Return to Base, Part II

Posted on Fri Apr 14th, 2023 @ 1:05am by Ensign Sheldon Parsons & Ensign Brian Davies & Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai & Lieutenant Charles Bridgeport & Lieutenant Margarar & Lieutenant Xex Wang & Lieutenant JG Gwenwyn Marwol & Ensign Mei Ratthi & Ensign Noah Balsam & Andrew Munro & Lieutenant Timmoz & Lieutenant Arianna Durand & Lieutenant JG Irynya & Lieutenant JG Kestrel & Ensign Jyl-eel Tor

Mission: Predators and Prey
Location: The Waverider and Base Camp, Shaddam IVa
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 1220

[The Waverider]
[Shaddam IVa]
[MD 1: 1220 Hours]

Weapon drawn and pointed ahead, Kaldri watched as a flurry of people -- some she knew, others she did not -- ascended the Waverider's ramp. The tall, green-skinned Timmoz carried a stretcher between himself and another woman, an obviously injured crew member suspended on the make-shift carrier. Irynya seemed to be helping another lanky figure -- were all the men in Starfleet tall and lanky?! -- aboard as well. He seemed very, very young and was obviously in a lot of pain.

Xex made to lay a hand on the Kazon woman's arm, just in case she got any jumpy ideas about firing on the returning crewmembers, but was interrupted as she spoke.

"Looks like you have some work ahead of you," Kaldri said through the side of her mouth, in Xex's direction. "Want to unhook me so we can use the bed for someone else?" she asked, still keeping her obviously Starfleet-issue phaser pointed at the top of the ramp, just in case any who wasn't supposed to be onboard tried to enter.

Xex's expression grew troubled, then increasingly grave as the stretcher and the injured cadet came into view up the ramp and out of the swirling particulates. Though he was no combat medic, basic triage was as much a part of him as breathing. And, while he was certainly not satisfied with Kaldri's condition, it was clear that she was swiftly moving down the list of immediate concerns.

"No," the doctor said, finally answering Kaldri's question, "But it's looking like I have little choice in the matter." Although he managed to avoid obscenities, Xex's tone held just enough bite to imply them. Reluctantly, he holstered his own phaser and with practiced hands, disconnected the IV from the Kazon woman, swiftly disposing of it in the little medsuite's recycler. A dozen cautionary recommendations leapt to his tongue, and he opened his mouth to voice the first of them--

"The Kazon have landed nearby," came Oliveria's voice over the short range comm suddenly. "Two shuttles, both full of armed warriors. They're wasting zero time heading our way. Get ready," the engineer advised.

"Fantastic," Arianna commented, the strained sarcasm evident in her tone. She looked for a place that they could lay the stretcher down which would be sufficiently out of harm's way whilst they scrambled to defend the shuttle. None looked optimal and so she turned to Xex. "Where do you want her?"

Xex aborted his move toward the stretcher, backpedaling quickly as he snapped, "Computer, sanitation protocol beta." The computer chimed, and the biobed glowed a healthy blue as the cleaning and sanitizing ran its course. "Here, over here," he said by way of an answer, moving to the far side of the bed.

"Waverider, shields up! Standby aft phaser array, Target any life forms within 100 meters without a Starfleet commbadge homing beacon." Timmoz instructed to the runabout's auto-pilot. He met eyes with Xex and sighed, "I'm afraid we have more wounded," he said as Noah, his face bloodied and arm clasped to his chest, staggered past with Irynya. He eyed Kaldri. "I see you've been upgraded from patient to combatant."

Judging by Xex's set expression, he was less-than-happy with her 'upgrade,' but he made no comment. "Goody," he said flatly of the incoming wounded, as the stretcher bearers followed him to the bed.

"That I have," the Kazon nodded back. "You have quite enough people in here to deal with. I'm going to head down the ramp and help give your people some cover fire," Kaldri said then. "Hopefully Subrek's warriors aren't smart enough to use their shuttles' weapons." With that worrying remark out of her lips, the woman gave Timmoz and Xex one final look and then turned to depart.

"Kaldri!" Xex called, as the bed finished its sanitization procedure and returned to its normal ready-looking status, "Catch!" Something small and silvery arced through the air toward her-- not an excellent throw, but good enough. "I didn't put you back together to have you taken out by the Waverider's own weapons. Luck!" he added, and with only a lingering glance at her, turned his attention to the stretcher bearers and their unconscious charge.

