#Atka Bay

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff to take their first swim in Atka Bay, Antarctica. Photographer Bertie Gregory used his drone's powerful zoom lens to maintain distance from the captivating scene. 

Photograph byBertie Gregory

[colorsoutofearth]

Sea ice and iceberg during polar night, Atka Bay, Antarctica

Photo by Stefan Christmann

[xtruss]

Why Are These Emperor Penguin Chicks Jumping From a 50-Foot Cliff?

The First-of-Its-Kind Footage, Taken in January 2024 Via Drone, Captures a Rare Event that May Become More Common as Sea Ice Declines and Penguins are Forced to Adapt.

— Photographs and Video By Bertie Gregory | By Rene Ebersole | April 11, 2024

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff to take their first swim in Atka Bay, Antarctica. Photographer Bertie Gregory used his drone's powerful zoom lens to maintain distance from the captivating scene.

Like a group of teenagers crowding at the top of a cliff, waiting to see if someone will be brave enough to jump into the lake first, hundreds of months-old emperor penguins gather at the top of an Antarctic ice shelf towering roughly 50 feet above the sea.

Motivated by hunger, the fledglings peer over the edge, as if considering whether they might survive a polar plunge from such a height.

Then one bird goes for it

For the first time, experts have filmed emperor penguin chicks leaping 50 feet off an Antarctic cliff. The incredible footage will appear in the series "Secrets of the Penguins," which will debut on Earth Day 2025 on National Geographic and Disney+.

Some of the onlookers crane their necks to watch it plummet and splash into the icy water below. Seconds later, the chick surfaces and swims away—off to fill its belly with fresh fish, krill, and squid. Gradually, other fledglings follow, tumbling and flapping wings built for traversing water, not air.

Filmmakers producing a documentary series called Secrets of the Penguins, which will debut on Earth Day 2025 on National Geographic and Disney+, captured the extraordinarily rare scene by drone in January in Atka Bay, on the edge of the Weddell Sea in West Antarctica. It’s the first video footage of emperor penguin chicks leaping from such a high cliff, according to scientists.

As climate change melts sea ice in Antarctica, more emperor penguin chicks are breeding on the permanent ice shelf—forcing them to jump from higher heights into the ocean.

“I cannot believe they caught it on film,” says Michelle LaRue, a conservation biologist based at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. LaRue, who did not witness the jump, had visited Atka Bay to consult on the film crew’s third year of documenting emperor penguin behavior, from egg laying to chick fledging.

Ordinarily, emperor penguins nest on free-floating sea ice that thaws and blows away each year, not on the ice shelf, which is firmly attached to the land. But lately, some colonies have been nesting on the shelf. Scientists theorize that the shift could be related to increasingly earlier seasonal thawing of the sea ice caused by climate change.

At about five months old, Emperor Penguin chicks began to shed their down and grow their adult feathers, preparing for a life spent partially at sea.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the world emperor penguin population, estimated to be about 500,000 birds, as near threatened due in large part to how climate change is impacting its icy realm.

In early January 2024, in the final weeks before the sea ice broke up at the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer, filmmakers spotted a group of chicks that LaRue thinks were likely raised on the ice shelf waddling north toward the cliff. Curious about where they were headed, the filmmakers dispatched a drone for a bird’s-eye view. Gradually, more chicks joined the dawdling group, growing in numbers until there were a couple hundred standing at the top of the bluff.

‘I’m Gonna Have To Go’

Gerald Kooyman, a research physiologist who has spent more than five decades studying emperor penguins in Antarctica, says he has only seen such an event once—more than 30 years ago.

“Drifting snow had formed a gently sloping ramp from the sea ice onto a grounded iceberg, and a flock of departing chicks had marched up the ramp onto the berg,” Kooyman writes in his book Journeys with Emperors, published in November 2023.

“They were stopped by a 20-meter [roughly 67-foot] cliff over a sea that was sometimes open water and other times crowded with ice floes.” Over the course of a couple days, almost 2,000 chicks assembled at the ledge.

“Finally, they started walking off the cliff,” writes Kooyman, an Emeritus Professor with the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California.

“Not jumping or leaping, just stepping out and falling head over heels, sometimes doing two flips before hitting the water with a resounding plop.”

Most of the fledglings survived the jump into the icy waters. The chick on the left that fell into a crevasse used its beak to climb out and leap the rest of the way.

This phenomenon is rare, say scientists who monitor penguins from satellites in space. Peter Fretwell, a British Antarctic Survey Scientist who has studied Satellite imagery of the Atka Bay emperor colony for several years, occasionally sees penguin tracks going north toward that cliff. He theorizes that the chicks in January may have followed one or two vagrant adults that “went the wrong way, basically.”

