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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:09:13 GMT -6
Amy
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking away the blurriness. I felt like one big bruise. Where was I? I was sitting in some sort of ship. Smoke was rising from the front of it. I felt trapped and began to panic. I pushed at the windows trying to find a way out. I was ready to scream when it finally gave and lifted up. I pulled off the helmet I was wearing and threw it onto the ground.
I climbed out and hit the ground running. I didn't stop until I was a good twenty paces away. Then I turned around and looked at the ship. What exactly was it, and how did I get here?
Fragments of memory hit me. Falling. A sickening steep fall from the sky. But from where? I put my hands to my ears at the memory of intense pain. I looked around at my surroundings again, took a deep breath and lowered my hands, and looked at my sleeves. I had some sort of uniform on. I shook my head when no memory came forth.
I sat down on a rock, feeling the gentle breeze through my hair. Every muscle in my body felt sore. I felt frustrated. I just couldn't think! My mind was a blank. I sat, watching the smoke billow out of the ship before me, trying to remember just who I was.
* * *
I walked toward the ship hesitantly. I needed to see if there was anything there that could help me remember who I was. I put a hand gently onto the side of the ship as if I expected a shock or something. I got a flash of something in my mind, an image of vast rows of ships like this one, but that was all that came to me.
I bent down and picked up the helmet that I had been wearing. I looked it over, and found a name inside. "Amy" I read aloud. "My name is Amy" I said, but without conviction or any further memory.
I set the helmet down and boosted up to the cockpit of the ship. I peeked in, poked at some switches, but everything was dead. I opened a compartment, and found a flower inside. Puzzled, I reached in and took it out. It smelled beautiful. It brought me close to a memory, something so close but yet out of reach. I climbed back down, still holding the flower. It was of no use to me, yet for some reason I didn't want to put it down. Somehow, holding it brought some comfort.
* * *
Lucian
Meanwhile, in space over Axces Gamma, Lt. Najinn was becoming concerned. Lt. Amy had left to make a pass over sector 55A, which should have taken a few centons at best. Over a quarter centar had now passed and she still hadn’t reappeared.
"Najinn to Captain Cain" Najinn called out through his comlink. After a moment a response came.
"Cain here, go ahead."
Najinn swallowed. "Captain, have you received any word from Lt. Amy?"
"Negative, Lieutenant," Cain answered. "Is there a problem?"
"She's overdue from her pass over 55A. I'd like to retrace her vector and see if I can contact her. Frankly I'm concerned, it shouldn't have taken her so long to get back."
Cain paused before speaking. "Negative, Najinn. You can retrace the vector, but do not enter the atmosphere. We have a water retrieval mission heading that way. They’re going to be landing on that little island in the middle of the inland sea in that location, so stay clear. Hold in orbit over 55A and try to raise Lt. Amy. Keep me advised, and be careful. This is unknown territory."
* * *
On the surface, the lost young woman wandered. She looked back to get her bearings on the mysterious ship in which she’d awaken, then walked up a small hill to try to see if there was anything nearby that she might recognize. There were occasional, well-spaced trees, two to four meters in height, with many low bushes. In the distance, several birds dived and swooped. She broke a smile at the thought of the apparent peacefulness of this place, wherever it was.
As she neared the top of the rise, she started to hear a strange crashing noise. She topped the hill and saw, a couple of kilometers distant, a gigantic lake. There were a couple of islands in the distance, but no signs of habitation or anything that she recognized.
As she looked at the sea, a strange noise a short distance away startled her. She whirled to see a flying reptile with a mouthful of jagged teeth chomping on a large flying insect. While the reptile wasn’t all that big, it looked quite fierce, so she moved closer to one of the fern-like trees that grew in the area. The trees weren’t overly large, but they at least provided some cover. She stared up at the sky at the birds she’d seen in the distance as she was walking, but she now realized that these “birds” were reptiles, too. Just seeing these life forms that felt alien to her suddenly drove that feeling of peacefulness from her…
* * *
Lucian
Major Lucian reluctantly crossed his own name off the list. Despite the fact that he had considerable experience in ship engineering, Doc hadn't restored him to flight duty due to his arm. If he'd just quit banging it into things for a while after it happened, he'd probably be better off now.
Derelict Exploration Team
Lt. Rose, shuttle captain Lt. Titon, Derelict Salvage Operation chief Lt. OSH450, in charge of conducting supply inventory Lt. Wendy Lt. Nylah Lt. RaycerX
In addition, Nurse Holodoc is to escort the team in case there are survivors aboard.
Team is to be fully armed, in heavy assault gear, with enviro-suits, since we do not know if the derelict has a breathable atmosphere or livable air pressure.
In addition, Titon has two engineers who will be assisting in the operation. They are currently loading equipment and tools into the shuttle.
Derelict Exploration Team Viper Escort
Lt. Anubis Lt. Randrius
These Vipers are to join the current Viper mission team near the eleventh moon of Axces Mu. There duty is to protect the shuttle team, and if at all possible, the derelict.
Good luck, and may the Lords be with you all.
Major Lucian, Black Squadron, Battlestar Callisto
* * *
JustinB
After receiving orders from Lieutenant Kris to approach the derelict in an aggressive manner, I discussed with Lieutenant Phlandor of how we would execute the orders.
"Lieutenant Phlandor, both you and me are going to fly towards the derelict in an aggressive manner. While we do this, Lieutenant Kris and Ensign Vexis will stay in a high orbit monitoring our progress. First of, I will approach it head on. I will fire my lasers, without hitting it. I will aim for the bridge and go down the axis of the ship. If any fire comes from the ship I will hit my turbos away from the ship and meet up with Kris and Vexis. Thirty microns after I have started my run, you will commence yours going from port to starboard. You will then follow and join up on my wing. Any questions?" I asked.
"Yes, just one. What happens once we conduct our runs and there is no response?"
"We will conduct two more runs and be joined by Kris and Vexis and secure the space around the ship until back up arrives."
Phlandor and I split up. I aimed my viper at the ship and began to fire, once I was in range. Expecting it to be a trap I was ready to hit my turbos. Nothing happened. Phlandor conducted his run, with the same outcome. As we started my next run, I activated my scanners to see if anyone was alive on the derelict. After the runs on the ship, I came to the conclusion that the vessel was indeed deserted. Plus the negative life scan was conclusive.
"Kris, this is JustinB."
"Go ahead,"
"Kris, negative activity from the derelict. Scans show no life on board. She's empty."
"Okay, we are on our way down once I inform the Derelict Exploration Team and the Callisto of the situation. Keep alert until we arrive, Kris out."
Now that I could relax, I looked around the derelict to see if there was an airlock that wasn't damaged so I could get aboard.
* * *
Charybdis
The message came in to Major Lucian who had just put through his assignments for the derelict mission:
"The bridge feels with the sensitive nature of the mission, that Lt. Titon should accompany the team given his specialty of science engineering and vessel design."
* * *
The last order has been cancelled. Lt. Titon had already been assigned to the mission.
* * *
Rose
Rose patiently waited for Holodoc to come out of the private room where she had been checking over both Maggie & her baby boy. When she saw Holodoc walk out of the private room there in MedLab, Rose walked over to her and asked Holodoc when she could get released from MedLab & back onto active duty. After talking with Holodoc some and getting her final check up, Rose was released from MedLab back onto active duty.
Rose headed out of MedLab & down to Black Squadron Ready Room to check on things to see what she would be doing during the upcoming duty cycles. When she walked into the Black Squadron Ready Room area, Rose went over to the bulletion board and saw that she was assigned to be on the upcoming mission of warriors being sent out to check up on the derlict ship that was found by JustinB, Kris, and the others. Upon seeing this Rose decided she needed to find Hawke and talk to him some about a few things before she had to go out on the mission she had just been assigned to go out on.
After some searching, Rose finally was able to find Hawke. She spotted him down the hall from the weight room. "Hawke!," Rose calls out, "wait up!" Hawke turned to see Rose coming towards him and stopped to wait on her. When she caught up to where Hawke was waiting for her, Hawke asked, "you get released form MedLab?" "Yes I have been released from MedLab," Rose replies to Hawke's question.
"I have been wanting to spend some time with you," Rose says, "but it seems as though you are off busy with other stuff again. I had hoped you would come back by MedLab some & explain what you had been up to lately." Hawke stepped close to Rose & pulled her into his arms to hold her. "Rose," Hawke says, "I'm sorry, hun. I have been working on getting my flight statis reinstated. I hope you can forgive me." Rose thought for a centon or two & replies, "you always seem to be busy with one thing or another lately. It makes me wonder if you are just avoiding me now just so that you don't have to explain things to me at all. I was hoping we could spend some time together now, but I have to finish getting ready for a mission that I have been assigned to & plus you probably would just put me off again on answering questions on recent events."
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:09:47 GMT -6
MedievalSong
I sat in my viper just patroling the ship. I hoped things were going good for the team inside. I hoped that we could go home soon. I wanted to see Nat, even if it was as part of my punishment. Right now I didn't know what was going to happen but I just wanted to be alert if it did.
* * *
JustinB
I cut power to my viper as something catches my attention on the hull of the derelict ship. It was hard to make out at first, but I finally saw what it was. It was the name of the ship. It read 'Caprican Questar '.
"Kris this is JustinB, I have a name for the derelict. It's the Caprican Questar."
"Copy that JustinB. I will inform the Callisto and see if they have any information on it."
Just to the right of the name, I saw an undamaged airlock. I decided that I would enter here once the Derelict Exploration Team shuttle arrives. Only one problem, as I cannot take my Viper in, I will have to get into my enviro-suit which I brought with me for just such an emergency.
I docked with the airlock and begun the long task to get into my enviro-suit.
* * *
Lucian
With his Viper magnetically docked against the hull of the Caprican Questar, Lieutenant JustinB thought about the EVA he would have to undertake to enter the derelict ship. Unfortunately, Vipers weren't equipped for easy docking with hatches, so he was going to have to pop his canopy, climb out of the relative safety of his ship, and perform one of the most dangerous manuevers known to man. The shuttle was better suited for this, since it had a retractable docking port, but if it was a trap, everyone aboard the shuttle could be lost in microns. Better one Warrior take the risk doing advance recon rather than risk an entire squad, he kept telling himself. If Commander Sheba knew what he was doing, she probably wouldn't be pleased, but he felt she'd understand the intent and wouldn't be too upset with him.
