NationStates Jolt Archive

[[OOC: OPEN CO-RP, Signup thread is at http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=355744 ]]

The Mangalan transports were as quick as they were efficient, and the trip to the waiting Megan was uneventful for the hundreds who paid the price. Docking with smooth, with not a Wazzu ship in sight to attempt to retake the large exploration ship…except the warships of renegades.

The hologram of a young girl greeted passengers as they floated aboard (there was no internal gravity) and were shown their cabins by uniformed men armed only with stunners. In each room was a bed with a fine elastic webbing (surprisingly comfortable) and a small drawer of supplies.

******

It took some time, but eventually, everyone was aboard and their gear stowed. A call came out over the intercom.

Attention on the ship, this is your skipper. It was commodore Tully’s voice. We will be departing shortly. Please make sure all personal belongings are properly secured and secure yourself to your bunks. Pay close attention to the next direction.

When directed, everyone is to take one purple pill and allow it to dissolve in their mouth. Do not take more then one pill if you wish to be awake for destination orbit, but make sure you take at least one pill. Consious exposure to hyperspace has been shown to produce insanity in 100% of all tried cases, human and animal alike. Do not trust yourself to get or stay asleep without the assistance of this drug.

Thank you for your cooperation, have pleasant dreams in flight, and we’ll see you on the other side.

******

Instructions were given to take the pills, and some short time later uniformed men walked through each compartment to make sure everyone was asleep, and all was secure. It wouldn’t do to have nutters coming out of hyper.

When all was reported secure, the last of the crew put themselves to sleep. Even little Megan herself laced her brain’s housing with sleeping drugs, and let the ship pilot itself out of the system.

On the way out, a small object came off the ship and detonated in tachyon madness. This wasn’t the hyperdrive, just another of Admiral West’s ‘aquired’ items. For the next few weeks, tracking FTL objects around Sol or nearby stars would be quite impossible.

But the ship accelerated and jumped without incident, and without anyone knowing its final destination. Those who slept, slept well, and dreamed wonderful dreams.

******

Reality came as a shock as the ship exited hyperspace. Crew and passengers alike woke to hunger pains, dehydration, and both the stiffness of joints and stench that followed not moving for a day or two. Nausia followed as Megan interacted with hyperspace to shed momentum as the ship headed inbound.

Holograms appeared in every room, two bright red points flickered to life in mid-air, with a much weaker yellow point somewhere almost in-between. The skipper’s voice came with them. Welcome to Bernard’s Star. It is a double red dwarf system with 5 planets and no real asteroid belt. It is very old. Target planet orbit in 4 hours.

There are nutrition packs in the drawers beneath your bunks and I do suggest you drink them, you’ll feel much better. Breakfast will be served in an hour.

******

Some time later, with a beautiful clouded planet hanging beneath them, a briefing was given to the first crews to go out. It would later be repeated for other shuttle loads.

“We are now docked to a station found and partly renovated. Parked alongside us is the Lightbringer, the ship that discovered all this. You have full leave to visit any part of the small station, and of this ship, but I imagine you all want to make planetfall.”

Nods around the room seemed to confirm this was the general concensus.

“Verywell. A shuttle will be leaving in two hours. The Lightbringer’s crew has found a landing site on the surface, but they haven’t had a means to get there. You’ll be the first on the ground. Retrieved data says it is a spaceport, scans show it is overgrown with vegetation and life.

“Gravity is 1.32 Earth, so you’ll be a bit heavier, watch your step. Oh, and I recommend you bring at least a breathing mask. The atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane, with only trace amounts of oxygen. Personally, I’d wear an armored pressure suit, who knows what is down there.”

The briefing went on for a while, but was still surprisingly brief. Little was actually known about the planet below except that it harbored mystery and teamed with life.


[[OOC: OK, that’s it, you can write a shuttle landing if you like, or just exit the vehicle. You are free to explore as you like, make up anything you like, post pictures, bios, whatever. Have at it, and [i]HAVE FUN!]]

The group of 25 Al-Imvad researchers got their gear out of the storage area andloaded it onto a shuttle headed for the surface. They had with them:
50 protective suits for planetary use
50 Assault rifles
200 crates of ammunition
10 field medical kits
1 portable solar generator
10 portable habitats
50 NVGs
2 portable comm arrays
30 handheld sensor pacs
50 high quality backpacks
2 cook/mess kits with portable stoves
20 gallons fuel for stoves
200 MREs
repair & cleaning kits fo all of the above

They were planning to go deep into the jungles of this new world to set up stations for long-term research. Upon reaching the planet's surface, they began preparing to go, arrainging for transport on any available trucks.

