Cap's Recruitment Station

Andreah was taken aback by this. Few people had even spoken to her since she left Excalibur and no one in her lifetime had ever called her 'Ma'am'.

"Yes." She said without skipping a beat. looked at the Captain, and then to Tyriel, and then back to the Captain, "I don't think it'd be too hard to."

Her eyes widened a little, and with a soft, guilty expression, as if she had insulted the Unduli man, she abruptly added, "-With all do respect. I just mean, he doesn't seem stupid and when you're hurtling through space, a smart man doesn't piss off the Captain keeping you on board."

No one knew her name and already she was probably offending people. That was probably a new record.

Captain Russell finally let his smile gain full life.

"Head on back, Tyriel. You don't need to sign anything. Just know that you'll be coming with us when we head out, yeah?"

He would then, after the unduli responded, look to the new entrant and say, "Please, sit."

Russell shook his head.

" 'Fraid not. Should I have? Are you with the Federation? That'd explain my being uninformed."

His mind was on the mechanic's departure. That would be an interesting problem to tackle.

Julian exmained the lady before him and smiled softly.

"What is exactly that you can offer to my team in the coming conflict?"

His eyes flickered with new life. He was assembling a team to fight for the lost.

Cap was intrigued at the potentiality of having a sniper on the team. He could use a hawk's eye when they hit their first stop, not Earth--the other world. And then at the sound of a possible arms modifier more delight came. And then there was this--wait, what?

"Er...heh, what's he meant to do, exactly? I mean, he's...uh, cute and all, but does he have any real uses...or..."

Julian felt strange just looking at the thing.

Captain Russell grins.

"Pack your things," he says. "I don't need you to sign anything. I've run out of tablets anyways."

He extends a hand across the table.

"Welcome to the team, er, Andreah, was it?"

Captain Julian Russell had several chairs prepared in his office. The day of the assembly of the team had arrived. Tyriel wouldn't be attending: he was making some last minute adjustments to the ship. He had already been briefed just a bit earlier on the targeted world. And now he had sent the broadcast out asking for all current team members to meet up in his office. His back wall had slid open to reveal a viewscreen. He would from this point forth command his team with the authority he had used so many times before.

But for now, he waited.

Captain Russel nodded at the entrants as they came in, indicating open seats. He only awaited one more...

The message startled Jaron, he'd been half-sleeping for the past hour or so, in and out of dreams. "Ugh" he uttered, he usually was an early riser but the new environment must have thrown him off. He listened to the message and hurried to get ready, but his restless night was determined to hold him back. Once out of his cabin in his fresh uniform he ran, finally waking up to Cap's office, worried that he'd be late again. Not late maybe, he would arrive three or four minutes before the message said to be there but it seemed inevitable that he'd be last.

The door had just closed behind the last entrant as he slowed down and walked calmly into the room. The wall of telescreen impreseed him as he noted the differences in the room. Jaron saluted, then looked around at the collection of people deciding to sit next to the new girl. He hoped to finally meet someone the right way , he held out his hand and said with a smile "Good morning, I'm Jaron... the pilot."

He was rather excited for the meeting that would give the details on their first mission as a team.

Julian smiled as Greer entered. His team was assembled, though it was possible more might join even after the briefing. That seemed unlikely though. He was happy. There was at least one Federation member. That'd be good for PR, among other things. He held, in his right hand, a small remote control which he activated the viewscreen with. Upon activating it, the lights in the room cut off and the display was bright within the dark room.

"Ladies, gentlemen, I'm glad you could all make it."

A map of the Milky Way appeared on the screen. Cap moved closer to it and plopped his remote on the desk. There was only a few buttons on it, due to the screen being touch based. The man looked over the map carefully, then tapped a very specific point, not two far from the Republic fleet. His eyes gleamed and he stepped back as the display zoomed in on...

"Our first destination isn't Earth," he said, looking back at the team as he moved completely out of the way of the screen. A sector was now in sight, hovering and pulsating with life before the team. "We don't have an entirely firm lead one which of these worlds it is, but we've narrowed it down to three unnamed planets. Our information is based on intelligence gathering from unduli aboard this ship, unduli who have explored many of the vast corners of the galaxy prior to running into our kind. You're all human, so you probably don't know about our target."

He looked back at the map, his eyelids thinning.

"It is believed," he went on, "that a race of alien exists on one of these worlds that may have survived the Congregate attack and actually caused the jecktar and their fleets to flee. We don't know the exact name of this race, though according to the unduli, who have come into contact with other aliens in further sectors of this galaxy, they may be known as Anathians. We aren't sure what they're called, but that doesn't matter. Our first objective involves going to each of these three worlds and scanning from afar for anomolies."

He moved to the screen and tapped one of the stars in the sector, then one of the planets as it zoomed in.

