Irdosian Blind

 Episode Name:  Irdosian Blind

   Written By:  Starfleet

         Cast:  Duncan, Fioravanti, Foster, Green, Soral, Starfleet, 
                Takamura and Tyler.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Tyler

     Aired On:  Sat Jan 08 02:21:35 2005

     Stardate:  54664.6

Time: Fri Jan 07 20:24:35 2005

Stardate: 54664.0

Duncan glances over the assembled team members then nods to Soral. "Alright folks here's what we've got. The Federation Science Council wants to establish a holographic duck blind on Irdosia. It is to be placed on a mountain range that overlooks an Irdosian settlement in a valley. There are several complications: 1) There are huge pockets of dicolsilium all over Irdosia. These pockets react badly to Federation power sources - when exposed to EM fields, the veins enter an explosive growth rate, causing crystals to shoot out of the ground. Even the smallest EM fields can cause these problems. As a result, standard issue technology is not an option. There's a modified Mark IV power generator that is EM shielded to install into the duck blind.

Duncan takes a breath and continues. "We have enough specially modified equipment that wont be effected by the fields. to do a pretty standard loadout. Please note that there are primitive natives on this world, and the prime directive does certainly apply."

Green quirks an eyebrow, though she says nothing.

Fioravanti seems to mull all of that over, compartmentalizing it in her mind, then nods, once.

"The Irdosians are a nomadic, tribal people," Tyler pipes in. "We're to avoid contact at all costs. In order to ensure that you are not carrying any unshielded EM equipment, you are ordered to drop all of your gear over there." The CO indicates a spot several meters away. "And pick up equipment from the crate behind Agent Duncan."

Soral stays quiet through Duncans briefing, hands folded behind his back over his own PADD, more intend on watching the reaction of the team members. Whatever questions he might have had, they were probably answered in advance.

Duncan turns and opens the crate and begins sorting through the equipment and passing it out. "You'll note no changes in operational parameters, the shielding is just boosted a bit to make up for the field density in the area where we'll be working."

Green almost looks pained, caressing her phaser, but she moves without hesitation to make the equipment exchange.

Foster says nothing, merely turning to deposit his own things and get the new versions of same. The only equipment HE is obsessed with is... well, the ship itself. And that's not going down with them.

Like Green, Brie looks a touch pained as well. She'll have to rely on...other things. With deliberate care, the Combat Medic starts stripping off gear, taking great care and deliberation.

Tyler moves to the drop-off area and disposes of all of her equipment. Her com badge, her phaser, her tricorder - all of it. "The equipment is slightly heavier to make up that EM shielding, but like Mycroft said, its operational paramaters are otherwise unchanged." She then moves to pick up her modified gear loadout from the crate.

Takamura has arrived.

Duncan takes a temporal tricorder from the case and quickly downloads his settings and data to it from his personal unit and clips the new one to his belt, then takes a type II, and a type I phaser, a PADD, and a new com badge. After placing everything, he carries his own equipment over to the drop off point and set it all carefully down, making sure to activate his original PADD's and his Temporal tricorder's security features.

Green takes a moment to make sure every last bit of technological equipment on her has been swapped, then she nods in satisfaction, moving out of the way.

Fioravanti drops all of her things into a neat pile at the drop-off and starts gathering new toys. She searches for a moment, attempting to find the medkit and see what goodies it offers. This, of course, after she gets all the other proper gear on.

Soral has not brought much with him and efficiently stocks up on the neccesary equipment, most important piece being a Temporal Tricorder, just needing to transfer some data from one to another PADD in his case before he can drop off his regular one.

"We'll be cutting into solid rock, but we're unsure of the type. We'll be taking Type III's for this purpose - that should vaporize just about anything we come across at higher settings," Tyler says. "And just in case, Lt. Takamura will be carrying some explosive charges."

Foster considers thoughtfully, and, as he passes Green on the way back to where he was standing, he murmurs, "What? No flashbangs?" Kidding, obviously.

Green glances quickly toward Foster, her eyes gleaming with a twinkle.

. o O Green thinks, "Yay, explosions!"

Takamura nods his understanding of the briefing and deposits his standard equipment in the designated area. Everything except his Idisha blade, since that is not affected by EM fields. He then heads over to the crate behind Duncan to gather his substitute gear.

Foster considers for a long moment, and lifts a hand. "Excuse me? Just a quick question. How close to a residential area, or the equivalent thereof, are we going to be laying down this duck blind?"

