Icarus (Sci-fi/Time-travel|IC|Open)

[Dyelli Beybi]

Hannah Brown

"Good question!" Hannah replied. She visibly lit up when Joseph appeared. Hannah had always been a happy young woman, but one who seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. The weight seemed to have lifted a bit in recent weeks... "We have so little information on this period that I don't know how to answer that. So we're going to have to do a bit of reccon work first. I'm assuming you know what you're doing as, incidentally, do I on this occasion," she added with a grin, "Sneaking around is something I'm rather good at. We go in in pairs, take a look around, preferably without getting spotted and then decide on the best course of action."

"Mr Foley," she said, "You're with me," There was, perhaps the slightest hint of a smirk there. Apparently she has ideas other than reconnaissance...

At that point Isaac appeared, wiping oil from his hands, "Did you say we are going to 2133?" He asked, "That's convenient as one of the couplings is ready to blow and I figure we can retrieve what we need from there."

"A 'coupling'," Hannah stated, pursing her lips at the vagueness, "Hiw hard will that be to find?"

"Not," Isaac replied, before adding, "I hope. I can probably borrow it from any large piece of electronic equipment in this era. The quality of the materials used should be adequate."

"Any volunteers to go with Isaac to find large electronics?"

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Foley

Foley made to point out the plan was rather vague but held his tongue as he remembered this was Hannah. Ad-libbing was practically her default. In complete opposite to his need to sketch out a general scheme of maneuver, comm plan and contingencies in case of disruptions.

So he held back his sigh, pressed a kiss to her head and said “See you in the armory.”

******

He had decided to go semi overt today. In that he was wearing some futuristic suit of armor that resembled those the boarders had used. Though this suit was a neutral olive coloring and had a feature Foley had discovered during one of his armory explorations. A few quick stabs of the suits arm mounted TacPad resulted in the suit beginning to waver. Then the suits outline disappeared into the background.

The function wasn’t perfect. Moving caused the active camouflage to waver and the outline more visible as the processors struggled to adapt. And even then, intense scrutiny would reveal the slightly off nature of the colors the suit was mimicking.

But from a distance or in a shadowed space? It was an excellent measure.

The operator turned the camouflage off as he gathered up the rest of his kit. An M-26 with a magazine fed 25mm launcher underslung. Kimber in a cross draw belly holster. Suppressed blocky pistol of some futuristic flavor; a suppressor thread in its barrel and holstered to his right thigh. That knife had had taken off the boarders mounted commando draw in the small of his back. Grenades of various flavors secured in a foldout hip pouch. And finally a few premade demo charges in a hip satchel strapped to his left.

The opening of the door had him popping the faceplate of his helmet. The dome like visor retracting back and leaving his face visible.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Hannah, meanwhile, appeared wearing a sandy coloured tank top and cargo trousers, having gone with the more minimalist option, which would neither provide warmth during the frozen night nor protection against the beating sun during the day... but she didn't need it. One of the peculiarities of her alien DNA seemed to be a remarkable tolerance for extremes of temperature. Though if Foley (or anyone else for that matter) had checked into the computer on what a dhasath was they would know that the almost identical cousin to humanity came from a barely habitable rock where their traditional diet was mostly some kind of desert vine that produced something a bit like a breadfruit. They had had to be a hardy and the Australian outback was pretty close to her natural habitat. Her only allowance for the likely weather conditions was a 'chocolate chip' pattern camouflaged cap, which would have looked a bit old fashioned even in her time.

She gave Foley a once over, "Well that's no fun!" she pouted, rapping her knuckle on the pauldron, "I feel like it's cheating a little bit. Poor folks of this century will have no idea what hit them!"

As some of the others seemed to be appearing, she veered into a briefing, "Alright everyone! It's the middle of the day out there, which means it will be hellishly hot, but also that nobody should be around. Keep hydrated! First thing we need to do is a bit of a circuit of the town and plant a couple of these handy little triangulation devices evenly around the outskirts of the town. There are spares, make sure you have some on you," she said, motioning at a couple of metallic devices about the size and shape of a claymore mine, that she had attached to her belt, "That will help Ziggy zero in on the location of our distress beacon. We could also try flying overheard, but there's a pretty strong chance that we'll be detected and then we could be shot at by either the League military or by human separatists. Who knows! When you are circling the town, note to see if there is any sign of one group or another and where you saw them. Once we have a location, then we'll move in, identify the source of the distress call and decide what to do from there."

