SET - Rojar III Atmospheric Survey

Posted on 24 May 2013 @ 4:36pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

4,136 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Rojar III (Low Orbit)- Shuttlecraft Vincenzo
Timeline: MD06 - 0900h

ON:

Lt. Rhodes walked down the passageways of the Galileo. He had so many thought coming to the surface in his mind. Less than one hour ago the Captain had appointed him Chief of Security and Tactical. He was now responsible for so much, and here he was getting on a shuttle for one of the survey missions. He considered getting a replacement, but when he looked up he found himself standing in the shuttle bay.

Kiri had managed to get almost an hour's sleep. Though her shoulder was a little stiff there was no evidence of what had happened on her last away mission. Cold and looking smaller than she normally did she drifted towards the shuttle silently, not paying much heed to what was happening around her.

Theron turned to Kiri, "My friend, you do not look so good."

Really, Kiri knew she shouldn't be here. She'd been on away missions for over twenty four hours now, but she didn't feel she could ask anyone else to do this. Blinking with a deep breath she looked up at Theron, "It's not a very long mission, I'll be fine." Forcing a smile she took another breath, she'd be fine.

Theron was concerned about Kiri putting so much pressure on herself like this. He tried to make light of it, "Well, I will be keeping an eye on you." and gave her a wink.

That made Kiri a little uncomfortable, was he implying that he didn't think she could do her job? She could, she would, she'd had projects she'd worked on for more than forty hours before without sleep. All she had to do was sit and interpret data.

"Let's get this beauty sailing," Siren smiled as she moved to the shuttle, touching the outside with a firm stroke down it. She had a small bag with her, slung over her shoulder as she leant back against it, crossing her arms and ankles as she waited for their pilot.

Lt. Rhodes moved into the shuttle and took up the co-pilot position, waiting for Officer Sylver to arrive.

Kiri was a little slow, as she started to walk towards the co-pilots chair a little gingerly and with a small measure of uncertainty Theron got there first. Slightly disheartened she slipped into the smaller seat on the right, starting to check the sensors.

"Hello, happy lot..." the pilot, WO Sylver, said as he got inside. He moved to the pilot's chair, sitting down and touching the controls with two fingers, more like a blessing. His lips moved silently before he smiled and looked at the others. "Ladies and gentlemen, I will be your pilot for this journey. Please fasten your seatbelts and do not smoke or attempt to open the hatch whilst we are out in space..." he winked, looking at Theron for a moment. "Sir."

"Well there goes my plans...." Siren gave a mock sigh as she sat herself down in one of the back seats at a computer station. She turned to fire it up, ready to use.

Kiri didn't find the jovial tone that fitting, given the events that to her overshadowed everything. Keeping quiet she kept preparing, trying not to look at anyone in case she conveyed her feelings too much.

Rhodes nodded, "Proceed Mr. Sylver. I assume this survey will be a lot less exciting than my last?"

"Well, you have an ace pilot," Sylver said and arched an eyebrow, taking a breath. "USS Galileo, this is Shuttle Vincenzo, requesting permission to depart."

=^=Permission granted. Safe journey=^=

"Hold on now," Sylver said, smiling as he got them going. He loved piloting. He loved feeling the shuttle under his control, feeling how she responded to him. "It should be a smooth ride."

"It better be," Siren smiled, laughing softly as she shook her head and started her scans up, working on the console to start getting the read outs from the area in, starting a constant stream of information. "Let's see what a real pilot can do, Sir," she teased, but with a warm smile. She didn't know the Warrant Officer, but she felt more comfortable with him; he wasn't a regular officer, so it meant he'd climbed the ranks through the enlisted, as she was.

Rhodes watched out of the corner of his eye, how Sylver seemed to have a finesse utilizing the control. He really did know his stuff. Now that they were in space, Theron rechecked the defensive and security systems once more. He was very pleased that the shuttle was at 100% and ready for whatever came their way. He looked toward Sylver and have him a positive nod.

Kiri started scanning though the space around the ship was already familiar to her. It at least knowing what was there meant she could check much more easily, everything seemed to match her diagnostics.

Siren glanced across to Cho, giving a smile as her fingers managed to work her controls without her having to watch them. "Are you looking for anything in particular out here, Lieutenant'?"

"Abnormal weather patterns in the upper atmosphere, possible gas resources and storm strength," There could be anything from floating crystals to life but they weren't things she expected to find, most gas giants were generally the same.

"Sounds like the fun and games you can expect on planets then," Oliver chipped in with a small smile. "I can take her into the mesosphere if you want to...I wouldn't go any lower without actually landing."

"If you tried, we would all die very quickly," Kiri didn't look up and her tone was flatter than normal, "The upper mesosphere would be more than sufficient; we can send probes deeper if we need to." To her the threat of being crushed into almost nothing wasn't worth joking about.

