Panic Equals Death, Logic Equals Life

Planet XI - Nomad Ground Crew
JP with Omni, Jaxx, Liltroll2, Kudzu, and Kronos

"Protecting a group of people from unknown enemies in a rapidly deteriorating situation and searching for shelter are two very different tasks, both of which I'm not capable of handling at the same time. I could watch your backs, as long as you all look for somewhere safe to hide and find Sestero. His skills would be useful here," Maddox said.

He knew he couldn’t be leader, lookout, and guardian all rolled into one. One man could only do so much. He wasn’t perfect.

He glanced around at the group, noting the uncertainty in their faces. Rita, standing among them, looked just as unsure.

"I... I don’t know what to do. What do we do?" she stammered, trying her best not to panic.

Dr. Adama, keeping his cool, let out a grunt before speaking. "Alright, when mother nature is on a rampage, we need to stay calm and focus on the bare minimum for survival. We need to find somewhere to park and ride out the storm, like a cave. Conserve oxygen by limiting stress and movement, stay as warm as possible, and monitor communications in case the Nomad makes it out of the storm. If our comms are down, we can send Morse code for rescue. So, if anyone's good at anything here, speak up and take charge of that."

He was serious. The last thing he planned to do was die on a frozen rock, especially when a big payday was on the line.

"I don’t have Nomad signal. We need to make turn around," Niko said in his broken English, his voice strained as he stopped the HTV, scanning the horizon through the brunt of hail. Slowly, he turned the vehicle away from the worst of the storm.

"We wait for Mr. Sestero, da? Maybe he come, maybe not."

Rita remembered something a parent once told her: panic and you die. The thought calmed her, bringing rationality to her thinking. Panic equals death, logic equals life.

It was Dr. Adama's words that got her brain going. "The caves... We need one with a geothermal lake. That’ll give us heat. The air is breathable... it’s just freezing," she pointed out to the group. "If we find a warm cave, we can manage. But I also suggest we use the HTV’s air supply instead of our suits until we find shelter. That way, we don’t run out of breathable air too fast."

There was a note of risk in her voice, as she knew there were dangers. Quakes, visibility, and unmapped terrain could all spell disaster.

"We could also use the mobile science trailer," she added. "It has heat and an air supply. It’s not paradise, but it’s sure better than freezing our tits off."

Dr. Adama nodded in agreement. "I’m with you on that. I marked my dig site on the GPS, so we can use that as a reference point when the storm passes."