"Thank you," Kaldri said, catching and affixing the badge to her chest before dashing down the ramp.

"Alright lieutenants," he said to Timmoz and Durand, "the biobed is prepped to catch. We will shift her on three. One," he met Timmoz's eyes, "Two," then Durand's, "Three." With a minimum of fuss, they made the transfer and the bed immediately began its diagnostic. Before it could finish however, he looked up at Durand once again, "Give me the short version, please." Too often, he had found the backstory to an injury as important as the current diagnosis, state-of-the-art medsuite or not. While he listened, his eyes tracked to the injured cadet and his Risan escort.

"Her foot was caught in the roots of a tree that fell and pinned her leg. We managed to get the tree off of her in a few minutes but her foot .." Arianna shivered as she recalled the sight, " had been twisted and wrenched around at an unnatural angle." The sound of the shields absorbing a blast took her attention for a moment. "The med tricorder detected hypoperfusion and so we administered the recommended treatment. It also showed bone fractures, a lot of ligament damage and some lacerations. I repaired the soft tissue enough to stop the bleeding and then immobilized the limb so we could move her. She's been unconscious since the incident."

Iry had merely nodded at Noah's earlier inquiry about the conflict, opting to keep the speaking to a minimum until they were safely inside the Waverider. She eyed the CMO for a moment as she passed, trying not to focus on the commands Timmoz had just given or the report Nico had provided. Both were out of her control and, for now at least, she was going to focus on Noah. "I'm putting him in one of the bunks," Irynya called back over her shoulder as she continued forward, guiding her friend. "You're safe here," she said softly, the murmured reassurance as much for her own benefit as Noah's.

Noah's good eye- and the bloodied one- looked at Irynya while he digested that. And he tried to nod slowly only to be shocked with how much a collarbone came into play with such a simple act. As the wave of throbbing subsided, Noah pushed out a breath. "That was a Kazon in the biobed..."

Noah's voice even sounded like pain to her ears. "Yeah," she said softly as she started to maneuver him down the corridor toward the bunks. "The person in the downed shuttle. It's... we seem to have walked into the middle of a Kazon... disagreement." Led by Irynya, the pair disappeared down the hallway, their conversation fading as they got further away from the ship's miniature Sickbay.

Xex's voice, surprisingly sharp with command, followed them down the corridor, "He is not to fall unconscious, lieutenant! And for the love of all the suns, don't let him go into shock!" This caution given, he turned his attention back to Durand and nodded, "Thank you, lieutenant. It sounds like she will have you to thank for still having the foot she was born with when all this is said and done."

Behind them, Tor had climbed the ramp quickly, her bite wound still throbbing. She saw the lanky body of Noah Balsam being led by Irynya and began to jog to catch up, heading out of sight in the direction they'd headed, towards the Waverider's sleeping quarters.

"Chief Oliveria asked me to come back here and see if you needed another nurse?" came the voice of Ensign Parsons, who'd just entered the Sickbay from the direction of the cockpit. "He's got things under control for the moment, so...I guess that's me?" He'd played nurse a couple of times that day already: it seemed like the young engineer had resigned himself to the continued role.

Timmoz checked a quick glance to Parsons. "X'oa, Parsons. We should change your shoulders to green," Timmoz said. "Kestrel is hurt. So is Balsam. So you're all Xex's until Marwol gets aboard."

"STARS, YES," Xex echoed Timmoz's sentiments, but at a much louder volume to be heard over the resonating noise of the shields taking hits meant for the Waverider's hull. Or maybe her crew. This, Xex did not consider-- could not consider-- the majority of his attention taken by the patient on his bed. "There's a compartment right there under her shoulder," he immediately directed his new nurse at a quieter volume in the brief pause of shield noise, "Grab the cutter in there-- it's on the left, labeled-- and get the gelcast off. Don't worry about cutting her-- that cutter isn't tuned for flesh. Fine job," he added with a jarringly sunny smile to Durand, "but we're going to need to do something a little more sophisticated now we've got her on the bed."

Parsons did as he was told, though he wasn't the most confident in doing so, even with Xex's assurances that the cutter would not harm Kestrel. His hand shook as bit as he operated the device, its glowing energy beam slicing through the dermaplast cast. It took several long moments but, finally, the leg was free for Xex to dedicatedly work on.

