Gheskori
Command Staff ..
Commanding Officer Personnel Officer Trivia Officer
Section Admiral
USS Enzio
Registered: May 2, 2008 23:32:36 GMT
Posts: 1,538
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Post by Gheskori on Nov 12, 2018 8:05:24 GMT
Pre-Mission - Year 2 - Taking A Break From All Your Worries
Given respite from the clearance of the quantum-slipstream spheres from the Starbase, the crew of the USS Enzio take some R&R before their next official assignment for the Section 47 Remnant. Much of the nearby territory remains unexplored, the base's new location tens of thousands of lightyears from the Federation Core still mysterious, potentially hostile, yet perhaps for a while some calm may be found in the eye of the storm... Seconds after Tetsutaro's leaving his office, his terminal console lit up on his desk; scarlet and bright green lighting was replaced by an emptying band of darkness, fizzling away to be replaced by the form of his young wife on the screen, "Ah, dearest, I was expecting your call... Would you care to join me for a stroll a few decks below Ops? Could you invite...?" he was hesitant, already half-knowing the answer. "That is what I was calling about, my love. She won't come. Phrixa's locked herself in the sonic shower compartment and has declared she won't emerge until you're here in person. There's nothing I can - " "Dearest, dearest Mwv'mci," he chided perhaps unfairly, "This is something you still have to learn of your elder fellow spouses, particularly those cut-off, disaffected; they change their ways little, especially in light of tragedy such as we've experienced?" he spoke lightly but pangs of guilt and, alarmingly, disgust were writhing inside of him. "All the same, please invite her in my absence, I have little time to cater to her inflexibilities." He tapped his desk's comm-panel, "Burr, put me through to the Enzio senior staff wherever they may be on base or ship." There was a pause followed by a professional, "Aye, sir." =/\=Enzio senior staff this is Admiral Gheskori. I understand some of you are now rotating off your duty shifts; needless to say you all deserve a rest... What do you all do for fun? Wait, don't answer - =/\= the comm was one-way =/\= - meet me in holosuite Delta at 1900 hours, deck 15. And don't be late!=/\= Order implied chaos and darkness, from which it emerged, yet darkness implied light. <Tag Simon, Aeryn, NPCs>
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Simon Clark
Lt. Commander
Registered: Dec 1, 2016 22:21:10 GMT
Posts: 153
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Post by Simon Clark on Nov 22, 2018 23:15:14 GMT
Holosuite Delta, Level 15, Section 4, Starbase 47
Simon, with Ensign Paulo Hurel, Commander V'Maz, Lieutenant Gavril Miak, and Ensign Alison Rivers took a turbolift from the docking dome up to Level 15.
"Hey, Chief!" Lieutenant Almir Marin stood with Admiral Gheskori at the entrance to the holosuite, "It's been a while." he said.
"Indeed it has." Simon replied, shaking his assistant's hand.
"Who'd you leave in charge? Heath?"
Simon nodded.
"Tough on him," Almir said, "he likes a good holodeck adventure. Alison, I wasn't expecting you?"
"Commander Yarwood elected not to attend." Commander V'Maz replied, "He has the conn this shift. Ensign Rivers is attending in his place. Lieutenant Miak, I would have thought you would have taken this time to visit Captain Miak on the Starbase?"
"Aye sir, I would have. My father has staff meeting timed now. Ensign Hurel suggested I come."
"Very good." V'Maz replied.
"Are we waiting for anyone else, Sir?" Simon asked.
<Tag Gheskori/Tavik>
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Gheskori
Command Staff ..
Commanding Officer Personnel Officer Trivia Officer
Section Admiral
USS Enzio
Registered: May 2, 2008 23:32:36 GMT
Posts: 1,538
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Post by Gheskori on Nov 26, 2018 19:31:46 GMT
Gheskori arrived at deck 15 on the Starbase just prior to the appointed 1900 hours, having originally planned to be inside the holodeck and awaiting his crew at least an hour beforehand. He would've scolded himself for his own tardiness and might've been embarrassed if others had arrived before him, but it was not so, and he could sigh in relief as he entered an empty holodeck, empty that was, except for the multi-spectral exotic forest all about him, its tall trees like Earth-born oaks from slightly altered, bizarre dimensions.
Ah! Someone blended with the forests! Perhaps he wasn't all alone, wasn't the first. The colour of the uniform gave it away, showed him also the reason why the person already arrived had camouflaged itself - inadvertently or not - so well with its surroundings.
