Posted 21 June 2018 - 11:06pm by Ensign Stargazer (Sec) (Scarlet Olivia ) Posted by Lt. Cmdr. Collin Harding (Chief Medical Officer) in Transporter Room 1 –> Timus, the big Island : Posted by Deus Ex Machina (Gamemaster, GM) in Transporter Room 1 –> Timus, the big Island : : Posted by Lt. Cmdr. Collin Harding (Chief Medical Officer) in Transporter Room 1 –> Timus, the big Island : : <snip> : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The figures reappeared on what was a very pretty beach. There were trees that seemed to be subtropical in nature and the weather was warmish, maybe in the low 80s Fahrenheit. There were more than a few boats in sight, and they seemed to have beamed down near a make shift dock. It certainly wasn’t very busy or highly populated at the landing party could only see four or five people. The boats likely carried more. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : GM : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The smell of the sea hit his nose and he breathed deeply, the sand under paw was warm from the sun and his toes dig in as the new world rushed around him. The gravity settled on his bones and he felt like he had been starving, but now set near a meal. He didn’t care what the humans and vulcans said otherwise, being on a planet filled ones bones differently than being on a ship. The pulse of the world thrummed in the air, the only place a ship had a heart was where it’s core lay. “Alright, lets fan out and get these people out of here, Doc stay with me, you and I will sniff out any injured and find out who might have to be tracked and led back to safety. We stay in pairs, take no risks and with any luck we will slip past any insectoid surprises.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : —Star : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Collin, too, took a moment to enjoy the warm and humid air. The holodeck helped keep him sane on these deep space missions, but it wasn’t quite the same as the real thing. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : He looked to Star, “Lead the way, Ensign.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : He unfurled his tricorder, picking up more life signs inland and they headed in that direction. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : There wasn’t too much to find. Any pair heading to the docks would find them unoccupied as the ships were already at sea. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The pair heading inland would be the only one to discover people. First they would find a number of ‘huts’ that were moderately advanced and sturdy. The were designed well enough to have chimneys and each were next to a tree… a rope dangled from the center of the each hut and ran up a tree so it would be possible for the inhabitants of each hut to climb up a tree without leaving the relative safety of the hut. There were a number of children playing in the center of the huts with a few parents watching them. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The inland team would be spotted, “Strangers on foot!” came the announcement fro a man in a tree. “Stand fast.” He was alone in the tree but carrying a musket. Meanwhile the children scattered into random huts closing the door. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : GM : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Collin held his hands aloft, his open tricorder facing the tree, “I’m Dr. Collin Harding. We are from the Federation Starship Olympic. We rescued your ship, the one you used to send your children to safety. We’ve come back for you.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Harding, CMO : : : : : : : : : : : There came a muted snort, then a second one. : : : : : : : : : : : Star hung back and let the senior officer, hopefully, calm the locals down as he looked around and tried to appear nonthreatening. He kept close, in case he had to get them both moving and away from danger. The idea of going right into the trees was appealing, especially because he could easily survive within it even with a human companion. Of course, that was under the provision they got stranded, they could easily be transported out of danger once they got away. He lifted his nose to the wind and breathed deeply trying to catch the scents around them, his large ears shifted from time to time as he caught sounds. Whispers from those inside the buildings hissed quietly, but he couldn’t make out anything useful. : : : : : : : : : : : : —Star : : : : : : : : : : Then it started forming into a wild almost insane sounding laugh until it morphed into tears. “I never thought those mad men could make that ship fly. Six month they built that damn thing… while we ran to the islands. They saved us all while we ran.” : : : : : : : : : : “There are 128 of us in this camp… I know where there might be 1000 more on this island.” : : : : : : : : : : Deus Ex Machina : : : : One thousand people. Collin marveled at the number. He suspected the number of survivors was far higher than many had hoped. It would be a large rescue mission, but the Olympic could hold 10,000 evacuees in a pinch. : : : : : : : : The place was beautiful. Even Pretha mentally admitted that to herself. As the cry went up, she turned in time to see the Doc react. A smile brightened her face as she moved up to join him. “Yes, the ship worked. We have quite a few children who believe there’s no one left here. What happened that they were building a ship and you scoffed?” : : : : : : : : Her query was one of curiosity. It was neither condescending not accusatory. If these folks had been here without beetles, without trouble… did they truly need “rescuing”? She didn’t like the idea of uprooting over a thousand people merely because a dead man on a ship instigated it. : : : : : : : : Lt JG Pretha Oberon : : : : CoS : : : : Collin looked to Pretha. It wasn’t the most diplomatic query even though her tone was more curious than anything. Still, there time was limited and the doctor wanted to start evacuations immediately. : : : : : : Strange that Pretha had that thought. As she pondered the need for a rescue the maniacal guard raised his musket in her direction. “Cover!!!” He screamed as he fired a shot past her… : : : : : : There was a screech as the round slammed into a beetle, but it didn’t quite stop it… the beetle staggered for a moment and bore down on the landing party. : : : : : : GM : : : : He had no time to interject, however, before the guard’s cry sent him into a quick crouch. The loud bang caused him to start. He was no stranger to weapons fire, but muskets were quite different from phasers. He turned to look where the man’s musket had pointed. His reaction to the approaching beetle was evolutionary. He ran. He didn’t know where, but he knew he had to get behind the front line formed by the guards in the trees. : : : : “Incoming. Move.” : : : : Harding, CMO : : The beetle was a single… for now. They could hear the people in the huts beginning to climb the ropes as the musketeer/guard was in the laborious process of re-loading his weapon. A good soldier could load a musket in 25-30 seconds. He wasn’t going that fast. : : The away team could hear a few more sets of insectoid feet coming a running. But the first one still was bearing down on Pretha and moving faster than a normal person could run. : : GM Running wasn’t going to work. It took Collin a few strides to realize this. Thankfully he found a rather large rock, perhaps it could be called a boulder, in his path and dove behind it. He’d managed to holster his tricorder as he ran and now he reached for the phaser that was standard issue to all away team members. He’d never been a marine, but he’d been embedded with them for a good part of his career, and that experience kicked in as he turned back toward the charging beetle and fired a shot. Harding, CMO
The huge sized bug startled Star for a moment, before his instincts took over. He was the fastest and he charged at it, driving his shoulder into the insect’s side to put it off balance, his snarl menacing. Maybe the beetle would get it into it’s silly brain that he was a predator and far more scary than itself, but he didn’t think it likely. All he wanted was to become the new target so he could lure it off. “Go for the antennae and the eyes! We want to keep from killing it and luring more of these creatures here!”
—Star