IC
The shuttle heaved violently to port again, slamming Raleigh back into his seat with the sudden G force.  Peering through the thick smoke, already filling the cabin, he saw Brennan fighting a losing battle                    with the controls.  Looking around the bay of the shuttle he observed the professional yet "concerned" looks on his commrades faces.
The shuttle dipped again, seeming to plummet thousands of feet in mere seconds.
"Hey Brennan, you are flying this thing...right?!!"  He quipped,  hoping it would help ease the tension of the moment...it didnt.
In what seemed an eternity the shuttle spiraled downwards, increasing in speed until impact.  The force of the collision was nearly overwhelming as the shuttle careened across the ground,                 throwing Raleigh  around in his seat harness like a rag doll.
A short black out later, and after Raleigh hacked the remaining dust and smoke from his lungs, he released his harness and sprung from his seat only to be planted right back from which he came.  Zhirrzh
barreled by, stiff arming him back into place as he yelled something about fires and explorers.
 "Damnit Zhirrzh, there are other people...FIRE!!!"  Raleigh screamed as he leapt back from the now encroaching fire.  Another figure raced by him, braving the flames as he too darted for the explorer.  Raleigh began to panic a bit, wanting to be off the ship but not being one to leave his buddies behind.  Thats when he spotted the fire extinguisher on the wall.  Nearly ripping the holder from its mounting as well he pulled the pin on the extinguisher and began to douse the flames.

 Zhirrzh shakes off the shock of the rough landing and takes immediate action.
"Someone grab the emergency kit. Everyone else, grab your gear and get off the shuttle as fast as you can."
Zhirrzh quickly unbuckles from his seat and leaps to the cargo hold. He throws open the door
of the Explorer and jumps in. The raging fire from the starboard engine is spreading rapidly and a black, choking smoke is filling the shuttle. Fortunately the hole ripped into the side and rear of the shuttle is serving as a chimney, but vision is quickly becoming impaired.
Kah'liss unfastens his straps as fast as he can, grabs his equipment, and makes a lunge for the door.  He looks around as he does so for anyone who might need help ... though there isn't much that the bulky Vrusk could probably do anyways.  Well, he hadn't expected it to be easy, nothing ever had been...
 
*flash*
 
Voronwe ... were was Voronwe?  The smoke kept getting in the way.  The fuel cells must be on fire.  Sharding Synotex.  If only that Synotex patrol cruiser hadn't been there ...
"Voronwe!"  Kah'liss called.  He brushed a piece of debry to the side, making his way to the airlock. A hand emerged and placed itself on Kah'liss' shoulder.  "Bang, your dead."  Voronwe's ugly human mug coalesced in the smoke.  Kah'liss returned a dirty look, then softened, "It would have been ill-timed to lose you now Voronwe.  Not after we have finally acquired the means to our freedom."  He lifts the amulet to demonstrate that he did not lose it in the firefight.
"I knew I could count on you.  Now, let's see about kicking some guard rear so we can get out of here..."
 
*flash*

 "Zhirrzh, I'm going to help you out!  You may need help if that blasted thing doesn't start."                        Telgar gets up as quickly as he can and makes his way for the storage area.  He knows that his               time is limited, but he wants to make sure that the cargo makes it out of the shuttle intact. As he enters the cargo hold and makes his way with Zhirrzh to the shuttle, Telgar says to himself, "Just a little time... just a little more time..."
 He covers his face as the black smoke nearly hides the Explorer. The heat from the starboard fire pulsates in waves against him. He stumbles quickly to the back door of the vehicle as he hears the initial attempts of startup.
Stumbling over spilled equipment, Telgar hops into the back seat and slides his way to the front passenger  as Zhirrzh attempts to crank the Explorer a second time. The flames from the fire have made their way to the vehicle’s right side. “If she doesn’t start soon, Zhirrzh, that powerbattery is going to explode from the heat!” Then he remembered, there was another power battery stored here somewhere….Where was it? He looks to the back and sees the cluttered disarray of gear and shakes his head. “Better get that thing started, Zhirrzh!” To which Zhirrzh barks an angry Yazirian growl and punches the steering wheel after his third attempt failed to start the Explorer.

