Lt JG Imril - No Plan Survives First Contact With the Entomons
Chris Taylor
((Somewhere Between The Edge of the Forest and the Mouth of the Gorge - Callis I))
Silveira: I believe we can just shout Starfleet. That we all recognize. I would recommend we keep together… And close.
Munro: I don't intend for us to split up. If we do, head for the smoke. If that isn't safe :: points :: the base of those purple ‘mountains’. What is it? Maybe two or three days hiking through that jungle?
Imril shook their head, unable to provide a more precise answer.
Imril: I’ve been on a few nature trails, but I’m not the best at judging travel times through rough terrain.
Didn’t the size of a planet affect how far away the horizon appeared to be, as well? The heavier gravity implied a larger planetary circumference, but it could just as easily be smaller than earth but more massive.
Jaran: Response
Vitor nodded in the smoke direction.
Silveira: I suggest a direct approach. We don't have much resources and after all we are supposed to seek new life…
Munro: No detours. Agree.
Imril nodded an affirmative.
Imril: I’m just concerned with what happens if new life starts seeking us.
It was the natives who initiated first contact last time.
Jaran: Response
Vitor shrugged and raised his club on the free shoulder. He tipped his head from one shoulder to the next
Silveira: We can trade this wood if peaceful, or use this if not.
Jaran: Response
Munro: We won't be attacking anyone unless it's self defence. If they are hostile, retreat. That's an order to all of you. Remember we're the foreign element of this world. If we encounter any natives then they're likely to be frightened and scared. The Prime Directive is clear on this. We do not initiate contact.
Vitor nodded.
Silveira: Very well Commander.
Imril: Aye, Sir.
An order was an order.
Jaran: Response
Imril took a swig of their canteen and pulled out a ration bar to eat while they did their share of pulling up the camp, or covering the evidence of its existence. They made sure the hatchet ended up with their supplies, and hoped it would never had to come out.
A leftover bit of branch from the remaining firewould would do for something to carry along and swat away other branches with. But it wasn’t as sturdy a club as Vitor’s.
Soon enough, it was time to go.
Munro: No use hanging around catching flies. Let's go.
Vitor shrugged with a smile and let himself stay a few paces behind the others.
Jaran: Response
The commander took the lead and set the pace. Quick and steady.
Munro: Careful here.
There was a drop of several meters next to a slope of dirt. Munro went on to her bottom and allowed herself to slide down the slope onto the plateau below.
Vitor stepped in and tipped his head to Jaran and Imril.
Silveira: You heard the Commander, go carefully and I'll close the line.
Imril nodded and went next. In this situation, their lighter body was a benefit. They used their heels as brakes and made the slide with a modicum of bumps, no bruises, and not a lot of debris stuck to their pants. They made sure to pat themselves down all the same.
Imril: Everybody make sure you didn’t pick up any yellow gravel on the way down. No one wants a lightning bolt where the sun doesn’t shine.
Jaran: Response
Vitor tossed the future fire wood, and his club once the others were clear. Vitor picked them up at the bottom of the slide and joined the others.
As he was picking up his load, a weird sound emerged and grew louder. Deeper. More present.
Munro: Noooo…
The tone of her voice clued Imril in before they saw what she saw. A living cloud was heading in their direction.
Silveira: What the…
Imril was already pulling up their jacket to use as a hood.
Imril: We need to add bug repellant to the shopping list.
Munro/Jaran: Response
Vitor's eyes widened. The others' reactions made him step forward and shout.
Silveira: Swarm!
Munro/Jaran: Response
Vitor dropped the fire wood and raised his club.
The jacket wasn’t going to be enough for what was coming.
Silveira: EVERYBODY RUN…
For the life of them, Imril couldn’t remember if fire or smoke were good deterrents against angry insects. There was no time to search their memory for nature trivia! Therefore no point reaching for what had been left behind! They just did what they were told and RAN!
Munro/Jaran: Response
With their field of vision halved by their jacket, Imril focused on following the fleeing shape of Commander Munro. The rumble of her runner’s footfalls. But those sounds were soon lost in a din of angry wings. And her form was swallowed by the darkness of an infinity of pursuers. Too many and too small to make out any details.
The buzzing, clicking things tried to get under Imirl's shirt and up their pants cuffs. Their touch against their skin was like needles and Imril sucked many of their number into their mouth and nose. Expelling them with a rasping cough that burned harshly in the too-thin air. The aftertaste was greasy and foul.
Munro/Jaran/Silveira: Response
Lost in the haze, Imril abandoned hope of keeping the bugs off of them, and instead swung their arms around to slap them away by the dozens. By the hundreds! But still they came in ever fiercer numbers. Through tearfully squinting eyes, they could see that they were veering away from the others. Dull blobs of shadow just barely recognizable as humanoid forms, legs pumping arms flailing.
They redoubled their efforts to move closer to them, back towards some semblance of a formation.
Munro/Jaran/Silveira: Response
Imril ran into something -- or someone -- a sharp hammer against their left foot. They stumbled forward, but managed to keep their footing by wobbling off to the right. Only for the ground under their right foot to give way. It crumbled away, down another steep slope.
Imril barked with surprise, already falling. They put forth a hand to cushion an unhappy landing. But the earth refused to support their weight. It sloughed away and took them with it. And the engineer tumbled down, down, down…
Imril: Ooof!... Akk!... Aiiiieeeee!
Munro/Jaran/Silveira: Response
TAGs/TBC
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Lieutenant JG Imril
Engineering Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240110I12