Rescue, Part II

Posted on Wed May 18th, 2022 @ 1:40am by Lieutenant Commander Troy Marshall & Captain Fergus Williams & Lieutenant Johnathan Anderson III & Lieutenant JG Melissa Jones & Callie Marshall & Lieutenant JG Kassandra Selin
Edited on on Wed May 18th, 2022 @ 1:40am

Mission: S1 Episode 2: Caretaker, Part II
Location: Aerowing and Ocompa Home World
Timeline: Mission Day 7 at 0030
1277 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Ocampa Surface
Gently, the shuttle touched down on the sandy earth of the Ocampa world near the Kazon shuttle of a similar size. The dust of the barren world speckled the aerowing with a whoosh. Outside the aerowing, three Kazon men stood stood with arms folded, their eyes wincing in the intensity of the Ocampa sun. It was hot and dry.

“Outside temperature is well above what we’re used to” Dana looked at those onboard. “Everyone make sure you have water bottles! Last thing we need is anyone getting dehydrated.”

Johnathan made sure that the controls for the aerowing were locked down. He then stood and moved towards the exit, grabbing a water bottle as he did so. "Let's get going!" He was extremely anxious to find and save Kassandra and Callie. He would kill anyone who got in their way.

Melissa stared at Johnathon. "We will save her.." She said in her calm voice. "But you will not be of help to her if you're dead."

Hearing the calm words of his friend, Johnathan looked over and gave the Chief Engineer as slight grin. "Thanks Mel. I needed that bit of focus."

"Come, we have little time." Melissa noted as she shouldered her repeater.

Rhen walked over to Troy placing his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Chief, permission to remain behind help guard the shuttle and provide backup if needed?" He asked.

Troy gave Rhen a nod. "Keep an eye on...our allies as well."

As the Imperial officers exited the Deathwing, the tallest of the three Kazon led their approach.

"Welcome to Ocampa. I am Margol. Finding the entrance to the Ocampan underworld is challenging....but we are confident we know the way."

Melissa walked past Margol like she wasn't there and began scanning. Examining the environment. "An underground settlement can't just have atmosphere reclaimators. There has to be some kind of ventilation to the surface."

Troy took a second to look over the aliens before gesturing. "This is your neck of the woods. Lead the way."

Rhen placed his rifle on his shoulder leaning up against the hull of the shuttle watching his crewmates and the Kazon as they walked away. Before slowly walking around the craft in a circle studying the terrain keeping his eyes peeled for any surprises.

Fergus said nothing but his eyes keep scanning the surrounding area. He didn't trust these guys and he'd learned to trust his gut.

Johnathan followed, keeping the Kazon in view. He didn't know these people. That, plus the fact that they weren't Terrans, meant that he didn't trust them one bit. He knew it was only a matter of time before they tried something stupid.

Troy stepped over to Melissa as she conducted her initial scan of the area. He wasn't about to trust anything these aliens did or claimed to know without having any lead checked by his own people. "Tell me you have something Lieutenant."

Melissa tried a thermo scan. "I have something. There's an exhaust plume over there. Possibly some kind of cooling system for possibly an underground settlement. It figures.. They couldn't keep all that heat a stored power source underground. This way."

Johnathan readied his rifle, feeling a renewed urging to get into the compound and save both the woman he loves and one of his closest friends. "Let's go," his tone was quiet and no-nonsense.

Margol and the two other Kazon led the company of Imperial soldiers to a solitary outcropping in the sand. Inside it was a sparkling glass disk surrounded by exhaust ports.

"I wouldn't get too close if I were you." he said, and just as she did, an energy bolt smashed down on the glass from the heavens, as fast as light, and quickly transported itself through the translucent surface. When it was gone, the surface, radiated a thick heat for several seconds. It quickly dissipated. "That is how their Caretaker gives them his power. If you are standing on it during a blast, you would be vaporized. We must travel in between the blasts."

He stepped up to one of the exhaust ports and gestured inside.

"This is the way, I am told." he said, offering an unshaven grin. "Shall I take the lead, or will you?"

Johnathan moved forward, making his next words quite clear in their meaning. "You go first."

"Very well, Terran." Margol said, turning toward the large vent. "I hope you stretched before you came. It's a long way down."

Dana looked towards Johnathan. “It’s not like we’ve got much of a choice. It’s the only way to reach our people.”

He let out a short, aggravated snort, then nodded. The team then set out to find the entrance to the compound.

---

Ocampa City - Command Complex
After thousands of stairs, the away team reached the bottom in a dimly lit room. No one was around, but activity could be heard beyond a door on the other side of the room. As soon as the team stepped off of the stairs, the room illuminated. Polished grey floors, stark white walls, and a lighted wall display which should the building complex they were in with details written in Ocampan. All seemed clear.

"Good thing we were not climbing all those stairs." Melissa noted as she prepared her repeater. "Now, we need to think tactical here." She noted. "Get me to a computer inside their network, I can shut down their security and comms systems, and locate our crewmenbers."

Johnathan turned to their Kazon 'allies'. "Well? Do any of you know where we can find the nearest computer interface?"

"No Kazon has ever been down here. I am at just as much of a loss as are you." Margol said, but then pointed to the map on the wall. "But there seems to be a security office just down the hall. No doubt it will be manned, however. I hope you came ready to taste blood."

Troy studied the map on the wall for a minute before pointing to a spot on the map and a cross corridor about ten meters from them. "We go left there and go past two more cross corridors before turning right and we should be at the security office for this level."

"Then let's go," Johnathen replied, indicating that the Kazon should go first.

"But silently. We don't want to trip any alarms before the time comes. We can't fight off a serious coordinated front from the Ocampa. We have the element of surprise, but they're on their home turf." Margol said, and then took up position at the head of the group. He understood he was being used as the expendable scout, but he did not bristle against the duty. He knew much more about the Ocampa than they, yet still he had never been down here.

The team emerged quietly into an empty hallway. He followed the path which Troy had indicated to them slowly as the Terrans behind him creeped silently. They passed the first cross hallway and saw nothing, but when they reached the second one, a short woman in a lab coat was seen walking toward them. Her eyes were cast down at a tablet, so she didn't notice them until she bumped into Margol. Grabbing hold of her, she shoved her back toward the Terrans behind him and continued forward, disinterested in what they might do with her.

Once, they stood outside the security door, Margol turned to the group.

"Now, we just need to get inside without triggering any alarms." he said. "Then we can find your people."

TBC