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RP: YSS Aeon [Mission 7.4] Aeon Landing Site

"Interesting would be a better term. They are hexapods. Look to be 1 meter tall. They can stand only four of the legs and raise up their forward segments. " Sunflower replied. "I wonder what their biology is like." she added.

Meanwhile the shuttle responded well to Trowa's deft maneuvers. The lava flow was clearly visible moving at a brisk pace towards the sea. The shuttle's shields started indicating minor impacts. Small bits of stone and in some cases bits of ejected magma were hitting the shields harmlessly.
 
In her seat and secured with the crash harness for the duration of the maneuvers, Eun-Kyung pulled the up the data Sunflower had retrieved and stared at it.

"Well well, look at these fellows," she muttered. "At least they seem friendly. Sakura-Hei, let's do an active sweep of this area. No targeting systems; I just want to punch through all of this junk in the air. I can't imagine we're going to get very good passive returns. This may not be a catastrophic eruption but if any of our new friends are around here I rather doubt they're enjoying this all the same.
 
"I'm on it ma'am." Sunflower replied her fingers running across the controls. Looking at the data, she did not see any indications of the aliens, or any vehicles. Then she noticed something a large metal protrusion.

"Ma'am. I am seeing something about 10 klicks south of the eruption site. Its definitely not natural. Some sort of metal object."
 
"I don't see any... Wait. Ok, I see it." Trowa swung the ship around to clearer skies before turning towards the unknown metal object. He ran a quick diagnostic of the ship to make sure nothing was damaged or malfunctioning. Ash, gasses and magma could play hell with a ships sensors and instruments, shields or no.
 
The diminishing ash was affecting the RADAR and other sensors less. The object was definitely not natural. It looked to be part of a space craft that had suffered an catastrophic event. From appearance it had been here for some time based on the weathering and other visual signs. Over 500 meters of the debris was rising into the sky.
 
"Get us closer," said Eun-Kyung as she watched a copy of the incoming data. It didn't appear to have been brought down by the volcanic activity, but would certainly have been attractive as shelter even if abandoned by its original occupants. In any event, if there were individuals in need of rescue, she wanted to be in position to provide it. The Taisa wanted a positive first contact, after all.

"Keep a close watch, though," she warned. "I don't want to trip any automatic defenses that might still be up."
 
Sunflower gave a simple node and started running a series of scans on the object, and the surrounding images. The effectiveness of the sensors was improving as the volcanic activity diminished, but she still had more ghosts than reliable images.
 
Scans and data scrolled across Trowa's cybernetic left eye. His mustache twitched as he made some metal calculations then smiled with that lopsided grin of his. "Alright, I'm going to do a quick flyby at minimum safe distance. Close enough to get a good visual, but far and fast enough to get out of the way of any automatic defenses." Trowa hit the throttle and headed for the downed ship.
 
No weaponry targeted or fired at the APC. However, as they flew by the wreckage it was clear this was a small part of something much larger. At the lowest part of his trajectory he would see a damaged craft the looked similar to the one the Ground Team had encountered. However this one had a crumpled look as a large glowing red stone protruded from its crumpled hull. On the surface a number of the Thaurgons were running away from the crash site.
 
Eun-Kyung spent a fraction of a second staring at the visual feed in surprise. The presence of the aliens, forewarned by Sunflower's report or not, drew at least that much of a reaction from her. That was all, though, before her brain caught back up.

"Heisho, bring us around, maximum performance turn. No aggressive vectors, but I want us ready to land as close to these fellows as possible. Sakura-Hei, try to get comms up with the contacts. Broadcast in the clear, wide frequency spread. Make it clear we're friendly."

She paused to take a breath as she triggered her own communications channel, relayed through her suit. "Aeon, this is Survey Team Actual. I have PID of alien contacts in my vicinity; say again, PID of alien contacts. They appear to be in distress, possible survivors of a ship crash. I am attempting to initiate communications with the intention of rendering aid. Please advise, over."
 
The words "Aye, aye Ma'am." were barely out his mouth before Trowa pulled hard on the stick and rolled the APC around. The ship responded well and in moments they were headed back towards the damaged alien craft. Trowa began to cut his speed as they got closer, trying his best to appear non-aggressive. He marked out a couple of potential landing sights but kept the ship moving, waiting for a response to their hails.
 
"Aeon-Actual to Survey Team. Proceed with rendering aid. Fostering good will is probably excellent at this juncture."

Sunflower felt herself rise up slightly in her seat despite her restraints. A simple manifestation of basic physics in response to Trowa's movements.

The Thaurgons on the surface having spotted the Yusou were gathering up in a possibly defensive position.
 
"Solid copy, Actual. We'll keep you apprised. Survey Team, out."

Eun-Kyung had to tense her core to keep from awkwardly tipping in her seat. Sitting perpendicular to the axis of flight could make some of the harder accelerations unpleasant. When the affects of the maneuver eased off, she returned her attention immediately to the visual feed.

