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annexedmeme2022-07-31 04:43 pm
modaccount) wrote in annexedmeme2022-07-31 04:43 pm
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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?
Yeah but it's the perfect snark to fling Anakin. Oh you're a lord now okay sure
There is something to the tension in Obi-Wan's voice that sent a little bit of a thrill down Vader spine. Knowing he caught him off guard, knowing he put him in a place of tension and of fear. It worked for him.
Still continue to step closer not saying anything just yet getting as uncomfortably close to Obi-Wan as the man would allow.
"You used Padme to hunt me down. You put her somewhere she was never intended to be." Over the years he'd come to realize that of course Padmè hadn't known Obi-Wan was there. Of course she had been tricked, deceived, used. More Jedi lies. "And then somehow with others you can spy it against me again Obi-Wan. You took something very precious from me. You concealed him, turned him against me, you had no right."
For all of the tone which was without a doubt menacing, quiet, purposely very quiet keeping his voice as low and clear as he absolutely could Vader was insuring Obi-Wan would have to strain a little to hear what he was saying have to pay close attention. But he hadn't raised a hand, hadn't acted and violence. He was angry yes but just as on Mustafar, he was talking, not going for a Kill.
Hence just Vader. ;)
Padme, he had to own. He had hoped that she would tell him where Anakin had gone, but when she didn't, he had used her going to Anakin as a way to get to his brother. That was one of those path to good intentions situations where ... yeah, that one he had to own.
But as for Luke?
"Your black and white thinking is blinding you again, Vader." Obi-Wan said in a tone that was much more calm now. "As far as I knew, you were dead. She was dead. What do you think Sidious would have done, were he to learn of your children? What did he do with all the other Force Sensitive children he took over the years?"
Obi-Wan spoke with quiet strength and conviction on this point. After what he heard from Tala, what he'd seen the Empire doing as he moved along with the Path. Obi-Wan knew in his heart that he'd have done the exact same thing, even had he known Vader lived.
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It gave it a focal point too. But beyond that, it contained it. Vader was focused on a single person, not the wider situation. It had always been a fault, one Vader didn't see, never fixed. Generally, it served him well but not always.
"She was dead because you put her in danger." He wasn't letting go of that point so easily. "You kept him from me for years after you knew I was alive." Vader, better than Obi-Wan could ever know, knew what Palpatine did to the children he claimed. Which he killed, which he kept and raised for his own purposes.
"Palpatine will never claim my son. I won't allow it." He wondered, idly, if Obi-Wan understood enough about the Sith to see the utter and complete disrespect Vader's address was. Not using his Sith-name, nor title, but his personal name. Wondered if he could even begin to understand the dept of hatred Vader had for him, for all the lies and betrayals.
Because however much Anakin Skywalker had disliked lies, had demanded loyalty, and seethed with rage over betrayals he refused to forgive - Vader was all that distilled into something as thick as tar. Anakin Skywalker's feelings where like ink compared to it.
And the chef liar and betrayer in his life? Was Palpatine.
"Never." It's hissed, almost more suggested than said, Vader leaning into Obi-Wan's space more as he spoke. Never, a vow, a promise of violence. "He cannot have my son. He's mine. Even if you lied to him about it."
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'Yes, Darth, because you were oh so compassionate towards children yourself. Certainly a man to be trusted with...'
Were he younger, even within the first couple years of his own exile, Obi-Wan might have done it. Might have said those words. But the anger he'd felt as he stood among the small bodies had been released to the Force years ago; only the grief remained.
The use of Palpatine was very telling and both of Obi-Wan's eyebrows lifted slightly as he made note of it. "You must be from a point well beyond my own," he said in a thoughtful tone before dismissing the twin observations.
'Here and Now'.
"I kept him from you," he said with calm directness. "Because whether you want to accept it or not, Sidious was the master and so long as he lived, controlled the Empire, Luke and Leia were both at risk."
Did Vader know about Leia? Obi-Wan suspected he did not and he briefly questioned himself for bringing up her name. It had come to him almost unbidden, and as such he had to believe it was the will of the Force. Later, he would meditate and recognize that it was the only tactical move he had at the moment. The camp was too small, Luke was here, Leia was here, Ezra, Padme, now Vader. Trying to keep secrets was impossible, and better he be able to control at least part of the narrative in this mess.
no subject
The first true example of Vader had had about the Palpatine's deeply sadistic nature. Obi-Wan needn't know most of that sacking had occured while tears ran down Vader's face, that in the end, those who had been killed had been given a kind of mercy. The only Vader had been able to give.
