Scene #7902: New Horizons

Owner	Pose
Karian Icefang	For too long, Karian Icefang and his fledgling Chapter had been bound to the halls of the strike cruiser Ragnarok. Now, they had found their new homeworld. The Thunderhawks broke through the skies and began to set down onto a clearing in what could only be described as a paradise, at least when compared to Fenris. Temperate seas crashed nearby, and in the distance the thunder echoed. "At last....home." Karian said to himself, his men moving to take and set up their temporary supplies.
Kale Hearthward	Kale's tagged along, something something Paladins solidarity. Or, perhaps more likely, a chance to play tourist on a planet which would otherwise be casually inaccessible. "Neat," he says, phone coming out and taking pictures of the storm as the ship lands. "So what all are you going to be doing here?" he asks, still taking pictures.
Staren	HIGH ABOVE: The SSC* Stranger Than Fiction drops out of FTL and moves into geosynchronous orbit in line-of-sight of the meeting place. Inside, Staren has dressed in the latest variation of her iconic outfit, checking in the mirror that hair is brushed, scarf is centered, shirt is tucked, pants are bloused, etc. It all looks good! She walks out of her room, and leads the waiting Shimmer down the stairs through two floors of bridge, and then aft to the hub, stepping on the teleport pad, taking a deep breath, and activating it. THE SURFACE: A roughly person-sized bolt of red-limned light, shaped like a miniature comet, streaksdown out of the sky and impacts the ground harmlessly before resolving into Staren. A second bolt resolves into Sleek Shimmer. Staren looks around, a bit surprised to see what appear to be temporary shelters still under construction. "Did you only just land here? Do you want some help getting set up...?" The small catgirl asks the nearest marines. "Ah... I'll talk to Karian first. Where is he?" And so it is that a familiar face, if a bit different and on a smaller body, strides up to Karian and cheerfully greets him with a wave, and then a hand extended to shake. "Hi Karian! Long time no see..." There is a hint of awkwardness in her expression though, as she's well aware there will be some questions. "What's, uh... So what's happening here? You only just getting set up? Where've you been? Or, ha, should I answer that question first? It's uh... it's been awhile, huh?" She grins awkwardly and rubs the back of her head with one hand. *"Science Space Castle"
Sleek Shimmer	That trip was crazy! And at the end of it, Sleek Shimmer's beamed down to the surface of the planet. She's a whole head taller than Staren but bears similar animal features... vulpine ears and a trio of fluffy fox tails. "You were right. That was a ride unlike anything I've ever experienced... and this place..." She wouldn't be familiar to Karian or his troops and the opposite is certainly true as she mostly just stares at this first exposure to space marine physique (that being, BEEFY!). "H....hello." She offers tentatively towards the space marines whose attention their arrival may have earned, strangely just a bit shy at first.
Karian Icefang	Karian looks over towards Kale first, curious at the pictures but taking it in stride. "We are planning first to establish our home here. A fortress, training ground and, Allfather willing, a recruitment hub. Though as it is we aren't aware of any besides us inhabiting the planet." He then notices the streaks of light and smirks softly. "Staren...We've been aboard my Strike Cruiser, acting as a mobile Chapter. Most of the time we've been spending trying to find a suitable homeworld, and carefully choosing our involvements due to our size. But now, hopefully things can change. And yes, aside from scouting parties this is our first arrival." He says. He definately notices the difference in Staren's appearence, but makes no real mention of it. After all, it's not how one looks but what they do that matters to the Vylka. A quick glance over towards Shimmer has the fox girl being eyed by the wolves, the feeling might be more akin to having the eyes of a hunter or predator upon them. That is....until the MASSIVE Ice bear that is Freyja comes barreling at Staren, demaning hugs.
