Operation Toe Dip: 4th MSOT CallSign Hillary - Comm Tower Pt 1

Posted on 04 Jun 2019 @ 2:06pm 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 19 Jun 2019 @ 2:06am

Mission: Hahai i na pilikua nui - Hunting Monsters
Location: 5 K East of Onidon
Timeline: T+1 14.30 Zulu

[ON]

[Second Lay up point]

After leaving the first lay up point the Team had descended down into the lower ground between the hills. Slowly and cautiously making their way generally south. The land remained consistent, rolling hills, dotted with copses of scrubby trees, brush, boulders and tall grass. The tree cover was thicker in the lower ground where there were numerous small creeks and streams.

After a couple of hours a bank of heavy cloud rolled in from the South, off the lake, bringing a steady rain and thin mist, which hung in the shallow valleys. The temperature hovered around fifty Fahrenheit.

The distant Comm Tower had disappeared for a while but now the top of it became visible, looming out of the mist over the nearest hill.

The valley they were in opened up, splitting East and West around the hill. To the West lay open country towards Onidon some four or five kilometers away. To the East it led down through the last of the hills towards the lake shore, about two or three kilometers South.

Hargreaves stopped at the front with her command team and the Starfleet officers, not bothering to try to pierce the veil of mist. The thudding rain was refreshing in its way; welcome on the march to hide their advance, and it helped push her thoughts inward, away from the burn of physical exhaustion, detaching her from temporal concerns to reflect on the mission.

A lot of choices, and none of them she was happy with. "Our priority, for now," she told the other five, "is staying hidden. We're going to find somewhere nearby to hunker down, get some more rest, and identify a good vantage point for surveying the comms tower. It's the most tempting target we've got to disrupt ground operations once the Marine landing parties start coming in, and I'm going to want us with a solid, informed plan that's ready to go the moment it's time." She didn't let her words or tone include space, right now, for the possibility there would be no imminent Marine landing party. With their presence possibly already known to the Gorn, for now she wanted to keep her team focused on the positive present.

"You have operational command here, Lieutenant," Jinn replied, with a smile. "So this is your show. Just point me where you need me to go."

He knew better than to undermine a Marine's command. They could be testy when it came to authority. He may not exactly agree with their current course of action, but he wasn't going to bring it up in front of the others and so betrayed nothing.

Bernard wasn't used to so much rain, but he liked the taste of it. He was not going to say that out loud. "Ma'am," he started, "If you would, I could take a Marine or two and scout to the Northeast for a better look at the tower. If we can take out the tower, do you want us to?"

Hargreaves raised an eyebrow at him. "Settle down, Ensign. If we take that tower out, that's a whole team operation." She looked to the command team and nodded to Staff Sergeant Shikar. "But head north-west if you can get a vantage point. Stay hidden. Get me a report on the lay of the land around the tower. Terrain, personnel, movement, the nature of the comms array itself. Take Staff Sergeant Shikar and Corporal Roberts, from Gold." Unspoken words passed between Hargreaves and Shikar, and the stern Caitian returned the nod.

Bernard was sure Hargreaves was telling Shikar to make sure Bernard didn't do anything too stupid. He would try not to be stupid. He took a few steps in Hargreaves assigned direction.

There was muffled click from one of the outlying team members, when eyes turned towards them a hand went up and pointed across the valley.

About three hundred meters south east, in the lowest part of the
eastern split, where a stream meandered its way towards the distant lake and the mist was a little thicker, a dark shape could just be made out.

Whatever it was, it had been there all along, but had remained hidden in the fog and contour of the ground.

After a moment there was a swirl in the mist, the rain lessened briefly and the shape could be seen clearly. The tail and rudder of a Gorn Raider shuttlecraft poked out of the mist.

The mist swirled again, now the upper rear turret became visible and its twin heavy disrupter barrels, which were pointed directly at the team!

Time probably didn't slow down, but it felt like it for Hargreaves, felt like every micro-second was a lifetime spent gawping, gormlessly, at the barrels levelled down at them.

T'Kalla reacted first, with usual acuity and grace. "Oh, f-"

"Scatter and cover!" Hargreaves hollered, the only instruction she had that might not get all of them taken out in the opening salvo of heavy craft-based weapons used against personnel. Probably just some of them.

