Episode 2: Leaving the comforts of home

Comeau grinned at Ryan. "Objection noted. Next time, ok? Just be ready if we need you."

Turning back to Sylvia, "That's why we have tactical with us. First thing when we get back, you're getting basic training. For now, stay behind myself or a tactical crewman, and try to help the medical officer. If you become aware of anything, don't hesitate to inform me."

And with that, he continued on to meet the away team.

Sylvia nodded, the worry clear on her face. As she continued her voice sounded far more innocent and worried than it had before. "Do I get...a armored vest or something?"

Ryan found himself wondering why they would put a non-combatant in such a front-line role, surely there were telepaths with combat experience. Then again, maybe not.

By the time Comeau got to the launch bay, a six man fire-team from the special ops team was already waiting. They had run their third check on their weapons and some were snapping freshly checked clips into their weapons. Comeau knew from the faces gathered that the spec-ops commander had assembled the best of the team, including himself (GM Note: I forgot the name of the commander guy).

Comeau stopped in front of the crew.
"We have a necessary civilian with us, gentlemen. Keep her safe. Tactical E-Suits for us, grab her an E-Suit with a vest. Likewise for our medic. I'm hoping this is a fire-free encounter, but be ready."
Comeau grabbed his Tac. Suit himself, and started to suit up.

Ventura slapped the clip of his rifle against his body armor then seated it into his rifle as one last check. He nodded to one of his men who quickly disappeared and later returned with a pair of suits as requested; he immediately set upon helping the civilians suit up and explained the basics of operating the suit.

"Sir, if you don't mind my saying so, but I'd rather much have my team go in alone without any additional...ahem....company." It was clear that Ventura also meant Comeau's presence on his team. "We don't know what's out there and we operate better without unknown elements...at least unknown elements in our group."

Comeau nodded. "Granted. Let me know when the area is secure. Hope for peaceful intentions."
Comeau looked around at the away team. "If we're all ready, I'd like this to get underway."

Ventura nodded and turned to his team. "You heard the man, mount up. Get those masks on. I don't want to see your ugly faces."

With that, the team sickly boarded the transport shuttle. The ship had already been prepared for launch when it became clear that this would soon become a boarding operation and the launches would be needed. Unfortunately, the boarding team couldn't see the ship they were about to board as there were no Windows. Silva fidgeted nervously in her seat as the special forces team ran over preparation check lists almost as if they had been holy rituals.

It wasn't long before the ship approached the alien ship and soft docked. Opening the alien ships airlock was a simple, but time consuming, matter of cutting through the locks that held it shut. Unfortunately, this meant whatever little element of surprise they had was lost.

When they finally managed to board, a few of the men made sure the immediate area was secure.

"Tommy, Ace. You guys stay behind. The rest of you with me. Standard sweep. Miller, Justin, Thomas. Keep an eye on the civs."

One of the soldiers checked the readout on his sensor gauntlet. "Air in here is thin due to venting, but it's breathable. Standard mix. Keep your masks on, though. Don't know whether there might be any contaigns."

The inside of the ship was dark. Sparks flew from overloaded conduits caused from whatever battle the ship had been in. Lights dimly flickered on and off lighting smokey filled corridors. The walls of the ship were rounded and smooth and almost looked organic.

One thing was clear... They weren't in Kansas anymore.

Comeau stole a glance around at the interior of the alien ship, and decided that he had to be in it. Not only was it only proper that the captain be involved hands-on with a first contact situation, but the exobiologist in him was dying to investigate.
One glance at the console closest informed him that they would be of no use, as they were both badly damaged, and indecipherable.
"It looks like we're going to have to go in blind. Even if the consoles were something we could read, they're so badly damaged that it could be dangerous to even try pulling up a diagram of the ship. Let's move with caution."

Ventura nodded in his suit, his tight fitting helmet moved with his nod. "I guess I won't be able to convince you to stay behind on the launch, huh?" He said over the tight beam radio, if there were someone on the ship it was highly unlikely that they would be able to intercept the ultra short range radio transmissions.

Ventura's team moved with innate precision. They cleared each room as they passed. As they moved, built in computers in their suits created a map of where they had traveled. Room by room, the soldiers took notes on what they found inside.

They found little except for a couple of dead bodies which, for lack of a better description, looked like the classic 'grey' aliens from the movies Comeau loved as a child.

Comeau addressed Ventura through the radio, "Ventura, based on the map we've charted so far, where would you guess their main systems and bridge to be?"

"Well, if they follow any logic, the crucial systems should be well isolated in the middle of the ship. You don't want to start putting pesky little things like your main life support systems on the outer hull of the ship." Ventura glanced over at Comeau. "Which means if you want to check out the ships vitals, we're probably going to have to crawl through the entire ship first."

Comeau grimaced. "I don't believe we have much choice. We have a long trek, methinks. We should continue to search for survivors, but our top priority is to reach the bridge. With any luck, we can learn something there."

