Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Nov 21, 2016 19:46:55 GMT
He'd managed to get to the top level of the power station, exploring the abandoned office room, this one containing only Dela III standard consoles and control interfaces, fortunately. It wouldn't sit right at all with Karka if the whole facility turned out to be a Starfleet installation. The room did show signs of being recently occupied, an open window, sheets of paper disturbed slightly by the breeze.
Karka peered at some of the papers: decipherable and indecipherable print-outs of seismological data; one large graph with twelve separate undulating lines took up most of a wall... one line for each station, he reasoned, mouthing the words and figures he read and nodding to himself, running hands across the wall and following the lines of data.
At the time index corresponding to shortly before the time of the quake, six of the stations had spiked up in their 'power' output, while the others had fallen by approximately the same level... So half were reduced in activity, perhaps being what allowed the plate to be shifted in that one direction, pulling it apart and creating that deep oceanic trench in the south-eastern quarter of ocean Bistrao.
Swinging his tricorder about his person, he found very faint traces of three recent transporter columns - unfortunately it was impossible to extrapolate destination; they at least knew that Klein (and Adi, Karka thought regretfully) had been with three others.
Joining the others on the mist-covered slopes, he beamed with them back to Dela Ville, telling Schirra about the detection of the transporter, "My trace from their office lost coherency as it reached the main continent, diffused over it aimlessly."
Hearing from Unwin all the extraordinary and unlikely things Klein had said, Karka did think that if a war was due, one might be forgiven for thinking the capital city had already experienced some of it... Through the practically destroyed streets they passed until arriving at the makeshift headquarters of the beleaguered government.
Schirra went into a room with the ministers while Karka nodded in greeting to government officials and others outside the door, asking directions to a particular place and being shown through the large house - he took Unwin in tow much to the 'former' assistant's chagrin.
Shown into the Department of Energy's makeshift office, he was expecting to find a busy room but encountered just three dull and unhappy Delians - there was virtually no furniture, most of the work seemingly on the floor. "Hello, I'm looking into the staff of twelve of your hydroelectric facilities positioned equidistantly around the Bistrao oceanic plate. It pertains to our investigations," he said to the nearby grey official.
The man glanced at him briefly as he very deliberately placed three sheets on floor-borne paper stacks. "Investigations?" he asked dully, and sighed, "You must mean the ones left untouched by the quake." He showed him to the one desk-type piece of furniture in the room that held something like an info terminal and its small chair, dismissing the one grey worker, "Be my guest."
Psonoir thanked him graciously and nodded to Unwin, who began accessing employee records of the volcanic island's power station, finding it patchy at best. "4 of the workers are listed as confirmed as deceased since the earthquake. There's a lot of corrupted data..." The machine beeped, Unwin leaning closer, "Ah, just pinpointed the other eleven stations. In all dozen stations, fifteen personnel show as recently retired... Current employees on all dozen, 92. Did you notice Hul'ti seemed to think Klein was a reluctant participant... as if the demands made of her were too much? Hmm, not seeing her on the list, nor any other of the Admiral's delegation..."
"That's a surprise," Karka commented dryly. "See if you can find connections between them that you wouldn't normally associate with power generation work."
Unwin nodded, cracking his fingers over the old-fashioned key-interface. The console beeped near-immediately, "Ha," Unwin leant in, squinting, "They're all born on Dela IV's moon. Odd, I didn't know it was populated - it's meant to be quite inhospitable."
"A moon of Dela IV?" Karka sighed, "Report this to the XO, once he's finished with the ministers," he added warningly. "Don't burst in telling him about possible Dela IV involvement in front of them, for pity's sake."
<Tag Dan>
Karka sighed, "There's not much more I can do down here right now... I need to see some data." He watched Unwin go past, both now exiting the Energy department's office working their way back through the building.
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Nov 25, 2016 8:14:01 GMT
Arriving on the Excal, Karka reported to the bridge, "Commodore" he nodded, "Is Queen Estel still aboard?" he asked, not sure if he should be on guard regarding etiquette, and more importantly whether he could feel free to talk to his staff about the several - if completely inconclusive - ways Dela IV may have been implicated thus far.
<Tag Alyana>
He handed her his drafted report on the surface operation and took the science station.
He'd heard President Haren and Princess Gyele had been found alive with Munro (who hadn't). Haren had been beamed to the Excal to have his legs saved - the good news was the operation had been a success; the bad news was he was in a seemingly irrevocable coma in the Excal's sickbay. Gyele had been less injured, Delians from planet IV having insisted on having her treated for her wounds on their own world.
He began scans on the transporter signature detected by his tricorder in the power station's office room, also scanning the other eleven stations - some on land, one more on an island, and the rest on artificial land-masses built specifically for the purpose of having such stations - to which the Excalibur in coordination with the reluctant Dela III government had sent security detachments.
He turned the sensors' attention to the one - as they'd thought uninhabited - moon of Dela IV: sure enough it was showing as lifeless, though there was a disused habitat on its surface indicating that people could well've been born there in the past, such as the 92 current employees of those 12 'power stations' - really continental and oceanic plate-dislocation apparatus.
However, it still seemed improbable that all of them would've been born in the same place, unless there was something they were missing about the asteroidal moon that meant these people became excellent engineers or the like. Or - if as they suspected they weren't legitimate power station workers - there could also be something illegitimate about the asteroid... A hidden base, for instance, like the one Karka had been imprisoned on during shore leave. He shuddered - he had to admit it hadn't been the most pleasant way to relax after hunting augments.
An arrest warrant had been put out for Teresa Klein and - somewhat bravely and perhaps laudably, Karka thought - for the other Federation delegates unaccounted for in the time before the earthquake (not including those who were known to have vanished in the quake itself), and they were quite a few.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Nov 29, 2016 15:21:30 GMT
It was rapidly becoming clear to Daniel that he wasn't going to get one iota of cooperation from the Council Members, despite the likelihood of the quakes being artificially generated, they still deemed it unnecessary to divulge pertinent information that might help the Excalibur. Frustrated, he rose from his chair and walked to the large window that looked out on the ruin of Della Vile.
"You feel aggrieved Commander, and I appreciate your feelings in this ...." Councilwoman Evort said, not without a hint of sarcasm Dan thought, "You appear to want to convince us that the devastation is a prelude to war."
"I think I should report to my Commanding Officer." he said dismissively turning towards the door. It opened as he approached and he could see Commander Unwin waiting, and with a cursory nod to the Council members in the room he asked to speak to Schirra in private. Dan couldn't help notice several of the council speaking quietly, their eyes on the Excalibur Officers:
"What's the problem Mark ?" Dan asked. Unwin relayed the information Karka and himself had uncovered. Dan had no option now but to return to the ship. Leaving Lieutenant Sarah Wentworth, the Excal's Operations Officer, in charge on the surface, the two transported back to the ship ....
~~~~~~~~~~
On the Bridge Karka had updated the Commodore and was now attempting to study the assumed unoccupied moon of Della IV ..... As they waited, news came through from the surface that arrest warrants had been put out for Teresa Klein and 'somewhat bravely perhaps' Karka thought, for the other Federation delegates unaccounted for in the time before the earthquake (not including those who were known to have vanished in the quake itself), and they were quite a few.
"So the witch hunt begins." Daniel muttered, the others silently agreeing.
"That moon is far from a hunk of rock." Karka informed them.
"Are there any substantial structures, surface or otherwise ?" Alyana asked, looking through the 'window' at the planet below.
"Numerous looking at these readouts." Dan said, pointing to several facilities that from this distance appeared to be almost derelict, but they all knew that that meant nothing. They needed to go there but .... It all depended on the reaction of Della IV's Ruling council, and he seriously doubted they would simply hand over the keys, so to speak. But the Excalibur was hosting a guest: Queen Estel !
"You may approach and use your transportation devices to examine any of the facilities on the Moon." Estel assured them once the Commodore had made the request, "I have spoken directly with my Government, they will comply. I was about to return to my planet, but if it is permissible, I would like to avail myself of your generous hospitality for a while longer."
"By all means, Your Majesty ... We have Ambassadorial Quarters where you and your entourage may rest." Ryat said, waving to a young Yeoman to show them to the suite. Once they had left the Bridge she spun to the Helmsman, "Take us out of orbit, approach the moon of Della IV, Commander Psonoir will supply coordinates for a Geo-stationary orbit over the likeliest target for investigation. lieutenant T'Seng, inform our people on the surface that we are leaving orbit but will leave an orbital communications satellite over their location." she dropped into the center seat, wondering what they would find on arrival. Daniel was wondering too, but he was also curious as to why Queen Estel had requested to remain aboard rather than returning to her Home-world.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Moon, apparently designated Krios by Della IV came into view through the panoramic multi-layered plexi-glass 'window' ... It seemed almost unremarkable, a hunk of rock captured aeons ago by it's much larger parent. but as they closed the distance both Karka and Koni began to distinguish that it was anything but ! ...
"What are these ?" Koni said at the next station to Karka, "They look like old silo's or shafts, something is preventing us from scanning deeper then approximately two hundred meters, but some of the shafts go much deeper."
"There's a large subterranean structure approximately one kilometer to the East." Karka added.
"Then that's where we start." Dan said as the Excalibur slowed to a stop directly above the hidden structure ..........
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Alyana Ryat
Commodore
Registered: Sept 5, 2007 16:34:56 GMT
Posts: 347
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Post by Alyana Ryat on Dec 1, 2016 18:11:52 GMT
OOC: Just catching up. Plan to post again on Saturday.
Aly thought over her first conversation with Queen Estel. The woman had clearly been in worried mother mode and at the time there was little Aly had been able to say to calm her. Fortunately she had contacted the Excalibur long enough ahead of time for Aly to gather a greeting party and throw on her dress uniform. Base on how the Queen had looked on the comm screen Aly suspected that she had used the time to tidy herself up too. Not that anyone had been able to do anything about the shadows under her eyes.
