Planetfall

Posted on 21 Jun 2021 @ 6:42pm by Major S'arila Donovan & Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley & Lieutenant Paul Winchester & Lieutenant JG Maria McMahon & Ensign Lauren Jordan & Lieutenant Christine Childers

4,590 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 03 Trouble in the Sticks UXSys 659842 (Incidentals) Phase 2
Location: Colony tactical Centre
Timeline: Current

OOC Somers: When Taggert has responded Lt Winchester please wind this down and post it, thanks. Also, do not forget to remove any OOC messages etc.

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[ON]

Having touched down on the planet after a rather bumpy ride, Paul looked back at he asked " Everyone activate your NEVS suits, Lieutenant Hawksley Open a channel to the Tomcat if you would please," as he turned to the rest of his team, as he knew that it was time to notify the ship that the shuttle had now landed. He thought to himself, oO Well, I'm glad we're down in one piece Oo as this had been the first time in a small craft since his accident, as he waited for the chance to check in with the ship before he activated his own suit.

Checking her suit "I am good" Donovan said still unhappy about being crammed into a small shuttle, made worse as she was in a combat EVA suit.

Hawk had checked his suit as ordered. Everything seemed to be working as was discussed earlier.

Checking in with the Shuttle Communication's array, he had opened a com channel with the Tomcat in stationary orbit.

"Channel with the Tomcat open, Sir." Hawksley had replied to Winchester.

Paul said =/\=USS Tomcat, this is Shuttle Rassilon, we have touched down safely and about to commence operations,=/\= as he watched the others activate their new Bio-suits as he noticed how good they looked. he continued,=/\= Any further instructions at this Time Colonel?=/\= as he started to hope this didn't go wrong like most of the Tomcat missions generally did.

On the bridge of the Tomcat, Alex connected to the Tactical Away team channel =/\=Stay alive and stay safe, remember to grab the data and any readings you can get, if the locals charge you, you are authorised to open fire I do not want to be the one to tell the Fleet Captain I got some of her people killed =/\= the Colonel said

=/\= Copy that Colonel, Winchester out, =/\= replied Paul as he closed the channel he turned to face his team, he said, " you heard what the Colonel said, if we come under attack from the locals, we have authorised the use of force," he continued, Lieutenant Hawksley, if we run into major trouble Codeword for today Is MASTER and keep those engines running," as he raised his arm, he said "N.E.V.S Activate" as he started to feel the Nanos flood over him from his Prothesis. He finished " Let's do this" as the suit finished its job.

S'arila looked at the new suits in amazement "I have to get me one of those!" She said and put her helmet on and activated the onboard tactical and environmental systems and without warning the suit begun playing the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" cursing in her mother tongue she opened a panel on her suit and disconnected the music system "that can get so annoying" she said "okay let's go shall we Lieutenant Winchester?

As Ensign Christine Childers felt the Nanos run all over her body and began to create her new N.E.V.S Suit and that she had been selected for this mission as a compromise between her chief and Lieutenant Winchester, after all, the two officers as she had heard on the grapevine argued about security codes or something on that matter. but here she was on her first away mission and having to take a life for the first time slightly bothered her. but at least she knew that she had folks that back her up in a pinch if called for.

Next to her sat Ensign Lauren Jordan a tough as they come with a no-nonsense attitude and being the Tomcat's Adie de Camp meant that nothing fazed her, but it was a mask that Lauren wore as she herself was scared out of her wits as this was her first away mission as she was mainly stuck in her office doing Reapers files. but at least it gave her a chance to get out of the office which was a blessing in disguise although it meant she might see some combat.

As Paul stood up and said " right everyone checks your weapons are on kill, I will take the front with Maria behind me" he continued " followed by Lauren and then Christine with the major bringing up the rear," as he now had to get going. he finished "Team Security, Let's rollout,"

Hawksley acknowledged the orders. MASTER was the code word for if the team was being attacked. And due to the circumstances, the force was approved for use against the inhabitants. Since they were all bloody zombies to begin, Leland didn’t see much of a concern. Securing the shuttle was more than sitting in the cockpit twiddling your thumbs. Leland actively was ensuring by patrolling around the shuttle for any potential dangers. There were many on this planet of hell. Holding up his weapon and slowly following the members of Winchester’s team out, he stood there and gave a firm one-off salute in his NEV, holding his gun. He wished to high hell that he could be out there with them. He enjoyed a good blood bath.

