As Chase speaks, Mark brings up the images the drone took.

The image is of a barren desert. A single palm tree dots the landscape.

The camera blinks and another picture appears. This one shows the DHD. It seems fully intact and in good shape.

"These were the only pictures we were able to get before the wormhole collapsed. The readings the probe took showed a temperature of 97 degrees Fahrenheit. I have no idea what time it was. Nor do we know how long the planets day is. It also showed an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere perfectly suitable for sustaining life."

Alex takes over at this point.

"You guys plan the mission, you come up with the time frames, and you tell us what you need. We need more addresses, and we need to get through the gate to do that."

Ghost Dragon says, "Before we go through, at the same time as when you send the dog through, I want to send a watcher spirit through. I want to watch what happens to it and the dog on the astral plane, and have it report to me what the mana field, if there is one, feels like on the other side. I will need only a few minutes to give the watcher its orders before you open the portal. In theory, I would be able to assense both the watcher and the dog through the gate, provided that what is on the other side is visible, and assuming that sound can travel through the gate also, the watcher can speak to me. Can sound and light travel both ways through the gate?"

"I will take 40 APDS rounds for a Browning Ultra-Power and any spirit conjuring materials you can spare. I will also need a very large quantity of dirt or soil and a hermetic circle of decent size and a conjuring library. If your facility is without one, permit me to return home so that I may make use of my own circle and library."

"Also, you still have not answered one of my questions, Alex, and I have asked twice now. If we find anything living on the other side, how should we deal with it?"

"Sound and light do not travel both ways through the gate. Radiation and Radio frequencies are the only things we have seen so far that travel both ways through the gate, it is doubtful your watcher will work. It is also highly unlikely you will encounter any life forms on the other side. But if you do, use your best judgement. We aren't looking to start an interplanetary war," he says with a grin.

"We can provide the conjuring materials you need, we have an on site summoning room as well."

"Like, how long can you keep the thing operating? Is there any reason that you, you know, didn't send a drone through after programming it to get as much data as it can, then send the info through via burst at a predesignated time when you open the thingamabob a second time? And if you haven't, uh, why not? Gimme an aerial drone and I'll program it to do just that if ya, yanno, want and stuff? Unless someone else'd rather due sumfin' like that. Could always send it through with the pooch and, yeah..."

Whoa. The amazing string of lingo he just spewed out apparently left Cosmo winded and slightly bent over, holding onto his knees due to exhaustion. But, yet again, it was difficult to tell since that seemed to be his normal posture anyway.

Listening to the requests for dikoted arrows and APDS ammunition for an exploratory mission, Os mutters under his breath, "Jesus, who the hell are these people?"

Ghost Dragon takes off his sunglasses, leans forward, and says, "Very well. I had hoped that this would not be an expedition preceding a slaughter of any indigenous population. Though if you want... I suppose you are the one with the nuyen. As long as you do not keep secrets from me, I will not keep any from you."

Hehe.. I hope they believe that.

"Do you have psychiatric counseling available, preferrably on site? What concerns me is that I have no way of knowing how the mana flow will affect me once I step through that gate. As I am sure you know, there have been cases of the awakened going insane when they try to use their abilities in space. It could be that an unfamiliar or vastly different flow exists in space, and possibly on other planets, and that learning to adjust taxes the mind. Expendable or not, it would be cheaper and more efficient for you to have procedures and personnel in place to handle such circumstances should I or anyone else in this group suffer negative mental effects from travelling through your stargate. You could also learn more from our experiences if we remain competent enough to relate them to you. Would you not agree?"

"Whoa, hey, no way man... I didn't sign up for any killing and stuff."

"I don't know about not killing, but APDS is overkill when we can get some good concussion grenades and maybe a MMG or two. Now, question time Alex."

A slight pause followed by an exasperated, "Am I the only one here who knows how to use a gun that fires regular bullets? Extra Explosive Rounds for a Pred, Armorpiercing Discarding Sabot for a Revolver... What is with you people? Never get a bigger cartridge, get a bigger gun... Sheesh!"

