When the world is burning around you [backpost]
Posted on 27 Apr 2019 @ 1:38pm by Commander Juan Zamora (Dec [CDO]-Jan 2389 - TRSNFR to Gorn Dip.) & Luuna C.G.CA/U
Mission:
Ka Hakaka Maikaʻi - The Good Fight
Location: USS Hawaii
Timeline: 20+ days ago, during the battle of XFY
Tags: Luuna, 7F03YTY836M
Ensign Masterson clutched the fire extinguisher with sweaty, trembling hands and tried to control his breathing as he waited for the first impact. The clean-shaven young man had been over the moon to be assigned to a Sovereign-class vessel straight out of the academy, so much so that he had put aside the concern that it was headed for the Gorn border. Right now, he regretted not putting in for a transfer very much. His ragged breaths kept the time, which seemed to drag on forever as he waited with the rest of the damage control team.
The impact came suddenly, somehow despite bracing himself and waiting in anticipation of this very moment it still took him by surprise. He was nearly thrown off his feet as the ship rocked. “Look alive team! They need us in section 8!” the team leader called out seemingly unconcerned by the danger they were all facing. The team rushed along following their leader as the combat intensified, the blasts coming closer and closer together and the rocking of the ship became almost constant, or so it seemed to Masterson at least. He fell to the rear as he found it harder and harder stay upright.
Then they reached their destination, the junction of two corridors had caught fire as a power conduit blew out, and now flames were spreading in all directions. The team fanned out and set to work trying to bring the blaze under control. Masterson hesitated, not sure where to join in. Whenever he seemed to spot an opening, another member of the team would always seem to be working on it. Maybe it was lucky he hadn’t moved, because a ceiling panel gave way and he found himself face to face with a jumble of burning debris. His training took over at this point and he set to work with the extinguisher. Once the flames were gone, he heard the team calling his name from the other side.
“I’m over here!” he called, and a face appeared in a gap between to pieces of debris. “Oh, so you’re not dead, good job.” His team member said. “It looks like we’re not going to be able to move this easily, you should find a way around, just follow the updates, and meet back up with us when you can. Good luck Masterson.” with that the face moved away and the voices of his team receded into the distance. He looked around for a moment and then set off himself; though he quickly became lost and found himself at a new intersection.
Luuna had spent most of the morning dozing in their bed. Alpha had left a nice light rhythmic noise that she’d started to come to understand was called ‘light jazz’. She’d found it soothing and easy on the ears. It made her comfortable.
Later she knew it was time to get up when the display monitor across the bed slowly came to life and the light jazz faded out. The display caught her attention. There was more rhythmic noise a little more up-beat. There were also images on the thing that appealed to her. Lunna wasn’t sure, but she thought Alpha called this ‘dogteavee’.
Luuna watched the images for a while. Some of them were even interactive. A toy would appear on the floor in front of the display, and Luuna could play tug for a little while.
After some time, the ‘food thing’ made a noise out in the living room. Excited and alert, Luuna barked for joy, and darted into the other roo-
BOOM!
Lunna was tumbled to the floor. Thunder? Luuna hadn’t heard thunder in a long time. This was different. The room didn’t shook with thunder usually. Thunder sometimes meant Inky was missing and shook-shaking certainly meant it was time to find Inky.
Luuna went to the ‘food thing,’ stood in front of it and waited. The shook-shaking kept on coming. She had to go find Inky and the others, but first she had to have her vest.
Of course, no vest was coming forth. There was another thunder-shake-shook. This time the door opened, and it was time to go. Luuna darted out into the corridor.
Masterson was running along the corridor, cursing his luck, his decision to join up, that smooth talking recruiter who had made it seem like such a good idea, the Gorn, the captain, anything that he could blame for this experience. He spotted something up ahead of him and stopped for a moment, it was a dog, a bit unusual looking, but he was sure it was a dog.
“Hey there doggie, are you lost?” he asked hesitantly as a he approached the animal.
Doggie? Who said doggie? Wasn’t this one sometimes called a ‘doggie’? Luuna turned toward to sound of the voice. She cocked her head at the sight of a… boy?… Sometimes it was hard to tell, some of these bipeds took soo long to mature. Far longer than they had. Luuna approached the male giving all the usual nonverbal signs of curiosity, weariness, yet desire for friendship that her species had at her disposal. She wasn’t sure if this one was like Alpha, but she gave it a try.
