Trinity Universe: Trinity Exploration Force

[ezekiel]

Red answers the question himself,

"Too primitive."

Whether he refers to himself or the ship is unclear - in either case the answer seems to be 'no'.

Brian looks up, somehow surprised that the security model could answer that.

"Okay, are you trained in the use of ships gunnery positions?"

[ProfPotts]

[Bahamut810]

Smitty is already at work checking the ship over. He had already 'advised' Chow and Takahashi to be in the engineering section as soon as they landed (lest his music be played louder then normal ::sly ). A few days before landing he has already gone over with them their responcabilities after landing.

Que Flashback, after stopping Chow right before she left her shift at the beginning of Takahashis. "Naow, this is what you guys 're gonna do as soon as we land..."

Now is the time to put it to the test...

"Chaw (southern for Chow for thoes who might not be versed in southern-ese), Takahawshi...ya'll already 'now what to do. This' our first a'ffical land'n. Lets do this as quick and effecient as we can. Dont make me pull out the lesser knawn guys...im stickin with newer stuff today as modivation." He turns on some more 'modern' country music (more rock based). "Lets get goin'"

[ConcreteDragon]

Log entry-Science Officer 18-10-2120:

I was relieved and grateful that the Admiral agreed to my request for additional probes. Any additional information we can glean from this section of space will add to our understanding of the Universe.

Log entry-Science Officer 20-10-2120:

Today we launched the first of two probes from the Columbus towards the planet Aborea. The second will be launched on Cadet Singh's watch (under my supervision). It is my hope (and calculations) that one of the three probes launched by the Infinity will assume orbit around Aborea shortly after our arrival, giving us uninterrupted analysis and communications.

Log entry-Science Officer 22-10-2120:

Probe Alpha entered orbit at approx. 0300 hour. On it’s third pass it detected an unusual object on the planet surface.....after the third and fourth orbit, Lt.Beckett reported that the data indicates that the object is a multi-sided structure. Further analysis strongly indicates that it is contra-indigenous to the native environment, and probably artificial in nature. We are still too distant from Aborea for me to do a detailed Psi-Scan. I will request to do a detailed Psi-Scan upon orbit over Aborea. In the mean time, as per protocol, I am forwarding a full report of the findings to First Officer Sukukuo.

24-10-2120: Orbit

“Captain, beginning Attunment scans of Aborea. Specifically, the area around the structure. (OCC 8 million Kilometer range. I would like to get a Psi print of the humanoid thermal images, as well as anything unususal I can find ::lookaround )

edited to get to and remove any points ::halo

[tooho]

The thick brunette braid swung gently from side to side and finally flew over the opposite lean muscular shoulder. Sweat ran in rivulets down the olive skinned Ensign’s back and shoulders dripping from her chin as she finished one more round of pushups. Keeping a silent count her eyes stared off into space though occasionally flicking to her workout partner.

Sliding onto a mat to stretch, her muscles flow easily under the slightly tight workout suit, twisting and turning at her command effortlessly. By no means, a beauty, the strong face showed signs of sadness while icy blue eyes refocused on the workout room.

Walking towards her water quickly, long lean legs strode powerfully forward eating the distance quickly. Drinking a long draw of the cool liquid, Marina looks around assessingly at the other men and women partaking of the facilities.

Smirking slightly, she walks back to Lex, (as she was prone to think of him) to challenge him to a bout. “I promise to fight fair, if you don’t break me.” Smiling in a purely friendly manner, she takes up a stance on a mat and sets about enjoying the freedom to move about unrestrictedly. The gunnery position was by no means four-star accomodations.

Bending over backwards quickly, Marina straightens and saddles up to Ensign Alexander Suvorov watching for his cue to begin. She doesn’t waste time with her first strike, hitting hard and fast at her opponent testing his capability and her own body’s limitations.

--------

Hours later, adjusting her uniform quickly as she flicks the ropelike braid away, Ensign Soto grimaces slightly as she turns and checks herself over one more time before leaving for her shift. Good impressions are everything…

Looking straight ahead as she walks through the corridors to her position, Marina nods politely at familiar faces though rarely instigating conversation. Heading in early to report for duty and spend a few minutes chatting with the crew member she is replacing, she looks singularly uncomfortable but genuinely trying to be friendly. Whether it’s a genuine attempt to alter past lack of interaction or merely that the gunnery position tends to the monotonous, she consistently takes time for visiting before her shift begins.

[malkboy]

Once in orbit, Britt smiles a bit to himself. It was nice getting to use *ALL* of the skills he'd trained in for a change. Oh sure the defense perimeter was important, but after awhile it just wasn't as fun. Now that the orbit was established, it was time to tend to some more excitement.

Waiting until the senior officer finishes speaking to the captain, Britt turns slightly in his seat towards the captain. "Before we try landing this ship captain, I would recommend at least a flyby of the proposed landing site in one of the Locusts. Preferably by the pilot that you're going to have landing. It's not that I don't trust sensor scans, but... it's much better to be familiar with where you're going to be setting down visually than any other means."

[ProfPotts]

Then:

"Naow, this is what you guys 're gonna do as soon as we land... Chaw, Takahawshi...ya'll already 'now what to do. This' our first a'ffical land'n. Lets do this as quick and effecient as we can. Dont make me pull out the lesser knawn guys...im stickin with newer stuff today as modivation... Lets get goin'"

Waiting until the Lieutenant is out of hearing range, Ensign Masters nudges Cadet Chow & whispers,

"Don't worry... wait until he finds out how I've reprogrammed his minicomp's agent..." ::wink

Now:

“Captain, beginning Attunment scans of Aborea. Specifically, the area around the structure."

The sensor station holo-display dances to life as little pin-pricks of light start to highlight noetic activity in the area. The Columbus - as a large bio-tech device full of psi-actives - shines in orbit above the holo-planet; across the surface of Arborea the faint psi-presence which all life possesses traces complex patterns, with ripples here & there from more emotionally significant events - births, deaths, sex... it's imposible to tell the exact causes. Under Lieutenant Logan's expert touch the scan focuses in to the proposed landing area - psi-ripples match the thermal patterns of the local humanoids: not strong enough to represent any active psi talents, but possibly an indication of sentience... a closer telepathic scan would be able to tell for sure... A few adjustments to the controls & an indig psi-print - that nebulous sub-quantum aura that is unique to everything that interacts with the flow is psi energies - is tagged & logged.

