| A Lamb in Wolf's Clothing |
| Summary: | The second Gemenon recon makes some startling discoveries at Lampridis Falls |
| Date: | 03 Apr 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Plenty, including Peace, Love & Cylons (first Gemenon recon) |
| Players: |
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| Above Gemenon |
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| Setpose Below. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #401 |
Red-brown dust, green-black vegetation, and here and there a sprinkling of silver-blue water — the planet called Gemenon seems peaceful at last, the angry mushroom clouds of Warday 2041 having long since blown away. Indeed, if not for its obviously cratered cities and its higher than normal concentration of atmospheric radiation, one might be forgiven for assuming that the religious heart of the Twelve Colonies had been spared the worst of the shortest war humanity has ever fought. Forgiven, that is, until one notices the subtle pinging from LTJG Vasco's ECM station that announces a single basestar holding low geosynchronous orbit over Gemenon's wide equator.
Alone.
Crowded Raptor is crowded. Andrea glances around, doing what she can to get a good look out the viewscreen. What's down there, she wonders?
Not used to flying with Sweet Pea, Shakes is busy concentrating on her task despite the new wings. A slow measured pace of her movements helps keep her station clear, cutting through the radiation as she can to give them a good picture and warning system should they need it. For now, the basestar stands alone on her DRADIS, a single angry blip that pronounces itself in anger and evidence in green light. As her hand brushes up to turn the dial for frequency, there is yet nothing as she clears the screen again with a little noise still present. "Sweet Pea, we are clear. Nothing showing on DRADIS but the big eye in the sky. Sky is yours."
Its tough to tell what the newly mission capable Vandenberg thinks. She hasn't been too vocal or around much since her bandages came off leaving the scarring and lack of part of her ear visible. The helmets for the flightsuits provide a nice hiding place, though. She's taken up the left seat in the cockpit. Rather than just a notepad, the woman has brought a whole dang legal pad and has been writing almost non-stop since sitting down. Its in short-hand gibberish and Canceran slang, her own way of recording notes nobody else needs to see or read. Once the jump is complete and the planet appears before them, the Marine looks up to see out the glass ahead at the colony. She remains quiet for the moment, though, eyes narrowed on the surface - oblivious to what's going on with Shakes' station.
Wade got the approval to jump in the Raptor but was told to be quiet…oh well. The man is just on his seat, leaning his back against the wall of the Raptor. From time to time, he scans the inside of the bird, looking at everyone there. He is holding a notebook in his hands as as soon as they jump in Gemenon's orbit, he looks outside and the back to his notebook, writing something down. He has been in complete silence since they left.
Sofia is at least a good passenger. She's quiet for her part, looking sympathetic to Vandenberg. She looks thoughtful and is peering when she can out the viewscreen, but crowded Raptor is crowded. She takes a deep breath, wriggling the pen with her fingers a bit. She tries not to wriggle too much, but it's hard not to fidget.
The sound of the alert on DRADIS, the brief glance down to see what her own pilot's console reveals, takes barely a moment, a brief glance away from the windscreen, and the visual of the planet outside, that suddenly blooms into view as the raptor, born on the power of its FTL drive, pops into Gemenon airspace. "Thank you, Shakes. There's no glance at all, to the Marine sitting in what might otherwise be called the co-pilot's seat. "Everyone on alert, we're heading towards Lampridis Falls. Shakes, keep everything running, but let's avoid active scanning for the time being. All cameras and visual recordation should be recording."
It's been a while since Sawyer was zippered into a flight suit, and she's never been a fan of enduring FTL jumps in such a small craft. For now the journalist sits in one of the jumpseats quietly, lips worrying against one another while her mind churns away. The pen in her gloved hands sits idle, so far her page is blank even as the drop into the atmosphere of Gemenon. Her gaze behind the faceplate of her helmet flits to Wade, Andrea and Sofia being the three she shared the 'vision' with. At the announcement they are nearing Lampridis Falls, finally she writes.
