Mars Colony - The Martian Surface
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Light =&gt; Light: Human Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Chrystal on 11-08-2012, 12:24:22</h2>
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				Title: <strong>Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 12:24:22</strong>
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				<div align="center"><span style="font-family: impact;" class="bbc_font"><span style="font-size: 36pt;" class="bbc_size">MARS COLONY</span></span></div><br><div align="center">(http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/247274main_S_015IFF_CYLTST11E1C_RABCM1_hsv_crop3.jpg)</div><br><strong>The Surface of Mars</strong><br><br>The surface of Mars is a hostile and forbidding place. The atmosphere is thin, being about one hundredth the density of Earth's and is composed mainly of carbon dioxide gas. It is unbreathable. There is virtually no precipitation, no free water. The thin atmosphere allows storm winds to approach velocities of up to 320 kph. The gravity is low, about one third of Earth.<br><br>These two factors allow the creation of vast dust storms that have been known to blanket half the world for days on end. The wind itself is not the problem as it would have the force of a moderate breeze on Earth. The problem is the dust, which reduces visibility to zero and will clog moving parts.<br><br>Add to this the fact that on a hot day in mid summer on Mars, the temperature can reach the dizzying heights of zero degrees Celsius and in winter can plunge to minus ninety, and you have a lethal environment.<br><br>Anyone venturing onto the surface MUST be in an environment suit.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 13:09:10</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Wing Commander Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Standing outside the base</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone on the first shuttle (all player characters plus some NPCs)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking it all in</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>I was back!<br><br>Thirty years after being pulled off the Red Planet due to some idiotic fuck-up, I had finally made it back here. And this time, I was in charge! This time there would be NO disaster, no six dead and ten injured in one monumentally stupid incident that could so easily have been prevented, and even if not, could have been much less severe if people had been less lax.<br><br>I looked around at the red-orange landscape with it's occasional dry-ice frosting, then up at the strangely pink sky. That was going to take some getting used too. They called the members of the second mission "pink-skyers" for a while after they came back, because they kept complaining about how weird the blue sky of earth was.<br><br>Aware that the entire world - in fact two entire worlds - were watching me via the TV camera mounted to the shuttle and listening in to my radio, I tried to think of something to say. Something dramatic. All I could think of was <em>Squeeeee!</em> I wanted to squeal like a little girl. Finally I managed to get my brain in gear. "Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the New Frontier". Not quite on a par with Armstrong's 'One small step', or Gunther's 'This is History in the making'. (Leon Gunther was my hero when I was growing up - the first man to set foot on Mars, I had actually met him, once, briefly, before he died), but it would do. My words, I knew would go down in History. <br><br>Looking around I saw the others gathered by the shuttle, a cluster of white-suited figures with a handful of military orange suits in with them. This was shuttle one and would be staying with us. Shuttles two and three would be ferrying colonists and supplies down for the next two days, before returning to Earth with the MCM-1, the Mars Colony Mission one, the ship that had brought us here.<br><br>The base was more-or-less exactly as I had left it. Dust had piled against the sides of the surface structures a little, but not badly so. The observation dome stood clear and dark to my right, while in front of me the massive hangar and garage stood proud, testament to the second mission's building prowess.<br><br>Away to my right I could see the spoil heaps from the open excavation where Mission three had begun to dig a new habitat module. That would be one of our first tasks: complete that new module and add two more, ready for the second wave of colonists in twenty two month's time.<br><br>I walked slowly - or more accurately, bounced - in my military orange environment suit, to the small stone marker about three metres from the airlock. I knelt awkwardly and placed one hand on the stone, unable to feel it through the gauntlet. "I'm back, darling", I said softly. "I told you I would be, and I am. A lot has happened in thirty years, and I'm sorry you had to wait here all alone for so long, but I'm back now!"<br><br>My lover, Henrietta McNee, had been one of the six fatalities on Manned Mars Mission three (3M3). While the other five bodies were repatriated, Henny had written in her will that she wanted to be buried on the New World. I had pleaded, cajoled and threatened, hobbling out of the hospital on one leg, until the acting base commander had agreed to bury the body here. I was listed as Henny's next of kin, so I got my way.<br><br>After a moment of quiet reflection, I stood up again. "Right!" I stated in my best parade-ground voice. "Lets get this show on the road".<br><br>I moved purposefully to the main airlock, flipped the switch on the battery-backup to initialise the system, waited until I had a green light, then tapped in the code that I knew by heart. The light went red, and a horn sounded, faintly through the thin atmosphere as though from a long way away. And the main hangar door jolted, sending a shower of red dust swirling down, then slowly ground it's way up.<br><br>WE HAD ARRIVED!
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				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Montagne</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 15:28:24</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/e/e4/Micah_Armstrong.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong> </td></tr></tbody></table> Micah Armstrong<br><strong>Location:</strong>&nbsp; Emerging from the shuttle craft, approaching the base.<br><strong>With:</strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;1st team. <br><strong>Doing:</strong>&nbsp; Being amazed....Another planet! <br><br><br><hr><br>Micah strummed his fingers in excitement... All those years... All that training. It was finally time. He checked the meterological reports one last time, all clear. He felt a spark of adrenaline shoot down his spine as the metallic shuttle bay doors opened, and he slowly emerged. He stepped down the gangplank behind the others, and then onto the martian soil itself.<br><br>As he felt his feet touch the ground he couldn't help but gasp, reaching down to pick up a handfull of the martian soil, letting the fine sand spill between his fingers. This was real. It was really real. He heard the commanders words and let out a loud woop in agreement "Touchdown!". He turned to the camera mounted on the shuttle, raising his fingers in a fist of triumph.<br><br>He saw the commander straying to the grave-marker and crouching down. It was a sobering reminder of what happened if things went wrong. Everyone knew the story of the disasterous mission, although only she would be able to say what really happened; Micah averted his eyes, focussing on getting into the dome. <br><br>He watched the airlock door open, stepping onto the metal flooring with a heavy clank. This was his new home. Probably for the rest of his life. A sudenly daunting prospect. From now on he was Colonist #23 Micah Armstrong.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 15:57:39</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt. Commander Laura Allecia Hicks</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Standing on the surface between the shuttle and the hanger doors</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> With PC Colonist</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Standing on Martian Serface in Awe</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><br>Laura stepped off of the shuttle's ramp and took her first look at another world. It had been a long time coming, but she was both excited and anxious about taking the first step onto the iron rust sand, she took in a breath and let it out slowly.<br><br>She watched Louise kneel at the marker, and she knew what the mission commander was doing... they had talked about it in some part during their many hours of pillow talk and... other things... Laura had known even then that her lover would make it back to Mars; but the former SEAL herself hadn't been so sure about herself. What did it mean now?<br><br>After a respectful moment for her boss to make her moment of respect to her fallen comrade; in Laura's mind, they always had to be companion, comrade or friend as she had lost too many of them to allow for much more... she motioned to her people, "Ok ladies and gentlemen. You have your orders and know what you're suppose to be dong... head for your post and good luck."<br><br>She and the security team were acting, today, as guides and making sure that everyone got to where they were suppose to go, that important things got done and that everything was ship shape. No one really knows for sure what 30 years of wear and tear on the martian surface could really do to these structures and if something happened, they would be the irst to see and report it.<br><br>As the 5 orange suited men and women trotted... bounced... off in the low gravity and through the rising hanger doors, Laura walked over to her boss, "We'll get everything up in running Colonel, I brought a bottle of Glen Livett to celebrate when the place is fully up... care to share?" She gave her friend a mischievous grin through the faceplate.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>mayovagn</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 16:43:53</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://www.zen90682.zen.co.uk/marsjulie.jpg)</div> <br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td> Juliet Franklin </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Leaving the Shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Arriving on the Red Planet</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><br>Julie muttered quietly to herself, her helmet radio un-keyed her words were not relayed, "I am the furthest man from home." which wasn't strictly speaking true, yet, well, it certainly -felt- that way, and what else really mattered but your own rough and ready perceptions?<br><br>She followed some of the other white suits down the boarding ramp somewhat unsteadily. The gravity was wrong. You could train and train and train for something like this yet the actual reality of it was very much an 'otherness'. There was a wonderful and terrible wholeness of reality to the whole deal that was a little distracting. It would take a little bedding in and she would have to be extra careful for the next few hours, though with the differences so stark compared to what she was used to it wasn't like she was going to forget to take her time and not rush things.<br><br>The whole thing was like a strange dream really. She kind of knew why she had been picked, she was young, fertile, had skills that were valuable and necessary, a sense of adventure, was one to keep her head in a crisis and so on and so forth. It just frankly amazed her that she had even been asked to be a part of the program in the first place, let alone make it through to the first wave of people sent to the red planet.<br><br>ANOTHER BLOODY PLANET! Her breath caught for a moment, her chest tight, she closed her eyes, stopped walking forward for just a moment, held that breath, let it out slowly. The tingling sensation in her skin just wouldn't go away no matter how hard she willed it to. Started walking again. Down the edge of the ramp and onto the shuttle pad.<br><br>Glancing around she looked around for her assembly point, found it and oriented herself to it very carefully. She had been assured, along with everyone else, that she would become used to how different things are, the lower gravity, the strangeness of the light living in a pressurized bubble on a planet that most certainly would kill her stone dead if given the opportunity. Yet right at this moment it seemed like a lie. This was all so very strange, as she made her way to her assigned area Julie reflected that this was to be her home, likely for good and all. That she would certainly never see her old shipmates or family again. Her mind went back to the 'living wake' that they had thrown for her and a little smile crept its way across her face.<br><br>Arriving next to the Orange suited figure that represented her group Julie waited till she had been recognised and given the hand signal to wait and stood just staring up at the sky, down at the ground and over at the strange human built humps in the ground that were to be her home, her life. It was going to take a little while before her brain adapted to thinking of this as completely real and not just another in the long, long line of training and exercises.<br><br>Whatever else this was going to turn out to be, however things went from this moment, this second, on. It was truly amazing that she had ever, could ever, have made it this far.<br><br>Julie smiled despite herself, stood waiting for everyone of her group to assemble just staring around, trying to take it all in, grinning like a loon.<br><br>She must have looked for all the world like the proverbial kid in the candy store.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 19:04:31</strong>
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				<table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Staff Sergeant Mark Bollan <strong>(NPC)</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Near the shuttle hard-stand.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Julie Franklin, Other civilian PCs and NPCs assigned to his group.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Organising the civilians.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr>Sergeant Bollan was probably as awed by being on another world as everyone else. The only one who'd been here before was the CO, after all. He watched with surprise as the commander knelt by the gravestone and listened to her words with a lump in his throat. The deceased was her lover? Bummer! But it wasn't his place to make anything of it. His job was to organise a bunch of civs and get them safely into the base.<br><br>He turned to the group gathering around him, giving an answering grin through the clear faceplate to the madly grinning pretty redhead. The boss's words came over the open channel and he took that as an order. "Okay folks, lets get the ship unloaded and get inside. The radio channel was erupting with chatter and he sighed. Bloody civs with no radio discipline. "My group, switch to channel four. He hoped that they would all remember how to do that using the switches on their chests. No... He had to show a couple of them how. With quiet on the airwaves he sighed with relief. His military suit was still monitoring the command channels, but no special orders were issued after the Security chief's good luck.<br><br>"Grab what you can and bring it with you. We've got a lot to do today so no dallying. Oh and be <em>careful</em>. You can lift three times what you could on Earth, because the gravity is three times less. But weight and mass are two different things, am I right?" He looked at the scientists in the group, who nodded. "Something may weigh one third as much but it still has the same mass, which means it has the same momentum", another look at the boffins, another nod. He was reciting this from memory, and was glad it made sense to some of them. "Point being that just because something is falling at a third the speed doesn't mean it wont squash you just as flat, it just means you've got more time to get out of the way. Is that clear? Right let's move"<br><br>Bollan grabbed a couple of crates that weighed as much as he did each, lifted them easily, and headed towards the hanger door, red dust puffing around his feet.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>mayovagn</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 19:30:20</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://www.zen90682.zen.co.uk/marsjulie.jpg)</div> <br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td> Juliet Franklin </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Following Sgt. T-Rex</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Her assigned group</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Arriving on the Red Planet</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>When instructed Julie had switched to the channel easily enough, turned to help the nurse next to her who seemed to know what to do, yet was having a little trouble with the mobility in the arm she was trying to use for the task. Possibly something to fix later.<br><br>Scooping up a crate marked 'Maintenance Section - A438972 - Tools' which was about the limit Julie was going to manage given her criminally short stature, she started to head off after the Sgt. They had practised this whole thing over and over again before leaving earth, though this exact grouping was new, since the final roster was read out near to the last minute. The name on the Sgt's name badge was familiar for some reason. She ran a quick search on it through her implant. Ah, that would make sense. Same name as a singer from way back. Well, come to that, didn't this situation require some celebratory music? Why yes, Julie thought to herself, it certainly did. She checked her implant, she had two tracks by T-Rex, 20th Century Boy sounded a little old fashioned, yet there was a certain appeal to walking across the surface of a new world for the first time to something called 'Get It On'.<br>Julie's head filled with the strains of T-Rex her hips moving a little differently as the music added its own magic to the day. She was briefly tempted to instruct her implant to hook to the suit radio and broadcast, only that would land her in such hot water it really wasn't worth it. Besides, who else could get the joke? A joke you had to explain just, well, wasn't really a joke.<br><br>Still, this tune was actually really good, she would have to see if anyone else on the base had more of this stuff soonest.<br><br>A WHOLE DIFFERENT PLANET!<br><br>Julie went back to beaming, taking opportunities here and there to look around and marvel at things between worrying where her next footfall was going to land. A fall now after all would be bad.<br><br>Julie swayed her way along after Sgt. T-Rex thoroughly enjoying herself.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 19:32:14</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt. Commander Laura Allecia Hicks</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface near unloaded crates</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Chief Sullivan (NPC)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Organizing civilians and equipment.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura turned toward the gathered people and switched to the security frequency, "Hey Chief, make sure that the orange stripped containers are all accounted for and that they end up in the right storage points... if one pair of handcuffs are missing, I'll bust you to seaman again." The threat was only mostly empty, but as those crates contained weapons, ammunition and other things that the civilian population didn't need to handle, she was taking extra care of it.<br><br>She returned her attention to her friend and switched to a not in use frequency; signaling her to which one., "Got to get to work Lou... see you later for...?"
