Monsters are Real - Commercial Zone

Posted on Fri Oct 23rd, 2026 @ 12:39pm by Ensign Garath Of the House of Varal [Baas] & Lieutenant JG Ryan Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov & Ensign Willow Oakley

1,698 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Monsters are real
Location: Various

[USS Valkyrie]

After the other team beamed away Garath stepped up onto the pad. Even though using his blade would be foolish considering the enemy they could be facing his Kur'leth was secured to his back...just in case.

Willow was next to step onto the pad. She had her rebreather and safety goggles, as she wasn't sure what they would find on the station. She also had her tool belt, just in case they needed to get into or out of somewhere. And, for safety, she had her hypospanner in her hand. While she was outwardly calm, her hair was brown with hot pink streaks, indicating that she was anxious and a bit trepidatious. Understandable, under the circumstances.

Petty Officer First Class Palan Vek rushed into the transporter room with his medical kit slung over one shoulder. This would be his first away team assignment and he was not going to let anyone down. He stopped just inside the door to see Garath and Oakley on the transporter pad adjusting themselves.

Upon spotting the rebreather on Ensign Oakley, he felt a surge of panic rush through him.

"Is there no atmosphere on the station? I didn't realize..." Palan began to open his medkit, as if searching for a rebreather yet knowing one wouldn't be mixed inside with medical devices.

After rummaging around for a few seconds, he knocked a dermal knitter and a hypospray onto the floor, the items clattering loudly as they danced along the deck.

Allowing his rifle to hang from its sling he rested his armed on the stock as he looked at the two. Once the medic had collected his things, "Steady yourself. You will do no one any good in this condition. There is atmosphere on the station, and the Defiled contagion isn't airborne, but we don't know what we are going to find."

"I don't know what to expect," Willow said. "But I'm not going to take any chances. Le's just say I'm cautious." Okay, paranoid was a better word, but it had kept her alive so far. And, if the air stunk, she'd appreciate it.

Palan nodded as he snapped his medkit closed and mounted the transporter pad. "Yes, sir." His expression and body language seemed to indicate he was caught between the eagerness of serving on the away team and the fear of what he might face.

He smiled uneasily. "I'm ready for this."

With everyone in position and a nod from the senior officer the operator prepared to send them on their way. "I'll keep a lock on you as long as I can, but the once you're into that shielded area... Well you'll need to get out from the shielding before I can beam you back. Energizing."


[Stations Commercial Zone]

Even before the transporter had completed it cycle Garath was readying himself. There were some kind on internal transport vehicle that had crashed, store fronts with entrances or windows shattered and blood splatters, blood or fluid trails over most of all. Once clear of the transporter his weapon came up and he moved forward checking the display on his wrist mounted tricorder.

Willow avoided anything that looked like blood or any sort of fluid. She continued to use her rebreather as she had no idea what was in the air or how long it had been putrefying. She wasn't sure there could even been anyone alive here, but they had to look. She looked around for any sort of console or access portal that wasn't damaged, but it didn't look like anything--or anyone--remained intact. That didn't mean there wasn't something hideous lurking in the shadows. She touched her phaser to make sure she could grab it quickly.

Without being ordered to Garath was searching the immediate area. He knew the Defiled had no life signs so he didn't bother scanning for anything, at least not yet. His weapon's spot light swept from vehicles that had crashed, been up ended and ripped open. In each, he found nothing but bloodstained fabric. Warriors or not...this was no way for anyone to die.

Lookiing towards the shops on the other side of the 'road', he stopped turning back to Belikov. "The area seems clear Lieutenant."

“Optimal choice of words, ‘seems’ clear” Rose replied as she looked around at the various fluids around them. It looked like the aftermath of a riot, just far more violent. “Let’s secure the area, try to find as much data as possible.”

After a few moments of scanning Garath worked his way back to the Lieutenant. "Ma'am, there's nothing here. Especially not any survivors. The area looks like some kind of promenade. If we are going to hope to find anyone we should get going."