An unusual, but faint, trace of holo-light across the representation of the structure indicates something noetically out-of-place: it's a positive trace, not a negative one (such as tainted aberrant activity would generate) - possibly indicating a strong emotional event in the area recently... maybe even active use of psi-powers... again, the bio-scans can provide no more detail than that - specific investigations with the correct Psion abilities on-site would be needed to learn any details.

Commander Sukuko activates a control on her auxiliary command console - Logan's scan results are transfered to the main screen. The First Officer studies the reading for a few moments, then comments,

"Possibly an indication that the structure has some sort of ritual significance? We should be cautious in our approach - we don't want to accidentally offend anyone."

[Archer21]

Walking towards her water quickly, long lean legs strode powerfully forward eating the distance quickly. Drinking a long draw of the cool liquid, Marina looks around assessingly at the other men and women partaking of the facilities.

Smirking slightly, she walks back to Lex, (as she was prone to think of him) to challenge him to a bout. “I promise to fight fair, if you don’t break me.” Smiling in a purely friendly manner, she takes up a stance on a mat and sets about enjoying the freedom to move about unrestrictedly. The gunnery position was by no means four-star accomodations.

'Lex', having just finished his own warmup routine with an extended set of slow, focused pull-ups, releases the bar and straightens his legs to stand. Like most structures, the metal pole he'd been dangling from was a bit undersized; in this case, too short for him to really get full extension going down without tucking his legs beneath him. Today, he'd gone about it more creatively, instead just pointing his legs straight out in front of him while doing the exercise.

Dressed in more relaxed clothing for the gym, he turns to Marina and smiles briefly, stretching his arms above his head to loosen the taut muscles of his abdomen. The simple undershirt he was wearing tightened with the motion, emphasizing his powerful torso and arms.

Bending over backwards quickly, Marina straightens and saddles up to Ensign Alexander Suvorov watching for his cue to begin. She doesn’t waste time with her first strike, hitting hard and fast at her opponent testing his capability and her own body’s limitations.

With a few final circular swings to relax his arms, Suvorov rolls his shoulders, extending big hands in a wide, bear hug stance. And smiles in a friendly fashion. "I will do my best not to break you. But you are no porcelain doll, da? You are tougher than you appear, I think." ::smile

Expecting an attack, 'Lex' goes on the defensive, trying with his next few moves to simply grasp, then immobilize his sparring partner.

[tooho]

Smiling, Marina nods as she clenches her hands into fists. "Lex, you are a very smart man." ::biggrin

Opting for distance, Marina tries for kicks to the back of his legs to get him down, aware if she gets too close he'll grab her.

[Prince of Boredom]

Sitting in the Captain's chair, reviewing the sensor information flowing in front of him, Bryan does his best to conceal the smile of pride creaping onto his face. For now, at least, his crew seemed to be operating like a well-oiled machine, impressive cosidering the relatively short amount of time they had been together. He knew the true test, though, would be when something went wrong... *What was it they taught us in the military academy, oh yeah, 'no plan survives first contact with the enemy...'*

The Captain patiently takes in all of the information and suggestions provided to him, then ponders for a moment.

"LT Hawke, excellent sugggestion, and since you seem to be the pilot on the bridge, I suggest you take our Locust out for a spin, I also want you to take Cadet Singh with you. See if he can give us a closer telepathic scan of what and who is down there. But be careful, the Commander's right, we don't want scare the natives too much."

After they leave the bridge...

"Sir: recommend three teams - one to explore the structure, one to observe the indig's, the third to run maintenance on the Columbus..." the last assignment met with some groans from the eager crew... "I suggest Cadet Singh join the team looking at the structure - there may be evidence of a written language & he's best qualified to translate. I'll volunteer to remain with the Columbus - Masters & Chow should remain with me."

"I agree, Commander. Commader Meyers will lead the pyramid team. In addition to Cadet Singh (he looks at the LCDR) I recommend you take ENS Soto for security and LT Smith. He may be able to discern any unusual structural designs or equipment.

I'll take the Qin, LT Logan to provide telepathic communication when we make contact, and LT Suvorov. I have a feeling his time in the great outdoors may prove useful.

Commander Sukuko, I reccomend you keep at least one of the pilots with your team, in case we need to execute an expedient retrograde.

Any other suggestions?"

[ezekiel]

10-10-2120

The broadshouldered Meyers steps into Sukuko's quarters and salutes.

"Commander..."

...

"I've finished assigning quarters and since I'm sure you've better things to do and I was already going through crew files anyway, I've done crew shifts as well."

He hands her a datapad and then starts chatting away about the crew...

13-10-2120

"Alright Lieutenant, at ease..."

LT CMDR Meyers looked at his bunkmate as he dropped a duffel bag in his locker.

"Look, inside quarters we're just bunkmates. None of this saluting crap but don't expect me to tuck you in or anything...I know your shifts mister Adair, I'll try to avoid barging in on you while you're sleeping, you'll need your bunktime."

Brian looks at the walls

"and feel free to decorate the place, it isn't exactly homey is it?"

16-10-2120

"Jump sequence complete, wavefunction stable."

The LT CMDR's voice was heard booming through the ships corridors as Brian walked up and down through Quarters. Much like the Bosun's mates of yore, Brian tried to keep the ship running at maximum efficiency.

"All right ladies! Back to your stations! The Admiral isn't going to wait forever for us to get ready, c'mon, out you go. That's it. If any of you are suffering from backlash I'll be glad to kiss the booboo."

*Where the hell are Chow and Takashi?*

Between now and then

Smiling, Marina nods as she clenches her hands into fists. "Lex, you are a very smart man." 

Opting for distance, Marina tries for kicks to the back of his legs to get him down, aware if she gets too close he'll grab her.

The ensigns superior officer walks in and holds a hand up.

