CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

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CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

January 27, 2019, 12:08:16 PM

CHAPTER 05: BATTLE LOG [ DAY 06 | 1110 HRS. ] STORM GLASS

[ Ens. Cir'Cie | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy ]
^{Attn: @Doc M. @Absinthe @fiendfall @alphawiz @SummerDawn @FollowTomorrow @Stegro88}
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It had almost become a customary routine on Cir'Cie's behalf, when the ship was engaged in battle - since she had little to offer the crew with her main scientific field - that she would seek to aid other departments. Since the Theurgy was in dire need of repairs even before the battle began, she had submitted a request to aid Engineering in whatever way she could. While she had Academy-grade knowledge in the field, she was also Vulcan, and it was only logical that she would apply her skillset where it was most needed. This, despite the fact that she still felt the aftereffects of the sucrose ingestion from last night.

When she entered Engineering, the area was bustling with activity. She strode down the center of the area with her shoulders squared and her hands behind her back. As she were, the sounds of the ship dropping out of warp could be heard when so close in proximity to the warp core. She surmised that they had arrived to the destination at the heart of the Azure Nebula, and that they would either have to convince Chancellor Martok that they came with the intent to help seal the apertures, or the Borg might already be present. She had assumed there would be a battle taking place, since negotiating with hostile Klingons was seldom a successful endeavour.

When she walked, she almost paused, since she had just made eye-contact with the Trill that had slept in her bed that night. Kaylon Jeen. She pretended like she hadn't seen him, of course, since she had no idea what to say to the man. The whole affair with the the root and what she'd done together with the Trill was a matter of deep shame, and Vulcan's held to being very private. She raised an eyebrow and looked around, not finding the T'fanrell creature in sight. Perhaps she was on duty elsewhere on the ship, but Cir'Cie held a fascination for the species. The human species, not so much, but as it were, it was a human that served as Acting Chief Engineer based on experience and knowledge of the ship.

"Master Chief Petty Officer O'Connell," she said, announcing her presence behind the man, who she knew might not be entirely pleased with her presence since she had sabotaged the ship a couple of weeks back, under the influence of T'Rena. Other engineers were present too, one being a female Bajoran that she couldn't place, and the second, a human of Asian heritage. She could not spot the Efrosian that served second in command to O'Connell, so she had to assume he was elsewhere. "I am here to offer my services, should you require an extra pair of hands. Judging by the state of he ship, I would assume my offer won't be amiss."

[ Lt. JG Jovela | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]
^{Attn: @Nolan @Doc M. @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe @Juzzie}
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Nurse Jovela appeared out of the Morgue, having finished cataloguing the recent deaths among the survivors of the Bellerophon and the Theurgy alike. She was weary, the morning having been quite a challenge. She had tried to find Drauc, having been worried about the Romulan since the ship split up, but she'd had no luck locating her saviour. While they had been apart, she had missed the training he'd put her through, and she wanted to tell him how she'd fought Klingons in the ICU the day before. Did she hope he'd be proud of her? No, that was likely expecting too much... It was rarely she could guess what went on in that Romulan's head.

Jovela followed the rest of the medical officers working in Sickbay towards the area between the Head Nurse's duty station and the on-call Medical Officer's station. It was located just in front of the main entrance to the CMO office, and she'd been called there for a briefing. She assumed it had to do with the pending battle, or at least what was expected to be a battle with the Borg. With this in mind, most patients that could fend for themselves had been sent to their quarters to recuperate, and the biobeds cleared as much as possible. They had also brought out as many hover gurneys as possible, so that triage could be preformed in the corridors when the wards were full. While she approached, she saw Doctor Amelya Rez at the center, along with Elro Kobol from the Endeavour, Doctor Maya, and Doctor T'Panu from the Cayuga, who had ended up on the Theurgy due to happenstance.

To the side, she could also see Counselors Ejek and B'Nila, the latter whom she didn't know if she was on duty yet, given what had befallen her during the battle with the Savi. Jovela only had the hearsay of it...

"Doctors," came the call from another Nurse - Leticia Jones - and she looked concerned. Concerned enough to interrupt Amelya Rez even before she dealt out her orders as Acting Chief Medical Officer. "It's patient Krystal Tancredi. She's missing. Should I ask Security to track her down?"

[ Lt. JG Adam Kingston | Security Center Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]
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Wearing full exosuit gear, Adam Kingston emerged into the spacious lobby of the Security Center, armed with one of the Accipiter rifles. As Acting Deputy aboard - ThanIda zh'Wann still missing - he had requested the weapon so that he could spearhead one of the security details that would protect the crew.

Looking around the present officers, including several NCOs, it was one head that stood up above the rest. It was the Acting Chief of Security - Kai Akoni - from the Endeavour. His position was part of an olive branch extended by the current Commanding Officer. Wenn Cinn, whom Adam had served with for a long time. If Cinn thought the man capable enough, she'd reserve judgement on the selection. He spotted a face of old, Kino Taer, having heard she was out of stasis but never having gotten the chance to speak with her yet. Plenty of unknowns there too. Presumably from the Resolve. The most alarming sight, however, was that of an Asurian.

Given the events on the Cayuga, where he'd fought prisoners that had broken free from the brig and killed a lot of people, he felt his concerns about the one named Dyan Cardamone was merited. He'd been briefed, however, that she was loyal, and had fought her own people during some battle with a big, white ship. He wasn't sure what to make of this Cardamone, but he decided not to come stand anywhere close to her in the throng of security guards.

Kai Akoni was about to deal out orders, also standing there with an Accipiter - just like Ryuan Sel - since the ship due to drop out of warp any minute. That was when the sliding doors of the entrance parted behind Adam Kingston. He turned his helmet and saw... a Romulan? He was dressed in beggars clothes, his robe frayed and threadbare, but he appeared strong enough, eyes barely seen behind tresses of burgundy hair. He looked familiar, somehow. As if he was related to one of the Lone Wolves. Kingston had first thought it was Nathaniel Isley, but that certainly wasn't the case.

"I come to offer aid, should the Borg try to seize this ship." rasped the newcomer, apparently unconcerned with the number of faces present. He glanced towards his left before he continued, likely having sighted Doctor Nicander through the two forcefields that led to temporary holding. The Infested had four armed guards outside the outer forcefield, so it had likely been what drew attention. The Romulan turned back to Kai Akoni, and it almost seemed as if he looked towards Ryuan Sel for a moment. Did they have history? When he spoke again, it was with the same grating, damaged voice. "I am Drauc T'Laus, yet I served during the Dominion War as Junior Lieutenant D'rek i'Den Manek, a name Starfleet Intelligence picked to hide my identity. If you need another set of hands, I offer them now, and I am willing to surrender myself as an old deserter of the fleet after the battle. Given the nature of this enemy, it would not be a righteous choice to hide from this battlefield."

Adam Kingston might not like deserters, but he realised that this was not his call. He looked towards Kai Akoni, wondering if anyone would vouch for this scarred Romulan that had just surrendered himself.

OOC: This thread is open for all events aboard the Theurgy that does not take place on the bridge! No set posting order, but everyone with characters aboard the Theurgy should post in response within 7 days starting today. Please bear in mind that while this thread is available for all, you may all start up Supplemental threads too, if that would be your preference. The naming convention of such Supplemental threads would be CH05: S [D06|1110] Insert Title. Looking forward to read the development, and of curse, I will be posting several IC challenges along the way here, giving you all objectives to deal with during the battle. Have fun!

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #1 – January 28, 2019, 02:38:59 AM

[ William Robert O’Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy ] ^{Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Absinthe @fiendfall @alphawiz @SummerDawn @FollowTomorrow @Stegro88}

"Master Chief Petty Officer O'Connell," Ensign Cir’Cie greeted with the calm professional voice of a ship’s computer, "I am here to offer my services, should you require an extra pair of hands. Judging by the state of the ship, I would assume my offer won't be amiss."

Slowly the master chief turned. Although an extra pair of qualified hands was always appreciated, assistance from Ensign Cir’Cie wasn’t something acting Chief Engineer William Robert “Billy Bob” O’Connell saw as a benefit. The little Vulcan had several strikes against her. First and foremost was that she was ensign from the science department. Ensigns were trouble and were often full of themselves. Despite the fact that they had a college degree it didn’t change the fact that their inexperience could make them awfully stupid. Experienced spacers like chiefs, master chiefs and warrant officers found them tedious as well. It’s hard to take orders from someone younger than you.

The fact that she was a scientist and not an engineer was a bigger strike against her. What was her field of study anyway, botany? How did that apply to plasma conduit repair or shipfitting? If a lieutenant commander from the science department offered his assistance O’Connell would be glad to accept; a lieutenant commander had been serving long enough for the master chief to assume that either had experience or cross training. But a teal collared ensign? There were crewman available to hold the toolbox for you.

Although Starfleet had done its best to create a fleet without bigotry when it came to race or species, O’Connell discovered that many Vulcans rubbed him the wrong way, particularly the younger ones with officer's pips. And the lower ranking the Vulcan officer the bigger the irritation they tended to be.

Finally there was the fact the Ensign Cir’Cie herself seemed to be a jinx, if not a walking disaster area. If the slender Vulcan had a more buxom figure O’Connell would have called her a booby trap. Scuttlebutt had it that she was the one who brought the contagious pollen back from the planet Niga that had turned nearly everyone aboard (Billy Bob included) into to rapists and even murderers. After the Theurgy made contact with the starship Harbinger Cir’Cie had managed to get herself brainwashed by some Vulcan mind juju that she proceeded to spread to the rest of the crew, just has she had before. Again she had transformed the crew into murderers, mutineers, and yes, even rapists. The pattern was so alarming that her very presence set Billy Bob on edge. The fact that she was still alive when so many good men and women weren’t was an injustice to his mind. But since she was an officer and he was an enlisted man he did his best to express himself in a non confrontational way.

Even so, he had served in Starfleet long enough to know how to get around being insubordinate. Although his mouth had gotten him in trouble many times in the past he knew just how close to the edge he could get without falling off.

“Why bless yer li’l heart Ensign, that’s mighty generous of yuh,” he crooned condescendingly. “Ah shore appreciate yer offer but Ah cain’t rightly say Ah need uh botanist raight now. All th’ same that yuh kindly,” he nodded gallantly hoping she’d take the hint and vamoose. The thought of this woman anywhere near his people, let alone on the same ship, made his blood curdle.

[ Maya | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] ^{Attn: @Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe}

"Doctors," a breathless Nurse Leticia Jones trotted worriedly from the patient recovery ward, "it's patient Krystal Tancredi. She's missing. Should I ask Security to track her down?"

Maya raised a bemused eyebrow. "Interesting. It seems that her recent surgery was either too efficacious or not efficacious enough,” she commented dryly.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #2 – January 28, 2019, 01:35:33 PM

[ Dr Amelya Rez | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]
@Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe @Doc M.

After having gathered all the current doctors and counselors, Amelya still felt tired. She had barely slept in the past days and the exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on her. Regardless she wouldn't show it to the outside world or her peers. They were looking to her for what needed to be done, in the absence of the CMO that was still in the brig. An infested CMO...

"Doctors and counselors, nurses. We're expecting quite some work in the coming minutes and hours ahead." she started "I'll be dealing out most of the vaccines to slow down Borg infection once contained to it. We don't have enough for the entire crew, so I'll be doing rounds to those on key positions. Do any of you still need vaccinations? I'll be doing so until we'll get major injuries coming in. Dotors, perhaps it would be ideal if we spread out on the battle bridges to cover most ground and ensure maximum medical coverage when needed. Counselors, I suggest to help our friends from the Bell-" Amelya was interrupted by nurse Jones.

"Doctors, it's patient Krystal Tancredi. She's missing. Should I ask Security to track her down?"

Amelya sighed softly as she looked at Maya as she made a dry comment "Could she have gotten far after her surgery? How successful was the procedure?" she asked her peers. She'd leave the decision to them to use Security to find her or if they'd seek her out themselves.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #3 – January 29, 2019, 10:15:01 AM

[ Lieutenant Elro Kobol | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe @Doc M.