~You. Lost? Need. ‘searched?’ Need. ‘rescued’? Know where Inky is?~ She finally arrived at the man and sat in front of him. He smelled of ash and soot. Of chemical suppressants, and under it all, sweat, and just a hint of blood. The sweat intrigued her, and she tried to lean in to get a closer smell. His hormonal levels were off. She didn’t know what it was, but the scent of adrenaline was elevated as well as testosterone. There was something else too, something… off. Maybe it was nothing. She hoped she would be safe. The hair on the back of her neck remained flat.
“Oh, uh, hi there.” Masterson managed to say as the animal moved closer. He tentatively reached out to touch, before thinking it was perhaps better if he didn’t and withdrawing his hand. He tried to sound more confident then he felt. “I don’t think it’s safe here, you should follow me.” He waived for the canid to follow him as he took a few steps down the corridor.
Luuna tried to reach up and sniff the offered hand, maybe offer it a tentative lick, but it was pulled away before she could make the attempt. She watched the male move way, saying something about ‘follow me.’ She guessed he was deaf to her attempts at ‘verbal’ communication, so she would have to do her best to use body language and exaggerated sign language. Luuna cocked her head considering her options. Might he know where Inky was? Might he know where people needed help? She caught up to the young male and followed him down the hall.
Seeing that he was indeed being followed, Masterson picked up his pace a little, planning how he could get back to his team. This section didn’t look too bad, some panels had been dislodged, and a conduit was sparking further down, but it seemed orderly compared to where he’d come from.
Luuna casually followed the man, keeping pace with him. She wanted to wonder about and check around her scent-filled world, but he was going a bit too fast to allow her to stop. She did scent him though since she was slightly behind him. Was he bringing her to where ‘lost’ were? Where was Inky? She picked up her step a bit and was able to nudge his hand.
“Huh, what is it?” Masterson stopped as he looked back to his four-legged acquaintance. Maybe the Canid had noticed something? They were at an intersection, in one direction was the path that ought to take him back to his team, in the other was a path leading further away, it seemed empty for now, with only a faint shudder under his feet to remind him all was not well with the world.
All at once his thoughts were derailed as his communicator crackled to life. “Attention available DC teams… in need of immediate assistance… section R, area 8!” A call for help burst forth from the pin on his chest, section R was not far, down the other path, he was probably the closest officer. His grip on the extinguisher tightened, he would have to go. “Come on, someone needs our help.” he instructed, turning and heading off toward the call.
Luuna paused to listen. She did not understand 100% the vocalizations of bipeds but she understood tone and inflection. She understood ‘needs’ and ‘help’. Then came the actual exclamation for help from down the path to the left. She could smell a spike in the young man’s adrenaline. She knew this likely meant one thing. She might get to ‘work’ soon. Inky usually came out to play at the end of the ‘work’ game. Excitedly she began to bounce and play-bow, her tail wagging wildly. She followed the man, yapping and doing laps around him as they headed toward the call.
The canid seemed to perk up with excitement as Masterson sped off toward the distress call. He didn’t know quite what to make of that, but there were more pressing matters calling for his attention, up ahead he could begin to make out a sound that might be voices. As the cries for help grew louder, they came to a seized door. “Hello!? I’m here to help!” he called. The singed door had opened, just a little, not enough for a humanoid to pass through. Through the crack there was a glimpse of collapsed conduits and other damage, before a body pressed up against the other side. Half a wild-eyed face appeared in the crack.
“The door’s stuck and we’re cut off in here!” the body declared frantically. An arm snaked through the crack and pointed to an access panel. “The override circuit is behind there, hurry!”
“Alright, alright,” Masterson bent down to open the panel, eyeing the damaged circuitry inside.
Luuna began to understand there was a break-down in communication between her and the young man. He might not now how to utilize her skills, nor the commands given, and so she needed to exemplify her own initiative. She pounced and squeezed through the gap in the door. She got to the irate male. She needed to get him to calm down. She tried to look as small and friendly as possible. She held still and offered herself for petting and other touch and cuddling. She casually sniffed the male over but didn’t discover any injuries.
