[Citadel/Nimbus] A Party On The Rocks (closed)

"I'll pass on that gunfight, thanks," Rahi chuckled. The cold was already cutting through the degree of restfulness she had gained from her spell in the tent, but she squared her shoulders and put it out of her mind, calling up logs of the drones' readings during her nap. She didn't expect to find anything, but the data scrolling across the inside of her visor gave her something to distract herself with.

"I'll swap that drone over and circle back," she decided quickly. Besides stretching her legs a little, there was truly no point in a mobile patrol in these conditions. If there was anything out there, beyond the drones' reach, she'd be more likely to trip over them than spot them coming if she went wandering.

It took a moment to pry the little drone loose from where it had anchored itself - the capacitor did seem to be the culprit, and when it had gone the backups, limited in their sophistication by size constraints, had just latched onto the rock as hard as they could and shut down to conserve what little power remained. Rahi released a fresh drone from the hangar, gave it a quick inspection, and set it in its predecessor's place.

"Coming back," she announced quietly over the private like to Freh'ya, as she neared her cluster of rocks. She could see the big commando only as a projected outline on her visor, but it was enough to settle in close to her. What wind was gusting around the edges of her makeshift shelter seemed to be stronger from ahead, so she placed herself in front of Freh'ya - her suit would form something of a wind break that way.

warm... warm.... warm... soft....tugging .... cold.... cold.... tugging....light.... what the fuck.

Arina woke and had to blink a couple of times. There was soft light around her, coming in through the fabric of the tent and there was a severe gush of cold air coming from the opening, currently covered by the opper body and purple face of Freh'ya. The commando was tugging her leg and looked like shit. But maybe that was just Arina or the weird light conditions.

And that was the moment when the diplomat noticed that her head was exploding. a supernova must feel exactly like this. She wondered how the tiny tent could even hold the huge throbbing contraption that used to be her head.

The doctor had been woken just like her obviously and was moving.

Arina got as upright as possible and tried to appear as normal as possible.
"Mornin'... gosh, we have to go alright? I'll.... I'll try make some warm... you know, food." She felt sick the moment she said it. How could you feel sick when you were actually hungry?

Freh'ya just nodded and retracted her head and closed up the tent again.

"Hey Temria. I hope I didn't disturb you too much. I guess we should get thetwo outside something warm and then get ready..." she had problems focusing Temria's face but it got better by the minute at least.

"Ugh... can I have a pill or something? My head kills me!"

The dimly lit bedroom of head of traffic control, Captain Una Jena somewhere in Sanves....

Beeep.... Beeep.... Beeep.... Beeep

".... Damnit, it's still middle of the night, this better be important!"

"Captain Jena, I am sorry to disturb you at this hour but.... I have something that I couldn't get of my mind and it actually may be urgent."

"It's okay, Farain, what's up."

"It is about that ship that was picking up Matriach T'Veda. When we talked to her secretary yesterday, they said the Sala T'Era had left already, right? Well, just out of curiosity when I started my shift tonight I checked the relay traffic logs...."

"So?"

"The ship has not passed the relay. The entry is logged but no log for an exit jump."

"This means....."

"Captain, this means the ship did not leave the system, it must still be here!"

"Goddess.... alright, put a missing ship alert out. No wait.... I'll come over and inform the Matriarchs myself. I want you you get com protocols from all relay stations in the system, I want to know if anyone had com traffic with that ship before I put an alert out. And double check our own traffic control logs first. I want a detailed analysis of the ship's movements over Trategos."

"All right. But that may take a bit, we have limited capacity since the relief fleet has priority on the VI."

"See what you can do, Farain... thanks for calling. This was important."

"Thanks, Ma'am."

The night had just been terrible, a mix of meditation, freezing and reshuffling her limbs. Getting no proper sleep for one night wasn't that much of an issue, Freh'ya had had worse, but it would lower her performance and she had to take it into account for the last leg of their journey.

But she had spend the last hour before actually waking Rahi on thinking about how to approach the facility. A few variables on this were indeed not adding up and the more she thought about it, the unless she liked to just approach directly or even signal their arrival until she could be sure that there was no danger waiting for them. The fun thing was, in a way she would have wanted that since she had the urge to act out on someone here. But she had figured out a route on the map on her omnitool that would not have them out in the open plain but more to the hillside where rocky formations provided additional cover if needed...

