Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

[Masterson]

ON: [[Mess Hall, USS Malinche, Day 13, 1000]]

"There are sixty-seven varieties of pancakes available from this replicator. Please specify," the cool feminine voice of the computer intoned. Resisting the urge to smack the replicator interface, Mike (NPC) closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It had been nearly 0200 hours in the morning by the time he had finished with his shift, gone to training, gotten back to his quarters, cleaned up, and crawled into bed. He was no stranger to physical activity, but all these extra training sessions were starting to take their toll on all of them, himself included.

"Just plain pancakes," Mike grumbled, "and coffee, black." He watched as the small plate and a steaming mug shimmered into existence below the interface and allowed himself a small smile. Lifting his breakfast from the replicator slot, he turned toward the room and began looking for an open seat somewhere. By this point in the morning, most people had finished up breakfast and were either enjoying a good conversation or already talking about their assignments for the day. Not really taking note of any of them, Mike slowly weaved his way through the maze of tables and chairs until he found an empty seat near one of the large viewports that spanned one wall of the room. He set his tray down on the table and proceeded to plop himself down in the chair and immediately reached for his coffee.

Coffee in hand, Derek (PNPC) looked around the mess hall, trying to find either an empty table or someone who would be alright with sitting with a former Borg. Finally he saw Mike seated near the back and headed over. Pausing, he asked, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Mike replied, motioning with his free hand, "I can't promise I'll be chipper this morning, but you're free to join me if you want."

Sliding into the seat across from Mike, Derek set his cup of coffee on the table. Making a concentrated effort with his speech, he replied, "That's alright. I would rather sit with someone who isn't chipper than sitting with someone uncomfortable with my presence in silence." His eyes moved to the viewport as he sighed and picked up the coffee.

"Here's to the anti-chipper league," Mike said, raising his mug in a mock toast, "We should get some t-shirts." He chuckled a little as he raised his mug to his mouth and took a sip. Already, he could feel the caffeine starting to kick in. It would probably take a second cup to get him back to a full energy level, but he had time to sit back and enjoy it for a little while.

Derek gave a brief smile and nod as he took a long sip from his coffee. "We should be arriving at Athos III any time now...what do you think we'll find?" Having spoken with Isabel, he wasn't entirely sure what to expect - it could be nothing or it could be something major. Of course, he realized that before, but from what she'd told him of the Malinche's missions, it didn't seem that they would have the luck of a simple mission.

"I don't know," Mike replied, taking another sip of his coffee, "All these extra drills have us preparing for the worst, which makes sense, but it makes me wonder if we might not find out this has all been a misunderstanding. Someone might have accidentally bumped the subspace transceiver out of alignment or something." It was probably a long stretch, especially considering that they had gotten this far without any kind of word from the colony. He'd always been one to look on the bright side, but life had taught him that there were some signs that couldn't be ignored.

"We can hope it was a misunderstanding, at least," Derek replied. "Either way, I think our department will be prepared."

Mike was about to say something about how he felt about all the extra training when something outside the viewport caught his eye. Turning his full attention to the viewport next to their table, he saw what should have been the vibrant colony world of Anthos III. Instead, it looked as if the entire planet had been tossed into a giant fire and burned until it was nothing by a glowing ember drifting in space. He lowered his mug to the table without even thinking about it, his entire focus fixed on the terrible scene just outside the viewport.

Watching the expression on Mike's face, Derek too turned to the viewport. The view they had of the planet was certainly not what he had expected. Based on what he was seeing, this wasn't a simple issue...

As if a blanket had been thrown over the entire room, the usual hum of conversation faded away into silence. Others around the room begain looking toward the viewports with varying expressions on their face, ranging from confusion to outright horror. It was clear that his optimism had been grossly misplaced and that even the extra drilling had not prepared them for such a discovery.

Derek was no scientist, but he couldn't think of anything that would cause something like this - not to the entire planet. The best explanation he could come up with was that some form of devastating weapon had been used, though who or why was anyone's guess. "This is not good... Any theories?"

"I..." Mike began, but he realized that he had nothing. Aaron had always been better and dealing with tactical situations like this than he had. The best Mike could come up with were stories, some of which were even legends, that he'd heard while he was at the Academy. It felt like he was grasping at straws and as the Malinche drew closer, he found that he could not come up with anything more concrete.

"Well...as long as we don't end up like Athos III... Perhaps we should go check in?" Derek got the feeling that they were going to be very busy. He wondered what Isabel thought when she saw the planet. Probably she was already formulating ideas and plans.

"I think you're right," Mike said, getting to his feet. He lifted his half-finished tray from the table and started over to the replicator so that he could recycle the tray's contents. As the tray disappeared in the familiar sparkle of the replicator, he glanced around the room to see that some of the people were already getting up to report to their supervisors. Mike took one last look through the viewports at Anthos III.

Following Mike, Derek placed his empty coffee cup on the replicator. He paused while Mike looked out the viewports, then headed for the door. It was doubtful that the department heads would have concrete information on what had happened, but they would at least know what the assignments were for their departments. Time to find out what theirs was.

OFF

A JP by:

Derek Greyman (PNPC)
Security Officer
USS Malinche
Played by: Capt Kersare

and

Ensign Mike Kepler (PNPC)
Security Officer
USS Malinche
Played by: LtJG Masterson

[N'rass]

<IKV Rakatel, day 11, 1020 hrs>

<Bridge>

The Rakatel had been waiting on orders from the commanding vessel for some time now and it was wearing on the crew.

"Glinn." A tall Cardassian said, standing at attention in front of the stern Bajoran. "A word with you in your office." A hint of impatience was in his voice.

The Bajoran squinted and stood up. "Du'rel, need I remind you of your tone?" Roen said with a low growl.

"My apologies, Sir." He corrected as they walked into the small office off the bridge. When Amer sat down in his chair and turned it sideways, the Cardassian continued. "This is a crew and a ship of action. Why has command relegated us to mere scouting?"

The Glinn turned his head and glared. The thought was one of annoyance, not at his executive officer or the fact that he was a Cardassian. Rather it was more that he agreed with the musing himself. "We act on orders." He responded flatly in a somewhat defeated rote. One that indicated one too many defied orders from command.

"So we are just to sit here when we know this Terran vessel is likely to disrupt our whole operation? We should intercept it before it risks the chances of us getting back into our universe."

Amer nodded. "Your point has been taken into advisement. However it is not a new concern. As soon as we hear our orders we will act. Otherwise we will have to act on our own. That vessel has enough power to decimate us if they discover us or what we are flying. The only thing this bucket of bolts has going for it is that they don't know we..." he paused and held his head.

The Cardassian tilted his head. "Are you well, Sir?"

Roen nodded. "I am. I have been having headaches lately, but none that question my ability to command this vessel." He paused. "As I was saying, They can't know we are here!"

