Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

July 28, 2019, 07:34:51 PM

Unidentified Flying Object in the Beyond
March 22, 2381
Day 12, 0830 hrs.

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton – callsign “Meerkat” | Conference Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Havenborn @DaValle @Brutus  @Griff  

At 0825 sharp, Liliana’s combadge chimed with a gentle reminder from Thea about a briefing scheduled at 0830 in the conference lounge off the main bridge. Lt Commander Dewitt had sent a message to her earlier about it, mentioning only that the pilot was needed for an away mission that day prior to her scheduled patrol. Walton was unsure why she was being selected for an away mission and decided to assume it was because they wanted her to fly an away team somewhere – probably to the surface of Aldea. She was aware that the ship’s CONN department was kept constantly busy with assisting in repairs, so it would not be a surprise if they needed to tap one of the fighter pilots occasionally for that.

Thankfully, Walton was already on her way to the conference room. She wanted to be there earlier than the rest to make sure she had time for coffee and a quick bite to eat from the room’s replicator. Maybe early enough to even get a moment alone to look out at the planet they were orbiting, assuming the view wasn’t obstructed by the shipyard. Once inside, she made a beeline to grab her breakfast before moving to one of the chairs at the long table in the room with a warm cinnamon roll in one hand and a cup of sweetened vanilla flavored coffee in the other. She hoped whatever this was would be routine enough.

Well, at least whatever passed for routine for this ship.

OOC: Considering this is set during the time range for Havenborn's flight's patrol per Nolan's post in Shipwide Call, it'd really be up to Griff and Havenborn as to whether they're listening in from their fighters, I guess, or physically in the room with the rest.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #1 – July 29, 2019, 09:46:33 AM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie “Hellcat”] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

Daniel was sitting in his cockpit as they flew around the shipyard for the dozenth time today.  His flight had been tapped to help an away mission that was scheduled for 0830.  He had sent Meony and Neko to continue their regular patrol while he took Bloodwing with him.  He still didn’t like having the NCO in his flight but then again it wasn’t his decision nor was it for him to decide squadron formation anymore since he was no longer an SCO.  As much as he wanted to have either Meony or Neko with him, he wanted his veterans to continue on the patrol he’d have to make due with Bloodwing and hope that she was just as good as his other pilots.

He had activated his communications system and linked into the Theurgy conference room, he knew that Bloodwing had done the same as he could see her connected to the communications link.  Now it was just a matter of waiting for the rest of whomever had been summoned to arrive and the briefing to start.  He had volunteered part of his flight for whatever missions came up during their patrol, he had gotten very tired of the monotony of patrol duty so any mission that allowed him to get away from it was very welcome.

“Salvo to Bloodwing, switch to my starboard and decrease to one-third impulse.”  Daniel said as he began to slow his fighter down, he was going to put them into a patrol circuit around Vector 1 during the briefing and there was no need for them to be going at the half-impulse they had been.  “Knight, run a diagnostics scan on the engines, they’re feeling a little sluggish.”  Daniel said to his RIO. 

“Acknowledged, beginning diagnostic.”  Came the reply behind him.  “So you and Meony have been spending some time together.”  Daniel said to Knight. There was a pause and Knight responded.  “Is there a question there?”  Daniel smiled, he and Krystal had dated before he had become an SCO, he had explained why they couldn’t be together anymore and she had accepted it, in Daniel’s mind it had made them better friends, even family in some weird way.  “Just curious as to what your intentions are.”  Daniel asked.  “I like her, but I’m not going to ask for your blessing if that’s what you’re thinking about.”  Knight said as he watched the diagnostic continue.  “Not at all, just as I said, curious.”  Daniel stated.  Knight was about to say something when he heard the briefing begin, the two of them sat in silence as they listened in.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #2 – July 29, 2019, 03:04:29 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Conference Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy] @Brutus @patches @Griff @Havenborn 
[Show/Hide]

Only a half hour ago Kaylon got ordered to attend a meeting in the conference room. He got only told to be there, since they needed someone for an away mission but more than the information that the mission will be on the surface of Aldea wasn’t mentioned. Now he stood in a turbolift and waited for the door to open. It wasn’t a bad feeling he had about the situation, he was just curios, since this was his first real mission ever since the Theurgy arrived at Aldea.

The door opened and behind of it stood two crewmen who cleared the way for the lieutenant. He went out of the lift and moved to the conference room at the right side. Kaylon recognized again that the ship was in a pretty good condition after all the fights it went through and the engineers had done a lot of work to archive this. But since self-praise is no recommendation and he had other problems to think about now, Kaylon stopped thinking about the condition of the ship. He went on to the conference lounge and saw on a console at the wall that he was still some minutes to early.

When the door opened Kaylon discovered Liliana Walton, who was sitting on one of the chairs with a cup in her hand. This reminds him that he had woken up to early only to get told that his daily shift was cancelled and he was instead requested for this away mission. On the other side had Kaylon enough time to wake up without consuming a half ton of coffee in the morning. The Trill went into the room and said to the pilot: “Good Morning.” Then he made his way up to the next free seat and added: “I hope I’m not the only one who had time to breakfast before this.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #3 – July 29, 2019, 11:41:15 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Havenborn @patches @Griff @DaValle 
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Almost, he had raised a protest. What, by all things held holy among this crew, did anyone have to consume to convince themselves that it was a good idea to send the Theurgy's resident Time Traveler on an away mission. The summons had come in over the evening, and had been waiting for Sarresh when he had dragged himself out of his (empty) bed to face another day without...Without Sel. You can say it, damn you. Another day without Sel.

He frowned at his reflection as he trimmed the grown under his neck. Sarresh had been surprised to find that if he didn't bother with it for a few days, he did actually start to grow a beard. Ash'reem were physically incapable of growing facial hair, or really, any hair, save at the very tops of their head. After his transformation, Sarresh had tried to do everything he could to hold onto what he had been. and that included sheering every stray hair from his body, as if desiring to still be that sleek, aquatic being he had once been. While Sarresh still swam, and quite frequently, as it was source of comfort, he had not bothered with shaving since returning from the Savi ship Versant. He'd had little ability to do so while in captivity, and even less desire to take care of himself since his return, for all the normal reasons one ridden with grief might have.

When he could hide himself away in his lab, monitoring the time stream, tracking little blips that - so far- lead to nothing, and generally avoid interacting with anyone, he didn't care what he looked like. He had no cult to impress, after all. Admittedly, he had stopped his one man assault on his own liver after the nasty hang over he had been punished with days back. But self care hadn't gone much beyond that and sonic showers. Not even the water kind that he thrived on usually - he could remember the last one he'd shared with Sel, and was struggling to adjust to that. of course, he knew that.

Sarresh also knew that if he were smart, he would book a session with a counselor. He'd know that when he was drunk off his ass, and days after the fact, he still knew that. He just ,....didn't. Not only was he unsure anyone had clearance to do so, as so much of what plagued him could be contrived as 'classified', he was unsure that he wished to stop hurting. For if the hurting stopped, what was left? Duty?

Duty was what got him out of bed in the morning, replicating the tea that Sel had introduced to him, as he padded across the room to review the messages from the night. The summons had been right there, and he'd stared, unblinking for a full minute after he'd finished. He'd set the tea down on the table, and managed not to wrench the terminal from the desk and fling it into the far bulkhead. He mastered his breathing, and his rapidly beating heart, pushing both back into submission. Then he re-read the summons and laughed.

"What dumbass thought this was a good idea?" He asked the empty room.  And then, a mix of amused and frustrated he got up from the desk and took the tea into the shower with him.

Twenty minutes later, he was dressed in his uniform, a freshly replicated one, and managed to scarf down something that the replicator insisted whats suitably nutrition for his species. A 'Breakfast Burrito' of some variety, that he only noticed in passing, as it was easy to eat one handed. The earring - her earring - was in his pocket, where it had been for days now. His neck was shaven but then he'd gone and left the rest of it in place, casting a gruff sort of look about him, but nothing that was out of regulation. He was hiding behind the guise of professional attire and detachment, but inside he alternated between seething, mourning, and the urge to laugh.  He'd strode into the lounge form the access corridor  that ringed the bridge, without actually setting foot on the bridge, certain he was unwelcome there.

