In the early morning while everyone is in their bunks getting some sleep before Cerise mandatory team training exercise.  Lt. Cerise is called to CIC, She arrives to see the many monitors and techs stations surrounding a holo table in the center of the room. A 3-D image of a Zentraedi Cruiser (Scout Ship) spins slowly over it. The Gambits entire command staff is standing around the table. But it is commander Rockatansky, which acknowledges her.

  You notice all eyes are on you. "Any questions?”



Before Cerise is dismissed, Captain Grimm speaks; .  with that you are dismissed.


  Ten minutes later the Crew of the Gambit hear the follow "Attention, Attention. Vulture team to report to Briefing room A immediately. Attention, Attention. Vulture team to report to Briefing room A immediately."


  When you enter the Briefing Room A, Lt Cerise is standing behind the podium.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:56, Sat 01 Oct 2016.

  Hearing the call to immediately report to the briefing room, Sillia hits the ventilation button so she could open the glass casing door. Quickly she puts on her breather, jumping into the room and grabbing her fatigues. "Hey kid, lets get the lead out. We got a mission." she says enthusiastically. As soon as she is dressed and ready she steps into the hall so the other members of the team can get ready. She walks with them to the hall. whistling the Minmei song lonely soldier boy.

Kaarle woke with a startle, the announcement coming earlier then expected.   Seemed training was on hold now as he scrambled to get changed.  He noticed that Michelle hadn't immediately woken up and shook her bunk violently to get her attention.   "Come on sleeping beauty move that ass"...he said berating her.

As he finished getting ready he watched his Co-pilot for signs that she may have over did it...
This message was last edited by the player at 06:26, Sun 02 Oct 2016.

Once everyone has assembled, Cerise addresses the unit.
"Ok, soldiers. It's Christmas morning! And the commander has arranged for us to be the ones ot unwrap the gift. Hopefully it isn't a unit of fossilized carbon, but, if it is, we'll turn it into crystallized compressed carbon matrix.

There's a Zent scout ship that appears to be adrift in the next system over. We're going in mecha, with a beta troop ship to carry those of us not in veritechs. The Mask will be bubbling us all over there and provide overwatch from its designated position.

Our orders are to investigate the ship and planets; if it is abandoned, we are to take control of it and return it to the fleet. If there are Zent in the system, though, we need to attempt to make peaceful contact if at all possible. Remember, the Zentraedi are our allies now; if these ones are out of contact with their fleet, then they may not know it, but we should try to bring them in the fold.

We will have exactly 12 hours in system to make this happen, before our only chance to evac will be leaving.

Remember; rules of engagement are to only fire with authorization, unless it jeopardizes the Mask. We have to try to make this peaceful.

Before I finish; everyone congratulate Kchek on his promotion becoming official!

Any questions?"

At the sound of the call, Miriana immediately... turned around on her other side, tapped the snooze button on her alarm clock and promptly dozed off again. She was a good mechanic, and attentive when awake, but also a heavy sleeper that required some effort to lift herself out of bed after waking. It was the reason she had set her alarm at 0500, and while the clock was innocent of this particular disturbance, she had not been awake enough to notice the difference.

Iphigenia didn't get much sleep, she was looking over her team's medical files, and made sure that her medical "go" bag was stocked with everything that she could possibly need for any possible scenario.

The announcement startled, she tried to sit straight up only to hit the bunk above her and falls back down "Damn it!" the P.A. system speaker was close to her bunk, and as she finally was able to realise what was going on she said to herself "Why did I choose this bunk again? oh yeah, makes it easier for me to get up and go in a hurry."

Despite being startled awake and now with a headache, she got ready and headed to briefing room A.

Iphigenia wasn't the first one in the room she noticed that Sillia and Kchek were first "Morning Sillia, How did you sleep?"  trying to be friendly and break the tension with a little banter. waiting for the rest of the team to arrive.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:32, Mon 03 Oct 2016.

Skyrah would awaken early, dutifully, as she always had. Upon noticing that Miriana had not awoken yet she would reach over and shake her awake. "It's time to report. They are calling us for briefing now." Skyrah said in her emotionless tone.

