Trinity Universe: Trinity Exploration Force

[phoenix]

Regarding the creature with intense curiosity, Jason watches Rhianna after the Captain gives his orders.

[Bahamut810]

Smitty salutes, "Yes Sar!"

When he is told about his next job he smiles and nods.

"A'caurse sir. Wont take me but three shakes."

[ConcreteDragon]

Alpha Team

Bryan watches intently as the alien enters the opening and falls to the ground.  Without moving, he quietly speaks over intercom, "Rhianna, see if you can communicate with...her.  Tell her we mean no harm, we are travellers here to learn about her world."

He then slowly reaches his hands up to his helmet, deliberately removes it and hands it to LT Logan.  Ever so slowly he crouches down, coming to one knee, and reaches his hand out, smiling, offering to help the alien up.

←

Taking a half step back, The LT opens her helmet and concentrates (The Babel Effect).

In the most calming voice she can muster (XENORELATIONS), Rhi says to the Native "Greetings ::smile We mean you no harm, we are merely travellers who have come to learn about your land and your People. Are you OK?(uninjured)" The whole time, she types the natives responses in to her mini-comp, transmitting it to ship and command.

[ProfPotts]

Alpha Team:

As the Captain removes his helmet & drops to one knee the native keeps her eyes firmly fixed upon him - only once blinking (with eyelids which move in from the sides, not up & down as in human eyes). Every second or two her forked tongue flicks out & tastes the air.

"Greetings  We mean you no harm, we are merely travellers who have come to learn about your land and your People. Are you OK?(uninjured)"

For a moment the native girl gives no indication that she even heard Lieutenant Logan's words - in fact, since her appearance she hasn't really acknowledged any of the rest of the team - just the Captain. Then she moves, carefully, eyes not leaving O'Malley's own, pushing herself up onto her knees, then - on all fours - moves closer to him. Eyes still locked on the Captain's her tongue flicks out once again - lightly brushing against the glove covering his outstretched hand...

... The taste of the glove doesn't seem to please her - she quickly pushes herself back & away from the Captain a few paces - a hissing sound escaping her mouth as she does so...

Keyed into the language centres of the native girl's mind, Rhianna comprehends the noises - & the less obvious layers of communication such as body language & scent - as words, which she rapidly translates for the others. By sending the translation to the ship as well she also takes the first few baby-steps in building up a translation program which could, eventually, be used in the crew's Links. What the girl appears to be saying is,

'You taste bad.'

Although in a deeper sense she seems to mean,

'You had no natural / real scent, then you took your head-shell off & had a good / male scent, then I tasted you & you tasted bad / unnatural.'

By now Jason's minicomp sensors have picked-up the other natives which Rhianna had sensed earlier - six heat-signatures heading through the jungle in their direction. They're spaced out in a rough line, but converging as they get closer - & they're getting closer pretty fast - maybe another ten or so seconds before they arrive...

A quick glance at the team's shared sensory data suggests to Alexander that the approaching natives appear to be moving in the manner he'd associate with a group hunting or searching for something...

Beta Team:

After a bite to eat the team begins its ascent of the ziggurat. Although the step configuration makes the climb a realtively simple matter, each 'step' is far too large to be climbed as a handy set of stairs - instead the team need to help each other & haul themselves up each one. The surrounding undergrowth, as the aerial fly-by showed earlier, overhangs the structure so that it's not until they reach nearly the top that they actually find themselves under an open sky again.

Near the top of the structure - which is a flat square roughly the size of a Locust fighter - they locate the hole. One corner of the square has been - it seems - blasted away. The damage appears to involve some shattering of the black blocks, but mostly they appear to have been melted in some way - the hole cuts a curve across the top two layers of blocks & is wide enough for several people to fit through at the same time. Scattered around the damaged area of the ziggurat are a few fragments of the block blocks - needle-like slivers left where the blocks shattered under what must have been incredible pressure. The slivers range from tiny up to about six inches in length.

Inside the hole is a drop into, it seems, empty space. The interior of the structure is too dark to see clearly, but there seems to be quite a drop. From what the team can make out, the interior walls of the structure are a smooth angle, rather than stepped - although still fashioned out of the same black stone. Minicomp sensors seem to indicate that the interior of the structure goes down further than the exterior - as if much of the ziggurat was buried - although the readings are somewhat garbled for some unknown reason...

After a little while, Lieutenant Smith has set up a small portable communications relay.