OOC Now somebody can rp being the drivers, or I can just go out by myself, but whatever vehicles you claim to have had better be capable of crossing rivers and driving without roads through canopy jungle.

Jackson Straker smiled and stretched as he stepped off the shuttle. Before they'd left the ship, his team, all four of them, had changed from their civilian clothing into something a bit more appropriate.

The two grad-students wore soft E-suits, supplied by the University of Nexus, Greene Island. Straker's companion, Xelos Carvelis, was rather unsuited for pretty much anything the University had in stock. Luckily, Carvelis had owned his own hostile environment gear for a long, long, long time.

You see, Xelos Carvelis was a Veliki. He stood nine foot even, weighed in at something like five hundred s.pounds. He had been an interrogator for the Revenian Fleet Marines Marauder/Recon Division, and that was where he had met one Jackson Straker.

It hadn't been long before both decided to muster out and pursue their shared love of xenoarchaeology. Thus, it was little surprise that the two friends both possessed a full suit of Marauder Combat Armor.

As Straker and Carvelis were busy surveying the area, the two grad students were unloading the team's transportation from the shuttle. This particular vehicle had followed Straker and Carvelis on numerous expeditions, and its rugged chassis showed it.

'It,' was a modified AHI 'Grizzly' All-Terrain, All-Environment Rover. Each of its four wheels was powered by its own motor. Power for these motors, and for all of the other doohickeys the Grizzly mounted, was courtesy of the vehicle's small mass reactor. This had the added bonus of being able to operate continuosly for almost three years before needing refueling.

A pair of motorcycles were strapped to the sides of the Rover's bed, and the cabin was usually open, but could be sealed in an emergency. It comfortably seated six humanoids, or three humanoids and a Veliki, as the case may be, and that was just the beginning.

Now, Jackson Straker was the kind of guy who believed in being prepared. As such, in the Grizzly's equipment locker, rested a pair of AMT Hunting Rifle's he'd customized quite a bit.

Of course, Jackson Straker was also a practical man, and he preferred to keep a bit of Dakka about himself at all times, when he was in the field. Thus, he wore upon his right hip a large-frame heavy pistol of some sort. Running on the opposite hip was a bullwhip, made of some sort of advanced leather substitute. Over this, and his armor, he wore a rugged gray duster that hung almost to his ankles.

His rather tall buddy carried a Veliki-sized 'heavy pistol,' in a holster on his right hip, and, because he -was- a Veliki, even if he was male, he carried a Veliki Warblade, slung over his shoulder.

Now, there were two major types of 'warblade' in the ORA. First, there was the type used by Ascended Nobles, which was a four foot hand-and-a-half sword with a single large jewel set in the pommel, made of the blue-tinted metal called 'Eldensteel.'

Second, there was the Veliki warblade, which was sixty inches long and made of Iridium. Yeah, that's right. Iridium. See, Velik was a heavy gravity world. Of course, so was Northfell, homeworld of Jackson Straker's race, but Velik had a gravity even -heavier- than Northfell.

Thus, the decidedly large stature.

Anyways.

The 1.32 gravities standard on this planet was heavier than Nexus, but quite a bit less than Northfell's two gees, and Straker was a native Northfellian. So, while the grad students went about their business, Straker and Xelos set out into the spaceport area. Xelos brought with him a high-detail vidcam and a satchel of datchips. This was in addition to the cameras fitted into the helmets of all member of the team.

[[OOC: OK, maybe I can spare a little time right now...even with a big test comming up. *gulp*]]

Lutria Westone was lucky enough to be on the first shuttle down...and unlucky enough to be the last one out the airlock. A mere 4'7, she was probably the smallest person to journey here...and being an elf a bit more distant from humans then Noldor, she was probably the most nude. She didn't need an environment suit, certainly wouldn't be comfortable in one, and such a thing would probably fit her like an oversized bag.

Of course, she had other needs, which with the help of a few rare (and mostly foreign) magical items she could provide.

So when she stepped off the shuttle, she felt the environment's full power. The heavy gravity (which had already been apparant in flight and on landing), the thick, hot, humid, methane air smelt and felt foul. On the other hand, it also felt full of life. A look around confirmed those feelings.

Viewed from the outside landing area, the old spaceport stood in ruin. It's grand stone (was it stone?) arcitecture was partly collapsed, and life of all sorts grew up around it. Even here on the old landing pad strange grasses and weeds broke through the cracks to find the dim light that glowed through the clouds.

Hadn't the humans said something about the plants eating invisible light that the clouds couldn't stop? Whatever THAT meant. Lutria knew nothing of science.

Walking over to a vine growing up a column, she observed a flower head height...that is to say, fairly low to the ground...picked it, and put it carefully into a small leather bag that hung at her waist. The first sample she thought, and a smile crossed her face.

