Proto Planetary Science Survey

Posted on Thu Mar 14th, 2019 @ 1:34pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Sonak & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy

Mission: Gaia Reborn
Location: Proto Planet Flint 8
Timeline: 2396

"Well, if there are no reports of planets disappearing, maybe it's a good thing. Somewhere out there as a cosmic balance, for every one of those worlds she seeds, Primordius is out there doing his impression of the Doomsday Machine. Keep looking and keep me posted, Ensign Balch."

Signing off, Commander Rita Paris stepped out onto the upper flight deck on Deck 3, where the trio of Cyclone exploratory craft were parked and primed. Getaway Driver in gold, Cherry Bomb in red, and Curiosity in blue. Formerly Romulan Scorpion fighter craft, they had been stripped out and refit as Federation exploratory vehicles, and this was to be their first major test.

Clad in her gold and black EVA suit, the pilot of the past had her helmet retracted, although she still had her visor down to use the HUD. Her old pistol-style phaser was clipped magnetically to her right hip and her billy club to her left, but she'd left the rest of her accouterments in the armory. For this mission, she was just a pilot and an explorer.

Behind her came the diminutive and slender Bularian enlisted and a sinuous and graceful ensign with cat girl ears sticking out of her violet mane. "Gunner's Mate Second Class Lu, you'll be flying with me. Ensign Purrr'a, you're with Lieutenant Dox."

As if on cue, the doors at the back of the bay to the Flight Control office wooshed open as Mnhei'sahe Dox came striding out, walking at the same brisk, martial pace Rita Paris was notorious for. At her side was a slightly taller, slim young human woman with straight, dark hair feverishly entering information into a PaDD while Dox talked.

"...and contact Engineering to have someone come look at the starboard, aft coupling on the impulse Nacelle of Shuttle 16. I keep getting a sluggish response on diagnostic." The portly, red-headed Romulan relayed to her junior officer as she ran through a diagnostic of her own crimson and black EVA suit.

"Will do, Lieutenant. Will that be all?" Replied the nervous looking young Ensign struggling to keep pace and type at the same time.

"Just get it done before I'm back. And while Ensign Gonadie is on the bridge, the office is yours Ensign MacNielle." Dox replied, finishing her system check. "Don't rearrange the furniture and everything should be fine. Dismissed."

With a smile and a nod, the nervous MacNielle returned to the office, still typing furiously on her PaDD. As she did, Dox stepped up to Paris at the side of the Cyclones. "Dock control is on standby for our departure and everything checks out in the green for the triplets, Commander. Once we each perform a pre-flight systems check, we will be clear."

In her enthusiasm, Dox had once robbed Paris of the pleasure of running a pre-flight check herself on a Runabout and wasn't making that same mistake again. The dangers of the next step of their mission was overshadowed in the preparation for this stage and the anxious aviatrix was happy for a task to occupy her mind.

As expected, Sonak was already there before everyone else, checking the sensors and computers of the diminutive crafts for final calibrations and perfect working order. He straightened up himself and his suit when his mission chief walked up to him. Nodding to the others, he stood at attention before Rita.

"At ease, Mr. Sonak," Rita called as he slid into a parade rest stance. "How are our little experiments today?"

''Every system nominal, Commander. The integrated tricorders of our EVA suits have been properly prepared and checked for the mission ahead. The Engineering craft has extra tools, fuel and oxygen reserves in case the other two are in need with one industrial replicator crammed at the back. The Science vessel has sufficient magnetic bottle containers for any sample we may judge relevant to take and a boosted up transporter and tractor beam for emergencies. Your Command craft has an extra cargo of micro-torpedoes, and one additional phaser mini turret at the back in case of unavoidable conflict."

The Vulcan presented a PaDD with all the specs and confirmed status as he finished.

"All pods are equipped with metaphasic remodulating shielding, with the Laforge program 1 installed. EM reinforcement is present on all systems, with manual overrides and the original warp signature masking nacelles. Starfleet stealth plating and combat armor similar to the original Scorpion fighters is still in place. This is, of course, but a brief summary of the overview of the changes made to these spacecraft. We are now ready to deploy, Commander.''

