Sir Gavin clicked his heels and bowed to Jaq; and you could see he resisted taking her hand and kissing it.
"Charmed Madame." He said with a smile.
Flynn frowns as he walks in the door, seeing the picture on the table. "Are we going back to pre-contact forest world?" he asks, "Because I'd need a Cherokee dictionary, something phonetic."
Reporting for Duty, ma'am. Teal salutes crisply.
Aurora come rushing into the room, her hair tangled and her clothes rumpled. A huge smile on her face, she stops before the commander and give a perfect salute then takes her seat.
At the Commandant's question, all the young corporal can say is, "No ma'am."
When Gavin enters, Jaq stands to salute, and hesitates when he bows and almost reaches out to kiss her hand. Her cheeks turn pink and her eyes look away for a second before fixing on a point a few inches above his head.
"P-pleased to meet you, sir," is all she says.
As the others file in Jaq felt her eyebrows rise at the appearance of Teal and Aurora. It was nice not to be the only woman, but even with the mention of blue statuette and nanite cloud, or was the other woman the Math Magician, whatever that was, she was still a little surprised by their appearances.
Well, It's nice to be interesting, I guess.
Jaq remains quiet as she waits for the briefing. She may be the "tech expert," but outside of electronics, software, computers, and robotics, she was as lost as anyone else.
"No, Flynn. You will not be returning to Echo2300. It's merely a mount of pride and accomplishment. A personal bit of proof that my teams can handle anything."
The older woman gave a look around the table, waving everyone to sit.
"Everyone, good to see you, I hope you last couple weeks were pleasant. The conveyor is ready for departure. However, I'm instructed from the big-whigs to give something."
Reaching into her cloak, drapped over her right arm, she retrieves what looks like a mason jar. Within the jar, a small creature scuttles about.
The creature in question is hardly an inch and a half in size. it possess 6 legs and a pair of mandibles. 4 eyes, two on either side of it's head. In general, this thing looks like a maggot with legs. a couple extra eyes and a green tinge to its flesh.
When she brings the jar to light, the creature scuttles to face the group and stares blankly in their direction.
"This little creature was found on an expedition a few years back. It doesn't seem to eat but instead photosynthesizes . No one's seen it sleep. And as far as we can tell, it's not intellegent. It does stare a lot, however."
She hold the jar up for the team to get a clear view before placing it on the table and sliding it toward the holoprojector. Just so that the group can see. The creature with in ends up facing John. It simply stares, almost as motionless as Teal, but its legs tend to tap vocationally.
"My R&D have requested that I have my personal team take the creature with them into other worlds to see if it reacts... to anything."
The Commandant sighed, giving a shrug. She looked over the group then to Jaq.
"Oh, right. Jaq will be joining all of you. She's a tech expert. I imagine that will be handy. When you're all ready, simply head to the projector. Your Conveyor will be ready. Inform the operations team that your ready and give them a recovery time. Any Questions?"
Seeing a new member to their group, Aurora bounds over and gives her a big hug, the smile still plastered over her face! She holds out her hand and the words AURORA appear on her palm.
Jaq gives the jar and it's occupant a worried look. She'd been around dangerous things long enough to know that doing something just to see what happens was not very wise.
Before she can open her mouth to say anything, however, she's nearly tackled by the pale, white-haired woman. Awkwardly, Jaq returns the hug and says, "I'm happy to meet you too."
After that moment of awkwardness, Aurora shows Jaq her palm, which now had the word "AURORA" on it.
"Aurora," Jaq says nodding her head a smile slowly spreading across her face, "remind me not to let you near any spinning wheels."
Turning to the Commandant as best she could while still being hugged, Jaq's grin disappears.
"I do have a couple of questions ma'am," she says, "First, do you have any information on where we are going? Second, what are we to do if Mr. Photobug over there breaks out of his jar?"
Sir Gavin smiled at Jaq and then turned to the jar.
Bending down, he held his finger up to the glass and then slowly traced it around, looking to see if the creature would follow it with its eyes.
Standing up straight, he frowned in thought.
"Mon Commandant, have we any news of the interlopers and how they found John? Have the interrogators discovered anything about that?" He asked, concerned about meeting more of them in the future.
"The 'photo bug' is a unique entity found on a hell world. The research team recovered this, the only living entity on the planet before returning. Since then, it's undergone numerous tests and all have been inconclusive. The only static thing we know about this thing is that it stares at people... What about the person or persons it stares unknown to us."
The woman lets out a sigh as she leans forward, placing her arm on the table to support her forward lean.
"They assure me that it's harmless. Even in the palm of a hand, it only pokes the holdee with its legs or mandibles. Not the most intriguing thing.
Leaning back as Gavin spoke she nods, giving him a smirk.
"Actually yes, He admits a shadowy figure had approached the head of his order. Someone by the name of Devora. He was curtain she was female, but the amount of heavy cloth and cloaks she wore apparently made that questionable. According to the cultist she possessed some kind of breathing apparatus that also caused her voice to echo like steel. Odd, to be sure. At any rate, I will advise you all to stay clear of the Cult of Sol until we are sure who their benefactor is."