Notes aren't Andrea's style, she simply watches and observes. After two dreams pointing her this way, she wasn't going to miss this flight for the world, and for now she is behaving herself.
"Up and running, Sweet Pea." Solstice intones, clearing up the camera and vid to make sure that everything is reading out. As she gets a green light, her eyes switch back to the DRADIS to watch the haunting ping on her readout. Her main concern - watching that feed. "Scanning on hold, let me know when you wish me to start once we get closer." She is adjusting a few more dials to make sure the basestar does not spawn little contacts from it's hold. FOr now, the passengers are ignored - a focused Shakes is focused.
Down the Raptor drops, her stumpy spaceframe rocking back and forth as she's slammed by just the slightest bit of turbulence — turblence that suddeon nly becomes significantly harder to deal with as LT Aydin begins to dive. Condensation pools in analog instrument panels as a bright orange glow envelops the cockpit; the seams and welds holding the fighter together begin to creak and groan under strain. And then, just as it seems the Raptor is about to succumb to the pressure, she emerges from cloud cover into the brilliant Gemenese morning. Sheets of springtime rain slash harmlessly into her overheated windows, sizzling as water turns to steam. Below, desert flowers sparkle a pale yellow-pink; towering red-brown mesas rise from the sloping walls of the winding canyons beneath. And winding blue and snakelike through it all runs the river called Ourania, from whose white-capped rapids end at great Lampridis Falls.
<FS3> Solstice rolls Ecm: Success.
<FS3> Leyla rolls Raptors: Good Success.
Spreading her feet to keep stable, Solstice wedges her leg up against the underside of her station to keep herself in place. The shifting as they come in through the amtosphere draws her hand up to try to clear up her screen. Some noise is affecting the output and for a moment she is readjusting. As they finally break free, the three new blips ping out more clearly and Shakes lifts her head. "Sweet Pea, we got three contacts on our tail. Closing to intercept us. Raiders by the looks of it." She says, already getting the jamming signals ready.
For someone that would be actively looking at him, Wade doesn't look too good. He is looking pale and a little…well…not like himself. The man remains in silence, looking outside again but finding it very difficult to focus on his writing. He looks at the notebook again and tries to press the pen against the sheet of paper but his hands are both shaking. One hand goes to the other and takes his wrist, aiming to correct the mess he just did with the writing. He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, trying to get it together. All in all, he is looking a little, space-sick. Bumpy ride is bumpy.
<FS3> Wade rolls Alertness-20: Success.
<FS3> Vandenberg rolls Alertness-20: Bad Failure.
<FS3> Sawyer rolls Alertness-20: Good Success.
<FS3> Sofia rolls Alertness-20: Failure.
<FS3> Andrea rolls Alertness-20: Success.
<FS3> Leyla rolls Alertness-20: Success.
Vandenberg is careful to keep her hands and feet away from anything even resembling a cockpit control - which is everything. One hand on her pen, the other holding the legal pad, she scans the planetary surface. Though being up front, she did bring something else - a set of binoculars hanging from her neck. A few more notes taken and she leans forward to look a little more towards space and then back to the surface. She settles the pad between her knees and lifts the field glasses to look towards the surface. She can't have the ECO look at anything. Next best thing, right? Even if its not even close. When the dive in begins, the glasses are dropped back to her chest and she holds onto the pen and paper for dear life. She stares at the instruments glowing and.. just shocked into silence. Then..nothing. Its okay. "Shoulda brought sunglasses," she breathes to herself, looking out at the terrain. The Marine isn't even looking at the paper while her hand scribbles. But the call for Raiders has her instantly on edge.
"Just hold on, we're about to hit ionization. It'll be a bumpy ride." At least she's giving those who haven't been through it before a head's up, even if it is coming only a few seconds before they can feel the body blow of Bertha hitting the thicker atmo closer to the surface. In they go, the windscreen shimmering white and red, heat haze blocking all the world from view, the stubby ship popping out of it like a fish jumping up from the water, turned just so to give her a view of the same raiders Shakes is reporting, "Taking evasive manuevers. Prep the FTL drive just in case."
