"Yes, is there anything you wanted to tell me before I leave ship for exploration?"
Nycho explained the plan once more to Jeremy.
She leaned over the table and looked across to Jeremy through the holgraphic map. "As you are the Captain I would hazard a guess that you are the one who gives the green light for these sort of 'projects'".
Jeremy raised an eyebrow recalling all the history Harken Saw gave them at Termina Central. "I think there's some confusion about the Kauzen. On Termina Central I believe Harken Saw told me that the Kauzen [b]did[/b] create the Oracle and simply disassembled the object, shattering it around for god knows where. He also told us that its the only piece of technology and artifact around that's been discovered as of now." He said, he observed the holographic map showing four planets.
"I have a question, how can you be sure those can be the four potential leads to the next piece? Shouldn't that be Mr. Saw's job to confirm the locations?"
Lion nodded. "Indeed it is. I've detected numerous lifesigns and several landbased vehicles alongside the group of landed spacecraft."
He looked at Iska. "What do you say we go and introduce ourselves?"
Nycho raised an eyebrow. "I believe that is why I was hired by Mr.Saw, to speed up the localization of the pieces." She walked over to the table and picked up the Oracle copy. "In the scientific circles there has been much debate if the Kauzen really did create the oracle as even they could have obtained it from an even older race." Nycho gestured to the map. "These planets were worlds of importance for the Kauzen. If they are its creators, the most logical conclusion would be that information about, or even a piece of the oracle would be located here." Nycho flicked her fingers in the map, zooming in on a medium sized bluish-gray planet. "Oltanis, once a lush woodland planet that have undergone some... unfortunate biologic changes over the years. Now ravaged by heavy thunderstorms and the like." She looked at Jeremy; "Through my fathers research I have suspicions about it being a Kauzen vaultworld. Of course, to even consider this I would need to be absolutely certain that the Kauzen created the oracle."
[Doom, if you wanna plan this further you can PM me]
After gathering together an survival kit and a basic personal defense weapon along with an cloak to help with the hostile environment of Duroma from the armory, Viper proceed down to the hanger.
The Hanger was filled with an fleet of all terrain vehicles being mounted up by numerous crew members, identified as ATCs by the Implant as Viper looked over them as they blasted off into the sand dunes.
Viper looked into the bight clear red sky of the planet, it's first sun rises as the other sets upon the horizon. Viper took an moment to appreciated it before turning back to hanger.
One of the ATC's was highlighted by Implant as Sanghvi compatible, designed specifically for Viper's implant, connecting to it's tether in an moment's notice. Already tuned into and adjusted to the Implant like the Talon.
Mounting up and leaning back, Viper relinquished some physical control to fully engage with the ATC's tether. After that, Viper begin to locate the Sect though the Archius's navigation systems and detection systems to listen in on there commutations before sending an massage to learn their intents for being out of the core systems.
Their ship seem to be docked onto an orbit station above the planet, sending out scouts to find the replacement parts for the armada below on the surface along with other things that were too encode to listen in on without reveal the Archius position. Viper disengaged the Archius's systems after figuring out the coordinates of an scout that was close by though several recent transmissions.
Viper then proceed to start the ATC's engine and begin to high tall it to it, dust and sand sprayed from under the tires of the ATC were of little notice to the Sanghvi's thermal eyes as the ATC jump up and down the dunes until reaching Lion and Iska who parked upon one of the taller dunes, setting an quick observation post that overlooked the nearby village.
"So what's can you find officer Lion?" Viper said over to Lion as the Sanghvi's ATC stop in the sand next to them as it's started to overheat, letting it cool down for a bit.
Having put on a neck flapped hat, Dwan gets on his ATD. As the ATD lifts itself off the ground, Dwan gives full throttle and rockets out of the hangar into the heat. Dwan gets himself adjusted and races through for a bit, eventually meeting up with Lion, Iska and Viper.
After he spend some time on a joy-ride Varn returned to the hangar and parked the ATD. "Yanim, you have outdone yourself. Shame about the paint-job though." He pointed at the parts where the sand had scratched the paint.
Varn got off the ATD and got to work on modifying it. It was obvious that he couldn't improve on the design, but there were a few things he could do. After several hours and consultation with Yanim the upgrades were done. Two armored plates were added in the front, making ATD capable of ramming, obviously this sacrificed speed but it also gave him harder to hit from the front. A small container for ammunition was added to the side. And finally the paint job. Varn painted it with the same colors and marking as his armor, even the outcast markings.
Once done, he left the hangar again to get to Lion's coordinates.
Lion turned to Viper. "Surprised to see you out here, Viper." He gestured towards the small settlement in the horizon. "I've located a settlement. Looks friendly, no hostile indicators so far.
In fact I was just discussing with Iska if we should drop by and say hello."
Viper took another look at the settlement before turning back to lion.
