Down to the planet - Captured

Posted on Tue Dec 3rd, 2024 @ 3:49pm by Executive Officer Jake Ford & Delaney O'Callaghan & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Chief Armoury Rormu Yazlin & Leiddem Kea (*) & Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Liha t'Ehhelih

Mission: Shackles
Location: Planet's Surface
1692 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Leiddem had his hands up with his phaser in the air as the ground around them had a lot more weapons and he did not want to risk anyone, especially when he glanced to his left and saw Cassie standing there paling drastically as she tried to not stare at the arrow in her shoulder as she knew if she did she would fall down and make a scene which was not needed right then with so many people raising weapons at each other.

“We are not going to hurt you but my friend here has just been shot by you I would like to sit her down if possible,” Leiddem said slowly shifting hands raised to where he could grip Cassie and help her sit down and look at where the arrow had hit her. He stood straight back up holding his hands up.

“None of you are green?” The woman who seemed to be in charge demanded in a thick accent.

Yazlin looked around a bit confused. Sometimes the Universal Translator didn't quite pick up on nuances of language, especially early on in encounters. "As in the colour?" None of the crew that had come down to the planet was of a heritage that included a green skin tone, but this was a fact someone could easily see, so it seemed like an odd question to ask.

Only green on the inside... thought Kali acerbically to the strangers comment. What she said though was nothing to give away her position; when the chaos had broken out for a moment she'd ducked beneath a nearby curtain of vines in case Burnie's optimism turned out to be wrong and the idiots with the arrows started shooting again - the ability to get off a shot or two at them before they could react might matter, then.

Burnie's eyes slid to Cassie and the green blood leaking from her wound. Obviously, the aliens could see that, so that couldn't be what they meant, right? "I'm what people on my world typically call 'white', but some other races call 'pink-skin'," he offered, speaking as calmly and reasonably as he could under the circumstances. "I don't think any of us here would be called green."

In his nervousness, Owen felt several quips form and fade quickly on the tip of his tongue before good sense prompted him to remain silent. Handling hostage situations was well outside his expertise and the time and place for comic diffusion had yet to present itself. His brow furrowed as he watched the injured Vulcan before his gaze very swiftly turned to cataloguing the visible arsenal of their captors. It seemed a mixed bag at best.

Mina looked a little more relaxed as the man spoke up, asking whether it was a colour. "Yes, the colour. None of you are the green men." She said explaining why they had reacted the way they had. "The green men caused all of this." She said indicating that a few people could lower their bows and arrows.

All of this... It was unclear what 'this' she was referring to, just as 'green' remained unclear. Was there a race of green men on this planet that these people were competing with? Had the FR's choice of a not-so-unpopulated planet inflamed a previous rivalry? Burnie gestured at the opened crates. "Do you mean these? Are they the ones who broke into them?"

"No. I broke into them for supplies so we did not die." Mina commented. "I mean the green men stole us from our homes and then..." She paused looking around at her people.

"Then what?" Cassie demanded as she let out a cry of pain as Leiddem yanked the arrow out of her shoulder. "You shot me I would like to know." The woman said turning very pale.

"The ship fell from the sky with us on it." The woman indicated that they had been up in the sky and then very quickly had crashed there.

Having remained silent up to that point, Jake frowned at the woman's choice of language. A ship falling from the sky. Not the sort of phrase one would expect to hear under normal circumstances. He glanced at Leiddem, then Burnie, silently trying to indicate that this might be even more perilous than expected. "You...fell from the sky. Do you..." He was intent on choosing his words carefully. "Do you know what planet?"

"We fell here," Mina explained indicating all around them and then the different people with her. Rarely were there 2 of any species among the group holding them hostage. "But where they took us from we do not know. We all come from different worlds."

"Different worlds." Jake echoed it back, making sure that he was at least showing some sign of active listening. For a start it might help ease any tension. That no actual planets had been named was a damning sign already. "We're from different worlds too. Like you are. We're not your enemies, but we do need to tend to our injured over there, okay?"

