Away team 1, depature and arrival

Posted on Thu Nov 21st, 2019 @ 3:44pm by Ensign Amanda Turell & Lieutenant JG Jasad Yuvek & Ensign Brendon Watanabe & Ensign Nicola Cross

2,018 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The science of stars
Location: Volga runabout USS Moskva, planet 1
Timeline: 10th March 2395- evening planetside

ON:

"We're all set back here Lieutenant." Nicola called from the back section of the Volga as her and Amanda finished stacking equipment.

Hunter was already seated and buckled in looked over at the neatly stacked medical equipment. He said nothing but he was ready. Looking forward to the expedition.

Lieutenant Yuvek finished completing the last of his pre-flight visual inspection of the Volga before he closed a side hatch and made his way into the main compartment.

"Computer, begin start-up sequence." He said as he made his way to the pilot's seat and got situated. As he watched the consoles come online and begin their typical routine's he pressed the comm button.

=/\= This is Runabout Moskva preparing to depart from Shuttlebay 4. We're finalizing our checklist and will begin departure within the next five minutes.=/\=

=/\= Departure clearance granted Moskva, have fun out there.=/\= Came the response.

"Ensign Watanabe, run a check on the metaphasic shielding. I don't want us to get within spitting distance of the planet only to realize that our radiation shielding is not functioning." Lt. Yuvek said.

The Ensign flashed a quick smile as he began checking on the status of the shielding. "Not looking for a nice Honeycrisp tan, Lieutenant?" replied Brendan Watanabe. "Metaphasic shielding appears to be in the green. We shouldn't have any issue on that end."

Lieutenant Yuvek began to accelerate the runabout out of the shuttlebay and safely through the forcefield of the port. Once the runabout had cleared the sufficient amount of distance from the main vessel he laid in the course of the planet and activated impulse engines. He began to plot a direct course to the planet that would safely take them around the sun in the planet. He had already calculated the safest way to approach the planet in light of the radiation it admitted. He also wanted to avoid dealing with additional bombardment by the surface of the sun itself.

Hunter stared out the window. As they left the ship he found his mood changing a bit. He was still down but memories of the many conversations he'd had with Galatea flashed through his mind bringing little smiles of comfort to him. He missed her with all he was. It had been as if she'd lost a part of himself. This trip might very well be what he needed.

Amanda looked out of one of the other windows, it'd been a while since she'd had her feet on solid ground with real air and real gravity and was looking forward to it despite potentially getting rather well irradiated.

As the ship neared its destination Hunter seemed to snap out of whatever was holding him captive. He actually felt a certain contentment in the mission that they were about to undertake. He had the heart of a true explorer and was very much anticipating the touch down.

Shuttlecraft landings always made Ensign Wantanabe a little nervous. Truth be told he much preferred the use of transporters than shuttles when it came to missions. Statistics didn't lie; There were far more shuttle fatalities than those of transporter fatalities. He had survived a pretty nasty shuttle crash before, but the memories of what happened still haunted his waking dreams.

Lost in the moment for only a few seconds, he was snapped back to the here and now. "Smooth and steady and touch us down in a good spot" commented Brendan.

Hunter checked the medical panel taking readings. "This shall prove to be interesting," he said as the shuttle made it's way to a suitable landing area.

"Smooth and steady is the only way I know how to fly." The Cardassian said as the shuttle made its way through the stratosphere and headed towards a clearing a top an outcrop of rocks. It was a good sight because it would give the away team a good vantage point of the nearby area. There was still no telling just how evolved the native life on the planet was nor how hostile they would be to strangers coming onto their land.

"A nice little spot you've picked for us there Lieutenant." Amanda remarked figuring he was heading for the rocky outcrop though it was still a ways away.

Hunter grabbed as much gear as possible. He was anxious to get this started. Suddenly everything went out of his mind but the mission at hand.

Lt. Yuvek brought the runabout to the intended destination and circled the clearing several times before bringing the vessel to a level portion of the area.

"Well, Ensign, this is gonna be about the best place possible to park our ship until we better determine how safe this planet is." He said as he began to a post-flight diagnostic.

"Everyone begin unloading while I send word back to the Wolff that we it in one piece." He added.

Unslinging her rifle, Amanda popped the hatch of the Volga and took a few steps outside, she was immediately hit with a wall of heat. "My god that's warm." She remarked.

Hunter held up a hypo. "I could give you a trioxide compound. Will help you."

"Nah I'm okay." Amanda replied. "Just not used to this kind of heat, it hits you like a bulkhead."

Hunter smiled, "Yes well a bulkhead could do substantial damage on contact, this kind of head can only add a mild discomfort."

Amanda undid her uniform jacket and threw it down near a pile of rocks. "That's a little better already." She poked her head back into the runabout, "We should wait until we've had a good look around Lieutenant, the sensors may say this area is safe but there could be things the sensors haven't picked up."

"Damnit!" Lieutenant Yuvek exclaimed, not really paying attention to the words being spoken by the other individual. "I'm not getting tightbeam connection with the Wolff" He said as he tried to re-initiate the communication connection sequence.

