All Set Campers Pt. 2

Posted on Wednesday 31 August 2016 @ 21:11 by Commander Cale Llewellyn DSci & Captain John "Apollo" Barstow, M.D. & Captain Melody Jones & Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant JG Zitla & Marine Captain Elias Walker & Major David Scarlet

Mission: Old, New Ship
Location: Asteroid 'Dashit'
Timeline: Current
3195 words - 6.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

As the two runabouts descended towards the asteroids surface, Cale could feel the tension among the away team rise sharply. The sharpest rises were from Zitla and Kalandra, who were both new to away missions. He wondered whether or not to say something to them and decided not to. He didn't want them to feel singled out.

=/\=Camelot to Lancelot, find us a good place to land, Mister Walker,=/\= said the young XO.

"Roger that. Wait one." Elias said as he placed the Lancelot on the surface near the crashed ship. "Camelot you should have plenty of room on the starboard side of the Lancelot."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. All right, people, get your helmets on and grab your gear. We're coming in for a landing," the XO said as he deftly guided the runabout to the surface of the asteroid. He took note of the landmarks so he could find his way back in the instance their tricorders went down or their combadges were lost or. God forbid, stolen.

David Scarlet silently began to adjust his suit and do a final check on the settings for his phaser rifle. He glanced at the other crew on the away team and went back to checking his equipment. He'd been busy setting up the armory and doing inventory so he hadn't really had a chance to interact with anyone before this mission. That being said, they could come and find him if they wanted just as easily.

Caroline helped Zitla secure her helmet and allowed the blue women to return the favour before turning to Cade. "Been a long time since I had to wear one of these," she stated. "Basic training I think," she muttered. She tried to mentally get ready for a change in gravity outside and the distorting view of the stars as the asteroid slowly turned in its own trajectory. "Lead on Commander."

Scarlet secured his helmet and then pulled out a small roll of duct tape from a utility pocket. Wasting little time, he wrapped a strip of it around his gloved trigger finger, not tight enough to hinder his movement, but enough to reduce the bulk of the suit. Usually this type of mission was peaceful and standard, other times it called for fast timing and quick shooting.

"Llewellyn to away team. Let's meet up outside. We can gather our bearings outside and get on with our mission, ok?"

"Yes sir." David spoke, the first time since first boarding the shuttle. He gave a quick nod to the XO.

The suit was going to make things a bit of a challenge, but Zitla was confident that she was up to it - the assistance from the doctor was appreciated and gladly reciprocated and helped her on her way. "Lets see what's out there. Unless this rock is large enough to support its own atmosphere or there's someone running a generator we shouldn't have too many surprises," she said, "but lets see what's out there first before making those conclusions."

"We train for encounters with several lifeforms which don't require what we could consider a normal atmsphere." David spoke up gruffly. He paused then, realizing that other people might not understand that he was actually trying to be reassuring by stating he was trained for such encounters. "I don't think any are native to this part of space though."

Elias turned his attention on the marines and security personnel on his runabout. "Helmets on. stand by to depressurize the craft. keep an eye on your air supply." He hit the hatch controls and opened the doors. Once the door opened, he made his way over to the XO.

"So what do you think?" Elias ask as he pointed to the exposed hull section forty yards away.

"It's impressive in an aesthetic sort of way. So what can you tell me about this, Lieutenant? Are we sure it's Vulcan? It looks reminiscent of early Romulan design to me," said Cale to the Marine commander.

"Well at the time we didn't know for certain. Except for the fact that there are Romulans in the stasis pods." He said looking back to the ship. "As for what i can tell you... It's old, and has been in some type of battle or calamity. the decks that we had access to showed major damage. I wish i could tell you more, but marine tricorders are set up for combat not scientific."

Caroline tried to keep up with the men in the environmental suit. It took a lot more out of you than remembered in drills she had done in these. "My tricorder will be a lot more effective with the pods. Were you able to get to the bridge? See if any logs might still exist?"

"Doctor, you and Zitla will be in charge of getting those pods secured. Ensign Kalandra, Crewman Scarlet, you and I will try and reach the bridge. Elias, I want you and your force to maintain a perimeter around the ship in case we have unexpected visitors. I also was a 3 man security force to accompany each team. Now let's get going."

Elias nodded and started speaking commands into his communicator. He had already set a perimeter before leaving the rock. Now with the extra security and marines, he just augmented the pattern and numbers. "All set."

"My breathing sounds funny in this helmet," Zitla said to the doctor as she counted the pods (OOC: has anyone mentioned how many pods there are? I didn't see it, but if that's established I don't want to come up with a different number) thinking back to her academy days and a rather dry course delivered without nuance by a Vulcan professor that detailed the departure of 'the Declared' from Vulcan a few thousand years earlier. "Can you imagine if these guys are from close to the time when the Romulans and Vulcans split? What on Bolarus are they going to think if we're able to revive them?"

"That's an interesting supposition, Lieutenant. It seems like it would make a great paper. Ensign, Crewman, are you ready?"

"Yes Commander, I'm ready to go."

"Yes Sir." David gave the accompanying ensign a nod as well.

