Star Trek: The New Adventures (IC Thread)

[LuckyVic]

Lt. Commander Torres, Conference Room

Harper looked at Nine and Dr. Watson, then to his Chief Engineer. "The TR-116 prototype is a viable option and one made even better if we could work our toxin into its delivery system. If this can't be done, study the option of adding trans-phasic torpedoes with an air-dispersal payload to our inventory. Matter-of-fact, let's look at the trans-phasic idea in addition. Such a munition will give us a needed edge against Borg defenses as well. Beltesha is testing prototypes now, so find them, buy them, borrow them, steal them. Whatever you need, see Mr. Torres with tasking, order, and equipment needs."

Miguel nodded and acknowledged the fact that he was to help the Chief Engineer with coming up with defenses. "It shouldn't be that hard to reconfigure some of our Photons into Transphasics, it will also enable us to use our standard launchers. From what I've read, that's how the Voyager crew intially created them. Even though Starfleet is testing a new, totally built from scratch version. They may even help us against those bio-ships." Miguel said as he continued thinking up options. He was sure the Chief Engineer was doing the same as well.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Only Time."

Kahlest was shivering, and she wrapped a blanket around her own shoulders to stave off the cold, only to have the doctor push that blanket out of his way.

"Lemme 'lone," Kahlest griped. "Klingons hate the cold. Rura Penthe is our idea of the ultimate prison, remember?"

"Yes, but," the doctor replied, quick as a whip smooth as the breeze, "Betazoids spend half the time running around in their draughty birthday suits. Besides which, point of interest, space isn't cold as such. If that were true, vacuum-packed old Thermos bottles would never hold in the heat of hot coffee... heat doesn't pass outside of atmosphere, in or out, it's thermodynamically neutral, you know that."

Kahlest grumped, unsuccessfully attempting to again don the blanket. "Psychosomatic hypothermia is just as bad as the real thing."

"Dearie me," he tutted softly, running the dermal regenerator over Kahlest's light-ruddy-brown skin, paying attention to pink splotches scattered here and there. "You've had some cowboys in here. Didn't anyone tell you diving out into space without EVA gear is bloody terrible for your capillaries?"

[ USS Nogura. Sickbay. The Past. ]

Kahlest grunted. "I think they mentioned it once or twice. I was more focused on the notion that one could survive in vacuum for brief periods if one was not stupid enough to try and hold atmosphere in one's lungs. The whole popping like a balloon thing tends to be a dramatic mental image."

"Did an autopsy on an explosively decompressed Pakled once," Doctor Jamie McCrimmon admitted, rueful, a wince in the deep dark brown of his eyes. "Wasn't pretty."

"Mm," Kahlest replied. "Doesn't tend to be, I've heard. How's the councillor?"

Jamie grinned softly, setting down the dermal regenerator and switching to a neural adjuster so as to compensate for any concussion resulting from the woman's blows to the head. "Oh, he's fine. (You saved his life, damn near killing him like you did.) Won't stop grizzling about the walk you two took outside, the big puddleduck. I patched up his capillaries before you came in and now he's through in my office snarking the captain all up and down."

"Oh," Kahlest harrumphed, wincing as she felt her neurons being adjusted. "That bodes well."

"Dunnit just?" Jamie chuckled softly, then lowered the device and scrutinised her quietly. "Did you see what happened to it?"

Kahlest grunted, looked away. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Rubbish," Jamie scoffed, tossing the adjuster aside and shoving his hands into the pocket of his vintage-Earth blue suit, causing his vintage-Earth brown coat to spill around him like a shrouding cloak. "Full well you do. Big monster. Combination endoskeleton and exoskeleton. Scales and chitin and mandibles and limbs."

Kahlest turned and gazed at him with quiet, quiet, eyes. "It's gone. I felt it die as we flew out into space. I felt its mind wink out even as air billowed back into my lungs aboard the Shuttlepod Slater."

There, there, her eyes seemed to grow darker for a moment, if that were possible, as she remembered sharing the beast's trauma. "He's dead, Jim."

Jamie looked away, and laughed faintly, agonised, and shook his head. "Poor thing. (I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.)"

Kahlest arched an eyebrow. "He did eat half a dozen crewmembers before we managed to get everyone beamed out of the saucer using transporters from the shuttlecraft. And that nice Bolian boy what waters the plants. I didn't like piggybacking on the cessation of his consciousness, but I have precious little sympathy for his plight."

Jamie nodded, slipped a hand out of his pocket and patted her on the shoulder. "No, me neither. But still. Hippocrates and hypocrisy, eh? Besides. Us genetically-enhanced folk need to stick together. I have a hard time believing that even a prehistorically regressed Jem'Hadar is irredeemably bad, he was just bred that way."

Kahlest squinched her eyes at him, not entirely convinced. "I prefer the term 'genetically-enabled.'"

"Fair enough," Jamie grinned, Puckish and self-congratulatory. "Though, really, it's all the rage now. Ever since that nice boy Julian had his coming-out party on DS Nine, it's like, erm, a 'genetically-enhanced renaissance.'"

"It may not last," Kahlest cautioned him quietly. "Nothing threatens a Homo sapien more than the idea he might be replaced by a late-model hot-rod."

This gave McCrimmon pause, and he picked up the dermal regenerator again, started working on one of her trouble spots. "Awareness of one's own continuity does tend to rattle the brain-box."

Kahlest closed her eyes again. Felt the Jem'Hadar spider-beast die inside her head all over again, echoed voices down a deep deep well. As she felt it die, she shared in its awareness of its own mortality, and thus, was reminded of her own. "Every time."

Jamie pursed his lips, and decided a subject change was in order: "Those gloves are interesting. Not standard Fleet issue, what?"

Kahlest didn't open her eyes exactly, but she did permit a little lazy smile to waft across her lips. "Gift from a friend. My room-mate at The Academy was a Caitian on the Engineering track, and she thought it was utterly offensive that, lacking claws, I couldn't share in her ability to scale trees and the like. So she made me those gloves. She could have just made them electromagnetic, but then I would have been able to climb ferrous surfaces but nothing else. Nucleic-binding forces, though... that'll stick to anything..."

"Sounds like you two had some adventures," Jamie smirked softly, doing a quick check that all of Kahlest's teeth were still on straight.

"Mm," Kahlest agreed, cracking open one eye to gaze at him, daring him to say something more. "I never would have made it through The Academy without her. To this day, I can't sleep a wink unless I can hear purring from across the room."

Jamie looked like he had a quip, he had that look in his eyes, probably some mixed-up pun about "cat people," but then the doors to The CMO's office hissed open and Captain Barry Cooper emerged, looking more than a little red-faced.

"Doctor," he growled, as the doors hissed shut behind him, "give me a few minutes' privacy with Commander Raan. Entertain Councillor Yeltneb for me? Tell him that joke you know."

Jamie blinked, lowering the regenerator. "Erm. Which joke is that, sir?"

The captain's dark slate grey eyes grew darker still, if that were possible. "Think of one."

Jamie again blinked, put the device down, and made for his office at all speed. "Yes. Think of one. Good. ('What's yellow and goes slam-slam-slam-slam?')"

As McCrimmon moved past Cooper, however, Cooper stopped McCrimmon with a hand on his arm. "Doctor. What in the name of The Great Bird of The Galaxy are you wearing?"

Doctor Jamie McCrimmon glanced down at himself, as if he hadn't realised himself. "I was in Holodeck Three when the lights went out, sir. Haven't had a chance to change back into uniform."

"Huh," Cooper grunted. "Re-enacting something?"

"Pre-enacting," Jamie grinned. "It's very complicated."

"Right," Cooper hmphed. "I bet. Now g'wan."

"Aye, sir," Jamie nodded, and darted off, the doors hissing open and closed before him and his great brown swishing coat.

Cooper stood there for a moment, arms crossed over his chest, staring those hard hard eyes at the XO sitting on the medical bed.

