Star Trek: Starbase 777

164 years this post had been left uninhabited. The moon had been deemed too dangerous for anyone to continue studying up-close, and had been abruptly cut off from anything but scanning from orbit. Until there were signs of life. Power returning to the station in flickers — an impossibility, wasn't it, after all this time?... Nonetheless, here the away team was sent to figure out just what happened, the ground underneath the boots of their EV suits yielding ever so slightly under their weight, yet remaining firmly put together. The earth was a soft, squishy pinkish red, similarly colored plantlike material climbing the science outpost and nearly encasing it entirely. The doors remain firmly open, overgrown.

7

Kya huffed slightly as she held her rifle close. “Everyone’s suits are working yes?” She said quickly, just wanting to check before they went in. “Who would be dumb enough to come back here.” She muttered softly, assuming somebody was inside. (edited)

A mystery, then. C’Tessa did love a good mystery. But this.. this was kinda gross. Her feet made these weird squelching noises as she walked, and she was reminded of exactly how much she hated her EV suit- having her tail all cramped up sucked. She wasn’t a biologist, but she still wondered what this squishy plant stuff was. She giggled nervously and said, “Yknow, what if this pink stuff isn’t plants? What if it’s yknow, meat or something.”

“Yeppers!” Maggie said softly as she adjusted her helmet. First away mission since the Borging, but she had to try or she would never get it done. “I don’t know! Somebody might wanna do science here. Nice and quiet.” Weirdo moment.

Already a bit on edge (or… let’s be real, he had fallen off of that edge years ago), M’Rish’s eyes darted over the strange ground. “…I don’t want to think about the meat ground.” He mumbled, partially to himself.

Stomping along beside the others, Sterling found the area absolutely fascinating. The possibility of deposits of rare minerals in every bizarrely coloured surface was one he was quite excited for. He trailed behind M’Rish, staying silent as he continued on.

She shrugged. “Could be fungus too. Hell, all three combined? I don’t know biology.” She said. Her foot hit an especially soft part of the soil, sinking in to her ankle. Pulling it out made this especially disgusting wet kind of sound that had her mentally gagging a bit. Fuck.. she liked a challenge, she liked a break from her normal routine, but this was more gross than anything.

“Well lemme see!” She said, breaking out a tricorder and trying to scan the ground. “You know this reminds me of the time I got an eye in a jar.”

Wrinkling his nose at the squishing sound of C’Tessa freeing her foot, he leaned over slightly, peering at the tricorder screen. Maybe he’d get peace of mind with knowing the composition of what he walked on.

She trailed behind the leading group as her eyes gazed over her surroundings. It was... eerie, but nothing alarming. At least, not at the moment. Though the circumstances of the station was a bit curious, to say the least, and uncomfortably so. Seems like destroyed stations were becoming her thing now.

Hal Gertie took the left side of the party, only half-following along to the conversation as he kept an eye out for movement. “It could be algae too, right? I think there are terrestrial kinds of algae…”

"It's disgusting is what it is," Iki proposed dryly, pulling out a tricorder as they thanked whatever was wrong with their brain that they didn't also have contamination OCD.

Timi just stood to the side, a rifle slung over his shoulder as he surveyed the group, and the situation they were in. He kept a close eye on their conversations, focussed on keeping track of the different subtitles while he scanned everything around them. He'd leave the research to others. He just needed to make sure everyone stayed safe.

“It is a fascinating geological and biological facet of this location.” He remarked, but noted that his weight caused his EV suit’s boots to press into the substance more than expected, “Although I do believe I am sinking slightly. It is not extremely traversable.”

Amber meandered her way through the ground, footsteps heavy, making as much of an indentation in the squishy ground as she could, apparently. Better figure out how much stability she could rely on it for sooner rather than later, she thought. Didn't mean she had to enjoy it, clear from the occasional scrunch of her nose as she walked, visible through the glass of her suit.

Vara'l was silent as he clutched his rifle and watched the perimeter for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Did so before he too looked to the odd plant life on the outpost and then looked down at the earth. Did so as he walked, as he listened to others who happened to know more about such things discussed it. "Certainly...intriguing." The Romulan mused to himself as he walked with the group.

The ground was, in fact, made of organic matter — soft connective tissue, not giving way and crumbling like soil or rock would under their feet. Thanks to scientists who used to work here, for uploading all their findings before the outpost mysteriously went dark.

7

Xuan was here, seemingly unfazed by whatever was here. They had previously dealt with 'cheese' which was equally unpleasant. They scanned the floor and looked at the others with them. "Hmm... Organic matter... This reminds me of ... those folklore tales where people venture into the bellies of giant beasts."

