It took an extraordinary amount of self-restraint (mostly found in a dozen nanosecond argument between Cosmo and the Mad Hatter which, for someone of their mental abilities, is a lifetime), but Cosmo did, indeed, manage to keep his nailbiting and seat-clutching driving under control as he took Torque to his destination. He was even going to unjack for pleasantries, but was more than a bit put off as the big guy just got out of the Love Bug and drudged off.

"Well, I never! Would a little gratitude have been too much to ask?" the Mad Hatter mused with an indignant huff as his sensors watched Torque disappear from view. You could almost see the ruffled sleeves of his shirt flittering in a virtual breeze as grabbed ahold the virtual dashboard's steering wheel and headed off again.

Cosmo suffered quite the tongue lashing and naysaying from the Mad Hatter as they zoomed through traffic back to the Shady Acres trailer park. His persona continued to chide him a bit as he starting packing his Ford F350 with assorted bric-a-brac.

Most of it consisted of electronic gadgets, a couple of suitcases, and a surfboard he somehow managed to strap to the top of the delivery van. While he went about shutting down most of the peripherials in his mobile home, basically only leaving the security systems up and running, the Mad Hatter was establishing numerous secure commlinks with his business associates to let them know that he would be out of touch for up to half a year. A few meatbody calls to the utility companies and the post office to hold his mail, tucking into the back of his boxers a revolver that could make Dirty Harry feel emasculated, and hitching the Love Bug to the back of his Ford were amongst the last things Cosmo did before he locked the house up and headed back to the warehouse.

He was about two blocks away when he apparently made some grave decision and pulled into a convenience store. Cosmo emerged five minutes later with a huge box filled with burritos.

Once he got back to the warehouse and found a nice parking spot for both of his vehicles, Cosmo began the tedious task of unpacking all of his stuff and carrying it downstairs. He saw a few of his new partners with each trip, but after seeing how friendly most of them have been thus far, he didn't bother to try and ask for any help.

Returning to the base of operation, Os finds a couple of lockers an a corner and carefully places his gear inside of them, making sure to be very careful with the mini-HEs. After dealing with that task, Os wanders around the base for a while, familiarising himself with the general layout. While doing so, he comes upon Cosmo for the umpteenth time as the dwarf makes another journey from his car to the locker room.

"Something I can help you with, mate?"

She hurried, though, forgetting to stammer as she rhymed off her list out loud, running back and forth across her warehouse as she threw an assortment of goods into a collection of three ultra sturdy duffel bags that fit perfectly into the back of her Ford. The building was near emptied and locked tight within half an hour and it took only another 45 minutes before she was sliding into a parking spot beside one of the smallest cars she'd ever seen. With a light shrug she hefted all three bags, locked her car, and went off in search of those available accomodations....

James enters the locker room dressed in desert cammies covered with a tan trench coat; a large duffel carried in each hand and one across his back.

Selecting a locker, he opens it and goes through the process of assigning it to himself. Once he is done with that, he begins pulling out assorted clothes and such, emptying the third duffel. He then produces an Anti-vehicle mine, and calls to everyone in the room.

"This is an M809 Anti-tank Munition. That is my locker." He points. "Anyone who doesn't want to learn the hard way what the penetration capacity of this one is shouldn't open that door." At which point he fiddles with the mine and then closes the door to his locker.

James then settles against the wall on a bench, and mentally switches into high gear as he breaks down five pistols he produces from various points under his trench coat. Once all are completely reassembled, he runs a mental diagnostic on his systems. Anyone paying attention will notice the spur and gyromount on his chromed right arm extend and then retract as he works through a series of boxing exercises with his shadow, moving in a fashion that screams augmentation.

Satisfied with everything working properly, James stands, picks up his bags, and returns to the Embarkation room to muse on the Big O.