"Aeryn?" he called still tentatively, pushing into the undergrowth, stepping over fallen exotically-hued bracken, "Sorry, I'm late, have you seen any of the others?" meaning the crew.
<Tag Aeryn>
He still couldn't see her as he stumbled blindly through the half-light. "I thought this would be a fair place for R&R for a while," he said still perhaps uselessly to the twilight; then he nearly tripped right over her.
<Tag Aeryn>
After recovering and exchanging pleasantries, Ghes proceeded towards the arch, Aeryn still brushing the bracken and bits of undergrowth off her uniform that Ghes had inadvertently kicked up on her in their sudden scramble to avoid falling over the precipice. "Arch," he called, then realised of course it was already there before him. He shook his head and walked through, now in the hallway and nearly running - once again - into a shipmate in the form of Lieutenant Marin. "Ah!" was all he could manage.
Then their troupe appeared from down the corridor. Conversation went back and forth, Ghes listening and nodding as Simon asked his question, "Yes, my third wife is meant to be meeting us here. Perhaps she's elected to stay behind with Phrixa, my second wife. You won't know Phrixa, of course," he told them as he opened the holodeck door again and ushered them into the forest-like surrounds, "Unlike Mwv'mci she has been on the Starbase entirely since our arrival here.
"Who is for... what I believe Earth dwellers like to call... hang-gliding?" he said.
They agreed and Ghes asked who would like to make the first attempt. "Go on, sir," they called.
Ghes stood back, resolutely folding his arms, "Gavril, please?" The lieutenant also declined.
V'Maz eventually put himself up to go first, however 20 m off the precipice a hard-beaked bird, its metallic beak glinting in the starlight, bolted through his glider's right wing, and the Commander went spiralling, plummeting into the valley far below. ~Holodeck safety protocol initiated~ the computer's voice sounded, and it cushioned his landing on the far forest floor. Ghes debated whether they should allow V'Maz an easy way back up here or whether he - or they - should seek to track the other party down.
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Simon Clark
Lt. Commander
Registered: Dec 1, 2016 22:21:10 GMT
Posts: 153
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Post by Simon Clark on Dec 5, 2018 18:14:09 GMT
Holosuite Delta, Level 15, Section 4, Starbase 47Gheskori ushered Simon and the others into the forest of the holosuite, not waiting the appearance of his third wife. They walked through the trees a little way, and the forest opened out to a field of grass swaying in the gentle breeze. Ahead of them, the edge of the field dropped away out of sight, revealing the wide open landscape of an ancient glacial valley, bathed in bright moonlight under a clear sky. Graceful mountain peaks rose in the far distance, speckled with a dusting of white. "Beautiful." Simon said, taking a breath of the mountain air. "It is pleasant." V'Maz said, "This is a representation of the Earth's European Alps Mountain range?" "It looks a lot like it," Simon replied, "But I've never been there." Gheskori led them across the grass to an area that sloped gently downwards towards the cliff edge. "Who is for... what I believe Earth dwellers like to call... hang-gliding?" he said. V'Maz eventually put himself up to go first, however 20 m off the precipice a hard-beaked bird, its metallic beak glinting in the starlight, bolted through his glider's right wing, and the Commander went spiralling, plummeting into the valley far below. ~Holodeck safety protocol initiated~ the computer's voice sounded, and it cushioned his landing on the far forest floor. "Is dodging steel birds part of the challenge, Sir?" Ensign Hurel asked. <Tag Gheskori>
"Are you next, Simon?" Gheskori asked.
"I suppose. It can't be that much different from a shuttle, can it?" Simon replied, mostly trying to convince himself. Computer safety protocol or not, it was a flimsy craft to plummet with under the force of gravity. The computer rendered a second vehicle, liveried in bright engineering yellow with a stripe of black. The holographic instructor helped him board.
"All right, I am ready, I think." Simon told him. The instructor nodded, and Simon ran forward, his stomach lurching as the lift of the air pulled him away from the ground.
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Gheskori
Command Staff ..
Commanding Officer Personnel Officer Trivia Officer
Section Admiral
USS Enzio
Registered: May 2, 2008 23:32:36 GMT
Posts: 1,538
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Post by Gheskori on Dec 7, 2018 17:46:29 GMT
"Is dodging steel birds part of the challenge, Sir?" Ensign Hurel asked.
