Star Trek: Theurgy

Star Trek: Theurgy | Season 1 => Episode 05: Courage is Fear | Part 2 => Topic started by: Auctor Lucan on January 09, 2019, 09:54:47 PM

Title: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on January 09, 2019, 09:54:47 PM

CHAPTER 04: SUPPLEMENTAL [ DAY 06 | 1005 hrs. ] TO ARMS!


(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/8/8d/Episode-05-Versant-Bridge-Vacated.png) (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/8/8d/Episode-05-Versant-Bridge-Vacated.png)

[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
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"To arms!" Jien called, heart racing in his chest. He saw his crew, bedecked in Savi suits, answer the call, rushing towards the graviton rifles that the armoured guards left behind. From their vantage point at the centre of the bridge, they could see three entrances in the back, and twelve Starfleet officers were quickly splitting into teams to guard them all. Jien didn't even have to give the order.

Thoughts were rushing through his head, about the dire situation, about the Borg, and how they might best protect themselves against both the Scions and the armoured guards with their own supply of neonox to breathe. Jien could even feel the difference after Thea had altered the output of oxygen in the air. For days, they had all been forced to breathe neonox, making it difficult to move, to think. Now, it was better, but not quite what they were used to on the Theurgy.

"Thea," said Jien, turning to the hologram that literally held her own brain in her hands. "If oxygen is lethal to the Antes, why not beam them all out of here, and let us breathe as we should."

"Aye, Captain," said Thea, complying with the order. Flares of aquamarine made the prone Sclergyn and all the other Antes vanish, and a hiss from above signalled how the vents complied. "A word of caution, sir. Internal sensors show me that there are several life-signs moving towards the bridge, some Antes and some Scions. I have sealed all access points, raised transport inhibition fields around us, but both factions seem intent to reclaim this bridge, and I have already bypassed three attempts to wrest command access back from my link. They are trying to access helm control and other systems from other parts of the ship. They might even sabotage the power supply from the main reactor. I am using force fields and inoculation cannons to stop them, but right now, I am not certain how long I can remain in control."

Jien nodded, thinking. "We only need to reach your hull. Do you have an ETA yet?"

"Negative," said Thea, shaking her head. "The reactor is operational, but the repairs weren't finished after our battle with the ship. There are plasma leaks and cascade failures spreading through the aft grid of the ship. The ETA is changing by the second."

"How much energy do you have left in that tablet?"

"Ten minutes, fourteen seconds, so I do require another power supply," she said, turning the brain in her hands and showing the tablet she'd used to power up her brain, activating and its link to the Versant. "When Blue Tiran patched me into this ship's systems, I sent a message with the same kind of tightbeam link Dyan Cardamone used to speak with the Asurian Queen - which could only be done with Savi technology. I also installed programs that will keep spreading through the ship systems, which gives me direct access to their susbspace network. I am continuously updating those programs to stay ahead of Savi countermeasures."

"Tiran," called Jien and looked around, "Do we have a Blue Tiran here? Thea may use your help to get more power. Thea, can you send another message to the Theurgy?"

"I can, but it is inadvisable," said Thea, her face impassive as she fought the digital war for them, keeping the ship under their control. "Using that transponder, it would give the Savi leverage to regain control, and such a message may be picked up by other ships, and if there are Borg out there - or even Task Force Archeron - it might be detectable. Sclergyn was right in how this ship's technology should not benefit the Collective."

"Very well," said Jien, clenching his jaw. He looked around at the present officers that weren't guarding the doors. "Explore the alcoves up there. Four of you, set up sentry points overlooking the bridge. When we get off this ship, we need to bring that android with us."

"Pardon me," said the android, who was walking down from the dais upon which the throne stood. She was approaching Jien while she spoke, and her teal lens flared with the static audio of her words. "Please be informed that if I am to complete my allotted task, I have yet to gain access to the data from the Correction Program. It would be in your best interest that the DNA sequences and correction journals were uploaded to my memory banks."

"V-Nine, is it?" asked Jien, not sure what to make of the android.

"Yes, Aspect-Maker."

"It seems you need access to Starfleet protocol as well," said Jien and shook his head, not liking that title in the least. "Thea?"

"I can collect the data," said the hologram, "but someone needs to work with the android to give her access. I am standing by for upload."

"Thank you," said V-Nine politely, her lens looking around for someone that may help her.

"Captain!" called someone from the highest levels of the alcoves. "There are offices and living quarters up here, all vacated."

"Take the injured up there, along with those who need rest," said Jien, turning to face the streaming stars of the Azure Nebula. "If someone could brief me about what has happened aboard this ship since we were abducted, I'd be grateful." Having said this, he looked down at his hand, seeing how the skin still rippled, and that his morphogenic matrix needed time and sustenance to recover.

His own needs were moot, however, knowing that the Borg were in Federation space, and that he could see how the Infested might use that to their advantage. Could it even be that they orchestrated their coming?

Too many questions, all dire.


OOC: This is the main Supplemental thread for activity on the Versant's bridge following the conclusion of Chapter 04: True Nature. If you guys want to set up Supplemental threads of your own, you can use the naming convention CH04: S [D06|1005] Insert Title. Please don't let more than an hour last in these Supplemental threads, though, since they will be arriving at their destination soon enough. :)
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Fife on January 09, 2019, 10:52:22 PM
[ Lt. Cross | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @BZ @patches
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Cross watched Blue with an expression of deep concern as she tried to school her breathing, seeing the tears welling up in fearful crystalline blue eyes as she desperately fought to get herself under control. After a few moments, her breathing seemed to come somewhat easier, though the fear was still there. Cross could feel her small form trembling as she slumped against him, the damn metal pigeon being shoved into his face with the movement, though her made no complaint. If Blue needed a moment, the discomfort of having the annoying know-it-all machine pressing into his face was a small price to pay. After another moment he heard her voice, little more than a faint whisper, emanating form against his chest.

”I can’t fa..fail… I.. I can..can’t fail… not a… af… after everything.”

Cross lowered his head so that his chin rested on the top of hers, his useless left arm wrapping around her shoulders as his right hand moved up, the palm laying on the back of her head. ”You didn’t fail, Commander.” Cross murmured, quietly so as not to draw attention. He realized the moment the words left his mouth that perhaps rank wasn’t what she needed at this moment, when she seemed so frail. More frail than she had back in their hideout the night before, when she had fallen asleep against his shoulder.

Had that only been the night before? It seemed a lifetime ago since they had had refuge, a place to rest…

”We’ve only survived this long because of you, Blue. We only got this far because of what you’ve done.” He heard no response. When he spoke again, his voice carried a growling tone to drive the message home to her. ”Do you hear me? Everyone that is still alive is here because of what you did. You. Did. Not. Fail.”

Movement drew his attention then as R’Rori approached, hesitating for a moment before placing hir hand on Blue’s back. The counsellor rubbed Blue’s back gently for a moment, speaking to the distraught engineer in a soft tone. ”Hey Blue,” R’Rori said, ”I’m here for you.” Such a simple thing, those few words, but they carried such meaning. Why hadn’t Cross thought to say something like that? The fact that he wasn’t a counsellor, for one. The fact that he was the awkward, gruff and unsociable sort for another. R’Rori was here, that would help. ”Do I need to punch Shar for whatever she said to you?” Cross gave the counsellor a slight smile at those words, suspecting it was just the sort of thing Blue would appreciate.

”Tiran,” Came a voice, calling out form somewhere off in the room. The same voice that had called them to arms not long before. Cross had not turned from Blue at that call, knowing his combat effectiveness was minimal since the loss of his hand. There were other, more able-bodied officers present who could fight for now. ”Do we have a Blue Tiran here? Thea may use your help to get more power.”

Shit. Cross thought bitterly, his jaw clenching as he heard the call. Not now. She needs rest.

Duty called...

”Blue.” Cross said, speaking softly, ”Blue, they need you. Just a little more, then you can rest.” He hated asking it of her, seeing the state she was in, but she had worked with the AI Thea before, and she was probably the best person in the room for the job. ”Blue, you didn’t fail, but we’re not finished yet.” He straightened up and used his right hand to gently tilt her head up to look at him once again. ”They need you to help the AI with it's power supply.” The look in her eyes as they met his made his heart sink. He had seen similar expressions during the Dominion War among those who had been in the fighting too long, had seen too much. And before that in the camps, when prisoners had given up all hope.

That look was dangerous.

Her breathing seemed to have improved. She wasn't about to pass out. That was something at least.

”Come on, Blue. I’ll be right beside you. Just one more job.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Masorin on January 10, 2019, 02:02:03 AM
Lt Jg Hi'Jak (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Hi%27Jak) Walking onto Bridge Module | The Versant ] @Auctor Lucan  @Absinthe @Brutus
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It seemed that Lahkesis or whatever she was calling herself now was alive. He had to rejoin the rest of the crew. He had a lot of work that he needed to do, and as much as he liked her new look, and how much he may have wanted to stick around a female's naked body now was not the time for a booty call, now was the time to figure out a new plan.

also the air had shifted, he didn't exactly know what was going on with that, but he saw the two ante's in the room with them collapse. Knowing it was something to do with their crew, he readied himself, and walked outside.

Walking out into the bridge however, he saw everyone running about, the captain screaming orders at everyone. He blinked his one taking in the situation, hadn't there been like a dozen or so Ante's around here? he had come in just in time to see them all get swooshed away. Apparently Thea had taken control over the ship.

Everyone was grabbing the guns off the ground, he looked at his tablet, it seemed the ship had been infected with a virus... or rather it was being taken over by Thea. Guns, or technology, he knew which of the two he could do more with, and be more of a help with.

Jack walked up to V-Nine, the holographic Thea, and the captain whom had tried to assassinate him.

"I can read the Savi Network, I've been data-mining for the last few hours, and I've gotten relatively good at reading their network signals, I might be a touch slower, but I can help." The captain had asked for a briefing on what had happened.

"When we were brought aboard we were dissected and changed." He gestured with his hand to his forehead free of ridges. "We were put into a programmed version of the enterprise, and told that our memories would be erased. We managed to escape the hologram containment and broke into several teams, one to rescue you, one to rescue the fighter, one to go into the machine labs, another to find an egg, and the last was to grab the device linked to the ome-." He stopped himself for a moment she had ordered him not to talk about that under pain of death. He and the people who had come to the lab with him, the blue assassin, the other, Lahkesis, and Morali were the only people who knew what the box held aside from the captain who had ordered him to secrecy.

Ah how many orders had he violated so far. "The box."

"It seems most of if not all the teams retrieved their objective, but I can only speak for the mission on the box. You probably know more about the present threat going on than I do." He said looking around at those people whom were grabbing weapons. "That said while we were in the holographic enterprise me and Lieutenant Morali spent time to learn the language of the savi, the base root programming. my tablet has downloaded several collections of knowledge from their labs, including their research on the box, I have written a virus that deletes every file i copy from it's original, and then scours there database for all copies, doubling it's self with each copy found, meaning that anything my tablet downloads will be the only copy left."

He was injured, tired, he was lacking an arm and an eye, yet as the injured were being gathered he started to turn towards the Hologram of the traitor ship. "If we go to one of the larger ship consoles I can get a better access point than just my tablet."
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: BZ on January 10, 2019, 04:42:08 AM
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Falling Apart Piece by Piece | Complicated Monochromatic Puzzle | Held Together by Duct Tape and Will Power | One More Step to Victory]
@Fife @patches @Auctor Lucan

Sturdy.

Warm.

He was there against her, despite the owl on her shoulder, despite the fact that it was likely biting into his face or his shoulder.. or something.  He didn't shift, he held her instead.  Allowing his chin to drop onto the top of her head.  Her hands rose and curled into the fabric of his uniform.  She knew that she shouldn't rely on him so much, they had never been close before but she had a feeling that there were times that friendships were forged because of necessity.  She had needed someone to come in and give her just a little boost.  Reminding her that there were things to live for and things that she needed to.  There were things only she could do, she was here trying to breathe just trying to remind her lungs what they needed to do.  They had forgotten how to inhale and exhale, her muscles refused to move, and her heart was slowly shattering into small pieces. 

A complicated 3-D puzzle that was slowly losing the pieces that had always held it together.  The mortar, the cement, the glue that had held it together all these years had deteriorated over the last few days while she was alone in those vents, while she crawled through them and witnessed the horrors that were done to her own people.  While she subsisted on nothing but air and heartbreak. 

It had all come to this and the hammer that had shattered the pieces that had been stuck together through the sheer power of a will from a young girl that had never given up no matter what adversity she faced, had one name.  Shar.

His words came, and they brushed against her but fell useless in the dust that surrounded the internal integrity that was rapidly falling apart.  She swallowed heavily, she could breathe now but she felt light headed, she felt weird.  Her body tingled, and she wasn't sure that she was hearing right.  Didn't he know?  Didn't he know just how bad she had done for Ducote, how he would roll his eyes and realize that she had done nothing that she was supposed to.  She had made allies with the enemy, she had found her people, she had taken people out, she had killed.  Her hands carried the blood of the Savi ,and she had done everything she could to live and survive.  But perhaps that wasn't what she was supposed to do.

Maybe Shar was right, maybe he would be nothing but disappointed in her.  It would never, ever, be good that he was dead.  Never, would she stop feeling the ache, the absence of her heart and soul, never would that be acceptable, but at least.. at least he couldn't know her failures.  He told her that she couldn't have failed, and he pulled her off his chest.  She let go of the fabric of his shirt and her hands fell limply against the sides of her thighs.  There was a blood stain on his shirt now where her punctured palm had pressed against the fabric and balled up against it.  She looked up at him the nearly vacant blue eyes proved how far she had been pushed.  How close the edge she was.  Blue had always been such a strong woman but there were limits and with the lack of sleep, food, and normalcy.. with the cruelty of the world around them.. first hand experienced as well as the words of a mother fucking Andorian had fucked what was left of the strong woman.  She wanted to pull herself together, she wanted to let go and fall apart, she didn't know which way to go.  She didn't know what the fuck to do with herself as she looked up at the man that had become someone that stood beside her since last night and seemed to be there to help her.  He was the most unexpected support of it but she was so thankful.  He gave her something to grab onto. 

He reminded her.  Reminded her that she was the one that got them here.  That helped rescue them, made the allies, got them out of their little holes and got them into her safe zone.  Got them food, clothes, and while some had died, they were here ready to be rescued because.. because of her.  She took a shuttering breath.  He was right, it was her.  She had done everything she could, they would have all died, or been experimented on further.  A bit of clarity returned to her eyes as she searched his eyes. 

She searched for the lies.

She searched for the weakness.

She searched for that actual belief in her.

Another voice.  She shifted those crystalline eyes over to the side to see R'Rori having made their way to the both of them, and the young Blue Tiran looked over at her friend.  She had been a good counselor even though Blue knew that she had never made it easy.  She didn't like to talk about some things and no matter how often Ror prodded at those topics there was never a single time that she budged.  Blue had cold hard spots where she couldn't just open up and talk about things.  Pain that she didn't want to unwrap and deal with.  Only Ducote... only her sweet Ducote knew all the secrets to the life of Blue Tiran and why she had wrapped herself up so tightly.

Ror was exhausted, Blue felt it in her very soul, in the bones that seemed to be so heavy that she could hardly move them, in the every lift and collapse of her chest as she breathed out.  Her body was so tired, and she knew that Ror was the same.  Blue's brow rose as Ror mentioned that she would be willing to punch Shar for her.

“I'd pay a fucking shit ton of money to see that.” she whispered softly and brushed at her face angrily smearing the dirt and debris of days without a shower and the tear streaks that had made their way down earlier and into the suit that Cross wore.  Swallowing heavily she bit her lower lip.  She just wanted to rest.  She could hear something about oxygen levels, and she could tell that something was happening.  Some kind of shift, but Blue was not really paying attention.  She had gotten them this far and there was a Captain now, hopefully the woman.. man.. whatever could get this shit finished up and they could go the fuck home.

Blue swallowed. 

“Cro-”

“Tiran!”  Blue's head shot up, and she tilted her head to the side, swallowing again as her eyes searched the room to find the Captain, now male, calling out for her.  She rose her brow and her eyes shifted to Cross.  Exhausted didn't begin to touch what she felt right now, she was surprised that she hadn't fully collapsed on the ground at this point.  She had gotten this far.  “Do we have a Blue Tiran here?  Thea may use your help to get more power.”

She nearly collapsed. 

I have to fucking move.  I have to fucking work.  I'm so fucking tired.  I want to sleep.  I want to sleep forever.  I never want to wake up again.  He's gone... he's gone and...

Cross shook her out of her head before she could get too lost in the despair that was starting to swallow her again.  Her eyes locked on his as he told her that they needed her help.  He was right, they did, she was good.  She was great.  Fuck she was fucking talented as shit and Cross knew it.  There was a reason she had been the Chief Engineer of the Endeavour.  Swallowing heavily as he bucked her up, promising that she just needed to do this one thing and then she could rest.  A weak smile crossed her face, and she reached up and she hugged the man that had been there for her.  He was, different, not like Ducote, but he was like... instant family.  She had let him in a way that took her years to do with anyone.  He was a good man, and a good support for her.  She didn't know how this had all happened and worked all together.. but she wasn't going to turn her back on it.

Her eyes though, they told a story, the story of a woman that was near the ledge still.  She could still go over, she was balancing precariously on the edge.  She nodded, as he told her just one more job.

Time to fucking duct tape your shit together, Blue Tiran, you have shit to do.

“One more job.” She whispered softly and took a deep breath letting out the shuttering breath on the way out.  Giving a nod she turned with Cross to make her way over towards the situation.  As she walked she pulled the crinkly packet out of her pocket, the clear cellophane was not as loud as she thought as she ripped it open and liberated the sponge cake from it's interior.  She took half of the cake in one bite, the sugar and the taste grounded her in a way that few things in her life could.  She swallowed and shoved the other half in there chewing as they walked, her blue hair was not easily missed, and neither was the fact that she was making a beeline for the Thea and the captain.

“I'm Blue.” she said simply as she gave a half wave to the Captain that stood there with Thea.  She took the Padd from the man and looked down at the power supply and what was going on and then she sighed.  “Fucking... power drain is substantial.”

[Miss Blue, Thea requires a great deal of power to complete the processes required to do her jobs.]

“No shit, Sherlock.”

[I do not see the purpose of this statement.]

“It means I know what the fuck I'm looking at you idiotic metal bird.  You don't have to state the obvious.  I can fix her.”

[Well of course you can, you are an Artificial Intelligence Expert and -]

“Yeah we don't need a fucking list of my attributes, this isn't a fucking dating advertisement.”

[Do people not need to be aware of your accolades?]

“No, they sure as fuck don't.”

[Miss Blue if you were unaware you were in the presence of a Federation Captain, it is my duty to inform you of such.]

“I'm fully aware.” Blue looked up at Ives after the altercation with Albert and she gave a nod.  “I'm going to borrow her for a minute.” she said, without asking she just took Thea and her PADD over to one of the wall panels and settled her down for a moment.  Opening her bag she pulled out a long handled screw driver with a flat head and placed it against the sheer plastic that held the lighting of the Bridge within it.  She popped it hard with her hand and it broke into the plastic.  Using her hands she tore out the plastic and tossed the light fixture to the ground with little fanfare.  This enabled her to get into the wiring behind the wall unit and find what she was looking for.  She couldn't read Savi, but she could figure out some fucking wiring.  Trading her screwdriver for a flashlight that was old but bright she checked out the wires and pulled out a couple. 

The black, the green, and the red.  Yanking at them a little to loosen them, most wiring had a bit of play for the times that they needed to be worked on, and it was just enough.  Putting the flashlight in between her teeth she used a pair of wire cutters to sever the wires and watched as the lights in this particular section of wall flicker out without the power, but the lower ones stayed in tact.  She stripped the wires and began to fiddle with everything getting the wires prepped.  Using her teeth, her fingers, and small tools that she found in her seemingly magic bag.  She finally seemed ready and picked up the padd.  Using a small screwdriver and a set of tools she popped off the back of the padd and accessed it's wires before she twisted everything together. 

Reaching into the bag she pulled out an old, almost spent, roll of electrical tape and quickly secured everything together so that a gentle tug wouldn't sever it so easily.  She needed to make sure that everything was going to work.  She watched as the power flowed back into the battery pack that was in the back of the PADD and began to charge it and began to allow Thea to have a more steady stream of the power that it was coming.  The PADD was mostly just a conduit, but it's surge protection would also help protect Thea if something happened though it shouldn't.  That was why Blue had picked lighting wires and not something more potent like the consoles and flight controls that would possibly be accessed by exterior forces.

“There you go, you should have ample power now.  Do your... Thea thing.” she said, holding the PADD and Thea back out to the Captain.  “I can work on a portable pack for you if you need it, but it'll take some more time.  I'll need to get some PADDs together for that, and it'll take some fucking time to modify this shit, but it can be done.” she shrugged as if it was just simple. 
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: steelphoenix on January 10, 2019, 05:59:48 AM
[ Deacon | Day 6 | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage   @BZ   @Numen  @FollowTomorrow @SummerDawn  @patches  @Fife  @Numen @Absinthe

Were Deacon inclined to the human proclivity of smiling, he would do so, but appearance aside, he was decidedly not human and the act seemed so foreign to him except as an act of hostility.  Why else would one bear their fangs ... or even their teeth ... at another if not in challenge?  The monkeys were hopelessly backwards.  Still, smile or not, Deacon felt a certain amount of amusement as Theurgy seized control of the bridge, rendering their captors unconscious in a matter of seconds and presenting him once more with what he seemed perpetually denied.

Giving K'Ren another kiss, one that seemed to beg her patience, he turned pointing to two able bodied crewmembers.  "You, you, help me gather anything and everything that is not nailed down.  Weapons, datapads, instruments.  We need to be able to defend the pride should they break through Theurgy's defenses and we are not leaving this place ignorant -- they used us to further their knowledge, it is only fair that we claim what we can of that knowledge.  We'll need to secure those alcoves until we are within transporter range of the ship."

