Futuristic Transsolar

[BookWyrm]

Vince found Adira in her usual place on the counter as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. He smiled, or at least tried to make his face form what could be considered a smile. His eyes were bloodshot and his color pale to some degree. Obviously the combination of withdrawals, no sleep, and having all of the tests and samples just added up to feeling like shit. Vince walked over to the coffee pot and brewed the strongest thing he could find, and once it was finished he poured a rather large mug and joined Adira on the counter. "If I see another needle or scalpel before the week is out," he paused to sip his coffee, "I'm going to punch someone really hard."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira chuckled a bit. "Or punch a wall again. But if you keep doing that, the whole ship will have dented walls soon enough." It was clear that he was having a rough time, so she tried to make light of it all. Really though, he did need to learn how to control his anger better than punching walls. She took a thoughtful bite of her pear. "Withdrawals suck." She could say that much from experience, though it was a very complicated story that she assumed he knew enough about. He'd seen her blood tests, after all. But this wasn't about her. "You look tired. At least we can hopefully get some sleep tonight, I think we both need it."

 

[Anaxial]

Saundary nodded her head and followed Saami, for the chances of her getting lost was just about 93% - if one was to be technical. On the way there, she heard someone coming, but her steps were so cheerful, and her thoughts were still on the fact that she was assigned to assist everybody on the ground - there was just no way anyone could ruin her mood.

Even when she looked up, peered over the tall frame that was Saami, and saw Marshall before them. She stared, and she wondered if she was going to be angry, but she couldn't be. Nope, this little cookie was ecstatic - in a good mood - that she was wondering if she should tell him. However, the tension in the air reminded her that her first rundown with Marshall was not a good one, and neither was Saami's. She stayed quiet.​

Glancing cautiously at Saami, he couldn't help but feel a short smile form across his lips. He looked down at his hands as he fiddled with his thumbs and took in a short breath. Looking back up to meet Saundary's eyes, looking past Saami.


"Hey... I wanted to uhh.." Obviously this took a lot from Marshall, humiliation in any regard was something that Marshall hated and an apology was difficult. " I'm here to apologize. I know that you probably don't give a shit, but the Captain and Commander Woods I think got it through to me. We're gonna be here for a while. We have to deal with each other." He looked away from Saundary every once in a while, staring at the walls or at his hands, but always returned to look Saundary in the eyes whenever he said anything important. "I don't want you to doubt who I am, I promise that what you saw... Who that was... It wasn't me. And if you can't forgive me personally, I only ask that you forgive me professionally, I'm a Security Officer and I shouldn't be acting like a goddamn criminal. I want you to have faith in my ability and I want you to know that when the time comes... You can rely on me." He spaced out for a moment, searching his head for anymore words that he could say to the woman to apologize or futilely justify what he did. Though in the back of his head he knew it was unforgivable. He shook his head after a moment of silence.


"So... Yeah. I'd like to start over, clean slate. Have a good day." He said, obviously uncomfortable with the idea of having to face his actions or face responsibility. Something within him convinced him that apologizing was a good idea, but after the fact was done: he hated that he'd humiliated himself like that, admitted that he was wrong.


Even if he was.

 

[BookWyrm]

"I can't tell if that was offering your company or asking for mine tonight." Vince looked to Adira as he sipped on his coffee. She was right about him being tired, and withdrawals sucking. He hadn't felt this bad in for quite some time. "Either way my answer is yes. It was...nice, having you there that one night." The more Vince thought about what he'd said he realized he might need to explain himself. "Don't take that the wrong way please. I'm not the type to...well...seduce."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira chuckled a bit. "You second guess your words too much sometimes. I know what you meant. Of course, I agree. It was nice the other night." It was obvious that he wasn't the type to try to seduce. Not that he wasn't attractive, or that he couldn't, it just didn't seem to be in his personality. And they had a kind of understanding anyway: go slow and figure this all out one step at a time. There had been men who had tried to seduce the Captain. Most had found themselves in rather rough situations after that. Adira had what could be considered an odd form of punishment for people like that. Damaged vehicles, getting "by coincidence" caught in a rather unsavory alley, the occasional drug in a drink to make them act nearly insane for the duration of an event (the most fun in her opinion). Truthfully, though, Adira found Vince's apology and clarification rather... cute. That he was worried about offending her in some way so he was willing to correct himself even when it wasn't necessarily needed. "In honesty I was hoping you'd accept. Though I'm not sure who really was the one to ask. I just...." She tried to find some explanation for why it was nice, or some other word, but... he'd said it and it was so right. "It was nice."

