| abstract
| - James Bailey stands between the two Terran shuttles with a clipboard in hand. He watches a couple of Techs doing some routine maintenance and checks things off. Daniel is standing round, waiting for the flight instructor to come along. First thing he did when he rejoined the EDC as a contractor, persuaded them to teach him to fly. James Bailey watches the Techs finish their work and move off to the next tasks on their list. James tucks the clipboard under one arm and starts to follow, then stops when he spots Daniel. "Something on your mind, Witwicky?" Looking up at James, Daniel smiles, "Lieutenant Bailey. Just waiting for the flight instructor. Managed to fit me in with a bunch of the new cadets. About time I learned how to pilot those shuttles myself." James Bailey's seem to tighten just a bit at the corners. It could signify all sorts of emotion, but you can't really tell which - just that he's thinking something but trying to keep his face blank. "That sounds reasonable. A lot of demand out there for a good shuttle pilot, civilian or military." He hesitates for a moment, then adds, "What does the Sec-Gen think about this?" Daniel chuckles slightly, "You mean dad? No idea, though I assume he would be glad that an EDC contractor was making himself more useful to the organisation." Daniel's grin widens, "And he'd then lock himself in a bunker till he knew I was far away in the shuttle most likely. Should have seen him cringe when Michael Briar taught me to use an exo suit properly." Jayson Redfield heads out onto the landing field. Has he snuck out of medical? Maybe, but he's not telling. He looks a lot better now--his burnt right arm is bandaged, and he's currently in civvies, indicating that he's likely not going to be given any assignments for awhile. But still, he'd prefer not to be cooped up in the infirmary. James Bailey's eyebrows go up slightly. "The General taught you how to pilot an Exo?" His eyes flick over to Jayson, who James considers something of how own protege - at least when it comes to Exo-Piloting. "Maybe you can give the kid here a pointer or two. Sam too. The more perspectives and styles they're exposed to, the better for them." Folding his arms, Daniel considers for a moment, "Yeah, Briar trained me in the exos. Quite a while before he became a General." And then Daniel went to the Militants, such gratitude. However, the universe gives people chances to correct these things, "Sure, I'm currently only permitted to use exos on base, but that should be enough for now. Till I convince Spike to remove the restriction." A son twisting his dads arm? Never. Jayson Redfield practically bounds over to James and Daniel. "Hiiiii! What'cha guys doin'?" James Bailey nods at Jayson. He seems to be in a good mood, but focused on something. Determined. James gestures at Daniel and the shuttles. "Witwicky here is working on becoming certified to pilot a shuttle. You've been thinking about going in for a pilot's certification yourself, right kid...?" James asks leadingly. Whether Jayson was in fact thinking of such a thing or not, James doesn't want someone else's trainee getting too far ahead of his own. So if Daniel becomes a qualified shuttle pilot, he's going to see to it that Jayson does too. At some point. Apocryphacius wanders into the area to see this. He could probably design a shuttle out of Christmas lights, floor tiles, and some mayonnaise and have it work, but he sure can't fly them. Of course he's curious. Perhaps piloting is something he'd like to learn some day. Jayson Redfield blinks. "Uh...yeah?" The thought of piloting a shuttle makes him nervous. Not that he's afraid he *can't* pilot one, but it would mean going very high off the ground. But, if James wants him to, then there's not much he can do about it, right? Sgt Johnstone marches himself onto the landing field, a bunch of green pilots (as in new not coloured green) marching on with him. The sgt eyes Mr Witwicky, before commenting, "I do hope your not planning to stand chattering the entire time Mr Witwicky." He turns to the cadets, "Okay people, today you learn to fly the standard EDC shuttle. You will be shown the controls by experienced officers, you will listen learn and respect do I make myself clear!" The cadets all make a rousing, "Sir, yes sir!" response. Daniel points to the Intrepid and looks at the non-shouting people, "Guess we better get aboard or all the good seats will have gone." And with that he heads onto the shuttle. Sam comes hurrying out of the hangar bay to make the flight, delayed due to someone's broken exo-suit needing to be made un-broken. Talazia Keldahoff chuckles lightly at Witwicky as he opens up the session for the class. James Bailey visually gives Jayson a quick, highly unqualified medical exam, deems him fit for light duty and then gestures towards the shuttle. "Let's go...there should be some room in the back." Jayson Redfield swallows a bit, and enters the shuttle as well. Sam slips in with the pack and moves into the shuttle. The last time he went into space while qualified for 'light duty' his exo-suit got melted by Space Bats. Good luck, Jase. Jayson Redfield is hoping this won't turn into anything big. His poor, burnt arm wouldn't be able to handle it. Well, at least he can use