 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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Prince - Iota specialized npc
Feel free to peruse his about for a general overview.
From an interaction standpoint, Prince would be the guy teaching you how to not tear your muscles free of your bones with your new-found strength. He is, in many ways, an incredibly sour gym teacher. He's Iota-specialized, and is skilled in most forms of combat, although he himself prefers to wield a fancy space halberd, but won't have told your character what his ability is. He's very mentally quiet as well, and, in general, would not have attempted any mental communication with your character. Which doesn't mean he can't hear them and doesn't find it immensely annoying. If your character asks about the Nest and the Hive, he'll answer, a bit, but in the manner of a salesman who doesn't believe in what he's selling, and after a certain point, if you get to theoretical, metaphysical, or philosophical he will attempt to foist them off on Cathaway.
Your character almost certainly would get the impression he doesn't particularly like them, especially if they are loud, rude, excited about the Hivemind, or self-centered. Even if they're not, he's not a friendly guy, although he never yells and does give out praise in training when earned.))
1 - Mission Start
[In the most technical sense the ships, unnatural grey and black things that they are, fall under Prince's responsibility, but for all that is true he seems perfectly content to leave Cathaway to final checks. It might seem lazy or haphazard from someone else, but from what you know about Prince, very little about him suggests that. What it may suggest instead is that he thinks her skills are better suited to the responsibility than his own.
Instead, he is to be found standing slightly in front of the flock of vessels, arms crossed tightly over his chest. The same sleek jumpsuit and cape he wears when traversing the halls are essentially unchanged from the average day, excepting the fact that his finger is tap, tap, tapping against his arm. A shocking display of impatience.
However he is available and willing to answer questions about the suit you were given, whatever weapons or supplies you were requisitioned, or to answer to what he thinks may happen on the planet and the moon you're destined for.]
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When she picks him out, and when she's close enough, she stiffly nods her head in greeting, an almost bow. ]
Sir.
[ Not like he wouldn't be plagued with any number of questions before they left, been in command long enough herself, to know what it was like having people constantly at you for attention or information. Besides, for all that he was an over all prickly sort, ( reminded her too much of Wyldon that way ) he taught fair and he taught well. She could bend metal now with her bare hands, and doing it without ripping her muscles apart - that was all his teaching. ]
Can you spare a moment?
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From the outside, then, it's hard to tell the source of his distraction, whether he was lost in his own thoughts or someone else's or something else entirely. But it only lasts a second, two, and then he's turning his head to her, focus keen again, finger stilling. The knight, then.]
That is why I am here. You have a question?
[He speaks low and level, but his voice is deep enough that it caries, even through the chatter and the sound of ships in various states of preparation. A keen ear- keen even among the hosts, may note that he's speaking slightly more quickly than usual.]
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Your recommendations on equipment, sir? For sabotaging the drills.
[ She'd gotten good, enough that she could follow more readily what people talked about now without getting lost on the particulars of things she's never heard of, and forced herself to learn what she didn't know even if it was like being sent back to her page years. But by the Black God, she was determined to do her job, no matter what. Enough to even use firearms these days - but there was always something she didn't know about here.
Better to ask someone who did know their way around and she trusted to be straight about it. ]
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She was apparently from some old world, not yet industrialized. Monarchial and home to unique powers. She had done well to adapt here, but that didn't mean that technological thought came easily or naturally to her. Something easily remedied with a closer bond to her brood, but-
Well.]
That depends on your approach.
[It's a half-answer at best, but he's considering. He could tell her how to go about it, but it was likely to be just as much of a detriment as a help. Once she was in the field she would have to be able to adapt to a changing situation. Trying too strictly to follow orders would leave her at a disadvantage.]
Many tools will undoubtedly be available on the planet itself. Do not hesitate to use them. The only thing I would suggest carrying with you would be a heat cutter. Everything else will be too heavy and unwieldy.
[He trusts that she will know her own talents well enough to know the general angle from which to come at it.]
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we meet again
However, her thoughts of how the colour of the suit is all wrong are vaporized when she finds Prince inspecting the fleet. She had no intention of checking the vehicles herself, as she figures someone better suited for piloting them will take over, but eventually she ended up there. And now, at the sight of him, she is pleased to have come.
Not that she enjoys his presence, but it is a good distraction from both the garble of voices and thoughts of others.
The first thing she notices is the finger tapping against his arm. It grabs her attention more than any of the sleek row of starships. Her eyes linger for a while before she slowly pulls them up, to his face. Eyes too blue. Her head tilts slightly. ]
One would think to find you busying yourself elsewhere, Teacher. [ A pause. She smiles. ] Unless you are lost. [ She knows well he is not. ]
longsuffering sigh
[The words might seem harsher if they didn't seem typical. There's no bite to them, anyway, and for there might have usually been the faintest edge- exasperation or judgement- it's not there now. Rather he seems somewhat distracted. In fact, he's not even facing her, which was inexcusably rude. It was as if there were bigger issues at hand than answering to her jabs.
Which, to be fair, there were.]
There is nowhere else for me to be. This is the whole reason I am here.
