[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/pyKMS1g.png[/img] [sub][color=lime]Vitae Briefing Room 10 minutes after Hyperspace Exit[/color][/sub][/center] "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to unexplored space!" barked Commander Reynolds, the Vitae's CAG. "As you can see, 3rd, 9th, and 1st squadrons have already begun combat patrols." Reynolds gestured at a holo display on the screen behind him. In the darkness of the room, the bright, blue light of the holo screen was harsh, but illuminated the otherwise dark briefing room. The briefing room itself was no more than a small box underneath the Vitae's hangar, fit with little more than some two dozen seats and a holoscreen. All things considered, it didn't need much more than that- the only thing a briefing room needed to do was brief. The current occupants of the briefing room numbered little more than four pilots, all of them members of the 7th Grave Robbers. Sara Hawkins, Simon Thomas, and Lucas Crowley, along with the 7th's newest recruit sat alone in the briefing room, with the CAG. Having just been deployed a few days earlier, the pilots of the 5th and 7th had been rotated out of combat duty. As such, Sara wondered why CAG had pulled them into the briefing room instead of one of the other squadrons. Surely they were not short on combat pilots just yet. Almost as if he had read her mind, the CAG continued speaking. "I suppose you're wondering why I've pulled you guys here, instead of one of the other on-duty flights. Quite simple, I'm giving you guys a milk run." "Sensors have picked up an astounding three planets within the solar system's hospitable zone, so the top brass want to prepare a scouting mission. 7th, you're going to take half of your squadron and get some accurate scans of these planets, with luck maybe we can find some usable materials. Hawkins, take over." Sara clutched at her EVA harness, for some reason, it felt heavier than usual. Nonetheless, she played it cool as she walked to the front of the briefing room. She cleared her throat and glanced at the three pilots assembled before her. Simon Thomas, was a brash, aggressive and arrogant young pilot with an accentuated english accent, despite being an Armani native like herself. He had a charm to him, a roguish, cocky sort, that all the thrill seeking ladies loved, and with his short styled hair, and roguish scar, it wasn't surprising that he was particularly popular amongst the civilian and less initiated pilots. On the other hand, Lucas Crowley was every bit the model soldier, military straight, with a confident, cool aura about him. The last pilot, Jarret Riley was a young, bright face pilot. Formerly part of Ark-Sec, he responded to the advertisements for new pilots, and was among the first to pass training and adjustment course. Incidentally, Riley was a civilian pilot back on earth, so he had experience with aerospace craft, unlike some of the other recruits. He wasn't a full combat pilot just yet, and it'd be a while until he was ready, but he'd work for a mission like this. "Alright boys, we will be deploying in T-47 scout ships to recon the planets within the Hospitable Zone, designations H-1 and H-2. The third planet is currently in far orbit on the other side of the solar system, so we'll save off on reconnoitering that planet for another time. Thomas, you're with me, Crowley, you take the new kid." "I always knew you had a thing for me boss," Thomas said with a dashing grin. "Keep dreaming, Thomas," Sara replied "Its more that I don't trust you with the new kid. Crowley can take care of him." [hr] [sub][color=lime]Vitae Hangar 15 minutes after Hyperspace Exit[/color][/sub] Sitting in the launch elevator was one of the two T-47 Scout craft prepared for the sortie. Combat Air Patrols had cleared the surrounding space, and were currently in the middle of force recon through the remainder of the nearby solar system to scan for contacts. Currently they were the only sentient beings in local space. With any luck, it would stay that way, Sara thought to herself, as she pulled herself on top of the scout ship and plopped herself in the pilot seat, Simon Thomas taking the seat behind her. The T-47, while almost as nimble as the T-22 interceptor, was designed for recon instead of combat. As such, it was considerably more delicate than the T-22, and unsuited for combat. Despite this, it still featured a pair of K-80 Railguns for self defense. "Idunno about you Hawkins, but I'm not too comfortable flying in a bucket that doesn't even have missiles." Thomas shouted at Hawkins, as she began the fighter's startup systems. "Can it Thomas, there shouldn't be anything to shoot at right