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 20:01:53</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Wing Commander Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside the base</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Laura Hicks</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking Charge, and looking for a nukee.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>I looked up as I heard the familiar voice in my ears. I couldn't wipe the tears from my eyes through the face plate. "Thanks lo - er Laura. You're smuggling whisky already? Talk about a bad example!" I grinned at her. The cute elven face so similar to my own thirty years ago. So similar to <em>her</em> too... "I'm kidding you. Shure that will go down nicely. Oh and Lieutenant Commander? I have some paperwork for you to sign..." I faxed her the document direct from my implant to hers, that confirmed her field promotion to OF-3. No one was going to tell me I couldn't promote her. This wasn't just my command, it was my <em>WORLD</em>.<br><br>A sudden surge of megalomania washed through me. "DAMN! I swore, after switching channels, "Allie, I rule the whole damn WORLD!" I grinned back at her, and let out a maniacal laugh. "MWUUUUHAHAHAAAAA!" Then giggled normally. But we both had work to do. "I'll see you in my quarters, naked, at twenty hundred, Commander, that's an order!" I grinned and blushed and looked around. There... the one orange suite that wasn't acting like the wearer was in charge.<br><br>I switched to the Military Command channel and ordered, "Will Lt Lena Holtzman please report to the Base commander by the shuttle cargo ramp at once?"<br><br>I made my way back to the shuttle where the only ground vehicle with any power in it sat on the ramp, a two-man quad-bike.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 21:00:59</strong>
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				<table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Staff Sergeant Mark "T-Rex" Bollan <strong>(NPC)</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The Main Airlock</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Julie Franklin, Other civilian PCs and NPCs assigned to his group.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Going inside</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr>Bollan was aware of his nickname - He'd acquired it in school, and it had stuck with him, in spite of the difference in spelling, and the fact that Marc Bolan had died nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. He actually liked the image the name conveyed. Tyrannosaurus Rex: The tyrant lizard king! Unbeknown to anyone else, his own head was filled with "Children of the revolution", as being possibly the most appropriate music by the group to accompany the start of a new world.<br><br>He bounced easily over two the main airlock and led his group inside. I pressed the button to close the outer door, then cycle the lock. Of course, the pressure light stayed red, but the pressure equal light came on green immediately. "Attention please ladies and gents, it is NOT safe to take your helmets off; The base is de-pressurised and will remain that way until we have power to the compressors and oxygen pumps. Please remain suited for the moment".<br><br>The inner door clanked slowly and faintly open and he led his group into the garage and hanger level of the Maintenance and engineering block (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg6745314#msg6745314).
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Diingo</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 21:29:41</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/0/03/Daniel_Storm.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Daniel Storm</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Leaving the shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Everyone</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Setting foot on Marsian soil</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><hr><br>Daniel Storm stepped out of the shuttle, grinning like he never done before. This was it. This had to be the greatest feeling in the world, standing on a foreign planet and taking the torch passed down by those who came before him. Well, he wasn't a scientist, he admitted that, but he was vital for the colonists. He turned around and gave a thumbs up to Marcus Grimm who was standing behind him before he bounced down the ramp and towards the hangar doors.<br><br>Man, he couldn't believe his luck when he had been picked for this mission. Sure, he had been around the world, cooked for whoever he wished to cook for. But this was something special. As their commander had mentioned before, this was the new frontier of mankind. When the new colonists arrived, he would be at the front of the list to cook for everyone. The thought made him smile, but it quickly faded after he saw the commander on her knees at a pile of rock.<br><br>Daniel didn't know the specific details, but he knew that Louise had been on the previous expedition and that it had gone horribly wrong. He looked away, not wanting to seem rude as he stepped through the metallic hangar doors and sighed. This was the start of something great, where mistakes were left in the past and they all set their sights toward the future. He stood and looked for his designated leader, Stefan Versatile, eager to find the kitchen.<br><br><hr><br>(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/3/3e/Marcus_Grimm.jpg)<br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Marcus Grimm</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Following Daniel Storm out of the shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Daniel and others nearby</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Admiring the scenery</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Marcus smiled at his friend and followed suit, gasping in awe when he stepped out of the shuttle. So, this was Mars, where he had been chosen to raise the Marsian generation of animals. He still had trouble believing he was here, despite the months long training before the flight. He had drilled himself day in and day out to be able to go through the procedures with the animals. He was dedicated to his work and he would make sure nothing went wrong!<br><br>As he bounced over the surface, following Daniel, he thought about all the possibilities of what they could do. He glanced at the people around him, eager to begin this new adventure. He nudged Daniel in front of him and smiled at him. "This is it, bro. We're going down the history!" They smiled at each other before Marcus spotted Micah, another scientist. He waved briefly towards Daniel before bouncing over to his colleague.<br><br>"Hey, Micah. Are you as excited as I am?" He practically beamed at the other scientist, feeling like a kid on Christmas's eve.<br>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 21:58:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt. Commander Laura Allecia Hicks</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td> Outside of the colony airlock</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Colony CO</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Commanding and flirting</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura wished that she could wipe the tears away, but that would have to wait until there was air to breathe and they could get out of the&nbsp; environment suits. But, she could try to chear up her friend and lover, "Me? Set a bad example?" She gave Lou an innocent face, "Who? Me?" She scanned the uploaded document and with a grin mentally signed the order, "Thank you Colonel Sweetcheeks... and as queen of Mars, I hear and obey." She laughed softly and blew Lou a kiss, "I'll be sure to bring my best massage oil... if I can find it..." <br><br>Laura Hicks wasn't particularly picky about who she slept with, although she had a particularly strong bond with the older woman. They had known that anything official would of been premature when one of them may of ended up several million miles away for the rest of her life, but Laura had not made any illusion about her willingness to continue the relationship. She knew herself to not be the marrying type... people in her line of work rarely had successful marriages, but at the same time, at least the first generation of colonist would need to be easy to offer the widest possible genepool for future success and that alone meant that perminent pairings would not work.<br><br>The security chief was young enough to have several children and knew that unlike active service, she could, and would be expected to punch out at least a couple... she intended one of them to be Lou's... although she hadn't told her boss that yet. "I packed the... toy too..." she said with awaggle of her eyebrows and watching Lou go off to work, turned her attention back to the job at hand. She switched frequencies again and called out, "I want the engineering people right here in 30 seconds!" Her own job was to make sure that the people getting the reactor up and running got to the reactor more than a klick away. "We have work to do kiddies, lets see about some lights and heat, shall we?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Frelance</strong> on <strong>11-08-2012, 23:58:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/0/0c/Dureke_Voronkov.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dureke Voronkov</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking in his new home and heading inside.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Dureke grinned as he walked down the ramp and stepped onto the Martian surface. He made sure to keep walking so he would be out of everyone’s way before he stopped and took his time to take in the landscape. He knew it well but the pictures and video he had studied when he was back on earth. His mind started to compare the surface of the Red planet to Greenland, The Mongolian desert, Antarctic and a few other places on earth but red earth and pink sky didn’t fit closely enough to anything else he had seen. For a moment he felt a pang of panic ring through his mind but he calmed himself and smiled as he reminded himself that this was what he had wanted for years. <br><br>He turned to watch Louise Cotter as she spoke her first worlds. He nodded to himself, her words were simple but true and it worked for him. Taking one last look into the distance he made a slight gesture and triggered an overlay to fill his vision. The party excavated hole that was become the new habitation module was what he wanted to go and see but he knew he had other jobs to do before he could take time out and look at the site. As he made his way back to the shuttle he skimmed through the list of music before settling on Give it all by Rise Against. He grabbed a few two contains from the shuttle and bounced off towards the hanger. He slowed his pace as he got to the airlock and waited for it to cycle through. He loved the lowered gravity just as much as he had when he took a quick trip to the Lunar surface with the vacation based he had saved up in the last company he worked for. Now he did not have to worry about getting rehabilitated to Earth gravity. Accepting a position at the colony had been one of his best decision he had made. When the airlock’s light turned green he entered the hanger of the<br>&nbsp;Maintenance and engineering block (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg6746241#msg6746241).
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Montagne</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 00:24:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/90/Squadron_Leader._Jack_Monroe.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Sqn Ldr Jack Monroe</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td> Leaving the pilot's seat, traveling down to the hab dome.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> First crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Landing!</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Jack climbed out of the pilots chair as the shuttle pod landed down. His hands clammy, he had to force himself to pull away from the console. He had never carried such a valuable cargo. He step down into the shuttles debarkation area, pressing through the group in his orange military suit to find his lover. He had a powerful grin on his face, taking hold of her shoulders and spinning her round. He pressed his faceplate against hers, pressing the button on her suit to put her in a private comm channel. "Another world Abs! Another freaking world!" He tapped the plexi-glass bubbles protecting their faces against each other playfully. "We're here."<br><br>The gangplank opened to the martian soil, and Jack took the hand of his lover, as best he could through the thick gloves, giving it a tight squeeze before moving up to meet the commander. He still had a job to do, he could meet with her later. With a mixture of trepidation and excitement he stepped out onto the alien soil, his eyes looking up into the heavens, the vibrant pink sky mesmerising him. <br><br>He saw the commander go to touch the grave marker, and raised a hand to the glass, closing his eyes for a moment in remembrance, and prayer. Everyone knew what had happened there, and that the commander had some kind of attachment to the one buried here. Once she had been given her moment Jack moved along side her, moving up to the cargo bay doors. He had a holographic projector built into the suit arm, displaying the list of resources brought on the shuttle pod. He mentally ticked off each item as it was carried through, <em>the thing that gets forgotten is the thing that gets you killed.</em><br><br>He switched to the command channel. "Commander, that's everything ma'am." The thick southern English accent ringing across the radio waves. He then switched back to the main channel. "All those taking equipment to the science block, follow me, thats the medical, research and agricultural staff. Switch your comms to channel 3." Jack was the last one in before the airlock was sealed behind them. Maintenance and engineering block (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg=6746158#msg6746158).
