A Hunting We Will Go

Posted on Sat 12th Nov, 2016 @ 10:30am by Commander Zachary Hunt & Lieutenant JG Patrick Biere & Lieutenant Ricardo Shepard & Lieutenant Sianna Dal

1,040 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Bottom levels of Vanguard
Timeline: MD03 0900 Hours

Jade Lantz was the only civilian involved in the hunt. Well, unless one considered a diplomat to be a civilian. She knew that, since she was the head of the Promenade Merchants Association, she often was included on things that were mostly Starfleet projects. On Vanguard, there was a good rapport between military and civilian populations. She'd been places where that wasn't true, and was in no hurry to return.

With Drake gone on a mission of possible danger, Jade wondered if Hunt should even be involved in what they were doing. On the other hand, there was usually some redundancy at the top, if only to be sure there was enough brass to go around. Still, he was there, ... and how dangerous could this be? Silly to even think that! You know better than most how quickly something innocuous can turn tragic.

"So who's going where?" she asked the temporary base commander.

"Green, Addams, Lantz and Biere you're together with Staff Sergeant Euphemios, which leaves myself, Shephard, Dal, McCabe and Lance Corporal Alexsasdottir," Hunt stated in reply. "Shepard, from the earlier diagrams, in which places should we all start?"

It never crossed Hunt's mind that he shouldn't be doing this...maybe he should have waited until Drake got back. He was happy with the crew at hand and was comfortable they all knew what they were doing, even though no one knew what they would actually find! He was glad he waited until the next morning to go down to the bottom levels of Vanguard, it might have been a stupidly long night otherwise.

There was no hesitation in speaking up, as surprising as it might be to some, Sianna Dal was not given to hubris; pride, yes, but coupled with an intense awareness of her own limitations, "I am not entirely certain I'm qualified for this task." with a wan smile, she added, "But I could arrange for a company of Nausicaan mercenaries for quite an affordable price. Or, if you prefer quality, some ex-Obsidian Order operatives. Quite expensive, but well worth the price, I feel."

Hunt raised a smile, "Are any of us qualified for this task? We have no idea what we will find...if anything."

Staff Sergeant Euphemios shook her head and spoke up, "Ma'am, no disrespect, but I'll put UFP Marines against mercenaries of any stripe any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. Lance Corporal Aleksasdottir and I will stand between you and trouble, ma'am. I can't promise we'll keep you safe, but I will promise that anything that kills you will have killed us, first."

Doctor Addams smiled, an expression that seemed to take pleasure in the idea of gruesome deaths occurring in front of her eyes. "Well, isn't that reassuring?" she asked, rhetorically.

"Very. Least we won't get killed first" Hunt commented.

McCabe spoke his thoughts. "I don't believe this is a thing in the sense that it's a typical opponent, Sergeant. I'm not doubting your courage or your abilities in any way, but I believe we need to think outside the box on this. Whatever it was that left behind the goo we found and analyzed is not going to be corporal in the usual sense." He scratched his head above his right ear, and took a deep breath. "Actually, I think we need to be prepared for something more ... fluid, I guess. Not a shape changer," he assured them, "but something more flexible than humanoids tend to be. And, uh, I'm ready when you are, so Lt. Shepard, where away?"

Shepard pulled out a PADD from the cargo pocket of his pants and pulled out a diagram of the sub levels of the starbase. "I have pinpointed a couple of spots on this PADD that maybe of interest." He made sure to hold the PADD up so that everyone could see it.

"Also, everyone take one of these." Rico then took a black bag off of his shoulder and placed it on the ground. He knelt down over it and handed the entire group standard Starfleet flashlights that could be secured on the wrist. "According to other readings Biere and I have discovered, the power isn't very stable down here. Any questions?"

Sianna looked up from where she was testing the weight of the flash-light, though she had refrained from turning it on and off in consideration of the mental well-being of the people present ... and because it would hardly be a novel experience, even if she resolved to test it at some point, just to be certain that the device actually worked, "Any chance we'd have time to change?" with a self-deprecating smile, the diplomat added, "I'd rather be wearing something I wouldn't mind getting dirty or damaged crawling in the maintenance areas."

"Too late for getting changed now," Biere stated. "You could technically leave and come back then catch us up. But I definitely wouldn't recommend walking round here by yourself!"

A brief flick of light showed that Jade had checked to be sure the flashlight worked before she wrapped the spiral handle around her wrist. Knowing Shepard, she presumed it would work, and it did, but she wasn't going to be caught in the dark with faulty equipment. She'd seen too many adventures turn bad that way, even when it was just for fun. This was definitely not for fun.

"Look! A bunny rabbit..." Hunt laughed, with two fingers raised and the torch shining a shadow onto a wall creating rabbit.

He turned serious, "Right! Let's do this. Shephard, Dal, McCabe and Lance Corporal Alexsasdottir, you're with me." Hunt started to walk forward, not knowing what was in store.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more," Shepard said aloud as he looked into McCabe's eyes. "You ready?" he asked.

Nervously, Tony scratched his head again. "I guess I have to be, don't I? But ... you lead, I'll follow!"

Jade turned to the doctor. "I guess that's our cue to step off into the unknown, too, behind the good sergeant."

Sianna released a long, drawn out sigh ... were she religious, she would have sent a prayer, "Then let us start. The sooner we resolve this situation the better."

 

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