M’Rish screwed up his face in both discomfort and disgust, as he took a few more tentative steps. “I hope it reminds you of stories with people who don’t get eaten.”

“Ah. That’s creepy.” Maggie said as she put her tricorder away. “Let’s leave as soon as we can!”

She slogged forward, praying she would not sink. She was short, she would disappear quicker. “So, we’re standing on the world’s biggest hamburger. Lovely.” She said sarcastically. “We’re the toppings.”

"Yummy," Saith mumbled sarcastically, one hand on his phaser. "Dibs on being bacon. Bacon is like, the best kind of burger."

Saeihr looked around almost getting too distracted by the strange landscape and the sound of walking one the soft ground to properly keep up with the group. "I don't really understand why anyone would come here, there's so many places you could go in the universe that aren't... well this."

"Leaving is not an option. We have a mission. As for hamburger toppings, I prefer plain burgers," Xuan said, finding sauces and most toppings gross.

“We all look like ketchup and relish on the inside. That’s what I’m assuming we’d be.” She shrugged- both humanoids and vulcanoids around- ie ketchup and relish. “Scientists love going to fucked up places and finding out why they shouldn’t go to them. It’s like their favorite hobby or something.” She shrugged, responding to Saeihr’s question.

“I didn’t mean we leave now, just we leave once we finish the mission in quick order.” She mumbled softly.

"As a doctor, I would like to say I would hope we are not ketchup and relish on the inside, that would mean we were crushed by something which would be... even more unpleasant," Xuan made a mildly disgusted expression and then frowned. "Scientists go where things interest them. I can see why this place would be appealing for scientific study. Much like how I enjoy seeing interesting throats."

“Okay, but… flesh planet.” He whispered, still disturbed by the notion, crouching to poke the floor with one finger and watching it spring back slightly, before standing back up to catch up with the rest of the crew.

Hal Gertie shifted his phaser rifle in his arms uncomfortably. That was… really gross. But it wouldn’t be terribly comforting for a security officer to admit that, so he kept quiet and tried not to wonder if the planet could feel them walking on it.

"If that is the case, we are missing two slices of frankly large buns." She muttered, her eye glancing towards her rifle as she recalibrated it once more. "Well, scientists are out here to study and seek out new life and new discoveries." T'Evoryn spoke, her tone staunchly indifferent. "I suppose it's what they do, even if it's not the most comfortable experience."

Iki wasn't sure whether to be more disturbed at the notion of being a hamburger topping, or the concept of eating hamburgers plain. "It's interesting. I wonder what the evolutionary strategy is for having everything be fleshy, as opposed to anything else."

The dubious organic composed ground let out squishy sounds with her every step, giving in slightly under the pressure of her suit boots. “It’s like stepping into…. Okay, I’m not even gonna try, I never stepped into anything remotely close to this.” It was said with a bit of amusement. And that was Garcia! Right next to the group with her tricoder out, though much more interested in the readings she would get from the mechanical equipment inside the base than of their surroundings like the scientists seemed to be.

"Gross," Amber remarked at M'Rish, as much as she was doing the same with her boots, at least she didn't have to watch the flesh bounce around.

"No sense of self preservation." She shook her head and flinched as she too stepped on a particularly soft spot on the floor. "Thinking about us as toppings on a this is really not what I want to be thinking about." (edited)

“Actually no, we’re staying. This is the hottest new resort.” She joked to Maggie with a little laugh, just to distract herself from this disgusting situation. She asked for adventure.. she supposed she was receiving it. She should’ve asked for better adventure. “This implies the herbivores here are actually.. flesh-ivores. If the plants are meat, everything’s carnivorous.”

"If Allan was here he would have one of the buns," Xuan was somehow perfectly straight faced when they said that very out of pocket comment.

1

With a very large frown plastered on his face, he shook his head, as if shaking off the idea of the place itself. A few hours, and then he could go home to his tribble enclosure, where you couldn’t see their flesh.

“I would be the cutlery, then?” He commented, “I am constructed of non-organic matter and have been told I resemble a spoon.”

6

4

“Who in their right mind eats a burger with cutlery?” She said in disbelief, did this guy grow hands and a mouth yesterday? Of course, she wasn’t looking behind her, and so she didn’t know the guy speaking didn’t even have a mouth.

“The person who called me a spoon, evidently.” He strode past her, as if it was the most normal thing to say.

”If all we got to worry about is the disgusting ground, we’re fine.” A very tall Klingon woman marched with her phaser riffle in hand. “Or… maybe the plants eat the meat here. Who knows… look out for roots to be safe ha.” Marze conjured a number of animal plant hybrids in her mind and other voracious types of trees and bushes.