Despite herself, despite her training both conventional and unconventional, Kahlest could rarely handle the stress of Cooper's regard. She shifted, uncomfortably, and she shivered. "Sir?"

"When Admiral Jellico and I discussed your being posted to my ship," Cooper murmured, "he assured me that the grandstand plays and the attempted super-heroics of your Academy days were behind you. That I could trust you to be level-headed and put the safety of materiel and personnel ahead of your personal honour. Throughout this war we've just fought, you've been the epitome of tactical grace under pressure, fighting and withdrawing with all the judiciousness of a three-dimensional-chessmaster. You wanna tell me why you couldn't keep your mek'leth in your pants this time, Commander?"

For a moment, Kahlest digested this, chose her words carefully, kept her dark dark eyes locked on his grey grey gaze.

"It galled me, sir," Kahlest replied, "that a foolhardy clandestine experiment should be sprung upon us, and cost us lives. It galled me, sir, that even when such a terrible external threat had passed, that internal sneaking and sniping should continue to inflict damages upon us. It galled me, sir, that that Section 31 backbirth-- whomever he was --should get away with it. Lacking judicial recourse for the perpetrator, I figured I should at least take down the weapon."

Cooper's upper lip twitched. "You left your backup Security team in the proverbial dust, hurled yourself into the jaws of unnecessary risk, did a helluva number on Deck Ten's structural integrity, and almost damn killed a legislator for the all-is-holy United Federation of Planets, Commander, because it goddamn galled you?"

Kahlest ran her tongue over her teeth. She was no longer shivering.

"That's about the mass and volume of it, sir," she replied.

Captain Barry Cooper stared at her for a moment. "Huh."

And then, surprising Kahlest, he walked up to her and actually sat beside her on the medical bed, staring down at his booted toes.

Not wanting to rock the starship any more than had been done already, Kahlest bided her time, held her tongue.

Eventually, Cooper spoke up again. "Did you know that despite their external physical appearance, The Toorandi as a species are so unlike most Federation creatures that they are virtually indecipherable to Starfleet sensor-systems?"

Kahlest nodded, quietly. "I did know that, sir. I learned that about the same time I learned that their four-lobed brains are immune to Betazoid telepathy and empathy."

Cooper nodded slowly, and looked at her from the side, his face and feelings utterly inscrutable. "Then you know, by extension, ergo, that really the only way we'd be able to determine the position of Councillor Yeltneb aboard ship is if he were wearing a commbadge. If he were, say, to remove it, he could then move about with impunity. Like, say, if he were to go into our secure cryo-units and inflict a biological contaminant on a particular 'hushed casket,' if he wasn't wearing a commbadge, we'd never know."

Kahlest managed to muffle her emotional response to this, though her eyes did widen somewhat. "I'd be lying, sir, if I said the notion hadn't occurred to me. Because, of course, by extension, ergo, if he weren't wearing a commbadge, then the mass beam-outs from Shuttlebays Two and Three would not have picked him up."

Smiling faintly, Cooper again nodded. "That's some good ergo."

Kahlest glanced in the direction of the medical office doors. "So. You're saying. He's."

"I'm not saying anything," Cooper replied. "And you're not doing anything. Is that understood?"

Kahlest's brow twitched. "Captain."

Cooper's voice instantly became a growl that would have put Korvawn to shame: "Is that. Understood?"

Kahlest's brow twitched. "Understood. Captain."

Captain Cooper slid back down to the deck, stood, turned and faced her. Neutral. "Bet it still galls you."

Bitterly, Kahlest smiled. "Aye, Captain."

Cooper nodded, as if assured of something. And then touched her on her baldric-clad shoulder. "Galls me, too. But this isn't something you want to take as a matter of personal honour. Because you should save that sort of thing for, say, a man who needs to earn some honour back. Say, a man who used to work for the same people what sponsored that clementine-coloured targshit through the other room in doing what he did to our beautiful ship, and a man who would prefer never to hear the number '31' ever again as long as he lives."

Kahlest blinked, as this admission shot right through her armoured skull and right on into her deepest regions of astonishment. "Oh. Right. Of course, sir."

He smiled. In genuine gratitude.

"Good work today, Kahlest," Captain Cooper told her, and it was the first time in all her years aboard his ship that he had called her by her first name. And she was doubly astonished.

But before she could comment on this, the door to Doctor McCrimmon's office hissed open and Jamie stuck his head out, looking perplexed.

"I was doing fine until the third or fourth punchline, Captain," the doctor apologised, "but I think the last one got a bit too bawdry for him. I never would have figured that a Toorandi would turn out to be Not-Randi-Enough..."

The captain slapped his palm onto his face, and sighed, and strode away from Kahlest and past Jamie into the office, and Jamie stepped out to let the doors close anew.

There was silence in Sickbay for a moment, nothing but the background noise of bleeping and clicking and the hum hum hummmmm of the deckplates.

"So, erm," Jamie mumbled, trying to put a good face on, "did you two have a good talk?"

Kahlest smiled faintly. "He complimented me. Twice, actually, come to think of it."

Jamie blinked. Repeatedly. "Blimey. Infinite improbability. You think I should check him for alien parasites? It's not unheard-of, eh? Mind control?"

"No," Kahlest murmured softly, suddenly suddenly feeling at peace on The Nogura for the first time in this whole tour of duty, suddenly feeling like she'd proven herself, after long long last. "No-one controls Barack Cooper's mind but Barack Cooper. Not anymore."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"You are always on my mind."

Her hand was still propped up on its elbow, though the fist uncurled, and she slowly ran the tip of her thumb over the heel of that hand.

[ Kahlest Raan - Commander, XO - Conference Room 1 ]

She contemplated Jace's choice of words. 'Unworkable.'

'hard data on how their telepathy works'

'really still don't know how any telepathic species works'

And she frowned, quietly. She still couldn't feel him properly. She'd had experience before with Humans who could mask their emotions, that was hardly a new concept... but Jace seemed to be doing something else.

Something on the order of D'Har or Kolinahr. Did Humans have an equivalent technique?

But regardless of his internal mental prowess, the data-spouting enigma had made a point with which Kahlest disagreed. Vehemently.

What was the point of Starfleet coming out here if not to examine Science and such in all its forms? Telepathy wasn't magic, any more than telekinesis was magic, any more than certain species evolving from biological entities into bright and shiny lights was magic. It was just a form of energy, another bandwidth, something not yet understood. And why should they not make an effort to understand it?

Some of the greatest advances in the history of The Federation and its member worlds had taken place because of military initiatives. As terrible as nuclear weapons were, Earth would never have been able to develop Impulse engines (or, for that matter, full-on modern Warp technology) if they hadn't first played around with thermonuclear notions on fear-soaked Cold War testing grounds.

Boldly go.

Kahlest kept a lid on this, however, as a newcomer had entered, and now spoke up...

Her skin was like porcelain and her hair was like obsidian and her eyes were a sargasso that could not be navigated.

There were varying degrees of emotionality in this conference room, between confident Torres and walled-off Jace and warring Nineteen and focused Orsoth...

But this woman. This woman.

To brush against her mind felt simultaneously like rebounding off of a structural-integrity field and like clutching an antique incandescent light-fixture in one's palm... it stopped you like a wall, and at the very same moment you knew if you held on too tightly to the brightness and the beauty of it, you would do little but scorch yourself...

She was bright and she was beautiful but at the same same time, she was overwhelmingly Dark.

You are something new, Kahlest couldn't help but think.

This newcomer also expressed concerns, but these were not outright shut-down denial of possibility: these were concerns based on experience with the subject, and with the safety of the telepaths involved. And this was acceptable to Kahlest...

'Approach with caution' was far more palatable to her than 'that knowledge is useless.'

Kahlest had been about to defend her suggestion, to attempt to make a case for it before the captain, but then the captain spoke up, and he made it clear that, Jace's recommendations aside, he wanted all his bases covered. Logically.

