Well We Lost The XO

Posted on Wed Mar 4th, 2020 @ 9:45am by Ensign Michael Sloan & Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Major Samuel King & Lieutenant Aurelius Davis & Lieutenant Min Seong & Lieutenant Sovar & Lieutenant Samantha Leyton & Lieutenant JG Mattias Constantine
Edited on on Wed Apr 15th, 2020 @ 2:17pm

Mission: Mission 2 - Fallout
Timeline: Day7, Month 1, Year 0 21:30
2077 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

It was late and everyone was tired but there was no way that Beth could back down now as she used the Engineering Officers assistance to climb onto the nearest table. This type of meeting was way past due. Yes, they had found substance but they had lost the Executive Officer and that was something that needed to be addressed and quickly before panic settled in. She looked around and saw that a large majority of the crew were sardined into the rec room to not just listen but to see the woman.

“I know we are all tired and know we are still hungry but I want to address a few things with you all.” She said loudly knowing her voice was being communicated throughout the ship thanks to Constantine and the device stuck at her collar. "Yes, Sloan is missing."

And it was his fault, she'd left out that part. Aurelius kept his eyes down on the table as she spoke. He couldn't have felt lower about the situation. He should have found some way to help the man while he was down in the hole with him.

Livingston stood in the corner, listening to everything that the captain said. Ben hadn't much contact with the commander, but what little he had, he found the man to be truthful and honorable....someone he would follow anywhere.

'Missing?!' Samantha thought, her eyes widening a bit at the news. 'The captain is dead, we're lost 150 years from home in a damaged ship and the XO is missing--this is the voyage of the damned.'

"There is a possibility that Commander Sloan has been abducted rather than being simply 'missing,'" Sovar said. He projected his even, steady voice just enough to be heard above the natural din of so many people crammed into such a small space. He hadn't had the opportunity to discuss the matter with their acting commanding officer but now was as good a time as any. Surely the crew would act calmly and logically in response. "My analysis of the algae on the planet suggests that it has been cultivated. Sergeant Chang and I discovered additional evidence pointing to the presence of sentient life. In short, I believe this may be an inhabited planet."

“The lieutenant is right,” Minna said. “People don’t just disappear on uninhabited planets, especially not to the point where we can’t find him on scanners. Someone or something took him.”

Beth made a small pursed face at the Vulcan for revealing that before she had gotten to the point. "Yes thank you, Lieutenant, Sergeant," Beth said purposely reminding them of rank for a moment. "It is one of the possible options."

From his station at the tactical console, Ensign Martinez stood at attention as he listened to the Captain before him. He had been the one to find the canister and had been analyzing it since he returned to the ship. Staying silent, the young armory officer motioned for the Captain to join him as he held up the empty canister.

Standing near the back of the room, Mattias was one of the few junior officers who had little to no reaction at the news. He was floating along with the dull familiarity of chronic fatigue, which didn't help matters. But, having been the man on the radio when Lieutenant Davis had made his report afforded him some immunity from the shocking nature of the commander's announcement.

However, his dulled perception still noticed the pointed glare of Commander Leroux, and it did not protect him from a moment of shock at the Vulcan science officer's discovery. The potential implications of sentient lifeforms ran the gamut. Would he be able to communicate with them? Were they friendly or hostile? Was Sloan going to be alright? Everything seemed to circle back to that central concern.

"We're going to find him," Aurelius said assertively. "We don't leave people behind."

"We do not." Min agreed but had a quirk of her brow at the whole scene. "And the pure assumption that we are within our own rules of logic out in this realm is probably... something we need to knock off." She folded her arms against her chest. "The Major and I ran into some odd creatures, but that doesn't necessarily mean Commander Sloan was abducted simply due to common sense or the planet being inhabited. We may have to look at more possibilities than the logical." Though, the logical one made the most sense for the moment. "There may be things we cannot pick up on our scanners, but I do know how we can at least begin to look for the Commander himself. It may help us determine at least where on the planet he has disappeared to."

"Forgive me, doctor, but if we knew the commander's location already then would he still be classified as missing?" Sovar said, turning to the ship's physician.

"Have we tried using the sensors to locate the commander? Maybe use his communicator to pinpoint his location," asked Ensign Livingston.

Min opened her mouth to continue her explanation when the pilot spoke. She blinked, before shaking her head. "That was likely tested, Ensign. On that, Lieutenant Sovar is correct. But what I am suggesting is the only known variable we have is the Commander. We have his specific biometrics and files, and we have the technology to look for it. I am merely suggesting we open our search field up to more than what we believe the possibilities to be. We are too far out to keep in the scope of our own logic was what I suggested. How do we know what to look for if all we are looking for is what we can logically perceive?"

"It's not like we have 300 to 400 people available to search for the commander. There has to be something we can do to actually locate him." Ben responded.