his left arm still. Apocryphacius follows along and takes a place at the back of the shuttle. He won't have a very good view, but he's an awkward fit anywhere but the cargo bay. James Bailey quickly has his Exo-Jet (conveniently modified into a two-seater!) loaded into the cargo bay. Can't be too careful. The cadets, and Daniel, get pointed to seats that allow them to watch whomever ends up piloting the shuttle. The instructor straps himself into the co-pilots seat and looks at the officers present, "So, who wants to show our trainees how to take off?" And you can bet the instructor will comment if whomever does so misses any pre-flight checks. James Bailey says, "'Scuse me, Sarge...how about if we have Witwicky here demonstrate, and we can correct him if he gets anything wrong." He's partly interested in giving Daniel some on-the-job training, partly interested in seeing what the (in)famous Witwicky's got, and partly he just doesn't want to get caught cutting corners or doing a sloppy job. "I think he's got the most hours logged in a shuttle, even if he wasn't at the controls." Jayson Redfield is not looking thrilled about this... Sam moves to the back of the shuttle, into the cargo bay, to make sure all of the exos are secured and locked down before the shuttle starts moving. Johnstone manages to stop himself turning white, as he can't object when an officer gives a suggestion. He does make a mental note to ask to train cadets in future without officers present. And before he has had such a big lunch. He turns to Daniel, "Well Mr. Witwicky, let's see if your better than your mom at flying shall we?" And he indicates the controls. Daniel considers if this is a cruel joke on James' part. However, he moves to the pilots seat and begins the pre-flight checks. He takes his time, since most his flight time has been spent in Autobot or Militant shuttles over the years. The engines begin to hum and the shuttle vibrates gently as they come on line. Sam finishes checking the exo-suit docking clamps (SPACE CLAMPS!) and seems satisfied. He taps the intercom, alerting the pilot, "Cargo bay is secure." And then he turns to glance over at Apocryphacius, who from last reports is lurking around the rear of the shuttle. Jayson Redfield probably looks a little out of place in his civvies, but hey, at least he'll be on light duty until he's healed enough to go back to regular assignments. He gently touches the bandanges on his arm and winces. The burns are second-degree, so he'll likely be recovering for awhile. And he's still not looking happy about being in a shuttle. Apocryphacius lurks in the back of the shuttle! Noah Wolfe climbs aboard the shuttle carrying a small utility pack with his armored flight suit on. He stomps in with heavy booted feet and drops down in a seat off to the rear of the bridge. Snapping his restraints on, he rummages through the utility pack and pulls out his holocomp to strap it on his forearm. Talazia Keldahoff walks into the shuttle after he Exo is secured in place. "Hey Sam." She mutters as she walks over towards one of the passenger seats and straps herself in. no nonsense kinda person. With the pre-flight done, and hopefully no issues with it, Daniel reaches for that oversized handle that makes no actual sense but is universally in all shuttles because it makes this next bit look cool. Just before he launches he comments, "If any of you get space sick, your going to walk home." Sliding the lever forward, Daniel comments much like a certain old Autobot, "Contact." "Now that's a comforting thought," Jayson grumbles. Sam, still in the cargo bay, finds a seat and straps in for launch. Looking at the Quintesson, he asks, "Erm.. just.. hold onto railing?" he asks, noticing there's no chair for the floating alien. Talazia Keldahoff makes hurling noises after Daniel makes the 'space sick' comment. James Bailey turns to Jayson to make sure he's paying attention. He gives him a minute nod. See that? Pull that big huge lever. Gabriel Henshaw was a last-second addition to the flight -- partially because, with everything finally smoothed over with the civilian managers on Copernicus station, the repairs are finally starting to go smoothly. Still, he likes to be the prepared type, just in case. "Daniel, you make any of us sick, I'll fail you and then you'll have to go back to flight school," he comments, sitting down with a faint grin. Apocryphacius holds onto the railing. He expects to be like a balloon in a thunderstorm. He mutters, "My poor gyroscopes..." Talazia Keldahoff chuckles at Daniel. "heh. no worries. if it comes to it...I'll push us home." Smiling at the reactions from the various EDC types, Daniel comments, "See, you guys should see when you ride with Springer. Now there's a guy who knows how to have a laugh in any situation." Daniel holds the controls steadily as the shuttle speeds towards orbit. Displayed clearly in the viewscreen is the Copernicus, not quite dead ahead, but the shuttles trajectory is clearly going to take it in a close fly by of the station. Jayson Redfield is now clenching his eyes shut, and shaking a little. Scared? Him? What makes you think that? James Bailey runs his gaze over the sensor screens. One of the trainees is probably supposed to be doing it, but James examines