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

"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."

Now it was starting to dawn on her: she had heard all of the things Sheeana had said about Spice: what it could do, how it was beneficial. But it was because it was all of those things that Spice could be harmful. Now she knew why she would only be acting assistant: it could be very addictive. Katara understood now that the Sisters of the Bene Gesserit had to be in control of their bodies for a reason.

"As long as no one else knows what it can do, will that be all right? I'm sure Tess knows, and you and I and Arha and..." Katara trailed off. It would really be bad if one of the Preborn Reverend Mothers told anyone else about Spice. She hoped that didn't happen.

"I understand," Katara said.

Sheeana followed the jumping off point of those dots. "Exactly. Ghanima Atreides I doubt would do such a thing, but Alia...Bargaining with Spice would fit right into her modus operandi. But once again i'm getting ahead of myself. Are you prepared for this mission? Do you have water for your bending?"

"You read my mind," Katara said, but then she was hardly surprised. "I'll try to keep an eye out when I can, but maybe we won't have to worry."

She brought her hands down to her hips: on her left and right, both had a pouch of water. It was a precaution that she took on the fly: usually she only went around with one pouch. Seeing that they were going to a planet however, Katara chose to be prepared.

She looked up, smiling. "I'm good to go."

Sheeana nodded, satisfied. She wondered how Katara would react to a stillsuit. Another possibility to explore when they were back on the ship.

"Good. One last thing: Do you know the litany against fear?"

Katara could have smiled. She had fallen upon the Litany against Fear by mistake, but it turned out to have a profound effect on Katara the moment she read it. The sayings of the certain Sisters could be interpreted, could be debated, but the Litany was very clear.

"Yes," Katara said. "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

"Good. That is the most important thing you can bring with you." And then the briefing started.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mission 02 - Stacy Says Follow the Yules

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haha she looks like she has spice eyes in that icon