Mary was still bummed at the fact of not being allowed to join the away team, though she understood why. She was happy she got the chance to see things first-hand from the Fairfax. She hugged her dad because he had still made sure she could be part of the mission. She had been reluctant to trust him, but as time passed, she knew he loved her more than anything.

Her mind snapped back to reality as she heard the officer saying “Energize”. She saw the Neptune disappear and saw a completely different interior as she arrived on the Fairfax. This ship was older, and she could tell the difference, but she knew that the chances of being on a ship like this were more viable than getting to be on a ship like the Neptune. She made her way to the turbolift and took a deep breath before entering the lift and prompting to go to the bridge. She stepped onto the bridge earlier than she should have, but she was never late.

Alex heard the hiss of the door actuators cycling behind him. He turned in his seat to catch a glimpse of his guest entering the bridge precisely on time. He had to admit his admiration for the Neptune crew’s promptness, which seemed to extend even to the civilian compliment.

As a mark of respect and hospitality, he stood from his position and stepped aft to greet her personally, “Welcome to the bridge…” Alex paused; he had just realised that he had not been prior informed of his guest’s name, “My apologies, I don’t recall being told your name.”

Mary smiled, “Dad probably didn’t say it. Hi, I’m Mary Ryder.”

Upon hearing the surname roll off her tongue, Alex was suddenly overcome by a mixture of feelings. Honoured that Captain Ryder would put his trust in the Fairfax with a member of his family, but also feelings of obligation. He felt as though he needed to treat her with the same dignity as though she were wearing four pips of her own. “I see,” he said respectfully. “Well, your father mentioned you were looking to apply to the academy in the near future. Hopefully, we can give you a taste of how things operate in the rest of the fleet.”

Mary looked around and nodded, “Thank you, Captain! I appreciate the warm welcome and the opportunity to be part of this mission through the eyes of your ship.”

“Please feel free to take a seat, we’re about to oversee the launch,” said Alex, gesturing towards the vacant X.O. position. “Ops, clear the shuttle bay to conduct launch operations,” he ordered.

At the stern, the two massive curtain doors that enveloped the shuttle bay began to retract. If sound could traverse the vacuum of space, they would have screamed and groaned as their ageing mechanisms overpowered decades of wear and tear. Not to say they weren’t in perfect working order, but even the best engineers can’t reverse the age of the ship.

As the doors slotted into position, a single Type 7 craft coasted smoothly beyond the forcefield and entered a right bank towards the planet “Essex to control,” Wallace transmitted, handling the coms for their pilot, Lt Sato. “Bay cleared, proceeding as fragged”

It had been a minute since Juno had been at the helm of a support craft; she was normally used to the weight and mass of the Fairfax when anticipating her trajectory. The responsiveness of the Shuttlecraft Essex initially caught her by surprise when she rolled into the bank. “Should I form up with the Neptune, Sir?” she asked.

“Standby on that, let me check in with them,” said Wallace, punching a few more commands into his console. “Neptune, this is the Fairfax shuttle Essex, standing by to initiate descent. You guys ready?”

Michael had been waiting for the call as he had prepared his shuttles, and they were ready for departure. “Ops, clear the shuttle for launch.” He commanded.

Though the bridge couldn’t see it, the ship’s main shuttle bay on deck 12 opened, and the shuttle flew out of the bay like a bullet from a gun of old Earth. At the helm was Lieutenant Jacklyn Ritter, the youngest of his helmsmen, but one who had proven herself time and time again. Next to her was Commander Xiao and the newcomer from Fairfax. The shuttle appeared in a holding position near the Essex. “Triton in position, Sir.”

Michael smiled and responded back to Alex, “In position and prepared for descent.”

Alex nodded to his counterpart across the viewscreen and glanced over to the display embedded in the chair arm to review the tactical overlay. He selected an open channel to broadcast to the Essex and Triton simultaneously, “Shuttle crews, this is Fairfax,” he announced, “You are go to make your descent. Remember, we need to keep up the appearance of a scientific survey, so by all means, collect as much data as you can, but report back anything outside the ordinary!”

Wallace nodded to Lt. Sato to initiate their descent. “Acknowledged, Essex beginning descent,” he responded, before his attention was drawn to the clatter of equipment echoing through the cabin behind him. He turned to see K’vagh step through the door, slinging several phaser rifles over his shoulder, which he set down on an empty chair, preparing charged power cells for each one. “K’vagh, what are you doing?” he asked.

K’vagh looked up from his task, confused. “Loading rifles for the away team, sir,” he said, his tone phrasing it more like a question than a statement.

“We’re a survey team, remember, not a bunch of commandos, sidearms only… And are those grenades?” Wallace pointed out, noticing the bandolier of cylindrical devices.

K’vagh liked to be prepared for anything; his efforts were well-intended to ensure the safety of his team, but now that the Commander had commented, he felt he had gone a little too far. “Type four Concussive and flashbang devices, sir, from the hazard armoury!”

“Yeah, well, put them back. I don’t plan on any shooting taking place down there,” Wallace ordered.

“But—”
“No grenades!” Wallace reiterated.

Silently and with a degree of disappointment, K’vagh picked up his arsenal and hauled it aft, with about as much enthusiasm as a toddler being told to tidy up its toys.