"Don't mind me ensigns, if you don't mind I'll just watch you spar for a while..."

::devilangel

24-10-2120

"Sir: recommend three teams - one to explore the structure, one to observe the indig's, the third to run maintenance on the Columbus..." the last assignment met with some groans from the eager crew... "I suggest Cadet Singh join the team looking at the structure - there may be evidence of a written language & he's best qualified to translate. I'll volunteer to remain with the Columbus - Masters & Chow should remain with me."

"Possibly an indication that the structure has some sort of ritual significance? We should be cautious in our approach - we don't want to accidentally offend anyone."

"I agree, Commander. Commader Meyers will lead the pyramid team. In addition to Cadet Singh (he looks at the LCDR) I recommend you take ENS Soto for security and LT Smith. He may be able to discern any unusual structural designs or equipment.

I'll take the Qin, LT Logan to provide telepathic communication when we make contact, and LT Suvorov. I have a feeling his time in the great outdoors may prove useful.

Commander Sukuko, I reccomend you keep at least one of the pilots with your team, in case we need to execute an expedient retrograde.

Any other suggestions?"

Meyers Nods

"If you don't mind I'll bring LT Beckett along as well. His skills might prove useful in analyzing whatever it is that we find there...How close does Singh have to be for a telepathic scan? I'm not sure doing flybys with a locust will help our greeting committee much..."

[phoenix]

"Alright Lieutenant, at ease..."

LT CMDR Meyers looked at his bunkmate as he dropped a duffel bag in his locker.

Jason looks up from his book with arched eyebrow, then leaps off the bunk for a balletic two-point landing as he snaps to attention, then drops it as quickly as he assumes it.

"Oh, sorry sir, I didn't.."

"Look, inside quarters we're just bunkmates. None of this saluting crap but don't expect me to tuck you in or anything...I know your shifts mister Adair, I'll try to avoid barging in on you while you're sleeping, you'll need your bunktime."

Jason nods respectfully.

"Thanks. I'll try and do likewise. But I don't think we have that much overlap."

Brian looks at the walls

"and feel free to decorate the place, it isn't exactly homey is it?"

Jason nods ruefully.

"I have a couple of bangboy posters. I'll get 'em up one of these days. Anyway, we've both seen worse, I'm sure.."

[ProfPotts]

"LT Hawke, excellent sugggestion, and since you seem to be the pilot on the bridge, I suggest you take our Locust out for a spin, I also want you to take Cadet Singh with you. See if he can give us a closer telepathic scan of what and who is down there. But be careful, the Commander's right, we don't want scare the natives too much."

After the Captain issues his orders, Commander Sukuko adds some details,

"You heard the Captain, gentlemen. Lieutenant, take Locust One, Mr Singh will pilot Locust Two. Singh - stay close to Mr Hawke & follow his flight path - this will be your first descent into an unknown planetary atmosphere, so say alert. Mr Hawke - no fancy flying this time - I expect you to make sure that our Cadet comes back in one piece; got it?"

Glancing back towards the other officers - gathered on the bridge to get their first glimpse of the strange new world - the Maasai woman adds,

"Lieutenant Adair - take the helm."

"I agree, Commander. Commader Meyers will lead the pyramid team. In addition to Cadet Singh I recommend you take ENS Soto for security and LT Smith. He may be able to discern any unusual structural designs or equipment.

I'll take the Qin, LT Logan to provide telepathic communication when we make contact, and LT Suvorov. I have a feeling his time in the great outdoors may prove useful.

Commander Sukuko, I reccomend you keep at least one of the pilots with your team, in case we need to execute an expedient retrograde.

Any other suggestions?"

Sukuko nods to the Captain,

"I am rated on the Scarab design, Sir, if it comes to that - although I shudder to think what might prompt our departure with neither of the two teams back on-board. The crew have all be anxious to set foot on alien soil after all..." ::halo

"If you don't mind I'll bring LT Beckett along as well. His skills might prove useful in analyzing whatever it is that we find there...How close does Singh have to be for a telepathic scan? I'm not sure doing flybys with a locust will help our greeting committee much..."

Sukuko nods at Meyers' first suggestion, saying to the Captain,

"I agree that Lieutenant Beckett could prove useful to Mr Meyers' team, Sir."

Of his second comment, she says nothing... although doesn't appear too approving of the Second Officer's naked opposition to the Captain's orders...

Once the two Locusts launch, Hawke & Singh are granted an even more spectacular view of the planet than they had from the bridge of the Columbus: the world is green covered in misty white, with just two patches of blue at the poles. Here & there storm fronts can be seen moving across the planet's surface in swirls - even the occassional pin-prick of lightning is visible now & then. Orbiting the planet roughly where, if this were Earth, Luna would be - much further out than the Columbus' low planetary orbit - is the impressive ring system. A band of dust & rock, the rings become visible as light from the local star hits them - & reflects in a scintillating rainbow of colours which arch either way around the world & over the horizons...

[ConcreteDragon]

Upon the launch of the Locust, Lt. Logan locks on to them with the Columbus's passive sensors. She also spends a Psi and directs her 'Dowsing' (OCC her range is 250 Kilometers + whatever the ship would add) through the ships bio-systems lock it onto the 'Flying craft'(OCC my intent is to help identify any other airbourn craft in the area, as well as keep an eye on our 'guys') . The information is them immediately transfered to the two comand stations.

Now splitting her attention, the little Clair keeps an 'eye' on the surface readings, too.

[malkboy]

"LT Hawke, excellent sugggestion, and since you seem to be the pilot on the bridge, I suggest you take our Locust out for a spin, I also want you to take Cadet Singh with you. See if he can give us a closer telepathic scan of what and who is down there. But be careful, the Commander's right, we don't want scare the natives too much."

Hawke face breaks into a large grin, "Yes, sir! Careful, cautious, and with every sensitivity."

"You heard the Captain, gentlemen. Lieutenant, take Locust One, Mr Singh will pilot Locust Two. Singh - stay close to Mr Hawke & follow his flight path - this will be your first descent into an unknown planetary atmosphere, so say alert. Mr Hawke - no fancy flying this time - I expect you to make sure that our Cadet comes back in one piece; got it?"