Juvenile emperors usually fledge from the sea ice, hopping just a couple feet into the ocean. But these fledglings found themselves in a tricky location for entering the water while likely feeling extremely hungry, the scientists say. Their parents had already gone to sea, sending the message that it’s time for them to fish for themselves, and the chicks had been sitting tight waiting for their sleek, waterproof adult feathers to grow in, replacing their down.

“When they get to this cliff face, they’re like, ‘Alright, I see the ocean and I need to get in there,’” LaRue says. “This does not look like a fun jump, but I guess I’m gonna have to go.”

Resilient Birds

While the scientists do not think the cliff-jumping incident was directly related to climate change warming Antarctica, Fretwell says the continuing decline of sea ice on the continent may force more emperors to breed on ice shelves, therefore making the behavior more common in the future.

Scientists have been concerned about the sudden decrease in Antarctic Sea ice since 2016 and the likely dire consequences for emperor penguins’ long-term survival.

“We estimate that we could lose the whole population by the end of the century,” Fretwell says. “It’s heartbreaking to think that the whole species may be gone if climate change continues on the path that it’s on at the moment.”

LaRue remains hopeful about the emperors’ ability to adapt, and she considers the recent high dive caught on film a testament to their hardiness.

“They’re incredibly resilient,” she says. “They have been around for millions of years; they’ve seen lots of different changes in their environment. It’s a question of how rapidly they’re able to deal with the changes that are happening—and how far they can be pushed.”

[amivitale]

I hope you can take a moment to explore and be inspired by the @vital.impacts Winter Collection which is creating opportunities and education for the next generation of environmental photographers and conservationists. This unique gift contributes to the protection of nature. What's your favorite? Photos by: @christianvizl: In Ecuador, on the Galapagos Islands, a playful sea lion is captured rolling on the edge of a cliff at Isabela Island. @stephenmdupont: Nature’s Lungs, 2018 (From the series “Are We Dead Yet?”) @shaazjung: Clouds of Change. @kengeiger: The Tower and the Tree. @kaigner: A young cheeky leopard rests momentarily in a tree as it's mother lounges below @melissagroo: A Red-tailed Tropicbird soars high near cliffs on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. @andy_mann: Big Paw: Photographed on a cold blustery arctic day in Svalbard, Norway. @christmannphoto : Two Emperor penguin parents, each with their own 5-month-old chicks, begging for food in Atka Bay, Antarctica. @shannon__wild: I lay on the cold metal deck of the icebreaker that had been my home for the previous week. I pointed my lens out of a hawsehole and was greeted with this view, only feet from my face. @marcoronconi_: Arctic Fox Sleeping. Thank you to our sponsor @cansoninfinity, to our printers @paper&inkstudio & @theprintspace and all our photographers. #environment #conservation #vitalimpacts https://www.instagram.com/p/ClZuDw3P35p/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[letitbemorning]

The tour includes a visit to an Emperor penguin colony in Atka Bay.

Calling all nature enthusiasts. Join us on a remarkable journey to Atka Bay, where you'll have the incredible opportunity to observe an Emperor penguin colony in all its glory.

[projectourworld]

Troublemaker.

An Adelie penguin approaches an emperor penguin and its chick during feeding time in Antarctica’s Atka Bay

Photograph: Stefan Christmann/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA / Guardian Newspaper #authentic

[kestrel337]

The tour includes a visit to an Emperor penguin colony in Atka Bay.

Discover the enchanting world of Emperor penguins at Atka Bay, where you can witness their majestic colony up close. Embark on a tour like no other.

[sciencespies]

Marine Protected Areas in Antarctica should include young emperor penguins, scientists say

https://sciencespies.com/nature/marine-protected-areas-in-antarctica-should-include-young-emperor-penguins-scientists-say/

Marine Protected Areas in Antarctica should include young emperor penguins, scientists say

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and European research institutions are calling for better protections for juvenile emperor penguins, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers listing the species under the Endangered Species Act and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) considers expanding the network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean.

In one of the few long-term studies of juvenile emperor penguins-and the only study focused on a colony on the Weddell Sea-research published today in Royal Society Open Science found that the young birds spend about 90 percent of their time outside of current and proposed MPAs. The study, which tracked eight penguins with satellite tags over a year, also found that they commonly traveled over 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) beyond the species range defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is based on studies of adult emperor penguins from a few other colonies. Considered immature until about 4 years of age, juvenile emperor penguins are more vulnerable than adults because they have not fully developed foraging and predator avoidance skills. As climate change reduces sea-ice habitat and opens up new areas of the Southern Ocean to commercial fishing, the researchers conclude that greatly expanded MPAs are crucial to protect this iconic, yetthreatened, penguin species at every life stage.

“While everyone is looking at the adult population, the juvenile population — which leaves the relative safety of its parents at about five months — is neither monitored nor protected,” said Dan Zitterbart, a WHOI associate scientist. “The current and proposed MPAs in the Southern Ocean only include the range of adult emperor penguins, which do not travel as far as juveniles. From a conservation perspective, it’s important to know where these juveniles go. It’s one more piece of the puzzle to protect their marine habitat.”