“Wha… hey, where are you going!?” Masterson protested weakly at seeing her bolt off through the crack in the door.
Then from somewhere another scent reached her. She initiated ‘Seek!’ She began sweeping the room to try and localize the scent. It didn’t take long. It was fresh. It was alive, but there was trace amounts of blood in the air. She began to yap excitedly, first to indicate she had located someone, and second to help the victim hear her voice and know they had been found, so that perhaps the ray of hope would allow them to hold on just a little longer.
Luuna began trying to find a way to get to the scent. She scrambled over top of the debris but could not find a way. She tried around to the side, but nothing. She paused to sniff some more. Where was the scent coming from? She had to narrow down how it was getting out, that might be the key. She yapped several times more, as if to say, “I’m here. I’m coming. I’m trying to get to you.”
Then, finally there was a small path under the debris. Luuna squeezed in but it was too tight. She yapped, again, as if to say, “I’m coming.” There was a smaller piece of something. It was loose. She was able to heft it under herself in a digging fashion. She yapped as she squeezed through the small opening.
Finally, Luuna got through to a slightly larger opening in the debris. She couldn’t see well, but her wet nose bumped against flesh. She began to sniff at the person. Their breath was strong and stable. The blood wasn’t coming from there. She found a small spot on the person’s cheek. She licked it gently and affectionately. It was superficial. A giggle told Luuna for the most part the person was okay. She was just trapped. Slowly her eyes were beginning to adjust. She began to look for a way to get the person free and out.
“Finally,” Masterson declared as he completed the bypass and the door ground open; the petty officer on the other side greeted him.
“C’mon, looks like your rescue dog has found somebody,” he said.
“Rescue dog?” Masterson questioned, before he saw the canid scrambling through some of the debris with a clear sense of purpose. “Uh, yeah, here help me lift this beam,” he directed, starting to try and excavate the pile.
Meanwhile Luuna continued to search for what held the lady. She found a large semi-heavy slab she thought was called a desk had pinned the lady against her collapsed chair. Under her Luuna found the lady had been sitting on a chair with a cushion, but now the cushion had completely compressed but she (the woman) hadn’t noticed in the confusion and the dark.
Luuna took ahold of the cushion – it tasted foul, but it had to be done – and started to try and tug it out from under the woman. As she tugged, she subconsciously let out growling and snarling like that of any dog playing tug-of-war.
The woman squirmed. “What are you doing?” She started to pant, panic rising up inside of her. The darkness causing to amplify the sounds and the imagination of the woman.
Luuna sensed the woman’s panic rising. Usually brother would help at this point, but he wasn’t here. She had to drop what she was doing. She returned to the woman and nuzzled under her chin and trying to encourage her to pet her. She had a free hand… right? At the same time, Luuna tried to tickle the woman by licking under the corner of her jaw. If she could get her to laugh, maybe it would distract the woman from her worries.
Masterson heard a muffled commotion coming from under the pile, and redoubled his efforts to shift the debris away, scrabbling at it with his hands until he uncovered one of the feet of a desk. “Go around, I need you to clear the other side!” he called breathlessly to the other officer. “I think this is what’s doing it.”
Noticing the light level elevate Luuna knew the boy and the other were close. She barked to give away her location, and help the others locate the survivor. She licked the woman’s face again to be sure she was awake and alert and went about trying to free her again. Thanks to the better light and the lighter load above, she was now able to move a key piece she couldn’t before. She barked excitedly.
The Bolian woman was able to pull free, “Ugh, I never thought I would be so thankful to hear that noise. Thank you little one.”
Luuna returned to the blue-woman and offered herself for support for her to crawl out, knowing that biped female might be disorientated and dizzy.
“We’re here! Hello?”
“Yes? Hello!” Masterson Yapped back with nervous confusion. He almost let go of the desk he was helping to lever out of the way. “Are you alright!? Can you feel your legs!?” He asked whatever questions bubbled up to the top of his mind, as he tried to remember his first aid training.
“No, I usually leave that to whomever I invite to my bedchambers.” The Bolian woman chuckled holding onto Luuna for support and slapping her palm on the inside of the bottom of the desk to further identify her location.
