ten_fwd | Team #7 | Trapped in the Caves

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Team #7 | Trapped in the Caves

Julian can feel the ground lurch moments before everything goes straight to hell in a bleeding handbasket, like someone just tilted the world underneath his feet. It's rather like a ship being fired upon--then there's a dull roaring and the earth around them is shaking violently. They're underground, and they're stuck in the middle of an earthquake.

"Get under something!" he shouts--he's a command officer, a representative of Starfleet, and though he might not be part of the Enterprise crew, it's his duty to keep these people safe while they're here.

There are metal tables even down in these stone corridors, holding equipment and artifacts, and Julian stays out in the open for as long as he can, waving people underneath them before ducking under one himself.

Until the shaking stops he stays right where he is--he can't help anyone if he's crushed under rubble, he just has to hope that everyone got to some sort of protection. When the shaking stops--for now, he's not discounting aftershocks--he comes out to assess the damage.

The first and most notable thing is that they're trapped. The ceiling had come down in the tunnel, cutting off the way back to the main areas of the mining operation. Julian cracks his medkit--grateful for the habit of carrying it everywhere--and pulls out his tricorder. It may have been calibrated for medical, but in a pinch it would suffice to determine the stability of the cavern.

They weren't in danger of anything collapsing on their heads imminently, but he couldn't rule it out if there was a more severe shake. They needed to get back to the surface. But he also had to determine if they were all in a shape to try to get back to the surface.

"Is everyone alright?"

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Genesis tried to get under something as fast as she could, but not even her magic could protect from fall rocks. It was more useful during battles, after all, when these kinds of these weren't common place. Regardless, she hadn't even tried it, instead trying to get under something or even just to the side of the wall that didn't have sharp crystals against it. She knew she wouldn't make it to one of the tables in time, but it looked like she wasn't fast enough for anything. A particularly hard lurch had her scrambling to the ground followed by a sharp pain in her right leg, the left had curled in preparation to crawl. She frantically tried to scramble free, but it was no use and she was growing even more frantic by the second.

The earthquake itself didn't last all that long, but it had been enough to trigger something within her unusual body. Feathers joined the fallen debris and rock as her left wing burst free, beating against the still air to try and help her escape. It was soon followed by a sickening sound of skin ripping and something splattering as the soreness in her right shoulder burst into white hot pain as her latent second wing erupted from her shoulder. Stars filled her vision from pain and even after everything settled, it was still beating uncontrollably before finally settling.

Genesis curled up and didn't answer Julian, far too in shock to be of much use for now.

Angeal couldn't just get under something since he was much too large. His gait was interrupted by the violent shaking and crouched low. He was his own shield. His head was ducked low to keep the falling debris from killing him.

The smell of blood filled his nostrils, his own senses reeled from the screams coming from Genesis. Once the debris had stopped falling, the dust was far from settling. Shouting meant using up more oxygen and he wasn't about to risk panic. He stumbled over to Genesis and fell to his knees to hold her, but her broken leg kept him from moving her too much. She was already in trauma and desperately he looked around for help.

The worst had happened and she was bleeding out. "Hold on." He whispered while he was doing his best to remain calm.

Julian, fortunately, was used to being a battlefield medic of sorts--he had learned how to compartmentalize, and how to react in a situation like this.

After he'd ascertained that the cavern wasn't about to collapse on them further, he followed up his question with looking around, because if there were injuries it was more likely they weren't in a position to tell him about it. He could see two, thus far. Henry, which was worrying because he was a small child, and Genesis.

The latter was actively bleeding, while he could see Henry's breathing was stable for now. Luckily, Starfleet medical equipment was designed to be easy to use, if he needed he could press one of the others into helping him. He needed to stabilize Genesis first, then he could worry about Henry.

He's over kneeling beside the two in a moment, deftly avoiding the bleeding wings--and how she'd hidden those was a question he kept in the back of his mind, not like he didn't know a shapeshifter personally--and got to work.

"It's going to be fine. I'm going to set and stabilize her leg, and I have a dermal regenerator and medicine to stop the bleeding."

He wasn't sure if Genesis could hear him, but Angeal needed the reassurance too.

The computer terminal with the readouts of Genesis' life signs as they'd been back on Enterprise was firmly in his minds-eye as he began a scan to ascertain just how injured she was.