"I understand, Sir." The XO affirmed. "The crew is eager nevertheless, particularly the Klingons. Give the command and we already have the coordinates set for the engines, core and tactical arrays."

"Noted." Roen smirked. His crew was an example of efficiency in that regard. "Let's hope that does not need to happen. Terrans of that sort are weak and diplomatic. Perhaps that can be a weakness..."

OFF:

Glinn Roen Amer(PNPC) and
other crew of the
IKV Rakatel by

[Barrett]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Sickbaybay, 1030, Day 13>

With Julie gone, Adam was placed in charge of sickbay. It wasn't something that was uncommon with him and for the moment everything appeared to be perfectly under control. Although he also knew that could change at any moment. He was sitting in the lab, looking through the latest protein analysis of a crewmen's blood work when the doors to sickbay opened up.

Tavi (PNPC) came bounding in, doing what looked like a series of flips. He had to talk to him about not doing that around the ship when he got a little order, least he ran into someone and knock them down. Given the fact that he was already pretty muscular at 11. He bowed to several of the other nurses that were there before heading to the lab were Adam was working.

"Good morning dad," Tavi smiled.

"What did we tell you about flipping into rooms?"

"To make sure I didn't hit anyone," Tavi smiled. "I knew where I was the whole time dad."

"Just be careful ok, just because your god-mother is the captain of this ship it doesn't mean that you can get away with doing whatever you want."

"I know," Tavi said, rolling his eyes. "Is dad gonna be ok?"

Adam knew that this conversation was coming, Jason had gone to tell Tavi goodbye and that he would be back. Adam was heartbroken when Tavi teared up a little bit but assured him that Jason was more then capable of taking care of himself and he was bringing on the best security officers in the fleet.

"He'll be fine," Adam smiled. "I know it's hard but its part of his job to go on away missions and sometimes it will be part of mine too. We'll always come say goodbye though, ok?"

Tavi nodded. "He's coming back right?"

"Yes Tavi, he's coming back."

"Good."

Adam smiled, hoping that his own unease about the current situation didn't translate over to his son. Something about this whole business felt off and that was something that was the consistent opinion of a lot of the crew.

"What are you working on?" Tavi asked.

"Protein analysis, want to help?"

"I don't even know what that means," Tavi said, wrinkling up his nose. "But it doesn't sound all that exciting."

"Not everything on a starship is all excitement all the day, just ask Joey...wait, on second thought don't ever ask Joey that question."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Tavi asked.

"Never mind, I'll tell you when you are older. Now come over here and learn something new."

OFF:

Lt. JG Adam Townsen
Medical Officer
USS Malinche

Played by:

[Peters]

OOC: This is a backpost.
ON:
<<USS Malinche, Day 1, Main Engineering, 1300 Hrs>>

Taryn had felt the need to check in with Main Engineering before the Malinche departed from Starbase 386. Although had no reason to doubt the reports she always liked to get the information straight from those who worked in the department.

She approached a young ensign. "Excuse me Ensign, where is the Chief Engineer." she asked.

The ensign pointed to a man standing near the warp core reading a PADD. "That is Lieutenant Commander Peters over there ma'am." she replied.

"Thank you Ensign as you were." she said assertively.

She approached the Commander and placed herself to attention. "Excuse me sir. I am Lieutenant England the ship's Chief Flight Control Officer." she refrained from saying anymore to allow the commander time to address her when he was ready.

Peters looked up from his PADD. "How can I help you, Lieutenant? If this is about the port side thruster, I've already had a team take care of it."

"Well Commander I was just checking in on the modifications to see if there were any concerns we should know about. I have just learned that Lieutenant(JG) McCarty will be at the helm for our departure and well....his skills are lacking behind the helm of a Prometheus class vessel."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "May I ask what was wrong with the port side thruster?"

"Just a slight misalignment of one of the emitter nozzles. A few millimeters off," Peters assured her. "I suspect that it was a manufacturing error, as the whole assembly was installed as one swappable unit. I've not seen anything else that would be a concern."

Taryn groaned softly with slight concern. Fleet manufacturing standards had to be better than a few millimeters. She could not understand how such a flaw could have been overlooked. Had the commander and his team not seen in the departure surely would have been a disaster, not just rough like she expected it to be.

"Beyond the failure of fleet manufacturing did the refit go well? I am doubting the engines will be checked from the helm before we take off so I was hoping to get a small summary from engineering before we departed." Taryn said once again lacking confidence in McCarty's flight skills.

"Everything went fine," Peters answered with as nice of a smile as he could muster. "Is there anything specific you would like to know about?"

"Well my only concern is how the engines would handle a more aggressive pilot. Is there any sort of maneuvering or speeds we should refrain from using for the first while?" she questioned thinking specifically about McCarty.

Peters gave the woman a stern look. "Lieutenant, these engines are ready for anything that any of your pilots can throw at them."

"Taryn was relieved to see the Commander's confidence in the work the maintenance crew had done with the refit. "Thank you Commander, I have had some bad experiences with refits and rookie pilots and having to deal with both at the same time was not a situation I felt entirely comfortable with."

Peters merely nodded in response to that statement. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Lieutenant? I don't want to be rude, but I do have a lot to get done before we depart."

Taryn placed her hands behind her back. "Of course Commander my apologies. Thank you very much for your time you have put my mind at ease." With that said she nodded to Peters, turned about and walked out of engineering.

OFF: This has been a joint post by:

Lieutenant Taryn England (PNPC)
Chief Flight Control Officer
As Played by:
Lieutenant JG Jake McCarty
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

&

[Peters]

OOC: This is a back post

ON: <Main engineering, day 5 0730 hrs>

The Caitian stepped into the main area of the engineering bay near the master display and stood with her hands behind her back.

Main Engineering was an energetic department. After a moment L'Randil was greeted by a female voice of an officer. She turned quickly to face the taller officer.

"Good morning, Ensign," Lieutenant C'eltor greeted the Caitian officer.

"Ma'am. Ensign L'Randil reporting for duty"

C'eltor nodded. "I've been expecting you, Miss L'Randil. I'm told you volunteered for extra shifts with the engineering staff."

L'Randil nodded with a smirk. "I do what I can. It seemed to me that it was time to step out and get into something bigger." The senior officer seemed friendly enough and made her relax a great deal.

C'eltor nodded again. "How familiar are you with the Malinche's power systems specifications, Ensign?"

The Caitian thought for a moment. Then she replied with a simple "I know that this cruiser has a lot more than the average runabout and that I have even more to learn." She let her hands down from behind her back with an energetic motion and asked, "So where can I start, Ma'am?"

C'eltor pursed her lips and considered for a moment. She had several options to consider, but one seemed to stand out above the rest. "We'll start you on some basic EPS conduit maintenance. Follow me and we'll get you some tools and protective gear."

