Cave Redux (Part 8 of 8)

Posted on 11 Sep 2014 @ 12:04am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Amon Mormont & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Commander Scarlet Blake & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Commander Norvi Stace & Commander Andreus Kohl & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Petty Officer Lyras Ueda

2,691 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: Lyshan III - Uridium Mine, Section LV855-LV900
Timeline: MD 07 - 1410 hrs

Previously, on Cave Redux (Part 7)...

Dodging the slashing tentacles as much as possible, Oren felt each failure as a sharp, burning pain in several parts of his body. He tried his best not to focus on the fact that he was completely helpless as he pushed back with the rest of the team. Seeing a flash of red in the corner of his eye, Oren jumped and felt himself slam against one of the rocks before pushing himself away as if burned, images of possibly being pulled in running through his head.

The entire time, he kept his tricorder in his hands, holding it even tighter as he felt the warm, slickness covering his hand underneath the glove. He was surprised that he felt no real pain with the adrenaline rushing through his system, but knew in the back of his head that he would definitely be feeling it later. But, for the moment, it felt as the only thing Oren's eyes were capable of seeing was red, the rest of his surroundings only a passing through his body seemed to be able to navigate around on instinct.

Within all of the commotion and trying to keep himself alive while avoiding bumping into anyone, Oren let out a surprised yelp when something strangely solid and strong grabbed his suit and yanked him backwards. In a fit of panic, he struggled against the hold.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Amid the chaos Dea noticed Oren's progress was halted by something. She aimed her rifle at that hideous creature trying to take him. Then Mialin got a hold of his leg. "We could use some additional help over here." Her goal was to help Oren not end up getting gabbed by another creature along the way.

Luke was still trying to help anyone he could and get them out the destructive path of the possessed cardassian. Dropping in next to Dea and onto one knee he fired of a couple of shots before slinging his rifle and drawing out his Ka-Bar once more and slashed at the arm holding onto Oren, cutting off his grip. Dodging a flurry of attacks from the cardassian he moved back with Dea, helping Oren of off the ground. "Come on lets go," He said holding out his hand.

"Thanks," Dea replied getting to her feet quickly then moving off at a run. This place had worn out its welcome a long time ago.

Oren grabbed Luke's hand, still a bit shell shocked at having the entity, whatever it was, pulling at him. It had been way too close for comfort. Comfortably on his feet with the Security Chief's help, Oren took off after them, ignoring the pain in his back, arms and right leg. There would be time for wallowing later.

Alexion caught sight of Siren struggling in the group, the patch of red on the front of her suit having spread wider with an alarmingly deep shade. He ducked through the group to get to her, getting a firm hold on her arm to help her along. He ripped his medkit open, pushing a hand in to get to a field dressing to at least try and slow the bleeding until they could heal her properly. He managed to get hold of it, but his hand pushed against something soft. As he pulled the dressing free, a tribble was dislodged and jostled up out of the bag. "Bloody things!" he shouted with frustration, pulling Siren closer to staunch the blood flow.

The tribble began to coo softly, completely unaware of the chaos surrounding it and instead rather pleased that it had been released from its captivity in the dark and cramped medical kit. It was also quite happy that someone had just petted it, albeit accidentally.

Though barely audible amongst the frantic screaming, weapons fire, and hand-to-hand combat, the tribble's docile purring did not go unnoticed by a select group of beings. A nearby collection of Cardassian creatures currently engaged in combat with the Starfleet team registered the faint sound and quickly turned their attention towards the tiny animal. They suddenly stopped their attacks on the away team and instead began to push their way towards Wylde and Hex in an attempt to investigate the tribble further. Red energy tendrils quickly extended from their eyes and began to reach out towards it.

Alexion's pulse raced faster at the advance and he grabbed Siren's arm to lift around the back of his neck to get her moving. "Move!"

Siren watched with confusion at what she'd just seen, shaking her head as she remained still, using her arm on him to keep him with her, her breath catching with both pain and awe. "It's not us, look..." she pointed to the tribble of interest.

