Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Nov 28, 2018 19:42:14 GMT
Mission: Quartal Harmony
Synopsis:
During standard deep space reconnaissance, the Excalibur is mysteriously whisked away, vanishing from the depths of space at warp speed. Elsewhere in spacetime, three other vessels suffer similar fates.
The Excalibur's sensors begin returning some very unexpected readings... The crew find they are in orbit of a planet around a star not recognised by any existing star-chart. When they look to the surrounding space, they don't recognise any existing star or constellation. The only thing that does seem vaguely familiar is the planet itself, but it is a world of temporal anarchy...
As they scan from their geostationary position, they find that the planet below them is divided into four temporal zones, one per half-hemisphere, all playing out a stage of planet Earth's history... Things become even stranger when they realise they're not the only Earth/Federation presence about the planet. Three other vessels, whose names bear a curious resemblance or linkage to the Excalibur's own, are also floating in orbit, two of them known but whose presence is unlikely, one completely unknown...
Bewildered by this turn of events, the crew are unprepared for the scream of the machine, originating from the meridian line of the planet's surface, it having learnt of the arrival of those it has drawn into its web. And with the first task failures people begin to disappear, only to arrive back declaring their resurrection.
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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 28, 2018 19:42:53 GMT
Karka smiled as he viewed the Excalibur from the departure lounge, the ship's angular yet somehow graceful lines eclipsing the rest of the Spacedock's interior - he'd been too long away, all of them had since they were given two month's leave following the return from Syphax's system.
He'd attended the memorial service for the Belfast crew, both those who'd remained loyal and those who'd espoused the Klingon-Trill's cause, following which they'd been given their leave, and he'd returned first to San Francisco and the deserted pad at Ashbury Heights, before making for France and the property of the deceased Science officer whose mind he'd inhabited during the sojourn in Whalspace.
Tea in the front room with the mother, elm and palm trees out the front with a view of the distant shore and jetty with its antiquated marine facilities. Tropical spring rain, rejuvenation, plant-life with a crackle breaking through the soil - he'd taken a breath and felt the warmth of originary impulses flow through him. Repaired in spirit and mind, he wished the poor parents of the deceased well and he'd returned to the 27th century and Hybrudean space. Things suffice to say were not going so well there...
Lirwa had disappeared, the Raiders were growing ever more bold, now joined by the Reavers and their strange albino brethren (descendants of the Andorians? Hmm, perhaps). He chose to remain in the 23rd century a while longer yet, remaining on the same world line and deciding that it was not yet time for this particular history of Karka Psonoir to close... His temporal doubles were scattered throughout time and space, he had seen a number of them and they were - somewhat surprisingly - faring much worse; running into their counterpart was hardly going to help them disentangle their respective world lines and allow them to return to the collective project of breaking the 29th century barrier, finally allow the Standing Wave to propagate with effective non-zero values into that great, red-shifted unknown...
The Excalibur was now well on its way in its deep space recon, two fifths of the assignment complete and 19 new inhabited star systems catalogued. Three of them had expressed interest in engaging with, perhaps eventually joining the Federation. It would be an assignment well completed if they could secure one of them - two may give them yet another extended leave period, but somehow Karka wished that another mission would follow closely on the current one: left with too much time to contemplate the situation in his spatial and temporal homeland may cause him to agonise over and forsake both home and his odd Starfleet career.
He thought all this peering into the cerulean blue of the science scope on starboard side of the Excal's bridge. The critical moment in the current phase of the exploration was approaching, the observation of a very rare class of variable star undergoing one of its crucial moments of evolution. Schirra had told them to be on the alert, also wishing the crew to exercise its discipline, with concerns not so much over recent laxity in decorum (as reported by Command) but over the many green recruits they'd received this time at Spacedock.
The turbolift door scudded open and Karka glanced up, before straightening and calling out, "Captain on the bridge!"
The greens all stood, Karka observing their discipline to his satisfaction as Schirra entered. "Approaching variable star at warp 4, sir, any slower and we may disrupt this critical evolutionary process, if we wish to pass by it as close as possible and have returned to us optimal data."
He returned to the science display as Schirra sat in the centre seat. They all watched their sensors and displays. One moment the variable star was there, then it was not, apparently ceasing to exist.
The lights flickered back on after a moment. "Report," Schirra said.
"No explanation as of yet, sir," Karka said, blinking and regarding the odd sight of whirling stars on the viewscreen as the deck plates, the chairs, consoles started vibrating violently around them. With droll humour Schirra repeated his query.
"We've dropped out of warp!" helm reported, "Just like that, no warning, no deceleration process..." Such an exit from warp space could prove fatal, Karka knew. "Structural integrity is on the verge of collapsing, sir..." helm continued, "If this strain continues we won't hold out, the hull will buckle. 5 revolutions per second."
"We're in a lateral spin," Karka confirmed, "Sudden collapse of the warp bubble and going by long range sensors and attempted star-fixes we've suffered a major spatial dislocation. No explanation," he repeated to his frustration. A planet was coming up before them, visible on the screen every fifth of a second. Despite the contortions the ship was going through they were somehow slotting into a high orbit.
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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 2, 2018 13:20:20 GMT
Two months earlier :: "This isn't a suggestion, Captain." Admiral Konig said as he strolled around his office overlooking San Francisco Bay, "The Excalibur is going to need extensive repair and refit, there's no point in any of you being here during that time." "Admiral, my Chie ...." "Your Executive Officer, Chief Engineer and the rest of the crew have all been informed of their extended leave ..... Daniel, you need this, all of you. You more than anyone know the toll the last mission took on you ..... Look the Corps of Engineers can do the majority of the work, Science will calibrate the new systems, the hull plating and new shields can be done without you being on site. I'll even have the window on the Bridge cleaned, unless of course you have someone in mind for that task too ?" Daniel couldn't help grin. Konig was his superior, but they were also life-long friends. "Any other 'CO' would have sped out of this office before I could change my mind." the Admiral said, placing a glass before Schirra, the golden liquid almost mesmerising as he took the glass, "Enjoy that, it's the last bottle." "I could stay aboa ....." "Two months Captain. If I see or hear you have been anywhere near the Excalibur I'll ground you in a heartbeat." Konig said, downing the amber liquid appreciatively. Daniel had little option but to do likewise, "Come over for dinner, Sophie will be glad to see you. Tomorrow, eighteen hundred, then you get the hell out of dodge." .......... Beta Quartalii System SD: 2264.1201 :: Cataloguing the Star Systems this far out was something Daniel deemed less than productive for the Federations Flagship, but then they were 'technically' a ship of exploration, so he didn't really have anything to gripe about. The ship had almost thirty percent new crew, something else he wasn't too happy about, but 'needs must' as Admiral Konig had commented. The only comfort was the fact that he had retained the majority of his Senior Staff ... Leaving his quarters he headed for the Bridge, entering to a rush of almost raw Officers jumping to their feet. "Captain on the Bridge." Psonoir stated. He would have to make sure Karka instructed the crew to be less 'formal' during active duty, there was a time and place he thought, though not many other Commanding Officers' shared that opinion, feeling it allowed for laxity, whereas Daniel knew it helped his Officers to react better when required. "As you were." Daniel said waving a hand as he approached his Executive Officer. "Approaching variable star at warp four Sir, any slower and we may disrupt this critical evolutionary process, if we wish to pass by it as close as possible and have returned to us optimal data." The next minutes passed very quickly as the Excalibur experienced numerous failures, notably the fact they had suddenly dropped from warp. Dan was making a mental note to throttle the myriad of Engineers who had worked on the fleets Flagship. The ship was now in a lateral spin, the inertial dampers struggling to maintain equilibrium as Officers began to lean in to the rotation to keep from falling. "..... is on the verge of collapsing Sir ..." Lieutenant Reneus said from the Helm, "If this strain continues we won't hold out, the hull will buckle. Five revolutions per second." "We're in a lateral spin." Karka confirmed, "Sudden collapse of the warp bubble and going by long range sensors and attempted star-fixes we've suffered a major spatial dislocation. No explanation." "Emergency thrusters !" Schirra ordered. "Sir, the ship is slowing, we are approaching the planet below, Sir, our current trajectory will put us in high possibly geostationary orbit." John Reneus said, a puzzled expression crossing his face. "Well done lieutenant." Karka commented. "Not my doing Commander." Reneus said with a shrug. They waited long moments as the rotation was slowed then halted, the Excalibur's attitude altering fractionally until stable, everyone on the Bridge watched as the planet stemmed it's headlong rush towards them until finally appearing stationary in respect of the massive Starship. "Well .... That was an, unorthodox approach." Koni T'Seng said from Tactical. No one disputed the comment. "Sir, getting damage reports ... Shields and weapons are off-line, as are long-range sensors. Reports of injuries throughout the ship." Operations Chief Lieutenant Wentworth informed Daniel and Karka. "Get Engineering and medical on it." the Exec' instructed as he moved to the panoramic 'window' ... Schirra was already there, looking down on the seemingly innocent planet below, "Helm, where are we ?" "Unknown Commander, computers don't recognise any of the Stars, we may have more luck when long-range sensors are back on-line. Sir, we passed through, something. Have we been here before ? ...." "Concentrate on the planet, full sensor sweep." Schirra ordered. "Sir, there appears to be at least four distinct temporal zones, each differing from it's neighbour." the Duty Science Officer said as Karka moved to check her findings. "Adjust our orbit, lets get full scans." Karka instructed Reneus, but the Helm Officer turned to face them: "Sir, we seem to be held in our current position." "Held, tractor beam ?" Schirra asked, turning away from the view. "Unknown, sensors are not detecting anything holding us." T'Seng said. "Great." Daniel said, dropping into the center seat, "Make sen .... "Sir, I'm not sure given our sensor issues, but I could have sworn I detected at least one other vessel in orbit, possibly more." T'Seng suddenly interrupted. "Hail them !" "Nothing Captain." the Comms Officer reported. "Make sensors a priority, we need to know where we are and who, if anyone, those other vessels belong to." Daniel said, knowing his crew, regardless of their time aboard the Excalibur, would do to the best of their abilities ..........
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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 5, 2018 21:41:07 GMT
Several hours had passed with the Excal seemingly locked in place over a segment of the planet on which a myriad of fascinating if slightly disconcerting things were taking place... all of them familiar, particularly to the human crew aboard. Karka had never gone back that far; that was always Lirwa's domain, fighting and dying for a people Karka believed to be called Frenchmen in dynastic conflicts of Old Earth.
The rest of the quadrant of the planet below them seemed to correspond in almost every parameter - with a few small differences yet to be explained - to that zone of conflict in the far west of the Eurasian landmass, particularly in terms of its temporal coordinates. They'd fixed the year as being approximately 1423. What the temporal conditions in the other planetary quadrants were was as yet unknown.
An alert signal whined from beside Karka, who stood next to his science deputy at her console. He felt he may be intimidating the officer, recently promoted, by his presence and proximity, but she - like the new recruits - would soon learn to cope with their new responsibilities. "Long-range sensors back online, too," she said, flipping switches.
"Speak up," he encouraged with a smile, then turned round, "Long range sensors are back online, Captain. Taking readings now." Together, with Karka at the adjacent station, they completed the brief but reasonably thorough astronomical survey, "No recognised stars, constellations... or even galactic structures, sir."