“Emperor penguins have such low fecundity, if you do not protect juveniles, they may not ever become breeding adults,” he continued.

Zitterbart and colleagues at the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Strasbourg in France, and the Alfred-Wegener Institute (AWI) in Germany are conducting a long-term monitoring study of the Atka Bay emperor penguin colony near Neumayer Station III, on the Weddell Sea. The Weddell Sea area is home to one-third of established emperor penguin colonies, and research shows that colonies in the region, including the Ross Sea, are less vulnerable to climate-induced melting than other areas of the Antarctic.

“Some of the Weddell Sea colonies are expected to still be present 50 to 100 years from now,” said Aymeric Houstin, a WHOI post-doctoral investigator and the lead author of the study. “It’s important to preserve colonies that will be able to endure climate change, as they could become a refuge for the entire population of emperor penguins.”

According to studies, 12 percent of the area under CCAMLR jurisdiction is currently protected as an MPA, and less than 5 percent is considered a “no-take” area. For several years, the 26 members of CCAMLR have been considering three new MPAs in the region, including the Weddell Sea MPA, first developed by Germany, and submitted by the European Union in 2013. While this MPA would cover an area of 2.2 million square kilometers (0.85 million square miles), preserving one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world and a critical zone for global ocean circulation, the authors say that the boundaries are inadequate to protect juvenile emperor penguins.

“The Weddell Sea MPA design, as the other MPAs around Antarctica, should include the distribution at sea of all age-classes of the emperor penguin population — not only the adults from a few study colonies,” said Céline Le Bohec, of CNRS/Université de Strasbourg France and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco. “Juveniles are currently clearly lacking protection and their presence in the Northern waters needs to be considered in the future, especially regarding the development of fisheries in those regions.”

Over the next decades, the researchers plan to continue tagging both adult and juvenile penguins from the Atka Bay colony to track their movements and behavior as the environment changes. With more long-term data, Houstin suggests that a “dynamic MPA” could be developed with shifting boundaries, based on predictions of penguins’ movements throughout the year.

“This notion of a dynamic network of MPAs is really essential,” Le Bohec said. “It’s certainly the way to continue the dialogue with the fishing industry to ensure the resource is used in a sustainable manner, to ultimately preserve the unique biodiversity of these sensitive polar regions.”

#Nature

[mike13mt]

Kindergarten by stevechr

[gracefree]

First breath! by stevechr

[ginazmemeoir]

Mughal Women

Ok while I was scrolling through tumblr today on women’s history, one thing struck me odd - there wasn’t a single post regarding the women of one of the richest, most powerful empires in the history of the world. So here’s to you ladies - icons, role models and most of all - badass queens.

1. Isaan Daulat (lit. Good fortune) : Grandmother of Zahiruddin Khan or as he is famous, Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, Isaan Daulat regularly advised her son on statecraft and warfare, and carried out most of his diplomatic missions. According to a source, Isaan Daulat’s husband was once killed in a war against the Shah of Persia. The Shah thereafter proceeded to “gift” Isaan Daulat to one of his generals. However, the same night, Isaan Daulat had her retinue murder him in the courtyard, “while she sipped wine reclining in the moonlight courtyard” as a witness claimed. When the Shah arrived, he questioned her about this action, to which she replied, “Islam gives me a right as a widow to marry by my convenience. You just handed me to him like cattle, and therefore his killing is perfectly justified by Islamic Sharia. You should consider yourself lucky.” The Shah of Persia then sent back Isaan Daulat with the wealth and assets he gained from that war, and declared her and her lineage as his sister and nephews. This later helped to back the Mughals’ legitimacy. Sadly, Isaan Daulat could never enjoy the land her descendants called home.

2. Gulbadan (lit. she with a rose like body) : Gulbadan was Babur’s eldest daughter, and was quite adventurous. She had famously chronicled the lives of her father and her brother Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. She looked after administration while her brother fled from place to place. She had also embarked on a seven-year voyage to Mecca and Medina for The Hajj, encountering the malicious Portuguese (she had to bribe them with a fricking town for guarantee of safe passage), pirates, kings, sufis and many more, and was thus also called Hajji Begum. She held a special place in Akbar’s zenana as his aunt.

3. Hamida Banu : Princess of Sindh, she was married off at the age of 15 to a much older Humayun at the age of 15. She had accompanied Humayun in all his wars and also on his journey to Persia, for asking the Safavid Shahs to help them recapture Hindustan. She was Akbar’s mother.

4. Maham Anagah and Jiji Anagah : Akbar’s wet nurses, they had raised up Akbar while his parents tried to win their empire back. Maham Anagah was Akbar’s chief advisor and head of his zenana, before a failed coup by his son, after which he was killed and later on she was relieved of her post, despite still holding Akbar’s favour. Jiji Anagah’s children extensively married into the Mughal family, and her husband Mirza Aziz Koka was Akbar’s head of finance. Her family, wealth and power grew so much, as the Emperor’s favourites, that they were collectively known as the Atka Khail.

