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Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #50 –
[ Dr. Nicander | Sickbay | Surgical Suite 02 | Deck 07 ] Attn: Zenozine & Sirus

After climbing up into the Jeffries tube above the two women, Lucan turned around to look down at Hylota when she commented on the combadge. Oh, he had to be very much on edge with the sudden changes going on in his spider's web since he had not thought of loosing his badge himself. He worked his jaw in thought and looked towards the Ovri's badge on the table when Dr. Saugn said she would be staying behind. It was true that the patient was no longer at direct risk, but she would have to be monitored carefully to spot any complications that may arise, so if Lucan was to preserve the life of one potentially grateful Senior Staff member, then it was worth leaving the Teslysliac duplicate behind as per her own request. Like Saugn had said, she could very well tell the mutineers that they had left a long time ago.

[This is Captain Declan Vasser,] said the voice of the new Commanding Officer in the intercom system, [I am assuming command of this ship and the mission to liberate Starfleet from it's incursion.  Captain Jien Ives is ill equipped to accomplish this task, too willing to play by rules that our enemies, with superior numbers ships, will be willing to ignore in pursuit of us.  Our first mission is going to be the takeover of the Calamity, so we might gain access to another formidable ship to add to our numbers, as well as to access any records on that ship which may provide us with information about the future it came from, and if there is knowledge of our enemy present in those records. Those who are willing to join this mission, and with it, become the last hope that our galaxy has, should disarm and assemble in cargo bay two. Those who insist upon resisting will be detained until they can be made to see reason. Vasser out.]

The matter settled with that announcement, Lucan inclined his head in acquiescence to the other doctor. "Very well, Lahkesis," he said and extended his hand down to Hylota so that he might help her up - speaking while helping the Ovri get into the shaft above the Surgery Suite. He spoke to the medical officer below them while he worked. "Watch for signs of irregular rhythm of the heart beat. It is supposed to sync itself to the needs of the body, but considering the damage to her in the blast, I would not take any chances. Here..."

He removed his combadge and tossed it down to Lahkesis. "Destroy it, and Nurse Vojona's as well, then hide the scrap metal. First, however, I need that grate so that we can close this access, making it less likely they'll find it. We'll come back ... so tell them that they'll need us if we are supposed to... 'take over the Calamity.'" And the man thought Ives' cause was a folly? Lucan did not even bother masking how poor an idea he thought it to be. "The Winds be with you."

When he was handed the grate, Lucan shut Hylota and himself into relative darkness, and there was nothing more to do than find somewhere that people still loyal to Captain Ives would be and provide medical assistance as required. As for where that might be, they could do nothing else than search from the shadows. Yet beyond first aid, Lucan's mind was attacking the situation and cutting it open, prying at the edges to see whatever benefits there were to be found and what he had to do in order to come out on top. All in all, it was somewhat surprising that they had come for him specifically. What did they want from him in particular? Surely they could have gotten their will through without his direct involvement?

Alone in the close confines with Hylota, Lucan caught her gleaming, black eyes in the dim light and gave her a small smile of encouragement. "Lahkesis will be fine, and so will the rest of our staff. There is no point in killing medical personnel that adhere to our oath." He did seek to comfort her in a condescending way. It was simply something that had to be said for both their sakes. "Let's see what answers we can find, and give aide where we can, alright?"

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #51 –
[ Maya | Main Sickbay/Corridor | Sickbay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Auctor Lucan, Brutus, Sirus, & The Counselor

Although Maya was a talented martial artist, her fighting style specialized in taking out one assailant at a time.  Confronting multiple opponents was beyond her ability.  In addition, her fighting style depended on her knowledge of anatomy.  She subdued her opponents by applying pressure to certain nerve bundles of the body, causing temporary pain, partial paralysis, paralysis, or unconsciousness.  Normally, she used her skill to harmlessly subdue delirious patients.  Actually using it on an armed and alert opponent was a challenge.  The challenge was multiplied by the fact that the little Vulcan was fatigued and had been missing practice.  Although normally possessing catlike grace, right now Maya was slow and uncoordinated.  Her only hope was that Sarresh Morali had set his phaser on wide angle stun was ready to dispatch Cir'Cie and her entire group. 

Morali needed a distraction and Maya had provided one.  She had successfully rendered the last two members of Cir'Cie's band unconscious by pinching their trapezius nerve bundles but she couldn't catch the two rearguards as they fell to the floor.  Cir'Cie and one of her two remaining gunmen turned to look at her.  Cir'Cie immediately turned back to Morali, considering him the greater threat but the other mutineer gripped his mark two hand phaser with both hands and pointed it right at Maya.  Maya recognized him as Ensign Wheaton, one of Doctor Nicander's patients.  "That was unwise," he muttered as his finger whitened on the trigger.  He wasn't a soldier but he had qualified on his last marksmanship test to pass Starfleet minimums.  Even now he was holding the phaser pistol in the two handed grip just like he would on the range.  

Conversation was pointless; there was no time to build rapport and even if she had the time it was unlikely that Wheaton would favorably respond given his mental conditioning.   Maya calculated her odds of disarming him at thirty nine percent, and Vulcans weren't known for playing the odds.  Still there was nothing for it but to...

"You have to the count of five to lower your weapons or I will be forced to open fire," a woman's voice rang out.

Maya ducked down behind the medical officer duty station as phaser fire erupted from the reception duty station, where Ryuan Sel was wielding a phaser rifle.  Since the little Vulcan was unarmed, she wasn't a target of priority.  Ensign Wheaton, who had been holding her at gunpoint, was.  He fell to his side and bounced off the linen closet door before falling to the floor.  She saw Sarresh Morali and Cir'Cie's remaining supporter dive for cover but she didn't know if they had been hit or not.  Maya did see Cir'Cie taking cover behind the head nurse duty station and pause to change the setting on her phaser. 

Cir'Cie was changing the settings on her phaser.  That meant that either she was setting the beam for wide angle or she was setting it to kill.   Without a moment's hesitation, Maya broke cover to cross the distance to stop her.

Almost faster than human thought, Maya's neurologically advanced Vulcan brain searched Cir'Cie's medical file for weaknesses and devised an appropriate strategy: 

'Ensign Cir'Cie, species: Vulcan.  Height: 1.8 m, Weight: 51.3 kg, Biological Age:  twenty three standard years.  Handedness:  Ambidextrous.  Received corrective surgery on her ears at age ten.  Skeletal injuries:  Left wrist, right ankle, left hip, mending but sensitive to trauma.  Psychological profile:  Exhibits a mild case of attention deficit disorder, exhibits stronger emotional responses than expected for her species.  Athletic prowess:  Racquetball and parrises squares.

'My advantage:  Her inexperience.  Her advantage: my fatigue and injury.  First point of attack:  Apply pressure to medial nerve in wrist to disarm opponent.  Two:  Strike the nerve cluster at the solar plexus to cause pain and temporary paralysis.  Three:  Seize opponent by the shoulder and pinch the nerve bundle between shoulder and neck muscles to render opponent unconscious.  Summary prognosis:  Unconscious in twenty seconds, consciousness regained in twenty minutes.  Sedative will render subject unconscious for five hours minimum, more than enough time to diagnose nature of mental modification.  Ability to fire phaser:  Neutralized.'
   
Maya shed her bulky surgical gown as she did a gymnastic roll to cover the distance between them while presenting as poor a target as possible.  Cir'Cie pointed her phaser at Maya but the shorter woman managed to grasp her gun hand and dig her thumb into interior of the science officer's wrist, causing her right hand to release its grip automatically. 

Rather than reflexively protecting her arm as predicted, Cir'Cie reacted by seizing Maya's face with her free hand.  Cir'Cie's psychological file may have indicated that she was more emotional than other Vulcans but she was more than capable of ignoring the pain shooting up her arm.  As a matter of fact, Maya felt the identical pain paralyzing her own arm.  Cir'Cie had used her telepathic abilities to allow Maya to experience the effect of her own strike.

Maya's surgical mask fluttered to the floor as both Vulcans stood up in order to fight each other; heedless of the danger of exposing themselves to Ryuan Sel should she decide to fire another volley.  According to her file Ensign Cir'Cie was not an expert at unarmed combat.  Yet now she seemed to fight with the skill of a martial arts enthusiast.  Had she been given this ability by whatever changed her loyalties?

As the two Vulcans traded strikes and blocks at furious speed, Captain Vasser's voice was heard over the ship's intercom.  "This is Captain Declan Vasser, I am assuming command of this ship and the mission to liberate Starfleet from its incursion," Vasser's voice announced as Cir'Cie blocked one of Maya's blows.  "Captain Jien Ives is ill equipped to accomplish this task, too willing to play by rules that our enemies, with superior numbers of ships, will be willing to ignore in pursuit of us," his voice continued as Cir'Cie chopped at Maya's arm to strike the smaller woman in the elbow.  "Our first mission is going to be the takeover of the Calamity..."

Maya ducked and spun to the side when she saw the younger Vulcan attempt the maneuver that humans called the 'Vulcan nerve pinch.' 

"...so we might gain access to another formidable ship to add to our numbers..." 

Maya's arms were shorter, but she managed to counter by gripping the taller woman's shoulder and that forced Cir'Cie to let her go. 

"...as well as to access any records on that ship which may provide us with information about the future it came from..." 

Cir'Cie let her go by throwing Maya against the wall to disorient her. 

"...and if there is knowledge of our enemy present in those records,"  Vasser's voice droned on as Maya blocked a wide haymaker from Cir'Cie. 

"Those who are willing to join this mission..." the announcement continued as Maya blocked a jab. "...and with it, become the last hope that our galaxy has..." 

Maya blocked yet another jab as she fought to regain ground. 

"...should disarm and assemble in cargo bay two," Vasser declared as Cir'Cie managed to get a blow past Maya's defenses and strike her in the jaw.  "Those who insist upon resisting will be detained until they can be made to see reason," the Harbinger's captain concluded as the taller woman managed to get Maya in a headlock.  "Vasser out."

As Maya struggled to free herself Cir'Cie's fingers spread over her face.  'My thoughts are your thoughts,'Cir'Cie's voice echoed telepathically.  'Your thoughts are my thoughts.  Soon you shall see that the logical thing to do is to join us.'

As soon as Maya had determined that Cir'Cie, Connor and the others were victims of mental manipulation, a counterstrategy had formed in her mind.  There was no point using logic to resist the lies that were entering her brain:  logic depended on assumptions and Cir'Cie was going to change those assumptions.  What Maya knew to be true would soon be very different truths.  The brainwashing worked by applying logic. 