Eventually she woke Rahi. The small pilot had insisted in curling up in front of her and while Freh'ya could not have accepted that from any of the civilians, she could from the fellow huntress. The sun was coming up over the horizon and the it was just time to go. Only a couple of hours more....

With stiff and hurting knees she trodded over to the tent and woke the two inside. Temria seemed awake already as she reacted immediately but Arina was sound asleep. The inside of the tent was warm and made Freh'ya feel the frozen facial muscles even more.

"C'mon you two, let's get this over with... Temria, do we have something like Kaffe or... at least something hot?" She grabbed two energy bars from a backpack.

The younger asari at last stirring to wakefulness, Temria stretched as best she could under the low roof, groaning as her body resisted being forced into the basic rudiments of motion after taking so long to acclimatize itself to the hard, uneven floor. She winced, and flinched visibly as she raised both arms, regarding the arm brace again as though she'd just noticed it. Reluctantly she cradled her injured limb with the good one, testing the limit to how far she could bend each finger...

She looked to Arina with a faint smile, but caught herself from asking if she'd slept well. Evidently from the way she was swaying, the doctor had gotten the best of the night. "Oh-" she caught herself again, "Let me take a look at you real quick first, Arina..."

---

"Yes... yes I'd say you're due for another, though not on an empty stomach. You wouldn't think you're nauseous now if you tried taking one on an empty stomach, lets..." She turned, rummaging through their gear again and finding with some disappointment little other than the baseline energy bars and a couple of supplements. "Well... lets make sure it's not empty, per se..."

It had dawned on her that Freh'ya had mentioned Kaffe, and with a moment of fumbling she opted to try reaching her through the comm bead.

"Freh'ya, ma'am." she stammered, abandoning trying to sound deferential and falling into old habits of economy of speech, "Kaffe is solid, can be boiled down or eaten. We all need to hydrate before setting out again, what's packup time? Do we have time to use the stove?"

Rahilan stretched as Freh'ya ambled off towards the tent, inwardly marvelling at the big commando. She had had precious little sleep, if any, Rahi knew - meditation could help, but only so far - yet even rising, working the night's stiffness out of her limbs, she seemed more alert, more aware, than the pilot felt. She wondered if she would ever be like that, and concluded probably not.

"Not on my own feet, anyway," she muttered to herself, taking care that the comms channel was muted. What she wouldn't give for an aircraft. True her recent performance hadn't been exemplary, but she knew where she was in her element, even so.

Shrugging and stifling a yawn she opened the comms again, in time to hear Freh'ya say something about kaffe - that would hit the spot - and made her way about the perimeter, removing the emplaced drones and returning them to the hangar to charge. Two fresh ones went into the air in their place, and she fussed over the gun drone a little before starting it up and programming it for its usual pattern, to stay with them ready for use once they moved.

On the outside, she handed one of the energy bars to Rahi.
"Breakfast... how was your night? I think I burned through a complete power pack with the heating."

She scanned their surroundings through the optics of her rifle. The destination of their march seemed so close, yet she could not make out any activity there. The light was blinking and steam was rising from what seemed to be ventilation installations. Now with the light the danger increased again. she wondered if there were any predatory animals in this area and would such creatures would live of.
But Kaffe!

"By all means, please hydrate and boil it, doctor! I'll defend boiling kaffe to the teeth - and the ones making it, so don't you worry, there's always time for that!" She chuckled audibly. Setting the mood for the day was important, her own just as much as that of the group.

Power pack next! The pack pack containing her stuff was sitting next to the entrance of the tent, half covered in snow. She picked it up, shaking the white powder off it. The power packs were cylindrical objects to be inserted into a docking station on the right hip. She removed the old one, it only had one bar left on the indicator. Switching off the heat completely was recognizable after a couple of seconds so she put in the new pack, closed the lid and turned the system back on.

Then she just stood next to the tent, watching the sun rise over the mountain ridge, visible through a gap in the clouds.

Arina had been moving into a cross legged seated position. Sitting still and not moving fast made her head feel better. She happily took the sweet energy bar from the doctor and bit off. Normally she would not eat so much sweet stuff but her body craved for calories.... and a wash and a toothbrush, now that she thought about it. She felt dirty and uneasy. All those military people were probably used to live for weeks in their gear! Disgusting.... she would have to ask Sulla about that, should she ever get the chance to talk to him again!