"Then let's get going. We don't have a great deal of time," Cale said as the three made their way to the bridge.

"Sir, would you like me to take point or would you prefer me to keep up the rear?" David asked into his comm. Both positions were valuable, and in his past experience the away team lead often had their own preference based on their own skill and how comfortable they were in a situation.

"Keep up the rear for now, Mister Scarlet. I don't foresee any issues with this leg of the mission," Cale told the crewman. And the three of them made their way off.

Elias watched the three move into the ship. He decide to check in with the nearest CP(Check Point) for an update. fortunately this one was right next to the crashed. "Hows it going."

"I was just going to contact you LT. I linked our sensor system into the two runabouts to boost our returns." the young marine said.

"Good thinking." Elias said starting to go back to the ship.

"That's not why I needed you sir. I've picked you an abnormal amount of tachyon particles in our area."

"Show me." He said, leaning over to look at the screen. On screen he saw the formation of the particles and the location. it was near by, about a hundred and fifty meters out and directly over the crashed ship. It could be anything. something left over from the EMP discharge.... Or a cloaked ship!" He thought. "Keep and eye on it, if there's any change let me know."

"Aye sir."

Elias walked off a few feet and hit his comm. =^= Walker to Llewellyn. we're tracking an abnormally large tachyon particle surge above the crashed ship.=^=

"Thank you, Mr. Walker. Determine the source and inform the captain and myself," Cale said. "Do you require any assistance? I can be at your position in 10 minutes."

"I think we got it. we're going to keep and eye on it. I've heighten the alert to yellow at all CP'S for the time being. Hopefully it will dissipate."

Caroline, Zitla and their Marine escort carried on into the ship and in the direction of the pods at a faster speed now there was marine chatter about a cloaked ship.

"Technically our orders are NOT to open those pods unless there is no other option of continuing to keep them alive. Admittedly I would prefer we could get them to the Merlin so they could be studied properly and so we had the counselor with us should we have to revive them. I also have concerned that if they are close to the time when the Vulcan's and Romulan's split that they may be stronger and more violent than we are used too going by what they have told us about their history and their psi abilities are completely questionable. We are looking at a time here before logic was found I brought plenty of things that can sedate some of the more larger and stronger races, Klingons, Nauscians etc. but we have no clue to their body chemistry."

Potter listen carefully to the doctor. As a marine, he knew little to nothing about what she was taking about. But if she could sedate a Nauscian, why not a ancient Romulan. "I'm certain you'll figure something out doctor."

"Well lets hope it doesn't come to that," Caroline quipped.

"This must be the place," Caroline stated as they walked into a room with what resembled ancient biopods. "Come on," she indicated the blue alien. "Between us we need to got manage to get some readings."

Commander Llewellyn, Ensign Kalandra, Crewman Scarlet and their Marine babysitter had come up on the bridge and found the door sealed from the inside. Cale tried the panel locking mechanism and when it didn't work he motioned to the Master-at-Arms and Corporal Upindale to move forward. "OK boys, we're going to have to cut through the door frame. Ensign Kalandra, step back for a moment, please."

David Scarlet walked up to the door and ran his hand along the seam and then along the frame itself. He adjusted the setting on his phaser rifle before pointing along the door where he was going to fire. With a quick nod to the marine, Scarlet took aim and fired. He kept an eye on the glow of the metal alloy as the phaser slowly heated and melted it. Slowly he tracing a line along the edge of the frame until he crossed the top and then down the side of the door to the deck. The marine finished at the same time and they stood back from the door. It was held in place now only by the weakened weld seam.

"Door ready to be breached sir." David Scarlet said firmly as he reset his phaser rifle to the proper settings. "On your order sir."

"Thank you, Crewman. Everyone stand back. Open the door, please," Cale said slowly and with certainty that whatever they would find would be what they were looking for. But what they were looking for he did not know. He thought it might be proof of who was flying this ship; Romulans or Vulcans. As the two escorts opened the door, the tension in the passageway shot up. Cale wasn't prepared for this but he steeled himself from the other emotions and pressed on.

---Meanwhile Outside---

Elias had just come back from a perimeter check to CP1. Everything was fine. Except he didn’t feel fine. He’d felt off ever since coming back to the rock. It was like that nagging feel one has when they forget to do something, like turn off the lights or place a piece of equipment back in the recharge cradle. Whatever it was, he tried to push it out of his mind and move on.

“Ok Chief, your relieved. Everything is good with the other CP’S.” Elias said to CWO4 Ransom, one of his combat engineer’s.

“Roger that LT.”

Elias walked over to the marine manning the CP, and looked over to the mini sensor display. Everything looked good. The Tachyon field was sit there, but looked like it was dissipating. Then something caught his eye. Two of the CP’s went dark. They stopped transmitting sensor data and comm’s.

“Check the equipment.” Elias whispered, having a bad feeling.

“Already on it Lieutenant. Everything checks out. CP 4 and 5 are down and not responding.”

“Chief, you and the other two come with me. CP 4 and 5 are down and we need to check it out.” Elias said as he started walking.