James puts his hands on his head, pulls his hat off and crumples it. "I've got a couple milspec gyromounts... of we could some LMGs and maybe teach these academics to use them... Oh boy this is gonna suck... Do I have time to go get my cammies and such from my place?"

Alex blanches a little at the mention of machine guns. "There is absolutely no signs of life on the other side of the gate, I am not sure you will need that heavy of an ordinance, but if it makes you feel better..." He lets the sentence trail of a little.

"The next time we can open the gate is 12 hours from now," Mark says. "We have to time it right since we siphon an enormous amount of energy form the public grid. Maybe we should set some guidelines for Gate travel. If you do meet another species that is sentient don't kill it, try to make peaceful contact. Were not out here to exploit, were here to explore. You all were picked for the job because of your excellent reputations, and your professionalism. I would hope that outright violence is a last resort."

"Uh thats a good point Ghost, I guess before we send you through we should try your spirit idea, the same with Cosmo's. We tried that with a drone Cosmo, but we can only open the gate once a day. By the time we were able to open it again the drone did not respond. Were not sure what happened to it."

"No evidence of sentient life on a perfectly hospitable world, but the drone didnt even last 23hrs 59minutes and 54seconds... yeah... So, who wants heavier ordnance?" James raises his hand and looks around at the group.

"So, like, you have dead drones in less than 24 hours. Dude, that's so not a good sign. Unless, uh, you totally didn't send one through with one o' those suncell thingies so it could just sit idly by an' wait."

"Well pike me raw and call me Alice," the Mad Hatter's ego bellows out after having bitchslapped his superego into submission. "As if we're not under enough pressure as it is. Honestly, what do these blokes expect of us? We're hackers, Jim, not xenocryptologists.

"But enough of that, let's see what this little chip of theirs has inside..."

While Cosmo's inner self was analyzing the chip, the dwarf himself piped up again. They must have spiked those pastries up in the warehouse with some speed or something, because the little guy is rarely this animated. Not that he's being very animated to begin with. It's all relative.

"So, uhm, like... uh, what?" He paused for a moment, trying to remember what he was going to say. "Oh yeah, like, besides figuring out this one address you found, have you been able to decipher what any of those runes actually mean or, yanno, represent and stuff?"

"Cost effective? What cost? I have most of that stuff in the loft.""

"Thats a perfect description of what we would like you to do, Ran. There is no evidence the drone was attacked or destroyed, so in the absence of evidence I would suggest caution, but we can't spend the money to send an arsenal through. We can equip you with all the light arms you want. But we don't have machine guns or dikoted arrows to give you."

I suppose I should play along until they spring the joke on us. No use ruining their fun.
Torque leans forward and rests his elbows on the table.
Torque: "I hope you've considered the possibility of a plague or disease on the other side? It can be just as deadly as any bullet and you can't deal with a germ via explosive ammo. I reccomend each team member be given a broad-spectrum innoculation against as many diseases as we can without overburdening our immune systems, and on our return from the gate we should be placed in quarantine for a few days and undergo medical testing to ensure we don't bring anything nasty back. Also, as it's clearly a desert and nearly 100 degrees, you are using that obsolete farenheit system not centigrade yes? We should each bring sunscreen, sunglasses, and several liters of water each. I assure you, after a few hours of walking under the desert sun you will much prefer the water to all the ammo in the world. A big floppy hat to shade the face will help as well."
Torque considers a moment more.
Torque: "And if we do run into natives we should have some way of dealing with them that does not involve bullets. Does anybody have any good ideas as to trade goods or gifts we could bring to encourage a friendly discussion instead of a war?"

"Food worked in the Amazon and Africa, as well as high quality metal cookware, also known as MRE spoons and forks and leftover pans."

Torque: "Perhaps chocolate. Everybody likes chocolate, even a technologically advanced society may not have it. If we meet something that isn't human I don't know. . . maybe some precious stones?"

