Pear-Tree Tosses Tea-Crates of Cheer!

It was a few weeks before Christmas, and down from the skies… Fell toys and candy, wrapped in a tea box disguise. The builders were building, completely unaware, of the crates that may have been falling straight into their hair. And all the while, the Alliance Navy went down their list, going from one target to the next, their fleet ship ‘Pear-Tree’ loaded with gifts.

The Pear-Tree drops a load of Christmassy Cargo.

The Alliance Navy, also known by their initials as the ‘AN’, began ‘Operation Pear-Tree’ yesterday. Operation Pear-Tree is a Christmas based operation where the military organization flies around Second Life, dispensing Christmas gifts upon unsuspecting persons, Sandboxes, their allies, and even, their enemies. Their gifts are in tea-box crates, which the Alliance Navy’s fleet is notorious for. When asked about the different divisions of the Alliance Navy, Cirius Montale was once quoted: “Fleet drink tea, and Marines kill people.” Cirius Montale is a robot. He is also the Fleet Commander of the Alliance Navy, and it was he whom we caught loading the Pear-Tree in the Alliance base of Tethys, this morning.

Cirius is caught loading up the Pear-Tree.

Cirius was nice enough to take time out of his loading to answer some questions.

I began with the question of “What gave you the idea to do this operation ‘pear-tree’?”

Cirius Montale: “The idea itself came from Admiral Salome, who thought it would be a nice idea to give something back to the community.”

Cirus Montale: “As well as being a nice thing to do at Christmas, it’s also an acknowledgment of our roots. We started in the sandboxes, as did so many other groups.”

 

On Cirius’ list for drops were Sandbox Cordova, Sandbox Island, Sandbox Goguen, and Sandbox - Weapons testing. Cirius told us why the Alliance selected so many sandboxes before we could even ask the question. “And it’s inevitably where all the new folk to SL arrive very quickly, so the sandboxes are the easiest way to reach a large number of people.” He said.

The sandboxes won’t be the only places to be hit, though. The Alliance plans to make drops on their allies’, random people they fly over, and even their enemy’s. They specifically named the ATF, whom have been at war with the Alliance Navy for the past several weeks. When asked about the ATF being their enemy, Cirius replied “Yes, but its Christmas.”

 

The Alliance elected to use a fleet ship for several reasons. The first of all is of course, that the Alliance Navy takes pride in their fleet. The Alliance is equipped with several medium-sized non-physical fleet ships of different designs. The second is that the alliance continued the use of a sleigh. But as Cirius put it “I thought about a sleigh, but thought I’d look a little too much like the evil guy from Futurama…”

 

The Alliance does not plan to do this freebie drop just for this Christmas. Cirius stated that other holidays were certainly a possibility, and that it was hopeful that the Christmas drop would become an annual event. While he does not expect that they will have Christmas Merry men dropping gifts onto Tethys in return, Cirius does expect cookies and Brandy to be waiting for him in the sandboxes. And for the builders of Jessie, Cirius had this to say: “I’m not hitting Jessie…they’ve been naughty.”

 

The Alliance Navy plans on continue making new items to load into drops. Although they have made every item in their gift pack so far, they will take donations. Cirius said that “I’ll take donations from anyone. So far the AN has been supplying 100% of the goods in these crates, but I’m always happy to take on more.”

For those interested in what they can contribute, Cirius listed the contents and their rules for donating. “hmm, let me see…cookies, T-shirts, hats, food, drink, a box of condoms…I’ve really thought hard about what people in SL want…” and “I have one rule about gifts, no weapons. I have no intention of arming the sandbox griefers.”

Cirius displays some of the contents of his crates.

For those whom don’t know, the Alliance Navy was originally started in the early sandboxes of Second Life. They combated griefers, receiving both insult and praise for doing so. Some of the older residents may remember large ‘fleet’ ships in the skies above sandboxes, from which the Alliance Navy operated out of when needed. However, the Alliance Navy began to see that this task was impossible. Cirius was not a member of the Alliance Navy at this time, but he recalls what he has heard: “I get the distinct impression that it was a losing battle. It was primarily an attempt to educate, to show people how you could be a military group and not have to fly around the sandboxes orbiting people whilst wearing umpteen shields.”

At that point, the Alliance Navy had grown in size, and the over-lording eagles that protected the sandboxes decided to nest and change their function. They settled in Tethys, where the nearly two-year old Alliance Navy now maintains its headquarters.

 

The Alliance Navy is largely a military role-play group. They also lead the SLSALT – a treaty signed by several military organizations that Cirius says are “groundrules for workable SL military combat, that doesn’t involve shields. Those groups that want to play ‘war’, as it were, can do so, without infringing on those in SL for other reasons.”

–If you want to donate to the Alliance Navy’s Freebie Drop, please get in contact with the Alliance Navy, located in the sim of Tethys. You literally can’t miss it. Or, try getting in touch with Cirius Montale.

 

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