Log:Harbinger's Arrival, Scene 4

Harbinger's Arrival 2017/10/13 	 Dorian Jet Yamin Copycat Wasp|Starlight Unix Wolf Jet Griffin

4

You stand in a large open area about 80 meters on each side on the sixth floor half roof of the building. The perimeter is surrounded by heavy electrified fence and the only doorways lead into the reception area and the security area of the facility. In the center of the open area is a circular concrete slab, large enough to land a helicopter or a VTOL-type aircraft. It is painted with white and yellow symbols and stripes that have meaning only to pilots and landing crews. Just off to one side of the concrete landing pad is a windsock. To the south side is a maintenance shed, and next to that is a small shack that serves as a secondary local radio "tower" for signaling incoming craft.

Dorian is out on the landing field when the heroes start to arrive. He had contacted local heroes to ask for some volunteers for a mission, though details were left sketchy.

There is a scout ship currently on the tarmac, and crews are working to get it prepped for takeoff. They scurry about while gear is put on board and systems checks are performed.

As circumstances would have it, Yamin has become a harbinger of information concerning Harbinger. She arrives at Starguard HQ and proceeds to the landing field with a data storage device in hand. The ground crew personnel are noted and she approaches to promptly inquire of top echelon personnel coordinating the Harbinger issue.

Copycat flies out to the edge of the landing field, landing with a simple cut of thrust at the last few feet. She walks out to the tarmac, opening and closing her hands nervously. She looks about here and there for someone as she makes her way to Dorian. She gives him a polite nod as she gets close. "Copycat reporting for, uh, volunteering," she reports with a salute.

Jackie is given the message relayed from the Barsoom City Starguard Outpost and returns to Earth heading straight to the Colonial Bay Starguard landing field. Her presence is followed rather than preceeded by a thunderclap as she speeds supersonically down. Fortunately being so small in flight means a loud but non-damaging sonic boom. By the time the thunder abates she's changed back to Jackie.

Dorian chuckles at Copycat's introduction. "Thank you. I'll give it a couple minutes until everyone arrives, and then I can give more details of what's happening. And everyone will get a chance to walk away if they want to."

Wolf pokes his nose, and then his shaggy angular head, and then the shaggy oblong rest-of-himself out of the side entry to Starguard Medical, where he goes to work as a service dog on occasion, ever since the rescue of Dave from the inter-dimensional arthropod people. A tiny incoming sonic boom on the landing tarmac is unusual. Usually they are big booms, and outgoing. Wolf spots Jackie and pads on over to see what's going on, *shake shake shake* -ing his head to clear the ringing in his ears. . ..

Unix had been doing some training in steele's gym with zero-gravity training. Quite interesting, although she had 'died' they had still succeeded in the simulation. Shortly after getting herself repaired in her personal space she'd gotten a signal of invitation and opted to join by whatever means were avaliable. Now she was browsing general information on the nearby constilations and bases, the screen flickering at blinding speeds as she read everything in a blink of an eye, dozens of pages per second.

After having to work to convince Griffin, Copycat can't back out now. But Dorian's warning does make her feel ill at least. "Okay, Mist--Commander Perrault," she remembers, or think she remembers, his title.

Dorian grins. "Just 'Dorian' is fine. Or 'Spirit'. Unless you're feeling formal." He looks around at the assembled group. "Okay, I'll get you all up to speed. I think some of you missed the briefing from a couple of weeks ago, but we have an interplanetary threat to worry about. There was a being going by 'Harbinger' who tried to....for lack of a better term...prep this planet to be 'consumed' by something called the Overlord."

Dorian continues, "Harbinger was defeated, and is currently being held on Tranquility. But not before he managed to send a transmission. Based on our calculations, I think we can beat it to its destination. But I'm not sure. I know a couple of us could definitely do it, but I'm not keen on sending just say...two heroes into a situation like that."

Unix stops the terminal from it's blinding speed of information as she turns to listen to the briefing. Raising an eyebrow she was not up to speed on everything, the only 'overlord' in immediate knowledge was involving StarCraft, a video game. She doubted it was related and thus kept silent.

Jackie smiles wryly, "I'm guessing that if only a couple of us can make that kind of speed your scout ship can't. So I get to give it a push?"