Luckily, much like when she received her left wing four years ago, the second didn't bleed for too long. Small blessings. However, the trauma of it happening again was hardly welcome. She clung to Angeal, a white knuckled grip on his shirt as her shoulder and leg radiated pain.

How she hid the wings was something not even she could explain. Magic? Science? Regardless, having been able to hide it meant she wouldn't have to answer questions but now she didn't have a choice.

"Why did I get another one?" She asked quietly. "I thought I was healed."

Angeal didn't have an answer. He curled his fingers around her gripping hand while Julian worked to render aid to her injuries. He thought on the stresses they endured, how their wings emerged at different times, and what he felt at the time. His heart sank. Was she still degrading? Even though he barely understood the what medicine was performed, and even less he trusted doctors, but as long as Genesis didn't protest, he wouldn't either.

He didn't know what to say, what he could do to ease her suffering other than to hold her and comfort her the best he could. His own wings wanted to burst out to hide his face, but that meant putting more pressure on the good doctor that worked to ease her physical pain.

"I don't know." He said quietly. Then his eyes opened. "What of the others?"

One of DS9's crew reproduced by asexual budding, and his species had wings themselves that could become entangled. He's not at all fazed by two apparent humanoids sprouting giant feathery appendages.

"If that's directed at me, I'm not yet sure. There's at least one more injury." Perhaps more to follow if they didn't get out of here--but even if the transporters worked on the surface, which they didn't, it was quite possible that there was simply too much interference to lock onto their life signs this deep underground.

Julian slots a vial of painkiller into his hypospray, leaning over. "This is a painkiller. It won't cause you to become groggy or unaware." He just doesn't want to set the leg without some sort of numbing.

Telemachus picked himself up from the floor. His own genetically enhanced strength and reflexes were enough to stay rooted for a bit, but not the entire quake. Dusting the debris out of his hair and off his skin, he looked around, trying to survey the damage. He could see the injured kid....and a girl with wings. Or was it wing? He couldn't really tell at this angle.

"That's....new." And it looked like they were trapped. Limited supplies, limited oxygen. He went over to the doctor, pulling his force lance out and using it as a flashlight. "You look like you could use a bit more light." Moving to close in on Julian's position, he crouched by him and dropped his voice.

"We're going to have a bit of an oxygen situation if we don't find another air source."

Angeal grabbed Genesis' hands and held them tight. Setting her leg now would prevent further infection. With both of her wings now exposed due to the fight or flight response brought on by instinct, it would only be a matter of time before his would show as well. He would help out with the efforts once he knew she was doing fine first. "Genesis, look at me."

The wing now sprawled out and covered in her blood looked worse than what it really was. "I'll go find us some help. The doctor can take care of you."

He looked over his shoulder at Telemachus. "I'll go with you. If there are other injured about, we'll have to bring them here."

He didn't need a light source to see. His senses and conditioning allowed him to surpass what normal humans were capable of and that included limited oxygen. SOLDIERs were made this way and he was the second created from Project G. The first one was injured and Angeal was very close to her in not only age but also emotionally.

She hadn't really reacted to the hypospray, having had it used on her previously for the vaccinations. And it was good to know it wouldn't make her drowsing or fall asleep. She just nodded quietly, keeping her face turned into Angeal's chest.

It took a lot to get Genesis' fingers pried off his shirt and it went right back to gripping him hands when he held them, looking up at him with an increasingly alarmed expression as Angeal told her what he would do. She didn't want him to go! It wasn't that she didn't trust Bashir, it was just being without a familiar face while dealing with this new development in her already messed up body.

Her eyes were glowing brighter than before, from emotions and from the overworked cells to heal what her body thought was a gaping wound. She shook her head, eyes darting about to take in just who was here. "Not yet. Please? Just until he's done."

The desperate reaction from Genesis prompted him that leaving now wouldn't be a good idea when she's in a state of pain and misery. He looked up at Telemachus. "I'll catch up later."

Her white knuckled grip in his hands was telling enough that she wasn't about to let go and he wasn't about to leave when she was caught with a double whammy of a newly emerged wing and a broken leg.

He turned his head to speak to Genesis softly. "You're strong. You can do this and I'm right here with you."

The glow from her eyes through her heightened emotional state was telling to Angeal. He had seen it before in Banora when everything was turned upside down but it was his own eyes that gave the glow when he discovered the truth about his birth and who his birth father was. It turned his stomach and soon after, his mother had committed suicide to atone for what she had done.

