Lieutenant Commander Timothy Alentonis: The Peters Maneuver with Delano Extraction
Zeph
The orange hue on the horizon was worrisome as it began pulsing in the same manner as the weird rock they observed below. Although if it *was* some kind of battery, how could it be powering whatever the weird thing was above that was preparing to rain orange death beams of life-granting bonuses upon them? The landscape was shifting with various holes of the same orange hue, creating pockets of what appeared to be sinkholes rapidly filling with molten lava or some other liquid that were possibly going to form into lakes of some sort.
Harford: The glow we saw below, it's everywhere. ::pointing out across the plains:: If the energy source is some sort of energy conduit then that ::pointing at the orange glow on the horizon:: is connected somehow. ::pauses:: Is this whole planet a battery? Are we standing on an energy field?
Phillips / Ral: Response
Harford: How long can we reasonably expect the ground around us to hold, Commander?
It was impossible to say, exactly. Judging at the rate in which the glow itself was rapidly approaching, and the nature of the quakes, it was … entirely possible that he didn’t know. He held his breath for a few seconds and did some quick calculations in his head. They either had hours or minutes, but decided to give the best possible answer he could figure out on the spur of the moment.
Alentonis: Maybe twenty to thirty minutes. Judging by the rapidly changing nature of the terrain, we may not have as long as I think we do.
Harford: ::to Matthews:: We should call for an evacuation. If they can’t beam us out, Surely the Astraeus can send a shuttle.
Mei’konda: =/\= Lael, Matthews, interference from both the kelbonite and the orbiting sphere is currently blockiing our transporters. =/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= We’re reseaarching workarounds. We’ll get baack to you as soon as we have something. =/\=
Alentonis: oO We can hope. Oo
Rosek-Skyfire / Caldwell / Tam: =/\= Responses =/\=
Wright: =/\= The best I can do is see if I can convince Thiara to take us deeper in. It’s apparently safe down there. We haven’t felt any tremors yet but that could change at any time =/\=
Matthews: =/\= Captain! You are a sight for sore… ears. Sir. We’ve lost the Sakharov. There was a quake, the ground… it just collapsed in front of us. We need an emergency evac, Captain. =/\=
Alentonis: =/\= I don’t mean to rush you, sir, but the planet appears to be undergoing a Genesis-level rebirth and we may have less than twenty minutes before we become obliterated. =/\=
Ral: =/\= Responses (optional) =/\=
(( Short Timeskip ))
There was a sudden roar, but this one sounded different. This one was coming from *above* them. Tim’s ear wasn’t good enough to distinguish the nuances, but he raised a gloved hand toward his helmet to look up at the sky. Sure enough, high above and rapidly descending was the massive Astraeus breaching the atmosphere. It wasn’t a crashing sort of orbit. He recalled vaguely that Commander Peters had attempted something similar before, but didn’t remember the specifics.
Matthews: ::almost to himself:: Damn, Captain, that’s one hell of a workaround…
Harford: I -
Tim couldn’t really do anything except stare at the huge ship rapidly descending on their position. The other roar, the one *surrounding* them, was getting louder, and the landscape was rapidly changing to support the effects of the terraforming. He could hardly believe his eyes, but managed to speak only three words.
Alentonis: The Peters Maneuver…
Ral / Phillips: Response (if any)
Moments later, the once-barren landscape with its rapidly changing colors vanished as the familiar somewhat unexpected sensation of the transporter enveloped him. As much as he hated transporters after Frontier Day, he was very much looking forward to not being on this planet anymore.
((Transporter Room, Deck 6, USS Astraeus))
As he rematerialized on the transporter pad, he still had his hand raised. And he lowered it toward his neck, at this point desperate to get the helmet off. Now that he was safe at home, as it were, he wanted a breath of air that wasn’t going to kill him. The sensation of relief hit him like a ton of bricks, his muscles tense and aching from the rush of adrenaline.
Matthews: I… I… ::pause:: I don’t know what to say. Are you all alright?
Harford: ::nervous chuckle:: I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy to be on a damn starship.
Alentonis: Staring death in the face like that is a common risk for field work. I should be used to it by now, but I'm not.
Any: Responses
Transporter Operator: Welcome home, Lieutenant. ::looks to the others:: Officers.
Matthews: Thanks, Chief. ::turns to the others:: I know we’ve just been through it, but the Astraeus is still in a tight spot. ::pause:: Commander, we should get to the Bridge. Doctor, you might want to take Lieutenant Ral to Sickbay. Phillips, I’d like you to accompany the Doctor just to have a quick once over, you were pretty shook up back there. Not to mention you being knocked to the ground.
Alentonis: Right behind you, sir. Just going to take this blasted suit off.
Ral / Phillips: Responses
Harford: Yes Sir. ::to Ral & Phillips:: Why don’t we ditch these suits before we head that way?
He followed Ral, Phillips, and Harford toward the equipment lockers and pulled off the EV suit. His muscles were still protesting from the exertion, and he also felt a major sense of exhaustion from staring death in the face. Again. It wasn’t an *unknown* sensation, as it was a known risk that came with field work in the life of an archaeologist.
[End for Alentonis. I’ll launch a bridge sim for Tim shortly.]