Ambushed

Posted on 07 Jan 2016 @ 9:14pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Taliesin Cynwrig

3,472 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Deck 3, Airlocks
Timeline: MD22, 1600 Hours

[ON]

The docking ports were busy as the crew of the Galileo were making their way from the ship and out into Jupiter Station. People were chatting excitedly, glad for this chance at some R&R after the rough month that they had been through, and the noise level was high as they jostled good-naturedly with each other to disembark. It was a little bit chaotic, with some crew carrying bags or suitcases, sports equipment or reports, some hanging on to each other so they could stick together in the crowd. But it wasn't so chaotic that Taliesin couldn't find his prey.

The thin figure that looked like it could stand to gain a few kilos, the reddish-blonde hair, the diffident way he tried to avoid bumping into anyone as he made his way to the airlock, all of that made Cadet Paragon stand out like a sore thumb. Taliesin's lips curved up in a brief smile, a somewhat mean look perhaps, though in his heart of hearts he really was trying to do something good for the boy. Not that Wintrow was likely to appreciate this, of course.

The cadet would feel a sudden heavy hand land on his shoulder from behind, a hand that held him in place before he could put his foot through the hatch and gain his freedom, "Going somewhere, Cadet?"

Wintrow jumped as the hand landed on his shoulder, instinctively recoiling from the unannounced touch. "Uhm...Starbase si-petty officer," he replied, catching his almost error just in time. "I was going to meet with Miss Wyatt soon..." He re-composed himself and drew himself up just a tad, drawing a deep breath. "Do you need assistance with anything?" He did want to be useful, even if he had doctor's orders to take things easy.

"You could say that," Taliesin intoned, his face serious, and only maybe his eyes giving away his amusement. Perhaps Wintrow would pick up on it, if he was focused enough to know the human's emotions, but then again maybe Taliesin intimidated him just enough that the cadet wouldn't realise. "Report to Holodeck 2 in fifteen minutes, Cadet Paragon. I think you've had enough time off from your training."

The young pilot's eyes widened in surprise. "But..." he protested, "there's not much I'm allowed to do..." He had indeed missed the humour in the man's eyes and he wasn't focused enough to sense it. He didn't really actively try to gauge emotions anyway, and his telepathic training (despite being only an empath) was well behind as it was.

Taliesin smiled again, ever so briefly, and his only response was, "Perfect."

[Deck 5, Holodeck 2, 1615 Hours]

A pair of bright, hot suns beat down in the simulation, their angles leaving almost no shadows amidst the wind-swept and bleached rocks of the barren wasteland. The air was as dry as any desert on Earth, leeching the moisture out of one's mouth, leaving skin parched and sore. It was not a pleasant setting, and Taliesin didn't look very comfortable himself. He was used to the cool air of ships and stations, artificial environments with controlled temperatures and humidity. This certainly put him out of his own element. The petty officer turned his gaze over to Wintrow to see how the young man reacted to the scene.

Shielding his eyes against the brightness, Wintrow did his best to breathe only through his nose and keep his mouth pressed firmly shut if he wasn't requried to speak. He though that right now using the few handsignals he knew from piloting fighters, was rather useful, but would Taliesin know them? Which way? he signed quickly, using only his right hand as he held his left over his eyes. He still couldn't use his left hand all that well yet, moving his fingers was still a painful and sore endevour. He could only do short questions, and his knowledge was limited to directions, increasing speed, or coming to a halt.

Whatever Wintrow was doing with his hands, Taliesin had no clue. Instead he focused his attention on him fully, "Quit fidgeting. I heard about the injuries you suffered, Cadet, and that gave me an idea. Not the usual sort of training program that I'd run, but maybe it's good to keep you on your toes. This one isn't going to involve any kinds of weapons, or fighting, or any of that other fun stuff. Instead, I thought it'd be good to test your survival training." His lips curled upwards, and his smile wasn't that friendly looking. "With a twist."