Dorian nods and smiles to Jackie, "If you're okay with that. At least on the way out." He motions to the ship, "The plan is to get out there, block the transmission using gear on the ship, or another method if someone can do that. And then come back." He pauses, "I realize that this may not go to plan. There may have to be a fair amount of improvising. I also realize this could be VERY dangerous. If any of you feels uncomfortable about the mission, you are welcome to back out."

Yamin is directed to the gathering that is recognized as a briefing upon her arrival. "A colleague was able to interpret the contents of that transmission, to a degree. I expect that the information will be useful." She presents the data device to Dorian, as well as a concise verbal summary for those present. "The transmission is some form of survey of Earth: geological, floral, faunal, technological, as well as tactical evaluation of potential resistance." After a moment, she adds,"Preventing the transmission could delay or otherwise hinder any potential invasion." She remains where she stands following the offering, in no hurry to step away.

Jackie speaks up. "I've recently been out in Guild Space. After the Harbinger incident. I visited one of the worlds that this Overload consumed. There's nothing left but asteroids. If we can stop Overlord far from Earth I say that's worth almost any risk."

Wolf settles in as he listens to his friend Dorian, sitting back on his haunches with his tail pensively sweeping out a semi-circular arc on the tarmac. (FOI/R happens in odd ways at SGG, but that's par for the course!) He reasons that he could certainly help block the transmission (or even disable the transmitter) if it came to that. He looks around for Griffin. Griffin's electrical senses could sure be useful if the transmission is. . . . hm, where -is- Griffin?

Dorian takes a look at the device that Yamin hands him, "This is...interesting. Your friend was able to decode it? Very nice." He looks to Yamin, "Thank you. If you could do me a favor and let me make a copy of this, I'd appreciate it."

Unix says, "What kind of transmissions? Radio? Light? Some other form of medium?""

Copycat gulps at the news of the planet reduced to asteroids, looking at Jackie with wide eyes. "Did they put up any resistance? Know what worked, or didn't work, against the Overload? Did anyone survive...?"

Dorian says to Unix, "Not entirely sure. Related to radio and light. But faster. I didn't get a look at it myself to get any kind of analysis done, and recordings wouldn't help me pick up on whatever the EM range is."

Jackie shakes her head, "I didn't meet any survivors. That doesn't mean there aren't any. A space faring species ought to have some survivors. But if there are I didn't meet them. As to the Guild, I couldn't get any answers from them."

Dorian nods to Jackie, "They tend to be tight-lipped about security matters. I can usually get some details from Diviak, but everyone else..." He shakes his head.

Dorian looks around, "Sounds like everyone's in, then?"

Copycat is standing in the landing field with the others, rubbing at her left bicep in a nervous tick. She looks to her right from time to time as if expecting someone to just be there.

This message may well pass unheard,

if no one there can hear. ..

Technology has weaknesses,

if I can just get near. ..

But if our Earth was being Watched,

and details thence sent back,

It stands to reason -other- worlds,

might fall to an attack?

Thus, stopping this one message might

in fact save our own home.

But who then will its target be?

How far does this Lord roam?

The mysterious missing person is exactly that. Just there- seemingly from nowhere. The only thing announcing his arrival is a crack of thunder. Griffin is standing there in his combat ready Battle Dress Uniform. HE is ready for action. "Hey beautiful." He whispers to her as he takes account of who's here.

"The copy is yours to use as you please," Yamin notes. "I was bid to deliver it to Starguard for its investigation and countermeasures. We all have every reason to keep the planet intact. Any other concerns are secondary."

Copycat's eyes widen and her cheeks flush a little at Griffin's whispered greeting. A smile threatens to take over her whole face, but she manages to wrestle it back in check pretty quickly. Her nervousness abates and she stops itching at her bicep. "Looks like we're intercepting the signal after all. You'll be happy to know we're going back in space."

Dorian nods to Yamin. "Thank you." He proceeds to make a copy of the information. He looks over to Wolf, "No idea on the answer to your question. We'll have to try to figure that out on the fly." He then looks around at everyone else, "I'm going to suggest everyone take a couple minutes to get ready, hit the bathroom, and the like. I'd like to be wheels-up in about 15 minutes."

