Post Number 16 Away Mission

Posted on Thu Mar 20th, 2025 @ 12:59pm by Lieutenant Tara Herculoid PhD & Commander Benjamin Parker & Lieutenant Commander Emma Parker & Lieutenant William Wright III & Lieutenant Alister McKeon & Lieutenant JG Troy Grainger

Mission: Are You Worthy?-2
Location: Amandora and Planet Surface
Timeline: After The Briefing

ON:

Science had picked up an energy signature on a planet they were approaching and after deep scans and probes the planet was deemed uninhabited save for some animal and insect life. Cyndi after carefully reviewing the data decided it was safe to send an away team down to have a look. While she wanted to go as well Cyndi knew security would not want her off the ship. An away team was carefully selected to beam down. The ship had settled into orbit. Cyndi sent word to several departments that would beam down, and the away team would be led by Commander Ben Parker.

Chief Science officer Lt Sabbath opted to stay aboard and availed his co- chief Lt Herculoid the option of the away team.

" Commodore, I have a full spectral and mineral scan of the area they are beaming down to. Initial scans show unremarkable ores near the top of the surface." Sabbath reported.

"Maybe someday Lieutenant I'll be a Commodore, but not today." Benjamin said with the big grin on his face, as he looked over to Sabbath.

Tag Sabbath

William received a call that he was to be included in an Away Mission to investigate a planet that the Amandora was approaching. For the life of him he really didn't understand his inclusion for that type of mission; he had no Science background. Of course, he did have the typical Star Fleet training for Away Missions so he guessed he was just another pair of hands. Orders were orders so he would follow them to the letter. Grabbing his type two phaser, Will made his way to the transporter room.

Alister entered the transporter room, a small pack slung over his shoulders and his hands completing a final check on the type 3 phaser he had grabbed.

Tara not sure what was going on as there had been an energy signature coming from the planet that read no life forms. Grabbed her tri-coder, sample back and headed for the transporter room. Her boss Sabbath had chosen to monitor things from the ship. Walking into the transporter room Tara nodded to everyone who was there. All that they were waiting for was Commanders Ben and Emma Parker.

Emma stopped by security and grabbed a phaser, stopped to give orders to her assistant and headed on her way to meet up with the others. She checked out the away team and thought it was unusual that the chief science officer wasn’t on the list, but she was certain the captain had her reasons.

"We roll out in 5 is everybody ready?" Benjamin asked, knowing that everybody was looking to him. He was a new guy coming onto the ship. Most of this crew have been together for a while now.

Tara gave a final check of her equipment and looked to the XO "I'm ready when you are sir."

“I am ready, Commander.” Emma said in her best professional voice. She was looking forward to this first mission as a crew.
"Very well let's head to the transporter room." Benjamin said, and he started to walk towards the doorway that led out of the armory. His mind was on his way, it was hard to see her get geared up. But he knew this wasn't a place to talk about it. He wanted to protect everybody else knew that she wanted to Starfleet Officer.

Tara followed them from the armory after securing her own phaser and headed for the transporter room.

"The early bird catches the early worm huh?" Benjamin said with the big smile on his face as he looked over to Alistair and William, both of them are already in the transporter room as he and Tara walked in next

"I for one am looking forward to this. An unexplored system and a new planet to head down to," Tara commented as she nodded to everyone who had assembled in the transporter room.

Alister gave a shrug, “Dad always said if you’re not ten minutes early you’re late.”

"Your dad is wise man." Benjamin said, also believing in the fact if you are early, then you are on time. He then looked over to the Transporter Chief. "Energize Chief."

Location: Planet Surface, close to energy signature.

"Lieutenant Herculoid your up." Benjamin called out, as he waited to see her shine. He could have led the mission, but he was a firm believer, that everyone should have a chance to shine, and this was her moment.

Emma immediately looked around, her hand ready to go for her weapon. She hadn’t expected any trouble but was prepared anyway. Her eyes went to the lieutenant as Benjamin spoke.

Tara opened her tricorder and began to scan the area, getting a fix on the energy signature she took a few steps in its direction "Commanders there’s a cave through those bushes, the entrance is concealed by the bushes. It goes in quite a distance. I'm not picking up anything hostile in there. I feel it's safe to enter. That is where the energy signature is coming from."

“I don’t detect anything either, Commander.” Emma spoke up once the science chief finished speaking. She looked to Benjamin. “I am picking up some unusual reading from the cave, there appears to be some type of technology there.”

Grainger arrived at the Transporter Room. He just had a quick Physical and had his gear including phaser, Tricorder, and sample containers with him. A new planet to check out already. He did a general scan before they Docked on board the Runabout and noted the planets in the area. Well, he thought here we go.

He found his place on the Transporter Pad and heard the familiar whine. On the planet’s surface the first thing Grainger did was get out his tricorder and started scanning. He also nodded towards Lieutenant Herculoid to let her know he was there as part of the away team.

