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raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] raiamemes2021-04-30 08:56 pm
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TDM 001


TEST DRIVE MEME 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore.

Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.

Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The rescue mission prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, but the other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.

Please reserve questions about consequences for altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. On this test drive meme, please reserve this thread for clarification and setting questions.

On the first day of reserves (May 10th), only players who participate in the TDM will be allowed to reserve. You must link an AC-length thread from the TDM for early access. Starting on the 11th, any prospective player may submit a reserve. Our hope is that this will avoid overwhelming our reserves.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
☆ Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

☆ Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. The mods will not facilitate escape-plots/etc on test drive memes. However: if you app and are accepted you are more than welcome to chat with us about the possibility of having escaped or attempted it.

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

You're being allowed to mingle with the others. The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

After a meal — it's hard to say which one you'd call it, since the whole crew is on rotating schedules — you may decide to wander the basecamp. Folks in every department could use a hand. Those willing to help out may get friendlier reception than those who play the tourist. For more info on what else you might find, check out the LOCATIONS page.

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything they see that seems 'human made' will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about going beyond the shade of the dragon's wings. For the sake of the test drive mods will not be facilitating plots that deal with characters going further; we ask that players with an interest in exploring this wait until the game is fully open.

❀ RESCUE MISSION

"There's no time to waste," the woman says breathlessly as she grabs your arm. She pulls you to an augmented reality sand table and you will find yourself standing alongside some of the others you may recognize as having 'hatched' with you. There are murmurs by the Adamant's survivors as they pour over data. Maybe you remember Captain Childe from the stern interrogation she gave you a few days ago, but in any case but she's standing at the edge of the sand table looking at the distance scaled between the enormous huddle of HUD badges — the Adamant's survivors — and a tiny pocket of pulsing green some fifteen kilometers away.

"They knew better," Captain Childe says, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "They should have been back hours ago."

"Fucking scientists," says a man with a faintly French accent. He is scarred and battle-worn, and looks properly pissed off. He's also sporting several fresh injuries, one of which seems to have warranted the use of a crutch. "They'd lose their heads if they weren't attached. Let them wait out the storm."

"No," the captain says. "They're too close to the Rat Nest. We don't need a repeat of —" she trails off, as if seeing you for the first time. She looks you up and down, and then: "You've been told by now that everyone here has to pitch in. If you know how to fight, be ready in ten minutes. You're our rescue squad." She turns and walks out, and there's an awkward moment where everyone present is looking at you to make a choice.

Ten minutes really isn't a lot of time to get ready to walk into danger. Or maybe you aren't a fighter. Maybe you just don't care. But either way, there are people looking to you. To see how you'll react. To see what you'll do. To see if you belong.

What'll it be, hatchling? Fight or flight? Maybe you ought to start coming up with a plan.

FIELD WORK

There's a cadre of scientists cut off by acid rain. From their last transmission, they were driven into the Rat Warrens — and you've been tasked with rescuing them. Too many members of the Security Team are themselves injured, and none of the remaining ones have experience leading a fire team. Let's hope you do — or at least that you can fake it.

Maybe you've hand-picked your team. Maybe you're just stuck with whoever else was closest. Either way, your companions are some of the people you might recognize as fellow 'hatchlings'. If you know them already — good, you've got a head start on what they might be capable of out in the field, and you can chat about the little things. You know, like the weather. Acid rain, gotta love it.

Either way. You're given few small slabs of surprisingly lightweight alloy that has a sheet of — is that hide from the Leviathan? — stretched across them, to divide up amongst your team. "Helps with the rain," Ensign Porter says, trying to sound cheerful despite the grim set to his jaw. "Just come back in one piece. I kinda feel responsible for you guys, you know?"

Before you know it, you're outfitted for the trip. Weapons (if you didn't have your own) and maybe some medical supplies, handed over with a grimace by Doc Sunya.

So then it's just you, your tiny team and a fifteen kilometer hike. Oh, and the acid rain. Luckily, the shields seem to be keeping it off, but it's hard to hear anything over the impact of the drops. Anyone want to play I never?

Or maybe you think you should make a break for it. This is your first time being outside the Leviathan unsupervised. You've got supplies, and other people with as little to lose here as you do. Maybe you should talk.

THE RAT WARREN

You've made it to the last transmitted location of the scientists. What you find doesn't bode well — one of them seemed to have an arm torn off — at least, you think it's an arm — the way it's been disintegrated by the rain makes it hard to tell.

One thing's certain, though. There are bloodstains leading into the nearby maw of a hole in the ground. There's a putrid odor wafting from it, and the sound of frantic scrabbling.

You have an idea of what might be down there. 'Giant rats with tentacles', Porter had said. Don't let the tentacles grab you, they leave chemical burns that usually result in amputation if they can't be treated immediately. But there's a chance the scientists are still alive, and you need to make your choice.

If you and your small team venture down into the darkness, what happens next is up to you. You'll be encountering hoards of these monsters. The scientists are still alive, but will they stay that way? And more importantly, can you get them back to the Leviathan in one piece?

