Test Drive Meme 016

[voidtreckermods]

Welcome to the Test Drive Meme! Here is the place to see how your character might fit the setting, grab samples and have fun!

1. Post with your character, including their name and series in the subject. We’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

2. Assume they've been around long enough for threads to jump right into the action.

3. Have lots of fun. Mandatory, mod-sanctioned fun.

Happy testing!

Silence in the Library

The library is a double carriage. Downstairs is brightly-coloured, with cover posters across the walls, tables and chairs in the strong colours of the team uniforms, and a wooden model train placed as though winding its way through the carriage with carriages of shelves in tow. The walls are shelving, and beanbags litter the floor. Upstairs is quieter, rows of nonfiction shelves with private desks at the end of each row; the sound up here is muffled.

You don't know who, you don't know why, but someone or something has had a bad power day. How do you know? Well, the fact that the characters of any book you read keep coming to life as tiny versions of themselves and running riot around the carriage... that might have been a clue.

You just wish you'd picked a different book before realising it.

An Apple a Day

Medical is another double carriage, though it boasts one of the few person-sized lifts on the train as well as stairs. On the bottom floor, two of the three rooms are examination rooms, with simple beds, equipment and first-aid capacity. The third is a surgical bay, albeit a simpler one than some passengers may anticipate. All three rooms have ICPs with instructions and manuals for all equipment and a number of medical procedures.

Upstairs, there are four private recovery rooms, with a medical bed and an accessible en-suite. It's possible to check a passenger into one of these rooms, at which point they cannot leave until discharged by the person who checked them in.

Which, unfortunately, you are entirely aware of. You've been here for three days, and you're climbing the walls. But that'll teach you to get injured in such a stupid way. Or so they hope.

Sprockets and Skysong

In which a train arrives among the smokestacks of Little Underpool with some unexpected visitors.

Little Underpool is a township on Void world #30630687444. Caught up in the middle of what appears to be a series of industrial revolutions, the world is in a state of constant, chaotic innovation. Currently, that means that there is a power struggle going on between the skywhaling megacorporation Scrimshaw Inc and the Zephyr Company, an airship manufacturer, over control of the skies above Underpool, and the rapidly diminishing population of skywhales, whose bones are used in most modern airships, and whose blood is a key fuel source for a great number of new devices and engines. The voidtreckers are, this mission, to rescue the whales, rather than any humanoids.

Team One

Infiltrating Scrimshaw Inc, this team's job is to sabotage the tracking drones used to locate the whale pods, to allow the great beasts to migrate successfully away from Underpool. The offices of the corporation are in a series of spiralling brass and bone towers in the centre of the town, connected by exposed cable bridges that run to dizzying heights. Their clockwork guards are numerous, but often faulty, and highly vulnerable to tinkering.

Team Two

This team's job is to hijack some of the Zephyr Company's airships, and use them to defend the whale pods closest to Underpool. Several pods contain whale calves, and cannot evacuate as fast as the larger bachelor groups. The airships are light, and handle well, but their oddly organic design can be rather unsettling. The primary weapons are harpoons and short-range bomb slings, both as deadly against other airships as they are against their original targets.

Team Three

The final team's task is less direct - they must go among the populace of Underpool and spread unrest, redirecting the attention of the people towards the plight of their nonhuman neighbours in the sky, and the wrongdoings of their resident megacorporations. The people are not aware that the whales are an entirely sentient species, which appears to be a deliberate obfuscation by the town's council and sponsors. Your job is to change that.

Comments

[zechs_isonfire]

Zechs was perhaps slightly used to craft that, at least, tried to anticipate his movements. Even if the organic aspect was entirely new.

There's a small smirk on his face now. It's a terrible thing to admit, he was aware - but he missed this. "Watch your six. Good hunting."

And, well. It's time to show off exactly why he'd been called the Lightning Count - his reflexes and his accuracy were rarely matched, even when given a foreign craft.

[consider8]

The hunting and the hunted. Eight was well aware of her responsibilities in this regard. While she was relying on Zechs to make sure that nothing overwhelms them, it was her job to make sure that they were in a good offensive position before moving to defensive ones. As she got within firing range, she banked hard in a right and sped up.

It wasn't going to be long before the ships realized what they were up to. As soon as the first shot gets fired they would need to haul away quick. Look for stragglers. Try to break up the enemy line.

"It's a good thing they're used to going after whales. Pretty sure they're not used to smaller targets." Still, there was no room for complacency.