now, anyway." Hawkins replied as they were fed into one of the Vitae's launch tubes. Moments, later, they were launched out of the Vitae at an approximate speed of mach 1. [hr] [sub][color=lime]In Orbit over H-1 35 minutes after Hyperspace Exit[/color][/sub] "Alright Boss, Graves-2 is breaking off." came the voice of Crowley over the comms. Looking to her left, Hawkins could see the second T-47 breaking off to explore the second planet. The trip thus far had been uneventful. There was nothing but undisturbed space between the Vitae and H-1 and H-2. It was honestly kind of relaxing. Aside from Thomas' bored whining, Hawkins enjoyed her first calm flight in space since, well, as long as she could remember. Something about this solar system was different than the Sol system. It was quieter, emptier, less busy. In the Sol system, Sara couldn't look in any direction without seeing a trans-liner, hubship, trading post, mining drone, or some other piece of civilization. This system, was very much the opposite. Empty space, untapped asteroids, and even a comet in the distance sailed untouched by human hands. Everything was different- bizarre even. Even without a scan, Hawkin's could tell that this solar system's planets were strange, different than that of the Sol system's. For starters, H-1 seemed to defy the laws of physics. At a glance, Sara could see what looked to be barren deserts where the planets poles should be- and a frost covered line across its center. In between the mix matched hot and cold zones, was a swath of thick vegetation between them, with the occasional ocean inbetween. The planet was beautiful to look at, colorful, but not overpowering, mysterious, but not terrifying. Sara would have been content to stare at the planet for hours had the increasingly bored Thomas not interrupt her thoughts. "So, Boss. We gonna scan this planet of what?" Thomas said in a louder than necessary voice. Sara sighed in annoyance, but nevertheless began the T-47s scanners. Within moments, data began scrolling across Sara's eyes, subsequently streaming directly to the Vitae's bridge under top-secret encryption. It was standard procedure to restrict the new planetary data to strictly upper level brass and command structure- despite the fact that a new planet had not been discovered in well over several decades. The data was fairly standard, not particularly positive, but about what Sara expected. The planet had no breathable atmosphere, being a primarily nitrogen and carbon dioxide atmosphere, but without enough oxygen for human populations. Gravity was slightly heavier than that of earth, sitting at about 1.2 G. Scanners detected trace elements of surface metals that could be used if they had the desire to collect them. "Hey Hawkins, I'm getting something on scanners. Check the northeast vector." Thomas piped up, surprisingly more curious and informative than Hawkins had expected. Tuning over to the directed sector, Hawkins was just as surprised as Thomas. "Hawkins to command." Sara called into the fleet-com, hailing the bridge. "We're detecting what appears to be faint EM signatures on planet H-1. Attempting to locate source." Hawkins tried to pinpoint the source of the frequencies, but found herself unable due to the density of the planet's vegetation. It was almost impossible for her to pinpoint an exact location from the EM signatures. The best she could do was shrink the possible area down to a radius of 5 miles. It was a big area to be sure, but she couldn't get anything narrower without compromising the accuracy of the data. "Should we enter orbit and take a closer look?" Thomas asked Hawkins. "Belay that," came the voice of their CAG. "Graves 1 and 2, return to the Vitae for re-tasking." "Scans of H-2 are not yet complete sir," piped up Riley, "If we could get-" "Negative new kid, the Grave Robbers will be joining up with the Nyx for further details. Return to the base now." [hr] [sub][color=lime]Vitae Hangar 1 hour after Hyperspace Exit[/color][/sub] Upon returning to the hangar, Sara and her three pilots had exited their fighters and trooped over to the Nyx, sitting in the back of the hangar. It was a lengthy walk, given the size of the hangar, but it was anything but uneventful. Almost getting her ears talked off by Thomas and Riley throwing quips back and forth, Sara was almost relieved when they were greeted by the stone faced Lt. Leandra, who stared them down from the door of the Nyx. With her stoney glare silencing the rowdy pilots, Sara was able to approach and snap a quick salute. "Sara Hawkins, 7th Grave Robbers reporting as ordered. Permission to board?" "Permission granted," Lt. Leandra replied as she returned the salute.