Up a creek without a paddle (Kuro X Kveria)

“C’mon baby, c’mon baby-YES!” Connor threw his grease covered hands into the air when the engine of what he dubbed the “Mega ATV” or the Hornet if you weren’t creative, purred to life. He quickly snapped his hands back down onto the controls and gently pulled them back. He whispered and cooed to the machine like it was a child learning to walk.

A wide grin split across his grease smudged and sweaty face as the hover vehicle smoothly lifted up from the ground. While the machine idled his eyes scanned the screens and gauges mounted on the dashboard. Core temperature is stable. Gyroscope is balanced. Good, good, good. He thought to himself, licking his upper lip and tasting the tang of salt from his sweat.

He looked up and out of the windshield, the faint lines of a honey comb like design flowing across the hard glass. On the other side was the large space of hangar he and other engineers worked in. Past the other men wearing jumpsuits and lab coats alike was the open doors of the hangar. Beyond little houses made of bamboo and solar panels and fields of crops that were of Earth origins was green.

Trees as tall as mountains stretched out in the horizon, dark woods that they had only just begun to explore. Mysterious creatures, strange plants, fantastic locations; the unknown. It all laid outside of the hard steel walls that housed the budding colony of humanity. Canaan, Paradise.

Although logically he knew that everything out there would be far from friendly, he still wanted to see it.

He wanted to see all of the plants and animals of this alien world first hand and not through photographs and videos or under a microscope in a lab. He wanted to leave these walls and see their new home. He didn’t want to wait around until he was in his sixties when it was finally deemed safe for civilians like him to leave and explore for themselves.

Anyone that was military or had an occupation related to learning about plants and animals got to walk out the gates. The fact timid Ester could waltz out into the jungles and he had to stay behind was a sour note for him.

No matter how many times she could knock him on his ass.

Connor eased the controls forward and gently set the newly created vehicle down onto the concrete.

With any luck, this ATV on steroids would be his ticket out there.

==

A high pitched ring jerked Connor awake from his slumber. He groaned and rolled over onto his stomach on the thin, but very comfortable foam mattress that rested on the floor of his homes loft. His hand slapped around until he found his phone, blue hair a hilarious mess of spikes and he pushed himself up onto one elbow while answering his phone with a hoarse, “Hello?”

He remained half asleep for a few moments as the person on the other end spoke. Then abruptly he snapped wide awake. “Wait, what!? It was approved!?” He asked into the phone, sitting up on his knees and holding his breath.

As soon as ‘yes’ met his ears Connor threw his hands into the air and shouted, “YES! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

His proposal and request to take the Hornet out to test drive in the field had been approved!

Remembering he was still on the phone he reigned in his excitement to finish talking to the woman on the phone. “Hm? Oh yeah I understand having a soldier with me makes perfect sense...Okay I’ll be there by 10...No, no, thank you miss.” He hung up the phone and flopped down onto his back, kicking his legs and punching his fists into the air with a brilliant grin on his lips.

==

Connor yawned as he entered the conference room, a mug of heavenly coffee in one hand and his tablet in the other. His hair was neatly combed on top of his head and he had refrained from putting his piercings in this morning. However the professional look ended there.

On his torso was a light blue t-shirt with the picture of a green cartoon t-rex at the center holding a pair of those toy claw grabbers with the word ‘unstoppable!’ scrawled across the top. All he owned was novelty t-shirts or grease stained tank tops that he wore when he worked on machines.

He sat down at the table, sipping at his sweet coffee while using his other hand to pull up the schematics of the Hornet for the meeting. The purpose of this briefing was to hammer out the details of his and his co-pilot’s road trip. He wasn’t too worried about meeting the soldier or marine or whatever that would be his driving buddy. He got to know a few Force Recon marines pretty well when they had been in space, those guys had been more laid back and funny than him. If he got along with those guys he was sure he would get along with the man or woman he’d be riding with.