Mina looked at the woman on the floor, silent and glaring at her and nodded. They needed to sort out their injured and they did not look like the green ones at all. She was willing to take a chance to see if they could help each other.

Catching himself in time, Owen hesitated with mouth open, marshalling his curiosity for the sake of not overstepping his invisible paygrade. As much as he'd been sent down to be of some assistance apparently, he doubted it had been anyone's intention for him to bombard a bunch of unknown aliens with questions about their origins. Closing his mouth again, a little too late to completely avoid a moment of gormless astonishment, he switched attention to something a little more immediate. Leaning forward, he murmured into Cassie's ear, "You good?"

"Nope." Cassie said through clenched teeth as she gripped Owen's hand to stop her own hand grabbing out the arrow. Leiddem slowly worked but he agreed with Jake they needed to move.

"Follow me," Mina said simply. Leiddem did not need any other words, he grabbed up Cassie wrapping her arm around him to support her as she was conscious enough to walk it would be easier.

Falling in in close behind them, Burnie signaled K-9 to move to Cassie's side, ready to provide extra support and protection. For her part, Liha took a position at Burnie's side since in her estimation he was the one most likely to need protecting.

With a silent sigh, Kali quietly crept out from behind the greenery she'd hidden in, falling in with the rest; for once being only slightly taller than a Ferengi came in handy as she was pretty sure the move had been blocked once again from view by all the taller people in between her and...whoever these people were.

Mina led the group silently through the rest of the jungle until it opened up to a huge wound in the forest that revealed a ship crash-landed and the community that had been built around the ship using the wreckage. "They really did fall from the sky." Leiddem muttered to himself as Cassie missed her footing and sat on the floor.

Burnie gave a low whistle. The question about whether they were green made a lot more sense now, and despite their need for a medic, he was glad Beya had not come along. "That's an Orion vessel," he whispered, knowing at least the pointy ears in the group would hear. "Given what we've heard so far, I'd say a slaver."

"Then let's hope they're all dead." Kali whispered back. "Though if they aren't now, they will be soon." The perfectly even tone didn't hide from anyone with half a brain that the statement was either a promise or a threat, depending on one's view of the universe.

Mina watched the group as they took in the scene and frowned at the woman kneeling on the floor bleeding as the male tried to help her. “You are a healer?” She wondered to Leiddem.

“I am an emergency healer,” Leiddem answered tugging his rucksack off to start digging out medical supplies.

“I am sorry our arrow got you. If we had known…” A male spoke up beside Mina. Cassie shook her head, hurting too much to speak now. She would have done the same if the roles were reversed.

"We need a healer," Mina said looking at the woman bleeding dark green.

"Let me sort her out then we can talk," Leiddem said kindly. "Or maybe some of us can go back to our ship and get more help?" He hinted to Jake and Burnie.

Liha cocked a brow at the hinting. "It would make a lot more sense to send Cassie back to our ship where she could get help. In a real medical bay, rather than sitting here in the jungle waiting for someone to be brought to her."

Jake put his arm gently on Cassie's shoulder, trying to balance his emotional sympathies with his need for professionalism and leadership in the face of unusual circumstances. "I'm not letting you go on your own, but I need to stay here." He glanced over at Liha with a pang of apprehension about having to ask someone else to pick up that responsibility. "Guide her back and make sure Evelyn is on hand to see to the injury."

Sensing that Liha might object, Jake didn't wait for any sort of reply, instead turning back to their new hosts. "The rest of us will stay here and lend a hand. Leiddem can try to assist with any medical issues, and I'm sure Burnie can support with any problems you might be having with that big wreck over there." He drew the landing party together momentarily before any of them split off. "Fan out. See if you can figure out any more about who these people are and where the supplies are."

With that, the party separated out to explore the crash site community.