Mark raises and eyebrow at Torques remarks. "Obsolete? I don't think so. Please don't play scientist with me, I have been one longer than you have been alive young man. This first mission shouldn’t last very long and I think sunscreen is a fine idea, along with a hat. If you can't make the window in 11 hours, then we will have to wait for tomorrow, call it 33 hours from now. Let us know what you decide to do."

Mark hands the controller for the holo-tank to James as he walks past him. He at glares at Alex as he passes by to leave the room.

"Alright, Emma will be here in a moment, and she will take care of your needs from this point on. I have some tap dancing to do downtown at corporate so I will be unavailable for several hours. Remember, the window is in nine hours, it would be best if you could make it, if not then 33 hours from now." He gives everyone a friendly wave and then leaves the briefing room.

Silence follows in his foot steps. The holo display still shows the alien landscape, barren and dry. Symbols on the holographic gate flash by, mirrored by their corresponding star constellations.

@ Cosmo,

The chip contains just about everything they know about the symbols on the gate. Including a complete reference to the every symbol. Each one has a corresponding star constellation that goes with it. With that data you could pretty much tell what part of the galaxy you were transporting to. Unfortunately their data is incomplete. It also contains basic data on the gate itself.

"So, water, rations, sunblock, ah," Os pauses and half rolls his artificial eyes, "chocolate, steel cookware. We should hunt down some desert cams, floppy, broad-brimmed hats, that sort of thing. A couple of canteens each, maybe some plastic bags for the guns, to protect them from the sand."

He looks around at the other 'runners, and says, "I'm just rattling stuff off the top my head, guys. Join in if you have something to add."

He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a notebook computer, opening it and pulling out the stylus to write a list.

"Curiouser and curiouser," thought the Mad Hatter as he perused the datasoft for a few nanoseconds. The persona rolled its virtual eyes and gave an exasperated sigh as it realized it needed to talk to its subjacent self.

Cosmo was in the process of fighting off the urge to indulge his burrito addiction when he heard the dark, sinister whisper bellowing through his mindscape. "OooOOoOooOoooo... Tell him we need an astronomy knowsoft and a datasoft with as many starcharts as they can obtain," the pale voice breathed as macabrely as it could.

"Like, will you stop trying to be all spooky and stuff, man," Cosmo retorted. "Honestly."

A beat. "Oh come on, it's not exactly the most stimulating of things being a splintered fragment of your consciousness you know. I have to entertain myself somehow, and you're not exactly Mr. Excitement you know."

"Like, just, uhh... yeah, just hush up. I'm trying to, yanno, do stuff and stuff."

The Mad Hatter gave an indignant huff and foppishly stomped back into the recesses of the dwarf's transcendental mind.

"Oh, hey, yeah... can you throw a high rated astronomy knowsoft on that list, man? Maybe a few datasofts with cross-referenced starcharts while you're at it? I think they might come in handy. If they could customize it, that'd be super, too. DIMAPed, even better. Yeah. And hey, if they have any ancient linguasofts, the more the merrier. Preferably from any cultures that used runes and heiroglyphs and that sorta thing and stuff."

As an afterthought, Cosmo added one more thing to the list. "And a wrist or pocket computer, DNI-ready, with as much memory as they can cram into it. I'll need at least two-thousand megapulses on it, though five or more would be totally groovilicious."

It was all she could do to just stand there and shake her head; so much was happening and all so quickly. So this is what it's like to work with a group, she mused.

"I can bring a bit of my own stock as well. N-now, it's nothing as impressive as dikoted arrows or APDS a-ammunition but if there is still a need for some heavier ordnance ... I-I can run back to my flat and bring it h-here. All I'm g-going to need is a spare battery for my computer; the other one is st-still recharging. Hmm, maybe a small amplifier for my c-com unit as well; does everyone have some form of staying in c-contact? Will we be using BattleTac?"

"BattleTac is nice, but without fixed mortars or other fixed emplacements the main power of the system, calling in indirect strikes, is wasted."

