Kayjay strides over from the Western Courtyard.

Krystalin strides over from the Western Courtyard.

K'laarn walks over from the Northern Weyrs.

Fiona appears in a cloud of smoke, wearing her cute little 'Thread Fighter' costume - the blue tights, the yellow bikini, the bright pink hair.....

Telinda drops OOC, something I don't like doing in public, but right now, necessary.

Larbon nods.

You say "Does everyone know what a flamethrower is?"

Fiona nods.

Krystalin nods.

You say "Dont' worry if you don't :)"

Kayjay nods

You say "Alright, do you all know how one works?"

Fiona umms....press a little button and flame spurts out?

Kayjay admits, "Vaguelly"

Nerian strides over from the Northern Weyrs.

Krystalin nods with Fiona.

Kayjay says "agonthree?"

Nerian scritches her dragon.

Telinda grins, about right Fiona. :) I'll go through it, on my understanding since Anne never really expands on it much. Then we'll go off and RP it :)

Fiona nods. Okay.

You say "So, there's a tank, that's usually strapped to your back, cos it's filled with Agenothree -- Nitric acid or HNO3 -- and fairly heavy"

Krystalin grins, "this oughtta be a fun log :)"

You say "Obviously, it's dangerous stuff, so treated with the highest respect."

Nerian says "No drinking it, in other words."

Telinda nods. Not if you want to live. "Attached to the tank is a nozzle, with a toggle/button, that you can depress."

Kayjay nods, logging and remembering her Pernese.

You say "The nozzle can be directed towards clumps of thread and the toggle depressed, and hey presto, flame"

Larbon says "HNO3 can not touch your skin, it will burn it. (Sorry, healer background rearing it's head here)"

Nerian says "Just tell it about the newest joint pain your auntie has."

You say "Now, there's two settings on the toggle, one for broad stream, one for narrow"

You say "Broad stream has a wider area, but lower range, narrow is a narrower area, but larger range."

You say "Everyone with me? :)"

Krystalin nods!

Fiona nods. Broad stream, narrow stream. Depress the button.

Kayjay nods

Larbon nods!

You say "now, it's going to burn -everything- when it comes out, including you, or any of your companions if they are too close."

You say "So, what we do for ground cover, is this..."

Krystalin scans herself and everyone over to memorize what they looked like -before- Krys gets a hold on one :)

Fiona ooh's and gets a really evil look on her face.....

You say "We walk along in pairs, to help each other in emergency, and look for thread burrowing in the ground. It will eat everything in it's way, so the burrow's may be large, may be small. Now, because the grubs aren't doing their jobs, we're ICly expecting bigger burrows."

Fiona nods.

Larbon nods. Will we be emitting the thread or will it be done by someone else that we come across?

You say "Don't forget, if you're poking at the thread with your finger, it'll eat that too. only way then is water on it quickly, so we carry small skins of water, not for drinking, or amputation."

You say "You can emit it. :)"

You say "Unless someone would like to volunteer :)"

You say "Or you could do it for each other :)"

Krystalin nodnods.

Larbon grins "Okay."

You say "No lifting of the nozzles above your head, that sort of common sense thing. :)"

You say "Everyone clear? :)"

Krystalin noddles yet again ;)

K'laarn hopes no one can see through him.

Larbon nods.

You say "Any questions? :)"

Fiona nods. Yep. Except I always thought of myself as slightly opaque....

Kayjay nods, and gulps.

Kayjay nods to no questions.

Krystalin grins, "'You are a door, not a window' ;)"

Telinda grins, "Alright then, back to IC we go"

Telinda strides onto the landing field, her flamethrower still strapped to her back from earlier, but the tanks now refilled from threadfall earlier. She smiles, nodding to the people around the landing field, "Alright, your ground crew for this area today, and so you all need to start by grabbing a flamethrower."

Fiona doesn't hesitate. She snags a flamethrower from the pile....and then eyes it a bit warily. Hmm.

Kayjay straps on a flamethrower with relative ease, having watched her older brothers at the cothold do it befofe.