"Well you're welcome to come along just if your so inclined." Viper said as Varn pulled up.
"But I'm going to be mostly alone on this." Viper said before taking another look at village as the scout came insight.
"But good seeing you again Lion, keep the rest of crew ssafe. " Viper said as the Sanghvi's ATD start to head down the hill to the settlement.
Jeremy nodded at Nycho, listening to her explanations. "So... in order to confirm one of the pieces on these planets you'll need a Kauzen artifact to begin? I wonder where can we find one."
Nycho nodded back. "Although I cannot promise that we find a piece there, we should be able to at least find some clues as to where they might be located." Nycho went over to the safe and locked the oracle copy inside, then looked back to Jeremy, "And Captain, thank you for your assistance and cooperation".
"Always there for my crew." Jeremy smiled at Nycho, not even greeting Arthur back for a status or pulse. He closed the door and went to the hangar bay for exploration. He put back his goggle and scarf to cover his face. The Captain activated his ATV and launched out of the ship, finding the rover's signal near up a hill. He slid up and found some of his members in the desert, slowing down to see each body.
Dwan finally catches up to everyone that's out. He decides not to greet them because it looks like they are discussing something.
Iska took a swig of water from her canteen and leaned over the handle. "So, what now boss man?" she said to Lion with a smirk.
"We go and say hello." Lion turned to Dwan. "Dwan, you wanna come along?" Said Lion as he climbed back into the Lancier and revved up the engine.
"Of course!", Dwan said, riding his ATD. "Lead the way!", he tells Lion.
"You go ahead, Lion. I'll follow."
Iska put on here goggles and fired up. She answered Lion with a few revs of her own.
Lion lowered one of the windows and waved with his hand towards the settlement before suddenly driving away, leaving only dust behind him.
He laughed as the rover jumped across the dunes, while not as fast as the ATD's the Lancier wasn't that far behind Viper as the crew approached the settlement.
The race had begun.
As the ATD was rushing down the dunes, spaying sand and dust across the Sanghvi, Viper begin to notice that Lion was catching up to Viper along with taunting the rest of the crew with an mono toned laugh.
Lion's friendly sense of competition was an trait that at first Viper dismissed as childish but was starting to grow on the harden Sanghvi as time went on, Viper was however focus on the reaching the scout then anything else.
Making sure to keep the Captain in the loop, Viper had made a quick massage for Jeremy, hoping to update him on the situation of the Elders and Viper's current actions.
[QUOTE]From- Viper Solari
To- Jeremy Spacehawk
Sir, I have an lead on some Sanghvi elders nearby. I'm going to be trying to get in contact with them as one of there sect appeals to be within the upcoming settlement.
I'l report my findings as soon as possible.
-Viper Solari.[/QUOTE]
Viper sent the massage over the private com though the Implant as the settlement was in full sight, crowds of all kinds flooded the shops and streets up ahead.
Iska ripped after Lion. She was slowly gaining on the Lancier, but was eventually passed by Dwan and Jeremy.
The only one who was going the same speed as her was Varn, who came last due to his heavy armour plating. The group slowed down and rolled into the settlement like a convoy, not counting Viper who had headed in another direction.
As Jeremy left, Arthur turned his back to the door and scowled.
"What a nasty fucking hypocrite that man is. The things I've done for this ship, and he turns on me after I try to help further. He does [I]not[/I] deserve to be captain." Arthur spat out, become angrier and angrier by the second. He turned to Nycho.
"Scum. I've always defended him when he's made mistakes. Our old head of engineering attacked him over a minor mistake that this man exacerbated himself, and I defended him. I try to convince him to secure more funds for the ship before we become bankrupt, he outright refuses until he has no other option. I fucking, I [I]fucking[/I] warn him that one of our crew members has gone over his head to acquire technology for her own use, and you know what he does? He lets this bitch of a woman sweet talk him into disregarding my opinion, and then promotes her to the head of one of our departments. I'm fucking sick of the man. 'Always there for my crew, the crew that brown noses me'." Arthur ranted to Nycho, albeit with a number of valid concerns.
"I'd like to warn you when dealing with our captain, Nycho. He is erratic at best, loaded with hypocrisy and schizophrenic at worst. If he continues to flout my opinions and concerns as he has done in the past, I intend to resign, and report his behavior to Harken Saw. I tell you this, as you seem to be the most sensible of us all, and you've only been on the ship for the better part of a day."
"I warn you of our new head of engineering as well. Yanim Sidikan. I believe she's up to something, yet I don't know what. What I do know is that she has an abnormal interest in alien technology, technology that is known to be very deadly. Do with these opinions as you will. I need a fucking drink." Arthur finished. He regained his composure, stoop upright and made his way out of Nycho's quarters, finding his way to the bar.
Nycho was a bit taken by Arthurs sudden outburst.