Luuna yapped excitedly sensing the woman’s good mood. Her tail wagging.
“Uh…uhhh…w…uh,” the joke seemed to have rendered Masterson temporarily speechless. “Good,” he finally managed. “Are you hurt anywhere else? Was there anybody else with you when you were caught?”
“Just this magnificent pooch, she saved me. Could you just get me out of here please? I have an urgent appointment with waste extraction.” The Bolian woman whapped her palm on the underside of the desk.
Luuna pawed lightly at the desk too. This woman was getting heavy.
“o-o-of course,” Masterson managed. “On three!” He called to the other officer, bracing himself to lift the weight of the desk. “Okay, one…two…three!” he tried to lift with his legs as the two of them wrenched up the offending piece of furniture. With a few grunts and a heave, they had it lifted free of the debris, and they tossed it to the side of the pile. Masterson bent down then, to help the woman up from where she had been trapped.
Meanwhile Luuna scrambled out from under the woman and free and clear of the debris, another satisfying job well done– only… no Inky. She huffed and wined, squeaking mournfully. She shook herself vigorously, trying to rid herself of some of the smaller itchy particles of dirt and debris.
The Bolian woman, now on more firm flooring, looked up at the young man. She threw her arms around him and gave him a great big full hug, shoving her ample chest against his. “Oh, thank you so much young man. Who is your companion, she saved me, have you been partners long?”
“Uh, sure,” Masterson struggled for words as he blushed under the twin assault of the woman’s praise and embrace. “I, we, we’re not a team really I found the dog and I guess they’re a rescue dog, sorry.” He patted the woman hesitantly on her back, unsure whether he was supposed to hug her back, or pull away.
The Bolian let her left-hand slide down Masterson’s back to cup his cheek and pull him close; rubbing his back and holding him close perhaps just a little too long. She was a little disappointed she did not get the reaction she’d anticipated. She leaned back to look the human in the eyes. “I’m Ms Cuous by the way. Prer Ms’Cuous… that is.” She released the man from her embrace. “Why don’t you stop by later and I can give you a nice warm homecooked meal?” She tickled Masterson’s rips playfully, “we can get some meat on those bones of yours.
“Excuse me Prer?” the other officer asked indignantly. “Don’t you think it’s a little inappropriate coming on to him right in the middle of a crisis! You and I are going to need to have a long talk about lab partner etiquette when this is over!”
Luuna watched on. She wasn’t blind. She’d picked up on the boy’s discomfort. She nuzzled his hand and pawed at his calf. There were still others out there who needed them. She hoped he’d pick up on her behavior and take it as an excuse he needed to separate himself from this voluptuous blue-one.
Seeing drama brewing in front of him, and with the canid trying to help him, Masterson pushed himself away from the Bolian woman. “Uh, thank you Ms. Cuous, really, but I have to be moving on, there’s still work for me to do, people might need my help.” As if to underscore his point, an alert sounded from one of the labs further away. “You two get somewhere safe, I’ll take care of this,” he directed, seeing that he had a higher priority to focus on. “Come on Doggie,” he called as he jogged out and toward the alarm.
Luuna followed the boy. She was happy to be out of there and move onto their next adventure. She’d heard the alert and figured out the general gist of it given the tone. Besides she knew what “com-uhn-dogy” meant. She was sometimes called a “dogy.” She followed, circling the boy excitedly, tail wagging and bounding about; happy at a job well done and excited for the next one. What could it be?
Masterson rounded the corner and saw white gas pouring in thick billows from the entrance of a nearby lab. He felt his guts coiling with dread as he began to worry about stray puffs of toxic vapor, and what they might do to him. Setting the fire extinguisher aside, he fumbled with his tricorder. A quick scan revealed no known toxins, but this, mist, was practically impossible to see through. Some piece of equipment in the lab must have been jamming his scanner as well, he couldn’t pick up any life-signs despite the plaintive pleas for ‘help’ he could hear now. He looked down to his canid companion for a second. “Are you any good at finding people with your nose?”
Down closer to the ground Luuna was less affected by the vapors. She started in. Backing out just as quick; sneezing and snorting. She began barking playfully. High-pitched almost yapping barks. She was play-bow-uncing excitedly, looking over her shoulder at the boy.
