As the moon reaches its zenith over the meadow, it loses some of it's redness and casts a pinkish glow over the scene. Polkatain moves stealthily but quickly across the open ground. His chameleon scales serve him well, and no alarms are raised as he approaches. He is able to reach all of the way to the rusting hull of the ship where he crouches in a shadow. He hears feet scuffling through the hull, and to his keen ears, they sound like a gong being rung even though the footsteps are actually light. He smells several scents mixing together: blood both fresh and old, decay, rust, bats, wolves, acrid chemicals, and lastly he can smell the faint odor of a dragon somewhere near. He cannot place the dragon's species. He finds a gaping hole on the far side of the hull and spots a few robot horses powered down inside. The only other entrances large enough for a human to fit through are on top of the deck at the top of the boat, but there seem to be several holes there.

Meanwhile, Ethan takes a peak over the ridge and gets his first look at the boat. It's not from his time but slightly before. It's a World War II era cruiser from the United States Navy.

Polk takes note of the horses counting them. He also sees if they are gaurded in anyway.

Five robots, no guards

Ethan’s eyebrows rose as he took in the sight of the WWII era cruiser. “That ship was a museum piece even during my century. There is no way it survived the hard way three centuries after that, not with everything that has happened.”

He marveled again at the nature of the Rifts and how they not only seemed to be able to form bridges between different points in space but also time. “Wait a minute, a WWII era cruiser that looks almost entirely intact. No signs of mega-damage weaponry having been used on it, hell the paint still looks good. Could that thing have been transported here from say the Bermuda Triangle? I’ve always thought that was just an old myth, a tall tale from before we developed things like satellites but what if all those missing ships and planes didn’t just crash into the sea. What if they ended up here, in this time? Does that mean there could be others like me around?”

Ethan felt a small stirring of hope that he might not be alone. True he had friends and now a wife but if someone else from his time was here, especially if they, like him, were NEMA, it would be someone else to share his experiences with that would truly understand what he had gone through.

Polk makes his way closer to the entrance hole and listens if it seems clear he might go gecko and check out more moving slow and chameleoning always seeking out this other dragon.

Behind the ridge Nyx waited for both the hatchling and their medic to complete their recon. He was calm, with his older-style revolvers checked out and ready for a quick draw as necessary - but as always his impatience chaffed at him

Kalista took Ethan's hand. "Please share your thoughts, lover."

Doc, much like his brother, stood ready, his many handguns within easy reach. He stared blankly, his fingers twitching, "What you wanna bet I kill that orc vampire brother?"

“You’ll have some stiff competition”, drawled Nyx quietly, “Kind or foe that those two cyberknights will be throwing themselves in front of...”
This message was last edited by the player at 08:54, Sun 07 Jan 2018.

Ethan felt his wife take his gloved hand in hers. The simple touch snapped his thoughts back to the here and now. He turned away from the cruiser and looked at her, her angelic face reminding him of their love for each other. “I’m thinking I might not be the only one here from my time,” he told her, then turned back to observe the ship. He couldn’t see Polk, which he supposed was a good thing. If he couldn’t see the dragon, then hopefully the vampires or whatever else was in the ship, also couldn’t see him.

“Your time, Ethan?”, asked the elf softly
This message was last edited by the player at 15:58, Mon 08 Jan 2018.

Doc nodded, "They'll be right up front, no doubt, we gotta keep an eye on Polk though, can't let him go gettin' killed." he then waited for Ethan's reply.

Kalista nodded, "You think this structure is also from your time period?"

Polkitain fully in gecko form crawls along keeping hidden even as he uses his chameleon ability. He only wants to scout so he can let his friends know what to expect though he is curious as to this dragon or other prisoners.

Ethan turned his head to look at his wife and then shook it. "No, believe it or not that ship is older than I am by about a century and a half," he says to her. "But just look at it, hardly any signs of rust or other damage. There is no way that thing got here the old fashioned way. It got me to thinking about just how many more things from the past are here."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:53, Wed 10 Jan 2018.