[sb118-artemis] Ensign Tho'Bi: Tho'Bi Trek - The Grunden Picture Part 2

[Tobi]

((OOC:  Part Two of Two)))

(( Grunden Base Camp, Kydon )) 

The young Andorian felt numbed.  Voices drifted away and became dull.  Only the cold of the breeze seemed real.  He continued walking; sometimes on metal decking, sometimes his boot would slop into the mud.

Ahead, the Bajorian Lieutenant walked alongside the Grunden General. 

Vailani: :: carefully :: This is a very organised set up, is this a permanent location or do you move from location to location?

The General led them through a section of tunneling made out of collapsable, elongated square frames.  The Andorian Engineer looked at the racks of weapons stacked on either side.  His eyes scanned the particulars of construction; breaks in the molding, indicating two different sections or parts.  What at first appeared to be simple pistols and assault rifles, were, in fact, deceptively simple; as far as the Engineer could tell with a superficial overview, each weapon was based upon a modular design principle; allowing active parts of the weapon to be replaced or switched out for a different part, depending on mission priority.

A series of drones, not dissimilar to one they had stripped down in the Command Centre, were floating in front and slightly above the weapons.  A thin, electronic blue line projected from the nose of the drones, it tracked down the barrel and workings of each gun in turn.  The drones appeared to be assessing the structural integrity of weapons.  The drones were clearly Kobyar technology.  The tops of the drones had been broken open, and a dense coil of Grundent power and data cables sprouted upward, from the break point, to rails running along the ceiling of the tunnel.  As near as the Engineer could guess, the Grundens had scavenged the drones from the battlefield, hacked into them, and adapted them for their purposes.

Kexxin: Since I took command here, we have been able to stay put. But we have proper procedures in place if we have to relocate for any reason.

The Andorian’s antennae lifted as they left the tunnel section, and the dull artificial light broke back into near-open daylight; but the odd, heavy structure, designed to blend in with the canopy of trees, remained.  The space was larger than that of the Command Center and was home to a collection of All-Terrain-Vehicles, of various sizes and setups.        

Kexxin: These are what we call our grunts. Heavily armored, all terrain and ::smirking:: kind of fun.

With a whir and a clunk, the Galadoran turned to the rest of the Away Team; the usual harmony of vibration that the Andorian’s antennae sensed, and that he found so found so relaxing, had been replaced, with a more frenzied and agitated modulation; Lieutenant Gnai had been like this since the Mission Briefing, but it appeared to be reaching a new intensity. 

Gnai: ::as quietly as its speakers can go:: Please tell this that one of you took more classes in planet-side survival than the bare minimum at the Academy…

Tho’Bi: I-I grew up on Space Station (beat) ::shrugs:: we didn’t do a lot of off-roading.

Sadar/Cole/Vailani: Responses

Kexxin: ::Pointing to one of the grunts:: Can one of you handle one of these? 

The young Andorian Engineer turned to the Grunden General.  As he did so, first, the cluck sound of metal hitting metal, and then a short scuff-like noise, made him turn back to see the Galadoran stride forward, awkwardly, landing heavy on his front foot.  The paused for a split moment, unsure as to what to do, before resolving to turn back to the General.

Tho’Bi:  General Kexxin ::bows slightly:: as Engineer, it is my duty to ensure the safety of any equipment, weapon, or vehicle (beat) used by our team, and our commanding officer ::gestures at Lieutenant Vailani:: (beat) be it of Starfleet, or any other world.(beat) ::bows further:: I humbly request your permission (beat) to check your Grunts ::sweeping gesture with arm:: so that I might honor my duty ::remains bowed::

Kexxin:  Response

Vailani/Sadar/Cole: Responses

Tho’Bi:  My thanks to you (beat) General Kexxin, War-Chief of the Grunden.

With that, the young Andorian stood upright and snapped the Engineering Tricoder out of its adaptive pouch, on his utility belt.  He really needed to attach the extra modules, but did not want to arouse the suspicions of the General; fortunately, be it coincidence or intent, Lieutenant Gnai distracted the Grunden War-Chief with a question.

Gnai:  Just how far away is this capital?

