NationStates Jolt Archive

Terra, Orbit, over Weyr

There was quite a bit of cheering as the disfigured four-kilometer Hornet-class carrier lifted ponderously into the clear blue Terran sky, slowly propelled upward by an assortment of repolsolift drives. Thousands watched on the gray permacrete below, while Wye Skyport officials wondered whether or not it would be cost-effective to send in crowd control. It was a perfectly Weyrean solution -- when the government doesn't do what you want, do it yourself.

"Took you long enough," the communication flashed from the small Star Guard task force hanging a hundred kilometers off Earthbound Station, right over Weyrean Terra, just as it had done for the past week.

"Just...shut up," came the response.

"Whoa, there," Commodore Grumman chuckled. "We'll take you where you need to go, don't worry."

The Weyrean government -- an intern filing her nails -- had heard the would-be colonists’ proposal, and said no. The Imperial First Distributed Kingdom of Weyr did not care about colonization, warfare, or expansion. Public shelters provided three meals a day and bunks for the night. Hospitals were free. Longevity treatments made all Weyreans immortal, no matter the race or age. Weyr took care of its people, to an extent. If some minority wanted to get out of the overcrowded cities, then that was their problem and not the government's.

The dented and patched hull creaked. Bulkheads groaned. Temperamental drives whined and muttered, pushing a million tons of mithril-steel and biomass against the Terran gravity. The massive ship had no weapons systems, not for the century since it was decommissioned, and the settlers did not want to provoke anyone.

The Star Guard ships watched -- no doubt laughing, Mayor Olaf Shark thought from the bridge of the USS Unnamed. It took ten minutes for the massive vessel to clear the upper Terran atmosphere. A half-dozen smaller craft joined the Unnamed by then, some newer and some older but all bearing people with one goal. They wanted to leave the crammed spaces, to start anew, to do something worthwhile with their lives rather than sit and stare at flashing mediatrons.

Ten thousand people were packed onto the carrier and its smaller companions. No private company was willing to ship a full colony and its start-up supplies to a planet perpetually consumed by conflict, at least not for any sum that the Eighth Colonial could afford.

"Alright. Let's get this over with," Commodore Grunmann sighed, keyed into the general comm. "Unnamed, form up behind me. Aww, hell, just wait for me to get in front. All craft, assume sphere formation."

The derelict carrier's drives flared a brilliant azure, propelling the vessel towards Mars. The Ship-of-the-Line got in front, its Wave Cannon turrets pointing straight ahead. The six New Paradigm battle cruisers flanked the small procession. They were escorts, paid for by the settlers, taking the civilian ships to within several thousand kilometers of Mars and then gong back to Terra.

********
Three hours later, between Mars and Terra

The Unnamed's drives were still firing three hours later, but in a different direction. They were deccelerating the ancient vessel, slowly. An interstellar lighter could accomplish the trip in thirty minutes. They needed half a day just to get into the planet's gravity well. The Nox-class Ship-of-the-line stayed in front of the small fleet, its new engines easily keeping pace. The settlers had paid the Star Guard well to provide protection from the Tyranids.

"Estiated time is four hours," Hornet sighed, watching a poker game develop between the avatars of the Star Guard craft. She was the avatar of the Unnamed, until they reached Mars, at which time she would be a constructed-intelligence stuck on Mars in the middle of a war. She sat on the bridge of the Unnamed, formerly known as the WSGS Hornet, in the chair originally reserved for the ship captain, watching stars drift past the heavy stresglass portholes. New Weyrean ships did not have bridges, but this one did.

OOC:
The Unnamed is a 4.6-kilometer ship that was decommissioned over a century ago. It has no weapons systems, and is incapable of mounting them, because it was not designed to carry weapons. The other craft are 11 small 140-meter lighters, which have about a dozen heavy anti-fighter gatlings between them.