“Okay, I can’t see in there, but it should be safe enough, I need you to go and find whoever’s stuck in there, alright?” Masterson asked.
Luuna only partially understood. In one bound she was by the boy’s side. She licked his hand. She turned and rubbed her scruff on the boy’s hand. Then she returned to the door and got down into a belly crawl position.
Feeling unsure again, Masterson took hold of the canid, grateful to be guided by something else for at least a moment in the middle of all this chaos. “Okay, go on,” he said not wanting to leave the victim waiting any longer.
Luuna closed her eyes and allowed her nose and ears be her guide. She soon made her way past and around a few obstacles to where she was being led. She opened her eyes and halted her advance. She whimpered coming to a stop.
Masterson Stopped when the canid did, feeling around himself carefully trying to get a picture of their surroundings, and finding that they were in the aisle between to worktops, with something large blocking their way. “So, did you find them?” he asked, “Hello!?” he added a little louder in case the victim might still be conscious.
Keeping low, Luuna tried to indicate a piece of debris that was too big for her to move. She barked repeatedly, scratched and tried to dig at the spot where her nose told her to go. She was trained to bark and never give up in case anyone alive below might be encouraged to hang on just a little bit longer at the sounds of rescue. She would stop though from time to time; she would sit, cock her head, and listen for signs of life.
“Okay, okay, I hear you,” Masterson commented, not understanding why the canid would keep making so much noise “you can quiet down now.” He felt his way to the edges of the object, taking as firm a hold as he thought he could and lifting with his legs. It stayed put at first, and then gave way after he heaved a little harder. He hefted the heavy object up and set it aside next to him. Hearing the sounds of the Canid scrabbling at the debris, he turned back and began to dig through the pile as well.
“Luuna darted into the darkness, her nose, ears and duty guiding her. She had not yet heard any signs of life, but that only meant she had to work all the faster. There had to still be time. Shuffling debris and dirt backwards and way, Luuna’s paws ached as small abrasions kept on appearing in her pads and getting filled with particulate matter. Soon she came up against soft flesh and cloth. Even though her lungs ached for the rarified oxygen in the vicinity Luuna’s bark change pitch and frequency to indicate as best she could she’d found someone.
“Hello!?” Masterson questioned his hands finding the cloth of the victim’s uniform. “H-hello? Can you hear me?” He felt his way along, searching for a limb, or the victim’s head, hoping desperately that the victim wouldn’t be upset if he placed a hand somewhere improper by mistake. They seemed to be face down, and he soon found the head, bringing his fingers to the victim’s neck, Masterson grew cold when he didn’t feel a pulse there. “We’ve got to get this person out of here!” He exclaimed. “Help me pull them Free!”
He hooked his arms under the Victim’s and began to pull, feeling them move once the canid had seized hold of their uniform and begun to pull as well. “Okay, get us out of here, please,” he asked, clasping the victim’s body to himself. He shifted as much of their weight onto his back as he could, in order to free up a hand to take hold of the canid’s collar.
Luuna seemed to understand what the man was asking, and with all her might, she scrambled and scratched back toward where they’d come. Shoving the pain aside, her duty was to this person in this moment to save and protect. Pulling with all her might and gulping down air and other vapors in order to get enough oxygen the trio slowly eased forward. Creeping forward centimeter by centimeter. Slowly she was able to gain more momentum until they were finally free.
Masterson laid the motionless young Orion male in science teal on his back in the corridor, and then unslung the first aid kit from its place on his back, rifling through it for neocordrazine and the automated defibrillator. “You don’t happen to know CPR, do you?” He half-joked to the canid, trying to ease his own tension a little.
Luuna understood “see pea are.” She squared up ninety-degrees to the green man’s chest, and like a Terran Red Fox after a Terran Vole deep in the snow, she lept into the air, pulled a near 180 mid-air, aiming for the center between his pecks. Like the red fox she hit her mark, square and true. She jumped again and hit him again; hitting her mark. Again, and again, she continued her task, square and true every time. She continued ceaselessly, focused on the task set before her despite her own fatigue and aching paws and ankles from the repeated blunt-force of the impact.