Trying not to betry the conflicting emotions inside him Britt says, "Yes, ma'am. I will take the flight as easy as the atmosphere entry will allow, wouldn't want an accident like that on our first out."

Saluting the senior officer, Britt heads down to Locust One at a quick clip. After complete a quick check, Britt pats the ship and quietly says to it, "Let's go have some fun, Guild. But not too much..."

Once the two Locusts launch, Hawke & Singh are granted an even more spectacular view of the planet than they had from the bridge of the Columbus: the world is green covered in misty white, with just two patches of blue at the poles. Here & there storm fronts can be seen moving across the planet's surface in swirls - even the occassional pin-prick of lightning is visible now & then. Orbiting the planet roughly where, if this were Earth, Luna would be - much further out than the Columbus' low planetary orbit - is the impressive ring system. A band of dust & rock, the rings become visible as light from the local star hits them - & reflects in a scintillating rainbow of colours which arch either way around the world & over the horizons...

(Over the radio) "What an amazing view this is.... such vibrant colors... a picture can never do it justice... Time for atmosphere entry... Just watch your sensors and follow me... Tell me if you have any problems..."

Keeping himself focused as the descent starts, Britt decides to stick in a high altitude and work down slowly to the areas needing to be investigating. His hands move across the controls seamlessly, making the various navigational corrections... Britt keeps a careful eye on the terrain as they zip across the sky, checking out the proposed landing site for any problems.

"Need more time, Cadet?"

[phoenix]

Glancing back towards the other officers - gathered on the bridge to get their first glimpse of the strange new world - the Maasai woman adds,

"Lieutenant Adair - take the helm."

Jason bounces forward on the balls of his feet, saluting the commander and taking a seat. Any among those present who doubted whether it was possible to sit energetically set those doubts aside as Adair reaches for the controls, familiarizing himself with them while in stable orbit.

[Asbjørn]

Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes after the brief period of rest since her last turn at the helm of the scarab, Shaz found herself present and correct at the bridge, awaiting orders along with all the others.

Her bright eyes are wide as she studies the images displayed before them, and she probably couldn't hide her excitement even if she'd tried. Down there was a brand new inhabitable - and inhabited - world that no human ever had set foot on before, and the possibility of actually taking one of those first steps made all the long academy hours and boring watches disappear from her memory.

She listens with barely concealed interest as the officers outline the teams.

[ProfPotts]

As the two smaller vessels hurtle towards the planet's atmosphere, Lieutenant Logan sets the Columbus's sensors to scan for flying objects in a five-hundred kilometer radius around the ship: the two Locusts shimmer into view as a close-formation pair of holographic blurs descending towards the planet; further away, within the thick, misty, skies of Arborea, several smaller holographic 'blips' become visible - slow moving in groups of various sizes.

Glancing at the results of Logan's scan, the blue-skinned Doctor Azure accesses the ship's sensors herself, bringing up a thermal scan of the aerial objects: the image is indistinct, but they appear to be winged creatures somewhat larger than a man. After a few moments contemplating the data which streams across her own station, the Qin academic offers her comments,

"They appear to be warm-blooded reptilian life-forms. I'd imagine that they're gliding on the thermals in the atmosphere - it's what would pass for 'tropical' on Earth down there. By the grouping it would appear that they travel in at least family-sized groups: although that's just a preliminary judgement."

After studying some more data she adds,

"Apart from the humanoids we've already identified, there are also some larger life-forms down there: up to the size of one of your 'elephant' mammels, I believe. Atmospheric conditions make further details impossible to glean, although they too - like the humanoids & the flyers - appear to be warm-blooded. There is a great variety of other life forms as well, although we're not going to learn much about them from up here..."

For a moment the alien glances over towards Lieutenant Logan & smiles pleasantly... Her thoughts mingle with those of the scientist's,

*Your talents are very impressive, Rhianna - I am glad we are shipmates.*

Outside...

"Need more time, Cadet?"

Taking note of the planet's rather thick atmosphere - which would appear to serve the inhabitants well as a shield from the many meteorites which undoubtedly rain down upon the surface from the stunning, yet dangerous, ring system orbiting the place - Britt calls upon his orbital mechanics expertise to plot a safe entry course: without burning up like those meteorites! The star pilot is mildly impressed to note that Cadet Singh manages to flowing his plotting of the course without too much trouble, although - once they start to actually enter the atmosphere - the young man's piloting skills prove a little shakey...

... Still, with Lieutenant Hawke as lead pilot, even a rookie like Jamal manages the entry manuever without warming the hull of the Locust too much...

... Plunging into the mist-white skies of Arborea the two TEF explorers note the moisture which rapidly forms on the cockpits of their hybrid craft, & the generally poor visibility - even as the external sensors note the planet's tropical temperatures & breathable atmosphere. Still, here & there the mists clear & they catch a glimpse of verdant green as far as the eye can see - as well as several of the flying 'flocks' which Lieutenant Logan noted from the Columbus: at the moment the two Locusts are still pretty high in the atmosphere - they'd need to descend quite a bit to gain a better view of the creatures (which appear to be sticking to flying just above the tree-line) or the proposed landing site for the Scarab.

Banking into a turn, the pair also note that the planet's rings are still visible now & then through the mists - as a rainbow-hued streak across the sky.

[Archer21]

Squirming a bit in the gunner's chair, Alexander grimaced slightly. As necessary as he knew the post was, he didn't necessarily like being in the cramped station. All his life before the academy had been spent outdoors or near to it...and though the Columbus was as accomodating as such a ship could be made, it still wasn't really comfortable. Everything was so small, and confined. Efficient, the engineers called it. The young Ensign wasn't so sure he liked efficiency that much.

His shoulder rubbed hard against the chair, a bruise there prompting a painful reminder that Marina was a better combatant than he'd expected. Ultimately, the match had seemed to end in a draw, but not before he'd learned the hard way that smaller people had advantages of their own in a fight. Still, he couldn't help the warm feeling of her softness pressed against him, or the faint scent of her hair as they tussled. Clearing his throat, he put his eyes back to his sensors, his face heating. ::blush

[Bahamut810]

Finally! Everything is ready to go, and land. Smitty smiled as he looked over his pre-landing checklist.

