Toryn Raga Posted March 5, 2022 Posted March 5, 2022 Had a lot of fun writing this and wanted to show off the absolute crazy that are Chin'tokans. Also, I'm pretty sure Akira class don't actually have blue alert lights. Clearly, we don't care. Props to @Mei'konda @cadfael peters @Esa_Darkkdust @Jaelyne Isa for enabling the insane idea for such a cinematically awesome scene. Remember, the flight protocols in the handbook are just guidelines! Quote ((Shuttle Kraken, Secondary landing site, Fourth planet, PTE-2891 System )) Toryn set the Kraken down behind the Banshee, so the two shuttles were facing away from one another with just enough space that their aft ramps could both be down and one could walk from one right into the other shuttle. He left the Kraken’s engines still powered, in case they needed to escape quickly. Kiax: Lets face it, we’re equipped for a mining mission, not Search and Rescue. ::Beat:: If we head back now, we can re-equip and formulate a better plan. ::To Toryn:: I’ll make the case for you to come back with Commander Isa and Kurt and make a more conceited effort of searching, while the rest of us are able to conduct a better analysis of what Reskari we’ve got on the ship. Raga: ::He met Esa’s gaze:: I do not relish leaving people behind. But it’s counterproductive to stay and give more work for the next rescue team having to save us as well as the others. Toryn had grown from the once martyr-like hothead with a full on reckless streak. While it hadn’t gone away completely, it was tempered with experience. He’d always been a sheepdog as Kurt liked to refer to them and always would be, but he had a family now. There was a fine line between being dutiful and stupid. They were better off as a crew, as a family. As much as he didn’t want to leave, he knew by regrouping they could come back stronger, more knowledgeable and better equipped. Alentonis: Response Kiax: It’s not ideal, I know; but the way I see it, it’s the best opportunity you’ll have to find them. ::Dropping her voice to a disappointed murmur.:: I’m not exactly in any fit state to go back out there as it is. Toryn heard her and leaned in closer. Raga: You’ve done an amazing job. But you need rest. If Kurt Logan has taught us anything, it should be how not to push yourself. ::He chuckled:: Hoping the jest would cheer the Trill up a bit he smiled and then looked at the others. Alentonis / Kiax: Response Raga: I recommend we set the Banshee to secure mode but set the computer to run continuous scans on the planet. In case they come back, they’ll have shelter and a way home. And maybe we can learn more information. ::He scoffed:: And if their abductors come back I don’t want to just hand them a Reskari shielded shuttle. Alentonis / Kiax: Response Raga: Computer, enable a remote link to the Banshee and download her sensor logs to the Kraken. Then enable secure mode on the Banshee. Computer: Remote link established. Data transfer in progress. Argo shuttle Banshee secured. Levinson: Transfer appears to be going smoothly. Alentonis / Kiax: Response Computer: Warning, external radiation levels increasing to hazardous levels. Raga: I recommend we finish up whatever we’re going to do here in the next four minutes. Alentonis / Kiax: Response Levinson: ::To Kiax:: Commander. Does this signal pattern seem like that of a Starfleet combadge to you? Hearing that Noa might have discovered something he looked at the two women, hopeful and anxious for news. Raga: Were you able to find a comm badge signal? Alentonis / Kiax: Responses Levinson: This signal is heavily weakened, to the point of its effective range being reduced to approximately twenty five kilometers. But it is unmistakably there. Raga: We don’t have enough time to go looking for the source unless you have an exact fix. The radiation levels are spiking. Alentonis / Kiax: Responses Levinson: I cannot determine a precise location, but on the ship there is better equipment for that sort of task. The sensors were showing that the radiation and storm levels were about a minute away from being intense enough to interfere with them being able to fly out of there. Raga: Agreed. I don’t think we can stay any longer. Alentonis / Kiax: Responses Computer: Data transfer complete. Raga: Right, everyone strap in, we're getting out of here. With the warning given Toryn spun around to face the helm controls and quickly activated the thrusters to lift off. Looking out of the front of the shuttle what appeared to be similar to an Aurora Borealis was taking shape in the atmosphere. It was a beautiful mix of greens, oranges, yellows and reds. Not too dissimilar from the vibrant hues of the Expanse. And yet it was approaching rapidly. Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses The Argo lifted straight up and no sooner had they cleared the top of the Banshee’s hull before he switched to the main engines and they sped away at half impulse. The wings deployed for stability but they ascended rapidly, forcing him back against the seat briefly. While the Kraken ascended he turned the shuttle, trying to fly away from the aurora. Computer: Warning, atmospheric turbulence is increasing in severity. Recommend landing to avoid serious injury. Raga: Great. Lieutenant, see if you can increase power to the inertial dampers. ::He glanced at Esa:: Can you plot the best course out of here while the professor handles the shields? Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses Toryn didn’t like issuing orders since it was still Esa’s mission, but the way the shuttle was being battered it was taking everything he could to keep them flying straight. Taking the engines to full impulse the Argo shook from the combination of air resistance and the winds buffeting the craft. Raga: If there’s anything the Chin’toka can do to help, it’d be appreciated because this thing is starting to handle like a K’tinga. ::He grunted:: Quickly inputting commands he tried forcing them straight up to get as much altitude as possible, but a wave of turbulence slammed into the dorsal hull and shook the entire shuttle. Toryn braced in time to keep from slamming into the console, and had to quickly adjust, changing course slightly. They were barely through the mesosphere of the planet and trying desperately to at least reach the thermosphere. Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses Chin’toka: =/\= response =/\= Raga: =/\= The impulse engines are full and we’re barely able to keep ascending. It feels like the storms out there cause turbulence in the atmosphere. This aurora is intense. I don’t think we can get out of the atmosphere. =/\= Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses Mei’konda: =/\= This is the Captain. Can you set the Kraken back down? =/\= Hearing the question Toryn glanced towards Esa and the others and the silence he received spoke volumes. They couldn’t make it back down to the surface. Well, that’s not true. Gravity would ensure they’d make it down. How many pieces would be determined by what they might be able to do to save themselves in the next few minutes. Peters: =/\= Toryn, this is Cadfael. We can swoop in and retrieve you with an atmospheric entry and catch the Kraken with a bit of aerial artistry into the shuttle bay. =/\= That was as insane an idea as it was bold. Could they really bring the Chin’toka down into the atmosphere low enough for him to be able to land the Kraken into the shuttlebay in mid air? Raga: =/\= I’m nowhere near as good a pilot as you are Cadfael. But if you can get into the thermosphere we can try. =/\= It was an absolutely insane idea. Shuttles landed on a starship all the time while both were in motion. But that was in the vacuum of space, not in the atmosphere of a planet. Toryn was a TacSec officer, not a helmsman, it wasn’t his Prote. And yet, he was the most experienced pilot present to his knowledge. A moment of fear gripped him. Ishka and the twins he knew would be born many months from now. The three souls on board with him. The many on the ship would also be at risk if he made a mistake. Toryn glanced at Esa, partially for support, partially because he felt how he likely expected she felt when she confided in him about her condition. It wasn’t often the Al-Leyan let himself show fear but it flashed there in his eyes for a brief moment. He couldn’t let Noa or Tim see it though. He was the senior most officer, they needed to know that he was confident in his skills even when he wasn’t. Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses Peters: =/\= Get ready for some fancy flying. You got this, Toryn. Fair winds. =/\= They ascended higher, moving through the Mesosphere towards the Thermosphere and he looked up. It was the most beautiful sight, seeing the Chin’toka, the Akira class descending ahead of them into the clouds. With the colors of the aurora and the thermal distortions from the ship breaching the atmosphere she looked like a phoenix descending in front of them. He couldn’t help but take a moment to just admire the once in a lifetime view. Mei’konda: =/\= Kraken, we’re setting an intercept course. Waatch for severe atmospheriic turbulance, our proxiimity won’t calm the wiinds. =/\= Raga: =/\= Like a phoenix, with wings a blaze in crimson and amber. The great bird descends into an aurora filled sky of turbulence, above a world unknown. Risking it all to rescue one of her clutch amidst fire and air streams aflame. ::He murmured:: =/\= ((ooc: Decided to add the comm markers to this because I’m proud of it and would love for the bridge crew to be able to have heard it as well.)) Moved poetically, Al-Leyan felt a surge of confidence. They could do this. He could do this. They were going to get back to the ship safely and then find their friends. Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses The Kraken jostled from the intense winds whipping about them as the Chin’toka descended into the atmosphere to join them. He’d seen the ship from the viewport of a shuttle numerous times but never bathed with the heat bloom of entry. The glow of which really did make the Akira class look like it had wings of fire. It was still too high up though. This was an immense gamble. The starship slowly drew closer and he matched the half impulse speed but their engines were being taxed and from the alerts blaring in the [...]pit he knew the others had to be frantically doing all they could to keep the Argo shuttle airborne. Raga: We’re still too low. Can you get anything else out of the engines? Divert warp power? ::He called out to the others while focused intently on the task at hand:: Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses Peters: =/\= Toryn, prepare to engage full impulse on my mark. =/\= Raga: =/\= Understood. =/\= Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Responses =/\= Raga: I have no idea. But I trust Peters, if he’s asked that means he’s got something planned to get us on board. Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses There was a brief moment where he glanced back at the others, then looked forward just in time to see the most incredible and absolutely Seiuri excrement crazy stunt he’d ever witnessed involving a starship as their home began to roll on her axis. Raga: Ĉe la Filio! (By the branch!) ::He exclaimed at the sight:: Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses The Chin’toka completely rolled while in mid-flight in an atmosphere, causing that entry plume to flare around her, like a corkscrew of fiery wings. While the bright blue glow of the warp nacelles just gave it an even more majestic tint. Toryn had served on an Intrepid class for most of his career and even with its atmospheric capabilities they’d never done anything like this. It was as breathtaking as it was shocking and stupefying. It took Toryn a moment to register what Cadfael had done. With the ship inverted that put their shuttlebay precisely in line with the Kraken. And yet, they were now comparatively upside to the starship. Toryn shot Esa a ‘hang onto your butt’ glance and then tapped the controls. In mimicry to their larger counterpart the Argo shuttle entered into a barrel roll. Toryn grunted from the G-forces exerted upon him but compared to being on the surface it didn’t seem as bad. Completing the roll they were now looking right at the shuttlebay, the right way. Raga: Give me every bit of power we can spare. Alentonis / Kiax / Levinson: Responses Peters: =/\= Mark! =/\= The shuttle was rocking wildly and it was taking every ounce of concentration and skill he had to keep the shuttle on course and all his strength to stay in his chair. Raga: =/\= Engaging! =/\= Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Response =/\= He felt the shuttle lurch from the increase in speed and he gripped the console while making constant adjustments to the controls, slightly down, which was now up all while trying to keep the open shuttlebay doors directly in front of them. Raga / Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Responses? =/\= Cadfael’s formerly deft handling of the dolphin-like grace that which he’d come to associate with the sleek Akira was all discarded when operating it within an atmosphere. He’d driven other vehicles before, in simulation, mostly ground-based ATV like constructs, and at the moment he felt this was one such vehicle: slow, almost sloth-like and the sensation of not becoming one with the vehicle in question. The normally swift response from the control panel wasn’t seeming to operate at its full capacity, but the auxiliary power he had asked for was assisting in their maneuvering to the shuttle. He watched the display as the Kraken sped toward their open hangar bay, the plasma storm rising in the background beneath them. As he saw the telltale signs of the shuttle’s engines start to protest under the strain of a full impulse burn racing against a plasma storm, he took a breath and hoped. It had to work. Raga: =/\= Winds, she’s hard to control. I don’t know if I can keep us lined up. =/\= There was genuine concern in his voice. Toryn was not an expert pilot and was drawing on years of occasional flight experience and Academy training. The Al-Leyan was bouncing extensively from the shaking of the shuttle. They must have had to draw power from the inertial dampers or the winds and turbulence were so extreme that it didn’t matter. Either way the Kraken darted at full impulse towards the Chin’toka. Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Response =/\= Mei’konda / Logan / Isa: Response Raga: We’re losing the port engine and I think one of the stabilizers just lost power. Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Response =/\= Mei’konda / Logan / Isa: Response Toryn grunted as the shuttle started to drift off course slightly. Raga: =/\= I’m losing her, Cadfael. Tell me what to do! =/\= Toryn shouted anxiously, they were seconds away from either making a very hot landing in the bay, or bouncing off the Chin’toka’s hull or shields and having a really bad day. Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Response =/\= Mei’konda / Logan / Isa / Peters: Response Raga: =/\= Kraken to Chin’toka we’re coming in hot! Everyone brace! =/\= Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Response =/\= Toryn gave a nod and quickly made a last ditch attempt to correct their drift. His teeth clenched like a vice as the Chin’toka grew larger and larger in startling rapidity. It looked like they were about to overshoot when he fired the port thrusters as well as the impulse engines to correct. With scant seconds to spare, much less to breathe, the Kraken entered the Akira-class’ shuttlebay at nearly full impulse speeds. He just barely managed to tap the button to kill the engines right as they passed through the shuttlebay’s forcefield. Even though the ship was traveling fast as well, they entered the bay vastly exceeding operational speeds and Toryn reached out an arm to help brace Esa in her seat as the tractor beams enveloped the Kraken. The abrupt change from top speed to near dead stop was intense and he lurched forward while the shuttle moved backwards. It was pure luck and incredibly strained muscles that he didn’t slam his head into the console. Though the tearing sensation in his arm and pop that it made let him know that attempting to brace his friend probably resulted in a dislocated shoulder. The shearing forces on the shuttle also caused one of the extendable wings, specifically the one on the starboard side to tear halfway off and even the tractor beams couldn’t stop the shuttle from slamming into the interior shuttlebay wall at a fraction of their entry speed. Sending him slamming back into his seat with a grunt. A handful of sparks showered around them from a panel behind them all. Kiax / Levinson / Alentonis: =/\= Response =/\= Mei’konda / Logan / Isa / Peters: Response A long groan and he quickly looked to the others. The consoles flickered intermittently for a few moments before power restored. Raga: Is everyone alright? ::He asked with his good hand over his dislocated shoulder:: Kiax / Levinson: =/\= Response =/\= Mei’konda: ((Optional bridge tag)) ===================================== Lieutenant Commander Toryn Raga Second Officer/Chief Tactical & Security Officer USS Chin'toka NCC-97187 PodCast Team Member Training Team Member Chin'toka Staff Member Writer ID: A239410TR0 https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga 4 Quote
Serala Posted March 16, 2022 Posted March 16, 2022 2 hours ago, Valin Dermont said: Smooth flyin’, lad! Whaaatttt???? Is the Dermy back? 1 Quote
+ Valin Dermont Posted March 16, 2022 Posted March 16, 2022 29 minutes ago, Jaelyne Isa said: Whaaatttt???? Is the Dermy back? I don’t recognize the name…but pretty sure I recognize the words! Swapped those pointy ears out for some spots, eh? Howdy! And I was definitely thinkin’ about it. Missing you guys something fierce. 1 Quote
Serala Posted March 16, 2022 Posted March 16, 2022 Just now, Valin Dermont said: I don’t recognize the name…but pretty sure I recognize the words! Swapped those pointy ears out for some spots, eh? Howdy! And I was definitely thinkin’ about it. Missing you guys something fierce. Yep, you nailed it! Though the ears will be back eventually. And we'd be happy to have you back. Quote
Toryn Raga Posted March 17, 2022 Author Posted March 17, 2022 On 3/15/2022 at 11:32 PM, Jaelyne Isa said: Whaaatttt???? Is the Dermy back? I was going to say the same thing! Dost mine eyes deceiveth me? Derrrrrrrmmy! 1 Quote
Toryn Raga Posted March 18, 2022 Author Posted March 18, 2022 On 3/16/2022 at 12:05 AM, Valin Dermont said: I don’t recognize the name…but pretty sure I recognize the words! Swapped those pointy ears out for some spots, eh? Howdy! And I was definitely thinkin’ about it. Missing you guys something fierce. Do it!!! Man, it's been so long! We'd love to have ya back. So many mountains to climb. And a new, slightly dented thermos waiting for you. Quote
+ Valin Dermont Posted March 18, 2022 Posted March 18, 2022 23 minutes ago, Toryn Raga said: Do it!!! Man, it's been so long! We'd love to have ya back. So many mountains to climb. And a new, slightly dented thermos waiting for you. 😁😁 That is the plan. Application in. Now it’s in the hands of the almighty Council. 1 Quote
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