RECLAIM
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Five years. It was how long she had been training for this mission. Five years today, to be exact. With a held breath, her blue orbs moved to the man in charge. Of all those who successfully got a ship in the air after the nuclear war began, these were their prodigies. These were the heroes selected to die for humanity. Though not all of military lineage or scientific training, these brave men and women were ready to take on whatever laid in their wake. No speech of motivation, no rally of promise, no glimpse of God's faith in humanity, none of that could save them now. They were prepared for their first step toward their coffin-less grave.
Standing at attention, the blue eyed, blonde haired woman by the name of Jenny Lynn Walker tried to force a smile when the CO (commanding officer) shook her hand. "Do man proud," he said with a firm shake. "I'll do man and woman proud, sir," she corrected. There was a bit of silence before the CO grabbed her hand again and firmly squeezed it. "Humanity it is, Lieutenant Walker." It was a nerve-wracking title. She was to be their leader, well, second leader. Eyes quickly jumping to Captain Chaunhan, she let out of a sigh of relief. He was technically in charge, but she was his first man, er, woman. As her eyes moved down the line, she found some others who also had titles of worth. There were only twenty-five of them in total so of those twenty-five, only five had 'higher' ranking; she and Chaunhan being at the top of the tier. Looking around again, she let her eyes wander to some of the specialists and privates, or the 'low men/women' on the totem pole. Really, it was odd to think these soldiers so low. One, a Ms. Belmont, worked for a private sector. Another, a Mr. Vanguard, was a guard for a lab. Neither of them received leadership ranking, which made her wonder if skills only played a partial role in ranking. Was their IQ test more important than she originally thought? And what of that personality analysis? A smirk came onto her lips. She was being applauded -- they were all being applauded. A giant screen captured their faces and reflected their images back to their home ships. Everyone was cheering. This was a ground breaking beginning (or end, should they fail). All were anxious for this moment and some were sobbing tears of joy. Too bad it was all uncalled for. What if they failed? What if they never made it? What if their actions doomed mankind? What if...! No, she needed to stop thinking like that. Whisking away the pesky ;what ifs,' Jenny turned her attention to that real matter at hand -- suiting up and getting ready to fly to Earth. This job had was bittersweet, a true double-edged sword. Yes, your life was on the line, but you also got to have the first glimpse of home, of Earth. For 200 years, humanity was living in space. World War III caused this 'fleeing of Earth.' Had the bombs never been dropped, this overpopulation issue in space might not exist. Hell, this mission wouldn't exist. Her head snapped to her side. She was being coaxed off the stage and down to the prep room. It was time to suit up, strap in, and ship off to Earth. Holding her breath, she glided down the stairs and into her chamber. Women stepped in and sprayed her body. God did it sting, but it would prevent hair from growing anywhere, save for her face. It was an odd thing to really think about, but it had its rational. Didn't need ingrown hairs or folliculitis ruining a mission. Not to mention, no hair meant no issues with adhesives or bandages. A needle was shoved into her arm, which caused her to hiss and wince in pain. A little forewarning would have been nice, she scoffed inwardly. They were not injecting a fluid that would allow her body a fighting chance against radiation poisoning. It wasn't going to allow her to suck in ceaseless amounts of toxic air, but it was enough to let her take a few breathes every now and again without the fear of dying. Drops fell into her eyes, a safeguard for the iris and pupil. It was essentially a permanent coating that would prevent her from going blind. Granted, she could still lose her eye due to a foreign object that was larger than a fleck of dust. Another not-so-fun part of the routine began, which caused her much fuss. To ensure she wouldn't get pregnant or bleed, the medic team needed to... well, do some things down there. Even the men had their little 'fun time' with the docs as they ensure no horny boys could create little babies. Now, they weren't sterile. No, they could still reproduce; just not with these devices on and in them. Her hands racked over her body. God it felt so weird, but it would stop phasing her in no time. Why? Well, they were onto shoving this horrid smelling laser up her nose. It was their way of prepping her nose hairs for foreign intruders. They received a special coating, you could say, to keep them extra sticky for trapping pathogens. Of course, it made nose blowing all the harder, but the lack of allergies would be so worth it! Onto her nails, the prep team coated them with something that would keep her nails from breaking. They could now collide with a rock and not chip. They were as tough as diamonds. Opting for the black coating, she smirked down at those perfectly polished nails. Not too long, but not too short. Just right, she sighed in relief. Jenny's ears were touched next. A tube that would fall out when the body was ready was added to her canal. It would allow her ears to adjust to the new pressures, which is why it came out with time. It would fall out whenever the body was ready. Finally done, Jenny moved to her suit. It was skin-tight but exactly what she wanted. Donning herself in her usual cloths, the woman began to climb into her suit. Once secure, she was given her belt that was fully equipped with all the apparatus she was trained in the previous five-years to use. A breathing apparatus, shades, headlamp, glow stick, comm system, pistols, etc. As she slid her hands into her pockets, a heavy weight came to her back. "Keep this on you at all times, this bladegun is your life." "Yup," she said nonchalantly as she looked over at her rump where the holster rested. "There will be more guns on the ship, of which you will need to move into the safe house." "Who's carrying the tent?" A newfound weight came to her back. It was a backpack, or so it felt. "You," the person before her said. "Lieutenants get the tent." Camera now locked on her face, Jenny cocked a brow. "Uhh?" She shifted her eyes toward the reporter. "Just getting a quickie closeup with each of our twenty-five soldiers. You're second to last on our list." "I'm not sure if I should be insulted or honored," she teased before pushing back a strand of loose hair. "So what do you want me to say to the folks watching?" "Anything. Make us remember you and your legacy." "Right. Well, I'm Jenny Lynn. I like cats and my favorite color is orange. I'll do everything in my power to keep these twenty-four safe and sound. With any luck, we'll find it's all clear down there and you can come join me and the team." A grin slid onto her face and went from ear to ear. Seconds later, she was poking out her tongue and throwing up victory-signs. "Wish us luck and, Andy, make sure you don't get fat while I'm away!" There was a wink and a nose wrinkle. Camera off her, Jenny growled. "I hope that'll please the crowd." She wasn't thrilled about this suicide mission, but she understood it. It had its merits and, well, mankind needed off the ships. A permanent home was necessary, or civilization would crumble. Taking her final steps off the Neutral Training Ship, she marched into the rocket that would ship them back to Earth. It would take about a day of flying there before they would arrive. Ample time to freak out, panic, and kill everyone. There was a mental eyeroll. Like she would let that happen. Into the rocket she went. As she ducked into the hole, her eyes caught a glimpse of the others. "Cheer up, folks! We're getting our much needed vacation. I hear America looks lovely this time of year, especially Cape Cod. Hope you all packed your suits!" With a wink, she crawled to her seat and strapped herself in. "Lt. Walker reporting in. All troops accounted for. Begin liftoff procedure when ready." Much like launching a NASA rocket, the cockpit crew was given their series of checks and orders. They complied and were cleared for liftoff. In seconds, the loud engines kicked in. That noise soon tripled in magnitude. And then, as the heart started to skip beats, it happened. Silence was the calm before the blast off. Engines fully engaged, the crew launched forward and left the zone of the ship. Gliding as such speeds unheard of in 2012, they began their one-day trip to Earth. Once the rockets were dropped and forever lost in the vastness of space, the shuttle dropped to a safe(r) speed, thus allowing its passengers an opportunity to get up and wander about the cabin and chambers. Unbuckling herself, Jenny found herself floating up toward the ceiling. With a laugh, she swam toward the window. "God, the stars look beautiful from here." |
The ceremony started like all ceremonies did, with an overview of what had happened over the past five years that didn't quite tell the truth behind the training and an explanation of the mission that he knew wouldn't encapsulate the events to come. The training, even for a seasoned man like Rajasthan, was grueling and the fact that he would be captain meant that there was even more pressure to be the best and to guide his troop whenever trouble arose. What was the air pressure of Old Earth? What was the air pressure of New Earth? How many breaths can a grown man take of unfiltered air before reaching critical levels of radiation? As a captain what should you do if a (wo)man falls? He knew all that and more, but paper knowledge and training meant little in the fact of actual action. Even as he stood, listening to the Commanding Officer he was more anxious than excited hearing the names of his subordinates honored and listed.
