"The wreckage of a friendly.  I think soldiers would have been less a comodity on this trip.  You're familiar with more job hazard stuff than we are.  I'm a dancer after all.  I have some emotional attachment however and I make a decent utility tool." Leo said with a smirk, his armor having retreated within his clothing after things died down in the personal fighting department.

Elsbeth looked slightly askance at Syxis, then she leaned in and seemed to agree with Leo's assessment.  "I believe," she noted rather deadpan, "that those with technical expertise would be the most useful on this search and recovery mission."  She shrugged slightly before continuing, "I and the other marines here offer only muscle that needs to be properly directed.  Your detection and directive skills will of great use, I would think."

Her piece said, the tall Praetorian straightened back up and returned her attention to the Marshal and the rest of the briefing and preparations.

A faint smile appeared on Syxis' face. Appreciation perhaps? He looked up from the PDA and observed the company he was in. A diverse bunch it was...even more diverse with him being part of it.

"OK, I'll see what I can do. Do we have anyone with medical skills with us?"

Syxis again concentrated on the data his computer came up with.

  " Our orders are to secure the sight and assist in recovering Prometheus and any surviving crewmen." The leader of the hearth Guard spoke up " The TAE high command has issued an arrest warrant for Prometheus and his crew though. seems a few days ago he tore out of earth orbit and burned hard and fast for parts unknown."
  "They want us to hold the area till they can free up a technical team to land. A lot of search and rescue going on up there right now."

" OOC: Prometheus controls the entire earth system defense grid...and earth is over one months hard burn away through hyperspace. The comment about him leaving earth three days ago seems .... implausible."

T'risa looked at the Hearth guard with a glint of amusement in her eyes "needless to say we're going to ignore the arrest warrant. If we find Prometheus we'll see if he can operate as our ships core. I'll donate the ship to him and we can work of that." before she spoke out loud. "Everyone should feel free to wear armour.There might be a point beyond which we cannot use it. So be prepared to go without." She looked around making sure the hearthguard was out of hearing before moving closer to Leo. "You have an affinity with Prometheus. Is there any way you can speed our search so we get to him before them?"

"Perhaps.  We've met before... I'll piggyback on someone's armor for now, so that I can focus on that contact.  I can meditate into a Dreaming while awake... then I'll call to him.  We'll see what I get.  You're welcome to be in there for the conversation if you don't think being carried by someone would arouse too much of the guards' suspicions.  I'm not keen on arrest warrants either, but I do think that given the circumstances, earth command will issue a pardon to a hero of yet another war." That said the young blue dancer took a single slow breath and his eyes rolled gently in his head as he covered his face with his mask again.  "You there old friend?" he muttered softly.

At the talk of ignoring the arrest warrant the Valkiir broke into a deep chuckle and shook his head." Prob'ly why were here instead of a TAE strike group."
  "  Ol' Major K'drahda got demoted, sentenced to twenty years hard labor, pardoned, reinstated,promoted, and Awarded the Spear of Odin in the same day....hell they did it all in the same courtroom."
  And there is "Balki" here, what that Ol witch have to say after Cutters rift? Never seen a general threaten to shoot someone,slpa them with a inciting mutiny charge, then Propose in the same breath."

  "What can I say I have that effect on people...sides she wasn't my type.She Didn't have the right moves."His hand settled on Elspeth's shoulder as he spoke. I think The big guy might like the idea of shoving a few megatons of Q'sa ordnance up the Bitch Queens back passage."
This message was last updated by the player at 22:14, Tue 05 Feb 2013.

PM

OOC: *cough* my talk of ignoring the warrant is telepathic so as not to offend the sensibilities of our erstwhile liberators.

PM:

"I am being conduct sensor scan of wreckage and look for life signs." Aziza notes.  "Please to being stand by, I am being transmit coordinates of hits."

21:02, Today: Aziza rolled 18 using 1d20+13. Use Computer: Sensors.

Elsbeth's brow furrowed as one of the Hearth Guards related his story about Balkiir.  She blinked hard and tilted her head with some incredulity when the word 'propose' was uttered.  The tall brunette was mildly amused that Balkiir was so 'in demand'.  Something that had been previously hinted at and that she knew intellectually, given the male to female ratios that the Valkiir were known for.

She pulled off her armoured glove and put her own hand on Balkiir's when he tried to reassure her.  A slightly dopey smile played on her face, but she remained silent for a moment.  She looked lost in thought.

When Elsbeth finally addressed the Hearth Guardian, she merely quipped with a slight smirk, "I suspect that General probably had the right of it."  Though she neglected to say which part or parts of 'it' were right.  She shrugged nonchalantly before adding, "I have it on very good authority that Friend Balkiir's prowess off the battlefield far surpasses his prowess on the battlefield."  And given what she (and really, what they all) knew about Balkiir's storied and decorated military career - well, it was the highest compliment that the Praetorian could think of.