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>DarkRose15</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 01:15:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/94/Abigail_Carter.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Abigail "Abs" Carter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>With the other passengers going to meet Jack</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Jack Monroe, first crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting off the ship to explore her new home</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>She was so excited....she was already going stir crazy having to remain in her seat. She wanted out of her suit so she could go explore! She shuffled off with the rest until she saw a familiar face as she turned all the way and ran to meet him. She yelped as her feet left the ground as he spun her around in excitement. She joined the channel as he spoke. "I know!" she laughed out, throwing her arms around him. Soon she had to tap his shoulders to put her down so she wouldn't get dizzy. "It's incredible....I can't wait to see it all! I mean...we're going to be building cities! Naming them!" she said excitedly.<br><br>Abs did feel a sense of nervousness as the gangplank groaned to the ground. Her grip on Jack's hand became a little tighter as she walked with him. She felt his grip loosen though, pouting as he started to make his way towards their commander. She lowered her head, she'd heard about what happened, anyone who went probably had an idea of what happened and if they didn't they probably shouldn't even be here. She was anxious though to rest and relax, but at the same time she excitedly moved towards the others heading towards the Maintenance area. <br><br>She'd want to see where her work areas would be, set things up how she liked. For all that she was playful, she had a system. A method to her madness, and she always wanted to familiarize herself with a place before she tore it up and made it look like a bachelor's apartment. No one ever claimed her to be neat, just brilliant.<br><br>Maintenance and engineering block (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?action=post;msg=6746418;topic=148833.0).<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 03:28:54</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt. Commander Laura Allecia Hicks</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside of the main airlock</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> No One</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Administrative duties</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura watched the last of the containers being moved from the shuttle's ramp and into the massive hanger. Louise Cotter had made the official landing statement, something that would go down in the history of humanity, but there were other administrative duties that needed to be dealt with.<br><br>The settlements communications system couldn't be used until power was reestablished and the systems checked out in the Command Center. So, she linked into the shuttle's communication system, "New Sydney reporting successful shutdown; Second drop approved for prearranged drop. No injuries, no fatalities."<br><br>She waited for the comfirmation of her report and nodded as it came back. They would have time to move the shuttle off of the grid before the next shuttle dropped, in about 24 hours.<br><br>She picked up the last container and with growing confidence, she bounced into the darkened hanger to take her first look at her new home; thinking about some way to surprise Lou at 2200 hours.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Dashenka</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 14:01:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/64/Lena_Kristin_Holtzmann.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lena Holtzmann</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Disembarking, heading towards shuttle cargo ramp </td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> All members of the colonization team</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Bringing power to the world</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>They can train you all you want but in the back of my head was always the factor that if shit went wrong, they push a button and all the shit will go away. Gravity training, launch training, all trainings. When everything got real, well, it got real. I didn't have much to do with the launch and the journey, nor did I have anything to do with the landing. My whole status was a bit different. I was technically speaking a civilian on this planet because of the research I would do, however I was given an orange suit. <br>Because I was the only one capable of dealing with the nuclear power core, the heart of the whole base, the military wouldn't just let me go. So with some help from Herr Kolonel Bismarck VI, I got an honorary position in the Luftwaffe, allowing me an orange suit and allowing the military to monitor me more closely. Also it meant I had to report to them. I didn't care really who I reported to. <br><br>I was one of the last to disembark, feeling a bit lost. Once everything was setup I would go my own way but I needed guidance. People had to give me orders and tell me where to go and what to do. Stepping outside of the shuttle onto the alien planet, I felt a certain sense of panic. I was out here and utterly lost already. Sure I knew the crew, some of them I knew intimately, but they were all doing their own things. Setting up their own part of this world. They walked around hauling boxes and cases around into the main structure. I scoured the horizon of the pink sky and smiled when I saw it. The nuclear reactor. It was a small dome just big enough to hold the reactor but it stood out to the surface. That is where I had to go if this place was to have any power after all the battery power was used up, which at this speed would take only an hour orso. <br><br>Then I heard the order on my radio and I searched for where I should go. I had seen maps of the place and even picture but all of it looked different. Everything had an orange pink hue around it and my suit had this sickening colour in this light. Whoever had decided to make the suits white and orange on a planet with a pink atmosphere should be shot. I brought my stuff inside and put it somewhere where I knew I could find it, not remembering if we had been assigned rooms or not. Then I made my way to the shuttle ramp and found the commander waiting on a quad bike.<br><br>Not actually being in the military I had no idea how to use all the titles and all so I just nodded to the commander rather than saluting or 'reporting for duty'.<br><br><strong>"Let's get Knut up and running. This place is running out of power fast."</strong><br><br>I climbed on the back of the bike which is a lot harder than it looks wearing an orange space suit and locked myself to the vehicle to prevent me from bouncing off to the nearest planet when the quad would hit a rock or bump. When I was strapped on, I told the commander I was ready.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 15:18:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Wing Commander Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Quad bike en route to the reactor</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Lena Holzmann</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Power To The People!</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Sitting there, waiting for Holtzmann to get her shit together, I watched the people moving around. Lt Monroe came over and reported that the shuttle was unloaded, as he ticked off the bike I was sitting on with the bright red box strapped to the back.<br><br>Oh that box! That had been under guard from the moment it left the Tricastin processing plant at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in Southern France until the moment it was loaded on the bike. Technically it was still under guard, by me. The trooper concerned slung his gauss rifle and hurried off to other duties, and I looked around. Everyone was busy. The place looked like chaos, but it was ordered chaos. By the time we got back, everything would be in the hanger, and with the power on, people would be moving into the base.<br><br>Groups of scientists and engineers, and ancillaries and miners moved slowly through the airlock into the dark interior. I growled slightly. I wanted to be the first one in there, but my job right now was to see to the secure transport of that big red box with it's yellow and black warning stickers. I had my side arm in it's special holster on the outside of my suit. Gauss weapons were the order of the day here, because no oxygen means no combustion. Oh sure there were propellants that would burn without it, but they were less effective than good old cordite, and a lot more expensive.<br><br>Gauss weapons, on the other hand will work in vacuum. They will work underwater. They will work anywhere with no need to change anything. All of ours had been modified to fire low velocity flechettes, or LVFs, powerful enough to kill a human, especially one in an environment suit, but not powerful enough to cause damage to vital equipment or machinery, nor to puncture a pressure hull!<br><br>The precaution was, in my not so humble opinion, totally unnecessary, but orders are orders. And until MCM-1 left orbit, I was still, technically under the command of the ship's captain in spite of the fact that I out ranked him. <em>Nothing will go wrong, this time my darling,</em> I told the ghost that my imagination wanted to be there.<br><br>Finally Hotzmann climbed on the bike behind me, and in front of the big red box. I noticed that she didn't comment on it. She had bloody well better know what's in it, or I would be sending her back to Earth. The slow way. Without the benefit of a ship. And possibly no suit if I was feeling generous. I laughed and gunned the bike forward.<br><br>The one kilometre trip took about two minutes. During that time what I'd said to Laura came to mind about ruling the planet. I was reminded of an old Tony Bennett song from the twentieth century. I began to sing happily, a capella, in a crisp clear alto.<br><br>"If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring.<br>Every heart would have a new song to sing <br>And we'd sing of the joy every morning would bring<br><br>"If I ruled the world, every man would be as free as a bird<br>Every voice would be a voice to be heard <br>Take my word we would treasure each day that occurred..."<br><br>I knew that I was on an open mike - the base commander's suit mike could not be closed - and I didn't care. I was full of joy and excitement. In my imagination the ghost of Henny smiled at me and sang along, the way she always used to.<br><br><tt class="bbc_tt">Colonel Cotter, is everything okay?</tt> The signal bounced directly into my head from fifteen miles up. <em>Shit shit shit. Open bloody mike.</em><br><br><tt class="bbc_tt">"Everything is fine, thank you MCM-1, just happy to be here.</tt><br><br><tt class="bbc_tt">Ruling the world huh? I guess you do now. We have confirmation from lieutenant <em>commander</em> Hicks that shuttle two is cleared for launch and landing. Do you concur?</tt><br><br>I didn't miss the subtle emphasis on Allie's promotion. <tt class="bbc_tt">"If Commander Hicks says it's okay then I concur fully. I'm just arriving at the reactor. Power will be up in the next few. This is Mike Charlie six six out."</tt><br><br>I stopped the bike and climbed off. There were four people on Mars right now who knew the code to open the big grey door in front of us. Laura was one, Stefan Versatile, the MarsCorp rep and my civilian second in command, was the second. And the other two were standing right outside. "Do the honours, please, Lt. Holtzmann?" I ordered, phrasing it as a request because the woman was only technically under my command, and pointing at the keypad.<br><br>While she got the door open I unstrapped the big red box, heaved it off the bike and carried it past her into the bunker, down the steps and into the reactor room. I set it down with a thud, muttered "Ow!" as I straightened back up and tapped in the code - that I and I alone knew, that would open the box. The damn thing was heavy even at one third it's weight!<br><br>Eight gleaming yellow-grey rods looked up at me from within their lead shielding. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I turned to Hotzmann. "All yours Lieutenant." I stepped back. Radiation shieled suits are all very well, but I'd seen what that stuff could do in the wrong hands, and so had the entire population of Cairns, Australia!
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 16:05:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside the shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Last group to go inside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Paying close attention to everyone</td></tr></tbody></table><br>Stefan kept a close eye on everything, however he didn't want to be noticed yet. Unlike his calm appearance he was excited by being in a new planet, however it was less from the fact that it was another planet, and more about being in such a high position. He looked around, he heard the people. Many were playign around some were even crying, the Wing Commander was having a particularly strong reaction. <br><br>He sighed to himself, he had prepared himself mentally for this, people would act silly like this at first he had told himself, and it's better if I just let them, soon enought they will get to work. He smiled when soon people started taking things inside, as far as the the impromptu song, he figured that kind of outburst was understandable, at least the woman was working.<br><br>He finally headed inside to pay attention to what people were doing there, he didn't mind them happy, he just wanted them doing something useful while they were at it.<br><br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Dashenka</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 16:46:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/64/Lena_Kristin_Holtzmann.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lena Holtzmann</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Nuclear Reactor control room </td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Wing Commander Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Bringing power to the world</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Finally some training that had been useful. Back on earth I had practiced this particular step a hundred times and then a hundred times more. I wasn't scared of radiation with these suits on and the machine alone and the rods alone weren't very harmful. Together though, they were quite powerful. Not enough to cause a disaster like Fukushima or Chernobyl or Hartlepool, which was caused by incompetence, but still enough to get a significant part of the crater contaminated. I wasn't incompetent though. <br><br>I opened the door with the code and stepped inside. Immediately I got everything in place to start up the power. Before I was able to lower the rods into the reactor I had to make sure all systems and backup systems were running and this would require a lot of power. This miniature version of a nuclear plant had it's own power supply as it would immediately drain the life support of all power once I flipped the switch. When I did, the lights sprang on, monitors sprang on and a small slot opened up. Above the slot was a warning red flashing light.<br><br><span style="font-family: courier;" class="bbc_font">Operation Incomplete.</span><br><br>I smiled at it and turned around to the Commander. <br><br><strong>"I'd be honoured Commander."</strong><br><br>Carefully I lifted the rods in their led protection case out of the red box and placed them in the slot that had opened up. The case itself was now connected to what I called Robot-me. Robot-me would bring the rods to their final position in the core without me having to risk my incredibly sexy behind. I pushed down until I heard a click. That shut the slot off and with a pull of a level the process was started. The bottom of the led case was opened and the rods slid out into Robot-me's hands. <br><br>Because of the suit it was impossible for me to hold the rods myself but now with two joysticks I was able to control Robot-me from the safety of the control room. It was the only accessible part of the reactor. If I had to go inside the reactor itself, which I had to at some point to connect the power to the Nuclear lab, I needed permission from both Commander Cotter and Commander Versatile and at least one of them had to be in this control room to monitor me and shut the doors in case I would cock up. Which I wouldn't. <br><br>Carefully I guided the rods to their final position and lowered them into their sockets. By now the water was liquid again as we stored it in a tank on the outside of the reactor and I flooded the tank. When Robot-me was fully retracted I ran a final instrument check and set some parameters. The warning light was still emitting the red light. <br><br>I held my hand at a yellow button and looked at the commander Cotter.<br><br><strong>"Three, two, one.."</strong><br><br>I pushed the button and seconds later the reactor was starting up. Two minutes after starting up, the warning light sprung to green. <br><br><span style="font-family: courier;" class="bbc_font">Operation Complete</span><br><br><strong>"All systems operational commander. We have power."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 18:01:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Wing Commander Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The reactor, and then heading home</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Lena Holzmann</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>R.T.B. Mission Accomplished</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>I grinned. "Okay, Ms Holtzmann, Lena, Let's go see what miracles you have wrought!"