Rifts and Rescues

Bridge -  ===< Area Level: 1 >==============================================< Indoors >=== The bridge is arranged to permit operation by a single person, but additional stations are available to delegate ship's functions if needed. A main operations console is situated underneath the forward window, with a single seat. On either side of the primary console are two secondary consoles, each with a universal design so that they can accept operations transferred to them from the primary console. Each is equipped with a single seat. Behind the forward section, the bridge is arranged to be comfortable for those who are not involved with flying the ship. A pair of comfortably padded couches line the walls, and the floor has a rectangular area that can raise up to provide a small table if needed. The aft hatchway is situated on the rear wall, between a pair of light fixtures that provide soft lighting for the sitting area. ==============================================================< ISS Tharsis >===

Tharsis brings up his temporal calculations. "I think I have as many contingencies as possible calculated and compensated for. If we're going to go find him, it's now or never." he says.

Alexandra looks up from the terminal she's been staring at, a slight frown given. She adjusts her datajack connection, then nods slowly. "No Kretonians this time, right?" A wan little smile is offered at that.

Loken enters onto the bridge, the bump having gone significantly down now, "How're we doing?" he asks as he heads towards the pilot's seaet.

Tharsis materializes, and grabs a small device from a cabinet near the door. Strapping it to his 'wrist', he stands near one of the consoles. "This is likely going to be a more... interactive attempt I would think." he says, looking to Loken. "This attempt should bring us to the correct spot, and once there, we'll have to find him. The chances of us being able to retrieve him otherwise will be slim." He sits at the other position and brings up the program. "Countdown to activation... T-minus 15 seconds and counting."

"...Interactive?" Lex asks, one brow raising a bit. "...I suppose it makes sense, though. Likely, he's moved some distance from wherever the field dropped him." A frown, then. "I'd say let's hope that it's simple, but none of this is simple in the first place. So let's just hope it's not more complex than it has to be." A faint, dry chuckle is given at that.

Loken nods a little, strapping himself into his seat, the straps are improved by the way, hopefully no more concusions this time, "Take us away when ready Tharsis, we'll do what we can when we can,"

"Activation in 5...4...3...2...1..." Tharsis says... then with a brilliant flash, the bridge vanishes. Instead of the ship hurtling through the timestream, it is Tharsis, Loken and Alexandra alone, hurtling through time and space. "Holy...! This.. is NOT what I was expecting!" he says as they hurtle torwards a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Alexandra, true to form, gives a surprised little cry and flinches back away from the light, shading her eyes from it -and- closing them to boot. "I didn't sign up for -this!-"

Loken just blinks, "Uh....Tharsis? Where...where are you?" he asks simply. He does look a little shocked, maybe it's the only thing he can think of.

"I think the answer is about to be revealed!" Tharsis says as the light suddenly approaches and with a flash, they're standing on a moon, inexplicably in space suits. As Tharsis makes contact with the surface, he looks at his gloved hands. "I.. feel... pretty doggone odd." he says.

Alexandra looks down at her hands as well, and then at more of herself. "...What in the name of...?" There's a pause. "Nevermind. I don't want to know." The Sivadian clumsily brings up a gloved hand to shade her eyes. She ends up bopping herself in the forehead -- or rather, the visor -- with it instead. "...I hate spacesuits."

"Right," Erik states, taking a look down and then around, "So, uh, where are we, and where's the Commander?"

Tharsis looks around. "Not entirely sure... but it's obviously a moon of some sort. No idea where... or even when." he says, looking at his newly acquired space suit. "Hmm... this appears to have some sort of field computer built in." Tapping it, he brings it up. "It has a locator system built in. It's picking up several nearby blips, but no idea if any of them is our Commander. We'll just have to pick one and hope it is." he says. "We've got about 15 minutes to find him.. after that, the program will automatically pull us back to the present."

"Well, let's hope he hasn't gone too far, then," Lex replies, also looking down at the little computer. A pause ensues then. "...My left hand feels odd..." She opens and closes the hand in question, then shakes her head ponderously. "Nevermind. No time. Nothing to do but move toward what's on this screen."

"Let's pick that one," Erik says, picking one seeminly at random, "Unless someone has any idea if there's a differance between them?"

"I see none of any consequence." Tharsis says. "That one it is." Determining a direction, he sets off towards the blip. His first step sends him careening a bit before landing. "Egads.. the gravity of this moon is not very much.. got to watch our step."