"It overlooks a village, but it is several kilometers away," Tyler replies. "If we have to use explosives, that will pose a minor inconvenience."

Foster nods, "I was concerned about the sounds of the cutting and/or detonations."

Duncan glances over to Takamura. "As to the cutting I dont think that's going to be noisy enough to be noticed though considering the distance the blasting might merely sound like distant thunder.

Fioravanti gets all of her gear on, settles in with the medkit, and simply listens.

Takamura nods to Duncan. "That's correct. Cutting through the rock will not cause a great deal of noise. The only problem we'll have will come if we need to actually use explosives."

Green remarks, "Assuming none of the locals are out and about on foraging trips or the like."

Foster nods, "Still, I wonder if there might not be some kind of way of blunting any noise we might make. Something that doesn't have interference with surface conditions?"

Duncan ponders for a moment, then sets aside the type II he's carrying and shoulders a type III.

"I think the best bet if it comes to it is some sort of distraction," Tyler says. "Being that they are primarily nomads, there may not even be anyone there."

Foster consults his PADD, and through it, the library. "Hm. Well. No. I guess that's something to suggest for the technology experts to work on."

Green quirks an eyebrow, watching Duncan. "Hmmm." She steps over to add a rifle to her inventory. One never knows.

Takamura tilts his head to the side considering Foster's question. "Not unless we feel like carrying some sort of sound dampening material as baffles."

"Do we have anything of that sort that doesn't have an EM?" Tyler asks. "Besides Caleb, of course."

Foster, likewise, after shedding his tricorder, comm badge and other miscellanea, adds a IIIc to his collection. That means he's carrying two weapons now, one hand phaser, one rifle. Well, not carrying carrying. The Type II is on his belt. He pauses, idly looking at the equipment, as if he were considering asking something. But, after a moment, he shakes his head and returns to his 'station'.

Green settles against a wall, checking over her weapons, and spins her rifle, testing its balance at the slightly heavier weight.

Fioravanti has two weapons as well. Type I and Type II. She doesn't go for the bigger weapons as she has the best of all. The medkit.

Takamura considers his suggestion a little more, shaking his head. "No, I can't think of anything that doesn't have an EM."

"Alright, saddle up," Tyler says. She makes her way to the two large silver boxes that carry the Mark IV reactor and the holo-generator. She, too, avoids the Type III, sticking only with a Type II. "Let's get a move-on. Agent Soral, would you do us the honors of transport?"

. o O Foster thinks, "I wonder..." He discounts the idea. "There should be no reason to use a temporal tricorder there. What could go wrong?"

Soral inclines his head to Tyler, the first motion the Vulcan did in quite a while as he patiently waited for the others to settle into their equipment. He reaches to his tricorder and mentions "Of course, Lieutenant." entering a short sequence, "data entry confirmed" is the last status message from him before he changes a few more settings.

Green looks up, slings her rifle over her shoulder, and pauses her stance.

Duncan steps over to Tyler's side and await's transport.

Takamura adjusts his pack with the explosives and a spare medkit and slings his rifle over his shoulder. The big man then takes up his position next to Tyler.

Fioravanti settles into position as well, uncharacteristically quiet.

Tyler swallows a few times to get over the initial nausea, then flips open her tricorder. She watches the ground below her as the unit powers up, because if it triggers a dicosilium eruption, that's where it's going to come from. Satisfied that she's on stable ground for the moment, she reads the tricorder. "There's no natives within two clicks of us, so far, so good. There's some sort of bio-signs above us, but they're too small to be humanoid. My bet is that its what the locals call meerkas, which is kind of like a mountain lion. Kind of."

There is a small ball of coalescing blue light that rapidly spins. It grows slowly at first, from a pinpoint to the size of a basketball, then suddenly expands rapidly until it consumes everyone in a blinding flash. With a wash of nausea (especially to those who have never transported via artifact before), the team is standing on a side of a mountain, with rocky outcroppings obscuring them from the valley below. It's getting dark, as the Irdosian sun is setting above the valley. The LZ area is relatively flat and is approximately a kilometer above the Irdosian sea level. The smell of smoke wafts in on a stiff breeze, and the air is chilly. Campfires and torchlight can be seen in valley below, but it is getting too dark to discern further details in the trading village.

<CONTEST> Green contests her Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Fioravanti turns several shades of green, but manages not to gag. She, like Tyler, swallows hard a few times and takes several very deep breaths.

As the small ball of blue light appears, Foster draws in his breath and holds it, apparently aware of what's about to happen. Once the scenery changes, the IIIc comes up in one hand, and the tricorder in the other. He immediately begins scanning, only swallowing twice to keep his gorge down.

