LtCmdr Jovenan – We got all the way here just to beam out, huh?
Jovenan
((Kobyar aircraft, near Grunden town, Galaris IV))
The sudden jerk of the damaged aircraft making contact with the ground rocked Jovenan on her seat. Without the harness, she knew she would have been gravely injured, but now she survived without getting even any major bruises. However, once the bugcraft steadied and she recovered from the hard landing – but not crash landing, thanks to their experienced pilot – she turned to look at LtJG Bergmen again. He had blood on his uniform and an enervated expression on his face, making Jovenan concerned with his ability to keep going. More than that, she felt something churn in her stomach: she had, though not solely responsible, brought a junior officer to a battlefield and allowed him to be injured again.
Jovenan: Lieutenant, what’s your status?
Oolwi: ::pointing to Bergmen:: He's drugged. Combat stabilizers embedded in the chair’s rigging. Needle-less injector. Just enough to take the edge and pain from injuries away, it should pass in hours or so. At least he had a happier landing than the rest of us.
Turning her head towards the cockpit and then back to Bergmen, Jovenan nodded. He’s okay, she tried to convince herself looking at his lost gaze, it’s okay. She didn’t need to feel guilty about him, but instead she focused again on her other colleagues and friends in the nearby Grunden town, bombarded just minutes ago by a swarm of Kobyar drones. She removed her harness and jumped out of the craft, onto the ground that felt unsteady after the ride through the air. For a moment longer, she looked up to the sky, expecting to find more drones preparing to attack them, but when the only signs of the hostile machines were the lines of smoke they left, she swapped the phaser for a tricorder.
Jovenan: Captain, I have the teams’ rough position. Some of them are near the edge of the town, in a building I think, the others are, uh, across the town in some kind of structure. There’s a lot of interference.
There were a lot of assumptions and uncertainty in her estimate. The two scans, one from the air and one from the ground, permitted her to triangulate the locations of the other teams’ combadge signals. The sophisticated device could account for even major faults from the hastiness of it all, but even then, she based some of the readings on the hope that the other teams had found shelter for the bombardment. After all, if they hadn’t, they would… well, they wouldn’t have moved in that scenario either. Regardless, the weakness of the combadge signals was curious.
MacKenzie: Which is closer?
Oolwi: I’ve only ever seen this place from above. I might be able to pick out some landmarks. Certain structures.
Jovenan: Lieutenant Vailani’s team, sir. In a building.
MacKenzie: =/\= MacKenzie to Vailani. =/\=
Jovenan looked at the Captain while they waited to hear the Lieutenant’s voice, but it didn’t come. She pressed her lips tightly together, hoping that the lack of response was due to the interference, whatever it was for, and not because of the Lieutenant’s inability to accept the call. Either way, unless the other teams solved the issue, the only way Jovenan and her team would learn of it was going in and seeing it for themselves. A glance at her team made her wonder how they’d fare if the Grunden were to prove hostile against them, or if the drones returned while they were in the town.
MacKenzie: ::to Bergmen:: Are you able to proceed?
Bergmen: ::nodding:: Mhm…
MacKenzie: Then let’s go. Avoid the attention of the locals. Which way, Commander?
Her eyes strongly in the tricorder’s screen, Jovenan raised her hand and pointed it at the town.
Jovenan: North-east, but we can avoid most of the town by going past those rocks first.
The Captain nodded in affirmation, and they began to proceed. As they got closer to the town, Jovenan expected to hear shouts, crying, emergency or military vehicle rushing to help the locals, but instead, her ears were filled with eerie silence broke only by occasional explosions. Had anyone in the town survived, or were they still in their shelters, waiting for a confirmation that the bombardment had ended, and that the drones weren’t returning to finish them off once they got out of the bunkers? The Captain quickened the pace. Jovenan didn’t mind walking faster, even running if needed, but she worried what might be in the Captain’s mind for her to see a reason to risk exhausting the other team members so. The Commanding Officer must know how perilous a situation the others were in…
Silveira: =/\= Silveira to Captain MacKenzie. The Grunden broke the truce and attacked the Kobyar Capital. Our quarters were hit, we are all fine, just minor injuries.
The unexpected call, which made the Captain stop, also startled Jovenan. Tense of the battle in which they had been dragged into, she had expected an attack. Despite recovering from the surprise, her heartbeat continued to race as she realised the meaning of the words. Vitor was in danger! He could be hurt, and she wasn’t there, couldn’t get there to help him! Even if he had spoke of only minor injuries, her mind created images of the collapsed suite, of fires and of suffocating dust that covered their broken bodies.
MacKenzie: =/\= What’s your assessment, Lieutenant? =/\=
Silveira: =/\= I don't think my team is useful here. Captain, permission to beam back to the Artemis and provide support from there.
Captain MacKenzie nodded. Jovenan released a relieved exhalation. They had, all of them, taken too many risks already by staying here. Their mission was important to the Kobyar and the Grunden, even if they continued to sabotage it by breaking the ceasefire and by firing at them – there was much more work to be done to determine who exactly was responsible for that – but Jovenan could see that Starfleet couldn’t risk their crew for something that wasn’t their fight.
MacKenzie: =/\= Go ahead, Sil. I’m calling for an evacuation of the entire crew back to the ship. We’ll debrief there. =/\=
Silveira: =/\= Response =/\= (if desired)
The Captain turned to the rest of them. Jovenan didn’t yet abandon her attempts at locating the other teams, instead waiting for the Captain’s call if they’d try to reach the teams themselves first, should they be unavailable for a beam-out.
MacKenzie: We’re returning to the ship. Major, you’ll forgive me if I say I don’t exactly feel safe having my crew here... But, I hope you or a representative of your government will join us on the Artemis where we can continue our talks and analyses of the information we’ve found so far. In the meantime, we can transport you and your pilot back to the Kobyar capital.
Oolwi: Thank you Captain, but I’ll stay. Someone has to explain to the people here what happened with the drones and why Kobyar soldiers crossed the border. Beam Hui’Jel back to the Capitol, so he can do the same there.
The Kobyar Major holstered her weapon and handed the belt away. Jovenan wasn’t sure what their liaison was planning to do, but she supposed the military officer knew better than them what her actions could do for her.
Oolwi: ::To the Starfleet personnel:: Thank you all for what you’ve done here so far. The selflessness and bravery you’ve shown in defending the people of that township. If this is the last time we see each other, know that I remain committed to finding the answer to whatever -- or whoever -- is behind the horrors committed here. On whichever side of this war that the cause may lay.
Jovenan: Thank you, Major. Despite the circumstances, we consider ourselves lucky that we had you to guide as here. ::to Hui’Jel:: You too, Captain.
The Captain turned to the Starfleet officers and nodded.
MacKenzie: =/\= MacKenzie to all Starfleet personnel. Evacuate to the Artemis immediately. =/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\= (if desired)
MacKenzie: =/\= MacKenzie to Artemis. Three to beam up. =/\=
The familiar blue mist engulfed the trio of officers soon after. Before they were dematerialized, Jovenan gave an encouraging smile at the Kobyar officer who’d remain behind. She didn’t know who she was truly looking at. Friends? Enemies? People who had betrayed their country but remained loyal to what was true and good? Either way, she knew that these people were the ones that could either save their world or to doom it… or waste it all away.
----
Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11