Drop Off
Posted on Tue Feb 15th, 2022 @ 1:49am by Commander Liala Ziyal & Captain David Hawkins & Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma & Lieutenant Commander Timia Svidi & Commander Raiden Kosugi & Lieutenant Josey Wales & 1st Lieutenant Kyle Walken & Cadet Third Class Aarfa Barakzay & Emmah (Svidi)
Mission:
The Goddess
Location: Drive Section, USS Gladiator
2337 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure
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Timia stood behind Raiden, next to Ziala as they neared the Gladiator. She would have preferred to transport over, but with everything being rather wonky, it wasn't as safe.
She looked behind her at the crowd, grateful the shuttles were large enough to accommodate such a big group. Off to the side a smaller shuttle from the Resolute was coming along side of them, while the two pilots worked out the landing order.
"Alright, We have some radiation over there. Until engineering gets it resolved I need every one to activate a radiation monitor." she said turning around and opening her kit, with supplies she had picked up on her way down. "If your monitor goes yellow, back off, if it goes red, you've got about 15 seconds to get back to green before you and I will be having a very different conversation. I'm assuming ops and engineering will deal with it quickly so it shouldn't be a worry for long." she said passing the monitors out.
When she reached Emmah the hologram held out her hand rejecting it. "I don't need one." Emmah said, "I will be unaffected by this sort of radiation."
"Wear it, because you are now a Canary, if there is a tricky spot, we'll be able to see it on you if you're ahead of us." Timia said pushing the small square in to the holograms hand.
Liala took the monitor from Timia and listened to her stern warnings over the radiation. She let out a little smile, stern Timia was always a formidable woman and when she was telling you something you'd damned well better listen. Liala had seen another side of her during their free time together and sometimes she likened her to the Jekyll and Hyde stories of Earths literary history.
"Our goal is simple when we get there, work with the crew of the Resolute to secure the drive section of the Gladiator and find out what happened. We, the crew of the Arcadia are in charge here and do not let anyone overstep you. Everyone reports to me, no finding is too small if it leads to finding out the truth and getting the ship back online." Liala said with a tone of authority. "Safely." she added for reinforcement.
Walken had his phaser rifle slung over his shoulder, placing himself as close to the ramp as he could to be the first one out. "You heard the Commander Marines, report anything and everything. While we sweep Alpha take the Eastern and Northern portions, Bravo you have the Southern and Western. I want three volunteers to remain with the Command and Engineering teams at all times. Don't want anything catching us with our pants down because..."
"We don't get caught with our pants down, we catch them with their pants down!" The marines echoed back to Walken.
Callisi rolled her eye as she applied the radiation tracker. "Boys..." she muttered.
Josey chuckled and grinned. " Sounds like a good group of men you got there Lieutenant Walken, Gung Ho and ready to go! Just what I expect from Starfleet Marines! "
Raiden looked over at Walken before he and his men left the run about. "You be careful there Lieutenant Walken, I won't be there to keep you out of trouble." giving a teasing smirk. Then Raiden's smile disappeared. "All of you be careful." looking at those who he will be leaving behind. He looked over towards the petty officer engineer that would be going with him and the other team to the cargo ship.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked her.
Tia nodded, "I have to be I'll deal with things later on."
Tia felt a little bit nervous at going on this venture but she knew it was important, and they needed all hands on deck. She was saddened to see the injured ships. She was determined to do her best though for the crew of her new family.
Darkness enveloped Aarfa.
Even the night vision inherited from her distant night predator ancestors only meant the area around her was picked out in edges and shadowed forms.
But that darkness didn't scare her; she had chosen it.
Directional hearing and an acute sense of smell could more than compensate for limited vision. She leaned back against the bulkhead, taking some comfort in the familiarity of the cold hard structure. Tilting her head to the side, she listened to the sounds of the ship, the soft hum and clicks of slowly deteriorating systems. After so many days she had begun to imagine it as a dirge, the swan song of a ship longing to follow its crew into the outer dark...
But that darkness didn't scare her; if she were alone much longer she might welcome it.
She lifted her nose, breathing in - stale air, stale scents, but still the lingering taint of blood, of her crewmates' deaths.
"I tried," she whispered. She'd fought, struck out, but when she broke away LT had yelled 'Run!' and she had. Fast even for her kind, she'd run at top speed, far faster than any human could follow. And the doors had come down behind her, sealing her off. But she'd heard the screams, smelled the adrenaline, anger, fear, horror. Blood. Death.
Did spirits linger? Did they haunt the site of gruesome unavenged murders? Did they blame those who survived? Sometimes she thought she heard them...
She'd imagined for a time it was them, hunting her, playing some sick game and she'd hunkered down, going still like a pup imagining she heard the Wild in the Wood - the old horror story, the killer driven mad by solitude, or chosen solitude because he was mad. But after so many days alone with no scent of life beyond her own, the half-heard whispers brought fear of a different horror, a worse darkness. If the saucer hadn't escaped, if no one came, she might become the Wild in the Wood...
As the shuttle moved inside of the bay Timia looked at the darkness around them. "Will it be safe to open the shuttle up? Is emergency power up enough give atmosphere in here?" she asked suddenly worried they'd open the shuttle and all get sucked out. At least it would be a quick death!
Callisi ran a quick sensor sweep, "There's an atmosphere, but it's stale. Nothing dangerous, but it'll smell like a gym. If we can get the scrubbers powered back up that'll improve the situation a lot."