*Now...fer some landin' music!*

And with that he presses the button to start some Ancient Garth Brooks.

[tooho]

Dozing lightly in her bunk, Ensign Marina Soto smiles slightly at the movement of the ship. It always amazed her that people could be surprised she preferred living in cramped quarters, living a life of tidious boredom broken up with moments of stark fear. The life of the explorer is oftimes lonely, but then, caring about others is painful.

Rolling over, she looks to Chow's bunk. Momentarily, sadness breaks over Marina's classically Italian face. "I haven't been a very sociable roomie. I really should try harder." Making a mental note to ask Chow to join her for dinner sometime, Marina stretches.

Rolling out of bed, she smiles at the ache. Despite the fact Lex didn't use any of the harder techniques of immobilization, she felt the aches and pains from a nice strong workout. Lightly beginning some leg stretches and bends, Marina smirks as she remembers his surprise the few times she got him prone. Laughing, she throws on the minimum of necessary clothes and heads to the shower. Who knows, maybe things will get a little more interesting next time.

[ezekiel]

Marina was a better combatant than he'd expected. Ultimately, the match had seemed to end in a draw, but not before he'd learned the hard way that smaller people had advantages of their own in a fight. Still, he couldn't help the warm feeling of her softness pressed against him, or the faint scent of her hair as they tussled.

Rolling out of bed, she smiles at the ache. Despite the fact Lex didn't use any of the harder techniques of immobilization, she felt the aches and pains from a nice strong workout. Lightly beginning some leg stretches and bends, Marina smirks as she remembers his surprise the few times she got him prone. Laughing, she throws on the minimum of necessary clothes and heads to the shower. Who knows, maybe things will get a little more interesting next time.

Brian thought about his ensigns' brawl...they seemed to enjoy it a bit too much. Maybe Red could whip 'em into shape? ::halo

"They appear to be warm-blooded reptilian life-forms. I'd imagine that they're gliding on the thermals in the atmosphere - it's what would pass for 'tropical' on Earth down there. By the grouping it would appear that they travel in at least family-sized groups: although that's just a preliminary judgement."

After studying some more data she adds,

"Apart from the humanoids we've already identified, there are also some larger life-forms down there: up to the size of one of your 'elephant' mammels, I believe. Atmospheric conditions make further details impossible to glean, although they too - like the humanoids & the flyers - appear to be warm-blooded. There is a great variety of other life forms as well, although we're not going to learn much about them from up here..."

The broad-shouldered LT. CMDR. listens intently to Azure's comments

"Are there any chances some of the non-humanoids could be sentient?"

He then looks at the captain

"Either way, some of those lifeforms could be dangerous. I recommend the away teams be armed with an eye to the sky, those flying lizards could be predatory. Default stun settings, of course."

[Prince of Boredom]

The broad-shouldered LT. CMDR. listens intently to Azure's comments

"Are there any chances some of the non-humanoids could be sentient?"

He then looks at the captain

"Either way, some of those lifeforms could be dangerous. I recommend the away teams be armed with an eye to the sky, those flying lizards could be predatory. Default stun settings, of course."

"Good point, Commander. Why don't you take Ensigns Suvorov and Soto and prep away team gear for the two teams. Make sure we have enough provisions to stay planetside for at least 5 days without resupply."

"LT Hawke, try to stay clear of the flying creatures as you look for a suitable landing site. No sense in upsetting the local wildlife just yet. If it's safe, have cadet Singh follow you in so we can get a telepathic read on the area around the potential landing site. We want to see who's going to be greeting us."

"LT Smith, see what you can do about making our audible signature as minimal as possible. Our goal is to disturb the local ecology as little as possible."

[ezekiel]

"Good point, Commander. Why don't you take Ensigns Suvorov and Soto and prep away team gear for the two teams. Make sure we have enough provisions to stay planetside for at least 5 days without resupply."

Meyers nods

"Ensign Suvorov is currently manning the guns though Red should be available. I'll get right on it."

Meyers takes his communicator as he starts walking towards a lift

"LT Red and Ensign Soto to the armoury."

[tooho]

"Shoot." Briskly drying her hair, Marina brushes it quickly as she hurries into her uniform. Pulling it back into a wildly curly tail, she takes just a moment to make sure her clothes are straight before heading for the armoury.

Jogging lightly in excitement, she can't help but grin as she hurries through the corridors. Saluting as soon as she reaches her superior officers, Marina stands straight and calm in silence valiantly smothering the excited grin. Awaiting orders, she looks around the room with interest.

[ConcreteDragon]

As Lt. Logan focuses on saving the Psi Scans of the other life-signs just encountered....

For a moment the alien glances over towards Lieutenant Logan & smiles pleasantly... Her thoughts mingle with those of the scientist's,

*Your talents are very impressive, Rhianna - I am glad we are shipmates.*

::shocked The petite geologist starts like a nude sunbather bitten by a fly ::blush "Sorry, I-I-I was concentraiting. Uhm..thank you, I am glad, too ::smile "

As she turns back to her work station the the Clair thinks to her self *WOW, that was amazing. I'll have to ask her to show me more telepathy sometime.*

[Bahamut810]

"LT Smith, see what you can do about making our audible signature as minimal as possible. Our goal is to disturb the local ecology as little as possible."

Smitty frowns for a second. "Well...Ah'll do what ah can, sar. Haive tha pailot pre-pared for a little diffaculty in reantry. Im gonna take some engine pawer off to cut the saund slightly."

He stops the connection the the bridge and starts up on his crew. "Alraight, taime ta get ta werk. We need ta cut engine saund as much as we can. We are gonna cut engine paure slaightlay befare re-entry. Once we 're in tha atmosphere we 're gonna do aivery thang we can to stop the engine saund as much as we can. Masters...you stay on top of tha engines, we may need ta power it up fully at the drop of a hat. Ya work on it ta cut the sound, too. Chaw...ya are on the actual structure of tha ship. Im takin' the noetics. Make me proud, boys...and...uhhh...ma'am...Uhhh...get to it!"