While Parsons took care of the cast, Xex took a moment to sift through the information from the biobed's scans, his eyes moving rapidly, flicking from the screen to the woman and back again, cataloguing visuals against diagnostics. Speaking aloud as much for his own benefit as Parsons', he said, "Her foot and leg are my primary concern. A normal antipathogenic course of treatment should be sufficient to ensure those cuts," He gestured to her face and arms, "don't go horrible on us." He left the 'I hope,' unsaid. The swirling, fine dust of the planet, while mostly filtered out of the Waverider's interior atmosphere, nevertheless persisted, and caused him more concern than he was willing to voice. "We'll need to align it properly and ensure we don't lose any bone fragments before we set any bone regeneration in action-- and that will take some time. You would be surprised how many bones there are in a human's--" he paused, glanced at the screen, and corrected himself, "Argelian's foot."

Suiting action to words, he turned and dialed a few commands into the medsuite interface on the bulkhead behind him. A panel opened, and he pulled out a complicated-looking device with lots of little arms-- like a hellish mashup of centipede and clamp. This, he brought to the bedside just as the biobed chimed a finish to its scan. Xex paused to see if the last few seconds of the scan turned up anything new and, apparently still satisfied with his course of action, he tapped a few commands into the side of the bed. A holo overlay appeared above Kestrel's legs, showing first her dermis, then, as Xex continued to tap the controls, her circulatory system, then her musculature and finally her skeleton and connective fascia. "Stars," he muttered as the crushed and ruined landscape of tiny bones in her foot glowed in the air before him, "but Marwol needs to hurry his surgeon arse up."

Andrew was glad to be back inside the Waverider. One crisis had ran into another and he felt that only now did he have a moment to stop and catch his breath. The cabin was a buzz of activity around him and his nose was being assaulted by a number of unsettling burnt odours from surfaces hit by weapons fire. Periodic blasts and crackles punctuated the voices that had directing or questioning tones. He was there, but felt strangely disconnected from it all. He knew what was happening but the specific details were vague, like a conversation he'd stopped listening to. He wondered when his hands had started to shake.
"Munro."

The recognition of his name came slowly through the mental fog..

"MUNRO!" the voice repeated. "Are you hurt?"

"Uh ... n-no," he stammered.

"Good." The voice belonged to Lieutenant Durand, his new boss. Her brow was furrowed with concern. "Stay back here and help with the wounded." She checked the charge level and settings on her phaser. "I'm going to help deter the Kazon from coming any closer."

Andrew managed a nod and smile to acknowledge the instruction. With that she turned and disappeared out onto the ramp.

Timmoz swept quickly through the small corridor and stairs up, passed the commons and pressed into the cockpit- only stopping to touch Nico's shoulder from his position at Operations. "Your cadet is wounded. I don't know how badly. I'm sorry Ashka." Timmoz pressed his lankiness into the helm's chair. "Waverider, shield status."

"88.7%." the feminine voice returned.

Oliveria absorbed the news with a grim nod. There was literally nothing he could do about Noah, so he had to hope that Xex and the others would be able to intervene. Instead, he focused on the task at hand. "We can keep absorbing their fire for a little while but I worry about being chased by their shuttles when we launch," he said, eyes scanning his readouts. "Need to reserve some shield strength for that so the sooner we launch, the better," Nico said, making momentary eye contact with his beloved. "I'm glad you're alright," he said, his eyes full of relief that Timmoz hadn't been harmed.

[Base Camp]
[Concurrent]

Chief Oliveria's warning had come in just enough time for Gar'rath to draw his weapon and look wildly around. "Kazon? Here?!" he hissed to Bridgeport, who was also at the bottom of the Waverider's ramp. Before the security officer could reply, however, twin beams of glowing blue energy lanced out across the way. Surprisingly, the beams weren't directed at the Gorn and his human counterpart, but rather to something or someone to the right of the ship.

Gar'rath could barely see a few figures in that direction but could not tell who they were. Had another team returned, perhaps? Leveling his phaser at the source of the initial blasts, the Gorn fired two of his own shots into the billowing dust, hoping to hit who ever had fired. Unable to assess success or failure, however, Gar'rath simply continued to fire, hoping doing so would give the new arrivals an opportunity to approach.

