Facility Inspection (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 31 May 2014 @ 4:29pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Petty Officer 1st Class Oliver Morris & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Commander Norvi Stace & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley & Lieutenant Teth Miir & Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia Ph.D. & Cadet Sophomore Grade Alenis Taban & Lonar & Crewman Draia Thero & Seeker Wisdom & Taurus

1,905 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: Lyshan III - Surface Mining Extraction Facility
Timeline: MD 03 - 1430 hrs

Previously, on Facility Inspection (Part 1)...

Asahi nearly fell over as he whirled about to address whoever it was trying to talk to him. Everything was so loose and bulky that he was having a difficult time keeping his balance. It was almost as if the suit were meant for someone many times over his size. Maybe they had the teams and suits mixed up in the process of everything, and he ended up with Pendleton's suit.

"Of course I can, just uhm..." The small engineer gave the much much taller cadet a curious look the moment he got his footing again. "Oh hell, you're tall." Asahi could have cared less that he was a Cardassian with a nose-squish. "What do they feed people at the Academy these days, and why didn't I get any?"

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Taban smiled and joked in reply. "I'll have to see if Solomon can send some of his curry over from the Jian'Karra - though last time we tried the pattern buffers thought it was hazardous material and contained it. Mind you... it probably is hazardous... the after-effects are similar to a biological weapons production facility exploding."

Asahi finally tore himself away from the cadet's appearance, instead focusing on his suit troubles. "This is like two sizes too small for you, I'm surprised you even managed to get in this far. Huh..." He pulled off one of his gloves, handing it to Taban. "Give this a shot. If it fits, we can switch around."

"Thanks, Lieutenant." he replied as he began the rather comical jerking motion as he tried to get the glove off. "Err... do you have a blowtorch in your kit, Lieutenant?" he joked and he desperately tried to pull his right-hand free with his left - which looked like a clumsy attempt to hug himself. "If I brace myself against the bulkhead could you try and pull it off, Lieutenant?"

The engineer's brow quirked at the sight. As serious as the situation was, Asahi found himself holding back a grin. "No, but I'm almost thinking I should have brought one with me." He gestured for Taban to give him his hand. "Come on then. And before we get all nice and cozy with that title there, it's Asahi Kita."

"Alenis, Alenis Taban." he replied with an enforced smile as he got into position and put out his hand for the Lieutenant to pull. Bracing his shoulder right behind the support beam, and putting his foot against the edge of a console he nodded to the Lieutenant. "On three then?"

Alenis groaned as he tried to pull his arm in the other direction. He could feel a bit of movement, but it was slow going and for a few seconds he felt as though his wrist or elbow was more likely to give way than the glove was. Suddenly though, the glove slipped right off - sending Taban toppling over backwards with the sudden release of force.

Asahi braced himself against the side of the shuttecraft. After giving a silent nod and a countdown, he tugged hard on the glove, nearly smacking himself in the face as it popped off. His cheeks turned a pleasant shade of red, and a grin played at his lips, as he wiggled the offending glove at the taller man. "I gotta say, this is a very odd way for me to meet someone."

As the Cadet pulled himself clumsily back to his feet he smiled and, nodding, replied "Likewise, Sir... Asahi."He paused for a moment and tried the new glove. It wasn't better by a great deal, but by enough to make a difference. "Thanks!" he exclaimed upon realising the difference, before proceeding to finish off his preparations and getting ready to move out and to follow Lieutenant Kita closely when he did.

Luke had just about finished donning his environmental suit, groaning as he shifted the neck piece so that it sat centre with his head he looked up to where he had stowed his gear and reached to get it. After a couple attempts Luke gripped his hand secret around the bag and sighed. "I hate ev suits" he sighed allowed.

Stace hated the the bulky and claustrophobic environmental suits and with a muttering scowl slipped in her own. She turned to Luke and smiled, agreeing with his sentiment completely.

Teth donned his specialized EV suit, modified especially for Caitians. This one was made for an esepcially tall Caitian. As he put on his helmet, he felt like some great mechanical beast looming over his comrades as they boarded the shuttle. The tiny shuttle. He cursed under his breath as he realized that perhaps, just perhaps, he wasn't exactly cut out for space travel.

His breathing heavy and labored, Paul felt a brief moment of panic as he secured the helmet of his loose suit. He hated the feeling of being protected from catastrophe by sheer fabric and tubes. For a brief moment he and the Teth caught eyes and while Paul couldn't make out the exact nature of the Counselor's emotions, it felt to Paul as if they shared a bond of true, un-Starfleet-like discomfort. "I feel you, sir. I'm right there with you" Paul thought to himself.