Four of the reanimated Cardassian figures now circled the tribble and one of them levitated it to eye level with the help of its non-corporeal tentacles. The tribble cooed again, this time unsure of what was happening and why it was suddenly suspended in the air. Another Cardassian figure from the group opened its bleeding mouth to allow its possessor to leave the humanoid body, and the red apparition exited the lifeless confines of the Cardassian then moved into the tribble to attempt to inhabit it while the old host body collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

It was a strange scene and the tribble's body struggled at first to accommodate all of the non-corporeal energy which was now filling it. It's fur began to glow bright red and it made a series of high pitched squeals, but then suddenly the ball of fur calmed down and began to coo again softly with a second life force now inhabiting it. The three remaining Cardassian creatures observed the remarkable animal with glowing red eyes of interest, then moved closer to it in an attempt to shield it from the rest of the intruding away team. The rest of the Cardassians currently fighting the away team also abruptly stopped their attacks, and began to walk hurriedly towards the tribble to investigate for themselves.

Lyras stopped mid-step, catching sight of the odd event. He immediately pulled his tricorder out, opting to keep a safe distance lest the odd creatures decided to attack again. ".... Ah... Sir, Ma'am... I'm picking up strange readings from... well, from the tribble."

Looking around as the scene turned from bad to bizarre Luke turned to make eye contact with Blake and Holliday "I think we should use this opportunity to get out of here before they get bored" Luke was always on for studying something new and interesting but not when the things they're studying were momently before hand cutting down the away team.

Moving to stand beside Lyras, Kohl too raised his tricorder while there was still some opportunity. The order to run hadn't been given yet, and Kohl would take advantage of every micro-second until the order was given. "I'm-- I'm reading-- steady vital signs-- from the Tribble," Kohl said, but he was gaspingly out of breath, and trying not to sound so much like he was. "It's still alive..."

Allyndra moved to where Kohl was and also was looking at her medical tricorder. "Physiologically it seems to be functioning normally and here take a look at this, the energy signature seems to be all concentrated in the womb area."

Allyndra tapped the reading with her index finger of her ruined hand.

Standing up next to them both, Stace also pulled out her tricorder and began to scan. "Perhaps," she began, almost not believing the words now falling from her mouth, "that whatever calming affect their cooing and physiology has on humanoid nervous systems somehow contains the energy within them. I'm not asking," she then said, cutting away to the captain, "but this would be remarkable to study on the ship, if a little dangerous."

Asahi looked over the shoulder of the nearest tricorder-toting scientist. "I hate to be bursting bubbles, but wouldn't it be a bad idea to bring the thing on board that seems to be able to possess other life forms? I feel like that's a bad idea."

"But it cannot possess us," Alexion shook his head, taking it all in with a frown. "Not really. Those Cardassians are dead, they are just inhabiting their shells. But the tribble..." he motioned to it with interest. "It is alive, it survived. Unlike the Cardassians. This energy....it harms humanoids, but not tribbles. Some lifeforms are able to absorb and use energy rather than be harmed by it," he added quietly. Like himself and others of his kind with the Transfer Talent. It was possible. Very possible. If he was able to, maybe tribbles could deal with it too. "And look, the aggression has stopped with it..."

"Perhaps," Allyndra added, "it is because the tribble is a non-sentiant being. Maybe there is a reaction with higher thought processes.."

"Either way we aren't staying." John replied, panting heavily as he surveyed the damage to his own team, thankful that the balls of fluff that had plagued his ship had finally had a use.

"Gather our wounded and move to the lift - as soon as we reach the entranceway the ship can retrieve us."

Dea really wasn't in a mood to want to stick around. Between injuries and having been stuck in the ventilation shaft fighter for her life she was more than ready to leave. Relieve to hear Holliday say they were leaving. "No problems with that here Sir." Already moving towards the lift as ordered.