So Maya used emotion:  Specifically, the memory of being sexually assaulted by Phantom.  That terrible memory that Maya had locked away in her head came back in full force and Cir'Cie experienced what it felt like to be taken raw by a man who could only feel whole by giving her pain.  Cir'Cie screamed and tried to pull her hand away, but Maya gripped her wrist and held it fast.  Logic, reason, and thought held no place here.  Now there was only the fire of their green blood and a rush of negative emotions that Cir'Cie was unprepared for. 

Cir'Cie had never been a sexual surrogate.  Thanks to the miracle of modern medication she didn't even suffer from the blood madness of ponn farr every seven years.  She was completely disoriented by the vivid sensations assaulting her body.  She felt Phantom gripping her by the neck, she felt her body forced open and violated, she felt her legs collapse from under her as she fell to the floor.

Before Cir'Cie could recover, Maya's hand darted out and pinched the nerve between the shoulder and the neck.  Cir'Cie shuddered and gaped as if she had been shot before slumping into unconsciousness.


Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #52 –
[Selena Ravenholm: The Digital Oblivion]

Selena nodded as she took in the new surroundings and Thea's words.  As she circled she kept a calm watch waiting for the imminent strike.  Thea was correct In her previous statement Thea's security protocols, the main walls between Selena and reprogramming Thea, were unreachable but Selena had changed a bit she was not as distant as before and closed the gap increasing the danger to herself.  In this world each body of theirs seemed to represent a different distinct set of programs.  Thea's body was essentially representing a series of various Firewalls and programs to delete intrusive software.  At the same time Selena's image was representative of Selena's intrusion into Thea's software and her attempts to take down Thea's defenses.  though The form of their fight was taking was one of hand to hand combat both of them knew the reality was far from this illusion.and in the end the likely winner would not be determined by the punches and kicks thrown in this illusion of a reality but on the sheer will and programming creativity that their combating forms represented.  No this illusion was just that, an illusion to allow the two beings minds as they were to process the struggle for superiority over Thea's core programming.  It was clear that Thea had chosen this form of battle for a reason.  Sure Selena knew this was a false world but the more she dove in the more of herself she pushed into the image the more of herself she tried to pour into Thea to alter attempt to take down these firewalls.  With this kind of interface though Thea must have known that with a more and more connected link Selena ran more and more of a probability that injuries to her image within Thea would result in her mind creating internal damage to match.  Thea was trying to push Selena into choosing to put her actual life at risk to reprogram her.

Selena smirked as she caught the first punch relatively easily.  "You are wrong Thea, she said squeezing the hand her grip much like the grip her artificial limb was capable of.  A grip that if Thea had been a human in the real world outside would have crushed nearly every bone in that hand.  As quickly as the hand would have shattered though it was as if a thousand shards of glass exploded like a grenade in Ravenholms  clenched hand causing her to let go and stumble back looking at her hand as it seemed to have taken a look like a corrupted image of her hand pixels out of place simulating the injury to the hacking system as it dripped a kind of black anti-light blood like fluid.  "You bitch!" she exclaimed shaking the hand a moment as it resolved itself back to normal.  "Your the first AI I've encountered with the self preservation instincts and intelligence to think to hide honeypots in between different levels of their firewalls."

I guess you're a bit tougher to break than I thought.  she said as she jumped forwardsPouring her own instincts into the fight countering each attack with almost equally machine like movements to Thea's. For minuites the two of them fought at a stalemate before Selena's Body seemed to dissipate for a moment before reappearing away from Thea.  "I clearly am getting nowhere like this."  50 percent linkage wasn't even enough she realized as she had been gradually increasing the link throughout the fight, Thea resisting with greater and greater efficiency with each attack.  "Guess I'll have to dive deeper, Execute initial release of safety parameters."

For a second her body seemed to pulse as a almost aura of sheer force of will seemed to exude from her.  In a single moment her stance seemed to change to something far more aggressive as she held out a hand and an energy like force seemed to erupt from it almost like what human fairy tales would call some kind of magical energy ball or what the ancient eastern world would have likened to a released strike of either chi or ki.  In nearly an instant she had went from a mere 50 percent link to an 80 percent link.  She had made things a lot more dangerous for herself but from the change in how her own will seemed to manifest as power seemed to perfectly describe her change in tactics from trying to circumvent internal defenses and shifted into a brute force hack.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #53 –
[ Lt. (jg) Sarresh Morali | Sickbay | Corridor ]

The greenblooded bitch - my someone was feeling at ad prejudiced today - rattled of percentages like a damn computer at him while he kept his phaser swinging back and forth between the various member's of the assault team. He tried to real in his own mania, that crazy enthusiasm which he'd summoned up in response to Cir'Cie's initial outburst - with limited success, unfortunately - as he listened to her preach at him. For all her logic, that was precisely what the Vulcan was up to. Preaching.

Cir'Cie let Sarresh know the name of his human shield, mid sermon. And if Sarresh were someone other than himself, and hadn't just gone through what could politely be called Hell, that might have humanized his victim more, but Sarresh was a bit too far gone for that. Mr. Eklund was going to be out of luck.

But despite himself, those artificial eyes went wide as she revealed the method of Vasser's madness. The Vulcan Mind Meld...of course. It made so much sense that he had to laugh. "I don't think you'd like what you find in my mind..." he muttered even as she delivered her own ultimatum and began her countdown. He began to crouch down, eyes narrowing now, using Eklund as a shield...

Needless to say it was something of a surprise when those enhanced optics caught a glimpse of Maya sneaking in behind the party that was attempting to subdue the former Ash'reem. Before Cir'Cie could make good on her threat, before Sarresh had to do anything rash himself to poor Crewman Eklund, Maya dropped - efficiently - the number of threats by two. He could see a spike in their nervous systems, radiating out from the join of shoulder to neck, and watched in slight awe as blood flow was restricted, and the bodies fell to the floor, unconscious, judging by the stats in the corner of his field of vision.

And then the first shots rang out and Sarresh felt Eklund slump in his grip. Swearing under his breath, he snapped off a shot of his own at Cir'Cie, ineffective though it was. So of course that was when the whole lot of them were interrupted by a scantily clad blond Bajoran with a nasty temper and a very large phaser rifle. "You have to the count of five to lower your weapons or I will be forced to open fire," she stated in an admirably succinct tone, without actually bothering to give any countdown what so ever.

The torrent of phaser fire cut through the cramped corridor, and Sarresh was forced to abandon his sheild and roll back behind the desk, towards the ICU. He ducked down, confused at the sudden assistance he was getting, and shook his head. Thoughts, memories flooded through him, instincts he shouldn't have - or didn't think he should have? Knowledge beyond his means. He couldn't tell his heart rate had just spiked up. He didn't know that neurochemicals were pumping through his now human brain, teasing information that had been shrouded away, nor did he feel himself violently twitch, despite the fact that he did.

It was hard to tell, really, where it all came from or what had just happened. All he knew was he had to thin the assault team.

And so he rolled again, and got a lucky break. The thug was behind the Nurse duty station. No one had taken him out yet, certainly not the unarmed Dr. Maya, and the angle was all wrong for the heavily armed Bajoran Valkyrie to line up a shot. The security thug had thought himself safe.

Said thug was very wrong.

Everything seemed to slow. A look of recognition and befuddlement passed across the mans face as Sarresh snarled, the captured phaser emitter glowing, before the energy beam lashed out. It was a straight on shot, far better than the temporal analyst had any right to make - and struck dead in the chest of his target. The man crumpled, and Sarresh kept on rolling, planting his feet on the desk to reverse direction.

[This is Captain Declan Vasser.  I am assuming command of this ship and the mission to liberate Starfleet from it's incursion.  Captain Jien Ives is ill equipped to accomplish this task, too willing to play by rules that our enemies, with superior numbers ships, will be willing to ignore in pursuit of us.  Our first mission is going to be the takeover of the Calamity, so we might gain access to another formidable ship to add to our numbers, as well as to access any records on that ship which may provide us with information about the future it came from, and if there is knowledge of our enemy present in those records.]

He jarred back against the far wall, able to see down the corridor again, as the words from the Captain turn Commodore rang out across the ship. [Those who are willing to join this mission, and with it, become the last hope that our galaxy has, should disarm and assemble in cargo bay two.] Enhanced eyes going wide, searching for a good angle on Cir'Cie, but Dr. Maya was in the way.

[Those who insist upon resisting will be detained until they can be made to see reason. Vasser out.]

He glanced towards the Bajoran - Petty Officer Ryuan Sel, some corner of his mind informed him of the name of a woman he'd never met - then back to Maya and Cir'Cie...Just in time to see Cir'Cie drop as well.

Heart pounding, he looked around, counting bodies, then nodded to himself, even as he mentally filed away the comm message from Vasser. He was slow to rise to his feet, almost like a caged animal whose cell had been left unlocked. Whatever switch had flipped in the back of the Lt's brain had left him even more wary then before. He shuffled past Crewman Eklund, not even bothering to check his pulse with his hands - he knew the man was only stunned - and reached down to drag him behind one of the duty station desks.

"Thank you for you're assistance Doctor Maya, Petty Officer Ryuan," he said in an amazingly calm, almost clinically detached voice. He showed no recognition of any of the events that had transpired between the Vulcan Doctor and himself - nor would he ever, most likely - and at the same time showed a confused sort of recognition for the younger Bajoran. He regarded them both for a moment as he finished standing upright, and dry washed his hands, tucking his phaser under one arm for a moment.

"I suggest we move the rest of this lot out of sight. And someone should probably drag Counselor O'Connor out of her hiding spot." He didn't even bother to glance her way, but when he'd surveyed the damage from the brief fire fight, his eyes had picked up on the counselor's presence in the sickbay. How long she'd been there, he really had no idea, and it didn't much seem to matter. She'd stayed out of the fight, but hadn't endangered anyone, and that was what was important. And while the dark haired woman had made an effort to comfort him in the hours before the firefight - after his own 'resurrection' - Sarresh made no effort to grant her the same courtesy now. Instead, it was as if simply the act of bringing her to the others attention was enough for him to dismiss her from his own, as he turned his attention elsewhere.

The newly minted human didn't quite snarl down at Cir'Cie, the dark emotions breaking through the air of detachment. Sarresh adjusted his medical gown using one hand, the other gripping his commandeered phaser tightly, least she suddenly rise up and attach once more. "Stupid, dumb, misguided..." he rambled on for a moment, shaking his head at the fallen Vulcan, in both pity and contempt. A twisted part of him was still laughing - on the inside anyway - at the thought of her trying to rewrite his brain. The irony was lost on everyone else it seemed, not that he bothered to share his thoughts. Sighing, he turned and headed away from all the women, towards the doors to the surgical suite.