Sleek Shimmer	Sleek Shimmer's in no way a weakling. Though lean, her physique does show tightly toned muscles where they count, especially the legs. But still, she's nothing when glanced at next to that gigantic bear. "U-uwah...!" Her ears flatten and she lowers her stature ever so slightly on pure reflex, even though she can clearly see it's just being friendly. Tentatively, she reaches out to run her hands smoothly through its fur, then takes another look around.. spotting Kale. "A... bird shifter?"
Kale Hearthward	"Well, that's good, then," says Kale, nodding. Staren's arrival goes entirely without comment. He then glances over at Sleek. "Who's shifty? Take that back."
Staren	Staren isn't ignoring Kale, but has nothing in particular to say to him. She gets the impression he doesn't like her, after all. She listens attentively and nods at Karian's explanation, then quirks an eyebrow at the lack of question, but smiles. "I've had, uh, quite the adventure. I got lost in the past, and-- woah, girl!" She ends up hugging the giant (especially to her) polar bear. "Nice to see you, too, girl! Did you get bigger?" So soft, and warm, and fluffy... Staren keeps hugging the bear for a bit, burying her face in Freyja's fur before turning her head to one side to continue explaining. . "After... well, that's not important. But I ended up in the past, in an alternate timeline, traveling my world until another rift brought me home. Two months passed for me, while thirteen passed here, so it's been shorter for me than for you. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to count my birthday later this month as my 30th." She presses into Freya's fur, stroking it with her hand. "When I came back... Things happened, and I did something foolish to try and cut a piece of myself out. I went to Maslow Peak... I ended up like this, and later reconciled with my other self and re-merged, but in the meantime, Phony -- err, Persephone, and Seilatya, two new -- to us -- Concord elites helped me realize that uh..." She looks awkward, "It turns out gender does matter, and I'm a girl, and I made a very silly decision nine years ago." She continues, "Anyway... after the Mountain thing, I changed my ways, or tried to -- I've backslid from time to time, but I'm trying to find a new way to succeed, outside the traditional bounds of 'hero' and 'villain'. Find myself and all that... What I was doing before was hurting me... and it seems that focusing on the adventuring life at the expense of myself may have stunted my emotional growth for eight-to-someteen years, so... Yeah. Working on clearing that backlog." The catgirl smiles up at Karian, tailtip twitching. "Do you need any help setting up here? Especially until you can get an artificial warpgate... I can lend robots, and if you have fair payment to offer, I can ask the people of Amalgam colony whether they'd be willing to help you set up, since they've experience with a similar situation." She looks out at the horizon. "What are your long-term plans for this planet, anyway...?"
Karian Icefang	"That is quite the tale, Staren. I'm glad you've been able to see your way through it all. As an aside, how you looked or what your gender was held no bearing to me, my friend. I've know brave people on both sides...and I can only laugh at Fate's cruel decision that Women like you can not become Astartes. As for my long term goals...Well, that is simple. Your looking at the Homewold of the Allfather's Hounds, the Chapter I've been granted leadership of. Any aide you can render us will be welcome, as all you see before you is all that we have right now." Karian explains as Freyja soaks up the affection. The mighty bear does eventually turn and take off for the ocean nearby, looking to find some food for herself. "First off, we'll need a living space, an armory, medicae facility, and training area. Then, we will have to find out who else, if anyone, lives on this planet. If not, we will need to check any nearby planets for population. Then we will need to set up standards for recruitment."
Karian Icefang	Karian then looks over towards Shimmer and tilts his head. "Who is your friend?" He asks, walking towards her. The fox would be able to read the expression of the Wolf Lord as neutral, but perhaps more welcoming then some of the other Astartes eyeing her.
Sleek Shimmer	"ShifTER... not shifTY." Shimmer clarifies firmly towards Kale, certainly not taking anything back. She's giving him an almost condescending look... one that says, 'are your ears clear?' There's plenty of tales to listen to here. Things she's never heard of, and lacks the context to really understand... but every little bit of information helps. Turning to answer Karian though, she actually bows slightly. "This fox is called Sleek Shimmer. I met Staren earlier and asked about exploring... that lead to this place. ... also.... why... HOW... is your clan so TALL?"
