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Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

STARDATE 57577.33
MARCH 18, 2381
2130

[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Planet Surface | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Aldea ] Attn: @trevorvw @lisavw @The Ostrich @CanadianVet
[Show/Hide]


Mickayla stood at the base of the ramp as the Andorian pilot, a woman known as Blizzard, shut down the craft they had descended in. The Tesla, as it was named, was an Argo-type shuttlecraft; which meant that it came equipped with a rover. Mickayla wasn’t sure if that was also named but given that it was Starfleet property, it probably had 3 different designations.

“A technical one, a practical one and then the ubiquitous nickname that everyone else uses; simply because it is both easier to say and easier to remember. Someone probably calls it the Volta or something. Just to be whimsical,” Mickayla noted mentally as she examined the city border only 200m away. It earnt its name of a ghost city quite aptly, in Mickayla’s opinion.

From where she was standing, the late afternoon breeze swirling about her, Mickayla wondered what they would find amidst the ruins. Ancient, undiscovered technology that might help the Aldeans rebuild. Perhaps another, even more ancient civilisation once existed here before the Aldeans and something had awoken their hidden relics. Or maybe it was the pirates and scavengers that Mickayla felt that Trent wanted to say were there but couldn’t, because he himself was not sure of it.

Either way, she’d be ready for it.


OOC: Part 02. Let the fun begin.

7-Day Posting Window for all writers. If I could ask @trevorvw to go next with Akoni to pass out orders and ensure everyone is in communication with Trent aboard the Theurgy. We'll end this round with the Rover team ready to drive off and the Foot team ready to start walking.

Rover Team:
Lt Cmdr. Kai Akoni (Security) @trevorvw
Lt. JG Jhozahosh sh'Avhennes (TacCONN) @The Ostrich
Ensign Ema Newberry (Human Female/Science Department)

Foot Team:
Lt. T'Panu (Medical) @lisavw
PO1 Mickayla MacGregor (Security Department) @Stegro88
PO2 M'Mau (Caitian Male/Security Department)

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #1 –
[ Lt. Cmdr. Kai Akoni | Planet Surface | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Aldea ]
@Stegro88 @lisavw @CanadianVet @The Ostrich

As the shuttle reached the surface and set down in a nice and smooth landing, Kai checked his Aldean weapons to make sure the power cells were fully powered and ready to go. He was hoping that they wouldn't need them, however he made sure everyone was prepared nonetheless.

He looked at the rover in front of him and then looked to the rest of the team. He saw a mix of excitement and nervousness on the faces in front of him. He figured he should re-brief them before they got on with their mission.

"Okay people, listen up." he said as the crew members gathered around him, "I don't want any of you taking any chances today. Make sure you stay together and stay safe. Remember, if you run into anything dangerous, double time it back here and we'll figure out a plan."

Kai looked around to nods from all the people that were gathered around him. He felt like he should be inspiring, but wasn't quite sure what to say. The large man now in charge of the mission left his inspirational speech unsaid. Everyone knew what they had to do.

"Just follow your tricorders, do your job and then get back here. No heroics tonight...and don't forget where we parked the Tesla", Kai finished with a mischevious grin on his face. He said it to lighten a little bit of tension, which had seemed to work a little bit.

"Doc, Mickayla and M'Mau, you'll be on foot. The rest of us will be in the rover. Any other questions before we get going?"

There didn't seem to be any other questions, so Kai nodded at them and touched his communicator.

"Akoni to Trent, comm check."

He got a reply from Lieutenant Trent confirming good communication link between the ground crew and the ship, at least so far.

The team going on foot had just departed the shuttle when Kai settled into the passenger's seat of the rover and was ready to go. He still couldn't quite shake the bad feeling he had about this mission.

I hope Trent's mission doesn't fuck us, Kai thought to himself as the rover departed the shuttle and made its way out on to the surface of Aldea.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #2 –
[ Lt Carrigan Trent | USS Theurgy | Aldea ] Attn: @Stegro88 @trevorvw @The Ostrich @lisavw

The mission had been a go. 

Truth be told, Trent had thoroughly prepared himself to see it aborted at that last possible moment and his every effort ridiculed as those of some loose cannon desperately trying to show he was still relevant, somehow.  But, he'd pretty much given up on fighting the lies spoken about him.  Words would not change things, deeds would.  But this away mission was going to be a make or break point for him; either it would proceed and answers would be forthcoming, or it would be aborted and he'd be lucky if he was ever listened to again for more than putting in a meal or drink order. 

Part of him wished he was down on  the surface.  He was sending people to deal with the unknown; even if someone else had held the final go/no-go authority, it remained a fact that without him and his insistence, there would have been no such mission.  Perhaps the official logs would show otherwise, especially if he mission was a success, but this was entirely on him at least in his own mind.  And despite accusations he was one to spend lives like water, he'd never particularly enjoyed sending others into dangers he did not share himself; there was a reason he was much more comfortable with entirely spaceborne operations not involving small craft or directing other ships: it meant the risks were entirely shared. 

So there he was, in orbit over Aldea Prime, watching a console and a hologram whose output was outside of the visible spectrum through lenses that gave him a crushing headache, and wearing the very same headset he'd taken to wearing as XO as to minimize noise output. 