Aly had bowed and formally greeted the Queen who was accompanied only by her pilot (Tarven Rawlish) and a rather delicate looking young woman (Ula Herron) who seemed to be filling all other duties with regard to looking after a head of state. Aly had been mildly surprised when during their earlier conversation the Queen had 'asked' to stay on the Excalibur, but she had agreed. She was grateful that her ship came with several sets of quarters suitable for visiting dignitaries.
When all appropriate diplomatic protocol was done, the Queen and her party were escorted to quarters. Aly let out a sigh of relief and tugged at the collar of her uniform. She hadn't worn her dress uniform in a while and on this occasion had not had time to get it to sit just right. She had an hour or so before the meal that formality had dictated that she invite the Q She had only just reached her quarters, intending on sorting her uniform out properly, when the comm chimed. Aly answered it.
"I am afraid Her Majesty will not be able to attend the dinner." Ula said, her voice a whisper. She paused a moment. "She has actually fallen asleep and I don't want to disturb her."
"I quite understand", Aly said. "We can reschedule later."
She hoped that Queen would be able to get many hours of sleep and that there would be good news to tell he. Of course, if the Princess was found alive that would certainly be worth waking the Queen for...
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Alyana Ryat
Commodore
Registered: Sept 5, 2007 16:34:56 GMT
Posts: 347
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Post by Alyana Ryat on Dec 3, 2016 18:12:42 GMT
When news came that Princess Gyele had been found alive and beamed to sickbay Aly head straight down the Queen's quaters. She pressed the door chime and waited. She was fighting to to pace in the moment of to it took for the door to slide open. Ula was revealed looking as tidy as she had been she she had stepped off the shuttle.
"The princess has been found, alive." Aly said. Keeping her voice low, well aware that she was standing in a open doorway. Given the situation on the surface there was definitely a need to keep things quiet. Ula took two steps back and ushered Aly through the door allowing to close beofre hurrying in to one of the bedrooms.
She emerged a few minutes later with a slightly rumpled and still drowsy looking Queen Estel. Aly filled the other woman in on the situation. Estel's hands started to shake. Ula wrapped a fluffy dressing gown around the Queen's shoulders although Aly was certain that the shaking wasn't due to cold. She repeated herself twice and then it appeared that the words had finally gone in. The Queen was making plans to visit her daughter and Ula was trying to convince her to get properly dressed when Aly excused herself. She had emphasised that Gyele was both stable and unconscious but she was pretty sure that Estel had heard nothing beyond 'she's alive'.
*************
Aly stood next to Dan and Karka on the bridge as they began their search of the moon. Given the situation she was very grateful to have gotten them back in one piece. Feeling against the Federation was rising below and unless they had a break soon and good prove that this wasn't in anyway sanctioned then she had a feeling that they well going to formally be asked to get out of orbit at maximum speed. Possibly the only reason no one had done so so far was that it wasn't clear who had the authority to do so.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Dec 4, 2016 20:04:42 GMT
"There's a large subterranean structure approximately one kilometer to the East." Karka added. "Then that's where we start." Dan said as the Excalibur slowed to a stop directly above the hidden structure. He was about to ask where Alyana had gone when she reappeared on the Bridge. Daniel updated her on his thoughts regarding a surface party to investigate the seemingly abandoned facility below, "Is there 'any' reason that the Queen would object to our transporting down ?" he asked, but all the Commodore could do was repay the brief conversation between them. "Commodore, there is a ship closing with us, off our Starboard quarter, it appeared a second ago."Koni T'Seng informed them. "The Queen has already given her permission, they can't do anything but look us over and annoy the hell out of us." the Security Chief commented. Ryat looked at Dan, then nodded. Dan pointed to several of the Bridge Staff then headed for the Transporter Room. They would arm themselves en-route and beam directly into the facility. As they reached the Transporter the comm chirped to life: =^= Daniel .. We may have a problem .. Someone on Dela IV has prohibited our beam down =^= =^= Someone with higher authority that the Queen herself ? =^= he asked annoyed at the bureaucracy of some worlds. =^= They believe . That the Queen is grieving and may not be fully 'aware' of the decisions she is making =^= he could hear the scorn in Ryat's voice. =^= so do we stand down Commodore ? =^= he asked, already unzipping his jacket. =^= I believe you transported before the communication .. Did you not .. Commander ?" the comm closed and the group jumped onto the transporter pad. Nodding to the Chief, he felt the tell-tale caress ..... Krios - Moon of Dela IV ::Materialising, they quickly established that they were alone .. The group: Daniel Schirra Karka Psonoir Mark Unwin Koni T'Seng Almost choking on the dank, stale air in the room ... They separated, trying to find any lighting that would help them. Unwin found the 'switch' and moved to one of the larger wall panels, activating the air purification systems. According to the plan on the wall, they were in one of the outer corridors of a circular facility. four rings in total led to a central core which also incorporated a shaft, and one 'hell' of a shaft ! ... Almost three hundred meters deep, it allowed access to no less than fifty two levels, the lowermost three levels taking up close to forty five of those meters ! ... "OK, unless I'm reading this wrong ..." Unwin said, a frown forming, "Each level is approximately five meters in height, the bottom three are fifteen meters in height, so they can fit some pretty big stuff down there." he said. "So, how is it that we only scanned four subterranean levels from the ship, yet that plan is showing a damn-sight more !" Koni asked. I don't know, but we need to inform the Excalibur of our findings." Daniel said, taking out his communicator and flipping it open: =^= Schirra to Excalibur =^= =^= .. .. .. .. =^= =^= Schirra to Excalibur .. Come in Excalibur .. .. .. =^= he repeated, glancing at his communicator. "We're being blocked." Unwin said, "possibly by whatever is hiding the extra levels." "I don't want to be the proverbial 'damp squid' here." Koni said, a hint of sarcasm emerging, "But ... If we're on the highest level beneath the surface, with no Comms, and no 'EVA' equipment, then we're kind of, stuck here." Everyone looked at each other, realising the Tactical Officer was indeed right, they had very few options open to them: Wait until the Excalibur could get to them, either by transporting them out, or as a last resort bringing a shuttle down and fabricating a workable air-lock, or ...... "We go down." Unwin answered for the group. USS Excalibur :: "What do you mean you have lost contact ?" Alyana asked, carefully keeping her tone neutral. "They were there one minute, the next ....." the Comms Officer said, managing not to shrug, but before Ryat could address that issue, she had another as the Duty Tactical Officer, standing in for T'Seng, informed them that the vessel that had been shadowing them had just transported four people into the ground facility ! ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Dec 8, 2016 0:25:43 GMT
Ensign Khotlan was stood outside of Estel's quarters, having relieved Malachi half an hour ago and yet already desirous of his lunch break. He heard the turbolift note fade from down the corridor to his left, its occupant surely destined to collect the Queen - presumably to take her to see her convalescent daughter - for there was no other reason someone would choose to use that particular turbolift sequestered in this corner of the ship, servicing only the two most well-appointed VIP suites.
Bracing himself to address a superior officer - and ceasing from slouching - he flicked his eyes to the left as the shadow fell across the intersection where the former lift occupant/s would soon appear: grey-suited legs moved into view; Khotlan tracked the legs' owners and instinctively grabbed for his phaser.
One intruder bowled the Ensign over before shooting a silenced phase weapon into his chest, the other two situating themselves about the door; releasing the lock using the Queen's code - that the security services had informed Command she was using - they entered...
"What? What are you doing here? Her Majesty ordered that no one should -"
The assistant thudded to the floor with the rifle butt's impact and rolled over on her back, groaning weakly and leaving a smear of blood on the carpet as she dragged her head. The three Dela IV security personnel found the Queen in the booth containing the subspace terminal, dragged her out screaming before activating their translocators to beam out. They streamed across the vacuum out of phase, leaving a cloud of glittering chronitons leaping through the air of the VIP quarters like displaced dust.
An intruder alert claxon blared for just 0.23 seconds and the bewildered crew scanned the Excal's interior to find three less lifesigns: two bodies, one unaccounted for, the Queen.
* * *
Scanning through the base's subterranean lattice work soon revealed why they'd been unable to discern anything beyond the fourth level down - the floor of the fourth level contained an inch thick layer of neutronium, impervious to scans from conventional starship sensors; what's more, it was impenetrable to any known type of weaponry. Karka informed the team of this.
"... And -" The tricorder screamed and he twisted it round to aim up at the ceiling, now discovering why they couldn't be beamed up either - safely at any rate - and weren't able to contact the ship, "There's another neutronium layer in the outermost bulkhead of the station, of lower density but sufficient to jam comms." He frowned, "Perhaps it's to reinforce the base against the pressure of the bedrock, but I don't see why they'd need another, thicker layer four levels down if they could just build neutronium inside the outer..."
They moved down to the second level, thinking perhaps they were about to discover if this was true. In the absence of any safe way to return to the ship, their original mission of uncovering the truth behind this asteroidal moon automatically became their primary goal - why all the engineers who'd worked in the 'hydroelectric power station' had apparently been born here... Karka expected doctoring of the records; not born here surely, but having some other relation, perhaps all trained here for one purpose or another...
Reaching the second level's hatchway (in its floor at a maintenance junction - there were no lifts, and the ladders to other levels were all situated at different points in their corresponding levels' floor plans, making passage slow) that led down to level 3, Unwin tried to cycle the lock, "Jammed."
"Great," Karka tutted. T'Seng pushed them aside, drawing her phaser as Schirra nodded and Karka confirmed with a quick scan that the hatch's destruction wouldn't compromise structural integrity. A discharge occurred from a weapon, but not from the one they expected.
