LTCmdr. Quentin Collins - I Saw 3 (Dozen) Ships Come Sailing In

[Justin Partridge]

((Interior. U.S.S. Arrow, Deck 3. Shuttlebay 1))

Quentin Collins relished the clack of his boots against the metal of the deck plating. Fully equipped not only with his standard issue kit, but with his now battle tested and slightly upgraded New Addition, he felt far more confident than he did stepping foot back down planetside. 

Better still, he had another hale and hearty team behind him. With his overactive brain and the values, talent, and hearts of the assembled crew at his side there was nothing that they couldn't do. 

It was either that or succumb to the pinging panic that was starting to rise within him. By the accounts he had seen from their trip to the shuttlebay, the Sheliak hadn't stopped firing (at least at the moment) and there was no telling what sort of havoc it was wreaking on the planet's ecosystem, which already seemed quite jumbled as is.

Add to that that tinder box, both politically and tactically the refugee ships were in, Quentin didn't know what a stout heart and hard back was going to do in the face of all of that. But they owed it to the planet and themselves...hell, they owed it to their very souls to try. At least Quentin felt that way. He could and would never speak for his fellow crew, but the looks in their eyes and the nervous way they were all approaching their intended egress (The Shuttle Chloe Waters' Had Pinged Off The Razor's Edge) spoke at least to a knowledge of the weight of their incoming actions.    

R'Ariel: All set.  

oO Then let's REset, shall we? Oo

As the compartment door of the Shuttle gave away to his security codes, Quentin restated their mission to the now gathered Away Team.

Collins: We play it like the skipper said. Any ship that can fly will and those that can't, we pack into here. Call in more shuttle support if the transporters get overwhelmed. All while trying to avoid the ruddy great death-ray and scope out the source of the anomaly they are after maybe if we can. S'fine! No problem at all. Should be a milk run, right? ::He said with a wry smile::

Wilde: Sir, what if the Sheliak sends a landing party to the surface?

He felt himself harrumph. And then blushed at how much it sounded like his father's

Collins: Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

They all started into the Shuttle and both DeBarres and Wilde started toward the pilot's seat. Quentin caught his step up a bit, jumping forward a bit as to try and head them off. Not in a haughty way or a crowding way. Just in an excited way. He never got a chance to fly and he wasn't about to pass this one up. Impending doom ahead or not...

DeBarres:  I got this sir.  

Collins: No chance. I am flying. I never get a chance to fly. Let this be my one and only "command" flex. You all give your gear final checks and I'll get us ready to cast off.

Wilde: As you wish, Commander. 

Quentin clapped a grateful hand on Wilde's shoulder and gently guided him to the co-pilot's seat, as the rest of the team filed into their own positions. 

Quentin sat and felt his hands almost tingle as he started the pre-flight final checks and secured the porthole door, pressurizing the cabin and causing a healthy hum to suddenly ping throughout the interior. After a quick glance out to the back end of the tiny ship, just to see that everyone was snug enough, he gently lifted them slightly amid the still buzzing bay. 

The scant amount of other shuttles they had (two on loan from the nearby Starbase 821 and docked of a sort on Theta 122 near the Atlas Base parameter and the other their remaining light shuttle, currently being prepped for call up) was soon a distant mirage as Quentin eased them up and out of the Bay and into the expanse of stars.

((Exterior. The Space Above Theta 122.))

Outside of the ship the still attacking Sheliak vessel took on a brand new, darkly impressive scale looming over the tiny planetoid. As Quentin dipped them toward atmospheric reentry, he saw some vessel headed up and the other way. That was the first good sign they had gotten today. That meant a general evac had already been called and that was going to save them a ton of time on the ground.

But as they sped closer and closer to the surface, more and more even more pressing problems started to present itself. Namely, and probably the most shockingly stupid of all, was a tight cluster of "catcher" ships flitting in and around the beam from the Sheliak ship.

Quentin couldn't rightly spot the make and models of the them, nor what faction/homeworld claimed their construction, but as they settled into their landing formation (finishing with a soft, but solid sounding *thump* on the sand below), he could see that they had their cell holds open and were trying to snap up the sure to be immense radiation and energy throw coming off of them. Dangerous work. High risk and high rewards, but Quentin wasn't about to let a bunch of capitalists put lives in jeopardy. After they disembarked, they would be priority one...once they had their bearings, of course.