And then, from the surface, there was a request for a communications check.

"This is Trent, communications are good and I'm fully tied into your tricorders, the Tesla and the rover's sensors.  I also have orbital eyes on you, such as they are.  And Mission Ops is standing by if needed."

And now, there were only three things to do.  Watch his feeds, hope everything would go according to plan... and wait.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #3 –
[ Lt. T'Panu | Planet Surface | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Aldea ]
@Stegro88 @trevorvw @CanadianVet @The Ostrich

As the Tesla flew down to the planets surface, T'Panu looked around to the rest of the crew sitting near her. She made a mental note of all her gear, triple checking that she grabbed everything they'd need. She opened her satchel to take a look inside.

Tricorder? Check. Dermal Regenerator? Check. Osteo-regenerator? Check. Hypospray? Check. Hydrocortilene? Check. Bandages and immediate trauma equipment? Check.

She felt the nerves starting to act up slightly to their away mission. It had been a while since she was without a proper med bay, thinking back to the aft compartment she had to setup for the crew. She definitely didn't miss those days, being spoiled by the vastly stocked med bay that was aboard the Theurgy. T'Panu thought about the mission and planned a course of action in case she was needed by both groups.

"If anyone needs medical, contact me as soon as possible. We may not be able to beam me over, but I can be picked up if needed. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

T'Panu listened to the pre-mission briefing. She heard the Lt. Cmdr Akoni speaking, asking if there were any questions. She looked down at her phaser and her phaser rifle. It had been years since she actually used either of them. She thought back to when she grabbed them and the few strange looks she got. In all honesty, she thought the same of herself, wondering why she needed both, but she wanted to be prepared. Her Vulcan side told her both weren't needed, but the Betazoid said otherwise...obviously, the Betazoid won on this one.

She thought about double checking how to use both, but the subject was changed and she realized she would remember if the time came to need it. She hoped it wouldn't, but was prepared either way. Her instincts always kicked in right when she needed them, never hesitating to do what she needed to do.

Being a doctor on an away mission, she thought about how interesting her tasks would be. Not only was she trusted with potentially saving the lives of the crew, she also had to save them by possibly taking life; or rather, ghost life? Anomaly life? She wasn't sure how it was going to go, but was nevertheless excited for the opportunity, and honoured that she was the trusted one to head out with everyone.

"Okay everyone, we got this. Groups stay close together, we'll get out in one piece. Comm me as soon as I'm needed and I'll find my way to you. And remember, be safe and stick to what we know. There's a lot of unknowns, but we're ready for this. We have the best crew aboard the Theurgy, now it's time to kick some unknown ass!" T'Panu said wholeheartedly, ready for the mission.

The nerves were high, but the stakes were higher. She meant what she said. They had the best crew, ready and trained for anything. And they were likely going to need it.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #4 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Planet Surface | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Aldea ] Attn: @CanadianVet @trevorvw @lisavw @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]


There are a lot of ways to begin the active part of a mission. Your boots hitting the deck of a ship or the dirt of a planet is generally a good indication that you have begun. Whether you are doing that in armour, or a zero-G suit or in Starfleet’s trusty duty uniform was a matter of circumstance; as was if someone was on the other end of a phaser or disruptor and about to fire at you. But it was a uniform fact, at least in Mickayla’s opinion, that when the person standing closest to you cursed, then something had just gone sideways.

“Shit,” M’Mau cursed, looking back towards the Tesla. Mickayla thought it might have been something beyond the craft that had drawn his attention but turning around herself, the Klingon could see that the problem was much more serious. Her view of the horizon was blocked by the Tesla itself.

“Fuck, it's not supposed to do that,” Mickayla thought to herself, about to shout out a warning when Jhoza, the Andorian pilot that had brought them down, lept from the driver’s seat of the rover and sprinted back up the ramp of the Tesla. “Hopefully it is some sort of systems error that is easily fixed and we can get one with what we are here to do,” Mickayla hoped as a small ball of anxiety began to form in her gut.

“Not good,” came Jhoza’s voice across their channel. “The Tesla’s systems state that the installed Aldean cloak is functioning properly. There must be a fault somewhere but I don’t know where to even start looking for it. I’m better with a warp fighter than a shuttle craft,” the Andorian bemoaned. “What do I do, Commander?”


OOC: Hi everyone. After a brief stall we are on the road again. Due to The Ostrich's unknown absence and at Auctor's direction, I have NPC'd Jhoza so that the thread can move forward.

If I could as @trevorvw to post next, directing Jhoza to return the Tesla to the Theurgy for repairs (we cannot risk it being seen and identified) while having everybody else continue the mission. @lisavw feel free to have M'Mau and Mickayla both fall into step with you as they start walking. I can also supply any speech for Mickayla if you want to add more to your post. Just let me know. That goes for everyone. @CanadianVet , not sure what you'd like to post this time round. Perhaps letting Ops know that the Tesla is returning and needs urgent repairs while seeing if a second shuttle is able to be on standby? I'll leave it to you.

