Doctors Bonding Part 1

Posted on Thu Jul 30th, 2020 @ 10:22am by Emergency Medical Hologram (Adam Power) Mk X & Kodria Mizu & Lieutenant JG Tovanna Mah & Ensign Tanaak Sado & Lieutenant Tyra Ironhooves
Edited on on Thu Jul 30th, 2020 @ 10:23am

Mission: Heart and Soul
Location: Training Holodeck Three
Timeline: 2397

Doc Power was at the training holodeck early, browsing over the details of the scenario they had agreed upon at their last meeting. He had loaded the program in a paused state and was standing just inside the arch, dressed in a stylized version of a green and brown archer's outfit complete with quiver and bow. This was the last time he left his choice of period specific apparel up to the program as he felt more akin to a... Well, he wasn't rightly sure to be honest. He was fairly sure that he wasn't the type to take on the role of an archer or a Robin Hood style though.

As the massive double doors opened, the ship's EMH looked up from the oversized training arch and smiled broadly. "Good morning! It's good to see you here early as well."

Tovanna looked up at Adam Power delighted to see he was dressed for their adventure. While she hadn't insisted on the team wearing anything specific it was indicated they would be going on a medieval excursion. She herself was dressed more the style of what looked to be a cleric with a long skirt and two knives strapped to her hips. It was the most feminine the doctor looked since coming aboard with her hair in a complex series of braids on top and the rest loosely running down her back. She looked as if this style of dressing was much more comfortable and natural than her daily uniform in the way she moved easily with her skirt, "Well good morning Adam. I just finished the finishing touches on the program. I am no expert of such games but have done what I can to base a loose little bit of fun for us today. So what shall we call you today? Lord Power? Adam the Rogue?" she laughed sweetly at the thought of their crew being a band of adventurers.

With a thoughtful nod, the holographic doctor nodded. "I quite like the sound of that, actually. By day I'm a mild mannered doctor. By night I'm a crime fighting warrior known as Lord Power." With that, he did his best to strike a heroic pose but lost it and started laughing halfway through his attempt. "Well, we'll see. I have confidence in my skills in sickbay at least."

As the holodeck doors opened, they admitted Lieutenant Ironhooves, who had apparently played this game before. Heavy dark iron armor, pitted and scarred from numerous battles was present in large bulky shoulderpads, a breastplate, one arm guard that appeared to be a buckler on her right forearm, and an oaken shield banded by riveted iron on left arm. Between those armored plates was chainmail of emerald green, where it was not also torn and scraped in an old injury. Plates covered her equite back and flanks, although her legs and hooves were unprotected.

Hefting a rather large and somewhat improbable-looking mace bulging round riveted studs over her shoulder, the Arborean warrior looked around, her rather impressive mane of hair fitted through her somewhat Spartan-style helmet tossing about like a battle standard.

"I am here, prepared to stand with the... medical command team, in this bonding through... play acting battlefield warfare... trust building exercise," Ironhooves managed to declare, although it was clear she was still having a bit of trouble with the layers of complexity it all. Her tone was not mocking nor dismissive- it was clear the difficulty was in framing what she was trying to say in thje proper context.

Obviously she was onboard for the exercise, as her gear did not look like anything the replicator had spit out on command.

Tova looked at Lieutenant Ironhooves as she entered and did a doubletake, "You look well prepared for battle doctor, I am quite impressed. I think you can officially be assured you are the most practiced fighter among us. Might you possibly help Dr. Power and I with the question of if he should be called Lord Power or Power Ranger?" She giggled looking at Dr Power and asked him to look up the series and explain its heroic nature as she sat down knowing she was about to get an ear full.

"A lord rules over lands and cares for his people, so Lord wouldn't be quite right. Power ranger... you might have it programmed, but you don't look like much of a woodsman to me. Perhaps as this is a make-believe battle, your make-believe title should suit you and inspire you, Doctor Power?" the centaur hefted the mace as she spoke, spinning it in her hands and taking a few experimental swings with it even as she adjusted her shield straps.

