AWD #419: Roadtrip!
Roadtrip!
Summary: Orion crew go back to see what can be salvaged from a destroyed Cylon AA site.
Date: 15/08/2016
Related Logs: Marine Saber Assault & Easier Than Expected
Kelsey Elena Gloria Dreyer 
Destroyed SABER
Dead cylons, blown up stuff, cloud.
AWD #419

It was a late night. She should not have had all those shots. Someone even left a printed picture of her dancing on the table in her skivvies. It was taped to her bunk when she woke up. Gods-frakking-damnit. After her shower and breakfast, she fills a thermos of coffee and walks the ship with her sunglasses on before fetching Elena to go pick up her gear. The Ensign is outfitted with a basic survival kit, a sidearm with thigh holster, flightsuit, and helmet. Kelsey picks up her helmet bag and kit back at her locker and then leads them to the Deck. On the way, she gets dressed the rest of the way. Her 'survival' kit seems to indicate she's been shot down before and felt herself unprepared. It looks well-worn and even has grenades for the underbarrel launcher on the sidearm. …But she still won't take off her sunglasses. Because hangover.

The Raptor on the Deck is kitted with a pair of miniguns and a set of rocket pods. Not the heaviest loadout, but it's Picon. "First thing's first, Heron. Don't leave the ship with unarmed ordnance." Kelsey walks around the Raptor and yanks the 'Remove Before Flight' arming pins from each of the weapons and completes the rest of the walkaround with a particular eye for certain things. "I'm technically flying this, but I'm sitting you right seat. That means that you're in the command chair but I'll be retaining lead officer on this flight. I'll fly but I want your hands on the stick and throttle the whole time. If I let go, you'll be the only one flying this thing. You're coming along for evaluation of initial skillset. Don't worry about it because I assume you're probably going to be nervous because why would you be anything else." At least she can smile with that. "Everyone does. The Major wasn't lying last night about crashing, either. On my evaluation flight a SAM killed my instructor and the ECO, blew the Raptor in half, and a Lieutenant Colonel and I spent four days on the ground. Not fun."

Sunglasses. Lords, she wished she had a pair of sunglasses. Ensign Heron is showered, gripping a coffee thermos like a lifeline, and pretending she doesn't feel like someone is jackhammering the inside of her skull. Clenching her teeth sort of helps. Okay, no it doesn't, but it makes her feel like she's more in control. She forces herself to pay close attention, nodding gravely as Kelsey describes her evaluation flight. She takes a deep breath, visibly willing herself to not be nervous. It sort of works.

Gloria did not have a hard night, no one invites her to party nights anymore, something about her always being busy with work, and being no fun anymore. That doesn't mean she slept well though. She's still excited at the prospect of flying, and yet dreading it at the same time. She's skipped breakfast, skipped coffe, taken the best motion sickness meds that the docs can offer and is now waiting anxiously at the raptor hatch. Her kit bag contains cameras and other recording devices, AV and computational, just in case there's any equipment with compatible plugins. "Lieutenant," she nods to Kelsey once the pilot is spotted, then, checking the pins on her collar, Elena gets an "Ensign."

There was no drinking for one particular Sergeant last night. Oh, no. He's become a go-to in the berthings for hand-to-hand training. Especially while Ynyr has been out of commission. He lost his free time to a trio of Privates fresh off Picon with the last batch to be delivered by the Milkman (it may as well be that poor transport pilot's call sign at this point). It meant he crashed and he crashed hard. Dreyer is geared up and looking relatively chipper. A trip to a Saber SAM (a non-functional one, at that) site on Picon? His last mission out ended with shooting down a Raider and making a rushed exit from Libran. This might as well be a pleasant field trip. No helmet; he's on comms duty. Even if it's, again, light. Just a ball cap that's hiding his just barely too long for reg hair. Fatigues. Rifle. And a relatively heavy pack that he's not even wearing at the moment. "Sirs," offers the man to the Air Wing contingent as he comes and settles at a standstill. There is a sort of squint through the two. "Damn. Pilots just keep getting younger."

