revivalprojectooc | Spring Test Drive Meme!

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Spring Test Drive Meme!

Welcome to the Current Test Drive for The Revival Project!

This game is a spin-off from the closed The Drift Fleet game. For more information about the game, including more details on the setting, please check out the FAQ here or the premise here.

A thread on the TDM will be required for all applications. Please view the FAQ for information about how this works. Any questions about the game please direct to the comment section of the FAQ as well.

If you are a Drift Fleet alumni bringing your character from the game, please label your character as 'DFAU' on your top level. Also, keep in mind you have complete flexibility on how your character comes here. They could be taken before endgame, after endgame, two years after, one year before, etc. It's up to you! If you want to completely restart your character, they're not considered DFAU anymore and won't need the label.

So go! Explore Agra 10! And, as always, HAVE FUN!

Thread ideas:

- Explore the city! There's a map here and a bit more description of some of the buildings here. Most of the buildings are run down and have clearly been abandoned for years; fortunately, the water treatment center appears to be working, but power is intermittent and unreliable. The hotel seems to be the most crowded, but you might want into what appears to be an abandoned storefront and find someone else scavenging or even sleeping.

- There are spaceships! That's right, there are currently several small spaceships grounded in the hangar. They appear to have power, but only one ship will let you enter. (For test drive purposes, the ship that will let you enter is up to you, so just pick whichever name appeals, and go for it!) The other ships won't open for you, but it might be worth poking around the one that will...

- Do you hear a storm? A giant, power-altering storm has been ravaging part of the planet for a month. It shows ghosts of people you know and those you don't. It drains you of any super-human abilities and tries its best to keep you from getting to its origin. Are you going to try anyways? Or are you going to chase the whispers of people from your past? More information can be found here.

- Can you hear me now? Upon arrival, your character will have on their person a small, handheld communications device. Maybe they know exactly how to use a computer, smartphone, or tablet, and immediately blast out a text or video trying to figure out what's going on. Or maybe they're not so tech-savvy after all, and everyone is about to get a lovely shot right up your character's left nostril.

- Wildcard! You're welcome to use any previous test drive scenarios or previous game events as a basis for a thread/situation, or simply make up your own! Keep in mind that you're currently stranded on a planet with only basic necessities, but there is enough food and fresh water. Creature comforts, however, seem to be distinctly lacking...

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, Jon has read his share of fiction as a child, and contrary to popular belief he doesn't spend all his time in the Institute's basement, recording stale statements on a long outdated recording device. And as far as first impressions go, Cal does check several of the boxes in Jon's mental list of general hero tropes. It might not help that his research at times sends him onto some of the... Weirder</> message boards on the internet. And this isn't weird as in the supernatural sense, but rather weird in a 'Martin, what am I even looking at here?!' sort of way.

"Why, yes." Jon answers the question "At least that's what I used to be doing." Before everything just... Happened. Wouldn't it be nice to go back to those days?

At least that means that being told to be expected to stop a storm of all things doesn't strike Jon as too odd anymore.

"I take it this storm you are referring to isn't an entirely natural phenomenon. Something more than merely weather."

What sort of world did Jon come from? Cal has to wonder, especially when he's been told that even from his own galaxy, people didn't come from the same timeline, and that alone was baffling.

"That's probably a safe assumption," he says. "The Agrii are pretty certain that these particular storms are deadly to them but not to us, and these things have kept them from home. I've only recently experienced one for myself- it's dangerous to be caught in for the wind and lightning alone, but it also made you see things. People you might have known." And potentially send you falling off dangerous cliffsides if you were stupid like they were to track the storm into the mountains.

"...and it affected...well, special abilities and powers that someone might have, if they were caught in it."

Oh, they are all from the same timeline. Mostly. Time just doesn't always work the way one would expect it to. Especially in certain places. You can wander endless corridors that only exist outside of reality for what feels like months and only have been gone for ten minutes to everyone else. Fall for hours or plain be stuck seemingly buried alive for weeks merely to be asked what took you so long once you finally crawled your way back into existence.

Strange things just happen. Though by now Jon can at least claim he has gained an understanding for them. A certain insight, earned along with a variety of physical and mental scars.

