JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

[oasismods]

"-̭̫̜̩̪̑̈́̓̌̐-̞͓̘̩͖̿́͒͑͘░͙͈̥̦̼̌̊̒̾̅░̨̢̠͙̖̉͊̽͌͝░̫͔͎̤̘̀̑͋͛̾ȩ̨̬̙͛̐̋̀̕͜m̻̬͈̠͒̌͌̍͌͜ ̡̲͈̙̼̽̾͆̊̃f̖̟͉̲̪̈́̾̀̂̀ą̢̯̘̙́̇͑̈̋i̪̱̙̘̟͌́̄̊͘ļ̢̛̲͕̣͐̎̿͛u͕̣̥̘̳̓̃͗͠͝r͉̠̗͖̰̉̅͗̚͘ę̛̺̥̝̘̄͑̌̈́.̣̫͕̰̭̓͂̈́̓͊ ̟̗͔̟͋̿̒̚̚ͅA̠̫̬̼̣̒̇͛́̊l̫̬͎̤͈͑̀͂̐̆ë̡̧̝̺͖́̍̂͂͝r͙͍̱̫͕̆͊̾͐̕ţ͙̻̣̝͒́̄̈́͆!͕̫͓͉̹̌̍̽̂̓ ̧̛̲͎͖̳̌̆̾̏░͖̲̞̼̹̇̄̌̈́̊░̡͍͎͍̘̇̈́̕͝░̪͚̼̦̃̋͊̆͜͠è̛̞̬͙̠̖̊͌̂m͖̝̟̗̣̽̄̐̚͠ ̛̹̯͈̮̼̈́͊͌͠f̧̰̖͋̊̈̊̑͜͜ą̨͚͎̹̀̎̑͋́i̞̬͓̭̳̎́̓͘͠l̢͈̲͇͕̈́̆̐̌̈́ư̰̞͚̻̺̔͑̓̑ṛ͎̯͚̇̔̾̔̏͜ę̛̻̼̭͊͆̕͜͝.̯̖̫̣͔̔̋̔̽͠ ̺̼̟̲͌́͒̔̅ͅĄ̹̝̖̺̂̇̽̒͊ĺ̛̺̰̰̤͎̾͗͝e̛̗̭̻͕̹̓̔͆̆r̢̛͙͖̘̻̈̚̚͘t̰̲̠̖̻̉͂̆̓̇!̬̞̟͉̺̂͆̊͑͐"

You awaken to godawful static overlaying a female voice that's too monotone to be anything but a recording. The static makes it difficult to understand the warning, but it's clearly a warning if your surroundings tell you anything...

You're buckled into a sturdy seat bolted to the wall behind you. Around you, there are dozens of others like you, some awake and others still unconscious, but it seems most of the seats lining the walls are occupied. The lights are dim, likely auxiliary lighting, leaving you mostly in the dark. You smell smoke and hear the sizzling crackle of electrical systems popping and shorting out. Some of the seats were jarred off the wall, leaving the occupants either wounded or dead. Count yourself lucky all you have is a headache and various aches accounted to whiplash.

You appear to be in a drop ship or an escape vessel of some form but the pilot is dead and the hull bears a massive gash where it buckled under the impact and sheered off. Through the door-sized opening, you can see vegetation. The air that wafts in is heavy with a humid heat, but it's obviously breathable.

Once you make your way outside, you'll see greenery: Trees, grass, and shrubs tangled with vines that grow wildly and suffocate the trees they climb. In the distance, behind the ship, you can make out a sandy desert that seems to stretch on endlessly. Forward through the trees, however, you may see a crumbling wall, but more importantly, you'll see signs of civilisation. Buildings and other structures seem contained within those decrepit walls. Maybe the natives can fill you in on what's going on, because the last thing you remember isn't being in an escape shuttle. As a matter of fact, you don't remember much about your arrival or where you are. But it's going to be a bit of a hike, better get moving. Though you might want to grab the backpack of supplies under your seat before you go.