As he continued checking the suit, he looked at the hatch, about two meters away from his Viper, and below. It didn't appear to be damaged, so he felt like he would be able to get it open IF he could get to it. He checked his tether line, from end to end, to make sure it had no frayed spots. If it broke, he might be floating in space forever...
* * *
MedievalSong
Lt Kris sat in her viper as she watched Lt JustinB start his space walk to the hatch. She felt helpless as she knew the consequences of such a thing. "Lt are you sure about this?" she asked. "I am sure. Plus whats the worst that could happen?" "Ha ha funny. I don't feel like trying to grab ya if things go bad. This is too risky JustinB." "Well we got to get in there." "But the shuttle..." "And we are here now. Have a little faith?" she smiled at that comment. "Ok but if I have to tow your tail in I am charging you double!" she giggled. Now all she could do was wait.
* * *
JustinB
After checking my tether line twice, it was time for me to EVA to the airlock. Even though it was risky to EVA even from this distance, I had to recon the ship. Knowing fair well Kris was probaly going to chew me out as soon as we returned to the Callisto, it probaly won't be as bad as the chewing out Major Lucian will probaly give me. But in the end, I would rather sacrifice myself for the good of my fellow warriors.
"Kris, this is JustinB. I am about to EVA to the airlock. If something should happen to me, tell Rose thankyou. Otherwise, I will keep in contact." I said.
"JustinB, nothing better happen to you. You can still back out and wait until the shuttle arrives, you don't have to do this."
Knowing Kris was looking at my viper, I gave her my response. I popped the canopy and climbed out of the cockpit. Securing the tether line to the viper, I tugged to make sure it was secure.
After finding a handhold next to the airlock, I pushed with all my might. Fortunately for me, I was precise. "I have reached the airlock, I am about to enter." I imagined what Kris's face looked like upon hearing the news and smiled.
What I really hoped was, that there were not any booby traps for me to trigger.
* * *
Once inside, I close the airlock door. I hit a button which pressurises the airlock. "Lt Kris, the airlock is sealed and is in good condition. I'm about to make my way forward. So far so good."
Cautiously I make way may forward, until I find myself at a sealed hatch. As I was about to open it something caught my eye. A small pictogram was written on the hatch. I had been examining the pictogram, when I felt the hatch was radiating warmth.
"Kris, we have a problem."
"What is it JustinB?" came the reply.
"Well, I have reached a hatch which is radiating heat. On the hatch is a pictogram of some sort. There is 'Two stick figures with a ball in the air between the two' '+' 'cake with candles,' 'cube' '+' 'D', 'stick figure with an X over it' '+' 'L', 'two stick figures each pulling an object toward them in the same direction, inside a circle with a single line going straight up from the top of the circle. I don't know what to make of it, except for a booby trap. You better pass on the info to the shuttle and the Callisto. I'll stay put just a bit longer."
* * *
Feeling the hatch again and feeling hot myself, I realised I was sweating like crazy. The hatch wasn't warm as first thought. "Lt Kris, the hatch I reported as being warm isn't. The adrenaline sent my body temp crazy. Sorry for the mistake."
* * *
Brie
Deciding that Ensign Teri had been punished long enough, Brie went to the brig to get her out. She wondered how Teri would react, Ensign Finky had been out for centars. She filled out the neccessary paperwork and went with the guard to Teri's cell.
"Major," Teri said, partly surprised, partly hurt, and just a little bit angry.
"Ensign," Brie said sternly. "If you EVER act like this again, I'll be down here to lock the cell door myself."
"Yes, ma'am," Teri said softly.
"Now I want you to see Lt. Holodoc," Brie told her. "Get flight clearance. Your arm shouldn't be a problem. I've assigned you to the upcoming mission, pending Holodoc's approval."
"Yes ma'am!" Teri said with a new enthusiasm. She left her cell without looking back and headed right to the med lab.
* * *
Nefeteri
Ensign Teri noted the brusque tone in Brie's voice. She was mad and Teri was not going to arouse that anger again. She was so happy to be OUT! She did a jig to Med Lab. Once there she found others but no Doc. Holodoc. Finally the doctor appeared. "Ensign Nefeteri reporting to the doctor as requested," Teri cuffed a salute. Doctor Holodoc smiled as she inspected the new ensign. "So, it's you who is causing all the trouble on the bridge lately." Teri hung her head. "It wasn't ALL me, she said resolutely. Finky had a part in in also." "Finky? I had only heard about the incident pulling Charybdis on top of you. What else is there?" "Nothing ma'am," Teri quickly covered. "Well," Holodoc stated. "I can't see anything to keep you from missions. You're free to go."
* * *
Ensign Teri was doing her jig to the O'club when she ran into a new friend, Kiwi. "I think you should go to Gold Squadron's order posting. I think you'll be happy," was all Kiwi would say. Teri was happy to be out of the brig but now she wondered what Kiwi was talking about. Happy? "That doesn't equate to being in trouble," Teri surmised. "Guess I better check it out." Teri went to the board and at first looked surprised and then elated then worried. Her first mission was going to be under the guy she had heard Brie punched out. "Great, at least Brie sees a little of me in her," Teri grinned. Then serious time...she needed to check her gear and then even after an extensive rest in the brig waiting on Brie to spring her, Teri did the first correct move in a long time. She headed to her bunk to rest up but her mind was jumbled with what to does. She wondered what this Hawke guy was like. He must have done something really bad to get Brie's ire up. Teri almost skipped to her bunk. "Wingman, I'm going to be a wingman!" Then she noted the seriousness of the situation. She calmly strode to her bunk but her cadet spirit was high.
* * *
Expatkiwi
After Lt. Kiwi had checked out his equipment and looked over the mission assignments once again, he went to lay down in his Ready Room Bunk when he saw Lt. Hawke enter the Ready Room. Hawke saw Kiwi at the same time and gestured for him to come over. Kiwi nodded, stood back up and walked on over. "I see you have been assigned as the mission SIC", Hawke said to Kiwi by way of greeting. Kiwi nodded without speaking. "You check over your equipment?", Hawke asked next. Kiwi nodded again. "Good", Hawke said, "The mission should be more-or-less a routine mission, even though we have to treat no mission as 'routine', but I'm going to be relying on you to do your part, okay?". "You won't have any worries about my ability to do the job, Lieutenant", Kiwi replied formally, "as long as our vipers are in a good state, we should be okay". "You raise a good point, Kiwi", Hawke answered, "so can you do me a favor and head down to the launch tubes to check on our fighter maintenance sheets?", he asked. Kiwi nodded and headed out. As he went down to the launch tubes, Kiwi wondered about Hawke's brusque tone towards him, but since Hawke was the slated commander of the mission, it was his perogative to be as brusque as he liked....
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:10:19 GMT -6
Lucian
"The shuttle's loaded," said Lieutenant Titon. "Lieutenant Rose will dock our shuttle with the ship, and we will immediately secure the vessel. Based on the information we've pulled from the computers, we know the original ship type and we have its design files in your portable computers; however, based on the pictures we've seen so far, we know it's been heavily modified over the yahrens, and we don't know what to expect inside. Ordinarily, we'd be taking at least one more team to board a ship like this, but this time, we're sort of short on shuttles due to the shennanigans with our water supply a while back. Most of them are reserved for our water collection and food collection teams."
"That goes for engineering staff, too. A number of our engineers are going to be working the water purification stations on Axces Gamma, so we've pulled in two engineer-qualified Tech's to help us. Some of you may know Mechanic Gataren and Shop Tech Gruber. They’ve worked with some of us before.”
Gataren said, “Hi folks.”
Gruber, with his toothy grin, touched his temple in a half salute and said, “Aye mons, good ta be abard.”
“Finally,” continued Titon, “Nurse Holodoc will be accompanying us to take care of any medical issues we encounter…or suffer.”
The Warrior glanced at each other. They were truly going into the unknown, so anything could happen. It was good to have the Callisto’s head nurse aboard.
Titon turned to the board and began making marks. "I will take Lieutenant Wendy and Mr. Gruber to the engine area to assess the situation there.” He drew an arrow from the assumed docking location to the main engine room. “Based on the photos, it appears the jump portion of the engines may have experienced little damage, but the sublight components look like they’ve been treated like felgercarb. Lieutenant Rose and Lieutenant RaycerX, you will go to the ship’s bridge,” another arrow and an X, “and check ship’s controls. Lieutenants Osh and Nylah and Nurse Holodoc, you to are to accompany Mr. Gataren to check power circuitry in the main power distribution center. There are numerous power nodes around the ship, so once that one’s secure and we know what’s happening, Nylah and Gataren will continue working their way around the ship while Osh and Holodoc check to see if there are any supplies on board ship. If so, Lords know we can put them to good use. Now, the schematics show that this vessel had a rudimentary Med Bay. Start there, then go to ships stores, etc.”
He looked to Major Lucian. “Anything, Sir?”
“Yes. Be careful. If it really is deserted, I expect you’ll encounter booby traps since the people who deserted it might expect the Cylons to overtake them. Be on the lookout.”
* * *
Expatkiwi
Kiwi silently fumed as he leafed through the readiness reports on the patrol vipers sleated for the water mission. If only they had the correct parts to convert their runoff hydrogen and oxygen from the tylium combustion chambers, then they could have ample supplies of their own water without these periodic replemishment missions. Even an ice asteroid or comet could be utilized for water, Kiwi theorized, though his colleagues in environmental control had told him repeatedly that since ice from those sources were rarely pure and mostly laden with poisionous elements, filtrating them would not be economical. Econmonical, my eye!, Kiwi silently cursed. Water obtained from downplanet still had to be filtrated, so what was the difference? Of course, they would have to find one drifting in space nearby, but..... Kiwi shook his head. He knew that it was the paperwork that was making him angry, so he put his thoughts out of his mind and concentrated on the job at hand. The maint-reports showed that the vipers were serviced and ready to go. Still, Kiwi was one of those warriors who did not trust paper. After reading them once more, he left the maintenance admin office and headed over to the vipers sitting in their launch tubes - where he spent the next three centares physically checking out the vipers. The techs who were watching did not feel insulted; on the contrary, they welcomed the pilots double-checking what they did. Despite the tech's best efforts, mistakes had been known to happen. After Kiwi was finally done, he used his commlink to contact Hawke and to inform him that the patrol vipers were okay.