His deputy spoke, "The computer is continuing attempts to build constellations by extrapolating new configurations based upon probable distances and directions traversed by the Excalibur... It's getting surprisingly far in the analysis, each time. Well, I would surmise we're outside the current bounds of our observable universe..."
"The universe is infinite, correct? How are we meant to get back?"
"Unknown on both counts," Karka said, "But given the computer's efforts we may only be a few parsecs from the edge of the observable universe as viewed from Sol, in which case if we knew which direction to travel and to aim our scanners, we could soon locate Sol, Vulcan, the Delbrune planet, distantly redshifted and... quite out of reach, admittedly, but it would affirm at least we're in recognisable, if remote territory."
"Right, and the ships we thought we detected?"
T'Seng spoke, "Its signal remains intermittent but I believe I am detecting a ship, or object of sorts out there."
"Biosignatures," Karka declared, the renewed short range scanners being aimed towards the coordinates T'Seng fed through to the science console, "Approximately 65 of them. Reading oxidised iron, basic hydrocarbons..." He frowned, "The sensors are having difficulty penetrating the surrounding space, almost as if we're moving through some sort of aether, an interplanetary medium jamming our instruments..."
It soon became known to them that these 65 lifeforms - detected on the object 90° ahead of them in orbit - were human.
On the meridian line the machine in its fearsome construct emitted a cold shriek, its emanation encompassing the entire EM spectrum and saturating for a moment all the Excalibur's screens. Sparks flew in the construct, fizzled and died; its scream degenerated to laughter. The proxy intelligence, perched atop its dais within the construct, knew the Excalibur had discovered its kindred and that its crew would likely wish to move closer to the old boat, and therefore it hastened them into the game. Still it retained the impenetrable spherical barrier, 400 million km across, round the whole star system.
Reneus sighed, "Captain, I have attitude control. Impulse, too," he confirmed. Karka turned to the viewscreen; were they dealing with a stranded explorer starship? (albeit over what was apparently 'Siberia'). At one third impulse power they rounded the planet towards the ship/object, hailing continuously. They were soon aware of another ship far behind them, something much larger.
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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 3, 2019 17:11:23 GMT
The Excalibur had been relatively speaking, stationary, for almost six hours as the crew attempted to ascertain their situation ..... Daniel had sat quietly allowing his Senior Officers to speak among themselves ... He found it more conclusive to positive results in the long run: "Captain, I have attitude control. Impulse, too." "So we can finally move towards the unknown vessel ?" Schirra asked. "Aye Sir." Lieutenant Reneus confirmed. "One quarter impulse, lets go visit the neighbours." Dan said, the tiniest hint of exasperation in his voice. The Excalibur began a slow transition of the planet below, it was still hard going, something not quite holding them back ... As they closed the distance they were able to scan the vessel more thoroughly, confirming the life-signs were indeed Human. As for the ship, that was somewhat of a mystery even now. "Is that what it looks like ?" Unwin, the Chief Engineer said, moving closer to the 'window' to get a better look. "Scans ?" Schirra asked. "Sir, to all intents and purposes, it cannot be out there." Lieutenant Yukigori said from Tactical. "Agreed." Sarah Wentworth the Operations Chief said, checking her boards before looking up again, "Captain, according to our records, that ship is ...." "Well ?" Dan prompted. "Sir, according to our database, that vessel is the Sir Lancelot. A amphibious craft built in the year nineteen sixty three on Earth. It was used in the Falklands war before undergoing numerous incarnations. In two thousand three it was flatteringly nicknamed a 'party boat' before succumbing to scandal and was finally decommissioned and broken up in two thousand eight." "But that looks as if it appeared fresh from deployment in the South Atlantic, not Amsterdam harbour." Koni T'Seng commented. "Can we establish communications ?" Karka asked. "I've tried hailing them on every frequency, no reply." Lieutenant gold replied. "If that ship 'is' from the early twentieth century, they would be using a different communication syst ....." Koni began. "Radio !" Jenni Gold exclaimed, quickly turning back to her console. After several moments she turned back, "I think we could use the old long wave radio." "Contact them." Schirra ordered quickly. "Sir !" Yukigori suddenly interrupted, "There is a vessel astern of us." Daniel and Karka spun to face the Tactical Officer. "It's holding station with us as we close on the other vessel." Yukigori confirmed. "Same type of ship ?" Psonoir asked. "No Sir, much larger, but our sensors can't identify it further." "One thing at a time." Schirra said, returning his gaze to the tactical image superimposed on the now polarised 'window' .... Keep an eye on it. Lieutenant, any lick contacting the Lancelot ?" "They should be able to hear us Captain." "What they are making of their situation is anyone's guess." Koni commented. "Helm bring us to five hundred meters and match orbit, keep trying to get a response from them Lieutenant." RFA Sir Lancelot :: "I don't bloody well care how you do it Lieutenant, but keep the men calm. We are doing all we can, further discussion on the matter is both fruitless and verging on insubordination."
"Aye Sir." the younger man said, saluting before spinning to leave the Bridge.
"Their anxiety 'is' somewhat understandable Captain." Lieutenant Edwin Moore, the Lancelot's First Officer said quietly. Commander Roger Fyles silently agreed as he looked down in almost disbelief as the planet hung below them ... Twelve hours ago they had just completed deployment of several Regiments of Paratroopers in Port Stanley at the height of the Falklands conflict, then ....
"Sir, communication coming in."
"Who the hell from ?!" Fyles said almost in shock.
"They are identifying themselves as the USS Excalibur. There is no vessel in 'Janes' bearing that designation Sir, Possible it's one of the enemy's."
"Oh my God !" the Port-side Bridge watch Officer suddenly exclaimed pointing out the window. Everyone moved over to get a look and were stunning to silence as the gleaming vessel, dwarfing the Lancelot came closer. No-one had seen the likes, for obvious reasons. Fyles and Moore could hardly hold themselves still, but training and years of dedication to their vocation took control:
"Ask what are their intentions." the Commanding Officer said as Moore instructed everyone to return to their stations .....
"Sir, I'm receiving a reply ..." Lieutenant Gold said putting it on open Comms: =^= USS Excalibur .. What are your intentions .. We are training guns on you as we speak .. Any aggressive posture will be met with an immediate response =^= "They have little weaponry and it's doubtful it would even work in our current situation." Yukigori said. Daniel walked to the now depolarised 'window' ... =^= My name is Captain Daniel Schirra .. Commanding Officer USS Excalibur .. We have no aggressive intentions .. I understand you may be confused at your current situation and if we can work out certain issues I would like to come aboard and speak with you in person .. I understand your reluctance but I believe it could be to both our advantages .. .. .. =^= He waited for the man to reply ..........
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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 18, 2019 18:18:37 GMT
It was with mixed astonishment and unease that Karka regarded the sight of the old Earth oceangoing vessel on the viewscreen. Its presence in orbit was almost as unlikely as that there should be any way for a human being to subsist on vacuum, as those were apparently doing who stood on the deck, usually open to an atmosphere, of the slightly rusted ship. The sailors' expressions as they looked on were obviously indiscernible from this distance, but Karka guessed they wouldn't be dissimilar to his own.
Finally he managed to rein in his amazement and developed a slight smirk, of course he was well used to this, what with coming from the 29th century originally.
The others on the bridge too seemed a little aloof, Reneus commenting, "Wow, they've had a real shock... We dwarf them, they must wonder at what we could do to them."
"Enough, helmsman," Karka said as a response to Schirra now came from the vessel, its radio not hampered by atmospheric conditions, passing through clean vacuum and delivering the sailor's voice with clarity, strangely however there was still a slight static,
"But the Soviets have never developed a probe that large! Who are you really, and what is that... that ship, you're on?" There was a sharp crackling, a different voice from the first answered, "This is Commander Roger Fyles of Her Majesty's Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Captain, you and your vessel are not recognised by us. You have one minute to explain yourself," his voice betrayed no fear. "If I do not meet with a satisfactory answer, I'll shoot you out of the... sky."
"That's not advisable, it would simply be a waste of ammunition," Karka replied, upon Daniel's nod. Schirra then asked again to go aboard the Sir Lancelot. "But how, Captain?" Fyles was incredulous, "Gah! I doubt there is anything we could do to stop you..." the channel was cut.
Karka began searching the databanks in coordination with the Operations officer. Soon he had the file; it checked out, there was indeed a Fyles on record as commander of that vessel during the time in question. This was no mirage, no hoax, or if so a very elaborate one...
"Captain Schirra, there appears to be a bubble of some sort around the Sir Lancelot. Within is breathable atmosphere, Earth standard composition; I believe though I am not certain that we could enter the bubble without so to speak bursting it, causing decompression." How they were surviving on deck, Karka realised. They soon found there was a bubble round the Excalibur, too.
Dan spoke, "Regardless, let's beam aboard her, into their bridge, I'm not risking being out on deck yet til we're absolutely sure of its safety."
Karka was left on the bridge, while Wentworth, T'Seng and Unwin joined the Captain on the away mission. Meanwhile, Karka carried out his orders to have the Excal nestled as close to the Sir Lancelot as possible.
With the team beamed across, Wentworth's stand-in notified Psonoir of the approach of the larger ship that'd been orbiting some 90o behind them. He ordered an aft view, and in spite of himself registered with amusement how the bridge crew suppressed a collective gasp and Reneus - previously cocky - turned ashen white as he became the victim in the same way he'd victimised others: their pursuer was gargantuan. The sight made Karka think of the popular ornament of Earth cultures known as Russian dolls: the Lancelot, the Excalibur, and a 24th century Sovereign class starship (of which he'd only read about in his future home). The ship passed over them, through their atmospheric bubble, the propagation of vibrations through the air causing the deck to rattle as the Excal was stirred up in its wake. They were being hailed, audio only.
"USS Excalibur, this is Captain Shen of the USS Avalon, Starfleet. Respond."
"This is Commander Psonoir, first officer and science officer, USS Excalibur. Please state your intent."
The voice was grainy and strangely cold, perhaps aloof in the same way as Reneus had been. "This is something of a surprise. Commander, we suspect there has been a temporal anomaly. We detected your transport to the seagoing vessel, we assume your Commanding Officer has beamed aboard her?"
"You assume correctly, Captain."
"Are you sure this is wise?" The Avalon cut the channel.
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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 20, 2019 14:11:25 GMT
Mark Unwin perspective, RFA Sir Lancelot
Security had been left behind and sidearms issued for the four team members only - Schirra, T'Seng, Unwin and Wentworth. They trusted perhaps over-hopefully the Lancelot's crew would not recognise the phasers as weapons.
Perhaps the Lancelot bridge staff were already jaded from the experience of floating through space, or from the sight of the Excalibur and now the huge unknown starship, for Mark Unwin could think of no other reason for the crew's relative nonchalance at seeing the four of them matter transport into their midst. Unwin didn't move to greet the crew til Schirra gave the signal.
"Well, they seem fairly calm," he murmured, and just at that moment one of the RFA officers towards the back of the bridge fainted. "Ah, spoke too soon..."