the display himself (abliet from a few rows back) just to be sure. When he looks back up at the main viewscreen, he notices the station getting bigger and bigger. "Uh...just how close are we going to get, Witwicky?" Apocryphacius is a bit dazed from the liftoff, as his gyroscopes whine at him. He peers out the nearest window, looking at the stars. He wonders which star his people came from, to spread their ruin across the universe. Noah Wolfe is relaxed, but he's more into his holocomp screens than what's on the main view ports. He nudges Jayson, "Hey...check it out mate." He brings up an EDC archived footage. It looks like the Unity and the Eternal duking it out and trading huge volleys of firepower. "I found it in the archives yesterday. Wicked cool, huh?" It looks like footage from the Atlantis during the PN's occupation of Florida. "Uh...?" Jayson looks up and leans over a bit to view the footage. "Wow...that's pretty sweet." "Close enough to see any remaining external damage on the scanners. But don't worry, I don't plan on picking up any energon goodies Lt." Daniel doesn't look back at James, concentrating on the displays and controls. Afterall, he has to make sure he doesn't get too close to the station. The Instructor doesn't smile, he does however look at the officers present, "Our flight plan takes us out into Jovian orbit then back again." Talazia Keldahoff looks over towards Noah's holo. "hmmm...." Noah Wolfe smiles, happy to keep Jayson's mind off what's going on around him, at least for the time being. He enlarges the screen and angles it up so it's hovering just at head height. The two suits from this angle aboard the Atlantis they look like a red and white streak in the sky turning and dancing about each other occasionaly clashing against each other. Noah says, "I'm not usually one to take a peek at this smeg but I was looking for something else in the footage during the battle before I came upon this." James Bailey's attention is attracted to the holocomp, but once he realizes what it is he looks away quickly, turning around again to stare straight ahead. "Uh...that's good to know, Daniel. Hopefully things are going okay. You, uh, might want to rotate a little, adjust your attitude to match those of the other ships up here. That way if some of the less experienced civilian pilots start shouting 'up' or 'down' you're all on the same frame of reference." His eyes keep flicking over to the side, although he manages to turn around to look at the holo again. James, shifty? That's new... Apocryphacius perks up, "Oh, Jovian orbit! Life was found on Europa, not long ago," and then everyone ignored it, because it wasn't death robots. Really. There was a post about it and all. Jayson Redfield watches the footage for a moment, then turns around to look at Apocryphacius. "*Really*...that's interesting." He grins. "Though not surprising, if you think about it. I mean...*your* species is life that didn't originate on Earth." He's not too sure about Apo himself. Sam gets out of his seat once the shuttle clears the atmosphere. He makes his way over past Apocryphacius. "Er.. biological or technological life?" Hey, it's a valid question, and he missed the post. Doing as he is told, Daniel rotates the shuttle so it is the same orientation as other shuttles in the area. However the shuttle is just passing through, giving it's passengers a good view of the space station before it breaks out of Earth orbit. Apocryphacius appreciates that Redfield makes that differentiation. Apocryphacius is technically Terran, by... well... not birth, but close enough. There is a whirring noise as he acesses compressed memory, and he replies, "Ah, I believe it was microbial. Biological. Still, quite exciting. You have native neighbours, it seems." Noah Wolfe nods and shuts down the movie playing. He switches back over to his regular screens of signal detection from the sensors around earth piped in from a subspace connection at Alameda. Shrinking the screens with a few finger swishes at various parts of the screens he takes the oppertunity to look out of the shuttle. Jayson Redfield seems to be distracted now, as he's not trembling at the moment. Thanks, Noah and Apo! "Micro, huh..." Gabriel Henshaw stands up, moving over to take a look at the shuttle controls for a moment. "Not too bad so far, Daniel... we just might make you a good pilot yet." He chuckles quietly. "Seriously... looking good so far." Sam pokes his head into the passenger compartment. "Exo-suits locked down on quick-release, ready in case of mechanical bat attack." It's hard to tell if he's kidding, or if this was really on his list of priorities. Jayson Redfield glances to Sam, brows raised. "I *hope* we don't run into any more of those things!