Lt Avander Promontory: Found the Right One
Avander Promentory
((Grove of Trees above Glyrshar Canyon, Bajor))
While the trio of officers hadn’t found Katsim Peri, they had encountered a brace of goons—Bajorans who had been intent on shooting at them and, Avander was starting to suspect, may have been the reason for the Commander’s distress call.
One of the villains had already been dispatched, thanks to a well executed shot by their engineer and the other was pinned down behind a boulder, or had been, until Aine’s shot took him out as well.
Promontory: Nicely done! (beat) Now let's go see if the Glider can offer any helpful clues!
With all the other leads being unconscious, their next best source of information would be the wreckage.
Herrick: ::standing up:: If not awake… ::flashing a grin to Avander:: It looks like we’re good to make way though.
They made their way down the ravine, staying cautious for additional shooters, but saw and heard no one else.
The shuttle itself looked to be in bad shape. Another crash landing. Avander wondered if it would be worth it to repair again. Fortunately, while the shuttle had had a rough go of it, it seemed the cabin was mostly intact—hopefully it meant that their friends hadn’t been injured on impact.
Josh dodged some of the smoke that was faintly billowing from something that had ignited and popped inside. Avander circled the craft before coming to the hatch.
Promontory: There are little pieces everywhere, but I’d say this was an intentional landing. (beat) Well, as intentional as any crash could be. (beat) I think they made the best out of a bad situation.
His thoughts weren’t coming out clearly and Avander had to force himself to shut-up before he kept blathering to such an extent that the others would doubt his competence. Nevertheless, he stood by his assessment. This looked like a salvaged landing—again, good news for the officers of the ‘Oumuamua.
Sherlock: Find anything?
Herrick: ::shouting out of the shuttle:: Still working on it! How about you?
Sherlock: Tracks. Lots of them. Which tells me there was a quick pursuit.
Promontory: Can we use any of the systems still? Maybe cut through the comms interference?
Herrick: We could reroute power from what’s available and try to push the comms past max. It would only hold for half a minute, but if it works, it’s better than where we’re at.
Sherlock: It's all we've got to go on right now.
The engineer worked quickly. Avander thought he followed what Josh was doing, at least conceptually. He was pulling power from… somewhere. Josh’s deft mechanical manipulations quickly exceeded Avander’s ability to comprehend, however.
Herrick: Sirs, it’s now or never.
Promontory: =/\= Promontory to ‘Oumuamua. Request immediate support at these locations. (beat) Please send the Nichols. =/\=
The enhanced sensors of the exploratory skiff might be their best chance to push through the interference and find their errant friend.
Sherlock: Response
But the conversation did get much further than that as whatever Josh had used to jury-rig the console gave out in a spectacular display of sparks, completely frying the system. But their message had gotten through and now they shouldn’t have to wait long.
((A short time later, Shuttlecraft Nichols, above a crash site on Bajor))
Herrick: We should be able to overclock the comms system more safely, given the redundancies are online.
Again, the engineer made quick work of the comms controls and at least this time, Avander could follow his actions. Josh had barely had time to finish the modifications when they picked up a faint signal.
Katsim: =/\=Katsim to…to…someone. Please…=/\=
Promontory: =/\=Katsim! We read you! =/\=
Avander felt a thrill of success. Peri was OK and they had contact!
Sherlock: =/\=Response=/\=
Katsim: =/\=I’m in Glyrshar Canyon, on Bajor. The flyer crashed, and we were pursued. Etan headed East, toward the monastery. I headed West and…=/\=
Herrick: The commander…? ::looking between the three officers on the shuttle:: =/\= We found the glider… are you nearby? =/\=
Sherlock: =/\=Response=/\=
Katsim: =/\=I’m not sure how far from the crash site. =/\=
Avander disengaged from the communications console and started engaging with the scanners—focusing on the regions east and west of the initial crash.
Promontory: (off-coms, to the others) I’m running scans on that now, but I’m not getting much.
Sherlock: =/\=Response=/\=
Katsim: =/\=Have you been able to locate Commander Etan? Is he safe?=/\=
Promontory: =/\=Working on it, but there’s a significant amount of interference somewhere around here.=/\=
Sherlock: =/\=Response=/\=
Katsim: =/\=I need to get to Etan, and we both need to get to the monastery.=/\=
Josh added his own refinements to the search and suddenly a Bajoran/Cardassian hybrid appeared on their sensors.
Herrick: =/\= I think we’ve got her location. ::tapping the panel:: and I can use the thermal lock to beam her… and maybe our first officer aboard, if that’s who’s near you Commander Katsim? =/\=
Promontory: =/\= No, he went east, right? =/\=
Sherlock/Katsim: =/\=Response=/\=
Promontory: =/\= Well let’s get the Commander now then! =/\=
Herrick/Sherlock/Katsim: =/\=Response=/\=
As the transporters whirled and revealed the face of their Chief Science Officer, Avander was surprised to see how gaunt she looked. Rather ragged, actually, but still determined. Avander decided to press forward with his recent analysis before offering her aide.
Promontory: I think I’ve identified the source of the interference. There is a monastery located to the east of us, and for some reason they are generating an interdiction field from there. (beat) If Commander Etan went towards that, we wouldn’t be able to read him on the scanners unless we were right on top of him!
Katsim/Herrick/Sherlock: Response
Avander nodded. It was a sensible move and the priorities made sense. Finish the mission and then address the attack on the Gamma Glider.
And to think, Avander reflected as they brought the Nichols about, it had been such a low-key shore leave before this.
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End Scene for Avander
And end simming on the Oumuamua list!
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