Saddle up!

Posted on Sat Jun 11th, 2011 @ 3:44pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries & Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix & Lieutenant Xylia Lischka & Lieutenant Xishaal Idrani & Lieutenant Terina Mekar & Lieutenant Serran & Lieutenant JG Tristan Harrington & Petty Officer 2nd Class Eldon Solus & Darek Halsey

Mission: Too Close for Comfort...
Location: Various
Timeline: Mission Start

=Shuttle bay, USS Arizona=

Commodore Nathan Cowell walked into the only shuttle bay the USS Arizona had and looked around. The two runabouts, the Phoenix and... hell, Nathan couldn't remember the other one... dominated the spacious compartment that had, several days prior, doubled as a staging ground for the mass burial ceremony they had held for their lost crew. The place even still had the ominous feel of cemetery still... Doc Cowell would have to order the place fumigated when he got back. The Commodore approached the only runabout who's name he could remember and greeted his pilot, Lieutenant JG Harrington.

"Mr. Harrington, I assume everything is ready to go on your end," Nathan said as he approached. The Commodore had elected to wear his favorite field overcoat, fully stocked with several implements such as medical tricorder, hypo-injector fully loaded with sedatives for any nasty encounters with people he just didn't feel like bothering with, and his hand gun. While he figured it was likely just his paranoia that had prompted the inclusion of the old 9mm service pistol he'd carried during his last stint in the Army, if he needed some unconventional protection, at least he had it.

The Ensign gave the Commodore a curt nod before the sound of the rear door to the shuttle bay diverted both of their attentions to those coming in.

Ensign Schenk checked to make sure that he had local civilian clothes as procured from the replicator after checking with Starbase 900 to make sure that things were still accurate from their last visit to the Archadian System. Grabbing his phaser and putting it in his holster, he picked up the small kit of extra supplies that he planned on taking with him; tri-corder, commbadge, surveillance equipment in the form of range finding binoculars, listening devices, video equipment, and a few other odds and ends that he thought may come in handy.

Leaving the Intelligence Office, Marc made his way to the shuttle bay and saw that the Commodore and one other man that he wasn't familiar with. Giving a nod, he walked over and presented himself to the Old Man with a slight smile. "Shrek reporting for the away mission, Sir."

Serran, in conjunction with SB900 medical personnel, had been occupied with updating and familiarizing his staff on Archadian physiology recently. Satisfied that his people were well versed in Archadian medicine, the Vulcan decided it would be he that accompany the away team on their mission and left Doctor Kar'G in charge of sickbay. Though the Klingon was relatively new to the Arizona, Serran found the doctor to be quite competent and capable in performing his duties. The ship, as humans liked to say, would be in good hands.

The Vulcan CMO gathered his field instruments and supplies, which included updated Archadian elements, and proceeded to the shuttlebay where other members of the away team were beginning to gather. Serran greeted everyone in turn and patiently waited for the others to show.

Lieutenant Xylia Lischka stepped into the shuttlebay with her gear in hand. The last time she was here, there were coffins containing the dead all over the place. A memory she was sure she would never forget, and it was a memory that caused a shiver to run down her spine. She pushed the thoughts from her head and moved forward. Now wasn't the time to relive that moment. It was back to business as usual, and truthfully, she was definitely grateful for the distraction.

The human woman neared the small party who were already present and set her things on the ground. She wasn't getting any funny feelings at the moment, but she was no psychic. Things could go from good to bad at the drop of a hat, and not only did she have to be prepared for that, but so did everyone else who would be going on this particular away mission. One thing she was sure of, though, was that it was likely to be pretty interesting. Perhaps not in a hostile manner, but more in the way of going to a place she had never been.

Xishaal stepped out of the Chandler, the number two Runabout, dressed in a nondescript flight suit. being an Andorian with blue hued skin and white hair, there was no way she would ever pass an an Archadian in the first place. Her eyes scanned the slowly assembling team with their personal effects and smiled to herself. This won't be another vacation, some of them looked like they've packed for a month stay on Risa- she thought to herself until her gaze naturally fell upon the only other crewman with the same hair color as herself. "..Commodore, we are ready whenever the rest of the team arrives..." she announced as she made her way over to the El-Aurian.

"Good good... just a few more bodies to go then," Nathan commented absentmindedly.

Eldon Solus scratched his head, "Antimatter intermix node... strange place for away team to assemble." Noticing a crewman cautiously approach with a puzzled expression, Eldon held up his brand new mini-padd. Without a word, the now worried crewman gently took hold of the small round device and turned it upside down. Grid section '198' now read '861'. "Ah! Makes better sense. Odd device. My thanks." He clipped the pod to his belt and hastened away.