He nods, and clicks his chip into gear, starting to do what he can on both the engine and the Noetic devices to cut the sound, trying not to look like he is working on the engine when masters can see him.

[Chieftain]

(OOC: sorry guys, have had no access at all for a few days now, blame NTL and the fact that after almost 4 months they still have not delivered my broadband modem)

As they break through to the atmosphere of the planet a brief lump catches in the cadets throat.

"I... I never expected to see anything so beautiful..." Catching himself he realigns himself on the job at hand, his breach of radio ettiquete already lingering on his mind.

"Need more time, Cadet?"

"Sir, without a Psi-print i'm not having much luck with the distance. With your permission sir, I'd like to plot a course slightly closser to the Ziggurat." The young cadet looks to the displays on the Biofighter quickly taking down the co-ordinants.

"I should be able to get a clearer reading from Mark 72,21 Omega with Mark 92,22 as our failsafe." Says the cadet, looking over the details. "at this range it's not going to be easy, Sir. Request permission to turn over control of the Locust to the Flight Egent between Mark 83,22.8 and 81,22.1. Given that we are dealing with an alien psyke here i'm not sure what effect it may have on my performance during the scan..."

With all this in mind the cadet pulls up the attunement scan data collected by the Columbus, making preparations for the closser scan.

[malkboy]

...at the moment the two Locusts are still pretty high in the atmosphere - they'd need to descend quite a bit to gain a better view of the creatures (which appear to be sticking to flying just above the tree-line) or the proposed landing site for the Scarab.

Banking into a turn, the pair also note that the planet's rings are still visible now & then through the mists - as a rainbow-hued streak across the sky.

"Sir, without a Psi-print i'm not having much luck with the distance. With your permission sir, I'd like to plot a course slightly closser to the Ziggurat." The young cadet looks to the displays on the Biofighter quickly taking down the co-ordinants.

"I should be able to get a clearer reading from Mark 72,21 Omega with Mark 92,22 as our failsafe." Says the cadet, looking over the details. "at this range it's not going to be easy, Sir. Request permission to turn over control of the Locust to the Flight Egent between Mark 83,22.8 and 81,22.1. Given that we are dealing with an alien psyke here i'm not sure what effect it may have on my performance during the scan..."

Britt takes a moment to consider the cadet's request, weighing the options... "Request Denied for the moment. Because we are dealing with alien psyche, we cannot depend on the Agent until we can confirm non-hostility. Our primary mission is to scout the landing site. Once we've confirmed non-hostile status and the state of the proposed landing area, then we'll consider the secondary mission."

Dropping down to a much closer altitude but avoiding the flying creatures as much as possible, Britt investigates the landing site looking for anything that may cause problems and making note of them on the Locust computer.

Having fulfilled the first goal, Britt maps a safe course towards the ancient structure, taking the cadet's previous suggestion in consideration. Once in range, "Allright... I'll watch your back and you do what you need to do... However, I'm sure there's alot of people on the ship wanting down here, so don't take too long."

[phoenix]

Quickly scanning over the helm datafeed, Jason checks the stability of Britt's orbit. Realizing its flawlessness after only a second's look, he quickly becomes restless for something to do. He can hardly remember ever feeling so alive, even surrounded, as he is, by the stifling abyss of space. The Columbus itself feels like both impermeable armor and an unstoppable sword against it, and he senses its alien presence around him in every cell of its body. Only with conscious resistance can he restrain himself from expanding to fill it, to make its probes his eyes, its fusion jets his legs.

Damn... How did I get shafted with helm, of all things? I want to check out the Locusts. And the planet, for that matter. Trust this crew to have the only pilot in the whole force better than me.

He flashes a confident, curious glance and a "you-do-your-job-I'll-mine" grin and nod down to those surrounding the holographic image of the planet and its native life, then hits a key on his control panel, bringing up a view from Locust 1.

Actually, make that the only one in the world.

He runs a hand that feels like it's on fire through hair covering a skull that feels like it's going to explode, then forces a grin as relaxed and smug as the cat that got the canary, crossing his legs in front of him and waiting for any orders that come his way.

[ProfPotts]

Despite his squirming in one of the ergonomic gunnery station chairs (the tech's tell him that any discomfort is all in his mind ::wacko ), Alex takes a moment to glance over to Red's assigned station - where the chair was just removed entirely to accomodate the alien's huge frame... There's always someone worse off then you... ::wink

On the bridge:

"Are there any chances some of the non-humanoids could be sentient?"

Azure fixes the second officer with a rather enigmatic stare (although, with her all-white eyes, it's hard to tell), blinks once ::blink , then smiles ::smile ,

"Oh, there's always a chance, Brian - it's just that our initial scans indicate more evidence of sentient activity in the humanoids this time." ::sly

"LT Red and Ensign Soto to the armoury."

Almost as soon as he's given the order over the Link, Red's response echoes back,

"Yes Sir."

The Lieutenant Commander takes a moment to consider that Red doesn't ever appear to wear a Link - although he must have one somewhere - since he does use one... ::lookaround

"Sorry, I-I-I was concentraiting. Uhm..thank you, I am glad, too  "

The alien Doctor's pleasant smile graces the Lieutenant once again in response.

*WOW, that was amazing. I'll have to ask her to show me more telepathy sometime.*

*I'd be glad to, Rhianna - your thoughts are both interesting & enjoyable - I would like to share more of them.* The telepathic caress of Azure's thoughts flows gently across Rhianna's mind.

As the engineers scurry to prepare the ship for landing, & the security team gather gear for off-ship exploration, the crew all eagerly await the results of the two Locusts' fly-by...

With all this in mind the cadet pulls up the attunement scan data collected by the Columbus, making preparations for the closser scan.

Pulling up the data from Logan's scans doesn't help Singh's psychic activities, but he never-the-less plots the location of the possibly-sentient humanoids (in glorious holographic technicolour), & determines not to get too close without permission.

