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Post by Dota on Mar 24, 2013 7:10:49 GMT -5
"As our security officer I think you should be in charge of weapons and shields too."
What was Regal getting himself into that the human was laying the ship before him without a thought?
"Not that I think that we'll need any of that."
True enough. Regal didn't expect any sort of issues for such a benign pick up, but how did Kell know that?
"Oh I forgot to mention. There is one room on this ship that is off limits to everyone. Arthur doesn't even have access to it. It's downstairs across from the medical bay."
...Now that was practically begging to have someone go there. If Kell would have just said nothing, chances were Regal would have never had reason to venture there at all. Suddenly Mistral popped into mind. She was probably already trying to break into the room. It was going to be a long trip, regardless of the route.
"So, tell me a little about yourself. It's not common for a Vuulaps to leave home from what I understand."
"What? Er....yeah. You're right. I, uh, needed the money...and all. Hard to get a good ship, being a Vuulaps. Gotta ask the other species for a lift. Um..." He realized he'd not answered the question at all, "Oh. Nothing special to say about myself. I should probably get acquainted with the equipment."
With that, Regal went over to the console Kell had pointed out, dark green eyes studying the layout.
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Post by Trunks on Apr 1, 2013 17:36:38 GMT -5
Kell didn't want to push the matter with Regal any more than he already had. Clearly he was nervous, but nothing to be worried about. In all liklihood he had never left his home planet.
The console in front of Kell beeped. The route was verified. Kell started the engines. According to the latest diagnostic things were just fine.
"Alright let's go."
The engines started to hum, much lower than before, and the ship was off. It wouldn't be long and they would be at their destination.
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Post by InfiniteStrife on Apr 6, 2013 3:21:32 GMT -5
"Sir, we will be arriving shortly at our destination in orbit of Battaas Nal IV. Disengaging warp drive in 3... 2... 1... Mark."
The indiscernible blur that was standard with warp speeds faded away and their rendezvous blinked into view onscreen. There was a mild red glow from the planet; it was apparent even from this distance that its surface was laden with volcanic activity and catastrophic storms. Arthur was momentarily silent while it ran the gamut of automated processes associated with unknown locations and potentially hostile environments.
"Sir, I am delighted to inform you that preliminary scans indicate that we are not being targeted by any weapons systems at this time. I am, however, detecting an active communication network on the planet's surface."
A digital grid overlay was applied to the planet, complete with a geographic coordinate reference pinpointing the source of the signal.
"Decrypting transmission."
It took Arthur 3.688 seconds, displayed as a negative on screen, to begin recording and simultaneously playing the feed through the ship's speakers.
"...erstand, Commander. There must other planets rich in Ulexite that we could mine. Closer planets. Safer planets."
"This is the planet we have been designated to opera—"
"And why did we set down here, Sir? We're hundreds of kilometers off from the nearest cave, which we're not even likely to find Ulexite in, because from the way these mineral samples taste, we're probably not even in the right hemisphere.
"Our intelligence indicates that this region is most likely to produce the largest quantities of Ulexite on this planet. I'm sure that the samples here are spoiled due to the passing storms. You'll just have to—"
"Speaking of storms, my instruments are showing we're due for a pretty bad one here in just under two days. How much mineral do we really plan to move with a crew this small before we're swept away with the—"
"Sam! I have warned you more times than I care to count to hold your tongue. You're just an analyst here. You are asking questions above your pay grade. Above my pay grade. Now, you know I care for you like my own, but I won't be able to do anything if someone catches wind of this. Nothing is worth—" Static filled the ship as what was most likely a strong wind drowned out all other sounds."... the job, or you're liable to get yourself ki—"
"Commander, we have radar contact."
"Copy. Commence radio silence. ...And someone get me a damned dri—"
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Post by Trunks on Apr 7, 2013 19:45:20 GMT -5
The trip was nothing remarkable. Kell tried his best to get to know his "crew", but it was difficult to say the least. Despite those difficulties Kell was happy for the company. Mistral kept mostly to herself. Although she seemed grateful for the room instead of locking her away in the engine room.
Regal did well with his position. Kell didn't have to worry about any more hacking attempts from Mistral, but trying to get Regal give some insight into who he was or where he came from was next to impossible. There seemed to be a better chance of Kell joining the Alliance military.
Kell was with Regal on the bridge when the transmission came through.
"So, do you think my ship will be big enough to hold all of your S-grade Ulexite? Sounds like we might be a bit early."
Kell didn't expect an answer. He went right into giving orders to Arthur.
"Arthur, do what you can to see through that storm. I want to know what's down there."
Kell spoke a bit louder so Arthur knew to broadcast the next bit through the ship.
"Hey Mistral. Do you think there would be a way to give him a boost?"
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Post by Sakabatou on Apr 9, 2013 12:38:30 GMT -5
The journey to the Battaas Nal system had been a blissfully uneventful one for Mistral. She spent all of her time either in engineering or in her room. Kell hadn't spoken to her more than a few times the entire week; that probably had something to do with her avoiding him. She still hadn't exchanged a single word with Regal, and had no desire to break that trend. Less conversation meant less of her embarrassing herself, and helped to avoid awkward questions about her glasses.
As Sadame dropped out of warp, Mistral called up a display of the fourth planet along with the basic astrometric scans. Not a pretty place; Battaas Nal IV was extremely volcanically active, which contributed to the constant, continent-sized storms that circled the planet (and, presumably, contributed to extraordinary mineral production as well). She had been hoping for an inhabited world so she could stay behind when Kell departed--no such luck here.
It was clear from the initial readings that the turbulent electromagnetic properties of the atmosphere were going to scatter any traditional scans before they reached the surface, and Arthur wasn't specially equipped for frontier planet surveying. Still, she understood some of the basics of alternative scanning systems, and she had an idea of how to emulate one with Arthur's capabilities. She explained it to him as her fingers flew across the engineering console. Unnecessary, but it helped her concentration to explain it while she coded.