"W̞͓̝͓̓̀̍̒͘͜ȃ̢̗̪̤͇̔̃̚͝░̟͙̯̳̱̈͂̈́̈́͠n̬̘̬̤̠͛̅̈́͋͝i͓̟͈͎͙̐̆̈́̔̓n̡̟̤̟̤̑͐͋͐̚g̩̱͖͉̻͌͛̈͆̈́!̧̪̰͇̦̓̂̆̌͝ ̢͔̣̠̗̾̉́̌̒C̢̥̟͍͊͊͑̀̚ͅr̛͙̪̙̟͐̽̓̅͜i̫͖̻̣̘̽̑͂̾̎t̩͇̦̬̞͊̌̑̈́͝i̡̳̠̞̐̿̍̎̀͜c̡͕͙͕͕̓̊̌̾͘å̼̯͍̙̲̍̏̚͝l̢̥͉̮̙̋̆͐̆́ ̢̰̞͕̯̋̈́̈́̋͌f͇͔̟̻̈̽͌̒̉ͅa̳̰̠͉͔͒̑̈̈͘i̟̭̦̺͎̍̾̽̈́̐░͕̣̥̭͛̿̓̽̐ͅ░̰̪̠͇͍̆͛̀͝͝░̘̱̩̳̘͆̈́̆̀̚e̛̻͈̳̳̺̊̔̚̕.͙̟̳̼̾̀̅͊͊ͅ"

With that, the power dies, leaving the drop ship in the dark, crackling and groaning as the hull cools from its catastrophic re-entry.

---

[MOD NOTES: TDM threads may be used as game canon.]

Comments

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Oh, okay, that explains next to nothing, but he doesn't press any further. Bigger fish to fry, after all. He starts to shrug, but when the movement starts to hurt even a little, he stops. ]

About as well as anyone who crash-landed in some random ship in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.

[ He digs through the pack again, frowning. ] You mind bringing your freaky magic light in a little closer?

[phaselocknroll]

[ She frowns slightly, but she also can't fault this guy for his mood. If she wasn't so ~zen~ and ~centered~ all the time, she'd probably be a bit snippy too.

Maya crouches next to him, bringing her light closer ]

Is there anything good in there?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ When she moves, he offers a brief nod of thanks before fishing out-- a flashlight.

Maya's crackling, blackish-purple light is only going to fly so far with him, okay.

He flicks it on, though, pointing it down into the bag and shifting it so she can take a look, as well. Looks like Peter didn't win knapsack bingo, since his first pack lacks any weapons. ]

Doesn't look like they expected us to be out here very long. [ He glances over at her, then, slowly, ] Don't suppose you could tell me what the hell's going on, could you?

[phaselocknroll]

[ There are flashlights in there? Thank God. Maya slings her own pack off of her shoulder and fishes the flashlight out after some rummaging. She flicks it on, keeping it pointed upward as she douses her own light.

At his question, she merely arches her eyebrows and says flatly, ] Looks like we crashed.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Hissed, ] Shit.

You know, I kind of had that feeling? But I wasn't too sure.

[phaselocknroll]

[ That gets a smirk out of her ] Glad I could enlighten you.

I'm Maya, by the way.

[nostalgiabomb]

Peter Quill. People call me Star-Lord.

[ Or they used to, back home -- "they" being a pronoun for the handful of people who were happy to humor him or at least apathetic enough to call him whatever he liked.

He regards her for a second, head tilted with curiosity, examining the tattoos that swirl along her left side, now that they've dimmed. ]

Uh. Your arm went out. [ Star-Lord? More like Duh-Lord. ] Magic henna or something?

[phaselocknroll]

[ Considering Maya hangs out with a girl who calls herself a Mechromancer and a... Zer0 who speaks in haiku, she ain't bothered by the call-sign ]

You mean my tattoo? I've always had it.

[nostalgiabomb]

--Seriously? [ Awesome. ] Does the light show come standard with it, or is that something you added on later?