Having near-silently rolled into place on whirring servos at the end of the grey corridor, a deep red globular mechanism, shaped roughly like a humanoid - and perhaps containing one - had deployed an arsenal of weaponry on its flank; plasma-based beam weaponry drilled again down the passage at the team, scarring the walls.
Karka leapt away with the others as Koni's weapon discharged at the hatch, a burst of flame and billowing smoke erupting and filling part of the corridor. Their scarlet mechanical tormentor rolled towards them, illuminated in the smoke by its firing bolt weaponry. Ten metres, five metres, three... Karka ran.
"Tricorder detected four transportations through the neutronium layer!" he shouted to Unwin through the smoke, unable to see anyone else, "Risky, but perhaps something about their armour -"
They ground to a halt at the next sterile white junction (the four concentric rings of each level seemed colour-coded according to a grey-scale, white being the innermost), for another globular shape had wheeled into place ahead, now swinging its weaponry around to face them. The air burst into flame as the corridor was cooked by its wide-field beam, ionised particles searing the passageway's flanks. And they were trapped inside this subterranean hell.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Dec 8, 2016 21:01:48 GMT
Level Two :: Stood over the hatch, Daniel wondered briefly if they were going to find themselves in the lowest level, still trapped, but with nowhere to go. Unwin, who had knelt beside the only entry point to the next lower level they had found thus far, exclaimed that it was jammed. Koni, loosing patience, brought her phaser to bare ... A beam of light lanced past them a fraction of a second before she too fired, they spun, trying to identify the source of the other energy beam and came face to face, though not exactly, given the scantly humanoid antagonist didn't possess a 'face' in the traditional sense. The hatch exploded almost spectacularly, leaving a smoke-filled hole in the floor, while all the time their protagonist was closing the distance. As the scattered, weaving along the corridor to present the least viable target, Daniel wondered why it was having difficulty hitting them 'maybe something to do with the neutronium ?' he speculated inwardly as another pulse passed by him much too close for comfort ... Reaching the corridors' terminus, they dove around the corner, almost head-on into another one of the mechanical attackers. looking back the way they had come, the first was almost at the hatch, so some forty meters away now they had run to gain some distance, while the second was only fifteen meters from them. Both continuously firing, albeit seemingly blindly, at something they may be having difficulty getting a positive lock on. "I've hit the one behind us several times, no effect." Koni informed them as they continued to duck and dive in situ. She looked at the thing approaching, suddenly realising that far from actually 'rolling' along the floor, it was hovering several centimeters from the steel plate. Deciding there was no time to discuss her thoughts, she ran across the corridor and slammed her back against the wall. she was now facing the first of the on-coming android-type attackers. "What are you doing ?" Unwin asked, shocked she had possibly put herself in the crossfire of both attackers, but as he watched she made several modifications to her phaser. A whine, rising slowly in pitch, began to emanate from the weapon and she looked at it as if surprised, then placing it on the floor, her hand atop, she thrust the phaser down the corridor towards the initial attacker. Quickly pushing herself away from the wall she dove back to the others: "You might want to duck about now." she said, pulling her head into her chest covering it as best she could with her arms. After a micro-second of indecision, the others followed suit as the phaser exploded ! ..... A shard of red had passed Schirra's head before impaling itself in the opposite wall. Koni risked a look: "Got it !" she exclaimed as the second mechanism fired again, it's aim apparently improving as the beam scorched Unwin's shoulder, but without further damage,If we're going down i suggest we go now." she said, pointing to the remains of their first attacker, the jagged rim of the hatch beyond. With the second automaton close they had no option ... Running back the way they had come as their attacked reached the corner and began to turn, Koni, the only one now without a phaser, dropped onto her behind, feet on the ladder, then vanished from sight. Unwin, Psonoir, and finally Schirra following closely. Level Three :: The globular mechanism above was not done firing, despite having nothing to fire at. They could hear it's numerous weapons discharging in rapid succession. now on 'Level Three' of the facility, Schirra again tried his communicator, hardly surprised when he couldn't even manage static ... Dropping it into his pocket he looked along this corridor, identical to the one above save for the uninvited guests. Koni in turn was looking at each of the doors, activating the control mechanism on each in turn, They had not had the opportunity to search the room on the other level, but here, hopefully alone, they might be able to find something that will help them contact the Excalibur ... Splitting up, but remaining in sight of each other unless in one of the rooms, they systematically searched, but to no avail, the rooms seemed to be offices, or waiting area's, or even dining rooms, but nothing important, which stood to reason. 'Why have so many levels and put the important stuff at the front door ?' Schirra thought as they reached the end of the corridor and the last room. "We need to make a decision." he said as everyone gather together, "Do we go around the full circle of this level, working our way into the central hub, or do we risk missing something that could get us back to the ship in favour of going ever deeper ? ...... Feel free to comment everyone." he said. "There's something else we need to consider too." Mark Unwin said. The others waiting for him to continue, "We detected four transports." he didn't need to elaborate. everyone now realised, if they hadn't before, that 'somewhere' in this facility, was two more of the red globular mechanism's. If, and it was a big if, considering the first two's inaccuracy while firing, the remainder would suffer the same issues, they 'may' have a chance, but if that meant loosing a phaser each time then that was completely unacceptable, and truth be told, if Koni had enlightened them on her plan beforehand, he would have likely been against her sacrificing her weapon. "From here on Koni, unless we find you an alternate weapon, you stay in the middle of us, is that understood ?" Daniel asked, making sure his tone giving no misunderstanding that it was an order, nothing less. "Yes Sir." she said, shuffling dutifully between Unwin and Psonoir, fully comprehending the seriousness of their situation and the need to follow orders, Dan just shook his head. "OK everyone, thoughts ... Search, or continue down ?" he asked ..........
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Alyana Ryat
Commodore
Registered: Sept 5, 2007 16:34:56 GMT
Posts: 347
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Post by Alyana Ryat on Dec 11, 2016 16:39:11 GMT
Aly took a very slow deep breath, she turned to the bridge crew at large.
"We need to get back in contact with our people. If we can't find them we need to know why we can't find them." Head's were nodded firmly, apparently having something to do was helping the situation. "I also want to know where the Queen is and why those two are also missing. Let me know if Ensign Khotlan or Ula have any further information to offer." There were further nods and the hurried sounds of fingers tapping on consoles. Aly settled in the centre chair and tried to remain composed.
There was nothing to could do but wait. The situation had gone bad so fast that her head was spinning. The Queen and two of her crew were missing - it wasn't clear if they had also been taken or if they had been responsible. Alyana wasn't sure which of the two gave her greater pause but she wasn't going to start making any form of accusation until there was some actual evidence to go on.
Then there was the no so small matter of the disappearance of the landing party, as far as she understood it was far more likely that the landing party was being hidden from them than they had actually been taken somewhere but it did not bode well. Once again there was nothing she could do until there was some more information to point at what should be done.
Of course, Aly was lying to herself when she said that there was nothing she could do. She could worry, not that there was any sort of chance of stopping her doing that when one of her crew was in danger. And more importantly she could project an aura of calm and wait patiently, that was far more difficult and far more important. She was pretty good at it but she wished that she hadn't had so much practice.
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Dec 14, 2016 13:08:08 GMT
Karka was occupied with scanning the floor of the fourth level to accurately map the neutronium layer, the type of molecular covalence in use between its bonds, the level of cohesion across the whole sheet, and importantly whether or not a transporter could conceivably place someone beaming in below that fourth level. It was his judgement that it couldn't.
"Given the amount of time the four mechanisms have been down here with us (if the tricorder's reading of when they beamed down is correct), I don't think they would've had time to spread down as far as level 5 or beyond. I'd say that even their transition between floors is a slow process, necessitating lowering some apparatus in the hatchways to allow them to levitate down without losing balance within their antigravity fields.
"The thickness of the neutronium in the floor of level 4 means they wouldn't have been able to beam in below that depth, while the less dense sheet in the roof of the complex permits transporter use, but only with their armour somehow making more coherent the matter stream during transit."
"So if they didn't beam in below level 4, and they haven't had time to make it that far 'on foot'..." someone said.
The sentence hardly needed to be finished. "Then we can't risk trying to work our way into the central hub, on either this floor or the one below," Unwin concluded for them. "We've got to work our way down to level 5." He glanced around at them, the import of his words not lost at all, "And as soon as possible."
"Then let's stop standing around talking about it!" Karka smiled and led the way in backing up out of the last room and along the corridor to the hatchway to level 4 discovered a moment ago. Lowering themselves in, they found that the new floor was in virtually total darkness; they activated palm beacons and walked the shadowy corridor, immediately noticing how the floors and walls were caked in dust, muck, and in places...
T'Seng tapped one of the walls as they traversed the curving passage, hand falling across the dried crimson fluid, "I think I recognise that."
Stopping while the others went on ahead some way, Psonoir scanned the deposit and confirmed its nature as blood plasma, "It's Dela in origin," he called. They progressed along the circumference of the outer ring of level 4, locating what seemed to be an operations centre, disused.
He picked up a pad of real paper, which had been scribbled on in recognisable Dela III and IV writing, detailing unique methods of quake prevention involving manipulating tectonics... Seems familiar, he thought. Many of the papers were signed by a person whose name matched one of those in the list of employees of the volcanic island facility.
"If this is a joint operation..." he murmured to the others, "Dela IV gives the plate tech to III, both cooperatively training people on this asteroid; a conspiracy to destabilise the peace since the interplanetary war? This place would be the proof of collusion to end peace. But who exactly are the colluders...? Klein seemed to suggest Munroe, but she's dead."
<Tag Schirra>
Having stayed behind longer in the operations room, Karka hurried to catch up again, and saw the others climbing spider-like into the next hatch to make it - finally - down to level 5 (and guessed-at safety for the time being). Rotating his tricorder about his person and securing it as his side, he made for the hatch; as he moved, a deep thundering shunt resounded from somewhere and the lights came up, the grimy grey walls cast into harsh relief.
