Futuristic The Surveyors.

[Soviet Panda]

Planet C-133308D. Perfectly in the Goldie Locks zone. Not to close to the sun, not to far away. Perfect in every way. The atmosphere wasn't to thin or to thick. The amount of liquid water wasn't to little or to much. And from telescopes it was very possible for there to be even life. But telescopes could only tell so much. Eventually, a manned mission had to be sent.


The Surveyors. An elite organization within the military. A glorious blend of scientists, warriors, and explorers. Everything mankind could hope for, and everything they need, when traveling the stars. A Surveyors' sole task is to land on a planet with their small squad, and determine if it has life on it. When those results come back, so far negative, they then turn their attention towards the possibility of colonizing that planet, or moon as the cases have been so far. And so far, they have not left our solar system.


But now, with the discovery of many ground breaking discoveries, cryo-stasis will allow the first human to step on a planet that isn't of their solar system. Something truly foreign. Going along with them, will be the latest in technology, though outdated by the time they reach their destination. A light exo-suit meant to enhance the wearers physical output. Ion weapons, accelerating rounds magnetically to speeds never thought of before for projectile weapons. Nothing but the best for these men and women that are potentially risking their lives to explore distant planets.


Launch day, two type 12 exploration pods are launched, bearing their load towards the heavens. Once they have escaped Earth's orbit, the two crews will go into cryo-stasis, and only come out once they have landed on their destination. Because their journey will take hundreds, possibly thousands or even tens of thousands, of years, all their loved ones will be dead. Their grand kids will be dead. Their great, great, great, great, you get the idea. The two crews have accepted this, and know that Earth could be a very different place when they returned.


They have also accepted the possibility of there being intelligent life on the planet, and that it very well could be hostile. They do not know the half of it. Now, on the planet and with dangers around every corner, the crews must survive to repair their vessels, or die alone on this planet. C-133308D will either be their tomb, or give them great fame. We are still waiting on their status.

 

[Soviet Panda]

"Approaching planet." chimed the computer to deaf ears. But not for long. Soon, the crew members of the Nautilus would awake from cryo-stasis. And then, shortly after that, they would land on the planet. Scientists determined that it would be for the best if there was a back up, in case the computers failed upon re-entry. That would end a 1000 or so years of waiting to see if there was any life on the planet C-133308D.


The other pod was most likely also preparing to land, and someone was even saying "Wakie wakie." as if that would help. It was clear that they would land minutes before the Nautilus would. But that was part of the plan. If they re-entered at the same time at the same location, they wouldn't be that far apart. No, to increase the likely hood of finding something interesting, the brass and the scientists decided to give a five minute delay between landings. This would cause a sizable distance between the two crafts, but they would still be in touch.


But that was if the Nautilus could even land. A quick check by the zero-g mechanic should be done for the capsules mechanics, to make sure the riggers of space didn't take to much of a toll. Everyone else had been instructed to take their designated positions (It's a round capsule. Pick a spot) and prepare for landing.

 

[Diz]

As the pod approached C-133308D, those inside could begin to feel the effects of cryo-stasis wearing off. Matherson's eyes opened slowly as he felt himself slowly regaining control of his body. After a few moments, he allowed himself to look around. To him, it was as if no time had passed: he was still in the pod next to Badcoke and Metric, he was in the same clothes, he was the same age, height, physical condition, all of it. If it weren't for the small numbers on the display, he wouldn't have known how long Nautilus had been travelling.


It's all gone now, he thought to himself. Everything he had known back on Earth, his family, friends, his home, it was all gone. Millennia had gone by, and millennia more would still had to if he were ever to return to Earth. He knew better than to count on that, though. In all likeliness, he and the crew of the Nautilus would end up perishing on C-133308D. If they were lucky, they'd be able to breath the air on the surface of the planet. Chances are they'd stop there, but if they were to go on, any manner of life form could potentially be their undoing. In reality, they were probably ill-prepared to take on an entire planet's worth of hardships. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but of course, they knew that. After all, the goal of the Surveyors is to investigate distant and possibly hostile environments.


Despite these seemingly impossible odds of survival, Matherson couldn't help but grin to himself. He was ready for whatever this foreign planet had to throw at him. He'd been looking forward to this since he stepped into the Surveyor's training facilities on the first day. After years and years of dwelling on Earth, David could use a switch-up. He went ahead and took what time he had to landing to check over his equipment and make sure nothing had been jostled around in the inter-galactic travel - not that anything really could, due to cryo-stasis.

 

[Deadly clown]

"I feel... Weak.."