Jon shuffles a little awkwardly as he listens to that information, turning back halfway to cast a frown upon the hangar's door. A storm usually takes place outside after all. A storm that made one see things...

"If it's dangerous..." he muses aloud "Maybe that's where I need to go." He doesn't want to. He really doesn't.

And yet there he goes. Turning around fully to go outside and find this storm.

Hardly is Cal claiming seniority or expertise in anything, especially when he's only been here for roughly a month, and even the things he knows, he's aware that there's always room for improvement. And when it comes to the study of the Force, one can spend a lifetime on it and still only gain and understanding of a fragment.

The Padawan expects questions- it's natural when one arrives the way they did in a place they were. He's had his share and knows he hasn't even asked them all. And while he'd been a bit resolved himself about the idea of getting to the bottom of this storm business the moment it presented itself, he'd done a little more reasoning.

So it's quite unexpected when Jon not only states as much, but makes the decision to apparently do so. "Huh?" Cal blinks, both he and BD-1 watching before they exchange a look and the Padawan is moving to tag along after him. Certainly he's not about to leave the man to do such explorations alone. "Hey, wait up," he calls after.

And it’s asking those questions he has that Jon tries to avoid. Though he can’t be sure if he can even compel anyone here. Or if any attempts at forcing himself to just... Know something... If that is even possible any longer.

But he’s also too afraid to try. To figure out just how deeply the Eye has interlaced itself with his very being already. Even here, where he is hardly feeling watched at all...

Cal’s shout has him stop, though, and turn back enough to give the younger man a quizzical look “You are thinking of coming along?”

Oh, that’s a question, alright. But one based in faint confusion rather than a need for information.

"Well, yeah. I didn't think you'd be so set on going into the storm."

Cal comes alongside him, looking towards the hangar's exit. "It might not be as dangerous as it was out beyond the city because of the terrain, but it's still no normal storm. It's better having someone along."

There were few enough people here, and if the Agrii weren't really going to look out for them, they needed to do so for each other.

The sound Jon makes in response only barely passes as mockery of a partial chuckle and only does so much to mask to underlying fear.

“At least you’re not yelling at me for heading there.” Which, really, would be easier to deal with. He’d just have to snarl back, which is a much better front to hide behind.

He shakes his head in what may be defeat “If I don’t go now, I never go. I will just sit around, dwelling on whatever dreadful possibilities might lurk behind and within that storm and.... End up unable to move.” Fear is a remarkable motivator.

The padawan shrugs. "I could have, but seeing as how a bunch of us pretty much did the same thing..."

His expression looks a little grim as he hears Jon out, and he nods slowly. "Doesn't look like we'll have much choice in that matter for long. The storm's been shifting from where it was. It's looking to hit the city."

"That doesn't sound as if you learned much about it." Jon concludes while exiting the hangar and casting a disoriented look around. Right. Unfamiliar city. And a mess. Maybe it would be wiser to keep an eye out for potential shelter, but... Well.

Jon turns to Cal with a short gesture of a single hand, wordlessly asking for directions while phrasing a whole different inquiry.

"You mentioned something about it messing with-" there's a pause here "...special abilities?"

"Not too much aside from confirming it's no normal storm," Cal admits. "I didn't expect it to be easy, but it's definitely something else."

It hadn't seemed wise to press any further, and with one too many close-calls and his connection with the Force gone, the padawan hadn't wanted to chance it.

He seems to hesitate before nodding. "Yes. Although it seems the Agrii have some means to do that themselves. There are people here with different sorts of powers. Venturing into the storm cut off those abilities so long as you were out in the middle of it."

“What about yourself.” It’s a question that isn’t asked as one, but curiosity sure is starting to get the better of Jon. A curiosity that almost makes him consider to try and reach for that very information. Though he knows better than to force it, the memory of when he went too far and only ended up hurting himself still fresh enough on his mind.

Also it’s... Nice. If people are willing to share willingly than feeling compelled to do so. So Jon makes sure to not put any pressure behind his questions.

“Do you call any... Powers your own?”

