SD241909.29 || Joint Log || "FUBAR"

Posted on 29 Sep 2019 @ 7:51pm by Lieutenant Talee Malena & Lieutenant Talrian Bran

3,332 words; about a 17 minute read

=/\= Begin Log, Somewhere on Earth... =/\=

Everything had become darkness when the shuttle made its most unfortunate landing in the dirt of twenty-first century Earth, but the light returned before too long.

Quinn Romanov groaned as he regained consciousness, struggling to remember the final minutes before everything went out. He had a vague recollection of the chief of security somehow managing to wrestle Quinn's brawny form out of his chair and into the back--likely because Quinn was so surprised it was happening--and then some shouted invectives...all coming from Quinn himself. Now the shuttle was still, and...

"Oh, fuck," Quinn groaned again, seeing that there were large gaps in the front of the shuttle. He staggered to his feet, moving forward to check on the idiot of a security officer still up front.

Kawolski grabbed him from behind and pulled him back, then turned him around. "Sit down so I can check you out," he said, glaring at the pilot. "Sir," he hastily added as an afterthought. He wore a diagnostic glove on one hand and clear lenses over his eyes. One side appeared brighter than the other.

The two other security officers, now fully armored and helmeted, pushed past them toward the ruined front of the area. Whatever their chief had done seemed to be effective. The bulkhead around the crew cabin was buckled and showed obvious signs of damage, but the interior remained as it did when it came off the line at the yard.

"They'll go find him," Kawolski said, trying to keep some hope in his voice that the man was still alive. Though, with the damage that could be seen, he had serious doubts about it.

Quinn grunted and drew that heavy, overhanging brow together in annoyance but he let himself be guided because he knew that no matter what, medical personnel always got their way in the end...

"Erickson, I'll be with you in a moment, don't go moving around until you're clear," Kawolski ordered. His tone was much more forceful than it had been up to this point, his bearing much more commanding.

Erikson just nodded as he didn't plan on moving seeing as he had a busted right arm, possibly a concussion and gods knows what was going on internally.

When the shuttle hit, it hit hard. Talrian was thrown against the restraints hard enough that he knew he'd be bruised within minutes, if he were lucky enough to avoid having ribs broken or fractured then he could live with bruising. The force of the impact wasn't expended and it skipped the shuttle, the rear sliding and pushing the front down and deeper into the earth. It bounced only a few more times before the front dug too far into the earth and pushed to a stop. The rear of the shuttle continued to push forward with the same force.

Up until then, Talrian was merely being tossed around against the tight restraints, his head whipped back and forth. When the forces competed and caused the shuttle to begin to spin end over end, each section smashing into the ground, Talrian was thrown forward. He wasn't sure if it was the restraints or the bolts holding the seat that failed, but he was thrown free, tumbling as he came to impact the ground harder than he would have thought possible. His armor absorbed much of the impact, but he'd still hadn't put on his helmet, having no time to think of himself while working to ensure the safety of the others.

Somewhere along the way, everything burst into one giant ball of pain before everything went dark.

[Shuttle]

"Okay, Lieutenant, you're good," Kawolski said, the right lens dimming again. "I'll check out Erickson and then do what I can to revive Cindreth. If..." He trailed off because he really didn't know how to finish the sentence he was about to start.

"Yeah," Quinn said, his voice little more than a low rumble.

"Over here!" one of the security officers called out, his voice natural as he'd removed his helmet and had it hanging from a hook toward the back of his waist. He moved quickly and knelt down next to the Security Chief's body. Normally, using the armor's systems, he'd be able to get basic lifesigns, but Talrian's armor wasn't active since he'd never put on his helmet. The security officers found that amid wreckage several hundred yards back toward the shuttle. It was cracked and inoperable.