Andrea's eyes are distracted as she looks at the readouts. "Looks like the Toasters are playing with our systems," she says, mostly to herself. The Bus driver and her bear had probably seen it before she had.
Sawyer is here to record her interpretation of all events, but she'll conveniently leave out the part where she squeezed her eyes shut and turned a little pale during that turbulent transition. Seasoned flyer, she is not. As soon as that pressure subsides and the ship no longer feels as if it is going to pop like a pubescent pimple, Sawyer's eyes fly back open and she cranes to look out the viewport. Instead of the terrain, it's Leyla's display that catches her attention. "Lieutenant. Lieutenant?" Sawyer's trying to get Leyla's attention, just shy of snapping herself out of her harness. "That interference on your display. It's in a pattern. I…" Sawyer watches the sequence again, just to be certain. "I think it says 'form up' in signal lamp code."
Sofia glances to Sawyer, nodding. She seems to understand. She clings to her notepad and pen, mostly out of habit. There's sort of a feeling that Sofia kind of looks up to Sawyer. She blinks at the news of Raiders, and looks a little uneasy. And the bumpy ride. Unpleasant. She takes a deep breath and waits for what may come, silently cheering on the pilots. She blinks at the news of lamp signals. Listening mode activated.
Wade narrows his eyes at Leyla's DRADIS and even leans forward to see a little better. "What Hosedown said and…" now he turns his head to Sawyer. He is no longer trying to write anything, his hands both pressed against the notebook. "Form up?" His attention goes back to it and he narrows his eyes "Welcome party? That's a new one…."
"Consider it done." Shakes says, prepping that jamming signal to release as she also keys up a FTL jump. Her hands are in quick movements, eased into their practiced motions as she tilts her head down. What the others are saying is causing her to tilt her head, looking back at them a moment as she allows the noise to shimmer on her screen as her brows furrow.
"Shakes, when you are prepping the FTL drive, see how far you can extend the compression wave away from the body of the ship." This isn't something she's ever done before, well, okay, twice before, but never so deliberately, asking the ECO to prep the FTL drive to make its compression wave do as much damage to anything around as it can when the ship jumps. A glance up at her own display, and the words from Sawyer. "Is this like…come with us and you will not be harmed? Shakes, send the FOF challenge." Still, this is intelligence, right? And Bertha has no weapons to defend herself. With that, Bertha moves wide and easy, settling into familiar patterns, four together now, instead of three apart.
<FS3> Andrea rolls Alertness-20: Terrible Failure.
<FS3> Wade rolls Alertness-20: Terrible Failure.
<FS3> Vandenberg rolls Alertness-20: Terrible Failure.
<FS3> Solstice rolls Ecm: Good Success.
<FS3> Leyla rolls Alertness-20: Terrible Failure.
<FS3> Sofia rolls Alertness-20: Bad Failure.
<FS3> Sawyer rolls Alertness-20: Success.
Three sleek Raiders zoom past the lumbering Colonial Raptor with ease. Optimized as they are for maneuverability and speed, the nimble fighters settle into position dangerously close to their big brown cousin (two times removed). Only twelve inches separate the wings of the ships to port and starboard from the Raptor's straining engines. Up ahead, the lead Raider actually has the temerity to flip and fly inverted, its grinning red eyeslit flicking from side to side with unsettling regularity. Its wingmen even pop some smoke of sorts, releasing a stream of bright purple plasma from their engines that streaks across the patchy blue-white sky.
As for Leyla's glitching console? The reporter seems to have the right of it. Dot-dot-dot-dot, break, dot, break, dot-dash-dot-dot, break, dot-dash-dot-dot, break, dash-dash-dash, break. And on and on it goes, until the message is revealed:
'Hello world!'
And way down below, Ourania's waters crash against canyons two hundred meters deep, snaking inevitably toward a three-kilometer cliff with nearly a hundred times that many falls.
<OOC> Polaris says, "Imagine these: http://www.wallpaperweb.org/wallpaper/nature/1600x1200/Bryce_Canyon_National_Park_Utah.jpg"
"Ok, this is really, really weird…" Andrea says to herself, shuddering a little.
