Episode Four - The Cult of Lillith

[Michael Black]

1025
Planet Surface
Meropis

At least they'd taken the Jumpers, Michael thought. It would have been a heck of a walk if they had gone it on foot, not to mention all these bags and the various bits of scientific equipment that they all claimed they needed. Doctor Black had just brought an ancient scanner and a standard issue digital tablet with him on this one. He looked around the crowded jumper, thankful he had managed to stake out a seat in the corner against the bulkhead door, ensuring he was first out when they landed. The team had been sent with two jumpers full of scientists and marines under the command of Captain Jones to go and find out what was in an abandoned lab on the other side of the neighboring forest. It had been giving off a feint yet odd energy signature ever since they had first arrived in orbit and now the General had finally given clearance for a team to check it out.

Part of the reason for the mission clearance was actually because of Dr. Black and his research in the ancient database. The other part was, of course, to get the scientists out of the way and allow the combat engineers to do their work and re-stabilize some of the damaged sections of the city after the battle of Meropis. During his research, Michael realized that the lab was a sort of workshop for an ancient named Lillith. He had briefed the team before they set off and as far as he could tell it was used by said ancient and kept secret from the main population for a number of years. She (at least he assumed it was a she) would conduct experiments in genetics, DNA and ascension enhancement in lower life forms. It looked as though the lab was shut down when the others found out about it, on account of her experiments not having been approved by the city's high council.

He turned to a young marine sat next to him who appeared to be fiddling with his rifle, smiling at him he decided to spark up a conversation, "You must have just transferred in with the new batch during the large change-over recently I assume?"
"Yes Sir indeed. This is pretty freakin' cool. My first time in an ancient puddle jumper."
"Yeah, they are that. How are you finding it?"
"Well, it;s okay, but to tell you the truth I got a little excited when I heard about the black hawk being imported." The Sun Tzu had ferried over a black hawk helicopter on it's return along with a couple of hundred gallons of aviation fuel. The helicopter was being kept in one the empty spaces in the Jumper bay and was being reassembled this morning as the team left.
"I'm guessing that with the limited amount of fuel and the dense amount of forest around us that the helicopter will probably only be used for search and rescue situations around the city. Besides, these things are very environmentally friendly and they do quite well in a pinch." He said, patting the main hull of the Jumper. The soldier simply smiled and returned to his weapon checks. The pilot slowed the Jumper down and with a soft thud it gently landed at their intended RV point. Michael reached up and hit the door open button as soon as he could, keen to step out and feel the fresh air on his face. Right, he thought. Let's get this show on the road.

<Tag Posting Group Three>

[Aear Charter]

Unknown time
Jungle near Meropis

The white magic circle faded from underneath Aear as he stumbled into a nearby tree. Exhausted, hungry and close to bleeding out the young meowtian was close to his limits. No he'd already gone past them and he was feeling it. Aear fell into a coughing fit for a minute, purple blood spooling out from his mouth. His uniform was already tattered and bloody so it didn't make too much of a difference but the pain was overwhelming. There wasn't a part of his body that didn't ache.

[Partner.] chimed the pendant around his neck. it continued before glowing white. Cyleo, nani- Aear clutched at his chest and fell to his knees as the pain grew too much to bear. His device continued regardless. [Administrative mode active. Fusion order set. It will now begin.] The glow intensified before moving to Aear's shoulder where his arm used to be and growing to replace his arm. Aear screwed his eyes shut in pain as the nerves connected to machine. He fell flat on the ground as the process continued. He rufused to cry out in pain, he refused to give away his position and he refused to give them the satisfaction.

After a few minutes the glow dissapeared sudennly to reveal an arm that looked like it belonged. [Two hearts become one. Fusion complete. I look forward to working with you, partner.] The device chimed again notifying that the process had completed. With a massive effort Aear slowly pushed himself back to his knees. He looked over at his AIMNW who had replaced where his arm had once been. Cyleo... He wanted to argue with the device, to thank him, to say anything but words escaped him. Cyleo was right. They needed to push on, waiting was going to get them killed or worse.

Gingerly Aear used the tree beside him to drag himself to his feet and look around. Out in the background towering above the trees was the central spire of Meropis. He didn't reckognise the architechture but he knew he couldn't have gotten far. Doku? he asked weakly, seemingly to no one in particular. [Co-ordinates failed to lock. Location unknown.]

