Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

June 18, 2019, 02:48:33 PM

"INTERCEPTING A FLYING MAMMAL"

STARDATE 57558.78
MARCH 11, 2381
1023 HRS

[ Y’Lev | A'vura's Quarters | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @lisavw

Y’Lev put his hands on underneath his chin as he stared towards the far wall in the quarters he had been assigned to, specifically drawing his eyes towards the shelf hosting his new companion. He’d been awake for long enough that the threat of tiredness had quickly withdrawn, and in his more aware and contemplative state, his brow had somewhat furrowed at how docile it seemed for such an impressively large specimen. The equivalent flying mammals on Vondem were far more lively, particularly when agitated; they feasted on carrion and smaller mammals, and in a group would even dare to attack larger prey with rows of serrated teeth and viciously jagged talons.

The creature before him was physically more imposing, in terms of size, but apparently a far less aggressive specimen. The flying mammals back on Vondem were occasionally taken as pets by the most voluptuous of gormets, however, as best Y’Lev understood, it seldom ended well for any of them… On Vondem, they were very wild creatures, and when collared and confined, they soon grew bored of their surroundings. By the standards of traditional pets, they had little want for affection, little facility for grooming, and no capacity to perform for guests.

But Y’Lev’s new pet was already looking to be far superior. He had already seemingly gained the trust of the mammal, though whether it was because he was the one to feed the hungry little creature after its period of starvation inside its cage, or whether it was more sensitive to his pheromones than the average humanoid was, it was hard to say. But Y’Lev gave minimal concern to that worry. He was not a specialist in animal behaviour. The creature had sat on his lap, allowed itself to be stroked, calmly slept through the night as Y’Lev did much of the same.

Though, on that note, he’d elected for sleep in favour of making a midnight visit to the ship’s sickbay for a pheremonal injection… If he hadn’t already started to secrete his pheromones, he would start before long, and he needed to get that injection before someone accused him of trying to intoxicate the crew and threw him straight back into the Brig with the uncomfortable husk of a man whom he’d shared the unfortunate company of the previous day. And he had no doubts that some Starfleet pip-collared wilt would jump on the opportunity to do so…

He’d made steps to learn as much as he could about his aliias through the night, and his knowledge of A’Vura Zeshryr was adequate for a distant brother. She’d been adopted and raised by Humans, which by itself was fairly sickening a concept, and Y’Lev imagined that the woman would have been the most disgusting example of an Orion ever to exist… But aside from that, she was apparently Starfleet through and through, serving on the ship designated as the Resolve which apparently was caught in a spatial anomaly and stranded somewhere... For a bit…

Needless to say, Y’Lev was not overly concerned about the details.The same few names came up repeatedly in her personal logs, a Doctor Parnak, a Krystal Tancredi, a few others, but he flagged up on the names that he best needed to avoid… He thought he had a fairly good chance of avoiding them for the better part, though he knew that with Humans and their poxy rituals, he’d no doubt have to involve himself with some sort of funeral before long…

"Damnation…" Y’Lev muttered to himself, staring out of his window and watching the metalwork of the space station that they were currently docked against… He was already committing himself to having to stay aboard the vessel. He direly did not wish to do so, but as he dwelled more on more on the lunacy that he couldn’t seem to stop hearing regarding the parasites, he resigned himself more and more to the possibility that he would not be returning to the Orion Syndicate.

The Orion flung himself out of his bed and slowly began to dress, grumbling to himself about the horrific texture of the Starfleet sack that he was forced to wear, all the while considering his options. His hands moved absentmindedly, to fasten his cloying uniform against his body, scratching his sensitive skin and making him hiss occasionally with significant discomfort. The damned uniform seemed to be made out of grit.

He largely paid no attention to anything aside from the way that the uniform scratched at his chest as he walked, gripping him uncomfortably around his thighs as he moved towards the door, grumbling to himself as he did so. The door opened as he haphazardly smacked his hand against the button beside the door frame, running his hand up through his hair as he stepped a half-step forwards into the brighter light of the corridor.

