Ask A Warm Heart

[Tristodd Brentioch]

Hynestia was a really cold planet. Frigid winds raged through its surface, making that the only vegetation that could grow there was that found in tundras. The few people in this world lived in cities built on the equator. This wasn’t so different from Brentaal, where the population was concentrated in some specific parts of the planet due to the weather and environment.

His shuttle had landed only a few minutes ago and Tristodd was already shaking with cold. He was wearing a coat and pants, but even then he felt that his very bones were freezing. The Brentaalan wasn’t used to this type of weather and was starting to want to return to the ship and leave Hynestia immediately.

However, the reason for his visit to the planet was worth the cold. He was going to meet with Senator Alexander Xerxes, who wanted to make donations for the ISCRA. With the wars in the Galaxy and the AIMS still there, there was still a great number of refugees. Any help that the organization could receive was welcome.

It was the thought that he was going to help more refugees that Tristodd endured the cold while he waited at the spaceport for the arrival of the Senator Xerxes or at least the speeder that would bring him to their meeting. He only hoped that they would arrive soon, because his happiness for helping the ISCRA will probably not stop him from freezing.

@Braden

 

[Alexander Xerxes]

Alexander looked out of the descending speeder, he spotted the ISCRA representative on the platform. He had purposefully chosen a closed speeder for the arrival, people not of Hynestia were as accustomed to the cold as he and his kin. So he doubted Tristodd would have enjoyed having the frigid air blow through his hair whilst talking business.

As the vehicle came to a stop hovering slightly above ground, the door’s hinged open revealing the Senator and Prince. Alexander stepped out, he was wearing a tight royal blue suit, a white shirt. “Representative Brentioch, please come, let's get you out of the cold.” He said with a smile, gesturing to the man to get into the speeder as quickly as he could.

He held out his hand to shake the representative’s as he approached. No matter if he took the hand or not, he would let the man get into the speeder first before following inside. Alexander sat on the couch opposite Tristodd, pointing to a small table in between the pair. “Something to drink, there is warm stuff in there as well.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Tristodd Brentioch]

After some time waiting, Tristodd saw a speeder stopping in front of him. He was overcome by relief when he saw Senator Xerxes leaving the vehicle and inviting him in. The Brentaalan noticed that the politician clothes that normally someone would not wear in a weather like this ones.

However, he didn’t stay thinking about it too long. The Brentaalan entered the speeder as fast as he could. A sigh of relief escaped Tristodd’s lips when he felt that the vehicle was warm. He would not be able to talk with the Senator properly while freezing.

Then, the Senator offered something for him to drink. While he eyed the options, Tristod saw that there was hot chocolate among the beverages. Normally, he would have refused. However, he was still a bit cold due to having spent so much time outside. The chocolate was so tempting that he couldn’t resist and picked it.

“Thank you, Senator.” he said to Xerxes, a smile appearing at his lips. He sipped some of the beverage, feeling the warmth spreading through his body. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again. How are you?” the last time that he met the other man was during that party on Coruscant. Hopefully everything was fine with him.

@Braden

 

[Alexander Xerxes]

Alexander watched as Tristodd took up what he guessed was a hot chocolate, grasping the cup between his cold hands. “The button to your right will turn the heated seat on if you want.” He said, leaning forward and grabbing himself a glass of mulled wine. Taking a few sips of the drink, it was a little too hot to be drunk right now. “I am well thank you, I expect to be an Uncle soon, so I have that to look forward to. And yourself?”

The speeder drifted through the sky, the sky was clear, a bright blue sky shone down on the Hynestian Capital glinting off the surface off the hydroponic gardens which littered the landscape below. “Crops are good this year, we hope to be able to export around thirty percent more than the last cycle.” Alexander said, off hand as he looked down at the great buildings. “I hope brentaal is doing as well?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Tristodd Brentioch]

Rather than drinking it immediately, Tristodd held the cup of hot chocolate in his hands for a long time. He was trying to warm his hands that were still cold. He was wearing tick gloves, but apparently it wasn’t enough to stop the sensation of freezing that he had since he left the ship at the spaceport.