"In the event of a dust storm," she added finally, "We'll reconvene at the ship. This is only a town of about 1,500 people so it should not take too long to do the circuit. Even so, we'll have clockwise and anticlockwise teams. Move slowly, stay hydrated and try not to step on any snakes!"

[Europa Undivided]

Jean and Foley would apparently have similar ideas, as Jean would put on a futuristic suit of armor as well. It had been painted with a sandy hue, as if it had been prepared just for this very mission. It was light and, mercifully, had internal temperature control as well, meaning that he wouldn't be suffering from the heat as much as the others that had decided to put on era appropriate civilian clothing.

The annoying part was that there was no helmet. Jean kept looking for one that would be partnered to this suit in particular, finding only what looked like to be a headgear of some kind that used a transparent glass... thing to act as a HUD. It would just be like wearing a monocle, if monocles were square, glowed orange, and could track moving targets within a decent distance. So, to cover his head, Jean decided to take a circular hat. As for weapons, he took a blaster carbine, which he neatly placed in a holster on his belt. There were also a pair of pistols, also blaster types, which were in turn put within the suit's rear compartment designed specifically for them.

She gave Foley a once over, "Well that's no fun!" she pouted, rapping her knuckle on the pauldron, "I feel like it's cheating a little bit. Poor folks of this century will have no idea what hit them!"

Jean slightly chuckled as he watched. "Good thing he's not alone in cheating then," Jean said, slightly tapping his own suit. It was covered by his cloak, though (heaven forbid that anyone calls it a cape!), so at first glance, it wouldn't be too obvious that he wearing a suit of armor underneath. One would have to bump at him directly to know.

"Anyway, I suppose I'll go with Isaac as he looks for parts," Jean added as he tapped a few buttons on his suit's tactical pad, familiarizing himself with how it worked. "I'm from this century too, so it would be easier for me to look around."

---

Leona, meanwhile, wore what appeared to be a rather ordinary set of era-appropriate clothes. A red-checkered polo over a grey shirt, and a pair of jeans. She took a large umbrella, testing its ability to cast shade by contrasting it against the bright lights on the ceiling. Then, hidden in her pockets was a stun gun, essentially a futuristic version of a taser. She would never pick up an actual gun.

The good doctor would be one of the first to come forward and take one of the triangulation devices from Hannah's hands, examining as if she was engineer (she wasn't). "I swear I once saw one of these lying around my son's workbench," she said. "So, uh, we'll just be placing these down. Okay. I suppose I should get some water bottles too. Like him."

Alexei stood over a small bag, which he was visibly stuffing with no less than five plastic water bottles. He had learned during his time travelling around the desert in Kazakhstan that going to an arid necessitated bringing water around. While he never had been to Australia, he had long heard of its terrifying wildlife and continent-spanning desert. "There is one thing I'd like to ask before we proceed," the former tanker said as he zipped the bag tight and hoisted it over his back. "Is it true that most animal species in Australia are venomous?"

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Joseph Foley

Foley gave a mock frown as Hannah rapped his armor. The operator in turn gave a light flick of the captain’s cap; knocking the old cano patterned cover askew.

“At least I can take a few rounds now.” He tapped his scarred shoulder, hidden under his armored layers; a twin wound to the one Hannah had earned in Greece. An actual frown threatened to take over his face; so he tucked his chin and activated the faceplate. The fitted dome-like visor sliding back up and closing over his head; clear for a brief second before polarizing.

“Besides, someone has to do the hard work.” He gestured at Jean, absent a helmet and instead wearing a cloak. Which was to say a rather useless addition for kinetic movements. But Foley couldn’t fault the man; his experience was spaceships after all. This was Foley’s world.

He went to activate his cano but paused as he took in Hannah’s lack of gear. A minute of rummaging produced a spur of sunglasses that he held out to the Captain.

“Here, this should connect to my armor. So you can see my outline.”

Zoey Wessel

Zoey strode up beside Leona; the Afrikaner dressed similarly to the doctor in thick jeans and a tan safari shirt. A blonde ponytail bouncing underneath the brim of her boonie hat.

A pack was slung over her shoulder; within was a hydration bladder, a pair of the sensors, and a disassembled M-26 carbine with a low profile marksman sight on its rail. A 10mm pistol tucked into the back of her waist and as she nudged the doctor.

“Fancy a jaunt together?”