Elro grimaced at the revelations about Ensign Tancredi, hoping that she hadn’t managed to get herself into any trouble whilst escaping the confines of Sickbay. He felt a certain kinship with the Ensign, after having poked around in her head, and he truly wished that nothing ill would come of her, especially having spent so long enduring such a harrowing existence with the tumour in her head. However, Elro was also pragmatic enough to recognise that despite their best intentions, one wayward Ensign was not the real priority.

He’d recently suffered through a Borg attack. That was the only thought he could entertain.

Those crippling hours of terror following Captain Amosov’s announcement were not easy memories for Elro to deal with, nor even recall. Elro had compartmentalised them until he had a healthy chance to revisit and come to peace with the events that had transpired aboard the Endeavour. However, he was now faced with an uncomfortable reality; he needed to drag his memories back out into the open and use them to try and best aid the medical team and the crew at his new posting.

Elro knew that he was trembling. He was afraid of what was to come. How many times could he face the Borg and avoid assimilation? Even getting away once was nothing short of miraculous. His fear wouldn’t impede his medical judgement; Elro was far too collected for that. But it wasn’t going to subside until they were well-away from any traces of Borg activity and he was sipping on a tall glass of something that tasted of both raspberry and gin.

“I haven’t seen her since I left Sickbay yesterday evening…” Elro cordially replied, before his hand moved up to scratch at the side of his head in his familiar nervous manner. “Look as much as I care for Ensign Tancredi’s whereabouts, perhaps the Borg should be the more pressing of our concerns?” Elro cursed himself. Whilst he wasn’t being rude, perhaps his tone was a trifle too short to be addressing his colleagues with.

“I apologise for my abruptness; given my recent experiences with the Borg I hope you can understand.” Elro apologised in a breathy tone, his whole body feeling uncomfortable, almost clammy. He knew he needed to keep busy, get to organising, get out and hunker down in a different Sickbay and keep himself too busy to worry. “I’ll report to Deck Seven and begin preparations to receive patients there, but I do first need to mention…” He began, losing his words on the threat of talking about an especially uncomfortable topic for him to recall.

“On the Endeavour, by the time crewmen exposed to nanoprobes had reached Sickbay, the process of assimilation was already underway…” He was skirting the issue. “What I mean to ask is, with the risk to the rest of the crew being so high if our own start to succumb to the Hive Mind… What will our policy be on euthanasia?”

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #4 – January 29, 2019, 09:56:50 PM

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Security Centre Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] @Auctor Lucan @Absinthe @FollowTomorrow @CanadianVet @patches

Kai not so patiently waited in the security centre lobby, awaiting all the security personnel to show up for a quick briefing before the presumably soon to be waged battle aboard the Theurgy. Kai didn’t know the security crew aboard the Theurgy very well, but he had already seen them more in action than he had ever seen his people aboard the Endeavour. Either way, he figured that they were now his responsibility and he had to put his faith and trust in them to do their jobs.

As the last crew members entered the lobby, he looked around the lobby and saw game faces on every last one of them. Every single one of them knew what was expected of them, but Kai had some more toys to hand out to help repel the boarders he was sure would be here before they knew it.  Kai turned and set his Accipiter down on the table directly behind him as got ready to dole out orders to the crews assemble before him. As he did so, the doors to the Security Centre slid open and out from behind the exosuited people he saw what appeared to be a Romulan wearing civilian clothing. As Kai saw who exactly it was, he remembered reading about him in the security files, but couldn’t quite remember the name. The Romulan rather quietly walked towards the front of the room towards Kai, as he spoke.

“I come to off aid, should the Borg try to seize this ship” he finished as he reached the front of the room and stood before Kai. The man looked to his left and stared at the cell where Nicander was being held for what seemed was longer than it should be, but in reality, was only 2 seconds, before turning back to Kai.

“I am Drauc T’Laus, yet I served during the Dominion War as Junior Lieutenant D’rek i’Den Manek, a name Starfleet Intelligence picked to hide my identity. If you need another set of hands, I offer them now, and I am willing to surrender myself as an old deserter of the fleet after the battle. Given the nature of this enemy, it would not be a righteous choice to hide from this battlefield.” The man had finished which felt like all eyes were on Kai at the moment in anticipation of what would be said.

Kai paused for a few seconds and considered the options that lay before him. Kai reluctantly concluded that he would indeed need all available people to help repel any boarding parties. If the security file was to be believed, this man could be deadly to the Borg…as long as no Starfleet officers paid the price at his hands. Kai stepped one step forward and looked down slightly to stare into the Romulan’s eyes. He spoke just loud enough for the Romulan to hear him.

”If it were any other time, you’d already be in a cell. You’d better be a man of your word and surrender after this is all over or else I’ll take care of you myself. Understood? Now fall in,” Kai finished as he stepped back one step to address the room.

He looked at all the faces in the room before he spoke. He had been on the receiving end of speeches before big battles, however he had never had to give one.

”Okay people, listen up!” Kai started which had caused the low murmur in the room to cease. ”Some housekeeping items first. We have 12 handheld graviton weapons that were left behind. Bremmer and Taer, you each take one and hand out the rest to those with the best marksmanship. Drauc, you get one too. Ryuan, Kingston and myself all have Accipiter’s and we’ll be mobile in order to better support the security teams as needed.” he concluded before nodding to the crewman to his right who then began to hand out PADDs to the assembled security officers containing their team assignments and orders.

”You’re all being handed PADDs containing your orders and assignments. Obviously we have to protect the main restricted areas. Computer Core, Phaser and Photon Fire control, Airlocks, Transporter rooms and Main Engineering. We should also be doing the Bridge, Sickbays and the Cargo, Shuttle and Fighter assault bays. We all know the Borg will probably be all over the ship like flies on a rotting corpse. Let’s show them and ourselves; that we aren’t dead. Those are the main areas that we want to protect, but I also what the exosuits to be mobile as well to go to the hotspots as needed.” Kai finished as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

”We should be dropping out of warp shortly, so we’ll have to be in position and ready by then. I just want all of you to trust in yourself, trust in the person beside you and rely on your training. You’re all amongst the best I’ve ever served with and we’ll all make it through together. Let’s show the Borg that today, on this ship, resistance isn’t futile!”

He paused and looked around the room, knowing that professional security officers like the ones assembled here didn’t need a pep talk, but regardless, he hoped it would give them a little kick in the ass.

”Any questions?”

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #5 – January 30, 2019, 07:01:00 AM

[ Lt Zelosa Ejek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]

Zelosa Ejek, head of the counseling department aboard the USS Theurgy, was surrounded by medical personnel and felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t tell anyone this, because she knew there was nothing they could do. This illness was psychosomatic. She was terrified.

Today could be her last day alive. Her last day as Zelosa Ejek, an individual.

She was trying to ignore it. She had duties, after all, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d come up so close to death. But it would be the first time she’d run into borg before, and it scared her deeply. So when she was offered a vaccine, she was thankful she was a chief counselor. She was not about to become a martyr.
“I would appreciate a vaccine.”

She stood in the Medical Officer’s station with her hands folded in front of her. They were gripping one another tightly. She was trying to stay present, but finding it hard to do so. Dimly, she was aware that B’nila was here. She shouldn’t be, as she ought to have been dismissed from her duty as a counselor a few days ago, but here she was, like a lost puppy. She heard something about Meony, and that’s when she raised her head.

She wanted to go track down her old friend, speak with her. Obviously something was up—but with B’nila here, she couldn’t do anything. Someone had to babysit her in case she had a psychotic break with reality and tried to shoot up the morgue, again. This is why she was removed from duty in the first place. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Security will be busy with preparations. We ought to report her missing and let them decide how high of a priority she is. She's tough." She admitted, "I do not expect her to sit by and recover in the wake of a borg threat. As for euthanasia… Traditionally, the borg are the kind of enemy that would warrant euthanasia. There’s a point during the assimilation process where enough individuals are assimilated that the ship will suffer to keep them alive. Ultimately, the Theurgy’s mission is to stay alive, in order to spread our message. Unless something has changed and I was not made aware.”

[ PO Dyan Cardamone/Sar-unga Neleo | Security Centre Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]

Dyan stood, her tail whipping. Her mind was at it’s usual chaos, all her thoughts screaming for the blood of the borg. She had her arm blade, as usual, and her phaser. If the borg adapted, or if they were already adapted, she planned to ditch the phaser and slice her way through. She didn’t know if that would work, having never battled borg before, but it’s all she had.

The screaming for blood only seemed to increase as she turned to the newcomer in the room and saw Drauc, her favorite toy. Blood, blood, blood, her mind screamed, demanding battle, or release, or something.

But it was different this time. This time there was a black emptiness somewhere in that chaos. The eye of the storm, controlling it all. It was fear. Fear that she would not survive. Fear that she would not have the strength to end her life before the borg took it. Fear that the glorious, righteous fight against the parasites would end today.

She was afraid. She wanted company.

She kept quiet, going over her PADD and her orders, and wondering if she would wake up tomorrow in a bed or in an alcove, or if she'd wake at all.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #6 – January 31, 2019, 06:10:13 PM

[ Dr T'Panu | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]

"What I mean to ask is, with the risk to the rest of the crew being so high if our own start to succumb to the Hive Mind... What will our policy be on euthanasia?"

Lieutenant Kobol posed the question. Once it was out in the open, there wasn't really any going back. It was still a tough reality, even though it was a real one. With all of their recent endeavours, T'Panu knew it was a major possibility. It was better to have a plan, even if it wasn't something anyone really wanted to think about. But the reality, albeit difficult, needed some thinking over in order to have a plan.

They had to decide when was too far to let them go. But when was the point of no return? When their mind changes? They start growing Borg limbs? T'Panu thought once their mind started to change they were gone. What was the point of living if you lost your own mind to another being? Hopefully the Borg antibodies would kick in to spare them all that fate. Better to die in battle, than to have your mind taken over by another being. The thought made her feel a bit like a Klingon.

T'Panu left the medical bay, She needed a bit of "fresh air" and decided to go for a walk. Who knows? Maybe she would find Krystal Tancredi through the halls, or someone who missed their dose of the vaccination. She wasn't sure where she was headed, but knew she needed to clear her mind.

As T'Panu strolled the halls, she heard some chatter coming from one of the security members.
She wondered what they had missed. Then she heard the news, that Lieutenant Kai Akoni had made a quite powerful speech to the rest of the crew in the Security Centre about the Borg! After a speech like that, she knew the Borg didn't stand a chance.

Feeling in a clearer headspace, she returned to the Main Sickbay. She pulled out her PADD to attend to Annika. She noted that her vitals were still within normal range, and keeping quite optimal levels since she arrived. There was no cause for concern anymore besides her amnesia. T'Panu researched some potential things they could do to help, including the more abstract ones. Different medicines, some special herbs and tinctures. Teas. Topical creams. She discovered a good cure could be psychotherapy, which would be tricky.

She went back to Annika and stated, "So now that you've gotten a little more comfortable, how are you feeling? I've been meaning to ask...how do you feel about psychotherapy? We could begin by making daily sessions, speaking through what has happened, seeing what you recall. If you would like some time to think about it, I will give you your space and you may let me know," T'Panu explained.

Annika sat with a quizzical look on her face, obviously pondering what T'Panu had just said.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #7 – February 01, 2019, 01:43:39 AM

[ Maya | Primary Surgical Suite | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] ^{Attn: @Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe}

Doctor Maya raised an eyebrow as Doctor T'Panu left the discussion. The topic seemed important enough to stay until it was formally concluded yet the other Vulcan simply left. Was she ill? It was a question Maya would ask her once the meeting was over. In the meantime, Counselor Zelosa Ejek was making some salient points.

“Security will be busy with preparations. We ought to report her missing and let them decide how high of a priority she is. She's tough. I do not expect her to sit by and recover in the wake of a Borg threat. As for euthanasia… Traditionally, the Borg are the kind of enemy that would warrant euthanasia. There’s a point during the assimilation process where enough individuals are assimilated that the ship will suffer to keep them alive. Ultimately, the Theurgy’s mission is to stay alive, in order to spread our message. Unless something has changed and I was not made aware.”