Jackson Straker frowned at the door. The reason for his frowning was obvious. The door...was shut.

He sighed and began searching about for some sort of opening mechanism, then, finding none, waved his large Veliki friend over.

Xelos sighed and removed his cutting bar from its belt clip. It was a standard Revenian model, with only one powered side. It resembled a conventional crowbar, with the curved 'hook' end replaced with an eight-bladed powered cutting end.

He set the straighter pry-blade into the crack where the two side of the door met, and braced himself. Then he pushed.

Now, for the record, Xelos wasn't particularly big or strong for a Veliki, but he was -still- a Veliki. That poor door didn' stand a chance. It sprung open with gusto, and Xelos clipped the bar back onto his belt.

Straker stepped inside, removing a rather hefty flashlight from his belt. He flicked it on, and played it about the room, whistling appreciatively as he did so.

"What the pock d'ya make of it, Xel?"

"Hangar, Jack. 'sa pockin' Hangar."

Straker's tall friend was quite correct. It was, indeed, a Hanger. Evidenced by the large door leading outside, and what appeared to be some sort of flying machine...

Armored Boots hit ancient rock, as the pair approached the craft. Straker was just about to examine it close-up, when one of his grad students stuck her head in through the door.

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"We've got all the gear packed into the Grizzly, and it's read to roll," said the grad student, a tall, attractive female by the name of Nicole Jensen.

"Alright, Nikki. Have Ben bring it around to just outside that big door over there. Xelos and I will open it up, and we can bring the Grizzly on in. I have a feeling I'm going to need some of my more, uhm, esoteric, tools."

"Got it, Prof."

As she went off to tell Ben Warner, the other grad student, Straker and Xelos approached the large door.

"Damn. What is -with- this place and difficult to open doors. Xel, you take one side, I'll take the other."

The big Veliki nodded, and set his cutting bar between to the two sections of the door. He pulled back until enough space had cleared for him to get his hands into action. He then clipped the bar, grabbed one side of the door, and pulled back.

Moments later, Jack Straker took the other side, and pulled. He wasn't as strong as the big Veliki, by any means, but he was sufficiently strong. His race had evolved on a two-gee planet, this was -not- a two-gee planet. He might not be freakishly powerful like Xelos, but what he was, was sufficient.

The two men had opened the doors almost all the way, and Ben Warner parked alongside the strange craft. He killed the engine and hopped out, followed by Nikki, soon after.

Ben was about five eleven, weighed maybe one hundred seventy s.pounds, had brown hair and brown eyes. Nikki was five ten, maybe one hundred fifty s.pounds, with flame-red hair, and silver specks in her green eyes.

They had changed out of their E-suits into simple protective clothing and breath masks. For them, the suits were unwanted encumberance. Jack, and especially Xelos, barely noticed that they were wearing armor.

"So, Ben, whaddya think of this thing?" Jack asked.

"Well, Prof., let me take a look."

Ben's preferred field of specialty was the technical aspect of Xenoarcheology. He specialized in everything from aquaducts to esoteric forms of Faster-than-light travel.

He began to walk about the craft, peering at it intently.

"Strange. Cool, but strange. 's obviously built aerodynamically, 'n these wings look t' be variable geometry to me. These are definately air breathing engines, for certain. What they'd call a 'Turbofan' back on Earth. Lookin' like a pretty classic old earth fighter design, just on a larger scale. And this is why. Back here, see. These two thrusters here are for the turbofans, hell, this suckers even got afterburners. But this big nozzle in the middle, this is a pockin' fusion torch."

Straker blinked, "So you're saying that this is sucker is designed for aerospace ops?"

Ben nodded, "Yup, that's what it looks like."

Ben examined the craft further, "Erm, Prof? I think I'm gonna spend a bit of quality time with this baby, alright? Uhm, you could just leave me my gear and head off, if you want..."

Jack laughed, "No, Ben. I think Xelos and I are going to look around a bit more. This complex itself seems to offer all kinds of opportunities."

Nikki frowned, "I hate to leave you alone, Ben, but..."

Ben smiled, "Hey, no problem Nikki. I wouldn't wanna stick around while you were checkin' out livin' stuff, either. Go have with the Prof."

Nikki intended to pursue a dual doctorate in Xenobiology and Xenoarchaeology. Y'see, there was a reason that Jack Straker had chosen these two grad students to go with him on this trip. Together, they could handle both spectrums of xenoarchaeology.

Straker's skill, and Xel's, for that matter, was getting the specialists to their subjects. Jack was a first rate 'discoverer,' instead of an analyst.