Everyone should end their posts with the Rover driving off while the walkers start walking.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #5 –
[ Lt. Cmdr. Kai Akoni | Planet Surface | Aldea ] @Stegro88 @lisavw @CanadianVet

Just seconds after the rover had departed from the Tesla, Kai heard what he thought was a swear in Andorian, before the rover had come to an abrupt halt. His driver had hopped out and ran up the ramp of the shuttle they had just left. Kai finally realized what was going on. The shuttle had failed to cloak and they couldn't just leave a Federation shuttle on the surface, since they were supposed to keep a low profile. He had hoped Jhoza could fix it quickly and they could continue on with their mission.

The communication from the Andorian all but confirmed the shuttle had to leave. It had showed that the cloak was functioning properly, but the fact they could still see proved that was obviously wrong. Jhoza had asked for further direction. Kai thought for a moment before deciding on a course of action.

"Take it back to the ship, we can't have it sitting uncloaked out here." Kai told the Andorian before bringing Trent in on the new development in case he hadn't heard.

"Akoni to Trent. We've got a problem with the cloak on the Tesla. Jhoza will be bringing it back to the ship, however we are continuing on with the mission." Kai said as he hopped out of the rover and made his way to the driver's seat. The wind howling a bit as he heard the Tesla's engines power up and he reached the driver's seat. The young Ensign had moved to the seat he had just occupied. Kai looked out from the rover and scanned the horizon while thinking.

We've been on the planet for all of five minutes and we're already down a crew member, he thought as he hoped they could just get this mission over with.

As Kai looked to the young Ensign next to him, "Ema is it?" he asked the young woman. He got a nervous nod in response to his question.

Kai sighed and smiled, "Looks like it's just you and me" he said, trying to break her nervousness as he activated the comm line to the rest of the personnel.

"Let's move out people" Kai finished and then pressed the accelerator on the rover to get the mission started.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #6 –
[ Lt Carrigan Trent | USS Theurgy | Aldea ] Attn: @Stegro88 @trevorvw @lisavw

From up on Theurgy, Trent had been keeping a close eye on the deployment and then, a red light showed on his display.  Telemetry from the Tesla was returning a problem, and just as he brought up he alert so he could take a look, he received the call from the surface. 

Cloak malfunctions.  By all accounts, that was grounds to scrub the mission.  Oh, there might be an opportunity to try again, but it was just as likely that hiccup would kill any chances of investigating that spike... but no.  Commander Akoni decided to actually go through with it.  Now there remained the problem of getting the rover back to the ship, but that was minor enough; worse comes to worse, it could be pulled off the ground with a tractor beam, if the pilot would fly gentle, or it could be tucked away somewhere and recovered later, or beamed back using a cargo transporter if they'd drive it out of the immediate area.  So all in all, a manageable issue.  However, there would be a need to be able to provide rapid extraction to the team if needed.

"Trent, acknowledged.  Be advised that with Tesla gone I've lost a lot of my overwatch capability for you; finding  a replacement is a priority up here."

Well, that would be interesting; hopefully, there wouldn't be too much of a fight getting the resources he needed; after all, there were other people involved... though if anything went wrong on the surface...  "Trent to Mission Ops.  Status change.  The Tesla is inbound with a malfunctioning cloak.  They will need a clear approach vector, and I need a runabout to take her place on the surface."

It was just a hiccup... Trent had to keep telling himself that.  There were already entirely too many unknowns with his mission, and now this?  He had been confident enough when they had launched, but now?  He had this very uncomfortable itch between his shoulder blades that led him to believe there was something dreadfully wrong down there...

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #7 –
[ Lt. T'Panu | Planet Surface | Aldea ]
@Stegro88 @trevorvw @Auctor Lucan

T'Panu, Mickayla and M'Mau had just left the comfort and safety of the Tesla. Which, apparently, wasn't that safe, as it had completely malfunctioned at nearly the worst time. Albeit, there could have definitely been worse, such as being detected. But there was nothing saying it still couldn't happen.

Nerves were running high. Between the unknowns of the mission and the shuttle malfunctioning, T'Panu had a feeling no one quite knew how to feel.

"Okay everyone, Rover team has taken off towards their assigned locations, now it's time to check out ours. Phasers at the ready, we'll fall into line and everyone be ready for anything. Whatever we find inside I know we'll be okay if we stick together," T'Panu voiced with confidence.

She actually wasn't quite sure where her courage was coming from. Was it courage, or battle mode? She knew she had to be in the right mindset for the mission, and most importantly, the crew.

T'Panu looked around at their surroundings, trying to get a feel for everything. In the quiet sunset, there was much to see. The untouched earth stood out the most to T'Panu. She wondered how long it had been since anyone had been here.

She prepared for what they were about to find. The smells, the textures, the aged materials, the likely uninhabited recklessness of it all. The...ghost people? There was nothing confirmed about it, but she couldn't help but imagining haunted ghost houses. It was a very, very old tale humans used to sit by the campfire and tell. And she imagined it started out with something like this. She wondered if someday they would be telling their own ghost stories.

"I never properly introduced myself. My name's T'Panu, this is actually my first away mission. How about you, petty officers? What do you think we're about to find in there?" T'Panu asked, hoping to ease some of the nerves.

