Ancient Sands - Hazard 1325 & Grape_Drink

[Hazard1325]

Okerion VI, somehow Shannon had expected it to be more interesting. She could see the planet out of the portside viewing deck of the Geas, an Imperial heavy carrier, and the planets information was pulled up a small control panel next to her. Less than 1% water remained on the planets surface, possibly 20% of its original oceans were now deep underground. No Imperial colonies, and only a single settlement that had been willing to respond to Captain Altirak's initial hails. The settlement was in a mountainous area on the northern hemisphere, roughly three hundred thousand humanoids within the ruins that had once been a major city in the planets past. Based on some of the chatter she had heard earlier on the bridge it seemed Altirak had been surprised the Draconians on the surface had even answered. As a race they seemed to be hostile to most off worlders and even amongst themselves. Few could really blame them, after all this planet had once been a vast jungle world before the orcs had raided it. The war changed the planet and its inhabitants drastically. Little is known about what methods had been used to finally win out against the overwhelming odds, but that's part of why Shannon was here now.

The Empire routinely surveyed neighboring sectors for any military installations or hidden fleets that might threaten its borders. The last survey of Okerion showed dramatic spikes in several different energy types surrounding the planet. Particularly the magnetic field seemed to be trapping a very high amount of electrons. The strangest part about the survey was that no source for these energy spikes could be found. Which is why the Empire turned its attention to the planet, if the energy could be found and harnessed the planet might be ideal for manufacturing energy weapons the Empire desperately needed to continue its wars against certain races that were resistant to its typical Gauss weaponry. A research team had been established to carry out this investigation, and the Emperess herself had included a small contingent to accompany the expedition.

Fist was Shannon of course, the assigned leader of her team and probably the only brains in the bunch from what she had seen from the others. Next was Rhodak, a towering figure compared to the others. From what she could gather he was a Stonic an especially hearty race as a whole. Larger than the average human by a few feet and bulky to go with it Stonics were renowned for their ability to take massive trauma and recover. Some rumors even said they could survive a total vacuum for as long as an hour under ideal conditions. In any case adding to his already substantial defense was a custom fitted suit of powered armor and an enormous kite shield. He carried a large broadsword as well, the kind that humans typically used in both hands. And as if that wasn't enough she could tell by the design of the armor it was fitted with a shield generator and a shoulder mounted turret. If he had been assigned to this team Shannon could only assume they would eventually meet some kind of hostile resistance.

Speaking of resistance the only other female on the team was a thin lanky girl by the name of Arya that had come from some harsh urban environment. Her hair was died green and tied back showing a harsh angular face with a scar along her left cheek. She carried a high powered disintegration pistol and wore a light combat vest along with combat fatigues. The vest and the womans belt had dozens of smaller gadgets affixed to them. She hadn't said much to Shannon but none of it had been free of sarcasm. She seemed able enough, and definitely not stupid by the way she was flicking through her consoles screen, pulling up ship systems logs rather than data on the planet, something that should be restricted to other terminals.

Finally there was the augmented known as Gabriel, he was a tall dark haired man dressed in a navy officers uniform. He had the typical Imperial service pistol by his side and looked rather indistinguishable from the crew or any other human for that matter. Shannon knew quiet differently however, the mans eyes were a strange shade of grey and if one looked close enough they could spot the alien scripture formed by irregularities in the Iris. Most wouldn't be able to distinguish it from a normal human eye but she had access to the teams medical records which included retinal scans for identification purposes. Shannon had connected him with a rumor she had heard about while reading through a genetics study that may or may not have found its way out of classified labs. Recently 'acquired' alien technology was being put to use inside Imperial labs, 'volunteers' had been selected for specialized gene therapy, most cases had ended in humans with enhanced physiological abilities. Most were also driven insane by the process and became ravaging beasts. There of course was no proof any of this had happened and the Empire wasn't about to reveal one of its darker projects. She might have to keep her eye on this one as she had no idea what his capabilities might be or if he was even stable. So far he had shown an astounding lack of interest in anything but the planet itself.

In roughly two hours the first series of cargo ships would be sent down to establish a base on the planets surface and a few others were going to make contact with the local Draconians that seemed friendly enough over the com link. Shannons group was not under anyone's direct authority nor was anyone particularly subject to her's but she knew they could essentially go where they pleased acting in the Emperess's interests. She could explore more of the Geas at her leisure until the first round of ships were heading to the surface or go strait to the holds and commandeer a ship for her team and begin finding points of interest on the planets surface.

