Objectives pt.1

Posted on Sat Jan 30th, 2021 @ 6:37am by Lieutenant Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Tyroh Vantic

Mission: The Jungle
Location: Somewhere in the Jungle
Timeline: Current

ON:

The foliage surrounding Tyroh was dense and thick. One couldn't see through the brush much farther than 3 or 4 metres. Tyroh hoped it was simply a feature of where he'd been transported to and not a feature of the entire jungle itself. If it was going to be this thick throughout, his traversing it in anything resembling a moderate speed would be a problem.

At least I can see the beacon, the security officer told himself. He looked up in the direction of the powerful light in the distance, having oriented himself to face the beam as he walked. It was difficult terrain but nothing he wasn't used to. His left shoulder still throbbed, as did his thumbs. The former purposefully dislocated in order to ease his previously bound hands from behind him to in front of him. The latter to aid in the task of unbinding his hands from those well-formed knots.

Vantic had performed that very trick a time or two back in his days as a soldier. It was quite effective in extricating oneself from a binding but caused a nuisance in the lingering weakness from having put the bones back where they belonged. At least he had useful length of study rope in his possession now.

The dull throbbing pain was minimal to him and the feeling would pass. The weakness in his shoulder and thumbs would pass after a couple hours. Still, Tyroh would have to remember to get everything checked out once they were all out of this predicament.

Sounds of rustling foliage and unknown fauna resonated in his ears. The security chief paused often to make sure he wasn't being tracked by predators and to hear if any of this crewmates were nearby. He was reluctant to call out as there was no telling what, or who, might be out there.

Eventually, Tyroh spotted a tree that would suit his purposes in getting a better vantage point on his surroundings. The flora was thick down on ground level but there were better opportunities at seeing what was around him from higher up. Continuing to ignore the throbbing in his shoulder and pulsing in his thumbs, Tyroh scampered up the tree as quickly and as quietly as he was able.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Kla'ren was lying under the bushes and the foliage, as he had been on the move for a while now, and didn't have a weapon to defend himself, so naturally, he hid himself so he wouldn't be seen, just in case he was being hunted. Eventually, he got up, and decided to climb the tree he was leaning against, so he could get an extended view from the high ground. However, this was a challenge, as his hands were still tied together behind his back. So his first task: find a way to unbind his hands, then scale to the top of the tree.

After he looked around for a few minutes, he noticed an object that was sharp and rusty and appeared to be a weapon of some kind. However, guarding it, was some kind of mix between a Targ from the Klingon Empire, and a Bear from Earth. He noticed a decently sized rock on the ground, and Thriss carefully picked it up and threw it past the creature, which then caused a somewhat successful distraction. The Andorian crept over while still keeping his head low, and picked up the object, which was a rusty piece of what used to be a metal pipe. How it got here? The Engineer had no clue. However, it was his best method of defense at the current moment, so it would have to do for now.

As he got up to mobilize again, he heard rustling coming from the bushes. He looked. Nothing. Then, he heard a loud screech coming from behind him, and he knew it was the creature. So, as it was running at him full speed, Thriss readied the weapon. He then counted down from three while taking deep breaths in between. "Three...two...one...", and on one, he swung the pipe and turned around at the same time, to see that he struck the creature that was originally guarding the rusty pipe. Needless to say, the targ looking creature would be unconscious for a while.

From his vantage point Tyroh wasn't seeing much of anything of interest, other than the light beacon, but he could see further than from below. There was a glint of something off to his left that might be something of interest. He took note of the direction, and then started to climb down from his perch as he knew he was exposing himself the longer he remained.

The ear-piercing shriek that knifed through the relative jungle stillness caused his heart to race in anticipation. The sound was pervasive, filling the air with its bellowing echo, resonating with what the security officer could only describe as anger. A predator, of some sort. Vantic tried to triangulate where the sound had originated from, which was proving a little difficult. The creature, whatever it was, clearly wasn't after him so Tyroh was curious as to what its target was.

Off to his right, the Angosian noticed the brush was being trampled by the swift movement of...something. He kept his eyes and ears on the movement which, following a sudden loud thump, came to a stop. Whatever had happened something, or someone, had stopped the creature in its tracks.

That's worth investigating, Tyroh thought to himself as he climbed down from his elevated location and started in the direction of the commotion. He carefully traversed the terrain, so as to make as little sound as possible, before coming upon the scene of an Andorian standing over the still form of some creature native to this region of the planet.

"Lieutenant Kla'ren," Tyroh said, recognizing the Liberty's Chief Engineer after a moment. He didn't know the person very well, having only seen him once at a senior staff meeting, but he was pleased to see a familiar face nonetheless. "Are you okay?"

Thriss looked up after he had hit the creature who had just tried to attack him moments before. "Commander Vantic, its good to see another familiar face from the Liberty's crew. I am alright, but I'm not so sure about this targ looking thing that just attacked me." He looked at the pipe. "This did more damage than I thought it would."

Tyroh moved closer to the beast and Kla'ren, trying to get a better look at the creature that did, when looked at in a certain way, vaguely resemble a targ. "Be thankful that it did. We have no idea just what predators on this planet are capable of. Have you seen or heard from anyone else on the crew?"

"Negative sir, at least not in the jungle. However, I theorize that if we proceed towards the beacon, we will find them, as the beacon is supposed to be our objective as it seems. Also, have you found any weapons or equipment?", asked the Andorian.

Tyroh glanced briefly in the direction of the beacon, narrowing his eyes. There was also supposed to be some kind of idol that needed to be found as well. There would likely already be a group of Liberty personnel taking on that task but one wouldn't know for sure. Tyroh's priority was the well being and safety of the crew which, for the moment, started with Kla'ren.

"I haven't found any weapons or equipment yet," Tyroh doubted that their "gamemaster" would be all that accommodating with quality supplies and equipment. "But I did see a glint of...something not seemingly native to the area in that direction," he pointed behind him. "We should head that way first before doing anything else."

"Agreed", replied the Engineer. However, somethings didn't add up to the Lieutenant. First of all, why was the Manchester so easily found, all of the sudden, after a decade. Sure, they were in the area where the ship was last seen. He pondered over why it hadn't been found prior. It could be because their route wasn't as used. He was sure there was an answer to this, but it seemed like a coincidence, one that was too great to ignore. However, he didn't have time to determine these theories, as he needed to focus on the immediate task: survival.

OFF: tbc...

Lieutenant Thriss Kla'ren
Chief Engineer
USS Liberty

&

Lieutenant Commander Tyroh Vantic
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Liberty