Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sherry was still counting people as they arrived. So far, so good.

She turned to Chance, a thoughtful look on her face. "I don't think we'll be gone more than a few hours, and that's only if we find something of real interest. But I am hoping to find enough to keep us engaged for at least a couple of hours." She really didn't want this mission to be a waste.

It was right about then that another Life team member got her attention. "Nice to meet you, Oliver!" She grinned at him. "Excellent! Field testing is quite valuable." She paused and looked around. "Don't be afraid to pull someone in to help you with testing, if you need it."
Research was very important, and Sherry was always supportive of research.

More people were showing up. New faces (which made Sherry happy) as well as ones she knew.

"Hi, Mimi!" She waved at the trainee. "Um...wait here and I'll have you and Chance help me hand out a few things in a minute."

Just a minute was right. It was time to get things moving along.

"Okay!" Sherry clapped her hands. "Everyone, if I could have your attention! Please, Thank you!" She took a deep breath. "Okay. As some of you know or may have guessed, I'm Sherry, and this is a small research excursion. I want to thank you all for coming, I hope we have fun."

Sherry had a bad habit of talking too much when she was nervous. "We'll be going to Turkey today,on the side closest to the Mediterranean coast. I don't anticipate running into any locals, but if we do, just pretend we're a tourist group. What we're really doing is investigating a group of old ruins- old city and tombs and such- built more or less on the side of a mountain. We WILL be going inside and underground- I have reason to believe that the ruins actually go far deeper into the hillsides than people realize, and THIS is where our main focus of exploration will be."

She pulled forward a small box. "Everyone gets one bag to hold things, though if you have your own you can just use that if you want."

She grabbed another box. "I have some notebooks, please take one and a pen or two if you need them. But we do have phones and other nifty gadgets you can use for note taking if you'd rather. However! I don need everyone to get a couple of baggies and jars for samples, just in case. All of that is in this box here."

Sherry pushed the largest box in Chance's direction. "Everyone needs a flashlight! There was a problem with my order of headlamps, so for this trip all we have are some handheld lights. Please don't lose them. Chance, could you help make sure everyone gets one?"

"Okay. What else," she looked around. "Mimi, hand these out." Sherry turned, grabbed a box, and dumped it in Mimi's arms. "I've brought snacks. Everyone gets a sandwich! There are ham and cheese OR tomato and lettuce. Everyone gets two. You also get an apple, and a bottle of water."

Sherry looked around, mentally checking things off her list. "Okay. I think that's it. Just grab your gear and head to the portal." She waved in that direction.

"Oh! One more thing!" Sherry was waving again, and no towards the portal. "Self Introductions! Everybody get your things, then we'll trade names, and head through the portal together."

He gave Mimi a little grin as she ran up before Chance turned his attention back to Sherry. She seemed excited, maybe a little nervous, but either way, the mission seemed an interesting one, and he was quite pleased to be a part of it.

When prompted, he bent over the largest box she'd nudged towards him and grabbed a bunch of the flashlights, passing them out to everyone who'd come so far, accompanied by a cheerful smile. Chance left one for himself and tucked it into the bag that he plucked from another box. All of his supplies were tucked together and he swung it onto his shoulders, looking as relaxed as ever.

"I'm Chance Bones," he said lightly, giving a small wave to the group. "Sun Division Intermediate."

And once everyone else had spoken, he disappeared into the portal along with them.

(He may or may not have rifled Oliver's hair on the way out.)

Arorangi beamed at Clyde. "I am very ready for adventure!" he said cheerfully, and dragged Oliver forward, an arm slung around his shoulders. "Clyde, this is my best friend Oliver, as he says! Oliver, this is Clyde, my new friend!"

He seemed quite pleased that the two of them were making acquaintances, Arorangi releasing Oliver (thankfully) to gather his own supplies together. He happily pulled the pack on and looked at the both of them.

"Let us get ready, then!"

"Nice to meet you Oliver." Clyde shook his hands firm and strong. He had a small buzz of excitement about him. "Yes I'm new... moon division." he said because apparently that sort of stuff was important around here.

It seemed they were moving. He listened to the directions and eyeballed the supplies. Clyde then turned to gather his supplies. He took the extra bag and shoved it along with everything else into his bag for now. "Thank you for the food." Even if he was going to save it for later having someone feed him was always a good feeling. Clyde had a certain knowledge of how hard food could be to get. He took one of each sandwich and an apple along with water. water was always important.

After gathering his supplies, he turned to the group. "I'm Clyde Pierce. Moon division trainee. Nice to meat you all." Clyde took note of Mimi's name alone with Chance and Sherrie's. He would also take not of everyone's name who announced it, though it was unlikely he would be able to remember everyone.

Once all the introductions were done and out of the way, he stepped though the portal with everyone else.

It felt too early for the excitement that seemed to be bubbling up in a few of the other hunters. Especially that Mimi girl. Though Momo wouldn't have a hard time remembering that girls name since it was just one letter of difference of her own.

"Momo Hayashi." She stifled a yawn before grabbing the provided supplies. "Mist Division trainee." If they wanted to know more about her they could ask. She wasn't feeling up to supplying small talk unless prompted. With that she stepped through the portal.

Scout covered her smile as Dawson perked up around the food. He was so simple sometimes.

"My name is Scout ... I'm a mist trainee ..." she said quietly before following Dawson's lead out. The faster she didn't have to interact with people, the better.

Feng spent most of Sherry's little speech struggling with the provided backpack. Did his arm go through this string? Both strings? Why couldn't he reach to get his other arm in? He tried to make a little fuss as possible off to the side, but it was hard to hide when you towered over most the group.

Eventually, after much twisting, he was settled with his sandwiches, flashlight, and bag and was ready to go.