Powering through the atmosphere towards the proposed landing site Britt leads the over-fly of the area. The pair reduce speed (& noise) as much as possible, flying as low as they dare, & let the computers run detailed close-proximity scans as they visually check the place. The site is a clearing in the almost constant sea of trees - it appears to rise up out of the lower, more swamp-like, area surrounding it - basically a rare rocky hill in the verdant landscape. Scans confirm the area's stability & ability to support the Scarab's mass, & visual checks reveal no obvious animal life-signs - although there's still a covering of what looks to be dark green moss & vine-like creepers across the roughly flat area. The hill is a high part of a raised ridge - a geological feature similar to a small mountain range - the rest of the ridge, leading north to south, is lower & tree-covered like most of the rest of the planet's surface.

Banking towards the 'ziggurat' structure the two pilots spot one of the flocks of aerial creatures winging their way away from the two large, loud, fast new 'creatures' which have invaded their skies - the creatures do appear to be reptilian - similar to reconstructions of winged dinosaurs from Earth's own past. Even at a range of several hundred meters they can be seen to be mostly gliding, although they do occasionally flap their wings. The small group is five members strong. Each creature has vicious-looking talons on its powerful rear legs & a long, straight, beak-like nose - they could almost be giant featherless birds. Their colouration is a mottled green, with a few hints of brown here & there. The creatures veer away from the two Locusts' flight path, descending beneath the canopy of trees when the vessels get within a couple of hundred meters.

Reaching the skies above the structure, Britt & Jamal see that the flat, square, top of the 'pyramid' rises out of the surrounding treeline like an artificial version of their chosen landing site - at this range it seems close to impossible that the quite precise, if worn with age, angles of the stone structure could be a natural occurance. Most of the structure is hidden from view by the trees, but scans indicate it to be quite large - around the size of the Great Pyramid at Giza on Earth - a impressive achievement by any civilisation's standards. The flat top of the place is large enough for, in theory, one Locust to land upon - but two would be a bit of a squeeze.

Circling the stone square once again, Britt spots something which appears to be out of place - near to one corner there appears to be some damage - a hole in the stone, if he's not mistaken, with what could well be some sort of blast marks around it... The hole looks to be about two meters across - a blip on his scans as he flies over the hole suggests that it drops into an open area - although the ship's sensors don't seem able to actually penetrate the stone of the structure.

As Britt does things the 'old fashioned way' Jamal reaches out with his psychic senses - he detects no minds in the area (unless you count Hawke... ::wink ), but his Attunement senses a flux just like Logan did from orbit - some sort of recent activity in the area - either strongly emotional, or a manifestation of actual psi powers...

[malkboy]

Circling the stone square once again, Britt spots something which appears to be out of place - near to one corner there appears to be some damage - a hole in the stone, if he's not mistaken, with what could well be some sort of blast marks around it... The hole looks to be about two meters across - a blip on his scans as he flies over the hole suggests that it drops into an open area - although the ship's sensors don't seem able to actually penetrate the stone of the structure.

As Britt does things the 'old fashioned way' Jamal reaches out with his psychic senses - he detects no minds in the area (unless you count Hawke...  ), but his Attunement senses a flux just like Logan did from orbit - some sort of recent activity in the area - either strongly emotional, or a manifestation of actual psi powers...

Britt quickly adjusts his plans in his mind, allowing for possible hostile forces in the area. His voice calm as can be, "Cadet, Prepare to break low altitude flight and exit the atmosphere. I'll explain later, but we need to return to the ship promptly. So when I say mark, head for the ship at maximum safe velocity."

Giving the young pilot of few moments to plot his course, Britt keeps a close eye on the surrounding area. Suddenly over the link between Locusts, Britt's voice is heard again, "MARK." Watching the ascent of Cadet Singh's Locust for a moment, Britt adjusts his Locust to exit the atmosphere as well.

[Prince of Boredom]

As the rest of the bridge crew are preparing for atmospheric entry, CAPT O'Malley touches the controls on his console, shifting the scene from LT Hawke's Locust to the main screen.

Circling the stone square once again, Britt spots something which appears to be out of place - near to one corner there appears to be some damage - a hole in the stone, if he's not mistaken, with what could well be some sort of blast marks around it... The hole looks to be about two meters across - a blip on his scans as he flies over the hole suggests that it drops into an open area - although the ship's sensors don't seem able to actually penetrate the stone of the structure.

As the scene unfolds, the Captain gets up from his chair and walks up to the holographic projection, "Computer, freeze main screen... rewind... freeze."

Staring a little longer, he motions for CDR Sukuko to join him. Pointing at the hole in the ziggurat he glances at her, "What do you make of that? Looks like a possible blast hole. I think maybe we should have LCDR Meyers take his security team on a perimeter sweep before we send out the away teams, just to make sure there’s nothing hostile in close proximity to the ship."

“Rhianna, check the orbital locations of our drones. I want to make sure they are in optimal orbit to provide SATCOM and GPS data to the ground teams. Also, before we disembark, I want you to make sure that everyone has any and all topographic data the drones have collected thus far downloaded to their minicomps.”

[ConcreteDragon]

“Rhianna, check the orbital locations of our drones.  I want to make sure they are in optimal orbit to provide SATCOM and GPS data to the ground teams.  Also, before we disembark, I want you to make sure that everyone has any and all topographic data the drones have collected thus far downloaded to their minicomps.”

"Aye, aye, Captian."

A few seconds later-"Drones confirmed in optimal stationary orbit and the computer is compiling the topo's as we speak."

"Commander Sukuko, the Columbus still has a probe in her belly, permission to launch it so as to examine the planitary rings while we're planetside? That way we could alway pull it in to a shallower orbit if something were to happen to one of the other probes."

[ezekiel]

"Oh, there's always a chance, Brian - it's just that our initial scans indicate more evidence of sentient activity in the humanoids this time." 

*Hell she think she is?*

"Let me rephrase that lieutenant. Are there any indications of sentience among the non-humanoids? I want to know if my men should shoot when one of those lizards makes a swoop for us or try to opt for alternative, more dangerous methods in hopes of preserving the peace...I know at least one sentient species capable of building something like that Ziggurat that isn't humanoid."

In the armoury...

Meyers briefs the team members about what's known of the missions and starts going over needed equipment with them, taking their advice if they have any.