This was gratifying to Kahlest, to say the least. And intriguing, as she found herself assigned to work with a woman who was, perhaps-- only perhaps --the most mysterious creature in a room full of mysteries.

The captain stood. And sent them on their way.

Hefting her PADD, she rose from her seat as Torres mused regarding his assignment, and she navigated her way to Counselor Ecklas. Foremost on Kahlest's mind was her spot, seated to the right of the captain, as the captain had, after all, ordered them to their stations...

But Kahlest would be remiss if she did not at least introduce herself to a woman who would be so instrumental to the well-being of the crew, if she did not at least introduce herself to her "lab partner" in Applied Psionics 101. If she did not at least greet this bright, Dark mystery head-on.

"Welcome aboard, Counselor," Kahlest inclined her head, solemn but not unfriendly, to the slightly shorter officer. "It seems that all departments aboard this vessel are expected to pull their weight on the battlefield, Counseling included. (I can only imagine how we're going to work Stellar Cartography into our master plan.) I'd hate to think I got you tacked onto an assignment which, as Lieutenant Jace seems to believe, is 'dead-ended,' but perhaps this 'dead-end' can be circumnavigated with elbow grease and, well, mind over matter."

She paused, and, half-glancing in the direction of the captain to make sure she wasn't going to be penalised for delay of game, she smirked her wry smirk to the dark-haired creature, and thought her wry thought: '(I take it you have some... first-hand awareness... of the topic at hand?)'

 

[Wolfsister]

Lieutenant Ecklas

Flash back planet Blydia during System Wars - Conference Room 1

Lavinda screamed. It was all that she could do. There was nothing else, nothing else that mattered save for venting her emotional stress. Her grief threatened to overwhelm her and she screamed again as rough hands came to bruise her arms, as those same hands cupped her chin, then covered her mouth, muffling her voice. She tried to scream again, found she couldn't and instead bared her fangs to sink them into warm flesh. But the hand moved just in time and she gathered air in her lungs once more.

"Hush Little One, don't cry. She is gone now - gone forever. Hush. There is nothing more you can do."

Lavinda's scream, gathered and ready in her throat, died on parched lips and became nothing more than a croaked sob. Her shoulders shook and she wept, crimson tears flowing freely down her young cheeks. She rocked back and forth, those self same rough hands now grown gentle as they wrapped around her. She leaned into her Father's embrace and cried and cried, her screams echoing in both their minds.

Again his gentle voice intruded on her thoughts, "Hush now. It will be better, it will not go away, but it will be better. As it does for all our kind."

Lavinda stared at the burnt out husk of her Mother and wept, her tears rending her vision violently red. The moisture gathered in the corners of her eyes made her vision swim and warp, making her relive those last few moments she had had with her birth Mother. She saw again that reptilian creature, its armor plating so hard to crack, it raising its arm and then the weapon firing and her mother burning to cinders. They had discovered the Blydian's weaknesses to certain radiation and they had not hesitated to capitalise on that knowledge. So many dead.... and now her mother along with the.

For a long time, the child curled in the Father's arms and she cried, his gentle rocking and her grief eventually leading her to exhaustion and then into sleep, where dreams overtook her.....

..... and she awoke, in her bed, in her quarters, her roommate long gone for the night. A young Lavinda shivered in the unfamiliar place, knowing the benefits of being at the Academy, but having to live through her own fears and anxieties. Under the covers, her tears ran, staining the clinically white sheets red. The rawness of the dream re-entered her as she remembered with frightening clarity what had happened all those years ago, amongst the stars.

Suddenly she arced up, her hands thrusting between her legs as heat pooled there. Her fingers mixed in her moistness and she gasped - someone, somewhere, was having an ecstatic time. And for her weaknesses that night, she was along for the ride. She could not erect her walls fast enough and in the morning she would deal with fortifying them further. She could not, would not!, allow other's emotions to leak into her again. For her own sanity. Blydians she could handle but this new race, humans, and so many of the other that made up this Federation of Planets - she could not. At least, not yet.

Giving a soft, shuddering moan, she rode the climax until it was finished and collapsed back onto the bed. Moaning now, in her own self loathing, Lavinda narrowed her focus onto the grain of sand that rode just to the left of her bed, staring and focusing her mind into that inert object. She stayed like that until morning, when she finally felt restored enough not to allow any more 'leakings' into her mind.


********************

"You are something new"

The thought came unbidden, floating to the surface of her Dark State and skimming along her mind, it wound its way through her thoughts and she flicked her gaze momentarily towards the betazoid/klingon. She had read Kahlest's file, as she had read everyone's and noted that the woman's service record was exemplary. She was a woman you could depend upon in battle, in tactical situations and frankly, to save your life.

But what you had to do in order for her to consider your life worth saving was what interested Lavinda. The woman behind the record was what really fascinated her - the motivations and thoughts of people when they weren't delegated to facts and figures on a PADD. This was why she had decided on this field. This was why she had come aboard... this was who she was.

As the Captain had his last word, not really mentioning anything about her earlier questions to him (something she would have to find out in a more private setting, no doubt), the senior staff began to drift through the doors and back to their stations. Back to their assigned and newly assigned duties.

Ecklas, knowing what was to come, chose to remain where she was. She knew Kahlest was the kind of woman to meet a challenge head on, and she was curious as to how this meeting would pan out. Standing a bare second before the XO spoke to her, she fixed a warm smile onto her face.

"Welcome aboard, Counselor. It seems that all departments aboard this vessel are expected to pull their weight on the battlefield, Counseling included. (I can only imagine how we're going to work Stellar Cartography into our master plan.) I'd hate to think I got you tacked onto an assignment which, as Lieutenant Jace seems to believe, is 'dead-ended,' but perhaps this 'dead-end' can be circumnavigated with elbow grease and, well, mind over matter."

Then the woman whispered into her mind, her voice coming as clear as a bell, "I take it you have some... first-hand awareness... of the topic at hand?"

Lavinda smiled even wider and could not resist moving into the other woman's mind. She did nothing there, did not see anything the other didn't want her to, but she gained access either way. For a moment she said nothing and the other woman would recognise her studious efforts not to invade her inner most thoughts and then spoke, her voice soft and oddly alluring, at odds with the voice she used for speaking, "I have some awareness of it, yes." outwardly she countered Kahlest's wry smile with a small grin of her own.

Then she said, for the benefit of those around them, "I did not come on board to be a burden to this crew, Commander. I will 'pull my weight' as you put it. I will enjoy working with you, I see that, at least."

Pulling her mind away from the other woman's, she kept smiling. It was friendly, however, no malice in her intelligent, dark gaze.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Lt. Connor Jace: Conf. room 1

ooc: posting from my phone before Chas leaves the room. I'll clean it up when I get home from work.

IC:
I watched my new XO talking with the councilor, and from the identifiers and her choice of words, I think she was a bit miffed with me.
Great. Once again my mouth outran my common sense.

"Commander, could I have a few minutes of your time before you go?"

What I had said was true, but it wasn't all the information I could access. It was time to call in a favor owed to me.

 

[AmenRa]

Capt Harper - En route to the bridge

Captain Harper watched the others leave, he too heading for his Ready Room doorway. He stopped for an instant, looking to see his XO and Counselor talking to each other.

Only they weren't talking. But they were.

A very large portion of Harper's childhood had been spent on Vulcan due to the profession of his father. Harper was very familiar with telepathy, and although he did not possess it, he certainly knew how it worked.

He was thankful to his Vulcan teachers that he could quiet his mind and his emotions, and while his outward appearance could be jovial or serene, his mind was silent, at peace, and listening.

Harper left the two in the conference room as they were joined by Lt. Jace. He entered his Ready Room, picking up a large mug of coffee from the replicator. Harper then stepped through to the bridge, where Mr. Reeve announced his presence.