[Prince of Boredom]

Alpha Team

'You taste bad.'

Although in a deeper sense she seems to mean,

'You had no natural / real scent, then you took your head-shell off & had a good / male scent, then I tasted you & you tasted bad / unnatural.'

The CAPT listens as Rhianna translates for the alien, then a warm smile spreads across his face as internally he chides himself for not thinking of that earlier.

Very slowly he removes his glove and presents his hand again, this time more to allow her to taste/smell it rather than to offer her help.

As he waits for her, he speaks with a calm, soothing voice like one would use to quiet a baby, "How are we doing everyone?"

[ProfPotts]

Alpha Team:

The native female keeps staring as the Captain removes his glove & offers his hand then, cautiously, she moves back over to him, her tongue flicking out & over the surface of his skin - it tickles...

Those monitoring the approaching natives see them slow as they get closer, now all six in quite a tight group. The manner in which they appraoch the nearby treeline seems to indicate a stealthy, stalking, manner of movement.

... This time the native girl appears to like the taste of the Captain. Moving closer still, until she's kneeling right in front of him, she takes his hand in both of hers, her tongue still flicking over it... then suddenly moves to his exposed face - the forked tongue flicking across his forhead, cheeks, & down his neck. As she 'explores' she makes more hissing noises...

Rhianna's translations are along the lines of,

'You taste good.'

With the deeper meaning of,

'You taste good / male.'

... to start with...

Azure examines her minicomp for a moment, then quietly announces,

'This is fascinating, her hormone levels appear to be increasing rapidly. This bio-chemical activity is incredible!'

Even as she notes her medical readings, Rhianna translates,

'Good mate / husband, make many offspring / babies, breed now.'

[Ooh - first contact Cap'n... well done... ::wink ]

At that moment the six other natives leap from the treeline - each appears to be a male, with wiry muscles rippling under his snake-scaled skin. Although each is as naked as the girl, they all carry a medium-length spear constructed of, it appears, a wooden haft & a carved bone point, with leather wrappings for good grip. Their faces & heads are also smeared with coloured patterns - different from those on the girl, but the same as each other.

As one the males let forth a hissing screech &, despite the other team members in the area, all charge towards where the girl & the Captain are... 'communicating'...

[Prince of Boredom]

Alpha Team:

Azure examines her minicomp for a moment, then quietly announces,

'This is fascinating, her hormone levels appear to be increasing rapidly. This bio-chemical activity is incredible!'

Even as she notes her medical readings, Rhianna translates,

'Good mate / husband, make many offspring / babies, breed now.'

Bryan's eyes get very large when he hears Rhianna's last translation *Now, how do I get out of this gracefully...?*

At that moment the six other natives leap from the treeline - each appears to be a male, with wiry muscles rippling under his snake-scaled skin. Although each is as naked as the girl, they all carry a medium-length spear constructed of, it appears, a wooden haft & a carved bone point, with leather wrappings for good grip. Their faces & heads are also smeared with coloured patterns - different from those on the girl, but the same as each other.

As one the males let forth a hissing screech &, despite the other team members in the area, all charge towards where the girl & the Captain are... 'communicating'...

Startled, but just for a moment, the Captain looks up, actually happy for something to break the awkard moment.

Instinctively he grabs the female native and protectively moves her behind him, at the same time standing with his palms facing the new natives. "Nobody move a muscle. Rhianna, give them the same greeting as before... we don't want a fight here."

(OOC: Going full defensive preparing to dodge any attacks that come. If possible, using a willpower to dodge even better [not sure if you can do that in Trinity])

[malkboy]

Britt looks down into the gaping hole of the amazing structure and wonders idly just how long he's going to be used as bait on this new world. Moving away from the hole, he glances up into the air and takes in the amazing view. Up there was what he became a member of the TEF for, but the bad with the good he supposed.

[Asbjørn]

At that moment the six other natives leap from the treeline - each appears to be a male, with wiry muscles rippling under his snake-scaled skin. Although each is as naked as the girl, they all carry a medium-length spear constructed of, it appears, a wooden haft & a carved bone point, with leather wrappings for good grip. Their faces & heads are also smeared with coloured patterns - different from those on the girl, but the same as each other.

Shaz stares in wonder at her first aliens, her eyes scanning them all and taking in every detail. True to her blonde beach bunny bimbo image, her impressions could mostly be summed up in 'wow!', but a few more analytical thoughts move through her brain as well

*Males from a different tribe. maybe? Hunting for what? A slave? A mate? Food?*

As one the males let forth a hissing screech &, despite the other team members in the area, all charge towards where the girl & the Captain are... 'communicating'...