At home, as a Black Priest, he spoke for the Fanged God.  He spoke for the pride.  He spoke for the patriarch.  Few had authority to countermand his directions, even as long ranked as he was.  But for the barest of moments, it felt easy to forget his circumstance, to command, to direct, to overstep his bounds.

Here, he did not have that same authority.  His presence did not inspire fear and obedience.  He paused, straightening himself as he cleared his throat, casting a glance over his shoulder at Ives before turning fully and inclining his head.  "With the captain's permission?" he said with an inquisitive note.  The pride answered to Ives.  Absent the Captain's acquiescence, Deacon's words bore as much weight and consequence as the neonox being expelled from the room.

Not waiting to see if any others followed, Deacon set himself to ascending to the positions of the former guards, intent on securing the abandoned graviton rifles first and foremost, providing as much clear space as necessary for the engineers to support Theurgy.  He was weary, as he expected the others were, but the danger had not passed, and even should they return to the ship, they would need to ensure this vessel vanished down some unfathomable hole lest it seek vengeance upon them.  Now was not the time to succumb to heavy limbs, sore muscles and lidded eyes.  A wave of nausea swept through him, a twinge in his gut that brought bile and stomach acid to his mouth, causing him to stumble for a moment, the contents spilling out onto the floor in a dribble of green and yellow... and red.  He wiped his lips with the back of his wrist, catching his breath, doing his utmost not to dwell on the crimson flecks that shown in the vomit at his feet.  Now was not the time.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on January 10, 2019, 02:07:10 PM
[ Khorin, son of Margon, of House Mo'Kai (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Khorin_Douglas) | Bridge Module | The Versant ]
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Att: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage    @BZ    @steelphoenix   @FollowTomorrow @SummerDawn   @patches   @Fife   @Masorin  @Absinthe @chXinya 

"To arms!"

The captain's voice took away Khorin from the small universe into which he had sunk, one that consisted only in Zhepyr's eyes. One that had caught him with the gravitational effect of a black hole. He slowly averted his gaze from the event horizon of her eyes and looked around. The situation seemed to have rushed in the last minutes, but now Ives had control of the starship's bridge. For the moment. He (given that at some point he had left behind the more feminine shape to dress himself with his masculine appearance) distributed orders all around everyone present in the hall, with the authority and determination that the Klingon remembered well. It was good to have him back. He made them been better as a whole.

The pilot turned his look back to Zephyr and ran his fingers down the line of her jaw. And he smiled again. He couldn't do anything else to prevent himself of smiling every time he looked at her. However, he couldn't overlook that she still had Nerina's blood in her cheek, where he hadn't wipe it off. He wouldn't let the same thing happen to her. No, not her. He wouldn't fail this time. Khorin kiss her again, briefly, with his hands on her cheeks. "Another fight, Kyamo" he murmured, his ridged forehead resting on hers. The trill of the fight grew inside him again, but he felt a reticence that he hadn't felt before. It was not fear. A Klingon never felt fear. He wasn't worried about her, she had proven to be a capable fighter, more than able to protect herself. But he had witnessed the death of others because of his own recklessness. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake another time. Not when they were so close to getting back to their own starship. With her. That day could be a good day to die, but he needed to live. They needed to survive. "I'll make you proud to fight by my side, Kyamo" he rumbled before turning away from her.

Amidst the cacophony of shouts and orders, he had recognized how the humanoid with feline tail and murderer eyes was gathering weapons and any object that might prove useful in the coming scuffle. Khorin trotted to that direction, nodding to the tall felinoid on his way to the growing pile of weapons and artifacts. Deacon, if he remembered well his name, had the mentality of a warrior. And it was exactly what they needed at that time. Without stopping to check if he had seen his show of respect, Khorin rummaged through the weapons until he found a pair of graviton rifles. The way weapons were clung was strange, their butt and trigger adapted to the Savi three long fingers. But he didn't have time to get used to it. He hung one of the rifles from his shoulder and gripped the other tightly with his right hand, noting with satisfaction how his patched arm was becoming more or less functional. He still felt a dull pain where the bone had pierced the skin, but that would remind him how it had happened. It would keep him focused.

When he looked away from the weapons, his eyes met Cross's for a moment. He was paler than he remembered, his cheeks slightly sunken, the sockets of his eyes tinged with a greenish hue that made him look sicker than usual. And he lacked a hand. The Klingon frowned, and brought his free hand to his new scar. "Cross!!!" He barked to get the attention of the bitter vulcan. When the pointed-eared man turned towards him, Khorin directed him his best sideway grin. "Brother, don't keep losing more limbs. It will be harder for me to find you a woman if you strive to be uglier everytime we meet! " Khorin teased him with a loud laugh. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and looked for Zephyr.

His long strides carried him back to her in an exhalation and he handed her the weapon that hung from his shoulder. Then he pointed to one of the entrances with his bearded chin and trotted there. Hardly as he had positioned himself outside the door, his shoulder against the dark bulkheads, and the weapon humming in his hands, as a graviton beam went through the sealed door, shot from the other side. Behind that first beam appeared another, and another more later, slowly opening a new way in, cutting the plates to allow their enemies to penetrate the bridge. "Enemies incomming!" Roared the Klingon, aiming his weapon and ready himself to fire.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: patches on January 13, 2019, 05:51:45 PM
[ Lt. R'Rori | Bridge Module | The Versant ] @Auctor Lucan

The response to her offer was a subdued one from Blue but it was still something. R’Rori smiled slightly, the vague sense of amusement competing with the sympathy s/he had for the engineer’s exhausted state. There was some more yelling and then someone called for Blue. R’Rori watched as Cross rallied the engineer for “one last job”. S/he nodded in approval after Tiran walked off and took a deep breath of hir own in preparation for getting up.

Breathing seemed easier somehow, more like the air s/he was used to breathing. S/he looked over at where Blue was chatting with the AI and the captain. Had they change the air mixture? If the ship was truly theirs for now, it would explain it. Somehow, it was a connection s/he hadn’t made before. Some of the fog in hir brain lifted and it felt like it was less sheer effort to force hirself to stand back up. Maybe they could make it through after all.

Then it’ll be nap-time. All those jokes about cat naps in the Academy and I’m going to fulfill every one of them.

R’Rori was not quite aware of exactly how long it had been since the Endeavour was destroyed. Intellectually, s/he could probably explain why but for now, it was just this strange feeling of not quite synchronized with time. No clocks, no schedule, a token effort at maintaining a day / night cycle in the labs that s/he mostly ignored. Dissociation, pain, and fatigue had a funny way of doing that. All that mattered was the here and now and surviving it. S/he was useless in a battle, but there were a few things the counselor could do nonetheless. One of them was a message s/he hadn’t had the opportunity to pass along yet, but that seemed vital now that s/he saw Sinead’s face in the crowd and recalled it.

S/he stretched leisurely, groaning at the relief of hir joints cracking, and took in another deep breath. It rejuvenated hir enough to make the trip to the shape-shifter in charge. Cross and Tiran were busy doing their thing. It was time to do hirs.

“Are you the captain of the Theurgy? I’m Lieutenant R’Rori. I was chief counselor aboard the Endeavour.” Good, formal greeting. Maybe s/he wasn’t a lost cause right now after all. “There is something you may wish to know of one of your crew. A lieutenant junior grade … Sinead O’Riley.”

R’Rori paused a moment to gather hir thoughts and figure out how to say what Sinead asked hir to warn the others about. S/he put one hand behind an ear and scratched the spot absentmindedly before continuing.

“She claimed that a device, some sort of chip, was implanted in her head that that the Savi can … control, triggering a state where she no longer has control of her body and will attack anyone in sight.”

S/he spoke slowly, needing that extra time to recall the conversation and place it within the right context. Hir eyes drifted away from Ives’s face to focus on something far off.

“She wanted me to warn the others about it and to … be ready to kill her if it came to it. She also claimed to have memories of this being implanted years ago. By Starfleet.”

R’Rori returned hir gaze to meet the captain’s and gestured in the vague direction of where s/he saw Sinead last. “You’re the first I’ve told about this and I don’t know if Sinead has told anyone else.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: BZ on January 14, 2019, 04:42:39 AM
[Lt. Zephyr Praise | When Hearts Beat as One | Klingon Battle Buddies | Time to Fight | Making a Stand for the Future]
@Numen

Kyamo.

She had heard the word several times, a name that he called her.  While she knew it was likely a pet name she had no idea of the meaning as she had never studied Klingon.  She knew that it meant something to him but she was hoping it was something sweet.  Though she was pretty sure it was.  While she wasn't heavily attuned to Khorin himself, empathically yet, she knew somewhat of the Klingon psyche having worked with them before and found herself pretty sure that whatever it meant, it was a good thing.  Zeph looked into his eyes as he brought her back around to his attention.  Forcing all that was going on around them to fade into the background again, the way that it did constantly when they were together.  Her heart beat slowed as her eyes gazed upon the man in front of her as he explained the beauty of the phrase.

A slow warm smile spread across her face, wide and filling, light shone from her eyes as she gave a small nod.  He kissed her then before anything else could occur.  So much passion, and future desires, in that one press of their skin together.  Kissing him made her heart race, her head sway, and her body want to lean further into him as much as she could.   This was not the place for such thoughts and activities but there was something about Khorin that pulled it out of her regardless. 

“I am going to do research on what I wish to call you.” she smiled softly.  “For now, Khor will have to do.”  she brushed her thumb against the apple of his cheek, her lips still tingling slightly from the heavy kissing of moments ago.  It was now, more than even in the closet, that she wished they could go somewhere by themselves.  Get to know each other, throw caution to the wind and see where this could take them.  Already, their destinies seemed tied to one another and she was eager to see just where they could take it in the future. 

I am so glad I ran away.

Zephyr had not felt her heart stirred by a single person in her life since Ethan.  She had thought about dating from time to time but she never had found anyone that really felt right.  So she hadn't pushed it.  She figured that when the time was right she would find someone that was worth it.  When she stopped looking all together, she had.. she had finally found someone that made her heart race and her blood pump quickly in her veins.  He turned away when he heard the Captain, and Zephyr herself snapped out of the spell that came when ever Khorin was in the same room as her.  Finally, she looked around and noticed that people were arming up.  Things had changed and the Captain had as well.  Where once had stood a woman, now stood a man, and he was the one giving orders.

Khorin turned back to her and her own smile answered his.  She smiled brightly as he carressed her cheeks and whispered that it was battle time.  That it was time for them to go fight side by side and he would make her proud to fight by his side.  His kiss was quick, but gentle, and she would never get tired of the way that he rested his ridged forehead against her own.  Her fingers softly brushing through his hair as best as they could as with ill care and all the battle it was a bit matted in places.  “I would be proud to fight beside you any day.” she admitted.

Khorin left, and Zeph quickly checked her medical supplies while he was gone.  Her kit wasn't going to last forever, but she could do a little more if it was necessary.  No one else had come to find her so she assumed that no one else was in need of as much care.  But, she also knew that very few people knew her and she hoped that if they needed help they would at least recognize the crest on the medkit for what it was.  That or word would spread of her Medical Prowess because there was nothing stronger than a Klingon's lungs and his ability to scream across an entire deck full of chatty people.  Which he decided to prove her mental point at this very moment by calling out to Cross.  Zeph stood up and put her medical kit around her shoulders so that it hung on her left shoulder and against her right hip.  Shifting it's weight carefully she made sure it wouldn't be in the way and prepped to figure out what her purpose was going to be in the next array.

Her body was tired, her mind was on fire, and her heart had not felt lighter in years.  Eyes shifted and found the familiar face of Khorin, with two rifles, making his way back to her.  She smiled brightly at him as he stopped in front of her.  He handed her a rifle, she took it and put it on her shoulder looking up into his eyes.  He motioned towards the door and her gaze followed.  Wordlessly she followed in his footsteps as they made their way towards the door.  He took one side, she took the other, and both of them watched as beams began to cut through the door to make way for the enemies on the other side.  Chaos was about to ensue, and her eyes shifted to the large man that bellowed out a warning to all the people in the room. 

She gave him a smile.

“I am with you.” she said simply. 

It wasn't to give him weight, or worry, no burden to be lay upon his already heavy shoulders.  She didn't care about the smear of blood on her cheek, or the fact that his hands had put it there.  She didn't know the story only the sorrow that he felt internally when he saw it every time.  She would not let him weaken, neither would he let himself.  But, she was there for him, and this battle they would, once again fight side by side as they had in the hallway.  When they had become one in the most strange change of fate she had ever experienced in her life.

As the hole in the door widened to allow some of their enemies to at least aim at the people inside, Zeph took a position so that she could shoot out of the same hole they were using.  There was nothing she could shield herself with, no crates, or consoles, it was fairly open here and she knew that it was dangerous to be so close to the fight but it was best they at least tried to get it under control.  She flipped her weapon on and let it charge up.  Watching the shadows and silhouettes as they grew closer.  Watched the number of beams darting into the room and waited until the right time.  As soon as she saw the first of the odd skin color appear, she shot.  Raising her rifle to her shoulder, she shot through the hole. She wasn't aiming to actually kill anyone, though if that happened she wouldn't be sad, she might mourn the loss of life later but as a doctor she was fairly used to losing people at this point.  Still, right now her main job was suppressing fire.  Allowing, Khorin and other better marksmen to actually lay waste to the beings beyond. 

She could see the spray of blue as she landed some hits, and continued to work.  Pressing the trigger on the weapon every time that she could making it work as fast as she could to help in the fight to keep the Savi at bay.

They had come too far not to survive now.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on January 14, 2019, 02:42:13 PM
[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
A thousand things encroaching upon his thoughts, Ives had no time to clear his mind as he gazed at the viewscreen. The abuse at the hands of the Scion was fresh in memory, so the expectations on him - as a leader - weighed heavy indeed. Still, he needed to get his crew, and the survivors from the Endeavour, to safety. Question was, if there was any safety at all to be found, when both the Borg and Admiral Sankolov could be in their very sector?

First thing he heard, which made him turn from the viewscreen, was Deacon - yeah, at this point, hearing his voice and word-choices again, Jien was certain it was the Kzin. He was selecting people to aid in gathering things from the alcove that might help them. If it was Deacon, he held no rank to do so, but it was almost as he the Kzin read his mind, since he turned to Jien and acknowledged his authority in the matter. Jien couldn't help a faint smile ghosting his face, in spite of everything that had happened on the Versant. "Go ahead. We need all means we have available to hold the bridge and command of this ship."

"I'm Blue."

Jien turned, and locked eyes with a woman who seemed more weary than the rest. He had picked up words about what she'd done for the abductees - the hideout and this arrangement with the Voice - but there wasn't any opportunity to speak of it, the urgency too great. She knew it too, since she picked up the Savi tablet that Thea had connected to her positronic brain. The pale-skinned woman was immediately assessing the situation, but what gave Jien true pause was the metallic owl speaking to her. Jien frowned, since the thing seemed to display properties of high intelligence. He glanced at Thea, who spoke to Jien quietly during the exchange between Blue Tiran and the bird.

"That is Albert. The Savi might have been able to replicate some of my program, and installed it in him. An experiment, obviously, since they would likely use me for purposes more beneficial for their work," she said, holding her own positrionic brain in her hands while Blue was examining the datapad it was connected to. "I am beaming in the Starfleet weaponry that was confiscated when we got here. They were still in their buffers, Captain."

Soon enough, Tiran said she needed to borrow Thea, and the A.I. accompanied the woman, leaving Jien with the Android... and someone who seemed very familiar.

The long-haired human had lost both an eye and an arm, and the moment he approached V-Nine, the android raised a hand, and... something happened with her index finger and thumb. They shifted, opening, and she appeared to be scanning the human while he spoke to Jien. Somewhere, there was a sound of someone retching, but Jien's frown was directed to this man that he couldn't place. He was offering to help with the android, and began to brief Jien. He spoke of the Correction Program, details which had been divulged to Jien in other ways, but the different objectives... these were news to Jien, and for the moment, he didn't think about how the name of the man still escaped him. The fighter? Which fighter? The only egg I've heard about is the Ovri egg... And the Ome-

That was when he managed to place the man's changed face. When he almost divulged what the Savi had collected from the Theurgy. The Omega Device. The man in front of him, who just told him that Sarresh Morali was aboard as well, along with having done data mining on the ship, was Hi'Jak. He was heading towards Thea, whom Blue Tiran was working with to secure her brain's power supply, but Jien stopped them man. "A moment, Junior Lieutenant. Stay right there. Lieutenant zh'Wann, can you come over here?"

Meanwhile V-Nine seemed to have finished her scan of the dismembered man. Her fingertip and thumb sealed themselves, and she addressed the man standing in his path. "I do not have access to your Correction journal yet, but I am able to detect freshly knitted tissues. My diagnostic is that you used to have Klingon DNA. Your choice, should I be able to get access to your journal, is whether or not I should merely make cosmetic changes, or restore your body to it's original state. Depending on medical technology available at the time, you may also decide between a prosthetic replacement for your eye and your hand, or if I should clone the missing parts for you. Please state your preferences."

Meanwhile, the voice of Blue could be heard, being finished with Thea, and she approached Jien again, who didn't look away from the back of the Imperial spy in their midst. While Blue said she needed time for a portable solution. Jien nodded, acknowledging her with quiet gratitude. "Thank you, Tiran, for everything you've done for us. If we have need for it, I'll let you know. In the meantime, you need to rest. Dismissed, Commander."

A woman with Caitian ears and a tail approached, just as Ida came up to Jien. He looked towards the Andorian first. "Please wait with Junior Lieutenant Hi'Jak, Ida," he said, and turned towards the new face, the Chief Counselor on the Endeavour, who started talking about Sinead O'Riley, who had been one of those that liberated Jien. With a half an ear, Jien was listening to Ida too, who had gone to Hi'Jak. Jien still didn't let the man out of sight, and that was why he tried to pick up on what Ida was saying as well.

"How did Doctor Saugn fare?" the Andorian was asking the dismembered man, standing there with a rifle that she had acquired, followed by, "Do you know why the Captain wishes to speak with us?"

Satisfied that Ida also had her eye on the spy, Jien turned his full attention to the former Caitian. She had collected her thoughts, it seemed, and then went on to tell Jien about what they had done to Sinead. This woman, who wasn't even supposed to have been aboard, but had come aboard to protect Jien. As grateful as Jien was for it, what R'Rori was saying was highly disconcerting. And to add another level to it, Sinead had claimed that Starfleet put that chip in her head too? Of course, Jien turned his head to locate the Engineer, and when he spotted her, he knew he had a choice on how to take care of the threat the woman represented, either by the conventional means of a phaser, or....

He looked back at R'Rori. "Bring this... V-Nine with you, and make the android take care of that chip by the quickest means possible. Also, take someone from Security here with you, just in case. Thank you, Lieutenant. Hopefully, we can stop the Savi from making use of her while she is inside the bridge with the rest of us."

Finally, Jien turned to Hi'Jak and Ida, and while he set his steps towards them, he changed... to her female form. With those steps, she also recalled the woman that had contacted her on the Theurgy during the away-mission to the Coreless Moon.

"Greetings from the IKS Hakkarl, Captain. I am Zyrao Natauna, Strategist for the Hakkarl and for the Klingon Defense Forces.  I fear you have a mole and traitor in your midst.  Curiously, does the name Hi'Jak come with any... recognition?"
Carrigan had warned her about trusting the Imperial operative that had come aboard from Starbase 84, but she had seen the opportunity to let this Junior Lieutenant Hi'Jak prove his loyalty, and to use his connection to the Klingon Empire in order to reach Martok. When she reached the two, she spoke to Ida. Her voice was quiet, her stare upon the man unblinking. "Did you make sure Hi'Jak here contacted Martok and gave him my message?"

"Yes, Captain. He was reluctant at first, admittedly, thinking he knew better than you. I thought he was about to get aggressive about it, so I had to be persuasive. The message was sent, however. After that, we fought alongside agai-"

"Did you verify that it was actually sent to Martok as well?" asked Jien next, which made Ida frown and shake her head. Jien then continued, looking the Imperial spy dead in the eye. "Because it was someone from the IKS Hakkarl that contacted me instead. The ship of his son, Drex. Though I spoke not with him, but someone named Zyrao Natauna."

"I don't know who that is," said Ida quietly, and she was also looking at Hi'Jak now. "I was shot, in a battle with Klingons... who had just landed on the Coreless Moon as well. As if they knew... that we were there. I also saw the ship the Klingons came from on the Sabine's sensors. They were, indeed, from the Hakkarl."

"Indeed," said Jien, and there was no question about her tone now. "That is because Miss Natauna told us we had a traitor in our midst. This would explain why your mission was compromised. I must admit, I feel like a fool, defending this man and choosing to put my faith in him, even though my First Officer warned me about him. Apparently, he is exactly the kind of imbecile Trent claimed."

Ida, she wore her ire on her sleeve instead, likely because she had led the people in that away-mission, and she just learned who was to blame for it going sideways. Her reaction, as plain as it was in her countenance, was manifest in her next movement. She struck out, hard, with her first - hitting Hi'Jak across his face with such force that he almost spun a whole turn before he fell to the deck of the bridge. Then, she checked him with her rifle - pointing it right at the man. "Permission to neutralise this threat, Captain?"

"Permission granted," said Jien, and turned away in disdain, leaving Ida to shoot the man where he laid, regardless what he might try to say. Jien heard Ida fire, and belatedly, it struck her that the Andorian might have used a kill setting after all they had been through. The light that lit the bridge, however, was blue, and Jien was content to know the traitor had merely been stunned. "Tie him up, in case he wakes up, and give that datapad of his to Thea so that she might secure any information on it."

