Left Behind - Non-Marines (Part IV)

Posted on Sun Oct 31, 2021 @ 2:12am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Captain Tam "Demon" Haican & Lieutenant Jason Haines

1,224 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Pangaea
Timeline: MD04 1100 hours

[Part IV]

[PREVIOUSLY]

"Ok, which way do you want to head?", Jason asked. "Or should we head back and check in?"

She checked the time. "I think we can check one more place, then head back. There's one closer to the portal complex but far enough from the fighting to be a possibility."

"That works for me", Jason said.

[CONTINUED]

===Federation Section===

Tam hadn't been very successful in his first walkthrough of the compound. It seemed very much like a ghost town. Several of the buildings had been destroyed, leaving very little but numerous mounds of rubble.

During his second pass, he stumbled upon a stash of phaser rifles, four in total. He also found two type 2 hand phasers and four working tricorders, one being a medical variant. He carefully stashed the smaller items into his pockets. The rifles, those he had to sling carry, two per shoulder. He had to get these items out of the compound before he was seen by the Cardassian troops that were patrolling the area.

Twice he was almost seen, but thankfully, he managed to exit the compound after entering it roughly two hours prior. Once he got to the forest's edge, he sent the signal that he needed retrieval.

As they approached the colony, Alanna sent Tam a telepathic message on where to meet for a pickup. To avoid notice, they'd have to land in the woods where Tam could meet them and then check the second cave system before going back to Bag End.

She turned to Jason. "Where can we safely get Tam?"

"Nowhere close, to prevent being detected", he replied. "I know of a small clearing we could land, but it will still be about two hours away on foot. Most of the areas that I have been in are quite wooded."

Alanna nodded, agreeing with him. She sent the coordinates and an image of where to go to Tam. "With that much time, we can check one more cave, then pick him up and head back."

Jason let out a hmm and then said, "I know that area well. If he can start moving towards the coast, we can go to the clearing and I can make it to him quickly, probably make the contact in an hour. We can use the tracking pip I have and you can beam us out of there. That will get him out of there faster with not a great chance of detection. If there are Cardassians after him, I know places where we I can lead them into some of the little quasi booby traps and natural pitfalls there are in the area. You'd be surprised at how many places there are in that area where it is easy to step into a hole and twist an ankle or break a leg."

"Okay. Just be careful," she urged, not wanting him to get hurt. At least she'd be able to find him, regardless of the tracking pip. "I'll let Tam know of the change."

After receiving her telepathic message, Tam acknowledged it, saying he would make his way to the spot as quickly as possible, making sure he doesn't pick up any tails.

Alanna carefully dropped Jason off, then decided to do some low-altitude exploring while she could. She made sure to keep away from the portal site and the colony.

Jason looked around after getting out of the shuttle and once he got his bearings, he headed off at a light run to catch-up with Tam. He was pretty close to his estimate, making there in about an hour and ten minutes. He slid into the wood line and looked about for Tam and any problems that might be following him.

About ten minutes later, there was a soft rustling off to Jason's left. Then, Tam stepped out of the brush and moved over to him. For a starfighter pilot, used to life in a cockpit, he seemed to be taking planetary survival in stride. "Hey, Jason. So, where to now?"

"Let's go this way for a little bit, just to make sure you weren't followed", Jason said. "Then we can have Alanna beam us out. Watch where you walk around here. There are a lot of holes that can give you a good sprain or broken ankle. How did it go?"

Nodding, Tam replied. "Yeah, I've seen a few already." He handed a couple of the rifles over. "All I found was a few weapons. Didn't see anybody there, though. You find anything?"

"We've found a few places that can house a number of us and we found some fruit trees, so at least we won't go hungry", Jason replied, taking the offered rifles. "Nice to have something with a bigger kick than a hand phaser. Let's go."

Since Alanna had an hour before pickup, she went around the planet to see if the Cardassians were on other parts of Pangaea. But she detected no humanoids away from the colony and portal sites except for those she was already aware of--including Bag End. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be near the colony and the portal site, with the few exceptions, like Commander Ryan's cabin and Bag End. She went low and slow to the rendezvous point to keep from being detected. She was especially grateful for the cloak as there were far too many ships in the area.

She'd landed the shuttle and was waiting at the rendezvous location for the other two.

It wasn't long before Alanna saw Jason and Tam emerge from the tree line. He gave a thumbs up to her.

She couldn't help smiling, but then, Jason had that effect on her. She nodded and turned, leading them to where she'd parked the shuttle. She'd ask them what they learned after they were airborne.

It only took a few minutes to reach the cloaked shuttle. Alanna checked to be sure there were no humanoids in the area and opened the hatch.

Jason called out as he came onto the shuttle, "We come bearing gifts, courtesy of Captain Haican, man of the hour."

He lifted one of the rifles up so Alanna could see it.

"Nice. How much ammunition came with it?" she asked. The replicator at Bag End should be able to handle some, but it would be nice to have a decent supply to start with.

She looked between Jason and Tam. "What else did you find?"

Tam spoke up first. "I did find a couple unused powercells. Unfortunately, it won't be enough to hold off a determined force for more than five, ten minutes. As for any warm bodies, sorry, no joy there. The Federation compound is a ghost town."

Alanna nodded as she took her seat. "Rifles are a start. I hope the remaining colonists are safe." She'd listen in on communications and see if there was any word about the survivors.

"Well, let's get out of here", Jason said. "We have to remember to pace ourselves here. Some wins are still wins. The most important thing right now is not to get caught by the Cardassians."

"Agreed." Alanna checked the sensors and headed back to Bag End.

____
OFF

Jason Haines
Beach Bum
Pangaea

Captain Tam "Demon" Haicon
CAG
327th Starfighter Group
The Guardians
Deep Space 5

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer and Rabble Rouser
DS5 and Pangaea

 

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