L'Randil smirked. "Good ol conduits. Gotta start somewhere I guess." She shrugged and followed the taller officer. Most engineers would be put off by such duties but L'Randil was enthused. It was a change of pace under a relaxing environment.

<Several minutes later, Deck 5>

"Alright, ensign," C'eltor said as she climbed into the Jeffries tube, "try not to let the cramped spaces get to you and remember that if there's any misalignment in the artificial gravity, no matter how slight, a hyperspanner will never stop rolling in these crawlways."

"At least these conduits are big enough to get in!" L'Randil commented. Shuttle ones are so much tighter."

C'eltor had to smile at that. "I imagine they would be... But I also imagine most systems on a shuttle are much closer to the access opening than most of what we have to repair here on the Malinche. Ah... here we are."

They stopped at a junction in the Jeffries tube. L'Randil held her tool kit in one hand and waited for her specific orders with an energetic demeanor. She knew mostly what needed to be done but it did not bother her to hear it again in review.

"Alright, Ensign," C'eltor said as she pulled out her tricorder and a plasma welder, "We're going to start from this point and work our way out. Scan for any micro-fractures or weaknesses in the casing. If you find any, use your welder to reinforce that section."

"So how far shall I go? I mean this is a big section, Ma'am."

"Down to the next junction," C'eltor answered. "Once we complete this segment we'll move on to the next one."

L'randil smirked. "That shouldn't take too long, then." The Caitian set to her task in her can-do manner, scanning and inspecting. There were few issues in the conduit fortunately, but it was a good days work by the time the pair completed the list.

OFF: This has been a joint post by:

Ensign L'Randil N'rass
Shuttle Maintenance Specialist
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

&

Lieutenant, JG C'eltor (NPC)
Power Systems Specialist
As Played by:

[Peters]

OOC: This is a back post

ON: <<Jeffries Tube, Day 7, 1130 hours>>

Sean pulled his head out from the side of the Jeffries tube, it had been a little over an hour since the navigational system had gone on the fritz and Sean had started hand checking the command pathways soon after. Unfortunately, even with the majority of the operations department and some of the engineering crew working their way over them, it was still going to take some time to track down whatever had caused the malfunction.

Davis was informed by a member of the Operations crew on the whereabouts of Lieutenant Hansen. As he made his way to the Jeffries Tube, Davis took a deep breath and calmly said, "Lieutenant Hansen? I'm Ensign James Davis, the new Assistant Chief Operations Officer. I was told you would be over here. I thought I might go ahead and introduce myself."

Sean looked down the short distance to the entrance of the Jeffries tube. "Nice to meet you, Ensign." he replied before sticking his head back into the side panel. "Got a hyperspanner on you?" he asked, pulling an isolinear chip out of its socket and running his own over the chip.

Davis replied, "I just returned to the ship, sir, so no I don't have a hyperspanner on me. I was hoping to get everything I need today so I that I don't get in the way of operations." Having said that, Davis had started to get nervous.

Sean shrugged. "I suppose that's understandable." he said. "I generally make it routine to carry one with me at all times though, even between assignments. Do you mind if I keep working while we talk?"

Davis replied, "Of course, sir." He was hoping that he wasn't impeding Sean's progress. "I'm hoping I'm not bothering you while you work. I've never worked in Ops before. I was usually in Engineering."

Sean smirked slightly, though his head was turned so that the ensign couldn't see it. He was often amused by how often engineering and operations would swap personnel. "Not at all, Ensign. I'm used to multi-tasking. Anyway, I'm afraid I haven't had the chance to review your record yet. You said you were in engineering... might I ask which ships you've been on?" he asked, continuing to move slowly down the navigational command pathway.

"I was on the Skylark for a while. But sadly, there was no room for improvement. So, I asked for a transfer and I was sent here where I became Assistant Chief Engineering Officer," James replied. "I was doing great there until I was called back to Earth for family reasons."

"Ah," Sean responded, "must have been before I came on at 386 I take it. Well, I'm glad to have you on the team, Ensign."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I look forward to working with you," James replied. He gave the lieutenant a smile, a quick salute, and continued to talk with Sean. "If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to gain your current title as Chief Operations Officer?"

Sean had to stop and think for a moment. While he normally kept track of how long he was on a particular assignment, he didn't often think about how long he'd been in Starfleet. "Let's see... I was on the Phoenix for two years... the Benevolent for one... Destiny for four and Archer for four... so it's been about... twelve years, give or take a few months."

"It takes awhile," Peters said as he rounded a bend in the corridor, "And the route isn't always a direct one. Good to see you, Mister Davis."

"Good to be back, Lieutenant Commander," Davis said after he had whipped around to see Peters walking toward him. "How have things been in Engineering since my untimely departure?"

"Busy as always," Peters replied with a grin. "Hence why I'm still drafting Ops people to help out. Too many things to fix and not enough engineers to fix them."

Davis couldn't help but chuckle. "I hear that. Well, since I'm back, if you need my help, you know where to find me. You know me, I hate being bored." Davis chuckled again and gave his usual mock salute that he only used with Peters.

Sean finished up scanning the unit he was on and replaced the cover. Crawling out towards the other two, he looked Davis up and down and then looked at Peters. "Any luck on your end? Finding what caused the malfunction?"

"What caused it, yes. Where exactly that is, no," Peters answered. He'd spent a bit of time looking at the systems activity logs and the issue had jumped out fairly quickly. "It looks like we've got one or more fried Isolinear chips in one of the command subproccessors. Unfortunately, Helm control goes through about half a dozen of those before the command reaches the thrusters, engines, or deflector systems."

Sean shrugged. "Well, at least we narrowed it down a little. We should be able to find and replace them fairly soon." he said. Then looking at Davis, said, "Care to give it a go?"

OFF: This has been a joint post by:

Ensign James Davis
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche

&

Lieutenant Sean Hansen
Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche

&

[Zeral]

OFF: This is a backpost
ON: <<Counseling Suite, Day 10, 1300>>

Once Britney (NPC) had finished her lunch, she'd initially started for the bridge to check with the Captain and see if there was anything she needed to do. However, with various thoughts running through her head, the blonde found herself standing outside the Counseling Suite. Britney wasn't sure if she should go in or not, so she just stood and stared at the door.

Having ducked out of Counseling to visit for a moment with Dr. Dormand (PNPC), Nora was headed back to her office. She was a bit curious when she saw a woman standing in front of the door to the Counseling Suite. Coming to stand beside her, she smiled when she recognized the woman. “Hello, Britney. I’m assuming you and I are headed in the same direction,” she said lightly, nodding at the door in front of them. “Care to join me?”

"Well...I don't know. Really, I should probably go report to the bridge," Britney said, hesitantly.

Nora smiled softly. “After coming all this way? You could just step inside for a moment. You don’t have to stay long if you’re short on time.”

She thought about it a few moments before slowing nodding, "Yes, I suppose I might as well." Britney followed her inside. She slowed once inside and waited for Nora's lead.