"It's only understandable. Though we are not in any immediate danger, if that brings you some comfort." She replied to the ensign. T'Evoryn didn't really flinch, though she was finding it quite tricky to walk.

"I do not like getting my hands dirty. If the burger was big I would certainly use cutlery," Xuan chimed in, crossing their arms. "Anyway," They shifted their gaze back to the 'scenery'. "I suppose we should continue our investigation of the area? We already know the ground is organic matter."

Oh, he was an android. She just thought he was a very unfortunate man with some kind of fucked up concave, spoon-like face. This was a better option. “Good idea. If I trip under a root and sink, I’m never being found again.”

7

"I sure hope that will not happen to you," Xuan turned to the intelligence ensign and nodded slowly.

“Please. Let’s… let’s move on to a more solid part of this moon.” His ears were pinned to his head as he tiptoed, “Or at least a part that isn’t made of flesh, if there is one?”

He stood sentry by Timi's side, his arms held crossed on his chest and the helmeted head kept turned on the away team. Covered from head to toe in an EV suit, Kairos lacked most of his usual visual quirks (sans tail, which was curled around his left leg), yet something in his pose still was... very him. The stillness was temporary, for as soon as they were given a good to go, he would quickly come to life - given that his curiosity about the place became... piqued, after hearing all of the flesh talk, to the point of a head tilt. After all, he was a scientific drone at some point in his life. (edited)

Deciding to take a look at the doors, Garcia took a few quick steps forward, much to the tactical and security dismay, and pointed her tricoder to the structure. The doors were open, which was odd, she wanted to know if there were any signs of recent activation of the mechanisms, or if they were just left like this for the past century.

As the people discussed the questionable practices of scientists and what places they choose to study, one of the blue-accented suits lowered himself down on one knee, and let his gloved hand slide over the ground, seeing if it would react to that. After that he went for a grab at one of the protruding bumps, fully intending to pick it up in his palm. Unphased. In his lane.

C’Tessa made her way over to Timi and Kairos. Something about being nearby her fellow Intel officers was a bit comforting- being completely new to the Starbase and all. “Some first away mission on this Starbase..” She commented.

It gave way, ripping with ease under his vulcanoid strength. Pulsing gently in his palm, until it just went ...still. Icky.

"Does anything sound familiar? You're my strange flesh expert," Timi signed to Kairos, teasingly, his face blank but his body language a touch too relaxed for it to have been a serious statement. Once more he was considering that device he had seen before on a former colleague that would translate signs into spoken word. No matter, he wasn't planning on speaking overly much here anyway.

“…ew.” He exhaled, glancing over and seeing the fleshy… thing, beating and squishing. Nasty.

"What do you judge of the situation?" Xuan looked at Saren, knowing not much about the man, but knowing he was an expert in xenobiology and this moon being... some sort of fleshy creature was most likely very intriguing to him.

"Peculiar," Saren simply commented, tilting his head left and right as he wiggled his fingers under the blob, watching it jiggle. Pop off, you glorified carrion bird gijinka. "Too early to say anything as of now. I hope that changes soon."

Five squirmed a little uncomfortably. This whole place was .. weird, to say the least, but at least the scientists seemed curious. At least some of them were having fun...

As they came closer to the outpost, it became very evident that the power was on. Lights flickered gently inside...

"Shall we continue onward then? I see some lights, perhaps there is something... or someone still around? A computer?" Xuan looked up ahead and walked carefully forward.

Kya took a step up front as she held her rifle.”Eyes up everyone.” She said to the group. “There has to be someone inside. A computer doesn’t come back online after 180 years.”

"Only two hundred or so years, right? It's not exactly out of the question," Saith said, glancing up at the door. "Maybe they ate the planet meat...."

"Well, thankfully that's not ominous whatsoever," Iki said, before very pointedly choosing a spot in the middle of the group.

“There is a chance you are correct, ensign.” He agreed with Saith, “It seems to be possibly edible, with the similarities to animal flesh on several planets.”

Amber watched the scientists with some sort of intrigue for a moment before returning her guard to the right flank, where she had stationed herself. She attempted a couple times to cross her arms idly, and failed both times, quite clunkily, thanks to the suit she was still very much getting used to. Eventually, she landed with resting her hand against her phaser holster, and left the other one to fidget boredly. She wasn't squeamish, not really, and she was sure there was way, way worse out in the galaxy than a bit of overgrown flesh, but the sooner the scientists figured out... whatever it was they needed to figure out, the sooner she could get home and into a bath. She spurred them on in her mind.