But, anyways. He set out back into the hallway, and, followed by the big Veliki and Nikki, continued his exploration.

Ben was in constant radio contact with the prof, and the medium-frame pistol on his right thigh wasn't just for show. Jack wasn't worried about the kid. Blessing, that was.

The Al-Imvad crew began seeking quarters in the cleared out-area of the complex, though this mainly meant finding enough bunks in a group in the portable habitats that had been set up in an open field. Having sorted and loaded their gear onto all terrain transports, they decided to call it a night. The main group retired to the bukhouse, but the leaders of teh expidition, Cnl Roberts and Prof Smecker, stayed up, discussing the upcoming mission.

"Well, prof, this is gonna be a heck of an expidition. The trucks are loaded and we'll be ready to go first thing in the morning. I don't expect any trouble, but I am worried, the parts of the facility that I was don't look as unused as we've been told."

"That's because we were on the twenty somethingith shuttle to the surface; and half the people here probably only care about finding relics. We know that the most valuable thing on this palnet will be the animals and plants. Just a few good DNA samples could provide us with the ultimate weapon platform."

"Yeah, but I can't help wondering if there's anything valuable to be had from the rest of this planet."

"Not much of a chance, besides we aren't equipped to find out... hey didja hear that there are some other Imvadjans here?"

"No, do you know who they are?"

"Not much, but they didn't come here on government buisiness, I can tell you that. I only know because I saw somebody carrying some Al-Imvad weatherproof gear through the halls, and he wasn't one of us."

"And nobody else would have any, not unless they were extremely lucky."

Ben Warren had made a number of discoveries in the last few hours. First, the mysterious craft was a transport of some sort. Second, who ever had built it, had built it to last. Third, it wouldn't take much fiddling on his part to make the ship, which he had dubbed a 'Marine Attack Transport,' flyable again.

Of course, there was still the matter of fuel...

But, anyways, he was definately going to be taking this sucker home with him. Thus, the tag he'd just quick-welded to the side. It read 'Property of the University of Nexus Department of Archaeology.'

The Quick-welding process wasn't perfect, but it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to hold something in place, relatively securely, until it was necessary to be removed.

Luckily, 'nuff, the only -easy- way to remove it without residue was a rather complex process that couldn't be done in the field. Other methods existed, but, again, none that would work in the field.

So, effectively, that sucker was stayin' on until someone blew it off. 'n that'd mean that Ben Warner was dead, and -that'd- mean that Jack Straker was -pissed.-

'n one thing that a guy did -not- want to ever experience, was Sergeant Major (Ret.) Jackson Straker, Revenian Fleet Marines Marauder/Recon, when he was pissed off.

Ben Warren had no intention of dying, though. So it was pretty much a null point.
----

Nikki Jensen examined the plant intently. Jack Straker checked to make sure she had her sidearm with her, then nodded.

"Nikki, Xelos and I are gonna continue on. 'f you get worried, head back to Ben, alright?"

She nodded absently, absorbed in her work, and Jack and Xelos padded off.

Jack grinned up at his tall friend. "Well, Xel, whaddya think?"

"I think you're a shameless old fart, Jack."

Jack Straker laughed, then, "Fah, it was -your- idea."

Xelos joined him in laughter, and the two friends continued their exploration.

The ground trembled, as the cargo ramp dropped to the hard ground. Four light armored amphibious vehicles rolled down the large metal cargo ramp and into the wilderness of this uncharted planet.

Designated the "gator," the vehicles themselves, derivatives of the 21st century Stryker, were equipped with sophisticated scientific research equipment that were powered by a highly efficient solar generator, coupled with the standard hydrogen generator system. These vehicles were also equipped with "matching" engineering, science, living quarters, a self contained recycling life support system, and extra supplies trailers. On the ground the vehicles use all-wheel drive, while on water it is driven by rear and front mounted propellers. This convoy could survive on its own with having to replenish its supplies for at least a year.

Once all four Gators were on the ground, the shuttle that had brought the group onto the planet's surface returned to the main transport ship. After a few minutes of inactivity, one of the sealed hatches of one of the four Gators opened to reveal a figure clad in a gray standard -Noir- pressure suit. The person stepped out of the vehicle, followed by 5 others in camo pressure suits with assault rifles, who positioned themselves around the group of vehicles.

The man in the gray knelt down and picked up a handful of dirt and let it trickle down through his glove covered hands. The man then lifted up his outer tinted visor, suddenly revealing the lush green forests that had engulfed the ruins of an ancient city. The various transparent holograms and windows that cluttered the inside of his helmet, was minimized with a flick of a switch, in order to fully appreciate the grand view.