Walker was second in command while Vanguard, Belmont, and Underwood were all miscellaneous, low-ranked soldiers (one of whom was guarding Doctor Collins). He hadn't worked with them for long, only during the times that they had to train as a unit since the bulk of the training was essentially situating themselves to Earth's environment and surviving against whatever may still be there. Each person's training regiment was tailored to their specific background, meaning that an ordinary person's would have more emphasis in physicality versus a bodybuilder whose would focus on other aspects. Despite the skill gap, everyone was being applauded for their nobility (read: sacrifice), which was honestly more compulsory than appreciative. Were anyone else in their place they would have either handicapped themselves or tried to escape in one form or another (both of which would lead to death). He supposed he was doing people a favor in this sense, even if he was intending to sign up for this mission all along. By volunteering, one more person could stay on the spaceship to live out their vapid life until he succeeded at reclaiming the planet and redeeming humanity of its sins. Like all of Earth's problems, it was man's hubris that made them think they could rip the land apart and sustain themselves at the same time. They, too, thought that they could terraform a new home and now? Now they were trying to reclaim what they once destroyed. Rajasthan wanted to laugh at the irony of everything. How much would mankind truly learn from this excursion? Would they come to realize their unsustainable habits or repeat the cycle of overpopulation and be forced into space once more? These thoughts weighed on Rajasthan as he continued the motions of being anatomically prepped for the journey. Injections, sprays, and installations were key to the entire process of hardening their bodies against whatever Earth could throw at them, but also against themselves. The sprays and injections would ensure that they wouldn't die to the elements while the device would keep them sexually inactive while on the mission. The logic behind it was to prevent any pregnancies but everyone knew that they just wanted inter-soldier fornication off the table. It wouldn't affect him once the device was taken off, but the process was painful nonetheless. The last of the preparation was the adornment of the suit and the weapons they would use. Like the training regimes, weapons were picked out and forged based on their user's aptitude. As captain he had a vague idea of what each person was given as well as what he, himself, would be using, but seeing the actual objects reminded him of how "real" the ordeal was. His rifle shot twenty-five millimeter, armor-piercing rounds that would be stored in his stealth suit while his knife served as back up should an opponent ever get close enough to fight him. Most combat knives were made of sharpened metal; however, his was special in that the actual blade was plasma. It was analogous to the energy guns that certain privates were trained with, but because it stays as a refreshing current it didn't run out of energy as quickly. It was quite useful given that most people didn't know how to react to a blade these days. "Captain Chauhan! Do you have a moment?" Before Rajasthan could answer, the reporter continued, "What do you have to say to the people of India? No, the world." "You can put your trust in me," he answered with a toothless smile, "no matter what happens we will keep searching for a way to reclaim our home." A close-up and a handshake later the reporter and camera moved onto the rest of the passengers, leaving the Indian man to head to the rocket and buckle himself into the captain's chair. Ah home. Home felt so far and yet, so close. Earth was a big place, much bigger than the spaceships that he occupied in his life and though he had hope, he sometimes doubted that he would be able to visit where his ancestors lived. Would he be able to see Rajasthan? Would he even know what it looked like now? That state of India was his namesake because his parents never wanted him to forget his roots, but how much did he really know about what Rajasthan was versus what were stories? He closed his eyes until the spaceship finished taking off and unbuckled himself for the sake of leaving his nihilistic stupor and found his lieutenant, Walker, gazing out of one of the windows. He would be better off gauging his second-in-command that sitting alone, at least for now. "Is this your first time in space?" |
The voice of her comrade (read: higher-up) drew a smile on her face. "Why silly head, you know that this is not my first time. How else would I have moved to the neutral training ship." Twirling backwards, she offered the man a wink. "Still, every time I'm out here is like a new adventure. The more beautiful it becomes and the more I know I'll miss this view." Hand on her heart, she smiled across the way at some of the others who were moving about. "I've heard the view from Earth should be breathtaking, too. That is..." Jenny bit her lip. It was hard to fathom it, but Jenny feared that the view from Earth would be plagued by red clouds of war and blood. Sure, 200 years ago the bloodshed ended, but who was to say it would be a clean and clear atmosphere. After all, was that not the mission? To scope things out and prove that life on Earth was possible again?
"I wonder what food they packed for us." Swimming across the open space without gravity to pull her down, the blonde moved toward the cabinet with the dried food. "Oh yes, I love freeze-dried bean burritos." Her tone was anything but happy; rather dry and utterly sarcastic. Something about Mexican food to the German-American just didn't seem appealing. It was definitely the lack of schnitzel and dill. And the potatoes, who could forget the good old mashed per'tatoes. Her hands spun the food-tubes around to inspect it. Eyes scanning the written words on the back, she held back a giggle, which ended up breaking past her lips in what sounded like a muffled farting noise. "Bwah, these things are supposed to sustain our metabolism for three days. Wonder what they put in the beans to keep us full for so long?" This question was more or less rhetorical, but having two brilliant minds upon the ship, Riley and Ryan, she figured the science-y people might know just how it worked. "Specialist Vanguard, ETA until-" "Zeke works just fine," said the green-haired male who sat in the pilot seat. His co-pilots, Kelsy and Jordan, giggled at his comment. The joys of working with giddy girls, he thought mentally while rolling his eyes. "Anyway, if we keep up with this speed and course AND avoid debris, we could make it there in about 18-hours." "Nice!" Her thumbs went up as her eyes closed and she grinned while spinning around. "Ahead of schedule, good to know!" "Belmont, what do the scanners show?" Zeke's eyes moved to the other green-haired person aboard the ship. "Any storms in our future?" Belmont happened to be closest to the radar system and scanners. Besides, being a weapon's specialist usually meant you could read a blinking screen. "Underwood," Jenny's attention was now on the mother and chef. She was probably the least qualified for this mission. Or rather, she was. After five-years of training, Underwood shaped up nicely. "When we land, would you mind cooking us a good meal. I don't know how far we'll be from buildings so we'll want to keep our fire-pits to a minimum until we're in a safe zone." Back upright and properly standing, Jenny caught a person beside her and smiled. "How are you faring, Armin." Armin, the youngest of the crew, was her first priority. Underwood probably felt the same way. The kid was so young that Jenny felt obligated to mother him to an extent, even though they were hardly 7-years apart in age. Still, he was young and she was in charge. Might was well get friendly with the team, right? |
There was only one way you could describe the look on the woman's face and that was bored. Chestnut brown hair was messily pulled over her shoulder as the ceremony drawled on. Green eyes looked down the line of the new military officials and sighed. This was the last time they'd see the homes they had grown up on all their life. This was the last time they'd probably see life. She grimaced at the thought as the CO finally got to her. She feigned a smile as shook his hand and thanked him for thanking her.