"Depending on Ensign Tancredi’s condition,” Maya interjected, "the question of euthanasia may be answered faster than expected. We treated her condition by injecting reprogrammed Borg nanoprobes into her brain. It is hypothetically possible, though highly unlikely, that our proximity to the Borg could allow them to reassert control over the nanoprobes and reprogram her from the inside. If that is the case, we may have a Borg drone loose aboard our ship right now.”

When she noticed the looks the rest of the medics were giving her, Maya clarified. "Of course, that is a worst case scenario,” she backpedaled, "but even in the most fortunate circumstances we haven’t seen what effect the trauma to her cerebrum has had on her faculties. The best scenario we can hope for is that she will merely require physical therapy and experience temporary personality disorders as her brain maps out new neural pathways. That she could be cleared to fly or even be given light duty seems almost beyond the realm of possibility at this stage. Oh, and before I forget, I too would like to be vaccinated,” she added as an afterthought.

"Computer, what is the location of Ensign Krystal Tancredi?” Maya asked out loud.

[ Ensign Krystal Tancredi is currently in the fighter assault bay, ] Thea’s stilted disembodied voice replied with all of the life of a cadaver in autopsy.

"Hm,” Maya raised her eyebrows and glanced at Amelya with an expression best described as a casual smirk. "It seems that Ensign Tancredi’s personality may have emerged intact after all. Most fortunate.”

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #8 – February 01, 2019, 08:39:20 AM

[ B'Nila Skai | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]

The ship was in combat again. Or was it only getting ready for combat? There were wounded. Were they from this battle or another? How many battles had there been? How many were now dead? How many corpses were now littering the morgue?

B'Nila's eyes ere unfocused and drifted over the scene. She could look no one in the eye. She had been found only moments before laying curled in a ball on Michal Silka's bunk in the security enlisted area. She'd been dragged back to sickbay and put to work, but quickly she'd fallen to the wayside. She'd spoken with someone, a survivor of some incident. And then he'd been bustled away. Ejek had given her a look. The look had sunk into B'Nila's heart like a knife and she hadn't moved since.

She tried to not be in the way, but it seemed like the world was spinning and tilting out of control around her. She wanted to get hear bearings, but it was all a blur of motion. She leaned on a wall and rested herself against it, feeling the cold sink into her. She felt a wave of nausea wash over her, but her stomach was empty. She couldn't remember the last time she ate or even had something to drink.

She closed her eyes for a moment and slid down the wall, her body curling into a ball as she seemed to reduce, trying to take up as little space as she could. She just wanted to close her eyes. Just for a little bit.

[ Ryuan Sel | Security Centre Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]

Sel furrowed her brow at the sound of her name spoken. She'd gotten used to everyone calling her by one name, hearing her family name spoken aloud surprised her. She was tired at this point. It had been a long time since she'd rested properly and even the drunken stupor she'd put herself into a couple of days before had only made things worse. Rest had proven itself impossible, but as with her life behind bars, she did her best to remind herself that the dead rested, the living kept moving.

"The Accipter is our only weapon that I am damn near certain the Borg will not be able to adapt to. Even if they can adapt to the various settings of the rifle and their shields can deal with the rapid fire of the titanium bullets, it is likely that the warp concussion pulse option will knock them down, and if we can knock them down, we can stop them," Sel said, prepping her Accipter for what was to come. "The Borg are slow, but make up for that in raw numbers. If we stay focused and coordinate our efforts we can overcome them. They are not undefeatable and we are not unprepared. Starfleet has been prepping for the Borg for a long time and we've got some of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy right now."

It was not a pep talk for them, so much as for herself. She was building up an emotional armor for this fight. She wondered how many of the people she was now looking at were going to be dead in only a few hours. War was fucking fell. "I'm with you, sir. Let's go kick some Borg ass."

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #9 – February 01, 2019, 12:19:02 PM

[ Ens. Cir'Cie | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy ]
^{Attn: @Doc M. @Absinthe @alphawiz @SummerDawn @FollowTomorrow @Stegro88}
[Show/Hide]

Oh, but the Human's condescending tone didn't pass Cir'Cie by. Having been taught to repress and control emotion gave Vulcans a keen eye for when others expressed such. It was a part of their upbringing, to chide their peers when they could not maintain their composure. The stinking human was supposed to be in Starfleet, to have the interests of the crew and the mission at heart. Even worse, he was now supposed to fill the role of a Departmental Head, even though he was an NCO. To have him treat her that way, when offering help, it actually provoked her own composure a slight bit.

The reasons for her taking issue were many, but primarily, she surmised his attitude was likely directly related to her being a victim twice since they fled Earth. First, when she was raped on the planet Niga, and secondly, when T'Rena twisted her into her own instrument of mutiny. He ascribed guilt upon her person and conduct for something she'd had no control over, and he openly belittled her for her chosen scientific field, knowing that as an Ensign, she'd had enough training to aid his department. Perhaps he even despised her for her rank, being one of the ignorant workers who thought themselves above their officers. It was expected, of course, in how those of inferior wit thought they knew better.

Another reason, why she reacted more strongly then she usually might, was that the root Kayloon Jeen had given had left her with a lingering headache, and her temper was a tad more easy to spark. The passive aggression that made her raise her eyebrow towards the Human couldn't be kept inside, needing a voice.

"I will make careful note of this decision, Chief O'Connell," she said serenely, refusing to look at the Lieutenant from the Cayuga even though she, deep below the cool surface of her thoughts, wished that the Trill would defend her against the biased, sorry excuse of a Human, "and if we make it through this battle alive, I will ensure that you do not retain your position. Because whether this is an attack upon my shortcomings as a victim, that I am an Officer, that I am a woman, or even scientist, I am certain there has to be someone better suited to run this Department. Someone who does know how to conduct themselves as a proper Starfleet officer instead of a bigot, regardless the reason for your refusal."

She remained, with her arms folded behind her back, interested to see if the Human was used to being called out on his conduct.

Unfortunately, this was when the Theurgy shook from the first impact of gravimetric torpedoes and disruptor beams from the Borg cube, shaking the already damaged ship to a degree that the inertial dampeners couldn't compensate for.

OOC: More posts to come, along with some battle objectives!

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #10 – February 01, 2019, 10:17:03 PM

[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Stellar Cartography | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ]

This was not Flag Bridge, but at least, it was a workspace. Trent was no longer confined to the suite that had been prepared for him; in fact he had not been until after the conversation with Wenn Cinn. But he had not been particularly disposed to do anything of use. He had refused to reinstate him in command, and frankly it suited the human fine; he had never wanted that command in the first place. It had been thrust upon him, and he hadn't been ready for a wartime command again in spite of being the only officer on board who'd been in that role before. The strength that had carried him so far had been far more limited that it had once been, and the betrayal he experienced had broken what was left of it. His mind functioned still, and he still had the raw ability to command. But what was worse yet, word of having been relieved would have gone across the ship; confidence in him would be shattered, and he could no longer count on his orders being obeyed.

He had not been reinstated, not asked for his advice or support. Simply left to his own devices. And at that point it had suited him just fine.

A proper hot shower, with the temperature as high as he could bear it and the pressure turned up as high as it would go, he allowed himself to be battered by the torrents of near-scalding water, had been welcome. Then, a shave. It had been slow and deliberate, for more than once, the perfect edge of the carbon steel of his straight razor had beckoned to him; his hopes for Heather were still very much alive, but doubt gnawed upon him, and the thoughts of oblivion, or meeting her on the other side of death, were like a siren's song, lethal and seductive...

But eventually, he had cleaned himself up; he was shaven and in a fresh uniform. And he was at loose ends. Until his terminal chimed again. The news had struck him even harder than the first announcement he had been given about the status of the Savi's captive. They were alive! Again, his heart swelled, just in time to be asked for help. Not ordered, but asked. He named his price, Wenn Cinn agreed. If they lived through this, he had his word they would go after the Versant and at least attempt to recover their people.

Stellar Cartography was not a cybernetics laboratory, but it would have to do. But what it did have such a lab lacked was sensor inputs and the links to control them. And he had a task in front of him: to come up with a weapon to deploy against the Borg. And he had just the thing.

Soup Sandwich was kept behind many a layer of security and encryption for a reason: it was a legitimate cyberweapon. It was a program designed to attack a starship's systems directly, and not just the computers and the links that controlled them. He had designed it to hunt down particular patterns within the firmware that ran individual systems to render them useless. But that was only a specific targeted application that had been tailored to disable Federation starships. He did not have a lot of time, and there was much to do.

Soup Sandwich was not meant to be a single-purpose program. He had designed it as a weapon that could be deployed against just about any target; the more information he could give the program the better, of course, but if turned loose, it would eventually work. At least in theory. But against the Borg? That would be interesting to see.

For Soup Sandwich was based on the programming of nanoprobes, particularly the subroutines that controlled adaptability and assimilation.

And now, he would have to turn these programs against their initial creators...

OOC: Broad lines of the conversation in this post were discussed with @chXinya , but in the interest of time the details will be backfilled later.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #11 – February 01, 2019, 11:06:52 PM

[ Dr. Silim Parnak | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow @Nolan @lisavw @Doc M. @Auctor Lucan , Anyone else
[Show/Hide]

Walking with such a quick pace that it could almost be considered a run, Parnak rushed his way towards sickbay. His arms were full, and it was rather heavy. Multiple trays of inoculations, careful stacked on top of each other. Alongside, trying to match his alacrity, was a bald-headed Russian. Parnak had given him the tough job. Pulling all the equipment for the omicron radiation emitter. It didn’t matter that he was a lieutenant, Martin had given him control of the facilities and personnel he needed so he was taking it. Besides, if Parnak was going to haul materials across the ship, someone else was going to schlep with him.

“I do hope you’ve remembered your phaser” Silim commented, as they marched. He hadn’t been issued one. As a civilian, he would have been worried about Starfleet’s lack of weapon handling policies if he had. Not only did this mean that this poor science officer was his hauler, but he was also his bodyguard. Because there was no way that Parnak was going to let himself get assimilated today.

Around the corner and through the doors, the pair entered main sickbay. Without pausing or waiting to be seen, Silim brought himself through into the throng of doctors. Ejek was there too, but he had no time for pleasantries. He was working flat out.

“More inoculations.” He announced, interrupting whatever conversation was going on. He didn’t frankly care. “Also, I need space to set up the radiation emitter.”

The good doctor was disinclined to call the emitter by its acronym. Especially after the mistake he had made when Bila has first introduced it to him. All the equipment had been set up in his lab, ready to receive visitors, when a thought had occurred. If someone had been assimilated and needed radiation treatment, they wouldn’t come to a biology lab, they’d go to sickbay. So Tovarek, who had been helping fine tune the emitter, had to help him pack it up. That way, people who were injured could get help all in one place, and those who had received the treatment would likely need bed rest, so being near a recovery ward made sense.

Looking back and forth, Parnak assessed the visible doors before settling onto the Trill in charge.

“Is there a side space, or office I could use?”

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #12 – February 02, 2019, 02:32:23 AM

[ William Robert O’Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy ] ^{Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Absinthe @fiendfall @alphawiz @SummerDawn @FollowTomorrow @Stegro88}

William Robert O’Connell was developing a reputation as a man who could do the impossible. He had just made a Vulcan angry.

"I will make careful note of this decision, Chief O'Connell," Ensign Cir’Cie promised with the tranquility of Buddha, "and if we make it through this battle alive, I will ensure that you do not retain your position. Because whether this is an attack upon my shortcomings as a victim, that I am an officer, that I am a woman, or even scientist, I am certain there has to be someone better suited to run this Department. Someone who does know how to conduct themselves as a proper Starfleet officer instead of a bigot, regardless the reason for your refusal."

Talk about projecting. He had expected her to list off her qualifications and talk about how she was certified for this and had cross-trained for that. He had expected her to make him feel stupid for forgetting that Vulcans age slower than most folks and that she could be older than she looked. He had expected her to confidently regale him with the story of how she had once rebuilt a plasma injector with stone tools in the rain, during an avalanche, with a broken arm. She did none of these things. Instead she had expressed her impotence while giving Billy Bob a peek at her personal demons by playing the race card and making an empty threat. It was evident that no one wanted her in their department, and that as the only acting department head under the rank of lieutenant she thought she could bully him into compliance.

