Test Drive Meme #1

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Test Drive Info

⇝ Test Drive Memes usually take place in a virtual reality simulation occurring in characters' minds that tests them for 'fitness' before they enter the setting officially. However, for the first TDM, it will be set in the real world and centered around the arrival of the first crop of extra-universal "recruits."
⇝ Test Drive Meme threads may be considered game canon so long as all parties agree to it.
⇝ Test Drive Meme threads do count for Activity Check.

Welcome to the Broken World.

You can't even remember how you got here.

All you know is that one moment you were in a world you were used to, comfortable in. It might have been a regular day or the most important day of your life, in the middle of a meal or brushing your teeth or the battle to save the world or the moment of your death. Whoever took you didn't seem to care what you were doing when you were taken, and now that you're here, they still don't seem to care.

You wake up after what seems like the blink of an eye, nauseous and dizzy but otherwise unscathed, possessions taken away, barefoot and dressed only in a set of plain grey clothing, like the most bland uniform ever imagined, in an empty room with empty walls and one single door with a small barred window and a single number printed just above it. The door is locked and cannot be broken by any means, you can feel your connection with any superhuman powers you had severed, leaving them just out of reach - you can feel them there, tingling at your fingertips or in the back of your brain, but you just can't get to them. There is no one to greet you or explain what's happening. You start to lose track of time, the only sound the distant ticking of what sounds like a massive clock.

Just when things seem hopeless, when you feel like you're about to go mad, there's the sound of a commotion outside your door. The sounds of a battle, or perhaps an infiltration gone just slightly wrong. Either way, when the door opens, there is a figure there with a hand outstretched.

"Welcome to the Broken World. Come on, we'll explain everything just as soon as we get you and the others out of here."

i. The Rescue

The moment of peace and freedom doesn't last for long.

Even while you're still disoriented from everything that's happened in the past few hours, the person who's just freed you pushes a gun into your hands. If you're familiar with guns, it's simple enough to use, with a recognizable safety and trigger, a magazine of bullets attached to the bottom. If you're not familiar with guns, well...the person who just rescued you will give you a minute-long introduction to it. Press this button, click this hammer back, pull the trigger to shoot. Nothing fancy, but enough that you won't hurt yourself or anyone else you're not supposed to be hurting. Probably.

After being handed the gun, the person rescuing you looks at you not unkindly and gestures for you to follow, leads you through a maze of concrete corridors to the entrance of the building. There, you'll find something of a small warzone, a battle in progress though almost completed, in the parking and courtyard area between several small, squat concrete buildings. There, huddled in the safety of the building's entryway, the person who just rescued you will point across the courtyard toward an encroaching patch of jungle and quickly explain the situation - you've been brought to this place by the Sylphid, long-standing enemies who will "eat your soul" and replace you if they catch you, and the person rescuing you is part of a resistance army intending to overthrow them. You're to make your way across the courtyard and into the jungle, where you'll find someone named Brycen, a blue-skinned man who will get you out of here even as the battle rages on.

The courtyard is mainly open, with a few benches and trees that can be used as cover, and there is a small group of Sylphid - the enemy, the people who took you and are now shooting at you, but who look like average everyday people - who are taking potshots at whoever crosses the courtyard even as they engage with the rebels. You'll be provided with suppressive fire from those same rebels while you cross the courtyard, but other than that, you're on your own unless you want to take the run with whoever else just got rescued.

ii. Race Through The Jungle

Once you make your way across the courtyard and into the jungle, you'll find Brycen waiting for you about a 10 minute walk in. The moment he sees you, he gestures you over and leads you a few feet further into the underbrush where there are a few All-Terain Vehicles parked in a small clearing. Shooting you a little grin, Brycen spreads his arms to present the vehicles, then heads over to the closest one. What follows is a quick explanation of how to use the ATV, a small hovercraft that can seat two. Brycen points out another ATV that is driven by a member of the resistance, and tells you that this person will guide you to the Witches Camp, where you'll be living from now on. But it's on you to pilot the ATV from here to there.

