RP: YSS Celia Mission 2: [Essia] Diplomacy in the Jungle

"Drake, let's get these supplies back to Taisho Chen," said Mazda.

Meanwhile:

"I'll go first," said Shina, as she gingerly stepped onto the elevator.

Henry seemed a bit distracted, as he watched the sunset. Even though the Celia spent the last few months in the Ohara system, Henry spent most of that time onboard his ship, meeting with Phodian representatives and laying down the groundwork for the space station. Thus, it had been quite a while since he had seen a sunset from planetside. Henry had forgotten how much he enjoyed watching sunsets until he saw one again. They reminded him of Tania, and how the entire town would turn a bright shade of orange at the setting of the Yamataian sun. They reminded him of home.

Issus looked down to make sure Shina was fully on the elevator before beginning to haul her up, the system easily handling her weight as it was more made to haul heavier items up like furniture and the Separa themselves. As she rose through the branches of the surrounding trees she would spot several odd colored fruits about the size of pineapples but they were a scarlet color like an apple. Some quite low in the tree, other's quite high and it wasn't long before she was lifted into a rather wellbuilt cabin-like domicile.

Once off the elevator she would make out a small table that was surrounded by three cushioned chairs with a small door that lead into the bedroom area of it. Issus moved his body so she wouldn't trip and looked at her. "alright miss. I'll show you how to operate it, it's a little bit tricky as it's new." he said and tapped a release and slowly began to let the elevator down. "this is the locking mechanism that prevents sudden falls if one loses their handle on the rope." he said the catch looked like a vicious meathook which the heavy cable like rope looped through as well as a set of rings it went through. "you can operate it manually or automatically." he said pointing out a device that wound the rope around a smooth treebranch operating by set of powerful springs that were set up to respond to weight applied to the pad to lift something.

If she looked around she maynotice a small area taht looked like an icy cavern with slabs of meat rolled up in large leaves and preserved as well as two barrels of something that looked like wine but wsa more like afruit juice. The Elevator returned to the ground for Henry.

Shina carefully examined the system of ropes and pulleys. It didn't seem very complicated to her. "Um, sir? Would you like me to lift you up now?" She shouted in the general direction of the ground.

"... Huh? Oh, sure," said Henry. He absent-mindly stepped onto the elevator.

Shina, not really trusting the automatic operation of the elevator system, began slowly and carefully pulling up the elevator.

Henry didn't notice that he was moving until he was a few feet up from the ground. He grabbed one of the ropes holding the elevator up for balance. As he ascended he noticed the fruits in the tree, and remembered the snakewoman's warnings regarding them. Henry silently reassured himself that his soldiers were professional enough to take those warnings seriously.

Soon enough, Henry was inside what appeared to be a very well built treehouse. On the ground below the large tree, only Lieutentant Kaori remained. Again, the elevator descended to take him up.

Motoyama stepped onto the elevator and gave the ropes a tug.

Shina, after feeling the tug, began lifting the elevator up again. The contraption moved slowly but surely.

As Motoyama came into view again, Henry couldn't help but notice that the man's posture was much better than his own. Not to be outdone, Henry straightened his back.

Issus simply smirked some, the second tongue of his flicking out innocuously(sp?) as he watched the three acclimate. "So how do you like our planet so far?" he asked curiously. His large 30' olive and dark brown snake body coiling up to provide a kind of loungechair effect tha the leaned back on crossing his arms over his muscular chest, some of his long coarse hair hung loosely over his shoulder. "it's perfect for us reptilians but you humanoids look uncomfortable."

Henry discovered that he tired quickly as he stood with his back straightened. He sat down on one of the chairs to rest. "I find your planet quite lovely, Mister Issus. It's a bit warm for someone like me, true. But... the sunset reminds me of the ones back home."

Motoyama walked over to Henry's side, and stood at attention.

"Have a seat, Mr. Kaori," said Henry, staring at the man's perfect posture.

Motoyama sat down on a chair.

Shina, smiling, sat down on the last chair. "Out of curiosity, Mister Issus, how does your people produce ice in this weather?" She asked, pointing at the small icy cavern off to the side of the room.

Issus looked over at Shina as she talked, his drab olve coils shifting a bit as he turned to look over at her to explain. "It's the power of our goddess, she provides for us what we need, but she encourages independence and allows us to develop on our own it seems." he said.

