Heading down...

Posted on Thu Dec 17th, 2020 @ 6:28am by Lieutenant Commander Tony Johnson

Mission: The Mentarin Effect
Timeline: Current

Captain Matthew Leonard, Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Commander Tony Johnson, Chief of Security/Tactical
Lieutenant James Wayne, Chief Engineer
*****
Leonard stepped out of the Ready Room, and out onto the Bridge. There was no time like the present to get this mission underway. "'Commander Johnson," the Captain said, as he crossed the bridge to the Tactical console, "are we ready to go?"

"Yes we are sir," Tony replied.

"Excellent," the Captain replied, he pressed the internal comm panel on the tactical arch, "Bridge to Lieutenant Wayne, how are things coming along in the shuttlebay. Are we ready to depart?"

"Ready as we can be sir." Said James as confidently as he could

"Good news," he nodded, "begin preflight procedures, 'Commander Johnson and I are on our way down."

"Understood sir we will be waiting for you." James said

With that, the Captain left the bridge, with the Security Officer in tow. "Have you read the mission brief, 'Commander?" The Captain asked, as they boarded the turbolift. "Main Shuttlebay," he called out, to the lift, to get underway to their destination. He was sure that he would have done so, but with little to work with, he wanted to take the opportunity for conversation with his officer, little as it would be.

"I've read it," the Commander answered. "Just not too certain what the long term goal is and how far were willing to go?"

"We're to do the right thing by these people," Leonard replied, "that's how far I want to go. Securing the future of trade with Mentar is only a secondary objective in my mind." This was certainly at odds with his orders, he knew, but then doing the right thing for the Mentarins could be a step towards securing that trade future. Addressing the accusations levelled at the Federation would certainly be another positive step. Investigating the source of these accusations was also key. It was clear to the Captain that they were false, but they had to have started somewhere.

Tony simply nodded. "Hopefully this goes smoothly as possible. Sure there will be some trust issues on their part initially."

A few minutes later the two arrived to the shuttlebay where they found the Chief Engineer waiting for the them. "I made it a point to have some of my people place a couple of phasers and phaser rifles on board earlier," Johnson spoke. "Better safe than sorry."

"I'm not anticipating that we'll need them, 'Commander," Leonard replied, as they approached the shuttle, before adding, "but certainly a wise precaution." He would have done the same thing, had their roles been reversed. They joined the Engineer inside the shuttle, who sat in the co-pilot's seat, finalising the pre-flight procedures. The Captain himself took the helm. It had been a while since he'd lead an away mission himself, so it was an opportunity to fly the shuttle that he might not get again for a while. He turned to the Engineer, and asked, "what's left on our pre-flights, Lieutenant?"

"The board shows green sir all systems checked and on standby writing your orders sir.". Said James calmly he was a decent shuttle pilot but he much preferred transporters or runabouts to small shuttles

"Shuttlecraft Huron to bridge," Leonard said, opening the channel, as the shuttlebay doors opened ahead of them, "requesting departure clearance."

=A= Clearance granted, Captain =A= came the reply from Kane.

"Acknowledged," Leonard replied, hitting the controls that brought them up off the deck, before taking them out on thrusters. The shuttle passed through the containment field, and moved clear of the ship, before increasing speed to full impulse. "Resolution, this is Shuttlecraft Huron, showing clear. T-Minus four minutes to landing on the surface. Track us down on sensors, and advise of any difficulties." He closed the channel then, before turning to the engineer. "The controls feel slightly sluggish Lieutenant," he began, "is this an unnoticed side effect of the refit works?"

"I am honestly not sure sir it could be something as simple as a misaligned processor or it might be one of the flight engineers playing a prank sluggish control is after all not something that would how up on a preflight and it is something I would never really feel I am certified but flying shuttles was never something I enjoyed.". Said James after the captain mentioned it he could see there might be a problem

He nodded in agreement, "let's schedule a review of all support craft, and see if it's just this shuttle, or it's the others as well. If it is a little more than a prank, Lieutenant, then perhaps we'll also have to review shipboard discipline. He smiled then, as he said it. Of course pranks happened on a starship. He knew all about it. He'd played many over the years, and had been a victim of a good deal more. But there was a time and a place. And this was not it.

"Of course sir" Said James " it had better be every shuttle of there will be flight engineers cleaning every escape pod with toothbrushes." He added under his breath

As they reached the atmosphere, the Captain slowed their descent, setting a course for their agreed upon landing co-ordinates. The flight down was largely uneventful. Approaching the city, it was clear that heavy industry and mining was the major part of the economy of Mentar. When they neared the landing co-ordinates, it became obvious that their arrival wasn't exactly going to be a quiet affair, as there was a large gathering or people, holding banners and signs. From inside the shuttle, at this altitude he couldn't tell what they shouting or saying, but one thing was certain to him was that they weren't happy. Leonard knew a protest when he saw one.

"They're clearly not happy to see us here," Tony mentioned. "Pleasing a crowd like this must be a political nightmare."

"This will be a minefield that I'm sure we'll have to navigate as we go," Leonard replied, in agreement, before asking "are our landing co-ordinates clear of the crowd, 'Commander?"

Johnson nodded to the Captain. "Our coordinates put us at a safe distance from the crowd."

"I'm bringing us down, stand by to secure all stations," the Captain replied, as he set the shuttle down where they'd been designated to land "Mr Johnson, if you'd be be so kind as to issue out the gear, and let's get to work..."