“Good luck.” Hawk had spoken through his comlink to the rest of the crew. He eyed the area, standing at the ready for anything out of the ordinary. And he would come to the rescue with the shuttle if he had heard code words of ‘MASTER.’

As Major Donovan got out of the shuttle she stretched and sighed as she rose to her full 7-foot frame "I will keep the watch Lieutenant Winchester you and your team do what you gotta do" she said as she took up observation position where she had a clear field of view and allowed the fleet Officers to do their thing, her spot was just outside the Command hub for the colony, it was high up allowing for good visuals and it was in a short run to where the team was doing their thing. Then she looked at a high point at the Command hub and saw it was a better position, so she got down of her current perch and climbed up onto the new one, yes this one was better as it was above the rest of the Away Team and allowed her to protect them better should the need arise.

Looking at his tricorder, Paul said," ah we are nearing our destination, but keep your eyes open," as he continued walking towards the building, just then he heard a noise from a doorway and a group of natives that had been infected came towards them, Paul said, "Head towards that Building, Major give us covering fire."

oO The guy is damn monster magnet Oo she thought to herself and took aim and fired, all that could be heard was a shot ringing out from her TR116 rifle and the shambling figure collapsing, she repeated this process and to the group"okay Lieutenant, make it quick, that noise will have alerted all the nearby infected, so be quick" S'arila said as she pulled out the unconventional Semi-automatic rifle that she had brought with her from her reality, she put a silence on it as one could be fitted, the same could not be said for the TR116 rifle. She did the same for her sidearm and prepared for the inevitable horde, while she waited she activated the communications in her suit.

=/\= Major Donovan to Lieutenant Hawksley, slowly fire up the shuttle and prepare for a hot lift-off, do you read? =/\= she asked.

Hawksley had acknowledged. =/\= Firing up Engines now, Major =/\=

Accessing the central nacelle pods and thrusters, Leland began a quick start-up of the shuttle. Hawk had set up the shuttlecraft for shallow powering off, as the systems were still warm. Within moments the EPS flows were being regulated, and lift-off thrusters were at peak efficiency.

Nicci was in her EVA suit like the rest and was one of the lucky ones testing the new nano-suit. The weird crawling sensation as it engaged thankfully ended soon, but the suit was also practically skintight like something out of a 20th-century comic book. Just because she looked like fantasy didn't mean she needed to dress like it. She rolled her eyes, oO Oh well. Eyes on the prize. Mission first. We're Starfleet. Oo "Suit working within parameters," she reported over the comm line to the others. "Scanner system active. We should be within 83 meters of the entrance..."

"Copy that Nicci," remarked Paul as he looked back at Ensign Childers, he said "get ready to download all the intelligence data you can get," as he took up his position he finished "the rest of us will protect you."

"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers," Nicci quipped in a faux southern belle accent, one of the few times she let her real Georgian accent out.

The three ensigns responded "Aye Sir," as Christine knew that she had the easy job whilst the others had the hard task of keeping the zombies at bay as she hoped that Hawksley was keeping an ear out for the codeword.

"Let's head on before we become part of the zombie apocalypse on this planet," Nicci replied dryly. "I've got a nice holo-massage program waiting for me back on the ship."

"Focus on the task at hand will you please," remarked Paul as he too didn't want to become a resident here, as they continued towards the Entrance, he knew that the three Ensigns were starting to get worried, he said," do not worry Ensigns, I will get you home."

as the three ensigns heard Paul's remark Maria felt a little better knowing that Paul would not leave her behind, as she knew the Colonel would chew his ass off as would Lauren if he did.

Lauren looked over at Maria and noticed that she was starting to relax and not tense up, which was a good thing and relax a little bit as she found walking in these suits a hell of a lot better than the old ones.

From her spot up on the roof S'arila's keen hearing perked up "not so fast Lieutenant Taggert, you have a job to do, the sooner you get it done the sooner we leave, small horde coming your way" she said as she again aimed and this time with a silenced weapon took shot after shot.

Nicci was at the external wall of the data centre. It still had power, but it was fluctuating. The door was locked and she had to break that encryption. She pulled the panel open and inserted her own little data key. It wasn't exactly...Starfleet issue. But then again, all her gear wasn't really a standard issue, so she thought it was okay. "They locked the door here...probably to stop the mindless hordes..." she mumbled to herself. With a few more decryption cycles running the door finally opened. "Got it. Getting the data core downloaded," she said as she pulled her own data key from the lock mechanism, and ran inside.

