trans_9 | 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

A warm chuckle escaped through Aeneas’s ruffled feathers. “I figured it was as such. And yes, the fur is substantially helpful in this kind of environment.”

The alien remembered Katara’s oozing eyes with some concern. Had her own clothing not been enough for the extreme cold? Had she become ill? In any case they had dried up by now, so it mustn’t have been that serious an ailment.

“My pleasure,” trilled Aeneas, returning her bow (and once again reminded strongly of Prince Zuko’s mannerisms), “I suppose I am as ready as I will ever be. Personally I hope the others take their time.”

The creature closed his eyes and basked in a frigid gust of wind that rippled his ears, membranes long since shrunken by the cold so that they resembled nothing but fleshy antlers.

“I would not mind staying in this place for longer.”

Katara shrugged. "I don't have fur, but the clothing keeps me warm, and at least I'm used to being in temperatures like this: it was where I was raised. That's why I'm a good waterbender."

She wiped her eyes. "Sorry, I don't usually cry like this, I was just a little overcome with emotion. It's not really a smart thing to do in this kind of weather anyway: they'd probably freeze on my face."

Katara gave him a smile. "Great, I don't feel so weird now for wanting the weather to continue this way! I love the cold!"

Ah—waterbender. That made a lot more sense; it also cemented Aeneas’s suspicions that Katara and Prince Zuko were related in some way. They were hardly siblings, but at any rate they were at least from the same universe.

Curious about this relationship (and the fact that Aang might also be a ‘bender’ of some sort), Aeneas was about to inquire further when Katara continued. She mentioned the excess moisture dripping from her eyes as ‘crying’—not that Aeneas didn’t know what ‘crying’ was, he just didn’t realize that humans took it in a non-verbal sense. How interesting…

Although, yes, having that stuff freeze to your face probably would not be extremely pleasant. The alien mussed up his feathers with quaint laughter and scratched his ear.

“This is surprising. I would never have suspected that humans were arctic creatures.” Although, judging from the way some of the crewmembers were bundling up and were looking absolutely miserable regardless of their many improvised layers, he had a feeling that they weren’t.

“…Then again, ‘adaptation’ and ‘tolerance’ are two completely different things.”

"Not all of us are," Katara said, "Just the ones that have been born and raised in the cold. For us, the watertribe is where waterbenders come from: being surrounded by our element, if we have the ability to bend, it inspires us. So naturally, the cold doesn't really bother us as much."

Katara nodded. "Yes, some of us take a little time to adapt. I'm going to have to do the same thing when I'm training with my teacher, since she's lived in surrounding that have had almost no water. So it'll be a challenge, but I'm sure that I'll be able to do it."

Katara looked at her new friend. "Did you have any questions for me, maybe about the ship, or our habits?"

Aeneas shook his head, eyes creasing with a smile. Usually those that he talked to didn’t immediately offer to elaborate about their daily lives—though it didn’t take much to get them to do so.

“None that are extremely pressing, no,” the alien purred, casting Katara a curious glance with lavender eyes, “Although you mentioned your mentor…am I right to say she came from a planet of deserts?”

Perhaps it was a small meatship after all.

"Ok, just wondering," Katara replied. "When I was first on the ship, I found myself feeling out of place. There were a lot of people who were so far technologically advanced, I felt like a savage in comparison. So if you were a little unsure about what we do, I'm more than willing to fill you in, okay?"

Katara's ears perked up. "Yes, actually she is! She's a Bene Gesserit! Do you know Sheeana?"

“So that is what she is called…” Aeneas mumbled deep within his windpipe. He had never asked her directly—at least, not that he remembered—and so far he’d found her history quite intriguing.

Though he had no clue who this ‘Sheeana’ character was.

“Hmm…no, I am afraid not. However, I am a close acquaintance of Arha Masaari; I thought they might be related somehow.”

The alien shrugged passively.

“But that is neither here nor there—I was only curious. And while I do have…quite a few questions that you may or may not be able to answer…”

Aeneas looked nervously at the ground. Oh, that subject was always rather troubling, wasn’t it?

“…I figured that they could wait until after the mission. Perhaps we could meet again once we return to the ship?”

"Oh, Arha!" Katara said anxiously, clapping her hands. "I know her! She is from the same universe as Sheeana, and is also a Bene Gesserit! I haven't gotten to talk to her as much as I could, but I've been training a lot these days too. I think she's studying to be in Luke and Obi Wan's order actually..."

Katara could see that Aeneas had something to say her, but didn't want to right now, which made sense. It was rather impersonal here.

"Sure, when we go back," Katara agreed. "Just hunt me down in the Sensoriums if you can't find me on the ship. I'm usually just running simulations. Being a Master Bender and even just a novice of another order is pretty fast paced."

Which was why she pleased that the most physical activity she might do here are snowball fights.

Aeneas grinned, eyes squinting shut and feathers ruffling good-naturedly.

"I will make a note of it," the alien bowed politely, "Until then, it has been a pleasure meeting you Katara."

Katara smiled. "The same to you, Aeneas. It was really nice meeting you!"

Mission 02 - Stacy Says Follow the Yules

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