5. Ruqaiyya Begum : Akbar’s first cousin, and also his first wife, Ruqaiyya Begum was Akbar’s chief queen and Padshah Begum of the zenana. Though she remained childless, she reigned supreme in the zenana and commanded her husband’s respect in a society where a woman’s existence was through her children. She was the main force behind Noor Jahan and Jahangir’s wedding, and was also the person who raised Shah Jahan.

6. Salima Sultana Begum : Wife of Akbar’s general Bairam Khan, she was later married to Akbar after Bairam Khan’s assassination. Her son Abdur Rahim was later made Khan-i-Khanan or Commander of the Mughal Army. She was the one who had brought up Jahangir, and thus he was also called Salim. An erudite scholar, she managed Akbar’s library along with her own private collection, commissioning new works and translations of others. She later protected Jahangir from Akbar’s wrath after Jahangir had him poisoned in a bid for the throne.

7. Harkha Bai : Bollywood knows her as Jodhaa, while history knows her as Maryam-uz-Zamani, Harkha Bai was the Rajput Princess of Amer and the daughter of Raja Bharmal. She was married to Akbar as part of a political alliance, and later became Jahangir’s mother. She was the richest woman of her time, her wealth being more than Akbar’s, and she also had one of the most valuable lands (jagirs). There are 2 famous anecdotes on her - 

Once, an English merchant had bought her indigo farms at Bayana, Rajasthan. When she got to know of this, she practically destroyed that merchant, bought back that farm, and later had it burnt.

Another time, the Portuguese had captured and set fire to her ship the Rahimi, one of the largest and finest ships in that time, in a last bid to maintain their hold in India and the Arabian Sea against the increasingly powerful English. In retaliation, Jodhaa had all of their ships burnt, snatched their powers and wealth, and basically made paupers out of them. She died as the richest woman in Mughal history, before Noor Jahan.

8. Anarkali : A courtesan, with whom Jahangir (then Prince Salim) fell madly in love, many historians now consider the very real possibility that she never existed and was instead “invented” by the Mughal family as someone to blame for the tension between Akbar and Jahangir. According to the folklore, Akbar didn’t approve of Salim and Anarkali’s relation, and after she and Salim refused to end things, he had her entombed alive in a wall.

9. Maan Bai : Harkha Bai’s niece, she was Jahangir’s first wife. She later committed suicide by an overdose of opium when Jahangir had her son Khusrau blinded and imprisoned in a bitter war of succession. Her brother Man Singh was one of the Nine Gems (navaratna) of Akbar’s court, and had defeated Rana Pratap in the famous Battle of Haldighati.

10. Jagat Gosini : Princess of Jodhpur, she was the Padshah Begum of Jahangir’s zenana before Noor Jahan, and also the mother of Shah Jahan. She was the biggest obstruction in Noor Jahan’s historic rise to power. She was not on good terms with then Dowager Empress Ruqaiyya Begum (see above) and hence, Ruqaiyya Begum demanded that Shah Jahan be handed over to her so that she could raise him up, and also helped Noor Jahan against her. A local folklore also suggests that she had been the one behind the miscarriage of Noor Jahan after she had come into the zenana. She faded after Noor Jahan’s rise, but still held respect and power.

11. Noor Jahan (lit. Light of the World): The most famous and powerful woman in the history of the Mughals, Noor Jahan was born as Mehr-un-Nisa (lit. Sun amongst Women) to Persian immigrant parents. Brought up in Agra alongside Akbar’s court, Noor Jahan was an intelligent woman full of talent and potential. She was married off at 19 to Sher Afghan, a commander in Akbar’s army. The marriage was a failure, and moreover Noor Jahan suffered through 8 miscarriages with him, before the birth of her daughter, Ladli (lit. Darling or Beloved). After her husband was murdered in a coup, Ruqaiyya brought her to the Imperial Palace as part of her retinue, and later helped her and Jahangir get married, with she being Jahangir’s twentieth and final wife. Her rise to power was quick, owing to her own ambition and intellect, and some help from her father Itimad-ad-Daulah (Royal Treasurer of the Mughals), brother Asaf Khan (a prominent minister in Jahangir’s court) and Ruqaiyya Begum. Her seal as the Padshah Begum became second only to that of Jahangir, and later even surpassed his own. She brought great innovations to fashion, cosmetics, administration, architecture and gardening, city planning, and many more. She was the one who had arranged the marriage between her niece Arjumand Banu and Shah Jahan. Her marriage with Jahangir was a success – both of them were tempestuous and cared and loved each other deeply. Later, as Jahangir’s health started failing due to asthma and alcoholism, she took over the reigns and took the Mughal empire to great heights. The first British ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, arrived in her time. However, she gave the British no rights or privileges till the Rahimi incident, and extracted a great many gifts from him, including a carriage made entirely of silver. She had designed her parents’ tomb near the Yamuna river in Agra (it was later copied by Shah Jahan), and she also designed Jahangir’s tomb in Lahore (modern day Punjab, Pakistan). She had tried to get Shah Jahan to marry her own daughter, but he refused and so she completely withdrew her support from making him the emperor, and instead opposed him. Shah Jahan thus had to flee to Burhanpur, with his eldest children Dara Shukoh, Jahanara, Aurangzeb and Roshanara in Noor Jahan’s custody. Later, he waged war against Noor Jahan with help from her brother Asaf Khan. Noor Jahan was ultimately defeated in Kashmir. She was deprived of her wealth, status and power and exiled to Lahore with her daughter and granddaughter. Her influence still remained, with Shah Jahan keeping her legacy alive by copying the Taj Mahal from the tomb she designed for her parents.

