etcelsior | walking in a winter wonderland

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test drive

walking in a winter wonderland

T E S T D R I V E M E M E

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at someone else's thread, either!

And remember there's only one rule in Test Drive Meme Club: HAVE FUN ON THE TEST DRIVE MEME!

01.The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place, where locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to welcome you to their fair city.

Although even Florida can get chilly during the winter, a relative heat wave is sweeping through, resulting in an impromptu Beach Body Competition sponsored by a local gym. ImPorts who are the buffest of the buff all the way down to the super skinniest (competing in separate weight classes, of course) are likely to be urged to join in for some fun in the sun and the extra attention they garner from native fans.

Those who just aren't interested in competing might be called in to judge another competition down the beach: a youth sand-sculpting contest! Only one team can walk away with the grand prize of a laser tag package, but can you bring yourself to be harsh on those wide, hopeful eyes?

02. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, with large numbers of citizens waiting to be awed by your very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Synthetic wonder! Whatever you might be, those words have meaning here. Science and technology are the lifeblood of this city, so you're likely to come across a good many locals taking your picture with the newest of devices or recently published PLoS papers. The imPort craze remains high here, and you may find yourself cornered by overzealous imPort fans, media wannabes and opportunists alike, shoving cameras in your face.

With Christmas coming, the producers behind a guerilla new reality show are hard at work getting new footage—starring you! Areas of the city with the most foot traffic have been absolutely blanketed in mistletoe. If you happen to pass beneath a sprig, you might find a small camera crew jumping out of nowhere, urging you to give the person next to you a smooch—and thanks to the strange radio waves coming out of the unit on the executive producer's wrist, you'll feel a little compelled to do so!

...except the compulsion isn't that strong, so those who don't kiss on the first meet can easily break out of it. Your next choice: give the camera crew a piece of your mind, or ask the would-be kissee out for coffee? They are pretty cute...

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has carried a reputation for ups and downs ever since imPorts began reappearing again, just those few years prior. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while a handful of others had swooped in to help the criminal industry thrive. More so here than the streets of any other imPort city, the battle between good and evil looks more like a war of escalation than a heroic tale. Everything from the classic bank heist to brutal bloodbaths can happen around the corner. You have to keep your eyes open and your mind sharp when you live in Maurtia Falls, and hostility against imPorts can spike. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping...

The downtown mall is tilting the balance solidly toward welcoming to imPorts with a Winter Welcome Festival. All the storefronts and many temporary kiosks occupied by local vendors are holding special sales, and newly arrived imPorts are given a coupon book to make the most of them. The food court has some free goodies for participants to mix and mingle.

Unfortunately, a local rogue with the alias of Klone Kringle is here to spoil the fun. After a small boom echoes throughout the mall, everything dissolves into chaos as dozens of copies of a man dressed in a polyester Santa Claus costume begin looting the retailers! The guns they wield that shoot snow and ice might not be lethal, but they can certainly slow you down (and give you a cold). Will you be the hero and help take down Kringle(s), or will you seize the opportunity to do some theft of your own?

04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities; loud, busy and there's always some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement.

Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have passed, Christmas and New Year's Eve are coming up, but what about holidays from home? This weekend, the Nonah Cultural Center is hosting a one-day event during which attendees can share stories of their traditions and celebrations (whether they are related to winter holidays or completely different ones) and sharing them with others, either on a small stage with a microphone or in individual recording booths, so that these tales of cultural traditions can be preserved for others to learn about. ImPorts from worlds that are not variants of Earth are particularly encouraged to attend. Small refreshment tables will also be open to those who speak.

05. Jeopardy, Nevada by all rights shouldn't exist. A glowing neon city smack in the middle of the desert, the only reason it's still here is that the central nuclear power plant has tapped half a mile down into a subterranean lake for its water supply. So though the desert around it may be barren, the occupants of this small city are happily self sufficient. Those weird figures you see out of the corner of your eyes? Don't worry too much. Probably just weird radiation after effects. Jeopardy has a lot of those.

Saturnalia is just around the corner and Jeopardy is in full festive swing! The seven-day marathon of festivities includes a parade, with a ((cw: arachnophobia)) very special float from the Web Mistress's church; a day long city-wide paintball game; an attempt to break the world record for largest bingo game with everyone playing in dead silence; and a feast!

The final feast, of course, comes with the main event: ritual sacrifice. Of course, no one actually wants to do anything quite so base, in 2018, so the sacrifice is more metaphorical than actual: the kids of North Jeopardy High have spent three months building a giant chocolate Santa tied up in ropes to be slaughtered and fed to the city at large! Bon appetit!

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[Not a response he'd gotten in a while, but back on deployments, civilians would recognize the face sometimes, on himself or others, so the response didn't startle him.] Here to do what I can. Hostiles first, talk later.

[There's only a few left and stuck on open ground, but they're converging on them. He ducks down again, taking an object off his belt. It's just wrist binders, folded down to a fist-sized white thing, but it'll serve a good purpose.] Gonna give them a scare. Be ready to move and fire.