"Good." She nodded as Trowa slowed their airspeed, but still kept them a safe stand-off distance away. "Turn us broadside to them, flash the running lights, and train the turrets away from them. If Sakura-Hei can't get through to them, I still want to make it abundantly clear that we're not a threat."
 
Sunflower started doing a scan of the radio frequencies. It took her two tries before she recognized the speech sounds of the Thaurgons on one channel. " I found a frequency they are broadcasting. I just hope there radios have translation." she said aloud then broadcasted.

"Thaurgons, we are from the Yamatai Starship Aeon. Members of our crew have contacted your people and are enroute to Garrison. We are here to assist you. I repeat we are here to assist."
Click to expand...

When Sunflower stopped broadcasting, she listened there was nothing but dead air. She was about to repeat her message when over the speakers came.

Danger here. We accept assistance. Core is unstable. Overload soon.
Click to expand...
 
"Oh Feth." A dozen questions entered Trowa's mind. How long till the core overloaded? What was the core's power? How many of those creepy looking things were there? Could they all fit on the Yusou? Questions that would take too much time to answer. Action was called for. "Hang on!" Trowa hit the throttle and felt his body being pushed back against his chair by the force.

The Nepleslian pilot had already marked a couple of potential landing sites so now he knew the best approach already. He didn't break until the last possible moment when he threw the reverse thrusters, pushing the crew hard against their restraints. The Yusou set down surprisingly easy between the unstable craft and the group of Thaurgons. "Please have your ticket stubs ready and board in a orderly fashion." Trowa had a tendency to make jokes when he was nervous and being by a ticking time bomb certainly put one on edge.
 
Sunflower grabbed on to the arms of her chair as Trowa executed his landing. She resisted the urge to close her eyes. She anticipated the sound of grinding as they hit, but there was none. She unbuckled her chair and made her way aft. She accessed the door controls and unlocked them, she turned to Eun-Kyung,"Chui, you going to handle introductions?" she asked.
 
Eun-Kyung nodded, though the gesture was obscured somewhat by her helmet.

"I will," she said as she rose from her seat. "We'll be right back, Heisho. Standby to punch it."

With a quick, nervous thumbs up to Sunflower, Eun-Kyung reached out and triggered the door controls herself. She closed her eyes as the hatch dropped open, willing herself to calm down, and then stepped out of the Yusou. Her posture was relaxed and her hands held slightly out from her sides, palms open and forward. She was trying to be as nonthreatening as possible.

"I am Kim Eun-Kyung Chui, an officer of the Aeon. Please board this craft quickly and calmly." As she spoke, she kept an eye on her helmet display. She had a repeater of the Yusou's scan output pulled up; the aliens seemed genuinely distressed but she didn't want to be taken by surprise by any weapons.
 
Sunflower held her position, her hand resting on her NSP but with her body positioned so that the weapon was not visible. The Thaurgons were supposed to be in distress, distressed people often did unsavory things to survive. If any of the creatures tried to attack the Chui, she was going to make sure they learned the error of their way.

One of the aliens stepped forward of its comrades, it held out a cylinder like the one Gildozee had used with the other team. "I am Atlonzee, we eleven are graciously accepting your assistance. Three members of our team have remained behind. They endeavor to arrest core detonation for as long as possible. We anticipate total failure of the annihilation core in 15 minutes. Urgent departure advised."

He moved towards Eun-Kyung doing his best to make no sudden moves that could be misinterpreted. He whistle clicked to the others, and they fell in behind him.
 
Swallowing a curse, Eun-Kyung extended one hand out toward the cylinder - but unsure of its purpose, not quite far enough to grasp it - while gesturing up the hatch with her other. "I agree, Atlonzee-san. Urgency sounds wise. How will your compatriots in the ship escape?"

Waiting for the alien to respond, she triggered her comms inside her helmet.

"Sakura, Yamamoto." Her voice came across the local team frequency clipped and short, pure business as she dispensed with all polite pretensions. "Signal the Aeon: uncontrolled det in 15 mikes. Do a focused active scan on that crashed ship. I want to know just what sort of power we're looking at in this 'annihilation core.'"
 
Atlonzee spoke with the Thaurgon language and the cylinder emitted trade. "They will not. They have accepted termination in favor of the greater good." it replied, a hint of sadness in the emitted voice. Atlonzee motioned to the others to enter.

Sunflower looked at the APC sensors and couldn't find a suitable system for the Chui's request. She reached into her medical kit and pulled out the Science scanner. She switched out the life detection module for emission. She did not like anything called Anihilation. Pointing it at the wreckage she let the system run through its series of scans. Several of the Thaurgons had entered the APC and settled on the floor. Resting partly on the others to make room for them all. The Scanner beeped indicating it was complete. Her eyes went wide when the scanner made its determination. "Chui, based on the emissions, this Annihilation core, is an anti-matter reactor."
 
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