Away Team Part 2

Posted on Sat Jan 23rd, 2021 @ 7:54am by Avalon [ADMIN NPC] & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Commander Arrianna Salannis an Vantar & Lieutenant Commander S'hib & Lieutenant Victor Barclay de Tolly & Lieutenant Tate Sullivan Ph.D. & Ensign Olivia (Carter) Voight & Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani & Ensign Andrew Carey & Ensign Ethal Luen & Captain David Tonelly [Reece] & Private Christian Laknema & Gunnery Sergeant Luxa Gami [Naxea]

Mission: Season 4: Episode 3: Guided by Starlight
4583 words - 9.2 OF Standard Post Measure

IC

The Captain's yacht may have looked sleek, but as far as atmospheric flying went, it was still a brick with an impulse engine. On the other hand, having repulsor lifts rather than relying on winged flight meant that landing would be easy. Miraj just had to find a site to land. She wanted somewhere reasonably temperate with clear weather, plenty of space, but on a main land mass. She went slowly, only a couple of hundred kilometers an hour as she swooped through the atmosphere, absorbing the data like she absorbed oxygen, and let her uncanny instinct for flying turn it into useful knowledge.

She caught the slipstream for a moment and let it shoot them along for a few seconds and then got closer to the ground. She was coming in towards the coast of one of the three large land masses. An archipelogo of a dozen islands, approximately a thousand kilometers long, made stepping stones towards the high white bluffs on the coast itself, and the air was thick with sea birds nesting and fishing in the crystal blue water below.

That would do nicely, Miraj decided, and turned to the cabin. "Thirty seconds and you can stretch your legs." There was a good spot on top of the bluffs. There was a slope down to the beach roughly a kilometer away, and the trees of a great forest had petered out some five kilometers to the east, giving them plenty of space to see things coming all round. The repulsor lifts flared, gravity fields fighting the natural gravity of the planet for a second, before the yacht settled like a feather on its landing struts.

"Ok." Miraj checked everything "Gravity is 1.1 Newton, so you may feel a bit heavier. Atmosphere is within normal for M class. Its a glorious twenty three degrees outside, humidity is at 64 percent and pressure is rising. Its a lovely day." She unsealed the doors, and warm sunshine spilled into the main cabin.

Naxea had stood as the shuttle settled, grabbing her rifle in the process. She nodded to Staff Sergeant Gami who was also on her feet then looked at Private Laknema.

"Private Laknema, take point," Naxea commanded with a nod of her head.

"Aye, aye Ma'am," Christian said getting his rifle and moving out of the vessel. Part of him wanted to rush out yelling 'Federation Marines Federation Marines' and blasting anything that moved threatening but in the end he didn't. He moved out and kept his rifle up looking around taking his rifle in the direction he was looking as trained.

Following out of the shuttle behind Laknema and Gami, Naxea enjoyed the fresh air as the warm sun beat down. "Let's set up a perimeter while supplies are unloaded."

Olivia stepped out after Naxea so that she could take a quick look around and figure out a spot that would hopefully work as a makeshift first aid station while they were planet side. Hopefully the need for medical attention wouldn't be needed during this mission, but it was best to be prepared for anything that might crop up that wasn't planned.

David exited the shuttle next. Looking over to his Commander, he asked, “Permission to head to my perch, Ma’am?”

"Go ahead but stay sharp and take another Marine with you," Naxea said as the other Marines began to set up a basic perimeter around the shuttle

David nodded and then glanced over to a young human private. The two marines headed off at a trot, and within ten minutes, were both positioned in the outcropping that overlooked the area. David sent the agreed signal that they were in position. He then began scanning the area with his field glasses, preferring to use his eyes, while the other Marine used her tricorder to scan the area.

"Relax Major. The only dangerous things here are the fauna according to the past surveys we had on this ship." Arri mentioned.

"Complacency kills, Commander. Sensors don't always pick up everything," Naxea replied, turning to face the woman.

Andy followed next, with his weapon of choice at the ready, but pointed down. Taking a look at the surroundings he took a deep breath in. His first away mission on his first posting. To most this was insignificant. To him though, it was kind of a big deal.

S’hibs hooves clicked loudly down the exit ramp as he dragged a gravbed of equipment, pointing his staff lazily to one side. “If you two are going to start butting heads, could you please do so out the way of the ramp?.” He snorted, flicking the tip of the staff to one side as he continued thumping towards them.

