SPRING TEST DRIVE MEME

[spaceshipit]

THE TEST DRIVE MEME

Got someone you want to try out before you app? Well this is the post for it! Feel free to use anything that fits in the setting of Drift Fleet! Want to play bumper shuttles? Want to go wild in a med bay? Play around with the current plot? Have at it!

Threads from the Test-Drive may be made game "canon" but DO NOT count toward AC!

FOR NEW PLAYERS: You DO NOT NEED an invite to participate in the TEST DRIVE! If you decide to APP into the game, ONLY THEN will you need an invite from a current player! Applications for new players open April 1st.

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

April's Star System

Game Details

From now on, Test Drives will be posted SEASONALLY (or every three months!). So the next one will be posted in the summer!

Comments

[dorkvader]

"The force knows. You should probably apologize to the force."

He could get closer to them if you want. Zipping around the other ships is just more fun than going the safe path. Honestly, this is tame compared to how he flies in battle.

Now that is some fun flying.

[forcesensitive]

Is that really how the Force works? Finn, confused, says "I'm sorry, Force.".

He's totally not hanging on for dear life as Vader drives. Nope.

Of course, once they approach the Marsiva, it sure looks like there's nowhere to dock.

[dorkvader]

Maybe? Vader isn't telling. (Hint: no, he's just a dick.)
,,He drives casually along the length of the Marsiva looking for the nonexistent dock.

What kind of idiot designs a ship without a dock?

The only thing like it he's seen was back during the clone wars... that cold fire of hate burns bright with the memory.

"Is this a droid ship?"

[forcesensitive]

Shit, if they can't find anywhere to dock they'll be stuck out here, and he's in a shuttle with Darth Vader. Ugh.

"Uh, not that I know of, sir. We all woke up here when we got here, and people said they've been back. They must have got back on somehow."

[dorkvader]

Good point. Alright, there has to be a way in then. He takes a sip of coffee to relax.

"We can always make our own door." Cutting his way through with his lightsaber was an option. How thick could the hull be?

[forcesensitive]

It would be...something Finn would like to see him try, really. Either he'd figure out a way to get back on the Marsiva (win) or its defenses and space would be enough to put a damper on Vader (win).

"Yes, sir. Shuttle weapons fire with those buttons there." He knows they're not going to be able to penetrate the Marsiva's shields, but it's worth a shot. Right?

[dorkvader]

"Are you sure you're not a pilot?" For not being a pilot Finn has a lot of suggestions. controls are over there Lord Vader, watch out for that ship Lord Vader, please don't crash the ship Lord Vader. Sheesh.

He'll give the blasters a try, though honestly, he doubts they'll be any use.

"Well, 'Mr. I'm no pilot' why don't you check on the docking system. I want a magnetic seal on the hull."

[forcesensitive]

"In a two-seater, I'm a gunner." See? He has a good excuse for knowing these things. He'll stand behind please don't crash the ship, Lord Vader though.

"Yes, sir." The blasters are indeed ineffective against the shields, but he can at least configure the landing gear. Surely Vader can't be thinking of going in with his lightsaber....

[dorkvader]

Vader is most definitely thinking of going in with his lightsaber... What's the point of having a lightsaber if you don't slice your way through things with it once in a while.

If this is anything like a ship from back home then it will either be able to land with it's door flush to the bulkhead, have an extendable port for that. Or if not, hopefully Finn will be lucky enough that the exit has a force field to keep the atmosphere in.

First though, he has to land.

[forcesensitive]

The point is obviously to defend your unconscious not-girlfriend from some jerk's overconfident grandson, but that's very clearly not in the cards right now. Nope.

He does at least dock in a way that won't cause explosive decompression, still not...entirely sure what Vader's after, here. It just doesn't occur to him to use the honored weapon of the Jedi (and Sith) as a can opener.

"Is that all right, Lord Vader?"

[dorkvader]

Oh Finn, let him tell you how useful a lightsaber is at defending your loved ones from a horrible inevitable fate. Or not, he'd rather not think about it.

"It is acceptable." Mostly it's good for Finn, he's not all that bothered by a little time in the vacuum of space. One of the perks of being him. Anyway, with that he ignites his saber and opens the door so he can breach the hull.

[forcesensitive]

Yeah, it worked great for his wife, didn't it? Oh wait.

Finn relaxes when the airlock hisses but doesn't exactly start sucking him out or anything. Looks like he docked close enough. Attempts to cut into the Marsiva, however, are met with minimal success: the ceramic hull of the ship is built to withstand great force and heat, and though Vader can get past the first few layers with effort, under that is a layer of seemingly impenetrable cables, gears, levers, and other mechanical devices made of a very resilient material.

[dorkvader]

Yeah, not so much. Careful how intensely you care about the people in your life Finn... shit can get real weird.

This isn't the first hull he's cut his way through, so he expects it to take a while. He's not expecting the mess on the other side. (Who designed this thing anyway, none of it makes sense.) When he can't cut through that he lowers his saber and tries with the force. Reaching his other hand out and letting his mug float nearby while he concentrates.