His eyes closed and held on to Genesis' hands with his one while his other arm cradled her. "It's alright."

"I realize," Julian responds just as quietly--he has tri-ox in the medkit, but it may need to last, with the atmospheric conditions the way they are. The Enterprise can't simply lock onto their life signs and beam them out, no matter how much confidence he has in Chief O'Brien's skill at working them.

He sets the bone in Genesis' leg with deft hands, he knows very well what he's doing--and then he goes over it with a bone regenerator, knitting it together well enough to put some weight on it. He can't heal it completely, not right now--he needs to keep the regenerator charged as long as possible, and its power won't last forever. Julian splints it for further support, and takes a moment to scan for any embolisms or clots.

"Alright, not quite good as new, but it's certainly going to keep until we get back to the Enterprise. Just don't try dancing on it, please."

He packs everything but his tricorder back in his kit to move on--Genesis is stabilized and in the moment his job is done.

She was glad for the numbing, although she could feel the pressure of him setting the bone and knitting it together. It felt weird, but at least the pain was gone for the time being. Knowing that he didn't regenerate it completely was fine by her, she had her materia. In fact, the fact that it was already healed enough to walk on meant using the materia wouldn't been too detrimental anyway.

She nodded to him, murmuring a "thank you" before reaching out to rest her hand on her leg. A pale green glow was emitted and a wave of tiredness overcame her as she healed her leg the rest of the way. The only thing left was her wing and, if judging by the last time she got a wing, it would be stabilized by now as well. Although she could still feel the blood running down her back, but it wasn't gushing. Simply trickling as her body worked to adapt and adjust to something that hadn't been there before but was still part of her DNA sequence.

"You can go," She told Angeal quietly. "Find others, I'll be fine."

Henry didn't know how long it had been since the earthquake happened when he finally regain consciousness. All he knew was: he hurt. Everywhere. For a while, he sat and listened though he couldn't make much out except voices. At least he wasn't alone. After some time, he tried to move but that made him hurt more so he stopped that.

Realising he should probably open his eyes, he tried that instead and looked around with blurry vision. It took another long while to make a loud enough sound to attract attention. By that point he could see someone in a Starfleet uniform and someone with wings. Well, at least it wasn't boring down here?

Telemachus turned toward Henry, his hearing much more acute than the a humans. And by more acute, he meant he could hear a pin drop in New York traffic. So, the Nietzschean turned his light source toward the boy, but not directly at him, knowing he was bound to be a bit light sensitive depending on his injuries. He dimmed the light coming from his force lance and crouched down next to the kid.

Rhade liked kids. He should, he was Nietzschean and he had several.

"How you doing, kid? You're going to be okay. I'll get that doctor over there to come patch you up, but first why don't you tell me what's hurting. And your name. I'm Telemachus Rhade. " He was pretty sure the kid didn't care about his lineage or tribe, so he cut it short.

Having been in the dark for a while, the light took a moment to get used to. And after a moment, a strange man appeared before him. Despite his injures, he was able to put up a good solid front and nodded a little at what was being said before it hurt too much.

"H-Henry..." He managed to get out. His last name didn't matter for now. The man just needed something to call him. "And...everywhere?" He tried to laugh but that made everything hurt worse so he stopped. He didn't want to try moving again so he just lay there, on the ground, in pain.

"Alright Henry, I'm pleased to meet you. Why don't we do a proper introduction when you're not lying on the floor in pain? Deal?"

Rhade took a quick, practiced look at the boy's body, watching for signs of broken bones, wounds, stuff on the outside that should be on the inside. He wasn't a medic, he was a soldier. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine. Just stay there and don't try to tap dance."

Telemachus shined the light from his lance in Bashir's direction, calling out. "Doctor, over here."

While Bashir hopefully gathered supplies and came over, Telemachus kept the boy talking. "So, your parents here too, or are you by yourself?"

Henry didn't realise it but his left leg was broken, as was his right arm, in several places each. Possibly even a fractured rib or two and probably a concussion. To the boy, everything just hurt and he couldn't pick out where to say. Hopefully some of the that special 24th century medicine could help.

The question made Henry sad. He didn't want to talk about his family. He hurt enough as it was. But he answered, slowly and carefully, trying not to exert himself. "Just me." Gold wasn't his dad. So he was alone. "What...about you?"