Bernard sprinted away from the group and toward a clump of rocks. He threw himself behind them and turned back toward the large weapon. He brought up the muzzle of his rifle and set it on the rocks. He knew he couldn't do much damage to the cannon. He also knew that if that disruptor aimed at the clump of rock he was hiding in, he would be very dead. Still, he scanned for an opportunity: ground troops, drones, dogs-- Gott, please don't let there be dogs he thought.

Jinn reacted a split second slower as he extended his conciousness out toward the shuttle to help determine his next course of action. He preferred delaying and having the right information, rather than leaping blindly.

He dove forward into a roll and came up on his feet nimbly. He darted forward toward the shuttle, zig-zagging as he went. He reach the shuttle and pressed his back against it. He looked back toward the rest of the group and waved them forward. As he caught his breath, the dash taking a fair bit out of him. Realizing that they may not be able to make him out entirely, he reached out and gave Hargreaves a subtle mental push to help his cause.

Hargreaves had granted herself a split second to round on her team, make sure people were running, make sure they had the idea - and then Jinn rushed past her. She span on the spot, even as T'Kalla had already bolted for cover, along with the others, thought she saw him beckon - and thought she understood.

Maybe if some of them could get close enough, the shuttle would have too tight a firing arc. Maybe they could do something -

Part of her realized the Intel officer was no longer in sight, but for some reason never made the connection and wondered how she saw him wave. She followed, head down, rifle gripped tight, and hoped she wasn't going to get her or anyone else blown up as she sprinted at the shuttle. Or, more importantly, do something stupid on a leap of faith in a spook. When her shoulder hit the shuttle's hull right next to Tevran, she glowered at the Betazoid. "Are you crazy or do you have a plan?!"

"I simply didn't wish to shout, Lieutenant," he replied. "And I know how... Unnerving telepathic communication can be."

He didn't mention his little mental manipulation, figuring it was best to let that lie, as it worked out in their favour. "The shuttle seems to be quite abandoned, but you and I can verify this ourselves if you'd rather trust your eyes."

The knot that had been working its way to Hargreaves' heart eased an iota. "You could have - if it was empty, you could have said something instead of running -" she sputtered, but she was too relieved to be angry.

She slumped, leaning against the shuttle. "We'll look. Hang on." She lifted a hand and keyed the team comms. "This is Hargreaves - Spook reports the shuttle's deserted, we're going to take a look. T, bring Red and get up here. Knorr, hang tight with Gold, form up to cover us if things get hot again."

Back with the others, T'Kalla had stuck her head up from behind a rock and given an impressive slew of oaths at their disappearing officers, so it was for the best that it was Knorr who coolly and deliberately rose from cover, rifle braced. Somewhere in the background, Staff Sergeant Otero was threatening to laugh himself sick with relieved nerves at how the Marines had scattered like a dropped packet of Skittles over a false alarm.

JimBob chuckled softly to himself, amused at the group's actions. It had certainly been the right move and the only thing wounded was their pride, but he still saw the levity of the situation. "Y'all certainly know how to hit the ground real quick-like."

"Acknowledged, L-T," said Knorr calmly. "Sending Gunny, Red's on their way." He looked in the direction of Bernard as 4MSOT gathered their frayed nerves and their composure and started to move, and waved him in the direction of Element Red. "You're the investigator," said Master Sergeant Knorr, with a Marine's lack of regard for the nuances of Starfleet Security. "Looks like a mystery to me."

Thank you, Gott. Bernard thought. His heart did not stop slamming against his sternum, but he stood and breathed slower to try to calm it. He didn't bother to wipe the mud off of his elbows and knees. The rain was still coming down. He scanned the group, no one seemed to need a hand up. He walked back to the group.

At the shuttle, Hargreaves's breathing was by now less frantic, and as Element Red made a considerably more cautious approach on the shuttle, she looked back at Tevran. "Alright, Lieutenant. Not that I don't trust your abilities, but no minds doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Let's take a look." She started to edge along the hull towards a boarding ramp or hatchway, or any other point of access or investigation they could find.

"This time around, Lieutenant, I'll let you lead," Jinn replied, bringing his rifle to a ready position and following along behind Hargreaves.

Up close the mist was less inhibiting, the Gorn craft lay in a shallow dip and appeared to have landed almost normally, except the front skid was actually resting under a foot of water in the stream bed. Rain tinged and pinged as it fell on the hull.

