Interdictor-Class Battleship "Mastodon"
Venusian Orbit

The Mastodon rumbles as it moves out of orbit and toward the relative safely of interplanetary space, precluding further aggression from S.A.G.E. for the time being.

Once all members of the Away Team have reported in, they are swiftly summoned to the conference room to debrief.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 1):

"Welcome back," Captain Blaise says, once everyone is seated (or standing) in the conference room once more. "I trust you were able to achieve our mission's objectives?"

In reply to Captain Blaise (msg # 2):

Primary and secondary mission objectives secured. Effectiveness of child in space combat may prove troublesome on additional missions, exemplary marks for the technophile, though recommend strongly monitoring his research on the new WASPS and invoking customary protocols of inclusion.

As for Batallion, a crash course in not crashing as a matter of course would be worthwhile.

And while you're at it, please inform us how you were so easily disabled without any communication to us. I need to document your failure in my report and want to capture the salient details.

Spare nothing.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:05, Tue 11 Nov 2014.

In reply to Flux (msg # 3):

"Mastodon is fully operational once more," Captain Blaise says in a clipped tone. "The S.A.G.E. eyebots represented an unknown technology, which disabled our communications as well as most of our weapons over time. Still, we succeeded in our primary objective: drawing attention away from all of you."

He clears his throat.

"We are beginning our journey back to Earth, which as you all know is a three-month process. Plenty of time for us to analyze the data you've collected, decrypt it, and see whether the smoking gun we were looking for is present in the numbers. It seems you've collected some experimental technology that's worth reverse engineering as well. Feel free to use the Mastodon's Science Bay for the purpose. My techs would be eager to assist you."

"Of course, everything learned will be shared using the customary protocols of inclusion," he says with a curt nod toward Flux. "Now then, is there anything else unusual or interesting to report concerning the happenings in the S.A.G.E station? Otherwise, you've all earned a hot meal, a long shower, and some time in your bunk."

In reply to Captain Blaise (msg # 4):

Rebecca grits her teeth at the mention of effictiveness in space combat

I'll show you efficacy in space combat, troublesome on future missions.  Her face is dark and angry.  She adds a final barb

Besides what are you some kind of shapeshifter or something

Back to Blaise

I will work with Xander on data analysis lending what support I can as needed.

She walks back towards the scientists who are her keepers, once again she looks very small.  She takes one of their hands and they lead her to whatever dark bowels of the ship she is kept in.

In reply to Rebecca Taylor (msg # 5):

Oh and captain I will have my own report for you when you have a moment in private.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:49, Wed 12 Nov 2014.

In reply to Rebecca Taylor (msg # 6):

Battalion sits with arms crossed, feet up on the table but adds nothing to the debrief.

We're done here then?

Xander nods, offering a quick overview of the experimental technology if asked.

I'd like to start looking into it, but first I need to make repairs on Abraxas. He took a beating during the escape. I'm assuming I'll have access to the spare parts requisition here?

He darts a glance over to Flux, confused by the man's mercurial dispositions. I liked daring escape mode Flux... but this guy here is a tool.

In reply to Batallion (msg # 7):

The captain shrugs.

"You'll have access to whatever you need. Just talk to my techs. Dismissed, for now. We'll reconvene tomorrow, same time, same room. For now, get some rest. You've earned it."

With that, he stands and follows Rebecca and her handlers out of the room, ostensibly to hear her private report.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:30, Wed 12 Nov 2014.

In reply to Captain Blaise (msg # 9):

I'll take a report on that tech as soon as it's available.

Captain, I'd like to follow up with you as well once you've finished your duties. I'd like to understand what reconnaissance information you had prior to this mission, and how it correlated to our experienced results.

It seems we were surprised at many points during this mission.

I don't like surprises.

In reply to Flux (msg # 10):

In the upcoming weeks you see Rebecca more than you did on the first trip combined.  Every time you went to the lab there she was.  If any of you are up late looking at data or crunching numbers she would sometimes scare the shit out of you by phasing through a wall.  When yelled at she gives an impish smile.

She worked tirelessly with the crew and shared all of her results in her belief that science was best performed in the open sunlight with as many minds as possible.

She spent most of her time studying the FTL drive (Red success 61 Karma used)

After that seemed to really dig into the gravity driveshield(Green success)

She didn't have much time or interest to work on the guns, whenever asked a question about them she would mutter something about how we had a living one on the ship (White)

Same with the camouflage device (White).

/ooc There will be things I do between these research endeavours but this is an overarching pattern of the work I will be doing on the return trip /ooc
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Thu 13 Nov 2014.

In reply to Rebecca Taylor (msg # 11):

As before, the hallways are constantly crawling with Battalion, wandering apparently aimlessly and poking at this or that but mostly just lounging around or getting snacks.

In reply to Batallion (msg # 12):

"We shared the intel we had before the mission, Flux," the captain says wearily. "You had a full floor plan, complete with the exact rooms you were to access. If you were surprised to find S.A.G.E. resistance using experimental technology, you have only yourself to blame. If we knew about the exact nature of their experimental tech beforehand, we wouldn't have sent you in to steal it."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:58, Thu 13 Nov 2014.

Xander's time is spent almost exclusively in the mech bay, repairing, researching, and tinkering. After repairing the extensive damage to Abraxas, and bringing the two WASP prototypes online, he turns his attention to researching the extensive R&D files extracted from deep storage in the SAGE archives.

Analyze Plasma Drive prototype: 55
Analyze laser prototype: 18

Research Carbonate Starfield Plating: 45
Research Plasmic Thursters: 90
Research Gravitic Shield: 81
Research Gravity Gun: 13

Aided by a bevy of techs in addition to extensive personal knowledge and experience, Xander manages to make a great deal of progress on the R&D front. This unfortunately does not leave much time for brewing, though he does roll out a new keg every few weeks.

In reply to Captain Blaise (msg # 13):

Condescension. Insubordination. Lack of Accountability. I'll be recommending you for reconditioning as soon as we reenter home space.

Dismissed.

[Reason 57]

Flux spends the majority of his time avoiding the condemned Captain at all costs, focusing his rage and ambitions into understanding the gravitic shields.

"If I could understand the technology behind it, perhaps this could supplement my own defenses. Yes, I might be able to supplement the power generation and stability issues nicely with my own gifts. No need to include this in the report until further information is gathered."

In reply to Flux (msg # 15):

Didn't know I was signing up for a bus full of science-fair projects and nerds.  I'll need to talk to my agent...

In reply to Batallion (msg # 16):

We could spend some time working on combat synergy. Have you ever considered a multiplicative fastball special? Perhaps some time well spent trying to hurt other people will remind you more of home? One must play to their strengths.

In reply to Flux (msg # 17):

Battalion shrugs.

I try to avoid 'working on' anything.

He smiles.

But I like where your head's at these days.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Thu 13 Nov 2014.

In reply to Batallion (msg # 18):

During the months that pass, Flux spends time sparring with Batallion, and working on the Multiplicative Fastball Special (MFS).

To the outside observer, Flux and Batallion spend an unsettling amount of time together in complete silence, speaking with fists, grunts, or beer. For whatever reason, the current iteration of Flux's subtle menace and Batallion's no frills approach to his duties connect, and the two spend a significant amount of time quality, quiet time together over the coming months.

"We would end up paired with the dead girl and the tech geek"

In reply to Flux (msg # 19):

As if summoned Rebecca skips through a wall Percy, as always dangling from one hand.  She gives you an ice cold glance as she skips through the next wall disappearing from view.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Thu 13 Nov 2014.