Aear sighed and pushed himself off the tree. He was lucky to be alive in more ways than one. Ikou ka? he said before heading out in the opposite direction. He was not going to let himself be recaptured and whatever was over there was most likely some sort of KIA base. Possibly even where he'd just escaped from. Someone was going to start following him soon if they weren't already. Fortunatly the adrenaline was still driving him, without it he'd have collapsed long ago. Aear gritted his teeth and pushed on. This was going to be a long day and he had traps to set up along the way. He spied a smaller building out in the jungle. It looked abandoned enough for a closer look. He might actually have shelter.

[Michael Cassidy]

1025
Planet Surface
Meropis

Michael didn’t like the “Jumper” much. He didn’t really want to be here, but he’d been told he was “needed” as he understood laboratories and what each piece of equipment was for and how to use it, and he had a Masters degree so knew how to do new experiments and find out things he wasn’t sure of. And being “needed” appeared to mean he didn’t have a choice, because the other men who were in the army and wore medals made the decisions. He was supposed to be going to investigate an old laboratory which was giving off strange energy readings, which was good because he liked laboratories and he was good at interpreting signals, but this one was old and the army people were going too, which meant there could be bad people or “Etruscans” who were dangerous, according to the commander, though Michael wouldn’t know as he hadn’t met one.

The jumper was small and bright, like the labs, which was nice. But there were too many people in there, most of whom he had never seen before. He was told the man in charge was called Michael too, but he wasn’t like Michael. He drew his knees up into his chest, despite knowing he would probably get bruises on his pelvis. He rubbed his knees, and started counting and naming his leg bones in his head.

Patella, condyles, fibula, lateral malleolus, talus.

“Well, it’s okay, but to tell you the truth I got a little excited when I heard about the black hawk being imported.”

Michael didn’t know who the young man with the gun was. He looked like he was from the army. He didn’t know what a “black hawk” was, as he hadn’t heard of the species, but he couldn’t see how a small predatory bird would be of any use in their operations. Maybe the man was stupid and that’s why he liked guns and killing things.

Cuboid, navicular, cuneiform, metatarsals.

“...fuel and the dense...forest around us...helicopter...rescue situations...are very environmentally friendly...in a pinch."

The “conversation” beside him was annoying. He lost track of his list a couple of times, and nothing he heard them say seemed to make sense or be important. He felt a little bit sick. Maybe the old laboratory would be quiet, like his laboratory. 

People were starting to get up and move around and they were talking more and talking louder, and the space in front of his feet had a lot of big black boots in it.

He gripped his knees harder, shut his eyes, and started his list again. Patella, condyles, fibula...

“Haven’t seen you around before. Guess you’re one of the science-y lot. What do I call you, “Professor”?”

Lateral malleolus, talus, cuboid...

The man in uniform gave him a little push with his left hand, his right one still on the big gun between his knees.

In the split second before he started screaming, Michael felt the Jumper land with a slight bump. His scream turned into a half-second yelp, and the uniformed man beside him moved his hand away and got up. Michael started breathing more slowly again. Everyone around him was getting up as the door opened and cooler, fresher air rushed in, rushing out to follow other Michael one by one into the sunlight, but Michael rubbed his foot and finished his list first.

Navicular, cuneiform, metatarsals.

[Fiona Maccafferty]

1025
Planet Surface
Meropis

Fiona was tagging behind, as she usually was. The young redhead, short in stature but big on brains, had her head down, concentrated on her supercomputer tablet. She looked up, and realized that everyone was boarding the puddle jumper, and she'd be left behind. Good thing she was tiny-she made the way across the path in two strides-a quick trot, and the redhead's boyish shape made her aerodynamic. She stepped inside, and took a seat quickly, finaling her bag under her seat, and tucking her coltish legs carefully beneath her as she tapped at her screen. Her codes were working well-security systems all over the base were running well, and she felt secure. She glanced around the room-all the people were new to her, and then hugged her legs closer to her body, and shut her eyes as the journey began. She got airsick easily-hell, Fee got bussick, carsick, boatsick, any moving thing-sick-about as fast as most people changed emotions.