This was Evelyn Underwood, a mother of three and a wonderful chef. However, within the past five years, she had been more than just that. She had become a cold and angry soldier, who's fist packed a fairly good punch. With all of the anger she held up in side for this mission, she needed a way to let it out some time and punching things was definitely the perfect way to do so. The applause was met by deaf ears. She was almost certain that most of the people on this line were about as unhappy about this as she was. Going into a desolate world, a toxic world, to try and recover it. She wasn't really sure they would be able to do it. But she was motivated and determined to get back alive and make a safe home for her kids. And wouldn't it be lovely to see natural plants as green as her eyes? Finally, Eve was sent to be prepared for the mission downward. The complete procedure was mostly painless and simply long. Finally she was able to get into her tank suit. Her suit, however, was built a little differently than others. The only thing different about it were the fists and forearms. They were large and heavily armored. She, unlike some, choose a specialized class of weaponry. She preferred fighting with her fists and so, to make sure she did enough damage to any sort of enemy, she was trained with specially crafted gauntlets that allowed her to pack a mean punch. Her preferred shotgun was strapped to her back as she was shoved off to meet the rest of her team in the rocket. As she neared the rocket a small floating orb, obviously a camera, came into her sight. She stared at it, reaching up to grab it before a woman joined it. "Evelyn Underwood... You're from the Australia side of the America/England/Australia ship. Do you have anything to say to the people back home?" She asked. Eve stared at her for a moment and then into the camera, "You can be assured, these soldiers will be fed well when I'm down there. To my kids, Be good to Uncle Matt... Mama's gunna be home before you know it!" The lift off was simple, and they were left flying for one day, on their way to their old home world. Evelyn floated over to the window for a moment, staring out at the ship and the stars at the left, before moving away from it and finding her way to seat so she could take a nap. However, before she got to one, Lt.Walker started to speak to her. It was a simple question, Cook food for us. Eve nodded lightly, "Of course, Lieutenant, It'll be the best food over a camp fire you've ever tasted." And with that, Eve was back to finding a chair to sleep in. |
Dr. Ryan Collins, Head Science Officer of the mission, was nervous. He didn't feel like they had enough information. He knew the mission had to go on but he wasn't feeling very confident. They didn't know very much about the planet. Most of the information they got from the probes that returned was inconclusive. Of fifteen probes sent, only the ones not meant to enter the atmosphere, totaling seven, returned. The others were either not transmitting or completely destroyed. One is actually completely unaccounted for. It wasn't boding well. Luckily he volunteered on this mission so he could try and find them. Not that the information couldn’t be gathered immediately when they landed.
He was so stuck in his work, that he barely noticed the Commander call his name. He walked up and shook the commander’s hand. No words were exchanged. Just a knowing glance. He nodded and walked to the gate. He paused a moment. He knew he probably wouldn’t be coming back to Space. He was leaving it all behind. Ryan went through the motions of sprays and injections. He felt the sterilization devices were unnecessary, but he digressed. He put on his scout suit, received his assault rifle and pistol and went to the ship. “Dr. Collins, Do you have anything to say?” the world reporter asked him. “We’ll get back to earth, promise.” He said to the camera. “And to my sisters Molly and Jen, I promise I’ll make it back.” That last part was unlikely. ------- After takeoff, Ryan was still looking at the models. He unbuckled his seat belt and began to float about the cabin. He made sure he didn’t hit anyone. He was staring at his communicator and biting his lip. He heard the two commanding officers talking. Then Lieutenant Walker asked something about the food. “The beans are specially grown to have enough nutrients for days in them. Also the food slows your metabolism if needed to make the food last longer. It’s pretty normal actually. Most of our food on the mother ships is made this way.” He never looked up from the screen in front of him during his explanation. |
A large crowd had gathered in the neutral ship, but such a thing was to be expected with a group such as theirs being sent to Earth for the first time in 200 years. The bright gold eyes of weapons' specialist, Riley Belmont scanned the crowd, her eyes the only thing moving. As the speech began, those eyes no longer wandered but were locked on the superiors of the government as well as for their trip. She had not been given a title of power such as Lieutenant or Captain, but such a thing did not bother the green haired lass as her interest lie more in the cool materials that made up the weaponry more so than the living bodies of humans.
Even though she would rank in as one of the shortest members of their team, the straightness of her stance and statue-like stillness would seem to create an illusion that said otherwise. She had been a part of the military for years, even for being so young, and even before joining, her household was strict and Riley hadn't grown up in the most pleasant of environments. That was going to change though; this mission was a big deal for mankind and she would be there to finally prove to those of her past just what she's really capable of. Just as all the others, Riley Belmont went through the similar pre-trip preparations. Sure the treatments were unpleasant, but it wasn't anything too unusual for the female. Once the needles, sprays and prodding was done, she was released back to her standard uniform; she slipped on a pair of short white shorts with a matching high collared tank top before pulling her long jacket back over her. She could hear in the distance that there were people visiting the others as they prepared for travel and was plenty ready when the group made their way to her preparation area. She had yet to don her tank suit when she heard the camera person take a breath. Clicking her heels together, she rotated herself to look directly at him before he could speak. The action seemed to startle the group and the cameraman said nothing. Bringing a fist over her heart, she looked at the camera and confidently said, "We shall not fail." With that, her eyes snapped to the others before turning to return to her preparations. They hesitated before leaving, as though they wanted to hear more from the woman. Riley wasn't foolish; she had studied the records of the others she would be venturing with. She was one of the youngest of their group, as well as one of the shortest. For her age, it seemed impossible for her to be as established in her line of work as she was. Not to mention, her hair and eyes just seemed to draw unwanted attention. The group eventually gave up and left, leaving the woman to be assisted in putting on her own suit. It wasn't anything fancy to look at, but it was much lighter than it appeared. Not to mention she had been allowed to tinker with it slightly to essentially combine her weapons and suit into one fully mobile unit. As she ran through the basic movement to ensure that there were no stiff joints, not to mention check the pressure in the hoses that allowed the heavy armor to move so easily, she could feel men at her back tugging and pulling on things, adding things here and there. She knew that at some point they were looking over her weapons; there was an emergency button on the back of her suit to deploy them and they had hit it. Eventually, everyone seemed pleased with how the equipment handled and allowed Riley to continue to her spot on the ship that would send them back to Earth. She listened to the blonde, Lieutenant Jenny Walker, one of the two that would lead them on their trip, as she announced that they would prepare for launch. With that said, Riley silent followed the launch procedures, only announcing her actions as she needed to to allow the next person to prepare what they had to. After five years of practice, they were actually off their respective ships and blasting towards Earth. Once they were away from the other nation ships and people started moving around, Riley remained at her work console. Not only would it be troublesome to float about in her suit, but she had other things that needed to be tended to before they arrived on earth. She listened to those around you; many accents similar to those that were from her own home ship that the United States, England and Australia shared. Though focusing on the three screens before her, each of them displaying different information, Riley couldn't help but roll her eyes at her superior commander being so interested in food so early on in the trip. On top of that, her tone hinted at displeasure as to what they were given. She seemed new to the field, even for one that was ranked higher than the weapons' specialist. That didn't seem to be enough from Ms. Walker though as she mentioned how the food was supposed to last three days in their system. At that point Riley moved her bright eyes to look at the woman. She couldn't fully believe what she was hearing; was it really so odd that the food could do that? You modify food to stay with you longer and people eat less. At least, that was what happened on her ship. Luckily, the scientist of the group was an American, one from her own ship and spoke up before she had a chance to chime in. Another spoke up, he too seemed to not be too thrilled about the access excitement on the ship; Riley could appreciate that: that had a job to do, they could have fun later. As she heard the question directed her way, she moved from one screen that she was looking at to another, her hand hovering over it to change the display. As the image changed and moved on one, a series of codes and words scrolled through the other, her other hand was over this screen as well. withing a few moments, Riley was flicking her gaze to the piloting male and said, "We are all clear for most of the trip. Our only difficulties appears to be the debris orbiting the planet." |
