Lt. JG. Gnai - Wow, Being In A Shuttle In The Same System As An Orion Destroyer Is Terrifying, No Thanks!!
Lich
(( Cockpit of the USS Atlas - Galaris System ))
Even if it would have been stupid for Gnai to try and attempt a rescue operation for the officers that were stuck on the base, it still felt horrible for having to leave them to their fate, and that feeling only worsened as it flew the shuttle back towards the Artemis, adrift in the empty space with only its thoughts as company. They were trapped there, with (probably) hostile aliens, and here it was, running back to the safety of the ship, because it hadn’t acted sooner to beam them up before the danger had properly manifested itself.
Thankfully, as it got closer, it was hailed by the Artemis, putting a stop to its ruminations.
Jovenan: =/\= Artemis to Atlas. What’s your situation? =/\=
It was good to see a friendly face, at least, and as far as Gnai could tell, she didn’t seem to be at all disappointed in Gnai’s cowardice (logical cowardice, it would protest).
Gnai: =/\= This is fine, the Atlas didn’t seem to be spotted… Nothing followed it back from the moon. =/\=
At least, nothing that it could detect with the Atlas’ sensors outright. But Gnai had been wrong before. Not that it was wrong often (or could think of a specific instance at that exact second, but that might have been adrenaline still coursing through its system, or whatever passed for that chemical in Galadorans). It just knew that it had definitely been wrong at least once before in its life. It would have been statistically impossible for it to have never been wrong before.
But it hoped that it was still right this time, and that nothing hostile had followed the Atlas from the base.
Jovenan: =/\= We’re getting company, so we’ll be coming to pick you up in a moment. Do you need medical attention? =/\=
Gnai: =/\= No, thank you, sir. =/\=
All in all, it had seen approximately 0 action since coming back from the surface of the planet, which it was thankful for, as while it had been shaken up a mite from the drones and falling floors and whatnot, it wasn’t actually hurt. The others might have been, but it had no way of contacting them or saving them from said hurt, as it was well aware of already.
Jovenan: =/\= Good. Come to the bridge as soon as you get back on board. Artemis out. =/\=
Gnai: =/\= Will do, sir. See you then. =/\=
With that, it signed off of the hail, and turned its focus back towards piloting the shuttle to the ship. Perhaps when they were finally back on leave after this mission concluded, it might have the chance to brush up on its piloting skills, which were woefully underutilized since it was at the Academy. Not that it wasn’t able to fly the shuttle, but it was certain that anyone with a modicum of ability would look at its attempt and have many areas of critique.
As the shuttle neared the ship, Gnai noticed something else odd on its sensors. There was another ship in the system. Something that it had missed previously, hidden from the shuttle behind some planetary body when it first came into the system, but now fully in view of the shuttle’s sensor array.
It was an Orion vessel. A large one, and that meant larger (and more) weapons too. That was bad news, especially for a little shuttle like the Atlas. Presumably that was what Lt. Cmdr. Jovenan had meant when she said “company”, but it wanted to get aboard as quickly as it could if she hadn’t been aware of it.
Gnai: =/\= Lieutenant Gnai to Shuttlebay. =/\=
Grace: =/\= Ensign Grace, Acting Shuttlebay Operations Manager here. ::beat:: How can I help, sir? The Atlas is still a bit away from the ‘bay… =/\=
Whoever that was, she sounded young, like she was just out of the Academy and getting the chance to be “acting” for the first time. How Gnai missed those days, even if they were barely more than a year ago.
Gnai: =/\= Ensign, would you be able to pick the ship up with a tractor beam and direct it in? This needs to beam aboard the ship quickly, and cannot wait to make the rendezvous properly. =/\=
Perhaps that was exaggerating its need, but Gnai didn’t want to waste time potentially explaining that it was (somewhat rightfully) afraid of the Big Orion Ship nearby, and thought that a shuttle would provide far from adequate protection if the Big Orion Ship decided that it wanted to blow the Atlas to smithereens. Plus, it had transferred the data from the shuttle’s scans to a PADD, which it presumed would be appreciated on the bridge. There had been some odd readings in the microwave range around the moon and as the Big Orion Ship passed out from under the shadow of the planet that had hidden it from the Atlas, which the on-board computers of the Artemis could probably analyze better.
