Dark Fate

Posted on Sun Apr 28th, 2024 @ 11:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Lieutenant JG Kate Kono

Mission: Man & Machine
Location: Planet

Derek Reese led the trio across the battlefield, moving quickly to avoid the seeker machines or some of the quick movers that often swept through the streets of the former city. They needed to reach the outskirts of the city, which was in sight. As they approached it moving at a quick pace, Deanna took note of a sign that seemed to indicate a potential minefield. As the was about to question them running towards such a thing, laser fire began to rain down on them from an aerial HK.

"Move" Reese exclaimed as he made his way towards a group of boulders that looked to be the best cover available.

"Damnit! I am tired of being shot at! Deanna, you and Kate go with Reese. I'll cover you." Jon ordered as he unslung his phaser rifle, changed the setting to its highest and began firing at the HK. His shots had the desired effect on the HK as it turned its attention towards him even as his shots blew large amounts of the HK body away,

Kate stood up with Reese and ran with Deanna. The young Asian looked at Reese with a toothy smile a moment as they all ran for their lives. It didn't seem like there was ever a good time for talk, so she just talked as they scurried away.

She heard more gunfire behind her right when she was about to make a pass at Reese. She aimed her rifle behind them to make sure Jon was okay. She was relieved to see that he was perfectly fine. She then turned back to Reese.

"Any good places I can take you to eat around here?" Kate asked. "All the diners seem to be closed." She noticed as they ran past one that was on fire.

Reese gave a quizzical look at Kate as they ducked behind the outcropping of stones. "I suppose that is one way to break the ice under fire" he said deadpan.

Suddenly the sound of a large crash sounded, quickly followed by an explosion and then the ground shaking as the remnants of a building collapsed nearby. Deanna popped up in a tactical stance, weapon at the ready, only to see a plume of dust and debris lit up by the fire of the downed HK and the silhouette of a man walking out slowly. Deanna reached out with her mind and made certain of who it was, and was relieved to feel Jon. She could hear music playing in his mind, a song with a western sound to it, and a thought of someone named Eastwood and a film called The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly. While she wasn't completely clear on the meaning of all this imagery, she somehow knew it fit.

As Jon came closer and it became clearer to see, Deanna quipped, "I guess if they are going to call down the fire, they have to reap the whirlwind."

Jon walked with a steady stride to where Deanna and the others were. He was now even more resolute in his determination of helping Reese and the rest of the humans against the machines. Once he was close enough to Deanna, a smile graced his features, it was hard to see as his face was streaked with soot from the HK's destruction. "Damn right Deanna. They want a fight? By God, they are going to get a fight they can remember for as long as current runs through their circuits. Which won't be long."

"That still only count as one!" Kate joked to Jon with a giggle. She leaned in next to Reese, "I'll have to introduce you to Lord of the Rings, so you'll understand. We have a place where you can watch movies!" Kate smiled an ear-to-ear grin as she beamed at the man.

"You know, you seem like a really cool dude with lots of fun stories to tell and stuff so I was thinkin' you know, if they all kill all these mean robots for you and stuff like that and maybe rebuild that diner that's currently on a whole bunch of fire," Kate quickly thumbed behind her back to the place that's on fire over her shoulder and continued talking without taking a breath, "... I can like, get you something tasty to eat and we can talk or something about anything you want because I don't know what it is you do for fun around here or in the case that you can't do anything fun due to the circumstances - maybe I can help you find some fun things to do, BY FUN I MEAN like totally platonic things It's not like I'm hitting on you or anything nah totally normal conversation attempt and I think I just bombed like that HK thing I'll shut up now and start shooting stuff instead."

Kate nervously put her weapon to the ready and pretended the last fifteen seconds talking not to Reese but at Reese would soon be forgotten. The Asian stepped away tactically and silently.

Deanna leaned in and whispered to Kate, "At ease ensign. You seem on edge. See a cute guy in a combat zone and all of a sudden you start sputtering like an adolescent schoolgirl with the captain of the velocity team. Focus on the task at hand. Dealing with these machines, no time to for you to be swooning over a man. I promise you; you'll have time for such things later."

Reese scratched his head trying to figure out Kate. Last time he had a woman make such an obvious fuss over him he was in high school. That was a long time ago for him, before the war. He hadn't had time for such things since all this had happened. With Jon almost back to their position he made his way towards him, "Nice shooting. We should get moving. Machines will send ground units to check on what downed the HK. Sundown in about 30 minutes. Good thing Connor isn't far."

Kate nodded at Deanna and giggled. There still wasn't a whole lot of opposition due to the holographic diversion she had pulled earlier in the day but now that a few machines have seen them, she was sure they had some sort of networked capability to alert other machines to their location. Of course, it would have been nice to be wrong about such things. Maybe she was; either way, Kate certainly hoped so.

She knew it gave her a moment to crush over a man she had no chance with due to her career and Reeses professional hunting hobby that he had on the planet. Kate continued forward toward wherever Reese was taking them. She didn't know how fast those machines moved but with any luck, they wouldnt be able to traverse that five-mile diversionary tactic before they got to their destination.