Green's head comes up rapidly at the spinning, then she sets a heel back to balance herself as the transport finishes. Even as she looks around quickly, she swallows hard, looking a little... well, green.

. o O Green thinks, "Thanks for the warning!"

Soral continues to watch his tricorder for a few moments more, maybe to hide his facial features but more likely just confirming the locality and possibly going fluently over to scan the area. Silence from him might be interpreted as a good sign for he simply looks up a few moments later, familiarizing himself with the area.

. o O Foster thinks, "Well, that's what you get for going in a straight line for once."

Takamura seems to be used to this sort of transport, not showing any signs of visible discomfort. Once the light dissipates, Tak unshoulders his rifle and holds it in a ready position. Instead of technology, he uses his good, old-fashioned natural peepers to scout the area around them.

Duncan being an old hand at this form of travel, take's a breath and lets it out slowly as the artifact translates him from one point in spacetime to another. As the effect fades he quickly scans the terrain visually and listens as the others report their tricorder findings, then un-shoulders his type IIIc and checks it, then waits for firing orders.

Green shakes her head a bit, slinging her rifle down from her shoulder into ready stance. Glancing around toward the others, she moves to back Duncan, so that the entirety of the landscape is covered by one or the other of them.

GAME: Takamura spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Takamura (claiming advantage) contests his Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Tyler snaps her tricorder closed and looks to the Vulcan. "Agent Soral, would you mind assisting me in double-checking the equipment?" she asks him. "If this is a good place to drill, we should move it out of everyone's way, too."

GAME: Foster spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Foster (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Takamura walks a short distance from the LZ, kneeling down to look at the rocks. Turning to Tyler, he reports, "We have a good strata of granite here to build on. However, there is also a layer of crystals above it. I'll have to scan it to make sure it isn't dicosilium."

<CONTEST> Takamura contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Fioravanti remains quiet and out of the way, letting those who know better take care of things, at least for the time being.

Soral stores his tricorder back on his belt. One look around the immediate area before he moves towards Tyler and the rest of the equipment. "No I do not mind, Lieutenant", is the short reply as he sets out to the first crate, going for the handles.

Duncan while watching the activity around him, a thought occurs, and he re-shoulders his type IIIc and takes the temporal tricorder from his belt to do a quick scan of his own.

Green turns her gaze slightly, catching Duncan's movement, and she steps forward to start a circle around the others. "Anybody doing continual scans for lifesigns?"

"I have my tricorder programmed to run a scan every five minutes or so, but if you'd like to take over, that's fine," Foster says. Then he turns, "Sir? We have a potential problem on our hands."

Green shakes her head quickly at the offer, then quirks an eyebrow.

. o O Green thinks, "Problem?"

Foster goes on to explain, "There's a rather large storm on the other side of this mountain. If it rolls over to us - and storms near mountains can be unpredictable - it could get very bad here, especially with the EM situation. My PADD has no recordings of what a lightning strike would do to dicosilium, but I imagine it would be rather explosive. And not in a good way."

Takamura pulls out his tricorder and scans the crystals. "It looks like quartz to me. Which means that we'll be able to drill here." At Foster's report, he looks over to Tyler.

Duncan cocks an ear in foster's direction as he begins his scan.

GAME: Duncan spends a courage point.

Fioravanti offers, quietly, "LT Foster, I can take over the life sign scanning, if that would free you up for other things."

<CONTEST> Duncan (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Temporal Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Green glances over toward Foster for a long moment, and refrains from comment.

. o O Green thinks, "Oh, /lovely/."

Tyler wrinkles up her nose at Foster's report. Great. Like any good officer, she weighs the options briefly before proceeding. "Alright. Let's proceed. If it gets bad, we'll halt work and transport back. I don't mind the wet but if lightning starts going off, we'll abandon this for another night." She goes back to helping Soral move the silver crates. Her small frame doesn't nearly compare to his Vulcan strength, but she gets an E for effort.

Duncan mutters something about EM shielding and puts the temporal tricorder away, then steps over to help Soral and Tyler move the equipment.

Foster nods, "Sure, Ensign." He moves over to the Combat Medic and transfers the data to her. "Keep an eye on the lifeforms we've already detected too. Being snuck up on once by Arboreal Squid is one time too many for me."

Takamura nods to Tyler. "Understood. Shall we start digging here then?" He asks while putting his tricorder away.