<br><br>I led her back out to the bike and once I was outside, opened the Command Channel. There was no point from within the bunker. If it will stop Gamma Rays it will stop radio! MIke Charley Six Six to Mike Charlie Six One, Major Hicks, you listening? The reactor is on-line, I repeat the reactor is on line. Do you have power, over?"<br><br>I clambered on the bike, while listening to Alli's formal confirmation. "Roger that, Mike Charlie Six One. Will be there in two, out!"<br><br>I started the bike. and on a local frequency said "There you go, Lena, you're a success!"<br><br>The ride back was slightly quicker that the ride there, because we weren't weighed down with sixty kilos of plutonium and lead. Soon we were back at the base. I pressed the button to open the outer door on the smaller airlock and it slid open. We walked in and I cycled the lock, to get us into the Maintenance Block (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg6749420#msg6749420). The last to enter from Shuttle one.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Diingo</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 21:37:54</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/0/03/Daniel_Storm.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Daniel Storm</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>About to enter the facility</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Last stragglers</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Thinking about food</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Daniel had tired of waiting for his commander, unknown to him that Stefan had already entered the facility. He picked up two crates with ease and made his way inside to the Maintenance Block. (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.0), thinking about all the delicious food he would make as soon as he got out of this suit.<br><br><hr><br><div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/3/3e/Marcus_Grimm.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Marcus Grimm</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>About to enter the facility</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Jack Monroe's group</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Feeling nervous</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>It didn't take long before Jack summoned the science staff and Marcus quickly made his way together with the others and stepped into the airlock in silence. He switched to channel 3 and waited nervously to see the inside of the facility. Maintenance Block (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.0)<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Montagne</strong> on <strong>12-08-2012, 23:20:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/e/e4/Micah_Armstrong.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Micah Armstrong</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>About to enter the facility</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Marcus Grimm and the other scientists</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Being crazy excited!</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Micah looked over to Marcus, grinning madly. "We're on another fucking planet!" He let out another loud woop bouncing into the maintenance block, going over to Jack. In his hands he carried the spares for the sensor relay used to predict the weather on the planet.<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>07-10-2012, 11:55:23</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="bbc_size"><strong>Mars Date: 01/01/0001, 05:36:21</strong></span></div><div class="floatleft">(http://astroprofspage.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/pl_269461main_sol_090_sunrise_516-387_ce.jpg)</div>The late, great Douglas Adams once described a dawn thus: Several billion tons of superheated exploding hydrogen nuclei appeared over the horizon and managed to look small, cold and ever so slightly damp.<br><br>The Observer Principal, upon which much of Quantum Mechanics hangs by a tenuous thread via Heizenburg's Uncertainty Principal (with a side order of Shroedinger's Cat), states that the act of observation changes the thing observed, and can, in some instances, bring the thing into being. This is paralleled by the famous Zen, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?"<br><br>For countless centuries, the sun had been rising on Mars with no-one there to observe it. Terry Pratchet put it like this, in his book, <em>Hogfather:</em><br><br><strong>WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T SAVED HIM?</strong><br>"Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"<br><strong>NO</strong><br>"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."<br><strong>THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN.</strong><br>...<br>"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"<br><strong>A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.</strong><br><br>Sunrise on a new world... The sun being about the size of a garden pea held at arm's length. The sky was stained purple and brown, and a faint whisp of cloud reflected the light down. <br><br>Slowly the light crept across the world. But this dawn was different. It wasn't the first to be observed by human eyes, but it was the first to shed its light upon people who now called themselves Martians.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 14:40:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="bbc_size">SHUTTLE MCM-1B, <em>Tyr</em></span></strong><br><br>The ride down was bumpy, that was the best way to describe it. Tyr was designed for the Martian atmosphere, and was light with retractable wing surfaces, but the developing low pressure still caused the ship to drop like a stone before the pilot managed to correct it. The ship was way below the glide path as it came in, and barely avoided the edge of the massive crater that was the Hellas Planitia with an unscheduled burn, using precious fuel that would need to be replaced before the ship took off again.<br><br>The undercarriage locked down and the pilot radioed New Syndeny tower that they were on final. The calm female voice from the Mars base Comms centre (not, in fact, a tower), reassured him that all was well and that he was back on the glide path. The passengers in the back didn't know how close to disaster they'd come - the shuttle had missed the mountain range by barely five hundred metres. In a jet fighter that would be fine, but in a ship that was basically a heavy glider, that was far too close.<br><br>They lined up on the runway. "Touchdown in sixty... fifty... forty... thirty... twenty... ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one", his last word was drowned out by the bump and squeal of tyres on the marscrete surface of the runway. "Ladies and Gents, Welcome to Mars..."<br><br>The pilot couldn't resist it.... "Thank you for flying with MarsCorp space lines. On behalf of the crew, I hope you had a pleasant journey, and wish you a pleasant life in your new home. Please remain seated until the space craft has come to a complete standstill. Before exiting the space craft please make sure you have all your personal belongings with you, your pressure suit is correctly fitted and your helmet is securely fastened. Thank you again for flying with us today!"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 14:55:23</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Whoever accompanied her out onto the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Watching the shuttle land</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>It was only a short wait, after I came out of the hangar (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg7038208#msg7038208), and I spotted the speck in the distance, banking left and right to bleed off its forward momentum. "Shit it's low!" I commented. Maybe they had come in low to avoid the building weather? But they would have to go back up again through that... Under power, of course, on take off. Mars' lower escape velocity was much easier to achieve for a craft lifting from a standard runway.<br><br>The shuttle touched down one third the way along the runway as prescribed, deployed its chutes, and taxied over to the base, stopping exactly on the hard stand. The ramps dropped and I walked forward, watching as the first suited figures emerged from the craft. "Welcome to Mars", I called out over open frequency, the little green light on my helmet lighting up (like in one of those video games that were popular a century ago) to indicate I was talking. The word "Cotter" was stencilled across the top of my helmet above the face plate, across my left breast, and across mty back-pack. Hopefully they all knew the base commander's name...<br><br>"Welcome home!" I added.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 15:30:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Louise most likely Laura and others</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Welcoming new arrivals </td></tr></tbody></table><br>The landing went without a hitch luckily and soon people started to come out, much like they had done when they showed to Mars not long ago, these people however had a welcoming committee waiting for them, as it was logical Louise was allowed to welcome everyone first, and Stefan secretly hoped to not get flooded with people saying hi to nobody in particular, excited as everyone must be he was hoping people would get to the business of unloading things and get out of the surface. If somethign went wrong it would most likely be outside.<br><br>He had of course bigger hopes for those welcoming the others to get to work soon, even he, serious as he was, had to spend a moment looking around the moment they reached the surface.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ElizabethRayne</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 15:54:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://images.tvrage.com/news/before-new-girl-zooey-deschanel.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Alessa Woodridge </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> New Arrivals and anyone else that happens to be there.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Marveling at her new home planet.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><em>Remember its nothing like earth.</em> Lessa said this to herself as what had been to her a rather smooth landing (She was expecting worse) on the martian surface. She had to keep reminding herself and even though she knew the planet was nothing like earth she was still completely and utterly awe struck as she stepped off of the shuttle and onto the rocky orange surface.<br><br>"Holy shit ...." she said softly below the protective suite she wore her jaw hanging slightly open as she took in a horizon so pink it almost hurt her. Her eyes tore away from the view and to the people that waited to greet her (and the rest of the shuttle) these people would be friends and likely even family so far away from home. <br><br>A fresh start. She was very much looking forward to this.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>RedEve</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 17:26:22</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/98/Marleen_cropped.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Marleen Van Acker</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>The passengers and crew on the shuttle and the people awaiting their arrival</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>exiting the spacecraft</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>All things considered, Marleen felt better than she had any business being. She had awoken from her long space-sleep only hours earlier. After that they had been treated to a quite violent descent into the atmosphere that probably would have made her puke her guts out had there been any food in her stomach.&nbsp; Now she was filing out of their space-shuttle along with the rest of the passengers. Even after the training she went through, being inside of the space-suit still seemed odd. It felt like she was walking around in her own private little mobile room. She took in the view as she descended the ramp and she had to admit that it took her breath quite literally away.<br><br>It was more than just the realization she was on another planet now, infinitely far away from her home and family. The planet couldn’t have looked any more alien to her. No about of briefings or preparations could have steeled her mind for the sight of the pink atmosphere, the reddish dust as far as the eye could see and the puny-looking little sun on the horizon. She briefly stopped in her tracks halfway down the ramp, causing the person behind her to briefly walk into her. She apologized through the spacesuit com system and then finished her descent. <br><br>They were greeted by a nice little group of people, their very own welcome committee. She recognized the base commander at the front of the group and she stopped nearby her. After being welcomed she stood to attention or the closest she could manage in her space attire and saluted her CO. <strong>“Thank you ma’am. Marleen Van Acker, reporting for duty.”</strong> Even whilst addressing the Lt. Colonel, her eyes still strayed to the unbelievable sight all around her.&nbsp; <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>shooter6806</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 19:41:06</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://filmsdefrance.com/img/Jeremy_Irons.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Nigel Woodridge</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Down the ramp</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> The Second Lift</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting to work</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Nigel walked down the shuttle ramp and took in the view.&nbsp; Stark, but very different from the moon.&nbsp; Rather than black and gray, the almost pastel colors of the landscape and the sky were far more comforting.&nbsp; He suspected that he would grow used to the view far faster than he had at Imbrium base.&nbsp; He damn well better get used to it, he thought to himself.&nbsp; He was going to be here for the rest of his life.<br><br>He wore the orange environment suit of a member of the military, yet he had no rank.&nbsp; In fact Nigel was a civilian, but had for years been a consultant to the US military and had the highest security clearance.&nbsp; He worked well with the military, but had no desire for rank or authority.&nbsp; He had been offered a commission several times, and had always turned it down with thanks.&nbsp; He was willing to be subject to the chain of command, but the trappings of military rank did not interest him.<br><br>He waved to the small group waiting for them, then turned and went over to the cargo hatch which had opened simultaneously and looked over the containers waiting to be unloaded.&nbsp; Good.&nbsp; The one he had designated was there.&nbsp; Hopefully it wouldn’t be needed, but better safe than sorry.&nbsp; The margins for error here were tiny, much smaller than they had been at Imbrium.&nbsp; On the moon there was always at least some chance for rescue from earth.&nbsp; Here, they were entirely on their own.<br><br>He then accessed his implant, made sure he was connected to the Colony net, and sent a message to Oberleutnant Holtzmann. <br><br><em>Lena, I have something you need to see.&nbsp; I’d like to meet you in the reactor control room at your convenience.</em>&nbsp; <br><br>He was her backup for operation of the reactor, and he had noticed something when he accessed the monitors from orbit that he wanted her to be aware of.<br><br>He began helping unload the cargo containers from the shuttle.&nbsp; 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 20:38:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The Landing Strip</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> The Greeting Party</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Welcoming and getting things organized.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><br>Major Laura Hicks activated the general comms of her suit and voiced her own welcome to the new arrivals, "Welcome to your new home Ladies and Gentlemen.&nbsp; We have a severe weather front coming in this morning, so if you can give a hand with the cargo, we'll get you a warm meal and settled in as soon as we can. Welcome to Mars."<br><br>She switched to the comm channel and called to the pilot, "You came in a little hot there flyboy." The tone of her voice relayed the light joking tone, "You need some go-go juice or the windows cleaned before we send you on your way?"<br><br>"Lt. Hicks.. I mean Major. Haven't I gotten rid of you yet? Yeah, had to burn some on the way down, can you spare a couple of&nbsp; liters?"<br><br>"I think we can get you home, but after that, you'll have to fly for a change... give me a minute to get someone out with a fuel line... pop the top for us."<br><br>"Roger Major, popping the top."<br><br>Laura switched comms again, "Hey Maintenance, we'll need some gas for the bus. Run out a hose for them."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>08-10-2012, 21:42:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Everyone welcoming the new arrivals</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Welcoming the new arrivals and helping unload.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>I returned the salutes of the security personnel who reported to me, then pointed to Hicks with my left hand.&nbsp; "Welcome to Mars. Major Hicks is your security chief, you report to her for your assignments. Glad to have you with us..." I glanced around, following the gaze of the new arrivals. "Awesome isn't it. If you could help unload, as the Major suggested, then we'll get you in and settled. None of us have had breakfast yet."