Mission 02 - Stacy Says Follow the Yules

[cityship]

There is a resounding mental alarum that sounds through the ship. Nearly "deafening." Lights flash from places for extra emphasis, making it impossible to ignore.

||Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention, all personnel...||

It's entirely likely that she won't stop repeating the announcement until, well, everyone reports to Obs Deck. Outside the windows, a very Earth-like planet is visible, hanging in space. The mouth in the huge statue opens, revealing a screen. On it, the dossier for the mission flickers into display, understandable to every person there. Smaller copies of the dossier appear in holographic form in front of everyone.

The planet's stats, right next to a rotating holographic picture of it, marbled blue and green, are as follows:

Planet Designation: Earth-78734XM45
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens. [Various translations of "human" appear here so everyone understands it]
Water: 69.5% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Earth-like, in the throes of a mild nuclear winter [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: Varied.
Air: Normoxic concentration. Slightly elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue. Often overcast.
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.

Warnings: Wildlife and plant-life can be hazardous. Humans can be hazardous. A human cultural and legal database is available. [click here]

Mission: Revive the spiritual entity at the North Pole.

--

Following that, there are various maps and things visible. The version of Earth this world is may be very recognizable to some, but vast cities dot its surface.

||Attention, podmates. Attention.||

Apparently Stacy wants their attention.

||It is critical that you pay attention at this time.||

A few people will be able to avoid the call by being in the right place at the right time, but most will be gathered up on Obs Deck.

[ooc: Organization Post | You can post into the gathering thread. I'll add more subthreads with explanations of aspects of the mission as we go. Note: If you don't have time to post to this mission briefing but still want to have your character in the plot, that's fine. You can just pretend they were there the whole time. If you DON'T want your characters to be in this plot altogether, however, don't have them in the briefing--Stacy could have missed snagging them.]

Comments

[morphitudinous]

"I wonder," he agreed, admiring the planet. In a way, it was comforting to see that planets like his still existed somewhere.

"Maybe we'll get the chance to visit---I'd like that."

[bonnypiperlad]

"I hope so," Jamie agrees, sounding enthusiastic about the proposition. "But...if we're going to save the Spirit of Christmas, we may not have time." Which is a little disappointing, but he'll deal with that.

He goes back to trying to figure out the rest of the mission, and scratches at his head. "Throes of a mild nuclear...what?" Idly he wonders if Stacy's mission dossiers are always this confusing.

[morphitudinous]

"Maybe the children in Scotland need some encouragement---but I guess we'll find out where we're going soon enough."

He taps the bridge of his nose, summoning up the words to explain. "This world has suffered a nuclear winter. Years after your home era, humans invented weapons capable of enormous destruction called nuclear weapons. I don't know if you ever encountered them in your travels with the Doctor---I hope you didn't. Anyway, when dropped, nuclear weapons explode and cause massive fires. The smoke and soot from the fires fill the air. When the air is so polluted, the smoke blocks the sun's rays from reaching the Earth's surface, causing the temperature to drop."

[bonnypiperlad]

There's a frown that develops as Jamie listens. "Nuclear weapons. They're...like atomic weapons, aye?" He's not quite sure they're the same thing, but the description is starting to sound uncomfortably familiar.

"If they are, I've seen what they can do." And that frown is only getting deeper.

[morphitudinous]

"Yes, they're similar." Billy frowns as well. Those poor people must have suffered for such a long time.

"Those children must not be expecting much for Christmas, if the state of their world is any indication."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Probably not." Jamie acknowledges, still frowning. "Those poor wee bairns."

He lapses into silence for a moment - then suddenly pipes back up with, "We need to help them." His expression has shifted again, and now he looks as determined as Billy has ever seen him.

[morphitudinous]

"We will help them", Billy agrees. "They need us."

His fists were clenched in determination now. For the first time since awakening on Stacy, he felt that they were being sent on a mission for a cause he could wholeheartedly support.

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye," Jamie says firmly. "I just wonder what we are going to have to do."

He looks over at Billy with a questioning expression. How complicated is this going to be?