The decision had been made by the team leader to evacuate the mine and care for the wounded, but the simple task of getting back to the lift was not as easy as expected. Galileo's captain had fired several phaser bursts into the tunnel's ceiling previously during the ground engagement with the energy-filled Cardassians, and while the expected effect had not been instantaneous, the delay was untimely to say the least. As the away team collected themselves and started their trek back to the makeshift elevator contraption, the cave walls began to creak and groan as small chunks of rock and gravel started to continuously drop all around them.

Scarlet's first instinct was to freeze as she looked around with alarm. "Let's move!" she called loudly across the group, just as much to kick herself into gear as anyone else. She started to run, as fast as her cut suit would allow her to at least, her arm arched over her head to try and protect it, but the path ahead was already filling with obstacles, slowing them up and making it hard to push forward.

Knowing he didn't have to be told twice, Elijah swung around on his heel and began to run... or an approximation of a run. The EVA suit was heavy and he was not a big guy to begin with. He was impressed with himself that he could even walk in the thing without tipping over. As he tried to run, he tripped over an outcropping of rock, his phaser flew from his hand but he held the tricorder tight. He couldn't let the scanning device go, it had valuable information. A moment of dazed confusion passed and he lifted himself back up and began to follow Commander Blake again.

Luke to was running though his breath was heavy from the combination of exerting himself and not having enough oxygen, he could feel the edges around his vision beginning to blur, if he didn't find a suitable air supply soon he may of well have stopped fighting all together. Pushing the thought to the side and attempting to shake away the enclosing shadows in his Vision he followed after the others his breath becoming faster and shallower as his body tried to compensate for the lack of oxygen.

Stace was already, as best as she could in the suit, managing a gentle jog back to the lift. Her breath could now be seen on the inside of her helmet as, under the exertion, her fatigue began to get the better of her. Adrenaline and the like were now coursing through her system. Another tumble of rocks that landed at her feet made her sidestep and tumble, but she recovered and progressed with earnest.

At the moment Dea didn't need a reminder. Already moving as fast as she could to get out of the area. Shoving aside pain and running off adrenaline. Inside Dea was terrified but the couldn't let that get in her way.

Asahi wasn't exactly about to stick around any more than the others. Not only was it dangerous to his health, but the words 'disobeying the order could mean a court martial' crossed his mind. That alone was motivation enough for him to follow after the others.

Shortly behind the rest of the team was Lyras, who was of a similar mindset to the others. There was no need to stay if things were looking as grim as they were.

Further behind that that, was Grayson, almost taking up the rear. He was beginning to feel rather lost and uneasy on this, his first big mission, he was contributing when he could, but due to the nature of where they were...there were limited chances. He decided to stay quiet in the back, be good at what he could be good at and not make himself look a fool the rest of the time.

Having stuck closer to Dea and Luke after they'd helped him, Oren slowed down slightly to be caught up with the back of the group, not wanting to drift too far away from Lyras, whom he still considered his partner until the end of the mission. Or their death, if he was feeling pessimistic.

Jacob stayed in the back to make sure they got out without further incident. The entire episode that had unfolded before his eyes was more than his emotions could process. He just felt like he was going through the motions as he actively protected his team as they made their attempted mistake.

Jared's phaser was at his side. He had of course obediently turned it to max and he' use if he had to, but had a slug thrower. an ancient Terran slug thrower a .40. A full clip was in the magazine, 15 rounds and he had an extra clip. Bullets were pretty expensive and he usually carried more for show than anything else, but these were desperate times. He'd fired it once and wasn't sure whether or not he had hit anything. Right now, he was just trying to make his way back like everyone else.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

LTCMDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer/Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USSGalileo

LT. Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Lyras Ueda
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]

LTJG. Elijah Williams, IV
Geoglogist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Capt Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Luke Wyatt
Chief Secuirty Officer
USS Galileo

Ens Jaana Voutilaanen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galilieo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

SWO Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

PO2 Siren Hex
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Master Warrant Officer Amon Mormont
Security
USS Galileo
[PNPC Markos]

Lt. Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Grayson Jones
ACEO
USS Galileo

Lt. Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

LT Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

LT Andreus Kohl
Asst. Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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