"Computer, give us the crashed remnants of a Starfleet shuttle that's been nearly completely destroyed, along with some supplies and material that might have been beamed off first or survived an impact." The computer acknowledged the command and began to process the information it needed, taking it's time as the security man hadn't been very specific. After about a minute it had finished altering the scene, and there was burning debris all around them, as well as a medkit, a single survival kit, and some odds and ends from the shuttle. "Your hand, Cadet, the one you injured. You've broken that in the crash landing. And I've broken my leg and suffered a concussion." Taliesin promptly sat down on a rock and leaned back. "So what do we do?"

Feeling a little overwhelmed at the sudden chance of scenery, Wintrow quickly surveyed the crash site, noticing the med- and survival kit. "First, I will make sure that you are comfortable," he answered, going into survival mode almost instantly. It was almost second nature to him as he approached the injured man, kneeling beside him. "I want you to keep as still as possible," he instructed, remembering some of the things Allyndra had taught him a few weeks ago.

"I am going to get the medical kit to make sure you have no internal injuries and then I'm going to find something to splint your leg. After that, our first priority is to make sure we have food, water and shelter."

"Sounds good to me," Taliesin replied. He decided to be a little bit helpful; the cadet seemed to do better with guidance rather than to be left to figure things out all on his own. They needed to work on that, but he wasn't intending this training scenario to last that long. "A couple of things though. Maybe we should scan to make sure its safe to stand around here like this though. There could be radiation from the crash, or some other hazard. Also, making a splint with one hand is going to be hard. How about you wrap your hand up with a bandage so you can't use it?" So far, so good. Get the immediate safety concerns taken care of, and then Wintrow could move on to other steps.

Wintrow nodded. "Though you have a concussion, are you able to assist me with bandaging my hand? I was going to use my arm to fix the splint in place and my teeth to assist with making knots. I can't move you until I've stabilized you, so shelter is of primary concern." He hurried to get both kits, and retrieved the tricorder. "Maybe we can use some of the debris to make us a shelter, at least for the night. I will also need to see if I can find the shuttle's homing beacon, but my primary concern is you for the moment. I'm functional, though a bit shaken from the crash. It'll pass once I've taken some pain relief. But not too much as I can't risk it clouding my judgement."

"Sure, I can help bandage your hand, but lets make sure it's safe to sit around here for long," Taliesin reminded him. "I'm much too injured to run a tricorder, so you're going to have to handle that part, and one handed too unless you figure something out. Thinking forward though, that's good." Taliesin leaned back into the rock, sort of playing along the part of having a concussion but really just making himself comfortable, and mentally counting down till some parts of the scenario he'd set up should show up. Of course he hadn't made it exactly easy, even if the former cop thought it shouldn't be too hard. What would it do to his reputation if he didn't at leave have a few surprises on their way?

"We can let it lie open," Wintrow suggested, furrowing his brow as he watched Taliesin lean back. Though deep down he knew that the man wasn't injured, he was playing along well by treating him as if he really was injured. "I need you to keep talking to me petty officer, under no circumstance may you fall asleep, especially not with a concussion." He pulled a phaser from the survival kit and lay it within reach, set to heavy stun, letting his senses work for him while he lie the tricorder open so Taliesin could watch the readings and held out his hand to be bandaged.

It took a while, Taliesin playing dumb, but eventually they got everything sorted out that was an immediate concern. Wintrow's hand was bandaged, Taliesin was given a 'hypo' of some concoction from the medkit that should help him stay focused and conscious, some basic supplies were gathered, and the shuttle wreckage turned out to not be that dangerous at all besides for fires they wouldn't be able to put out anytime soon as fuel burned. Unfortunately most of the pieces that might make for good shelter pieces were either too hot or too large, so they were going to need to find somewhere else.

The wasteland area they were in right now did not seem like it would have much cover. There were clusters of rocks here and there, but none very large, the occasional petrified tree, and long vistas of cracked, dry mud. To the north was a dark haze on the horizon, possibly the edge of a forest or maybe a storm. To the east were mountains that cast their shadows down across the badlands. To the south and west seemed to be just more of the barren area as far as the eye could see. Taliesin waited, watching Wintrow, to see what he'd come up with.