This place, this planet, this new home... wasn't exactly his choice. Colt wasn't satisfied living here, wasn't satisfied with the way things ran, hadn't even been satisfied with the ride over. Something in his gut churned at the thought of leaving behind the things he knew and grew up with, and he wasn't quite ready to admit to homesickness just yet. At least—and this was one thing that did kind of appeal to him—the surrounding area looked like the area he'd grown up in. Not that he'd ever really got to enjoy it fully with his father always out working on whatever it was he worked on. All he knew was that without some part of his father's help, he wouldn't be standing there all too early in the morning getting ready to go on his usual patrol.

He'd long since thrown his coffee down black and scalding hot, ran a comb through his hair and was suiting up when his cell rang out in the bland silence, not even shaking his cool demeanor in the least. He picked it up, checking the call display and rolled his eyes with a huff. He didn't even want to know, and he was tempted to just not answer, but complying and ending up having a horrible day as the result of the irritation that was about to ensue was better than the reprimansion that would be dealt out for insubordination. So he hit the Talk button and held it up to his ear with a frown, carding a hand through his dark hair with exasperation. "It's Holmwood. What do you want?"

The woman's voice was all too shrill in his ear, even when she was speaking softly with a professional air; it didn't help that what she'd told him was the exact opposite of what he was expecting. The news that he would be accompanying a mechanical engineer out into the forest for surveying and testing his new toy was more than a little insulting. Was he so useless that the only job good enough for him was babysitting? He responded in the affirmative with a groan and hung up, slamming down another mug of coffee before he laced his boots and headed over to the conference room with an unusually steep frown. Some of his fellow officers poked fun at the valley of wrinkles formed on his brow with the way his eyebrows pushed down, but one glance silenced them almost immediately. Besides, it was physically impossible for his face to get stuck like that; he wished that his comrades would grow up and quit acting like children. It was getting old. Well... they hadn't given him the nickname "Sergeant Serious" for nothing, anyway.

Colt was among the last to arrive and he scanned the room before taking a seat next to Connor. It had taken him all of about 3.5 seconds to begin internally bartering, hoping there was some way out of this. Well, of course Colt was a little curious as to what lay beyond their walls, but he would have much rather done this with a proper troupe, not some flippant boy in a t-rex shirt. He heaved a sigh, let it pass quietly between his lips and reclined in his chair with crossed arms. What a day this was turning out to be, indeed.

Connor was playing around with his empty coffee mug trying to balance it on it's handle to make it spin, needing something to focus his unending energy on while he waited for someone to show up. Either his new road trip buddy or the person that would be running over the parameter's of the test drive.

He looked up when the door opened and felt like sinking into his chair a little seeing the very unhappy looking soldier that walked in. Turning russet brown eyes up at the man when he sat down he gave a nervous smile at the storm clouds hovering over this man’s face. He did not look like he was in a good mood. Not one bit.

Connor glanced down at his coffee mug, wondering if he should say anything or just be quiet. Well it was rude to not say anything when they were literally the only people in the room at the moment. “You must be my co-pilot.” He grinned, turning to him and holding out his rough, calloused and lightly scarred hand for the other man to shake.

“I’m Connor Douglass, Head Engineer of Hangar Six. Nice to meet you.” He tried to sound as polite and cheerful as possible, hoping to not worsen his potential driving buddies mode.

The chair squealed like a stuck pig when he reclined, and Colt narrowed his eyes a little more. Everything was grating on his nerves that morning, it seemed, and unfortunately there wasn't much he could do about it. Instead, he sat up a little straighter and let his eyes wander to the place where the room's other occupant hand his hands wrapped around a coffee mug. What he wouldn't give for another right now. Two just didn't seem like enough. Maybe this was attributed to his recent having to quit smoking or just the fact that he didn't want to be in that room at that moment; maybe he was stressed from not getting enough sleep or from suffering through his comrades immature pokes and jeers. He understood that they were trying to make him lighten up a little, but at the same time, what was so light about their situation? How could they smile and laugh like that when they were all walking a very fine line, not knowing whether or not they were going to make it to the next day. Sure, they had ways of sustaining the population, but no one knew what was on the other side of that wall, or what could come across, through, over top of it. There was just too much riding on them and their lives for Colt to lighten up just yet.