"Hey Oates. Mornin." Kelsey throws her flight bag up into the hatch and then heads for one of the repair bays. She grabs a toolkit off the top and heads for the Raptor once again. Spotting Dreyer, she offers a fistbump to him. Then to Gloria. "Yeah, yeah. Younger and younger. I'm just glad I'm not the baby anymore. Now, all aboard the gravy train to SAM City." Kelsey can't even be assed to be witty at this point. The rest of the pre-flight goes easy and she parks herself left seat but does actually handle all the comms and handshaking between outbounding from the hangar, to the flight deck, to space… and then jump.

It's three jumps back to the colonies from Piraeus. It isn't a quick trip but it doesn't suck, either. There's worse ways to pass the time - like getting shot at. But once they jump into orbit around Picon, Kelsey sighs happily. "Oh thank frak. There's cloudcover at the Saber site." She lets go of the stick to pinch the bridge of her nose and lean back. "Ensign, drop us into atmo. If you haven't done this before then use the guidance computer and follow the steering cues." She lets off a monster yawn after that.

<FS3> Elena rolls Piloting: Failure.

"Right. I can do that." Elena stares at the guidance computer. With shaky hands, she begins the drop into atmo. The Raptor drops. And drops. And drops. It's coming in way too fast. The ensign starts to panic. "Shit frak shit shit shit!" She scrambles at the controls, trying and failing to fix whatever the hell she just did.

Three jumps. That's long enough when your stomach is doing its best to exit via your throat. Gloria spends the entire trip with her eyes closed and head back against the bulkhead not thinking about the fact that she's in space in something quite so small. The drop into atmo is noted, ticked off her mental list of things that have to happen before she can put her feet on the groud again, it's fine, there's a deep breath to reassure herself of that, and then Elena starts swearing. Eyes jumping open she turns first to the ECO, then Dreyer as he's in the back. "What? What happened? Are there Cylons?"

"Just don't expect me to be the responsible one," says the MP. "That's what they pay you officers for." Laid-back Anton is much more fun to be around than MP-fas Anton. Ask Clara. To Elena, he offers a quick intro: "Sergeant Dreyer. MP. Makeshift comms guy." There's a wink before he's climbing aboard to get settled in. Gear stowed and his own self strapped into the rear of the Raptor, Dreyer has dragged the cap down over his face and fallen asleep before they even make it to that first jump. He even initially sleeps through the first drop. Hot inserts are no new thing. But when the young pilot begins shouting, he's awake and shoving the hat back. "Whafrak?" It's not real words. Sorry.

<FS3> Kelsey rolls Piloting: Good Success.

There's a buzzing from the Master Caution light. Something is overheating. Kelsey watches the panels and screens while Elena curses. Does she do anything right away? Newp. She waves to the people in the back. "All good, guys. No sweat. Just some training up front." Her gloved finger pushes her sunglasses back up her nose and she puts her hand on the throttle. "Sometimes it seems counter-intuitive, but add a little power. Just ease it on." Kelsey very carefully moves the throttles up. "Big control movements during an Entry are bad. So just keep things nice and easy. Do you remember what the first rule of being a combat pilot is, Ensign? I want you to repeat it to me." Squire is all casual about it while there is a warning buzzer going off. Nope, this is normal.

<FS3> Elena rolls Piloting: Great Success.

"Be cool," Heron replies, taking a deep breath and watching Kelsey. "Okay. I got this." 'Be cool', she mouths, over and over, taking over the controls. The Raptor's descent evens out and they're back on track. The ensign exhales slowly, trying to slow down her pounding heart. "We're cool!" she calls out for the people in back. The adrenaline seems to have shocked her hangover headache out of existence. That's pretty cool. "Smooth sailing, boss," she says to Kelsey.

It's not that Gloria doesn't entirely trust Kelsey, she's in a raptor where she's lead pilot after all, but she still eyes the ECO and awaits their confirmation that all is well too. Once that comes she starts to relax a little, turning to talk with Dreyer to distract her from the fact that they're in a loosely controlled plummet towards the surface of the planet. "You know what we're after Sergeant? I don't think there's much left, but if there's anything that'll help our understanding of the system and it's potential weakspots then it'd be of use."

Could be worse. They could be under fire in the process. It's just an uncomfortable drop of the stomach and a long look towards the Ensign at the controls. But things balance out and Dreyer is able to get a better read on things. At least Gloria, for a moment. Maybe to make sure she's not about to puke on him. The man lifts a hand to scratch under the brim of his hat before adjusting it. "Barely. My type doesn't generally get up close and personal with these things. But I did some reading up on it. Distraction at least from figuring out what to do about that damn sat we have on the Pilgrim."

