Canterra: Operation .Toe Dip>: Callsign Hillary: Blue Bird & The Skink

Posted on 26 Aug 2019 @ 12:29pm by Captain Edward Bolingbroke (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Lieutenant Jinn Tevran (Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Lieutenant Junior Grade Steven Bernard, Ph.D. & First Lieutenant Eleanor Hargreaves (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War)

Mission: Hahai i na pilikua nui - Hunting Monsters
Location: T+2 0705 Hrs Zulu

[ON]

[Comm Tower Hill – Helicopter Craft]

Jinn fired up the comms once he made his way to the ship's cockpit.

"Hillary to Mother Goose," he began. "Come in Mother Goose, this is Hillary. We have a sit rep."

[Marine Operations Room]

The communication was routed directly through to the Marine Operations room aboard the Hawaii

=/\= Go ahead Hillary =/\= Bolingbroke replied, relieved to hear Forth Team had survived the night when he was called into the room.

=/\=We have commandeered sub-atmospheric transport and would like to request rendez-vous coordinates=/\= Jinn replied.

Captured transport? Bolingbroke was impressed. Along with the Gorn transceiver, Team Four was delivering!

=/\= Roger that! We have finally established comms with Fawcett. They had a hostile contact yesterday and had to abort their recon of Onidon.

They have met up with a group of partisans though and have a new objective. They are going to recon the Gorn sensor-jammer array, which is located outside of Sophiaville.

We will get you coordinates for a rendezvous=/\=

=/\=I may have even better news for you then, Mother Goose, our team has taken a peak at the Capital and successfully set up a system to monitor it. We're lifting off imminently, so those coordinates would be much appreciated.=/\= Jinn added.

=/\= Excellent work Hillary. Fawcett is in a lay up point for the day. Suggest you find somewhere to get out of sight and we will arrange with them an RV point for last light this evening=/\=

=/\=Roger that, Mother Goose,=/\= Jinn replied. =/\=Hillary out.=/\=


[The landing pad]

Once aboard the Canterra CommSat craft, Lennon went forward to the cockpit and took the pilots chair. It was pushed right back and he tried to adjust it forward but could not.

“Fat-assed lizard broke my seat” He grumbled and began his pre-flight checks.

But soon a slim smile appeared on his face as he touched the familiar controls, a small reminder of his life before the Hegemony arrived and he ran his hand over the panel with fondness.

The cabin was filed with tools and equipment, but there was just enough room for the team to find places to sit

In a few moments the craft powered up, the four ducted fans spinning up to speed as Lennon got ready for takeoff.

“Where do you want to go?” Lennon asked “The Lizards are really suspicious and we’ve not been here long. Might be best if we tell them we’re going to one of the other antenna sites” He suggested pointing to the navigational panel, which displayed a map of the area.

“Site Three is over here, on Singer Peak in the Skyscrapers” He pointed at the map, “Lots of canyons over there we could duck into and drop off their sensor.”

"Best we don't raise their suspicions before we have to," Hargreaves agreed. "If we can act like it's business as usual and then find somewhere to lie low until it's time to head to the rendezvous, I'll be happy." She looked over at Jinn. "Satisfied with that as a lie?"

Jinn nodded. "Involving a grain of truth is the best way to sell a lie. We're certainly thinking along the same lines. Once we hit those canyons, we can keep out of sight until we get rendezvous coordinates from HQ."

“They call Onidon Lake Nest and their flight control is Air Master” Lennon said, “That’s the comms switch” He pointed to a button on the panel in the arm of Hargreaves’s copilots seat.

"We'll wait until we're already in the air before checking in," Hargreaves decided. "Best nobody pays too much attention to the comms tower up here. Take us out when Sergeant Otero confirms he's good to go, and then we'll lie our asses off to get gone."

On the port side the smaller green Gorn Scout craft, Lennon had called it the Skink, was similarly powering up.


[Skink]

Staff Sergeant Matías Otero wiggled on the pilot's chair. "Gorn ain't just ugly, turns out," he mused. "They've really got lumpy asses."

