Post by Lieutenant Robin Star on Jan 31, 2018 16:05:23 GMT -8
Robin had been busy shuttling teams around the planet of Horisi all day long, getting an eyeful of the various lands and ecosystems from the many high risen cities across the globe to the deep lust forests, the scorching deserts and even a slew of rocky mountains that had given some unexpected and peculiar turbulence. The mountains were filled with some unique powerful properties that made flying across them a no fly zone for civilian aircraft. Robin had to quell the inner child inside him and resist challenging the endless magnificent slopes of earth and instead focus on flying through the designated safe zone.
Another time, he had thought to himself as he carried on escorting officers, even a few local officials that had been keen to feel the way an alien craft felt inside. Robin had been sitting a little straighter during those trips but quickly grew to enjoy them as he discussed and explained the finer points of flight operation and standard Federation protocols. Most of them seemed kind enough to humour him, if only because a majority of the time they had been smiling and nodding. Whether it was a universal 'that's nice but I don't understand' or they genuinely enjoyed his obsession with flying, he wasn't sure.
He had even gotten the chance to briefly catch up with a few shipmates he hadn't been able to speak to in a while. He was honestly surprised that one of them hadn't been Haywood, he always seemed to be nearby and if not, the man had proven he could appear at any moment!
Perhaps the most interesting land that Robin had the honour of noticing was a special forest or rather, a particular massive tree. Robin had seen large trees before on a plethora of planets but this one... he was hesitant to call it a tree, it stood like a skyscraper, easily towering over every other tree. It might as well have been a giant natural rock sticking out of an ocean that was green. It must have been at least nearing 400 feet, and perhaps a quarter of that in width with massive arms of branches reaching out all across it, the leaves ranging from massive to small but surprisingly the foliage wasn't as dense as one might think.
"Gimundah." Said Kasdan, one of the Horisite with pride in his voice, hands wrist deep in his splendidly rich-red and gold glittering embroidered sleeves.
"The largest tree on Horisi. The reason still evade our scientists to this day but it has come to be one of our most sacred locations." He explained with a smile.
One of Talon's scientists on the shuttle had gone from excited to disappointed as he looked towards Kasdan.
"I'm guessing that means it's pretty restricted, right?" He asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
Kasdan chuckled, "Oh, it's very much open to all visitors. I believe some of your crew may already be down there. People from around the world come here to take part in Gimundah's legacy." He said with a wide smile, the tips of his long smooth silver white horseshoe goatee waving majestically, albeit briefly underneath his chin.
"Legacy?" Robin questioned, half-craning his head as his kept one eye on flying the shuttle and the other trying to stare at the massive tree in the distance with purely peripheral vision.
Kasdan nodded sagely and stepped towards the window, brandishing his hand and pointing.
"Look closely, at the colours." He advised.
Robin spared a few moments to look straight at the tree, squinting as he tried to see what was clearly supposed to be there. Did Horiste have better eyesight? Or was this another case of Gamma Quadrant's sixth sense of looking into the energy of the universe? Robin paused before deciding to turn the shuttle aside to fly closer to the tree and it wasn't long until he noticed the strange array of colours and odd textures on various parts of the bark, even hanging from the tree.
"What... is that? Is it ill?" The scientist asked, his nose an inch from flattening against the window as he gazed unblinkingly, trying to figure it out.
Kasdan shook his head, "It is our memories, thoughts, desires and fears." He said but soon realised that his words did nothing to wipe away the confusion on both men's faces, if anything it compounded such expressions.
"Drawings, paintings, photos, letters, single words to lists, a thank you, a good bye... the arts are a wonderful timeless expression of our time here and all of it deserving of being shared amongst us all." He offered with a smile.
Robin found himself unexpectedly stunned, unsure of how to respond. It was more literal than he expected, an actual tangible reality as opposed to something only a few could see and sense. He looked again at the tree, they were closer now, exposing the massive circular lush green clearing with a large amount of people sitting, standing and socialising around the tree, even what looked like picnics, or an array of tables filled with materials.
His focus shifted back to the tree, he could see all the many pieces of paper or whatever material that seemed to decorate the massive canvas of bark, either somehow attached to the bark or hanging from the branches, some of them even waving much like little flags in the soft wind. Indeed, a few pieces did actually seem to be flags of some kind, carrying unique simple to wild random insignia's. The majority of all these memorabilia seemed to be focused on being placed within the the first 50 feet.
"Why a-" Robin started but Kaldan seemed to have predicted his question.