[He stands back up, yelling as loud as he can:] Grenade out![And throws the binders. That's a seeming escalation well beyond what the hostiles were expecting, and they scatter in panic. He breaks cover and pushes forward, firing at the retreating men in red.]

[ Finn's frozen for a moment as he watches one of his childhood heroes in action. A fake grenade. He never would have thought of that.

But okay, yes, right, okay. He follows behind TK-622 about a second late, firing ice on the ground to make the hostiles trip. He wouldn't be surprised if some of them got hurt in the panic, but at least this can finally be wrapped up quickly.

One gets out of his range, so he reappears in front of them, hitting the butt of his gun against the Klone's face and knocking them down. Even while he keeps an eye on the guy (who looks a little like he'd surrender more if he could), Finn talks to the Stormtrooper. ] That all of them?

[He scoops up his wrist binders as he walks by, slapping them on the one Finn took down.] Not hearing any more.

[But he is hearing police sirens now.] Local law enforcement's arrived. Best to put down the gun. They're mostly civilians with a bit of training with a slugthrower, they can get jumpy. [He banishes his own rifle with a thought.] Need to call their dispatch, let them know what's going on. [Rex is on the force, so they're not all bad, but he doesn't want to risk civilian cops getting over-excited.]

Aegis Force agent TK-622 and deputized agent Finn reporting in from the Maurtia Falls Mall plaza. Hostiles are unconscious and awaiting transport. No casualties. Be advised, we've not had time to do a full sweep. Hostiles are wearing red uniforms, white trim, white beards. [He glanced down at one of them.] False beards. All others are not hostile. Standing by and awaiting debrief to responding officers.

[And that was it. He lowered his communicator.] We'll wait here rather than approach the police. Do you know Poe Dameron? [He probably should have separated those two thoughts more.]

[ Finn had heard that weapons were different here but had no desire to get a demonstration right this second. He gently placed the ice gun on the floor away from the Klone while TK-622 talked into his commlink.

Sounded like the police weren't far no- Oh. Finn whipped his head over to the Stormtrooper with wide eyes. ] Yeah. We know each other from home and met up here. You know him, too?

[ ... Of course, he knew who Poe Dameron was. There was a truce on, right? Speaking of which, Finn had a mild crisis about he felt right now. On one hand, still very worried about being around an Imperial Stormtrooper. On the other, 622 wasn't trying to kill him in the present moment, actually seemed like an all right guy, and was a Clone. But that brought up the issue of his whole respect for the Clone Army. Like, were those the people he should really look up to? This was never a problem when he was in a sane world where the Clones no longer existed.

While Finn was trying to think through this situation, he just stared at 622 with wide eyes. Super smooth. ]

[He nodded.] We're friends. He's mentioned you. [He stared back at Finn, trying to get a read on what that expression meant. If there was any fear in it, he could try and fix that.]

I also heard about the First Order. Defecting from them was the right thing to do. [Because as galling as the concept of defection was in general, sometimes a terrible thing was the right thing to do.]

[ Finn gave an almost hesitant smile on the fact that he was mentioned. It was a great thing, really, he just didn't know how to take that from a Stormtrooper.

Hearing that defecting was the right thing to do from the Stormtrooper was... entirely unexpected, to put it lightly. ] You- Really? [ Finn waved at TK-622's general direction, trying to motion at the entire package. ] I mean, you're- I don't understand.

[ TK-622 was a difficult anomaly. He seemed like a good, genuine man. Friends with Poe, even. Yet he seemed to wear the armor willingly. He certainly carried the designation willingly. As much as his former superiors tried to separate the two, Finn couldn't imagine the Empire being any better than the Order. ]

[He glanced away. It was, admittedly, something he'd never normally say. But this was a special case.] I know they claim to fall within the Imperial chain of succession. I was willing to believe them.

[That had been a dire mistake.] But I've encountered a commanding officer of the First Order here. He immediately and unashamedly committed a capital crime under Imperial law, as part of a deception he continued for months. [And he'd fallen for it. It was easily the most shameful thing he'd done here.

He looked Finn in the eye again.] If that's the caliber of person who makes it to the top of the First Order, then defecting is the right thing to do.

[ Finn's eyebrows rose until they felt like they were hovering a few feet above his body. Hux made the First Order look bad. That was hilarious, yet Finn wasn't laughing. Of course, he made them look bad. They were terrible people. ]

Was the Empire really so different?

[ He knew that his own history lessons were skewed, but anyone could tell that the Empire had far more experience as well as steady control over the galaxy. The Order was a scrambling mess willing to do what was necessary for power. The Empire already had all the power.

But did they treat their Stormtroopers so differently? ] If we're talking about the same guy, he only got the job because his father was an officer in the Empire. [ So said the rumors, anyway. ]

The Empire seeks--[No, he wasn't going to use the past tense, because it was a real and present force in his life.]--it seeks to protect the galaxy against the chaos brought by those seeking control of the Galaxy for selfish ends. If Imperials joined the First Order, then they betrayed the principles they swore to uphold. They're traitors.

