Windrose, where the wind blows

[tothefly]

Who: Windrose crew and you, distinguished visitors!
Broadcast: Naaah.
Action: Windrose, various points in the near vicinity
When: Until we get off this frozen rock

[On New Year's Day, the crew on board the Windrose and those nearby may notice the chill as the doors to the cargo bay are left open, and their captain making quite a bit of noise as she inspects their newly expanded home away from home. This is likely to go on for a while. Feel free to come investigate, chat among yourselves, complain about the cold, etc!]

Comments

[unbearablynaive]

[That's...more refreshing than he cares to admit, really, and he perceptibly relaxes when her first question isn't "but why are you red though". So he'll return the favor and not ask if she's really Princess Leia.]

I am the Vision, and I am the engineer. We've not had a communications specialist recently; I'm glad you'll be filling the position. If pattern holds, we'll be at this planet another week or so before departing.

[imahologram]

It sounds like I can be of service.

[Which...throws a wrench into some of her other plans, but that's something to consider later. What's important is that the Windrose is properly staffed.

The Vision--quite the name--speaks of the planet they're currently stationed on as if he's seen more than one visit along these lines. Leia cocks her head slightly.]

What do you think of Arslae, anyway? Does it compare with the others you've visited.

[unbearablynaive]

[Well, if she wants to transfer to be with friends, he certainly understands the importance of that, too. But he wants her to know she's very welcome if she stays.]

The other one I've visited while in the Fleet was mostly ocean with a few islands, mainly tropical; it was quite different, though it also had both humans and Nunnilis as inhabitants. Overall, I would say Arslae is an interesting place but not one I'm inclined to seek out on my own. I prefer larger concentrations of people.

[imahologram]

[Duty comes before boyfriends, unfortunately. Unless and until the Windrose gets another communications officer, she stays.]

Nunnilis?

[Some kind of alien species, she assumes, but it's not a name she recognizes.]

So do I. It seems like the people on Arslae never look up from their salt shakers.

[unbearablynaive]

Yes, they're the smaller, crustacean-like residents. The native ones are blue, though I've noticed a few redder visitors from outsystem. Our fleet's ship the Iskaulit was originally a Nunnili vessel we salvaged.

[That gets a smile.]

Their culture is rather built around salt, isn't it? I wonder how many young people seek their fortunes elsewhere and return because they're homesick for salt-sculptures.

[imahologram]

They've visited from outsystem, huh?

[That's actually of fair interest to Leia! If things can get into the Fleet from outside it, surely there's a way to go the opposite direction. Something to investigate, anyway.]

Considering that none of them could tell me anything about the galaxy we're in, I'd wager it isn't very many. They seem much too focused on their little cities.

[unbearablynaive]

Yes. Based on what we know of the Iskaulit, their standards for ships are well above the individual passenger ships but well below what the Marsiva offers. [Are their hosts deliberately putting them in crappy low-quality homes? The evidence points to yes.]

All I've been able to gather is that we're in a star-rich section, so it's likely to be near the hub if we're in a spiral galaxy and unlikely to be a simple cloud. We passed through a nebula a few months back as well, and an asteroid field before that. None of it matches with any coordinates I'm familiar with, but the larger map we can make the better chance we have of someone being able to recognize something.

[imahologram]

I suppose the Atroma retro-fitted the Iskaulit for the Fleet. [Which is to say, can we get out of here using that one?]

From everything I've seen so far, I doubt it's the galaxy I know--but I'll be happy to help with any map-building you've been working on. [It's hardly her area of expertise, but many hands make light work. (And it's nice to know that the Vision knows a thing or two about space travel.)]

[unbearablynaive]

Actually, the Fleet engineers did most of the work. The ship's systems were very damaged when we reached it; most of the spare parts we've used to upgrade our own ships came from it. If Atroma did any further modification, it wasn't while we could observe it.

[He nods, looking pleased that she's not only willing to help but has some knowledge he doesn't. Of course, her galaxy is far, far away from the one he knows....] I'll send you the data I have. At the very least we can have a map of what we've seen so far.

[imahologram]

Interesting. Is it tethered like the other ships? [She's not entirely sure how that would be programmed in these ships, but she has a hard time imagining the average person here wanting to add that functionality.]

That would be great. If I see anything that looks familiar, I'll let you know.

[unbearablynaive]

Yes. As far as we can tell, it became tethered when the Nunnilis gave it over for our use. As we were largely distracted by shore leave at that time, it's entirely possible they did some maintenance while we were away.

[Or it could have been wireless. Hard to say, really.[

Excellent. I look forward to working with you, then.