| Observe and Report |
| Summary: | Marko is tasked with the sweep back to Sagittaron (wherein our pilot, Mouse, will be helpfully NPC'd by Sofia). |
| Date: | 12 Aug 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Clear; Blinders Off; A Naked Planet Guide to Sagittaron |
| Players: |
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| Ready Room - Deck 7 - Battlestar Cerberus |
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| With the hatches at the rear of the room, the walkways on both sides slope down towards the dais at the front of the room. The stadium seating forms a partial semi-circle around the speaking podium and provides enough seats for all three hundred members of the Air Wing. The walls are adorned with the patches of each squadron aboard and their mottos stenciled in white lettering above each one. Behind the podium is a set of large LCD screens that can display any matter of material from reconnaissance to maps to gun camera footage. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #167 |
Cidra has summoned one Lieutenant Junior Grade Marko Scaurus and the pilot he'll be back-seating for to the Ready Room, for some preliminaries on their imminent jaunt to Sagittaron. She stands at the podium now, fiddling with the display controls for the LCD screen. It's already got an image of the planet up. A view from space at the moment, filled with debris, likely taken after the Colonials' last encounter with the Cylons there. Before the destruction of the enemy research station.
Humming. With a lollipop in hand, Mara the NPC Pilot of doom enters. Although, politely she tucks the lolli into her pocket. She's a rather average sort - of average height, plain brown nearly mousy hair, wide, alert eyes. One suspects mice might infest her family tree as her movements are thoughtful, careful - but quick when they happen. She stops humming too. There's a polite smile for the two. "Sirs," She nods and settles in for her briefing.
"Major." Marko says as he enters the Briefing Room, pausing to give a quick salute before taking his pencil out of its holder and taking a seat. The young ECO uses an oversized rubber eraser to clear off just enough room for scribbling. "So, Saggitaron, sir?" he inquires, peering at the imagery. The young man gives a long, sliding whistle at the sight of so much debris. "Ouch…this isn't going to be pretty."
"Flasher. Mouse." The latter callsign apparently belonging to Mara the Pilot. Those are the greetings Cidra gives to the pair of them. "You have received your briefing packets. As you have been made aware, you are two of those scheduled to fly our return reconnaissance missions to the outer colonies. Your target…" A pause, so she can dramatically point her laser-pointer at the screen. "…is indeed Sagittaron. Good eyes, Scaurus. Hope they serve you that well in atmosphere. Sit, please."
Marko takes a seat as offered and settles in. "Recon? We're heading back there?" he asks, incredulous. "Didn't think there was anything left there worth having."
Mouse smiles and lives her head. She nods. She'll take a seat too. One might expect the kid to twitch, squeak and bolt into the nearest closet. But Mara is still, listening quiet and wide-eyed. She blinks at the mention of Sagittaron. She nods. "Wasn't Sagittaron one of the lighter ones hit? There might be something…" She offers quietly, before falling silent.
"Parts of it were hit harder than others, judging from our initial post-attack recon efforts," Cidra replies. She presses a few buttons on the controls to switch up the photos. Grainy pictures taken via Raptor now, still from space but with more surface detail, those post-attack pictures she was referring to. "The heavy industry on the northern continent was hit heavily during the strikes and contributed to a large firestorms that swept the whole landmass." Pretty grim, that. "However…" Click. "…the southern continent was not hit as heavily, though the population centers received strikes that were fairly uniform with what was seen on most of the other colonies. The damage was similar to that observed on Aerilon and Gemenon, planets we also intend to revisit. Incredibly selective. Heavy nuclear strikes in concentrated areas, mostly urban centers in Sagittaron's case. While outside these areas, the hits were not particularly hard."
Marko starts scribbling down notes in some kind of weird, home-grown shorthand. "Yes, sir. I see what you're talking about." he says, nodding. "But isn't most of that farmland or scrub?" he inquires curiously. "What is it we're looking for, sir?" he adds. "Do you think there's botannicals that can be salvaged?"
Hmmm. Mouse is attentive. She might just be glued to the chair for how still she is. Not even a whisker-twitch. She peeeeeers at the pictures and frowns, but there's some nodding. She hms softly. Aerilon and Gemenon, more nodding. "I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some healthy plant life. I imagine human survivors would be a bonus too," Intel and more people. "But um, I'm being quiet now." And so she is.
"There are two objectives," Cidra says. "The first, and the simplest. We scored probably the only *real* victory we can name against the Cylons since all this began when we took our their research base - and eight of their basestars - over Sagittaron's orbit. Command does want to see if they have regrouped, or not, and in what manner they are rebuilding their presence on the planet. This, as I did say, is reasonably simple and nothing you have not done before in similar missions. Full orbital fly-over, do your best to remain undetected, record what you find for a full and updated report. The second objective…" A short nod to Mouse. And the faintest of smiles. "You have hit upon it, Lieutenant."