Ethal exited the ship carrying some more equipment out. She wanted to be as helpful as possible to the team. The ride down to the planet was much more smooth than she was used too, but then the ship landings she was a part of were piloted by cadets. She took a deep breath of fresh air of the planet. It was a nice change from recycled air of starships.

"Many things can kill, Major. We're never truly safe in life." Arrianna flipped open her tricorder and began to scan things.

Victor started scanning as well. "I definitely do feel a little heavier."

Tate followed Olivia out of the yacht and intended to help her set up a first aid station, but the counselor also kept one ear open to observe the dynamic between the rest of the team. She wasn't terribly concerned about the discussion back-and-forth, but was also mindful that it would be just as important for her to be willing and able to act as a mediator if need be for the team as much for anyone else.

Naxea watched S'hib walk down the ramp past her and with a wicked grin playfully slapped his rear with her hand as he did so. "Hush you."

S'hib simply snorted at her gesture, flicking his long tail hairs back at her hand on reflex. "You know you're both still in the way..." He shot back casually, turning and walking backwards as his eyes met hers, calling for her to fight back as he lowered the gravbed to the alien planets surface.

Naxea approached S'hib with a grin. "We'll finish this tonight," she promised, continuing to walk past him.

His mouth opened with a witty remarked ready to roll off his tongue, but instead he simply watched her walk by, incling his head low to better see over his long muzzle. When his attention returned to the gravbed, a dirty smile had formed over his amused face. "I see..." He thought quietly to himself, releasing the gravlocks that held the containers down.

David grinned slightly to himself as he watched the exchange through his field glasses. While he was still new to the crew, he could see the good group dynamics as clear as day. This seemed more and more like the right crew for him to join.

Next to him, Pvt. Gart, his spotter, shifted. "Not a lot to see out here, is there, Corporal?" Her eyes were flicking from her scanner to their surroundings and back. "Just a lot of sea one way, and trees the others. Bunch of fleeties in between."

David grinned slightly at the nickname. During his time on Earth, of the 20th Century, the various branches of the armed forces each had nicknames for the other, at differing levels of vulgarity. He wondered if the Marines of today would blanch at the utterance of some of those names. Lowering his field glasses, he sighed softly and responded. "Nope, certainly seems as peaceful as advertised out there." Putting the glasses down on their case, he reached down for his canteen, took a sip, and offered it to Gart.

Gart took the canteen and swigged a mouthful, wiping her mouth with the back of hand. "And we're going to wreck it with a bunch of backward religious relics who should have died off two hundred years ago. Don't get it, myself. Indulging them when they need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty fourth century."

David grinned a lop-sided grin as he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, cutting the glare of the sun overhead. “Never underestimate the power of faith, my young apprentice.” He laughed softly at his little joke. “ I’ve seen a lot of things that would make these *relics*, as you call them, seem brand spanking new.” He continued to scan the area with his eyes as he spoke. While his instincts told him that there was no immediate danger, they had a job to do.

"Yeah, well , wannabe relics need a slapping." Gart gave him a sly grin. "Genuine relics like you get a pass."

David stopped scanning and turned to look at Gart. Arching has right eyebrow, he gave a wry grin. “So, you actually do want to completely strip down, clean and rebuild all the weapons on the ship?”

"Not really. But if its a choice between that and listening to 'back in my day' stories, I'd like some time to think about it." She laughed.

"David is right about faith," Victor says as he reads his scan. "If you guys need help from Engineering on rebuilding, just ask your superior to give a request to me."

Andy walked a circle around the shuttle, nothing out of the ordinary as of yet, he paused and stared out to the sea. "This reminds me of my home back on Earth." He smiled as he continued.

Olivia found a spot that would work for the first aid station while they were planetside. She picked up a few sticks on the ground to mark the area off to start with before the medical supplies were fully unloaded. Once she had the area marked off, Olivia turned to start back towards the shuttle to start unloading the medical supplies. As she turned, Olivia spotted movement out of the corner of her eye in a nearby bush. Olivia turned back in the direction of where a couple of the marines had taken up as a lookout position and motioned to them about the movement in the nearby bush.

David had already noticed the rustling bush. Slowly, he raised his sniper rifle, as he whispered to Gart to grab the field glasses and check the bush.

