Lieutenant Morro Caras - Fortunate Sons
Morro Caras
(( USS Magni, The Tangle ))
Lieutenant Morro Caras had been thinking of her. Well he’d been thinking of a lot of things. His little community project. His argument with the First officer, and current Commander of this vessel. And he’d been thinking about both himself and Sevantha being so stressed that they had somehow had their dreams connected. Caras wasn’t really focused on this mission, he was too preoccupied with trying to find ways to help himself and Sevantha out. Then there was the prospect of children. It wasn’t that he wanted them now, he felt they were too far from it, but the realization had hit him… Would any time be the right time? Sevantha was serving as first officer on this very mission. If they continued on their career paths, that could very much mean in the future as an official first officer Sevantha could find herself in the position that Josh was in now. An entire Ship at her command. Caras wasn’t sure that was something that was compatible with being a parent. Particularly a new parent. Yet Morro couldn’t’ get it out of his head. If they had children, would they also have the mark of the herald? It had reconfigured her DNA, and Morro wasn’t really sure what that meant. He had about four thoughts going on in his head at once, which was way too many for him to handle. He was a pretty simple guy. People tended to think he was deep or complex when they saw him work on an engineering problem. The truth was there was just a part of his brain that did all of that for him. He called it his “black box”. For years all it could do for him was sabotage things. When he went through the academy, it took him nearly two and a half years to actually tame it in a way that was productive. He forced it to work backwards and turned it around into a force of creation rather than destruction. With all of the total of four thoughts going through his head, he had missed some of the conversation going on in the Magni.
Tam: Thirty scientists and a light detachment of security personnel built the outpost. The briefing lacked details on what is being studied. With so many scientists, I’m assuming there are a variety of things being researched and tested.
Caras snapped to attention for a second. They were talking about the mission. They were on a mission. He should be focusing on the mission rather than his partner, or their children, or his current feud with the Acting Captain.
DeVeau: You’ve got that right.
Caras checked out the display that Alora was looking at. Nothing useful that he could identify at first glance, then again, he wasn’t a scientist.. He instead pulled up the sensors of the Magni and did an in depth scan of the small research colony. Alora spoke up the moment she had interpreted her display.
DeVeau: They’re not only studying the atmosphere, but some unique metals on the planet. One of these doesn’t even have a name yet, just a number.
Caras spoke after interpreting the results of the scan.
Caras: Based on the technology scans there is a handful of unique non-replicatable equipment down there, meaning that whatever it is they are studying is extremely important.
Anything that couldn’t be replicated was obviously more valuable than anything that was, mostly. Something like a Star ship wasn’t but it only beat out that equipment because of the time it took to design, assemble, test, and of course its usefulness to the federation. Unique pieces like the ones on the scan could be something that was one of a kind, or something on loan from an ally. It also meant that they weren’t immediately identifiable from the scans. Their components had been analyzed and their atomic makeup, but it provided no information as to what the unique bits of technology were. They’d have to ask the Scientists when they landed.
Tam: Commander, we are about to land. Now is the time to cover your eyes.
Morro was confused. He must have missed a bit of the conversation earlier from his head being full of his
personal issues. They must have been talking about the brightness. Was Alora sensitive to bright lights?
DeVeau: Thanks for the warning, but I’ve got plenty to focus my eyes on.
DeVeau didn’t bother looking out any further and seemingly was fixated on her own panel by choice.
Caras: Nothing out there is so bright that anyone has to cover their eyes, but if the commander is sensitive I can put up a shader.
(( Outside Habitat Delta - Outpost – VX-LON-3 – The Tangle ))
Morro Caras prepared with the others. K-Class planets were hostile, but the elements were conquerable. They had to supply themselves with breathers since the atmosphere was weak, then they had to use the proper cold weather gear. This planet had a fair level of light from a nearby source, but it wasn’t enough to keep it warm. They would freeze out there if they had to wait hours, but luckily they were just going to walk up to one of the habitats.
Tam: Well, this is dark and ominous.
Caras looked out into the distance, there seemed to be several habitats as part of the small outpost, some of them with connecting bridges. He thought he could see another shuttle landing in the distance at the opposite side of the outpost, but the wind was kicking up and there was a lot of dust in the air to obscure his vision. He only saw one or two people out in the distance. He put on eye protection as well. He was glad this was all he had to wear. On many of his past missions he had to wear an EV Suit, and he was getting pretty sick of them, he always felt like they limited his mobility. Something he constantly worked hard to maintain.
DeVeau: No kidding. Not exactly a place anyone would want to spend a vacation.
Caras heard the wind howl a little as he stepped out of the shuttle fully kitted out. He was advised not to bring the big engineering kit this time. While he didn’t like that, he heeded the advice. This was a Star Fleet facility, there would be plenty of engineering gear here to work with.