* Grinning at Gabe, Daniel comments, "Hey, you go round in enough shuttles with the Autobots, you pick up a thing or two." The grin turns into a smirk as he continues, "I bet I could even pilot into the eye of a world eating monster without too much difficulty." Thankfully the universe is all out of world eating monsters of late. Daniel continues to pilot the shuttle away from Earth, heading for the gas giants. Noah Wolfe grumbles, "Better not be any attacks. I still haven't learned the weapon commands on those Starknights yet." Or how to fight with a shuttle even. At best, Noah can do little in a fight out in space. James Bailey murmurs quietly to the pilot trainees nearest to him, pointing out some of the things Daniel is doing. At the eye eating monster comment, James grimaces. "He's just kidding." James clarifies for the trainees. At least, James hopes so. Apocryphacius opines, "I would so like to... examine a mechnical bat-specimen." The EDC never lets him examine anything. No fun. Sam tilts his head at Noah. "Erm.. really very many in swarms, can just hit buttons." Noah Wolfe phiffts, "Like that's very comforting. I didn't want to shoot any of you is what I mean. I'm more likely going to shoot one of you than hit any of those things. People say I kill my squad members because I'm bad luck, not because I shoot them. I really don't want that started too." James Bailey clears his throat. "Easy guys. We're not going to see any mechanical space-bats on this trip (sorry Apocryphacius). I'm sure that was some kind of fluke," he says confidently. Ah James, haven't you learned? "Besides, I'm sure Daniel's up on evasive maneuvers." He circles a finger in the air, gesturing at the shuttle around them. "These things may handle like a boat, but they've got a great top speed." Gabriel Henshaw snorts. "Try not to jinx us, Daniel. We don't need another Unicron." One was enough -- no matter how many times he keeps trying to come back. He considers for a moment, before looking at James. "So, is this just a quick trip around the block, as it were?" Jayson Redfield laughs a bit and pats Nate's shoulder. With his left hand, of course. "C'mon, man, I don't think you're bad luck." Sam looks at Apoc. "Er.. primary mode of attack for bats was conversion into missile, explosion. Capture was not possible." James Bailey answers Gabriel in a low voice, "That's up to the Sarge." He gestures at the NPC Sargeant sitting quietly. Then he raises his voice a little, "But still, this is a great opportunity. For all of us. It's not easy to log hours outside of the Earth region." He points his thumb back at some of the others still talking shop about the space-bats. "And it's also a good chance to trade notes." Noah Wolfe shrugs, "Ok mate. But I still say something bad is going to happen. Always does. Just wait and see." He sighs and looks out the window but has that flicker of hope something bad 'won't' happen this time around. Maybe Jayson is right and he's not bad luck? Apocryphacius points out, as if it is obvious, "A simple electromagnetic pulse could disable their circuits long enough to properly sedate one." James Bailey smirks as he overhears. Woo, tech discussion in the cargo bay. "How to prevent pulse from disabling exo-suit?" .. says Sam. The aforementioned sargeant is indeed sitting quietly taking notes. He's here to observe and let the officers do the teaching and testing. He looks back at Gabe, "We'll be letting each of the trainees take us once round Jupiter sir. That way we get to test their skills. Mr Witwicky is lucky to get the chance to launch us." Cause this Sarge wouldn't trust the green pilots to do that yet. Daniel veers the shuttle gently towards Jupiter, "And I get to slide us easily into orbit." He continues to concentrate more on the task at hand than idle chit chat. A few monitors next to Noah flicker slightly, and then stat showing warnings of approaching Decepticons. However after only a few seconds they flicker back to normal. Noah Wolfe shrugs, "What about em shielding?" he suggests. He turns back around to get into the conversation. Jayson Redfield leans back in his seat, trying to remain calm. Be brave...it's *just* outer space!...yeah, right. Talazia Keldahoff belches Apocryphacius tsks and reminds, "Is is not difficult at all to harden equipment against electromagnetic pulses. In fact, most military equipment is." It does not do a leaking thing about null rays, however. Pesky Transformers. Noah Wolfe nearly jumps out of his seat seeing the screen for that few seconds the cons are on it, "Bloody hell!" His face goes pale and points, "See, what did I....aru?" and looks confused as the signals blink out. "Smegging sensors..." and ponders going up to yell at Daniel, but he knows it's not his fault. James Bailey stands up for a closer look at the sensors where Noah is pointing. "Wolfe! What was it? I don't see anything -- are you sure...?" He looks at Jayson and Talazia, who were nearest to Noah. Maybe they caught it too? "Can anybody confirm...whatever it was?" Jayson Redfield stares at the screen. "I saw it...but it's gone now..." He shakes his head. "This is just getting creepy..." He looks to Noah. "And would you calm down? Nothin's gonna happen!" He hopes. Sam frowns a little at Noah. "Er..?" He starts to move into the passenger compartment, over toward those in seats. Frowning more, he asks, "Sensor panels malfunctioning?" He starts checking the station. Talazia Keldahoff looks over towards noah. "Usually we're telling Jayson to calm down. why the switch?" Noah Wolfe says sounding a bit calmer after a bit, "Or it was sensor ghosts in the radiation belts. I just noticed Galvatron and several sweeps about three clicks out to..." he tries to think of the word but skips it, "...to our left. Whatever that is called." He looks at Jayson