to present so that makes the fact irrelevant.]
no subject
What is your plan? [That he could scan her thoughts within those precious few minutes before they break through the strain of gravity into that vast expanse of stars is a thought that occurs - he dismisses it, unwilling to strain his tie to the Force prematurely. It may yet prove necessary.]
no subject
[There's something in her voice that hisses and echoes out of instinct, though she doesn't look back over her shoulder. She's too busy peering out of the viewport, trying to imagine what kind of air defenses the planet might have. They likely won't know until they break atmosphere.]
If you want to live, you'll stay near the back of the ship. If it goes up, the debris will hide your descent. After that, its up to you how you land.
[If she were more prepared beforehand, she might have spawned a mutalisk for him -- but that was neither here nor there. She has seen the "Force" he and others talk about. Its not dissimilar to her psionic powers. He could survive the fall if he was sharp enough.
That remains to be seen.]
There's no plan to have until we're past the atmosphere. Then its just a matter of getting the ship to surface -- any surface.
no subject
But fine, if personal space is your primary concern, Kerrigan, allow him to recede to the copilot's chair instead.That she thinks herself a creature of authority is not what concerns him as much as the course she stubbornly charts: neither time nor resources will aid them should she bring them to the feet of the Bal army, and he does not intend to fail in his mission.
He does not intend to let chaos enslave what little order remains.
His attention turns skyward, mask catching the pale glint of rapidly receding atmosphere.] I can assist you.
no subject
Kerrigan jerks her head out of that frame of mind and squints angrily downward.]
I'm listening.
[She's hardly a pilot beyond the basics, but let it never be said that anyone was a better survivalist than Kerrigan.]
no subject
I can feel them - hear their thoughts. [At this range it is impossible, of course, but where he's been crippled by distance and the draw of the creature in his blood, the Force still maintains its hold on him. Inescapable, it seems.]
no subject
[She could feel them too, once they got closer, so she doesn't even bother to question it. Psionics were not necessarily common back home, but they were common enough that his deceleration doesn't surprise her.
But a stray thought makes her pause.]
--clearance code. If you can find one in transit, I can punch it in.
no subject
Progress, however slight.] It was my intention.
[Which is why he then fully seats himself across from her, having already elected himself her copilot; for this, he must be.
Her ego, should it protest, will survive.] Attempt to join their formation - this will not take long.
no subject
[Tactless, but not threatening. Kerrigan does as she's asked, taking a moment to remember where escape options exist before inching toward the blockade. It's not easy for her, to trust that Kylo Ren possesses the competency to complete his task even in spite of their bond. So many years of relying on her own wits to survive often left one's trust in others weak.
It isn't long before she can begin to hear thoughts herself, at which point she falls off the mental radar entirely to allow Ren to do his job uninterrupted.]
no subject
A benefit as much as it is a setback, at times.
His focus falls instead on the task ahead: a cascade of imagery-- of thoughts, scents and sounds all hitting him at once-- rattling the very foundation of his mind without mercy. It had been easier to manage before the symbiote had claimed him; it strains him to the marrow of his bones, dampens his connection to the Force and turns what should otherwise be a simple matter into a battle for control and clarity. And it bleeds. Carries beyond his sterile space into her own.]
no subject
He'll feel her somewhat annoyed and exasperated mental presence alongside his, supporting him stiffly like a set of metal braces and just as cold. Its still difficult for Kerrigan to understand compassion toward those in need beyond the simple black and white blocks of 'right' and 'wrong'. But her brood is in danger, and her instinct is to act.
She continues to navigate as if nothing had changed, but there is a focus to her glowing yellow eyes that was not there before and an aura that permeates her being while she mentally shoves Ren back to work. Time was short and she could not continue her charade forever.]
no subject
There is no complaint for it, no buckling under the strain.
He is, as he has always been, a conduit for greater powers; this is a weight he knows too well.] 554...
[Through the din it is there, within his reach: the faintest glimmer of realization and recognition, held within the mind of some unknowing lieutenant as he triple checks running systems.] ...554-tveris.