John sat in his chair and waited the few minutes left until it was time.

 

[Screech]

Lt. Cmdr. Orsoth - leaving conference room

Miguel nodded and acknowledged the fact that he was to help the Chief Engineer with coming up with defenses. "It shouldn't be that hard to reconfigure some of our Photons into Transphasics, it will also enable us to use our standard launchers. From what I've read, that's how the Voyager crew intially created them. Even though Starfleet is testing a new, totally built from scratch version. They may even help us against those bio-ships." Miguel said as he continued thinking up options. He was sure the Chief Engineer was doing the same as well.

Marjia ran through a few more options in her mind. Last ditch options. Ones which the Federation would probably not accept, but might well save the ship and crew in a pinch. The ends justify the means.

Only a few seconds after Mr. Torres voiced his ideas, the senoir staff dismissed themselves, and went back to their stations. Marjia walked behind Miguel, and followed him into a turbolift. As the doors closed, she leaned back against the wall. "Armoury" The turbolift started up, and marjia focussed her gaze on Miguel. "I agree, you know. It shouldn't take too long to pull out the photonic charges and replace then with transphasic ones. The time would be taken up manufacturing what would be needed. Of course, the captain said that would be more your area of experties which, quite frankly, has me more than a little intreigued" She let one of her trademark smiles cross her lips.

 

[LuckyVic]

Lt. Commander Torres- Tubrolift

Marjia ran through a few more options in her mind. Last ditch options. Ones which the Federation would probably not accept, but might well save the ship and crew in a pinch. The ends justify the means.

Only a few seconds after Mr. Torres voiced his ideas, the senoir staff dismissed themselves, and went back to their stations. Marjia walked behind Miguel, and followed him into a turbolift. As the doors closed, she leaned back against the wall. "Armoury" The turbolift started up, and marjia focussed her gaze on Miguel. "I agree, you know. It shouldn't take too long to pull out the photonic charges and replace then with transphasic ones. The time would be taken up manufacturing what would be needed. Of course, the captain said that would be more your area of experties which, quite frankly, has me more than a little intreigued" She let one of her trademark smiles cross her lips.

Miguel smiled and nodded, it was obvious that the CHief Engineer was assuming he was some sort of weapons specialist. "I'm sure the Captain meant about getting you the supplies, or in the allocation of ship's resources. After all that's what my job is as Operations Manager. We'll also need to consult with the Security Chief since ship's weapons are his responsibility. But We can look the specs for the transphasics. At least that will get us a head start in case the Captain does order their enventual use. Is there anything else you wanted to look into?" he asked her.

 

[MilkManDan007]

Nine of Nineteen (Tactical Station)

Nine of Nineteen left the briefing with no more answers than he had originally come with. He grumbled lightly to himself as he made his way to the Tactical Station on the raised portion of the bridge behind the Captain’s chair.

“There are still too many unresolved security issues to be putting to space,” he said under his breath as he keyed himself into the system. Not only was an Orion and a Cardassian aboard, but two telepaths and Lt. Jace and his classified personnel file. Lt. Jace was quickly becoming a thorn in his side. He had characteristics that would serve him well as a security officer: intelligence, focus, and control. But a classified personnel file was something no security chief could overlook. It was a riddle continued to nag at his mind. He would have to deal with it later and instead focused on the tasks at hand, putting Lt. Jace on the back burner for the moment.

He looked over the specifications for the shield harmonics, structural integrity fields, phaser bank power levels, and photon torpedo readiness. He also began running a series of readiness checks on the internal force fields and ventilation systems. If the doctor was successful in her research, the fields would need to be operating at peak capacity to minimize casualties and increase the effectiveness of the toxins. He also made a note to double the manned security sweeps when they reached their destination. If the sensors could not pick these infiltrators up, a good pair of eyes would do the trick.

If it was war Species 8472 wanted, war is what they would give them.

 

[MilkManDan007]

Emma Watkins (Sick Bay)

She made her way back to Sick Bay following the briefing, studying the images and files on her PADD as she walked. Species 8472 was unlike anything she had ever seen or studied. It was a biologically perfect killing machine. As she studied the images of them on her PADD, a series of shivers ran up her spine. They even looked like something that would be found in nightmares.

It wasn’t until she sat down at her desk and pulled open the full files that she became truly horrified. The cells that Species 8472 left in its victims were voracious. They devoured the cellular matter around them to provide the energy needed to divide. The infection spread at a geometric rate, consuming the raw materials of the victim in order to more quickly reproduce in a vicious cycle. The accelerating process that would eventually engulf the victim would be one of the most painful process she could imagine.

Her mind immediately went to the reports she had read about the Varon-T Disruptor that the android Data had encountered during his posting with the Enterprise. The beam would penetrate and begin the cellular disruption process from the inside of the target, rending nerves and organs while the victim was still alive. The process would take some five to ten seconds before becoming fatal. The infections from Species 8472 would be much the same, except that since the infection spread into the blood, the consummation process would seemingly be felt throughout the entire body at once. All attempts so far to neutralize the toxin had proved ineffective. It fought off inoculation, radiation, and targeted enzymes just as effectively as Species 8472 did.

She shuddered and opened the files from the Voyager databases, focusing on the cellular toxins that they were attempting to weaponize. It was a path that she did not want to go down, but had been ordered to do so. It went directly against the oath she had taken as a doctor to preserve life and not to do harm. Foremost in her mind was that biological warfare was outlawed by the Federation for a reason, most notably the Eugenics Wars that plunged Earth into near anarchy in the 2050’s, and Emma wondered if what she was about to do would take them all down a road from which there was no return.

She moved into one of the labs and called out to the computer.

“Computer, erect a Level 10 containment field around this lab,” she said, stepping past the threshold and into the lab. “Lock transporter onto all contents of this lab, atmosphere included, and set transport coordinates one kilometer off of the stern.”

If she was successful in replicating the toxin and it managed to overcome the force fields surrounding the containment areas, she didn’t want it escaping into the ship, whatever the cost. She sat down at one of the medical replicator stations and began her experiments. It might take some time to get program them to replicate such a densely packed strand of genetic material.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Three lungs, two livers, six senses.

[ Kahlest Raan - Commander, XO - Conference Room 1 ]

The counselor had an intriguing demeanour.

She was evidently a capable telepath, more than a little capable, so capable in fact that a concerted effort needed be made to send thoughts without inadvertently establishing a deeper link.

This was surprising, to Kahlest. Normally additional effort would need to be made in order to delve deeper into thoughts, rather than the other way around... this was certainly true among most Betazoids she'd known. (There were a few, she'd read, who'd lacked the natural evolutionary mental defences common to the majority of Betazoids, but normally...)

She appreciated the counselor's discretion and precision.

On top of the intrigue, curiouser and curiouser, the counselor's internal voice was markedly different than the one with which she spoke. Traditionally, at least so far as Kahlest's experience went, telepaths would go out of their way to earmark the sound and feel of their telepathic voice that it might be immediately recognised by them with whom they communicated.

Ecklas' mental voice, on the other hand, was... silkier and smokier than her audible voice. This was a private mode of speech, reserved perhaps for them whom Lavinda trusted, or with whom she was intimate, and Kahlest immediately felt both startled and privileged at that notion.

It sounded... it sounded green. Like a little bit of synaesthesia, Lavinda sounded green to Kahlest. Not green in the untried, rookie sense, but... very much evocative of the colour.

Green like her eyes.

Green, like the Vulcan colour for passion.

She turned this over again in her mind, like tasting a fine Picard Family wine: 'I have some awareness of it, yes.'

Hm.

...involuntarily, the hybrid woman felt her cheeks grow a little hotter than normal, and wondered if she'd grown a bit pinker 'round the edges with her blush. That was quite a voice.