This must be some kind of punishment, he thought to himself as he strode in and looked over the room. So far there was one human woman present, dressed in the white collared uniform of a fighter pilot, and Lieutenant in Ops Gold, a Trill with the same rank as he himself. Sarresh arched an eyebrow, but otherwise ignored the Warrant Officer and the other man. Instead, electing to make use of the replicator, he ordered another cup of what he'd started this morning, and every morning since he'd returned, with. "Tea, Pyrellian ginger. Hot." And reached in to take the steaming cup of the Bajoran brew in the Theurgy logo'd mug from the replicator when the lights faded.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #4 – July 30, 2019, 12:27:55 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime Orbit ] Attn: @@Havenborn [member=116@patches[/member] @@DaValle @Brutus 

[Show/Hide]

It was the one of the oldest truth of fighter pilots: running patrol was boring. It had been true when Lillee had flown with the Romulan Grand Fleet, it had been true during the Dominion War and it was true now. There was only so much that one could fly through the same space without becoming restless, and after all, six hours of patrolling a day was a long, long time. Certainly the flight could spend the time chit-chatting, but even that wasn't very appealing. Meony was a pleasant woman and apparently a skilled pilot, but even with the Universal Translator, Lillee could barely understand a word that the human was saying.

And then there was Salvo, the flight leader. Lillee didn't know what to think of the man. He was certainly professional, but he also seemed to have a duranium rod rammed so far up his rear end that he had to be tasting metal. The other pilots thought well of him, to be sure, but then why was he then so cold and distant to her? It was nothing blatant, certainly, but nevertheless, Lillee was certain of it. The man disliked her. Or he distrusted her. Either way, it was deeply irritating.

Starting yet another patrol circuit around Aldea's busy orbit on Meony's wing, Lillee glanced at the time. The mysterious new mission, whatever it was, could at least prove a pleasant distraction assuming that it didn't end in the usual mess of phaser fire and dead bodies everywhere. Of equal value, Havenborn had chosen her as his wingmate for the mission, so perhaps he was reaching out in his own way. Or perhaps it meant nothing. Sighing in frustration at how little she knew, Lillee activated her comm system to tie into the meeting that was about to begin over on Vector 01 of the Theurgy.

"Salvo to Bloodwing, switch to my starboard and decrease to one-third impulse."

"Acknowledged," Lillee replied, automatically slotting in behind Salvo's Gryphon. With that, there was to do but listen and wait.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #5 – August 04, 2019, 11:08:25 PM

 [ CWO3 Liliana Walton – callsign “Meerkat” | Conference Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Brutus @Havenborn @DaValle @Griff

As the other two filtered in, Lily smiled and nodded politely at both of them by way of greeting. She chuckled at the Trill’s greeting, responding as the other man entered and grabbed his own drink.

“No, you’re not the only one. This meeting took me a bit by surprise. I wonder what we’re needed for.”

With that, the viewscreen flared to life as a man in Aldean dress and a dour look on his face. He took only a moment to check who was in the room before launching into his briefing.

[Greetings. I am First Appointee Radue of Aldea. Just now, the Theurgy reported a ship landing in the Beyond. It is – or was – cloaked and bypassed our own and the Klingon’s sensors and it was only detected to your ship detecting it while it landed in a sandstorm. Whatever cloaked it is clearly not of Klingon origin. As the only way to track it is through these … ‘particle sensors’ on your ship, we need you to investigate this unidentified flying object before the sandstorm clears. Speed is therefore paramount. You three have already been cleared for this mission and we have also requested two of your fighters as backup.]

Liliana blinked and looked at the other two. A fighter pilot was not in her prime when groundside and she somehow doubted that either the Operations or Science officer were ideal for this kind of mission either. Why wasn’t a Security team being assembled for this? Surely, there was at least one standby.

“Sir, we’re not Security. This kind of thing isn’t exactly our forte.”

[Your captain has already given approval for your participation in this. Your computer has all the necessary information.]

There was so many questions Walton yet burned to ask but it was already abundantly clear that this Radue was not in a mood to answer any of them, seemingly in a hurry to see them sent off to investigate a mystery craft. She still wondered why them of all people. Were they scheduled for something else of lesser priority and then just dumped on this? Something about this didn’t feel right but what could she do? She reached for a nearby PADD and logged into it.

It had all the information she needed to fly there, alright. There was the proper clearances to take a shuttle, weather information and a map of the area highlighting possible landing zones, coordinates for the cloaked ship, and everything else – all signed with Captain Ives’ credentials where needed. She would have to double check on what gear she could take, given that they were to minimize obvious signs of Theurgy involvement. Rules of engagement seemed to be also Federation standard. Fighter escorts were marked as Salvo and Bloodwing, neither of whom Lily had flown much with yet. On the page describing the mission, there was a note from Ives explaining a bit more about why there was a need for speed, reinforced by a mention that those present would be the quickest to deploy in time, and that there would be a six person security detail on standby just in case. The fighter cover was deemed to be more than enough firepower, it seemed, as well as the present officers' own training. The petite woman looked up from the PADD and at the three others before tossing the PADD towards the Ops officer.

“Everything does look set,” she said with a shrug, her dark green eyes slightly out of focus as she mentally ran through the next few steps. ”We’ll be launching from the upper shuttle bay.”

OOC: Last one to post this cycle can have Radue signing off as everyone leaves the room. DaValle or Brutus can pick out which shuttle we board. Next posting cycle will have the away team in the shuttle, per AL’s PM.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #6 – August 05, 2019, 09:46:19 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen |Conference Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy] @patches @Brutus @Havenborn  @Griff 
[Show/Hide]

Kaylon listened carefully what Radue said and stopped a moment when Walton asked for the reason why they three got dispatched and not some security guys. Then again Kaylon thought that a trip down on the planetside could be funny, or at least exciting, but if anyone would asked him, he would meant that he trusted in the decisions of his captain and nothing else.

The Aldean ends his… answer for the question of the pilot and she took a PADD to read the information she didn’t got from him. Kaylon tried to resit but this Radue almost begged to get taunted: “Oh hell yeah, a blind mission in the morning what could go wrong.”

[If you’ve got any problems with the amount of information, I gave you, then you should probably consider to look in the PADD.]

Almost on command gave the pilot Kaylon the PADD and he read it himself. A cloaked vessel in sandstorm, more precisely between a stone formation. There were some details for the pilot but at all nothing he should care about. Their mission was now to identify the vessel and to find out why it was here. Kaylon also thought about the cloaking field this vessel used, something good enough to tricks the Aldean and Klingon security systems, he definitely want to take a look on this systems.

The Trill gave the PADD to the scientist and meant: “We should probably hide the energy signature of our shuttle too. I don’t think that this object knows that we’ve noticed it and I would prefer not to change this, till we know who or what it is. At all I guess we could use a type 12 shuttlecraft, to get down there but it should also work with a type 9”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #7 – August 09, 2019, 07:20:00 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Havenborn @Griff @patches @DaValle 
[Show/Hide]

He'd managed to find a seat when the briefing actually began, with the view screen coming up directly. Looking around the room and holding the mug of Bajoran ginger tea in his hands, the Temporal Affairs Officer realized that he knew neither of the officers in the room personally. Perhaps he had seen their faces a time or two here or there. When he bothered to check later, he'd realize that both were recent transfers to the Theurgy, having joined on while he was in Savi captivity. Joined, or been stranded on. Take your pick.

The man on the screen was familiar to Sarresh, at least in passing, though the voices listening in on the comms - two other pilots on patrol - were not.  At least he didn't recognize them, or their names. Maybe another case of a face in a crowd. It mattered not. The man before them was one of the leaders of the Aldean people  - the leader, if Sarresh understood their hosts political structure correctly, though he knew that there was no guarantee of that. He'd paid precious little attention to something as mediocre as local politics.

Maybe you should have, he noted dryly as he frowned over the brim of his mug, before setting it down, his face cast in shadow. Surly or depressed were his two functional emotions right at the moment, and surly was currently winning out. He watched with growing incredulity as this First Appointee Radue laid out the situation. He couldn't stop the eyebrow from going high up on his forehead, nor could he keep from tapping his fingers against his tea mug. I'm a temporal analyst, not a foot soldier he thought, but then stopped.

