The gunny is stern and silent as they work. He's got an ear out for Oschia and an eye on Jack. For all they know there are acid spitting snakes running around this rock and a few seconds may be all they get to save someone's life. The work runs quick enough and soon they're heading back into the tin can.
Bout time. Gunny says with a grin on a private channel to Jack. I had beans before everything went ass up.
The Gunny nods as he listens to her. He can tell there's more for her to say, but wants to wait before asking. She'll probably not want to talk about it in front of everyone. He'll pull her aside once she's had some rest.
Well, Watch 27, I'mma take first watch. I figgered Royce'd want it, but he's already countin' sheep. I'd love for someone to watch my back. Anyone else up for it? I'd prefer one of the techies, if y'all dont' mind. 2 hour shifts should work out just fine.
Having just returned from his sentry position Edmund was still shrugging off his EVA suit when Ms. Williams presented her concerns and supporting data. He knew the woman had something on her mind that she wasn't sharing but he didn't want to be antagonistic. A debate would surely not end in the uneducated man's favour and it did him no good to antagonist anyone else on the ship.
"Now aye 'ain't happy to hear any thin' 'bout a backstabbin' traitorous dog in ar midst. But, I would call to you young lady, that there was ten o' us folk awake on that there ship, and we now number just eight. Mayhaps it's them two what's missing that caused all our strife ?"
Knowing from experience that mutual trust is better for a team by angstroms than mutual paranoia and distrust, Edmund presents this as a hopeful scapegoat such that those present might unite against a outside for rather than begin bickering amongst each other.
" an' anuther thing, we can't all be sleepin' at once.
Inhospitable to us don't mean inhospitable to other things, someone should stay up
A bit, keep watch over our screens and whatnut. Ill volunteer provided someone teaches me how not to mess up these doohickeys and whatchadoodles.
Sorry son, but I think we need to spread out our strengths. Hows-about you rack out and you can take second watch? Ms. Aden, you up fer a stretch with this old tin soldier?
If she agrees, he'll move on to Doctor Chronis. Doc, you up fer watching o'er us wit Oschia here?
he looks to the others, There's eight a' us and four watch shifts. We can all get a decent night sleep while still keeping an eye on everything.
Dr. Chronis regards Dr. Williams, Isaacohn, and Oschia's statements. He reaches for his pharmaceutical kit, retrieving three of the new modern micro-hypodermic needles. "Dr. Williams, an excellent observation like that requires some good reunion with the subconscious to verify and centralize into a genuinely presentable argument. But I can understand your mind might be a little hectic after our landing. I've a sedative that might help you get some sleep, and when you awaken refreshed you can tell us what that inner counsel of yours thinks about all these observations." .
"Isaacsohn, Oschia. I've also got some stimulants here, to help you stay awake if you need them. I would have crafted some pills, but hypodermic is the fastest and most effective means of transmission."
"I am usually a light sleeper myself. So I will probably awaken fairly early, but then again, I'm not exactly certain what qualifies as early on this planet."
.....
"I suppose if I am needed, I can. It will give me some time to take a few more readings."
"O-Ok! I'll be right there after I uh... fix this mess."
Jolted out of her stupor by Gunny's words, Micaiah stutters in embarrassment at her apparent clumsiness and proceeds to retrieve the fallen items.
"Right then, ill settle down get a quick nap an' be up an' ready in two hours time."
Edmund nods in agreement with the Gunny as he speaks. Turning to doctor Chronis with an expression of sincere gratitude.
"I'd be happy to accept a little assistance, my eyes don't open quite as quick as they once did and two hours 'ain't fully restful"
With a polite salute and wave goodnight the old soldier picks his photo album off a nearby workbench and heads for an unoccupied bunk for a short rest.
Yogh drifts over from his console at the sound of the clatter to help Michaiah pick up the food. That's alright, Miss Aden. It's been a rough day for us all.
I'd really rather not Doc... The Gunnery Sergeant says looking at the hypo.