"This is Fowler...Everything appears to be clear...The troops have confirmed no hostile enemies..." said Professor Fowler, formally, until he changed the tone of his voice to a more casual tone. "You guys have got to see this...The area is beautiful...It's amazing..."

Jack scowled as he set his shoulder to the door and heaved. It jolted back another inch or so, then dropped to the ground. This particular door had been giving him quite a bit of grief, so...

"Hey, Xel, can ya give me a hand here?"

"Sure, Jack."

The big Veliki wandered over and took Jack's place, setting one shoulder to the problematic door in question. He smiled sweetly at the shorter Halfling Ascended, and heaved.

The door opened with gusto. Most things acted with gusto, when Xelos Carvelis acted upon it. One of the reasons he had been an interrogator was his rather, uhm, imposing presence.

He was actually only medium-sized for a Veliki, but his nine feet were quite impressive to a normal-sized humanoid. Secondly, he was heavy. Velik was a -very- heavy g world, and -very- heavy g worlds tended to produce either very small peoples, or very large peoples.

Now, add onto that the fact that his skin was black. Not african-american pseudo-brown 'black,' but obsidian black. He usually kept his long black hair in a braid, and his eyes were a very sharp, defined emerald green.

This, combined with the fact that he could, and on at least one occasion, had, arm wrestled a guy in power armor, and won, made his very presence quite and intimidating one.

'n the scary thing? He wasn't a fighter.

Y'see, he was a Veliki -Male.- The ratio of females to males among the Veliki was something like 100:1, and that was the result of millenia of work by the immortal 'Survivalist Council.'

Male Veliki never entered a profession that could endanger their lives, or their ability to procreate. Of course, exceptions did exist, Lord Protector Velis Levin, to name the most prominent one.

Protector Levin, formerly Colonel Levin of the Second Northfell Light Rangers, was the only Male Veliki to date to have actively pursued a life of combat. In the end, his choice had allowed Velik to gain a seat on the ORA Grand Council, and Colonel Levin had returned home to take his father's place as Lord Protector.

Jack Straker smiled at his large companion, "What say you we head back and check up on Ben 'n Nikki, hmm?"

"Sounds like a plan, S.Maj."

Jack eyed Xelos, "Then step to it, Corp."

The two laughed, and set off back to the hanger, where Ben was still fiddling with the Marine Attack Transport, and Nikki had returned with a sample of plant life, which she was now analyzing with the equipment stored onboard the Grizzly.

Jack wandered over to Ben, "How's it goin'?"

Ben looked up at the returning Professor, "Prof., kin you fly this thing?"

Jack blinked, "Why?"

Ben smiled, "'cuz if yu can, we've got a flier."

Jack blinked, and ducked into the big hybrid through the small fore hatch. He padded up front, and checked the controls. Sliding into the pilot's seat, he let his hands rest on the proper devices, and nodded slowly.

Jack turned his head, to face Ben, who'd followed him inside.

"Yeah, I can fly it. What kinda capabilities are we talkin'?"

Ben grinned, "That's the best part, Prof. As you know, it's got hybrid aerospace capabilities, but I also found a rather ingenious vectored thrust system, and an onboard fuel converter. Stuff a carbon-base substance in there, and bippedy-boppedy-boop, your fuel gauge rises."

Jack nodded, "'n from what I've seen of the cargo bay, this sucker 'kin hold the Grizzly. Y'know, Ben, I believe this is the first time I've actually flown an artifact off a sight, when the plane I'm flying -is- the artifact."

They both laughed for a bit at that, then left the plane. Ben went to enlist Nikki to load the Grizzly onto the plane, and Jack and Xelos went outside to climb to the roofs and survey for potential points of interest.

Well, that, and check out the competition.

He'd seen some of the teams who'd shipped out here, and they all seemed to be carrying ludicrous amounts of equipments, and travelling with simply incredible numbers of people.

Jack's preferred team size for an expedition like this was four. The only reason to bring more was if you wanted to do full-scale analysis on site, and that was simply -stupid- unless one had sole rights to a site.

Jackson Straker didn't do long-term stationary digs. That kind of stuff simply didn't appeal to him, and it most assuredly didn't make best use of his talents. That kind of thing was better left to other people, who specialized in that sort of thing.

Jack tweaked the magnification up, his visor overlaying the enhanced image. Xelos was doing much the same, but the two were searching for different things.

Xelos was doing a survey for anything that jutted out of the jungle. Jack was getting a closer look at the new arrivals. As he focused in on a face, it was cross-referenced with a databank onboard the Grizzly, loaded with copies of 'Who's Who among Xenoarcheologists,' and the Revenian Intelligence Directorate's 'Who's Who.'