Cracking a smile, Paris ran her fingers lovingly over the canopy of the gold craft that matched her armor exactly, down to the antique Starfleet delta on the wing that she bore on the left breast of her exploration armor. "Excellent news, Mister Sonak- most appreciated. All right, we all know the mission- all three of these craft have scanning capabilities which will coordinate with our own suits, so our primary task is to take in-depth scans to determine what sort of life is on this planet, how stable her core is, what lingering effects of being transformed by protomatter might have and ideally collect samples for analysis both onboard and by Starfleet Intelligence."

"This is not meant to be a combat mission." Commander Paris reinforced. "However, there are now native life forms and they have been described initially as resembling the variegated species of Earth from millions of years ago, when reptiles and amphibians were the dominant life forms. As we will be operating in atmosphere, there is the possibility of encountering them, and they may be hostile.''

''Territorial aggressiveness and predatorial fear will undoubtedly cause some of those life forms to react negatively to our presence,'' Sonak agreed. ''But contrary to common belief, they will not be out there to eat you. We will be odorless and our alien shape, appearance and movement will undoubtedly confuse them, if we illicit any interest or even any awareness at all. We do not appear either as food or predator on this world, so they will mostly ignore us or keep their distance, unless they have enough intelligence to be curious. Expect this from lifeforms that may have evolved in similar ones to dinosaurians or early avians and mammals, which on Earth were indigenous to this stage of evolution. The elevated number of predatory plants will represent our main problem; but they can be easily avoided by keeping our distances from them. In any case, our suits should protect us long enough from natural poisons and acids to allow escape or rescue, even if we fall victim to some.''

''All excellent points, Mr. Sonak; thank you for that insight. So, the order of the day is, let's try not to despoil a virgin world, but defend yourselves. We can cover far more area and accomplish much more detailed scans as a divided trio, but be aware that we may be called at a moment's notice to regroup and rescue one another. Are there any questions... and has anyone seen Yeoman Dedjoy?"

“Then why are we here, Commander?” asked the gunner’s mate who had been excited about field testing experimental aircraft fire control systems, who was now hearing this was likely going to be a boring sightseeing mission.

“Because we’re Starfleet, Miss Lu. We approach in friendship and diplomacy, but we are always prepared for trouble,” Paris responded patiently. “So you’re here in case there is trouble, in which case I might need a gunner while I do some fancy flying to accomplish our mission. On the bright side, I believe Ensign Gonadie created all-new interfaces for said tactical systems, so you will be the first to investigate them from a user perspective, so I’ll be expecting a detailed report from you post-mission.”

Leave it to Paris to take a sullen question and turn it into more work for the questioner.

“I’m sure Miss Dedjoy will be along. Let’s mount up and get our preflight checks taken care of, so we’re ready to take off, and see just what these babies can do, shall we?” Paris suggested, moving the mission along. “Miss Lu, you’re with me. Miss Purrr’a, you’re with Lieutenant Dox. Yeoman Dedjoy will be accompanying Mr. Sonak.”

"Aye, Commander," Dox replied as she gestured to the half-Caitian Ensign to follow her to the Cherry Bomb. Once the two were secured in the cockpit, Dox in the front seat and Ensign Purrr'a in the slightly elevated rear seat, Dox closed the canopy and quickly ran through the pre-flight sequence.

"As these systems and interfaces are brand new, we'll be running through them here for the same time together, Ensign Purrr'a. So if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask." Dox said back lightly over the shoulder as she ran the ship through its pre-flight checks.

"Underrrrstood, Lieutenant," the aptly named Purrr'a replied, running a systems check on the tactical interface.

After a moment, she opened the comm system to the other two Cyclones. "Cherry Bomb to Getaway Driver. Pre-flight check is clear. All systems in the green and comm is established." Dox called out with a slight smile.