Fioravanti flashes a grin at Foster and starts setting up her scans, set for 60 seconds, rather than 300. Then she moves well out of the way.

Said effort is still appreciated, though when Soral is moving the same crate as Tyler, he looks at her over the object at her, studing her features as if he could read something in them.

<CONTEST> Foster (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Takamura contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser Rifle) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Takamura contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser Rifle) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

Foster's fingers dance over the controls of his tricorder. He pauses, checks the program he's put in, and then reattaches the device to his belt. If you're close enough to see, the device is still active and working, apparently running a program in some kind of loop.

Takamura stands up and sheds his backpack, setting it off to the side. Picking his rifle back up, he sets his rifle on the appropriate setting and begins drilling into the ground.

Tyler smiles at Soral upon noticing his gaze, and her cheeks flush slightly. Perhaps the smile is wasted on the Vulcan, but perhaps not. She wipes the perspiration off her brow once the crates are moved, and starts to unlock them. "Brie, help the good Professor get the power generator and holographic emitter set up. We'll turn them on if we have to hide ourselves."

Smoke starts to waft from the hole that Takamura is making, and the smell of vaporizing granite fills the air.

Fioravanti crinkles her nose at the smell then grins at Tyler, moving immediately to help said good professor. He leads, she follows.

Green glances toward the drilling, and moves her patrol about five meters more out.

Duncan watches the heavy-weapons specialist chewing through the rock with phased energy and waits his turn at the cutting site.

"Ensign", Soral addresses Fioravanti as she comes closer. "Please disposition the emitter monopods as following the standard pattern. Prepare them for lockdown yet do not set the final seal before we had the opportunity to finetune the equipment." He raises a hand towards the power generator. "I will in the meantime start the initial powerup sequence for the generator."

There is a low rumble of thunder in the distance and an icy wind whips up from the valley floor.

Time for Takamura to get down and dirty. He continues to drill into the rock like an old time rock hound.

Foster glances up at the rumble of thunder, and reaches down to his belt for his tricorder. While he programmed it to notify him if the storm starts to move, it certainly can't hurt to keep an eye on it.

Fioravanti dips her head to Soral and goes about doing as asked, smiling as she works. Oddly? Someone's loving this. She stops just short of whistling.

Green casts an eye skyward, hunches her shoulders as she continues her pacing.

. o O Green thinks, "San Francisco, it ain't."

<CONTEST> Fioravanti contests her Systems Engineering skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Soral contests his Systems Engineering skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Apparently whatever Foster sees on his tricorder doesn't bother him much, as he just replaces it back on his belt and goes back to waiting.

Suddenly, there is a brilliant spark from the hole that Takamura is drilling, and the rumble of thunder is replaced with a rumble of mountain. Above them on the cliff face, a huge shard of dicosilium starts to erupt out of one of the veins, pushing rock and dirt aside.

Green winces at the bright flash, then spins, her gaze rising swiftly. "Oh hell," she says calmly. "Lieutenant! The 'quartz' is claiming a case of mistaken identity."

Tyler steadies herself against a boulder and looks up. "Yeah, that's likely not quartz," she says. "Hiroshi, everything ok?"

When Takamura spots the spark, he ceases fire immediately. But it is too late. The damage is done. "Damn! Look out! Fire in the hole!" The big man calls out as he tries to get out of the way of flying debris.

Soral finishes initial power up of the generator without much of a problem. Reaching for his tricorder as he stands up again, he moves to Brie's side double checking the configuration and adjustment of the emiters, not finding much to correct, he indicates those which she can seal and lock into place.

Fioravanti starts to grin at Soral, apparently enjoying the chance to learn a new skill as she goes, but then Tak decides to play WWF, Trek style. She winces and works a little more quickly, head down.

Duncan being an experienced mountain climber, steps back calls out "Anyone hit?"

As quickly as the rumbling begins, it ends, with a large blue-white crystalline shard poking out between granite layers. Rocks skitter to the base of the cliff, but none are large enough to cause any real damage. This time.

Green's eyes follow the skittering rocks, before returning to the crystal. "Hi to you too." She shakes her head, then moves over to peer down into the digging that's gone on so far. "How much more do we need?"

It finishes too fast for Foster to really react, but as the crystalline shard settles, the male Lieutenant pulls out his tricorder again. 'cause, you know, who knows if the lightning storm might not be /attracted/ to an exposed piece of dicosilium.

Takamura shoulders his rifle again, pulling out his tricorder. The geologist's son scans the rock again to see if he can avoid the dicosilium deposit.