As Micaiah begins to pick up her mess. Take your time Ma'am. We've got a couple of hours. I'd be happy t'take that mango off yer hands tho. He juts his chin at one of the bottle on Nurishall she's recovering.
"Mango? Good choice Mr. Isaacsohn!" Micaiah looks up and smiles at Gunny while handing him the bottle: "I've never done a watch before so I'll be counting on you!"
After picking up the fallen items in her immediate vicinity, Micaiah scans the hallway for things she may have missed, only to have Yogh approach her with the rest of the fruits.
"Thanks Mr. Yogh. I don't know what came over me, but the world just started spinning after Dr. Williams gave her theory..." She greets Asher apologetically and, realizing that he probably hasn't eaten anything up until now, thrusts him a bottle of nutrient paste: "You must be hungry Mr. Yogh. The pineapple flavor is delicious!"
Thank y'kindly ma'am. He says taking the bottle from Micaiah.
He let's the girl make whatever small talk she desires before the others crash. They'll have two hours of near silence before their turns come up. Filling it with conversation might just help the time pass by a bit more quickly.
Yogh extends his hand and takes the bottle Thank you, Miss Aden. It is, indeed, sublime. Yogh smiles after a draught from his bottle and muses. Pineapple. Fun word. Indeed it does look like the 'apple'--that is fruit, of coniferous--'pine' trees. In fact, pineapple used to be the term for what you and I would call now a pine cone. No hidden tricks in its etymology, it is exactly what it says on the bottle. he muses..
Turning to face Michelle, he asks What about you, Ms. Williams? I can tell you are unnerved by something, despite your courageous front. What do you know that we don't? We can't help you unless you tell us.
Ah, well, at least take comfort that I was--if you'll pardon the lack of modesty--the brightest linguist on Terra Prima, and I will do all I can to decipher any new languages or codes we might come across. I would greatly appreciate a look at the hardcopy you printed from the Avalon's computer. Perhaps there is something in hidden in there that will give us a clue as to the possible saboteurs.
Assuming Williams lets him access it, Yogh will skim the hardcopy before lights out and then in the "morning" will begin to analyze the hardcopy for clues as to the origin of the object that hit the Avalon--whether natural, human, Vexic, or an unknown alien.
Wishing to avoid the uncomfortable subject of Dr. Williams' theory, Micaiah quickly excuses herself from the group at the airlock and makes her way to the cockpit. Bringing up the general status and security displays, she leans back into the seat and allows her thoughts to drift.
An unknown assailant huh... May be I will end up fulfilling the Council's wishes after all, Dad, even though you sent me away so that I may avoid this... destiny. Her logical mind has long accepted Dr. Williams' theory as more then plausible, yet her heart is still hesitant. What do you think, Socrates?
[Dr. William's conjecture is well founded Micaiah. Although there is insufficient data to elucidate whether the attack is of alien, Human, or Vex origin. Given our current situation however, I would advise that emphasis be placed on your immediate needs rather then theorizing.] A familiar thought crosses Micaiah's mind as the AI interjects its reply.
Somehow I knew you would say that. But good advice none the less. The girl smiles to her self as she stretches, and swings her chair around to face Gunny. Realizing that she still knows embarrassingly little about the taciturn soldier, she tries to strike up a conversation:
"Can I call you Gunny? Mr. Isaacsohn?" Noticing his mechanical augments, she points at his arm and asks: "What happened to your arm? You can talk to machines too?"
Certainly ma'am. I worked my tail off for the title. I'd be glad to hear it a bit more often these days. His smile as he says this is genuine.
When asked about his arm, he winces. He forgets just how obvious it is sometimes. Same thing that happened to my leg, He knocks on the other prosthetic. That and several organs. I caught what basically ammounts to 'Vexic Flu.' For them, it's the sniffles. For us, it starts rewriting your body's blueprints. Mine decided I had some excess bits. Not only did I lose an arm and a leg, but my body won't even accept vat grown replacements.