Larbon nods and finds a flame thrower, he checks the dial and makes sure the safety is on, next he checks that's it filled and makes sure the nozzle is free of any blockage. Buckling the tank onto his back, he prepares for what's to come by taking a few slow, deep breaths and nodding when ready.

Krystalin rushes over, all nice and clean. So much better than earlier. Carefully choosing a flamethrower that looks to be just for her, she heaves it up and onto her back. "Oof. Hmm..." Peering right then left at all the faces, a hesitant smile reaches out to Fiona. "Would you like to be my partner?"

Larbon twists the dial and turns the spray to narrow band, unsure just where the first one will be. He nods to Kayjay, close to him and says "Shall we pair up for this task?"

Kayjay carefully following Larbons' example, she looks serious and more than a bit nervous.

Fiona grins at Krystalin. "Alright," She says. She watches a few of the others out of the corner of her eye - ah, that's how you put it on. And straps the heavy tank awkwardly onto her back, tucking the nozzle under her arm. "Where should we go?" she asks Taraliinda.

Kayjay looking at Larbon, nods a silent yes.

Larbon tugs his gloves on tightly and then grips the handle, keeping the safety closed until it's needed. He looks up at Telinda and awaits instructions after getting the yes from Kayjay for his groundcrew buddy.

Kayjay takes a deep breath, reminding herself that she had been well schooled as any Pern child would be on flamethrowing.

K'laarn watches Telinda handle the ground crews while he speaks with one of the riders who's landed not far away. He explodes, "What do you mean there's a burrow in the left quadrant!" He stalks toward Telinda, leaving the poor fellow behind, "Telinda, this rider." He gestures, "Tells me that in the left quadrant, we've got a burrow. He wants to take some people there to search for more."

That was Telinda. Really it was.

Kayjay looks to Larbon and waits for his move.

Telinda nods, and gestures to the two pairings already formed, "We'll head that way and check!" She hooks her thumb, and heads off, "Come on you lot, we've work to be done!"

Krystalin holds the nozzle at ready, and actually manages to look more dignified than silly. Striking, but not meaning to, a pose, it seems she's ready for action. Or something along those lines... but the gulp that makes her Adam's apple bob ruins the whole effect. "Burrow? Oh no..." gets muttered softly to no one in particular.

Larbon nods and motions to Kayjay "Remember, keep the wandtip aimed at the ground." and he moves out to the indicated area. For all his humor in the barracks, he's serious when it comes to thread.

Fiona nods, hefting the tank again on her back awkwardly, and heads after Telinda (Ha! Got it right that time!), a quick glance over her shoulder to see if Krystalin is following.

Kayjay blood pumping in her ears, heart pounding, nods at Larbon, and walks carefully and quickly matching Larbon, pace to pace.

The rider who told K'laarn about the burrow leads the way anxiously. K'laarn doesn't look as if he's in a good mood. He stalks along, nozzle in hand for his own flamethrower.

Kayjay says grimly to Larbon, "Don't worry, I have seen flame burns."

Telinda strides off down the field, adjusting one of the straps on her harness as she heads in the indicated direction. Her eyes are already scanning the ground as she takes one measured step after another, carefully looking for any signs of a burrow. She keeps her finger off the toggle right now, it's not threadfall after all, and there's always time to do that, better to be safer than sorry.

Krystalin scurries after her leaving partner, and glances around at everyone else. And luckily, she glances back to where she's scurrying, and avoids any crashes. Appearing by Fiona's warm side, a small smile heads her way. "I've never actually had to mess with a burrow before.." she admits softly.

Larbon keeps his gaze on the ground a few feet in front of him and then looks up to make sure he's following Telinda. His gaze moves back down to the ground, scanning around for any missed traces of a burrow. Perhaps the grass is already turning gray and shrinking back as it's eaten from below, or maybe there's trees fallen and eated by the spore from above. He continues his search of the dirt, back and forth, checking it to clear.

Kayjay shrugs both shoulders, shifting the weight of the tank a bit, and searches the ground, alongside Larbon.

Fiona darts a quick smile to Krystalin. "Neither have I," she murmurs to her partner, before her alert gaze drops back toward the ground, scanning quickly, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Kayjay notices a shadow that looks out of place along one edge of the meadow and sharply points to it with her chin, to Larbon. "Over there?"