Washing the food down with water, she overheard Temria's question about kaffe and Freh'ya's reply.
"Oh, Goddess, yes, kaffe and headache pill! Breakfast for a Justicar!" Speaking of which, where were they when you really could need one?

"Here, let me help you...." inserted water into one of the prefab kaffe packs. They could be heated without a seperate pot, coming to think of that, their packs would be a lot lighter when they eventually got moving.

"I'd really feel better with that pill I guess...." she gave Temria a puppy look.

"All right! All right! Leave it to me!" Temria laughed despite herself, it was a tiny, furtive thing, but it felt good regardless. It made her think of their journey thus far, or rather how far they had yet to go, and though tired as they were, she took heart that it would soon be over, even if she had to put her nagging concerns to the back of her mind...

The doctor paused, laying out the four prefab packages between her and Arina, and eyed them absently while her mind turned back to that tower in the distance... "Freh'ya..." she called at last, activating the comm link once more, "During the night were there any sighti-ah-! Hey!"

Her thoughtful repose evidently too much for the younger maiden to handle, Arina had started filling one of the kaffe packs. For the briefest of instants, Temria was ready to scold her over it, but the thought passed as soon as it had come and in the wake of it's petty outrage she could only laugh at how silly it all was. Oh, I really am getting old.

"Yes, Arina. Of course you can have one. You didn't take anything overnight, did you?"

"Thanks. Not quite a camping holiday," Rahi admitted with a small grin. "But circumstances considered, as well as I'll be. I'm actually looking forward to more walking, to warm up." She stretched again, wincing slightly - the bruises from her seat during the crash were making their presence known in no uncertain terms, but she could live with it. She shivered as she retracted her visor and quickly ate the bar. She wasn't quite hungry yet, but she would be soon enough, and better to eat now than during the march. With a bit of luck, and the bars being low-residue, they'd be at their destination (one way or another, the pessimistic part of her brain supplied) before she needed to use the plumbing. Her suit had the usual internal hardware for the purpose - situating it as she suited up the previous day had been the uncomfortable part of the process, but she always felt distinctly awkward using it too, at least while in company

Still, if awkwardness is the worst that happens today, things are looking up...

"I can use that," she offered, seeing the lone indicator still lit on Freh'ya's old power pack. Plugging it into the drone hangar's recharge port she set it to discharge into the internal capacitors, where it would help refuel the drones that had been out overnight. Another lesson her tutors had drilled into her: better to fully charge everything than have half-full pack lying around - so when you grab a fresh pack in an emergency, you'll know it is a fresh pack. On that thought she did the same with her own powerpack, replacing it with a full one, draining the half-empty into the hangar, and discarding the two empties.

"Um, I have some tinsa chews, if anyone wants one?" she asked, opening her all-party comms channel. "Freshen up the mouth a bit... not that we're going to be, um, kissing or anything, just... it feels better- done talking now." Just as well her visor was closed again, her blush would probably be showing on infra-red otherwise. Tinsa did serve as a useful enough teeth cleaner at a pinch, for a day or two at any rate, but the gum's association with instant-fresh breath before a date was pervasive in the media.

A chuckle rocked Freh'ya's body, as she sat the rifle down eventually. Her com was on Rahi only.
"But isn't that just a camping excursion? Nothing, nobody, not even a living thing, if this light wasn't blinking I'd say this area is deserted since the krogan rebellions. And I think I'll take a bit, for later." she grabbed the strip from the box Rahi held and stored it into her pocket. Kaffe, with all the advangages it had, also had atendency to cause hera dry mouth and a chewing bit would eliminate that feeling. it also would give her facial muscles something to do. Partial numbness.... not really good.

She opened the channel to everyone.
"Nothing happened, no contacts during the night." Not even a damn false alarm. "Just prepare yourself... and the kaffe and then let's get ready. Weather is loooking okay." She was sounding a bit brash but that was just the lack of sleep talking.

She switched the com to Rahi again, pointing down the right side of the ravine. the rocky hillside was sloping at a flat angle, pikes emerging from it's side, large boulders being deposited by the glaciers in bewtween.

"I want to approach the tower through there. Much more cover. I don't like the thought that we don't know what's over there. We won't radio until we have a overview of the situation. If the Matriarch is the real target may may have just been a coincidence and a collateral."
Now where was that kaffe.