Talk to machines? He asks with a chuckle. You mean Brynhilde? He taps the oculus on the side of his face. I guess so. She's my VALKyRIE. She helps me out in a lot of ways. Used to be combat. These days it's mostly informaton gathering. You?
"I'm sorry Gunny. I didn't know..."
Micaiah's smile fades when Gunny starts to recount his unfortunate reactions to the Vex disease. She casts her eyes at her feet while fidgeting the edge of her jacket as he went over the gruesome details. When Gunny moves on to exlaining Brunhilde, however, the girl suddenly perks up and becomes extremely interested:
"Me? Well... I guess if Brunhilde is a VALKYRIE because she can talk to machines and helps you do things, then I am one too!"
Micaiah exclaims excitedly and places her hand on a corner of the Operations Engineer station. The station shifts out of standby mode as the monitors flickers to show the progress of a ship wide self-maintainence program. Interfacing with the terminal through Socrates and the nano machines in her body, she assists the program in reprioritizing the tasks so that the process finishes before the end of her watch.
"See?" Micaiah beams Gunny a smile, and then leans towards him as she asks in a hushed voice: "Can I talk to Brunhilde?"
The dim sunlight fades and then reappears roughly 6 hours later. At least it's good to know that the hours seem to be... similar enough to Terra Prima. The computers calculate that a "day" is essentially 20 hours long.
The sensors saw no movement of any kind, no life signs either.
Leaving for the sleeping area after getting whatever drug the doctor decided to give her, Michelle laid herself down without delay. That damned linguist saw right through me. Either she was losing her touch or he really was as good as he said. Hopefully the latter, but probably both, she admitted to herself; such events really could wear one down...
And then she was awake. Potent stuff. She was in one piece, so that meant the others should be as well after her monologue yesterday. At least that facet is behind us for now. Beginning her morning stretches, she looked around at their enclosure. Time to make myself comfortable with our new home, I guess. Using the floors and walls as supports, she bent, twisted, and rocked herself through her morning rituals. Years of repetition had given her excellent range of movement, even though she was no athlete.
Oddly calm given the circumstances, she got her brush and hairpins out of her pack and began to do her hair. Michelle needed a moment to decompress. Once her mane was in a passable up-do, she hiked her way to the terminals. "Good morning," she chirped, a bit too chipper to be normal. To whomever was around her at the time, she gave her intent for the next few hours. "I'm going to give the ground here an analysis; might as well see what we have to work with if we're to scrounge for substances in the future."
Dr. Chronis was also up early, checking on the crew's life signs and toxicity levels. There was probably no need to, those nurishalls usually didn't contain any dietary toxins, but at the rate one member of the crew was downing them, it wouldn't hurt to see if there was an overdose potential.
"Good morning, Dr. Williams. If you're going outside, take one of the gunners with you. We still don't know if there's any native wildlife."
Brynhildr wakes the Gunny up four hours after the end of his watch. Their new planet didn't seem keen on the idea of four watches a night. Well, He says blearily to himself, Looks like everyone gets one in four nights off...
Good Gods, he says to whoever is awake before him, Tell me someone grabbed a kaff machine on their way onto this Tin Can.
He stretches and looks between the active doctors, So what's on the agenda? Anything int'restin' out there t'day?
Allen wakes up and gets ready to depart. Allen says "We can go check on what is southwest 3 miles from here and we can check 20 miles from here on the 'CRYO BEACON' I saw on the computer screen yesterday."
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After spending several hours in close proximity to Doc Williams during the last watch, Jack was feeling a certain sense of sangfroid due to the stilted interaction between them. He still wasn't sure precisely why she had a stick up her nether regions where he was concerned, unless for some unfathomable reason she thought he was some kind of suicidal, ship-killing terrorist. While sabotage couldn't entirely be ruled out as the cause of the Avalon's destruction, unlike Williams, Jack preferred to reserve making snap judgments on anyone among the handful of survivors, at least until he'd reviewed the black box data. As soon as his watch is over, he grabs his tablet, downloads all the available data, and retreats to a console in the engineering spaces of the pod...