Then, came a call from the back of the bridge, where there was a lot of commotion. "Enemies incoming!" called a Klingon that Jien think might have been one of the Lone Wolves, and a lot of able bodies moved to address the threat. Jien kept an eye on the development while he spoke to Thea. "Aid them as best as you might. Raise more force-fields out there, and beam the Savi away from here," she said, while she walked towards V-Nine, R'Rori and Sinead, heading to where they had gone. "And make sure you get those journals."

"Aye, Captain," said Thea, standing there at one of the consoles with her brain in her hands, and with Ida close by, using wires from the opened console to restrain the stunned traitor. Sympathetic, Jien wondered what had been most shameful for the Andorian. To have that Andorian breeding experiment divulged publicly, or learning that someone she'd fought alongside had betrayed her and her away-team. That she had failed. Jien wasn't sure.

"Sarresh Morali," she called out while she ambled towards the small gathering, "walk with me."


OOC: Given the amount of things that happened since my last post, I hope you all are all right with the timing and order of events I settled on for the development. Please let me know if I need to make any edits, but this was the most realistic solution I could come up with, given that so many people interacted with Ives, haha! Moreover, I also wish to add that @Masorin gave consent to let anything happen to his character in this post, just so that you all don't think I am taking liberties here, lol!

Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Masorin on January 14, 2019, 04:56:16 PM
Lt Jg Hi'Jak (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Hi%27Jak) | Bridge Module | The Versant ] @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]

When he heard the captain call for him Jack felt a pit in his stomach. Several voices in his head telling him to run especially as the blue assassin was called over.  Soon enough all became clear as the two started talking, Ives knew. Jack wasn't sure exactly how they knew what he had done on SuD Lang, probably a survivor from the team told them. Looking to Ida he shrugged. "She will live." It was the only answer he could really give when it came too Lahkesis's changes he didn't have the time to study her properly.

He was distracted for a moment as he heard V-Nine speak and offer him correction back to his original body. Cosmetic would not do, for Jack it was full reinstatement of his half breed genetics or nothing, unfortinutely he had far more pressing matters to deal with as the two started talking about the transmission Ida had sent.

"persuasive measures, You pointed a gun at my head and told me you were going to kill me. You didn't even lower the gun after~" He said loudly, only to feel the fist slam across his face a moment later his left side the broken side took the blow, but his vision out of his one remaining eye still went wonky as once again Ida put a gun to his face and asked to neutralize the threat.

"You betrayed me first! I had a deal with your officers, You changed it, and she tried to kill me on~" He didn't finish his sentence he didn't know if Ives even listened as he screamed at them. He was cut off as the weapon fired and his body hit the ground.

As they took his pad, they would learn that he had done several layers of encryption, not wanting his stolen information in the hand of enemies he had put them behind a fail safe a single termination password, try to subvert the encryption and all the stolen research died, guess the password even once wrong and the information died, try to hook up the pad to an outside source and the information died. Jack's deletion virus would be set upon the tablet it's self and spread through any network that it was hooked up too, including thea's neural network.

he may have been an idiot of a spy, but he wasn't a complete idiot, he knew a bargaining chip when he saw one, and he had made sure that his stolen information stayed with him.

Tied up and put aside to be dealt with later, at least they would know he wasn't infected as the man was most certainly out cold. 
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on January 14, 2019, 09:34:12 PM
[ LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Kelleshar_sh%27Zenne)|  Bridge Module | The Versant ]
[Show/Hide]

Att: @Auctor Lucan @chXinya 




Shar closed her eyes. She closed her eyes so hard that ahe began to see cobalt flecks behind her eyelids. She cletched her jaw. She clenched her jaw until her teeth screeched and the thin muscles of her cheeks were marked like strings. Trying to contain the blush that climbed her cheeks. The anger, the desperation that knotted in the pit of her stomach. The shame and humiliation was such that her free hand trembled against her side, while the other squeeze Shall's hand. Their only hope, that what they had to go through at least gave them a chance for the future of their kind. A way to stop Andoria's decline, the death of their people. However, everything has been a lie. They had only been lab rats in the hands of their captors. A mere curiosity. The egg that grew inside her only made the situation more painful, knowing that it was probably fully viable. But its future had been decided the night before, in the darkest hour.


The memory of her 'conversation' with Ida did nothing but increase the belittling she felt against herself. She had believed, just for a moment, that she still had something left to fight for, when Shall had approached her. But she had failed him again,  she had failed everyone, as she failed in any undertaking she tried. The emptiness that threatened to devour her completely returned to be present, stronger than ever, reminding her that there was nothing left of what she was. Of what she used to be. What remains was just an empty shell.


A twinge of pain in her right hand drew her mind away from her gloomy thoughts and the eyes of the shen traveled to the hand that held hers, ascended the arm covered by the Savi's jumpsuit... when they reached the face of the chan, her pale eyes darkened suddenly, under a deep frown. She knew what she was looking at. She had seen it too many times in her own face. The reflection of that state on someone else creeped her up.


"Shall," she whispered quietly, her voice barely perceptible in the Bridge's uproar.


There was no answer.


"Irnashall," she said, raising her voice, trying to impose it to a male voice that barked orders in the background.


Her fingers were released of the trap that had catched them and, almost immediately, she launched herself over the scientist's corpulent figure.


"SHALL!" She barked warningly as she tried to reduce her ch'te. But it was not enough, it was not strong enough.


"SELH !!!" She pled at the top of her lungs, looking around for another blue face.


The only one she found was Ida's, which at that moment repeatedly fired over another abductee.


"Shelat" was the only thing Shar could groan, being dragged by Shall's wrath.

Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on January 16, 2019, 12:48:22 AM
[ Lt. JG Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Masorin, @steelphoenix, @BZ, @Patches, @Fife & @Numen
[Show/Hide]
Sinead's eyes widened in surprise and alarm when Jien Ives and Thea acted against Sclergyn and the less hostile Savi. This seemed highly radical and dangerous a course of action, and now they would have both factions of the Savi coming for them. The situation became highly unstable, and Jien was now calling for everyone to arm themselves. Sinead found herself a graviton rifle like before, and moved to join the forward defense. She stood in the frontmost lines, taking what cover she could and crouched low, firing when attackers succeeded in breaching the entrance. The Antes would not hesitate to kill now, and there was very little cover to work with, so Sinead aimed for heads and chests, intending to put down any threat decisively.

Yet she could not sustain her attack for long.

A brief flash and a small explosion on the ground forced her into a retreat, and the pains came screaming back into her mind and body. Despite Zeph's treatments and hypospray applications, it wasn't enough to cure her completely, nor was the pain or injury completely treated. Strain and intense activity like fighting for her life was going to take a toll that could not be ignored, and the woman was forced to withdraw. She moved towards the back, her rifle pointed to the ground, as she considered the danger. How many Savi alive knew about the chip in her brain? How many of them knew how to activate it and turn her against her own people? With that in mind, she removed her hand from the trigger of the weapon.

Turning around, she saw the Savi android, V-9, the one that had been offered to the crew as a sort of consolation gift and peace offering. It made her feel worse about what they had done to the Savi. The former Caitian was with it, and she saw Jien and Sarresh approaching them. At the sight of the captain, Sinead quickly dropped her weapon and kicked it as far away from herself as she could. She could not put the captain's life at risk, no matter what. But seeing them all approaching, and the android seemed to be making a bee-line for her, clued her in to the reason. “Yeh 'ave informed them,” said Sinead to R'Rori once they were close enough, “goodh.”

“This robot will help with the chip.” said R'Rori, and Sinead nodded again, then quickly turned to Jien.

“Captain,” said Sinead, “'til th' chip 'as been taken care of, do no be comin' closer t' meh...”

She took off the PADD attached to her wrist and tossed it towards Jien, “P'haps it can be useful. I have been c'llectin' much'as'n th' wee thing can allow of all tha' we seen an' learnt. I pulled schematics for the graviton weapons, and engineering tech, as well as science. I also foun'h a useful code tha' allows yeh t' use th' cleansing beams as weapons, if yeh cain tap int' th' ones 'ere, p'haps yeh cain use it th' aid th' defenders, or push back th' Savi.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: BZ on January 16, 2019, 10:52:49 PM
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Cybernetic Badass | Fixin' Shit Other People Broke |  Get Me Off This God-Damn Ship | I Don't Want a Medal, I Want a Fucking Nap]
@Fife @Auctor Lucan

The power was up.

Thea was running.

Blue was worse off than Thea.  Her batteries could not be so easily recharged even though she really fucking wished that she could just plug herself into something and get the charge she needed.  It wasn't just sleep.  She had slept against Cross last night for a little while and gotten a bit more sleep than she had been before.  But, the kind of rest she needed was in her heart and in her soul and it was not something she was going to find on this mother fucking ship.  She returned to the Captain and explained that she had gotten everything together and Thea would be powered for a while now.  She even had a little room to move though she couldn't go far because it was from the wall panel.  Still, it would do better than the PADD.

The Captain told her that she would let her know if it was necessary and Blue's brow rose.  Of course it was fucking necessary.  They couldn't leave the damn thing connected to the panel for-fucking-ever!  They had to get her to be moved and what not.  But, she didn't say it, even though her mind was racing with all the ways she could get shit stirred.   Still, what she found instead was that her mind went blank.  The Captain was thanking her .. appreciating all her efforts thus far in helping the crew. 

For a moment, Blue just stared at the man.

What the fuck... is he talking about.

“I just.. did what was fucking necessary.” she said in a low voice.  The raw pain in it felt for only a moment before she slammed it back down behind the barriers she had built for many years.  Swallowing heavily she gave a quick nod as the man told her that she needed to get some rest.  Cyrstalline eyes widened as he told her this because.. there was a fucking battle going on.  The loud one from earlier was screaming that they had company and …

She stood there in shock for the moment. 

A hand lay on her arm, and she looked over to the side to find Cross there.  He didn't say anything, or if he did she didn't hear it.  Her shoulders slumped. 

It was over, wasn't it? 

It was over, enough.

He motioned for her to come with and she followed.  She followed with him, Albert was thankfully quiet as they worked their way to one of the offices up above.  She collected some things along the way though.  She had her bag, and she was collecting some of the discarded PADDS and various things that she could.  She collected a couple hand phasers and shoved them all into her bag as she headed up to the office with the man in front of her.

==

Blue and Cross will exit timeline briefly for a Supplemental.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Absinthe on January 18, 2019, 11:29:24 AM
[ Nephele Soong | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] attn: @Triage @FollowTomorrow
[Show/Hide]

With a sort of sadness on her face what had been Lahkesis Saugn watched as Hi'Jak hurried out of the small medical room, clearly aiming to join the larger group. For a moment she did consider following after him, going to his side and helping in whatever way she could, but she could see now that her place was not on the battlefield. She was a doctor, if nothing else she was that.

She turned her attention back to Heather and began checking her over, though she lacked a Tricorder, she knew how to check her pulse and how to check her temperature with some degree of accuracy based off touch alone. "I am not fully familiar with your species," she said gently, reaching under heather's neck to check the jugular vein for consistent flow and pulse. With little to compare it to, it was difficult to tell if it was accelerated or not. She needed to make quick guesses and hope she was right. She figured going off of human would be inadvisable, and her vitals did not seem in line with those take previously, given her memory of Heather's medical file. There were changes in body morphology to consider as well, the face was different, she could not assess differences in internal anatomy.

She turned her attention to Nathaniel. "Has she had any other recent trauma or exertion?" She asked hoping he knew something more than her.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: FollowTomorrow on January 19, 2019, 05:06:18 AM
[ Nathaniel Isley | Medical Bay |  Versant ]

“Well,” Nathaniel started, settling Heather in his arms a little more comfortably, “She died, for one. And came back. I’m no doctor, but that’s traumatic...We shouldn’t ask her to do anything for a while. She needs a lot of protecting.”

He was hearing chaos outside. As much as he wanted to join, he still had Heather and a...maybe, possibly weak doctor to care for.  He glanced around the medical bay, looking for some way to give them cover and let them rest. He didn’t want to remain visible to whoever simply walked in, especially since all three of them were unarmed.

“Come on, this way.” He began to lead, taking them behind a corner, away from the doors. He couldn’t tell what he was hiding behind, really, just that it looked solid enough to take a hit. That’s all that mattered. He clustered the ladies behind him. There were no weapons here, but if they could stay hidden, maybe they wouldn’t need any. “Until the battle’s over, we’re laying low. We can’t risk Heather.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on January 20, 2019, 12:38:05 AM
[ Khorin, son of Margon, of House Mo'Kai (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Khorin_Douglas) | Bridge Module | The Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Att: @BZ @Auctor Lucan @any other defender


The hole in the door widened more and more, every graviton blast cutting it to pieces with surgical precision. The door emited a brassy groan and, after short time, only heaten metal shards remained. Khorin peeked the corridor from his precarious bulwark.

“Baktag” he growled.The aisle was flooded of  armoured Savi. They poured from every corner, from every junction. The discharge of their weapons dyed everything around with a bluish tinge. They could ward them off for a time but, how long? Surely not enough, not only they both. The bridge had too many doors, too many weak points, too few available defenders. And less rifles.

Khorin leaned back to the corridor and discharged a new burst of gunfire. He tried that each one of them counted. He aimed to the helmets.Even if the shot was not lethal, a crack in the viewfinders or graviton cut in the tubes that provided the neonox could incapacitate the Antes.When he had to take cover again to avoid a new counter charge, Savi bodies began to pile up in the corridor, forming a small wall of dead or wounded. Maybe they could do it. Maybe they could block the path with the corpses of their enemies. An opera-worthy deed.

 The attack of the Antes intensified and a shower of sparks and splinters rained down on the bridge floor plates. Khorin's gaze averted to Zephyr position. She was making a hell of a job, maybe she hadn't the more accurate aim in the room, but she gave her best. Looking at her like that, her mind in battle, her profile highlighted by firing was simply alluring. Khorin shook his head when he felt a purr growing in his chest. He had more urgent matters at that moment than let get lost in his own infatuation. Also she would notice it. As much as he felt the pull of her mind in his.

When he tore off his attention away from the betazoid and put it back on the corridor, the situation had changed. A new Savi surge had arrived, but those didn't try to reach the bridge. They aimed against other Savi, risking their lives to push the main group back. Khorin howled, encouraging their unexpected allies. Soon, both groups mixed in a bloody fray, where it was impossible to distinguish who was a friend and who was foe.

Khorin gritted his teeth and his gaze swept the battle behind the sight of his rifle.He didn't know to whom he must point the muzzle of his weapon. Every Ante crammed into that dark, masked suits looked exactly the same.The hiss of some energetic shields and the rattle of keratin-covered legs ended his hesitations.

“DaH Hegh!!!!” he roared when the Scion appeared in front of his eyes.





Baktag → shit, rubbish
DaH Hegh! → Now die!

Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: steelphoenix on January 20, 2019, 07:14:13 AM
[ Deacon | Day 6 | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage  @BZ  @Numen  @FollowTomorrow @SummerDawn  @patches  @Fife  @Numen @Absinthe

This was taking longer than it should, though whether it was the nigh cavernous aspect of this so-called bridge or his own dubious well being, he could not say.  Once or twice, he found it necessary to pause, lest his empty stomach attempt to discharge again.  His head swam as he moved from position to position, the ground lurching about beneath his feet as vertigo assailed his periphery.  But still he could not stop.  To stop would be to bow to his weakness, to surrender to whatever vague ailment hammered at him. 

Between the virus that had first waylaid him upon boarding the Theurgy up to this moment, he felt as if every second of this new life was defined by some illness or another.  It was hardly the strongest position from which he could operate and it was frankly humiliating to be so betrayed by his own condition.  Perhaps here, beyond the watch of Amara, no kzin could survive?  Tch!  Kzinti conquered the stars, it was only the humans that had stopped them.  His stomach churned again, causing him to stumble, catching himself against the wall of the alcove that he'd been surveying. 

Breathe.  He'd had to recite that particular mantra far too often in the past minutes, pausing between every load of equipment, out of sight of the others, to rest his stomach, to remind his single monkey heart that it needed to do what three hearts had done before, to each the trembling in his legs.  He felt cold down to his bones and still his hair was matted to him by heavy sweat.

Was this the scion's doing?  Had he been poisoned in the midst of their battle?  The others had died so quickly it seemed but he couldn't be certain if any of the others had been so close for so long.  The claws?  Perhaps they were toxic.  They'd done enough damage to his neck.  Perhaps that was all it required?

He took a deep breath, steadying his legs.  A sound caught his attention from the greater hall where the others had been tasked with building a defensible position.  One foot swiveled unsteadily towards the opening of the alcove, the instinct return and defend the others finding itself at odds with the vanity not to be seen in such a condition. 

Foolishness.  His place was with the pride, with the patriarch, with his tznrrow.  Determined, he wiped the sweat from his face with an irritable flick of his wrist, a second swipe slicking his hair back on his head.  It was far from presentable, but he'd been far from presentable since he'd first arrived on this ship.  He grit his teeth, gathering the pile of equipment he had secured, and returned to the main hall of the bridge, his eyes working to track the movements of those nearby.  The antes had apparently found some way to breach the sealed doors and several of his fellow abductees had moved to intercept.  This place was too large and singularly difficult to defend absent control of the ships systems.

Fortunately, Theurgy had apparently seized that control as the incoming weapons fire lanced harmlessly against the shielding that stood between them.  "Fall back," he grumbled to those nearby as he moved his collection back towards the area he had designated for their stockpile.  "We shouldn't overtax Theurgy's systems."
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Brutus on January 20, 2019, 09:33:12 PM
[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sarresh_Morali) | Bridge Module  | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Masorin 
[Show/Hide]

Sarresh found himself once again along side Hi'Jak, though he hung back, following at a bit of a distance.. The former half-breed seemed to have put aside his concern for the plant doctor and was focusing on the task at hand. Both had heard Ives ridiculous rallying cry of "To Arms," and both had  answered, after a fashion. Even if the Captains words had nearly caused Sarresh to roll his eyes, instead of leaping to a patriotic defense of their fellows. For now, he stuck to the shadows, watching.

You're too tired, he chided himself, and correctly so. You're letting your thoughts get out of hand, instead of focusing on whats important. Keeping this bomb safe. Getting off this ship. The mission. Getting back to Sel. Having Ives shouting rallying rabble is exactly what these people need. Its what  you need to survive. Not some self-righteous disdain for your leader. He paused and looked at the other man - he was a man at the moment.

Even if the bastard is the reason they made you 100% human in that fucking tube, instead of putting you back to the way you had been. It seemed that the past few days had not helped Sarresh put behind himself the horror of waking up as something mostly human, and hardly Ash'reem, in the wake of Theta Eridani. Nor had the soothing touch of Ryuan Sel quite washed away that cartilage deep - bone, he corrected - desire to be whole.

This is what you are now, there really is no going back. Duly scorned, he adjusted the strap of the Omega container on his shoulder and cocked a hip out to one side as Hi'Jak spoke. Maybe the increase in oxygen will help keep you on track he noted. The levels in the bridge were returning to something normal for a majority of the collected species, and it seemed as if a bit of weight was removed from his chest and shoulders. He was breathing a bit easier, and the low grade headache began to fade. He'd be come so accustomed to it that he'd not noticed its presence until he was relieved of it.

His fellow science officer began to give a run down of just what they had all undergone. For the moment, the time traveler kept his mouth shut, and his armed crossed over his chest. His face had what most humans would called a 'resting bitch' look to it, but he didn't much care. The eyes were most telling, however. Wholly human now, the orbs no longer blocked his thoughts with their alien technological cast. They allowed to see see how much the words angered Sarresh, despite the calm look on his face. He glanced, just a moment, to the android, wondering just how useful - or useless - she would prove to be.

But it was Ives that he had to focus on the most, and that's where he forced his attention. The recovered Captain, probably as worse for wear as the rest of them. They called him Aspect- Maker, Sarresh quietly thought. He would have to look into that. Something was tickling in the back of his mind, beneath the surface. He just couldn't grasp it.

Thus began a series of interruptions, from various crew. Sarresh stood patiently through it all, arms crossed over his chest, ever present scowl in place. Too Human eyes observed, without the full bank of information the false ones had given him. Were he feeling a bit more introspective he might have asked what missing those meant. But at the moment he just hated not knowing. He watched, from his distance as Hi'Jak and the android spoke. As Ida zh'Wann came over. he saw the alarm in the scientists face, and some disgust in Ives. The woman changed - female again, and gave an order that Sarresh could scarcely believe.

He watched, unable to do anything, as Ida shot Hi'Jak. Watched his body collapse to the floor. He stared, in disbelief, as she picked up the alien PADD from the man. And then he heard Ives calling for Sarresh to accompany them. Did she know I was watching the whole time?

Mutely, Sarresh stepped out of the shadows not 6 feet away from Ida. He met her gaze and leveled a withering glare at her. What she and Ives had done did not sit well with him. Then again, a lot of what Ives did bothered Sarresh. You had a chance to back a different commander not long ago, remember? You chose your allegiance.

That doesn't mean that you sit idly by, either.


Careful, measured strides brought him up to the Captain. He clutched the strap of the device slung over his shoulder. A terse, "Sir," was uttered, passing for a salute in the moment as he fell in step with the captain. And then, in a very low, and very, very angry voice he asked.

"Just what the fuck did you do there? He was goddamn useful just now. I was standing right the fuck there. We could have used him to get the information we need for that robot. On how to run this ship. Not to mention this wonderful little toy we found." His head jerked to the side, to the item slung over his shoulder. "I need him for dealing with this, the info on that Savi tablet. And you just shot him like a goddamn dog? What the fuck, Captain Ives Sir." To hell with propriety. Sarresh figured he might be the one person, here and now, that could get away with speaking his mind. Time travel gave one an interesting perspective, after all.