As Doc Power stepped a bit further out, drew an arrow, and pulled it back on his bow with seeming ease, he thought about it a bit further. After a moment of thought, he released the arrow and sent it flying across the landscape to spear a fruit growing on a tree at least a hundred yards away. "I think... Just Adam is fine."

"Adam Archer I'd say, with an eye like that," Ironhooves commented as she moved in, admiration evident in her eye. "You are always that accurate? How fast can you reset and fire?"

"Madam, I am one of the best physicians ever to exist within Starfleet," Adam replied, quickly pulling out three arrows and firing them all off in quick succession, nailing three more fruits from the same tree, though the third one was not completely centered. "It seems these arrows are to me just an extension of my normal laser scalpels."

Grinning at the holographic healer, the middle-aged centaur dam did a little pony prance. Despite all of her grumbling in getting here, it was clear that she was growing excited for the exercise. "Oh, this is getting more interesting by the minute! I cannot WAIT to see what the Minotaur is bringing to this!"

Tova smiled at the excited centaur, "And how shall we address during our adventure you my lady Ironhooves?"

That brought something of a smirk to the face of the battle-scarred veteran. She was, in point of fact, High Priestess of the Green, Lady Ironooves, granddam of the Ironhooves Clan, of the western steppes, speaker for the Green and speaker for the dead. Destroyer of Uggoth the Unknowable, banisher of Chase the Destroyer, Handmaiden of Armageddon. While a battle lord and respected wielder of potent magicks on her homeworld, here she was just a doctor, a physician of mediocre skill and extensive training. Thus she skipped on the formalities which would be meaningless to her comrades in arms here, and instead went both simple and humble.

"Just Ironhooves will do, Doctor. I have encountered no others in Starfleet. So I suspect, like myself, my name is unique, easy to remember and as three syllables, unlikely to be confused with any other battlefield commands," the cranky centaur summarized.

Tova's head quirked to the side as she considered Ironhooves and she nodded deciding not to push at this point, "Very well, I must say however I am intrigued by your armor. I hope at some point you will share some of the tales of how it came to see such wear."

"The battle of Stonebreak Plain. The battle of Barog's Bit Pit. The assault on the city-state of the Imperial Overlord. The battle of Birbaum Tor. The battle of Seven Armies," Ironhooves rattled off in an offhand manner. "I don't remember them all, they were so long ago. But there were battles, yes... on a world called Arboria, which is not part of the Federation, which is off-limits to Starfleet as a protected sanctuary world as it is pre-warp. Not a lot of point going into it as it is the past, not the present, and will play no role in our future." While she was dismissive, it was clear to anyone with eyes that bringing up her home planet and her past was not the favorite subject of the fantasy warrior, who now found herself explaining exactly that.

Tova nodded in empathy and respect having more than once been grilled about her race, its demise and the culture she lost. She knew the look Ironhooves had given and was sure she herself had done so as well, though buried behind a mask of smiles and generational distance, not that of one who was part of the culture itself. She resumed gathering their supplies, not saying anything more on the subject.

All heads turned as the doors slid open once again and Ensign Sado swept into the room in rather luxurious robes. Swathes of black silk with gold accents hung from one shoulder, crossed at his waist, and swirled around his legs. Underneath, he wore a form-fitting vest and pants made from the same materials. His dramatic collar revealed dark green velvet lining, and it didn't appear he'd brought a weapon with him. He reached up with his exposed arm to run his fingers along the ridges of one of his curled horns, drawing attention to a simple gold earring in his right ear.

"Good morning," the horned Ensign called with a small wave as he approached, grinning from ear to ear to see that he hadn't overdressed. "Tanaak the magician, at your service," he said with a bow and a flourish of his arm. "Though I suppose I should ask what the house rules for magic are to be."

"Good day Tanaak, it seems we have a magician with our group now. As for rules of magic, I would think anything that would make the adventure too easy would merely escalate the difficulty as we move along, so take care with what you use," mentioned Tova as she pulled a scroll from her cloak, "so now who would be best at managing our map?"