Memories flashed back - again - of the Harbinger mutiny. And not the ones of being pressed close to the woman he'd later come to love. No the more violent ones. of threatening to slice a mans throat open with a laser scalpel. Of skills that lay just beneath the surface.  Something of it must have shown in his face, because the man on the viewscreen shoot Sarresh a curious look. The former Ash'reem had grown still. Quite. Ice cold. Everything locked down.

He flicked his eyes back up to the man, and again arched his eyebrow. This time however, it was just a silent, what? And the FIrst Appointee seemed to like what he saw, and went back to what he'd been saying.

The tension broke for Sarresh as he took a sip of the tea, and wondered if anyone else had noticed. Maybe, maybe not, he decided, picking up a PADD and reviewing, just as the Engineer next to him handed it over. He let out a little grunt, and set it down. To say this was less than ideal was something of an understatement.

The device clattered on the desktop and Sarresh sighed aloud. Turning to the Trill, he suggested, "Type 9 is smaller, correct?" He had no real clue, just a vague notion, so he asked all the same, as he scratched at the bristle on his chin. "Less of a profile to hide, or pick up. Smarter to go in with as little notice as possible."

[It sounds as if you have your assignment well in hand. Time is of the essence] the man on the viewscreen said, his expression dour. Sarresh liked...none of this at all. He felt it was stupid to send a temporal analyst on a snipe hunt for some kind of UFO. Nothing in the report mentioned anything that he might be able to determine. And yet...it didn't belong here and that was in itself a possible sign of incursion. He wasn't drooling through another engram memory dump induced seizure, but all the same, what did he really know.

Picking up his tea again, he drained the whole thing in one long pull, setting it down. Sarresh of two weeks back might have been more cautious. Sarresh of today...gave less of a damn. Turning to the other two, all he asked was, "Do we ditch the uniforms once we're in the shuttlecraft, or just go in bedecked in all our Starfleet glory?" Even as he asked however, he was already standing up, making to leave. And Radue was signing off, with some claptrap about godspeed and good luck that the time traveler tuned out.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #8 – August 15, 2019, 11:44:27 PM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton – callsign “Meerkat” | Conference Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Havenborn @DaValle @Brutus  @Griff 
 
“Type 9 is the smallest this ship has, likely, aside from the workbees,” Liliana replied with a nod as the scientist downed his tea. “I’ll contact the shuttle bay to make sure one’s available on the way there. All of our fighters have cloaks to blend in with Aldean craft, so the shuttles should have that installed by now as well. Hiding that won’t be an issue.”

As the call ended and the group started standing up, the same man asked another question – this time about their clothing. Walton shook her head slightly before she answered.

“Standing orders are to disguise ourselves as Aldeans on the surface. We can replicate appropriate clothes here or on the shuttle, whichever you prefer. Same for the weapons, with the exception of the smaller hand phasers. Authorization to replace phasers of Aldean make for this should already be logged in the system, I would think.”

She paused on her way out to set her cup down at the replicator for disposal before following the other two out of the room.
 
“I’ll meet you two at the shuttle. We’ll take off as soon as everyone’s aboard and I’ve run preflight checks.”

A few minutes later…

The pilot elected to change on the shuttle while the craft went through preflight checks, a choice spurred on by the urgency conveyed in the briefing and a desire to get that over with. Fortunately, the patterns needed for the custom fitted “chlamys” were already loaded on the replicator and it didn’t take long for her to change from her uniform to it. She supposed years of changing quickly in locker rooms made it easier for switch clothing on the fly, the thought prompting a longing for her to be able to use her exosuit. It was simply so useful compared to civilian clothing. At least today's outfit apparently included a scarf and goggles to protect the mouth, nose, and eyes against the sand.

This will be the first time I'm actually using my training for a sandstorm. Figures. Hopefully, it'll blow over quick.

She nodded in greeting at the other two when they boarded and stepped outside briefly to check in with the technician as he finished his own task. They exchanged only a few words before he jogged off to the next item on his list and she stepped back on. Once the other two looked like they had everything they needed from the replicator, she had it manufacture an Aldean phaser rifle for her and secured it to the pilot’s chair.

“Everyone ready?” Liliana asked as she took her seat and began the startup sequence. Most of the work was already done for her, it seemed, and they were already being given the authorization to launch when ready. “Taking off as soon as you two are strapped in your chairs. I am going to be taking us down pretty fast.”

She paused before following up her statement with a question and a look of mild concern.

“Neither of you get motion sickness right?”

---

OOC: I’ll have us take off and transit down to the planet in my next post. :D I picked out goggles and a scarf for the sandstorm, but any sort of eye, nose, and mouth protection will work. We won't need anything particularly fancy.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #9 – August 20, 2019, 08:52:56 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @DaValle @Havenborn @patches 
[Show/Hide]

There was an almost reptilian quality to the slow blink that Sarresh gave the fighter pilot that sat next to him as she responded to his query about shuttles. As with many other things, the somewhat derelict officer had not known there were any kind of cloaking devices installed on any of the small craft. A quick and dirty search on his PADD confirmed her words, showing that the Aldean's had something that was more like a sensor mask than a real cloak.

Don't think that violates any rules or temporal protocols, he thought as he set the PADD Back down and ran a finger across his bearded chin. Nor any treaties with our Romulan friends. Can't piss them off, even if we're on the run for our lives. Wonder how the cloaked shipyard plays into that? Since it was a Klingon run shipyard with Klingon made cloaks, it was probably fine. Not missing a beat - he was capable of multiple trains of thought at once, thanks to his education long ago - the former Ash'reem considered the room and shrugged.

"Here is as good a place as any," he said aloud, seeing no reason to go back to his quarters, or his lab. The shuttle would have the standard science kit needed for this kind of work.  He let the woman - Walton, he thought he'd heard - recycle her cup, before doing the same. Then he ordered up the local garb and checking what was available, made a face. "Great, more robes."

Soon enough a set of robes appeared for him, in dark, forest green tones. He arched an eyebrow, then shrugged, setting them on the table. As he had done weeks back in front of Ida zh'Wann, he went about the utilitarian process of changing. Ash'reem lacked many of, if not all, of the taboos that most humans held when it came to states of undress. He paid the trill no mind, and really wasn't aware of what the man was up to at all, or if the engineer had left the room before he started. In the end, he left, armed and attired, without a second look back, his robes kicking up with each step as he hurried along the access corridor for the lift.

---

[Shuttlebay]

Striding purposefully across the room, the unkempt time traveler looked about the expansive bay. There was one of the smaller shuttles, powered up. A steady glow list up the nacelles of the vessel and he could just make out the idling thrum of its reactor. Pulling a face and waving off one of the techs that tried to come and help him, Sarresh strode to the craft and blinked, looking around. The pilot had just finished dressing he realized, and was moving to exit the craft just as he was stepping in.

Without a word, he slid to the side and let her out to go talk to the same tech that had been after him. Shrugging he walked up, and tapped on the replicator. His keen vision had noted the scarf the woman had replicated, and the eyewear she'd chosen, and duplicated the effort, along with a filter to fit over his mouth in addition to the scarf. Great. I'm going down into a sandstorm. I already feel too dry and gritty. This day just keeps getting better. The bitter words lingered as he took a chair behind the front two, turing to the small sensor and science console wedged there in the second row. He was not a pilot nor an engineer. He'd let the Trill and the Human deal with the craft.

Looking back as the others settled in, he rolled his eyes and activated the seats restraints, feeling it pull him back into place, snug and secure. "Don't worry, Chief," he'd looked up what the rank pips meant between the conference room and the shuttle. "As long as the chip in my head plays nice, I won't vomit all over your shuttle." Not exactly the best attempt at humor, but it would have to do, as this was the best they were going to get out of Sarresh.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #10 – August 23, 2019, 12:36:55 AM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen |Conference Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy]
Attn @Brutus @Griff @Havenborn @patches

The Trill listened to the rest of the dialogue, the others had and decided to get some cloths and change them quickly in his quarter on deck ten. One of the benefits, if your quarter was on the same deck, the shuttlebay was. On his way out of the conference room thought Kaylon, that the scientist had begun to get rid of his cloths simply in the same room. Kaylon had no chance to proof his thought, since the door closed behind him and he didn’t want to turn around, just to watch another crewmember stripping.

