Mission Time: Day 92, 0925 Ship Time

The Archimedes is just over three months into the mission.  So far they surveyed three systems.  The procedures are getting routine:  Archimedes drops out of hyperwarp at one of the calculated warp point in the system; two mecha go on Combat Space Patrol (CSP); the science teams get to work analyzing spectroscopic, telescopic and other passive data collection; at some point the green light is given to approach various features: planets, asteroids, comets, etc.  The last three systems proved safe enough, uninhabited and no life-sustaining worlds.  Various shuttles with science team scattered through the systems and collected data and samples.  Eventually, everyone was recovered safely and Archimedes moved to the next system.

Aboard ship life is also settling into a routine.  The first hyperwarp was the hardest as most of the passengers had nothing to do and were getting bored.  The second and third, however,the scientists had stuff to work on.  Chance Darwin did organize a few pick-up ball games in one of the mecha bays, and a lot of simulated training to keep the teams busy and on their edge.  The passengers also discovered that Archimedes has an Artificially Intelligent computer capable of human-level interaction.

On this fourth jump, Jherad and Boris are in their mecha as they will go on CSP as soon as they drop out of hyperwarp.  The rest of you are on standby at stations.

---

A quick post here to catch us up on the time from launch to now.  Please do not comment on anything in the Prologue thread time period that has not happened yet, that is, nothing from T minus 13 days to actual launch day.  While you can assume that you have met everyone on board, that thread and those days are to RP first meetings as necessary in 'flashback'.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:08, Sun 14 Apr.

'Orion' ~ Jherad, as usual T-minus 10 minutes to Hyperwarp drop out whether he was on CSP schedule for the Hyperwarp drop to normal space or not... was in his actual spacesuit in his cockpit ready for ... the unexpected.  Everyone onboard had gotten use to him always wearing his distinctive skinsuit practically All the time and his ... obsession with cleanliness if not his cultural highrider lack of modesty on nudity sometimes.  His actual vaccsuit was a deep midnight blue with bioluminescent white strips down the outside of his arms legs, torso with the same paneling on his helmet.

He was always business and prepared for the unexpected in demeanor with every transition to normal space... like he was expecting an attack.

So again he was ready perhaps obsessed with being ready might be what everyone thought... but he was clearly taking his job as mission defense security seriously.

He sat watching the transit count do in the Starknight's cockpit its engines, this time since he was actually on CSP, idling and runing system checks that he'd already run to pass the time...

Rulee had been disappointed by the lack of habitable worlds to explore. Unlike some of the rest of the crew, though, she was constantly busy; even on the rare occasions nothing on the mechs or ship had to be fixed, there were diagnostics to run to make sure that remained true. She still tried to make time to get to know people, and even for a few of the sports games.
Right now, Rulee was weighted down with tools and gear and running diagnostics on the mechs. She was prepared to stand by for damage control if the ship took any damage from the hyperwarp as well. She was almost skipping with excitement. "Bet you this system has a habitable world, any takers on that action?" she comms to the two mech pilots in hte bay she was working in. Always good to keep things light with some humor.

The Archimedes jumps out of light speed, the familiar sensation of shifting slightly in no direction a tell-tale sign.  On the command channel an order is broadcast.  "Combat Space Patrol standby, repeat, standby.  Do not launch."  There seems to be a flurry of activity in the CIC evident by cycling through the communications channels.  One thing becomes clear however: Archimedes is picking up radio and video broadcasts on a wide angle from one of the inner worlds in the system.

---

Normally CIC is Combat Information Center, here it's Command Information Center.  Semantics, really.

In reply to Referee (msg # 4):

Jherad had been waiting on the jump out of light speed clamps released, engines idling, hands on the HOTAS {Hands on Throttle and Stick}... ready to punch it ... but discipline held his launch.  However his thoughts were unsettled... he tuned his communications to try to pick up and track the radio signals coming from the inner system worlds.

Wondering if one of the other Star Governments had set up a colony on one of the unexplored world and had not informed the Alliance Leadership...

He tuned as best he could into the transmissions...

16:58, Today: Jherad Monroe rolled 16 using 1d10+7, rerolling max.  Jherad - Elkectronic warfare {Sk: 1, Int 6} [7 Base]. – 16

Jherad hoped the transmission were in something he could understand... but he was also wary... and keyed his communications.

'Pilot Jherad to CIC. Even if the locals are friendly ~ we are vulnerable without a response in the air.  We should launch even if just to provide close escort.'

Rulee squeals excitedly. "We've discovered an advanced planet! So cool!" Her comm was set to broadcast locally so she could talk to nearby people even when the room was depressurized, but not set to broadcast further so she wouldn't disrupt the ship's workings. "I guess I would have won that bet." She raises a hand to shift her comms and broadcasts only to Jherad. "If it might be a new civilization, they probably don't want to do anything that might upset them, sir. How's the Starknight looking? All systems green? Full combat load?" From the outside, she circles the Starknight and scans it for any trouble or anomalies. Her skinsuit is orange in order to stand out against space and the deck.