Ventura nodded. "Don't know where the bridge might be, but we'll sweep the ship until we find it. We'll keep the team together while we sweep, don't know how much resistance we'll encounter." It was clear that Ventura was proactive about his choices and was already ready for an armed response from the probably near dead crew of this ship. "We move slow and steady, no mistakes boys." He paused to look at Comeau. "I guess we respond to hostile action, no shooting first, sir?"

Comeau nodded. "Affirmative. No shooting, if we can avoid it. Weapons fire wouldn't seem much of a friendly greeting. We want to make friends out here, if at all possible. Let's get moving. Doesn't look like survivors will have much time."

Ventura smiled at Comeau before he turned and started down the corridor taking point. "They don't teach us SEALS for first contact, we're generally an 'ask questions later' bunch."

The next few rooms were sweeped with clockwork precision. It was clear that the SEALS were an exquisitely trained group. They operated in an almost mechanical fashion as they moved through rooms never relying on coms to coordinate their movements. They found nothing except the occasional body which was clearly dead. Though an autopsy would need to be preformed it wasn't hard to guess that the cause of death was asphyxiation.

"Well, looks like the eggs back on the ship are going to have a field day with all these bodies." Ventura said in an off handed comment.

Comeau shook his head. "If we find any survivors, it's their call how the bodies are dealt with. With any luck, we will have an opportunity to learn more about these people than what their innards look like."

The sweep of the rest of the ship was, thankfully, uneventful. Based on the amount the amount and state of the bodies found, the crew was very small (much smaller than the crew of the Tenacious) and the ship had suffered a catastrophic decompression which led to the death many on board. Though there had been signs that more than a few of the crew had died because of their injuries during whatever calamity the ship had suffered.

Much of the ship had been cleared when it became clear that they had begun the approach to the bridge. The SEALS team lined up by a particularly solid door. When it slid open on its own accord. Shocked, the team stormed in quickly guns pointed only to encounter a crew of five remained on the bridge. They slowly stood from their stations, but remained still otherwise. The SEALS team, thankfully, did not fire, but were ready to rain death at a moments notice.

Slowly, one of the aliens standing in the center of the room began to step forward.

(This is what the alien looks like: http://www.warrensburgweb.net/alternity/images/fraal.jpg What can I say, a picture is worth a shit load of my time.)

Comeau stepped into the open area of the doorway, without crossing the threshold.
"Hello. We mean you no harm. We're here to offer you assistance."
As a show of good faith, he lowered his sidearm into its holster.
Comeau had only to hope that the aliens understood his intent, or had some way of understanding him.

Comeau could see the grin on Ventura's face as he turned towards him, hand to his helmet covering his mouth like a kid trying to hide talking in class. "Uh, sir, I say there's a pretty good chance they don't speak english..."

Though Comeau holstered his weapon, the troops maintained their beads on their targets. Though none of the aliens seemed to mind they had weapons pointed directly at them, there seemed to be very little tension in the air given the situation.

The head alien stopped half-way between Comeau and his troops and his own crew; his hands were still in the air, a seemingly universal gesture of supplication.

Comeau smiled.
"I think, Ventura, they get the point. Lower your weapons."

Ventura gave the silent order for his troops to lower their weapons, but Comeau noticed not a single one of the soldiers took their hands off their grips.

"So, how do we play this sir?" He turned his head to Comeau. "I hope they gave you first contact training at the big boss school."

(Note: If I remember correctly the psi is back on the launch, right?)

"Send for our telly, if you would." Comeau said with a smile. "She may be our best bet at communication. As for first contact training, well... It's kind of hard to create a curriculum for something that's never been done before. Take notes. We're writing the textbook."

"I guess you've never been to any of the red lights on Mars, huh?" Ventura said with a smirk and then motioned for two his team to return to the ship to relieve the two that he ordered to escort Sylvia to their location.

It didn't take long for the troops to show up with the telepath. The map that the recon team had made was automatically shared with the rest of the team and they made their way directly to Comeau's location.

Sylvia walked into the room awkwardly. One didn't need telepathic powers or amazing powers of insight to understand that she was incredibly nervous, after all it wasn't every day one met an alien being.

"I'm here..." She said in a meepish voice.

Comeau nodded at her. "Glad you could join us. We could use your assistance. I don't believe they are a threat. Can you think of any way that you may be able to facilitate communication?"

Sylvia took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Our best bet is for me to reach out with my powers...I can't imagine they'd understand our language or they would have contacted you." She sighed again. "But that might seem to be a provocative action...I'll need your permission to do that..."

Comeau nodded. "Permission granted. Greet them whenever you are ready."
Comeau himself did not reach for his sidearm, in the hopes that it would not be necessary. He did feel his adrenaline pumping, though. It would be hard not to.
"Just do what you can."