<br><br>I followed the team to the cargo ramp, and watched as T-rex drove one of the rovers out of the hanger towing a flat-bed trailer behind it. "Great idea, Bollam", I complemented him. Of course, when&nbsp; we'd come down none of the vehicles had been charged, but since we'd had the reactor on-line, most of them had at least enough for a few trips out of the hanger and back. I helped the others load the crates and boxes and bundles and bags and cases onto the trailer.<br><br>"Remember", I warned, "Just because something weighs one third of what it does on earth, doesn't change it's <em>mass</em>. Drop something heavy, it takes three times as long to hit the ground but if you try and catch it, you will still be catching something heavy. You have three times as long to get your feet out from under it is all! If it lands on your foot it will still break your bones!" <br><br>It was going well. We now had fifty four people on the surface, although two of them would be returning to orbit with Tyr. There were twenty five left on the Mother ship, still in hibernation. So far the revival process had worked just fine. The first ship to leave Earth for the Red Planet had reported a fatality on the way, Lt Jake Remmington, who died peacefully in his sleep due to a fault in the cryopod's revival system. That death was not attributed to Mars, was considered no-one's fault, and thus had not aborted the mission. If it had, we might none of us have been here, now.<br><br>I looked East, towards the steadily climbing Sun that would run around to the North - Anti-clockwise the same as in the Southern hemisphere on Earth. Sure enough, there were wisps of cloud - whether carbon-dioxide condensing into dry ice or whether they were trails of dust blown high into the atmosphere by the hundred kph winds? It was hard to tell. Mars was notorious for it's global dust storms which usually last three months or so and happened on average once a Martian year, with several major exceptions... That was Mr Armstrong's job, though. Weather data was his purview.<br><br>"Okay people, lets move, let's get this bird back in the black where she belongs!"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ElizabethRayne</strong> on <strong>09-10-2012, 01:12:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://images.tvrage.com/news/before-new-girl-zooey-deschanel.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Alessa Woodridge </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> New Arrivals and anyone else that happens to be there.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Unloading.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br>Lessa looked away from the surface of her new home and then to the Lt Colonel she took a deep breath and got to moving. Unloading, then food. Sounded like a plan she could get behind. <br><br>Her eyes had found Nigel and just as quickly as she found him she looked away, training together for this trip had been enough, they were here now and she could do this. Friends. That’s all. She reminded herself of this as she picked up the first bit of cargo and smiled at the weight difference. If only earth was like this, it would have made moving a hell of a lot easier. <br><br>She eyed the clouds off on the horizon, well could have been dust, or a number of other things, but she was identifying them as clouds. Storm coming? She had heard them (Them being the meteorologists) talking of the dust storms on the planet, she wished now she would have been paying the least bit of attention, but she was too busy staring at Nigel’s ass at the time. She rolled her eyes at herself; she was thirty years old not sixteen, time to start acting like an adult. <br><br>Busying herself with moving cargo she pushed Nigel and the past from her mind. <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>RedEve</strong> on <strong>09-10-2012, 08:53:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/98/Marleen_cropped.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Marleen Van Acker</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>welcome party </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> addressing Major Hicks </td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Marleen turned her attention away from the base commander and to the security chief. She gave Major Hicks a slight smile and saluted her. <strong>“Marleen Van Acker, reporting for duty ma’am.” </strong>After the suggestion came that they help unload the shuttle, Marleen snapped out of her daze of reverie and instead focused on the task at hand. Some of the other new arrivals had already started assisting the ground personnel in bringing the supplies and equipment out of the spacecraft. Her breathing became more pronounced as she worked herself up something of a sweat inside the confines of her space suit. <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>09-10-2012, 20:08:47</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The Surface of Mars</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Ms Van Acker among others</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Welcoming Ms. Van Acker and keeping things moving.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><br>Laura gave the blonde haired detective a rare, warm smile and returned the salute with one of her own. Military decorum had to be maintained and they were outdoors. It seemed a little silly to her to salute in a helmet large enough to make good caldren, but training made her do it out of habit. "Welcome to Mars Ms. Van Acher. We're happy to have you with us." The older woman had, of course, seen her file as well as accessed her police records and Laura liked a person with the spunk and grit to tough it out. "I'll debrief you on what to expect after you've had a chance for some actual chow. Things will be a little different here, but it'll improve as you get use to it."<br><br>She glanced back to the shuttle and the rapidly moving cargo containers, "If you would give us a hand with this mess, we can get inside before the sand gets too dense to get you lost between here and the hanger... the reports that it's a minor one... winds speeds are just 100 KPH but it's enough to get a good man lost before he's taken 10 steps."<br><br>Laura switched frequencies and accessed the command net, "Colonel, any word on how long we have before this thing hits?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>09-10-2012, 21:12:12</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Those on the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking suggestions and answering questions among other things.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>I was happily moving a stack of six mattresses all by myself - mindful of my own speech about weight and mass, but also thinking about princesses and peas - when someone cut in to the local command channel with a suggestion regarding which bundles would be a priority. My suit's on-board computer identified which of the white clad figures the signal had come from and my implant collated that data with the known personnel profiles.<br><br>"Point noted, Ms Houghton, although if we all end up smelling too bad, you might revise that opinion?" I giggled softly, and then added, "But the shuttle needs to be unloaded completely. You're computer's right? So you know a bit about maths... Answer me this: If one bag of personal belongings massing ten kilos is left on the ship when it lifts, how much extra fuel will it need to reach orbit?"<br><br>I pulled up my own implant's maths subroutine and gave it the program.<br><br><tt class="bbc_tt">The ship burns 0.552 Kg of fuel for every ten m/s of velocity gained. To reach escape velocity of 5,000 m/s it must therefore burn 2,760 Kg of fuel. The shuttle, with fuel load, masses a total of 6,762 Kg. Of that, 4,002kg is the shuttle itself, plus crew. That is 0.7 kg of fuel per kg of ship. Add ten kg and you add 7kg of fuel. But then you must add a further 5 Kg to lift the extra fuel, but then you must add a further 3.5 Kg. Then 2.45 Kg. Then 1.7 Kg, then 1.2, then 0.84, 0.58, 0.41 0.28, 0.2... The sequence is infinite but becomes insignificant soon after this. In real terms, an additional 25 Kg of fuel is required to reach orbit. As the shuttle's fuel tanks only hold 2800 Kg of fuel, some of which is required for taxiing and some for manoeuvring once in orbit, this makes reaching orbit unlikely if not impossible.</tt><br><br>I hoped that Houghton reached the same conclusion. The calculation took longer to read the conclusion of than it took my implant to work out. "However," I told her, because she was, up to a point, correct, "If you want to sling the personal bags to one side and we can get the important stuff into the base first and recover the less important stuff later." To make my point I dropped the stack of mattresses right in front of my lover and winked at her over them. <em>For later...</em> I sent via our private channel, overlaying that naughty pic of her onto the top of the stack and sending her the composite image.<br><br>But Laura, bless her little cotton socks, had more important things on her mind than her commander's libido. <br><br>"Latest weather reports have it hitting us in about six hours." I checked the time, 09:00. Half an hour gone already and the shuttle barely a third unloaded. "It's going to be tight, but we should get her turned around and out of here in time." I went back for another load.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>09-10-2012, 21:32:38</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone on the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting things out of the shuttle </td></tr></tbody></table><br>Stefan had gotten on the shuttle and was moving as fast as he could to get things out of the vehicle, in his mind that was the priority, and then people could figure out what to take, not from importance but from package sizes and weights.<br><br>"If time is running out we could always get more people involved" he offered<br><br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>10-10-2012, 01:10:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Anyone on the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Working and striking back at Lt. Cotter</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><br>Laura Hicks was thinking fast when the image flashed through and she had to pause and burst out laughing. She sent a private message back of a white flag, followed by a sales receipt from an upper end toy store dated the week before the mission departed... the item blacked out. "If you find it, you can have it.. kisses"<br><br>Laura returned herself to her contemplations about time schedules and the best way to make sure everything was under cover. She took a moment to access the specs of the cargo containers and determined that they could withstand the storm in the open, although they might be scattered over half of the area.<br><br>"More bodies may slow things down as there's only so much space here. We have the time to get everything off and into the hanger, even if it's not particularly tidy."<br><br>She stacked two crates onto of each other and with a bend of her knees, she grunted and lifted them, carrying them off of the shuttle,<br><br>As she moved carefully, she activated the general comms, "Anything not going on the mule can be stacked over here." She demonstrated by dropping the two crates... careful of her toes... on a stretch of Mars Creete leading to the hanger, "We'll act as if it's a supply dump, anything that doesn't get inside can be covered and secured until we can get back to it."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>RedEve</strong> on <strong>10-10-2012, 13:51:59</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/98/Marleen_cropped.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Marleen Van Acker</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>ground personnel and new arrivals </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> unload the shuttle </td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Marleen swiftly got swooped up in the sense of urgency surrounding the unloading of the supplies and did her best to keep up with the tempo of the rest. If she was honest, she didn’t do as good a job as she had hoped, even losing her grasp on a few of the crates she was helping get out of the storage compartment. Both her body and mind still seemed to be coping with being awake again after her rather lengthy dormant state. Her head didn’t so much hurt as feel like someone had poured concrete in between the cogs of her mind. Her muscles also felt slightly sore, though she wasn’t sure what was causing that. She eyed the horizon from time to time to estimate how much time they might have left to finish the job. <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>shooter6806</strong> on <strong>11-10-2012, 22:02:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://filmsdefrance.com/img/Jeremy_Irons.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Nigel Woodridge</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside the hangar</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> The Second Lift</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Finishing unloading</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Nigel remembered a supply officer once telling him that the basic rule of combat loading was that the ammunition should not be loaded underneath the toilet paper.&nbsp; In this case, the shuttle had been loaded to maximize capacity, and essentials were intermixed with luxuries.&nbsp; They had enough people, however, and the shuttle was soon empty.&nbsp; Only a few cases were left outside, and he had other work to do.&nbsp; He approached the Base Commander and got her attention.&nbsp; <br><br>"Good morning, Wing Commander," he said.&nbsp; "With your permission, I'll leave these wild folk to their fancies and head to the Control Center.&nbsp; I have information that I'd like Lena to look at."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ElizabethRayne</strong> on <strong>12-10-2012, 03:28:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://images.tvrage.com/news/before-new-girl-zooey-deschanel.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Alessa Woodridge </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> New Arrivals and anyone else that happens to be there.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Finishing Up.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br>Lessa picked up the last of the cases and placed it inside. She had to admit she was itching to go search the medical labs, she wanted to check out the dental wing. Get her area set up. Then find her way to her quarters and of course get out of this suite and really get down to meeting some new people. Maybe not in that order, the suite would be nice to get out of first. Her eyes landed on Nigel off in the distance as he spoke to the wing commander. She bit her lower lip and thought she really should introduce herself to some of these people, but she was shy at times especially when out of her element. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>12-10-2012, 23:49:10</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Those on the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Helping to unload and keeping a military command-grade implant's eye on the weather.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Time passes quickly under two conditions - the first is when you are enjoying yourself - especially during sex - and the other is when you have not very much of it. I felt my stomach growl. I was missing breakfast, but so where a lot of others. Laura's suggestion to stack and secure some crates outside was good. I amended it. "Leave the heavier ones. the wind speeds are going to be up to one hundred kays per hour, but that's the equivalent of about thirty on Earth". Or about 15-20mph in the old money still used in some isolated parts of the USA.<br><br>We had the ship unloaded and refuelled and the storm was still an hour or so away. I could see the dust in the upper atmosphere getting denser, the sky darkening from pink to crimson in the east, the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and Phobos was heading into them. A readout on my HUD told me to look up at the wind gauge on top of the hangar building. Sure enough it was beginning to move. It wasn't the wind itself that was the danger - a severe storm on Mars with only one hundredth the atmosphere was little more than a gentle breeze in terms of force, but the danger was that it would whip up a cloud of dust that could cake the outer skin of the shuttle, obscuring the sensors and the view ports, but more dangerously, weighing the craft down.<br><br>I contacted the pilot. <em>"This is Base Commander Cotter, to Shuttle Tyre. You are clean and green to go. Suggest you get the fuck out of here before that sky goes orange".</em><br><br>The reply came back, <em>Roger that, Colonel. See you tomorrow at the scheduled time, weather permitting?</em><br><br><em>"Aye, see you then. Safe trip, Tyr."</em><br><br>The shuttle closed it's hatches and started it;s engines. I gout on the general frequency, command priority override. "All personnel, stand clear of the shuttle. And keep away from those rocket exhausts. Most of you only just got here,and we don't want any of you getting crispy!"<br><br>As the ship began to roll out, I was distracted by the other Nukee requesting permission to go inside. "It's Lieutenant Colonel, now, Mr Woodridge, we've unified the command structure based on the US army's. Permission granted, but keep me abreast of what's going on? I trust it's nothing serious?"<br><br>The roar of the shuttle's departure, muted by the thin air, was still loud enough to force a halt to conversation.<br><br>As Woodridge headed for the airlock, I looked up at the sky. "Right, people, lets get as much of this stuff inside as we can".