Just as she was asking the question, the Rover began speeding off. They were officially alone.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #8 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Planet Surface | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Aldea ] Attn: @trevorvw @lisavw
[Show/Hide]

“Mickayla MacGregor, ma’am,” the Klingon replied to the Vulcan. She was hard-pressed to believe that it was the woman’s first away mission given her age, but then again, Vulcan ages were difficult to place. What one thought of as a 20-year was closer to 50, and vice-versa. “I haven’t been down to the planet before now either, but I doubt it will any different from the dozens of other missions I have been on. After all, this planet is supposed to be friendly. We’re probably just chasing a phantom signal from some old Aldean tech. Our sensors are better than what the Klingons have.”

“MacGregor is right Lieutenant,” M’Mau commented jovially. “These missions are often more tedious than anything else.”


“So you came from the Endeavour, sir?” Ema Newberry asked between glances at her triocrder as the Chief of Security drove their vehicle through the ruins of the city. She hadn’t kept track of time and didn’t really want to check but knew that time was short. And she was right, because moments after Commander Akoni answered, the voice of Lieutenant Trent broke through.

“60 seconds to estimated time of anomaly,” the man announced. Ema had heard rumours of what events had occurred that brought about the man’s demotion but apparently, he retained enough responsibility to oversee this mission. “Could both teams please halt their movements so that their direction readings are as accurate as possible.”

With the rover stopped, Ema watched the tricorder intently, now watching the clock as the estimated time approached. Right on cue, a signal was detected, and a direction obtained but the pulse was too brief for an accurate distance. Even still, the estimated distance from the tricorder put the origin of the anomaly nowhere near their location. Something that Trent confirmed moments later.

“I have a location,” the man’s voice stated evenly. “Foot team, the signal appears to originate from a structure on the edge of the park 1km north of your position. You should be able to reach it in a few minutes. Rover team, I can’t seem a clear path for you to reach the park from where you are. You are going to have to backtrack and go around before you can rendezvous with Foot team.”


OOC: Sorry for the delay in this post. With CV's departure I got lost with what to do next but thankfully another opportunity has presented itself. So we will be continuing.

@trevorvw I'm guessing Akoni might be frustrated having driven in the wrong direction. Not sure how he will react to being told to go back around. If you want more speech from Ema to react too, feel free to write some up or you are welcome to ask me.

@lisavw Same here, feel free to write more speech for M'Mau for T'Panu to respond too. After that if you could end your post at the edge of the park, my next post will up the ante.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #9 –
[ Lt. T'Panu | Planet Surface | Aldea ]
@trevorvw @Stegro88

T'Panu nodded slightly at the Petty Officer's words. She knew this could probably be nothing major, but she just couldn't shake the sinking feeling she had about this one.

M'Mau spoke next, carrying on with his words. "I remember a mission I was on a while back, sort of like this one. Plenty of unknowns, high risk, unconfirmed target. Well, me and the crew that went on this mission were expecting the worst. We weren't sure what to expect, to be brief, but we knew it didn't sound good. By the time we had arrived, the target was nothing worse than fighting a single unarmed alien. We were back aboard the ship promptly after having our drinks, celebrating damn near the easiest away mission any of us had ever been on," M'Mau reveled. His voice grew in excitement towards the end of his story, making it obvious that he was more excited about the after party rather than the mission.

His story was brief, but it got the point across. He clearly wasn't worried, and T'Panu wasn't quite convinced that the Petty Officer was too concerned either.

T'Panu felt her shoulders relax a bit as they traveled closer, feeling herself a little less on edge thanks to her comrades, but not completely enough that she was willing to let her guard down. There were still too many unknowns, still a sinking feeling, still unknown territory. She had learned not to ignore her gut feeling after all this time. The few times she did, she found herself in hot water, but thankfully safe each time it had happened.

"Our sensors definitely are better than what the Klingons have! I wouldn't be saying that if we were anywhere near the Klingon bars, but I'd say we're pretty alone out here. Let's hope it stays that way as we secure the target."

Just as they were finishing up their chat, they were given updated co-ordinates. Only another kilometre to go before they reached the signal. Thankfully, they were right on track and had just a little further to go.

"Well team, looks like we're just about there. Stay sharp, be ready for anything. I think it's safe to say we will be finding out what this is sooner than we expected," T'Panu directed. She wasn't exactly the one that was usually high enough in rank to give commands, but she also didn't mind. She felt her years of service had prepared her for this; albeit Medical, she still felt she was ready to guide their team to safety if need be. She chuckled to herself when she thought about how she was most definitely qualified to treat them.

Step after step they started to close into the location, readying themselves for whatever was about to show up next. Rock after deserted rock, weed after abandoned weed, they finally felt their strides coming to a close as they reached the edge of the park.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #10 –
[ Lt. Cmdr. Kai Akoni | Planet Surface | Rover 01 | Aldea ] @Stegro88 @lisavw

Kai was driving the rover according to Lt. Trent's 'recommended' route as the young woman to his right asked him a question, which had slightly caught him off guard.

He let out a breath just before he answered.

"Yeah, I did. I served aboard her for just over a year. I lost a lot of good friends..." he said, trailing off. The Ensign sat beside him, not replying, seemingly lost for words at what he had said. Trent's communication thankfully broke the awkward silence in the rover.