Briefly, Kahlest wondered if there was a quantifiable scale to the power and scope of telepaths, similar to the graph of Warp Factors that had adorned her room-mate's wall at The Academy. Perhaps, as Jace had implied, not enough were known about telepathy for such a graph to be possible. But maybe, just maybe, her work with Lavinda would change that.

Then she said, for the benefit of those around them, "I did not come on board to be a burden to this crew, Commander. I will 'pull my weight' as you put it. I will enjoy working with you, I see that, at least."

Pulling her mind away from the other woman's, she kept smiling. It was friendly, however, no malice in her intelligent, dark gaze.

The tendrils of Lavinda's psionic presence were retrieved, and Kahlest immediately found herself mingling relief with disappointment at their removal. Her blush fading almost immediately, Kahlest's wry smirk returned.

"And I shall likewise," Raan mused, inclining her head, "enjoy working with you. I can tell it's going to be an eye-opening experience, not a doubt in my mind. As I'm sure you've by now gathered, I meant no offence with my comment, I did not mean to imply that you would be burdensome. ...at least in my experience, counselors are of greatest use helping others pick up the pieces after the battle is won or the battle is lost, rather than in the thick of combat itself. The Arizona, it seems, will be pioneering a different approach, necessary as that iconoclasm seems to be."

She felt a wall approach from behind and from the side, though a wisp of trepidation (no, not quite trepidation, abashedness?) seemed to eke out around the edges of this wall. Jace.

One eyebrow lightly arched, she glanced around at the deputy.

"Commander, could I have a few minutes of your time before you go?"

She pursed her lips. Evidently he had somehow detected her displeasure with his take on her suggestion, and was... she didn't know what he wanted, what he wanted was behind walls, but she felt sure it had to do with her suggestion and his comments regarding that suggestion.

"Certainly," she assented. "Though I shall ask you to be concise, as our time is brief."

She turned her gaze back across to Lavinda, a note of apology in her own voice and thoughts: "I think you may have to excuse us, Counselor. Report to your station or wherever you feel will be most useful. I'll catch up with you later on, we might discuss a 'plan of attack,' so to speak. It's been good to meet you."

Instead of a wry smirk, she offered a twitch of a smile.

And caught herself thinking, just for a moment, about the shape of Lavinda's mouth. Synaesthetics and aesthetics.

But then, without giving that thought a second thought, she returned her attention to Connor Orion Jace.

She crossed her arms over her stomach, and regarded the scarred Starfleeter with her most studious expression.

"What is it you think I can do for you," she wondered, "Lieutenant?"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Lt. Connor Jace

Yep, I had slightly peeved the XO. Twice now, since I had interrupted her talk with the ships Councilor. She was showing classic annoyance signs with her body language. OK Connor, get it together because this woman can make life Hell!

"Actually, I may be able to help you. Upon giving it further study, I still cannot think of any Starfleet weapon program dealing with telepathy, empathy or any kind of psychic system. But something got nudged in my head when you and Lt. Ecklas were talking. I have a friend who may have something you might be able to use. He's a civilian, so his research wasn't being explored by Starfleet."

The "get on with it" look. Yep, right on target.

"His name is Dale Williams, and he is one of three human telepaths known, and he's a old childhood friend of mine. He developed, or found, (never got the story straight out of him) a way to store memories in a specially created crystal. He can telepathically listen to the memories stored in it, where when I touched it I just detected a very faint hum. The part you are probably going to be interested in is when i accidentally broke it, the thing basically went off like a psychic grenade. I had a headache for about twelve hours, and Dale was out cold for about two days. Would you like me to contact him and see if he can share some data with you Commander?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Can you read my mind?"

"Actually, I may be able to help you. Upon giving it further study, I still cannot think of any Starfleet weapon program dealing with telepathy, empathy or any kind of psychic system. But something got nudged in my head when you and Lt. Ecklas were talking. I have a friend who may have something you might be able to use. He's a civilian, so his research wasn't being explored by Starfleet."

[ Kahlest Raan - Commander, XO - Conference Room 1, en route to Bridge ]

Kahlest tried to remain patient. Apparently she and the lieutenant applied different criteria when referring to the word "concise." For the most part she succeeded, though little warning signs snuck out... her eyelids squinted slightly, and she began to tap her PADD against her hip where it rested with her arms crossed.

Jace, however, was not oblivious to her discontent, and stepped up his frame-rate somewhat: "His name is Dale Williams, and he is one of three human telepaths known, and he's a old childhood friend of mine. He developed, or found, (never got the story straight out of him) a way to store memories in a specially created crystal. He can telepathically listen to the memories stored in it, where when I touched it I just detected a very faint hum. The part you are probably going to be interested in is when i accidentally broke it, the thing basically went off like a psychic grenade. I had a headache for about twelve hours, and Dale was out cold for about two days. Would you like me to contact him and see if he can share some data with you Commander?"

Human telepaths were not unheard-of. Extremely, extremely rare, of course, rarer now that the Human genome had re-stabilised in the century or so following the Bio and Eugenics Wars. In fact, Kahlest remembered from Academy history classes, before Warp travel had been pioneered, and subspace communications perfected, there had even been some wild fancy in certain UESPA circles about using telepathy to link ships over interstellar distances. Luminal-speed signals, of course, would take years even to reach the nearest star, but telepathy seemed to travel instantaneously. Like quantum entanglement...

Huh. Quantum entanglement.

I really need to give Pr'Ytt a call. Or Jamie.

She tilted her head and examined the deputy as if seeing him for the first time.

"'Psychoreactive data storage devices?'" she pondered. "And not without offensive applications, it would seem. Yes, Lieutenant Jace, please contact Mister Williams, have him drop me a line through subspace at his earliest opportunity. (I'm sure I don't need to tell you to double-check that he's got sufficient security clearance for such matters.) Thank you for keeping such resources in mind."

She paused, and turned to go, as she full well considered the matter at a close, and she wanted to be at her post when they breezed out into the starscape for the first time...

Dark dark eyes looked back over her shoulder at Jace, and she smirked that wry, continual smirk. "Lieutenant. I don't ask that you agree with me on everything. Homogenised consensus of opinion is hardly an effective method for running the interstellar microcosm that is a starship. But please. My adoptive parents were both telepaths. One side of my genetic heritage, either paternal or maternal, was evidently a telepath. And I myself am an empath. All I ask of you, all any psi will ask of you, is this: 'Keep an open mind.'"

Kahlest turned from him, and murmured: "Dismissed, Lieutenant."

She kept walking, moving through the door of the conference room and returning to CIC, striding towards her appointed seat.

Nodding briefly to the captain-- who, she couldn't help but notice, cut quite a dashing figure there in the centre chair --she sat down beside him, crossing one leg over the other and double-verifying the list of pre-flight checks the computer was co-ordinating onto her PADD. (Happily, this now included the Tactical checklist that Nineteen was running. Good. Efficient.)

'Make it so.'

 

[Wolfsister]

Lieutenant Ecklas - Conference Room 1 - Traveling

Ecklas withdrew from Kahlest's thoughts and smiled inwardly to herself. The XO was quite an accomplished woman, both mentally and verbally. She held herself with the kind of authority that would be needed in times to come.

"And I shall likewise," Raan mused, inclining her head, "enjoy working with you. I can tell it's going to be an eye-opening experience, not a doubt in my mind. As I'm sure you've by now gathered, I meant no offence with my comment, I did not mean to imply that you would be burdensome. ...at least in my experience, counselors are of greatest use helping others pick up the pieces after the battle is won or the battle is lost, rather than in the thick of combat itself. The Arizona, it seems, will be pioneering a different approach, necessary as that iconoclasm seems to be."

Lavinda was about to reply when she was cut off, mentally as well as verbally, by Raan's shifting attention. Lt Jace had stepped up and begged an audience and it seemed a prudent time (from the thoughts that swirled unbidden from his core) to leave. There would be plenty of time to do as they had been bidden before getting to the edge of Romulan space.