Squire takes it all in stride. Worse things have happened to her in a Raptor. As the descent slides right back into the perfect sweet-spot, she nods and smiles over at Elena. "Yep. You're cool. See, you got this. You're going to find out that screwing up is the biggest confidence builder. Because when you screw or or things get hairy, it'll be you who pulls it out of the fire. Like you just did. All I did was just give a little advice." She reaches out and gently chucks Elena on the shoulder. "Just don't tell the CAG I let you fly the entry." A wink and she goes back to monitoring.

The rest of the flight goes easy enough. Kels lets Elena fly the whole thing right up until they get below 500 feet. Once there she takes the controls for the landing. Outside the windows they can see the heavily clouded sky. A rain line can be seen to the north but nothing heading their way yet. Below, the remains of the site can be seen as if they had not been touched in years. There are still blasted Centurions on the ground in pieces. When they land right outside the fenceline by the gate, the hatch opens and the scent of rain on the desert floor assaults the senses. The weather is a bit cool but not exactly cold. The breeze whispers past the ears, but the only sound to be heard is metal bending and blowing in the air. A panel, somewhere, left loose.

"I didn't fly the entry," Elena replies, blinking innocently at Kelsey. "I have no idea what you're talking about. She takes a moment to thud her head back against the seat and count to five before checking her sidearm and unbuckling herself. She stands up, stretching, heading over near the hatch.

Gloria has nothing in her stomach to throw up, she's learnt that lesson, and while she does look a touch pale, she's holding it together. "Gods be willing we'll find the control servers intact, load them back onboard, and be gone in no time." No, she doesn't believe that's likely, but she can still hope. As for their other project she nods slowly, "I've not heard back from Major Grey on that yet, but I hear he's been busy, so I'll give him a bit longer before I chase it up." And then there's a landing, and an open hatch, and a PO3 out and into the fresh air. Eyeing the surroundings she ties her mental map of the place with whats before them on the ground and asks, "do we want to head for the ruins first, or check and see if there are still missiles in the intact storage area over there?" she points along the fenceline to the east, "we need to do both ideally."

Well, the landing is decent. Much better than his usual fare. Dreyer doesn't even have to unbuckle early to tumble out of the Raptor in a rush. The cap gets re-adjusted once he has boots on the ground and pack in place. There's a squinted eye for the skies. "I vote for checking the ruins first. It looks like it might open up on us soon enough." No real 'order' in that, no. There's officers about and they're not under fire. …Yet.

"I doubt it." Kelsey pulls off her gloves and points through the fenceline at a long metal object laying on the ground. "That's the Flap Lid, what they use to fire the missiles. That set of tires nearby was probably the control vehicle." Which is probably in ten thousand small pieces by now. "Let's start walking the site. Get an idea of what is here and what isn't." She grabs the toolkit from the Raptor and starts off for the gate, which is left open and broken. Weird to see a pilot with a toolkit like that - until one remembers where she started.

She was correct, though. The Flap Lid dradis set is is laying out on the ground in a basically northern line, the whole trailer having tipped over probably when the control vehicle beside it exploded. At the center of the site is what remains of the command bunker. The only real way to identify it is the fact that there is still charred concrete at the bottom of the crater - which is twenty feet wide. The explosion carried enough force that the trees within 100 feet are all burned husks and have pieces of concrete embedded in them. One of them has a vehicle's twisted chassis wrapped around the trunk just from the blast. It even knocked out one of the missile launchers. Annnd to the north they can see where another dradis set fell across a missile truck and detonated both vehicles. There's nothing left there.

But there are definitely three things of note that are NOT detonated or otherwise damaged beyond all reason. The missile trailers are still sitting at the south end of the site. Still packed in their waterproof launch tubes, they still have barcodes on them from the factory. Second? The Big Bird early warning truck is actually there. There's a dead Model Six sitting in the driver's seat (or what's left of him), but the vehicle is parked underneath two trees and would probably be impossible to see from the air or a satellite. Third? One of the launch vehicles is still sitting there intact. The four missile tubes on the rear look like they are still ready to launch, parked in the vertical position.