Trent had advised them the signal was coming up and asked both teams to stop moving so they could get a better chance at locating the signal. Kai brought the rover to a halt as Ensign Newberry stared at her tricorder and Kai scanned the horizon around them with his eyes. Looking for anything that was moving or even standing out. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, for which he was quite thankful.

Once the signal had briefly revealed itself, Trent advised the teams that he had found a location for it. He also told Kai and Newberry that they'd have to backtrack in order to make their way to the origin of the signal.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kai said loudly in frustration as he punched the accelerator on the rover, did a 180 degree turn, and started making his way, as quickly as the rover would take them.

Trent can't even plan a mission properly! Kai thought to himself before opening the comm line.

"Copy that Lieutenant. Foot team, we're on our way to the origin, we'll be just a few minutes behind you hopefully" Kai had purposefully used Trent's new rank as a small but subtle dig at the man. Kai was frustrated at the man, however he also knew that these things happened. This helped to temper Kai's frustration.

As the rover raced across the surface of Aldea, he glanced towards Ensign Newberry and asked the question.

"What's our ETA?"

"Approximately 11 minutes sir"

11 minutes..., Kai thought hoping that the 11 minutes wouldn't make a difference to the foot team as the rover continued at high speed towards its destination.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #11 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Planet Surface | Abandoned City Plaza | Aldea ] Attn: @trevorvw @lisavw @Revan
[Show/Hide]

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Mickayla observed to herself as her gut twinged again. Twinging was a bade thing. It had happened a few times in her past, with the common denomination of whatever she was doing or attempting about to go to hell in a handbasket. And given their present situation, both immediate and overall, hell was not a good place to be; in a handbasket or no. “We need to wait for Commander Akoni,” was the thought that passed through her mind as M’Mau spoke up.

“Hold up, I smell something,” the Caitian announced as he stopped dead still, his head tilted slightly, as if listening for something.

“What is it?” Mickayla asked, coming to alert and looking around. The failing light was casting shadows everywhere, creating dozens of places someone or something could hide. And then she saw it. The haze where none should be. It was almost like a shimmer; like something was distorting the light. As she tried to follow the edge of it, Mickayla realised that it had a definite shape and that was when it clicked in her head what she was seeing. “Cloaking device!”

“Mickyla, DOWN!” M’Mau yelled out. Mickayla reacted by instinct, falling to her knees as her companion’s phaser rifle came up, firing at something behind her. A grown and thump later soon followed, and the Klingon rolled over to see a figure laying on the ground near a half-collapsed building. “We need to….” M’Mau’s words were cut off by a phaser shot hitting the Caitian in the back, sending the petty officer to the ground. From where she lay, Mickayla couldn’t tell if he was stunned, injured or dead but she didn’t have time to find out at that moment.

Bringing her own rifle up, Mickayla fired at where she though the shot had come from as she rose up to her knees. Her barrage was short lived; a shot hit her square in the back, and as she collapsed to the ground she managed to shout, or what she thought was a shout, to T’Panu.

“RUN!”


Trent’s sensors, boosted by the localised feed from T’Panu’s tricorder, had detected the weapon’s fire and he was already at work trying to extract the ground team.

“Damn,” he swore as he saw a magnetic shield come up over three quarters of the city and centred on the plaza where he had detected the signal. Something was down there, and it had fired on those he had asked to investigate. “Damn. Commander Akoni, ground team has come under fire and I read M’Mau and MacGregor as both alive but down. Emergency transport is not an option as a magnetic shield has been erected. I recommend withdrawal to the landing site as options are evaluated.”

The words tasted horrible even as he said them but there was no choice. Whatever or whomever was down there had just taken out a 3-man ground team. What could a 2-man team do? No, they would need to return in force. Regretfully, Trent reached for his combadge.


OOC: OMG, that took me too long to deliver to you all. But its done. This will be the last round of posts from everyone. And we can move on to the rescuing of our unfortunately captured crew members.

@Revan if I could ask you to go before @lisavw , illustrating your character, what they have done, been doing, etc. And then have them apprehending @lisavw 's character T'Panu. Remember, you don't know that we are Starfleet as yet. We can establish that during the rescue thread. This will also give @lisavw something to react to besides watching her two companions get shot in the back.

@trevorvw you are free to post with Akoni at wil, beginning to issue orders. SOmething about assembling a team, getting some Lone Wolves down to keep an eye on things, etc. All the sorts of things a good Chief of Security would order.

If anyone needs anything from me, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #12 –
Lieutenant Zaryn Kolari | Planetside | Abandoned City Plaza | Aldea ] Attn: @Stegro88 @lisavw @trevorvw
[Show/Hide]

It had been just over six months that Zaryn Kolari, or Tidas Lokai as he was currently going by had been on Aldea. Starfleet Intelligence had been very interested in the pirate activity going on in and around Aldea and it's neighbouring systems lately as well as having a bit of an interest in what the Klingons were up to in the area as well. It was decided that the best way to figure that out was to send an operative to the planet in the hopes of infiltrating the pirate gang, which would also give him the opportunity to "observe" the Klingon's as well.