[Grape_Drink]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

((For the folks reading who want a more visual representation.))

Shannon.jpg (82.8 KiB) Viewed 1836 times

Shannon looked over the small control panel, going through the gaseous composition. No, this wasn't too much different from a type 1 or 2 breathable composition. She had begun to wonder from the moment she stepped foot on the ship if the Empress had just failed to hire on a scientist; after all, she always seemed more interested in war than the various discoveries that were destroyed in their killing of enemies. Something felt off with the way a settlement had willingly agreed to let them in. If these beings were on such a hostile world because of vast wars, it wouldn't surprise her if they only wanted the ship to land in an attempt to commandeer it. That was nonsense though! Even if they had tried, she very much doubted a group of savages could do much harm to high tech like this after all.

She almost drooled as she looked about her. Captain Altirak's ship wasn't some second-rate clunker like the research vessels she had had to work on in the past, and this was truly better than the previous weaponization of nature she had been forced to work on.

She put her golden blonde hair into a bun as she noted her comrades. They looked like grunts. Trained grunts, but still disposable to her mightiness, and likely willing body bags unlike her "enslaved" self. Looking at her small security pistol, she felt rather wimpy in comparison, but being one of the few scientists on this particular team was doing no favor for her ego as she thought about her companions.

Fist was going to be an issue, she already had the feeling. She wasn't a big fan of Stonics in the first place, and the huge power armor did that no favor. She remembered a colleague of hers in the biomimetics industry asking a few favors from her to design some light armor utilizing their muscle structure as a sort of shielding, but that only ended with the colleague getting a few broken ribs when he had tried to sedate the patient. She already had a feeling that Altirak would want him at the front, but one doesn't throw away the rook just because its strategy is simple. She had a feeling they were going to clash quite a bit when she informed him that he'd be keeping near the center and only push forwards in a firefight. There was no need to send in a brute where a scout or smooth talker could do just as well.

Arya seemed a bit edgy, and from the looks of it she was an expert hacker. She had questioned informing the captain about her accessing those logs, but at the same time she didn't want a useful team mate thrown in the brig right before a mission... Perhaps afterwards. After all, the threat level wasn't too extreme so she wasn't expecting any of her major assets to die if they played it safe and to the books. She had a feeling she'd end up sending Arya ahead to scout out any encampments they happened across, but that talk could wait until they were planet side. She didn't want to start up another awkward conversation if her talks could even be called that.

And then there was Gabriel. She smirked as she thought about that particular individual... A certain chill crept through her when she thought on those rumors, but from what she could tell, there was a very distinct possibility that this man wasn't entirely human. He was like an exotic treat, but he seemed... Far too focused on the planet. She didn't relish the idea of angering him if his strength could actually match Metal Head the Stonic, but she was almost tempted to on purposefully put him into threat's way if only to see how he would react. She had always been big on biomimetics rather than gene therapy- a bit old and almost outdated these days, but nature always came up with a new wonder whenever the more traditional sciences seemed to push ahead. As much as that hesitance and fear crept up on her, she saw this particular individual as a sort of lab rat waiting to be observed, and she intended to do just that without him realizing it.

After going through the dossier for Okerion VI's common fauna assuming she could locate it, she decided she'd pay Gabriel a small visit. She figured she'd have time to look up specific points of interest planet side in a bit, and her exotic specimen might just happen to know more about this particular mission. Besides, she had a feeling he'd pull more weight than Metal Head or Princess Gizmo, and even if she didn't have the best first impressions of present company she still needed to get along with them. There was no telling how long they'd be out here... Hopefully not too long if they could locate the source of this energy. The faster they did, the quicker her freedom might just come around if she were lucky...

[Hazard1325]

Shannon accessed the database for the Local Fauna and found very vague entries. It seemed most desert life was reptilian, but there were a few members of the canine family and a desert cat or two. The initial surveyors note down that more than 70% of the female's sent to the planets surface returned with pregnancies caused by either the local Draconian raiders or some of the more exotic species. The survey notes chalk it up to the local wildlife adapting itself to breed with just about anything in order to avoid extinction after the planet lost most of its jungles. In any case it seemed she should be careful when traveling on the surface.

