Test Drive #2

[atlasmods]

GOOD MORNING NEW ARRIVALS This time for real! WAKEY WAKEY. As the storm finally peters out and characters can once again move above ground it becomes abundantly clear that the landscape has changed. Where vast expanses of sand dunes once laid is now the half-buried remnants of what looks like some sort of...city? Full of structures. It stretches so far it's really hard to tell. But there is one thing characters will notice: There are more stasis pods. Revealed by the sandstorm, a whole new flurry of pods can be found scattered on the way to the city (curiously though, not in it. Hurry and wake those guys up! SPREAD THE LOVE. OR ACID. With the departure of the storm there's even more new arrivals to be found besides those fellow travelers of yours! The "Seedlings" and "Cactus" are now both available, the former blown in by the storm and the former uncovered. The Seedlings are generally pretty harmless. They like to burrow into the sand so only their "Leaves" plant-like leaves remain above ground, and they're quite happy to stay that way until surprised. Then they pop up and trip over themselves a little, before slowing down and wandering aimlessly. When they find a patch of sand that looks comfy they begin burrowing back down. Pull or yank on their leaves though and you'll find yourself with a face full of pollen that makes you want to just tell everyone how super-cool they are. It lasts a while, and then you get a fever and vomit for two hours. Good times. The Cacti are much less harmless and just...why would you eat them? Everything about this plant is poisonous, and cracking it open causes a corrosive acid-like substance to spill out. It'll eat through everything but...dirt, oddly. Metals and flesh are like hot oil on plastic. DON'T GET LOST And last but not least: The Forgotten City. Maybe you want to check out the Hull first for some loot, but maybe that's not such a cool idea anymore? Although it looks like the ship's definitely more powered after draining the suits of whoever went in, now it's started to spread and fill the sinkhole the ship's in. Suits can go from 100% to 0% in just ten minutes--not good! Lucky for everyone else, it looks like finally there's some sort of civilization up ahead. Go on and check it out! THE FORGOTTEN CITY Down below the lowest levels of the city, somewhere beyond the twisty maze of passages, several of the paths converge in a huge underground cavern. Here the air is blissfully cool compared to the desert above. A single shaft of light shines down from somewhere on the surface; motes of sand drift lazily as if suspended in the light. Elsewhere, the cave is lit by small clusters of glowing fungus that live off the moisture collected down here. Dim but navigable for most. But perhaps the most striking items in the area are the monoliths. Great fragments of stone over three meters long, too smooth to be natural but too jagged to be whole either. Several of them glow from the pulse of energy running through them. Others, while dark, have recessed notches large enough for a person’s hand. And still another group seems nearly shattered, a larger fragment surrounded by smaller ones. All of them react when the interlopers draw close enough... LIGHT Upon closer inspection, the lit monoliths have a curious pattern worked into the tone. The symbols are rather arcane, but perhaps they make sense if one tilts one’s head and squints. This one has strokes that resemble tongues of flame. That one is covered in cascading, fluid lines. Another … well, that look more like a warning sign than anything else. Interacting with these monoliths results in a warning crackle and the scent of ozone before the monolith opens. Something comes pouring out of it in response. Gushing water is the most common, matching up with the cascade monoliths; others open to flame or greenery or other odd things. And one definitely opens up into a vacuum. Careful with that unless you want to have something sucked out into space. Whatever connection they make is brief and non-traversable, but whatever comes through stays on this side. DARK The unlit monoliths aren’t nearly as flashy as their glowing brethren, but they have their own stories to tell. With the help of a little light (and the suit), the interlopers will find that these monoliths are covered from top to bottom in alien script. Most have at least one solid crack or chunk in them - at the juiciest parts! - but there may be enough left to be intelligible, given a little luck. VISION The last set hum with an ominous energy that belies their dilapidated appearance. Interlopers who approach these monoliths trigger strange images that float in the air. No two visions are alike, though they all share common themes. Silhouettes descending to the surface of the planet and spreading out across it. Exploring and interacting with an alien environment. There’s something deeply familiar about these shadows despite the variety of body types represented by them. The shape of their clothing is reminiscent of your own suit... Other snippets are set in space. Here the silhouettes are a darker patch of black against the darkness of space. The mood in these images is strangely pensive, somewhat tense. These figures are searching very desperately for something. There is one, though, that’s different from all the others. No silhouettes, no searching, no space. Only a shaft of light starting from a point beyond this planet’s moon. At first it’s a too-bright star; then, a solid beam stretching down to the planet itself. The light increases in intensity and breadth exponentially until it impacts physically with the surface of the planet itself. The eruption kicks up huge clouds of dust that race towards the city with all the heat and speed of a pyroclastic explosion. It rises up like a wave...and then crashes down, burying the city. Eventually, each of the images go dark once again. OOC If you're considering joining or want to dabble in the setting a little then you've come to the right place. This post should ideally give you a feel for what it's like to play in the game...especially since this is how we're kicking things off! What does that mean? Basically that this post is considered game-canon and any inter/actions here will lapse over into the game once it begins provided both parties agree to keep CR when they are accepted. TDM threads can be used for sample requirements on apps! Still interested? Applications open on the 3rdth at 00:00 EST and close on the 5th at 23:59 EST. Make sure you're familiar with both the setting and arrival conditions before posting...and have at it!

