A Deadly Encounter
Posted on Tue Jun 20th, 2017 @ 5:04pm by Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Lieutenant JG Fe'cia Niatra & Ensign Matt Connor & Lieutenant Élan Val & Lieutenant Isha t'Veralan & Bioraptors
1,197 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission: The Kingdom of Shadows
Across the sands of the desert planet ran three predatory creatures, their clawed feet stirring up the dusty sand behind them as they ran. The largest of the trio ran slightly in front of the others, its keen senses directing it towards the source of their task. Something had disturbed the natural cycle of their planet, and it was their task to find out if this thing was a threat, something to be destroyed, or not. At once, the lead creature skidded to a stop as it sensed and detected a number of new things. Something had crashed into the surface of the planet and burned, but at the edge of its senses it could detect something else.
Other creatures, it communicated to its small pack.
I sense them too. I sense many of them, a second hissed as it communicated.
We should destroy them the third added.
We will study them. I sense that two creatures have left the larger pack. We will test them, the leader communicated. It quickly set the other two along their paths, and then stalked off towards the smaller group of strangers. Soon, they would know answers.
Isabella was still somewhat abrasive towards Ensign Connor for his actions and words, but her simmering anger had slowly ebbed down as they completed their search for food and water. They had found nothing, but then they hadn’t looked for long or very effectively. It had mostly been a slow walk out and about to gauge their immediate surroundings while giving her some time to think. There was nothing salvable from the Nighthawk, but they had grabbed the survival kits, which meant that they had the basic field communications gear as well as survival rations and equipment, however it was no good if they couldn’t find a better place to build an encampment in which they could wait for rescue.
She was close to giving a sigh of near defeat or perhaps hopelessness when the sand to her left shifted and a creature straight from some demented horrifying nightmare erupted from under the surface of the sand leapt at her and Connor, its maw of razor sharp looking teeth open and snapping. Yelling a warning to Connor, Isabella fell sideways and wondered briefly why the tricorder hadn’t detected the creature.
Matt wasn’t very happy. The first officer had been right, but that didn’t mean that he had to like it. They had fallen into a quiet mood during their walk around the surrounding desert, so when she shouted towards him Matt turned and screamed as he brought his hand phaser up. It was set to low stun but seeing the open hostility of the creature he thumbed the setting a bit higher and fired, hitting the creature.
The leader of the trio watched and hissed softly as it detected a weapon being fired. That these creatures were armed and open to using their weapons made it fall back to the basic principles of its kind: The Nests were in danger and these creatures would have to be destroyed. Attack them! it commanded to the other, unseen, member of its pack.
The sand shifted and another thing jumped towards Matt. He did what any other security officer would do, he turned and fired, hitting the second creature as well. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that the first was getting back up. “Dammit,” he muttered.
Isha had to admit that guard duty was pretty boring. Guarding her colleges was important, but she was a science officer, not a security guard. She had an idea of why the executive officer had taken off with Connor, mostly because it had been rather obvious. Still, she was doing his damned job, and she resented the hell out of it.
So when she heard screaming from not too far away followed by not just one but multiple phasers blasts, Isha jumped to her feet and snapped the phaser rifle up as she scanned the area carefully.
“What is it?” Élan asked as she stepped up beside Isha.
“I don’t know,” Isha said as another phaser blast fired in the distance. “Can Niatra walk?”
“I can manage,” Fe’cia replied to the question as she managed to make her way to the others. “What’s wrong?”
“I think something just attacked the first officer and Connor,” Isha replied.
“We should go help,” Fe’cia said.
“For all we know, we’d be attacked before we could even make it to the others,” Élan said. “We should remain in an easily defensible position.”
Faced with two creatures that hand phasers only slowed down, Isabella made the only reasonable choice that was before them: “Run!” she shouted as she scrambled to her feet and ran towards the cave where the others were waiting.
Matt heard the tiny commander shout right before she belted off towards where the others were. It made sense, in a way. There was a fire and a heavier weapon there, and it nothing else they could collapse the cave entrance and wait out the fucking things that had just attacked. Needing no further order to do so, Matt fired two more heavy stun shots at the creatures before he turned and hauled ass himself.
Isabella had to remind herself to steady her breathing as she ran. The ‘fight or flight’ instinct was just about to take over her senses, but she shoved it aside as she finally came into view of the cave. Seeing Lieutenant t'Veralan waiting with the team’s only phaser rifle, Isabella drew upon the last reserved of strength that she had and sprinted towards the cave entrance. “Toss it to Connor,” she managed to shout as she nearly collapsed.
Isha didn’t need further explanation to the first officer’s order. As Ensign Connor neared the cave, the Romulan simply took a step forward and threw the rifle towards him.
Matt noticed the thrown rifle and did what he had been trained to do. He tossed his hand phaser to the side and deftly caught the rifle midair. Raising the settings to maximum as he turned, he brought the closest creature into his sights and fired. And he kept firing until the nightmare beast stumbled and fell with several holes spraying blue blood everywhere fell. The second creature stopped suddenly and paused for a long moment before it grabbed the first beast and ran off with the corpse.
“Alright, we’re not staying here. Ensign Connor, you’re our only security officer, so anything that’s not friendly looking, I want you to shoot first unless it tries to speak and communicate with us,” Isabella ordered. “Everyone else, grab what you can because we’re not staying to see what comes next.”
“Question, how will I know it’s trying to communicate? For all we know, those things were trying to say ‘hi’,” Matt asked.
“Officer’s prerogative,” Isabella managed to say and she grunted and picked up as much as she figured she could safely carry. “Phasers to maximum settings. Let’s move!”
To be continued . . .
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