The Star Guard ships consist of a Nox-class Ships-of-the-Line(1km) and six New Paradigm-class cruisers(260meters), which are contracted to take the settlers to a distance twice as far away from Mars as Phobos' farthest point away from that planet.

The settlers are quite unaffiliated with the Weyrean government, and are heading towards the unclaimed space in the northern Martian ocean.
on this map (http://www.sunsetrpg.com/mapofmars.html), their target is about two centimeters left (west) of the upper-left 7, above Menelmacari territory.

All of this is IC info, and is publicly available of the Star Guard website, network, and news ticker.

Are they mad? Captain Gregor Burns asked himself from high Martian Polar Orbit. But he knew it was unlikely. Nieve, desperate, perhaps hopeful, but not mad. The same seemed to describe most everyone on Mars, including his own superiors.

When would someone realize? The battle wasn't to be in space, not with an enemy of this nature. The battle would be on the ground. And unless, until every one of the alien lifeforms in the Martian biosphere was sterilized, the threat would always be present.

Cpt. Burns shuttered at the thought of the Tyranids finding Imperium bioweapons that might still be lurking in the tunnels and crevices of Mars. In some ways, the cold of space was more welcoming and safe then the chaos of life on a planet....

******

A shadowy organization within Wazzu watched the movement of the makeshift colony ship with a different mindset. Long bereft of the trappings of most ethics, but bound to protect it's birthing nation, it saw the Weyr travelers in much the same light it saw most things that were not threats...an oppertunity.

A "messenger" was sent to the group in a small, personal aerospace craft. Increasingly common, it was nothing to draw attention to itself...save perhaps the impending colonists.

"Unnamed, we got a parasite coming in. Want us to shoot it down," the inquiry flashed from the Ship-of-the-Line.

"Hell no," Hornet responded instantly, jerking out of the command chair. "Can you handle a relay?" the Unnamed's main comm array had been sheared off during liftoff, so the ancient craft had to rely on its surrounding vessels for navigation and long-range communications.

"Sure," came the response. Relays were simple to do, and the idiots gping to Mars were probably not coming back either way.

"Alright. Patch us through. Directional beam."

"Done."

"Unidentified craft, this is the avatar of the colony ship Unnamed, please state your intentions," Hornet spoke quickly via the external comm uplink. The transmission was voice-only, and the former carrier was not equipped to handle visual in any case.

"And...Mahal's hammer. What in god's name is this all about?"

Azemilcar bowed low, evidencing his displeasure in quite the same manner as the on-edge Andvari was. The setting was not the depths of Barazûn, instead it was the trenches of the Qaaolchouraav Line, facing Noachia and waiting for the glimpse of something chitinous and scythed. Everybody was on edge, from rumors of renewed Mindflayer activity to rumors of north-bound Tyranids, and today was not the day to be a colony ship intent on landing in Liangite territory.

"Settlers, sir. Apparently unaware of our admittedly recent colonization of the sea to the south. From what I can tell they are private, though Weyrean in ethnicity and it is from that country they get their resources and homeland."

"My god. Can you get a message to Rigul up there? I'd take it myself but..."

"Of course, sir, I understand the workload. I will have it done, Uzbad."

Without another word the two dwarves parted, one headed for a disconcerting amount of work of all types and the other to relay a message to the human Star Marshal that was currently in control of the combined warfleets circling Mars.

MESSAGE TO: Private colonial ship of Weyrean origin
MESSAGE FROM: Liangite Star Navy, 4th-8th Warfleets. Star Marshal Antaru Rigul.
CONCERNING: Lack of information and intent to breach national sovereignty.

Friends in Weyr: It has come to our attention that a sizable colonial ship, apparently of the Weyrean Star Guard origin, is intent on landing in space forming part of the Liangite Colony of Barazûn, headed by the Uzbad Andvari II, unaware that this area is under the sovereignty of the Domain of Northwestern Liang. To make this story very short, Barazûn in particular and Mars as a whole is under great stress at the moment, and we are not up to finagling with ill-mannered squatters. Parasitic activity in this time of great distress is not welcome, and I am sure that the Star Guard is more than capable of dealing with this threat. I can assure you, if they are not, we are.

