0205. Survival Training in ARKESH IV
The crew of the USS PROPHECY was sent on a survival training mission to ARKESH IV. The goal of the mission was to locate a beacon that was placed on the planet, specifically for the training mission, and then return back to the ship. Each member of the crew was supposed to take only three items of his or her choice for the mission.
When the time to transport to the planet arrived, Lt. Cmdr. Spankryz, revealed further orders from Starfleet, stating that not all the items could be taken down to the planet surface and that the crew were only tested, to expect surprises. Also, no tents and no blankets were to be carried down to the planet. So, in the end, the only items that were allowed to be taken were two phasers, rope, flashlight, two knives, grapple gun, one medkit, one tricorder, binoculars, map, only one cooking utensil and the camera. However, Ensign Potter managed to convince her CO, to allow her to take her pet falcon and bow and quiver to the planet surface.
After the whole crew transported themselves to the planet, Spankryz sent out two groups to search for food. The first group consisting of Lt. Cmdrs. Aspinall, Rikar and Ensign Potter had managed to discover some type of berries, some rabbit-like creatures and a bunch of large grazing animals. Potter managed to get a shot at one of the grazing animals, with her bow and arrow, but unfortunately at the same time, Aspinall suddenly fell into unconsciousness. Rikar ran back to the main campsite, for help and returned back with Ensigns O’Malley and O’Neil, who took the job of carrying Aspinall. The group successfully managed to reach the main campsite.
The second group consisting of Lieutenants Lawrence, Gorman and Ensign Jones met some bird-like creatures that had a striking resemblance to giant-sized turkeys, also known as mega-turkeys. One of the turkeys had attempted to take Lieutenant Gorman away with it, but was not quite successful. Later, the group encountered a group of creatures that seemed to be a hybrid of a lion and reptile, at a site, down a hill. Lt. Lawrence managed to shoot one of them down with his phaser and the group then began to climb down the hill, in order to claim their prize. Unfortunately, they were met with, the same hybrid creatures, who were quite hostile and ready to attack the Starfleet officers. The group ran towards the hill, chased by the lion-like creatures.
Worried that the second group was missing, Spankryz sent Rikar, Potter and O’Malley to search for them. The rescue team successfully rescued Lawrence, Gorman and Jones. However, Potter fainted, during their return to the main group. The crew then decided to camp out for the night.
The next morning, after planning out a route, the crew resumed their journey. Lt. Cmdr. Aspinall was carried in a stretcher, built by Jones and O’Malley using branches, wood and twigs. Their goal was to reach the mountains by sunset. Somewhere along the path, the crew stopped to take a short break, where Gorman and Potter were sent on a scouting mission to find out more about the mega-turkeys. During the scouting expedition, one of the giant turkeys grabbed Gorman, carried him to her nest and dropped him amongst baby turkeys. It was then found out that the large turkey thought Jeff was one of her children. When the mother turkey was away, Gorman and Potter managed to escape, taking with them some roots for use as food for the crew, and returned back to the group.
The crew resumed their journey after the meal. Due to the extremely high temperatures, caused by the planet’s two suns having reached the zenith, the crew decided to rest in a cave. Rikar and Potter took a trip deeper into the cave and discovered crystals. After the hottest hours passed by, the group set out on their voyage to mountains.
While the group paused, on the way, for a few minutes rest, Spankryz introduced a challenge for her crew, where the main task was to search for food, by enduring some obstacles. If the challenge were met, the crew would get a reward. In the challenge, two routes: one to the left of the main path and the other to the right, were to be used in the search for food. The group was divided into two teams, each taking one route and return back to the path in exactly thirty minutes. Lt. Cmdr. Rikar, Ensigns Jones, Kal’el, O’Malley and Hyman were assigned to the group taking the route to the left, while Lt. Cmdrs. Spankryz, Aspinall, Lieutenants Lawrence and Gorman, Ensigns Potter and O’Neil were to take the route to the right of the path.
The team taking the left path had to cross a narrow river, then pass some giant rocks, until they reached another heavily wooded forest. While the officers were crossing the river, Kal’el slipped and was carried by the current, but managed to be rescued by Hyman. After the group, reached the other side of the river, Kal’el’s skin began to change colours. The change in colours could have been, due to some chemical, she caught from the river. The group found some blue fruits and returned back to the main path in time.
The team, who took the right path, went up a tiny hill, passed through some rather unusual trees and ended at a cliff. As the group was passing by the trees, Aspinall woke up. The team managed to obtain some fruits and made their way back to the rendezvous point. During the return trip, the group encountered a river, which unusually appeared from nowhere. This led to the possibility of the planet’s landscapes changing very often. The group crossed the river and successfully reached the main path, in time. Once the entire crew regrouped, their journey to the mountains was resumed.
When the group reached the base of the mountains, they decided to make camp for the night. It was then the reward for the challenge revealed: comm panel, where each member of the crew were given ten minutes of comm. time, with any person of their choice. During that time, Ensign O’Neil collapsed, unbeknownst to the rest of the crew.
The next morning, as the crew was getting ready to travel their last leg of the journey, they discovered O’Neil’s collapse. At the same time, Potter and Jones got in a struggle with some humanoid creatures and were kidnapped. After O’Neil woke up, the others discovered the two crewmembers were missing. The remaining was divided into two groups. Spankryz, O’Malley and Kal’el went to rescue Potter and Jones, while the rest of the crew continued on their journey to reach the beacon.
The group, heading to the beacon, was successful and returned back to the ship. The other team managed to rescue Kat and Raycii and returned back to the PROPHECY. During the escape attempt, Raycii lost her hearing. Once all the officers were back aboard, the ship immediately departed from the planet at warp 9.
It was found that the kidnappers of Jones and Potter were the planet’s caretakers, who controlled the planet’s geological make up, meaning they had the ability to change landscapes, manipulate the life on the planet at their whim. Realizing the danger posed by these creatures, ARKESH IV was declared to be off-limits to any more future expeditions.
During the mission, promotions were handed out and certain transfers took place. Ensigns Katlina Potter and Raycii Jones were promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. Lt. Cmdr. Anaqueen Spankryz was promoted to full Commander. Ensign Lara Kal’el transferred to the GATEWAY STATION. Lt. Mad’hron Zanders was assigned to the PROPHECY as Ship’s Counselor, while the ship received Lieutenant Xana Bonviva as her new Executive Officer.
(end log)