Cripes Torque thinks to himself as he picks a locker on the floor level and stows armor and medkit in it. We're off to a great start as a team, already booby-trapping and threatening each other. Well I certainly haven't done anything to improve things myself, I've been too stressed out on my own life and not paying attention to making friends or building any camaraderie. That's probably a mistake. Of course as serious as they're all taking this I'm starting to think they all actually believe in this Stargate. Maybe I shouldn't worry about being friends with such people.

Troubled in his own mind as to what he should do, Torque hunts down a bunk and decides to catch a nap before the Countdown to the Gate Opening finishes.

Having just finished summoning a powerful earth elemental and resting off the strain of it, Ghost Dragon stands and heads to the locker room to check out the gear available and see if his APDS rounds were obtained.

Ghost Dragon is put off at first by James's 'mining' of his locker, and then he smirks.

This guy is over the top. It is good to see that I am not surrounded by idiots like in my last job. Only some of them are idiots this time. If I have to start shooting, at least they will not ALL complain.

That's a lot of equipment...Only one helmet and only one micro-transciever. Bah! The armor I wear now will give me better protection than a camo suit. If I need to hide, I will just cast an invisibility spell. I already brought canteens of my own. A few more might be good.

Ghost Dragon looks over the equipment and then sorts out what he wants to take. He grabs a compact survival kit, a couple of the lightweight canteens, since it looks like there are enough for everyone to have two, and a collapsible water bag. He swipes his card on a locker that isn't taken and codes it to himself. Sorting through the kit, he tosses the jokebook into the locker and sets his two offensive IPE standard grenades on the bottom shelf.

Speaking to anyone in earshot as he picks up the micro transciever, Ghost Dragon says, "Does anyone else want the micro transciever?"

Ran stopped by the dojo first, after leaving the compound, but Katsumoto did not answer, not even after she knocked in the special way he had taught her.
She traced a little crescent moon into the dusty, boarded window. He would know what it meant.

She headed back to her little apartment and carefully went through her gear, selecting only what was vital, and stuffing it all into a green duffle.
She took her bike, this time, parking it in the employee parking lot, and hauled her stuff inside.

At James' performance with the mine, Ran's lips tightened into what may or may not have been a smile. It's impossible to tell whether she's amused or irritated. No intimidation, there, however.
She left everything in her locker but her sword, which she took back to the bunk room with her, and laid down to catch a quick nap.

Torque taps the side of his head.
Torque: "I'm good, headware radio. We should make sure we've all got the same frequencies programmed though. Anybody else packing communications gear?"

While cramming more junk than you can keep track of into six different lockers, Cosmo looks over at James when he goes on about the mine. He just stared for a moment.

"You, like, really need to mellow out, man."

Before he could continue, Torque slapped his attention away.

"I got a few toys, yeah, but nuffin' serious. At least I, yanno, think I packed one, lemme see..." He jostles around all the gizmos he has until he pulls out a rather heavily-tinkered personal comm unit and holds it up to him. "Shhyeah, I knew I had one wit' me."

Ghost Dragon straps on the external micro-transciever and subvocal mic. He takes off his sunglasses and puts them away, replacing them with the shaded goggles. He sets the lenses on his forehead so that he can see what he is doing.

Having a place to sleep is important as well. If I am going to take what I am wearing, then I cannot carry all of this. I will have to take a chance that we will be able to find water on the other side. There should be some there if a tree can live. If there is life, there is a mana flow. This gear must be meant to last us the entire term of our contract.

Ghost Dragon takes off the collapsible waterbag and straps a collapsible shelter on his back. He sling the compact survival kit over his shoulder. He starts to go back to his locker and grab the other two grenades, but stops in midstep.

I don't really know how to use grenades anyway. I know you pull the pin and throw them, though I have heard there are other things to know as well. I have almost all I can carry.

Ghost Dragon looks over the equipment he has to choose from to see what else he should take. He frowns.