She eyes the rest of the room then motions to the door...
"If that's all, your vessel awaits. Oh and Jaq, you'll unable to take your heavy armaments. Unless you want them stranded."
Jaq Paused on her way to the door, turning to face the Commandant again, a confused expression on her face.
"Does the Commandant refer to the battlesuit, or it and the rifles, ma'am?"
"So what you're saying is that this thing may have singlehandedly wiped out every human, plant and animal on a planet, but is 'probably' safe enough to carry around in a glass jar. Alright then."
Flynn thinks. "What's already been tested? Does it react to light? Magic? Has nothing been learned of its anatomy or genetics?"
"Battle suit, Jaq."
The woman glances to Flynn.
"We think its even more vague. We think its power in general, either it be a mage or a technician. It's attention is held to the strongest in the sense of generality...or so the researchers come to understand. And no, the little photo-bug didn't destroy anything on any world. The radiation that blanketed the planet was gamma. A star made that world sterile. Why this bug was there, we are unsure."
Jaq nods as Commandant al-Wahid answers her question.
"Thank you ma'am," she says with a small smile, only to have it disappear in a wince at the mention of gamma-ray burst sterilizing the planet.
"Um, ma'am, which star was it that went boom," she asks before she can shut herself up.
"It would be irrelevant to answer, you wont be going there."
"Yes, ma'am," Jaq says sheepishly, though form the way she almost fidgets, it's obvious it's going to drive her nuts until she learns what star went boom, as she put it.
Just adjusting for my 8 points...buying some skills, but otherwise ready to go!!
Moving on...
Back on the conveyor you all take your seats, Flynn at the pilot's chair.
In the ship's storage, your respective gear. and a strange photo-bug, simply staring into a wall, it seemed.
None the less, the procedure is the same. Over the comms, a tower operator instructs Flynn to ready the conveyor...
"Right-o. So where is this thing aimed?"
"That's classified as per the Commandant's orders... However, I am authorized to tell you that you'll be in Q3 and you have only 48 hours to do your recon..."
...and Like that, the conveyor vanishes instantly...it reappears between two large concrete buildings. An Ally of sorts.
The sensors on the conveyors console pick up radio and general media signals. Streets are paved, but don't seem to in heavy use. if in use at all.
Despite you being in an ally, it's clean. There are no dumpsters or homeless refuse.
A car, its wheels horizontally align with the pavement is parked behind the Conveyor roughly 15 meters down the way.
The sound of a whooshing air above you and the sound of dense commerce nearby fills the place with auditory life.
The scents of breads and sweets are near by. seemingly on the other side of your left concrete building. The air is clean and without a heavy scent of exhaust, despite the large buildings around you. Seems the glass and metal urban jungle here is Eco-friendly...and sprawling.
Peering out through the viewport, Sir Gavin nodded.
"A city, and clean too. It must be fairly advanced.
"Jaq, see if you can get a televison picture. We should be able to calibrate our clothing then to remain unnoticed." He said.
Jaq lugs a heavy pack and two long plastic cases onto the conveyor and stows them wherever she can find room.
"Well, here we boldly go," she says as she takes her seat.
"On it," Jaq says as she fires up the telecommunications gear.
"Now we just gotta make sure we aren't out of fashion," she says as she manages to decode the transmissions, "I just hope jeans and t-shirt isn't considered in bad taste."
"If your radio's too advanced, I've got an analog in my kit somewhere," Flynn adds. "And I'll check the mana level."
By checking the media of television, you find that TL 8 wear is the standard. However, You also come to find that there are two distinct clothing lines, racially divided by Human and Avine. The latter seems to support a humanoid form, but they are far more 'elegant' with their lighter, silk based wear and metallic color scheme.The collar seems to raise a bit more as well.
You find that magic is null, once again fizzling at your attempt. Not even a spark. Oddly enough, a glow does catch your eye from the Jar containing the Photo-Bug. The glow is a rather intense white light, however, it radiates out of the jar. The energy it's producing is mana, raising the level to Low. . Sadly, it's range is limited and it must be on person in order to access the boon.
The City is significantly larger then you previously considered. Simply by access the television network, you find that it's sprawling seventy square miles. The buildings are smooth, perfectly aligned and emphasis a bit of creative construction from its designers. The glass is highly reflective to give it a constant mirror affect. The sky is lined with 'Cars' zooming within some kind of hovering street boarder system.
Aurora studies the TV recording of the people on this world. She alters her clothing and skin colour to mimic that of the Avine. She also watches to learn more about this 'other' race.
The Alien beings share a similar white that Aurora already possesses as her skin tone. Their eyes a little larger then that of a typical human, but still possess the components of an 'earth' eye. They possess no body hair of any kind, even the tops of their heads are charmingly bald, though they adorn crowns or crests made of metal or smooth stone.
Reference of an Avine female.
They stand between 6' and 7' feet tall. Both genders possess similar physical features and their clothing is unisex.