Then Elsbeth craned her neck and turned her head to kiss Balkiir, not really caring that it was a public display of affection.  Or a mission briefing.  Or in front of her commanding officer and a group of testosterone-driven Imperial Guards.

Leo smirked, it would have been a broad grin but he was only half in the living world.  To him the dream was like ghosts among the living, his interactions with either were slowed and dimmed.  Though generally this put him merely on terms with more typical people.

Leo voiced aloud in a half mocking tone, "Save the smootches for while people aren't in danger!"  He then turned his head to whisper softly to T'Risa, "I've learned that this isn't the Prometheus that I have such a connection to.  This one is... a construct as opposed to the entity.  The entity believes he can assist, though Maran and Sunny might be more passively reliable than my own connection, the entity may be able to use us as a relay.

Not that anyone would see it with his mask drawn but his eyes fluttered in his head as he looked around, then he spoke in the dreaming, "Hm... that would explain a lot.  We're going to start the rescue attempt in just a little bit."

He returned to his whisper but kept his head turned toward the hearthguard as if waiting on them, "I have an idea about how we might get this Mini-Prome out... but I'm not entirely certain if it will work.  I'll speak with the entity about it as we go on approach."

"I agree. Theres going to be a high demand for technical skill with synthetics, computers, and more on board. I am afraid I am just your friendly Pilot, mecha, fighters, powered armor, that sort of thing. Patching people up not one of my specialties. Though I am pretty sure we are going to have a team of medics coming along for this one. Oh and Syxis be careful around Aziza especially if she wants to medically treat you. She's a little paranoid about brain parasites and things like that."

Looking at Leolin she continues softly. "If no one else volunteers you can piggyback on mine. While mine is smaller then a true mech your nimble enough it shouldn't be to much of a problem."

One delicate eyebrow raises at the description of the courtroom trial followed by a proposal. "I am not sure if I should consider that romantic or just plain crazy. Though if it works out for the best that's good in my book."

Telepathically responding to T'risa. "Very Generous of you T'risa considering the fortune you would have from selling it. Promethus might owe you a pretty big favor. Course he might have a ship tucked away somewhere in case of a situation where his primary body/ship is disabled."

M'kira actually blushes slightly at Elsbeth's frank admission of Balkir's prowess off the battle field. She smiles over at T'risa with a look of amusement then turns her attention back to Leoulin as he starts talking about idea's and potential plans. Needless to say she also gets her unique powered armor. She would be ready when it's time to go.

  Balkiir smiled broadly as Elspeth traded banter with the marines, when she made the prowess comment he actually turned a shade of blue that no one had seen on his face in years. almost chocking on his tongue for a second before Elspeth Kissed him and his world shrank to her for a few precious seconds.

  Somebody is always in danger." He shot back and Leo, with a grin as he shot the other marines a slightly bemused grin as they cheered and chuckled in approval. " Ya got to enjoy life, especially when ya might run out of it before ya get back to camp."
  Don't worry though, We'll be ready for any trouble when it pops up. Valkiir have been going into battle with their women long enough to know when to put their war face on."
This message was last updated by the player at 01:47, Mon 11 Feb 2013.

  The crash site was actually a large spread of debris scattered over nearly one hundred miles of terrain. there was a huge smoking crater where the engines and power systems section of the ship had impacted. event he hardened casings of an Android AI would not have survived the impact and explosion in that region.
 A smaller section had hit five miles away most likely the hanger section and part of the crew section. it was now a mangled mass of twisted girders, fire gutted metal and slag. Perhaps some of the disabled crew who had not been evacuated in time could have survived in that section if their Core casing was still intact.

  The forward section had impacted in a shallow dry salt lake near a line of mountains. scorched metal armor plate and some external systems had survived, to Aziza's eye it looked as if the ship had hit the atmosphere aft section forward with the engines and power systems taking the brunt of the entry damage and impact. From her knowledge of starships it was probable that the heavy internal blast protection and armor of a dreadnought class warship would have protected the survivors from the detonation of the engine, and if there were still functioning inertial dampeners working reduced the impact damage to survivable.

  As her scans swept over the area dozens of emergency pingers were active, all had the distinct signature of Promethean AI cores, and indicated that the cores were intact.
  Nothing organic seemed to have survived the crash, at least according tot he suit pingers and emergency systems, all survivors were either Robotic or AI. a distinct Emergency locator quickly responded to her sensor probes. on she had not seen before and could not identify due to it having an encrypted data steam instead of an open source code.

M'kira looked rather amused seeing Balkir turn such a lovely shade of blue. She claps him on the back with a amused expression. "Well someone get a picture of this before he turns back to his normal shade!"

Laughing along with everyone else she gets ready for the rescue mission. They had lives to save and she hopped they could get everyone of them. In some cases it wouldn't be easy to get through the wreckage without risking losing the being they were trying to save.

Telepathically to T'risa who likely could also feel the laughter and amusement. "Well someone is certainly doing something right to get such high praise!Maybe we should give Elsbeth a gift of chocolate and make sure she knows to share it with Balkir!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Sat 09 Feb 2013.

