Star Trek: Theurgy

Re: Day 07 [1930 hrs.] New Hope Rising

Reply #25 – November 24, 2019, 01:23:52 AM

[ Captain Ives | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
@Top Hat @Fife @Argyros @trevorvw @Nolan @TWilkins @BZ @Brutus @Kinvarus @fiendfall
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It appeared to Jien that while repairs and resupply of the ship was progressing well, there were a few concerns in terms of munitions and medical suppliers - along with local issues with the Klingons.

When they had come to Aldea, Jien had been very well aware that the only reason that the Aldeans gave them sanctuary was because of Martok and how dependent the Defence Council was on the KDF. It would appear that the Aldeans were the least of their problems, and that it was the Klingons themselves that might offer some contention. Incompatibility issues with the Aldean cloaks, which were essentially just sensor scramblers, might have been expected since it wasn't Federation tech they tried to install on the shuttles and warp fighters. She listened while the officers spoke, each in turn, and with the recent development with Nicander, Jien appreciated the addendum from Ducote. When all had spoken, Jien raised her voice from her end of the table.

"Thank you, and indeed, I have come to learn of the development with Doctor Nicander during my absence from the ship. I suspect that the only way he might be forthcoming is if he remains convinced that we will not resort to desperate measures to try and learn more about the enemy. Over the course of the past five months, I have had to dissuade a number of people from violating the ethics upon which Starfleet was built - me standing in the way between these officers and Sonja Acreth during the time whilst she was in our captivity. None of these officers are present in this room, but a couple of them used to be. I am personally not surprised that Nicander might have feared for his life prior to the interrogation."

Did this suggest that the effectiveness of the anyon particle sweeps were guaranteed? No, while it lent some credence to the Doctor's words, Jien had too much of a history with the man to completely shed those concerns. She tried to tell herself that for all they knew, the man was trying to do the right thing for the mission, and that he deserved the respect of a Starfleet officer. It was difficult to do so, however, knowing that there was another entity inside the man - which influence was an unknown factor.

Leaning forward, Ives finished the last points she had planned to make. "On the morrow, I will try to weigh in on matters of gathering what we need from our hosts. The Aldeans ought to be able to provide for our medical supply needs if we speak with the right people on the Aldean Defence Committee. I can try to open up supply chains through Martok once I speak with him anew, but results will likely depend on which Houses that those in our aid belong to."

Feeling quite content at the moment, Jien then moved on to say,"Unless anyone has anything further to add, I don't plan to keep you here all night. I know the hour is late, but I wanted you all to get the news of the away mission's success in good time before alpha shift begins. We are no longer alone, and there is yet hope. Remember to not divulge the name of our inside man when you brief your departments tomorrow morning. Please, take the opportunity to discuss matters with your fellow Senior Staff officers now that you have the opportunity."

Hope was a rare thing, though it felt like greeting an old friend when she felt it.

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OOC: If there is any interest in a continuation, please feel free to continue posting, otherwise I will be locking the thread in due time. Thank you for participating!

Re: Day 07 [1930 hrs.] New Hope Rising

Reply #26 – December 06, 2019, 07:36:05 PM

[Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 | Vector 01| USS Theurgy ]Attn: @Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @Top Hat @Fife 
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What followed her report was fairly straightforward, in so far as the Ops Chief was concerned. Every department felt, to some extent, either under staffed or under supplied. Some felt the pinch of both, and a few mad their concerns directly known to Natalie. She appreciated the offer of a few extra hands from Cross, and nodded toward him, with a simple, "I'll be sure to follow up with you tomorrow on that point, commander," to the head of Tactical. She wagered that she'd end up splitting any spare hands with Blue in engineering. Cross wouldn't mind that - he'd seemed to remember to bribe Blue when she'd say down.

Of course, in return she would have to see if she (or Ives, perhaps) could do anything about the lack of hard munitions. The extra launchers for the Helmet was a bright point in Starks book, but only if they had something to fire out of them. That might be something she could fix. Maybe. Something else however came from Dr. Kobol .