Staren	Staren just starts laughing for a solid few seconds at the comment about Astartes being gender-locked. "It's fine, I don't want to look like that, or I'd have built a cybernetic body that shape long ago! Turns out that's why I never did..." She looks at the horizon again. "Allfather's Hounds, eh?" She looks back to Karian and smiles, "Congratulations. I'll set you up with a teleporter, you can buy supplies and food from Amalgam and AMATERASU if you want, and use their warpgates 'till you get one built here." That this means more funds being spent in places she owns shares in, she doesn't mention, but perhaps the Concord is rubbing off on her a little. Staren finally steps away from Freyja, turning fully to face Karian and rubbing her chin as she thinks. "Perhaps a deeper alliance between our people can be worked out, as it seems we have similar interests. Although I don't know if many of them will want to become Astartes."
Kale Hearthward	"Why can't she be an Astartes anyway?" says Kale. "... Oh, it's a weird species thing, then, got it," he says to Sleek. "Anyway. I'll go scout things out, if you want to see who else might be on this planet?"
Karian Icefang	Karian nods softly. "I'd be open to that." He says softly. Then, to Shimmer, he lets out a soft laugh. "It's how we are made...Genetic alteration, augmentation and such." He explains. Then he looks over towards Kale. "We've...tried. Female bodies aren't able to handle the process and it does some...terrible things to them." He also nods towards Kale heading out to scout out the planet. "Let us know if you find anything. Might be best for regular people to make first contact."
Staren	Staren stretches, and pulls the matter manipulator off her belt. "Where do you want the teleporter, for now? And... so, why finally join the Paladins, after all this time?"
Kale Hearthward	"... So something to do with like - XX gene pairs, or like is it some magic thing to do with gender, or - eh, you know, nevermind," says Kale. He kicks on his jet boots, and lifts up a few feet in the air. "Alright, I'll check in every couple of minutes," he says. "Keep your radio channels open." And with that, he takes off, picking a direction mostly at random - whichever one would take him over a decent stretch of land, maybe going past some freshwater sources.
Karian Icefang	"They aligned best with what I was looking for. They've also had my back on numerous occasions." Karian explains.
Sleek Shimmer	"... I guess he isn't..." Shimmer murmurs in a troubled and slightly-weirded-out tone. Compared to others here, she seems to be on the quieter side, and tilts her head at the discussion about genetics. "There are many differences between boys and girls but I don't understand all of them." She remarks, shaking her head. Of course she has no idea why it wouldn't work on females...
Staren	Staren nods, and goes to deploy where directed. With the teleporter up, <UNNAMED PLANET> has ready access to the warpgate network, and immediate access to places to order fast food and building materials. And medicine, at least for the few humans. Deals are struck: A number of the denizens of Amalgam colony are willing to work as civilian construction and agricultural contractors, bringing their experience with working in a 'building a first outpost on a new planet' situation with them. A few are willing to assist with setting up defenses and doing scouting, and Staren's transport golems -- 11-or-so-foot-tall piloted wooden constructs with something like a car's cab attached to legs and with little manipulator arms underneath, sometimes equipped with armor plating and dual machineguns for combat -- become a familiar sight, as does the occasional Glitch, obviously-robotic humanlike bodies with organic brains, another sapient species mixed in among the human contractors. Staren personally oversees the construction of a medical facility by robotic and organic crews. The armory requires similar attention, with some question of what armaments, exactly, are being built and stocked within. Space marine weapons? Do they have the designs to construct more? Or Staren's weapons? What sort then? And what constitutes a 'training area', anyway? An artificial warpgate is set up in time. As they grow closer, the Wolves are welcome to assist with the scouting of planet Amalgam, in a similar situation, although it is mostly peaceful -- for now. That colony is situated in the midst of a forest of zebra-striped trunks with poofy pom-pom foliage.