Play@YSDC

Flying over Pluto
0600 GMT - Tuesday, August 9, 2112

Captain Juliette Desjardins was piloting the Demeter on her morning patrol of the area around Styx Base. In the weeks since their arrival on Pluto, she had uncovered nothing extraordinary, and the planet seemed to be a small barren chunk of frozen methane and rock. Still, one never knew what one might find. Though it was considered to be dawn, at least as far as the base's clocks registered, Pluto was shrouded in eternal night. The stars the and other planets in the solar system were but pinpricks of light in the velvet curtain of space. From this distance, the sun appeared to be just an especially bright star. Charon, Pluto's tiny moon, was the only object in the sky large enough to see. Fortunately, the Demeter's instruments allowed her to see and navigate, scanning the entire electromagnetic spectrum, not just visible light.

Juliette flew onwards, varying her route as she always did so as to cover as much of the surface as possible. Her exploration instincts were finely honed, and she always covered new territory when she could, as she was doing now. She had a direct communications link to Ground Control, where 2nd Lieutenant Colleen Rose was keeping an eye out for her.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], please roll Spot Hidden.

As Juliette flew, an interesting rock formation off in the distance caught her eye. At first she couldn't put her finger on why it had attracted her attention, but after a longer look she realized what it was. The rocky outcropping was too regular, too symmetrical. She wasn't enough of an expert to know whether or not something like that could exist in nature; that was more Lt. Edward Barrett's area of expertise.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], you may roll Geology if you like. However, the base skill is only 1%, so you would only succeed on a roll of 1 on 1d100.

Juliette stared at the rocky landscape. Her knowledge of rocks were limited to whiskey on the rocks, and as far as she knew only manmade rocks should be so smooth
"Ground control, this is the Demeter, there seem to be an anomaly in the landscape. There is a rocky formation that seems to be too symetric in shape. It stands out when you first notice it. I'll transmit visual readings of it to you. I think this might be something for Lt. Barrett. I'm also logging the coordinates in the computer, there is something about it that makes it... slightly wrong. " She pushed some buttons, slid her hand across the screen to enhance the readings of the landscape. Silently hoping that this might be something more interresting than a mineral deposit.

"Roger that, Captain," replied Lt. Colleen Rose. "Forwarding the image to Lt. Barrett. Let me know if you discover anything further about it."

The rock formation was located about ten kilometers from Styx Base, roughly to its northeast. Juliette was currently about one kilometer west of the formation, and from here she couldn't make out any more details.

Juliette actually took a minute or two to ponder wether or not she should fly closer. She was after all on patrol, and patrolling did mean to check out anything out of the ordinary, but she was also alone on a not very heavily armed shuttle, it would be smarter to wait for result on the preliminary reading. But that again would not be true to her nature. Cursing under her breath, she mumbled to herself: " Sût Alors, It is only one way to find out wether it is a mineral deposit or not, fly closer and take a sample." She manouvered the Demeter closer with at steady hand, at her normal careless speed , scanning the area closely. Fighting the for her unfamiliar foreboding, she cheered herself up. "It might even be diamonds or something exciting. Diamonds are a girls best friend".

Juliette flew closer to the unusual rock formation, which was rather large. At first she couldn't tell anything more about it until she began to fly around it. As she circled it to the north, she saw what looked like a large cave at ground level, more than big enough for the Demeter to fit inside. She could tell by the lights on her ship that the ground sloped gently downwards inside the cave at about a fifteen degree angle, but she couldn't tell how far down it went from the outside. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the cavern seemed unusually smooth. She could actually pilot the ship into the cave. Alternatively, she could land on the flat ground outside and enter on foot. She was already wearing a vacuum suit in case she lost hull integrity, and she had a flashlight and her trusty blaster pistol attached to the suit's utility belt. The pistol wasn't as powerful as the shuttle's blaster cannon, but the ship would be much more easily detected if there was anything hostile down there. Whatever she decided to do, standard procedure would be to report her findings first.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], if you decide to land the ship outside the cave, please make a Pilot Space Fighter roll at double your effective skill due to the flat, smooth ground here. A roll of 100 will still fail.

