SD 241401.23 JDL |"Making Camp" Part I | Vindicator Crew

Posted on Fri Jan 24th, 2014 @ 3:26am by Captain Landon Neyes & Petty Officer 2nd Class Leto Hawthorne PhD. & Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Lieutenant JG Saia Roswell & 2nd Lieutenant Jasmine Garza

1,679 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: In the Dark
Location: Various Locations

=/\= BEGIN LOG =/\=

Jasmine just got word from Lione that the Horizon housing the captain made it down safely. "Go find commander Ivanova." Jasmine said looking up when she got the information. The young private nodded and ran out of the shuttle in search of the commander.

Much to Rochelle's dismay, the young private easily found her standing out against the white backdrop of the valley. Her red hair and uniform offered her no camouflage what-so-ever. "I'm coming." The Commander responded, sighing and dropping the snow she'd held in her hands, rubbing them against her pants before turning back towards the Liberty.

Jasmine made a note of the time Black and the two pilots should be finishing up sending out the seekers allowing for more perimeter coverage. "Ah, Commander the Horizon just landed."

"I'm aware." The redhead responded almost contritely. Marines.

Hawthorne appeared from behind the Commander, a few tools strapped across his shoulder, a large backpack, and heavy-looking tricorder with some modifications attached to it in his hand. He maintained his stoic appearance, nodding respectfully to the marine.

"We've also finished packing up the gear. Four mag-lights, two compact mineral decyon beams to cut out the crude matter, tent gear for the survey site, and whatever else the science team needs to make an accurate survey of the mine. We can assemble it on arrival. The heavier items will be carried by myself and the other fleet personnel, if you agree." He looked to both of them expectantly.

Jasmine just nodded worked for her, "if need be we've enough Marines we can carry some of the heavier equipment as well.

Saia wanted to say that they didn't need to bother, but in the whole of the mission, considering differing disciplines, if they were offering, it made more sense for the strength to be utilized. She planned to carry as much as she could possibly carry, but help with the load would help her get the samples and readings faster as she wouldn't have to catch her breath and allow oxygen back to her brain. She simply smiled gratefully, "That sounds quite efficient. Thank you."

"Am I forgetting anything, Chief?" Leto turned his gaze onto the Cardassian Chief Engineer.

"Not that I can think of," Almar replied with a slight smile as he pulled out his tricorder and began taking some preliminary scans, his fingers flicking across the controls with practiced ease, his other hand carried a hefty case of tools and equipment.

Jasmine just nodded, "Let Sergeant Ives know I'll be taking lead on the escort out and she'll be the escort for you when you come back to base camp." Jasmine said to the petty officer. Seeing as it was her and her Marines job to keep the scientists safe.

Marines. Hawthorne also nodded, pulling out his tricorder to show them. "Will do, ma'am. I should also note tricorders and other scanning devices will be of limited use. Range is cut by two thirds on just about everything; scanners, communicators. I would also bring up weapons..."

The petty officer looked from the marine officer to the XO, and the evident silence he left in the space between his last statement clearly asked to be filled by someone who was more comfortable giving 'suggestions' about weapons to a marine commander. Hawthorne himself was more than willing, since he did not really give much thought to it either way. Presumably it would be more well-received by Commander Ivanova, however.

An eyebrow lifted high over one crystal blue eye as the Commander fashioned herself comfortably in a seat, watching and listening. Until then. "We won't be using our standard array of weapons. No phasers. No technology." She interrupted with a smirk tugging at her lips.

All starfleet personnel are trained with the use of hand-to-hand combat weapons. Is what Hawthorne wanted to say, but kept it to himself. He'd seen the Captain strap on the two large combat daggers he'd taken on all the away missions Hawthorne was aware of, and he'd yet to see Neyes use them.

"Don't worry petty officer we'll be armed. Too many variables on this planet especially with the issues with the tricorders and communicators." Jasmine said, "and everyone of my Marines are experts in CQB (close quarter combat)."

The petty officer's commbadge chirped furiously for a moment, before spewing out random static. Hawthorne looked down, eyebrow arched, his broad chest suddenly alight with unsolicited sounds. This went on for a second or two before the awkward interruption ceased, clearly a malfunction. Hawthorne removed the badge and examined the small register on its backside. He glanced at Almar, "Any suggestions for keeping our equipment in order, Commander?"

