trans_9 | Mission 02 - Stacy Says Follow the Yules

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Mission 02 - Stacy Says Follow the Yules

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well it wasn't always hippies and rainbows. But here, now, the greater and lesser good were one and the same. "Hmm...Well, the region I suspect we're going to is one occupied by my most distant ancestors. We are coming up on the religious holiday of Eid Ul-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It is a time for feasting and doing charitable works. Like my homeworld, it is a desert region. Water is highly valuable. The ability to bring it in and up from underground will be a proof that we have been divinely inspired."

"I see," Katara said, She knew that it was probable that they weren't always going to be easy decisions to make when it came to the being a Bene Gesserit, but this one was one she was perfectly fine with. "Eid Ul-Fitr," she said, playing the words out, to get the pronunciation right. "Ramadan. All weird words to me, but if they're about giving charity and feasting, I'll definitely participate. Where do we find this holiday spirit?"

"It's Arabic...a distant ancestor of Fremen, my native tongue. It sounds a little like this:"

And she sang the first chorus of a lilting, old song about sacrifice and eternity.

"Inama nushif (She is eternal)
Al asir hiy ayish (No malice can touch)

Lia-anni (Singular and ageless)
Zaratha zarati (Perpetually bound)"

And after she was done she paused a moment. "As for this temporal deity, he's apparently holed up in the poles, sick. Which is an echo of another myth...There's quite the mish-mash of myths and legends all strung together down there, it seems. Any you recognize?"

And once again, Katara is caught off guard at how full of wisdom her mentor is. More and more, Katara was starting to see beauty in things that she may not have if she hadn't met the people on this ship. For now, she just listened intently as Sheeana sang her beautiful song. She made a note to ask her about it later.

Katara showed some concern for their holiday being in his capture. "Oh, we have to help him! If people forget they have family, where they come from...well, what history do they have? It's like they're being weaned from life. We can't allow that to continue."

And she could see now, a little more clearly, that it would take everything she had to be as wise as a Reverend Mother, and that becoming a sister meant more than she could have imagined.

"No," Katara said. "This world is very different from my own. As it is, I'm adjusting to seeing a world from afar this way. But it isn't my world."

'Weaned from life'...What an interesting turn of phrase. I was right about this one, it seems.

Sheeana lay a sisterly hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "So you've never been in space before...Will you tell me some about your world while we wait for the briefing?"

[OOC: Feel free to summarize or handwave, i've watched most of Avatar]

Katara knew that sometimes she had a tendency to be melodramatic, but in the case of something like this, Katara couldn't see how any good could come from staying indoors and ignoring everything but a simulation. People needed to be with each other, partaken in each other's experiences and cultures.

So when Sheeana asked her about her world, Katara was more than happy to oblige. She started first with the Southern water tribe, and how they differed from their native sister, the Northern Water Tribe, and how she became the last waterbender in the South. She talked about the healing huts in the Northern water tribe and the sanctuary for the mortal gods, Tui and La. She talked about the Swamp style benders and how they sounded like Tess and were different from both water tribes due to their rural landscape. Finally she talked about Master Pakku, her former mentor, who she had to actually fight in order to prove that she could be his student and that he would train a woman Waterbending when it was a long tradition not to do so.

'Water Tribe' had implied to her something like Caladan: Lush, warm, an easy place to grow things. There was plenty of water then...but not at all an easy place to live. Humans adapted any way they could, it seemed. They were part of their poles as Fremen were of their desert.

"You have the look of someone who's been trained before. You're much more diligent and conditioned than average...And your world sounds fascinating. I would learn more of it when we have more time. I suppose you could say we have bending where I come from too. We Bene Gesserit bend the body. Ancient Spacing Guild Navigators would bend space to move their transports. And the Kwisatz Haderach bent time...The second two due to Spice."

"I have trained before," Katara said, "But it also helps your memory to have people constantly running after you, trying to kill you, and to find a mentor after you only after fighting him too. And being a waterbending master means you have to be disciplined and ready to take on new challenges."

But she did like hearing that the Bene Gesserit's described as body benders: when she saw Sheeana practicing the Weirding Way, she had thought just that.

"And when you get the chance, I'd like to know a little more about Spice."

"I heard, I was paying attention. But I could tell even before I knew you. There's a certain difference in the walk...Anyway, that means we have something in common. You are the last Southern Waterbender, and before I came to this place, I was the last Fremen." She pointed up to her eyes, the total blue within blue of a Spice addict. "The Spice is everywhere on Dune, where I grew up. It changes your eyes."

Katara blushed. "Um, sorry, I didn't meant to say you weren't. I just didn't know you could tell by the way someone walks. I can usually tell by the way someone talks, or the way they carry themselves in certain situations. I'm sure you can tell that I'm trying to get out of that."