     Hearing the PA system was bad enough, but hearing Kaarle as he shook her bunk just made it worse. She has never felt this horrible and the urge to heave was so intense that she had to catch herself several times before she could even answer. “I heard, sir. Give a minute.” She rolls over and forces her blood shot eyes to open despite the pain she felt.

  Her privacy curtain was wide open and she saw her commander looking at her. “Sorry sir,” she said as she allowed herself to roll out of her bunk and land a bit shaky. She straightens up quickly revealing herself to him without a second thought. Her smooth hairless youthful pale skin showed it has not seen daylight in years if ever. Kaarle notices her body jewelry as she turns and grabs her uniform and is dressed within a minute; pulling he hair back into a ponytails, fresh eyeliner and lipstick within two before spinning and stepping into her boots. She wobbles a little bit as she looks up at Kaarle and says “Sorry for the Delay, sir.” She falls in behind Kaarle as they walk to the briefing room, trying to not to be obvious that she is hung over still fighting the urge to lose it as they walked.

  Matt Is quick to get dressed and is off with the group to the briefing room.

Before they leave he makes it a point get Michelle a large glass of water.  "Trust me this will help, your dehydrated..." he said to her, and without missing a beat "and for fucks sake don't throw up during the meeting, get it out of your system NOW not during and certainly not afterwards" as he stopped long enough to let her do whatever she needed to and they continued on their way to the meeting.

He hated having to be so responsible, especially after seeing what he had, clearly modesty wasn't something she had ever learned and he hated himself for enjoying the view.  Pushing the thought aside they made it to the meeting in record time, saluting and taking a seat where available.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:49, Sun 02 Oct 2016.

Thirteen awoke quickly. It was as if the alarm triggered programming within him and he began to react quickly and almost automatically getting ready. Once in uniform he quickly moved towards the meeting room. He listened to Cerise with a look of total confusion. At he end he raised his hand.

"M'am, I am not certain what Christmas or carbon have to do with the rest of the mission parameters. Could you please clarify?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:40, Sun 02 Oct 2016.

In reply to Skyrah Valentine (msg # 7):

- "...Mmhhm..."

Miriana slowly woke up in response to the shaking, took a deep breath and climbed out of bed as the words 'report' and 'briefing' sunk in. She glanced at the clock, telling her it was half past four, though with them being in space the Masters only knew what the actual time was. She stumbled to the sink to splash some cold water on her face before getting dressed.

- "Nnya know wha's that about?"

  She was clearly embarrassed for having disappointed her superior and quickly drinks the offered water. With a meek voice she replies with a "yes sir!" keeping her head down till they get to the briefing room. Where she follows suits saluting and taking her place. She stays behind Kaarle and keeps silent. occasionally eyeing the Teams medic.

"Yes - That was my first question as well", Severian said, dressed in his black formal robes.

"You say the ship is derelict - perhaps the ship was abandoned or suffered some calamity? The crew may have taken refuge on one of the planets in the system to await rescue...Has anyone detected any transmissions within the system or from the derelict vessel?"

"Ah, sorry. I was using a metaphor; in Earth culture during the holiday of Christmas, if one has been a good child, they are given gifts, but if they have misbehaved, they will be given fossilized carbon. Further relevant to my metaphor is that there's a myth that, under great pressure, fossilized carbon will turn into, uh... I think the common term is diamonds.

And, no, no one has detected transmissions; though we will be the first actually in system and I believe the inverse square law implies that such transmissions would be quite less likely to be detected by long range scans than by us while in system."

  In a professional voice; "How are we to make entry into this vessel Ma'am?"

"That depends on the circumstances, of course. If possible it would be ideal if someone inside would invite us. Otherwise, if possible we should insert using an exterior hatch, so as to minimize damage. If that option is not available to us, for whatever reason, then we'll need to cut into the hull. I'm not aware of the specifics of such a procedure, so, if Lt. Thakun would like to comment, I would invite her to do so."

Thirteen looked curiously at Cerise. What little memory of past brefings he has were of blunt and serious moments. Metaphors just seemed odd.

"I see. Thank you, ma'am."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Sun 02 Oct 2016.

 Sitting towards the front, She smiles and greets everyone who came in after her. She is excited to be getting back into action as soon as possible.

  "How long do we have to prepare Ma'am? What are these gifts that you are referring to?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:17, Sun 02 Oct 2016.