Arkady

Crystal leaves planning the details of setting up the defensive perimeter to Ibanez, thugh she occasionally inquires about his choices, sounding like she's trying to get at least a basic grip on the essentials of it. That aside, the helps setting things up as best as she can, though judging by her lack of good technique for handling crates, she probably really didn't carry much more than resposibility during her time in the Navy. She asks Miranda to check the crate of rations, see if there's any indication they might have gone bad or wheher they can be used to replenish, ever so slightly, the Star's supplies for the voyage home. After Lopez comes to, Crystal briefs her on the team's plans. "Given you're clearly not at 100 percent, I think it might be best if you stay here, to provide some additional security. And maybe forage a bit around the site. I'd presume you know what's good to eat and might make for a better meal for the team here than rations, right?" She then gathers everyone. "Okay, time to finalize plans the spelunking trip. Firstly, Pita, anything you need the team to be looking for salvage-wise? Secondly, Lopez, how is the terrain as far as you could tell? Does it even make sense to take Wrench along, or is his maneuverability too likely to become an issue?" She points at the tracked robot. He may not like legs, but they might have been beneficial here. "Also, there is an additional factor to consider that I hadn't previously been aware of." She points toward the crate of explosives. "We have better capability for breaching obstacles than I had initially anticipated, so I need someone who actually knows their way around explosives in case actually utilizing them seems called for in order to reach the subterranean source of that distress signal. Any takers?"

FWIW, computers can 100% replace humans when it comes to not actually doing what they're told.

Crystal nods. "You're right. Two weeks is enough not to foolishly rush things, but it's not enough to dally. So let's get Lopez on the shuttle and relocate to the ship site. Wrench, I'm guessing you would have some info on what the scout ship's technical specs should be, so en route you, Pita and Joe put your heads together and plan out how you'll go about efficiently assessing the ship's current state. Ibanez, as the ops expert, you can brief the rest of us on how to go about securing the perimeter when we get there."

Crystal looks from Ibanez to Joe, frowning slightly. "I can't say I like it. That'd mean not actually having anyone from the core security team with the VIPs, and relying on draining the shuttle's energy reserves to keep them safe. While potentially leaving a largely unknown with them, unless Lopez recovers fast enough to join the cave delving crew. That's..." She shakes her head. "Look, I'm not ideal for this job, but I'll be damned if I don't try to do it right. Surely there has to be a saner alternative." She looks over the group. "Actually, Joe, how are you with first aid? Could Miranda stay with the shuttle crew if you join me spelunking? No, wait, that'd leave Pita all alone to take a look at the scout ship. This..." She sighs. "Right, fact is, we've got over two weeks, so how about we not move out doing all various things at once, going in mostly blindly. Can we land the shuttle at the scout ship's site? That'd be ideal, so Pita, Joe and Wrench can do a first assessment together while the rest of us see about securing the site for repair work and wait for Lopez to come to. Perhaps there's some, any useful intel in the ships databanks, too. Plus, come to think about it, having some idea on what might be needed for repairing the ship be fore going spelunking seems like a splendid ideaOdds are there will be salvageable tech in that cave, but depending on what the rock is made of, we could be effectively radio dead once inside." "If we can secure the site a bit, ideally, the shuttle could then stay on the ground most of the time, at the scout ship's site, so Sarah and Ruddick can lend a hand to Pita best as they can to perhaps get that ship working, instead of putting a a strain on the shuttle's energy reserves and possibly getting us stranded. Still need to figure out who stays there for actual security, but at least I, no, we will have a little more time to think about it. Ibanez, I get what you want to do, but it'll have to wait just a little. Besides, you don't actually want to move out until you've talked to Lopez about any pointers she might be able to give you."

I just realized that Karateka to this day remains the only fighting game I ever fully completed. No other villages ever got to bask in the sunlight of peace...

Crystal groans ever so slightly when Joe speaks up, then looks from him to Sarah, raising a finger, "Don't even say it. You don't want to be bored at the shuttle, either." Her gazes wanders on to Ruddick. "And you cannot possibly miss the chance to do whatever you do with relics out of space and time." She throws her hands up in the air in exasperation, then sighs. "Fine. New plan A, as in 'Against my better judgement'. Everyone helps with efforts to camouflage the shuttle while we wait for Lopez to come to, and when she's ready to lead the way, we all move out. Might be best to have a look at the scout ship and see if it is salvageable, anyways, just in case we wind up needing a plan B for limping back to civilization from this here middle of nowhere. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that because giant alien Salties don't actually bother atttacking camuflaged shuttles."