Elena treads lightly and carefully, head on a swivel as they head into the ruins. The headache is back and she forces herself to use all of her strength and faculties to stay present and alert. "Want me to check out the truck?" she asks, hand on her sidearm.

With Kelsey having the rank Gloria is happy to let her lead the way and grabs her own kit bag as they move off from the raptor. A small camera is attached to the front of her greens to record what they see, and as she turns it on she signals to let everyone know it's rolling. So no talking about how Elena nearly crashed etc etc. "What the frak did they hit that with?" she asks of Dreyer as they survey the ruins of the command post, then she swears loudly as she nearly trips over a dismembered centurion arm. Once it's clear that there are three targets though she eyes them all then suggests, "the truck and big bird should be our priorities. Now we know there is intact ordinance we can have them collected for close examination by Spree's forces."

As they begin walking towards the gate to the site behind, Dreyer falls into a rearguard sort of position. Arms are stretched overhead to get the last of the post-ride kinks out. Ultimately he settles with a loose grip on his rifle. No being overly paranoid, but he's also going to remain prepared. Just in case. The damage, more than anything else, draws the man's eyes. There's a low whistle at the vehicle wrapped around a tree. "All hail the Colonial forces," he mutters. When Gloria about stumbles, he does a quick-step in closer to reach out a hand… just in case she needs help staying upright. She doesn't, so he just falls back on his heels. "I'd ask the jig up there if you want to know exact munitions dropped. The big boys aren't really my area of expertise. But I'd guess something packed into a Predator at least."

Kelsey glances back while everyone else is talking. She's looking over everything and not saying much. But she does seem impressed by the wrapping action of the truck. Elena gets a reply first. "Yeah, let's head over to the Big Bird vehicle." She starts walking that way and smirks down at the ground, looking at something as she walks past. "Grenade spoon. Ha. Even has CMC stamped onto it." They keep walking and she points a thumb to the bunker. "That wasn't air-dropped. The Marines assaulted this place from the ground. The missile fuel storage tanks were located behind the bunker. My guess is that the tanks exploding is what took out the bunker. Missile fuel is pretty violent stuff. The stuff we put into the anti-radiation missiles we use to kill SAMs? Its so toxic that the fuel will burn your lungs if you smell it. Get it on your skin and it melts it like acid."

Elena nods, heading over to the truck, looking over the outside and doing a circuit around the truck to make sure everything's safe. "I'll make a point not to get hit by an anti-rad missile," she calls over.

Gloria whistles appreciatively as Kelsey says all the damage was done from the ground, she'd not read anything in the reports about an air attack, but it's not what she'd been looking for. Once the details of what the fuel would do on exposure are given though she pulls a face and focuses on the truck they're headed for. "Is there likely to be anything of interest in the cab?" she asks to all, "or should we just concentrate on the DRADIS itself" Although, straight after she says that a through occurs and she adds, "or is it worth seeing if it can be driven off? Would make recovery of the assets a lot easier if we just need to sort refueling on the way to our nearest outpost."

"Last I checked, skin-melting fuel is not even in my top hundred things to do before I die." Dreyer's got quips. Why wouldn't he? It's part of boot camp. Promise. The man does move towards the cab, casting a glance to Gloria and the other two. "I'll check out the cab. Find out if it's driveworthy or there's anything else of note."

"That's a damned good point, Oates." Kelsey turns to look at Gloria, edging in a smile. "Why bother to study it here if we can drive it off?" She then looks to the missile trailers. "I wonder if it wouldn't be able to tow those, too. That'd be slick. Hey Ensign, run over to that SAM, the one still standing upright, see if you can get the truck started." She motions for Elena to run that direction.

Elena nods, jogging over to the truck Kelsey indicated. It takes some work, but she manages to get the door open. Miracle of miracles, the key is in the ignition. Heron turns it, saying a little prayer, and the engine turns over. She rolls down the window. "Where to?" she calls out.

Gloria flashes a smile to Kelsey, "I'd say thats why they pay me the big bucks… but they don't." With Dreyer checking the cab she moves backwards towards the dish itself and starts to clamber up onto the back. A quick inspection is done to clear away any debris from the explosions or subsequent exposure, then she gets down to the nitty-gritty of the exposed components. The sound of Elena starting the engine of the launcher has her turning to smile at the Ensign. "You know the way to Crandall Sir? If the Sergeant can get this one started we could just hook up a pair of those trailers and mosey on out of here. Quite fancy a road trip."