Standing up, the boy surveyed their immediate surroundings, then slung the gathered supplies across his shoulder, offering Taliesin a hand up. "If you lean on me, we can make it to the mountains," he suggested, "right now shade is more important and maybe there's caves we can take refuge in. I don't like the look of that haze on the horizon, it doesn't feel right to me." He looked down at his instructor. "Can you get up?"

"Oooh, I think I can manage," Taliesin said and got up, and pretend to make a slow time of walking even with Wintrow to support him along. The landscape didn't change too much for the two men, other than the ground beginning to slope upwards and climb into the foothills. The ground was still bare and broken, the rocks looked forlorn, and the wind howled eerily through the hills. "So far, so good, Cadet," he admitted. In fact, Taliesin hadn't come down hard on him once yet, a fact that the young man might have picked up on by now. Was the former law enforcement agent being nice on purpose, or was he maybe plotting something in that cruel mind of his?

Wintrow said nothing, his face a mask of concentration as he helped his instructor along the uneven path, gently tugging or nudging him to avoid further injury. "We are being stalked," he said after a few seconds." While he couldn't physically sense the creature following them, he still somehow sensed that they were being watched. "Be ready to roll if I have to drop you." He had a phaser, and a dagger, something he pulled from the survival kit and his hand rested on the handle of the phaser, toggling it to kill. "Just roll with your fall, that should keep you from further injury on your leg." His dark eyes scouted their surroundings as he pulled out the phaser. It was awkward as his left had was injured and he wasn't a good shot to begin with, let alone with his non-dominant hand. "And duck petty officer, when I do let go of you, I don't want you to get shot."

The human couldn't fail to notice the setting Wintrow put the phaser on, "You expecting we're about to get attacked by a mugatu, Cadet? We're Starfleet, not Klingons. You don't set a weapon to kill unless you have to." That was the first real criticism he'd brought up, but the intent way he said it and stared at Wintrow brooked no disputes.

Taking the berate without argument, Wintrow toggled the weapon back to heavy stun. "I don't know what is following us," he explained, "the tricorder is giving a lot of interference." He tilted his head slightly to listen and cringed involuntarily as he heard a twig snap. "Do you see anything?" he asked as he lowered Taliesin to the ground, setting him with his back towards a large boulder. He drew his phaser and leveled it towards the sound.

"Who me?" Taliesin asked a little playfully as he got comfortable on the ground. He was playing along, but only to a point. The Master At Arms was not much of an actor, or at least not for some holodeck training simulation like this. "Nope, Cadet, 'fraid not. My serellek head is pounding so hard I can see two feet in front of me. Sure you aren't supposed to leave me behind at this point?" Taliesin chuckled.

"Oh no I'm not leaving you behind!" The boy's face set in determination, dark eyes scanning their surroundings, peering along his arm as he aimed the phaser ahead of him. "We need to move...it's not safe here, are you able to get up the slope?"

"I can but try," Taliesin pretended to struggle back to his feet and begin making his way uphill unsteadily. The man wouldn't get very far though before the beast made its move. They could hear it first, crashing through the dry, brittle growth of bushes, the clattering of rocks, a snarl as it drew in closer. Curious to see how things would turn out, Taliesin started walking backwards so he could watch. It wasn't really playing along with the injury he was supposed to have, but he did want to see how well the Cadet's phaser training had progressed.

Instinctively, Wintrow swiveled towards the sound while staying between Taliesin and whatever was out there to protect him. He tried to keep his arm steady but couldn't help a slight tremor as adrenaline started to make it 's course through his body. At the sight of the large creature - an animal Wintrow couldn't remember ever having seen before - he fired his phaser twice in rapid succession. He reasoned a creature this large wouldn't be downed by a single shot. "Hide!" he called out to Taliesin as he scrambled backwards towards his instructor.

Chuckling to himself with how into things the cadet seemed to be, Taliesin merely hunkered down and watched. The assault was likely to be over and done with relatively quickly, what with Wintrow hitting what he aimed at. He was here to evaluate the young man's progress anyways, so Taliesin wasn't going to miss things. "Quick bursts now," he advised. "Don't give it time to recover and get closer."