Ghes grinned sheepishly, "Perhaps a moment of caprice, Paulo. These birds are in fact native to this world, here near the equatorial zone of Denobula's largest moon. As you'll see," he nodded to the horizon, "I've mingled with the simulation a representation of your Alpine range. Metallic beaked avians like those from your mythology. They may draw close but their intent isn't, well, 'wholly' malicious."
"All right, I am ready, I think." Simon told him. The instructor nodded, and Simon ran forward, his stomach lurching as the lift of the air pulled him away from the ground.
Simon propelled himself from the cliff-top, taken up near instantly by the air of the valley pressing up on him. For a while the flight seemed to be going swimmingly, until three of the unmistakable glistening beaks of the avians pirouetted into view in front of the lieutenant's glider; he made to dodge to the right, then left, one of the birds clipping the extreme right wing tip but causing little or no damage.
The flight continued; they watched him gliding over the lush, exotic valley below - the contrast between that distant forest floor's luminescence and the dusty white of the monumental features of the horizon striking.
"Clark!!" Miak and Marin yelled in unison, "Are you okay?!" Were their voices lost on the wind?
<Tag Simon>
He cursed and considered it may have been a good idea to bring along commbadges, for ease of communication and especially for locating wherever V'Maz was on the valley floor far distant. Ghes considered whether he would have them all track down V'Maz, perhaps a form of team building was in order given this particular senior staff - in its current configuration - had been together only a relatively short time.
"Ok, Tavik, Miak and Rivers, head into the valley to where we thought we saw V'Maz's craft go down," he addressed them, "I don't want to give him too easy a return."
Rivers seemed downcast, "I'd wanted a try on the glider, Admiral."
"Ah, very well... Aeryn, I'll send Hurel with you," he said, the XO nodding. At this moment the arch opened once again and Ghes's wife Mwv'mci entered, "Ah, my beloved, please join us," he stepped away towards the arch and found that she wanted to embrace him; he returned it, "What's the matter?"
She was upset, "It is Phrixa, Gheskori, she has locked herself in her room. I was on the point of contacting your security..."
"Ah, don't do that, please. I'll contact her." She glanced up, he eased her mind, "I would go to her in person but I've got business with my crew here. I count it of equal importance dear, that the Section Admiral's vessel operates as satisfactorily as his marriage." He hugged her again and rounded her towards the arch, opening a comm panel to attempt contact with Phrixa.
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Simon Clark
Lt. Commander
Registered: Dec 1, 2016 22:21:10 GMT
Posts: 153
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Post by Simon Clark on Dec 7, 2018 23:31:58 GMT
Above the valley: Holosuite Delta, Level 15, Section 4, Starbase 47
The encounter with the silvered birds, so similar to that as had sent V'Maz's aircraft into a spiral, was too much of a coincidence. Whatever the Admiral had in store for them in this holoprogram, it was obviously much more than a gentle flight of a hang glider. He'd have to keep alert. He turned the glider to the left, so that he was flying parallel with the line of the cliffs. He was surprised to find that he was higher up than he had started.
"Thermals?" he asked himself, "Or maybe an updraught?". One or the other.
On the cliff edge, he could see two figures waving. The stockier could be Lieutenant Miak, and the other looked like Almir. He could hear that they were shouting something, but he could not make out what the words were. A red and black glider materialised, glowing luminescent to mirror the surrounding meadow's flora. It flickered again as Allison stepped towards it, and was replaced by a bright blue glider liveried with a majestic ocean wave. He turned the unresponsive vehicle again, moving away from the cliff edge and out into the valley. V'Maz's orange winged glider had gone down to the valley floor not far ahead.
Now the blue craft was aloft, and Simon watched as the updraught took it and lifted it up above the line of the cliffs. As before, a small group of birds dashed upwards. They closed. Simon tensed. He could only watch. The right wing dipped. The glider veered sharply, and dropped. The birds flew past. The glider levelled, the birds safely beyond it.
"You've done this before, Allison," he said to himself. Of course, she had had the advantage of going third.
She seemed to know where the best of the updraught sat against the cliff edge, and had soon climbed to well above his level. She took a downward vector, caught up, and overtook him from above.
"Hello, Lieutenant Clark!" She called down, "Ensign Hurel, and Lieutenant Colonel Tavik are going down to V'Maz. I am going to circle above and mark his position for them."