Not happening. She had just demonstrated that she was near the breaking point and prone to second guess him. He needed her around like his wedding tackle needed a bad rash.

O’Connell broke out in a huge grin. “Well bless yore heart, ma’am. Ah certainly hope so! Ah’m mighty glad tuh hear yew say thet Ensign, ‘cuz Ah wuz uh fixin’ tuh train me uh successor anyhow,” he kindly drawled as he nodded towards Kaylon. “Sadly, since you’re not in mah chain uh command Ah don’t reckon yew kin help me expedite that process. Oh well. Ah appreciate th’ offer though. And th’ offer fur an extra pair uh hands. And with all due respect ma’am, if there wuz nothin’ else tuh add, mah door is always open so feel free tuh leave…”

The room shook as a thunderous boom filled main engineering. Billy Bob lost his balance, staggered forward, and tumbled to the deck missing Cir’Cie by centimeters. Thankfully most of the people stationed in main engineering were either sitting down or had grabbed ahold of something. The battle had started, and here he was wasting time trying to pull a weed out from between the deck plates.

“Damage report!” he barked as he pushed himself off the deck and staggered back to his feet.

”We lost forty two percent of power in shield two and sixty eight percent of power in shield three!” Petty Officer Tenchi Koizumi shouted back.

“Unless yew hear from th’ bridge, reallocate power tuh reinforce them shields!” O’Connell hollered. “If we lose th’ shields we’re uh gonna have tuh repel borders! If th’ Borg git onboard we’ll all be cal’culatin’ pi tuh th’ last decimal!”

OOC: I assume that if the story demands that the Borg get onboard shield three takes another hit.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #13 – February 02, 2019, 06:03:15 PM

[ Lt. JG Jovela | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]
^{Attn: @Nolan @Doc M. @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe @Juzzie}
[Show/Hide]

Nurse Jovela - being the Head Nurse since Hylota Vojona was missing - followed the conversation between the Doctors with a worried frown on her face. Given the circumstances, Jovela agreed that the over-eager fighter pilot was not of any greater concern compared to the Borg, and Maya had more or less verified that patient Tancredi had not turned into a Drone. The whereabouts of the lost patient had been accounted for, and the sign that she'd gone to the Fighter Bay was decidedly a good one. By the moons, that's a relief, at least.

She did not enjoy the prospect of euthanasia, not in the slightest, but she found herself numbly agreeing to the sentiment. It still felt wrong. So completely wrong. They were supposed to heal the crew, not kill them, regardless what affliction they had. The Borg, however, was the kind of enemy that challenged everything in terms of protocol and ethics.

A tall Cardassian arrived, together with Lieutenant Tovarek, the former whom Jovela had seen around Sickbay before in the past couple of days, and it seemed he was working on the vaccines. Him being civilian, and Tovarek being a scientist with a specific and urgent duty, it seemed like they might be imposing upon the Doctors in their preparations for the battle, so she stepped forward. "Come, right this way. You can use one of the Med Labs," she said to them giving them a warm smile, before she led the way down the corridor.

That was when the first hit came, and it everyone present were sent stumbling or catching their balance against something. Eyes wide, Jovela tried to catch all the vaccines, in case the Cardassian lost his grip.

It begins, she thought in rising dread, feeling altogether unprepared.

[ Lt. JG Adam Kingston | Security Center Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]
^{Attn: @trevorvw @Absinthe @FollowTomorrow @CanadianVet @patches}
[Show/Hide]

Not sure what to make of the Romulan who had volunteered, Adam Kingston had watched Kai Akoni - who seemed to be used to the role as Chief of Security - approach the man. While he couldn't hear what Akoni said, it was plain that the Romulan's request had been granted solely because of the circumstances. Of course, the reasons why the man had deserted the fleet were unknown too, but Adam couldn't imagine what circumstances a desertion might be justified...

In any case, he saw this Drauc T'Laus, or whatever his name was, getting a graviton weapon, but since those were to be a last resort, Adam made sure this man - who used to be of the same rank as himself back in the war - was given a Type III phaser rifle as well. Watching the figure in the threadbare clothes through his helmet, he held the weapon towards him. "You remember how to use one of these, right?"

"Yes," rasped the Romulan, soon checking the power level and adjusting his grip. "I had recent practice on Starbase 84, where I aided one of your infiltration teams, and again this morning when Petty Officer Cardamone and I dealt with boarding officers from the Dauntless."

"Excellent. Why don't you head ove-"

That was when the ship shook, that first impact from enemy fire. It was the sign that they had no time left. The Romulan caught him with ease, even if he was wearing an exosuit. It seemed there was merit to the strength of the Vulcan cousins after all.

"All right, move out, now!" called Adam, acting as the right hand of Akoni in making sure all those security areas were covered. He led the way for one team towards the turbolift next the Deputy's office, while others filed out through the exit in the lobby. There were already security guards out there on the ship, but they all needed people to lead them. "When the shields fall, the drones will be aboard, so run!"

The Infested Doctor remained in temporary holding, along with the four guards in front of the dim-lit cell.

OOC: As @Doc M. just posted, one area of the shield took a heavy blast by the Borg cube, so in your next post, the second hit strikes, which brings that part of the shields down for long enough to allow Borg drones to beam aboard. After the second hit strikes, this message is heard all over the ship: [Show/Hide]

Here comes battle objectives for you all to use in your writing, and you have 7 days to post! Please check off one objective each, and you have full liberty in setting up details,NPCing the people mentioned, and arranging where the drones appear and what they do. Change or adapt these objectives as you wish too, thinking of it as a writing exercise, as long as the overall intent is still to repel these boarders. Have a look! [Show/Hide]

Battle Objectives: Phase 1 | Storm Glass

X number of Borg drones appear ahead of where your character is. While they ignore the character at first, instead moving to access control panels or duty stations, any provocation makes them turn against your character. This is a universal objective that more writers can select, of course.
Some Bellerophon survivors or Dauntless boarders takes the opportunity to escape their cargo holds somehow and tries to commandeer shuttles in the upper or lower shuttle bay. Up to your character what's done about it.
Cultists from the Devoted that used to be confined to quarters break. They have heard there are survivors on the Versant, and tries to reach the bridge and set a course there, hoping Morali is still alive.
Your character encounter crew that has been assimilated, lying on the floor and either of them could be pleading to be killed.
The corridor your character in suffers a hull breach from a Borg high yield gravimetric torpedo, and before any structural integrity field snaps into place, crew and/or Borg drones might be vented out into the Azure Nebula.
A Klingon phantom raider crashes into the observation deck, which your character might be passing though. It could be the raider is intact enough, and the pilot still conscious, and can fire against any Borg that weren't spaced when the raider crashed. Your character will have to avoid being spaced as well.
Because of enemy fire, the EPS grid might get overloaded where your character is at, and a plasma explosion might either aid in the fight against the drones, or injure Theurgy crew that your character will have to help.
Drones could be lured into an airlock or a cargo hold, and then jettisoned into the nebula by your character.
Drones could be lured into a holodeck, where the safety parameters could be disabled and alternative weapons could be used as a temporary measure.
Since Adam Kingston is an NPC, you could use him and his Accipiter to handle some threatening drones.
Your character could be overun by fleeing crew, who are running from Borg drones.
Your character could try and hide in the Jefferies tubes, and perhaps even using them to their advantage in fighting the drones.
The Borg would try to access the Main Computer Core/Flag Bridge. Even though Thea isn't there, the Borg will be able to take control of the ship. Stop them before that.
Set up pattern enhancers as an ambush in a corridor, then use the transporter systems to beam Borg into space. Pattern enhancers help overcome the way drones are prevented from being beamed anywhere.
Your character encounter another cargo hold with Bellerophon crew inside, they are calling for help, and the display shows how they are assimilated one at the time in there. The dilemma is whether to vent them all out into the nebula to spare them. Also, when are they spaced, before or after they are all assimilated?
When your character's phaser weapon cease to be effective against the drones, as in when the rotating phase modulation is not effective any more, it's time to use alternative weaponry. This would be the time to start using the graviton weapons from the Savi or Asurians, piercing and cutting them with the aquamarine beams. Be careful to not damage or kill whatever is behind the drones though!

Most importantly, have fun!

Please bear in mind that while this thread is available for all, you may all start up Supplemental threads too, if that would be your preference. The naming convention of such Supplemental threads would be CH05: S [D06|1110] Insert Title. Looking forward to read the development!

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #14 – February 03, 2019, 01:11:20 AM

[ Lieutenant Elro Kobol | Corridors | Deck 7 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @FollowTomorrow

Elro had barely stepped out of the turbolift when the second jolt resonated through the ship, sending the Doctor sprawling into one of the walls, setting off several dozen commands upon the console he collided with, only to ignore the computer’s bleating as he straightened himself up and broke into a jog. At least this time, they were prepared for a battle with the Borg, or at least, they knew it was coming. People had had chance to have meetings, make plans and put procedures into place, a luxury that he imagined didn't occur for many who fell under fire from the Borg. It didn’t instil the Betazoid with a tremendous amount of confidence, but it was enough to know that the ship surely wouldn’t just throw itself into the gaping maw of death without something of a plan.

Recalling his offer to go to sickbay on Deck 7, he had since reconsidered what had initially sounded like a stellar idea. Elro didn’t even know where the sickbay on Deck 7 was, let alone what it looked like, its state or staffing requirements… But alas, he was pelting down the corridors with as much speed as he felt safe to use, unwilling to bowl into another frantic officer, but also aware that speed was very much of the essence. Whether the Sickbay was empty or full to bursting, he would be needed in either case. There would be more casualties flooding through the doors regardless.

Elro was desperate to reach his destination, to fill his mind with medications and treatments and to not worry about whether the ship would hold against the barrage. The Endeavour had barely lasted half-a-minute against the Borg before they’d been boarded by drones. And the Endeavour had been in fighting fit condition. The Theurgy seemed as though it was falling apart at the seams. Each corridor he cut through had sustained some sort of damage, or had been part way through repairs when the teams had been called away to complete other tasks. He tried to just focus on getting to sickbay, where he could busy himself with treating patients and forget about the was he could feel death breathing down his neck.

His mind fled to the bridge, where Derik would have been, and Elro felt himself tense at the thought. The Bridge would have been the first port of call for any boarding Borg, who would be desperate to seek out and assimilate the control hub without mercy. Then again, the Starfleet crew would also protect their control hub the most vigilantly… Either way, Elro couldn’t help but hope with all of his will that nothing would happen to that damned Trill before Elro got to punish him for being the culprit behind that damned kidney stab. And then the smallest of smiles that dared to tug upon Elro’s lips was quashed by an announcement that he had never imagined he would be forced to hear a second time.

[WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.]

Then a fleck of green light blossomed in his peripheral vision, reflecting in the light of the console next to him in a way which made Elro’s entire form throb with an unyielding chill that made a cold sweat immediately bead across his brow and a pit of terror open in his gut. As he spun on the spot, he lost his footing and tumbled back against the wall, scrambling up desperately as a Borg drone materialised only a few metres behind him. He expected to either be assimilated or blasted apart by an energy discharge within seconds, but alas, the Drone had other plans.

It tapped its assimilation tubules into the console a few steps from its position and stood still, staring blankly in front of it without any heed being paid to the medical officer next to it. Elro took it as a good omen and broke into a full run, pelting himself down the corridor with his lab-coat billowing behind him as he thanked his own athleticism with all of his will.

So they had been boarded.

“Dr Kobol to Security.” Elro tapped his combadge as soon as he felt the Drone wouldn’t be able to hunt him down and assimilate him for telling tales. “There’s a drone tapping into a computer access panel on deck 7. I only saw one…” Elro filled in his report, noticing a sign on the wall indicating that he was approaching sickbay and increasing his speed, tapping off to break the comm link. It was security’s job to deal with wayward drones. Elro was hardly intending to come back with a sonic separator and try and take the Borg apart with medical equipment.

Another flash of green before him made Elro tense, though this one wasn’t the same sort of flash. It was a flash of movement that he caught as it barged out of the open doors to Sickbay and thundered straight into the Betazoid, almost knocking him off of his feet as it continued to bolt down the corridor. This one wasn’t Borg. It was an Orion half-wearing a ruined Starfleet uniform whom seemed to be running like the very devil were chasing him. When Elro turned, half expecting to see a group of drones amble out of Sickbay after him, having already assimilated all within, he instead saw two security officers exiting sickbay with phasers raised, evidently hoping to stun down the Orion rather than pursue him.

