[Repost] Lt Jovenan – The Lair of Secrets and Death
Jovenan
((OOC: Sorry about the simultaneous posting with Gnai. This sim is mostly the same as my previous, but I’ve incorporated Gnai’s lines & other events in here and the ending is different.))
((Cave, Rakantha Province, Bajor))
Jovenan knew she had failed in one of her first attempts to practice away-team leadership.
She had led a team of her subordinates, under her responsibility, to a (now obviously) dangerous area. And now, one of them had been injured after stepping on a mine! As much she wanted to worry about what the consequences for this misadventure would be after their return to the Artemis, she needed to focus on making sure they all returned to the ship.
Jovenan: Don’t move. If there was one of these traps, there might be more of them, and I don’t want you to trigger more of them by accident. Was there any indication of the trap, like a tripwire?
Gnai: ::loudly:: Aye, sir! This group will stay here, until there is a plan. No need to worry, sir.
Renirs: I stepped on something! It was like a button, it moved under my foot and then it exploded!
Right, okay, sounds like a mine or some other type of weight triggered explosive. Jovenan had to admit she knew very little about weapons of that sort, such unusual tools of war were barely covered in the tactical/security courses she had taken, and they were definitely not employed on Rubicun since the Chaotic times. She had to hope that the more specialised personnel on her team would know more, and besides, it was better to recall all of them to one place in case they happened to find any more of decades old traps lying around.
Jovenan: =/\= Jovenan to Savel and Chevalier. Terminate the exercise. There’s been a small explosion in the cave, likely some old trap. I need your help in here. =/\=
Savel: =/\= Acknowledged, we are on our way. =/\=
Their two other team members arriving soon, Jovenan turned her attention to getting the trapped people out of the cave. She could barely see anything in the dark cave; if it weren’t for their voices travelling through to her, and Gnai’s bioluminescent tendrils, she might not have been able to tell them apart from the rocks.
Renirs: Do we just stand in here until someone comes to get us out? Can’t we use the tricorders to check where the mines are and just not step on them?
Gnai: Yes. It will be best to remain here and not risk more injury.
Jovenan took out her tricorder and started scanning the cave. She presumed that Gnai and Renirs had done the same when they had entered, so she suspected she might not find anything either, though focusing on the bottom of the cave and any artificial materials there might still allow her to help in some way.
Jovenan: If you can find the mines with your tricorders, yes, you should do that, but do not move anywhere!
Renirs: I might have lost mine. Mine, my tricorder, not like ::stops, grimaces in pain::
Gnai: The mine wasn't detected by you with your tricorder earlier, what is to say that they would be detected now? You are injured, reading a tricorder will be far harder.
Jovenan frowned upon hearing Renirs cutting her sentence in what sounded like could be a subdued expression of pain. A tricorder was a small price to pay if it was the only major loss. However, Renirs had been injured, and besides stepping on a mine, Jovenan didn’t know how serious her injuries were.
Hearing steps coming from behind her, Jovenan turned her face to see that Savel and Chevalier had found them. She showed them her palm, in sign that they could walk to her but that they should not advance any further.
Renirs: Okay, but can’t we just walk out the same way we came? And watch out for the slippery parts as well.
Savel: That would depend on the nature of the device you have triggered. The Lieutenant advised there was an explosion. Was it a mine, and if so, how far are you from where you initially triggered it?
Gnai: Renirs stepped on something, which then exploded. She said it was a mine. ::directed at Renirs:: The chance that either you or this remember the path taken in here is practically zero.
Jovenan: Could you also describe the explosion? How large was it, how badly are you injured?
Renirs: Response
Jovenan had to take a deep breath to calm herself down. By the sound of it, they should get Renirs to hospital sooner than later, but at least she didn’t appear to be massively bleeding or in shock. There was still hope, but any further explosions could injure them severely or be lethal.
Chevalier: Those wounds do not correspond with open space explosion, plus they mentioned a click sound, so we can discard some kind of wired booby trap. They both are alive, so we can cross out the directional mine as well. Given the fact she still has two functional legs, we can exclude standard land mines. ::smile apologetically:: There is still quite a list of what remains on the menu, but I would go with a pressure plate IED.
