Valorum 'hmphs' disdainfully. Barring the Church, the Empire, and the Sheredyn, it seemed that few races gave ships the respect they deserved. Without this 'brick', the team couldn't go to the surface. The shuttle was as integral to this mission as the Saviour itself and, at least to Valorum, that made it worthy of a name. Placing his forehead and free hand flat against the hull, the Vodyani murmured a brief benediction in his home tongue, completely incomprehensible before he switched back to Galactic Common for the final verse;

"May your wings bear us safely through storms,

and your hull, unbending, withstand fire and fury.

Be worthy of your name, the Adamant,

and see us through the hardships to come."

-----

With his backpack on, his rifle slung over his shoulder by its strap, and his helmet tucked under his arm, the promising soldier Chidi Tehik entered the hangar. Fully loaded and ready to get some air, he looked around the cramped hanger, sizing up everyone present. He was all smiles until he saw a particular black-clad figure next to the shuttle, at which point he stopped and frowned, looking perturbed and a little insulted. Seeing that nearby was the robot from a few days ago, the ship's resident doctor, he approached and asked:

"Hey, what's the Vodyani doing by the shuttle? It isn't...coming along, is it?"

The Sophon was completely occupied with his game again when the doors to the shuttle opened. He absentmindedly took a seat and then fully concentrated on the naval invasion that currently took place on the northern coast of his territory.

Suddenly he saw a yellow glow behind the VR consoles, that where projected on the inside of his Helmet. The glow obviously belonged to Valorum, wich was odd... Dhanyl didn't expect him here... 

He decided to pause his game in order to satisfy his curiosity: "Captain? What are you doing here? You don't come with us to the Surface, do you?"

The Craver shifts around inside of the cargo room, remembering something. He had wanted to give the captain more time to think after their argument, however communication is necessary.

"Captain," Decius messages him. "It is necessary that every crew member on the away team wear the badges I have distributed. There should be extras stashed inside of the crew compartment; they will allow me to provide close fire support from the ship if necessary. Every member must wear one. You may do it on the ground, but get it done before you run into trouble."

The Craver returns to his work, tools sparking like rubies reflecting lights from his cold bright eyes. His line about close fire support was only a passable half truth, but it was better than explaining it as brutally as he normally would have.

((It's cool, just the phrasing sounded as if it implied swearing. Might want to change cockbit to cockpit though, if that's what you meant.))

That was enough reasson for the sower to actually move and talk, instead of continuing to think about its behavior. It needed a badge too, probably, maybe.It hovers away from the supplies it was next.

"Does this Unit also require one? Captain, this Unit has noted that there is no fitting holder for this Unit, is that going to be a problem during landing?"

It calmly floated there waiting for an answer, its secondary sensors (a grid of basic sensors allowed the sower to gather essential data from all arround   it, while its main sensors are more advanced and are on the frontal side of the sower) focused on Dhanyls game.

((Did Decius use direct or open comms to message Valorum? If it was private comms I will change my post accordingly))

"Really, captain?", Ylona asked with an exasperated voice as the report was held under her nose, pointedly flipping a switch to keep the shuttle starting up correctly, "Now? I had free time an hour ago when we were floating about waiting for scans. Now I'm kind of busy. Just put it down somewhere."

As if to underscore her point, just as she had finished answering that, she turned to the communicator to answer Martin: "Yes, the Captain is here, but you have to keep things short. He's got one shuttle flight of time, then you'd better not distract him."

And once that call was done, another came in: "Science to Shuttle. We found what we think could be an entrance, out at the edge of the probe range. We'll send you the coordinates." Ylona acknowledged and thanked them for the heads-up.

Sighing, she turned back to the console to monitor the engine, which had fully started up by now and was ready to go. Turning around and making a quick head-count, she saw that everyone was there, so she stood up and asked Valorum quietly: "Mind if I do the start of the briefing?"