Well, you and your new friend.

See, there are half as many ATVs as there are people, and each one does seat two. Brycen gestures at the nearest extra-universal arrival and tells both of you to hop on. Now, you're both bound for the Witches Camp together, for better or worse. It's a long walk, so don't piss off your pilot!

Or overturn the ATV or crash it, because the path from the clearing to the Witches Camp is rough, without many trails or paths that have been carved out of the underbrush, something the revolutionaries have done to avoid being tracked back to their home. The ride will be bumpy, hover-vehicle or not, with a lot of swerving to avoid obstacles and dodging to avoid branches. Hopefully, you won't have a run-in with any of the local jungle wildlife, which can range from small, relatively harmless animals to lizards the size of small dinosaurs and wild cats.

It's a wild ride, but eventually you make it to the Witches Camp, a sprawling maze of low-to-the-ground buildings and markets interspersed with jungle for cover, and the rebel leading you keeps doing so until you pull up in front of Central Command. This building is one of the nicer ones in the area, and houses the Witch herself as well as the seat of the revolution. This is where all of the rebel plans are made and where new arrivals are put up.

iii. Welcome Home

Once you enter Central Command, you'll find that they've prepared space for you. First, you'll be led to the residential area of the large building and given the keycard to your new apartment, a small furnished studio apartment with a main living/sleeping area, a desk, kitchenette, bathroom with shower stall, and a walk-in closet for storage. Once you've been oriented to your new apartment, you'll be taken to pick your network device from an array of devices ranging from ultra-modern tablets that can fold into the shape of a phone to an equivalent of regular modern-day cell phones to magical tablets or books that can be interacted with by characters unfamiliar with technology. They'll also offer to alter your own phone or device to access the network, if you prefer that.

After that, you will be guided to one of the big board rooms in the Central Command, where you'll find a large spread of food on the table, ready to be dug into - all the staff at Central Command have brought food from home to share with the new arrivals. You'll also find notebooks and pens to take notes, because this is the official orientation, and you'll come out of it having learned pretty much everything about the rebellion, the Sylphid, how the rebellion originated and most importantly, how you got here and how you can go home.

This is where the rebels point out that helping them is helping yourself, because the only way to send you home is to commandeer the device that brought you here in the first place, and the only way to do that is to overthrow the Sylphid overlords.

After this presentation, no matter how accepting or skeptical you are, you'll be given a small stipend and set free to explore the city, linger around and chat over the potluck leftovers, go back to your apartment, make a network entry to meet other people, or whatever else you'd like to do. Want some new clothes? They can direct you to the markets. Looking to start learning magic? They can direct you to the Mage's Sector where you can find a teacher. Looking to dance your cares away in the wake of this terrible upheaval? They can direct you to a club in The Electric Heart that sells cocktails that'll erase all your pain for the evening.

Go wild. The Witches Camp is your new home. What will you make of it?

iv. Network

Once you've settled into your apartment in the evening, you're free to browse the internet and intranet on your new network device. Care to make an entry and meet the others in your same situation?

NAVIGATION

Comments

Luke Skywalker | Star Wars: A New Hope

[forceguided]

WELCOME TO THE BROKEN WORLD.

It's jarring waking up in an unfamiliar place. Just like it's jarring how little Luke can feel. Sure, his ability to feel the Force is notoriously fickle, but usually if he focuses hard enough it's still there.

But not today.

The Empire? But it didn't look like any sort of Empire designed place he'd ever seen. Sure, he hasn't seen all that many, but still. On edge, he paces the room trying to find some clue or anything he could use to get out of the situation.

I. THE RESCUE

No wonder Leia had been so grumpy when they rescued her, Luke thinks to himself sourly as a gun is placed into his hands. Not quite the blaster he's become used to, but it'd have to do.

Sure, the run here, we'll cover you, you run plan is... more of a plan than they'd had when rescuing Leia, but something a little less up in the air would have been nice.