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince smiled and let himself laugh. He wasn't usually so off that he second guessed himself, but Adira had a way of making him try more. Not in a bad way, but in a way of improvement. Was that what it was like by having someone to care for you? "I guess it doesn't really matter which room we pick. It's the company that makes it worthwhile." Neither of their rooms were centered around the other crew members. It was a boon to be an officer, especially as far as privacy was concerned.


Vince rubbed his temples and sighed before taking another sip from his mug. "It's days like this that I miss being on Earth. Falling asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm, the whole rain on a tin roof thing really. Well, that is, if you could find an old fashioned cabin that had a tin roof."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira thought for a few moments. "I don't know what that sounds like. I've heard water hitting metal, but I get the feeling that it's different... if you like , my room has an audio system for analyzing reports, I can pull up a file of the sound for you... if it would help." She was curious as to what it sounded like, but she also wanted to make sure she wasn't being stupid. Sometimes people would wish for things but when offered something similar dent. She didn't know if this was the same situation, and hoped that she wasn't being foolish.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince looked at Adira with both eyebrows raised. "Really? You can actually do that?" During his time in the service Vince hadn't really had an amenities from the core worlds, especially not in SIAD. He'd held onto every good memory he could from Earth and his home life before joining the service. The thought of being able to hear that sound again: the rolling thunder, the constant, gentle fluctuating waves of rain pattering against the tin roof. It was one of the lullabies of the old world alongside the likes of the midnight train, loons on a calm lake, or frogs and night bugs in the delta. "Please, can we see if we can find it? Please?" Vince was honestly excited and a little nervous about the idea, mostly because the thought of sharing something with Adira that she had never heard that was actually from the Mother World was enough to get him excited.

 

[InsanEleven]

Saami stood down hearing Marshall's words, of course he didn't need an apology, but a change in demeanour was enough for him to declare Marshall as a non-hostile entity. So he took a step to the side and allowed him more leeway talking to Saundary. Still, he wasn't completely gone from the conversation, even if he wasn't acknowledged by Marshall. Though, he cared for that acknowledgement just as little as he needed an apology, and he figured this was about as friendly as the man would get. Especially near him.


He knew, because he was at least equally cold, or so it appeared. Wasn't he the one calculating usefulness and protecting the crew according to that? Friendliness didn't go very far securing their survival. It would be awfully hypocritical to declare Marshall as hostile when he was the one that would immediately shoot him if it was deemed necessary by his systems. Though in the end, if he could understand why the man was who he was... he still didn't like him. Too unpredictable; true random chances didn't let themselves be calculated easily. He'd require more than an apology to deem Marshall not a liability, not to even mention reliable. So quietly he watched from the sides, doing little more than observing and updating his protocols to the new behaviour data.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira smiled, more than a little relieved that she hadn't made a faux pas. It was odd to see Vince so excited by something so simple as an audio track. It was actually extremely endearing, having the most strong and dangerous men on the ship asking for something so simple, and in such a manner. "Of course. Come on, let's retire early and we can start looking through the audio library." Adira stood and tossed her pear core away, then offered him her hand. She wanted to be sure that they had time to find the right sound. And Vince really did look terribly tired. The withdrawal evidently wasn't being kind to him. "If you're done with your coffee, of course...?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince turned his mug up and downed the rest of the dark beverage before sitting the empty mug aside and taking Adira's hand. "I am now." Once they were inside Adira's quarters Vince let himself relax, at least to the degree that the withdrawals would allow. Now that they had some privacy Vince walked up behind Adira and wrapped his arms around her waist before planting a kiss on her neck as he laid his head against her shoulder. He held her there for a few quiet moments before kissing her again and asking, "Where do we find that sound file?"