Y'see, individuals like Jackson Straker had connections. For example, Straker was the godfather of one Sir Jaime Coldfist. Jaime's father was Harm Coldfist, one of Jack's oldest friends. Harm Coldfist ran the Revenian Intelligence Directorate. Getting the idea yet?

Jack hrrmed to himself, as he ran over faces. Nobody particularly important, as of yet. So. He continued his surveillance, mostly to kill time until Xelos had chosen the next site.

Mostly.

Professor Smecker awoke and rushed over to Professor Straker, though they had never met, Smecker had read about Straker in several articles on xenoarcheology.
“Doctor Straker, I presume?”

“Why yes, though it’s professor, have we met before?”

“Let me introduce myself, I am professor Smecker, from the Al-Imvad research institute. We haven’t met before but I’ve read about some of your previous work. I’m surprised to see someone of your stature out on a planet like this. My team is over there, the buggies with the red flags…
“I was wondering if your group might help us out a little, you see we want to know which direction we should head to find a good site for a temporary station, after we cross the little river to the east that is. I heard that you’ve acquired a jet of some sort and was wondering if you could do a little scouting for us. We’ll be on radio frequency 27, and our buggies have a receiver range of 100 miles.”

___________________

Meanwhile on the other side of the facility…

Jeff Brown was packing his backpack. He had slept uneasily all night, hoping that no other Imvadjans had come to the planet. His deserting from the AISS Kanttuchdis had been a bad idea, and now he lived in fear of hitmen coming to knock on his motel door with a message direct from the Security Service about why it was a Bad Idea to run away with state secrets. He had hoped that by jumping aboard Megan he would get away from any retribution. However it was now seeming to have been a bad idea, as he was stuck on a harsh planet, and every time he saw someone, he felt like he was about to be attacked.

Jeff had nothing to his name except a pistol, a set of weatherproof gear, and some random equipment he’d taken from the hold of the shuttle he’d come down on. He didn’t even know what most of it was for.

Jack peered intently at this Professor Smecker individual. Of course, Jack Straker -did- hold Doctorates in Xenoarchaeology, Geology, and Xenobiology, to name a very small fraction. He also had a Medical Doctorate with a specialization in alien lifeforms.

He considered the offer for a few moments, then nodded. "Aye, I guess I shouldn't have a problem helping out a fellow knowledge-seeker. Alright Professor Smecker, when we move on, I'll fly a bit out towards the east and take a look-see. Anything else I can do for you?"

He punctuated that last statement with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope, just tell us what the terrain looks like. I'll try to keep in touch with you if I can."

OOC: So far there is not enough weirdness. The gods of sillyness demand a sacrifice!

IC:

The ride down on the shuttle had been singularly uneventful - boring in fact. If Doctor Lkij'Sadf Ihadf had had the muscles to roll his eyes he would have as he watched yet another huge terrain rover lumber off into the jungle where they would undoubtably run over far more samples than they would retrieve. He had a better solution of course and he pulled out the four large crates that contained the transportation for himself and his drones.

With a mental command the three drones lined up, one to a crate, and faced them as he did. They were dumb - a well trained dolphin could beat them at chess - but they could follow instructions with some firm mental reinforcement. He opened the crate and the drones did the same, each lifting out the part of something that immediately looked like a flying contraption of some kind. A harness was assembled to a frame and large turbo-fan assemblys added to this. Then all four donned these contraptions and stepped off to one side of the clearing for testing. With a roar the fans surged to life and began lifting the trilat's off the ground.

'This will do quite well - well indeed.' Doctor Lkij'Sadf Ihadf thought as he manipulated the controls and began to drift around. He was slaving the drone's system to his so they would follow him around and he didn't really notice that he was drifting closer and closer to the jungle edge. That is until he passed too close to an undoubtably unsampled group of flying insectoids buzzing around a large magnificent flower. With a whoosh the flower tore free and it along with the no doubt dozens of insect species was instantly reduced to floating debris by the turbo-fans.

"Well crap..."

----

The feline android known as Boots had been forced to take a later shuttle flight due to weight concerns and had not been there to watch the Doctor's maiden flight and it's aftermath though it had heard about it from the shuttle crews. the destruction of so many samples was disheartening but it could do nothing about it now. Instead it picked up it's gear and headed straight into the jungle.

It cannot be said a 900lb combat android can pad along - though Boots seemed oblivious to the crunch and snap of thick branches as it crept deeper into the jungle. Occasionally it would stop and take samples of the local flora while keeping an eye out for the local fauna. A couple insect-ish creatures had already been sentenced and condemned to the glass cells in it's pack but it was looking for bigger prey.

----

Doctor Thignar took an entirely different approach to the whole situation - he stood in the base area and observed people. Sitting on a log he ignored the insects that began to crawl all over him and took notes on the behaviors of the various teams. Except when one looked particularly juicy that is...