She pondered about the things he had explained, about the Captain and the head of engineering.
She concluded that she would have to analyze them on a personal level, after all she had only read their files.
Do not trust a text before you have seen it yourself, as her father used to tell her.
Nycho grabbed her cloak from her bed and headed down to 'evaluate' Ms.Sidikan.
The rover rolled into what appeared to be a empty space used for parking of land vehicles. The rest of the crew rolled up and parked their ATD's next to each other as Lion climbed out of the Lancier.
Before going any further, he made sure that the cloak covered most of him as Lion did not wish to induce any funny ideas to what scavengers might lurk around.
He spotted a bar and looked at the crew. "It's a start."
Lion began to walk towards the building when he spotted a heavily modified Adeptor dropship across the street.
Despite the dropships weathered condition, Lion could easily distinguish the iconic colors of the SDF Marines.
He began approaching it and spotted three men in modified marine armors. The black and white armor stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the desert environment.
As Lion got closer, he saw that one of the men was quite larger than the other two which were of the same height.
A detail caught his eyes. A symbol of a shield with two axes crossed over. Highlanders. Could it be?
Lion stopped a few meters away.
"What's a stinking bastard son of a whore scot doing here?" He yelled, attracting the attention of a quite alot of people.
The marines stopped talking and looked up. The larger of the three turned around, revealing a face as solid as stone.
He began walking up towards Lion. "What's a glorified rusty old dishing machine doing here?" The man replied in a stern tone.
Lion walked up towards the man, stopping only when there was but an inch between them. The crowd stared quietly at the two, waiting for the inevitable.
The mans face suddenly cracked up into laughter as he embraced Lion in a bearhug. They both laughed before standing back. As the crowd realized that there wasn't going to be a fight, everyone returned to their daily business.
Lion jokingly punched the man on his arm.
"McKinze you old fuck, it sure wasn't yesterday we were busy sieging fanatics in the scoldering heat."
McKinze laughed. "Sure wasn't! Say, what brings you to this dusty 'ol rock?"
"RnR, it's been awhile since I kicked back and relaxed." Lion waved towards the two soldiers behind McKinze.
"Good to see you Edison!"
"Likewise." Replied the twins in unison.
"RnR huh? Still freelancing?" Asked McKinze.
Lion shook his head. "I've been with a crew for a few months now. Got tired of being a lonewolf, these days I have some of the best watching my back."
McKinze grunted. "Glad to hear. Wasn't sure if you were ever going to be the same after, well, you know."
Lion got a distant look in his eyes. "Honestly, I'll never be the same. Partly because of this-" He gestured towards his body. "-and partly because of what's in here." He pointed towards his head.
"In the end I realized that I had to look forward, find a new purpose. Reed would've wanted for me to keep fighting the good fight."
McKinze and the Edisons nodded. "Hoorah to that."
"In any case, what brings the three of you here?" Asked Lion, wanting to switch subject.
McKinze gestured towards the dropship. "We just got back after a five-month escort-assignment. Good pay, easy work. Scared a few pirates and earned some bucks, I decided that we deserved a break."
Lion nodded. "Have you heard anything from Valerie?"
McKinze shook his head. "Negative, haven't talked to her in a while. Last I heard she was still busy chasing down pirates around Mars."
McKinze then put one of his hands on one of Lion's shoulders. "She took it hard when you left. Rumor goes that she's still waiting for you to come back."
Lion looked down. "I can't. Not like this. She deserves someone better. Someone who didn't fail in bringing her brother back home in one piece."
McKinze nodded. "It's all up to you, son. In any case, I recall owing you a drink."
Lion smiled as the four of them entered the bar to share old memories.
Iska looked at Lions exchange with his comrades and chuckled. She turned to Dwan;" Iska can tell they are soldiers, maybe even clansmen". She waved to the rest of the gang to follow Lion into the bar.
"Iska need some shadow and cold to drink".
[Iska and Nycho on NPC, going to bed]
"Sure Sledge, you can have Herc chip in. I think I am ready for bigger tests. I might need you here in case anything goes wrong. Let me know when you are ready." [B]Squish preps the tables and equipment.[/B]
Pippin sat on the floor of the hangar and looked out into the desert. To know one it particular he muttered "I'm not really in the mood for a trek out into the desert, can I hitch a ride with anyone?"
Jeb finalized the session with Varn. Afterwards, he went to the hangar since the Archius touched down. From there, he heard Pippin call out "Can I hitch a ride with anyone?" Jeb noticed his new ride that beckoned his older self to take control. The racing blood in Jeb just couldn't be calmed, it looked like a callback to his younger days.
"I don't think you'd want to ride with me, I haven't ridden one of these puppies in a long time. No promises for your safety...or mine."
"sounds like I could use it, I forgot to have coffee this morning."
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