 

[Dragongal]

Adira had put her hands over his and leaned back against him. "Well, we can just access the audio library with my tablet." Once he'd let her go she pulled her tablet out of her pocket and walked over to the bed to sit on the edge. The audio system had been designed for comparing sounds or listening to message recordings, but then again Science Division probably knew that officers would use it for music or something of the like. In fact, Adira was relatively certain that there was an audio system in Vince's room. But it would be best to try this first. "I'll try a few different things and see what comes up." The first few tries weren't really accurate - rain on metal, thunder, rain on water, rain on dirt, rain on wood. Finally she pulled one up and waited to see Vince's response. It sounded like rain on a tin roof. Not consistent rain, but gently changing paces, with the occasional rumble of thunder in the background. She wasn't sure if it was the right sound, so she waited hopefully.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince had sat down next to Adira and provided feedback for each sound as it came up. Most were just...well...crap. They seemed like computer generated sounds, but the last sound Adira settled on brought back memories in vivid detail. Vince closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before smiling as he exhaled. "Perfect. Absolute bliss." Vince laid back on the bed and reached out to take Adira's hand and pulled it, trying to get her to lay down and snuggle up.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira smiled and kicked off her boots before laying down and curling up against him with her head pressed against his chest. Sure, it was a little early for bed, but they both definitely needed the extra sleep. That whole thing with Lydia had thrown her off, and she'd been too upset to sleep after that. With Vince next to her, though, she was willing to bet she could sleep well for once, even if she did have a nightmare. Now that she could really listen, she could see why he loved the sound so much. Quiet, gentle, natural, soothing... really it was everything she'd never had when she was young. Even on 502 when she had become "free" she hadn't had anything like this - the closest had been ice pellets hitting the stone walls. As an ensign the silence of her quarters was deafening, it gave her nothing to help distract from the nightmares or unwanted memories. The closest thing she could compare it to was the nights when she was hitchiking; she'd curl up against an engine casing or in some tiny corner, behind the machinery, and the quiet hum would lull her to sleep. This was different, though. It wasn't man-made or repetitive, it was... different. And she liked different.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince let himself smile and wrap his arms around Adira after she had laid against him. Learning to be vulnerable to someone was new, but something about her made it easy. Maybe it was because they both were trying to find a way to be human again.


The gentle patter of the rain sounded like it really was coming from overhead. Whether it was the design of the sound system or just a damn good recording Vince wasn't sure, but it was plenty good enough to cause old memories to return in the form of tears running down his cheek. Memories of a younger Vince, when all he had cared about was fun and meeting the woman of his dreams. He chuckled and wiped them away before resting his head back into his pillow. I never found her back on Earth. Guess that was part of the reason for enlisting.


But not all of his memories were dull. He could vividly remember getting caught in a deluge while hiking one of the few pristine trails left on Earth, or when he and his dad had been out fishing and got caught in a thunderstorm. Before he knew it the memories slipped away as he fell into quiet, restful sleep, the woman of his dreams laying next to him. The question was, though, did he realize she was that yet?

 

[Marianne]

Saundary was somewhat stunned, for Marshall's apology was acquainted by a certain kind of genuineness, and the man hadn't seemed like the type to ever perform such an attitude. Fruitfully, Saundary felt a pleasant smile come to her face just through hearing the apology he had placed careful care and consideration into. "You're forgiven," and her words were chosen with little thought, for there was no need. He apologized, and that's all that mattered. "I wouldn't want to continue this journey with stiff characters, and I don't mind your apology, mind you that both professionally, and unprofessionally, we'll be together for quite some time." Before Marshall could so much as help to leave, Sandy impulsively stepped forward and hugged him amiably in order to ease his stiffness.