The light was more invigorating than the dimness of his quarters, and he felt livelier almost immediately as he felt it against his face, his hand leaving his hair to hook at the inside of his collar and tug it away from where it attempted to slit his throat with its coarse fabric. He needed to find the ship’s medical facilities in order to obtain a suppressant to his pheromones, then possibly take to a more sociable location in order to gain some more intel regarding the parasites.

In the meantime, he needed to…

A squeaking noise stole his ears and a gush of wind brushed his face as he squawked to himself and shied away from the sensation, his mind catching up with him just a second too late as he saw his pet flapping its way frantically through the corridor, as though it was overjoyed to see such bright light and endeavoured to pursue it to the end of time. Its flight was haphazard, it ducked and span as it flapped and its outstretched wingspan was in danger of filling the upper space of the corridor. It was an amusing creature, certainly adventurous in its disposition. He supposed it was well traveled for a flying mammal with limited technological expertise.

But it was his responsibility…

“Mammal!” Y’Lev called after it, his eyes suddenly widening comically as he recognised that he would be the recipient of any discipline caused by the mammal’s antics, and the Orion did not need that sort of attention so soon after being released from custody… “My life is repugnant…” He murmured under his breath, before he broke into a soft jog and made a move to chase down his flappy little companion before it went on too many adventures…

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #1 – June 27, 2019, 04:59:48 PM

[ Lt. T'Panu | Corridor | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS _Theurgy_ ]
@TWilkins

T'Panu had just finished an online training session highlighting the dangers of using Morphenolog on certain patients. She was lost in her thoughts as she walked down the corridor, still in shock at how well done the presentation was. 

She rounded the corner, rounded another, walked straight down the hall. She nearly walked right into a few people before she realized she should really pay attention to where she was going. She pulled out her PADD and stopped, making a few more calculations to conclude her research. A few calculations and dosing experiments later, she had what she needed. 

Just as she was concluding her research, she heard this odd noise coming from...down the hall? She looked behind her, but found nothing there. She thought she was hearing things as she began to turn around. Just then, she saw this giant ball of black barrelling down the hall towards her. She startled, not expecting anything else to be here! Her PADD fell to the floor as the creature was flying towards her! The hallway was a mixture of screeching from this creature and clanging from her PADD hitting the floor.


At the last second, she realized what it was. "How did a bat get on board?!?!?" T'Panu shrieked, as the bat flew straight towards her. At the same time that she ducked, the bat dove straight towards her head in a majestic like stance. Its wings tucked in beside its body as she watched as its fangs came out towards her! 

She practically fell on her own head trying to barrel away from it! She somehow managed to dive to her left, narrowly out of its way as she fell on her shoulder and crashed into the bulkhead. The bulkhead made some clanging sounds as she landed, followed by banging. The bat took off above her, spreading its wings nearly as wide as the entire corridor before flying around the corner, out of sight. 

Just as T'Panu was recollecting herself on the floor, a blurry green figure came running out from around the corner. He was yelling something unintelligible as she was brushing off her uniform, realizing she was safe. ..for now. 

"What in the hell just happened??" T'Panu asked.

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #2 – July 01, 2019, 06:54:56 PM

[ Y'Lev | Corridors | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @lisavw

Y’Lev felt like he’d ran across the entire dastardly ship in his journey to catch the damned mammal in its adventure. He’d had to dart around more unhappy Starfleet personnel than he’d ever hoped to see in his life, all of whom had been going about their mundane little tasks until a winged little creature had distracted them, multiple times in some instances. He’d gotten repulsed by the sheer volume of false apologies he’d had to spit out at the same individuals over-and-over as the creature rope-a-doped Y’Lev into going the wrong way and doubling back upon himself… When he got his hands on the fury little creature, it’d be lucky if he didn’t shackle it to a chair like an untrustworthy harem slave…

And of course, despite having the exceptional athleticism of an agent of the Syndicate, the wiley little mammal was so much more agile than he; darting and turning at the last second, doing little somersaults in midair, and letting great backdrafts from its wings dishevel Y’Lev’s perfect hair whenever the Orion got close enough…