Rose nodded, “I agree. Everyone, stay tight and stick together. No heroes. I want us all to get back alive. Maintain constant scans for anything noteworthy and call out any movement” she said as she started moving down the main thoroughfare.

Willow wasn't a hero. She was a mechanic. Her job was to facilitate the search. She wasn't sure what that would entail, but she'd know it when she saw it. Anything spooky or creepy or just gross she'd leave to the experts. Still, the destruction around them made her antsy, like her hair wanted to stand on end. It wouldn't, but it still was the best way she could think of to describe how she felt. As much as she tried, she couldn't keep from bouncing just a little. At least she was wearing soft-soled shoes.

Garath worked his way forward his father and his House's gin'tak had both trained him but what they could be facing was unlike any enemy ever faced before. All his senses were on edge. Glancing back for a moment to the rest of the team seeing Willow's nervous bouncing, the sweat beading Palan. Just then his heard something and his head darted towards the noise.

Every creek, groan, clank, or hiss set Willow's nerves more on edge. Her palms were sweating. The back of her neck was sweating. Her feet were sweating. Or was that the temperature here? It was supposed to be cold, wasn't it? Then the noise made her jump. She spun toward where she thought it came from, her hypospanner gripped firmly in her trembling hand. What was it?

Palan had expected the smell of a disaster. His medical training taught him that blood had a smell, that damaged machinery could also have an odour, and that a place where people had died might also carry the sourness of bodily fluids. He had prepared himself for those things before beaming over. What he had not considered was how it all might come together.

The promenade stretched away beneath failing lights, its shopfronts broken open and its displays scattered across the floor. A small transport vehicle had been upended and was laying on its side near the middle of the thoroughfare, one end having crushed against a storefront's security grate. The upholstery of the vehicle had been torn apart, and dark stains covered what remained of the seats. Palan found himself looking for a hand, a foot, any part of a person that might tell him where to begin.

Glancing down at the medkit in his hand, a thought had crossed his mind: What if there was no one left to help?

The air was close and stale, carrying the metallic tang of blood interlaced with the smell of burnt electronics. Something else lingered there, too. A heavy sweetness that Palan couldn't quite place. He glanced over at Willow and the rebreather she wore, thinking it had been a great idea after all.

He followed the others, keeping his tricorder ready and trying to remember the procedures that had been drilled into him as a medic. Check for life signs. Assess the environment. Approach casualties with care. He had learned the sequence so thoroughly that he sometimes thought he could recite it all while asleep.

Palan's tricorder offered not sensible explanation for the carnage he was seeing. Unfortunately, there was not a single soul that required medical assistance... or even a single soul. Just blood and sparks and damage.

"Is this place even worth salvaging?" Willow had to ask. "I wonder if it should just be gutted and rebuilt from the skeleton. Or is the taint of what happened too much to overcome?" It wasn't their decision. Nor would they have any input, but she simply had to verbalize what she was thinking. Otherwise, it was far too quiet, making the little noises sound more ominous.

“It might be worth simply destroying the station. Even salvaged parts could be considered bad luck to some” Rose commented as she looked around. The silence was making her more paranoid tendencies scream warnings, telling her to get out and just blow the place.

Garath listened to but ignored the banter they had a job to do and possibly an enemy to watch for. The corridor took a turn and as he made the turn he stopped cold remembering what Lambert had told him about how things had changed before going bad.

The floor looked slick and there were tendrils clinging to ceiling and after only a few meters there was no lights functioning at all. With one arm he motioned for the others to stop. With the other he began to slowly bring his light further and further down the corridor.

Willow's hair was now hot pink as her fear grew. She stopped several paces behind Garath. If there was something up there, her hypospanner would be of little to no use--unless she was physically attacked, and she really hoped that wouldn't happen.

Garath glanced back at the team but he snapped back his eyes narrowing down the bloody corridor. The smell of death had been there since they'd arrived, had gotten stronger as they searched, but now...now something was coming.

There was a flash of movement and his rifle was brought to bear on what ever it was, but as he was about to pull the trigger there was a shout. "HELP MEEEeee!!"


...TBC

 

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