That was when Yeoman Ila Dedjoy finally ran out onto the flight deck in a red and black ballistics padded EV suit. "Sorry I'm late, Commander! Some scan data finally came back from our probes and I had to brief the Captain. Gaia is beginning to slow and take on a female humanoid form as she's approaching her next target system and the internal metabolic readings are off the charts. She's also apparently preparing enough projectiles for all seventeen solid celestial bodies in the target system, including moons. Her adjusted arrival is twenty seven hours. Where do you want me? In the blue one with Lieutenant Sonak?"

"Indeed, Miss Dedjoy. The Curiosity is the Cyclone model with the greatest scanning capabilities, and as our resident geologist you should have more insight than most when interpreting the data," Paris broadcast over the channel she'd created and added Dedjoy to as well. "Getaway Driver reporting preflight checks complete. Mister Sonak, does Curiosity check out?"

''Affirmative,'' came the reply of the chief science officer. ''I just recalibrated the sensors to better sensitivity to protomatter as an early warning and guidance system. I have also reprogrammed the sensor computer to encompass and contain all the data the Federation has on early planetary and biosphere evolution. We will be both able to produce detailed data analysis results faster by a factor of plus fifty-three point seven percent. Our sensor readout will be linked with your own comm systems, in order to share our findings in real time.''

"Spectacular," Paris responded, then set the mission briefing. "We'll fly a coordinated search pattern from orbit, then plot the atmospheric scans from that data to determine what patterns we'll follow up with in atmospheric scans. We're not here for a fight, so let's not start one. I'd rather not have to report back to the Captain that we scratched up her shiny new spacecraft. Hera Flight Control, the is Away Team One. We are seeking clearance to take off on vector 119 mark 5. Preflight checks all clear, people?"

''All systems nominal, crew at station,'' answered Sonak after exchanging a confirming look from Dejoy, who produced an unmistakable thumbs-up.

"Aye, Commander," Dox replied, quite excited but maintaining her professional demeanor.

"Away Team 1, you are cleared for takeoff. Have a good time out there," came the response from Flight Control, as the trio of sleek and colorful craft had been quite the subject of discussion and cause for envy amongst many on the flight deck. For the shakedown mission, the Chief Science Officer was testing out the science vessel, the Chief Flight Control officer was taking out the assault model, and the First Officer was piloting the exploratory model. They left behind a great number of pilots who were awaiting their turns in the cockpits of the revolutionary new craft, adapted from what they had once been.

Those selfsame pilots were even more excited because it was a well-known fact that the improvements to these starcraft was only beginning, a hint of things to come.

Lifting gently off the deck, the trip of ships, flying in a tight 'v' formation behind Paris' golden-skinned craft passed over the heads of the crewmembers watching the launch from the lower flight deck. Seconds later, the three re-christened former Romulan Scorpions punched into the void of space from the hanger of the Hera. The light of the nearby star shimmered across the metallic crimson, gold and teal hulls as they banked towards the protoplanet below.

From the crimson-clad Cherry Bomb, Lieutenant Dox called out to the trio. "Cherry Bomb to Cyclones. We are clear of the Hera. Vector for orbital pattern is entered and flight systems are synchronized. Search pattern formation delta six, form up on Curiosity."

''Moving to grid OO1A north vector,'' announced Sonak before angling his blue hull towards the designated northern pole of the planet, a blue-green and white oblate spheroid slightly tilted on its axis, way past the orbit of it's two spherical natural satellites of moderate size. The trio achieved standard orbit, 1000 km above the surface of the planet, then the crimson and golden craft split off when they hit the magnetic pole of the planet, arcing out to begin crisscrossing the outer atmosphere like electrons orbiting a nucleus as they performed orbital scans, as could the Hera were she close enough.

"High orbital scans complete. Decrease altitude to 500 km and repeat scanning pattern," Paris ordered as the colorful starcraft crisscrossed the globe of the virgin world that five solar days ago had been a desolate lifeless hunk of space rock with an atmosphere so thin as to be practically nonexistent. "What are we getting for readings so far, Mr. Sonak? Anything particularly troubling or merely fascinating? Has the protomatter matrix settled or is the planet still in a state of flux from the terraforming?"