"It must be something on this planet." He said as he unsecured himself from his seat, stood up and climbed out of the shuttle. The wall of dry heat that met him as he stepped out of the shuttle was refreshing to him.

"This is why I picked this location because I figured we'd have a clear line of sight with the southern horizon." He continued. "Where's the signal booster equipment?" He asked, stopping to actually look at one of his crewmates.

"Should be in here." Nicola said passing a box across to Jasad.

"I'm going to have a quick look around." Amanda said, Jasad hadn't quite said yes but he hadn't said no either so slinging her rifle and grabbing a tricorder she headed off.

Hunter's adventurous spirit woke up. "Sure. I'll come. You might need medical."

"Let's check the immediate area then we'll take a look over the edge of this little outcrop." Amanda led Hunter down a route that her tricorder said was south.

"Sounds good." Hunter's eyes swept the area.

Lieutenant Yuvek was more focused on trying to get a signal to the Wolff than listening to the request made by Amanda. "Yeah, sure, stay close." He muttered half-aware of the other officers as he climbed back into the Moskva and ran an upper atmosphere sensor sweep to see if a signal could make it through.

Hunter held his tricorder, a specially adapted one. He looked over at Amanda. "I'm getting some interesting readings."

"Hopefully nothing we should be worried about?" Amanda replied.

He smiled, "No. Life but...not like we know it." He motioned. "Come here and see."

As she walked over the join Hunter Amanda pocketed her own tricorder and unslung her rifle again just to be sure as Hunters description was very vague.

He smiled, "They were single cell creatures...like amoebas but different. Aren't they beautiful. They seem to thrive in this gel like environment."

"Single cell creatures aren't much of an issue for me Chief," Amanda remarked. "They're pretty harmless....... compared to that huge ass lizard." She shouldered her rifle as a nearly four foot long lizard emerged from behind some rocks several meters away but close enough to worry her. It's long purple tongue flicked out tasting the warm air and the scent of the two humans.

Hunter was glad Amanda was there. "Thanks!"

"I hope there is not a nest of them nearby or this landing zone might not be the best place to stop. Don't want to wake up with a lizard nearly as tall as us breathing down our necks." Amanda said as she watched the lizard slowly walk off after examining them both for a few seconds. "They don't seem to be aggressive though."

Hunter had been scanning the lizard. "I do not think they are a threat. It looks like this guy." He pointed to the single celled creatures, "It looks like they eat these. Their digestive system is fascinating."

"That's good," Amanda breathed a small sigh of relief as the lizard disappeared from sight. "Won't have to worry about them eating us."

"I believe we are safe."

Amanda nodded. "Then lets keep going."


==== Landing Zone ===

Lieutenant Yuvek continued to work on establishing contact with the Wolff, but with little success. =/\= This is the Moskva, come in. . .=/\= He tried to signal, but the runabout was failing to establish a strong or stable connection.

"That damn radiation. . ." The Helmsman said with evident frustrate. He knew that it would be another 11 hours before the previously launched probe from the Wolff would be within signal distance from the Runabout's location. He figured at that point he would be able to bounce a signal off of the probe and back towards the vessel.

Until then, they'd just have to sit tight and avoid being mauled to death by any local creatures.

"Still no luck contacting the Wolff?" Nicola asked.

The officer stepped away from the pilot seat and sighed aloud. "We're going to have to wait for several hours."

"We'll be fine sir, we knew communications might be difficult when we left," Nicola said in her best reassuring voice before turning to her fellow science officer. "So Brendon, you're lead scientist on this, where do you think we should start after we're all set up?"

He looked at her and then looked around. "I think it would be wise to work our way outward" he stated calmly. "I think we may want to watch out for tumbleweed and dust storms," he said somewhat playfully. "And be careful where you poke around...we know practically nothing about the toxicity of any of these reptiles let alone the arachnids or any spiked plants."

Finishing their sweep Amanda and Hunter returned to the runabout in time to hear Brendon.

Hunter sighed, "I can help with the question of is it dangerous but...there is never a certainty. To be safe I say nobody touches the plants or animals for now."

"The immediate area looks safe enough, everything we've seen so far has seemed harmless." Amanda said. "But I agree with the Chief."

Lt. Yuvek listened as the other officers returned. "Since it will be awhile before we can make contact with the ship, let's setup a perimeter. I'd like to think that lizard is the only large multi-cellular inhabitant of this immediate area, but we can't be too certain." He advised as he began to gather his effects.

"How long does daylight last on this planet?" He asked.

"This far north, about twenty hours." Brendon replied. "We have another two hours or so till dark but it'l only be dark for around five hours. If we finish setting up and have the runabouts sensors scanning around during the night we can be ready to go exploring at first light."

Nicola nodded enthusiastically "Sounds like a plan to me."

OFF:



Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek
Chief Helmsman
USS Wolff

Chief Petty Officer Hunter Payton
Head Nurse
USS Wolff

Ensign Amanda Turell [npc Taliserra]
Sec/Tac Officer

Ensign Brendon Watanabe [npc command]
Science Officer
USS Wolff

Ensign Nicola Cross [npc command]
Geologist

 

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