James starts flipping through the data on the holotank.

He points to a slight depression visible in one still.

"We'll set up a position here, its close to the "Door" and as defensible as a spot drawn on the sand can be. It's also within short running distance of the Big Round thing."

"All right, like, I know I'm just the tech guy here but, uhm, how about we hold off on the heavy firepower until we find a reason for needing it and stuff? I can totally dig you guys packing some heat in case we run into trouble, but it sounds like you're planning on a war, man. That's so not cool."

Ran nods, arms folded, as Cosmo echoes her earlier sentiment.

"We get in, do a quick recon, we get out, and we plan from there. Basic weaponry and a little survival gear should do the trick."

James smiles, "Planning a War? No, I'd need 3 riggers, a command vehicle that can be buried in the sand to make a bunker, and an assortment of tanks and UAV's to even start a small scale border tussle."

James folds his hands. "I'll be a little more explicative here. I'm ex-military, dealt mostly with logistics and mission planning. Any Military org that got a hold of this thing would have at least a Company going through every chance they got. Not to count the support crews."

James sits down.

"Besides, We dont have long. Any problems with me going to get my stuff?"

"I'm about to head home myself to gear up," Os looks around for Emma, to see about getting the equipment on the list.

Ghost Dragon looks around at the naysayers and retorts, "Carrying in light gear would be foolish. We should prepare for a war as much as we can because we do not know what is on the other side or if we can come back once we step through the gate. Plausibly, the gate could be one-way only and by design. There may not be a way to 'dial home' as they said. Those two guys are working with theories. Good theories, but still theories. We could very well have a fight on our hands once we step through. We just do not know.

"We do not know what happened to their drone either. It is possible that a sand storm just knocked it out. It is also concievable that a civilization at least as advanced as ours exists on the other side of the gate, just out of view of the pictures that were transmitted; that the gate is nothing more than a relic to them; that they never tried to make it work; that some individual, or group of individuals, found the drone and deactivated it so that they could study it.

"Certainly, diplomacy is a better way to infiltrate the populace than hostility. We must keep our options open. My pistol is high-caliber. The range is short, though it works well. It is small and easily concealed, so I may hide it and then reveal it when it is needed."

Looking at James, "James is it? I can appreciate your concern. It is one that I share, though I do not think that taking many heavy weapons with us is workable. I have not the strength to carry one around. I think some of the others here may also lack the strength. For better or for the worse of it all, my talent is magery. For now, I think that anyone who can use heavy weapons and already has one should take one. If we need to wait until the next time in 33 hours, so be it. Remember also that we are going into a desert. There may be an entire city on the other side of the gate, or there may be nothing at all for kilometers. Carrying around heavy weapons with our arms WILL get tiresome. I would prefer to take several bound spirits through the gate for myself instead. They will be every bit as effective as a heavy weapon, and I can control them better.

"Last, I think we should all go home and get anything we have that will be useful to us in the desert. It will take me several hours to summon enough spirits for extended activity. As I think on it, we will probably need to wait until the next time window in order to prepare."

Cosmo just wrinkles his oversized nose and waddles off. Those with exceptionally keen ears might hear a laid-back muttering of "warmongers" under his breath, but it's said more in a sad tone than a begrudging one.

As he passed by Alex, he popped an OMC out of his pocket and handed it to the human. "There was, like, some other stuff I thought I could use. Figured it'd be easier to just jot it all down for you guys instead of rattling it off and... yeah, here you go, man.

"I'm gonna go get pick up some personal stuff and be back in a jiffy. When I get back is there, uh, anything special I need to do to get my car down here? I know you pointed to a door, but do I just honk or what?"

"No Cosmo, we meant if you have any vehicles you want to take with you, when you can. We designed this facility around that very idea. Unfortunately we can't keep the gate open long enough to drive a vehicle through, so for now it isn't an option. Employee parking is in the back ans your welcome to use it."