Kexxin: 

As the General answered, the young Andorian Engineer snapped the Isotope Analyzer module out, and clicked it into place on the base of the Tricorder; the Engineer then repeated this action for the Spectrometric module, clicking it onto the base of the Isotope Analyzer; the system having been design for daisy-chaining modules together.

Vailani/Sadar/Cole: Responses

He moved steadily around the nearest vehicle, in a series of side-steps; as he did so, the Andorian spoke out loud to himself, in an absent minded manner.

Tho’Bi: ::sweeping the Tricorder across the armour panelling:: Electric Reactive Armor ::crouches down at nearest front wheel:: Adaptive Wheels ::shuffles around to front of vehicle and nods:: All in one Solid State Battery and Drive Unit.

As he went about his work, the Engineer also had the Tricorder scan for and flag up Isotope Ratios; and logged Spectrometric data to be analyzed later, hopefully with the help of Lieutenant Gnai, who was better versed than an Engineer in such things.

Kexxin/Vailani/Sadar/Cole: Responses   

The Andorian Engineer stood up and glanced across the array of different vehicle setups in evidence.  He then directed his report at Lieutenant Vailani, but in a clear and loud enough manner to make it easy for anyone to hear.  The Andorian hoped this would allay any concerns the General might have.

Tho’Bi: ::stood up straight:: Lieutenant, the vehicles ch-

Even generations old Andorian biochemistry was apparently no match for Lieutenant Vailani.  

Vailani:  Response?

Tho’Bi: ::swallows:: the vehicles check out for safety ::gestures across the space:: they are based on a modular design (beat) every piece of armour and weapon can be changed out with any other ::points at the wheels:: the wheels are adaptive (beat) altering their shape to best suit the terrain ::points at the front of the vehicle:: power and drive is one unit (beat) And…

The Andorian walks over to the nearest workbench and picks up one of several identical tools.

Tho’Bi:  ::holds the tool up:: Everything can be done with this one tool.

Vailani Response:

Kexxin: Response?

Sadar/Cole: Responses

Gnai: Wait - this didn’t realize that was a concern!!

The Galadoran clunked and whirred his way into the back of the nearest Grunt.  The Andorian opted to join him in the back.  At nearly two meters, his lean frame was not well-suited to Grunden Vehicle design.  He swung his rucksack off his back and placed it beside the open door.  As he then placed one leg into the footwell, and moved sideways to bring his body into the vehicle, he caught his antennae on the top of the door frame.

Tho’Bi: Ow.

The Andorian tilted his head and slide into the vehicle, his head dragging against the headliner, with his Antennae crushed between.

Tho’Bi:  Ow.  Ow.  Ow.  Ow.  Ow!

With his first knee already chest height, he pulled and contorted his second leg into the vehicle; twisting his foot round to plant it in the footwell, his second knee coming up to his chest, to match the first.  The Andorian then picked up his rucksack and squeezed it between his knees; jamming it against the back of the seat in front, and his crotch.  Finally, he stretched out his arm to pull the door close.  His fingers fell several centimeters short of reaching the door.

Tho’Bi:  Erm…. Help.  (beat)  Please.

((OOC: Feel free to interject at any point while Tho’Bi is trying to get in the Grunt))

Vailani/Sadar/Cole/Kexxin/Gnai: Response

Tho’Bi:  Thank you ::tries to nod, can’t:: Ow.

Vailani/Sadar/Cole/Kexxin/Gnai: Response

With the door closed, it wasn’t long before they were on their way.  The Grunt leaped into life, and sprang out onto the dirt track leading away from the Base Camp; the force of acceleration slammed the Galadoran back into his seat.  So jammed in, in contrast, the Andorian did not budge.

Tho’Bi: ::tries to look at Gnai, can’t:: Ow.  (beat) At least you can move.

Gnai: Response?

Vailani/Sadar/Cole/Kexxin/Gnai: Response

TAG/TBC

((OOC: Sorry, that got wildly long with quite a lot of Engineering tech babble/world building.  I couldn’t work out how to lead into Gnai’s line, “Wait - this didn’t realize that was a concern!!”.  Apologies if I missed or misplaced anyone’s lines, I think I got everything.))

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Ensign Tho’Bi

Engineering

USS Artemis-A

A240203T11