He heard the report about the energy signature, spectral scan, and different ores on the planet from the Chief Science officer Sabbath’s report. Grainger was surprised that the Chief Science Officer Sabbath was not on the planet’s surface too. He knew that Smithers would have if he didn’t have pressing things going on aboard the Amandora.

Grainger figured that Tara Herculoid would concentrate her scans on the energy signature Grainger focused his scans on the mineral ores. Suddenly Tara Herculoid reported that there was a Cave ahead with some kind of technology. Grainger reported to Tara Herculoida and added that most of the ores were Hematite and there seemed to be a small amount of another mineral he couldn’t identify in the cave.

Grainger then opened his pack up and was happy to see a standard flashlight. With the flashlight in one hand and the tricorder in the other he waited for the command to enter the cave.

Alister moved as soon the blue glow of the transporter faded spacing himself out as he swept the area with his eyes. He listened as the scientists read the reports from their tricorders. He moved to the cover the mouth of the cave flicking on the light mounted on the phaser rifle as he glanced back at the group.

Grainger saw Lt Alister move suddenly to the mouth of the cave that Tara just indicated. Being a seasoned Officer, he knew that was a mistake because there was some kind of technology and a mysterious Mineral inside. Also, the quick move to the cave mouth could mean that anyone or anything in there could know that the away team was just outside. Thinking back to the crew manifest he looked at on the Runabout this man was the Chief Intelligence Officer Lt Alister McKeon.

Grainger knew from personal experience that reckless behavior can work but there is usually a price. If Smithers were on this away team he would have spoken up right away to either Alister or the XO to have Alister back off. Unfortunately, everyone there outranked him. If he wanted to Grainger would speak up like Smithers would have. Besides, the XO and Chief Security Officer were there. He would expect one of them to say something. Grainger decided to make the only move he had at that time. He backed up and moved out of the line of sight of the cave mouth. Then he changed his Tricorder setting over to scanning for life forms. He also made a note to tell Smithers about this Lt McKeon and tell him that the guy could be trouble. At that same time, he would keep his own eyes on him.

Tara had watched Alistar as he'd walked closer to the mouth of the cave and scanned it. Tara had worked with Alistair before. His infiltration team had been critical in getting Alesha's daughter away from her kidnapper. She'd seen Grainger back off and knew he was not familiar with the Intelligence Chief. The Intel chief was highly trusted. After completing her own scans "Commanders while I'm picking up an energy signature I do feel it's safe to enter the cave."

Lieutenant Wright stood at the back of the away team, his tri-corder setup to let him know if any other beings were approaching, watching Science and the others contemplate the cave opening.

Grainger heard Lt Tara Herculoid’s assessment of the situation. He switched back his tricorder to focus on and rescan the mysterious mineral that he found in his last scan. One thing was for sure it was going to take some time to get used to working with this team. Since there was technology of some kind in the cave it would make sense to him that the energy signature would have something to do with it.

The re-scan on the mineral ores showed him the same thing. So, Grainger decided to stay where he was and try scanning the technology in the cave. He was a bit uneasy about the whole thing. It was a new planet, and something didn’t feel right. He would let either Lt Tara Herculoid or the XO determine when to go into the cave. Since Tara was on point, he would follow her in because even though he was uneasy Grainger was also curious about the cave. If Lt Herculoid and Lt McKeon decided to go in together, he would follow them.

Emma kept her guard up as they entered the cave. She had expected it to be dark but there appeared to be some type of lighting for them to see there way. She looked to Commander Parker, who was the lead on the mission, for his orders. He would be the one to decide if they should continue into the cavern.

Grainger followed the others entering the cave. He noticed right away that the cave was lit, and he put his flashlight away. He stopped scanning to look around with his own eyes. He could easily see the hematite that he scanned shining all around them. The hematite was probably used to make the cave walls. Also, if there was enough present it could interfere with scans. Grainger was itching to scrape the walls to see what was underneath. He could see equipment further inside the cave.

Grainger then looked at Lt Tara Herculoid and Commander Benjamin Parker and said "Commander these walls seem to be made with the Hematite that I scanned earlier. The other mineral still seems to be a mystery. Take note that if the Hematite layer is thick enough in these walls it might be harder to scan in or out of the cave. Also, a transporter lock may be more difficult than usual."

"Maybe we should set up a transporter beacon system with repeaters. I don't like the idea of going into this cave blindly." Benjamin said if he looked over too Grainger.

Grainger replied to the Commander, a transporter beacon with repeaters is a good idea. From what I can tell from this cave so far, we are not alone on this planet. Hematite or the mystery mineral might be masking their life signs. The mystery mineral may only be found on this planet. As a precaution I would keep a sharper eye out for inhabitants of this planet and keep a guard with the transporter beacon.

"Lieutenant Herculoid." Emma looked over to Tara. "I am not picking up any signs of life, anywhere, are you?"

