The Beast of Blood Canyon

Posted on Thu Apr 23rd, 2026 @ 12:13pm by Lieutenant JG Grace Douglas & Master Chief Petty Officer Gaz & Uhlan Vekthar & Warrior De'haQ Daughter of Utlaq & Cadet Senior Grade Peyet & Lieutenant T'Vek
Edited on on Thu Apr 23rd, 2026 @ 12:30pm

2,359 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: UnderMind [4]
Location: USS Yarra, 358km West of Shitau
Timeline: MD4, Morning

“Chief, we’re detecting something like life-signs just over the horizon.” The striking half-Māori half-Elasian science officer Douglas advised Chief Gaz.

"Really." Gaz said with genuine curiosity, having started daydreaming as the second day of empty sand and blue skies dragged on. Still, they conducted a search that by Gaz's standards felt tedious. Any other planet and they'd have eight times the data by now, but whatever nonsense polluted the soil gave their sensors more grief than they could overcome.

"Tell me everything." He told Lieutenant Douglas at the science station, turning to face her. "Helm, assume any suggestion she makes is an instruction from me."

"Understood." Senior Navigation Cadet Peyet said firmly. She kept it quite well to herself, but to be under the command of a man, and enlisted man no less felt like a humiliation. All the other teams were led sensibly, by women. She wondered which of Angel One's goddesses she'd angered to earn this.

"Take us towards heading 335 mark 28. The lifesigns should clarifying in the next 30 seconds..." Douglas said, waiting for them to get over enough horizons for the scanners to be able to do their work. "Got it. I'm reading four humanoids... huh. Not Vulcan though. I'm also reading two symbiotes. They're Jaffa." Douglas said with surprise.

"Looks like they're at the far end of a deep canyon. They must have entered back down a natural slope the way we came, unless they flew here in something hidden. Would've taken a couple of days to walk." The science officer continued.

"We'll be visible to them in about 30 seconds, sir. Want me to keep us out of sight?" Peyet told the Chief.

"Jaffa." Gaz repeated with surprise. "Yeah, take us the long way around. We don't want to surprise these guys, they're probably armed. Can we hail them?" He looked around, not entirely sure who was taking comms. There were a few unfamiliar faces in the mix here.

Though she was only there to bolster security (and relations between Starfleet and non-Starfleet) De'haQ hadn't really paid attention until she heard the word 'Jaffa'. She had not had much to do with them since they had launched a sneak attack at the behest of the Lady Hera when they first arrived, but that alone convinced her they were cunning warriors.

Vekthar adjusted his visor. “It’s a possibility that the Jaffa might have seen any of the missing Vulcans, it may be worth interviewing them, Chief?” Normally the Reman security officer wouldn’t bother voicing his opinion but in this case the Jaffa were still quite an unknown to this universe. Keeping an eye on their movements is wise.

"Yeah, I agree." Gaz said, looking to T'Vek at comms, who still seemed to be figuring out if there was any way to reach them.

"Not detecting anything that's picking up our hails, Chief. We might need to beam down a holoprojector." T'Vek told Gaz.

"Do it. I want to chat with these Jaffa." Gaz said.

T'Vek went into the back for a moment, and brought out a small device which he placed in the transporter pad. "Beaming down 10 meters behind them." The Romulan explained. A few moments later he got confirmation it had worked. "Alright, it's down. We can go live at your command, Chief. You'll get a hologram's-eye view of what the projector sees when it activates."

"Do it." Gaz ordered.

From a projector above his head, a semi-opaque field of view emerged. It was a perspective from below, and the three Jaffa were walking ahead, seeming not to have noticed it.

"Excuse me gentlemen, could I have a minute of your time?" Gaz asked directly. The holographic version of himself down on the ground copied him exactly, but it was standing up even though he was sitting. Only the waist up was actually broadcast, the rest was a computer simulation.

"Kree!" The bulkiest of the four men cried with surprise at the sound and sight of the holographic facsimile of Gaz. Each activated their zat or staff and fired towards the holgram's centre of mass with very little appreciation of how ineffective that target was.