* * *
Lucian
The Warriors, the engineers, and the Colonial Infantry troopers were gathered in Gold Squadron Mission Room. Major Brie had already gone over the mission basics. The Vipers would protect the shuttle fleet, and all but two would land and remain ready for launch on two centons notice. Two would always be in orbit, on watch for any hostile activity. When the first group of shuttles launched, two Vipers would escort them back to the Callisto. Those, or others, would escort the next group of shuttles back for the second load. The Colonial Infantry troopers would set up defensive positions around the work area, and the engineers would collect and process the water as quickly as possible. Major Brie had gotten a good laugh when she told the assembled crew how some of the planners from the Bridge had told her how this mission would be "simple" and "easy."
"Yeah! Simple and easy for them! They're not going!" said one of the Gold Warriors with a laugh. Everyone laughed, knowing that no flight was ever without danger.
Gold Squadron's Senior Flight Officer, Solan, had spent a good bit of time talking about the landing zone procedures. The team would be landing on a sandy beach, right next to the sea. One Vipers would go in first to verify that the beach was capable of supporting a single Viper. Once the first one was down, a second Viper would land. The two Warriors on the planet would run some tests to determine that the ground was capable of supporting the shuttles under loaded conditions, with one protecting the other while he or she ran the tests. Portable geotechnical sounding equipment would make sure that there were no caves, quicksand, or other dangers lurking below ground that might swallow a shuttle loaded with water. Assuming all went well, the shuttles would soon be landing, and the work would be underway.
"From the pictures, it looks like a tropical paradise. Don't get any ideas!" said Solan. "This is a working mission, and we want you all back here just as fast as you can get here. Don't kick in turbos unless you're in a real emergency. If you are, do what it takes to protect those shuttles and get home safely."
Next, Mission Specialist Fenmarnis went over the usage of the collection and purification equipment being carried on the shuttles.
"Since the vast majority of the water aboard the Callisto is recycled, it's been a very long time since a mission of this sort had been conducted. If it wasn't for the poison that had been placed in the system by those traitors, it sure wouldn't be necessary now either. Calculations show that two trips by each shuttle will allow us to collect enough to replace the amount flushed from the system. On the second trip, the equipment will be stowed and returned to the Callisto."
She flashed the remaining equipment list on the screen. "Four portable turbolaser cannons will provide fire support if needed. Since the collection mission will take place on a small island far from other land masses, there isn't much chance of land based creatures attacking you. Of course, our friends on the Bridge couldn't rule out land based beasts entirely, and they didn't say too much about water based-beasties, airborne beasts, or anything about attacks by intelligent creatures from the planet or beyond."
"An HQ tent and a barracks tent will also be put in place. We're taking a minimum of cots, so you'll have to take turns by shift. We're getting there and getting out as soon as possible, so don't try to get too comfortable. You'll have ration packs. If you find food, collect samples, but don't eat it. We'll want to test it to see if it's worth collecting. Now, any questions?"
* * *
Stadia
Stadia stopped by Major Brie's office and noticing she wasnt there, made her way to the bridge.
Stadia entered the bridge and noticed Col. Charybdis and others looking over some readings. She quietly walks up behind Col. Charybdis and taps him on the shoulder. He jumped and turned toward her.
"Ensign Ter.... Oh Lt. Stadia. I am sorry thought you were someone else. When did you get out of med bay?"
"Holodoc just released me to light duty. I was looking for Major Brie. Have you seen her?"
"I think she went to get teri out of the brig. Is it something I can help you with?"
Stadia shuffles her feet aas she looks down at them. She takes a deep breath. "I need to see if my transfer to Gold Squadron was approved."
* * *
Charybdis
Lt. Stadia wanted to know if her transfer to Gold squadron had gone through.
I replied, "Well, your squadron leader should have notified you, but with the missions, I guess it got lost in the shuffle. As a matter of fact, yes, your transfer was approved. You can report to your new leader, Major Brie immediately."
Stadia responded, "Aye, sir."
* * *
Stadia
Stadia nodded to the Col and those around her. She turned and walked off the bridge.
She headed toward the briefing room loooking for Major Brie.
* * *
Brie
Major Brie had finished her part of the briefing when she noticed that Lt. Stadia had entered the briefing room. She had been looking for Stadia earlier, having been informed that she had been released by the medical staff for light duty and that her transfer to Gold Squadron had been approved. Brie motioned to the corner of the room, where Stadia joined her.
"Welcome to Gold Squadron," she whispered, holding out her hand. "I've been informed that you've been released to light duty, so I'm assigning you to the bridge for the current mission. They can always use the help with several groups out on assignment."
* * *
cmdrcain
As SIC I will tend to it right away. Change of squadron should be effective immediatley and posted on the roster. WELCOME!!!! ps: Don't drink any fruit juice offered by Titon.
Cain
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:10:50 GMT -6
Nefeteri
Teri lay in her bunk thinking about this first mission. She had done excellent and on the tests then in the simulator flights and even when in the last of the training in the real Vipers. If only Apollo could see her now. She wasn't that little redhead that kept innocently bumping into Starbuck and him. Innocent her foot. She wondered how they were and WHERE they were. If only they were here now. She had yet to meet Hawke but she wanted to prove to Brie and Charybdis she wasn't a total screw-up. She closed her eyes but the Viper control panel kept interfering in real sleep. She wished a word with Lucien from Black Squadron. She didn't want anyone from Gold to know how worried she was. Perhaps he could go through the flight plan if he had time. She was as prepared as she could be but still...Count Iblis, all the bad things she had experienced had to be put out of her mind. She was a Colonial Warrior now...if only Apollo could see her. In her mind was his laugh and his stroking her long crop of hair with the palm of his hand. "Don't worry, Teri. All will be fine," she jumped at the voice but no one was there. It was definitely Apollo's voice...in her mind.
* * *
Lucian
"Chief Mission Specialist Fenmarnis to Major Brie, please come in."
"Go ahead, Fenny," came Brie's response.
"That's the last of it, Ma'am," said Fennmarnis, checking off her list. "The shuttle crews are loading now, so they'll be ready to depart in just a few centons."
"Great job as always, Fenny," said Brie. "I'll get the Warriors flying escort to their Vipers immediately and let the Commander know."
* * *
In Beta Bay, it was much the same. Major Lucian had just been through the list of items with Lieutenant Titon and his team, and everyone had agreed that they were as ready as they'd ever be. He hadn't had time to head back to the office for a good while, so if he'd received a message from Ensign Teri, he didn't even know it. Lucian ordered Anubis and Randrius to their Vipers, ready for immediate launch.
"Major Lucian calling Flight Control."
"Go ahead, Major."
"Black Squadron Shuttle team and Vipers are ready for launch on your command."
* * *
Charybdis
Ft. Spc. Geenie turned to report that all away teams were ready to launch.
I relayed the message to Commander Sheba who nodded and told me to give the order.
Geenie turned and said, "Transferring control to Alpha and Beta bays. Launch when ready."
* * *
Hawke
"You always seem to be busy with one thing or another lately. It makes me wonder if you are just avoiding me now just so that you don't have to explain things to me at all. I was hoping we could spend some time together now, but I have to finish getting ready for a mission that I have been assigned to & plus you probably would just put me off again on answering questions on recent events." Rose said to me as I came out of the weight room. "Hun, I'm not avoiding you. And yes,we need to talk. Let me turbowash and change and we'll go talk,ok?" "Ok. I'll be right here." I kiss her very passionately and I go ahead and do just that. And 15 centons later, I found Rose sitting on a bench waiting for me. "Ok, babe... Let's go somewhere and talk...." I said. We find an empty ready room.. I offer her a seat and I take a seat next to her. "Well,Rose. I'm not avoiding you. I've been trying to...." "Lieutenant Hawke,please report to the Gold Squadron ready room please ASAP. Lieutenant Hawke,Please report to Gold Squadron Ready Room ASAP." I hear from the PA system. I bang my head on the table and scream "WHY ME???" "I'm sorry baby. Duty calls. We will get to talk when I get back. I promise. I love you so much.." She looks at me with a very disapproving look.. I make my way down to the Gold Squadron Ready Room and take a look at the Active Duty roster. "YAHOOOOOO!!!" I yell out. I got a command!!!! I make my way down to the launch bay. I do pre-filght check. Back in my viper. FINALLY!
* * *
Nefeteri
Teri was on pins and needles. She hadn't met Hawke yet and she wanted to check out the Viper assigned to her. She jumped out of the bunk and dressed for flight. She hadn't used the boots alloted her so they were spit shined but she ran a rag over them anyway to make them look buffed.
She headed for the launch bay and requested acknowledgement of the Viper that would be her's this mission. She was hoping to run into Hawke.
She found Major Brie in the launch bay.
"Excuse me, sir but I would like to be introduced to Hawke before we're launched," Teri smiled. "Do you think you can do the introduction since I'm to be his wingman?"
* * *
Brie
"Do you think you can do the introduction since I'm to be his wingman?"
Brie had seen Hawke checking his viper. She grabbed Teri's arm and pulled her over to him. "Lieutenant Hawke," she called.
Hawke jumped down from his cockpit. "Major," he said. "Thank you for the command. I won't let you down."
"I know that," Brie said. "I want you to meet your wingman. Ensign Teri, Lieutenant Hawke. Hawke, Teri. It's her first assignment, so take care of her."
Brie left, hoping that Hawke would be able to put some of Teri fears to rest.
* * *
Rose
Rose couldn't believe her luck lately. It seemed as though if it wasn't one thing coming between her and Hawke it was something else and now she was starting to wonder if things would actually work out between them at this rate. Rose got up from where she was sitting and headed on down to the landing bay since she would be heading out soon with a few others on a shuttle for the mission she had be assigned to go out on. She just hoped she could keep her mind on the mission at hand rather than the most recent disappointment she just received in regards to spending time with Hawke.
Along the way, Rose came across Nurse Holodoc and offered to help in carrying some of the stuff that she was needing to take with her on the current mission assignment. Holodoc noticed that Rose seemed down about something and asked her about it. "It's Hawke," Rose says quietly and with her head hanging down, "I get the feeling like he doesn't want to spend time with me and doesn't want to explain what has been happening over recent months at times. He says he is not avoiding me, but I just don't know any more these days." Holodoc placed her arm around Rose's shoulders some to try and comfort her some as they walked along heading towards the landing bay.
