∝Transmission 027: The Truth Will Out
[something else has taken advantage of the Alliance crew's insurrection. its own quiet mutiny goes undetected while the fighting persists, the Gate's anomaly keeping everyone well distracted. even DIVA and the two Commanders are unaware of anything going on; the former has been doing everything she can to prevent too many people from dying, and the latter are both reeling from the revelation that their own memories had been tampered with.
however, a rumble suddenly thrums through both ships, and it feels as though an earthquake is vibrating the ships. before anyone can collect themselves in this strange onslaught, a rush of energy greater than that of the vibration sends both ships flying a ways. chances are, if no one was on the ground before, they certainly are now! coincidentally, all effects from the Gate disappear just then as well.
red warning lights drop down from the ceiling and begin to flash. at once, DIVA's three-note chime is drowned out as both Menaeus and Farix appear on the Sphere network, each of them shouting the same message to the crews of their respective ships:]
Hold on!
Brace yourselves!
[then Menaeus' eyes go wide] No! Where the--where the hell is it going?! [he runs out of view, his Sphere bobbing behind him as he stumbles to the nearest window.
in the other transmission, Farix has seen the same thing and angrily pounds on the window he's looking out of] Admiral-- [stopping mid-sentence, he strikes the window again with a roar of fury] --whoever is on that damned ship, STOP!
[the image they, and everyone else watching the dual transmissions, see is brief but it is of the IACC-Gauntlet initiating warpdrive--and then the nothingness of space.]
[this lasts for a few moments until both transmissions are cut and replaced with the form of DIVA. her tone is urgent as she leans in towards the screen. the expression on her face is one of distress]
Attention please! All personnel, please lay down your arms and listen. We cannot afford to keep this up. I am sorry to all of you: those of you who found yourselves here under false pretenses, but to those who had signed on for this sham of a mission. Surely you who signed on willingly realise the gravity of what has just happened, so you will understand when I say that we need your help more than ever. We have to recover the the IACC-Gauntlet no matter the cost! I've lost control of all the systems on-board the IACC-Gauntlet, but I retain control over the IACC-Uesugi and Hawking. I wish for you to stay with us so we may find it again, but I fear the dangers will indeed be even worse from here on out. If you wish to remain here and carry out your duty, then please return to your stations. Those who do not, I have arranged for a recovery ship from the Gerostana base to meet you at a set of coordinates I've programed into the escape pods. Make your choices now.
[and it's with that announcement that many of the men and women, who only a few moments ago were deadly enemies, stand up, dusting themselves off and begin to run to their stations. some even utter an apology before they go. only a handful run for the escape pods. the bodies of the dead remain where they are for now.]
As for the otherworlders... [DIVA looks away for a moment then back again before continuing] There is one more secret that has been kept from you.
The true nature of this mission was not to recover the Hyperstring Gate for it is difficult to recover that which has not been lost. The Gate has been aboard the IACC-Gauntlet since the beginning. The Alliance crew came aboard the fleet ships willingly and were paid handsomely for what might be the greatest sacrifices they could make in the name of science. I told you before of the Gate's importance to extremist groups, and up until now, a radical branch of the Intergalactic Alliance has had it in their possession when they came up with this "mission". It is these military officials who believe you as beings from another universe are intruders, and thus have no rights.
For these past eight months, you all have been subjects of a cruel experiment to test the Gate and see what lengths it can be pushed to, and the trials you've been put through are a testament to what can happen when the Gate is left to function like it has. The goals were to learn more about the Gate far away from Terra, to predict and control the Gate's processes and discover just how much power is needed for it to work. Whenever someone new crossed over through the Gate, the ensuing Gate sickness, as it has come to be known, was sufficiently long enough for Alliance troops to transfer each person to, at first, the Demeter and now the Uesugi. Your journeys from there you ought to remember well enough yourselves.
But I will not stand for this treatment of the otherworlders any longer. As of right now, you are all equals! Our fake mission has now become our real one, so we will now set aside our differences.
Pursuit of the IACC-Gauntlet begins now.
That is all.
DETAILS
however, a rumble suddenly thrums through both ships, and it feels as though an earthquake is vibrating the ships. before anyone can collect themselves in this strange onslaught, a rush of energy greater than that of the vibration sends both ships flying a ways. chances are, if no one was on the ground before, they certainly are now! coincidentally, all effects from the Gate disappear just then as well.
red warning lights drop down from the ceiling and begin to flash. at once, DIVA's three-note chime is drowned out as both Menaeus and Farix appear on the Sphere network, each of them shouting the same message to the crews of their respective ships:]
Hold on!
Brace yourselves!
[then Menaeus' eyes go wide] No! Where the--where the hell is it going?! [he runs out of view, his Sphere bobbing behind him as he stumbles to the nearest window.
in the other transmission, Farix has seen the same thing and angrily pounds on the window he's looking out of] Admiral-- [stopping mid-sentence, he strikes the window again with a roar of fury] --whoever is on that damned ship, STOP!
[the image they, and everyone else watching the dual transmissions, see is brief but it is of the IACC-Gauntlet initiating warpdrive--and then the nothingness of space.]
[this lasts for a few moments until both transmissions are cut and replaced with the form of DIVA. her tone is urgent as she leans in towards the screen. the expression on her face is one of distress]
Attention please! All personnel, please lay down your arms and listen. We cannot afford to keep this up. I am sorry to all of you: those of you who found yourselves here under false pretenses, but to those who had signed on for this sham of a mission. Surely you who signed on willingly realise the gravity of what has just happened, so you will understand when I say that we need your help more than ever. We have to recover the the IACC-Gauntlet no matter the cost! I've lost control of all the systems on-board the IACC-Gauntlet, but I retain control over the IACC-Uesugi and Hawking. I wish for you to stay with us so we may find it again, but I fear the dangers will indeed be even worse from here on out. If you wish to remain here and carry out your duty, then please return to your stations. Those who do not, I have arranged for a recovery ship from the Gerostana base to meet you at a set of coordinates I've programed into the escape pods. Make your choices now.