When she had finished speaking, she was well ahead of him.
"I will follow you," he shouted back.
+++ On the clifftop: Holosuite Delta, Level 15, Section 4, Starbase 47
Lieutenant Almir Marin was surprised to Gheskori's young wife entering the holodeck. With so much going on, it had been a long time since he had last seen her. He thought back, remembering the meal with Colonel Tavik and Admiral Gheskori, shortly after their wedding. Had that really been two years ago?
She was upset, and Almir wondered if there was anything he could do to help, "It is Phrixa, Gheskori, she has locked herself in her room. I was on the point of contacting your security..."
"Ah, don't do that, please. I'll contact her." She glanced up, "I would go to her in person but I've got business with my crew here. I count it of equal importance dear, that the Section Admiral's vessel operates as satisfactorily as his marriage." He hugged her again and rounded her towards the arch, opening a comm panel.
Mwv'mci looked down at the grass for a moment. Something attracted her attention. She knelt, and plucked something hidden beneath the green fronds. It looked like a large bulbous leaf bud. She stroked her hand across it, and it opened, revealing a intricate teal flower. She lifted and smelt it, and then saw him watching her.
"Lieutenant Marin," she said.
"Good evening," Almir replied, and feeling somewhat awkward, asked of the flower, "What is that?"
"It is a Denobulan plant, I have not... seen one... for a long time," her gaze drifted to the sky, wistful, "I am reminded much of my home."
"We are all a long way from home. Does it smell good?"
She nodded. "For me. Do you wish to experience it?" She held the flower out for him, and he took it.
The smell was intense, kind of sweet, and triggered the same painful reaction in his nasal cavity as a face full of ammonia. He dropped the flower, and twisted to one side, coughing through his nose to try and clear the scent as his nose instinctively started to run. Mwv'mci laughed musically as he doubled over. It was significantly less dignified than it could have been, but at least he seemed to have cheered her up.
"This is unpleasant to your human nose?" she asked him when he had stood.
He coughed again, wiping the tears from his eyes, and failing to hide his discomfort. "It would appear so."
Gheskori returned from the arch, and was standing beside her. He wasn't smiling.
<Tag Mwv'mci / Gheskori>
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Gheskori
Command Staff ..
Commanding Officer Personnel Officer Trivia Officer
Section Admiral
USS Enzio
Registered: May 2, 2008 23:32:36 GMT
Posts: 1,538
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Post by Gheskori on Dec 10, 2018 16:53:53 GMT
"She called Ops and let it be known that if anyone attempted to contact her from the holosuite levels, security was to be notified. Now a team of security personnel are on their way here and have been told not to accept any comms themselves; she has Ops believing there's a genuine emergency. And that it stems from this holosuite."
Mwv'mci held a hand to her mouth and stifled a laugh while Marin still amidst coughing and clearing his nose attempted to show concern. Trying to overcome his annoyance, Ghes made it a duty not to glare at his wife and instead focussed on the distant hang-gliders circling over a spot on the forest floor. Rivers' take-off had been admirable and he wondered if she mightn't have practiced this sport before; it seemed - from how she was rotating her craft about a difficult of access spot, a rocky outcrop in the valley floor surrounded by particularly dense, luminous shrubbery - she'd located V'Maz's downed glider.
"Before the cavalry arrives then," Miak said, "I suggest we either recover the Commander immediately or head off in search of him, sir? It may be difficult for the Colonel and Ensign Hurel to locate him alone."
"I'll head off the cavalry, as you put it, Gavril," Ghes's smile returned. He found it difficult to believe Phrixa would've been driven to such extremes as to lock herself away and to have warded off any and all 'intruders'; he sympathised as it demonstrated how reclusive she'd become, yet it wasn't suitable for the Section Admiral's wife to be so sequestered, he thought - something which may generate rumour in the upper hierarchy of Command. Not that it was any of Command's business..
He caught himself wondering if he was actually more concerned about his own image, something which made the self-revulsion he'd experienced that morning return and cut to deeper levels, yet he believed his concern for Phrixa outweighed any selfish interest, or at least he hoped.
He contacted Aide Adams - whom he'd appointed to attend on him when he moved through the base - to meet Phrixa's overzealous security guards before they could complete their 'pincer movement'.