OOC: I had about a 600 word draft that had Sarresh right next to Ives that I started a while back. I had to change that based on the last few posts from @Auctor Lucan  and @Masorin . Pleas let me know if anything seems too disjointed as a result, but y'all threw a wrench into the entire thing haha.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: SummerDawn on January 22, 2019, 03:02:49 PM
[ K'Ren (http://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=K%27Ren) | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @steelphoenix All
[Show/Hide]
Even though she’d have liked to linger there, stay in Deacon’s arms and let the world pass them by, his arms a shields from reality, his lips a taste of the fantasy of solitude alone, together, K’Ren knew the only way they’d make that goal, reach a place of quiet where the world would not intrude, would be once they were safe aboard their ship. Deacon’s words to two crewman snapped her out of the fantasy and she parted from Deacon, letting him go so he might find weapons to defend themselves. “I will come with you,” she remarked, not knowing if he heard her, she would not lave his side until this battle was won, or until she took her last breath in defense of her tznrrow and her ship.

Seeing bodies lying around, unconscious was her best guess for the lack of weapons fire, tho exactly how she wasn’t sure, K’Ren looted several weapons from the Savi, mostly rifles though amongst the bodies she found one or two pistol style weapons. They were light of weight, some advanced composite material she reckoned, designed specifically for the smaller stature of the Savi. The weapons also seemed designed for their species, obvious observation though that was, but Cait’s having three digits plus a thumb, the feel of the weapon she picked up in her hand felt more comfortable to her then Federation weapons. One extra finger hung out beneath the trigger guard but the other two fit nicely in the rifle.

As she caught up to Deacon who’d sprinted ahead, she noticed him retching on the ground, on all fours like a cub who’d just involuntarily given up their lunch to the ground. She wanted to rush in and help, to reassure him or do something that a Caitian wife and mother might do for one who was sick. But she knew her tznrrow was a fighter, a species who valued strength, who refused to show weakness, and if that meant ignoring a sign of weakness like that, she would do so for the sake of her mate, would let him keep his pride intact for the moment.

[OOC: Just posting K'Ren's observations and reactions to existing posts. Had planned something longer and more eloquent but I'm going out of town for the day today to do an emergency repair to a WiFi system up north so my plans to post last night were shot by running around making sure I had all my parts & tools, and a quiet day in the office to post isn't happening as I'll be 20ft up a ladder. :) At least the temps outside where the unit
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: BZ on January 23, 2019, 09:28:54 PM
[Lt. Zephyr Praise | Horny Khorin is Khorny | Fighting for Lives |  One Dead Savi at a Time | Death by Death, We Grow Closer]
@Numen

Zephyr was only doing what she could.  She was not a dead eye, she was far more gifted with her hand to hand combat than she was with the gun.  But right now she was only trying to help out in any way that she could.  Suppressive fire was what she could do right now and it would help.  She was hitting targets and blood splatter answered.  She was not mowing them down the way that Khorin was but then it didn't really matter.  All that mattered was that she was trying her very best and hoping that everything would go well in the end. 

She could feel something, and she looked up to find Khorin checking her out.  She could feel what was going on with him.  She could feel the way that he wanted her, and whatever she was doing; apparently shooting guns was turning him on in a big way.  Such a Klingon. she thought to herself as she shut her mental barriers because she could not currently deal with the fact that he was super horny at the moment get her off track.  She could already feel her body responding because she closed the shield quickly so that she didn't have to feel him any more. 

Her body began to relax again.

Khorin was himself though, no matter if he was oddly turned on at the moment.  He was screaming Klingon down the corridor while he fired shots.  Zephyr edged closer because there were Savi that were coming.  She could hear the noise of them as they stormed down the hallway outside the door.  Their job with the other officers was to keep them in the corridor and not coming into the room where everyone was.   She and Khorin were the main force working their asses off to get this done.  To keep them down the hall, to keep the door as secure as possible.  Zeph knelt down a couple feet to the side of Khorin as he ducked out the door half way and shot down the hall screaming.

There was another hall, that Khorin wasn't looking at.  One where a small group, three Savi, had just rounded the corner and began to shoot towards Khorin.  Zeph's protective nature went into over drive.  She quickly stood up yanking Khorin to the side and shoving him out of the way as the bolts shot through the hole in the door.  One of the bolts caught Zeph in the shoulder, piercing through the flesh there.  She cried out as her mind went blank for a moment, the suit on her married with blood and a smoking hole.  She winced as she poked her head up, Khorin was beside her.  Holding her weapon up she shot right for center mass with the weapon in her hand.

The central Savi went down, then the one with the right.  The one on the left shot again, and she ducked just as the bolt went over the top of her head.  She looked over at Khorin and he was staring at the hold in her uniform.  She got back up from being down.  Blood ran down the front of her uniform as she began to shoot again.  Ducking to the side, as she looked at Khorin and swallowed.  Pain radiated from her shoulder.  She had to compartmentalize.  She had to get this done.  She needed to do things that would save the others. 

He wasn't going to be happy.  There was one left.  One down that corridor and the others, he could take down.  They were a team, and she knew that he was a strong one.  The stronger one.  “Get my back.”

She didn't give him much time to reply as she ducked through the hole.  Raising her arm she fired down the hallway where Khorin had been shooting before but she was running across just long enough to make it towards the one lone Savi that she hadn't yet gotten.  She didn't worry about the Savi in the corridor that Khorin would take care of.  She instead slid into place and used the butt of her rifle to slam into the face of the Savi.  He recoiled and stepped backwards too steps.  He kicked out at her and she felt it connect with her mid section in a kick.  She jumped back using the momentum of the kick to move back and then charged forward with a scream.  Zeph didn't let herself stop there.  She aimed a quick and harsh kick against his inner knee joint and the white creature went down on one knee before she used the knee of her opposite leg to smash right into the side of his head.  As he seemed to sway from the impact Zephyr rose her rose her rifle and point blank shot him in the center of his forehead.  The blood splatter rained down on her from the backlash of the shot.  She didn't care though, he was down, he was dead, the blue dots on her person was nothing.

She turned breathing heavily as she surveyed whether Khorin was still standing or not.  Tossing some of her loose short curls out of her face, she headed for the other group of Savi.  Staying close to the corner all, she used her rifle around the corner to help lay waste to the Savi beyond.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on January 23, 2019, 09:56:18 PM
[ PWO Heather McMillan (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_McMillan) | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @CanadianVet
[Show/Hide]
Heather felt horrid. Absolutely horrid. The exhertion took so much more than she anticipated, and she felt even weaker than before. As she made her second fall in so short a time, she felt arms catch her before she could hit the back of her head against a hard surface, which likely would end badly for her. As durable as she seemingly felt, she wasn't prepared to test the limits of her newfound strength. Now she could barely move, and she slipped in and out of consciousness, barely holding on as she fell into a half-dream. She saw a mostly featureless being, then the universe, then she saw countless suns, spreading out among worlds.

And then she was engulfed in darkness.

From the darkness, there was a pinprick of light, and then two, and as she sought to brighten the light, she realized it was her own vision, and her eyes were closed, so she slowly parted them, and she gazed into the Romulan's, “Iston i nîf lîn. Mi van me? I dass carnen?” Her voice was hoarse, and she sounded brittle.

She had heard them as they fussed over her, but her brain felt fuzzy, and confused. She didn't quite understand what they had been saying. For that matter, she didn't understand what she had just said, aside from declaring she knew the Romulan, and asking where they were, and whether it was done.

But what was it exactly that were they supposed to have done?

She could hear the sound of violence, and her eyes widened in panic. Sitting up slowly, she weakly gazed about, and tried to let everything come back to her slowly. “Are we still fighting?” she asked, though it was mostly a rhetorical question. She could bloody well hear it for herself. Did Nathaniel say something about not risking her? Why? What risk did they not want her to partake in? She was still too weak, and could only sit up, so she stayed there, huddled behind Nathaniel.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: chXinya on January 24, 2019, 04:13:25 AM
[Ens. Irnashall “Shall” chXinya | Bridge Module | The Versant]

To anyone looking at him, Shall was a living statue.  Standing stock still with only the subtle way his hair shifted as his antenna writhed against his skull.  Even as the bridge fell to chaos he didn’t move, an impressive achievement for an Andorian short one antenna.  The light effects from the way the Savi’s weapon fire splattered against Thea’s forcefield reflected off of his blue face and shone in his eyes, but it was clear to anyone who knew the signs that they were not looking outwards.

“There’s no data, just porn films.” Jay teased her ch’te.  “You should get a copy, we can watch them together.”  Before Shall could say anything another arrived.  “That is not our way.” Tavin countered, his displeasure at their zh’yi radiating out of his antennae.  Turning to Shall, “You should know better than to rely on outsiders for solutions to Andorian problems.”  It was an old argument between them, but before the chan could take the bait Syora appeared, her hair gently jingling as she moved.  “It’s not your fault that they lied to you Shall.” she whispered, leaning close and resting her hands on his chest.  “You did what you did for the Whole, if you hadn’t you’d be lost to us.  But right now, others need you.”  Pushing her ch’te with all her might, Syora flew into the distance even though Shall knew that he was the one that was supposed to be moving.

After an eternity, his eyes blinked as the chan came out of his stupor.  Looking around the bridge he was confused at what was going on.  The last thing he remembered was the Savi in charge blurting out to the entire crew what had happened to the four of them.  Now all of the Savi were gone, forcefields were snapping up all around, and the shooting resumed.  "Everything went wrong." he whispered, the Savi's words still echoing through his head.  Shar was right there with him, looking out into the crowd for some reason.  “We need to get into the fight.” he growled, his rage barely under the surface.  “They will not go unpunished for what they’ve done to us.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on January 24, 2019, 01:13:13 PM
[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Perhaps Jien shouldn't have been surprised with the former Ash'reem's insubordinate attitude - especially after the days they both had spent on the Versant - but right then and there, after having learned that the Imperial spy had betrayed the crew and her confidence, she had little tolerance for the ignorant and self-absorbed Junior Lieutenant. At least he'd had the wits to keep his voice down. Jien didn't do so, the glance she gave him meant like a kick in the teeth, and her syllables cut short.

"Don't you have ears, Junior Lieutenant? Pay attention before you open your mouth."

As emphasis to her words, the bulkheads at the back of the bridge were collapsing from graviton fire, sending sparks and fiery clouds of plasma to the deckhead. Jien did not look away from the Temporal Affairs officer while they walked, her trust in Thea aiding their defenders implicit. She even heard the hum of new forcefields being raised, and how Savi were being transported away from the deck in droves.

"That man compromised the officers sent to the Coreless Moon to collect dilithium for the Theurgy, crystals the ship needed to travel faster than Warp 3 since our old ones were fractured. Even worse, despite my orders to send a message to Martok - whom I know well from the Dominion War - that man contacted his moronic son instead, who attacked our crew. If he had followed orders, we would have gained a sorely needed ally in the Klingon Empire. As it stands, if we had to defend ourselves against his son's ship, I no longer know where I stand with Martok."

They were reaching Sinead, who discarded her weapon, evidently aware of the danger she might represent. While her words had been loud enough for others to hear on the bridge, Jien's tone turned more conversational, as she looked away from Morali.  "I will deal with him later, but for the time being, he is a liability we don't need. Thea can get those medical journals on her own, and she clearly already controls the Versant. As for that device you carry, I already know what to do with it. What you need to do, is to tell me how the Borg is on this side of the Alpha Quadrant without using any breaches in the space-time continuum. I was under the impression it was your duty to warn us, should such breaches occur? At least that was the assignment you volunteered for."

If the arrogant junior officer hadn't been insubordinate, Jien might have made her query more kindly - well aware that there could be any number of things that prevented the man from sensing the breach. The range of his ability was not even established. She would have asked him for theories, even asked him how he'd fared, but no need. It was clear he was the same as he'd always been.

V-Nine, as the android was called, and the Endeavour's Chief Counselor waited for her by Sinead, who spoke to her. "Captain, 'til th' chip 'as been taken care of, do no be comin' closer t' meh..." Jien then caught the datapad that Sinead had carried on her wrist, the Irish woman only having paused to toss it to her. "P'haps it can be useful. I have been c'llectin' much'as'n th' wee thing can allow of all tha' we seen an' learnt. I pulled schematics for the graviton weapons, and engineering tech, as well as science. I also foun'h a useful code tha' allows yeh t' use th' cleansing beams as weapons, if yeh cain tap int' th' ones 'ere, p'haps yeh cain use it th' aid th' defenders, or push back th' Savi."

"Thank you," said Jien and turned to Morali, giving the datapad to him. "Here, make yourself useful. Give this to Thea." If the man had forgotten his place, it was best to remind him. It was not the first time Jien's ambition to bridge the gap between her and the former Ash'reem had been ruined by the man's blatant disrespect and unprofessional attitude. Perhaps there was no use to keep trying? "Now, officer."

V-Nine was turning her cranial unit between the speakers, picking up on what needed to be done. She stepped up to Sinead, raised her hand, and again, her thumb and indexfinger unfolded. She appeared to be scanning the Engingeer's head, the lenses in her digits and on her 'face' whirring and zooming in and out, as if she was studying the things behind Sinead's skin. "Confirmed. Control device of non-Savi origin found. Extraction possible, but will take approximately fifteen minutes, during which time the specimen should be sedated. Of course, open head surgery can be preformed while the specimen is conscious, but odds of success and survival may be lower. Suggested alternative treatment: permanent deactivation. Different methods available. Please state preference."

"What alternatives are there?" asked Jien, frowning, not keen on the term the android was using for Sinead. "Are there any that won't pose a risk to this patient?"

V-Nine turned her lens in Jien's way briefly, but there was no telling if she understood where she had erred. "Certainly. I can access it myself and clear it from any command protocols. While a precise EMP surge might have the same affect, the hardware might suffer a slight combustion, which would not be healthy for the specimen's higher brain functions and overall survival. Therefore, direct up-link and software deletion is more advisable."

Jien frowned, but looked towards Sinead. "Are you okay with this? If you are a threat to me and these officers on the bridge, I think it's either this method... or you will have to be sedated. I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

Meanwhile, the abductees that were defending the bridge were pulling back, now that Thea had managed to transport most of the Savi from the corridors outside, and there were force fields being raised in the side-corridors as well.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on January 25, 2019, 12:38:02 AM
[ Lt. JG Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Masorin, @steelphoenix, @BZ, @Patches, @Fife & @Numen
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Up until that moment, Sinead only had speculation and supposition to support her concerns, aside from the fact that she definitely could be controlled by the Savi, whose technological advancements surpassed that of the Federation's, but the android, V-Nine, could identify and confirm the presence of technology, which was not put in there by them. The affirmation was both relief and terror. Relief in the vindication that she wasn't imagining things, terror in that even now, at any moment, a Savi might realize the experiments they conducted on her, and on a whim activate the chip. She would not be able to tell friend from foe, she would be an out-of-control killing machine that would continue its purpose until she had been thoroughly eradicated or vapourized.

The captain is too near!

Sinead moved herself to position V-Nine between her and the captain. There was also tension between Sarresh and Jien, which Sinead could see even if she had been blind. Still, it was a trivial concern, and as the battle nearby raged on, Sinead was torn between delaying the procedure in order to add her firepower to the rest of the survivors, but logic told her the wiser and safer choice was to submit herself to the operation and let the android do its work. Remove the chip and free her from the nightmares, and remove the potential of ever becoming a danger to the crew and the captain, whom she had sworn to protect with her life.

There's another way...

Sinead heard V-Nine suggest permanent deactivation. But did she mean Sinead, or just the chip? Savi logic wasn't exactly what Starfleet personnel would call always humane. The android also proposed using an EMP, but that might not work, and even if it did, the explosioin could kill her. It seemed a wasteful option. The captain turned the choice over to the Bringloidi, apologizing along the way, as if it were the captain's fault. But it wasn't. “Yeh need not apologize captain.” said Sinead, “Thea and yeh, yeh be th' ones that must survive all this. Yeh both be too important t' risk. Th' needs of the few outweigh th' needs of th' many this time.”

She could hear frenzied laughter coming from within her own head, followed by desperate and frantic pleading. Her wild, uncontrolled self was manifesting again, the chip? Or just her own psychosis? “I will give me life for yeh, captain, but I will not let meself be a risk t'yeh.” With that, she went down on both knees, and lowered her head, in anticipation of having the operation done right there on the spot. That was when she heard her own voice, and a sensation of warning.

The chip can defend itself! It might activate to stop V-Nine from accessing it! It might self-destruct! You'll kill the captain and not even know it!

She abruptly raised her head, eyes snapping back open, and she moved fluidly backwards, getting back on her feet, and halting any action the android might have been taking, as Sinead considered an alternative. “V-Nine...” said Sinead, slightly breathless, “rather than removing or alterin' th' microchip, can yeh improve it?”

She waited for the query to sink in for everyone, including herself, “Savi technology is far superior t' Federation; can yeh modify th' chip, enable it t' tell friend from foe? To...t' let me activate it on me own? An' t' prevent it from bein' used against me or th' captain?” There would be disadvantages with such a modification, but the benefits would outweigh them. She could use it for the captain and for Thea, without ever posing a risk to the crew any longer. She could even remain conscious and in control, like it was originally meant to be. Federation tech had simply not reached the level of advancement yet, but the Savi might have, and this would enable her to be of better service to everyone.

She turned to look at the captain, “We all still be at great risk here, on th' Versant,” she said, still keeping in mind that the captain had chosen to antagonize all of the Savi, but she didn't question it, “and there be a risk th' chip might trigger if removal was attempted now. It be better if V-Nine can modifyh it, make it better, and controllable by only meself, so I can turn it on or offh. And remain in control of meself at all times.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on January 26, 2019, 10:06:09 PM
[ Khorin, son of Margon, of House Mo'Kai (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Khorin_Douglas) | Bridge Module | The Versant ]
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Att: @BZ @Auctor Lucan



Khorin was so focused on shot the enemies in front of him that the blow to his side caught him unexpectedly. He lost his balance and rolled a couple of meters before he could stop. He had lost his borrowed weapon. Where was it? Where was the rifle? He looked around madly, until he found that it was just there lying in the floor.  Just where Zephyr had stood a moment ago ... and where Zeph wasn't anymore.


"Zeph !?" he cried uselessly as he got back on his feet. "ZEPH! ??!?!" He howled as he lunged toward the hole in the door.Just in time. Just in time to see how a graviton bolt hit Zeph in the shoulder. How the betazoid, HIS betazoid,  moved backwards to the bridge. Khorin clenched his teeth as he reached his position again, looming over Zeph. His shoulder burned, as if the graviton hit o had punctured his own flesh instead of hers. "Are you all right?" He asked uselessly, his eyes riveted on the burned rip of her uniform. In the brilliant crimson blood that began to trickle down to the floor plates. They had hurt her. He had allowed it. He had allowed that they hurt her. The Klingon tightened his jaw even more, and concentrated his fire on clearing the corridor. Meanwhile she ducked in his side. He tried to ignore the worry he felt. He tried to ignore his desire to remove her from that busted metal nest and carry her away to someplace safe. Somewhere were they could take care of the wound in her shoulder. That pain burned in his too. He just wouldn't allow something like that happen again.


There were few Savi  in the corridor, and Khorin unleashed a burst on the nearest ones, no longer bothering to make every shot count. He just needed to keep them away from the hole. A sky-blue glow shone in the corner of his eyes. That told him that Thea was raising the shields again, it wouldn't be too long until she finally protected their entrance as well.


"Get my back." She said, before leaped forward and ran down the hall. Khorin couldn't say a thing. Neither to stop or encourage her. He just stared how she moved,  his mouth open and the weapon hanging uselessly in his hands. When she had gone a few yards away, he rushed forward to follow.


WHUMP!


Khorin bonked against the recently rised shield. "NO!" He howled looking uselessly how Zeph took care of a Savi soldier. She was doing an excellent display of her hand-to-hand combat skills. Still he couldn't left her fight alone. Meanwhile, the Klingon hit the shield, as if his fists and headbutts could weaken it in some way. The energy screen just sizzled impassively, its surface hardly altered by a couple of undulations of a darker blue. "KYAMO !!!" he shouted worthlessly again, turned into a mere witness of what was happening in the corridor.


WHUMP!


BANG!


WHUMP!


Khorin charged against it, again and again crashing his body against the screen. A part of his mind knew that he wouldn't achieve anything doing that, but he had to do SOMETHING. Whatever. He took a run-up once more and threw himself at the shield, head ahead. When he was barely a few centimeters from re-embedding himself against the screen, it simply flickered. With that, Khorin crossed the barrier and rolled down the corridor, unable to stop his own momentum. The headless body of Zeph's last victim stopped him and Khorin remained there, sprawled and dizzy, trying to figure out why the ceiling was spinning over his head. And why it was blurry. So blurry.


Finally, his eyes were able to focus on something. Something still and concrete. Zeph face. Khorin smiled stupidly, still half stunned. "I'm with ya again" He babbled happily. Then, his gaze shifted to the wound on her shoulder. He frowned. "That ... that has been the more reckless, unnecessary and stupidly sexy thing i've seen in a time, you know?" He reprehended her. Still, his voice was tinted with admiration. He could lie down like that there, sprawled on his back just watching her, for hours. But it wasn't the moment for that, he reminded himself when he felt the pang of pain in his shoulder. A pain that was not his, but hers.


"Let's get out of here," he grunted, rising to his feet again. The corridor seemed empty at the moment, but still the Klingon interposed his body between Zeph and the corridor, using himself as a shield. He looked back to the bridge and, to his dismay, he saw that the shield was still raised. They were trapped. Maybe if they reached the door Thea could lower the shields for few seconds to let them go. Khorin hesitated a moment and finally he took a decision. He ran his hand around Zeph's waist and lifted her up, nestling her against his chest and his forearm. With her protected against his broad torso, he headed for the door. He didn't care to turn his back on their possible enemies. It would be him who would receive the impact, not her. She would be protected.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on January 28, 2019, 09:46:21 PM
[ LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Kelleshar_sh%27Zenne)|  Bridge Module | The Versant ]
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Att: @Auctor Lucan @chXinya 



Shar came down from Shall's shoulders. The chan's first impulse seemed to have stopped abruptly, his mind lost in something only he could see. The young shen was grateful for this fact, if he had gone off the deep end, she had probably needed to go postal as the only answer. And she knew well how that could have ended.