As the situation progressed, Bridgeport hated being right. He had a feeling they would try to ambush them before they could get on board and safety. As he released the wounded person's stretcher, he drew his phaser and began laying down suppressive fire in the same direction as his team members. The likelihood of hitting someone was good but not great. “Get them inside.” He yelled as he continued to return fire.

With covering fire established, the figures Gar'rath had seen resolved themselves into the forms of Dravor, Davies, Tor, and Munro. The Trill amongst them seemed dazed and had difficulty walking, which accounted for his arm being slung over the entomologist's shoulders. Dravor had either gotten injured in the Coral Forest or taken one (or both?) hits from the Kazon. Either way, the pair moved quickly towards the Waverider, Tor and Munro following close behind.

"What the hell is happening?!" Davies called out over the wind, on approach to the ramp.

"The Kazon are apparently here. I do not know why," Gar'rath shook his head, teeth bared as he fired in the direction of the interlopers once again. This time a beam answered back but hit the ramp itself rather than the Gorn. "Lousy aim helps us as much as them, I guess," the reptile grunted.

Suddenly the shuttle's deflector fields flared to life, protecting the scientists and Bridgeport. A moment later, and a shrill, heavy whine crescendoed into the Waverider's aft phaser array lighting up. It was firing into the brush- presumably at the Kazon pursuers. Once, twice, thrice- each time the trajectory of the brief beam was different.

"Never have I been happier to see the shields go up," Gar'rath said with a sigh. "I would --" The Gorn had been about to say more when the ringing of footsteps on the ramp sounded behind them. Turning to look, he spied a single Kazon woman touting a Starfleet-issue phaser running at him. And then...she ran past him? "Who are you?!" he asked but it was already too late. She'd hit the bottom of the ramp and, passing through the one-way shield barrier, dashed into the storm, vanishing into the dust. "Someone's in a hurry," he grumbled.

"Why was there a Kazon onboard?" Dravor asked, removing his arm from Davies' shoulders then. He'd been dazed by the two blasts that had hit him but surprisingly hadn't been more injured than that. Perhaps the Kazon had intentionally been using a low setting for some reason? "I'm alright," he said, waving off the concerned look of the entomologist. Unholstering his phaser, he took up station to help with the cover fire as well. "With the shields raised, we can safely fire from here. The more phasers the better, I'd say..."

Bridgeport fired twice more before yelling out the answer. “There was a downed shuttle. We didn’t know at the time but the occupant of that shuttle was Kazon being chased by his own people.” And he stopped and fired again. “We found that Kazon in need of first aid so we helped them. Now here we are fighting for our lives, so let’s get in the shuttle and get the hell out of here before they find a way to pin us down.” Yelled the Chief Security Officer.

Coming into view was the oddest of sights. Margarar was sprinting on all fours in her environ suit. However, holes must have been opening throughout the suit, subjecting her to the thinner atmosphere, as even from this distance, the Antican's tongue could be seen lolling out. She dared not look back to see if she was still being pursued. She risked touching her commbadge between strides, causing her to slip on the surface of the planet and fall face forward as she called out, "Lieutenant Margarar, requesting assistance."

The Antican had outpaced the cat given her headstart but, when she face-planted in the earth, it was all the opportunity the panther-like needed to pounce. Or at least it would have if not for the intense phaser blast coming from the Kazon woman who'd been running away from the Waverider in Margarar's direction. Given the brilliant hue of the beam, the weapon had clearly been set for kill instead of stun. Instead of being vaporized, though, the cat merely yelped audibly in pain and stepped backwards, away from its prey. It hissed at Kaldri and went to take a step forward only to be hit with another beam. After a parting yelp, the panther analogue turned and sprinted away.

"That should have killed the damned thing but OK," Kaldri rolled her eyes. She moved forward, helping the Antican to her feet. "They're getting everyone back onboard. Better hurry to meet your friends," she urged before taking off again in the direction she'd been running. Wherever she was going, she'd left Margarar to rejoin the others on her own.

Margarar nodded at the Kazon woman. She did not know where she came from or what her name was and did not get the time to ask. Margarar made a mental note to remember this woman, for there was a debt owed. With that, she made her way back to the ship.