Almar smacked his tricorder against the palm of his hand in a vain attempt to get it to work, it was frustrating him, he nearly missed the question from the petty officer as he turned the device over and took off the rear cover and began tinkering with it, "I'll let you know in a few minutes," the Cardassian replied with a slight growl.

Leto was no engineer, but he was more than willing to do what he could to help them get a better feel for the land around them. "If you need me for anything, please let me know, Commander." He offered to Almar.

Meanwhile, Saia was going over things to get ready for the first outing. She wasn't really paying attention to the conversation the Marines were having if she could even hear it. She was grinning from ear to ear, looking at the map and making notes on certain spots of samples to take.

From behind the young woman came a pat on her shoulder, startling her a little, and the familiar chuckle of the Captain followed. Landon approached the group, having seen them with their packs and gear just about ready. The dull light of the daytime was fading into an unusually dark night. Neyes was partly backlit from the maglights and fire in the center of the large camp.

The tap caused her to jump and then tense. For the split second, the fear returned. Even the laugh sounded menacing. She shut her eyes tight, almost crying in panic. She whispered barely under her breath, "Please, not here too." It was like waking up from a nightmare how the voice morphed into reality.

"Where are you all heading off to?" Neyes asked.

"We were planning on checking out a couple of the sites that science picked out." Jasmine said.

Saia let out a sigh of relief glad someone else had answered as she went back to plotting the route. She didn't turn, glad that everyone was concentrating so as not to catch her reaction.

Neyes shook his head. "We wait until dawn before heading out. The Noturans still haven't shown up, and something tells me we're going to have to wait until tomorrow. There's only a few more hours until night, and we're already beginning to lose the little bit of light we have." It had been a odd realization when Landon first started to notice the change in daylight. Nightfall was still technically hours away, yet it was already dusk in terms of illumination.

"I don't want a team out in that forest in the middle of the night." Neyes added.

Saia looked up then toward the sky. The route was mostly done, and hearing they were delayed, she took the moment to step out, solitary, but not too far from the group. She could still shine her light on the camp. But she could see the stars more clearly. There was something more... solid about starfields as seen from planetside. Solid. Safer.

"Reports from command mentioned some large... beast animals", Landon made a swipe at the air with a clawed hand, mocking at a terrifying creature of the night. "Probably nothing to worry too much about, but I'd still like to er on the side of caution until we find the Noturans. They'll likely be far more familiar with the hazards of life here."

Hawthorne strode up to where Saia had moved, making plenty of sound as not to alarm her. She was standing alone in the dark after-all.

"It's probably better if you stay in camp. At least have someone with you if you're going to stargaze alone." He smiled warmly. "My youngest sister and I used to run out to the field by our house after dark. During the summer you could see almost every star in the sky, and that's saying something on Earth. We lived so far away from any large cities or towns there was no light to get in the way.

Saia had turned and was about to make her way back, but she took note his words and figured he wouldn't mind a moment to stargaze, so she gave a small, knowing smile and looked back up.

He paused looking up with her. The sky was on fire with the sparkling glitter of the galaxy. Seeing the stars from space was one thing, but there was nothing quite like looking up at them from the ground. Blue and yellow patches of stars shimmered together, clumping and separating as he looked from one horizon to the other. It was completely dark now, and the night starscape had come alive.

"Incredible." He whispered.

Saia smiled and nodded, "Amazing how even scientific knowledge hasn't removed the simple magical mystery of them. Part of me still wants to believe some myths about them. They just seem too special to just be big balls of fiery gas."

"The mystery comes from the fact that we're made of them." Rochelle added, following their upward gaze to where the stars shone like diamonds against a blue-black velvet sky. "Stardust." She continued, the word but a breathy whisper in the frosted air.

=/\= TBC... =/\=

Captain Landon Neyes
Commanding Officer

Commander Rochelle Ivanova
Executive Officer

2nd Lieutenant Jasmine Garza
Marine Commanding Officer

Lt Commander Almar Dahe'el
Chief Engineering Officer

Lieutenant JG Saia Roswell
Chief Science Officer

PO2 Leto Hawthorne, Ph.D.
Xenoanthropologist

USS VINDICATOR

 

RSS Feed