Day 12 Mission Post [OPEN/INCOMPLETE]

[boldlygoingkirk]

Kirk was on the bridge yet again, looking tense. When he hadn't gotten a reply the first time, he had started using the communications to attempt to send hailing frequencies towards the planet

Comments

[transwarp_beam]

The tense silence on the bridge was near-deafening when Scotty stepped out of the turbolift - you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. It didn't take long for him to regret coming up to deliver the results of their impromptu systems-check in person.

"Still no luck, Captain?" he asked rhetorically. "We've turned the comms systems inside out and nothing. Whatever the problem is here, it's not a technical fault." It had been a slim hope that it was merely a breakdown in communications, but they had to consider every possibility.

[boldlygoingkirk]

"No luck, unfortunately." Kirk glanced back at Scotty, knowing that if the genius of a man couldn't figure out a break in communications, that it had to be something to do with the planet itself.

"We're going down. That leaves you in charge. Think you can handle her?" He grinned wide, attempting to break the tension, knowing that of any of his officers Scotty was probably the best to leave in charge of the Enterprise.

[transwarp_beam]

For the briefest of moments his expression took on a certain deer-in-headlights quality: he'd never commanded so much as a shuttlecraft. Then almost imperceptibly he straightened and replied, "Aye, captain."

[boldlygoingkirk]

As Chief Engineer, it only seemed right to leave Scotty in charge of the helm. Kirk held his gaze for a moment in an attempt to give him the confidence the older man needed, and nodded with a smirk when the engineer agreed. "Alright." He looked around the room at the few officers and signaled to Sulu and the handful of other officers beaming down on the second party.

"We'll be back. You can count on it."

[transwarp_beam]

"Aye, well, you'd better be," Scotty replied. He cast a suspicious glance at the Chair. "I don't fancy being saddled with command on permanent basis." Some men are born to greatness, others have greatness thrust upon them. Scotty was inclined to be of the third kind: the one that fled at the first hint of unexpected greatness coming anywhere near them.

[boldlygoingkirk]

"I don't plan on giving her up that easy, Mr. Scott." Kirk gestured behind him and started towards the transporter room, pausing to wait for the Engineer with a sort of quelled excitement only barely visible beneath the surface. He was worried, certainly, but the unknown and the possibly terrifying had this way of making the young captain feel ready to face on any odds.

The away team assembled onto the transporter pads, and Kirk nodded to Scotty when he was ready. "Energize."

[transwarp_beam]

Their young captain was tense as Scotty followed him to the transporter room. He took a seat at the console and watched the members of the second team take their places on the pad.

"Good luck, Captain," he said, and initiated the beaming sequence.