He moved to the turbolift, to get to his quarter and used the time, he got, for something more useful than thinking of stripping crewmembers. So, first things first. What do you know about the object? Superior cloaking technology, small to medium size and able to land on the surface of a planet. Which shipclass is fitting now? Stupid question, basically all. The question is which cloaking device the vessel uses. The only faction, that would have a cloaking technology, advanced enough to deal with the defence systems of this planet, would be the Romulans. He entered durring this thoughts the lift and left it automatic, when the lift reached his deck. He didn’t even recognized the ensign, who was the whole time together with him in the lift. Kaylon was obviously the only one of them who didn’t saw the other and the ensign had begun to salute almost immediately, when the doors opened the first time. Oh and till they closed on deck 10.

How likely is it, that the Romulans will travel all across the galaxy, just to fly with a shuttle sized vessel on the surface of an, in their database probably, uninhabited planet. Not to mention the strategical worthlessness of this system in their opinion, but if this ship would be of Romulan origin, it’s probably Tal Shiar. Kaylon has changed his clothes and made his way to the shuttlebay. He was not very happy with his clothes, since he looked like a monk in those long robes and the other stuff for his protection didn’t even fitted to this outfit. Still there was the order to disguise themselves and he had no desire for a half ton of sand in his eyes or mouth. He continued the thoughts about the vessel. If they are the Tal Shiar, it’s not very unlikely, that they’ve already secured the area and dispatched some patrols. And if they aren’t the Romulans? Which other faction would have an interest and the technology to do this? Good question, but I guess you'll know it very soon.

The door to the shuttlebay opened and Kaylon was able to take a look at the shuttle they’re using now. The preflight check were almost finished and it seemed like, beside the pilot, was the scientist already here too. The Trill decided to move a little bit faster, before they’ll start this mission without him. He passed the pilot, only a few moments after the scientist and decided to complete his equipment with a little aldean phaser. I hope you’ll be unnecessary down there, but just in case. He glanced at the rest of the shuttle and saw, that Sarresh has sat down in the second row. His problem, the first row had the better view. This was the safer way anyhow, since Kaylon had not to less experience with some rough flights.

The pilot began the starting sequence and mentioned the others had to strap themselves in, in addition she asked if anyone of them got motion sickness. Kaylon replied after the scientist, who had made a quite sarcastic comment. “Oh a funny joke from the back or was that gallows humour?”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #11 – August 29, 2019, 06:49:34 PM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie "Hellcat"] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

As the diagnostic scan was finishing up so to was the briefing.  It’d likely take the officers selected a few minutes to get to the Upper Shuttle Bay, as for the officers selected Daniel had to admit to himself that this was a very motley group; a pilot, an engineer and a scientist.  It sounded like the opening to one of Mariner’s bad jokes.  The diagnostic scan finished and it seemed that there was a five percent loss of energy, likely some sort of leak that was missed during the repair.  It wasn’t high enough of a priority for Daniel to remove himself from the mission though; though it would be something that he’d have to bring up to the flight crew when he put down in the FAB after the mission.  “It seems we have a leak.”  Knight said as he saw the same information on his screen.  “Indeed, we’ll have to let the flight crew know about it after the mission, although keep an eye on it just in case.”  Daniel replied.

“Will do Salvo.”  Knight replied as he put active information of the leak on the screen in front of him.  As the briefing was coming to a close Daniel figured he should inform the officers that he’d meet their shuttle once they left the hangar.  “Salvo to Meerkat; Bloodwing and I will be waiting for your shuttle outside the Upper Shuttle Bay.”  He said.  He then switched his communications channel back to Flight Only.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, follow my wing; time to begin this escort detail.”  Daniel said as he banked his fighter towards the Upper Shuttle Bay.  It wouldn’t take him and Bloodwing very long to get to into position as he veered his fighter towards the hangar bay.  Daniel slowed his fighter down until he was positioned near the bay exit.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, we’ll hold here until the shuttle emerges.”  He said.

A few minutes later and the Type-9 shuttlecraft that had been selected exited the hangar bay.  Daniel activated his engines and followed after it taking up a position parallel to the shuttle.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, match the shuttle’s course and speed.”  He said as he did the same.  He watched as the planet came into view and his sensors began relaying information about the coordinates they were headed to, the sandstorm would limit their sensors so they’d need to rely on their eyes as well, hopefully the sandstorm wouldn’t limit their shields or weapons.  “Beginning our descent into the planet’s atmosphere, adapting shield harmonics.”  Knight said behind him as Daniel acknowledged him.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #12 – September 01, 2019, 02:00:55 AM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton – callsign “Meerkat” | Type 9 Shuttle | Upper Shuttle Bay | USS Theurgy ]
@Havenborn @DaValle @Brutus  @Griff
 
The responses to her question left Liliana both a little bemused and amused in turn. She wasn’t sure what chip the scientist was talking about but she hoped it wouldn’t cause any issues while they were on the surface. As the Trill sat down and buckled up, he posed a question of his own in response.

”Gallows humor, probably! Don’t worry though. I’ve trained a generation of pilots in these things.”

A transmission from Salvo came in, alerting Meerkat that the escort would be waiting for them outside of the shuttle bay and she responded with a quick affirmative before returning to completing the launch sequence. A workbee ended up needing to make a quick landing before she could taxi out, but before long, the Type-9 Shuttle was out of the shuttle bay and on its way to the planet below. Lily noticed with approval that both the escort fighters were matching her speed and paralleling her course.
”Time to landing is going to be about fifteen minutes.”

Once the shuttle was clear of the shipyard and associated traffic, Walton increased the shuttle’s speed to its max cruising speed. She was focused on the flight, preferring to control the craft manually, so she only had half an ear to anything her passengers were saying during the trip. The course she set wasn’t one that approached the hidden craft directly but one that would pass by it to the north, seemingly on a course to a nearby ghost city.

”Meerkat to escort, I’m going to land the shuttlecraft next to that outcropping about 3 kilometers to the target’s north. I suggest you continue as if you’re going to that ghost city for a bit before turning back to this area. It’s vital that we have the element of surprise but we need as much info as you can glean while you’re up here.”

By the time she received a reply, they were almost at the outcropping she indicated. The shuttle’s sensors weren’t getting much detail and visibility was, while improving as the sandstorm began to move on, still pretty much shit. Lily dove the shuttle into the storm itself close to the landing site she selected. Even with all the advanced technology available in the 24th century, flying in a sandstorm itself was ill-advised. The high winds and low visibility in the few hundred meters closest to the ground typically precluded a landing or takeoff in the area as most pilots preferred to wait for it to pass. Thankfully, the deflector and modern materials science meant that the dust and sand in the air was more of a minimal worry these days.

Lily’s solution was to dive at a steep angle, cutting across the winds in a controlled moderate speed descent in a bid to minimize the craft’s flight in the most dangerous part of the sandstorm. Taking it in slow was perhaps safer but the mission profile seemed to call for something approaching a combat landing, relying on a mix of instruments and her own eyes to avoid crashing into the outcropping and compensate for the turbulence. The speed meant she had to brake harder and pull up later than usual, but experience and training meant the landing was still a fairly smooth one. She parked the shuttle in a way that sheltered it somewhat from the sand and allowed the occupants to exit without getting hit in the face with sand right off the bat.

She looked around at the other two, obviously pleased with herself, and gestured to the door. ”So, which one of you fine gentlemen want to go first?”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #13 – September 03, 2019, 04:11:49 AM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @DaValle @Havenborn @patches 
[Show/Hide]

Turning the chair slightly, Sarresh cocked an eyebrow up as he looked at the Trill engineer, sitting in the front row. how novel it must be to not know what you're dealing with. This was perhaps not a kind thought, but it was the thought that he'd had all the same. He dragged his hand down over his stubble clad jaw and scratched lightly at his chin, as he decided how to address the engineer. "Its truer than I'd like so I suppose that makes it gallows humor." He piggy backed the words on the tale end of the pilot's, adding, "No worries here."

Other than the fact that I'm the last person you should be sending on an away mission, unless there is some kind of temporal tampering going on, and I haven't really seen a sign of that yet. Still, he couldn't discount the possibility, so he kept his mouth shut. Maybe someone fucked up; maybe there was more going on than he thought. Or maybe Ives is finally tired of you and has decided to use this as a reason to get rid of you, despite your usefulness.