Larbon keeps his gloved fingertip on the safety catch, ready if need be to flip it off and pull the trigger, but for now, eyes do the work, sweeping back and forth, keeping aware of where everyone else is around him. Greenery there, perhaps the weeding helped a bit for more than just looks. He looks up for a moment to Kayjay and nods "Let's check it out to make sure, shadows can hide a lot of things."

Just over the rise of a small hill is -- devestation. The land seems devoid of grass and looks as if no life has ever, or would ever grow there. Near the centre of the area is a hole in the ground, a burrow in the soil where the Thread must of disappeared into.

Krystalin jerks alrert, and her chin drops to her chest as she skims the ground thoroughly. "Do you see anything yet?" is her mumble towards Fiona. But those green eyes never stray from the ground. And they keep their busy work of scanning, at a fast pace too. Bobing along at some silent beat, her stride eventually matches that of Fiona's.

Fiona swallows hard, and her pace picks up as she heads swiftly toward the now-spotted burrow. Despite her earlier hesitation, her grip on the nozzle is firm, and she presses the button, her hands clenched around the nozzle as she directs her flame into the hole.

Kayjay lifts the catch to the nozzle, firing a narrow spray into the burrow, surprized at her quick reflexes... training did help, after all.

Larbon stays back from the edge of the growing patch of destruction, he flips the safety off and looks around to make sure no one is in the way before spraying a thin stream into the center, down the hole the thread burrowed deep, where the heart hides into the earth. The stream pumps into an arch and lands with a slight splashing sound before sliding into the hole, filling downwards, silent screams of thread echoing in mental image as the silvery bloated parasite withers in death's grip.

Several burrows in fact, seem to dot the landscape, as if a clump had broken apart and scattered its spores across the area. Where that thread hit, the life was burned away.

K'laarn directs his hand toward the burrows. "Flamethrowers ready! Everyone be careful. No burning your partners!" We need to make sure all the thread is charred before we leave here!"

Krystalin catches her breath, and quickly snaps down on that trigger. The acid makes a bee-line to the burrow, and she keeps her eyes open for anyone near her. Don't want any charred candidates on the hatching grounds. The narrow spray splatters onto the horrid burrow, a very disgusted look across her face.

Noting that this burrow seems to be taken care of, Fiona turns, spotting another one. She gives a quick wave to her partner, letting Krystalin know where she's headed, and then, lips pressed tight together in a thin line, she lowers her nozzle directly to the opening of another burrow and lets loose.

Kayjay remembering to switch the safety back on her nozzle, steps back slowly, keeping the nozzle pointed toward the ground. She spots another burrow, looks around quickly side to side to make sure no one is in her range, and releases the safety once again, drilling the burrow relentlessly with the flame.

Telinda stops, just close to one edge of a burrow, and frowns down at it, "Well, say goodbye!" she mutters to herself, flicking the toggle with a practised hand and letting forth the flame. The flame gouges out, in a bright firey spurt of cimmerian fire, dousing the surrounding area in flame and acid. As the flame dies, a burnt circle surrounds what was once a burrow, the thread spores now nought but ash.

Larbon nods as the burrow fills, bubbling liquid that kills the deadly menace. Releasing the trigger, the stream stops and he rolls the setting to wide sweep. A click and the wand shoots a fan of clear fluid, sweeping the death swath, cleaning the path of the decay, cleaning and adding life back to the devistation. Having satified himself that there is one less thread, he moves onwards, checking his tank's status, nodding that there's plenty left. Turning the knob back to narrow band, he keeps the tip downwards and out, a bead of fluid dripping down to the dirt before being lifted and aimed at the next burrow hole.

Kayjay looks to her right, and left, eyes Larbon and continues to walk silently, heart not beating quite as fast now that she knows she didn't faint or do anything stupid. She remains hyper alert however.