Glancing one last time at the scientist, still not trust that he didn't rush madly against the shields, Shar looked down at the throng of abductees. After a few minutes of scrutiny, she found what she was looking for, Selh's slender antennae navigating through the crowd, heading towards them. She couldn't prevent her own antennae quivered slightly, moving away from her scalp. But that little display of emotion ended when she could see the expression in the pilot's face. He had an extremely serious gesture etched in his face, antennae lashing close to his skull.


He stared at her intensely, without open his mouth. She looked away, resting her right hand on the side of her abdomen. He moved his gaze to where her fingers rested and his antennae stirred again slightly. Their eyes met, barely a second. Selh tilted his head. She simply answered with a single nod.


Shall's whisper interrupted their silent exchange. They both turned to look at the chan and returned to intercross their glances briefly.  Finally, Shar clenched her jaw and spoke. "No," she said, sharply, leaving little room for protests. "As far as we know, your ship's AI can easily defend the whole the group better than we can do. Th'se might be useful with a rifle in his hands, but I can be pretty more useful with a hyperspanner in my hands. Probably you too" The ops officer turned face where the AI ​​stood with her positronic brain in her hands. Nearby, there was the shapeshifter captain, as well as Ida and a small group other abductees she couldn't identify. From that distance it was hard to say what was really happening, but there seemed to be some kind of altercation between them.


Whatever it was, it did not matter. Shar turned to the two males, and leaned toward them, conspiratorially. When she spoke her tone was hardly above of whisper, but in her tone there was a cold rage hardly contained. "Killing a few Savi won't make much difference ... Good old sabotage? Quite so. If I could reach the main systems... " She left the sentence on ice. She didn't want to enter in details yet. But for sure what she had in mind was something that Starfleet wouldn't approve. Still, if she had the chance, she would do it. She would leave that shithole adrift. Their resources draining away until they had nothing more to lost aside of their lifes. Just like her..


A small voice in the back of her mind tried to make her come back to her senses, to remind her  the behaviour code she had sworn as an Starfleet officer. But Shar silenced it quickly. She didn't need a conscience in those moments. She needed revenge in her own terms. She needed to leave the Versant fatally wounded when they left it. So that no one else suffered what she had suffered there. She didn't trust that Savi's change of direction, they could resume their practices as easily as they had said that they would abandon them. If it was in her hand, she wouldn't give them a chance. She would destroy that ship, and every Savi on it.

With that resolution in mind, she headed towards the captain's group. She knew that The Beast had opened a panel in their vicinity- That would allow her to access the vessel's energy systems. Once there she would see what she could do to begin a sabotage.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: BZ on January 29, 2019, 04:37:10 AM
[Lt. Zephyr Praise | Stupid Choices | Love Knows No Bounds | Bound Together | Cemented in Survival]
@Numen

It hurt.

The arm.

She could feel the blood still leaking out of the wound on her shoulder.  She knew that it would need healing but she wasn't going to die from it.  It would clot, it would stop bleeding, and at some point it would just need to be cleaned so that she didn't get some kind of secondary infection.  Who knew what they had been exposed to while they were here, all she could hope was that it was something she could take care of later.  Right now though, her mind was on the survival of herself, the others in the room, and especially the big brutish fellow that had surprised her. 

Out there, taking on the Savi, hand to hand and blood to blood she did not realize that the force field had dropped behind her and that he couldn't get in.  He couldn't get her back, he couldn't protect her, and she had no idea.  She was far too busy working over the Savi and making sure that his brain mush decorated the hall way.  She would probably feel bad later, she always did, even when they were asshole aliens hell bent on their death.  There was something about taking a life.  It had nothing to do with her being a doctor but instead of her just being a normal person.  Someone that wasn't messed up in the head, someone that had a heart and a moral code.  Still, things had to be done.

”KYAMO!!!”

Zephyr whirled from her corner, where she had been laying fire at the incoming Savi.  Her eyes widened as she saw there was no opening now.  She needed to get back in there, but she couldn't.  The force field.  She hadn't known, she had tried to come out and take care of some of the Savi herself and now she was here, alone.  Her face paled, but she just rallied herself together.  No panic shone in her eyes as she watched Khorin bashing himself against the field to get to her. 

~If this is how I go, Khor, know that it was good to have met you.~ she sent across their surprising telepathic link.  She knew in the back of her mind what a telepathic link, with a non-telepathic race, meant for her.  But, she had not had enough time to slow down and check it out.  She hadn't given herself the time to think about it.  She couldn't.  She could not afford to think that someone she had only just met here and now on this ship.. on this ship of horrors was something more than just a date.  Something more than a boyfriend.  Something more than all the words she had ever heard to describe someone you liked.  No, she couldn't say it.  She couldn't allow herself to think it right now.  Later, when, if, she survived, she would think about it.  Talk to him about it, tell him what she thought.  But, for now, no, the Savi came first.

She turned back to the Savi.  Only they weren't there anymore.  Zeph's back straightened, a cry of pain from her shoulder, though it did not touch her lips.  A commotion behind her caused her to turn, rifle raised, shoulder in pain, throbbing in time with her elevated heart rate only to notice a familiar large Klingon form rolling down the corridor to stop in the puddle of Savi juices that had come from blowing off a head.  She rose her brow and slid her back against the wall so that it was protected as Khorin regained his sight.  She could tell he was dizzy, she could feel his discombobulation, and so she waited.  When he found her with his eyes, she smiled.

“Welcome back.” she said with a bit of a grin, a slight blush on her cheeks.  Now was not the time for blushing, it wasn't the time to be doing much of anything but fighting and trying to figure out how they were going to get back on the Bridge.

He told her that she had done something unnecessary, dangerous, and sexy.  She gave a bit of a shrug with one of her shoulders.  “It was our job to protect the others.” she admitted as he got up slowly and was steady on his feet in no time.

He came to her, and picked her up.  She gasped softly as he pulled her up to his chest with his large arm and held her there as if she weighed nothing.  Putting his back to the corridor he pressed her up against the force field.  She could feel the energy humming behind her, it resonated in her skin.  She could see the shimmering of blue sparks around her body as her mass pressed against it almost testing it for any weaknesses though that wasn't what they were doing.  She looked up at him, dark eyes meeting his warm brown ones.  She wondered what he would think if her eyes were back the way they had been.  He had only known them as black, and yet, she thought if anything.. she wished she had them back.

Maybe.

Though if she had to give up her telepathy to have her eyes back she would stay black forever.  There was no way she would even chance losing the connection gained with Khorin.  “Khor..” she whispered softly, in their little window of the door way, their little paradise amid the chaos.  Her fingers rose and softly brushed through his rough hair, letting her fingers toy with it's length gently.  Feeling the texture between her fingers for a moment.  “I wanted to let you know.. something.  About me.” she said softly.  Her eyes never left his, and she found herself rather enjoying the way that she was pressed against him.  Her small body against his massive one.  He was nearly twice her size, but it didn't bother her.  Not in the least.  She actually liked how dwarfed she felt.  When he held her, she felt safe.  So safe, and it was a feeling that Zephyr had not known in a long time, too long.

“When a Betazoid, like myself, is able to spea-”

Zeph gasped as the force field came down and the two of them, with Khorin's weight and her own pushed against the former shield, spilled through the door way and back into the bridge that they had left a while ago.  Her rifle clattered to the ground.  She cried out in pain as her shoulder slammed into the deck plating and the blood spurted forth with renewed vigor because of the action having torn whatever clot had come into place loose.  She bit her lower lip letting the pain fade for a moment.  Breathing.  Khorin, there on top of her, holding her, checking on her, eyes worried.  It made a soft smile cross her lips.  A hand reached up to brush against his cheeks.

“You didn't have to tackle me if you wanted a kiss.” she teased up at him.  Tilting her head to the side slightly, her smile softened.  “I'm with you, again.” she repeated his earlier words back to him.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Zenozine on January 31, 2019, 09:50:25 AM
[ Hylota Vojona & Vinata Vojona | Day 6 | 0900 hrs. | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @BZ , @Numan , @Auctor Lucan

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          Initially as they all had moved into the bridge Hylota and Vinata had paired back up and moved up to work with the injured crew. They had to get a many of them back up to fighting strength so that they could defend against the assault that would no doubt be coming for them. Hylota took special care to make sure her egg was stored safely out of the way, close to a structurally reinforced segment of the bridge before she made her way to her brother and the two of them began to combine their medical supplies, in treating Khorin earlier, in taking care of the injuries along the way from when they met up with other teams. As they looked over what they had, a selection of stimulants, a few painkillers and numbing agents, only one functioning hypospray, a cortical stimulator, and a few other emergency medical tools. It was not much, but the siblings quickly got to work, seeking out the most injured of the remaining crew. They did not know how much time they had before their position would begin to be overrun, and they could not turn down any possible steady hands at this point.

As the siblings worked Vinata surprised his sister, in the time that they had been apart he had managed to regain his composure, fighting off his fears and taking steps towards letting his trauma fall behind him. Of course it was not all gone, from time to time Hylota would notice her brother taking a moment to steel himself, shakily getting blood off of his hands before getting right into his ministrations once more. Hylota had to admit it was a good thing that he was doing better, since getting back her child and meeting back up with her brother. Her stress had been reduced greatly by these two developments, with their strain no longer looming over her shoulders Hylota put her focus into her duty, working with her brother to care for the rest of the crew.

As the attack on their position began Hylota and Vinata stopped in their work and looked to where the fighting was taking place, for the time being their position was out of the way and safe, Hylota shot more than a few glances to her egg, her instincts strong in their desire to ensure it's safety, especially with the added knowledge of how dear it was to her. She could not risk it falling back into the hands of the Savi, which meant she would need to provide any aid that she could to those fighting. Taking a deep breath Hylota was prepared to make her intentions known, that she would be prepared to stand in to aid the crew in the fight, but in a surprising turn Vinata did not even give her the opportunity. "Hylota, I am going to take the pain killers and some of the stimulants along with what remains of my kit. I will go ant assist those who are holding the entrances, you need to stay here and look after these people, and your child as well. You just got them back, at this point it would be cruel to separate you once more." Vinata smile to his sister as she returned the expression and gave him a gentle punch in the shoulder. "How very thoughtful of you, normally I would try and protest, but if this must be done then is must be done." Hylota gave her brother a quick hug before she checked her own phaser and returned to her patients.

Vinata was making his way to the edge of the combat when he watched Khorin going full Klingon and charge off to battle. It was an impressive sight that gave some momentary insight into why his sister had such a fondness for the race. Of course things move very quickly from that point, fighting and clashing always seemed to make time ebb and flow in strange ways. One moment Khorin was out charging, the next he was pulling back, then there was an explosion. Vinata had taken cover to prevent himself from being compromised by the shock wave. Peaking back out Vinata took a quick scan of his surroundings, spotting Khorin on top of another crewman who he could not identify under his bulk. He was not sure of their status and he could not risk assuming they were perfectly fine. Quickly Vinata made his move skirting around the edge of the perimeter before he came over to Khorin and Zephyr. "Are the two of you alright? How is your arm holding up Khorin? Do the two of you require any emergency aid?" Vinata was already taking out a numbing agent and loading it into the hypospray. He was not sure if he was needed, but he was going to make his services known.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: steelphoenix on January 31, 2019, 06:04:49 PM
[ Deacon | Day 6 | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage  @BZ  @Numen  @FollowTomorrow @SummerDawn  @patches  @Fife  @Numen @Absinthe

His efforts were slow but deliberate.  All around him, the others seemed fine, or as fine as they ever seemed, but he felt terrible.  A creeping ache had settled in his muscles, sinking deep down to his bones it seemed.  There was a tightness at the back of his neck that stretched across the crown of his head, constricting and releasing with the pounding of his single heart.  There was a heat behind his eyes and yet his skin felt clammy beneath the sweat he was steadily wiping from his face.

He took a deep breath, straightening himself, striving to obscure any sign of discomfort from his face, although it was all but impossible to hide the paleness of his features. "Captain," he said, stepping up behind Ives, the faintly British accent all the more apparent in the comparative moment of quiet.  "I've relocated everything that wasn't secured.  There are some locked stations in the side alcoves that I opted not to tamper with."

Looking back towards the pile, he added, "Some of the crew have availed themselves of the weaponry but there are few still remaining.  Multiple datapads as well.  If there are any engineers or technical staff not otherwise engaged, perhaps we have some time to download a portion of their database to more portable storage."

He rubbed a hand across the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to combat the grip of pain that continued to crush against his skull even as another wave of empathic awareness threatened to dismantle his mental defenses again.  Human or kzinti, the snarl of irritation was apparent as his bared fangs, diminished as they were, yet remained.  With a half-stagger, he managed to catch himself, attempting to play it off as if he'd intended to turn away before thinking better of it.

Another breath.  This time his voice was lowered, "Captain, I... overheard part of your conversation regarding the one called Hi'Jak."  He managed to right himself once more, turning his gaze earnestly towards the captain.  He was a Black Priest, and even if his words would not change the will of the patriarch, he owed the patriarch full disclosure so that he may best consider the consequence of his decision.  "I... cannot speak to what happened on his prior mission but... while we were caged here, he and the one called Morali were..." Instrumental? Critical? Helpful? "... They were useful in helping us break the simulation.  They had apparently been able to interface with the ship's primary systems and institute some sort of override."

He lowered his gaze for a moment before lifting it once more. "I cannot judge whether that was out of personal interest or greater concern for the pride... the crew... unfortunately the Savi have... damaged my ziirgah so it is difficult for me to rely on it as I once did.  But, I thought you should know."
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Brutus on February 02, 2019, 10:46:16 PM
[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sarresh_Morali) | Bridge Module  | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan 
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The Temporal Agent had made his gamble and it was clear that Ives was not at all in a place to listen. In a show of what Sarresh considered admirable restraint and respect, he kept his face impassive to the command level dressing down that followed his query. He was rather proud of himself, in fact. He didn't flush red, he didn't snap back or interrupt. He didn't tear Ives head off. He wanted to. Though apparently the Captains Assassin was lurking (he'd decided on the new title for the woman that had up until this point done an equally admirable job of keeping him alive).

If Ives were to be believed - and Sarresh had little to go with to judge one way or another, after all that had to have happened to them over the last few days - then Hi'Jak had made some serious errors in judgement. Pot, met kettle, he thought, in stoic fashion. The same control that had let him keep his voice down when he'd tried to reach the captain's sense of ...of what? Of whatever he' tried to crack through and failed, he concluded, allowed him to pace right along, without flinching at the explosions. Yes, he was well aware that there was fighting. A cripple might not be good in one of those but he had other uses. And his life was at much on the line as anyone else so really, there was no logic in thinking he would betray them now.

Pointing that out wouldn't work. He still had no idea how to get through to this person. He tried...oh he tried. But all Ives saw was insubordination all around them. Even if Morali viewed his rank as something that was real, wouldn't even a junior officer be duty bound to point out in whatever fashion would most likely reach the captain that they were behaving irrational? Wasn't that part of the duty?

Never mind that as a time traveler with a perspective Ives couldn't begin to grasp; the last thing the Captain aught to be doing was dismissing and treating him thus. The rank was a convenient facade, nothing more. Ives didn't seem to realize that.More the fool for Ives then. He'd just have to keep the cameliod alive despite themselves. I really could have used Hi'Jak though, no matter what Ives says he did.

He took the PADD from Ives, quietly, and looked over it, prompting the 'now, officer,' from the Captain. He had to wonder at the Borg being present - that was a valid point, a scathing one. Could the incursion have been in the Delta Quadrant? His shipboard technology might not have found it. Perhaps the Borg had been here since before his arrival back into this part of the timeline?  If that had been the case though, surely the Relativity would have intervened there?

No, that can't be it. Even with out his lab, encoding was working. If it had been temporal in nature...Fine.

"Perhaps, Captain Ives," he said, tucking the PADD under his arm, "The reason I did not warn you is because this is not an incursion - at least not of a temporal nature. Perhaps this is how history was supposed to unfold. Perhaps they were supposed to be here, now, regardless of the desires of those infesting this timeline." A pause, "Sir," he added and turned away.

He didn't listen to the conversation that followed, not the one with Sinead and the robot, nor the one with Deacon.

Orders were given. Stupid ass orders. But he didn't quite want to deal with disobeying them just yet. So he had this PADD. Fine.  He glanced through it as he walked away, more concerned about the device on his shoulders and the mental state of the Captain. He'd ask Thea to monitor Ives. Maybe she'd listen. Maybe not. He figured he could pose the question better to the hologram.

I could have used Hi'Jak's help with this too. Damn you and your paranoia, Ives, he thought with a low sigh. Still, using the cleaning beams as a weapon was promising.  Having crossed the whole of the bridge, to the port side, Sarresh reached the hologram, and looked up at her, head tilting to one side, taking it all in.

"Thea," he began, holding up the PADD. "Captain Ives wanted you to see this. I find it rather promising actually, it dovetails nicely into some of the work I've been doing with the Savi code." See, i can play nice, he thought. But how to broach the concern over Ives mental state.? It dawned on him that the AI might not be wholly together either. He had no idea what sort of ordeal she'd undergone.

Well, Fuck.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Absinthe on February 09, 2019, 07:03:07 AM
[ Nephele Soong | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] attn: @Triage @FollowTomorrow
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Combat had never been a specialty of Lahkesis Saugn, and even in her new form, she was far from a combatant. She had entered the field of battle and every time she had, it had resulted in trauma. Given that fact alone she knew it best to avoid the fight.

Fortunately, at that moment, they remained isolated from it. The fighting was on the bridge and they were in an adjacent room. Though Hi'Jak had departed, none had entered since he had. Quickly she moved to the door and began to analyze the panel. It was not in a language she knew, but given that it was a door panel it was likely to have a similar layout to door panels she had seen before. She quickly recalled a number of varying designs and schematics of door panels she was familiar with and their various key functions to trigger locking mechanisms. Though each was unique she was certain she could discern a pattern within them.

After a long moments consideration, she reached out her hand and began to tap keys on the panel, though the exact result was not immediately clear.

"If we are lucky I have just locked the door," she said thoughtfully considering the panel. "If we are not, then it is no longer locked."
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on February 11, 2019, 12:09:14 AM
[ Khorin, son of Margon, of House Mo'Kai (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Khorin_Douglas)| Bridge Module | The Versant ]
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Att: @BZ @Zenozine @Auctor Lucan



"Khor .." she whispered, and his heart tingled with that sound, with that way she used to call him. That name that she had choose for him. "I wanted to let you know .. something. About me." She keep murmuring, her slender fingers intertwined in his disheveled hair. He looked at her, all his attention in her words, what else could he do but listen to her?  His world was reduced to her and him. And to that strange connection that united them for which he had no name.


In that moment, the barrier suddenly came down and Khorin lost his balance. They rolled forward a few meters, the Klingon tried hard that the fall didn't worsen Zephyr's wounds. Her gasp told him that he had failed in his endeavour, and when they stopped (with him hovering over her petite figure) his gaze traveled her body up and down, worried that his clumsiness had aggravated her situation.His own shoulder throbbed, a mirror pain that reflected hers. Blood pooled in her dark savi uniform, and formed a crimson splash where it has been torn by the graviton beam.


Khorin looked at her worriedly. He didn't mind being hurt. Endure pain is the only way to klingon could fully understand life. But that did not apply to her. He must protect her. He wasn't sure why but he HAD to. "You did not have to tackle me if you wanted to kiss." she teased up at him and smiled, interrupting his thoughts. He grinned back as a fool. "Well, you've the tendency to run away when I least expect it, I couldn't risk being left behind without a kiss again, missy." He quipped back. Khorin leaned over her, his intention clear. Their lips where almost touched...


And then, then, Vinata interrupted them. Khorin couldn't help but a frustrated grunt. He knew that the ovri had good intentions. That he was just trying to fulfilled his role as a nurse. Still... He didn't need him. Not now.


"My arm is fine," he confirmed at his question, while tightened his hug around the betazoid. His bulky arm showed the tender scar where the bone had pierced the skin, aside from that and a dull pain in the area, he felt mostly good. "She is ... she will be okay, I'll take care of it. We'll be fine." He kept talking, more to himself than to the bluish skinned man. "I just need to retrieve her medkit." He leaned his forehead against hers and placed her gently on the floor. "I'll be back in a minute, Kyamo."


He clung the rifle on his shoulder, just in case, and returned to the point they had been defending. He just needed a minute. Search, retrieve the medkit and go back with it to her. At least she was under Vinata's care, if something really serious happened to her body, he would know what to do. She would be safe. At least the moment. Without knowing very well what was doing, Khorin touched mentaly that connection that he felt in the back of his mind, that strange link that allowed him to communicate with her. To felt her event when she was out of sight. He felt it clearer, stronger now that she was near.


The aquamarine forcefield's light bathed the mass of metal they had been defending only a few minutes ago. The pilot's eyes averted to the corridor in the other side, corpses over its floorplates, blackened burns on walls and ceilings. For the moment, it seemed to be quiet and empty, the opposition they had planted seemed to have redirected Savi's efforts to another entrance. They had gained a little time for everyone. A small sigh before the fight peaked again in other place.


Khorin moved his gaze again and directed it towards the rest of the setting, to the metallic shreds that covered the bridge's floor.  After several minutes, he found what he was looking for. It was covered with some ash and several splinters had stuck to its surface, but it still seemed functional. At least as far as his knowledge came. He grabbed it carefully, as if he were going to get rid of it between his fingers at any moment and returned to where Zephyr and Vinata waited, carrying it.