"You don't want to hear about me, Henry. I'm a mess. Most of my shipmates here doesn't even know me. And the one who does is still a little irked I almost ruined his life." Not entirely accurate, but in the world of Dylan Hunt, it was probably close enough.

" Why don't I make you a deal. You need anything, anything at all, you let me know. I may not be your father, and you can't replace my children, but we have to stick together, right? Can you do that for me?"

At that, Henry gave him a look. Of course he wanted to hear about the other man. Henry's curiosity knew no bounds here. But he accepted now might not be the best place so didn't respond to that part of what had been said.

"I don't make deals any more. They're dangerous." Especially with Rumplestiltskin. "But we can be friends. If you want?" No one could replace Henry's father, but friends he could do.

Telemachus gave a chuckle at that. "Alright, no deals. But friends works just fine. You just remember you can come ask me anything. Anything you need. That's what friends do right?"

Rhade ran his fingers over Henry's torso, pressing lightly. "Just tell me if it hurts okay? Hrm, why don't we play a game. If you could have anything from home, what would it be? It has to be an object, nothing alive."

Nodding again, and realising it didn't hurt as much as before, though still a lot, he managed a small smile at making a friend. But that was gone when he winced as Rhade touched the broken bones of his leg and arm.

He focused on the question and at first, couldn't think of anything he'd want that wasn't alive. But he eventually thought of something though his voice was strained when he spoke. "My...my comic books."

Rhade withdrew his hands from the boy's extremities, making note of the location to tell Doctor Bashir when he came over. "Sorry bout that." He briefly considered setting the leg himself, but the boy was already weak from the pain. He didn't want to overwhelm him so much he'd pass out. Surely the doc had some pain meds in his kit.

"Comic books?" Rhade asked, without understanding. Harper sometimes mentioned comic books but usually he just tuned it out.

While the nodding was slightly easier, the increased pain where Rhade had touched him made him a little dizzy and it was getting harder to talk.

"You don't know...what comic books...are?" He said, having to pause in the sentence twice just to get it all out. He hoped Doctor Bashir would hurry up. He didn't like hurting and it was getting harder to not cry too.

Julian slides into the space Telemachus and Henry are occupying not long after Henry asks his question, his eyes running over the boy quickly--he can see the shifts in the lines of skin and bone where the breaks are, at least in his legs. "Don't mind me, go ahead and tell him all about them." It was best for the boy to keep awake and aware, in the case of a concussion, and Julian didn't want him to panic. Talking about comic books was a good a topic as any.

He gently presses a hypo to Henry's neck with a painkiller in it, then scans to confirm where he suspects the breaks are, to make sure there's no internal bleeding.

"I'm going to have to set your arm and your leg, Henry. Just hold on a moment, and I'll have you fixed right up. Can you relax for me?"

Compound breaks were no pleasant thing. But once the painkiller took hold, he shouldn't feel much of it.

He'd screwed up his eyes after asking because it was really hurting now and he didn't want to cry. He was stronger than that. He heard Julian speak but didn't start explaining until he felt the hypo in his neck. At least they were better than needles.

"Well they're a lot thinner than normal books. And they tells the stories with...with pictures more than the words. And they're generally...short and weekly. And...superheroes..."

He stopped because he heard Julian speaking again. It was hard to relax but he tried his best.

Julian waited a few moments, gently carding his fingers through Henry's hair in what he hoped was a soothing gesture, while the painkiller took hold.

"There we go, you're doing just fine."

A few heartbeats of time more, and Julian's hands first go to Henry's leg, feeling for the misalignment of bone that the scanner had indicated, and shifting it back into place. He reaches for a stabilizer from his medkit, to hold it while the osteo-regenerator does its work.

His arm is next, the fracture a little more severe, but nothing that needs surgical correction if addressed now. It takes a bit longer for Julian to work that one back into place, by the time he's done the regenerator on Henry's leg is as well, and he can move it to the boy's arm.

"There we go." Julian smiles, fills the hypo again--this time with tri-ox and then something to address a mild concussion. The former was for the fact that Henry was, he suspected, the only one of the lot of them who didn't have some kind of enhanced lung function, though he couldn't say that with a hundred percent certainty for Genesis and her friend. The drug would help compensate as the oxygen saturation decreased.

Then the osteo-regenerator was given a few passes over the boy's ribcage, and that was about all he could do with the resources of the medkit, but he was satisfied for the moment. "All done."