The camera within his face was not helping things any. As far as he was concerned, they were better left alone to get going with this job of theirs. Sighing lightly, Aruliean Armin looked at the people attempting to speak with him now. They wanted to know if he had anything to say to his home. Home? What home? For the past nearly twelve years of his life, he had been in the care of the government. He had been raised and groomed to be what he was now. A soldier. So no, there was little he wished to say to any of them at this point. However, he merely gave a warm smile to the camera men, he did not desire to be rude after all, he was not that kind of a person. “We will get our job done…and do our best for the future” with that, he slipped out of the room. He had everything set, now all that was left was to meet the others at the rocket. He could feel nerves bubbling up inside of him. He had read their files, knew their names, done all the things a good soldier would do. But….he was still on edge. Swallowing hard, he stepped inside, slipping to his seat. He kept his eyes down, as one by one more began to arrive on top of who was already there. He knew what this was. No one expected them to return. No one expected them to live. To put it simply, they were guniea pigs, who were being used as test subjects on an experiment no one else wanted to do. I f they failed, it meant that innocent lives were probably going to start being lost. There was little hope at succeeding at this point however. He closed his eyes, his brow furrowing for a moment. All of this, it was so complicated and narrow minded in a sense. He understood wanting to see if there was even a chance, or wanting to do something. But he was smart enough to understand that most of the intentions that were associated with this little journey were less than noble. Most were becoming selfish, more concerned about their own lives and survival. That was the main reason why they were being hailed as heros, as well as fools. He sighed, others were merely happy that they had been able to survive not getting picked to be here right now. To not being about to plunge off into space and most likely to their deaths. They were about to head off, someone making a comment about the stars. At the moment, he was lost within his thoughts, to notice. He did open one eye for a moment though, to look out at the stars as they passed. His attention divided, he barley registered the others talking, until someone said his last name. He blinked a bit, turning his head to look at the female in question. She was looking at him, in a way he had never really been looked at before. He had noted a few times it was how a mother might regard her young, but with out a mother of his own for the most part, he was unfamiliar with how to respond to such a look. “Y-yes” he spoke up, nodding a bit. “I am fine” he said, it was not a total lie right? He gave her a smile as he had done with the cameras before, she was merely trying to be nice to him. He could be respectful and polite to her in return. He was the youngest indeed, so that came with an added pressure of not holding the others up. He did not wish to end up being a burden upon them, or make them feel as if they had to watch him and baby him the entire time. If they did, he would not be here at all….then again, would they have tried to send someone else? He shook his head, part of him wondered if it had not been pure coinciedence his number had been drawn. What better way to use a vassal than with such an mission as this? He was a tool, as many of them were. He felt his heart sink a bit again, and he shook his head. No, he did not mind being here. Even if it was in darkness at this point, there had to be at least a sliver of hope right? He had to be doing something with his life, rather than just sitting around waiting for things to change. He would have rather made a difference, and put his life to use. Perhaps that was why he did not mind his position, his job. He turned his eyes to the stars once more. Everyone here had a reason for being just that. Everyone here had their own story, their own hopes, their own dreams. He watched the main ship they had come from fall farther and farther out of view, as within the distance, the planet that would become their hell grew. He swallowed a bit, taking a deep breath in turn. He would do his best for this team, and for the future of the innocent lives back home. For good or evil…they did not deserve to die. |
Her goal was simple, keep everyone happy and engage them from time to time, even if she had to look or act like an idiot. To be surrounded by hardened soldiers was bad enough, but to not joke around and have fun? Psh! That was to lose ones grip on humanity. Mankind was all about communication and interaction. If she had to suck the jelly out of doughnuts to get people to laugh, she would. There was a reason she was Lt. Walker. She could easy slip between assassin and Human Resources.
As Underwood spoke about an amazing campfire meal, Jenny beamed. "Shall we tell ghost stories too?" Her eyes rolled back some as she wondered what it would all feel like. None of them had ever lived anyone but on their ships. They never sat on solid ground. They never tasted the dirt. They never touched grass. Well, they did -- but it was all artificial. This would be the real deal. They wouldn't be in some simulation machine. They wouldn't be dealing with artificial food made in test tubes -- she could taste Belmont's disdain with her questioning and naive nature. Thinking all that made her wonder how the others would fair without their fake food. Without what the labs produced. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned farming? Irrigation systems and plowing? Crap for fertilizer? Exhaling through her nostrils, Jenny tried to relax. There was no point getting riled up over Riley's judgmental gestures. Even though the woman didn't speak, her body language still said it all. Clearly, this woman thought Lt. Walker a moron and unfit for the role. If only the freak of nature knew why she, Riley, didn't get the role. Flunked the psychology test with a big, fat zero. Her gaze fell on Dr. Collins as he spoke. This guy was far nicer and seemed to understand things to a lighter (and nicer) degree. "I would love to taste real beans," she chided. "The kind without genetically modified genes and properties." A shrug followed in a casual manner. "Though I fear eating anything down there without proper testing. Guess that's why we were each given these testkits." Patting her hip, the woman pointed to a small box on her hip. Everyone had the same box; it had test strips for checking pH and acidity levels. The testkit also had a probe for radiation levels that would chirp whenever someone got close to high level of radiation. The kit also contained some pills for anyone who accidentally consumed poisonous materials. Empty viles, tubing, and needles were in their too -- for those "in a pinch" blood transfusions. Moving past the others, Walker find herself looking over the radar scanners and devices with Riley. Rubbing her nose to take away an inch, an unamused look came to her lips. "Vang-- Zeke, I presume you and your pilots will handle that matter when it arises?" "It'll be tricky, but we should be able to manage. The main thing is to not get knocked off course. When we get closer, we can look for a space and enter then, presuming we don't burn too much fuild and have a low dose when we get close. Not to mention, our location from Earth could prove problematic." "The gravitational pull, I presume?" "Yeah, if we get too close, we could be sucked in. We won't have enough boost to kick us back. When we get near the moon's orbit, we'll get a closer look." "Make it Jupiter. We'll have the asteroid belt to deal with at that point anyway." "Valid point," Zeke nodded. "We'll put up a timer so when we get close to the belt, I'll call you and Captain Chauhan to the front." "Thanks," hands on her hips, she turned around to view the others. "We had a long day today. We should try to get some rest." Head over her shoulders, she looked down at the pilots. "You too," she commanded. "We'll take shifts," Zeke acknowledged before dismissing the others. |
Raja let a rare smile creep on his lips in response to his second in command. She was quite the free spirit and from the sound of her words, she wasn't bound to change anytime soon. Walker wasn't the youngest by any means, but wasn't anywhere near "middle-aged" compared to the other people aboard the ship.