This thought was the first that would appear in the head of John Metric once he awoke. The bits of memories from dreams floated around his head. Some lingered for longer than he wanted them to


"It was all just dreams."


The second thought that bounced around his head.


Finally after years and years, John's eyes would open. Slowly. After the eyelids peeled back they'd close again.


"So weak... Maybe 5 more minutes"


The third thought was now in play. Sleepily John would blink trying to rid the weakness from his body.


"I'm awake!"


This excited yelp wasn't in his head long enough for it to be a thought. It was seemingly a reply to the 'wakie wakie' but the truth was he was just extremely happy and bubbly. Finally his boring life had ended now here he was several decades maybe even centuries later. The thought of never seeing those he loved ever again hadn't crossed his mind yet. Only happiness filled his weak, frail body.

 

[Tarmagon]

He woke up. That was rather strange, because he couldn't remember going to sleep. He was also upright, which was a strange position to sleep in, although it was not the first time he had awakened in odd positions. A quiet hiss intruded on his thoughts,and Kelly's eyes snapped open in time to see a cover retracting from over another human figure.


"Whaa?" he croaked, astonished at the, unused, feeling of his voice. In fact, his whole body felt slightly wrong. It was as though he hadn't actually been in his body for a long time, and was having to get used to it all over again. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to order his disjointed thoughts, and information began to bubble to the top of his brain.


"Cryo-pod. That was a cryo-pod opening. I have been in cryo-stasis. Surveyor. I am on a survey mission."


His eyes snapped open at that thought, and Kelly looked around with a bit more understanding. The circular room contained several cryo-pods, either open or just completing their opening cycles. He was also in free-fall he noted distractedly. That was going to make taking care of his need to pee rather more of an exercise than he wanted it to, but needs must. Fortunately the appropriate hardware was racked beside his pod, and he employed it with a sigh of relief, neither knowing nor particularly caring if the cabins other occupants noticed. After all, they had trained together prior to entering hibernation, including zero-gee training with all the embarrassing incidents that had entailed. Re-racking the plumbing and sealing his coverall, Kelly released the straps keeping him secured to the cryo-pod and pushed off gently, floating up slowly into the main cabin.


"Anyone else up yet?" he croaked.

 

[Dtheraider]

The thousand year voyage through space had been a little bit longer for Nova than for the rest of the Nautilus's crew. She had been taken out of Cryo-stasis five times in the past millennium. There were three scheduled maintenance checks every two hundred fifty years apart, and two unscheduled repairs due to unplanned space debris in 2437 and most recently in 3003 when upon entering the solar system's outer asteroid belt a few asteroids had knocked around and jammed several solar panels limiting the recharge rate of the Nautilus's batteries affecting life support. This problem was easily solved how ever, and each time took less than 48 hours. Although upon first entering the new solar system Nova held a small celebration by eating a Snickers that she had stowed in her pod, although centuries old candy bars don't preserve the same way as humans do in cryo-stasis and decided it would be a better rock than food


Nova's pod was scheduled to open three days before the rest of the crew in order to make the final preparations for re-entry into an atmosphere. With her own personal alarm blaring at her to wake up she grumbling "Damn computers can't navigate a single asteroid belt without calling me out to fix their mistakes." Then the alarm croaked "Prepare for final journey stage." Then Nova realized that this was the final time she would be woken for maintenance.


She quickly re-limbered her body just as she had the previous times as well as finished eating her Nutri-gel which would help restore her body from what ever atrophy she may have suffered from. She still felt a little stiff and her bones made the most audible cracking that one could imagine. After she felt sufficiently ready she did a complete systems check of the computer systems. Life support was fine and stable as well as the fact that power levels were still holding solid. There was one issue, that two of the retrograde boosters on the Nautilus were off line. This of course was an exterior issue which means she'd have to suit up again, as well as she still needed to perform a manual check.


On the outside of the pod she was able to catch the first glance of C-133308D the view reminded her of the home she left behind. This thought drifted through her head and she wondered what condition her father's business is in now, and what family of her's could possible remain. She quickly brushed this aside remembering that she made this choice and now the only option is forward.


She completed an outside inspection of the Nautilus and had good news and bad news. The good news was that the retrograde boosters simply had wiring issues due to dust particles in the circuitry. Rewiring was an easy task and most cases just required a little puff of compressed air to blow the dust coatings away. The bad news was that the hull had hit several small asteroids since her last repairs and the heat shield held several compromising dents. A majority of the three days she had to herself was spent repairing the heat shield's damage. When the rest of the crew finally woke she was still busy repairing the hull and thumping around the outside of the craft. Her golden helmet visor reflecting the bright light of her hydrogen welder as she worked in the silence of space.