"This desert world will be the first one we scan. Whether there are any life forms there remains to be seen. Hell, for all we know the Anathians could be dead by now. But the point is that we need to look."

Cap's eyes fell to the floor as he said, "It's slim, but it's a lead."

He then stood in front of the display and held both hands behind his back, saying, "Once we've done that we'll take the fight to the Congregate back on Earth. Until we obtained whatever the Anathians used, if they even existed at all, I will not have a plan for exactly what we're doing on the planet."

His eyes fall on Jaron.

"Greer, I haven't found a pilot good enough to handle my ship in some time. You'll be doing that job."

He then turned to Solara.

"Jane, we don't know what we'll find on the Anathian planet. We won't be constantly unified in one group. If push comes to shove and we have to split up, I'm having you lead one of the teams. And if it gets worse..."

And his eyes fell on Doug.

"Penknife, you're going to be leading a third team if anything happens creating a LARGE division. If I am ever..."

He paused, to breathe the air. This air was cool, breezy almost, like home.

Earthbound was he who held the flame of the golden dawn.

"...compromised physically, you or Jane may end up having to take my place as captain of the Deliverance."

He finally looked to Miss Lawrence.

"Andreah, you'll be useful in combat thanks to your sniping skills. As for your ship activities, that'll depend on the situation at hand. You may want to introduce Tyriel, our engineer, to your little robot friend."

He picked up his remote and turned off the viewscreen. The lights came back up in response.

"We will be here for a day longer as I await any last minute recruits. Questions?"

He was straight as an arrow in posture, his eyes hard, but behind them a certain apprehension. He could feel the weight of Atlas' "shoulder cargo" pressing upon him once more. This was it, the start of the orbital drop.

Pattern 2215: spiral formation. He'd only seen the vids, but understood. It was suicide without casualties if performed properly--

--if.

"I do, just remember how powerful Unduli liquor is." Douglas nodded just before Cap's presentation started.

Douglas was the first to bring up a query after Cap's presentation had finished. The whole thing seemed rather hopeless, this race could be extinct, he was splitting and already small team into (what was currently) three pairs to scour a whole planet for some object that may not exist or do what it was supposed to. Besides, if there was life there is may not want to co-operate and would possibly offer violent resistance. Douglas supposed they would have to hope for the best.
"If these Anathians are just figments of Unduli mythology and whatever they used doesn't exist, are we going to give up, just like that?" Douglas asked, "There must be another way of taking back Earth. For all we know another race helped these Anathians against the Jecktar. How do we know this wasn't just some situation like the American Revolution where a huge number of idiots was placed against a small number of elites and won because of sheer manpower? We seem to be relying on a legend here."

Julian paced to one side of the room and was quiet for some time. His heart beat slowly, like a bass drum. As he responded, he did not face any members of his assembled team.

"The American Revolution wasn't just a bunch of idiots. Granted, it was a bit of a misfit group, and maybe there weren't any highly trained soldiers, but there were men like Washington on the side of the Continental Army."

His eyes fell to the floor. Leadership had won that war, and strong soldiers fighting underneath it.

"I'm not attempting to liken myself to the General," he continued, "but I will, under whatever circumstances, find another way if this one turns out incorrect. We're fighting incredible odds; incredible luck might be just what we need."

He finally looked in Doug's direction.

"Ever read of the Battle of Trenton, Penknife? The crossing of the Delaware?"

Andreah stood in awe and in silence. First of all, she was finally going to be a sniper! Engineering labs were her home, but she had spent far too much time in them for her to stand being an engineer on this mission.

A thousand questions flew through her head and stored themselves into the depths of her mind, but that was for another time. There was plenty of time for questions, and lord knew she had them.

"If there's even a chance of their still existing, we have to find out..." she muttered quietly. Her voice could have been mistaken for someone who had just seen the sun for the first time, "We'll find something. It's not incredible luck that wins a battle, it's incredible will."

That was Andreah's belief, anyway. You couldn't factor luck into an equation and when you could, luck lost 9 times out of 10. The heroes of war won because they persevered. They hit hard and moved fast.

It seemed the Unduli she had previously encountered would be the engineer. Tyriel. She had the sneaking suspicion that she'd be working with him quite a bit.

"The point was to make a comparison, not to be rude about the States." Douglas pointed out, "But if you want to argue about how the Americans gained their independence I'll be all too happy to oblige, just at a more appropriate time than in the middle of a business meeting. To return to the subject intended for the meeting, I'm glad to hear that you'll create a new plan if this one fails."
Incredible luck. It seemed that Cap was now trying to enforce Douglas' comparison. While Douglas had not intended to slag off America, he had always been a firm believer that the US would not have come into being through revolution if the Americans had not received help from the French, Spanish and Dutch and that the British army was the finest in the world until the Second World War. Douglas had always been an Englishman first, then a Republican. He really hoped this wouldn't escalate into a patriotic battle that lasted the entire mission.