He shrugged, his eyes shining. "You'd be surprised what this baby can take," he said lightly. "The Waverider can enter atmospheres with relative ease. I just don't know how good she is at take-off from a planet's surface. Been awhile since she has touched down. But whatever you want, Lieutenant."

Rhodes could appreciate Mr. Sylver's confidence in himself and this vessel, but he had no desire to go down to another inhospitable planet any time soon.

Kiri frowned, "Rojar Three is a gas giant, it doesn't have a surface you can land on." She started her first scans of the planet, "It is just layer upon layer of gases that become thicker and thicker under more and more pressure. More pressure means more heat, until you reach the core, which is bonded liquid hydrogen. The deeper we go the more chance of being effected by storms, corrosive chemicals and a host of other things," Taking a breath from being morbid she looked up, "So please keep that in mind."

Theron visibly cringed at the description bringing up his shoulders tightly. he said softly with sarcasm, "Thank you Lieutenant."

Siren glanced back over her shoulder to Kiri, casting her a smile. "I think what Chief Sylver is trying to say is - if we want or need to cruise in the atmosphere to get readings, we can. This beauty was made specifically for atmospheric surfing. Clever, huh?"

"Whatever you guys want, you get. After all, you are in charge," Sylver said smoothly, arching an eyebrow as he kept an eye on their approach.

Kiri had made her request and explained it, she wasn't in a social or humorous mood. She wasn't in much of a mood for anything really. The mesosphere was deep enough; beyond their scanning range from there it would be almost impossible to make any use of any discoveries. Turning her own attention towards the planet she stifled a yawn.

Theron saw Kiri try to hide a yawn. He knew she had been very busy with all the surveys taking place.

Siren was surprised at the silence from Kiri. She'd expected at least a yay or nay. Her smile faded and she looked back to her screen instead, deciding maybe it was best to concentrate on her own work and let Kiri look after hers. She started humming to herself, her legs crossed and foot tapping with the beat of the music as the scans rolled on and she raked through the information coming in.

Siren's foot stopped abruptly as she saw something amongst the piles and piles of data that didn't belong there, or fit. She tilted her head, isolating it and frowning as she took a deep breath. "There's something out there," she said quickly. "In the atmosphere. A mass of - something," her frown deepened as she shook her head. "A mass of something - metal? The scanners can't recognize what it is. It's not a material we have on file."

Theron prepared the defensive systems; increasing the shield strength and warming up the phaser bank.

Kiri saw the same data and was already running a structural analysis, there were only so many possible combinations the ones she was picking up were mixed, "Titanium alloys, tungsten carbides, silicon oxide, carbon, large amounts of hydrogen." Looking out into the clouds she couldn't see anything, back to the data. Blinking she put it together, "Given the ceramic nature and metals involved, a spaceship hull. Very old though, extremely high levels of Hydrogenation would indicate, hundreds of years if not longer." It was possible for a ship to be caught in between layers of gas but they couldn't see it. They'd almost have to bump into it before they could, given the conditions.

Rhodes reported, "No energy signature for engines or weapons."

"Shame we can't get the Galileo to use the tractor beam to pull her out of it. Could be a bit of a find...depending on point of origin and class," Oliver said, knowing he was just meant to pilot...but unable to keep his mouth shut.

"We can investigate, when we get closer we can send out a probe," That seemed a lot safer than trying to get close to an object of an unknown size with minimal visibility. If it was small though there was no reason not to pull it out of the planets gravity, or at least beam back a sample.

Siren was out of her seat, smiling brightly as she moved to the two pilot seats, an arm on the back of each one as she leant forward between them, to look out of the viewport, as if she could spot it. "A ship that old, it's amazing!" she said with a laugh, shaking her head, her eyes shining as she looked out across the view. "We could find a thread of the tapestry of Rojar."

Oliver smiled gently, taking a breath. He agreed with her, but it wasn't his place to say. This was potentially insight into a whole people.

Rhodes spoke up, "I would inform the Galileo of the find and let them made the recommendation."

"Okay," Kiri kept on scanning without looking up again, waiting for him to do so.

Rhodes activated the Comm, =^= Shuttle Vincenzo to Galileo. =^=

On the bridge of Galileo, Lirha was sitting in the command chair sipping her mug of hot chocolate when the comm channel chirped to signal a message from one of the shuttlecraft. "This is Saalm, go ahead Vincenzo." she answered.

=^= This is Lt. Rhodes we need to report a finding. =^=

Lirha's ears perked up. "A finding?" she asked over the comm.