Jackie nods, "Just time for a nice cup of tea, then." she says and heads to the Starguard canteen. She'll be back in about ten minutes.

Wolf looks troubled at the thought of saving the earth only to doom some other innocent planet to razing and deconstruction instead. He gazes down at his forepaws pensively, whiskers twitching, and slurps the edge of his nose in consternation. Well, perhaps they can figure something out once they get there? Certainly, Wolf will do his best to try! Their options seem so limited . ..

Unix returns to the terminal, putting a few more searching in regarding the overlord and any and all knowledge she can get, assuming her access isn't prevented. She would be ready to act when everyone else was ready.

Copycat relaxes from her "at attention" rigid stance, her body seeming smaller as she relaxes and lets her shoulders drop. She turns to Griffin and murmurs softly to him jokingly, "I was starting to think you chickened out on me." She raises her small fist and gives him a play-punch in the deltoid, her hand sticking there afterwards. She can't even budge the Super Soldier.

Dorian makes a quick call to his wife, Zeal, letting her know what's up. He then boards the ship to get settled in.

Wolf follows Dorian up the ramp, settling into an underseat stowage compartment to await the preflight check, loading, and liftoff procedures.

Jackie returns to the landing field. Shrinking into her hero form she hops up onto the nose of the scout craft and waves to the pilot. Then heads back to grab hold of the base of the vertical rear aileron.

The flight crew finishes prepping the craft and the two pilots board shortly thereafter.

Unix boards the craft, finding a seat/spot and gets herself in place.

Could we then set a trap and ruse,

to lure this Lord to fight,

Not on the Earth but at a place

were we can gather might,

from *all* the species now at risk

on *all* the threatened stars,

and meet him with a combined strength

that's far beyond just ours?

Copycat boards the craft, as ready as she can be. She takes one of the seats and fastens herself in.

Yamin follows the line of volunteers into the craft. She certainly has no chance of intercepting a signal at a brisk jog.

Starlight tells the boarding pilots, "You point us in the right direction and once we're out of the atmosphere I'll do the pushing. Flash the navigation lights when you want me to stop."

Dorian waits until everyone is aboard, or holding onto the ship at least, before giving the signal to take off. The ship tilts upward slowly while its landing ramp folds upward. The rear thrusters kick in and the streamlined ship arcs upward into the atmosphere. Only once it's up to about a thousand feet does it start to turn and adjust the trajectory toward Messier 81.

The ship continues accelerating in a straight line out of the atmosphere, giving those on board a nice view through the main viewscreen.

The SuperSoldier Griffin Freeman finds a seat next to Kat and straps himself in with practicied efficency. He reaches up and pats her knee gently. "Another ride into the great deep black..." He says eagerly- the scifi loving dork in him can't be quelled easily. Despite the doom awaiting, he couldn't be more content.

When the scout craft is out of Earth's atmosphere something strange happens. Shuddenly all the stars move to a narrow band behind the scout ship and red shift to near invisiblity. More stars appear ahead of the ship and immediately move to the back. The visual effect of moving at multiple lightyears every second.

Unix notes Jet and gives a wave and a smile. "Strange... last night we do zero-g training, suddenly we're here..."

Copycat shares in the dorkiness with a nervous but excited grin. She's worried, of course, but with Griffin at her side, she keeps forgetting that's the case.

Dorian looks...remarkably calm, given the situation. It could be because he's experienced. Or been in space often. But there's something else about his mood. It's somewhat eerie how relaxed he is.

Unix has not be in actual space before, in a craft or otherwise, but her body could certainly handle it. New experiences was the reason she came out. Yet another experience she didn't expect since she decided to become a hero.

Jet gazes into the space. The only way for him to be seeing the stars move like that would be if the ship is moving faster than... wait, that isn't possible. Maybe it is. (I went to university, and all this knowledge is in shambles. What a waste.) Jet also wonders how the ship has managed to accelerate this fast without smashing him into one of the walls of the spaceship. He quietly says to Unix "Maybe that zero-g training might prove useful here?"

Unix says, "Yeah... I'll put my lessons to use. No super leaping into enemies..."

Copycat smiles up at Griffin a bit. "Let's hope this goes better than our last trip in space. I mean, that was successful, too, but...I'm hoping for something smoother." She tries not to think of the world-ending being they may encounter. "Oh!" She gasps as she remembers. "You might need a suit if things go really sideways."