One such pseudo-insect that looked especially tasty was crawling on his leg just now and he was debating eating it. Just a simple flick of the tongue... As things often work for sentients instinct overrode logic and he suddenly found the insect in his mouth and with a swallow it was struggling its way down his gullet. The taste was exquisite though there was the slight twing of something... interesting... on his tongue.

save for next post...

Jack Straker nodded at the Al-Imvadjan Professor, and looked up at his tall Veliki companion.

"Well, Xel?"

"Aye, Jack, I see something."

They nodded, turned, and set back into the compound. Ben Warner had just finished loading the team's gear, and the grizzly, onto the ancient transport, and Jack merely had to step into the cockpit, sit down, and begin pre-flight, as Ben and Xel went about sealing doors and checking for problems.

Jack taxied the hybrid transport out of the hangar, and moved the thrust nozzles into position for a short take off. He didn't want to attempt a take-off on thrust alone at this early period. Further, he didn't trust this 'Fuel Converter,' that Ben had been expounding upon earlier.

He slowly brought the turbofans to life, then punched in the 'burners, setting the big plane hopping forward. It begin to rise much sooner than would have seemed possible, and then he keyed the thruster nozzles to the rear and locked them.

He set the big hybrid transport on an eastern-bearing, and headed off towards the odd protruding tower that Xel had spotted earlier. As he was doing so, he kept an eye out for a 'site,' that the Imvadjans might be interested in...

'n time ticked on.

Lutria Westone edged along a path through the dense foilage. What had made it? She didn't know. But even if it were a game trail, she figured it would be safer to walk along it then to tread through unknown plants. Who knew what poisonous, stinging, or other type of alian flora grew here?

Something smelled good ahead...a bit of fresh air. Her nose picked it up like the faint wiff of fresh baked cookies at a sewer processing station's gaurd hut. Hurrying along, she soon found herself at...a waterhole.

Pond might have been a more accurate discription. Along the shoreline grew Earthly reeds, their particular shade of green gave them away among the alien plants. Light danced atop them...How odd she thought. But the reason struck her as soon as the thought had formed. Of course! Such horrid smog as this would burn fresh air at first chance. She was relieved that the fact she had smelled it so far away meant some good was escaping the evil attack.

Had she been a scientist, she would have known otherwise. The reeds were doing what every (Earth) plant does, photosynthesis, making oxygen from carbon dioxide. The escaping oxygen just meant that perhaps one day, the atmosphere might change over from methane to oxygen in a brief and planet wide fireball. What a thought! Too bad it hadn't occured to the elf.

So instead of spending her time wondering about the future of the planet, she turned her attention to other creatures around the pond while savoring the fresh fragrence of the reeds.

In the water, bubble-things floated up and down, capturing small alien fish. Unicorn flys, What a great name! she thought, buzzed around the reeds, some catching fire and popping like small firecrackers. And then there was that...thing...undulating on the other side of the spring.

It looked like a giant, off-white blob, and it seemed to absorb everything in it's path. But it moved so slowly. Lutria watched intensely as it osmosed its way through the trunk of a small tree...and as the tree fell on it and nearly cut in in half. The viscous creature seemed unconcerned, and moved on without injury...then stopped.

Lutria could hear it two, an awful sound of metal on metal mixed with crushing underbrush. The formless lump seemed to quiver a moment, then made with all the haste of a turtle (the fastest Lutria had seen it move yet) toward the water.

But it was too late.

A giant lizard...thing, stole out of the underbrush in a sparkle of metalflake and sprinted towards its prey. It wasn't all that fast itself, but it didn't take much to overcome the bloated hulk. The lizzard-thing's claws ripped into flesh, and the vesicle seemed to melt out.

Without pause, the shiny gecko thrust its head into the deflating blob and began to drink. Acid from the tumourous slug hissed and sizzled down the preditor's neck, revealing the armor beneath.

Again, had a scientist seen this specticle, he or she may have realized the lizzard's fine scales were metal, rusted into multi-hued art, and that the acid of the blob had eaten away the long aquired oxidation to show the mirror like surface beneath.

Lutria just watched in wonder, her mind oogling at the magic behind this display. But she felt in no danger. For even though she was much heavier on this world than others (something NO woman should need to go through, ESPECIALLY a 1.3 meter tall elf!), she knew the giant monitor was much heavier, and much slower. Besides, she was on the other side of the pond, she could get away at any time.

(OOC: Am very much looking forward to introducing some of my non-NS sci-fi creatures here... modified for the strange atmosphere, of course.)

