Candle in the Night

Posted on Sat Apr 6th, 2024 @ 10:35pm by Lieutenant Tracey Walker Jr & Captain Mira Rodale & Commander Kevin Lance & Lieutenant Betaras K'ner

Mission: Amir II
Location: Amir II
Timeline: Current

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They didn't have time to set up a perimeter, they didn't have time to strategize about position and placement. They didn't have time to prepare, but such was the life of a treasure hunter, and Trace was in his element.

"We got incoming, light is your best weapon." He shouted the words, and they were true, but on the heels of his comment, he fired multiple phaser blasts in the direction of the beasts. He couldn't see much of them in the beams of the wrist lamps, but from what he could tell they were multilegged and vicious.

"Little bastards." He heard Geneva mutter, her back to to his, the two having found each other in the dark and under pressure of combat.

"Odd sentiment coming from a Xenobiologist..." he commented, not able to hide the smirk in his voice.

"Shut up," she retorted, her long knife slashing at a skittering shadow.

Chin swallowed hard "Guys are we just going to stand here? I mean maybe they're hungry or just defending eggs or babies I don't know know." he was a little freaked out. No wonder Zimia didn't want to come here. He pulled out the translator. Nope, nope nothing was talking.

T'Valik took a knee, securing a firm foundation as he swung his weapon to take out or otherwise dissuade the advance. He passed on tactical comments with Chapman as they awaited an order to move.

Daisy didn't know where it came from, but she was less scared now than she was when they walked down. All the shadows were jumpy from their mobile lights but at least now, they held more on targets as the whatever-they-are's didn't seem to get the message about superior firepower. Yeah, that's what it was, just the stable shadows, less scary, phaser training handy, moving on the left, hold arm steady, extend, breathe, hold, fire... she could do this.

Trace continued to fire into the darkness, when he stopped to think. Light, we need light, he thought. "Close your eyes!" he shouted, then counted to three, and set his wrist lamp to overload. It would render it useless but it would give them a bright burst of light.

With a pop and a fizzle, a wave of bright light pulsed out, sending the spider things scurrying away. "It won't keep them away long," he said, and turned to Geneva.

Daisy spoke up, her mind clear. "A pulse, we need a sonic pulse."

Geneva picked up on what she was thinking immediately. Subterranean creatures would stay away from a rhythmic sound source, associating it with shifting tectonics, which would be dangerous for them. She dug in her bag and produced a scientific tricorder, setting it to emit a steady beat, and laid it on a nearby rock.

It seemed to do the trick, because whatever it was they had provoked didn't come back. The group worked to set a steady, central light source and in short order the entire chamber was illuminated.

Large stone statues of robed Romulans and Remand lined the walls, their impassive gazes unreadable.

"Spread out," Trace called, "report to me any findings and stay in groups of two. Don't go beyond the reach of the light. We're looking for text, the written word if you can find it. That should give us a clue as to who built this and why."

Daisy and Chapman moved off in one direction, stepping up and over some fallen blocks of stone. Daisy couldn't figure out how to tell the security guy she hadn't meant to kill him, or try to, but she just couldn't make any sound come out.

Chapman was looking around more than at anything in particular. He now knew for certain there were hostiles in the area, and it was up to him not to caught unawares. He was also aware that the Geophysics professor was staring him down, likely embarrassed about the reaction he had, but he'd already forgiven her for that. Lesson learned he figured.

Daisy finally got distracted with her readings, still trying to make adjustments for the striations of materials here that threw off their analytic devices. Once she could figure out the right algorithm, things should make more sense... well, or not, but at least they'd have more accurate data and make a better study of what lay before them... and under them maybe as she detected other open spaces.

Chapman was still scanning for the biologics when he realized there were patterns on the ceiling. "Hey Reynolds."

It took a moment to realize Chapman was talking to her. "Oh... what did you say?"

"What is it you're looking for again?"

"Well, I'm studying the geologic states of matter, but as a whole, the team lead is looking for information, any wording or written passages on what happened here... that kind of thing."

Chapman hmmm'd... "And what would something like that look like? I'm guessing it's not going to be some galactic standard script eh?"

Daisy suppressed a giggle. "You are correct sir. Given the Romulan influence, it may look more symbolic. This was a long time ago so it won't look exactly like it does now. Why?"

Chapman pointed up, focusing his light at the ceiling to banish the shadows flitting around from everyone moving about the open space. "Like that?"

Daisy looked up, then squinted. "Oh my..."

"Lt Walker!? Sir?"

Trace came over to look at what Chapman had found and, glancing up, saw the entire ceiling etched with ancient text. His heart skipped a beat with the thrill of discovery.

"Chin." Walker said, summoning the linguist.

Chin played the beam of his flashlight on the ceiling above the party. After a moment’s assessment he said, “It’s written like a long form epic poem but references events in the early-warp era. ‘A long time ago in a binary star system far away…’” He continued to translate portions of the writings. They confirmed Trace’s interpretation of the reliefs carved into the walls of the entry way.

A group of disaffected Romulan and Reman youths had ventured forth from Romulus to seek a simpler life more in touch with their spiritual nature. They had been led by a philosopher name Iovianus who had taught a discipline similar to Surak but had embraced emotion rather than suppress it. The group had settled on the planet and for a time had lived in harmony. There were long sections devoted to detailed descriptions of emotional bacchanals that Geneva found oddly stimulating.

Then, without warning, the community was beset by a horrible monster with telepathic abilities that turned the members of the commune against one another and fed off of the chaos. From the commune arose a champion, Talon Martialis, who ventured forth and befriended the monster. Over the span of a decade, Martialis learned the secret of the creature’s telepathic ability and unlock his own latent abilities. Once he had done so, he betrayed and slew the monster.

“It sounds like a fairy tale. ‘Once upon a time…’” Chapman smirked.

“No,” Daisy replied, “more like Beowulf.”

“Who?”

“An ancient earth great king,” Daisy answered.

Trace patted Chapman on the shoulder as he walked by, staring up at the ceiling. "There's power in story, son...truths that have a way of surviving the test of time."

Hailed as a hero, Martialis was elevated to leadership of the commune and spent another decade choosing and training disciples, his shadowed talons, from amongst the Romulan and Remans. The remaining text trailed off after implying that Martialis and his disciples returned to Romulus but there was nothing more. It was as if the writer had stopped and never returned.

There was more script, a lot more, and it would take several teams working over the course of weeks to transcribe it all. "All right team, I think we did what we came here to do. Let's wrap it up and head back to the surface."

The team was more than happy to comply, and it didn't take them long to gather their equipment and head out. Back aboard the Starbase, Trace filed his report to Lieutenant Commander Montgomery, then sat back to consider the discovery: A Romulan religious sect had formed on Amir II, at the center of its belief system, the power of mental compulsion and manipulation. He wondered how long that system of belief had endured.

Off:

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
XO
USS Chuck Norris

Captain Mira Rodale
Commanding Officer
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Lieutenant Betaras K'Ner
Hazard Team TL-B / Acting CMO
USS Chuck Norris

Lieutenant Tracey Walker
Chief Engineer
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