12. Mumtaz Mahal : Born as Arjumand Banu, she was Noor Jahan’s niece and Shah Jahan’s most beloved. She died in childbirth while giving birth to her fourteenth child – a girl called Gauhar.

13. Jahanara : Eldest daughter of Shah Jahan, she was the one who headed the empire after Shah Jahan was left heartbroken following Mumtaz’s death, and became active in the construction of the Taj Mahal. Noor Jahan is often described as being fond of her, taking care of her education personally. She was known as Padshah Mallika, and her flower-shaped seal was the most powerful. She was an accomplished dancer, poet and a patron of the arts. She conducted the most expensive wedding ever, between her brother Dara Shukoh and Nadira Banu Begum, valued at 2 lakh rupees then, approximately 2 billion USD in today’s time.  She supported Dara Shukoh in his bid to become emperor. Later, she was imprisoned by Aurangzeb after he imprisoned Shah Jahan and killed all his remaining brothers.

14. Roshanara : Shah Jahan’s younger daughter, she was also an accomplished poet, but always at loggerheads with Jahanara. She later supported Aurangzeb as emperor.

15. Dilras Banu Begum : Aurangzeb’s first wife and Padshah Begum of his zenana, Dilras Banu belonged to the Safavid dynasty of Persia. She was mother of all of Aurangzeb’s children. However, she died an year before Aurangzeb’s succession. The Bibi ka Maqbara (Tomb of the Lady) in Aurangabad, which bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal, was constructed by Aurangzeb in her honour.

16. Zeenat-un-Nisa : Aurangzeb’s eldest daughter, she was the Padshah Mallika after her mother’s death. She survived Aurangzeb by a great many years, and was respected by his successors as a remnant of a magnificent past. She was known for her charity, and was buried in the Zeenat-ul-Masjid built by her in Dlehi.

17. Zeb-un-Nisa : Aurangzeb’s favourite daughter, Zeb-un-Nisa was the most accomplished poet in Mughal history, with her works still surviving and enjoyed. She was an atheist, but later converted to Sufism. She led a secret society, and lead a rebellion against the oppressive and harsh rule of her father. She was subsequently imprisoned by Aurangzeb, where she died. She was buried in the Tees Hazari Bagh (Garden of 30,000 Trees) near the Kashmiri Darwaza (Kashmir Gate) in North Delhi. Her tomb was later shifted at Akbar’s Mausoleum in Sikandra, Agra when Delhi was expanded following Independence.

Well people, this has been an informative post. You’re welcome.

Sources : Daughters of the Sun by Ira Mukhoty, Empress : the Astonishing reign of Noor Jahan by Ruby Lal.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

"Training Session"

Penguin couple in Atka Bay, Antarctica

Photographer: Stefan Christmann, Germany

LUMIX People’s Choice Award

[unstoppableforcce]

slow down

pairing: Poe Dameron x CMO! reader

from the how wonderful series 1 2 3 4

a/n: we’re back after a period of writer’s block with our fav couple, a bit of role reversal as Poe is typically the baby needing love in my writing lol. I hope y’all enjoy!!

Ten soldiers died that day, but only six on the battlefield.

The four others succumbed to their injuries under the aggressive fluorescents of the medical bay, leaving doctors, nurses and med droids coated in their blood instead of the enemies who inflicted the wounds. It was a blood that was always harder to wash off, no matter how long you scrubbed for.

“Doctor...”

Your breath caught in your throat as your held yourself up on the edges of the sink in the staff refresher, mind immediately jumping to the worst news before the poor nurse could even open their mouth. But glancing over your shoulder, you found a look of relief instead of fear etched in their features, and you naively let your shoulders release a breath of the overwhelming tension they held.

“They need you in the command center.” The nurse continued, letting their features turn to a look of sympathy now.

Every shift felt never ending, but this shift much more than the last.