Gaz let out a disappointed sigh as his hologram flickered from weapons fire, he had given them too much credit. But they were basically bronze-age except for the Goa'uld technology they were told was from the gods, he reminded himself. "Fellas, listen. This is just a projection, I'm not really here. My name is Gaz, I'm with the Federation. We just want to talk."

The Jaffa stowed their weapons. Both Akhenaten and Typheous had made sure that their people knew that the Federation was their real saviour, even if the Aten had made it so. Even if they didn't recognise the uniform or the delta by instinct, the name held a certain reverence for Jaffa. "Speak." The man who appeared to be leader said.

"Thanks. We're out here looking for Vulcans. Humanoids, tall, probably wearing brown robes. Pointy ears, hair like it was cut with a bowl on top of their heads. Seen any?" Gaz asked.

"More than eight days ago. And from a distance. He seemed to be observing the moving herds of balls. Not since then." The Jaffa leader told Gaz without hesitation.

"Okay. Thanks. What are you fellas doing out here, anyway?" Gaz asked.

Vekthar leaned towards Chief Gaz. “I suggest you ask them in which direction they saw the Vulcan?” He grinned.

"We are meeting with hunters who have seen signs of a great predator that lives at the end of this canyon. We wish to find and hunt it, if we can." The lead Jaffa explained.

"Right. You don't know where you happened to see this Vulcan, do you?" Gaz asked.

“Will they eat their kill?” Vekthar commented as he worked the console in front of him.

"Near the three identical mesas. To the northeast a ways. We were dropped in the area by a transport, we saw him as we flew over." The Jaffa explained.

"I think I know the spot, chief." Lieutenant Douglas announced, bringing up the display for him to review. "The three identical mesas. That is a while away. In the north team's search area. They may well be talking about the first Order member they recovered, his path from there back to Shitau would appear consistent with the timing."

"Hm. Alright, thanks. Probably something our colleagues will check out. This predator you're hunting, do you mind if we come with? We should probably make sure it hasn't eaten any of the Vulcans we're looking for." Gaz asked the Jaffa. He chalked up the Uhlan's comment to some weird Reman thing he didn't want to acknowledge or think more about.

"We would be honoured." The Jaffa said proudly, standing more upright as he said it. "If we could ask that you transport us closer. We have been walking for many days. It will take hours to walk, but only a few moments in your ship. The other hunters we are meeting will be waiting for us by now."

Vekthar chuckled as he heard Gaz speak about the Predator eating the Vulcans. He mused that anyone stupid enough to get too close to observe anything dangerous gets what they deserve.

"No problem." Gaz said. "Stand by, we'll beam you up and you can tell us where to go." Gaz said, gesturing at the shuttle crew to make it happen.

One by one, the Jaffa were beamed aboard. They seemed fascinated by the inside of the runabout, looking about intently. "We are to meet our fellow hunters further down the canyon. Their camp should be visible from the sky." The Jaffa leader said.

"Get us there, cadet." Gaz told the young woman at helm.

De'haQ stole a look at the Jaffa warriors. She had heard stories about them, that while primitive, they were mighty warriors. She was not unimpressed.

The Jaffa stood awkwardly, just happy to no longer be walking. Lieutenant Douglas let them know they could set, and they all did so suddenly and with obvious relief. They were only on the shuttle for another few minutes though, soon it was obvious that they had reached the hunter's camp.

The shuttle descended and the ramp open, releasing the crew.

The Jaffa leader went ahead and spoke to the leader of the encamped hunters, whose expression softened from outrage to understanding. Both leaders gripped each other's arms, and stepped forward to greet the shuttle crew.

"Welcome, friends. You honour us with your presence. Forgive our haste, but we are eager to get moving, if you wish to join us." Behind him, the other Jaffa had begun packing up the camp.

"After you." Gaz said.

"This way." The hunter said, and the trek began. They walked for less than an hour until the mouth of a cave became visible. Immediately the signs of death were obvious. Bones strewn all around exit told the tale of an alpha predator, a creature without equal and with an apparently endless hunger.

The hunters and starfleet crew stopped at a rock formation that allowed them cover, about two hundred meters from the entrance. The Jaffa seemed to have stopped to say a prayer to the Aten, leaving the Starfleet crew to view the ominous vista ahead.