Liala listened to the report and looked out the front windows of the shuttle. "Lieutenant Walken, have your people secure the shuttle bay first and then we can try and link in with ships computer to get a lay of the land before we move further in. Hopefully we can get a little information out of the bay's systems.
"You heard the lady," Colonel Hayter remarked as he stepped up behind the group and looked out into the doom and gloom of the interior of the Gladiator's larger, primary shuttle bay. The runabout's search lights lit up the interior and showed several open bays where shuttles and runabouts were typically stored. This lined up with the information given by Hawkins from the Gladiator crew that escaped on the saucer section. "The damn runabouts are filled to the brim and we need to go secure the other ship as well." His irritation was still obvious as he wasn't thrilled that he was leading the team to the cargo ship and not on the Gladiator. It truly pissed him off. But he knew, deep down, Hawkins was right.
Raiden, once the runabout had settled down gently, and the all clear was given he opened the doors to let the people out. "Ground floor garage level the entrance to the upper levels are on your right. Please step carefully when you exit the bus." Raiden remarked, giving a grin. He was just trying to alleviate the stress he knew people were feeling. "And please toss your refuse into the trash receptacle as you leave."
"You know what to do Marines, Alpha set up a defensive line on the entrance of the shuttle bay nothing in or out until we have secured our foothold. Bravo search every nook and cranny of the bay, remember ROE. Do not fire unless fired upon, now move out." Walken orders as the marines began to cautiously march down the ramp and into the dark shuttle bay. Walken made his way down but stops and looks back at Hayter, "Keep the emotions in check Colonel, we have a job that needs to get done and we don't need another outburst like before. I know you can do this." With that Walken goes down the ramp and into the darkness with his marines not forgetting the Colonel's outburst on the bridge, the young officer only now thinking he should have refused the Colonel to go on this op since he was so connected to the ship in question.
Timia headed for the door of the shuttle, she paused next to Hayter, she might think he was a Neanderthal, but she could understand his fear considering his woman and child were on this ship. "If I find anything, good or bad, I'll call you." she promised under her breath. She offered a half smile, "See, I'm capable of compassion, sometimes." she said.
The colonel looked at her for a moment and noticed the slight smile on her face and the common concern in her eyes that were in his. It ate him up inside that there was nothing he was going to be able to do right away. Deep down, he knew all to well that this was not going to be something that was going to resolve anything but to add more fuel to the flames of rage burning inside several of them.
"Yeah yeah. Just be careful. They like leaving little traps here and there. Wouldn't want to lose ya before I get to correct you again," he said half joking as best as he could before tapping his ear piece. "Prepare the runabout to depart."
She squared her shoulders and stepped out behind the Marines as the shuttle from the Resolute's door began to open. She spotted the Andorian and narrowed he eyes at him, before she stalked up to him. "Does your team have a radiation chips on them?" she demanded as her eyes looked over him critically.
"Captain!" A voice called from the shuttle with almost too cheery of a voice for the circumstances. Emmah rushed forward, passing by Ziyal towards ch'Koro. She stopped next to him with a grin on her face, clearly pleased to see him. "When can I intergrade with the computer core?" she asked quickly. She was born here, she couldn't wait to feel at home again, even if she always felt a sense of longing for her brother. It was always heightened when she was on Gladiator.
Liala moved up towards Emmah and Captan ch'Koro and leant in a little. "Emmah, I can understand your desire to 'come home', but right now you cannot interface with anything until we know get the computer back online and know it is safe for you to do so. Captain Hawkins just got you back and we both know that putting you in danger unnecessarily wouldn't be the best idea until we get a better lay of the land." she said with a warm smile before turning to ch'Koro. "Captain, it is nice to be working with you." she said sincerely but also to form a good starting relationship with him. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."
With Alpha team set up, Bravo began their sweep as they search the Shuttle Bay signs of battle were around. Scorch marks from phasers, various storage devices knocked over, most control panels were blown out needing serious repair. As Walken was called over by Sergeant Rico, he bent down and checked the ground. Dried blood near a shutdown runabout. He made his way to Liala his phaser rifle at rest in his arms as his flashlight lit up the ground before them. "Signs of battle, no bodies but we found dried blood, most of the equipment in here was shot to hell and back as well. Would need to investigate further but it doesn't seem to me that this was whoever did this insertion point. I'm gonna guess and say your tricorder isn't picking up life signs in the immediate area."
Liala pulled out her tricorder and nodded. "Yes, nothing nearby at the moment. Thank you Lieutenant." she added before looking back at her team. "Okay, let's head towards Engineering, carefully. Dried blood may be a sign of battle long gone but who is to say how far away those that caused it are. No-one is to leave the group without letting someone know, partner up if you are. Let's move on." she said indicating towards Timia, Walken and his marines, Cortez and Captain ch'Koro and his team.
Raiden watched as those who he brought over stepped off the runabout, then he stated to Hayter, "Colonel, we've got to get going sir." he had a concerned look at those left to take care of the Gladiator. His eyes sought out Eira. "Lieutenant Cortez, be careful." giving her a nod. Another few looks at everyone then said, "If we're ready, let's button her up and get moving. "
"Close the hatch and take us out. We got another ship to check out. The sooner we are done securing that ship, the sooner we can head back," John ordered as he stepped back from the entrance of the runabout. As it closed, and the runabout lifted up a meter, he knew deep down that they were fine. Still sucked as he knew all of them wanted to be on the Gladiator more than any other ship at this point in time to get the answer.
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