"That's because those who create are the ones to put them there. The more adventurous souls are the ones that tend to place their items higher up." Kaldan said, turning his twinkling eyes on Robin as if seeing right into his soul.
"It is easy for me to stand here and say that the higher up you go, the more meaningful it is but..." He shrugged, "Some see the climb as a show of strength, endurance, spirit or pure will and others just for fun, even challenges amongst friends. It is up to you whether you find joy, peace or pleasure in the climb."
Robin stared at the tree, only now spotting the various people climbing up the tree, all seemingly with some specialised but flexible suit. A safety precaution he figured, since there were no safety lines, ropes or anything that kept you secured.
"Has anyone reached the top?" He asked.
Kasdan's smile grew before patting the pilot on the shoulder.
"Why don't you climb and find out?" He suggested, eyes fill of mirth.
__________________________________________________________________________
Robin had unfortunately taken a raincheck on the challenge until his duties were complete. He had since returned to the Talon with a promise that he and the scientist would help spread the word that might have already been making its rounds through the crew. Now he was back on the planet but this time, actually on the ground amongst a few others that he had offered to bring down with him after acquiring permission from their department heads.
He was still dressed in uniform, to him this was more or less an extension of his duties in helping to catalogue and experience the traditions of this planet. He made his way on foot from one small clearing within the forest that acted as a landing site to the clearing surrounding the tree.
Once Robin reached the area he found himself a moment to just stare in wonder at the base of the tree... it was huge Hell, when he looked up he couldn't even see the top, it was that tall and wide! He was finally broken away when he started listening to the various chatter of groups of people around him, both Horisites and Talon crewmembers.
Many of them were sitting around, either on the ground or at a table trying to figure out what special sentiment they may leave behind here today amongst choosing what materials or mediums to use. He also saw a few people getting assistance in putting on the suit he saw from before, noting that it looked more like an exo-skeleton vest with what might have been a jet on the back and propulsion rings attached to the palms, elbows, and feet.
Robin was once again distracted by the unexpected sound of a Horisite child yelling happily as it ran towards the tree, a paper flapping in the wind within the child's grasp. The child was eager to climb it seemed but a mother and father had quickly appeared to pull the child from its innocent excitable world in the favour of safety and caution within a mother's arms as the father stretched and placed the paper to the bark with what looked like a magnet of some kind snapping it in place.
Robin smiled at the familial display before looking up once more at the ginormous challenge ahead of him and everyone else here. An excited thrill surged through him, a slow grin tugging at the edge of his lips.
Tag: Any
Another time, he had thought to himself as he carried on escorting officers, even a few local officials that had been keen to feel the way an alien craft felt inside. Robin had been sitting a little straighter during those trips but quickly grew to enjoy them as he discussed and explained the finer points of flight operation and standard Federation protocols. Most of them seemed kind enough to humour him, if only because a majority of the time they had been smiling and nodding. Whether it was a universal 'that's nice but I don't understand' or they genuinely enjoyed his obsession with flying, he wasn't sure.
He had even gotten the chance to briefly catch up with a few shipmates he hadn't been able to speak to in a while. He was honestly surprised that one of them hadn't been Haywood, he always seemed to be nearby and if not, the man had proven he could appear at any moment!
Perhaps the most interesting land that Robin had the honour of noticing was a special forest or rather, a particular massive tree. Robin had seen large trees before on a plethora of planets but this one... he was hesitant to call it a tree, it stood like a skyscraper, easily towering over every other tree. It might as well have been a giant natural rock sticking out of an ocean that was green. It must have been at least nearing 400 feet, and perhaps a quarter of that in width with massive arms of branches reaching out all across it, the leaves ranging from massive to small but surprisingly the foliage wasn't as dense as one might think.
"Gimundah." Said Kasdan, one of the Horisite with pride in his voice, hands wrist deep in his splendidly rich-red and gold glittering embroidered sleeves.
"The largest tree on Horisi. The reason still evade our scientists to this day but it has come to be one of our most sacred locations." He explained with a smile.
One of Talon's scientists on the shuttle had gone from excited to disappointed as he looked towards Kasdan.
"I'm guessing that means it's pretty restricted, right?" He asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
Kasdan chuckled, "Oh, it's very much open to all visitors. I believe some of your crew may already be down there. People from around the world come here to take part in Gimundah's legacy." He said with a wide smile, the tips of his long smooth silver white horseshoe goatee waving majestically, albeit briefly underneath his chin.