Pondering his words swiftly, Nat made a decision. While Lt. Carrigan Trent had fallen out of favor, he had imparted a few good lessons to her. Sifting those out from his mistakes was an ongoing trial for the Second Officer, but his insistence that she at least make a decision, and then follow through, set right with her in this instance. "I will task someone from my logistics team to go over the current duty rosters and start passing out assignments. Everyone will be scheduled and ordered , cycling through their normal duties. I'll forward it to you for review. Give us a day or two? We might be short staffed, but we're not that short staffed." She paused, and then, taking a breath, added, "And let me know when you'd like me to stop in for the physical."

She saw a few looks of surprises and she gave a shrug. "I can't very well go scheduling medical reviews for the entire crew and not volunteer myself first, can I? Sickbay had been a place Natalie had been avoiding, ever since she discovered the truth about Lucan Nicander. Which....was bugging her. She leaned back in her seat to listen to everyone else, nursing her drink with a look of concentration on her face. Her thoughts were interrupted when Ducote let her know he wanted a meeting with her to go over 'things.'

Unsure if he had been avoiding her for some reason or not prior to this - to date every interaction had been in passing - Natalie gave a nod and swallowed. Now that Ives was back, the meeting needed to happen. Ives needed to know about the Klingon's in greater detail, and frankly so did the XO. She might as well get this over with, and offered up, "I'm free at midday tomorrow. I have some early morning meetings but after that, I'm all yours." Her gaze swept from Ducote to Ives, in case the XO wanted a separate chat from the Captain. Nods seemed to pass all around, and that was that for the moment.

It was only as Ives finished their parting words, asking for any other matters, that things clicked for Natalie. The thing that had been nagging at the back of her mind was the kind of thought she didn't want to dwell on. More accurately, it was a person she did not wish to dwell on. But she had to now. Swallowing, she spoke up once again, into the silence that followed Ives' words.

"Actually captain, I do have one other thing to ask. It's been...nagging at me for a while." Turning to the side, she looked over to Aiden where he sat down the table. Smiling gently, she asked, "Dr. Kobol , if I remember correctly, you visited Lucan Nicander after his hearing, the one that Commander Ducote alluded to earlier. Were you physically in the cell with Mr. Nicander?"

She waited for his response, confirming that he had been in that cell with Lucan. Her face was...carefully schooled to be featureless as she digested this information. She didn't like Lucan Nicander. She did not want to give the man any benefit of the doubt. Under the guise of caring about her, he had...well, it felt like a violation, in the wake of the revelations of Nicanders infested state. Analysing his actions since had to call into question the motivation behind that moment, in the Jefferies tube, and just how wrong it had felt since the revelation. Confronting all she knew about Lucan's behavior after his outing would force her to review her prejudices, and she did not want to give him an inch.

And yet....

"For what it is worth, Captain, I think we have to take Dr. Nicander's words at face value. His fears for his well being aside, he has had ample opportunity to cause problems and....hasn't. The parasite is either afraid of the anyon emissions, or is truly suborned to Dr. Nicander at this point. And even during the battle with the Borg, he could have vented Wenn Cinn into space, throwing the worse hyperspanner into the process and handing victory back to the parasites. He didn't. He controlled the thing inside of him at that time, and seemingly since." There was no emotion in her words, but her hands were clasped tightly under the table, to keep from shaking. It was costing her something to say this, but it needed to be said, and in front of the rest of the senior staff. Between what Ives had said, and Ducote, she felt she needed to throw her support and realization in the mix as well.

Shrugging in an almost apologetic fashion, she added quietly, "With all the good news we've been given, we still need to be cautious. I think we can trust the current countermeasures, the anyon field. Anyone coming aboard..." she left it at that. Unless and until Dr. Nicander and the science division could come up with a non lethal option, they needed to know that this was reliable. She found herself at a loss of how to continue and meekly added, "That was all. It needed to be said."