Hmm... Three miles south-west? The Gunny asks confirming.
Brynhildr, check it out for me? After a few moments of reading and scanning the relevant info from his computer, he mutters mostly for others' benefit. Out of El-Oh-Ess, we'll have to take a walk. That'll be a bit of an issue at the moment. Given the terrain it's about an hour walk. We only get two hours of O2 per suit. We can run, but that'll likely use up more of that precious O2.
He looks to the brains that are up and about. We have any way of scrubbing atmo into something we can breathe?
While he is in the engineering space working at the console, Jack will also devote some time to checking the materials inventory to see what building resources are available, and review the tech specs retrieved from the Avalon. <Hmm... now what exactly do I have aboard this tub, and can I use it to make the tools I'll need to make the tools...> As he scrolls through the specs on the console, Jack will pause and go over the blueprints for the Basic T rover carefully. <We'll need to get to the other crash sites, either to scavenge materials or look for other survivors still in their cryo-pods, so I think making one of these buggies is going to be near the top of the 'I want' list very soon.>
Unless someone asks for her help in something, Micaiah will spend the day making some grenades for the military types.
Watching Micaiah at work, the Gunny will approach and ask. What'cha workin' at there ma'am?
"Things that go kaboom Gunny. In case you run into big scary aliens out there."
"Nice thought, Micaiah, but Gunny is right. I've done NBC warfare training in chem suits, and when you're dealing with nerve gas, punctures are not a good idea." Jack intervenes to stop Micaiah when he realizes what she's trying to do."It would be worse with a EVA suit. Even concussion grenades spew out some small bits of shrapnel, albeit at a lower velocity. But the chance of a stray fragment causing a leak in a suit out there could be fatal, so let's table that idea for now, okay?"He speaks kindly to Micaiah, as one would to a bright kid who is about to do something stupid for the right reasons...
"Ok..."
Micaiah pouts a little as she puts away the components.
Alright... He says with a touchof skepticism in his voice. S'long as you ain't tearing' up my ammo for it.
Any chance you kin build me a portable array for a Loppy-Oppy? Err... Listenin' Post Slash Observation Post? There's a ridge South-South West a here that I think we might be able to get a better gander of the area at. Wouldn't hurt to have a better view of our surroundin's fer good out there.
He tags a few files in Brynhildr's banks and has her toss them Socrates' way. It's just a place to watch from, all futuristic like with sensors and all.
At the same time he sets Brynhildr to take an account of what they have at hand that might extend their air supply in the suits long enough to make it to that Sensor blip to the Southwest.
"Here's a thought Micaiah. Having to move around any great distance and work in an EVA suit is exhausting after a relatively short period. But the suits we have on board are designed for hard vacuum, not for operation in a tainted atmosphere. If you want to produce something useful, see what you and your little friend can up with by way of a light-weight hazmat suit from what we've got laying around here?" Jack throws the idea Micaiah's way to try and distract her from mixing up batches of HE in 'his' engineering spaces, but such a suit would greatly ease the fatigue caused by extended periods trying to work outside in the full EVA suits... he goes back to working on the black-box data from the Avalon and the Basic T rover specs after that.
"Good ideas you two!" Micaiah exclaims in excitement at their proposals. "I'll draw up the blue prints and see what I can do. You two be careful out there if you are going to the wreckage site, K?" She smiles at Gunny and Jack, but her eyes betray hints of concern.
Dr. Chronis looks up at Isaacsohn's question. He had been studying the atmospheric readings from the pod's external sensors.
"I'm actually working on that conundrum right now. I'm not sure how dense the atmosphere is in SO-2. If it's pure S0-2, that might be a problem. If it's not, the S0-2 can be removed and cleansed through a variety of methods. Dr. Williams is more of the physical chemist though, she might be able to think of something far more quickly than I."
@Jack: Unfortunately the Black Box data is too scrambled to make much sense of it at the moment. Recovering one of the two of them would be the best solution. As for assessing the situation, you can at least realize that constructing one would pretty much use up everything you have left in the sense of materials.
