RP: SSS Journeymen 3 [Mission 1.0] Baptism of Fire and Ice

Saiki Cluster

06:00 AM Ship time

Two days later the YSS Tensai was in space traveling on course for SX-07 after departing from SX-06. The members of Journeymen 3 were awoken to an electronic chime followed by Sayuri, the ships MEGAMI speaking.

"Journeymen 3 Team report to the Wardroom at 07:00 AM. Pack a small bag you will be deploying. That is all." came her voice with enough volume to ensure that each member was woken up by her.

Alice opened her eyes. Her communicator was chiming and soon she could hear Sayuri calling the team together. Alice was glad to be awoken anyway, she did not enjoy the dreams she was having again. Once again she it was that dream ending up, with her being dragged away by Crab-type misshu. At least she was not waking up with screams anymore.

Alice stood up and took a very quick refreshing shower. She dressed in full uniform and packed her things. One extra set of uniform, her XASER rifle and SiZi 79, both with ammo. Then megatube of liquid bandage and some of her old stuff. Peacekeeper communicator and copy of Peacekeeper chart of good luck. It was tight fit, but she managed to get it in her duffel along with all the regular stuff that was supposed to be there.

She then armed herself, putting her holstered Mugen Energy Pistol on her belt and hiding the Little Killer on her ankle. Alice knew she acting crazy, but she decided not to be unarmed. Not ever again. She then took her duffel and made her way the Wardroom.

Kage woke up and took a shower before heading out to the armory. On the way he grabbed an apple from the mess and headed back toward the armory. He printed an requistion form and checked out the gear that he had requested the other day. By the time he had finished with his apple he had his requistion ready for the armory officer to give to him.

The list was checked and the items were given out. He strapped on the NSP and placed the charger on his belt. He took the other weapons to the gear locker on board the Tenba. He headed to the wardroom and met Alice on the way. "Hello, ma'am. How are you this fine morning?" He said respectfully and smiled.

Alice seemed to be deep in thought, when Kage addressed her. She looked at him with slight surprise. Alice did not get to talk with this man yet, his check-up was done by the ship-doctor too.

"Oh hello," She replied with tired smile. "Tired, I did not sleep too well. How about you?" She asked him back.

Raquel was in the shower when the call came for them to report. She rinsed off, and quickly toweled herself dry. She then stepped back into the room and got into her uniform. She brushed her hair and pulled it into a simple ponytail.

The then picked up her small overnight bag that had a change of clothes and a few amenities, and slung it over her shoulder. She then made her way to the wardroom with a smile on her face at the thought of a real mission.

She entered the wardroom, and gave a cheery, "Good Morning Everyone, looking forward to getting our first assignment?" She then walked over to the nook and got herself a cup of tea.

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Chikai was in the fitness center when Sayuri paged him. He had gone to the gym an hour earlier to work off some aggravation after waking up from a dream of Mayer station, and seeing all of his team killed.

"I'll be there in a few minutes Sayuri." He replied from the treadmill. Finishing his run, he made a dash into the showers and rinsed off. He then changed into his clean uniform.

He then stopped in the mess and made himself a sausage and egg biscuit and two cups of coffee. He carried them down to his room, grabbed his packed bag and made for the wardroom.

Once in he saw that most of the team had arrived. He took a seat next to Alice.

"Morning Alice. Looks like you had a long night." He said handing her a coffee, then opened his wrapped biscuit and started eating it.

Sakura stared up at her ceiling; she hadn't slept at all, being to nervous about her duty station, and also about the conversation she wanted to have with Raquel. With a heavy sigh, she pushed the sheets off her and sat up.

"Ughs..." she muttered and rubbed her face a few times before hearing the announcements. She picked out her clothing, then headed to the shower, taking a short one before drying off and getting dressed then went back to her room and packed a bag.

Then, quickly, she headed to the wardroom and nervously peeked inside. Then, in a nervous tone, said, "G-good m-morning..." she looked around for a place to sit.

"I am fine though I am not used to getting up this early just yet. I will adjust though." Kage said to Alice and smiled, though anyone smart could see a bit of nervousness in his smile. Kage saw Chikai and waved to him. "Ready as I will ever be." He said to Raquel. He sat down and got ready for the briefing.

Wardroom

Captain Jameson walked into the wardroom, "Good Morning people." He said as he made his way over to the nook. He poured himself a large cup of coffee and added several sugar cubes and stirred.

He walked around the room, and took a seat at the end of the table. He savored the aroma of his coffee, and then took a cautious sip. His expression brightened as a result.

"Well team 3. We have a simple errand for you folks to take care why we continue on our route. We have a small expedition on station on SX-08-3. This is newly discovered planet and the SSS is in the early stages of investigation. The team failed their daily status update. This is not uncommon though, the planet is in the throws of an ice age and storm winds have damaged their antenna array before.

We will be loading the... YX-C3-0101, I see you folks haven't chosen a name yet with the next shipment of supplies for the team, and enough spare parts to repair their communications system if necessary.

The current expedition on the ground consists of twenty people. They are in the middle of cataloging the flora and fauna. They are also exploring what appears to be a wrecked space ship of unknown origin."

Alice smiled at Kage and laughed a little. "Oh well you will get used to it. At we do not have to keep watch nigh-watches, like I used to back in UPF. Waking up early is not that bad you know." She told him and then turned her head to Raquel. "Sure." She just said and before she could add anything else a cup of coffee was set in front of her.

"Ooooh coffee!" Alice chipped up as she smelled the hot beverage. "You are my new coffee-god Chikai," she joked and sipped a little. "And yeah.., I studied until late again. Did not get to sleep very well afterwards." She explained the bags under her eyes. She was little tired, but it was nothing major.