Taking Mwv'mci's arm he headed towards the edge of the precipice where Marin was now standing with a pair of binocs, pointing them down to the area round the suspected site of V'Maz's crashed glider. "See anything of interest?" he asked Almir.
"Well, I can see V'Maz trying to work his way through a thicket, about 20 metres from his craft... Not very successfully, I might add. The craft is broken in two - hmm, the safeties really were working at the barest minimum, eh?"
Ghes considered playing foul, wishing to transport himself, Mwv'mci and Almir to the coordinates immediately; it'd be unfair on Tavik and Hurel who'd likewise be currently hacking through the exotic shrubbery en route there, but there was little else to do here on the cliff-face.
A site-to-site transport later, they were scattered throughout the general area around V'Maz's craft - result of a programming glitch in the photonics-assisted transport system -, separated from each other by tens of metres and quite invisible from one another. Bewildered, Ghes lurched one way then the other and barrelled through the nearest patch of dense undergrowth. Meanwhile, steel-beaked birds dived in scores from the sky directly above him, tearing through branches, shredding leaves that flittered skywards.
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Simon Clark
Lt. Commander
Registered: Dec 1, 2016 22:21:10 GMT
Posts: 153
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Post by Simon Clark on Dec 23, 2018 0:53:30 GMT
Above the valley: Holosuite Delta, Level 15, Section 4, Starbase 47
Aerodynamics hadn't been something Simon had covered in much depth at the academy. He had never expected to be spending a great deal of time on atmospheric flight, and modern craft were capable of ignoring the effect of air resistance to a greater extent than they could several hundred years ago. Should he point down for speed and lift, or pull up for height? There must be an optimal somewhere in between. It was hard to consider the theory while he was trying to fly the thing at the same time. He glanced up at Allison's glider, peaceful, and climbing higher above him, while the trees beneath ranged ominously close. The short briefing from the instructor had covered landing in a clear open space, but in the semi-darkness he couldn't tell the trees from the fields. He was too far away from Allison to gain any useful insight, he was going to have to ditch it somewhere. The limited turning circle he could gain had not kept him especially close to where V'Maz had come down. As he got lower, his visibility through the trees reduced, until he was no longer sure exactly which direction V'Maz had gone down. A rush of wings beneath him. A flash of silver in front. A thud in the gliders crossbar. Another. A third. A tearing sound. The frame reverberated. The tops of the trees right beneath him. Yellow tree ahead. He levelled. He pulled back. The airflow across his face slowed. The glider lifted. For a long moment, it seemed as if he hung suspended, in that small airspace between the sky and the trees. He released himself from the bag that held to the frame. His feet and torso dropped. The glider tipped back. Hung. And tipped forward. Branches rushed past him. Knocks to his shins. His arms. His chest. The tree bent under the new weight. Branches cracked. He dropped. The glider slid back. Simon grabbed the thick bough of the tree and released the harness and the glider. He held firm. The golden yellow glider fell away, and the trunk of timber he clung to rocked to stillness.
His heart was running fast. There was pain, but obviously not sufficient to trigger off the safety protocols. How high had they been set? "Come on Simon, come on..." he said to himself, more for hearing the sound of his own voice than for any real meaning. He turned his head and watched the glider fall, bouncing through the boughs, and then turned on its side and disappeared from view.
A scream pierced the gloom, rising through the forest. He had no idea who or what it was, and kept silent.
"Lieutenant Chief Clark?" A voice called. It was Mwv'mci's voice, high pitched, possibly under some stress. He had seen them up on the clifftop, and now they were here.
"Yes, Mwv'mci," he called, "I'm up here. In the... er... yellow tree."
"Yellow. Lieutenant Chief Clark, the sap of this tree is acerbic. Be aware of it. Will you come down?"
He would love nothing more, save for perhaps some knowledge as to the point of this exercise. Where the branches had broken the fall of his glider, a thick liquid oozed, running down the branches and the trunk, dripping towards the forest floor below. "Imminently," he replied. Moving away from the broken limbs, the tree provided a relatively easy decent, with regular growths from the central spine, and good hand and footholds, though they became sparse as he reached the lower end. He dropped from the last onto the soft ground.
"Hello. Are you all right? Is the Admiral here?"
"I am unhurt. I do not know. He arranged for us, and your Lieutenant Marin, a transport, and we have been separated."