As Schirra made a formal greeting, Mark looked about, peering out the small, angular forward view ports at the length of the vessel before them; two pairs of tilted metal girders were arranged in parallel with the ship's length, a small rectangular decking area situated between those four constructs that sat at its corners - he guessed they were cranes, last in use in the earlier part of the 23rd century. On the deck, rows of enlisted personnel were stood, approximately forty crewmen, many of them stepping out of rank and some even making vulgar remarks.
"Attention!" someone blared onto the deck through a primitive tannoy, "Maybe they're not royalty, but we can damn well show some respect for our American allies!" The NCO's words were barely heeded by the sailors, at first. "Sorry," he told Schirra et al, "This was supposed to be your welcoming party."
"We're... American?" Unwin murmured, as he then greeted a man calling himself Lieutenant Edwin Moore - who displayed relief at hearing his interlocutor speak with what he would call an American accent. Schirra exchanged words with Fyles, who found it within him to salute as he assumed for the moment the crew of the Excalibur were not Soviets or Argentines.
"How has... how has this happened to us?" Moore was stuttering.
"Well, we suspect the same thing happened to you as happened to us. We were travelling at mid-warp when we suffered a large spatial dislocation. The instability of warp coil energy uptake that is known to cause sharp variations in speed under particular conditions was not a factor here," Unwin explained, "We could no longer get a star-fix or otherwise extrapolate our position based on known constellations. We believe we're outside of the observable universe, far from Sol... it's yet to be seen whether this is truly anywhere at all."
Edwin Moore did little more than blink and nod. "Perhaps you would like to go out on deck?" he said unsteadily.
"That's the thing..." Koni T'Seng interjected, "Do you know how your crew are surviving out there?"
"Well there's air out there, just as if we were still on Earth," Moore shook his head, clearly still having difficulty believing he and his fellow crew were in this situation.
"Only for a couple hundred metres in an ovoid round your ship," Unwin told him. "We have the same." Moore introduced the engine room officer, who told him how the propellers were having trouble generating any traction with their surroundings. A generous Mark Unwin nodded appreciatively, "Well, it's good to see your artificial gravity is working as normal," he jumped up and down to test its limits. The engine room officer was bewildered. "What? Artificial gravity? Well, after our initial shock, we were surprised that we didn't become weightless out here; we assumed it must be microgravity."
"You mean to say you don't have artificial grav- ?!"
Unwin was cut off as the tannoys all over the Sir Lancelot crackled inhumanly loud, having been activated unbidden, source unknown: a guttural, machine-like voice, like shards of metal being scraped together, sounded over the speakers (over the internal comms of the Avalon, the Excalibur and a fourth vessel, too), "Knights of the Round Table and assorted friends, weapons, locales. Stage Alpha: You will live out the first movement of your Arthur legend. LET THE TEST... BEGIN!"
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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 20, 2019 23:19:38 GMT
Bridge RFA Sir Lancelot :: As the away team materialised on the Bridge of the twentieth century vessel, Daniel could see the looks of shock and awe from the Officers and Ratings stood toward the back wall: "Well, they seem fairly calm ..." Unwin murmured, as just at that moment one of the RFA officers towards the back of the bridge chose to faint, "Ah, spoke too soon ....." "Commander Fyles ? ...." Daniel said, stepping forward hand out before him, a man wearing three braided gold bars on each shoulder stepped out to take the offered hand, "Captain Daniel Schirra, it's good to meet you in person." "Yes. Indeed. Welcome aboard Captain." the man replied, clearly still trying to process the situation he had found himself in. Koni had moved forward as had Unwin and Wentworth, a round of hand-shaking took place and Koni could see the fear and frustration in each mans eyes, it hadn't gone un-noticed that she was the only one of two woman present, which in itself seemed to be making an impact. "Perhaps you would like to go out on deck ?" Moore suggested as the conversation, or rather 'explanation' went over his head. He and Koni stepped over the bulkhead riser then out onto the Lancelot's deck. She could see the man pointedly ignoring looking over the side, understandable given the last time he did so he was looking down at a choppy green brown sea ... "I'm surprised you're holding up so well, given the circumstances." Koni said quietly. "Some are .... Most not so much, that is, some are having trouble processing all this." he said, waving his arm to encompass their surroundings, "Your ship, it's ...." "Big, yes." Calli said, looking up to see the Excalibur looming above them, enormous in comparison to the four hundred plus foot long Lancelot. It was while she was looking at the Excalibur when for a moment she thought she saw something behind it, but dismissed the thought as the others joined them and Moore spoke again. "Can we get home ?" he asked. A question that at this point in time no-one had an answer to alas ... "..... No it was almost like an electrical storm, we were en-route to Gibraltar to refuel when, well, it's impossible to explain." Commander Fyles fell silent. "Well hopefully we'll be able to find an explanation, and a means to return all of us to our respected time-frames." Mark Unwin answered, "I have a feeling that someone down there is orchestrating all this." he finished, pointing towards the almost rust coloured planetoid below them. Reluctantly, the Lancelot Officers followed his gaze but clearly couldn't fully comprehend their location and most turned away, concentrating instead on the deck or their own hands. As they spoke more Schirra's communicator chirped to life: =^= Psonoir to Captain =^= =^= Go ahead Commander =^= Daniel said, trying not to grin as the Lancelot Officers eyed the small communicator. =^= We have company Sir .. .. A vessel .. Reportedly of twenty fourth century origin .. She identified herself as the USS Avalon .. Captain Shen sends his compliments =^= Daniel looked up and cold see the ship. It was clearly astern of both the Lancelot and Excalibur in orbit, but even from their point of aspect it was massive, at least three hundred meters longer than the Excalibur herself. =^= Have they said anything more ? =^= =^= Captain Shen voiced his 'opinion' regarding your transporting to the Lancelot .. Though he didn't elaborate on his comment =^= Karka relied. =^= I am going to ask commander Fyles and his Executive Officer to come aboard the Excalibur .. Maybe you could extend an invite to Captain Shen .. We'll speak shortly unless you have anything further ? =^= =^= I will contact the Avalon on your behalf Sir .. One hour ? =^= =^= One hour is plenty .. I'd like a look around the Lancelot while we are speaking .. Schirra out =^= he snapped the communicator shut and returned it to the pocket in his jacket sleeve. Fyles had been watching with interest: "That can't be using short wave surely ?" "No ..." Daniel said grinning, "Something a little more powerful ... As you heard me telling my Exec' I would like to invite you and you Senior Officers aboard the Excalibur." Fyles looked up again, almost as if reassuring himself that the enormous vessel above and to their Port side was still actually there, and real. "I'm sure it will be, enlightening." the man said as the Lancelot's comm system crackled to life: Knights of the Round Table and assorted friends, weapons, locales Stage Alpha: You will live out the first movement of your Arthur legend
LET THE TEST ... BEGIN "What the .... Report !" Daniel snapped. Koni was already in contact with Psonoir. "Sir, it's coming over our Comms, the Avalon's too ... Commander Psonoir is trying to get a fix but it looks like it's coming from the planetoid below us." "Tell him to get a fix on that transmission, maybe the Avalon will have more success if we can't triangulate." "I thought there was zero atmosphere down there." Wentworth commented. "We're stood in a bubble of air, on the deck of a three hundred plus year old ship, roughly two hundred kilometers above a crusted husk of a planet, what makes you think that whoever is doing all this can't furnish a little air down there if is suits their purpose Lieutenant ?" Koni quipped. "What do they mean by Knights of the Round Table ?" Unwin asked. "History not your strong point Commander ?" Daniel asked, feigning disappointment as he shook his head. "I'm happy to fit a part without knowing where it was conceived Captain." the Chief Engineer retorted. Fyles and Moore looked at each other, both wondering how these people could be so outwardly disrespectful of the clear 'Chain of Command' speaking to their Commanding Officer as if he were their equal. Such insubordination would have been dealt with servery in their, time. truth be told it hadn't gone un-noticed by the Excalibur Officers how 'stiffly' the Lancelot Officers were, all protocol and the 'speak when spoken to' mentality. 'Though that was how things were done in ye old days' Koni thought with a grin. Daniel looked along the beam of the Lancelot, crew and junior Officers were now gathering at the railings and it was clear that they were terrified, Schirra had his apprehensions, but at least the Excalibur was used to facing the unknown, and her crew trained to react accordingly. Nothing could have prepared the Lancelot for what they were facing ! "Bloody hell, they will expect us to sit at the round table next." Lieutenant Moore said, the tiniest hint of hysteria in his voice. "Let's get up to the Excalibur, we'll have more information at our fingertips there." Schirra said, nodding to Koni, he turned to Commander Fyles, "Is there someone you can leave in charge here ?" "My Second Officer, Lieutenant Symmonds." he turned to the man who looked all of eighteen years old, "Lieutenant, you are in Command in my and Lieutenant miles' absence. Keep the men busy. idle hands and all that." "Yes SIR !" the man said, snapping out a salute that was fortunate not to take out his own eye. "Whenever your ready, Captain." Fyles said nervously. "Stand here, and here please." Wentworth said helpfully as the others took their positions. Koni and Sarah stood facing the Lancelot Officers to reassure them as the transport began .... USS Excalibur :: Seconds later they materialised ... Both men's eyes were wide as they looked around the pristine walls of the room. Daniel stepped off the platform, Sarah Wentworth motioning for the visitors to follow. A look of sheer overwhelming was something of an understatement as they walked through the corridors to the Bridge. Both men stopped in their tracks as they looked at the twenty meter wide by two meter tall currently depolarised 'window' ... Beyond, they could see the Lancelot as they had never seen her before. "Gentlemen .... Commander Psonoir, Executive Officer ... Welcome aboard." "Anything from Shen ?" Daniel asked. "He's is 'thinking' about your invitation." "My ready room." Dan replied, "Lieutenant Yukigori you have the Bridge." ..........
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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 2, 2019 13:57:31 GMT
Ready room, Excalibur
"We didn't have much luck triangulating with the Avalon to ascertain the position of the surface transmission's source," Karka said as the meeting began, "Firstly," he continued as Schirra and the other away team members asked why, "Possible sets of its coordinates are obscured by atmospheric heat haze - improbable, I know, but whatever sent us the message clearly has the power also to create such conditions." This confirmed what T'Seng had already suggested.
"Secondly, we're not getting much cooperation from Captain Shen. He seems aloof, disinterested in our plight, even though its his as well," Karka concluded.
"Surely we must be able to enlighten him as to the latter?" Unwin said.
"He's refused our requests that - if he won't come to this meeting or accept further invitations - we instead beam aboard his vessel. Understandably, he cites the tampering to the timeline that would result: if we knew of developments in the next century or more, we might take news of such advancements and their details back to our Federation."
Wentworth spoke, "But, correct me if I'm wrong, Commander Psonoir, I thought from reading your and the stand-in science officer's reports that we were out of time here. All three of our ships have been taken from a single timeline and placed in an 'eternal' zone not susceptible to temporal influence from without or within. I imagine once we leave this place - if we leave this place - we'll be placed back exactly where we were at the time of the incident and won't be able to recall details of the other vessels."