Juliette debated with herself wether or not to report the find or go check it out. Checking it out was winning. She almost started the landing sequence, when she suddenly had second toughts. What if something did happen, who was then coming to get her? After all, she was the superbrilliant pilot. And beeing the best pilot was no good to her out of the shuttle. Reluctantly she followed protocol. "
Ground Control, this is the Demeter. I have found a cave. It is alarmingly regular in shape. My insticts tell me it would be best to check it out on foot. Permission to go outside to check out the cave?" She studied the cave closer, scanning it for movement , staying alert for any change.

"Hold on and let me find out, Captain," replied Colleen.

Adrenalin rushing through her weins, mind sharp and alert, there was one thing Juliette did not want to do. And that was to wait. And landing and walking in to that dratted thing now would to directly disobey orders, if she hadn't checked in she could have said it was just to check things out, according to the previous order. Obviously she wasn't as quick in the mind as she needed to be. Maybe that was the reason she had stopped. She felt her mind lagging, not beeing up to speed. Well she knew a way to remedy that. When she got permission to land the Demeter she could fix that problem.

After a minute or so, Lt. Colleen Rose came back on the line. "Captain, this is Ground Control," she said. "Permission has been granted."

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], please roll Pilot Space Fighter, at double your effective skill. This means that you will only fail on a roll of 100. Invisible Castle has been having problems, so you may use another dice roller or physical dice, or I can roll for you if you prefer.

"Roger that ground control. Initiating landing procedure." Juliette had already chosen the spot for landing, she started flicking switches, touching screens, adrenalin rushing and with a smile on her face she commenced landing the Demeter. "Finally," she said to herself mimicing the voice-over of the promos for the unification. "Something worthy the greatest pilot in the universe!"

OOC,Could you please roll for me

Juliette picked out a fairly flat stretch of ground not far from the tunnel and set down the Demeter. It was a bit of a rough, bumpy landing, but she managed all right.

OOC,I rolled an 87, which succeeds thanks to your doubled skill.

Cursing herself, for landing like an amateur, she scanned the area for movement and lifeforms, once more. She was a pilot not a fighter, and did not need to meet a hostile situation outside her protective hull. She expected no movement, and while she waited she opened her helmet, picked out a little something from one of the suits pockets and put it in her mouth. "For safety precaution," she said to herself. She closed her helmet and started to get up to go for the airlock, but had second thoughts. She locked down the controls with a safetycode, and giggled to herself, as if anything could ever enter the Demeter to steal it. beeing in a good mood, she stood up and walked over to the airlock. The checking of her suit and equipment was automatized after years of practise, and her mind was more concerned about whether or not she believed there to be anything in the cavern, and how careful an approach she should make.

Juliette emerged from the airlock onto the rocky surface of Pluto. Out here, gravity was minimal, about 1/15 of that of Earth. She wouldn't be able to launch herself into orbit without her spacecraft, but it would be possible to leap up quite high. Of course, the descent would be very dangerous and could easily result in injury - not to mention breaching one's spacesuit. Ahead of her the cavern loomed uninvitingly. For now she would be able to patch her suit's radio through the ship's communications, but once she got underground she would likely lose the signal.

"Here goes nothing" she thought to herself. She skipped in small jumps, as they had trained so often in bootcamp. "A small step for man, a giant step for mankind," she whispered to herself as she skippedyfloated towards the opening. She was imagining all kinds of stuff inside, but she ezpected only an open cavity with minerals in it.

Juliette knew of course that she hadn't been the first to set foot on Pluto's surface. The crew of the Persephone had done so last year. It was a shame they hadn't made it back to Earth. She bounced across the featureless ground towards the cave.

"Captain Desjardins, this is Mission Control," Lt. Colleen Rose said on her radio as she reached the entrance to the tunnel. "Lt. Barrett reports that the rock formation has clearly been altered by an intelligent life form of some sort. He advises you to exercise caution." Indeed, the sloping tunnel looked very smooth, as though it had been excavated. The beam of her flashlight didn't extend far enough for her to see the bottom from here.