Rhade stayed by Henry's side. He liked the boy, a lot. He wasn't his own son, but here, where no one had anyone, they would have to make their own family, their own connections, in order to survive. And for one as young as Henry was, connections were necessary. Rhade was going to see to it that the boy survived. Did more than just surviving.

"How you doing buddy? You can do this. Just a little while longer." Telemachus hovered just out of Bashir's way.

"Try and concentrate on something nice. Fun."

It got him through those days forced labor and beatings when he was captured by the Patriach. Nothing quite like being a slave to someone who not only was 'just' human, but who viewed every other modified human as scum, with the Nietzschean race being the worst pond scum possible. Rhade really enjoyed watching that man die.

"What are superheroes?" He continued, trying to keep Henry's mind occupied on something else while the doctor fussed and did his job.

Henry winced and kept his eyes screwed tightly shut as Julian worked. His hands were balled into fists and he wished his dad was here to hold his hand. Anyone would have done in a pinch but his father was who he wished for first.

He listened to Rhade talking and agreed it was a good idea. So he racked his brain trying to come up with a good explanation.

"They're the good guys who aren't normal. They've got...powers. Sometimes from...technology...born with it...given..." The air was getting thinner but the hypo seemed to help a bit. "They're all different but they all have weaknesses and strengths and save the world."

Julian continues monitoring--Henry's lungs sound clear, there's no evidence that his ribs were anything more than cracked, his lung isn't punctured. That's enough to satisfy Julian. The scans show that the bones have mended, about as well as could be expected for a couple of minutes under a regenerator--Julian will want to see him in sickbay after they get back to the Enterprise, but for now he's in no danger from that.

Of course, thin air is a worry. He can see ventilation shafts, but can't hear any air moving from them. Life support systems must be down. Wonderful.

"Henry, could you move your arms and legs for me, please?" Julian asked, watching closely for any signs of pain that the hypo isn't completely relieving, or any shifts in bone that shouldn't be there.

Rhade watched as Henry clenched his fists tight as Bashir worked. It had to be tough for the kid, but he was doing a good job. Silently Rhade slipped a hand into the boy's palm.

"Squeeze away. You won't hurt me." And he gave Henry a supportive, cocky look. "Well then, you got yourself a superhero right here. Except I don't have any weaknesses. I'm Nietzschean." Or at least he wouldn't admit it.

"So don't you worry, we're going to get out of her safe and sound. How are you feeling? Starting to get any better?"

Henry didn't want to inconvenience Rhade but he realised the man didn't have anything better to do so he appreciated the help. And he squeezed hard. It helped more than he thought and he managed a small smile as he did what Julian asked.

His arms and legs were stiff but the hypo was helping the pain. It wouldn't be fun to heal from this but with the technology, hopefully he wouldn't be out of action like he would have been back home.

Rhade's speech however, caught his attention. "Ne...Ne...chee...en?" He butchered the pronunciation of the species but that was to be expected from a boy who had never heard of it before. He'd learn in time. "It hurts a little less now." But he hadn't let go of the hand in his palm. "What's different about you then? What's your power?" If he was calling himself a superhero, he had to have a power. And a weakness. But they'd cover that later.

"Nietzschean. I'll give you some reading to do when we get back if you're interested." One thing all Nietzscheans had him common, they could talk about Nietzsche and philosophy all day.

"My power? Nietzscheans are genetically engineered to be perfect. Everything is about survival. Surviving a fight, surviving a disease, surviving to pass on your genes.Those who aren't perfect do not survive."

And he did survive, ergo, he was perfect. Never try to understand Nietzschean logic. Or at least ones that have the surname Rhade.

"Perfect? Really?" Henry couldn't believe anyone was perfect. Everyone had good parts and bad parts. Strengths and weaknesses. Even his own father.

But he nodded at the idea of getting some reading. He wanted to learn everything he could. Especially is Rhade was going to be his friend.

"Perfect. Or we strive to be. Although, many of my people have forgotten this, and less than themselves and what they could be. Instead of the enlightened warrior poet Nietzscheans have let themselves dwindle down to reliant bullies and slavers, mistakenly intent on proving their superiority to others, when the real person you have to prove it to is yourself." Rhade told Henry.

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Team #7 | Trapped in the Caves

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Sorry! My bad!

Oh no worries. I just got around to replying now :D

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