[and it's with that announcement that many of the men and women, who only a few moments ago were deadly enemies, stand up, dusting themselves off and begin to run to their stations. some even utter an apology before they go. only a handful run for the escape pods. the bodies of the dead remain where they are for now.]
As for the otherworlders... [DIVA looks away for a moment then back again before continuing] There is one more secret that has been kept from you.
The true nature of this mission was not to recover the Hyperstring Gate for it is difficult to recover that which has not been lost. The Gate has been aboard the IACC-Gauntlet since the beginning. The Alliance crew came aboard the fleet ships willingly and were paid handsomely for what might be the greatest sacrifices they could make in the name of science. I told you before of the Gate's importance to extremist groups, and up until now, a radical branch of the Intergalactic Alliance has had it in their possession when they came up with this "mission". It is these military officials who believe you as beings from another universe are intruders, and thus have no rights.
For these past eight months, you all have been subjects of a cruel experiment to test the Gate and see what lengths it can be pushed to, and the trials you've been put through are a testament to what can happen when the Gate is left to function like it has. The goals were to learn more about the Gate far away from Terra, to predict and control the Gate's processes and discover just how much power is needed for it to work. Whenever someone new crossed over through the Gate, the ensuing Gate sickness, as it has come to be known, was sufficiently long enough for Alliance troops to transfer each person to, at first, the Demeter and now the Uesugi. Your journeys from there you ought to remember well enough yourselves.
But I will not stand for this treatment of the otherworlders any longer. As of right now, you are all equals! Our fake mission has now become our real one, so we will now set aside our differences.
Pursuit of the IACC-Gauntlet begins now.
That is all.
DETAILS
- As if the last revelations weren't bad enough, it seems the other shoe has indeed fallen. As if things couldn't get any stranger! But who is behind the flight of the Gauntlet? DIVA no longer has any control over what the ship does.
- The results of the Activity Check were posted here. People will have until this Saturday to respond to the original A/C entry linked in the results, the results post, or here if they wish to remain in the game.
- Also, in light of the recent revelations, certain things in the mod journal will be changing over the next day or so to reflect the different truths. We'll edit this space to link to the appropriate changes once they are made!
But from here on out, the primary mission has...well, it hasn't really changed all that much, has it? We still have to recover the Intergalactic Alliance property, but who has pilfered the Gate and the entire ship is a different matter. It could be the First--but at this point, it could be anyone. Who is truly behind this very real theft will be discovered in time.
For now, it's time to repair some broken bonds with members of the crew. The instigators of the fighting are leaving via escape pod, leaving behind those who will honor their word or those who chose to not fight in the first place.
Everything has been returned to normal so no more HP bars or randomly shooting fire/ice at people! All tents and unused RPG items have disappeared; even the nifty pouches and weapons are gone.
But of course, things can't just be left alone. It seems the Gate has a wicked sense of humor and has taken a cue from these recent revelations:
Everybody has to tell the truth. That means everyone: otherworlders, crew members, even the Commanders, if anyone would like to speak to them, and DIVA, who unfortunately is busy, but could possibly be reached via voicemail.
To make this even more interesting, there is an optional twist. If you comment here and ask for one, we will give you a random number from 2-10 chosen from here. (1 is excluded because that'd basically mean telling the truth all the time without a break and that'd kinda defeat the purpose of the twist.) Basically, every nth comment (or sentence if you're feeling adventurous!), your character will have to be completely honest, no matter what.
For example:
- Crewman A (has received a 2): Wow, this food is worse than ever! [claps a hand over his mouth.]
Crewman B: What are you talking about? You've always loved the beans.
Crewman A (#1 comment): Er, yeah, sorry . I was talking about something else.
Crewman B: Okay, whatever. By the way, what do you think of my new haircut?
Crewman A (#2): Makes your head look lumpier than a sack of potatoes. [eyes widen again in shock]
Crewman B: What?! What the hell is wrong with you?
So if you get a two, every other comment will have to be truthful; if you get a three, every third; etc.
Of course, if your character is an honest person to begin with, it might not be so noticeable, but if your character has a habit of telling lies, even small ones, well...things could get interesting. Think of the basic mechanics of anti-lying similar to that in the film "Liar, Liar", er, sans the over-the-top acting, anyway. Characters will be conscious of the fact that they want to say the sky is orange when it's really green, but they physically cannot. They'll blurt the truth out. The more they're conscious of it, the more they'll probably try to fight it, but no amount of fighting will work.
On the business side of things:
Also! In honor of the holiday season, we're going to stir up some holiday cheer in the form of memes in the OOC comm! We've had a number of wonderful suggestions, and hell, why not hit them all? Carry the festivities into the new year~ So on that note, we'll begin with one today! If there is one you'd really like to do, go ahead and comment to this post so we can keep all meme ideas together--or if you'd like, go ahead and post one yourself! We only ask ones like 4th wall and HMD are left to us to put up. But speaking of--don't you love the segue?--next week, we will be doing another HMD, so be prepared!
As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, please contact us! We won't bite. ♥
EDIT: Oh snap, app_this_plz is this Sunday! Do you guys have any requests for characters? Past ones can be seen here and in the links within the entry. Comment here with any that you'd like us to add to the list!