Taking note, he broke into a run and made to dive for the hatch, just as one of the globular humanoid-outlines rounded the bend ahead of him, whirring mechanically and levelling its plasma weapon. He dived for the hatch. Blood and meat went spattering away from his side as the air - and the passageway with it - seemed to shrink and glow red; yelling, he tumbled through the gap in the floor and fell in the dust on another pitch-black level - now below the neutronium layer. The hatch was slammed into place above, much scuffling going on around him, and he rolled over, finding himself off-balance and with a dull ache around his right shoulder.
Unwin struck a palm beacon and put the beam on Karka as footsteps resonated above (was there an occupant of the globular suit, had he/she climbed out?) - the illumination revealed to the three of them that the Science Officer's right arm was missing, sheared away at the shoulder.
It was then the team realised they weren't alone. Another flashlight lit up, its owner's face becoming visible - pallid and ghostlike as it was illuminated along with the disturbed dust in the intervening space - as she waved it back and forth over the three officers crowded about their compatriot on the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Teresa Klein asked, and other figures - at least a dozen - were discernible behind her in the corridor.
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Dec 15, 2016 15:00:02 GMT
On the ship, Lieutenant Hearan found himself reporting back to sickbay where the security under his squad continued watch on President Haren. He'd just had reason to check by the Queen of Dela IV's quarters, after having received startling news.
Arriving at the quarters, he was shown in by the Queen's pilot who'd occupied the room after Ula Herron had been injured during the Queen's kidnapping. The man - Rawlish - had something important to report. Hearan walked into the main living area of the VIP suite and froze, unable to move for a number of seconds: how in the name of...?
He backed away to the wall panel and hailed the bridge, informing them of the news.
Now he was striding back to sickbay shouting at a medical attendant, "Security is extremely tight on this ship!" he told the poor assistant, "Especially since the Queen's disappearance, I'm sure you can appreciate. To think that someone could get in and take her, and then do so again, is beyond -" They entered sickbay and he went to stand by the main bed where Haren was still under intense observation, being still in a critical condition. Khotlan and the Queen's aide Herron occupied secondary beds.
He'd had to inform the Commodore that Queen Estel had been brought back aboard the Excalibur - presumably again by her unseen assailants - panicked and unsure of herself and unable to explain where she'd been. Reporting to the bridge and taking over from Lieutenant T'Seng's assistant, Hearan worked with Unwin's assistant to scan Dela IV and its three asteroidal moons kilometre by kilometre. There was nowhere else the Queen could've possibly been transported to, being too far from Dela III to allow her to have been anywhere on that planet for more than a few seconds, and the Queen remembered at least ten minutes of sitting in a dark room.
"I've got something from the smallest moon of the three," Hearan reported eventually. It was a satellite in virtually the same orbit as the largest asteroid - where the away team was - separated from it by only a few degrees and orbiting a few thousand kilometres behind; hence the Excal could investigate equally as easy from their current position as the away team's moon if they so chose. "Scanners detecting excessive numbers of chronitons on the smallest moon, Commodore, matching configuration with some of the concentrations that've been near the Excal since the Queen's original disappearance."
Meanwhile they were still trying to reestablish contact with the away team, having completely lost touch with them once they'd beamed down. The only thing they'd learnt about their situation was they'd move deeper into the subterranean base, until some internal door must've been opened, as the sensors could now suddenly penetrate much deeper - torches shining into a chasm illuminating the intricacies of its labrynthine pathways - and revealed a score of lifesigns in close proximity to the four Excalibur officers!
<Tag Alyana>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Dec 17, 2016 17:26:10 GMT
"If this is a joint operation ..." Karka murmured to the others, "Dela IV gives the plate tech to III, both cooperatively training people on this asteroid; A conspiracy to destabilise the peace since the interplanetary war. This place would be the proof of collusion to end peace. But who exactly are the colluders ... Klein seemed to suggest Munroe, but she's dead." "At this point all we have is speculation." Daniel replied, the frustration with the lack of, for want of a better explanation, 'Hard Evidence' blatantly obvious. Level Five :: Karka dropped to the floor, eyes locked on the closed hatch above. Daniel watched the man for a second before turning back to his exploration. As they moved along the corridor, each investigating blank panels that frankly made little sense. Daniel was at one of these panels, trying unsuccessfully to get it to power up. He could see the light from Mark's wrist light illuminating something that resembled 'EVA' suits, but strewn around seemingly discarded.But then he noticed something out of place. Quickly he deactivated his own light and crouched down partially behind the panel. He counted, one two, three lights, but he was sure he had seen a forth ... Eyes trying to accustom themselves to the near-darkness, he heard something only meter away and spun, coming face to face with the business end of a phaser weapon ! ... The person holding it raised a finger to his or her lips, signifying he should remain silent. A light sprang to life suddenly ... This one much bigger than their wrist lights, it illuminated a large area, covering the other three Officers from the Excalibur, but the reflected light also pointed out other figures in the semi-darkness: "What are you doing here ?" Daniel rose slowly from his crouch, the phaser waving indicating he move over to his fellow Officers. He recognised Teresa Klein instantly, wondering if Lieutenant Ridley was down here in the gloom also. "I'll ask you again .... 'WHAT' are you doing here ?" Klein repeated. "We might want to ask you the same question, 'Commander' Klein." Daniel sad, feeling the phaser nestle against his kidney. He took a tentative step forwards, the phasers' pressure constant, "There should have been no way you could have reached this facility before us, unless of course Admiral Munroe has a mode of transport we are unaware of ?" "I do not use my rank Commander Schirra, it can, hinder my work for the Admiral in certain, situations, so please, address me by name. Further, I believe you are gravely misinterpreting the situation Commander." Klein said, a thin smile appearing, "We have been here before, at the bequest of the Dela IV Council. We were, requested to oversee the decommissioning of this and other sites prior to the formal accord being signed. My question to you is, therefore, what brought you here and how did you come across the information that led you to this particular facility ?" "There are more ?" T'Seng couldn't help asking, despite the phaser resting against her hip. "Numerous." was all Klein would divulge before she turned her attention to Schirra once again, "You have still to answer my question Commander." she said, eyebrows raised questioningly. "Those things that attacked us .... Yours I assume ?" Dan countered. "The 'Bio-droids' ... As one of my party quaintly named the killing machines, no, nothing to do with me, though they are partial to uninvited guests, as we found to our loss." she fell silent as one of her people approached and whispered into her ear, her eyes remained on Schirra all the time the man was speaking, "It seems you have brought more of the Bio-droids,six in total now, thankfully all above the neutronium layer. It appears someone is displeased with your intrusion." "Yours too then in that case." Koni commented. Klein regarded the young woman for a moment, as if reminiscing her own youth, then completely dismissed her turning back to Daniel: "Fortunately, no. We found a means to be 'ignored' so to speak, from the guardians." she reached up, her finger touching a broach-like trinket on her jacket, "It appears that the Bio-droids, or Guardians as their Masters called them, completely ignore anyone wearing one of these. From what little we have discovered they emit an ultra low modulated frequency pulse." she shrugged as if the technology was over her head, frankly, Daniel seriously doubted that. "I don't suppose you have four going spare ?" Unwin asked casually, receiving a dig in the ribs from the person holding a phaser on him. "Let's wait and see how we all get on first, shall we ?" Klein said, that smarmy tone irritating Daniel even more than when she was addressing him directly, "Now, I'm afraid I need to know why you are here, and what you intend to do once you have returned to the surface and are able to transport back to your vessel ?" "So there 'IS' a way up then !" Koni said. Klein just smiled that 'knowing' smile of hers that Danial was, despite his training, finding increasingly difficult not to wipe off her face with the back of his hand ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Dec 22, 2016 0:38:58 GMT
After receiving news of the subsidiary shaft approximately a kilometre to the west that could conceivably get them to the surface, for the next fifteen minutes they'd refused to answer Klein's questions, so were thrown into a makeshift detention cell. It was possible similar habitable spaces - built by Federation staff and whoever of Dela III and Dela IV Admiral Munroe had associated with - were part of the other unnamed facilities whose existence Klein had indicated.
Perhaps the twelve stations set to form a concentric circle in the Bistrao ocean of Dela III were just several of the totality, Karka thought, some terrestrial, some in orbit of either of the inhabited worlds.
He glared at the area where his arm used to be, suddenly mystified at why no one else seemed to have noticed, much less commented on it. Scanning with the tricorder the volume formerly occupied by it (and attracting the look of T'Seng and one of Klein's people, both looking at him as if he were slightly barmy), he found that, bizarrely, the whole area was in a state of temporal phase...
The phase encompassed everything, and could only mean that it was Karka who was out-of-phase, the tricorder's reading holding steady at -6.2 picoseconds (that was, everything around him was from that far in the past). It didn't explain why the others could apparently still see his arm, though it did now make sense that everyone - by an incredibly slight yet perceptible degree - seemed delayed in their reaction to him. He believed they should still be able to talk to his past self, even if his 'present' were to act differently, break off from the group (this to them was a future version, never arrived at causally, only able to be seen as part of a certain temporal notion). - OOC: I'm going to work some more of this temporal angle next post
It was Unwin who finally revealed to Klein why they were here, "Same thing as when we made your acquaintance at the 'power station'... trying to discover who caused the quake and why. We have reason to believe this moon was, or is, being used as a base for those responsible, including those formerly employed at the volcanic island's power station."
Klein turned hesitantly to a henchman - seeming to be another Munroe staffer, going by his well-worn uniform - having him deactivate the forcefield around the makeshift cell, then had them shuffle into a room evidently used as a temporary mess.
She began supplementing the vague statements she'd made so far: if she could be believed, she'd been working out at the power station on Dela III which of the other eleven oceanic stations had failed (thus causing the quake - the analogy of the loaded spring was accurate, Karka realised, the twelve stations had gripped the oceanic plate, the failure of one precipitated the disaster), and who the perpetrators had been... In short, she was apparently after the same thing as them, again if she could be believed...