"Training in space and fighting in space are two very different things Walker," he answered, "you aren't wrong though. I'm dreading the view of Earth once we hover over." He continued to float where he was as Walker navigated toward the food and the other subordinates aboard the ship. All of them had come out of the woodwork now that the ship was in stasis and were idly conversing with Walker (of course) in the center of it all. As it were, she didn't have all that much to say, but her goal of keeping up morale by running through conversational topics was admirable at the very least. Unlike her, Rajasthan was never one for too much conversation unless it was with a close comrade which some would argue, made him a bad leader. Good administrator perhaps, but bad for being the face of an operation. He left that duty to Walker while he himself thought more about what they would actually be doing once they landed on the surface of Earth. They needed to set up tents and maintain the equipment (perhaps something left up to Underwood and Armin since they weren't very experienced), map out the quadrants they would scout (definitely Collins and Noumov), and the rest of them (excluding Zeke) could pair up and scout each respective quadrant. Though he didn't entirely like the idea of splitting up, he trusted his unit to be competent enough to handle themselves or radio in if there was anything wrong. Rajasthan nodded over, not paying all that much attention and leaving the hall to approach Doctor Collins. |
One good thing about spending two years in a prison cell was that it gave Nadya Noumov time to adapt to the strict scheduling and rules that encompassed being a soldier. Before she was sentenced, she woke and slept and ate as she pleased. Being a botanist meant she had free rein of the green houses, and she would come and go whenever it tickled her fancy. The only order in her life was the amount of rationing she got. Well, that isn't entirely true. One Anya Tokmakov was all about order, she kept Nadya grounded. Now-a-days the only thing that kept Nadya grounded was the ships gravity simulators.
The five years of training got her used to following orders, and letting herself be led around by whoever talked the loudest - read: the person in charge. At this particular moment that led her to be with the group of Earth bound luckies whose numbers had been picked in the raffle. So, she stood on stage with the others without really being there. Cameras were in their faces projecting hope filled propaganda to the masses. It was clever really, if they made a big show about sending a team down to earth they could hold back the tensions that were rising high. Nadya wasn't quite sure how things were fairing on the other ships, but Russia was already requiring a licence to have a child - strictly enforced. They caught a women 6 months pregnant two years ago, she remembered them playing her execution live over Russia's com link while she was in training, rope tying training to be exact. When they hung her Nadya threw the ropes away from her as if they stung her and ran out of the training room yelling Russian curses to the walls, damning the Chancellor. The shock of the whole event was probably the only thing that stopped riots from braking out, no one knew how to react. The memory still made her nauseous. More shuffling feet brought her to the prep room. The procedures were nothing new to her - okay, the shoving things up her nose was new - but it all reminded her of the two years she spent in prison. Overly invasive and uncomfortable. So she closed her eyes and let them poke and prod at her, it would keep Earth from killing her too soon after all. After the goop and guck had been shoved in most of the open orifices on her body the women asked her to spread her legs. Nadya laughed out loud. "Oh milaya, they sterilize prisoners in Russia, there's no need for that." Smirking, she thanked the workers and took the clothes that were handed to her. All the materials she had been trained to use. Her light suit, her mask, her testing kit, some botany equipment, an energy gun, and a blade to boot. Never in her life did she expect to be holding a gun, much less heading down to Earth with it. Her dreams had always been of Anya and of gardens, sometimes both together - those were the best dreams. Putting the suit on was always rather comforting to her. It was tight, like an embrace. After seven years with your only human contact being combat training you learn to appreciate the little things in life. Like the weight of the seeds she felt in her pocket. It had been tricky finding a worker who would smuggle them in for her, but one particular woman took pity on her and said she would help. Hopefully she wouldn't get caught, she didn't want anyone getting in trouble for her over some flower seeds. Due to limited supply and room, only certain plants were being allowed to come along for the mission. Genetically modified fruit and vegetables, as well as some medicinal plants. They grew fast, and were resilient in the face of putrid growing conditions. They were her life's work - after many failed attempts of cheering on dying plants in the testing room. Yet... she couldn't not bring some flowers along, God only knows Earth could probably use some prettying up. The camera crew was getting awfully close to her now, breaking her from her reverie. "Any words you want to send back home to Russia?" She was asked, her stoic features softening as she gazed into the camera. "Моя любовь к тебе будет исцелять землю, my Anya." The camera guy looked confused, he obviously didn't speak Russian. That's okay, she only said it for Anya's benefit - if she was even watching. Smirking, she nodded her head to the camera before continuing her suit up - the camera man moved on - when he was finished here he would get to go home. When she was finished here, she would be hurdling through space on a suicide mission. And that's where she was now. Sitting on a ship headed towards Earth. It was all pretty surreal - but that may just be the nausea left over from the launch. She was starting to regret not taking more time to read over the others files. She knew there was a doctor on board, soldiers, and a few unlucky draws. She recognized faces from training, but that was about it. It was obvious who those in command were. The energetic one near the front - sounded American, and the dark haired man who just left the group. She would be happy once they got there and she could focus on what she was good at - plants. They were a lot easier than people. Either way - she was going to stay planted firmly in her seat until they got there... She may have grown up in space, but the ship were usually static, floating in orbit with the gravity simulators on.. This - well this was just uncomfortable. __________________________________________________ _____ *Milaya - Honey ** Моя любовь к тебе будет исцелять землю - My love for you will heal the Earth |
The flight fell quiet as everyone turned in. Sure, some lingered in that state of being awake a bit longer than the others but, for the most part, all took some time to rest. Having trained long and hard for five solid years, these soldiers never caught up on sleep. This nap was welcomed and it would eventually be missed, for the moments they arrived at Earth, naps would be nonexistent and sleep could be a rare thing.