No, even he wasn't so bitter as to believe that. 

There was a barely perceptible shudder along the vessel as it lifted up off the deck, and Sarresh looked up, watching as the confines of the shuttle bay slid past his small corner of the view-port. The darkness of space and the brightness of Aldea it self soon replaced the view. And then Sarresh pulled his eyes away and tapped up a few controls on the Auxiliary Science/Engineering station. A few taps here, a swirl of the finger there, and he had the sensors routed to his console. Frowning slightly, he began to adjust his readings, trying to remember the protocols for detecting cloaked ships.

He heard the pilot talk about coming in over a ridge, and pulled a face, again pecking away to adjust some of the navigational sensors for surface topography tracking. He'd rather not crash into a mountain because one of the array's was pointed at the wrong fascinating little bit of data. Thus satisfied, he went back to his scans, which were proving more and more difficult. 

They hit the storm wall, and Sarresh felt himself being pressed back into his seat. He pulled a face, looking out the window, into the mess. "They don't need a bloody cloak in this weather," he noted, sourly. "If we managed to see anything in this soup it will be a miracle, let alone actually picking anything up on the scanners. I hope you've accounted for the sensor drift from the readings refacting off some of the minerals here." At least, he was pretty sure that's what he was seeing on his read out. 

It surely appeared that the pilot had. Sarresh felt a bit of a jolt as they braked hard, flaring the thrusters and then settled down on anti-gravs into a surprisingly smooth landing. He looked up, and out of his view-port, saw nothing but a rock face. Checking his scanners, he could now see (relatively) clearly that they were tucked into a heavy outcropping. Grunting, he stood up and readjusted his robes wondering just how this costume would hold up in the sands outside. His species - former species he reluctantly corrected - had very little use for such dry environments. They were anathema to the Ash'Reem. 

While he was no longer his former, amphibious self, Sarresh still found himself identifying with his previous aquatic life. Things still felt too dry, even if his body was completely adapted to them. He had, at least, mostly mastered the gait of a human, compared to the more awkward stride he'd had prior to Theta Eridani IV. Scowling openly now, he reached over and grabbed his air filter, fitting it over his ears, and then his glasses and scarf. 

"If we're going to do this, then lets do this," he muttered, leaving the two younger officers behind. He strode purposefully toward the back of the shuttle, coming to a halt by the rear ramp, and punching up the commands to lower it. He took out a tricorder as he did and began tapping in a series of commands - mostly around chroniton detection. Just because he didn't think this had anything to do with time travel didn't mean he wanted to be surprised, as he stepped out into the wastes. 

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #14 – September 04, 2019, 04:31:36 PM

[[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Type 9 Shuttle | Orbit of Aldea ] Attn: @Griff @Havenborn @patches @Brutus
[Show/Hide]

It was a rough flight, but this kind of flights reminded the Trill sometimes on his former host and what he had done. The pilot set a course for the desert region and instructed the escort fighters to continue their course. I hope what ever is down there takes the bait and don't welcome us with a phaser salve. Before they were entering the atmosphere enjoyed the Trill the view out of the window, this was the reason why Kaylon loved to land with shuttles instead of beaming down on the surface. The view of a planet in the universe, surrounded by the cold nothing of the universe and protected just by a thin layer called the atmosphere. I guess I’ll never prefer to get beamed instead of seeing such a spectacular view. This were his thoughts until he saw what they were heading in.

The shuttle entered the atmosphere of Aldea and the Lieutenant was able to see the full scale of this sandstorm. The view of this storm was, despite Kaylons knowledge about the shuttles hull and deflectors, a frightening spectacle and Kaylon was not so sure, if they were actually flying closer to the storm or if the storm was just moving in their direction. After some time entered the shuttle the sandstorm and the impact of it hit Kaylon and the Trill thought that the beaming option wasn’t that bad compared to this situation. In the row behind him said the scientist something about the sensors and minerals, but it was probably for the pilot and not for him.

Their landing was quite smooth and Kaylon wasn’t sure if his former host would’ve handled the situation better than this pilot. After she has parked their shuttle… somewhere in the sandstorm, the pilot asked who of them would left the shuttle first. Sarresh reacted faster and made his way grumpily to the door of the shuttle. “Seems like you are not gonna waist time and neither do I.” Kaylon said and put on the equipment for the environment out there. The Lieutenant went to the door and took out his phaser. I’m still hoping that you’ll be needles, but who knows what we’ll facing there.

They left the shuttle after the pilot had gathered her stuff. Outside the craft mentioned Kaylon: “Just in case someone’ll ask us, the shuttle had those scratches already before we’ve entered it and parked in a sandstorm. I’ve got no desire to repair it only cause I’ve used it.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #15 – September 12, 2019, 04:23:30 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime Orbit ] Attn: @@Havenborn [member=116@patches[/member] @@DaValle @Brutus 

[Show/Hide]

Sand. Why did it have to be sand?

While the away team struggled through the standstorm, the pilots above them had their own problems. Alone in her Valkyrie, Lillee hissed in irritation as she wrestled her Valkyrie through the roaring sandstorm. The fighter was designed for the vacuum of space, not the very different environment of a planetary atmosphere, and the typically graceful craft bucked, yawed and struggled awkwardly in the storm. The impulse engines were far too powerful to be used comfortably while the thrusters were conversely far too weak, leaving Lillee a formidable challenge to keep her Valkyrie stable in the sky. It was tedious, exhausting and deeply irritating, but there was nothing for it.

Lillee couldn't see a thing out of her cockpit save for the blanket of sand on her fighter's blue shields, but as she tried to navigate the treacherous gusts to stay above the away team, her computer at least kept track of them through the sensors. It was sorely tempting to fly to a higher altitude, above the wretched storm, but Lillee knew what Salvo would say to that. The man, strict as he was, would likely insist that they stay close to the away team to provide support as needed. It was the right thing to do (providing fire support from five kilometres up was far more effective than from forty kilometres up), but nevertheless, Lillee quietly grumbled to herself.

Still...

"Salvo, Bloodwing," she said loudly, forcing herself to talk over the roar of the wind outside as it battered the Valkyrie back and forth. "This storm is a nuisance. Recommend that one of us ascend to forty klicks to get better scans of this mess and give high cover. My bird is better suited for atmo, so I can stay down here with the away team if you want to go high. Your RIO can monitor things better than I could, anyway." She paused, then sighed in weary resignation as she wrestled her fighter through the shifting wind currents. "There's no need for both of us to suffer, sir."

With that, Salvo climbed up out of the storm, leaving Lillee to try to maintain position above the away team. She glanced occasionally at the little dots on her display that represented them, but the dots were moving so slowly through the storm that it could scarcely be believed. Even so, Lillee tried not to be annoyed as her Valkyrie was nearly flipped completely over by a rogue gust. From her time on Vulcan, she knew well how nightmarish and horrible it was to be caught in a sandstorm. The chafing, the total non-visibility, the brutal winds, struggling to breathe, the awful dry smell, sand getting everywhere...

Still, it was only three kilometres! Lillee could cover that distance in scarce seconds, land, complete the mission and then be back on the Theurgy before the away team even reached their objective. Such behaviour would be extremely risky, unprofessional and outright stupid, but even so, all of this interminable waiting was maddening!

Finally, after a long half hour of nerve-wracking flying, Lillee saw the away team's dots edge to within a hundred meters of the objective marker. "Salvo, Bloodwing," she called loudly. "The away team is a hundred meters from the objective. They should have visual any moment now, but I can't see anything through my shields."


===================
OOC: @Auctor Lucan is up next in the posting order, folks.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #16 – September 15, 2019, 03:40:16 PM

[ Narrator | The Beyond | Sandstorm ]



The three kilometre walk was likely proving more hazardous by the minute due to the sandstorm. The strong dry wind scythed across the desert known as the Beyond, carrying along clouds of sand and dust so dense it obscured the merciless bronze sunlight. Visibility was nearing zero and the weather was likely a result of convection currents created by the intense heating of the ground by the Aldean sun. Still they were almost right on top of the coordinates that the particle sensors had given them, and they were about to make visual confirmation about the craft any moment. Meanwhile, one of the Valkyries braved the storm - circling like a bird of prey over the rock formation.