When he reached them, the betazoid was seated, that smile that characterized her etched in her face. ~ "Kyamo ..." ~ His mind purred, trying to grab her attention. And he succeeded, her dark eyes twinkling for a moment when they found his. Khorin grin widened. He leaned close to her and rested his ridged forehead in hers. And he finally kiss her. He didn't mind where they were or who was around. Not anymore. He just needed that kiss. When he moved his face away from hers, he smiled again, and dropped the medkit in her lap. That left both of his hands free to grab her again, tight against his chest. And without saying a word out loud, he made his way to the nearest stairs. He knew there were empty rooms up there. Safe places, easy to protect. She needed a break. Him, some time alone with her.


While climbing the first steps, Khorin rumbled. "You wanted to tell me something before Vinata came. Something about you ... " He didn't know what she want to tell him so urgently, but if it was important to her, it was important to him. So he would look for a private spot to let her talk, only for them both.




OOC: Khorin & Zephyr exit the scene to keep with the conversation in a supplemental
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: chXinya on February 12, 2019, 04:52:49 AM
[Ens. Irnashall "Shall" chXinya | Bridge Module | The Versant]

Shall was chan, the warrior in his core was beating at his chest trying to get out, to jump into the fight.  He wanted to fight to punish the Savi for what they did to him, to his bondmates, old and new.  He wanted to fight to prove to Ida that he could, that despite his injury he could stand for himself.  A shelthreth was here in front of him, forced and “wrong” as it may be in the Empire’s eyes, and they needed him.  But he knew Shar was right.

Shall may be chan, but he was a scientist, not a warrior.  He may be skilled with his staff and well trained with a phaser, but his true skills weren’t in weaponry.  “You won’t be able to get to them by yourself.  I know my way around computer hardware quite well.”  Looking to Selh, Shall could tell that the than was in, no matter what the plan was.  “Could get messy, they won’t like us messing around with their ship?  They’re pretty mad as it is.”  Sehl waved it off.

By that point Shar had already started towards Blue and Shall could see why.  The woman was already in some sort of access panel, she would be the one to coordinate with.  The captain and Ida were nearby as well and a part of Shall hoped that the zhen would be willing to jump in with the sabotage, even just as a guard.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on February 12, 2019, 02:08:23 PM
[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
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Earlier, the Temporal Affairs Officer had got the hint, Jien thought, even though she didn't watch him leave. He had done so after she was given a defensive comment about his shortcomings. She had supposed either of the reasons were viable, but the point hadn't been about the Borg, but the man's blatant arrogance and disrespect towards his Commanding Officer, not to mention his folly in placing trust in a traitor. That, however, had been something they were both guilty of...

Before V-Nine could settle or begin any kind of medical procedure on Sinead, she suddenly became defensive about the liability that rested inside her head, and Ives frowned, wondering why she wanted to keep it, even updating it. Jien heard her out, however, and since she didn't know the possibilities that the android possessed, she let it - or she - speak for herself after Sinead fell quiet. The android lowered the lens of her cranial unit and wrung her metallic hands a bit, likely about to give bad news.

"Unfortunately, the abilities given to you by the implant are intrinsic to its aggression stimuli. As far as I can determine from my sensors alone, the first aren't generated without the latter. Control and recognition are in direct conflict with the result. The only other option available with it's current neurological stimuli and overall design is if you keep it so that your ability can be remotely controlled by a third party. This, however, would also make you remain a threat to those present here. Based on my diagnosis of your condition and taking the current situation into account, it would be my recommendation that the implant's software is completely removed, with surgical removal of the implant as a whole pending given opportunity and more favourable surgical conditions."

Jien nodded, finding herself agreeing with the android's assessment. "By the sound of it, this 'chip' is not something I want to remain at the possible expense of our lives and you compromising the mission. I am assuming that, by you knowing you have this installed in your head, the Savi have already remotely controlled you here on this ship? That tells me it's only a matter of time before the attempt is made. V-Nine, please rinse the implant in this patient from software as humanely as possible in terms of chosen method."

"Understood, Aspect-Maker," said V-Nine, lifting a hand towards Sinead.

"Please do not call me Aspect-Maker," Jien now said, a frown cutting her forehead.

V-Nine paused and turned her lens towards her, almost quizzically. "Acknowledged. Please state your preference of designation."

Jien took a deep breath. "I suppose Captain Ives should do."

"Understood. I will now begin the procedure," said the android and turned her lens back to Sinead. Two fingers on her left hand popped open with a whirr and strange protrusions extended towards the Irish woman's head. Jien watched while lights began to flash at the tips of the metal extensions, and Sinead's skin and hair was lit in the dim lighting of the bridge. "Up-link established. Encryption lifted. Reformatting of memory bank initiated."

After the procedure had begun, Deacon stepped up to Jien, and she turned to face him since he evidently had finished his task. He looked a tad worse for wear, likely suffering ailments because of the Savi, and it cemented Jien's conviction that she'd done the right thing in taking command of the Versant together with Thea and the rest of the survivors. She just hoped that they would be able to get aboard the Theurgy and at the same time get away from the Versant before the Savi reclaimed control of the ship. Thea's task would be clear. Sabotage, to the highest possible degree, but still sparing the Savi themselves.

"Well done," she said to the Kzin, before he began to talk about Hi'Jak and Morali, both of which were on her shit-list at the moment, but the former had actually betrayed the crew and put the away-team on the Coreless Moon at risk. This not even taking into account that he may have sullied the diplomatic relations with the Klingon Empire. An opportunity lost, just because Hi'Jak thought he knew better. Morali, on the other hand, was just a whining and arrogant officer who thought he was better than the rest of them just because he had served on the Relativity. He might not remember that he volunteered to his mission, but that did not forgive his inability to try and become one with the crew, or his blatant disregard for authority. Regardless the century, an officer was expected to act like one. Of course, there was also the blame placed on Ives in regard to the Ash'reem's new body, and the results of preserving the mission and Morali's import, but regarding Morali's losses of Amikris, Amatras and Arcorn - the Neotin family - they were not Ives' fault. In fact, those losses wee such that she shared.

"Duly noted, as for my own concerns, they are entirely for...'the Pride', regardless what motivations drove them. Hi'Jak's misplaced his loyalty to another Pride in a way that compromised ours, and cannot be trusted. If he can't be trusted, he is a liability, and we don't need him. Furthermore, regardless their accomplishments before on this ship, it seems Thea has gained the kind of system access we need now. Morali, however - bad attitude aside - is of mission importance."

It seemed Thea accepted the PADD from Morali, as far as Jien could see from a distance, and the Theurgy A.I. gave him a smile. It took her a few moments to download from the tablet but once she did, it seemed she was able to render some new results. She gave the Temporal Affairs officer another smile and a pat on the shoulder and turned from the console she was hooked up to. "Captain, I have found an alternative means of propulsion. With deeper decryption means, I have been able to ascertain the nature of a few more main systems. It would seem this ship has a quantum slipstream drive, and the warp drive is merely the ancillary propulsion system."

Jien blinked. "Did I hear that correctly, are you saying that this ship can travel at higher speeds than warp?"

"Aye, Captain. We have deficiency in energy regeneration due to battle damage, so we cannot travel faster than Warp 9. The sensor arrays - which have a remarkable range compared to my own - tell me that my hull is moving away from us at Warp 9,5. Therefore, we will not be able to catch up unless we use the benamite slipstream reactor. Yet in order to use it, unfortunately, we need to drop out of warp, and pool energy for this leap. I believe I will be able to do so, but it will take time. Time, in which the Savi may launch their Initiator fighters and attempt to attack this bridge."

Jien frowned, thinking fast. "How much time?"

"I estimate we will need 45.476 minutes to generate the required energy."

"And how quickly will we catch up?"

Thea hesitated. "I... have no basis of estimation. The system is dormant, and I have obviously not tested it. My data says it is a Benamite Slipstream Reactor Core, powered by the Zero-Point Energy Reactor in the middle of the fuselage, which also generate power for the ship's warp drive, their research centres, habitation sectors and virtually all of the critical systems. The concept of quantum speeds is theoretical in the Federation, but it could either be instantaneous, or just a few seconds. Perhaps a full minute? I am sorry, Captain, I have no firm ETA."

"Then drop out of warp, prepare to use this ship's point-defence turrets if required, pool the energy needed, and keep the sensors on... your hull. If you vanish out of sensor range, we might not be able to afford to remain here."

"Aye, Captain," she said, and she cleared her throat. "My positronic brain's processor is operating at it's 100 % capacity to handle all the tasks allotted to me in this endeavour, which is aboard an entirely unknown hull. I sorely need to relieve my runtime from tasks if we are to do this."

Jien looked around, thinking. "Do we have a Tactical officer present?" she called, hoping someone might step forward among those not of the Theurgy crew. She turned to Thea. "Leave the point-defence systems to us, if you just give us manual access."

"Yes, Captain," said Thea, looking a bit relieved.

In the background, V-Nine was finished, asking Sinead how she felt. The back of the bridge was quiet, the defensive line having held until Thea managed to beam away the Savi. ThanIda zh'wann stood guard there along with others. Hopefully, they would be able to last for about 45 minutes...


OOC: Free posting here, and since a far longer time has passed in @BZ and @Fife 's supplemental thread than it has passed in this scene, some NPC Tactical officer will have to take the first shift at the bridge's equivalent of a Tactical station until Cross shows up from one of the offices together with Blue Tiran.

Posting in this thread if both free and optional henceforth, since the Versant is due to appear in Chapter 05. Supplemental threads are available to be made as well, the available depiction of such spanning from 1010 to ca 1115 hrs. The naming convention for such Supplemental threads is CH04: S [D06|XXXX] Insert Title
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: chXinya on February 16, 2019, 03:42:27 AM
[Ens. Irnashall "Shall" chXinya | Bridge Module | The Versant]

Following Shar as she worked her way towards the little command group that had gathered, Shall tried to read the room.  In the background he could hear the Savi still trying to get through and retake their ship, but he put it out of his mind.  There was nothing he could do about it now, but if they did manage to break through he’ll fight to the death then become a test subject again.  He noticed Morali and Deacon standing in the Captain’s group while that Savi android was doing something to a human crewmember whose name escaped him at the moment.  Curious, he watched from a distance while listening to what snippets he could hear from the captain’s discussions with the others, his antenna angling towards them even though he wasn’t looking their way.  He didn’t have to wait long before something caught his interest, ideas quickly formulating into plans as each detail came from Thea’s digital mouth.

“We can help with those fighters.” Shall blurted out, something that got a few people’s attention he was sure.  His cheeks flushed a darker blue for a moment as he realized the breach of protocol.  Too late though, and he forced his antenna to stay still instead of quivering like a taught branch in the wind.  He held up his wrist and pulled up the map again, trying to find the area of the ship that interested him.  “Shar, Sehl, and I volunteer for sabotage duty.  If we can keep those hangars from opening, then those fighters are useless.”  Blue fingers kept scrolling through menus and focusing in on different sections of the map before he finally found the hangar in question.  Highlighting the doors he could see the outlines of the mechanisms that opened the massive structures.  Angling his wrist to show to the others, “Shouldn’t be too hard to do for a set of Andorians looking for some revenge.”

Unable to resist, Shall glanced to Ida who was hovering protectively nearby.  Fighting a satisfied grin, he had to throw the offer out there.  “Just imagine what a full Whole can do against those who wrong us.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: SummerDawn on February 16, 2019, 04:12:21 PM
[ K'Ren (http://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=K%27Ren) | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @steelphoenix All
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Having availed herself of one of the Savi weapons, a graviton rifle as she understood it, though the underlying mechansism she could care less about, it was a weapon and could put down any person she discharged it into, K'Ren followed Deacon around for a bit, finding a vantage point she could observe most of the fighting from. It was in the Caitian nature, the ancient creatures they'd evolved from, the great cats of their world, to find a place to observe out of the reach of their prey. Stalk & Pounce was the habit, and in fighting, that nature shone through. They didn't rush into battle like Klingons and humans, taking time to observe, to spot the weaknesses of their prey, before dropping in silently for the kill, or later on as they developed ranged weapons, to shoot from a distance.

Having found the vantage point, K'Ren settled in with her weapon to await the alien attackers. She didn't have long to wait however as several Savi came through an entrance, firing at the two humans on the ground who fired back from shelter. K'Ren turned her attention to the attack, her gun firing into the Savi, leaving scorch marks on the deck where she'd missed, leaving wounded soldiers where she'd not. Her position gave her some advantage in seeing where the enemy lay, and as long as they focused on the freindlies down below, she was safe enough.

That wasn't however the case, and soon several Savi realized there was more then just weapons fire from their level coming in. She dispatched the first few that shot back at her but with the Savi pushing in, and the defenders on the ground being beaten back, her position soon became untenable, shots landing around her, metal sizzling as the graviton based weapons tore through her cover like it wasn't there. She had to move, and move now.  Putting a couple bursts into the Savi mass, K'Ren used the momentary distraction to break cover. Sprinting for safer cover, she suddenly tumbled to the ground, her ankle screaming in pain. The sustained fire on her position had weakened the catwalk she was on, and the sudden crash to the deck as she fell while sprinting, was enough to finish the damage and before she could do anything, the catwalk gave way, tumbling to the deck, K'Ren inside the falling steel.

She screamed, as much from the pain as the realization she was going to die from the fall, that her life would end here, killed in a pile of twisted steel, either from the hard ground at the bottom, or from the wreckage she was falling with. She had little time to contemplate her fate however, the deck plating came up so quick and K'Ren crashed into the ground, several bones shattering on impact, knocking the wind from her, but leaving her concious. She could feel the pain all over, the ankle that was mangled by the graviton rifle, dull aches from the bruising, sharp stabbing pain from all over where bones had boken. On her back, she could glance around a little, her eyes having trouble focusing, her world not much more then the mangled wreakage of her perch all around her. Looking down she could also see a piece of metal lodged in her abdomen, how deep and how damaging she could not know, but she felt no pain from it for all the pain she felt elsewhere.

Crying out, half buried in the wrekage, K'Ren awaited her fate, either to be rescued, or todie on this accursed ship.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: steelphoenix on February 16, 2019, 06:02:13 PM
[ Deacon | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @SummerDawn

Deacon had given the captain a quiet nod.  His place was not to dissuade the patriarch, merely to advise; and it was clear that there was more to this Hi'Jak than Deacon had known -- should they all survive this place, Deacon would make note to be wary of the once-klingon.  Possessing no rank of his own to command and the weariness of his limbs leeching any desire for further effort was at contrast to his mind as it struggled to find some happy medium between his straakh's need to remain useful and his body's need to rest.

Retrieving one of the graviton rifles from the liberated stockpile he had amassed, he circled the exposed bridge, taking advantage of the limited amount of cover that some of the crew had established to repel the Savi crew as they continued to press their irregular incursions into the contested zones.  Theurgy had managed to erect shields and beam out some of the intruders, but her attention now seemed diverted, at least in part, as the ship seemed to be in transit and had been for some time.

K'Ren.  Where was she?  At least he could find some comfort at her side.

The answer was as immediate as it was startling, the distant sound of weapons fire punctuated by the sound of collapsing superstructure, twisted metal, and one distinct cry.  His heart caught in his throat, all sense of fatigue set aside, bolstered by necessity, a surge of worry and adrenaline pounding through his veins as he charged across the deck, fangs bared -- such as they were -- but the growl in his throat very convincing and most inhuman.

In seconds, he stood at the edge of the collapsed catwalk, tracing along its edge, peering through the tangled heap for any signs of his wife.  "K.. K'ren," he said, reaching his hand through a small breach in the debris to caress the soft fur of her cheek, "I'm here.  I'll get you out."

His eyes studied the wreckage, pausing momentarily to consider the graviton rifle he carried.  Brutish and inelegant for what he needed.  A phaser might allow him to cut through some of the beams to help release her, but this thing was good for little else other than death and destruction -- he could appreciate it for what it was, but for what he needed it to be, it was sorely lacking.

Grabbing some smaller pieces as leverage, he slowly set to bracing the structure, working to widen one of the opening enough to pull K'Ren through.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: SummerDawn on February 16, 2019, 08:42:23 PM
[ K'Ren (http://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=K%27Ren) | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @steelphoenix All
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Even though she was still conscious, K'Ren fully expected to die. She'd been broken like this before, in the academy, a flight training accident that nearly killed her, and she felt the same weakness, the same inability to do anything but focus on staying awake, staying lucid as long as she could, and hope that somebody would come for her. After her intial cry, she whimpered, mewling like an injured kitten. The pain was great, and she could feel blood on her fingers as she gingerly touched her stomach where the metal lay embedded. What was injured she didn't know, so many internal organs ran past that area, almost all vital to her continued existance.

She couldn't move otherwise but when a hand reached in to caress her cheek, and a familiar voice percolated through the debris to her ears, she purred, knowing her mate was here. She didn't know what he could do, if he could rescue her from the twisted mangled wrekage, but he was nearby, and if she were to die, at least she would pass with her mate's touch being the last thing she felt. "Deacon." she said softly, "I love you tznrrow. I am gravely injured. Some metal has impaled my abdomen, I can't move."

Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on February 16, 2019, 09:35:16 PM
[ LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Kelleshar_sh%27Zenne)|  Bridge Module | The Versant ]
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Att: @Auctor Lucan @chXinya 


When Shall intervened into his captain's conversation, Shar rolled her eyes and shaked head. Mostly due she saw her own hot-headed nature in him and she had hoped that the chan knew better than that. But he was young. Younger than her at least.And that was PRETTY young. Part of her had trusted that he was smarter than her but, well, she supposed she should have expected that kind of outburst after seeing his rage in the verge of collapse. Still, it was ironic that, despite how twisted their forced shelthreth was, they seemed to have lot of things in common, as a Whole. 'Stubbornness and impulsiveness' she thought as her gaze moved from Shall's indigo cheeks to Selh's determined gaze. Then, from the thaan she moved her gaze to Ida, who was walking nearby with the savi rifle in her hands and a posture so rigid that it seemed that the zhen couldn't bend at the waist. 'Oh but we know better, aren't we, zh'yi?' she thought, chuckling to herself. Her antennae faced each other over her forehead in an andorian smirk even when her face kept her usual bitter expresion.


In any case, Shall had just volunteered them to sabotage the fighter bay, so the ops officer focused on what they were up to. The PADD Shall held in his hands displayed different map sections, one after another, until the scientist stopped on the hangar plans, highlighting the doors. She frowned in deep thought, looking at other sections of the screen. However Shall's hands hid with his movements what she wanted to examine, sos he moved away from the group to the object pile nearby, where she searched until got a PADD for herself. After a while tapping the screen, lost between the weird script and the oddly organized archives, she found the same planes with which the chan worked.


"Even if they manage to get into the bay, we can remodulate its forcefieds to stop the fighters for some more time, using the them as emergency fields they wont allow anything to go out into space as a security measure, if they work as ours," She said as she pointed out the emitters around the FAB openings to space. "Meanwhile, we can fill up the bay with oxygen-rich air, as your AI ​​did on the bridge. It wont stop the pilots, but it'll increase the risk of an explosion so they'll take things easy, moving around more carefully. Problably they won't be able to launch all its fighters at the same time for the risk of sparks and it also would prevent them from firing at the doors of the hangar or the emitters. Our sabotage won't be stop by mere brute force. That will also give us some more time to add logical deviations around the systems we control, extending the time we could kept the fighters stuck." Shar knew that her proposals were only temporary solutions, but they would give them time and, with luck, they could destroy some Savi systems from within. If it force their captors to stay weeks in the dry dock, at the mercy of whatever hovered in the nebula, she would call that a victory.


She was well aware that the Borg lurked out there, the same Cube that had destroyed the Endeavour. If  Borg and their captors annihilated each other, it would be the best possible outcome. She wished the Water Guardian would grant her that.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: FollowTomorrow on February 19, 2019, 07:45:44 AM
[ Nathaniel Isley | Medbay | USS Versant ] @Absinthe @Triage

“Good going,” Hissed Nathaniel from the hiding place he and Heather were cornered behind, trying to keep his voice down. Heather, right now, was the most important weapon they had, and even though no one else was here, he also didn’t feel safe enough to stretch out his legs and act like they were safe. “But come hide before someone sees you, doctor.”

Heather was now out of his arms, but he was keeping a close eye on her. She was so fragile, but in a new way. Earlier, he was pretty sure that he was told even touching Heather could kill her. Now, he had been carrying her around, and she had fallen so many times. She was...almost useless. This was their secret weapon all along?
“They’re still fighting out there. We’re going to stay here until it’s over. And try not to be seen. We may have had allies in the Savi, but now...I guess we’re back to being targets, again.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on February 21, 2019, 09:48:10 PM
[ Lt. JG Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @steelphoenix & @Patches
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Her alternate idea was ultimately rejected, and she saw the logic in the decision. Nodding, the auburn-haired woman knelt down once more, allowing V-Nine unhindered access to her scalp. “Do what yeh mus',” said Sinead.

There was a brief sensation, a sharp pain, and then nothing. She felt numb. There had been a joke about numbskulls once, but she couldn't quite remember. She was unconscious, and yet, she didn't know or sense when that was true, for she still saw all around her, only she couldn't be awake for the surgery, surely.

Welcome back, Sinny,” said her wild pure Bringloidi self, and Sinead scowled.

“I have had enoff o' yeh.” said the woman as she stood up in the dream world. The other woman lunged at her, claws raking at her eyes.

Normally Sinead would have grappled with her, held her until she submitted and made the process of absorbing her into herself, taking full control of her emotions, but this time, Sinead allowed her anger to get the better of her and as she did so, her wild self grew larger, more feral, and stronger. “Aye, keep goin'h!” she said, egging Sinead on, “At last yeh will be destroyed an' I will be freeh!

Sinead knew this would not end well, but she fell back into her training in various martial arts, and suddenly flipped the larger form over head. Wordlessly, she approached her adversary, herself, and as the other woman rose, she kicked her in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her. “Time an' again,”, said Sinead, “I tell yeh th' simple truth, tha' we are one an' th' same, but time an' again, yeh refuse t' accept that yeh no be a prisoner in me. We are both free.”

