vivalaooc | TDM #8

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TDM #8

TEST DRIVE #8

The day begins as any other, you’re going about your day, living your life, when, without warning, you feel the world around you shift on its axis. You feel a great tear, welling from the depths of your soul as you are ripped from all you have known. If you’re lucky, you arrive in the wilderness of an unfamiliar world, where the language is foreign and the people are hostile. To make your escape, you must learn some language, flee, and occasionally fight, all to find your way off the floating isles you find yourself on and to the great ocean below, where rebel forces will welcome you.

If you’re unlucky, you materialize within a room full of armed guards and are quickly subdued with charged nets, stripped of your belongings, fitted with strange devices that suppress your powers and pressed into servitude. Your days are unimaginable pain and toil.

Fortunately, even in this world, there is still hope. For the denizens of this world have not given up. And it is for that dream of salvation that the Crimson Corsairs raise their flags and sail - for liberation. Perhaps you are one who has lived their entire life under the oppressive yoke of the Empire. Perhaps you have seen first hand your family and friends cut down by nobles hunting men for sport, or perhaps you have run afoul with the church and barely escaped with your life. No matter your origin, the Corsairs sail for you, for your freedom, for your life. And today, a taste of freedom will be won for all.

ARRIVAL/LIBERATION
The attacks on Bluvink and Vindess were wildly successful, but it also created the largest risk to Imperial citizens ever. Due to the heavy dealing with certain elements of the imperial citizenry, there has been a heightened risk at the Empire cracking down on them. In an effort to protect them, the Corsairs have welcomed a large number of refugees from Imperial settlements for the first time. While some servants were also liberated in the operation, a great deal of the Corsair’s airship resources were devoted to evacuation.

As such, the Vault is filled to the brim with people being processed and temporarily housed. Whole families have been displaced, and it’s hard to determine who might be willing to sell out the Corsairs for a chance to return when offered. Please be patient, like as not, you’ll be here for a while.

UNDERGROUND OVERCROWDING

In addition to the refugees, many of Flotsam’s regulars are currently residing in the Vault. While the settlement is quite large, even its capacity is starting to become overloaded. And with the clashing personalities of typical Vault and Flotsam residents, to say nothing of all of the Imperial refugees who have been ripped from their former lives and are now residing in an unfamiliar and, for Isle-dwellers disconcerting new home, tensions are running high. It’s pretty common for brawls to break out, although if you’re taking part or attempting to keep the peace is another story entirely.

CRITICAL REPAIRS

The fighting in the Isles Above was intense, and the airships did not escape unscathed. The ships have been brought into the Vault for intensive inspection and repairs, and those who are on duty are working day and night to get them fixed up in time for the next major operation. Whether you’re a craftsperson, hunter, gatherer, or salvager, chances are high that you’ve been tapped to procure or create material for these repairs, and you haven’t really had much time to rest.

It’s all right though, the foremen kindly left free pizza in the mess hall. That makes it fine, right?

WHEN YOU’RE LAND-BOUND, BETTER DRINK

Many of the Flotsam residents are going more than a little stir-crazy hiding out in the Vault. In what is certainly an extremely cunning plan without any potential downsides, the Vault has mobilized all of the Waterlogged Row’s purveyors of grog and set them up centrally within the Vault. And thus, the Flotsam citizens are able to engage in their favorite past-time. Getting extremely drunk. In enclosed quarters. In a city full of scholars that’s under constant bombardment.

Surely nothing will go wrong.

WILDCARD

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OOC
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In Raph's defense, his presence alone can spark such an outrage. In being so large, he can't help but be in the way when things are cramped. Although he's obviously failing, he's trying his best to diffuse the situation.

"Uh, excuse me. Sir? – And I mean that in the most sincere way – I don't think raising your voice is gonna help here. As you can see, it's hard for me to try getting out of the way when there isn't any room to do it. An' you're kinda makin' things very uncomfortable for everyone– !" Despite his sincerity (along with trying to create a small bubble of space between them which may have been a little too strong a push), the man only doubles down and gets way more physical, pushing and pushing before using all of his strength to shove Raph backward.