Gwenwyn was running with his teammates, escaping one fight and heading into another. Slightly behind him, t'Nai and Ratthi had also been running, their faces flush from the exertion. The trio arrived at the border of the Waverider's shield, which kept flaring into visibility anytime a Kazon disruptor beam struck the energy barrier. Ducking blasts, the group waved wildly at and called out to the hazy forms -- one of which might be a Gorn? -- standing at the bottom of the ship's ramp. It was hard to tell who was who in the dust storm.

"Gar'rath to Waverider. We've got people trying to get aboard. Lower the shield!" the Gorn urged, having tapped his combadge to open up a shortrange channel with the cockpit

The shield barrier momentarily dropped, the fading blue bubble becoming permeable to people as well as energy beams. Kazon fire lanced out as the group ran up to the ship's ramp, one beam barely missing t'Nai's head while another struck just behind Ratthi's feet. The disruptor fire chased the group -- now including Margarar -- up the ramp and into the ship even as Gar'rath, Davies, and the others tried to provide cover fire. Once everyone had safely ascended, the Gorn called to re-establish the shield, which flared back into being shortly after.

[The Waverider]
[Moments Later]

Marwol had run with the herd into Noah's Ark with the rest of the animals. For a moment, he stood at the top of the ramp looking outwards, catching his breathing then headed to the shuttle's medical bay to assist Xex. If Xex was still alive...

Emni darted past Marwol and into what could only be described as barely organized chaos. Crew members were attempting to find the right things to do, some preparing to support those holding off the Kazon outside of the vessel while others looked for places to get out of the way or offered hands to help. "Stick with Marwol," Emni advised Mei as the two pulled to a stop inside the cargo area. "It looks like we may need hands to help. Otherwise, keep that," here she indicated the scientist's tricorder, "safe. We may need that information more than we realized." And then, without further ado, she made her way up the hall, noting that some were hunkering down in the bunks as she headed toward the front of the ship in search of whomever was running the show.

"Right," Mei said dazedly as she watched t'Nai walk away. Then she shook her head and gently clipped the precious tricorder onto her belt. She couldn't imagine how the information she'd collected would help them now, but she wasn't about to gainsay the commander. Especially when said commander wasn't there to gainsay. Then she turned to Marwol. "What--" Her voice caught, and he cleared her throat. "What should I do?"

"Follow your training," Gwenwyn said walking towards the medical bay of the shuttle. "Remember EFA (Emergacy First Aid) training at the academny? Exactly that."

The sound of Marwol's name had the effect of jerking Xex's head up from the ruin of Kestrel's foot. His relief manifested itself in a bright grin, completely at odds with the grim humm of shield coruscations and the anxious buzz of conversation and orders from the disarray of crewmembers crowding into the cargo space. "Doctor!" Xex called, supporting his voice with as much steel as he could in an attempt to cut through the chaos, "Just in time. For every time a place, no?" he asked rhetorically, sounding as though he were quoting something. As Marwol approached, Xex took a quick inventory of him-- as every third person streaming into the Waverider seemed injured in some way, he wanted to assure himself of his second's health.

Apparently satisfied, Xex gestured to the unconscious Kestrel and the glowing holo of her broken bones and torn ligaments overlaid in the air above her, "Extreme blunt force trauma, as you can see. I was just about to start reconstruction, but why use a hammer like myself, when a scalpel like you is available?" As he made the order framed as a request, he held Marwol's eyes, aware that the man could easily be struggling with his own demons, and anxious to assure himself of the ACMO's mental state.

Gweywn's war injury, his caring along his hand began to itch the more he started to stress out, this would be his first emergency since being back in space. "I'll remind you I legally cannot perform surgery... Even if I could, not here." He then looked at the holo image. ".5 mg of Epinephrine and elevate the leg."

Mei set about scanning the patients Marwol directed her to--with a medical tricorder, not the science one still clipped to her belt- and followed the directions he and it gave her, at least as far as her first-aid training went. Every bit would help, even her amateur efforts.

“Oh no,” Xex assured him, “Definitely not here. But I am concerned about the pieces moving around as we get out of here and pulverizing the soft tissues. It sounds like--” he paused again as the shields whined, “--it's not going to be a smooth trip home. Do you think you can get it properly stabilized?”

Gwenwyn took of his standard issue jacket, placed under Kestrel's leg. The stress was rising but he knew he could overcome it. The Epinephrine will activate an Adrenaline rush, stopping the bleeding and forcing the body to repair. "We shouldn't waste our talents on a leg that could be controlled Doctor."

