AtS: Eh!? What Happened? [IC]

[Aura]

Sliding off the saddle, Rufus took long strides, stretching his legs. "I can only assume it gets easier over time," he says, tagging his comment onto the musings of his compatriots. "For now, I sure am wearing out pretty quickly. Still, we're making good time. I can't imagine how to get across the desert any faster, given our limited options."

After a moment's thought, the mechanic added, "Does make one pine for a hovercar, now that you mention it, Alex. Should I ever find myself riding in one, this whole adventure serves as an object lesson on taking things for granted."

[Herzog]

Maya nodded along with the others sentiments. There was a lesson in not taking things granted in this trek across the desert, on an alien world no less.

"Indeed. I wonder how the others like us travel about. If they use the native animals, or technology like the pirates..."

The purple haired girl moved to assist in setting up camp where she could.

[Argo]

“Wow, it must be really hard to ride,” Argo said, looking around at the others. He would have thought being carried would be relatively easy, but judging from his friends’ reactions, it wasn’t. They moved stiffly when they first dismounted, legs bowed and shoulders hunched. It seemed like it took a few steps for them to walk more normally, but even then, they seemed to be in some discomfort.

He licked Trever’s face encouragingly. “You guys did great though. Maybe tomorrow it will be easier.”

Argo was glad he wasn’t all stiff like the others. But still, it was fairly warm and his paws were a little sore. He wanted to drink some water, but they had to make camp first.

“I guess there are a lot of things we took for granted before. Maybe things we don’t remember because they’re not around, but when we see them again, we’ll know what they are. Like climate systems and water and soft beds.”

He looked around for what he could do, but it was difficult without hands to use to make camp. He supposed he could dig a hole for a latrine, but since they wouldn’t be camping here for any extended time, everyone could do their business elsewhere and there didn’t need to be a specific spot.

“I wonder if we’ll ever get our memories back,” he added, more quietly now. “It seems like we would have remembered more by now, if we were going to.”

[PMiller]

~ Day 16 - 06:05 - Camping during the trek ~

Alex did some trunk twists to worth out the stiffness in his back from riding on the loper all night. “Oh yeah, Rufus. Any time you wanna make an aircar or hover sled from the odd bits of junk we acquired is fine by me. Otherwise, I think I wanna see about stealing the pirates’ jet copter.”

Miranda looked to Maya as she was rubbing the sore leg muscles she had acquired. “Do you mean the others like us we are seeking among the Ul-Mor tribe of our destination? I would assume they are in similar shape as we are, if they crashed in a life pod as well. Hopefully they have their memories though.”

The Ul-Mor were all dismounted and split up to attend lopers and make camp. The tall humans were expected to do their own camp making once the gear was off-loaded. The sun was just about to come up over the horizon any minute. Kahai responded to the polyvox’s translation of Maya’s question, “We rest today, travel tonight again. Then rest tomorrow and travel at night and leave desert. We find other tribe’s camp maybe day or two after that.”

OOC Information | Show

Inventory in 1 Spare Backpack carried by Alex
1 machete
1 first aid kit (Basic anesthetics, stimdoses, antiseptics, medscanner, antibody plus, antitox, spray hypo, etc...)
3 compasses
2 life jackets
1 pocket multi-tool
3 pairs of boots
Extra Water
3 Backpacks


Polyvoxes worn: Maya, Argo, Trever

[Aura]

Thanking his loper rider, even without a polyvox, Rufus proceeds to start unloading any gear left on the beasts. Seeing the first light helps spurn him on. "Oh yes, the panic at first light feeling. My favorite," he muses, before starting to help assemble camp. Keeping up a good work clip, the group's mechanic seems to pick up on the words of Kahai, adding, "Wonder what sort of terrain we're headed to, other than not desert, apparently? This could be a good thing. At any rate, we might want to play it cool about the whole loss of memories thing, at least until we've gotten a feel for any other survivors we might meet. Just... because."

[Herzog]

"Right, that is what I mean. What is their situation and maybe they can help fill in pieces of our own." Maya really hoped they would recover more memories. Not knowing her background was beginning to gnaw at the girl.

