AT - R01 Detailed Survey (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 26 Apr 2013 @ 4:06pm by Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Lieutenant Dawn Meridian & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar & Petty Officer 2nd Class Jessica Sandywyne & Ensign Jessica Wilson M.D. & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Petty Officer 1st Class James Watt & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Chief Warrant Officer 4 Cyrus Kiwosk & Captain Jonathan Holliday

4,415 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Rojar II R01 - Surface Continent
Timeline: MD 05 - 1300 hrs

[ON]

It was almost 1300 and after receiving the go-ahead from her XO who was currently off-world, Lirha took it upon herself to summon the first large and detailed survey team which would be beaming to the surface of R1, one of the large super-Earth sized Class M moons which orbited the massive gas supergiant named Rojar II.

Standing in one of Galileo's transporter rooms, Lirha tapped her commbadge to notify the teams. "Saalm to Away Team Five, please report to Transporter Room Two and prepare for departure." she said, then moved over towards the operations console to check the coordinates which she had specifically selected for the expedition.

Looking rather more unruffled than he felt, Liyar was first to appear. He zipped up the outer uniform jacket addition that made up the survey gear, apparently, just as he entered the room. At his hip was a phaser and in his hand clasped behind his back was a small tricorder. He stepped up onto the pad and turned to face the operations console, doing little to acknowledge Saalm beyond a nod.

Petty Officer Watt was next to arrive. He had a pack with some light engineering tools that he thought might be needed for their mission, but otherwise avoided extra weight. He gave Liyar a curious look, not sure why they needed someone with diplomatic colors on this particular mission. Perhaps he was cross-trained. Giving a nod to the two officers, he move to the transporter pad and took up a position next to the vulcan.

Jeroen into the transporter room, with the bag over his shoulder that held the tricorder and some other things to test the atmosphere and soil. He loved new planets. Especially to see how it had naturally developed. His hair was tied back from his face for a change, but he was still unshaven. He too looked at the diplomat with confusion before shrugging it off. One of those things he supposed.

Amynta Markos had her phaser on her hip and wore the standard uniform for these away missions. Her hair was tied back sharply from her face, but even so her lipstick was impeccable. She had been bored whilst preparing for the survey. And she knew she would be bored down planet too. She studied Jeroen for a moment, with an almost surprised recognition before closing her mouth into a firm line, moving to the transporter, waiting for the rest of the team to arrive.

Dawn came in with an expression somewhere between annoyance and excitement. After she shifted uneasily in place, it was obvious her annoyance was directed at her bag. It wasn't particularly large or heavy, but she didn't like carrying it. It had "important stuff" in it. Saving people important. She didn't think anyone was likely to get hurt unless they tripped over their own egos, though. If someone did trip over their own ego, Nurse Glum MacGum could always patch them up. Probably by poking holes in their ego and telling them that they were going to die.

Smiling - and seeming to have forgotten the bag entirely - Dawn gave Lirha a little wave. She was pretty sure Liyar and Kiwosk were going, too. And Wilson, for that matter. What is that? One doctor for every four people? That was a bit overkill, wasn't it? Well, if there was actual overkill, it wouldn't be overkill. Right? Unless the doctors were the ones killed. Did that count her? Was there counsellor's immunity to overkill? Of course there was. Tilting back her head, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"How goes it," Gabriel Stark said as he moved in to the room to join the others, but it was phrased more as a greeting than a question. He had a surprising amount of energy in his step and dark eyes. His rifle was slung on his back with a tightened strap, familiar like an old friend. He gave it a light, fond tap as he moved to stand ready. His hand moved up, two fingers briefly slipping under his collar to touch the cross he always wore, an old superstition of his.

Quinn, who was usually mister punctuality stepped into the transporter room in full gear, along with a phaser rifle. "This is a hell of a long way to go for a beer run, Captain."

Lilou was silent as she entered the small transporter room. The pad was already full, so she stayed off and to the side, just behind Markum. She was laden down with equipment; a phase rifle over one shoulder, a phaser holstered at one hip. At the other hip, she wore two tricorders and her PADD, along with a host of other engineering tools strapped to her leg for access. As far as she knew, there was nothing on the planet's surface to warrant her inclusion in this away team, but she'd been assigned and she would go where she was told. At the very least, she could shoot. Tightening the straps at her wrists and ankles, she donned her gloves as she waited.