Masterson was stunned for a moment when, as it turned out, the canid did know C.P.R., as if this day could get any more surreal. He was brought back to his senses when the Orion scientist gasped and sputtered. It was a terrible sound, desperate and forceful, like his lungs couldn’t possibly suck in enough air, his eyes had flown open and now they stared, wide and wild at the ceiling. “Good dog!” Masterson praised with a note of disbelief.
He moved to position himself over the man now and began scanning with his tricorder. There was still interference, even out in the corridor, but it appeared the Orion would be alright. “It, it looks like you’re going to be okay” he said, “was there anyone else in the lab with you?”
Seeing the green man revived, Luuna stopped. She yipped and gave a spin excitedly. S/he leaned in and started to give him kisses to help him more quickly come to.
“Unnnnhhhh” the Orion replied first with an almost ghostly moan. Then he sat bolt upright and gripped Masterson by the shoulders shaking him as he spoke. “The experiment, is it safe!? You’ve got to save it! If you don’t, I’ve got to…” he tried to stand, but his legs were clumsy and would not support him.
Luuna stepped in behind the green man as he stumbled and sat back, she braced herself between him and the floor were he to fall back. She sniffed and licked at his wrists – as best she could from this angle – in an attempt to get a better reading on him.
“Okay,” Masterson said gently, trying to prize the green fingers away from him. “I’ll make sure your experiment is alright, just let me go please.” Once he had freed himself, he stood up and went back into the lab, the mist had cleared up somewhat, pouring into the corridor and pooling at ankle height.
Suddenly Luuna’s hackles raised, ridges of black-brown fur rising up along her shoulders and bristling with aggression. She glared down at the ground growling threateningly at the vapors pooling at their pawsies, rumbling at the gases as they continued to advance in disregard to her display. Exposing her teeth to their maximum – appearing more like her ancestors – she started to drool making her appear even more menacing; saliva and spittle flying every-which-way, flecks landed on the carpet, the uniforms of the two people, the walls, the potted plant. She started batting at the mist and pouncing at it; trying in vain to fan it away. Yet the white mist was undeterred, roiling about her feet, and diffusing further into the corridor, growing faint at the edges as it lost its concentration.
Masterson could see a little through the haze, enough to make his way the environmental controls. He commanded the ventilation system to clear and recycle the lab’s atmosphere. The mist soon began to disappear altogether, and as he looked around and took stock of the contents of the lab, his eyes caught on a small spherical device perched on one of the workbenches. An eerie blue glow surrounded it, and as he looked a high-pitched whine began to sound. That would certainly explain why he was having trouble with his tricorder. “Oh no,” he said without thinking. His hand slammed onto an emergency switch, and a klaxon blared as heavy doors slammed shut sealing the lab.
Giving a startled yelp and jarred out of her menacing pose at the blaring noise and vibrations of the doors Luuna turned to see what was happening. She returned to the boy and glared at him as if to say, “what in Mother Luna’s name did you do that for?” She went to investigate the door.
Masterson swiveled his head madly around, that experiment was going to go off any second, and then the whole lab would be a death zone. His eyes landed first on the clean room area at the back of the lab, it was perhaps too far away, and perhaps not shielded enough. In his panic he was about to give up hope, but then he spotted a pair of suspended animation chambers nearby, designed to withstand the rigors and radiation of long-term exposure to space, that just might be enough. Moving faster than he ever thought possible, he scooped up the canid in his arms, and dove into the pod, just as the spherical device evaporated in a blinding flash of white light.
Suddenly Luuna found the ground falling away from under her pads. She nearly panicked as she felt herself being lifted up, but her training took over. Unable to achieve her bearings, the ship seemed to be spinning, and before she knew it, she found herself sealed inside a metal tube with the boy; white light outside growing very bright.
[Many Hours Later]
There was a hiss as the pod opened, venting the sealed atmosphere. There was a rush of stale, sweat scented air, and then its two occupants tumbled out. Masterson at first was dazed, waking from a fitful sleep to the sight of a radiation-suited rescue crew. It took just a second for him to remember where he was, then there was adrenaline, and icy apprehension. “Are you!? Did you!? Am I!?” He looked from blank visor to blank visor as he tried to form the right question, then breathed deeply and asked again. “Did you clear the radiation!? Is it safe?”
END
