trans_9 | Mission 01 - Recovery: Group 6

For the moment Mal was not approaching this place any closer. He might be all for a good fight every once and a while, but the fact that the ship had said there weren't no folk living in these parts he was more than a little hesitant to approach it with the group. If Zoe and Jayne had been there he would have had no problem waltzing right on in to the place and poking about. This was a different story all together.

Casting the group a glance over his shoulder he tried not to frown. "Well we got a couple of options. Either we can go around, which may or may not be quite a right smart idea, or, we can go see what's up ahead and see if they might have seen the pod. Which... may or may not be quite a right smart idea either."

Did someone call for something stupid to be done?

"I can go on up ahead and check it out. I'm pretty good at getting myself out of trouble if there is any."

Soundwave dropped his shoulders a bit, seeing the unusual architecture. He glanced at Mal, waiting a bit for some of his orders. Quietly, he offered. "I can send Laserbeak in for a view from the skies."

And the condor squawked, transforming to his avian mode from his electric guitar mode.

Random cackled maniacally.
"Ve can fly, if you vant!" he offered, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement. The triplechanger appeared to be unusually energetic.

Mal glanced from the Prince to the really large talking robots. If the group got within any closer range they might as well be dancing a jig while juggling dishes. They were gonna be seen if anyone was living there. And already havin' a crazy robot jumping about like that as well wasn't going to do them any good if folk were living there and not the sort to like strangers.

Nodding to Soundwave the Browncoat spoke again. "Best thing will be to get aerial recon so not to get on own pìgus sent to the hot place before we can get that pod." With a glance at the others he gave a slight wave of a hand toward whatever it was ahead of them. "See if he can get shots of whatever is in those structures and ways around them. We'll go from there."

"Kaylee- what's the scanner say in regard to where those possible buildin's are at and the pod?" His mechanic took to any kind of machine like a fish to water. If anyone could figure out how to use it it would be her.

Wednesday's 'voice' comes over the comm rings.

«Be careful, everyone. The tracks I'm seeing suggest much larger creatures than I'd normally expect in this terrain. Certainly not normal wildlife.»

It is certainly getting rather interesting. Soundwave nodded in light of the information transmitted through their commlinks, before waiting for any more orders from Mal. He had ordered Laserbeak to ready itself and wait for the signal as it positioned itself to face the skies.

"Well, I dunno if I'm readin' this right," Kaylee says slowly, pursing her lips and making faces at the scanner. It's odd, doesn't read quite right in her head, but she's still getting the hang of it. "But if I am, pod should be smack in the middle, straight ahead."

She looks up at the signs of civilization. "Best be careful, Cap'n, if there are big things. I can't see anything on the scanner, but that don't mean much."

Without hesitation, Mal unsnapped the strap holding his pistol in its holster in light of the whole 'not normal wildlife' message. It's just what he wouldn't want happen- some wild bèn tiānshēng de yìduī ròu animal making trouble for them. "All right.. y'all keep an extra eye open for.. anything.. that ain't normal-er for 'round here an' no strayin' from the group."

Looking back to Soundwave he nodded his head for Laserbeak to be sent off to investigate. "If that pod's in the city see if he can pinpoint where."

Soundwave nodded and looked at his avian--before it suddenly swooped to the skies, squawking before slowly disappearing to the horizon where the said civilization is. And all they need to do is wait. He stood, watching over to where the condor disappeared to.

Elle appeared to have landed herself on Team Giant Robot. She watched them curiously before the report of oversized wildlife caught her attention.

Her giddy suggestion about space dinosaurs while they were landing was the first thing that popped into her head, but Elle acknowledged (with resignation) that most large animals tended to be more like giraffes than a T-Rex.

It is civilization. It's a city, rather advanced--at least comparitively.

On a good day, the city might have looked like this. Weather control and defense grids active, giant mech patrolling the bay for defense.

As it stands, despite some of the lights still being on in the city, near-miraculously, whole grids have flickered out, making it look like the urban equivalent of some dilapidated Christmas tree. In the bay, the mech are slumped over, dead. A small bridge connects where they're standing to the city in the bay. It seems mostly intact and it's not really that out of the way to go through.