Assuming that Britney, despite her reticence, had come to Counseling in order to talk to someone, Nora led her into her office. “Please, make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

Britney shook her head, "No, ma'am, I just had lunch, but thank you." She glanced around and sat in one of the chairs. Somehow, counseling was always associated with couches and so, in the back of her mind, Britney wanted to avoid the couch. Not sure what to say or do, she simply sat and waited to see if Nora got anything for herself from the replicator.

Although tempted to order a cup of tea for herself, Nora decided it could wait until she took a proper lunch break herself. In something similar to a role reversal, she decided to sit on the couch across from Britney. Lightly clapping her hands together, she smiled at the young woman sitting opposite her. “So, what tempted you to visit Counseling?”

"I....well...." Britney frowned, not sure where to start. "I suppose I wanted a second opinion, of sorts." It was as good a place as any to begin.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Nora smiled. “What’s on your mind?”

"Well, ma'am, I've been aboard the Malinche a fair amount of time now, and I've gotten used to being here, I suppose. Back on Direidi, though, we were always playing different roles; here, I'm the Captain's Yeoman all the time." She wasn't sure if she was explaining properly, but decided to continue, "That's not to say that I don't appreciate the opportunity or that I don't like helping the Captain, because I do, ma'am."

“Of course,” Nora agreed. “From what I’ve seen, you’re very good at what you do, and always very professional. But I can see how performing the same duties could become, well, somewhat monotonous,” she added, taking a guess on where the conversation was headed.

Britney nodded, "I suppose any job would to some extent...but I just wonder if maybe I could be a bigger help somewhere else." She frowned, still not entirely sure if it was truly what she wanted or if it was a possibility.

Nora nodded. “I don’t think there’s any harm in just exploring some other areas that you might be interested in. Why don’t you start by telling me the things that you like about being the Captain’s Yeoman?”

Pondering her response, Britney considered the various aspects of her job. "Well...I like helping the Captain, in general. And I'm fairly good at keeping things organized and working with various people..." She glanced back at the Counselor to see if those were the types of things Nora was looking for.

“All right, that’s very good.” Nora leaned back against the couch and tapped the side of her face thoughtfully. “You mentioned just a moment ago that you wondered if you could be a bigger help in some other capacity aboard the ship. Is it safe to say that you feel capable and comfortable in assisting others in some way?”

Britney nodded, "Yes, ma'am, I'd say so." She wondered where the Counselor was going with the idea.

Nora felt that Britney’s desire to help others was important to keep in mind as they hypothesized other career options for her. Making a mental note, she continued, “Have you thought of anything specific that you might like to try out career-wise?"

"Not...exactly," Britney admitted. "I don't know that I'd do very well with Security, though. And I'm not sure about Engineering or Operations..."

“I don’t know what I’d do in Engineering or Operations myself,” Nora said with a wry grin. “All right then, if you don’t feel comfortable with any of those, we can rule them out.” The Betazoid paused to consider the matter. “This is just a thought, but what would you think about being a morale officer? I know it’s not the most glamorous career in Starfleet, but it’s more important than some people might realize. You would certainly be helping others in that capacity.”

Britney paused to consider the idea, "I hadn't thought about that, ma'am. What exactly would I be doing in that role?" For the most part, she knew about the main positions on the ship, but not some of the "lesser" roles. Morale officer did sound interesting though...

Nora smiled, sensing that Britney found the idea somewhat intriguing. “The morale officer is, as the name suggests, in charge of looking after the morale of the crew. For example, should we be undertaking a dangerous mission, as we’ve experienced before, the morale of the crew would likely be a little low. It would be your task to try and improve the crew’s morale, often by speaking with crewmembers on a one-on-one basis. The position falls within Counseling, so officially you’d be working with myself and the rest of the Counseling personnel.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Britney replied, "That sounds interesting...I think I might like to try that. Would I still be Yeoman as well?" The idea was sounding better and better to her the more she thought about it.

Nora was pleased at their finding a solution to Britney’s dilemma so quickly. She had been considering finding a second morale officer in addition to Fira (NPC), and Britney seemed like an ideal candidate for the position. She was cheerful and optimistic, and her desire to help others would make her an excellent morale officer. “Captain Kersare will likely have the final say on that, but yes, I believe that you could act both as Captain’s Yeoman and morale officer.”

"Alright," Britney replied. "How soon do you think we might be able to start?"

“Once we get the Captain’s approval to make you an official addition to the Counseling staff, you can begin immediately,” Nora returned cheerfully. “Fira Mestor is the other morale officer for the Malinche, and I’m sure she would be happy to help you get started.”

Britney nodded, "That sounds good, ma'am. Is there anything else I should know for now, or will either you or Ms. Mestor let me know once things are official?"

“I’ll speak to Captain Kersare as soon as I can, and then one of us will let you know,” Nora confirmed. “I have a good feeling about this, Britney. This might very well be a perfect fit for you,” she smiled. “Any other questions?”

A smile spread across the Direidian's face as she replied, "No, ma'am. Not that I can think of. I should probably get back to my current duties though.... Thank you for helping me with this idea."

"You're very welcome," Nora replied, rising to escort Britney to the door.

OFF: This has been a joint post by:

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

[Zeral]

ON: <<Zeral’s Office, Day 13, 1050>>

The Counseling personnel had all gathered in Nora’s office, talking quietly before the meeting officially began. Britney (PNPC) was the only one missing since she was needed on the bridge, but Fira (NPC) had agreed to fill her in on any important details as soon as she could. The remaining Counseling staff consisted of a small enough group so that everyone could be seated comfortably inside the office, something Nora considered a boon as she preferred a quieter and more intimate setting to brief her Counseling team.

There was a lull in the conversations, and Nora took the opportunity to begin. “First of all, thank you all for coming on such short notice. I know that not all of you were scheduled to be on duty, but under the circumstances I’m sure you understand.”

“I’m not complaining,” Jacob Trelani (NPC) grinned, striving to keep the mood light in his typical friendly fashion.

“Thank you, Jake,” Nora smiled in return. “As of now, it’s unclear what has happened on Athos III, or to the colonists living there. An away team has been sent to the planet’s surface to ascertain what they can about the situation. That means that, gods willing, if there are any survivors, they could begin being evacuated to the Malinche within the next few hours.”

The other occupants in the room were quiet and attentive, giving Nora their full attention as she continued. “We need to be prepared to help any survivors in any way that we can. Depending on the number of survivors, that may include helping Dr. Dormand (PNPC) and the Medical staff, but most likely we will be attending to their mental and emotional well-being.”

Nora paused, sensing the grim acceptance of the situation from her counselors and staff, as well as their hope and determination to do whatever they could to help. “I’ve seen you all in action, and I know you’ll all do your best,” she smiled softly, remembering the brush with the Borg they’d had not so very long ago. Counseling had been kept on its feet in that mission’s aftermath, and all of them had performed admirably as far Nora she was concerned.