Comments

[lefthandfree]

If you wanna call people crowding together to keep from dying on their own a base camp, then sure. [There’s some of the old humor in there, but it’s all still dry.] There’s a few of ’em since we’ve all been moving around from place to place. Not really much in the way of supplies to really hunker down somewhere and make a proper camp though.

[He watches Steve for a moment, glances toward where the nearest encampment is, then looks back toward his friend.]

Fact is most of them aren’t soldiers. Not like us, anyway. [Survivors, he means.]

[fossils]

[ His eyebrows knit together, following Bucky's gaze away from, then back again. He bites back the question of whether they've lost anyone in the past few weeks. Surviving out in the desert for that long on short supplies - not exactly a walk in the park even for folks with training. ]

Any more familiar faces turn up? [ Anyone they know. ]

[lefthandfree]

[Tony. But this is Steve. The topic of Tony ain’t exactly going to be easy street. The two of them haven’t even talked about Howard or how Bucky murdered one of their oldest friends. Bucky decides to be tactical with his reply rather than honest.]

None of your friends are here, if that’s what you’re asking. [And it’s not really a lie. None of them are here. And Tony isn’t here anymore.]

[fossils]

[ He searches Bucky's face for a moment, pulled from his focus as though he senses the half truth in that answer. But he trips over it, one side of his mouth slips back into the faint half smile again and a hand reaching out to grip Bucky's shoulder. ]

Just the one friend's alright. [ Hadn't been long enough for him to process the time they would lose again when Bucky said he was going back to cryo. ]

Where to? [ He's following your lead this time. ]

[lefthandfree]

[He doesn’t expect that answer from Steve, and briefly his chest aches. Years lost, to the war, to Hydra. He even chose to stay away, to keep from sinking into this familiarity he is no longer meant to be part of, to save Steve the trouble—the anguish—of what the both of them had lost and could never make back. But he still wants it, that swell of pride and approval, the way Steve looks on at him like he matters somehow.

He’s smiling sheepishly before he knows it, nudging Steve playfully in the side.] Who you tryin’ to impress, Rogers?

[But he breaks out in a grin while nodding toward the encampment.] It's that-a-way, pal.

[fossils]

[ He rolls back with the nudge, letting out a light huff. There's a warmth in his own chest when they both fall into muscle memory again. His hand falls back to his side and he turns to quickly dig through the pod, gathering up the meager supplies he'd spotted. With that bunched under an arm he starts walking. ]

These are some fancy duds they've got us waking up in. [ He presses on the wrist communicator again, though it doesn't seem to respond.. ]

[lefthandfree]

Tell me about it. [He gives a laugh as he starts leading the way, keeping his pace even with Steve.] Seemed like a crazy dream at first. Like something outta one of those new space movies back on Earth.