*Bloody hell!* ::blink

The junior pilot reaches for her holstered weapon, just as the Captain's order interrupts her.

"Nobody move a muscle.  Rhianna, give them the same greeting as before... we don't want a fight here."

Stopping with her hand on her gun, Shaz straightens up and spreads her hands to her sides. Sweat is trickling down her forehead as she stands watching the captain's back and the charging natives, prepared to copy whatever O'Malley does.

At the same time, invisible fingers feel their way over her holster, opening buttons and getting a firm grip on the handle in case violence is called for.

*Who needs muscles...?* ::getsome

[archer]

As the males breach the treeline, the big Russian nods to himself. He'd expected something like this. At their charge, he reacted without thought. Reaching behind him released the spear from it's harness, and clutching it tightly, started to bring to a ready position...

"Nobody move a muscle.  Rhianna, give them the same greeting as before... we don't want a fight here."

His thumb resting on the release switch that extended it, Suvorov slowly lowered the spear to his side, letting it dangle loosely in his hand. Still closed, it looked like nothing more than a strange tube of metal. Watching the aliens closely, he noted their spears with a discerning eye...he doubted the Captain or the others realized how deadly those primitive bone-tipped sticks really were. He, on the other hand, was more than familiar with their capabilites...gauging their speed and musculature, he tried to guess how close the aliens had to be to throw them, and readied himself to disobey orders if he had to. The Captain must be protected, after all.

[phoenix]

'Good mate / husband, make many offspring / babies, breed now.'

Jason snickers and suppresses the urge to joke before resuming his dignity. This is a first contact, after all.

[ezekiel]

Inside the hole is a drop into, it seems, empty space. The interior of the structure is too dark to see clearly, but there seems to be quite a drop. From what the team can make out, the interior walls of the structure are a smooth angle, rather than stepped - although still fashioned out of the same black stone. Minicomp sensors seem to indicate that the interior of the structure goes down further than the exterior - as if much of the ziggurat was buried - although the readings are somewhat garbled for some unknown reason...

After a little while, Lieutenant Smith has set up a small portable communications relay.

Meyers stands at the edge of the hole, eyes darting between the the chasm and his mini-comp as Smith gets the relay going. After a while he taps his communicator

"Meyers to Sukuko...Commander; we've reached the hole and are now setting our first communications relay. There seems to be some interference with our equipment even here on the edge of the hole, source unknown. I wll leave some members of the team here to maintain communication for now..."

Meyers looks at Singh, sizing him up it seems.

"I want you to stay here with the sergeant, cadet. If we lose communications I want you to attempt to contact us with one of those mind powers your file says you have...and make sure that relay stays in working order."

Turning to Lieutenant Smith he adds

"Lieutenant, I want you with Hawke and I. If there's anyway to boost the signal between relays and make this work, I want you to find it."

Like a well oiled machine, Meyers bolts his rappelling line near the edge of the hole and loops the line in a ring on his utility belt. With a grin he looks at his troops...

"I assume you remember your climbing training..." ::sly

With that he clasps his helmet on and slides down the line, shifting through visual modes as he goes down...

[ConcreteDragon]

Alpha Team:

Instinctively he grabs the female native and protectively moves her behind him, at the same time standing with his palms facing the new natives.  "Nobody move a muscle.  Rhianna, give them the same greeting as before... we don't want a fight here."

←

::blink *All of them? O K....* (OCC at Rhianna's level with 'Babel', she can only communicate with one person at a time ::unsure ) Targeting the 'leader' of the native group, she says "Greetings ::smile We mean you no harm, we are merely travellers who have come to learn about your land and your People.", while trying to learn any body language signals that come through the link.

If they continue to advance, the Columbus's science officer will repeat the message with the another front runner, and repeat as often as nessesary to get their attention.

[ProfPotts]

Alpha Team:

The Captain moves the native female behind him & faces the on-rushing males, even as Shaz feels her mental fingers slide into a firm grip on her gun, & Suvorov draws his spear. The big Qin, Red, takes a step forward, more, it seems, to place himself between the natives & Azure than in any way to protect the Captain.

In reaction, it appears, to the Captain's movements, the six males slow their rush, then stop, crouched in front of the TEF leader with spears held at the ready. Then their snake-like eyes begin to dart around the rest of the group as their tongues flicker to taste the air. The native girl crouches behind the Captain, hands on his waist & thigh, peeping out at the males...