Yamin does not often leave the ground to such a degree and takes advantage of the view while it is present. The shift to ludicrous speeds is a first for her, however, and somewhat unsettling. Miss Price's mention of suits also brings another concern to mind. "In the event of such a catastrophic incident, I trust that those among us who are space-worthy would be able to retrieve those who are not?"

Unix raises her hand "I will try my best... although if you aren't extracted from the vaccume of space you may explode within 3 minutes before we can do so. This is to do with the oxygen in your system trying to escape, you'll feel your tongue start to bubble..."

Dorian nods to Yamin, "We should be able to. But I can't provide life support for someone else. You'd need a suit."

Dorian motions to the rear of the craft. "We have enough suits for everyone, aside from Jackie and myself, who I knew didn't need one."

"People don't explode in space," Copycat says with certainty. She leans over and whispers to Griffin uncertainly, "Do they...?" As if he would know...

Starlight is thinking. oO(I ought to see if Starguard can make me a tiny suit. Because seventeen days not being able to talk to anone is going to bore me senseless.)

Unix says, "Explode might be the wrong word..." she taps her chin. "it really depends on hos fast air is trying to leave your system, and how strong you can resist those forces"

Jet says, "I don't need a suit either, though in an event of a... catastrophe, it would take me a long time to move anywhere."

Dorian nods to Jet, "I'm assuming that with your powers being based on air, that space might not be the best environment. There's not much to work with?"

Jet replies to Dorian "Fortunately, I've found that I can create just enough air that I need." He gestures to the whirlwind surrounding him. "For most of my abilities, at least."

Dorian nods to Jet, "Good to know. Might be handy in a pinch if a suit ruptures."

The ship continues on for...quite a while. A couple of days, at least. Four? Anyone who has been on an airplane longer than four hours knows the feeling that the heroes are starting to get. Joints starting to seize up. Every so often, people have to get up and walk around. Jackie comes inside a couple of times to relax and actually be able to talk to others. But on that fourth day, the pilots detect something and flag Jackie to slow down. When the ship drops down to sublight speed, there's a large object in the path of the ship. It looks like a planet, but there's no associated sun to go with it.

Starlight thinks. o O (I knew I should have brought a couple of rocks.)

Dorian calls up the current view on the interior viewscreen so everyone can see it. "Curious. This wasn't on the charts we had."

"Understood," Yamin dips her head in a nod. "While I would prefer retrieval before decompression, asphyxiation, and/or solidification, I would be grateful if my remains could be recovered."

Unix feels and counts the time, listening to background noise via radio and otherwise trying to stay occupied. Over the days also watches other heros sleep, a curious endeavor to watch, wondering what they dream about. Soon enough with the speed going down to sub-light she takes note of the view screen.

The planet outside looks dark. There's an obvious atmosphere, and flashes of lightning every so often, coming from a storm that looks like it covers at least half of the planet.

Copycat at some point manages to steal the empty seat opposite Griffin to curl her legs up on, taking a nap or sleeping the "night" with her head either propped on an elbow, or stretching out with her head on Griffin's lap. She needs way more sleep than the Super Soldier does, anyway. She's definitely restless during the flight, but she has three seasons of shows on her smartphone to watch and share.

When the ship slows, she sits up alertly and taps her smartwatch. A black material spreads from its core and washes over her like matte ink, swallowing up the pink-haired petite heroine and forming into a form-fighting spacesuit with helmet. The black of her suit is so dark, it seems to swallow light. A parting gift from the Mechanic and the Torus.

Starlight comes into the scout ship to hear the plan. If any.

As the days pass, Jet gets tired. He doesn't sleep much, but eventually is forced too. (This is awkward.) Ever since Jet got his powers, he has done his sleeping alone, way up in the atmosphere. It looks like this finally has to change.

Dorian checks with the copilot, and then turns back to the others, "We're ahead of the signal. Current trajectory sends it to that planet. Planetoid. Whatever." He peers at the screen, "Anyone else see that?"

It's pretty obvious. There are large metallic structures sticking out of the planet's surface, which can be seen from the ship's vantage point. They are large...towers, perhaps? They're spread out like pins on a pin cushion. They become visible with each lightning strike.