 

[Anaxial]

Somethings are bigger than you, me... Your mother...


I did it because it just had to be done.


I hope you can forgive me son.


Forgive me son.


Forgive me.


Forgive.





Haunted by the past, Dr. Arden 'Ernie' Waldas had been trapped in perpetual hell for one thousand years. To the others the time may have passed seamlessly but to the Chief Biologist- he felt every second of it. Every failed attempt, every dead end, every mystery unsolved back on Earth rattled in his brain. Like a box of nails in a car crash, the thoughts tumbled around haphazardly in his mind worsened by the fact they would forever remain a mystery, 1,000 years dead. When the sweep kiss of oxygen touched his skin, the merciful sound of the cryo-pod opening Ksshhh... Arden seemed relieved by the release from the nightmare and though he immediately tried to escape the pod, he found his body failed him and he instead collapsed into the zero G space of the landing vessel, his sudden expulsion forward sent him adrift towards the ceiling where he lay flat on his back. Forgive me son.





The Biologist finally gave his body the time it needed to recover from 1,000 years of cryogenic sleep. Taking deep, quick breaths, Dr. Waldas recovered from his ordeal and pushed himself away from the ceiling, slowly drifting towards the gear below. His vision was blurred and he saw doubles for a moment but another minute and his vision returned to him. He took in the room, seeing that the Engineer's pod was already open and several others were also awakening simultaneously. Arden observed himself, 1,000 years of restlessness had shaken his memory a bit, Arden was wearing a white labcoat with a slight blue traced seam. Underneath the coat was a short sleeve shirt bearing the Nautilus' sigil. He wore black pants and some old penny loafers.


Drifting back towards his pod, Arden retrieved the few personals he could fit in the cryopod with him. This included a pair of reading glasses- which he promptly placed upon his face. As well as the old physical photograph of his father and mother. Just had to be done. Upon re-exiting the pod, Arden audibly shouted with surprise as he turned to face the RDX Model 3 armor propped up to look like it had a person inside of it, it even held the Centurion Battle Rifle in an uncannily human manner. The doctor chuckled to himself and patted the shoulder of the armor before he wagged a finger at it. "Damn... Thought I was seein' ghosts." He said as his smile faded a bit. The way the armor was placed, it was almost as if Arden's father was watching over him the entire journey.


Leaving the armor alone for now, Dr. Waldas proceeded to button up his lab coat, and adjust his glasses to fit on his face. He gave the fellow settlers a friendly wave, realizing they had probably seen his entire ordeal but elected to pretend it didn't happen. Instead, the driven man went straight to work, he began calibrating everyone's communicators they were assigned by name, exempting the Engineer's as she should be running preliminary maintenance on the ship. Her's had been set up to a temporary channel that Dr.Waldas now attempted to establish comms through.

"Engineer Aurie, this is Dr. Waldas onboard the ship. Testing communications, all checks five and five?" he asked looking over at the others as they began to scurry about the ship.

He lowered his own comm and waved at the group. "Everyone, don't forget to grab your communicators. If you get lost without it- 'fraid you'll be lost on that planet. No good." he said with a smile as he stepped aside and made sure everyone took their assigned communicators.

 

[Soviet Panda]

((No artificial gravity. Thought it would be cool for all of you to be floating around.))

 

[Dtheraider]

After completing a small section of the heat shield, Aurie was moving her tertiary cable when suddenly her helmet's communication line blared breaking the silence of space. "Engineer Aurie, this is Dr. Waldas onboard the ship. Testing communications, all checks five and five?"


"freaking hell" she shouted and the slight tensing of her muscles caused enough momentum to force her to slowly drift away from the craft. Suddenly her Primary and secondary cables snagged her movement redirecting her hard against the Nautilus's hard hull. After grabbing onto a nearby handle and regaining her composure she activated her comm line. "This is engineer Nova Aurie, I hear you loud and clear, it's good to know that I am no longer alone. How is the clarity on your end?"


After finally being able to secure her tertiary tether anchoring her in a triangular pattern, she could finally return to mending the main hull.

 

[Anaxial]

While the Engineer's communications was preset, it WAS 1,000 years old. It had a lot of time to age, but thankfully was housed within the shell of the Nautilus. No asteroid field would destroy these communicators! Aurie's response came back with a little bit of chop, which Dr.Waldas immediately began to isolate and analyze the cause. The simple age of the untouched tech was the cause, along with a little bit of interference when the signal pierced the hull of the ship. Dr.Waldas pushed himself away from the table and drifted across the open room to the Nautilus' own Communications Relay.


