Superficial Surroundings

Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2021 @ 10:17pm by Captain David Hawkins & Commander Raiden Kosugi & Commander Liala Ziyal & Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma & Lieutenant Commander Timia Svidi & 1st Lieutenant Kyle Walken
Edited on on Wed Jul 5th, 2023 @ 10:55pm

Mission: Global Lockdown
Location: Sucarion Landing Pad, Sucarro IV
3648 words - 7.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Their journey had been short but they were coming up on Sucarro. The request came through loud and clear on their comm. system requesting identification for clearance to land on the surface.

Raiden never got tired of coming in to see the panoramic view of a new world, and truth be told it was beautiful, he looked back towards those that were seated.

"We are coming up on Sucarro, please make certain your trays are folded, seat belts buckled and items placed in their proper places." Raiden quipped then turned to answer the communications.

"This is U.S.S. Tegea, requesting permission to land."

Their world was beautiful, idyllic, a paradise as far as appearances went. Liala knew there would no doubt be a delegation waiting on the surface at the landing pad and she for one was quite happy to be setting down.

"Perty," the voice of the marine colonel was heard as he walked into the cockpit. The pitter patter of the K9 came in as well as he looked through the view port of the Arrow-class runabout. He came up to the operations station next to Raiden and plopped down. "How's it going, Fly Boy."

Raiden looked over at Hayter, giving him a nod. Only glancing over towards Meeka then back to the planet "Its good so far. Wonder if they'll give us the go ahead to land." right after he asked that question, he received the approval.

"It looks like a go." As Raiden adjusted the heading and began the descent to where they would be landing, the runabout going lower and lower, passing through the stratosphere into the atmosphere, passing through the clouds that were flirting with the sun above. "Looks like it will be a beautiful day." he remarked, guiding the Tegea downward, minorly adjusting the trajectory. "What's your plan while we're down here?" he asked Hayter, spotting the landing area ahead. The instruments showed the air pressure, as well as wind or lack there of, for the moment, only a slight breeze.

"Hopefully find a nice beach and a good mai tai," John shrugged as he leaned back and relaxed as he watched the view through the atmosphere.

The runabout, hovered slightly as he centered it then slowly lowered the vessel down until it gently touched terra firma. He shutdown the engine, and turned around to the rest. "Thank you for flying USS Tegea." he stated with a smile, getting ready to open the runabout doors for people to exit.

As the doors came down, Brenda slung the strap of her rifle over one shoulder, letting it lay against her chest. "Gunny. You and Sonok take point. Give me a walk around of the landing pad. I'm sure it's safe, but you know what they say about assumptions." Despite loathing the idea of a ship billet, she would have traded anything to have them back on the ship right then. The report on this place was too perfect. It was like waiting for the shoe to drop.

Raiden watched as the marines got ready to step out. Giving a nod, liking the efficiency of Sinclair and the others.

Walken slings his rifle, "You got it Boss." Kyle would never admit it but from what he overheard people talking about this world and its people he didn't believe the whole no crime and how this place is a perfect paradise. "Sonok when we get out there keep weapons slung and we will follow the landing pad clockwise."

Truth be told, textbook approach and landing. Mel was about to compliment the pilot's proficiency when Brenda and Walken walked out, weapons slung but still talking about patrols and clearing the area. And what DID they say about assumptions? With enough data, they were just as good as any other calculated guess.

"An excellent landing." the Dalacari called up to Raiden, then her other form put on a quizzical, curious face. "So, okay maybe I'm missing something. Okay I know for a FACT I'm missing something but, what DO they say about assumptions?" she queried, heads slightly tilted in curiosity.

Raiden looked back at Mel, "Thank you Mel. Giving a brief smile "as for assumptions, when going into unfamiliar situations its been a habit that has risen from experience, to not assume everything is as it seems. When I was flying diplomats to their various locations there has been a time or two that if something is all peaceful, serene, an easy journey, it truly isn't that. Especially if it seems way too easy. Not everyone wants peace."

She listened, both forms paying attention to him as he explained. The attention of a Dalacari had a weight to it, and she realized she probably was making Raiden feel a bit crowded, so she remembered to blink, or have one form look away every now and then. "I can see how that could be a perception. For instance, everyone here is amazed at the zero crime rate on this world." she paused, "And I admit I'm amazed too. Back on Dalacar almost all..."