She thought for a moment about why she'd been assigned to THIS-"ancient" technology wasn't her speciality-she'd rather build rocketships and flight sim apps, but here she was. She wasn't sure, actually, why NASA had sent her to begin with, but she suspected that her former boss-now reassigned to Cape Canaveral-had a hand in it. He'd been upset when she'd rejected his romantic advances-not that he wasn't cute and all, but not really her type, and he was her BOSS, besides. She'd not be a victim again.

The familiar "thud" of an airplane landing caused her brown eyes to open, and her rust-colored braid to bounce softly. They were there, to investigate the "lair" of someone called Lilith. Fiona knew that Lilith was Hebrew, and was a figure from the bible...Fee hadn't been raised in a strict Catholic home like her cousins, but she'd gone to an all-girls Catholic school, and it had stuck. She wasn't sure what connection, if any, that might have, but she suspected that, at any rate, she was there to make sure the other scientists didn't hurt themselves turning on the lights. She sighed. She was ALWAYS the babysitter.

Tag:@posting group 3

[Mikaere Glavish]

1025
Planet Surface
Meropis

He didn't think he had been unreasonable in his suggestion of how resources were allocated for this mission.  Of course, General Conway and Captain Jones had a different opinion.  What exactly was wrong with a four-to-one ration of military to science personnel for this mission.  If anything, the recent attack on the city should have been more than a reason to take such precautions.  He couldn't bring himself to complain much, however.  As it stood, he was easily the most qualified to step into the shoes of Pandora Banks as she was returning to Earth.  And this would be the perfect opportunity to show everyone exactly that.  With a lot of the city under repairs, it was the perfect opportunity for a number of the scientists to take a little field trip.  It was supposed to be harmless as they followed the lead that Dr. Michael Black had uncovered the mention of an ancient called Lilith.  What better way to get acquainted then by studying the lab of someone that actually spoke their language.  After all, you could only "ooh" and "ah" at ancient technology for so long.  It was time to see something fresh.

As he sat in his seat, his eyes glanced over at redhead nearby that seemed to be all clutched up.  She seemed a bit nervous, and he had to wonder.  Was she sick?  Was she about to lose it?  He then decided to step up and moved to closer to the cockpit.  He stood behind the pilot until they finally came to a landing.  As the door opened, he began to step out as well.  He didn't see a puddle of vomit on the floor and assumed the girl had managed to hold onto her breakfast.  "Okay, you boys and girls with the guns," Glavish called out.  "Let's uh... secure the perimeter first, right?"  He watched them for a moment and then waved them off.

"Dr. Black," he said moving towards the man.  His eyes scanned a number of the other scientists, and he was starting to think that the term field trip couldn't have been more apt.  He certainly hadn't signed on to be a chaperone.  "I take it you can tell us where we need to go?" he said.  "Any sort of clues on what to look for?  I doubt Lilith had road signs put up and I really don't feel like arguing with the GPS system about making a left that isn't there."

TAG: Black, Posting Group 3

[Torsten Ackermann]

1025
Planet Surface
Meropis

Tor had been assigned as the pilot of the second jumper. He'd had flight training on many jets back on Earth and had logged some hours in flight simulators, but this was a totally different monster. Every time he made a course correction, he couldn't feel it. The jumper's inertial dampeners made it seem as if he was just floating through the air. The only thing he felt was his P-90 resting between his heel and the inner wall of the jumper. Tor hadn't been on Meropis long, but he'd already started to acclimate himself to the situation. Being so far away from home was both terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. It was definitely where he wanted to be, though.

As the jumpers set down at the designated coordinates, Tor remained in the seat for just a moment and thought about the last few days. He'd been called into his supervisor's office at Area 51 and told that he'd been reassigned, one of the reasons being he possessed the ATA gene (a little factoid they seemed to not mention in his latest physical eval). Evidently, he was a good fit for the expedition, being, as his CO put it, "both an egghead and good with a weapon." Even though his clearance level was high, there were still things that surprised him every day, and being apart of a newly discovered Ancient City-Ship, that was tops in his book.

Walking out the back of the jumper, he heard the orders called out. "Okay, you boys and girls with the guns. Let's uh... secure the perimeter first, right?"

P-90 in hand and smiling, he walked off with one of the groups and started to scout the area.

