[IRW Knvuk]
Terrh glared at the viewscreen, the swirling cesspool of Yy'a consuming the other four ships as they charged after the Charon. 'Fleeing Rehu? Leaving your people trapped on the planet? This must be driving you mad.' A smirk ceased through his lips.
"It appears that one of the groups of aliens on the planet is wearing protective suits."
"What?" Terrh grimaced. His eyes flickered with rage "send the gai'shian down there and get rid of them!"
The officer was silent for a moment "but we don't have protection against…"
"DO IT!" He screamed and grabbed his disruptor "Gai'Shian are nothing! Send them down there!"
"Ie Rekkhai…"
[Ch'Dabhae]
Ensign James Halifax, a young security officer, stood at the periphery of the group keeping his eyes open for anything. He was making his way down to the village when loud screaming caught his attention. The group immediately sprinted down a dirt embankment and into the village. What he saw shook him to the core. Dozens of Romulans; mostly women, and children were lying on the ground convulsing. From their mouths and noses green foam was billowing up. Others were screaming and clawing at their faces. "My god- what is this?"
Skidding to a halt next to a young woman, Indira dropped to her knees. "Shh," she said, trying to comfort, "don't talk, save your strength." She pulled out her tricorder and scanned the Romulan from head to toe, watching dumbfounded as the readings changed and mutated within seconds. The woman clutched at Indi's haz suit. "I'm sorry, I need... I need time." She furiously tapped commands into the tricorder, but with a final gurgle of green foam, the woman died.
"Commander, I don't know what's going on here, but I think it's airborne. Somehow the Romulan's blood is flooding their respiratory systems and effectively drowning them."
Brent immediately switched to the communication frequency of his marines. "Under no circumstances take off your armor. As you just heard the doc just talked about how whatever is in the atmosphere is airborne. Make sure your filters are working properly if it looks slightly contaminated switch to O2 reserves," Brent said as he looked at the death that seemed to be flooding over the small town they were about to talk to. Biological warfare. Brent wasn't sure there was a worse way to die, perhaps by chemical but even then... He shook his head.
Runo stared out over the crowds of people lying on the ground, some still alive while other forms mercifully not moving. Whatever this was, it worked fast. The green foam was everywhere, in some places obviously belonging to the bodies nearby. But even in the middle of all this death, life struggled to maintain itself. Movement from the middle of the crowds caught his eye. A low cry for help. "There's someone alive over here!" Running in the hazmat suit was quite a challenge but Runo managed it nonetheless. Carefully judging the distance for his steps as to avoid stepping on fallen Romulans, the lieutenant made his way into the village's outskirt buildings to find the source of the sounds. A small Romulan child, no more than 7 or 8 years of age, sat leaning up against a wall, his small eyes closed and the figure slowly rocking back and forth. Setting down the equipment he carried, Runo spoke softly. "Can you hear me? Hello? We're here to help you." For a moment, he feared he was too late but the two eyelids slowly rose to reveal a pair of emerald greens eyes. The lips formed into a smile and as the child went to speak, he was suddenly seized with a fit of coughing. Green foam coated the hand that covered his mouth.
Runo looked over towards Indi who was in the process of closing the eyes on another Romulan whom she had tried to help ease their final moments. "Lieutenant Bai, I need your help over here!" He turned back around. But help would come too late. The child's eyes were closed, his posture relaxed. "No... no." Pulling out his tricorder, he tapped a few buttons and stared at the readings for a moment before slowly closing the instrument and placing it back in its holster. He sat there, for a few moments before standing up and turning back to the rest of the Starfleet personnel that had started his way. He hesitated a moment, opened his mouth to speak but then couldn't find a way to express it so he just slowly shook his helmeted head in the negative.
Nathanial saw the away team running around attempting to help the villagers, he knew that Indira would be already on top of the scans of the effected; he also knew that he would be most useful scanning the composites in the atmosphere. He turned away from the scene infront of him, he knew that his emotions would take over if he looked for much longer, no he had to be clear, he had to blank out his mind. He set down his bag and pulled out the portable probe. He placed it down and just as he was about to turn it on, something moved in his peripheral vision.
Nathanial knew he should not look, but something inside him made his head turn anyhow, there some ten meters away was a girl, no more a woman, on the ground, she looked up and their eye's met. With painstaking effort she reached her arm forward, her eye's pleading for help. Nathanial froze.
Eithne's eyes went wide when she saw the carnage that was actually taking place on the planet surface. The women and children that were scattered around was so horrific it almost made her lose everything she had previously eaten.
At the edge of the village James heard a slight humming sound as a green sparkle began to diminish. "Sirs!" he shouted at turning around to aim his weapon at the new 'guests' but he was too slow. A bright green flash slammed into his faceplate. All anyone could see was a ball of fire explode from the helmet as the Ensign crumpled to the dirt.
[To be continued…]
Commander Eithne Katris
Executive Officer
USS Charon
Lieutenant Runo Dlya
Assistant Security Officer
USS Charon
Lieutenant Nathanial Doyle
Chief Science Officer
USS Charon
Lieutenant JG Indira Bai
Assistant Medical Officer
USS Charon
1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Acting Marine CO
USS Charon
Ensign James Halifax (NPC Thomas)
Security Red Shirt
USS Charon