Disappointing that they could not come up with the APDS rounds I asked for. A bad sign. I despise EX EX rounds. They are a poor substitute and dangerous to use. The heat in the desert could cook them off under some circumstances. If I run out of ammo, they might be nice to have, though it would take a while for that to happen, and I may be able to cast spells with a moderate force, provided that there is not a high background count on the other side. Having something to eat would be good. I will have to take my chances. I think I am ready.

Ghost Dragon grabs the rations and puts them into his pockets. He gives himself a look over in the mirror to make sure his gear is on straight and securely and then turns around to see how the rest are faring with their preparations.

"I've got headware comms as well," James speaks.

James strips off his trench, and sets down his duffels.

"Okay, gear loading and water bags first." Next follows five pistols and his cammies, leaving only a formfitting body suit underneath.

James begins to put on his set of cammies, speaking as he gets dressed, without any sign of shame or modesty.

"We need water, obviously." The concealed holsters are strapped on, followed by the loadbearing vest.

"I expect everyone to carry enough to last them at least 48hrs." Next James reaches into his duffel bag and pulls out a HK MP5 and clips it on to one of the snaps.

"Food is easier, as it is significantly lighter. Heat control will be necessary as well." Three water bags are filled and clipped to his back, followed by a portable shelter.

"Weapons may never be needed, but I'm a pessimist, the clip is never half-full." Shaded goggles are donned, topped with a boonie hat as the helmet is attached in front of his left leg. The trench coat is donned, and four canteens and the survival kit are attached to the vest.

"Now, when do we walk through the Big O?" James begins final preparations, pulling his Alpha across his shoulder with its sling attached. He throws any leftover ration or chocolate bars into the more empty bag before picking it up over his shoulder and lifting the larger one in his chromed right hand. "Because I'm packed and ready to roll."

A half hour before the scheduled departure time finds the team in the briefing room. The hi-tech room is the only one painted darker colors, and the only room with comfortable chairs.

Emma walks through the door, her business suit replaced by a purple one piece cover all.

"I hope everyone is ready, Alex would like you all to gather in the Embarkation room in twenty-five minutes."

Cougar gives Emma and nod, then turns to the group, "So. I've been doing some thinkin'. If it takes so much power to get this thing started up, that they can nearly blackout Seattle... how the hell are we gunna get it started up from the other side? What does it use for power?"

Cosmo finally finishes packing up his lockers when he turns his attention on the gear we're apparently all supposed to wear. The next twenty-five minutes found him struggling to figure out how to put the fatigues on, but he had trouble with just about every piece of it. It was particularly amusing watching him try to figure out how to tie the boots.

"Okay, like, the bunny goes around the tree and through the... aww man. Okay okay, the bunny goes around the t... the bunny goes around th... focus, dude, focus... the bunny goes around the tree and through the.... razzle frazzle mazzle gazzle..." and it just kept going on like that for a good five minutes before he finally gave up with a laid-back huff.

By the time everyone was supposed to be entering the Embarkation Room, Cosmo had apparently decided that just wearing the jacket would be enough for now. He figured that his floral-print jams would come in handy if they had to hide in an oasis or something. He was still wearing a Hawai'ian shirt, a pair of swimming trunks, and his mismatched flip-flops, with the rest of the fatigues shoved into his pack. The backpack itself, as well as a few other things he was apparently bringing along, were floating on an odd-looking surfboard that he was pushing as it glided about a foot off the ground.

Once there, he plopped down on the skyboard emblazoned with a psychedelic "BigKahuna" logo and listened to the others while he snacked on a burrito.

