Nico sat at his station as SAR One and Two raced across Serenity towards the crash site. With nothing to do yet, Nico was slightly restless as he realized that he was responding to his first SAR call in several years. "Please Great Maker, let there be survivors," he thought. With the nervousness finally getting to be too much for him, Nico leaned forward to speak to Lt Stone.
"Permission to break out the SAR suits, Lieutenant."
Stone glanced back at Nico, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Any reason, Chief?"
"Other than the fact that this will be a perfect trial run for them, no sir."
Stone thought for a second and then nodded at Nico. "Go for it, Chief. You want Johansson to suit up also?"
Nico unbuckled his restraining harness and stood. "Yes sir. The Shepherd is loaded up on SAR Two and I've got the Bloodhound over here."
"Roger that. Get to it, Chief. We're inbound in 30 seconds. I'll have SAR One and Two fly a sensor pattern over the crash site to get you better info."
Nico moved to the back of the Pennine, knowing that time was of the essence. With a familiarity that only long use and practice can give, Nico quickly put on the Bloodhound suit. Powering the suit on, Nico brought the HUD system up and activated the comms. "SAR One, Donovan online with Bloodhound. Ready to deploy."
As he finished, Nico heard Johannson's voice come over the net. "SAR One, Johannson ready with the Shepherd."
"Roger that," Stone's voice answered. "We're in orbit around the crash site right now. Dense forest, looks like the craft hit hard. Main body is pretty much in one piece, but multiple hull fractures, both internal and external. Sensors indicate approximately five survivors. Crash site shows signs of plasma leaks from the engines. Once the crash site is secure, SAR Two will land to get Hedley in there to secure the leaks. Thomason is ready to triage anyone that you can't stabilize at the crash site aboard SAR One. Any questions?" Getting none back, Stone spoke again. "Deploying to site. Good luck, gentlemen."
Nico's world disappeared in a blue haze as the Pennine slipped away and was replaced by the dense forest of Serenity. Nico and David quickly moved into action, heading towards the wreck. Nico activated his HUD and tricorder, scanning the area for the survivors that the Pennine noted. Part of Nico's mind detached as he ran towards an access hatch that was still exposed and above the surface. As the two arrived, Johannson moved over and attempted to access the door lock. "Hmmm, electronics offline . . . no surprise. Looks like we're going to have to crack this one open." Nico nodded back and moved over to the other side of the door, bringing his cutting torch online at the same time as David. The two made quick work of the hatch and stripped it away from the frame, revealing the wrecked interior. As Nico surveyed the wreckage, Johannson pointed at a plaque just inside the new doorway. "Chief, I think that we've got a problem here."
Nico looked at what Johannson was pointing at and his blood turned cold. "SAR One, better send for ground forces. The wreck is Starfleet One."
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