Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had taken Lyndin less than a minute to arrive at the ship. He’d been nearby, at a safe distance to ensure she could land without any risk to himself. He was just stepping up to knock on the door when it opened.

Immediately, a soft smile appeared on his face. He’d been away from Velencya for so long already, but he still stood with the same presence as he had the last time he’d seen her. Although, this time he seemed a bit more tired. In the past few days he had made sure to eat well and rest up–partly because he wanted to be a reassuring presence when she arrived, and partly because there were a few members of the Vanguard who were particularly enthusiastic about his health.

His fatigue stemmed more from what felt like an impossible task and a heavy weight on his shoulders. He wasn’t going to give up; the only thing he could do was persist.

Today was still a good day.

She looked a bit shaken, but otherwise unharmed. He knew better than to assume, though. “Cadet Rhysi,” he greeted. “Welcome to Earth. That landing looked a little rough, are you all right?”

She was more important than the supplies she arrived with, but they were next on his list to check in on.

Lyndin smiled warmly, albeit still politely. Her enthusiasm was welcome, and in some way it rejuvenated his spirits already. He didn’t think he needed to inspect the supplies, but he stepped in to investigate all the same.

“I trust you,” he said first and foremost, and after even just a quick glance around he could see that everything was in impeccable condition.

“Perfect. Thank you. I’m going to have to get this moved and disassembled before morning, but I’ve got a gate nearby to make the job easy.”

It wasn’t that teleportation gates were uncommon technology on Velencya, it was just that they weren’t necessarily needed. Most places didn’t require immediate transportation.

“I’ve got it set up at my station. From there, there’s a direct path to the house most of the Vanguard is staying in. I’ve prepared a presentation with basic information on Earth and the humans that populate it. I know the Council gave you a good run down after you signed up, but being on Earth is a big change. We’ve got a room ready for you, I’ve sent out notifications to let everyone know that you’re joining us. I don’t mind doing this myself, I don’t want to ask you to help me carry these after you’ve already traveled for so long. If you’re hungry, we’ve got fresh food here. I can get you set up so you can rest and relax and go through that information. But if you’ve got questions,” he was sure that she did, “I’m here to answer. There are a few things I wanted to talk to you about personally.”

A few graphics on slides didn’t really seem like a fair way to say ‘We need to save Velencya, our world is dying.’

He just didn’t want to rush into anything, not when she might still be reeling from the journey here.

Lyndin’s eyes raised, and for a few seconds he seemed to contemplate how he wanted to answer her.

“Aeleas has taken her own path,” he said after a moment. “You two are friends, aren’t you? Perhaps you can find her and let me know how she’s doing. The Vanguard has branched, in some ways. We are all focusing on our goals here and trying to find the way to best serve Velencya, but some of us have chosen different paths to pursue that. Most of the Vanguard stays in contact, but there are a few that have become a bit harder to reach since we’ve arrived on Earth. I’d feel better knowing what their status is and if there’s anything I can do to help, but this world is very distracting, and it can be easy to lose track of time.”

He smiled again, reassured again by her enthusiasm, even if he was not so excited to tell her what their true intentions are.

“Some of them have had a difficult time navigating our goals here. But Velencya is in grave danger, and we’re working together to find a way to save it. Perhaps you and Aeleas will be able to work on something together?”

It was a serious topic but he didn’t want her to approach it with dread. He wanted he to stay hopeful and enthusiastic.

They’d need that attitude, and passion and drive to work.

A refreshed smile appeared on Lyndin’s features. If she could find Aeleas, if she could make sure she was safe, all the better. Even if he wasn’t hearing from her, he’d feel better knowing that they were looking after each other.

"I believe you.”

It wasn’t lip service; he meant it. He needed that enthusiasm.

“It’s going to need to do more than support Velencya, though,” he said gently. “It’s going to need to save it.”

“Not quite,” he explained, gentle but without letting his emotions steer the conversation. Practicality was too important to lay aside in this instance, but he had the tact not to drop it all on her in a callous sense. She was young, and even with the rigidity and structure of Velencian society he knew that it was nearly impossible to actually push aside emotions.

Worrying for your homeworld would, no doubt, elicit something powerful.

"The core is failing. The battery is depleting rapidly. We had to utilize some unideal techniques to ensure a bit more longevity. The destruction of Archideus,” he explained; he knew that it had been mentioned on Velencya–they would have been able to see when he’d detonated it. It had created a beautiful cloud of purple light that sparkled in the sky.

It hadn’t been an issue, it hadn’t been dangerous.

It had given them more energy. More time.

But, it hadn’t stabilized the core.

“But I’m afraid that we are still working with limited time. We’re unable to predict exactly when there will be an effect on Velencya. It’s not widely known, we can’t afford that type of panic. But that’s why this task has fallen to us. We need to find a way to stabilize it. More than that, we’d like to find a way to restore Velenia, so we don’t need to rely on our hardware to survive.”

It had lasted for long enough, but a spaceship that was build and repaired and repaired and repaired couldn’t last up to the durability of a planet.

Velenia had been damaged in war, stripped of its resources when he was only a child. He knew it was a foreign place to her, somewhere that only existed in legends and stories and memories.

“...His Majesty, Caedus,” he added a moment later. “...May be the key to giving us access to our world. He holds the starseed of our Senshi. But it is badly damaged. He cannot awaken. Not through any means known to us, at least. He should return to the Cauldron. He would be repaired, reborn. Senshi here on Earth are all the time, and they’ve been able to restore their worlds from near death. I think, if he would oblige, we could too. But he is stubborn. He has disappeared into hiding. So we must get creative if we hope to save our world and our people. I am looking for him, but we are keeping all of our options open. We are all researching and doing our best.”

Her enthusiasm was not lost on Lyndin, who smiled softly. It wasn’t a perfect situation by any means, and the weight of potential failure rested heavily on his shoulders. And yet, some of the burden felt like it had been lifted.

He could respect her drive, and he wasn’t going to do anything to get in the way of her determination.

“I’ll send you all the records I have so you can review them and see if there’s anything hat sparks your interest. There are some who are working on individual research right now, but ideally everything should be published. We’re all working towards the same goal, anyway. There’s no need for secrets among allies. You don’t need to follow anyone’s path but your own. If it means you work with someone, good. If you work alone I trust you. Earth is a bit complicated and might take some time to get used to, but I’ll see that you have everything you need. If there’s information you think I can get, or tools, or resources, please let me know. I’ll do whatever I can to see you succeed.”

To see Velencya succeed.