Heading Out

Posted on Fri Dec 11th, 2009 @ 5:26am by Commodore Samantha York & Commander John Sheridan & Lieutenant Chris Brooks & Lieutenant JG Alexandra Adeyemon & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen & Colonel Damon Raine & Ensign Bak'ten J'trey

1,906 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Devils Snare
Location: Shuttle bay

ON

Samantha arrived at the shuttle a little early. She wanted to make sure everything was set for the away mission and all the equipment she'd ordered was safely on board.

As they had no idea what to expect on the planet, she wanted to prepare for any eventuality. And, as she'd spent so many years working on archaeological digs, she always had camping gear with her. Just in case they had to send a group out to explore and they had to spend a night under the stars.

Her own personal backpack contained her standard dig pack plus her tricorder and phaser. She stowed that with the other gear and waited for the rest of the team to arrive.

Alex arrived with a standard issue Starfleet back over her shoulder. In it were any tools she might need to repair. She'd also opted for a standard issue uniform rather than the skirt variant for away missions. She didn't know what weather and conditions to suspect, so she simply played it safe. "Lieutenant York," she said as she spotted the Science officer.

"Call me Samantha. Or Sam, please," she said, nodding to the other woman.

The Marines had been waiting patiently in the shuttlebay for the call to board. Many spent the remaining minutes checking over each other's gear for snags or loose straps that could become a problem later on.

Damon walked into the hanger and headed directly over to the two platoons who upon seeing him stood at attention. After a few words, Alpha One and Two of the First platoon quickly gathered their packs and weapons before making their way over to the hopper. The remaining Marines wished the group good hunting as they walked passed them.

In the lead, Damon led the 16 Marines over to where Lieutenant Adeyemon and Samantha stood waiting. He would normally have felt somewhat keyed up for the mission; however, it was tempered by the knowledge that Samantha could be going into a potentially hostile situation with him. He made a mental note to keep her close at all times.

"Lieutenant's" He nodded in greeting. He resisted the urge to call Samantha by her name, opting instead for the professional approach. "All of your gear ready to go?"

"We're all set. There are too many Lieutenants here, just call me Samantha," she told Damon. Besides it felt a little odd. She was, however, very happy to see Damon.

"As soon as we're all here and settled in, we can head out," she told the others.

Chris walk in the shuttle bay with two fighter pilots, the two pilots went over to a pair of Razors sitting behind the Wyvern Hopper. Chris approached Sam. "I apologize for missing the meeting, some how I was misinformed of the time and location, however due to the other ships in orbit, I took the liberty of assigning two Razors for escort. If everyone is ready, I just need a minute to make sure the Hopper is ready to go."

"Make it quick." Damon spoke to Chris. "I would like to get the Marines deployed planet side before it gets too dark." He suddenly looked to Samantha and winced remembering that she had operational authority on this mission. "Sorry Sam." He apologized.

"Damon's right," Sam said, smiling to let him know it was okay. "We should get down as soon as possible. We don't know what to expect once the sun sets. As for the briefing, we're going down to see why we can't get any solid readings on the planet. Something is interfering and it may be the reason the other ships are here."

"What kind of a timeline have we been given?" Damon asked

"Whatever we need. We may end up spending a night in the shuttle, or sleeping on the ground, but I don't think it'll take more than that," Sam replied. "I brought two tents, just in case."

Chris looked over to the Razors, as they began to power up. "Well, it looks like our escorts are ready, by the time everyone is aboard and buckled up, I will be too." Chris winked at Alex and began moving quickly for the Wyvern. "See you on board then." Once on board, Chris quickly checked to make sure all the survival gear was in place. He took of his backpack and attached it to his seat. Once he sat down and buckled up he began some pre-flight checks, then powered up the engines.

Doctor Bowen came on board the shuttle with her medikit in hand and took her place towards the back. She sat quietly listening to the marines talk in their conversation.

"Sorry I'm late!" Bak'ten exclaimed as he jogged into the vessel. "Had to take my medication before we headed out." He said, a smile across his face now he was not producing any 'angry' hormones.

Sam took a seat at one of the consoles so she could run scans as they made their way to the planet.

Damon watched as the Starfleet members boarded the hopper before turning his attention to the two squads awaiting his word. "MARINES!" He bellowed. "MOVE OUT!"

Instantly the 16 Marines fell in line and boarded the vessel. Damon waited a moment more and took a quick glance at the Marines not going to the planet. He felt sorry that they wouldn't have a chance to prove themselves today, but he knew he made the right decision to leave them behind. He didn't think the Orion would get into trouble, but time had taught him a lesson when it came to preparing for the unexpected. With a parting nod to them, he boarded the small craft and took a seat beside the Marines strapping themselves in.

