Lt. Thomas O'Reilly - World Ho!
Toxin Arlill
(( Runabout Sower, High Orbit Around Argratha ))
O’Reilly: Can we scan the location, anything else down there that indicates a larger operation? I imagine they’re blocking scans, but it’s worth an attempt?
Lohkina: Seems reasonable. A large number of people in a place they're not supposed to be would be (beat) interesting. At least.
oO Oh good, I have reasonable thoughts, I’m more than just a pretty face! Oo He wasn’t being sarcastic in his thoughts. The past few months had been difficult for Thomas, he’d not had formal training in most non-military non-security aspects of Starfleet which was definitely an uphill battle for the retired marine who now served as an operations officer. Of course he also felt completely useless hundreds of kilometers above the service essentially a beacon or overwatch that could do nothing more than just that — watch.
Sh’shelor: Yes, this we can do.
Lohkina: We can update the away teams, too, when they check in. Which they should be doing shortly, actually.
O'Reilly: So we’re all ::smirking:: in agreement that leaving our post, abandoning the other away teams, to take care of this ourselves is out of the question?
He was obviously joking. Anyone who knew him well knew there was a part of him that would love nothing more than to beam down and take on whoever or whatever was waiting. He felt a need for retribution after what he had been through, but he also had a duty that he was honor-bound to fulfill. Thomas would support those below, once more in an overwatch position.
Sh’shelor: If they do not within ten minutes, we shall initiate a call.
O'Reilly: Then what? Do we plan to go ourse… ::cut off by comms::
Woolheater: =/\= Away Team Checkpoint to Butler. Comms check. Mission time elapsed 068:20. How do you read?=/\=
oO Damn. Oo
Lohkina: =/\= This is Petty Officer Second Class Lohkina on the Sower, in the Butler's place while the ship is out of orbit. May we assist? =/\=
Woolheater: =/\= Copy that PO2 Lohkina. Recognize Sower…stand by for traffic.=/\=
They received their report and seemed satisfied with the details. Thomas wondered if he would have had a better outcome on Valaria had there been marines like Woolheater in overwatch rather than him.
Woolheater: =/\= Understood, Sower. We’ll adjust. Next check-in at mission time one-three-zero. Woolheater out.=/\=
Lohkina: There we go. Commander T'Korva's team is going to check out the anomalous transporter site. (beat) Now, then, next crisis?
A slight disappointment swept over Thomas as he settled further into his station aboard the tin can they’d remain in to support those with boots on the ground.
Sh’shelor: Let us hope not.
Lohkina: Responses
Sh’shelor: O’Reilly, adjust position so we can get clear scans of that area in the desert. Let us see what they show.
O’Reilly: On it. ::spinning around to face the helm console.::
Thomas punched in his access authorization code, something they had to do every few minutes to confirm they were allowed to fly this shuttle, and adjusted their primary arrays to face the dessert area where they’d determined the transporter signal had been directed.
Ithri, to Thomas, seemed antsy. He wasn’t a psychologist or counselor, but his time in the marines had taught him to watch for the telltale signs of uneasiness, eagerness, and distrust. Ithri showed no signs of distrust, though, only excitement for their new mini-mission.
Lohkina: Responses
Sh’shelor: Crewman Lohkina, check in with anyone who has not yet. O’Reilly, initiate scans. Let us see if we can see.
He didn’t have to wait for the order, about five seconds before he’d activated passive scans of the area with general scans of the entire region — he didn’t want to spook anyone who might be monitoring for more direct scans of their operation. This approach did require more time to complete, but it was more useful that tipping them off and potnetially losoing some of their grouund team, or at the very least the smugglers getting away.
O’Reilly: Passive scans aren’t showing much, there’s some type of interference in that region ::beat:: I’m working on it.
oO What did Percy show you, come on O’Reilly, you remember this… Oo He’d learned so mcuh about operation in such a short time, he’d not had any time to master or even become overly proficient din anything specific — besides maybe flight.
Lohkina/Sh’shelor: Responses
They weren’t wrong, there was only so much they could do from orbit. But then it came to O’Reilly.
O’Reilly: What if we use a good old optical array, aka our eyes?
They didn’t seem to be following and he realized, quickly, that he should elaborate further.
O’Reilly: Sorry ::waving his hands in front of him:: I mean, a good old telescope? The interference seems to be blocking our scanners, but visiaully, it’s a clear sky day down there, why can’t we just take a look?
He was ure they could find a old earth telescope design in the rpelicators. He owns one, given to him by his father when he was a boy. He still had it in quarters, having had his shipped here from storage when he recovered from his injuries and was commissioned a starfleet officer.
Lohkina/Sh’shelor: Responses
O’Reilly: Well, see, the ones i’m thinking of didn’t rely on electrical sensors, but rather just bending and magnifying light.
And in that moment old earth novels about pirates came back to memory - they were on a ship and talking about telescopes after all.
Lohkina/Sh’shelor: Responses
He just nodded, punched in his lockout code on the helm after initiating autopilot, and moved over to the replicator to make one.
Lohkina/Sh’shelor: Responses
Without disrupting their continued conversation and away-team check-ins, he returned to the helm, rolled the ship so the port side faced the planet, and took up the telescope to observe the area where they’d sent the ground team. He could almost make out a small conveyance departing the city. The likelihood that it was their team was slim, but it was heading in the right direction, so he chose to believe it was them, for now.
TBC! / Tags
Lieutenant Thomas O’Reilly
USS Octavia E Buttler NCC-82850
Writer ID.: O239910TA4