"There's a little chop but don't worry about it, I'll be setting up the primary Relay here in a moment. For now just be careful, your communicator is a temporary one so when you come back in make sure to grab your primary relay, just swap 'em out." Dr.Waldas said letting go of his communicator and having it float harmlessly by his head i the Zero G space.


Opening the Relay's panel showed some very aged circuit boards and dust had gathered inside the panel, floating in the air or sticking to the boards through static electricity. Waldas took in the sight, examining what could be done to try and restore the Primary Relay without having to shut it down. Though the system had Automatic Bus Transfers, the ABT's were just as old as everything else he was looking at- if he shut off the Relay the ABT might not transfer to the Emergency power and leave Aurie without comms. After a quick once over it was determined that some of the circuits and fuses would need to be replaced. He kicked himself away from the relay and to his Cryopod, retrieving the necessary electrical working equipment (to include rubber gloves, extra circuits and fuses, fuse pullers, ect.) he beeped the Engineer on her space walk once again.


"Engineer, just giving you a heads up; I need to shut off the relay to do some repairs. Just be uhh... Be extra careful, you might lose comms with the ship for a while, if you get in trouble try and call us though, the Emergency system should boot up and we'll receive you." he said as he promptly shut down the relay. Giving the machine a moment to power down, Dr.Waldas watched the power available light dim on the primary board and light up on the Emergency board, the ABT's did their job. From there, he got to work, pulling himself down to the inside panels and began cleaning out the inside before replacing the circuits and fuses.

 

[RinRin]

"Bye Bye suckers!"


Those were her last words before being frozen in time, traveling ages away from her past. Everything and everyone she has known is long gone and dead by now... And GOOD RIDDANCE!


Finally.. She was free, and as her body began to catch up.. Cell by cell, Nox began to wake.


Slowly, eyelids forced themselves apart, revealing glazed gray irises, a smirk slowly spreading her pale lips.


As the door retracted in front of her, the young woman leaned forward slightly, light groaning themselves itself past her lips.


Slowly, the blurry vision began to focus as Nox repeatably blinked herself officially awake.


"Alright guys.." She croaked. "God, my voice sure is surprising to her once again." She calmly spoke with herself before sliding herself off and away from the pod that held her for ages. Her muscular body floated forward, placing her hands behind her head as she went about somewhat aimlessly, though she made a point to not bump into anything.


"Well, doc. Anyone pronounced dead yet?"


Doc wasn't really anyone in particular, just anyone that would hear her. She didn't really know her crew, but it sure would suck to start off minus 1 or 6.

 

[Cavil]

[border]

Darkness. Warm, sweet darkness.


Womb-like cradling of the body...


Relax.


Awake.





An icy rush had awoken Baldwin like a slap to his face.


The last time he had felt such a sensation was back in Greenland, where the landscape is essentially an enormous ice mountain with a dirt path snaking through it. It isn't that he's unaccustomed to the feeling but maybe it was just the setting and the time of place. Shivering slightly out of fear, he was chasing a rogue spy that apparently committed treason in the planet's major city of Washington, D.C. Some minor paper pusher in the Capitol threatened to leak documents related to a black market weapons trade that the U.S. was involved in, or something like that. In passing conversation, Baldwin does like to tell the tale of how he was hired to hunt down a wanted man's corpse, for lack of a better term, as that is what greeted him at the end of his intercontinental search. As he remembered it, Baldwin had simply shrugged and retraced his steps back to the harbor.


This memory lulled the military man out of his eternal slumber. For a few minutes it was a delicious dream; a pill he could swallow easy with a sip of water or soy milk. It has been literally years since he has drank anything, he promptly remembered and the thought made him shiver with anxiety. His vision was not much of a help, as it was more waterlogged than the many times he has greeted the morning with an amazing hangover. Ah, he did love his liquor but his liquor did not love him back, much like the many lovers he had let get away. He smiled out of smug melancholy and let his eyes adjust to the cramped surroundings of the tube he was placed in a lifetime ago. Feeling stiff, he began to stretch his biceps up but he ended up banging his hand on a contraption and let out a gruff grunt in pain. Suddenly he realized that he wasn’t sure if the internal microphones were still on and quickly became quiet again, hoping nobody was yet awake. His neck popped with vigilance, his spine twisted and cracked from rigidness, and his fiery eyes remained shut the entire time he straightened out other various body parts. He tasted comatose in his throat and tongue and his pale lips smacked together in promise of relieving the staleness although such a promise has yet to be fulfilled.