His eyes, the colour of smouldering ash, slipped up along the other's well-toned arm to examine the extensive and intricate tattoos, then continued up to wonder how anyone could walk around with their hair so brilliantly coloured. He had to drop his glower for an incredulous expression, his eyes widening and his mouth tightening just a little, when he'd finally gathered the courage to look at what the heinous little lizard on his t-shirt was actually doing. Colt felt something in him snap, his eyebrow twitched in annoyance.... And then he had the gall to offer his hand.

Colt had to inhale deep through his nose to compose himself before taking Connor's hand in a firm grip, albeit reluctantly. "Sergeant Major Colt Holmwood of the Third Battalion." He managed to relax his brow, soften his eyes just long enough to connect his gaze with Connor's, pulling out every stop he could think of to be polite and professional without purposely taking into account the pleasant angles of the engineer's face and the way he was so perfectly put together. After all, the sooner they got this over with the sooner he probably never had to deal with this guy again. First impression? How did this guy make it to Head Engineer? Colt thought it bitterly to himself, pulling his hand away and sitting straight in his seat again. He had to rock back and forth for a moment to get some semblance of comfort back, but there was already a dull ache settling in the furthest reaches of his hind end.

With a huff, he looked away. "So, I guess this is your fault then," he said slowly in a deep and silky lexus, tasting the words as they left his mouth, testing them for poison. Luckily he'd held most of it back. "I'm not really thrilled about any of this, so let's just make it as quick as possible."

Connor blinked rapidly at the hostility the Sergeant held for him. He thought the man was just in a bad mood, which was fine, everyone had their rotten days. Connor just didn't appreciate being someone's punching bag. "Right, sorry to have pulled you away from your royal court; your Majesty." He said sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

He wondered who the hell had shoved the ten foot stick up this guys ass.

"We're waiting on one more person to show up and tell us about the test drive. All I know so far is that we're doing it. Don't know where we're going or for how long so try not to take my head off in the next five minutes alright?"

The comment made Colt sit upright and square his shoulders. Okay, so maybe Connor had some merits—for one, he wasn't a flake that was too afraid to go head-to-head with someone, and this was something that Colt could appreciate. He relaxed significantly, cross his arms and leaned back once more, breathing out a short chuckle. It took guts to speak up against someone, especially when that someone was radiating such a dark aura. He turned his head just enough so that he could see Connor in the periphery of his vision and let one corner of his mouth twitch upward. This could possibly be more fun than he originally had given it credit for.

"All I heard was that I was accompanying some genius, the one who built the Hornet. You're completely the opposite of what I imagined; I probably wouldn't take you seriously if you were here with a bowl cut and a lab coat." He stared straight ahead now, his face neutral. "Well, either way it doesn't matter now. I've got my orders and I plan on carrying them out; that's my job. I was chosen because I'm competent and level-headed, more so than most of the others around here. I don't have to like it, but I guess I consider it a compliment. And if I want to look at any promotions in the future, I'd better behave myself, so you don't have to worry about your head just yet."

Connor frowned and opened his mouth to say something but cut himself off hearing the jiggle of the doorknob. The door to the conference room opened and a small Hispanic woman in military fatigues walked in. "Gentlemen." She greeted them curtly. "I am Major Jones. I will be briefing you on your outing."

The woman turned on the holographic projector in the middle if the table. A map of the surrounding area appeared and then shortly after did a bunch of red lines. They all were relatively close to the colony walls. "These are the areas so far explored of the region." She explained. "Our hope with this new vehicle is that we will be able to explore deeper into the wilderness. As of now our current vehicles aren't suitable for driving through the thick undergrowth."

She pressed something and a blue line shot through the projection and off across the map.

"Whoa." Connor whispered when he saw how far the line traveled away from the colony. It was nearly three times as long as the red ones.

"This is your route. It is a projected five day excursion round trip. You both will be provided with ample supplies and body armor. You are to record anything of interest you come across. Do not deviate from this route. We have had difficulties using communication devices in the thick forest. With how far you two will be traveling, you will be cut off with all contact from the colony. So it is crucial you remain on this route, if something happens we will be able to find you if you run behind schedule."

Connor felt his stomach drop a bit. He didn't imagine that this little test drive wouldn't be so little. He thought they'd do a few laps around the colony in the tree's or travel a short distance but they would have been back by the end of the day.

"Any questions?" The major asked looking between the two of them.