Suddenly in the near distance, a half scream/screech could be heard and the building seemed to be vibrating, quickly getting down she approached Winchester "Lieutenant grab your nethers and get your team moving with downloading and such there is a large horde on its way the damn ground is vibrating, lead your team or I will" S'arila said and pulled out binoculars and looked in the direction the shaking was going from and she could see dust, a large cloud of dust, putting her visual equipment away she turned to look at Winchester "Lieutenant we have about thirty minutes before we become residents on this planet" she said to Winchester then looked to the engineers "Lieutenant Taggert download everything it can be decrypted later" S'arila said.

"Got it!" Nicci replied. "Give me another five minutes! Power's shakey, gotta stabilize it or the data is going to be worthless garbage!"

She pulled off her backpack and threw open a panel. oO Plasma Transfer Conduit? Check. Computer direct line? Check. Now hook up and get the data downloaded and outta here. Oo. "Battery cell hooked in. Everything's stable for download!"

Moving faster than any human had a right to move, Nicci hooked up her data line and found the relevant data sectors, still encrypted, but she knew where the data was since she had been on the relatively nice planet not too long ago. Hence, why she was on this planet from hell. Christine was in there with Nicci and hooked into the data system so that they could both download different sectors and get it done quicker.

"Good thing these suits have a high bandwidth," Nicci said to Christine. "I kinda shoved almost all the bandwidth of our comms to download additional sectors; not protocol, but zombies trump protocol, right? We've got maybe 37.5 seconds left, rather than 4 minutes."

oO Dammit Oo thought Paul as he opened his com channel =/\= Lieutenant Hawksley it is time for you to be a MASTER,=/\= as he looked over at Ensign Childers, he said," How long is the download Ensign?"

"Nearly finished Sir, I need another 20 Seconds," replied Christine as she turned to see her friends preparing to fire at the horde of Zombies that were heading their way. she thought oO we are not going to get out of here, Oo

The comm-line from Paul sounded like an old-school AM radio station rather than the crystal-clear audio they normally had in their suits, thanks to Nicci's unorthodox bandwidth reallocation, but time was of the essence. The progress indicator on her arm display hit 100% and she looked at Christine. "Come on, let's scram! I'd rather watch a zombie apocalypse rather than be part of it!"

The women started running for the exit, but a zombie blocked the path, one eye hanging out of its socket, blank expression, rotten skin peeling off it, an entire section of skin missing from the right side of its face, leaving the teeth showing, blackened gums, a tarlike substance drooling from its mouth, and torn clothes, revealing it used to be a relatively well-off civilian man.

"Not gonna be your lunch, zombie," Nicci said as she aimed her phaser quickly, firing at the walking dead. Set to disintegrate, the creature evaporated into nothing, clearing the path out of the place for the two.

Taking up another direction S'arila looked through her visual device, this time the one built into her suit "Dammit, there is another large group coming from the West too, just download everything, we will sort out decryption later, she tapped her Commbadge =/\= Donovan to Hawksley, you better have those thrusters on full read to blow out of here! =/\= Donovan said as she aimed.

Hawksley replied. "Acknowledged. M-A-S-T-E-R has confirmed Away Team." Into his headset at the Flight Controls of the Shuttle, ready to act.

Hawk revived the engines from a dormant slumber. He engaged the conn and navigation interface. Setting navigation and flight direction to manual. The dust underneath the craft, the dirt, and debris had introduced a downward air current from thrusters setting off.

=/\=Lieutenant Winchester. I'm reading your current location." =/\= Hawk had entered the LCARs in, executing flight. =/\= Prepare for egress.=/\= He scanned for any alien-human lifeforms nearby them. The shuttle engines were then throttled in a stunt to increase boost take off, increasing its speed arching into the skies above the colony.

"Sir, I have everything," replied Ensign Childers as she retrieved the data chip that contained everything that she needed, as she placed it within one of the containers of her belt as she hoped that soon they would be off this godforsaken rock as this was not fun as she moved back next to Lieutenant Winchester.

Paul replied "Very good Ensign," as he looked at the rest of his team and said " When Lieutenant Hawksley lands, you all Run like the Lieutenant Colonel is evaluating you," giving them the pep talk from hell, he tapped his earpiece, "Lieutenant How long till you land?"

=^= About 1- minus one minute and 22 seconds... =^= Leland spoke. It was not too close afterwards that the shuttlecraft had arrived near outside the premise of the team.

Taggert had Childers run ahead when she saw additional zombies heading for her. "Go! I'll cover you!"

