Stretching a final time to get ready for it. Adrián sighed and really didn’t want to do this, but Starfleet could revoke his status due to the incomplete academy course of 101 survival. “How could they mess something up of this size” He shrugged and scratched the back of his head as he saw the arctic jacket at his side and saw Silina.

“Just hurry up already, you know what to do, and we got to get our Captain back” Silina was frustrated with the ordeal to come in between.

“Ayy ay Commander” Grabbing the jacket and putting it on. “It is not like I could help it that they screwed my record up” Adrián pulled the zipper up and looked at the PADD for the information the Academy had given him about the scenario.

Your starship responds to a distress beacon at a research outpost on a glaciated P-class planet. All communication attempts go unanswered. Due to interference from the weather, site transporting is too risky. Your shuttle had to make an emergency landing in a mountainous valley. Sensors are spotty, but they show the outpost is roughly a day and a half walk to the northwest. Communications with your starship are equally spotty. The shuttle has cold weather gear, but little else beyond standard rations and phasers.

He just nodded to himself “Please keep an eye out for Drata. He might be skilled but is still young to make mistakes in engineering” Adrián shrugged. “Computer start Survival Training Starfleet Academy 101 Dash Re Dash Exam” The computer bleeped. “Candidate Lieutenant Commander Adrián Valerio” The computer bleeped again as the door opened, showing the crashed shuttle and the snowy landscape as far as the eyes could see. “Well damn”

Pats on Adrián’s shoulders, Silina grinned “Have fun out there. I will grab some popcorn to keep myself entertained while you do this” With that said she pushed him into the room and waved as the door slowly closed. 

Almost stumbling over his feet, he looked behind him smirking at Silina and shaking his head. “I will get you back for this” He walked on the soft snow towards the crash site and carefully looked around. Rubbing his hands together as warm breath forms a cloud before him “Oh Academy scenarios are so cruel to technology. He walked into the shuttle to gather all the necessary equipment to survive this cold. ”Some thermal shoes will do the trick on long hikes” He changed his boots and felt the warmth at his feet.

Then grabbed a tricorder and tapped a few times on it to see if it was working. “Come on…come back to me” Slowly it lit up the lights as a smile appeared on his face. “Good, now let us see where this outpost is” He makes a scan from the area. There were a few readings due to the scan. The outpost was indeed northwest of the location and a half of a day walk. The other reading was the storm that was heading to his position from the southeast. It would catch him midway through the journey. “Of course it does…”

Taking a deep breath and placing all the needed food, water, and equipment into a bag he placed it on his back. He walked outside and saw the sun up in the sky and nodded to himself. “Let us get this over with” Adrián started to walk in the direction of the outpost leaving the shuttle behind. It was beyond saving anyway, so he had to focus on survival as was meant with this exam.

Cave

Moving through the snow as it got deeper, he tried his best to wave it off from him to create a more clear path without getting delayed. Adrián looked over his shoulder as his trim beard was covered with snow and his sunglasses reflected the incoming storm that was heading in his direction. “You are quicker than I expected…” He had been gathering small bushes of dry wood from trees that he passed by, there were not many, but he could use them for a campfire later on. 

Turning his head around to see if he could use anything, his head stopped at a potentially covered place. “A cave…” He muttered and moved in the direction of where it was. The wind was already picking up, and he could quickly feel the icy temperature drop. “Almost there…” He quickly made his way into the cave and took a second to breathe looking back at the exit and seeing the storm now really picking up and raging past the cave. “Well gonna stick around here for a while, time to use my engineering degree” He pulled out the wood that he gathered and placed it on the ground. Cutting off some of his rope he placed it into a fury ball and placed it below the wood grabbing a metal stick and some flint to use it to make sparks. 

It didn’t take long before Adrián managed to get the fire going. He smiled and sat back grabbing a dry snack from his bag to get his energy back. “Now it is resting time. I swear I passed this bull crap already. Yet here I am doing this shit again” Taking a bite and shaking his head “I know Silina is having a blast out of this” With that being said, Adrián grabbed the blank and took the rest his body needed.

After a few hours, the storm calmed down, and he slowly woke up from the sunshine that hit his face. “Five more minutes” He turned around and felt the cold on his face making him sit up immediately. “Oh, yea….this crap” He shook his head, grabbed the stuff, placed it back in the bag, and put out the fire. Adrián walked out and took a deep breath and continued his journey.

Outpost

He had walked already or a few hours until he looked up and saw the outpost right in front of him. “There you are bugger” Walking towards it. It took him not so long to reach it. He noticed there were lights on and such so he knocked on the door a few times. “Come on, open up” His eyes fell on the broken communication disk. “Well that explains the blackout”.

Someone did open the door by a young Betazoid male. “How did you get out there….”

“Lieutenant Commander Valerio, of the USS Damascus. I came down to investigate your outpost blackout. I already saw the reason. I can help you reestablish communication within a few hours” He smiled. “Don’t worry I know what I am doing. I am an engineer” 

The man just gave him a nod and let him into the outpost. “We were waiting for someone to come and investigate our situation. 

“Well, your wish came true” He dusted the snow off his jacket. “You got the tools with you?” Adrián looked at him waiting for the gear he needed to get this simulation to get it done, and he could go back to fixing the Damascus. The boy did rush off to get Adrián the tools he needed. 

It did not take Adrián long to fix the array, and communication was reestablished “There we go, rescue is on its way” With that the simulation came to an end as Adrián shrugged. “Computer status of my exam?” 

[Examination has been completed, you have passed the survival exam]

Nodding to that as he moved to the exit with the door opening, Silina stood there. “Not a word, I did my part, and now I am going to do the real work” Adrián was not in the mood for her giggles about him doing this exam. Silina didn’t say anything and just nodded to him.

“Drata kept himself pretty busy while you were occupied with this” Silina followed Adrián. “Avalon Fleet Yards assumes that the Damascus will be ready to go within a week or so” She tried to get him up to date on the things that happened the last few days. “Oh Captain Praugol case, the hearing will start tomorrow with the results of the investigators will be presented” 

That last one made Adrián stop and look at Silina. “Any word on that result? Does it look good for Sazra or are we bringing her to a penal colony?” He tried to joke it away.

“No idea as of yet known” Silina painfully replied.