Was the Orion a prisoner? Perhaps from the Bellerophon?

Elro realised he didn’t care.

He stepped past the two guards and into sickbay, scanning the room for a nurse who might be able to give him some direction as to what the status was in here. It was much smaller in comparison to the main sickbay on vector two, and somehow a much bigger mess. Patients were occupying all of the biobeds, some on makeshift stretchers on the floor, half of them had injuries that Elro would have dreamt of bothering to treat in such a triage situation, yet they were still pawing at their cuts and minor burns like poor orphans.

Great.

“You two.” Elro called to the Security guards who were still flanking the door, hesitant as to whether to pursue the Orion or not. “I’ll need some help moving some of these patients. Nurse, anyone who doesn’t absolutely need to be on a Biobed is going to have to be moved.” He barked orders that were so uncharacteristic of him. He remembered how he’d behaved on the Endeavour, back when the Borg had been taking over the ship. He was chief back then and he needed to appear larger than life. "Anyone who doesn't absolutely need to be taking up space needs to report to their duty station." He paused, noting that he had the attention of a good few of the patients in the room. "We've got Borg aboard."

None of these staff nor patients knew who he was. But the need to appear larger than life, was now more important than ever.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #15 – February 03, 2019, 01:53:39 AM

[ Petty Officer Eliska Bremmer | Security Centre Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]

When the word came they would be fighting Borg, once again Eliska Bremmer took a look at her exosuit. It wasn't the one she'd taken with her when she had been assigned to the Resolve, the one that had seen her through much of the Dominion War and her assignment on the Merrimac, but given how much time she'd spent in the bloody thing lately it was starting to replace her old one in her mind. It had been battered and singed on Sud Lang; she'd worn it against Klingon boarders, and the left pauldron was brand new, replaced after part of the original one had been shot off by a disruptor blast, and it showed, pristine against the scuffed and stained remainder of that armour. On her right leg she carried her trusty pistol, which had followed her from Resolve, and across her chest she had a rifle slung there; some people thought hand phasers were sufficient, that rifles were overkill; but to Bremmer, who'd been in entirely too many a scrap, she'd come to truly appreciate the more stable platform and additional firepower a rifle granted over any hand-held version out there.

And as much as she'd hoped for a real weapon, it would seem it was the officers who took what had to be the most effective small arms for themselves; she did not agree with the idea, but at least the word had been they would be mobile responses. Well, if that's what the Sir wanted, it wasn't her place to argue with him. But, it would seem, the Asurian and Scion weapons would come out to play. They would be limited to the charges they still possessed and the spare power packs that had been taken from their previous owners, and none had been modified yet to be friendlier to Federation training, but they would have to do... But to her surprise, both she and Taer were detailed with handing out those few functional examples they had on hand, trusting their judgement to such a matter. "McPherson, Sobek, Guesclin, al-Muradi, you four get one of those fancy guns." The four names she called were some of the very few survivors of Resolve's security department; as their Mistress-at-Arms, she had been intimately familiar with their weapon proficiency tests, but a steady aim wasn't all she was going for; mostly, she had called for four she knew were good shots, but also could keep their heads under stress.

The remainder, she'd let to Kino to hand out; she knew Theurgy's team much better than she did. But she did have something to add. "Sir, just a thought; I remember being told 'a weapon ain't gotta be a weapon'. Odds are there's all sorts of stuff we can use to hurt the Borg they won't see coming; fire extinguishers rated for plasma fires, hull sealant foam, industrial solvents, adhesives, maybe even counter-grav units. Depending on how much breakage we're willing to..."

She was interrupted as the ship shook violently, and Mister Kingston gave the order to disperse to their assignments. The ship shook again, and again much more violently And then, the message everyone in Starfleet knew and thoroughly dreaded was heard across the ship even as the intruder alert klaxons sounded.

[WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.]

"Delta-3, with me!" Bremmer called out her order to detail assigned to her. However, the sudden arrival of boarders meant they would have to fight their way to their assigned positions. And hers happened to be much further down, in Engineering's approaches. "Check your fire, single shots only, and make them count!"

[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Stellar Cartography | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ]

Commander Carrigan Trent had been working furiously. Starfleet never truly put much faith in alternative modes of combat. Phasers and torpedoes, and good ship-handling were the mainstay of fighting, and beyond maneuvering to exploit an incidental weakness, as a rule Starfleet's tactical doctrine was not the most imaginative. As such, there were rather few people who made a specialty of actively hunting down for flaws and weaknesses to expose, ways to degrade the enemy's ability to fight effectively without actually damaging them, or to create vulnerabilities in more creative ways.

And he was one of those few people. I had all begun what seemed several lifetimes ago under a Captain who viewed his ship's tactical systems and personnel as wasted space where more science gear could be strapped in, and generally did not provide a very good environment for an Ensign Carrigan Trent, appointed A/CTO of the USS Fermi straight out of the Academy, to develop conventional tactical skills. But, he did learn to work sensors in interesting ways, and that had been the start of his forays into unconventional uses of sensors, and that evolved in his research in electronic warfare, which had culminated in his creation of Soup Sandwich and reverse-engineering Calamity's own sensor-degrading technology (which, in the timeline which she'd come from, he had actually been the one to invent and design) to fit into Theurgy's own defensive measures.

And now, he was racing against the clock to fight the Borg.

Adapting Soup Sandwich to attack them had been easy enough. Granted, it wasn't tested and much would be left to the program's own code, deeply rooted in the Borg's own core programming. But the problem would be to deliver that payload to the enemy. A direct transmission would never work; modifying an EMP torpedo to disseminate the code as a burst of data may not be viable. So that left breaking into the Borg's communication (or hive mind) protocols, or injecting it as a sensor return. And he could not prepare for that, not fully, until they would be engaged... Which would impose a very serious time constraint.

But still, he focused. Truth be told, his concentration was less of a requirement of the task at hand than a wall against the images of Heather that kept assailing him. Her smiling and lovely; her being torn apart by Savi experiments; her laughter and tears of joy; her shrieks of terror and agony; her hand delicate between his fingers; her hand, bloodied and broken, reaching for him in despair. Only years of his mental discipline and the promise to actively seek to rescue the crew were enough to dam this flood enough for him to be able to do his job.

When the ship went into action, he could feel guilt knifing through his gut; he should be on the Bridge. There was a Security Officer in the center seat, and a painfully green Operations Officer as XO; Marquez was a solid enough tactical officer, but not particularly imaginative, and he had no idea who would be controlling the small craft in the engagement. But he knew the events at the rendezvous point had put a knife in his ability to be obeyed, and if anyone doubted his orders, even in spite of themselves, it would spell doom for everyone. Theurgy shook and bucked under the impact of weapons, and before long the intruder alert sounded across the ship, followed by the impossibly cold multipartite voice of the Collective making its dreadful promises.

But still, he worked, looking at raw data from the sensor take, trying to find a way to inject this new version of Soup Sandwich into the Collective's mind. Even without Thea to drive them, Theurgy's computers were some of the most advanced the Federation had ever deployed; but without the AI's specialized code, it was far more sluggish, unable to make the leaps of logic and deductive reasoning that would infinitely speed up the process. And then, he heard it.

There was weapons fire outside in the corridor, and the doors opened to a harried crewman. "Commander Trent! Borg heading this way, you need to get out of there!"

Looking back from his console, the erstwhile XO's eyes narrowed towards the young woman. Borg incoming? He had an idea, one that made his eyes gleam with a cold, murderous light and let his normally impassive face twist into a brief rictus that spoke of ruthlessness and dispassionate killing. "Crewman, your name?"

"Crewman Petra Vansen, Sir. We need to get out of here." So young, Trent thought. Twenty, maybe twenty-two? "Petra, I am going to give you an order you're not going to like. Some of your team well might die, but if you can buy me three minutes, it will give us a fighting chance against the Borg." The sandy-blonde woman nodded. She had recognized the iron in that voice, that cold necessity. "You and your team will fight like madmen. You will make it look like you are between the Borg and something truly valuable. You will lead them straight to me."

Grey eyes widened in surprise at this order, but there was another nod. "And when I tell you to break contact, you run like hell."

"We'll do what we can, Sir." The voice was a little shaky, but it was enough. Petra Vansen was one more name that would be committed to Trent's memory, likely a face that would appear in the long list of those who'd died at his command. But he would remember it, and he would look up the members of her team.

First, he brought up something the Borg would love. To a PADD, he downloaded this new version of Soup Sandwich and he purged all data from the console itself. On the massive screens, he brought up the current map, and a projection of Starfleet's deployment orders that was six months out of date; he changed the timestamps so it would look to be no more than a few hours old, and with practiced ease, he reached under the console and physically ripped out the connection to the ship's computers before closing the panel. And from the PADD, he transferred and ran his new program to the console itself. The trap was set.

Outside in the hallway, weapons were shrieking as the detail that was there was indeed fighting like madmen. He did not know how many were there, but he knew it was far less than the dozen or so one may have guessed from the volume of weapons fire alone. And then he heard the panicked scream. "They've adapted!" It was time.

"Vansen! You and your people get out of there," he bellowed out. They were close enough they would have heard, and so would have the Borg. "I'll be out shortly!"

That too, was part of the trap he was laying.

Weapons fire stopped, and he saw forms, Starfleet personnel, run by the door for safety, and then the doorway was filled by the inexorable advanced of a pair of drones. They quickly considered what they were seeing, and red dots from their implants fixed on the console. He had them! As they advanced, the human looked over the side. It wasn't that long a way down, and it would provide an escape... and he had to make it look right. As they advanced, he still worked the console, furiously punching at keys that would do nothing save make noise, and then, when hey were halfway to him, he went over the side and let himself down, his feet connecting with the deck just as the assimilation tubules of one of the two drones dove into the console for them to assimilate what was essentially disinformation, and Soup Sandwich.

The tubules withdrew from the panel, and the drone stood still before it was seized by a brutal shudder. Was the code in? Its companion did the same, and both stood confused for a moment.

Time to test if it worked. The phaser had Trent's waist had been brought to him, compliments of Wenn Cinn, while he had been on his way to Stellar Cartography; a symbol of a degree of trust, he imagined. It had been modified to rotate its modulations but had not been updated since it was brought to him, and he wasted no time in disabling that particular circuit so he might get two shots, perhaps three before he would have to fiddle with it. So he took aim at the first drone and fired not once, but twice. The first shot, carefully aimed, struck one arm and a shower of sparks erupted; the second was at the center of its mass, and it collapsed on impact. The second drone, identifying a threat, went over the side of its own volition and moved for the human. By now, it ought to have adapted...

He fired a third time, without adjusting his weapon...

The drone fell, a neat hole punched clean through the base of its neck.

It worked! Which meant now, he had to make some noise with the people in charge. "Bridge, this is Trent. Weapon is away and the Borg are vulnerable. I don't know how long I bought you, but make it count!"

Then, he considered his options. He was at loose ends right now, but there was much work to be done. "I'm on my way to the Bridge, advise if you need me elsewhere."

[ Petty Officer Eliska Bremmer | Deck 22 | USS Theurgy ]

As it turned out, Bremmer had been diverted on her way down to Engineering. The Borg were making some advances on Deck 22, and it looked like they were trying to establish some sort of a control node in one of the labs. That had just become an advanced priority, and what had followed had been a savage room-to-room, corridor-to-corridor advance to contact, followed by a fighting retreat that was only kept from being a rout by her relentless refusal to break, and her constant calling for her people to hold the line and maintain discipline.

And at the last junction, their phasers had become useless. They would need time to reset the modulation coils, get them to work for at least a few shots each, but time was not something they had anymore. So, she leveled her Asurian/Savi weapon, and he let them have it. The concentrated graviton beams were shearing through drones like a meat cleaver, but hers was only one weapon on the line in this location, and eventually she would be overwhelmed. But, still, some sought to fight. And just then, she saw the loveliest sight she could have imagine.