It wasn't Zaryn's first undercover assignment and it wouldn't be his last either, hell this hadn't even been one of his longest yet but it had been one of the more interesting ones. Kidnapping, bribery, extortion, raids on holdings, warehouses and cargo ships he'd seen and done it all on this assignment. Any normal person would of had a problem with those things, but for Zaryn it was all simply part of the job.

As for observing the Klingons, well that was a far more boring task in comparison, the equipment he had did most of that, all he had to do was watch, listen and take notes. It was all pretty standard stuff really. The only thing that was different from the standard was that the KDF also had an observation post here, only theirs was official unlike his. A spy spying on spies, it was enough to make him laugh. It was almost something out of the old spy novels he used to read growing up.

The Klingons had really been up to much, at least nothing that would ever be considered a true threat to the Federation, sure there was the odd thing here or there but nothing Starfleet couldn't handle, especially when he was there giving them an advanced warning of whatever it was they were planning. The pirates on the other hand, was a far more interesting tale. He'd seen the sometimes brutal initiation "rituals" certain gangs had to initiate new members, hell he'd been a part of several of them, including the one he had had to go through in order to join.

In his case he had to blackmail an Aldean politician to get one of the gang out of prison using a photo of his daughter in a compromising position with the pirate leader at the time, who would have thought a politician wouldn't want it known to all and sunder that his little girl was involved with the leader of a pirate gang. Needless to say it was easily done and boom he was in. Others though were more of a fight to death, last one standing is in kind of deal depending on the gang.

He'd also heard talk over the months of a pirate queen, although he'd never met the woman...assuming there was only one of them, but he had heard stories and based on some of them if they were true, he was kind of hoping he never would and that was saying something considering he had met a lot of unsavoury characters in his time. Not to mention the fact he himself had seen and done a lot of questionable things of his own during his time in SFI. On the plus side though at least with Aldea being a lot like Risa, he'd managed to get a lot of surfing in, far more than he'd had in the last several years in fact given the nature of his previous assignments.

While he had his own little place in Aldea's main city full of all his SFI gear, he spent most of his time with the pirates in their base outside the city in one of the abandoned cities. It actually made for a good hiding place really. There was plenty of room and since they were off limits usually got very little traffic from the Aldeans. The flip side to that however was the often lack of privacy, which had been a bit of trouble when he had first joined, having not proved himself yet meant he was watched like a hawk most of the time. After a while though he'd earned more and more trust to the point that he had a little bit of a say now in how certain things were done and more importantly the freedom to come and go as he pleased, making reporting much easier now that he didn't have to spend hours sneaking out of the place every time he needed to go back to his safehouse.

"Tidas!"  the voice of Jaelen, one of the gang's oldest members and essentially one of it's leaders said from somewhere behind him, snapping the Trill out of his thoughts, turning to look up at the bald headed Aldean man calling him from his spot laying on one of the couch in the pirate's base. "A scout spotted a group of three people wandering around the park, should be an easy grab, you in?"

"Sure, I was getting bored anyway." he replied with a grin as he stood up and made his way over to where he had dropped his jacket and phaser pistol, putting the jacket on and attaching his pistol and it's thigh holster to his leg. So did the scout say what these people were armed with or are we loading up for a fight?"[/color] he asked as they made their way towards the exit.

"We'll arm for a fight, can never be too careful Tidas you know that." came Jaelen's reply as they joined the other person who was going with them.

"True, let's just try not to kill any of them this time huh? We can't make money off of them if they're dead." he replied, glancing over at Marris, a short, long brown haired pain in the ass of an Aldean with a scar over his right eye. Marris was very much your stereotypical trigger happy psycho who wanted to be a pirate to cause mayhem, murder and every other thing under the sun with little consequences.

"Why do you look at me when you say that?" he asked with an eerily sadistic grin.

"You know damn well why, remember what happened the last time?"

"How could I forget? I still remember the way his body disintegrated after I shot him." he replied, that grin growing even bigger.

Zaryn shook his head before extending his hand "You know what, give me your phaser."

"What?"

"Give me your phaser, I want to make sure you have it set to stun."

"What's the matter Tidas, you don't trust me?" he countered with a smirk.

"Nope."

"Well tough shit, you ain't the boss of me and I'm not giving you my gun."

"He might not be, but I am. Give it to him." Jaelen ordered.

"But..." the shorter man protested.

"I said give it to him, don't make me tell you again."

Reluctantly Marris took out his phaser and handed over to the alien, glaring daggers at him the whole time.  "I don't see what the big deal is, so what if I killed a guy last time, we still got loads of people."

"The big deal is that Tidas is right, we can't make money off of dead people. Lucky for you we captured a relatively large group, but this is a small group, we need all of them alive and for it to be a clean grab, no fuck ups."

Zaryn meanwhile had checked the settings on the phaser and rolled his eyes "Well what a surprise it's set to kill." pushing a few buttons he set the weapon to stun and handed it to Jaelen who checked it before handing it back.

"Don't change it Marris, if you do and one of our targets dies because of you, I'll kill you myself, understood." Jaelen told the shorter man.

Marris nodded as he holstered his weapon, watching as Jaelen gave him a nod, turned on his heel and motioned for the rest to follow. Glaring daggers at the spot covered alien as he too left before following behind.