''No detectable trace of protomatter,'' answered the chief science officer over the comm channel. ''The terraforming process is obviously completed. The current state of planetary conditions could be summarized as primeval, as expected; few but large land masses, widely spread and numerous volcanic and tectonic activity, dense biosphere with high atmospheric pressure and levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The flora and fauna must be quite dense and widespread, confirming the elevated life form readings we have.''

He sent them the accumulated sensor recordings as he finished his report summary.

'' Nothing so far that could be qualified as fascinating; but certainly interesting, if we are to consider the very young age of this planet and the advanced stage of evolution. Obviously, we are seeing an artificial planetary construct.''

He paused before adding;

''It will be most interesting to see if such lifeforms are copies of existing ones or if evolution has been given free rein here.''

"Looks like we're wrapping on the orbital scans. All right, time to test the atmospheric capabilities of the Cyclones, people. Miss Dox, you and I will do flyovers to cover the oceanic masses in a standard grid pattern. Let's keep it about 10 kliks off the deck, folks. That should be high enough for our sensors to observe without encountering much of the planet's wildlife. Feel free to slow down if you see something of interest come up, and keep an eye out for lifeforms at the altitude we're maintaining. We'll decide if we're going down from our scans at that altitude. Mister Sonak, you and Miss Dedjoy take the pulse of the planet on the surface masses if you please. Any questions?"

From the Cherry Bomb, Dox replied. "No, Commander. Atmospheric density is high. Vectors are entered for optimal entry."

''Negative, Commander,'' also replied Sonak. ''Plotting course for standard atmospheric entry, parabolic course projected for standard survey grid pattern over the northern continent. We will maintain open channel but expect forty-seven seconds of communication blackout until we all complete reentry.''

"Understood, thank you Lieutenant. All right folks, let's go be the first to lay eyes on a virgin world." Diving into the upper atmosphere, the excitement Rita Paris felt was unparalleled. She understood that Gaia was en route to more inhabited worlds, and she knew the clock was ticking, but this was pure exploration. This was going where no human had gone before, and exploring a literal new world. Only her tailgunner could hear her due tot he comms blackout, but Paris shared her thoughts with her subordinate.

"This... this right here. This is why I joined Starfleet," Paris pointed out the cockpit, which at the moment was a fiery trail of their smooth re-entry into the thick atmosphere. "To see what was out here, to boldly go, and to explore strange new worlds... and it doesn't get any stranger or newer than this. We don't know what we'll see, what we'll encounter, or what we'll discover. This is what Starfleet is really all about, petty Officer Lu. The wonders we discover..."

After a moment, the Cyclones slid smoothly into the dense upper atmosphere of the protoworld. As they did, Dox called out to the group, checking in the status of their communication systems. "Entry procedure complete. Lieutenant Sonak's search grid pattern entered into navigation, elevation set for ten kilometers. Comm systems reading green. Confirm?"

''Confirmed,'' replied the deep soft voice of the Vulcan chief science officer over the comm speakers. ''All systems nominal. We are implementing survey procedures over the northern continent in five point three seconds... mark.''

After a moment, the Cyclones slid smoothly into the dense upper atmosphere of the protoworld. As they did, Dox called out to the group, checking in the status of their communication systems. "Entry procedure complete. Lieutenant Sonak's search grid pattern entered into navigation, elevation set for ten kilometers. Comm systems reading green. Confirm?"

“Comms confirmed, altitude confirmed, search pattern laid in, and we are five by five,” Paris reported cheerfully, taking in the breathtaking vista of the brand new world. “All systems green. Looking good across the boards, so let’s go explore a planet, people. And maybe see some Earth prehistory in the process. Nothing like a dinosaur to liven up your day…”

With that said, Paris slid the maneuverable small craft on course, and as the brilliant blue waters sped by below, she brought up the global positioning marker as she assaulted latitude and Lieutenant Doc assaulted longitude, while Lieutenant Sonak focused on the land masses. These deep scans would bulwark the initial scans from the Ameratsu and the Photon, and provide Starfleet geologists the first close-up look at the virgin planet created by the whim of a higher being, using energies quite similar to the forbidden Genesis technology.