"Is this a confirmed contact or just a reasonable suspicion, sir?" Marko asks, cocking his head to the side a little and peering at the maps as he makes more notes. "The first part, not a problem, sir." he smiles, nodding. "Been there, done that." he notes with another smile, as it was Cidra who was flying that particular mission. "The second part…depends on what we're meant to do. Just look and make contact, or retrieve?"
Mouse is a good audience. That's for sure. She seems pleased remembering the victory. She nods, slowly. "I bet though if there's people they probably aren't running around outside or sending up smoke signals," She wrinkles her nose. Not a wise thing to draw attention when Cylons are probably roving about. She smiles back at Cidra. yay! She nods at Marko, as he asks questions she wanted to.
"No initial retrieval," Cidra replies to Marko. Firmly. "We have no idea if we shall find anything at all down there, Cylon or human. Or how much shall be required to deal with…whatever is discovered. Orders shall be to look only. Eyes out for electronic heat signatures or visual evidence suggestive of concentrated human presence. Monitor planet wireless frequencies for human activity, though maintain radio silence yourselves. This will involve getting lower in atmosphere than we have done anywhere except Leonis for visual spotting and photography. It will some tricky flying, and you shall have to be prompt on the jump drive to RTB if you are spotted by the Cylons. Remember. Gather information. If we find something suggestive that retrieval is possible…we shall plan for it and return in proper force."
"Roger that, sir." Marko replies, breathing a sight of relief both at the orders and how firm Cidra is that they are to follow them. A rescue mission could get _hairy_ and get there fast. "Sounds like quite a party." he notes. "Think you're up for it, Mouse?" he asks the LTJG with a grin.
"Roger that, sir." Marko replies, breathing a sight of relief both at the orders and how firm Cidra is that they are to follow them. A rescue mission could get _hairy_ and get there fast. "Sounds like quite a party." he notes. "Think you're up for it, Mouse?" he asks the JG with a grin.
That's a relief. Getting in close might be dicey. "Got it sir," Mouse seems to accept this plan. She frowns a little at the lower in atmosphere part, biting her lower lip. "Yes sir. I will do my best," She promises and smiles weakly. Confidence doesn't seem to be her nickname. But the darting away to safety might be right up her tree.
"You will get it done, Lieutenant. Your best I expect," Cidra replies, a little firmly again, to young Mouse. She flips through some more photographs. She's clearly not done with the geography portion of this show. Though before she goes on she does add with a long look to Marko, "Lieutenant Scaurus, you will be in command of the Raptor on this particular mission. Keep your mind to your objectives but if you judge the situation too dicey to remain, do not hesitate to jump out of there. Reconnaissance does little good if the information is never received. Understood?"
Mouse nods. "Yes sir," She replies, promising. It's about as bold as she gets. She does watch attentively, peering here and there. Got it… look at that. Hmmm. Her face is rather expressive at least. She looks to Marko.
"Yes, sir." Marko replies, voice all business now. "Things get hot, we are _out_ of there." he says, nodding his full agreement. "Getting captured by the Cylons would really screw up my wedding plans, after all." he smiles. "Don't sweat it, Mouse. Maybe we should do a couple practice hops in the sims before we take off?" he suggests. "Major, do we have enough Intel to cook up a reasonable scenario?"
"That you should. There are a few simulation programs that incorporate combat flying and scouting using Sagittaron space in our databanks already, actually," Cidra replies. Well, the place was a hot-bed of insurgency prior to the nuking of the Colonies. "I have marked up our maps with locations you should pay more attention in searching for signs of human presence on as well. I would advise concentrating on the planet's southern continent, which did suffer less catastrophic destruction. The mountains here…" Click click. "…and the coastline…" Click. "…are locations that could have drawn those fleeing from the harder-hit areas. Oh, and also." Click. Over the equatorial region now. "This is called the Jharkhand Basin." She's probably mangling the pronunciation of that. Her accent does funny things even to Colonial Standard names. All bets are off for other languages. "Reportedly it served as a training ground for anti-Colonial groups prior to the Cylon attacks." Insurgents. "More to the point, there were bunkers already established there and the local population might have known it as a trusted spot. Give it as close a look as you can."
A little nod. "Sounds good," Mouse smiles. "I'll practice a little bit," She promises. Not TOO much, lest she wear herself out. She doesn't seem to react too much to it though. "Oh? Thank you," She nods again and considers the regions shown to her. Hmmm. Squint. "Yes sir. Jharkand Basin," She repeats. Her own voice doesn't really reflect any sort of accent. Likely some unambitious Caprican hoping to see the Colonies.