Cyrus had been in the room off to the side, not saying much. A type 3 rifle slung casually over his shoulder and a knife sticky out of his boot. He was in standard uniform, nothing more than his basic gold outfit with, but he had taken a wrist tricolor and synched it with his rifle allowing him to gauge the charge on the crystals powering it. He also had taken the liberty to equip some basic armor, a chest plate and arm guards as well as a pair of leg guards. "Oh come on Quinn, you should know that it's got to be better than beer if we're going outside." He called over to Markum.

Lirha smiled back at Dawn and gave lithe counselor a polite nod. Looking around at the rest of the team after they had arrived, she did a quick head-count then moved forward into the middle of the group to give them their orders. Lieutenant Panne was absent for some reason, but Lirha hoped that she would show up soon enough in order to lead the expedition. In the meantime, she didn't wait to begin the briefing.

"Commander Holliday is already on the surface so you will be rendezvousing with him as soon as you arrive. Our initial survey of the planet has revealed an abundance of plant and animal life, however we have detected no signs of advanced or humanoid life. It seems that this world is still in its developmental phase." Lirha began, then rubbed her eyes as she prepared to deliver some sad news to the team.

"Unfortunately some of the animal life appears to be hostile and predatory in nature. Fifteen minutes ago, I was notified that Lieutenant Stone and his security dog were both mortally wounded by a large creature which managed to ambush the team. It apparently took multiple blasts of phaser fire to subdue the creature, and initial reports suggest that due to the high gravity of this world (about one-point-four Gs), animal life has developed to be very sturdy and is capable of operating within their environment with relative ease. This means that while you all may move slower in such conditions, some of these animals do not. It is important that you protect yourselves at all times and keep your tricorders set to continually scan the surrounding areas. I do not want any of you wandering into another one of these surprise attacks. Remember; move together in teams, and nobody goes anywhere alone. Understood?"

Cyrus simply nodded as he checked the side of his rifle one last time.

Liyar stared at Saalm blankly as she spoke. Everything she said after mortally wounded became a blank haze. Someone had been grievously injured. One of their senior staffmembers. Evenly, when she was done, he asked, "Will Lieutenant Stone recover?"

Amynta looked at Liyar with surprise, taking a breath. "I believe it means he's dead, Lieutenant," she said before looking at Saalm, not with question, but just to study the Orion. "And the dog too." She wasn't sure why she added that. She never understood using animals as part of a department.

Liyar remained completely still. "I was given to understand that the term mortal injury pertains to an injury which is life-threatening but not necessarily fatal." If Lieutenant Stone were in fact dead, he did not understand why Captain Saalm wouldn't just say that.

Dawn could taste blood, thick and metallic. The sharp pain in her cheek told her she'd bitten herself, but she didn't remember that. She wobbled slightly in place, her grey eyes wide with something that was half anger, half bewilderment. Mortally wounded. Stone and Sidi? How could she just say that? They were dead. She'd been helping them! Sidi still had to take his bridge test. Stone still had to... learn how to be happy again. She pressed a hand to her forehead, letting out a shaky breath. They... were gone.

Cyrus stared at his rifle, not wanting to look up. His Commanding Officer...dead, it seemed ironic considering the man wanted to die...it just so happened he did for no reason, with over half the crew wishing it had happened. It was an interesting and sad way to go. But he was gone none the less, Cyrus felt a pang of regret, but little else, he wasn't close to the Lieutenant, and he had felt the loss of life on more than one occasion.

Lirha sighed and rubbed her green forehead. The Vulcan diplomat apparently did not understand the meaning behind her words which she had delicately chosen in order to not put the brunt of the revelation on the entire away team. But in that process, he had misinterpreted the meaning and the definition of the term, therefore she felt it was necessary to elaborate for the entire group. "Lieutenant Stone and Sidious were killed in action by an alien creature." she simply said as plainly as possible, then clasped her hands behind her back to await the response (if any) of the away team.