"As long as you can get it stabilized with more than a field dressing I shall be satisfied," Xex agreed with a nod. "Ensign Parsons is here to assist and--" he paused, finally glancing aside to note Mei hovering just behind Marwol, "it looks like you perhaps have your own attached nurse?" He gave Mei an encouraging glance. "There is at least one other severely injured crewmember triaged to the sleeping quarters-- I want to have a look at the cadet. Unless you need anything else?"

Gwenwyn took a look around, it wasn't major but the priority was controlling people's bleeding which could be a problem. "No, we should be fine. Xex, I suggest we enable basic quarantine procedures, keep people aboard until we know there isn't any unknown bacteria in their systems. Given it is an alien planet,"

As if to punctuate Gwenwyn's statement, the biobed made a discordant chime, and 'dermal regeneration not advised' flashed across the screen in angry red script. Having half hoped not to see it, and half expected to see just that message, Xex said flatly, “Fuck.” At least some terran words were useful.

Xex stepped back to the bed and ran his eye over the biobed's diagnostic of the nasty little moon beasties now running amok in Kestrel's open wounds. “These little bastards are unknown alright-- we don't even have a fraction of their sequencing in the database. We're going to have to synthesize something completely novel to deal with them, and we certainly aren't going to be able to do that here. We can't close them up until we've taken care of the infection potential; we will have to make do with rinsing and moisture coverage.” Xex's mind strayed to the glimpses he'd gotten of the cadet, who seemed worse off than Kestrel in regards to open wounds, at least. “Any other recommendations, doctor?”

Gwenwyn was peering into the wound also. "It would be best to get back to the ship it has all the tools we need." He said. "Right, let's finish up here and check everyone else."

With one last glance to assure himself of the actions taking place on the biobed, Xex turned to the rest of the cargo bay which seemed to have emptied somewhat. Although he could hear the occasional bursts of phaser fire outside, it seemed most of the crew was within, either in the medsuite helping Kestrel, or in the cockpit or sleeping quarters. A few were securing equipment in preparation for their no-doubt imminent departure, but one man seemed at a loss: Munro. Xex hesitated, but the quickfire flash of images and impressions from the last few moments supplied the man's name. "Munro, right?" he asked, moving himself into the dazed man's line of sight. Hopefully, it was the dazed look of someone who needed a job, not the dazed look of someone entirely shutting down higher function in the face of trauma. Without waiting for a verbal answer, Xex continued, "If you'll follow me? I want to make sure that cadet doesn't pass out and give himself another puffy eye-- and it looks like his wounds are potentially more trouble than we thought."

“Yes, that’s right,” Andrew confirmed and managed a small smile. Everyone seemed to have something to do except him and so he was feeling a little guilty about not helping out. He nodded in response to the direction and followed the doctor into the sleeping quarters, grateful for the opportunity to be useful.

[Sleeping Quarters]
[The Waverider]
[Concurrent]

"What happened?!" Tor cried to Irynya and Noah.

Irynya had nearly turned into the bunk room when she heard Tor's cry and frowned. It wasn't that she didn't want to answer the woman so much as she wanted to get Noah somewhere he could rest and so she kept moving, craning her neck to the side. "In here," she called to the other woman. "He's hurt."

The pleasantly plump botanist jogged her way into one of the two bunk rooms, surprised at how spartan it suddenly felt with three people. A strange, keening oscillation rippled over the bulkhead: the Kazon were shooting back, as much as their personnel weapons were likely useless against a Runabout's shields. With a hop and a wince, Noah sat on the edge of one of the cabin cubbies and then lay down.

The grisly wounds on his face- what may have been a broken nose, two deep, almost clean cuts to near bone above and below his eye, and the fact that his ear had a ragged tear in its outer conch were all troubling indeed. His eye was bloodied, its normally white iris shot with red. He was gritting his teeth behind his lips as he cradled his arm. "Med kit," she instructed calmly to Irynya.

A frustrating protective instinct swam in the Risian's gut at the instruction as if somehow she should be the one to do the doctoring. Equally, though, she knew she was likely more useful elsewhere and, if she could get Tor what she needed then Noah was likely in good hands. He trusted the botanist and because of that, despite knowing the other woman for less, so would she.

Nodding, she made a quick dash back to the main space, snagging an extra med kit and rushing back to the room. Stopping beside Tor she opened the case next to Noah, displaying its contents for the Valt's use.