[Dyelli Beybi]

Jodie

"Largely exaggerated," Jodie piped up. Apparently they had forgotten there was an actual Australian among them, "We're far enough into the outback that there shouldn't be too many snakes but don't stick your hand in holes or anything stupid like that. If there is a brown snake or king brown you're in trouble. There will probably be scorpions but our ones aren't too bad. The worst thing though are the drop bears, if you happen to be walking under a tree. Horrible things, kill lots of tourists. Best preventative is to put forks in your hair or, if you don't have any, rub vegemite through it."

[Flarbinia]

Tokudaiji
"I hope none of you mind my choice of blade. I did not have time to look for one more appropriate for this century, so I grabbed it before leaving the armory. It is better suited for my fighting style than a Dao anyway." Tokudaiji Hikitoshi said to the others as he patted the hilt of the Scimitar on his hip. He was covered from head to toe in clothing similar to the garb of a desert nomad, having chosen it because the headscarf reminded him of the head covering worn by the Ikko-Ikki (an order of warrior monks who had fought against Oda Nobunaga and were defeated). "League? Separatists? I do not care about the politics of this strange Century. I will report anyone who looks suspicious to the leader of my group, but if they attack, I will not hesitate to cut them down where they stand. This town is a strange one. The buildings are made of thick wooden boards instead of paper and built in different shapes than those of my homeland. The land it was built on is also odd. There are no trees and the only grass I can see is brown instead of green." Tokudaiji thought to himself before turning his attention to Jodie. "Any other wildlife we should be worried about?" Tokudaiji asked Jodie.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Foley and Hannah
Co-Write Between Terrans and Dyelli Beybi

There was little enough to see as they circled the small town apart from the occasional sleep sentry. They looked, about as well uniformed as Hannah though they seemed to be armed with some of the alien blasters they had on the ship. There were also a few guard dogs, though they looked just as sleepy as the sentries. This was clearly not a time when most people were out-and-about, it was just too hot.

Hannah didn't seem remotely bothered by the heat, despite the fact she'd taken no precautions against it. She hadn't even broken a sweat. It was one of the first times, apart from when she kissed Foley (which came with a pleasing chemical euphoric buzz) when it was obvious there was something off about her, "The heat looks like it's getting to the sentries," she noted quietly as they passed the third one, keeping low and well away from them, just in case, "I'm going to guess from that, and the fact that they're out of uniform, that these guys are the insurgents Hal told us about."

A grunt seemed to emanate from thin air; Foley’s form barely visible as she shifted slightly.

The operator had seen plenty of irregulars in his career. They tended to run the gamut from mob with guns to military without the the uniforms. This rabble seemed to lean more towards the former.

Which meant discipline was probably non-existent. So these guys were united by a cause or ideal. Which could be exploited….. and could also cause headaches for the time travelers.

“They’ll need to have a shift change soon. If they’re competent at least.” The modulators in his helmet made his voice seem more monotone. He wondered if it bothered people; the lack of familiarity armor like this provided.

He pondered over that little tangent as he sipped water from the nozzle tucked into the corner of his helmet. The slight feathering breeze of the small life support system keeping the sweltering heat of the desert a comfortable warmth.

A gaze at Hannah revealed, other then a small coating of dust, relatively the same appearance as in the ship. Her skin and hair not slick with sweat; nor was she panting from the heat his helmet helpfully provided the temperature of.

Come to think of it; he didn’t recall her sweating at all during their…. activities over the last few weeks.

“Are you…. Are you feeling alright?”

"I am feeling great!" Hannah declared, having apparently not realised there was anything off about her, "...clearly it doesn't look like they're actually expecting an attack here any time soon," she mused, adjusting the brim of her hat, "Though from what I gathered from Ziggy the League are on the verge of a complete loss of control on the planet. I imagine they've pulled back from backwaters like this... I guess there is a reasonable chance these folks are just civilians guarding their town from marauding bandits."

Foley was going to stay on mission. Talk about tactics. But if there was one environment he spent a lot of time in; it was deserts. Even natives felt the heat; they just knew how to deal with better.

“Hannah….. You aren’t sweating.” For emphasis he popped his helmet. The visor retracting back; a face suddenly appearing over his vague silhouette. Even fresh from his climate control; a few beads began to dot his forehead at the blast of heat.

He wondered if she had picked up some kind of bug. They had jumped through enough time periods and her blood was apparently unique. Perhaps she could have been affected differently?