Only there was no craft of any kind to be found at the drop site, despite how much the away team tried to locate it with their eyes and their tricorders. What they could see, however, was another storm front on their left hand side, sweeping in over the rock formation they'd entered. The force of those winds clearly suggested that they ought to find shelter, perhaps even try to have the Theurgy beam them up and into safety and abandon the shuttle for later extraction.

Though before any such decision could be made, there was suddenly a bright light enveloping the away team. Suddenly, the wind had died away completely, and there was no longer any dust smattering against their goggles. It was almost as if they had been transported out of the storm before the request to the Theurgy was made. However, when their eyes grew accustomed to the light, they soon saw that they were still exactly where they had been standing, but a corridor of shimmering light had been raised around them. Some kind of forcefield, clearly, that protected them from the onslaught of the sandstorm when the wall of dust hit them. Safely, they could but see it sweep by overhead. The corridor, however, was not empty.

In front of them, a ship could now be seen, and it appeared as if it was the shield of the craft that had been extended towards the away team, not only protecting them from the storm, but closing them off from their air support as well. The wall at the end of the shield-corridor was merely a couple of metres behind them. The shield would not just prevent intervention from the Lone Wolves, of course, but any attempt to safely transport them back to the Theurgy. They were, essentially, trapped with the decloaked craft in front of them. Even worse, they could not raise communications with the warp fighters or the Theurgy, their Aldean communicators jammed.

What they saw... was a saucer of unknown origin and design. It bore no familiar markings, but was clearly not of Federation model.

Only after a few seconds was a voice heard, amplified by the craft's systems. [Crew belonging to the USS Theurgy. Stand down, and drop your weapons. No harm will come to you if you comply.] The unspoken was clear, of course, in how the craft likely had armament and could open fire even inside it's own shield. [We carry information, and wish to speak without your hosts knowing of our presence. Given our peaceful intent, we merely wish that you abide by your protocols of Starfleet, and heed us. We carry word of what you call the Infested.]

---

OOC: Seven days to post for everyone!

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #17 – September 18, 2019, 09:40:13 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Havenborn @DaValle @Griff @patches @Auctor Lucan 
[Show/Hide]

He had, of course been right. Sarresh hated the sand. One could even go as far as to say he loathed entirely the way the dry bits of dust scraped at any exposed bit of flesh. The goggles over his eyes offered him protection, the mask and scarf about his mouth allowed him to breath relatively unmolested. But everything was so bedamingly dry. He would weep over it, or nearly, save that he was scarcely inclined to off up that much moisture for the storm to steal away from him.  There was a private promise made to himself that when he got back to the Theurgy, he would seclude himself away in his quarters and run that one shower program Sel had shown him, that she had created, and never mind how much that would make him miss her. Or perhaps even go the public bath that the ship had, and soak in something entirely too large, just to feel properly wet again.

Overhead, he heard some kind of whining note in the storm, and assumed it was on of their fighter escort, taking a pass. The engines just barely audible in the malestrom of noise and sand. He didn't bother to look up, wagering that folly at best, and instead hunched over his tricorder. The more potent the sand storm, the more restricted the range of the scanners. They still weren't picking up a blighted thing as far as chronotons were concerned. "You'll be happy to know none of this mess is going to suddenly sweep you up and deposit you in the 20th century," he blithely informed the others. "Though that can hardly be worse than this mess already." Even here in the 24th century, it was common enough knowldge that entirely too many time travel 'incidents' were somehow, some way, tied back to the 20th century, usually in the proximity of Earth. What the human's had done to so strongly effect the ebb and flow of time was the thing of nightmares for any good temporal agent. Even Morali could remember that much.

What he could not remember, in one hundred and twenty five years of existence was being quite this miserably dry. He kept coming back to it, fixating on it, as he swept the device in his robed hands once more, before plodding on. They walked without speaking, until the device in Sarresh's gloved hand let out a chirping trill of noise. "All right....we should be there," he noted, over the comm channel, because simply talking to each other was a near impossibility. The wind was howling now, but there was no ship. He spun in a frustrated circle, noticing a wave of wind and sand bubbling up in the distance. It was hard to make out, because the currently storm wasn't exactly dying down, but this new front looked to be set to blast them into the cliff wall in short order. 

"Bloody hell," he swore, cursing more and more whatever brilliant officer (Dewitt?) that had seen fit to volunteer him for this most recent poor life choice. "Every body find she -"{ There was a burst of bright, almost searing light, intense enough that he immediately shut his eyes and raised a hand to protect himself. He no longer suffered from the near total light blindness of his prior species, but so too did he now lack the technological augmentation to adjust for such an outburst without shutting his lids. Purely human eyes, closed out of purely human reflexes.

The muted silence that followed was what Sarresh first noticed. Followed by how still it was. He blinked, until his eyes adjusted, and slowly lowered his eyes. The sounds of the storm were now at a remove, background noise instead of the howling gale they had been. Sand shifted and fell to the ground around him as the time traveler shook his robes out, and then his head, side to side. His eyes swept up first, to the energy shield that now encapsulated his immediate surroundings. He turned to look at the others, seeing them there, and then around - coming to a stop. 

"I guess we found them," he remarked in a tone as dry as the storm outside. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the strange saucer like shape. It didn't look to be Asurian, which was a small relief he supposed, but he had no immediate knowledge of it either. He had just about braced himself for a seizure to sweep over him, but for the moment, no new flash of insight came. Frowning, he reached into his cloak and tapped a pair of fingers against the oddly shaped Aldean communicator in an effort to hail his ship, only to get a burst of static. That avenue cut off, he glanced back over his head at the beached fighter pilot and the engineer that made up their team. He opened his mouth to speak - and instead they were spoken to.

Hard to say which is more disconcerting. That they know where we are and who we are, or that they know about the infested. Most of the time, Sarresh considered his Starfleet Commission a necessary piece of fiction. If he considered himself anything, it was a temporal agent on detached duty from a very different sort of Starfleet, under the auspices of the Federatoin Temporal Affairs Council of the 29th century, and never mind that he had actually been born in the early 24th century, some 75 years prior, and lived a good portion of his life in that future time. So a general appeal to "Starfleet protocols" engendered a very different instinct from a temporal agent than a contemporary officer. 

Which, never the less, Sarresh was forced to abide by the more colloquial procedures. Loath though he was to do so, he fished in his robe and removed the phaser he had taken from the shuttle, and said grimly, "I don't suppose we have much say in the matter." This he lowered to the ground - he did not however, shut off his tricorder. What I wouldn't give for a trained security officer right about now... he thought, and never mind that he knew he had the muscle memory of such an officer, if not the actual memory.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #18 – September 23, 2019, 10:19:06 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Aldea Prime | The Beyond] Attn: @Griff @Brutus @Havenborn @patches @Auctor Lucan

The sandstorm sucked, not that Kaylon would ever had said this loud, especially not during an ongoing mission with reports, but it was what he thought. Probably what everyone of them thought. Three god damn kilometres through a sandstorm in a wasteland by foot. Well it wasn't his funniest mission nor his exciting thus far. Nevertheless it was his first aboard the Theurgy and an important too. If there was a chance that anyone could pass the security matters of the Klingons and Aldeans, it could get life-threatening for the whole crew of the Theurgy.

Still despite those noble reasons of their mission, this walk through a sandstorm sucked. The sand was hot and hit them with the power of small punches, not small in strength, but small in size. The strength of them, anyhow, were still roughly equal to those of real punches.

This all wasn't the actual issue he and the others had during this mission. They were all trained Starfleet personal and non of them stopped scanning and searching for the UFO, but it was not their mental or physical state that almost cancelled the operation. The object has simply vanished. It wasn't detectable with Tricorders and there were no exact information about its location too. After some hours of crawling through the sand and avoiding dying due to the huge temperatures and the drought of the wasteland, just minutes before they would have ordered the Theurgy to bring them out, the storm settled down. Unfortunately not in the way Kaylon has hoped for during their search.

Neither was the object something Kaylon had expected to see during this mission nor excepted he such a response of the scientist. The Trill was not completely sure if Morali had made just a joke or if he didn't cared enough about the situation they were in right now, but either way was the reaction definitely not what Kaylon expected. Especially not by him.