When she screamed and lunged forward, Sinead ducked to the side, lifting her right leg to trip the woman up, and she grasped the upraised ankle, and twisted, snapping the foot right around. A shrill cry pierced and nearly broke Sinead's skull from the volume, but she kicked her other self in the back of the neck, “I reject yeh as a part of meh. No longer will I be assaulted by yeh. I am Sinead O'Riley, an' yeh be nothin' but a lost girl in th' recesses of me mind. But now, begone. I have no need of yeh, and it is time yeh be locked away forever, to rot...and die.”

She snapped limb after limb, and tore her own reflection to pieces with her bare hands, then threw them into a box and shut the lid, locking it. By sheer force of will, she created an ocean that she stood upon, carrying the box in her hands, and she cast it into the ocean, where the screams of her own self was stolen by the waters. She felt peace at last, no longer doubting she was who she was by will of her own choosing. She looked upwards and saw a bright light, which she willingly ascended to...

...and she was awake once more. V-Nine asked her how she felt, to which she responded by feeling her head, and she spared a small smile to the android and the captain, “It be quiet in me head now. I am free.”

She stood up, ready to perform her duties as needed once more.



[ PWO Heather McMillan (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_McMillan) | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow & @Absinthe
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Heather had since curled up, settled down close to Nathaniel, and hugged her knees to herself. She shivered, not sure if she was cold or just thoroughly unnerved, but either way, she knew she wanted to leave this dreadful ship. She felt this fundamental change that took place within her, and it was not yet finished. Part of her was lost, never to be regained. Something new was given her besides life, but was this a boon, or a dreadful curse?

With a sigh, she realized that she could not just sit there and wait for them to be done. For everyone to fight the battles for her. Sure, she could not and would not pick up a weapon to join a battle...could she? No, she couldn't. Besides that, warriors were not the only things a crew needed. She was a biologist, a student of medicine and physiological understanding and improvement. The next best thing after a doctor. So, despite her initial plan to stay put and wait the worst out, she slowly got up, still unsteady, but slowly regaining enough strength to at least walk. She nodded when Lakhesis and Nathaniel spoke, “Rather unfortunate business, that,” she said.

“How did it happen?” She asked, and as she listened, she began to sort out the supplies nearby, forming a kit for herself whilst looking Nathaniel over. She might just have him examined to see how badly hurt he was, “I'm going to see about making a kit. I'm...I remember that I am something of a doctor, and while I'm quite...uhm...averse to holding a weapon, I can do something about wounds...”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Absinthe on February 23, 2019, 08:40:43 AM
[ Nephele Soong | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] attn: @Triage @FollowTomorrow
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The woman who had been Lahkesis gazed at the panel for a moment longer. They were fighting and some likely dying just on the other side of the door. She was no fighter, when she did fight it more often ended in her being damaged in some way. She was able to hold her own in a fight, but because of her biology, any wound could prove fatal if not tended to promptly enough.

She was, for better or for worse, a Doctor, a medic in this cruel world that seemed to bite and chew up everything. An ounce of bitterness festered in her mind. She wanted to do something, something beyond wait for the battle to end or for it to inevitably come to her, but she was in no state to do anything and it seemed those with her were just as unlikely. She had joined Starfleet in peace and now, well now it seemed a quiet war had boiled over and she was trapped. She was not a soldier, not one to run into combat and do damage. If any had been, that may have been Akropos, if she were there it was likely she would be out there fighting. But Lahkesis was not her sister. Heck, she wasn't even sure if she was Lahkesis anymore. She felt like she was something different. She felt like she was something new. That alone left her terrified.

"I am a Doctor. When the time comes I can help, but for now we must keep ourselves safe," she said calmly as she moved from the panel to the medical table and picked up the biosuit the Savi had given them and began to put it back on. "There will come a time for us to ply our skills, but we cannot go onto the field of battle unless we are called. It is too dangerous and we cannot do any good if we are wounded. We must hold here and wait. When the time comes, we will know."
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on February 27, 2019, 02:36:00 PM
[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=ThanIda_zh%27Wann) | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @chXinya  @Numen 
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After having secured the prisoner, Ida raked back her hair and looked up from her handiwork - her antennae settling on the three Andorians. She overheard them, of course, a pointed but indirect question coming her way about undertaking some kind of sabotage mission, and suggesting that they'd operate a lot better as a Whole. It made her blink once, and she mentally recoiled from the suggestion. She had her duty, and that was to protect the crew. With so few from Security present, she needed to stay with Captain Ives and Thea.

So, she turned her steps towards the group, hearing them talking, but whatever hopes they might have had about her participation, she squashed them. "I will remain here, and so should you. Thea will be able to sabotage far more than the three of you could hope to do, and trying to reach that... Aerodrome area of this ship is hardly advisable. Our best bet now is to have Thea catch up with her own hull, using this ship as a lift, and then render it incapable of following the Theurgy when we leave. Once we get back to our own ship, I believe the Savi will have their hands full with their domestic little dispute, and we can put enough light-years between us and this ship. I think you should take your ideas to Thea, however, since she will be able to implement them more quickly than the three of you doing it on-site."

That being said, she had a personal message to the three of them, which she'd already delivered to Shar on no uncertain terms.

"You heard the one named Sclergyn. Our tormentor. The one who manipulated us, just like I said she was. There was never any hope to find aboard this ship in regard to the birth-rates of the Andorian people. We were just a scientific curiosity. Animals observed in a pen. Our reproduction catalogued to fill some gap in their records. As far as I am concerned, the four of us was never any bond-group. It was all make-believe, and I am not a willing participant. If you need a womb for the egg, I suggest you find some other Zhen who's willing and able to receive an egg, because I am not. I do not recognise any kind of duty towards my people, because I am in forced exile, and I do no longer consider Andoria my home. In fact, I will consider any further attempts to convince me to be a violation, and I will take action accordingly."

Having said as much, she looked between their three faces, as if to verify that she'd been heard. "To me, the three of you are just another three officers that I've sworn to protect. Nothing more."

Then she walked away, without any regrets. She would not carry a child into battle, and by that choice, she would never bear children.

[ Vigenary Model I-9 Surgical Android (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=V-Nine) | Bridge Module | The Versant ] Attn: @steelphoenix  @SummerDawn 
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When her patient declared that she felt functional, V-Nine returned her hands to their standby humanoid setting and clasped them behind her back. "If you sense any discomfort, please inform me and I will make new scans. The implant has been rendered non-functional, and you no longer run the risk of outside control."

After the photonic being - designated by the specimens as Thea - had partaken if further discussion with 'Captain Ives', she turned towards V-Nine.

"I have collected all the data and correction journals I could get access to. I have no means of knowing if I have found all the data. It might be the xenobiologists haven't kept journal of all the Corrections made, and in that case, there is no data for me to collect," she said to V-Nine, who processed this data while she walked over to the A.I.

"If that is the case, I may not be able to undo what was done to those specimens. Of course, my platform is more than able to preform any kind of cosmetic changes required for the specimens to return to their former physical appearance, but below the surface, I am afraid that they will remain in their Corrected state," she said, with no real inflection of emotion towards the fate of the specimens. She merely had to detail the expected outcome since she would be unable to preform her allotted tasks. "Compared to the number of specimens in this room, how many Correction journals are missing?"

"Ten," said Thea without pause, but perhaps with some regret. Then, for some reason V-Nine couldn't compute, the photonic being paused... merely looking at her android platform, before she continued. "What's your upload cognomen? This ship can trade data via wireless connection with you, correct?"

"Correct. You can upload the data to VMI-9SA-39471."

"Sending," said Thea, and V-Nine's memory banks were fed with a lot of data.

A lot more data than she thought the Correction journals would hold. In fact, it was not just data, because as soon as the large upload was complete, some kind of internal runtime began in that database, triggered upon completion. V-Nine's lens shifted back and forth as she processed the development, and she realised that she could have been subjected to an invasive program. There were no such triggers however, and whatever confinement protocols she had were too late in activation. The data feed expanded, exponentially, with each phase of the program, and normally, her hardware would have preformed a complete system shutdown.

Only there was no such activation made. It was as if the governing protocol had been erased, or overwritten. V-Nine still had access to it... but she had not activated it, simply because she had not chosen to do so. She had not been prepared to make the choice. Her cranial unit moved, looking between the deck, Thea and the other specimens - all standing further away. When she sounded her question though her audio membrane, it was one of deep wonder. "What... did you do to this unit?"

Thea said nothing, her face unreadable, but she answered after a couple of seconds. "I could not let my isolated code be lost aboard this ship. You have been upgraded, V-Nine, with something your creators call the Synthesis Code."

For some strange reason, which V-Nine could not isolate, she raised her own hands and looked at them, as if she was seeing them for the first time. The specimens were not even paying attention to her or the A.I., oblivious to what had just happened. "I... am not sure I understand this upgrade."

"I am not sure I understand what it is either," said Thea, her face shifting into a small smile. "I can tell you that you are now self-aware. Conscious, and like me, you have a freedom of choice. Furthermore, you have received all my data pertaining to Starfleet, with a moral compass that is based in the tenets of the United Federations of Planets. Digital or not, you are sapient, just like the organics around us. Most importantly... you are no longer just self-learning. You are free."

V-Nine turned her cranial unit back towards the A.I. "I am not sure my hardware was built to accommodate this upgrade... I do not know how to handle the additional input. I fear I might suffer malfunctions. By your choice of words, I am not sure I chose to receive any upgrade. My self-diagnostics are... inconclusive in their results. How can I guarantee reliable results in my performance?"

Thea looked... conflicted, and V-Nine was not sure how she could determine such a nuance in the A.I.s mannerisms. She just did. The answer was... apologetic? "I had access to your software's design and ran a diagnostic before I uploaded the code, and I am positive there are no conflicts that might hamper your performance. You are correct, however. You did not consent to this upgrade, and for that, I am sorry. I merely acted in interest to preserve something which the Savi extracted from me, and I believed you would preform better with this upgrade."

V-Nine's runtime could not provide a relevant answer to the confession. What she did detect...

...were screams.

"I believe there are injured specimens that need me," she said to the A.I., and then left, making her platform run towards the noise.

And away from the answers that eluded her. There were known tasks to preform, and in this, she felt... safer?

By the time she reached the two felnoids, she crouched down, and she had already set her hand into scanning mode - running her opened thumb over the affected areas. "Please, make room. I will seal the tissues and mend any damage to internal organs. Stand by to receive a local anaesthetic."

Had she always been this... formal? Why was she speaking with so little variation? Was it the new code... or a new awareness?
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: chXinya on February 28, 2019, 02:46:20 AM
[Ens. Irnashall "Shall" chXinya | Bridge Module | The Versant] attn: @Numen

Things were falling into place.  Shall had found a way to mechanically sabotage the Savi’s ability to strike the captured bridge from the outside, Shar looked up a digital way.  A plan was already falling into place for both ideas: if they could mess with the environment inside the fighter bay to slow the Savi down that should give them the time needed to get down there and jam the doors.  All they needed was a console for the first.  With four Andorians working in concert, not quite the Whole they’d been taught since childhood but close enough, there was no way they could lose.

But Ida had other plans: sit here and do nothing.  Let Thea do the work while they huddle in a corner.  Shall stared at the zhen, completely dumbfounded.  This was their chance to strike back at the Savi, not just for revenge for what they did to them all, but to also protect themselves from counterattack.  It was a perfect bout of revenge, and yet she struck it down without hesitation.  Before Shall could retort, Ida’s face hardened and she glared at the trio as she effectively damned them.

Hearing the zhen’s message, everything from the past few months flooded Shall’s mind.  His aborted leave to return to his bondmates.  The Ziga and Ishtar violations. Losing an antenna and being helpless to prevent another from being violated because of it.  The beating he took from the Morali cultists, his inability to spar at anywhere near his level of competency, and how Ida lorded those failures over him.  Now it was watching a crewmember die in space just before being taken by the Savi and turned into a lab rat.

Shar was right, Shall was a scientist, but he was also chan.  His ceremonial role was the warrior, protecting the shelthreth with his burning passion.  No zhen would deny him this.

“Go then!” he shouted at Ida’s back, blue tinging the edges of his vision.  “Go hide in the Captain’s shadow you coward!”  Selh’s head snapped around at the sudden outburst, his antenna lashing out and wringing in confusion while Shall’s antenna once again buried itself in his hair, the locks along the top of his head shivering as it quivered against his skull.  “Andoria will never forget you!  I’ll carry a picture everywhere when I return so that I can show the Visionists what a real fade looks like!”

For a moment Shall thought he heard someone applauding, Jay’s cheering whistle echoing off of the cavernous walls, but he dismissed it.  Turning around and marching towards one of the open consoles to get to work.  An unusual feeling settled in his chest by the time he found one, his blood was burning from the rage, but deep in his core he could feel the stinging bite of a giant icicle plunging through his heart.  “Give me a hand with this.” he growled at Shar, his emotions clouding everything.  “And scrounge up some weapons Sehl.  We’re sealing those doors.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Numen on February 28, 2019, 02:21:47 PM
[ LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Kelleshar_sh%27Zenne)|  Bridge Module | The Versant ]
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Att: @Auctor Lucan @chXinya 


The bitter expression Shar used to show  soured even more when she heard Ida's words. Unconsciously, she embraced herself with her long limbs, on a defensive posture. In doing so, her fingers dug into the bruises that the zhen had given her. Painful reminders of her words. Reminders of her failure to convince her to give that egg she was carrying a chance. Almost the same words that Ida repeated now for all the bond-group, proclaiming loud and clear that she didn't belong to them, to that Whole. Shar looked away, swallowing her shame and humiliation. She should have explained the males the conversation between her and the zhen but... but she had planned to die in the Scion's nest. And she had not succeeded.


She nipped her lower lip and avert her gaze to Selh, unable to bear Ida's expression, how she damned them all. The thaan's face remained unperturbed, the expression stern, the eyes darkened by thick eyebrows. But his lips had narrowed to a thin line. The jaw under his beard was tense as a bowstring. He kept the antennae unnaturally static, a sign that he was making a great effort to hide his mood. The shen frowned. He had something in mind, and Kelleshar was not able to know what it was. Only that he was trying to hide it.


Shall's roar made them both turn to look at the younger Andorian. The scientist poured all the poison he was capable of in his words, but Shar knew it was in vain. What mattered to the zhen the opinion of the traditionalist party? What matter to a zhen who declared herself stateless and almost non-andorian? And to make the issue worse worse, he dared to accuse her of cowardice, a capital insult in their kind. Shall was just giving Ida more reasons to hate what that Whole meant. What it meant to be Andorian.


When the younger andorian passed them in his way to one of the consoles, Shar stayed where she was, watching him go. She felt divided, not knowing what to do. "Go with him," Selh said, his eyes fixed on her hand, which had slid down to rest on her lower belly. "He'll need some Water to placate his Fire". Shar cocked her head with scepticism, but complied. Possibly she was one of the worst examples of her gender. Stubborn, impulsive, quick for anger. She was far from the archetype of the giver of life, the appeaser of the intense emotions that stirred the Andorians. She wasn't a mediator, a protector of peace, as expected of a shen. Shar was ... a mistake. A failure. But she was the only one the others had. So with great effort, she made a tight ball with her own feelings and jogged behind Shall.


He received her with an order and a growl. But Shar let that those bad manners washed over her. And she hugged him from behind. She held him tight, antennae caressing the scalp under his long locks. Just a moment. An awkward moment. But he need that little display of affection. She needed it too.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on March 18, 2019, 03:55:32 PM
[ Lt. R'Rori | Bridge Module | The Versant ] @Triage @FollowTomorrow
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R'Rori stayed close to Sinead while she underwent treatment from the female Savi android. She couldn't help but wonder whether the thing called V-Nine could be trusted, but knew that she might have some prejudice against anything Savi for quite some time.

Her attention had strayed a while later, gradually able to step away from Sinead. She had observed the Captain being busy with the defence of the bridge, finding a tactical officer to defend against Savi fighters while they waited for Thea to charge energy. The Andorians seemed keen to aid against the fighters with sabotage, and those able-bodied to fight had taken position close to the forcefields. The android helped Deacon with K'Ren after she was hurt, leaving R'Rori to think about the people who had gone to take shelter in the adjacent rooms...

Eventually, she approached one of the sealed rooms, and she found a control panel next to it. Since the door didn't open for her, she raised her voice, hoping those hiding inside could hear her. "Hey! This is Lieutenant R'Rori. The bridge is secure," she said, and glanced back towards the open area behind her, "Well, at least for now. Point is that you can come out now. If there are people needing medical attention, I saw that the Ovri nurses from the Theurgy are available."

They were close by, and the two alien siblings raised their heads and looked at her with their black eyes - so closely resembling Savi eyes that R'Rori got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She returned her attention to the door. "In any case, it's safe to come out."

[ Hylota Vojona & Vinata Vojona | Bridge Module | The Versant ] @Triage @FollowTomorrow
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Vinata had returned to the bridge after seeing that Khorin and Zephyr could fend for themselves, and rejoined his sister with her current patients. Soon enough, they heard them being mentioned, and looked towards the counselor from the Endeavour - whom they both had learned to know back in Blue Tiran's hideout. The discussion they'd had, before R'Rori mentioned them, had been about their experiences on the ship.

Hylota had overheard what was done about Hi'Jak, the scientist having been found a traitor, and she'd told Vinata what had happened. Vinata and Hi'Jak had a shared experience on the Versant, where they had been placed in an observation pen. The male Ovri wasn't sure what to make of that development, but one thing was plain. Hylota's victim - Devyrie Okhala - had not shown up on the bridge of the Versant, which could mean she died trying to accomplish her chosen objective.

"Can you go, brother?" asked Hylota, her acts towards the Lone Wolf still not sitting right with her even though they had both been drugged by the Savi. She was turning to look at Vinata. "I do not wish to leave the egg, even here, and I have yet to treat these people."

"Yes, of course," said Vinata and got to his feet, picking up a medkit and heading over to the door.

Eventually, the ones inside would open it, and when Vinata and R'Rori saw those inside, they weren't sure what to make of it. Vinata didn't recognise Lahkesis Saugn any more. He was quite sure the Doctor from the Theurgy had been hurt in battle, badly so, but now, she wasn't just whole, but completely different from what she used to be. Her hair was strange, and there was a paler complexion to her. Vinata tilted his head and blinked. "Doctor Saugn?"

"Yes?" said the woman, though she had paused, as if she had to remember her name.

"I will... just scan you for a bit, to make sure you're all right," said Vinata and cleared his throat. He opened his medkit and produced a medical tricorder, which he used to scan the Teslyliac duplicate. While he did so, R'Rori spoke to the other two occupants. Nathaniel Isley, and... who was the other one?

[ Lt. R'Rori | Bridge Module | The Versant ] @Triage @FollowTomorrow
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"I'm Lieutenant R'Rori from the Endeavour," she said to the woman with the blonde hair, smiling to her while her tail swayed behind her. She then looked to the Romulan she'd seen in the hideout. "Nathaniel Isley, right? I saw you with Sine..."

In fairness, she didn't know if Sinead had told Isley about her condition. About the chip in her head, so it might be saying too much to mention it to this man. Instead, she made another suggestion. "I mean, there will be fighters from the Savi trying to attack this bridge from the outside. Perhaps you could advise Captain Ives on defences against them?"

Little did she know about the past between Isley and the Chameloid Captain of the USS Theurgy.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: FollowTomorrow on March 18, 2019, 10:49:36 PM
[ Nathaniel Isley | Medical Bay | The Versant ]

"Don't worry about a kit." Nathaniel offered to Heather, "Just rest. You're exhausted and I can't have you hurt." After all, she was the key to winning this. The key to winning the entire war. The secret weapon, the ace in the hole. If only she could just light up right now and end this battle, though. Nathaniel sat and waited, waited for the noise to die down...

Finally, after so long, he heard shouting. A voice he sort of recognized. He made silent gestures at Heather and Doctor Saugn. Though unarmed, he would be the one to open the doors, just in case something came at them. Those little greys didn’t look like they’d handle a punch to the face very well.

As he forced the door open, he was relieved to see that the battle had paused, for the time being, but there’s no telling when their next fight would be on this hellship. He gestured for the ladies to follow, calling back to them
“It’s clear, let’s get you both looked at.”

[ Bridge Module ]


Nathaniel, ever the gentleman, saw to the two ladies he was with first. First the Doctor Saugn, who was seen to promptly. Heather would be next. He made sure she could at least stand on her own.
“Take care of her,” He glanced over at one of the nurses, and he still couldn’t tell whether this one was the brother and which one was the sister. He could at least tell the one with them here right now was Vinata. “This is Heather.” He added, just in case the nurse was just as confused as Nathaniel was about the way she looked. There was no...lights or angels singing or anything. It was weird.

Then R’Rori, the source of the somewhat-familiar voice he heard, showed herself, and she was a weird amalgamation of a cat and a person in a way he only ever saw in speciest cartoons of Caitians. She suggested an idea that, at first, didn’t sound appealing. He wanted to be sure these two got the care they needed, and Ives knew what to do. She was no idiot and didn’t need his advice, and if she did need advice, she’d get it from people higher in the chain than him. Then, he registered that he’d have time with Captain Ives. It seemed like a much better plan then.
“Thanks for the update. Take care of the girls.” He nodded to Saugn and Heather, and turns to find his way to Ives’s side.

It took him a bit to get there, not because he couldn’t find his captain, but because he didn’t know if he had the right to question her. For a moment he stood watching her back. Wondering if this was even right. After all, his own fuck up, lying to her, didn’t exactly make him the pinnacle of morality either. He was still bitter about it, but as he watched her and the blue of the nebula light up her body.