Maya likewise helped unloading the remaining gear, and then moved to begin setting up their alien tents. After watching a couple of the Ul-mor working on their own shelter for a minute or two working, the girl feel reasonabile confident that she and the others could figure it out.

"Right. I can already feel the heat..." Maya murmured. Although the sun was just rising and hadn't quite begun to heat the air, Maya imagined the rising temperature. It spurned her to get their shelter setup and under cover.

"Yeah, Rufus. That is probably a good idea, at least at the start. Once we figure out their intentions, we can maybe share that piece of knowledge."

[LMiller]

Trever followed Rufus to unload more things off the lopers after he stretched his legs. It seemed like he didn't use much energy, but it was very tiring for him so he had to jog a bit to catch up with the technician.

"Yeah I wonder," he replied to Rufus and Maya. "It could be an ocean or an-"

He stopped mid sentence because of a sudden flashback, bringing his dead brother back to life.

Trever was sitting on the beach on a planet with his brother when he was still very young. They were just staring at the beautiful sunset of the twin stars the planet orbits around not talking to one another. Suddenly, a spaceship of some sort flew across the red sky, and his brother stood up and sprinted back towards the hut a couple hundred yards away.

"Run, Trever, run!" he screamed as they made their way across the beach to safety. Trever didn't know what was going on; it was just a passing spaceship. But he did realize that it had an weird shape and not a simple box-shaped passenger ship. They dove into the hut before the ship could spot the two brothers. Panting heavily, his brother said,"Run whenever you see that ship, Trever. You don't know why, but it has to do with our family background. You'll understand what I'm saying when you get older."

Now that Trever think's more about that event, he realizes that the spaceship he went aboard on had a high possibility that it was the same kind of ship his brother had warned him about.

The loper's whines brought the boy back to reality and he forgot where he was for a slight moment. Then, he realized he was in the middle of a sentence, and Rufus was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, my mind turned off for a second," he said innocently, and that seemed to do the job for the technician. He decided to not tell anyone about the sudden flash ]back and the connection to his past just yet. It might come useful after the long journey.

[Aura]

"No worries, Trever. Happens to me all the time... for a variety of reasons," Rufus tags onto Trever's thought. Giving another distrustful look at the morning sun, the scruffy man adds, "At this point, I'd be willing to accept just about anyplace over this. But, in reality, I'm sure there is much worse. If The Frontier has taught us anything, it is the great variety of worlds the universe has to offer. At least this planet has breathable air." With a bit of effort, Rufus pitches a tent and starts sliding in the gear the group wants access to during the day break.

[Argo]

Argo glanced at Trever. The boy had paused midsentence, like he’d had a sudden thought, but he’d waved it away a few moments later. Argo chalked it up to the fatigue from their long ride. Exhaustion was starting to wear on them all.

He bumped Trever’s leg with his shoulder encouragingly and went over to help the others set up camp. He knew he wasn’t really much help, since he couldn’t lift things like the others could, or tie knots, but he could help dig out flat impressions in the sand for their sleeping areas. He could also help drag the supplies to where they were needed.

“If we do meet others, and they crashed, maybe they can answer some questions,” Argo said. “We still don’t know very much about the pirates. They have a way to travel in atmosphere with the jetcopter, but we don’t know for sure that they have a way off the planet too, do we?”

Argo paused, thinking about that.

“Maybe the others of the Ul-Mor will know. I’m looking forward to meeting them.”

[Herzog]

Maya eyed Trevor as the boy stopped mid-sentence, and then shook himself. She wondered what that was about, but the boy brushed it off and continued to unload and set up camp. The purple haired girl reminded herself that it could be a memory returning or something like that. It could have been something unpleasant as well, something the Trevor was not ready to share. In due time perhaps...

"Right. I just hope we don't come away with more questions than answers." Though the girl figured it would likely be the case. The others with the Ul-mor tribe may not know any more than they did. Apart from the fact that they likely have their memories.

At any rate, Maya continued to help set up the camp. Before too long, the air will have reached the stifling hot temperature, and she much rather be under shade by then.