The driver's side door is opened gingerly. Just in case the corpse or bits fall out. Dreyer just sort of grunts as he begins moving the corpse out. The grunt turns to a lot of coughing. "Frak me…" It at least gets him past the weird of dealing with a Six's corpse. Unlike some Marines, he's never met them directly as a hostile in the field. The remaining gore doesn't get quite as much of concern. You just sort of get used to that. He does, however, leave the door wide open and even rolls down the window. Every little bit helps. Keys, ignition… the truck rumbles to life. He cuts the engine and clambers out. Mostly. Enough to be able to shout toward Gloria and Kelsey alike: "She runs, but low on fuel. Unless there's some fuel canisters hiding about, it won't make it to Crandall."

The toolkit is put on the ground and then her hands go to her hips. She looks over at Elena. Then to Dreyer. Then to Gloria. "Wait. Wait. You get paid? I don't get frakking paid. I want to get paid." Nope, she's not going to address the issue first. But she ends up letting off a sigh and looking at the trailers. Then the Raptor. "Crandall is out of range for the gas in them so we'll probably have to go find gas and bring it here. Hoping to make it to a gas station is probably too much to hope for. I also don't like the risk. Two pilots, comms tech, and a single Marine. We're easy pickings if we come across trouble in any serious number." She leans forward and looks at the underside of the Raptor. Rising, her attention goes to Elena and she makes a 'turn it off' cutting motion across her throat and gestures for her to get back over to them. "Okay, Oates, plug up anywhere you can and download whatever you can grab. Get photos of everything. Dreyer, head over to that over-turned Flap Lid. Get pictures of everything. Take the tool kit and see if you can get any panels off. Ensign, you're with me. We're going to see about getting a winch and a fuel bladder from Crandall." She tilts her head forward. "That is if you two are okay with being left here for an hour or so while we go get it. If you're not, you're welcome to come with us. It's totally fine." Kelsey isn't going to make this an order.

Elena turns the engine off, leaving the keys in the vehicle. She opens the door with some difficulty — the driver's side door seems to like sticking — and hops out. She doesn't close the door again. She's nice like that. The ensign trots back over to Kelsey, looking at the two others while they make their decision.

Gloria's smile broadens as the engine of the big bird starts up as well. "Roadtrip!" she calls from the back, then promptly frowns at the news regarding the fuel levels. Options are considered for a moment before she then turns slowly to look at Kelsey. "We could get a load of preliminary work done while you were gone so we know where to start once we get them back, and we could even make a start on hooking up the trailers to expedite our progress. You're wanting to recover both of these yes?" She points to the big bird then the launcher, "just so we know what to attach to what. We'll have to leave some tubes here, but I'm sure someone else can come make a trip out to either dispose or recover them." It would seem that she at least is entirely fine with being left to play.

The other window in the truck's cab is rolled down to help it air out and Dreyer hops down, brushing hands over his fatigues before retrieving his pack. A small point-and-shoot camera is pulled out of a side pocket and turned on. Battery? Check. Storage card? Check. He tucks it into his breast pocket for the moment, circling around to not have to shout across the vehicle to the women. "I think we'll be fine, El-Tee. Just call ahead and have them prepare us a nice lunch. It's a fine day-" on a blasted Saber site with rain on the horizon, "for a picnic."

<FS3> Gloria rolls Programming: Good Success.
<FS3> Dreyer rolls Communication: Good Success.
<FS3> Kelsey rolls Piloting: Good Success.

Kels is cool with leaving them if they are, so she heads for the Raptor with Elena. As soon as they are powered up, she's calling ahead to Crandall to have them ready a winch installation and a fuel bladder. When they arrive, there's already a crew waiting. Knowing better than to try and help, she leads Ellie off to the squadron area and hunts down some food for the crew. "When you're in command, everything is your responsibility. Mission number one is getting home. Nothing is more important and you are never out of options. There is always a way, something you haven't considered. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Do not accept an order that tells you to stop thinking of how you can get everyone home." She's quite serious about that, too. "But taking care of your people is also important. Like now, bringing some food and drinks. You might be an officer, but the enlisted make the ship run so you want to give them the respect they deserve. Besides, food is awesome." A couple of cold sandwiches, cookies, and grape drink. Only the best.