That watch thing ain’t gonna do much for you though. Granted, some time ago we managed to pick up a few crazy transmissions on ’em. A few of us anyway. Some alien language.

[fossils]

Straight outta Princess of Mars. [ He didn't see the remake.

The second part has him looking up and raising an eyebrow. ] Anyone able to record it?

[lefthandfree]

[He chuckles.] You always liked those romance ones more, huh. Guess it ain’t too far off either though, since Kharas does remind me of Mars. Or, well, how we used to imagine it, I guess.

Didn’t need to record it though. Got a few directly on my communicator, and they kinda just...stayed there. I can replay them if you wan’t, but they aren’t going to make much sense unless you’ve got a translator, which...

[Oh. Shit. How does he explain to Steve that Superman is real and has a translator without making this weird?]

[fossils]

Just 'cuz it's got romance doesn't make it a romance. [ Details, buddy. He glances over at Bucky, both eyebrows raised as if to silently ask which...?. Continue. Whatever there is to explain, it can't be much weirder than the situation already is. ]

[lefthandfree]

[He would quip back about Steve’s reply (because Steve definite likes the romance bits even if it ain't a romance), but it would probably throw the conversation in another direction, and this isn't the conversation to sacrifice for a bit of friendly banter.

He takes a few moments before he works out the best way to start.] So I never really told you this—just never came up, and it wasn’t super important anyhow—but y’know when you were on that...tour with those show girls? During the war.

[fossils]

[ So what if he does??

A flicker of surprise at the weird topic change, and a raised eyebrow. ] Yeah - [ what's that got to do with this? ]

[lefthandfree]

[Just admit you’re a romantic sap, Rogers. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.

He makes a quiet, amused noise at Steve’s obvious surprise at the tangent.] Y’know they did a whole spread of advertising for that campaign, right? Comics too and all that. How Captain America charged into battle with the other troops and saves the day, like those comics we used to read when we were younger.

[fossils]

[ The Captain America stories were a bit corny even for him, but he can't deny getting a kick out of seeing himself in a comic book at first. Cue his shock when someone showed him how much some of them go for on Ebay. His mouth forms a line. ] This isn't gonna end with you telling me you found a box of those here, right?

[ Because that's about the only way this could get weirder. ]

[lefthandfree]

[He laughs sharply at that.] I wish. Kindling would definitely help get fires going quicker here. [Yep. Enjoy this smirk he gives you.]

We thought that Captain America guy was such a jackass though, coming in and barely doing any work while getting all the credit. People back home musta thought we weren’t working our asses off already if they needed to come up with someone like that to convince themselves that we were winning.

[fossils]

[ Har-dee-har. He lets out a light huff, but his mouth twists down at one side, eyebrows raising. It both was and wasn't like what Bucky describes. The Captain America in those stories was just as much a farce as his showgirl days, propaganda dreamed up an ocean away from the real war, but a flag bearing symbol that could knock out Hitler with one punch was an easier reality for most civilians than the reality of their loved ones struggle on the field and in the trenches. ]

So no help with the campfires - where's this going?

[lefthandfree]

[He knows, of course, that it was all part of the propaganda train. But the reality is that he doesn’t need to ask to know that it probably made Steve miserable in the long run. Steve always wanted to do good, not be used for the war machine, even if it was supposed to help the war effort. It’s all the more reason he needs to joke about it instead of connecting it directly back to Steve though, especially after Steve left behind the shield. Captain America is Captain America. Steve is Steve. To James Buchanan Barnes, they’ve never been the same person.

He hums quietly and nods a bit, recognizing that it seems like an odd tangent to take.] Right. So. Do you remember that comic I used to read sometimes? Before I left New York. Y'know, Action Comics?