He yelps, finding his footing quickly so that he doesn't squish the poor folks who are caught behind him. The last thing he wants to do is fall on them shell-first. But this is enough to test his patience. His brow creases, prompting him to square his shoulders and draw himself upright.

"HEY!"

Strange. It's like his voice is echoing.

(Except it isn't.)

Perhaps it's a good thing Tau steps in when he does. The large turtle blinks, glancing over in his direction at the same time everyone else within the vicinity does – albeit missing him by a good foot or so before readjusting his gaze downward. And he sees that hand on the guy's arm, who is visibly trembling like he's struggling against a force to be reckoned with.

"...How are you even doing that?" comes a question that doesn't seem to fit in with the responses Tau should be receiving.

Good thing Raph had caught himself when he did; it saves him the trouble of having to put the big guy back on his feet.

"Doing what?" the considerably smaller figure asks, although it doesn't quite sound like he actually means to have it clarified, his glare still very much intent on the Corsair in front of him, who seems to have broken out in a sweat as he realizes who's ire he's drawn. And yet, some people still think they must double-down.

Tau seems to notice, even if visibly there doesn't seem to be much change in movement. He grins, his sharp canines adding a bit of a scary edge to it.

"Oho... I remember you..." he says, his tone dropping low like some predator that's just found dinner. "Your face healed up well, just like I said it would!"

Wait is he supposed to be helping?

"Doing," Raph gestures at the action taken with the man, seeing that Tau isn't having any problem at all in comparison, "that! You're as strong as Mikey!" Where he should be concerned, he genuinely isn't; in fact, he's kind of in awe of this feat. "Can you throw cargo ships an' buildings, too?"

–Hold on, they were supposed to be settling a matter here and the turn tables.

His enthusiasm then putters when he remembers they are currently dealing with a problem. The look on the smaller one's face sends a shiver down his spine. He's sure Mikey has also worn a similar expression at some point, and it clearly tells his big brother instinct to intervene.

"You two know each other?" From what he can surmise, they both started off on the wrong foot. That doesn't keep him from reaching out with a large hand to grab Tau's arm. "–Nevermind that, maybe we can continue to leave his face as it is for now."

"What's a Mikey," Tau asks, mostly out of reflex. He does have to blink and look at Raph like he's speaking crazy speak. "Who can do something that ridiculous-?!"

It's a brief enough distraction, and paired with Raph daring to grab him, gives the other angered Corsair opportunity. The tense grimace on the other man becomes a grin in an instant, and he lunges forward with his free hand just as Tau throws a glare at Raph. "What're you-"

Tau doesn't finish, the rest of his words cut off as he finds himself suddenly hoisted up by the front of his robes, which isn't a difficult feat because the kodama's so very light. Someone looks about to get flung...

Edited 2025-02-08 08:08 (UTC)

–Wait, that's not supposed to happen.

Why is everything Raphael is doing backfiring on him? This is more frequent than he wants it to be!

Except he should really be paying attention to how his hand now follows Tau up in the Corsair's grasp, eyes widening when he sees where this is going.

Fortunately, his other hand is free to fly out at the man in an attempt to keep any flinging from flingening. "Oh, so that's how we're doing this?!" he asks, returning to a yelling state of mind as he lets go of Tau's arm to crowd in and get a better hold on the man. "Raph's not even gonna ask ya to quit right now!"

"Stay outta this, Rot!" the Corsair growls, his toothy grin freezing as Raph grabs ahold of him.

Tau stares at him a moment, but with his arms free, he moves his hands to grab at the hand that's suspending him in the air. "Let go, you idiot!" he growls in turn as he tries to pry at the offending fingers. He'd kick the guy in the face but his leg's too short.

Others around them sort of freeze at the strange commotion they've come across. A few of the bigger Corsair's friends start cheering him on, which only serves to encourage him as he suddenly pulls his arm back, Tau losing his grip as he's swept along with it like a ragdoll- looks like this guy does intend to just throw the poor fellow. His other meaty hand moves to shove into Raph's face.

"What you call me?! GuhH!"