When was the last time you had even slept? Besides stealing a few quiet moments in your office between patients, you hadn’t had much, certainly not a real night of sleep like you deserved, in a real bed, next to the real body you missed so desperately...

You clenched your eyes shut and blew out a shaking breath, all you could see were their eyes. Your last patient had been so young, so undeserving, and bleeding so much more than was recoverable from. The haste of the nurses was commendable, there was back a in your hand the second you asked for it, but it didn’t matter, the poor kid was dead the second their body hit the stretcher. There was nothing you could do but you all tried anyways, maybe that was why it hurt so badly, why you couldn’t wash the blood off in your mind even if your hands were scrubbed clean.

“Doctor, they’ll be starting the briefing—“ The nurse lingered in the doorway, pressing gently and you finally had to give in and nod in response.

“I’m coming.” You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose and sucking in a deep breath as best you could. “Tell them I’m on my way.”

Brushing the hair that had fallen in front of your face back, you quickly tried to recover whatever remained of your composure and wipe away the last of your exhaustion. The mirror quickly reported that you hadn’t been very successful once you met your own eyes in the reflection but you also caught the lingering nurse from behind you, and knew you didn’t have the time to linger on your frazzled appearance.

The briefing. You gave yourself a nod in the mirror and moved out into the hall, beginning the journey out of medical to the command center.

By the time you got there, you found the nurse had been right, they had already started. Attention turned towards you as you tried to silently maneuver your way in to the empty seat at the lengthy conference table, but by the time they noticed it was just you, they turned back to Leia at the head of the table. However, her attention stayed on you.

“Doctor, thank you for coming,” she interrupted herself to say, shifting all of the attention back to you again. “Any news on Private Atka?”

As if you needed a trigger to bring the image of his dead eyes back to the forefront of your brain...

Settling into your seat, you sighed, “I’m sorry, he didn’t make it.”

Leia nodded, with the pose and resilience of a woman who truly understood the weight of the lives which rested on her shoulders, she carried it with a grace you swore you could never know. “I’ll handle the announcements.”

“I appreciate that.”

There was a whole bay of lives that relied on you the way the galaxy relied on her and yet you could feel your shoulders crumpling in on themselves while she held her head high and kept on with the meeting as she was before your entrance interrupted. You couldn’t even escape the low rumbling building in the back of your skull, quickly radiating to the forefront of your head, all from one death while she pressed on. It was more than commendable on her end, it was a failure on your end.

You could feel a stare on you as you rubbed at your temples, forcing you to look back up and actually focus in on the meeting. But it wasn’t a stare of condescension, it was one riddled with care and a weight you could feel across the table, one you knew all too well.

It was Poe...

You knew you must have been out of your head if he had been sat beside Leia the whole time and you hadn’t even noticed, not until now, as his stare was the only one on you instead of the general in the whole conference room.

A full release of tension fell from your shoulders as you caught his eye, relaxing into your chair as the rest of the meeting fell to white noise in the background. You would’ve been more worried if you knew he had been on the mission but he hadn’t been, his ship was in bad shape after the mission two days ago, or at least that was what you overheard in the last briefing you had that morning, you hadn’t actually seen him since he got back two days ago.

He was in much better shape than you were too. His hair was damp like he had recently showered and his uniform actually looked clean, while you couldn’t even remember the last time you had a real shower, not one in a sink, or actually changed your clothes instead of grabbing new scrubs when yours got bloodied...

And his eyes were full of concern.

“Are you okay?” He mouthed silently, still careful and respectful around the briefing you two were sat in the middle of.

If you get capable of it, you would have given him a quick smile and reply, but you couldn’t even muster that. All you could do was offer a quick nod.

He pressed his hand to his chest and gave you a silent nod back, wordlessly saying he loved you with just a simple gesture. And though you couldn’t muster much in the moment, you brought your hand to your chest in much the same way, making sure he saw you before both of you turned back to the meeting.

And almost as quick as you arrived, Leia wrapped it up, providing a few orders and dismissing those around the table. But not you.

“Doctor, can I see you for a second?” She stood up, catching you just before you could slip out back to work. And as she called for you, she grabbed Poe by the sleeve and kept him close as well.

You had to fight against the light crowd of those leaving to make it to the head of the table, watching her whisper to Poe before you could get within hearing distance. And by the time you finally made it to them, the general turned, squeezed your arm gently and moved around you, following the exiting group out of the room ensuring the door shut behind her.

“What was that all about?” You questioned, watching her go, but he grabbed your hand and pulled you close as if he didn’t hear it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

His hands snakes around you hips, more affectionate than the two of you typically preferred to be while during work, but you were much too tired to try and fight it in any way. You needed his touch. It grounded you the second he had you secured in your arms, and now it was you not hearing him.

“Babe?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine.” You snapped back to him, placing your hands hesitantly over his arms where they held around your waist. “What did Leia have to say?”