Marshall, to her, is a strange and unexpected character because she never met someone as stiff, and gruff as himself. And Sandy never held grudges, she merely kept her guard up and tried to be attuned to threats despite her most accurate flaw: distraction. In comparison to her liveliness, Sandy believed that he had carried the most character on board, and she waited anxiously for whatever lay in store.

"Thank you for apologizing," she softly stated, and she waited half a minute before deciding to release him and bid him farewell with a soft wave of her hand before walking down the hallway. Once she came to an intersection, which led to multiple directions, did the girl look behind herself. "Saami?" She found herself asking, confused, embarrassed, and somewhat flustered seeing as she was indeed lost.​

 

[Anaxial]

It could be said that Marshall was surprised by Saundry's impulsive need to hug people, but it could also be said it was a welcome surprise. For too many years surprises came in the way of guns in his face or pacing a hallway on watch to find the other guard, dead. This embrace, however forced it may have been was a welcome one indeed and Marshall initially stiffened up as if he were under attack, before collecting his thoughts and eyeballing the room for a way to escape the woman.


To forgive him so easily almost made the man suspicious of the girl, but from their interactions before he assumed perhaps she was just a bit too naive to be dealing with outsider scum like the Mercenary before her. He reluctantly patted her on the back in a very 'good job buddy' manner before trying to escape the woman's grasp.


"Uhh.. Good... Glad to see that is all wrapped up..." Marshall said, a bit tongue tied on what to do. He didn't know what to expect when he apologized, but he certainly didn't expect that. "I'll be in the Cargo hold if you ever... Need me. Gotta work on the uhh.. The Tin-Can." He said before patting her shoulder and turning away from her. "See you around."

 

[InsanEleven]

Saami hadn't quite expected her to hug Marshall, and to forgive him that easily. He knew he couldn't. Yet he wondered Saundary's naivety wasn't exactly what made her so much happier than either of the two men standing there perplexed. She came from a world where you were still able to afford such naivety, without it landing you in between the jaws of a space beast, or with a bullet between your eyes. Then again, she'd probably manage to walk into a bullet minding it's own business, his hypothesis partially proven when she managed to get lost, again.


Of course he hadn't been that far away, in fact, he was behind her for the entire time, amusing himself with watching her get lost. She wasn't even that lost to begin with, as she had only walked around one wrong corner and missed the right turn. When she asked for him he simply put one of his hands on her shoulder.


"Right behind you Miss Etrasmus." The other hand however, firmly rested on top of her head and turned it 90 degrees to the left. "If you require my aid feel free to state what it is you have trouble with." He already had known fully what her problem was, hence why he solved it while still rattling through his programmed sentences. Yet he added a little bit of bonus information for her; once he had turned her head, he put two fingers beneath her chin and lifted it up. Until her eyes couldn't miss the large signs above the doors stating exactly where everything was. After which he gave her a little, amiable push that could only be interpreted as 'walk'.

 

[InsanEleven]

​

Computer, open mission plan #002


This document was last edited on 3487/12/12 20:51:34 SST


Current time: 3487/12/13 06:34:15 SST


- Upload complete -


Primary tasks: securing a safe route through the foliage towards a 'vent'; allowing the team of scientists to gather samples


Secondary tasks: the burial service of Miss Rea Attune.


The security crew will leave at 8 am exact and set up a base camp on a 'needle'. Once the base camp is fully secured, the captain will oversee the last rites of Miss Attune. It is estimated that at 10 am the ground mission will commence.


A clear, and direct path will be cut out from the foliage, approximately 9 foot wide, with the exception of trees and rocks. The path will not deviate unless it is physically impossible to continue, or the threat is too high. It is of utmost importance to secure the fastest route, as the wildlife on the planet can not be predicted.


A map containing prospected height and ground data can be found in the attachments


In case of hostile encounters, the use of deadly force is authorised.