Because of Lavinda's unique telepathy, it was not Jace's walls that kept her from his mind. More it was the feel she sensed from him. Though he may not have been conscious of it, his mind was actively seeking to repel other minds from it. She sensed this intent, and so studiously ignored whatever floated through her mind from his. A lesser Clan would have ripped into his thoughts and taken what they wanted, but Lavinda was consciously aware of her own sense of awe towards the Human race and so respected their wishes that much more.

"I think you may have to excuse us, Counselor. Report to your station or wherever you feel will be most useful. I'll catch up with you later on, we might discuss a 'plan of attack,' so to speak. It's been good to meet you."

Lavinda visibly stiffened, her ivory glow dimming somewhat as her complexion became even more pallid, but she inclined her head, bobbing it towards Jace as well. "Commander, Lieutenant." Then she took her leave slipping from the room, the doors quietly swishing behind her.

An instant after she had left, after she had made sure that no others were in sight, she rounded a corner and doubled over, blood dribbling from her chin. Gasping for breath, she held her side, though no wound was evident. Breathing heavily, she scrabbled upwards and held her back against the wall as she keyed her COMM badge.

"Ecklas to Engineering - " she gasped, not waiting for an acknowledgment signal, "Someone... somewhere.... check your systems! Something's happened... a major... disruption... so hot! One of your crew... hurt..." she cried out, doubling over in pain again. "Severe blood loss.... HURRY!" Unfortunately, she could not provide more informatin to whomever had received her message. She just hoped they could get there in time.

"Counselor to Sick Bay, emergency in Engineering... gah!" crying out again, she tried to straighten up. Coughing up more blood, she made her shaky way towards the turbolift at the end of the corridor. Doubling over again, her hands clutching at her side, she gasped with pain. Something had gone terribly wrong in Engineering... so wrong that she could not block the pain.

Shuddering, her shoulders shaking, she managed to slip into the turbolift and ordered the Computer to take her to engineering. Before she got there, however, she passed out. The doors opening on the deck with her crumpled on the floor.

 

[AmenRa]

Capt. Harper - Bridge

The commanding officer of USS Arizona looked around him. Essential bridge personnel had taken their stations, and the CIC had been cleared of those who's duties were elsewhere.

It was time.

...to Boldly Go.....

"Mr. Reeve," Harper said, his voice in command tone, and suddenly he had everyone's attention, "running and nav lights on. Clear all moorings."

"Aye, sir," Lt. Chris Reeve responded, "running and navigation lights are operational. Magnetic moorings disengaged." There was an audible 'clank' sound as the hull flexed once the force fields holding the ship relased.

On the exterior of the starship, lights illuminated sections of the hull, the most recognizeable being the name and registry number painted in Starfleet Gamma Bold across the upper saucer section. The navigational deflector came to full power, shining brightly at the foreward end of the primary hull.

"Docking Control," Harper said, touching a control on his chair arm console, "this is Arizona requesting bay door release."

The reply was quick and efficient, and the Dockmaster wished good luck and Godspeed to Arizona and her crew.

The large docking bay doors began to slowly part, revealing the star speckled background of space beyond.

"Aft thrusters, Mr. Reeve," Harper ordered. "Take us out."

There were moments like these, only shared by other starship captains, that truly made them feel like a starship captain. There was something about the way these first orders were given, the starting of a voyage, that held a special place with them. Everthing moving in synchronicity, a starship responding by command, and the feeling that you earned by sweat, blood, and perseverence the right to sit in that center chair and give the orders to drive destiny.

"Aft thrusters, aye," the helmsman repeated. Slowly, the Soveriegn class starship began to move towards the now open docking bay doors. The ship moved at only a few meters per second, easing her way from the interior bay of McKinley Station into outer space. Soon, though, she had cleared the bay doors, and Mr. Reeve gave the news to his commander. "We have cleared McKinley Station and are free to navigate."

"Very well, Mr. Reeve," Harper answered. "Set course for Gamma Four at the Romulan Neutral Zone," Harper then touched a control on his chair console. "Engineering, this is the captain. Chief Orsoth, we'll be needing warp drive."

Harper could very well see the read-out of the warp engine's status from his command chair. It was, however, Starfleet protocol that he obtained a verbal confirmation from the Chief Engineer prior to engaging the warp engines. Seems a warp engine imbalance on the refitted Enterprise long ago had opened a wormhole, and subsequently caused Starfleet to write new policy regarding operating warp fields within the Solar System. Oh well, leave it to Jim Kirk to make policy.....

 

[Screech]

Lt. Cmdr. Orsoth, turbolift

Miguel smiled and nodded, it was obvious that the CHief Engineer was assuming he was some sort of weapons specialist. "I'm sure the Captain meant about getting you the supplies, or in the allocation of ship's resources. After all that's what my job is as Operations Manager. We'll also need to consult with the Security Chief since ship's weapons are his responsibility. But We can look the specs for the transphasics. At least that will get us a head start in case the Captain does order their enventual use. Is there anything else you wanted to look into?" he asked her.

It seemed that Marjia had gotten the wrong end of the hyperspanner. She smiled at the Ops officer in acknowlegement of her mistake "I see. In that case I could use some self-sealing stembolts. Probably about 2-gross of them at most. I have a feeling they will be useful, but, if the worst comes to the worst, at least we'll have something to throw at 8472, hmm?" She chuckled to herself as the turbolift came to a halt. "I doubt we have any TR-116 rifles onboard, so if you could look into getting a working model, I would be most appreciative"

The doors slid open, and Marjia stepped out, stopping only to glance behind her. "I'm certain we'll have something working in no time" Turning back around, she briskly moved off toward the security station. Even if she couldn't get her hands on a working rifle, with the specs and a phaser rifle she should be able to make something similar, if not better...

For such a large ship, the trips from turbolifts generally seemed to be remarkably short, and Marjia soon found herself at the security station. Hitting the door chime, she waited until a young human lieu******t opened the door and let her inside. "Ah! I'm glad someone was at their station, Lieu******t. Unfortunatly, I must be breif. I require a phaser rifle. Just one, however, for testing. I have a few ideas, some of which may be required where we are going..." The young human raised an eyebrow as he moved away to one of the storage lockers, gathering a rifle and a padd. "I need your thumb print for security reasons" the man stated. Marjia nodded and pressed her thumb against the padd until it bleeped in recognition. Satisfied, the lieu******t handed over the rifle, and Marjia headed back out.

An uneventful turbolift ride later, and Marjia rushed into Engeneering, desperate to get started on at least one of the ideas running around in her mind. Good thing to, as the Captain's voice sounded out of the comm system. Swiftly moving over to the Cheif Engineers station, she propper the rifle up on the floor and pressed a couple of buttons. "Lieu******t Orsoth here, Captain. We are ready and able to engage the warp drive"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Lt. Connor Jace

I watched the XO walk away to after being throughly dismissed (not the worst dismissal I have ever experienced, but in the top ten easily) and snorted, then shook my head.

Screw it, I had work to do and it wasn't going to be easy.

I punched some numbers in my PADD and sent a message off to Nine of Nineteen on the relocation of three weapons lockers, the addition of two more, a schedule to get thirty-five percent of the security personnel into triage training to be run by the head doc, and the request for a one-on-one with him. I needed to see who I was working for and I needed to know what he expected if i was to do my job without stepping on any more toes.

I had some other things I wanted to go over with the new boss that I wanted to bring up, but I needed to flesh out more data and have a sit-down with the Chief over the men now under my command.

Next dragon to slay, the security team.

I punched some data and found they were berthed within spitting distance of the armory.

Guess I was going to kill two birds with one stone.

I exited the conference room, passing through the bridge and made my way to the turbolift. The calm of the void was gone now, replaced by the chaos that was my mind shifting through data, developing strategies, and wondering how in the hell I was going to fit in on this ship.

Oh well, one thing at a time.

I rode the lift down and within a few minutes I was down in the bowels of the ship and deep in Marine territory.