"... crime was linked to a deficiency in mental stability and social providence. So we made sure every Dalacari had access to whatever they needed, and for those that..."

"... needed extra help we made sure it was there for them. We haven't managed to solve the crime problem down to zero, but what we DID do was get *repeat* crime down..."

"... to essentially nothing. I wonder how the Sucarro managed it. You know, without Drones." she offered with a pair of smiles. "This is a fascinating subject. We should discuss it more after the mission."

Liala smiled as she heard the team talk. "Reports suggest the crime to be nearly non existent so we must go on that assumption at the moment. As they are potential candidates for Federation membership we have to respect that, on the surface. I do not think it would hurt to do a little careful digging now we are here." She hinted.

"Oh absolutely, I'd love to know what kind of social programs and security structure they've employed to..." and she stopped when Kyle returned to the Tegea.

Kyle reentered the Tegea, "Initial sweep is finished, I'm sure this will come to no one's surprise but the landing pad is clear and secured." He turns to Captain Sinclair, "Further orders?"

"We're Security, we stick to the landing Party like hot glue." Turning to the XO, Brenda passed on the inquiry. "Orders, ma'am?"

"Move towards the walkway from our current position. I've been informed a greeting party will be there to take us to their main governing building. There we will meet President Meeran and her people. I think there we can do a little digging whilst Eira and I can finalize their membership. Colonel Hayter can do his thing with the canine, rest can mingle, chat to the people." Liala said as she began to make way to leave the runabout. She thanked her Gods it was a craft used and not the transporters, even the thought made her shiver.

Meeka barked as she looked up at Hayter who had communicated through a chip which was in both he and his companion. The extent of the communication was advanced and allowed for commands, over time to her without speaking or body language. "Oh you hurt her feelings. She does have a name, likes long walks on the beach, and belly rubbings."

Noah watched from the door way as the marines did a sweep. He found it curious how they did so, and wondered if the greeting party had been approaching the shuttle when they landed how the marines would have acted. He looked towards the XO. "If they try and pat down the greeting party or check out all the possible hiding places you think it might offend our hosts?" he wondered with a bit of a smile, but also genuine curiosity.

"I don't think they would want a patting down." Raiden remarked to Noah. His attention had been caught by Meeka, when she barked, then remarked towards Hayter, "Mai Tai on the beach with your favorite girl, Meeka. A perfect sense of well being, right being with Man's best friend.

Raiden turned to Mel. "I would like to hear more of your people definitely after this mission." giving a smile.

Keeping the rifle close to her, but a finger always on the trigger guard, Brenda nodded at the Commander's instructions. "Aye, ma'am." Stepping out of the runabout, she took a look around at this world. Never keeping her gaze in one spot, but taking all in. "Gunny, take the team's six, Sonok, Nyseth, stick close to the flanks. Keep weapons close, I wanna be ready, not provocative."

"You got it boss." Kyle announces as he walks back down the hatch awaiting the large group of people inside so he could take up his position once they were all outside the runabout.

Kosugi waited until everyone was off the runabout before he exited, and made sure everything was secure. He looked around, getting a better look at the surroundings, so far so good, though he was feeling a bit tense. He normally was with diplomatic situations.

A slight breeze picked up as the away team gathered d outside the runabout. The sun above them beamed down through the clouds which were placed before similarly familiar site of a blue tinted sky over them. The landing pad that they found themselves at were off a ways from a large city in the distance. But several hanger like structures and short buildings were much closer. So in order for them to come closer to the large metal city was going to take some land based travel.

Besides the normal mechanical tower like structures found about a forty meters away from the landing pads, or flightline parking had what looked like sentries set up near. They weren't a threat, but from what was seen were rifles and mounted weapons capable of defending themselves as needed. Even though the site of the advance space vehicle was before them, the sentries didn't seem to view them as a threat. So when they saw a figure break away from the away team, and the canine sprinted towards the patch of grass, the only response they gave were their visual attention and what looked like chatter among themselves.

It didn't take long before several ground based vehicles approached the away team and a couple armed guards stepped out, and took the same stance as the marines before them as the local delegation stepped out. Unlike the sentries and guards, most of them were in different attire which were dark in color but were much more colorful.

