Circling the Wagons
Posted on Fri Dec 5, 2025 @ 3:44am by Lieutenant Commander Alanna Wells & Lieutenant Cassia Dravik
Edited on on Fri Dec 5, 2025 @ 3:46am
1,035 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Chicken Run
Timeline: MD02
Cassia opened a direct channel to Alanna as she guided the shuttle smoothly away from DS5. “Commander Wells, this is Lieutenant Cassia Dravik of the 327th Starfighter Group. The Guardians.”
“I’ve been assigned to make a supply run to the surface. The Commodore requested I coordinate with you for a food pickup. She mentioned you have a tree with nutritious edible leaves. However, they may not be winning any taste awards.” She said with a faint smile. She adjusted her flight path toward the planet’s upper atmosphere. “Requesting permission to descent and confirmation on where you’d like me to set down.”
"Wells here. Yes, we have a grove of trees with edible leaves. We've got several bags of them in storage." The trees came from a forest she found at the top of a beanstalk. The caretaker gave her permission to take seeds back to Pangaea with her. Thanks to Brianthe, they now had a small grove hidden in the woods.
"I'll send coordinates to Bag End. Be aware it looks like a small hill near a large wooded area." Alanna originally shielded the area to keep the Cardassians and others from interfering in her work. Later, it was to hide from--and spy on--the Xi'Cadians and Cardassians when they took over the station. She sent coordinates to a grassy area on the south of Bag End as her shuttle was currently in the hangar. "What's going on?"
“Acknowledged, Bag End. Coordinates locked in.” Cassia replied, angling the shuttle toward Pangaea’s upper atmosphere as the planet’s surface began to fill the viewport.
“The station’s a mess, Commander.” She said after a brief pause. “We’ve got over five thousand animals loose and they’re all covered in some kind of crystalline glitter.” Cassia adjusted the power flow as she entered atmospheric descent. “Whatever that stuff is, it’s contaminated the systems. Transporters, comms, replicator are all offline”
"All the replicators?" Alanna hadn't looked at her computer in hours as she'd been working in the ancient village. "I'll gather what we have and meet you at the coordinates." She couldn't imagine what would take all the replicators on a station the size of DS5 offline. But there were enough leaves and berries to feed a fair number of people for at least one meal.
"That's my understanding, Commander." Cassia replied as the shuttle broke through the upper cloud layer. She adjusted her descent vector, the shuttle dipping smoothly as the rolling terrain of Pangaea came into view below.
Brianthe had been gathering and preserving the white leaves and berries as part of an emergency supply, and to measure how efficacious they were over time. Alanna was pretty sure she wouldn't mind if most of the large bags were sent to the station. They could easily pick more. She'd leave several bags for Bri's research.
While the pilot landed, Alanna began hauling the large bags of leaves and berries from the underground supply bunker to the surface for transport.
Cassia brought the shuttle low over the tree line, its shadow gliding across the grassy rise that matched Alanna’s coordinates. Satisfied the area was clear, she eased the craft down, the landing struts touching the ground with a soft thud that sent a swirl of dust and grass rippling outward.
The hatch open, and Cassia stepped out into the warm air. “Commander Wells, I presume?” She called, spotting Alanna near the gathered supplies. Without waiting for an answer, she jogged over to assist “Looks like you’ve been busy.”
"Hi. I'm Alanna. Brianthe is responsible for these. She's the station's chief botanist. We have a grove of experimental trees. A handful of leaves and berries will stave off hunger and have sufficient nutrients to keep you healthy. We started storing them when the Cardassians took over. This is a good use of our stores." As she helped load the bags onto the shuttle, she added, "They aren't the most flavorful, but they are great for food storage. Any idea what happened?"
Cassia lifted one of the bags into the shuttle. “Five thousand animals loose on the station....coated in some kind of glitter that scrambles systems and makes people see things. Transporters, comms, replicators. All down.” She gave a faint, dry smirk. “So, until the engineers stop the sparkle parade, your rations might be our main menu.”
"Oh, wow. I didn't realize it was that serious. I don't think I have enough leaves to feed the entire station." Alanna paused. "Have you considered the industrial replicators on the Dyson Shipyards? They can't feed everyone, either, but they could give you a lot of ration bars."
“I’m not sure, Commander.” She admitted. “Others have been sent to track down additional food sources...ships, ambassadors, even the repair yards might be part of that effort.”
"Good. I'll check with the Marine base and see if I can help them in any way," Alanna said. "If nothing else, I have a shuttle with a working transporter."
Cassia secured the last bag inside the shuttle’s cargo hold, giving it a final push to ensure it was snug. “Well, that’s it.” She said, turning to Alanna with a nod. “I’ll head back now. Thank you, Commander. This will make a real difference up there.”
"You're welcome. Let me know if I can do anything else to help. Good luck, lieutenant," Alanna said, stepping back so the shuttle could take off.
“Will do, Commander. And thank you again for everything.”
She sealed the hatch and powered up the engines, the soft hum building into a steady roar. Through the viewport, she caught a final glimpse of Alanna standing near the entrance before pulling the shuttle smoothly off the ground. “Departing Pangaea.” she said over the comm. “See you topside.”
Alanna waited until the shuttle was out of sight, then went inside to contact the Marine Base to see if she could help them get more food to the people on the station.
Lieutenant Commander Alanna Wells
Director of Science, Exploration, and Archaeology - Pangaea
Archaeologist/Anthropologist - Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Cassia Dravik
Fighter Pilot - 327th Starfighter Group - The Guardians
Deep Space 5
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