It didn't take the group long to reach the park where the scout had said the people were, nor did it take them very long to find the three individuals either. One Klingon female, a Caitian male and what could have been either a Vulcan or a Romulan female, he couldn't tell beyond the pointy ears from this distance "That's quite the combination of people." Zaryn muttered under his breath.

"Okay everyone, personal stealth generators on, we sneak up, grab them and this should go nice and easy. Tidas you circle around and approach from behind, we'll take them head on."

Zaryn had taken a somewhat wide ark to circle around behind the group and had slowly made his way towards the group when the fighting started, immediately seeing Marris' stealth field drop along with his body.

"That stupid son of a..." he muttered under his breath as he watched the Caitian take a shot, only to get shot himself and drop to the ground, followed immediately by the Klingon woman.

The last remaining woman, who he was relatively sure was a Vulcan listened to what the Klingon had said and started running.

"God damn it." the Trill cursed as he took off after the woman. Luckily he was a little faster than her but unlucky for him his stealth field generator had stopped working so she could see him now.

Wanting to end this quickly he took a shot at the woman, but the beam just sailed wide, causing the Trill to curse under his breath and fired again, this one just narrowly hitting the ground just in front of the woman. It luckily however provided enough of a distraction for Zaryn to close the distance and dive for the woman, sending the pair to the ground. Quickly scrambling to his feet he turned to face her with his pistol aimed at her.

"Alright that's enough of that." he panted. "Your friends are unconscious and I've got three other people with stealth generators on aiming at you. Surely you can see that you've lost, there's no logic in fighting so how about you just surrender, I won't have to shoot you, they won't have to shoot you, nobody gets hurts and this whole thing can be a nice, simple, painless process for everyone. Also I won't have to carry you all the way back. How does that sound?" He asked, really not wanting the woman to call his bluff or to have to carry her all the way back to the base either.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #13 –
[ Lt. Cmdr. Kai Akoni | Planet Surface | Rover 01 | Aldea ]
@Stegro88 @lisavw @Revan

Kai was driving the rover at top speed across the surface trying to make it to the foot team in time, however Trent broke the bad news over the comm. The gist of it, Kai realized, was basically the mission went sideways and the others were captured.

At least they're alive...for now, Kai thought to himself as he brought the rover to a screeching halt, kicking up a dust cloud around the rover.

He looked over to the Ensign seated to his right, who looked scared and unsure of what to do.

"Dammit!" Kai exclaimed, banging his hand on the dash of the rover in frustration. Kai listened to the end of Trent's recommendation about falling back to the insertion point, and despite how he felt about it, Kai had to reluctantly agree. Tactically, that was the best decision

The Chief of Security opened the communications line again and started issuing orders to Trent.

"Trent, get me a shuttle ready to bring my other security personnel down here. Also, get me a fighter escort for overwatch and close air support. Talk to whoever you have to, but make it happen."

Kai thought for a moment of who he wanted to help with rescue of the foot team. He tapped his combadge again.

"Akoni to Kingston and Ferik. Report to the shuttle bay immediately and make sure you're armed. I need you on the surface not now, but right now. I'll brief you when you get here. Akoni out"

That was all Kai could do for now, as he turned the rover around and headed for their insertion point. As long as the foot team was still alive, he could bet on them being alive for a little while longer.

As he was driving and felt the wind whipping against his face, he couldn't help but hope that Trent was at least competent enough to get a shuttle and fighter escort.

He can't possibly screw that up...I hope

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #14 –
[ T'Panu | Planet Surface | Abandoned City Plaza | Aldea ]
@trevorvw @Stegro88 @Revan

"RUN!"

The intent of her fallen comrade's message was clear, to get out of there as fast as possible. But for a doctor to leave her injured crew? That was a far tougher decision. She had no idea what their status was, how many times they had each been shot, or where. But she had no other choice; she turned to leave, without another word.

T'Panu's heart was beating faster than an Italian composer directing his band at Prestissimo time. Her steps, the drum; her breath, the winds. She felt the adrenaline coursing through her body, sending shockwaves from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

Left foot. Right foot. Breathe. Repeat.

She felt the power coursing through her legs as she felt her pace quickening, her stride broadening. She thought back to her crew, wondering if it was as bad as it looked. She knew it couldn't be good, but she hoped she wouldn't have to prepare for the worst. She hoped no one would have to.

There were so many questions, but the most prominent one was who were these people? T'Panu wanted revenge and she wanted it fast. She planned her escape route as she ran, looking for the closest place to run towards in order to get away.

She heard the sound of weapons fire as the shot whirred quickly past her, sailing wide. Hopefully their bite is as bad as their aim, T'Panu smirked. She retorted far too quickly, as another one came directly after.

The weapon was fired directly ahead of her, disrupting her path of travel. She lost her footing as she felt herself stumble forwards. T'Panu felt the tinnitus starting as she noticed the disorientation settling in. Vertigo made it almost impossible to tell which way was forward as she attempted to keep going.

The man came from nowhere, executing a diving take down. T'Panu couldn't get away, and was sent flying to the ground with him, landing prone. She fought against him, trying to free herself. She managed to gyrate herself almost fully around, but was stopped in her tracks. As she laid supine, she looked their attacker square in the face, and was met by the phaser pointed directly at her.

