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The Concordia, the current flagship for the Colonial Republic's Fleet, detached from Sabah's drydock after the refit. It currently was carrying the supplies needed for a very important Project, code-named Demeter.

Onboard the Concordia, Minister of Science and Technology Xi de Mortis stood on the observation deck. Demeter...the Greek Goddess of Agriculture. A fitting name for the title of the project that she currently was heading up: the colonization of Planet Yuma under the colors of the Colonial Republic. The world was ripe for colonization, and right now, the Republic needed to rebuild. Yuma was their best bet.
"Ma'am, Colonel Crowe and the 117th will be ready to head down and make sure no fauna - or flora - will be causing harm to the initial survey team in a few minutes."
Xi looked over her should, pizza trailing from her mouth back to the piece. She had just taken a bite of a slice of cheese pizza when she was accosted by a young marine.
"Fank joo." she said, the tore the cheese off, pulling it into her mouth before chewing it up and swallowing. "Thank you Corporal." She said. "Tell Crowe I'll be heading down there with his men and a small team to sample the ground and the flora."
"Uh, ok ma'am." The marine started to backpedal, but Xi held up a hand. "One moment."
"Yes ma'am?"
Xi held up a slice of Pepperoni pizza. "Want some?"

__________________________

Colonel Wayland Crowe of the 117th LASS Battalion paced the hanger deck. Two Celestras were being loaded with the necessary supplies. The science team, which was heading down to take more soil samples, was also going down to test the ocean's composition...or something. He hefted the heavy machine gun and turned.
"Corporal Stanz, Corporal Halle, why are you not stowing your gear! I said get your asses onto this transport ten minutes ago!"
The two men hustled up, hefting their rifles.
"Sorry sir, couldn't find my PDA."
"Uh, I was stuck with the Minister of Science."
Crowe dropped the heavy gun on a crash seat and placed himself in front of Halle. He was easily a foot taller then the man.
"Corporal Halle, you were to tell the Minister we were almost done waiting on the eggheads. Not to spend time staring at her ass."
"Sorry sir, she...offered pizza..."
"Now you know why she is known as the Unofficial Minister of Pizza, because she loves it. That is no excuse. Get into your seat, strap in, and pray."

Crowe exited the Celestra to make sure everything was onboard.
What he found, made him facepalm.
"Colonel Crowe."
"Miss de Mortis. Why is there a...portable pizza over on this hanger deck?"
"Must you ask? Why are you bringing such...firepower down to Yuma?"
Crowe raised his hands in defeat, then placed himself behind it. "Because, we don't know what's down there besides our few small camps." He rubs his forehead. "Let me guess, you want to ride with us jarheads."
"Yes, I do." She smirked and briskly walked onto the Celestra, duffel bag over her shoulder. Crowe shook his head and shoved the oven onbaord, sticking it by the cockpit. When he turned, he found de Mortis had taken the seat right across from where he was going to sit. Sighing inwardly, Crowe dropped into the crash seat and buckled in.
"Buckle up Miss de Mortis; this will be a bump ride."
"I know. Try not to throw up on the way down."

The Celestras powered off the deck and floated towards the main doors. five Eros Light Fighters also lifted off from the deck, and soon enough, the seven ships were out in space.
"This is Charon One, preparing to enter the atmosphere."
"Epsilon Lead to Charon One, we read you. Preparing Atmosphere-entry interface. We'll follow in your wake, over."
"Roger that Epsilon Lead. We're going in five."
Five seconds later, the seven vessels hit the atmosphere.

Inside Charon Two, Xi de Mortis calmly held onto the crash seat as the Celestra bucked and tossed in the atmosphere. A few loose crates bounced around, threatening to hit someone. The pizza over smacked against the wall twice before wedging itself still.
Crowe took out a cigar and lit it, and then turned on the music.

His name was James Belka, Senior Agent, Colonial Intelligence Service. When they needed a man who could stay discreet, and get the job done, this is who they called. Looking over at the Colonel and the other military personnel it was a wonder what they would face down there; they looked almost like an invasion force from the number of people they had.

"Miss de Mortis, expecting trouble today?"

He smiled cordially.

