[center][h1]FNG - Part Two[/h1][/center] [center]A collaboration between [@vietmyke] and [@Civetta][/center] [hr] After the short and dirty introductions Hawkins had given to the rest of the pilots, Cassandra had been more than happy to distract herself with the craft she would be spending the next couple of hours with. She was already fairly familiar with the Shriek; being a Conglomerate piece of tech, it would have been surprising if she wasn’t. Currently, the hoverbike rested on the floor of the hangar, having been been brought down when the hangar crews were informed it would be used on the mission today. The Shriek was a comfortable sight after so much Federation, Martian, and Armani tech. Slipping into the craft, Cassandra put on her helmet, and with so much as a blink, allowed her cybernetics to take over. Her vision filled with a HUD; it was crude, and decidedly militaristic, rather than some of the augments the Armani had, but it got the job done. [color=00d2ff]>Nagasaki Conglomerate Cybernetics Link engaged >Connection with R-52 SHRIEK Revision 5601 successful >User Recognized: 2nd Ltnt. C. Atkov >Beginning flight checklist[/color] [color=00d2ff]>REACTION CONTROL:[/color][color=00ff00] OK[/color] [color=00d2ff]>REPULSE THRUST:[/color][color=00ff00] OK[/color] [color=00d2ff]>FUEL:[/color][color=00ff00] OK[/color] [color=00d2ff]>ENGINES:[/color][color=00ff00] OK[/color] [color=00d2ff]>CAPACITORS:[/color][color=00ff00] OK[/color] [color=00d2ff]>IRS:[/color][color=d6ff00] ALIGN[/color] [color=00d2ff]>COMMUNICATIONS:[/color][color=ff0000] ERROR: FAILURE IN MAIN BUS 3[/color] Cassandra let out a groan. This was the first time using the Shrieks since the launch of the arks, and it was no wonder there was [i]going[/i] to be a problem, just a matter of when and where. It was annoying, however, that it was now, and here. Regardless, this was her area of expertise, so the problem was trivial. With a quick flurry of tapping and swiping across the screens that comprised the Shriek’s dashboard; a temporary fix was put in place. [color=fdff0e]>MAINTENANCE OVERRIDE ENGAGED >REROUTING COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH SECONDARY BUS 5[/color] [color=00d2ff]>CONTINUING WITH STARTUP SEQUENCE[/color] [color=00ff00]>MAIN ENGINE START[/color] With a sudden shudder and a hum, the engines of the shriek came to life. While the Shrieks were mounted with a capacitor bank to keep them powered; they relied on the power the main engines generated to keep them topped up, and were only used to start the engines initially. Once the engines were running, however, the rest of the craft would flare to life. It was a rather efficient way of doing things; however that means if you ran out of power in these things while the engines were off you would be dead in the water. A whistle off to Cassandra’s left saw Sara Hawkins trooping up to where the two Shrieks were grounded, a survival pack over each shoulder, plopping one down at Cassandra’s feet with a heavy crunch. The survival packs were standard issue for recon missions, and because the Shrieks themselves had no ‘trunk’ to store materials, the pilots were stuck either wearing the bulky packs, or strapping them to their vehicles. The bulky packs contained everything they would need for an extended away mission- including a bivouac sack, multi-tool, combat tomahawk, a first aid kit, two 1-liter canteens, 3 days worth of food, and 4 days worth of ‘food-substitute’ nutrient pills, compass, and distress beacon, among other things. The packs also had a ARX-59 rifle and a few magazines of ammunition strapped to their side. “Haven’t had to use one of these since basic,” Sara commented as she went about the process of strapping the pack to the top of her Shriek. It made sense, Armani were primarily spacefarers, not foot troopers. Cassandra nodded in return, grabbing the pack and going about strapping it to the Shriek, “Same here, although the Con ones were a bit different.” She took the rifle from the pack, and briefly inspected it. She lamented that she had left her own weapon on the Ark; she’d’ve preferred something with a bit more stopping power. The weapon was, obviously, in pristine condition, so there was no maintenance to do. Turning to Sara, Cassandra inquired, “Is there a plan once we’ve launched, or are we going as the crow flies?” “We’re going to be working with Ark-Sec to scout around the planet surface- think of it like a joint-operation. As far as what we'll be doing specifically. We're going to be pathfinding for the main convoy- finding the quickest path towards the source of the EM disturbance, with the least amount of interference.” “Sounds good. How soon do we launch?” “Right now.” Sara replied with a solid clap to the hood of Cassandra’s Shriek before jogging back to her own. Nodding, Cassandra resolved herself and gripped the Shriek’s controls. [i]First mission, here we go.[/i] The noise in the hangar was drowned out by the reverberating hum of the Shriek’s gravity repulsors as the small vehicle lifted into the air, idling steadily about a half meter from the floor of the Nyx. The lightweight craft bobbed and lightly bounced as weight was shifted on the craft. As the Nyx’s hangar doors open, the Shriek’s engines roared to life and the vehicles screamed out of the hangar bay, proving their namesake earned by their high pitched engines.