Form up? Oh Hell. The Marine up front looks to the paneling in front of Leyla and cranes to see back towards Sawyer. Then she's looking back to the instruments. Her eyes steadily drift back out of the cockpit and towards the terrain. She scribbles something down. It gets underlined. But when the Raiders blow past, her hand falls to her sidearm - not that it would do a lot of good. But when they start performing the woman pales as a mission report from months back crosses her mind. "Oh my Gods," Natalie breathes. Wide eyes stare at the Raider out their left side and she starts taking up close and personal notes.
Solstice freezes in place as the contacts form up around them. Her hands flit over her console, now almost too swiftly as she tries to compensate for something. "Sweet Pea, they are activating something. Frak!" She says beneath her breath and then says to her pilot, "Sweet Pea. I don't how but they are bypassing everything, they are downloading something into our system directly." Her brows furrow and all her hurried actions cease as she tries to continue to press them out and can do nothing. "What the.." She breathes, frustration showing a little. The ECO pauses, drawing her hands away as the station aligns more readily. "oh my.." She says, reaching up to adjust something upon her screen and she tilts her head. She is trying to identify what exactly they are downloading but she seems a little less frantic.
"If anyone has anything to say, I suggest you do it now, rather than later." Since there may not be a later. Still, Leyla moves steadily between the raiders, keeping hold of the controls, even as she tries to continue to edge the raptor towards the Falls, the current objective of their mission. If the raiders want to play, she'll play, but only so far. She's sure as hell not heading to that basestar. Not unless they make her. "Everyone, eyes on the terrain, except you Miss Averies. You keep an eye on our Flight." Not a glance, really, but a tip of her head, as if she were intent on what Shakes is conveying to her, "When you know, I want to know." There's nothing she can do about any of this except fly.
Ohgodsohgodsohgods. Sofia does not like what she's seeing or feeling right now. "Likes the ones… from before…" Swarm. She watches where Leyla tells them to. She takes a deep breath and looks worried. She writes a few things, likely what she's seeing - Raiders with marks, the landscape.
To Leyla's question, all she can do is give a helpless shrug of creaking flightsuit. She knows what the message says, not what it means, and conjecture at this point is a little dangerous. Sawyer keeps watching the pattern until it changes itself into something even more unsettling. A greeting. Screw this harness thing, they can yell at her later when she's back in the barn. If they get back to the barn. Besides, that was permission in Leyla's voice, right? She pops the clasp and shrugs out of the tether, coming up behind Leyla where her hand extends over the pilot's shoulder. "There. Do you see that? On the cockpit. They each have scratch marks on them. Like the SWARM ones only these…these only have two hashmarks. Not painted, but almost gouged. Is that a two or an eleven?" Because while the Journalist may need reading glasses, she can see things in the distance just fine. "Hello world." She interprets the pattern on the screen again, for those that can't see it.
Solstice blinks, catching Sawyers words and forestalling in telling her to sit back. "Wait, what did they say?" The ECO asks again while actively trying to decode what they are doing in the database of the Raptor.
Between the fact that he feels like crap, and everything going on now, Wade has to really try and focus on whatever is out there. "Are those…" starts the man, shaking his head and closing his eyes, leaning his head down for a moment before he looks again "Are those marks? On the Raiders…I…" His head drops again and soon, the notebook falls from his lap. Soon enough, Wade starts having problems to breathe and leans his head back against the wall of the raptor, hitting the back of his helmet hard against it. He coughs loudly as he struggles, trying to breathe…he starts to hyperventilate, opening his eyes wide as he seeks for air. Panic attack?
Vandenberg turns her head away but keeps her eyes on the Raider, gently lifting the helmet as if to address someone. "They want to talk, Lieutenant? Want to try yakkin back?" she whispers to Leyla before turning her head to face the pilot. The Marine is finally getting some color back but she's breathing heavily. "Gotcha, though." She steadies herself in the seat and looks out ahead towards the falls. "Godsdamn and I'm supposed to find an LZ around here?" Vandenberg starts looking for any kind of clear or flat, moderately treeless terrain to put down a Raptor or two. Or a jump team.