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>shooter6806</strong> on <strong>13-10-2012, 00:35:27</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://filmsdefrance.com/img/Jeremy_Irons.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Nigel Woodridge</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Hangar Door</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> The boss lady</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting to work</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Nigel smiled at Colonel Cotter.&nbsp; "Nothing to panic over, but anything involving the reactor is serious.&nbsp; Lena needs to see what I have.&nbsp; If it's what I think it is, the solution is relatively straightforward.&nbsp; If it's something else, that's why we both have those expensive advanced degrees.&nbsp; We'll contact you when we know more, Colonel.&nbsp; And congratulations.&nbsp; I know you've been waiting to get back here.&nbsp; You deserve this.&nbsp; Enjoy it."<br><br>He walked into the hangar, making sure he had his tablet and data drives in the pouch at his hip.&nbsp; Now to talk to Lena. <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ElizabethRayne</strong> on <strong>13-10-2012, 01:26:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://images.tvrage.com/news/before-new-girl-zooey-deschanel.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Alessa Woodridge </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> New Arrivals and anyone else that happens to be there.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Moving things inside: quickly.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><em> "Right, people, lets get as much of this stuff inside as we can".</em><br><br>Right move things to place A set them down now move them to place B. Lessa was glad that things were lighter here, cause she was damn sure she would have been aching by now. Manual labor had never been her friend, its why she went into dentistry. Teeth. That she knew. But she had to make herself useful here at least till she could make it inside with her laundry list of to-dos. <br><br>Nigel's voice had caught her attention and she managed to stumble just as he turned and walked inside, she dropped the box she was carrying and watched as it fell slowly to the surface she herself managed to not fall on her face, though she was damn sure her squeal of terror was heard by others, or perhaps the suite muffled it. She regained herself and moved to pick up what she had dropped. <br><br><em>Alright Lessa no making as ass out of yourself just yet... kay?</em> She asked herself box of items back in hand hoping whatever it was she dropped was personal and not something extremely fragile. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>17-10-2012, 16:54:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Anyone still moving items</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Her job</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><br>Laura counted off things mentally and kept a eye on the approaching storm. Finally, she switched to a private frequency and spoke, "That's it Colonel Sweetcheeks, everything's inside that's going in. What's left will stand up to the storm and we can string guides to retrieve it if it gets buried... as unlikely as that might be... All personell accounted for and we're ready to button up... want to have chow in my room?"<br><br>She turned back toward the maintenance dome and did a last minute scan of the area for anything out of placeor a danger to the facility in the storm. "Got get a flag up there soon." she said to herself, looking at the top of the dome.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ElizabethRayne</strong> on <strong>17-10-2012, 19:58:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<br><div class="floatleft">(http://images.tvrage.com/news/before-new-girl-zooey-deschanel.jpg)</div><br><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Alessa Woodridge </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Mars Surface then inside.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone else then possibly alone.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Grabbing her personal bags to leave the loading area.</td></tr></tbody></table><br>Lessa grabbed her personal belongings two bags one full clothes and memories and another with a few books and necessities. She headed away from the group as people started to talk food the was unsure her nerves could handle a full meal but she had decided to find her living quarters unpack some of her things then head down to chow maybe she could deal with a boiled egg or some fruit.<br><br>"I'll see you all later for food?" She said her voice was soft unsure so far people had been sticking tp themselves she was sure that was just the shock of waking up and going to the martian surface.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>17-10-2012, 21:11:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Martian Surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone on the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting ready to go back in</td></tr></tbody></table><br>Stefan kept moving things as fast as he could, some things were going to be left outside but it was nothing serious, he still believed having more people involved would have gotten everything inside in time, but he also knew Laura had a point, it was more of a gamble and it could have made them take longer.<br><br>All in all people worked rather well and he was pleased with that.<br><br>"I'll see everyone once you are all better settled" he said adressing the newcomers, and finally headed back in.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>17-10-2012, 21:46:47</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Those on the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Almost doing a Ret Butler (Or would that be Scarlett O'Hara?)</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>"Okay, okay everyone ins....." My words were drowned out by a sudden hiss and the ground shifted under my boots. Time up!<br><br>My faceplate went opaque orange as the dust caked it. I took a couple more steps in what I knew was the right direction, the airlock was only three metres away and my boot hit something. I scrubbed the perspex clear and tried to see what I'd bumped into - a stack of crates that were to the down-wind side of the airlock. Dust swirled and obscured my vision.<br><br>I panicked, for a moment. I was disoriented, lost in the opaque maelstrom of swirling orange sand, just metres from safety. "Okay, Louise", I spoke aloud, knowing that my words were not carrying even to the open mike that was picking up just the raw rasping of the dust against my helmet, "Calm down. Radar." Military Command grade E-suit and military command grade implant. I used the latter to interface with the former's on-board systems, even though I couldn't see the manual controls on my chest. Activate the suit radar and get it to relay the imige directly to my optic nerve. This was no different, in fact it was a lot easier, than flying a combat drone over Burma and shooting down those damned British drones during OW3. There was the stack of crates, there was the hangar dome, there was the airlock, standing open with a single figure peering out.<br><br>Laser. The beam of coherent radiation stabbed out of the helmet's emitter, locked on to the receiver on the other suit. "Laura, you jackass, get that fucking door closed. I'm fine, I'll be there in a second!"<br><br>I trudged through the shifting orange mist, ignoring its pathetic attempts to blow me off course. Now I could "see" a weird green "matrix-like" outline of everything, I had no trouble finding the airlock door, keying it open and stepping inside...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>17-02-2013, 11:54:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The Cockpit of the MA-001</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Amber</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking off. (The aircraft, not her clothes... Sheesh, you people have one track minds)</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>The aircraft rolled slowly out of the hangar (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg7737670#msg7737670) and out onto the pinkish red marscrete apron. Louise took a moment to gaze out at the novel sight of a pink sky and two moons, with the sun being the size of a pea held at arms length in the dusty atmosphere. "Electric motors to standby." She continued to give her commentary over the radio to the control centre, and to the intercom. "Ladies and gents, please make sure all your cabin baggage is securely stowed, your seats are in the upright position and your seatbelts are securely fastened..." She giggled.<br><br>"Rotor attack is at one hundred percent, rotor pitch is ninety degrees. Starting engine one." There was a soft, almost imaginary whup-whup-whup noise that built slowly and those near the windows on the left side of the aircraft would be able to look up and see the massive blades begin to turn, faster and faster. "Starting engine two." The sound repeated from the other side of the aircraft as the second rotor began spinning in the opposite direction.<br><br>"Throttles to one hundred percent". The noise increased until it was clearly audible as a rising hum. The craft lurched a little then lifted smoothly into the air. "WHOOT! And we're away!"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>NaughtyKitty</strong> on <strong>17-02-2013, 17:07:22</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h242/jenna_sheffield/Elliquiy/MarsColonyHeadshot.png)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Katelynn Royse</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Aboard the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>The Whole Gang</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Sitting in her seat on the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>As they left the ground, Katelynn felt that familiar rush that she got every time she flew.&nbsp; It was one of the reasons she'd gone into the career she'd chosen and that feeling had never left her.&nbsp; Even the most routine flights made her feel this way.&nbsp; As the aircraft clawed it's way into the thin martian atmosphere, she looked out the window at the everything she could take in.&nbsp; This was home now....best to get used to it.&nbsp; To be completely honest, it reminded her a bit of Arizona....though it would never been confused with the place.&nbsp; It was really beginning to sink in....they were on another planet and would be spending the rest of their lives there.&nbsp; This brought a smile to the doctor's face.&nbsp; A whole new world to explore.&nbsp; New work to do.&nbsp; New lives to build.&nbsp; <br><br>And this was only the beginning.&nbsp; <br><br>A thousand thoughts and ideas flooded her mind as they headed off for their destinations.&nbsp; Would it be possible to Terraform Mars.....somehow build up the planet's atmosphere to a breathable level.&nbsp; If they could do that....then they wouldn't need these full environmental suits.&nbsp; With a suitably thick atmosphere...the surface temperature would begin to rise as well.&nbsp; One day it could be possible to walk around like you would back home.&nbsp; Maybe.&nbsp; She made a mental note to put a research proposal in front of Colonel Cotter.&nbsp; 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Ambie</strong> on <strong>19-02-2013, 04:42:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://media.onsugar.com/files/2011/01/03/2/1331/13311615/22/jessica-simpson-army-070503-1.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Amber "V" Valentine</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the Transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>everyone on the transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Watching the Colonel take off....the plane!!! OMG get out of the gutter!!</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Amber smiled as the Colonel went through the paces without a hitch. She was obviously excited to be here, as was Amber...She could feel that warm feeling come over her...there was something about the shaking and rumbling of larger aircraft that always got her going a bit. It didn't help that this Esuit of hers was forcing her to sit in a position that she hadn't adjusted from prior to take off...forcing itself against her now warming.......<br><br>There it was again...<br><br>Her implant was cycling through some of the sensor data and kept showing one sensor in engine two being very under its operating range. It had been doing this since Colonel primed them on the way out of the airlock. <br><br>"Colonel...I would imagine the bar pressure sensor in number two was recently replaced? If memory is correct, thats a Earth like reading...I suspect a error in calibration?" She had her implant record it and marked it for a check over for once they got landed. Like the weather, it wasn't anything that should interrupt the flight if it were to stop working, but its helpful for making sure things are working right if something were to go wrong.<br><br>Another bump...another rush...she felt her face become a bit flush...taking in the sights from their view of the martian landscape in front of them. This was an amazing sight...she was so lucky to be here. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>LordMing</strong> on <strong>19-02-2013, 06:06:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a632/Michael_Saumure/RitaClose_zps51122bd7.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Rita Munoz</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Everyone else</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Grinning like a schoolgirl</td></tr></tbody></table><br>The smile turned into a grin from ear to ear as the transport lifted and started out into the Martian atmosphere.&nbsp; "Oh wow...this is so much better than the landing when I got here.&nbsp; Much less sense of imminent crashing.&nbsp; And my eyes are open so I can actually see whats going on."&nbsp; She grabbed Xanders arm and shook him enthusiatically.&nbsp; "I love this job."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zillah</strong> on <strong>20-02-2013, 16:20:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/1a/Dr._Madison_Chance.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Madison Chance</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the transport shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Mission crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Psychological observations</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>“I shall take your words (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg7721966#msg7721966) as a compliment, then,” I said to Deputy Commander Versatile, as he took a seat next to me. I found his choice of words curious, but said nothing. I hadn’t realized that <em>cold</em> possessed a negative emotional connotation. Was being objective perceived as a disadvantage? It seemed such a curious notion.<br><br>The floor of the shuttle rumbled as we rolled out of the hangar. The main engines whined, and then the rotors let out a throaty roar. The hull vibrated, and suddenly we were on our way, heading upwards above scarlet sands into a pink sky. Scarred terrain revealed itself below, a pockmarked array of craters and canyons dancing across a world devoid of life.<br><br>It was interesting.<br><br>More interesting to me were all the facial expressions within the shuttle. Eyes widened and pupils dilated at the sight of the Martian surface below. Hands clenched into fists, breathing rates increased … even the scent of the filtered air in the shuttle subtly shifted, as trace amounts of sweat formed and adrenaline began to flow. I could detect a slight increase in the cabin temperature as well, presumably from body heat. The members of the crew took such delight in a rather perfunctory part of a mission – travel. If such excitement abounded for traveling to Olympus … what would happen when we reached our destination?<br><br>I noted all of the crew’s reactions, cataloguing it for my studies.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>shooter6806</strong> on <strong>26-02-2013, 20:08:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/90/Squadron_Leader._Jack_Monroe.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Jack Monroe</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>MA-001</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>The surface expedition</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Enjoying the ride</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Jack sat back in the cargomaster’s seat at the rear of the main compartment of the large aircraft, watching the repeater displays from the cockpit and the views from the external cameras.&nbsp; This had been an interesting exercise in cargo loading.&nbsp; The advantages that the lower Martian gravity provided were offset by the much thinner atmosphere that made aerodynamic flight much more challenging.&nbsp; The normal care necessary in balancing the aircraft’s loadout was magnified by not only the new variables the environment introduced, but by the fact that this expedition included several of the key personnel responsible for the entire colony.&nbsp; It would not do to have anything happen to the aircraft, so Jack had double-checked his calculations and made certain that all was in order.&nbsp; He was more than comfortable with Cotter’s piloting skills.&nbsp; He just wanted to be sure that she didn’t have to deal with anything they could have anticipated in&nbsp; advance.<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>27-02-2013, 17:59:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone there </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Seeing the surface</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Stefan was eager to arrive, he was enjoying the shuttle ride but his mind worked always thinking of what would come next, so he was more excited to arrive than anything else, also if they were going to enjoy Mars the fun part would be on the ground.<br><br>After a few minutes he started to look at the rest of the people in the shuttle, and he noticed Dr. Chance doing the same, she probably found the people's reactions more interesting than the surface, he would make it a point of asking her but he had promised to not interrupt her observations.<br><br>He wondered how long would the excitement last, if people would eventually just figure they had seen all Mars had to offer, and would find no reason to be outside other than to fulfill duties, it could take a while for these people, everyone had come to Mars willingly, left Earth showing a deep commitment to arriving at the red planet, but what would the future martians think. When his mind had come to the point of imagining children cursing their parents for making them be born in a red desert, he shook his head and decided that would be a problem that has no need to be dealt with for a few years. So he went back to focusing on the rocks.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>28-02-2013, 00:25:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The Cockpit of the MA-001</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Amber</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking a breather.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>The Mars Colony's mission commander nodded as her co-pilot noticed the pressure sensor. "Mmhmm. Keep an eye on it, would you? We have too many important people on this bird to risk a crash. We can haul whoever didn't recalibrate it properly over the coals when we get back to base." Louise shook her head and accessed the calibration software. Sure enough the setting was a hundred times higher than it should have been. "Vee, I don't think it's going to cause a problem, as long as the fuel system on number two doesn't spring a leak and start spraying Lox everywhere. If that happens, we might not notice for a few minutes, is all. Bring the back-up system on line just to be safe, okay?"