The winch and bladder are ready to go when the pilots return to the Raptor. This is definitely flying that she is doing, though. Slung cargo changes everything about how the ship flies and the fuel trailer beneath them does that swinging thing juuust a smidge before she powers on and flies them back. Round trip it only takes about an hour and fifteen. The approach starts with a low circle and then comes back around. She touches down the fuel bladder by the Bird Bird and waits for the ground team to unhook it before she lands the Raptor. Easy peasy.

"And it's just good manners," Elena replies to the matter of bringing the enlisted folks food and drinks. She watches how Kelsey handles the laden bird carefully, making lists of mental notes. Once the Raptor lands, she prances out of the hatch with the refreshments. "Snacktime!" she singsongs chirpily.

Having hit a wall in her investigation of the big bird systems Gloria is now over by the trailers having helped Dreyer hook up one to each of the vehicles so they're ready for the off. As the raptor first appears she's sat up by the Dradis dish, just sprawled out as if trying to catch what heat there might be before that rain band comes in. "Heads up," she notes though, "brass are back, best look busy." True to her word she hops down to the dirt and starts banks-manning for the fuel, saving her update until the magic fluid of mechanical life is flowing, and the pilots can actually hear her.

Food is awesome. Dreyer didn't wholly expect food to happen, but he lives by a few mantras. One is: you never know if you don't ask. He had a bit more luck then Gloria; the dish is pretty damaged, but it makes it easy to open up. There's only a few minutes of orienting himself before he gets the swing of things. Well enough to get a lot of rather handy photos and even draw out a small notepad to sketch out schematics. All-in-all, not too bad for a guy who is still new to this communications gig. He's sat next to Gloria and rather than soaking up heat… he's napping. It's his specialty. But the word from the Petty Officer is enough to stir him. One eye squints open, then the other, and he's up on his feet to assist with getting the vehicles fueled up. "I think we've got good intel off that beast over there. It's pretty damaged, but not too ba-" Elena mentions food and the marine looks to the Ensign with proverbial stars in his eyes. "You're an angel."

Kelsey comes out after Elena and hops easily to the ground. She can't help smiling a little at the chipperness of the rookie. The positive reactions on food is also nice. Fulfilling requests, feeding people, it scratches the itch to mother others. "Get the lines pumping gas before we eat. We can eat while we're idle with that. Looks like nothing exploded while we were gone. What'd you guys pull?" She's got the keys for the small pump motor on the bladder so she gets to it.

The ensign cheerily delivers her snacks, fulfilling the role of sandwich fairy. Once everything had been distributed she leans against one of the trucks. "Road trip?" she asked, maybe a little too hopefully.

"Not a vast amount to tell right now," Gloria starts as they set to with the fuel, "the diagnostics all boot up, everything reads green so it looks like the system is fully operational. I just can't get into any of the controls as there's a biometric lock on them, handprint. I tried looking around for a Six arm that wasn't too degraded by no joy so I suspect we'll need to talk to Sergeant Knox to get anything further."

Any climbing around that needs doing for the fueling? Dreyer divests himself of his pack and gets to it. In passing Kelsey, he hands off his camera so she can take a look. If there just so happen to be a couple selfies of him and Gloria, pay it no mind. Totally required for intel gathering, natch. "You know, I tried asking him about the hookups we'd need for that sat on the Pilgrim, but I may have asked at the wrong time." Really wrong, when it came down to it. Anton, master of social maneuvering. The man also tosses Kelsey the notebook with the sketches. "It's too damaged to be of use mechanically, but enough was intact that I got some decent photos and a good enough idea of the schematics that I'm pretty sure engineering will know what they're looking at."

Kelsey nods, getting the pump started. She even primes the system. Elena can probably tell Kelsey knows a lot about the Deck end of the air wing. "Sure. If you think you can trust him. Clara might also work. She's that corpsman the Marines picked up. Apparently she's a skinjob also." Shrug. Who knew. She looks through the pictures on the camera and smiles at the selfies. Very professional. But then again she probably knows they were messing about while the officers were gone. Maybe that's why she brought Elena. Because she doesn't ask about anything that doesn't concern her, and selfies are funny anyhow. "These are great pictures. I'm guessing they are probably going to have a team come out here and recover the Flap Lid, then. Engineering doesn't waste anything if they can help it. Recovering one of these things intact is a huge boost." She then looks over the schematics. Once the fuel is flowing? Sandwiches, cookies, and grape drink get the thumbs up from her.