"There's no guarantee of that. None at all," Karka said. Schirra nodded his way, so Karka continued and looked round at the junior staff, "We've been given a message from the surface. This entity if we can call it that clearly has virtually omnipotent power over us: it can bring us here, it can tamper with time, with the laws of nature, it can... play... with us."
"Play? Then we're players in a game, in a game of the Arthurian legend, that is the certain meaning of the message we were given?"
"Well, as regards the ships we have here, what kind of Arthurian legend would it have us enact? It hasn't escaped our notice that we have the Excalibur, the Avalon, the Sir Lancelot... Perhaps in the names of the ships lies the key to the 'drama' it wishes us to play out. It wants us to use the ships themselves."
They gave themselves a primer on the legend in question, Karka reading avidly in the desire to get it all clear in his mind: this was Lirwa's area of expertise, again; Psonoir knew little of this legendary history.
Finished reading, Unwin spoke incredulously, "So, it's the State of Britain before World War III. We're the sword of Arthur himself. Avalon is a location, somewhere in the island, Sir Lancelot is one of Arthur's knights. So what? Arthur pulls us from a stone?" It was clear to them there was - at least not at present - an Arthur. And what was the stone? Merely the vacuum?
They returned to the bridge, the hapless CO and XO of the Lancelot in tow.
* * *
Bridge, Excalibur
Unbelieving at the absurdity of their situation and what he found himself obliged to say, Karka asked, "Could the 'stone' be the bubble of atmosphere around our vessel? Relative to perfect vacuum, that air may as well be stone." Unbidden over the bridge's speakers,
YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. THREE EARTH MINUTES REMAIN BEFORE I MAKE THE FIRST KIDNAPPING.
What could that mean? They grew increasingly desperate, if not a little bewildered and in spite of themselves slightly amused. A tractor beam might pull the Excalibur, but surely its bubble of air would remain around it? "We have no Arthur vessel, besides," T'Seng said.
Captain Shen communicated to them. Schirra ordered on screen, but again the secretive Shen was requesting audio only; they agreed and Shen's terse voice filled the bridge of the Excal, "Crew of the Excalibur, wholly by ourselves we have found the source of the transmission. Needless to say we also understand the legend... Yes, we've been listening in on your conversations and internal comms. I strongly advise you not to ask me how.
"We believe what fulfills the role of 'Arthur' in this strange game is no ship, but a tractor beam device on the surface that lies approximately 100 km from the main source, going by the kind of UV wavelength data its continually transmitting. We think, if we wish to play along, that somehow accessing this tractor beam and focussing it on the Excalibur will get us some way to completing this absurd first task. Knowing your limitations technologically," Shen went on, "We take upon ourselves the operation of accessing the surface tractor beam."
But the three minutes had elapsed. Wentworth disappeared from her console, vanishing utterly with no sign of a matter transportation effect. She found herself on the surface, in the midst of an ancient city conjured up by the entity. Gunfire from explosive powder-activated weapons resounded, chaos reigned about her. Street-by-street fighting, arquebusiers and pikemen rounded a corner and coming face to face with mounted knights engaged in fierce close combat.
She found herself pushed back by two bedraggled soldiers speaking a form of Old Spanish. They threw her against a wall; winded at the impact and collapsing to her knees, she had no chance to get out of the way as the soldiers stood back, aimed their muskets and shot her dead. She crumpled, blood flowing out from under her, then vanished.
She reappeared on the Excal unharmed, this time near her console and on the floor, a shriek escaping as she continued recoiling from the horror of the veritable execution. Psonoir rushed forth, lifted her and noticed how pallid her face had become; she trembled. She was taken to sickbay. While they still recovered from the shock the speakers activated again,
Next time, resurrection of your crewmembers will not be deemed the natural path. Repeat Stage Alpha: You will live out the first movement of your Arthur legend. LET THE TEST... BEGIN."
Shen was back, infuriatingly audio-only again, "What's happened, Excalibur?" They explained, growing furious at his nonchalance, his disdain and his virtual commands to them. A low growl of Shen's emitted over the comm, "If only I hadn't had to communicate to you my designs, we could have averted that. Let me get on with it this time, then - if I want to continue - I can get onto task two."
"Captain," Karka said, receiving Captain Schirra's permission, "We think it is likely that only by working together can we escape this game and return to our own times, if that's what this lifeforce has destined for us. By trying to complete this task yourself and having us stay out of the way, you may be contributing to its failure."
"You know nothing, sav-... ! Ah, your ship is a good deal less well equipped. You can 'advise' us, Excalibur. If you're not satisfied, I'd suggest you keep a low profile. I've raised shields; my phasers and torpedoes are primed." Karka was sure Shen had been about to call them savages. On the viewscreen, they saw the Avalon course into view, rotating and presenting its prow to them. Meanwhile, the entity's clock was ticking.
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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 13, 2019 5:22:27 GMT
Stage Alpha had repeated once again, now on their fourth iteration of the initial move in this absurd cosmic drama the Excalibur had realised that persuading Shen of the Avalon to cooperate to complete their tasks was going to be not a little difficult.
Five minutes into attempt number four, Karka had surmised there may well be another ship or object of some type in orbit in addition to their three vessels, the reason being the three of them had each materialised separated 90o from one another, leaving the point opposite the Excalibur unexplored: they'd had motive power to investigate the Lancelot, the Avalon had overtaken both ships, what may lie on the other side of the world?
Some of the senior staff discussed this as they emerged from the latest meeting (in which had been voiced new frustrations with Captain Shen's disagreeable stance). Wentworth who was now returned to duty and vacating the centre seat upon Schirra's approach had just ordered onscreen.
Karka took the science station from the duty officer as Schirra sat in the centre seat. The screen showed the Avalon streaming by what'd previously been empty vacuum, "What do we have?"
Wentworth reported that the Avalon was making for the other side of the planet - was it possible the Excal's demands for Captain Shen's cooperation were considered most uncooperative? It seemed that Shen was of similar mind to explore the other side even if he was choosing not to cooperate (which was surely the only thing that would allow them to escape, whether or not they chose to play the game, striving to beat it by its rules or attack the 'gamemaster' rather than its creation - an attempt of it alone was surely condemned to failure).
Psonoir peered through his scope, the Avalon was just passing the Lancelot now. He darted back from the instrument, "Captain, the Avalon has the Lancelot in a tractor beam. It's continuing for the opposite side of the world." Schirra commented that surely the oceangoing vessel would be shredded to pieces by the beam's usage. "It would appear 24th century tractor beams are able to operate at and be tuned to much lower forces than our own."
The Avalon had the Lancelot held fast and was dragging it across thousands of kilometres of space in seconds. Fyles, his trembling hands on his head as he stood before the viewscreen, erupted, "My ship... No!!" He put his hands together and seemed to pray. "May you rest..."
"Captain Fyles, I assure you your ship and crew are still alive." For now, Karka thought.
"The Avalon has launched two shuttlecraft, they're heading for the Lancelot, ten personnel aboard each... mainly marines, they're landing on the deck." Schirra ordered they follow the Avalon at highest appropriate orbital velocity; they radioed the Lancelot and strongly advised them not to accept the Avalon marines but not to do anything that could cause a deadly confrontation either.
"Send me back there, if you would," Fyles nodded to Schirra and Psonoir. Lieutenant Edwin Moore moved to stand with his CO.
<Tag Lancelot for its CO & XO and/or if there are any over there to be NPC'd?>
What could be done, the Excal could transport aboard marines of its own before the Avalon took any steps to prevent via jamming fields their transport. The shuttles showed clearly Shen wished for a sustained presence aboard the seagoing vessel.
They came to a relative halt 2000 kilometres from the Avalon, Lancelot and a new third vessel. They watched them on the screen. So, there were four vessels; perhaps that was the reason for the previous failure. How had this fourth vessel been attempting Stage Alpha? "Perhaps we're being left out in the cold. That ship over there, Shen may be attempting to subordinate it and the Lancelot to its will or at least have their cooperation in our absence."
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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 Mar 11, 2019 10:48:40 GMT
RFA Sir Lancelot :: Symmonds watched in utter shock as the men before him vanished into the ether ... Had their circumstances been any stranger he would undoubtedly have fallen to the deck unable to cope, but enough had occurred in the last eight days that he could, at least outwardly, appear to be in control of his faculties. The men however, were another matter: A struggle had ensued on their arrival, one that had it not been for their steadfast loyalty to the captain, would have likely resulted in all out dissension, even possible mutiny ! .....
Stood beside the Port railing, he couldn't help wonder at their situation, the vessels among them, clearly borne of some mythical imaginings. They were clearly more superior, more well endowed, and ultimately, more dangerous.
"Lieutenant, the engineer reports we have full power but are getting low on supplies, coal, wood, water."
"Thank you Ensign, ask the Engineer to scavenge whatever he needs from the holds for the boilers, as for food ...." Symmonds said, falling silent. It was only then that he realised he had not eaten in days, in fact, he couldn't recall having sat down to a meal since they appeared in this phantasmagorical realm, "Ensign, when were you last in the Mess ?"
"Sir ?" the young man asked, puzzled.
"Eat lad, when did you last eat ?"
"This morn ... no, wait, I ....." the Ensign said, clearly confused. Symmonds was about to reply when the shadow of the vessel known as the Avalon passed over them. He and the Ensign both looked upwards in time to see, and feel, the luminescent caress of something as it enveloped the ship, had he not been a seafaring man, he was sure he would have voided the contents of his stomach as the stars rushed past at a staggering pace only to be still seconds later as the phosphorescence faded to nothingness. The stars were somehow, different, almost as if they were transported from the North Sea into the Atlantic almost instantaneously. He looked around to speak to the Ensign but found him cowering, arms wrapped tightly about his knees as he rocked back.
"Ensign, pull yourself together man, you are needed." Symmonds said, trying to shake the man from his reverie, but the Ensign could only moan unintelligibly. Symmonds saw two of the crew further along the deck, "CREWMEN, over here !"
Both men came at the run, eyes darting between the sky and the Officer before them.
"Take the Ensign below, see to it that the doctor attends to his needs immediately." he watched as the two picked the young man up before carrying him away then headed up to the Bridge, on entering he could see the Duty Officers all in place, at least they had had the sense, or courage, to remain at their posts throughout their, 'transition' around the planet below, "Crewman James, have the radio operator to try to contact the Captain, I believe his presence is required urgently."
"Aye Sir." the man said, leaving the Bridge at the run, but before he could reach the radio shack the Captain and First Officer both appeared further along the corridor, "Sir's ... Lieutenant Symmonds needs you both on the Bridge."
"Thank you Crewman." Fyles replied, as if appearing from nowhere was a common occurrence, the stunned crewman watched them pass him and enter the Bridge. A long second later he followed.
"Captain, Sir, I was abou ...." Symmonds began, eyes flicking to the Crewman and back.
"Secure the ship for combat Lieutenant." Fyles ordered without preamble, "The Deck is off limits to all but Senior Officer from this moment on."
"Aye Sir." Symmonds answered, happy to have something to do beside ponder their circumstances.
"What next Captain ?" the First Officer asked quietly. Fyles merely pointed for'ard. There, some five hundred yards distant, was another sea-faring vessel, this too seemingly plucked from it's own time and place ..........
