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thegreatspacerace2022-09-28 07:29 pm
space_aces) wrote in thegreatspacerace2022-09-28 07:29 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME #1
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
Your journey only happened because of your benefactor, so it begets that it starts at your benefactor as well. SUPERBIA, which is as much of a location as it is an entity, is where everyone's search for Fortuna begins.
There's not much of a welcome party: shortly after their fateful encounter with SUPERBIA, in which they swore to join the quest to find Fortuna, the new Privateers will find themselves afflicted by a sudden change in perspective. See, teleportation is a tricky process, so from SUPERBIA's point of view, why not make the target destination none other than itself? One highly disconcerting moment later, and the Privateers find themselves inside the belly of the beast.
The vast mega-structure is shockingly lonely, void of anyone other than the Privateers. Those who look off the metal satellite and to The Network for intelligence (or take a skim at the Space Wikipedia article) will find out that the surrounding space is clear for lightyears; rumors have it that the place is cursed. It won't take long to understand why.
There's not much of a welcome party: shortly after their fateful encounter with SUPERBIA, in which they swore to join the quest to find Fortuna, the new Privateers will find themselves afflicted by a sudden change in perspective. See, teleportation is a tricky process, so from SUPERBIA's point of view, why not make the target destination none other than itself? One highly disconcerting moment later, and the Privateers find themselves inside the belly of the beast.
The vast mega-structure is shockingly lonely, void of anyone other than the Privateers. Those who look off the metal satellite and to The Network for intelligence (or take a skim at the Space Wikipedia article) will find out that the surrounding space is clear for lightyears; rumors have it that the place is cursed. It won't take long to understand why.
1Overclocked
The innards of SUPERBIA are that of an impossibly scaled up computer, and the Privateers start right in the middle of it. You are the spider living in the dusty PS4. Literal rivers of coolant, transistors the size of mountains, landscapes made entirely of circuitry. The sky, bounded by a distant metal ceiling, is constantly alight with coursing electricity that cracks the sky with lightning storms. It can be assumed that the Privateers are the first living things to set foot here, because such a place is not ever meant to be traversed by delicate, organic, mortals that worry about things such as "temperature" or "voltage". SUPERBIA needs not lifeforms to continue its operations; why design for them? Traversal itself is difficult: unscalable walls and perilous drops are common to encounter. The only company the Privateers will find are oddly adorable maintenance robots, which sadly seem too occupied by their directives of maintaining the massive machine to offer any assistance (or even acknowledgement of their new guests).
It is immediately clear that the most urgent priority is to get the hell out of here. Before your adventure ends at the starting line.
It is immediately clear that the most urgent priority is to get the hell out of here. Before your adventure ends at the starting line.
2Skeletons In The Closet
If one stays inside SUPERBIA, either by getting horribly lost or losing all common sense, one will notice a peculiar pattern emerge as one gets deeper into the bowels of the mega-structure. Passages shrink and become more level, and the incredible hostility and danger of the surroundings fade away, until one comes across areas which were definitely intended for humanoid organisms to use at one point.
The construction of these areas is cramped, unfurnished, and dreary; they are reminiscent of artificial environments meant to handle harsh external conditions like a submarine or bunker, but they are entirely livable. One can eventually find distinct rooms, but everything in them has crumbled to dust and their original purpose is nigh impossible to discern. Deeper investigation may reveal the few items that have stood the test of time. While it is more plausible for life to have existed here, that doesn't seem to be the case now. What happened here?
The construction of these areas is cramped, unfurnished, and dreary; they are reminiscent of artificial environments meant to handle harsh external conditions like a submarine or bunker, but they are entirely livable. One can eventually find distinct rooms, but everything in them has crumbled to dust and their original purpose is nigh impossible to discern. Deeper investigation may reveal the few items that have stood the test of time. While it is more plausible for life to have existed here, that doesn't seem to be the case now. What happened here?
3The Shipyard
In the opposite direction, when one finally reaches the outer edges of SUPERBIA, they will be rewarded with the place to pick up a spaceship and a stunningly beautiful view of outer space. The outside of SUPERBIA has no atmosphere to get between you and the stars, and they shine brightly, like a beacon calling one out into the first steps of adventure.
The shipyard is already filled with countless space ships of every size, form, and function, all autonomously constructed by SUPERBIA's factories over the countless years. What's the harm in taking one or twenty out for a spin? Even if one has no intentions of permanent ownership of the vehicle, it's not like SUPERBIA will miss it. For a Privateer with a more specific vision, however, there are kiosks around the yard which will allow one to design their very own space ship down to their exact specifications. When the process is done SUPERBIA's matter printers will have it out and space-ready right before your very eyes.
If a Privateer has a ship, vehicle, or large item that they intended to bring with them, they will also find them here, neatly parked in the Shipyard. Why didn't SUPERBIA extend this courtesy to the pilot's themselves? The answer is revealed as soon as the owner makes a closer inspection: the inner contents have been rearranged, like a whirlwind was unleashed inside and assorted loose items thrown around. Now aren't you glad your transportation was given special attention, and the same didn't happen to your innards?
The shipyard is already filled with countless space ships of every size, form, and function, all autonomously constructed by SUPERBIA's factories over the countless years. What's the harm in taking one or twenty out for a spin? Even if one has no intentions of permanent ownership of the vehicle, it's not like SUPERBIA will miss it. For a Privateer with a more specific vision, however, there are kiosks around the yard which will allow one to design their very own space ship down to their exact specifications. When the process is done SUPERBIA's matter printers will have it out and space-ready right before your very eyes.