"Well, guess there's no point in putting this off." Luke tries to shake off his annoyance, but doesn't do a very good job. Instead, he channels that annoyance into taking a few pot shots at the Sylphid himself, before turning to another person dressed in the same drab, gray as he is. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Except without the Force providing that extra layer of grace, he's going to have to be very, very lucky to get through this unscathed.

III. WELCOME HOME A

This meeting is so boring! The paper in front of Luke is covered, but not with notes. There's little doodles instead. An entire little fleet of X-wings engaged in a battle against some TIE-Fighters. A few doodles of R2-D2 from various angles. Maybe even a little stick figure one of him with a light saber that's probably meant to represent him as some badass jedi in the future.

Then, something pulls Luke out of his doodle induced haze and he looks around him in confusion.

"Huh, what? What'd I miss?"

The answer is probably the entire briefing.

III. WELCOME HOME B

Once that's taken care of, Luke heads for the Market district. Once he's been given some vague instructions of how to get there. Th gray clothes aren't uncomfortable, but the thing they represent is. So he's going to get out of them as quickly as he can. After that, he'll probably pick up something to eat from one of the small market vendors. Sure, there'd been food at the briefing, but he's still a growing guy!

IV. NETWORK

un: mtfbwy

[Some time has passed since his arrival and Luke's been quite busy. Surprisingly, given his complete and utter disregard for the briefing, he's been quite studious. With his connection to the Force severed, Luke has turned to the local school of magic to try and fill that void. It's not working Though honestly? It's nice just having someone to teach him again.

His network post is simple, it's just a small video clip that opens to Luke trying to perform a simple cantrip - Mage Hand. And it works. The spectral hand does appear. Where he fails is that he's definitely trying to lift way more than the simple cantrip allows. As the spell flickers out, he turns to the camera with a rueful smile.]

Guess it's gonna take more practice. How's it going for everyone else? Hope you're having better luck than I am.

IV. WILDCARD

((OOC: Throw anything you want my way! Will prose match.))

III. A.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra, on the other hand, pays an intense amount of attention to the briefing, trying to log away any scrap of information that might prove useful, and keeping an eye out for any hint of deception on the part of their hosts.

Although, sometimes, his gaze does sweep around the room to the other ex-prisoners, trying to work out any observations and thoughts about them, too.

As the meeting winds down, doodles of familiar ships catch his eye. He huffs in amusement at other young man startling out of his daze, and replies lightly, "I dunno, what's the last bit you caught?" he asks lightly.

But he goes on, murmuring, "X-wings and TIE Fighters, huh?" And if his eyes are actually lingering on the stick figure with a sword, well, who could blame him? He's a competent pilot, but for him that's just a useful skill.

Not his vocation, not like being a Jedi is.

:D

[forceguided]

He'd been in the middle of drawing his old X-34 when he'd been interrupted, but Luke doesn't particularly mind. It's just a way to pass the time.

Ezra's question makes Luke pause and he thinks about it for a moment. "Welcome?" He smiles at the stranger sheepishly, well aware that means he's spaced out through the entire debriefing.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He points with his pen to the X-wings. "The start of the rebellion." Points to the TIE Fighters. "The Sylphids are the ones who did all of this." And finally to a little hovercraft, "The only way back is by taking over technology the Sylphids have."

He didn't actually ignore the whole thing. He's not that cocky.

Luke's face blossoms into a larger smile when Ezra names the ships he's doodled. That means they're from the same universe! Now, time to figure out where in time they are in relation to each other. Think. Think. Oh, that's actually easy.

"What do you think of the X-34?" He taps his half finished landspeeder doodle curiously. Sure they're being phased out in Luke's current time, but Rey had talked about it like they were relics. So it's now his way of gauging time.

What? It's better than introducing himself and seeing if they react weird. Once was more than enough of that.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra huffs a laugh and rubs the back of his neck.

"I've used a couple; they were fine?" he offers. "Sorry, I do fly, and can pull my weight as a mechanic in a pinch, but I'm not one of the serious pilots in my family. I don't have all the spec filed away in my head."