GAME: Takamura spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Takamura (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Soral ducks at the sudden warning from Tak, but the danger from crystal shrads is as quickly gone as it came. He turns to Fioravanti again, judging her to be interested in the proceedings, he explains as he walks back to the generator "We will now initialize the holographic matrix to project its camouflage image."

Fioravanti dips her head to Soral, following along. She glances at the PADD on her side every minute or so, once she's finished with her hands.

Green glances toward Tak, waiting for an answer.

<CONTEST> Duncan contests his Personal Equipment (Temporal Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

GAME: Fioravanti spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Fioravanti (claiming advantage) contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Duncan Takes a scan then confers with Tak. "It looks like the dicosilium is interfering. With the geological scans. What do you think about proceeding?"

Takamura frowns heavily at his readings. "This shielding must be giving me some problems. Unless it is the dicosilium deposits. However, it looks safe to continue drilling." Looking over to Green, he says, "We've gotten over a meter deep and still need to drill at least fifteen meters more."

Green looks at Duncan, back toward Tak, then back down into the hole. "What say I drill while you scan, hmmm?"

"Storm is still agitating on the opposite side of the mountain," Foster reports with no emphasis on any part of the phrase.

It's on one of those PADD checks that Brie pauses and announces, voice quiet, "Possible patrol incoming. Three humanoids on three ragnas coming from the village on this trajectory."

Duncan nods to Green, "Take my shift, We'll keep an eye on the tricorders."

Soral enters a several numbers, even going so far as to commenting what he does. A crosslined pattern starts to form first of the miniature display of the power generator, then almost visible on a grander scale around the perimeter of the holographic emiters. The field is comming up as planned. Now only to check whether it stays stable and covers the area satisfactory.

"Cease work," Tyler barks. "Professor, ETA on a stable holographic cover? Caleb, Tay, prepare for hostiles. Heavy stun."

Green nods her agreement with Duncan, then straightens at Brie's report, looking toward the medic as she moves swiftly into the nearest cover. "Range and bearing?"

Takamura nods to Green. "Alright, Tay. Though, I think you just want to play in the dirt." When Brie announces possible visitors, he looks up. When Tyler starts barking, Tak resets his rifle to heavy stun and brings it back up to a ready position.

Green spares a smirk for Tak, without looking away from the surrounding countryside.

<CONTEST> Soral contests his Systems Engineering (Holographics) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Foster checks his tricorder once more and then places it back on his belt one more time. Up comes the Type IIIc and a few adjustments are made: wide beam, heavy stun. "Brie? Is there any location nearby where we might be able to see them before they see us? Or, to make a pun, a blind?"

<CONTEST> Fioravanti (claiming advantage) contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Fioravanti swears softly. "They're gone," she says quietly. "Can't get range or bearing. One second, Sir," she tells Foster, brow furrowing.

Green's fingers move on her weapon held at the ready, though she doesn't look down at it, doublechecking the settings. Yep, still on stun. She really hadn't planned on killing any of the natives on this trip. The slightest nod acknowledges the medic's report. She starts to track along the sight, her rifle's muzzle moving slowly from one end of the forward range to the other.

<CONTEST> Tyler contests her Presence (Willpower) skill vs Takamura's Intellect (Perception) skill and Succeeds!

Tyler silently, and with but a glance, passes command of the situation to Takamura, considering it has potential to become a tactical one very quickly.

Foster keeps his phaser rifle up in a deceptively docile manuever, and says, "Just stay calm and try again, Brie. There are probably several things interfering, like the dicosilium and that electromagnetic storm on the other side of the mountain."

<CONTEST> Soral contests his Systems Engineering (Holographics) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

Soral walks around the perimeter of the field, "Powerlevels opperate at full, the emitters are already in the initial phase and will be sending out a stable field in 72 seconds starting now." a small pause "Margin of error .7 seconds."

Takamura nods to Tyler once, getting the message. "Duncan, see if you can help Fioravanti get a fix on the natives." Looking around at the situation, he gestures to specific outcroppings of rock. "Foster, Green. Take up positions over there. The rest of us can hide behind the rocks over here."

With a nod to Tak, Duncan takes his Temporal tricorder back from his hip and keys in a life form scan.

Green glances quickly toward Tak, and nods, scooting to take up her assigned spot. And she returns to searching for approaching natives through the sighting mechanism of her rifle, steadying the weapon against the rock.