When they reached the landing bay, both Rose and Holodoc walked towards one of the tech's there working and was able to find out which shuttle they would be using for the mission and then head on over to load up the medical supplies that Holodoc was needing to take on the mission.
* * *
Nefeteri
Teri blushed a bright red almost the color of her brilliant auburn hair in the sun. She hadn't wanted him to know this was her first mission. "Great! Now he thinks he's been tackled with a baby," Teri mumbled to herself. Then outloud,"Sir, Ensign Nefeteri, requesting permission to check out her Viper as soon as she finds out which one it is." Teri cuffed a salute. Lt. Hawke saluted back and looked out where Brie had gone.
* * *
Hawke
I looked where Brie went. Great she leaves me with a kid. I sighed out loud. I hop out of my viper cockpit. "Ensign Teri reporting for duty, Sir." She salutes me. "At ease,Ensign." I salute her back. She stands at ease. "Have you ever been in a viper before? You look about as green as the leaves my parents used to give the animals in our pet shop." I said.
* * *
Expatkiwi
Kiwi had just heard that Hawke was having his pilots for the upcoming mission go over their vipers. If they are doing that, then why the #$%& did Hawke have me go over the records and the ships earlier, he asked himself. Heading back down to the landing bay, he saw Hawke watching one of the newer pilots going over a viper. Kiwi waved to Hawke and pulled him aside. "I don't mean to interrupt you, Hawke", Kiwi said politely, though with ice in his voice, "but if you had me down here earlier taking several centares to check the maintenance records of the patrol vipers, and to check them out, why this?', he asked, gesturing to the other pilots going over the ships hae had painstaking checked earlier. "Easy answer, Kiwi", Hawke said, relaxed, "I don't want these pilots to encounter anything in those fighters that may cuase them to be wary of the ground crews. They don't know that you checked the vipers earlier, so lets just keep it between us". Kiwi nodded, understanding the logic of Hawke's argument. A few of the pilots were inexperienced and they did not need to be distracted. They needed (at least at this stage), the impression that the ground crews servicing the vipers were extremely competant in their job. Actually, they were, but Hawke directing Kiwi (who was an experienced pilot himself) pre-checking the fighters gave Hawke an extra amount of security over the integrity of his command.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:11:20 GMT -6
Nefeteri
Teri turned a brighter shade of red but not because of embarrassment. Her shades of red, Hawke was to soon find out, were signals like a rattler on their home world. This time she was mad and determined to prove to him her worth. "Yes sir. I aced every simulator run. When I was younger, Commander Apollo of the Galactica, taught me on the side. That was when we didn't have a shortage of Vipers. As of cadet school, no sir, I have not been in a Viper since. The Vipers are scarce so no one would take us. Apollo never let me pilot by myself so I guess one could say I lack experience in the real thing. Does that answer the question sir? I know how to launch and stay up with the best of them. Should we meet any hostiles I'm sure I can keep up with you, Sir," she smiled sweetly back but thinking Brie was right in punching this guy out. "Now, sir, may I check my Viper? Lead me to her or just point her out. I am ready to launch when you are." Teri spoke pointedly.
* * *
Hawke
I smiled at Teri. "Permission granted, Ensign. Your viper is three down from mine." She goes and proceeds to check her viper out. I shake my head and proceed to check out my viper. I can tell right away that this ensign is going to be a spitfire. Secretly I admire that in a woman. Keeps me on my feet.
* * *
Nefeteri
Teri saluted Lt. Hawke back as she quickly took off for her Viper. Long ago Apollo had felt sorry for her since she was an orphan. He took her on some flights in his Viper but little did he know he had created a pilot in the process. Hopefully she would see him again. Would he even recognize her. Right now, she wanted to check out her Viper and be sure in flight that she was the best wingman that Hawke had ever had. She liked him but was not going to let him know it...yet. "Be rigid as a flyer," her father once told her when she was small. That was before the Cylons attacked and then it was over. She was grabbed by an adult and hauled aboard the Galactica leaving her dead mother behind. She had no chance to see father take off to fight the hostiles. What she knew was from Apollo and him. Now Lt. Hawke was going to fill in that gap she had so missed. She had felt a void of a brother figure and now...just perhaps, she had found him. She would find out on this mission.
The Viper was spit and shined and ready to go. She threw her helm into the cockpit seat and leaned against the Viper. She noticed Hawke looking at her with a smile. She gave him the thumbs up on her ship. Hopefully soon she would be in her Viper. Soon she would show him and everyone she was a capable and good pilot. The Apollo and Starbuck greatness would come with time.
* * *
Hawke
I finish my pre-flight check list. I smile at Teri. She's a good kid. I hope she's up to it on this mission. Well, we'll find out soon enough. She gives me a thumbs up sign. I return the favor. I turn around and begin wondering where Lt's Mara,Kellyn,Ben and SiressEden are. I hop up to my cockpit and turn the comm on to the bridge. "Lieutenant Hawke to bridge." I say. "Bridge here, Hawke, what do you need?" "Can you page Lieutenants Mara,Kellyn,SiressEden and Ben down to the launch bays? We're due to launch in 30 centons and I want them to do a pre-flight on their vipers." I ask. "Will do,Hawke. Bridge out." I shut the comm off. "Lieutenants Mara,Kellyn,SiressEden and Ben please report to Alpha bay ASAP. Lieutenants Mara,Kellyn,SiressEden and Ben, please report to Alpha bay ASAP." I hear from the PA system.
* * *
Nefeteri
Teri noticed that she and a few others were checking out their Vipers but they were the only ones. Others were missing. She was sure Hawke didn't like that. She climbed into the cockpit and mentally went over pre-flight and launch procedures for when the word came down. They were scheduled to launch soon. Okay, people, come and do your thing.
* * *
Teri glanced every so often at Hawke. The simularities were uncanny. He could be Starbuck if she didn't know Starbuck so well. If he was like Starbuck then she knew she was in great hands. It was too bad he was attached to someone. "Cut that out," Teri mumbled to herself. "He sees you as a kid, green as grass." Teri straightened up. "We'll just have to prove him otherwise. She wanted to make him proud. Having a peaceful mission would be great but BORING. She was dying to use the Inverse Manuever on someone. "Only if circumstances offer themselves, Ensign," Teri mumbled some more" She had been looking down into the craft. Little did she know that Hawke was right behind her now. "Talking to ourselves are we?" Hawke smiled.
* * *
Stargazor
Ens. Stargazor is ready to go on duty and looks for Major Lucian. Going trough the long corridors he can’t stop thinking about how small the Battlestar looks from the outside. But from the inside its like a maze. Remembering what Starbuck told him before he left the battlestar Galactica, he was aware of the fact that he’d still have to prove to his superior that he’s very skilled in fly’ing the Viper starfighter. But whatever challenge lied ahead he would make his ship and fellow squadron members proud.
* * *
Lucian
"They've got the go ahead," said Lucian to Ensign Stargazor who'd just found him in the Beta Bay Flight Operations Center. Looking at the screen, they watched Anubis' and Randrius' Vipers burst from the launch tubes. The shuttle followed launched a few microns later, and they were on their way.
"Major, I'm sorry to interrupt you here, Sir, but now that I've been assigned, I'm anxious to get started protecting the fleet," said Stargazor. "I have my paperwork in ord--"
"Under normal circumstances, Ensign," said Lucian, grinning, "I get to see that before they ever give you the copies. I think Captain Lazant just insists on all that blasted paperwork to give me a headache. As head of the Callisto's branch of the Academy, he prides himself in the quality of his graduates, especially those who received training aboard the Galactica before being transferred here, but he also takes devilish pride in causing me trouble, trying to force me to loose more of my hair. Well, I'll accept your paperwork...once we get to the squadron office."
As they walked, Stargazor thought about the rumors he had heard in the past few sectars while he'd been completing his training in the Academy. Lazant didn't make friends all that easily, and he supposedly hated two people aboard ship with a passion. He'd prosecuted Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis just after Stargazor had come aboard, but that had ended in Lazant dismissing the charges after new evidence had been discovered. Lazant's other favorite target was Major Lucian, since he blamed Lucian, much as he had Charybdis before, for being a primary reason he'd not been promoted in recent yahrens.
"Sir, do you and Captain Lazant...uh...get along?" Stargazor asked. "Some of the cadets say you guys hate each other. I always found Lazant to be a good teacher, and though he was tough, he was fair."
"Why do you ask?" Lucian asked the new Ensign.
"Well, Sir, I trained under him, now I'm going to be working with you. I just don't want to do anything..."
"Ensign, as far as I'm concerned, Lazant is a minor thorn in my side. As long as he keeps turning out quality Warriors, as your record suggests you are, and he stays out of my remaining hair, I'm not going to worry about him. I'll let him have his little games with the paperwork; I just recycle it."
Once they reached the Squadron Office, Lucian introduced Stargazor to Lieutenant BatGal, Black Squadron's Second in Command. She assigned him a bunk and a locker in the Black Squadron barracks then took him around to introduce him to some of the Black Squadron members who were around. When they returned a little later, BatGal headed off to check on assignments. Stargazor approached Major Lucian and asked, "What's my first assignment, Major?"
Lucian was rubbing his left arm. He glanced at the assignment board and said, "There's nothing critical aboard ship at the moment, so let's go see if Lieutenant Resonat [Nat] will give us some SIM time. I need to work out this arm so I can get recertified anyway. This cycles as good as any."
* * *
Amy
Stranded on this strange world with no memory of who I was, and unsure of what I should do next, I decided to continue walking, heading for the crashing noises of water that I could hear in the distance. My strange little ship was useless to me, and there was no use staying near it without any memory of where it came from or how to get it going again.
How strange to have no memory! I felt like I was just born, made whole in an instant, with nothing but the future ahead of me. But that wasn't totally correct. I did keep getting flashes, little bits of imagery that I could make no sense of. Each time I got one I tried to hold onto it, to make it a whole thought, but each time it slipped away, making me feel more and more frustrated.
I was going to need food and water, so the strange little ship was left behind as I walked on toward the sea, avoiding the strange little flying lizard creatures. They were small but pretty foreboding-looking, so I steered clear of them, and they did the same. I had a pistol with me in case one of them got bold, but I hadn't tried to fire it yet and wondered if I could even figure out how.