The port side appeared intact, as did the rear, the ramp and doors were closed. Around on the starboard side it was another matter. The craft had taken a phaser blast that had obliterated entire right front quarter, tearing out a jagged hole. In the side a hatch hung open, leading into a dark interior…

"Looks inviting,"Jinn quipped. "Shall we head inside?"

Hargreaves tried to not roll her eyes. "You've brought me to the nicest place, Lieutenant," she drawled, nerves fueling more sarcasm than she'd usually invoke in a high tension scenario. Behind them, Element Red was drawing up a perimeter about the downed craft.

"Sergeant Seeley, Palacio, get over here," Hargreaves called back. "Seeley, You're my techie. Come give the Lieutenant and me a pair of eyes." The fact Sergeant Seeley's experience consisted of 'grew up in a family business of shuttle maintenance' rather than any formal training was the sort of salient point Marines didn't tend to care about, and Seeley's long-suffering expression suggested she was used to this.

As four, they advanced on the jagged hole, Hargreaves leading the way with rifle ready.

Inside of the craft was a jumbled mess. It appeared to have been a troop transport, there were several parts of the Gorn Phalanx armored suits and a couple of weapons scattered over the floor.

All appeared damaged or broken in some way. By the rear doors was a cargo pallet still loaded with packs, weapon batteries, rations, what appeared to be two mortar tubes alongside boxes of rounds and sundry other Gorn military equipment; a dark green hard sided-rucksack was lent against the pallet.

The front half of the interior was lit by the gloomy daylight coming in through the broken hull. Rain dripped in through the hole and puddled on the floor. The cockpit was intact on the port side but the copilot's seat and all of the controls on the starboard side were smashed.

Somehow the pilot must have been able to land it after taking the phaser strike, then it appeared to have had been abandoned. There was no sign of Gorn living or dead.

Palacio let out a low whistle. "Jackpot, Boss."

Hargreaves gave a rare smile. It was small, a little lopsided, and easily missed, but it was definitely there. She keyed the unit comms. "Knorr - bring Gold up. Empty vessel, some supplies left. Red, maintain perimeter on the outside, but send in Bernard. I want to make sure nobody's left an unpleasant surprise for us."

"Acknowledged, L-T," came back Otero's chirp. "Are you sure there's no more scary unmanned guns in there -"

Hargreaves' smile remained as the comms cut off with the aborted sounds of T'Kalla's furious retribution against the Element Leader. She turned to Seeley and Tevran. "Lieutenant, take the Sergeant, and if you please, assess the wreck to make sure there's no booby traps - and then I'd like to know how old this wreck is, what condition it's in, and if the ship's systems hold anything useful. Grab Bernard when he's in."

"Palacio, we're going to check these supplies to be sure they're safe - then inventory." As Hargreaves spoke she was already - gingerly - approaching the rucksack by the pallet to conduct a cautious investigation of contents.

"To be fair, Lieutenant, if anything was going to be booby trapped, it'd be that pallet of weapons, or the out of place rucksack right next to it," Jinn replied, calling back as he and the Sergeant made their way back to the cockpit. "And yes, that's my expert threat analysis, so watch what you touch over there."

"We're all going to be careful and checking everything, but I assumed you had more technical knowledge than Palacio and I," said Hargreaves with a smidge of testiness. As if she'd known this. And still she was rather more cautious as she approached the pile of weapons and the rucksack.

She wasn't a bomb disposal expert or the like, but she was trained and experienced and figured she could spot something out of place if she was looking. Then again, precautions were why most of 4MSOT were being kept outside of the shuttle. Hargreaves and Palacio exchanged nods as the more technically-minded of the team began their investigation, and cautiously the Marines got to work.

The rucksack was the first thing Hargreaves examined, checking it to make sure it was safe before opening it up. Even that was done with the caution her training demanded, so long minutes passed before she was withdrawing her prize.

"Transceiver," she said to Palacio with some surprise. "Looks dead, I'll have to see what Seeley can do with it. Not that we want to switch it on right away. Found much?"

"It's all clear here, Boss," Palacio confirmed from where he was amidst the rest of the supplies. "Weapon batteries look like they'll need some jury-rigging to be compatible with our gear, but can be done. Food supplies, but what the hell do Gorn live off? But if this is stuff we can digest, then it saves us going back up the mountain for a little while. And a couple of mortar tubes - with rounds."