Tara scanned the area out to over several miles then walked to the cave and scanned the interior. She turned to Emma "There is no life on this planet at all save for possibly some insect life but that is it. The planet is uninhabited, I'm only picking up the energy signature in the cave nothing else." Tara walked back to where the rest if the away team. "The cave is safe to enter commander. There's nothing in it that will harm us."

Alister gave a shrug of his shoulders, “You’re call, Commander, do we split up or continue on as a single group?”

Grainger spoke up. Commander, I agree with Lt Herculoid’s scan results. I took a quick reading earlier and didn’t see any life forms other than ourselves. The only reason that I’m being cautious is that I don’t want the away team to be surprised suddenly. We don’t know much about this planet and its system yet. The inhabitants could be living underground or are off planet somewhere and could return. The Amandora will certainly keep an eye out for ships in the area. I also say it’s ok to go further into the cave too. I just wanted to give you my assessment of the situation.

"Lieutenant Grainger unless my tri-coder is broken the only life on this planet is us save for some insect life," Tara said.

"Insects are life forms." Benjamin pointed out to Tara. "However I don't think they'll interfere with our mission." He said confidently with a smile on his face.

Emma waited while the team listened to the commander and they moved further into the cave. The insects did not appear to be interested in them, nor were they bothersome. As they moved further she spoke.

"Commander." Emma said as she looked to the right. "There appears to be light in that direction. It appears to be the area I have been picking up some type of technology."

Grainger responded to Lt Herculoid, “Sorry Tara if I’m over cautious. I will focus on the readings of mineral ores and the technology that seems to be up ahead." Grainger then looked ahead as they ventured forward into the cave.

"I get your eager, things will be fine." Tara said "The commander has the lead. I'm curious as to what the energy source is too."

Emma continued to keep a look out for any sign of trouble. As they neared the opening, you could hear a soft humming sound. Emma walked in beside the others, it was a large room with a computer across the room. There were some signs that someone had once lived there. A cup discarded on the floor and a bench in the corner.

"That computer looks as if it's at least a hundred years old," Tara commented "I wonder who or what left it here."

"What are you basing that thesis on, we've never been to this planet before we have no way to carbon date their technology." Benjamin asked as he looked over to Tara.

"The layers of dust on it. It has to be at least six inches thick, last computer I saw that big was in text book. Granted commander you are correct that we have no way to carbon date things,"Tara responded "I did run a tri-coder scan on it as well."

William saw the computer and for the first time since they started this mission he thought he may be of use rather than just a look out. Looking towards the XO "Commander perhaps I might be of assistance; I'm not a Specialist but I do have a working knowledge of computers being Ops Chief" he commented wondering just how old this thing really was.

Alister looked around at the carven, “I would be cautious,” he said from where he stood, “While we managed to pick up the energy signature from orbit I wonder if the ore wouldn’t have shielded this place from the tech level that computer came from,” he nodded at the computer. “Out of the way underground attempt to be hidden, sounds like a possible listening or observation post.”

After listening to the others and glancing at the computer Grainger spoke up,” I agree with Alister that the Hematite could have interfered with the scans from orbit. I haven’t found the other ore yet, but it could be the power source for everything in this cave including the energy signature. An energy signature that is that powerful could be run by this computer or something else in this cave. I advise caution. I have some Engineering knowledge myself. I helped Smithers and his son refit the Runabout that we came to the Amandora in.”


Tara walked over to the computer and scanned it. No sooner that she'd run her scan that some of the lights came on and a whirring sound came from it. "That's interesting."

Lieutenant Wright walked over intending to lend a hand if he could. Taking a look at the console William had absolutely no idea what all the markings meant. Grabbing his tri-corder he scanned the console hoping to get a translation into Federation Standard; but to no avail. Looking towards Tara "Whatever culture used this computer, it must have been many centuries ago. Trying to translate it using the tri-corder.....it registers not even being in the Federation Database" William explained being quite puzzled at the moment.

The computer started to run and an image appeared to the left of it. Emma couldn’t quite make out the image it was rather large, at least seven feet tall.

“Welcome.” A computerized voice said distinctively. “What brings you here?”

Tara looked at the computer "We picked up an energy signature on this planet and we've come to investigate. Our scans didn't pick up any life forms."

William was amazed when the computer came to life; must be his tri-corder scan unknowingly activated the unit as he looked to Tara "Well I'll be; guess I just got lucky."

"Something sure did and now I wonder what it wants," Tara commented.

As the computer started to speak, doors slid down over the entrances to the cavern. A wave of energy and a face looked at them. “In order to leave our world you must face a test, follow a path and make a series of decisions and if you find the way to the waterfall, you will be free to leave.”

Alister spun on his heels as the doors came down, he let out a curse before looking up, “Maybe next time don’t play with computer we don’t understand,” he glanced over at the XO, “Want me to see if I can’t cut our way out the way we came in.”



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