Julian looked to Andreah, then over to Doug as he made an addition to what he'd said previously. The captian nodded.

"I understand. You were right to at least question me. I understand this must seem strange, me banking the Anathians on luck. But I have a good feeling about this one. And again, I have a backup plan..."

His eyes fell to the floor as he went on, "...I just hope we don't have to fall back on that."

Pattern 2215.

"Any more questions?"

Captain Russell tinned his eyes and realized that he had not announced something to the team. Jane had reminded him of this.

"Miss Solara, it will be possible to divide into larger teams," he began. "My ship is rather large and couldn't simply be operated by the few here. I do have a crew. Some have spoken to me about their willingness to come down with us to the planets prior to Earth itself. They would be led by you and I--and possibly Doug, as I've mentioned before--if team divisions needed to be made. However, I understand your concern about dehydration. We will only need to hit the planet's surface if an anomoly is detected. If there's none, there shouldn't be a problem. If anyone does grow too exhausted from the heat, I do have a communcation channel open constantly with my ship's crew. An evac shuttle could be sent down to get the team member."

He then grew a bit cold as he stepped closer to the team, saying, "I would hope, however, that you would all be tough enough to handle the harsh conditions we'll be facing ahead. The 'suicide section,' if you will, won't have begun until we're within range of the Congregate fleet."

Julian's eyes moved to Jane: "Is that all?"

Pattern 2215.

"Perfect. Caps," Andreah said, snapping out of her awe-filled daze and now, sounding only sincere, "I'd just like to say thanks again. For all of this."

She grinned, eager, and saluted him. She was one of the younger crew mates who would be on the ship, and she certainly felt it. Everyone else seemed a tad... formal. Of course, she supposed a person had to be; especially Caps and Jane, who had good reason. Growing up on the Excalibur, they had not prepared her for this. It seemed, as a child, when the engineers had formal business to attend to, they would leave her in the labs, so she wasn't particularly informed as to how she should act in these situations. By the time they came back to the lab, they were no longer saluting and shaking hands and calling people "sir." Where Andreah grew up, she had only seen them tweaking and talking and laughing, like friends, not co-workers.

She felt the need to add one more thing. She looked to Jane and the Captain, "I don't suppose I could see a map of earth?"

She felt the need to linger. She had no reason to, of course, but outside of the recruitment station, Andreah felt like an anonymous face. She patted the pocket of her bag- the pistol was still there. Anonymity wasn't such a curse, though. Perhaps she would take this time to get acquainted with the Sunstrider and the ships docked inside it.

"oh," he started," If we're handing out maps, may I to have a flight plan? You know, just to familiarize myself with the route and any obstacles it might present." He realized how casual it sounded but by now the whole atmosphere seemed more casual than before. Maybe it was the small team or the immensity of the task before them that allowed for a little leeway before they were deep into planning and flying and fighting. It was probably best to be friendly with one another and gain trust on such a deadly mission.

As for the maps that everyone seemed to need, Jaron loved maps, always had. He knew the geography of many distinct worlds and galactic flight paths by heart. It was part of his navigator training not only to effectively read maps but also study cartography and produce maps of your own. Of course, modern technology typically did all the work but to best understand the layout of a place the students hand plotted and did all the math themselves for several maps. These detailed pictures that came in several media and in multiple dimensions filled his room on the Excalibur and he cherished his own digital recreations of Earth the best.

Captain Russell turned to the girl, but nodded with silence once Jane answered Andreah's question concerning Earth's layout. He then turned to his new pilot and smiled, pulling and small datapad from his belt and tossing it to Jaron.

"That's the route. We'll hyperwarp along the designated star-path and upon arrival at the first world find the nearest clear area and land there--if there's an anomoly detected, that is. All of the data you need is programmed right in there."

He then looked over at Penknife, then to the door as Jane exited. There was something there...something...

Douglas smiled back at Jane, but slightly nervously, as he was unsure of how lucky the team was going to get.

Once the Captain dismissed his crew, Douglas stood, pushed his chair back under the table and coughed loudly to remind Cap that he was also an officer, and that Jack and Louis were possibly lower ranks than he was. He left the room somewhat disturbed by Cap's half-baked plan.

As he left Cap's office he noticed Jane waiting for him outside, sitting on a chair in the waiting room. Douglas sat down beside her and let out a deep sigh.
"I really hope the Cap's backup plan is better than this one." He said quietly, "I might just be pessimistic, I'm sure he didn't reach the rank of Captain without having any tactical ability, but this plan seems to be clutching a single string of luck. You're our tactician, what do you think about this? Have you got any suggestions as to how to make this better?"