It's why he's been careful about saying things, so guarded as he is about himself and his past. Getting back to a point where you can allow yourself to trust people has been a difficult one, but Cal feels he's made progress. He's still careful here, even though there are people who haven't even heard of Jedi or the Force. And yet there are those who have, and it's a reminder that just makes him fall back upon playing it cautious.

He'd anticipated the focus being turned back to him. It isn't a huge leap to reach such a conjecture, the question a reasonable one.

Cal shakes his head.

"Not exactly," he says, but there's obviously more to it. "It's more like...a sensitivity to an existing power, a sort of energy that's in and around all things. Where I'm from, it's called the Force."

Force... Not something Jon has any knowledge of. Though he does mentally go through the list of names and terms he has come across as being used for the Entities. Slaughter, perhaps. War or The End. But not quite. Maybe not every world is as bound to their fears as his own?

Wouldn’t that be a nice thought...

“Can’t say I ever heard of it.” He finally admits. Even though the phrasing of being sensitive to an existing power... That sounds a little familiar at least.

“What does it do? Or... Make you do?”

Cal smiles crookedly. "It doesn't make us do anything. It's a part of life. But if you can attune yourself to it, then you can do many things. Sense presences, move faster or farther, lift things you wouldn't otherwise physically be able to do..."

He shrugs again, a suggestion that those are but a few examples, but he doesn't offer anything more. It's a wide spectrum and masteries vary depending on the person, and he's hardly a master. He's not even officially a Jedi.

"You don't sound too surprised about the concept of people having superhuman abilities." He can be curious about newcomers too, especially if they're from other worlds, and especially if they're all expected to be stuck here together.

Edited 2020-03-06 17:54 (UTC)

A power that is part of life sure sounds less terrible than any of the fears - And therefore isn't something Jon expects to ever encounter in his own world. And yet it is a nice thought to entertain.

At Cal's question, Jon makes a brief face and for a moment appears unwilling to reply. Then he simply shakes his head.

"I- I told you I'm an archivist. The institute I work for deals with reports of supernatural encounters. I record these statements, sometimes directly from those who experienced the encounter. Then we research them."

So far, so harmless. Though he then holds up his right hand, drawing attention to the large burn scar covering most of it.

"And sometimes we have our own encounters. An avatar of the Desolation, which would be the fear of loss, burning and ruthless destruction, asked me to shake her hand in exchange for information. Most of these entities do not agree with my work and the previous archivist was very successful at interrupting their rituals and disposing of their agents, so... We did get attacked a few times." As he says that, Jon brings his hand up to his face, tapping two fingers lightly against some of the pockmark scars littered across his face, neck and... Oh, those are almost everywhere.

He takes his hand down and glances away before adding "Also, all employees of the Institute are aligned with the Eye. I... Should probably mention that."

It's still a power that can be misused, as lies the potential with all powers. The dark side thrives on fear and the stronger emotions, making so easily within reach.

Cal waits but doesn't prod. If Jon wants to explain, then he will. And he does. The title of archivist covers a broad spectrum. Old Jocasta spent most of her days in the Jedi archives, back when the Order still existed. It's a brief thought, but it still brings a pang of nostalgia, of things lost.

Jon's world sounds like it has its own share of the unusual and supernatural. The padawan's brow furrows as he takes in the scars and what the archivist relates with them. "Did you choose to be an archivist?" It seems a risky job, perhaps one of those that just must be done. Who knows? Seeking avatars of such things doesn't sound like a task anyone would willingly take up, not without necessity.

"The Eye?"

Jon may have liked Jocasta, though. She'd remind him of Gertrude - Gertrude with a lightsaber rifle. A mental sure to scare him deeply, but... Well. Gertrude was so much more ruthless than him. So much more efficient.

That first question earns Cal a quick look, followed by a short, humorless bark of a laugh "Christ, no! I didn't even have the necessary qualifications. Still don't!" And it was a much nicer thing to freak out about than the possibility of being devoured by some monster.

"I joined the Institute as a researcher after finishing uni. Because, like everyone else, I needed a job! Then my predecessor passed away and Elias just- He offered me her job? Which was better paid and, never having been down in the archives before, I had no idea of the state they were in." By this point, he is pretty much just venting out his frustration. Just how could so much simply have gone wrong within these past few years? Jon doesn't know.