and frowns, "Always the optimist?" He sits up and moves aside to let Sam take a look, "I don't know...maybe." and looks over at Talazia, "I 'am' calm. I'm just a realist, that's all. I've seen too much stuff happen around me to think it's mere coincidence." Gabriel Henshaw frowns, moving over towards the sensor station. "Starboard," he murmurs absently. "Right is port, left is starboard." Noah Wolfe says softly taking a seat at the oppisit side of the bridge, next to Jayson's station, "Oh, yeah, that's the one. Thanks." Checking the sensors at his own console Daniel frowns, speaking at those behind him, "Nothing showed up on these sensors. We can always slow down and run a full sweep, make sure we have no followers." Given the amount of comments about Autobot shuttles Daniel was making, he isn't overly happy at the memory of the last time Decepticons snuck up on a shuttle. Apocryphacius cowers in the back of the shuttle. Spooky! Jayson Redfield sticks his tongue out at Talazia, then looks to the screen again. "Ghosts..." He grins mischievously. "Maybe Jupiter is haunted!" And then a smirk. "If I wasn't optimistic, I'd be freaking out a *lot* more." Sam takes over the sensor console and starts running a diagnostic. Having the sensors act up on a training mission would be a great training exercise.. if it was planned and controlled. Actually having the sensors go out while trying to navigate alone in the vastness of space would be a bad thing. James Bailey nods at Daniel. "Good thinking. Maybe we should all seal up and depressurize the interior, in case we need to start launching Exo's." Noah Wolfe shakes his head, "Not real ghosts. But the same way with com signals. You can get these high energy rebounds of signals off of these two gas giants if you angle your directional feed just right." He watches the two work on the malfunctioning station, "Or...the station could just be on the blink." Jayson Redfield laughs a bit. "Was just sayin'... 'Course, I always *did* want to go on a ghost hunt." He leans back in his seat and folds his arms, careful of the burnt one. Noah Wolfe shakes his head and chuckles, "There's no such things as ghosts. Don't be daft." The Sarge looks at two of the trainees, "A perfect chance for these cadets to learn other ship board systems. Hop to it cadets, run a full sweep of the area." Though if the Sarge is doing this to keep fresh new cadets minds off of the possibility of a Decepticon encounter than anything else remains to be seen. Jayson Redfield smirks. "Hey, I'm a believer, 'kay? Anyway, you tell *that* to General Briar--I've heard he's visited quite a few of us. And me." He looks out the shuttle window, and shudders. Right, space. Forgot about that. Apocryphacius squirms a bit and inquires, "Ah... depressurize the interior?" He looks a bit worried. He's partially organic, and flesh and vaccuum are not good friends. Noah Wolfe turns in his seat and pulls a data cord from under his holocomp's forearm guard. He plugs it into the station and brings up his com system, then looks at Jayson with a raised eyebrow. Then lightly punches him in the arm, "Yeah, and 'I'm' the king of England!" He looks over at the sarge, "I'll keep the local airwaves open, but with being so close to Jupiter out there, com traffic is only down to about ten percent resolution. It's a shot in the dark if we could get a signal out or one in for that matter." He looks back at his glowing blue screens and phiffts, "The day I see a ghost is the day I hang up my rosery." Sam looks over at the Sarge. "Also can learn how to manage stations with technicians.. how do you say.. crawling around underfoot?" He ducks down and pulls a panel off the sensor console, and pokes his head inside to start checking the internal components. "Guess I should call you 'Your Majesty', then, huh?" Jayson grins teasingly and then tries to relax. "I hear the headless ghost of Anne Boleyn haunts the Tower of London." Apocryphacius twines his tentacles together nervously, and he insists, "Ghosts are nonsense." As he waits to see if there's any truth to the sensor displaying Decepticons, Daniel arms the shuttles weapons, as well as hitting a code that scrambles the shuttles friend or foe code. Something Daniel learned previously, and it earns him an approving nods from the Sarge. The EDC and Bots don't plan on letting a repeat performance of 2005 happen. Noah Wolfe perks up and listens to the ear piece holding a finger up to Jayson, then waves it up and down quickly to silence his buddy. He reaches to a screen glowing in front of him and taps several icons with each finger drawing them up along the screen drawing yellow lines. Probably boosting the power to the feed lines. He says, "Woh, I'm picking up a distress signal. Source is..." he runs his fingers along the holo controls tapping this, moving that someplace else, double clicking something else. A small grid pops up on the screen and on it the jovian system. Io is glowing brighter than the other moons with a few figures above it showing distance, signal strength, and exact heading. "...Io. ID is an EDC SOS signal. No mistake about that sarge." Jayson Redfield promptly jolts into a straighter position, tensing slightly. "You serious?! We need to get goin'!" Yeah. That's enough to distract him