"We are not ruling anything out. Why I am telling you all at the same time and same place." The new Captain frowned at her senior officers making a slight scene before she was ready to explain what they had on the surface and the possible ramifications on them and their future.

The conversations around him were all blending together. Of course, he wanted to find Michael and if the others came up with a plan then that was great, but Aurelius didn't feel like he had anything to contribute. Let the science people do their thing and they would probably find him. He just wished he could be down there searching on foot.

But as if the request for something to help them was answered Beth jumped down from the table as she spotted the armoury officer motioning for her through the crowded rec room. He was newly returned from the surface and obviously had news. "What have you got Ensign Martinez?"

The armory officer looked to the Captain, then at the ruckus around him. "I've been running analysis on the canister since I got back to the ship, and I think I can give you a location for the canister's origin." He placed the metal casing on the console and brought up a map of the planet that the sensors had created on his console's screen.

Martinez pointed out a small area near where the oasis had been found. "Scanning showed that the gas canister had trace elements found in the rock of this area, and only this area. There is also a sensor blindspot about 5 square kilometres in that area." Tapping on the area to illustrate his point, the man added, "Best guess is that he's there somewhere."

Beth looked the information over before nodding at him. He was a good officer to the core, he would make a brilliant senior officer one day she mused to herself. "Good job Martinez." The Captain said looking at the man picking up the canister. She let out a whistle to get everyone's attention as she climbed back on the chair to be seen over the heads of people. "Enough arguing and discussion." The woman said first in English, then in Vulcan to highlight she knew both. "We need to stop this as a crew. We are one crew, everyone look around you. Look at the faces of the only people that you can rely on, the men and women around you are all we have at the moment. We do not have time for arguments like this I need volunteers." She instructed allowing the silence to reign for a moment as people looked around at each other.

Samantha nodded in response to the captain's orders. The bickering among the other senior officers in public only showed a lack of confidence to the junior officers and enlisted crew. Aboard a small ship such as her previous assignment, the EDS Monitor, every man and woman was vital and had to learn to work in unison like a well oiled machine and although the Atlantis was larger than the Monitor, she knew the same principles had to hold true. Such principles held true since the days of sail. "Hooyah, Captain," she replied with an old Naval battle cry she had learned from her grandfather in an attempt to get the crew together and motivated.

Lieutenant Sovar remained quiet for the sake of allowing the commanding officer to maintain control of the conversation; however, he had grave concerns about the information provided by Ensign Martinez. He knew from reviewing the data himself that there was no known natural phenomena related to L-class planets - this one in particular - that should create such a sensor blind spot. Marching into it without additional investigation sounded very much like walking right into an ambush.

"The sooner we start looking, the sooner we can find him and be on our way, captain. I'm ready to go now." Ben responded. But inside him, he was still angry that he was passed over for the primary helmsman position. He actually thought he could make a difference here and be someone. Now, he was just a junior officer, low man on the totem pole.

Aurelius glanced at Samantha. He couldn't help but smile at her for her attempt at rousing the troops. "Are you trying to take the morale officer job from me too?" He winked to show he was teasing.

"I'll volunteer to be a member of the rescue team," a voice cut in, belonging to Petty Officer Ben Larson. "I've already been down to the surface." It was true. The young man's boots still had algae caked onto the sole. "I may not be a good shot, but we've got MACOs for that. Please. I want to help. I know that each and every one of us would do anything to help one another, and I'm more than happy to lend my planetary survival expertise to the mission."

“I am a good shot, and I volunteer as well” Minna chimed in.

"I'm in as well," Ben said.

"It is logical for a science officer to go, as well," Sovar said. "I will assist."

Aurelius thought about it, but he'd already been down to the planet once and had found nothing when he'd discovered the Commander missing. There were things he could do to help the Captain aboard ship so he kept quiet.

Although Samantha wanted to help, she knew she would be needed aboard the ship at her position. She was a decent shot but she was far better at piloting and who knew what would come up.

Beth looked over her crew and could not be more proud of the people she was leading. So man people were volunteering. "We leave at dawn." It was pointless before there were not enough torches and the planet was pitch black.

OFF::

Lieutenant Sovar
Science Officer
NX Atlantis

Ensign Mattias Constantine
Communications Officer
NX Atlantis

PO2 Ben Larson
Engineer
(NPC Constantine)
NX Atlantis

Lieutenant Aurelius Davis
Morale Officer
NX Atlantis

Lieutenant Min Seong
Medical Officer
NX Atlantis

Lieutenant JG Samantha Leyton
Chief Helm Officer
NX Atlantis

Sergeant Minna Chang
MACO First Sergeant / Recon Sniper
NX Atlantis

Ensign Ben Livingston
Helm Officer
NX Atlantis

Ensign Luis Martinez
Armory Officer
NX Atlantis
(pNCP Sloan)

Commander Bethsabee Leroux
Officer In Charge/Chief Communications Officer
NX Atlantis