However, as he knelt, he could tell the Chief was still alive, his breathing shallow but deep. Blood trickled from several cuts on his head and an arm seemed to be at an odd angle. The chair he'd been sitting in lay a few dozen yards away, smashed to an almost unrecognizable lump. How the Chief was thrown clear of it wasn't clear, but tracks in the earth showed that he bounced and rolled several times before coming to a rest as he was.

His partner came up on them and together, they both carefully rolled the Chief onto his back, trying another quick visual search. His armor appeared to be dented and dinged, but other than deep gouges of dirt globs and smears, it appeared to be functional and unscathed. Johnson pulled up parts of the cushioning of the seat to form a makeshift pillow.

"He appears to be alive," Bakkar said, standing from his kneeling crouch. "Don't know about injuries though, get the medic out here and see if we can move him. We got to get out of here and under cover quickly, they'll be on their way from the base by now."

Romanov heard the call and hurried out, moving to join the others in looking over the chief. He wasn't the man's biggest fan, but he didn't want him to die down here. "One of you go scout out a good location where the group of us can take cover and include him, if he doesn't wake up soon. Once we've established a safe spot, we can focus on trying to..." He blew out a breath and frowned, looking back to see if the medic was coming yet. "Try to set up something that will be worth a damn."

Kawolski was on the run, his pack strapped tightly on his back. He kept on his glove and glasses because he knew if they found the security chief they'd want to confirm his condition. He couldn't see how anyone could have survived the landing - hell they were only alive because of the reinforced structural integrity field kept the crew cabin from smashing apart as the cockpit had. He expected the worst, but he had a job to do.

Briefly, he wondered at the shock and depth of sadness on Trill when they discovered one of their symbionts was killed in action before he skidded to a halt then dropped to his knees, his pack unslung from one shoulder then allowed to drop to the ground next to him. All in all, except for some bloody and shallow gashes and covered in dirt, the Trill didn't appear too badly injured. Death must have come quickly. He ran his open, splayed hand over the security chief and -

"What the hell?" he hissed as he stared at the display on the glasses. He moved his hand back, not sure he could believe the evidence of his own equipment. Maybe it was damaged in the crash but...no...it'd work fine on all the others.

"He's...alive," Kawolski said as he finished the scan's direction then came back toward the top of the lieutenant's head. "And basically uninjured!" Kawolski was pretty much agnostic but this was enough to push him into the realm of militant atheism. What kind of universe could be created and controlled by any sort of deity that allowed someone like this man to not just get thrown clear of the violent wreck but not be injured any more than a concussion and shallow cuts and bruising. Even his condition was more the result of the body shutting down from shock and a simple injection, which he dialed into a hypospray as he questioned his faith in any good in the universe, of a stimulant would end even that.

The hiss of the hypospray was heard clearly in the silence of the crash site.

He was about to do another scan when his wrist was grabbed and twisted painfully, causing him to slump to the side where his arm was twisted, then he was on his back, the heavy weight of the security chief in his armor sitting high on his chest, making his arms next to useless as the Trill's knees dug into his shoulders, pinning him down. He had just enough time to register the closed, plated, fist about to be brought down on his face when, just as quickly as he was attacked, he was set free.

The weight of the chief was taken off him.

"Stand down, Chief!" the larger of the security officers said as he held Talrian in a hold that had the Trill's arms pinned above his head and held on the balls of his feet, taking away his power. "It's the crew!" Bakkar hissed, twisting Talrian around to see the others.

Talrian slumped as he realized he wasn't being attacked by unknown combatants, but was surrounded by shipmates. He found Bakkar's arm and tapped it three times, indicating his surrender. Bakkar slowly released him, prepared to grab him again if he turned out to be faking that he was done.

"Sorry," Talrian said, holding out a hand to lift Kawolski from the ground. Kawolski skittered back and away from him, somehow remembering a manuever that allowed him to get to his feet while facing his 'enemy'. "You're a..." he started, but remembered Erickson's plight and being on report and arrested for insulting this guy.

Talrian's eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned to look around.