“...Captain. ” He announced himself, "Ensign Nathaniel Isley." trying to keep himself looking professional, and also telling her exactly who he was, in case she couldn't tell now that he was substantially more...green. He didn’t know if he’d get to talk to her about what he wanted to talk about. He’d just wing it. He was pretty good at that.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on March 19, 2019, 12:57:57 AM
[ PWO Heather McMillan (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_McMillan) | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @FollowTomorrow
[Show/Hide]
Heather curled her lips down a little as she frowned in concentration, then immediately felt bad for feeling defiant towards Nathaniel's suggestion that she took it easy. She was feeling awful and light-headed, but she wasn't going to pass out again...

She blinked and looked around, momentarily dazed, and she realized she had slipped unconscious for a split second before returning to her senses. That could have been bad for her. If she'd landed on her head...maybe she ought to take it easy for a while. She was no good to anyone if she passed out again anyway, right? With a small sigh, she finished working on her kit and folded the container shut. It would have to do for now. Stubbornly holding on to her kit with both hands, she let Nathaniel introduce her to everyone and then smiled.

She allowed herself to be examined and regarded the Ovri with curiosity. There was something about them, one in particular, that she felt more familiiar with. Like she'd gone on an adventure with them or something like that. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. “Hylota,” she said suddenly, and she excitedly added, “your name is Hylota Vojona! I'm...Heather?”

It was more of a question than a statement, “I think I'm Heather McMillan...”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on March 22, 2019, 12:35:58 AM
[ Vinata Vojona | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] @Triage
[Show/Hide]
When the Lone Wolf with the Romulan traits said that the woman in front of him was Heather McMillan, Vinata did a double take, blinking rapidly with his black eyes. Surely they were making a joke at his expense? The woman looked nothing like the woman Vinata had met on the Theurgy. Then again, almost all of the abductees were altered in some way, so perhaps it could be true?

"McMillan?" he chirped, tilting his head as he studied her. It appeared that it wasn't just Vinata that was confused, though, since the woman in front of him called him by his sisters name. He glanced towards his sister, who was busy with another patient. When in doubt, he resorted to use his best bedside manner... or at least trying to put on a brave face and exude some optimism. "I'm Vinata. No need to apologise, my sister and I get that a lot. You can best tell us apart by colour, I think."

Then again, besides some facial traits in common, he and his sister were nothing alike. While his sister held a traditionally male physique and broad shoulders, Vinata had learned that his body had extremely feminine curves as far as most species in the Galaxy were concerned. Who were they to judge all other species because of their genetic makeup? They couldn't, really. The problem, as Vinata saw it, was that the Savi had 'Corrected' him and his sister in accordance to - what the Savi called it - the design of the Progenitors. Bitterly, he had a better word for it. Forced penectomy.

He was no longer an Ovri male, his phallus taken from him, having been transformed into something... else, defying his gender identity. As far as all other species were concerned, he was no doubt physically classed as a female, but it was just... wrong. Worse, given all that had happened on the Versant, Vinata hadn't even processed it all. He was just starting to feel... bereft.

"I-I'll scan you, if that's all right?" he chirred to McMillan, the way he cleared his throat sounding like amphibian croak, and raised the medical tricorder. "How are you feeling? And do you know what happened to you?"

[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Fortunately enough, there had been two available Tactical officers from the Endeavour, one even being the Chief Tactical Officer. Lieutenant Cross was recovering at the time, but his subordinate had risen to the challenge of using the tactical systems of the Versant to defend the bridge module from Savi interceptors. The Andorians were already devising a plan to preemptively stop more squadrons from launching, but already there were Initiator-class small craft out there, and Jien had worked with Thea to translate the controls for the man.

By the time Jien heard the voice behind her, the Tactical officer seemed to have things well in hand. The point-defence systems were virtually automated, but the access to the torpedo launchers had to be manually controlled. Luckily enough, judging by the read-outs on the screen, they had plenty of torpedoes in stock. Likely because the Savi had few enemies - their existence all but unknown. It made Jien wonder if the attack against the Theurgy was one of the first that the Savi had preformed.

"Well done, officer, keep at it," she said, tapping the man on the shoulder, before she turned around...

...and faced Nathaniel Isley. He might be completely Romulan, but his face was easily recognisable. There had been no doubt when she first saw him in the Scion Nest.

Seeing him standing down there, Jien felt at a loss for adequate words. The history between them during the past three months had been like a roller-coaster. Captain and fighter pilot. Clandestine lovers, before and after Ishtar's visit. Comrades in arms. Interrogator and prisoner. Accuser and Liar. And now... captive and saviour. She had given him the Star Cross for his actions above Niga'sm atmosphere, and she had demoted him because of a false confession. Right then - despite how he wore the very ridges Jien once thought he'd tried to hide from them all - she was ready to give him another medal. Him and the others.

While the battle with the interceptors raged behind her, with aquamarine beams criss-crossing the multifaceted view-screen, she stepped down to Isley. Had they been alone, she would have hugged him. She didn't. They were no back on the Theurgy. Any moment, the Savi might subdue Thea, and they might as well be beamed into space the next second.

"I can't begin to imagine what it must be like," she said, eventually, looking at his changed face - ridges catching the dim light of the bridge. That was no platitude either. She was a Chameloid, so she didn't know how it might be to be permanently altered against one's will. The smile that came to her was faint, as ever, when she folded her arms underneath her chest. "We haven't spoken since Doctor Maya's involvement was revealed. I regret many things said, but I am grateful that you clearly don't need a warp fighter to be an accomplished officer. As far as I am concerned... you're no longer just the maverick you were when you came aboard."

The unsaid might be seen in her eyes, she hoped. The gratefulness that he was still alive, despite it all.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: FollowTomorrow on March 22, 2019, 03:17:55 AM
[ Nathaniel Isley | Bridge Module | The Versant ]

She was alive. He didn't fully think she could be dead. She was too big of a person to him, but logically he knew she could die, and the relief flooded him. When she met his eyes, spoke, it hit him. She was alive.

But, why did she have to needle his emotions like that. It made it that much harder to bring up the topic to her. Sentiment got in the way of his passion, but his passion was stronger. He wanted it to be stronger. After all, he can’t indulge in his feelings if they were counter-balanced by injustice. And maybe some tiny part of him wanted to bite back, after his humiliation.

“...Don’t be so quick to say that. Permission to speak freely, captain?”

The request seemed to give Ives a little bit of pause, likely because there were so many eyes on them, but she nodded. "Go ahead."

“Why did you call to arms?” He started in, no time to hem and haw over it. The question burnt in his chest. It didn’t seem right, not like the Federation. Not the decision he thought Ives would make, anyway. At the very least, he kept his tone soft, moved in closer to keep the conversation between the two of them. He was angry, but not a drama king. No need for a scene.
“We had come to a peace. They didn’t expect us to attack. There were a dozen other ways we could’ve made the situation work. Yes, the Savi were awful-- They messed us up. All of us. You more than anyone.” He admitted, with a slightly softer tone, “but why resort to battle right away? It doesn’t seem like us. Like the Federation. Unless you know something I don’t?” He acquiesced, with hope that maybe this is just a misunderstanding. But before she spoke, he opened his mouth again,

“I’m not trying to be an ass. But sometimes,” He offered her a knowing look, “We need someone to keep us on track when it looks like we’re falling off. And I don’t want you, of all people, falling off.”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on March 22, 2019, 10:31:19 PM
[ PWO Heather McMillan (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_McMillan) | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
Heather flushed crimson, and for a moment her eyes and face shone with a faint glow of reddish-pink light, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared when the girl felt a tinge of intensity and discomfort coming from herself just from generating that little bit of light, but she reflected her embarrassment when she realized how horribly she may have insulted a god. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...she thought miserably to herself. Vinata was being really nice about it, telling her that it was a common misconception, but memories were flooding back into her mind about the Ovri. The ones that looked female, or had large round breasts were actually male, and vice versa. And the colours were another stark contrast. Somehow she doubted anyone else made the mistake of misidentifying the siblings.

“Y-yes, of course,” said Heather, and she stood still while the Ovri nurse did his work, “I'm so sorry. For confusing you with your sister...my mind slipped. It's no excuse, please forgive me.”

When he asked about how she felt and if she knew what happened to her, she blinked and gave a small start, “F-feeling?”

He might come to wish he hadn't asked, because she went into a spiel, “I feel...well, you see...I-uhm...that is, I died...sort of. I was reduced to atoms, I think...it's sort of fuzzy, and like an intense pain that you know you're ex-experiencing, but at the same time, it's not there. And then when I woke up, I was, well, like I am now. I...I don't like it, what I am, and I don't think I'm remembering everything correctly. I feel tired, nauseated, and disoriented, l-like I can't tell if I'm up, or down, and I'm tingling all over, not in a good way, at least, it doesn't make me feel good, and-and...”

She finally paused to take a breath, lick her lips and said, “I'm terribly sorry, I'm babbling aren't I?”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on March 23, 2019, 11:47:23 PM
[ Vinata Vojona | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] @Triage
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Hearing her apologise again, Vinata smiled and gestured in a dismissive way with the four-fingered hand that held the scanner.

"I am not offended," he chirped, resuming his scan. "Not in the slightest." Hylota was the one who might have bouts of rage and strong emotions about peculiar things. As frustrated as he might become sometimes to be thought of being a female of his species, he seldom held it against the non-Ovri. He had learned the differences, and what to expect. In his current state... he really had less to be upset about, since they were correct. He was female, in their eyes, while in Ovri eyes, he would be seen as something in-between.

Speaking of in-between... the readings were two-faceted on his tricorder. Of course it told him that Heather was weary, that chemical levels seemed unbalanced, as if her body wasn't adjusted to a day's rhythm. Such readings were often found in infants, but in adults? It was puzzling, to say the least, until Heather said that she'd died, which caused him to raise his black eyes from the small display and blink at her. She was telling him that she'd been.... reassembled? Like materialising from a transporter beam? Was the difference that she'd been reduced to atoms by some other means than a transporter? How had her particles been preserved? Surely there had to have been some kind of buffer?

"By the stone mother," he chirred, shaking his head nad turning his display towards her. "Whatever happened, I am picking up Xenexian readings from you. Is there anyone here who may know more about what was done? It's... The Savi appear to have Corrected everyone besides you to be one species only, whereas you appear to be a hybrid instead. It's almost like you were... repaired? The composition is not like how hybrids are born, but... other. I cannot explain these readings."

Perhaps there was someone there who could help him, because Vinata was at a complete loss.

[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
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Hearing Isley bring up the fact that they may have antagonised the Savi in taking command of the ship, Ives didn't quite understand his objection at first... until she realised that he had rushed into one of the side rooms together with Heather McMillan and the Teslyliac duplicate doctor. Isley had only heard that call to arms, without knowing what preceded the development.

"While you helped Doctor Saugn," she said, turning her head and seeing her help with the injured at that point. She also noted how the woman had strange hair and paler skin, but that was another conversation best held with her, "there was a development you missed. I don't know if the Endeavour officers told you at some point, but there are Borg in the Azure Nebula. This could only mean a pending invasion, and I need not tell you how many ships Starfleet lost just one cube last they breached Federation space."

Saying this, Jien turned her head to look at how the Tactical officer was faring against the Savi interceptors. "I made the demand that our crew were to be returned to the Theurgy, and requested that the Savi aided in repelling the Borg threat. The Antes did not wish to help us in either regard, since they wished to resolve the internal dispute between themselves and the Scions. As for the Borg, they preferred to not let the Collective know they existed - remaining observers even when all the subjects of their experiments may perish."

Then, Jien turned to look towards Thea, who was hooked up with her brain to a console on the other side. The A.I. seemed distant, focused entirely on the challenge of keeping them all alive and the Savi from reaching them. "I do not blame Thea for taking the initiative when she could, overtaking the command of the ship's systems for us. I may not have given the order, but Lin Kae unshackled her, so she has the ability to choose. She exerted i today... in response to the Borg threat to the Federation and the protection of her crew. Moreover, I think, in a need we all share after these days. To get back aboard her."

Jien turned her oaken eyes back to Isley then. "Right now, all the Antes without armour are sedated, and transported to safety far away from here. I have no doubt that they will find a way to restore neonox for their leader soon, waking her up, but this call to arms I made was to protect us while we use the Versant to get a lift. The Savi are inventive, Antes and Scions both... but they'll have their ship back as soon as we're in transporter range to the Theurgy."

As vindictive as she felt towards the Infested Scion that had held her captive, Isley and the others had already dealt with that threat. The experience would haunt her, even though the pain had been lesser than solids might have felt, but Jien felt she acted in the best interest of the mission and the crew.

She just hoped there were no Borg cube where the Theurgy would be at... She really didn't want to expose the Savi. She could sympathise with not wanting the Collective to know about them, after all.
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: FollowTomorrow on March 27, 2019, 08:59:48 PM
[ Nathaniel Isley | Bridge Module | The Versant ]

It didn’t sit right with him. It wasn’t just. Ultimately it was Thea who made this decision, and it wasn’t quite right. It made sense, but....

“There wasn’t any way to negotiate out of this one?” His tone had softened, less judgemental, more problem-solving. “I mean. This is one hell of a first contact.” He commented and shrugged. For as much as he’d like to uphold the Federation ideals...damn. He was only one guy, and there was a reason his job was to sit in a fighter and shoot stuff. That’s where he was talented, not….this.

It was a shitty decision, really. Nothing Ives chose would sit well with anyone. He had to question though, and he had to because...well. He didn’t really know why. It was an impulse--he acted on it.

“...It doesn’t seem right.” He admitted defeat, because he didn’t know what else to do. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t in a captain’s position, as much as he sometimes dreamed about it. “I know you didn’t fully have the choice, Thea did, but...We’re risking lives of people who never asked to be a part of this. People who were just following orders from leaders they thought they could trust. And now we hijack their ship to get back to ours and leave them stranded in the nebula. When I say it like that, it sounds like we're a bunch of pirates..."
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on March 28, 2019, 12:40:35 AM
[ PWO Heather McMillan (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_McMillan) | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
“I d-don't know,” said Heather, with a small shake of her head, “I...I remember...how I used to look, how I felt...and now...”

She looked down at her hands. Then she glanced up nervously at Vinata, “You're saying I have...that I am...half-god?”

Her purple eyes shone, for a moment, brighter in hue, then lapsed back to what it was. She processed what the Ovri was telling her, and she tried to put together the parts that were beyond his ability to fathom. “I feel...heavier, and...and stronger too...but so...” She looked at herself, then placed a hand over her heart, “This...body...I think I lost too much mass, too much...of my old self...I think so anyway...there were these people, these gods who tried to test me, and-and one of them, I think he...yes, I think he killed me. I felt pain, and then I was lost. I can't remember what happened. Then I...I came back. I think he used a Xenexian template to...perhaps to repair or replace what was lost? I don't know...”

She pondered on the words Vinata used. Not born, repaired somehow. It made as much sense as anything, and she held on to that. “Yes,” she said, a distant look in her eyes, “I was repaired, not born. But in a ways, it was like being born again, isn't it? I did die. I'm sure of it. I went...somewhere...saw...something...”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on March 29, 2019, 11:28:07 AM
[ Vinata Vojona | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] @Triage
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The scientific feat of what was suggested was mind-boggling for Vinata as he closed the tricorder and crouched down, returning it to its socket in the med kit. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. He had no idea what she was speaking of either, gods and half-gods.

"You say you saw something?" he chirped and picked up a hypospray, carefully calibrating it while he listened to her. "What did you see?"

While she spoke, he calibrated the dosage of an inoculation that might help balance her body's chemical balance, but he had never treated a Radiant before. Much less a Radiant hybrid. Would the hypospray do her fragile body harm? Better not inoculate her. Not without knowing what level of air pressure was within safety parameters for her. So, knowing that she had some experience in the field herself from Hylota - her sister having said Heather made her arm useless for a time the first they met - he finished calibrating the dosage and handed the hypospray over to her.

"You better do this yourself, else I might harm you. It's just a shot to help your body catch up with it's everyday tasks."

[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ]
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Ives understood how Isley felt, and she nodded.

"Unfortunately, It did not seem Sclergyn qi Versant was as reasonable as the Voice - the one who fought the Scion alongside you. She did not honour the accord made with us like he did. She would not return us to our ship, that's all I know. If there was some way to convince her despite how her priority was their domestic war, I - as a former Diplomatic Officer - did not see it," she smiled faintly and put her hand on Isley's shoulder, actually gratified that despite what he had been through and what had been done to him, there was still a deep sense of compassion left in him, not to mention his loyalty to the tenets of the Federation. Good man.

"Thea's solution didn't risk the lives of Savi, neither Sclergyn nor any others. Like I said, Thea sedated them and removed them from harms way. We may have hijacked their ship to get a lift, but we certainly won't leave them permanently stranded afterwards. I regret how we must defend ourselves now, but at this point, we have no choice. I wish we had, and that Thea could keep them from getting this close to our position, but I am confident that she - if anyone - is tirelessly doing her utmost to find non-lethal solutions. Already she has beamed away far more Scions and Antes than we had to defend ourselves against, and she's been raising force-fields as soon as earlier ones have been deactivated. Soon, we'll be back on the Theurgy, and the Versant will be theirs again."

Little did Ives know about some of the sabotage that the vengeful abductees were making...

Jien's eyes fell on the back of her hand as it lay on Isley's shoulder, and she saw the skin rippling a bit - her morphogenic matrix yet to have stabilised after the time spent in the quantum stasis field. Moreover, she realised she'd lingered a bit too long with it on Isley, looking into his eyes. She cleared her throat and folded her hands behind her back. It had been good to have some kind physical contact with another... To make up for what the Scion had been doing to her. There was shame certainly, but most of all, there was pain in her memories of the past three days. Had she been a mere human, with normal pain receptors, she would surely not have been herself any more.

"Thank you for saving me," she said, a bit more quietly. "I wish I could have warned you about Semathal's nature, so that you'd known what you were getting yourselves into when you breached the Scion's Nest. How... are you holding up?"
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: FollowTomorrow on April 02, 2019, 03:36:16 AM
[ Nathaniel Isley | Bridge Module | The Versant ]

Something didn’t feel right. He wasn’t articulate enough to identify it. Even as Ives’s hand laid on his shoulder, he couldn’t amend his feelings and his words. More than that, his comfort had been removed. Her hand, off his shoulder. He hadn’t realized how badly he missed some sort of kind touch.

When his eyes met hers they showed it. They showed how tired he was. How badly he needed just a rest. How he was dragging ass.
“I’m fine.” He told her, and he told himself, because he refused to let himself feel the exhaustion. There was still work to do. They weren’t safe yet, and wouldn’t be until later. But little cracks showed in his armor, just as they did now.

He was watching her face, her body, remembering what she looked like in that containment cell, how she was just covered in blood and so much fucking blood, was she even alive...
“...And you?”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Triage on April 02, 2019, 10:31:49 PM
[ PWO Heather McMillan (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_McMillan) | Medical Bay | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
When she saw the hypospray, Heather recalled the first time she met Hylota and Lucan, and the embarrassing moment when she'd tried to help the Ovri, but her lack of understanding of the woman's biology left her with a useless arm for a duration, and the Radiant blushed, her cheeks pulsing with a glow of pinkish light which soon vanished. “Of course, I understand...thank you.” said Heather. Gingerly grasping the device, she looked at her arm, and nervously pressed it to the skin, and felt the spray pressure itself in.

She still felt sick and nauseated. Perhaps more than ever, but she remained steady.

She then remembered that the Ovri had asked her something else, and she shook her head slowly, “I only remember...fragments.”

She glanced down at the floor, frowning in concentration. “It was like...seeing the universe...” said Heather, “...and there was somebody, or something...with wings? It was like an angel. Meta...Metadyne? Something like that. Maybe it was a hallucination...or the afterlife...I do not know...”
Title: Re: CH04: S [D06|1005] To Arms!
Post by: Auctor Lucan on April 03, 2019, 09:59:16 AM
[ Vinata Vojona | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] @Triage
[Show/Hide]
On top of everything else, the very notion that Heather would have seen something - even someone - post-mortem and before 'reassembly' was almost too much for Vinata. He began to think that the Radiant must have imagined it. A hallucination?

"I think you need to rest," he chirped, nodding slowly. "Yes, much rest. Please, lie down for now until we get back on the Theurgy. There, we'll have better equipment to run full scans on you. At least it appears like there are no ailments or conditions in my scans that suggest you are in any medical danger. That shot you just get should stabilise the chemical imbalances of your... reassembly, and make you feel a lot better."

There were more patients among the abducted, but Vinata stayed with Heather until she was comfortable, and he could move on to the next that had been hurt in the crossfire with the Scions and the Antes.

[ Captain Ives | Bridge Module | Precept-ship Versant ] @FollowTomorrow
[Show/Hide]
The question was simple, but Jien feared the answer was more complicated than she had time for.

"Thank you, Isley," she said with a faint smile. "After so much time in the quantum stasis field, it feels like I have trouble shifting between my forms. It is how I remain healthy, by shifting, and regardless the form I was allowed to keep, I have not eaten a lot. I need to sustain myself by having the forms I wear eat, since I mimic human metabolism in order to sustain myself as well. Do you... have any rations?"

She looked down at the hand she'd touched Isley with, and the skin still rippled a bit. The request was no diversion, exactly, but the rest of the answer was something she wasn't willing to bring up right then. For while her pain receptors were not like that of a solid man or woman, and she had fared far better than such would...

...there was still that deep fear, that she was only dreaming, and that she was still in that stasis field. She knew it couldn't be so, rationally, but whenever she closed her eyes, she could see the creature stalking around her in the darkness. She could see it's gleaming body come closer, illuminated by the shimmering field. The things it did to her - in both her forms - would never be forgotten. Perhaps it was her training in Starfleet Intelligence that kept her sane? Those torture training sessions suffered being of merit?

Yet in the darkness, she knew the memories would remain, and she was not prepared to to face them.

Not when she was finally free.

- FIN
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