"Well, all that matters is we pulled it off. As long as this goes as well or better- than I say it'll be worth it. There's a lot more on the line this time around." Griffin Freeman says to Kat calmly.

Griffin quietly watches the stormy world roll into view- the first real world on the trip. everything else was the spectacle of FTL. He sat calmly and quietly at first not waking Kat but when she wake son her own, he greets her with a soft smile.

He watches the future-tech spacesuit swallow Kat whole and he nods knowing they'v earrived and its time for seriousness.

He watches the porthole with interest as Dorian addresses them all.

"Huh... those towers don't look natural- They've gotta be monumental from this distance..." Griffin whispers to Kat.

Copycat gulps a little at the news of how big the towers are. "If the signal is coming here...is that whole planet the Overlord maybe? Like in that movie," she murmurs vaguely, but she figures Griffin would know what she's talking about.

The pilot says, "We're getting some odd seismic readings from the planet."

"That energy..." Griffin says, remarking to Kat on his own ability to sense enegy. "Its massive... a whole network extending from those towers..."

He looks to Dorian and says, "Commander- can we get readings on the energy 'vacating' the planet? The field around it makes the planet look like the Epcot... like a building. I've never felt anything so large before. Well besides like a star or a galaxy right?"

Unix Hmmmm's as she looks out the view port. "That's... interesting... The towers are all hot. i mean REALLY HOT... so i don't recommend touching them or getting too close if you can avoid it... Actually i don't think they are for transmissions, more like a porcupine soldering iron..."

Copycat look between Griffin and Unix's descriptions. "Do you think they're a weapon?" she murmurs worriedly as she peeks out the portview to see for herself.

Griffin looks away from Dorian a moment to say to Unix. "Hot? Like Heat hot? That jives with what I'm feeling- those towers are conducting energy on a scale I've never even dreamed of."

He returns his attention back to Dorian before shruggin gto Kat and her question. "I hope not. If so- I'm not sure what we're going to do. But it's going to have to be damn impressive." he crosses his arms and leans back in his seat.

Dorian's eyes glow briefly as he looks at the planet. "I can see it now too. It's all heading to a central point, but I can't figure out what's there. It's in the middle of that storm." He motions to the co-pilot, "See what kinds of readings you can get."

Unix "Well, i don't really sense any interesting radio transmissions..." for now she continues observing, not sure if she'd see more.

Dorian snaps his fingers, "And once you get those readings, get the jammer up and running. If this Overlord is down there, I definitely don't want that signal getting through to it."

"Yup- that's exactly what I'm sensing Commander." Griffin agrees. He sits back and pats Kat's knee, confident that this mission is in the right hands.

Starlight shakes her head and perches on a seat backrest. She's transport. This conversation is going well over her head.

Wolf waits underfoot and out-of-the-way, gazing up at the screens occasionally, but spending more time Listening to the words of the team and watching the body language of the humans as they sort out the details of what their technologies can tell them. He resists the urge to clamber up onto his back paws to push his nose against the window for a look outside. That's unlikely to help. More Waiting.

Copycat gulps thickly at Griffin's estimation. "It'd have to be something really bad for you to say that, Griffin. You make it sound like it may be more than even you can handle, and you're the strongest hero I know." She is, of course, totally biased. Don't mind Kat. The doe eyes she gives Griffin each time she looks at him makes that obvious.

The copilot says, "Definitely getting strong energy readings. The storm is messing with the sensors, but I think I can detect the network. I also think...the storm itself is caused by whatever is down there. Making the weather, if that's possible?"

Unix observes the planet and frowns. "I think those towers... are intended to siphon and suck out the energy from the planet. is it... possible to convert heat energy to something else and send it somewhere else?"

Usually Jet is silent because he doesn't share the ideas he has in mind. This time, Jet knows far less than the other heroes, and has no good ideas in mind. So Jet is silent anyways.

The copilot starts working on the jammer, flipping switches. "Starting EM jamming field. There's no guarantee this will work, but our tests seemed to indicate..." The viewscreen lights up as long red cracks start to form in the surface of the planet, revealing the magma under the crust.