On the flight out, Dr. Gage took his purple pill without hesitation. Geneshaper 122 and her associated neuromuscular web, however, took a great deal of time wondering whether or not theirs had been specially designed for their non-human physiology, followed by trying to figure out how a creature that lacks a mouth or gut was supposed to absorb the thing. But it all worked out in the end, and they woke up on arrival perfectly sane. Or at least no less sane than they were before, which wasn't really saying much.

The pair (or trio, one could never be sure of these sorts of things when it came to amorphous symbionts) began their explorations by taking a walk around the periphery of the nearest forested area. After some few hundred meters, Geneshaper's sharp eye caught sight of a tentacle slithering out of sight into the foliage, and the group turned inwards.

While Jerome Gage took his time carefully picking his way through the alien undergrowth, Geneshaper took to the branches and began swinging seemingly effortlessly between them, and in very little time caught up with the creature that had drawn them in, doing much the same thing.

The creature lay draped over a branch.Its soft body inflated as it pressed air against its body cavity to force exchange of the small amount of oxygen available. It raised one tentacle-borne eyeball and stared at Geneshaper. And then, it flowed off of its branch, and onto the one below.

The Al-Imvad team got into their transports, and cruised throught the jungle eastward. They traveled quickly along an area of thined brush, perhaps an old path from the previous inhabitants, toward the small river. After fording the slow moving but suprisingly clear river, the team was on a small beach, staing into an impenentrable wall of jungle.

They got to work beatng a path through the jungle, forcing their way through the thinner parts, the trucks plowing over thin trees, and the team hacking away at the thick ones. Over a period of twelve hours, they managed to force a slightly curvy path wide enough for the trucks to proceded single file. It covered a one mile from the riverbank to the end of the forced path through the jungle.

It was the end of the forced path, but not the end of the jungle. The team had come upon a 25 foot wide cobblestone road that curved throught the jungle. Though grasses and some scrub had come up through the spaces between the stones, it was a high class road compared to the near-impassible dirt track they had just made.

Professor Smecker examined its construction.
"It looks to be of similar construction to Roman roads, but very different. If you look, the stones all start along this line, their edges all form a single, strait endline for the road. But if you look at the sides of the road, the larger stones are allowed to jut out past the smaller ones. The Builders seem to have wanted to make an obvious, symbolic stoping point. The road also seems wide and strong enough to land a VTOl craft on, in fact I bet if we were to climb the trees surrounding it we'd find signs of their branches being cropped back some time previously. Also, I don't know if you've noticed this but the forest we just exited is young growth compared to the trees around us now, that area was probably kept relatively clear, maybe a vehicle path of some sort. Let's get going, we may be able to reach whatever is at the other end of this road by nightfall, I'd say we ahve another 8 hours of daylight left, so we should use it."

The team got back into the trucks and proceeded down the road at high speed.

Light was fading now, and turing the alien atmosphere into a glowing inferno. Not only was the sunset beautiful through the branches of the trees, but there was something else.

Brenard's star was actually a double system, two almost red-dwarf stars with a 700 year orbital period. Each put out only a small fraction of the energy Sol did, and this living planet hovered closer to the larger one in want of heat. Further out and it would have died in the cold vacuum of space.

So close, it was only the planets strong magnetosphere that protected life from solar flares bound by the small star's lesser gravity. This all made for spectacular planet-wide auroras.

But none of this made sense to Lutria, to her it was magic. And watching the show through the dark silhoute of the leafy trees, she decided quite matter-of-factly that she would have to climb a mountain and bottle some of the show.

But for now, her eyes turned downward. In the last vestiges of the shadow of a tree, what were once transparant flowers were now quite obviously glowing a vibrant violet. Were they glowing before, only to be drowned out by the sun's red light? Or did they glow only at night?

Whever the case, Lutria decided that a few of them should glow forever more. And so she carefully dug a patch of flowers from the soft earth, and placed them in a large glass jar. Sealed, the flowers would never die, never change, never stop glowing unless the magic jar broke.

With a smile of satisfaction, she placed the jar back in it's small leather pouch, which showed no evidence of having anything in it at all.

And then Lutria rested against the same great tree, the lights in the sky and the slow steady breathing of the resting metal creature across the pond lulling her to sleep.

StS Megan, Brenards Star

Out against the depths of space, the mind of young Megan saw something...a ship. Small, white, slick.

It called to her in a language she didn't understand, and the world went black.

Moments later, the ship was on automatic. Airlocks slammed shut, docking alarms sounded and Megan parted from the incompletely refurbished station...and accelerated.

Crew and passangers still aboard scrambled. Some fled to lifepods, others rushed to get valuable sleep-giving drugs. The ship was headed for Jump leaving many behind. Its destination: Earth.