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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 Mar 19, 2019 10:23:41 GMT
The seagoing fourth vessel was of comparable length to the Sir Lancelot, perhaps slightly larger. To the Lancelot's crew its form seemed reasonably familiar, though its size and sleekness betrayed something they were already used to, its futurity. As it passed by the RFA vessel's port side, crewmen could just make out the ship's name, the Gawain, commissioned year 2045.
"It's a damn private yacht!" Lieutenant Moore cried, shaking his head in disbelief, as the ~150 m vessel slid by port and narrowly avoided introducing an almighty scratch in the hull.
"Never mind! All of you, man your stations! Do you have your sidearms?" Fyles barked as he strode past him. Meanwhile out on the deck of the Lancelot, two shuttlecraft from the Avalon touched down. Due to the aft helipad being crowded with three copters, they barely found enough flat space and - in one of their cases - indeed failed to; it sat astride the port and starboard railings. The hull groaned under the two shuttles' weight, metal girders vibrated, a length of railing snapped and with the sudden release of tension it lashed lethally at three nearby crewmen who were promptly bisected laterally.
Captain Shen of the Avalon commed the Sir Lancelot as well as the Excalibur, =/\=I hope you see clearly what you have forced me to do. Your lack of cooperation has led me to this point. Captain Fyles, you will be shown clemency when you and Captain Schirra accept my leadership in our joint plight, as Mr Knutsen of the yacht Gawain has already done.=/\=
24th century Federation marines with phaser rifles disembarked from the shuttlecraft and, covering one another as they moved amidst gantries, cranes, containers, traversed the length of the deck towards the command superstructure. The crew of the Lancelot did not respond at first, but as the marines began ascending the narrow ladders en route to the bridge, the tension grew too great and a rating opened fire. The lead marine slumped on the ladder, fell, taking two others down with him. Phaser beams lanced out and twenty seconds later, with seven of their number stunned unconscious, the Lancelot crew were preparing to lay down their arms. However, Fyles ordered the bridge and the decks immediately beneath secured; they were under siege in the superstructure but he was not going to have the crew surrender.
<Tag Lancelot>
The Excalibur had been helpless to intervene, under threat of reprisals of the futuristic USS Avalon by which they were hopelessly outmatched. Psonoir had followed events up to the lull and respite offered by the new siege conditions. Now Shen was screaming at them over the comm, demanding the Excalibur have Fyles stand down.
"Is it conceivable that a direct approach to the entity controlling all this would have a better chance of facilitating our escape?" Karka asked speculatively, ignoring the inane warblings from the clearly mad Avalon captain. The entity couldn't be absolutely powerful, for every thought experiment and every encounter with such beings demonstrated they never restricted themselves purely to matter, to terrestrial histories, folklore, etc. Perhaps it needed the four of them to cooperate in its game (which currently had them at each other's throats).
They made contact with the small building on the equator from which all this seemed to be emanating. Silence issued from the comm. Karka added to Schirra's initial greeting, =/\=We surmise you require our participation in order to sustain yourself. Therefore, if you wish to endure, you should deal with us directly, and either send us on our way or grant us an audience to discuss how our leaving here may be possible.=/\=
After a lengthy delay a reply came, =/\=I am at the command of a being beyond your comprehension.=/\= A pause, they didn't indulge this entity with its threats. =/\=You are partly correct: it sustains me, you do little, but your contribution is still necessary. What else can you do but participate? There is nothing else TO do, I cannot send you back.=/\= There was another long pause. =/\=Very well, transport coordinates are being fed to your computer. Come unarmed.=/\= They were being asked to transport to outside the small station at the equator-meridian point.
<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 Apr 1, 2019 23:34:10 GMT
RFA Sir Lancelot ::
Fyles watched as the craft first hovered then began to descend upon the hapless Lancelot. He he the means to repel their invaders then he would surely have done so, as it was, it was perfectly clear to all that they were as outmatched as the meagre ant beneath the foot of the mighty elephant ! .....
=^= I hope you see clearly what you have forced me to do .. Your lack of cooperation has led me to this point .. Captain Fyles .. You will be shown clemency when you and Captain Schirra accept my leadership in our joint plight as Mr Knutsen of the yacht Gawain has already done =^=
Before anyone could reply, the recently disembarked Officers from the landing craft began making their way to the Bridge of the Sir Lancelot. Fyles had in truth been reluctantly compliant as they began to climb, but the sound of a shot fired changed all that. Piracy had been known on the high seas, and he wasn't about to let her Majesty's prototype and Flagship of the Round Table Class of vessel fall meekly into enemy hands.
"Secure the Bridge ... NOW ... Seal all access doors. Mister Symmonds, get below, oversee proceedings, Seal off the decks below the Bridge, barricade the doors if you have to. I do not want any of those people at my door." Fyles ordered.
"Aye SIR !" the young Second Officer replied, snapping into action.
Within minutes it was clear that they and the more advanced armoured Officers from the Avalon were at a standoff. Fyles looked up at the enormous vessel seemingly hanging over them like the mythical Sword of Damocles, he found himself wondering just how robust the proverbial 'hair' suspending that craft above them was ......
USS Excalibur :: "Can't we fire on the Avalon ?" Koni T'Seng suggested. "They could cripple us without breaking a sweat Lieutenant." Daniel answered, as frustrated and annoyed as his Tactical Officer. Karka had suggested contacting those responsible for bringing them all here, with little or no other options open to them Schirra had agreed, to his surprise, and no doubt that of everyone, they received a reply: =^= I am at the command of a being beyond your comprehension .. .. .. You are partly correct: it sustains me .. You do little .. But your contribution is still necessary .. .. .. What else can you do but participate? There is nothing else TO do .. I cannot send you back .. .. .. Very well .. .. .. Transport coordinates are being fed to your computer .. Come unarmed =^= They were being asked to transport to outside the small station at the equator-meridian point. "Well, it would be rude to decline such a heartwarming invitation." Koni said, the sarcasm obvious. "Indeed. Karka, Koni, you're with me. Commander Unwin you have the ship. ~~~~~~~~~~They materialised one hundred meters from to all intents and purposes looked like some ramshackle disused shack in the middle of nowhere. Koni immediately scanned three sixty degrees: "This isn't the place we were monitoring." Karka commented. "You can say that again, that place doesn't even look like it has a door." Koni replied the the Exec's comment. Daniel was looking at the 'station' they had expected to see, this looked more like something long since abandoned and weathered almost beyond usefulness. he doubted it would give shelter from the mildest weather, let alone be the center of what was happening to them all ... With little else open to them they began to walk toward the structure. "It's possible they are concealing the true structure for some reason." T'Seng said to no-one in particular. "Why ?" Schirra asked, "They have us where they want us, why go to the trouble of hiding something we know full well is here ?" unfortunately no-one had time to reply as someone seemed to step out of the dilapidated shack-like structure to await their approach impassively. Ten meters from the man he raised a hand to halt their progress. close up Schirra could see that he was clearly uncomfortable, almost afraid, as his eyes scanned the horizon from left to right before falling upon the Excalibur Officers. Again he seemed to hesitate before stepping onto the sandy ground beyond the charred threshold. "Games, games within games ....." the man said cryptically. "I am Capta ....." Schirra began, but the little man continued as if the was alone and musing to himself: "..... Told them, games, not for all, it can be ......." he stopped, eyes darting skyward, he was almost shaking with fear as he stepped back into the charred doorway, something had clearly frightened the man. "You require sustenance ?" the 'man' asked, as if nothing of the last few moments had occurred ..........
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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 Apr 7, 2019 18:52:03 GMT
Having materialised on the surface of the world about which the four Arthurian vessels were orbiting, Karka started towards the structure with the others; not far off now, he could espy the diminutive old man emerging from the shack and making across the blackened apron - a veritable forecourt - towards them; he hobbled, was of grizzled features and peered at the sky as if experiencing an unwanted revelation.
They approached one another, after his opening cryptic remarks the man gestured they should follow him into the shack. Was this really the place from which all of this was being emanated, all these contests and tasks? Karka thought, knowing that the Hybrudeans were capable of such dissimulation and concealment but not peoples from this century.
They entered and sat in the shack, the man on an old calor gas can that Karka understood - courtesy of his compatriot Lirwa - were popular volatile substance containers in the 20th century of Earth. After preparing them some food, the man retook his seat and rocked back and forth, "Games, games, yes, I know..." he spoke to someone seemingly not present.
"You've done all this?" Schirra spoke at last, subduedly.
"Yes, yes..." the man-entity replied in a cracked, wistful voice, "I ask, it replies... sometimes. One has to be at a certain level, up in the spheres where my voice may reach it. At a certain point, I might phrase a question to it, 'Why...', 'Who...', yet nothing from it is forthcoming; I'm given to understand that it itself is the Who, the Why."
"What is it? The being you said was beyond our comprehension?" Karka asked, looking studiously about the dilapidated shack.
"Yes, indeed. So it would be useless to ask exactly what it is now, wouldn't it...?" He seemed to listen to something, again only seemingly not present, or seemingly present. "Aye, I told them that," he spoke to the presence, "I told them your justice knows no bounds, nor does your vengeance..."
The trio tried to shake the 'entity' out of his reverie, T'Seng literally gripping him by the shoulder and shoving, trying to elicit something that'd be more to their use. "Don't touch me! Don't...! I'll, I'll scatter you across the globe, the north pole, the south, the frozen climes and tundra of the southern continent... And all in different time periods; prepare to meet your deaths in a variety of exquisite ways, guillotine, firing squad... Unless, you cooperate in the game it... I mean I have in progress here, at this forsaken system in eternity. I can offer you some advice for the game... follow the lead of the Avalon, which you've so far seemed reluctant to do -"
"Now, listen," Psonoir said calmly, putting down his weighty tricorder on the dirt floor. Schirra nodded to him. "We have been through five iterations of your immoral game and have experienced each time the disappearance, and apparent hallucinatory death, of a crewmember, as has the Lancelot and - by report - the Avalon. No, the only way out of this, in a way we would consider acceptable ethically, is through your direct cooperation. You disapprove of the superior being that commands you?" The entity didn't respond; he seemed equivocal.
"Then, an alliance?" Dan asked.
"If you say so," the man/entity shrugged and stood, taking them off guard; he pointed to a dark, decrepit section of the shack, "Take your places there, in that niche; there it cannot see, cannot be aware of us." Somewhat dubiously, Karka and Koni scanning before indicating to Dan it was safe to proceed, they entered the niche. "I agree to your proposition for an alliance," the entity said, croaking and coughing. "But I will take her."
And he pointed at Koni, light shot from his finger, expanded, a silver stream, and enveloped her; she was rendered immobile, seemingly comatose but - in a most unnerving circumstance - her eyes wide open, expression transfixed and transfigured into a state of petrification.
"Release her," Schirra stated, fury boiling beneath the surface.
"An insurance policy, in case you break the agreement of alliance." Psonoir and Schirra bristled. "There is nothing you can do," the entity continued and coughed, "But do not fear. She'll be returned to you if you keep the alliance and if we succeed in overcoming the superior being."
"The one beyond our comprehension?"
"Indeed."
"And how might we do that?"