Tag All

[Deleted]

1026
Planet Surface
Meropis

So... the general had left, and left him in charge with specific orders to check this place out. Apparently some Alteran had her own lab away from the others, and was doing interesting things. Then of course they high council had to shut them down. That MUST be why their rate of advancement kept slowing. Their leaders chained creativity, stifled invention and prevented ingenuity. Thank God, that America didn't do that. Or else we'd've never made it to the moon, or anything else important.

They took two jumpers this time. The one with all the non-military, plus Achilles, Clark, and one marine. In addition to that, it contained their scientific gear they felt the need to bring.

In the second puddle jumper lay eight marines, Ackermann, and all of the military gear in strong boxes.

Now they had landed about a mile from the facility they were here to investigate, and had gotten out of the jumpers. As the marines began unloading the strong boxes, Glavish began talking.

"Okay, you boys and girls with the guns. Let's uh... secure the perimeter first, right?"

Achilles chuckled a little bit as Glavish said those word. Damn scientist thinking they run things all the time.

"Belay that order. Marines break out the gear."

While the marines began openng the srong boxes of gear, Achilles talked to the assembled personnel.

"Glavish. Since you are the ranking civilian here you break your people up into two teams of roughly equal size. I will be assigning the military personnel into two teams as well, Team Able, and Team Baker. Team Able will be led by myself, and First Sergeant Andrews. Team Baker will be lead by Lieutenant Ackermanm and Gunnery Sergeant Jackson. Glavish the civilian personnel being personnally led by you will stick with Team Able. The others will stick with Team Baker."

Achilles pulled out his Goa'uld hologram crystal and activated it.

"This is the best information we have for the layout of this laboratory. Team Able will start at the east entrance of the facility, and Team Baker the west entrance. We will go room to room until we meet up in the middle. Operations procedure will be as follows; Step one, the science personnel will attempt to unlock any room door they come across. Step two, if the room is able to be unlocked, military personnel will enter the room first and then clear it of any hostiles, potential hostiles or automated defenses. Step three, half of the military personnel will stay in the room, and the other half will guard the entrance as the science personnel record and catalog every hing within sight. There will be no removal or activation of any technology. Then this procedure will be repeated with each room until we meet up in the middle of the facility."

Achilles paused and then turned towards the unloaded gear.

"Since this is a rouge Alteran's lab, we will all be armed. All personnel will be issued a a sidearm, knife, and a life-signs detector for those with the gene. All military personnel will also be issued a long gun. In addition to the P-90s, each team will also have one ARG in case this Lilith was working on replicators of some kind. In addition each team with have one wraith stunner for non-lethal neutralization if necessary, and one TER in case of invisible there may be. Alright folks, let's get this done. Radio chatter will be on channel ten for the group as a whole, military only group channel will be channel seven. Team Able communication will be channel five. Tea, Baker channel will be channel twelve."

After finishing his speaking, Achilles walked away from the group and began getting his own gear ready. Those who saw him would be surprised at what he carries. A Particle Magnum he was able to pull string to obtain from Area 51, his old system lord ribbon device, and a trinium sword.

[Sakanoue Yoko]

1026
Planet Surface
Meropis

Yoko walked out of the jumper making sure to walk where she stepped so to not dirty her kimono to much. She then reached for her fan pulling it out and beginning to fan herself as she watched the captain as he gave his briefing. After he was done, she had started making her way over to the people unpacking the strong boxes and watched them do so.

Her earpiece began to bother her a bit, she hadn't gotten fully use to it yet and started to readjust it. She turned to one of the doctors "so what do you hope to find in such a place" she asked with a bit of a smile as she hoped to start up a conversation with one of them to help pass the time.

<Tag All>

[Torsten Ackermann]

1027

Planet Surface

Meropis

Having been quickly brought back by the Captain, Tor stood and listened to the orders. He was to be in charge of Team Baker and gain access at the west point of entry. He figured getting in the front door was likely to be the easy part. Once they got in, it would change entirely. P-90 in hand, and hanging from the standard issue tether, he made sure he had all the required equipment. He first took hold of a life signs detector since he had the gene. Most of the time, he planned to be on point, so it would be most beneficial to the team in his possession. He watched as his team gathered the required equipment as ordered by Captain Achilles.

Taking a pair of binoculars in hand, he stood several meters away from the jumpers to get a look at the outside of the facility. They had performed the standard flyby, but seeing it from this vantage point was helpful as well. There appeared to be several entrances, but only the two in question seemed easily accessible. He applauded the Captain's effort as he scanned the perimeter for anything that might cause a problem. They were only a mile out and there could be anything and everything standing in between them and their goal.