“She said, ‘make sure she gets some sleep’.” He chuckled humorlessly as he nudged his forehead against yours, “I’m starting to think she had a really good point.”

“Is she ever wrong?” You tried, getting a real laugh from him this time.

“Not in my experience.” He admitted, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. “Come on, you need some real sleep.”

He pulled back from you, grabbing your hand as he did, trying to pull you out of the office, but you held your ground. “I’ve still got patients—“

“No,” he shook his head and gently tugged on your arm, “you need some real rest, General’s orders.”

Some real rest? So far you couldn’t blink without seeing that kid’s dead stare. And there was too much more work to be done, there were more patients that you couldn’t let end up like him, that was your duty. If Leia could handle the weight of millions, surely you could handle one med bay—

“I can see your wheels turning, babe, but you’ve been on duty for two days straight...” he walked back up to you, rubbing gently against your hand with his thumb. “You need sleep.”

He leaned in to lay a gentle kiss onto your cheek while you shook your head again, “I just need to—“

“Sleep. You need to sleep.” He smiled weakly, “maybe take a shower first, but definitely sleep.”

He tried to pull you again, but you still held your ground, making him nervously chuckle once more.

“What’s going on? Talk to me.” He sighed, refusing to let go.

It sounded so stupid in your head. He was out on the front lines, these were his men who were dying in your med bay, he was the one out there laying his life on the line and you couldn’t handle one death...

It wasn’t your first, it wasn’t going to be your last, but it was sticking with you more than any of the hundred cases you saw in the last two days alone and you didn’t know why. All you knew was that it wasn’t worth his time, nor the general. They were the ones out there leading the army and you couldn’t handle the clean up?

Poe seemed to see the gears in your head still turning and waited patiently for an answer you couldn’t bring past the barrier of your lips. He saw straight through you. “The private?”

You gave a rough nod, “I know it’s just one life out of the whole war...”

“No, don’t minimize this.” He was quick to counter but something was bubbling in your chest, and this was the first time in two days you slowed down enough to let it out.

“He just bled out in my hands...”

“Babe I’m so sorry,” he wrapped his arms back around you and reciprocally wrapped yours around his neck, burying your face in next to his. “It’s not your fault...”

“I know it’s not, Poe...but I... I don’t know why he...”

“You’re tired, it’s okay...” he sighed into your hair, “come on, you need some rest...”

You nodded against him. “And a shower?”

He chuckled again, “yeah, you could probably use one of those too.”

Taking your hand again, he began to lead you out of the room, but one final time, you stopped him before he could open the door and drag you back out into society, stealing one more minute alone with him. “Will you take one with me?”

“Will I?” He stuttered out, cheeks flushing. “Yes... I mean I took one like a half hour ago about yes... yeah—“

“I meant so you could wash my hair for me.”

“I’ll wash whatever you want me to—“

You cut him off with a soft kiss that he couldn’t help but smile into. It was nice to have him back, days apart from him felt like centuries, yet everything else around you, the war and both of your roles in it, felt like they were moving a parsec a minute... each of you moving separately. But you needed this, to slow down, even if it was only for a few hours.

And you were glad you had him to do it with.

Even if he was way too giddy at the prospect of just a shower with you. There was no sense in reminding him the two of you had plenty of sex and that he had seen you naked hundreds of times by now, he still blushed when he folded your undergarments out of the laundry, and you loved him even more for it.

[alounuitte]

Where Loyalty Lies

When shipments from a mining station suddenly stop, Lotor's generals look into the reason and get more questions than answers. At the same station several days earlier, the Blade of Marmora encounters a surprise when they try to take out the operation.

Chapter 7

-

Varok is sitting on the floor, his helmet thrown aside, a long-suffering expression on his face as Vrani struggles to climb up his back. “Don’t move this time, okay?” she says, bracing her knee on his shoulder. “Last time you messed me up.”

“I’ll do my best,” Varok grumbles, and grimaces as she grabs onto his ears to support herself. As she pushes his face to the side to stand up, he sees Keith, and opens his mouth to say, “Vrani, wait--” before she leaps towards the machinery. 

Startled, she looks around, already in midair, and only half-catches the ledge she’s trying to grab hold of. “Careful!” Keith shouts, and she yelps as her claws skid off the metal. Before she slips any further, though, Varok is on his feet to catch her, hoisting her up to his chest with both arms. 

“I think it is time to be finished with this game, kitten,” he tells her, turning towards Keith. “Vrani has told me all about her new friend who plans to take her somewhere there are no soldiers. Of course, she tells us about many new friends, but most of them have been her own invention.”

“Is it time yet?” Vrani asks, squirming to get out of Varok’s grasp. “Are we going?”

“Yep, we’re going,” Keith says. “You wanna come down to the docking bay with me?”

Her face lights up, and she looks up at Varok with wide eyes. “Oh, can I? Can I?”

