Lunar Eyes

Posted on 08/18/2020 @ 1:54pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Henri Boudreaux & Lieutenant JG Siobhan Richards PhD

Mission: S2E1: The Skunil Incident
Location: Class-L Moon in Orbit Over Skunil
Timeline: Day 39 at 1400

The Federation shuttle landed outside of the base and it was time to get the mission underway. They needed to find a means through the shield. J.J. gave them the order "Suit up," he instructed referring to the environmental suits. "Cash, do you have the bio-dampeners ready?"

"I have the bio-dampeners you asked for, plus I have prepared 2 more. Shit may happen, but I want to be ready for it when it does." Cash said putting on his suit and grabbing a phaser rifle.

"I may see about making that the ship motto: 'Shit may happen'" quoted J.J. "I'm not sure the Captain will like it, but it has a blunt honesty about it" added the First Officer.

With the shuttle landed and hearing the XO giving orders, Siobhan stood up and began to dress up in the envirosuit. She again checked the phaser and only when she was fully satisfied with everything else, put the helmet on.

Henri pulled out his own suit and began to dress with the economical motions of someone who'd done it many times before. Not his favorite way to work but still, a necessity that went along with a career in space. He had already dropped into the investigative mindset and uppermost in his head, was the autopsy report, shared with security, that indicated what these beings were capable of doing. His dark eyes glittered with purpose as he checked to be sure that everything was in order before putting on his helmet.

Cash walked to the hatch of the shuttle carrying the modified bio-dampeners, with a phaser rifle slung on his shoulder. "Everyone ready?" He asked before opening the hatch. As everyone exited the ship, Cash's responsibility was to make sure they had a bio-dampener on their person. And it was turned on and working.

"Ready as I'll ever be," replied the First Officer. "It will be a short walk to the shielding around the base. We will slap on the bio-dampeners when we get there. Then we need to synchronize to one another and find the right shield harmonics. When we do we will be able to pass on through."

Siobhan stood to the side, not to block anyone. Leading the group into a potentially hostile environment wasn't really her job.

Cash opened the hatch. He made sure not to block the first one out. That first one under normal conditions was to secure the area so it was safe for everyone else to exit the craft. The hatch opened exposing the planet environment to the inside of the craft. Cash was ready to clip a bio-dampener on everyone's belt as exited the craft.

Henri exited the shuttle first, one hand on his phaser, the other holding a tricorder. Orbital scans had shown the planet to be uninhabited which made this something of a formality but he'd been seen enough to look for things that might be hidden. Higher concentration of carbon dioxide made it unsuitable for the away team without help even if the help was restrictive and cumbersome. He stepped out and away from the shuttle, making a thorough survey of the wind-scourged plain on which the shuttle now sat, and thought how barren and bleak it all looked. The base was only a short walk away and as he set out, he said, "Visuals and tricorder support the orbital scan. Nothing alive here."

"Good," the First Officer replied. "I like my creepy bases void of life" added J.J. "Hopefully, it remains that way. I want this to be an in and out mission."

Siobhan observed each member of the team, assessing their state but also trying to gauge the interactions between them.

Once everyone was out of the craft, and properly tagged with a bio-dampener, Cash got out and looked around. "Okay, I was told time is of the essence." He looked at J.J. "Where are we going?" He asked.

J.J. took out a tricorder scanned. "Just around this bend" replied the Trill. "We sat down just outside the shielded base. Just a matter of rotating our frequencies until we match the harmonics if the shielding. Once we are matched, we can just walk on through."

Cash opened up his Engineering tricorder. He was receiving the telemetry from the bio-dampeners. He with a few tweeks, he managed to hit the exact frequency of the shielding precisely. And mirrored that with the bio-dampeners. "There you go Lt. We are now stealthy." Cash said as he unslung his weapon.

Being security meant that on most away teams, Henri was one of the first into danger and generally, the test subject for the more risky maneuvers. He didn't have the unique expertise of the senior staff nor would he like seeing them risk themselves while he stood by. Not, as they say, in his nature. The base was small and had a thrown-together look about it. Two buildings connected by a short tunnel. The smaller of the two was clearly a shuttle bay and though the larger door was shut, there was a smaller access door to the side and he headed in that direction, stopping short at the edge of the field.

Fear was not something that Henri tolerated in his life. He fought back against the fears that prevented him from doing what he wanted or needed to do. Fought until the fear was conquered. Henri was the kid who never slept with a nightlight, who learned to take a hit without flinching, who accepted the dare to sleep in that haunted shack in the swamp. Alone because his friends were all too scared. Not something he planned to be; just his nature. And so, he stepped through, trusting the bio-dampener to do its job, and came out the other side in one piece, grinning.

Siobhan waited for her turn and followed others. She used her tricorder to get her bearings, passively verifying readings already taken by others. If there were no life forms, it didn't mean that the base was empty. In such case, automated defense systems were likely in place. Siobhan was ready to take cover in such case, but she constantly was watching others. As a counselor it was her job to keep an eye on mental health of others. However, at this point, everyone seemed fine and the exchange of words pointed to a good working relationships.

Once J.J was through his mind was fixated on two tasks: locate the shield generator or a console where they could take down the shielding, and acquire any information that they could about who used this base and for what purpose had it been used for. Were they responsible for what happened on Skunil. The chances were likely. "I do not know how wise this is, but I do not know how much time we have before whoever is usually here decides to return. I do not want to be here when thy return" stated J.J.

He looked at Cash. "We have two clear purposes here: reconnaissance information gathering, and getting this shield down which will help the Crazy Horse scan this place from orbit. I say you and the Master Chief poke around and see what you can find. Dr. Richards and I will locate controls for the shield and work on bringing it down."

Cash looked at J.J. for a second with a very serious look on his face. Then, in a blink of an eye, he gave a huge grin with a thumbs up. He moved towards the Chief and tapped him on the shoulder. "Your with me. We are gonna have a looky lue. See what we can see. I hope you brought your security tricorder he said as they both took off."

Siobhan looked Cash in the eyes with curiosity when he was doing the thumbs up.
"Any idea where to start, Lieutenant?" She briefly looked at leaving two other members before she glanced at the XO.

J.J. looked at his tricorder. "There's a significant energy reading that way" he said gesturing with his hand. "I say we proceed that way. My bet would be we will find something controlling or powering the shielding."

NOTE: The plan is to break off into two separate posts with our pairings, tackle what's need done and finish off the away mission.

A Post By

Lieutenant Jodon Joral
Executive Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

MCPO Henri Boudreaux
Investigations Officer, Security
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lieutenant JG Siobhan Richards PhD
Counselor
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lieutenant JG Alexander Cash
Acting Chief Engineering Officer
USS Crazy Horse