“If things get a little hectic, remember to keep calm and steady. Whatever happened down there must have been terrible, and we can only imagine what state the survivors might be in, physically and emotionally. Are there any questions?” Nora finished.

Most of them shook their heads. Beran (NPC) politely responded, “No, ma’am.” Nora nodded, quietly clapping her hands together as she stood. “Well then, if you do think of anything, I’ll be here in my office, waiting for any word on the situation.”

The briefing over, the Counseling personnel quietly filed out of Nora’s office. Settling into her desk chair, Nora sat in the silence of her office and waited, doing her best to remain hopeful for the colonists of Athos III.

OFF:

[Steele]

On:
Bridge/ USS Malinche
Day 13/ 10:04 hrs

As the science data started coming in, Aaron requested the Trout's (NPC) presence on the bridge. There was a strong possibility that the oceans would help answer the question of what occurred on the planet. He would prefer to allow the Trouts to take the Tenochtitlan down and find the answers for themselves, but until the first away team completed their initial survey no one was willing to risk sending them down, especially into the oceans.

However, before leaving to join the away team, Aaron wanted the Trout's input. The two civilian scientists quickly arrived on the bridge and found Aaron who briefly outlined what sensor data was available.
..."do you think something in the oceans could be responsible?"

Morgan spoke up first.
"It is certainly possible, we've seen planet wide ecosystems destroyed or seriously damaged due to an imbalance in the marine ecosystem. That being said, from what you've showed us I don't think that's the case. I don't know of anything from a marine point of view that could cause a charged atmosphere like you showed us. That doesn't mean the oceans can't help. If you happen to come across any dead marine creatures, bring a few back and I'll take a look and see if that sheds some light on our mystery. Other than that I'm afraid at this point I can't be of much help."

After his wife finished, Paul took his turn.
"Morgan's pretty much summed it up. At this point we don't have enough data to come up with any solid theories. As an amendment to the request to bring back samples, see if you can locate on the marine research stations. Their data logs should prove useful if you're able to access them."

Aaron shook both scientists' hands.
"Thank you both for your help. I'll keep in contact with you while on the planet's surface."

With that, he left to join the others preparing to scout the planet.

Off:

[Peters]

ON: <Day 13, 1030, Main Engineering>

"Run the scan again, those readings can't be right," Peters told the ensign, then handed the PADD back to her. With a sigh he walked to the replicator. It had already been a long morning and it looked like it would be longer still. The Torque sensors kept slipping out of alignment, the warp core was running a bit on the hot side, and there were three different EPS conduits that needed replacement. And now to top it all off the stellar cartography sensors seemed to be misbehaving. "Coffee," Peters ordered as he reached the replicator, "make it a double... with cream."

The replicator bleeped an acknowledgment and after a moment a mug full of coffee materialized. Picking it up, Peters took a large gulp. "Ahhh, that's better.... Now, what to do about those Torque Sensors..."

Peters walked over to the nearest console and sat down. After another gulp of coffee he pulled up the specs on the Torque sensors, as well as the maintenance and repair logs on each unit. He was going to track down the issue with them if it took him all day. All of the maintenance logs seemed to check out... But that was no surprise... he'd supervised half the maintenance on those units himself.

Looking into the repair logs, Peters noticed a pattern to the serial numbers of the units that had been put in as replacements. That could be the answer... if the Malinche had received a batch of defective, or even poorly aligned sensor pallets.... Peters tapped his commbadge, "Peters to Vir... we're going to need to do some work on the Torque sensors..."

OFF:

[Vosh]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Armory, 1020, Day 13>

Trace had been looking through the latest threat analysis when Barrett had told him that he was heading down to the surface. He hadn't seen the planet yet but by what Aaron told him, things weren't looking too good. He headed to the locker room section of the armory and was stripping off his uniform in favor the more durable combat uniform that he could wear under his environmental suit when the doors opened up again and admitted Ryan (NPC).

"Sir."

"Good morning," Trace said, tossing his shirt off and grabbing the other one. This one was tighter and reinforced at the seams. "Did Mr. Masterson brief you yet?"

"Not entirely," Ryan said, taking a seat on the bench and yanking his boots off. "Something about the planet looking like a big lump of charcoal."

Trace nodded, his pants were the next to go. He slipped on the tighter fitting reinforced combat pants and then sat down and pulled on boots that were much the same. Looking over he could see that Ryan had already shrugged off his shirt. Trace did his best not to stare, he was indeed a fine physical specimen. Turning away he grabbed his ammo belt and started heading for the firearms lockers.

"There's a lot of interference in the atmosphere," Trace said, opening the locker. "And they aren't responding to any hails. Sensors are having a pretty hard time penetrating the atmosphere and it doesn't look like we can beam through it."

"Hence the shuttle," Ryan said, standing up. "What are you thinking? Heavy assault weapons?

"I prefer not to go that route," Trace said, skipping past the photon grenade launcher. He stopped at the phaser assault rifles; they looked like shorter versions of the phaser rifles but with the flashlight built into the bottom. Unlike the phaser rifles, these were capable of almost machine gun like fire. "Let's go with these, load up on extra first aid supplies and not ammo."

"Sounds good, do you think that we'll find any one down there?" Ryan asked.

"I hope that we do," Trace sighed, handing Ryan his weapon. "But from what we could see from orbit I'm not holding out much hope."

"You make a good point."

"Come on, lets get to the shuttlebay."

OFF:

[Barrett]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Sickbay, 1018, Day 13>

Jason walked in sickbay just as Adam (PNPC ) was putting the last of the battlefield medical kits together. Jason had been on the bridge then they arrived in orbit and had seen the apparent devastation with his own eyes. The sensors were proving pretty much useless with the interference that was present in the atmosphere, no matter the amount of tweaking that science and ops seemed to try.

Adam looked up from his work, a look of concern crossing his face. He knew that Jason was leading the away team and was probably slightly upset that he was being forced to stay on the Malinche; even though one of them needed to stay behind and care for their son. That thought caused Jason to swallow hard, aside from Adam, he hadn't had to worry about anyone depending on him for a long time. And now, well, he had Adam and Tavi (PNPC) to worry about.

"I still wish I was going along," Adam huffed.

"And if something happens that would leave Tavi completely parentless...we've already talked about this, I'm the XO its my job to go down there."

"And I'm the best trauma nurse that we have," Adam growled. "It should be me job too."

Jason sighed. He knew how Adam was feeling, no doubt he would be feeling the same way if he had been told that he needed to stay away.

"But you're right about that, someone needs to stay here with Tavi...besides, I call dibs on the next away mission."

"Not really sure that's how this works," Jason said. "But I'll keep that in mind. Chances are Captain Kersare would jump at the chance to get off the bridge for awhile."