Olivia continued to stay in place as she watched the bush rustle a bit more. After a bit more movement in the bush, Olivia noticed that whatever was in the bush was getting closer to one side and about to come out. She just hoped that whatever it was wouldn't attack any of the crew since they had only just arrived. The first thing that Olivia spotted was what appeared to be a cross between a tiger paw and a cougar paw or so it seemed to her.

"Easy," S'hib said with a deep hushed tone as he approached Oliva from behind, leaving the few containers he had brought over to her near the sticks she had marked.

"Don’t move..." he added as his oversized hand gently tapped her shoulder, letting her know he was there before continuing to walk forward, his hooves treading lightly as he approached a small clearing between the group and whatever was hiding in the foliage beyond.

A brief moment later he let out a loud high pitch whine, a sound that was remarkedly close to earth equines but with more of a rumbling growl hidden beneath it, projecting his presence deep into the tree line and surrounding fields

Then he watched, his tall diamond ears remained motionless atop his head, fixed on what was in front of him as his mane blew lazily to one side in the light breeze, listening for the slightest sound or movement with avid interest.

Naxea didn't like the position S'hib was in as she motioned the rest of the Marines to cover him and spread out along Shib's left and right flanks before shouldering her weapon into a high ready position.

Meanwhile, Tate found herself standing just behind Olivia, her hand placed gently on her shoulder as if to keep her from moving forward. The counselor was absolutely frozen, having only just looked up a few minutes before when she became vaguely aware of the absence of movement and the low murmurings of chatter that she was vaguely paying attention to even as she focused attention on helping unpack the necessary medical supplies.

David was watching the whole scene through his scope. Reaching up, he made some minor adjustments to the scope itself. He the put his focus on the area of foliage from where the disturbance had come, his finger along the side of the trigger guard.

The small cub in the bushes jumped at the sound causing the bush it was hiding in to shake even more. It cautiously stuck it's head out of the bush, looked up, and then drew it's little head back into the bush. The little cub waited a little bit before sticking it's head back out again for another look.

“Oh no...” S’hib exhaled as he crouched low, inclining his head to one side to better look at the young creature while tapping his comm badge. “We have a problem,” He sighed as he looked back to everyone else before turning to face the cub. “And it’s going to be his mother...” He grunted, pushing off his own knees as he heaved his weight back up.

“Now... as much as I am sure some of you want to touch the poor thing, doing so could get it killed as our scents will be wholly foreign...” S’hib snorted, already walking hastily back for his phase lance propped up against the Yacht.

“Olivia, Commander, let’s get a biometric scan done and use the the sensors on the Yacht to find more of its kin, hopefully they aren't as close as I fear they will be...”

David and Gart watched the scene unfold. Realizing that a cub had been making the ruckus, David quickly began to scan for its mother. He was certain that she wasn't far.

Suddenly, he heard the soft crunching of stone behind, and above, them. Without moving, David spoke quickly and quietly to Gart. "Listen to me very carefully, Private. Do not, whatever you do, look up and behind us. We are being hunted by something or someone.

Gart kept her eyes resolutely on her scanner. "It’s in the bush one fifty meters back, 7 o'clock." There wasn't much heavy undergrowth between them and the forest, just the occasional clump of shrubs and bushes or a lone tree here and there. "Mama whatever is going to have to break cover soon."

Slowly, David started to move his left hand to his tactical vest. “Stand by for flash bang detonation,” he said quietly for Gart as he released the grenade from its pouch on his vest.

Gart put down her glasses, and went to put her ear plugs in. "Ready, corporal"

At the shuttle, Miraj offered S'hib his lance, "She doesnt like it when you lean things on her," she told him, gesturing at the yacht with a free hand. "Its itchy, and shes worried about scratching her paint job"

"Well she's not going to like it when I rig up some tents off her sides..." He snorted, gently taking the offered lance from her and turning back to scour the area. "And since shes worried about the paint, I'll get you ontop putting padding underneath the rope for her..." He grinned, sticking his flat tongue out at her before flicking the lance forward, engaging the power as the tip growled to life.

Naxea thought about the cub. IF there was a cub, it's mother and/or pack wouldn't be far away. She tapped her comm. "Major Azhul to all Marines, keep your eyes peeled for anymore of these creatures while scanners are activated. If any of these animals become aggressive, use stun and if it has little or no effect, then you are authorized to use the kill setting.”