Rhianna again does her thing - focusing on the lead male...

"Greetings  We mean you no harm, we are merely travellers who have come to learn about your land and your People."

The male blinks (with side-closing lids) several times, then replies in the same hissing language the female used - although his gaze is focused on the Captain,

'You claim / win mate / wife?'

For a moment there's a chatter of hissing between the males - too complex & fast for Rhianna to pick up any details, although it seems to be an animated discussion on what they obviously see as the suddenly altered circumstances. Then the males all peer around the TEF team again. The lead male takes a cautious step forward, looks around the group, then gazes again at the Captain,

'You are chief / leader of your tribe / group? You are royal / holy? You command / lead many warriors / tribesmen?'

Beta Team:

"Meyers to Sukuko...Commander; we've reached the hole and are now setting our first communications relay. There seems to be some interference with our equipment even here on the edge of the hole, source unknown. I wll leave some members of the team here to maintain communication for now..."

Sukuko confirms the report, & relays that Alpha Team are in the process of making first contact.

"I want you to stay here with the sergeant, cadet. If we lose communications I want you to attempt to contact us with one of those mind powers your file says you have...and make sure that relay stays in working order."

Singh glances down the hole, gulps, then nods his agreement... ::blink

"I assume you remember your climbing training..."

As the team members begin their descent it soon becomes clear that the interferance has a tendency to fog-up their optics with static fuzz - which gets progressively worse as they drop down further. The best way to see appears to be to use standard lights - which flicker every now & then, but don't have the same blinding effect as the confused optic systems...

... The smooth interior walls of the structure slope away on each of the four sides of what appears to be one massive internal room. It soon becomes obvious that the building methods required to keep such a structure erect must be far beyond those of the ancient pyramid & ziggurat builders of Earth - the sort of achievement one would only expect to see with a society which had mastered advanced materials science & geometry...

... Finally, just as they're starting to worry about running out of line, the team spot the bottom of the chamber. They lost sight of the walls a while back, as the angle they are slopped at caused them to retreat into shadows as the team dropped further. Below them they see a floor which appears to be of the same black stone material, but carved into a series of ornate & intricate spiral patterns, rather than smooth. It looks like the patterns converge in the centre of the floor (which is somewhere below the water-level of the swamp outside) where there's a raised stone column of the same material.

The column is about a meter & a half tall, & half a meter across at the base & top, although it tapers inwards in the mid-section. The top of the column isn't flat, but rather a bowl-shape. Inside the bowl-section appears to be three nubs formed from the same stone, set at the points of an equalateral triangle & angled up towards each other - although they aren't long enough to actually meet.

What, if anything, is further away from the centre of the floor is hidden by shadows...

[ezekiel]

As the team members begin their descent it soon becomes clear that the interferance has a tendency to fog-up their optics with static fuzz - which gets progressively worse as they drop down further. The best way to see appears to be to use standard lights - which flicker every now & then, but don't have the same blinding effect as the confused optic systems...

... The smooth interior walls of the structure slope away on each of the four sides of what appears to be one massive internal room. It soon becomes obvious that the building methods required to keep such a structure erect must be far beyond those of the ancient pyramid & ziggurat builders of Earth - the sort of achievement one would only expect to see with a society which had mastered advanced materials science & geometry...

... Finally, just as they're starting to worry about running out of line, the team spots the bottom of the chamber.

Meyers takes a few steps away from the rope, casting his eyes on their surroundings.

"Smith...can you get anything on what's interfering with our equipment?...This is where you dazzle me with your brilliance and fix this problem, lieutenant." ::sly

The commander brings up his own comp, taking readings, checking for radiation or other health hazards as well as checking for motion...assuming the equipment works.

They lost sight of the walls a while back, as the angle they are slopped at caused them to retreat into shadows as the team dropped further. Below them they see a floor which appears to be of the same black stone material, but carved into a series of ornate & intricate spiral patterns, rather than smooth. It looks like the patterns converge in the centre of the floor (which is somewhere below the water-level of the swamp outside) where there's a raised stone column of the same material.

The column is about a meter & a half tall, & half a meter across at the base & top, although it tapers inwards in the mid-section. The top of the column isn't flat, but rather a bowl-shape. Inside the bowl-section appears to be three nubs formed from the same stone, set at the points of an equalateral triangle & angled up towards each other - although they aren't long enough to actually meet.