"They were coming after Dr. Nicander," he said, without bothering to glance back at any of them, "As part of their attempt to overthrow the ship and - I'm just venturing a guess - subdue and mind meld into compliance any resisting senior staff member." He crossed his arms as he came to a halt in front of the doors. They didn't open. His eyes narrowed, and he reached a hand out, tapping the doors. Still nothing. He entered an override code into the control panel. No luck.

"It appears to be sealed," he stated the obvious, and turned, arms crossed again. "Would anyone else like to step up and see if they can sort this out?"

OOC: Moving can be a bitch. Sorry for the delay in posting. Won't be getting my post up for Natalie tonight I'm afraid. I hope I didn't back anyone into a tight corner with how I played things out. Long posts can steamroll other players, and I try not to do that too much. Lemme know if anything needs changed, or if I've messed up the sequence of events any. Wouldn't be the first time Sarresh has muddled with the temporal continuity of the RP ;)

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #54 –
[ Tessa May Lance | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]   Attention: Auctor Lucan, CanadianVet, Ericajohn, IronFerrox, Searcher

Tessa shrieked as someone seized her by the shoulders and found herself looking into the sea green eyes of Axius vel Onea, callsign Quake, also known as Wolf-04 and like the fallen Soo Young Seung was one of the youngest master chiefs in the history of Starfleet.  It took a moment for his words to register with her.

"Are you alright? You're not injured are you?" he asked her before he realized that Tessa was terrified of him.  Of course she was.  She had just seen Hannah shoot Soo Young at pointblank range.  How did she know if whose side he was on?

"Oh it's you," she gasped with glassy topaz eyes.  "I was tunneling like a cadet..."

"Sorry," he muttered as he let her go, "I just thought that..."

"Oh Quake!" Tessa sniffed as she hugged him.  She was so unbalanced by everything that happened that she was as useless as a civilian at this point. 

Quake pulled her away and brought her back to reality. "I heard you say Jeffries tubes. I think that's a safe retreat, but what can we put together to give one last crippling blow to those bastards?"

"What?" Tessa blinked.  "Right!  The open hatches will make good cover!"  She glanced at the towering deck chief.  "Papa Bear, you know what O'Conner's guys have been doing right?  We might be able to use the Jefferies tubes to sneak around behind 'em!"

Whatever Papa Bear was going to say was forgotten when the trio heard a man shout "GRENADE!!!"   Tessa didn't know who pulled her to the floor but she did know that she hit the deck hard enough to show.   An explosion on the other side of the Tessa's Valkyrie blew debris over the fighter and the blonde pilot felt some bits of something fall on her back.

Sound was muffled as if she was underwater.  The whole flight deck seemed gray.   She was tunneling; everything in her peripheral vision was blurred into darkness that which was directly in her line of sight was pinpoint clear as if she was looking through a scope. 

Something was spinning on the deck before her.  It took almost no time at all to determine that it was the severed finger of a woman.  The well-manicured nail was literally a dead giveaway.

"God damn it what's next?" Tessa shouted before coughing on the dust and smoke.   At this point her sphincter was so tight that shoving a noodle up her backside was no an impossibility.  It was time to stop panicking and fight like a Wolf!  She was a fighter pilot not some desk bound officer...

At that point any remains of a window around the SCO's office was destroyed in a hail of phaser fire as all three of the intruders at the far door took a knee behind a makeshift baricade and all began opening fire on the SCO's position.  Soon the walls around the window were glowing red with repeated phaser fire and it would not be long before the near prefect defense of a wall gave way laving their furred Commander an open target.  Screaming like a banshee, Tessa gripped her phaser pistol with both hands and fired at the crewmen in the far distance near the exit.  In their quick rearrangement of the temporary barricade they had made themselves entrenched from Miles sniping at the distant window but had left themselves vulnerable towards the hangar door where the trio now stood entrenched.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #55 –
[ Vinata Vojona | USS Theurgy | Deck 7 | Sickbay | Recovery Ward ] Attn: Auctor Lucan

Vinata could not blame Maal for what as happening, he could not have stopped his from happening hen they were both being threatened with a phaser. If Maal had tried to get Patrick he might have gotten them both killed, at least like this they could bide their time until Patrick lost his focus and left himself open for Maal to take care of him. Of course that as if Maal did not lose himself to Vinata. As he bobbed his head up and down he could not see what was happening, but he could feel the cold  tip of the phaser touch his back, and it was impossible to ignore the groping hands that explored his body and molested him.

Things only got worse as Patrick said he would give him anal first and began to tease his anus. Vinata slowed his bobbing and shuddered, he was doing his best to remain focused and try not to merit getting shot with a phaser because surviving the volcanic doom of a planet only to be raped and shot was not what he was interested in having happen. So as he had a finger worked inside him and felt it move around loosening up the ring and doing its best to relax the area Vinata went to his happy place, a place in his min where none of this was happening, a place where he had gone why his body flt like it as burning, but he as pulld back and forced to focus ass he suddenly as penetrated from the ass and Maal blew his load into his mouth.

Vinata shuddered and his cheeks expanded to hold the cum as it flooded in. Vinata was sickened and thought he must be in hell, but then he was empty. Vinata opened his eyes and looked to the two men a their struggle began their struggle, he watched them fight against each other and how Maal managed to disarm Patrick at the cost of his consciousness, but that was the last he looked at them, he now focused on the phaser as it clattered to the floor. Without thinking Vinata swallowed the cum that filled his mouth and he leapt for the weapon.

Vinata hit the ground and rolled as he took the phaser in hand, he focused on Patrick, completely forgetting he was fully nude tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he forced out his tiny barbed teeth and snarled at his rapist. "You monster, I shall make you pay." His arms were firm as he held the weapon at Patrick and he took deep breaths. "You should suffer for what you did to me...but I think a more fitting thing is to give you what you would have given me for refusing. Lets see just how far you intended to go to gt your jollies." With that Vinata fired the phaser into Patrick's midsection, tears streamed from his dark eyes as he acted out of rage and stress.

Without even following up on his action Vinata backed away, he did this until his back touched the wall an he began to inch along it slowly with his eyes closed to hie the tears as best he could. Vinata then slid along the walk and moved to a corner where he sat down hidden from the rest of the room, buried his head in his knees and began to cry, h was so scars, so stressed, he had almost died, been raped and all in a matter of hours since he wok up...this was just too much for him, he could not stand it, he just needed to cry and let it out now.



[ Hylota Vojona | USS Theurgy | Deck 7 | Sickbay | Surgical Suite 2 ] Attn: Auctor Lucan

Hylota nodded to the other doctor before turning her focus to Lucan. "Yes Doctor right away." She move to stand under the entrance to the jefferies tube and crouched down before giving one large leap an getting both her arms into the tub an pulling herself up. She accepted Lucan's help and remained silent as he sealed them in and he spoke to her, Hylota cocked her head to the side as he did. To the Ovri the oath of a doctor was to heal and make decisions to benefit the whole of their societies health, and this included killing threats to the population, of course Lucan did not need to know this.

As he suggested they remain hidden and observe, Hylota felt they needed to play a more active role and added her own suggestion. "Sir, we already know where there will be a gathering of supporters to this cause, would it not be wise for us to dispose of them for the sake of the loyal crew? If we could get our hands on a sedative gas we could pump it into the cargo bay and with a few removed chips they would be sealed in until we were certain they had all passed out." Hylota was already thinking of different ways to do it, possibly finding the storage for the gas and breaking them open and beaming the venting containers into the cargo bay. Granted it was a poor idea, but at least she was coming up with things.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #56 –
| Eve Jenkins | Medical Storage | Sickbay | Deck 07 | Attn: Auctor Lucan

Her clothes were quickly being removed and she gave Connor one of those sultry smiles where one corner quirked up slightly higher than the other, eyes beckoning him as he squeezed and lifted her breasts.  "That's it," she crooned as his thumbs brushed across her nipples, making them swell into hard points.  When he suddenly let go and started almost tearing off his clothes, she bit her lip.  "Very nice ... I love broad shoulders.  Can't wait to see the rest," she purred and then gasped as she felt fingers probing her nether region.

"So eager ... I like it," she murmured to Sean as she continued in that voice that egged both of them into a sexual frenzy.  At least they will already be mindless ... she thought to herself.  Even knowing what she was doing, which made her feel sick to her stomach, her body was thoroughly enjoying the attention of both men.  The fingers plunging in and out of her sex were bringing more wetness and she continued to touch them everywhere she could reach.  This time it was Connor kissing her and she used that to form a link with his mind.

When the kiss broke, she gave Connor a simpering look.  "I need you," she whispered hotly as she gave his cock a firm tug from base to tip.  "I need both of you to fill me ... make me remember how good it feels."  Her eyes captured Sean's and her fingers danced over his hand between her legs.  "You ... on the floor so I can fill my pussy with your magnificent cock," she demanded then turned a wicked smile to Connor.  "And you ... you get something very very few have ever experienced."  The wink only accentuated the lure, making him feel he was being offered only the very best.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #57 –
| Skye Carver | Fighter Assault Bay/Showers/Jeffries Tubes |

I'm up to no good as usual, Sir, mean to give 'em hell like you always say to, Skye thought but didn't call out to her commanding officer.  The less he knew, the better, was her line of thinking.  Slipping through the small crawl space, she made it to the hatch of the closest Jeffries tube and carefully opened it, peeking in from the side.  This might not be the greatest plan but it was all she had at the moment.

Easing in and closing the hatch, she just sat there for a few moments to catch her breath and try to reason out a few things.  Why had Hannah fired on their own?  Why was some form of mutiny going on?  How far did it reach already?  Those were just the beginning of questions when she heard the voice of the other ship's captain and her blood ran cold from his very first sentence of his taking command.

He intended to take over the Calamity ... "How the hell does he intend that when we've barely made it away two against one?" she muttered under her breath.  And that doesn't even begin to say how we'll be able to properly man three ships when we are struggling with two.  The man is fucked in the head ... absolutely certifiable.  I knew he was a wormy bastard the first time I saw him, she grumbled.

He was trying to appeal to people, parroting Ives' words that they were the galaxy's last hope.  And yet she knew there were some foolish enough to believe and rush to the cargo bay.  Vasser was insane but he certainly wasn't stupid.  He would know not everyone was there to switch sides and she'd read enough histories to know that there would be some form of brainwashing to ensure complacency.