It seemed as though the mammal had already established his weaknesses…

And with another twisted stroke of fate, when the Orion finally felt as though he was closing in, the mammal disappearing around a sharp corner only a few feet ahead of the green-skin, he thought that he’d finally manage to grab the organism and stop its rampart voyage of devastation. But alas, no sooner had he taken another step, did Y’Lev hear the unmistakable sound of something hitting the floor…

“Why has my life been reduced to such unending torment…” The Orion inaudiably muttered as he rounded the corner and discovered a Vulcan female sprawled upon the bulkhead with a discarded Starfleet tablet on the floor next to her. Were Y’Lev to have had his own way, he’d have used her head as a springboard to get a better run-up to catching his pet, but alas, he was restrained by both keeping his alias, and not getting thrown back into the brig.

It truly disgusted him, but he was going to have to do it… The Starfleet way.

“I-I'm so sorry!” Crewman Galo burst into life with a bumbling apology and immediately threw himself down to his knees to help the Vulcan female in her efforts to get back to her feet. “Are you okay? I’m so so sorry!” He continued to splutter and apologise to the Vulcan careful to ensure that he only touched her by her sleeves and other clothed areas, conscious of his syndicate training to avoid contact with telepaths.

“I-i…” Y’Lev repressed a retch as he began to start brewing up a new pot of sympathy soup ready to feed the woman as she inquested as to ‘what in the hell’ had just occurred. “I’m so s-sorry. It’s my pet. Well my S-sister’s…” He began, before the satisfying sound of a sniff filled the walkway. “She passed a-away, just before I came aboard from the Bellerophon. And now he's mine, and somehow I’ve got to look after him…” Was it a male specimen? Y’Lev’s breadth of knowledge didn’t quite extend to the identification of winged mammal genitalia… 

"And I have to do that alongside dealing with the death of my Sister, and all of my friends and collegues at the hands of your vessel. I have to chase my Sister's pet around this ship and every person I pass, I have to wonder whether they were one of the ones responsible to the torpedo that split our ship in two, and killed almost everyone I know." He channeled some of his character's inbuilt bitterness into that little rant, not anger, but a quiet hurt that the Vulcan would no doubt misinterpret.

His neuanced performance was wasted on such a sterile creature...

"And on top of that, I have to keep up smiles and politeness to all of them, because fates fobid an Orion serving in Starfleet from having a glum expression. That's a one-way ticket to the Brig for treason." His bitterness was now not only Galo's, but his own, in a way. He also knew he had to be so darned careful with what he did and what he said, of course, for the same reason to why 'Galo' did. It was the perfect way for Y'Lev to complain about it; carefuly disguised as one of Crewman Galo's personal little torments.

“I-i apologise. I don't mean to complain..." He did, he very much did. "It's just all of that on my mind, and to top it all off, I couldn’t even manage to look after my Sister's pet for more than half a day before I messed up..."

He ended with a lovely little note of patheticism, perhaps an encouragement to get the Vulcan as a conned little party member to join him upon his quest. Whilst the thought was sickening, the extra body would be greatly benificial to the overall outcome. Y'Lev almost began to feel a touch of confidence about his prospective endeavour, just before a shriek echoed from somewhere further down the corridor, out of sight around the corner, the faint sounds of an irate Starfleeter ranting about finding a bat in the turbolift…

Great…

It was going on another adventure...

Y'Lev felt the need to find a replicator and obtain some more of the liquorice he'd eaten the night prior, a sweet treat that had some bitter earthiness that kept his tastebuds in tormented bliss... The perfect indulgence to better suffocate his ill fate, now apparently bound to a winged rat.

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #3 – July 23, 2019, 03:32:54 AM

[ Lt. T'Panu | Corridor | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy]
@TWilkins

T'Panu stood in the corridor with the Orion as the bat flapped down the hall and out of audible range. The rhythmic sound of the bats wings flapping became quickly fading, leaving them in the silence of the corridor.