Yeoman Dedjoy had been able to ignore her fear of not only away missions but of flying and of dying by focussing on the scan data and tweaking the scanners to get the specific scan data types she needed. "Commander, these readings are amazing. If my estimates are correct, the protomatter matrix is completely stable and should be completely decayed within another three days, leaving this world as if it had just evolved this way naturally over billions of years. In fact, I'm showing signs that not only is the biological life still evolving rapidly, but the planet is as well. The atmosphere and planetary crust are adapting to fit that of a standard class M planet of a standard late Mesozoic to early Cenozoic era time frame. I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing insects and mammals in a matter of hours at this rate."

''Insects predates mammals by roughly three hundred and fifty million years on all evolutionary scales,'' Sonak specified as he also looked at the readouts. ''Most of their evolutionary tracts are intimately linked to that of plants which first populated land masses. They are also a structural offshoots of crustaceans which appeared even before cartilaginous fishes. Judging by the dense photosphere we detected, insectoid life forms must have been here for quite some time already. As for mammals; their eclosion parallels that of birds, dinosauria and reptiles but their prosperity was due essentially to massive extinction events which may not happen at all here, leaving other dominant lifeforms to stay dominant.''

“That would explain some of the massive migration herds I am reading on the sea floor,” Paris chimed in. “Apparently the local crustaceans are pretty darned large… well well well, six meters sans legs? That… is a very large crab,” Paris commented as the golden Getaway driver zipped across the ocean of the virgin world. “I’m also reading what look like horseshoe crabs… looks like most life on the planet has antennas. So far not picking up any mammalian lifeforms, but that’s no surprise given the science.”

From the Cherry Bomb, Dox reported in. "As far as large goes, I'm picking up a number of airborne life signs near the coastal region in my search region. Currently reading eight separate life forms on sensors clocking approximately seventy-five KPH at a current max altitude of three kilometers from the surface. And these things are big. Estimating a ten-meter wingspan, Commander."

Continuing, Dox added. "Recommend we avoid the coastline as that seems to be where they're congregating."

“Well, at this altitude we should be safe, Lieutenant. Although duly noted if closer scans are called for. Mister Sonak, what’s that looking like to you? Will we need to land to secure some samples of the local flora and or fauna for the survey?” Paris asked without any jocularity- this was serious business, and coming in for a landing put the personnel in harm’s way. But if it needed to be done, they were equipped for the mission. Although in the back of her head, she had already decided to discount the science starcraft if at all possible, as she was concerned for Yeoman Dedjoy. She lived in fear of dying on one of these alien planets doing something dangerous, and if she could help it Commander Paris was intent on not pushing the young woman to deal with such a situation.

"They may predate them, Lieutenant, but I'm talking about giant insects like what was just mentioned. Spiders and grasshoppers large enough to snack on the largest of trees and dinos."

''Have no such fear,'' Sonak told here deadpan.'' The structural characteristics and respiratory system of insectoid and arachnoids prevents them from reaching sizes larger than at most a meter or two, even in ideal conditions; physics are the same here as elsewhere in the universe. If you spot anything larger, they are definitely not of this biological genus. Crustaceans, however, are another matter; they grow their entire lives and have water to support their mass. If they have a long enough lifespan, the right environmental conditions like higher oxygen content and no major predators to threaten their existence, they might grow as large as what Commander Paris reported."

Ila was starting to get a little excited to see just what kind of multi-legged fauna was growing out there now. "Commander, recommend we descend closer to the treeline for better readings."

Internally Rita groaned. Leave it to scientific curiosity to override fear.

''Commander,'' then added the Vulcan; '' the large aerial lifeform you detected might be of a new unknown genus. On your planet, the only flying creatures to ever reach such sizes were flying reptiles of the pterosaur family like Queztacoatltus. It would be amazing if evolution here parallelled that of your homeworld.''

"All right... let us finish the surface scans and reconnoiter, and we will go in together so we can watch one another's backs. I read us as having another five minutes of surface scans before we've rough mapped the surface- Lieutenant Sonak, please choose a landing zone and we will reconvene there then descend." if there was a better idea she'd hear it- Sonak was not shy about speaking up when something needed to be said, and while Dox was still strictly adherent to rank and etiquette, she too would not be shy about speaking up if the mission were imperiled.