Cordially,
Antaru Rigul
Star Marshal of the Combined Warfleets
Northwestern Liang

The Star Marshal, for his part, was not known for his diplomacy. He was not a dwarf, and frankly he cared but little if the Khazad on Mars felt him too blunt. An edge is what diplomatic envoys need, he felt, and this was certainly what his communique entailed.

OCC: I should have gone to Mars when I had the chance...oh well.

Is this open? If so:

IC:

Passing through the sol system is the cruiser RGSV Ali Farka Toure. Typical of RGF (Robotic Galactic Flotilla) ships, it is spherical in shape, a design that supposedly gives a ship excellent all-around protection. Perhaps the fact that very few other nations (if any) operate spherical ships is a testament to this design philosophy.

But a sphere does give a vessel plenty of volume, and with a diameter of slightly over .6 km, the Ali Farka Toure could boast one of the largest volumes in the independent cruiser class. Taking up a sizable portion of that internal space is a shipment of god knows what bound for Wazzu, probably superconducting elements and terraforming machinery, built by the huge state industrial complexes out in the boondocks.

"Attention, Wazzu space traffic control. This is the RGSV Ali Farka Toure . Requesting permission to dock and offload preregistered cargo, over."

The cruiser would have to dock in orbit or have its cargo shuttled from orbit to the Martian surface. While its drives are powerful, launching a giant sphere into space from a planet who's gravitational attraction is far from negligible would be difficult and costly on a good day.

"This is interesting...we are currently reading on our passive-optical scanners a ship, Weyrian in origin, which appears to be pieced together out of several older models, a ship which was taken out of service about a century ago prominent among them."
"I wonder what they are doing? It is a large ship...four kilometers, escorted by several smaller ships. Could it be a colony ship?"
"I doubt that its a freighter."

USS Unnamed, Bridge

"Erm...we have a problem," Hornet keyed into the command levels of the small assembly's Net. This was becoming exciting. She did not like excitement. Excitement resulted in ships getting shot at.

"What?" the mayor asked, incredulous, from a kilometer away, thought-words carried on the ship's Net.

"It's taken," she included the update along with her words.

"How can it be taken!?"

"It is."

"Dammit. All stop.

"We have a multi-ton craft. I can't just -stop- it," the avatar responded tersely. Another part of her artificial 'brain' was already going through possible solutions.

"Well...deal with it."

Hornet did deal with it, in a fashion. A derelict, multi-million-ton mass equipped with scavenged drives was not particularly capable of stopping on a dime, but the surrounding Star Guard craft were. Tractor beams and boarding cables lanced towards the Unnamed’s hull. Arachnoweave threads stretched taut. Hulls groaned. Drives whined, spinning up to speed. Bulkheads on the Unnamed twisted, split in places under inertial stress. Bits sheared off the hull, hurtling towards Mars and possibly beyond. In the silence of space, each ship was an individual world of shrieking metal.

"You owe us one," Commodore Grumman sent, ten minutes later, as the massive craft finally halted.

"You're paid for delivery, not for what happens," Hornet responded, going over the damage.

"Well," Grumman snorted, chuckled. "Maybe you're right."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
USS Unnamed, Council Room

The room was originally used as a mess hall, according to Hornet. Things groaned as the vessel decelerated too rapidly for its aged frame. The thrum of overstrained drives reverberated through the floor and bulkheads. Being stuck in a rusting heap of metal held together by thaumaturgy and luck as much as by bolts and welding had everyone on edge.

"....We do not have a choice..."

"....Try again in a few years, or we look for another spot....."

["...What if we offer our services..

"...I'm sure they'd accept...