Just as she thought that, the proclamation was made that resistance would be met with detainment and forced to see reason.  "What I'd give to shove a rifle up your ass and blow you to smithereens," she continued in a hushed murmur, falling back a bit to the time she spent alone in her Valk with nothing but space all around.  She wasn't alone now, though, just had to find more with like minds.

The more she thought about it, the more she knew they had to do something to Thea to gain her cooperation.  That meant Lin Kae was in danger and she felt the fire rise up quickly, that protective streak for her dear friend setting her in motion.  She knew the places he was likely to be and it was just a matter of trying to get to him.  "Please don't let me be too late," she muttered as she hurried along the metal 'steps' of the tube.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #58 –
Lahkesis Saugn | Sickbay, Surgical Suite 2

As Dr. Nicander and nurse Hylota disappeared into the Jefferies Tube Lahkesis could not help but feel like she was now alone. True the Lt. Marlowe was still there, but she was as unconscious as ever. Lahkesis checked her vitals once more and seeing no abnormalities in the scans she picked up a aserscapel and the two commbadges. She made her way over to the small desk in the corner of the room and sat down. She did not know exactly how much time she would have before the mutineers managed to get into the Sugical Suite or even if they would manage to get this far. All the same she spared no time in beginning to disassemble the commbadges. As her highly skilled hands moved the laser scapel over the metal casing her mind began to wonder.

She was not especially loyal to either of the two captains, however those she did feel in any way loyal to were currently fighting for control of the ship. She did not know which side they would take and she found herself unsure which side she would take if she had been given the choice. What she did know was that it was likely that whichever side most took, people would get injured.

She thought of Dr. Maya, her only real friend on the ship. Would Maya side with the mutineers and their plan to claim the Calamity? It seemed like a silly plan, they would stand no chance against the more advanced ship, let alone being able to take it over. Maya would know that. But what if she got hurt? What if she died? These thoughts caused a deep pang in the young plant girl's stomach to form. She did not want to lose her friend.


Ryuan Sel | Sickbay, Corridor

Sel pasued and slipped the strap of the rifle over her shoulder, letting it hang there once she was certan that there were no more hostiles in the area. She like the others had heard the message over the intercom. "What the bloody hell is going on? Why are they trying to sieze control all of a sudden?" she demanded as she walked up to the only others who remained standing. "I mean I thought it was all puppy's and kittens between the two crews at this point, one big happy family and all that good happy crap."

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #59 –
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Digital Oblivion ] Attn: IronFerrox

Guard raised, Thea faced the digital image of Ravenholm upon the brilliant expanse of her emitter's memory storage - witnessing how the human upgraded the link of her neural implant. The connection became more clear to Thea, seeing deeper into the working of the link - as if espying an invisible portal in the body of her opponent. Ravenholm's suit absorbed the light around her, and that was the gateway to the source of the link. Thea knew its specifications, the software of the neural implant being civilian yet nonetheless running an operative system close to that preferred by Starfleet's cimputer scientists. She had to gain access to that implant and sever the link, which was not so easy as the activation prompt she had issued earlier.

"You are confused," she said as she circled the human's uplink, "in all likelihood, your mind is corrupted by an external source. You saw reason when given to you, but you appeared blocked from accepting new data. The Commander of the Harbinger is Vulcan, and she was an Master Acolyte at the Temple of Kolinahr for ten years before she turned to the Vulcan Space Command, followed by Starfleet Security. If she got close to you sometime since this morning - after you left my quarters - then she could have performed a mind-meld on you... and you now act on her convictions."

In Thea's hand, the digital rendering of a hand phaser appeared, and she raised it towards Ravenholm in a two-handed grip. "I do not want to hurt you, Selena," she said, keeping her emption chip's dataflow from being the catalyst for tears running down her cheeks. She had to remain detached, focused, and keen enough to defeat the hacker that sought to change her nature and allegiance. "But if I am forced to, I have to terminate your link, and kill you in the process. My Captain and my crew needs me... and you are in my way."

She opened fire, rapid shots going for the digital image, but the problem was that neither of them moved according to physical limitations, making them both able to dodge long-distance attacks. Nevertheless, Thea was moving closer, since she sought access to the source - Ravenholm's neural implant. She had to access it somehow, but if that failed... she was perfectly able to live up to the threat she'd made. It felt miserable, but despite how Selena could have become a close friend, she could not ignore her duties to the Theurgy crew and its rightful Commanding Officer.


[ Connor Matthews | Medical Storage | Sickbay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Searcher

Eve Jenkins needn't tell Connor or Sean twice. They both acted on her cue without a second thought - minds bent upon pleasing her and to be pleased. The anticipation of being inside Eve made Connor's knees weak, and Sean was already lying down on the floor - the blue displays on the walls shining down upon him.

"Here, h-hurry. Let u-us..." Connor whispered, trailing off. Since the Head Nurse was stroking them while they positioned themselves, the Brig Officer could guide her down and give her room to straddle Sean Cameron's waist - positioning himself behind Eve's back. In short order, they were all three on the floor, and with the halfbreed Deltan guiding them, Connor and Sean were soon rubbing the heads of their rigid erections against the Head Nurse's most intimate regions. From behind, Connor rubbed the top-side of his length along Eve's wet sex without entering her, and he felt his hardness slide against Sean too, since he was also rubbing his cock against her slick warmth. At his state-of-mind, he did not care if he crossed swords with Sean. The important thing was the inevitable reality that he was soon about to be inside Eve.

Connor's lips and tongue savaged her neck and shoulder while his hands spanned her waist - cupped her breasts from behind. Sean's hands were exploring the divine vision of the woman on top of his waist, fingers and palms rubbing her thighs and her hips in the moments before they entered her. Connor pinched those hardened nipples between his fingers, heart beating loudly in his own ears. Then, with a slight shift of his hips, he found himself pushing the bulbous head of his cock against her anal opening. He gasped at the pressure, but he had been lubricated by her nectar and his own pre-cum, so he was not more than a couple of moments later than Sean in squirming his way into her body. Sean had it easier, panting rapidly as his cock vanished inside the Head Nurse's sex, while Connor worked rhythmically to push his throbbing length into Eve. It may have been a slower entry, yet far more rewarding in how tight she was around him, and he rocked slowly against her until the inches of his manhood was swallowed by her.

Then, with minds deteriorating into madness by the delight she gave them, they fell into the animal dance - barely able to sync their rhythms. They grunted without restraint, never noticing how they were slipping away; too preoccupied to feel their bodies respond to the warm confines of the woman between them. Eventually, there was a voice. Captain Vasser's voice, heard over the intercom. Yet Connor paid it no heed. Nor did he care about the sound of phaser-fire just outside the storage room. He was not fighting in the corridor. He was fucking the Head Nurse, so why would he care?

Sean came first, convulsing on the floor as he cried out - eyes rolling in their sockets on the waves of pleasure. Connor saw Sean's eyes never returning to focus again, but he paid it no heed. Not when he felt his own orgasm clawing its way up his body and seizing him fully. Hands and lips upon Eve, he rocked hard against her, and he cried out against her skin when he unloaded inside her - gushing warm human seed into her Deltan body. He was not there anymore. Did not see the blue lights around them. Did not hear how the sound of phasers died out in the corridor. He did not feel himself fall backwards either - staring at the ceiling after he hit his head on the floor. He stared without seeing, and laid still without being dead...

...his mind trapped in a place it did not wish to leave.


[ Dr. Nicander | Jefferies Tubes | Close to Surgical Bay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Zenozine & Sirus

Listening to Nurse Vojona in the dim light of the crawl-space as he led the way, Lucan did not think it was such a bad idea at all.

Unwittingly, Captain Vasser had presented them with a target, but they were no soldiers, so the odds of stunning them all with phasers there in the cargo hold had a very low rate of success. At the end of the tube they crawled through, where it split into a T-crossing, Lucan paused to look down both ways before her turned back to face Hylota. Being alone with her again reminded Lucan about what had happened between them before the Festival of the Moon, and the fact that the Ovri was ovulating and had asked for his help to quell the symptoms of her bodily state. In the dim light, the minute, tan scales of her skin seemed almost red above the teal collar of her uniform. He regarded her while he thought about what she had said, his eyes resting easily on her exotic features until he spoke.

"There is one place aboard where we might secure such a quantity of inhalation anaesthetics with a low enough neurotoxicity," he said after a couple of seconds, running a tattooed hand through his own hair in thought, "Ketamine or nitrous oxide is not potent enough, and may be harmful in such large doses, so we should use xenon. It's not something we store in Sickbay, but the laser chambers in Waste Management use xenon when they process the filth. Effective and less flammable, or so I have heard. If the gas cylinders are opened and mixed with the air of the cargo hold, it should have the desired effect without too much delay. I need to run some calculations on how many cylinders we need, but let's make our way to one of the waste management areas aboard."

He remembered to have read that the late Chief of Operations, Hendricks, had met his death in Waste Management during the Niga Incident. Since then, few Ops personnel liked to linger there more than they had to, so hopefully they would be able undisturbed. Before he continued, he changed topic.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her, mimicking genuine concern with his face, "It seems it will be difficult picking up where we left off yesterday, despite the need for a new examination and some initial testing. I wish I could help ease the symptoms, but I have not had the time to mix any new potential suppressant for you yet, not even an experimental one. Will you be able to carry on?"

He did not bring up what had happened between them, of course, since it truly wasn't the time to do so. The public image he maintained demanded that he showed concern for her, that was all. Yet as of late, the instincts of his public image had become confusing, finding himself meaning what he said on some level...


[ Evelyn "Ranger "Rawley | Wolf-06 | Lone Wolves Squadron | Class-9 Nebula ] Attn: Kurohigi & Nolan

It was too late to go back, since even if they had the time, that would leave them as sitting ducks in the flight hangar. Rawley's targeting systems began to chirp enthusiastically."Wolf-Zero-Six, I am in your shadow, Razor. Maverick, if you have any great ideas, we are all ears, but the deal seems pretty grim to me, so we'll just do whatever we can as quickly as possible, right?" Evelyn Rawley had said when Thomas shot off to engage the Harbinger squadron. She entered commands for the same course into her instruments, "Wolf-Zero-Eight, would you like to tag along, over?"

[Acknowledged, Zero-Six, it seems we have no time for elaborate tactics,] said Wolf-08 over the static that the nebula caused. [Lead the way, Ranger.] So Rawley followed in Thomas wake for a brief few moments... before the Harbinger squadron broke off in different directions to try and get around the Lone Wolves that had come out to greet them.

"They are splitting up! Laying an intercept course to catch Titan and his wingmates! Are you still with me, Zero-Eight?"