Meyers signals the others to take the rear and approaches the small "podium" cautiously, mindful of any surprises the floor might spring or any other type of ambush for that matter.

"Seems like there might've been something on here...a statue or stone or something."

Brian attempts to signal the surface team...

[Bahamut810]

Smith nods to the commander. "Yes sar, sorry sar." he apologises, even though he hadent had a chanse to fix the signal (he *was* climbing down a rope at the time ::sly ).

He goes to work on his comminucation equipment, doing everything he can think of to boost the signal (including pulling out a smaller comm booster).

[ezekiel]

Smith nods to the commander.  "Yes sar, sorry sar." he apologises, even though he hadent had a chanse to fix the signal (he *was* climbing down a rope at the time ::sly ).

He goes to work on his comminucation equipment, doing everything he can think of to boost the signal (including pulling out a smaller comm booster).

←

"No apologies necessary, Lieutenant."

Brian checks his own equipment

"Does this affect your psychic affinity as well? I heard your kind has problems in The Blight...this could be something similar..."

The Commander shrugs

"All theoretical at this point...stay sharp."

[Prince of Boredom]

The male blinks (with side-closing lids) several times, then replies in the same hissing language the female used - although his gaze is focused on the Captain,

'You claim / win mate / wife?'

Bryan sighs inwardly, *More with the mate thing...*

For a moment there's a chatter of hissing between the males - too complex & fast for Rhianna to pick up any details, although it seems to be an animated discussion on what they obviously see as the suddenly altered circumstances. Then the males all peer around the TEF team again. The lead male takes a cautious step forward, looks around the group, then gazes again at the Captain,

'You are chief / leader of your tribe / group? You are royal / holy? You command / lead many warriors / tribesmen?'

Ecstatic, Bryan smiles warmly, *Finally, we're getting somewhere*

Nodding slightly to Rhianna the CAPT turns back to their apparent leader, "Yes, I am the leader of this group, I am called Captain. We are explorers. We came to learn about your world, become friends with you. We came from very far away. My name is Bryan."

[Bahamut810]

"Sar, if'n ya cn gimme a few minits ta get this configered, Ill do my scanning thang. Laike ah did wi' my mini-comp to fiand out who put thet nee-hon-jin stuff on thar." he says while working on the equipment.

EDIT--

He also does what he can to scan teh surrounding area with whatever scanning equipment he has available while he talks as well.

((aslmost forgot that).

[phoenix]

'You claim / win mate / wife?'

Jason remarks to whoever's standing next to him,

"It's like the Qin were suddenly redesigned by an Opnet porno writer."

"Yes, I am the leader of this group, I am called Captain. We are explorers. We came to learn about your world, become friends with you. We came from very far away. My name is Bryan."

The handsome pilot grins, mouthing the word "Bryan".

[ProfPotts]

Beta Team:

The strange interferance limits the usefulness of their minicomps' scanners to a meter or so, but Brian manages to confirm that there's no life-threatening elements in the immediate area. The radiation & electromagnetic levels are unusual, & fluctuating, but not particularly hazardous.

As he appraoches the 'podium' Meyer's minicomp registers an unusual micro-structure running through the stone - veins of material which seem to have different molecular properties to the rest of the rock. As he gets closer the minicomp scans a spike of energy suddenly flare along those veins... Then it shuts off, its power drained! The rest of the Commander's powered equipment quickly flickers & dies as well. For a brief moment he notes faintly glowing lines trace down the sides of the podium & spread in patterns for a short distance across the floor... but they quickly fade to nothing.

Smith, meanwhile (still some distance from the podium) manages to hook-up a signal booster. With the booster active they can contact the team members left outside the structure, although it's not the clearest of signals.

Scanning the rest of the inside of the structure isn't possible without actually moving off to explore the shadows.

Alpha Team:

"Yes, I am the leader of this group, I am called Captain. We are explorers. We came to learn about your world, become friends with you. We came from very far away. My name is Bryan."

In response to the Captain's words the native males all start to hiss angrily! Rhianna manages to make out the lead native's comments - her comprehension of their language improving all the time...

'You are sky-tribe! Despoilers! Heretics! You steal the Great Heart & now you return for our breeders!'

He seems to be indicating the female native...

With an quick, violent, motion the native casts his spear so that it implants in the ground between the Captain's legs,

'I cast the challenge of breeding rights! Our female for...' his glance darts about the group, his tongue tasting the air, until he's looking at Shaz, '... that one. Choose your champion sky-king.'