"Is it really as bad as it looks?" Adam asked. "I heard some crewmen come through here earlier, something about the whole planet looking charred."

Jason nodded. That's what it looked like from orbit, although they had yet to really find any evidence that's what happened. "We haven't been able to detect any ion trails or weapons signatures at the moment...to tell you the truth I really don't have any idea what or who could have done this."

"The who has me a lot more concerned then the what," Adam grunted. "That means that someone out there has enough power to wipe out an entire planet and reduce it to cinders."

"Not a pretty prospect," Jason nodded. "We'll get to the bottom of this one way or another."

"I hate it when you say that."

Jason smiled before grabbing Adam and pulling him into a deep passionate kiss. They broke apart a few seconds later.

"And what was that for?" Adam asked.

"That was to remind me to come in one piece," Jason smiled. "I need to get down to the shuttlebay, I love you."

"I love you too."

Jason gave Adam one more quick peck on the cheek and then headed out of sickbay and toward the shuttlebay.

OFF:

[Masterson]

ON: [[Main Sickbay, USS Malinche, Mission Day 13, 1042]]

Mike (NPC) made his way slowly down the corridor on deck six. He hadn't been selected to accompany the away team, though he still wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse at this point. Instead, he was to remain on standby in case things were to change and they needed additional personnel. Until then, he had been assigned to assist in sickbay. It wasn't a very complicated task, but he knew that they were all pretty much in the same situation...just waiting.

The door to sickbay slid open and he stepped into the room. Considering the circumstances, it seemed a little odd that sickbay seemed so quiet compared to the rest of the ship. Then again, weren't they waiting like everyone else?

Adam looked up from the workstation; he had sent Tavi into the storage room to get him some more sample bio containers. Tavi came out just as Mike walked in.

"Good morning Ensign Kepler," Adam smiled.

"I got your bio containers," Tavi smiled. He noticed Ensign Kepler standing there and bowed, as he did when he usually met people that were older then him.

"Tavi, I want you to meet Ensign Kepler, Ensign ,this is Tavi."

"You're dating Mr. Masterson, right?"

Raising his eyebrows in surprise at the blunt accuracy of the young Bajoran's statement, Mike wasn't really sure how to reply to the question. It wasn't something that he was ashamed about or anything, but it wasn't something he was going to run around announcing to the quadrant either. Aaron had been concerned about the perceptions people might have if they knew that he and Aaron were involved in a relationship and, regardless of whether or not Mike agreed with all of those concerns, he cared enough about Aaron to respect them.

Adam sighed heavily. "Sorry about that, apparently the monks didn't really teach him tact...just to speak his mind."

"Not a problem," Mike replied with a smile, "He's just being curious." It wasn't that long ago that he had been Tavi's age and he still remembered how headstrong he had been, though sometimes Aaron insisted that he still was.

“Curious is one thing,” Adam stated, looking at Tavi. “But being rude is another, Tavi, you don’t need to go around asking personal questions like that. Do you understand?”

Tavi nodded.

“Is there something that I can you with Mike?” Adam asked.

“Are you going to marry Aaron like Adam and Jason?”

Adam slapped himself in the head, groaning. “Tavi, what did I just tell you?”

Mike could only shake his head in amusement. The boy was certainly persistent in his questioning, despite the admonishment he had had just received from his father. Time didn't necessarily eliminate all traces of it, either. Mike was certain that even he didn't have it entirely under control all the time.

Tavi blushed. “Sorry.”

“Just go help the EMH place the bio containers, ok?”

"Quite the inquisitive one you've got there," Mike remarked as he watched Tavi disappear into the back storage room.

"He's certainly something, sometimes I think that he's going to give me gray hairs before I even turn 30. Is there something that I can help you with?"

Mike continued to watch the doorway to the storage room for a moment, half expecting Tavi to stick his head back out and ask another question. When that didn't happen, he turned his attention back to Adam. "Not really," he replied honestly, "They had enough people accompanying the away team, so Aar...I mean, Lieutenant Masterson...assigned me to see if there was anything I could help you with. I think the plan is that I'd be available for crowd control, that is...if they find anyone down there."

Adam smiled. "Still adjusting to call him by something other then his first name on duty, eh?"

Giving a small shrug, Mike replied, "It takes a little getting used to." It was even harder given that he had known Aaron since the fourth grade. He had to get used to the fact that, when they were on duty, Aaron was his superior and that he needed to treat him as such. Admittedly, he had gotten much better at it since coming aboard the Malinche.

"Its ok, I had a hell of time doing that with Jason...I mean Lt. Commander Barrett. It takes sometime but eventually you manage it. I'm glad to see that you got to come aboard with him though, life is always easier when you have your significant other to help you out."

"Funny story, actually," Mike said with a short chuckle, "As it turns out, I probably wouldn't have gotten this assignment if it hadn't been for sheer dumb luck. I got pushed back onto a waiting list for assignment when I got out of the academy and I was lucky enough to find the Malinche before Starfleet assigned me somewhere else."

"That is pretty much dumb luck," Adam said. "Although it seems like me and Jason have been transferred everywhere together since we started dating. He did off and join the Marans for awhile...that was hard but I was so glad that he came back to StarFleet."

Leaning up against a nearby biobed, Mike folded his arms across his chest and gave a wry smile. "Can't say I've ever had to worry about something like that," he said, "Aaron went off to the Academy a year before I did, which meant he graduated and was assigned before I was."

"Its funny really, I thought that planning a wedding would be easy...its a huge pain in the ass, pardon the expression."

"We've never really talked about that," Mike said, shaking his head slightly. Come to think of it, he and Aaron had never really talked about getting married. This had been the first time they'd actually seen each other since they'd left the Academy and it hadn't come up yet.

"I never thought that Jason would pop the question either," Adam shrugged. "I was a little bit surprised when he did...even more so when he agreed to adopt. How long have you been with Aaron?"

"Five years," Mike replied automatically. It might have surprised some people that he could remember so well, but he knew that he was never going to forget it.

"Wow, that's a pretty long time...congrats," Adam smiled.

"I suppose," Mike said with a half-hearted shrug, "When you look at the fact that we were at the Academy together for three of them, the year before I started, and the year after he graduated..." He sighed and shook his head slightly. Five years sounded like a lot, but when he laid it out like that, it didn't seem long enough.

"I just wish I was down there too, then Jason pointed out that having two of Tavi's parents on a possibly dangerous away mission wasn't such a good idea."

Mike was surprised that he hadn't even noticed it before. Here he was, standing in sickbay with supposedly the Malinche's best field medic, talking about his relationships. Something about that had seemed a little strange. Being a Starfleet officer could sometimes be hazardous to one's health. It made him wonder which of them had it worse.