<CONTEST> Duncan contests his Personal Equipment (Temporal Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

"Aye," Foster says, moving to one of the outcroppings, lifting the phaser rifle to an upright position as he moves. Once he gets there, he doesn't seem to delay at all before he gets down on the ground, apparently intending to reduce his profile as much as he possibly can while still being able to keep an eye on the areas that Green cannot cover from her position.

<CONTEST> Fioravanti (claiming advantage) contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

<CONTEST> Fioravanti contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Soral is dead-on accurate with his estimate. A wave of photonic energy spreads out from the emitter to cover the entire area. From the inside of the hologram, you can't really see what it looks like, only some slight forms. But one thing is obvious: it's not quite large enough to cover the entire area. In fact, it doesn't entirely cover the hole that Takamura was digging, nor does it cover the dicosilium deposit that erupted above. Everyone is able to get adequate cover within the field.

Duncan glances over to Fioravanti for her results, and shrugs muttering something about EM shielding.

Fioravanti's voice is quiet. "They're coming straight on. .5 km out, coming fast. The dicosilium must have gotten their attention."

Green mutters, riveting her aim on Brie's coordinates, "Why? What's their interest in it?"

"They use it for jewelry. They might have thought lightning struck and are coming to get the deposit," Tyler says. "The ragnas are fast, and are agile on the mountain-sides. Professor, can we make the field larger?"

Green grunts slightly at Wendy's explanation.

Takamura nods at Fioravanti's report, taking up a covering position within the holoprojection. "Alright, everyone take cover. Do not fire on them unless they get too close to discovering us."

Soral moves behind cover, eyes going over the area. Now it is time for The Eyebrow. That was apparently not going exactly according to plan. Soral taps into the generators control circuits to analyse what has happened. Then Tyler speaks once more. "In theory, yes." I am already analyzing the data, as to correct what has gone wrong."

Fioravanti slips behind the cover as well, apparently letting Wendy's explanation stand.

Green is about as covered as she can get, with a rock outcropping between the approach and most of her. She's down on one knee, her rifle balanced on a niche in the stone and... well, rock steady. "Brie," she murmurs, "Let us know if they split up?"

GAME: Soral spends a courage point.

Tyler moves to her assigned position. Behind the spear-catching wall of flesh that is Takamura.

<CONTEST> Soral (claiming advantage) contests his Systems Engineering (Holographics) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Duncan slips behind some rocks and waits for the approaching natives.

. o O Takamura thinks, "Ok, people. Let's hope the natives just go away. I don't want to have to open fire on these people."

Foster is still flat out on the ground, only the tip of his rifle immediately visible, and then probably only if you look for it.

. o O Green thinks, "Steady. Breathe. This is not a critical situation. Yet. Focus."

The image of the rock face expands over the drilling area, but it does not quite reach the dicosilium crystal poking out above.

Tyler says quietly, "Good work, Soral." She looks to the others. "We're likely safe from discovery - they can climb on the image as if it solid rock. As long as we remain quiet, I doubt they'll discover us."

The rumble of thunder can be heard in the distance, vaguely vibrating the rocks that the team is nestled among.

. o O Green hears the thunder. "Oh hell."

Green nods slightly to acknowledge Tyler. Which doesn't at all keep her from continuing to watch for the locals at high readiness.

Foster glances up at the rumble of thunder, but the tricorder at his belt still hasn't indicated the storm is moving in, so he's not moving from his posted position. Silence is Golden. Even if he isn't here at the moment.

Takamura hunkers down behind his rock and keeps his eyes open and his mouth shut. This is a situation that he seems entirely comfortable with.

. o O Takamura thinks, "This is just like my days in the Infantry."

Duncan sites through his type IIIc down the angles of approach and waits.

The three mounted Irdosians can be seen coming up the slope. They look vaguely humanoid with bony ridges going from their temples to their cheeks. All three have long hair, which are tied back in ponytails. They wear cured hides and carry primitive spears, the heads of which appear to be made of dicosilium. The ragnas look like large canines, and they are controlled with crude reins. In the dark, the riders slow, and the ragnas start to sniff the ground as they approach the image boundary.

"What is it, Grocha?" asks one in a quiet voice to his sniffing mount. "What do you smell, girl?" The ragna whuffles softly as if in response. Then with a great leap, the ragna makes three leaps up the face of the image - a surreal scene from the inside to say the least. "I found the god rock!" he says when he approaches the dicosilium. He opens a saddlebag and removes a crude hammer and chisel.

"Hurry, Almash," says one of the riders at the base of the image. "Or we shall be washed away in the waters that stir on the other side of the Frelghat." Lightning flashes at the top of the ridge.