Elena nibbles on a cookie, peering over Kelsey's shoulder at the pictures. "LT, they missed something," she deadpans with a mouth full of crumbs.

"He's the obvious one to try first," Gloria notes, "it's Sixes the marines faced here, but I'll bow to whatever Major Grey or Lieutenant Almaeda deem best on that one. That's way above my pay grade that sort of thing." She smiles as she says that though, obviously not hurt about not being at the cut and thrust of such debates. Once food is broken out she accepts her share hungrily, having skipped breakfast and with the prospect of a road trip rather than an immediate flight back. She's only brought out of her revere by Elena's words as she turns to peer at the Ensign.

Who knew? Dreyer knew! "Haven't heard if she's been released back to duty yet." Neither has Knox. Damn those slacker skinjobs! "But yeah, she's a skinjob. Model Three. The ones that were supposed to be boxed." He sounds a bit frustrated over it, but that might just be the work involved in helping get things fueled up and checking over the trailer connections. But he does it. He does it because after fueling comes food and the Sergeant is more than happy to use his pack as a backrest as he settles in to eat. He eats in silence for a time, but glances towards Gloria. He begins to speak around a mouthful of food, but uses some grape drank to wash it down before he gets too far. Ahem. "Would the biolock be keyed to any skinjob or specific lines? 'Cause I would hate to bring Mercier out only to have it not work for her."

"And yes, Ensign, we are going on a road trip. Or, well, they are. You and I are in the Raptor. We'll be flying armed escort overhead. We'll open the hatch, though, let some fresh air in while we cruise." Kelsey continues looking over the pictures and schematics. Maybe she understands some of this. "Dreyer has a point. Well, whatever. We won't need him for the missiles. The ordnance group at Crandall can dissect those things. Saves me time. I've got something else I need to finish up." She then looks to Elena. "If you say dickpics I'll be very upset." Except she won't. She looks like she's about to laugh just thinking about it.

"It would make sense to try and bring the one that we know works," Heron opines, shaking the last bits of cookie out of the packet. She reaches out to grab the camera and takes a quick selfie of her and Kelsey, pulling a ridiculous face and sticking her tongue out. She then hands the camera back. "There, sir. Everything's covered."

Gloria can only shrug back to Dreyer, "no idea. Were it me I'd key it to only those I'd expect to have a need to use it, ie. the Sixes as they're the only ones here. Do all Sixes have the same palm print though? I don't know, but I'll be recommending that that's where we start, the .. Three?" she checks she has that right, "well I guess she's up if Knox fails?" Dreyer's annoyance is noted, but she can't do anything about it so merely offers him a sympathetic look. As Kelsey confirms the road trip she asks the marine, "launcher or big bird?" She laughs outright at Elena's antics then takes a slurp of the drink, "you got any tunes you can put over the comm as we drive LT? Isn't a proper roadtrip without a soundtrack."

"I am very particular about my dickpics, thank you very much," Dreyer offers, before pulling a face. It leaves him pause with cookie-eating. "Mind you, the only ones in existence would've been with my girlfriend on Caprica. Huh." A bite is chewed, swallowed. "Who knows. Maybe they're keeping a Ten company right now." He does grin as Elena makes sure to grab a selfie in turn of the other two. As for the annoyance? He pushes it into the box reserved for when he's in MP Mode. It slipped through, got put back away, and he's back to calm. A thumb is hooked towards the Big Bird. "I'll take stinky over there." See? Total gentleman.

Kelsey was unprepared for the selfie and thus has little time to prepare. So she just grins like an idiot with her sunglasses and hangover captured forever. Well that's one picture from the last 24 hours she won't have to groan over for the rest of her life. Damn Three. Vengeance will be hers. "I've got my player with me, sure. We can probably pump it through a low power transmission from the Raptor, I think." The woman nods slowly. "Yeah, I mean that should work. I don't have a problem with at least trying." She then slides a look at Dreyer. "I'm sure they're very tasteful pictures of your penis, Sergeant. I'm ure your girlfriend is keeping them secure." She ends up chuckling and looking back to the equipment. "Okay, fueling done. Let's get out of here."