"Yahhh," Kate said to Deanna. "I know it's not realistic. He's cute though. I know some other girl will snatch him up." She admitted. "He's probably huggable though."

"Thanks." Jon replied. "Tired of being shot at. Lead the way Reese. I'd like to meet this John Connor."

"Yeah, you go first. Operation human shield," Kate's tone was humorous and conveyed that she didn't mean it at all. After seeing so much destruction, she hoped for conveying levity as a sort of breather to help get their bearings and shake away the tenseness that could create accidents. "Jay'kay," Kate said. "It's looking pretty safe for now thank goodness." Kate stayed while monitoring everything with the eyepiece of her sniper rifle. "Do these machines have a method of communication when they're taken down though? I'm concerned we announced our presence to the machine that were looking for us the moment we took anything out way over here. They might be on their way but I hope not," said Kate as she tried to both relax herself while staying alert enough to notice anything unexpected.

Reese nodded and led the way into the minefield. "Just follow me and everything will be fine. The mines are magnetic, so unless any of you are skinjobs, should be just a tiptoe through the tulips." As he continued to lead them, he remained quiet, stoic as he listened to Kate asking questions. "The machines all share a signal. They constantly share information, just like any other computer system you might consider."

"That isn't surprising" Deanna replied. "Have you managed to isolate the signal, attempt to nullify it?"

"If anyone could do it, it would be Connor. And he'd be the one to test it out to make sure it works" Reese replied. They approached what looked to be a bunker or perhaps a fallout shelter. The sound of running water from a nearby stream echoed around them. It was obvious that these humans made preparations for all types of potential warfare.

They are well prepared. Jon thought to himself as he and the rest of the team followed Reese through the minefield. As they got closer, Jon spoke. "Well, let's go meet Connor, see of what assistance we can be."

Kate stopped in her tracks as a group of dogs surrounded her. Kate giggled and reached into her bag to pull out some snacks and handed it to them once they could obviously smell the tasty treats. One dog followed her even after she fed it. It looked like a cute little miniature Huskey; far from intimidating unless it planned to kill it's enemy via cute overload. Kate pet the dog behind its ears and let him follow her as they continued walking.

"The dogs are used to spot skinjobs. Dogs have the ability to sniff them out before they are in position to do harm" Reese said as he saw Kate with the animals. Reese entered the bunker and walked past a group of armed humans, noting to one who looked to be in charge that the away team were safe. They walked down a corridor, past a few different rooms which showed the condition of where things actually were. Reese stopped them before entering a room at the end of the corridor, went inside to speak with someone and then came back out to lead them inside. A group of humans, mostly male, stood around a medium sized metal table, weapons slung but close at hand. Reese looked back at Jon and the others, "This is John Connor, leader of the resistance."

Connor looked to be a seasoned warrior, tall, strong, with grizzled features that highlighted the stress and strain of the struggle. A redhead with a military bearing stood extremely close to him, and to the trained eye it was obvious she was his mate. Connor looked at the away team with steely eyes. "Derek tells me you are from Earth. What brings you to our world and how do you judge our dark fate that has befallen us?"

Jon spoke first, "I'm Commander Jonathan Grayson of the USS Washington. Yes, we're from Earth, which is part of United Federation of Planets. What brought us here? Your world is remarkably similar to Earth. In addition, we detected high radiation levels and life signs, and we came to investigate. As to your dark fate, I think you people have had a hard time and seen better days. Hopefully we can change that for you." He looked to Deanna and Kate, "Allow me to introduce Lt. Commander Deanna Celes and Ensign Kate Kono. There are two more members of the team. Dr. Smantha Howard and Ensign James Phoenix. Dr, Howard is studying the radiation here and how you are all able to withstand it."

"I just figured it was normal, but that is something doctors are best to figure out. Maybe my wife Kate can help give you an explanation." Connor looked to his left at his wife briefly before looking back at Jon. "I assumed Earth had forgotten about us. Having you show up now is, if you will forgive me, almost unbelievable. I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, but we've been at war with the machines for what seems like an eternity and every time it appears we have found a way to defeat them, they come out with something new that resets the board."

Deanna sensed his doubt, suspicion, and despair, as well as an unrelenting desire to be victorious over the machines and save humanity on this world. "You've put up a valiant fight thus far, but don't feel as if these machines are undefeatable. If you gave us targets, we could vaporize them from orbit, or do much more if you wanted something more precise. And you should know, our captain already has begun working on a way to eliminate the excessive radiation and detoxify the planet so that once the war is over, your people can rebuild in a safe and healthy manner."

"You can't just snap your fingers and eliminate the radiation. The entire environment has been flooded and decimated. Even if the war was over today, it would take nearly a century for the planet to recover" the redhead said incredulously.

"Actually, we have technology that can do precisely that, though not quite with the snap of the fingers" Deanna replied. "I think if you give us a chance, we can truly help you."

Connor gave a reserved sigh. "I'll hear you out. Kate gets riled up hearing what seems like false claims. But I'll hear you out. You say you can defeat the machines. I'd love to have that sort of help."