Jovenan nodded slowly. It was good that they had weapons experts, or at least more read up on than herself, though that information alone didn’t save them unless they could locate and either avoid or disable the explosive devices.
On her side, Jovenan noticed Savel take readings from the wall nearby.
Savel: Before putting them at further risk, we should evaluate the possibility of the Artemis being able to just beam them away. ::walking back over to Jaseb and Jovenan:: Are either of you aware of any of these minerals being able to prevent a transporter lock on their combadges?
He showed her and Chevalier the readings he had taken from the wall. Jovenan looked at the screen of his device for a moment, before turning to her PADD; she was still receiving the data from the teams’ tricorders, as they had been set before the beginning of the exercise. Chevalier didn’t even have a look before responding.
Chevalier: That cave wasn’t on our briefing for this training, Savel. So our orbital sensors did not detect it. If the sensors cannot detect the cave, I doubt they will be able to detect the badges inside it. We will need to go in with the transporter boosters. We can do it. We use ground-penetrating scans to detect IEDs. You, me, we know what to look for. If the boosters will work, that's the best option. ::turns to Jovenan:: Lieutenant, what do you see? You know the science side the best; you are the one in blue. Will transporter boosters help, or will the cavern minerals make this hopeless?
Jovenan had a grim look on her face as she listened to the ideas, proposals and concerns by the two Ensigns with her by the cave’s entrance. The readings on the tricorder weren’t much more encouraging.
Gnai: ::louder:: Transport to the shuttle, maybe? Isn't the Artemis far away?
Jovenan: ::louder, to Gnai:: Yes, shuttle’s transporters, we can’t wait for the Artemis come pick us up! ::normal voice:: There’s a miniscule amount of magnesite in the ceiling. It’s not quite bad as in La’kso Canyon, for example ::look to Savel::, so I think the transporter boosters are sufficient to amplify the signal, though we’d need to get them in a pattern around Gnai and Renirs, which we can’t do without going in ourselves.
Renirs: Response
Savel took a few careful steps to the side, apparently trying to get a better grasp of the cave.
Savel: If I am correct, then this cave functions as a storage area for illicit goods of some sort. It is likely that there are additional mines, though they are probably arranged in a pattern that would allow someone with knowledge of their layout to safely navigate the cave in order to retrieve what was stored here. We only need to discover this pattern to give you a safe route to the exit.
That would explain much of the cave. The distribution of the magnesite deposits didn’t appear natural, so it was possible they had been brought in and attached to the ceiling in order to gain some level of protection from the Cardassians, the Bajorans or authorities in general. Maybe they had even cleared the cave from natural rock formations so that they could place the mineral chunks in proper locations. The hidden entrance further helped with preventing anyone from finding it.
Before Jovenan could formulate her opinion on the plan, Chevalier was shaking his head.
Chevalier: We may not have time to get them out. I will take the transport boosters. Some backup solutions are always better than having none. They can work; if they don't, we leave them there.
Calming her nerves, Jovenan considered the options. The safe route probably existed, although there was also a chance that the former occupants of the cave had abandoned it and trapped it in case of future investigators. In order to find the route, they might need to walk closer and locate each mine, and then walk back the same journey. By the sound of it, Renirs wasn’t able to walk, and she didn’t dare to think what would happen if Gnai’s tank shattered.
If they used transporter beam amplifiers, they’d still need to walk in and place them in suitable locations… but at least they’d need not walk the way back. Chevalier didn’t seem entirely certain the idea worked, although he did sound certain that his idea should be the one they employed – maybe too much so, but Jovenan didn’t have the time or the interest in asserting her status as the senior officer. His idea was worth considering.
Jovenan: Okay. Get the transporter boosters. Savel, Chevalier, you’ll try to find the route to Renirs and Gnai and place the boosters around your entire group. I’ll patch you up to the shuttle transporter from here. When the boosters are in place, we’ll beam you all out. ::look to all:: Execute.