"Greetings, and... welcome," the lead Sucarion spoke as Hayter and his canine companion returned to the away team. "Lieutenant Colonel Johnathon Hayter and his four legged canine officer. We are very glad to have you return to our planet."

After ensuring that Meeka's leather leash was attached to her collar and tactical vest, John paused and smirked as he leaned and patted her on the side. "You hear that, you are an officer now!" He spoke to her before looking up at the delegates. He only recognized the military leader and nodded before giving the civilian leader a nod. "Thank you for having me back and our people."

"I took the time to discuss, in detail, all I could with our Supreme Counselor We'shul and our Presidant Meeran about you, Lieutenant Colonel Johnathon Hayter," the older high ranking militaristic spoke.

"And I am looking forward to your presentation of your four legged officer and what your Federation offers to show us," We'shul spoke in an unusually wide grin as he seemed to almost bow as he placed his alien finger types of both hands together. "President Meeran will not be there in person to see the dimension but is at our building we have prepared and arranged for the official meeting with your superior officer and subordinates. I, on the other hand,, will be going in his stead to evaluate this fascinating work.

"Right..." John remarked as he knew that their culture saw that a name, rank, and position were one and the same. He respected the rank and position always, but wasn't bound to respecting the person. In their culture, though. It was one and the same. To disrespect on was an action of disrespect to it all. "This is Lieutenant Commander Liala Ziyal, our executive officer and Lieutenant Eira Cortez, our Chief Diplomatic Officer on the Arcadia. I'll let her take over and introduce the rest."

Women in beards, Liala was only just getting used to that and she had seen it before but still it almost took a second to get used to. It was the children with beards that totally threw her, thankfully there were not any present right now.

Overhead a shadow cast over them as a large bird-like creature flew across the sky. She had heard of them only be name, Naylons, a native and very large flying creature that the Sucarions held close.

Liala noted they had went straight to the ranking officer, Hayter, and probably the man they were most excited to see. Truth be told she was not bringing news that was especially exciting, nor was she bringing a lined up display of what a canine, a different kind of animal than they were used to, can do.

"Yes, thank you for having us back Supreme Counsellor We'shul." Liala said whilst stepping forward, she bowed slightly as was her own custom as much as it was the Sucarions.

"As Lieutenant Colonel John Hayter said..." She continued the use of full titles as it made it easier for the Sucarions to understand, little details made all the difference. "I am Lieutenant Commander Liala Ziyal, and I will be looking to finalise your membership into the Federation for final sign off. This is Lieutenant Eira Cortez..." She chose to leave out the junior grade parts. "the Arcadia's Chief Diplomatic Officer and she will be assisting us as we go along." she smiled warmly as she knew she would have to go through the rest of the team. The Sucarions were very detail orientated.

This is Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma, our Assistant Chief Science Officer. She is a Dalacari the twins here operate as one individual..." she felt a little explanation may make it easier for them to understand, even Liala struggled sometimes. To her credit, Mel gave a pair of deep nods towards the Supreme Commander.

"Marine Captain Brenda Sinclair, our Marine Commanding Officer, with Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Walken, Private Lyssa Nysek and Private Sonok. They are here as a security procedure Starfleet sets out." She explained as they were a stickler for rules.

"Lieutenant Raiden Kosugi, our Chief Flight Control Officer and Doctor Noah Hayden. We thank you for your hospitality and are looking forward to welcoming you to our family." Liala finished. She truly did not miss these types of introductions. There were quite a few people to introduce this time.

Mel was used to being the detail oriented sentient in the room. She was also very used to the lifestyle of being a Dalacari. It suited her nicely, she thought. Being born into it helped. With the attention and the scrutiny that the Sucarions were observing her with, she actually finally realized what it must have felt like for other single-instance lifeforms to be in a conversation with her. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, just a different one.

Then the big flappy bird went over them again, and one of Mel's points of attention went skyward to admire the native life. So colorful and majestic, she just really hoped that the Sucarion perceptive range could appreciate all the colors being presented.

Brenda kept her eyes traveling across the security team that had exited the vehicles. Much like herself, and her Marines, they looked professional, trained, and highly competent. Sizing each one up, Brenda rolled a mental die to determine which one might head the detail, and made a mental note to exchange notes as it were. As well as maybe get some specifics on exactly why such a supposedly peaceful planet would need a security force for its delegates.

