The cameracat rustles through some papers before stepping out in front of the camera, waving her tail and smiling brightly.

"Hello!" the she-cat chirped, "My name is Rainfeather, and I'm here at the K.G.I.S. headquarters, bringing you the newest update on the Catmint 11 launch that will be sending off in about thirty minutes. Before they head off to preparations, though, we have a chance to meet the crew."

Rainfeather gestures at the side of the stage, and a small brown tabby pads out onto the stage.

"H-hello," he meowed, staring at his white paws. "My name is Sageleap. I'm the captain of the mission that will be launching soon. I also have a degree in astrophysics. I-I was on the Juniper 4 and 6 missions, as well as the Holly 13. The Juniper missions were generally for exploration and satellite repair, and as most of you know, the Holly missions were on the moon." He swallowed nervously before darting off the stage.

Rainfeather opens her mouth as if she was going to say something, but then she closes it. She waves her tail at the sidestage again.

A black tom joined Rainfeather on the stage, his green eyes slightly narrowed. "I'm Cedarflame, and I'll be the microbiologist on this mission. I'll be studying how archaebacteria act in a lower gravity environment."

"Wow, how interesting," Rainfeather meowed, smiling at him. "Have you been on a launch before?"

"It's been a while, but I flew on the Holly 5, with Fallowstripe, another crew member," explained Cedarflame.

Rainfeather nodded. "Well, thank you for your time, Cedarflame!"

"No problem." With a flick of his tail, the tom padded off toward the side of the stage.

Rainfeather waits for another cat to appear, but no such crew member comes out. Her eyes narrow, and she pads off toward the side of the stage. She reappears dragging the tail of a brown she-cat, who is staring at her phone.

"What do you want," the she-cat snapped. "I was this close to beating the next level of Where's My Water!" She held her paws a whisker apart to demonstrate.

"We're trying to give a TV interview here," Rainfeather meowed through her teeth.

The brown cat's eyes widened. "Oh, my bad!" She tossed her phone at the camera, narrowly missing the lens. "I'm Feathershine, and I'll be the psychologist and counselor for the rest of the crew."

Rainfeather nodded slowly. "Have you been on a launch before?" she asked.

Feathershine shook her head. "No, I own a counseling business. I was hired last-minute because the last one... suspiciously disappeared a while ago." She gave a helpless shrug.

"Oh, well are you excited?"

She shrugged. "I'm in it for the money."

Rainfeather pushes Feathershine, and a dark gray tom replaces her on the stage. He blankly stares at the camera.

"Hi there; would you like to introduce yourself to the crowd?" asked Rainfeather, poking the tom's flank.

"Sure," the tom meowed. "I'm Fallowstripe. I'm a botanist. I'll be studying plants on Mars and how gravity affects their growth."

"Have you been in space before?" Rainfeather asked.

"Yes."

Rainfeather waited. Fallowstripe stared at the camera. "Which ones?" she finally asked.

"The Holly 5, the Holly 6, I was a backup astrocat for the Holly 9, the Juniper 5, the Juniper 12, and the Juniper 15, which was the final Juniper mission. I also completed missions with the Catmint 2, the Catmint 4, and the Catmint 8," Fallowstripe meowed.

"So would you say you're the most experienced on the crew?" Rainfeather asked.

Fallowstripe shrugged.

"O-okay. Next cat, please?" asked Rainfeather, flicking her tail toward the side of the stage. Fallowstripe padded away. A beautiful silver-furred she-cat padded onto the stage.

"Hello! I'm Fernfrost," the she-cat purred, smiling at the camera. "I'm the pyrotechnician... I've been given clearance to test some new explosives on the surface of Mars, since there's currently nothing living there, as far as we know."

"How interesting! Have you been in space before?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I was skilled enough that they wanted me to join the team straight away!"

"How great," Rainfeather meowed, "Where do you come from?"

Fernfrost smiled. "I'm a small-town she-cat, through-and-through. My parents both worked in business."

"How cool," Rainfeather meowed, "What brought you into pyrotechnics?"

"I always loved blowing things up from a young age, and I always had a knack for it," Fernfrost explained.

"How interesting! Well, that's all the time we have for today. Good luck on your launch, Catmint 11!"

by Rio.