Jon's tone takes on somewhat of a seething note "Now Elias is in jail for murdering Leitner. He likely also murdered Gertrude. And while he refuses to see me, I know he is watching. Everything." Frustration is making room for a certain degree of exhaustion and Jon shakes his head "And, no. We can't simply leave. We are tied to the Institute. And Elias. It's... Anything but ideal." Maybe he should have recorded this little rant.

"As for the Eye..." he considers this answer for a moment, then looks at Cal "Have you ever had that dreadful feeling of being watched? Or followed? Were you afraid of being discovered or have your secrets revealed?"

It's a lot more than Cal's expecting to be said, but he listens, getting a better picture of the man. The job Jon's been saddled with definitely sounds anything but glamorous, but then he'd made that pretty clear when he'd explained where his scars came from.

As the archivist winds down his tirade, the Padawan nods slowly, feeling BD-1 shifting from one side to the other behind him. It's clear enough that the poor man's in a difficult position. He can't help but wonder more about this Institute and it's dark subjects of research.

"How long have you been with the Institute...?"

The questions he's asked in turn have him frowning again, and he nods once more. "Yes to all of the above, unfortunately." The last one especially rings true. He'd spent the last five years of his life hiding that he was a Jedi while in the midst of an Empire-claimed territory.

And that's really just the more obvious scars. Jon has come to joke about starting a collection after all.

He nods at Cal's reply, then elaborates "That is the Eye. The ceaseless Watcher. Or simply the fear of being watched, followed, found out... That." What he will not go into detail about, is the role of the Archivist as avatar of this particular Entity.

"How long?" Jon looks over at that question, seeming confused for a moment and then as if he's counting back before making apologetic gesture with his hand when finally answering "Seven years? I think I spent four of them in the research department." And yet it feels much longer than only barely three years that he's taken over Gertrude's place. But then again, time. Jon still isn't too sure he hasn't spent weeks or maybe even months in that dreadful coffin.

"You mentioned being sensitive to this Force, and that there are multiple ways it can be of use." Jon decides to permit his own curiosity to show "Is there something you tend to use it for?"

"So...where you're from, you have actual representations of these concepts of...what was it, destruction, paranoia, that sort of thing?" It sounds like a dangerous thing to focus on, and even though he doesn't voice it, the look on Cal's face is very much one that suggests 'Why..?'

He doesn't much like the idea of this Eye, not when he has more literal threats keeping an eye out for him and his friends back home. Although he'd like to believe he's safer here, habit and the proof that there are still those who have found themselves here from his own galaxy have kept him from saying too much about himself, at least any more than he has to.

That doesn't mean he won't answer questions, and as Jon responds to his, Cal considers. Seven years is quite a while. Even five years seems almost a lifetime ago to the padawan, and yet at the same time never far away in memories so fresh it could have been but a few days.

"I use it to survive," he admits, a humorless smirk tugging at one corner of his lips. "Things have changed a lot, back where I'm from, and with those of the Order I used to belong to." He pauses, taking in a slow breath as he casts his thoughts back. Back before everything fell.

"They called us Jedi- those who studied the ways of the Force. We were trained young, as soon as we were realized as Force-sensitive. Jedi were meant to be protectors, peacekeepers. And then came the war between the Republic and the Trade Federation and its allies, and the Jedi were called to fight for the Republic to try and maintain that peace."

"Fears." Jon clarifies somewhat flatly "They are the manifestations of fears. There are fourteen, existing outside of reality and... It's far from public knowledge they exist. I only learned about them a year ago." And he does miss the blissful oblivion of not knowing. As for that unspoken why... Well. Jon very much would like to know that as well.

And even though his own world gets to endure attempts at dropping an apocalypse or another on it every few years, wherever it is Cal is from, the young man doesn't appear to have it any easier. Regardless how you put it, war just remains a dreadful thing. Always so much closer and so much more imminent for everyone involved.

The description of this Order Cal mentions, gives Jon a short pause. He's more used to hearing of orders in a more religious sense. And in a way this one may be as well? This Order of the Force? Training young people to use their connection to this Force to become peacekeepers and then plunge them straight into war. Well. Maybe it is a military order after all. Or something in between. Jon hasn't yet decided how to picture it.