Baldwin's body was beginning to further awaken and after nearly twenty minutes of being officially defrosted only now was his face returning to his original olive complexion, albeit still ghastly pale. A look of content has settled on his now sunken cheeks. He was attempting to keep himself calm and as sleepy as possible in order to prevent him from becoming hungry, however the second part of his plan was failing. He felt a gnawing at the pit of his stomach. A deep breath will distract him from his ridiculous appetite, he thought, though he knew it wasn’t as ludicrous as he was convincing himself it was. He had been comatose for nearly a hundred years. Instantly, a pang of sadness overcame him and he found himself becoming emotional at the thought. Everyone on Earth that was born in the same year as he was is now dead. His throat filled with a ball of sorrow that had no choice but to choke back. He knew what he signed up for: a one way trip to maybe start anew on a stranger planet. Only God knew what he needed to run from and only Baldwin knew how to prevent his secrets from being leaked and being potentially arrested or even killed for his crimes.


Oh. Wait. Wait one second.


He didn’t need to worry one bit anymore. They’re all dead. A crooked grin crept across the mercenary’s sullen face. A recollection of Greenland sauntered into his mind again.


"Corpses. They’re all damn corpses," he hoarsely whispered into the space of his cryopod.

[/border]

 

[Tarmagon]

"Mornin' Nox," Kelly half called, half croaked from where he floated above her. "I don't think the doc's gonna answer you. He seems to be more concerned with our absent engineer and the comms console than anyone in here."


The dryness of his throat and the still hoarse croak that was all he could speak in annoyed Kelly to no end. He looked around to orient himself, moving slowly so as not to induce a spin, then reached out and gently pressed a finger to the nearest bulkhead, sending himself drifting down and across to a supply locker. Once there, he pressed one foot down on the adhesion patch beside the locker before opening it and removing a drink bulb. He managed not to squirt the entire contents into his mouth by dint of willpower, and the knowledge of what choking in free-fall could do to a person. After a couple of careful swallows, he reached in and grabbed another drink bulb, sending it towards Nox as she floated towards the other side of the cabin.


"Incoming," he called, and his voice was nearly normal this time. Raising his voice he called, "Bar's open. Get your wonderful electrolyte juices here."

 

[Dtheraider]

After finishing the final section of the heat shield Nova checked her oxygen timer. Bright blue numbers in her top right display read 3:52:21, and the seconds were slowly wasting away. "Well, I have almost four hours left. I guess I should double check the rocket's fuel tanks."


After slowly meandering her way about the craft checking the pressure of the remaining fuel tanks to determine whether the fuel would be injected into the boosters or not, as well as the condition of the remaining fuel. All fuel tanks were properly pressurized and the remaining fuel was still intact and had not degraded due to aging.


Her oxygen counter now read 3:12:53. "What now?" Now she had a hilarious Idea. After detaching her tertiary cable she began to jump slamming against the hull with use of her primary and secondary cables. She began to jump back and forth with as much force as capable making as much racket on the inside of the ship as possible. "Let's see if this will wake those still trying to cling to their 1000 year old slumber" she said to herself.

 

[Cavil]

[border]

The fire-eyed merc finally opened his eyes after what seemed like ten minutes, but he didn't really know. After all, he had been asleep for almost a hundred years or so. What was time to him? It was like the sensations that kept one in bed after a long night's sleep. He was drunk on slumber. He wanted to stay wrapped in the security of the cold metal tube that he was lain in so many years ago. His muscular, wiry arms crossed his chest and he rubbed his shoulders with dry palms. He knew he had to get out; he heard the rest of the crew awaken and climb out. He wondered if they cared that he was alive...


Baldwin yawned quietly and shook his head. Thoughts raced around his mind like angry bees. Would they be prepared to face the turmoil ahead of them on this new planet? What would become of the ship's crew after they made landfall? Would there be creatures waiting there for them? Who would survive the expedition? These plaguing questions he shrugged off as soon as his eager fingers touched the glass door.


Here goes.