Andrea glances over to see Wade and immediately leans over to put a hand on his chest. "Drips? Drips? Come on man, breathe, breathe, we're gonna be okay, just breathe, okay? It's Hosedown, Drips, look at me!"
<FS3> Andrea rolls Firstaid: Success.
"I see it. If it's a two, I don't know how to interpret that. But was the one the marines encountered before not what we called a Three? And there were three hashes on their raiders. If this is an eleven, it might be a reference to the elevens we have had in captivity aboard the Cerberus in the past. And they…well, they seemed less unfriendly to us than the others." In fact, one of them went above and beyond to save both humans, but the flight as well, during an engagement. "We have got to get something out of them, El-Tee."
For what it's worth, the Cylons haven't fired a single shot — though as the Falls come closer, they loosen their formation before diving down one by one. Their silver wings glitter beneath the mild April sun as they peel off with perfect precision, making for the canyon without a care in the world. They'll disappear behind a jutting mesa before emerging a half-klick ahead; they'll dip their noses as close to the water as they dare, rejoicing in the feel of cool foam on their metal faces. It's almost like they're big chrome otters with engines for legs and tylium plumes for fur.
Big chrome otters … at play.
And then the source of their excitement becomes clear. Even through the closed hatch of the Raptor the sound of Lampridis Falls can be heard — two thousand cubic meters per second of pure fresh water pounding down a ninety-meter drop. The rain pinging against the Raptor's hull plays musical counterpoint to that dull throbbing roar, while intermittent sunlight carves flashing rainbows into the finely misted air. Across the lake and ringed by a flowering orchard of apple trees rise the great marble columns of a temple over a thousand years old, dedicated to Aphrodite Pandemos: to the Goddess of that Love which all people share. And in that expansive courtyard can be seen a veritable crowd of figures milling about beneath umbrellas of all shapes and sizes.
"Lieutenant, Shakes, can either of you zoom in on those figures? Are they human, or do they appear to be Cylon?" Unlike the raiders, Bertha is not dipping her toes in the water coming down the river from the falls, but she is approaching the figures, moving in her slow and lumbering way, as Leyla attempts to get in closer, giving Shakes all the room she needs to get as much scanning done as she can. "I'm still holding off on active scans until we know the disposition of that basestar. Can you signal them to ask, and we can hope we get something more than a hello?"
Vandenberg looks down to the little map tucked into the clear plastic on her right thigh. "Up ahead just past Lampridis Falls, we've got the town of the same namesake. Flatter terrain." Hard to be sure though in all the Crowded Space - not just in the Raptor either. She jots down a few more notes. And glances back up to Leyla. "Want me to give it a shot before they try something, Sweet Pea? This is your show, Lieutenant. Hell, you want to give it a go, don't let me barge in." There's a nervous laugh from her before she glances back out to the Raider and then back up front.. to see the Raiders playing. Her breathing and mood seems to relax as they peel off and dive away. Eyes flicker between them and the terrain ahead before she see's the lake. And the party. Natalie straightens in her chair, using her boots pressed to the floor to shove her back to the ejection seat. "What in the hell is that?" Her gloved hand dashes a divider line across the page and tries to continue writing. The pen just settles on the paper in the gentle rocking of the Raptor, pooling a dot of ink. She finally tucks it away and lifts her binoculars to look at the figures up ahead.
Andrea grimaces and unbuckles from her chair, moving over to Wade, hands going to remove his helmet so he can get some air. "Could I get a bag, please? He needs some help, and if he doesn't get some things are going to get pretty nasty in here, pretty damned fast."
Are they … playing? Sofia seems baffled by their behavior. She tilts her head. It's beautiful what she can see, is that why they are happy? What did they download? She looks baffled. She looks clueless, but remembers enough to write down anything she remembers or sees. "Eleven was um, I guess kind." She might get a bag if there's one in reach, but for her part? She keeps out of the way and takes notes.