As Christine continued to run after Maria and Lieutenant Winchester, she wanted off this planet as she didn't want to become a Zombie and the thought scared the hell out of her, as she kept on running, she knew that after this she was going to start doing more gym work and keep fit.

"Alright, let's make your stay dead," Nicci said with a smirk. She unclipped a small tube from her belt, and clicked the button, and threw it at the crowd. In 5 seconds, it exploded, vaporizing about 12 zombies, cutting a hole in the growing, trudging crowd of the dead. "Good thing I raided the armoury when no one was looking," she mused to herself as she threw three more into the growing crowd. "Can't keep much from someone who decrypts algorithms in her spare time!"

Turning and running towards the evac point, Nicci tapped her comm line. =/\=Taggert to S'arila. We got all the data sectors. No time to decrypt. ETA on the shuttle? =/\= She turned, and shot random zombies, trying to thin the herd that was approaching, going faster than a dead person should be...considering that they should be lying on the ground decomposing, rather than chasing her.

Then she was thrown to the ground, hitting hard, despite the nano-suit. She turned and a zombie was on top of her! Clawing and growling, the tar-like drool dripping disgustingly onto her viewport. The zombie clawed and tried biting her arm, its head twisting to and fro, growling an unearthly growl as she tried to free herself. She was stronger than a regular woman, but her fear was getting the better of her, and she was barely holding it together. She couldn't get to her weapons. She was trapped!

As S'arila ran for the shuttle she saw the DCEO take a fall and a zombie-like colonist was on her scratching and trying to pierce the armour, Donovan closed the distance pulled out her sidearm the archaic slug thrower she brought from her reality and fired at the beings head, blowing the zombie's head apart, as the monster collapsed to the left of Taggert S'arila scanned the Engineers uniform and found no damage, she held her hand out.

"Your suit has suffered no damage Nicci, now get you up lassie, get you up," S'arila said as she pulled the engineer to her feet "Hope you can run Ni..." she was halted as her suit began playing the Friends theme song "I'll be there for you" Growling "this damn suit has a mind of its own methinks," Donovan said and looked back as the shambling had given way to agility "RUN!" S'arila said spurring the Engineer on "how is that leg Lieutenant?" She asked as they both ran.

For a moment, as the zombie's head exploded, and the tar-like rotten organs splashed on her visor, she was in shock, eyes wide, mouth open, unable to form words. For all her genetic alterations, she still reacted as any normal human would to the situation. S'arila's yelling 'run!' snapped her out of it. She scrambled up and began to run with the officer. "The leg should be okay, thank you," she panted, the fright still coursing in her system, spiking her adrenaline. "It got my arm too, but the suit wasn't punctured at all. Just some pressure bruising, really. I'm just glad I'm not going to turn into a zombie. Being a woman is enough for me. Is the shuttle ready to pick us up from this hell planet?"

=/\= Hawksley to Away Team, I'm ready for your pick up. Do you need cover? =/\=Hawksley had kept his eyes on the scanners and then hung out the back overhang of the shuttle egress doors. He didn't like standing back any more than he had liked the orders to do so. As Leland had listened, he became more concerned over the team. He gripped his phaser rifle anxiously. Tagging his communication badge, and checking the main com generators on the shuttle, everything had checked out. He tagged some LCARs into the main computer, and then tapped at his com =/\= Lt. Jg. Hawksley, calling any away team member. Please reply over! =/\= Hawksley had communicated.

*Activating her Comms* =/\= Donovan here, have the doors open and be ready for a hot exit, ETA five minutes, cannot talk more, Donovan out =/\= she said and closed the link and continued to run.

- Shuttle Rassilon -

After the quick take-off, Paul opened a channel and said =/\=This is shuttle Rassilon to USS Tomcat, we need an emergency evac as the shuttle has encountered spores,=/\= as he looked at his tired team, he continued, " I say again we need an emergency Evac,"

Somers looks at Ze at Tactical "Lieutenant beam the personnel on the shuttle into Medical under a Level one quarantine barrier, now" the Colonel ordered as she opened a channel =/\= Somers to Winchester have your people hang onto their nethers, beaming you into quarantine in Medical, you are to remain there until cleared by the CMO, acknowledged? =/\= The Colonel asked.

=/\= Copy that Colonel, we are ready when you are,=/\= responded Paul as the team members all out of breath, but at least everyone was back safe and he had not lost anyone which was a plus on his skills and also they had retrieved the data that they had come for.

=/\= Acknowledged, Tomcat out =/\= Alex said.

