CitrusArms

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Jesse was taking notes for their first report when Zarah mentioned Terra by name. In the brief moment she was stunned, Lyra recovered first and responded,
"Haha, wow. Can't hide anything from you, can I? Yeah, I'm from Terra. Can you do me a favor and keep it a secret for now? I don't plan on keeping it a secret forever, but, uh…" she paused to consider how to phrase her sentiment.
You're going to trust them, just like that?
Sure am, just a bit. Hey, I thought you trusted me?
"I don't want to start a war or anything, y'know? This is usually pretty big news, people can react in all kinds of ways. You seem pretty stoked, though, and I don't get anyyy… weird vibes off you," Lyra looked the young lady over once. Exploration equipment and other tools. What she didn't see was any form of crystal. No trinkets, no decorative effects on anything, nothing. Usually, where there were Aeva, there were more crystal deposits. Then again, there was only one Aeva here, that they'd heard. The Embrace hadn't heard any more, either. Had a shard fallen here from space? That would explain the lone Aeva and no Aevon. Whatever the case, speculation would get her nowhere.

"To answer your earlier question, yes, I have a ship. It'd take a while to get there, since I flew a fair bit of the way… s-" they asked about Jessica. She couldn't tell if they'd heard what she said just then. She supposed they did, but found this more important, and she didn't disagree. "Jessica. She's… I guess you could call her a kind of spirit. A new kind of spirit we call Aeva. Zigma is, as well. Usually, they're found with accompanying Aevon deposits, though. I suppose you don't know what that is, ah," she considered for a moment, "that blue crystal stuff he came out of. We don't think the Aeva have existed before, but we can't be sure. We haven't found any records regarding previous Aevon discoveries, at any rate."
"As for my ears, these are uniquely mine. The tail, too. We can talk about how I got them later, I'm not sure I even really understand it. _{Apparently I'm the first one,}" which was a really isolating thought, but she usually tried not to think about that too much. "Ah, hey, I think I saw- is that your settlement by the lake? This way, right?" She started walking toward the village or town she'd seen before, and that The Embrace had identified from a distance. The wings on her flight pack folded back in, so the pack itself resembled a smooth, white shell.
Lyra… you're not alone. The small, blue, woman-shaped light came out of hiding and moved up to perch on Lyra's shoulder. She jingled lightly, like wind chimes.
Wind chimes, her favorite. There was always something so soothing about the sound, and Jesse always had a way with making it so melodic and pleasing. "Thanks, Jess…" She smiled and turned to walk backwards, looking to see if Zarah had any other ideas. Hey, wait a minute. She stopped, looking up at where Zarah had come running down to meet her, "hmm… If you came from up there, is that way faster?"

LoZ: Age of Darkness (Closed & Moved to New Int Check)

You do you, man. Thanks for the attempt, I think I learned a lot about GMing from the experience.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

The apocalypse has come and gone. The majority of what was once the Galactic Terran Empire has been demolished, and before the rest of the galaxy could be struck, the threat disappeared. None remain who remember why.

The remnants of civilization that survived on Earth discovered a new material. A crystalized form of energy, dubbed Aevon, opened many doors for New Terra, leading them back out to space and beyond.

Terrans discovered a prophecy within the crystal. It drove them to be strong, and it drove them out to unite the galaxy, and spread their new resource among the stars.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

"This planet is so different from Terra. I suppose I've seen a few ruins, glancing around, but you couldn't throw a stone without hitting some old apartment building or something back home." Lyra had really been enjoying her flight up, and now she was taking her time to enjoy the serene mountain landscape. It was beautiful, almost as though the land had been untouched… almost. Something about this place felt strange. Jesse agreed with her about that, so she wasn't imagining it, but neither of them could really pick out what it was. "Though, as nice as it is here, I'm definitely glad The Embrace was able to hone in on where we were looking to go, specifically. I could have spent weeks running around without a solid lead."

It was a good thing we found that salvage for them when we did. Without that scanning array- oh.

Just as Lyra heard something nearby - a voice? - Jesse felt something nearby and gave her a notification on her visor. An unassociated Aeva, their objective, was nearby. Lyra's vulpine ear swiveled around to search for whatever she'd heard, just in time to catch the question repeated for her to hear. She turned to see a girl and - hey, the Aeva she was looking for! That was easy, though she had hoped to meet on her own terms. Though… that didn't matter, she was basically here to make friends, right? This was just fine.

Make friends and introduce an entire planet's population to the wonders of the Aeva and civilization in space, without causing their society to melt down. No pressure or anything.

The girl, absolutely ecstatic to see her, stopped right in front of her and rattled off a series of very informative questions. This girl was aware of space travel? Well, if the young lady was going to be so informative, Lyra should be courteous. "Zarah and Zigma. Ooh, what pretty names," she liked the way they sounded in her sensitive ears. "I'm Lyra. Jessica's currently hiding in my tail. Jesse~, come say hi, babe," she cooed, coaxing her light blue friend out from the fluff. Jessica chimed softly before ducking back into her fuzzy abode. "Haha, oh, fine," a shake of her head and Lyra's attention came back to Zarah and Zigma. "Sorry, she's shy these days."