Oh? Personally, I rather liked keeping dice-rolling to a minimum, and imo there wasn't any real need. Crystal's core concept is basically "slightly insecure officer who isn't much of a soldier but good with people", so she's been basically doing 'routine' things so far - including delegating tricky stuff she'd surely need to roll for to somebody she feels is more qualified (Wrench and Ibanez, mostly). As far as I'm concerned, just keeping things moving along instead of rolling for rollings sake was fine! I feel we basically just got to the part where dice rolling is about to pick up, because Crystal will be doing stuff that's definitely not routine, and trying to avoid bad habits. (Not that carousing party girl early on during the trip or xenophile curious about mopey sentient robot were particularly disadvantageous disadvantages, so far... so no need to roll to avoid those, either.)

Personally, I'd say Joe is presumably with the team on the planet, so maybe do a kind of "retcon" post to let us know what Joe thought of everything that happened and what he thinks of the situation now? Might be best for letting ColonelKane re-integrate him when he gets back around to this.

New Year's Eve will be a great time to catch up some superhero movies. I actually found one featuring a guy that isn't wearing his undies on top of his pants!

12° on Christmas Eve. That's not really unusual in these here parts. Except back in the day, it used to be Fahrenheit, not Celsius.

I would have thought any idiot would realize one should never play chicken with a train, as it literally can't lose. Of course there's a random clip on the internet showing the world made better idiots. 🤦‍♂️

Well, it is holiday season. I pretty much assumed that if you don't get around to it this week, it'd take until the new year. After all, you're probably part of either the half of humanity going on vacation, or the other half that needs to do all the work in the meantime. My condolences on being in the second half, though. As someone who worked in tourism at one point, I know nothing sucks like being in a customer-facing position having to deal with the vacationing half between Christmas and New Year's.

Fun fact: if the Jags and Falcons lose out except for one team beating the Bucs and the other tying them, and the Saints don't win another game except vs. Jags and Falcons game, Tom Brady could once again write history, this time by taking the very worst team ever (6-10-1) into the playoffs. (He could also get there in mildly less crazy ways with the Bucs going 7-10, which would still be the worst ever playoff team.)

Crystal listened to the account, frowning ever so slightly at the scouts not having made that distress call more of priority. Even if it was most likely just automated, the system it came from might have information on the planet and its 'monsters'. And it sure sounded like information might have been just the thing the scouts would've needed to figure out how to deal with what sounded a bit like an oversized, angry Saltie (Australian saltwater crocodile), or possibly a distant relative to the Leviathan of Terran mythology. When the scout collapsed Crystal took a slight step back, to let Miranda do her thing, and be largely unobserved as she pondered what to do next, because she was pretty sure it would show on her face she was a bit out of her depth. When the medic offered her diagnosis, she shrugged, "Well, since we don't know where exactly her camp is, it'll have to be the ship." She then crossed her arms in front of her chest, saying, "I trust everyone understands I'm out of my military element here, so I have to go by what I know as a civilian, which is Salties. An alpha predator like that would probably have been attracted by as noisy a beast as our shuttle, and now be watching while trying to figure what to do. So chances are whe don't actually have much time, and just waiting around to see when she comes to might not be our best option. Therefore, Wrench, using what data and information we have, can you locate that cave? If so, I want to take a team there asap; whatever systems are there might hold clues as to what exactly this giant lizard really is, and how we can deal with it if we have to." She turned to Librarian Ruddick specifically and added, "Given there may be a connection to your order, I would require Scribe Layla with me. No, not you; you must remain with the shuttle as the pliot, so the lot of you can get the hell out of dodge if necessary." She looked at Miranda. "Will Lopez be fine without you? I think I probably shouldn't go spelunking without a medic if I can help it." She turned to Wrench. "Nor without somebody who might be capable of digging us out in case of a cave-in." Finally, she addressed Ibanez. "That'd make four of us going to the cave, with you remaining here to take care of Sarah and the shuttle. Thoughts?"

Hourglasses are pessimists by design: they must be half empty to function.