Lieutenant JG Jackson Tanner - I don't really like suprises

[Jackson Tanner]

((Planetside, Unknown Planet))

The Depot wasn’t far. Not in distance, anyway. But the sand made sure it felt like a punishment. Each step sank, slid, and resisted.  Jackson felt himself watching his boots more than the horizon, recalculating every footfall, every shift in weight. It wasn’t just the terrain. It was the silence behind them. The kind that made your spine itch.

He hated how often he looked back. Not because he expected to see something, but because it made him feel hunted. Vulnerable. Like prey. Every few minutes, the impulse would rise: turn, scan, breathe. Then forward again. It slowed them down, sure. But it was more than that. It chipped away at the illusion of control.

Braya: ::Pointing with her canteen, squinting in the sun:: It’s close now. Past this big dune here, then just over the next.  

Not that Jackson had an espionage mindset, but he wondered at how much sneaking they would accomplish with the sun set as high as it was. 

Tanner: Sure be nice to be out of the Sun. 

Adyr: Remember anything we can use on our approach?

Braya: Never saw anythin’ comin’ or goin’. Just the main hangar and the scrapyard. As for what’s workin’, or closest thing to workin’, I couldn’t say.

Jackson had been worried about this.  They likely wouldn’t get much time to work out what they could fly out.  As time spent on testing and firing up would likely draw its own attention.  He didn’t much like the idea of being stuck with their first choice.

Tanner: It doesn’t have to be perfect, just needs to manage lift off. 

Braya: Response?

Adyr: You at least remember kind of what it's set out like. Where would be the first best place to look?

Braya: Response?

Tanner: Lets just hope it’s not a busy day. 

Adyr: You think there might be a ship there big enough to do what we're looking to do? 

It was actually a really good question and Jackson found himself again looking at his feet as he considered it. They didn’t just need to find a single ship of any design, they needed to find a ship big enough to get them all off the planet, or, perhaps they needed more than 1 ship to accomplish that. Either way, their mission was filled with a tonne of unknowns and while it carried the greatest hopes of their success, it also carried with it great potential disappointment.

Braya: Response

Tanner: It’s my worry I guess, that we might need more than one.

Adyr: Am I seeing things?

Jackson noticed it also, but didn’t know what to make of it. 

Tanner: I’m definitely seeing it too. 

Braya/Adyr: Responses?

What they were seeing was definitely interesting. It wasn’t on a set timer and wasn’t exactly advancing at them either, but something was causing sand to uplift so to speak.  

Tanner: Is this just some sort of pressure differential?

Jackson thought potentially it might be something under the sand but he didn’t have a good explanation for what or how so he kept that to himself for the moment. 

Braya/Adyr: Response

While they were studying what they were seeing and slowly continuing their walk, Jackson almost missed the ship in the distance. They had no cover and nowhere to hide if they could. Taking his eyes off the sand issue, he hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him.

Tanner: A ship.  I assume that’s where we’re heading. 

Braya/Adyr: Response

TAG/TBC

Lieutenant JG Jackson Tanner

Engineering Officer

USS Eagle 

V238010KT0