He began by explaining a little bit of his past, that his sister had passed away and the bat was left in his care. T'Panu thought about how nice the sentiment was that he received her pet, but she wasn't quite convinced he knew what to do with the little mammal. In all honesty, T'Panu wouldn't quite know what to do with it either. And on a starship, you couldn't just release it into the wild...there sort of isn't any "wild" per se...

But not only did he have no time to process his sister's passing, he also had to deal with the burdens of a new ship, leaving everything he knew behind, wondering if he's being "perfect" enough to fit in and not be punished for acts that weren't exactly in his control.

"Is everything okay? I mean, besides your bat getting away...are you okay? Would you like to vent at all?" T'Panu asked concernedly, watching his reaction to judge whether or not she should actually delve into anything. She took the brief silent consideration as approval to offer more words. "I know adjusting to life here isn't always easy. We don't exactly have the best track record, between what happened with Starfleet, wondering what everyone still thinks of us, the Borg, the Savi, being left in the dark from all command. It's definitely been an interestingly long set of away missions, making up our own choices with the cards we're given to decide what's best for us, the crew, and ultimately still Starfleet and Earth. Sometimes we get so lost in our day to day life, our duties, our own thoughts of home that we forget to check in with everyone."

T'Panu stood, awaiting a reply, wondering if she should continue. They had never met before and truth be told, she wasn't really sure they had even seen each other in passing before. She realized this was an opportunity to meet someone knew and had completely skipped over introductions!

"Perhaps we should start again! My name is T'Panu, I have served aboard this ship for...well, to answer that, I'd also have to think about the date today. But it's been a while! And I don't know how we haven't met yet, but it's nice to meet your acquaintance!" T'Panu excitedly explained. She felt like she had verbally vomited on him, but there was no taking any of it back.

Somehow they had gone from strangers, to sharing an adventure chasing a bat, to a personal conversation and then introductions. Definitely backwards, but some of the best friends are made within strange circumstances.

T'Panu hoped she hadn't scared him off as she finally shut her mouth. She really had a bad habit of rambling on, to the point that her reason for talking was lost and everyone was left awkwardly wondering what they were even talking about in the first place.

She thought how they were going to catch the bat and what would happen once they managed to stop it tormenting the rest of the ship. She just hoped they could manage finding it before it found its way to the Captain...

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #4 – August 22, 2019, 02:21:34 PM

[ Y'Lev | Corridors | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @lisavw

Y’Lev’s acting skills were pushed to the limit as he strove to contain his shock for the Vulcan’s mannerisms. She was, cordial? Perhaps even empathetic.

Her monologue of information concerning the ship’s entire life history was also of some benefit to him, but he couldn’t help but zone out part way through. His initial intrigue at getting to speak to a Vulcan who spoke so different to most had quickly faded and been replaced by a screaming in his limbs to run over the Vulcan woman in pursuit of his mammalian comrade.

It was only when the void of silence yawned through the corridor that Y’Lev zoned out of his babble-induced stupor, glancing up at the Vulcan woman with his different shaded eyes wide in startlement. Her expression was relatively blank, but from what little of her speech that had managed to accidentally reverberate into his ears, she had just introduced herself to him at some point during her ramble.

“I-i’m Galo Zeshryr.” He softly replied, cuffing at his cheeks to wipe away invisible tears as he clambered up to his feet, so concerned for the fact that his pet had escaped that he was only a few steps away from doing something brash and unwantedly attention-grabbing. “I-i really don’t mean to come across as r-rude, but I really need to find that creature before it gets itself into any trouble…” 

It was a very real concern. Anyone who even remotely knew his Sister would easily identify the flapping creature as belonging to her, and no doubt interfere in it’s apprehension. Y’Lev had a litany of excuses and retorts to anyone who dared to challenge his legitimacy as her brother. She was adopted, and that was the same excuse he would give to why they shared no genealogy.

As to why she never mentioned her fictitious brother, he’d decided that the pair of them had never been close, but since her vessel had become lost to Starfleet, he’d cursed himself that they’d parted on such ill terms… If it truly came down to invasive questions about their parents or their upbringing, not that he expected any sympathetic Starfleet goon to have the inquisition to think to doubt his story, he had an outburst of tears at the ready.