[He didn't know much about the First Order, but if they were speaking about the same person...] Armitage Hux is what he called himself. His father should be ashamed.

[ Finn opened his mouth and closed it almost immediately. Those weren't selfish ends. Couldn't have been. Yet-... The galaxy was already under control of the Empire and trying to shake things up did cause chaos and death. He could easily see why someone in their ranks, including a Stormtrooper, wouldn't think any other way.

But there was so much wrong with this. Finn left because they were killing innocents, because of Slip's death. ]

Brendol Hux was his father... [ Finn thought the man had something to do with the Stormtroopers in the Empire and the Order, but he didn't know for certain. Didn't even know if he ever laid eyes on the man. But Finn stepped forward, pushing away all thoughts of the Hux family. ] What was it like? Being a Stormtrooper for them? I mean, didn't- Wasn't there more that you wanted? Didn't you lose people?

[ He obviously must have lost people, but Finn didn't mean to the Rebels. ]

[Shook his head.] Never heard of him. The Empire contains trillions. [Which was part of why it was so galling that it could fall so quickly. But the rebellion had obviously weakened it fatally, and to a degree no one had been able to see. Maybe with something as big as the Empire, it had literally been impossible to see it.]

I didn't want anything else. I had a commander I was proud to serve, I worked with other clones and recruits--adult recruits--to fight rebels and Black Sun pirates and defend Imperial citizens. My commander and I died for the Empire, just like many others did. [It's... more comforting to think of it that way.]

And now I'm here. My commander, too. We can't go back, but I'm not done being an Imperial Stormtrooper, and I never will be.

[ This was... a lot. Finn had obviously encountered people in his division that wanted to be Stormtroopers, including Nines and Zeroes, but it wasn't really for any love or faith. They looked down on others, mostly. Like that negotiator. To them, being a Stormtrooper meant being allowed to beat down those smaller than you, because they couldn't turn around and beat the ones hurting them.

Apparently, the Empire had been completely different.

Finn stood there for maybe too long of a time, blinking up at him and trying to reconcile his entire world getting flipped. Again. For like the fifth time this week. He looked away, trying to picture a good relationship with Phasma, and remembered that Zeroes and Nines did look up to her. ]

Did they have reconditioning? [ He met TK-622's eyes again. ] Decommissioning?

[That was a fear he understood.] Reconditioning, yes. It was rare, but sometimes it was the only way to help a soldier who'd been put through too much. [He probably would've been bound for that, if he'd survived. His behavior was becoming erratic, after Akobi's death. And he had gone back and forth on whether he would have welcomed it, at that point.]

But we were optimized to withstand what we were up against, and the adult volunteers understood the commitments expected of them when they joined the Corps. No one was conscripted. No children, either. [And that was another big difference between the Empire and the First Order.] What little I've heard of your treatment is galling. I'm sorry.

[ According to the Order, Finn had been put through too much when they sent him along. But that-

If TK-622 was to be believed, then what he'd heard about the Empire from the Order and the Resistance were lies. Or maybe just not whole truths. He could see how the pieces could slot together, how everything was just a little more complicated than people let on. The difference, for Finn, came down to the fact that 622 wanted to be in the Empire and believed that they were fighting the good fight.

But what if he was just conditioned to think that? Like they tried with all of them? Controlling the troops with loyalty and pride instead of fear and pain. Was that any different than the Rebellion or Resistance?

Well, yes. They had families, names. Stormtroopers didn't. But he couldn't really make himself think 622 was in any sort a bad guy. A Clone Trooper was telling him that defecting had been right. He couldn't just toss that idly aside. ]

Thank you. [ And it's about as sincere as he can make it. ] It's... really amazing to meet you, TK-622. [ He extends his hand but rethinks. ] Do you have a name or do you prefer to go by your designation?

I'm glad we've had the chance, and I hope Earth treats you well. [As part of Aegis, he'd do what he could to ensure that.]

No name. 622 is fine. [The police are finally entering the building. Looks like their part here is drawing to a close.] We'll need to give statements, but it should go smoother since I deputized you. [He'd have to square that away with Aegis once he got back to base.] It's only temporary status for this engagement, but if you want to join in future, I'm sure there will be a place opening up soon enough.

[ Oh, right. The deputized thing. He nodded. ]

Thanks. I hope I... see you around? [ Just one of his childhood heroes, nbd. Don't wanna seem clingy or something. Still, he only had about a million more questions. ]

If you ever want to contact me, I always keep my network comlink active. I recommend learning how to use its neural link, it's especially useful in emergency situations. [He doesn't necessarily trust it, but so long as it can be used to his advantage, he will.

He gives Finn a nod.] Thank you for your assistance today.

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walking in a winter wonderland

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I'm sorry for the novel! we're both trying to process haha

i did a 942 word tl this week, you're good

omg i've found my people

Re: omg i've found my people