A phaser rifle shrieked, and the lurid glow of the bolt slammed into a drone that seemed to have paused for a moment, but there was no greenish glow as a shield took the hit. Instead there was a shower of sparks. And another. And another. And before long, her entire team and a rag-tag group of her shipmates they'd been shepherding away from the Borg opened fire with effect. "Bremmer to Security Ops! I don't know what just happened, but the Borg down here are wide open! I am going to set a base of fire, and push back towards my last objective. Bremmer out!"

She looked at her team, and she nodded. "Don't know what just happened or how long this'll last, but let them have it! Push through! Push through!"

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #16 – February 03, 2019, 03:33:44 AM

[ PO2 Kino Taer | Deck 7 | Security Centre > Deck 15 | Stellar Cartography > Deck 16 | Stellar Cartography | USS Theurgy ] @FollowTomorrow @CanadianVet

The Trill did not quite remember the time spent in switching to battle gear prior to this briefing, her mind primarily occupied with the prospect of taking on the Borg. Several potential tactical plans were worked through based on her training and experience from the Dominion War, all of them being rejected out of hand due to being unsuited for the battlefield. She couldn’t fight a guerilla war on a ship where every meter lost meant more potential recruits for an implacable enemy that couldn’t be blooded to submission. Fighting on a starship meant that her favored method of booby traps and kill zones would likely run into resistance from command who would favor a ship kept very much intact, thank you. It just got worse from there and that left her with going back to the default position of hoping the officers who went through all that fancy schooling knew what they were doing. Kino really did not want a repeat of the times when her squad simply had to hold the line regardless of enemy strength, but she supposed there weren’t many other options when it came to enemies like the Borg or the Dominion.

So she found herself standing with the rest of Security in her exosuit, armed with the standard gear of Type II pistol and Type III rifle and a few hidden treats for worst case scenario, listening to a Security officer whose own superior officer had threatened to do serious damage to the ship less than a week ago talk to some Romulan who had apparently deserted Starfleet a while ago.

Desertion sounds pretty appealing right about now compared to the fucking Borg.

Her name was called out for one of those getting a “handheld graviton weapon”, whatever the fuck that was, and to apparently also hand out a few of the remainder to sharpshooters. Kino was honestly not too sure why she was being asked to pick out sharpshooters, but enough names did come to mind, including Bremmer who was happily getting one anyway and also picking out sharpshooters. She slung her rifle to her left shoulder, using her cybernetic hand to beckon four NCOs in the crowd behind her for their graviton weapons. They were all Dominion War veterans that she recalled either serving with or watching them practice in the shooting range, each impressing her with their affinity for precise shots. It also helped that two of them were also decent one night stands. She assumed the idea was that these would be spread out to different teams covering vital points of the ship.

“Remember, use these only after your phasers stop working. They’re an ace in the hole.”

After handing out the fourth one, her eyes wandered over to the horned woman whom she saw on the bridge earlier. Kino didn’t know her, but she had taken time to at least get her name and a brief overview of what she was from another security officer. Apparently, Cardamone was an Asurian and her people had also boarded the ship and left these weapons behind. Taer figured the other woman was probably suited for one too, so she grabbed two more – one for herself and one for this Dyan Cardamone. The Trill walked over to the Asurian and wordlessly offered one of them to her.

When the crewman got around to handing her the PADD with her assignment, Kino giggled a bit at the words shown there. Her task was to take a squad to the Fighter Assault Bay and there was a note there that it had been a consistent target for boarding teams so to be vigilant. It seemed a bit of a redundant message to the veteran since the Borg weren’t exactly discriminating in boarding targets in the first place, from what she had heard.

Her musing was interrupted by the effects of the ship taking a hit and Kingston’s call for everyone to get going. Kino opened her team’s channel to rally them to follow her lead out of the door and to the turbolifts. One by one, the teams boarded turbolifts to disperse throughout the ship and hers boarded with another those destination was close by theirs. They hadn’t quite arrived to Deck 16 when the second hit came, worse than the first.

The lights in the turbolift turned off momentarily before being replaced by the emergency lighting as its forward momentum was abruptly arrested. Taer and the other team leader wasted no time after recovering their balance to order their teams through the emergency door to gain access to the turbolift shaft. After a quick discussion to coordinate movements, the other team broke off to gain access to deck 14 while Taer directed her team to go one further to deck 15. The turbolifts would just be a kill zone if they stuck to it and Kino intended to go through the Stellar Cartography labs to get to Deck 16. It was a route that meant less of a chance at running into Borg in a smaller space.

Mercifully, Borg didn’t greet them at the doors from the turbolift shaft to deck 15 but she could hear screams and phaser fire not too far ahead. Evidently, one of the teams assigned to this deck was fighting like hell. The armored petty officer pulled the last of her team through the manually opened doors and paused to consider her options, but only for a moment. It wasn’t like there was a massive list of them, and it really only narrowed down to one when a pair of Borg rounded the corner. A brief but intense fusillade of phaser fire downed one and literally disarmed the other. She executed the other with her rifle as they passed over the temporary obstacle.

Just like the simulations. First wave of boarders is always easier than you’d think.

Her instructors for the Borg boarding simulations always stressed that. They urged those in the course to not let it go to their heads when the initial boarders inevitably got mowed down. It always took less time than security officers assumed for the Borg to adapt and the Borg would always have numbers and superior firepower on their side. It was also useful advice, it turned out, for fighting the Dominion’s Jem’Hadar.

“They’ve adapted!”

Useful announcement, that. Weapons fire ceased and the exosuit began registering the approaching forms as the team already on the deck fled their post rather than meet their ends. Taer didn’t blame them. She repositioned her team to cover them but they came up without Borg following them. Apparently, something else must have caught the Borg’s attention.

“Petty Officer 2nd class Kino Taer, heading down to the FAB. This turbolift is out. Report, Crewman.”

The blonde woman needed a moment to catch her breath before grey eyes locked onto the faceplate of Kino’s helmet.

“Crewman Petra Vansen. We were guarding Stellar Cartography. Commander Carrigan Trent was doing something inside. He ordered us to hold the line and then break off at his command.” She looked around behind her and a frown creased the crewman’s face. “He was supposed to follow us.”

“Alright, I plan on going through there anyway. You and your team catch your breath here and then fall back to your secondary positions.”

“Careful, they’ve adapted.”

“I heard. Squad, on me."

The five of them left Petra and her remaining team members behind as they jogged down the hall. Stellar Cartography was less than a few minutes away from the turbolift and so it took no real time before they had to start navigating through bodies, first Borg and then a group of unlucky crewmen. One of them groaned and then stirred. This got him Taer’s undivided attention and she watched as evidence of assimilation sprouted through his uniform and on his face. Apparently, his mind still lingered on and there was a look of horror and pain on his face.

“Cambridge!”

One of her team recognized him, clearly. Kino closed her eyes briefly before reopening them and aiming her rifle at his head.

“Taer, wai-“

A single shot erased what was left of Steve before the team member could say more. Her exosuit was registering weapons fire inside the lab even as his body settled on the floor.

“He was gone, Telford.”

The man who spoke up didn’t bother responding and his exosuit made it hard to read any facial expressions he may have had. Kino didn’t bother dwelling on it. There were other matters at play. Her suit’s sensors had registered weapons fire during the execution, but it had been brief. She motioned for her team to enter the Stellar Cartography lab proper.

“Got bodies. Borg.”

“Any sign of Trent?”

“Negative.”

“Hop down then. We need to find him and verify his status.”

Kino hopped over the railing, trusting in her suit to cushion the fall as she rolled for the landing. It wasn’t far, but at least now they were on Deck 16. Before them stood the unmistakable silhouette of a taller male human. He wore a command uniform and she could just about see the triple pips on his collar.

“Commander Trent, I take it,” Taer said, her voice taking on a tinge of amusement. “Good to see you alive. Turbolifts look to be down and you need to be somewhere a little safer than this room.”

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #17 – February 03, 2019, 07:52:55 AM

[ Lt Zelosa Ejek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]

Before Ejek even had the chance to think, the ship rocked. It threw her heart out of her chest, so for a second it felt like she had no heartbeat and she would die right there. Scared, terrified, horrified—she was all those things, but as she regained her footing and saw the faces around her, she decided she would not allow those feelings. They would pull down the functioning of this ship, and that could be the key to staying alive.

She righted herself, straightened her skirt, and heard Parnak. She didn’t have to see him to know he was there. She wished he warmed her heart like he had this morning.
“My office.” Both her and Jovela spoke at the same time, both offering them spaces, so Ejek felt the need to clarify as she stepped away from the center and began to walk towards the Cardassian. “It serves no purpose should sickbay overflow except as space. A medlab at least has some use.” She began to scoop up inoculations into her arms, taking a few trays off Parnak’s. She would help hand them out, which was the best she could do given her skill set.

“I could show you the way.” She met Parnak’s eyes. She hoped he didn’t see how scared she was. In some ways, she hoped he did.

[ PO Dyan Cardamone/Sar-unga Neleo | Security Center Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] @TWilkins

Kingston did not need to tell Dyan to move it more than once. The moment she heard the command, she was ready to go. Kino came by and offered her a graviton weapon, exactly what she needed. It felt right in her arms.
“Thanks!” She called out, and began her sprint towards her goal, only sometimes remembering not to run over others. We are the borg, they say. We will add your biological and--”
"Dr Kobol to Security.”

Dyan’s musings on the borg were interrupted by an announcement. They’d been boarded already, and they were trying to get into the ship itself first. Smart, she thought. Her goal could wait, she figured, especially in the face of boarders getting ahold of the ship computers.
“I’ve got the drone accessing computers on deck seven!” She replied, and changed her direction. Fear still had her, but she had a job to do.

…
[ PO Dyan Cardamone/Sar-unga Neleo | Corridors | Deck 7 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]

It didn’t take long for Dyan to close in on the borg’s position, narrowed down by the coordinates of Dr Kobol ’s badge when he last contacted security. Sure enough, there was the drone, working away dutifully. She couldn’t tell how much had been lost, but what she could tell was that it wasn’t currently seeing her as a target. She switched to her phaser rifle and shot at it. Of course, the shot did nothing to it physically. The borg adapted, as they do. What it did do was turn it’s head, once a human maybe? It’s red eye met hers.

The visual scan the drone performed provided data to the collective, data it had never seen before. Tail whipping, horns, white hair and skin paler than milk. A new specimen, with no number designated to it yet. More than that, it was hostile. The drone turned from it’s work to face the woman, beginning it’s slow march. Despite all the knowledge the borg had no doubt accumulated, nobody had yet taught the simple borg drone to run. All Dyan had to do was avoid the shots from it’s arm, the one it was slowly raising. Easy enough, she supposed. She fired another shot at the exact same frequency as before, knowing it wouldn’t work, but it was actually sort of fun to tease the drones.
“Come get me! Come get this juicy piece of ass!” She taunted, leading it back a ways, around a corner, into a doorway. As she predicted, it followed her pas the doorway.

She was in an airlock. It was a tight squeeze in here, and she didn’t like being in such close quarters. She knew the drone would know exactly where she was too. It didn’t care much. It operated under the assumption that it would win, regardless of whether this one drone was lost or not. She saw it enter the doorway and stand there, aiming at her. Shit, it wouldn’t walk all the way in if it didn’t have to. She had to think fast.

She moved quickly and nearly missed a shot by her head. She felt her hair buzzed by it. From crouching, she adjusted her sindt to it’s second stance, an uncommon stance that had it pointing forward as an extension of her arm. Then, she lunged at the drone, blade forward. It plunged into...flesh? Metal? She felt some squish, but no blood. Whatever. She yanked the drone into the airlock with her, kicked it clean off her blade, and ran as fast as she could out the airlock. Slam the doors shut, punch in the override code, space that bitch.