Vara'l looked to the others present and proceeded to say. "Tactical officers on the perimeter, lets get tricorder scans constantly going if you're not already scanning, just in case." The Romulan stated then as he moved toward the outside of the group and continued to keep watch.

The floor was indeed somewhat strenuous to walk on, so much so that she had for the most part kept her eyes on the floor so far and found herself thinking that having to run might well be uncomfortable at best and send people tripping at worst. Looking up her eyes caught on the overgrown structure in front of them. There was a strange beauty to abandoned structures, especially those that had been retaken by nature, though this one did not seem quite that abandoned with the lights flickering inside. "They would not need to have been here since it was abandoned, may well be that they are a newer addition."

Shears marched ahead with a high head. Their fingers twitched with excitement, but they told themselves they would take seriously any and all investigations underway. This was a matter that could potentially turn dangerous. Shears' main hope was that if there was danger that awaited them could be easily apprehended by them—thus earning praise, but with no harm done in the process. (edited)

The doors had been stuck open for a long time, by the looks of it.

Xuan checked to see if there were any other medical officers and it appeared to be just them and M'rish. "I suppose us medical officers should proceed on standby behind those in front."

Kya nodded. “Yes, stay in the back.” She said with a hum as she moved to the door and peaked inside.

“Yes, Sir, I can do that.” M’Rish nodded sharply, grateful to be finding something more solid than the flesh ground. The skin planet totally won’t haunt him at all. (edited)

Upon hearing the CTO, she moved over to left flank, remaining near the tail end of the group as she set her tricorder up for a continuous scan. "Aye, sir."

Saeihr silently moved to left side of the group as well, pulling out her tricorder. I they left something behind when they left she wondered how long it would take before the fleshy ground overgrew it. At least they weren't staying in one place.

Shears trailed further behind in the group, looking around more than they were walking ahead. They poked at the squishy meat-floor with their foot. "Perhaps whatever lifeform is present is proficient in computers?" They offered. They didn't like the idea that whatever organism coated the walls was alive, but it was possible it new how to run an OS. Anything was possible.

“No immediate threats. Move in.” She said, taking the team inside to #operations-hub.

Apollo entered silently, trying to not be disturbed by the fleshy substance. He was here mainly to manage stress in the crew. The longer he was in this hulking metal armor, the more aching he felt. But that was aside from the mission.

Saren left the blob of fun and viscera alone, as he followed the group into the operations hub. The scans he did on the thing, unfortunately, did not bear any new information - though in all honesty, it only made the scientist more curious...

He laughed at Timi's words, or at least made an approximation of that sound. It was more akin to a quiet, deep warble. "It is weird here! I will say that organic cells have a drive to multiply and spread, when given a carcass to do so," he very pointedly circled his own torso after Kairos signed that, and then traced the horizon with that same finger. "This, however, is very fascinating. I have never heard of a case with a single, planet-sized organism... this had to come from somewhere, no?" He then nodded to the third Intel officer, which is probably when they all began to follow the group, essentially closing it off at the end: "Consider it a trial of fire, perhaps? Or a fodder for a good bar story in a year or two."

Timi watched as the rest of the group went ahead of them, reading Kairos' words. "It has sustained itself for a while, too," Timi pointed out in rapid sign language. He wasn't qualified to think about how that might have been possible, so he wouldn't.

Ellie had been quiet for some time now, blending into the background of the flesh and meat. The Golem originally hadn't planned to come along. Something about this felt wrong, but there was obviously something to learn here. A history. Nearly two centuries, abandoned, and without trace of sentient life. No record of what this planet was supposed to be. Deemed dangerous, but why could there be such an occurrence. Several possibilities stuffed her mind. Several are absurd, and are more then likely born from a: "If you think it will happen, it won't happen" mindset. "A drink. That sounds appealing currently." From anybody else they'd thinking was a joke, but it was just Ellie stimulating her mind to quiet. Shifting her pose as she adjusted her grip in the cool metal in her hand. Double checking the phasers settings. Stun, on sweep. Paranoia grew, and she felt she was being watched for some reason. Outside all of the seemingly vivid imagery of her peers and coworkers eyes.

Sinau tiptoed along. Every step leaving a booming squelch. Booming in her ears, everything about the planets surface made her gag, but she had an obligation to be here. The place was abandoned, and quickly at that, judging by the reports, leaving shit behind. There was likely ancient ass Federation tech. Ancient ass locked Federation tech. Code breaking was one of her specialties, so if they wanted to walk away from this with something more then a new phobia involving fleshy goo planets. "Can we not stick around too long? Please?" She whimpered as she stepped along inside, the writhing floor a little quieter inside, but it also echoed so it was a net-negative.