=^= In the upper atmosphere of Rojar III we have identified a mass of material that may be a ship. Request permission to approach the planet and get a closer look. =^=

The captain considered the request for a short moment. In light of the almost-disastrous shuttle mission to Rojar I several days ago, she was hesitant to put anymore of her crew in a potentially dangerous situation, especially one of her close friends who was currently on board the atmospheric shuttle. However, exploration was inherently dangerous at times and as a Starfleet captain, she didn't have the luxury of letting her personal feelings interfere with her duties.

"Permission granted, lieutenant." came Lirha's reply through the comm after a few moments of pondering. "Please exercise caution." she added.

=^= Understood Captain. Rhodes out. =^= He looked back at Kiri and then to Sylver. With a nod, Theron said, "You heard the Captain. And I emphasize extreme caution."

Siren smiled brightly at that, laughing warmly as she tapped the back of Sylver's chair with a firm hand. "Let's go catch us a ship," she grinned, moving back to drop into her seat, crossing her legs. She went through her readouts, isolating the source of their curiosity to try and find out anything more about it that she could. "It's about time someone gave her some attention, stuck out here all on her own."

Theron glanced back over his shoulder at Siren. He felt it odd that she had referred to the derelict ship as if it had a persona.

Kiri started to prepare a probe for a controlled reconnaissance mission. Checking its systems, the interference from the outside and the weak shields that would provide them with some time before the probe was overcome, "Could you bring us within a hundred meters of the readings?" They were still unlikely to be able to see it from there but any closer they might bump into it.

"I can bring us as close as we need to be," Oliver said and smiled as he took control rather than the autopilot. It was easier to do this yourself rather than relying on the shuttle to do it...in case of any disturbances. "Might be some turbulence, don't worry about it...I got control."

"Thank you," Kiri prepared the probe and as soon they reached the right range she launched it. At a slow speed, it crawling out into the gas for a few seconds before disappearing. Holding her breath for a moment she waited for the images to start to come back.

Rhodes sat up straight, having an odd sensation at the back of his neck. He double checked the shield emitters to make sure they were functional if needed.

Siren smiled brightly as the first pictures came in, logging them on her screen as she looked with awe. The ship was 'decomposing', clearly shedding scraps from being left stuck so long. But there was enough to get a good idea of what it might have been. "She must have been one hell of a beauty! Look at her..."

Rhodes asked, "Can you get a clear schematic of the ship, possibly the propulsion systems and armament?"

It wasn't really a ship any more. A skeleton of bulkheads and half a hull, turned blue from age and cracks running across it in every direction. About a hundred meters long, it barely looked like a ship any more. Every edge was rounded, from a nose cockpit widening to the mid section where it was maybe twenty meters wide. There engines were gone, what was left behind the ship was a small section of bare framework that appeared to have held the engines separate from the main body. There were no windows, or places for windows at least. Only an opening at the very front, not counting the corroded edges that let her peak inside with the probe. With a rough idea from her first pass she moved closer, taking it into one of the larger cracks. Inside there seemed to be sections that might be intact, at least the doors were closed with no way in. Computers, basic ones, but never the less, storage of some sort, controls by way of solid buttons and levers. Tarnished silver walls and floor, also turning blue in several places. Exposed as it was, she was actually rather impressed. For a wreck it had held it together. Having remained silent for a while she turned to the others, "I have a rough schematic, there don't appear to be any weapons, and the propulsion section might be missing."

"It looks like a bit of a pleasure ship," Oliver observed, smiling warmly. "Look at the lines...she was made to cruise, not to fight. And she is beautiful in it..." he let out a soft whistle, shaking his head. "Bet someone had great parties on her. And most likely a little bit of naughty smuggling too judging by the outward appearance."

Siren laughed warmly at that, shaking her head as she started to separate off the incoming info into different areas of research. "Shame we can't take her out to dance, hm?"

As they looked over the data from the probe, an alarm began to sound. Rhodes sounded out, "We have a proximity alert. Something large is moving up under us. I cannot get any defined sensor readings."

Oliver let out a breath, taking the controls again as he glanced around to try and get a visual. He frowned as he saw something, just under them...like a tentacle or something, but only for a brief second. "Moving us a bit away to get a visual," he said, bringing them closer to the wreck, but down a bit and around.

"Increase power to the shields," It was more of a question than an order, but Kiri was already rather skittish. This was a ghost ship, whoever had once belonged there was gone. They might have died here in orbit, if they weren't careful, so could they. Launching another probe downwards she switched the other to standby. There was a chance she was wrong about how old the ship was, all of this. This something could have damaged the ship and was now coming for them, "It will be safer to try and keep us a hundred meters ahead of, it." The probe she was now controlling should answer any questions as to what, it, was.

"Shields are up." Rhodes reported and silenced the alarm. From the readout he had the massive bubble looking object was moving slowly and seemed to be slowing down. "My sensor readings say that the size is fluctuating, but the average size is about 1000 meters in diameter. I am reading no concentration of metals or dense material."