It likely reminds Mal and Kaylee of another place. Where everything just...stopped.

"Miranda."

It was the thing that popped out of Mal's mouth as he looked at the readings. There weren't bodies laying about like on the planet that he could tell but those giant robot things weren't something that settled well with him. Some of the lights were still on which meant a possibility of civilized folk living there. Or something else.

Glancing back to the others in the group, especially Kaylee (if she had come from that time as well) giving them each a careful study. "All right. Pod is in that city some wheres right? I want all th' non-combs in th' middle. Everyone else on point- I got a feelin' this ain't no milk run any longer."

Robots? Primus, at this kind of planet too? Soundwave silently expelled some heat from his intakes, still waiting for his condor to swoop by and give out some information as to where the pod is. And right on time, Laserbeak returned and squawked, immediately setting itself down on Soundwave's shoulder before acoustically transferring the information. Soundwave briefly paused. "Ready, Mal." He watched the other, before Laserbeak transformed back to the electric guitar.

Ahahahaaaaa I vanna poke zem! Random informed his siblings happily, when he saw the giant deactivated robots.
Icy kept a lookout for big nasty things that were likely to eat him, reined Random in and surveyed the city.
"I vunder vhat happened?" he mused. "In any case, perhaps ve should not split up. Zis place was probably vell civilised, so something must haff happened. Something big."

The city had used to have weather control, before...whatever happened. But the machinery was damaged now, either out of disrepair or for some other reason. High above the crew mates' heads, angry black clouds collided with each other, grumbling and growling to themselves.

One cloud very quickly lost patience with the situation and sent a thick bolt of lightning plunging into the city. The other clouds seemed to think that was a good idea, and did the same.

Yeah. Big bolts of lightning with two giant metal walking buckets of bolts was.. Mal didn't even want to think of it. Seriously? Had he pissed someone off in a past life? Watching the storm pattern for a good few minutes he looked back at his ever quiet group. It wasn't the War but, well, right now it sure as Hell felt like it. "All right. That sorta throws a few kinks into the plan." Looking back at Soundwave and the crazy one, Mal frowned. "Think we should wait it out a few minutes longer and see if that storm passes. Else we may be making a dash to the city and hopin' to find a way to get about without you two getting your hardware fried."

"Zere haff been vorse storms zan zis vun," Blitzwing said distantly, as if from far away. His optics were focused on the storm. "Ve vill be fine, I believe."

Thunder... well, that is kind of reminiscent to a certain Autobot leader with the Hammer imbued with the power to call thunder. He watched the distance, ridges furrowing for a moment before looking at Mal and Blitzwing. "The worst storms--that were impossible to avoid. Blitzwing is right. Maybe we can handle this... hypothetically speaking.." He eyed Laserbeak before strumming a few notes and thinking to himself.

Although the lightning was startling, Kaylee was still poking and prodding at the scanner, tweaking what settings she could, just trying to get a feel for it. That was the important part, after all - if they could figure out how to read it properly, they could be a lot more prepared.

And then, finally, it just... made sense. She got it. And that was exactly what she needed. "Got it! Cap'n, I figured this thing out!" She trots over to him, and holds out the scanner. "Just got a different notation system, that's all. See, here? Got sorta habitat control stations there and there, outside the city, and there's probably more further off, they just ain't workin' right. City's just a normal city, but there ain't no life signs or nothin'. No people."

Kaylee is proud of herself. Oh yeah.

No signs of life? "Yeah, but what about-" She waved her hand at the mechs. "Those things? What if they've got some sorta alarm system?" Robots still made her a little antsy (their two mechanical comrades included), and she had difficulty believing they weren't going to lurch out of the bay after them like some kind of technozombies.

The storm was making her anxious as well. Generating electricity was a piece of cake, but redirecting it was a little harder for her. She glanced up, cringing a little. Though Elle was confident in her ability to protect herself, she was feeling a little unsure about how well she could protect the rest of the team, and two of them being large metal goliaths was not helping.