Nodding, Wintrow did as he was told, pressing the trigger in quick but short bursts. "It's strong," he reported, "this is heavy stun and it's barely backing down. Permission to switch to kill?"

"Now you can," Taliesin authorised. It was still only a simulation, but procedures were what the were going over and needed to be preserved. "Keep it quick."

Switching setting between bursts, the colour of the beam intensified. It took three more quick shots before the creature finally stayed down. Breathing fast, Wintrow continued to aim, while approaching the downed creature with an open tricorder. Taking a quick reading, he turned his back and returned to Taliesin's side. "Just a little further," he suggested, "if there is a creature this big, there's bound to be a cave where we can take shelter."

"That's an assumption, Cadet," Taliesin said as he started walking again. "That creature could live out in the open, or dig holes, or maybe even climb a tree. You've a tricorder in your hand. What does it tell you about what is up ahead? Never assume what you can investigate in a survival situation; it could be the death of you."

Wintrow looked at his tricorder while supporting Taliesin. "Garbled readings into the mountains," he reported. To test it, he turned his tricorder in the opposite direction, where they'd come from. The readings cleared. "Something is interfering with sensors petty officer," he added, "I can't tell if there's caves until we get there. Might not be the safest solution to head all the way up there. We have shade here, but we're exposed to other elements and I don't know how cold it'll get if it gets dark. But out here is our best bet for rescue, up there we might not be able to get a signal out."

"Well thought out," Taliesin agreed and stopped moving once again. He took a lazy seat on a nearby boulder. "If sensors don't work so well in the mountains that could make it hard for a rescue ship to find us. The hills should give us enough of a high ground for defence though against wild animals, though we might have an uncomfortable stay." Taliesin shrugged, looked a little bored, but said, "A good job, Cadet. Your aim has certainly improved. As has your judgement. I think I'll give you a passing grade this time."

Speechless, Wintrow turned as if he'd forgotten they were on a holodeck. It'd been real enough for sure. "Thank you," he managed after a few seconds and it was obvious that to him, that bit of praise meaned a lot. "May I ask you something?" He didn't quite wait for permission. "Have you seen Chief Warrant S'rivas lately? I've been trying to set up training with him but I can't find him..."

"Warrant Officer S'rivas has departed the ship, Cadet," Taliesin responded, sounding a little tired of correcting Wintrow's forms of address but at least not blowing up at him this time. "The last I spoke to him he had mentioned something about finding someplace less chaotic to work. You know Vulcans. Ssj'ej'chu!" Taliesin chuckled and shook his head, though he wasn't entirely pleased. Before he left, S'rivas had given him a whole list of suggested training courses for Cadet Wintrow Paragon. He held back a sigh. "Any thoughts about your training so far, Cadet?"

"I hope I'm progressing on par as if physically attending the academy," the younger man replied thoughtfully, still seeming a little on alert due to the still running program, "I know I still have plenty to learn, especially where self defense and weapons training is concerned. While flight is my main course, I'm also taking courses in maintenance, basic engineering and field medicine. I need to be able to care for teammates if required. I'm also working on my own self esteem...it's going up and down." Obviously, but equally obvious, he had made progress there too.

"Well, I've never been an instructor at the Academy myself, but now that we're back home I was planning on getting in touch with the Academy Commandant and get a hold of a training schedule. For you and the other Cadet." Taliesin narrowed his eyes at Wintrow and spoke with a promise, "If they allow me to continue your training, and I come to find out you've fallen far behind, Cadet, don't expect things to be as easy as this one was." The security man waved a hand vaguely at their surroundings, but then he softened up. Just a little bit. "Until then, enjoy your shore leave, Cadet. Computer, end program."

"I don't mind working hard petty officer," Wintrow replied slowly, though he smiled at the dismissal. "You enjoy your leave too..." Wintrow knew he wasn't going to set foot on Earth if he could help it. The station was safe, Earth was not, especially not if his stepmother learned he was close.

[OFF]

PO1 Taliesin Cynwrig
Master-At-Arms
USS Galileo
PNPC by Xanth

&

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

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