"Well, I could take a look at it," Doc Power replied as Tova unfurled the scroll. Then the holographic life form's face fell. "Nevermind. I don't know what any of these symbols mean. Is this supposed to be the heart or the brain?" he asked, pointing towards a graphic clearly labeled as a castle.

Tova looked at Adam and smiled. Apparently cartography was not a skill set included in his database, "Maybe I should handle this," she pointed east, "this way. We should be able to reach the outskirttng villages of Castle Nightengale soon." She continued leading the way for her team as they made their way along a well worn path. "It seems or assistance is needed to help with a rash of illnesses that have been coming up and can not be healed by the lord's healer or the local medicine women. There is a curse suspected from within and we are being asked to help no matter what plagues them. A fitting mission I hope?"

"I'm still curious as to how this simulation will deal with a simulation of magic, but yes, the mission seems reasonable. Will we be solving this challenge through applied science then?" Ironhooves asked, moving at a sedate pace to remain with the party.

"For the most part yes," Tova nodded to Ironhooves, "but there are simulations for spells if they were input," she looked at Tanaak pointedly and smiled, "on the other hand what is magic? What one civilization calls magic, another calls an ability be it natural or technological. For example the majority of my people can naturally detect space-time continuum some especially well. Is that magic? For us no, it is merely part of who we are as people with varying levels of ability. At one point in the history of Terra you and Tanaak would have been looked upon with wonder and awe for being a magical being, you would have been worshiped. You were what humans dreamed of." She smiled gently at the two as she remembered the many hours she spent in museums growing up and shrugged.

Internally the high priestess took the lecture about the nature of magic in stride and didn't bother to correct the chief medical officer. That was decades ago and lightyears away, and the less the rest of the 'civilized' galaxy knew about actual magic, the better, Ironhooves had long ago decided. She also noted there was still no answer to Sado's question save that he should have apparently taken it upon himself to adjust the parameters of the exercise to accommodate his desire to do something other than be a bruiser. The old country doctor noted the leadership style and said nothing, just observing and diagnosing.

The path before them narrowed slightly and turned sharply as they descended into a glade before them. There were wildflowers of various types, flying insects and other flora and fauna. Tiny fluttering leaves fell upon them as they proceeded into the glade and they could hear the groaning of wood despite a lack of wind. The glade looked undisturbed and was encircled by trees all around it, no distinct train leading out of the glad for them to proceed upon.

"So are we to be using tricorders on the local flora and fauna to see if it is an airborne allergen or agent causing the malady, or are we attempting to use the simplest methods, and 'roughing it'. I'm still a bit unclear on that point," Ironhooves admitted.

"I don't think tricorders fit the theme," replied Doc Power as he notched an arrow and eyed the trees warrily. "Besides, judging by the disturbances of the trees and the movement of the shadows within them, I do believe we have just walked into a dangerous situation. I believe the phrase 'we failed our observation check' applies."

Tova nodded looking around at the trees and glade as they seemed to creak more. She looked behind them, "Problem confirmed, the path behind us is gone." She looked at the team and pointed to the trees at the edge of the glade, "Is it me or does the treeline seem denser than when we entered?" She looked up at the top of the trees and saw movement all around them. "Suggestions?"

"To simplify things, I suppose I'll stick to spells that relate to atmospheric conditions; water, ice, electricity," the medic turned mage said, eyeing the trees. "That being said, any of us who can target multiple foes at once might get ready to do so." Tanaak held up his palms and tested his ability to call up his desired effect, arcing tiny bolts of lightning between his fingers. "I think this would also be the time to set up a plan of defense. Shall we take them on back to back, or split up to give each other room?"

"Stay together," the old warhorse grunted as she unlimbered and strung her bow in a practiced motion. She spoke in a low, hurried and hushed tone that the others could hear, but anyone distant would not. "We've not worked as a team, and any distance between us will invite friendly fire. We are four points of the compass- chose a heading and guard that flank, back to back, and call out when you need help. Begin with range but be prepared for close quarters."