"Where's the other two?" he asked, honestly only caring about where Cindreth was. He was too valuable a resource to be lost.

"Still in the shuttle, last I saw," Romanov was the one to reply, although his body was tense and ready to react if...anything happened again. He looked at Kawolski and nodded back toward the shuttle. "Status report?"

"He's..." Kawolski stared at the ground. The man wasn't okay, or even fine. He was depleted and they still wanted more. But he'd come through the crash about the same as the rest of them, Erickson's wounded arm notwithstanding. So far the only one that seemed to be seriously injured by the crash was the security chief and that was not at all. "He's able to get up and going, but we can't keep pushing him or we might cause permanent damage."

"Chief...?" Bakkar said, nodding in the direction of the base. Talrian nodded his understanding.

"We'll take three minutes at the shuttle to get what's necessary and then bug out. I don't want to be within clicks of this place when they get here. But, we need to get to that base and find what they have that we can use. Bakkar will concentrate on c-rats, you'll get what we can for shelter," he said to the other security officer. "Kawolski, concentrate on whatever medical supplies you don't already have. We'll grab what we need and divide it up among the five of us. You got survival training?" Talrian asked Romanov. He didn't know much about pilots but he knew there were some courses that taught advanced survival and evasion training.

Anyone on this mission might be shocked to learn that Quinn was usually a pretty jovial guy, since he was little more than stone since they all got together...but he couldn't help him. He arched one heavy brow at Bran and nodded once. "I do," he replied laconically. Fighter pilots were taught pretty well in that area in case they crashed in rough or enemy territory.

"Good," Talrian said, beginning the trek back to the main shuttle compartment. "You'll be with me, Bakkar and Kawolski. We're going back to that base, I'm sure I saw transports there. We'll need one of them to continue our mission." He frowned for a moment, a look of subtle pain coming across his face briefly. "I trust Bakkar's weapons training, and Kawolski is good for..." Talrian sighed. "He's the best thing we have to a doctor. I'm just hoping you can keep from shooting one of us in the back while we get you to a transport."

"You must have taken classes in team motivation, didn't you," Quinn drawled, not really feeling like holding his tongue given that he was pretty sure they were all going to die down here now. "We're all trained officers, not idiots. We'll get the job done or die trying."

"Got a master's in team motivation," Talrian said, staring straight forward as he continued to make his way to the remainder of the shuttle. "You're motivated to get the hell off this planet alive aren't you?" he asked, only glancing slightly toward Romanov. "You're welcome."

Romanov's dark gaze followed the other man. "It will be a goddamn miracle if we make it off this rock now," he muttered. He just wished he knew where his sister was.

Bran just shook his head and kept marching double time toward the shuttle, seeing it looming just ahead. He knew, as well as his security team, that they had limited time and needed to be away from the wreckage of the shuttle before the militia forces could arrive. Not gone, because, the hitch in his side told him he didn't want to hump the entire way to their base and...they needed other supplies they could only get from the forces coming their way.

[Damaged Shuttle]

Cindreth was lying, spread across the rows of seats where Kawolski left him. His breathing regular but shallow and his skin coloring looking more and more ashen as time went by. His eyes, however, skittered under purpling eyelids while every third or fourth breath carried with it an agonized, breathless moan.

But, without any warning, his hand reached out and grasped Erickson's arm in a hardened steel grip. His black eyes bordered on the madness of pain and exhaustion. "They. can't. have. it." he gasped each worth as a drawn breath while he glared at the Ops crewman. "Rig it. All of. it."

"Y you want me to blow up the only thing that might get us off of th this Earth?" Erikson asked looking at the man like he was crazy.