"And you were drawn into that war. I am sorry to hear that." Though it makes that comment about survival very understandable. Part of war remains trying to survive.

Cal can understand why it would probably be better that such things not be realized by the general populace. People dealt enough with their own fears to have the addition of knowing their fears literally take on physical forms. And yet he's not sure what the point of researching these entities is if it's not for public knowledge. Perhaps it's something along the lines of studying the Force.

Jon isn't the first to liken the Jedi Order to a religious sect. Many with only a vague understanding of the Force thought as much, and for most of the galaxy the Jedi were merely figures of legend until actual Jedi set foot on their worlds to help protect or liberate its people from Separatist control. Cal wouldn't have called them a military order, but he couldn't say that it wasn't when they had become so deeply involved in the Clone Wars.

His nod is barely perceptible, a minute tip of his head. "It ended abruptly, five years ago." He'd been only about fourteen then, the same as many padawans having accompanied their masters into numerous heated battles. "That was...when the Order ceased to be. We were betrayed, and suddenly the Jedi were named the enemy. The Republic and the Separatists were merged into a Galactic Empire, and it continues to grow."

There's a lot he omits, but it's clear it's an uneasy topic for him as he looks away, intent on keeping his thoughts from going too far down those dark corridors of the memories that still so vividly haunt him. BD-1 peers over his shoulder hooting at him, a welcome anchor that he latches onto with a weak smile and a light brush of a pat on the droid's head.

It would be nice if it were as harmless as mere studies for the sake of gaining understanding rather than feeding the never ending thirst for knowledge of some ceaselessly observing patron and inadvertently increasing its power to theoretically summon it into that very world at some point in the future and plunge that world into endless terror. It's really not that this is the sole reason this Institute had been founded to begin with. Except that... Well. Maybe it is. There just happens to be a bit of a competition among these powers of dread to see which one might ultimately succeed.

Though Jon isn't exactly bound to share everything he has managed to unearth so far. Especially not the details he's still struggling to come to terms with himself. And it's not like he's going to cause an apocalypse here, right? And yet his curiosity remains unchanged.

For now he's happy to listen. And learn about this unfamiliar world. The term Galactic Empire has him frown, however. That sounds more as if Cal isn't referring to but a single planet. Which is an odd scale for Jon to think at. He's already struggling to think globally at times.

"You were hunted." He concludes, setting aside the galactic measure. An entirely different sort of survival. And one he can sympathize with after having been a target of the Hunt for some time.

"From defender and peacekeeper to... I am sorry to hear that." Jon says with a genuine display of compassion "I assume you had to hide who- Or what you are."

It comes naturally to Cal, having been to many worlds and unable to claim one as home. Coruscant had been the closest thing, and it wasn't an option he ever thought of returning to, not after everything that had happened. He's not sure what he'd classify Bracca as, despite having stayed there the last five years in the wake of the betrayal. It hadn't been the most welcoming place, and everyone looked out for themselves.

Jon's conclusion and the assumptions to follow receive another nod. "The Empire made it clear that the Jedi were the enemy. If they weren't killed on sight, they were turned, twisted to the dark side." That, he'd only found out recently, and it's still a difficult thing to swallow.

"Now they work for the Empire as Inquisitors, hunting any surviving Jedi. I managed until recently to fly under the radar. Now it feels like everywhere I go, the Empire's already established a presence. But I'm done with hiding."

“Dark side?” The confusion is genuine. Jon has met the Dark. Looked at their dark sun and not only survived, but destroyed that thing. But a dark side? Side of what?

At least from the sound of it, these people were more like... Well. Jedi turned evil? At least as long as one assumes that these Jedi were the good guys. Oh, how Jon hates this line of thinking. Reminds him on some bad piece of fiction.

But he sets that thought aside and instead just nods himself.

“I... know that feeling of not wanting to hide any longer. At some point running his gets... Tedious. Exhausting.” He lifts his eyes up and directs them forward, in the direction they are headed. Towards the storm. Just another thing he has chosen not to hide from.

Spring Test Drive Meme!

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