Welcome to the Jungle

Posted on Wed Aug 9th, 2023 @ 10:40am by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Ensign Kate Kono

Mission: Damn Dirty Apes
Location: Planet

The away team materialized inside the runabout. Ayana quickly scanned the cabin visually while Deanna scanned with her tricorder. "I'm not detecting Jon or Callie on board" Deanna said as she made her way to the controls.

"The hatch is closed securely. It appears to have been closed from the outside after they exited. I would assume they went to look over their surroundings" Ayana noted as she returned to the cabin.
Power systems came on as Deanna worked on the controls. "Main power is online. I am checking on what systems are damaged, perhaps get an idea of what forced them down. Ensign, please bring up the logs and download them to a tricorder."

Kate nodded as she tried to pull up the information off of the consoles. The consoles were darkened and there were hints of information behind the shattered glass.

“Rumor had it that centuries prior, older technology had fuse relays that would prevent consoles from exploding in people's faces whenever there was an overload.” The young tiny framed Asian girl easily maneuvered her compact frame into a laying position underneath the pilot's console and popped a panel out from underneath. “Unlike today's ships where the hull is relatively strong and durable, a large percentage of injury and death amongst Starfleet personnel comes from these things when they have any kinds of problems…” Kate continued as she pushed her tricorder into the slot.

“But early Starfleet vessels prior to the twenty-third century… They didn’t have very good hulls.” Kate smiled to herself even though nobody else could see it with her face underneath the control console. “If we could just figure out how to get twenty-second century consoles running in a twenty-fourth century ship, we probably wouldn’t even need shields. We’d be invincible.” Kate nodded to herself as she finished the download. She pushed herself out from underneath the console and jumped to her feet with a triumphant ear-to-ear grin while shaking the tricorder in front of her face. “GOT IT! HA!”

"Are you under the illusion that consoles never exploded in past centuries? I can assure you, they did. And it would take a lot more than ancient technology to make us invincible" Deanna said matter-of-factly.

"'Never' would be a bandwagon fallacy that would never illude me. From the history of Starfleet, however, it serves to show that we can avoid exploding consoles when applied to a graph of incidents over time. Speaking of data though!!!" Kate shook the tricorder more in her hand in front of the other officers in the same proud, triumphant manner as before.

Sam watched on with a smile as the two discussed exploding consoles and the likelihood of such happening in different periods of time. Thankfully the shuttle was in one piece which meant it's crew should be alive. She whipped out her tricorders and scanned for blood traces or anything that could indicate major injury. Finding nothing that would indicate such she breathed a moderate sigh of relief.

Ayana yelled out from the hatch, "We are not alone! I have movement in the tree line."

*Meanwhile*

Jon and Callie were making their way back to the runabout as fast as they could while doing their best to avoid the apes they had seen. Though between the beaters and the apes they had spotted on horseback along with the wild humans running about it was slow going. "Come on Callie, we need to get back to the runabout and hole up until hopefully a Washington away team shows up."

"Deanna began scanning with her tricorder. "Tricorder range is severely diminished due to the EM field, but I am getting lifeform readings beyond the tree line, at least a dozen separate readings."

Suddenly a trio of scantily clad humans emerged from the jungle and ran towards the runabout. They were wearing primitive clothing, loin cloths essentially, and had a look of panic and fear upon them. Ayana looked at Deanna and Sam as she unshouldered her phaser rifle. From the jungle emerged another creature, what appeared to be an humanoid ape of some sort, perhaps a gorilla riding a horse and wearing some sort of leather uniform that look military and carrying a net and a primitive rifle. He seemed to be charging after the trio of humans, though he looked far more determined and unafraid, that was until he got sight of the runabout and what appeared to be three additional humans near a passageway of some sort.

"Orders?" Ayana asked, waiting to see what Sam wished for he to do.

"We can't stay here, and we can't be seen" Sam muttered, scooping their surroundings. "Howard to Washington, can you beam the shuttle back? It's primitive down here and will interfere with the prime directive...we'll stay on foot to locate Jon and Callie" Sam ordered. "Make a break for the trees and find cover. Weapons to stun only."

=^=Attempting to lock on. EM interference is making this difficult Commander. Suggest you get at least 10 meters away from the runabout to ensure you aren't caught in the transport cycle=^= the transporter chief responded.

"I'll deal with the hostile. The rest of you make a run for the tree line" Ayana said as she took aim. She could feel the others moving past her and exiting the runabout. She let out a slow breath and then fired, hitting the ape and knocking him from his horse. The horse was frightened by the unfamiliar phaser blast and ran away back from where it had come from. Ayana reached in and grabbed a survival pack and then exited the runabout, sprinting towards the direction the others had run. She hit her comm badge, =^=We're clear. Energize.=^=

As she continued to run, the runabout dematerialized. The trio of primitive humans swarmed around Ayana, giving her some sort of congratulatory gesture as they seemed to grunt and smile towards her, obviously seeing her as some sort of hero. Ayana was in no mood to be dealing with praise at this moment, and she broke free of these primitives and continued to make her way towards the others.

