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by the inquest
"Arguments on their nature are refuted by those who return to shore, wide-eyed with tales of their savagery."
All Moirans are woken to the sounds of the ship coming to a rather grating halt some time in the early morning cycle. It’s no faster or slower than any other stop, but it is unexpected as the captains didn’t mention an upcoming disembarkment. Shortly after, a message is sent to every MID:Navigation has informed us that we’re approaching bad traveling conditions: an overactive star. Instead of stopping on Liant El, we’ll be docking here on Ceta. Please exercise caution while gathering supplies and during excursions. Follow their safety guidelines. If the chance allows, we’ll also be signing new crew on the planet. Please greet them first and show them to the ship. Thank you. The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and nothing is familiar.
For those few who come through Ceta's Ingress, there will be crew of the Moira there to greet you. They tell you of the Ingress, how it is broken, even on this planet, and that the ship is headed back to the origin of this technology. This planet’s Ingress is set precariously atop a floating rock formation, the only way from one area to the next is on small air-propelled boats. Crew members will guide everyone back to the Moira and take them to the Medbay; contracts will be signed posthaste.
WELCOME TO CETA
At first glance, Ceta seems mostly inhabitable, and that's because it is. The atmosphere around the planet is surprisingly thick in most places, sometimes thin in others, and without some way to filter the air, it is mostly unbreathable; it's a giant gas planet, its core made of various molten metals and the atmosphere a mix of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrous. Ceta's gravity is also uneven, meaning that some areas will have stronger focal points than others. The terrain, when it is visible, appears rather rocky—hardly the best conditions for life and stable living. What's more unusual, however, is that despite this fact, there is, indeed, a small populace "living" among the mist and clouds, but it's clear they do not live here year-round. It's hunting season, and they are there for the bounty.
These visitors have built small platforms that are hooked together by ropes and swinging bridges, which they call "temporaries". Unstable buildings are rare, dangerous, and spread out over these temporaries to prevent damage or accidents. The temporaries float along, swaying and shifting with the planet’s atmosphere, and posted at every point of entry and all open surfaces are a particular set of rules that everyone must abide by. They are written in dark ink and large block letters so that all passing by will stop and read them:
NO FIRE. Flammables, ignition sources, matches, lighters, and anything that creates a spark is prohibited. The atmosphere has higher levels of hydrogen, and the smallest spark will create a problem.
AIR BREATHABILITY. Monitor your vitals. Wear masks or re-breathers if needed.
WATCH THE EDGE. All walkways are the only thing from you and falling. Be cautious and watch your step. These signs should be given their due attention. The edge is just that: the end of where it is safe to walk. If a wooden plank gives way beneath your feet, you will plummet through hundred of miles of atmosphere before hitting the planet’s thin surface. The captains reiterate that crew should be careful and stick to the main temporaries, gather supplies, visit at their leisure, and then go back to the ship.
☄ IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE!The organisms that have evolved on this planet are unintelligent—a fact that is told to you by the other visitors. As there is no solid materials or ways for them to interact with their environments, these giants float along within the atmosphere, though it appears that they are flying when they are merely navigating through. They travel in groups of three or more and sometimes come close to the outskirts of the temporaries. Because there is an invisible filtration dome around the temporaries, this allows the creatures to pass through without harm and return again into the mist as they please. They are difficult to see at night and are rather skittish in the presence of sudden light.
☄ @ THE MUSEUM Every evening when work is done, artificial light sources illuminate the streets of the temporaries. There is one bar, if you can actually call it that, but the main attraction is a museum. The support structure appears to be made out of the skeletal system of the giants that "swim" and live on Ceta, and though the outside seems rather unassuming, the inside is not for the faint of heart. As it's considered informative, there are displays of the internal structures and functions of the very creatures that seem harmless and as unintelligent as the visitors claim. There are sections of the museum dedicated to their anatomy and what makes them so valuable: inside their air sacs, which is what gives the illusion to flying through the atmosphere, is a mineral that, when harvested, attunes and sharpens the senses so that brain capacity and function excel over one-hundred percent efficiency. Likewise, aside from these informative areas, there is also a history of how and when the visitors began to hunt them for this valuable, unnamed resource.
☄ HARVEST SEASON Are you looking for work? Or perhaps you're bored with your duties aboard the Moira and prefer to see just what it is these visitors do during the day? Hunters will often pay for menial labor to help with the killing and retrieval of the giants of Ceta. It is by day, not by hour, and once aboard one of the many ships, you will be put to work handling equipment or being on the lookout for "signs" of the creatures. Once they've been spotted, the real work isn't in capturing them or even trying to subdue them—though they give a good fight. It's in the harvest, done below deck once they have been safely brought into the ship's cargo areas by the tethers, that can get quite gruesome. As a defense mechanism, cutting into the skin creates a rather noxious emission that can cause disorientation, hallucinations, or unconsciousness. Worst case scenarios can often result in death.