He was vaguely aware of a pair of armed men swaggering up to a dozing sentry.

"It's not that hot though..." she trailed off and gave a small laugh, "It's the alien DNA. Apparently we have improved thermoregulation or something, apparently my great grandad's lot evolved on quite a crapsack planet..." she trailed off before adding, "And if you've seen it, it will be something that people here, who might be on the lookout for dhasath will also notice. Maybe I don't blend in an easily as I thought."

Hannah gave a small throaty laugh, laying a hand on Foley's arm, "I'm glad you'd notice me. Going unnoticed when you're thinking of someone sucks." She gave a small sigh, her eyes wandering in the direction of the sentries to make sure they weren't moving... "I was actually touched that nobody on the ship panicked over the extraterrestrial DNA business... especially you. I was quite worried about admitting it, though I would have in time. I guess it helps being human in all the parts that count!"

Foley didn’t actually feel Hannah’s grip though the armor. But he managed to bring his stammering under control.

“Well when you freeze to death and wake up on a time ship. Five foot alien captains are the least of your worries.” A glance at the sentries made him wonder whether he should pop his visor back in place. Go back to his fully hazy camouflaged outline instead of the floating head he probably looked like now.

Hannah shuffled back a bit, so she was below the ridge, "Five foot three," she pouted, "I'm not quite that small!... when we get to the half-way mark, want to find somewhere shady to hole up for a bit. It'd be nice to be away from the others for a bit. If a local jumps you, you can say you're interrogating one of the invaders," she said, managing to make 'interrogating' sound quite salacious.

Foley arched an eyebrow as he looked down at their very disparate heights.

“Small enough.” He offered as his helmet slid back into place, the life support kicking back to life as his HUD flared with symbols. He peered at the land between them and the town; magnified and spectrum enhanced imagery penetrating the slight haze and heat in the air.

His gaze fell on a shack. A one story, abandoned affair that sat nestled among a smattering to barely living trees. He didn’t see any signs of life in it around the structure.

“Found a place to hole up…….. Race you.” He added that last part challenging. Loping off at an easy pace; assisted by the armor and his long stride.

---

The shack looked like it had been some sort of break room in its long forgotten past. A cot shoved into a corner barely allowed room for a dented metal table that had an odd assortment of chairs arrayed around it. A depreciated fridge occupied another corner as a fan in the roof remained still.

“Cozy” Foley chided as his rifle lowered.

If the goal of the exercise had been to get Hannah to break a sweat then by the time she appeared, some time after Foley, then the plan had worked. She was breathing deeply, raggedly, from trying to keep up, while also making sure she was picking a route across the country that was as discrete as possible, "I said that super suit was no fair!" she complained, dropping down into the nearest chair as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Suit doesn’t make me faster. Just helps my balance.” He tried not to sound smug as he tested a chair and found it could take his weight. It groaned as he shut off the camouflage.

His helmet segmenting away while he gulped the water bladder.

He didn’t mention that in his previous life as an operator he ran ten miles daily for his light jogs.

“I guess you weren’t a marathon runner?”

"And means you don't need to be so careful of watching eyes," she added, "No... I was a health and safety officer for the subway. I managed risk and consulted with the unions. Marathons were not required," she said as her breathing began to calm, "And then the aliens invaded and I helped organise a group of survivors in the same subway tunnels because I knew them better than most. I stockpiled food, medicine, guns, ammunition, blankets, petrol. I organised things and tried to retain some semblance of civilisation. I shot raiders and sprinted for the nearest tunnel when a giant carnivorous reptile appeared... but that's about it," she gave a small laugh, "First and foremost I'm a bureaucrat!"

“Pog” A snort of amusement at a joke only he got. “So what do you have planned now that we’re in the shade?”

"Well first," she pouted, "I think you need to take off that exo-suit-thing," she said, clearly not quite sure what to call it.

“I was wondering more about our next move. But good to know that’s always on your mind.”

Hannah gave a short laugh, "I only said the exo-suit! And actually my next plan was to have a nice lunch, wait for the others to get their beacons in place and then figure out where the distress call is coming from."

“You packed a lunch?” He made no move to pull off the armor. Though he did pull off the gauntlets; exposing his hands. “You have a picnic blanket too?”