When Xerxes mentioned that the seat had a heating system, Tristodd immediately activated it. A smile of pure bliss appeared on his lips when the heat spread from the seat to his body. The cold that he was feeling soon started to disappear and the Brentaalan could drink his chocolate without needing to continue using it to maintain his hands warm.

"Congratulations! Children always bring happiness to our lives." He said, with a smile on his lips. Since he adopted Amaya and Izaya, Tristodd felt that his life became more happy and with a new purpose. He wondered if he would become an uncle soon. It wasn’t a mystery that his mother was already searching for a suitable bride for his brother.

"I'm well too, only full of jobs for the ISCRA and for Governor Lassiter." the woman left nearly everything for him to do, while she spent days doing nothing on her estate in Brentaal. "Things on my planet are going well too. A new hospital is going to be built there with the support of MorataCorp, this will make the vaccination for AMS faster there."

While the vehicle moved toward their destination, Tristodd sipped his chocolate. Through the window, he could see that snow had started to fall. Only seeing it made the young man feel even more cold. "Brentaal does have snow on its poles, but I never saw so much like that."

@Braden

 

[Alexander Xerxes]

Alexander smiled as the relife and bliss of heat sunk through the man’s body and soul. There was nothing like the feeling of heat pouring through your body after a day in the Hynestian cold. “You should try the hot springs.” It was perhaps behind the snow the most famous thing on Hynestia, dozens of tour operators worked on taking people to the glaciers to freeze before thawing them out in the springs beneath the surface.

“At least you are not sitting twiddling your fingers.” The mulled wine had cooled enough to drink and the Prince took a long sip allowing the warmth of the drink and the alcohol to radiate through him. “That is good news, luckily the cold seemed to help us fend off the worst of the AMS, we had a few isolated cases but luckily they were stamped out before things got out of hand.” Retaliation to the virus on Hynestia had been quick and definitive, when your world is constantly on a knife edge, battling against Mother Nature herself, you can’t afford any weakness. Less they all die.

“It gets a little tiresome, sometimes I beg for a little colour in the landscape.” Alexander replied looking out into the snows, there was only so much white and grey one could take. He took another sip of his drink as the speeder slowly began to descend into the lower levels of the city, down towards the warmth of the caverns beneath.

@LouJoVi

 

[Tristodd Brentioch]

"The hot springs would be excellent, but I have no idea how to go there." Tristodd had heard about these springs. They were probably the most famous tourist spots of Hynestia. Perhaps he could sign up with a tour guide that could show him this place.

"I'm happy to hear that the AMS didn’t affect Hynestia that much." with how much horror and destruction it brought to the Galaxy, it was good to know that not every planet suffered with it. While there weren't so many cases of it in Brentaal, the weather wasn't responsible for stopping it from spreading. It was the measures of the government that blocked it from spreading like what happened in Utapau.

"Well, perhaps you could visit Brentaal at some point. The arid landscape there would probably be something new for you to see." the weather and landscape of his homeworld wasn’t amazing. He preferred places like Chandrila and Naboo. Their fields had so much color, with grasses and multicolored flowers.

By this point the speeder had already started to descend into the caves. He had read about how the people of Hynestia used to live down there to avoid the worst of the weather on the surface. It was something clever to do.

While they continued their trip, Tristodd decided to start to discuss the reason why he was on the planet. "Senator Xerxes, I heard that you were interested in offering support to the ISCRA. Is it correct?"

@Braden

 

[Alexander Xerxes]

“I am sure I can set you up with a guide once our meetings are finished.” Alexander replied, “The Basq Royal Springs are some of the best.” Finishing his mulled wine, he placed the empty cup back on the small table sat between them and lent back crossing one leg over the other. It seemed that the time for small talk was quickly ending as Tristodd brought up the reason for their visit.