It was getting pretty hot, and I took off my jacket. It was heavy, and just the act of taking it off gave me a brief flash of memory. A quick image: a locker, a cot, items spread out on it, an incredibly beautiful necklace among the items.... And then the image was gone again.
With a sigh I tied the jacket around my waist. Tearing off a small strip of cloth, I tied my hair up and back off my neck. Feeling the breeze on my neck helped me feel cooler as I walked on.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:11:49 GMT -6
Stargazor
The Major and Ens. Stargazor went to the sim. Room. Ens. Stargazor was proud he could go into the sim and show how good he was to the Major. As Stargazor stepped into his sim. Cockpit he looked over to the Major who said “Lets see what you can do, kid”!
Both men close their sim. Cockpit and activate the proper onboard instruments.
The start of flying in formation in space.
The major says “Ok, pilot lets see what you’re made of”! “First i’m gonna break of, and when we’re far enough from each other we’ll do some dog-fighting”!
Stargazor reply’s “As you say, Sir”!
Both Vipers break from one another and put some distance between them. Then they turn and start their attack run.
Both try to get the upper situation but the pilots are both skilled enough to avoid the others tricks.
The Major thinks “Dam, this kid is good” as he twist’s and turns his fighter”!
But after a while the Major succeed to be after Stargazor’s Fighter and tries to get a lock on the rookie. Stargazor tries everything in the book from the academy but to no avail.
Then he remembers something Starbuck told him witch isn’t in the book and you only learn from actual combat. Stargazor pushes his booster and increases his speed, the Major does the same and just at that moment:
Stargazor at the same time pulls up and fires his retro’s. The Major is surprised by the move and zoom’s over the fighter from Stargazor only a few inches from each other.
Stargazor immediately re activates his booster and heads after the Major.
* * *
He fly’s after the Major who has a tough time to keep from being locked. Then he pulls one of his tricks on Stargazor. The Major pulls a heavy G. roll with a twist and frees himself from the tracking rookie. The Major say’s “Not bad rookie, but you’re gonna have to do better then that to kill me”!
Stargazor turns sharp while he say’s “Frack, where is he”?
But the Major is well out of Stargazor’s line of sight.
* * *
Stargazor looks at his radar and switches to aft. He sees a fighter coming up on his six. Stargazor say’s “Oh no, you’re not gonna take me that easy”!
He pull’s his stick and climbs makes some heavy G turns but the Major keeps up with him.
Major “You can run, but you can’t hide”! The Major fires on the rookie but he in his turn effectively avoids being hit.
Stargazor sees an asteroid field up ahead and thinks maybe i can reach it and shake the Major. He fires his booster and heads for the field.
They both enter the asteroid field zooming close by some huge rocks. Stargazor thinks “Lets see if he can follow me in this maze”! He increases his speed and makes some hard moves between the asteroids. Eventually he shakes the Major who thinks “Captain Lazant wasn’t kidding when he wrote his files”!
Stargazor meanwhile is circling around and tries to get behind the Major. But because of the dense asteroid field and the mass, the radar doesn’t work correctly. Stargazor thinks “Frack, maybe this wasn’t such a good idee”! He tries to find the Major but to no success. Finaly he gives up and heads back out of the asteroid field.
Just as he leaves the field he hears a blib from his radar again.
Somehow the Major found him and was locking him and fired. Before he could realize it, Stargazor’s Cockpit went black.
The Canopy raises automatically and he sees the Major climbing out of the sim. Cockpit.
Stargazor say’s “Sir, but how did …”!
The Major walks slowly towards Stargazor while he rubs his arm for a moment. Major “You shore gave me a training”! “As for you’re ability’s in a viper”! “I think you’ve got potential, just don’t always fly on instruments or instinct”! “Try a combination of the two and you might have a career as colonial warrior”!
Stargazor reply's "Sir, i learned a lesson from you"! “I still need a lot more to learn if i want to become one of the best”!
Major “I wanted to make clear to you that in actual combat and real missions, you’ll learn more and faster then in any sim. Situation”! “You may have 3000 centar of sim.”, “but experience of actual combat still beats that”! “Try to remember that”!
Stargazor shakes his head in agreement then the Major turns and leaves.
Stargazor breathes out a sign of relief that the sim. Fight is over, then he gets out of the sim. Cockpit too.
He then heads out to the showers and fresh himself up a bit.
* * *
JustinB
After staring at the pictogram for a few centons, I basically had it figured out. Connected to the hatch were Anti-personnel mines connected by wire. The slightest tension would trigger the devices and blow the hatch, the airlock and me with it. The problem was where on the hatch were the wire activators attached.
From looking at the pictogram I couldn't tell. 'Well, I guess this is where lady luck comes in.'
"Kris, I have figured out the pictogram and I am about to commence to open the hatch" I said purposely leaving out the fact about the mines.
Before she could reply, I began to open the hatch. Slowly but surely I opened it. I had just barley opened it, when suddenly I sneezed. How I didn't just blow myself up I will never know. I reached up the top of the hatch and felt the first wire and cut it. PHEW! After fiddling around some more I found the second and cut that one also. After determining there were not anymore, I opened it fully. Three body lengths in front of me was an inner hatch and on that another pictogram.
On this pictogram it depicted a stick figure, a circle, with a wavy line and three wavy lines going up, then an arrow to right, and a skull and skeleton. Feeling the hatch it was hot compared to the surrounding surfaces. This time it was hot and not his suit. The skull and skeleton was enough of a warning to me, for me to realise this hatch could not be opened by myself, without help by someone who knows what they are doing.
I went back the way I came. "Kris, JustinB here. I made it past the first hatch without to much trouble. Only problem is that there was a second hatch with a skull and skeleton on it. I've decided I will return to my Viper. Inform the Shuttle team to be extremely careful when they land, as they will undoubtedly be in for a few surprises."
With that, I opened the airlock grabbed on to the tether line and pulled myself back toward my viper.
* * *
Suddenly, the tether line disconnected from my viper. This should be fun I thought. I could just imagine the faces on my fellow warriors as I floated back to the derelict vessel. I managed to pull myself back to the airlock. I was thinking about having another crack at the second pictogram, but that would be foolish.
I grabbed the end of the tether line and gave an almighty push. Within a micron or two, I managed to reach the cockpit. Once I had climbed back in, I shut the canopy. Slowly I took of the enviro-suit. There was nothing much to do for now. "Kris, JustinB here. I am back in my viper. Any news from the Callisto?"
"JustinB, as you made your near fatal trip into your ship, I received word they were sending a shuttle with an exploration team. We are to hold our position until they arrive. By the way, I am glad I didn't have to come and rescue you. Also, I think we have to have a talk about your stunt when we get back home."
"Yes Ma'am," I replied with a bit of sarcasm. I wondered if Rose was on the exploration team.
* * *
Nefeteri
Hawke, Kiwi and Teri were already in the launch bay prechecking their Vipers. Hawke looked disconcerted that no one else was down there. In 30 centons they would be launching. Where were the rest of the team? Lords of Kolbol been with them when they got there. There was not much time left to check everything. Teri, herself, was getting excited at her first mission. All fears and worries were gone. Hawke had made her feel like she was home, finally.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:12:16 GMT -6
Stadia
"GRRRR!"
Stadia giggles as she hears her stomach gurgle. She turns away from her search for Major Brie and makes her way to the Officers club.
A short time later, she enters the door to the Officer's Club. She grabs her food, what there is, and heads toward the only empty table by a window. She sits down and begins to eat her food.
The food is about as tastey as eating her boots. She sets her fork down and stares out the window. She lets thoughts of her future slip into her mind. She wonder when she would come up for review for the incident with the Frodarian. She looks down at her food, suddenly not feeling hungry.
All the death and for what reason? So the Nomen could finish a blood...whatever it was against Amy? It all seemed so sensless.
Stadia stared out at the stares as they moved by the ship. She had loved Selgin once. He wasnt the evil man she had seen before her in medbay. He had once been loving and caring....
She returned her thoughts to the current mission. She hoped everyone was ok.
* * *
Stadia
Holodoc was going over the supplies again that she had brought with her for this mission that she had been assigned to go on. She wasn't sure what to expect once the shuttle reached the deralict ship, but she tried to pack supplies as best she could for this mission. While she was going over her supplies that were now packed on the shuttle to where she could get access to them, but also wouldn't be in the way of the others that would be on the shuttle also, she noticed Lt Rose going over her pre-flight for the shuttle.
Holodoc wondered what was going through Rose's mind at the moment, but also didn't want to intrude & disrupt her pre-flight check of the shuttle. Holodoc made a mental note to herself to chat with Rose some once this mission was over to see if there was anything that she could do for her. She knew that something must be going on between Rose & Hawke but didn't know what for sure. Espicially since Rose seemed down earlier when they met up in the corridor & Rose helped her bring the medical supplies to the shuttle. She wondered if Hawke had even taken the time to explain things to Rose about what he had been doing recently.
Holodoc's thoughts turned to Anubis. She hadn't seen him in what seemed like ages now & wondered what was going on with him. She thought she was making progress with him in many ways & then all of a sudden nothing. Holodoc wondered what she could of said or done to cause Anubis withdraw from her & the progress that they had be making over the last few cycles.
* * *
Stargazor
Stargazor came out of the shower and got dressed back into a new clean uniform. He then walks to the launch bay, since its already late only few bay crewmembers are present. He looks over a viper and crawls inside the cockpit. He then stares out in the launch tube and thinks about his life. Thinking about the loss of his parents twice now, he kind of feels down and lonely. Onboard the Galactica he could talk to Starbuck because he looked up to him. But now he was alone on the Callisto and more without family or loved ones. The only reason he kept going was to protect the fleet and for revenge. His hart had grown sadder over the yahren’s and only spoke when necessary. Now he was a colonial warrior witch he wanted to be ever since he was little. It would be a few centares before his furlon was over. Eacht time he got off, he would do the same, go to the launch bay and sit in one of the vipers. But this evening was different…
* * *
He taps a few systems and checks the onboard controls. After a while he shuts them down again. He climbs back out and looks one last time over to the launch path before leaving to the elevator. Then heads out to the bridge. He decided to wave his remaining Centares and get back on duty. His life was in need of change, time to stop being a victim and time to become a hero, role model.