The chief science officer's reply came over the comm.

''There is no more data we can gather at current altitude. If we are to make accurate taxonomical studies and actual observations, we need to get within at least a few dozen meters of the tree canopy. Sample collections can be done safely but roughly with transporters. Precise selections will require a landing. If we do so, I recommend no more than two of our crafts on the ground while the third watches over. We should then choose a clearing, preferably on elevated terrain, so that any threat could be spotted from afar and downward.''

“Understood, Lieutenant Sonak. Please choose landing coordinates and we will convene at that location. Miss Dox, you will be on overwatch mode- please remain airborne and be our eyes in the sky, as well as our primary deterrent. Miss Lu, you and I will disembark to cover the science team while they work. Understood?” Paris called over her shoulder.

"Aye, Commander." Dox replied over the Comm before turning over her shoulder to address her tactical support. "Keep your eyes on those sensors, Miss. Purrr'a. We're on."

“Ah, ma’am, I didn’t bring a phaser rifle or a TR-116…” Petty Officer Lu replied dryly.

“You brought a type 2 phaser, Miss Lu, and we will still have the firepower of the landing craft. If you are afraid to set foot on the alien world with only a hand phaser, you may opt to remain behind and man the ship’s weaponry,” Paris shot back in what was supposed to be a scathing rebuke.

The old-fashioned officer was surprised when she received a “Thank you, ma’am, glad to.”

While she was disappointed, it still brought a smile to the face of the old-school officer. Back in the old days it would be herself and Sonak beaming down in their uniforms, armed with hand phasers and tricorders, counting on their communicators to call for help if they got in over their head. These modern explorers were afraid to leave the ship? How times have changed, she mused.

There was a fertile valley Sonak had chosen, with a prairie a healthy distance from a watering hole, where they could observe some of the planet's life forms gathering, while giving the opportunity to take samples with high visibility. Bringing the compact blue starcraft down, he was shadowed by his partner in gold, even as the crimson craft of the trio spun, taking snapshot scans to augment the real-time scans.

Hovering in an orbital pattern approximately two hundred yards overhead, the Cherry Bomb circled the perimeter of the landing zone, close enough for careful observation and intervention but not so close as to spook the newborn fauna.

With one eye on the sensors and one eye out the cockpit, Dox was maintaining a tight vigil. "Commander, a wide sensor sweep shows massive lifesigns all around. Likely insects, though. Nothing large enough to be a hazard through an EVA suit in range, though."

"Thank you, Miss Dox," Rita expressed as she touched down, then slapped her helmet down and depressurized the cabin before popping the canopy. Vaulting out, the gold-armored Valkyrie eyed the petty officer. "Keep your eyes on the sensors. If something wicked this way comes I want to be notified, and I want you to have a weapon trained on it. But fire control on my command only- are we clear on that, Petty Officer Lu?"

"Aye ma'am," Lu nodded, then was surprised when Paris closed the canopy, sealing her into the safety of the craft, much to her relief.

''Commander; We only need to get soil samples and a few simple vegetation specimens to properly analyze the basic biological makeup of this biosphere,'' Sonak stated through the comm. ''Soil bacteria and microorganisms will provide all the fundamental data we need and the phytomatter's genetic structure will be a proper basic pattern model for the more advanced life forms. For more complex ones like animals, simple observation and tricorder records will suffice for a preliminary survey.''

Monitoring the conversation from above, Dox chimed in quickly as her ships sensors began to light up. "Dox to landing party. We may get those preliminary surveys sooner rather than later. Sensors indicate multiple life forms... Currently picking up twelve blips, three point five meters in length moving in the canopy of the surrounding trees at nineteen KPH on your position from all around. Atmospheric interference isn't letting us get a clear visual on exactly what, but something coming."

Turing over her shoulder, Dox called back. "Ensign Purrr'a, get a phaser lock on the incoming targets, maximum stun setting."