[forceguided]

"No you're fine." Luke laughs lightly at that, because wow, his test actually worked!? "You don't need to know the specs or anything."

He debates telling the stranger about why he'd asked, and after a very split-second of hesitation does so right away. Sure, he doesn't have that extra sense from the Force to know if this guy is trustworthy or not, but he seems fine? Plus, it's nice to have another person a little closer to his age in this sea of Seasoned Adults.

"Time apparently doesn't matter to the Sylphid, so it was just to see if maybe you were from the past or future. That's all." He's not sure if the other guy had experienced this fact yet, but doesn't see a reason to make it seem like it was a Big Deal or anything just in case.

"The name's Luke by the way, you?" And, he purposefully leaves his last name off. Because that's a test for another time, with maybe less people around Just In Case.

[ezra_of_lothal]

"I'd clocked that, actually. I ran into someone I knew back home on the rush out of the Slyphid prison, but he didn't know me, yet, and looked years younger than when I'd seen him last," Ezra replies, flashing a quick, reassuring smile.

"I'm Ezra. Ezra Bridger. Born on the first Empire Day, and I'm 18." So that should give a very solid point of reference, he figures.

[forceguided]

"Ah, Yeah. I know how that is." Luke nods, feeling very wise in the fact that he's just encountered this exact situation. "I met a lady who apparently knows me thirty years in the future! Talk about wild."

She hadn't seemed too happy about that, but he's going to ignore that sour first impression, because Rey seems pretty nice.

"No way! Get out of here. I was born two days after the first Empire Day....but I'm 19." So there is a time discrepancy after all. Just not a very big one.

iv —— un: quill

[jetboot]

( peter doesn't have magic and, frankly, is quite glad of the fact — sure, when he'd been a kid, very small and before all of the space and the 'peter, your dad's an alien' stuff, he'd had toy sets meant for sleight of hand and card tricks and he'd imagined becoming a magician, top hat and bow tie and stage.

but after landing up in space and after everything with adam and — more recently — everything with doctor strange, peter doesn't think he could ever be bothered with the amount of care and attention that has to go into making sure there are no side effects of — magic. )

Nope. ( he thinks he'd heard something about how they should all be able to do something, but he remains unconvinced and there's a possibility he may have heard incorrectly.

but realistically, he'd just settle for having his element gun back.

or his ship.

and his ship.

because, like, both would be good. ) Pretty sure I left all my luck in my other galaxy.

( ha ha ha, peter doesn't have any luck, wouldn't even know who she is. )

Maybe the Sylphid ate his luck u_u

[forceguided]

[Luke was already a baby space wizard, but now he's a magic user x2. Or he will be once his chip gets removed. And he actually learns how to use the Force. He might actually end up stronger as a Tian-aligned mage than a Force user without intervention.]

Huh, oh are you aligned with the other planet?

[A ship would be nice, but honestly Luke kinda wishes R2 was here. Life feels a little more empty without having to go around making sure the little astromech droid stays out of trouble.]

Aw, don't say that. It just means you haven't found it yet.

[Nineteen and already sounding like a Hallmark card. Good job kid.]

[jetboot]

Heba? ( a beat and a loose, dismissive shrug. ) Yep.

( he'd had dreams, on and off, of someone or something called the master of the sun, who'd asked peter if he felt as if the course of his life was wrong. upon waking, peter had never really known what it meant or might even mean, beyond, like, maybe he needs to stop eating cheese before bed or something.

(no, that's a lie, he knows it's nothing to do with anything like that, and he's never quite been able to shake the thought that maybe the course of his life is wrong, but that was a series of thoughts that always led him down more thoughts and memories that he didn't really care to revisit, the kind that lingered on his mistakes and everything that he'd tried to make up for.)

which is to say — when he'd been told they were ""aligned"" with a planet, peter had thought of that dream and decided: whatever. )

I've always said — you make your own luck. ( pause, wryly— ) I just haven't figured out how that works here.