Now, how to respond to those questions of hers. Lying wouldn't get her far, not since they both had Aeva, and she didn't like it anyway; made things complicated. She'd probably have to correct misconceptions later, too, so better to just be honest or avoid questions that might be problematic in the public. Whatever "public" meant around here, she simply didn't know enough to make a spectacle of herself just yet. Spectacular as she might be to locals (tail, ears, Aeva, tech), she had to be cautious. Not everyone would be as receptive as Zarah.

The girl had asked something else, as she came skittering down the slope to meet her. Perhaps she would leave the questions about her spaceship for now. "Trazie? Is that what you call the world?" She'd dance the line between being an offworlder and being from, say, across the sea until she felt confident she wouldn't be sparking something nasty by admitting she's an alien from Terra.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Your map's great! I can see the attention to detail. It looks great, and I can't wait to explore it and all the thought you've put into it.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Lyra Solair

NIckname: Jesse sometimes calls her Ly

Age: looks 26

Height: 164 centimeters

Weight: 58 kilograms

Description: Lyra is a slender woman with wavy, strawberry blonde hair and pleasant, vibrant green eyes. Her face is soft, but slender and somewhat tall, not pudgy. She will usually either be wearing her white and blue flight suit, for use with her Terran issue flight pack, slacks and a button-up, or a sundress. Her denim sundress is her favorite, with a straw sunhat to match. Some kind of hiking boots usually rounds out her wardrobe, as she usually ends up hiking, wherever she goes.

There were other things that stuck out. The ears. Not regular human ears, but fennec fox-proportioned ears on top of her head, and a big, bushy, sandy-colored tail. She insists she's from Terra, was it some kind of body modification? You wouldn't find any signs of surgery or gene therapy. Not that the occupants of Trazie had that kind of technology operational, to detect such a thing.

Personality: Lyra is a mechanically minded young lady who likes to relax, and tends to keep more to herself. She'll go to great lengths for a friend, however, and displays a great respect for the lives around her. Aware of other civilizations in the galaxy, she worries that they will repeat past mistakes, outstrip their environments, and damage the ecosystems they will need in the future. It drives her to spread the Aeva.

Abilities and Skills: Lyra has a good head on her shoulders, able to keep her cool under pressure. She's skilled with machines, skilled with her hands and a blaster, but not so much traditional weapons. She's not terribly strong, but she's decently fast.

Lyra and Jesse have undergone their first metamorphosis together, giving Lyra enhanced physical abilities, as well as a few metaphysical ones, such as increased Ki flow and the ability to manipulate said flow.

Relationships: Lyra and Jesse go way back. It's been 7 years since their first metamorphosis together, back on Terra.

Jessica

NIckname: Lyra usually calls her some variation of her name.

Age: 30

Height: 18 centimeters

Weight: N/A

Description: Jesse has a feminine shape and a light blue glow to her body, as well as transparent, floating segments of light that suggest the shape of fairy it butterfly wings. They seem to float independently of her body, yet move with it, and they're usually not visible.

Personality: Jesse is a serious individual, but Lyra really knows how to loosen her up. The two were fairly inseparable when Jesse was alive, so being attached at the hip in this way hasn't been much of a change to their relationship. She's only grown more capable of accessing ancient computer systems, part of her pursuit of old media. Video games, TV shows and movies, internet entertainment, you name it, she collects it. Being an Aeva has been a fascinating, incredibly useful transformation.

Abilities and Skills: Jesse can manipulate electrical currents and, in that way, access computer systems just by being near them. She can structure crystal energy matrices to act like computers and form monitor displays, and further enable the crystal computer to interact with electric systems. Lyra's enhanced abilities from metamorphosis translate into greater power available to Jesse, as well. The two have yet to grow into their new abilities.

Relationships: Jesse has been dealing with her death rather well. She was put in a soul crystal before a proper tree had fully formed on Terra, so her soul has had to recover from the trauma of a wrongful death through Lyra's nourishing care.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Oooh~! Nice nice, I look forward to seeing it. Thanks a ton ahead of time!

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Hmm, maybe I'll whip up a zero post at some point... For the benefit of others who want to read.

I did see a flood of people when I first opened up, so if any of those folks are still around, hello!