Jeroen looked around, at people's reactions. He found himself not...caring that much. Stone had scared the living daylights out of him, threatened him. With him gone, there was one less thing to worry about in his life. One less thing thrown in his face. He did not celebrate the man's death. But he had to admit, it made him feel more safe when walking around the ship.

Amynta took a breath, glancing over at Liyar. "Like I said. They're dead," she said and rolled her shoulders. "But this is Starfleet. I know we're all feeling it, some more than others. But we have a mission. You can grieve his passing when we come back. Captain, I take it there is a biosignature for the species, so we can avoid it?" she directed it at Lirha, holding the woman's eyes...wanting to get everything ready so that they could go down there and sort it out. After all, she was forced to wear the away team uniform for this.

"Damn, kid. May he rest in peace." Quinn said a silent prayer for the man and his mutt.

Watt observed the others silently from his place on the transporter pad. He felt solemn on account of the officer's death, but it was not someone he had even really met before. He did find the interactions between these officers interesting, though.

So many euphemisms for death. Of course Markos was right. Of course it meant dead. Inefficient language. Delicate language. Death was not delicate. Too afraid to look at it, but yet, here they were. Gathered in the transporter room, not fifteen minutes later, apathetic. A contradiction, a lie on the subatomic level. They lied to themselves. Mortal wound. Did that sound better than death? That made it easier. It was not easy. Someone was gone. Stone had been a force in the universe, cast out, rippling, affected. He had changed things by his very existence. They all did. All of the potential that could have come from Stone's life, his decisions, his memories, his insights, his thoughts. They were all lost. Reduced to words, disappearing in numbers. Sternly, he scrutinized the occupants of the room, and waited for Saalm to answer Markos' question.

Maenad walked into the transporter with a shoulder bag stuffed with scanning equipment and materials for samples. She also had a backpack on filled more more equipment some personal items and, of course, a lunch and snacks. Twelve hours would be a long time. In one hand was a PADD with her objectives list, which she would read off to the assembled team, which Lilou Peers had managed to be assigned to. That pleased her; she remembered Peers wanting to join an away team.

She sighted Liyar before anyone else, and Maenad's cheeks turned rosy after what had happened that morning. She masked it with a smile to everyone, but there was no hiding anything from her Vulcan friend. "Good afternoon, everyone," she said. She became aware of gloominess in the atmosphere, then thought it might have been directed at her. She was the senior officer, after all, and she was not the first to arrive. Far from it, in fact. Did it ever occur to anyone that she wasn't late, that they were just early? Her smile faded when she saw the captain, probably there to remind her of her terrible leadership skills. Well, she knew, it wasn't true. She was an excellent leader. Yesterday was a fluke, and it wasn't her fault. If a tenured and experienced shuttle pilot crashes and dies in a storm, she told herself, it's because of the weather - not the pilot. But no. Nobody ever thought of that. It was her fault for not having enough experience. She had put on a poor performance the day before; she herself had almost been killed - her console exploded. Rhodes had metal in his leg. Lamar thought she was an idiot because she wasn't intimately acquainted with shuttle mechanics, as every archaeology and Vulcan historian ought to have been. Then he fainted on the surface because his EV suit was apparently defective.

"I will give the mission details once we've all arrived," said Maenad with an absentminded wave of her PADD. She approached the captain with the intent of finding out why she was here. Was she about to be removed from the mission? This was supposed to be hers, but if this was just one more awful thing in a string of many bad things lately then, well, she was ready for it.

The roiling sensations of anger, frustration, shame and indignation wafting from Maenad in palpable waves as she entered were enough to ward off any threat to Liyar's composure. Silently, he met her eyes, offering her a small, supportive nod.

"Ah, Miss Panne. Good of you to join us. I have just finished briefing your team on some of the possibly dangerous wildlife which Commander Holliday's away team unfortunately encountered." Lirha said to the tall science chief when she approached. Turning to the intelligence officer, she proceeded to address her concerns about the predatory creature. "Yes, we have recorded its biosignature and that information should have been uploaded to everyone's tricorders by now." she confirmed with a nod. "But...even with advanced warning, this species could still be very dangerous. Please be careful."