[forceguided]

I couldn't do this sort of stuff where I'm from, so it looks like there's something to this planetary alignment system.

[But what does he know? It's not like he's an expert on anything, especially not anything to do with this new world.]

Just hope it's not a spell. [Luke's answer is dry, but amused.] Because this is gonna take me a while.

i. bc i couldn't resist, also tysm for indulging us! <3

[borrowednames]

Mara had been grumpy enough to attack her rescuers when they'd come. And since they'd freed her right before they moved to Luke's cell to do the same, she was still grumpy by the time they managed to spring him out. For a moment she just stood there, however, eyes wide with disbelief... and recognition. Of all the people in the galaxy, she had to run into Luke Skywalker?

Thankfully something was blocking out the Force, sparing her from once more hearing the Emperor's last command.

YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.

Not that she had any trouble remembering it.

She steps aside as their ragtag group continues on with their prison break, but her gaze had locked on to the back of Luke's head. If looks could kill, he'd probably be dead by now. And she's just going to glare at him the whole time — until he turns to address her, whether by coincidence or because she'd gotten his attention with her staring.

She levels her gun right at his face, and it's clear in her stance that she knows how to use it. "Don't tell me what to do."

Not a problem! I'm just humbled anyone wants to play with him at all tbh

[forceguided]

And Luke, in typical fashion for him, remains completely oblivious to this for the longest time. Because there's just so much going on, so much else that he has to focus on, how is he supposed to know to pay attention to the other escapees too?

"Woah! Hey Lady!" Luke's hands fly up into the air, gun in one hand and the other just empty. Trying to show that he isn't a threat. Because, let's be honest, he isn't a threat to her at this phase in his life. "I'm... sorry?" He tries tentatively. "I won't do it again?"

Meanwhile, he just has to wonder...what'd he do?

III

[nouskaiananki]

It would probably be polite to ask. Given the day he's having, he's not feeling polite.

Instead he simply reaches passed the boy and picks up the doodles, flipping through them.

"Paying attention would behoove you."

Re: III

[forceguided]

"Hey that's m-"

Any complaints he wants to make fall silent as Luke freezes, uncertain.

There's several doodles of Vader's fighter specifically blowing up. Enjoy that. He won't even apologize. At least not yet anyway. Too soon.

[nouskaiananki]

"Clearly."

His right hand - the ones he's holding the notes with - is finely made, the black metal plates fitted and some looking like muscle, others clearly not. His finger tips are gold as are other other places. The left is simple durasteel, obviously cheaper and much less well made.

Regardless of Luke's feelings (and Vader doesn't seem to recognize him) he turns through the drawings.

"Your realize my suit would protect me from my ship being blown up. I'd simply commandeer a replacement." This entire thing may have turned into a twisted test. He's not sorry.

The contrast between Luke and Leia. No wonder she's his favourite

[forceguided]

"Yeah well, it's a work in progress." Luke replies mulishly, still frowning and uncertain.

He'd been unsure about the identity of the man at first, but his comment seems to confirm his suspicions. This person right here? Is a very Bad Man.

But what could he do about it? Nothing.

"Well, we'll just blow that one up too then."

Don't ask him how, he hasn't worked that part out yet. Better yet, don't ask him anything because he's operating under a very thin layer of bravado. He'd prefer not to realize the rest of him is still just scared farmboy.

No offense, but you're the very personification of the boogey man to him right now, because it's all he knows about you.

To be fair: baby luke would be different

[nouskaiananki]

Vader looked down at himself (what was left of himself) and then back at Luke. His mouth couldn't be seen which was just a well, because his mouth was twisted into something that might have once been a smirk. "Do you believe it would do something being roasted alive would not? Or do you believe I lack the knowledge in the Force to undo your efforts?"

Luke opened the door with questions. But it should be noted: personification of nightmares or not, he's not done anything but (temporary) steal Luke's papers and mock him a bit.