I suppose having at least some of the info handy right in the thread might be nice, too.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

The New Terran council had heard and understood Lyra's concerns, regarding the galaxy at large. Without some kind of guidance, she couldn't find the belief in the rest of civilized space to not repeat its mistakes and shortcomings of an age past. For all the same reasons as before, life would be toppled, perhaps with no recovery to be made the second time around. However, before they could reach out to the rest of the galaxy, they needed the resources and manpower to do so. They also needed to secure their own space against the remnants of ancient evil still lurking amongst the stars, and the evils of civilization against itself. Evil would weaken their overall strength by turning that strength and dedication against others.
The powers of Terra watched the cosmos with a new material that powered a new way of life. A crystal formed from hardened, crystalized energy; the substance responded to the presence and the will of life, absorbing the ambient energies of life to grow. Some of the few satellites still in orbit from the old days were modified with crystalline arrays. These arrays, as they carefully scanned the sky, detected a voice come into being. The stellar seers on Terra traced the voice back to a planet in a nearby system that showed energy traces consistent with early civilization, so the decision was made to send Terra's yet burgeoning fleet to the area.
The primary objective would be to establish contact with the civilization on the planet in question, as well as update the fleet and Terra with local information. The name of their planet and other cultural information regarding nearby celestial bodies would be especially valued for navigational purposes; local culture itself would be interesting, but ultimately unimportant, unless major philosophical differences forced an issue. Hopefully, the operation to establish contact would be able to see agreeable local politics flourish to a leadership position. Their criteria were not strict; enable freedom, respect life, embrace diversity.

"So, basically, be chill." Lyra looked over the list Jesse had brought to her attention. Her finger flicked across a hologram display, dragging lines of a briefing summary across the display like one of those license agreements from some of Jesse's old games. She hadn't removed them to preserve authenticity, which Lyra could understand. "Don't culture shock them, don't be obnoxious, blah blah blah. Did they forget I have a tail, am I supposed to blend in? Maybe that's the point…" she knew she could handle herself, especially now, but it still irked her to get treated like an extra variable. "Jesse, would you remind me to drill the mission director about this later?" She received a positive chime in response.
Lyra's landing craft came in low over the ocean. She was supposed to land overnight, in the forest by the foot of the mountains. They'd traced the voice to a lake in the mountains, she was to hike her way through the mountains to find the source, likely in a settlement. The continent she was landing on had a temperate disposition, filled with plains, forests, and mountains, without any desert or tundra regions, though certain extreme mountain heights saw snow.
The craft itself was a large mass of energy crystal interwoven with living wood and some bits of old era ship, like the cockpit Lyra sat in. A lot of the old systems had been replaced with new equipment, but it felt familiar to look at, at least. The propulsion came from a flared crystal formation at the back of either side of the ship. Crystal grew over the metal nose of the cockpit, coming to a point at the front. The craft was a blend of old technology and this new crystal wizardry. She wasn't sure what to make of it herself, but Jesse understood the new stuff pretty well.
The combination of crystal, metal, and wood touched down in its predesignated forest clearing and began to undergo changes. It began working the large crystal mass into the ground, even as Lyra disembarked. Slowly, carefully. The living wood crawled over the surface of the crystal and into the ground, manipulating the dirt to guide the semi-translucent blue mass down into the roots below.
"That's pretty cool…" Lyra took a moment to appreciate the enchantments at work. The ship had been engineered specifically to plant a certain kind of tree in the location it landed. Afterward, there would be a personal craft left over for her to use. "Jesse." Certain branches had formed a descent ramp for Lyra, she turned and waited for her fairy companion to emerge from the crystal and join her as she descended them. She wore her denim sundress with her "summer cut" flight suit underneath, as well as one of the light tactical display visors she'd been provided. She had been given a certain amount of equipment she could share with a small group, if necessary, but she was supposed to avoid that. The single flight pack she'd been provided also sat on her back. It was a decently small, white, very rounded box with seams of exposed Aevon. The sides would open up and extend as rigid wings, feathered with crystalline channels for thrust.

"You're sure there's nobody around who's gonna shoot at me…?" Lyra folded her arms, someone back home had warned her about going into no-fly zones. Jesse conferred with the sensors in the ship, and the crystal it was still connected to, before giving Lyra HUD a thumbs up. "Cool."
Without further ado, the flight pack opened and the crystal feathers glowed before carrying Lyra up through a gap in the trees and toward the mountain. Jesse maintained a navigational waypoint for her, guiding her on her bounding path. She didn't want to push the pack too hard, they weren't engineered for someone past a metamorphosis. They were still figuring out how to engineer higher capacity.

She crested a mountain pass and found herself overlooking the lake in question. Her wing pack folded back up as she started descending into the valley, wondering how she was going to go about introducing herself to the local populace. "I can't just ask them 'hey, who's got one of these', can I?"
Unlikely.
Right. People were probably a little more guarded than that. She flicked her large fennec ears idly as she thought. They were fun to flick and flop around, and she felt really cute doing it…
You're having fun.
"Maybe, so what?" Lyra huffed playfully at Jesse, turning her chin up in mock scorn. "You're just jealous I'm so adorable now."
Jesse jingled bemusedly in response, sitting herself in the dusty brown fur of her companion.

LoZ: Age of Darkness (Closed & Moved to New Int Check)

It's good to hear you're feeling better. Keep taking care of yourself.