<br><br>Triple redundancy was the name of the game, with two back-up systems and an emergency "WAGTOD" system. The Wagtod system got it's name from a comedian on Mars Mission Two, the mission that had built the main base and almost everything in it. He had been one of the engineers who had built most of the base equipment and designed many of the redundant systems, and his acronym was based on the fact that, to use his own words, "If this one comes into play, then everything that can go wrong has gone wrong, and We're All Going TO Die!"<br><br>At first the flight was exciting, but after about two hours of staring at the rolling orange horizon that never seemed to get any closer, Louise began to feel the need for something else. "Vee, take over would you? I need a wizz." She unbuckled and stood, stretching, feeling her joints pop. The aircraft was flying itself anyway, hammering through the thin Martian atmosphere at maximum altitude and maximum speed, Louise pulled the data cable from the back of her neck and watched as the telemetry of the craft vanished from her brain.<br><br>Picking up her helmet, she stepped out of the cockpit and headed for the toilet. After relieving herself, a sly grin spread across her face.<br><br><tt class="bbc_tt">Colonel Hotpants requests the presence of Major Sexybutt, in the port-side restroom, to inaugurate membership of the Martian Mile High Club</tt> <br><br>She used the aircraft's own comm system to send the private message, as they were well out of range of the New Sydney relay system and sending a direct signal to her lover's implant was against regulations while in flight. Of course the signal was broadcast, but all anyone else would get was a burst of static on their implants. Those with military grade implants would get a message, that would be addressed to Maj Hicks, and would be total gibberish. Only Laura herself had the correct code-key to decode the secret message.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zillah</strong> on <strong>28-02-2013, 22:30:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/1a/Dr._Madison_Chance.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Madison Chance</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the transport shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Mission crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Psychological observations</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>The ride aboard the shuttle was very smooth. After the initial start-up, hull vibration calmed down considerably, and apart from the view of the ever-changing terrain below, the journey seemed no different than a prolonged monorail journey back on Earth. Presumably, some of the other crew members on the mission felt the same way, as the looks of excitement on a few faces that had been present at the start of the flight quickly faded to mere contentment, then to mild boredom. I found it intriguing that even the most unique of experiences could so rapidly become ordinary and dull.&nbsp; <br><br>A short burst of static interrupted my thoughts. <em>Odd</em>. The communications systems usually weren’t subject to power fluctuations. Perhaps some sort of storm? I looked out at the skies, but they appeared no different than ever – no signs of even trace moisture that would cause any sort of disruption, no matter how slight.<br><br>No matter. I moved my head about slightly, cracking my neck. My muscles ached slightly from sitting and observing for so long. I’d updated files on just about all the personnel aboard … no major changes, but a few new observations that might require some psychological re-evaluations. Regardless, I found myself looking forward to our landing, if only for the opportunity to stretch and walk about again.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>01-03-2013, 19:24:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>MAL 0001</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Lt. Col. Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting a summons by the Queen</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura devided her time between the scenery via the ship's camera system, watching the other passengers for signs of instability and reading a classic via her implant's memory. Even this cut down aircraft had more uxury than the C1030 cargo plane "Zeus" that the SEALs used for their long distance trips and HAHO jumps. For a moment, she wondered what it might be ike to jump from the ramp and into the sky; the only thing between her and the ground being a bunch of silk. That brought to mind calculations that she had done before leaving Earth to determine how much of a parachute she would need to skydive. HAHO jumps would be extremely dangerous because of the winds and thin atmosphere... but low altute jumps offered their own problems as the air to fill the cells was thin and it would take more to slow her. Then the winds would come into play and the light gravity would both help and hinder a jump, even with full combat packs.<br><br>She was pulled from her thoughts by a transmission from Lou and she felt her eyebrows rise as she responded with, "Aye Aye Dammy."<br><br>She unbuckled her restraints and taking care to not get bounced around, made her way to the port side facilities... another luxury item that hadn't quite caught up with military aircraft. She smiled innocently at Lou as she approached and her eyes flicked to the door before slipping inside.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>NaughtyKitty</strong> on <strong>03-03-2013, 01:47:38</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h242/jenna_sheffield/Elliquiy/MarsColonyHeadshot.png)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Katelynn Royse</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Aboard the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>The Whole Gang</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Sitting in her seat on the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>As the aircraft moved away from the colony, Katelynn watched as her tablet's solid network link faltered and died.&nbsp; She sighed slightly, no longer able to monitor things.&nbsp; Yeah...she could jack into the aircraft and probably patch her way back in via the communications array.&nbsp; But that probably wasn't worth the effort.&nbsp; The colony would be alright without her for a few hours.&nbsp; Plenty of good people in her section to take care of things.&nbsp; <br><br>Royse looked around the cabin at the other people she was sharing the space with.&nbsp; She saw Major Hicks get up from her seat and head towards the rest rooms.&nbsp; While Katelynn couldn't know for sure....the little burst of static that had preceded the departure of the Major gave her a pretty good idea that the Major wouldn't be alone in there.&nbsp; She couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought.....Hicks and Cotter crammed into that tiny space, both in their Environmental Suits.&nbsp; It would make anything difficult.....though somehow she figured that those two wouldn't care so much.&nbsp; Grapevine said that they were a couple of rabbits anyway.&nbsp; Another little smirk popped up at the thought as she looked back down at her now-networkless tablet.&nbsp; The sun was hitting it just right coming through the window and she caught a glimpse of herself......and saw that smirk was less entertained and more wistful.&nbsp; <br><br>Not for the first time she wondered if perhaps there really was something missing in her life.&nbsp; Yes...she had her work....a whole colony full of work....and she had adventure.&nbsp; Going to another planet to spend the rest of your life certainly qualified as that.&nbsp; And there was no part of it she'd trade for anything.&nbsp; Though she wondered if she'd have to live out the rest of her days alone?&nbsp; There hadn't been anyone back on Earth....and no one special during the ages of training they'd had to go through before they left Earth. <br><br>But nothing beyond that.&nbsp; And CERTAINLY nothing since they'd arrived.&nbsp; Probably a good thing that her vibrator had a quick charge battery in it.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Well....maybe one of these days she'd look up from some bit of machinery or other and find that special woman looking back at her.&nbsp; You had to keep the faith.&nbsp; Right Place....Right Time.&nbsp; It would happen, right?&nbsp; Just had to stay open to the possibility.....stay positive.&nbsp; <br><br>Right?
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>11-03-2013, 15:31:15</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The toilet</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Laura</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Figuring out how to have sex in a pressure suit</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>It was cramped in the tiny restroom with the two of them in there. "Yum, this is cosy", she giggled a little and then began attacking the groin flap on Laura's environment suit.Her own was already hanging open revealing her underwear. As soon as the major's suit was similarly breached,&nbsp; her fingers went to work, sliding in and out of her lover's hot, juicy slit. Her tongue pressed hard into Laura's mouth and her free hand twisted into the short, dark curls.<br><br>"This is so naughty. If the commanding officer caught us, we'd both be in trouble", she whispered softly. Then added with a giggle, "Wait, you're the expedition commander, and I'm the mission commander. I guess we'll have to put each other on report!" She kissed Laura again and her thumb found the younger woman's clit, even as her fingers continued their work, in and out of the soft hole, finding and teasing her sweet spot.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>14-03-2013, 01:26:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>In the Head</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Lt. Col Sweetcheeks</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting flown![/dt]</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura gasped softly and thrust her tongue into Lou's mouth as their lips locked. Her knees were already getting shakey, and if not for the fact that she weighted only 20% of her usual body weight, she probably of been on her knees. Louise Cotter knew all of the places that turned Laura into a puddle of&nbsp; quivering need and wasn't afraid to use them... but she hadn't come unprepared for such an eventuality. "Fine, you're on report... you're restricted to quarters when you are not actively engaged in mission operations." she said and slipped her hand into a thigh pocket of the E-suit. Grinning, she pulled her hand back and slipped her fingertips under the edge of her lover's panties and securily seated the little butterfly vibrator against her clit before pulling her fingers back, "That's your punishment for violating protocol." she whispered and thought that her eyes would cross as Lou pumped her fingers into her wet folds. "I can't get on my knees with your hand there Lou." she said softly and waggled her eyebrows.I want to make sure that you have to sit in damp panties all of the way to the site."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>19-03-2013, 00:04:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The head</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>A very naughty Major</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Taking off... (Yep, this time you got it right)</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>"GNAH! You bitch, where did you get that?" Louise gasped as the little toy was pressed against her clit. "On your knees is where you belong and you my love are confined to quarters, naked on the bed when we get back to base for at least twenty four hours!"<br><br>The colonel giggled and allowed the Major to sink to the floor. "OH MY FUCKING GOD YES!!!!!!"<br><br><hr><br>"Okay Amber honey, I'll take the controls again." Louise finally made it back to the cockpit. She was sore and sticky in her crotch and around her mouth, and Laura had kept her promise to make sure she had wet panties for the rest of the trip. As much as she would have loved to have kept it on, the Colonel had reluctantly insisted that the vibrator be removed before she resumed flying the aircraft. "I really don't need any distractions?" she had told her lover.<br><br>Quite frankly, Louise didn't give a shit who knew that she and her lover had been having sex in the toilet. Maybe it would inspire others to be adventurous on the way back... So far as she was aware there was no rule against it and if there was, well she would simply remove said rule. That was the advantage of being Queen of an entire world.<br><br>They had kept their suits on the whole time, gloves and helmets within easy reach. What was the harm? Of course, she knew in her heart that the harm was that the next couple to try it might strip off, but that was something for later.<br><br>Louise sat down heavily in the pilot seat and checked all the readings by eye, before plugging herself back into the aircraft's systems. "Hmmm. Number two is running a little hot? Maybe a bit of grit got through the seal. I'm going to put some extra lube in shaft bay, see it it cools off". Having extra lube in her own shaft bay hadn't cooled her of, not when the shaft was Laura's tongue... Louise shook her head and pumped the oil into the rotor shaft. The temperature immediately fell back to nominal.<br><br>"There, seems to have fixed it. Anything to report?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Ambie</strong> on <strong>23-03-2013, 20:12:41</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://media.onsugar.com/files/2011/01/03/2/1331/13311615/22/jessica-simpson-army-070503-1.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Amber "V" Valentine</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the Transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>everyone on the transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Watching the Colonel take off....the plane!!! OMG get out of the gutter!!</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Amber had been basically watching the landscape roll by as they got closer to their destination. She was reading temps and things but nothing seemed to raise concerns except for the growing temp in rotor 2.<br><br>She heard the captain approaching and a smile cracked upon her face...The Colonel seemed a little flush...frustrated...but a happiness was covering the way she was carrying herself. Amber knew that she must have had a recreational break as well. It was a feeling that was going through just about everyone...sexual frustrations...some focused on their work to distract themselves, others gave in and found a way to get what they needed. Amber had a list...she would keep it close to her...<br><br>The Colonel spoke as she sat and started over her checks. Mentioning the application of lube...Amber cracked a smile and replied, "Lube always makes things easier!" She giggled a bit as she looked over the weather and pressures map again.<br><br>"No other news other, Colonel. Should we start the landing checks? LZ is coming up..." She looked over at Louise for a reply...<br><br>Amber was so ready to be on the ground...roughing it was always a bit of fun, and this was sure to be a unmatched experience.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>24-03-2013, 04:11:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone there </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Subtly checking on things</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Stefan flinched slightly when the interference came , he hadn't expected it and was caught off guard by it. He wasn't completely sure but seeing Louise and Laura disappear in a very short interval gave him an idea of what could be going on, he didn't think much of it, he knew how adamant Louise was about keeping people safe she wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. His eyes darted to Dr. Chance briefly as the sexual thoughts the women encounter sparked in his mind, he pushed those thoughts away not wanting to be distracted by that in such a confined eviroment.<br><br>Shortly after he saw Louise return to the cockpit he excused himself briefly to Dr. Chance and headed towards there himself, finding V and the Lt Colonel. He looked out front before speaking.<br><br>"Hi, I'm sure everything is going well" he said making sure his presence was known even though he was sure it was "I won't ask are we there yet, but how long will it be? All the excitement about the red surface seems to have turned into boredom..." he then added "I guess people could take bathroom breaks but I'm not sure everyone has partners, we could always start blasting music, I doubt the neighbours would complain... and it would be quite an event if they do." As he spoke he looked up front, while it was still mostly just the red he had been seeing for a long time seeing it in front of him rather than on the side was somewhat of a new thing.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>27-03-2013, 17:57:10</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Mars Mission Header<br><br><div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Coming out of the head</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Lt. Col. Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> See Above</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura gave herself a couple of minutes to recover after the orgasm that Lou had given her. Her cheeks and chin glistened with her lover's juices, and her hair was a little mussed, but it was very much worth it as she tried to pull the goofy grin from her face and failed miserably. "I think I achieved my goal." she said and waggled her eyebrows, "I brought all kinda things ust to surprise you with."<br><br>She took a moment to clean her face, thankful that she only rarely bothered with cosmetics as there wouldn't of been any left and she wasn't going to carry any in an E-suit.<br><br>She resealed her suit and knew that Lou wouldn't be the only one with wet nickers for the rest of the flight... hell, probably for the rest of the day if things were going to be as labor intensive as she expected. Even with the lower gravity, it would take them most of the rest of the day to set up and there was a certain order that these had to be done... that was part of the purpose for the security detail... physical labor.<br><br>She took a deep breath and with a flash message to Lou with a big wet kissing sound, she walked... not too steadily thanks to weak knees... back to her seat and buckled in. She noticed with a smirk that two seats were empty and a quick search for locators had two signals very, very close in the rear head... considering how much fun she had gotten trying to get to her knees, she wondered how successful they were being...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zillah</strong> on <strong>27-03-2013, 18:36:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/1a/Dr._Madison_Chance.