When Irynya returned, Tor was already trying to undo and fold to the side Noah's uniform. Her mossy green gaze met Irynya and she smiled. "Can you help me get this off? Just to the waist, please." She said in a nurse-like way. Again there was that oscillating, almost fizzling sound over the hull. And again, and then again. Tor looked up at the ceiling and then, med kit splayed open, she went for the laser scalpel. She used it to cut Noah's uniform open, from Adam's apple to navel. Gently she pushed it aside, a soft grunt coming. He was badly black and blue with a scattering splotch of red along his collarbone.

"OK I'm no Doctor, but that's probably broken."

As Tor worked, Irynya did her best to help, easing back the fabric as it was cut away. She willed herself to gentle carefulness, drawing on Tor's seemingly endless well of calm. When she got a real look at him, though, her brow creased and her stomach clenched. "Oh, Noah," she breathed quietly. She quickly turned her gaze to Tor, frowning. "I agree," she said and then stretched a hand between them to snag a medical tricorder. "I think this can at least give us the basics..." She held it between them a moment, uncertain if she should go ahead or hand the thing to Tor.

Tor looked at it, to Irynya, and back. "I wouldn't even know where to begin. But we can at least seal these cuts." She said, of which several Noah had on his side as well- through his uniform looked to have taken the brunt. But the first thing Tor did was take out the hypospray and, searching through the various colorful liquids in the small canisters, found the one that was a pain killer. She pressed that one to Noah's neck.

The Valt pressed her lips together and located the dermal regenerator. She again looked at the tricorder. "I don't see anything else besides the cuts and the collar. Noah what happened?"

Noah was patiently- if a bit dazedly- watching the two women. "Um. A branch from the storm. It cracked. I-I think Kestrel saw it first. She pushed me. I landed in some kind of brambles. But Kestrel got hit with the branch. The Chief started to treat her. But I never g-got a an idea of how she was."

Finally taking Tor's response as an indication that she should run the tricorder, Irynya flipped the thing open and pointed it at Noah, scanning from the top of his curly mop of hair downward. "I'll check on Kestrel as soon as we get you sorted," she told Noah, her voice holding a gentle tenderness to it that gave away the protectiveness that had settled deep into her bones. The instinct to soothe was strong, but the Risian was far more accomplished at soothing emotional needs than she was at addressing physical ailments.

As if the tricorder had sensed her need to do something... anything... productive, it let out a squelching beep and a triaged list of ailments appeared on the small screen.

"Broken collar bone," she read off, glancing up at Noah and eyeing both of his shoulders as if looking would magically make it clear what to do. "The lacerations..." This time she turned to Tor, "you're right with the dermal regenerator. Get the deepest ones first and we need to close up the one above his eye. And then clean him up a bit. The rest..." she frowned at the display again, "You're in rough shape, Noah," she said. "You need to stay awake at the least until Xex or Marwol can look at you."

"Stay-stay awake OK," Noah swallowed. He was fatigued but he didn't feel tired. There was too much going on. But the sedative effects of the pain killer were... lilting. He blinked while Tor's hand and body moved above his line of vision.

"Stay still Noah, or you might end up having more eyelids than you're supposed to have." She said. He felt a vague pinching feeling and then a warbling sound of a device- the kind anyone who'd had a dermal regenerator aimed at them would know. What he didn't expect was the chirping sound. Tor pulled away. "Damn. Foreign bacteria detected. We can't close until we can get him to the ship for Decon." Tor looked at Irynya. "Go tell Xex and Marwol. Ask them what the protocols are. Can we suture and stabilize?

Irynya's face had paled at the warning notifying them of foreign bacteria and didn't hesitate when Tor suggested she get one of the professionals to weigh in. Gently she laid a hand on Noah's uninjured arm, making sure he could see her. "I'll be right back. We'll have you fixed up in no time."

She tried to project calm confidence, but the tiniest waver in her voice gave her away. Irynya was worried.

With a quick nod of acknowledgment to Tor the Risian turned, rushing out of the room and only getting two steps down the corridor before very nearly running right into Xex and Munro.

"Oh thank goodness," she breathed as she came to a halt, looking at both men. "I think we have a problem."