"Roger, Mission Control, this is Captain Desjardin. There is a tunnel sloping downwards that look like it has been dug out. It is very regular and smooth, it goes down farther than my flashlight can reach. I suspect I will loose signal if I enter the tunnel. Should I proceed?" Feeling a bit like a character from one of the ancient science fiction films Juliette stopped to await the answer from Colleen. Earth was suddenly far away, her hearth racing, she hoped it was just adrenalin. Just the right amount adrenalin.

Listening to the pulse throbbing in her ears, Juliette took a split second desicion. And she walked carefully into the tunnel. "Curiosity killed the cat", her mother used to say. Well, luckily she was no cat. Feeling more alive than ever Juliette moved as carefully as possible, high on the trill of the possibility that something dangerous may happen.

Juliette,She is of course high on amphetamin, making bad calls her middlename

Hyped up and filled with excitement, Juliette ventured down the dark, forbidding tunnel. It went down a long, long way, with no features to break up the monotony. Even so, the prospect of what might await at the end of the passage kept her eager.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], please roll Listen.

OOC,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3196413/[/url] (I can hear the waves on the shore... snigger snigger)

Juliette felt good, she was on top of things, walking through the complete silence of outer space she could only hear her own breath, and the occasional static on the radio.

Juliette continued her descent into darkness, trepidation mixing with anticipation. Finally the tunnel bottomed out, opening up into a long, wide chamber with a flat, smooth surface. It was there that she saw the impossible.

Parked smack in the middle of this hidden underground cavern was a sight that Juliette had never expected to see: a familiar-looking spacecraft, nose pointing at the tunnel. It was the same width as the Demeter, though it was longer, capable of supporting a crew of three unlike her one-seater. With the ship in the way, she couldn't see the back of the chamber. It took her a moment to recognize the ship. It was the Persephone, the first ship to land on Pluto, believed lost months ago!

"Sacrebleu", Juliette whispered to herself. "The daughter of Demeter, I wonder if she has tasted the seeds of pomegranate yet!" She moved carefully closer to the ship. This was eery, and she sincerely hoped she was not going to meet Hades down here. She suddenly realised that she had unbuckled her blaster pistol and held it in her hand. "So much for a cool and relaxed composure", she mumbled to herself. She was highly alert as she searched the ship for any signs of damage, or any explanation to why it was down here.

Juliette circled around the starboard side of Persephone, where she knew she would find the airlock. Before she could board the ship, she caught sight of what lay beyond. At the far end of the chamber was a round sphincter-like opening that was currently closed. It was sealed by a series of wavy black plates that looked like they were supposed to iris open. Colored lights flashed on the wall next to it. But more alarming were the two alien creatures standing on either side of the exit. The one on the left was roughly man-sized, while the one on the right was no larger than a small child. They had huge, membraneous wings, antennae on their bulbous heads, and slimy webs covering their chests. From their bodies emerged several long, spindly limbs ending in pincers, and each of the creatures gripped a small, black metallic object. The smaller one began to look in her direction.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], please roll Sanity on 1d100. Sanity loss is 0/1d6, so you lose no Sanity if you succeed at your roll but 1d6 if you fail. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, you must then roll Idea. If you fail the Idea roll, you are still in control of your faculties, but if you succeed at the Idea roll then you will go temporarily insane and will no longer be in control of your actions. If you do not go insane, roll Hide.

OOC roll,sanity [url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3196973/[/url]

OOC roll,Hide [url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3196978/[/url]

As Juliette was reaching for the airlock, the smaller creature pointed at her. "Zzztop!" it commanded, its voice buzzing and monotonous. While there was no sound in a vacuum, Pluto had a thin atmosphere composed primarily of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. She couldn't breathe it, but it did allow sound to propagate. "Do not move!"

Never one to follow orders Juliette had to try for the airlock. She prayed to all the gods that she did not believe in that she might get in and find the ship capable of flying out of here. No way she was going to just surrender to aliens. And with all those tentaclethingys they looked grose.

The creatures surged forward, but Juliette was faster. She threw open the airlock, bolted inside, and slammed the door in their faces - if they had faces. Hurriedly, she cycled the airlock, repressurizing it. The readings showed that the inside of the ship actually did have a breathable atmosphere. When the pressure was equalized, she threw open the inner door and raced for the cockpit. She fired the engines into life and prepared for a cold start.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], please roll Pilot Space Transport.