Caras had been born on a Star ship, and grew up in space. He was used to the cold. The breeze actually felt nice. Caras looked over towards the habitats.
Caras: I know many of the scientists here have fallen Ill, hopefully they’ve quarantined. A lot of key personnel are possibly missing from their post. I’m sure people are manning the necessary systems but… who knows.
Caras had checked in with Sevantha before he had deployed in the shuttle. It was his idea to use both the Shuttles on the surface as signal boosters to make transport even remotely possible on this planet. He had equipped each of The Sons with pattern enhancers. He knew it was a tenuous solution that could fold in on itself at any minute, but in case they needed to use Thor’s sickbay, it was the only option they could think of that could get people there quickly in an emergency. They were unaware of how many in the outpost had fallen ill, just that there was an outbreak. Once both shuttles had landed, the Medical team was free to beam down in the zone between the two.
Tam: Shall we find someone who is not ill to show us around?
Caras didn’t seen any lights coming from any of the Habitats on this side of the outpost
DeVeau: I’m not sure we’re going to be able to.
Caras popped the Tricorder out of his small engineering kit.
Caras: I wonder why this planet was chosen. It seems counter productive to set up an outpost here when a scientific Vessel would do better from orbit. The USS T'Pan must be busy. Are the metals on this planet truly a valuable research opportunity? Something tells me there has to be more here.
Caras knew that the unique pieces of equipment pointed to parts of the answers, but also begged for more questions.
Tam: Response
DeVeau: Can we establish a connection with the people inside now that we’re closer?
Caras had been trying since their time in the shuttle. He knew that Kreshkova would be meeting with others on the other side of the outpost, presumably the ones that sent the original distress message. Caras had focused his scans on this side of the faculty, but had gotten no communication pings. Systems were running, they had power, but no one was answering any hails. He shook his head.
Caras: I’ve been trying, but despite the technology scan, This habitat has gone 100% dark on their comms. I’m not sure if something knocked them out or not. Possibly the storms, but could be something else. The distress call that we did receive was from another habitat and attached to their primary array.
Tam: Response
That was also a possibility. A grim possibility.
DeVeau: Well, I was hoping that our closer proximity meant that it would be feasible, but…all right, let’s see if someone will answer the doorbell.
They proceeded to the main building, the largest habitat. Caras assumed this is where the majority of the science research was being conducted, it was the building with the most unique technologies in it. It was strangely pretty far away from the security building. As the three of them walked up to the building, Alora tapped the console, and a pleasant chime emitted from the panel.
No answer.
Caras looked at his tricorder.
Caras: ::scanning:: It’s sending just fine. This habitat still has power…
That part was obvious, the panel was lit, and they had heard the chime.
They waited a bit longer, a long pregnant pause turned into an unbearable silence within a minute. Though it wasn’t very silent. The Wind kicked up and howled loudly against the barren valley. It was like hundreds of shadows were screaming out in pain. Eerie, ominous. Caras knew it was the winds, but he still didn’t like the feeling. Dust and things that looked like leaves pelted them, even though Caras had seen no vegetation on their descent. Was it possibly from the habitat? Were they trying to grow plants here?
Tam: Response
Caras looked at Tam.
Caras: Anything is more welcome than this howling. ::hitting the panel:: Hello!? We’re from the USS Thor, We’re here to assist. We received a distress call.
As they looked around Caras scanned the power conduits. A lot of it was focused on the panel but there were also viewers as well as other instruments attached to the building. Sensors that picked up weather readings, life forms, as well as visual data.
DeVeau/Tam: Response
That caused Caras to look at the panel again.
Caras: That's not it.. Wait… that means that the viewer is active… They’re watching us.. Maybe even listening to us.
With that, the panel went dead.
Caras: Oh no you don’t! We’ve come here to help. Commander Tam, a little bit of assistance?
Whoever was in this building was trying to keep them out. And they could have answered them. Instead they had chosen to leave them in the dark and not speak to them, and instead just observe them. Caras thought it was extremely rude. He opened the panel with his engineering kit.
DeVeau/Tam: Response
With help from Tam, the quick power alteration worked. Now they had access. It wasn’t door access but it was audio access. Now it functioned like a two-way open commline.
Caras: There. The panel is back. We have control. The line is active. They can’t shut us out, or mute themselves, or us.
As they listened they heard hushed tones on the other end of the line. It seemed like two or more people were whispering to one another trying to figure out what to do. Caras listened close but he couldn’t make out anything useful.
DeVeau/Tam: Response
That elicited a response from the voices on the other end of the line.
Voice: =/\= No! Go away! We can’t trust you! =/\=
[TBC/Tags!]
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Lieutenant Morro Caras
Chief of Engineering
USS Thor
O240106MC1
he/him/his (player/character)