Ensign Jovenan – Descent into to the Sorrowful Depths
Jovenan
((La’kso Canyon, Meranuge IV))
Nervously, Rennol approached the ensign team, pointing his gun at Savel and Lorana. Further back, the leader Da’al was threatening to trigger his device and blow up the rock formation above them. The occasional craving to understand where she had gone wrong kept beating Jovenan’s head from within, but she had to remind herself to mind their current state and ponder the past after they were no longer in immediate danger.
Savel: You are left with one logical action to prevent further response from Starfleet. Stand down. ::Looking now to Rennol:: Do you trust him not to detonate those devices when you are in range, attempting to collect my weapon?
Jovenan: If you get closer, we might need to open fire at you. Will your partner trigger the devices or come in your rescue? Either way, it won’t end up well for you, Rennol.
Rennol was getting visibly anxious. They were thugs and probably minions to whoever caused the Tecra disaster, but they still had the sense of self-preservation and distrust to other crooks.
Lorana: Rennol, you know she's right. Think about it?
Kader: Response
If Rennol was nervous, the other Da’al man was getting irritated. He saw how they were trying to turn Rennol against them. Jovenan hoped the rage would blind him and force him to make irrational decisions they could take advantage of.
Kireeh: Silence! Rennol, get the weapons, now!
It seemed their tactic worked well, as Rennol didn’t think his action through before acting by them. He turned to face his boss, giving him orders he didn’t wish to execute.
Rennol: No! Why don’t you…
Kireeh: Rennol! Don't you –
Their wannabe-captors’ attention shifted to one another, and it was the perfect opportunity for the ensign team to act. Lorana was the quickest of them and jumped a great distance to combat the lead Da’al. Jovenan was amazed by the long but gracious leap the other science officer had just made, but she also covered her head to avoid getting hit by a rock the explosion would inevitably cause to fall. Yet, there was no sound of bombs going off nor rocks falling over them. Had it been a bluff? Or had Lorana prevented the lead Da’al from triggering the device?
Savel/Kader: Response
However it had been, Jovenan could now see the lead Da’al punching Lorana and pushing her with all his strength over the canyon edge. All she could see was Lorana’s body quickly disappear behind the cliff.
Jovenan: Lorana!
Savel/Kader: Response
Leaving Savel and Kader to deal with the Da’al, she sprinted to edge. The canyon was deep and steep, and Lorana could have fallen all the way to the bottom to a certain death. Jovenan scolded herself behind tears that were forming by her eyes: If she had not asked the other ensigns to this mission and hidden what she knew, none of this would have happened. She had killed Lorana.
Leaning over the edge, she first looked into the distant bottom looking for anything Caitian shaped, but then her gaze turned to a nearby ledge on the cliff. Lorana was there, lying of the ledge! She had fallen only about 10 metres, which was enough to seriously injure a person, even kill them, but there was a chance she had survived.
Jovenan: Lorana! ::pause:: Lorana, I’m coming for you!
Savel/Kader/Kireeh/Rennol: Response
Ignoring the others for a while, Jovenan flung her backpack to the ground. She didn’t need the entire thing, only the bare essentials: rope, hooks and a medkit. She attached the medkit and one end of the rope to her tricorder belt and hooked the other end to the ground. Securing herself, she stepped to the very edge of the canyon. Looking down, she could see the narrow river slithering dozens of metres below them, and the strong, warm wind shook her hair. She felt nauseated, and her legs were like the Earth delicacy, boiled spaghetti. Was she really going to step off the firm ground?
Yes. Lorana needed her. Jovenan couldn’t let her, anybody, to die. Not on her watch.
She turned around, tightened the rope, grasping the descent device strongly. Mumbling her prayers to the God of the Edo, she lifted her right foot and moved it against the near-vertical cliff. Then the other foot. Soon she was slowly scaling down the face of the canyon. One metre, two metres… Her hands slipped a bit, and she fell a metre down before getting a hold of the rope. She whimpered as her hands were like burning by the friction. Without the descent device, she had to rely to her hands to get her down.
Without consciously realising how far she had come, she eventually set her foot to the ledge. Caressing her blistered hands and trying to steady her legs, exhausted and afraid, she soon abandoned her other thoughts and moved to Lorana.
Jovenan: Lorana! Can you hear me?
Nothing.
Jovenan unattached the medkit and found the medical tricorder within. She scanned Lorana as hastily as she could without missing any crucial details. No, no, no… Lorana was badly injured by the fall, and Jovenan didn’t have the right equipment nor the expertise to care for her. Even if she could stabilise Lorana, Jovenan doubted she could walk back to the shuttlepod on her own feet without proper care, not to mention the climb back up. Jovenan had no chance of lifting Lorana to her back and ascending the rope back up.
She loaded the hypospray and injected the medicine to Lorana, hoping it could stabilise her. There were noises up above them, maybe Savel and Kader had managed to subdue the threat, maybe the Da’al had overpowered the guys. Jovenan didn’t care right now.
Jovenan: ::crying:: Lorana, please wake up.
Lorana: Response
Jovenan: Please, lie still. You’re badly hurt.
Lorana: Response
TAG/TBC
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Ensign Jovenan
Science officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11