"We deduced which of the stations had failed and caused the quake, but those in the station had beamed away. We detected the matter stream being directed somewhere towards the vicinity of Dela IV..." she shrugged, "And we've started here, combining our mission with the decommissioning operation Dela IV have tasked us with. I can't be any more precise than that." She folded her arms and glared.
Unwin spoke, "It would seem the Guardians want to prevent you from decommissioning this station. Whoever has control of the biodroids (which, in the case of the two that were here before the ship beamed the others in, must be leftovers from the last war or installed shortly after its end) is trying to keep the idea of that war alive, start up hostilities again on the basis of these stations that seem to have been utilised in war time, going off how old a lot of the equipment around here seems to be."
"Also going by the dates on some of the documents," Karka added, frowning as he shifted his right limb slightly.
"What documents?" Klein snapped.
"Ones that could well have been used by staff of the fake power station you were apparently working with. On the floor above, down the hall from the hatchway that, now I'm afraid, is quite inaccessible. One of the droids is sitting above it, unless it's now moved in the short time I haven't been able to scan that hatchway."
Klein had become thoroughly uncooperative again. Unwin tried to provoke her by recalling what Klein had said to him and Dan as they'd chased her across the slopes of the volcano, anything to get an answer, "I presume Admiral Munroe still intends to profit from the war?" he smirked, knowing the Admiral was certainly dead, "Despite your insistence that you're working to avert war by assisting in the shutdown of this and other bases?"
"She's made a mistake, that's why I revealed her purpose. I've doubted her moral fibre ever since we started dealing with the Delians. The closer she looked the more convinced she became that she could exploit these peoples somehow. Studying their history, it seemed to her - and me - that a hypothetical new war seemed to be the easiest and best way..." Klein seemed to stare far off, shaking her head, "The point was it was supposed to remain hypothetical... Now, I can't believe, having somehow involved herself with the failure in the one power station, that she would've situated herself in Dela Ville knowing the quake was coming, and that it would devastate the capital... She must still be alive. Somewhere..."
"But we have her dead body in the Excalibur's morgue!" Unwin said.
Klein rose from the table and cast a weary glance at them, the irksome knowing smile returning, "Are you sure that's her body?" Karka became very still at the words. "Get your doctor to take a closer look." She strode from the room.
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Alyana Ryat
Commodore
Registered: Sept 5, 2007 16:34:56 GMT
Posts: 347
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Post by Alyana Ryat on Dec 29, 2016 19:56:42 GMT
OOC: Hope to are all having a great festive season and all the best for 2017.
Alyana had been very relieved when the landing party had reappeared on the sensors although mapping the complex they were exploring was still proving to be a challenge. When the notification of the other life signs in the area came through Aly notified her team as soon as possible, at least she thought the communication had gotten through whatever was making it hard to detect the landing party and map the complex was also causing issues with communications.
Tag: Karka
It seemed that the landing party had reached an area where communications were easier. The implications of what had been reported at and the further accusations against Admiral Munroe had meant that things were clearly more complicated than there had appeared (and they had appeared complicated enough). The Doctor had made token complaint but had agreed to perform a thorough examination of the Admiral's body. Aly wasn't sure whether it would be better if it turned out that it was Jane Munroe or if it turned out that it wasn't. In either case the results would be back soon.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Dec 30, 2016 17:46:20 GMT
Daniel had been siting quietly taking in everything that was being said, he knew Psonoir was skilled in questioning and was forcing Commander Klein to divulge more than she would have liked.
"...... She must still be alive. Somewhere ..." Klein said.
"But we have her dead body in the Excalibur's morgue!" Unwin said. Klein rose from the table and cast a weary glance at them, the irksome knowing smile returning:
"Are you sure that's her body ?" Karka became very still at the words. "Get your Doctor to take a closer look."
"What do you mean by that commander ?" Schirra asked neutrally, but Klein had decided she had said more than she should had had fallen silent. Dan moved away, motioning for Karka, Koni and Mark to join him out of earshot.
"What do you think ?" he asked.
"Hard to tell if she's being sincere, but there would be no benefit in trying to persuade us that whoever we have in the morgue isn't who we thought." Koni offered, glancing at the Commander, who seemed to be regarding them with a modicum of amusement, "If she's suddenly realising she's on the wrong side by pinning her loyalty to Admiral Munroe then she isn't doing herself or her sincerity any favours by clamming up on us."
"The other issue is a little more pressing ...." Mark Unwin said quietly, "She is obviously under the impression that she has us at her mercy, so to speak, while we are, hopefully, anything but ! ... Those devices they use to mute them from the 'droids attention are something we need, and quickly. I don't think threatening is going to get us anywhere. She has those two with her, but there is nothing to say she doesn't have access to more members of her staff."
"She avoided the issue of a means of escape." Koni reminded them.
"Yes, that is worrying me." Daniel admitted, "At this stage we will let her think she is in charge. To be honest, given her position I have the distinct feeling that she could probably overrule me and use her 'colleagues' to back it up, not worrying if she has her decision upheld or overturned later. My feelings, they either came down here by the same route that we did, and as such are as trapped as we are for the present. Or, they have a second route up to the surface. We need to find out which is correct." he said. turning to face the Commander.
"Given our situation, Commander ..." he stated her rank intentionally, "We have no option but to work together. If you have a means to the surface I want to take advantage of it ... Now !"
".... And if you reach the surface, what would your intentions be, may I ask, out of pure curiosity only, of course." she said, eyebrows raised.
"I will report to the Commodore. What happens from there is down to the Federation Council I assume."
"Then I cannot help you ...... You see, we too are, hindered by your earlier actions." Klein said, unconcerned as to whether her statement was believed or not, "So it seems you are stuck here until such time as we are capable of leaving."
"Then in that case, we will continue down." Dan said, beginning to move towards the door, but the business end of a phaser halted his progress. He looked from the young Officer to Klein, who seemed to have pasted a smile on her face, "You need to think very very carefully about what happens next, Commander Klein, because it could end your career and your continued liberty. Now, instruct the Lieutenant to lower his phaser and hand it over to Commander Psonoir immediately."
The Lieutenant was concentrating so hard on not wavering his aim that he didn't see Koni T'Seng inching in his direction. As the man looked down at the seated Klein, his fellow Officer doing likewise, she stepped forward and punched the man in the neck, dropping him like a stone to the carpet. She snatched his phaser from his grasp as he fell and swung it in the direction of the second Officer. Klein had watched her moving in her peripheral vision but had said nothing, waiting to see how the situation progressed. She had remained calmly seated as Koni told the other 'guard' to throw his own phaser towards Psonoir.
"Oh, I don't think so." Klein said, pushing the phaser she had taken from her tunic forward so there was no mistaking the intended target. Daniel could see the red flashing indicator signifying that it was set at its maximum output. Should she fire, he would vanish from existence in a stream of disconnected atoms ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Dec 31, 2016 21:46:45 GMT
Karka looked from Dan to Koni to Klein, and back to Dan, following the invisible line between the business end of the hitherto-concealed phaser to Dan's neck area. He hesitated, gathering strength within him and anticipating using his consciousness-acceleration ability which would allow him to experience events - but not to move - ten times faster than normal, and thus to perform mental calculations at the equivalent of ten times faster even if in his own reference frame the neurons fired at an identical rate to other apparent rest reference frames.
Karka's communicator chirped unexpectedly in his hand. He raised it gingerly, Klein glaring at him but seemingly not quite at the point of firing on the XO. He stared back at Klein and flipped open the comm,
=/\=Commander Schirra, Commander Psonoir, this is Excalibur. We're detecting three lifesigns in your immediate vicinity. Be vigilant, over,=/\= the voice whispered, clearly aware - yet not quite enough evidently - of the need to take precautions.
Given the absurdity of the message, Karka peered at the communicator in disbelief; Klein was almost imperceptibly shaking her head, thus giving her answer to Psonoir's unspoken question. Well, what could one reply to the ship with in any case? 'Thank you, Excalibur'?
He slapped the comm shut, and heard one more thing beamed to them through the two neutronium layers which he was sure the others hadn't been able to detect, muffled as it was by the closing aperture, =/\=And two more closing to within four metres -=/\= Two Klein henchmen were approaching it seemed.
He began his consciousness acceleration, the breaks applied to reality's turning wheel... He was of course still confined to his normal physical parameters, only able to move as fast as those around him, but it allowed him enough time to deduce that, in his sudden moving forward towards Klein, she would immediately discharge the phaser at Schirra (as she then did), but if he raised an arm towards the XO at the same time to push his head down and out of the way, able to do so with calm focus and clarity of thought given the new glacial pace of existence, then Klein's phaser beam would slide through the open door that splayed out onto darkness and - hopefully - strike one or both of the approaching Klein allies. This is what happened.
The headache set in from the long period of consciousness acceleration as he dived out the door with a phaser recovered from the first lieutenant. He was vaguely aware of Schirra advancing towards Klein, whose phaser the XO had kicked out of her hand, while T'Seng incapacitated the lieutenant she'd been aiming at before Klein had produced her own weapon. Psonoir shot the second newly-arrived henchman...
They'd now eliminated the four Klein helpers. More were surely in the area given the 20 lifesigns Karka had initially detected of them, and Klein had - once again - escaped them, disappearing into the shadows to perhaps return to haunt them again.
"I couldn't say so before," he said, reality digging in metaphysically around him and increasing its rate to that of normal experience, "But I overheard her talking to one of her people earlier about a subsidiary shaft that leads to the airless surface." The others gathered around in the mess room, "We could either search it out or continue down."