When that doesn't work he pauses, resting a few moments before trying again. Reaching out with all the anger and frustration this situation has been causing. This ship sucks.

"I need more coffee."

[forcesensitive]

Yeah, he has entirely too much empathy for that.

Finn clenches his fists nervously while Vader works on the hull, but when his conclusion is need more coffee rather than murder the underling, he breathes a quiet sigh of relief.

"Maybe we can find some better quality stuff than a street vendor, Lord Vader. Like in one of the big settlements? I bet there's some top quality stuff there, sir."

[dorkvader]

Fortunately for Finn, Vader rarely lashes out randomly anymore and he holds officers personally responsible rather than than troopers. Consider it a lucky bias held over from his youth.

Just don't let him find out you knew this would happen.

"Yeah, why not." He likes the way you think. Unfortunately he forgot to turn his saber off (again) and when he turns he lops part of the gunner seat off.

"Oops. I uh..I guess I'll switch this off." Damnit. This is not good for his image.

[forcesensitive]

Technically, he didn't know exactly what would happen, so Finn should be safe there. Whew.

He does jump back, startled but in more than enough time to dodge, when the lightsaber comes his way. He's had enough close encounters with red lightsabers for one lifetime, thanks. But aside from the dodge, he figures it's better to pretend he saw nothing. Right? Right.

"Yes, sir. Coffeeshop with the best reviews is in the west city. Apparently they have something called 'engine grease' with four times the normal caffeine. And, uh, no actual engine grease."

[dorkvader]

Good call Finn, he appreciates that. It's tricky being super impressively terrifying all the time. Even the Emperor has an off day now and then.

"Good... engine grease tastes terrible."

You work on enough engines and you're bound to forget you have some on your hands. Gross. Try not to do that.

[forcesensitive]

He would just love to take video of the Emperor's off day. Does Vader know they're on a reality show? Does he know what that means? Finn sure didn't when he first arrived.

"Yes, sir." Hey, he did have a posting in Sanitation beforehand. Finn knows how bad a lot of things taste. Especially things that can get through a Stormtrooper helmet.

The shuttles are pretty fast, so they arrive at the coffeeshop before too long. Finn just hopes nobody heroic and stupid tries to approach Vader and call him out; luckily he's already texted his friends to keep the hell away. "Do you have an account yet, Lord Vader? Or am I buying?"

[dorkvader]

See Finn, they have more in common than you realize! How cool is that? Also, he may or may not have been paying attention when all the explaining was going on.

"I don't have any pockets." Which in some ways could be a bit of a design flaw. Or at least an annoyance. Like carrying credits or whatever.

Not that he ever needed to... no one ever expected him to pay for anything. He was Darth Vader.

[forcesensitive]

Extremely not-cool, actually. The opposite of how he wants to live his life (although it would be pretty neat to be related to Luke Skywalker, he'll admit that).

"...Right. You shou--uh, I mean, it might be a good idea to carry around your communicator, sir. Gives you access to your account. I bet you can make it black, too." Wouldn't want to mess up that Sith Lord aesthetic he has going on there.

Okay, coffee's on him. Fine. This is all fine.

[dorkvader]

Can it have red highlights? More importantly can he connect it to his bluetooth? Maybe he shouldn't have left it behind after all. oops.

"Good point." Ugh, he's gotten used to having other people do all this shit for him. Now he only has FN here.

And he has to pay for stuff? Can this place get any more lame?

[forcesensitive]

Probably? There are red stickers, anyway. But at least if he doesn't have his communicator on it, he can't figure out there are half a dozen Rebels here.

Luckily, the coffeeshop is easy to find, and the Engine Grease special is exotic and full of caffeine. Just what the doctor ordered. "Here, sir. Uh, do you take cream and sugar or all black?"

[dorkvader]

"Do they have it in a latte?" At least most of them are force users right? A few of them he might not even want to kill immediately... one of them anyway... he hasn't killed anyone yet, that's got to count for something.

Yeah, on second thought, maybe not.

"if not... cream and sugar."

Yes, the irony of him preferring his coffee on the light side doesn't escape him. But coffee is not the force. That's duct tape.

[forcesensitive]

The only one he's sure on is that Vader wouldn't kill Padme Amidala, but like hell is he going to be the one to let that cat out of the bag. Not even going to touch it with a ten-meter pole.

"They got synthmilk lattes. I'll have 'em put sugar on the side so you can add to taste." Finn definitely would have pegged Lord Vader for a black coffee kind of guy. Guess one can never tell. He orders a small regular coffee for himself. Stormtroopers never get anything fancy, so black it is.

[dorkvader]

That would be... awkward. So very very awkward. Let's not do that.

"Synthmilk? Is that anything like that Bantha stuff? That stuff just doesn't foam right." Plus it's blue, really really blue.

He refuses to adhere to your expectations of him. He's his own Sith Lord.