The science crew will only be allowed to go to the ground when the all-clear is given from the security team, and have to remain within view at all times. This gathering mission will last an hour, or until the carry limit of 5kg per person is reached.


There shall be no rescue missions.


Every scientist will be returned to the SSE Lullaby at 8 pm.


The security team will oversee the established base camp remains in working order, in shifts of three. This until the follow up mission researching the valves.


- End of document -


Saami read through his objectives and more in detail planning once more, while fastening his boots and putting on the last pieces of kevlar armour. His gun was sitting on the bench beside him, still in it's case. On his hips were two plasma guns, still on safety, but they wouldn't be for much longer. To inspect the ship he had gotten up earlier, and now he watched the engineering crew tweak the last bugs out of the steering software. Meanwhile the rest of the security crew drizzled into the hangar, and he had to admit that Woods kept his men in a good state. Just awake, but they still looked sharp and ready to go. Though, waking up was just the easy part...

​

3487/12/13 10:34:15 SST


Silently he watched with blue glowing eyes from the tree branch he had settled his rifle on, high enough to be able to watch the crew, but even then he wasn't half way up the tree. Soon he'd have to move to the next one to keep watch. But for now he saw and heard the sizzling of the plasma blades cutting the foliage, and the clicking and hissing of bugs running from this threat. He doubted the mission would go this peacefully for much longer. Through the trees he heard more menacing things coming their way, and even with his enhancements it was hard to focus his hearing on one particular creature. They were far, but closing in, and more and more did he catch glimpses of legs, segments and mandibles.


"Saami to Commander Woods and Captain Adira; the distance to the first hostile target is less than 200 metres. Stand by on ready." As he spoke he saw a bug scurry across a distant branch, one of the more unsavoury types that was attracted to the sound and smell of meat. Too bad for this one it stayed in sight too long. The moment he took the last breath to speak, he had already calculated the path of his bullet. The next time he breath out a pull of the trigger on his rifle followed, and despite the suppressor and foliage it still sounded quite loud. Surely the ground team had heard it, but he had little time to care about their fragile ears; the next target already showed itself, and if he allowed time to get distracted surely some of the security crew wouldn't have any ears left to worry about.


Though occasionally when he got a split second longer to think about what he was doing, a thought heavy as stone pounded on his heart.


Saundary soon would be in this same jungle.


And as much as he couldn't afford to worry about her, he knew that the only way to keep her out of those mandibles was to not let his focus slip towards her. He had a task, a mission, if he fulfilled it to his best capacities then that would only increase her survival chances too. So instead he shut down his emotions, and left his mind to be taken over by calculations and cold precision. His sole purpose was to be a killing machine, whether it be man, machine or insect.

 

[BookWyrm]

For once the rest of the damned crew listened. Vince had made it explicitly clear that no one, absolutely no one, outside of the security force would be permitted on the planet until the base camp was completely secured and perimeter defenses were established. "I don't think it needs to be stated that I will personally put a bullet into anyone's head if they break this order."


They would not have another Rea on their hands. Once the base camp was established and all of the perimeter defenses in place Vince sent word to let the science team drop. Once all boots were on the ground he had laid out the guidelines as clearly as he could. "You go beyond that fence without an escort, you don't come back in. I don't care who you are. This is not a field trip to some fucking petting zoo. You fuck up it isn't just your life on the line. Compromise the safety of this crew and you'll answer to me directly."


Now that the jungle clearing was underway Vince found himself in a familiar mindset. Calm, cool headed, and completely aware. This was the times when he could relax in a way. Unlike the others how primarily relied on their kevlar, Vince's armor was far from standard issue. His first line of defense was the reactiv armor that served as his primary shielding, though this was specifically designed for projectiles and fragmentation, it did little to protect against melee. They'll only get that close if I want them to.


"Contact twelve."


