Away Mission of the Dead

Posted on Thu Jan 17th, 2019 @ 11:00pm by Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Asa Dael & Lieutenant Alex Sexton & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: Section 31-B Base
Timeline: 2396 - After arriving at the Section 31-B Installation

Yeoman Dedjoy was the first to arrive at the runabout Thor, suited up in a freshly minted MACO EVA combat suit. She had gotten here early so she could check the inventory of the ship and make sure all the weapons and armaments loadouts were accounted for personally herself and check through every listing one last time before the mission. As for her weapons loadout, she had an array of specialty tools on her mag-belt as well as one of the customized TR-116C2 rifles on her back, as well as a collapsed plasma saber built into each gauntlet. It was one of the nifty things she'd found in the vaults recently that she hoped she wouldn't have to try out herself.

As for the paint job on Dedjoy's armor, she had gotten authorization from the Captain to go with a simple red tracer line at the upper edges of the chestplate and to go with the same dark shadowed camo pattern that the Captain had on her own armor. It was a bit more sinister looking, but it might help her blend in better with her surroundings and if that helped her survive, then so be it.

Arriving early was the habit of Commander Rita Paris, particularly when she was the mission commander. The assignment was simple- infiltrate the Section 31 base with an away team, analyze the situation, rescue any survivors, locate the command center, secure whatever data is recoverable, then destroy the station. Some preflight checks on the heavy-duty little warship Thor, which seemed to be her go-to for away missions these days, then brief the team.

While she herself was sketchy on details, the briefing was going to be brief, but she was wasn’t taking chances. Atmosphere may have been breached or toxic- she had already put in for full decontamination protocls when the landing party returned to the Hera. Which meant that she was arriving on the flight deck clad in the gold and black armor that was still anachronistic for her to wear- after all, as command in the modern day she should be in crimson, not gold. But Rita had no desire to change her armor loadout until ordered to do so, and the antique delta on her chest bespoke of an era long since past.

On this mission, the bright gold would enable her crew to find her and rally to her. A visible commander inspired confidence, so while some might opt for the stealth plating option- which was still activatable on her armor- the golden girl of the Hera chose to stand out and be seen, because her crew needed that reassurance.

Walking around the sturdy vessel, Paris was surprised to encounter the stealth-armored Yeoman Dedjoy already arrived. Nodding to her, Paris continued her preflight checks. Given that she had yet to seal her helmet and was walking around with it retracted, Paris smiled at the large-eyed scientist. Time to test her resolve just a touch.

“This is liable to be very dangerous, Yeoman, and I want you to understand that before we shove off. We’ll protect you to the utmost of our ability, but there is still a high likelihood of peril, possibly extreme. Before anyone else arrives, I want you to be positive that you are willing to do this? It’s not an order for you to go, and I am not going to be anything but supportive if you want to stay or go. I have confidence that you are competent and capable and checked out on the gear, but before anyone else arrives, this is your chance. You can advise us through our suit scanners if you would prefer to stay home.”

Looking up from her inventory, Dedjoy smiled politely at the gold armored commander. "Commander, to be honest I'm probably the most scared person on this mission. I know the tech we're bound to encounter on that facility better than anyone else in the galaxy though, so... Yeah. I consider myself mission critical. Also, if I don't do this... I don't think my twin sister would forgive me. She was killed on a safer away mission than this, after all. Have to face those fears some day..."

“All right, Miss Dedjoy. Just remember- you are here as a technical expert. If there is trouble, we’re the ones paid to take the risks, not you. So I expect you to be sticking close to Doc Dael, and I want you to remember- I’ve done a lot of this crazy dangerous stuff, and running has saved my life more times than a phaser. Understood?” Paris laid an armored hand on the slight young woman’s shoulderpad, hoping to be reassuring.

"Understood Commander," replied Ila with a hopefully confident smile, which was rare for the woman. The last time she smiled was... Well... She couldn't remember.

Next to arrive was Lieutenant JG Doctor Asa Dael. As in previous encounters, Doctor Dael had elected to have their armor painted white with the red crosses on the shoulders, back, and front to signify they were a medic. They had a medical bag slung crossbody over their left shoulder, and were packed to the gills with sample collection containers, emergency medicines, stim shots, pain relievers, blood replacement hypos filled with nanobots that would act as emergency blood supply in a pinch, and an emergency sterilization phaser. Another small section of the bag held emergency rations and a canteen with enough water for two days for two people.

The armor’s belt carried their medical tricorder, a six foot section of rope, a standard phaser, and a PaDD. Built inside the armor was also a collection of 18 throwing knives of various sizes tipped in a sedative, four grenades, and 10 zip ties that could be used to restrain a captured combatant. They were in fact, strapped.

The doctor did not want a fight, and certainly did not want to see anyone hurt, but they had been in the thick of it more than once now, and knew that good planning could be the key to survival. As Asa approached Ila they smiled in greeting, happy to see her waiting.

“So, ready to go solve a mystery?” Asa inquired, eyebrows waggling playfully.

"Another day at the zoo, Lieutenant," Dedjoy replied mock cheerfully.

