by Wayne23 » Sun Nov 29, 2020 4:18 pm
12/16: 58-62 at Grambling. Lowest points scored all season. It's hard to win when you only score 58. 20 TOs hurt us. 14, 15 for Nels, 19, 4 for Stry. No one else did much.
12/17: Rainy and overcast on the planet so we're postponing until tomorrow.
12/18: A sunny day. On our way.
12/19: It's nearly midnight and we just arrived back on the Meltor. The trip was a disaster and I feel very fortunate to be alive.
We landed in a nice flat meadow, not far from a forested area, and the twelve guards all got out and looked around.
We did extensive atmospheric testing as soon as the shuttle landed. All testing indicated that the air was breathable and posed no danger. The gravity was .76 of Earth normal, and the atmospheric mix was all but identical to what we were used to. This allowed us to work in shirtsleeves, which made everything a lot easier.
After surveying the area carefully the guards found a spot to set up the 3D printer and set it to work printing the structure.
It took most of the day to print the building, as expected. Two guards stayed near the shuttlecraft and the printer and the other ten went off to find specimens.
They started with the plants and insects, and by lunchtime they had what they wanted.
After lunch two guards went looking for likely places to set traps for small animals, and the other eight went looking for dinos to sedate. The traps would capture but not kill the small animals, which would be sedated for study.
I stayed near the shuttle but observed the printing of the structure and what I could see of the efforts of the guards. My two guards were very alert, turning regularly in all directions to avoid any surprises. The afternoon continued that way.
As dusk approached the other guards returned. A few small animals had been trapped but no dinos had been encountered.
By this time the structure was up and the holo chamber was being activated. After dinner the guards brought all of the specimens they had gathered into the various labs inside the holo and the holo scientists and our scientists on board the Meltor began working. They worked all through the night and well into the second day.
The guards and I slept inside the shuttle with two guards being awake and on duty just outside the shuttle at all times.
It was a quiet night. There were the usual night sounds that one would expect, but no surprises and no indication that we were in any danger.
Day two, today, started off with breakfast, and then the ten guards set off to try to find dinos.
My two guards and I stayed near the shuttle.
Things were quiet for a long time. We had lunch and then I took a nap.
I was awakened mid-afternoon by very loud animal noises, the sounds of weapons being fired, and lots of shouting and screaming.
By the time I got outside I saw something I will never forget; something that will haunt my dreams for as long as I live.
I saw our guards, all ten of them running for their lives, being pursued by two huge beasts. The beasts were 20-25 feet tall, and they overcame the guards in no time, and each... ate one. They picked them up in their jaws, shook and bit, which killed the guards. They then began to eat them, which I will not describe. I didn't see much of it, but what I saw won't leave me. This slowed them down enough for the other guards to join me and my two guards, who had taken refuge in the structure. Very shortly thereafter the beasts, evidently leaving the scene, trampled the eight foot high structure, knocking most of it down, crushing most of the rest of it.
When we were able to get out we found that two additional guards had been killed inside the structure, one other had a fractured leg, and another had both an arm and a leg fracture.
When we looked over at the shuttle we saw that it too had been trampled.
We cared for our wounded inside the structure. Two guards and I went to the shuttle. It was destroyed. Nothing worked or ever would again.
We returned to the structure. After a lot of searching around to assess damage and to see what if anything still worked, we found we were able to send a signal to the Meltor. We sent a Mayday, explained the situation, and waited inside the building, or what little was left of it, hoping that the dinos would not return.
About two hours ago one of the only two working shuttles on the Meltor landed near the building. We loaded our wounded and our two dead inside, climbed in, and headed back to the ship.
I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. The Captain wants to debrief all of us but the doctors have insisted that we need rest before that can happen.