Up on the precipice, David had readied the stun grenade. He carefully flipped the safety cap off with is thumb. With his right hand, he activated his comm unit. “All units, fire in the hole.” As he finished speaking, he heard the creature behind he and Gart growl louder, the sound was loud and had the feeling of an imminent attack.

In one fluid movement, the seasoned warrior rolled to his right, activated and tossed the grenade in the direction that he felt the attack was coming from, and finished the roll, covering Gart with his larger frame. Two seconds later, the grenade exploded in a blinding light and deafening pop. The pressure wave washed over the pair of marines, physically washing over them.

The resulting explosion also caused the large feline-like animal scurry away in pain. It had stalked the two beings to within three meters and was about to strike, the ensuing attack hopefully bringing enough meat for its litter to feed on for a few days. Unfortunately, the loud pain thing had taught it to be cautious around these new creatures. It would need more of its herd to gain a successful kill.

The sound echoed over the flatland, reaching S’hibs keen ears as he sprinted towards the two marines, his hooves thumping into the grass and dirt of the alien world as fast as his legs would allow. “Marine’s, whats going on up there?” he called out as he leaped over a small stream with ease, the gentle trickle of water heading for the ocean to his east.

Olivia grabbed a couple of the medical kits to prepare for going off in the direction that S'hib had gone in to check on the Marines in that area herself. Medical kits in hand, Olivia waited a little while to see if what S'hib was able to determine before she headed in that direction herself. She didn't want to run off and end up making things worse for anyone by having to be rescued herself should something happen.

After a moment the ringing in Gart's ears became a tolerable whine rather than a dizzing screech, and the burned light of the flash stopped painting red and white marks on her retinas. "Don't take this the wrong way corporal," she said, somewhat loudly thanks to the ringing, and elbowed his side to indicate she didn't need him crushing her down any more. "But I'd prefer it if you bought me dinner first."

First grunting at the friendly elbow, David rolled back to his left, off of Gart and onto his back. He was still recovering from the after effects of the grenade as well, but managed to reply, a bit loud as his ears were still ringing. “What, the water I shared wasn’t enough.” He chuckled aloud at his bad joke. He then felt the vibrations of something large, moving words them, rather quickly. His combat instincts reacted instantly. Rolling over and up to his knees, he drew his phaser pistol from its holster on his right hip, and pointed it towards where he thought the movement was coming from. “Danger front!” He barked to Gart, unsure if she was aware of the possible threat as well. However as his vision was still compromised, he held fire until he was absolutely sure that they were in danger.

Nostrils flared wide as S'hib exhaled, every heavy breath rumbling out of his throat as he continued his gallop towards the perch the marines had tried to claim as there own.

It was a fair distance to cover in such a short time even for a Sequus, and the uneven terrain kept slowing him down even as mud mired the white coat along his legs.

Still, he pressed on, feeling his heart thumping wildly beneath his ribs at the anticipation of what was to come. "S'hib to Corporal Tonelly," He snorted, slapping his comm badge with his left hand as he glanced up towards them, there features more recognisable with every hoof step. "Please respond!"

David tapped his comm badge, wishing he was in his battle armor more and more. “Go ahead, Commander! I can hear an approaching...something, Sir. But my eyes are still messed up!”

"Corporal, you both need to run! these creatures hunt in packs!" He huffed as he slammed his hooves into the gritty soil and slid to a stop beneath and to the side of where the marines had set up, flicking his phase lance up in one smooth motion and firing, sending a hissing bolt of yellow energy up the small hillside before erupting with a small flash.

"Move!" He bellowed, a loud angry snort leaving his nostrils as he watched a large felinoid creature sliding lazily down the dirt hill, stunned and dazed but still attempting to right itself.

Hearing another discharge, Naxea looked in the direction where Tonelly had been. She had decided to try and spint after S'hib--keeping up with him at a full sprint would be next to impossible. "Private Laknema and Staff Sergeant Gami, you're with me--let's go hunting. All other Marines, stay here and keep sharp."

Christian nodded to the Major and took the lead, 'Yay lets go towards the loud sounds,' he thought as they started off.

The three Marines stepped off at a light jog with their weapons at the ready. Naxea tapped her comm. "Major Azhul to Commander S'hib. We're coming to your location."