In reply to Rulee Canera (msg # 6):

Jherad replies with a smile in his tone across the radio channel, 'Perhaps, but unless they are significantly different from us... Pre-Interstellar flight early space-flight era... we were pretty balkanized fighting over resources in a very Zero-Sum game of World Dominance.  Our presence might be taken as a threat or a convenient excuse for hostilities... hostilities we are not prepared to forestall with nothing in space.'

He chuckled, '...but the 'Arc' does have a Deluxe CIDS... so we're still very far from their inhabited worlds.  Let's just hope they don't have some orbital or extra-planetary weapons sats.'

He does a quick systems check mostly a glance at the readouts, 'Systems Nominal at Idle. Wish I'd had the credits to install that Astro-fighter Weapon Mount for my Energy Pool Ordinance... but such is the spoils of war.'

"Even a primitive nuke will cause the kind of damage that doesn't buff out" Rulee concedes. "If we'd showed up in Earth's distant past the nukes would be flying fast. You're probably right."

"You wanted to give me more work to do? What'd I do to deserve that, sir? I thought I'd been nice" Rulee responds playfully, as though pouting. More seriously, she responds "If we find any salvage I'll see what I can do. I've mostly been looking at keeping Starknight in tip-top shape but if it stays undamaged I'll see what I can do about boosting performance. Manufacturers are usually conservative about how much you can squeeze out of mechs."

After a few minutes a command comes through on the tactical channel.  "Pilots stand down and secure for lightspeed."  Udgo does his best imitation of a shrug and orders the bay doors shut for lightspeed travel.

The order is followed by an announcement shipwide.  "CIC confirms we have a possible first contact situation.  Archimedes is moving closer and off the ecliptic for further observation.  Science team to stations."

Shortly after Chance Darwin comes on the pilot channel.  "You're not wrong, Jherad; but even your mecha can't keep up when we go superluminal.  We're moving to a position 1 million kilometers above the planet using the ecliptic as a reference," he explains.  During operations he is usually in the CIC as the de facto CAG (Commander Air Group).

In reply to Rulee Canera (msg # 8):

Jherad smiles and casts a gaze Canera's way in the 'Spherical-Screen' of his Virtual Cockpit that to him looked like a 360^degree spherical display of the outside mecha-bay his mech unseen with only his pilot's seat suspended in nothing. He could shift his display to show the tactical and navigational data overlay... or even a virtual wireframe of the Astrofighter configuration of the Starknight or even its simulated Battloid Mekton mode.  To Jherad ~ Canara floated about his pilot's seat in simulated real-size scale or zoomed in on the shapely engineer as if she floated about the sphere of his display full-size hovering around his pilot's seat. He gave her an unseen thumb's up which his exterior running lights flash/blinked several times to indicate the gesture.

He wondered if Rulee would be self-conscious if she knew how closely he could zoom in on her in his spherical VR display?

He noted her slender feminine figure in the orange skin-suit that left little to the imagination about the attractive Asian woman engineer compactly contained within...

Noting his thoughts definitely drifting to ... unprofessional ponderings he forestalls the remark on the tip of his tongue...

And cutting his mike verbally chides himself, "Whao.. Down Boy! I know its been a while but keep it in your pants 'Sparticus'!  Job to do here!"

Taking a calming deep breath he triggers his comm, "You know you love tinkering with my patch-built jigsaw-puzzle of a Mekton.  And I'd be here helping with any installation so not ALL the work would be on you alone ~ cause I like seeing everything installed and having a hand in on it so I know what could and will go wrong if something is hit in battle. Besides, a simple weapon mount and some upgraded armor on my RAM Shield, I know YOU Rulee ~ could probably do in your sleep with one arm in a sling!"

The mirth and teasing in his tone is clear...

When the CIC calls for a stand down and secure for lightspeed, Jherad grimaces but notes Udgo's shrug with a shrug of his own... cycling his engines down from launch standby to minimal taxi idle...

He listens to the ship wide announcement and revises his assessment of the situation likely the mecha pilots will be on reserve now the Scientists and Diplomats will be taking over.

At the CAG's Direct communication, Jherad is all professional unconsciously straightening his posture in his seat, "Acknowledged Sir!  No desire to thumb for a ride home out here, Sir.  I might suggest dropping into a equatorial radiation belt rings of one of the inner gas giants if possible or the magnetic pole of one of the hot inner molten worlds for some sensor cover if we just want to sit and watch & listen for a bit."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:19, Fri 10 May.