The shuttle's pilot, having been informed of the fact that they might be staying for a while, began to organize the food and water supplies remaining on the shuttle. Guarding the shuttle might not be the most exciting of missions, but there were certainly worse options out there.

Mazda and Drake began to make their way back to the Essian settlement, guided by Salmis.

Shina thought about mentioning how the nodal system onboard Yamataian warships served a function similar to the Essians' goddess, but decided to refrain from it.

Henry turned to look at the foods preserved in the icy cavern. "I do not wish to sound impatient, Mr. Issus," he said. "However, I would like to know how long your priests usually take in deliberating important matters such as this."

He looked over at Henry, his arms still crossed over his his chest as he yawned a bit, a pair of vestigal fangs visible before he finished. "it depends, usually a few mere hours." he said. "But something like this it'll probalby be sometime tomorrow. More than likely they'll send an emissary to see what you humans offer."

Drake followed Salmis from the clearing that the shuttle was in back into the jungle. They made their way along a small, cramped path. Drake watched as the jungle slowly gave way to civilization and more and more buildings appeared in the dense undergrowth. Man, these snake people sure were one with their surroundings Drake thought to himself as he glanced arround. The eventually made it to the treehouse, and Salmis went up the pole. The snakeman lowered the platform and Drake stood on it as it slowly went up into the tree. When Drake made it up into the tree he said "Sir, we have the provisions you asked for, where should we put them?"

Henry stood up and nodded. "Let's put them by the wall so we don't trip over them," he said.

With Shina manning the elevator's pulley system, the away team began hauling their supplies up the tree-house. Henry worked along with his soldiers, helping to carry their supplies off the elevator. After a few minutes, a half-dozen plastic parcels labeled "PROPERTY OF THE STAR ARMY OF YAMATAI" lined the walls.

While the work didn't seem to fatigue his subordinates much, Henry was visibly perspiring and short of breath. Given that he was only wearing his underwear and boots, there wasn't much he could remove. To make matters worse, the underwear was drying slowly, and felt warm and clammy against his skin. Henry inspected the supplies, and opened up one of the boxes, taking out a pair of khaki shorts. "Mr. Issus, I don't suppose there is a place around here where a guy can change his clothes in private?" he asked, taking a bottle of water that Shina handed him.

Shina looked at Henry with sympathy. She then scanned the room and took a quick head-count. Besides her, Henry, Motoyama, and Issus, the tree-house was now also occupied by Mazda, Drake, and Salmis. The small room was getting crowded.

It was steadily getting less crowded as Salmis departed the scene, going down the pole in snake fashion as Issus moved to follow her. "Change? You mean shedding your outer layer? We have no specifically designated area for that action but you can try the other room there." he pointed to a door that lead to a small guest room almost. "The decision should be in in a few hours, until then feel free to rest or have a look around." he said and departed as well, leaving them to their thoughts.

Inside the tree house it wasn't small by any means, it looked like it was meant for humans and it looked old but fastitiously maintained. It had the food in the icy box on the side, a table in the center and variou sother things, but they weren't modern, they were almost..medieval in archetecture.

"Ah, much obliged," said Henry, as he disappeared into the guest room with a few articles of clothing and his rank pin.

A small pang in her stomach told Shina that it was almost time for dinner. She sat back down and didn't mention anything, however, as it would be rude and out of protocol to not wait for Henry.

After stacking the last box of supplies against the wall, Motoyama remained standing at attention, and maintained a perfect posture. He patiently waited for his commanding officer to return.

Mazda leaned a shoulder against a wall, with his wings folded behind him. He looked around the room with some amount of curiosity.

Henry reemerged from the side room a few moments later, wearing sandals, a pair of khaki shorts, and a white T-shirt with his rank pin pinned on it.

"Sir, should we get dinner started?" asked Shina.

Henry shrugged. "If you're hungry, sure. It's too hot for me to have much of an appetite though."

"We have some bread and cold cuts in our supplies," offered Shina helpfully.

"Sounds good," said Henry. "I'll get them." He walked over to the supply boxes, examined them, opened one of them, and, after rummaging about for a while, brought out a loaf of sliced bread and some cold cuts, all sealed in plastic sheets.

Shina retrieved a few bottles of water from another supply parcel, and placed them on the table.

"Dig in, guys," said Henry, dropping the bread and the cold cuts on the table. "No need to be shy..."