Raiden nodded towards the delegates when he was introduced then his attention was captured by the bird above as well, finding it truly beautiful.


"Yes... welcome, all." Supreme Counsellor We'shul said in a rather stiff manner as he scanned the group. It was almost as if this many people were a hindrance and she felt a little unease from his body language. She may be an XO now but her counsellor skills were always in play, they helped in diplomacy as well.

"Is everything alright, Supreme Counsellor?" Liala asked with her arms open in an engaging manner.

"Yes, we were just expecting a smaller group." he said before his demeanour changed to being a bit more upbeat. "No matter! If everyone would like to board the transports we will take you to Sucarion Palace. Given the size of your team we will need to split into two, half in one, and so on." he gestured for them to follow.

Liala nodded. "Sinclair you and Private Sonok are with myself, Cortez, Hayter and Meeka. Gunnery Sergeant Walken and Private Nysek will be with Dr. Hayden, Torma and Kosugi."

Just as Liala's door was opened there was a large pop, an explosive sound in the air that caused her to sharply move her neck towards it. She then looked back at Supreme Counsellor We'shul.

"Do not worry. We have one of our festivals coming up, some get excited beforehand. Nothing to worry about and I am sure you will be gone before it begins. It is a rather private affair." We'shul said quite dismissively.

Liala chose not to press at that particular moment as she wanted to get off the landing pad and somewhere a little less open and guarded.

Noah paused when he heard the pop, he heard the Supreme Counsellors explanation, but he frowned any way. There had been no light in the sky or cheering voices along with the pop that one would expect with a festival and excited people. The note that it was a privet affair and they would soon be gone gave him some pause. He climbed in to the assigned car, and looked at Torma and Kosugi, "You know most festivals are meant to share cultures... not keep them privet." he commented mildly.

Mel gave a pair of nods, moving to coordinate with her Buddy Group. Now she felt a little bad, as she felt that the expectation of a smaller group was thrown off because she was here. Dalacari always need extra room, after all.

The pop of what was deemed to be just an firework going off, made Raiden jump, him looking around rather quickly. It gave him goose bumps. He moved to be with the group he was assigned to. He was just feeling on edge now. He climbed in next to Mel. "Hi." giving her quick friendly nod. "

Mel responded with a smile (Making sure not to show teeth) and a nod as well from each form. "Hi hi." she said, excited to get out of the open. "Between you and me..." she spoke in a hush, "That wasn't a celebratory pop."

Noah leaned a bit closer, "Between indeed." he smirked between the two twin forms. "But I agree, that didn't sound right. I think they're lyin." he grunted as he looked out the window.

Mel had the unique talent to look at Noah and Raiden at once, and never break stride. The attention of a Dalacari was a weird thing indeed. "You know, with all the time I've spent around other races, I've learned that there are many subtle grades of lying. Maybe it's an embarrassing secret? Maybe they're..."

"... actually hiding something. There's cover ups and containments, deceptions and deceiving, and .. well damn I'm out of metaphors." the pair giggled. "Imagine that." a pause between the pair. "Though no matter what it is, it's cause to be on our guard. I'll keep my eyes open, just, realize that I'm not the best shot if it actually DOES come down..."

"... to a firefight. Keep an eye out for me, and I'll make it up to you both."

"Don't worry, will keep an eye out and I agree, its just too good to be true. Something about this whole set up is making my skin crawl. And I just can't shake the feeling off." Raiden replied.

"I don't get the same vibe as you do. Then again, Dalacar has nearly zero crime and almost no repeat criminal offenses, so I suppose I'm more curious as to how they did..."

"... it rather then the notion that they did it. We did it through social reform, mass fabricator access, and the Drone initiative. I really want to know how they did it." a pause as her focus shifted in silence.

""Unless that pop was what I'm worried it was, then maybe I *don't* want to know how they did it."

"This just seems just a little bit familiar." Raiden said quietly leaning back to watch the scenery go by but still feeling on edge, he wanted to in some aspect be where he could move about, but for now have to be inside a vehicle to get to their destination, where ever that maybe.

Their journey wouldn't take long. Liala was assured these vehicles were rather fast and their route cleared for ease of movement. Soon they would be at Sucarion Palace and Liala for one was interested in what was to come.