Very surreal. Green shfits her aim slightly lower, the muzzle of her weapon moving no more than a few inches, and in a slightly random shift at that, as if a pebble were falling. Wide beam stun or no, adjusted weapons or no, in case she has to fire on the two still slightly further down. Hitting those spearheads is really something she doesn't want to do unless she absolutely has to.

. o O Green thinks, "/Just/ what we need. Hammer and chisel. And how long is it going to take him to get the bits he wants, I wonder."

Tyler watches on in awe. She whispers to Takamura, "We're the first neutral observers of the Irdosian culture. The last Federation visitors, well, let's just say it didn't go well."

Foster watches quietly, hand inching down towards his tricorder, to make absolutely sure it's set to VIBRATE and not BEEP when the storm starts to move. There is a certain amount of fascination on his part as well, but right now he just wants to make sure he doesn't give them all away.

. o O Green thinks, "Wait a minute. Washed away in... What waters?!?"

Green glances abruptly toward Tyler and Tak, alarm in her eyes.

Takamura also watches the Irdosians up close and personal. He doesn't seem quite as excited as Tyler is, but then again, he's a soldier and not a scientist. He simply nods in reply, maintaining silence.

Duncan simply waits and takes sight on the nearest Irodosian and his mount.

Fioravanti remains very quiet, very watchful, utterly fascinated by what's going on. She's ready for action, no doubt about that, but she's, apparently, not planning on gunning them down right now.

"Aieeee!" cries the one called Almash. He tumbles down the face of the holo-image as a meerka has pounced on him from above. The mount barks several guttural yelps and spins to face off against the large razor-backed mountain cat. The ragna lunges for it and both tumble down the image and further out of sight.

"Meerka!" cry the other two Irdosians. One starts to chase after the riderless ragna and snarling meerka which can only be heard, but the other - the one who was worried about the storm - dismounts briefly to check on Almash. He checks the fallen man's pulse - a rather advanced thing to do for a primitive species - and shakes his head sadly. Clearly, Almash has died. "May the Silver Ones guide you home to the stars," he says over the body. He takes a necklace from Almash's body, then mounts his nervous ragna, and rides off after the noisy battle. "Revenge!" he cries.

. o O Foster thinks, "See what I mean about not wanting to be jumped by something again? See? See?"

Green doesn't move, save for her gaze returning to the natives. Her jaw works slightly- maybe it's just leftover nausea from the transport- but her eyes become flat, emotionless flint as she watches Almash's death.

"Well, that was close," Foster whispers to himself. He lifts the tricorder from his belt and nods towards Fioravanti, then waves it. He raises both eyebrows questioningly. All the gestures are minimal; it's possible that the Combat Medic won't even see them.

. o O Green thinks, "If we hadn't poked that crystal out... No. Can't think about that. Not now."

Duncan continues to watch the approaches for any other native's arrival.

<CONTEST> Fioravanti contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

GAME: Duncan spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Duncan contests his Personal Equipment (Temporal Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Takamura's attention goes to Almash as the native cries out. However, he doesn't move or speak lest he draw undue attention to them. Instead, he does what the Prime Directive instructs him to do, let nature take its course.

Soral does... nothing. Well, aside from the occasional breath or blink of an eye, it is as if the Vulcan took this moment to seek a private moment in meditation.

Duncan says, ""

Duncan says, "They're still on their way further out, though I've no doubt they'll return for the corpse of their friend."

<CONTEST> Tyler contests her Culture (Irdosian) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Amazingly enough, she does catch Caleb's 'nice tricorder, can I buy you a drink' movements. Nodding, once, she bends her head over her own tricorder. After she sees whatever she sees on the tricorder, she makes 'away' motions with one hand and mouths the word "Fighting" to Caleb. She points out the downed mount, if it's visible, and shakes her head, hand waving half and half.

GAME: Foster spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Fioravanti contests her Culture (Irdosian) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

<CONTEST> Soral contests his Culture skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Foster contests his Culture (Irdosian) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Green contests her Culture (Irdosian) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Foster (claiming advantage) contests his Culture (Irdosian) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

<CONTEST> Takamura contests his Culture (Irdosian) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Soral looks finally over to Gwendolyn, "Have you seen how the other nomad has taken the necklace from the fallen rider? That is the Irdosian funeral rite, they are going to leave the body to be reclaimed by nature." He nods, sure of himself "They will most likely come back for the usable equipment he still carries, like his tools."