One corner of Ran's mouth quirks slightly as Cosmo trudges past her.
This "Ghost Dragon" set her teeth on edge, for a number of reasons, not all of which she could clearly identify. Interesting that she would feel so little kinship with the one who, at first glance, shared the most in common with her.

She lets her fingers brush reassuringly over the hilt of her heavy weapon, and breezed past the tense little group of people.

"I have a few affairs to take care of," Ran tells the lovely elven assistant. "I'll return in a few hours."

Cosmo does a weird little "tch-tch" sound and shoots a finger at Alex. "Gotcha, man."

Torque: "I might as well get a few things myself. I don't need any goods from the company store right now, I'm pretty set for a simple exploration. If you have a phone handy I'll call a taxi though."

As he struggles to make it towards the elevator, Cosmo overhears Torque's response.

"Hey man, if you, like, need a ride or sumfin', I can ya a lift."

As James walks out of the room to give his list to Emma, he turns back to the group.

"By the way, I think we should go now. No chance for anyone to chicken out or snitch. Besides, if things go bad, I'd rather have less 'I told you so's thrown around."

Then he walks out before comment can be made.

Ghost Dragon gets up and silently walks over to where Emma is. He tells her, "40 APDS rounds for a Browning Ultra-Power, 30 units of conjuring materials. I will also need 50 bags of potting soil, or some other type of earth, a large quantity of incense, a brazier - the kind for holding a fire - wood, lighter fluid, and a lighter for the brazier, and a large tub with a ready supply of tap water."

After leaving his list with Emma, Ghost Dragon leaves and walks to the elevator to go home. He starts up his bike and drives himself home.

Some of them trouble me. People say that I am too quick to use deadly force. Some of them seem worse still.

Once home, Ghost Dragon parks his bike and walks inside.

One of the guards, Roy again, greets him, "Evening, Mr. Hakomoto. Looks like your meeting ran over a little."

Ghost Dragon, on his way to the elevator, says, "Yes, it did," and keeps walking.

Roy asks, "What kind of work do you do?"

The question catches him a bit off guard, considering that he had been thinking about his work, but Ghost Dragon had already thought of a cover story.

"I'm a security consultant," he says, with a smile, as he gets onto the elevator.

The smile is replaced immediately by his usual expression, or rather, lack of expression as soon as the doors close. He pushes the button for the top floor and gets off at his front door. With a swipe of the keycard, a voice scan, and a palm scan, his front door opens, and Ghost Dragon goes inside. He picks up 5 canteens that he had left over from a 'jungle expedition' in Africa and the rest of his grenades before leaving and locking up.

The guards are surprised to see him leaving after just arriving home.

The other one, Dave, looks up and says, "Oh! He's leaving again!..."

Ghost Dragon says, "The meeting is not yet over, only adjourned for a few hours. I just came home to pick up some things that I forgot. I will be travelling on business after tonight, and I am not sure when I will return. Please see that no visitors are allowed in, and hold all of my packages."

Roy just nods and waves in a sort of saluting fashion, saying, "Sure thing."

Ghost Dragon says, "Thank you," and leaves to go back to the warehouse.

Os wasn't particularly interested in hanging about, so when he arrived at his apartment in Touristville, it was straight to business. Collecting all of the gear he would need, he packed it in a duffel bag and threw it into his car. A minute later he was back on the road and on his way back to the warehouse.

Cosmo paused and did his best to look over his shoulder (which in turn required a complete 180-turn of the rest of him).

"Huh? Whatcha mean, man? 'Course I'm, uhh... safe and stuff. C'mon." He waves his hand, or at least you think that's what he was trying to do, as he turns back around and continues trudging along.

Preston listens to the exchange but doesn't bother to wiegh in on it.

So James has military experience....consider that added to your file. If we can keep the liberals in line this might just run smoothly....

"Emma, I'm gonna shoot home and grab some gear. Here's a list of the things I'll need for this op." He hands over a datapad. "You can expect an invoice for any personal gear that is expended or destroyed on mission. That will include slap patches and ammo spent--if neccesary. By the way, I'll take you up on that offer a place to stay. I should be back in a few hours."