"M'Kira, I still think there are many who do not realise the stakes at play here. A starship is a great tool of wealth and would assure my position as matriarch of House K'mahda, but it's far more useful as a housing for prometheus in a battle where the survival of many species will be at stake. Me in charge of a starship won't alter the outcome of any battles, Prometheus in charge of one...well, the most recent battle seems to indicate he'll do well. The time for chocolates and congratulations is once we've rescued all of the survivors, and not one instant before. I'd be devastated to lose another while our rescue is underway." T'risa purposefully sent the response to everyone, breathing a sigh of relief as Aziza picked up some rescue signals. She waved for the commander to draw closer "If you've no objections, I think we'd prefer for you and your team to rescue the cores at these locations here. My team will head up the search at this location." T'risa pointed to the map where Aziza's encrypted signal came from. "Aziza, Sybelis try to track all of the cores at our destination. We will rescue all of them."

Elsbeth caught herself in mid-kiss, her eyes darting back and forth for a bit.  When she broke away from Balkiir, she fanned herself for a moment, a slightly sheepish smile on her face.  A simple, "Excuse me, Ma'am." escaped her lips ostensibly directed towards T'risa.  She wasn't entirely repentant, but did appear to be genuinely apologetic for disrupting the flow of the briefing.

And after that brief moment, Elsbeth was back to business.  The Marshal seemed to have to dismissed the issue and moved onto the task at hand.  So, Elsbeth took her queue from T'risa and moved to ensure that her computer weave and commlink held the locations of the mission objectives and metric information in place.  And she made ready to go, meaning that equipment was double-checked, armour diagnostics were triple-checked and that her gloves and helmet were back in place to allow her to reseal her self-contained environment at a moment's notice.

She flexed her armoured gauntlets for a moment, testing their familiar fit.  Then with thumbs-up, the tall Praetorian nodded slightly to T'risa, M'kira and Balkiir that she was ready to go.  Or, at least would be once her visor shut.

Syxis stood around scratching his head, not knowing what was to be expected of him. He used his PDA to examine the surroundings of the available AI cores. Any readings of fires, radiation or other hazards would be welcome information beforehand.

"You know I have seen ships like these before. Must have been about a year ago while I was working at...can't remember what system. Anyway, I've done some maintenance work on one of those. Well-built sucker. Oh well...not anymore"

The droid shrugged.

She nods in response to T'risa's telepathic words responding silently. "I am sure Prometheus has a new ship waiting for the core. That aside it doesn't change what you have to say. I suspect Promethus will put it to good use."

Having gotten ready to go herself she places one armored gantlet on Elsbeths's shoulder. Then playfully nudges Balkir's side with her elbow. "Ready to go when you are."

Glancing over at Sysixs she just nods. Not really having anything to add.

Leoulin smiled under his mask and gestured toward the ship's wreckage site, "Ladies... Just let me know where you want to go in... and I mean anywhere." Glittering blades danced around his fingertips for a few moments before clicking together softly to form a spike of sorts for just a second, then they danced apart again leaving nothing remaining of them as he planned to be on the move.

"Perhaps we should try Making a entrance near the Prometheus core. Rescuing the main A.I. that commanded the dreadnought if possible then work our way out rescuing every A.I. core that we can save. If we are lucky some of their bodies might be functional and they can assist in the rescue effort."

If she has sufficient knowledge she suggests a specific entry point to Leoulin. If not she inquires with Syxis. Perhaps poppy because she might be able to track the beacons with her own ability inside her body and no external equipment. OR anyone for that matter that would know the best place to cut their way in without causing a explosion or a structural collapse.

OOC: We can just fudge things and Leooulin you work your magic. OR if you want a chance to Shine Sysis, Poppy anyone. Feel free to role play the cut into the hull here part. ^_~

Elsbeth moved almost instinctively with the others of her immediate group; following Leoulin, M'Kira, and Balkiir as they positioned themselves for action.

She had already come to accept them as part of her 'protectorate', her family or cadre, in the Praetorian parlance.  Since the destruction of her squad in the 359th (which seemed almost a lifetime ago, now - even though it was not more than a couple of weeks tops), Elsbeth's immediate loyalties had transferred nicely to the group.  They seemed to need her muscle and she needed the direction - both needed each other for continued survival.  For her part, that bond only strengthened through the cameraderie, the battles and the various missions that the crew of the Crow had freely given to her.

So, here she was locked and loaded.  Armoured from head to toe.  And ready to defend the others by sacrificing her life, if it need be.  Her customized laser carbine was held casually, but still at the ready, as per her training.  The lights around her reflecting dully off of her mirrored visor.  The tall Marine glanced at the others and gave a simple 'thumbs up' to signal her readiness to explore and recover (and then to seek and destroy, if necessary) the wreckage of the Promethean dreadnought.

[OOC: Ready to move on to the 'core' of the recovery mission, as necessary ...  I know, I know.  Sorry about the pun, I couldn't help it.]