Biting her lip and letting herself lag a little to the back of the group, she brought a buzz of electricity to her fingertips, just in case.

Slowly a sly sort of smile started to cross Mal's face. "I think we can take 'em." Checking his pistol he motioned toward the city with the raise of his chin. "Soundwave, Blitz- take the front and lead us in. If the lightnin' is gonna come lookin for us I'd rather have you two get in first. Kaylee, you and the others stay behind me. Elle? You take up the rear." Well she wanted to be back a little anyway so..

Glancing down at the scanner he nodded his head. "You tell us where and when we need to be moving. I want us in and out as fast as we can.. and if we got a moment see what else is goin on here." Handing the scanner back to his mechanic he raised his right hand and motion forward. "Let's move."

The city is...dead. Lights flickering here and there, as the long-running power grids start to go out. There are flying cars and other forms of short-range air transport that seem to have crashed out of the air, into holographic store-fronts, still flickering in some places in the middle of transactions, where the power is still on.

They pass an high-tech abandoned zoo--were they to take a look at the exhibits, they might see placards for some of the creatures that've attacked their comrades, a Pythagian Acid Mass, rhino-like Bullettinos, flying Mandrakian jellyfish...

None of those creatures actually belonged in this place. They merely escape and managed to thrive in man's absence.

The crashes get more and more prevalent, the closer they get to the city's main transport hub. As if...

As if they were evacuating.

In fact, at the hub, they'll see docks for several larger ships--now empty, as if those ships are gone.

But here, they'll also see the most disturbing sight of all.

See, the people who had once lived here--their clothes were synthetic. They didn't degrade quickly. And in transport seats, in piles through the transport hub, there are little clumps, flatted by wind and rain, starting to grow mold, but still recognizable.

Fabric.

Clothes.

As if the people just...disappeared, and their clothes just collapsed to the ground without them in them anymore.

"By ze Allspark..."
Blitzwing trailed off as he surveyed the transport hub. Now he knew that something big had happened, and he'd seen enough evacuations to know what they looked like even if the ones he'd seen were much bigger.
The abandoned city stirs faint memories; flickering, ruined remnants overlapping with the city he used to know in its glory days, shining brightly still in the back of his processor.
"Reminds me of Cybertron," he muttered to himself, and with that he snapped out of his nostalgia trip and proceeded to analyse what he could see in a more professional manner.

Soundwave's optics flickered in utter shock, watching the place in shielded dismay. If he can, he can still try and power up the city with the acoustic power, but it might probably waste time and energy.. he watched Blitzwing with careful optics beneath his visor before going back to scrutinize the city. Visor mechanics filtered and zoomed in specific locations, making him able to decipher things.

Mal... well... Mal stood in the middle of the mess with the flatest of expressions upon his face. Anger was bubbling up around the edges, this was evident by the way his nose flared as he let out a held breath. It was to much like Miranda.

They just laid down.. they never lay down, he heard River's voice in the back of his mind and for once he was thankful the Reader wasn't there. Even if she would have known, the fear in her that day was overwhelming.

Blue eyes flickered about before he holstered his pistol, kneeling down and picking up one of the pieces of clothing. Mold. It had been there for quite some time possibly. "Before we leave I wanna take one of these back. See if the scientific sorts on the ship can determine what just caused.."

Nothing about this settled right with him. Nothing. "Kaylee? Which direction is the pod?" Surveying the chaos about them the Captain swallowed hard. Mal had never been a praying man since the war. But for once he asked a little favor of God to keep the others safe. While waiting for her to read the scanner he fiddled with the com ring before it buzzed to life. "This is Six Lead- we've found the remains of some sorta city.. weather control devices and everything. Looks like everyone just, I don't know. Vanished. Might be some nasties out there to so keep y'alls eyes open. Anyone gotta pod status report?"

Edited 2009-05-31 01:43 (UTC)

Kaylee's not nearly as freaked out as Mal - if she'd been to Miranda, she'd probably be stuck to his side like glue. As it is, she's just following very closely, and keeping an eye on the scanner.