It's not like he's blown up any of Leia's friends yet. Totally not a fair comparison. >:(

[forceguided]

It's probably a good thing he can't see the smirk, because it definitely would have goaded him into saying something stupid...er. Because Luke's already really good at saying stupid stuff.

"Do I believe it'll..." Oh. Well, that sounds painful. "Well how should I know!" Someone nearby clears their throat loudly and Luke has the good graces to look at least a little ashamed. This.. probably isn't the time or place for this.

Oh he's all too aware. It's not like he can cause a scene or do.. anything really. Because if Luke tries anything right now, he's absolutely going to be seen as the bad guy in this situation. Which in Luke's mind isn't fair, but he's learning very quickly that life isn't fair.

"Give them back." Those papers are his, not yours. He might not be able to control anything else right now, but this at least he can try and have some say over. Though it's not like he can make him give the papers back. Give them back or what? Deal with Luke sulking through the rest of the debrief? Oh no, whatever will anyone do. Not the sulking.

I

[newmemorywhodis]

Link had nodded, making a soft sound of agreement in response to Luke. But while Luke seemed to already have a good handle on how to operate the 'gun', Link was having a bit more trouble.

He didn't know how to learn to use a new weapon. All his memories of learning to fight were gone; he'd just woken up with nothing but muscle memory to guide him. He'd always picked up a new weapon and just known how to use it. But it wasn't like that with the gun. He'd been shown how, sure, but the instinctive mastery he was used to just wasn't there.

Which meant that when Link tried to imitate Luke, and pick off a few Sylphid himself...the shots went wide, hitting the ground several meters away from them, before misfiring entirely.

Link winces, and looks back at Luke, as he rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Just a casual shooting lesson on the battlefield, NBD

[forceguided]

"Don't worry, it takes practice." Luke smiles encouragingly before stepping over to correct the way he was holding the gun.

"Here. Make sure you hold the gun with two hands." He holds his own gun up as an example. "Tight grip with your dominant hand." He demonstrates, "Solid grip with your other hand like this. You'll have better aim when your gun's more stable."

It's kind of nostalgic really, Uncle Owen had started teaching him how to use a blaster when he was pretty small. Because of the Raiders.

"Then, make sure you're steady and shoot." He shoots a nearby tree, hitting it squarely. Just as an example. Possibly scaring the shit out of anyone using it as cover. His bad! "Now you try."

obviously the best place to have one, yup

[newmemorywhodis]

Link watches Luke's movements closely, trying to mirror them with his own. He's slower, and definitely not as confident, but he manages something that's at least not completely inept.

He aims at the same tree. Then he looks at the weapon - what's the thing he needs to press again? - before finding the trigger. The bullet flies, and while it's not a great shot it does at least graze the tree.

The noise, however, is something Link isn't at all fond of. He winces back from the weapon, and find himself wishes he could cover his ears.

Obviously! Because it means Link's less liking to hit an ally on accident. V important.

[forceguided]

"See? What'd I tell you!" Sure, it's not perfect, but what newbie ever is? Luke had been horrible when he first started learning how to use a blaster. Sure, he'd also been like seven, but that's not the point.

Point is, like most things in life, practice is what makes perfect.

"Yeah, these are.. pretty loud." Blasters were still pretty noisy, but they definitely grated on the nerves a lot less. At least in Luke's opinion.

Oh well, lesson time over.

"Think you're ready to go now?" Because they really needed to keep moving. Before the enemy got any funny ideas.

that is important

[newmemorywhodis]

He's be much more ready if he had a bow. But he doesn't, and so Link will just have to make do. Gingerly, he holds the gun at the ready.

"Yes," he says, with a nod.

Re: that is important

[forceguided]

"Alright, let's go." Luke grins. Giving Link a friendly clap on the shoulder. "You'll be great."

And then he's off, not as smooth as he might have been with the extra little help he usually gets from the Force, but still holding his own.

Plus, they're lucky that the Sylphid seem to be terrible shots. Unless they're just unwilling to damage the merchandise.