[He does turn away from the scene around him, then, to look at her, with her carefully closed off thoughts and her endless probing. She worries him, still. There is likely nothing to be done for it now, but that didn't mean he wouldn't make an attempt.]
Do you think this isn't important?
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But here, it is different. A little bit.
She keeps her distance. Does not mind him not turning. A fake sense of security out of that, in a way. Around him, around Cathaway, she tries even harder to push her thoughts and emotions under a cloud of neutrality.
When he turns, however, she stays perfectly still, postured, like a well-mannered, educated high society girl. A smile, as always. Eyes a little too blue blinking slowly once, as she tilts her head to look at him.
A beat. ] It is not my place to decide what is or is not important. [ Words that come out seamlessly, like silk; words of a servant that knows what to say and where to stand. Lies to comfort those she serves, in a way. It is unavoidable.
It is not her place to decide what is important. But it is her prerogative to care or not. She never does care much, even if she follows. ]
But if you are here to attend to the task, I am assured it is.
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[There was no grey area in this. You either believed the mission was important, or you didn't. Whether by apathy or by antipathy, it didn't matter. And if one of them thought it so unimportant as to do any less than the most that they could, they put the mission as a whole, and their fellow Hosts, at risk.
That was what he was meant to prevent. But there was no way to completely eliminate the danger. Early missions always left him discomfited. Something only likely to be noticed by Cathaway, who was not likely to care.]
I am here to attend to you. The task is yours.
[And that, perhaps, is the reason for the impatient tap of his finger. He was not going on the mission. He did not go on missions anymore at all. The station, these Hosts, standing here upon the deck and waiting for news of their result, failure or success, that was his mission.]
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Wow look at that sad phone tag typo
i never see typos
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:3c
[ Sometime after speaking with Cathaway, Mack finds her way to Prince. She looks pretty happy about something, and if the tone of her voice is any indication she's pretty pumped up about the mission.
But right now she's waving at him and doing her best impression of a fifteen year old girl meeting her friends for the first time of the day. Yes, it's that insufferable. ]
So I was wondering, once we get the Empress here, is she going to stay with us? Because I doubt we can find her another tiny moon for her to rule from. What's the game plan for that?
i'm laughing
Today, however, is not that day. He's nearly preoccupied enough with the mission at hand to not take notice of the overly-familiar greeting.
Nearly.]
That is not my name. [It's delivered flat and low, buffered by the sheer excitement that practically radiates off of her. He preferred not to have such a clear picture of her mental and emotional state, but if he was to be subjected to it, better this emotion than some other. It was easier to impress caution on one excited than it was to bolster someone afraid or reluctant.]
No. She would not be comfortable here. [The station was not designed for people who were not of the Nest. Those who weren't found it to be- discomfiting. Strange and unnatural, without the symbiote's natural affinity for it.]
Once you are outside of Bal's influence, past the area of space their Armada currently occupies, you will be met by her allies. They will take her and her retinue aboard their ship and ferry her safely to the Galactic House of Chairs.
[The furrow between his brows seems slightly deeper than usual. He's not entirely comfortable with surrendering the Empress, but it was the best solution. The one that kept their actions from becoming forefront. It should help keep eyes off of the young Hosts for at least a little longer.]
From there she will be able to expose the treacherous actions of Bal and Inivial. If things go well, she and her moon will be safe from further meddling. Any actions taken against her will bring immediate suspicion on them.
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[ She loves push-ups! Actually she hates them with a passion, but she's not bad at them. She's just lazy, but lazy people usually find the easiest way to do something... which might or might not involve getting someone else to do it. ]
If things go well. [ Her remark is maybe unnecessary, but all the same, she prefers to assume things will go horribly wrong, as they often tend to. ]
And can anything be done to them anyway? Besides a stern warning and some bureaucratic meaningless measures? Can anyone get shot for a change?
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[ Aoba's case of finding a symboite specialization route has been... a unique one. Apparently it's as rare in the multiverse as it is on Midorijima to come across one being with two independent minds and personalities. While Aoba remains dominant and (grudgingly) willing to pursue a ROH path, Sly Blue still tugs at the back of his mind to reconsider and go IOTA. At least he does whenever they're around Prince.
Aoba doesn't understand it himself, but there's something intriguing about him. It's almost the same feeling he remembers getting around Mink.
Oh. Oh no. He's caught himself staring at his teacher in the hangar. His face flushes and he can feel a jab from Sly Blue, one that makes his temple suddenly throb. He drops the omnitool he was working on one of the ships with and hisses quietly- ]
Ow. Shut up!
[ He rubs his head, turns, and bends to pick up the tool. And bends. Is it just him, or are these suits they were given tight? ]
oh my god
But to be fair, most of the uniforms to be found aboard the Station are. There is an efficiency to them that Prince finds pleasant and a simplicity to them that the Nest prioritized. It's not something he is likely to notice.
Instead he notices the clatter of the tool and the hushed response from the strangely unbalanced Host.
