For God, country, and St. George

Posted on Sat Nov 11th, 2023 @ 7:58pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Inara Senn & Lieutenant Wyatt Steele & Lieutenant JG Vienna Steele

Mission: Damn Dirty Apes
Location: Planet

Shran looked over at the young officer at the station. "Are we getting through? Are they sending anything back?"

The young officer looked fearful to give an answer. Finally, knowing something had to be said, he replied, "I believe some of the message got through sir, but we haven't gotten a reply."

Shran nodded, not wanting to take his frustrations out on such a young officer who had done nothing wrong. "Keep monitoring. I want to know the moment they reply."

A few moments passed before the young officer spoke once again, "Captain, we are getting something, audio only."

"Let's hear it" he ordered.

Inara responded to Shran. "We have.... development... Facility... Generating... massive amounts of.... entire EM spec....

Shran looked to the officer, "Try cleaning it up. Narrow the band filter and remodulate."

".... Facility... not native... Zero-point gen..... "

"Sorry sir, the transmission has terminated. We got all we could through the interference. The interference is particularly strong where they are," said the young officer.

"Very well" Shran said as he sat pensively. He began to mumble to himself softly, "Zero-point generator perhaps? That would create all sorts of havoc with the EM field." Shran looked over at Callie, "Inform the science and engineering teams that we may have a zero-point generator on this planet. They need to begin adjusting scans to deal with it and make preparations should we be required to make a fast get away."

“Aye Sir” Callie nodded and got to work informing the necessary departments, sending them messages down with Shran’s instructions. “Notified Sir, I’ve told them to let you know as soon as they’re prepared.”

"Very good. Thank you" Shran replied. Now was the hard part for him. All they could do is wait and see what happened next. He hoped both away teams were well and that they could complete their missions without incident.

*The Facility - Planetside*

Inara and her team arrived at a very old facility almost two hundred years old, but something was not right about it. It was two hundred years old, a collection of 22nd Century Technology, and some technology no one has seen before.

As they neared the facility, they found an army of skeletons, dead soldiers. Inara scanned one of them "They were irradiated. If you see any form of anomalies, do not touch them. There is significant amounts of radiation in the local area." Inara opened her back pack and pulled out a bottle. Swallowing two pills. "Here, Potassium Iodine. And yes, the thyroid on most humanoids isn't that different." Inara passed out the tablets to her team. "It will still be unpleasant if you are irradiated."

The maelstrom of clouds twisted above, and some chaotic form of Aurora Borealis twisted, touching the ground in some areas. "Furthermore. Watch the auroras. I'm reading unstable magnetic anomalies and solar particles in that maelstrom above us."

*The Maelstrom crackled with unnatural thunder.*

Vienna nodded as she looked towards Wyatt then back at Inara. “This place gives me the creeps, and that’s saying something! I don’t scare easily. Let’s just get the hell in there and sort this out so we can get off this planet.”

"Easy Lieutenant. What you see around us is simply science that we can explain with the Scientific Method. It's the things that Science Cannot explain that you should fear." Inara noted as she guided the team with her tricorder. "Do not fear dragons, and you can wipe 'here there be dragons' from the map."

Vienna smiled she was starting to like Inara. “You’re right, some Intelligence Officer I am if I run away from the unknown. Let’s get in there and see just what secrets this place holds for us. She looked round at Wyatt who was as ever covering their rear against any surprises.

Wyatt had his eyes peeled as they swept the area for any surprises. He turned and saw Vi looking at him. He flashed her a smile and winked at her, letting her know everything was okay.

Vi couldn’t help but smile, it melted her heart every time Wyatt winked and flashed her that smile of his.

Wyatt continued to look and smile at Vi. Then he mouthed the words 'I love you.' Which he did, very much.

Vienna looked around before returning her husband’s sentiment telepathically. << Love you too handsome >>

Wyatt smiled a brilliant smile at Vi's telepathic message. He put his hand over his heart and moved it rapidly, let Vi know she made his heart gallop. He sent back.