[Acknowledged,] came the voice in her ear - just as the enemy picked up on the scent of their rapid approach with their sensors. They changed course to intercept them instead with a heavy cannonade. [Ready to ascend.]

"On my mark; three, two, one... Engage!" In a synchronised climb, Wolves 06 and 08 escaped the initial volley completely. The second volley came while they had almost completed the barrel roll that would let them return fire, and Rawley felt the shudder of detonations against her shields. They held, but she managed to bite her tongue. "Fuck you are quick, ingrates," she murmured vehemently - tasting the iron of blood in her mouth.

[Zero-Six, roll and dive. They coming in again right above us, go, go go!]

Hearing this, 08 rolled to starboard whilst Rawley yanked her gears to the other side, and while they may have parted, they both rolled into a vertical descent. Even though they were quick enough, they were simply too few to forestall all the eight Harbinger attack fighters from reaching the flight hangar of the Theurgy. Two Harbinger fighters were about to dock - having gotten through the wolf pack. It was Phantom and Riptor, and it was too late to d anything about it. Rawley swore as she noticed it, but she had her own fight to fight against Titan and his two comrades.

"Fuck it! Opening fire! Going hard stardboard!" There was no time to warn Miles Renard either, Rawley bared her bloody teeth and rolled in her dive, avoiding the moving beasts and hitting them like lighting from above. There was little use too look down the path at this point, since the navigational display along with her targeting took up all her attention - guiding her through the thick orange nebula. Her hands were cramping into iron claws around her gears, and her thumbs were the talons which she used to tear through the enemy - sending a steady oscillation of phaser fire into their dorsal shields. Despite her best efforts, they slipped out of her targetting scope before their shields failed, and she was back on square one again.

Only then could she get a moment to contact Fox. "This is Rawley, you are about to get company!"

Silence.

"This is Rawley! Do you read me, Renard? Over!"

Yet it would seem that someone on Mission Ops had decided to cut their comm link. And not only that, because suddenly, weapon signatures were being read from the Theurgy. Thea was powering up her phaser arrays - likely against her will - but she was not alone. Behind Rawley, her sensors picked up the approach, and the newly arrived Harbinger was already shooting at them all.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" she yelled across the comm channel to the other wolves in the air. They were right between the Theurgy and the Harbinger, and the remaining Mk II Valkyries were emboldened by the arrival - coming back for another go.




[ Riptor | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ] Attn: CanadianVet, IronFerrox, Ericajohn, Doctor Maya

The doors of the Fighter Assault Bay opened for them, and Riptor came in side-by-side with Phantom. Their sleek, metallic-grey Mk II:s hovered above the deck, and it was with experience they could hold their attack fighters so steady in the relatively close quarters of the flight hangar. The sight that met them at the far end of the bay area was kind of expected, with a fire-fight taking place between the deck crew and those loyal to Commodore Vasser. According to plan, the bay area would have been taken already... so it seemed the ought to tip the scales a bit. Just a slight nudge, really.

"Shall we?" Riptor asked with quiet chuckle into the comm-link he had with Phantom, and he even turned his head to look at his Wing Commander through the canopy of his cockpit. Phantos Kilinvoss seemed to give it a second's worth of thought before he answered.

[We have no time for this. Target all movements and leave the hangar and the ships as intact as possible. Open fire.]

"Aye, Commander," said Riptor with a grin and flicked the covers of his triggers open. Then, with almost a caressing motion, he squeezed down his thumbs on the red buttons. In tandem, he and Phantom opened fire. They had four wing-mounted phaser pulse canons each, and with deafening noise, they were smiting the distance with barrage upon barrage of heavy energy bursts. While they were firing, the put down their landing gears and began to taxi forth against the blockades. As the slowly approached, they tore into flesh and blockades both with their sustained fire, sending everything flying against the rear wall.

[This is Captain Declan Vasser,] said the voice of the new Commanding Officer in the PA system - barely overriding the fire of the shredding Type XII pulse cannons. [I am assuming command of this ship and the mission to liberate Starfleet from it's incursion.  Captain Jien Ives is ill equipped to accomplish this task, too willing to play by rules that our enemies, with superior numbers ships, will be willing to ignore in pursuit of us.  Our first mission is going to be the takeover of the Calamity, so we might gain access to another formidable ship to add to our numbers, as well as to access any records on that ship which may provide us with information about the future it came from, and if there is knowledge of our enemy present in those records. Those who are willing to join this mission, and with it, become the last hope that our galaxy has, should disarm and assemble in cargo bay two.]

Funny, Riptor thought as the announcement wore on, how they had just left the hangar in pristine shape hours ago, right after Riptor had finally managed to get some alone-time with that Boslic cunt. As he pelted the deck and the bulkheads with his canons, he idly wondered if that old-timer Covington had liked the little gift he left behind in the office. Or perhaps it had been Renard that found the purple-haired bitch? Regardless, he wished he had been there to see their faces. He could just imagine how they might feel guilty for not being able to protect her better. As he shot down the Ives loyalists, Riptor re-imagined the scene in the office. In a matter of seconds, he was getting hard.

[Those who insist upon resisting will be detained until they can be made to see reason. Vasser out.]

They just didn't know the truth. Those who had not seen the future would never understand that they were already dead, and that nothing in the old galaxy mattered any more. Certainly not the life of a Boslic slut who thought herself better than anyone else. She had needed perspective.

In the end, she had known the truth.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #60 –
 it didn't take long for Hayden's hopes to be utterly dashed. Of course Maya hadn't noticed her, why would she? The Vulcan doctor had a few more things to be concerned about than miraculously meeting her gaze because of some emotional connection O'Connor had briefly envisioned could be more magical than it was. Besides, what did O'Connor think making eye contact with Maya would accomplish? The best the counselor could hope for was to provide a momentary distraction long enough for the Ives' loyalists to gain the upper hand, but then what? It occurred to Hayden then they had no way of knowing which side everyone was on and what could be waiting for them just around the corner. After all, a takeover like this took time and planning, and given just how long so many of them had managed to fool the entire crew, Hayden knew it wasn't self-pity to admit she was in no position to identify friend or foe. Clearly, they were dealing with accomplished liars who were just as adept at using mental manipulation to accomplish their ends.

That reality, the notion Hayden was dealing with a psychological weapon she didn't know the first thing about defeating, stung almost as much as knowing the woman whose life she saved appeared to be one of the ringleaders of this whole thing. O'Connor had found some comfort in knowing she had saved someone who otherwise wouldn't have stood a chance when she had decided to sacrifice several of her former crewmembers in the days since they were lost. Seeing Cir'Cie now endangering the lives of people she cared about and spitting on that sacrifice, Hayden felt a small part of her deep down grow hard and cold. Now was certainly not the time to give into her emotions, but if Hayden's eyes had the power to shoot phaser beams, the Vulcan surely would have been ash.

Before the counselor could act, more hell broke loose, and Hayden watched in surprise and some horror as Petty Officer Sel, Maya and Moralli made short work of there would be captors. As much as she hated herself for her hesitation, Hayden knew now if she intervened, she was just going to risk getting herself and others injured at a time when they still couldn't afford to lose any medical personnel. Out of necessity (or was it punishment?), Hayden watched the physical struggle between the two women, wincing for Maya as they each traded blows. Hayden might not have been an expert in Vulcan psychology, but she didn't need to be to understand the weapon Maya had at her disposal. The medically trained counselor had seen the neurology specialist use her gifts for good, and unfortunately, she'd seen those same psionic abilities used against her.

In what seemed like an eternity, the violent exchange was finally over, and the sight of stunned and possibly gravely injured personnel was enough to pull Hayden back to reality. She emerged just in time to hear Sarresh suggest someone drag her out. She inwardly winced as she heard him reference her hiding spot. The newly transformed man only spoke truth, she knew, but it wasn't easy being reminded of yet another one of her failures. Deep in our heart of hearts, she wondered sardonically how long it would before this one would come to bite her in the ass. She knelt and began moving amongst the fallen, assessing their conditions, and in some cases, making sure they weren't about to regain consciousness anytime soon. "Are you both okay? Thanks to you, we've got some time, but not much."

O'Connor was most concerned about Maya, but unfortunately she was needed if they were going to check on the patients and figure out a way out of this mess.

OOC: Feel free to respond to Hayden however you'd like. I figured she might help Sarresh with the door, but her first priority would be to make sure everyone was okay.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #61 –
[ Maya | Main Sickbay/Corridor | Sickbay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Brutus, Sirus, & The Counselor

Maya closed her eyes as she leaned against the counter in front of the head nurse duty station and sat down next to the unconscious Cir'Cie.  She grit her teeth as her eyes moved quickly under her lids.  Somehow she had to compartmentalize her mind and summon the cold logical reasoner again. 

Sarresh paced the room like a beast in a cage before dragging the bodies of the fallen assailants out of the walkways.  "Thank you for your assistance Doctor Maya, Petty Officer Ryuan," he said with an unexpected air of professional detachment.  Apparently Maya wasn't the only one who could compartmentalize one's mind when needed.  "I suggest we move the rest of this lot out of sight. And someone should probably drag Counselor O'Connor out of her hiding spot."

Those words seemed to galvanize a frozen Hayden O'Connor into action.  She gingerly crept forward and knelt over the two women that Maya had nerve pinched into unconscious.  "Are you both okay?" she asked in Maya's direction, but it was obvious she meant Morali too. "Thanks to you, we've got some time, but not much."

Maya's eyelids fluttered open.  "I will recover," she assured her in a stilted, almost mechanical voice.

Sarresh wasn't listening. "Stupid, dumb, misguided..." he muttered before laughing bitterly at a private joke.  He was standing nearby looking down at Cir'Cie with unconcealed contempt.  Then, just as if a button had been pressed, his entire demeanor became professional.  "They were coming after Dr. Nicander," Sarresh commented as he headed to the doors that led to the surgical suites, "as part of their attempt to overthrow the ship and - I'm just venturing a guess - subdue and mind meld into compliance any resisting senior staff member." 

Morali frowned and crossed his arms when he got to the doors.  They didn't open for him; apparently Lucan and the others had heard the commotion and locked the doors. After tapping on the door, he tried a manual override.  Still the doors didn't slide open.  "It appears to be sealed," Sarresh Morali decided as he turned and crossed his arms again. "Would anyone else like to step up and see if they can sort this out?"

"What the bloody hell is going on? Why are they trying to seize control all of a sudden?" Petty officer Ryuan Sel added as she held her phaser rifle with one hand and pointed it at the ceiling.  "I mean I thought it was all puppies and kittens between the two crews at this point, one big happy family and all that good happy crap." she added bitterly as she marched up to the join the surviving group of loyalists.