Finding his vision obscured and head angled roughly by the hand, Raph bares his teeth, the snaggled tooth put on full display as he now grapples with the Corsair. The impulse to bite (where did that come from) is quickly swayed by the predicament Tau is in; hearing the cheers on the sidelines tells him to act fast or else there really will be one less person aboard. "Really? WHAT'D I SAY??"

Pulling away, he draws back one arm, throwing it forward a tightly balled fist. This is not a favorable punching, but it is en route into the man's nicely-healed face.

Raph may be baring his teeth, but it's Tau that's actually suddenly chomped onto the Corsair's hand. "-OW! You little-"

He turns his head towards the smaller figure, noticing too late the blur of green coming from the other side. Raph's knuckles find the guy's face all right, a nice meaty punch that knocks the Corsair's head to the side. And maybe a tooth.

All at once his grasp loosens on both Raph and Tau, the latter dropped unceremoniously onto his back with just a mild 'oof!' before he's flipping to his feet, wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Nice hit," he comments almost offhandedly to Raph while he watches the Corsair stagger back, shaking his head before he throws a glare at the both of them. "Ah, not enough though."

"That's because Raph was holding back," Raph frowns, casting a sideways glance over in Tau's direction once the latter is upright again.

Again, he's wondering about how skilled Tau really is. Not many people can recover from a drop like that, after all.

But he meets that glare from the Corsair, slightly worried as he glares back. "I'm thinkin' it's too late to say sorry," he adds with a huff, shifting into a defensive stance.

Tau barks a laugh at that. "These guys in particular don't really care for apologies."

The big Corsair lunges, throwing his fist in Tau's direction. The little one snorts, and then he seemingly disappears for how quickly he leaps out of the way, seemingly reappearing atop the Corsair's shoulder before he flips off of his back, pushing off sharply with his foot to completely knock the man off his balance. Unfortunately this is sending him right towards Raph, and he doesn't seem to care too much at this point, looking like he figures if he's going to go down, he's tackling this green kid with him!

Here he comes! The turtle teen squares up, snapping to attention away from Tau's clean execution when the Corsair starts stumbling his way. Weirdly enough, Raph closes the distance almost as swiftly, aiming for a gut punch before pivoting to dodge being fully tackled.

If he's going to go down, he's going down on top of the guy with a meaningful elbow drop. Sure, it may have a slight clunk to it thanks to everything being on the cramped side, but he uses the magic of gravity and his full weight to complete the circuit.

"BOOM!"

That's not something the other expects, and with his balance already compromised, he can't really put on the brakes. Hear that? That's the sound of air being expelled as Raph's fist finds the Corsair's stomach, abruptly killing his momentum, which is when the strike comes from above. He goes down heavily onto the ground, face first. A shudder passes through him as though in a last ditch attempt to summon up the strength to stand, but it gets no further than that.

Tau stands there blinking, and just behind him, the Corsair's rowdy buddies. One of them takes a step back, and as though a silent signal has been triggered, the little green-haired medic turns his head then, spearing him with a look.

"Oh no you don't. You're dragging this sorry lug to get treated, and don't you dare think of pointing fingers at who's to blame or I'll break them and your faces." He smirks. "Or maybe I'll let him do it," he adds, thumbing back at Raph. "I'll give you five seconds to start moving. Five..."

They begin to scramble then, dragging their unconscious friend off while Tau watches, the crowds that have gathered parting just enough to let them pass.

As things die down, Raph blows out a breath, tilting his head from side to side, taking his time to rotate his shoulder once he gets off of the now-unconscious Corsair. He's not exactly proud of what he did, taking stock while finally letting his arms drop to his sides. "Welp. I tried to be nice..."

Don't mind him making slight faces at the threats Tau makes. He sidles off a bit when the rest of the Corsair's pals swarm over to remove the body, raising his hands close to his body, finger poking finger while he tries to make himself less noticeable.

"...Uh. I ain't gonna get into trouble for that, am I?"

It's fine, Tau won't. He folds his arms as he continues to watch until the others have gotten out of sight and others around have started to disperse. The words from the turtle have him glance back. Oh, he's still here.

"Nah. You're hardly the first offender. A lot of people are on edge around here- it's not usually this crowded."