She actually didn’t think it’d work. She watched the drone be sucked out into space. She kept watching it, just to be sure it was gone. She kept watching it, and watching it…

That is, until a flash of green caught her eye, and she began to turn--

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #18 – February 05, 2019, 01:36:13 PM

[ Dr Amelya Rez | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]
@Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe @Doc M. @Lex Dalton

Before the chaos erupted Kobol had asked a question which Amelya had to answer. The use of euthanasia on patients that would be too far gone to the Borg assimilation process. It was a tough call to make and Amelya looked at the gathered doctors as she bounced the idea around in her head. "We've all sworn an oath, correct? To save as much lives as we can. We'll treat the infected with any of the vaccines that we have left. Should they be infected and specifically ask to be released of their future live... I think we should respect it, though make sure they understand what it means. What the ramifications are and that there will be no way back. Patients will have the chance to choose for life termination if they want to. For patients who are too far gone, those who have succumbed to the Hive mind, I think the safest option will be to terminate their life as they'd pose a threat for everyone else present. Though I do not expect any of you to terminate anyone if it doesn't stroke with your beliefs or your code of conduct as a physician." she concluded as she looked at her fellow officers.

Th call had been made and Parnak arrived along with lieutenant Tovarek with the vaccines. She gave a nod tot he gathered staff "Time to move people. We'll have lots of work soon enough." she concluded before she dismissed those present. She watched the two scientists with the vaccines and got a short briefing of what they'd do and how to best use them. Rez began to vaccinate anyone in the Main sickbay to prevent any further problems should the infection spread.

After that it didn't take long before the ship began to rock and soon enough the message was heard.

[WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.]

Regardless of what happened next, Rez knew that it would be another chaotic shift in Sickbay "Rez to all medical stations, prepare for casualties."

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #19 – February 05, 2019, 09:32:55 PM

Lt Kaylon Jeen | Main Engineering | USS Thurgy |Attn @Doc M. @Auctor Lucan

"and if we make it through this battle alive, I will ensure that you do not retain your position. Because whether this is an attack upon my shortcomings as a victim, that I am an Officer, that I am a woman, or even scientist, I am certain there has to be someone better suited to run this Department. Someone who does know how to conduct themselves as a proper Starfleet officer instead of a bigot, regardless the reason for your refusal."

Kaylon looked up as he heard Cir'Cie speaking to Billy Bob. Then he heard O'Connell's thick accent reply, a distinct note of disdain in his voice.

"Well bless yore heart, ma'am. Ah certainly hope so! Ah'm mighty glad tuh hear yew say thet Ensign, 'cuz Ah wuz uh fixin' tuh train me uh successor anyhow," he kindly drawled as he nodded towards Kaylon.

In a move that would make any Vulcan proud, Kaylon's eyebrow went up, as the acting Chief Engineer continued.

"Sadly, since you're not in mah chain uh command Ah don't reckon yew kin help me expedite that process. Oh well. Ah appreciate th' offer though. And th' offer fur an extra pair uh hands. And with all due respect ma'am, if there wuz nothin' else tuh add, mah door is always open so feel free tuh leave..."

Kaylon was just stepping forward to intervene. He had been keeping his head down and avoiding the scene in order to spare Ensign Cir'Cie any discomfort or awkwardness, but hearing an NCO speaking that way to an officer really got under his spots. Until that moment, he had nothing but respect for O'Connell. Now he found himself reevaluating his impression and opinion of the man.

Just as he opened his mouth to get their attention and give the man what for, the ship shook and Kaylon was knocked off his feet. Dressing down an enlisted man for insubordination would have to wait. Pulling himself to his feet he scrambled back to his panel and pulled up the shield diagnostics.

"Unless yew hear from th' bridge, reallocate power tuh reinforce them shields!" O'Connell hollered. "If we lose th' shields we're uh gonna have tuh repel borders! If th' Borg git onboard we'll all be cal'culatin' pi tuh th' last decimal!"

The shields stabilized as the petty officer rerouted power. Thinking quickly, Kaylon tried to come up with a way to reinforce the shields. Then it hit him. He'd done something similar during the Dominion War. It had to work. If not, O'Connell was right, and at least he'd know a lot more digits of Pi than he currently did.

"Ensign Cir'Cie!" he called out. "Can you give me a hand here?" Inwardly he thought, if I can't take the time to give O'Connell what for, at least my actions can let him know what I think of his attitude. As she approached, he simply said, "Please keep an eye on the shield harmonics frequencies, and power stabilization levels. Let me know if the frequencies vary by more than 2 percent!"

Turning to O'Connell, he said quickly, "I think I can reinforce the shields using a harmonic resonance pulse. If we tune shield emitters two and four to inverse frequencies of emitter three, and boost power to three cutting back the power on two and four, it should strengthen the grid in that area enough to withstand a few extra hits!"

He would have preferred to just do it, but for now at least, this was still O'Connell's engine room so he had to follow protocol. While he waited for him to make the call, he turned back to the panel next to Cir'Cie and started making the calculations. "See if you can bring the frequency variance to within 1.5 percent. That should help scatter their disruptors a bit. Anything more than that though, and it can rip the boosted shields apart."

Calculations made, he looked up at O'Connell "Well, Chief? What do you say?"

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #20 – February 06, 2019, 06:50:49 AM

[ William Robert O’Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy ] ^{Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Absinthe @fiendfall @alphawiz @SummerDawn @FollowTomorrow @Stegro88}

“Sounds good tuh me sir!” O’Connell smiled sheepishly, his voice loud enough to be heard across the entirety of main engineering without the benefit of a loudspeaker or an intercom. He didn’t even spell ‘sir’ with a ‘c’ and a ‘u’ either, a definite sign of respect. He turned to address his staff, and his voice remained at the same impressive volume. “Okay people, listen up! For those of yew who haven’t been inner-duced tuh him, this here is Lieutenant Kaylon Jeen, the chief engineerin’ ossifer uh th’ Cayuga an’ more than qualified tuh give yuh orders! He’s uh gonna be helpin’ out ‘round here an’ savin’ our tails, so unless yuh hear from me or Wenn Cinn yew kin take whut he says as gospel! Dew whut he says ‘cuz he knows whut he’s uh talkin’ about!” He glanced back at Kaylon and finally spoke with what could be considered an ‘indoor voice’. “Over tuh yew, Lieutenant.”

A second crack of thunder was heard as the deck abruptly tilted seventeen degrees before righting itself. As O’Connell picked himself off the deck he heard Petty Officer Tenchi Koizumi shout ”We’ve lost sixty one percent of shield two and shield three is down! I repeat, shield three is down!”

“Dagnabbit,” Billy Bob grunted. “Lew-tenant, take over here. There’s uh li’l errand Ah gotta run,” he said to Kaylon. Ensign Cir’Cie seemed to have become invisible to him at this time.

With those words he marched away from the master systems display table, around the warp core, and into his office, staggering slightly as the ship was hit by enemy fire again. Once in his office, he tapped on the keypad on the greyish black plastisteel wardrobe that was placed against the wall behind his desk. Opening its double doors revealed motley assortment of weapons as well as a collection of tools both modern and archaic.

The first thing he extracted from the wardrobe was a series of straps covered in small disc shaped nodules and secured by a belt that he proceeded to put on. This wasn’t merely a set of webgear designed to carry weapons and equipment, it was a device used for personal protection that used subspace harmonics to generate a personal force field. Called SAFTI gear, short for Subspace Armor Field Tactical Integration gear, the system had been juryrigged by O’Connell and his friend and shipmate the late Senior Chief Petty Officer Calvin Reagar. Like the personal armor systems of the past, it wasn’t perfect. This jury rigged system was only capable of protecting a standard sized person for over ten minutes from weak attacks like physical blows or slow moving projectiles. Based on the way it performed during his mission to Starbase 84, Billy Bob was confident that the system would protect a wearer from shots from phasers, disruptors, and other particle beam weapons for two minutes at best assuming the weapon was fired at standard settings. A beam that could disintegrate a human would likely get through in seconds. The rig had saved the lives of his teammates, ensuring that phaser beams set on kill only inflicted minor injuries accompanied by a heavy stun effect. With luck it would keep any intruders from Borgafying him.

The belt had been modified to hold a number of holsters that he filled with pistols of varying types. A Klingon disruptor pistol was placed in a holster on his left hip while a type-II pulse phase pistol filled the holster on his right. A genuine fully functional replica of a .45 single action revolver known as the ‘1873 Colt Peacemaker’ was added to the rear holster as an afterthought. Any of these weapons would only be good for about one or two shots, assuming that no one had ever shot a Borg with one of these before. If somebody had, each of these weapons would be as effective as foul language. Finally he picked up picked up a rifle shaped type III phaser that had been modified to fire nadion beams at random frequencies. This weapon would probably be good for up to six shots at the most but probably for a lot less. It was with utmost hesitancy that he passed up his archaic shotgun. That weapon would probably only be good for three shots at the most before the Borg modified the force fields of all of its drones the galaxy over and took too long between shots to be useful.

That’s when he heard it: Somehow the Borg had tapped into the gorram intercom system.

[ WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. ]

Opening the door to return to main engineering, O’Connell brandished his phaser rifle while striking a heroic pose. “Iz that uh fact now?” he shouted defiantly. “Ah reckon we’ll jest see about that!”

[ Maya | Primary Surgical Suite | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] ^{Attn: @Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe}

[ WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. ]

Maya heard that ghostly chorus of voices just as she was receiving her inoculation from Amelya. Her eyes narrowed as her mouth became a thin hard line. Even for a dispassionate Vulcan, the timing was unsettling.

OOC: You just know that if the Borg beam into main engineering, some of O’Connell’s extra weapons will end up Kaylon and Cir’Cie’s hands.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #21 – February 06, 2019, 07:51:35 AM

[ Lt. JG Jovela | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ]
Attn: @Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @lisavw @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe @Doc M.

[Show/Hide]

[WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.]

Jovela felt her hands shake as the Borgs words rushed over her like a tide of dread, she looked over at Dr Amelya Rez and bit her lip.

"I don't think I can, I mean I..." Her words trailed off and smoothed her uniform down with her hands to stop them shaking, with a sharp intake of breath she steadied herself.

This was no time to loose my nerve, people could die. Straighten up and stop being a coward, save lives, that's your job girl. She bit her lip hard and hurried over to one of the bio beds, checking the readouts and the medical equipment there, the medical tools all laid out gave her a sense of order and renewed purpose. Reaching into her loose hair she grabbed it and twisted it into a knot tying it back against her skull, her black hair dropping into a makeshift ponytail.

She hurried to the next Bio bed and checked the equipment there, if and when the casualties started coming in a missing tool could be the difference in us loosing a patient. "No, not on my watch. I'm not going to let the crew die." She pushed down her fear and stood to attention, awaiting the first of the casualties and hoping no Drones would step into Main Sickbay.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #22 – February 07, 2019, 10:00:44 AM

[ Y'Lev | Corridors | Deck 7 | USS Theurgy ] @FollowTomorrow

A voice that echoed through the depths of the ship in a cacophonous chorus of mechanised baritone had made an announcement that seemed to have rocked the crew even more so than the energy barrage that had evidently struck the shields only a few seconds prior. It appeared they had engaged in a space battle. But their foe was unnerving enough that even the stiff faced security guards flanking him had taken a moment to exchange a glance, a reciprocation of reasurance so enthralling for yhe pair that it didn’t take much for Y’Lev to vault himself out of the biobed and make a break for the door. Terellian slugs had faster reaction times. It had been Y’Lev’s assumption that the fear that had seemingly knocked the officers into a daze, would keep them suspended enough to facilitate a particularly easy escape; as usual, his assumption was the correct one.

The Orion didn’t perceive the same sort of fear that the crew had seemingly become wracked with. The Borg, or whatever the transmission had identified itself as, were a species he wasn’t particularly familiar with. However, despite his obliviousness, Y’Lev could understand why the Theurgy's crew might have had good reason to he anxious. One of the general orders of the Orion Syndicate, was that upon encountering a race known as the Borg, the agent in question was to find the most efficient and quickest means of suicide they could manage, usually by activating the poisoned capsule implanted behind their back molar.

Whilst the Syndicate often prefered an agent to die as opposed to capture and possible interrogation, suicide upon encounter was a new policy altogether. And naturally, Y’Lev had just a few problems with that particular instruction. Firstly, he was one particular Orion whom wasn’t planning on killing himself for any race unless he’d lost absolutely all chance of escape, and he was breaking under interogation, just like standard protocal dictated, no matter what 'special orders' his superiors had ordered. Secondly, he didn’t actually have the poisoned capsule fitted behind his back molar; he’d removed it in the bathroom of a nightclub on Risa in order to stelthily dispose a particularly irritating Vulcan who was attempting to use logic as a means to demean Y’Lev’s haircut, in favor of a flat fringe Vulcan abomination. And that was a crime worth killing for.

