Foamy surf raced up the long, flat beaches, a tumultuous ocean the only sign so far of the oncoming storm. Behind the sand lay thick jungle and swamplands. It was peaceful here, with noise only from the insects and creatures nested in the branches.

Once out of the ship, Helen began her free-fall, pointing herself at the ground like an arrow as the air rushed past her, and she held herself rigid, causing her to gain speed so she rushed past the others which jumped. Upon reaching a mere few meters away from the ground, she deployed a momentary burst of gravity manipulation, which resulted in her landing softly upon her feet with barely a sound as the forest canopy overhead rustled with the air that shifted aside for her landing... Now, she just had to make sure the others landed without incident, then proceed with the mission.

Air wisped by as Takeyu fell through the sky; changing his course slightly so he would land in a small open patch in the forest that he could see.

He didn't want to risk landing near the beach; he was already worried enough as is about his little confrontation with Helen earlier - and he never usually got worried about what others said or ordered him to do, but for some reason her words hit him in someway he had yet to really figure out.

Nearing the ground, with just a few feet to spare, he manipulated gravity so he could land softly. He was down on his knees when he started looking around, the drone still clutched under his right arm securely. He kept one eye on the area around him, and his ears to the ground, listening.

Freedom Crash Site Cache

Yaiba sat hunkered down in the shelter she and the two natives that traveled with her frequented. It was one of six that they had constructed across the area. Built with a hull fragment on the top covered with several feet of dirt and plants. It afforded them protection from the elements, and from thermal scans. In the back was an assortment of items that they collected from their various raids.

It had been months since Yaiba had seen any of the survivors of the Freedom. Their failed attempt to gain surveillance resulted in them scattering for their lives. Ixta and Dilka taught her to survive on this world, and in exchange she taught them to fight the Mishhu. Together the three of them traveled never staying in any one place for more than a few days. They rarely made contact with any of the tribes.

Their attacks on the NMX ranged from attacking the traitorous Nekos that Yaiba took great delight in dispatching. Raiding supply vehicles and their crews were fair game. Most often their attacks were destroying equipment, stealing what supplies they could carry. With their limited resources they stayed clear of any armored Mishhu. It was better than doing nothing, and they were slowly acquiring an arsenal of equipment. Hidden in various caches, stuff to help them. Granted Yaiba had no delusions about launching an assault against the Mishhu. The caches were just to help them stay alive.

From where she sat Yaiba could look out without fear of detection from the air. She was looking out at an annoying sight. An NMX Scout was hovering above the wreckage of the Freedom. It was not an unusual sight, the NMX periodically would fly over the site looking for signs of the crew she suspected. It was one of the reasons Yaiba had actually chosen it for one of their caches. Hidden in one of the intact SSCC's they stored items, but to get to it meant swimming into the damaged ship. Not an option while the scout hovered looking for any sign of activity.

She looked out at the trees dancing, "Storm coming, looks like we will be staying here until is passes over." she said to her companions. She settled back into the shelter and opened one of their remaining rations. There was plenty of things to eat on this planet, but unless it was cooked, it was often vile tasting or textured. She would eat it because they needed the food, but Yaiba was sorely tired of cold meals. Often she would dream of eating a hot meal in a restaurant back on a Star Fortress. Starting a fire was too much of a risk, especially with a ship in the air since the smoke would give away their location.

She looked at the package label Steak with peppers and gravy packet, Side dish freeze-dried vanilla ice cream. "Better than raw lizard again." she said as she dug in. As she ate Ixta moved to a better position to watch the ship, while Dilka set up the crude generator they had made to recharge what electrical equipment they had. But until the NMX scout moved on he would not start cranking it for fear of detection.

Kumiko

Kumiko followed Takeyu's lead, whether he intended to set an example or not, reasoning that he must have some kind of plan in mind. She made a point to keep the drone she'd barely finished getting put together secure; with them off the ship now, losing one of the drones would be a loss they couldn't afford. Once she made it to the ground as well, she saw that Takeyu seemed to have the defensive side of things covered (or at least he'd be trying to find anything coming after them, so she set the drone down to plug in the last bit of information needed to launch the drone.

~~~~~
Atsukoha

Suka shuddered at the sight of the Scout she could see hovering over the downed Freedom. She'd been staying in the area, salvaging the little she thought she could get away with off of the ship, but there was no way she'd be going anywhere near it with the Mishhu around. She'd had more than enough evidence of their ability to track you whether you had power or not, so she would stay quite well away from there for a while. She turned back to her small shelter, and debated whether a fire was worth it, but decided against it for the time being.

Groundside

Takeyu hadn't yet noticed Kumiko, instead still keeping an eye on everything that was going on. He often times hated being on the surface, mostly due to the strange and unusual, not to mention, unfamiliar sounds it often brought to him.

He was used to hearing the distant sounds of a reactor, the engines, machinary in motion, systems humming. Here? He heard none of that, and it made him nervous, though he hid that behind a cloak of a gentle smile.

It was then, when he looked over his shoulder, that he noticed Kumiko near him - but he still didn't know where Helens. Either I'm blind and she's nearby, or I'm just located just right where I can't see her he muttered in a whisper to himself.

When he changed his position to move over toward Kumiko, he wondered where Helen was, he couldn't see her - and he wasn't certain if it was due to the trees just being in the way or if she had landed further away than he thought. But with Kumiko nearby, and them being in enemy territory, he wasn't about to abandon her to find the officer.

Takeyu didn't say anything when he approuched Kumiko, instead he set his drone down but still kept his eyes and ears open. He would work on his drone once Kumiko was either done with hers, or if Helen or Voi came around and gave them orders to get them into the air. Regardless, he was wondering - where was Konoka and the Shoi?

Shortly after landing, Helen's eyes adjusted to the low light conditions, which gave her a lovely view of the rather wretched jungle which would be her current operational area. It at least had abundant cover, and that left her to move somewhat freely as she faded from sight and moved to where she saw the others touch down.

It was just a matter of moments before Helen came back into plain visibility as she approached Kumiko and Takeyu, from dead ahead and what should have been plain sight. Using a mere whisper of a voice, she spoke to the pair. "Did you both land safely and with your gear?" She asked as she looked them over for a short moment, before she un-slung her LASR from over her shoulder, and preparing it for use if need be as she looked into the depths of the jungle. Inwardly, she wished that Yamataian equipment included sensor systems in the general package, but she let that thought pass as she listened closely for any signs of things that did not belong.

"All of my gear is with me ma'am," Takeyu said as he checked the drone over for any possible damage. "Ma'am, have you seem the Shoi anywhere?" he asked and looked around.

Kumiko didn't look up yet. "Umm... Yes. I'm fine, and I have all of my stuff. And..." at this point, she finished up her work. "We now have a drone ready to go, programming and all. Should I go ahead and launch it, or should we wait until we have everyone?"

"Launch it now, if the Shoi suffered an injury during landing, or some other complication, the drone would assist us in determining the situation." Helen stated as she assessed the situation. She could see no reason why launching the drone now would be a bad idea, aside from the possibility of the Shoi finding it a bit intrusive to their authority... though... a Shoi was a Shoi, and a Taii was a Taii.

"Keep the drone close though for now, we do not want to have to use a transceiver band that would be high enough for the NMX to find interesting. Once the Shoi is with us, we can send it out farther since we'd be able to move about with a greater degree of freedom." Helen further ordered as she deeply and profoundly wished for the earlier days of the Empire, when the jungle would have been scoured by a small army of powered armor, or turned into a grassy field by a storm of nodal devices... oh how she wished for her youth.