He heads back to the lift.


At the apartment, Preston gathers all of his belongings, limited as they are, and stuffs them into two duffle bags. Hauling the load back to wharehouse, he's almost broken a sweat. On the upside, the activity seems to worked all the alcohol out of his system. He only has a minor headache now.

Much to Torque's surprise Cosmo is in fact able to drive safely and they reach his flop alive. Inside Torque muses.

What gear will look good for the cameras when they reveal that the entire gate story was a hoax?

Desert Camo suit. Better bring that for sure. I like to pack on the armor. . . I suppose since we're really not going into a desert it can't hurt so I'll wear it all. The riot shield too, that'll look good. Of course I'll have my biotech kit. Better bring the rifle even if I won't shoot it at anything, and ammo. Anything else? Yeah, the survival kit. That's enough, no use being overburdened. Oh, wait. The Kusarigama. You can never look too flashy for the cameras, and everybody loves those things on the big screen. Yeah, this'll be plenty of gear for looking like a brave explorer. Perfect.

Thus burdened with equipment Torque heads back.

Cougar remains silent through all the bickering about what we should and shouldn't bring. He already had everything he'd need, the things he requested was just so he could have a few extras along in case they got stranded.

After the group breaks up, he heads back up to the surface long enough to get his bike moved into the employee parking area. He then heads back down below ground and waits for everyone else to be ready, remaining quiet unless he is spoken too.

Preston gets his gear settled in one of the rooms and lays out some of the pieces of gear he might need for the op. Satisfied with the little bit of prep work he takes a stroll back the main room.

When he sees the big ork waiting around he hauls out a smoke and says, "Hey Cougar, got a light?"

After he gets a lit (or produces his own lighter if no light is forthcoming), "You look like you've seen some action. What was that business back in the warehouse? Ruthenium?"

Cougar nods, then reaches into one of his camo suits pockets and pulls out a lighter, along with a large cigar. He offers the zippo to Preston, then lights his own, taking a few puffs to get it going.

"Yeah, I've been around the block a few times. And yeah, Ruthenium is nice stuff, eh?"

"Thanks," Preston takes the offered light. "I figured as much. What do you think about what the labcoat said," He waves a hand toward the Gate. "You think this thing can take us to other worlds?"

"I've seen a lot of crazy drek in my time, but never seen somethin' like dis. Sounds fun though, I can't wait to take our first flight, eh?"

Preston takes a drag and holds it for a few seconds. A smile creeps onto his face, "Yeah." He nods, "Hell yeah." He looks at the big ork out of the corner of his eye, enjoying the smoke.

Ghost Dragon takes the closet elevator down. He looks for Alex, Markum, or Emma to ask if his requested items have arrived.

Whisper watches silently as concerns over the potential use of force are bandied about until neither side saw a point in continuing. With a bit of a sigh she left the lot of them, no explanations needed, and went to approach the 'gate, her expression clearly curious. It wasn't enough that she was told the thing worked there; was always always something inside her that refused to accept anything without proof ... if there was something about the gate that could open a portal to other worlds, well, there must be something she could see before it was activated, something in its construction or composition that could make such a thing possible. She crouched down beside the Stargate and simply peered at it for long moments, aching to unlock its secrets.

It was quite a while before she realized that no one remained besides Emma and herself.

Flushing a bright red, she straightened up, brushed off her knees, and made her way back to the lovely female. "I-I'm sorry, Miss. Could I please see the list everyone has compiled thus far?" Her smile was distracted at best (the 'gate was her newest 'rubix cube') though she was dilligent about checing the list to be certain that all the essentials were covered. It was true; no one could know for certain how long they'd be gone or what they'd face .. it was always best to be prepared.

After she was certain all the basics had been covered, Whisper nodded, glanced once more at the 'gate, and left without another word. There was a lot to pack and so many contingencies to work out that her head was already spinning.