Re: Day 07 [1930 hrs.] New Hope Rising

Reply #27 – December 11, 2019, 01:49:47 AM

[ Lieutenant Elro Kobol | Conference Lounge | Deck 1 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Brutus @Auctor Lucan @Fife @fiendfall @trevorvw @Argyros @Top Hat @Nolan @Kinvarus @BZ

Elro caught Commander Stark’s eye before she addressed him, sensing her concern as she mentioned an additional matter that had been eating at her, supposedly for some time. She asked whether he had been physically in the same cell as Nicander. It was a train of thought that Elro didn’t much enjoy the prospect of revisiting, given the irritation that the mere thought of the Câroon reeked of, but the Betazoid had been expecting the topic of conversation to be brought up at some point. He answered cordially, and professionally.

“I was indeed.” He confirmed politely in return. “With the anyon field in place, it was only appropriate to give him a medical examination. Thankfully his confinement seems to have had no ill effects upon his physical wellbeing, whether we can attribute that to the healing factor of the parasite, or whether he simply had a stroke of luck when it came to his prior injuries, I cannot say.” Elro didn’t delve into much further details, he didn’t believe that anything more detailed was relevant at that stage.

Commander Stark’s dislike of the man was apparent, and perhaps even exceeded Elro's own contempt for his attitude and presence. But she continued to speak, offering her opinion that they could believe the man’s words, and that he had been agreeable in captivity. Elro supposed he half agreed. She continued speaking, giving the very same examples that the man himself had used the day prior, it made Elro’s brow twitch slightly, wondering if she had conversed with the man. Somehow, he doubted it; her distress on the topic was evident to him. Elro felt that it was a good time to add his own opinions to the mix.

“I do tend to agree that even with these new advantages, caution is the better part of valor…” He nodded slightly in agreement with Natalie’s concluding statement, taking a moment to contemplate whether it was worth voicing his own opinions. He was the only telepath in the room, and perhaps the others would be able to find context in his experience that he had failed to discover. Elro internally cursed Nicander for sowing such doubt as to his interpersonal competence into his head.

“In regards to Mr Nicander, however, I perhaps have some more to add.” Elro breathed softly, somehow uncomfortable as to the prospect of revealing any information that could be deemed as confidential. It was not medical data, so it lingered in a grey area; besides, the cell had been recorded, so he was not revealing any intel not accessible to anyone in the room, should they desire to find it.

“I have not known him outside of his imprisonment, so I have little basis for comparison…” Elro began, hand moving up to adjust a stray sprig of hair that had become unkempt. “But I must admit, I have found both of my encounters with him to be taxing.” Elro didn’t relish sharing his opinions so potently, however, he knew it could be relevant. “In our interview with him earlier in the week, he was cooperative, but only on the terms that he chose to obey. In our examination yesterday, his obsession with my telepathy bordered on xenophobia and his commentary towards Betazoid culture was relatively uncouth. Alongside that, he certainly held a certain affixation with discussing matters of trust and truth, and made no small point of mentioning how my telepathy restricted me…” Elro paused, refusing to allow himself to descend into a rant in a staff meeting. He took a moment to collect his thoughts.

“Yet, despite his verbal insufferability, the man did have ample opportunity to act against me, yet refrained. n all, he was compliant throughout the examination, if he had been less abrasive towards my race, perhaps even an ideal patient; rare, for a Doctor, I must admit.” Elro swallowed a breath as he continued.

“I must admit, without my telepathy, I find his behaviour difficult to judge. On one hand, his stance of helpfulness could indeed be genuine, his advice on the anyon emissions an effort to assist our endeavour. On the other hand, the parasite inside may well be playing the proverbial long-game, waiting for our first slip up to be observed through Nicander’s eyes.” Elro’s brow furrowed at the thought. “And it appears we have no method of verifying either stance.”