“The others are going down to their quarters to get anything they want to bring,” Keith tells him as he grabs his blade from the console and straps the sheath back onto his armor. “You should probably go do the same.”

“Understood,” Varok agrees. “You better tell Izan what’s happening, though, she won’t like it if she doesn’t know where Vrani is.” 

“Come on, kiddo,” Keith tells her as Varok sets her down. “You ever been on a shuttle before?” 

She shakes her head. “I’m not allowed. Avka says it’s too dangerous.” 

“What’s too dangerous?” Izan asks as they’re leaving the room. “What trouble are you getting into?”

“Keith said he’s gonna take me to the docking bay!” Vrani says cheerfully, and grabs onto his hand. 

“I’m coming with,” Izan says. “Stick close to me, and don’t touch anything.”

“Aw, no fun,” Vrani pouts. 

“You’re about to go into space,” Keith tells her. “Won’t that be exciting enough?”

“Well,” she says, considering that. “I guess you’re right.”

“If you behave, I’ll let you watch what I’m doing,” he tells her. “Maybe someday when you’re older, you can be a pilot too.”

“Will you teach me?” she asks, tugging on his arm. “Atka teaches me about the machines sometimes when he works. I can’t touch them but he says maybe when I’m older, will you show me how to fly a shuttle so I can do it when I’m older?” 

“Your father should not be teaching you how to run the mining machinery,” Izan says, glowering at the technician she’d called Martek. “And your new friend will not teach you how to fly a cargo shuttle. Martek, I trust you to get Vrani’s things, and mine.” 

“Yes, dear,” Martek replies, nodding. “We’ll meet you there.” 

“Go,” Kolivan says. “I will finish the task you started in the control room.” 

“Thanks,” Keith replies, and heads for the lift, Vrani still clinging to his hand and Izan close on his heels. 

—

The hangar’s outer edge overlooks the canyon running alongside the base, two bay doors side by side at one end, a curved docking station for imperial cruisers at the other. Keith’s eyes dart around the room, taking in the stacked shipping crates and the four angled cargo shuttles with red lights along the sides lined up and waiting to be loaded. 

“Whoa,” Vrani says as he pulls her towards the shuttles, her claws digging into his palm through his glove. “It’s big.”

“A lot bigger than the rest of the building, huh?” he says, smiling faintly at her, though he can’t help thinking that as big as it is compared to the other sections of the base, this little loading area would fit easily twice over into the castle’s hangar. 

“Don’t wander off, Vrani,” Izan warns her gently. 

“Avkaaaaaa,” she complains. “I’m not doing anything. And Keith’s holding onto me, anyways.” She pulls halfheartedly at his hand to demonstrate. 

“Any difference between the shuttles?” Keith asks, glancing back at Izan. “I don’t want to take one that’s damaged.”

Izan shrugs. “This third one has the newest engines. They’re fast, for a cargo shuttle, but very loud. The first is the quietest, but it’s slower, and shakes a little, and the second has a bad thruster so it can’t get up to full speed. The fourth lists left, but it goes the farthest on a single fuel cell.”

“How’s it compare to the others for speed?” Keith asks. “We might need that kind of distance.” 

“It’s about the same as this one,” she says, gesturing at the nearest shuttle. “Perhaps a little slower.” 

“Let’s get it ready for takeoff,” he says, continuing past the first shuttle towards the end of the loading bay. “I want to be ready as soon as the rest of your crew gets here with their things.”

“Aw,” Vrani complains, looking longingly over at the third shuttle as Keith pulls her past it. “I wanna take the fast one.” 

“Didn’t you say you’ve never left the base before?” Keith asks, laughing. “I think this one’s gonna be more than fast enough for you already.” 

“But,” she protests, digging in her heels and pulling back on his hand to stop him. “The other one’s more fast.” 

“And you will not know the difference, Vrani,” Izan tells her firmly. “I thought this rebel was your new friend? You should stop arguing with him.” 

“Yes, Avka,” Vrani mutters sullenly, slinking after Keith again as he pulls her ahead and boards the shuttle at the end of the hangar. 

[dendroica]

More than 5,000 male emperor penguins huddle against the wind and late winter cold on the sea ice of Antarctica’s Atka Bay, in front of the Ekström ice shelf. Each paired male bears a precious cargo on his feet – a single egg – tucked under a fold of skin as he faces the harshest winter on Earth. The females entrust their eggs to their mates to incubate and then head for the sea, where they feed for up to three months

Photograph: Stefan Christmann/2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

(via Wildlife photographer of the year 2019 winners – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian)

[mothernaturenetwork]

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

More than 5,000 male emperor penguins huddle against the wind and late winter cold on the sea ice of Antarctica’s Atka Bay. Each paired male bears a precious cargo on his feet – a single egg – tucked under a fold of skin  as he faces the harshest winter on Earth, with temperatures that fall below -40˚C (-40˚F), severe wind chill and intense blizzards.