Tor turned back to the group and walked up to the Head of Civilian affairs. "Doctor Glavish, who have you decided to send with me?"

Tag: Glavish, Team Baker

[Fiona Maccafferty]

1027
Planet Surface
Meropis

Fiona tagged behind the scientists. She was probably going to be doing the coding and structural stuff-made sense, given that her degree was aerospace engingeering and computer science, but for ONCE, she'd kind of like to just sit behind a computer and not DO anything. But here she was, a few million lightyears from Earth, and even FURTHER from Boston, not to mention Rosemeade, the small farming town she hailed from originally. She sniffed. The air here was thinner than she was used to, but she didn't yet feel lightheaded.

She gazed around, stunned by the beauty of the planet, and then snapped back to the present as she heard talking around her. She heard the military men (why were they all MEN?! Wasn't this the modern world?!) and the scientists going back and forth. She wasn't going to move or go anyplace until Dr. Cassidy gave her instruction, as he was one pay grade above her, and therefore, her "supervisor", though they had different jobs in NASA.

"Okay, you boys and girls with the guns...Let's uh... secure the perimeter first, right?"

Then, the head Military guy spoke. Fee knew NO one here-well, just Ackermann a TINY bit from working in the Engineering lab-and so she slid behind one of the Marines, hiding. You could see her red hair when the man moved his arms, and Fee cursed her genes-all the Irish parts of her made her IMPOSSIBLE to be invisible.

"Belay that order. Marines break out the gear...Glavish. Since you are the ranking civilian here you break your people up into two teams of roughly equal size. I will be assigning the military personnel into two teams as well, Team Able, and Team Baker. Team Able will be led by myself, and First Sergeant Andrews. Team Baker will be lead by Lieutenant Ackermanm and Gunnery Sergeant Jackson. Glavish the civilian personnel personally led by you will stick with Team Able. The others will stick with Team Baker."

Fee sighed audibly. Sure, break them up on an alien planet. BRILLIANT. But maybe that's why SHE was the genius, and they were military. She was also the youngest person on the mission, so she'd probably get the last slot. That's how Fee's life went-always the littlest, always the LAST. The only good part about being so small was that she could hide under or IN things pretty well.

She waited for her assignment, holding her breath, hoping she was part of the team to NOT go first. Plus, she wasn't really sure about this whole "everyone needs to be armed" business. She considered herself a conscientious objector, and hadn't the first bloody clue how to even HOLD, let alone fire a weapon. Not to mention that the P-90's were about as big as she was.

Tag:Torsten Ackermann, @achillesjones, Mikaere Glavish, Aear Charter, @michaelblack,Michael Cassidy, @tasukikageran, @whoeverelseimissed.

[Michael Black]

1029
Planet Surface
Meropis

Touchdown. And just like that two puddle jumpers in a clearing emptied their compliment of marines and scientists onto the planet surface. Orders began being issued and equipment was being checked, Michael Black was away with the fairies though. Admiring the trees around them and wondering what a kick the biologists would get out of the local fauna and flora and all it's associated properties. Mikaere Glavish had broken the spell, "I take it you can tell us where we need to go?" he said, "Any sort of clues on what to look for? I doubt Lillith had road signs put up and I really don't feel like arguing with the GPS system about making a left that isn't there."
Dr. Black had paid almost no attention to anybody else until Glavish addressed him,
"Isn't it amazing? The wonders this galaxy could hold. Did you know Doctor Glavish that I found something on the ancient database that would suggest only 50% of the planets in Triangulum have Stargates? Well..." he replied, realizing Glavish didn't have the time for his ramblings he set about getting back to the point and checking the scanner that had been handed to him, "This was the nearest clearing, the facility should be about one mile that way through the trees." he said, gesturing into the gloomy woodlands ahead, "Judging from our aerial sweep before we landed, there should be two obvious entrances, the bulk of the lab might well be below ground level just like most of Meropis." His thoughts over the past couple of minutes had also partly been devoted to what exactly was so bad about this ancient's research that the lab had been shut, sealed and abandoned. Goodies, he thought, it must be delicious ancient-y goodies.