For the most part, the trip was smooth. As instructed, Zeke woke up his commanders and informed them of the situation. It was really not issue for the team of pilots though, as they had been training for this day once a week for five years. The ship took minimal damage and some who slept were uninterrupted, allowed to keep dreaming. Of course, the happiness soon came to a jarring halt. Alarms began to sound and in mere seconds, the ship was in a tizzy. People were running to their stations and the fasten seat-belt sign pinged its caution. "What the hell is happening?" Jenny tried to speak over the ceaseless droning noises and alarms. Her concern went unanswered. Moving to free herself from her seat, the woman was met with a shaking head. It was not wise to move for just as the head shook, the ship collided into debris. Heads bobbled and necks were put under serious strain. "GET YOUR MASKS ON," Jenny screamed to those who weren't prepped for entry. "ZEKE," she leaned forward, but was jerked back by the recoil from the collision. "Prepare for a crash landing!" Zeke grit his teeth and tried to handle the ship to the best of his ability, but the thing was large and clunky. They were losing oxygen fast and Earth's pull was causing them to pick up speed. Flames started to burn away at the shuttle's wings and the cabin got unbearably hot. "COME ON, YOU BASTARD," Zeke broke himself free from autopilot and now took the entire crew's lives into his own hands. Three bodies were already floating lifelessly about the cabin. One, a pilot who took the main display to the face. The other two were victims of slow response times; they never got their seat-belts on and were sent colliding into the door frame at an ungodly speed. The one was bleeding profusely -- thank god the helmets and masks were on! Spinning and falling out of the sky, the crew probably felt their stomachs turn. It was hard to keep anything down as life flashed before their eyes. As the cabin got hotter -- now about 110 degrees Fahrenheit -- the soldiers would fight with slumber. Their bodies, trying to preserve life, kicked into shut-down mode. No matter how much they fought, the heat would subdue them and things would just fall silent and... Black. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP It was growing annoying. The beeping didn't stop. It refused to stop. A nagging headache caused Jenny to growl and force her eyes open. Screen plastered in dirt, mud, and blood, she immediately lost all fatigue as her body filled with fear. They... they crashed! "Row call," her voice cracked. Grasping at branches and debris, she yanked her body from its muddy hole. She was absolutely filthy; and her body felt like it had been steamrolled. With a groan, she rolled up and over to give her body a once-over. Her wrist was out of alignment and her neck ached, but that was all. No punctures and no serious bleeding. Eyes scanning over the mangled shuttle, she looked for others, survivors. "Row call," she squeaked again. At this point, fear was setting in and her breathing became heavier at a rapid pace. Keep it together, Jenny -- she told herself. It helped, some. Okay, so it didn't help at all, especially when two more bodies came into her view. With a light scream, she fumbled backwards. Sprawling up and out, she moved onto solid ground before she started panting. Was she really alone? Sweat consumed her brow and her eyes wildly looked about. Fear, it was all around her. She wasn't trained to do this whole mission alone. CRACK! Something moved from behind. Hitching up her bladegun, Jenny's fear purged from her system and that coldhearted killer emerged. Although, the second a friendly face poked through the brush, she gave a sigh of relief. "Thank god," she muttered before running forward to embrace the survivor. Meanwhile, Zeke was busy drowning in the water he crashed into. His body was jerked from the ship and sent sailing into the air. With high-tide rolling in now, his face was underwater. The second he rasped in the water, he yanked back and onto the sandy, white beach. "Beach?" He looked around and saw another stirring body flinch from the water. "The hell are we?" Peeling his cracked helmet off, Zeke held his breathe for a second. He prayed he wouldn't die by breathing in Earth's raw air. Heart stopping, he sucked in the air. A smile crested his face. It wasn't toxic! "You," he shifted toward the other person the beach beside him. "You okay?" We have officially crash landed on Earth. We were supposed to land in Europe, as it was rumored to have the least amount of contamination. However, after being bumped off course by debris, our heroes are now on the white sandy beaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. At first, they might not know where they are, but in time, they will come across giant signs and shops that list Cape Cod. They will learn that they are on an island and that the only bring off the island is miles away. They are in Provincetown (the tip) and will need to walk to Sagamore Bridge. It's about 60 miles away (a 20 hour hike). It's doable but, as expected, they will not be alone.... You are free to write about the crash and then coming to. You're welcome to have your characters alone or near others. If you are alone, feel free to have them run around to look for the group. They aren't super far from one another, about a 10-mile spread. Zeke is on the beach and Jenny is by Shank Painter Pond (they are about 2-miles apart). |
As people quickly started to slink off to their sleeping quarters at the first mention of it, Riley rolled her eyes. So their crew was filled with people that would rather sleep first and work later, lovely. She remained at her station watching the radar among various other things. As the flight went on and nothing was popping up, she would doze off in her seat for short periods of time every once in a while, but she didn't want to leave her spot. She didn't trust anyone else to be able to assist the pilots with what they had to expect when they got closer to Earth.
Zeke, the only competent pilot of their group Riley had concluded, had gotten up to do something, more than likely mission related so she wasn't worried. What she wasn't thrilled about was the poor timing of his task as shortly after his departure, the radar started getting cluttered. The green haired woman watched as several objects started veering into their flight path, far more than she had been expecting from her earlier analysis. She announced this to the remaining pilots who, whether they were listening or not, the woman wasn't sure as they didn't seem to take her warning very seriously and once the alarms started sounding, they didn't seem to know what to do. Fools, she thought to herself as she activated her mask and tank suit's helmet as their vessel started bouncing around the debris like a ping pong ball. She started looking for paths through it, something to help guide the pilots. Zeke was soon in his seat and she quickly sent the best route to minimize damage to pop up on to his screen. There was no easy way through this, especially with how each impact seemed to cause her equipment to fritz out more and more each time. As the temperature started to quickly rise in the cabin, Riley punched in a series of codes to get everyone out of the rocket before they would be all killed in it. The trick was though, to get everyone out at a safe height so it wouldn't kill them all and close enough to one another so that their mission wouldn't be a total waste so early on. Shortly after she was able to initiate the timer to open the launch doors for their seats, Riley could no longer fight the heat anymore. "Bugga-awl," she cursed herself as blackness filled her mind. Her body was suddenly very cool and the sudden temperature change woke her up instantly. That and the sloshing sound that seemed to almost echo in her helmet. Golden eyes snapping open, Riley looked about the area her suit was. It was dark. She tried moving her arms; they were stiff, not from impact but from where she was. She could hear a voice talking to her though and the direction seemed to be behind her. Was she stuck? Planting her hands at her side, the woman pushed against the tension that held her. Sure enough, she had landed front side down along the water's edge. Once at her knees, she reached down to the waters below and splashed the murky fluid onto her visor to wash away the dirt allowing her golden eyes to meet those of the male pilot. "Fine," she finally answered the male as he asked about her condition. She then forced her body to stand, though having this new weight was weird. Sure they had gravity in their ships, but this was completely different and it almost made the woman feel off balance for a moment. After she was on her feet, her attention turned towards the back of her suit where the three portions of her weapon were planted. Each one lifted to show that they were still in working condition and her suit did not have any alarms going off about malfunctions with the firing mechanism. She was relieved that the timer for the ship was able to go off in time to at least save that much. "And yourself? How are you holding up?" Seeing that the male's mask was removed, Riley lifted the visor of her own helmet to allow herself to more clearly scan the surrounding area. |
Things seemed to go from uncomfortable to unbearable really quickly. She wasn't sure how long she had dozed off, but the sudden pick up in speed, blaring alarms, and panicked shouts were enough to wake her. Instinct from their years of training took over and her hands were automatically applying her mask as bile rose in the back of her throat. She could feel her fight or flight responses kicking in. She was sweating, hyperventilating, and her eyes seemed to be aware of every detail in front of her. At this particular moment it was a body - Nadya sucked in a shaky breath, and closed her eyes tight as she let lose a string of Russian curses.