☄ WORD LIMITS As things are beginning to wind up (or down), something seems to have gotten into the MID systems and caused a malfunction. On the morning of 03.13, it suddenly becomes clear that communicating with others who are not from the same universe or similar timelines seems very difficult. Understanding each other becomes rather hopeless as the day continues, and these repercussions can be felt across the entire ship. The Captains send out another MID message that appears as a jumble of unusual letters and symbols. However, there is one word that can be read by everyone and (hopefully) understood: RATCHET. Figuring out this problem shouldn't take long if everyone can leap the language barriers and work together.
( ooc; All New Arrivals: you have the choice of coming through the Moira's Ingress OR Ceta's Ingress. For questions, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )
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hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-03-01 02:40 pm
Transportation
He looks up when Han arrives, and a happy grin appears on his face as he straightens up and shoves the manual in the canvas satchel he's got slung on over his uniform.
"Hi! Flynn. Flynn Carsen. I've been assigned as one of the technicians down here."
He sticks his hand out, and nods at the transporter.
"Apparently I need to be able to fly one of those in an emergency. Care to show me the ropes?"
no subject
"Han Solo." After a beat he reaches to clasp the stranger's hand. "I'll show you what I know. I'm kinda new to the ship."
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He gives Han a double thumbs up on that note, beaming.
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"So you've never flown anything?"
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"You're probably set to get started."
Probably not set for a tricky landing or a Kessel run or anything, but baby steps.
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"Well, then, what are we waiting for?"
He starts immediately towards the transporter, and hasn't gone two steps before he's pointing out features on the little ship and comparing them out loud to everything from dinghies and lifeboats to NASA's latest shuttle prototype.
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What he's learning about Flynn so far is that half of what the guy says makes no sense at all, which means he's going to have to tune it out of they're gonna have any chance of getting through this.
"Basic operation isn't so tough, if you've ever driven a landspeeder or something it's pretty similar." Except, of course, for worrying about the other axis of motion, but one thing at a time. Heading for the cockpit he points out the basic controls, ignoring the few things he hasn't actually figured out yet on his own.
Have some permission to manhandle Flynn if you need; he's used to it, it's all good :)
"Landspeeder sounds fun," he adds, "though also not... something I've done. Just full of firsts today. So."
He drops himself into the pilot's seat, idly noting that the chair is configured for a roughly human shape, which is definitely worth looking into with regards the Moira's original creators. Unless there are different chairs in some of the other transporters. Different setups expecting different species. Ergonomic consideration for all. He'll have to check. Whichever way that investigation turns out it'll reveal something about the original purpose and intentions behind the ship.
He realises he's been muttering that out loud, and gives himself a shake to refocus, flashing Han a grin.
"Flying. Yes. Where were we?"
He reaches out to power up the transporter.
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Han is not ready for this guy to be at that point yet, so he grabs his wrist before he can power it up.
"You've never driven anything? I'll take us out, you can practice where there aren't bulkheads to hit."
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He helpfully points out any alerts that flash up, and starts correlating controls again, because that system really is just like a fighter jet, and those symbols over there do bear a marked resemblance to a particular subset of cuneiform primarily used for ritual summonings, and these are interesting things that everyone should know.
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At least by now he's got the hang of starting up smoothly, and he makes a concerted effort to do it slowly, pointing out what he's doing as he does it. Finally they're out in the emptiness, though, with nothing in front of them to hit, and he looks up.
"Okay. Ready?"
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"Now, don't worry," he assures Han as he takes over. "I was paying attention -"
- he was -
"- and I'm pretty sure I've got this -"
- he hasn't -
"- completely under control."
It's not a total disaster. Thanks to Han's buffer between them and the Moira, there isn't anything he can hit. And it doesn't take long before he gets the hang of the finer motor controls and adjusts his instincts to the lack of air resistance, no compensating needed. It's just that in that short space of time there may have been a couple of barrel rolls and a spin.
He's got it now. All fine. Nothing to see here. Definitely no embarrassment at all.
"Maybe a little more practice," he adds on the end of his running string of reassurances.
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"Sure."
Maybe not practice Han is here for, though. He's a little white-knuckled is all. They're all fine here.
"Just keep it slow til you get the hang of it."
It's so not Han's fault if they crash. Definitely not.
Still laughing at your icon
"I'm betting the atmosphere makes quite a difference," he says thoughtfully, circling around and heading vaguely Moira-wards, keeping it slow. "This thing isn't exactly aerodynamic. What do you need to watch out for there?"
ridiculous faces are his specialty :>
"The closer you get to anything big, the more debris you'll hit. Rocks, wrecks, anything that gets caught in a planet's pull. I'm not sure what kinda shielding these have but it oughta keep most of the small stuff out of your way."
Otherwise, well, the transporters wouldn't have survived so long.
"Getting into the atmosphere..." He shrugs. "You get a feel for it."
Same here XD
The prospect of that kind of exploration has him grinning again, and he turns the transporter away from the Moira for a fairly adroit loop around.
"I'm definitely getting the hang of this."
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And usually, at least at home, the result of battles. Sometimes plain bad luck, stupid reckless choices made by pilots who can't handle them. Han has seen far too many of both. He's scrounged around in them for parts, things to repair or upgrade the Falcon, tech or information for the Alliance.
"Not so bad for a first timer."