"How so?" Simon asked. He doubted that the Admiral would have left his youngest wife intentionally in such an environment, she seemed a little spooked by it.
"I do not know."
"Well... let's see if we can find them then. I saw V'Maz's craft not far from here, I think it was in this direction." He moved to his own craft and unzipped the pouch on the side, and retrieved a wrist lamp and a tricorder from within, along with a shoulder strap carrying various small accessories. He offered her the lamp.
"No, I do not need it. This place is from Denobula, I am familiar with the surrounding excepting it is different from my memory in ways. The mountains are those of your homeworld, and the galusarabet have a strange manner and appearance."
"What is galusarabet?" Simon asked.
"The avian of silver colouring. It is called resting-beak in your common language. The galusarabet is peaceful and lonesome. That it flights in a crowd to damage a gliding craft makes me less comfortable here."
"I suspect it is all part of the Admiral's holodeck program. If you are uncomfortable, you could wait in the lounge at the end of the corridor?"
"Yes, I will do that. Thank you Chief Lieutenant Clark."
"Computer. Exit." Simon asked. Nothing happened. "Computer. Arch." A faint buzzing noise was followed by the gentle chatter of the forest. He was immediately concious of the absence of his commbadge on his shirt.
"Right. My apologies, Mwv'mci, I don't appear to have access to the holodeck controls. It might be part of the activity. Would you try?" She issued the requests, and received the same responce from the holodeck. "Let us locate the others." He looked up, and tried to decern the path that his glider had taken before it hit the tree. V'Maz's craft had been behind him and to his right, so if he had crashed this way around, then V'Maz would be... "This way, I think," pointing to his left.
"Are you certain?" Mwv'mci asked.
"Not completely, but Allison is still aloft, and someone may hear if we shout." she nodded, and he began, feeling slightly self-conscious, "Hello! Can anyone hear us? Hello! Hey!"
He stopped to listen, but instead of a human response, there came the flapping of wings in the trees, and a flight of silver-slick galusarabet rushed from the canopy toward them. A painful thump marked one avian hitting him on the back of his shoulder. "Run!" he shouted, pushing Mwv'mci ahead of him. She squeaked, and ran. The birds dove about them. He felt one wing clip the back of his head, and another glance off his side. After a few meters, the birds were still well around him, and much faster than they. Their squawking was incessant. Running wasn't helping. Mwv'mci was not faring better than he was. With his arms he battered the avians around him. They were sharp, and he felt blood warming his sleeve. A pair of fallen tree trunks lay ahead, illuminated before them by their own fading plumage. "There, Mwv'mci! Take cover!" he shouted over the racket of the flock.
She ducked between them, and he followed, crouching low in between the two metre thick stems. The birds streamed overhead like bats, but did not risk diving between the trunks. The flock subsided after a few more moments, and the relative quiet of the forest returned.
"Are you all right?" He asked.
"I am hurt," she said, her voice nearly a squeak.
He lit the arm lamp, and used the tricorder to summary her injuries. It wasn't a medical tricorder, but it did the basics. "You'll have some bruises, but you are not bleeding. I need to bandage my arm. Would you hold the lamp so I can see?" She nodded. Denobulans were made of sterner stuff than human skin, he thought. It was a long scratch, but it was not deep. Handing her the lamp, he disinfected the cut, and used one of the rolled bandages from the shoulder strap he had taken from the glider. He tried calling the arch again, and was met with a faint static. He was starting to be concerned that the holodeck may be misfunctioning. The tricorder revealed a wealth of lifesigns around them, none of which he could identify as humanoid. He did not want to worry Mwv'mci. However, he kept his voice low when he next spoke. "Well... this is quite the adventure... I think we should move quietly. I've set this tricorder to ping our position to the others, so they should pick it up. Shall we go on?"
<Tag Mwv'mci/Gheskori, Tavik>
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Gheskori
Command Staff ..
Commanding Officer Personnel Officer Trivia Officer
Section Admiral
USS Enzio
Registered: May 2, 2008 23:32:36 GMT
Posts: 1,538
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Post by Gheskori on Jan 12, 2019 21:38:29 GMT
In the apparently infinite forest, Gheskori retread his steps and found himself coming upon the same grove, the same small clearance for the third time in the last twenty minutes. Sighing and trying to make light of the present circumstance, he couldn't prevent the thought however that he would like to replace the entire base engineering crew responsible for holodeck maintenance.