 "WHooooooa!!!" a slight wry grin forms upon Brenon's face. Brenon shakes off the rush and turns               to look at his surroundings. Engine, Fire, shapes moving, smoke.... 'damn' Brenon mumbles under his breath as he removes himself from his seat. His eyes go wide as he remembers his explosives satchel. Brenon quickly scrambles in search of the satchel in hopes that it wasn't displaced during the crash. 'We're like a stick of bauromite in here......' Brenon thought to himself. Another thoought – he blurts out loud, "Someone get the Subspace radio..."
 He too rushes to the back, eyes stinging as he enters the Explorer. The back of the vehicle is covered in flame, despite Raleigh’s attempts with the extinguisher. “We can’t stay much longer! We’ve got all kinds of power in here that’ll explode to this heat!” He scrambles through the carnage of equipment, looking for his satchel of explosives. What a way to end it, if it comes to this, he muses angrily to himself.
 
 Kahliss is standing outside the vehicles, not exactly sure what to do now, when *thump* equipment begins to land near him.  His eyes trace over to determine the source of the airborne equipment and sees what Rolgar and Lyrium are doing.  In a flash, Kahliss drops his equipment and moves closer, helping to relay the equipment to a location even more distant from the vehicle, and allowing them not to have to throw quite so far.  It would of course be prudent to save as much equipment as possible.

 “Bail out! Bail out!” Telgar chokes, grabbing as much as he can. The smoke and heat force Raleigh, Lyrium and Rolgar to abandon their posts and exit the shuttle. The stumble out a safe distance and stop, dropping their gear and coughing from the intake of smoke. Kah’liss rushes to their aid and checks to see if there is any pressing danger.
 “We’re gonna blow!” yells Brenon, the heat burning his eyes. “Let’s get out of here!”
 Zhirrzh lets loose another howl and gives the Explorer one last try just as Telgar and Brenon prepare to exit the vehicle.

 “I’m alright,” Lyrium says, “where are the others?”
 Kah’liss directs his attention to the shuttle, which is now an inferno of flames. “It would be prudent for them to exit now. Their lives are more valuable than that Explorer.”
 The rear of the Explorer explodes in a torrent of burning metal as the Explorer crashes through the burning wall. It lands and swerves backwards awkwardly, kicking dust in its wake. Obviously the driver cared more for exiting at the fastest possible speed than he did proper control of the steering wheel. The vehicle comes to a stop. Moments later, the left doors open and Zhirrzh, Telgar, and Brenon stumble onto the ground. They rise weakly, coughing, and then begin tossing equipment from the van. Fire still burns on the Starboard side.
 The rest know the task at hand. They all rise, gather extinguishers and run to the burning vehicle. In seconds the burning Explorer is bathed in white flame deterrent….

 …As the last, hollow blasts of the extinguishers speak, everyone stops to gather themselves. The Explorer was no longer on fire. It had been saved. Some of the food and water stores on top of the Explorer had no doubt been damaged and an overall inventory needed to be made of what was salvageable.  Despite their weak attempts at defiance, Kah’liss, with the help of Lyrium and Rolgar, convinced Zhirrzh, Telgar, and Brenan to lie down. Kah’liss recognized that the three were suffering from smoke inhalation and possibly burns. Their blackened, exposed skin would be either the result of burns or  the grunge of smoke, hopefully the latter. Kah’liss opened his medkit and began some simple antibiotics. Lyrium assists as she can, while Rolgar and Raleigh begin to pull together the equipment that is scattered about.

[DAMAGE]
   From being inside the inferno so long, Zhirrzh, Telgar, and Brenon suffer minor damage from smoke inhalation and minor burn.  But hey, you saved the Explorer!

2d10 Damage.
[DieRoll Zhirrzh]
 Roll = 16 16 Damage  (current STA=34)

[DieRoll Telgar]
 Roll = 5  5 Damage (current STA=12)

[DieRoll Brenan]
 Roll=12  12 Damage (current STA=52)
 
 

As things begin to calm down, you finally take stock of your surrounding environment. Raleigh and Rolgar look around.
“Well I’ll be damned….from the pot into the boiler….”

All around you, in any direction, is the desolate view of desert. Sand dunes and the occasional outcropping of rocks is your first picture of the planet Volturnus.
“Tropical, my ass,” Raleigh grunts as he takes in the view before him.

The night has passed, and it is now dawn. A desolate wilderness of sand and rock stretches as far as you can see in every direction. The desert is occasionally broken by green flat plants similar in appearance to lily pads. Though it is only a few minutes past sunrise, the heat is already overbearing.
From your vantage point high in the rocks, you see what appears to be a covered well 8 kilometers east of you.