The planet then bursts apart, exploding outward, with debris sent in all directions. The pilot swears and turns the yoke, causing the ship to lurch while he tries to avoid oncoming newly-created asteroids.

Griffin clenches his jaw a moment after Kat's comment. That doesn't bode well- this is something he does when he tries to find a softer way of breaking the truth to her. he never lies to her, or to anyone when its not classified or a life-on-the-line situation. So she sees this pretty frequently. "It's not good, Kat- no. But I'm confident in the Commander's ability to see us through this- and our ability to support his command." He nods at that as if he were certain about this- though he's just an alpha-male. He said so, and if he has to hold the Overlord back while the others smash whatever passes for its face, then so be it. He will find a way.

"I'm a soldier, not a scientist- so your guess is probably better than mine." He says to Unix, almost as if he senses her artificality. Which, thanks to his energy sense- he does.

"Oh God..." Griffin says, "Brace yourselves!" He reaches his arm over Kat, trusting his strength over the safety belts meant to keep you safe during launch conditions.

Those doe eyes go both ways folks.

Starlight darts to the front of the craft and passes through it. Then she pushes against the nose of the craft and in an instant moves it back a few light-minutes.

Dorian prepares to deflect any oncoming large rocks, only to have the ship zip backward and make it effectively unnecessary.

The pilot blinks a couple of times. "Wait...what..." He pushes a couple of buttons, "Figuring out our position. One minute."

It feels like Copycat's stomach stayed near the attacking planet as they zip back. She makes an awful nauseas sound as she's braced in place, but manages not to get truly sick. If not for Griffin's superstrength, she probably would've been flung across the hold.

The copilot hits a few more switches, "Jammer's up. I sure as hell hope this works."

The planet is quite a bit further away now. As compared to before, it almost looks like a toy. It flares and then any light remaining in the area dies, leaving just an asteroid field.

The sudden swerve causes Jet to crash against the wall of the ship. He reorients himself, then continues hovering as if nothing happened.

The pilot looks at some readouts. "Ouch. I think Starlight punched a hole in one of the heat absorbing panels on the front. Reentry could be a problem."

Unix says, "Do we have a repair kit? I could patch it real quick...""

Unix glances at Jet, seeing he might be better for zipping around the ship, remembering the zero-g training they did.

The pilot unbuckles and gets up, "Let me see if we have something like that. I'm...not sure we do." He heads back to the rear of the ship to check the stores.

Unix says, "worst case i can just bend the material closed... won't be pretty, but would probably survive re-entry"

Jet looks back to Unix. He flies towards him, wondering what she has in mind.

The pilot nods at Unix's comment, "I'm not finding repair materials. Sorry. We're going to have to make do."

Unix says, "Then i'll try to see what i can do..." looking to jet she smiles "Care to take a walk outside?"

Starlight re-enters the ship via the airlock. "I hope that was justified. Sorry for putting a hole on the hull but I figured getting hit by one of those large rocks would make a rather bigger hole."

Jet smiles "Not a walk." But Jet flies out anyways. He trusts Unix that much. Besides, Jet knows that even if he can't teleport outside of the ship, he can do so back into it.

Being from the first half of the 21st Century, Griffin's mind races with some of the more memorable tragedies of early Space-Flight. Some ewre of course befor ehis time- but he remembers them well having always been an avid fan of mankind's never ending exploration of the unknown and all the new science ficton stories each discovery promised. "Or maybe... one of us could fill in for the patch." Griffin offers. "Maybe both- just to make sure we all get home safely." Kat knows when he says something like this he isn't suggesting someone else do it. He's always suspected he could survive reentry. He unbuckles himself and prepares to head out behind Jet and Unix. He can fly- he's just terrible at it, but it should be enough for these purposes.

Dorian nods to Starlight, "I might have been able to deflect one of the large ones, but I can't guarantee it. I think it was a good move. We just need to deal with the consequences now."

Unix gives a laugh that sounds a little too stiff, like she's not used to it, and goes to where the airlock would be. With someone who can move freely in space she wasn't worried about getting stuck, otherwise she'd need a rope or tether to ensure she didn't float into space.

Despite the unique views and the stakes for this trip, Yamin finds that the sudden planetoid detonation, followed by jolting of avoidance, cause a moment of reminiscence. "Matters were far more simple when the most advanced technologies consisted of bows and bronze..."