K'laarn looks disgusted. "This is awful. This entire area has been infested." He barks, "Which wing was over this section!" The rider comes up behind K'laarn -- the bearer of bad news. "M-m-mine sir." K'laarn glances at him, raking over his badge and says "I see," In a very sinister tone. "You may have just ruined this cotholder's livelyhood, do you realize that? Because we don't have the grubs here, in this spot, this man may go hungry." He accuses the rider. "You're dismissed, but make sure your Wingleader knows he's to report to me."

Kayjay spies a wide burrow just to her left, shivering at the destruction she sees, she lifts the catch, adjusts her nozzle, looks carefully to make sure no one is around her to be scorched, and looks grimly at the burrow, shooting flame deep into its heart. Seeing the blackened remains of a spore, she grins, and lets out a little whoop.

Fiona gives a faint hiss of disgust as she spies the sheer number of burrows, and wipes her forehead with her free hand. She tramps over to the next one, shuddering as the ground fairly writhes beneath the nozzle as it touches the opening, and hurriedly presses the button to loose another stream of fire.

K'laarn mainly supervises the flaming going on -- he has to make sure everything is done by the way. The rider marches off, presumeably to tell his wingleader that K'laarn is furious.

Larbon watches the beam of fluid pulse outwards into the tunnel of thread, the sound of crackling reminds you of water hitting hot grease as small plumes of smoke drift upwards from the hole. With a focused look, beads of sweat run down Larbon's face as he contiunes to hold the wand steady until a small geiser shoots out of the hole before settling back down with the passing of the burning globe within. Trigger off, the jet stops and another switch back to wide band, soaking the eaten area moist with death's burning white cleaned.

Kayjay now getting into the rhythm of the attack, Kayjay breathes deeply and slowly, to stop any stray shaking of her hands, due to the heat of the moment. She loooks around her, quickly, dismayed by the damage done by the burrows.

Telinda flickers a look over her shoulder at the chewed out rider. Opps. Attention goes back to the hole she just flamed to cinders. With the nozzle of her wand she pokes around, making sure she got the entire writhing mass that was threatening to eat this cotholders livelihood. With a nod at her success, she moves on, soon happening upon another burrow, this one digging deep into the ground. A flick of the toggle lets the acid begin to seep from the end, igniting as it's expelled forth in a coruscating beam of living fire -- attacking the squirming mychorrizoid, ending it's pathetic life with flame.

Fiona is getting the hang of this now. And almost looks as if she is enjoying it, mouth set in a fierce grin as she destroys yet another burrow of the parasites. She grips the nozzle loosely now, shrugging again to reposition the tank on her back, and her eyes dart around, looking for yet another place to flame.

Kayjay thinking of her family cothold, grins evily at a burrow just in front of her. Carefully spraying deep into the burrow, not wasting a drop of flame, she looks a bit surprized to see the thread almost pop out. She aims directly at the thread, watching it curl up into a blackened mass, no longer able to destroy life.

Larbon holds his wand out after switching it off. Putting the safety back on, he takes off a glove for a moment to wipe his face before tugging it back on and making sure Kayjay is well in her efforts. Nodding, he looks back at the ground and sees another infestation. Checking the tank gauge again, he mentally notes it's just over half left. Turning the dial back to narrow, he flips off the safety and begins to spray, the burrow a shallow one. His eye open slightly as the thread claws it way's out of the burrow as the fluid jets into it's tunnel. The sight of live thread almost breaks his composure, yet duty takes over and he baths the pulsing ball of silvery fire in a stream of poison. Cracks appear in the shaking rock, an odd shaped globe of living rock before the whole mass emplodes in a silent puff, crumbling into bits as it withers and dies under the relentless jet.

Kayjay shrugging her shoulders again, to readjust the weight of the tank on her back, Kayjay looks up just in time to see the Larbons attack. She nods at Larbon quietly, "Good owrk!"

owrk=work

Eyes focused downward, scanning the ruined land before her, Kayjay bits her lip.

Larbon releases the trigger and holds the wand out, letting it drip on the ground before him. He closes his eyes for a moment and then nods to Kayjay "I will always remember that sight for all my days, but it had to be done." and he moves on, looking for the next, how many threads escaped? he wonders.

