Cave Exploration

Posted on Wed Aug 17th, 2022 @ 7:56am by Lieutenant Sovas Nyseth & Lieutenant JG Kassandra Selin
Edited on on Wed Aug 17th, 2022 @ 8:22am

Mission: S1 Episode 3: Phage
Location: Zapara IV
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 1120
2292 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure

The two officers made their way away from the ships, keeping a westerly track towards the area marked out for exploration. The lower foothills were easy to traverse, and while the cliff faces they were facing looked harder, both could see well worn tracks.

Kassandra held her tricorder out as they walked. She knew better than to just think this was an easy trek. She paused when they reached the cliff faces and the first of the tracks. She glanced at the Operations chief. "So... you good at Rock Climbing?" she asked curiously.

The foothills were as dry and brown as the rest of the planet with the grass and other plant life crunching under their feet as the pair wound their way through, the bright alien sun rising higher into the sky. Sovas found the environment and the physical activity to be the perfect distraction from his own thoughts and the alien presence he sometime felt there as it watching him or peering out through his senses at the world around him. So far there didn't seem to be anything dangerous or threatening about his unexpected guest, it was just [i]unpleasant[/i] and mildly irritating.

As they approached the cliff face Sovas considered the rugged and well worn stone as he let his experience as a climber, both recreationally and for survival purposes, inform him of the possible best paths of ascent as he paused to retrieve a set of electrobinoculars. He suspected that it wouldn't be any more difficult than some of the lesser cliffs on Earth or Mars but he also knew that to disrespect nature was the swiftest way to a slow and painful death. "Yes," He replied while turning his attention back to Kassandra as he raised a hand to shield his face from a gust of hot, arid wind carrying sand and grit on it. "As a matter of my upbringing I was required to be able to both free climb and aided climb, what about you Lieutenant?"

"yes, I was raised on Corfu, on Terra and spent my summers cliff climbing and diving. I should be able to do this without ropes." Kass was studying the Cliffs. "I think the paths should be ok to begin with though. But the cliffs show signs of rock falls..."

"The paths appear to be stable and clear enough," He agreed while scanning the cliff faces looking for instabilities or the best path to ascend if they needed to climb. "I would want to inspect the cliffs closer but the face there appears to have the most direct path up without the need for much course changes."

He used his hand to point towards the section of the cliff face he was talking about while offering her the binoculars to look for herself at his recommendation.

Kass took them, looked and nodded. "Yes I agree." she handed them back. "I have some transport enhancers as well we can put out once we find what we are looking for. Be easier for the Captain to have it beamed into the hold."

After tucking the binoculars away, Sovas nodded as he looked to the cliff face and had to tamp down on the sudden urge to free climb the cliffs, to make the ascent all by his own strength with no safety measures while knowing that even one simple slip up would mean injury or death. The thrill shuddered through him but he could sense that it wasn't his own desire or want but the alien presence he still felt lurking in his mind as he shouldered his pack and began to march again. "I'll make the ascent, laying pitons and line for you to follow." He stated while glancing back at his companion to see if she wanted to change the plan or go with it, either way he was focusing on reaching the top of the cliffs.

Kassandra nodded. "Sounds like a plan" she agreed readily.

"Did the Talaxians volunteer why the minerals we are searching for are so valuable?" He questioned while easing himself between two rocks after taking off his pack.

"Not that I have heard. I am still waiting on Quevremont's report on it. But from the sounds of it, the words "more valuable than gold" were said." Kassandra replied as she kept an eye on their surrounds.

"Then I'll keep myself focused on the task at hand, instead of idle conversation." Sovas nodded, his curiosity marginally sated since it seemed there either wasn't much to share on the matter or she was like many of the other Intelligence operatives he'd encountered and keeping it all close to the vest out of paranoia and suspicion that someone wanted what they knew for some nebulous purpose that may or may not be nefarious. He turned his attention to the cliff face to get a better gauge of what the ascent might be like as at the base it was craggy and well weathered, continuing like that up much of the face as he set his pack down and started to pull out the gear his needed to start the ascent. Taking just a moment to run a double check on his gear the half Vulcan paused to given Kassandra a nod before he moved to start the ascent. Though there was an entire childhood of his father's cruelty tied up in what had been passed onto Sovas, the half-blood had learned he truly did enjoy the physical exertion of mountain climbing and being out under the open air like this in the real world with true terra firma under him it was a deeply exhilarating experience for him as he paused and began to set the line for his companion to follow. He was moving at a good pace, testing his hand holds while also looking for a bit of a challenge since it wasn't often he was able to step off the ship to indulge like this.

As he climbed above her, Kassandra kept her gaze around them, watching for incoming ships or figures. She had a bad feeling about his but she was not going to be caught unawares.

Sovas was moving higher up the cliff as he watched the crevices and weather worn holes for potentially dangerous wildlife or any other nasty surprise that might be hiding in them. The hot sun felt good breathing down on his arms and shoulders as his mind wandered to the times he'd been allowed to indulge himself growing up rock climbing on a real rock face on Earth. It had been a reward for having knocked his brother Ossian unconscious in a fight over a couple of ration bars their father had left for them to fight over in one of their survival trips. It was like he was back on the Earth cliff, his body felt the cool air, the shrill cries of some kind of raptor which made it quite surreal since he was still seeing and feeling the rock of the alien planet. He frowned and looked around, feeling that presence in his mind shifting as if searching for something.