[phaselocknroll]

Can we maybe get out of the ship that may or may not explode on us before you grill me about my powers?

[nostalgiabomb]

I mean, we could but where's the fun in that? I like the idea of us having a nice, civil chat with a time bomb ticking down in the background.

[ Even as he says it, he gets to his feet, hoisting the bags onto his better shoulder. He casts his light around one last time -- he could grab another bag, probably, just to be on the safe side, but maybe it's better to travel light? -- before heading toward the breech in the ship's hull. ]

[phaselocknroll]

[ She has to shield her eyes from the sun once they step outside, and despite her remark about the ship exploding, she doesn't make it far out the door before she stops and stares. ]

Where are we?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ When Peter stops, it's for an entirely different reason.

Because the trees and grass and bushes and everything is familiar in a way that things haven't been in, oh, twenty-six years? It's the kind of shit he'd see in books and on TV and in movies and--

--And it's probably a trick. Either of the mind or some external force. Whatever it is, Peter shakes himself, trudging forward. Possibly he's a touch more subdued than before, but hey, maybe that's just because reality is setting in. ]

We'll figure it out as we go.

C'mon, Lite Brite.

[phaselocknroll]

“Light Bright”? Really?

[ She tries to sound annoyed, she really does, but she comes off as dryly amused, and follows him away from the wreckage. ]

I’m going to guess, just because this is the way my life seems to go lately, that there are probably big hungry animals in that forest. Are you armed?

[nostalgiabomb]

"Lite Brite." Really. [ He repeats it solemnly, then offers a tight-lipped smile.

As for the forest, he peers through the trees and foliage, listens for the chirps of birds or the sounds of animals or anything. Hard to tell what's what, considering the people ahead of and behind them are making a fair amount of noise. But-- yeah. He has to concede the fact that he's got some shitty luck, and there's probably totally a crazy lion-tiger-dragon hybrid waiting behind a copse of trees. ]

I've got my wits, charm, and winning personality. [ Which is to say, no. ] But I figure if we hear any screaming ahead, that means we should probably book it in the opposite direction.

[phaselocknroll]

Oh, good. So if something tries to eat us, I’ll let you talk it down before resorting to violence. [ When has that ever worked? Her experience on Pandora suggests “never”. ]

Still, I’d rather take my chances with the city than the desert.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He nods his agreement. Forests over deserts any day, fight him on that one. ]

C'mon. We'd better get going while we've still got daylight.

[phaselocknroll]

[ She falls in-step alongside him, her gaze wandering as they walk. There were some plants around that looked fairly close to those on Pandora, but on the whole, everything was totally alien.

Of course, she finds it fascinating. ]

This place is kind of nice, for a potential deathtrap.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He barks out a quick laugh. ]

Oh, yeah. At least there's that. [ He sounds more amused than derisive. ] "Hey, if I'm gonna die, at least it'll be with some nice scenery." Ambiance is important, you know?

[phaselocknroll]

You should see the place I came from. Beautiful views, lush grasslands, wildlife that would tear you apart as soon as look at you, and bandits around every corner.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Wryly, ] So this place feels just like home, is what you're saying?

[phaselocknroll]

I haven’t run into any bandits or hostile wildlife yet, so only slightly.

[nostalgiabomb]

Hey, who knows? Maybe some of our shipmates are thieves in disguise.

[ says the thieving conman ]

And now that you've said that, I say give it like, fifteen minutes before something giant and angry comes careening around a corner.

[phaselocknroll]

For their sake, let's hope that's not the case.

[ something slightly dark seeps into her tone on that one, but it's there and gone in a second ]

Get behind me if it does.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ WELL THAT WAS A LITTLE TERRIFYING.

so maybe he won't tell her he's a career thief, even if he moonlights as a good guy from time to time.

He clicks his tongue, dismissive. ]

What happened to giving me a shot at talking down any scary, man-eating monsters that cross our path?