"Follow me." They followed him out into the blasted plain; looking about for their beam-down coordinates, they soon realised the landscape about them had changed; it was now filled with rocks and ravines, weather-worn boulders that if they hadn't been clued in to the contrary would appear to have been there for millennia. He began to lead them away across the broken plain, following a line of ravine tops, precipices of chasms, out onto a broader plateau. As they advanced across the barren orange-reddish land, it soon became evident he was directing them towards a city; ancient dilapidated spires became increasingly visible as it rose out of the horizon.
"Why didn't we detect that from orbit?" Karka wondered aloud. Schirra shook his head, he couldn't be sure. Psonoir glanced forward, dust and grit kicking up in his eyes courtesy of momentary dust devils, "Perhaps it's only a recent creation, like those Lieutenant Wentworth and others discovered on their short executionary sojourns down here."
They reached the outskirts after what'd seemed several hours; contact had been made with the Excal, Dan and Karka asked to hold off on being transported back just yet. The city seemed deserted: dilapidated towers; disused, derelict industrial zones and almost wholly decayed ruins of residential housing.
Karka thought he saw humanoid forms - indistinct, hazy storms of confused angles - escaping down side-streets in response to their gradual approach; looters? roving bands of mercenaries? He now noticed the myriad barricades scattered throughout the surrounding district; slowly at first but with increasing speed, these began to be manned by these returning humanoids. Evidently they intended to block their progress.
"This is its home city," the old man/entity croaked as they stood in the midst of a blasted street, "There are others, in other cities, but you shouldn't know about them." The city didn't seem far from the man's shack, Karka reflected; was it actually here, was it merely displaced from somewhere else, perhaps also out of time as the Excal and the other Arthurian vessels already were? Was all this rather a representation of something not within their ability to grasp? "And there," the entity pointed to a distant tall spire, "Is its abode... hidden of the hidden, the eternal mystery." In the next instant the spire disappeared. "Yes," the entity's smile was cracked, "I was able to reveal it for you for an instant, but truly it is invisible, ghostly, only to be found when one decides not to search for it, when one is searching for something else in the city."
"And you'll be searching for a long time," 29th century-constricted Lirwa smiled behind Karka's eyes.
"Captain, I suggest we beam down reinforcements." Would the Avalon permit that to happen?
"The other viable option is to return to the ship, but will the entity allow us?" Schirra asked. They and the entity had an alliance, and it'd promised to do away with T'Seng if they didn't keep the agreement; also, remaining down here, might it not further their efforts to rid themselves of the being controlling their allied entity?
<Tag Schirra>
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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 Apr 19, 2019 16:43:51 GMT
"Would it be advisable to take them on?" Karka asked and gestured to the ragtag band of humanoids that were approaching and manning the barricades.
The old man/entity glanced at him briefly, his weathered features grimacing as billowing gusts emanated from one of the alleys ahead, "Not with just the two of you," he cracked a smile, "No, I suggest you beam down your fabled reinforcements." Karka and Daniel glanced at one another. "Oh, don't worry! I already know how many people you have aboard your ship, your capabilities and armaments, personal and shipborne, and that your poorly concealed conversation entailed a recommendation to send people down here. I will not try to stop them."
"You won't put them before a firing squad?" Karka asked guardedly, aware of Wentworth's fate (prior to her resurrection and return to the Excal).
The entity told them they could rest assured; they had also to trust, or to hope, that T'Seng - in suspended animation due to the entity would remain safe through all this. Psonoir surveyed the alleys and barricades strewn before them, "I don't know, sir, I believe we should return to the ship. While I'm sure Unwin could handle the situation, I'd prefer we were able to give Fyles the best support we can - he's been boarded by the Avalon's marines, it's far beyond what Unwin has had to deal with previously."
"Yes, I may have an idea on that..." Schirra mused. They stepped away from the scene and descended a slope, Schirra turning at the last, "We will return, sir," he informed the entity.
"This will all still be here," it affirmed, "Suspended in time until you're ready to resume our joint venture. I will retain your tactical officer as insurance. Now, do return and sort out your mess... While cooperation between your ships is no longer required, things can go too far the other way, I would hate to see you inflict further casualties upon one another." Psonoir had to hope it was not too late for the Lancelot. The entity opened up a section of the interference layer in the atmosphere, allowing them to return to the Excalibur via a transportation.
Now back on the bridge, Karka took his station and turned to Schirra, "Your idea, Captain?"
Schirra tapped at his armrest before ordering the Avalon put onscreen. They were shown its port forward quarter from just above the leading edge of the saucer. "You say our weapons will not even dent the Avalon's shields?"
T'Seng's stand-in shook his head, "They won't, sir."
"Then would the Excalibur itself, as a weapon, do?" the CO asked.
Karka stood, "We threaten to ram the Avalon, to have Shen withdraw from the Lancelot?" Daniel nodded impatiently and asked if it would work, and whether a quarter impulse power would be sufficient to break through the shields. "I'd say that's a certainty, sir."
"Then prepare for ramming speed, helm."
The helmsman was not sure this was the best of ideas, "From what we've seen since we arrived here, the Avalon appears able to accelerate to maximum impulse perhaps just as rapidly as we would be able to close the gap with them now."
"Then we'll move faster... 0.5 impulse."
"We'll also have the element of surprise," Karka observed, returning to his station. He reflected, perhaps this was what the entity had intended: Excalibur, the sword, driven into the turf of Avalon after Arthur's victorious return from the Battle of Mons Badonicus? The starship Excalibur itself made a weapon - all had led to this moment, perhaps, as pure necessity in the unfolding of the game, to the time of Schirra's order to ram the Avalon and complete a phase in this grand, overarching scheme. What was the purpose of the dilapidated city below? Karka thought and scoffed, Perhaps only part of an elaborate ruse to have the Excal continue in the entity's game just at the time when it'd seemed they'd broken through the haze, out of the dream, and seized the opportunity to approach the entity directly. Had it sent them straight back into the dream, or was Karka lacking in trust? But then after all this action of the Excal's was surely only a deterrent...
The Excalibur was on the verge of activating its engines for ramming speed; would Shen call their bluff? Karka alighted upon a fearful possibility, was this play of Schirra's really only a feint?!
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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 Apr 28, 2019 23:11:31 GMT
It was taking all of Daniel's will power not to attack the man before them ..... He turned to look at Koni, held firmly in stasis at the mans bidding. Truth be told, if Karka hadn't held the mans attention, coaxing him to explain hisactions, Schirra wasn't certain he wouldn't be stood beside the captive T'Seng instantly.
Reluctantly, he had agreed to follow the man/entity, trying to ignore the almost incoherent ramblings muttered as they walked.
The 'city' was derelict, something that might have been abandoned one hundred years or one hundred millennia ago. The man/entity was explaining that this wasn't the only city but was one of numerous others, all apparently in similar states of disrepair Daniel assumed ..... "Captain, I suggest we beam down reinforcements." Karka said quietly. "The other viable option is to return to the ship, but will the entity allow us ?" Schirra asked. His Exec' could only shrug. He was about to continue when he saw the man/entity take a step back, eyes focused on the far distance, he turned to see what he (it) was looking at. He could see only dust, he assumed disturbed by the passing of, something. After several moments it was clear they needed to get out of sight, or at best away from the middle of the ruined thoroughfare. They ran toward the closest ruins, dropping down to keep out of sight for as long as possible. Deciding the best course of action was to return to the Excalibur, Schirra asked for assurances that his Tactical Officer would remain unharmed if they left. The entity confirmed she would, and promised Schirra that all would remain in-situ until his return. With little more to do on the surface Karka contacted the ship to have them transported back aboard ..... **********"....... seen since we arrived here, the Avalon appears able to accelerate to maximum impulse perhaps just as rapidly as we would be able to close the gap with them now." Lieutenant Reneus was saying from the Helm. "Then we will move faster ... Point five impulse." Schirra replied. "Sir, saying we 'do' manage to approach the Avalon before they can react, there is no guarent ....." "Lieutenant. To be honest, I'm hoping their Officers are on the proverbial ball over there. The last thing I want to do is damage the Excalibur." Daniel explained, making sure not to look at Psonoir, whom he knew was watching him closely. "Sorry Captain." the helmsman said, turning back to his panel. Daniel looked through the window, he could see the Lancelot, more out of place, and indeed, time, than the other vessels stranded here, then his eyes went to the massive Avalon. The Excalibur would come a sad second should they challenge such a vessel, and he knew it, but if the Avalon was damaged, or better still, disabled .... "Transfer all power reserves to forward shields ...." Daniel said finally. "Captain ?" Psonoir whispered. ".... Half impulse Mister Reneus ...." Daniel continued, ignoring his Exec's query. He could see Karka suddenly turn towards the window and the looming Avalon beyond, "Now Helm." It took a full half second for Lieutenant Reneus to react, but when he did the Excalibur surged forward ! "You appear to be ignoring our arrangement." Schirra and everyone else on the Bridge spun to see the man/entity stood casually observing proceedings. =^= Excalibur .. What the hell are you doing ! =^= "Ignore the comm. FULL IMPULSE !" Daniel ordered. Reneus reacted instantly, increasing the Excalibur's speed exponentially, There was zero chance that even the mighty Avalon could move fast enough to avoid the inevitable collision only seconds away, eyes darted between the new arrival and the window, collision alarms were sounding even as the Helmsman overrode them they began again more urgently. Beyond the window they could see the massive Avalon reacting, but despite her superiority on every level, even she could not defy the basic laws of physics. Even as she began to turn away the impact was inevitable and it was a given that lives could be lost as a result of that impact. "We had an agreement, did we not, Captain ?" the man/entity continued as if nothing else was occurring. =^= Schirra .. You will regr .. .. .. =^= "Close that comm." Daniel ordered. "Brace for IMPACT !" the Helmsman said. They were so close that they could actually see into the windows of the quarters around the Avalon's saucer section's outer edge now. "TWO ...." "Do I really need to carry out my threat to dispose of your Tactical Officer ?" the man/entity said shaking his head as Koni materialised beside him. "ONE ... BRACE !" the Helmsman shouted. The next few seconds were surreal ...... The Excalibur's shields had undoubtedly slammed into those of the Avalon, inertia had collapsed both vessels' shields and twenty third and twenty fourth century materials came together, but not as expected ... Far from the destruction, rending of twisted metals, broken superstructures, opening both saucer sections to space, it was as if two gelatinous substances had come together ... Far from the catastrophic destruction expected to both ships, they appeared to 'meld' together as one organism. Instead of being thrown across the Bridge, those expecting to be injured they were unaffected. Confusion reigned as people looked from the window, to the newcomer, to their stasis-held Tactical Officer, then to their Captain for explanation. For long moments no-one could comprehend what was happening, but Psonoir had spun to face the man/entity and was approaching him. Daniel could see, actually 'see' the Tactical Officers' phaser discharge in the direction of the intruder, not in real-time, but almost in slow motion ... He jumped from his seat, arms reaching out as he knocked Psonoir from his feet milliseconds before the deadly beam passed through the space he had vacated. Both crashed into the deck, eyes turning toward the intruder who was almost casually pointing in the direction of Tactical. He looked across the Bridge, wondering vaguely where the Duty tactical Officer had gone. Almost as if time had slowed, the Excalibur returned to her former position, as did the Avalon, neither vessel had suffered any damage ! Daniel looked at the intruder, in turn, the man/entity returned his gaze nonchalantly, but as the seconds passed his eyes hardened ..........