The call was answered by two rounds. "Clear." The plasma cutters were working perfectly for clearing the underbrush, but Vince couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't found something a little more efficient by this time. "When we get back to camp I think it'd be smart to fill out a request order for more efficient clearing tools.", Vince said to Adira as they walked along. He kept three comms channels open at all times and switched between them when he needed: one with Adira directly, one with the security team, and one with the complete crew. "Of course we'll have to wait until we dock the next time to pick them up, but at least we'll have them for the next jungle."


Another report of gunfire shattered the not so silent jungle air. Hell, the animals that lived on this planet were just as noisy as any monkey in a zoo, probably more so. "Everything is moving smoothly so far. But I can only guess we are nearing a hive. The activity rates are increasing. Saami, scout ahead for the next mile and see if you can pick up any large cluster of life signs. If there is a hive nearby we need to have forewarning."

 

[Dragongal]

"It'd be nice," Adira replied. Rough morning was an understatement for her day, she hated funeral services. Especially when they were on a distant planet from Earth. It was her least favorite duty as Captain. Well, at least she had gotten a decent night's rest. Now though, it seemed they were about to be attacked. She switched her phaser to lethal and loosened her photon blade in its sheath. On the channel for the whole ground crew, she said, "Watch for friendly fire, go for accuracy more than speed, you know how it is, some of these bugs have exoskeletons. Need help, ask, no shows of bravado allowed down here or I'll shoot you myself." Now it was just time to wait for the bugs.

 

[InsanEleven]

Saami

​

"Order understood sir." With that he immediately got up from his branch and swung the rifle on his back, instead taking out one of the guns on his hip. Using the spring of the branch he stood on he launched himself to the next one, using his momentum to move forward faster than one could on the ground. It was about as close one could get to flying without wings; rarely did he touch the trees, except with one foot or hand. All while at the same time scouting through the foliage, searching carefully for any form of danger. Listening, even smelling, anything that could point him to a hostile or dangerous situation.


Not too long after he found the hive, or better said nest, Woods had predicted. Calmly he came to a stop on a branch, one off of which he had shot a knee-height predator bug mere moments before. It now laid twitching on the jungle floor, a splatter of lilac liquid trailing down the tree, and immediately a whole swarm of bugs the size of a his hand went to work. Relentlessly pulling the insect apart. So of course he linked the image from his view to the communicators of the defense crew. In the distance he saw intricate geometrical structures woven on the trees, made from all sorts of reused bug parts, and he linked that image too.


"Hostile entities found, recommending reroute." Quickly he calculated the best way around the nest. One that would keep them a safe distance away but not so far that they'd run into the territory of another creature. "Map altered, sending a copy now." Mere moments later he got a mental confirmation that his updated map was send. Not only with information regarding the insects, but also information regarding the terrain and dangerous foliage was added. It would be a bit sour if a crewmember survived the bugs, only to get eaten by a plant.


It wasn't as if he had time to rest though, a sound from behind him indicating a new threat. He had heard it coming from quite a distance, and it was loud enough to pinpoint precisely. Without even looking he switched the power of his gun up, and took a step to the side. A huge flying insect soared by, unable to alter it's path in time, missing him by a few inches. Without a second thought he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger, hitting it right between the wings with enough force for it to fall into two pieces. More food for the bugs below him, at least it'd distract them while he got the hell out of there. "Returning to position, awaiting further orders sir."

Nadanya

​

Carefully she un-broke a phaser gun back to a working state. Some idiot had left it untied in cargo, and being bounced around the ship hadn't done it good. The man could only praise the Lords that she was there to fix it and that there was nothing else left to fix. Or that she even had the right parts. This damn place was too cold anyway, and she had rather spend her afternoon not worrying about freezing to death. A nice hot bath... that'd be awesome.


"But no... Nadanya has to get stuck on a mountain in a freaking tent." Ever so slightly irritated she checked if the molecule igniter was still in working order, and in the process nearly dropped it, not improving her mood any. "Blasted stupid piece of,- no wonder you fell apart!" Angrily, but not hard, she put the gun back on her work bench. At least she didn't need to share a tent with some other engineer. Otherwise she surely would have fried him, the sparks in her hair showing she had reached her already low limits.