"Um... North-Northwest," she says after a moment of double-checking. And then she points. "That way. Gotta go past the hangar."

Worf says: «Understood. We'll keep you posted.»

Chief says: « This is Five Lead. We may have found the reason for the empty city. There's some kind of bomb out here. Current theory is nanites. Possibly targeted all humans. No sign of them, if any are left they've most likely deteriorated and are not a threat. Have not reached the pod, but we're close. »

Nightwing chimes in next. « This is Three Lead. That bomb would explain why there's signs of sentient life but not any actual life. And we actually already ran into at least one nasty, but we'll keep our eyes out for more. Hopefully, you're right about the nanites or whatever it was, Five lead.»

That made Mal's stomach turn. Sure during the War he had heard stories of the Alliance using special chemicals and things to take out whole units of Independent soldiers or towns who supported them. If this was something like that..

Looking back to the group he nodded toward Kaylee. "All right. Stay close to me and lead the way. All of you stay on guard and if you see anything moving that ain't supposed to be moving say somethin." With a nod of his head he motioned for Kaylee to start leading them toward the pod.

It seems Mal looked more stoned and ready for this battle than ever. He'd guess that the conversation they made fully made the organic aware. Soundwave nodded and was on his best guard. Laserbeak was on his electric guitar-mode, being clutched by Soundwave firmly as they start to advance.

Kaylee swallowed nervously and glanced around. This place was making her more nervous by the moment. But Mal was here, and they would be safe... wouldn't they?

"Um, it... it looks like it's this way," she said, more than a little nervous, and headed in the direction the signal was coming from. Deeper into the city, past the hanger full of rusting mechanical.... things. She was pretty sure they weren't working, but you can never be sure.

"Fun," Icy muttered to himself. His cannons slid down onto his shoulders with a click.
His one good optic roved around, observing the surroundings as they went deeper into the city.

"Noone. Touch. Anything." Mal spoke in a very even tone, the Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds tone as Zoe would have called it... or the Captain Tightpants. He wasn't going to be to damned picky at the current moment. "We get the pod.. we get back to the ship. Dong ma?"

Of course he didn't look back to anyone as the group moved along. Mal was trying his best to hurry them, keep an eye out, and make sure noone did anything stupid. It was just what he needed- someone getting the idea to be a big damned hero.

"How much longer, Kaylee?"

They then get a call on the comms from Master Chief:

<< This is Five Lead. We have mission accomplished. Heading back to the Obs Deck to await dustoff. >>

Shortly after that, they get a call from Cybil:

«This is One Lead. Mission accomplished. Also heading back to Obs. Team 3, just an idea, but if you have any, one of you Bat-folk ought to pop a tracking device on your pod. It'd be interesting to see where these go, provided yours doesn't self-destruct like ours just did. Bennett out.»

"It looks like it's about... sixty yards thattaway," Kaylee says pointing ahead of them and slightly to the left. "Should be right around the corner there."

Worf gets on the rings.

«This is team Four. We have accomplished our mission and are heading back to the Obs Deck. Worf out.»

Soundwave looked at Kaylee before starting to advance first head, with a cool and calm posture, before looking at the area. Even Laserbeak was nestled, perfectly calm, in his hands.

Sure enough, just as Kaylee had said, the pod lay just around the next corner. It appeared to be undamaged, although the same could not be said for the pavement surrounding it. The pod rested in a small crater of cracked road and sidewalk, damaged by the impact.

Looking inside, one will find a flashing button.

Mal stood at the edge of the crater. It was a weird looking pod but it was what they had been sent to find. Looking sideling left and right at his team the Captain didn't say a word as he started down into the crater half sliding as he went while trying to keep his balance. All he had to do was press a button right? It sounded simple enough.

Glancing the pod over he chuckled slightly looking back up at the others before looking back to it. "Piece of cake.." then he pressed the button.

PRES BUTAN!
Random whined with irritating frequency in the back of their shared mind about how he wanted to press the flashing button.
Icy, on the other hand, reflexively ducked for a moment. From his experience, bad things usually happened at this point.

Mission 01 - Recovery: Group 6

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