Time to face the dragon. I pressed the chime by the door, and entered the belly of the beast.

 

[Varshanka]

M'Chel Raica S'Tarr - Marine MSgt

Looking up as the Fleeter entered the room the Master Sergeant snapped to attention. "Officer on Deck," she yelled as a room full of Marines snapped to attention. Eyes front and hard on the wall opposite each of them.

 

[AmenRa]

Captain Harper heard the reply from his Chief Engineer. He released the comm control, closing the link to the engineering section of the starship. His attention was then focused ahead.

"Mr. Reeve," he said smoothly, "Warp 8."

"Aye, sir, Warp 8," the helmsman replied.

"Engage," Harper ordered.

The starship's inertial compensators spun to full power as the warp nacelles encased the ship in their generated warp field. Within the same instant, Arizona smoothly accelerated to Warp 8.

"Warp 8, Captain," the helm announced.

"Steady as she goes, Chris," Harper responded. He then stood from his chair, straightened his tunic, and walked over to the tactical station.

"When can you start running simulations?" he asked Nine of Nineteen. "I want every possible armed encounter with 8472 ran and solutions resolved." Harper turned to the portside doors as they parted to allow someone access. He then turned back to Nine. "I know what you're going to say, that the computer will show some of our tactical encounters with 8472 as a loss for us. Well, my friend, this isn't the Kobayashi Maru, and I don't believe in a no-win scenario." Harper added a smile. "And I've got a good feeling my tactical officer doesn't, either. Kick their asses hard, Nine."

 

[LuckyVic]

Lt. Commander Torres- Lab

Miguel went straight to one of the labs after speaking with the Chief Engineer. It was a simple matter for him to get the specs for the TR-116, since he now had sufficent security clearance. He also found some modifications that had been designed for the weapon by a rogue Starfleet officer on DS9. It would defiantely make it more effective, using the micro-transporter. Once he was done he replicated one to show the Chief Engineer.

No Miguel wasn't a tactical specialist, however even he knew that eventually the Borg would adapt to the weapon, not necessarily the ammunition, but they could possibly develop a method to block the transporter. However he remembered something from old Earth military history. He called up all specifications on the rail guns used by the US Navy in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It was the primary weapon used on battleships, purely an electrical gun that accelerates a conductive projectile along a pair of metal rails using the same principles as the homopolar motor.

Railguns use two sliding or rolling contacts that permit a large electric current to pass through the projectile. This current interacts with the strong magnetic fields generated by the rails and this accelerates the projectile.

Once he had the data needed he began to design a miniature version of it. However he wanted this weapons to also be efective against Species 8472, so he designed an alternate form of ammo that could be loaded into a similar clip as the titainium rounds. These new rounds could contain a liquid full of anti-8472 nanites, that when they imacted or entered one of them would then release the nanites. Once he had all the information and the basic design for the EM-rifle he put it on a PADD for the Captain to approve.

Miguel knew he probably had missed some things in it after all weapons weren't actually his specialty. Perhaps he could ask the Captain for permission to use one of the Marines to further the design, and then test the prototype. When the computer informed him the transfer was complete, Miguel took the PADD and went back to the bridge, he was sure the Captain was still there.

When he got off on the bridge he walked over confidently over to the Captain. "Sir I have an idea that I'd like your approval to try." he said and then held out the PADD with the data for the Captain. "If you do approve it, I'd also like permission to use one of the Marines to test build and test a prototype."

 

[AmenRa]

Capt. Harper - Bridge

It was the Operations Officer that had come through the bridge's sliding doors. Harper looked up from where he was speaking with Nine of Nineteen as Miguel presented him with a PADD.

"Give me a sec," Harper told Nine of Nineteen. Captain Harper then turned his full attention to the technical diagrams and schematics on the PADD.

This design was precisely what Harper had in mind. Something useful that could be adapted to deliver the necessary dose of toxin. Now, if the torpedo adaptation could be developed as well.

Torres had asked permission to start work on the weapon with the assistance of one of the on-board Marines.

Harper could think of no one better to assist.

"Make it so," the Captain said with a hint of smile.

 

[LuckyVic]

Lt. Commander Torres

Miguel couldn't hide the smile that had formed on his face. "Thank you sir. I have to let Lt. Commander Orsoth know some things, but as soon as I'm done I'll contact one of the Marines and we'll clean up the design and runs some tests in the holodeck." he told the Captain and then left the bridge again to finish what he had started. After all time was of the essence.

When the lift doors once again opened up in Engineering, Miguel made his way to the CEO's station. "Commander, I just wanted to let you know that your stem bolts are in cargo bay 3, I also was able to bring in enough materials to put together transphasic cores for up to 200 torpedoes. Best I could do in that hour before launch I'm afraid." he told her. He wasn't going to mention how he had gotten them, or the fact that he had to send another office 2 cases of Saurian brandy. Fortunately that still left him with 3 cases, good Saurian brandy was hard to come by after all. "Oh I was able to replicate a TR-116, with some modifications. It's in science lab 1, under lock and key."

 

[Screech]

Lt. Comdr Orsoth, Engineering

Marjia spun round in her chair as the voice behind her. "Ah! Commander! Thank you for getting everything so quickly. I'll get to work on them all shortly. Is there anything I can do for you in return?" She smiled politly up at Miguel, as she rested one hand on the phaser rifle stil propped up at her station

 

[Angelus]

Lonak sat back in his command chair and listened to the hum of the engines with a smile. When he had received the Val’kesh he did not think it was an impressive ship but in the time he had been her captain he had found himself pleasantly surprised. The Valdore-class warbird was better in every way than his last ship and he found that he was impressed by her speed and fire power. As he looked out at the view screen he found himself relaxing for the first time in years and he actually let a smile come to his face. Just then the voice of his XO came from behind him, making him turn his head to look at her.
“Captain, we have received a distress call from a ship out near the Neutral Zone.”

“Is it one of our own,” Lonak said as he turned back to look at the view screen.

“No sir, it appears to be a Federation station. They are under attack from the Borg.”

Lonak turned so quickly that it shocked his XO. He looked straight into her eyes and she could tell just by the look that was there that he was not happy with what she had just told him. He turned back in his chair and looked at the helmsman just to see the fear in his eyes. Everyone who was on this ship knew about the Borg and knew what they were capable of. The Romulan Empire was lucky they had not visited their sector of space as much as they had that of the Federation but Lonak knew that it could change at any time and they could easily begin assimilating the Romulans. Lonak knew that he would fight with every breath in his body before that happened as would everyone else aboard this ship but it did not take away the fear that still gripped them. Even in the Dominion war they had not felt as much fear for their enemies as they did the Borg.

“This is not our fight. The Federation will have to deal with this.”

Just then a transmission came over their speakers and Lonak could tell that it was not mean from human, Romulan or anyone’s ear that were still theirs. He turned to look at the communications officer who instantly shut off the message. Just as he did there was the sound of a message coming through and Lonak looked at him.

“It is not from the Borg sir. We are receiving orders from Romulus.”

Lonak looked at the communications officer and told him to put it though to him. As soon as he did he heard the sound of his commanding officer.

“General,” was all that Lonak heard. There was no need for pleasantries.

“Captain Rekas’ven, we have heard that you have received a distress call from a Federation station. You are to fly there at once and see what is going on then report back to us. If there is a problem anywhere near the Neutral Zone we need to know about it, just in case the Borg decides to turn and come to Romulus.”

“But General-“

“That is an order Captain! Do not disobey me again or you will be relieved of your command and brought back here to spend the rest of your life in jail.”

“Yes General. I will do what I have been ordered.”

The General shut off communications, leaving Lonak to sit there and think about giving orders he did not want to. He looked at the XO and then at the helmsman and he knew that he could not disobey the order given to him. He sat back in his chair, looked at the helmsman and told him to lay in a course to the coordinates of the space station at the fastest possible speed. He watched as the helmsman’s fingers flew over the control panel in front of him and looked forward to watch as the stars changed into lines as they went into warp.