A mock challenge in his tone as he leaned over the table further as if examining her for a hidden article. He noticed that he had closed the distance between them only when a huff of Hannah’s breath tickled a cheek. Dark, amused eyes filled his vision as his gaze flicked between her and the cot.

"Actually..." she paused for a heartbeat as if considering not admitting what was in her pack, "Yes... I figured we'd find some spot out of the sun. I was imagining more a cave than an abandoned miner's shack and spend some time away from the rest of the team. The Icarus feels like a college dorm at times! Everyone knows what everyone is up to," she pouted.

A beat as Foley processed the fact Hannah had actually packed a picnic. Then a chuckle that morphed into a suppressed laugh. “That’s why I love you. “

He said it casually; offhandedly as leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

That got her eyes to light up mischievously. She reached up, lacing her arms around Foley's neck, "Now that's a hell of a thing to slip in so casually!" she paused a beat, studying him closely to see if she'd provoked any concern before giving a small laugh, adding, "I love you too. You, Sir, have given me a reason to push on with this mission and finish the job - so we have a future with more picnics and less Nazis shooting at us. I mean yes, there's the bit about saving multiple universes as well, but that's so impersonal!"

He would never admit to anyone that it had been a slip of his tongue. A simple slip up. But Hannah’s eyes and smile…. Well, he almost didn’t hear what she said.

He glanced at the cot again and then at the woman hanging off his neck.

‘Hell with it.’

He picked her up, the suit making it an even easier task. Her eyes level with his.

“Want to help me out of this suit ma’am?”

"So we're skipping the starters and going straight for the mains," she laughed, tracing Foley's jaw with her index finger, dark eyes studying his face, a slight smile playing across her face, "How could I decline such a polite request, Sir?"

...
Clearly Hannah was upset by something and while she didn't vocalise it, she seemed to draw comfort from human touch and was quite happy to lie with her head nestled against Foley's shoulder, studying his face as if trying to commit every detail to memory... the mood was broken by a distant voice calling '...Captain do you copy?'

She groaned, rolling over to pick up her comms unit from where it was lying amongst a pile of rumpled clothing, pressing it into her ear, "Yes, Icarus, I read you loud and clear."

She paused before repeating out loud for Foley's benefit, "Captain. There is a sandstorm rolling in, looks likely to cover the area for a good six to eight hours, recommend returning to the ship immediately... no, his comsms unit isn't receiving all that well at the moment."

She paused, "Negative Ziggy, we're in a good position where we are. We will be fine. Won't risk the journey back at this time," she said, her voice neutral despite the small smirk that was forming on her face, "We'll see the others in six to eight hours."

She pulled the headset off, tossing it back onto her haphazardly piled clothes, "Any reason you want to race back?" she asked, laying her head back down on Foley's shoulder.

“Six hours in an enclosed space with nobody bothering us?” He played with a lock of hair; before pressing a kiss to her forehead. It felt so natural. So easy around her. It was a nice change of pace; the way she made the tension he carried melt away.

That being said….

“Something’s bothering you though.” He hazarded a glance at her; pulling the survival blanket from his kit a bit higher to cover their bodies.

"Yeah," Hannah admitted, before quickly, "But it's not anything anyone did! It's just this timeline. With whatever I am taking over earth. It's... disheartening and I feel a bit like I'm the enemy or at least that people will start to think I am. Even though in my timeline I got myself killed trying to end an invasion," she glanced up at Foley, meeting his eyes as a spotaneous smile formed on her lips, "This outing has helped me to feel a bit more normal though."

“If it helps no one ever liked us. Black op boogeyman that is. People who didn’t understand the line we walked. So don’t worry about it.” He gave what he hoped was a comforting squeeze as he nuzzled into her hair. “We’re the only ones whose opinion should matter…. The Icarus…. That is.”

The wind outside the shack continued to howl. Memories of barracks and dust storms caused a grin. The irony hitting him in this moment of bliss. Besides a change of subject couldn’t hurt.

“Always hated deserts you know. Couldn’t wait for us to get out of them. Figures I’d buy the farm in the exact opposite of them. “ He forced a laugh as he tried to resettle back onto the cot. “Arctic Circle is a bitch.”