With a stiff push, Baldwin released the hatch to his pod, and with the widening of the hinges it was on came a small cloud of steam. He grunted and coughed; this air was more stale than that of his cryo bed, which was probably more comfortable than any hotel bed he had lain on, at least on Earth. A grimace slapped itself on his face as he pulled himself out very slowly, surely, almost calculating his actions. One foul step and he would have surely embarrassed himself, something that could never happen in his lifetime. He squinted so he could adjust to the harsh lighting of the ship. Two black leather combat boots stepped out confidently onto the floor from his pod. A black cotton t-shirt and a pair of dark forest green cargo pants followed it. Baldwin really wasn't one to mix and match outfits-- if it worked for him, it worked. He wasn't going to change it. No need to switch it up unless 'it' is actually novelty underwear. He needs to have every color; style and shape. Well, not every shape. Just the best shape. A cheeky grin flashed upon his face and then dissipated. He ran a quick hand through his damp hair in order to give it some volume. For a split second, he did forget where he was, that is until he spotted Nox and Kelly chatting it up and refueling, and Waldas screwing around with certain mechanical gadgets that Baldwin couldn't name. It occurred to him that these people were now his family, his friends, and his company for the rest of his life. Emotion overwhelmed him for a moment. Baldwin leaned against the exterior of the pod, his eyes forlorn yet wild. Only one thing was for sure: there's no going back now. He bowed his head, which was still aching from his long sleep, and rubbed his face with one hand.


A heavy, hoarse sigh parted his lips and he realized that anyone nearby probably heard it. So with that in mind, he lightly treaded towards Nox and Kelly. His parched throat drove him.

[/border]

 

[Dtheraider]

After bouncing around the hull for a while Nova quickly realized that she wouldn't actually see anyone freak out since she was on the outside of the craft. After a little while longer Aurie decided that there was nothing left to do except play a little asteroid baseball, but she had enough of that during the solar panel fiasco. As she slowly floated her way over to the airlock she radioed in, "make sure everything is clear of the air lock, I am going to be opening it, if you left anything in it, it won't be yours for much longer."

 

[Tarmagon]

Kelly heard a rough sigh, and twisted around his anchored foot to see Baldwin slowly making his way along the deck towards him. He had no clue why the merc insisted on using those boots to stick to the deck while in free fall, but to each him own.


"Catch Baldwin," he called, sending a drink bulb coasting in the merc's direction. "Damn, you look like something the cat dragged in."


Depositing his now empty drink container in the waste receptacle and sealing it shut, Kelly snagged another bulb from the rack in the locker, then broke the seal on a container of ration bars. The smell and mass of sludge inside nearly made him lose the drink he had just finished, but he slammed the lid shut, then shoved the whole mess into the waste receptacle and sealed the lid with a sigh. He paused for a moment, the reached back into the locker for another ration container. Taking a deep breath, he cracked the seal and peeked inside. This time he was greeted by the sight of the highly concentrated energy rations that they had all come to know and despise. A quick sniff, followed by an equally quick nibble let him know that they were probably still edible, for values of edible anyway.


"Breakfast is served," he announced to the room in general. "And the damned ration bars still taste like old leather and sweat."

 

[Soviet Panda]

"No no no no." said a male voice said, if rather whiny. It was completly different from the gentle cooing that had woken you up. At the same time those words were being said, the three internal robotic arms sprang into action, grabbing the water and gently putting back in their container. "You do not want things floating around when you are burning through an atmosphere goung at least a thousand kilometers per second. The g-force experienced will be bad enough. Things hitting you would only increase the poor experience." it whined, pushing things to their proper place. "Now you all must hurry. We are entering the atmosphere now and soon we will start to heat up due to both friction and basically slamming into a wall of gas." As it said this, it poked, prodded, and in some cases man handled the crew into their respective seats, upon which they were quickly strapped in. The person that came last was Aurie, and for a good reason. After the airlock opened and she was batted in by an external arm, it had to be repressurized. But it was done soon enough and she to was soon strapped in. "Oh, I failed to mention that my name os Atari, since you probably all forgot it."


Soon after Atari announced his name, things began to litterally heat up outside. The heat shield began doing it's job, and the computer beeped only a couple times before quieting down. Soon, re-entry was over and they were no longer burning through the sky. Several parachutes were then deployed, along with landing legs. When the parachutes caught, everyone in the cabin experienced a brief moment of incredible g-forces as the quickly slowed down. But that was soon done with, and they were jow lasily drifting down on what was hopefully flat land.


It was flat enough, and it worked. They touched down, and they were fine. "See, I told you we would make it." Atari said in a goice completly unlike the last one. "Atmospheric scans say that you won't die without your helmets." he continued.

 

[Anaxial]

While the others woke, Waldas did in fact continue to work on the Communications Relay- almost entirely ignoring the congregation that had been assembling. The only thing he responded to was the radio, specifically when Aurie radio'd she was on her way in. Waldas turned to the crew and announced in a stern voice;


"Hey, the Engineer is coming back through the airlock. Make sure it's clear, I gotta finish with this panel..." he said turning his back to them once again and finishing up the repairs on the Relay. Not too long after, did the robotic arms begin pulling him about- he didn't even have time to triple check the ABT's Emergency transfers! Though his resistance was minimal, once strapped in his eyes locked on any sort of screen or projection of data that would show him what was going on outside.