This was a red letter day for Lucas.
He was filling in for a Dr. Gerald Rorgen, one of the leading plant biologists in the Colonial Republic. The man was a legend, and had earned his doctorates while the Republic was still in Crayter. What most wouldn't say however, was that Dr. Rorgen was old, and his knowledge of Sirian specimens sorely lacking.
Lucas Bell was a graduate of Cambridge University, and did so with excellent marks in the field of planetary bilogy, and native ecosystems. He had done his thesis on Gaia. Under Dr. Rorgen, however, he was little more then a research assistant. But all that was going to change today.

He was strapped into the jump-seat of the Celestra, crammed next to soldiers, marines, all carrying guns. It was rather exciting, but at the same time, somewhat terrifying. Lucas disliked violence intensely, except when it was movies. Instead of staring at the soldiers, and there guns, he pulled out a hand-held field computer, and started going over his notes.

Just about every specimen of plant life had been collected, but Lucas had never seen them "in the wild" before. Even the ones that were living, were kept in severe hibernation, or cryo freeze - the plants had a nasty tendency to shatter containment units. One whole lab had to be sterilized when a flower specimen came out of hibernation and, within ten minutes, had overrun a lab space that could fit a hundred people inside it. It really was too bad, because the flowers were beautiful.

This was his first chance to see how the different specimens coexisted, as well as how the native fauna, which he had not seen much data on, coexisted as well. Say what you want about Gaia, this planet was far more interesting, because it seemed, that for as long as it had been here, no one knew anything about it.

And at the end of the day, no one would know more about it then he did. Lucas Bell. No longer just a research assistant. He would be the foremost expert on Yuma.

He could hardly wait.

Xi looked over to Belka.
"I did not ask for the Marines; I merely was assigned two detachments. I guess they don't want their Minister of Science and Technology...and Pizza...to end up...plant food." She sighed. "On the flipside, why is one with your...reputation...coming on this flight? I thought CIS would be busy toppling a democracy, or installing a dictatorship...Sorry, other way." She smiles. "Or creating a droid army to take over the Republic."
With her last jest delivered, she turned serious. "When it comes to Yuma, yes, I expect trouble. So far, most of our structures were overgrown."
Xi looks out the window now as they break through the atmosphere. Epsilon Wing now slots into covering positions around Charons One and Two.
"But...there are rumors of the wildlife. We must be careful, or we might end up making Yuma our permanent home."

Xi draws her brown jacket around her, eying the area around their Celestras as the group moves toward the beach.

He smirked at her remarks, cheeky one she was. Easier to break. No one knew why the CIS would have interest in Yuma, nor was he going to divulge that information.

"Toppling democracy? Come now, you know we only do that every other season. Yes, we've heard of the wild-life. Hopefully our brave, strapping young marines here will protect us from the big-bad monsters."

James looked over at Dr. Rorgen, catching his eye for a moment he nodded slowly before looking back to the rest of the marine detachment. Just how loyal would they be when their own lives were in danger.

Corporal James Anderson was attempting to relax in his own seat on-board the Charon Two, calmly listening to the chatter around him as the marine waited for them to touch down on Yuma below and be free of this confining space on-board the Charon Two...He rubbed the lids of his light-blue eyes as he tried to pass the time away as they headed down planetside...

Anderson had joined the Marines when he was twenty, an impressive feat considering the harsh training regimen the Republic had the men and women of the Corps put through. Another three years of service, being evacuated from Tau-44 when they could nolonger hold the line against the Gallia Offensive bringing him to this moment in a star system called Coronado. And who said life was boring?

Nontheless, he only had a faint clue as to the current mission he and the rest of the Marines with him were being sent on, babysitting the 'eggheads' as some of the others called em. Not the most glamorous duty he had been assigned, but apparently the work was vital to the Republic, who was he to refuse such an 'important' mission? So he just laid back in his seat and waited for them to pass through the atmosphere of Yuma and touch down so they could get the job done...He hoped they would arrive soon...Boredom and Marines don't mix very well...

Warrant Officer Jason Moros walked into the Celestra, His first major mission with the Colonial military. with him he brought his standard issue Colonial CR-1A Assault Rifle and a small Knuckle knife for close combat. He took a seat not one for words he sat down and did as he was told and strapped in for the bump ride down Planet Yuma.

Looking out from the small command tent, Liam Anders surveyed the camp that the forward research team had managed to set up - a beach on the coast, with a few structures, supply stockpiles and landing zones between the sea and the line of the jungle. For now, there was enough space between the coastline and the plants to maintain their base.