"I've adjusted the seats best I can, Staff," Sergeant Seeley confirmed from the co-pilot's position. "This is as good as it's going to get."

"Then we can't lose," Otero concluded as he ran through the pre-flight check. "Either we get off this world, and I don't got to sit any more in this chair. Or we get shot and die, and I don't got to sit any more in this chair."

"Can't fault your logic, Staff," Seeley admitted. "All systems good here."

"I've got four lights here, looks good," Otero agreed, and reached for the comms control. "Blue Bird, this is Skink. Ready to follow your lead out."

Bernard, strapped into an oddly slanted fight chair, was intensely glad that he hadn't been volun-told to fly the shuttle. He knew that it was this irrational fear that had given way to that part of his giddiness. The rest was do to the odd medallion on his chest that he had made from one of the Gorn translators. He had given the other to Lt. Hargreaves so that she could understand the Gorn when they spoke.

The third one was in his satchel and he planned to take it back to the ship to scan it, reverse engineer it, and make something smaller and less cumbersome to do the same task. He had taken one Gorn pistol and had traded the other two to some Marines. He now had a total count of twenty-four bags of deep fried crickets which he had not told JimBob about, and two that he had passed to JimBob behind their backs while no one was looking.


[Blue Bird]

Lennon increased power on the collective, the four engines wound up to full speed and the craft slowly lifted off. It hung there for a moment, wavering slightly. Lennon turned in his chair and said to Hargreaves “We’re right up there on the weight limit, so she might be a little sluggish, don’t expect any fancy flying Lieutenant”

"Then we'll make sure no fancy flying is needed, Mr Lennon." Hargreaves looked back at Jinn. "But that's more on you, Lieutenant."

"Just keep her level, Mr. Lennon," Jinn replied. "If we don't look suspicious, we won't arouse suspicions, now will we?"

"I can do that" Lennon nodded "Well we can take what used to be my usual route from here up to Singer Peak" He tapped in to the navicom and waypoints appeared on the screen.

Turning to starboard he brought the craft around and headed east along the valley the team had walked down the previous day.

The early morning sun was leaking through the clouds, there was no rain and it appeared as though it would be a pleasant morning.

After a few minutes there was beep from the comm system, followed by a voice speaking in Gornish.

Hargreaves cocked her head, squinting as her translation device began to interpret the words. She glanced at Lennon, then twisted in her chair back towards Jinn. "Seems they just want an update on the Onderon comms tower job," she said, already pulling out her PADD with the fully-labelled recorded layout of the complex they'd just left behind. In case it would help, she flipped it to show the display to Jinn, to be sure he'd have information on the location immediately to hand if he needed it.

Jinn nodded silently toward Hargreaves. The voice over the comms unit was immediately translated by the devices the team had grabbed from the downed Gorn.

"Captured Transport Nineteen. What is your report?"

"Air Master, this is Captured Transport Nineteen," Jinn replied, talking into the translator device. "The meatbag has finished at Site One. We are on approach to Site Three to continue the work."

Jinn pointedly ignored the looks from the other shuttle occupants.

After a pause, a reply came in. "Starfleet has driven away our fleet in orbit. Be wary of enemy incursions, Captured Transport Nineteen."

"Acknowledged, Air Master," came Jinn's reply. "We shall report any sightings directly to you. For the glory of the Hegemony!"

"For the Hegemony!"

The comms unit went quiet again and Jinn turned to Hargreaves. "Well, that went rather well, I'd say. Let's not give them any reason to suspect we aren't on the level now, shall we?"

Lennon looked over from the pilots seat. “Meatbag? That’s a little close for comfort. There was talk of the lizards eating people! In the compounds I heard tell they ate Lieutenant Commander M’Dalt, she was in charge of the Starfleet detachment.”

He shuddered. “I never saw it, but I wouldn’t doubt the bastards are capable of it!” Lennon shook his head and concentrated on flying, thankful that every second in the air took him further away from Onidon.

After flying up into the Skyscraper Mountains and finding a place to lay low for the day Team Four had then scuttled eastwards keeping low, following the contours of the land heading for a rendezvous with Team Three and the prospect of combat.

To Be Continued…