Tavi came cartwheeling out of the back office again, landing with way more grace and ability that Adam would have thought the 11 year old had in him. "The doc says that I was hindering his progress...are you talking about something I shouldn't hear about? Joey usually tells me ear muffs."

"Remind me to have a talk with Joey," Adam grunted. "Tavi why don't you go get me a coffee, do you want anything Mike?"

"No, thank you," Mike said with a smile, "I appreciate it though."

"Alright, now scoot."

Tavi did as he was told and bounded toward the replicator. "How are you liking life on the Malinche so far?"

"It's not too bad," Mike answered, his eyes scanning the room once before refocusing on the man across from him, "To be honest, I can't really compare it to anything else, seeing as this is my first assignment."

"She's a good ship," Adam smiled. "Generally speaking never short of something interesting happening. You were on the academy swim team right?"

"Yeah," wondering how this field medic had managed to happen across that information. He'd only been aboard the Malinche a short time and Mike knew that he hadn't had a chance to meet everyone yet.

"So were me and Joey...I was wondering, if you aren't too busy if maybe you could teach Tavi how to swim."

At first, it seemed like a rather odd request. Mike had only just met Adam and Tavi for the first time, though he could see how it might make sense, considering that they were serving aboard the same ship. "Swim," Mike repeated, making sure he had heard correctly, "Not that I wouldn't be interested...but why me?"

"To be honest neither me or Jason think its a good idea that we try and teach him, I'd like to get to know more people on board."

"Ahh," Mike said, nodding slowly. That certainly made a little more sense. He would have to wait and see how things turned out with their current missions before he could actually start thinking about the possibility. Besides, he'd never really been much of a swim teacher...that had always been Aaron.

"Look, if you aren't comfortable with doing it that's fine," Adam said, reading the hesitation in the man. "We just thought that it might be a good way for Tavi to get to know more of the crew...plus you're young enough that he might not annoy you too badly."

"No, no...it'll be fine," Mike replied. He wasn't going to let a challenge like this pass him by. Besides, he had the distinct feeling that part of the young Bajoran's restlessness stemmed from the fact that he didn't really get to do much except hang around sickbay all day. It didn't really seem to be the kind of thing a boy his age would enjoy doing.

"Tavi, Ensign Kepler is going to teach you how to swim."

"Cool!" the young Bajoran said. "Maybe he can spend more time teaching me then looking at the girls...or boys I guess...that's all Joey ever did, I mean all he ever did was look at the girls."

"We get it Tavi," Adam smiled. "You wanted something to do besides your studying and your martial arts training so here you go. When you guys start lessons I expect you to be on your best behavior."

"Of course!"

"Now run along back to our quarters, I need to get things in order here."

"Mr. Kepler," Tavi said, turning to Mike and bowing. Then he was gone in a flash.

"So, do you have any medical training?" Adam asked.

Tavi certainly had a lot of energy and he was going to have to find some to get the boy to use it constructively if he was going to teach him how to swim. Maybe he would talk to Aaron about it, see if he could get a few pointers. Mike shook his head a little, pulling his eyes from the doorway. "Medical training," Mike repeated, making sure he had heard the man correctly, "Yes...we're all required to take basic first aid training at the Academy. They offered us advanced first aid training and I believe I'm still certified."

"Great!" Adam smiled. "I could always use a hand...if things start to go south I may need you for more then your crowd control abilities."

OFF

A JP by:

Lieutenant JG Adam Townsen (PNPC)
Medical Officer
USS Malinche
Played by: LtCmdr Barrett

and

Ensign Mike Kepler (PNPC)
Security Officer
USS Malinche
Played by: LtJG Masterson

[Barrett]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Shuttlebay, 1030, Day 13>

Jason had always hated the environmental suits that they were forced to wear. At the moment he was standing in the shuttlebay, awaiting the arrival of the rest of his away team. The condition that they found the colony in did not bode well for anyone surviving down there, even more so given the fact that they appeared to be having some serious issues trying to scan through the atmosphere.

After his conversation with the Trout's (NPC) Aaron left for the shuttlebay with a brief stop to put on an EV Suit. The initial scans were inconclusive at best as to what happened on the planet's surface. Hopefully the mission would answer several questions. At the least, it would allow for better science scans of the surface.

Trace tugged at the corner of his environmental suit. He wasn’t a fan of it, although given the situation that they were about to walk into he had a feeling that he was going to be glad that he had it. He carried a phaser assault rifle with him. Moving confidently with him was Ryan Morris (NPC), also carrying a assault phaser rifle and wearing an environmental suit.

“I really hate these things,” Trace said, as they entered the shuttlebay. “Always so stuffy and not at all with the latest fashion trends.”

“You are worried about the latest fashion trends?” Ryan asked, as they headed over toward where Jason Barrett was standing. “Some how that does not surprise me.”

Trace merely smiled, he liked Ryan and probably trusted him the most out over the rest of the security officers. He had been put in more training then anyone so far and was always eager to learn. Together they walked over to where Barrett was standing, going over the phaser in his hand. He placed it back its holster as they appraoched.

Jason looked up and nodded at both of the security officers as they headed over. They both looked cool and calm and Jason was more then happy to have them on the team.

“Just waiting for the rest of the away team to arrive,” Jason said.

Medkit in hand, Julie (PNPC) strode into the shuttlebay at a smart pace. She had worn an EV suit enough that it didn’t particularly bother her, and at the moment she had plenty on her mind to distract her from any discomfort it might have given her. She had no idea what they would find on the surface of Athos III, but if there were any survivors, she could only hope that they would be able to find them in time.

As she approached Jason, her smile was grim at best. “Commander Barrett,” she greeted, nodding to the rest of the assembled away team.

"Doctor," Jason nodded. He didn't really have all that much time to talk to with her before the mission, other then when she gave Tavi a clean bill of health. Jason pushed the thoughts of his son out of his mind; he would have to come back intact for both him and Adam.

"Are you ready to go Mr. Steele?"

Aaron secured the helmet on his EV Suit. "I am ready, hopefully we can get some answers. I couldn't get any clear readings from up here."

"Good," Jason said. "As soon as our pilots arrive we should be able to get things going. Mr. Steele, can you tell us anything about the conditions of the planet?"

"The atmosphere of the planet is highly charged which may account for the lack of lifeforms down below. I'm not sure if this means everything down there is dead, or there truly is no lifeforms on the planet. The current theory is that whatever charged the atmosphere, is responsible for the lack of lifeforms. The atmospheric conditions are the reasons for the environmental suits and the shuttle craft. I can tell you what the environment normally is like on the planet, but with the charged atmosphere, it could have had changed."

"Doctor anything that we need to know before we head down?"

Julie furrowed her brow, thinking for a moment. “Just remember to keep your EV suits on until we know it’s safe. I don’t want to have to treat members of the away team along with any survivors we may find.”

