Tiberius IV: Heading down to Arrakis, part 1

Posted on Sun Mar 7th, 2010 @ 9:05am by Commodore Samantha York & Commander John Sheridan & Lieutenant Commander Karma Sinclair & Colonel Damon Raine & Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen

1,030 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: What Lies Beneath?
Location: Shuttlebay 1
Timeline: current

ON

The hour was up and Sam walked into the shuttlebay with her backpack, ready to head down to the planet.

She walked up to the shuttle and placed her pack in the back, then waited for the others to arrive.

Kaj had been in the bay long before Sam had arrived, and working with Petty Officer 1st Class Christian Vital in the Firefly on final launch preparation. Given the torrent of banging and cursing that came from the cockpit, it wasn't going so well.

".. stupid dropship, you could flog the kusi out of a wyvern all day and not have any problems whatsoever, so what do they do, they replace it with an overly complex temperamental, I mean what vittu thought THAT was a good idea?"

Vital was trying not to laugh. Yes the Firefly was giving them problems but Kajs' ranting was a good distraction. Then he looked on an inactive panel and saw the reflection of Commander York.

"Uh, Natch, you better go outside and talk with the Commander. Let me try and figure this out, it'll give me a chance to breathe."

Kaj just gave Vital an odd look before clambering down and out to greet the commander. He had gone through a bit of a change. In place of his standard uniform he had thrown on the basic black one-piece of all aerospace pilots with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows, black full-fingered texture-grip gloves, a hand phaser belt with type 2 phaser, his chocolate pilots jacket with the Orion patch on the left shoulder above all of his qualification tabs, and topped it all off with a gray baseball cap that had a wide white stripe up the center and the Starfleet logo up front.

"Sorry you had to hear that skipper, damn transport is being temperamental, but we'll have it ready to go before everybody gets here. Got an LZ scouted as well, only about half a mile and above where the last known location at the 49th was.
There's options to get you closer of course, but the pod has to be dropped at the marked LZ, its the closest place that's flat enough."

"Don't worry about it. I've spent some time around Marines," Sam replied with a smile. "A half mile away is fine. It's more important that we land safely. Besides, if there's something wrong with the place they landed, I don't want to end up in the same mess."

She had considered changing into jeans and a t-shirt, her normal attire for archaeological expeditions, but felt that, as CO, she should wear her Starfleet uniform. At least she had the comfort of knowing she could always remove her jacket if necessary.

Kaj nodded. Clearly past experience had honed Sam and it showed in her reactions. However it was a curios juxtaposition to her chosen attire for the mission. Kaj had chosen what he had because of not only because it looked cool (at least in the small juvenile part of his brain), but not only was it light and loose enough for a wide range of motions, but had a lack of creases and openings, and given the sandblasted nature of where they were going the fewer ways for sand to get into an outfit the better.

Kaj tried to figure out why Sam would wear what she was down to such a hothouse, then rapidly realized that he could have been interpreted as eyeballing a commanding officer to put it in polite terms.
Snapping his eyes back up he figured he might as well mention it.
"Uh, skipper, not to sound too forward but is the Starfleet standard uniform the best choice for going down to that dust bowl?"

"No, it isn't," Sam replied. "But it's regulation. And, as the Commanding Officer, I should set the example and be in uniform while on duty." Then she grinned. "However, I may not stay in uniform depending on conditions on the planet. Regs only get you so far, then you have to improvise."

Karma walked into the shuttlebay and stopped. The Commander was dressed in standard uniform and the man beside her was dressed in a pilot's outfit. Considering his choice of uniform he almost smiled at the hodgepodge appearance of the crew. Given the conditions on the surface he'd chosen to wear the Starfleet desert robes. The hood was currently down as there was no need to wear it on the ship. Not wanting to take the time to change he stepped up to the others. "Commander," he said to the woman. "Lieutenant," he said, nodding to the man in the pilot uniform.

Samantha nodded in greeting to the Intel officer.

Kaj read the pips before answering, giving him a firm "Lieutenant" in return before continuing and sticking his hand out
"Lieutenant JG Kaj Mikkola actually, Chief Flight Control Officer despite the outward appearance. I don't believe we've met yet."
That last bit was met with a mental eye roll, knowing that there were quite a few people that he hadn't met yet, most notably the Chief Engineer.

"Nice to meet you," Karma said as he shook the man's hand. "Lieutenant Karma Sinclair, Chief Intelligence Officer."

"CIO eh? I would ask what my black file says but I think I know what the answer is going to be."
Kaj was mostly joking, referencing the persistent rumor that Starfleet Intelligence kept a dossier on every infraction or non-regulation action both recorded and otherwise.

"Relax, Lieutenant," Karma said to him. "I'm merely an Analyst. I'm not here to spy on anyone."

(To be continued...)

Commander Samantha York
Chief Science Officer
Acting CO
USS Orion

Lt Cmdr. John Sheridan
XO, USS Orin

Marine Captain Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Lieutenant JG Kaj Mikkola
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Orion

Lieutenant Karma Sinclair
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Orion

Lieutenant JG Leanne Bowen
Chief Medical Officer
USS Orion

Ensign Malinda Catto (NPC)
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Orion

Petty Officer 1st Class Christian Vital (NPC)
Shuttle/Runabout Pilot
USS Orion

Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan
Executive Officer
USS Orion

Lieutenant Del'ore (NPC)

Ensign Elizabeth Jackson (NPC)
Botanist
USS Orion

 

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