As he unhooked his seat belt and stood, Charlotte DeBarres' talent for understatement revealed itself once again.

DeBarres: It never rains but pours.::Smiling and getting her screen going to look at the bases assets.::

He felt himself snort and move toward the doorway. As they were flying, he overheard bits and pieces of her assuring their clearly (but only slightly) rattled Counselor. Quentin understood all too well the feeling. If he was being honest with himself, he was feeling it himself. Something their Counselor was also sure to feel.

He decided to lean into it. The Counselor here recently had been at the center of a fairly cathartic and much needed moment of introspection from him and he in turn was going to make sure nothing befell her down here (to the best of his ability and circumstances allowing).

He extended a hand to the Counselor along with a knowing, but gentle look on his eye. One that said "I know you are scared, so I am. But we can be scared together."

Collins: Fancy a walk, Counselor? Theta is lovely this time of year I'm told.

R'Ariel: Response

Wilde: Response  

Collins: We wrap this up and at least a week of the good provisions are on me, how's that? Plus Wilde is right, Counselor. We will be beside you every step of the way.

Wilde: RESPONSE

Collins: See, I knew you all would be reasonable...::He said with another wry smirk, leading the way onto the surface.::

((Exterior. Theta 122. Roughly 8 Kilometers from The Edge of the "Shipyard".))

As Quentin stepped out of the shuttle, he was instantly assaulted with the acrid taste of...copper? Or was it tin? The wind also seemed to smell strongly of it, intermingled with the smell of burnt drive plasma and firing impulse engines. It seemed to swallow and surround Quentin in strangely intoxicating ways.

He instantly drew his tricorder to retest the air's toxicity. The shuttle would have alerted them after landing if the air around them had become unpotable and Skeets seemed to back up that assumption, but Quentin couldn't deny the heaviness of the space around them. 

oO I wonder...Oo

He popped a finger into his mouth as he stepped more more step away from the shuttle, allowing himself more saturation of the wind, which now seemed to pulse a bit with the gusts.

Wilde: RESPONSE

Collins: jssS'asecond...

He worked the finger around his mouth a second, making sure to get it good and spit-y and then produced it into the gust. INSTANTLY a quick bluish spark flashed across the pad of his index finger, burning him slightly.

Collins: BELGIN...bummer, that stung, but I was right!

R'Ariel: RESPONSE

Collins: The air! Its...it's...charged somewhat! A completely different electron density than it had before. That's...what's...MAN that's fascinating...

DeBarres: RESPONSE

Collins: No, yes, you're right. Sorry. That's something for later....for now...::he whirled and pointed toward the mining vessels still flirting dangerously close to the energy beam:: We have to get them on the ground.

Wilde: RESPONSE

As Wilde started to move off, Quentin slapped his commbadge as more metallic winds whipped around him.

Collins: Collins to Arrow.

Nothing but static greeted him. He frowned. So they were cut off for the time being. And Quentin was also assuming transporters were down as well. They usually tended to fail in pairs, transporters and comms, so he didn't want to hold his breath. He blinked heavily with a thought and slapped it again, a new contact in mind.

Collins: =/\=Commander Collins to Atlas Base.=/\=

After a quick and sharpish snap-hiss, a frantic voice greeted him. Yet another good sign from the day. Terrestrial comms didn't seem blocked, so they could at least coordinate on the ground much as the Sheliak allowed.

Atlas Base: =/\=Atlas here, Commander! WHAT?! IS?! HAPPENING?!=/\=

oO It's a...fair question for sure.Oo

Collins: =/\=All I know is what you and I are seeing right now, crewman. But has general evacuation been sounded?=/\=

A sound like a grunt, but in the affirmative belched through the line.

Atlas Base: =/\=Yes! We sounded alarm conditions as soon as we picked up the Sheliak vessel on our scopes. The Professor got all the space worthy ships started off-planet right afterward, the last of them should be leaving now.=/\=

Quentin whirled again, shielding his eyes slightly from the sun with the still extended and scanning Skeets. Whoever he was talking to was right. Like ants the rest of the still "afloat" ships were starting to break through the sparse cloud cover and into upper orbit. Quentin sighed a momentary sigh of relief. But that quickly soured again into dread as he noticed the rest of the ships, the dregs if you like, were still aplenty on the ground. That meant possible molding weapon stores. Cracked drive casings. All manner of leaks. All new problems. Quentin was about to speak again with the Atlas crewman headed him off at the pass.