“You are correct, though please just call me Alexander.” He insisted. “As I said we were not hid badly by AMS, but our overall population has shrunk considerably as many nationals have left to help support the rebuilding of the galaxy. This has left us with a large amount of free housing and gross product suitable to a population much larger than we currently supply.” He would not add that the planet was short on labour and had spent adsorbent money on external contractors, that was not something Tristodd needed to know.

“Hearing and Seeing the travesties that have left many without a roof over their head. I spoke to my Brother and both he and I believe that opening up our empty homes to those displaced by war and disease is the right thing to do.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Tristodd Brentioch]

“I’ll be very grateful, thank you!” he was relieved that Xerxes had offered to help him find a guide. Since he never visited Hynestia, Tristodd had no idea where he could find one that would be trustworthy and would show him the hot springs. The last thing that he wanted was to end being tricked.

Then, the Senator started to explain what he wanted to offer the ISCRA. The opportunity to have refugees settled in proper homes and not in camps was the end goal of the organization. Unfortunately, it was something that took much time and resources, not being easy to find a way to make so many people fit on a planet without causing damage to it.

This way, Xerxes’ offer was very tempting. Hynestia could be a cold place, but the refugees would have a normal life, similar to how they lived in their homeworlds. Of course, the ISCRA would only be able to send those that could live in a place with this temperature and weather, but it would already be good.

“If I can call you Alexander, it’s only fair that you call me Tristodd.” he said, smiling at the Senator. “It’s a great offer. The ISCRA is always trying to settle the refugees as part of a local population. This would be good, but I need to know the details behind it. Is Hynestia going to offer jobs for them? What should it be?”

@Braden

 

[Alexander Xerxes]

“Very well Tristodd.” The Hynestian replied. “Along with the departure and vacating of many homes, the jobs that originally paid for those houses are also now vacant. Our gross domestic product has been reduced significantly because of this. Although our food production is mostly automated due to the severe climate, it still needs a large supply chain and oversight capabilities, ones that some of our corporations are having to outsource to Extra-planetary unions.”

“With the re-opening of the galaxy now the AMS crisis is now under control, we hope to once again receive a large tourist influx. One of our key incomes in the past years, but due to the lack of tourists many of those employed in that field have gone elsewhere. Honestly having people from different planets would work fantastically for us in this field.”

They were nearing the Capitol building, but Alexander did not want to end the conversation for them whilst they moved from the speeder to conference rooms. So he pressed a small button on the inside of his door which signalled the driver to keep going. “These are just some of the fields that we are in need of when it comes to jobs. I will not deny that the increased population will be of great benefit to Hynestia and come as a relief to many within our government. But I also believe that housing people in real homes and with jobs is much better than the camps that other worlds can only offer.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Tristodd Brentioch]

Tristodd paid close attention to what Alexander was saying. The opportunity of having both a home and job was perfect. Many of the refugees that the ISCRA helped had these before they were forced out of their homeworlds. It would be a chance for them to have a new beginning.

When the Senator mentioned that the jobs were going to be related to tourism, Tristodd became uncertain with the idea. Not all the refugees had experience with this type of work. They would need to receive some training before coming here. “I see. Is Hynestia going to offer some help to prepare them for it? Perhaps with some type of course.The ISCRA can help too.”

“I believe that many refugees will appreciate this opportunity. However, some of them already had jobs in their homeworlds.” he said, his cup still in his hands. “There are artists, cooks, professors, doctors and engineers. If they come here, would they be allowed to later start to work in their original positions?”

@Braden

 

[Alexander Xerxes]

“Training would of course be provided for any role that they do not have previous experience in. However, help from the ISCRA to arrange this would be greatly appreciated.” Alexander replied with a smile, a glint of artificial light shun through the tinted windows, illuminating the side of his face causing him to squint slightly.

“If we have positions to be filled in these occupations then of course, we will not force people out of their comfort zone if there is no need. However I would add that due to our climate we do not have the ability to sustain a large population, especially ones that do not contribute to our planet's wellbeing. So we would ask all that come to be open to working in fields outside of their expertise.” Most of the world was an inhospitable ice cube, so food and housing was precious on Hynestia.

@LouJoVi