"No, it is perfect, dearest," he murmured. "Please excuse me, I must blunder about in the dark of the forest..." Making his way through the clearing and then diving into the next patch of shrubbery - this one not shot through with the results of galusarabet attacks - he emerged into the next open space, "Oh!" There was V'Maz trying to cut his way through the undergrowth with an improvised wooden axe, a metallic lining at the edge that seemed to have been created from filings of galusarabet beak.
"Admiral," V'Maz ceased and turned towards him. They sat down under a group of trees whose branches were tangled and, collecting kindling, lit a fire with a device Ghes had brought along. The initial relief at having located a fellow member of the group fading, they became acutely aware of the encroaching night and that they were no closer to finding any of the others. Of the three who'd beamed to the forest floor, Almir had the tricorder, so he stood the best chance of tracking down the others, unless Mwv'mci was with him and the scattering beam had resulted only in Ghes's dislocation. Attempting to call Adams again, he was greeted by static; he'd only just directed Adams to keep security away, now they did have an emergency.
He surmised that the site to site transport had caused the error; they had been scattered, comms and the arch had been taken offline (he didn't wish to test if the same could be said of the safeties). Reflecting on the superb premonitory abilities of Phrixa, he tried Adams again, this time with slightly better results, =/\=... ... Hmm ... -kori? We ... to know... the door, but ... Hmm ...=/\=
Nothing more was forthcoming. Ghes exhaled, said nothing while V'Maz warmed his hands and peered up at the night sky, "Perhaps Aide Adams is outside the holodeck entrance."
"Yes, with that security team," Ghes said, "And they can't gain access." Presumably it could only be opened from the inside, however they couldn't call the arch. "I assume the only way to leave is to... complete the simulation."
"Did you not design this programme, Admiral?"
"Some of it, yes, V'Maz! It included an ending, but this is not it." It also included the birds, he thought with dismay as he looked on the wings of V'Maz's glider, shredded by steel beaks. He didn't regret it, however, and found himself smiling, "Needless to say I have my suspicions as to the true author of this mishap... Come on, let's get moving; we'll find the others shortly now that we have at least two people with tricorders down here. You didn't think of testing all the shrubbery for points of exit?" he asked as he ducked out the way he had come.
They nearly ran into Tavik and Hurel. Ah ha! it wouldn't be long now. He looked up, saw a large flock of birds gleaming in the indigo moonlight, making a wide arc in the sky.
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Simon Clark
Lt. Commander
Registered: Dec 1, 2016 22:21:10 GMT
Posts: 153
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Post by Simon Clark on Jan 18, 2019 18:12:33 GMT
In the woods: Holosuite Delta, Level 15, Section 4, Starbase 47
Simon and Mwv'mci moved through the woods, quietly this time, listening out for anything that could be people, or another flock of birds. Mwv'mci was uneasy, and Simon tried to distract her by asking what she knew of this type of forest.
"This forest has existed for many millennia. It is unique to one valley in Denobula's northern hemisphere, enclosed between two great mountain ranges, and many species of life depend upon one another for-"
She froze, stopping where she stood. Before Simon could ask what it was, he heard it too, a noise ahead of them.
"It sounds like a tricorder. Let's keep going." They moved forward through the undergrowth, toward the sound, the torchlight revealed Lieutenant Marin as he half fell through a tangled broad-leaved bush.
"Oh. Hello, Chief, Mwv'mci," he said, his tone casual, "I think something has gone wrong, sir. I can't seem to raise the arch."
"No. Neither can we. And don't speak so loudly, we ended up with a flock of those birds pummeling us after we shouted to Alison."
Almir looked around, "Where is she?"
"I hope she is still drifting through the thermals," Simon pointed up through the trees, "here, let me link our tricorders, it'll reduce the precision error."
"Better. I've got a humanoid lifesign signal... this way," Almir pointed, "I'm glad I ran into you. Fumbling through the dark with only treetrunks for light was getting less fun by the minute. Hey, you're bleeding."
"It's a deep scratch, I think the safeties are off as well, so be careful."
The heard the low murmur of voices before they reached the position of the lifesign signal, moving carefully through the trees until they could discern the words of Gheskori's voice.
"-to leave is to... complete the simulation." Gheskori said.
"Did you not design this programme, Admiral?" That sounded like V'Maz, Simon thought.