[Bahamut810]

Smith smiles to himself. His brilliance was...uhhh...brilliant.

"Sar? The comms'er boosted. We c'n get signal now." he says looking around.

"Waw, this place is big. What 'er ya lookin' at thar, ser?"

[archer]

Alpha Team:

In response to the Captain's words the native males all start to hiss angrily! Rhianna manages to make out the lead native's comments - her comprehension of their language improving all the time...

'You are sky-tribe! Despoilers! Heretics! You steal the Great Heart & now you return for our breeders!'

*This isn't good.*

With an quick, violent, motion the native casts his spear so that it implants in the ground between the Captain's legs,

'I cast the challenge of breeding rights! Our female for...' his glance darts about the group, his tongue tasting the air, until he's looking at Shaz, '... that one. Choose your champion sky-king.'

←

With the cast of the spear at the Captain, the young Ensign's hand clenched, triggering his own spears release mechanism. With a hiss to match the natives, the metal tube suddenly sprouts slender points from either end; one barbed and one smooth, the extensions lengthen the device to a spear nearly as tall as Suvorov himself.

Quickly stepping forward between the agressors and the Captain, the big security officer up-ended his spear and jammed it point down into the earth.

Spreading his feet in a balanced, ready stance, he folded his arms calmly. "I claim champion if so needed."

[ezekiel]

The strange interferance limits the usefulness of their minicomps' scanners to a meter or so, but Brian manages to confirm that there's no life-threatening elements in the immediate area. The radiation & electromagnetic levels are unusual, & fluctuating, but not particularly hazardous.

*hsss*

Meyers takes his helmet off and whiffs in the air around him, trying to gauge his surroundings by the smells before approaching the podium.

As he appraoches the 'podium' Meyer's minicomp registers an unusual micro-structure running through the stone - veins of material which seem to have different molecular properties to the rest of the rock. As he gets closer the minicomp scans a spike of energy suddenly flare along those veins... Then it shuts off, its power drained! The rest of the Commander's powered equipment quickly flickers & dies as well. For a brief moment he notes faintly glowing lines trace down the sides of the podium & spread in patterns for a short distance across the floor... but they quickly fade to nothing.

"The hell..?"

Smith smiles to himself. His brilliance was...uhhh...brilliant.

"Sar? The comms'er boosted. We c'n get signal now." he says looking around.

"Well done, Mr. Smith."

"Waw, this place is big. What 'er ya lookin' at thar, ser?"

"Everyone step back from the podium! Mr. Smith, see if you can power this back up or at the very least get the data onto your comp.."

LC Meyers approaches the engineer while unstrapping his mini-comp from his arm.

"That thing just sucked the juice out of everything I had that was powered."

Meyers takes his link out of his ear and hands it to Smith as well.

"Glad you all speak English...let's hope the critters here do too." ::wink

Meyers unholsters his sonic pistol, taps it twice, shakes it and shrugs before tossing it in Smith's direction.

"This, lads, is why you always bring a backup..."

Reaching behind his back Meyer's pulls out Raid and cocks the slugthrower slapped underneath of the weapon.

"Raid, kills bugs dead. No batteries needed to serve a whuppin' and even works when soaked in bug juice...guaranteed."

A grin wrinkles Brian's face as he looks at his men.

"Tell Singh to come down here."

[Bahamut810]

Smitty catches the items and sits down on the ground with the devices surrounding him.

He grabs the now-powerless minicomp and opens the back of his own. He takes a few wires out (his 'lucky' ones that he keeps wrapped around his screwdriver) and runs them from his own comps to the powerless ones to make a small power grid that shares the power between the two devices. Once the comp is again powered, he runs another cable between the two devices and transfers all the non-duplicate information over to it.

"Thar...thats the information transfurred. If yu'ins dont need it no more, Im gonna shut it daun. The resedual pour in it should keep tha infermation...well...the new residual paur."

He puts the new contraption down as he says this and looks at the link, he opens his side back and rummages around for something that may power it...

(do these things run off batteries? Can I just change a battery out? What about the sonic gun? Dont thoes just have energy-clips for quick reloading?)

Once he is done with all that, he calls for Singh over his own comm if no one else has yet.

*Then* (as if he hasent done enough already) he unhooks all his own electronic gear and drops it well away from the podium (where he was at while setting up the comm booster) and starts to make his way up to the podium.