Alex stood in front of his four security personnel uniforms Red and Black with security gold accented armour. As they went down the check list together Alex called off the last thing he wanted them to check. "Ok, Heads up display on your tectical goggles shows you the status of all your gear. As long as you remember to breath and let your rifle recycle you will be fine. I suggest single fire because there is no recycle or power build up time. I think we are ready boys and girls. Let's get to out debarkation point." And they all filed out of security behind Sexton on route to the main shuttle bay to group up, with the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, back in the Shuttlebay, the main hatch of the Thor opened somewhat unexpectedly as Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox walked out with a PaDD in her hand. The young pilot and Chief Flight Control Officer of the Hera was clad in the standard, non-customized crimson and black armor and had a slightly stern look on her face as she went over the data on her PaDD.

"Wanted to get here early to run additional diagnistics. Pre-flight maintenance checks are complete," The stout redheaded Romulan had not yet gone on any away missions and was intent on being as prepared as possible.

"The Thor is in the green." Lieutenant Dox declared before smiling and nodding towards Yeoman Dedjoy and Doctor Dael.

“Looks like I’ll need to arrive 2 hours early if I want to beat the crowd,” Paris muttered to herself, mildly irritated that half the away team had beaten her to the transport when she showed up early. “Well done Miss Dox, very thorough. But then, that’s what I’ve come to expect from you.” The Commander offered a crooked smirk that looked like an imitation of the Captain’s piratical smile. “Want to rock paper scissors for who flies and who mans the weapons?”

The only partly human pilot was woefully inadequate when it came to Terran pop culture references and the like, but smiled as she actually knew 'rock, paper, scissors'.

"Both stations are prepped and ready, so if you'd like to take the helm for this, I'm fine taking weapons." Dox knew Rita Paris was a pilot at heart as well and didn't want to deny her the rare opportunity to fly if she wanted to, but still lifted her hand up in a loose fist shaking it back and forth a little.

"However, I am willing to accept that challenge." The generally anxious pilot returned Rita's smile.

While she’d been willing to yield the pilot’s seat- after all, while Lieutenant Dox might not say as much, Paris knew the Romulan helmsman was a better pilot- but having posed the challenge and seeing the young officer rise to the challenge warmed her heart. Holding out her fist, the big blonde eyed the little redhead with the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

“One, two...” and Paris extended her hand out flat- she had thrown paper.

At the same moment, Dox had brought her hand down, keeping it in a fist, throwing rock. "Hnave!" She cursed in Rihan, with a broad smile on her face and a clearly playful tone, perfectly fine with her loss.

Looking back at Paris with a smile, Dox replied. "The helm is your, Commander..." Then she squinted slightly, still with a half smile in place. "This time."

“It’s yours on the return trip, Lieutenant,” the cheerful commander declared. “We’ll take turns. Seems like the fair option. All right, we’re here, Doc’s here, I think our Security detachment should be here soon. I think we’re doing this one without an engineer, which means we’ll have to improvise a bit."

"Before we leave," Doctor Dael said at a volume intended to be heard, "I'd like to give everyone a broad spectrum dose of anti-virals and antibiotics. I normally wouldn't, as that's how super bugs happen over time, but considering where we are going, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

That said, the doctor handed a small green pill to each member of the away team, and led the way by popping one themself.

Following suit, Dox swallowed her pill as well. "Thank you, Doctor."

Alex gave the nod to his team. They took their pills. "Ok let's get on board guys. Soon we may be in the shit. Remember tight formations and quick head shots if you have to shoot, and we ain't taking no prisoners cause nothing an agent from Section 31 can tell us is going to be useful. And we don't need to bring no danger back on the ship. So explore as we go, gather Intel and data, get the team in and then out again. Stay alive, that's an order." And Alex turned and headed into the shuttle. He yelled over his shoulder. "Helmets on, get Comms check." As he led the team to their seats.

"In counterpoint, Lieutenant," Paris spoke up, not raising her voice because she wasn't fond of yelling but stressing the rank as she hoped the security officers understood chain of command. "Your orders are to protect the landing craft as well as the away team. We will analyze the situation, rescue any survivors if possible, locate the command center, secure whatever data is recoverable, then more than likely destroy the station."

"If there is combat, we'll deal with it in a coordinated effort, because this isn't a holodeck free-for-all, and if anyone gets shot by friendly fire I assure you, there WILL be hell to pay. We've got a mystery to solve- this isn't a bug hunt nor a shooting gallery. As the Lieutenant said, tight formations, protect the non-coms, and remember- we're Starfleet. We don't shoot first and ask questions later."

Internally Rita very much hoped she wasn't going to have to eat those words later.

"Now load up and strap in, folks. Time to go make some stories we'll tell our kids someday," Paris wisecracked to break the mood.

Alex listened as Security officers do. Then he looked at his team with that look that said. Yeah right. You know the one. Each member of the team was on the same sheet of music. They were determined to make it back at all costs. But they were Starfleet, which accounted for a lot. “Ok team let’s get ur done!” Replied Sexton.

"The works of Larry the Cable Guy survived to the 25th century," Paris observed as she fired up the engines. "Some days just make it hard to believe in humanity. Hera flight control, this is landing party one in the runabout Thor, requesting clearance to depart the flight deck, pad 5, copy?"

=^= You are cleared for takeoff, Thor. Captain says 'go make an impression' =^=

"Don't think that's gonna be a problem..."