Dark*Matter: Discovery, The Delphi Paradox

[Falkus]

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe, though it'd be better if you were experienced. We don't have any helicopters in the region capable of flight right now, so we're going to paradrop you into a field four miles from the site. We'll drop your equipment nearby. We've got a few hundred feet of rope, and some snow shoes as well."

"Pull the cord four seconds after you leave the plane. If the parachute doesn't deploy, pull the backup cord. Don't worry too much, you'll be deploying from a high altitude, so you'll have a nice, large margin of error. The field's big too, so you'll have a nice target to aim for. Deep snow too, so your landing won't be so hard. Perfect conditions for a beginner."

OOC: Bear in mind that I, personally, know nothing about parachuting.

 

[Shayuri]

(seems about right to me! )

Meredith nods at the quartermaster, looking nervous.

"Just look out for the trees, I guess. And the rocks."

She manages a laugh.

"Look at us. We fight off minotaurs and one little fall's got us all worked up."

With a thunk, she puts on the suit helmet and shrugs into the parachute's straps.

"Lets do this."

 

[Friadoc]

"Darlin', that's 'cause if a minotaur tries to hurt us, we can shoot it," says Cade with a chuckle and a wink, but it's obvious that he's feeling a smidge better about it all. "I've shot the Earth before, she doesn't seem to notice much."

"This is what I get for not dropping out of physics," says Cade with a mumble under his breath as he gears up for the jump.

 

[industrygothica]

Nick quietly dons his parachute, contemplating his thoughts.

 

[iwatt]

Apparently the only one who found the idea of jumping off a perfectly sound airplane fun was Larry. Paying attention to the quartermaster, the con man get's ready to jump off first. "I've got to say, this is our best gig yet. Foreign countries, killer cows, and now we get to paradrop in. I love my job." Looking back at the others, he grins and starts humming Van Halen's Jump.

 

[Falkus]

"We'll arrange for some transport to meet you in the field when you're done. A small plane, or a helicopter if we can get our hands on one," the quartermaster told the team, raising his voice as the rear doors opened, and the team moved into position in front of it.

"Go, go, go," shouted the quartermaster, as the plane passed over the drop site, hustling Team Libra out of the back of the plane, and sending the equipment drop after them.

Team Libra hit the silk, dropping out of the back of the plane. A bit amateurishly, but successfully. Five parachutes deployed on time, slowing their descent, and giving them time to get a good view of the land below. The old base was visible to the west, located in a valley, a scar on the earth. Specific details were impossible to make out as the sun started to vanish below the horizon.

After several minutes, they slowly landed in the field. Safely and unharmed, but scattered a significant distance from each other. A minute later, and the gear drop from the plane touched down at the edge of the field. A smoke grenade and flare detonated automatically, signaling its position, and giving the team a rallying point. They were four miles west of their final objective. The sun was beginning to set, casting the field into the gloom of twilight.

Team Libra was very far from home, the deep snow and ice, the colors and the solitude made it seem almost as if they were on alien planet or another dimension.

 

[industrygothica]

Nick meets with the others at the site of the equipment drop. He looks around at the vast nothingness, then back at his friends--that is surely what they are by now, at least to him. The unsettling feeling weighs heavy in his gut, but he holds his resolve and exhales a thick cloud of steaming breath. A girl's life is at stake.

"Walk or dig?" he asks matter-of-factly.

 

[Friadoc]

Paused in thought for a moment, Cade looks to each member of the group, you can almost see the wheels turning. But Libra is much more than a number to the man, as has been obvious for awhile.

"It's gonna get cold," says Cade simply enough. "I grew up inthe high desert country and it was cold, but not Russia cold."

"It'd be best if we gear up and moved," continues the young man. "It'll keep the blood flowing, keep us warm, and I'd rather just put on foot in front of the other. We're only four miles out."

"So once we're ready, we'll light-up and move out," finishes Cade.

 

[iwatt]

Gearing up easily, Larry get's erady to move. He takes his customary position second to last.

 

[Falkus]

The gear drop contained three hundred feet of rope, six grapnels, two three-person tents and two space heaters (in case a pickup couldn't be arranged or the team needed to stay for more than the night for some reason), three smoke grenades and three flares for signal purposes, five spare O2 tanks for the suits, five battery floodlights that could be attached the suits' shoulders and eight sets of snow shoes.