Crash Landing, part 1

Posted on Tue Dec 15th, 2009 @ 8:31am by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant Chris Brooks & Lieutenant JG Alexandra Adeyemon & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen & Colonel Damon Raine

1,643 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Devils Snare
Location: Planetside
Timeline: current

ON

[OLD]

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.

[NEW]

Samantha slowly came to. She hurt, which was to be expected after the landing they took. She carefully checked to see if she had any broken bones. She didn't think so -- although she couldn't feel her right leg. In the process she realized that she was stuck in her seat. She had been wedged up against the console. She tried to turn her head to see if she could see anyone, but she couldn't see much beyond the console and the crumpled side of the hopper.

Her second thought was for Damon. Was he okay? She used her telepathy to seek him out. Good. He was alive. Unconscious still, but alive.

Leanne slowly opened her eyes, wondering if all the events that just happened were a dream. She felt a headache coming and not sure if she hit her head or something. Next, she heard a few people moaned and she displayed the crash events in her head, remembering how fast they were dropping towards the planet. She must have past out before they hit the ground as she doesn't know exactly everybody's injuries could be. She turned her head to see a few marines were still strapped to their seats. They don't look too hurt, she thought as she inspected everybody. Remembering the co-pilot that got injured by an explosion earlier, Leanne looked around with her eyes to find her, because she knew that she needs medical attention right away. She spotted a leg towards a corner in the front of the Hopper. One problem she has is that she was strapped tightly in her seat. "Hello? Anybody can help me out of my chair?" Need some kind of knife or shears..., she thought as she tried to wiggled her way out.

Alex looked up at the doctor from her place on the floor. She'd just vomited on the floor of the shuttle. She was more surprised than anything, since she used to be a pilot not too long ago. She pulled her aching body toward her engineering equipment, pulling out a miniature plasma torch. She turned it on to a low setting and inched her way over to the doctor's chair. "Hold still" She said to the doctor as she moved the plasma toward the seatbelt.

"Okay, just don't cut my arm off...", the doctor said as she watched her moving slowly to get her free. She noticed that her body was a little tilted in the chair as if she was partially hanging sideways. As soon as the seatbelt cut loose, she fell on the floor near Alex. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She looked around for her medikit, waiting to hear the response from her

TAG Alex

The rear of the hopper wasn't nearly so pristine. Staff Sergeant Riley's eyes snapped open with a start. The Marine's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as he looked around the back of the transport. On the first pass things looked pretty good, the hopper had stayed together for the impact and it looked like everyone was still fastened tight to their seats. It was only after the detail started to become clear that he realised things hadn't gone to well in the landing. Sitting across from Riley was a rifleman in his fire team, Andrew Miller; he looked to be fine except that his eyes stared unblinkingly at him. Riley shuddered involuntarily as he looked away from the dead soldier. More than a few others looked to be bleeding pretty badly and it took only a moment more to notice that some of the equipment had come loose in the decent and it became evident how they sustained their injuries.

Riley unbuckled his straps and sat up from his seat. With careful steps he made his way over to the Marine commanding officer who was still slouched over in his seat. As he got closer he saw the fresh blood seeping into his BDU’s and he instantly feared the worst. Unsure of how to proceed, he did the only thing that came to mind.

“Sir!†He called out. “Come on man, wake up!†He placed his hand on the CO’s shoulder and roughly shook it.

Damon felt the contact and very faintly heard the voice of someone speaking to him. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with a wave of pain. His head throbbed and his vision had trouble focusing on anything in front of him. He looked over to the Marine who woke him and very slightly nodded.

“I’m okay.†He said with a dry mouth and a slight voice.

The memory of falling out of the sky washed over him at almost the same time that he became away of the warm sticky sensation of drying blood on his face. He absently released the straps on his helmet and pulled it off to examine it. His eyes went wide as he saw the shell was cracked and a four-inch gash was missing out of the side. Something heavy hit him and the helmet absorbed most of the impact. Although staved from the full brunt of the assault, he knew that he had sustained a serious injury from the amount of caked blood inside the remainder of the cap. The urge to reach up and feel the wound was very narrowly resisted. He dropped the ruined helmet on the floor and closed his eyes to find his bearing. He was so tired.

~Sam!~

His eyes instantly snapped back open and his hands fervently reached down to release his seat brace. His hands merely fumbled with the latch in his haste to get out.

“Get me out of this thing!†he entreated the Marine looking over him.

Riley was quick to obey the command as he reached down and released the two clips to the safety harness.

Damon stood up too quickly and a debilitating wave of pain washed over him that caused his legs to buckle under his weight. He would have dropped to the floor if Riley had not been there to catch and steady him.

“Sir you need some attention.†Riley said with a concerned look on his face.

“No, I’m okay.†He lied. He didn’t care right now, he had to see if Samantha was okay. “Get me a report of our casualties, Sergeant.†He ordered as he tentatively took a few steps forward.

“Aye Sir.†Riley responded to the order.

Damon walked through the cabin towards the cockpit passing Marines tending to minor injuries and gathering their gear. With a passing glance he saw the doctor and Lieutenant Adeyemon alive and seemingly well as they struggled with chair restraints.

As he neared the front he was met with the smell of acrid smoke caused by blown relays.

“Sam?†He called as he walked into the confined cockpit.

"Damon!" Sam was relieved to hear his voice. If he was there that meant he was well enough to be ambulatory. "Are you okay?" She wanted to see him to be sure he was okay, but that wasn't possible with the way she was pinned.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He had to steady himself on the bulkhead and momentarily close his eyes to stop the room from spinning. "Just a little bump on the head is all. How about you?"

"I'm okay. I think my right leg is asleep. And I'm stuck, but other than that, I'm good." She was not, however, happy with Damon's answer. There was something in his voice that bothered her. She needed to get out and make sure he was really okay.

"Okay, sit tight, I’ll get some help." Normally he would have tried to free her himself, but right now he knew he would do more harm than good.

He turned and slowly walked back into the cabin, using the bulkhead again for support.

He blinked a few times to shake off the cloudy vision. He found that the faces staring back at him were all very indistinct and strangely foreign. He decided just to announce his needs rather than sort through who was who. "I need some people up front right now to retrieve the Lieutenant and our pilots. Lieutenant York is stuck somehow."

"Chris!" Sam hoped the pilot was awake and okay. If he was, maybe he could help her get free. She was concerned about Damon. She was afraid he would be helping someone else instead of getting the help he needed.

=A= To be continued... =A=

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

Gunnery Sergeant Jethro Hawkes
First Sergeant

 

RSS Feed