Concentrating on what was placed in the system, Solstice is silent for her part. The scene that is offered to all others is not really considered by her for now. As she follows the download further into the computer system. She slows as she finds it, keeping her eye on the DRADIS as relief washes over her upon the Raider's withdrawal. But as she finds what they left, she is left with more questions. It is only when Leyla speaks up that she nods her head, "I can.." Now accessing directly into the camera, she gets a clear picture on her secondary screen, now pausing as she is given the next surprise of their recon. Her lips part as she stares directly at the scene before her. "By the Gods.." She breathes, focusing in closer as she tries to keep her purpose clear. But then her head turns to the sound of Andrea asking for a bag. "Yeah, against the wall to your right is a med kit, should be something in there." Says the ECO, not able to abandon her post.
Vandenberg spends 1 luck points on Please Don't Fail.
<FS3> Vandenberg rolls Alertness-20: Good Success.
Sawyer flicks a quick glance over her shoulder, (which requires her whole body to turn being in a flightsuit) to look back to Wade. Andrea seems to have a handle on it, and there is such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Still, her lips thin as she turns back around to scene as it unfolds. It's a majestic place, and reverence is written all over the Journalist's features. "This is the place…" She murmurs behind her faceshield, having nothing to add of any intelligent value at the moment. It's a little hard to write, when you've abandoned your pad and pen but it's as if Sawyer wouldn't be able to move even if she did. Wade is having a panic attack and the Journalist is just awestruck.
<FS3> Andrea rolls Academic-20: Terrible Failure.
<FS3> Wade rolls Academic-40: Terrible Failure.
Sawyer spends 1 luck points on Being smarticles..
<FS3> Sawyer rolls Academic-20: Success.
Sofia spends 1 luck points on Brain POWER!.
<FS3> Sofia rolls Academic-20: Good Success.
Wade's helmet comes off thanks to Andrea's doing but his gaze is completely unfocused, eyes wide and 'kinda' looking as if he is looking at Andrea. In reality, what Wade is seeing is a formless figure, and he is unable to determinate the sex. It's bright and gold and he lifts one hand as if trying to protect his eyes from the burning sun. The figure smells like Anemones and it's crowned by a ring of small, fluttering birds. He starts to fade but he hears a voice and soon, his mouth opens and quite loud he starts saying. "Time is the undammed river that plunges over the falls. The falls. Remember you the falls, Children of God is God is God is —" and then, he seems to be out. Sort of.
"Any word on what they sent to us, Shakes?" Clearly, Leyla is not in the mood to gape in awe at the temple, but she is interested in the people milling about. Thankfully, she's got any easier job than most. Or not, but she's at least trying to stay focused. The raptor settles into an easy flight pattern, doing a fly-by of the temple to get as many images as possible. And to get a good look at the people milling there. And all the while still trying to head towards the top of the Falls.
"Right," Andrea says, reaching over to get the medkit. Pulling out something that might work, she leans in to talk to Wade when he says… crazy stuff? It is then that she sees the rash creeping up his neck. "GodsDAMNIT!" she growls, his hand going to her forehead and wincing at his fever. She looks around. "He has the the plague, and its bad. Frak a virgin goddess, if this doesn't kill him, I swear that -I- will…"
As they go tearing up on the approach, Vandenberg's eyes nearly bug out. She's straining against the straps and sweeping the courtyard. "Holy frakkin shit," she breathes. "Oh my Gods!" She tracks the courtyard as they blow past, the binoculars are lowered to her chest and she stares at Leyla. "Nobody canceled the war, right? Like, we're still trying to kill each other? I didn't, you know, miss anything while I was in Sickbay? Shakes??" Vandenberg wheels in her seat as much as she can. "Lieutenant, tell me you saw that! Tell me you got pictures! I feel like my brain just exploded." She turns back to Leyla, then. "El-tee? Big party. Lots of people. Cylons were playing with kids. Brothers in robes were yakkin with a frakkin eleven! Another guy was draggin one off like he was meanin to shag her! I mean, freaking Centurions got a kid on its shoulders!" She seems utterly stunned, almost afraid to smile.