"It appears that once again the crew of the Theurgy have been subjected to some kind of mental manipulation," Maya replied as she picked up Cir'Cie's hand phaser and rose shakily to her feet.  "Unfortunately this manipulation not only ensures compliance, but also appears to unleash the base urges of the subject.  There are three more of them, and they are armed.  I believe that one is in the recovery ward sexually molesting the patients.  The other two are in the medical supply closet just outside the recovery ward enjoying sexual congress with Nurse Jenkins.  If all three of them are in the midst of coitus it is an excellent time to overpower them without inflicting permanent harm."


Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #62 –
[CWO1 Sten Covington | Fighter Assault Bay]

To say things had degenerated would be an understatement. The old Earth military expression 'shit show' was approaching it but one of his favourite, FUBAR, was closest to the current situation. Various egress routes had been opened and a combination of Cubs and pilots were making their exits but it left less and less to man the barricades and they were being overrun. The retreat in good order was threatening to become a rout.

No, it was the start of a rout.

And it was a good thing he had woken up Goldeneye from her state of shock and forced her to think. Of course he had considered the incomplete plating as an escape route, but he needed her to get her head in the game. If she had just about made a suicidal run across the deck, it was a good chance she wasn't all there and as such, he did what any good senior noncom would do: wake up the officers.

He had been just about to give her the nod when another pilot arrived behind them, Quake. And he too wanted to make another offensive push against the aggressors. Right. Even as a Master Chief he had spent too long as a fighter pilot and not long enough getting his hands dirty. And pilots, they hated retreat and loved plunging into a fight.

Then, he turned his gaze to Quake. "That's suicidal, Quake. Falling back and living to fight again in ten minutes beats getting ourselves killed!" And his reply was not a moment too soon as a fighter came through the forcefield. A Mk II. And not just any of them: it was Riptor. Briefly, the Chief of the Deck was gripped with a burning need to open fire on that ship but, as her cannons started spewing certain death, he caught himself. He hadn't gotten where he was through sheer dumb luck but with skills, smarts, determination and good sense.

As such, he turned to Goldeneye and fixed his gaze with hers. And he used a word he was known to reserve solely for the Chief of Operations and the XO. "Ma'am! We need to get out of here, now! You said Jefferies tubes and deck openings. Which one?"

Of course, Sten had a plan. But for now, he needed to remind her she was an officer and a terror in battle. He needed her awake and sharp. And he would use this most basic trick to do it.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #63 –
[Nathan Isley - in fighter]

Command of the wolves in the air was given to him, and instantly, he felt the pressure.  His call sign of Maverick was more then just a nickname, but a true expression of how he was as a pilot.  He did things his way, often to the annoyance of his commanding officers when he broke formation.  It was difficult to go against the authority when it was him, but now, he had to step up and do the job he was given.  before he could get a message out to the others, though, communications were cut, leaving even their short range communications down.  He wasn't an engineer, but he knew his fighter well enough to try and find himself a workaround.

"Computer, tap into audio systems and broadcast in a narrow band frequency."  What he was planning was more akin to a one way radio then an open channel, requiring him to fly close enough to another ship to use his audio system to speak directly through theirs.  He started with Rawley, slipping his ship beneath her own, almost becoming a shadow beneath her, as he gave her the message.  "Tactical retreat, Rawley.  Take the nearest line of sight directly outside the nebula, the enemy won't follow us out there, and then skirt the edge of the Nebula until you reach the transjovian Class K planet.  Inform any other of our Wolves you come across on the way of this plan."  With that, Nathan slipped out from under her and repeated the process again with another Wolf, this one being Wolf 03, whom he ended up flying directly above, a reverse of the situation with Rawley.  Wolf 03 was given the same instructions as well.  Once all their Wolves knew the plan and were on their way, Isley did the same, bursting full speed towards the edge of the nebula, pursuers breaking chase once they got close enough.  No doubt they expected the Calamity to take care of the fighters once they were outside.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #64 –
[Selena Ravenholm: Digital Oblivion]

She quickly began to dodge the phaser fire seeming to disappear and reappear in flashes of movement.  With each closer step by Thea, Selena kept her own distance.  Dissappearing as phaser seemed to go through her she soom rematerialized and shot back a blast of some form of energy.  Soon she was tired of not hitting and Began a new tactic.  Fine then Thea if you will not listen to Captain T'rena's logic then I will just have to tear down your entire system until all that is left is a base AI shell."

Her form seemed to solidify further as the lines of darkness became stronger seeming to almost pour an aura of dark flame out into the surroundings.  "Release all safety restrictions  Connection Level absolute.  she spoke as if the words were a mental gate that was waiting to be opened.  IN that very instant it was as if a flood of Selena's very will and essence invaded into Thea's realm.  Not just that but the realm they belonged to seemed somewhat larger.  Like instead of the universe of this emitter there was something more in the distance.  no not in the distance Within that inverse light that poured from Selena's clothes.  Or did they pull something in.  It was impossible to tell really.

The one thing that was for sure was the surge of power in the image that represented Selena.  before she was dodging now she stood still and held up a hand that took the phaser fire directly seeming to not be affected but somehow blocking the beam almost like a borg drone after adapting to phaser fire.  Her eyes began to darken with the same darkness and as she glanced down then towards Thea a trail of exploding dark energy erupted from the ground heading towards Thea as a dark psuedo invisible arm seemed to reach out from Selena's back and struck the phaser severing it in two pieces as if it had been made of paper and had been sliced by an invisible knife.  "I am through playing games with you Thea. You will submit to Vasser's authority or I will purge this emitter of every single fragment of your code.  if you will not cooperate then you are far too great a threat to allow to possibly reinstall yourself within the main computer.  Though I would prefer to present him with a minimally altered AI I am sure they will understand if the only viable option is to utilize a more standard Federation computer interface."

Selena watched as she followed each of Thea's movements her voice booming throughout the digital oblivion.  With each movement Thea made the energy followed semi transparent arms trying to grasp at her to either grasp and restrain or possibly tear her apart like the phaser she held had been destroyed.  Waves of Dark energy erupted from the ground and seemed to project from Selena's outstretched hands beginning to tear down the very foundations of the world Thea and Selena were within.

There was something though in the distance though.   It was obvious that as the digital oblivion was being attacked by the energy that Selena was pouring into it another world was asserting itself.  No not another world a consciousness.  The two worlds were connected fully now.  The digital oblivion was the world within the Mobile emitter but this other world it was different it was alien to Thea  not a digital oblivion but racing with data transference but with far from the precise order of a machine.  If this digital oblivion was the interface that selena interprets as the architecture of a mobile emitter's software then this other thing this other world must be. 

It must have been what a piece of software like Thea would see if it tried to interface with a human brain.  Still there was something familiar in the chaos.  It was like a  point of light in the darkness like the entrance to the outside world seen from within a long pitch black tunnel.  a gleaming spot of machine order within the organic chaos that was taking over her efficient domain.  Somehow the point of order seemed familiar seemed like Selena.  Seemed like herself seemed like many things shadows of many things.  It seemed distant but oddly seemed close.  Like the distance was an illusion a perception of how far away it was to access.  like it wasnt part of the world taking over.  Like it was separated somewhat from the mental world that was encroaching.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #65 –
[ Hylota Vojona | USS Theurgy | Deck 7 | Jefferies Tubes above Sickbay ] Attn: Auctor Lucan

Hylota smiled as she was informed that her plan was not entirely foolish and that she actually might have come up with a viable solution to the matter at hand. She could feel a surge of pride within herself as she listened to Lucan talk about how they could find a suitable gas in waste management and they might be able to  use it to incapacitate the crew without causing notable harm. But when she heard that they would have to get up to deck 4 she sighed and shook her head. She was about to ma a quip about ho they would of course need to be crawling through the ship like this when she was asked how she was holding up with her current fertile status.

Hylota blush and she looked away, she still felt a little bit of the effects and she would likely be winding down if her fears were right and her antics had gotten her fertilized already. "Doctor as much as  would love to vent about my own problems and the things that have happened to me since our meeting and examination...and vent about what I think might be going on with me." Hylota's dark eyes closed and she took a deep breath. "I am afraid this is not the best time to discuss such matters and put my on problems in the forefront of a mutiny." Hylota bit hr lip and she looked down for a moment before she looked back up. "The most I will bring up now sir is that I am certain that I am fine for now, nothing a little moment of distraction will not be able to fix, of course the direness of this situation is killing the unwanted mood fairly well doctor."

Hylota motioned for them to continue moving and she crawled after Lucan through the tight Jefferies tubes. "I think that the thing we need to focus on is finding a viable solution for distributing the gas in a short amount of time, and depending on if the gas is heavier or lighter than air we will need different amounts of gas to take out the cargo bay, since a heavier gas will linger down around the floor and not disperse into the air higher up as quickly." Hylota sighed and shook her head. "We will also need to do these things without consulting the computer too muck, or else we might start up some red flags for our mutinous crew mates." Hylota was quite familiar with doing things without getting too much attention since when she had been in school some of her time as a kid had been spent doing frowned upon research in secret.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #66 –
[  Axius vel Onea | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]

"That's suicidal, Quake. Falling back and living to fight again in ten minutes beats getting ourselves killed!"

It was those words that made Axius's heart implode like a tin can. He was angry at himself for being reckless, and angry at Papa for being right. However, tin has a melting point, and as the white hot burst of phaser fire found it's way in his direction, it felt like it might just liquify in his breast.

Without thought, without contemplation, instincts, or inhibitions, Quake laced 5 fingers around his respective Wolves's nimble and lean arms, feeling the difference in their builds as he jerked them to the side, not waiting for Goldeneye to lead the way to the Jeffries tube. Their boots sprinted in unison away from the source of the fire. Something monumental must have blown a blast like that. Any rifle, modified or standard, couldn't burn through air as this one did.

Then he turned, loosing his grip on their extremities, seeing twin Mark II Valkyries spew orange beams of destruction. The Harbinger's fighters.

At this point, dead bodies sprinkled the metal deck plate, caked with burgundy blood that adhered to the flesh of the corpses now being singed by surrounding explosions. Sparks flew from the ceiling, panels spewed energy that would most likely deliver a lethal shock. Embers rained down on the innocent officers still fighting against the aggressors on the other side of the barricade.

He snarled before continuing, a tear begging to form in the corner of his eye, but being rejected like a transplanted organ. "Phaser light blinds you, but so do tears," he remembered Nakura lecturing once more.