K'laarn calls, "Alright, everyone finished?" He glances around as he looks the ground over, As soon as everyone has turned off their throwers, he starts going over the ground critically, walking over scorched earth. "Telinda, get Elidi in here, we'll send the firelizards down the burrows." He decides, "They might of had a chance to get deep, and I don't want to take a chance we missed any of it."

Kayjay eyes begin to tear up from the smoke and flames. Carefully checking her nozzle safety, she wipes her eyes against the sleeve of her now smokey shirt.

Elidi appears from *between* in a small pocket of cold air, chittering happily as she finds a place to land.

His shirt damp, the tank becoming lighter as the tank's supplies is exhausted, but somehow it seems heavier to Larbon, perhaps from the sights he's seen today, he snaps on the safety, looking up at K'laarn, finding no more untreated burrows.

Elidi flies over to her friend. Food, food? Oh darns, no food. She lands on Telinda's shoulder and then peers down at the burrow Telinda's looking at. You want her to go down there? Ug. No. Umm. Well, for the right thing maybe!

Fiona looks almost disappointed, and then lowers the nozzle slowly, her face composed by the time she turns toward K'laarn.

K'laarn glances in the Weyrwoman's direction. "She understand what to do?" He inquires. He too summons in a firelizard, a bright bronze that swoops over him, "There you are Boru." He says and is silent for a moment as he stares intently at the bronze firelizard on his wrist.

Elidi chitters away, and then from nowhere a whole hoard of firelizards descends, flying down into the burrows, whilst Elidi remains on her perch, chittering her directions to the others. See. Get the right gold, do the job. Get the wrong one, and no job. Bonus is getting scraps for it as well.

Kayjay takes the opportunity to check her tanks and silently kicks herself when she sees the wastage. Next time, she will be more effecient with her streams.

Telinda shakes her head, glancing around as the others fly in from *between*. "Alright Elidi, I think I get the message. No food though if you won't go down a burrow!"

Larbon looks up at the appearing firelizards, surprise on his face as the sight of them still catches him by surprise for being Northern not all that long ago. He makes sure the nozzle is dry before placing it in it's holder bracket on tank's side over shoulder. Making a mental note of the half tank left, he stands at attention, pushing the memory of the writhing mass before his eyes.

Kayjay can't help but giggle at Telinda's dialogue with her flit.

Kayjay keeps her nozzle in her hand, knowing her reflexes aren't as fast as Larbon, so she can quickly step into action, if needed.

Boru, just to show his superiority, leaps into the air and soars toward one of the unoccupied burrows. A little flicker of flame curls around his snout before he darts into the hole.

Elidi snorts. Down a burrow? Her! Bah. Her head tosses imperiously and she stares Telinda back in the eyes. The Weyrwoman just laughs, "Well, if you're not going to go down one, make sure the others know what they are doing!" Telinda remarks.

Larbon nods to Kayjay "The firelizards breath fire on their own, so they will take care of anything that we missed. They are better prepared than we are."

Kayjay nodding to Larbon, Kayjay carefully places the nozzle into its proper holder.

Larbon says "Besides, you might accidential hit one of those busy little guys and gals working hard to make sure we did our jobs right."

Telinda stands still for a moment, watching all the firelizards flit in and out, checking the flamethrowers work. She smiles over to the candidates, giving them the thumbs up. "Nice job!"

Fiona gives a relieved smile as it appears that the firelizards are finding no still-active burrows. She lets the flamethrower canister slide very slowly off her shoulder, and sets it beside her feet.

Kayjay looking at the Firelizards work, looks wide-eyed at Larbon, "No way would I want to scorch one of those useful beauties!"

Kayjay looks around her, grimly satisfied that they got all the thread that could have caused so much more destruction.

Boru emerges with a little trumpet and fans his wings to spiral through the air before safely landing on K'laarn's shoulder, "All clear it seems like," Says K'laarn, "If the firelizards and the flamethrowers didn't do it, we'll have to dig." He looks at the ground. "I think they got it, Boru isn't picturing any thread."

Telinda runs a hand down her leg, flexing overtired, overworked muscles, and pulls back her hand sharply, frowning at it a moment before wiping it down her trouser legs. "Well, Elidi says they got it all in these ones" she adds to K'laarn, pushing hair from her face but leaving the goggles down, "so hopefully that's it."