Arina felt really dumb now, on top of her mushy head. She dug into her pocket to find the small pack of pills. She also had forgotten… damn. She had forgotten to take the night pill. She was messing up so much. So she broke another pill in half and took one.

“No, I didn’t.” She washed it down with some water, grinning weakly. “Whatever the doctor says, whenever the doctor says. My head still feels like a drivecore, sorry.”

She let Temria handle the Kaffe while waiting for the pill to work. It wasn’t an immediate kick in but if yesterday was any indication it would work somehow.
“There was nothing going on, at least while I was awake. The night out was terrible. I can’t believe I am saying this but I’d rather walk for a day than sit through another night like that.” The kaffe was heating and she was looking forward to that kind of medicine.

“How’s your arm doing? I’ll… assist you if there’s any problem!”
She was so making a fool of herself, she thought. Great way to start the day.

"It hurts, Arina." she replied firmly, her tone carrying a tension belying her honesty, but also conveying that she didn't appreciate it being brought up.

And in truth, it did hurt. It had a lingering, hot pain that would be exasperated by any conscious or unconscious exertion of pressure on it just as assuredly as if she'd jammed a metal rod into her forearm. More concerning was the burning sensation in her fingertips, more than anything she wanted to clench them into a tightly balled fist, but had to settle for flexing them periodically to assure herself that she still could.

"... But I've been through worse." she flashed the maiden a weary smirk, the sort of 'oh not this again' look that Matrons were supposed to have in their repertoire, to impart confidence in trying times. She wondered if it'd work... "And so will you."

It dawned on her as she re-checked the seals on her gear and prepared herself to get up and face the cold yet again that Arina probably had already. To that, she said nothing.

"Regardless, who wants kaffe?" she called at last, snatching up the remaining containers and held them carefully in the crook of her bad arm, her pack slung over her good shoulder, ready at last to bid the tiny tarp-like bulwark a final farewell.

Rahi shook her head, grinning, at Freh'ya's retort.

"I like to get in touch with nature a little closer to civilisation," she admitted. "Say within easy walking distance of a good restaurant and comfy hotel each evening? Back in training I got teased for it - nothing hurtful," she clarified, "just... you know how it is, everyone has their strengths. Some of the girls couldn't wait to get out and tackle the wilderness exercises. When I made good time cross-country, they used to say it was because I was in such a hurry to get back to a proper bed." She chuckled, remembering what - despite the discomfort - were good times.

She shook the memory off and fixed her attention on the terrain ahead when Freh'ya started to explain her preliminary plans.

"Agreed," she nodded - not that there had ever been any question, but it was important to say. Reflexively she tested her weapons one by one as they talked, drawing them from their hardpoints, deploying then retracting them, and stowing them to move on to the next. "I was thinking about that last night some, in between what was passing for sleep. We've got plans of the facility, and they show some of the internals." She opened her omni-tool and called up a basic map, orienting it with where visual landmark recognition estimated them to be. "It's a mining station, originally - they used to move a lot of heavy cargo out of here, so now it's just the Matriarch and her people, there are old loading bays and grav barge docks that nobody uses. Most of them are a way away from the passenger craft platform they use as the main entrance now, but here," she pointed to an access way marked 'unused' on the map, "this cargo pad probably hasn't been used in years - nothing the Matriarch would want shipped up could be that big, I'd have thought - but it's close enough to the passenger platform that it shares the same power and data trunks. It shouldn't have been shut down cold." She switched off the omni-tool and looked to Freh'ya.

"Could be a way in," she suggested, "if we wanted an alternative just walking up to the front door. The hostiles can't have been here long, so if they're inside, they may not have fully familiarised themselves with the unused portions of the facility." She looked glum, and continued. "But if the hostiles are outside, if the Matriarch's attendants are still in control inside the facility, and if we try to sneak in, we look like the aggressors..." She wondered how much of that Freh'ya had already considered - groundside strategy wasn't her strong suit at all.

Good showing Arina! Never ask a doctor about their own health issues. Funnily enough, this felt like the worst for Arina. The war had been wore at large with many individual dramas and a constant fight for sheer life. Nothing compared to it, but she wasn’t capable to think about it that way right now. The uncertainty of the situation at hand, in combination with her state let her think ahead in very small steps only and did not help with more abstract thinking.