Jon and Callie were continuing their way back to the runabout when he heard the unmistakable sound of a Federation phaser.
"That's a Federation phaser!" He told Callie as he gripped her hand and they moved to the sound.

Jon and Callie emerged from the tree line to the right of the away team and began to make their way to the others.

As they came upon the tree line Deanna took sight of Jon and Callie in the distance. "Sam, it would appear we have located our wayward castaways" she said as she gestured in their direction.

"Look Callie, it's Deanna, Sam and Ayana." Jon said as he waved a hand in acknowledgement. "Come on, let's get up there with them and find out what they know and if they saw any apes."

"Ensign, take up a guard position" Deanna gently ordered.

Ayana joined the group, the trio of primitives in tow. "I seem to have made friends with some of the locales."

Jon and Callie drew closer and after a few moments joined the away team. "Glad to see all of you." He greeted. He looked around, "Ayana, I see you have met the natives." He addressed Sam and Deanna, "Where's the runabout?"

Ayana gave an uneasy look regarding the natives. Deanna was scanning the area, trying to extend the range of the tricorder by linking it with the probe sensors. "Sam had the runabout beamed up. Not an easy job for the transporter chief considering this EM field. Causing all kinds of difficulties" Deanna said matter-of-factly.

Jon nodded in approval. "Very good. Will the EM field interfere with us being able to transport back to the Washington?" As he waited for Deanna's reply, he saw the trio of humans around Ayana. "Seems you have a fan club Ayana. I think they're mute. Callie and I haven't heard them utter a sound since we came down."

Ayana had a pouty look about her. "They are treating me like some sort of hero, almost deifying me. It is quite unnerving" she replied to Jon.

"Commander, I do believe transport for us will be hindered. They will likely need to transport us in a single group, and we'll need to be out in an open space to avoid any signal disruption. I would suggest perhaps the top of that small rocky hill would be best. I know it will mean us trekking across this terrain, but it would be the safest option" Deanna said as she continued to fiddle with her tricorder. "Sam, perhaps you can get some medical readings regarding these primitive humans, give us a better indication of what level of sophistication we might be dealing with. It seems to me that two primate species seem to have evolved on this planet, one human, the other from ape, and the apes seem more advanced."

"The apes definitely are the dominant species here." Jon put forth. "They have weapons. Couldn't get a good look but they looked like the old ballistic type. capable of firing metal cartridges from it." He looked at the hill Deanna pointed to. "That's a good hike Deanna and I hate for us to be out in the open with the apes about."

"I understand your concern, but it is the safest course of action. We can move along the tree line for partial concealment for the majority of the journey" Deanna replied.

Jon considered what Deanna said. Unfortunately, there weren't any better options. "Alright." He finally said. "We'll head for the hill. Ayana, you take point. I'll bring up the rear. Everyone else in the middle. Put your phasers on heavy stun. We'll stay close to the tree line."

Sam nodded as the group prepared to move out, leaving her tricorders tuning to scan as they went. Her first observations supported what the others said, but either way, getting back to the Washington was going to be tricky. Thankfully the Prime Directive was a little easier to maintain now the shuttle was gone.

Jon spoke again. "Everyone, stay sharp. We'll go slow but steady."

"I almost have the tricorder linked up to the probe. I'll be able to give us a better idea of what is around" Deanna said as she continued to work on syncing things up. "Doctor, are we certain these primitives are as primitive as they appear? I'm sensing some complex thoughts and emotions from them."

Jon spoke up at Deanna's comment. "They appear mute to me Deanna and I know the fact that they don't or can't talk isn't a sign of lack of intelligence but are you sure and if you are, could you communicate with them?"

"I'm not so sure they are as primitive as they appear. Their brains contain complex structures that are unusual to say the least. They may communicate in measures other than verbal; I can't tell though without a more thorough examination" Sam replied as they made their way through the trees towards the hill that had been pointed out earlier. She hoped the natives would give them a wide berth and they'd get out of here without any further issues. Her gut told her that was unlikely to be the case.


The team had left shortly after Deanna gave the order for her to stand guard and Kate watched as the team went off to find Jon and Callie. The tree-line was thick and capable of hiding her small frame in the myriad of bushes and thick brush. Kate had slithered herself into a small muddy hole that overlooked the clearing as it got busier than she would have wanted. Despite having mud in her shoes, soggy socks, and a uniform that now stuck to her with an uncomfortable coolness, she held her post as ordered while she reminded herself that a replicator and a sonic shower would easily fix any lack of comfort once she got home. For now though, the adrenaline rushed through her as she almost smiled to herself as the excitement built.

Kate was sure by now that the rest of the team had found everyone, and they were probably just a quick beam out away from a mission-accomplished setting aboard the Washington… ‘Any second now…’ she kept thinking as she sat alone and waited. She might have been muddy and wet, but she was having the time of her life.

Ayana pushed forward as the point person. Spotting Kate she quickly moved nearby. "Ensign, we are moving to a location to allow for an easier beam out. Hold position here for the rest of the away team and then function as security for them. I'm continuing forward." Ayana pushed forward hoping that things continued to go smoothly.


TBC