“We cannot expect these creatures to behave in a way that we can comprehend. Their logic and thought may not correspond with what we are able to perceive. Perhaps Nicander is still lost and this parasite is attempting to gain our favour in hopes to damage us in the long run? Perhaps he is an innocent man who has simply struggled with his captivity and solitude.” He supposed such circumstance could indeed cause one to become less civil. Elro paused, attempting to provide a solution rather than just negative posturings. He realised he had little to offer.

“If anyone has any ideas on how to evaluate the man on his candor, I would value any input you can offer. I fear that a Betazoid would not be the best candidate to value the honesty of a man impervious to telepathy, and our previous efforts were not well recieved.” Elro painfully recalled the ARA failure from earlier in the week as he paused once more, pondering how to best deliver his own summary. “But perhaps we should take his brashness as something to bolster his innocence? Not a likely tactic to beguile us with forgiveness.” The Betazoid sighed as the devil's advocate voiced a thought in his head.

“Conversely, his absolute disdain for telepathy perhaps implies someone appreciative of the arts of deception... As a Betazoid, I must admit, I find it suspect that a man would be so vehemently against telepathy, to the point where he voiced his confusion as to how measures hadn't been taken within the Federation to outright prevent it." It was the most nagging feeling the Betazoid still posessed. Surely only someone with secrets would be so against his thoughts being unguarded? Elro hadn't ever been concerned that his thoughts were interpretable to others; it was just a way of life to him. Did others share Nicander's absolute distate for his ability?

Elro relinquished a small, strangled sigh. Apparently, Nicander was correct. Without his telepathy he was simply making proverbial shots in the dark when it came to identifying the man’s motives.

“Forgive me.” He apologised for his lack of usefulness. “I fear that my ability to disconsern this man’s motives through intuition alone is severely limited. I appreciate that some of you knew Mr Nicander prior to his imprisonment; If anyone might be able to better understand his actions, I would certainly value some clarity on yesterday’s events.”
 

Re: Day 07 [1930 hrs.] New Hope Rising

Reply #28 – January 03, 2020, 02:48:53 PM

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Parasite Man | Live a Little | Don't be Heinous Dicks | Uh Oh, Trouble]
@Auctor Lucan @TWilkins @Fife @Top Hat @Brutus




Blue picked up another twinkie.  The glorious yellow cake was just light enough to be held easily but gave way to the almost dense internal cream.  There was just enough perfect weight in the replicated goods.  Of course, replicated wasn't nearly as good as regular.  The fresh good ones from Earth were something to behold, and she would never forget the crunch of the fried twinkie she'd found in Brazil much to Ducote's horror.  The talk around the table was all about some dude, had a weird name that she couldn't remember, but apparently he was the one infested with the Alien Ass Worm.  Official working title, and all.  Swallowing her food she listened as everyone went around the table with their information. 

At the end of Ranaan's he mentioned that he needed Cross and Blue to stay after, but otherwise, the meeting was concluded.  Her eyes shifted to Cross, her mouth stopped the mastication of the twinkie as she looked over at him with that what the fuck did we do now?! kind of look.  Because, thinking back, she couldn't come up with anything she had done lately to warrant Mister First Officer Commander Ranaan Erich Ducote from needing to speak to them privately.  Swallowing the twinkie half she shrugged, it couldn't be that bad then.. and took a sip of her drink.

This was lunch.  Or breakfast.  Some sort of meal.

Ives began talking about Nicander and so did Starky.  Still pretty sure that's a dog's name.  Oh wait, that's Sparky.  Nevermind. Blue was in her own little world but she was paying attention to how hard it was to get information out of the Ass Worm Man, and yet, how they were going to continue to treat him nicely even though he was a prisoner.  Blue wondered what nicely meant, she had been in the Brig a time or two, and was mostly left to herself until Ranaan came to pick her up with food and his disapproving voice. 