--- Nadya woke suddenly, her chest heaving and eyes searching around wildly. She was still in her seat, but her seat was no longer in the ship. In fact, she was back down, looking at the open sky. It was clear, until a few hundred feet up where the toxic cloud lay hovering - keeping the colonies on the ships above from seeing Earth clearly. A crazed laugh left her lips, quickly turning into a groan. The shock was wearing off, and Nadya was rapidly becoming aware of her body and how much pain it was in. Undoing her seatbelt, she took a moment to appreciate the release of pressure on her body. Sucking in a breath, she pull down the top of her suit to reveal dark bruises where her seatbelts had laid across her chest. "Safety first" she mumbled to herself, zipping the suit back up. She took her time laying in her chair before she slowly stood up, taking note of every ache and pain. Her body was tense, sore. Her arm especially hurt, and when she looked at it, she saw a large gash along her left bicep. Survival training kicked in, and Nadya made quick work of cutting the seatbelt into a makeshift tourniquet for her arm. It was only when she sheathed her blade that she realized she was breathing unfiltered air. Her mask and helmet were nowhere to be seen amongst the wreckage. She held her breath for a moment, panic rising, before she realized how ridiculous that was - she had already been exposed too long... in fact, she began wondering why she wasn't dying at the moment. Pulling her com link from her hip, unsure if it would work, she hit the record button "The air... Is... breathable. Long term effects unknown." Maybe if the ships knew that they'd send help. Ha. Unlikely. That was when she noticed something else was amidst. There were trees... and bushes... and plants all around her. A far cry from the wasteland they were told to expect. Her love of botany kicked in and she quickly marched towards the nearest trees, touching the bark and looking at the leaves. As she continued walking, she hear a voice through the underbrush. Relief washed through her, easing the tension she didn't know she had been carrying. As she headed towards the voice, she was taken aback by the sudden attack - or, no - hug it seemed. "Ow - ah, that hurts." She used her good arm to untangle herself from, when she got a better look, Jenny - their second in command for the mission. "The air - it's, it's good. For the short term at least. There are plants here. It looks like they've adapted similar traits to their deep see cousins... a combined system of photo and chemosynthesis... that's probably why the air conditions aren't so hostel - they've been filtering it." She realized she was babbling, and her voice was high and quick. Her right hand still on Jenny's shoulder, squeezing. She released it, looking sheepish and relived. |
Aruliean left the others to their own, it was better not to have much confrentation at this point. They wanted to get this going as easily as possible. His eyes remained out the window of the craft, on the scene that was passing them by. The stars, he never got tired of looking at them, even as a child, when the stars were all he had. He looked away, his heart tightening up a bit below his clothing and his chest. He took a breath, but for that moment, things seemed to begin to go bad. Chaos began to errupt around him, Aruliean's mind snapping back to reality for now. He saw the signs come on, the alarms blaring. Usually, one would have been panicing in these situations, but Aruliean had been trained for such things. Odd as it was, his body went through the motions on their own. He fastened his seatbelt, positioning himself into place as directed. The gas masks released, he was able to keep concious and watch as the chaos unfolded around him. His stomach lurched, he felt adrinaline beginning to kick in through his body. This was bad, this was not how it was supposed to go. The cabin began to heat up, as they began to break the atmosphere. The last thing Aruliean remembered, was his hope that the others would be ok... ------------------------------------------ Movement.....for a moment, all continued to be black, but his ears were deffinetly picking up movement in the distance. Voices, from who at the moment, he did not know. His eyes fluttered open, and he felt a heavy weight upon his body. He laid there for a moment, letting it sink in what had happened, and his body wake. He glanced to see what was on top of him, a large piece of metal, probably by the ship. He shifted, pushing against it. Even though his body protested, he managed to move it enough to slide out from under it. He felt really odd, for a moment the world spinning. He did a mental check first, scanning over his body. He felt all of his limbs, that so far was good. He could move his hands and legs, so that was good to. Besides the massive headache, he seemed to be in good standings. Once more, he heard an echo over the land. Glancing over across it, he had to let his eyes adjust for a moment to see what was over there. It looked like the main body of the craft, a large spot in the distance. He had not landed to terribly far away, but he knew a lot of the others would not have been so lucky. He forced himself to stand, and immediately regretted it. His stomach turned, and it took all he had not to vomit right then and there. He was a soldier, this was what he was trained for...sort of. He let his eyes close, letting his body steady itself for a moment. The air was heavy. Although breathable, he could feel the weight of it on his lungs already. Great, where the hell were they? He glanced around, noting a few other bits of the craft scattered around. He turned his attention back to the others in the distance. Should he call out? He got the eerie feeling he should be quiet for now, this place already succeeding in giving him the creeps. They had no idea what was out there at all. What might be waiting. He felt a chill form over his skin, even though most of him was hot still from the ordeal. He took one step, then another. His head still felt like it was going to split open. The voices and the main body of the craft were there, but he felt the need to rest a bit more. He slowly stopped, before falling to his knees, then to sit on the ground. His hand moved to his head, seemed he needed another moment to adjust to this. Would they notice him? Or would they keep going? Either was fine, he would deal with either as he needed to. He listened to the voices, reconizing one as the woman who had spoken to him on the ship (Jenny). The other, he tried to place, but he had not had the pleasure of aquiring a name for it yet. He sighed, looking up at the sky. The swirling haze over them was doing nothing for the nausea that was lingering. He was slowly getting his bearings back, and his strength, but it only succeeded in making him more worried about what had happened to the others. Where had they gotten to? Were they ok? He sat his hand down on the ground by him and froze. Turning his head, his eyes widened "ah!" He pulled back, laying there, was the body of one of the officers. How had he not noticed that sooner? He stared at it for a moment, and his heart raced in his chest. His mind took in the face and the body, as well as the blood. Seemed that not all of them had made it when they crashed. He felt a sadness pool in him. That was someone's son...possibly someone's father, brother or husband. He could not bring himself to look away at the moment, it was sad to think....the same thing was probably to eventually be all of their fate. |
"I suppose so," Zeke sloshed around in the water as he tried to make his way closer to the green-haired woman. "Don't suppose your scanners are able to pull up our location?" Zeke tapped on his watch a few times with the hopes that it just needed some recalibration. Sure enough, he was able to give it a hard reset and the thing eventually beeped to life.
"Oh sure, you only behave when I'm around the ladies," he rolled his eyes at the irony. "Uh..." he glanced down for a second to read the coordinators. "42 North, 70 West." He generalized, a lot. "The hell is that." His eyes rolled up to the clouds as he tried to recall the coordinates he was forced to memorize. "Well, I know it's not Europe. We're too far west. That means... America?" He looked down at the numbers again. "This is pretty east for the US. Must be... Massachusetts?" He cocked a brow. "Yeah, it must be Mass. Maine would be more north." Letting out a sight, he dropped into the beautiful sand. The sun, which was starting to peek out from behind the clouds, instantly warmed him. "Wow, so this is what the sun feels like." Eyes opening, he gazed across the water the laid before him. "I could get used to living on a beach," he smiled before he patted the sand beside him. Sure, he and Riley could run off, or they could wait here and just enjoy the view. It wasn't like the others couldn't find them. Each of the soldiers had a tracking device in them and on them. The internal one was a small chip over the pupil of the eye. Clear in color and able to determine the exact location of someone. It would also turn red when the host died, which is how HQ would know of deaths. "About that debris, sorry my co-pilots were incompetent fools. I should have known better than to leave but when your CO calls you back, you go back." He let out a sigh and his brows knit into a frowning expression. He reaching around his back, he tugged out a canteen. Yes, Riley had her own, but Zeke figured he would be polite and offer up his own. Eyes closing, he offered Riley a sincere smile. "So tell me about yourself Miss Belmont. We never spent much time together," his orbs fell on her, "since we were both too busy with our own unique training. "Sometimes I think it would have been easier to be just a soldier. Spend more time fighting and training, with others. Instead, we're isolated and tasked with learning. Bleh," he scoffed lightly before looking up at her. No point in offending her, right? "Not that it's bad. Only," his gaze immediately moved off her. "I'm the only capable pilot we've left. If we even think about leaving, it'll all fall on me." ---------- Post added 07-02-2014 at 03:36 