A flash of white went between the trees near the ground and then a wolf appeared. The fur of its nose, ears and forepaws were white but faded to a verdant green which led to an eventual mossy fur at the rear of the animal. It chuffed as it entered the grove and trotted toward the front of the group, tail high in the air looking at the group. It stopped for moment looking at Tanaak with a curl of its lip and staring at them, not moving.

Doc Power glanced over his shoulder at the beast, still covering his area with his bow and arrow. "Is it friendly? It doesn't look friendly..." he whispered nervously as it approached.

Tail up, head up, it certainly didn't look like it was hunting to her. Ironhooves held her arrow knocked, but bent over some to reach out with an open hand in a sign of friendship and welcoming.

The wolf sniffed the air and looked at the group as it paced back and forth. Tova pushed Adam's arrow down toward the ground, "It's not attacking, hold." The wolf started to circle towards Ironhooves from a distance, stopped and looked at her outreached hand yet looking at the weapon in hand eyeing her.

Shrugging, the four-footed physician hooked the strung bow over one shoulder, dropping the arrow into the quiver with a practiced ease and showing both hands to the local wildlife like a blackjack dealer. "It's alright... we're not here to do harm if we don't have to defend ourselves. We come in peace, friend."

Returning his arrow to its quiver, Adam stood down and relaxed a bit, though his eyes were still on the treeline. "I admit that since my patients are humanoid, I'm not very good at reading non-humanoid life forms. Please relay my appologies."

The wolf passed by Adam and Tova stopping near Ironhooves and chuffed as it slowly continued to circle around the group eyeing Tanaak lip raised in a curl. "Tanaak, loose the lightening," said Tova noticing the wolf's behavior.

"Not uncommon for landing parties to encounter native life forms that may be suspicious of outsiders," Ironhooves spoke in calm, friendly tones as she conveyed her thoughts to the medical personnel. "So it's not uncommon for use of Starfleet contact protocols. Patients who can't or won't communicate in traditional fashions aren't common, Archer, but a good point to recognize an area to work on, Power. I'm not good with diseases myself- too darn many of them in the galaxy. There you go, see, he's reigning it in. We're not hostile, we still come in peace. You can call out your pack if you like, we won't harm anyone unless we have to defend ourselves. Which we won't have to do, because you and your pack want much the same thing."

Tova nodded, "Agreed Ironhooves, seems we have stepped into this wolf's grove," she looked down and away from the wolf submissively. The wolf trotted up the the group and sniffed at them all eyeing them, seeming to settle on something. Finally after a moment it chuffed and ran toward the edge of the grove as a path appeared and the trees creaked and rustled. It stopped at the edge of the path and looked behind at the group and ran back toward them pacing in front of them again and running back toward the path. "Looks like we are being directed forward, shall we?" Tova started forward toward the wolf.

"Doctor Power, if you wouldn't mind watching the rear flank, I think you've got the sharpest eyes. Sado, take the front flank- you're quick and large, a good combination. Unless you had a plan you wanted us to follow, Chief?" Ironhooves said it flatly, without emphasis, but the undercurrent was not hard to read- if you are to lead, you must lead..

Tova quietly moved forward following the wolf, "The only plan I have for my doctors and field medic is for them to follow field protocols as we were all trained to do. Since there are only four of us and we are not in a time sensitive situation then, it would seem an all around security wedge formation would be the most logical approach during this time. I expect all of my medical team to understand this at their level off training and rank, wouldn't you agree?" She glanced over her shoulder at her team as she moved along, then returned to watching the animal before them not loosing site of the wolf. "Perhaps one thing that we shall all learn during this team building exercise is that your CMO approaches leadership with a polite bedside manner when possible and has the highest expectations of her team."

"That would be something beneficial to learn," Ironhooves agreed, bringing up the rear of the recommended formation as the most fleet of foot. "Since we're talking about our approaches, aside from children my bedside manner... lacks. Half the time they are dying to ask me questions, the other half of the time they don't believe I'm a doctor. Part of why I specialized in surgery- they don't talk to me while I'm working. Pre-op and post-op I prefer to leave to the nurses if possible, or I just keep the conversation to a minimum. Less room for misinterpretation that way."