"Shuttle. Ruined," Cindreth said, groaning out loud as the effort to sit up cuaused railroad spike sized pounding through several portions of his head. Linked as he was with the group mind didn't just able him to bridge the distance to the ship in orbit with his telepathy, but expanded its range and intensity as well. He wasn't just hearing the thoughts of the Ops crewman or the rest of their team, but that of the base beyond, the soldiers dispatched to kill them and take whatever they could find of their ship, but even further as well. It was all too much but he had to push through and push forward. He already had contact with several members of the crew. Faint, glimmering whispers through the multitude of conversations going on around him. It was like being in the docking station of busy spaceports when all the ships arrived and were embarking/disembarking at once. He had to concentrate hard to keep to those whispers.

"They, can't have. it." It wasn't so much the breathing that caused his stunted speech but the pain pounding through his head, so bad that he felt his head would burst with each beat of his heart. He'd been lying about how bad it was to Kawolski because he was afraid the medication he wanted to give him would dull his group mind to the point he'd lose contact and he couldn't have that. Not from what he was experiencing of the mindset of this time period on Earth. Savage, ruthless, bloodlust. Nobody was sacred, nobody was safe. He'd already learned the fate of several crew when they were discovered.

The most fortunate died outright. Some were not so lucky. As he struggled to rise, another took her own life rather than face another return of her captors. It wasn't an easy, quick death and it was only the mad determination to escape her fate that allowed her to tear open her own veins with her fingernails. In the end, Cindreth could only comfort himself with her final thoughts by realizing how mad she'd been driven.

"Our technology. In their, hands. Disastrous." He wavered on his feet, trying to steady himself. "Rig it to. blow. You've got. Minutes." He turned toward the access hatch of the shuttle. "Chief. Here." He said, holding onto the bulkhead to stay on his feet.

{Shit! Maybe he should've listened to the damn lieutenant.} Erikson thought as he got to work rigging the one thing that could get them off of this version of Earth. Luckily for this pig-of a man Erikson knew his explosives he had served as an explosive expert prior to joining Starfleet.

Talrian dropped into the access port, followed by the others, Bakkar coming in last so his size wouldn't inhibit the free passage of others. Both security personnel started right away carrying out their tasks.

"What do I take?" Kawolski asked, moving immediately to Cindreth.

Talrian grabbed the young medic by the arm. "Medical supplies are your first priority. Get what you can while you can. Cindreth is good, he'll wait." Both were in a position to see Cindreth, how he could barely stand and the pinched nature of his being. The waves of pain were becoming more evident in the glazing madness of his eyes. "Go!" Talrian said, shoving the medic toward the storage hatches that held the emergency medical supplies and before he could protest, uselessly, once again. Talrian's cherubic like nature was starting to wear away and soon he'd get impatient.

He went to Cindreth though and, the best he could do was place a hand on the man's shoulder. Cindreth jerked, his hand coming up and grabbing Talrian around the wrist. Dark, wide, bloodshot eyes turned to Talrian and bore into him.

Talrian jerked his hand free of the other man's suprisingly strong grip and backed away several steps, for just a few moments real fear in his eyes. Then he turned. "Two minutes and we bug out," he ordered the others. "Erickson, one minute after we're clear, this shuttle needs to blow so nothing of it can be taken and used by the militia coming our way...or their enemies."

"It'll blow exactly one minuet after we leave. And we need to be as far away as possible." Erikson said looking at the man. "Because there is gonna be a goddamn crater in the ground."

"Then I hope you run as fast as you run your mouth," Talrian said as he tossed a full pack at the Ops crewman. "Everyone understand? One minute to get to sufficient cover to protect yourselves from the blast. About a minute under that, we're under attack."

"No way!" Kawolski said, dropping his pack to the ground, medical supplies bouncing inside and threatening to spill. "Can't be done, Cindreth can barely stand up, much less get clear in time!"

Talrian's patience was ready to snap. Did none of these people understand what it takes to survive? "He won't have to run, I'll carry him out." Talrian grabbed another pack to fill as he considered the ramifications of everything. He did this to Cindreth, he would never deny that, and he was going to make sure Cindreth got out of this alive and made whole again.

=/\= To Be Continued... =/\=

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