Doc began speaking about how Nic wasn't all that interested in his mind powers and how they hadn't worked on him.  It seemed to be upsetting the doc that he hadn't been able to use the abilities that had gotten him through things in the past.  But, then Blue had never had an ability like that.. though she supposed her engineering, hacking, programming, and inventing prowesses were powers in their own rights.  This was different.  Everyone didn't want to trust the guy, and yet they expected him to trust them because they fed him well and kept him in a pretty cage waiting for him to … explode or something.  Doc also admitted that there didn't seem to be any way that he could infect others and Stark had mentioned that he had control of the Ass Worm, but they couldn't just let him wonder around the whole ship as he wanted.

She supposed there were too many escape avenues and then there was the fact that what if, at some point, he lost control of the Internal Ass Worm.  Blue cleared her throat.

“Uh, has anyone thought that maybe treating him like a fucking criminal guest is probably not all that trust inducing?” she asked curiously putting her twinkie down.  “Maybe you guys need to come at him with the fucking thought that he was once one of us, is one of us, Ass Worm Not Included in Original Packaging and all that shit.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders looking up at everyone.

“I'm just thinking.  What if you let the fucker have some visitors?  Surely some people on this ship knew him and cared about him.  Might want to visit him if given the chance, and if he has control of the Ass Worm, maybe it would do him good to have visitors.  Maybe giving him his friends and allowing for him to have a little normalcy will open some of the shit he doesn't want to fucking talk about.”

She looked over at the Doctor. 

“There are other ways to read a man other than telepathy, too.  Instinct, guts, and just actually getting to know the fucker.  Everyone seems to go in there with their fucking guards up and their guns at the ready.  But, has anyone actually sat the fuck down and chatted with him like a fucking person?” she asked raising her brow curiously and looked over at the Captain and her fiance.  “I just know that as someone that people don't fucking get, and someone that is talented at keeping nosy fuckers out of my business, someone that sat down and fucking talked to me like a real fucking person.. changed a lot.”

Re: Day 07 [1930 hrs.] New Hope Rising

Reply #29 – January 22, 2020, 12:27:22 AM

[ Lt. Cmdr. Cross | Conference Lounge | Deck 1 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
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”Mister Cross, Ms. Tiran, please stay behind when we’re done.” Commander Ducote’s words surprised Cross, the former hybrid arching an eyebrow as he nodded understanding to the XO, wondering all the while what this could be about. He had only been aboard the Theurgy for a week, hardly enough time to have caused any trouble. Especially when he factored in that most of that time had been spent pouring over paperwork and getting a feel for his new post.

Cross pushed the question of why he was to stay to the back of his mind, turning his attention back to the conversation which still continued around the table, only half paying attention since the Captian had essentially brought the meeting to a close. It was only when Blue spoke that Cross focused and managed to turn his attention to what was being said.

”Uh, has anyone thought that maybe treating him like a fucking criminal guest is probably not all that trust inducing?” Began the Chief Engineer. Cross had to admit that she did have a point, though from what he had learned they had little option but to keep the man confined to his cell. Cross’ mouth twitched into a smile at Blue’s use of the term Ass Worm. He understood what she was saying as she went on, though he didn’t entirely agree with her. ”I get what you’re saying, Blue.” Cross said, and in fact he did. As someone who had spend a great deal of his life in confinement, not to mention being treated as a thing rather than a person, he did understand. ”I know what it is to be treated as a thing rather than a person, and you’re right that it doesn’t create trust. But there are other considerations we need to keep in mind as well. Nicander is dangerous. He killed multiple people before he could be stopped, and could easily do so again.” Cross leaned back in his chair and sighed, glancing between Blue and the Captian. ”Visitors might not be a horrible idea. And it might help build a sense of trust between Nicander and the crew, as well as make him more likely to help us. Though I would suggest such visits be closely monitored.”

Re: Day 07 [1930 hrs.] New Hope Rising

Reply #30 – February 04, 2020, 12:41:25 PM

[ Captain Ives | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
@Top Hat @Fife @Argyros @trevorvw @Nolan @TWilkins @BZ @Brutus @Kinvarus @fiendfall
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While the last couple of officers spoke, Jien was thinking about something that the Scion Admiral had told her in the nest. Something that she supposed, hearing Stark's observation and Tiran's suggestion about treating their prisoner more fairly, ought to be worth mentioning as well. While she kept listening, she made a mental note to speak of it before the meeting adjourned.

