Annexed Mod Team (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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annexedmeme2022-07-31 04:43 pm
modaccount) wrote in annexedmeme2022-07-31 04:43 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme #1
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?
no subject
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
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
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. >:(
"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.
If he'd have known Leia was his daughter it would have ended differently.
Well looks like Vader has a point and isn't simply trying to annoy. Who would have thought.
"Begin documenting your notes." It's very much a command and very much carrying weight of someone who is not expecting defiance or argument. He's just going to stand here and watch.
The If Onlys... Like If Only he'd known Leia was his sister earlier... lol
You took his paper he couldn't write notes even if he wanted to! Which he most certainly does not, because now that'd be like following his orders and that's not gonna happen.
So instead, Luke just... scrunches down into his seat, arms crossed over his chest and eyes defiant. You're not the boss of him. You can't tell him what to do. So there!
Basically acting exactly like the teenager he still is.
Lol
And stares. He doesn't like to repeat himself and even if now isn't the place, later...
pfffffffft Teenagers
Not today Satan! This might just be a small, insignificant battle in a much longer war, but Luke has every intention of winning here. He'll worry about the later, later. Right now he's making a point.
And that point is, he's totally not listening to you. Or afraid of you.
He absolutely is And you can't tell him what to do!Great impression son.
Dank farrik Anakin Skywalker fought in his first major battle when was half the teenager's age. A battle his actions provided a decisive victory in. Even if Anakin Skywalker was dead.
So he waits. The entire briefing if need be. Alert and paying attention, occasionally writing something down, but also just behind Luke. Evaluating.
Not his fault you missed the cute years. u_u
And so Luke mulishly sits and looks sullen. Through the entire rest of the meeting. Not a single note. He actually pays attention to a good chunk of the information being presented, but he makes a damned good show of sullen indifference.
It's a role he's had a lot of practice with thanks to his constant bickering with Owen.
Not *his* fault his children were stolen from him.
Vader himself is only taking the occasional note - the regional phrases he doesn't know, weapons he isn't familiar with, so on. The rest? He commits to memory as if it's been beaten into him to never, ever, make someone repeat themselves.
That trait far predates Palpatine being his master. By two decades.
Once it was concluded he waited. Silent. No he didn't have much patience. Teenagers generally had even less.
.... eh, idk about that. ;;;;;
Luke picks up plenty of information from the meeting. Like about Heba and Tian, actually important things. And he could have picked all of that up while doodling, but no. Someone had to go and be all fussy! Thanks for that.
He gets his papers back, sparing his current adversary a disdainful glance. He hasn't forgotten about this stand off.
But he's also not actually stupid. So instead of a confrontation, Luke integrates himself with some of the Rebellion, asking questions about Heba, Tian, and the planetary connection. It's a topic he's going to find genuinely fascinating, which means he'll be happy to talk about it for hours on end.
That's how he's going to see it.
Wait he has been completely capable of that.
Yes a complete shame the project he hated was destroyed. He'd weep, truly.
Honestly Vader still lingers, listening in on the conversation. But not just with Luke. He's eavesdropping on everyone it seems, making slow rounds and still taking notes. He even asks questions, although he does attention to ensure no one he recognizes can overhear.
He will play well with others for now. But he has his own (selfish) plans forming.
Luke says he was a baby at the time and so had no input
After that, it's simply a matter of persuading some of the rebels to take him on a tour of the mage's sector. After securing a promise of introduction to a great trainer. Why would he pass up such a kind offer?
He can't! That would be rude.
And so, just like that, Luke leaves with a few of the natives. Because it seems like the safest option.
You won't beat him that easily!