Lyshan III - Mining drill and equipment storage area

Lonar slouched against a rock wall. He had been told to meet with a bunch of Feds and talk. What was there to talk about he wondered. Unless they had better drills or explosive to punch through rock that was all he cared about. No digging, no pay and that made Lonar a real bad person to be around.

Luke had taken point and walked ahead of the group, his surroundings were what was to be expected of a mining colony, the buildings looked as if they pre-dated that of the beginning of time itself and the people that didn't disappear were just milling around in hand me down clothes. Looking around he could see a man slouching who easily met the description of their greeting party. "I think that's our guy there Commander" Luke pointed out.

Dea followed Luke closely. Nodding at he pointed out their contact. "I believe you are correct." She kept a close eye on the away team and the miners.

Lonar watched for a few more minutes as the obvious visitors got organized. Soft faced, soft handed, one would not need two seconds even if they had dressed as a miner to figure it all out.

He pushed himself away from the wall and as friendly gesture, the most he would give, took a step toward the lead person of the visitors.

Seeker stood behind everyone else trying find somewhere to put his hands. He was so uncomfortable whenever strangers came around. Sapphire stayed right at his heal to give him comfort and Madeline stood right next to him for the usual social support he was going to need in this situation. He, himself, said nothing but stared in awe at the approach of the new visitors.

"Sooooo," Lonar drawled the word with almost a sneer, "you're the people we're told to meet? Since none of you look like you would last two seconds worth of real work I'm guessing. Lonar is the name."

"Lieutenant Commander Mialin, USS Galileo. We were requested to check in with you." She greeted Lonar with a tone that was friendly but indicated she was leading the group of Starfleet Officers. "We're here to provide assistance and investigate whats been going on here."

"Assistance? Hoping you brought some better drills than this stuff," he waved one heavy hand. "Got rock or something down in the mines that refuses to yield. "

Asahi gave the miner a quirked brow and a trademark, Kita grin. "We can do one better with that equipment of yours'." He wiggled the toolbox at his side. Even if the equipment wasn't up-to-date, Asahi was confident they could do something about it. Repaired equipment could have easily worked like brand new, which could have easily boosted morale and made the miners more agreeable, or so he hoped.

Lonar scoffed at the box the Fleeter held. "When you're ready, I'll personally guide you into the mines." He was going to say more but Taurus had arrived.

Approaching the gathered group, Taurus moved with a natural air of authority, his hands clasped behind his back as he came to a hault. He studied the Starfleeters, and their interactions with the miners. He wasn't sure whose bright idea it was to get Starfleet involved. He didn't appreciate the effort. "I am Taurus, I am a manager here. I am sure the workers will offer their full cooperation."

"Thrilled to offer," echoed Draia Thero without too much of an edge to her tone. The young adult Cardassian had seated herself on the housing of large, burned-out drill. "Our full cooperation."

"Full cooperation, yes, yes, full." Seeker murmured in the back. Madeline patted him on the back and tried to encourage him to move up closer to which he resisted for the time being.

At the back of the Starfleet group the large figure of Alenis was still lurking, trying to remain inconspicuous. He'd lowered the darkened-visor of his suit to reduce the chance one of the Cardassians would spot him and engage him in conversation. He had his tricorder drawn - mainly because the suit's lack of mobility meant he didn't much fancy needing to pull it out in a hurry. He'd begun some preliminary scans as subtly as he could - for one thing he didn't trust the Cardassians and wanted to make sure there wasn't an ambush or something else fishy in place. Since his conversation with Chief Keval the day before he had started to have misgivings about the situation and suspected, among other things, that the Cardassians were making things up as part of the labour dispute in order to get a better bargaining position: 28 Starfleet personnel as hostages were, as far as he was concerned, a pretty good bargaining chit. It almost disappointed him when his scans showed no extra lifesigns or weapon signatures.

Luke watched the small talk continue, slowly creating an image of the surrounding area in his head. Possible ambush points, sharpshooter hidouts and any other key feature, even if they were here peacefully he wasn't ready to let his guard down. Slowly patrolling the group he also watched the young officers despite that they were his crew members the talk and prejudice aboard the ship prior to the mission was something that worried him.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

MWO Lamar Darius
Chief Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Saalm]

LCDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Oliver Morris
Senior Yeoman
USS Galileo

SCPO Luke Wyatt
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LT Asahi Kita
Acting Chief Engineer
USS Galileo

LT Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Victoria Crawley
Psychologist
USS Galileo

LT Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

LTJG Wakeham Paul Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo

CDT(SO) Alenis Taban
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Taurus
Miner
Lyshan III
[PNPC - Blake]

Seeker Wisdom
Miner
Lyshan III
[PNPC - Pendleton]

Lonar
Miner
Lyshan III
[PNPC - Warraquim]

Draia Thero
Miner
Lyshan III
[PNPC - Kohl]

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