"A surface without air and us without EVA suits... How are we going to operate up there?" Unwin asked, partly rhetorically as he answered his own question immediately, "I suppose we'd only need to be up there for a fraction of a second, and then - if it can get a sure lock on us given the still nearby neutronium layer and its potential interference - the Excalibur could beam us up before we suffocate and/or have all the moisture robbed from our bodies."
"It's only a weak vacuum, there is a tenuous atmosphere... Completely poisonous of course," Karka observed, "But enough that we shouldn't experience the effects of vacuum exposure. Unless we're up there for too long." The difficulty would be finding the shaft in the first place, and then how to climb up the five levels.
Unwin didn't seem keen, "I'd still like to explore the lower three levels, those 15 metre-depth ones. It's possible - if this was the place those engineers and scientists were trained to operate the plate shifting technology - there is some of that technology down there. We've already linked the people who operated those - false - power stations (to shift the oceanic plate) to people who originally worked or learned at this facility... If we can show they were up to no good and using tech given to them by Dela IV, the authorities may know where to start looking for the ultimate perpetrators."
=/\=Away team, report... You should know that Queen Estel was kidnapped from the Excalibur and then returned to the ship 45 minutes later. She has no explanation of where she'd been taken, though Dela IV secret services were responsible, according to the Queen's aide.=/\=
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jan 10, 2017 15:09:32 GMT
"While I'm all for getting out of here before more of those things turn up ...." Daniel said, looking at each in turn before continuing, ".... I'm inclined to agree with Mark. We need to find out what they have down there and if possible relay that to the Excalibur. "We should inform the ship, there's no saying we'll have communications in the lower levels ?" Koni suggested, Dan agreed and told her to do just that. The decision made they looked for a means to the next lower level ..... Level Six :: Looking through the access hatch, they could see that the next level was in complete darkness. Tentatively they dropped to the floor ... "You would have thought this place had a means of lifting equipment in, and out." Unwin said, the sarcasm obvious. Dan had been thinking exactly the same at that moment as it was a given that not everything could be transported down here, which meant that as well as personal access, there had to be some sort of lifting equipment, big enough to move the heaviest items on the lower levels. They wasn't going to hang about on this level, one because it was in darkness, and something could be on top of they before they even knew it was there,but more importantly, the first of the 'high roofed' levels was directly below them. "Over here." T'Seng said, getting their attention. Everyone relocated close to her and she pointed. "What is that ?" Schirra asked, eyeing the rubbish-filled niche. "I saw one of these once, it's called a, erm, paternoster ... It's one of those open lifts that move continually, you step in or out at whatever level you need to. Each of the cubicles goes to the top and crosses over, dropping to the lowest point before moving back and rising, they do this continually. or until deactivated." she finished with a shrug. "Hardly large." Unwin said, peeking his head into the dusty contraption, "But if we can get some power to it it could save us hell of a lot of climbing, not to mention falling" He moved to the side, feeling along the wall for a panel, grinning as he found it. "We should get this stuff out or anything hanging over the lip will jam the mechanism." Koni said, pulling on a large file-type box, "Let's hope the others are not full of clutter, or we could find ourselves between levels with nowhere to go. I don't fancy having to dig our way out, do you ?" she asked, the others suddenly finding the urge to assist in clearing the two carriages. Unwin said he thought he had the control once they were ready, Dan said no time like the present and Mark hit the control ... The mechanism didn't move for a second and groaning could be heard far below somewhere, then the carriage moved upwards, the one beside it heading down. After a few seconds the thing got into a rhythm and ran almost silently, gliding up and down the shafts in a form of ballet. "So what do we do ?" Mark said as he watched the movement. "We step in, get to the next level and step out." Koni said. "OK, phasers ready, set on heavy stun ...." Dan said adjusting his settings before looking at the 'lift, "Karka and myself will go first, we will knock on the next carriage in line if the coast is clear, no signal, you stay up here and find an alternate route." He watched the carriage as it came into view above them, stepped to the rim and as the floors were almost level they stepped inside, immediately turning to face the open front as they dropped out of sight. Dan was expecting it to take a couple of seconds at most, but realised that this level was almost fifteen meters high, and the opening would be at floor level. steadying themselves they saw light below and the opening came into view. It was tricky trying to cover the enormous room 'and' watch for the floor coming up to meet them, given if they missed they would need to go all the way down, then back up ... Tapping Psonoir they stepped off and moved away from the rectangle of light as the carriage dropped away, an empty one replacing it, then another. Karka scanned the vast space, admittedly impressed at the shear size involved, then he nodded to Schirra. Dan waited for the next carriage and reached in, tapping his phaser of the wall panelling as it dropped past. He repeated this on the next one then stepped away to provide cover should it be needed. Level Seven :: Moments later Mark and Koni stepped off: "Let's try to avoid those thing shall we." Unwin said, glancing back at the equipment ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jan 24, 2017 15:44:05 GMT
"There's something curious." The doctor surveyed the deceased Admiral's vital readings again, paying particular attention to the body temperature, which she'd expect by now would be less than 30% of the optimum while the person was still living - instead, it was holding steady at about 65% of the optimum.
It was possible, she'd thought tentatively, that lasting heat could be generated by a wound that still held residue of some plasma weapon, or of a plasma discharge from a nearby ruptured power line, the Admiral being in close proximity to one at the time the building had collapsed. However, she'd discounted the theory when - aside from the scrape across her back, from which a surprising amount of blood had flowed - she'd found no wound of the type or of any kind on the body.
Since bringing Admiral Munroe back to sickbay from the morgue for a second autopsy, the doctor had found one other item of interest, one which obliterated the previous theories and which explained quite a lot, including what one of the away teams that'd been on Dela III had reported about a Munroe aide named Teresa Klein. Munroe, or whoever this was, despite cursory scans implying to the contrary, wasn't human. She was robotic.
A millimetre thick layer of pseudo-blood plasma, of a brighter red than that which was seen in normal haemoglobin-filled vessels, sat directly under the robot's epidermis. Something about the epidermis confused the sensory apparatus of tricorders and medical equipment, fooling the machines into thinking the body was flesh and blood.
It could surely not be believed that this robot was Munroe and had been all along, all through her service in Starfleet. The doctor's opinion - going from the working parts - was that this couldn't function as an actual replica; it was merely a sort of mannequin, expertly made of course, to convey the idea Munroe had been killed in the continent-spanning earthquake.
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jan 24, 2017 15:45:46 GMT
Finding himself wading through ankle and occasionally knee-high rubble and boxes, Karka arrived at a pillar standing in the midst of the room; one of many, he could see, fading away into the dark in all directions. A lever and button were present on the wall, he pressed it and there was a sound from far below of something shunting into place, a dull metallic clanging resounding and making the floor vibrate: hitherto unseen lights came up.
He saw the others standing about the room amidst heaps and heaps of junk - not exactly the high-tech machinery the science officer had expected to see - set at about 15 metre intervals from each other. Thus it was difficult to easily and quickly reunite with one of them when the clanging sound - similar to the lights going up, if not exactly the same - clapped from through the far wall near the moving lifts.
A screeching, tearing came from the paternoster that'd just passed the opening on its way down - it was evidently coming loose from the mechanism propagating it round the circuit... Spars of metal, just now shorn loose came flying through the aperture, Karka ducking and covering his head as they shot past him, and the screeching stopped. They heard what could only be described as a grunt, something fluid, wet, living...
"Is there an emergency stop?!" Unwin had approached the edge tentatively, eyes tracking secondary paternostres making their way down where their inanimate colleague had blocked up the shaft.
"These don't stop, ever," Koni remarked.
"Unless there's an accident." More came piling down and soon the shaft was completely blocked... If they wanted to explore further - not that they'd want to now seeing as the something they'd apparently woken (by activating the generator to turn the lights on; perhaps it'd been lying in the turbine) was sitting in the shaft below them near the destroyed cubicle - ... if they did want to explore further they'd have to find another way down.
Karka began backing away as the wall dividing the room from the lift shaft bulged outwards, the reinforced concrete buckling under the strain, the pressure buildup of the several paternoster cubicles and the creature - or whatever it was - in the shaft. "It's integrity is weakening," he reported his tricorder results, "A hole is going to be formed in that wall any moment now. And whatever's growling in there, it looks to me from these scans it's the product of genetic engineering, similar biochemicals to those used in the globular biodroids a couple floors above. "
The readings were implying something additionally, "There was a transport a few minutes ago. The 'creature' was beamed in..."
"Both it and the bidroids coming from the Dela IV ship?"
"It seems that is so. Ah! Reading lifesigns. Humans and Delians, riding one of the cubicles coming down now." It could well be Klein, Karka thought. "Commander, instructions," he asked.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jan 26, 2017 15:00:13 GMT
The readings were implying something additionally, "There was a transport a few minutes ago. The 'creature' was beamed in ..."
"Both it and the bidroids coming from the Dela IV ship?"
"It seems that is so. Ah! Reading life-signs. Humans and Delians, riding one of the cubicles coming down now." It could well be Klein, Karka thought. "Commander, instructions ?" he asked.
"Let's put some distance between that shaft, what's coming through the wall, and ourselves." Dan said, looking around the dimly-lit area pointing off into the distance, "That way. If it is any of our people we'll find them later, but whatever that thing is it isn't here to help." the group began running through the flotsam of boxes and crates until they found cover. Finally the wall gave way and the 'thing' came tumbling into sight. It was a much bigger version of the droids they had faced earlier, and from the look of the thing it was much more capable of defending itself, as well as dealing out more.
Surprisingly, it clambered to whatever it used as feet, then remained motionless ...
"That's Riley !" Koni whispered astonished at seeing Admiral Munroe's Aide, "Commander Schirra, Lieutenant Riley, he's with two of the Delian's, and I'm prettycertain one of them is Hev'ti, one of the Dela III Scientists !" they watched at the man spoke, too far away to be overheard, but it seemed they were concerned with something other than finding the intruders. Riley was pointing vigorously at a PADD while the Delian's looked on, he motioned to the surface several times before seemingly pointing directly at Schirra's group. Everyone held their breaths for a minute before Riley continued his tirade. he pointed again in their direction before walking out of view ... The 'creature' remained, impassively immobile.