Inara was annoyed. "Enough, get a room after the mission." Inara sighed "Ugh, the young and the restless. Let's focus and then we can beam back and you can do whatever in your quarters within the bounds of civility. I care not." She walked forwards towards the facility. As she did, a small tear filled her eye. A sliver entered her heart from the broken one of a lifetime past. The only thing they could sense is they managed to push a deep and well sealed wound. She wiped it away and focused on the job. The approached the Facility and examined it. Around them was a display that tested morality. Clone and genetics tubes containing very deceased primates.

Wyatt spun and advanced on Inara. "Look Lieutenant. I don't know who the hell you think you are, but we are not your lackeys, and you are not the savior. We do our jobs and do them well. So, keep your nose and your opinion out of how my wife and I talk to each other. Got it?!” He snapped.

Vienna wasn’t surprised by Wyatt’s comments to Inara, in a way she could see Inara’s point, but it wasn’t as though she and Wyatt were kissing on duty or anything along those lines. They did tend to keep their romantic air going even when working. She gave Wyatt a smile before continuing on with their work.

Inara said nothing but pushed forward, 'They'll realize... one day... They'll realize love is nothing but chemical reactions in the bodies of the young. Then they'll know how foolish it all is.' She said to herself as she was scanning until they arrived at the center of the facility. A dressed skeleton in some kind of lab coat was in the chair near a desk, before the desk was a intricate machine. Focusing incredible energies down a shaft that continued endlessly into the planet. Energy was being continuously shot down the shaft.

Inara approached the long dead man and below an old handgun layed on the ground. Inara herself examined the figure in the chair.

"Hmm.. The coward's way out." She noted. "Well you have only yourself to blame, don't you?" She talked to the dead. Let's see what you were doing? She pushed the rolling chair away and accessed the computer. It was using an old Linux based operating system. A laptop portable computer hooked up to the systems, and it was very well preserved too.

Vienna looked around “Not necessarily cowards way out, a desperate person’s way out.”

Inara brought up a video.

The man appeared on the computer, only alive. "The servators have revolted. And they're overwhelming us all. Somehow, a virus broke loose. No doubt a failure from Dr. Eldrich's biological research center. He was always a lesser fool." The man noted. "And he made the Servitor's too smart. Perhaps smart enough to create this virus against their rightful masters. We should have wiped them out along with Eldrich." The man noted.

"Well, It is I Dr. Jeremiah Allan Singh who will have the last laugh against these primate animals. I will set the facility to destabilize the planet's core. They'll be trapped on this world, unable to build computers, unable to build spacecraft. For the rest of their menial, pathetic, banana chomping existance. Yes. I will prove myself worthy of the superior race. By sacrifice. I will make this planet a prison for those DAMN DIRTY APES!!!! Devolved Slime!!!" As the recording proceeded, they heard a shot.

Inara studied the data on the computer. "It has the original magnetic field data and polarity." She noted. "I think I can use this facility and the Zero Point Generator to reailign the planet's core." Inara began typing on the computer. The mysterious machinery began to react. The energy beam being shot down the endless shaft changed hue and color and began to do its work.

Across the world, everyone, human and ape began to feel tremors. if the Apes had any device like a compass, it would have stopped spinning and suddenly pointed north. The Core of the planet was realigning, and it was spinning normally.

Around the facility, the maelstrom began to vanish. and the sun emerged as the clouds. Normal Clouds now, normal weather. The Forbidden Land wasn't so forbidden looking anymore.

Inara approached the Zero Point Core and opened a containment chamber, pulling what appeared to be a containment sphere and a miniture black hole out of it. "This is coming with us, the core should remain molten and spinning for the next one thousand years. After which time, we'll send a starship again to repower this facility and ensure this planet survives for the next thousand years. But this cannot stay, they will use this to destroy themselves... Maybe in a thousand years, they'll be enlightened enough to posess this for themselves." Inara mentioned.

“Perhaps” Vienna nodded. “No doubt time will tell.”

Wyatt's expression was neutral. Though he was put off by Inara's attitude. He kept any comment he was going to make to himself. He did however, return Vi's smile to her. He also sent her a message. << Good point Vi. Very good point.>>