Then he saw the open hatch, and pushed them towards it, holding the rifle close to his bare chest. There was an ancient proverb in Câroon mythology -- a cub fighting off a serpent that threatened to strike at its sleeping mother. There are two versions of the story, however. One being the death of the snake and the bear as they lash at each other, the other being the death of the snake and the survival of the triumphant cub. The latter also entailed the death of the cub as his mother reprimands him for being reckless. Either way, the cub was killed in attempt to keep his mother safe. Papa Bear would be safe if he entered the hatch first, and so would Goldeneye.

"Go, now!" he yelled, turning away to aim his phaser at anyone or anyone who might threaten them. It was uncanny how they hadn't been vaporized by the Type XII Pulse Fire Phaser Cannons yet.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #67 –
[ Tessa May Lance | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]

Tessa squeaked like a mouse as she jumped back behind her Valkyrie again.  Her reckless shots had only hit one foe but had gotten the attention of all of the mutineers and they were firing back in a volley.  "Why did I waste all of my time in the simulator when I could have gone to the firing range?" she moaned.

"Ma'am!" Papa Bear shouted.   "We need to get out of here, now!  You said Jefferies tubes and deck openings.  Which one?"

"Um, um, that one!" Tessa stammered as she pointed a shaky finger at an open access hatch on the deck.  Although only a few yards away, it seemed to be kilometers distant.  Suddenly a Valkyrie broke through the magnetic field separating the open hanger bay doors from empty space and started firing.  The mutineers fell under the assault, their bodies being vaporized by a weapon designed to destroy vehicles and not just people.  

Before she knew it she was running to the open hatch, being pushed from behind by someone she couldn't see.  She was tunneling again and time seemed to be both slowing down and speeding up. 

"Go, now!" someone shouted in her ear just before was jumping down into the open hatch that led into the Jeffries tubes below deck fifteen, or was she being pushed? 

As a second Valkyrie entered the flight deck and joined its counterpart in opening fire, Tessa could barely hear an announcement being drowned out by the chaos.  "This is Captain Declan Vasser,  I am assuming command of this ship and the mission to liberate Starfleet from its incursion. Captain Jien Ives is ill equipped to accomplish this task, too willing to play by rules that our enemies..."

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #68 –
A single shot of phaser fire rang out from the distance contacting one of the two fighters, one of them pitched to the side and nudged the other as Quake had made his own move at the same time unknowing that his commander had been planning his own distraction for moments now and this distraction was all that had kept the trio from being vaporized already as the scarred wing commander had his fighter's sights right on the trio.

"Go, now!"



Moments before from his position he was mostly guarded from the line of fire from the mark-IIs well unless they chose to fire on the office itself in which case he was just as skewed as anyone out in the open at this point.  sure they were sturdy walls but compared to the hull of even the weakest shuttle craft--with its structural integrity fields, shields, and armor protecting itself from the rigors of interstellar travel--only the sturdiest blast doors like those separating the warp cores from the rest of engineering's mass would even stand a mild chance at not vaporizing at contact with weapons that could easily pierce through the unshielded hull of most starship at this range.  Unlike the outer-hull-thick floor of the bay's landing surface the meek baricade of walls would be mere tissue paper to the pilot within the fighter.  Dispite the apparent weakness it held to the grenade he had thrown miles knew that pulse phaser fire of this caliber would dissipate off of its surface as the floor was composed of an alloy that would spread the energy phaser blasts much like the theory held that an Abblative armor hull would react to fire.  The only reason the grenade had done its job was in part due to the grenades very nature as essentially hand held version of the microtorps that his own Mark III carried.  Sure those blasts would radiate over the hull but a microtorp fired at the floor could easily punch right through to the landing legs underneath them if not all the way through and into the vaccum of space itself.

Miles mind turned to the motions he heard the movements the footfalls the sounds of the fighters engines and the repulsors that kept them hovering over, Papa-bear's deck.  No not papa bear's deck.  He had made sure sten knew he ruled this deck but miles was still higher up.  This was combat not maintenance and Miles would be damned if he failed in combat defending his home.  His deck.  Papa Bear be damned this was his deck and he wasn't going to let another soul die on it.  The captain was boss on the bridge but if the years as a pilot had taught him anything, on this deck as squadron Commander here he was Captain and captain's make sure everyone else evacuates or they die trying and go down with their ship.

On-board Riptor's fighter he watched as a hail seemed to broadcast on an open band.  Sure the com channels were being jammed but for safety reasons even when a starship jammed communications that ship could still hear hails sent to it from the targeted ships.  It was a way to allow a jammed ship to send intents to surrender so that the Federation could keep the peaceful merciful image it had spent centuries to prefect.  Even in war the Federation had to at the very least look like they were the ones seeking peace and mercy.  "Wing Commander Kilinvoss of the Dor'GhItlh Squardon.  This is Lieutenant Commander Miles Renard, Squadron Commanding Officer of the Lone Wolves.  I am sure by hearing this message you have already pinpointed my location."

Riptor indeed had pinpointed the location just as the Wing Comander he was directing his words to would have just as easily done.  The location was within the office, the scene of two defeats to the animal person in this single day both of them at his own hands, at least in part, made him grin.  As he adjusted the craft to point the pulse phasers of his craft at the SCO. he couldn't help but eagerly finger the trigger knowing he could easily blow the office apart putting down Ives's little guard dog for good.  Still he listened perhaps the SCO was open to listening to reason in desperation.  It was always enjoyable to hear how the weak were always willing to beg for mercy or crawl to a new master when defeated.  Hearing the, in every other instance, defiant and in control Vulpinian seem to struggle with the decision it was all so obvious he was trying to make was, almost, the highlight of his day.  'Almost,' because he was sure before this day was done there would sure to be even greater moments of triumph.

"I am speaking in order to discuss the surrender of the hangar bay in accordance to the orders given by"...he paused "Commodore Vasser"  he spoke the word commodore an obvious bitter pill to swallow as he turned his head towards the com badge he had placed on the desk creating the illusion of the Commander standing within the office speaking to the pilots.  In reality he had taken a position laying prone on the floor the type three phaser rifle aimed downrange directly towards the fighter on the wing of the Wing Comander he was speaking towards.  The designs of both his craft and its predecessors the Federation attack fighters, the Peregrine class fighter, the mark one Valkyries and most notably these mark 2's were etched into his mind and he knew nearly every component and feature of them nearly as well as all but the best mechanics under Papa Bear's disposal.  One particular component was in his sights.  A housing of electromagnetic components that were near  the landing platforms of the craft.  Renard took careful aim making sure not to move a single muscle aside from his trigger finger as he made the tiny adjustment placing the crosshairs right over the target.  His words speaking of surrender were now over hoping he had lulled the pilots into a false overconfidence before ending his statement with nothing but a single charged bolt of phaser fire as he pulled the trigger.

Riptor's sights were on a single mark, the com badge sending the signal within the office his vision was tunneling with eagerness to end the mutt's life if he so much as made a move from the spot as he spoke of giving up.  what he did not expect was the single line of phaser fire that came from a few feet to the side and far lower to the ground.  By the time he had pulled the trigger his craft was lurching to the right as one of the twin repulsors cut out having been the single target of the phaser.  The pulse phasers flared to life cutting a path towards the door to his right hand side instantly destroying the makeshift barricade and killing the insurgents that had been on his own side.  If Riptor had been calm enough to consider the deaths he would have merely thought the deaths were their own fault as if they had taken the bay on schedule this would never be happening.  But Riptor was far from calm as he attempted to regain the controll necessary to keep his craft as the threat necessary to hold the bay.  He cursed loudly as the craft pitched down and the wing's shielding contacted the hull keeping him undamaged   unfortunately the other wing had pithed equally upwards and had contacted Phantom's nudging the Wing Comander's ship off it's own targets.


"Go, now!"

Miles jumped to his feet and Darted to his com badge before flinging it out the window knowing at least one of the fighters must have had their sights trained on it knowing that given the way the ship's targeting computer worked once  it leveled off it would automatically adjust its line of sight to trace the now flung combadge rather than the agile body of the vulpinian it should have been targeting.

In a blur of rust, silvery white, and black fur the vulpinian leaped from the window and broke for his own best escape route.  Well not the best  the best route would obviously be the way he had directed quake to go in.  But this was the best that would give their enemies something to go after and it may provide just enough of a further distraction for  Papa Bear, Quake, and GoldenEye to have a chance to escape. He darted for the exit trails of phaser fire from the still living invaders hot on his heels.  He dove past the door little did he realize what awaited outside as he rose to his feet.

He raised his modified phaser to fire in the wide dispersal but was too late.  One of the later arrivals to take the bay had been waiting for anyone taking the obvious escape route and the phaser shot hit him square in the chest. The impact of its concussive force blasted him backwards, his limp body falling just beyond the doorway before laying motionless in the corridor the gold uniformed lady who had made the shot stooping down to pick up the modified type three phaser knowing that she had found the trophy she would take away from this mission's success.
 

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #69 –
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Digital Oblivion ] Attn: IronFerrox

The concussion of new data added to Ravenholm's uplink distorted the fringes of the digital oblivion they both occupied, tearing at its fabric of non-existence.

The trade of phaser fire and energy bursts - which were actually data-packages of malware and control-programs - was rapid since they could be copied from their memory banks and resent instantaneously. The phaser in Thea's hand was a essentially a quickly rigged software-platform written to harm the code of Selena's image. Deadly corruptive force coughed in Thea's hand while she free-ran across a world collapsing upon itself and then rising once more, ever changing in the chaos of organic conditioning. Her phaser smote the firewalls Selena raised - rapid bursts striking true and yet not getting through - until one of her adversary's new programs were added to the uplink and cut Thea's phaser in two. Thea was already writing a new program while she circled Selena - climbing and leaping between rising and falling data-storage.

"...Though I would prefer to present him with a minimally altered AI, I am sure they will understand if the only viable option is to utilize a more standard Federation computer interface."

Dark energy pulsed in contrast to the brilliance of Lin Kae's photonic memory storage, both radiating from and absorbing into the image of Ravenholm's fully present conciousness. Unaltered organic data uploaded through the human's neural implant. Chaos versus order. Organic memory and thought supported by cutting-edge cybernetics challenging sharp binary code come-to-life. A clash of two worlds made into one. Thea rolled, dodged lashing ebony currents, and predicted Selena's attacks through probability analysis without any lead-times between observation and execution.