"Incredible! The ship's heat shielding must be something powerful for us to not need an external and internal pod unit!" He said with a dumb grin on his face as he looked at the others to gauge their reactions. "Soon, my friends we will be landing on this alien world and discover what it has in store for us! New species of flora and fauna- intelligent species! Who knows! Why there could even be..." Waldas had been lost in one of his infamous rants at that point. A rant that lasted the entire descent to the alien world, a rant that was entirely about how he would analyze such a world when they knew nothing about it!

 

[Dtheraider]

As soon as the airlock opened and a miscellaneous drink bulb floated out, suddenly Nova was being beaten by a mechanical arm. She quickly rolled into a fetal position to protect herself from the sudden barrage as she was batted into the airlock. Before she could even check the pressure regulator the lock began to re-pressurize with oxygen. This was going on much faster than Nova would have liked. As soon as pressure was restored, more mechanical arms began to harass Nova until she finally got herself buckled down. Then a muffled "Oh, I failed to mention that my name is Atari, since you probably all forgot it."


"So this is who is responsible for harassing me through the airlock" Aurie thought grumpily to herself as she rubbed some of her new bruises. Suddenly she didn't feel so well as the craft began to shake. she began running short on breath. "Oh great I re-pressurized too fast" Fortunately she still had her suit on with an additional oxygen supply. Suddenly the Nautilus began to shake and vibrate violently. Slowly Aurie began to feel her weight return to her body as they descended to the planet. Nova quickly checked her HUD, fortunately it was still synced with the Nautilus's general maintenance system. She could watch as the numbers ticked down indicating altitude, as well as the numbers for external temperature, speed, and atmospheric pressure. So far the heat shield was holding and Aurie was thankful that she had enough time to mend the heat shield well enough.


Finally the parachute deployed and their speed began to decrease. Slowly they drifted until they finally hit the ground. "Finally we landed!" Aurie thought to her self. Muffled through her helmet Nova hear Atari speak, "Atmospheric scans say that you won't die without your helmets."


"Sure" Aurie thought to herself sarcastically, "Wonder what bacteria or microbes there may be waiting out there ready to enter our lungs. At least symptoms won't show instantaneously." as she finally took of her helmet.


Suddenly Nova remembered something, after making sure it was okay to unbuckle, Nova quickly stood up, and then felt a little light headed due to being reintroduced to gravity. Her body felt heavy and awkward. After struggling to walk the short distance from her seat through several doors and hatches to her pod she slowly pulled out a small suitcase. She set it on her pod and slowly opened it's lid taking a deep breath. Once she looked inside and saw the contents were okay she quickly let out a sigh of relief. Inside were two intact bottles of red wine, one marked with "open upon landing" and the other "Open before death." It was a long tradition of her family to buy a bottle of high quality red wine produced on one's day of birth. The individual would then hold onto this until the end of their life when they would drink it with those around them on their death bed. The wine would be the sweetest, having time to age throughout the individual's life.


Slowly and carefully not to drop it Aurie pulled out the green bottle marked "Open upon landing" and Shouted through the ship, "Who wants to toast to our success? I have some special 1000 year old wine just for this occasion!"

 

[Deadly clown]

Light stretching, grabbing, and pulling would be how John managed to make his way through the lack of gravity. He kept his excitement to himself but it couldn't help but leak out through his facial expressions.


Hearing the voice of Atari would make John's grin a little wider and a bit more sincere. The news of landing soon made John hurry to strap himself in to prepare for the landing.


The bumps and shakes would ring through his body but it would not phase him much instead it just got him a little more excited.


Once safely on the ground John would remove the safety harness and nearly jump off the ship. No helmet needed was all John really wanted to hear.


"Woohoo!" He'd yell excitedly not caring who heard. He'd leave behind his helmet knowing it was at least semi safe


"We're aliens!" John would race out of the door way and out onto the new planet. The flat land beneath him would catch him as he soon found it hard to walk or even stand correctly. He knew he didn't give his body enough time to properly wake up but he didn't care. He was finally here.

 

[Cavil]

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It was steamy and wet on the jungle planet. There was already a noticeable condensation on the exterior of the ship. Space was cold, very cold, he concluded as they entered the atmosphere. He couldn't see out of the ship as they entered but he could tell that it was dreadfully humid in the area they were going to land in. His face expressed little emotion as he eyed the cabin and the rest of the crew members, but before he could open his mouth to speak, they landed.