"What now ?" Koni asked. But Daniel wasn't looking at the creature, he was facing in the opposite direction, the direction indicated by Lieutenant Riley:
"We go that way." he said quietly. Keeping low he began to move in the indicated direction, the others following suit. They had moved approximately one hundred meters when they came up against a massive bulkhead, in the gloom they almost walked right into it. Looking back, they could see the creature, still rooted to the spot, there was no sign of Riley and the others, which meant they were still on this level, somewhere, or had another means to move through individual levels. Either way they couldn't speculate. With the Excalibur out of contact they were on their own ... Cautiously moving along the massive barrier, they tentatively searched for a means to pass through. Finally Mark Unwin got their attention. He had found a manual door. Everyone joined him and with a glance back at the still statuesque creature, Dan instructed him to try it:
Passing through the five meter deep passage, they emerged in a duplicate cavernous void, this one though was far from cluttered, in fact it was well-lit and almost surgically pristine. Approximately every fifty meters, massive equipment sat on large anti-grav pallets. it was impossible to ascertain what each piece was for without extensive research. They began to move through the underground cavern, Unwin scanning each piece of equipment as they passed. They had reached the sixth pallet when the Chief Engineer stopped dead in his tracks, eyes glued to his Tricorder.
"Commander ?" Daniel said, approaching him.
"I can't be one hundred percent certain without seeing the original schematics, but ...."
"But what ?" T'Seng asked impatiently.
"If these readings are correct, this is a weapon." The others walked over to the closest pallet, eyeing it with curiosity, but they didn't fully realise what the Engineer was saying and queried how he knew this was a weapon but couldn't figure out the previously checked pallets, "No, your not understanding me Commander. This is a weapon, 'ALL of IT' ... These are all sections of one massive orbital weapon !" ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jan 27, 2017 21:43:15 GMT
How is it launched? Karka thought. He surveyed the nearest pallets, formulating the idea that the weapon was all in pieces and that wherever, or however, the segments were assembled, it couldn't possibly be in this room. Despite the cavernous dimensions of the place, there was not enough space to lift sufficient numbers of the pallets' contents to be able to put it all together.
"If we could find a schemat- ... Ah." Karka was faced with a glowing wall panel piercing a luminous rectangle into the half-light. It showed a rotating wireframe graphic of, presumably, the prospective weapon - roughly conical in shape, and with a cuboid superstructure emerging from the wider end, extending to twice the diameter of the cone at its exit point, thus shaped something like the following:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ----= = = =---- -------= =------ ---------=-------
According to the information scrolling rapidly down the sides of the screen, the weapon consisted of modules electromagnetically linked to one another once they were in a zero-gravity vacuum. It seemed the pallets behind him, arrayed through the vast subterranean cave, contained a fifth of one module, in most cases, and for the power core, a fifteenth of one module - presumably there was some way to beam them out.
"It fires a type of subspace shearing burst..." he inhaled audibly, eyes widening, "I've heard about these. They don't create a tear in subspace; they rely on an already open hole in subspace, and annihilate particles within the tear itself, ripping apart the fabric to create a hole within a hole, if you follow me."
"First, though, it interacts with the basic molecules in living tissue, on a very large scale," Unwin put in; evidently he'd heard about this type of weapon, too, "Take a sample the size of a planet. It rends cellular tissue, destabilises the biomatter across the whole planet's surface... Secondary effects are known to involve earthquakes, for reasons still puzzling to geodesists, seismologists, subspace scientists..."
Karka nodded, "Seismic activity combined with the destruction of matter at the sub-cellular level causes an interaction with subspace tetryons, creating an 'already-existing' hole, bringing it from a suspended past, a temporal notion of a past that can never be present unless tetryons become involved. Then - once everything on the planet containing biological tissue has been pulverised - the world's physical form begins to lose cohesion, being distorted across lightyears -"
Unwin interjected, "Before being shot through the hole in subspace and puncturing its fabric. Creating the hole within the hole."
They couldn't have known that the seismological effects may have been due to this curious and horrifying form of planetary destruction. Perhaps the continent-spanning quake had in fact involved a test of a smaller - and already assembled - version of the unconstructed weapon lying behind them, on a low setting or without the facility to annihilate living tissue.
"Perhaps it's an experiment, just to see if they - Dela III or IV, or whoever else - can, and using a planet they don't care about - Dela III, or IV." As Psonoir spoke his tricorder started beeping; he twisted it about him and turned a dial, "Detecting Riley's team in the next chamber over; it seems they passed within a blind spot for a while." It turned out there were six chambers, they being in the second one and Riley in the third, the rooms together forming a hexagon around a central group of four shafts containing two circuits of paternostres, one of which was broken. What had happened to the others? he thought, those who'd been trying to get down just after Karka had detected the creature. They didn't have to wait long to discover this.
"Commander!!" They ducked behind the nearest pallet, Karka groaning: Klein. "You were right about Munroe. My people on the Excalibur tell me your doctor's discovered the Admiral's body is a fake."
Her people? Spies? Psonoir was registering a great hollow space beneath them, something that, when he decreased the sensor resolution to improve range, was revealed to be the rough shape of the weapon when fully deployed, passing through the two deep floors beneath them and in well into the moon's crust - would the subspace weapon nestle in there once fully constructed?
"It would be best to surrender yourself now, or I will fire at the module component you're using as cover." Shockingly, Klein did as threatened. There was an electric zap and the module became warm to the touch. Was she mad? Desperate at least, it seemed she was being pursued by their growling, formerly-immobile friend, perhaps she really wanted their help.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Feb 5, 2017 14:46:44 GMT
"So, this weapon could target any world or civilisation, and eradicate it thoroughly without even moving !" Koni asked sceptically.
"Well, it would need to be in open space. The smaller version could be used from within these confines, but to go at something light-years distant, it would need be be completely isolated from all gravitational influence I think." Unwin said. They were about to continue the discussion when they were interrupted:
"Commander ... You were right about Munroe." it was Teresa Klein, she had somehow managed to catch up with them via an alternate route "My people on the Excalibur tell me your Doctor's discovered the Admiral's body is a fake ... It would be best to surrender yourself now, or I will fire at the module component you're using as cover." they stared at the section that had been hit incredulously, she must know that one wrongly placed hit could destroy the whole facility !
"Why do you need our surrender Commander ?" Daniel shouted back.
"Oh, I don't require it, you must have discovered what is down here by now, and what could happen should this be allowed into orbit ?"
"It's obvious that you don't value your own life very highly Commander Klein, otherwise you wouldn't be trying to end it so spectacularly." Dan said as he pointed to Mark Unwin and Karka to move around to their right, he and Koni would go left. He wasn't sure how many others Klein had with her, but it was essential they put distance between them and the still warm section of the weapon. He was going to continue conversing with Klein when Koni whispered something:
"Do you think she knows about the lower levels ?"
Daniel stopped, he realised that all the while Klein hadn't actually mentioned anything about another level, nor had she threatened them with the creatures, was it possible that she and her henchmen were also being hunted ?
A second beam of light slammed into the section of the weapon they had previously been leaning against, it was glowing a menacing red now and it was highly likely that it would not withstand a third. They needed to stop Klein and quickly ! ... If she was intent on killing them all she would have simply continued firing, so she was clearly playing a very dangerous game. She wanted the Excalibur Officers, but to what end, to use them as a bargaining tool, to enlist their help ?
He could see Unwin now, approximately thirty meters away on the other side of the central walkway, Karka was beside him and pointed to their left before holding up three fingers, which Daniel took to mean there were three in total, Klein and two others. Dan pointed towards where their tormentor was and began to move up.
"It is of no use to remain silent Commander, you have no other option but to show yourself, I will not hesitate to fire a third time on that piece of rather warm equipment you are cowering behind. It must be getting, uncomfortable."
Dan could see the man to Klein's left ... He was holding a phaser but his arm was by his side, and he was looking extremely uncomfortable. Unwin and Psonoir were ready now so Dan looked around for something suitable. As if reading his thoughts, Koni handed him a length of pipe. He hefted it in his hands, heavy but ideal for purpose. He nodded to Unwin and then began to inch towards the guard on his side ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Feb 7, 2017 8:20:05 GMT
Above in orbit of the moon, high above that of the Excalibur, the cloaked hired mercenary ship circled like a vulture, waiting to pick over the remains of those it's consigned to the pit on the satellite. Admiral Munroe's remaining staff and selection of separatists from both governments lay within, constantly reassuring themselves that they went undetected, hovering just below the threshold energy for tachyon detection - the cloak borrowed from the Klingons was functioning well.
The warlord had decided she'd drive them - the officers from the Excalibur, her own former aide and associates, and whoever else down there who was still loyal to the planetary governments - deep underground in the abandoned station so they'd never be able to escape, combined together in a crucible consigned to hell. So busy with these preparations and avoiding detection was she, she didn't take the time to intensively scan the moon, where she'd have realised the weapon she was searching for was ensconced within... Her former subordinate Commander Klein had now incidentally learned of it and purposed to destroy it, even if it meant destroying herself.
As Riley entered the room unnoticed, Karka edged his way closer to the man on Klein's left. If they achieved the sought after surprise, the man would have to deal with both him and Unwin - with the equivalent odds in the contest the other side of Klein - and the presumably former Munroe aide would be isolated.
The science officer leapt forward, initiating a momentary burst of the almost requisite conscious acceleration to give him effectively a few extra seconds to evaluate his opponent's position and the array of counter-moves he may make...