Our presence seems to make the plants easier to manage over time, but that isn't saying much, he thought to himself. Things were a lot easier on Borneo: at least the fish there weren't dangerous, toxic and hostile. Maybe this young man Lucas could bring some new ideas to the table...

Until the techies managed to get the docking ring finished and come up with a more effective way of clearing these damn plants away, this was about it for planetside operations.

Heading back into the tent, Anders turned to the communications chief.
"Let the Charon team know they are cleared to land."

"Charon One to Charon Two, we're cleared to land."
Xi glanced towards the cockpit as the Celestra angled downwards. It followed Charon One down towards the beach, where a makeshift landing strip was. Already there were a pair of Nyx fighters and a single Celestra. Charon One and Two settled down in the line as three of the Eros fighters landed on the other side. Epsilon Four and Five stayed airborne, providing air cover.
With the Minister of Science and Technology, you could never be too careful.

Wayland hustled his marines off Charon Two, not wasting time.
"Set up a perimeter! We found the flora, but no fauna. Let's not end up with some killer bunnies invading us with our pants down now!"
"Killer...bunnies? Tsk tsk Colonel, no need to be cruel."
Xi put a hand on her hip. "But go on, it's your job." She sighs, shouldering her duffel. She begins to walk towards the camp.
"Let's go people! We have a planet to colonise!"

Waylande Crowe rubbed his forehead and started to walk, lugging the heavy gun. "I'd say damn politicians, but this one at least knows how to fight. Dammit. They got smarter."
He took a puff from his cigar and continued on, glancing back every now and then to bellow to his men to wise up and start acting like idiots.
Why is it the only guy I currently am sure is not an idiot is Anderson? Crowe thought, removing the cigar from his mouth. Moros...he needs to sharpen up. This is no picnic. Crowe turned back around and sped up to draw abreast of de Mortis.
"Ma'am, why did you lie to Belka." He asked quietly, so only she could hear.
"I don't trust the CIS any more then I could throw the Derby." She whispers back, mouth barely moving. "Keep an eye on him."
Crowe gives her a barely perceptible nod before turning back to the marines.
"Why are you falling behind? Move faster!" He yells to them.

Fighting to quell the queasiness in his stomach - atmo' landings were always tough on him - Lucas fumbled with the five-point harness on his jump-seat, and eventually pried himself from its grip. Bending down to get his pack from underneath the seat, barely catching his glasses from sliding off his nose, the cool air of Yuma wafted into the Celestra cargo bay, as the soldiers stepped off. It felt hot, for a moment fighting for dominance over the artificial chill of the ships canned air-conditioning. He shrugged into the backpack, as someone, Crowe maybe, was yelling for him to get a move on. All the soldiers looked alike.

With his secondary computer strapped to his wrist, he removed it, held it in hand, and took some atmosphere readings, making his way off the ramp, into the sunlight of the tropical beach of their LZ.
In a word, it was beautiful. Surveyors on the surface had always remarked that Yuma was one looker of a planet. It had an air of undeveloped beauty - every landscape unmarred by human habitation, the ecosystem unbroken by human meddling, the atmosphere untainted by human industry. Well, that would all change at some point, but for now, it was all unspoiled. The atmosphere readings were nearly identical to earth norm, the only difference being a slightly higher increase of oxygen concentration. Experts said that the higher concentration, at least until you got used to it, would make you feel more energetic.

The LZ was right next to a rather large base camp. The beach extended only partially from a thick and forbidding looking jungle. Built on the yellow sand, and extending a bit into the sea, the base was all metal walls, and dome like buildings. It housed a some two hundred people, mostly planet engineers, doing testing on the water, gathering plant samples, and, occasionally, sending forage teams into the jungle to find indigenous food - whether fruits, vegetables, or animals. The LZ itself was nothing more then heavy metal grating spread out in a strip over the flattest portion of the beach - it made something akin to a flat metal surface.

With the marines spreading out, Lucas turned his attention to the thing that he really wanted to look at - the jungle. It was thick, dark, and somewhat forbidding. He suspected it didn't extend farther into the beach because of the tide - apparently the flora did not subsist on the salt water of the ocean. The foliage rustled, in what Lucas nearly mistook for the wind - while there was a light breeze, only a portion of the foliage moved - and only because one of the marines had wandered within a couple yards of where the jungle started.

Lucas smiled - these plants were so interesting.

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