"Ahm gonna take a look ait it real quick..." he goes over and looks at it, trying to devise what it could be for, and if that fails, he psychically searches it.

[Prince of Boredom]

Alpha Team:

*DAMNIT!*

Bryan thought things had been progressing well,but suddenlyeverything had turned 'pear-shaped'.

The Captain does his best to not flinch as the spear lands on the ground in front of him, but does turn as his large Ensign interposes himself. "Thanks, Ensign, hopefully that won't be necessary."

He then nods towards Rhianna, signalling her to translate and raises his hands in a show of deference, "We are not the sky-tribe, and we have not come to steal anything from you. Perhaps we can help you?"

[Asbjørn]

"It's like the Qin were suddenly redesigned by an Opnet porno writer."

"No, no... This is nothing. You mean you haven't seen those movies?" ::wink

'I cast the challenge of breeding rights! Our female for...' his glance darts about the group, his tongue tasting the air, until he's looking at Shaz, '... that one. Choose your champion sky-king.'

::blink

*You have got to be shitting me! Ok, guys have fought over me before, but this is ridiculous!*

Nevertheless, the attractive aussie feels a bit nervous as she straightens up a bit and waits to hear the native's response to the Captain.

[ProfPotts]

Beta Team:

Standard TEF equipment is rechargable - the 'batteries' can't be switched out as such (but then again, they aren't meant to run out for years...) - sonic pistols are the same: recharged at the ship. On the other hand, Lieutenant Smith appears to have some idea of what he's doing ::wink , & it doesn't take him long to jury-rig a linkage to transfer power from his own equipment to Lieutenant Commander Meyers' gear. Soon enough all is back in working order (although both their pistols now only have half a full charge left).

As Meyers' minicomp powers up again, Smitty gets a good look at the data it managed to record before it went dead: it looks like an energy field of unknown type emanating from the 'bowl' of the 'podium' draws in power which it then feeds to the rest of the 'ziggurat'. What's more, the 'veins' through the rock appear to function as components of some sort of vast machine. With a spark of insight Smitty realises that the entire structure has been designed, using a form of highly advanced molecular technology, as a power distribution node: it's meant to draw power from whatever used to be in the bowl of the podium, then radiate it as usable energy - possibly on a continental, or even planetary scale! Whatever was being used as an energy source must have been several magnitudes more powerful than anything humanity has yet to encounter in a controlled environment...

As Mister Smith puts his own equipment aside to psychically examine the podium, young Cadet Singh finally reaches the floor, taking just a few moments to catch his breath & calm his nerves, before snapping to attention in front of Lieutenant Commander Meyers.

Alpha Team:

"I claim champion if so needed."

The lead native hisses & backs slightly away from the big Russian - & his equally impressive weapon - but his words translate as,

'The challenge is accepted!'

"Thanks, Ensign, hopefully that won't be necessary... We are not the sky-tribe, and we have not come to steal anything from you. Perhaps we can help you?"

Stepping closer to the Captain, Azure places one hand gently on his shoulder & says softly,

'I'm not sure they are going to listen to you now, Bryan - you seem to have given up your authority to your "champion". They seem to want this situation resolved before you discuss anything further...' for a moment the Qin Doctor looks thoughtful, her eyes gancing towards Ensign Brooks, then she adds, '... although if you gift them the native female & Sharon as a show of good faith I'm sure they'll be pacified.' ::sly

Sure enough, the native males appear to now be ignoring the Captain's words - instead they back off slightly, forming a rough semi-circle around their leader & Ensign Suvorov. The native leader crouches into a low, ready, stance, circling slightly - then leaps violently towards the big security man!

With an air of detached interest Azure notes,

'A formal challenge based on the disguarding of weapons - we should see this as a good sign - I doubt this is meant to be to the death.'

Beta Team:

Devoid of powered gear, Smitty reaches out one hand to gently touch the podium. Images flash through his mind's-eye - mostly of painfully bright light & incredible power, but then the image of a figure presents itself... a helmeted figure in a TEF uniform!

[Bahamut810]

Smitty finishes his examination of everything ::blink . He gathers all of his information together mentally in order to give his report. He walks back to his commander and gives him a brief salute.

"Holy shiat sur! Thats the brief version of what I can make of this place. This thang was made to distribute anergy ta...well...somethin' *big*. The paur we are talkin' 'bout here is more then we have ever used at one time I *think*. I know our ship coulden't paur this thang. Whatever it does...it does it on a *huge* scale. When I did a psi-scan on it I got a lot of stuff about paur...but I also got sumthin about someone in a TEF uniform. Someone in a helmet. Did ya touch the podium? I dont think I can pick stuff up unless they actually touched it."