PM ---------- It was a breath of fresh air to see someone alive. And someone so capable, even for a botanist! The woman, Nadya, had already gone about her analyzing, much like Jenny had. With a firm nod, she stepped back to admire the greenery. "It appears as such. Perhaps Earth has calmed more than we believed. After all the original bombs were dropped in the 1940s. Not like the entire planet suffered. Sure lives were lost and radiation ruined internal organs, but life still carried on." Jenny raised a hand to her chin and tapped it lightly. "Wouldn't it be a shame if we left for all the wrong reasons." Eyes jumping to the sky, a dull look came to her. "I know they said we left because of nuclear war but did it actually happen. We were in space long before the serious shit went down. I know two nukes were dropped prior to the ships taking off but... was that it. Was there a ceasefire after?" A major downside to fleeing was the loss of contact on the planet. People were supposed to stay behind to radio the ships what he happened but... what if it were all a lie. What if they never received word. Or, worse, they had and the ships decided to take life into their own hands. "Be wary in what information you share with the ships," she leaned into the tell the woman. She spoke just low enough that the mics scrapped to their necks wouldn't pick up the sound, but loud enough to Nadya was aware of Jenny's suspicions. As she went to speak again, Jenny heard a cry not too far off from where she stood. In seconds, her blade was lowered and her mind ready for whoever thought of throwing an ambush. Thankfully, as her eyes raced to the voice, she realized all was well. It was just Aruliean. Letting out a huff of air, she blew her blonde fringe up. "Suppose I ought to go make sure he's okay. If you want, you can scrape the trees for growth." Retreating from her post, Jenny moved toward the younger male. "Phew," she exclaimed as she now stood over him and, sadly, the body of a fallen officer. Hands over her chest to draw out a cross, she kissed her hand before bending to close the deceased officer's eyes. "Hey," her hand reached out. A smile met Aruliean. "Glad to see you're okay, soldier." Since they were beside the ship, it might be wise to pick and pull units and items. They probably shouldn't dub it camp for any outsiders, or natives, would be searching for the plane. It would be far safer to scavenge what was needed and leave. Put some good distance between the flying death trap and their potential stalkers. "I wonder if any of the machines were damaged in the crash. With any luck, the rover will still be in-tact and we can," she bit her lip before cussing. "Shit, we lost all our pilots." Thankfully, she and Chauhan had training to operate all machinery, but it would have been nice if Zeke were alive and well. "Eh, either way, let's hunt down the rover and load it up. We'll look for the others once we're good here." Her hand waved over at Nadya. Might as well get her to come hither to aid with the collection. Besides, this woman would know which scientific tooling might be of use later on. |
Ryan was sleeping until the whirling and beeping started. He immediately put on his helmet and mask. He buckled himself in and braced for impact. He looked at the monitors and noticed what got hit and was preemptively thinking about what the repairs would be. Little did he know, two minutes later he'd be laying passed out face shoved into the dirt.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________________ Ryan woke up face buried in dirt and a smell of feces and decaying flesh in his nostrils. He immediately realized he was in an animal's den, or at least near one. He began to look up around and saw the thing that smelt so badly. It looked a lot like the pre-war deer, except for it's massive size and larger then usual antlers. The creature had to have been almost six foot at the shoulder and it's antler's span was nearly as wide. Ryan also noticed several sets of bones. He pulled out his pistol and opened his bag. He grabbed a few of the skulls for examining later, a canine skull, a skull of a smaller animal, although it was still rather large, and an ursine (read bear) shaped skull. They would help him determine the effects of the radiation on life forms here. He then pulled out a small device, hoping it still worked. It whirled to life and he sighed. He pressed some buttons on the screen and his jaw dropped. He was seeing results he could never imagine. The air was clean…. Really clean. The entire planet seemed to have adapted to suck up any toxicity. The oxygen content in the air was a bit higher as well. That made sense though, since more plant life would’ve more easily survived radiation and pumped more oxygen out that the animals here could use up. He took off his gas mask and looked around a bit more. He stepped on a something making a loud snapping sound. Then he heard a low growl and looked towards the entrance of the den. What he saw scared the living out of him and he immediately pulled his pistol and took behind cover. The large wolf-like creature lunged at him and he quickly dodged out of the way. He pulled the gun up and fired a burst of bullets into the animal’s chest. It didn’t seem to notice. It kept coming at him. Another six bullets wasn’t going to slow it down. After an entire clip (18) and a minor gash from the creature’s claw, the creature dropped. He wanted to examine the creature more closely but felt that more may come because of the noise so he dropped a beacon nearby and left. He patched himself up and ran towards the beach. |
His stomach turned as he thought about the mission that lied ahead. For five years now he had been successfully coning these people into believing he was a real doctor. The one who was supposed to be going on this mission. The realization that he was really going to be going to Earth with these people hadn’t dawned onto him until this morning. Everything seemed so real now because it was. Everything from the training had been to prepare them all for this day. Unlike his actions there were no cons or illusions in this. It was really happening and he was going to be going whether he wanted to or not. Whether he was qualified or not. Casimir mentally cursed at the one who had put him in this position, one Dr. Tabitha Williams. If he had known he was going to lose that bet with her he never would have agreed to it. Thinking back now he realized just how sly she had been to con him when he was supposed to be the insane con artist, the master of disguises.
For the most part he did his best to avoid the cameras and the reporters. When one of them finally did catch up to him he put on his act. After all he was the doctor, the one the others were to rely on if they became injured or ill while on the mission. He feed the reporter what he knew the people wanted to hear. He also gave a cryptic message that only one person, Tabitha, would understand. With all of the formalities over and comfortably on the ship he let himself doze off. Right now he didn’t feel like his normal chatty self. This whole ordeal was starting to depress him. He didn’t want to go, sure playing the role of a doctor was fun and all, but there was no way he’d really be able to save lives if something critical happen. The sounds of alarms going off made the man start to stir from his slumber. It took a moment for what was going on around him to register. Once he realized they were going down he quickly put on his helmet and mask before buckling himself in and praying that they were able to keep in one piece. From there things went black. ----------------------------- When regained consciousness he groaned a bit his head pounding and body aching. When he tried to move he found that he wasn’t able to move his legs. It felt like there was a heavy weight on them and part of his lower body. Forcing himself up onto his elbows he glanced down to find that his lower body was pinned by a large piece of sheet metal and what looked like it may have been part of the skeletal structure of the ship. “Damn it all,” he cursed. Using what strength he could muster Casimir tried to push the larger piece off of the sheet metal to free himself. It barely budged. Lying back he stared at the sky. His mind quickly re-evaluating the situation he was currently in. The fact that he could hear others talking somewhere nearby was a good sign for him. The fact that he was trapped was a bad one. Not being able to move his legs he couldn’t assess what condition they were in. Since there wasn’t any numbness or sharp burning pains he assumed nothing was broken or fractured, but that was something he would have to check into once his legs were freed. Lifting his arms he checked them over. Just scratches and some light bruising from the looks of it. His lower lip was bleeding from a small cut. Other than that his face seemed to be ok. From the pounding in his head he assumed that there was the possibility that he had a concussion from the impact of the crash. So far things didn’t look too bad for him that was assuming he didn’t go into shock before he could get the others over to help him. Boy this day just seemed to be getting better and better. He had to admit to himself that at least he had survived unlike the poor woman who was face planted in the dirt several feet away. From the looks of it the poor dear hadn’t been able to get buckled into her seat in time. The minutes passed as the teal haired male let himself get lost within his thoughts and evaluations of his current situation. He wasn’t sure how long he had been laying there waiting for some of the pain to go away. The pain in his head was starting to finally lessen. With a sigh Casimir once again forced himself to sit up. He grunted and groaned as he tried to free himself. Using all his strength he pushed the piece of metal, but it only moved a few inches. “Blasted piece of space junk, why do you have to be so freaking heavy?” After a couple more failed attempts, rants and curses he fell back. “Ah, I give up….Help! Anyone out there?” He was sure he had heard voices earlier, though he wasn’t sure who they belonged to. |
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