PCs versus the local fauna, round one, FIGHT!

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to put player characters 'in charge' of the planning/logistics phase. If another PC tags into your thread, you and that player can decide which PC will be 'leading the charge'.

☆ Your character will have: a mini-railgun, a spear (if they don't have their items/weapons from home), a first-aid kit, the acid rain shields, ration bars (that are essentially condensed protein bars — they do not taste good) and one of the smartwatches, which will have a mini holographic HUD displayable on its interface. If your character is the sort to request other things, feel free to assume they received them (within reason — please remember that resource scarcity is the name of the game — feel free to be creative here!).

☆ There are fifteen kilometers to cover. If your character has an ability like superspeed/etc, please keep in mind it will work, but you also have your allies to consider. Normal walking time over this distance, given the difficulty of the environment (steep hills, acid rain, unknown territory, etc) would translate to several hours to an average person.

☆ Feel free to use the NPC scientists however you'd like. If you want your character to find some dead, you can. If you'd prefer they be rescued, that is also acceptable. These are essentially 'your' NPCs that you are using to facilitate the story at this point — the sky is the metaphoric limit!

❀ BOOZE

A week. You've been here for a week.

By now, you might have tried to venture out of Basecamp Leviathan and experienced firsthand the acid rains that the security officers warned you about. Or you might be teaching the kids at the schoolyard how to gamble. In any event, Thorkil seems to take pity on his disoriented new friends and taps his distillery for a little help.

Invitation passes by word of mouth to meet at the memorial wall. Moonshine of questionable quality is passed around in tin cups — hope no one's afraid of germs — as Thorkil explains the great relief it is to be gaining people instead of losing them. This settlement isn't big, and they aren't overburdened with hope or supplies, but there's been a lot of loss in the past three years. Some people might be willing to look at the arrival of these newcomers as a sign that things are turning around.

Bottoms up, hatchlings, and ... Happy Birthday?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to turn this into an impromptu party. Maybe you're celebrating getting all the scientists back alive! Maybe it's something like a wake to remember them in the sad event of their passing. Either way, many of the engineers and other NPCs may join you in this moonlight drinking session, as well as whatever PCs you tag out to or are tagged by.)

❀ OBLIGATORY NETWORK


Welcome people of all kinds to Basecamp Leviathan! I'd give you a hand moving in except...

I have no hands.
Because I'm an AI.
Get it?
It's a joke.

My name is Cartagena. But anyway, this isn't about me or the Adamant for once. This is about all of you. So if you would kindly fill out the following questionnaire to get to know each other; it would also be very helpful for my systems.

NOTE: Participation is MANDATORY.

That was another joke. It's all voluntary. You people and your free will.

1. What is your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What's your favorite smell? Please describe it as you would to a person without a nose. Because I do not have a nose.
4. If you could be any animal in any world, what would you be?
5. How old are you?
6. Did you enjoy this questionnaire?

Thank you for your participation! Please enjoy the rest of your stay here at Basecamp Leviathan.


fortyforged: (Yep)

3b

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-03 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
[If Banshee has any concerns he certainly doesn't show it, although he's had a thoughtful sort of expression, as much as his metal face can muster, the closer they seem to get to the scientists. The trail they've found doesn't exactly bode well, but the old Exo remains calm as he follows after the boy. The weapons he carries aren't nearly as subtle as Cal's lightsaber, which is saying something, really. The sword on his back resembles more of a slab of a circuit board than a weapon, the scout rifle he carries slung over a shoulder much more practical-looking.

He looks to be considering Cal's blade of light before he realizes the boy's attention's on him in turn, and it's hard to miss that look. Banshee grunts with a nod, following after, his hand resting on his gun. They're getting close. For better or for worse.
]
psychometries: (133)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-05 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ Probably for the worse, honestly. As Cal creeps along, he can definitely hear a very quiet... scurrying sort of sound, and something like whimpering? It's not comforting in the least, but he keeps going anyway, lightsaber held out in front of him both as a defense and a source of light.

Suddenly, the scurrying sound gets a lot louder—and closer. He has just enough time to swing around towards the noise as a very large, very ugly rat-like creature lunges at him from the darkness, its maw—if it can even be called that—opened wide. On instinct, Cal slashes down with his lightsaber, cutting through the creature's head, and it goes down, limp.

But judging by the sounds all around them, more are coming, and fast. ]


Beedee! [ Still attached to Cal's back, BD-1's head swivels forward again, his lamp casting light on a whole group rat creatures. ]
fortyforged: (put 'im down quick)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-05 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
[That...is a lot of creatures. Banshee's hand reaches back, fingers wrapping around Lament's grip, an oddly familiar feeling, but he goes no farther than that. The blade's too broad, too long to be wielding so close in someone's company. His fingers slip from the blade, sweeping up his scout rifle instead.

Shots fly towards the incoming rat-things, taking advantage of the momentary blindness from BD-1's light. The ones that had been at the forefront fall, not that the bodies do much to impede the rest that continue for them, but Banshee means to thin them as much as he can. He'll leave Cal to take care of the ones that get past.
]
psychometries: (075)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-05 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ That is definitely a lot of creatures. He's very, very relieved when Banshee pulls out his rifle and starts shooting them down with obvious proficiency—Cal might be pretty used to getting mobbed by hostile wildlife, at this point, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Or doesn't appreciate an ally.