* * *
Lucian
Several of the Gold Squadron Warriors and a number of the Troopers been pulled out of the launch bay after the initial briefing. They'd been ordered to the Med Lab for some additional innoculations. Nurse Phoebe hadn't been sure that these additional "protections" would do that much good since no one knew what they might face on the surface of Axces Gamma, but Doc had use the old "Better safe than sorry" bit, and the vaccines were administered.
The shuttles were quickly loaded, since Commander Sheba had reportedly already been a little preturbed about the delay. Chief Mission Specialist Fenmarnis didn't care, though. As far as she was concerned, launch would take place when all was ready. When she received word, she checked off the last items for the last shuttle, then reported, "All shuttles are loaded and ready. All Vipers are ready to launch."
"Commander, the water mission--all is now reported ready," said Geenie.
"Let's get this show on the way," Sheba said.
"This one's for real," said Geenie with a grin. "All Water Mission escort Vipers, launch when ready. All Water Mission Shuttles, launch when ready."
A few microns later, she reported, "Commander, the Water Mission escort Vipers are away. Shuttles are off and on course for Axces Mu."
* * *
Captains Cain and Skyler had landed on Axces Gamma. Their landing zone was the nearest available clearing to the debris from the crashed escape pod or shuttle that they'd spotted from orbit. Both Warriors had gathered supplies from the small holds in their ships, and then had secured their Vipers to prevent unwanted guests. The plant life was somewhat strange, but even stranger still was the animal life. The insects ranged in size from tiny to flying monstrosities with wingspans approaching or possibly (since they weren't interested in getting close enough to take actual measurements) exceeding a third of a meter. They saw many different lizards and numerous other reptiles, but little else. As they hiked, on constant alert against potential predators in the strange place, Cain's comm sounded. It was an incoming message from Lieutenant Najinn.
* * *
Amy
Najinn reached a point over Axces Gamma sector 55A, and put himself into a fixed orbit. Hitting his comlink, he began to call out.
“Lt. Amy, come in. Lt. Najinn to Lt. Amy, come in Amy. Over.” After pausing a micron waiting for a reply, Najinn repeated the call, frustration rapidly working it’s way into his tone of voice. He tried a scan off the area below, but picked up nothing. Switching channels, he called to Captain Cain.
“Captain Cain, Lt. Najinn here.” He waited for a reply.
“Cain here, go ahead.”
“Negative on contacting Lt. Amy,” Najinn reported bitterly. “I’d really like to go down there, Sir.”
There was a pause before Cain’s reply came through. “Don't panic. Keep trying to raise her, Lieutenant. I’ll check on the status of the water retrieval team, and see if I can clear you to head down there. If by chance something did happen to her, they should know about the possible danger. Stand by.”
Cain sent a message to the Callisto. At this long range, it would be almost a centar before they would get a response. The last thing he’d heard was that there had been a delay in launching the shuttles. Something about vaccinations of all things!
Najinn began to repeat the calls to Lt. Amy. Far below, on the surface of the planet, the com in Amy’s Viper began to sputter to life and fill the cockpit with static and the faint sounds of Najinn’s voice. But the viper sat alone, abandoned, the voice fading into the gentle winds of Axces Gamma.
* * *
Nefeteri
Finally! The shuttles were launching. Teri waited until she actually heard the word herself. The bridge gave her the word. "Loading input, please acknowledge." Teri recited what she had done so many times in the sim. "Acknowledge input and functioning. Ready to launch." "You have a go then, launch Viper, Ensign Teri." Teri noticed that Hawke had just gone so she hit the three thurbo buttons and then switched three fire controls on. When she fired the turbo to launch it pushed her head and body backed into the cockpit seat. She kept her thumb on turbo until the Viper sped down the tube and was in space. She continued until she caught up with Hawke's left flank, just a tiny bit covering his vital part in case of enemy attack. "I'm with you, sir. The launch was great!" Teri smiled. Hawke gave her a thumbs up in his Viper with a grin. Teri did the same back with an even broader grin. She wanted to scream Yahoo but that would be unseemly. "You forget how different it is out here," she said in awe. Hawke smiled. Hopefully it would stay that way.
* * *
Expatkiwi
When Lt. Kiwi got the command to launch, he immediately hit the turbo button on his viper's joystick and immediately flet the kick in the back from the sudden acceleration as the viper was catapulted out into space. Kiwi manouvered his viper into position following Lt. Hawke. On his scanner, he saw his wingman, Lt. Ben just getting catapulted out into space from the CALLISTO. Kiwi called him and had him take up his station off his starboard wing.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:12:55 GMT -6
Lucian
He rubbed the short beard that covered his broad chin. Sergeant Brinfort had been on more drops than he could remember, though in recent yahrens, they’d become less frequent. As always, when going into this situation, he did his best to control his emotions. There was that frightening thrill of going into a potential combat situation, of not knowing what would be waiting, and if they survived the initial onslaughts of whatever awaited, if there would ever be a way home.
While he sat waiting, he thought about the recent training exercises with many of the newer Warriors, and how many of them had developed a serious dislike of him. The women hated him because he was too tough on them, and the men hated him because he pushed them beyond their limits. That, in his opinion, was just fine, for now, they were going on one of those unlikely adventures for which they’d been training. The women would see that the enemy, if one was encountered, would not give them a break just because of their sex, and the men would see that they’d have to go even further still than they’d imagined they could; however, he hoped they wouldn’t need to use any of the training they’d received. If they did, he hoped he’d been tough enough to give them the best possible chance of survival. Those men and women were Warriors, and they’d be there with his small group of Colonial Troopers to back them up to face whatever challenges might emerge from the wilds of this unknown planet.
After receiving permission, Sergeant Brinfort released the buckle and went forward to the flight deck. He spoke briefly with the shuttle pilot and copilot, then for the few moments they allowed him, he stared at the small orb in the distance that the viewscreen’s heads-up monitor identified as Axces Gamma.
* * *
As the Derelict One approached the Caprican Questar, the supposed derelict ship circling the eleventh moon of Axces Mu, the crew received word of JustinB's excursion into the ship. He'd turned back when he'd approached what appeared to be a trap set in one of the emergency exit passages. Now, the shuttle was supposed to dock, and it's passengers and crew would attempt access into the larger ship.
Lieutenant Rose had some shuttle time during her training, so Major Lucian had chosen her to pilot the mission. He'd hesitated for a moment in confirming the assignment, since she'd appeared somewhat down about something since her injury about three sectons before, despite her physical healing. He suspected that it had to do with Lieutenant Hawke and the strange circumstances of his reinstatement to Gold Squadron, but Commander Sheba had clamped a lid on news about the incident, and Rose wasn't sharing anything that she knew about it with him. Since she hadn't seemed impaired by whatever was bothering her, and since he felt that work would take her mind off of it, he'd sent her on the mission as the shuttle commander.
"Do you have a reading on that shuttle bay opening?" Rose asked. "It looks awfully narrow from where I'm sitting."
"It's most likely for a different type of shuttle, most likely a civilian model," said Lieutenant Titon who was sitting in the copilot's seat looking over the exterior of the CQ. Based on the reading, you've got a spare 19.3 centimeters of width, and 1.275 meters in length to get us in without scraping the sides of this ship. It's going to be very tight! Then, when you get in, you're going to have to shift forward by two meters to access the top docking hatch, since those exterior doors appear to be damaged and most likely won't close without some repair work. We won't be able to just hop out and pressurize. Are you up for it? If not..."
Rose looked at the course. It was going to be far tighter than anything she'd ever been through, and far more difficult than any other shuttle maneuver she'd ever attempted. A few centimeters to one side or the other, she'd scrape the side of the shuttle, and could do some serious damage. In addition, if she did scrape it, it was possible that the shuttle could be hung on the side of the entrance. If that happened, it would take a serious EVA to free the shuttle, and would make their mission have a much lower chance of succeeding. She looked at the monitor again, and thought about having to turn the shuttle over to Titon or someone else to take it into the bay. Then, making up her mind, she said....
* * *
Charybdis
It had been close to a centar from the time when the first Gold squadron viper reconnaissance missions launched and we had not heard anything from them due to the long distance they had to travel...that is, until now.
Cain's voice could be heard coming in garbled with static, but clear enough to make out what he was saying. We gathered around the monitor as we heard a conversation, something with Cain and I believe, Lt. Najinn.
From what we could make out, Lt. Najinn was asking permission to go after Lt. Amy and Cain was wanting him to wait. My heart skipped a beat with the news. What had happened to Amy? Why would Najinn have to "go after her?" Had she disappeared? Had something bad happened?
I felt a cold sweat drip down my brow. I'm sure some of the others on the bridge were aware of my stoic reaction. They knew the history I had with Amy. The sealing proposition and her acceptance of it had gotten around in some circles, but nothing had come of it lately due to Amy taking her time with thinking about it.
Still, that didn't change my feelings. It didn't change my love for her. She was in trouble in some God-forsaken place in the backwaters of the universe and...
Suddenly images starting pouring into my mind. Missions long ago. Turner, Brie's husband, screaming into the comm and suddenly, silence. Another asteroid mission where the Cylons attacked out of nowhere and Astraea, never returned...
"Keep me posted on what they are saying," I said to Lt. Aegina who was manning the comm unit. I turned and went into the Commanders' war room to sit and think...and worry.
* * *
Brie
After the launch of the Gold Shuttle Escort team, Major Brie had a few spare centons. She decided to do what she had been using all of her spare time for lately, investigating the old records on the computer, making sure that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary there for Hawke to find. There wasn't anything about her husband's last mission that seemed different in any way, the only slight abnormality was that Turner wasn't originally scheduled for the mission, he took the place of a viper pilot who had come down with food poisoning at the last micron, but last centon switches weren't all that uncommon, and it was recorded that a lot of people had been sick because of a bad batch of bovine stew. Brie couldn't find anything that would suggest what had really happened, so even if Hawke did go digging there wasn't anything to find. She hoped that he had changed his mind.
After almost a centon she returned to the bridge. Immediately she noticed that Charybdis wasn't anywhere to been seen. "Excuse me," she said to the first person that walked by, "have you seen Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis?"
"I saw him enter the Commanders' war room just a couple of centons ago, Major," was the answer.