Tyler looks as if she could burst into tears as she looks on the native man. "Oh my, the poor guy," she says, her brow crinkled up with fret. She looks at Soral and nods absently at his summary. No matter how she feels about it the fallen native, she tries to do the one thing she's trained to do: concentrate on the mission. "Let's get back to work while that cat has them distracted. Second shift, you're up."

Green overhears Soral, her eyes remaining on the direction the surviving natives took. "Redeem, reuse, recycle," she mutters, then looks toward Tyler again, keeping her voice low as she moves back toward the started pit. "One of the locals mentioned something about getting washed away in the waters of something-or-other. Do we have to worry about floods here?"

. o O Tyler certainly hopes not.

Fioravanti straightens up, apparently ready to get back to work. Though, well, she continues tracking, still every minute or so.

Takamura nods to Tyler, gesturing to Green to come back over to the pit. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he pulls out his tricorder to scan the hole as it is being dug. "Fioravanti and Foster, keep an eye on the natives and the storm. Duncan, help us out over here."

"Acknowledged," Foster says. He sits up, indian-style, where he was laying before and begins tapping into his tricorder. "I'll scan for floods and other natural hazards too, Lieutenant Green."

The wind shifts, and starts to blow down the mountain, bringing with it a few drops of rain.

"Let's hope he was talking about the rain, Tay," Tyler replies. She shivers under the icy drizzle, or perhaps the death of the native still lingers on her. "Let's double up on diggers and get this over with."

Duncan steps over to Takamura. "At your service Tak."

Green nods at Tyler's response, and jumps down into the pit. She ignores the cold rain, adjusting the setting on her rifle, and aims it at the ground to start drilling again.

And almost immediately upon those words, Foster's tricorder starts buzzing and vibrating. "Uh oh."

Foster goes on, "Lieutenant, we have just under five minutes before that storm is right on top of us."

Green's finger flicks away from her trigger, and she looks toward Tak inquiringly.

<CONTEST> Fioravanti contests her Personal Equipment (Medical Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

"Duncan, help Tay with the digging. I'll continue to scan. We'll try to get as much done as we can before the storm hits." Takamura instructs while he watches his tricorder.

Fioravanti eyes her Tricorder, glaring for a moment. "Storm," she murmurs. "No luck with the scan. I'll keep trying."

"We should stay fairly dry under the hologram, but the image is bound to leak at the seams. I can feel it blowing in," Tyler says.

Duncan nods and shoulders his type IIIc then takes his Temporal Tricorder back out for a scan of the geological features while Green sets up to start cutting again.

Green takes that as a 'keep going'. She looks back down, and fires.

<CONTEST> Green contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser Rifle) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Soral moves over to Fioravanti at this time, inquiring "Do you require assistance?" but already reaching for his own tricorder.

Fioravanti keeps an eye out for the natives, apparently, making sure to study things. Soral is waved off with a bit of a smile. Combat medic walking in circles, gotta love it.

Foster continues to watch the storm as it nears, closer and closer, at least until his time comes to dig. And then he does that instead.

Green digs. She digs well. Not that she would have ever really expected to use her precious weaponry for such, but hey- if it works, it works.

Takamura wipes his brow with a grin while he looks at their completed job. It appears that someone has enjoyed himself. After slipping backpack on, he slings his rifle. "Alright, folks. Let's clean everything up and head back home. You all did an outstanding job."

. o O Green gets a warm and fuzzy feeling she'll never admit to, chest swelling a bit.

Soral inclines his head once towards Brie and simply starts to enter several sequences into the Tricorder. His steps take him back to Tyler who receives a questioningly raised eyebrow a little later. He would be ready if needed.

Green nods toward Tak as she surveys the blind once more, critically, then she turns to fall into her spot behind her superiors, looking just a teensy weensy bit tired.

Wendy, for her part, finds a rock and parks herself on it while the dig progresses.

The digging proceeds carefully through the storm, over six more hours. The storm is not quite as violent on this side of the mountain, but it is a torrential downpour. The hologram turns into a giant, damp, drippy cave. The only major interruption in the dig is the arrival of the two victorious warriors with a meerka corpse over the back of a ragna. They collect the tools of Almash silently, mount up again, and ride off singing a song of mourning for their lost comrade.

When it is finished, the emitter and generator are set into place in the second chamber, and is just big enough for 2-3 scientists to be able to watch over the Irdosian village down below. It's been long, hard work in shifts, but the job has been well-done. Whoever is inheriting this blind will be able to call it home.