@Gunny: For now, you don't have enough know how to set up a communications array. You can either try re-rolling the next day or ask someone else to help you. You do know you'd have the materials for one, but building one would mean no potential Rover.
[ooc]The bigger Structures and Vehicles work in CP (Construction Point) costs. Each CP is essentially 500 DC of crafting material.
[ooc]Currently you have 600.
[ooc]For example, if you build a grenade (DC 15), you remove 15 from the CP pool. If you're ever below 500, so for example, you're at 499, you do not count as having 1 CP of building materials.
[ooc]I will put your CP Total in the Campaign Info tab.
Edit: Can you also explain what the H, Mov, and R stands for?
"Eh did I hear ye talkin' bout a more interestin' excursin today?"
Edmund was one of the last to rise in the morning, the stimulant shot from his watch having taken a lot of energy out of him. When he arrives to speak with the others he is carrying a half empty bottle of apple-flavoured nutrient paste, some of which appears to be stuck in his grey-white mustache. He turned to the young Aden girl, still not totally familiar with her name as seeing the adolescent brought many painful memories, he had tried to ignore her until now.
"'mornin' lass, er I be wonderin' you seem the sharpest tack 'round here when it comes to all them thingamajiggs and fancy screens. I, well I never could afford to even touch equipment like this here stuff, not even in my military days." He turns to Jack & Gunny now, his face clearly showing his feelings of incompetency. "Could any of you folks gimme some sorta primer on how these whatsits and hoodads work? I got a bit of a rundown last night on watch, but I'm still a wee bit raw on how NOT to mess any o' yer stuff up on accident ya know?"
Ugh. There just isn't enough materials for both the Rover and the suit modifications, much less the Observation Post.
Micaiah furrows as she goes over the calculations while habitually chewing on a flock of her hair. Realizing that the Rover would allow them to recover the wreckage the scanners picked up the day before, she turns around and announces to Jack, Gunny, and Edmund:
"We should build the Rover and use it to recover the wreckage we detected yesterday. It will provide us with more materials to work with."
"mornin' lass, er I be wonderin' you seem the sharpest tack 'round here when it comes to all them thingamajiggs and fancy screens. I, well I never could afford to even touch equipment like this here stuff, not even in my military days."
"Morning Mr. Oschia! These systems are essentially idiot proof and would require multiple security passes for any permanent modifications. So long as you don't do that in here, you should be alright." She pretends to be firing a rifle, then smiles. "I can show you the basics when we get some down time."
Williams gives a nod to Isaacsohn and Chronis. "You're both right. Refining the atmosphere is something I had in mind, and if the atmosphere is purely sulfur dioxide, that could be a problem." They've got their heads in the game. "That's rather unlikely as we're on a rocky world, not a gas giant though; I'd expect to find another gas or two at least marginally above trace amounts here."
"The "soil", as it were, can tell us a good deal about the planet as a whole, however. Certain substances only form under certain conditions, and ruling-out some possibilities can tell us if portions of this planet may be inhabitable to an easier extent."
When the discussion turned to the beacon 3 units SW of their position, Dr. Williams raised an eyebrow. "Discovering whatever that is should be a top priority. Keeping us all alive is the top priority though, and that's too close for comfort. Running, as mentioned, won't really help matters." The grinned. "A shame none of us brought a bicycle!" Their reactions weren't exactly warm, the jest lost on them. Well, it's not my fault if none of them had a proper history primer! In a huff, Williams finished. "Isaacsohn, would you mind accompanying me out around the ship? With some atmosphere and soil samples, maybe we can see about cleaning up the air to allow that trip to the beacon later."
It'd be a pleasure ma'am. The sooner we know more about this rock, the sooner we can get out ofthis tin can.
"Excellent." Williams sets some of the ship's sensors to monitor the area she expected to do most of the sampling. Nothing special about it, except there would be a record if her paranoia was actualized for her out there. Let's hope it's not. "Let me gather my tablet and a scanner." Blushing only on the inside, she asks in a slightly softer voice of Isaacsohn. "You will need to remind me process of how to don these suits. It's been a while." Only to pass the exam...