But still, the escaped bat would draw far too much attention.

Perhaps, if this Vulcan truly were as sympathetic as she seemed, she might be willing to offer up her services in aid of a poor, downtrodden, grieving Orion?

“I just can’t cope with anything else going wrong in my life…” Y'Lev cued the tears. "It's just too much... If they don't think I-i can care for him suffiently, then they'll t-take him away..." He paused to lean against the bulkhead with his eyes burried in the crook of his arm. "I-i can't l-loose him too..."

Externally, Galo was distraught. Internally, however, Y’Lev's choice expression was a dark smirk.  

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #5 – August 23, 2019, 12:29:14 AM

[ T'Panu | Corridors | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @TWilkins

T'Panu stood in bewilderment at the present situation. She couldn't believe her eyes, chasing this giant, flying mammalian creature through the corridors. She had had days where things came out of the blue, but certainly never like this.

The man introduced himself as Galo. He seemed rather odd. Maybe she was reading too far into it, but he seemed like he not only had some insecurities, but some darkness to him as well. She wondered about his past. She formulated that he had been through a lot, especially to be such a conundrum. T'Panu decided it was best to leave it at that, before she looked too far into it. With how eccentric he seemed, she figured he wouldn't exactly want anyone poking around his past. That could be an interesting road, one she wasn't sure she wanted to go down.

As T'Panu finished her thoughts in the brief moment of silence, the distant chirps became within audible distance. Her senses piqued, as she naturally figured Galo would be unable to hear them. Most bat sounds were above the pitch of many species to hear, but Vulcan's were blessed with more acute hearing than most. She focused her attention as the little chirps became slightly longer, with a more distinct tonal progression.

"I can hear him trying to find his way down the corridor. Sounds like he hasn't gotten too far, what do you say we go get us a bat?" T'Panu suggested.

T'Panu took the lead as they bolted down the corridor, past the jefferies tubes and the many bulkheads. No sign of the bat. They ducked to the left, ran down to the end and took a right. As a human would say, they were running like chickens with their heads cut off. She felt like calling the bat, but she assumed it didn't work like dogs did. She wasn't quite sure, but she decided if that was actually something that worked, Galo would be actively trying to do the same.

They reached the end of the corridor, split off into two directions. Which way to go? "What do you think we should do? It appears the bat has stopped making any noises. I'm not sure which way we should try." T'Panu trailed off as she tried to listen for it once again.

Just as they were about to make a decision, there was this faint whooshing sound followed by the bat swooping straight down at them! It caught them off guard, and sent T'Panu crashing to the floor. The bat was still in a mid air swoop downwards as she felt herself hit the floor. She was able to catch herself with her left arm from falling backwards, so she still had one foot on the ground. She used the momentum in her fall to push herself back upwards and make a dive for the bat! Somehow she managed to grab the bat by its left leg, feeling the leathery texture of the wing near her knuckles.

It pulled as it tried to get away, jerking hard while its wings fluttered frantically. She managed to pull it in close enough to secure her other arm around it and prevent it from escaping again.

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #6 – August 23, 2019, 02:29:59 PM

[ Y'Lev | Corridors | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @lisavw

Perhaps she had a logical reasoning for her uncanny ability to track down his mammalian comrade, but the Vulcan had certainly been an asset in the hunt to obtain the creature before it had caused any particularly dire mischief. Perhaps her hearing was more attuned to the wingbeats of flying mammals, or perhaps she was simply more versed in such tasks, but it hadn’t taken her long to follow the sound of whooshing wingbeats to the site of Y’Lev’s furry little accomplice.

For a Vulcan, however, she was decidedly dramatic, the bat’s sudden decision to feint in the direction it was heading and double back, straight into them, was enough for the Vulcan to end up on the deck-plating as his comrade moved to escape their grasps once again. Y’Lev made little more of a reaction than a sigh as the Vulcan tumbled down to the floor, once again reminded of the incompetence of other species, before he made a move to sprint after his pet once more.

