Rawk — Roleplayer Guild

[ Planet Survey Team Alpha | Field Assignment: Civilian Protection Detail ] 
[ Chief of Security Gavon TreVayne ]

“What the hell is that ?”

Agent Phillips mumbled into the comms, as he watched with much intrigue the quirky four-legged creature trotting alongside Amara in what appeared to be some kind of environmental suit attachment. At second glance however, Phillips realized the animal was a canine -perhaps a species of retriever- as it happily scurried around its master's feet, fogging up the clear protective shield while attempting to sniff through the awkwardly fitting helmet.

“Ms Locke?” Gavon chimed in, looking over his shoulder at the excitable animal fashioned with a variety medical supplies and equipment. “I assume your dog is here on an official capacity then?”

Before an answer came, however, what could only be described as a dark blur raced past the team only a meter or so away, it's size not much larger than that of Amara’s pet. Cody's whimpering, followed by a few sharp barks alerted distant teams, eliciting inquiries over comms as to the source of the racket. Chief TreVayne explained that the dog was with their group, and before anyone could question whether or not they'd remembered seeing a canine on the Nyx, Gavon demanded radio silence while checking his surroundings.

“Listen up, an anomaly was spotted nearby our position. No sign of hostility, but I don't need to remind you that we’re not alone on this rock, so keep your wits sharp.”

The Chief couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen such a vast expanse of vegetation, trees so tall that he swore they were touching the sky, and the smell not of rotting earth, but of something almost aromatic and pleasant. This place was a long shot from the cesspool of nuclear waste and destruction he had been accustomed to living in Eastern Europe at the time. The two scientists broke away from the team and excitedly hurried ahead as they pointed beyond the dense wall of trees and vines that obscured much of the metallic orb. “It’s beautiful!” One of them exclaimed, her voice almost as giddy as a small child. “Agreed, although it appears to be damaged, specifically along the bottom half.” The other said, pulling a small datapad from his satchel. Both scientists were all but hidden from the rest of the group by the thick jungle foliage as they continued toward their goal. 

“I need you both to stick closer and hold your position until we’ve set up a perimeter around the orb.” Gavon interjected, going from a walk to a jog in order to catch up to the eager science team with the others quickly falling in step as he motioned to Agent Phillips to take the far side. 

“And to all personnel...” He continued, echoing Captain Eccleson’s mandate at the earlier briefing. “Once again remember DO NOT disturb the plant or wildlife. We shouldn’t need to clear-cut any paths while we’re here and no one is taking any ‘souvenirs’ on the return trip. Only authorized science & research teams will handle geological samples.”

As the team settled near the base of the orb, Gavon pulled a rectangular box -approximately 38 by 17 centimeters- from his rucksack, kneeled down, and laid the box onto the damp jungle floor, unlatching the side locks and swinging the cover open. Neatly lined up in two rows of three, were octagonal-shaped metal devices, identical in all aspects and nestled into the foam liner. Powering up his datapad, he queued the command software for the small objects and keyed in a scouting protocol that immediately brought the drones to life. Each had tiny LEDs that lit up just before they all simultaneously lifted out of their “nests”, rose about a half meter and hovered. The Chief stood to his feet and looked up at the flat, gray devices floating above him, before staring down at the datapad to execute final instructions. With a few additional commands, the drones flew off in opposite directions around the perimeter of the orb, three to each side, until they covered the immediate area. Each drone was equipped with long-ranged sensors, enough of which to “connect and relay” gathered information to other drones that were also being used by each team. Once all drones had been linked, a virtually impenetrable mesh network would be completed, allowing full coverage of the surveyed areas and advanced warning systems that continually monitored.

“Are we good Chief TreVayne?” One of the science officers asked, clearly a bit on the impatient side, even while unloading several pieces of equipment from a supply crate.

“It’s all yours.” Gavon nodded, stepping up closer to the ominous-looking orb, noting the intricate etchings along it’s surface.

“You can touch it you know.” The female scientist said, stopping within arm’s length of where Gavon stood. “It’s rather docile, unfortunately, from what we can tell so far.” She lifted her gloved hand and ran it across one of the many smooth scarred metal plates that made up the entirety of the orb. “Although, from what we were told a few minutes ago, one of the science assistants, Michael Smith, had some interaction with theirs. May have even found something useful if all goes well...”

Sensing a bit of doubt in her tone of voice, Gavon turned to the young scientist. “Well, it’s still early so who knows what you’ll find in this tin can. Besides, how often do you get a chance to visit a new planet?”

The girl smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose that’s a good point. But on that note, time to go find ‘something useful’...”

------------------------------------------------

Minutes ticked by as the escorting Ark Security Agents kept watch while the science teams did what they could to collect data from the orbs and surrounding foundations, sharing their findings with colleagues, geeking over serious analytical information that only they could understand, and generally keeping themselves occupied and content. 

There were a few instances that brought up preemptive alerts from the hovering drone sensor sweeps, but hardly enough to cause a stir as most were due to small wildlife straying too far into the occupied zone or general false positives from the constant electromagnetic interference emanating from the orbs themselves. However, what caught Gavon’s attention, were the tiny heat and EM signatures that showed up at random intervals near the tops of the dense trees, only to fade away and completely disappear from the scanners. This happened multiple times, and yet each instance the number of signatures grew roughly ten percent. 

Agent Phillips caught sight of something dark and fast in the corner of his eye, only to lose it when he turned his attention towards that area. Pausing for a moment in hopes that whatever it was would reveal itself again, he held his rifle at the ready, and slowly moved in that general direction, checking the sensor readouts scrolling across the small built-in HUD within the bio suit's helmet. Within a few seconds, the readouts gave a lot of nonsensical feedback before clearing out and resetting. Agent Phillips tapped the exterior glass on his helmet a few times thinking it was his equipment malfunctioning, but it did little good. If by chance, however, he turned his attention upward, his eyes following from the base of the large tree trunk in front of him up as far as he could see several meters above…

...And there they were, dozens of tiny indistinguishable grayish-blue insects slowly making their way down the enormous trunk. Phillips stepped back a few paces as he stood mesmerized by the small creatures, their exterior shells giving off a faint blue glow as they continued their descent, which simultaneously caused yet another spike in the drone’s sensor sweeps. 

“Chief you may want see this.” Phillips’ voice seemed a bit edgier over the comms. ”I think I found the source of the sensor disruptions.”
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