The door to the Commanders' war room was part-way open, but Brie knocked anyway. "Lieutenant Colonel?" she called, opening the door a bit farther. One look at Charybdis and Brie knew that something had gone wrong with the food search mission. "Charybdis, what happened to Amy?" she asked.
* * *
Charybdis
I could hardly look Brie in the eye when she asked me the question. It's amazing that Amy supposedly said that I was always very hard to read emotionally, yet, here Brie had hardly heard anything and she nailed it on the head as if I was an open book.
I don't know if I harbored any ill feelings against Brie, she was the one who assigned Amy to the mission after all, but I couldn't blame anyone. Amy was needed on this mission. She had the experience. It was not like before. When Astraea never came back. She was not supposed to be on that mission.
but, back to matters at hand.
"We received a communication between Captain Cain and Lt. Najinn. Najinn was asking permission to go after Amy and Cain wanted to wait to find out what happened. We have to assume that Amy is missing or..." my voice trailed off.
Brie's face suddenly went ashen as well. Her shoulders slumped a bit. She grabbed a chair and sat down. "Do we know anything about what happened?" she asked.
"No. They had been surveying one of the planets according to schedule and we had not heard any communication until now. Problem is, it takes almost a full centar to get any communication back from their location, so what we just heard happened about a centar ago. Who knows what has happened since. There's no way to help them until the shuttle crews reach the destination and that's going to be a couple more centars."
"Charybdis, it could be just a communication malfunction. We don't know what type atmosphere these planets have or what kind of interference they might encounter. It could be something as simple as that." Brie tried to make it sound simple, but I could tell that she was trying to convince herself as well as me.
"Yeah, it could be. But why isn't Cain letting Najinn go after her? They were flying together, it's his duty to make sure that everything is done for the safety and wellbeing of the pilots under his command." I started to question why Cain had made that decision. Amy was missing, frack. Najinn should be allowed to go after her! Valuable centons were ticking away and nothing was being done to help her!
"Charybdis, we don't know the whole story. Blaming Cain or anyone else for that matter is not going to help things." Brie responded. She could tell that I was torn up inside. She knew those feelings well. Not 3 yahrens before we had sat almost in this same room when I had to tell her about Turner. Life was not fair. But one thing's for sure, I knew that history had a tendency to repeat itself. And it was doing a whale of a job right now.
"I guess that's why you don't want to move to the bridge, eh? At least you can go out there and do something. But now I'm stuck here and I can't do one fracking thing to help her." I looked away. I didn't want to go through something like this again. Brie and I had lost people in our lives. She would hurt too. Amy was like a daughter to her, sort of. I sometimes forgot that we were all in this together.
We both took deep breaths at the same time. Cain and the rest on the team were well-trained Warriors. We would have to trust them and pray that Amy was OK.
By the Lords, I hoped she was OK...
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:13:22 GMT -6
Brie
Although she thought she knew what the answer would be, Brie had to ask a question. "Do you want me to go?"
"No," Charybdis said, "you can stay."
"That's not what I meant," Brie replied. "My viper's all fueled up. Do you want me to go look for Amy?" She knew all too well that you couldn't go looking for every warrior that was missing, and Amy wasn't even missing officially. But every fiber of her being wanted to make sure that Amy made it back safely. As unorthadox as it was, with Charybdis' permission Brie could be gone within the centar.
* * *
Charybdis
It cut as deeply as anything ever could, to possibly hold the life of someone, someone you love, in your hands.
Brie wanted to take her viper and go after them. But by the time she got there, it wouldn't matter...probably.
And we'd be sending Brie out into whatever it is. We all knew the answer. It could only be one thing:
"No. It's too far and Sheba wouldn't allow it anyway. We're getting closer to the location as the Callisto moves through the system. Until it's feasible or we hear something else, Cain is in command and is responsible for what happens out there."
* * *
Brie
"That probably wasn't a very fair question for me to ask you," Brie told Charybdis. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you in that position, especially since I already knew the answer." She stood up and walked toward the door. "Let me know if you hear anything else."
"Where will you be?" Charybdis asked.
"Checking out my viper," she replied.
"Major..."
"I'm not disobeying orders, Sir," Brie said with a slight smile. "But I've already got ten members of my squadron out there. I'm next in line, and I want to make sure she's ready if I need her." The smile left her face. "You know as well as I do why I'll never to let someone else check my viper." She walked almost out of the room, but then turned back. "She does love you, you know."
"Does she?" Charybdis said more to himself than to Brie.
"Yeah, and it scares the felgercarb out of her. She's young, her family is still alive, she hasn't seen some of the things that we have. But she does love you, she's told me." Brie left, hoping that Charybdis didn't realize that Amy claimed to love Najinn as well.
* * *
Amy
From space, Najinn watched as the pair of vipers disappeared into the atmosphere of Axces Gamma. He really wanted to go with them, but understood the need to follow orders and wait for permission before doing a closer search for Lt. Amy. Besides, he had no real proof that something bad had happened. Amy was overdue, that was all he knew.
He tried to raise her again on the com, but with no success. It was all he could do to keep still and wait for clearance.
Suddenly a voice broke through the silence. It was Cain: "Cain to Najinn." Najinn answered quickly, "Go ahead, Captain!"
"Any word yet from Lt. Amy?"
"Negative" Najinn replied.
"Well, we've just touched down safely" Cain reported. He paused before continuing. "I can't see why you can't come down too, and do a visual scan of 55A. I'll take responsibility."
"Yes sir!" Najinn replied, the noise from his turbos nearly drowning out his voice as he followed a course he had long ago set while waiting clearance.
"Stay in touch and report your findings. Cain out."
* * *
Stargazor
Stargazor was on his way to the bridge when he came across Major Brie. She didn’t look, like she was having a good day. But Stargazor was concerned with all members of the Callisto. So he spoke up to the Major from Gold squadron. Stargazor say’s “ Major are you alright”!
The Major stopped for a moment to talk to the Ens. About what happened with Lt. Amy. She told him she was missing and that Lt. Col. Charybdis was emotionally and work related in a tough situation. And that she was going to the launch bay to check her viper out.
Stargazor dwelled with his mind of for a moment to the loss of his family and how it felt. Then he looked up and had an idee. Ens. Stargazor “Sir, maybe i can do something about it”! “Let me take out the weapons system and enlarge the fuel tank, like i did on the BSG for a deep probe”! “It will only take me half a centon”! “When refit, you’ll be able to go faster then the normal fighter and be their in 1/3 of a centar”! “You’ll have to fly on max. turbo’s”! “I did work on vipers when i was on the BSG”! “So what do you say, Sir”!
Pause
“If you’d like ill go and find her and the Lt. Col. doesn’t need to know”!
* * *
Brie
Although Brie realized that Ensign Stargazor's idea would work, it would mean overtly disobeying orders. If they knew for sure that Amy was in trouble then maybe, but until they knew what was going on it was an idea that couldn't even be considered. She also had the utmost confidence in Captain Cain, who was in command of the mission. "Thank you for the thought, Ensign," Brie said, "but what you're talking would land us both in a lot of trouble. I've been given a direct order from Lt. Col. Charybdis. I don't even know for sure if something is wrong. If we find out differently, I'll keep it in mind, after it's been cleared through the proper channels."
Brie continued to the launch bay, knowing that if anyone was leaving the Callisto to look for Amy, she would be the one.
* * *
Rose
"It is now or never if I am going to get us into that bay area," Rose says half to herself. Rose punched a few buttons on the control panel & started manouevering the shuttle towards the bay area so that they could land. As the shuttle was getting closer to the bay area of the derlict ship, Rose was having to make quick adjustments to her flight course, for she had overshot on some of her figures to get them into the bay area safely.
Rose quickly looks back over her shoulder & says, "hold on everyone, looks like we are going to have a not so smooth landing."
* * *
JustinB
As I was giving the Caprican Questar a final look over, Three blips appeared on my scanner. "Lieutenant Kris, This is Lieutenant JustinB. I have just picked up three ships on my scanner, approaching our position."
"Standby JustinB," Kris said. After a few microns, "JustinB, this is Kris. Its just the Exploration Team with Lieutenants Anubis and Randrius escorting them."
"Copy that Kris. I am just going to complete one more pass of the ship, just to make sure its not a trap." I said.
With Lieutenant Phlandor on my wing, we conducted another scan off the entire vessel.
Looking at the only place the shuttle could land, I hought to myself 'Man, its gonna be a tight squeeze'. Five centons later the shuttle prepared for tight landing. "Good luck shuttle team and watch out for booby traps."
"Thanks JustinB," came a familar voice, "and we will." At that instant, I realised Rose was on the exploration team.
* * *
Rose
Rose continued to make adjustments as the shuttle continued forward towards the landing bay area. As she was bringing the shuttle closer and closer, Rose was having to concentrate more and more on making sure she didn't hit either of the sides of the landing bay to get the shuttle inside and landed safely.
"Here goes nothing," Rose quietly under her breath.
The shuttle continued forward under Rose's control and as the shuttle was going into the landing bay, the shuttle unexpectantly shifts to the right some and they hit the right side of the landing bay hanger door. "Frack!," Rose yells out, "hold on everyone. I'm trying to get this shuttle back even with the landing bay doors so that we can land safely."
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Post by LucianG on Mar 31, 2007 9:13:49 GMT -6
Amy
Lt. Amy's viper began to shift slightly, then tilt to one side. Beneath it, the ground was beginning to soften, and the weight of the viper began to pull it down into the sand. The back of the ship, the heavier end, began to go first, the wings and lower engines disappearing into the opening sinkhole. The nose of the viper rose up at a 45 degree angle.
Noiselessly the sinking of the sleek ship continued, until finally there wasn't a trace of the ship left, save for a lone viper helmet lying a short distance away.
* * *
The heat was really getting to me now, and finding water was my number one priority. The uniform I was wearing made things that much more unbearable. How far had I walked? It seemed like the sea I could hear in the distance wasn't any closer now than when I first began walking toward it.
I needed to rest a moment and sat down on a rock. Sweat dribbled off my forehead, and I used the jacket to wipe it away. I looked around at my strange surroundings. Mostly sandy in this area, with strange tree like formations that offered little shade. Seeing the trees brought a flicker of a memory: a room, a huge room with a clear domed roof, green growth as far a the eye could see... and then the memory was gone. I shook my head again at my lack of recognition.