One's composure after over 100 years in cryo could be compared to that of a newborn foal. At least in Baldwin's case. Quadriceps turned to jelly and calf muscles were not much better off. It was like he needed to perpetually stretch in order to prevent himself from cramping, which would make sense but it was turning the man bitter. Stretching. At this point in his quest to gain his footing, he had noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye but in his mental fogginess he decided to opt his focus on becoming less vulnerable. The side of the ship became a tool of leverage and he dragged himself up onto his jelly legs. Metric zoomed past him like a wild animal only to be stopped by something, probably the wet air, Baldwin could only imagine how flooring this humidity would be to someone like Metric, who almost jumped out of his seat rushing out to the landscape. Hell, Baldwin barely walked out of the ship and the weather hit him like a brick wall.


"A hundred years in cryo made me forget about humidity," he said in a gruff, monotone voice. "Damn it I'm already sweating like a pig. How is everyone else holding up?" Meanwhile, Baldwin had given up on walking entirely for the time being and seated himself not more than ten steps from the ship's door. He pressed his back against the hull of the ship and slid down to a spread eagle position. He took a drag from his e-cigarette and made himself comfortable.

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[Tarmagon]

"Going to put a round through the goddamned A.I.'s processor core," Kelly muttered as the officious machine decided that they just had to make re-entry NOW and damn the proper procedures. "It'll be lucky if it has the processor power of the original Atari by the time I'm done with it."


His wonderful musings about the upcoming demise of a certain A.I. were cut short by entry into the atmosphere of their new world, and Kelly abandoned his thoughts for more productive things, such as reviewing the status of everyone's suits on the monitor beside his bolster. Everything seemed to be in order, which was astounding. The power systems had come on-line as scheduled, dumping charges into the weapons and suits power packs while they approached their target. A tap on an icon triggered the cascade testing on each suit, checking for the damage time had certainly wrought.


"Wow," Kelly thought as each suit displayed at least 85% capacity. "A couple of power cells that won't hold a charge, and a sub-processor or two that need to be swapped, but nothing major."


He triggered the appropriate commands, letting the robotic waldos replace the defective components while the ship made its descent through the thickening atmosphere, then, they were down.


"See, I told you we would make it. Atmospheric scans say that you won't die without your helmets."


"Moronic machine," Kelly grumbled as John cracked the hatch and bounded out of the ship with Baldwin not far behind. "Well crap, whatever never-get-overs we can catch here, we're already exposed. I guess the bio-protocols were made to be broken."


This time the interruption came from Nova digging around in the personal compartments of her unit until she came up with a pair of bottles.


"Who wants to toast to our success? I have some special 1000 year old wine just for this occasion!"


"What the hell," Kelly thought before nodding to Nova with a wry grin. "You open it. If it hasn't turned to vinegar I'll raise the bottle with you."

 

[Anaxial]

Reentry was an exciting process, fascinated with all the advanced machinery Arden happily awaited their return to solid ground. Once there however, his attitude quickly changed. Much like the others, once they had landed and he tried to move he found his body weighed immeasurably heavier than he remembered it, laboring even to breath for the first few minutes.


"Well... I'm certainly not looking forward to developing muscles again!" He said managing to unbuckle himself and stumble to a nearby table, using it to support himself. Despite the gravity and despite his crippling weakness, Arden's determination fueled him and he managed to stumble around and gather some equipment. As he moved about the ship he had nothing but a wide grin on his face. "Humidity, Thick vegetation, this area is simply RIPE for new Flora and Fauna!" He said excitedly looking over a shoulder at Baldwin. "I couldn't be better! I can't wait to analyze all these new species... What's edible... What's poisonous... Dominant predators it's quite literally AN ALIEN WORLD HAHA!!" He said as the jingle of beakers and clatter of different analyzers echoed around him as he set up his field lab inside the pod.


While first he was weak, now Arden moved with a new purpose. He was walking with almost no difficulties and even tossed his lab-coat aside to begin to don his armor and weapons. The suit was relatively easy to put on, most of the plates snapped onto the exosuit underneath, all in all he took less then 10 minutes to be fully dressed out.


"Let's not dilly dally folks! Get your gear ready and let's move out! We all have jobs to do and I.... Well I'm absolutely prepared to do mine." He said from behind the Helmet of his armored suit. The suit emitted his voice through the communication's relay antenna on his helmet and broadcast it directly to each and everyone of the fellow crewmembers.