Grace: =/\= Oh, definitely! That’ll be easy, just turn off the impulse engines if you can, so that I can steer it in. ::beat, sounding very excited and somewhat muffled, as if she had turned away from the console:: I was literally just running sims for a scenario like this the other night, Antos, I’m so ready…
That was… not meant for it, Gnai presumed.
Gnai: =/\= Ensign… this thinks you left the comms open. =/\=
Grace: =/\= Oh, sorry! ::beat, slightly bashful:: Just leave the impulse off, and I can take it from here sir! =/\=
It flashed with a bit of joviality, not that she could see it over the commline. The Atlas was clearly going to be in good hands. At her request, it killed the impulse drive, just as the blue tractor beam locked on.
Gnai: =/\= Thank you, ensign. =/\=
With the shuttle’s fate secured, Gnai finished downloading the data it had noted to its PADD, and stepped aboard the transporter PADD in the rear of the shuttle. A quick request to the ship, and it was beamed away.
((A Few Seconds Later))
(( Bridge – Deck 1, USS Artemis-A ))
It had decided not to be beamed right onto the bridge, as that seemed like a social faux pas, and needlessly alarming to those stationed there. So it had to hustle a little from the corridor outside of the bridge, making its way to Lt. Cmdr. Jovenan, PADD in hand, joining mid-conversation.
Tho'Bi: Recommend we initiate a system wide scan of CMBR for hidden transmissions ::beat:: the ship, the moonbase, the planet ::beat:: but anything hidden too ::beat:: Orions like a cloak.
Good point…
Cole: ::nodding:: Good thinking Tho’Bi. ::pulling up multiple sensors:: Both tachyon and gravitic are not detecting anything at the moment, but I’ll keep sweeping. They might be hiding in the Destroyer's wake.
Jovenan: Response
Gnai: ::handing PADD to Lt. Cmdr. Jovenan:: Sir, this just beamed in from the Atlas, there were some strange readings in the microwave range, as Ensign Tho’Bi suggested that it might be prudent to look out for.
And some odd neutrino readings as well (to name just one other anomalous reading that had caught Gnai’s attention), but Gnai presumed that Lt. Cmdr. Jovenan would pick that up from the various readouts of the PADD.
Jovenan: Response
Tho’Bi/Cole: Response
Gnai: Exactly. This had thought the readings were a bit odd, but hadn’t realized the Destroyer was there until almost at the Artemis. One of the other planets in the system had blocked visual readings of it…
And there had been far more pressing issues on Gnai’s mind around that time. Like its failure to help its friends. And the fact that it was still not safely aboard the Artemis, and was instead in a far less protected shuttle, in the middle of a system, with aliens that had already almost killed it.
Jovenan/Tho’Bi/Cole: Response
PADD delivered, Gnai made its way to the science station, relieving the ensign currently at it with a bob in its tank. A few taps and it pulled up the data it had pulled from the Atlas.
Gnai: Cross-referencing the scans from the Artemis and the Atlas… the Orion ship seems to have been in contact with the strange base that the other team beamed down to.
The ones that were now stuck there, unable to be beamed away, communications jammed. Obviously, they hadn’t jammed some of the communications methods that the Orions were using, which Gnai could see evidence of now on its console, accounting for odd readings between the base and something behind one of the outer planets that it had seen briefly earlier.
Jovenan/Tho’Bi/Cole: Response
Tags/TBC :)
(( OOC: Not that it’s relevant for this mission, but Ens. Greer Grace is an operations officer, and a General NPC that I’m going to add to the wiki as soon as this sim is out. ))