The helpful crewman looked to his workmate with a pained expression, "This man operates on people?"

Minutes later, Eldon finally arrived to join the group. He looked dressed for survival training, outfit covered with neatly packed pockets. He gave a nod, "Pleased to be here. Should be exciting."

Aral Aix entered the shuttlebay accompanied by a small grey case hanging from a shoulder strap. He had been aboard about an hour and the Az was already frenetic. He noticed a group of officers milling around one of the runabouts and moved to join them. He addressed the Commodore, "I'm here. Let's go."

Waking abruptly from the most pleasant dream she had had in what seemed like years, Stace inwardly cursed her internal clock as she suddenly sat upright in bed. The away mission. Shit. No wonder her body was reminding her to get her lazy ass up. Stretching a bit, she extended her hand and froze as it came into contact with something... flesh like. Turning her head in the direction of her hand, Stace allowed her eyes to fall onto the figure of her 'guest'. Or was she his guest? Hell... she wasn't even sure where she was.

"Pssst... you up?"

Groaning Darek turned his head towards the voice, "Now... I am..." Darek replied, his voice though was muffled by the pillow his face was half buried in.

"Sorry to wake you... but... as much as I'd love to just stay right here... and trust me that I would... apparently my internal clock has reminded me we're suppose to be heading planet side soon..." Stace announced almost sadly. "I suppose we can't... skip it."

"Nah, not if you want to keep your commission, and I want to keep my job and home." He replied as he rolled onto his back, "Well how much time does your internal clock say we have?" He asked, hoping for enough time but guessing that they had very little. "I need already on board the shuttle stowed it there before I went off ship last night."

Stace frowned. "Not a whole lot... unfortunately. Though... all the gear I need is this..." she retorted holding up one first... "and this..." she continued holding up the other. "You think if we go together they'll give us the glare?"

Sitting up and throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, Darek rubbed at his face for a second before answer. "Frankly I don't care, we are all adults on this vessel, well at least we should be so if they have a problem too damn bad." Reaching down Darek gathered his clothes from the floor and stood. "I'm gonna freshen these up," He said with a sigh as he headed towards the bathroom and sonic shower, "The things you learn at the Academy."

"I just learned how to stay up late and drink all night," Stace mumbled as she took to her own feet and began to look for her own articles. "But you're right."

"Never said I didn't learn that!" He yelled around the corner as he quickly sonicily cleansed his clothing in the shower. Quickly as he cleaned each article he quickly pulled it back on and was dressed in under a minute. Walking back into the room in his now usual, duty outfit. Dark jeans, boots, dark hoody style jacket, his mid thigh leather jacket was held in one hand while the other was holding the strap to the small back pack he was holding along with his sidearm's shoulder holster. "I'm ready, you got any fresh coffee or do i need to replicate it?"

"Replicate and go! That's my motto on the run!" Stace announced as she straightened the dark pants and shirt she was wearing. Taking a quick moment to reassess her earlier decision about not taking anything... she decided it was probably smart to at least take her 'field kit'. Of course, she would have to dig it out rather swift like. "Alright... I think we should be going."

Doing just that Darek replicated two cups of black coffee and as they materialized handed one off to Stace and took the other, "Let's not be late don't want to anger the Commodore!" Darek replied with a half assed couldn't care kinda grin.

Shortly thereafter the duo arrived within the shuttle bay, a shared smirk between them - the same thought running through their heads. It was finally time to kick some ass.

Nathan did a swift head count and nodded to himself when he found that everyone who needed to be on the team was accounted for. He moved to the outermost edge of the small throng that was forming and beat on the nearby nacelle to get everyone's attention.

"Alright people, here's how this shindig is going down. I'm going to take one team of a handful, the Colonel over there is taking the second team. Now, team one, you are going to be with me schmoozing the locals and trying to make good face. We'll be doing the elbow greasing and the hand shaking that will distract the local powers from team two. Team two's job is to get out there and talk to the working man. They will be getting down in the dirt, digging it up, and getting us some answers from the populace. Uniforms are optional, nudity isn't required," the old man began before he motioned for Colonel DeVries to move away from the gaggle.

"Now then, when I call your name and your team assignment, join your team leader and make it quick, I'm on a schedule. Mister Aix, team one! Mister Serran, team two! Miss Idrani, team one! Miss Mekar, team two! Mister Solus, team one! Mister Halsey, team two! Miss Lischka, team one! Mister Harrington, team two! And last but not least, Shrek, you're with me. I'm taking the Phoenix, you folks over there are taking... that other one. Let's try to have boots on the ground in no more than an hour. Questions? No? Good! Move out!" the Commodore said before climbing into the runabout.