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Madison Chance</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the transport shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Mission crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Psychological observations</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Watching the Colonel and the Major disappear together was one of my more disappointing observations. Although I supposed the static discharge that I’d noticed might be the result of some sort of mechanical failure, it seemed unlikely that the source of such a discharge would emanate from the lavatory, and even less likely that the Colonel and the Major would be the most qualified personnel to deal with a mechanical issue. Logic dictated that they had entered the lavatory for purposes of coitus, which puzzled me, as I saw no practical purpose for such matters. The only thing I could think of was some sort of psychological study, and as I had not been briefed on such a possibility, I doubted that was the case.<br><br>That left the most logical conclusion of emotional, impulsive behavior. Unacceptable in my mind for commanding officers, but not my place to question. I shrugged, and simply made a note of the peculiar incident in my mission log.<br><br>I turned to Deputy Commander Versatile to get his thoughts in regards to the matter, but he was already leaving his seat, excusing himself to move towards the cockpit. A pity. I was curious to know what a person with a more intimate understanding of personal emotional needs would agree with my assessments. I supposed that were there any issues with what happened, he would address them. My thoughts on the matter, such as they were, were irrelevant.<br><br>Such strangeness. I didn’t understand it at all.<br><br>With a sigh, I checked our geopositioning data, trying to determine our estimated arrival time.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>29-03-2013, 20:46:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="bbc_size">APHRODITE BASE, 07/01/0001, 13:27</span></strong><br><br><div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The cockpit of the aircraft</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>A slightly naught co-poilot?</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Landing with rather more of a bump than intended....</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Louise looked up at the company man as he made his rather unsubtle comment. She grinned. "Stephan, if we had enough time I'd suggest that you take our delightfully sexy shrink into one of the heads and join the Martian Mile High Club too, but as my copilot has pointed out, we are coming up on our final approach, and this is not going to be the easiest la..."<br><br>She was interrupted by a sudden buzzer and a red light on the board. Suddenly she was all business. "Back to your seat, Mister, and put your helmet and gloves on. NOW!"<br><br>Even as she did she was reaching for her own, flipping the switch that turned the passenger cabin lights red. "All passengers and crew to return to your seats NOW. Full EVA suits. Put those lids and gloves on, people. We're coming in hard!"<br><br>Of course this was hopefully an unnecessary precaution, but if the ship landed too hard it could pop a seal, and that would mean the air escaping. Anyone not fully suited would have seconds to get that way. "We are two klicks from the LZ. LZ is fucking freezing! Never thought I'd miss the damn jungle!"<br><br>The rotors tilted upwards, slowing them from their cruising speed. The ship lurched to one side. "Fuck... V, get ready to disengage number two, the ship can land with the one rotor, but if number two seizes up, we could loose both". The two rotors were so large, in order to generate sufficient lift in the thin atmosphere, that the centre of one was half way along the blades of the other. The blades were synced so that they interlocked without interfering with each other, and spun so fast that seeing through them out the front was no problem. But if one of them began turning slower that the other, the blades would clash and both rotors would be destroyed. The disengage sequence would cause the rotor blades to be fired away from the craft individually. It was risky, but less so than allowing the two rotors to clash.<br><br>The number two engine was on the point of stalling and Louise had no intention of letting the damn aircraft kill her, let alone anyone else. She fought the controls, flying the ship the old fashioned way, rather than using her implant, the direct feed to her brain did help though as she used it to give feedback from the plane's systems.<br><br>With a sickening crunch that indicated that she'd put a nasty crimp in the landing gear, the craft hit the ground, Mt Olympus rising like a monstrous cliff in front of them.<br><br>"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Camp Aphrodite. Please adjust your time signals. It is now Thirteen Twenty Seven on the seventh, Olympus Standard Time". On earth, the GPS function in the standard implant would automatically adjust the time depending on the time-zone, but here on Mars, there was no GPS yet. "Let's get out there and get the base set up." She killed the broadcast and switched to LoS only. "V, let's get that engine stripped down and fixed..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>NaughtyKitty</strong> on <strong>30-03-2013, 01:58:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h242/jenna_sheffield/Elliquiy/MarsColonyHeadshot.png)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Katelynn Royse</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Aboard the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>The Whole Gang</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Sitting in her seat on the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"All passengers and crew to return to your seats NOW. Full EVA suits. Put those lids and gloves on, people. We're coming in hard!"</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br>Katelynn jolted out of her thoughts as the Colonel's words thundered through the cabin. Her training kicked in and she had her helmet over her head and snapped into place within moments...her body moving on automatic rather than her having to think about it.&nbsp; Ahh...the wonders of training.&nbsp; Out the window the engineer could see the rotors begin to tilt back into their upright positions.....then saw one of the blades begin to coast (she could tell as the blades returned to zero pitch to reduce their drag as they rotated through the air).&nbsp; As soon as they were without the second, counter-rotating blade assembly she felt the aircraft begin to auto-rotate thanks to the law of conservation of angular momentum.&nbsp; Helicopters did it when they lost their tail rotors.&nbsp; A descending tilt-rotor was essentially a helicopter....and without the counter-rotating engine, the fuselage began to slew.&nbsp; Looking back at the tail section, she could see the rudder hard over....trying to counter it....but proving to be less and less effective the slower they moved.&nbsp; <br><br>Luckily for them though, the Colonel proved to be a pretty competent pilot and set them down with a minimum of fuss....though from the force of the impact and the auto rotation in addition to the subsequent jolts afterwards, Kate was pretty sure they wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.&nbsp; Yes...they were down....and down they would stay.&nbsp; Quite some distance from home with a busted airplane.&nbsp; With a bit more luck the environmental systems aboard would continue to function and the airlocks would be fully intact. <br><br>As soon as the vibrations from the second engine began to die off, indicating that they were powering down, Kate was out of her seat and moving along the windows trying to get a better look at the engine nacelle.&nbsp; She'd have to get out there and look at it before she could say anything for sure....beyond the fact that it was broken.&nbsp; They wouldn't be going anywhere without getting the second engine operating.&nbsp; But even before they looked at the engine....she wanted to know what the readouts were on the instrumentation.<br><br>Moving forward, she stuck her head into the cockpit.&nbsp; "Colonel....everyone alright up here?&nbsp; What happened with that engine?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Prince Truhan</strong> on <strong>30-03-2013, 04:07:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Stefan_Versatile.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Deputy Mission Commander Stefan Versatile</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Everyone there </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Resuiting</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Now Stefan could have answered, and probably would have, if he hadn't been ordered back to his seat, there was urgency in Louise's voice and he knew to listen to her. He didn't even acknowlege her words knowing that she had more important things to deal with and hurried back to his seat. He put his helmet and gloves back on, checking with the system that his suit was in working order much like he had done before departing.<br><br>Eventually they had somewhat landed and he waited. He would let the people in charge of such things do a proper assesment before asking what went wrong.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chrystal</strong> on <strong>31-03-2013, 16:12:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The cockpit of the aircraft</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Amber and Katelyn</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Figuring out what happened.</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Having your chief engineer on board was always going to be a plus in a situation like this. "Ah, Katelynn. This is definitely your department. We had a wrongly calibrated sensor on the number two engine. It wasn't causing any problems art nfirst, but then the engine started running hot, possibly due to a bit of dust getting past the seal? Won't know that until we get it stripped down. But I flooded the engine with lube. It cooled it off, but the pressure calibration on that sensor... Shit, I totally forgot about it."<br><br>Guilt washed over Louise as she realised that she had very nearly caused the craft to crash. She had pumped far more lube into the engine housing than it was designed to take, due to the miscalibrated sensor. Only her own skill as a pilot had prevented a disaster. This was not her first emergency landing and it was probably the softest she'd ever had, due to the light gravity.<br><br>"Anyway, we made it, we're in one piece and we're actually where we were aiming for! And to get back, we need to fix that engine."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Ambie</strong> on <strong>01-04-2013, 03:57:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://media.onsugar.com/files/2011/01/03/2/1331/13311615/22/jessica-simpson-army-070503-1.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Amber "V" Valentine</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the Transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>everyone on the transport</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Checking over safety systems...about to exit</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>The rough landing wasn't Amber's first...being the that pilots are trained these days, they basically put students in a impossible situation&nbsp; with concern to landing...an exercise that was to make sure the student had the right stuff, calmness in situations most people couldn't handle. She was all smiles with how the Colonel went about the situation too. The Colonel's experience and skill definitely was the reason why any of them were alive.<br><br>Amber was checking over the ships life support and safety items to make sure that the ship was still safe and that there were no injuries from those onboard. Everyones vitals were logged and reported to the ships life support systems as an additional step to make sure that everyone could be kept up with at any given time. However it was a system that only operational staff at certain levels could see to make sure that privacy was kept. <br><br>She smiled at Katelynn raising her eyebrows giving a sort of whew! look to her...<br><br>Amber would have to help with repairs per the orders from the Colonel. She was sure that Katelynn would be out there as well. She was also pretty sure she would have to grab some workers from other departments that could help...at least until the repairs were over. <br><br>First things first though, she armed certain data feeds to push through her implant. Got up, grabbing her lid, and stepped around Katelynn as her and the Colonel spoke and headed through the seating area and to the stairs that would lead down to the storage area. She needed to get the CEDs (Contained Environment Domes; about the same size as a mid size master bedroom) out. They practically set themselves up which was nice. They just needed to be spread out so they wouldn't be hitting each other as they completed their self setup. They needed to ready first for people that wanted to relax a bit before work started. Good thing the transport could lay them out in automated mode. <br><br>She told the airlock to open as she let back gate down and had the smaller equipment transports unlock, and drive themselves down the gate and out to open space. They needed to be out of the way larger people transports. <br><br>She walked around the right side of the plane to get a look at the broke motor...her eyes widened as she saw what looked like tear marks in the side of the hull, starting at the motor and going down the side of the plane...there had never been any confirmed life on Mars outside of microbial. A panel was missing which could explain the tears, but the way they were made would lead ones imagination...she shook off the thought as she had the small repair equipment transport pull up behind her and set down its surface stabilizers since the ground was a bit uneven...she hadn't even taken a second to just look around at the crazy landscape around her. Too much work to do...<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Blinkin</strong> on <strong>02-04-2013, 16:25:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Cockpit.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> The flight crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Getting an update</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>Laura had slipped both the helmet and gloves on at the first blink of the emergency light and began to scan the room to make sure that everyone else was as well. She wasn't ging to have any losses on her first watch on Mars if she could help it.<br><br>As the aircraft set down with a hard bump, she unbuckled her restraints and activated her link, "Ok Ladies and Gentleman, we're at our new home, lets start getting things set up. Security, get your backs into it. I want the living domes up in 2 hours... Lets get to work... you can relax once you have a plce to sleep."<br><br>With those orders given out, she slipped into the already crowded cockpit, "What's the story Colonel?" she asked, knowing that this was official business and she was maintaining all of the protocols. "We're pulling the cargo off now and we'll have quarters in a couple of hours... do we have a way back home is the question?" There was a back-up comms unit in the cargo, and the progression of assembly had that being secured first as the aircraft batteries wouldn't last forever and they needed to be self contained anyway.<br><br>She switched to a private link, "You ok Lou?" she asked concerned, "You did a reat job putting us down."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zillah</strong> on <strong>09-04-2013, 22:17:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/1a/Dr._Madison_Chance.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Madison Chance</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>On the transport shuttle</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Mission crew</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Psychological observations</td></tr></tbody></table><hr><br>Vibration. Never a good sign in the engines, and from the sudden shaking of things, one was certainly in trouble. I noted that some of the crew headed to the cockpit, even as the ship began to lurch and yaw about. I didn't join them. I knew I would only get in the way. Instead, I checked my safety straps, and made sure that I was prepared for the worst.<br><br>I could actually hear the hull groan as our altitude descended. The stress on the airframe was massive - struts and bolts and internal beams straining mightily against the forces outside as we hurtled towards the landing area. Then there was a hard, sharp bounce, accompanied by a sickening crunch, and I was thrown forward in my seat, the safety straps biting into my shoulders. There were a few groans and shouts, and I could feel the hull of the shuttle sliding&nbsp; to the side as our momentum slowed ... and stopped.<br><br>Emergency lights flipped on. Once I was certain that we'd completely stopped, I undid the straps and stood up. I grabbed the helmet of my pressure suit and headed for the exit hatch. As limited as my technical skills might be, I knew there was no point in staying about the shuttle. The vehicle wasn't about to move again anytime soon.<br><br>"Aphrodite Base it is," I murmured, as I put on my helmet and moved to leave the shuttle. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Mars Colony - The Martian Surface</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>NaughtyKitty</strong> on <strong>10-04-2013, 02:21:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h242/jenna_sheffield/Elliquiy/MarsColonyHeadshot.png)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Dr. Katelynn Royse</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Aboard the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>The Whole Gang</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Sitting in her seat on the Tilt-Rotor</td></tr></tbody></table><br><hr><br>"Well...I'll have a look in a few minutes and see what's what.&nbsp; Then we can start working on getting it sorted and fixed," Royse offered up.&nbsp; She stepped back out of the doorway and headed towards the airlock.&nbsp; Spotting a tool kit, she snagged it to go along with her tablet....and then stepped into the small room that would let her outside without decompressing the aircraft's cabin.&nbsp; Stepping out onto the Martian soil was always something of a thrill for the redheaded doctor.&nbsp; Granted it was something she'd be doing for the rest of her life...but actually walking around outside reinforced that they were on an entirely different planet.&nbsp; She took in the view for a moment....then set off to begin her inspections.&nbsp; As they feared, the landing gear were pretty mangled....but, assuming they could get back in the air, that wouldn't be of too much concern until they made it back to the colony's LZ.&nbsp; So for now she ignored it as unimportant and headed on towards the engine.&nbsp; <br><br>Once she was under the wing, she located the inspection port and pulled the interface cable out.&nbsp; She snapped it into the port on her tablet and began to access the computer's log on the engine sensors.&nbsp; As the Colonel had indicated....the engine had been running hot...and the pressure seemed a bit high.&nbsp; Putting her tablet into a diagnostic mode, the computer began testing everything on the telemetry and software side looking for faults.&nbsp; As complex as the Tilt-Rotor was, the diagnostics would take a while.&nbsp; Then Kate set the computer down and reached back into the inspection port.&nbsp; She twisted a knob inside and a series of hand holds snicked out from the side of the fuselage....forming a ladder she could use to climb up on top.&nbsp; Shouldering the tool kit, she began the slow trip up top.&nbsp; <br><br>After a few minutes, she pulled herself over the top and stood up.&nbsp; Her boots thumped on the metal skin as she moved out onto the wing to take a look at the engine itself.
			</dd>
		</dl>
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