Suddenly it got very quiet. The strange little insect-like creatures had gone very still or disappeared. Faintly I could hear a rumbling, like from deep within the ground below me. Before I could react, the ground gave way and dropped ten feet. I jumped for the rim of the hole I was in but could not get a hand on anything firm. The ground kept sinking, kept filling in around itself.
In a panic I clawed at anything I could reach but I was up to my knees, then my waist in sand, and kept sinking further. Just before I went under, in my heightened state, a word popped into my head. A name, a place maybe? I knew it meant something to me. I took a final breath but before I could scream out the word I disappeared beneath the surface without a trace.
* * *
Circling over sector 55a in his viper, Najinn had made two passes through the entire area with no success in finding a trace of Lt. Amy. With his fuel running low, he had two options: return to orbit and send his report to the Callisto, or land and search on foot. But with no clue as to where to look, he regretfully kicked in his boosters and headed for orbit.
Once in orbit he sent his report, then set course to return to the Callisto before his fuel tank went dry.
"Najinn to Callisto: completed search of sector 55A, negative on finding Lt. Amy. I'm low on fuel and on my way back. Najinn out."
* * *
I awoke with a start, remembering the terror of being swallowed up by the very world itself. Well, I thought, at least I could remember that. Maybe that was a good sign, that maybe full memory would return to me soon.
I got up slowly, unsure of where I was now, or how I would get back to the surface. I wasn't sure how long I was unconscious, but I felt very thirsty. I ached all over. I stood, brushing myself off, looking at my new surroundings.
It seemed a cave of some kind. Above me, I could see I was sealed in, almost like this world had repaired itself. The sides of the cave had a slight glow to them, and it seemed like I was in a tunnel. I had the impression that although I couldn't see far in either direction, this cave stretched on far in both directions.
A growing feeling of depression came over me. What would I do now? I had no memory of who I was, had no idea where I was, and things suddenly felt very hopeless. I sat down on a small outcropping, feeling ready to just break down.
That's when I realized I was not alone down here.
It started as a feeling of eyes watching me, and when I looked up they were there. A group of maybe ten beings, like me yet different in subtle ways. They stood, not being threatening in any way, but they made me nearly jump out of my skin. I instinctively drew my weapon, then became distracted by how fast I had drawn it. A brief memory almost came to me, but faded before I could latch onto it.
These people did not react to my weapon. They just stood absolutely still. Slowly I began to feel dumb for drawing it, so I put the gun back in it's holster, my eyes on the one who looked like me might be the leader.
He wore something on his head, something that seemed almost alive itself. His face was painted in streaks of color. All their faces were painted, each similar yet different from the others. The leader slowly extended his hands, and one of the others stepped forward, holding out a bowl toward me. It looked like water!
* * *
I took a small step toward the one who was holding out the bowl of water, when suddenly the leader shouted something I could not understand. I froze as instantly the group took on a more threatening posture. I kept still, not understanding at all.
"Uh", I stammered, trying to think of something to say. I knew my name from the inside of the strange helmet I had been wearing, so I figured I'd start with that. "My name" I began, pointing to myself, "is Amy. I'm Amy. I'm afraid that I can't tell you much more than that." As I talked I knew that it was useless. They couldn't understand a word of what I was saying. I let my sentence trail off.
With another grunt from the leader, the group went back to it's non-threatening stance, and once again the bowl was offered. I knew that there was something that I was missing, but what was it? I studied the leader, and watched his face intently, looking for any clues as to what they wanted from me.
It began to dawn on me slowly. Watching the leader's eyes, I could see him looking from my eyes to the clothes I was wearing. They seemed to bother him a lot. They were not at all like the loose-fitting, rather sparse clothing these people wore. They had much of their bodies exposed. Me, I was covered head to toe. Perhaps they took this as a form of dishonesty or a lack of trustworthiness?
I untied my jacket from my waist and dropped it to the ground beside me. I untucked my uniform tunic and tore at it until it was short enough that my stomach showed. Encouraged by the expression on the leader's face, I continued, tearing off the sleeves of the uniform too. The more I tore off, the more relaxed the leader seemed to be. Good! My tongue felt like it was swelling up, I was so thirsty.
They were barefoot, a surprise considering the rough ground in this cave, but I went along and pulled off my boots and socks. I ripped up each pantleg to make a rough pair of shorts out what remained of my uniform. With that I stopped. I wasn't about to go further than that unless I absolutely had to. One last thing had to go, I felt, and I undid my gunbelt and dropped it on top of my jacket.
I figured I was safe to take the water now, but again when I took a step they had the same reaction. What was wrong? I stared the leader in the eye, looking for understanding. He began to motion to me as he spoke words I could not comprehend. It seemed like he was gesturing for me to kneel down. I wasn't about to until I saw one of the others hand the leader a second bowl, one with a brush. Inside I could see a thick liquid, almost like...
Paint! Another thing that separated our appearances! I must need to become one of them to be allowed to live among them. Feeling that this must be the reason, I lowered myself to my knees. Slowly the leader came forward, and I could see that he seemed ancient as he drew near. He picked up the brush with a shaking hand, and brushed my face with the white liquid.
A strange feeling came over me as the paint hit my skin. I became lightheaded, and things became a little foggy. This obviously wasn't ordinary paint! Plus I could swear that the second time he dipped the brush, it came out yellow, and the third time red. By then I didn't really care anymore, any concerns I had seemed to be melting away. When he was done painting my face, the leader offered me his hand, and I took it, finding it alot stronger than I expected. Was he that powerful, or was I that much weaker now? I rose to my feet uneasily, and walked with the leader to join the others.
Now the water was offered, and I reached for the bowl without incident. Gratefully I drank the entire bowlful, feeling nothing but contentment. The leader put a hand on my shoulder and this time I could understand him as he said "Welcome Amy".
* * *
After draining the bowl of water, we walked single file down the long cave path. Each member of the group had a place in line, and I was surprised to know where my place was. I knew it had something to do with the paint used on my face. Up until then I had no clue how to understand them, now it felt like this was where I belonged.
We walked on until we reached a larger opening. It seemed to me like this was a home area of sorts. There were shelters assembled, though there seemed no need for such things down here. Perhaps they were more for simple privacy needs than for protection from the elements.
More of these people were here, and I moved among them without any reaction. All attention was drawn toward the leader as he spoke in a language I now understood.
"New among us. Celebration!" he shouted, reaching for a staff with a decorative handle that looked like the thing he wore on his head. With a mere wave of it fire sprang up in a blackened area that obviously had seen many fires before. My eyes grew wide with wonder as with another wave of the staff the cave walls began to grow brighter. We all moved to sit around the fire and listen to the leader speak.
As I listened, several of the women sat next to me, curious about my blonde hair. Everyone here had dark hair. I said nothing as they began to darken it with some sort of liquid. I reached back and undid the strap I had used to tie my hair back while up on the surface. Everyone was in great spirits, and I felt much at home as stroke by stroke my hair became dark like the others.
* * *
As the celebration went on, the women continued to fuss with me, making my appearance the same as theirs. The sense of oneness, the need for it, was very strong. I felt it myself and wanted very much to be one with them.
My hair was completely black like theirs now thanks to the dark liquid the women had used on it. Now they arranged it similar to their own, adding strings and bead-like things that looked like they were made of bone. The dark liquid had begun to start a tingling feeling in my head, and another wave of fogginess came over me. But I felt happy, with a sense of belonging.
After a while the leader motioned for everyone to join in, and we all rose up to share in the excitement. As I began to dance a sudden memory fragment stabbed through the fog in my mind- a celebration as well, with many people dressed in the uniform I had worn, singing and carrying on... then another flash- just one person now, and I was rolling on the floor with him in celebration... Then the memory flash was gone as I was taken by the hand. It was the leader, looking at me in concern as we joined in the dance. I smiled as the fog again wiped my mind clear.
Suddenly all grew still as the leader motioned with his staff. The fire dimmed and grew smaller, snuffing itself out. The walls grew dimmer as well. The leader took me by both hands and announced we would journey to the sacred jewel. This brought on more celebration as the others crowded around me. Obviously only tribe members were allowed this, and I was now one of them.
We returned to the single-file marching arrangement, and I again fell into my proper place. As we began walking I felt around my head at the various beads and strings in my hair. The tingling feeling had gone away, and my whole scalp felt numb now. I noticed that my hearing was crystal clear however, that I could no longer hear the ringing in my head, or even remember how the pain had felt.
* * *
The walk took us very far through the caves. Several times we veered off down off-shoots from the main tunnel. The footing was very ragged and I could feel my feet become very sore and a little bloody. The pain cut a clear path through my foggy brain mommentarily, and another memory fragment hit me- I was in my strange little ship with one boot off, pain shooting up my leg. Then another fragment- laughing with someone, someone who seemed so familiar to me but yet... And then the imagery was gone again, but my feet still hurt. These people must have leather for skin!
We walked a while longer before the ground smoothed out again, and up ahead the cave grew massive and the ceiling much much higher than at any point I'd seen before. As we entered the clearing I could see a huge body of water and a waterfall coming from somewhere in the ceiling. I had felt like we were going down as we walked- how much deeper were we?
The leader waved his staff and the walls glowed brighter. It was a magical sight! The leader motioned everyone around him, then took me by both hands. His grip felt stronger than ever. Everyone looked more vibrant, with brighter expressions and more animated movements. It was then that he gestured toward the water, and in his odd language that I somehow understood, he said, "Jewel! Amy, first time!"
A sudden cheer came up from everyone. I looked around at all the happy faces, amazed that I had come so far with them in so short a time. I felt an intense happiness. At this moment I didn't care what past I was leaving behind. I wanted to be here, with these people. We were one!
The leader once again said "Jewel", motioning toward the water. I looked around, but could see no jewel anywhere. Perhaps the water itself was the jewel? Judging by the way everyone was rejuvenated here, perhaps this was the case. It looked like a huge underground lake, perhaps their source of fresh water, and who knows what else. The leader motioned me to go forward, toward the lake.
Unsure, I took several steps toward it, and none followed. I had the brief thought that I might be a sacrifice to a god of some kind, but I couldn't believe this was so. I was made to feel so much a part of these people. We were one! I couldn't believe they would have done all that just to kill me.
I walked forward further, heading for the water's edge.
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