The voices rose up. They were the elected representatives of this colony. Most of them were male, although not all were Weyrean, and there were only a few humans.

"Order!" the mayor shouted, "We are approximately two thirds of the way to our destination. We will see if there is any more unclaimed space available, and decide then. Vote is up. All in favor of offering military service..."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
To: Liangite Star Navy, 4th-8th Warfleets. Star Marshal Antaru Rigul.
From: First Independent Colonial Council, Unnamed
Re: Lack of information and intent to breach national sovereignty.

We have made our intentions on landing in the said area for several months, and apologize for any misunderstandings. I ask if there is any available space still available on the planet of Mars, and if we would be permitted to land there. I assure you that we are more than capable of founding a self-sufficient colony, and will not attempt to drain the local resource base in any way, and can even pay for the space we occupy if given time. Having said that, a portion of our current populace has served in the High Guard and the Star Guard, and we even have several combat alchemists in our ranks. They ask if they can be of help in the war against the Tyranids.

Sincerely,
Hornet,
First Independent Colonial Council

MESSAGE TO: Private colonial ship of Weyrean origin
MESSAGE FROM: Liangite Star Navy, 4th-8th Warfleets. Star Marshal Antaru Rigul.
CONCERNING: Request for colonization.

Weyrean friends,

It is with a heavy heart I must deny you. We have already parceled out pieces of the territory to a considerable menagerie of nations, and have no intention of giving out any more. I suggest just a bit more research before setting out on vast voyages with multi-kilometer colony ships, or perhaps when the colony in question isn't involved in a multi-front war. Not to say we need help with it, as the manner of men aboard such ships would be quite...inefficient? against Tyranid hordes or the Gods of R'lyeh and their spawn. Thanks, but no thanks.

Regards and Best Wishes,
Antaru Rigul
Star Marshal of the Liangite Star Navy
Northwestern Liang

To: Liangite Star Navy, 4th-8th Warfleets. Star Marshal Antaru Rigul.
From: First Independent Colonial Council, Unnamed
Re: Request for colonization.

We are quite sure that there is still unclaimed space on Mars, or, barring that, that some arrangements may be made with other entities.

Sincerely,
Hornet,
First Independent Colonial Council

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In the meanwhile, a general query went out asking if the other areas still labeled as 'empty' on the settlers' map was available.

OCC: Out of curiosity, what are the Tyranids?

Message To: First Independent Colonisation Council, Spacecraft Unnamed
Message Fr: Offices of the Markhreifi, Kel Arikhant, Tekhat Maraldi
Message Re: Your Query

Esteemed Councilpersons, you will be pleased to learn that there is in fact land avaliable upon the surface of Mars. Much of the ocean area immediately adjacent to the Northwestern Liangese colony of Barazûn is unclaimed.*

However, floating colonies can be difficult to construct, and there is dry land avaliable in the Southern Hemisphere; known as the Eniqciri Development Zone, as the nation of Eniqcir has for some time funded terraforming efforts there, it is quite possible to settle there; we ourselves mantain the Tekhat of Maraldi in this region.

There have in the past been occasional problems with the Eniqciri attempting to charge for the right to settle in the Development Zone, citing their terraforming efforts, but they have not been active for some time and in any case their fees are not substantial.

Aside from the Eniqciri terraformers, the EDZ is also home to a small population of Khristian nomads, and there are independent settlers of Aumanii extraction scattered close to the Aumanii border in the South. Given the current Tyranid invasion of Santa Barbara, you will want to avoid the North.

While at present our orbital resources are insufficient to assist you in reaching the Martian surface, we wish you all the best, and hope that we have been of some assistance.

Markhreif Ktiryar-Radukh ea Seingult
Markhreif Ksraiszenar-Rakhenakh ea Seingult
Markhreifane Raikhen-Aira ea Seingult
Markhreifi Tekhat Maraldi
Arikhenikh Communion


OOC:
*To the best of my knowledge, NWLiang only claimed a smallish section of the watery bit; there should be plenty more.