"I'll gladly pre-screen any dick pics for you, sir. Make sure they're up to snuff." Elena hops to her feet and stretches again. "If it doesn't work, I'll sing until you get sick of me " she adds as they head back to the bird.

Gloria grabs a cookie to take with her, then pushes herself to her feet as the instruction to move comes. "Great!" she beems at Kelsey, "then I think we're all set to roll. You brought the beer though right?" Working to unhook the refueller she nods to Dreyer and checks she has the right keys. Elena gets another grin but she refrains from commenting about what tasks the wing sets it's nuggets, although from her amused expression something might hit Orion's scuttlebutt upon their return. "Ready to roll," she then calls, as she checks tires and such once more, before her final retort to Elena, "we can take it in turns. I was the unarguable Karaoke Queen of the Seradonits I'll have you know."

"Ex-girlfriend, I'm afraid, so I highly doubt it. Apparently a long-term posting to a place I couldn't tell her about wasn't good for the relationship. Go figure." Doesn't seem to be a sore spot, either. After all, it happened well enough before the war that she was outside his mind at the time. Now it's just an easy jest to bandy about. Elena's offer earns an arched brow and a broad grin. "Might take ya up on that sometime, Ensign." He pushes himself to his feet, tucking away a few bits of food — part of a sandwich, a couple cookies — into his pockets. They've got a long drive ahead and it's not one he can sleep through. "I hear Wescott has a lovely singing voice," the Sergeant opines, cheerily, before heading towards his chosen rig for the caravan.

"I'll see you decorated for being willing to fall on that grenade of dickpics for me, Ensign. Your bravery and fortitude is an example to us all." Squire nods sagely and pats Elena's shoulder twice. "So proud." Sniffle. The hand falls away and she looks to Gloria. "Right. Beer. You mention beer one more time and I'm going to make sure you listen to me go on about the details of missile design for the next four hours." The Lieutenant is not above threats of force, damnit. As for Dreyer, she lifts a finger at him. Just one. A long, central finger. "Also, no banging my Ensign. She's cute and sane. We need her kept that way. That means no Marines." Hmph!

Elena blushes crimson. "You heard her. Orders are orders. No marines." She shrugs sheepishly at Dreyer. She upmost at Gloria. "That sounds like a challenge," she grins. "You're on." The ensign sashays back to the Raptor.

Gloria holds her hands up in mock surrender at Kelsey's threat, "you got it LT, no more talk of b-e-e-r." Hauling herself up into the cab of the launcher she takes a moment to ensure that everything is where it should be, and everything she doesn't need to drive is deactivated, the fires the engine up again. "A quick check of the peddles, and adjustment of the seat and she comms across "catch me if you can Sergeant!" and starts her machine rolling towards the gate. She doesn't actually accelerate quickly though, not until she's got used to those extra tubes she's towing behind.

"You won't be an Ensign forever." No one said no flirting. Just no banging. "And makeout sessions are apparently not off the table." But Dreyer isn't sticking around any longer. Newp. Kelsey has a sidearm and he's not about to test her aim with thrown objects, either. Just an impish sort of grin and the marine is off to his rig. Gloria gets a headstart, but only because he digs his keffiyeh out of his pack and wraps it like a totally stylin' scarf before taking off for the gate. It'll help with the stench. Somewhat. And hey, if he ever needs to really creep out Knox? He can just lean in and whisper: 'You smell so much better on the outside.'

She will so kill you, Dreyer. So. Pheer the Cheer(leader). She heads for the Raptor and gets it all started. They catch up with the trucks about five minutes later and the music is already figured out by then. After 'kindly discussing' what KIND of music to listen to for five minutes, Kelsey pulls rank and they listen to country. There's even the song she sang on the table the night prior. Which means she ends up having to tell the story on the radio. It won't be the last time. But three and a half hours later they roll into the gates at Crandall with a lot of wide-eyed looks and a lot of ranking officers. Time to GTFO. They're all scooped up on the tarmac and then they are off to head home. For once, nobody got shot at.

…That they are aware of.

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