The Return
Posted on Thu Jun 30th, 2022 @ 11:35am by Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine & Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander Calvin Morgan & Lieutenant Veznia MD PSyD & Ensign Elaine Goff & Captain Dirk Taggart
Edited on on Thu Jun 30th, 2022 @ 11:40am
Mission: The Koldaran Encounter
The shouts of the team outside could be heard as they approached the doors to the temple, along with sounds of heavy phaser fire, the distinctly different weapons easy to differentiate.
The heavy wooden doors swung open, the first to enter being Captain Taggart and Lieutenant Castle, carrying the seriously injured Commander Gail between them. Next came Lieutenant Lévesque, almost stumbling over the threshold under the burden of the Koldaran body armour and equipment she was carrying.
Finally, the last to enter were Lieutenant Kyl, Major Weston and Lieutenant Commander Levine, weapons shouldered, also holding various forms of equipment.
It was only once the doors closed behind them that weapons were lowered, equipment was dropped to the ground and the team took pause. "We need medical!" Shaille shouted across the room.
The sounds of the chaos echoed in the large chamber as the team returned. Abigail turned, casting a discerning glance over the situation, recognizing her first officer as the one being carried in a firemans lift. "Commander Morgan!" she summoned her Chief Medical Officer as she rushed across the room to the returning team. "What the hell happened?"
That tone of voice was never a good sign in the Doctor’s book. Commander Morgan quickly looked around him. “Get as many transport teams to the front doors,” his order was calm yet stern, which sent personnel around him moving quickly. Taking one last sip of his drink, he got to his feet with his bag and tricorder in hand, moving quickly to the front. As he saw Commander Gail he almost faltered before recomposing himself.
“Set her down please,” He requested in a voice that was polite yet not a question. Kneeling down next to her he opened his tricorder. “Now what did you do to yourself ma’am?” The polite question encased by a respiratory rate just a little fast to be calm.
Veznia followed close behind to assist Commander Morgan. She had a medkit sling across her chest. Her eyes were wide as she surveyed Commander Gail.
Morgan looked over at Venzia, the comfort of a familiar face was there even if his facial expression didn’t show it. He looked back at Commander Gail, beginning to scan and start a rapid trauma assessment.
“Ankle.” Ichiko managed through grit teeth. “Ts’usugi bones… never a clean break.” she tried to hold still during the scan.
Captain Taggart leaned on the closed doors and laid the packs down. He was out of breath as he slid down into a seated position from exhaustion. He watched the organized chaos of the defenders and the medical team, not wanting to disturb their work or get in their way he just sat there holding his rifle, knowing the things he saw this night would haunt him for many nights after.
Camille Lévesque helped her team members unload their packs – and their hauls – and got right to work cataloguing and scanning. There was time to examine everything they found much more closely. She could do that quietly, pausing to help others unload as they came in, while others planned next steps, all the while within earshot and capable of intervening.
Emony off-loaded anything that she didn’t need or was carrying to help more evenly distribute the load. But the uncharacteristic scowl on her face wasn’t determination, it was just good old fashioned being angry. The whole situation wasn’t great to begin with, but there was an added factor. But adrenaline was still running and the best way she could deal with the frustration…well, the best way would’ve been to break the Major’s jaw with a solid right hook. But since that was mostly counterproductive and not worth the damage to her career, the next best way to deal with the frustration was to redirect the energy to a more productive end. She grabbed a water pouch and a ration bar and started back for the door when she passed by Captain Taggart.
“...I’m going to get back on the line for a bit, sir. They tell you the biochemistry of these things, but it’s different to feel it.” Emony said, “Right now, it’s a mix of wanting to throw up and like I overdid it on caffeine right before finals week. I’ll just see if anyone needs to take a moment or two, fill in for them and hopefully by then I’ll be less amped up.”
She lowered her voice, “And I need to put distance between myself and Major Weston. I don’t like her and nothing she’s said or done thus far has contributed to anyone but herself, sir. And I doubly don’t appreciate the disrespect she showed you.”
"Everyone reacts differently under pressure, Kyl, you learn to pick your battles and not rise in the heat of the moment. There are times for anger and disciplinary action. The extra stress right now isn't worth it. You did handle yourself well out there, when we get off this planet, we will train together more in the future," Dirk replied softly. "In the mean team, let’s see where we can help,” he said as he stood up, and looked for Captain Laurens.
“Aye, sir.” Emony took a breath, “And thank you. I’ve got a lot to set right as it is, but one thing at a time.” The shakes had yet to kick in, so she was still on that adrenaline rush, but it’d stop and she’d have to process the results of that when that time came. A grim realization was starting to creep into her mind, however, and it brought only more remorse and regret. But she pushed it aside - there’d be time to deal with that later. And it would not be the last time either.
Siobahn followed Veznia from the medical area back into the main ante chamber of the temple, though where the Denobulan from the Astraea rushed back into the fray, the younger red headed medical officer paused, taking a deep breath, almost as though she were giving herself a pep talk. Finally her gaze fell on the injured Ts’usugi, eyes widening with recognition. Approaching Calvin, she offered a small smile of apology. “Commander Morgan?” she queried softly. “I’m Lieutenant Fallon from the USS Wellington? If it would be permissible with yourself, and of course, Commander Gail, I’d love to assist while you treat her injuries? I learned about Ts’usugi bones when I was interning on Dalacar at the Center of Health and Wellness, but I’ve never experienced one in real life.”