Gabriel turned and left the observation deck after checking the time. Shannon found it easy to slip away from the rest of the team to follow him, it looked like he was headed toward the mess hall. Though they had only been there about two hours earlier. Gabriel took a tray of the bland food and sat down. If second meals was a common thing for him it would seem he had a much higher caloric intake than average humans. Other than that he seemed pretty normal, a bit distant from any of the other soldiers in the room but nothing more than human at the moment. Soon after finishing the meal he was heading back toward the corridor where Shannon was concealed.

[Grape_Drink]

"Well hello..." Shannon grimaced as she looked over the data. That... Was never a good sign. Seventy percent? How tough were these Draconians? The idea of sending Arya ahead of the group suddenly sounded very unappealing. She didn't have too much respect for the Empresses' special operations, but putting her in a situation where that could happen without them realizing it simply felt... Wrong. She shook her head as she closed down the consol, she'd have to be very careful while looking for data. Especially if she somehow got separated from the group.

Seeing Gabriel heading off the observation deck, she took the opportunity. Now was as good a chance as any to- Well now? Hungry much?

She paused, peeking her head around the corner as he headed for the mess hall. Of all the places he might have been going, this wasn't the one she expected as she watched him eat, considering all things. Even a regular person with a high metabolism didn't eat that often... Were his muscles more compact? It would explain why he didn't look too different, or perhaps he had an ultra high metabolism? Strange... While she pondered this, she didn't initially notice him approaching.

"Shit!" She whispered to herself as she ducked out from her concealed spot. She didn't want it to seem like she was stalking him, and just hoped she managed to keep it together. Shannon was used to working with adhesive micro-particles and wing stress on prototype ships, not people... Sure she could talk formal, but casual talk was hit or miss. Maybe he didn't talk much and would like someone paying att... Oh great. And now she was standing in the middle of the hallway rambling in her head with Gabriel right in front of her.

"Oh, hi! I was just..." Think fast, she had to think fast... "Have you umm... Gone through the mission files? This Okerion six, sounds like a pretty dangerous place."

There we go, that was a good start, now to work in something to get conversation flowing.

"So I figure we should get to know each other and what we're good at if we'll be working together. Ensure team efficiency and all that..." She just had to keep it casual, no pressure, just stay chill. "I figure Fist's job is pretty straight forward and Arya knows what she's doing, but I can't seem to figure out if you got assigned for guns, charms, or both! Hehe"

... Wait. Did she just say what she think she said? Oh jeez, she needed to correct this situation.

"I mean, ch-charming the local populace! Er, wait, I mean I'm not saying you aren't charming, I just-"

She began to ramble. One second she had the conversation in the bag and then she had to open her big mouth and say something dumb like that... Why didn't she just head to the hangar and keep things professional? Curiosity was a horrible thing at times.

[Hazard1325]

As Gabriel walked towards her and didn't seem to mind her until she began speaking. She asked him about Okerion six and he gave out a little shrug turning his eyes over to one of the wall consoles and hit a switch bringing up a picture of the planet. "Draconians..." He says in a gravely voice that sounded almost like a croak. He shrugged looking at her and griping one of his hands tight and releasing it and began looking her over for a second. His were light grey and calculating as he paced around her for a second. If he heard the rest of her ramble he didn't acknowledge any of it. He didn't seem the talkative type to begin with. Finally his eyes returned to the diagram of the planet then back to her eyes. "You've been watching me." He said it as a statement not a question. "Why?" He said beginning to walk, he put a hand on her shoulder pushing her along with him until she got the idea and started walking with him. It took her a few moments to realize where they were headed, the flight deck. The others were still on the observation deck but she could summon them with the teams communicators if she needed them.

[Grape_Drink]

"Watching? No, no. I was just-"

She flinched as she looked into his eyes, her own hazel eyes staring back for a moment before quickly looking away. So he was the serious type? Well, she could definitely be serious. That was easy enough... When she saw they were headed for the flight deck, a minor panic hit her. She quickly took a deep breath or two. He was just heading that way. There wasn't any need to cause a scene or make a mountain out of a molehill- besides, even if he was with that project, it was under wraps... It's not like they'd skin her alive for simply- wait, no, this was the Empress she was thinking about. Her minions probably would. Well, worst case scenario she could run for it and make a quick shout into her communicator... Her tone lowered as she finally looked back towards him with a mild frown as they walked along.

"I'm intrigued, Gabriel. Metal Head and Princess Gizmo? I can read them. I might not know all their quirks and history, I might not know squat about them, but I can probably figure out a good bit from what I've seen. The same's probably true for most of the crew. You on the other hand? You're not that simple, and judging by the crew's reactions to you, no one's really sure if it's even safe to be around you. I don't know what you've seen or what your experiences are with that planet, but you're definitely different, and probably in more ways than one. Folks like me? We don't mind different, but we like to try and figure it out."