Torque examines the pile of goodies a few minutes sorting through what would be useful if the Stargate actually worked.
After all, we want this to be realistic for the viewers. I hate watching Tridees where the doctor tries to fix a heart attack with aspirin or some such nonsense. So: definitely all the water. Even if I can't carry it far I can drop the extra stuff on the other side of the gate and have a backup water supply. And this camo-armor looks even better than my usual stuff, although I don't think it has the modifications I'm used to. The helmet's a little weaker but it's got a battletac. Armor done, on to the survival gear. What the heck is this?!? Tranq Patch?!? The most useless invention in the world of medicine for crying out loud. I suppose it's good that they're trying to give us a non-lethal method of taking somebody down but a tranq patch of this rating couldn't knock out a 90-year old arthritic grandmother. Ah, they included chocolate bars like we asked. And some ration bars for good measure. At least we won't starve.

Ghost Dragon reconsiders the chocolate bars and pockets them in a pocket that is away from his body.

I hope the heat does not melt those chocolate bars and mess up my coat.

He decides to put on the boonie hat that was provided with the camo suit for some protection from the sun.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later on, in the embarkation room, Ghost Dragon waits patiently as the group prepares to go through the gate. Having filled all of his canteens in the bathroom sink, Ghost Dragon has enough water for at least a couple of days - 12 liters total. He says nothing as he waits and listens.

In the locker room, Os strips down to his briefs and puts his form-fitting armour over the top, and then whips on the desert cams. He picks up the Alpha an puts the sling over his body, puts the Viper at his hip, and, after making sure that it's properly packed, hauls a backpack over his shoulder.

Glad for the first time in her life for each and every camping trip her parents had forced upon her, Whisper looked again at the small pile of essentials she'd placed on the floor of her new 'apartment.' Everything she'd need (less the gear she'd asked Emma to find) was here and thankfully she could carry all of it. She pulled her own modular backpack from the largest duffel and began packing.
_____

Whisper nodded quickly and leaned back into the cushiony swivel chair for a few final moments of comfort before she rose to her feet and hefted the backpack over one shoulder. Cougar's question, however, brought her up short. She hadn't noticed any signs that the 'gate could have had an alternate power source in her initial examination although it was possible that there could be an alternative.

"Whatever it is; GridLink could never hope to supply that much power. Perhaps there's a more efficient source than electricity? If this second gate is in a desert it is possible that radiant energy, especially stored over time, could be part of a technology we have yet to develop. It fits with the practices of sun-worshipping desert tribes although I believe we would need to see the gate work to better understand how...."

She blinked and looked around the briefing room, a priceless expression of mute shock crossing her face as she remembered that she was not alone.

"I-It's a theory anyway. A-Are th-there any others?"

James chuckles.

"Zero-point interface I would think... but thats just me."

He hefts his bags, "Everyone ready to go?"

Whisper nodded and looked at the toe of her boot.

"This may not be the best time to ask b-but before we go through this thing, i-if it actually works..." she took a deep breath and looked at everyone still in the briefing room, "wh-what does everyone do?"

Despite a mouth still full with his burrito, Cosmo managed to get a few words out.

"Naw man, I doubt if it's gonna be a problem. That Alex fellow said that they found one of those D... uhh... one of those DVD thingies on the other side. From, like, what I've been able to gather, they just need all the juice on this side 'cause their...whatchamacallit... was mucked up somewhere along the line and isn't quite up to snuff as it used t'be. If the one on the other end is in primo condition, it's gonna be a cakewalk powerin' it up. We'll just need to figure out the address back here before we tap the ENTER key.

"And, yanno, if it is damaged or sumfin, I'm pretty confident that I can jury-rig it back into working shape from the schematics I've seen of the one they got here. We can then get these guys to send us a couple of solar generators and power it up. The dialtone doomahickey is basically just a huge battery and computer and stuff, afterall. Sure, it'll take a while to get enough juice channeled into it that way, but once we do, it's smooth sailin', man. I'm seriously doubtin' if it'll come to that, though."

He just sort of nods there to himself for a few moments. "But yeah, man, I'm totally ready." He slides off his skyboard and powers it down just in case it interfers with the opening of the gate when they're ready.

