Posted March 28, 2022, 4:22 p.m. by Ensign Alwyn Yarwood (Medical Doctor) (Adrien Jouve)
Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim - Alien Planet - Landing Party 2 Near A Cave Mouth
Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Main Sim - Alien Planet - Landing Party 2 Near A Cave Mouth
Posted by Gamemaster CockRoach (GM) in Main Sim - Alien Planet - Landing Party 2 Near A Cave Mouth
[snip]Scans so far by anyone checking things showed nothing out of place so far that they could recognize. Approaching the cave mouth they saw it was dimly lit past 10ft or so into a gloomy tunnel that seemed to head deeper into the earth below. The scent of damp earth, moss, and probably some kind of animal presence or similar wafted out. The tracks of the unknown party that they had followed here it seems had gone into the cave ahead.
GM CockRoach
As Rand walked making observations she got a whiff of something not totally fresh open air, though it didn’t hint at unpleasantness, yet, and she glanced around trying to locate the source of it. The rest of the group wasn’t far behind, within talking distance, but somehow she was in front. “Nope, I’m here as an extra pair of hands. One of you lads get up front. I am not walking into some big, dark, scary cave like some sacrificial Greek Virgin.” And to emphasize her point she moved toward the back of the group.
Yeoman Rand
One of the two other red shirt NE’s from security came up to Rand and jokingly elbowed her in the left side. “..Don’t worry Yeoman I’ll keep you safe!” he said with a confident grin.
Nearby the other red shirt NE from security, this one female just rolled her eyes from behind the first one at his comments. “..Pish come on NE Barks we both know you couldn’t keep your pet goldfishes safe much less the Yeoman there..” she said.
Rand didn’t know what to make of Barks jostling her like that. She was serious, and he thought it was a joke. Or maybe he was attempting to impress? She really had no idea. She just knew that SOP said that command or security officers entered any unknown or hostile location first, and Rand was neither. She liked the other officer though, she reminder her of Tracy Morgan, the security officer who had joined them on Kelmao. She gave the woman a grateful smile and moved past them. She was sure Barks didn’t mean any harm but she certainly didn’t know how she was supposed to respond.
Roman gave a half smile at Rand’s comment, but privately, he was glad she wasn’t near the front of the group. He’d prefer her sort of in the middle of it. Especially with the potential of meeting someone hostile. He nodded to Yarwood. “Let’s keep our eyes and year’s open and our scanners out when possible.” Of course it was exciting to Roman, the possibility of meeting a new species, and his excitement was obvious. He’d be excited, if they had the time, over the area’s native animals.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Kovan rolled his eyes at Rand’s comment, “What? Don’t feel like dying to appease some monster or the other? I would volunteer but I wouldn’t fit the criteria.” That said, he moved to the front of their party. He may not be a trained fighter like a security officer, but he’s been in enough fist fights to hold his own. Nor could he claim any fear of the dark or tight spaces. Kovan tucked his tricorder back into its leather satchel and pulled out a small penlight. Small and discrete, it was often used to light up dark areas of the ship’s guts while crawling around Jeffries Tubes. Not the best choice for cave exploration but it kept his hands free.
Now Kovan she kind of got. They’d interacted more than she had with most other of the crew. She knew his comment could be taken both seriously and as a joke. She was pretty sure Kovan was mostly serious. But Rand had managed to embarrasses herself (though years of training kept her face passive), she hadn’t meant she meet the criteria or not. It had simply been meant as an analogy. She really needed to avoid saying things around other people. “Not particularly, no.” Though Rand was absolutely certain she could pull of the terrified blood curdling scream for mercy at the drop of a hat, she figured such pleas were wasted on monsters that were going to kill you anyway.
“So what’s the plan when we meet these strangers?” Kovan asked.
Ensign ch’Sirhc, COMMO/ENGR
“We hope they aren’t hostile, we do anything we can within reason to not provoke them if they are, and hopefully we can ask them a few questions about the explosion site outside or perhaps the reason we’re here in the first place, the warp signature.” Roman replied, lowering his voice a little.
Using the penlight, Ch’Sirhc could see maybe about 15 or so feet ahead. The cave entrance was a small caveran about 20 feet in height, by 30 some feet wide and about 40 feet deep. The tunnel leading off from it was about 10 feet high and 13 or so feet wide leading on a slight slope down into the earth.
The entrance showed signs of likely inhabitation at some point, bits of a small cooking campfire was off to their left in one far corner, crude leathers and furs used as dirty bedding/clothes were here and there in piles. Signs of trash, bones, half eaten rotted meat were in another corner that seemed to be the source of the foul smells they had before them. But also picked up was signs that some kind of small fight took place here within the past day or so. Some tracks were those of the mysterious party they had followed here, others were new. The new tracks were likely of a tiny creature, with three long toes and a foot shape that was semi-humanoid with a lizard like quality to them. Going off the patterns of the tracks, the mystery party had engaged about 8-10 of these little scaled people, who then made a hasty retreat down the tunnel ahead of them which the mystery party then followed.
GM CockRoach
A bit behind the group, Alwyn was scanning the place with his tricorder. Everything, from the meat to the blood and the bones, no biomass escaped his scan. From the outside, his scanning approach would look… passionate. Almost obsessed. All those precious information was vital in order to understand the species of this planet and its biosystem. “Such a treasure…”, he said to Ch’Sirhc, a bit lost in his thought. “This is a big step in understanding the biology of this species. Isn’t it fascinating ?”
Rand wasn’t a tracker, though she could identify most animal tracks found in her beloved Scotland. She was able to tell there were two different types of prints but not what had happened. She was careful not to disturb the prints as she moved around the room, after the room was cleared. Once they knew it was empty she pulled out her tricorder using it to take images of the prints, the bedding, the trash, the fire, and anything else left behind. These were obviously sentient species and taking any of their things for ‘study’ was the same as theft, in her mind, so images were the next best way to study them after. She was careful not to touch or disturb the sleeping spaces but she did try to see if there was anything that might be worth mentioning to the rest of the party. And since they were on the planet to investigate the warp signature, she set her tricorder to scan for any energy signatures. She wouldn’t know much more about it, having only taken basic classes, but she could still help in that way.
Rand
Roman was no tracker, though as a biologist and zoologist, he did have some experience. When one needed to locate elusive strange alien animals on strange alien worlds, one tended to learn how to do it. Going over the area carefully, it was obvious someone had camped here. He was fairly sure those were the marks of a scuffle, and one set of tracks matched the ones from outside, the other definitely looked reptilian, but humanoid. A scuffle meant either or both of the people involved might be hostile, and that put him on edge. “It looks like both parties went that way.” But should they follow? Did they have any business following? Or would they just needlessly walk into danger? Roman wanted to think before saying anything else aloud.
~ Roman
Approaching the new set of unknown tracks, Alwyn felt this day was a lucky one. Two in a row, he thought with a big smile, crouching next to the track. * I love my job !* He scanned the new print with his tricorder, trying not to show too much of his excitement, which consisted in wiggling his head like he was nodding to something. Plus, according to the scene, it was a bit obvious that those lizard-like creatures were mostly likely carnivorous, and maybe predators, hunting in groups judging by the size they might have.
Standing up, the doctor looked at Roman and pointed to the other foot tracks: “Maybe we should follow those. If someone can tell us about the explosion, it might be this strange party. And they might be wounded after the fight they had.”
Doctor Alwyn Yarwood - Ensign
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