Hearing the energy blast, David needed no other spurring on. “Gart, secure the gear!” He then reholstered his sidearm, reached down, grabbed his rifle and secured it to the front of his harness, reached down to his left hip and drew the M97 Extractor. Holding it near horizontal over his left shoulder, he heard the read tone and depressed the trigger. From both ends, grappling devices shot out, one behind him, connecting to the rock face behind the shooters, the other shot forward, burying itself in the ground below, and about 100 meters ahead of them.

Gart shouldered her gear, and made sure the ring on the harness was clear. "Ready."

His eyes mostly normal, David quickly and wordlessly connected Gart'ss harness to the line. “Go!” Was all he said.

She didn't hesitate and didn't look back, stepping off the outcropping without a second thought

A second after Gart was gone, David was secured to the line and on his way as well. Though it seemed like an eternity, in reality, from the command to run to both marines zip lining to safety, took about six seconds. Both marines made it safely to the ground and disconnected themselves. “You okay, Gart?”

"Peachy, corporal. What's next?" Her eyes were scanning their point of origin, watching for any further hostile fauna.

"Red sands" S'hib snorted, almost stumbling over his words as he threw his staff up between the two, pointing back to the shuttle. "Run!" He ordered, lifting the staff up and over as he turned around and fired, hitting the same cat-like creature from before, stunning it fully unconscious as a few more gained the courage to move down the steep hill.

Naxea nodded as she, Laknema, and Gami moved out to the edge of the jungle. A large cat-like creature leapt out of the canopy of the forest as she fired off a burst from her pulse rifle that struck home, sending the cat reeling backwards to the ground as two more emerged at full sprint. Damn, these things don't give up easily, she thought.

Gami fired a burst from her rifle as the cat dodged effortlessly. "Damn, they're fast!" she called as she fired another burst, this one dropping the beast.

Christian also fired at beasts that were coming through the brush. He struck one square between the eyes with a three shot burst and the second beast got two in the head before it retreated back into the woods.

TAG Marines

"Major, this is Doctor Voight," Olivia called over the comm unit, "make sure those marines check in with me here at base camp. I will need to make sure that any injuries they have are taken care of properly."

Naxea breathed a sigh of relief as the creatures stopped their attack, sensing the futility of their continued attack, leaving the stunned creatures where they laid. "Will do, doctor. We'll even bring back a present for you." Naxea made her way to the closest cat and began to run scans of the creature with her combat tricorder. Digging into her small basic first aid kit, she drew a mini hypospray, removing the preloaded serum and placed an empty chamber in before pressing the instrument to the creature's neck, drawing some of it's blood. "Good kitty," she commented as she stowed the hypospray and made her way back to the shuttle.

While the Major was up against one of the cats Christian moved to the head selecting kill on his phaser rifle and pointed it at the cats head. If it so much as made a snort it was gonna get a blast while the Major was beside it. Once when she was completed he followed with the other Marines covering the retreat.

Olivia patiently waited as best she could for the Marines and S'hib to report back to base camp. She couldn't fully relax until they returned and she checked them over herself to ensure that there were no serious injuries.

Arriving back at the shuttle, Naxea took her hypospray with a sample of the feline's blood and handed it to Lieutenant McKay. "Here you go. A sample of the beats' blood and DNA. I figured you'd want to study it."

The trio of David, Gart and S'hib finally reached the group. David stepped over to the medic and allowed her to check him for any injuries.

Olivia pulled out the medical tricorder and started checking over the Corporal for injuries. "Corporal, next time you pull such a stunt, you may not be so lucky," Olivia said. "Be prepared for a possible ass chewing from the Major at some point."

David chuckled softly. "Roger that, Ma'am" he then wIted patiently until Olivia was finished with him.

"Are you currently having any problems?," Olivia asked.

Shaking his head in the negative, David responded. "No, Ma'am. All of the effects of the concussion grenade have passed."

"You got very lucky then Corporal," Olivia replied. "Now get over there and take a few minutes to take it easy. Never know what the Major will do to you, so you might as well get a little rest while you can."

Nodding, David moved over to sit in the shade provided by the shuttle.

“Olivia, you’re supposed to be looking after him, not giving him anxiety.” S’hib interjected with a broad smile, still panting somewhat from all the sudden running. “Besides, the majors more likely to tell me off...” He added in a hushed tone. “I did run off on my own after all.”

Olivia laughed a little as she looked over at S'hib. "Well you are used to the Major giving you a hard time," Olivia replied. "Now you sit your tail down here so that I can check you over as well."

OFF