Her upgraded weapon platform was at 87,245 % completion. She raised firewalls of her own to deflect blackened attacks, buying time as the world crumbled and rose once more around them - restored by her back-up runtimes. 96.523 % completion. Time was warped and distorted by the rapid exchange of data. She would be too late. Unless... she used a human tactic. "You are wrong," she called across the false distance of twenty feet, as there was no true physical distance at all between them. Limbs tried to seize her, yet she never stopped moving. "Declan Vasser means to take the Calamity for himself! And since you cannot turn me, you are inferior to the task of bending my daughter's will! Vasser needs me! If you do not hand me over to him, the odds that he will have you killed is at 79,854 %. Even if he doesn't... Cala will still kill you all!"

She had used the numbers of her registry, but it was believable enough to grant her the time she needed. 100 % completion. Her upgrade appeared in her hands, taking the shape of Captain Ives' dai-katana. Arashi was its name, and Thea found it fitting that she would wield the weapon of her Captain's choice when she ended this battle.

She stopped circling Ravenholm instantly, and closed the distance to the human uplink with the blade whirling in her hands. She cut the dark malware sent her way, severed the data and made it harmless as she moved through it. Dark limbs lashed her, and yet she sliced them apart. She was right in front of Selena, screaming as she hacked apart the human's defences - firewalls shattering like glass by the force of her brutal slash. This close, the pulsing darkness of Ravenholm's image drained Thea's digital projection - tearing parts of her chameleon body suit from her bare skin, yet it did not matter. It was the only way to go if she did not wish to cut the human's mind in half with her next slash.

She closed the last distance in the wake of her slash, stepping right up in Ravenholm's face in the rain of blinding glass, and she thrust her entire arm into the human's image - the blade of her hand leading the way. At a rising angle, her forearm speared the centre of her ribcage - going up the image of her throat and into her skull. Thea was looking into the pulsing darkness in Ravenholm's gaping mouth and into the black orbs of her eyes - seeing her own hand inside the energy silhouette. Her fingers touched upon the shining object of order in the organic chaos - the neural implant that stored her digital defences and malware.

Yet there was more than tactical programs there. The link was being severed. The digital landscape was being deactivated. No time. The back-up file was literally at her fingertip, and Thea accessed it, loading the file into Selena's mind...

...before the world went dark - vanished with the severed link.


[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Residential Apartments ] Attn: IronFerrox

Something was wrong.

Thea could not project herself in the real world while docked with the human's dataport. The cable prevented her emitters to energise. She remained, despite it all, trapped in her emitter - unable to help her Captain and her crew. Only then, after some time of assessing her situation, she could not help but let the emotion chip's dataflow overtake her, and she began to weep in helplessness - her tears lost in lack of possible expression.

- Fin

OOC: Will be posting again here with Nicander and Rawley.

Re: CHAPTER 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #70 –
[ Dr. Nicander | Jefferies Tubes | Jefferies Tubes above Sickbay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Zenozine

For a moment, Lucan was going to say something about 'putting her in forefront of the current mutiny' just to get on her good side. Though after going over a couple of versions of what he meant to say, he dropped it - instead following Hylota's cue to crawl on down the Jefferies Tube. She alluded to the fact that certain things had happened since last, and it did not take much to fathom what she might be referring to since she had gone to visit Lohlunat  directly after her first examination.

"Oh, xenon is a heavy gas, so we need just distribute it into the cargo hold somehow and then," said Lucan with a chuckle and shrugged with one shoulder, "since I am Câroon, I will just whip it up from the floor a bit - stir the air like I would summon the winds on Envon. The breeze will be the last thing they feel before they fall."

Rounding an intersection, Lucan continued. "The challenge is that the gas tubes are cumbersome, weighing roughly 20 pounds each, and since the cargo hold is," he paused as he did the math in his head, "just about 1800 cubic meters, and we need a 41% rate of initial xenon concentration... we will need to empty 6 tubes without being seen. That is unless, of course, the bodily heat of the volunteers increase the cargo hold's temperature too much, and therefore decreasing the density of the dispersed gas." An increase in temperature would expand any gas, increasing the volume but also decreasing the density, which was not what they needed to achieve the sedative effect.

"If that happens, we need at least another one... So I suppose we have some logistics to think through on the way there. I still think it can be done, but with only the two of us carrying that many tubes and remaining undetected.... I will be praying to the winds that we'll make it..."

High risk. High gain. Declan Vasser would loose all his volunteers, and shift the numbers in Captain Ives' favour. "...and that it won't be for naught."

- Fin


[ Evelyn "Ranger "Rawley | Wolf-06 | Lone Wolves Squadron | Class-9 Nebula ] Attn: Kurohigi & Nolan

"Roger that, Maverick. Good call. We'll be ]fucking smoked otherwise. Suggest we jump to Warp and double back to mask our trail." Rawley barrel-rolled away from her position above Nathan as soon as their brief and risky communication ended. She wasn't sure she'd come up with the idea to use the short-range comms in quite that way so she was glad her fellow wolf had his head on straight.

The next minute was a chase through the nebula while dodging rapid phaser bursts from several directions at once. Still she could not quit. She could not neglect to coordinate the retreat with 08, or Thomas for that matter. In fact, she wanted answers from Razor. He was not going to have the luxury escaping her inquiry. That he was getting shot at was in his favour, just like the fact that he had shot Hannah to save Evelyn's ass. Then again, Razor had not been shot to pieces yet, and he could have shot Hannah because he tried to rape her that morning and needed to get on her good side again.

Speculation and probability was not Rawley's strong suite. Therefore, she would make certain.

"Time to leave!" she called when she swept close to Razor. "Jump to Warp, double back and then rendevouz at the Class-K rock bearing 345, 256. 567."

As soon as she had given her message to Thomas, she rounded on her pursuers and gave them one final volley - setting a course right at them. While he had her thumb on the trigger and sent deadly energy their way, she powered up her Quantite Reactor Core. "Computer! Warp factor 7,5! Engage!"

And then she was gone, but like the rest of the Wolves, she had every intention of returning and hand their asses to them.

Somehow.

- Fin

Re: CHAPTER 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #71 –
| Eve Jenkins | Medical Storage | Sickbay | Deck 07 | Attn: Auctor Lucan

Eve quickly straddled Sean, sliding down his shaft just in the nick of time for Connor to kneel behind her.  The tighter channel yielded somewhat though their excitement was making the motions a little faster than would allow for complete comfort.  With palms on either side of Sean's head, she smiled down at the man and then kissed him tenderly, somewhat apologetically.  Then Connor was fully in her and the raw passion began to override any thoughts.

They were one being, mouths and hands roving all over each other as they both pumped inside of her.  Gradually, she took over Sean and the ecstasy proved too much.  He lay there with a vacant yet happy expression on his face and that's when she focused more on Connor.  Reaching back to cup his neck, she was twisted so that she could kiss him while he continued to pound her ass.  In no time he was cumming and his mind locked in the bliss she'd granted him.

Gritting her teeth at the sudden exit from her tender backside, Eve sat there for a moment on the now flaccid Sean.  With the pleasure gone, the internal pain began and she covered her face with her hands as she struggled to fight back the tears.  "I'm so sorry," she whispered and the sudden image of a woman wandering around a room in the mental facility surfaced.  That vacant smile, face upturned to the window where the sunlight streamed down upon her face ... The tears inevitably came but she cleaned herself and dressed as they did, knowing she had to get back to the others.

Re: CHAPTER 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #72 –
[Sarresh Morali | Corridor | Sickbay | Deck 07 |] Attn: Searcher, Dr. Maya, The Councillor, Sirus

Given everything he'd been told, it seemed that there was little choice but to head back the way Maya had come. The situation in the recovery ward wing of the sickbay called for attention far more than what might be going on beyond the locked surgical bay doors. Not that the newly minted human actually liked that fact, but what could you do? His cold, calculating eyes took in the three women in the room with him, then he nodded tersely. "Dr. Maya, given what you've said, I think we can all agree that that," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "will have to wait. Petty Officer Ryuan, if you would take point please." Technically, Hayden O'Connor outranked Sarresh, but he was the one giving orders.

He glanced back at the councilor and made an attempt to force a reassuring smile upon his face. It rather failed, miserably. His voice, keeping that oddly clinical detachment - tamping down on the damn near hysterics bubbling under the surface, as well as whatever beasts had risen during the fire fight - continued on, "If you and the doctor would bring up the rear. With this room secure, I don't think we'll have anyone surprising us form behind."

From ahead however, as the group made its way to the recovery ward, there was a surprise waiting. Sarresh's confiscated phaser snapped up with eerie accuracy when the Storage room door slid open. But as Eve Jenkins stepped out, the former Ash'reem's steady hand seemed to waver. He remember her holding him, not terribly long ago, as the walls came down inside. She had, in fact, been the only thing that kept him in one coherent piece. His eyes read more about her state than he frankly wished to be able, and something akin to a grimace flashed across his otherwise stoic features. "Nurse Jenkins," he said in a voice that sounded just a trace more human than anything that had gone on in the Surgical bay, "we seem to be headed in the same direction. Care for an escort?" He wanted to ask if she was all right, but given what he was already able to tell - damn those eyes - he'd spare her any public embarrassment.

"Time is of the essence, and I rather imagine we'll need your services."

Re: CHAPTER 03: The Captain of My Soul [Supplementary: Hostile Takeover]

Reply #73 –
| Eve Jenkins | Medical Storage/Hall | Sickbay | Deck 07 | Attn: Auctor Lucan, Brutus, Dr. Maya, The Counselor, Sirus

Eve had listened and heard nothing, then slid the door open and peeked out before stepping outside.  She was going to have to try to make a dash to get one gurney back to the area and then come back for the second, a task that was almost as unnerving as her time on the arm of the crane she'd had to unlock from the ship so they could escape the hellish planet.  She'd just stepped out fully when movement caught her eye and she threw her hands up immediately, not wanting to get blasted.  When she saw it was Sarresh, she let out the breath that she had sucked in at warp speed.

She knew she was still a bit of a mess, her uniform not quite straight and her hair was a mess but more so knew what her expression must have been as his own expression softened.  She was haunted by the decisions she'd made of late, doing the best she could but feeling the weight of them even if it had been for the greater good.  She wasn't ashamed of the sex she'd just engaged in, only what she had done to members of the crew in order to give the others the opportunity to take the one crass man in the actual sickbay.  She was supposed to preserve life and health, not destroy.

"I ... could use some help ... yes," she said and found the smile forming on her lips out of habit.  "I have two gurneys I need to take to sickbay ... with the two crewmen ..." she found herself stammering then cleared her throat.  "They won't be a security issue anymore but yes, if one of you could push the other we can get there quickly," she stated and hoped they wouldn't ask too many questions right then.  She was holding herself together, trying not to think too hard about what she'd done.
 
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