He plants himself in front of Banshee, activating the second blade on his lightsaber to better cut down any of the rats that make it through the cover fire. The tentacles are the biggest problem, apparently, and so he takes advantage of the long reach of his lightsaber to make sure they don't get too close—though he ends up slicing through many, many tentacles. Too many tentacles, honestly.

When one of the rats does get too close, he raises his hand and uses the Force to stop it in its tracks, then shove it backwards, straight into its brethren. ]
fortyforged: (that right)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-05 06:29 am (UTC)(link)
[The Exo's taking care with his shots, mindful that he's only got so much ammo and no telling if the armory back at the camp carries something compatible. Maybe after this they'll let him have a better look.

Once Cal dives right into the thick of things he holds off, picking his shots to make sure he won't hit the kid. It seems like Cal's got the better weapon for the job as severed tentacles go twisting and slithering about on the ground. He opens his mouth to shout a warning but it's apparently unnecessary when the creature just suddenly gets sent in reverse with but a gesture of a hand.
]

Huh.

[Now that's something. He's not quite sure what he'd classify that sort of move, not quite a Warlock thing and definitely not any Hunter nor Titan ability. But maybe that doesn't matter much here. Hefting his scout rifle again he picks off some of the floundering rat things before they can recover.]
psychometries: (016)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-07 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ The two of them are actually pretty effective, all in all, as a combination of short- and long-range—Cal's not really that confident he would've been able to handle the whole rush of rats by himself, at least not without getting... tentacled, so he's definitely glad they were able to work together.

Between the two of them, the crowd of creatures thins until there are none left. Cal's still braced for more to arrive, his lightsaber held out in front of him, but... after a few moments of silence passes, he starts to relax. ]


You okay?

[ He did his best to make sure that none of the creatures got through his guard, but still. ]
fortyforged: (huh)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-07 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Kicking aside a yet flailing tentacle, Banshee keeps his own rifle held at the ready a little longer, but no further sounds that might herald more company seem to follow the silence of their slaughter. He lowers his weapon, still keeping a hand on it.]

All good here. Nice bladework.

[Quick and efficient. Having a blade made of energy sure doesn't help none either.

His glowing gaze sweeps the tunnel lined with rat bodies, a grim sight for the sheer number of them.
]

...hope those scientists found somewhere to lay low.

[That's about as optimistic as he can offer.]
psychometries: (024)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-08 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ He nods once, glad to hear that his companion isn't hurt, and shrugs a shoulder, as if to demur the compliment. ]

Nice shooting.

[ He shoots Banshee a lopsided sort of smile and turns back to take in the sight of so many dead rats. His lightsaber is still held high, casting them in a strange, chiaroscuro glow. BD-1 beep-boops from his spot on Cal's back, and a second later he hears more shuffling noises further into the tunnel, but in a slightly different quality this time.

He immediately sobers and steps ahead, carefully picking his way through the rat creatures. Something is back there, and he can only hope it's the scientists. ]


Let's keep going.
fortyforged: (that right)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-08 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Banshee returns the nod, and again to confirm as he starts to follow Cal's lead since the kid's got the light. His head lifts at the sounds from ahead, his hands cradling his gun in case the need comes again. Better safe than sorry.

Creeping around through dark, rat-infested tunnels. Not the most ideal situation. He can't remember much of the briefing, for what reason these scientists went and got themselves so neck deep in trouble, but he hopes they're not to late.
]
psychometries: (029)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-10 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Not ideal at all. Especially the smell, which is only getting worse the further in they go, and is really making Cal wish he had a breath mask right now. The noise is getting closer, at least, for better or worse, along with more bloodstains smeared across the floor, as if whoever or whatever had left them had been dragged.

Cal is so tense that he nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears a human voice call out from the darkness ahead, the voice warbling, asking if someone is there. They must've seen the light from his saber and BD-1's lamp. ]


We're here! We're coming! [ He calls back, picking up his pace a little. Soon enough, the circle of light from BD-1's lamp reaches a small group of the scientists, and none of them look like they're in particularly good shape at all, but still Cal asks: ] Is everyone alright?
fortyforged: (memory slipped)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-10 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Banshee's rifle snaps up at the sound, but he's quick to fall in after Cal as they begin to hurry towards the source of the voices. He hadn't even realized how tense he'd been until his glowing optics fall upon the surviving scientists.

It doesn't go unnoticed how they in turn tense up once he comes up behind Cal, but he removes his hands from his weapon, holding then up to show them he's with the kid.


W-we lost some...

One who looks relatively better than the rest finally speaks up. A couple of others have another propped up between them, a bloodied, makeshift tourniquet binding what's left of his arm.

Banshee glances from the survivors to Cal and back again. His hand goes to the bag at his side that was provided them back at the camp, fishing out the first aid kit. He hands it over.
]