There's Weird Stuff going on with the map in the EDZ; Kelshan, who has yet to RP landing, has been added, while Midlonia, who has, has not. So you can pretty much assume that Kelshan isn't there, but what there *is* there is a blob, about the size of Cimmerium (Kajal Mars' southern bit over on the right hand side of the map), down at the border between Auman and Nerdom.

I'd also personally appreciate it if you'd avoid surrounding my little blob. :) Otherwise I'd have to organise some overflight thingy. Hrrm. Maybe if you drew a line right down the middle of Maraldi, and took the space left of that, bordered on the North by Snel Argyre, on the West by Taraskovyan Stribog, on the South by Nerdom, and on the east by Maraldi and the EDZ? It's just a suggestion, of course, but that ought to be about enough land for a decent sized colony; my very rough calculations give it a surface area of 210,000km3.

On Tyranids, for LRR. Spawned on some nameless, ruined world in a distant galaxy, the Tyranid menace has evolved to do one thing; eat planets. Tyranid Hive Fleets descend upon worlds, send down gajillions of horrible clawed fanged scythed chitinous monstrosities to remove any sentient resistance, and then strip the planet of all biomass. Then they move on to another planet, and repeat the process. Currently they're contained in Santa Barbara, but it could be a near thing...

OOC: Nope, Tsaraine, the whole watery bit was claimed by Barazûn. If it was just a piece we wouldn't be able to border the nations necessary. We parceled off a piece to FACS, and in future a piece of Barazûn proper on the ice will be given to The Athiest's Reality (and both of them have supported ICly the Liangite maneuver to take ze rest). Otherwise, yeah, the entirety of it. I'd guess Tsaraine's suggestion would be your best bet, peaceful nations and new blood are always welcome on Mars, as Sunset tells me. :)

OOC: Eeep. Didn't realise you'd snaffled all of it. Ah well, the EDZ is still good.

[[OOC: WOW!]]

ISC Maybalie, Martian Orbit, Approaching Colony Craft

"Unidentified craft, this is the avatar of the colony ship Unnamed, please state your intentions,"

The foreign voice came over the small craft's speakers. Jenna opened her mouth to speak but was interupted by a fresh stream from other radio sources. She listened for a while as various people haggled over Martian land, and finally found her opening to respond.

"Weyr Colony Ship, this is Independant SpaceCraft Mabalie," Jenna almost chuckled at the understatement...it wasn't much larger than an automobile, "requesting docking permission to discuss relations.

"I know a place where you might land...." THAT should get their attention she thought with satisfaction.


EDIT:

Ares Space Station, Martian Orbit


"Attention, Wazzu space traffic control. This is the RGSV Ali Farka Toure . Requesting permission to dock and offload preregistered cargo, over."


"LRR Starship, this is Ares Control, permission granted to dock at port 9-9-Alpha. Please note combat is taking place in orbit at this time, dock at your own risk."

The station, home to over 20 million, wasn't inside the battle area at this time, but as a station it had no means of altering its orbit. Should the Tyranids get near, the station couldn't flee.

OOC: *Wonders what Wazzu has planned*

To: Offices of the Markhreifi, Kel Arikhant, Tekhat Maraldi
From: First Colonial Council
Re: Query

Thank you for the information and suggestions. Unfortunately, our current sources indicate that the northern hemisphere is completely claimed, and that it would be impossible to come to any viable arrangement on the matter.

While we would like to avoid the Tyranids, none of our people will refuse to fight them if need be.

Sincerely,
First Colonial Council,
Spacecraft Unnamed

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Between Mars and Terra, UUSS Unnamed, Bridge

"Mabalie, parasite bay six is open and ready,"[/i] the response flashed back instantly. The last part did get Hornet's attention, and she instantly relayed the information to the Council, although she doubted anyone had heard her words. "Visual indicator is blue red green."