He may have been speaking to one of his brood- or perhaps simply the cluttered air of the hangar- the chatter of spoken words and the hum of thoughts and feelings layered over it. It was loud, with the stress of the mission upcoming. It's that stress that is his concern, now.]
Are you well?
i'm so sorry
His face flushes deeper and his head throbs again, but this time he keeps his curses to Blue inwards. Not that they're any less protected from Prince that way, or loud. ]
Yes, I'm fine.
[ Short, clipped, spoken while his eyes dart back to focus firmly on the task at hand. ]
Just testing the speed on the ship's computer hardware before takeoff.
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new account!!
Same butt
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That was a butt
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She finds herself curious about him, but much of that has to do with the title. In her world, Prince Roan is one of a kind, but he is a potential leader of his people—albeit an exiled one, cast aside because of the aspersions his mother perceived from him. Lexa had been the only one who could overpower his mother's rule, and she hadn't done it yet. In a way, both Roan and Prince have some similarities, but that's because of their culture.
Everyone in the coalition could not deny that they were too accustomed to being under the oppression of the Mountain Men, and that they had evolved as a people because of it.
But for all her curiosity, she doesn't ask. Under his training, Lexa is stubborn and imperious, but she's good with a number of weapons, and though she believes in the fact that her life must necessarily be cost back home, she is quick to pick up on what she can here. She refuses to let her new abilities become a weakness. She refuses to be weak, and in that, her imperious nature is all the more obvious. It is likely frustrating, especially when she approaches him as she does today, head eye and eyes lit with a fire that shows that she's prepared for what's to come.
Prepared—but uncertain.]
Should we expect any fights ahead of us? That was not mentioned in the briefing. [She wonders if there is a risk for it—or if they are avoiding the fights, perhaps being too cautious. But she doesn't speak those exact words, despite them being right there at the forefront of her mind.]
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So while he would answer to any question, now, from any Host, regardless of how petty, he takes hers with even greater patience.]
Not physical. You are unlikely to meet any direct resistance until you depart the moon. The chances increase, then, but it would be ship against ship. [Although it would not bring every Host comfort. Some would no doubt rather face an enemy they could fight directly instead of the faceless powers that threatened. It was more straight forward than the challenges they faced. In some ways, more satisfying. But they weren't here for satisfaction.] You should do everything within your power to avoid that possibility.
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Anything that involves a fight is much the same, given the fact that it involves shooting. Her people do not use guns, and though they're connected to the ships, it still twists some part of her right up.]
I do fear we're being too idle and hopeful in our preparations. We don't have enough contingencies to ensure that our people make it out alive. Instead, we're hanging on hope and little more. [Each point in the plan involves depending on not being detected and on slipping in. She doesn't like it.
As for the "our people"—she refuses to let other members of the Nest die freely, even if she knows there will be times when it proves necessary to choose a life over her own. She's made that choice before, and will do it again.
But she sees no need for that decision to be the result of carelessness.]
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The material makes the base of her lekku itch, and she's constantly lifting and rubbing them to try and get used to the difference between this new material and the more natural material she is used to. Her lightsabers dangle uncomfortably on her belt, which definitely does not fit the current aesthetic choice.
But it is what it is. Fretting over choice of uniform isn't going to get the job done faster, and she still isn't totally convinced that she was brought here without reason. The Council was wrong about the lot of things, but the Force working in mysterious ways was not one of them.
So she respectfully bows to Prince when he finishes speaking to another recruit, taking a moment to watch their retreat before addressing him. There's one thing about the plan that's been bothering her.]
Sir. If I may, how many additional passengers are we to be expecting to return surface?
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[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?
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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.
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After getting an inspiring speech like that, I feel like I could run a whole marathon. I hope you selected some spaceship pilots.
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let me just apologize in advance
Still, he's decided he likes Prince (the other one creeps him the fuck out), and Ares has always been unfazed by the feeling that someone probably doesn't like him much. It's expected, just something that goes along with the kind of person he is.
Another fault of his: impatience. He doesn't observe for more than a few seconds or wait to think of something more important before he speaks up.]
Are you bored or something?
[It's not teasing or a jab at him, just a casual question. The only thing that gives the lie to his equally casual stance and expression is an undercurrent of restlessness-- eager for something to happen, for some kind of outlet.]
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Boredom is for dull minds that would be better turned to productive tasks.
[The words come seamlessly and level, as if they had been said a hundred times before. A thousand. An age old saying, or perhaps just his age old saying.]
Certainly there is no time for boredom now. Are you prepared?
[He looks him over, as if he expects to find him more prepared, or less, perhaps, than he is. Critically.]
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[Flippant, but with a degree of seriousness to it that might be easy to miss if not tuned in. His idea of preparedness is being ready for whatever happens, not planning for possibilities, and he'll worry about things if and when it's necessary. There's no point getting all concerned about it before they've even left.]
I'm just waiting on everyone else to be. Does it always take this long?
[His head tilts curiously as he peers up at Prince, eye fixed on him. It doesn't really matter how long it's actually been; anything more than 'on a moment's notice' is more time to get ready to move than he's used to.]
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