Y’Lev collided with a teal-chest as he sprinted down the corridor, but the Orion paid the man little heed, hoping that he would at least delay the security guards from their pursuit as he fled across the deck. He found Starfleet construction obligingly irritating, with their lack of creativity in design, forcing the Orion to hope that the constant repeat of the same white-washed wall panels were an indication of progress. Would it truly have been such a grave offence to get a few Bolian decorators in to spruce the place up a little? A few murals and some silken overhangs would have been a delight.

His train of thought was distracted from the internal ambiance of the USS Theurgy when he heard a gravelly voice that unconsciously drew out a low growling sound from the back of his throat. A taunt, a crude, witless, taunt, much akin to a taunt that a goat would make were it capable. He mumbled something illegible to an onlooker in High Kolari, before making a few hesitant steps around to a corner.

Of course.

The goat woman was present once again, Cardamone or whatever she had been referred to by the security team, fiddling with the controls on a panel that no doubt had some ridiculously overcomplicated functionality attached to it. Regardless of her intention, he had no great desire to stick around and rile her hackles, and as such, he darted past the corridor she was along, instead veering left and shooting down another, identical, corridor that he hoped to find an access port to the jefferies tubes inside.

Y’Lev wasn’t quite sure of his plan. He’d hoped that in a combat situation, the security around key areas might be diverted to deal with other emergencies. Of course, it was also entirely possible that those areas would be reinforced with additional teams who’d make any sort of incursion impossible for him to even attempt. He supposed he’d just have to try and find that out with his own eyes…

He took a fleeting glance behind him, just checking that he wasn’t being followed by any goats galloping along through the halls. His odd-coloured eyes furrowed at the emptiness behind him, almost as if he didn’t believe that he’d gotten lucky with his attempt, before they widened with a glare of undiluted shock. His foot had caught on something and he found himself sprawled down on the floor of the deck, something firm yet malleable caught under his legs.

Rolling across the floor to view the obstruction, he saw a red-chest laying stiff against the floor, his breathing ragged and his expression waxy. Y’Lev’s first instinct was to give the man a kick for laying around in corridors and tripping him up, but he found his eyes fixated on the young man’s face, as his head slowly, agonisingly, rolled so that it was facing in the direction of the Orion.

His skin had adopted an almost metallic undertone, grey lines tracing underneath his skin in the most grotesque bubbling pattern that Y’Lev had ever seen. The man’s mouth seemed to gasp and tremble, as though he were trying to form words, but could not force a sound to leave his lips. The trembling only increased as a twitch seemed to develop in the corner of the man’s eye, making his entire face distort a fraction as Y’Lev swallowed down the bile in his throat.

The eye of the man in front of him bulged, the brown toned iris distorting as several metal prongs burst through the membrane of his eye and clamped down on the surrounding skin of his face, grasping in to his paling flesh and dragging it tightly to further distort the young man’s face. Y’Lev wagered that with his strong jawline, handsome brows, well-managed hair, that this man would have been handsome before whatever had afflicted him had occurred.

“H-h… H…” Fleeting noises escaped from the man’s mouth, though they were undistinguishable as either gasps or attempts at speech, with the man’s remaining eye wandering to somewhere above Y’Lev, wavering as it brimmed with tears. Whatever had been done to him, he was been shaped into something abhorrent, his skin distorting like that pestilent woman he’d encountered outside the computer core. Despite Y’Lev’s penchant for bioweapons, his knowledge of chemicals and poisons, this level of transformation was something he wouldn’t have ever considered inflicting on someone.

Beauty was valuable. Y’Lev would never do anything to destroy it.

And then, yet again, he found himself in an intimate embrace with the bulkhead, something from behind him knocking him to the ground from sheer force of movement, causing his entire side to sting as he glanced up at the corridors new occupant. It was as if Y’Lev were beholding the red-chest from the floor, though several years later in development. The being looked to be a Klingon, judging from the distinctive cranial ridges visible to the Orion, though his skin was alabaster, almost grey-toned from the presence of veins of metal crawling under his skin. Fastened to his eye, face and neck, were mechanical components and whirring devices, wires and tubes protruding from the back of his skull and snaking down to the metalic body armour fastened to his form.

This being wasn’t Klingon. At least, not anymore.

He moved like an automaton, lifting his left arm high to face a wall-mounted console and launching two snaking tubules from a metallic implant in his wrist, thudding silently into the console and slowly reconfiguring the Starfleet standard display to an ominously green toned panel.

‘You will be assimilated’

Suddenly Y’Lev painted an unpleasant picture of these beings in his head. It seemed that they forcibly corrupted others using some form of injection through the tubules in their wrists. Evidently it was some form of technological process, given the way the being was able to interact with and corrupt the console in front of it, but either way, it was a perversion of everything Y’Lev valued.

Beauty, freedom, pleasure…

The writhing form on the floor didn’t appear to be experiencing any modicum of pleasure…

A green thumb slid his rings around his right finger, positioning his dancerdagger before flicking his wrist to activate the blade, both ends of his ring shooting out with nothing more than a light tapping noise. The thin weapon glinted in his green hand, the silver metal gleefully spinning between his deft fingers as he poised himself with a combat grip ready to plunge one of the deadly sharp points into the back of the metallic Klingon’s head.

He struck with a smile and an overarm stab.

Then he found himself thrown into a wall.

A force field…

Y’Lev rolled himself to his feet and moved as quick as he could manage, putting several metres between the Borg and himself as he prepared his next move. His dancerdaggers were incredibly versatile weapons; the technological components inside the blades could be calibrated to emit a disruption pulse sufficient enough to penetrate a personal force field… However, he’d need a microfilament to activate the charge, which he didn’t have… Unless he took one from his false combadge… Though that would greatly diminish his chances of successfully accomplishing his mission…

“We are Borg.” Y’Lev glanced up at the announcement, noting that the drone working on the panel in front of him was now staring directly at him. “Your technological and biological distinctiveness will be added to our own.” The Borg, the drone, turned its body to face Y’Lev now, raising a claw-ending arm that opened and clamped menacingly. “Resistance is futile.”

With a grim chuckle to himself, Y’Lev flicked out his remaining dagger and adopted a combat stance.

He didn’t have any intention of being ‘added’ to anything…

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #23 – February 09, 2019, 08:41:57 AM

[ Ryuan Sel | Security Centre Lobby | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @trevorvw & others
[Show/Hide]

When the Borg made their usual call, Sel did not stop to listen. She was focused on her task. She was headed toward the transporter room first. If the Borg took them there, they could bring on reinforcements infinitely easier using the ships own systems against them. Sel had no interest in letting that happen. She knew the other teams would make it to other key areas and she knew that at least one of their very few Accipters would be with each team. With any luck, they would not fall into Borg hands and the Borg would not adapt very quickly to the many many settings of the weapon.

As she moved through the corridors she made a not of the concern and fear on the faces of people she hurried past. She kept her face a mask of determined anger. She knew she had to keep any fear she felt well hidden. She needed to be a face of strength, and as a Bajoran who had lived through being a slave to the Cardassians, she knew well enough to keep herself contained. It didn't matter that she was afraid. It didn't matter that she almost knew she was going to die and never see Sarresh again. None of it mattered. She had to move forward, she had to look strong and be strong.

Just outside the transporter room, she saw her first Borg. It's gray skin and protruding metal appliances made her stomach tighten. The Borg were like an undead creature from some old film, peering out of mechanical eyes and mottled skin.

She raised her weapon and took aim, squeezing the trigger and letting loose a beam of phased Tetryon particles that slammed into the Borg and quickly shot a hole clean through the drone. The beam was set to near its highest setting, Sel had figured it would be best to one hit kill as many Borg as possible, hoping that a dead Borg would not be able to send as much data on the weapon to the still living ones.

She ran past the dead Borg and into the Transporter room. 3 more Borg, one standing at the controls, another holding the former transporter chief by the shoulder. The chief had already been injected with nanoprobes and Sel could see, much to her horror and disgust, the black lines forming under his skin as they took control of him. 4 borg, that made 4 borg.

She held up her weapon and took aim, after the first shot did only a little to one Borg she set the Accipter to a rotating frequency and engaged a higher setting. The second shot disabled the first Borg and she quickly moved to take cover behind the console as a plasma beam shot past her and struck the wall.

She quickly adjusted her weapon again. Time to make use of other options.

When she stood up and aimed she squeezed the trigger and sent out a spray of tungsten carbide bullets, which promptly tore through both the former chief and the drone holding him. The final drone managed to get a shot and hit Sel in the shoulder as she turned to aim at it. The plasma beam cut through her armor and into her shoulder, but the armor did it's job, it kept the beam from cutting clean through her shoulder. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but her arm was still attached and not broken.

She took aim and fired at the last drone, the spray of bullets slamming into its personal shields for a second before overwhelming the shield and tearing into the drone. She knew well enough that trick was not going to work again. She was going to have to get more creative if she was going to hold out, and she had to hold out.

She tapped at the console and entered her command codes, powering down the whole of the central transporter system. Only emergency transporters would work now, at least until the system was powered back on, and that would take a minute or two. It wasn't much, but it would slow them down.

"Sel to Kai, I've shut down the central transporter system. I'll hold here, for now, let me know when you need me to pull back," she said into her badge after giving it a quick tap. There was no 'if she needed to pull back', at this point it looked like this might be as far as she went. But she wasn't going to go out without a fight. She owed that to Sarresh.

Re: CH05: BL [D06|1110] Storm Glass

Reply #24 – February 09, 2019, 11:01:29 PM

Lt Kaylon Jeen| Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Doc M. @Auctor Lucan , anybody else in Engineering.

"Sounds good tuh me sir!" O'Connell smiled sheepishly, his voice loud enough to be heard across the entirety of main engineering
O'Connell continued talking to the crew in Engineering essentially giving Kaylon command authority down in Engineering. Good. He was going to need them to react quickly if they were going to avoid being assimilated!

"Over tuh yew, Lieutenant." Kaylon nodded in acknowledgement.

At that moment, there was another hit, and the Petty Officer shouted "We've lost sixty one percent of shield two and shield three is down! I repeat, shield three is down!"

Damn! That was going to complicate matters, but maybe they could still pull this off.

"Dagnabbit," Billy Bob grunted. "Lew-tenant, take over here. There's uh li'l errand Ah gotta run" and he took off toward his office. Whatever it was, Kaylon hoped it was more important than just "an errand" but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He went into command mode. "Alright. Get a repair team on Shield Generator three!" he called out unnecessarily, then turned toward the Petty Officer that had reported the shield was down. "Route emergency power to shield two. We need to get it up to at least 52 percent in order for this to have a prayer of working. If you have to siphon off some power from number four to get it there, do it, but don't let number four drop below 52 percent either! Preferably, pull the power from somewhere else though!"

Turning to the Master Systems Display table, he stabbed the intercom. "Engineering to Bridge. Shield three is down. We're going to try something down here to try and compensate until we can get number three back up, but be prepared to repel boarders, just in case it doesn't work! Engineering Out!" As he wss talking, he was setting up the inverse frequency resonance. He called out "Adjust the sheild geometry to stretch the shields to cover as much space between two and four as possible. We're essentially stretching the dough a bit thin over the hole here!"

[ WE ARE THE BORG. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. ]

He watched on the display as the shield geometry changed and the tactical shield display showed the normally rounded bubble twist around look more like a pile of half-mashed Gagh. Shield three started flickering. Yes! It wasn't up yet, but he could tune the frequency to the inverse of those blips and that would help bridge the gap like opposite magnetic fields repeling the other, except the fields would be projecting outward, keeping things away instead of each other.

"Keep watching those levels, Ensign" he called out to Cir'Cie. They need to stay as stable as possible. If you can tweak them, do it."

"Here goes..." and he touched the control to start the frequency shift. As the shield status indicator showed that it was working, at least for the moment, he thought "..and the first part of Futile is 'F U', Borgies!"