At Whisper's question, the dwarf tilted his head to the side a bit. "I fix stuff and stuff. Kinda good at hackin' stuff. Oh, and I do a little racin' from time to time, too. Yeah. How 'bout you?"

Ran wakes suddenly and completely from her short nap and, checking the time, begins to gear up. She strides into the briefing room in full camo with her katana strapped to her back, and the green duffel slung over one shoulder.

She looks peculiar enough, but oddest of all is the white bandana tied around her forehead, emblazoned with the rising sun. She stands, as usual, to one side of the room and waits.

"D-Demolitions and tactical support. I-I'm a chemist, by trade."

"Dude, you're really a chemist? Whoaaaaa... I think I found my new best friend, man."

Whisper smiles shyly and shrugs. "M-Most of my work has been in explosives, but when there's s-some downtime I'd be happy to fill an order...."

She pauses a moment and blinks. "Oh .. and that reminds me; I brought these." Reaching into the largest pocket of her new camo vest, Whisper places five grenades on the briefing room table.

"Flash-pak grenades, i-if anyone wants one .. you know, j-just in case."

Torque raises one eyebrow.
Torque: "I'm a medic by trade, so I'll be patching anybody up who falls and skins a knee out there. I've done a little chemistry myself but it's not my main field.

"As for what we do when we get out there, since our goal is to find more coordinates for the gate we should go look for them. I would imagine the wise course of action would be for our team to split up, half guarding the gate and working on opening it and half looking for runes that would have other coordinates, but tactics aren't my field so I'll leave any decisions to our Military experts on that."

"That... that's a good idea, man... but, like, I was thinkin' that it'd be a better idea to, yanno, track down those drones that were sent through first so we can figure out what happened to 'em. 'Cause, like, that might give us some idea of any problems we might run into an' stuff. If they're still in good condition, they'll be just that many more eyes to help us find our Rosetta Stone, too."

"Alright," Alex's voice booms suddenly over the microphone. "I am going to be supervising from the command booth here, so if you guys have any problems go ahead and yell out."

You can see him standing in the control room, behind one of the jacked in deckers. He waves and smiles.

"Once on the other side your first priority should be dialing back. After you can do that, feel free to explore and have a look around. If you don’t report back in 24 hours we will send a drone in after you. Speaking of which, here comes Snoopy now."

A white coated lab technician enters the room followed by a floppy eared beagle. The dog is about a half meter long and has large black ears that drag on the ground.

"Snoopy has some experimental 'ware in him. We designed him as sort of an advanced recon drone. He has enhanced vision and hearing, hooked to a simchip recorder. When he gets back we can download the data and go over it. Like all are drones he is directed to wait in front of the gate once his mission is completed. He should follow your orders though. Other than that he is a normal dog," Alex says over the intercom.

The technician left the room, leaving the dog behind. It immediately waddled over to Cosmo’s sky board and started chewing on the straps.

"Gate dialing sequence in ten seconds; please step away from the gate."

"Five seconds."

"Once the gate opens," Alex says, "you will have ten seconds to get through, so hall hoop."

"Dialing."

The whole room seemed to vibrate as the dialing procedure began. One by one the chevrons on the gate began to engage. The triangular part locked forward and then turned orange as it locked in place.

"Chevron one locked in place," said the voice again.

As each chevron locked, and the turned orange, the vibration grew. When six of them were locked, the room seemed to shake and rattle. A loud clatter from the control booth signaled the death of a coffee cup.

"Chevron seven locked in place."

As the last chevron turned orange the gate exploded in a fountain of blue water. A gout of energy surged forth from the gate, a full 10 meters out before being sucked back in. When it was done, a portal of shimmering blue water remained on the interior of the gate.

"Nine seconds, go, go, go!"

Chase's eyes widen as 'water effect' takes shape, "Holy drek...."

