On the Planet

Posted on 21 Nov 2024 @ 3:43pm by Story Teller & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Sunni Wallace & Ensign Ronin Tetnel & Crewman Nicholas Foy

2,304 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Cover of Darkness
Location: Rakhari Colony
Timeline: June 30, 2390 || 0900 hours

It had been a long two days and after Camila aka Francesca had transmitted on the frequency the Rakhari had given her, namely the modified nacelle, she had set the Flotsam down just outside of it and turned to the others.

"We're going to help them, but the bulk of the supplies is for bribes so we can find out who is behind this," she said. "You're going to see some harsh living situations now, but lives are being lost and we have to stop more from being lost."

Ronin spoke up. "How much do we give them?"

"I've broken down the supplies in the buffer in bundles. Two bundles for this colony, and some extra rations from the replicators."

"Where are we going first? I'm sure that you've got your first contacts here, so which way do we need to go?" Foy asked, knowing that the colony was a rather large place.

"We should follow your lead for now, then once we've been able to establish ourselves a bit, maybe venture out on our own," Sunni, who mentally reminded herself of her new name, said. "You are more familiar with the land and people here, so it makes the most sense."

"Yeah, I second that. Maybe once we get a bit more established, we can break off into two groups or something? Maybe see what we can figure out and meet up in a few hours to put our information together," Foy replied as he heard Sunni's idea.

"For now, we stay together," Camila said as she lowered the hatch and stepped out. "I'm looking for Toma," she said as she approached the nearest member that had approached the runabout.

Ronin stepped out behind her and looked around at the arid conditions, the dust that seemed to cover everything, how thin the colonists were and the hungry look in their eyes. He didn't say a word as he tried to imagine living in these conditions.

Foy stepped out behind everyone else and watched over the colonists as well. He wasn't sure what to say about them, but he could see the same hunger as Ronin did. Something told Foy that he was about to have an interesting away mission with the rest of the away team.

Sunni was the last one off the runabout and took a moment to take in the sights before her. It was a bit depressing to see the conditions the colonists were living in, but even more depressing than that was their physical appearances. How was Camila able to hold it together? For the sake of the mission, she told herself.

Once everyone was out, Camila sealed the runabout up and raised the shields as she waited for her contact to meet them.

"Toma is in the fields," said the colonist to whom Camila had spoke. "But he may not be there for long. Aside from getting these weather satellites up and running, we just got word of a new haul."

"I have a crew that can help with that," Camila said. "This is Jack Smith, Aristotle Milan, Ainsley Arynson and Liam Bennett." She indicated each of the others as she named them,

Roinin gave a quick nod but kept silent.

Nick gave a little fake salute to the person that was talking, but kept his mouth shut as well. While he was there to help out, Nick didn't want to open up too quickly before Camila made contact with this Toma person.

The Rakhari looked at each of the mercenary crew. If he cared about any of their names, he didn't show it. What he did do, however, was pull out a handheld communicator and placed it up to his hear. He turned away and lowered his voice so that the new arrivals couldn't hear him. After a minute, he turned back to face the blonde woman. "Toma is sending Seskal to see if you can be of help. You can wait here, or in the hut next to the landing pad."

Camila tapped her generic PADD and looked around. "We'll wait here."

Ronin had stealthily activated his tricorder on the way and was recording all the communication in the area that was capable of scanning.

Sunni watched the Rakhari. He was secretive, but could she honestly blame him? No. He didn't know them, and it was going to take a little time to earn some trust. All they could do for now was wait until there was something they could do.

Foy began walking around and took a look around the small area that the group was waiting in, as they were waiting for whatever was to come. Foy had trouble sitting around and doing nothing for extended periods of time, so looking around was something that could get them some information while waiting was their informant.

Camila turned back to the others and stepped in closer. "We may be able to help out on this run and get a glimpse of who is behind this," she said, her voice much lower.

The Rakhari who had greeted them had left them by this point, leaving the group alone in the open hut. It was a couple of minutes before a face familiar to one of the group arrived. Seskal, the same female Rakhari who Camila helped aboard the Gaittithe smiled when she saw the blonde woman again. "Hello again."

Foy gently tapped Camila's forearm and pointed to the Rakhari that had walked in. He simply nodded and waited for Camila to say something to her.

Camila briefly wondered if Foy thought she had gone blind and deaf, but put it out of her mind as she turned to the Rakhari woman. "Seskal! It is good to see you again. I've kept my word."

Seskal was amazed that she had. "It's rare to see," she admitted, coming closer into the hut. "The probes you helped bring here we are nearly ready to put into use, and they will all elevate our quality of life."

"I have some more if you'd like them and some more medical supplies, too," Camila said. "I've been working overtime lately and had to bring on more crew."

"Just in time too," Seskal confessed. "Razmena's got a fresh load of supplies, and it seems there's a huge surplus at the moment. There's not enough haulers to get it everywhere fast enough. And as much as we need medical supplies, we have some old friends at a nearby world that need some help. I know Razmena's a bit of a trip, but we've also need to fulfill our trade agreement with those friends as well."

"Can I store some of the supplies that I have here?" Camila asked. "My transporter buffer is absolutely overworked."