"I have to admit, I wasn't planning on asking one of them to dance," Markos said as she held Lirha's eyes before nodding, a small thanks for the information.

Kiwosk rolled his eyes, but kept quiet.

Gabriel gave a nod to Amynta, clearly in agreement with the sentiment. "Shall we?" he said loud enough for the whole group, motioning to the transporter pad with his head. Panne had said she'd brief them once down on the planet after all; best to get moving in that case. He moved up the steps to take his place on the transporter platform, but he pulled his rifle off of his shoulder to hold ready in his hands, just in case he needed it quickly.

Jeroen looked at them before nodding, moving with them to take his place as well, his phaser in his belt and his bag over his shoulder. He did trust Security to protect them...Jeroen wasn't a fighter and wouldn't use the phaser unless forced to.

As everyone started moving onto the pad, Maenad's face remained blank and even a hint impatient. Apparently everyone had already been briefed, she sighed in her head. And what dangers had Commander Holliday encountered? And what was Holliday doing on the surface already, anyway? Apparently they didn't trust her with an away team. "What do you mean, unfortunately?" she asked Lirha. There was a tone of concern in her voice, but it might have been irritation about not being told sooner. It was hard to tell.

Gabriel looked away as annoyance, irritation and frustration all started to pang inside of the rumbunctious young man. He had to physically bite the inside of his lip to stop him from blurting out a reply instead of the Captain so that they could just get going. Were they really all going to have to stand here and hear the news all over again because their team leader had arrived later than her team?

"The commander's away team has encountered a hostile and dangerous life form on the surface." the captain replied to the science chief. "The details have been uplinked to all of your PADDs and the biosignature has been uploaded to your tricorders. Holliday will be able to brief you further once you arrive." she elaborated as much as she was willing to at the current moment. She was not going to mention Stone's death for a third time. Turning to the rest of the group, Lirha gave a curt nod. "Very well then, let's get going. I expect progress reports every thirty minutes." she said to the group, then walked back towards the transporter console to man the station and personally beam them down.

Maenad straightened her neck as her eyes narrowed, taken aback. She looked over her shoulder at the away team, then back at the captain. She was just told that something 'unfortunate' had happened on the surface ahead of their arrival. She was responsible for everyone behind her, so she had a right to know. It was Lirha's duty, she thought, and she would be negligent in it by not telling her. And then, still being cryptic, Lirha added whatever had happened was because of a biosignature. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't her first day on the job. They were tracking some kind of dangerous wild monster that had apparently caused them trouble, and the most that Lirha was going to tell her about it was that there were some blips on her tricorder?

"Captain," she said, "if there is something down there waiting for us, if something happened I have a right to know about it."

Lirha looked at Maenad from across the room. "As I just informed you, lieutenant, there is a hostile and dangerous life form on the surface, and the details and biosignature have been uploaded to your personal devices." she responded. The captain did not like to repeat herself, but apparently that was becoming the standard. "Commander Holliday will brief you further once you arrive on the surface. Needless to say, we have chosen a safe transport site for your team."

With the first six members of the team on the pad, Lirha began the transporter cycle by delicately sliding her green fingers over the controls. The pad brightened and shimmered with blue and white particles, and after a few seconds the first group was gone. After the second group of six stepped up, Lirha repeated the same process until finally it was just her standing in the transporter room.

On the surface of the planet, the away team materialized in two groups not far from each other. The gravity was slightly heavier than normal (about 1.4Gs) due to the moon's immense size, and lush, colorful alien foliage littered the landscape as far as the eye could see.