((Since BlackBird is a bit of an irregular poster, I think it's better for the flow of the story to just quietly assume Rolak has arrived))

Decius pauses from his preoccupation to reply to the captain through another text based communications message.

"Yes, captain."

He opens the remote monitor within his mind, checking the functions of cannons, sensors, nearby bodies, and the locations of the landing site. Everything seemed to be in order, no spot out of place from where he had left it. If anything were to move in surrounding space, he could know about it and react to it within milliseconds.

The Craver sits, working on an imposing suit of violet and dark grey metal. It glints in the light of the ship's dull flourescent bulbs, a bullet with no charge.

Valorum gave the report a brief skim, replying:

"True, but we do still have a few hours before it needs to be sent. I think the report is dour enough that it would be hard to tell specifically who wrote it, so all I need is your signature. Just tell me when you have a moment."

And the Captian slid the datapad back into the slot in his briefcase. Hearing that another crewmate wanted to speak with him, as well as Ylona's request to start the briefing, Valorum couldn't help but murmur:

"Goodness, am I the popular one today...start briefing the ground team. I'll speak with Brother Corvus."

Standing back from the cockpit access-hall, Valorum taps into the channel Ylona's communicator is active on and speaks:

"You wish to address me, Brother?"

"If you can leave the thing behind, I'll just look over it while you're in the ruin", Ylona offered, "And you're supposed to be listening to the briefing, too", she critzizied as Valorum picked up Martin's call. Slightly more submissively, she added: "So keep an ear open, okay?"

Then Ylona marched a few steps towards the crew and announced in an outdoors voice: "Okay, listen, all of you. Let's first go through a short checklist so that we all know who to blame if we have to put this off by an orbit. We're going to land on an Artic planet. Just because there's critters about doesn't mean it's not cold enough to freeze your nuts off. So those who have organic parts that can get frostbite, bundle up in the warmest clothes you have. Thick boots, pants, jacket, gloves and for the love of, don't forget to protect your face. Those who do not have those parts, put the right amount of anti-freeze on your joints and make sure you can deal with the icing problem.

"Second, make sure you all have something to protect yourself with. Just because there's a guy with a gun in shouting range doesn't mean the ice hounds won't eat your leg off. You are all responsible for each other's survival, nature doesn't care if your tag says Science or Security.

"Then, when we land, grab the borers and shovels from the lockers above your seats. We don't know how old the place is. We don't even know if it's Endless, so don't get your hopes up. Anyway, chances are, those corridors down there aren't going to be nice and open, so bring along the stuff that lets you make them open, and then make sure they stay open.

"Major priority, powerful radio. Those tiny ship-side comms won't cut it. We're flying in what military types call a whiteout, but since I'm not one, I'm just going to call it a jelly-bagging blizzard. I'll decide on the ground whether I'll land ther shuttle or have it hover somewhere above the snowflakes, but the point is: If you need to be picked up, I can't see you. Only thing I can see is a radio homing beacon, so make sure your have something that can actually power one. Get lost in a storm like that without a radio, I promise I will give your corpses a proper dressing down.

"Now to the specifics. It's some kind of underground complex, of which Science says they found an entrance. I'll fly there first, you see if it's doable, otherwise we'll make a hop over to where the probe went down, because that made itself a nice tunnel down into the place. It's in bedrock, so you probably don't need to worry about those hundred meter long worms our other probe saw, but just because it's not in the snow doesn't mean it's not freezing. Keep your clothes on and don't lick any metal.

"Oh, I nearly forgot, Decius said something about transponders to identify you. If you find them and a place to carry them, fine, otherwise don't bother. He's not here, and if he's coming down, then in the Saviour, and her guns have their own targeting thingies. Allright, any questions? If not, then Valorum will do more briefing and possibly an inspirational speech while I get this shuttle flying."