Starlight comments as she hears the discussion, "We don't have to make an atmospheric re-entry if there's danger. We could land at Selene City on Luna. No atmosphere."

Wolf nods in silent heartfelt agreement with that Yamin's expressed sentiment . ..

Dorian nods to Starlight, "A good point. I hadn't considered that. Let's see what we can do anyway, though." He looks over to the copilot, "Any reading on that transmission?"

Copycat's eyes go wide at Griffin's suggestion. "Are you sure you can do that? Survive...I mean," she murmurs, having difficulty with the question entirely. "Do we have time for a patch repair while that thing is out there?"

The copilot says, "I'm not picking it up. We must have blocked it."

Unix isn't convinced that planet was our target... but has no proof

On screen, there's no obvious movement from the area of the planet, aside from the bits of what used to be the planet itself. And bits of the towers.

Griffin nods with false bravado to Kat as he begins taking big breaths of air as he begins hyperoxygenating his blood to deal with needing to hold his breath for an extended period of time. As he moves past his handwarmer, he lifts her right hand and kisses the back of it. "Be back soon. They sound like they have it- but I'm just going as backup." He explains between deep breaths before moving for the airlock.

Copycat finds herself taking a breath along with one of Griffin's as he kisses her hand and walks off, watching him go. "If you need to be out there too long, I could give you my smartwatch," she offers to Griffin, worried and wishing she could help. She could in some way, but she knows Griffin would never let her do that when he could take on the risk and responsibility.

Yamin re-orients herself in her seat. "There is no harm in multiple contingencies. The signal remains our primary concern." As there is no need nor use for her to attempt some form of EVA, she looks for a monitor or terminal that might be available to assist in monitoring for the signal. That is an aspect with which she might be able to offer productive assistance.

Unix listened to the hissing as the air was sucked out of the room before she left the ship, jumping to a wing, side of the ship, working her way over always targetting something she could grab until finding the hole. Carefully she bends the metal and plates back in place. Her back opens up to extend the two large scythes and places them on either side of the seam, before an electrical charge controlled in that tiny spot does a spot welding hopefully seaing the hole. Satisfied it was okay she worked her way back, glad jet and the super soldier were around, but unless she missed her jumps, she could do almost all of it solo. Soon enough returning to the chamber and with all three of them there, the hissing of the air equalizing again before entering the main chamber with the rest of them. "Alright, that should do it..."

Dorian has the copilot check the instruments, but there's no way to get confirmation on whether or not the signal was actually blocked. It's just a best guess. Dorian nods, "I think that's as good as we're going to be able to do, given the situation. Everyone set to head home?"

Jet has done nothing here but moral support. Perhaps that is enough.

Unix says, "Only if you're satisfied that wasn't a decoy..." she says to Dorian. Are you sure that was our target?"

Dorian nods. "Considering the planet just exploded...I think the Overlord, whatever it is, was down there."

Starlight waves her hands in a I-have-no-clue gesture. "What just happened? Does anyone know?"

Unix says, "I don't follow your logic... but if you are satisfied, then i'm ready to go home..."

Jet doesn't follow either, but concurs with Unix. Jet being Jet, he fails to say as much.

Dorian looks out the window toward where the planet was. "We know this Overlord consumes planets. The working theory was that it 'ate' the core of planets. Much like what we just saw. Something unleashed the energy of the planet, while siphoning off a large portion of it. The asteroids are like...throwing away the wrapper on a candy bar."

"Well he is 'the Consumer' of this energy- and we saw it shunted away. So whatever the case- there's no reason to stay." Griffin agrees as he returns to his seat. "Unless we can find a way to track back that energy pattern? Press on- further. Either way. I'm not sure its worth the risk of having them fall behind the Overlord's movements and then return to only find an asteroid field where Earth should be.

Dorian nods after Griffin speaks, "I bet this Overlord, or a minion of his, was at the junction of that network we saw."

Starlight asks, "If we assume the worse, those towers... If we destroy any that appear on Earth would that stop the Overlord from eating Earth's core?"

Dorian nods slowly, "It might. Especially if we destroy them all."

Dorian nods to the pilot, "Bring us around and head toward home."