Amid all the bones, the eagle-eyed among the crew could see something moving. Something, small, white, fluffy. "Is that a rabbit?" The Romulan T'Vek asked, having only read about the creatures before. He offered the pair of digital binoculars to anyone else that might want to take a look.

"Ugh, I'm not watching a rabbit get eaten." Lieutenant Douglas said with disdain, refusing the binoculars so someone else could take them. She looked over to the Jaffa instead, who were still praying.

De'haQ admired the field of bones, looking through the binoculars for a moment before passing them along. "This must be a mighty predator."

Vekthar accepted the binoculars from De'haQ was done with them and he look through to see the rabbit. "Rabbit stew, I've heard is tasty." He glanced over at Lieutenant Douglas to see if he'd get a reaction from her while he smirked.

"Though I want to try those spheres the Vulcans killed, would be unfortunate if their supply of it went with them." Vekthar added wistfully.

"Cut the chatter, they're on the move." Gaz said as the Jaffa finished their prayers and began their descent to the entrance of the cave.

Seven Jaffa descended towards the cave, spreading out as they went. They stepped across the bones, paying no attention to the rabbit. They seemed to speak briefly, not audible from the starfleet team's distance, and one of the Jaffa went on ahead, staff forward and opened. He reached the entrance to the cave and looked in, but didn't seem to see anything. He turned back to the group to communicate something to them.

Suddenly, like a white blur, the rabbit somehow shot from where it was to the Jaffa, seemingly defying the laws of physics. It seemed to bite through the Jaffa's neck with ease, and the warrior fell lifeless, his head rolling away.

"Holy hell!" Gaz shouted, glad they were at this distance. He tapped his combadge. "Gaz to Yarra, get ready to beam us out."

De'haQ was surprised. The sight of blood made her eager to fight, but she waited for orders from the Chief.

"That can't be right." Douglas said with disbelief, snatching the binoculars from whoever had them with scientific necessity. She watched the creature carefully, activating the device's more complex sensors.

"Mighty predator indeed," Vekthar confirmed with a grin, he wanted to hunt it but knew it best they depart with all due haste.

The other Jaffa seemed to recover from their shock after a moment and opened fire with their staves at the rabbit, which despite being soaked in blood, was now scurrying about on the ground like nothing had happened. The staff blasts exploded all around it, kicking up dust and smoke. The Jaffa continued to fire for another few moments. When they relaxed their weapons, hoping the work was done, the creature flew suddenly out of the smoke, biting into another Jaffa who fell with an arterial spray, trying in vain to pry the creature loose. A pair of the Jaffa fled as the others continued to fire.

"Get out of there!" Gaz shouted at the Jaffa. "All of you stay where you are. Don't do anything that might grab that thing's attention." Gaz told his team.

She didn't like the order, but De'haQ obeyed it, watching as the creature slaughtered the Jaffa, and keeping low.

"Tactical retreat," Vekthar corrected as he dashed for the runabout ramp and door.

"Mother of madness." Peyet cursed as she saw the scene of carnage while she brought the runabout around, beaming all of them except the Reman who was near enough to climb up himself. Once he was secure, she shut the hatch. She'd left the men alone for ten minutes and already heads were literally rolling. Typical.

Before Gaz could yell at the Reman to get back here, he found himself aboard the runabout, and was happy to see it.

De'haQ did not like being beamed without warning, but in the circumstances she was fine with it.

"Get ready to receive injured, I'm beaming up the surviving Jaffa!" Peyet told the returned crew.

Three Jaffa were still standing uninjured, two were gravely injured from the rabbit's attacks, delivered into the biobeds.

"Do either of you have medical training?" Gaz asked the Klingon and the Reman.

"Some. I am no healer, but I know the tools involved." De'haQ told the Chief.

"Basic training," Vekthar replied, he hadn't occupied a chair yet.

"Good, help the EMH keep them alive. Peyet, get us back to the station, let them know we've got wounded." Gaz instructed.

"Very well," Vekthar agreed and headed to where the Doc set up to assist.

"Please state the nature of the medical - Oh." The familiar bald EMH said as he appeared, only to realise upon sight of Jaffa arterial spray exactly the situation.

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