Canterra – Operation Toe Dip - 4th MSOT CallSign Hillary - LZ Eiger Two

Posted on 08 May 2019 @ 9:27am by Lieutenant Jinn Tevran (Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Lieutenant Junior Grade Steven Bernard, Ph.D. & Captain Edward Bolingbroke (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & First Lieutenant Eleanor Hargreaves (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Corporal James Robert, House of Rogath
Edited on on 11 May 2019 @ 11:19pm

Mission: Ka Hakaka Maikaʻi - The Good Fight
Location: LZ Eiger 2 & Onidon
Timeline: Following Landing

[ON]

Soundtrack: Main Theme from Where Eagles Dare

[LZ Eiger Two - 4th MSOT - CallSign Hillary- 0330 Hrs Zulu

Howling winds were the gentle serenade to greet 4MSOT as they crunched in the valley, once the sound of the Hilo had disappeared into the darkness of the south. Hargreaves squinted in the gloom beyond their light sources. It had been one thing to study this on a map; now she was in it, this snow-soaked valley with the looming shadows of the rising peaks all around them.

But she had, at least, not lost her sense of direction. "Alright, people!" she called out above the whistle of the wind. "We get to get off this mountain for now. Down to the scrub to find a place to hunker down and get the lay of the land."

She turned to Element Red. "Seeley, Baranel, you take point. Trust Corporal Baranel's eyes," she reminded Sergeant Seeley. In an ideal world she'd have had Staff Sergeant Shikar out in the brush in the dark, but in the world she had, she wanted the Caitian close to hand.

"You want me taking up the rear, L-T?" said T'Kalla.

Hargreaves gave her a look that was mostly lost under the layers of equipment. "Already gave you a job, Gunny. Don't worry, you'll get your fun."

"Yeah, don't worry, Gunny," chimed in Staff Sergeant Otero. "There'll be plenty of Gorn to murder us all."

But people laughed, because they always laughed at Otero's jokes, and Hargreaves felt the briefest pang of jealousy. She didn't try to be liked in that way. Didn't try to be respected in that way. She commanded through certainty, by presenting herself as a force of nature that would get Marines through hell. And she'd never do it by keeping their spirits light while they were in hell. She looked to Element Gold. "Kapier, th'Zarik, you're on the rear."

Formations were fallen into, and Knorr didn't need prompting to position himself with Element Gold in the back half of the procession. Hargreaves did spare him a nod of acknowledgement; they still had someone new with them, a Corporal Roberts who'd boarded at Xavier. That left them back up on numbers, but not necessarily spirits. Staff Sergeant Thrane knew what she was doing, but everyone would feel better with Master Sergeant Knorr around.

JimBob fell into the rear part of their formation. He wasn't the last man back, as he was still new to 4MSOT and they didn't quite know what to make of him yet. By his guess he had to be the oldest member of the team, notwithstanding longer-lived and younger-looking races. He was older even than their CO, Major West. The thought made him grin. He was still a hur'q to them, but he'd prove himself quickly.

She fell in at the middle, all the best to see and all the best to keep her guests close. She knew it was an unfair attitude to hold towards them, but they weren't Marines and they weren't her team. It was fine. Everyone here would look the same once they had blood on them. Though she wasn't too thrilled being near the Betazoid spook, and being close to him meant Gunnery Sergeant T'Kalla could carry on her important work of trying to murder her with her eyes.

"I don't want any of this macho, 'don't want to slow us down,' don't admit if you're struggling crap," she said to the two Starfleet officers. "Not saying you can't hack it, but this is going to be rough on everyone. We do best if we admit when we need help. All of us."

"Noted, Lieutenant," Jinn replied. If they needed to do forced marches for several consecutive days, he may complain, but seeing as how they'd just started out, he knew Hargreaves was just setting the ground rules. "If I may make a recommendation though: My skills are uniquely suited to be a forward scout or a rearguard. I can move as quietly as your men, and my telepathic abilities serve well as an early warning system."

Hargreaves nodded, then again remembered she couldn't really be seen. But then, the man was a telepath. Then again, she didn't want to encourage him to have silent conversations with her, or make her team think either one of them had gone quite mad. "I'll bear that in mind," she said sincerely. "We picked up nothing in the immediate landing zone, but when we move to the scrubland, with a higher chance of enemy contact, I'll cycle you and T'Kalla to the front."

The cold, Bernard had been prepared for as well as the wind, and the danger, but the snow would slow him down, and he hated that. It was only about 13 centimeters deep, but he was below average height and picking his feet up this high was uncomfortable. This after he had told Hargreaves he could handle anything. He shook his head, feeling stupid. He decided to test if Hargreaves's statement about honesty would prove true after being tested: "Lt. Hargreaves, I fought on desert mountains not this snowy garbage. I'll keep up as best I can, but I will also holler if I start to fall out."

Hargreaves' expression at this clarification was, of course, hidden. "Shikar will take care of you, Ensign. We're all going to have a rough time up here." The last was stated in a more companionable manner - that they were all going to have to work together, rather than that because they would all be suffering, he should keep his trap shut. "Let's move out."

The Raider team advanced, falling into formation as easy and naturally as anything. It would be slow going, advancing through a snowy valley in the dark, and huddling would not help them one jot.

Howling winds fought to snatch away all sound, all easy means of monitoring each other, all early warnings of possible trouble. Hargreaves kept her breathing easy; the Gorn would have descended upon them by now if they were out there, though this was not the most heartening of tactical assessments for her to have made. The chill came with the wind, though, slapping at any exposed skin, sliding knives of ice between protective layers, stealing breath at an unexpected gust.

And still, on they went. Slow at first, wading through snow, before coming to an open slope. If the night had been clearer, they might have been able to see more - see down towards the settlements off the mountains, even if it would only be the faintest glow of light at this sort of distance. But out of the valley there were at least the stars, and out in the open there was at least the space for bright silhouettes of the peaks, the slopes, each other.

Corporal Baranel led them across, not down, once they were out of the valley. Hargreaves couldn't much see why, but she knew to trust him; she'd put him on point for a reason, and soon enough they had reached a rocky ridge, dark stone peaking just above the snow as it trundled down the slope. Shelter from the wind, no silhouette to betray them to any observers.

Snow was less deep. But the going was still slow, by caution and by necessity of the terrain, and while it was protocol for them to stay quiet, that did not lift the oppressive atmosphere of 4MSOT's descent. Just the crunch of boots. Their breathing. The creak of metal and their equipment.

And, somewhere out there asthey raced the daylight down to the distant tree-line, the Gorn.

To be continued...


Eleanor Hargreaves, 1LT, SFMC
4MSOT/TL

Jinn Tevran, LTJG, SF
INT

Bernard, Steven J., ENS, SF,
ATACSEC

James Robert of the House of Rogath, CPL, SFMC
4MSOT/CSO

4MSOT Roster