He decided to believe that the scientist had made a joke and replied with a smile on his now finally not any longer covered face: "Well, if you stick to my version of the origin of the scratches then I'll write in the report that we've found them and not they us." After that he turned back to the strange object. It reminded the Lieutenant on something, but he wasn't able to figure out on what exactly. The object ordered them to lay down their weapons and with a bang in his head Kaylon recognised what he wasn't able to remember before. The object finished its message and Kaylon couldn't resisted to reply after he threw his phaser in the sand. "In standard we say Hello, but this worked too, I guess." Then he turned to other two and told them his best clue on what this thing actually was: "You're freaking kidding me. The good damn UFO here is actually a flying saucer. But more important right now is that it has missed its chance to say 'We're coming in peace' or 'bring us to your leader'." He realised that the words had sounded way better in his brain than now in reality. With a more serious voice and not so unprofessional as he has acted before, he asked the others: "Since I've mentioned our 'leader' are you able to contact the Theurgy or the fighters? I have tried it but there is no response yet." He glanced back at the object after the response of the others and meant: "Not sure what you think about this, but I don't see the necessity of this whole action if this saucer just want to talk. Since they’ve got such kind of superior technology, they could have contacted the captain without our help."

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #19 – September 25, 2019, 03:52:14 AM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton – callsign “Meerkat” | Type 9 Shuttle | Upper Shuttle Bay | USS Theurgy ]
@Havenborn @DaValle @Brutus  @Griff @Auctor Lucan

Bringing up the rear of a group that included two taller men had the mild advantage of not getting quite as much sand and wind in her face, but Lily was still very thankful for the goggles and scarf that acted as a shield for her face on the trek to the marked coordinates. She had become so focused on the path in front of her that she very nearly bumped into the Trill in front of her. The sudden stop and silence was a bewildering mix to confront as she walked around Jeen to get a look at the source of the increase of ambient light.

A saucer? I don’t recognize-

First a voice from apparently the saucer spoke, identifying them as members of the Theurgy crew and asking they put down their weapons. Walton was still trying to make sense of just what the hell was going on as the two men beside her spoke… Well, it was mostly Kaylon speaking. The pilot nodded slowly in acknowledgement and broad agreement with the points being.

“I suppose we don’t have much of a choice here…” Her voice trailed off as she tapped her combadge. “This is Meerkat to escort, Theurgy. We found something.”

The lack of a response was more than a little disconcerting.

“Meerkat to Bloodwing or Salvo, respond.”

She rose an eyebrow at the continued silence. It wasn’t just Sarresh and Jeen having issues then. Whatever was in the saucer didn’t want them talking to anyone else. It was with very clear reluctance that Liliana put down her phaser rifle, following it with her pistol.

“I do wonder why they didn’t just hail the Theurgy too, Lieutenant, but we’re here now and I guess they knew we would come,” she responded softly before stepping forward to look at the saucer more closely. “Hi there! Starfleet protocols also include identification as part of an introduction. You seem to have us at a disadvantage in that regard.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #20 – September 25, 2019, 02:29:01 PM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime] Attn: @@Havenborn [member=116@patches[/member] @@DaValle @Brutus 

[Show/Hide]

"Fvadt!" Lillee swore, yanking her control stick sharply to the right to swerve away from the bright forcefield that had suddenly snapped into place right in front of her. She wrestled her Valkyrie through a rough curve, battling the winds as she glanced at her sensors, already knowing what they would find. The dots representing the away team had passed just beyond the forcefield perimeter, leaving Lillee just outside it.

"Fvadt," Lillee swore again, this time more quietly. The forcefield was intensely bright, clearly visible through the raging sandstorm and Lillee's own shields. Wincing, she nudged her Valkyrie closer to the forcefield perimeter, hovering (barely) within a few meters of the perimeter, but then she had to blink her eyes and look away. The forcefield was completely opaque, and the electric blue energy was so intense that it was blinding.

"Bloodwing to away team," Lillee said into her comm out of pure habit, knowing full well that her signal wouldn't penetrate the forcefield. "Bloodwing to away team, please respond." Still no answer. She glanced up at her sensor readings which, unsurprisingly, also couldn't penetrate the forcefield. "Salvo, Bloodwing. I have lost the away team. They're being covered by some sort of high-power forcefield. Sensors and comms will not penetrate and I have no visual."

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Fvadt: a common Romulan curse used by the lower classes.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #21 – September 25, 2019, 04:07:40 PM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie "Hellcat"] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

Flying through the sandstorm was interesting, and it sort of reminded him of Mars, sandstorms were rare but they did happen from time to time, he had flown in two during his military schooling in a trainer-gunship.  Unlike other members of his class he never really got the hang of flying in a sandstorm, he had always felt that flight operations should be suspended during Martian sandstorms.  However right now he was grateful that his instructors had been so insistent that they learn to fly in sandstorms, that experience was paying off now; not that any of his instructors would care anymore.

Daniel listened as the storm frenzied around his cockpit, in a way it was quite an eerily beautiful concert that he was slowly finding himself getting lost in.  His concert was interrupted however from his wingmate, Bloodwing.  She was offering to stay in the sandstorm to keep watch over the away team and suggested that Daniel fly his fighter above the storm to monitor the situation from there.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, keep a close eye on the away team and inform me of anything unusual.”  Daniel said into the communications channel before he slowly maneuvered his fighter upwards towards the top of the storm.  Maneuvering back into the upper atmosphere was a struggle as he tried to rise his craft slowly; part of him wanted to stay and listen to the beautiful music that the storm made against his craft, but at the same time he had a job to do and he needed to do it.

As the Gryphon broke through the sandstorm Daniel smirked as he viewed the beauty of the storm from above, it was quite a breathtaking sight.  He found the eye of the storm rather quickly and he smiled again.  “Have you ever seen such a beautiful storm Uriah?”  Daniel said calling his friend by his name rather than his callsign.  “Does it remind you of Mars, Daniel?.”  Knight replied from behind him and Daniel smiled. “It does indeed, if ever there was a place I could retire to, this planet might be it.”  He said, thinking back to his first date with Amelya and their time down on the planet.  He had thoroughly enjoyed her company and surprisingly he actually enjoyed spending time on the planet below, however the Aldean’s fashion sense could use an upgrade.

As was flying in the upper atmosphere he noticed a city in the distance and maneuvered towards it; it was one of the abandoned cities that they had been briefed about.  Daniel decided to investigate it a bit but he decided to send Bloodwing an message.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, I’ve found a city on the outer edge of the storm.  I’m going to give it a quick pass then circle around.”  As he waited for a response the communications channel was silent.  “Knight, is our communications system working?”  He asked.  “It is on our end; it could be that the storm is interfering with communications.”  Knight replied.

As he was maneuvering towards the city he heard a distorted response from Bloodwing.  It seemed that the storm was wrecking havoc with their communications system.  He only caught a few words but it seemed like the away team was getting close, but she couldn’t see them anymore.  That was to be expected since they were closer to the ground, if she was having trouble locating them, then communicating with them would be almost impossible for him.  As he neared the city he began to take a quick scan of it, nothing untoward as far as he could see so he circled around the storm moving into position over where he assumed Bloodwing was.

A few minutes went by as Daniel watched the storm, then he heard another communications signal coming from Bloodwing.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, understood.  Have you tried firing upon the forcefield?”  Daniel asked.  He assumed that she had tried already tried non-invasive means to contact the away team.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #22 – September 27, 2019, 12:42:47 AM

[ The Voice of the Vigilant | Spectate-class Saucer | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ]

The air-lock hissed open, and he raised his arm to observe the live-feed of the group of Starfleet officers outside - their faces showing on the holographic image above his forearm. He switched to sensor feeds, and compared it with his records.

One, he thought, guessing it could have been much worse. It did not change much, aside from expected temper.

The inside of the saucer lay in dim light, making him squint against the luminescence of the extended shield corridor just outside the Spectate-class Saucer. Already, exterior vents on the craft was changing out the toxic air of Epsilon Mynos III to something more breathable. It would hardly be noticed by the three individuals, aside from a slightly more laboured breathing. Nonetheless, he kept his helmet on for the time being, just like the equally armoured guard complement that had accompanied him to this arid and inhospitable planet. Expectations were high on his leadership, and some had questioned the necessity of communing with 'the primates', but he had put the objections to rest with the truth of what he'd learned. There was also, of course, the incident in the Azure Nebula to take into account, which had wreaked havoc in more ways than one. He had stood his ground, even against his mate, for he understood the motivations behind their actions.