"Legacy?" Robin questioned, half-craning his head as his kept one eye on flying the shuttle and the other trying to stare at the massive tree in the distance with purely peripheral vision.
Kasdan nodded sagely and stepped towards the window, brandishing his hand and pointing.
"Look closely, at the colours." He advised.
Robin spared a few moments to look straight at the tree, squinting as he tried to see what was clearly supposed to be there. Did Horiste have better eyesight? Or was this another case of Gamma Quadrant's sixth sense of looking into the energy of the universe? Robin paused before deciding to turn the shuttle aside to fly closer to the tree and it wasn't long until he noticed the strange array of colours and odd textures on various parts of the bark, even hanging from the tree.
"What... is that? Is it ill?" The scientist asked, his nose an inch from flattening against the window as he gazed unblinkingly, trying to figure it out.
Kasdan shook his head, "It is our memories, thoughts, desires and fears." He said but soon realised that his words did nothing to wipe away the confusion on both men's faces, if anything it compounded such expressions.
"Drawings, paintings, photos, letters, single words to lists, a thank you, a good bye... the arts are a wonderful timeless expression of our time here and all of it deserving of being shared amongst us all." He offered with a smile.
Robin found himself unexpectedly stunned, unsure of how to respond. It was more literal than he expected, an actual tangible reality as opposed to something only a few could see and sense. He looked again at the tree, they were closer now, exposing the massive circular lush green clearing with a large amount of people sitting, standing and socialising around the tree, even what looked like picnics, or an array of tables filled with materials.
His focus shifted back to the tree, he could see all the many pieces of paper or whatever material that seemed to decorate the massive canvas of bark, either somehow attached to the bark or hanging from the branches, some of them even waving much like little flags in the soft wind. Indeed, a few pieces did actually seem to be flags of some kind, carrying unique simple to wild random insignia's. The majority of all these memorabilia seemed to be focused on being placed within the the first 50 feet.
"Why a-" Robin started but Kaldan seemed to have predicted his question.
"That's because those who create are the ones to put them there. The more adventurous souls are the ones that tend to place their items higher up." Kaldan said, turning his twinkling eyes on Robin as if seeing right into his soul.
"It is easy for me to stand here and say that the higher up you go, the more meaningful it is but..." He shrugged, "Some see the climb as a show of strength, endurance, spirit or pure will and others just for fun, even challenges amongst friends. It is up to you whether you find joy, peace or pleasure in the climb."
Robin stared at the tree, only now spotting the various people climbing up the tree, all seemingly with some specialised but flexible suit. A safety precaution he figured, since there were no safety lines, ropes or anything that kept you secured.
"Has anyone reached the top?" He asked.
Kasdan's smile grew before patting the pilot on the shoulder.
"Why don't you climb and find out?" He suggested, eyes fill of mirth.
__________________________________________________________________________
Robin had unfortunately taken a raincheck on the challenge until his duties were complete. He had since returned to the Talon with a promise that he and the scientist would help spread the word that might have already been making its rounds through the crew. Now he was back on the planet but this time, actually on the ground amongst a few others that he had offered to bring down with him after acquiring permission from their department heads.
He was still dressed in uniform, to him this was more or less an extension of his duties in helping to catalogue and experience the traditions of this planet. He made his way on foot from one small clearing within the forest that acted as a landing site to the clearing surrounding the tree.
Once Robin reached the area he found himself a moment to just stare in wonder at the base of the tree... it was huge Hell, when he looked up he couldn't even see the top, it was that tall and wide! He was finally broken away when he started listening to the various chatter of groups of people around him, both Horisites and Talon crewmembers.
Many of them were sitting around, either on the ground or at a table trying to figure out what special sentiment they may leave behind here today amongst choosing what materials or mediums to use. He also saw a few people getting assistance in putting on the suit he saw from before, noting that it looked more like an exo-skeleton vest with what might have been a jet on the back and propulsion rings attached to the palms, elbows, and feet.
Robin was once again distracted by the unexpected sound of a Horisite child yelling happily as it ran towards the tree, a paper flapping in the wind within the child's grasp. The child was eager to climb it seemed but a mother and father had quickly appeared to pull the child from its innocent excitable world in the favour of safety and caution within a mother's arms as the father stretched and placed the paper to the bark with what looked like a magnet of some kind snapping it in place.
Robin smiled at the familial display before looking up once more at the ginormous challenge ahead of him and everyone else here. An excited thrill surged through him, a slow grin tugging at the edge of his lips.
Tag: Any