from the scary, scary outer space! Talazia Keldahoff looks over towards Noah. "You positive about that Noah?" She says tapping a few buttons for her console too. Sam pokes around on the circuit boards of the sensor system with a couple of technical.. kajiggers. "Sensors nominal.." he reports as he crawls out from under the station. "However apparent error initiated and resolved during false detection." He starts to close the panels up as Noah talks about the distress call, and frowns a little at the two events coinciding so closely, but reserves judgment for now. Apocryphacius inquires, "Do we have any mising personnel on record?" Daniel, ever the impulsive one looks briefly at Noah, then turns back to the console, "Taking us into Io orbit. Hold onto your butts, this isn't going to be the smooth ride the brochures promised." This earns a look from the Sarge who looks like his is about toi say something when the young Witwicky turns the shuttle round, taking it towards Io orbit quick enough to make people think it turned on a dime. The distress signal is definitely getting stronger as the shuttle approaches Io. Those good at such things can even pinpoint it much better the closer they get. Talazia Keldahoff looks on over towards Noah....who seems to be concentrating on pinpointing the signal. "Anyone have an Orbital Exo?" Jayson Redfield has never been this far into space before, and he's increasingly nervous. "I...I have my Talon..." He glances back toward the exo storage. "But I don't think it'll do much good out here." Sam points toward the back. "Two Starknight-class exo-suits in cargo bay." Apocryphacius will just stay in here, where there is an atmosphere, and squid the fort, so to speak. Right. Daniel looks over at the officers, "I can take us down, assuming there is a clear spot near to the signal?" Either he is way to eager to pilot things, or he forgets he is here to learn, and is not an ace pilot capable of landing a shuttle on a volcanic planetoid. Sam peers out the viewscreen at Io. Bubbly, churning, cauldron of fiery death Io. "Erm.." Talazia Keldahoff nods to Daniel. 'Go ahead. the rest of us can improvise. Jayson Redfield glances over to Sam. "Doesn't look very friendly, does it?" While not a radio expert, Gabe checks something about the distress signal. He frowns after several moments of study, and glances around. "There's no transponder code to identify the vessel. It's an EDC distress signal, it's the right frequency... but there's no transponder codes attached that would identify the vessel." Hitting some switches, Daniel gets the shuttle to reinforce the shuttles heat shielding, "If anyone knows where the AC controls are back there, I suggest you turn it up to full. Things are about to get toasty." And with that he takes the shuttle down, with the Sarge dashing back into the co-pilots seat to make sure this is a smooth ride down. All the sarge has time to do is mutter, "Crazy fool. Why do they always jump. Someday they're gonna land on someone as stubborn as they are, and i don't do bits and pieces." Sam nods slowly at Jayson. "Completely hostile to all life." Jayson Redfield cracks his knuckles. "Well, better get used to it..." Sam nods a couple times, then turns to head for one of the Starknights. "Need precise coordinates of distress signal source." A pause. "Also possibly backup." Jayson Redfield hesitates for a moment. "I could take my Talon out..." He's looking a tad uncertain. Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare detaches itself from the deck as its pilot runs it through the standard startup procedure. The shuttle comes in and lands near what, as they get close, appears to be a human craft. Smallish though, and definitely not EDC. There seems to be markings on the exterior, but damage and normal wear makes it impossible to read from the shuttle. Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare clomps over into the airlock. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam clicks on his radio. "Talon not rated for.. erm.. extreme environment. Suggest deploying additional Starknight." Jayson Redfield nods slowly. "Yeah, okay...I'll go grab another spare, then." He gets up and heads for the exo storage, hoping that his injured arm won't hinder his exo-piloting abilities. Daniel gets up from the pilots seat as the shuttle settles on the ground. He the reaches for a normal space suit. "Good thing these things are good in hot temperatures." He doesn't sound overly enthusiastic, but his own Exo is on Earth since he followed his dads instructions. Getting the suit on he follows the Starknight into the airlock, "Keep an eye on where you stand with that thing by the way." Daniel also considers, "And remind me to up the environments my own exo can cope with." Worth a little R&D time. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam cycles the airlock when everyone's inside. The door opens, and a blast of hot dust and red light washes over the three intrepid adventurers. From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield follows Sam! Io is every bit as hostile as it looks. Though those in the exo-suits are well protected. Daniel meanwhile is protected enough, and he hitches a ride on an exo, pointing in the direction of the downed shuttle. "What say we make good time and avoid being barbeque meat out here." From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield heaves a sigh, trying to calm his nerves. "Sounds good to me... You ever been this far into space, Daniel?" From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam nods. The gravity is light here, less than a fifth of Earth's, so 'walking' for the Starknight goes in small bounds as it approaches the downed ship. "Jayson," Sam offers helpfully, "Suggest with fear of heights you not look up." Directly above, Jupiter fills around three quarters of the sky. Daniel comments to Jayson, "Been to Cybertron, Junkion and right in Unicrons gut." He looks round, "Think I preferred the gut to this place mind you." As the exos approach the shuttle the logo on the side becomes clearer to read, and has the letters: WA.LA.I showing, though it is obvious there are spaces where letters have rubbed off the logo. From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , "Yeah...thanks, Sam..." He examines the letters on the shuttle, musing. "What d'you think that means?" From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam shrugs inside his suit. "Unknown.." he responds as the exo walks up to the downed vessel. "Er.. scanning for structural integrity. May recommend attempting contact with potential occupants?" Daniel frowns, "At a guess it looks like Waylani Corp. Not the most ethical of companies. And not one I thought had a presence in space." Yes, this is getting more curious by the moment. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam sighs quietly. "Vessel is normalized with external atmosphere. Expect this will not be rescue mission." Daniel nods to Sam, "Well, least we can do is retrieve the flight recorder and any hard drives. See if we can find out why they were up this way." From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield just kind of...stands there. Watching, waiting... Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare moves around toward whatever looks like the biggest door (or the biggest hole) in the ship. Fortunately the Starknights are relatively tiny compared to most other exos, and could potentially fit inside the ship. "Ah.. Jayson, help find entry point, yes?" Being in a spacesuit, Daniel is a little better off. Leaving the ride he got here on, namely one of the Starknights, Daniel moves into the wreck of the shuttle, spotting from the inside a whole big enough the exos should fit through he proceeds to radio the location to the two still outside. Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare bounces over to the hole in the ship and carefully steps inside. Sam asks, "Not familiar with vessel design. Probable location of flight recorder?" The suit shines lights around, looking for signs of.. well.. anything, really. Looking at Sam, Daniel replies, "Your guess is as good as mine. I'm not familiar with Waylani ship design. And this, this isn't a class of ship they've let anyone know about." Which means Waylani is being really secretive. However, anyone who knows anything about shuttles will know there is likely to be a flight recorder near where the pilots sit. Daniel points to the remains of a computer console in the rear, "How bout I look there, you look up front?" Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare clomps along carefully through the damaged hallway, having to shove debris out of the way. "Entering.. remains of control center.." he transmits, stopping to take a look around. Heading to the back, Daniel begins work on hunting through the computer systems for any hard drives. He would try to power things up, but it is plainly obvious that would be hopeless, so he just detaches what hard drives he can find. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam collects the flight recorder, stowing it in a compartment. "Er.. is anyone seeing evidence of crew?" From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield gets back and sighs. Sorry about that. Radioing back to Daniel frowns as he realises how odd that is, "Negative. No sign of them." Getting the last hard drive he has found, Daniel peeks into the rear most compartment and simply mutters, "Oh crap." over the radio. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam frowns, radioing back. "Please repeat, did not copy." From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield has distanced himself from the others, checking a different area of the ship. He blinks and radios, "What is it, Daniel?" To think a year or two ago Daniel pushed for... well what he pushed for he can now see may not mean anything good. Hitting his radio, "The crew had exo suits. Small ones, but no doubt about it, the rear bay has exo storage. No exos now, but they had them." Daniel moves back towards the exit, "I've got the hard drives, unless we can pick up anything else, I say we pull back and get information on what the heck is going on here before we proceed." From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam is silent for a few moments. Then, "Radio was altered in order to broadcast on EDC.." he abruptly stops. "Everyone back to shuttle, now. Intrepid, please respond." Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare starts hurrying back toward the exit. From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , "As long as we can get back to Earth, I'm happy," Jayson mutters as he hurries back to the others. "Sam? Somethin' up?" Daniel simply replies, "Copy that. And next time, I want an exo. And a fighter escort. With lots of guns." Yes, this situation is not likable, not in the slightest. Daniel hauls ass to the exit of the downed shuttle. From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield can't help but laugh slightly. "Wow, Danny, you're really not gonna take any chances, huh?" From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam responds, "Uncertain. Appears shuttle may be lure for EDC." The Starknight makes it to the opening in the ship and starts to move back out onto the blasted surface of Io. "Intrepid?" Daniel looks at Jayson, "Only two groups of people on Earth have or had exos. The EDC was and still is one. The other used to be the Protectorate. Damn skippy I ain't taking any chances." He then hops on to hitch a ride on one of the Starknights back to the Interpid, "Now, home please driver." Sargeant Johnstone on the Intrepid replies, "Copy you. Intrepid standing ready to assist." From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield just shakes his head. "Yeah, don't blame ya... Glad I was still in school when the Protectorate was in power." He follows the other two. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam doesn't know squat about the Protectorate, but gets the hint and bounds back across the surface toward the Intrepid. "Intrepid, may require immediate launch. Please scan area for additional exo-suit signatures." The Intrepid still has the outer airlock doors open ready to receive the exos and Daniel when they reach it. Sarge scans as requested, "Negative on exo-suit signatures. Just you two out there. And we stand ready to launch." From Exo-Suit 5373 Starknight Spare , Jayson Redfield glances over his shoulder, as if expecting a sudden attack. Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare slides to a halt in the airlock, dropping off Daniel when it stops. Terran Shuttle The interior of the shuttle is very roomy. There is a highly technical cockpit that seats numerous bots at various stations, and a huge cargo area for additional troops or equipment. Daniel pulls off his suits helmet, "What say we depart, rather than tempting fate?" From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam cycles the airlock, then guides his exo back to where it can be locked down again. Then he shuts it down and hops out. "Yes, seems wise," he agrees, hurrying forward into the passenger compartment. Jayson Redfield slips out of the Starknight and gently rubs his still-bandaged arm. "Sounds like a plan..." He smirks. "Though I seem to be tempting fate a lot lately." Daniel heads past Jayson, still in his space suit and comments, "Welcome to the war young man." He pauses, looks at Jayson and sighs, "You know, you need to age fast. Stop making me feel older than I am." He then takes a seat, letting someone more experienced fly the shuttle. Sam technically counts as more experienced for some reason. He hops into the pilot seat and checks over the gauges before announcing, "Launching," and then doing just that. The shuttle rumbles, and then breaks from the surface of hell. Jayson Redfield sticks his tongue out at Daniel. "Not my fault, man." Sam flies it all the way home. Did he hit the FTL there for a second, because damn the shuttle made it back in record time. Jayson Redfield rubs his arm with a wince. "Need to head back to medical for a check-up..." He sighs. "And some painkillers." Sam shuts down the shuttle and leaves it for the ground crew. "How is injury?" he asks Jayson as he climbs out of his chair. "Still hurts," Jayson admits. "Second-degree--it'll start blistering, I know that much. Maybe a bit of bleeding, too...but I can deal with it. The medics have been putting stuff on it." He rolls up the short sleeve of his T-shirt, so Sam can get a better look at the bandages. "Don't know how well you'd handle an injury like this. What do you think?" Sam began his existence still recovering from repeated massive blunt-force trauma to his torso. He considers it, shrugs, and answers, "Unknown." Jayson Redfield grins. "Well, just be careful, so you don't get one." He stands and starts toward the hatch. "I wouldn't feel so bad about it if I hadn't been hurt chasing someone down. I almost had him and he got away." Sam nods, following along. "Only had minor concussion after being shot down. Was.. strange, however not entirely debilitating." Jayson Redfield hms for a moment. "Not sure if I ever had one of those. I can sympathize about being shot down, though." Sam nods emphatically. "Do not wish to repeat experience." Jayson Redfield grins and pats Sam's shoulder. "Well, I'll try to make sure you don't." Sam points a finger at Jayson. "Will likewise attempt to prevent your being shot while outside of exo-suit. Very unhealthy." "Eh-heh..." Jayson grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. "Nothing I could actually *do* about that..." Sam frowns a little at Jayson. "Be more careful, yes? Very dangerous to be outside of protective suit with Cybertronians nearby."
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