That being said, while he understood, the cost to his people had been too great, at the worst of times.

"<They have complied,>" said the chief defender of the guard compliment, receiving a slow nod in answer.

"<It's time to speak,>" said the leader of the Vigilant, and together with three guards, he stepped out of the saucer. The question from the female Human had not gone unheard, and he meant to answer. He dealt his orders in his native tongue first. "<Keep an eye on the warp fighters, without showing hostility. Do not open fire unless I give explicit permission.>"

"<Acknowledged,>" said the chief defender, and relayed the orders to the operators that would stay inside the saucer.

Looking at the three individuals from the distance of the saucer through the visor of his helmet, he switched to Federation Standard, and his voice filtered through the rebreather before his mouth. Whilst he spoke, he approached them, with the armed chief defender following at his side, and the other two staying by the saucer. "Correct," he said in regard to their Federation protocols, which had been a subject of research of his for years. "While breaches have been made on both sides last we met, I will honour that in respect of a common interest. We have not come for retribution, for I know the faults of my people, and what you suffered before I put an end to it."

Perhaps Specimen Nine-Zero-Six - named Sarresh Morali - would recognise the extraction hardsuits, but be that as it may, he would not offer them any reason to defend themselves. The only reason why the chief defender and his men carried armament was because they put import in his survival. In fact, the chief took it upon himself to introduce his leader, as according to the Code. Unlike the Voice, he had to rely on a translator system of theirs to make himself understood.

"You are in the presence of the Voice of the Vigilant, the Eye of the Flotilla, the Keeper of the Archive, the Defender of the Code, the Hope of the Antecedents, and the Memory of Sa," said the chief next to him, his voice a raspy static through the helmet. While he suffered the titles to his person being brought up in such a formal way, he raised his forearm and checked the air conditions inside the force-field. They were at an adequate level by then, so he slowly raised his hands to his neck and decompressed the seals of his helmet. He was grateful to remove it, not used to having to wear such since he normally never left the ships. His black eyes sought theirs, each in turn. According to the Archive, a meeting such as this had never happened before, but the times were changing for the Savi - the Old Code just being one facet of it all.

"Given the aid you lent my people on the Versant," he said in his contralto voice after he lowered his arms, "you may call me Echtand." [Show/Hide]

>> Click For Full Size

The chief defender had the wits to keep his graviton rifle raised, and they had come to a stop a few yards away from the trio of Theurgy officers.

"My apologies for the manner of contact, but just like you are keeping an eye on your hosts, they are also keeping their eyes on you. If we were to contact the Theurgy itself, the risk that our communication would be compromised was too great. Knowing you had your particle sensors, the sandstorm was the ideal means in which we could arrange this kind of meeting," he explained in a cursory way, the means of deduction and forethought a small matter in the grander context. The immediate concern, perhaps, was that the warp fighters might draw too much attention to the current exchange. "Officer Sarresh Morali, if you kindly give me your communicator, I can calibrate its transponder with the necessary harmonics to restore communication with your escort crafts. Would you be willing to tell them to stand down and not open fire on us while we speak of our common enemy?"

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OOC: Another seven days of posting for you all! Hope you like the dramatic development, and the reason why Echtand can stand before them was revealed on the Director's Cut board not too long ago.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #23 – September 29, 2019, 03:28:45 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime] Attn: @Havenborn @patches @DaValle @Brutus 

[Show/Hide]

"Salvo to Bloodwing, understood.  Have you tried firing upon the forcefield?"

"Negative Salvo," Lillee responded with concentration as she flew her Valkyrie around the forcefield perimeter, the sizzling bright field shining brightly through the fierce sandstorm. She kept an eye on her altitude, painfully aware of how easy it'd be to crash in near zero visibility conditions when she was flying a mere hundred meters above the ground, and it was only a few moments before she'd make a full circuit around the perimeter.

"The forcefield is a full dome, Salvo," she continued with frustration. The away team were in there, possibly trapped, and she was helpless to assist them. "I can strike with my cannons, but this forcefield looks very powerful. I have never seen anything like it, and even if my cannons are sufficient, collapsing the forcefield would be a hostile act, Salvo." She hissed as her Valkyrie bucked in the gale, her nacelles groaning at the unusual structural stress being placed upon them.

Still, Lillee knew that Havenborn might have to give the order anyway. With the away team in danger, he might not have any choice. She hated that she didn't know the man better, couldn't predict what he'd decide, but it couldn't be helped. So, cursing under her breath, she sped her Valkyrie around to the other side of the forcefield, where the energy field itself provided some shelter from the gale. Feathering her thrusters as delicately as she dared, Lillee spun her Valkyrie about to face the forcefield, bringing the warp fighter to a mid-air stop. Taking a breath, she tapped the controls that lowered the powerful tetryon cannon from its mounting.

"Salvo, I am in position and standing by," Lillee said slowly. "Please advise. "

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #24 – October 02, 2019, 10:52:56 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Havenborn @Griff @DaValle @patches @Auctor Lucan 
[Show/Hide]

An eerie sense of foreboding crept down Sarresh's spine after he stood back up, now unarmed. The pink tongue darted out from his mouth, wetting the cracked dry lips. Ahead of him, in the shielded column, the ship was opening. There was a hiss, that filled the otherwise quiet corridor, and then a collection of tall, gangly figures strode out. That creeping sensation ratcheted up, as if someone had gripped and shook him from head to toe. He knew those suits. What they represented. As dry as he felt a cold sweat broke out all the same, and his breath hitched. 

"Oh, fuck," he whispered, going stock still where he stood. Just as he had feared, the voices called out, and they were the voices he knew, the ones he feared to some extent, more than he wanted to. The ones that had taken him from the Theurgy and from Ryuan Sel. Never mind that if he had been on the ship he still would have been able to do nothing to save her. He felt like he might. Anger, and rage and fear and so many things welled up inside of him that he could not even bring himself to speak, simply to stand there, shaking with hands clenched knuckled white and a sick, acrid sheen of sweaty fear breaking out on his sand swept face. 

There in followed the pompous sort of introduction that Sarresh associated with Betazoid Ambassadors and Cardassian Legats, and not really fit for clandestine contacts with a species that had done its damnedest to rewrite everything about him, before either wiping his memory out (ha!) or deleting him entirely from existence. That they had 'seen the error of their ways' did little to assuage him, but the former Ash'rem kept his face mostly impassive. His bearded jaw twitched, just the once, as the one carrying the gun finished. There was an urge to reach out and grab for the phaser again, but Sarresh violently tamped it down, keeping his hands balled into those aching fists. 

Front and center raised his hands and disengaged his helmet and sure enough, while they all looked alike, this one looked more than a little familiar. Impossibly familiar. That's a new and unpleasant trick. The thought flitted across his conscience and a ghost of a smile tugged at his lip. How did you come back from the dead, bobble head? There were implications there that he wasn't quite able to grasp, and felt that he should be able to. That he couldn't bothered him, and more so that he was aware that he couldn't. What else have you done to my head, Ducane?

Coming to with a jerk, Sarresh's eyes snapped into focus when he heard his name. Slowly, as if made of badly jointed wood, he reached into the voluminous robes he wore and extracted one of the local comm devices. Just as slowly, he approached and handed over the device to Echtand. "For someone whom is dead, you're looking pretty spry."

Even to his hears his voice sounded ragged and gravely.  Swallowing, Sarresh forced himself to take a deep breath in and hold it, before exhaling it in a puff. "For the sake of a common enemy, yes. I'll pass that along." And as soon as Echtand handed the device back, Sarresh activated it. For just a moment he thought about asking the fighters to unleash everything they had on his position. But he wasn't there to extract a bit of payback. He was there to stop an infestation. There, in the metaphysical sense in any case. 

Still simmering under the surface of his skin, the time traveler barked out a sharp order. "Morali to escort. Hold position. For now. We're opening...negotiations with our UFO. Keep the locals off our back, if they send anyone out this way. I'll provide more details later." he killed the channel after a brief reply and looked back at Echtand. It would be so easy..."That should suffice. Now, what is it you have for us? And what is it you want from us?" That you didn't already take he thought bitterly.