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Bicycle... ancient technology... two wheels, pedal-powered... actually, that would be brilliant, Ms. Williams! A bicycle can easily quintuple the distance covered when comparing a walking pace to a cycling pace expending the same amount of energy. Can we fabricate one? Yogh says, seriously.
After a quick peach-flavored Nutrishall, Yogh begins his analysis of the hardcopy data Williams printed from the main computer. He will see if he can determine the origin of the object which hit the Avalon (Terra Priman/Vexic/other alien/natural/etc.).
I cannot determine the origin of the object which hit us, what a shame...
@Yogh: Assumption correct.
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Hearing the discussions about bicycles, of all things, Jack will give up his largely fruitless attempts to analyse the data from the Avalon, and see what he can knock up from available materials by way of a small, electric powered tricycle (for greater stability on uneven ground) designed to carry a person in an EVA suit.
@Jack: You will have managed to construct an electric powered "cycle" type vehicle, but I believe Aden was attempting to think up the Rover. In any case, it won't take that many DCs of construction material to build. I'd say 25 is fine for this.
I imagine pedal power drives the battery?
I imagine pedal power drives the battery?
After many hours of semi-furtive welding, wiring and rummaging through available supplies, Jack will ask Gunny, Allen and Edmund to come down to the engineering space. Sitting there is his prototype electric trike, designed to allow operation by someone in an EVA suit, and permit them to carry a few extra kilos of equipment, like additional O2 tanks, for short range surface excursions. "Now that I've built the bloody thing, who wants to try it out? If it's no use, I can still strip it back and salvage the parts, but I'm hoping it will make things easier for surface excursions in the short-term."
Certainly Ma'am. He starts with her as it's a bit more awkward putting something like this on another when you're already big and bulky in your own. It's mostly about the redundant seals. I don't really know what to expect from the air out there so being doubly sure we're not getting any seems like a decent enough idea.
As he says the last his oculus brightens with a flurry of activity. He quiets for a moment while still helping her out with the suit.
Oh... Well that's no fun at all. After a bit more fidgeting with her suit he nods in satisfaction. Gimme just a bit and we should be good to go.
Isaacsohn takes his time getting into the suit eventually picks up his rifle, ready to depart. Ready when you are, Ma'am.
Micaiah spends the day trying to come up with a workable blue print for the Rover.
"Strange... Are the wheels supposed to be different sizes?"
Realizing that she goofed on the first set of prints, Micaiah tries again.
"Lovely!"
Having been shown the somewhat archaic form of transportation Edmund's eyes lit up with excitement. "Now tha's more my style! Simple, easy to use and practical t'a fault!" He strolls closer to inspect the vehicle Jack has been toiling on since earlier this morning.
"I'd be happy to take 'er fer a spin, provided ye didn' want that honour yerself?
"The honor is all yours if you want it, Edmund. We should get suited up and get this out on the ground." Jack turns to Allen and Gunny, "If you blokes want to join us too, and give the trike a spin, that would be helpful. I can make adjustments, before anyone tries to take one of these out of sight of the pod, depending upon any feedback you want to give me." He steps over and starts dismantling the trike into sections for ease of removal through the hatches and the airlock. "It may... hell, it does... look mildly ludicrous, but until we can scavenge enough materials from the wreck of the Avalon, this is the best short-term solution I could think of to improve mobility out there."
"c'mon then! One o you spry younin's help me into one o' these EVA suits if you please?" Excited to finally see a piece of tech he understands other than his rifle, Edmund hurries towards the airlock without a second thought. Noticing that two EVA suits are already missing he scratches his well receded hairline until he remembers what Ms. Williams and the Gunnery Sgt. had mentioned earlier about taking topsoil samples.
Guess I'll be seein' themsfolk outside then! the old man thinks to himself as he reaches for one of the remaining suits and begins to slip it on as best he can without assistance.