Tova nodded as she continued following their guiding wolf never taking her eyes from it in case of traps or areas of danger for her team. "That is the purpose of this adventure, to learn about each other, how we each work in a simulated scenario. As for your capacities doctor, given my experience in the private sector and my work with Starfleet, I find they are hardly insurmountable issues." She slowed as did the animal they were following as they approached a much smaller clearing of trees. The treetops were so dense it was shadowed yet there was a glow between the high grass as they approached. The wolf came to a stop and sat close to one of the trees near the glow. Tova held her hand to call a halt, "Ironhooves, please keep us covered with Sado, Power with me, weapon low but ready."

"Aye," replied the holographic life form, his eyes alert for anything. He had his bow at the ready in one hand and his other hand was ready to pull an arrow and notch it in an instant should anything happen. He chose this stance to be less threatening, yet surgically on guard.

As they crept forward Tova and Power could see a small round opening in the trees with two wolves laying facing the center, glowing area. The animals both raised their heads as the doctors entered yet settled back down quickly. Tova knelt down to look within the glowing area, a nest, within she found a small woman lying curled up with wings wrapped around her. The small woman gave off a cool blue glow as she shivered. Tova picked up the nest gently as the wolves whined at her and turned to Dr. Power. "I think we found out what we were being led to, let's see if our team can handle such a diminutive patient." She slowly walked toward her team, "Anyone have any experience with healing ummm," she looked at the little woman unsure, "fairies?"

"I think they drink restorative elixirs from the bells of the flowers, collecting the morning dew. This one's not my patient," Ironhooves explained as she thunked her war mace to her breastplate, both ringing with the sound of metal on metal. "Cold wrought iron. My shoes as well. On my world the fae were... malicious."

Tova's ears rang a bit with the clang of metal, "Did you just say you came from a world that had fairies Ironhooves?" She shook her head and looked at the nest in her hands and then her eyes flashed up revealing the soul of the woman over sixty she kept very well hidden, "At some point I've gotta get you drunk and we can trade stories about long lost worlds we'd rather not share with strangers woman." Tova looked to Sado, "How about you? Any fairy folk where you come from?" She looked at the tall man with interest.

"Can't say that there are. We've legends of blue hooved gods with eyestalks that would give our centaur and andorian friends something to talk about, but nothing quite so..." the magical medic bent over the trembling being and tilted his head. "Delicate." Tanaak stood up to his full height again and looked around at his companions. "If the fae has a physical aliment, one that's familiar, we're certainly group to treat it. If it's magical, and that wouldn't surprise me at all, we might take the creature with us and pursue that restorative elixir angle. In the meantime, if the poor thing is cold, perhaps I should be the one to carry her. Oriasi blood runs hot."

"Well Tanaak, it looks like you are now the walking heating source for our little patient. I will get on collecting the needed items for some basic remedies I know of as we move along to our destination," said Tova as she began walking with her team, the wolves letting them pass without challenge, "let's resume formation shall we. If nothing else seems we are learning about each other already. Seems Adam is quite the marksman in addition to a fruit carver however cannot read a map all that well." She smiled sweetly at him.

"We have learned our lovely Ironhooves has seen her share of battles, and is as hesitant to speak of her homeworld as I am." She nodded her head to the doctor in obvious respect, "Tanaak you seem to be the gentle, hot blooded giant from a world of equally endowed people and gods. Quite an impressive team thus far. Let's continue our journey and see what else we can learn."

The path before them was less traveled yet still worn. It led in the direction they were originally heading towards Castle Nightingale. Tova looked at the map and to her team, "We need only go only that rise and we will be on the outskirts of the town that surrounds the castle. In the meantime is anyone familiar with flowers?"

"Not without a tricorder," Ironhooves shrugged broadly. "Alchemy wasn't much of a focus of my sect."

"I am able to differentiate between over three hundred million plant based life forms within Federation space and can diagnose the viability and healing uses and properties of innumerable more just based on my own senses," interjected Doc Power, looking a bit sheepish. "Apparently someone at Starfleet Medical thought that it was a necessary database to add to my matrix."