Oddly enough, True males are uncommon. Females seem to take up both respective roles that are common among humans. Males are seemingly more reclusive. According to the media, this is because of their society functionality. Seems males are treasured and hidden to prevent rivals from 'stealing' them.
Jaq shakes her head at some of the things she learns and decides she might as well see if there's something like the internet here. She searches for a few news channels and leaves them on while she pulls out her small computer and powers on the display on her sleeve.
"Here's hoping they have the same wi-fi standards as back home," she says as the computer powers up.
"So, where are all of you from," she asks while she waits, hoping to satisfy her curiosity about her teammates while she waited on the wi-fi signal search to finish.
Sir Gavin glanced over to Jaq.
"Well, I myself come from a Q7 Parallel world nicknamed “Cyrano-3” by the Parachronic Surveyors. I was a Royal Guardsman and Chevalier d'Epee to his Majesty, King Louis XXV."
He leaned in closer.
"On Mars." He said in a lower voice.
He leaned back against the port.
"Are you sure you want to hear the WHOLE story? I'm sure the others would like to tell their stories, and mine would take a while." He said, waiving at the others.
"Oh, don't worry, I want to hear all of it at some point, sir. As daddy says, I'm nosy and like to know things," Jaq answers Gavin before turning to Teal, "what about you, the last time I say someone with blue skin was at an Avatar movie festival."
"Right, then, Ms. Cho. This isn't summer camp—if you want to learn our life's stories, maybe back at base camp. Right now our next steps rely on your tech, so we could use your focus."
"If you can patch into a mobile data network, it would be nice to download local maps. Make sure we're in a region where our accents don't stick out."
"Everyone else—what sort of tests do you want to run? We're not going to see interesting magic here, and I'm guessing gamma rays don't do anything, but we could try to tour some broadcasting or power stations and subject the thing surreptitiously to varies sorts of radiation. Unless there's another reason this world with chosen, which I suspect."
Jaq bristles a little bit at the summer camp comment, but keeps her mouth shut. She couldn't magically make the machines work faster, and unless she could even see the signals, all she could do was wait.
"Yes sir, and I hope you have a Plan B, sir," she says with a bit of a grimace, "As far as I can tell the physics don't change much, but standards aren't the same thing. If they don't have a standard that matches one that my equipment uses, we'll need to get something that matches since I'm not going to be able to fix it in less than two days."
"Did you notices how the people here are not human? How are we to get around without being noticed as alien?" Inquired Sir Gavin.
Aurora smiles as she turns and shows the others the transformation she has undergone. Gone is her long white hair, and in its place a shiny bald pate greets the group. Her eyes have grown slightly larger and her entire frame has stretched to a height of almost 7 feet. Even her clothes have been altered, looking more like the fashion seen on the alien beings.
"Actually sir, there are humans and aliens. Aurora's already disguised herself as one of the aliens. We'd jus thave to dress like we're from here," Jaq answers.
There is an open Wi-fi signal. as a matter of fact, its unblocked and has full bars. Seemingly global internet access is available.
"Aliens? Or just heavy genetic modification, by wealth or breeding?"
Jaq shrugs before checking on the wi-fi search, a small smile beginning ro form on her face.
"Well, it seems they use something my computer recognizes," she mutters as she connects. As soon as she can get on, her first objective is to find a search engine and general encyclopedia site. Once she's found these, she turns to Flynn and asks, "So, would you like me to do the nice thing or the less legal thing?"
through Jaq's varification, They are actual aliens...
The current year on this timeline is 2018, July 14th. In the year 2011, the Avine arrived having received numerous messages seemingly asking if 'aliens' existed. They arrived to uplift the curious lifeforms of Earth and answer they're questions.
Since they're arrival, the Avine have given Humanity Technology to join them in the stars and aid in their management of the world. Two main technologies were given: Reactionless Drives and Anti-Gravity tech.
The Photo-bug seems to tap around the jar, then the entire interior becomes engulfed in sun white light. Flynn has Low Mana Access. -4 to casting skills.
Jaq looks behind her at the bug in the jar and shrugs before returning to her data gathering.
"Shoulda been working on a spider instead of the drone," she mutters under her breath as she spends the next few hours tediously gathering any cultural, scientific, and political information she can. After a while, she gets up and begins rummaging around the galley.
"Does anyone know if we've got any tea and sugar," she asks, half buried into a cabinet. Either way, she returns to her station with something cold and hopefully caffeinated to drink for another dive. This time into a restricted database she had found.
"Crap," she mutters under her breath before disconnecting from the network she had been using and thinking furiously.
"Hey, Flynn," she asks in a dead serious tone, "Can we move this thing and still get picked up?"
While the others fiddle with some machinery, Aurora, in her new form, wanders out into the street to watch the people and look in the store windows.
Startled at the sudden blaze of light, Sir Gavin exclaimed in french and quickly grabbed a rag or towel and threw it over the bell jar.
"What? What was THAT?" He exclaimed, pointing at the covered jar containing the 'bug'.