"He wouldn't have been the Master-" Vader has started to repeat what he'd tried to tell Padmè. But Obi-Wan's words finally registered.
and Leia.
His mouth curled into a snarl, eyes narrowed. Without the Force his eyes had reverted to their natural blue but had he?
There would probably her a crater where they stood, with so much shattered and twisted metal.
Now he did grab Obi-Wan, his fingers hard and barely cushioned by his gloves, curled around Obi-Wan's biceps as he pushed the man backwards, seeking something firm to alive him against.
There were no words. Just rage.
Padmè had prophesied a son based on mother's intuitions. He'd prophesied a daughter based on ferocity.
They had been right. As he pushed Obi-Wan back, he flashed a thought to an unfinished nursery.
His hearted hammered in his chest. Rage made him hot. Hot enough to be dizzy.
"I want my children."
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And if there was a part of Obi-Wan that liked to sweetly whisper that he deserved it? Well. That was between Obi-Wan and the Force and no one else's business.
He let Vader control the moment, rode an anger that he knew he could never fully understand; despite the avuncular affection he had for both children. As he'd told Leia, he might wish but that did not change the fact that he was not. Particularly given the fact that mother, father and children were all alive and in the same place.
Suddenly Obi-Wan felt his exhaustion done to his bones. The secrets. The hiding. The living of every moment with his head on a swivel, begging the Force to tell him what was the right move, in the wake of so much failure.
"I have no intention of keeping you from them," he said softly. "Not unless you prove to be a threat to their safety." Because, and his eyes make this clear, he has been prepared to die to protect them since they were laid in his arms.
"I made a mistake with Padme," he admits quietly but with resolute directness. "I should not have gone to her, a mistake I then compounded by stowing away on her ship. It was not my intention, but my presence came between you and ..." Obi-Wan took a deep breath, but still couldn't finish that thought. They both knew the results.
"So long as you do them no harm, I have no intention of repeating the mistake of coming between you and your family, Anakin."
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And, as it had over a decade ago (for him at least), Obi-Wan's apology dug into Vader and ripped something
weakto the surface. His fingers loosened, just slightly, from bruising to merely firm."She was supposed to be packing so we could go home to finish the nursery." If Obi-Wan had ever wondered how Anakin had felt about the pregnancy, there was the answer. For the fear he felt for his wife, he'd been so excited, so eager, to hold the blessing that grew inside his wife. To hold a tiny body, count tiny toes, softly kiss fat baby cheeks, and sing lullabies his mother taught him.
"You tell them who I am. Or I will." And he knew Luke at least wouldn't take it well.
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'You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. I did.'
Obi-Wan spooled up the memory of that confrontation, forced it to the front of his thoughts and made himself remember what Vader had claimed. It did little to chase away the soul deep ache he felt in wanting his brother back, but it did help Obi-Wan look through the lens of reality, rather than dreams.
Even in the face of Vader's words. Even stirring up the images that rose, time and again, of Anakin having been at Padme's side, holding his children. Years of reflection, meditation, self-flagellation hadn't destroyed the knowledge of what had been stolen from Anakin. Yes by Sidious' machinations, but also by the blind adherence to dogma that was the Jedi Council and Obi-Wan himself.
'No. No ... you can not let guilt blind you to reality.' Obi-Wan struggled with himself, forcing the here and the now out atop the wishes of the past.
"Very well," he said softly. "But I will tell them; everything, Vader. The judgements they come to will be based upon the actions of us both."
no subject
Oh, how he tried.
Obi-Wan's death had left something raw and ugly inside the clawed-out, burned husk of his heart that Vader tried to fill, tried to burn out more, tried to ignore but to no restitution.
You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. I did. He didn't know how he'd managed to say those words. Doubted if he could now. Some part of him had wanted Obi-Wan to argue with him, tussle with him over the words. Some part of him couldn't stand to hear that broken voice, roughed with grief and pain, tears reflecting in the glow of their sabers and Vader unaware of the tears in his own face. That somewhere in that, his eyes had bled from gold to a blazing sunrise to blue.
"You can tell them what you know. But it hardly be everything." Vader pressed Obi-Wan back, a nonverbal command. Stay. Before letting go and taking a step back.
Again. Watching. Making sure he was obeyed.