"Alright," said Hargreaves, like this good news was barely enough to change her mood. "Get me that full inventory. I'll see if there's been any luck up front."

Reaching the cockpit, Jinn turned to Seeley. "Now then Sergeant, where do you think we should start? I'm not overly familiar with Gorn shuttlecraft. Do you think they have a keyless starter?"

Bernard entered the shuttle and wondered if the supplies were edible for humanoid mammals: What comes in a Gorn MRE? He looked at Tevran. "You sent for me, Sir?"

Jinn smiled as Bernard approached. "To be honest, Lieutenant Hargreaves sent for you to give us a hand. Any experience hotwiring a wrecked Gorn shuttle?"

Bernard cocked his head like a dog who hears the door bell ring. "I will check it out, Sir." Bernard looked around the shuttle for a panel he could undo. No, he had never hotwired a Gorn ship before, but he'd hotwired doors in an insane asylum. He'd improved a few weapons. Gorn tech was new, but how different could it be? He found a panel by a large screen in the side of the shuttle. He took out a photon spanner and took the panel off the wall, revealing a terrible mess of wires and tubes. He replaced his spanner and took out a field tricorder. He scanned the wires and followed a certain signal down the wall and under his feet. He swore under his breath. "Hey, I need a Marine over here to put a hole in the deck. There might be a battery or something under here I can use to power the gun."

Jinn approached the enthusiastic Bernard and looked at him quizzically. "Why would we want the gun to be powered up if we can't move the shuttle, Ensign?"

"I would be more interested to getting power to the whole shuttle, if possible," he continued. "Failing that, powering up the data banks and comm system would be a coup. If we can listen in on the enemy, we gain an incredible advantage. But also, before we start blowing holes in the floor, we should ascertain that the area is structurally sound and not about to blow up on us."

The black and white man nodded. "Right, sir. I can't tell if this thing is structurally sound, so we'll have to grab someone else to check that. As far as powering this thing up, we need a power source. My tools tell me that there might be one here--" he gestured to the floor--"without it, nothing in this wreck will turn on. I'm sure I can get the shuttles system on to download the databanks, but not without power."

To Bernard, it seemed like everyone was standing around doing nothing. "Cool," he said. "I'll do it." He took out his field tricorder again and waved it at the floor. Then holstered the thing at a certain spot. He unslung his rifle and hammered the spot with the butt of his rifle. The deck was made of interlocking sheets, and with the hammering, one had popped up revealing a mess of cables and a green, glowing cylinder. Bernard grabbed up the battery and started connecting it to the wall panel using a few limiters to make sure the juice didn't hit the system all at the same time. He connected his tricorder to it and set the tricorder to send to Tevran, and Hargreave's field tricorders simultaneously and into protected folders to prevent a viral spread. He added the juice. Screens lit up all over the shuttle. Words started to play over each. "Oh scheiss," He shouted, "Someone help translate, I don't speak Gorn!"

Jinn watched the Ensign leap into action literal seconds after asking for a Marine to help him out. Impatient little bugger, for being half an immortal race, he thought to himself. He started hammering away at the ground with his rifle. Interesting methods.

He was about to step in to help, when Bernard was able to open up the floor. He then watched as the Ensign removed the battery and move to insert it into the wall panel.

"Perhaps we sho-" but before he could warn the Ensign, the man plugged in the battery, wiring it up. Well alright then.

Jinn glanced at the shuttle as it began turning on. He swore.

"Ensign, if this ship has a transponder, your recklessness may have just killed us all," he stated sharply.

He looked over at Hargreaves as she entered. "Lieutenant, we may need to move quickly."

Systems continued to power up in the Gorn craft. A loud buzzer started up in the cockpit, accompanied by an orange strobe light on the control panel, followed by a blaring synthesized Gorn voice that kept repeating a gorn phrase.

Although unintelligible without a translator, it could be construed as some sort of flight warning such as PULL UP! PULL UP!

Just then there was a loud pop! Followed by a shower of sparks from the ruined starboard side of the cockpit. Rain water was dripping all over the damaged controls and electrical systems. Something had shorted out!

There was a hiss, another pop and everything shut off. Including the audible alerts. Thin wispy tendrils of gray smoke drifted out of holes in the ruined panels.

A few moments later, there was a mechanical click! A brief static crackle and some of the panels began coming alive again. Something had reset...


To Be Continued...