Just like the ork said, I've seen alotta wierd drek in my time but, nuttin' like this. Not even in the CZ. Well, here goes nothing

Chase turns to Cougar and smiles. "See ya on the other side." And with that, takes a deep breath and charges the Gate.

Ran's blade is instantly out of its sheath, and she plunges through the wall of shimmering water just behind Chase.

My life means nothing...

There isn't time to think. There isn't time to blink. Ghost Dragon bolts for the gate. He runs up the steps and jumps through. A torrent of light and a sensation of very fast movement assault his senses. Knowing he is in space, he resists the temptation to use his astral eyes to see by closing his eyes tightly. In only a few moments, a new land flashes before him, and he is aware of gravity pulling him down. Somehow, he manages to bring himself down to the ground gently, landing on both feet and catching his momentum by squatting as he lands on the sand and turning his torso sideways, with one hand bracing forward on the ground and the other bracing backward.

The ride was rough. It's incredible! It really worked! - It is time to get to work.

Ghost Dragon's surprised eyes are hidden by his goggles. His expression quickly changes to his usual serious one. The first thing that Ghost Dragon does is stand up and look around with his astral perception.

I know magic will work here, but how well? Will there be a background count?

Ghost Dragon observes the desert around him in detail to see how it looks on the astral plane.

That is a nice illusion spell. Trid-Phantasm? Isn't that what they use for special effects in the movies? These other runners look so serious. Could they really be taken in by Alex's act? Do they actually think what looks like a wall of water will take them to another planet?
Torque watches 3 Runners go through the gate and then it's his own turn. The Medic rushes at the watery looking wall and floats through. There is darkness. A wash of stars, something like a rushing wind and flowing lights all around. And then Torque flies out the other end and manages to skid on his riot shield rather than crash headfirst into the sandy ground.
Nicer illusion spell than any I've ever seen. My god, this is real. Frag it, I was so sure this was a game I didn't bring half hte gear I should of. And. . . drek. I didn't tell Janet I already had work. Or Scratch that I'd be gone. Wait a minute does that even matter at this point?
Torque looks around, trying to re-orient himself after the blasting ride through the wormhole.

Cougar grins wickedly as the adrinaline courses through him. He takes a quick breath and dives through.

After hearing Alex's comment, the little dwarf hopped on his skyboard which immediately clamped itself to his feet. He grabbed a small retractable cord and pulled it up, wrapped it around his wrist a few times, and plugged it into a nearby jack. He then waited for the big moment.

At the Mad Hatter's insistant, Cosmo's Math SPU began counting down the precise moment the neutrino blast hit the stargate. He just sort of tilted his head a moment as the wormhole actually materialized, apparently not quite believing it would happen anymore than Torque did, but shrugged as the BigKahuna lifted itself up off the ground.

To the others who were still slightly stunned at the spectacle, he offered a friendly wave. An equally friendly "see ya on the flip side" proceeded his departure as he flew into the heart of the event horizon with his eyes closed...

Snoopy yips when the gate opens, and then charges through just as Ran hits the gate.

...on the other side, those that had already managed to recover simply saw Cosmo continuing forward with his eye shuts as if nothing had happened. It takes him a few seconds to realize he's already through. When he opened his eyes and saw the desert scape before him, his mouth fell open. When he looked up at the sky, his jaw dropped even lower.

"Wha... that was it?" was all he could think to say to himself, still marveled by the realization tha the was now on another planet. "I've felt more just jackin' out o' the Trix, man."

He spun around on his board and hovered back towards the others only to find a couple of them still gasping and trying to regain their bearings.

"Like, what's with you dudes?"

An arc of light, and the entire universe seems to unfold itself in front of her. Stars stretch out and blur together...
A sudden wave of heat meets her, and the glare of harsh sunlight in a dusty, barren land. Ran looks around at the miles of sand, and then turns to face the gate as her teammates tumble out behind her.
Ran reaches down and offers Ghost Dragon a hand up.

Its cold. So cold. And then brightness. So bright. And....hot? What the frag?