"Some of it, yes, V'Maz! It included an ending, but this is not it. Needless to say I have my suspicions as to the true author of this mishap... Come on, let's get moving; we'll find the others shortly now that we have at least two people with tricorders down here. You didn't think of testing all the shrubbery for points of exit?" There was a rustling ahead of them, and a figure stepped around a wide treetrunk, and into the beam of torchlight, just as Aeryn and Paulo stepped through the trees on the other side.
"And here we are," Gheskori said, as if he had expected them all to appear together, just at this moment. The rush of wings from the tree above caused them all to glance upward. Mwv'mci flinched, and moved forward to take Gheskori's arm. "Ah, dearest, I was wondering where you'd-"
"My love, I wish to return to our quarters. The galusarabet here are frightening."
<Tag Gheskori>
"Admiral, from what you've said, this program is not running as intended?" Simon asked.
"So it would seem. Where is Alison?" he asked.
"I think she is still aloft, but I am not sure. The tricorders don't seem to have a good signal through the trees. How do we conclude the program, Sir? I assume you had something more in mind than a casual hang-gliding experience."
<Tag Gheskori>
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Gheskori
Command Staff ..
Commanding Officer Personnel Officer Trivia Officer
Section Admiral
USS Enzio
Registered: May 2, 2008 23:32:36 GMT
Posts: 1,538
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Post by Gheskori on Jan 19, 2019 16:21:42 GMT
"Ah, dearest, I was wondering where you'd-" "My love, I wish to return to our quarters. The galusarabet here are frightening.""You'll leave only as soon as I give you permission," he was overly stern, though in a sense he felt the right considering the antics he suspected her of. "Rather," he smiled, "We'll leave when you deem it fit, yes?" Mwv'mci was mystified but Ghes was sure he was correct. Clark questioned him and after Ghes's response asked, "How do we conclude the program, Sir? I assume you had something more in mind than a casual hang-gliding experience.""I did indeed," now it was Ghes's turn to if not be mystified at least embarrassed for himself, "The original plan was to hunt down the avians' (the galusarabet's) nest and coax them out with morsels from holographic animals found in the forest - I'd hoped none of you would've had qualms about this... - an action whereby we would then have used improvised nets to capture the galusarabet and attempt to domesticate them." He cleared his throat, "That was an optional extra, of course; my main ploy was to have us camping in the wilds for three holographic nights, teambuilding, the holodeck configured temporally as well as spatially in such a way that we would only have been gone from the rest of the Starbase for 8 hours. All of this has been scuppered." They stood open-mouthed, aghast not at the failure of the Admiral's plan but at its content. "And the way to finish the simulation?" Marin asked drolly. "As to how we finish the simulation, you would have to ask my wife... Ah, Mwv'mci, you changed the program! Yes, you wished to gallivant with one or two of my officers while I was left - fending for myself - in search for Commander V'Maz." V'Maz was nonplussed, Mwv'mci was gradually giving way, "Yes, it's true," she admitted with an uneasy but jovial chuckle, "But the safeties amongst other precautions were kept activated - though at an uncomfortably low level as I found out courtesy of the birds' attack... I thank you for your protection of me, Lieutenant Chief Clark," she nodded his way, "But you did program the birds, Gheskori!" she added. "I programmed the birds," he admitted, lowering his eyes; despite the risks they'd encountered - negligible really when he considered it closely - he was part-way delighted with his wife's actions, "So how do we complete the program?" She pouted, "The program ends when I call arch." "What, that's it, ...? And you could've done so - when others were surely trying the same - at any point during our sojourn here, regardless of how far we'd made it through?" "That's correct," she added sweetly, then turned to a clear patch in the forest floor loomed over by splindly shadows of hard to distinguish trunks and branches, "Arch!" And it promptly opened, Aide Adams and a clutch of mad-faced security guards piling through, rolling into position with phaser rifles held aloft and barking orders. "That wouldn't be the best of your day's work, my good sirs," Gheskori warned and stepped forward with a grin, nodding at Adams then dropping back to fall into step with V'Maz and Clark - as ahead of them Mwv'mci took the arm of the now deeply uncomfortable Lieutenant Marin - as they all strode out of the holodeck. Shore leave concluded - well done, that was a blast everybody Please reconvene on the Starbase at your leisure. A new mission on the Enzio may be in the offing soon, though we will wait to see how the El Salvador is doing
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