“You can’t fault his preparedness, sir,” Juno smirked as the sky began turning a pale blue ahead of them.

“That you can’t, Lieutenant… That you can’t,” said Wallace with a short laugh.

On board the Triton, Sovek sat patiently at his console, observing his sensor readings and making mental notes about the atmospheric density and composition. “The Essex has entered the thermosphere,” he reported, glancing at the telemetry readout.

Xiao nodded slightly just to acknowledge what Sovek had stated. The truth was that no one actually knew what was about to happen as the shuttles entered the upper atmosphere of the planet. He took a deep breath as his mind raced, thinking of all the problems that could occur. He looked over at Jacklyn, “Lieutenant, take us in.”

Jacklyn nodded at the order, but in her head, she had a flicker of doubt. This was not the first time she had made a landing on an unknown planet. Something about this planet didn’t seem right. However, this was part of the job; even when doubt crept in, she never questioned the orders of her superiors. She had been on the Neptune for a little over a year, and although she had worked on Beta shift, her work had been noticed by Michael, and he promoted her to Chief Flight Officer. The truth was that the other flight officer had family affairs that took them away from Starfleet with approval, and the ship needed an officer who could handle tough situations.

She input the command into the shuttle, and it began to descend towards the planet’s thermosphere. She looked over at the other two on the shuttle. “Hold onto your butts.” She smirked as she increased the acceleration of the shuttle as it began to pierce the thermosphere of the planet. She decreased the throttle as the ship began to experience incredible turbulence. As the ship pierced through the clouds, the planet below could be seen. It looked like a jungle with vast, beautiful oceans.

Xiao looked with wonder at all of the possibilities of what could be learned from this planet. However, the unknown of what could be hiding gave him a moment of hesitation. He was snapped back to reality as the shuttle violently lurched back and forth. He looked at Jacklyn “What’s going on?”

Jacklyn was concentrating to make sure the shuttle was under control as the Galeforce winds of the planet’s upper atmosphere tossed the shuttle around like a piece of popcorn. “We have quite the turbulence up here, Commander. I don’t know that I’ll be able to set us down gently into the ocean.” She said as she continued to try to keep control of the shuttle as it descended towards the planet’s surface.

Sovek retained his composure despite being jostled from side to side as Jacklyn wrestled for control. Suddenly, his attention was captured by a screeching alarm from his console, “Sensors indicate an excessive static polarisation of the outer hull, attempting to compensate.”

Xiao heard the report and cringed slightly. The truth was that static polarization of the outer hull could lead to catastrophic construction. He thought back to previous missions and realized this was just another day. He knew he couldn’t do much as Jacklyn and Sovek were in the hot seat, but he stood ready in case assistance was needed.

The Vulcan’s fingertips danced across the console, like a pianist performing at the crescendo of the symphony. Another jostle, this time accompanied by the bright flash of lightning, which highlighted the shield grid like a stone casting ripples on a pond.

Jacklyn was continuing to struggle to hold a steady course with the shuttle. The wind was putting up quite a fight, and with the addition of lightning, it had turned into a fight for survival. “Is there any way you can get the lightning from polarizing on the hull? While it wouldn’t help completely, it would help some. I’m trying to steer us to a safe landing zone.”

“Standby,” Sovek assured his colleagues, as he delicately adjusted the deflector harmonics. Just as the discharges approached another climax, they began to subside, “The static buildup is equalising,” he reported stoically.

Xiao looked at the readout panel, seeing that the buildup was equalizing. Though it wasn’t the end of the battle. It was going to allow for a better chance of landing. He had seen Jacklyn’s work first hand and he believed she would be able to land them as safely as possible.

Another alarm captured the Vulcan’s attention, “The Essex is still being struck by static discharges,” his tone shifting to become more serious, “They appear to be unable to compensate.”

Xiao tried to open communications, but every time he tried, no communication could be established. The possibility of saving the shuttle was low because any interception in this particular event could cause damage to both shuttles. And trying to divert in such rough weather wasn’t a good idea. He grimaced at the fact that they couldn’t help the shuttle. He knew the best course of action was to let the shuttle follow nature’s course.

The truth of the matter was that there was no way that the Triton would be able to help.

Both Juno and Wallace frantically attempted to fight Essex for control, as powerful bolts of electricity bombarded the Type-7; sparks showered them as the excess energy fed through the EPS systems and overloaded system after system. “I’ve lost attitude control!” Juno barked as she desperately tried to slow their descent.

“Attempting to bypass!” Wallace responded, keeping focus and fighting back his own feelings of terror as, in his peripheral Vision, he could only see trees and rocks getting bigger in the window. He was so overwhelmed with task saturation that he barely had time to take a fleeting glance.

In the back, K’vagh braced himself with both arms between the frame of the doorway to the rear compartment, wimpers of anxiety and fear echoed from behind him as the two ensigns from science and security that made up their complement of 5 began to panic. The shuttle was tumbling out of control

“I can’t recover! We’re going in hard!” Juno yelled as the console next to her blew out.

Glancing up through the window, Wallace could no longer see sky, just leaves, vines and wood. “Brace for impact!”