Having returned to the shuttle and getting his breath back Paul touched the side of his helmet which in turn retracted it back and the armour, Paul looked around the small shuttle and noticed that his team were glad to be alive as was he, as he watched the three young female Ensigns remove their helmets and that he had kept his word to them that he had brought them home from that infested hell hole. He stated, “ Everyone ready for transport,”

As Lauren motioned another two Ensigns to stand, she said,” See, I told you Paul would not let us down,” as they were getting ready to go back home to the safety of the Tomcat, knowing that both Maria and Christine both seemed relieved to be back on the comfort of the ship. Christine replied “ I never doubted him for a second,” as the transporter beam took hold and vanished from the outside of the small shuttle.

All were standing outside of their shuttle felt the ground rumble and they all looked up and saw a dust cloud Donovan swore in her native tongue which had yet to be translatable to Starfleet. Then all felt the effect of the transporter as it claimed them, the planet around them vanished to be replaced by the Tomcats Medical bay and all were inside a barrier, S'arila looked around as the transporters vanished and the familiar gravity took over, S'arila took her helmet off and squinted "ah quarantine field, understandable" she said and looked at Winchester "you got all your team back Lieutenant, well done" she looked at Hawksley and Taggert "you both okay?" she asked the pair.

"We are not okay," Taggert replied, like a certain doctor on an old Constitution-class ship. "I nearly got my arm ripped off by a zombie, and as you can see," she pointed to the dried tar-like substance on her helmet, "he slimed me too. I'm going to need a stiff drink when this is all over, ten showers, and maybe a session with the counsellor again..." She took her helmet off, following the lead of S'arila.

Nicci put the helmet on the table and stood with her hands on her hips. "And this suit looks like something out of a cheesy 1980s movie designed to show off the lead actress's assets," she muttered to herself. "My uniforms already show off enough..."

S'arila looked Taggert up and down, "relax you have a figure that I envy, I will wager that you will be allowed a shower," Donovan said as she removed her EVA torso section.

Hawksley had leaned back in the quarantined area. Exiting from his own EVA uniform, he had washed and then changed into a comfortable pair of shorts a new and cleaned crisp tee-shirt.

Sitting he had awaited orders or a debriefing that could happen at any moment.

"You can have my figure," Nicci muttered. "I never wanted it," she commented off-handedly, as she grabbed a tool and ran it over her suit's exterior, burning off all organic materials. The computer could do this with a standard decontamination scan, but doing it herself first made her feel better. She made several passes before allowing the computer to make a final exterior pass before removing the nano-suit in the 'de-shell protocol - coming off as a sectionalizing suit of armour - requiring her not to touch any exterior surface before it retracted into itself.

She stepped away and allowed the decontamination scan before grabbing a shirt and shorts, jean shorts and a tank top and putting them on, forgoing any footwear. She then leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and asked aloud, "So, who wants a Shocking Sunrise? I might have a double myself..."

Also removing her EVA suit leaving her in her issue undergarments, that had cutaways at her lower back to accommodate the set of gills she had as she let the decontamination process do its stuff "I have enough genetic alterations of my own Nicci and I am happy with my figure, tell me have you thought about seeking surgery to downsize things?" S'arila asked as the Chief Medical Officer arrived at the other side of the barrier.

Cahill smiled, there are surgical procedures I can use the reduce the size and effect of the gills. It would take more than one time to allow for your body to heal and also adjust to the modifications done to your body.

As Paul waited to be seen to, he wondered how Serena was having to pilot the ship into the orbit of the planet that led to its burning and knew that must be rough knowing that she had just brought death to them, but he knew that the people on the planet were already dead and understood what it was like from a pilots point of view. But he was pleased to see the ensigns now more relaxed whilst getting checked out by the other nurses and talking with each other and hoped that this experience that they all could learn from and help each other.

Nicci was looking a little shocked at what happened on the planet and did not feel like talking and then the Doctor gave them the all-clear she simple left Medical and headed straight for her quarters to take a shower.

[OFF]

Lt Cmdr Alexanderia Cahill MD
Chief Medical Officer/2XO

Lieutenant Jg Paul Winchester
Chief Security/CTO

Lieutenant Jg Leland Hawksley
Chief Helm Officer

Lieutenant Jg Nicole Taggert
Deputy Chief Engineer

Major S'arila Donovan [P: Somers]
Bravo Unit Commander

Lieutenant Jg Maria McMahon [P: Winchester]
Communications Specialist

Ensign Christine Childers [P: Winchester]
Intelligence Officer

Ensign Lauen Jordan [P: Winchester]
Aide to CAG

 

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