But Katara, for all her reading, had NOT known that Sheeana was the last Fremen. "Is that true? Then what happened to all of the other Fremen? Surely don't weren't all killed?"

Not that she would know, of course, but the Fremen seemed so strong. Then Katara was reminded of something. "Sheeana? How many Bene Gesserit are on this ship?"

And Spice. There it was again. "What exactly does Spice do for you?"

"Hmm...Questions often breed more questions. But i'll do my best to answer them." When she wanted to, a Reverend Mother could deploy aphorisms enough to make Iroh jealous.

"For the first...The Bene Gesserit of my time are at war with an offshoot of ourselves called the Honored Matres. They are stronger than us and outnumber us twenty to one. But they are unbalanced, nothing more than relentless egoists. The Sisterhood rescued me when I was twelve when the Honored Matres destroyed Dune with one of their Obliterator weapons." If there was pain attached to this memory, she did not show it.

"The second...Counting you and Tess, there are four of us. There are also two Preborn Reverend Mothers...That is, those who by accident were born with Other Memory, but are not part of the Bene Gesserit as an organization. Ghanima Atreides is not dangerous. Alia Atreides is though. She is the sister of the Kwisatz Haderach. Avoid her. She may attempt to harm you."

"The third is a complicated question because Spice is so versatile. I've already told you how it unlocks Other Memory when modified and how it can induce prescience. But it also extends life, cures certain conditions, sharpens the mind while in use, allows Guild Navigators to fold space for their transports, and sometimes provides a mild euphoric feeling. Because of all this it is also the most valuable currency in my world." She followed the track of Katara's question and jumped ahead to its next stop to reassure her. "Spice is not a necessary part of your Bene Gesserit training.

Katara listened as well as she could, but she had a million questions too. She hadn't read all that much about the Honored Matres, but she did know that they were something of an enemy to the Bene Gesserit.

"What exactly caused the offshoot that created the Honored Matres?" Katara asked. "I know what caused the schism with the waterbenders: in the South, we had female as well as male waterbenders, and were allowed to marry who we wanted. And if they were once Bene Gesserit, why would they be going around destroying planets?"

Katara did look a little alarmed when Sheeana mentioned the other Reverend Mothers. "I did meet Alia Atreides. It was when I was studying in the library. She told me she had written some words that were in a book I was studying. I was inclined to believe her, but there was something strange about it, about her. I felt like she was reading into me, trying to find out what I knew and hiding herself from me. I don't know why I got that feeling, I just did. Why would she want to harm me?"

And third question, the one that Katara wanted to know about, was the one she paid special attention to. She had heard a lot about Spice, and it seemed like Spice was some kind of material that allowed you to temporarily have powers that only a learned sage would be able to access, or at least someone of established learning. "I honestly don't know if I would or would not take part. This may not be the preferred situation, and I know its early to say, but I want to go through this training as accurately and as true to your sisterhood as I can."

Once again Sheeana parsed out her answers. She stared down at the planet with an inscrutable expression.

"We don't know. They fell upon us suddenly about twenty years ago. They've burned sixteen planets with those obliterators. Thousands of Bene Gesserit are dead, billions of ordinary citizens. But I suppose the Ohm had the last laugh."

"I would believe it. She wrote a few books. Her mother was a Bene Gesserit who took the Water Of Life while pregnant with her. A child's personality is often not strong enough to resist the demands for life from Other Memory voices. In my universe, she listened only to malignant voices and thus she became a cruel despot. She blames our Order for her condition, and though it was an accident, there is truth to that blame." Multifaceted answers: Alia was both right and not right, both vicious dictator and pitiable lost child.

Sheeana gave her Acolyte a reassuring smile. "You can decide that when you've finished your acolyte's training. Besides instilling the foundations, Bene Gesserit education is geared towards enhancing the individual's existing talents. There are many roles besides that of Reverend Mother, all of them useful: teacher, mistress of The Voice or the Weirding Way, seductress, truthsayer, spy, analyst, archivist, Suk doctor...When the time comes, we will find a specialty for you, and if being a Reverend Mother is what your talents bring you to, then so be it."

[OOC: I borked the definition of Reverend Mother. Actually a Reverend Mother has complete ancestral memory on the female side and the memory-lives of any Reverend Mother, she's 'shared' with (that is, exchanged memories by touching foreheads)]

Katara looked down at the planet too, trying to ensure that she didn't have a horrified expression on her face. She knew that Sheeana was seeing her emotional personality as something that might hinder her training, and though she was trying to fix that, it wasn't likely not happen anytime soon. Even Katara could not be that cynical.

