[G/Pl] LtCmdrs Rahman & Core: The Running Plan (Part 2) (Tag: Engineering/Shuttle Away Team)
Rich
[G/Pl] LtCmdrs Rahman & Core: "The Running Plan" (Part 2)
(Tag: Engineering/Shuttle Away Team)
((Main Engineering, USS Garuda))
Rahman: Something's wrong down there! We need to check on the away teams!
::The captain quickly called the transporter room againtapped her comm badge. ::
Egan Manno: =/\= Egan Manno to transporter room, beam up-- =/\=
::The harsh static that came back was an ominous sign.::
::Yet still, the music continued playing, now a mix of various alarms and computer chimes thrown into the beat.::
Egan Manno: Can we initiate a surface-to-ship transport from here?
Rahman: We could, but we’d need to first find what to lock onto!
::The only problem though was whatever was interfering with their comms was also blocking a clear transporter lock to the surface.::
((Pleethion Surface))
::And then Tristam just stopped. Out of breath, aching muscles and red faced, he simply stopped.::
::Something had been off with his tricorder. There had been something off . . something he didn't put there.::
::He stared at the ridiculous engineering concoction, the chip off his tricorder attached to Tan’s, and then he glanced at the innards of Tan’s tricorder.::
::When had Tan added *that*? That little black bead-looking thing? He frowned. This is not at all useful. With careful and sore fingers, he grasped the little black bead, and ran the still functioning Tan tricorder over it.::
::There, right in front of his eyes, was Tristam’s jamming signal. He dropped the annoying little bead and crushed it with his boot - that should, at least, give the Garuda more of a hint of where to find them.::
::Now he just felt stupid.::
Core: Guys . . . ? I know we’re running from a volcano right now, but I think I can re-establish contact to either the Garuda or the other team . . .
Kells/Tan/DeVeau: Response?
Core: I just found-
::As he took a step, the Rodulan heard a faint ‘click’, and he begun to feel panic. Last time he heard a click like that was in an Academy class. This wasn’t at all looking good.
Core: We’ve got another problem.
Kells/Tan/DeVeau: Response?
::And then he heard a familiar voice.::
((Main Engineering))
::Though both the primary and secondary sensor systems were offline, Roshanara knew where the shuttle had original landed, and so she had started her search there, trying to get a lock through the interference. She found something finally. Faint, but it appeared to be the source of the transmission that was now blasting over the ship’s intercom.::
Rahman: ...definitely Starfleet, captain. Approximately 1.2 km from the original landing site.
Egan Manno: RESPONSE
Delano/Voss: RESPONSE
Rahman: The only problem now is finding a way to clear the-
::On their screen, the interference pattern suddenly dissipated.::
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: RESPONSE
Rahman: I wish I could take credit, but it appears the jamming source just shut off itself…
Egan Manno: RESPONSE
::Roshanara shook her head.::
Rahman: Transmissions from the main transceiver assembly are unavailable with the primaries and secondaries offline.
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: RESPONSE
::She thought for a moment. If they were still able to receive a signal, then that meant the comm system itself was still active, even if passively.::
Rahman: ::looking away in thought:: ...if we could find a way to use the signal itself and reflect back our own message… we might just be able to create our own comlink.
::She turned around, facing the others.::
Rahman: The signal strength and quality would be terrible, but at least they’d know we received their message.
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: RESPONSE
Rahman: Aye!
::She quickly re-tuned the transceiver assembly to bounce back the signal, altering the original transmission to return a message of their own.::
Rahman: =/\= Rahman to Shuttle Team. Do you read? Rahman to Shuttle Team. ...Tristam, are you there? =/\=
((Pleethion Surface))
Core: =/\= Rosh-? ::he laughed a little, his nerves creeping up again.:: You have *no idea* how good it is to hear your voice right now! =/\=
::The relief could be heard on the other side of the line.::
Rahman: oO Praise God… Oo =/\= Tristam! What’s your status? =/\=
Core: =/\= We’ve . . . been jogging. Away from a volcano. Ross and Reynolds took off - they didn’t happen to head back to you guys, did they? =/\=
((Main Engineering))
::The chief engineer turned back to the others, with a puzzled glance. Commander Ross and Captain Reynolds took off? Why would they have left the away team?::
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: =/\= RESPONSE =/\=
Rahman: =/\= Hang on, Tristam, we’re going to get you out of there… =/\=
((Pleethion Surface))
Rahman: =/\= ...locking on to your patterns. Energizing now- =/\=
Core: =/\= NO! Nonononono - don’t you dare, you crazy *****!
((Main Engineering))
::Crazy? That made her pause, her finger hovering just a millimeter short of pressing the transport button.::
Core: =/\= I swear to the gods, if you do that, I’ll never frickin’ forgive you! Stop right now! =/\=
::What the Hell was he talking about?::
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: =/\= RESPONSE =/\=
((Pleethion Surface))
::He glanced up at the team, meeting the ridiculous looks they were currently giving him.::
Core: DeVeau, take a scan. Don’t-!
::He stuck his hand up at her in an effort to stop her from moving, his voice quick now.::
Core: Don’t- move. Just . . . scan. Check the ground. I heard a click. It was not a comforting click. Now just scan.
DeVeau: Response?
::. . . . wonderful.::
::The Rodulan was standing on a mine.::
Core: Nobody move.
Kells/Tan/DeVeau: Response?