"Arthur, I'm adding a new operation into your scanning routine. Instead of typical wave-scans, I want you to send out a rapid pulse of dense-quanta bursts. These should have enough 'mass' to them to bounce back from the surface without too much loss of fidelity in the atmosphere."
The concept was similar to radar, but with electromagnetic quanta that could actually carry decodable information instead of simple sound waves. Using a burst-method instead of constant wave-scans would cause some tiny "holes" in the data stream, but it was better than nothing. She had plenty of time to code in the fix while the ship entered the system on impulse (as coming out of warp within a solar system would be exceedingly foolish). By the time Sadame was settled into a high orbit around Battaas Nal IV, Arthur was already running the new scans. She asked the VI to play the intercepted transmission in engineering as well--she could only assume his cooperation meant the captain didn't mind.
"Hey Mistral. Do you think there would be a way to give him a boost?"
"I already did, sir, or else you wouldn't have even heard that. Our scans will be a little spotty with these storms, but repeated scanning in one area should fill in any gaps."
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Post by Dota on Apr 11, 2013 18:03:56 GMT -5
The Sadame had finally reached the pickup location. Regardless of overall time or distance, Regal could only see it as the midway point. It was all downhill from here, at least once they picked up the shipment. Smuggling in Ulexite wasn't a big deal. He could get back into the swing of things once he returned home. Or continue on... Either way, it wouldn't be in the Sadame.
"So, do you think my ship will be big enough to hold all of your S-grade Ulexite? Sounds like we might be a bit early."
Regal studied the coordinates with his translator aid open as a guide through the alien-scripted computer screen. They seemed a little off, but then, he couldn't expect anything to be accurate on such a chaotic planet.
Mentally, Regal went over the exchange procedure as well as how they'd be arming themselves. He didn't think Mistral would care to join them. He was probably the most relieved that this would save him from having to approach the girl. She never had forgiven him for his angry outburst, and the prospect of finally exchanging words seemed far more awkward and painful at this point than the silence ever had.
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Post by InfiniteStrife on Apr 18, 2013 0:47:39 GMT -5
All was silent in the hallway, save for one pair of hurried footsteps. This in itself was most curious. There should have been an abundance of movement on the ship now, especially so near the storage and equipment bays which she now approached. Sam rounded a corner to find the familiar sight of two armed throw-away guards on either side of the entrance to the storage bay. She noticed that for the first time they were guarding a sealed door, and they seemed particularly alert today and intent on not letting anyone pass.
Not accustomed to having limited access whatsoever, Sam stopped before the men and waited expectantly for them to move aside and allow her entry. A moment passed without her being spoken to, and so it was apparent that she would actually have to speak to these cretins. She stood upright and readjusted her clipboard to look as professional as possible.
"If you'll stand aside, gentlemen, I'm needed for a last minute spot check before we get rolling."
Get rolling? Superb. That sounded important and official and definitely not fake. One might think that with all the studying one did on human culture and —
"Apologies, Ma'am, but —" started the first.
"Sir," corrected the second.
"Sir?"
Sam could practically hear the groan of the cogs working as they looked at each other in confusion.
"Apologies but what?" she spat.
The guards jumped to attention, holding their weapons at the low ready.
"Under directive of the Commander, no personnel is allowed beyond this point without his express consent."
"I maintain clearance level Orange. No portion of this vessel is off limits to me. Furthermore, I am the Senior Mineralogist for this operation and personal assistant to Commander Walker. If I wanted access to his private latrine, I would have it."
"No exceptions, sir, er, ma'am, uh... Senior Mineralogist... Sam?" He glanced to his partner for reassurance and found none. When he turned to face her again, she had already turned her back on them and left them to their post.
This is not good.
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Post by Trunks on Apr 18, 2013 19:41:24 GMT -5
"I already did, sir, or else you wouldn't have even heard that. Our scans will be a little spotty with these storms, but repeated scanning in one area should fill in any gaps."
"Well darn."
Kell pressed some buttons on the screen which caused a joystick to emerge from the console. The screens changed to the views of some external cameras. There was something to be said for instinct.
"Arthur raise shields and ready th..."
Kell stopped and looked at Regal.
"I guess that's your job. Sorry, I'm used to working solo."
Kell spoke again to the intercom.
"This might be a little rough. Get yourself seated."
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Post by Dota on Apr 27, 2013 15:49:26 GMT -5
I guess that's your job. Sorry, I'm used to working solo."
Regal shrugged in an unoffended manner. Beyond habit, he couldn't blame Kell if he was uneasy trusting a new crew. Traveling together was one thing -- this was where the games ended Regal did his best to prepare the ship with what defenses it had. He was used to escorting the wealthy and paranoid guests on his planet. The danger they expected at their "resort planet" could hardly be compared to what he faced now, and that was just the stormy weather.
A thought crossed his mind as he mentally reviewed scenarios to watch out for.
"Cap...er...Kell...Do you plan on leaving Mistral here? With the VI? Alone?"
The ship was already switching to it's terrestrial mode, rotational thrusters and wings emerging to take over the combat against gravity and atmosphere.
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Post by Trunks on May 6, 2013 8:53:08 GMT -5
Kell fought against the joystick as they entered the storm.
"Cap...er...Kell...Do you plan on leaving Mistral here? With the VI? Alone?"
Kell looked up in thought.
"Well, not unless you think this would be a good place to stay for the rest of our lives. I personally don't think I'd like to settle down here. She may not like it, but she's staying with us."
Kell returned his concentration to all the panels around here.
"Arthur, find me a place to land her."
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