"Sounds good, sir." Marko says, scribbling down a few more notes as Cidra displays areas of potential interest. "Jharkand Basin…" he repeats, thoughtfully. "Sir, would it be breaking security to ask Lieutenant Apostolos about the Basin?" he inquires. "I don't have to get into specifics." he adds quickly. "Just see if she knows anything about it. Might help."
"Much of the information I am using as a guide for this I *obtained* from Ensign Apostolos," Cidra says. "As well as Captain Sitka and the other Sagittarons on board. She has a complete understanding of what we are engaged in. Our libraries are useful to an extent, but dry information has blind spots that are useful to supplement with the personal. Particularly in regards to certain colonies where gathering intelligence prior to the attacks was…challenging." She understates. "Anyhow, speak with her as you will."
Mouse is quiet, listening. She smiles at the discussion of the Sagittarons. "I might stop by and see her, sir," She offers quietly. Although Mouse doesn't seem to grasp it much. Not the sort to wallow in history perhaps. "Thank you." Nod.
Marko chuckles softly and shakes his head a little. "Heh, okay, sir, I guess I should've seen that coming." Marko replies. "So how'd you pry information about Jharkand Basin out of a Saggitarron, sir?" he asks, arcing an eyebrow. "Cause even with the current situation, I can't imagine they were in a big hurry to talk about it."
Mouse interjects quietly, "It makes sense if you consider that it is a chance we may end up making a visit to their home. If you could, you would probably want to see your home one last time…"
"They sworn officers of the Fleet, Scaurus. Assistance in planning efforts was requested and rendered," Cidra replies to Marko. If she is at all surprised to have been granted information about this location, she doesn't show it. But, then, she doesn't tend to show much. "Anyhow, if we are to make any serious forays back to the colonies to retrieve what humans might remain, we shall need to concentrate any rescue efforts as much as possible. This is as prime a location to search as any."
"Yes, sir." Marko replies, going back to business as he senses Cidra's patience with such jocularity fraying subtly around the edges. "You're probably right, too, Major." he adds. "If there were a place on that planet to hole up after that kind of attack, and I were close enough to it, that's where I'd go." he adds, then frowns a little. "And the first place I'd want to send Centurions into if I were a Cylon commander and knew about it." he muses, wincing a little.
Mouse is just -quiet-. Is there a hole she might dart back into? Some cheese? She notes quietly, "Well. I suppose we'll find out. No sense in assuming." At least there's some trace of wisdom. "Eyes open, backside covered and all that," There's a faint hint of worry at the idea of bumbling into something particularly nasty. "We'll give it our all, for the Sagittarons on board and for the people there. Whatever happened or will happen," Sure, they rebelled but no one deserves frakking nukes and Cylons. No one. "I suspect it's just important we know. I don't have any more questions for now, but I'll be sure to practice a little." Nod.
"Excellent," Cidra says with a little nod to Mouse. "Anything further, I shall be more than available for questions up until you depart tomorrow. Raptor is scheduled to go out at Twenty-One Hundred hours. The maps here are available for your study in your briefing packets and here as you require them. I look forward to seeing what you find. As I did mention, we have other Raptors slated to go out for preliminary recons of some of the other colonies as well. Aerilon, Gemenon, which were also lightly hit. And the colonel is interested in seeing how the Cylons have regrouped around Virgon as well, as we have paid the ship 'graveyard' there much attention. Though for that poor planet I do not hope we shall find much in the way of human presence."
Marko nods silently at Cidra's assessment of Virgon. "Yes, sir. That poor world's a _cinder_." he says softly. "But," he adds, "we will certainly do our very best to see what Saggitaron's got on offer." he adds in a more cheerful tone as he stows his pencil and closes his notebook. "Dismissed, Major?"
Mouse pauses, "I wonder why they didn't really hit Caprica too hard." Moues has to admit. She shrugs it off after a second though. "There's some relief knowing they were more lightly hit. Thouugh, poor Virgon." Frown. She nods. She seems to agree on doing their best. "Thank you, sir," She looks over the packets, thoughtful.
"Dismissed," Cidra affirms, flicking off the screens as they conclude. "Clear eyes and steady hands. Good hunting out there. We shall see what you shall find." No pressure. Except, a lot of pressure.
Marko stands to attention, snagging his briefing packet with his off-hand and snaps off a salute. "Yes, sir." he says firmly, looking eager to get back to doing the work he was chosen for. Poor bastard actually looks like he's looking forward to it.
Mouse does the same, standing neatly and saluting. "Yes sir," She nods. She carefully collects her packet. She doesn't seem quite as eager about the work. Pressure. Pressurepressurepressure. Yikes. But there's no open fear, just a quiet acceptance and a forward glance. Ever onward. She smiles politely though and will wander off to read and practice before hitting the rack.
Cidra straightens, returns salutes, and lets the jigs be on their way.