Galaxy At War - Menae Ascendant

Starizea was in the quarters she and the two other specialists had been assigned, doing hanging sit-ups from the bunk bed. "One..." she said as she did her first one. Then the call came in. It was almost a law of the universe that you got called in at the most unfortunate times.

She quickly put her suit back on, put her weapons and grenades back in place, double-checked her energy, omni-gel, and medi-gel reserves, and made sure her omni-tool was updated so that it wouldn't try to force a new update in the field.

After that, she went to the briefing room, getting there well before the ten minutes were up. Only Karen had made it there ahead of her, so she walked next to the human engineer and stood at attention.

Veksan paused as he listened to the announcement, before quickly finishing his meal and making his way to the briefing room. Finding two others in there, he took a spot leaning against the wall directly opposite them.

Sanguis paused just as he finished packing a first aid kit fortunately, he grabbed it along with a couple of others and went to to the armory to take with him his weaponry, a Revenant LMG and an M3-Predator. Rushing to the elevator and eventually when reaching the right place to the Brefing room. He stood at attention silently and for the most part in a completely formal pose, except for a hint on his expression that showed a very, very minor bloodlust. He wanted to exact a little bit of revenge on the bastards and this was his first opportunity.

Samantha soon made her way to the briefing room, gritting her teeth lightly and preparing for the worst that may come. Reaper presence... it's why they got recruited for this, but still... it was the worst possible scenario. Hopefully, they wouldn't go face to face with one of the big uglies, but their minions were already dangerous enough. Carrying all her weapons and fully armored, the specialist stepped into the room, nodding her head to bestow her readiness.

Ansina nodded around the room as the specialists arrived. "Good. You all came highly recommended, and I'm starting to see why," she said, her eyes flicking perceptively over the team's gear and array of deadly weapons. "I'm transmitting an updated map of the facility from the scan we just completed to your omni-tools. Each of you has been given tracking privileges - you'll see your team's position, and mine, on the map." As she spoke, small icons in cool blue laid themselves out alongside the orange hologram of the oil rig in the holoprojector. "We have a confirmed Reaper presence on the planet, though most are leaving our objective alone. With any luck at all, that won't change, and we'll be in and out with them none the wiser. Questions?" She looked around and, seeing none, snapped a salute. "Good. Let's get this done."

The Menae's shuttle was a sleek, sturdy Aesas, and the flight down through the planet's atmosphere was smooth in Lieutenant Eddard's capable hands, though the thermal sensors were still humming in discontent from re-entry as the shuttle fell through the topmost wisps of dark clouds. "Objective in sight, Captain," Eddard said, her powerfully rounded Welsh accent not doing much to take the professional clip from her tone. "Attempting hails now."

"It's dark," Ansina mused, standing behind the pilot's chair. "Keep trying, but let's not advertise our presence if we can help it." The air in the shuttle was tense as Eddard flew in, and the popping of the hatch to disgorge the specialists and Ansina didn't much improve things.

Despoina was, in a word, wet. The thick black clouds overhead, not content to simply glower at the shuttle and its crew, had already begun to open up; fat, cold raindrops splashed onto shoulders, helmets and heads, and onto the slick concrete of the landing pad. Even several dozen feet above the raging dark sea, the deck was continually lashed by spray; the ocean below was almost indistinguishable from the purple-black horizon aside from the foaming waves, which stood out like streaks of stardust against the impossible depths. Ansina, her face obscured by a thick plastiglass visor with bright lines of data scrolling slowly up from the bottom, waved Eddard away before turning back to face the door of the research station. It was a sturdy, riveted mass of steel, and Ansina nodded. "Let's go find that signal relay," she said grimly.

The door panel was unresponsive as Karen palmed the wall panel next to it. Frustrated yet unsurprised, she placed the circular end of her omni-tool on the panel's surface, holographic strips extending outwards from it as it interfaced with the door. Someone had locked it from the inside, but the encryption on the system was far too simple to stop her from changing that. A few swift strokes on the tool and the door hissed open.

Karen activated her tool's flashlight function and aimed it into the structure, placing her other hand on the pistol at her side. Nothing waited inside besides a dark, empty metal hallway.

"Who's taking point?" she asked, stepping gingerly over the threshold.

Veksan growled, "I'll do it," as he pulled out the massive M-300 Claymore and activated his own flashlight while he stepped forward, "I can take a lot more punishment than any of you and I'm of more use close-range anyways."

"Right behind you, I'll cover your back and act as second line of defense" Says Samantha as she steps behind him, her new Phaeston in hand and ready to roll... with a little hologram at the side bearing her new name "Not exactly a resort planet this one, despite all the ocean, huh?"

"Looks like I'll cover the rear," Starizea said, taking out her Black Widow, looking around for alternative points of entry.

The hallway stretched from side to side through the door, continuing along the outer wall of the structure before turning and disappearing around corners to outline the squat, boxy building. The hallway was fairly cramped, big enough for two of the specialists abreast or Veksan alone, and dim red emergency lights lit the gloom every few meters. The rain was a dull roar on the metal walls, and from deep below, a slow and powerful rushing sound was all that could be heard of the deep, dark sea.

"Crew quarters and the mess hall should be down that way," Ansina said as she stepped inside, her pistol - a bulky Paladin, with several personal tweaks - hanging heavy on her waist. "I'll head down to the drilling platforms and the labs. Check out the crew quarters and report back."

"Aye aye, madam. Take care on your own. We'll be just up here if you need us" says Katherine as she nods her head, waiting for their pointman to move further into the crew quarters before moving on, keeping her gun and senses on the ready.

Karen didn't think it wise for their leader to be investigating anything by herself, but that wasn't her call to make. Ansina was a Spectre, though, so perhaps she could handle herself in situations where anyone else would have perished. Karen certainly hoped she could; this place had a pretty bad vibe to it, although it helped to have a few feet of solid krogan in front of her.

"Here," Karen said, bringing up a holo-display of the facility's layout in the air above her omni-tool. The team's current position blinked in a blue dot on the 3-D map; a line moved from the dot down the hallway, around a corner, and through several more corridors before arriving in a large room that represented their destination. She began to step forward with the display held in the midst of the group, an easy reference to help keep their bearings.

"After you," she said to Veksan.

Veksan nodded an affirmative before continuing down the corridors towards the crew quarters, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for movements.

Starizea brought up the rear, following behind the others and keeping her rifle at the ready.

Karen shone her light around the station's mess hall. It smelled of sweat and rotten foodstuffs, a combination which made her wish that she had a third hand to pinch her nose with. The large space appeared mostly empty, but there were a few trays, cups and assorted pieces of silverware scattered on and around a couple of tables. Smears of uneaten something or other could be seen amongst the abandoned trays, as if the people eating there had just gotten up and run off mid-meal. Karen moved slowly between the tables, looking towards the long counter from which food was served at the other end of the room. What was behind it?

"Well? Should we look around in here some more, or move on to the crew quarters?" she asked her companions.

"Not picking anything up on the HUD yet," Starizea said. "Should give it a manual once-over for anyone in hiding, then move on."

She glanced around the mess, looking for any signs of where the people had gone, and refreshing her helmet interface for anyone to show up in it.

edited 20th Aug '14 3:47:44 PM by nman