Chase tumbles ass over elbows out of the other side of the Gate. Feeling like the wind had been knocked of him, all he do is lie there for a second. Basking in the desert sun, at the same time he could feel the ice crystals on his face. Then the training takes over. He's getting to his feet, diaphram forcing his lungs to take in air. Its hot air.

The goggles had become dislodged in the trip and Chase was forced to take a hand off his weapon to pull them down around his neck. He steadied the 227S by bracing the stock against his shoulder as he scanned the horizon.

As soon as the go order is issued, James is in high gear, chucking the duffel in his left hand through just instants before he hits the wall of water himself. Running with the speed of superconducting cybernetics he launches himself through the gate, cyberarm saftey off and wrist gyro spinning.

Hitting the dirt, James tucks into a roll and lays behind the flung duffel for cover and begins scanning the area for targets. Shifting to headware comm, he calls out on the designated frequency. "James here, everyone make it through okay?"

Slightly taken aback by the gate opening, Os marshalls himself and races forward to it, blocking misgivings from his mind. The cold, utter terror, and thrill of going through the gate soon came to an end, and Os was suddenly thrust into a world of light and warmth again, the desert air in sharp contrast to the ice, already melting, on his face. His mind reeled a little from the surreal experience, but it soon snapped back into the here and now, wherever that was.

He takes a few steps forward to clear the way for anyone else coming through behind him, and then he looks around, taking in the alien, yet familiar surroundings. He turns around fully and sees the gate he stepped out through, a carbon copy of the one he had been looking at not thirty seconds ago.

He stands for a couple of seconds, waiting for anyone else to come out through the gate.

"Chase here....I feel so funky."

*coughs* "Still scanning for hostiles, sir."

Cosmo just stares at James when he decides to talk on the radio. "Dude, we're all standing right here."

"Doesn't mean you are ok." This one is both audible and radio simultaneously.

Whisper watched carefully as each chevron latched into place, one hand absently reaching towards the slender minigrenade launcher strapped to the outside of her left thigh. She might have been wholly alone in the room for all that she seemed to notice the shaking room or the half-disbelieving/half-anxious expressions that had crept onto many of her teammates' faces. Utterly transfixed by the spectacle before her, everything else diminished in importance next to the readings she was taking and the succession of golden triangles that caused the fine hairs on her arms to stand on end. A vague call registered in the back of her mind,

Ghost Dragon is already standing before he notices Ran's hand. He regards her indifferently and says, "Thank you. I'm fine."

He answers James on the radio, saying, "Ghost Dragon here. I am ok." He reaches up to wipe the sweat from his brow and comes away with ice crystals. Ghost Dragon examines them for a moment and then looks back at the gate. He looks back at himself and notices that he is covered in moisture that is quickly melting away.

Ghost Dragon goes back to observing his surroundings with astral perception after the brief interruption that his mind made to process some of what has just happened to him.

"Cosmo, let's get to finding a way back home," Os says, watching the gate 'close'.

@ Leowulf,

The astral of the place is bizarre yet oddly familiar. The manasphere is unpolluted, and it is as if you are breathing clean air for the first time in your life.


@ Everyone,

Snoopy comes trudging out of the gate, just as the lake of blue water shimmers and vanishes. The chevrons on this end go dark, and the eerie sounds of an alien world fill your senses.

@ Whisper,

The first thing you notice is that you are laying on the broken remains of two spider drones. They seem to have been partially disentergrated.

Ran shrugs and leaves Ghost Dragon to his self important musings.
She wanders over to Os and Cosmo.

"So. What now?"

Whisper groaned and rolled off the half-buried mechanical remains.

"I think I can safely say that I've found the drones...."

Rising to a half-crouch she grimaces, takes a few moments to rub what may be the beginnings of a small bruise before she brushes the hot sand away to see what might have happened to the half-discintigrated spider drones.