Doctor Kobol 's admission to being unsure on which foot to stand in regard to the Câroon was admirable, since Jien could imagine that the Câroon and the Betazoid would have their differences. The disdain that the people of Câroon held for telepaths was well-known, and because of that, Nicander's attitude might not be any indicator towards some malign intent. After all, Câroon were immune to telepathy, so Kobol 's predecessor shouldn't have anything to fear from the Betazoid to begin with.

For Jien, this just suggested that Nicander had flaunted his bias towards Kobol , naught more. It certainly wasn't an admirable trait on Nicander's end, but it would be the first time the same could be said about Betazoids in company of Ferengi or other non-readable individuals. They, as much as Câroon wore their disdain on their sleeve, could sometimes be quite suspicious around people whom they couldn't read. When it came to someone like Nicander - with the things known about his nature - Jien could imagine this suspicion certainly wasn't any lower.

"Agreed, Mister Cross," said Jien, inclining her head. "Visitation will be allowed. Since Nicander has been able to control the parasite whilst in the company of others - before and after his incarceration - we should give him the benefit of the doubt. He is a Starfleet officer, a Lieutenant Commander and he's saved countless lives aboard this ship since it was commissioned. I would welcome if someone could take the time and review his track record and have him clarify when he's indeed lost control to the parasite within him, and unravel the lies he's told throughout his possession in order to hide his nature. I want a full performance review done, so that when - not if - we free him from the parasite, I want to know what ought to be done in regard to his future service aboard this ship or in Starfleet in general. This might seem hostile towards him, but the logic of this course ought to be clear. He'll remain in the brig, ignorant of our coordinates and the tactics we'll deploy during our mission ahead, but he is to be treated fairly. If his quarters can be made just as secure as a holding cell, have him moved there, but not without a guard detail at his door. For the time being, he'll have to make due with liberties when it comes to visits, and the carefully screened information he'll get access to."

If there were any surprises in the faces present, Jien didn't notice, but she did add the thing she'd remembered from the Versant.

"During my captivity, my Infested Scion captor verified what Nicander has been saying about the Radiants. Their bioluminescence is indeed of a transphasic wavelength that is harmful to the nameless darkness which seek to devour us all. Having heard this myself, this would corroborate what Nicander has been saying in that regard; that Heather McMillan did have an effect on him, just like he said. This was the reason why the Scion killed McMillan in front of me, to taunt me, saying we held the means to fight them all along, only we didn't know it."

Jien leaned back a little, a frown on her brow, but she carried on.

"Whatever we might think of Doctor Nicander's decisions after Starbase 84, motivated by fear for his own life because of what some wished to do to Sonja Acreth or not, we should indeed begin to consider what he says to be the truth. He claimed he saw the abducted being liquefied on the Versant, and I have since then already verified that this was what the Scion Admiral saw as well. The entire execution was undoubtedly staged by the Voice - Echtand - who also revived McMillan by collecting her particles from the stasis field in which I was held captive. Despite appearances when the abductees were found alive, Nicander didn't lie about what he saw when he used the Farsight."

Jien took a breath, rubbing her temple. Pushing thoughts of Nicole Howard from her thoughts, accepting that, perhaps, the Doctor had not killed her. It pained her that Nicander might have been right about her fate. "We cannot be victims of paranoia, regardless the stakes. This includes me as well. I suggest we all try to keep this in mind."

The silence lingered after this was said, and she looked up eventually. "Meeting adjourned. I'll withdraw to my quarters now. Commander Ducote, I believe you wished to remain and speak with a few of those present. The rest, dismissed."

Feeling that she didn't wish to have her thoughts linger on Nicander - or Nicole - Jien left, hoping to focus on the positive outcome of the Allegiant's mission.

- FIN