"That's awful," Katara said. "All those people, killed for a reason that only the Honored Matres know. And to kill the Bene Gesserits like that...I can't stand to think about it. Is it often that there's all this internal strife within the order?"

Then again, she thought about the last mission and all of the "internal strife" there. It wasn't all that much different.

Katara thought quietly about Alia. It made her sad, to think that someone who showed so much promise might be out to hurt her. She had seemed, for all elusive purposes, nice. But she guessed taht was another lesson that she had to learn: sometimes she had to be wary of people, she couldn't be so trusting.

It hurt to think that though.

All of different possiblities Katara listened to intently, smiling at hearing what might become of her. "Well, if it involves doing a little if what Tess does, I'll be looking forward to it. When did you decide you wanted to be a Reverend Mother?"

"Hardly. I doubt they remember their origins, since they came upon us from outside of known space and seem to have forgotten all of the Bene Gesserit abilities that aren't used for battle. We had to piece it together ourselves. Bene Gesserit conflicts are resolved through open debate, either at the level of an individual chapter or, in times of great need, at a Convocation, when we call representatives from every chapter together."

Katara's distress was obvious. Sorry, child. You will have to learn mistrust eventually.

"I don't know the exact moment. But I know someone who does..." Sheeana closed her eyes. When she opened them, her voice had changed, becoming that of a motherly, intelligent woman who sounded as if she were somewhere in her mid thirties. "Hello little Sister. I am Darwi Odrade, the previous Mother Superior and I am also a child of the waters. To answer your question...I found my little desert mouse when she was twelve. Because of her inborn ability to control the great sandworms of Dune, she was being worshipped by the dogmatic priests of that world. I think she wanted to be a Reverend Mother the moment she laid eyes on us! We were the first people she'd met in years who would not do what she said and she was absolutely fascinated by our abilities. Two years later, she was one at age fourteen, the youngest in our Order's history."

And from somewhere behind that voice, Sheeana was mortified that Darwi used her private nickname for her in front of her student. Revenge for all those pranks I pulled on poor old Bellonda then?

Katara looked down. "I see. So whatever their reasons, they just seemed eager to attack you. And what you say about resolving things through debate: is that something you intend to? I mean, I can understand why you would have changed that. Bene Gesserits shouldn't really attack each other. It undermines what a dedication like that is all about. I would hate to think of us fighting against each other."

Katara nodded as if she'd heard Sheeana, though really she was scolding herself for being so trusting. She would have to make sure not to be so forthright in the future to people she didn't know.

And here, though she was a bit surprised, Katara listened to the story given by the previous Mother Superior. She wasn't as put off by this as some might have been: Aang, after all, had not spoken in the voices of his former Avatars, he would also have their bodies for a very short time. She warmed a little at being called Little Sister (that was new, and wanted) and the story of Sheeana made her very curious about what it might take to become a Mother Superior. Sheeana, of course, had the gift, she was sure of that. She knew, while being a waterbending master, being a Bene Gesserit would require different skills altogether.

"Fourteen," Katara said aloud. HER age. That was more than awe inspiring, that was downright incredible! "And how, if you don't mind me asking, are you a child of water?"

"Before I joined the Bene Gesserit, my foster parents on Gammu would take me to the beach. I would float in the waves for hours. That was one of their nicknames for me: Seachild. Probably where I picked up the habit, and probably why my little mouse is probably mortified."

Sheeana said nothing in her own voice, for to do so would concede that there was something to be mortified about.

"Mind you, I don't think it put a damper on her wild nature, and I don't think it will for yours either. We've had some close calls. But dedication to our common dream has kept all disagreements inside the Order to words only. You know, for most of our history as an organization, those who believed in love and such type things were regarded as heretics. We believed that emotion of any kind, but for the smallest controlled doses, only made us too weak to do the job. I was the first Mother Superior to be an open Heretic. I believe that we cannot help them if we are completely unlike them. At the time of my death, the Order was slowly reforming along those lines. So you're lucky your teacher is my protege."

And there was more information than Katara had known about. As far as she knew, Bene Gesserits came from sandy regions. Now she knew that this wasn't necessarily the case. It just happened that Sheeana had come from the desert, and so it was her background. The nickname was very very funny and endearing, but she also knew better than to try and tease your teacher. That usually wound up getting you in a lot of trouble.

At this, Katara gave a slightly lower bow, to show as a sign of deep respect. "In that case, I'm glad you taught this to my teacher Sheeana. I am willing to reform many of my ideas, and go through the trials and tests needed so that one day I may become a Bene Gesserit. However, there is a person that means more to me than anyone, and he is on that ship. For him, I would do anything, walk any path. If I were told I would not be able to be with him, I would not be here now. So...from the depths of my heart, I thank you, Mother Superior."