By then Captain Jameson walked in and Alice did not get to reply to Sakura who walked few seconds before him. She just nodded to a girl and then listened to briefing. So lonely world with almost no infrastructure and problematic communication. It also meant that once they land they will be without communication too. Not to mention that something worse could happen then just broken antenna.

"Sir," Alice spoke up. "If I may, are there any dangerous animals living on the planet that we know off? Carnivores maybe? Also what all do we know about that alien ship, if we know anything that is. Do you have a picture maybe? Is it old and antique or does it look like it landed or crashed there yesterday?" She shot a barrage of questions.

Sakura kept herself quiet as she listened to the captain and then to the questions recently asked. She had no desire to become food for some animal, though hearing of a wreaked ship instantly caused her ears to perk up with interest. A wreaked ship? Oooooh.... a slightly excited look appeared on her face at this.

The Captain took a sip from his cup before replying.

"The drones that have been surveying have identified a number of indigenous creatures. Most of the large ones are marine. There are so far only three that are large enough to represent a threat. One is a ursine create about twice the size of a man, but there is no reports of them in the expedition area. The second is sloth like creature native to the equatorial forests, and the last is feline species that was seen hunting some of the flightless birds.

The derelict has been there some time, it is buried in the glacial ice. The team was digging into the face of the glacier to get to the hull of the ship and then try to find a way in. It is huge, initial estimates indicate probably on the order several kilometers long."

He took another sip from his coffee and continued.

"Currently we do not have a Team Commander for you, so I am going to rotate through the senior members of the team to see who has potential.

Mr Kenshin since this mission is most likely technical in nature, I am designating you as the Leader."

Chikai nodded to the Captain in response to his appointment as temporary leader. He knew what really meant was that if anyone got injured he was responsible. "Right sir, everyone make sure you go back to your cabin and grab your winter coat and gloves. Sounds like we will need them." he said looking at his fellow team mates.

The Captain looked at Alice. "Ms Mason, if the situation appears to be due to some sort of biological event. You will need to make a determination as to quarantine procedures being needed or not as senior medical.

Any other questions?"

"No other questions sir," Alice said and nodded. "I will make sure to not bring anything bad for health from there." She then said with smile and looked at Chikai. "Well you are boss, so what are the orders! I vote we name the ship first and then pack some pudding." Alice tried to enlighten the mood a little. She did not want people in the team to think about the fact that they be eaten by big bad bear thing, or that alien ship full of some nasty little human eating things might come to life.

Chikai looked around. "Kage, once we touch down. You'll need to do an threat assessment." he said.

"As for our ship, I will throw the first name in the hat so to speak. 'Mariah'."

Raquel had been quiet listening to the mission briefing. She new all to well from personal experience that loss of communications could have very dire consequences indeed.

"Captain, who will be the pilot for the trip? And as for a name I would like to offer Dachin."

Thomas looked at Raquel, "Why Ms Stewart, for this trip you will be the pilot. You have completed basic pilot training. This will be an opportunity for you to get some flight hours."

Raquel gulped and softly replied. "Yes, sir. I am honored."

Alice put a finger on her lips and gave a thought to the names presented. Since she did not know or heard about something called Dachin, she decided to be against that. Mariah sounded quite epic for such a small ship. Not to mention it would be better suited for some big ship.

"Hmm I will pitch in for a name myself." She said then. "See we have small ship that is supposed to find and explore places that no one ever visited? Sort of like bringing light into the darkness. What if we called our ship Spark? As in small light or spark of hope?" She asked other and watched them for their reactions. Sakura and security-guy have not say their opinion yet after all.

Kage listened to the captain's explanation of the situation with the fauna of the planet. He thought about what weapons he would bring to the planet but he would make his final decision when he got to the ship. "I'll get on that right after we land sir." He said and then thought about a name for the ship. "About a name for the ship...how about Chishiki. It means knowledge in Yamataian and I personally think that is a fitting name for our ship since we are gathering knowledge as we travel on our missions."

Sakura listened and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "How about, Rakki?" she asked. "Mean's 'Luck'"

Of course, Sakura was hoping she'd be able to try her hand at piloting, and with that, she had to ask. "What am I going to do anyway?" she looked at the others nervously.

Raquel looked at her friend, "Sakura, if you like you can ride with me up front. I can teach you a bit about flying. After all going into an unknown situation, it helps to have two pairs of eyes."

Chikai smiled as he listened the Raquel. He liked how she thought, and how she found something useful for her friend to do.

"Well, it seems we now have plenty of ideas. However, I have to say that I like Spark more than my submission so I am withdrawing it."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks, I would be interested to be honest, haven't had a chance to fly..." she said and looked at the others in the room to see what they might be saying, though she wondered what more might be said.

"Big, warming and light-bringin fire begins with single spark," Alice further vouched for her idea. She watched the rest of the group with smile on her face. Alice wondered what kind of group these people will be. There eager Kage, timid and shy Sakura and Raquel who seemed quite grown-up for her age. At least she had Chikai with her. Someone she can depend on if needed.

Raquel sent a brief telepathic message to Sakura, "To be honest I am grateful to have you with me. I figured we would have a more experienced pilot. But it looks like its just me. So thanks for lending a hand.

She smiled and gave her friend a wink.

Captain Jameson stood up, "Well that's all the information we have. So I will leave you folks to work out any more specifics." You launch in 30 minutes people." he then walked out of the wardroom leaving the members of Team 3.

Chikai looked around at the others on his team. "Okay we need to settle the naming issue so we can get our winter gear and prepare for launch. Here is the current standing.

Spark - 2 votes
Rakki -1 vote
Chishiki - 1 vote
Dachin - 1 vote

Anyone want to change their vote to one of the others?" He asked.