The avatar wondered if she would have time to get to the parasite bay in question. It was a long walk -- the makeshift colony ship's internal trains did not work -- but it was the only bay available.

Jenna didn't waste time landing on the colony ship, and despite what must have been a long walk, was pleased to discover Hornet waiting for her. [[OOC: Just to speed things up. :) ]] She didn't waste time getting started either.

"Have a map?" she asked, and pointed to a place on the Red Planet as soon as one was available. "There. The Kekkosman people left some time ago, my government has been watching over the territory ever since. Whether you can stay or not is up to the Duma, but I can push my government to support it...if you promise to take care of the land.

"I have it under very good authority that no one is going to oppose your landing there." Certainly no one listened to. she left the thought unsaid.

"Anyhow, that should quelm any fears you have of life support." Jenna looked around, untrusting of the old rust bucket. "But you're aware we may all soon be alien chow, right? I think we can help each other in that if your willing...."

[[OOC: WOW!]]

ISC Maybalie, Martian Orbit, Approaching Colony Craft



The foreign voice came over the small craft's speakers. Jenna opened her mouth to speak but was interupted by a fresh stream from other radio sources. She listened for a while as various people haggled over Martian land, and finally found her opening to respond.

"Weyr Colony Ship, this is Independant SpaceCraft Mabalie," Jenna almost chuckled at the understatement...it wasn't much larger than an automobile, "requesting docking permission to discuss relations.

"I know a place where you might land...." THAT should get their attention she thought with satisfaction.


EDIT:

Ares Space Station, Martian Orbit



"LRR Starship, this is Ares Control, permission granted to dock at port 9-9-Alpha. Please note combat is taking place in orbit at this time, dock at your own risk."

The station, home to over 20 million, wasn't inside the battle area at this time, but as a station it had no means of altering its orbit. Should the Tyranids get near, the station couldn't flee.


"Roger that, Ares control. Commencing docking manouvers."

With the cruiser's unusual shape, it usually has to take docking bays reserved for larger ships. The crew is not overly concerned about the prospect of combat, although they would like to avoid it. The cruiser is heavily armed and even more heavily armored, and its inbuilt design features make it quite resistant to battle damage. However, the loss of a profitable cargo would not be good by any standard.

The cruiser pulls into Ares station, and opens up its cargo bays, ready for transfer to the station. Small repair bots stand by to oversee the process and provide help where necessary.

While the Tyranids are definately a threat, the fact that one of only two RGF battlefleets is already engaged in a major conflict will have an adverse affect on the amount of aid coming from LRR.

However, it is quite possible that a few ships will be sent in to help against the Tyranids.

"Ares command, if these Tyranid creatures that we've been hearing about cause a lot of trouble, I'm sure we can arrange for the comittal of a small fleet to aid you."

"Are you sure?" Hornet asked. She was directly linked into the Council meeting, which meant that every Councilor could give his, her, or its opinion at the matter through her. "I mean, we're not exactly capable of doing much if anything goes wrong. We're not exactly going to destroy the place, but we can't leave very easily, as you can see." As if to underscore the avatar's point, the ship groaned loudly.

"I am certain no one in my government is going to oppose it." Jenna said nothing of how the Wazzu government was a bit slow at the moment...it wouldn't have mattered anyway. "No one else has a say on where you Land. If you can't stay...well, there are some other areas that may be open on Mars, and a considerable transportation system if you need to move...that is, should we all survive.

"But what are they going to tell you? To leave on a ship that can't make orbit again?" Jenna sounded incredulous. "To be honest, I doubt they will even oppose you.

"But ahh, you're going to need to pitch in. So, can we help each other?"

"We're just hoping to survive landing," the avatar chuckled grimly. "By pitch in, you mean fight on your side against the tyrranids?" she inquired carefully.