"Oh. The new Mother Superior is giving me That Look. So I will be gone for the moment, but i'm sure we'll speak again whenever Sheeana runs out of ideas next."

Sheeana cleared her throat. "Being her Acolyte was a...unique experience." She extrapolated from what she'd been told earlier. "Is this person the Avatar of your world?"

If he is...gods below, what opportunity...and what danger.

"I can imagine!" Katara said, grinning. "She seems like she knew exactly where she should, but all of that experience helped her too, I'll bet. I always wonder if I'll ever get to a point where I'm able to help people with my words, give them hope when they're unsure of themselves. It'd be great to help many more, if it happens more people want to be included?"

But at the mention of Aang, Katara's sunny disposition hid itself. "Yes," she said. "I was the one that released him from the iceberg accidentally after a hundred years of sleep. It might have even been then that he started to have feelings for me. I was mostly ignorant, but throughout our travels I saw him do great things and strive for peace at times where it was easier to fight. I also saw him in his vulnerable states too. It just took me awhile to realize that I loved them all, and didn't want to continue on without him in my life. He is my weak spot."

Katara was quiet after this, then said, "I tell you that because I want you to know how far this goes, Sister Sheeana. I don't have a crush on him, I love him, and he's in Escherville trying to stop that god from attacking us."

"Of course! There were signs...The seer's warning, the worm's agitation, my dreams...Sister, when we return, we are going to the city and you are going to witness the effects of Spice firsthand. I should have acted on this sooner."

Sheeana was doubly concerned now. And she loves him. We are in for difficult times.

"Gods are dangerous things. How long has the Avatar been there? And what are the god's goals?"

Sheeana knew this was a risky proposition. Too much probing at the future and you wouldn't have to worry about if the Avatar was the same as the Kwisatz Haderach...You would be one yourself. Yet if she didn't...

The safe course leads ever downward to stagnation. Remember that.

Katara listened with rapt attention. So Sheeana also had the ability of sensing something like that? Were there no limits to what the Bene Gesserit could do? Of course, that was silly: she was sure that it just seemed like a lot of power when it was really more about keeping the nobody balanced, fit. Awake.

"Yes sister," Katara said, and then she asked the questions that she hated thinking about, the ones that kept her up at night and she had to meditate quietly to herself to dispel. But if anyone needed to know, it was Sheeana.

"Several years," Katara said. "When I was brought from my world he was twelve: in dreamscapes, I see him about sixteen, seventeen. They experimented on him and he unleashed some of how power on them, so to keep him docile they erased some of his memory. As for the goals of the god, he wants to escape, and Aang and the Seer are his main obstacles. I've talked to the Seer too, and wants me proceeding with caution: if the god knows who I am, he will attempt to injure me to weaken Aang's resolve."

Katara paused. "I will help you in any way I can, if we have a part to play in this."

Like that wasn't obvious.

"I too have an ally in the city. He's the one who warned me."

So there was a discrepancy in power and age too. Was it the ability of Stacy to dip into certain points at the time stream? Or the Avatar aging at a different rate? Or something far more sinister?

"I met this Seer once too. Smart. A god is vulnerable through his mortal loved ones." This was as if Chani had been a Bene Gesserit too. If we asked her to choose between Dune and her Muad'dib, which would she have chosen?

"Using Spice like this is dangerous. We risk making the same mistake as the Kwisatz Haderach and locking the future into place. But we seem to have little enough choice." She was rapidly entering an analytical mode of thought, imitating Duncan's mentat exercises as much as she knew how and remembered. "Thank you for telling me this."

Katara was quiet, listening now. She didn't ask who the ally in the city was: if Sheeana wanted to tell her, she would have. For now, she just wanted to concentrate on what Sheeana was telling her. It was better than thinking about Aang alone, fighting against the god, and her here, powerless to stop it.

I can survive, she said to herself. And I can fight. That's all I need remember right now.

"If we need to use Spice, I will help you," Katara said. "I will do my best to prepare for that day. I know a few meditation techniques that will help me stay focused. I won't let you down."

Katara smiled. "You're welcome. I'm just glad I can be useful."

"I appreciate it, but this time I want you to only act as my assistant. The trance is too dangerous for an Acolyte." She crouched and rummaged through her pack, coming up with a small black box with a simple thumbprint lock. She pressed her thumb to it and it sprang open. Nestled in little paper packages was a dark green substance. It smelled of flinty cinnamon. "This is it. It must remain always out of irresponsible hands."

Mission 02 - Stacy Says Follow the Yules

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haha she looks like she has spice eyes in that icon