Chevalier left to fetch the boosters from the shuttle. Jovenan could barely hear Gnai and Renirs discussing together; she hoped that the support from the Galadorian officer could help Renirs stay calm, and vice versa.
((OOC: Leaving out Gnai&Renirs conversation, Jovenan doesn’t hear it.))
Soon, Chevalier returned carrying the transporter beam amplifiers. An exchange of nods, and the two Ensigns were on their way in. It didn’t take long for Jovenan to lose them from her sight in the darkness, but as she turned her eyes from the cave to the PADD, she could still see the dots representing them, advancing in the dark.
Chevalier: Savel? We have continuous connection to the shuttle. It works.
Savel: Response
Jovenan had to remind herself to breath as the first booster came online. Despite being in charge, she couldn’t help but feel powerless, as the most she could do was keep the connections up and put her entire hope in the Ensigns.
Chevalier: Wait! Stay back!
Savel: Response
The sudden cry alarmed Jovenan. She looked up, into the cave, and quickly back to her PADD, where she could at least see something.
Chevalier: ::breathing raggedly:: Savel, you need to continue. I’m okay. I think as long as I keep my feet on it, it will not explode. Go and save Gnai and Renirs. I will analyze that IED and the lieutenant will call support from Artemis...and they will get me out. Okay, Savel? Go!
Gnai: What's going on? Did Ensign Chevalier step on a mine?
Jovenan listened to the barely comprehensible discussion from the distance, before shouting her response, her voice mainly full of worry, but a sliver of anger also seeping through.
Jovenan: What happened? Report!
Savel/Renirs/Chevalier: Response
Gnai: Be careful, Ensign Savel!
Jovenan had to hold her head, listening to the report. Their rescue effort had turned a notch more hopeless, and she had unnecessarily endangered yet another of her teammates. No, this couldn’t continue like this. She couldn’t let things fall more into the despair.
Jovenan: Savel, can you complete the transporter booster perimeter alone?
Savel/Chevalier/Renirs: Response
((OOC: Jovenan doesn’t hear Gnai&Renirs here either.))
Following Savel’s continued efforts from the PADD, Jovenan noticed further data being transmitted to her, clearing part of the virtual fog within the cave.
Gnai: ::louder, to Lt. Jovenan:: Lieutenant, is there anything anomalous in the vicinity of this tricorder?
Oh, good thinking, Gnai! Its tricorder was still connected to hers, so it could still contribute to looking for the mines even if it didn’t move anywhere.
Jovenan: Yes! It’s not as close as Savel’s, but if you could keep it pointed just ahead of his route, I can try triangulating the mines with that data. Savel, I’m sending you as much as I can!
Savel/Chevalier/Renirs: Response
The planting of transporter beacons advanced slowly but steadily, and as they were almost ready with that, Jovenan once more addressed the darkness before her.
Jovenan: Okay, once the transporter amplifiers are in place, I’ll transport you to the shuttle, where you will tend to Renirs wounds and contact the Artemis and the Bajoran authorities. Chevalier, um, you’re not quite inside the perimeter, so try to stand by. I’ll help you once the others are safely out. Try to come with something we can do to prevent the mine from going off.
Savel/Gnai/Chevalier/Renirs: Response
Eventually, the amplifiers were in effect, and Jovenan could see a bright perimeter form inside a portion of the cave as they activated. For the first time, she could also see Gnai’s and Renirs’ shadowy figures in there. She looked back down to her PADD, which she had connected to the shuttle’s transporter controls. It wasn’t quite the same as doing it from a proper control console, but it would work just about the same.
Jovenan: Everyone ready? Energizing.
As she glided her fingers on the PADD’s surface, blue mist shone inside the cave for a moment and disappeared promptly as the matter stream terminated. Having a deep breath, Jovenan turned once more the darkness, addressing the Ensign trapped in there for a moment longer.
Jovenan: Chevalier? Everything okay? I’m coming to you now.
Chevalier: Response
That said, controlling her ever-so-slightly shaking legs, Jovenan stepped into the cave, her eyes solely on her PADD as she followed the path Savel and Chevalier had established, walking towards the trapped Ensign.
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11