"Makes sense. You have a perfect memory and can scan at high efficiency. Makes sense to stuff you with as much potentially helpful data as possible," Ironhooves snorted. "So why the question about flowers, Doctor?"

Tova was unsurprised by Power's knowledge base given the type of work they did and nodded, "Actually it was you Ironhooves and what you said about morning dew and flowers. An extract based upon certain flowers can actually be quite clean. It lacks contaminants such as dirt and bug parts especially if it is a morning blooming flower. Such extracts are also quite easy to absorb and less likely to trigger any histamine reaction, thus it makes sense that what seems to be a fae healing technique is actually the basis for modern medicine. If our little patient is suffering from a serotonin shortage from a recent birth or another issue this can be solved by an extract of clean water mixed with..." she thought for a bit, "Powers keep an eye out for Cocks-Foot, Silvergrass, or possibly Xyridaceae." She stopped and looked at the fairy who was now glowing a soft pink instead of blue, "If she has been through a stressful or traumatic event recently, that could be an issue. There could also be an issue with her tryptophan which led to the serotonin if that is indeed the problem so we should keep an eye out for a supply of pumpkin seeds as well, "she looked at Tanaak, "if nothing else they are nutrient rich. She is looking better Tanaak, keep her warm." She turned to continue on their path, "Keep the inspiration coming Ironhooves and your eyes open"

Adam snapped his fingers as a thought struck him, "I hadn't thought of it as a hormone or chemical imbalance. I was assessing it as a bacteriological illness. In that case..."

Without hesitation, he drew an arrow and gently fired it straight up into the tree they had been walking under. Moments later the arrow fell back into his hand, followed by a delicate pink and white blossom the size of his palm. "We're walking under a tree covered in Farezniad Galandia, a flowering vine native to tropical areas of Betazoid and known for its highly intoxicating scent due to the high levels of natural estrogen and serotonin in the pollen. I believe a highly prized chocolate liquor is distilled from it."

Tova stopped and laughed, "And here I was looking at the ground for flowers, it didn't strike me to look up. Well then let's see if our theory is sound shall we? Ironhooves, do you have anything on you that can serve as a mortar and pestle among your gear or you Mr. Sado? It would be more effective to grind up the flower and go the route of steeping it. I can strain it through some of the cloth I have to wrap wounds." She looked to both Sado and Ironhooves in hopes but had a backup plan if not.

"I can grind it, but you'll need water and a fire if you plan to make tea," Ironooves held out her armored three-fingered hand for the flower, pulling out a simple wooden bowl from her pack and using the hilt of her war mace to begin pulverizing the blossom. Waterskin we have, but a kettle we have not."

"I have a small tin coffee pot in my pack," Adam offered as he pulled out the single serving percolator and half a dozen varieties of coffee grounds to the stares of his comrades. "What? On most worlds coffees are one of the oldest tonics and often prescribed for a variety of reasons. Should I use an arrow to make a friction fire or does someone have an easier method?"

"I would suggest a bit of Sado flame to make it like a floral tea, not too strong. We can then administer the med to our tiny patient via a drop method." Tova smiled at her team, "I like seeing the way our team works together. It's a shame you didn't bring a second coffee tin, I could use a cup."

Having stooped to gather some dry leaves, Tanaak set them aflame with a spark. "I feel I'd be going back on my word if I started streaming fire from my hands," he mused, manipulating the flames anyway. "However, directing oxygen would certainly be within the parameters I set for myself as a weather magician." The fire grew tall between his hands, then died down to a manageable flicker, the magician quite finished showing off.

"Well, I can't be perfectly prepared. I am only the product of my programming and experiences, after all," Doc Power replied as he busied himself with the small tin pot. "Though that isn't to say that I don't have some salt and herbs. You know... In case we want some roast chicken. Not that I need to eat, mind you."

"We're all products of our programming and experiences, Power. That just makes you like the rest of us material spirits," Ironhooves grunted in observation.

"Ready for that coffee tin," Tanaak interjected, thanking Doc Power when he handed over the prepped pot.