“Consent.” Ichiko gave a nod. The medical scans showed the reason why the rabbitess was in such agony. Ts’usugi bones had an interesting crystalline structure to them. Very rigid, very durable, but if they were broken they didn’t just snap they shattered. Tiny little fragments of razor sharp bone were around the break site. There was nothing simple about a Ts’usugi bone break, ever. Some of the shards had even broken skin, leaving her fur tarnished red, and soaking into her leggings.
Morgan looked from Ichiko to Siobahn. “Sounds like you’re in, the more the merrier.”
She took a breath, then turned to look up at the gathering around her, and then gave Calvin a nod, “Whatever you need, do it.” another pause to steady herself. “Trust, and consent.”
Morgan’s face didn’t change as he looked at the scans. The back of his mind was plotting through potentially hours of surgery to remove every piece, to restitch every sliced tissue in the leg. “Honestly I think the only question is ma’am, do you want any fun patterns done when I shave the leg?” Calvin asked with a wink. He then pulled a hypospray, loaded, dialed in the dose, and pressed it against her shoulder. He looked directly at her, making eye contact, a facial expression to make up for a lack of words. He depressed the trigger, administering a mild anaesthetic. Enough to let her mind wander from the world and the pain for a while.
“Veznia, Fallon, let’s get her straight to the critical side and prepped for surgery. When you get to triage tell Nolan she’s scrubbing with us.” He stood up and looked around. “Once I double check everything else is handled we’ll get to work.
Veznia nodded. “Alright,” she moved to the stretcher and reached down to take the handles. “Fallon, you take the other end.”
Moving into place, Siobahn took the other end of the makeshift stretcher and lifted, moving the unconscious rabitess toward the surgical bay, calling Jamie as they passed the makeshift nursing station.
Dirk didn’t have to look too far. Abigail was already striding across the room. As soon as she approached Dirk, she motioned for Michelle to join them. “Well, what ever happened out there, the Koldaran have noticed us,” she remarked. “They’ve stepped up their assaults over the last half hour. If we’re going to send these teams, we need to start assembling them now or they’ll never get away from the Temples alive.”
"We may have pissed them off on the way back in," Dirk replied tiredly. "We brought back what we could but our time got cut short by a patrol. We used what we could to discourage them from following us, but it was close. I won't lie to you, Abby and I hate to sound crass, but we're lucky all we have is a crewman with a broken foot." He hugged her for a moment drawing strength from her and hoping to offer strength in kind. "We need to get those teams out," he said softly, "Or we won't have a chance for that bungalow on a beach. How can I help?"
Abigail returned the hug before pulling away, taking a moment to assess the group that had returned and the bundle of assorted body armour and weapons that had been dropped unceremoniously on the floor. “Right!” Her voice rang out clearly over the general noise in the antechamber. “I need a group of people here, now, to get these body armours cleaned up and ready for use! Sub teams start preparing for departure!”
“Already on it, Capitaine,” called Camille. The scanning and cataloguing was largely done, the samples of dirt and Koldaran tissue already collected and bagged. She had begun the cleaning process on the different armour pieces, puzzling together complete sets as she went. Most pieces were wet with gore and took a few moments to fully decontaminate, but progress was being made.
Dirk bent down beside his Science Officer and began scrubbing armor. "This stuff smells," he said as emptied the contents from a helmet.
“Perhaps they intend to combat their enemies with smell?” Elaine said as she picked up a piece of body armor and began working on it.. “It certainly wouldn’t be the first time smells have been used in psychological warfare.”
Shaille scrubbed the inside of a piece of armour using a brush and bucket of water that had been placed next to her by a passing Acehaya. For the briefest of moments she found herself marvelling at the way they operated. They saw what was needed, and simply did it. There was no discussion, no debate over who would take what role, tasks were simply completed by whoever saw the need. Almost as if intending to prove her silent thought, one of the clerics kneeled down next to her, bowed their head slightly toward the group of Officers before reaching for a helmet, silently joining the cleaning party.
“Remind me, if we ever get back to Earth, I’ll never complain about being given diaper duty for my nieces and nephews again,” she remarked. “It would be a breeze compared to this.”
“They smell worse alive.” Rogers remarked as he added a few more armour pieces to the collection.
Participating Characters:
Fleet Captain Abigail Laurens
Commanding Officer
USS Astraea
Captain Dirk Taggart
Commanding Officer
USS Pennsylvania
Lieutenant Commander Shaille Levine
Chief Security Officer
USS Wellington
Lieutenant Junior Grade Siobahn Fallon
Medical Officer
USS Wellington
Lieutenant Veznia
Chief Counsellor
USS Astraea
Lieutenant (JG) Emony Kyl
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Pennsylvania
Lieutenant (JG) Camille Lévesque, PhD
Chief Science Officer
USS Pennsyvania
Commander Ichiko Gail
Executive Officer / Ship Second
USS Astraea
Lieutenant Commander Calvin Morgan
Chief Medical Officer
USS Astraea
Ensign Elaine Goff
Counselor
USS Astraea
Lieutenant Commander William ‘Buck’ Rogers
2nd Officer
USS Astraea