Liyar's hand was on his phaser and his legs were bent very slightly, prepared for movement as he materialized onto the planet's surface, The environment around them morphed into view. His feet pressed into the felt-like grass covering the ground. He became aware of the alien environment in stages. First, he breathed easier, took in deep breaths far less often. His weight and distribution felt more natural. The sky was bright, vivid blue and immense trees with long, thin branches rose up and flowed through one another. Plants and insects were larger, sturdier, brightly colored with sharp, spiky parts. The sounds of nature chimed in the breeze, a symphony of bizarre, discordant noise. Connected to spindly vines twisting through the trees and branches, were bulging pods and spores. His hearing was shifted, the pressure in his inner ears fluctuated mildly. Through the air floated yellow particles, like heavy flakes of snow. They dusted his hair and uniform. He reached up a hand, watching them weave through his fingers. One of the pods, he suspected, must have burst prior to their arrival. He pulled out his tricorder and held it up, locking the biosignature Lirha Saalm had given them into his memory and setting it to active scan mode. "Where is -" he stopped speaking almost immediately. His voice. It was at least fifty percent higher than it normally was. It made the normally sonorous quality of his speech shrill and ridiculous. "Helium," he determined gravely. As grave as one could be when they sounded like a cartoon character.

Amynta looked at him with disbelief. "You got to be kidding me..." she said and then rolled her eyes at hearing her own voice, sounding so light and ridiculous. She too started scanning for the creature's biosignature, to make sure it wasn't anywhere close to the team. She...had to admit, it was rather pretty here as well.

Dawn blinked at Liyar's voice. The strangeness of it tugged her out of her thoughts. She didn't really have time to sulk about death on an alien planet apparently filled with monsters that wanted to kill her. Well, maybe they didn't want to kill her; they'd only killed men so far. It didn't occur to her that maybe the creatures didn't make that distinction.

The planet was pretty, though, in its own odd way. It was very bright, and very... heavy. Dawn shifted uncomfortably, glaring at her medical bag. It didn't help that now it was heavier, too. With an exaggerated sigh, she flipped open her tricorder and pretended to be doing something important, like determining how many molecules were in a tree, or whatever else science-y people did. Still, she kept her other hand near her phaser.

Gabriel watched them with arched eyebrows at the sudden change to their voice, but he was at least able to hide the amusement that it stirred from some childish memory years ago. He kept his mouth firmly shut though, not willing to suffer that particular indignity until he needed to. He saw that they were already scanning for the creature so didn't sacrifice the use of one hand to check as well. Instead, he maintained a firm grip on his rifle with both of his hands, holding it ready to use as he stepped out enough to take a look around the area, scanning the alien view with his eyes.

Watt smirked at the two officers as he stepped out of the circle, amused by their reaction and, like Gabriel, unwilling to give himself away. He was there as an engineer, not a scientist, so he had his phaser out instead of a tricorder, since his engineering expertise were not needed at the moment and he was a decent shot. He started to move back and forth and take small hops, accustoming himself to the planet's gravity.

Freshly armed with not only a type 3 phaser, but now with replacement power cells for the smaller weapons, John felt far more comfortable back on the surface of this planet. The extra security presence from the additional team members was also gladly received - at least the chance of making the same mistake twice would be reduced.

"Welcome to paradise ladies and gentlemen. Due to the indigenous wildlife on this planet, all team members will travel in pairs. Security officers are to maintain a perimeter patrol at all times and report directly to me. Science teams, you report to Lieutenant Panne but go nowhere without a security escort and my approval - any questions?"

"I don't think I like my travel package. " Kiwosk quipped, his voice rising with each intake of breathe. "I'm pretty sure chipmunks are suppose to stay on earth..."

"I get dibs on the XO." said Quinn. "Sorry Boss, but you are not getting out of my sights down here. This shit hole looks like something from a Buck Rogers holo-novel."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

PO2 Gabriel Stark
Security
USS Galileo
(PNPC: Lt JG Scarlet Blake)

ENS Lilou Peers
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Dawn Meridian
Counsellor
USS Galileo

PO1 James "Striker" Watt
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
played by Psylus Anon

CWO Cyrus Kiwosk
Security Officer, TRT Squad Leader
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Amynta Markos
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar
Geoengineer
USS Galileo
PNPC played by Aria Rice

Master Chief Petty Officer Markum Quinn
COB
USS Galileo

ENS Jessica Wilson M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

PO2 Jessica Sandywine
Head Nurse
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Kiri Cho

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