Fiona relaxes, and grins, wiping her forehead again.

K'laarn nods and says, "Alright, everyone ready to move on? Riders on sweeps are reporting clear ground so far in the rest of the quadrants. The rider (Where did he come from?) standing beside K'laarn must just of reported that.

Kayjay sighs and breathes deeply, suddenly feeling very very tired.

Kayjay looking alert at K'laarn voice, nods.

Fiona swallows hard. More? And shoulders the agenothree tank again. "Yes Sir," she says quietly.

Larbon sighs softly and relaxes, hearing the thread has been removed from the area. He stands straight once more and nods, the fall having been completed with the groundsweeping.

Lilith struggles with her flamethrower. She looks up to the sky and relief floods her face before she moves over closer to the Weyrwoman. Her eyes dart here and there, looking for burrows that may have been missed.

Telinda wrinkles her nose at K'laarn, "More?" she asks, flickering a look of -I-know-the-feeling- at Lilith.

Kayjay unclenches her jaw, wincing slightly, only now realizing she had done the whole groundsearch with gritted teeth.

K'laarn muses, "No, I think we're done. We'll know about it if anything happens. This ground crew has checked neough of the area. Other ground crews should be out."

A faint sigh of relief escapes Fiona, and the tank is set down again. Done.

Telinda nods, shouldering her tank into a more comfortable position, "Well, good, I could do with a bath. Anyone else?" she asks, looking around.

Kayjay quietly says to Larbon, "I was terrifed at that one you got ..."

Kayjay nods wearily at Telinda, agreeing with her.

Larbon nods and pushes down his goggles after removing his gloves. A slight smokey smell covers him from head to foot and he sneezes once before rubbing his face with his clean hands, he turns to Kayjay and nods slightly "I thought they always went deep, perhaps that's what riders see in the air in the thick of battle.."

Lilith looks over to K'laarn and nods. She can only nod for she is too exhausted to speak as evidenced by the sloop of her shoulders. Muscles knot along her slim arms as she tries to throw the flamethrower over her shoulder in a bon vivant way. In the end, she just barely is able to lift it above the ground so it is not dragged and damaged.

Fiona looks over toward Telinda and smiles. "Shells, yes," she says fervantly, wiping the hair from her eyes again.

Telinda grins, "Well, lets get rid of the packs to the cleaning up crew, and be on our way. K'laarn, bath time!" she commands, no getting out of that tone, as she strides back to the landing field, unclipping her harness, and letting it slip to the ground.

Kayjay unbuckles her harness, dropping her tank near Telinda's, and begins to feel slightly energized again. "That /was/ incredible!" She lets out a whoop!

Larbon unbuckles the straps and hands the tank to a candidate on cleanup. He blinks a few times and then peers at Kayjay before offering a small smile at her catching energetic nature.

Telinda chuckles at Kayjay, "Well, it has it's up days, and it's down. Least we didn't find any dead animals this time."

Fiona gives a faint laugh, heading swiftly toward the field to drop off her flamethrower, suddenly finding energy now that it's over.

Lilith follows behind Telinda. The light comes back into her eyes at the sound of a bath and she says, "That sounds like a great idea Weyrwoman."

K'laarn grins lewedly at Telinda and says "Oh yeah, I'm all for a bath. " And hopefully no one else saw the look he gave her. He replaces the hose and nozzle of his flamethrower in its sheath on the tank and says "Lets head back to the Weyr."

Kayjay eyes sparkle out of a very dirty, smokey face. "Its the first time I actually got to flame a burrow!"

Larbon sighs and stretches, a few joints pop and crack as he begins to relax "I think I'm going to go swimming to loosen up a bit and relax. You in Kayjay?" he asks, inviting anyone else in the process also.

Kayjay grins at Larbon, "Yeah, souhds just the thing to get the stink off me!"

Telinda nods to Kayjay, "It can be exciting, yes!" she adds, putting her goggles into her pocket, and removing her gloves. "I'm dying for a bath!"