Someone might know better than me, but I would think that the UAV's infrared wouldn't do too well at picking out creatures if their body temperature is too similar to the environment. Cold-blooded creatures are right out, since they WILL match the surroundings, and if they are warm-blooded it might work but it'd be hard to filter out the ambient heat, right? Plus, you've got the problem of hot sunlight reflecting off of jungle canopy. Assuming the planet even has a day/night cycle similar to Earth, it's morning now and nighttime is a long way off. Still, just having an eye in the sky can help you determine what's around you once you get the other team through the gate.

The UAV should be able to pick up movement regardless of whether it's warm or cold-blooded.

*cue alien velociraptor*

Very good. We'll chalk it up to the operator's rolls, then.

What's Hugh up to? We've got Luis on point, Greene watching Tupolev, who is running tests, then Max, Kitty, and Sumo with Toucan Sam.

Watching the portal. Just in case somebody else has this number...

Gatac

Two questions:

1. Did we bring radios, like walkie-talkies? we're starting to get a bit spread out, and they might be useful.

2. How long have we been here? It was 28 minutes until the next Gate window, how long now? I'm starting to get the feeling we could use the backup.

Also, I think we should treat the creature as a possibly hostile sentient until it proves otherwise. Don't kill it or seriously injure it, and don't make too many threatening moves. That serated beak and the odd fixation with Semo's upper torso is not a good sign, but from what I know, it's theorized that intelligence is more likely to evolve in meat-eaters than plant-eaters, so this thing could be smarter than your average bear.

1. Of course you have radios. The cool throat mic kind where you don't have to go *SQUAWK* every time you wanna talk.

2. You've got, say, 15 minutes left on this gate cycle. You should have environment test results soon.

e of pi wrote:

Two questions:

1. Did we bring radios, like walkie-talkies? we're starting to get a bit spread out, and they might be useful.

2. How long have we been here? It was 28 minutes until the next Gate window, how long now? I'm starting to get the feeling we could use the backup.

Also, I think we should treat the creature as a possibly hostile sentient until it proves otherwise. Don't kill it or seriously injure it, and don't make too many threatening moves. That serated beak and the odd fixation with Semo's upper torso is not a good sign, but from what I know, it's theorized that intelligence is more likely to evolve in meat-eaters than plant-eaters, so this thing could be smarter than your average bear.

A) I ordered Kitty to grab it.
Semo is a tough mo-fo with a large gun and various modes of self-defense at his disposal.
C) Max stepped back a few paces in the event of such hilarity.

Back from out of townness. Will try to get a character up tonight if you still have room.

That'll work. We can slot you in when the rest of the people come through with the convoy, adding or replacing NPCs as needed.

Any pre-gateway stuff you can feel free to continue with, but generally I think the plan is to:

1. Get Ivan's character integrated into the convoy
2. Have the convoy come through the gate.
3. Profit!

I'll be out and about tomorrow, so Ivan will have plenty of time to post, but I'll likely be ready for some more IC stuff tomorrow night after LOST.

And don't worry, it won't all be Animal Planet.

Rock on. I have a little bit of time, I'm setting up the convoy.

I believe we're putting up something like a good ol' Army "Tent, General Purpose, Medium", right? That'd be doable with two people, though having some more guys (Idle scientists, I'm looking at you!) would definately help.

Gatac

I added a link to a tent picture in the IC post. As for idle scientists, there shouldn't really BE idle scientists. Idle Delta Force is good; Idle scientists mean less to study upon the return to Earth.

e of pi asked for a rundown of the NPCs:
http://headonastick.com/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi/JI_Forums

First fireteam is:
Capt. Hugh Verrill (Hugh, Cap, Top, Boss, or Sir)
Staff Sgt. Semo Putupu (Semo, Sumo, The Samoan, or Poopoo)
Sgt. Luis Stanhill (Lou, Stan, Stanhill, or Luis)
Spec. Benjamin Greene (Ben or Greene)

Second fireteam is:
Sgt. First Class Charles Taylor (Taylor, Chuck, Sarge)
Specialist Angel Riviera (Angel)
Sgt. Junior Dietrich (Junior, Redneck, Hick)
Specialist Irving Mellish (Irv, Irving, the Hebrew Hammer)

Scientists:
Dr. Maxwell Kilgore (Max or Doc)
Dr. Andrew Tupolev (Andy or Doc)
Dr. Kate Cavanaugh (Kitty or Doc)

Thanks for the list, ADS.

Remember kids, keep the GM happy and maybe they'll kill you slightly more regretfully.

Anyhoo, so is the plan still to wait till nightfall, then charge the gate? Using one truck or two trucks?

Command will be checking in, well, every 28 minutes unless you have a good reason for them not to do so.

Science team: We'll assume that you can grab samples of the grass, air, soil, Semo's metalish shard, some of the flitting bug-things, and as well as your tranquilized avian without venturing into parts unknown. You can analyze the shard, grass, and the bugs now, or get into the shipwreck for more goodies, all without technically breaching perimeter. Anything else is going to require some jungle.

There's also the gate itself, as well as anything I've missed.

Also, the UAV. Using it?

Only one armed escort with the sci-gal? Seems meagre to me. I would think military regs would require at least one more.

If Semo would like to accompany them, I'll edit the story post. Just because Gatty is playing the dude in charge IC doesn't mean that OOC, it's not a democracy.

Hmmm...might be a good idea to bring one more person, especielly considering that there are three sample cases and that we'll be out of sight, if not beyond the perimeter or out of hearing range. Doesn't have to be a PC, but Semo's welcome to come if you think it's a good idea.

Also, about the Gate: Since we seem to be pretty regularly checking in every time the guys back home get theirs charged, can we continue charging while the unit is acting as a recieving Gate? Can the Gate acting as a recieving end drain what charging we do?

As for the UAV, I think some basic maps, even if they're just aerial pictures of major geographic features, would be good. Can it get a topographic model if its data is fed into a compute with the trees between it and the ground?

Pending Gordon's OK, I'll write Semo in there. As for the Gate draining its charge when receiving, it doesn't appear to be the case, because you haven't been charging it and it's received portals just fine. One (Max) might then summarize that whatever power requirements it has is also somehow sent to power the receiving gate, at least enough to transfer whatever you're sending.

Topo maps: A Tech->System Operations roll for the UAV, plus a Tech-Computers roll to filter the data will give you a map of variable accuracy depending on those rolls. The two best for that are Luis on the UAV and then Max on the computer modelling.