Alexandra does about the same, the landing from her first step making her stumble. "...You could say that, yes," she offers wryly. "I haven't been in anything like this in -years-."

Loken nods a touch, "Low gravity, right," he seems to at least have had some training in this regard, he doesn't move eloquently at all, but at least his movements appear controlled.

Tharsis manages to get his steps more controlled somewhat as he compensates for the low gravity. "Should be just another 50 meters that way.." he says pointing over a ridge. As the trio gets near the ridge, Tharsis looks over the top and freezes. "Damn.." he mutters, seeing a younger Gideon in a spacesuit on the ground, with two Nalls in spacesuits aiming their weapons at him. "This doesn't look good... not good at /all/."

The Sivadian makes her way along as well -- it's not pretty, to be sure, but she manages. "...Oh, well that's just -brilliant-," Lex mutters. "We've gone and traded Kretonians in for Nall." A look over to the other two. "...Obviously, we can't just leave him there..."

"No, no," Erik shakes his head to Lex, "Do these suits have weapons or something? Quick, everyone see if you can find some," he then starts looking over the suit, for holsters or a weapon built into the suit.

Tharsis looks down on his hip, and finds a weapon holstered. Drawing it, he looks at it. "I've... never fired one of these things except at a target range." he admits.

Alexandra pats herself down clumsily, eventually finding the weapon at her hip. She too draws hers and look at it. "I've... I've never fired one of these before, period," she offers, her voice nothing less than utterly shocked.

"I haven't either, Tharsis, but there's a first time for everything," Erik replies as he too pulls out a weapon, "Ok, Lex, you just point it at where you want to shoot and pull the trigger. Even if you don't hit anything, just...shoot as fast as you can at them," he looks between the two, "Ok, are we just going to start shooting or does anyone have a plan of some sort?"

Tharsis looks to Erik. "I'd think that we might be better off attempting to get some flanking positions if possible. Cut off their escape routes..." he says. "I'd hope that we can just get those two out of the way, grab the Commander, and then find some place to hide out while the program initiates auto-return. As long as one of us has contact with him, it should include him on the return trip."

"I... I don't think I -can-," Lex admits, looking down at the gun sort of despondently. She shakes her head slowly after a couple of moments. "All we have to do is drive them off, right? We don't have to... kill them."

Loken nods to Lex, "We don't have to kill them, exactly. If we can make them fall back, the better for us," he replies, before he looks to Tharsis, "Is there any way you can hack into their sensors?" he asks, tapping the ones that their space suits have, "Make it look like there's more than 3 of us?"

"Hmmm.. it's very possible." Tharsis says, popping open the field computer on his suit and looking it over. "Give me one minute..."

Alexandra just waits for further instruction. She's holding the gun sort of like it was a disgusting dead thing that she really doesn't want to be touching any more than she absolutely has to.

Loken nods, "Alright, good." he says, before turning to Lex, "When he's done, we're just going to shoot at them as fast as we can, alright? Aim higher rather than lower so you don't hit the Commander. And if you don't want to shoot them, don't...just don't make it /look/ like you're not shooting them,"

Tharsis puts a grin on his face. "Got it." he says as he snaps the computer shut. "Activating... now." On Loken and Lex' field computers, the blips of nearly 10000 UF troops appear in massed formations all around the Nalls... except for one obvious escape route to the west. "They should run like scared bunnies..." he says, arming the pistol and taking a position to put the scare on them.

"I probably couldn't hit them even if I was inclined to try," Lex replies, giving a -very- shrill little laugh. Nervous. Definitely nervous. So nervous she doesn't even look down at the computer. She looks over at the other two to at least get some idea of -how- to hold the weapon properly, and actually does a decent imitation.

Loken looks down at the sensors, blinking, "Wonderful Tharsis, ok, everyone fire as fast as you can on three," he says, raising his weapon to aim at the Nall, "One...two.../Three/!" he says, before letting loose with his gun.

Tharsis takes aim in the general vicinity of the Nalls and squeezes the trigger, sending bolts of energy sailing above them, beside them, at their feet, and generally anywhere but at them in particular.

Alexandra pauses for a few long moments, then takes aim, after a fashion. The gun's pointed generally in the direction of the two Nall, but she's not -looking- where she's firing. Nope. Her face is turned away, actually. Her shots are even less on track than Tharsis', sailing above the heads of the reptiloids by a good six feet. It doesn't even qualify as suppressive fire.