[ProfPotts]

[i'm gonna' just go ahead & presume the Cadet follows orders... ::rolleyes ]

"Cadet, Prepare to break low altitude flight and exit the atmosphere. I'll explain later, but we need to return to the ship promptly. So when I say mark, head for the ship at maximum safe velocity... MARK."

The Locust fighters' hyperfusion engines scream as they fight to escape the planet's gravity - the force required for such a task, although incredibly, hardly dwelt upon by the pilots - children of the advanced technological achievements of the twenty-second century: an engine capable of escape velocity? Doesn't everyone have one of those? ::tongue ::wink

The local wildlife are a little less familiar, it appears, with such power & velocity - beneath the rapidly ascending craft the world pauses to stare in wonder &, perhaps, fear at the marvels of science - hybrid craft in both form as well as function - as rudely compressed air is forced into twin sonic booms which trail their wakes across the mist-filled skies of Arborea.

Moments later the twin craft break atmosphere - swirls of vapour dragged up with them from the lower reaches of the planet's sky quickly crystalizing & dissipating as they contact the uncaring chill of naked space - & head back towards the waiting Scarab...

"Computer, freeze main screen... rewind... freeze... What do you make of that? Looks like a possible blast hole. I think maybe we should have LCDR Meyers take his security team on a perimeter sweep before we send out the away teams, just to make sure there’s nothing hostile in close proximity to the ship."

Moving across the bridge at the Captain's summons, the Maasai officer frowns slightly as she takes in the image her superior indicates,

"That does sound like a wise course of action, Sir. That damage could just be a natural occurance - maybe a meteorite got through the atmosphere? But better safe than sorry."

"Commander Sukuko, the Columbus still has a probe in her belly, permission to launch it so as to examine the planitary rings while we're planetside? That way we could alway pull it in to a shallower orbit if something were to happen to one of the other probes."

The Commander turns away from the holo-image she's studying & raises an eyebrow at the Science Officer's request,

"You held back a probe? That's hardly standard procedure - especially after the Infinity provided extra probe coverage of the system at your request, Lieutenant. Mission resources are hardly unlimited - we need to use what we have to its fullest. The ring system is of scientific interest, so you can launch your 'reserve' probe - although I'll expect to read in your report why you didn't think to look at the rings before now..." ::angry

Shaking her head slightly, the First Officer returns her attention to the holo-image.

"Let me rephrase that lieutenant. Are there any indications of sentience among the non-humanoids? I want to know if my men should shoot when one of those lizards makes a swoop for us or try to opt for alternative, more dangerous methods in hopes of preserving the peace...I know at least one sentient species capable of building something like that Ziggurat that isn't humanoid."

::blink

Azure appears somewhat confused by Meyers' reaction to her friendly manner,

"I... There are no Chromatics down there, Bri... Lieutenant Commander. You have nothing to fear on that account. As the medical representative of the mission I'd advise not shooting anything if it can be helped; but no - only the humanoids appear to show signs of what we'd all class as 'sentience'."

[Asbjørn]

"Let me rephrase that lieutenant. Are there any indications of sentience among the non-humanoids? I want to know if my men should shoot when one of those lizards makes a swoop for us or try to opt for alternative, more dangerous methods in hopes of preserving the peace...I know at least one sentient species capable of building something like that Ziggurat that isn't humanoid."

::blink

Azure appears somewhat confused by Meyers' reaction to her friendly manner,

"I... There are no Chromatics down there, Bri... Lieutenant Commander. You have nothing to fear on that account. As the medical representative of the mission I'd advise not shooting anything if it can be helped; but no - only the humanoids appear to show signs of what we'd all class as 'sentience'."

*Don't sound so surprised, girl. The man's a prick!*

Shaz glances in Azure's direction and mentally shakes her head at the commander's way with people of all species...

"Computer, freeze main screen... rewind... freeze... What do you make of that? Looks like a possible blast hole. I think maybe we should have LCDR Meyers take his security team on a perimeter sweep before we send out the away teams, just to make sure there’s nothing hostile in close proximity to the ship."

"That does sound like a wise course of action, Sir. That damage could just be a natural occurance - maybe a meteorite got through the atmosphere? But better safe than sorry."

*Sure... One meteorite that just happened to hit the only structure on the planet that's visible from space...*

The local wildlife are a little less familiar, it appears, with such power & velocity - beneath the rapidly ascending craft the world pauses to stare in wonder &, perhaps, fear at the marvels of science - hybrid craft in both form as well as function - as rudely compressed air is forced into twin sonic booms which trail their wakes across the mist-filled skies of Arborea.

Standing at attention out of the way of the other officers, Shaz follows the two locusts' flight on the screen, wondering what got into their pilots.

*What was that the captain said? 'Disturb the local ecology as little as possible', wasn't it? Good job, Britt...* ::rolleyes

[ezekiel]

Azure appears somewhat confused by Meyers' reaction to her friendly manner,

"I... There are no Chromatics down there, Bri... Lieutenant Commander. You have nothing to fear on that account. As the medical representative of the mission I'd advise not shooting anything if it can be helped; but no - only the humanoids appear to show signs of what we'd all class as 'sentience'."

"Chromatics I can handle..."

Not feeling the need to specify what he couldn't handle, the Lt. Cmdr. heads towards the armoury and discusses the Missions with Red.

[tooho]

Standing to the side at attention, Ensign Soto listens attentively to the Lt Cmdr. and Red, trying to breath deeply to regulate her breathing after her 'hurried' walk to the armoury. While standing perfectly still, the trim, brunette fairly radiates with excitement.

[ProfPotts]

Once in the armoury the towering alien figure of Red stands awaiting orders. It's hard to tell, but he does appear to be taking some interest in the others as they 'gear up'; the Qin warrior himself makes no moves towards preparing any equipment. If anything it's possible that he's slightly confused by the whole process... ::confused

Back on the bridge Commander Sukuko checks several readings on her station, then reports to the Captain,

"Both Scarabs have completed docking sequence, Sir - our birds are home safe & sound - no hostile contacts reported. Shall we proceed with planetfall, Sir?"