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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 May 4, 2019 14:28:18 GMT
Karka didn't know how the events of the last few minutes had been possible, though he did have a few tentative theories. Was it conceivable time had in fact been slowed and the ships had thus collided at much reduced speed? But how would that explain the seeming merging of the two vessels which had then rebounded from one another and resumed their previous positions?
"You've stretched, if not broken the terms of the alliance," the man/entity intoned, eyes hard like flint.
"Those terms," Karka spat out a tooth as he picked himself up from the deck, saved from the duty tactical officer - whereabouts now unknown, whose phaser beam had mysteriously been redirected from the entity onto Karka - by the diving Captain Schirra, "Didn't include a right for you to transport yourself aboard the Excalibur whenever you may wish."
"No, no," it agreed, "But I'd thought my power would've been evident to all of you by now. There's nothing you can do to stop me; my abilities flow through all my actions, my agreements, my oaths... One of which, you have broken." He then gestured to Koni, still trapped in the stasis field. As security flooded onto to the bridge upon Schirra's direction, the entity - surrounded now by the redshirts - encased himself in a similar field to that which trapped Koni (warding off the security guards), opened a small hole in both fields' sides and constructed a silvery connecting tube. He worked some magic with his fingers and a haze of lime green particles was siphoned through to Koni's field; the tube disintegrated and sealed the field while the particulate haze diffused to fill the entirety of T'Seng's once-more isolated sheath.
"It's a slow-acting form of thalaron radiation," the entity explained to the horrified command officers, "She will be dead in ten hours if you do not mend matters with Captain Shen, repair relations between him and the Captain of the Lancelot, and solicit the friendship of the skipper of the yacht Gawain." The entity turned about melodramatically, his mask of decrepitude having been discarded, and strutted to the turbolift; he turned back in the entrance (where was he going? Karka wondered), "Only then, will we have strength enough to combat the superior being whose will I once enacted."
"How are we to mend relations?" Karka asked, Schirra nodding vigorously. "Captain Shen is intractable. If all COs of the 24th century I knew were like that -" Karka was glad he was then cut off: he'd better not reveal he knew something of the 24th century.
The man/entity's features had twisted suddenly, as if he'd been given an idea, "Perhaps some intermingling would help." He looked downwards, mumbled something as if in communication with something beyond their knowledge, and the next Karka knew he was standing in the mess hall of the USS Avalon, along with three other Excal officers, several of the Avalon's, some ratings from the Lancelot and a couple of casually attired yachtsmen. He grasped immediately what'd happened, or what was likely to have happened: the entity had mixed all four of the crews amongst their vessels, pure intermixture through all four ships.
"Ten hours, Earthmen!" the entity barked over the ethereal space to which only it had access, as the doors of the Excal bridge's turbolift closed and the lift descended.
Psonoir looked about: the three Excal officers with him were Captain Schirra, Lieutenant Reneus and a crewman from ship's stores whose name he couldn't recall... ah yes, Hodge. He greeted them and they conferred, before turning to the others present, "Are you all aware of what's taking place?"
The five Avalon crew who'd a moment ago been enjoying coffee (despite having been about to be rammed) nodded confusedly; the Lancelot and Gawain personnel simply gaped. Psonoir nodded and sighed: either they all attempted to defeat the entity or they fell in line with its wishes - either way, it meant reconciling all four vessels.
His communicator beeped; he flipped it open and responded. =/\=Commander Psonoir, Captain Schirra if you're there, this is Unwin... I'm glad to reach you, I'm on the yacht Gawain, sirs, such a sight you'd never see. There's an 'entrepreneur' here, though the term is new to me. Mr Marius Knutsen. I've also had the doubtful good fortune of meeting Captain Shen. He's... not happy, sirs.=/\=
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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 May 5, 2019 23:26:15 GMT
"..... Are you all aware of what's taking place ?" Karka was asking everyone following their appearance on the USS Avalon. "We need to find some way to ....." Schirra began but waited while his Executive Officer received a Comm from the Excalibur's Chief Engineer, "We at least Shen isn't happy." he finished sarcastically. "Mister Hodge, something bothering you ?" Psonoir asked as the man staggered and fell to the deck. "Sorry Commander, I seem to be suffering an after-effect of being brought over here, I'll be fine." the man said, getting tentatively to his feet. "Let's head for the Bridge, I'm hoping all this technology will be able to help in some way." Daniel said, turning to one of the surprised Avalon Crewmen, "Ensign, if you could lead the way ...." **********Stepping from the turbo-lift Daniel couldn't help but be impressed, this was the future of Starships, The lay-out was different but not too much, the one noticeable thing was that the panoramic 'window' of the Excalibur had been replaced with a view screen, personally he considered that a step back but who was he to say ... A Woman stood and turned to face the newcomers: "I am Commander Laporte, Exec'. I was informed of your, arrival." "Captain Schirra, my Exec Commander Psonoir, Ensign Hodge." Daniel said by way of introductions, "What do you know Commander ?" "About as much as you I imagine ..." Laporte replied, "We were attempting to manoeuvre away from you when, we seemed to reposi ....." "Yes yes ...... Open communications with the other three vessels." Schirra ordered, but the Avalon's exec' stood firm, Daniel knew he was technically superior in rank, but this was not his ship, "Please Commander." he said softly. Laporte nodded to her Comms Officer and the screen split into three sections, one for each vessel. =^= Commander .. Lock on transporter and get me back aboard =^= Shen ordered instantly. =^= Sorry Captain .. We attempted that once we located you .. We are unable to get a lock on anyone =^= "I don't see the point in all this." Ensign Hodge said, if that, entity wants us all to work together, why send you all over the place, why not get all four Commanding Officers on the same ship ?" "He's got a point." Laporte conceded. "We don't just push cargo containers around you know." Hodge said with a wry grin. "The entity clearly had a reason for moving us around, though it does beg the question regarding our knowledge of future events." Daniel said. "Commander !" the Avalon's Tactical Officer said suddenly, pointing at the view-screen, everyone turned: On screen, they could see the Excalibur, Gawain, and the Sir Lancelot, all three were moving, re-orientating so all four vessels were going to face each other in geostationary orbit. The three vessels moved closer to the Avalon and seemingly above the aged surface structures ... =^= Captain Schirra .. Unwin Sir .. We lost control moments ago .. Something else is moving us =^= =^= Stand by Commander .. .. .. =^= Karka answered the Engineer as he watched the readouts on the Tactical Officers' station. As the four ships came to a halt all facing inwards two hundred meters apart, a voice boomed through them all: * This will allow ease of communication .... Remember .... Ten hours * Beyond the four vessels, a 'platform' was materialising, it was transparent and circular, it was gradually increasing in diameter until in came into contact with each of the ships forward-most sections. "Sir, I'm reading a nitrogen, oxygen, argon atmosphere forming !" the Avalon's Science Officer said incredulously. As they watched it was clear breathable air was forming beyond the view-screen, it was almost as if a glass dome had been placed over the platform, Atmosphere stabilising to Earth norm at sea level." The ships gave the slightest shudder as the dome sealed itself around the fore of each hull. "You have access ports inside the dome ?" Schirra asked Laporte. "Airlocks three and four should be inside the dome." she answered. "Contact the other ships, inform them that we are going to investigate the viability of the platform, they are to remain on board their respective vessels until we confirm it is safe to exit." Schirra ordered. This time the Comms Officer carried out his order without referring to her own Senior Officer first. Despite arguments, especially from Shen, they agreed to comply .... "OK, then lets go." "Go ?" Hodge asked. "A little 'fresh air' won't do you any harm Ensign, but feel free to remain here." Laporte commented as she passed the man. It was clearly a challenge and everyone knew it, "Commander J'Rel you have the Conn." **********"Pressure is reading Earth standard." despite the readings, each of them had donned EVA suits. "Open airlock ...." Laporte ordered. The Technician, less than convinced, did as she was instructed. The group stepped inside and the inner door slid silently shut, ".... Open outer door Lieutenant." The door slid aside and Daniel stepped forward. He grinned inside his helmet, he had half expected Laporte to get ahead of him, but he figured even she appreciated the maxim of Senior Officer first. He tentatively stepped over the threshold and placed one boot onto the clear platform. Confident it was solid enough he took the proverbial plunge and lifted his other foot over the rim of the airlock and planted it on the platform. He turned to face the others, still inside the airlock itself and raised his hands to his helmet. After a few seconds, mainly employed to try to talk himself out of what he was about to do, he pressed the release on his visor but left his hand on the panel, just in case. there was no rush of air, just the sound of the visor moving up and into the helmet. Finally he took the smallest of breaths, it was air, clean, chilled, but air nonetheless, he didn't need to tell the others it was in fact breathable ... He held his finger to the Comm link on his helmet: =^= Avalon .. Contact all other vessels .. Inform them it is safe to exit onto the platform .. Minimal numbers only ! =^= Schirra ordered ..........
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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 May 6, 2019 21:42:39 GMT
Psonoir looked back at the impressive stepped structure of the Avalon's saucer section, having reached the rough middle of the circular platform. His 24th century suit's visor automatically dimmed the view as he swung about to regard the clutch of mixed crews of the other three vessels, the imaginary system's star shining just above the contours of the yacht Gawain.
The other three crews' representatives came loping towards the four Excal and three Avalon crew who'd come from the Sovereign class, one group headed by Wentworth who - along with Yukigori, still aboard the ship - had been left to take command on the Excal, another by XO Edwin Moore of the Lancelot and a midshipman who had been sent along by his Captain (still under siege in the Round Table class ship's superstructure courtesy of Shen's marines), and the third by Shen himself and Mark Unwin, both coming from the Gawain with three Avalon security, skipper Marius Knutsen and his girlfriend.
As soon as the Avalon's group of Psonoir, Schirra, Laporte and co came within speaking distance of Shen and Unwin, Shen and two of his security guards - adorned in wetsuits supplied by Knutsen, complete with snorkeling gear (the best he could offer against protection from potential vacuum, the coward in Shen had accepted) - began rushing at the Excal's senior officers.
"Captain..." Karka began, not sure whether he was warning Schirra or making a tentative greeting to Shen.
The Avalon CO growled like some creature and leapt quite a distance at Schirra, hands outstretched and fingers tensed as if they were claws, "You tried to ram my ship!! You tried to kill us all...!"
Schirra attempted to stand aside but Shen bundled into him, sending both sprawling. Laporte, Reneus and Hodge fell back while Karka watched from his position nearer RFA Lieutenant Moore's group on the right. Before Karka had a chance to use his consciousness acceleration ability to see about rectifying the situation, Avalon security had levelled phasers at Avalon security.
"Stand down, Captain!" Laporte snapped, her voice strained as she addressed Shen.
Shen stood and tore away his snorkeling gear, took a glance at them and ran towards the edge of the platform, in the general direction of the Avalon which lay some 100 metres off. His security escort seemed unsure whether to follow, but eventually did so. Laporte and co followed after and there was a scuffle near the edge of the platform; the thin covering that seemed to be keeping in the atmosphere was impacted upon by Shen as one of Laporte's guards attempted to subdue him peaceably - this in hindsight was a mistake, the glass or whatever it might've been was broken at the place Shen made contact and he was sent flailing out into the gravityless vacuum.