Seskal nodded. "We have been trading with Mellon, which is on the other side of this sector, halfway to Razmena. There they mine birythium. We've been trading kemocite, and some of our crops for the mineral. Some of these crops are also destined for our traders at Razmena. We've only got one hauler at the moment, and the demand is high. If you could help us..."

"We can do that," Camila said, her ears catching birythium and knew they had to get to it. "Where do you want the supplies beamed to?"

"This hut is a good enough location," Seskal said, extending her right hand to her side. "Or you could use the sublevel in my dwelling. I normally use it for extra storage, but I don't have much to store at the moment."

Camila nodded and tapped her combadge. "Francesca to Flotsam," she contacted the runabout using the code names programmed in for the mission. "Transport Group A to this location."

A moment later, a shimmering field appeared off to the side and several large, heavily packed boxes of supplies appeared, followed by several Class III and one Class IV probes.

"This is mainly medicine and some items to make life here a little easier," Camila said.

Seskal was shocked by what had materialized beside them. Several of the crates seemed like they'd seen better days, but she was more surprised by the probes that were in the mix. "You have certainly been busy," she remarked. "Were you already at the Unity debris field?"

"Yes," Camila said, but not what capacity that she had been there. "It was a good haul. Much more of this and I'll be out of a job. I wonder if our benefactor is recruiting?"

The Rakhari woman could only shrug. "I hope no idea what our their plans are. All I care about is that they're making sure we are taken care of."

"How long have you all been going through this?" Sunni, who was known as Ainsley to this outside the small group of four, found herself asking. It was hard not to feel a little sympathetic to what she'd seen before they got to the hut.

"It's been difficult the last couple of years," Seskal remarked. "Originally, we were a small group that wanted freedom from the Dominion. It was easy enough to slip away during the Alpha Quadrant War, and for a while after, we saw some regular supplies from the Federation and the Dosi. But the last couple of years when Starfleet imploded, the only Federation ships we see are ones that are destroyed."

"It's been a hard time, but profitable for us," Camila said. "Do you know when Toma is coming in from the fields? I'd hate to leave without seeing him and maybe lining up another job.

Meanwhile, Ronin had the tricorder in his pocket passively scanning all the local comms networks and computers that didn't require passwords, even if the Intel tricorder could easily bypass most of those. "It really sucks that they abandoned your colonies like that, but it looks like someone wants them gone."

"Don't get us wrong," Toma said, entering the hut, "We don't mind Starfleet. Their gear and supplies are top notch, much better than anything that's come our way from the Karemma or Dominion. But them putting the Dominion in their place and then falling apart themselves, it does make us concerned as to the future of the quadrant."

Camila looked over when Toma entered the hut. "Toma, it is good to see you again. I brought some supplies as promised. I can't say I blame you about that concern, but it doesn't help when a new power moves in to set up shop and we know nothing about them."

Toma chuckled. "You're thinking a little like Starfleet there. Regardless, we've learned a hard lesson these last couple of years. Dominion, Starfleet... they're all alike. We can't rely on them, so we have to learn to rely for ourselves. What we've picked up these last few months has helped us start to stabilize and trade with nearby colonies. That's how we'll gain our independence totally."

"What can I do to help?" Sunni asked. If she was going to gain their trust, then that meant jumping in head first.

"If you all don't mind helping send this kemocite to Mellon, that would work wonders," Toma said. "That is, if Seskal doesn't have you dropping by Razmena to trade some of our kemocite for a few other things first. Both definitely need to happen."

Sunni looked toward Camila. While she wanted nothing more than to agree to Seskal's request, she didn't have that kind of authority given she was new to the team. "What do you say?"

"We can do it," Camila said after a moment of thought. "Of course, we're going to need to pick up extra jobs if you expect to be paid."

Ronin grumbled. "I don't do anything without pay," he said.

"Oh, this will pay," Toma said. "We don't have much by way of latinum or trade, but I can help get you in touch with a broker with some paying jobs. That should help, correct?"

Camila was far more interested in getting to Mellon and tracking the birythium lead to see if it could lead them closer to GB90. "I guaranteed your pay, now shut up," she told Ronin before looking back to Toma. "We'd be happy to," she said. "I hope these supplies will help out here." She indicated the pile that she had transported to the hut.

Seskal raised an eyebrow, surprised at the sudden change. "You're leaving them with us? I thought we were just going to store them for a while."

"I told you that I'd be back to help," Camila said as she shook her head. "This is yours. I have some more to distribute, but it's taxing my transporter buffer."

Seskal and Toma both smiled. "Thank you," said Toma. "Regarding the cargo, if you can bring your ship closer to our mine, we can get you loaded up."

"Then let's go," Camila said and headed out to get the Flotsam moved with the hope that the colony they were headed to would have more of a lead.

"I'll go with you," Toma said, coming along side the brunette woman. "I'll show you the best way to approach the fields and what you can haul."

Camila gave a nod. "That sounds good. I'm used to hairy in and outs, so this should be a dream."

Ronin turned to follow and kept his mouth shut, hoping that the Intel tricorder had scanned something more useful.

Foy followed behind the rest of the group, watching as they made their way throughout the various crowds. He was glad that it appeared to be going decently well thus far.

Sunni wasn't sure how well things were going just yet, but she planned to remain cautiously optimistic. She followed behind the others, waiting to see what their next steps would bring.

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