"Alright... alright... don't freak out. It's just a piece of metal, it could be worse. You could be down... there." Just the thought send shivers down her spine, she hated insects. All of them, anything that possessed more than two eyes and an exoskeleton. They could all go fuck themselves, and she didn't doubt that some actually could. "I need a drink..."


Three beers and a shot of Vodka later she finally put the last part in the right place. Now only to go bring the damn thing back to its rightful owner. Someone who'd better not ask her to repair anything else, or there would be little more left than sparking ashes. After that she'd go to the large common tent to get herself a well deserved coffee.

 

[Unlimited]

JT was nervous as he sat in his tent going through his messenger bag and using a mental check list to make sure that he remembered to bring everything. "Journal, check. Scanner, check. sample collection kit, check." This list went on until he came to the last item, a picture of home to remind him where he came from and to ease the feeling of being home sick. He held it with both hands a lost himself in memories for a few minutes, his nervous mind calming if only slightly.


He slid the picture into the front page of his journal and checked the time on his watch and shook his head knowing that it wasn't much use since it was stuck on Earth time."I should really get that fixed." He muttered to himself as he glanced over at his kevlar suit and helmet that was half covered by the camouflaged cloak which was currently a neutral color while not in use. JT wondered just what he had gotten himself into that would warrant such protection in the first place, surely there couldn't be that much life on this planet, much less hostile life.


Even still orders were orders and he stood up, walking over to the uniform and putting it on. He ran his index finger around the collar and tugged on it slightly, it definitely was tighter than his typical attire which consisted of a white dress shirt tucked into black slacks and loosely buttoned with the sleeves rolled up. With the hard part done he knew he could wait for the all clear before putting his helmet on since there was no sense in him going outside the tent right now due to the lower temperatures. In such conditions the samples he could study would be limited and chemical reactions would be slowed thanks to the temps.


Out of curiosity he did grab a sample of the snow before coming inside and allowed it to melt before running it through the small work station off to the side of the tent. The results closely resembled the snow on Earth but instead of being composed of H2O it was a solid form of CO2 from the plumes shooting into the atmosphere and freezing to resemble that of old school wart remover that was used generations ago on Earth. If it decided to melt the entire planet would become far too toxic to sustain any form of life, JT estimated that the CO2 under them was less than half of the total amount on the planet much akin the the ice caps of Earth.

 

[Dragongal]

The map Saami sent appeared on the inner screen of Adira's helm, but she was a bit too busy for that. She had a bug in her sights and she wasn't letting it live. In a flash she pulled out her phaser and took the shot, sending the rather fried bug spiraling through the air and to the ground. She'd barely seen the buzzing bastard before she'd shot him without needing to take time to aim. Luckily she had just charged her phaser, since the lethal setting took a decent amount of charge per shot. "Saami, watch yourself, because these bastards are not liking us. We ain't overrun yet, but if we run into another nest there's no guarantees." Knowing that not all of them could see the new map, she kept her phaser in her hand and moved toward the front of the group to guide. Just that short movement was enough time for her to take out two more bugs, though. She couldn't even have definitively told what color or size they were before they were a burnt mess on the ground.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince's scanners registered what seemed like the forest coming alive. "We've got incoming from ten to three. Form up into a stable defensive position. Cutters file in. No shielding this time, we need to stay mobile just in case they close on us. Two to three rounds per bug in weak points should do it. Make ever shot count." This was going to be the first real fight the team had been a part of, and Vince would be damned before he let anyone fuck this over. He switched his comms over to Adira on their private channel. "I have ever told you that you look fine in battle armor?" Vince, smiling, didn't wait for a response. "Though I know you can handle yourself, I'm here for you." He unshaded his visor before looking to Adira, letting her see his face as he smiled and winked to her before it shaded again.