"I can imagine... before they played with ny DNA I used to feel the cold bitterly," she snuggled in closer, "The tunnels in winter weren't much fun. Though the thing that depressed me the most were the raiders. We were scraping out a living in the ruins of society, we lived under constant threat of alien hunters... and some people would still attack other humans." She paused for a long moment before telling a bit of her own story, "I got bitten by this weird biomechanical bug thing in upstate New York. I dont know how it worked but I think they were scanning for people with traces of dhasath DNA - my great grandmother had a fling with one of them. When it bit me it placed some kind of tracker in me so then it was only a matter of time before the aliens found me. A lot of painful genetic experimentation later and this is me. Same Hannah, but with a few tweaks."

“Sorry…. If it’s any consolation. I know I would have liked you before all this. ” It was almost hollow. Perfunctory. Mainly because what else could they say about their pasts. A beat of silence as he digested her story before he decided to expound in his too. “Nothing so dramatic for me. I’d been running the top kill squad in the Unit for two years by the time we went north.”

“It was researchers. Critical equipment and they decided to go rogue. We never got the whole story; we learned by then it only brought attention to ask. Bunch of civvies with no guns vs some of the most hardened killers in the US’ service should have been easy.”

He paused as he waited for Hannah to retract from him in disgust or horror before he decided to get it over with.

“I got cocky. Didn’t know they were ready for us. Or how desperate they were….IED got the helo on touchdown. They started to lob homemade grenades at us…. We shot back……. Lots of dead by the time we took the main lab…. Then they set off the big bomb…..I barely got out. Listened to my team burn to a crisp before their comms fried.”

He was distant now. Staring at the ceiling.

“Some of them made it out. I chased them into a storm. Lost them. Wounds caught up to me and I….. I laid in that snow for hours. Couldn’t move….. Just feeling myself get number and number until my lungs didn’t rise…..”

He stopped then; not saying anymore as he concentrated on Hannah. Focusing on her warmth. A far cry from the Arctic of his memories.

"That sounds horrible," she replied softly. There was no sign of recoiling from Foley had said, rather she leaned forward, kissing his shoulder before nestling back into the crook of his arm, "I'm not sure you'd have been overly keen on me then," she gave a small laugh, "You'd have probably thought I was an annoying pencil pusher! Though a pencil pusher with a good sense of humour and a winning smile at least," She paused a moment before adding, with a smirk, "I'd have definitely liked you though. You're a handsome man and I am very shallow... also, apparently, black-ops guys is my type; I dated an ex Spetsnaz operator for a while."

“Spetznaz….”An amused huff. “Overhyped vodka huffers. Maybe I should find a pint sized Captain with better tastes?” A grin as he pulled her tighter and threw a leg over her. He practically muttered into her hair for the next part.

“Though I dated a pint sized tax auditor. Guess I got a type too.”

Hannah gave a laugh of mock outrage, "Oh... I see. Do you need me to prove why as much as my taste might be lacking, I'm still the best choice you ever made?"

“I don’t think you crack the top ten….yet.”

The comment earned a playful punch in the ribs, which finished with her wrapping her arms around him, "Well that won't do will it," she cocked her head to one side, listening to the howl of the wind and rattle of sand on the corrugated iron walls of the old building, "How long do you think this sandstorm will keep up?"

“An hour minimum. Three hours tops. Especially given how long we’ve been here already.” Not that either of them really kept track of the time they spent… engaged. “Why? You have another strapping operator in a hut down the way?”

"No..." she said, drawing herself up on one elbow, "I was just wondering how long I had to try to improve my rankings."

Foley gave a short laugh. Reaching out, he placed his hands on her hips.

“I’ll give you a shot at the number seven slot….Ma’am.”

[Dyelli Beybi]

Some time later...

The storm passed and the instruments the crew had set up were showing a clear location for the source of the distress call. Somewhat annoyingly, right in the middle of the town.

Hannah, gave a sigh as the news came in, pulling on one boot as she did, lacing it tightly as she responded to the revelation, "Ziggy, did we take photos of the area as we came in. Can you tell us anything about what we might be expecting there?"

"We did," the computer replied, "The signal appears to be coming from inside a small supermarket."

"A distress call from the supermarket," Hannah tied her boot off, pulling on the other, "Well that doesn't sound too bad in the grand scheme of things. Slack, disinterested guards on the perimeter and we're trying to get into a supermarket," she nodded to herself, before posing to everyone over comms, "So, ideas for getting in? I suggest we just walk up to them and ask to come in. From our limited knowledge of what is going on here, this is a human rebel held settlement. We don't look like dhasath stormtroopers... no uniforms or anything, so maybe we just say we're from Sydney or saomething similar?" she posed.