Well, it wasn't the full truth but it wasn't a lie either. She wasn't about to ask him if he was some sort of genetic hybrid alien freak to his face, but she knew she wasn't going to make any friends of her comrades if she was constantly lieing to them. Thinking back on it, Shannon wasn't even sure if the others were willing participants in this little excursion, or even if Gabriel was a willing volunteer assuming he really was some sort of genetic hybrid humanoid. She was actually curious now about what he might know about the planet, but right now she was more worried about keeping the situation in control.

[Hazard1325]

Shannon was lead through the ship's corridors until they arrived at a wide open space that was the primary hanger bay, Gabriel hadn't said anything along the way. The multi tiered room housed most of the civilian transports that had been brought along for the trip to the surface. Gabriel turned her as she started wandering over to one of the ships and lead her to the rear of the hanger where a small black ship was hidden away from the rest of the craft. At first she thought it was a luxury craft based on the sleek design but as he lead her inside through the back ramp she saw it was spartan on the inside. In the main entry way she saw rows of seating for soldiers and the ramp made her think it served as a dropship at some point. Gabriel lead her through a room to the left and she saw several small bedrooms along the short corridor. He opened one of the doors and pushed her in and onto the bed she wasn't sure where this was going anymore. She turned and saw him tossing his shirt aside, she saw long scars across his well muscled chest and along his arms. He paused for a moment holding his hand out to the side and flexing his fingers into fist several times. On the fifth flex his hand jerked open and three inch claws dug their way out through his fingertips spraying a bit of blood onto the wall. He made a noise that sounded a lot like a wild animals growl and he looked at her bringing his hand up to her face. She was convinced the claws were about to connect with her face when the stopped just short of tearing her face off. She could see the hand had shifted in much more subtle ways altering bone and muscle structure. The bleeding had already stopped and the flesh around the claws looked fully healed. As further demonstration he took his new claw and pulled at the flesh on his opposite bicep pulling the skin away to show muscle structure. As she thought the muscles looked highly compressed and a flex on his part showed her he could make his arm sickly thin or body builder with an effort of will. Once he was done he pushed the skin back into place and it fused with the original flesh. Of course now there was a sheet of blood across his arm and a small pool on the floor. Of course most of these details could have been easily missed by Shannon as she realized she was trapped inside a room with whatever Gabriel was exactly...

[Grape_Drink]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Taking one or two liberties here with the response, feel free to retcon if it's not alright

"Hey!" Confusion, and then panic began to settle in as Gabriel pushed her on to the bed and began to remove his shirt. She reflexively reached for her knife. There was no way she was going to just- Oh. She stopped her preparatory knife slash as she watched him closely. He wasn't interested in that from the looks of it thankfully.

A look of pure horror crossed her face as blood specks flicked against the walls, watching the claws form from his hands as he ever so carefully ripped open his bicep to show her his muscle-morphing abilities. "Oh..." She mumbled still in a bit of shock, shaking slightly as her look turned from frightened prey to something else. Something swelled deep inside of Shannon as her look changed more and more.

She let out a girly squeal of curiosity and delight, perhaps the first one to have emanated from this professional scientist in a long time as she jumped out of the bed. An ecstatic look crossed her face as Shannon lightly grasped his claw, going over it with the most attentive detail. Sure she was scared to death of what had just happened, but she had been thinking the gene manipulation had been purely a bioweapon- well, it definitely was a bioweapon, but this was an amazing medical breakthrough! She began speaking at an incredibly rapid rate.

"Oh my gosh! Do you even know how amazing this is? I mean, the claws are alright, but if the manipulation of cells could be reverse engineered with an appropriate timer before degradation of the cells injected, this process could effectively heal patients of all sorts of maladies in a matter of days, possibly hours! I never even imagined they'd be able to-"

Most people would have been pissing themselves scared right about now, and she realized she wasn't exactly in the safest positions, but still...

She giggled as she suddenly realized she was manhandling his claw, looking up at him as she blushed embarrassingly.

"Erm... Sorry."