[archer]

Sure enough, the native males appear to now be ignoring the Captain's words - instead they back off slightly, forming a rough semi-circle around their leader & Ensign Suvorov. The native leader crouches into a low, ready, stance, circling slightly - then leaps violently towards the big security man!

Ready for the attack, Suvorov moves quickly forward into the creatures leap-path, trying to close distance at his own pace, not his opponents. Powerful hands reach to latch onto the native and slam it into the dirt, using its own momentum against it.

With an air of detached interest Azure notes,

'A formal challenge based on the disguarding of weapons - we should see this as a good sign - I doubt this is meant to be to the death.'

*I hope so...*

[Asbjørn]

[...]her eyes gancing towards Ensign Brooks, then she adds, '... although if you gift them the native female & Sharon as a show of good faith I'm sure they'll be pacified.' ::sly

"Hey! ::angry I heard that! What happened to leading by example, lieutenant...? Maybe you should volunteer as well!"

Ready for the attack, Suvorov moves quickly forward into the creatures leap-path, trying to close distance at his own pace, not his opponents. Powerful hands reach to latch onto the native and slam it into the dirt, using its own momentum against it.

Shaz's attention is quickly returned to the fight, however and she watches the whole scene with growing concern, shouting threats and encouragements to her teammate

"If you loose this fight, Suvorov, you're cactus! If he doesn't finish you I promise I'll get you before these root rats get me in the nuddy! Get him! Shove that spear up his clacker!"

[phoenix]

Ready for the attack, Suvorov moves quickly forward into the creatures leap-path, trying to close distance at his own pace, not his opponents. Powerful hands reach to latch onto the native and slam it into the dirt, using its own momentum against it.

"Kick his ass, Alex!", Jason shouts.

[ezekiel]

Standard TEF equipment is rechargable - the 'batteries' can't be switched out as such (but then again, they aren't meant to run out for years...) - sonic pistols are the same: recharged at the ship. On the other hand, Lieutenant Smith appears to have some idea of what he's doing  , & it doesn't take him long to jury-rig a linkage to transfer power from his own equipment to Lieutenant Commander Meyers' gear. Soon enough all is back in working order (although both their pistols now only have half a full charge left).

"Thar...thats the information transfurred. If yu'ins dont need it no more, Im gonna shut it daun. The resedual pour in it should keep tha infermation...well...the new residual paur."

"Well done, Smitty."

As Mister Smith puts his own equipment aside to psychically examine the podium, young Cadet Singh finally reaches the floor, taking just a few moments to catch his breath & calm his nerves, before snapping to attention in front of Lieutenant Commander Meyers.

Meyers places his link back in his ear as he casually responds to nervous cadet's salute.

"Never salute your commander in the field, Cadet, at ease..."

Smitty finishes his examination of everything  . He gathers all of his information together mentally in order to give his report. He walks back to his commander and gives him a brief salute.

"Holy shiat sur! Thats the brief version of what I can make of this place. This thang was made to distribute anergy ta...well...somethin' *big*. The paur we are talkin' 'bout here is more then we have ever used at one time I *think*. I know our ship coulden't paur this thang. Whatever it does...it does it on a *huge* scale. When I did a psi-scan on it I got a lot of stuff about paur...but I also got sumthin about someone in a TEF uniform. Someone in a helmet. Did ya touch the podium? I dont think I can pick stuff up unless they actually touched it."

Meyers shakes his head

"I didn't have my helmet on Lieutenant...but you do. Could you have somehow seen yourself?""

Turning his attention back to Cadet Singh, Meyers continues.

"Singh, you've a background in the sciences, what do you make out of all this?"

[Bahamut810]

"I didn't have my helmet on Lieutenant...but you do. Could you have somehow seen yourself?""

"No, sar. I wont pick myself up unless I had a big ta-do with it. I only touched in once, and that was to scan it. And I only saw one person, so it wasent scanning me just cuz I was close to it."

Turning his attention back to Cadet Singh, Meyers continues.

"Singh, you've a background in the sciences, what do you make out of all this?"

Smitty frowns at this...but says nothing. He does, however, point out the information that he has (the comp unit, and what he noticed with mineral veins and such) to see if they can figure something more out together.