Loken keeps up the rate of fire. His shots are a bit closer to target than either of the other two's, but they still aren't hitting anything.

The two Nalls turn their attention from the Commander and to the direction of the shots. They attempt to return fire, sending bolts sailing at the three as Tharsis ducks down below the rim of the ridge he's laying on. "Drop your weapons and surrender! You are surrounded!" he sends out to them. The Sivadian throws herself completely flat, going so far as to curl up a bit when she's safely behind the ridge. No word from Lex. Nothing at all.

Loken ducks down, popping up during breaks to return fire, now definitely aiming to hit the Nall as best he can, "Keep firing you two," he states.

Tharsis inches up and opens fire again, his shots once again going everywhere. Meanwhile, one of the Nalls happens to glance at his own scanner, and picks up the oncoming 'swarm' of UF troops. "They have ussss ssssurrounded." he hisses to his partner. "We musssst retreat." he says as he prepares to flee to the west. His partner nods, but turns towards the Commander. "But firsssst.. a going away pressssent." He takes aim and fires a shot into the Commander's belly as he turns to head away.

Alexandra pokes her head up and takes another random potshot or two in the general direction of the Nall. This time, at least they're within a couple of feet -- enough to be a threat -- but she still doesn't hit anything. "Oh, bloody -hell-," she growls then, just having caught the Nall's shot into Gideon. That said, she starts to pull herself upright.

Erik curses under his breath as the Nall takes his shot into Giddy. His next shot, whether by luck, skill, or driven by anger, catches that one Nall right in the back of the head. The Nall teeters for a long moment in the low gravity, before falling in slow motion to the ground, dead.

The remaining Nall hot foots it as fast as possible, choosing to fight another day. "Cursssse you ssssoftsssskinsssss!" it sends out as it vanishes over a ridge. Tharsis stands upright, looking at the Commander. "We've got less than 2 minutes left. Hurry, we've got to get him with us and get ready for the trip back!" he says as he hops over the ridge and starts making his way there.

The Sivadian's already skidding down the hill unsteadily, stumbling every now and then. It's an interesting effect in the low gravity, to say the least. "Not to mention he might just be dying," Lex mutters. "Sodding suitcases." It doesn't seem to have registered that Loken killed one of the Nall.

Loken doesn't give a victory woop or anything, he just follows after the other two, moving as quickly as he can towards Gideon.

Tharsis kneels down next to the commander. "In theory his proximity to us when we return should drag him along with us.." he says as he gets into position. "I'm not seeing anything else on the scanner, except for some distant skirmishes. Let's hope we don't get any more visitors before the program activates."

"...That Nall's dead," Lex notes absently as she skids to a stop, then kneels down beside the Commander. She presses her hands over the hole in his suit. "...I'm more worried about him losing air than anything right now..." Her head's raised so she can look at Tharsis. "...How long?"

Loken just nods a little to Tharsis, standing up and looking around, yet still keeping close by, his weapon ready, "Increase the pressure in his suit, if you can, Lex," Erik says, "At least, that's what they told us at the academy,"

Tharsis looks at his timer. "15 seconds..." he says, looking at the Commander with concern. "5...4...3...2...1..." Suddenly everyone is engulfed with a bright flash of light, and once again the group is sailing through the timestream towards another light at the end of the tunnel. "Whooooooa!"

Alexandra just squinches her eyes shut again, and shades them with one hand from the light.

Loken blinks once again, "Not this again," he says simply.

The return trip takes them once again into the light, and in a flash, they are unceremoniously deposited onto Tharsis' bridge, sans spacesuits. "Oof..." Tharsis says as his projection lands. "Remind me to have a chat with my travel agent.." he says, before looking at his console and the calculations. "Oh... right."

"I didn't sign up for that," Lex reiterates, though it's more of an absent grumble as she goes to work checking Commander Gideon over. You know, trying to see if he's actually been shot and all. She's muttering something to herself about time travel and spacesuits. Loken oofs as well, "We got him back," he breathes out a bit as he picks himself up, "We really got him back,"

Tharsis looks to Gideon, and frowns at the weapon burn on his stomch. "But not entirely whole.." he says, leaning down to look at him. "I guess the time stream didn't 'undo' anything."