Rulee returned the blink of the mech's running lights with a thumbs up and a playful wink. She laughs and nods when Jhered says she loves tinkering with his Mekton. "You've got me figured out already. I was hoping to keep a little mystery. As for doing it in a sling, I probably could, but I'd just as soon not find out. Broke my arm once as a kid, wasn't any fun." But while she tells jokes, she's obviously proud that Jhered has such a high opinion of her abilities.
"Oh wow!" Rulee gushes when the announcement comes in that they are in a possible first contact situation. "You realize this is a whole species we could be the first human to ever behold? One of the history books. Amazing!" She busies herself securing the launch bay for lightspeed, almost skipping with excitement. The cheerful energy suited the cute engineer. "If they left Starknight behind I'd just have to sit in the empty bay and mope. We wouldn't want that."
She nods when Jhered suggest hiding in the magnetic poles and listening. "I wonder if we can pick up their TV broadcasts..."

Zeke swallowed hard as he waited at his station. As much as he wanted to be out there in a mech, ever since the incident something just wouldn't let him get back into the needed mindset. Besides, since the crash his guts went nuts every time they entered or left warp and he was struggling at times to keep everything he had had to eat or drink from exiting his body in a violent manner.

Thankfully, he had been able to so far and it was getting better with every jump. While he knew that if he was called to arms then someone was in danger of dying, he still missed the exhilaration of direct combat. However, he surprised himself by being just as thrilled to not get called up.

'Heh.  Just be gentle with the Starknight ~ he IS a rebuild, seen action and been wreaked once... plus all the demands I put on his performance.'



'Yup.  Pretty cool... hope their less self-absorbed as we were at that stage of development.'



'I've been trying to do just that...'


This message was last edited by the GM at 10:30, Wed 15 May.

Jherad can't pick up anything with the equipment in his mecha.  The Archimedes makes the short jump and after another brief moment of activity the all-clear is sounded.  Within 30 minutes of the all clear word comes for Jherad, Rulee and Zeke (among others) to report to one of the briefing rooms.

[ooc: reactions, actions, during the 30 minutes can go here separated by a divider.]

---

The briefing room is one of the smaller ones, with room for about 20 in a modular facility that can be set up class-room style or conference style.  Right now it is set up in the former configuration.  Dr. Spence is at the podium and there are several other science personnel in the front row.  Chance Darwin is standing in the back.  There are other members of the S&R team plus Nurse Garret.

[OOC: again giving a moment to react.]

"As gentle as a momma with her baby" Rulee promised "I won't let anything happen to Starknight.". When they got the all clear, Rulee helped secure Starknight. "Well, we won't be shotting it out with aliens... just yet." After they exit the bay, she gratefully took off her helmet. "Do you think they'll let us be part of the first contact team? First to set our feet on a new world. Oh, I'm so excited!" she chattered happily to Jherad. "I'm not a first contact specialist, but someone will have to go along to look after the equipment. Might be me! I'm sure you could wrangle a spot as security."
When they got to the briefing room Rulee saw that it was set up classroom style and joked "Oh no, I left my plaid skirt in my quarters. I'm definitly getting detention for being out of uniform." She tried to get a good seat close to the front as she's eager to hear what they have to say.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Thu 16 May.

Jherad rode out the brief nausea of the pseudo-motion of another jump Transition in stride use to the feeling of star drives.  Then began powering down the Starknight cutting power to the engines from the powercell power plant.  Unsealing his cockpit it clamshelled open and he climbed down to the flight deck... 'hurry up and wait' was a standard of soldiers and pilots since they existed...still didn't make it any less annoying.

Jherad cast a gaze up at the Starknight in its launch cradle and rested a hand on its side, "Maybe next time big guy..."

Cycling through the hanger bay airlocks back into the pressurized portion of the flight deck, he unsealed his helmet and hung it on the crook of his elbow and replied to the Rulee with a shrug, "...sure hope the E.T.s are nice and we're not caught with our panties around our ankles when they prove to be just like us... dangerous."

-------------

As they walked to the briefing room... Jherad made no indications he was going to get out of his full space suit ~ annoyingly Always ready for action, but he did slow his pace to let Rulee accompany him though his expression anf gaze showed his thoughts were occupied with other considerations ~ likely the nature of the aliens and the readiness of their space military, he still answered her questions multi-tasking...

"Not sure they'll ask me on any diplomatic meeting... my services are rarely called upon for a peaceful resolution."

He shrugged, "Might be interesting... but even if the local terrestrial world is the right temperature, right pressure, with breathable atmo and not a radiation hazard before you get all land happy best to keep your suit and helmet buttoned up nice a sealed and let the Egg-heads make sure there are no alien pathogens, bacteria or viral agents that are particularly lethal to homo-sapiens before we go sniffing the local flora and fauna or ya might end up buried with those local daises."

Then he got a thoughtful expression on his face and commented, "Well if the locals have Radio... they likely at least know their world is not flat... and won't mistake us for 'Space Gods' or somesuch... hopefully."

Jherad took a seat in the front row of the briefing room and made sure to hold a seat for Rulee.

He snorted, "A skirt is an... ill-advised apparel choice in the micro-gravity of certain locations of the ship... unless that's attention your looking for... {chuckle}"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:11, Yesterday.