((Congrats to Valorum for the 1000th post (RP and Recruitment combined). Here's to another 1000))

The sower actively listened to the briefing, thinking about the upcoming mission.

<The cold should not be a problem, only some of our series are not able to withstand some cold, and my one is the exact opposite, durability for new worlds.Some anti-freeze is still needed.

I have digging equipment build in, rather for level dirt and snow to establish small bases and devices, but my other arms could speed up digging if  Appropriate tools are given.

Weapons ... that could become a problem.>

It extended its fourth arm, with its laser cutter attached, the fourth arm can be equipped with all the tools 7-4-1-N-7-3-D possesses, the tools itself are not high quality because of this , but standard (standard in sower terms, which still is quite good) and 7-4-1-N-7-3-D doesnt need an additional arm for each tool.

It tests the cutter two times and a strongly focused laser appears between the both ends of the tool, the maximum space between the ends is 20 centimeters:

“Would one consider this tool as an adequate weapon for this Unit? This Unit has no military or similar fighting subroutines.”

Then after some seconds of showing the cutter, it deactivates it and waits until the laser is faded away enough to retract the tool without sending a dangerous beam of reflected focused photons in someone´s direction. It fully retracts the arm but not closes the hatch for it, in order to show another tool of its collection after the old on was switched out in its body. A pneumatic hammer, at least that's what its nearest cousin in other non-sower-Races would be called, the tool is more like a high powered piston.After showing its capabilities it completely retracts that arm and sealed the small opening in its body again.

Valorum was quiet, listening to Corvus intently. It appeared that there was more to this IT expert than met the eye. If anything, Corvus reminded the aged Vodyani of himself.

From a long, long time ago...

Now Valorum recalled that fateful day with absolute clarity; it was almost 80 years ago, in an asteroid field east of the recently conquered Sagittarius system. On the orders of his admiral, the captain once known as Valar had taken full command of the 1st and 2nd Righteous Crusades, two small flotillas of 2 corvettes and 2 destroyers each, and held the line against an onslaught of pirates, Hissho patrols, and Imperial scouts for 5 years while the admiral retreated to obtain reinforcements. At long last, the admiral returned with a newly made fleet with a battleship at its head, expecting to see the flotillas he left behind broken and dead. Instead, he found a single Vodyani fleet, the ships battle-worn and their crews exhausted, but they remained vigilant. When the Admiral finally met with Valar, he removed his own cape and placed it on the young Vodyani's shoulders, proudly giving him the rank of Admiral and full command of the battle-proven flotilla. Like Corvus now, Valar thought himself unworthy of this task and cited his inexperience. Quietly, so the rest of the shuttle wouldn't hear, Valorum echoed the sentiment of his former admiral, Saint Zouineia himself, from the day he became Admiral Valar, Commander of the 3rd Righteous Crusade:

"Martin, lack of experience does not compromise true character. You may be reluctant to shoulder this burden, but I have seen the best of your character firsthand. You not only rallied our security team to end a perceived threat, but you lead it personally in spite of the danger. That is what gives me confidence in your abilities. Few officers would dare risk themselves alongside their crew to tackle such a daunting task, and those who do are worthy of respect. You have the heart of a leader, even if you do not believe so now. The duty I have given you is not taken lightly, but I know you will not falter in the face of danger."

Catching himself, Valorum paused for a second before finishing:

"Believe me, I know what it's like to be given an unwanted responsibility but do not make light of your skills. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Be confident, do your best work, and stay true to the cause; that's all I will ask of you."

Self-preservation is a tricky thing for the common sower, they have none but it seems as they do because they can't work towards the calling if they are destroyed. Such thinking, of course, leads to problems if a sower is not able to comprehend if its sacrifice would help the calling more than the work which it could do if it won't die , but explaining all that to Ylona would be to much and for Tainted it was not even important, since it was infected with dust it feared death anyway .

"Acknowledged.Self-preservation is active."

The sower floated back to its place between the cargo.