The half-Vulcan growled and shook his head, the sensations and sounds fading but he though he felt that the presence was pleased before he restarted his ascent and finally reached the lip, hauling himself over as he looked down and tapped his commbadge. =/\= Hook our packs onto the ropes and I'll pull them up, then act as a counter weight for you. =/\=

=/\=Acknowledge, *pause* Okay pull it up.=/\= came her response as she finished hooking up the packs.
Even as she finished and turned towards the landscape she spotted two creatures, quadrupedal running across the plateau. She placed a hand on her phaser but they were headed in the other direction. When she felt Sovas take up the slack, she turned back to the cliff and began her climb.

The half-Vulcan anchored the woman once the packs were at the top, watching the rope and the environment around them for any threats since Kassandra was now the one in a precarious position. He though heard snuffling and grunting nearby, looking around but saw nothing but a small dust devil being stirred up before turning back to his partner as he reached out to help her up to the top of the cliff. They had a magnificent view of the craggy foothills below, allowing them to really see how desolate the planet was.

Kass finished her climb and sat on the ledge and took a breath. "Nice view" She said after a moment of consideration before she clambered to her feet.

Sovas took a moment to retrieve his tricorder and opened it to start scanning, he was able to detect what looked like caves nearby but there wasn't much more that he could make out given the composition of the rocks seemed to be continuing to interfere with not only the ships sensors but their tricorders as well. "There's a cave entrance approximately thirty meters in that direction though detailed scans aren't possible given whatever was interfering with the ships sensors also impacting our tricorders too."

Kassandra nodded and picked up her pack and un-holstered her phaser "Well... here is hoping it has what we need." She said as she turned to face the cave entrance.

Sovas nodded, drawing his based after replacing his trickster and shouldering his pack while they moved along the dusty cliff towards the cave. The air was even more arid there was no presence of any plant life where they where, just dust and rocks. The breeze spun up more dust devils, giving the silent world an even more eerie and unsettling feeling of foreboding like them being here upset the natural order. Eventually he heard the shuffling from before but it was much closer and much louder. Eventually they reached the portion of the cliff face where the cave entrance was just as a creature as large a Grizzly Bear emerged from a cliff above them. It growled deeply before uttering a loud, guttural roar that seemed to shake the ground beneath them.

It was a massive creature, though instead of fur its body was covered in a rough, scaly hide that appeared quite tough, even the places where there were scars, they'd grown back even thicker as it roared at them again, barring a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It leapt down at them as Sovas pulled Kassandra out of the way as its blade like claws gouged the rock while a prehensile take whipped about as it turned to face them. The hybrid took aim and fired at the creature, striking it in the shoulder as it slumped back and it gave a loud roar of pain as even with the phaser on its highest setting it had only seared away the outer layer of its scaly hide leaving behind a patch of charred flesh as it turned to face the pair and charged at them.

Kass fired at the beast even as she backed away from it. "Well this is not ideal" She grumbled and fired again, this time hitting the beast in the chest but not doing much but antagonising it a bit more.

"I believe that is an understatement," Sovas growled as he moved back towards the cave mouth with Kass, firing on the creature as it charged. He quickly surveyed their surroundings to try and find something they could use to give them a better chance against the beast, though with no options presenting themselves, the halfblood turned his phaser towards the beast's face. He felt his nerves and the shaking of his hand as he fired off several carefully aimed shots, the first few searing the scaly hide of its face before the half-Vulcan managed to strike in its mouth, which the man hoped would be a more vulnerable area. The beast continued to charge at them, more by momentum that actual conscious effort before it fell forward and skidded towards them as the lower jaw was starting to disintegrate but the beast's hide was seemingly resisting the efforts to do so, but thankfully it was dead.

At this Sovas let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding before holstering his phaser with a shaking hand as he nodded. "Well glad to know that the wildlife is friendly."

"You killed it, your claim. Beam it back to the ship, we could use the meat." Kass suggested as they moved towards the cave slowly and cautiously.

The cave was wide enough for the bear creature to have made its home here as Sovas retrieved his light and began to scan the interior taking note of the piles of bones, torn pieces of desiccated skin and other refuse that littered the area. The cave moved deeper into the mountain as the half-Vulcan led the way through, checking the floor and walls for any natural dangers. For several long moments they were moving forward deeper until they emerged into another cavern that was filled to overflowing with the crystals they had been sent to find.

"I do believe we've hit the motherlode Lieutenant." Sovas chuckled softly as he looked around, approaching a cluster of the crystals as he broke one away. "It appears they will be easy to harvest, we should head back out to place the enhancers so that we can bring in a proper survey team to map the caverns and get a better idea of the vein we've encountered."

Kassandra nodded. "I'll get them and hopefully we can get these crystals out and fast. There is something about this place that is setting off my spidey senses." She headed out to get the enhancers.