[Cockpit]
[Concurrent]

"I think we have a problem," Nico suddenly said, looking over at Timmoz. "One of the Kazon shuttles is powering up. Engines, weapons...everything is coming online. We're fish in a barrel if they fly over here and start shooting at us," he grimly reported.

Timmoz tersely sighed and checked the status of the teams getting back in. "We need another minute. Maybe a little less," he stared at the commbadge signatures of Margarar Bridgeport, the life sign that was Kaldri. Timmoz touched the comm panel. "This is your Pilot speaking. Last call for boarding the Shuttle Waverider. for destination Sojourner, orbit. The weather today is stormy with a chance of Kazon disruptor fire in the next couple of minutes. Anyone who doesn't want to be a permanent resident of this paradise had better get on."

"Looks like people are getting a move on," Oliveria confirmed, also looking at the lifesigns on sensors. Everyone did, indeed, seem to be boarding as instructed. "Wait, no," Nico said, confusion clouding his face as he double-checked a reading. "The Kazon woman...Kaldri?" he tried her foreign name on his lips. "She's getting closer but I'm showing her about a hundred feet in the air. How..." And then it dawned on the engineer. "Both Kaldri and that Kazon shuttle are in the same place. I think she's on that shuttle," Nico reported to Timmoz. Another alert drew his attention then and the Chief did a double take. "And now all of the Kazon are withdrawing towards their other shuttle. What's going on out there?" he wondered aloud.

"Your Portuguese is showing, Ashka," Timmoz quipped even while his look was concerned. His eyes narrowed. he was trying to discern what he was seeing. Perhaps Kaldri had taken the shuttle? Had they captured her? "I have no idea. But let's get out of here," Timmoz said. He pushed the comm panel again. "That's it. Everyone find something to hold on to. We're leaving," he said as he sidled into the chair.

His breath was terse a moment, he shook his head with a wry grin. He tapped the controls- they flashed, went dark, and then reappeared. "Irynya and her damned custom console settings." He muttered. The engines rumbled to life. "Bridgeport. Get to Weapons, just in case."

Bridgeport was ready. “First thing I did when we got buttoned up. Phasers are charged and ready, and torpedos are loaded. I’m ready so I don’t have to get ready.” Replied Bridgeport

"Kaldri's shuttle is headed for the atmosphere," Oliveria reported. "Looks like the other Kazon are powering up their remaining shuttle to go after her. I think she's maybe leading them away from us," he postulated, then looked at the engineering readouts and nodded. "Engines are ready to go. We still have some of the dust clogging up our intakes so please," he grimaced at his paramour, "take it easy," Nico urged.

With that, the Waverider's ramp angled up into its closed position, an accompanying thud reverberating through the ship. The craft's engines flared as the ship rose from the surface, it's thrusters and anti-grav machinery heralding the vessel up into the heavens. Despite the heavy pockets of turbulence that affected the ship -- shaking its denizens wildly about -- no other issues cropped up during their ascent back into orbit.

As the atmosphere thinned and the Waverider freed itself of the shackles of Shaddam IVa, the Sojourner came into view amidst the starscape. She was all graceful lines and sleek power as the ship maneuvered away from the Kordra-Lisrit’s line of fire, sending a vibrant, viridian energy beam back at the Kazon ship trying to follow in their wake. The conflict, it seemed, had resumed once the Kazons' systems had been restored. How was the Waverider supposed to dock in the middle of a firefight?

Clearly, Timmoz had his work cut out for him...


=/\= A giant JP by... =/\=

Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Margarar
Assistant Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Gwenwyn Marwol
Assistant Chief Medical Officer

Ensign Mei Ratthi
Anthropologist/Archaeologist

Lieutenant Arianna Durand
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Gar'rath
Chief of Operations

Lieutenant JG Kestrel
Tactical Officer

Midshipman Noah Balsam
Systems Specialist

Lieutenant Charles Bridgeport
Chief Tactical/Security Officer

Ensign Sheldon Parsons
Engineering Officer

Lieutenant Irynya
Secondary Flight Controller

Lieutenant Nico Oliveria
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Timmoz
Primary Flight Controller

Lieutenant Xex Wang
Chief Medical Officer

Kaldri
Shuttle Crash Survivor (NPC'd by Brad)

Ensign Brian Davies
Science Officer

Doctor Andrew Munro
Civilian Biologist

Ensign Tamblem Dravor
Security Officer

Ensign Jyl-eel Tor
Science Officer