The Hibernian Expedition (MT/FT, Semi-Open)

[Morrdh]

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A Long Way Away....

Hibernia.

The Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland and the name chosen to call this place, a damp and fairly desolate world only discovered by a Royal Space Force scout vessel about a decade ago.

As planets went it was a pretty miserable one; both ice caps combined covered at least a third of the planet's surface with a belt of chilly bogs and swamps forming the equator region. The average temperature barely reached into the double figures in Celsius and the atmosphere contained alot of moisture with a near constant drizzle of rain. Given that it orbited a red dwarf star didn't help matters much either, but it remained just this side of habitable as the survey found before they planted the Morridane flag and departed.

It would've been destined for an eventual waystation to service the ships of the Commonwealth fleet pushing ever further into deep space as they slowly explored new systems. However somebody read the initial survey reported and realized it was above their pay grade before flagging it for their superiors, so it wasn't long before Hibernia came to the attention of the Commonwealth Colonial Authority's Steering Committee. It wasn't the planet itself that interested people, rather what was actually on it that was causing a fuss; Structures. Rather ruined ones but structures still the same, the first ones ever found by the CCA after exploring and claiming dozens of worlds.

Naturally it led to all sorts of questions, including a few awkward ones.

When warmongering aliens, angry at having one of their worlds stolen, didn't show up the CCA breathed a sigh of relief and began to put plans into action. The discovery was too important for the CCA to keep to itself and any expeditions sent would require funding from somewhere, so a discreet call was put out to other nations there were either allies of the Commonwealth of Morrdh or at least friendly to it. It was a call for scientists from a wide range of fields, mostly linguists, archaeology and botany to form part of a long range expedition, though only half the truth was actually given

So it was three months later, two of them spent in zero gravity, when the expedition finally arrived at its destination with mostly guesses as to what they were to expect....

[Mokastana]

Artificial gravity was a wonderful thing, too bad no one has perfected it yet.

Fredrick thought as he drifted through the Commonwealth vessel. On the surface he had stood at 6'2", taller than most of the Mokans who had negotiated to get him on this flight, and weighted just under 200 lbs. In his mind he tried he converted that to just under 90 Kg. Wellovia had adopted the English system but work in the Federation and often time around the world required Metric. As a scientist he understood the usefulness, but as a Wellovian he was too stubborn to accept metric as his standard way of thinking.

Back on the planet, he had worked as a Geologist, with degrees in both Civil Engineering and Geology. AS a child he wanted to build bunkers and underground cities, but real life proved the money was working for the mining companies. Lots of rare stones and supplies were dug up in southern Wellovia, nearly half of the Coal consumed in the Federation came from his province. Of course his skill had eventually netted him a job working a 'precious metals' mine but his desire to travel meant he later moved on to take Government work. Being flown around the Federation and sometimes outside of it he had met plenty of politicians and locals. Not to mention government work got him the tax break he needed to keep some of the fortunes he made working the Platinum Mines. These trips got his name circling among the powerful in Capital City and soon he was selected to represent Mokastana on this... journey.

Two months ago he had been excited beyond words, but after nearly two months of being unable to stand and motion sickness, he was regretting every moment. Knowing the return flight would be just as bad. The joy of space travel and being the first Mokan Civilian to walk on an alien planet had been life changing(the first Mokans on another world had been 8th Army volunteers during a Commonwealth colonial rebellion he didn't care to remember the name of). Now however he realized that the temperatures were going to be real, not some numbers on a document... Of course working in the mountains had allowed him some acclimation to the cold, unlike his partner.

Rosa Valencia, the other scientist on the Mokan Payroll, was a botanist and amateur archeologist in her spare time. He knew she loved ancient Mokan cultures and often times spoke highly of them. As if they were not savages who made human sacrifice a Sunday past time. Rumor had it she even carried a obsidian dagger with her, to remember her ancestors she would say. However Fredrick wondered if she just didn't like carrying a weapon. At 5'9" and maybe 55 kilograms she was a looker, and she probably didn't trust being in space by herself.

Supposedly, they were going to be making landing either today or tomorrow, so he continued on floating towards something, anything that could give him the time of day(if they used that in space) and maybe an idea when he could sit down without buckling up.

