[snip]

NE Bings kept the pod hovering in the air, while he waited for one of the upper officers to make a choice of where for them to land. Meanwhile he kept an eye out for more of the giant flying bugs.

Isaac spoke “find us the best landing site you can find” he said looking for a barff bag he never did like shuttles.

Lt. Isaac Black (AC)

“Next to the shuttle if fine, NE.” Ari looked around and shook her head. If there was trouble, she wanted the shuttle nearby. Not kilometers away through unfamiliar terrain.

“I think it’s a better idea with such short range capabilities and unknown dangers. I want our getaway as close as possible.”

She laughed lightly and hoped the swarm of insects wasn’t something they’d have to endure. Bugs the size of one’s first wasn’t her idea if a great time.

“Everyone get ready, we don’t know what we’re getting into, so save the exploring till we know what we’re up against. Fascinating as the place is, we have a mission first.” She smiled then glanced at the others. “THEN we’ll collect specimens and such. Fair enough?” She knew, being a scientist at heart, that exploration probably itched in everyone.

Ari CO

”..Aye ma’am..” The NE pilot said, immediately the pod began to maneuver to closer to the ancient orbital shuttle. With a gentle thud the pod touched down and the engines cycled quiet. The pilot soon reported, “..Confirming stable landing site, air is breathable of course, no giant insects waiting outside, nor other life bigger then some kind of ant in the dirt..” He said.

Popping the hatch their NE MACO pair guards went out first, cautiously of course with MACO pistols drawn, after a brief look around, the sergeant in the pair replied back, “..No ones around, air is a bit musty and has a tangy air about it, but nothing bad I think..” he said.

Once everyone was out of the pod, they could get some better readings on hand scanners. The nearby orbital shuttle remains, were indeed confirmed as being genuine to Earth in construction of the late 1990s, and age since landing here in 2003 till now. The water nearby was clean and clear, and seemed to be connected to a few underground rivers and the like, complete with several aquatic species of various size, which if cooked could be edible to any human survivors. Scans of the jury rigged wooden water wheel showed it was connected to the underground current in the lake and underground streams, which turned it regularly. This was tied into a jury rigged battery setup likely from the shuttle which once fully charged tripped a switch to feed into the shuttle which triggered the radio broadcast they picked up every hour. Wooden deposits were confirmed from being nearby and based on the age were roughly between almost 140 or less years of age. The most recent bits of wood were less than 5 years old! This was quite curious showing someone was clearly maintaining the whole setup.

More scans would slowly come in for the team on their hand units, biological data on the wheel and such showed DNA residue which was a direct match for humans, there was also signs of fingerprints, and the like. Tracks were faded but also picked up, matching at least 5-7 different types of male and female all human. Given their fading the newest print was from a male likely about 5-10 days ago.

If anyone approached the orbital shuttle, they could still clearly more or less see the writing confirming it as the Shuttle Columbia, the shuttle clearly had not landed cleanly as the landing gear had not been deployed so had skidded to this location in a belly flop, but that said based on the scan results the underbelly in the dirt was beaten and battered and rusted but mostly intact. The starboard hatch was rusted shut, but the port hatch door was able to be gotten open with only a little elbow grease.

GM CockRoach