It was a major question on the Council, although the consensus was that they would fight if the had to. They might not have had the latest powered armor, or even anything approaching military standards, but some had served in the High Guard, or had been in the Clan armies, and knew how to shoot and hide, at least in urban areas.

"Is there another side? I don't think the things are going to just go around you...or anyone else.

"We don't need much, just some able bodies willing to undergo some quick training and a little less danger then if they do nothing...if a little sooner then otherwise. We're already assembling the equipment.

"So what do you say? Do you have a few pilots, a fair number of sergeants, and a lot of new souls ready to make a new home on Mars?"

OOC:
A note about the Weyrean military:
Officers are almost always promoted from the ranks, and sent to officer academies only after three years of training and three years of field experience. A standard tour of duty (contract length) for the High Guard is thirty years. Whether or not they have any augs depends on what their specialty was, but it's nothing major.

"I believe so," Hornet nodded, "We'll need to do a tally of who exactly has served where, but if you're providing the equipment, then I doubt there will be problems." We can't back out even if we want to, she did not add.

A grinding noise began to reverberate through the hull. Hornet cursed, eyes flickering momentarily as she dispatched commands over the ship Net.

"Rentry?" Jenna asked, looking genuinely nervous.

"No. Fuactor seventeen's spines almost blasted through six decks and out the hull," Hornet shrugged dismissively. The grinding continued. Footsteps pounded through the passageways above. "We'll be making planetfall in about forty minutes. Should be interesting. I've input the target vectors into the navcom...."

"Unnamed, this is the Seventh Task Force, we're at the edge of our contracted escort envelope. We'll wait here for a few, in case you want to come back," Commodore Grumman's voice sounded in the avatar's 'head'.

"Thank you, but we'll be fine," she sent back.

"As you wish."

Hornet felt the Star Guard vessels break formation, drives easily turning the agile vessels around and back towards Terra. Their guns remained pointed at the brief flashes of light that signified the Tyranid and Martian space fleets locked in battle, but at this range those deadly lights were just entertainment for the jaded hands. The small fleet was completely alone.

They were still a million kilometers from the planet, yet quite a bit closer than the contract stipulated they had had to be taken, Hornet noted.

"We'll enter orbit first, and see if our planetary gravDrives still function," she said after a momentary pause. The entire silent performance had taken just a few seconds.

OOC: There is really nothing else I can say/do until landing.

OOC: Alright. Where are they landing anyway?

"Hmm. Bridge, then, since I guess you're staying," Hornet chuckled. "It's a nice view, and you'll get front seats if we crash."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Bridge

Half an hour got them nicely into Martian orbit. It was touch and go for a few moments, when a series of gravDrives failed on one arc of the craft but that was the reason why Hornet was here. The planet took up most of the space putside the stressglass windows of the bridge, but not for long.

"Insertion vectors cleared. If you're not already strapped in, you're a.." the rest of the avatar's words were swallowed up amidst the roar of drives and atmosphere crackling against shields.

The colors outside the bridge windows assumed a brilliant glow. Things groaned. The entire craft shuddered as though it was about to break apart. The eight people on the bridge, not counting Jenna, has buckled their restraints for a reason. The five-kilometer vessel was descending for the last time.

A fnal jolt, a terrific groan, then silence. They were here. Alright. Now what? the ship avatar wondered. With a click the harness snapped open, arachnoweave belts shooting back into their slots. Others were slowly doing the same, albeit more slowly.

[[OOC: Hopefully somewhere in Kekkosmaa territory...since they left the area it has been in Wazzu control but DUMA discression.]]

Jenna's knuckles were white from holding onto the seat belts. Her face didn't have much more color, but she composed herself fairly quickly. "Right, well. We need bod...err...soldiers; flyers and ground pounders both, as many as you can assemble.

"But this is a relationship, not a slave drive, right? What do you need? Domes? Foodstuffs? Can openers and Dixie cups?"