Check Points 4 and 5 were the two CP’s on the other side of the ship. That part of the ship was still under rock and debris. They were to only two points that were not in line of site with the rest of the perimeter.

The four marines moved around the end of the ship that was still covered by rocks. CP’5 was just around the corner. The point marine stopped and looked around a large bolder then fell on his back. There was a large hole in his chest, caused by a disruptor. Without thinking, Elias reached out and grabbed the marine by the suit to drag him to cover. He saw a disruptor flash then a searing pain in his left arm.

“Return fire!” Elias shouted. His suit started to flash emergency decompression signs across his helmets visor. He reached into his thigh pocket and placed a patch on the burn hole in his suit.

=^= Walker to Llewellyn, were under attack. We have one marine down and one wounded at CP 5. Whatever you guys are doing, you might want to make it fast.=^=

=^=Llewellyn here. Hold them at bay however you can.=^=

By the time Elias was done talking, the balance of First Squad was with them. The marines were forcing whoever it was back. Unable to use his rifle, Elias used his type II phaser. Anything that moved he fired off at. Until he saw one of the attackers. They looked like the Teth Koros, Imperial Shock Troops. The were supposed to be the most elite warriors of the Romulan Star Empire. “Hold your positions. We’re dealing with Imperial Shrikes.”

“Lieutenant it looks like they have fallen back.” Chief Ransom said.

“Ok. Hold for now and lets see what happens.”

=^=Llewellyn to away team. Time's up. Walker and his teams are under attack. Pack up and get back to the runabouts with whatever you found but do it quick!=^= Cale took in what they had found and watched Ensign Kalandra working at a computer console while he toiled at what he thought might be a science station. He thought that because of the telemetry that showed up on the screen looked like an astronomical survey. And it looked like they were performing a survey on this asteroid field. "How interesting," he said under his breath.

With a grimace, David set the power level on his phaser rifle higher. Normally, when deal with hostile races in a hostile environment, standard procedure would be to wound or incapacitate them by ripping through EV suits. That tactic generally worked with a few major exceptions; Klingons, and Romulans most notably. No, if this was Romulans it was better to take them out quickly and cleanly.

Caroline heard the announcement from Cale and frowned. She had hoped not to have to do this as it meant disconnecting the pods from the power supply and unless they found a way to get them hooked up again to an equivalent on the Merlin, she would be thawing out these Romulan/Vulcans. Something the Captain was not really wanting to happen. "We need to transport these to the shuttles. Help me place the temporary transporter beacons round them lieutenant and ..... " she suddenly couldn't remember the marine escorting them's rank. "You please."

They worked fast, concerned that at any moment they too would have uninvited guests. In what seemed like a lifetime they were ready. Caroline could hear noises further down the corridor knowing that their time was essentially up. This had to work. If not they would most likely be taken prisoner. "Miller to Lancelot. Beam two of these pods to the shuttle."

"Working," the computer informed her. Caroline released a breathe she hadn't realised she was keeping in as they dematerialised in front of them. She smiled slightly but that was cut short as they suddenly saw movement in front on them. The marine was suddenly all action firing shots.

"Miller to Camelot," Caroline all but shouted over the noise of the phaser fire yanking the marine back into the beacon circle. "Beam everything else to the shuttle." Just as they started to dematerialise there was a flash of sparks to their left side and a loud angry yell for the aggressors.

Caroline opened her eyes again, all three officers had made it but ........ there was only one pod. "Shields up and defensive patterns of fire. We need to provide some cover for the rest to get back," she stated letting Zitla and the Marine take the controls as she started to try work out how much time they might have before the occupant of the pod had to be woken up.

Melody's voice now came over the comm channel =/\= Merlin to away team. Now would be a good time to think about heading back guys. Things are getting a bit tense up here! =/\=

=/\=Camelot to Merlin. We're under attack here but we're getting ready to return home. I'm just waiting for Lieutenant Walker and his teams to return to their runabout so we can all leave together. Oh and Lieutenant Jones, thanks for the head up. =/\=Camelot out.=/\= Lieutenant Walker, did you hear that? Do you and your men have everything under control enough to extricate yourself?"

=/\= We're loading now. Will be lifting off in a few minutes. =/\= Elias replied, Waving people on board with his good arm.

=/\=Let's get a move on people. We've worn out our welcome,=/\= Cale called out over the com link to the rest of the away team.

Melody responded =/\= Merlin to Camelot. Copy that transmission and no problem. It's not much better up here but I'll feel a lot better when you guys are back and I'm sure a lot of other people will too. =/\=

=/\=You sure got that one right. I've discovered a newfound appreciation for our Marines and their commander.=/\= Cale responded to the helm/second officer.

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Cale Llewellyn
Executive Officer
USS Merlin

1st Lieutenant Elias Walker
Marine CO
USS Merlin

Lieutenant Melody Jones
Second Officer / Chief flight control officer
USS Merlin

Crewman David Scarlet
Master-at-Arms
USS Merlin

Dr Caroline Miller
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin

Lieutenant JG Zitla
Chief Science Officer
USS Merlin