“Yeah, you’re right, of course, ma’am” Weren’t Matrons always? Matrons should totally rule since they were much more clever than Matriarchs. They were only here because of a damn Matriarch VIP transport.

She regretted that though immediately. T’Veda was sick and old and important to her community, who was she to belittle her? T’Veda was not to blame for this mess.

She wanted to help Temria with the kaffe but held herself back this time, instead she took one of the containers and took a sip of liquid dark warmth…

Eventually, she put on her gloves and was trying to wiggle out the tent. Outside, she regretted not having fastened her hood immediately as the clod bit her skin with sharp teeth. But not as bad as it had felt during the night at least!
She put the kaffe down and began to roll up the face cover a bit close the straps under her chin. She put on the gggles but her mouth had to remain free so she could drink the now seemingly hotter fluid.

Rahi and Freh'ya were already doing some military planning. She didn't want to disturb that, she had raised enough mishaps already!

The Navy... they carried you anywhere but you had to carry them on the ground. She would have liked to run a bit of an obstacle course with the pilot, get her in shape. Hotel beds, was this huntress serious?

But that was unfair and not true. Rahilan had a lot of potential, she was dedicated and was spirited, she held herself well so far and this wasn't a game, especially not with their two 'guests'. When this was over there would be time for... something more. At least a good drink. But first things first. Freh'ya looked at the schematics Rahi was showing her.

"Excellent observation, Rahi. That entrance is a good idea should we need it. I want to find out more, I am unsure... not knowing what the enemy is or if there actually is even one is unusual. In a regular case we could have all kinds of recon data but not here." She pointed out the trail she wanted to take, her finger stopping at the cargo pad. "Look, fitting, isn't it? It's quite easy to come in from that side but we won't be able to see what's going on at the main entrance. And think about any upgrades this place might have gotten during the lockdown. Maybe there are automated defense installations. We must assume there are." Freh looked at Rahi, somewhat concerned. "But we have no idea what and where. and we don't have detailed information how big the staff of the Matriarch is, unfortunately nobody asked that when we had the chance. Could be just the two or could be a guard of commandos. In the latter case, looking like a attacker is something we should avoid."

She looked up and over at the place.
"The night was calm, there is no visible action going on. If there are pirates, they either are already in the tower or there is a siege we can't see. But in that case, Sanves should have known. We just need more information. Staying invisible is important, with the detour I think it will be ... mid day until we're close enough to decide what to do." If they weren't detected before that.

"Rahi, all of you wanted to come and not stay behind. It is very likely that no matter what we do, they will detect us before we find out what's going on. I need you to be prepared and I need you to not hesitate when Arina and Temria are concerned. Their safety is more important than anything else. I can handle myself and I want you to not depart them under any circumstances should I get separated." She looked straight at Rahi. Then the doctor's voice came on. Freh activated the open channel.

"I sure as the abyss do, doctor. Come on, Rahi, let's get some warm fuel before we tackle this." She walked over to the tent and took a container from the doctor. The warm fluid was the best after the night that was behind Freh'ya.

The backpack did not feel any lighter really. She was trying to keep her focus on Freh’ya’s heels as the tall asari made her way through the uneven rocky terrain, the mountain slope to their right. Her head, big as it felt somehow didn’t leave room for much thinking. One step after the other step…

They had been making their way through rocky ravines and between snowbanks, at one point even through a crack in an extension of the glacier. Staying out of sight, they had said… Arina wasn’t reassured. How could anyone have occupied the facility that was supposed their safe house and the place where the matriarch and her disciples were living?

Suddenly Freh’ya stopped and raised a hand. There had been no communication with radio in a while, but here their normal voices would do anyway… Arina looked up and there was the tip of the beacon visible over a rock, partially covered in snow on the wind side. It seems so close… when did the yet so close? She had totally forgotten about their surroundings while just marching. She sat down on a small boulder and fumbled with her face mask, which was frozen from her breath. She took out her bottle and took a sip of the ice cold water. At least the headache was better now, but she felt terribly tiered.

She took out an energy bar and broke it in two. While putting one half in her mouth, she offered the other to Temria.

“How’s it going? Want something? It’s kaffe cream… I feel so tired.”

Close enough... if the would proceed they would lose their cover. From her position she could see the top of the beacon but the main building was covered by the rock formations.