OOCroll,pilot spaceship [url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3197017/[/url]

Juliette braced herself for the probably very rough start and tried simultaniously to arm the weapons and open the com channel, all as quickly and urgently as possible.

As soon as she was able to do so, Juliette expertly lifted off and sped up the tunnel, She charged up the Persephone's blaster cannon mounted in the nose and activated the comm system, though she could not get a signal until she emerged from the underground passage and into Pluto's skies. Below her, she could see where she had left the Demeter. Her comm panel lit up, indicating that she could open a channel to Styx Base.

"Mission Control, can you hear me? This is Captains Desjardin. Would you please patch me over to Colonel Patel. This is extremely urgent, I repeat, extremely urgent."
Adrenalin rushing, hearth pumping, Juliette checked fuelcells and ran a systemtest on the vessel. She had found the Persephone, now her time underground was over.

"Captain Desjardins?" replied Lt. Colleen Rose. "Patching you through now."

"This is Colonel Patel," said the stern voice of Indira Patel on the other end of the call a moment later. "Go ahead, Captain."

"I am pleased to report, that I have recovered the Persephone, Mam. I found her in a cave. I am flying her as we are speaking. I am not so pleased that I have found a cave with aliens in it, the Persephone parked outside the entrance. They're not like anything I have ever seen before, Wings and antennas and a strange bodily structure. I am sorry to say that I did not stop to chat with them, as they wanted me to. I felt it imperative that I report these findings imideately, Mam, as I was not entirely convinced that the aliens wanted me to leave the cave. Should I return to make a flyby to check if they are emerging from their underground cave? AND, by the way. They are as far as I could see climatized to the atmosphere on Pluto. Awaiting orders Colonel?"

Juliette felt like this beeing the best moment since she came to Pluto, at the same time she was reluctant to admit that she did not like the fact that they could breathe in the atmosphere, and she could not. This gave the aliens an advantage in an eventual combatsituation. Not once did it cross her soldiers brain, that aliens could be friendly. They had in her mind exterminated the crew of the Persephone, or hadn't they? Maybe Sophina could get something out of the ships computer? All this and more raced through her mind.

There was no reply for several seconds. Perhaps the colonel was stunned by the news. Then there was a voice on the other end of the channel, but it wasn't Colonel Patel. "This is General Pryce," replied the base commander. "Well done, Captain. Bring the Persephone back to the docking bay. Let's not take any unnecessary risks. We'll worry about retrieving the Demeter later. I'll give you back to Colonel Patel now. I need to go send a message to Earth."

"Yes sir,I will return Imideately sir." Juliette plotted the course towards the base and gave full throttle. She hoped she was to get to celebrate this. Not only go straight into red alert or something. She needed to get the exitement out of her body.

Juliette made a beeline for Styx Base and soon arrived at the docking module. Ground Control would need to retract the protective dome to allow her to land.

Ground control, this is captain Desjardins, aboard the Persephone, I request landing permission. You need to retract the protective dome." Juliette waited and turned the ship towards whence she came from, and scanned the area for movement, or invisible ships or little flying monsters. They had wings, the could probably fly too. Quickly she came to think about something and scanned all around her ship. They might just cling on to the ship, it wasn't as if there was any atmospheric resistance to speak of, she wouldn't notice the extra resistance. She ran the scans, and while they ran she said: "Ground control, this is Captain Desjardins, please run a scan of the outside of my ship before you lower the dome. I do not want to bring home bugs."

Juliette could see nothing unusual on the Persephone's scanners. Neither could Lt. Colleen Rose, apparently, for the dome above the docking bay retracted so that she could land.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b], please roll Pilot Space Transport, at double your effective skill. This means you will only fail on a 100.

Juliette landed the spaceship smoothly. Even though there was not to much room to spare she made it look so easy. She felt good. This was a nice day. The best so far on Pluto. She could hardly wait to get into the compound. Not beeing the modest one, she was brimming with selfappreciation.

OOC,[b]Juliette[/b] is moving to the thread linked below.

Hero's Welcome