She allowed herself a moment to see how good her gunner was doing. Every ship that he left flying would be one more boogie for her to look out for. Tentacles crossed...

[zechs_isonfire]

"Wolves can be chased off by a sheepdog," Zechs agreed. "You're keeping them on their toes, but stay sharp."

Zechs, at least, was very good. He wouldn't have gotten to where he'd been if he'd been less than stellar. But no one was perfect, and it's easier to overwhelm a single target. He'd become used to desperate, outnumbered battles, but it wasn't any easier fighting them.

A group that was seven became two that slipped past his defenses. "Loop around and double back, I want to catch them in a line."

[consider8]

"What a sheepdog...?" Oh it didn't matter. With a quick burst of speed, Eight pulled away from the group. She was impressed by her gunner. This most definitely was not his first mission. She'd have to buy him a drink later.

Her attention drifted to the radar, which showed that the two had started to break away in pursuit. The element of surprise was on them and it was going to take them time to catch up. Hopefully she could use the ship's overcompensation to her advantage...

A hard left and a barrel roll and the two were bearing down on the ships in pursuit. They were now on course to play a game of chicken... Barrel to barrel, pilot to pilot. The maneuver was risky, but she was counting on her gunner to pull this off.

[zechs_isonfire]

“... I’ll explain later,” Zechs didn’t think it was important either.

Zechs grinned sharply at the maneuver. She’d adapted quickly, true, but flying like this was exhilarating. When he was younger, he could’ve cheered aloud. The risk she took was one he wouldn’t have hesitated to take himself.

He lined up the shot and fired, trusting she’d pull up and away from the blast radius from the exploding enemy ships in time.

[consider8]

Eight had been noting the size the explosion but was a little transfixed by the shooting. Ah, right, she needs to pull up. A sharp pull later and the maneuver looked to be a near thing... that was until the warnings lights start to blare.

"Coddamnit..." She muttered. "Pilot to gunner... that blast clipped our wing. We're still air-worthy, but we'll be sitting ducks out here if they start to flank us." Her eyes trailed to the remaining convoy, which was starting to turn in their direction.

She sighed, a hand slapping herself to getting distracted. "I recommend we return to base. The decision is yours, though. We're in this together."

[zechs_isonfire]

If it was only Zechs, he wouldn't have hesitated. Stay out for as long as possible to do as much damage to the enemy as possible. He knew he could pilot a wounded craft well enough to compensate for it.

But Eight was an unknown, even with as well as she'd done so far. And it was a different thing, making a calculated choice to place someone else's life at risk, than an arbitrary decision. Staying out now would serve no larger purpose.

"Head in," Zechs told her. "Other members of our team will need to pick up the slack."

[consider8]

It was prudent, but she felt responsible. She knew how good he was and hated that she was holding him back. "Carp..."

If it was just her, she would charge in without worry about herself. To charge in would be a suicide mission, and she had been splatted before... It's what Three would do... But humans seemed much more fleshy than her body, and it wasn't really her place to put his life at risk.

...

Not without his consent, at least. That was the sort of person she was.

"...I think we can do one more pass."

[zechs_isonfire]

"I said head in, pilot," Zechs said calmly, but firmly. He didn't realize that her body was far less fragile than a human's - but there also was no utility in a suicide run.

If there was, it wouldn't matter how dangerous the flight would be to her. If she died, and it served that purpose ...

There was none, now. "We can regroup when we've landed."

[consider8]

The ship started to drift in the direction before Zechs made his decision. Eight hesitated. A couple years ago she would have followed that order without question, but now...? What her military training told her she should do and what her heart wanted to do were in conflict. How far she came for her to be indecisive...

The thrusters fired on and she banked toward base. "Roger that." She hated herself, but her gunner wasn't on board then there was no point in making the run.

Her hesitation cost her, though, and two of the faster makes was starting to catch up -- designed to chase infant whales, perhaps. Eight noted their positions on her radar. "Looks like we got company. Is there anything you can do?"

[zechs_isonfire]

Zechs thought quickly. His voice was firm and demanded quick action. "Full stop with reverse thrusters, now."

Essentially like slamming on the brakes, if they were in a car instead of a ship.

It should let the enemy shoot forward, not anticipating their move, which would allow Zechs to easily line them up in their sights and shoot them down.

Of course, it would also subject them to a lot of g-force as they were pushed back into their seats, but Zechs would grunt and insist he's just used to it.