Core: Because we haven’t cleared the whole ground! If I so much as move a muscle in my foot, it’s bye bye Rodulan for me.
((Main Engineering))
::She saw the readout on her monitor as well. One second later, and the only thing they’d have beamed up were some bloody bits that used to be a components engineer.::
Rahman: ::whispers:: Oh my God…
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: RESPONSE
::She cleared her throat.::
Rahman: =/\= ...Tristam, are you still there? =/\=
((Pleethion Surface))
Core: =/\= Not dead yet, but *freaking out*. =/\=
Rahman: =/\= Just hang on for a moment. We can beam the others back... send another team down there to disarm the mine. =/\=
Egan Manno/Delano/Voss: Response?
Core: =/\= NO! Don’t do that either! =/\=
Rahman: =/\= Why not?! =/\=
Core: =/\= Tan’s the closest one to me - if he so much as shifts his weight, the ground moves and may set off the mine. Remove him completely, you might end up with the same effect. =/\=
::He was in a full out panic, now. Hands shaking, the only part of his mind fully functioning was the paranoid engineer. He did *not* want to survive one explosion just to be obliterated by another.::
((Main Engineering))
::Hmm, well, that was certainly a good reason not to.::
::The chief engineer exchanged a grim look with the others.::
Core: =/\= I *really* don’t want to die today, Rosh. =/\=
::If they couldn’t take the team out of there now, then they were the only ones down there that could help Core. And unfortunately, of the team, Core was the most qualified to disarm such a mine...::
::The Kriosian’s eyes widened.::
Rahman: oO That’s it! Oo
((Pleethion Surface))
::The chief engineer’s voice piped through the jury-rigged communications beacon with cackles of static.::
Rahman: =/\= Tristam, I need you to stay calm. =/\=
Core: =/\= Easier said than *DONE*. =/\=
Rahman: =/\= Try for me. Now look. We’re going to disarm that mine, and we’re just going to have to do it with the boots we have on the ground right there. =/\=
::Oh *no* . . . ::
Core: =/\= Please don’t tell me that . . . As much as I trust them, I’d rather refer professional hands . . . =/\=
Rahman: =/\= We’ve already got a professional down there, Tristam. ::beat:: *You* =/\=
::His composure broke.::
Core: =/\= I’M A BIT BUSY TRYING NOT TO DIE! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THAT MUCH OF A CRAZY *****? =/\=
((Main Engineering))
Core: =/\= YOU *DO* REALIZE I AM CURRENTLY STANDING ON A *MINE*? THAT MIGHT BLOW ME TO BITS IF I MOVE A TOE?=/\=
::She knew in such a stressful situation, the only way to help him now was to remain as calm as possible.::
Rahman: =/\= Yes, Tristam, I do. And you can do this. I know you can. You’re going to walk Lieutenant DeVeau through how to disarm that mine. =/\=
((Pleethion Surface))
::Did this woman seriously think that he was Superman or something? He couldn’t *walk something through disarming a mine*! All of his so-called talent was *muscle memory*! AND HE WASN’T ALLOWED TO USE HIS MUSCLES! He was starting to question her sanity.::
Core: =/\= You seriously think that there’s no other option? =/\=
::As much as he liked DeVeau despite never having had an actual conversation with her, he wasn’t at all comfortable with putting his life into a strangers hands. And that stranger was following his own instructions. Shows you how much self-confidence the Rodulan had.::
DeVeau: Response?
Rahman: =/\= I think it’s our best option. I do. And, yes, Alora, I know you can do this, too. Remember what we talked about after Gateway. =/\=
DeVeau: Response?
::It took him a deep breath and a few more seconds of silence, but the Rodulan could see where the Kriosian was coming from. They couldn’t beam more people in, it’d be risky trying to beam them out, and Tristam seemed to be the only one here on the surface that knew his way around a mine.::
::Not off-by heart, though, and he couldn’t see exactly what he was working with. That, and one wrong move from DeVeau, he goes “kaboom” and may just take the rest of the team with him.::
Core: =/\= I don’t like these stakes. =/\=
Kells/Tan: Response?
((Main Engineering))
Egan Manno/Voss: RESPONSE
Rahman: =/\= We’ll keep a transporter lock on you all the entire time. All right… =/\=
::She took a deep breath of her own.::
Rahman: =/\= It’s your show, Tristam. =/\=
((Pleethion Surface))
Core: =/\= Wonderful. =/\=
DeVeau: Response?
Core: Get out your tricorder again. You’re going to have to come towards me *very slowly*, and if that tricorder detects one wrong thing, you run the other direction.
DeVeau: Response?
Core: That goes for the rest of you. You think you need to run, you take the damn chance and you freaking *run for your lives*.
::It’s not that Tristam was showing courage or anything. It was that he didn’t want to die and then accidentally take the other three with him. And as much as he thought Tan was a prissy red shirt, the Engineer thought that he was making some form of progress with him.::
Tan/Kells: Response?
DeVeau: Response?
Core: Okay. Nice and gently, ease down onto the ground, take a clear scan, and then slowly describe what you’re reading. Don’t move. Just read. Out loud.
DeVeau: Response?
::All of a sudden, running that distance from the mud dome didn’t seem all that bad in comparison.::
Tag! TBC…
Lt. Commander Tristam Core
Engineering Officer, USS Garuda
&
Lt. Commander Roshanara Rahman
Chief Engineering, USS Garuda