At the mention of her name, Kate looked around the room and back to John as the mini Husky dog leaned against her leg.

"How did you know I get riled up on awesome claims?!" Kate would have bounced in her stance but she didn't want to disturb the resting Husky that attached himself to her like a lost puppy. Kate looked to John and to the Redhead beside him quizzically.

Jon shook his head, "Not you Kate. Connor's wife is named Kate also. She's the one who gets riled up, You can go back to being a leg rest for your new friend."

"Whose pet is this little guy anyway?" Kate leaned down and scratched him behind the ears. The dog leaned into her and rested its head on her leg. It obviously wasn't one of the vicious looking German Shepards outside. Just a cute little Husky with a mind of its own that attached to her like glue on first contact. "oh you so cute" Kate said to the doggie. "You're a strategic diversionary tactic to keep me from jumping Reese like a mechanical bull that takes merry bundles of quarters to ride, and it worked your cute little ball of fluff you!" She started petting the dog vigorously as it opened it's mouth happily and looked up at Kate lovingly.

Kathryn Connor watched Kate play with the dog, memories of her days as a veterinarian coming to the forefront. She hadn't been in those simple times in what seemed like forever. She had to alter her skills to be a human doctor, because so few with medical training actually were alive now. She walked over to Kate and the dog, "His name is Brewster. We don't have pets in the way you mean, not anymore. Every dog is a guard dog now. Brewster is one of the only things I have from before the war. John got him for me as a gift as a puppy. Sort of an engagement gift." The redhead pet the large dog and offered a slight smile. You could tell she was thinking of happier times.

Derek Reese was at the right of John Connor and a younger man stood next to him, leaning in and whispering something that seemed to put a smile on both of their faces. It appeared that the younger man was related to Derek, perhaps a brother. Derek leaned in and whispered to John. John then looked at Jon and Deanna, "I'd be interested in seeing this ship of yours, perhaps meet your captain. I'm sure we can figure things out man to man."

Deanna looked at Jon. She didn't want to be the one to explain that the captain wasn't human. Then again, neither was she.

Kate was totally going to ask if she could have the doggie if it had no owner, but now that she realized that the dog was happily matched to a loving family, that actually made Kate happy, too.

"Awww he's so cute! You're a cutie, Brewster!" Kate said She reached into her backpack and pulled out a personal replicator. She programed in a selection of treats that would be safe for dogs and drained the battery down to nothing just for the cute little guy. Kate came out with some snack packs and handed it to the other Kate. "Here you go. I'm sure he hasn't had anything like this since before all heck broke loose." Kate gave the doggie one last scratch behind his ears before zipping her bag back up and re-slinging her rifle in preporation of departure.

"The captain would eagerly welcome talking to you Connor. I'm sure we can retake this world of yours and make it a safe place once again. "Why don't you and Kate come to the ship with us. You can tell the captain firsthand of your needs both in supplies for buildings as well as medical supplies to treat your sick and wounded." Jon finished. Like Deanna he didn't mention that Shran wasn't human. No need to muddy the water. Stick to the needs these people needed. He looked over to their Kate and saw her hand some packs to Kate Connor. "We can also get you pet supplies and meds for the dogs."

"We most certainly can resupply them fairly easily aboard the ship. I'm sure Sam is already working on the medical matters. I think the main thing would be to help them end this war and work on cleaning the environment. I'm sure the captain can arrange for Engineering, Science, and Medical craft to be sent here to help rebuild things after will deal with those matters. But you most certainly he should meet the captain" Deanna offered in a reassuring manner. "If you like, I will check to see if the shuttle is prepped. Hopefully Sam and Phoenix got to it without issue." Deanna walked away and checked on the shuttle, leaving the others to talk amongst themselves.

"I would like to bring Kyle with me" Connor said to Jon. He looked over at the Reese brothers, "Derek, you will be in charge while I'm gone. Hold the fort, no forward attacks until I return."

Derek nodded and grinned. "Sounds good to me."

Deanna walked back over, "Everything is prepared. Phoenix has got our coordinates and Sam says they should be here in 2 minutes. I told them not to land, they'll just contact us before transporting us. Thankfully a short range transport is possible."

"Excellent Deanna. Thank you," Jon replied thankful Deanna was so on top of things. He to Connor, Kate and Kyle. "Once we're aboard the shuttle it will be a short trip to the Washington and a meeting with the captain."

Connor looked at Deanna. "What do you mean you don't have to land your craft? You said transport."

Deanna realized that she had said something that might be considered frightening. "You have to understand, our technology is much more advanced than what you have. We have the ability to do matter transports, literally take a person from point A to point B almost instantaneously. I'm afraid I can't say any more than that, but I assure you, it is completely safe."

Kate Connor looked at John, "This will be a day of firsts."

The shuttle signaled and Deanna checked with Jon before giving the order to energize the transporter. In moments they were back on the shuttle, and able to get back to the Washington. Deanna helped Sam with the guests, getting them oriented as Jon took care of things in the cockpit getting the shuttle back to the ship.