Taking a deep breath and snapping himself back to reality he proposed an idea to Glavish,
"If I may, can I have Ackermann, Cassidy and Maccafferty? I'd like to discuss something these NASA folk would know all about. Ackermann seems sensible enough to escort us if we must be..." He trailed off, not wishing to rock the boot but clearly not feeling like he needed an armed escort. The West entrance appealed to Michael, but mostly because that was the closet one to their parking spot, and would mean just under a mile's walk as opposed to just over a mile. He liked Captain Jones' plan, having caught bits and pieces of it, don't touch the technology, categorize it. Organization, that sounded good. Checking the sidearm was in place on his right thigh, there wasn't much more for Doctor Black to do than wait for the go ahead for the Captain and from Glavish to start proceeding through the trees and get the exploration truly underway.

<Tag All>

[Tom Chambers]

1029
Planet's surfave
Meropis

The trip in the Jumper had been far different than anything he was used to, but this whole damn thing was different to him, he'd come along and helped begin to rebuilding of the city, and that had taken up pretty much all the time since he arrived in this galaxy. The other thing that was different was the sheer amount of civilians that were around it often made explaining certain this like 'its not safe here' or 'stay out of the way if you want this fixed' a bit of a problem, but he wasn't here to debate why high commands made the decisions they made, he was here to do his job and do it well, and to Tom that was all that mattered.

Stepping out of the Jumper had also been a little different the competing interests between military and civilians was again plainly obvious as the Leading civilian and the Captain had conflicting orders but the Captains made more sense so helping one of the Marines they moves a strong box with TERs into it out of the jumper before the plan was explained to them. Well since he was standing close to Ackerman, Tom assumed he was likely to be assigned to him and with the teams being told what to carry, Tom found himself Grabbing a TER, it was strange to say the least to be using alien equipment but he had read up on ti and was surely useful.

Holding the TER comfortably in his hands the Lance corporal looked around a mixed bunch then to the captain who had a strange revolver looking weapon out, it made him with he had weapons more comfortable to him a carbine variant f88 and a browning hi power were much more comfortable, though he saw the usefulness of a P90 inside a lab or anything similar to the city, almost anything else would be overkill.

<TAG: Meropis Personnel, Michael Black, Fiona Maccafferty, Torsten Ackermann, Sakanoue Yoko, @achillesjones, Mikaere Glavish, Michael Cassidy>

[Fiona Maccafferty]

1029
Planet Surface
Meropis

Fee was still hiding behind the Marine. He had a nice arse, but she wasn't really focused on that. Instead, she was listening. Intently. She heard the back and forth, whilst the people in charge made plans. Finally, she heard her name.

If I may, can I have Ackermann, Cassidy and Maccafferty? I'd like to discuss something these NASA folk would know all about. Ackermann seems sensible enough to escort us if we must be... Her sigh was audible, and the Marine turned, and gave her a LOOK. She gave him an icy glare as she stepped forward, and then looked at the man who'd spoken.

Dr. Black, Dr. Cassidy, and I shall be fine. At least I can hide, actually. Dr. Black, shall I bring up a map? She had her supertablet handy, but would only use it if allowed. She followed the men, tagging behind. She wasn't exactly EXCITED to be venturing into alien lands. She must be crazy, or something.

Tag:@michaelblack, Michael Cassidy, @all

[Mikaere Glavish]

1031
Planet Surface
Meropis

"Belay that order. Marines break out the gear."

Hearing the booming sound of Captain Achilles Jones' voice caused Glavish to slowly look over his shoulder at the soldier.  What he wouldn't give for a drawing pad and some crayons to keep the man occupied. Rolling his eyes he stood there and listened as the military officer dictated orders to everyone present, himself included.  This was always going to be a cycle of on-going conflict: the chain of command.  Military versus civilian.  And clearly, Achilles felt he knew best.

"Glavish. Since you are the ranking civilian here you break your people up into two teams of roughly equal size. I will be assigning the military personnel into two teams as well, Team Able, and Team Baker. Team Able will be led by myself, and First Sergeant Andrews. Team Baker will be lead by Lieutenant Ackermanm and Gunnery Sergeant Jackson. Glavish the civilian personnel being personalty led by you will stick with Team Able. The others will stick with Team Baker."