[Morrdh]

The bulk of the expedition had been carried across the great void of space in a pair of Bayleaf class supply vessels, affectionately known as the 'flying brick' in Commonwealth and noted for its sheer cargo capacity. It would take several days for both vessels to be unloaded, but priority to unloading the several tons worth of corrugated steel that were used to build a number of Nissen huts. Though they had a reputation for being cold and draughty or stuffy and humid depending on the climate, Nissen huts had the advantage that they were relatively simple and could be prefabricated which meant they could be setup quite quickly in order to provide some form of shelter. A cluster of these huts would from the expedition's main base that was being dubbed 'Fort Dienstad', other huts had been earmarked for outlaying outposts.

Fort Dienstad would be sited on Hibernia's equatorial belt where it would be the most warmest at an average and modest temperature of ten degrees Celsius, the equator also had the benefit of being ice free. Here it was largely moorland with bogs and craggy outcrops of rock, there was also plenty of rivers fed by the surface runoff from the snowfields and glaciers to the north and south. A few of the ruins that sparked interest in this planet were also found here, most of them centred round waterlogged craters. Also of note was the existence of some basic lifeforms, at least some sort of beetle or roach about the size of mice that seemed to be everywhere amidst the coarse grass and moss but were seemingly harmless.

For now every effort was focused on getting Fort Dienstad established and secured, the Commonwealth had sent along an infantry battalion from the Morridane Army wit engineer support for this task. This battalion would from a garrison of a sort for the protection of the expedition against possible predators and would send out patrols to explore the rest of the planet and ensure that certain areas were safe before scientists were allowed into them. Another task of the soldiers was to build an expanding network of outposts equipped with radios to support the exploration efforts.

[Mokastana]

With the addition of Gravity Fredrick could finally walk, and get out of his quarters with without needing motion sickness pills. It wasn't fair that Rosa was adapting with ease to the environment of space travel, but when they got on the ground he would be the better one off. He had worked in low temperatures before, some of the mines he had worked previously were near the tops of mountains and in freezing valleys. His experience and winter wear would keep him almost comfortably warm.

Both Rosa and Fredrick had been provided Arctic Battle Suits by the Federation Government. Originally designed years ago when the possibility of war with Kroando existed, the Mokans needed a way to keep special forces alive in the harsh antarctic conditions of that frozen hell hole. The internal suit was insulated for down to almost -20 Centigrade with an external 'Space Suit' complete with breathing apparatus. While it was not as bulky as the traditional Mokan Cosmonauts wore, it was made of significantly more hard components(armor provided but should not be utilized). In addition the government had provided enough oxygen to survive him them both the flight home if need be, or so Fredrick imagined.

Even though they landed, it would be days before they would be allowed to leave the ship, as scientist and not soldiers they got last dibs on leaving. Instead having to wait for the base to be built.

"Prefab tin cans..." he muttered allowed.

"Relax, remember we are on an Alien Planet, and it is entirely possible we have found signs of life not of our world. Our names will go down in Mokan history, do you want to be remembered as the whiny bastard?"

Rosa smiled at him, she knew it would piss him off, but she needed the entertainment.

"Just tell yourself that when you freeze your Moka Ass in the negative degree weather."

"Unlike you, I have faith our allies here will take care of us. Do you really think they would send this much infantry and not supply them with the goods to stay warm. Besides if the going gets tough I can handle a rifle and take good care of you." She mimicked the voice of one speaking to a child.

"I was a marksman during my time. Were you?"

And so the two would spend their days bickering back and forth, waiting for the chance to finally see the alien soil they had waited so long for.

[Morrdh]

Eventually after permanent structures had been setup, retained a degree of warm and electricity finally working the scientists of the expedition where allowed to make planet-fall at long last. Despite how primitive it was, Fort Dienstad at least offered both shelter from Hibernia's elements and a home away from home. Here and there was familiar sights, admittedly to those hailing from the Commonwealth, in the form of a fleet of Land Rovers providing transport and a NAAFI offering refreshments.

The new arrivals were shown to their billets and allowed a couple of days to unpack and acclimatize before they got down to work, but some of the soldiers were already out patrolling and charting the lands that surround Fort Dienstad. Aside from seeing what was actually out there, the soldier's other job was to determine whether there was any predators lurking. For the first few scientific trips out in the Hibernian wilderness the scientists would have a couple of soldiers for protection until it was certain that nothing hostile called the planet home.