He pauses, finally turning to face him. "Name's Tau. Judging from the terrible accent I'm guessing you're not from here, are you."

Relief shows up in the way Raph sags his shoulders, closing his eyes for a moment as he nods. "Yeah, no kiddin'. All this nervous energy an' nothing to channel it through."

How he wished Franken-foot was there to spar with. He had fun doing that.

His eyelids flutter back open, the corner of his mouth twisting slightly. "Yeah. Guess it's too obvious, huh?" Raph sighs. "The name's Raph. You know what's been goin' on lately?"

"That exactly," Tau nods. "But for now everyone's going to have to put up with it."

He smirks a bit. Obvious? "Yeah, kind of. You're hardly the first to be stumbling over things though. They give classes here so if you need the practice, you're in the best place."

His expression flattens as he sighs, looking around again. "We decided to strike big at the start of the year. Both operations were successful, the influx of people turning against the Empire is testament to that, but maybe more than we were prepared for. On top of that, the illustrious Emperor has decided to take the Corsairs seriously enough that he's made an address of his own. So we've definitely made an impression."

Raph snorts, but nods. "Huh. Nice! Maybe I'll try it." And maybe he will, depending on how far he gets with that in mind.

"That explains it," the turtle then says, also looking out at the crowd before shifting a bit so that some of the refugees can get around him, "'specially with the Empire bein' the way it is. None of that sits well with Raph."

He was only able to make out parts of that address once it dropped, but he understood the gist of it.

"If he said what I think he said, then that doesn't leave us much time to come up with other plans."

The other shrugs. What the oversized turtlekin decides to do certainly isn't his business.

"Heh. The Empire doesn't like it when people don't agree with them, because surely they can't be in the wrong," Tau says, rolling his eyes. "Don't know how long you've been around here, but you'd better prepare yourself all the same. It's easy to get ideas about putting an end to them, but truthfully, the Empire's been in place for a long time. It's going to take work to change things. A lot."

He shakes his head. "Time hasn't changed. We just have to be more careful with our external movements. And I'm not sure how well we thought about what to do if people did see things our way, as you can see here. We're going to need to find better places for everyone. The Emperor made that announcement on purpose. He's trying to scare us, and those who might think to side with us. And if it influences anyone, we're going to have a big mess on our hands."

"Huh. Sure was easier having to deal with short-term enemies than a whole long-standing Empire..."

And it was true: Raph had more experience dealing with sudden threats to everyday life back at home. Or minor scuffles every other day with his specified nemesis group. The bigger it was, the faster he and his brothers worked to stop it from getting worse.

He agrees, however; even if they do win with the smaller victories, they still need to figure out how to manage the chaos within their ranks. "Then we're gonna do whatever we can an' do our best to keep morale up," the turtlekin says, letting a fist meet the palm of his open hand. "No Emperor's gonna scare Raph away."

Tau looks the turtle up and down. "Didn't think you were new to fights," he says, smirking mildly. "Sounds like whatever you've had to deal with is much more preferable."

He nods, grinning a little fangily as Raph punctuates his words with a fist smack. "Good. Let's make sure you keep that attitude up. There's going to be plenty to do around here, so don't expect anyone to be holding your hand. ...but if you have questions, just make sure you ask the right people. Some are more patient for it than others."

Raph chuckles, his own fang poking out with the grin on his face. "It got pretty rough, but all the training pays off. I also had my family backing me up, too."

Although the grin falters slightly at the last sentence, he bounces back, brightening up as Tau encourages his determination. "Got it. My hands'll be full with other stuff, anyway." Eager as he is to get moving, he takes a moment to pause, actually taking the tip in before glancing down at Tau.

"Hey, Tau? Thanks."

That's not something Tau misses, but he can understand it plainly enough. Those brought through the Servant's Gate weren't dragged into this world for a family vacation. His own expression is politely neutral at that.

"I'm sure we all will." He nods, raising a hand to wave as he figures the big guy is going to head on his way. The thanks is unexpected, maybe, given Tau's expression. He blinks, but then offers Raph a gentler smile at that, nodding.

"Stay out of trouble. See you around, Raph."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM #8

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