He retracted the burst; Karka decelerated through the conscious-gradations, the usual distortion in his hearing rippling about him as well as a shunting sensation as of a seagoing vessel being drawn up onto drydock. He pulled back to learn what'd happened: the man was still standing, Unwin had reached him first and by missing with a swung fist, allowed the man a chance to recoup.
Unwin was floored after two blows to the face, faded red in the dire lighting flying from his jaw. He groaned and slammed into a pallet, knocking its module over in fact, and crumpled to the floor. The science officer now found himself in a one-on-one duel, not always his favourite of scenarios; he stepped round the man and tried to grapple with him as he overextended in a lunge with his bloodied fist, before taking up the fallen phaser of the man and risking successfully a shot into his abdomen (pallets loomed behind, threatening on account of their volatility).
Psonoir turned after felling his foe to see Schirra just now delivering a two handed strike to the other Klein guard's back, Klein backing away with a phaser... "Don't make me do it," she snapped at them, "Don't make me kill you."
"How did you know about this place?" Karka asked, stepping forward, phaser in hand. T'Seng had stepped back to see to the semi-conscious, concussed Unwin, who'd dragged himself groggily to survey the fallen module but could only succeed in tapping at it with a palm, 'are you alright?' he asked it.
"This facility was decommissioned years ago, shortly after the last war between III and IV," Klein said. She went onto explain she'd been searching for the weapon as part of Munroe's team for the last 8 months, very reluctantly, having formerly been conducting normal duties in line with Starfleet policy in the system, until Munroe decided she wanted to exploit the two planets on her own basis, individually rather than collectively, as skeptical locals may have seen the matter. Such a thing was way beyond Klein's brief, a fact she didn't hesitate to remind her 'colleagues' of from time to time, not always wryly.
"Now you've found it... You want to destroy it before she can find out about it. That makes sense," Karka admitted. There were several unearthly howls and screechings of claw against metal, far off in the shadowy corridors of the pallets. Several of the modules lost their EM suspension and went crashing to the floor. "More quadripedal friends sent by the Admiral?"
Klein nodded, "I think she means to trap us down here, indefinitely." Gingerly, she lowered her phaser.
<Tag Schirra>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Feb 12, 2017 12:15:01 GMT
As the guards rose tentatively to their feet, covered by Unwin and T'Seng, Daniel approached Teresa Klein and took her phaser from her. He handed it to Karka then asked Klein to sit on one of the nearby pallets, the sound or rupturing metal ever-present as he sat opposite.
"I have to admit, I am curious, Commander, as to why you think we should suddenly trust you ?" Dan commented.
"I don't think you have many options open to you, but that said, I 'am' down here with you all, I did just surrender my weapon to you, and my, personnel are completely compliant. Had I wished to be rid of you Commander, we wouldn't be having this conversation, I assure you of that." Klein said, further instructing her 'personnel' to sit on the floor and make no trouble, "I knew what Munroe was up to, yes, and at first her ideals and reasoning seemed sound, we would 'acquire' the technology for Federation use, but then things began to change ... Her goals as she called them, differed minutely at first, but eventually I realised, albeit with no proof, that she had made alliances outside the Federation, and that was where my loyalty reached it's limit."
"Outside the Federation ?" Koni repeated.
"There is no point in asking, young lady, I have no knowledge of who this 'third party' is, or where they originate from. All I know is Munroe disappeared on occasions, not enough to raise suspicion at first, and always under the guise of Federation business, but then it became a regular thing. She would enter her office, exiting an hour later."
"What makes you think she was meeting someone in there ?" Koni pushed.
"She wasn't ....." Klein said, seeing everyone's impatience, "I needed to see her urgently one afternoon. I went to her office and knocked, there was no answer so I entered, thinking something could be wrong given I'd seen her enter only ten minutes earlier. She was nowhere to be seen. I returned to my own office opposite and left the door ajar, forty five minutes later she came out." Klein finished with a shrug.
"She was transporting out !" Dan said disbelievingly.
"Well she wasn't in the filing cabinet."
"So who the hell has technology to transport undetected ?" Koni asked, Mark Unwin said several races were working in the tech' but as far as he was aware every transport left 'some' residual evidence behind. There was a massive slashing of metal well behind them and the sound of equipment being roughly thrown aside. The quadrupedal beasts had broken through ! ... Klein stood, her men following suit. Koni and Karka had relaxed their stances but now spun their phasers to cover them. Daniel had them lower their phasers, if they couldn't trust each other now then the whole group were in trouble.
"Our original way out was back that way, but I think there's another shaft, disused, in the next chamber. Give Bale a phaser, he'll stay behind us and fire at the quad' as it comes after us .... Don't worry, his emitter will protect him." she said, reaching into her tunic and furnishing each of them with their own. They began to run through the pallets, hearing the crashing getting ever nearer, then phaser-fire, once twice, a third time, the quad, gave an unearthly screech as it was hit, the bio-mechanical thing turning it's attentions on Bale. They continued to run but stopped dead in their tracks as the haunting sound of Bale screaming in agony for several seconds before falling quiet:
"She's deactivated the emitters !" Klein said, taking her's from her sleeve and dropping it to the floor.
They continued to run, the bio-mechanical quad' now renewing it's pursuit ... Finding the shaft Klein entered the code to bring the large transportation platform ... It took endless seconds for it to arrive, all the while crates were being strewn and thrown aside in the beasts' chase of them. Finally, the doors slid aside and they threw themselves inside. The doors closed as Klein entered the code for the surface facility as a claw-like appendage thrust through the door, a second following. Still the platform remained stationary.
"Now would be nice Commander." Koni said, eyeing the talon with unease. Unwin leaned against the door beside the claws and placed his phaser against the first before firing. The appendage vanished from existence instantly and he did likewise to the second. The stumps retreated from their fissures the quad smashing anything close in obvious frustration before renewing it's attack.
"We have to go down." Klein said quietly.
"You said this was the only other way out." Daniel said.
"It's go down. or stay put." the woman said almost matter-of-factly as she nodded towards the doors ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Feb 12, 2017 18:33:25 GMT
"We can't go up?" Karka asked stupidly.
Klein shrugged, "Once we reach the lowest level, the platform may be able to actuate itself upwards through the corresponding shaft, but if it can't do it here, I don't see why it'd be different in the other shaft." All this said very calmly while hell was being raised by the remaining quadrupeds outside the lift.
Psonoir winced every time he heard a module lose its EM suspension and crash to the floor - for all this tough decision-making, their fate may well be decided by the detonation of a subspace weapon; it would be absurd, almost comic, for the entire moon and likely a substantial chunk of Dela IV would be wiped out.
With no other choice, they proceeded down towards level 8. The platform moved unsteadily, lowering worryingly in one corner now and then - as if it was about to flip over and send them plummeting down the dark shaft. They'd resolved to ride all the way to the bottom, in the desperate hope the platform would then shoot up the other side. Just after the aperture to level 8 passed them - approximately half of it now having disappeared above - the lift jammed. Attempts to get it working again were to no avail; cursing, they pulled themselves up out of the cubicle and onto the eighth level. What confronted them was puzzling, and as they'd find out in a moment, maddening.
They were in a room of moderate size and normal-heighted ceiling, perhaps only a sixth of the height of the whole floor in general (as they knew from orbital surveys, this was the middle of the three deepest rooms of 15m height).
"His name's Alighieri," a voice whispered in his mind, mischievously. Lirwa. It's been too long, Karka thought. What happened to you my friend? he said back to him internally. "They put me in an institution. I caused a civil war and consorted with the usurper of the English throne. Not an usurper technically, Cromwell, but close enough." Karka sighed; he was frequently bored by Lirwa's obsession with all things pre-21st century Earth. "Then I was caught giving archive technology to Charles and was captured by Xetleti, who after a short test classified me insane." Yes, yes, Karka glowered visibly. "Anyway, I can see the designers of that little base you're stuck in had a sense of humour. Don't worry - I'm working on them now... your timeline will change, I'll install another elevator shaft, one not relying on antiquated tech." Karka thanked him, knowing not to ask 'when' he could expect a change - once Lirwa had influenced the designers, it will already have happened.
They walked through the room and entered a much larger one: high tech machinery of the type they'd expected to find on level 7 was here on level 8 - as Schirra had theorised. And not just modules suspended on EM lifting pallets, but a partially, perhaps nearly, completed core of the subspace shearing weapon dominated the huge room, a scarlet dish that looked as if modelled on the Constitution's nav deflector forming the weapon's centrepiece. Surrounding this 12 metre high structure were numerous small stations and workbenches; Karka noticed that the tech was much the same as that which he'd found in the 'hydroelectric power plant' on the Dela III volcanic island.
They started towards the machinery, looking for a way to disable it and/or make it useless, so that - if they did fail to escape from the trap Munroe had made for them - the Admiral would at least never get use of her doomsday weapon. They were suddenly paralysed by blinding, searing white-yellow light.
Karka opened his mouth to scream but found himself unable; he dared to open his eyes against the light; after the initial invasion he picked out the others, Schirra, T'Seng, the still concussed Unwin, Klein and her remaining guard Mallory, standing around and much farther distant from him than a few moments ago, holding hands to ears, petrified in silent screams; the strange illumination overwhelmed and seemed to make their forms shrink.
The science officer tried to identify the source of the light, and of the torturous buzzing that besieged his senses, but he couldn't: it emanated from all around, blotted out all the features of the room - had they been transported, slipped through a gap in a shield? The light penetrated all of them, froze them in place, limbs splayed, the shrieking and buzzing of whatever it was the light consisted of was omnipresent, maddening. Quite some protective barrier, he thought, wondering if Lirwa had made a mistake, a colossal one. "Not me," the fellow Hybrudean said in his head.
He made steps to move towards the closest person, Schirra, the XO doing the same and struggling with every move - whatever held them in place, it felt like being delivered a continuous electric shock. Through it all, they could hear noises, voices, from the direction of the weapon.
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