The antique-appearing type 2 phaser that was magnetically locked to her right hip came out in a practiced motion, and Commander Paris moved to close the distance between herself and the two scientists. Phaser up and scanning the treeline, the extradimensional explorer watched her sensors, now picking up said movement in the distance. “I’ve got your back covered… you two gather your samples, and let’s not try not to test our first contact skills on the local life forms today.”

Sonak activated his tricorder.

''Detection confirmed, arachnoid-type lifeforms apparently jumping from tree to tree at five point two-seven meters per second and closing in a definite pattern. If they are indeed similar to Terran arachnids, they must have picked up the heat signature of our shuttles with their infrared sensory organ.''

The Vulcan turned his grey eyes to Rita.

''Commander; on your homeworld, arachnids are among the top of animal intelligence; just below cetaceans, great apes and octopi. And that is for those smaller than your hand. Considering the size of those approaching, their brain mass must be proportionately much higher. Commander, we might be about to make first contact with the native sentient life form on this planet.''

Leave it to the somber scientist to point out that the giant arachnids that most would assume were just hungry local lifeforms might be the dominant intelligent species on the planet. As per usual, he was probably right. But the safety of the landing party was her primary concern… although making first contact with a species that literally did not exist a few days ago was sorely tempting.

Quick decisions were the Commander’s forte, and this situation was no exception. “Pre-warp society, Mister Sonak- we’re not to interfere with the development of life here if we can help it. Discretion is the better part of valor, so please return to your ship and let’s be away from here before we can impact the natives any more than we already have. Dedjoy, load up- now. If we must make contact I’d prefer it be with minimal danger to the landing party.”

''Acknowledged,'' the Vulcan responded as he started moving back to Curiosity, his eyes still on his tricorder recordings..

Dedjoy quickly finished taking the soil, water, and moss samples she was sealing up and hopped back into the cyclone just as the black and purple arachnids came bouncing out of the tree lines, webbing trailing behind them like parachutes to ease their descent into the clearing. For a moment, the two largest of the dozen chittered at each other in a seemingly intelligent manner before simultaneously launching webbing at the two landed cyclones as thick and soft as silk rope, but as strong as steel cable and as sticky as super glue.

Over the comms came Dedjoy's voice in a soft murmur. "I've soiled my EV suit..."

From overhead, the Cherry Bomb swept down, in a precision maneuver. Phaser fire strafing a line in the ground between the spiders and the landing team that served as both a potential warning shot and a means to sever the webbing. "Shields are up, I'm bringing us between you and them, Commander. Ensign Purrr'a, keep that weapon primed for the rear flank. They're surrounding the team."

As she spoke, she brought the crimson craft in a low hover to block the advancing spiders on the landing team's most open flank.

"Mister Sonak, I am having a hard time believing they are interested in an intelligent discourse on cultural exchange. Load up and let's vacate now, if you please!" With that, Rita remotely triggered the canopy release on the golden exploration craft, hastily climbing in. "Anyone having any luck understanding them through the universal translator?"

As the spiders seemed to pause for a moment at the blasted trench, Dox called back. "Negative on translators, Commander. Our warning shot slowed them down, but they're on the move again."

As the dozen giant spiders moved around the cyclones and shot a few bits of webbing that flared out into nets at the away team, Dedjoy worked past her fear as best she could and ran the constant chittering through the computer systems she had access to. "The computer is getting something. It's very similar to Tholian but a lot more basic. I think they're communicating hunting tactics to each other and they think we're... Crunch bugs. A little bit more and I think I 'll have a working translation matrix."

''They are communicating through pheromones,'' Sonak understood as his nose picked up complex variations of smell. ''The universal translator has no olfactive system to pick those up nor algorithms to translate them. The sounds they make are just complementary to their main mode of communication, like our own body language is to our tongues. It would take months to build a baseline translation. A fascinating project... but impractical and dangerous at this time.''