Jake entered the shuttlebay already adorned in his enviromental suit. He had just spent the past 30 minutes arguing with a pleading Taryn over why she felt he should not go on this away mission. He had experienced no hallucinations over the past few days and felt no reason to be alarmed by anything. There was also the presence of Doctor Dormond on the away team. She would surely have brought along the proper measures to treat him should something go awry. However her presence would also mean he would not be able to take his more aggressive approach to away missions.

He walked into the shuttle and took his place in the pilots chair. He smiled. "My oh my has it been a while." he ran his hands gently across the console. He realized how much he missed flying a shuttle. Perhaps he would take N'Rass out for a trip when they returned from the planet.

"I'd stop talking to yourself before the doc hears you," Trace said, with a wink. He took his seat and started to strap himself in.

"I don't think she would worry too much about me talking to myself, as long as I don't start seeing things I'm in the clear." he replied with a slight laugh.

Jason made his way into the shuttle, taking a seat next to Mr. McCarty. The young man looked a little tense, although he had a feeling that his department head had something to do with that fact.

"Relax Mr. McCarty, just don't fly us into anything and we'll be fine."

"No worries there sir, I mean I wouldn't want to ruin my good looks by hitting an asteroid." Although his demeanour was cheerful he still felt somewhat nervous seeing as it had been years since he had flown a shuttlecraft, however he knew he would succeed.

"Mr. Vosh, secure the hatch please," Jason ordered. Trace turned his seat toward the panel near the door and typed in a few commands before turning back around and nodding to Jason.

"Malinche, this is the Xunantunich."

"Go ahead," came Joey's voice.

"We're ready for departure."

"You're cleared for departure," Joey responded. "Be careful out there guys and good luck."

"Take us out Mr. McCarty," Jason ordered.

Jake began to work the console and slowly led the shuttle out of the malinche's shuttlebay. he breathed a small sigh of relief once they cleared.

Trace smiled widely as they made their way out through the shuttlebay doors and toward the planet below. He had heard what Aaron said about its appearance but looking out the viewport, Trace wasn't really prepared for what he saw. The whole planet looked like it had been burned clean, like it was sterilized from space. There wasn't any piece of green that they could see from orbit.

"Wow," Ryan breathed.

"What the hell happened down there?" Trace asked. "No way that was some sort of natural occurrence."

"We don't know that," Jason said, turning his chair around to face him. "What we do know is that he colony hasn't been heard from in awhile and that's why we are here."

"With all do respect sir, that," Trace said, pointing the charred planet that had once been green. "Looks like someone used her for target practice."

"We'll find out in a few minutes," Jason said. "Mr. McCarty, take us in."

Jake manuevered the shuttle closer to the planets surface and began scanning of a suitable LZ. It would be trying seeing that the planets surface was still hot and wildfires were sporatically spread across the landscape.

Looking out through the window, Jason could see parts of the landscape still burning. He didn't want to give up all hope of finding any survivors but the way that things were looking; well it didn't look all that promising. He took a look toward the scanners before looking over to Trace.

"Scanners are almost as useless as they were from orbit," Trace reported. "I'm detecting some odd radiation signatures...Mr. Steele, can you make anything of them?"

Aaron had purposely chosen a seat with a clear view out the front window. What he saw was not encouraging but still didn't answer the question of what caused the environmental shift.

"It appears to be thermonic radiation. Not in the same levels as a Y class planet but enough to cause problems planet-side. If the inhabitants had enough warning, a few may have been able to take shelter but I doubt we'll find much alive down there."

It was grim news, but it was the truth as far as he could tell.

"Keep an eye on it," Jason ordered. "Mr. McCarty, looks like the center of the colony is up ahead...the area looks to be pretty clear."

<tag McCarty>

"Let's set down there," Jason said, pointing to the relatively untouched part of earth. He took note that there weren't any buildings really standing, just burned out hulks.

After the runabout touched down, Jason stood up. "Alright, lets get this show on road. Maintain communication at all times."

OFF: McCarty, just respond to your tags when you get a chance and I can edit the post. We'll be starting another JP about exploring the surface soon so watch for that!

A JP Brought to you by:

Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer

And

Lt. Aaron Steele
Chief Science Officer

And

Lt. (JG) Jake McCarty
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer

And

Lt. (JG) Julie Dormand
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
(Played by Nora Zeral)

And

[Barrett]

<<Planet Surface>>
<Colony Site, 1300, Day 13>

Jason Barrett was growing more irritated by the moment. They had been searching around the colony site for the last several hours and had yet to come up with anything that would remotely explain what it was that destroyed the planet. The whole place was burned to ashes, everything cinders and then some. They couldn't even find bodies...the only remains that they had happened across so far were the burned out hulks of what used to be buildings.

Trace couldn't believe what he was seeing; nowhere in any of his lifetimes had he witnessed devastation on such a large scale. The whole of the planet was charred black. Everything that you touched crumbled to cinders in your hands. To have been here when this was actually happening would have been a horrifying prospect.

"Find anything yet?" Jason asked, walking over to where Trace and Ryan (NPC) were poking around the ground. Trace got up, closing his tricorder and shaking his head. Like the other members of the away team they were coming up empty handed.

"Nothing so far," Ryan said. "I don't get it sir...what could have done something like this, I mean destroy everything on a planetary scale."

"That's an excellent question," Jason said. "One that I hope we can answer."

Jason turned and looked at the horizon. Everywhere you looked all you saw was cooked earth. Areas still smoked and burned, throwing a haze over the area. His tricorder was getting nothing, as appeared to be the story with everyone else on the away team as well.

"There's no known weapon that could have done this," Trace put in. "If they were bombarded from orbit or even attacked using aerial bombers we would find craters, blast material...but not this."

"Is there way to accomplish this?" Jason asked, looking around.

"Maybe, if you found a way to set fire to the whole damn atmosphere," Trace responded.

Jason nodded, although that wasn't really a promising aspect. He didn't like the idea of someone setting fire to the whole place...this was a colony, they held little strategic or military importance. But clearly someone or something had tried very hard to make sure that no trace of evidence of what happened survived.

"Even during the Dominion War we didn't see anything like this," Ryan sighed. "I've seen the holovids and was just getting out of the academy when the war was ending...I didn't even hear of the Jem'Hadar using tactics like this."

"They Jem'Hadar were brutal," Jason pointed out. "If they could have done this, then I have no doubt in my mind that they would have."

"We keep assuming that someone did this," Ryan said. "Its entirely possible that it could be a natural occurrence."

"Doubtful," Trace grunted. "My gut tells me that something very wrong went down here."

"Is your gut always correct?" Ryan asked.

"After 5 life times you learn to trust said gut," Trace said. "So, yeah I think that I am going to be proven right in this instance."

"I hope you aren't," Jason sighed. "The last thing we need is some new group of trigger happy morons running around the cosmos setting atmosphere's on fire."

OFF:

A JP brought to you by:

Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer

And....