[PMiller]

~ Day 20 - 16:00 - Arriving at the other tribe ~

Over the next few days, the terrain slowly changed from desert to some dry plains. The elevation increased and the temperatures became cooler during the days as well. As a result the Ul_Mor guides started breaking camp earlier before sunset and stopping earlier as well. After four days, the group had been slowly transitioning away from traveling at night to days. The even cooler temperatures at night in the earlier morning hours made for more comfortable sleeping and the afternoons were no longer so blistering hot.

Having woken up around noon this day, the line of lopers had been traveling for only a few hours when the terrain turned even more temperate and some scrub forest groves scattered on the horizon. The grounds was more rolling hills with grass like vegetation now. The poly-voxes translated the announcement by the lead Ul-Mor, Kahai Long Rider, "This tribe's resting grounds are close. There is lake."

Alex remarked, "Great, we can go swimming." He grinned at Maya and Miranda.

Miranda chose to ignore the implications that might be going through the soldier's brain and replied, "Oh, I could use a decent washing and get all the dust out of my hair. Even if there is no shampoo, it will feel better I am sure."

OOC Information | Show

Inventory in 1 Spare Backpack carried by Alex
1 machete
1 first aid kit (Basic anesthetics, stimdoses, antiseptics, medscanner, antibody plus, antitox, spray hypo, etc...)
3 compasses
2 life jackets
1 pocket multi-tool
3 pairs of boots
Extra Water
3 Backpacks


Polyvoxes worn: Maya, Argo, Trever

[Herzog]

Maya smiled at the mention of the lake. The purple haired girl was lost in her own little world, that she completed missed the implications of Alex's comment. She was dreaming how refreshing the water would be. Especially after days of endless desert. The last few days had been a slow pleasant change from desert to cooler terrain, but the pace of lopers did not let up, and there was still the grim of travel.

But then reality hit. "Would it be safe? The Lake?" She asked. A thought of toxic water crossed her mind. They would need to check first before fulfilling any of those fantasy's of swimming.

[LMiller]

Trever was very tired through the whole journey, and was not in a good mood. But the indication of swimming made him feel better. It seemed nice to think of the cool refreshing water after walking and riding in desert.

"Yup, maybe Rufus can check the water if it's safe for us,"

[Aura]

With a shrug, Rufus follows the conversation, "Sure, we can test if water is safe to drink. Pretty sure that extends to swimming in, for much the same sorts of reasons. I'm a bit interested in cleaning up while we have the chance, but the biggest thing I'm looking forward to is some information. I've grown used to not knowing who I am or where I come from, but, ultimately, I'd like to figure that out. It's a like an itch you can't scratch." Looking around and scratching his unshaven chin, he adds, "Although, the change of scenery... If we are stuck here, at least the whole planet isn't a desert. Good to know."

[Argo]

Argo spent some time sniffing around, nosing at one patch of grassy scrub, then moving on to another. Even though the landscape was far more fertile here than it had been, he still had the sense that this vegetation was resilient, able to withstand hot temperatures and periods of little water. It was probably not very good to eat and could possibly be toxic.

He raised his head and trotted back to the others in time to catch their conversation about the lake. Argo thought about what Kahai Long Rider had said. The poly-vox had translated his words as ‘lake’. The concept itself could have been ‘body of water’, but bodies of water could be ponds, or streams or rivers or even an ocean. This had been specifically a lake, which was bigger than a pond and smaller than an ocean. He was curious to see how close the poly-vox had gotten. It also occurred to him that if he or the humans were describing such a thing, they would use the word ‘lake’ if the lake were a normal lake. But if it were toxic, they would add the word ‘toxic’ immediately to any discussion, so the most important concept was relayed first.

Argo deduced from this that the lake was not toxic, at least, not to the Ul-Mor. It could be that it would prove to be toxic to the rest of them, so Maya’s idea to have Rufus test the water before they went in it or drank from it was a good idea.

Still, he was curious. He turned to Kahai Long Rider.

“Kahai Long Rider, what do you do at the lake? Do you swim in it? Are there…fish? Small creatures swimming in it that you can catch and eat.”

He clarified that last in case the translator was not up to the task.

“Can you see to the bottom of the lake?”