[Hazard1325]

Shannon was able to study his hand in great detail, for his part Gabriel didn't seem to mind when she grabbed his wrist and began poking and prodding. She found the claws could retract but it didn't seem to be quiet as muscle reliant as an animals as she couldn't manipulate their extension just by playing with his hand. Probably for the best as she drew blood on the end of one claw, they were much sharper than natural claws. Gabriel tilted his head as she went on a tangent about the potential of his cells. He didn't pull his hand away and let her take her time examining it. She also noticed where the skin had healed on his arm was a bright redish pink color as she could clearly see where the flap in his skin had been cut open. Some of the scars on his chest were red and judging by the mere fact scars had been left suggested the regeneration wasn't perfect. Shannons communicator suddenly bleeped and she heard Arya. "Hey labcoat, ships are going down in ten minutes. There is a private shuttle in the back of the hanger that we've been assigned to better get there or we take off without you." She said hanging up before Shannon could reply. Little did Arya know they were already at the ship... but it would be a little awkward for the Stonic or Arya to walk in on the two of them.

[Grape_Drink]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

//Sorry, been a busy week and I've been freaking out about a few things. \\

"Hey labcoat, ships are going down in ten minutes. There is a private shuttle in the back of the hanger that we've been assigned to better get there or we take off without you."

"Shit!" She pulled away from him as her communicator beeped, grazing her hand lightly against a claw and drawing the slightest trickle of blood in her quick movement. "I uhh... Ouch. Well. I'm thankful that you'd trust me with that knowledge, or, well, at least that you were willing to show me, Gabriel. I think we'll make a great team, but the... Others are on their way. So I best uhh... Meet them outside."

Her face turned to one of seriousness with the lightest hint of embarrassment as she went to slip around him with the intent to peek out of the shuttle, and exit it if they weren't in the immediate vicinity. She could always claim to have been inspecting it or something as she admired the ship.

[Hazard1325]

Shannon can already hear footsteps in the other room as she slips past Gabriel. He grabs his shirt putting it back on as his hand slowly shifts back to normal he steps outside after you and punches in a code on the door locking it and leaving the blood stains for now. In the main room she finds Arya and Rhodak ascending the ramp into the ship. Arya glances up with mild surprise finding you here ahead of her. The heavily armored titan behind her speaks in a surprisingly light voice. "Ah Lady Dellowes, You've arrived! See Arya I told you she would be here." Arya shot the large man a glare before walking past Shannon to the pilots seat. "So are we going down with the group seating a base up or would you rather go speak with the overgrown lizards with the other teams?" She asked not looking at Shannon. Gabriel joined them shortly taking a seat in one of the many chairs that lined the main room of the ship. Rhodak remained standing while the engines primed since the chairs weren't meant for anything as large as a Stonic in power armor.

[Grape_Drink]

"Heh, yep! Just making sure everything's looking good."

She thought hard on that question for a moment. Honestly it made the most sense from a diplomatic stand point to just go talk to "overgrown lizards," but then again diplomacy didn't always work out for the best when the Empress' folks were on the scene...

"Lets help get the base up and running. Best case scenario, we won't even be bugged by the Draconian people I'm thinking."

She really hoped it would be the best case scenario, though she kept questioning if this was the best decision.

[Hazard1325]

Ayra nodded and started lifting the craft off the hanger deck and cruised slowly out into open space. The Stonic grabbed an overhanging support rail while Gabriel sat down in one of the seats. "I suggest you buckle in lady Dellowes." Rhodak added politely. Ayra didn't seem to care if Shannon was safely in her seat or not, she punched it as soon as they were clear of any other ships and they rapidly decened into the planets atmosphere. Within thirty minutes they were cruising low over a vast sea of dunes.

The only real landmark was a massive mesa to the northwest which had the Draconic ruins set atop and along its sides. The Empire was setting up camp well away from them and there were already a dozen or so carrier ships offloading building materials and crews setting up temporary dwellings. After they set down the four of them began exiting the craft. Halfway down the ramp Gabriel suddenly went stiff and rolled to the left as gunfire raked up the inside of the ship. Rhodak grabbed Shannon and pulled her behind his shield. Out in the dunes she could see black figures rising out of the sands. Assault rifles raised they were taking shots at all the Imperial personnel out in the open. The security forces on the surface were slow to react and Shannon could already hear the cries of wounded soldiers. She felt a solid 'whump' and almost fell over as an explosive went off near them. The rest of her team seemed to be adapting to the ambush a lot better than she was. Rhodak had taken it upon himself to shield her while Gabriel had disappeared somewhere and Arya was crouched at the top of the ramp returning fire with deadly orange beams that dissolved chunks out of the black scaled ambushers.