"Alright," she said without using the intercom, looking at her group. "Switch off the coms and only use it in a real emergency. Keep a low profile." The map was active on her omnitool, she had a top view of the area, with their position marked and the outlines of the old mining facility.

"Rahi, we need a visual but I am not sure if we should poke our heads out yet. One of your drones could hover beyond that rock over there. Their energy signature is very small if they are on passive scan and optics only. Just a short peek to give us a visual, can you do that?"

She thought for a moment and looked back at the others.
"I want you get your sidearms ready now. Stay put for now, but we may need to move fast, so be alert." After a long moment of staring at them she added:

"How are you guys holding up? It's been a long march. If all goes well it'll be over very soon." Freh'ya just had to say something reassuring, maybe to reassure herself. She wanted to run away, run on her own, no responsibility for civilian lives on her shoulders, not again. But the truth was, she had no choice.

Where Arina would go, Temria would follow diligently, both to keep tabs on the diplomat and to keep the pair of them compact and easier for the huntresses to keep track of. That Arina had proven both apt at finding the most suitable seat of rest against many impossible options and generous in sharing reserves had also been a factor.

"Th-thank you." she stammered, graciously accepting the offered energy bar as she took a seat next to Arina on the flat-ish stone. She stretched her legs out in front of her her heels on the ground, trying to roll her feet around work out the uncomfortable kink that had worked its way into her ankles.

"It's okay... I'm tired too..." she admitted reluctantly, a second day of careful navigation and sloughing through tight recesses overflowing with treacherous, powdery snow had been no less grueling than the first. Her legs had endured to the point of overexertion and had kept going, settling at last for a dull, persistent ache when it became clear the tension couldn't stop her from proceeding... Her knees had evidently not received the memo, and had bothered her enough to keep her from consistently keeping pace with the others, occasionally widening the gap between them unintentionally and having to exert again to catch up- a crime for which they were punishing her now...

"Still, keep your eyes open, all right?" the doctor leaned her back against her, fumbling with face covering to expose her mouth, if only briefly, to the intense sting of the wind in order to take a bite out of the offered gift, but it was so intense she wouldn't risk it again, and hastily and unceremoniously popped the rest of it in her mouth before lifting the mask again. "Even now, we're mere minutes away from warmth, comfort, and attendants. Keep that in mind, Arina, and keep awake."

Her head perked up a bit at the sound of Freh'ya's voice over the howling amongst the rocks, "S-sidearms?" she gawked, reaching with her good arm to the flat rectangular thing at her hip, as her eyes turned up to the ridges with alarm, "Where are-?"

"Precaution only," Rahilan said quickly, having switched from comms to the regular speaker in her helmet that let her be heard clearly, even with her voice low, without opening her visor. She unslung her rifle and prepared it, gesturing to the doctor and the diplomat to remain where they were. If the worst befell, they had actually chosen a relatively covered spot to sit down. Rahi glanced from side to side, guessing at likely avenues of approach, and where she might best be placed to draw fire away from them without moving too far away herself.

"I can do that," she replied to Freh'ya, keeping her head low as she moved over to the commando. She opened her omni-tool - linked to her helmet, so the 'screens' showed up only in her interior HUD, not out in the open where the glow might be spotted - and programmed a drone for the task.

"I'll task a few more to join our regular 'sentries' as well," she added thoughtfully. "If... anything happens, we'll want them up to full coverage as quickly as possible. Until then they'll stay out of LOS of the facility. Except you," she finished, holding out her palm for a single drone to hover onto, peering at the tiny serial number on its casing. "Lucky number five. Hopefully."

She glanced at Freh'ya for the comfort it gave, then released the drone and turned her attention back to her visor displays. The drone for its part sped off with an almost inaudible whirr from its central turbine, circling around near the ground, out of sight.

"Drone signals are low-band, and directional," she added for Freh'ya's benefit. "If they don't spot the drone itself, we should be able to get real-time tactical without being uncovered. If they don't spot the drone itself..." She squared her shoulders, and nodded to herself. "Here goes."

Some distance away, obedient to its programming, the tiny drone zipped out of cover - in motion only for a hurried second, before it settled onto the snow, hoping to be taken for a stray stone if seen, while its tiny lenses turned themselves on the landing pad and entry and scrutinised all they could see.