Atlas Base:=/\=We still have staff and technicians here! What are we going to do?!=/\=

The man's audibly rising panic caused a sort of...inverse reaction in Quentin. A cool, almost aloof calm at the constant craziness  His father had always said "If someone is panicking, you then CAN'T panic. Because what's the use of you BOTH panicking? That just gets you killed quicker. You have to be the rock if someone else can't be." Quentin took a cleansing breath and tried to do his best impression of a rock.

Collins: =/\=Use the shuttles parked out along the perimeter. I am also about to ping you our location for any stragglers. You can't fit anybody or they can't make take off, you send them our way. Hail me back once you break orbit. We are going to get you on the other side of this...I promise.=/\=

He felt himself wince at the slip. There was no way he could guarantee that. He wasn't...a deity. But he had to say something. The man was clearly on an edge and he needed to pull him back from it, not push him off and under it.

Atlas Base: =/\=Aye, I mean...okay...o-okay. Stand by, Commander.=/\=

Collins: =/\=If I don't hear from you in twenty, I am coming to look for you, understand? Right after we ground these mining skiffs I REALLY don't want to have to do that, Mister...?=/\=

Atlas Base: =/\=C-Covingyon. Arliss Covingyon. And I understand, Commander, but...what mining skiffs? We don't have any mining ships on registry …=/\=

oO Wait...what? Oo

Collins: =/\=...stand by, Mister Covingyon.=/\=

Another affirming grunt, this time one sounding vaguely like "Copy" cut through the line and then went silent. He turned directly into the eyeline of Wilde and R'Ariel. Exactly who he needed. Despite the now screaming thoughts about the miners near the beam.

Collins: You two start pinging our location to Atlas Base's comms frequency. I want us visible to any stragglers who might not know where to go.

Wilde/R'Ariel: RESPONSE

He then spun on his heels to DeBarres.

Collins: Mister DeBarres, start overwatch conditions. Anything that looks unfriendly call out. Anything that PROVES unfriendly, you push back, yes?

DeBarres: RESPONSE

Collins: Good, NOW le-

A LOUD DRONING permeated the air. Then three deep pulses in rapid rhythm. Then suddenly...the beam stopped. Along with a nearly toppling shockwave in it's wake. Quentin dug his heels into the sand but only just, pushing him slightly back as if he was on a skateboard. But a new sound didn't allow him to dwell on it long.

Whipping his head upward he saw one the mining vessels teetering drunkenly with the invisible impact. The rest of the ramshackle "fleet" seemed to be moving toward upper orbit, but this one...it veering and spun and lilted wildly...and under the stress of it's frightful flight started to shear itself apart, starting from it's center bulk. 

Collins: GET DOWN!

Somewhat crooking his arms around Wilde and R'Ariel's shoulders (as they were the closest to him), he dove for the ground hard with his charges. They hit the ground right at the ship completely cracked apart, diving quickly and decisively toward the rapidly approaching ground. It landed with a sickening, thunderous BWAAOOMMMM! Then came the slightly less booming, but just as deadly machine-gun-thumping of the debris. 

Quentin dared to look up, seeing the hellish rain just a few kilometers away from them, further emphasized by the random bric-a-brac that was landing closer to them. 

But another thing caught Quentin's eye...the odd...almost crackling energy trail trickling on the wind and sky, exactly in the ship's last flight patterns. To the movement. Like one of old "electro" toys that his father had shown him. The one where you would touch it and the trail of "lightening" would follow your flesh. That was...

Collins: Damn odd...

Wilde/R'Ariel/DeBarres: RESPONSE

He spoke from the ground still, bracing himself to stand eventually.

Collins: I think the air here might be more charged than I thought...which means we have a lot more work to do...

-- 

TAG/TBC

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER 

QUENTIN COLLINS III

FIRST OFFICER

U.S.S. ARROW NCC-69829

ID: E239512QC0

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