If a Privateer has a ship, vehicle, or large item that they intended to bring with them, they will also find them here, neatly parked in the Shipyard. Why didn't SUPERBIA extend this courtesy to the pilot's themselves? The answer is revealed as soon as the owner makes a closer inspection: the inner contents have been rearranged, like a whirlwind was unleashed inside and assorted loose items thrown around. Now aren't you glad your transportation was given special attention, and the same didn't happen to your innards?
4Hot Crewmates in Your Area
But how will a single Privateer man an entire space ship? No worries: when one steps into a ship, the strangely endearing maintenance robots will suddenly take acute interest. The robots will follow inside and immediately start assuming the duties of a spacefarer, eliminating the need for extra hands on deck.
Even still, there's just no eliminating the want for a human touch, though. Thankfully even that dilemma has a contingency plotted by SUPERBIA.
Communication devices are easily available on every space ship. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from huge stationary consoles to portable smartphone-like screens. But whenever a Privateer attempts to access the Network, a pop-up will appear, obscuring the whole screen.
The device will be rendered unusable until one relents to the pop-up's demands and provides answers to its questions. What will these be used for? The mystery will be solved when a social media app mysteriously installs itself on the same device, with profiles preemptively made for every Privateer. Each Privateer's profile consists of their given answers, paired with embarrassingly candid photographs. SUPERBIA has eyes in many places it seems.
Even still, there's just no eliminating the want for a human touch, though. Thankfully even that dilemma has a contingency plotted by SUPERBIA.
Communication devices are easily available on every space ship. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from huge stationary consoles to portable smartphone-like screens. But whenever a Privateer attempts to access the Network, a pop-up will appear, obscuring the whole screen.
The device will be rendered unusable until one relents to the pop-up's demands and provides answers to its questions. What will these be used for? The mystery will be solved when a social media app mysteriously installs itself on the same device, with profiles preemptively made for every Privateer. Each Privateer's profile consists of their given answers, paired with embarrassingly candid photographs. SUPERBIA has eyes in many places it seems.
Harlock | Space Pirate Captain Harlock (78 anime)/Leiji-verse
This was far from the only time he had been in long-abandoned places. Harlock moves carefully through the spaces, scanning it with his one good eye, the cramped spaces is somewhat familiar, as he moves through the dust, searching for anything that survived, anything that could give them more of an idea of what's going on.
"Either it's been hundreds of years since someone has been in here, or some kind of time dilation effect occurred." The man wondered out loud.
3. Who Moved My Ship?
Harlock was damned glad to see the Arcadia once more, having been growing increasingly concerned for it. He gently stroked the side of the blue spaceship as it's airlock seem to automatically open, lowering a ramp down to him. About an hour after he enters, he exits with a stormy expression on his face, addressing the others looking around.
"Someone entered my ship and rearranged things, you will want to take a thorough inspection of your own to make sure thing vital is missing." The pirate captain cautions.
4. Swiping left for 'This is stupid'
This is absurd, but he knows he'll probably need to access the network so he just give a sigh and fill out the questionnaire. The picture that accompanied it was a rare moment of the captain jerking back as the edge of his cloak got caught on something.
UN: ArcadiaCaptain
Tell me a little about yourself I am Harlock - Captain of the Pirate Space Battleship the Arcadia. My flag of bone stands for freedom and the willingness to fight for that.
Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER I do consider myself more of a leader than a follower.
What is your best feature? My integrity.
2
Iseul is a little worried about it getting even smaller than this. He's having to duck through doorways already, being over nine feet tall standing. This is kinda boring for an adventure, too, not even any fighting in it.
Re: 2
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He's picturing it. Maybe the skeletons aren't necessary but looking at this guy makes him think about skeletons for some reason.
"...We don't got any skeletons, though, it's all dust. I think it's been longer than a year."
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Shit Time Zero sounds really cool. He hopes there's Time Zero. He sweeps his tail through dust, hoping to stir up some evidence. There's dust. He sneezes.
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"Damn be nice if we had some respirators."
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How's the ceiling... just the stuff keeping it lit, that's not too interesting. You gotta have light, right?
2
I mean... wouldn't it be both? [ The hispanic-accented woman asked. She then turned to the man dressed like the noblemen of la Vieja Tierra. ] I knew Terrans spread out everywhere in space. But an abandoned station is, right now, the least surprising thing here, compared to a lot of folk here.
Re: 2
[Harlock rose to his full height]
The question of course is what happened here, and is it something we need to be on our guard for.
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A como van las cosas, we will have to ask what we shouldn't be on our guard, for.
[ Adelita slung forward her heavy machinegun, which bore a pinup-boy with the name 'El Juárez ♥'. She spread her stance, balancing the weight of the monster with that of her small stature, as she moved beside him. ]
Nothing living has been here so far. We've only found humans -- and that's nearly all of us.
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[The beefcake art barely earned a brow as he notices something on the wall, gently brushing off the dust]
Let's say I've more than a passing familiarity with those most humans would call aliens, take a look at this - think this might be some graffiti.
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[ Only after ensuring there was nothing, she slowly knelt, having the gigantic weapon gently thump on the floor. She lifted her hat for a better look... she shook her head. ]
No puedo leerlo. I can't read it, and I've read a lot of grafitti back home. [ Colonial property rarely enjoyed being clean. ]
[ Adela then clicked over her earpiece to have a HUD flicker before manually turning it off. She disliked it due to how much it could fail at the worst time, but now, her focus only was on taking a screenshot for later reference. She moved her hair a little for the lens to get a good look... Click. Good. ]
Place was built for human-sized folk, but they're no longer here. Think SUPERBIA called them before they called us?