Wheeze. Sofia peeps up after a bit, whispering something. She remembers Eleven and … a headtilt. "Hey … um, there's a place called Lampridis Falls somewhere in the Sacred Scrolls. Granted, maybe it's because the travel guide guy just liked it or took a religious name but-" Miss Eleven! She straightens at the news and blinks. People partying and getting along. Sofia has to stifle a smile too. It's something she might like. Yeah.
Coming back to, Solstice lets out a soft sound, "Yeah, it's a small file, Sweet Pea. Something partitioned off that is not going to harm us. At least for now. But I can't access it." She reports, "It's in a secondary storage system…." With the marine tossing comments to her and a sick Wade, she turns a little, calm as ever. "It will be fine, I got them yes. I didn't miss it." She intones sharply. No indeed, she hadn't and she shivers a little, trying to keep herself focused for her pilot and for the rest of them as well.
Sawyer can't press any further forward than she is, but it looks as if she wants to climb over Leyla's chair. Vandenberg's play by play of the scene Sawyer herself can't quite make out without the aid of binoculars makes her smile slightly and just shake her head. "The temple was built long before this place even had a name. If rumor of it is true, there may be something beneath the temple. Like catacombs. Maybe…maybe people were able to flock down in them during the holocaust. Maybe after all this time they survived but…the others…" It's something Sawyer can't explain. The others, being those of Cylon nature. At the news of Wade being sick, she forces her eyes from the viewport. "If everyone else stays in their suits, the seal should prevent…" She stops herself short. What hope is there of that. "We need to get him back. He looks…really bad. He needs medical attention." Not to mention the words he just spouted are unsettling.
"Sweet Pea!" Andrea calls forward. "I don't care if the Toasters are having a 'sorry for Armaggedon' party! Unless there is a fully functional Colonial Hospital down there, we have to get back! NOW! I'm not losing Drips!"
"Whomever let him on this ship is going to spend the next week in the brig for dereliction of duty." Leyla might not be anything more than a Lieutenant, but she sure as hell is going to make sure someone pays for interfering with her recon mission. Not to mention putting Wade's life in danger by allowing him to leave the Cerberus. "Shakes, signal the raiders, make sure they answer us. Let them know we are leaving, but will be coming back. They are to meet us at the same place they did when we first jumped in." The woman, despite the concern, and the people yelling at her from all sides, doesn't seem at all affected by it. She's getting the job done. The FTL is already spun up. "As soon as you recieve confirmation of message received, jump us back to the Cerberus." Leyla moves the ship into position, far enough away from the temple and the people there that the jump won't effect them.
Sawyer, begrudgingly, moves back to her seat so they can get the frak out of dodge.
"Quiet!" Shakes suddenly intones as she gets riled by the sudden slew of voices. She ignores them or tries to as she attempts to contact the Raiders as Sweet Pea wishes, "Copy, Sweet Pea." She intones. Her head lifts and she is transmitting a message to them as fingers draw over the console. "We will get back as soon as I get an answer." With that she sends the relay to the 'hostiles'. Her eyes scan over her read out and she waits for the reply before giving the green light to her pilot.
Andrea takes a long moment to look at Wade before reattaching his helmet and then jumping over to strap herself in. She urges the flight team to hurry, but only internally, while stealing glances over to Wade. Damn him, Damn him, Damn him.
The three Raiders have somehow zoomed back into formation during Leyla's brief flyover, making sure to cut their celebratory — or whimsical — smoke so as not to interfere with the reconnaissance photographs the humans are undoubtedly taking. They remain parked to the front and to the sides of the Raptor until the sudden power spike signifying an imminent FTL jump causes them to break back and upside-down toward the tremendous lake below. But not before imparting one final message, which — as the humans' eyes strain to catch each momentary flicker of Leyla's screen — serves as their acknowledgment of receipt of transmission:
'THXBAI.'