"I think I've got the general idea, Yeoman, thank you." With Sonak buttoning up, Rita Paris did the same, sealing the craft, bringing the shields online and warming up the engines. "Heavy stun, tailgunner. Get us targeting and... oh, well, hello." The HUD on the canopy lit up as the system began autotargeting the giant colorful arachnids. As Rita brought the starcraft up, one of the spiders leapt at the golden vehicle, it's long legs spread wide. Accelerating upward, Getaway Driver made a game play of getting away from the giant spider, but two of those pedipalps managed to catch on her starboard wing, and the craft lurched back towards the ground as the spider's weight added to the strain on the engines.

Suddenly, a burst of stun fire streaked past Rita's canopy, knocking the spider off the Getaway Drivers wing. Spinning around slightly overhead, the turret of the Cherry Bomb was moving rapidly to stun or force back as many of the advancing creatures as possible.

Over the comm, Dox called out. "Commander, we need to move. The commotion seems to be attracting unwanted attention. Sensors show six of our coastal flyers inbound on our position. ETA is twenty-five seconds and now clocking one hundred and ten KPH."

''A possibly; predators alerted by the noise,'' suggested the Vulcan. “They should provide a reprieve for us, as we are meaningless to them, but I suspect not so much our new friends here.''

"This is turning into a party, isn't it? Fire at will, Tailgunner Lu," Paris ordered as she righted the controls and began to climb, although not as quickly as she was supposed to, as sticky webs were ensnaring the small craft. A few poonting noises from the undermounted TR-116C indicated the launching of incendiary grenades, which drove the arachnids back shrieking. The ensuing splashes of inflammable material made short work of the webs, giving the small golden craft the time it needed to gain some altitude as the flyers winged their way in.

As Dox pulled the nose of the Cherry Bomb up to try and pull up from the attacking arachnids, she quickly changed course, charging back into the fray near the ground to avoid the talons of an oncoming flying creature. It's wide, bat-like wings stretched out with a brilliant pattern of pinks and greens. The flyers were forcing the Cyclones to stay low. "Purrr'a, new targets! Set to heavy stun!" Dox called out as she posted power to the small craft's shields.

That's when a third threat suddenly reared its head. From the trees what could only be described as a cross between a chicken and a T-Rex with pink and brown feathers leaped out of the trees and pecked at one of the spiders, completely severing and gobbling up one of the arachnid's legs and nearly catching the blue cyclone with the leap. Screaming chittering commenced between the giant spiders, as they refocused their efforts on defense against the new threat and ignored the now retreating cyclones.

Over the comms could be heard Dedjoy's soft murmur. "I've soiled my EV suit again..."

With eyes staring wide for a second, Dox shook off the momentary surprise and refocused. "Hnave..." She muttered in Rihan. "Uh... Now that is a Thunderchicken." Dox joked to herself, forgetting her comms were open as she readjusted her course around the new obstacle.

"All right, brown alert aside, I think we've had enough excitement for one day... let's get orbital, people," Paris ordered over the comms, as the savage prehistoric battle waged below them on the alien planet teeming with life that five days ago had been a lifeless ball of rock in space. "Truly remarkable. I'm unofficially renaming this planet Dinotopia."

''Hardly accurate but certainly available in the planetary database,'' Sonak commented then suggested: ''Commander; have all crafts activate external lights.''

And so saying, he lighted up the outside emitters of Curiosity. The sudden flaring of light startled every creature in the vicinity; the intelligent arachnids froze, all their eight eyes wide. The winged ones veered off sharply in sudden fear and the walking predator steeped back dragging its first prey in instinctive apprehension. As the other two craft followed suit, this was all more than enough for the trio of small craft to shoot out in open sky, faster than any flying creature could ever hope to follow.

Once all three craft were safely back in orbit, Paris spoke over the comms. “Great work down there, people. Good teamwork, way to watch one another’s backs, and I’m very proud of all of you. What do you say we get these readings and samples back to the Hera, and hopefully they’ll render some clues as to how to deal with the entity who managed this.”

“After all, as beautiful and wondrous as this is, if we don’t stop her Gaia is going to start overwriting inhabited worlds like this,” the anachronistic astronaut reminded the away team. “We have to find a way to stop her- and this was an important step in that direction."

"Well done, all- let's go home.”