Yet, in a startling display of athleticism, for a stuffy Vulcan, she managed to turn her tumble into an opportunity, repurposing the momentum of her fall into a leap that allowed her hand to just about secure the winged little creature’s leg in her grasp. Y’Lev imagined that there was a deep seated logical explanation to the Vulcan’s actions, which would quite frankly bore the Orion to tears, but she had succeeded in her task and proved to be of some value in chasing down his mammalian comrade.

“Oh thank…” Y’Lev’s eyes widened in panic at his failure to remember the expression used by Humans to declare aloud their relief. “...thank the Terran deities that we’ve caught him…” Y’Lev was certain that that was the correct phrase to use in such circumstances. He rushed down to where the Vulcan was apparently wrestling with his pet, and carefully guiding him out of her clutching arms and into a safe space nestled against the repugnantly scratchy uniform adorning his chest.

It only took one glance up from his comerade’s darling dark eyes for Y’Lev’s scornful glare to be somewhat tempered.

“Menacing little beast…” Y’Lev murmured under his breath, moving up his right hand to scratch at the creature’s head and gaining a small squawk of approval in response. “Thank you so much for your help.” Y’Lev cordially thanked the Vulcan woman through gritted teeth, his recompense from having to be so grovellingly courtious being his lack of attempt to make absolutely any effort to assist the Vulcan woman in getting up from her strange posture upon the deck.

“I don’t know what I-i would have done if he’d gotten away from me and we’d have lost h-him.” Y’Lev breathed a few false sighs of relief and used his free hand to clutch at his head and pinch at his temple in stress. “I’m sure I’ve missed my appointment at the Sickbay by now. I was due some pheromonal injections…”

Y’Lev phased out mid-sentence as he noted that the woman before him was a teal-chest.

“Do you think that someone will still be able to see me? I really need my injection soon.” It was perhaps the first truthful statement he had given her. “I’m overdue already and if I start producing pheromones i-it’s going t-to be bad news for everyone…” A second truth. The last thing he wanted was getting brought up for disciplinary action because he’d been: ‘neglectful in the application of suppressants for abilities potentially harmful to the crew of a Starship, as referenced in Starfleet code alpha, green, five, four, eleven, sixty-nine, theta, mauve, juniper berry, three, six, Ferengi, genitalia, blue, fruit, carbohydrates, toenail, saxophone, felatio, one.’

Starfleet codes were truly an abomination to the galaxy.

And no doubt not a sliver as exciting as the one he’d conjured.

Re: Day 01 [1023 hrs.] Intercepting a Flying Mammal

Reply #7 – September 24, 2019, 03:17:01 AM

[ T'Panu | Corridors | Deck 8 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
@TWilkins

T'Panu was thankful they caught the little beast. She actually thought she would be a little more frightened when it came time, but she was used to buckling down when the time warranted it. The way it was so calm and obedient in his arms, it actually looked rather cute. It was kind of like a creepy little flying dog, which definitely gave it an odd appearance. Longer fangs, leathery wings, slightly thick and matted feeling fur. Slight differences from dogs, except for the wings; dogs definitely didn't have wings.

She wondered if they would have any other encounters with the bat. She was guessing not, since it wasn't everyday that a flying creature made its way through the corridors of the ship.

"I'm happy I was able to help. It was exciting having our own little side mission, getting to secretly save the day for everyone else on board. I'm just thankful the Captain didn't have to have a run in with him, I think this would have turned out quite different if that had been the case," T'Panu said as she feigned a joke. Her jokes usually weren't quite taken as such, since she usually came off as very unemotional in her speaking.

"Sorry to hold you up, I'll let you be on your way! Someone will be in Sickbay to assist you. If they aren't, you can send for me and I will help you out with that. I hope you enjoyed our little chase. Now I won't need to do my workout after all this excitement!"

She nodded as she made her way back through the corridor to her quarters. She still had a little smirk from the random fun they had in pursuit of that cute little mammal. 

~FIN