Shelby came running across the hanger bay for the Wyvern. She was assigned as the co-pilot for this mission. Quickly moving to her seat, she sat down and buckled up. Looking over to Chris, she frowned. “Sorry Lieutenant, I was just relieved by Hendrix and I got here as quick as I could.â€

Shelby, a fresh Ensign right out of the academy was a bright and energetic Officer that was learning a great deal from Chris, he had taken her under his wing and she was almost ready to be his assistant. He had requested that she come along on this mission to get some experience. The young blonde was friendly and outgoing and Chris had told her that she had a very promising career. Chris smiled back, “It’s okay Ensign, nothing seems to be working perfectly today. Secure rear door.â€

“Aye sir, closing rear hatch.†Shelby acknowledged as she entered the commands on her panel.

Before Chris lifted off, he requested permission to depart, =A= Wyvern One to shuttle bay, fight of three request permission to depart. =A=

=A=Shuttle Bay One to Wyvern One, your flight is cleared to depart, bay doors are now open, have a safe flight.=A=

The Wyvern hopper slowly lifted from the floor and spun around in the same space. As it moved for the open bay doors, the two Razors fell in closely behind.

As soon as the shuttle cleared the Orion, Samantha began to scan the planet. She still couldn't get any definite readings, but she hoped that once they got into the upper atmosphere she'd be able to get some readings.

As they approached the planet Sam noticed that there were a number of ships in the dense rings around the planet - she counted at least a half dozen. She began to scan them, tying the scans in with the Orion's science computers.

Within a matter of minutes alarm bells began to go off. Sam looked over at Chris. "What's wrong?"

Chris began to tap commands into his panel, “We are losing main power, it’s as if we entered some sort of damping field.†As Chris was speaking, the two Razors began to pass the Wyvern. The left one began to spin out of control and the right one was angling for the Wyvern.

Samantha quickly sent a message to the Orion warning them of the situation and telling them to stay away.

The hopper bucked underneath the inhabitance of the small craft. For the most part the Marines on board kept a level of professional disinterest at the distress of their situation. A couple of the more green members looked over in concern at the Second Lieutenant who simply steeled his jaw and gave them a quick shake of his head to indicate that their concerns are to be kept stowed.

Chris and Shelby could only watch out the starboard side window as the Razor moved closer, quickly closing the gap between the two ships. Chris yelled out, “Brace for impact!â€

The hopper shook and jarred violently as the Razor impacted its side. Shelby’s panel exploded, sending metal and glass shrapnel into her chest, her body going limp and loosely flopping from all the movement of the hopper. Acrid smoke began to fill the front half of the ship as it plummeted for the planet below.

Chris tried to reinitialize the inertial dampeners, but there was no longer any power. It was as if something sucked it all out. Chris tried to contact the Orion, but nothing happened. Chris looked over at the lifeless body of his co-pilot before he yelled out, “Prepare for a crash landing!â€

Chris thought to himself, ~If you can call it that. Trying to crash land a Wyvern hopper was like trying to crash land a brick.~

{Main Bridge}

It all happened very quickly, just as the Away team had started their decent...

A concerned Ensign turned to Sheridan, "Sir the Hopper has lost power and Communications."

Sheridan jumped from his chair and stood behind the Helm Officer. "Go to Red alert and notify the Captain, Helm, All stop. Where are they now?"

The ships nav officer was monitoring the screens at his station, "SIR, there's been a collision involving The Hopper and a Razor. I'm receiving two distinct collision alarms."

[Wyvern Falling from Orbit]

Chris began to tap commands into his console, shutting down every system. He was going to gamble and guess that as a system is being used, the power would drain. He was going to try the thrusters in intermittent thrusts to see if he could keep some power. The hopper began to pick up speed as it free fell. The G force was very powerful, causing some to pass out. Once the hopper neared the ground, Chris fired thrusters in pulses, causing the vessel to go from vertical to a near horizontal trajectory. As the craft approached the ground Chris hit the thrusters one last time to attempt to stop its forward movement. The power was gone and thrusters inoperative. The hopper hitting the ground at full speed obliterated trees that stood in it way. Each tree a body jarring jolt felt strongly without dampeners. As the hopper came to a screeching halt, a dust cloud billowed from around the vessel. Thick smoke now filled the entire ship, as all the persons on board were unmoving.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Samantha York
Chief Science Officer

2nd Lieutenant Damon Raine
Marine CO

Lieutenant JG Chris Brooks
Chief Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant JG Alexandra Adeyemon
Chief Engineer

Ensign Leanne Bowen
Chief Medical Officer

Ensign Bak'ten J'trey
Security Investigations Officer

 

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