* * * * * * *​

As the lines turned back into stars Lonak could not help but feel a sense of foreboding in the pit of his stomach. Something was definitely wrong here but he could not feel what it was. He ordered the helmsman to take them ahead slowly and for his tactical officer to watch for anything out of the ordinary.

As the Val’kesh moved forward slowly Lonak kept his eyes on the view screen and wondered why they had been ordered to this place. He knew that the Neutral Zone was a place to be patrolled every so often but why had the general ordered him out here because of a distress call from a Federation station. It was then that the tactical officer called out to him, making him get out of his command chair and move over to the station. As soon as he did the tactical officer brought an image up on his screen, making Lonak’s eyes go wide. There in front of them was a Federation station but it looked as if it had been gutted, as though its insides had been torn out and thrown to the depths of space. Lonak knew that he had never heard of the Borg doing this. It was then that the Borg cube came into view, startling Lonak even more.

The damage that had been done to the station was nothing compared to what had been done to the cube. It looked as if whatever had destroyed the cube had taken pleasure in it, making sure to destroy every living creature aboard. As the tactical officer zoomed in on the image Lonak could see several Borg floating around the cube. He wondered if the Borg were still alive as he knew they could not be killed by the coldness and vacuum of space. He knew that he did not want to find out and told the helmsman to stop the Val’kesh where she was.

He began to slowly turn away from the tactical station but before he could the officer let out a shout, making him turn back to the screen. As he did another ship came into view, something they had never seen before. Lonak turned to the tactical officer and opened his mouth to ask what the ship was, whether the Federation had come up with something different but before he could he saw the ship turn and start coming in his direction. Lonak told the tactical officer to raise the shields before he turned to the helmsman and screamed at him to start turning the ship. He then told the weapons officer to lock on the disruptors and torpedoes, just in case this ship was there to cause them harm.

He went back to his seat, sat down on it and watched the view screen just to see the ship come closer to them. He looked at the helmsman and told him to bring as much power to the sub light engines as he could. The helmsman started to tap the commands into the panel in front of him but just as he did the ship started to get faster. He watched it coming closer and turned to his weapons officer.

“I cannot lock onto the ship sir. Something is wrong with our sensors.”

“Just get them fixed,” Lonak said, “I do not think this ship is friendly. In fact I think this one destroyed the cube and the station.”

The weapons officer opened his mouth to answer Lonak but before he could the ship fired a shot at the Val’kesh, bathing the entire view screen in a brilliant blue light.

“Sir, that shot took out 80% of our shields.”

Lonak looked at the ship with wide eyes then looked at the helmsman.

“What are you waiting for? Get us out of here!”

The helmsman’s fingers started to fly over his command panel again and Lonak felt the Val’kesh start to get faster. He knew that the other ship was faster and more maneuverable than his which was putting him at a tactical disadvantage. As he felt the ship maneuver to its starboard side he knew that it was something to worry about as this was the newest and best ship in the entire fleet and if this one ship could do this to his what could it do to the rest of the fleet. He looked in the view screen just to see the ship fly towards him before disappearing out of view. He turned to his tactical officer only to be told that there was no sensor reading.

Lonak told the helmsman to fly towards the station and cube, hoping that he could lose the ship there. Without arguing the helmsman sent the Val’kesh forward and Lonak watched as they both came into view. When he saw the utter destruction of both the station and cube he hoped that the ship was gone but just as that thought left him he felt a shudder throughout the entire ship and heard the tactical officer shout out that they had lost the starboard wing. He looked at the tactical officer with wide eyes before another shudder ripped through the ship. He looked at the view screen just to see the ship appear in front of them and seem to hover there, as if waiting for its prey to die. He looked back at the weapons officer and told him to fire two torpedoes straight ahead. The weapons officer told him that he could not get a lock on but Lonak said that it did not matter, that he just had to fire the torpedoes.

The weapons officer fired off the torpedoes and as Lonak looked at the view screen they flew straight at the ship which continued to sit there. As he watched the torpedoes fly towards the ship he willed them to strike it but as soon as the ship moved he knew that there was no way they were going to hit. He struck the command chair then turned to his XO.

“Order the evacuation of the ship.”

“We will not do that sir. We never leave our ship; we have never done so and never will do so. We will always fight to the death.”

“I can understand that but I do not think whoever is piloting that ship does. I think he, she or it will kill us just for the sport of it. I will try to maneuver the ship so that when you leave in the escape pods you will at least be heading towards the Neutral Zone. Now leave this ship. That is an order.”

The XO did not say another word but a second later the order to abandon ship was given over the speakers in the ship. Lonak sat back down in his chair and looked at the ship again just at the helmsman stood, saluted him and ran from the bridge, leaving Lonak there alone. He slowly got up from the command chair and walked to the helm, sat down in the chair and punched in commands to maneuver the ship. As he sat there he felt the ship slowly begin to move but watched as the other ship moved towards the Val’kesh. He let out a curse when he saw this then felt the shudder through the ship again, followed by another and another. He knew that whoever or whatever was piloting that ship did not want him to get away and watched as it came back into view.

Just then he heard the XO tell him that the escape pods were away and she was leaving in the last one. As soon as he heard those words he saw the ship flying towards him and let out a shout as he knew what was going to happen. It was then that he felt the small explosions and knew that his crew had just been killed by whatever was in that ship. He then heard his XO come back over the speaker.

“They are all dead sir. Whatever or whoever is in that ship just killed them all. They will pa-“

Just then an explosion ripped through the ship and Lonak heard the alarm come on. He looked ahead just to see the ship flying away from him and let out a curse. Whatever that thing was had just killed his entire crew and all he wanted now was revenge.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Lt. Connor Jace: Marine Barracks

I looked over the assembled Marines. Young battle hardened faces stared straight ahead. Here and there you could see where even Starfleet medicine hadn't entirely erased a mark of honor on one of them. I stopped in the center of the room.

"At ease Marines." I stated, then turned, making contact with all of them.

"You are probably wondering why a Fleet officer is down here to tell you whats going on instead of calling the Master Sergeant up to pass it on. Well, I am here because I think you all need to know what we are up against. My boss may not like it, the Old Man may not like it, but if they don't I'll take the shit that flows down and it stops at me! So listen up, because I only plan to give this briefing once.

Our mission is to head out on a little pleasure cruse to the Romulan Neutral zone. We got a distress call passed onto Starfleet from Deep Space Salvage Station Gamma Four. It wasn't a Fleet distress call however, it was Borg."

I let that sink in a few seconds and continued.

"Seems the Borg found something that scrapped them. Gamma Four moved in and fifteen minutes later, all contact was lost from them. All we have to go on is a short burst transmission that they got out before going offline."

I looked up and stated in a clear voice "Computer, play file Gamma 1 from my PADD on the vid in here."

The computer complied and the entire clip, all three seconds of it until it ended in a cloud of static. "Computer, stop image one point two second into the video."

In a second, species 8472 said hello to the assembled Marines.

"Species 8472. This is the one species besides us that stopped the Borg, and the only known species they can't assimilate. They are a ruthless species who doctrine is "The Weak shall Perish". Expect more mercy from the Borg. "

I paused again to let it sink in.

"I will be working closely with Master Sergeant S'tarr on getting us ready for these guys. Conventional doctrine doesn't work on these guys. Phasers just piss them off, and they like getting their hands dirty. Simulations will begin as soon as we get them up and running, and my door is open to any suggestions, no matter when the idea pops in your mind."
I stopped a second, then did the last thing I really wanted to do in a room full of Marines.

"I am Lt. Connor Jace, and I am your contact between the people in the comfy chairs and the ones that do the work. As I said, my door is open. MSgt., when your ready I would like to go over some more in-depth tactical analysis."