"If it isn't metal, it could be something organic?" Oliver chipped in, frowning as he steered the shuttle, to try and get them somewhere for a visual. "I'll bring us a bit closer to the wreck...don't worry, not within impact radius. Just so I can...have a look at whatever is coming up."

"No," Kiri answered, "The probe will tell us in a few seconds." For all they knew, moving closer would put them right into the gaping maw of some sort of monster. Visibility was almost zero here. There was no room for error or even to react to danger.

"I'd be moving us away from whatever it is, not into it...but whatever you wish, ma'am," Oliver said, keeping the shuttle floating where it was.

"If you keep us at a hundred meters distance, we should be fine," Kiri half repeated herself, to her it didn't sound like his earlier comments were to keep them further away.

Theron looked up from his display, "I'm not much of a behavioral zoologist, but from a tactical threat indication, I think it is just acting curious of our presence."

"Curious sharks bite to find out about an object," Kiri didn't want to come across too negative but she wanted to be on the far side of cautious. Recent events made her very uneasy, so did being so tired. There was also something wrong, or at least extremely dangerous about where they were right now. Her probe flickered to life. Using the lights she was able to catch a few glimpses through the gas. It was indeed big, maybe silver-ish in colour. Backing moving the probe she tried to get a better look, its body was huge though. Building the picture she tried to describe it as best she could, "It is very big, maybe a hundred meters long, seventy wide, silver, scaly, it doesn't appear to have any eyes. Or," She was about to say mouth but as she watched what appeared to be seamless skin split to show an enormous hole across the entire front of the creature. While it didn't appear to have teeth, it could easy swallow the shuttle, or ten shuttles for that matter. Her scans were reading a change of pressure, the probe!

The image on her screen was interrupted by static as the probe was sucked into the creatures huge maw. The shuttle was starting to shake even at this distance, was it trying to eat them? Gas was being sucked in all around them. The engines were starting to strain. Kiri gripped to the edge of her console, this was not good.

Oliver quickly fired the engines up to full impulse, maneuvering the shuttle away from the creature. "Hold on!" he shouted over the shaking, the entire shuttle straining as he pretty much was forced to rely on his instinct. The shaking made seeing the actual instruments a luxury he didn't have. "Bloody, blasted..."

Rhodes gripped his chair slightly as the shuttle quickly moved away from the, apparently now, more aggressive creature. He will have to re-evaluate the tactical threat indications that he had previously applied.

The probe spluttered back to life, inside the creature. It was dark but Kiri could make out some sort of valves that drew in gas from inside its mouth. Looking around there didn't seem to be much else, its mouth closing the pressure readings were very high. The effects from the impulse drive seemed to spook the gas whale, starting to sink deeper, taking the probe with it. Taking a breath Kiri looked forwards, "It seems to have left, can we return to the ship?"

Siren laughed warmly, nodding her head as she moved her fingers on her computer to log and gather all the information. There was a touch of colour on her pale skin and her eyes shone with energy and the unexpected turn that had been quite a thrill of a ride for a moment there. "We need to get a team together that can get us more on that ship."

Oliver chuckled at that, nodding as he looked over at them. Adrenaline still pumped through his body and he smiled weakly. "Just tell me where to go and I'll go there," he said easily, despite how tense it had been only seconds before.

"If I may interject." Lt. Rhodes began, "It would not be wise to attempt any contact with that . . vessel. The creature could return at any time. We do not know its resourcefulness." He was very concerned for the safety of the shuttle and crew. "We would be better off having the Galileo use a tractor beam and move it out of the atmosphere into a stable orbit before any close or detailed survey to take place."

"The return of the probe will warn us of the creature," Kiri explained, "We need to make a final assessment and see if the ships structure would survive the stress." Would it be possible to extend the shuttles shields around the remains? Or if it came to it would they need to attach structural field generators to the wreck?

Theron had a bad feeling about resurrecting this shell of a ship. It is true that he enjoyed finding old tools and weapons from the past, but this ship was different. He was sure that lives were lost while it lay trapped here in the upper atmosphere of this gas giant. Leaving the dead to rest should be considered, but it was not his call.

"If we can take some final scans of the state of the ship," Siren nodded to Kiri at what had been her suggestion, "we can then return to Galileo and at least offer up the data and some scenarios to let them decide how best to handle it," she offered, nodding her head. She felt it was above their pay grade, and the capabilities of the shuttle, to do much more at the moment than get as much information as they could in order to set up a return and rescue for the shuttle later.

Oliver smiled as he looked at the others before nodding. "Alright. Everyone, start recording...hopefully, we'll be back to the Galileo before lunch."

OFF:

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Theron Rhodes
Asst. Chief of Security
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

WO Oliver Sylver
Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Aria Rice

CN Siren Hex
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Scarlet Blake

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