Glavish was wondering if he was supposed to feel privileged to have been garnered up on Achilles' team?  He was already composing his formal complaints to be given to both General Conway and the IOA upon their return to Meropis.  Rolling his eyes, he looked at the scientists and civilians that seemed to pool together waiting for their assignments.  Glavish rolled his eyes thinking that they had to be all sheep to follow the Captain's orders so blindly.  He started to count a few of them off, sending some here and the others there.

"Doctor Glavish, who have you decided to send with me?"
 asked Ackermann.

"Does it look like I'm baking a cake?" Mik snapped.  He sighed and shook his head.  At least the Lieutenant hadn't been barking orders like his commanding officer.  It was a gesture that Glavish assumed he should show some appreciation.  "Uh... I mean... almost done."  He still waved dismissively in the man's direction.  "Black..."

"If I may, can I have Ackermann, Cassidy and Maccafferty? I'd like to discuss something these NASA folk would know all about. Ackermann seems sensible enough to escort us if we must be..."

Gavish looked at those that he had indicated and waved dismissively.  Their pooled intelligence was roughly equal to his right?  He shook his head and waved them off.  "Fine, fine.  Go."  He silently chided himself for even considering something so absurd.  Of course they weren't.  After he finished sorting the rest of the civilians, Glavish removed an tablet from his backpack and then moved towards a crate.  He leaned down to open it and then opened an app on the tablet.  There was then a faint hum as the blades of a drone began to whir and soar upwards.  It was barely a square foot in size, truly compact by design.

"Black!" he called to the man.  He liberated another tablet from the crate that had contained the drone.  "Welcome to G-net.  Use this if you need to capture and share any images on your end."  Glavish nodded upwards.  "The drone will act as a satellite and allow us to message or conference one another in real-time.  Besides, I think some of us are visual learners as opposed to auditory."  Glavish turned his gaze in Achilles' direction.  He then nodded back at Michael before moving back towards the rest of Team Able.  Why the hell the man didn't simply use Alpha and Beta was beyond him.  "O' Captain, My Captain..." Glavish said with a not so subtle hint of sarcasm, "... please, lead the way."

<TAG: Team Able, Michael Cassidy, Torsten Ackermann>

[Michael Black]

1033
Planet Surface
Meropis

Whilst those in charge had been grating on each other's nerves, Michael Black had been busy opening his own metal briefcase, unpacking the items he needed for this expedition. As per orders, he had brought the standard issue M9 sidearm with him, and nonchalantly checked it before sliding it in to the hip-holster he had previously attached to his thigh. He certainly paid more attention to the ancient life signs detector than any form of weaponry to hand. The young NASA analyst had offered to get things properly underway and bring up a map of the area surrounding the facility, "excellent idea Fiona" was his immediate reply. He became aware of Glavish, the civilian leader, trying to get his attention, showing off a fancy looking piece of kit, "Welcome to G-net. Use this if you need to capture and share any images on your end. The drone will act as a satellite and allow us to message or conference one another in real-time. Besides, I think some of us are visual learners as opposed to auditory." With raised eyebrows Michael observed the device Glavish had brought with him as he launched it above them, "very nice!" - A way they could essentially 'skype' each other as both groups approached the facility, could be very useful, Michael thought.

Others might have considered Doctor Black quite rude, disinterested even. He had so far only given abrupt replies since they had landed. It wasn't that he couldn't care about what the others were saying, far from it actually, he was just more distracted by what lay ahead of them, perhaps even a little bit excited. He began the mission... by himself? Michael slid the drone tablet into his flack jacket and had the life signs detector out in front of him. He realized the screen was blank, of course, Michael didn't have the ATA Gene. He would need somebody to activate this for him. He passed the device to Michael Cassidy, "make this thing go for me will you." Before walking on ahead at a brisk stride, not even bothering to check if anybody in his team actually did have the gene or was actually following him. The trees ahead looked quite interesting to Black, the forest not quite dense enough to cause any problems, more of a pleasant walk to the lab, he could imagine how Lillith enjoyed this stroll, potentially even parking her Jumper in the same clearing they had. Black decided to steam on to the facility and allow his colleagues to catch up, shouting a warning behind him as he went, "oh and don't trip over the roots please. I haven't brought any plasters with me." He smiled, the air was fresh and there was a good chance it wouldn't rain today, this may turn out to be a good little adventure after all.

<Tag Cassidy, Torsten, Ellenor Clark (if still active) and Fi!>