He explained, panting, that this could go the easy way, or the hard way. It was clear which way she would choose.

"Who the fuck are you and where is my crew?"

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #15 –
Lieutenant Zaryn Kolari | Planetside | Abandoned City Plaza | Aldea ] Attn: @Stegro88 @lisavw @trevorvw
[Show/Hide]

While Zaryn certainly had the advantage and was hoping that the woman would see sense and take the easy option, that clearly wasn't going to be the case. In fact, her response had actually taken him a little by surprise while equally amusing him "Well aren't you the emotional little Vulcan." he grinned “As for who I am, name’s Tidas, nice to meet you.” he added, the smile still on his face despite the sarcasm practically dripping off of the words.

Taking a look at the woman, he had noticed the fact that she asked where her crew was, not her friends. That piqued his curiosity since they certainly didn’t look like pirates, nor did they look like traders and if they were traders what the hell were they doing all the way out here? They had a Klingon with them so it was possible they were with the KDF. They had an agreement with the Aldeans and it was certainly possible that they would offer to help track down a pirate group such as the one he was with, and yet he had a feeling that wasn’t the case either. Starfleet? He thought briefly then shook his head, while he admittedly hadn’t been able to check in with his superiors for a while, having been stuck with the pirates for a while it was hard to imagine why any Starfleet ships would be all the way out here. Mercenaries maybe? It would certainly make sense, there were a lot of things out here in the Aldean ruins that were worth a venture.

“As for your crew, they’re alive for what it’s worth and you’ll be joining themsoon enough.” he started telling her, almost about to offer her the chance to come peacefully before sighing, it was pretty clear that she wasn’t going to be taking that option, which would mean a fight, one that he didn’t particularly want to have. “Look it’s clear you care about them, if you come peacefully you can check on them yourself and make sure they’re okay. I give you my word, neither you or them will be harmed, what do you say?” he countered.

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #16 –
[ T'Panu | Planetside | Abandoned City Plaza | Aldea ]
@Stegro88 @trevorvw @Revan

The man's reply came quick and fast, like a punch to the gut that T'Panu wasn't expecting. She heard his name, but quickly glazed over his brief introduction waiting for more pressing answers. Like validation her team was still alive.

T'Panu was a little lost for words. She wasn't sure how she should reply, what answer the man was looking for or continue to ask her own questions. She chose the latter as to not push her luck.

"You said they're alive, how badly were they hurt?" T'Panu pressed. She wanted to rush to them, but wanted some sort of assurance that she could trust them. The fact that they haven't offed her yet was a start, but she couldn't help but asking even though she knew she should be treading more carefully. Truth be told, after everything that has happened as of late, she was getting used to flying by the seat of her pants.

Tidas, as the man stated his name was, seemed to be eyeing her down, which made T'Panu unclear what he was going to do next, what his plans were. She had so many thoughts running through her mind. What does he want with us? Why us? Why shoot us first and ask questions later? She knew this mission had its unknowns, but certainly nothing like this could have been in store for them. But it was, and now they had to find an escape. She had exhausted her attempts to get away, and it was now time to "play nice" until they had a chance to make their move. She knew she was faster than him by a long shot, and noted that for later.

"Let's go. You say I can see my friends now, take me to them. I am perfectly capable of walking myself."

T'Panu got pushed herself up off the ground, brushing off some of the debris that had stuck to her attire. She readied herself to leave peacefully, but kept her guard up. She still wasn't sure what they wanted or how her friends were, but she was going to do everything in her power to get there as quickly as possible in case they needed her.
 

Re: Day 08 [2130 hrs.] Searching For Ghosts | Silver Shadows Part 02

Reply #17 –
Lieutenant Zaryn Kolari | Planetside | Abandoned City Plaza | Aldea ] Attn: @Stegro88 @lisavw @trevorvw
[Show/Hide]


Zaryn was fully prepared to shoot the woman if she gave him any trouble, and yet was relieved that she instead opted to ask him a question. He figured that offering up her friends would have at least piqued her curiosity and cooperation and evidently he had been correct.

"They were stunned, whether or not they were injured when they fell or not I don't know, I was too busy chasing you after all." he answered, keeping his phaser trained on her. "If they are hurt though, I assure you the damage would have been minor and easily repaired. Nobody wants to buy damaged merchandise after all, a broken slave is a worthless slave...or so I've been told." he added with a shrug.

He watched her carefully as she told him to take her to her friends and stood up, brushing some of the debris off of her clothing. He could tell that she was keeping her guard up, much as he was and nodded. "I did and I will. Hell I'll make sure you're all locked in the same cell if would make you happy." he replied and nodded back in the direction they had come from. "That way."

As they made their way back, the Trill observed the Vulcan. There was something about her that rubbed him the wrong way. It wasn't that she was a hybrid that much he'd figured out already, it was something else. Something that had his instincts working overtime. He knew why he was out here, the ruins were off limit to the public and the Aldean government hardly ever checked the places out either so it made for a perfect pirate base.

Keeping a close eye on his captive, they eventually made their way back to the others. The Klingon and the Caitain were already being carried back into the building ahead of them. "See there they are, you can check on them inside, but don't go running off to do it, I guaranteed your safety they don't know that."

-FIN
 
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