Psonoir and Hodge who'd been running towards the scene to catch up with Schirra and Reneus who were just five metres away from the scuffle were bowled over on a sudden as the air in the dome began rushing out through the Shen-sized hole. The entity made its move: scything through the ethereal space behind sensation came its voice and its action - the glass was reconstituted, made whole; the atmosphere was retained and the rushing of air was made suddenly to cease.
Laporte choked as she picked herself up near the dome's edge, now watching Shen - a grey nimbus - receding into the endless vacuum, "Can you bring him back?" she shouted to the air, "He'll have desiccated by now... - Can't you restore his life?"
"The dead, are dead. I can deprive those of the life that was given, but cannot restore it," the voice resounded through their minds. Karka wondered how this could be when the entity had demonstrably restored the life of Wentworth and others who'd previously been taken from their ships - it seemed to read his thoughts, "The others didn't truly die, Commander Psonoir. They were party to an illusion; part of that illusion involved their death."
"He's a fool, an utter fool," Karka heard Lirwa murmuring in his head. Psonoir smirked, "Which?" he said inwards, "The entity or Shen?" Lirwa snorted, "Both. I meant your shack-dwelling friend but Shen also, him especially in fact. Think, Psonoir, this makes things a good deal easier." Karka realised his fellow Hybrudean was right - with Shen, unfortunately or otherwise, gone, the person they'd deal with now as Avalon CO was Laporte; perhaps she'd prove to be more pliable. Shen had been intransigent and seemingly out of his senses. Laporte so far had seemed most cooperative.
"Good day. Lieutenant Moore," Edwin Moore was shaking the hand of Marius Knutsen, billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the huge yacht Gawain, the introduction being made by Unwin who smiled uneasily. The smarmy Knutsen nodded and turned to the RFA midshipman and Laporte who happened to be stood alongside, "And you must be my valet service."
"Are you alright, sir?" Hodge asked Schirra who had picked himself up.
Karka turned to Wentworth as the groups from each ship fully integrated, moving back towards the central point of the platform, "If we can handle Mr Knutsen, I'd say we've opened the way to cooperation." And a way to save Koni's life, if the man/entity kept his word, he thought.
Unfortunately, however, the marines fiercely loyal to Shen - his virtual personal bodyguard trained by him to die in his place - were on the verge of succeeding in their objective to take the Lancelot's bridge, Captain Fyles still inside; Karka wondered whether it would be best to conceal Shen's death from them for the time being.
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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 May 7, 2019 22:53:07 GMT
Schirra had been moving tentatively toward the center of the platform as others from the Lancelot, Gawain and the Excalibur began to emerge ... He had his back to the Gawain as Captain Shen had stepped through the lock. The man had apparently set his sights on Schirra and sped toward him. Daniel heard Karka and began to turn as the Avalon's Commanding Officer slammed into him screaming accusations. Shen was pulled away but not before inflicting an injury or two on those holding him.
"You tried to ram my ship ... You tried to kill us all ... !"
Daniel had turned to speak to his own Exec' when he heard the shout. Turning in time to see Shen, who had somehow breached the gossiper dome and had been ejected by the rush of atmosphere escaping. Daniel, along with everyone else had been thrown forward by the initial fracture, but as the jagged rip in the unknown fabric began to repair itself they picked themselves up ...
On his knees, Schirra could only watch as the Commanding Officer of the Avalon drifted away from them. Shen's Exec' was screaming into the air, pleading for Shen to be restored, but the disconnected voice said alas it was impossible to do so. Daniel got to his feet, the others looking in his direction.
"Captain, I know this may not be the time ..." Someone was saying as he walked over to where Nicole Laporte was stood.
"Commander ....." Schirra said quietly, "Commander !" he repeated more forcibly, this time the woman turned to face him.
"Captain." was all she could say. Daniel was worried she was out of her depth. He had no idea of her experience, or what situations she had been involved in in her own century, and frankly he didn't have time to ask.
"Commander, you need to contact your men on the Lancelot, order them to vacate the vessel immediately." Schirra said. Laporte looked him up and down as if apprising a possible purchase from the local market, "Commander. I don't need to remind you that I am now Senior Officer. Contact your men on the Lancelot, please."
Everyone in earshot had stopped talking among themselves and were taking note of the conversation going on. Either Laporte was unwilling, or unable to issue such an order and Daniel wasn't going to wait for her to come around, they were in trouble, and having one vessel trying to assert authority, for whatever reason, was unacceptable. He took his Communicator from the pocket of his jacket sleeve and flicked it open:
=^= Schirra to Excalibur .. .. =^=
=^= Lieutenant Wentworth Sir .. good to hear your voice =^=
=^= Lieutenant .. Have a Security detail stand ready in Transporter Room Two .. they are to transport to the Bridge of the lancel .. .. .. =^=
=^= I'll order my men to withdraw." Laporte interrupted. Daniel looked at her for a long moment then continued.
=^= Have the Security detail stand by for my order .. Keep this comm open .. .. .. =^=
=^= Standing by Captain =^= Wentworth confirmed. Karka had sidled up beside the Avalon Exec, now Acting Commanding Officer, he watched Laporte closely, ready to snatch the Comm badge from her jacket should the situation require it, but she was clearly not willing to prolong any unpleasantness any longer than necessary. She tapped her Comm badge:
=^= Laporte to Colonel Barron .. Withdraw onto the platform immediately .. Confirm .. .. .. =^=
=^= .. .. .. .. .. =^= was the only reply. She tried again.
=^= Laporte to Barron .. Confirm my order .. Captain Shen is dead .. I have taken Command of the Avalon .. Confirm my order and report to me immediately =^=
=^= .. .. .. .. .. Understood .. Barron out =^= she turned to Schirra, a resigned expression in her face.
"We need to talk." Schirra said to the new CO of the future vessel. Laporte nodded and followed him as he moved away from the others, I know this is going to be hard for you, given the circumstances, but we need to work together, the life of my Tactical Officer, and likely that of all those present, is at risk. I would rather not have to occupy the Avalon to force my point." he said finally, a wry grin forming as he hoped to ease the obvious tension.
"Occupy ?" Laporte repeated.
"Subdue ?" Daniel replied.
"What makes you think you have more experience with our situation than we do, Captain ?"
"Well, if you can convince me that you have the greater experience then I will of course defer to your judgement." Schirra replied with a shrug, knowing this was a delicate balance, he wanted her to cede authority willingly, at least that way they could work together without having to look over their prospective shoulders all the time.
"The Avalon is yours, Captain." she said after a moment.
"No, you Command the Avalon, I just want your superior technology. With luck you may be able to find something the Excalibur cannot." he said, she nodded, seemingly grateful and worried in equal measure, "I assume those three pips on your collar are rank insignia, if so I suggest you change then to reflect your rank as Captain, lets make sure everyone is in no confusion as to who is who." he finished, placing a hand on her shoulder for a second.
"Captain ...." he looked round to see Hodge motioning toward the Lancelot, where a team o Marines from Avalon were emerging, their Senior Officer approaching Laporte.
"I assume you have good reason for halting our assault ?" the man said with clear disdain.
"Captain." Schirra said, eyes on the Marine, who turned at the comment.
"Excuse me ?"
"I assume you have good reason for halting our assault .... 'Captain' ...." Schirra replied, watching the mans inner turmoil at the turn of events. It was clear he was mulling over his options.
"Apologies, Captain." he said finally turning to address Laporte. In turn she looked at Schirra and his Exec' Commander Clancy:
"First off, lets get some of these people back on their respective vessels. I suggest we ask the two Senior Officers of each vessel to come onto the 'platform' where we can begin talking options."
"..... And just 'WHO' put you in charge, may I ask !?" the group turned to see the Master/Owner of the Private yacht Gawain, hands on hips as if chastising his galley staff for over-chilling the caviar.
"This became a Military issue the second we were brought here." Laporte informed the obnoxious man.
"I'm afrai ....." Knutsen began, but Daniel interrupted:
"Mister Knutsen ... I appreciate your feelings, and welcome your input, but unless you have, by some miracle, concocted a solution to our problem that will see an end to our situation, resulting in all our vessels being returned to their respective time-frames, then I, humbly ask for you indulgence and co-operation."
"Hmm ..... And if I chose to go it, alone, so to speak ?" Knutsen enquired, stepping within a meter of Schirra, "What will you do I beg ?"
"Mister Larsen, as you are fully aware, we have already lost one person, and another has a death sentence hovering over her head unless we can work together. So how about getting the hell off that 'high horse' of yours and help out !" Hodge said before anyone else could reply.
"I will give your, proposal some thought." Knutsen said with obvious contempt before turning to march off to his vessel. Everyone watch him prance away, each secretly yearning to kick the sarcastic smirk off his face. The group continued talking as the lower Officers or ratings returned to their vessels. Captain Fyles joined the others from the Lancelot having made sure the ship was secure. The group turned as the for'ard port open on the Gawain and Knutsen, along with one other emerged. They walked over to the group.
"I have decided, for the time being, to go with the majority ...." Knutsen said, the sarcasm oozing from every syllable, "This is T'Gor, my Boatswain, essentially second in Command in my name."
"OK ...." Daniel acknowledged, "Welcome to the party Mister T'Gor."
"Just T'Gor." the man replied.
"T'Gor it is." Schirra replied, trying not to shrug, "Lets begin .... Anyone any thoughts ?" ..........
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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 May 10, 2019 23:57:57 GMT
"T'Gor it is." Schirra replied, trying not to shrug, "Lets begin .... Anyone any thoughts ?" .... The eight most Senior Officers from the four vessels, well, seven Officers and the obnoxious Knutsen, stood in the center of the platform. It was a little disconcerting to be able to see the planet below them through the almost invisible material, but no-one could dwell on just what was beneath their feet. "Well ....." the Lancelot's Executive Officer ventured, "If we can believe that this man/entity, is on our side, which I sincerely doubt, then he should be able to make himself available to assist us. My opinion, if I may .... This man/entity is toying with us as has those who brought us here for their entertainment." Everyone took in what Lieutenant Moore had said, no-one could argue with his logic. "Why do we not simply demand this man/entity to appear before us ?" Commander So-yeon, the Avalon's newly appointed Exec' asked defiantly. "Feel free, Commander." Knutsen said with a smirk. "I think requesting the entity's presence isn't going to work ....." Daniel answered, "For obvious reasons ... 'If' ... It is indeed willing to help in some way, then having it's brethren know this would undoubtedly put both it and us in jeopardy. Hardly helpful to either of us at present, and I have to agree with Lieutenant Moore, we have no way of knowing if this is all some elaborate ploy to lull us into some false sense of security, or nudge us in a particular path predestined by those who brought us here. It's clear that despite the death of Captain Shen, they want us here for their own reasons. Be that purely entertainment, given the references to Arthurian legend." "If I may Sir ?" Captain Fyles interrupted. "Please do." Daniel replied, happy to cede the floor. "It would appear that the very 'parameters' of our situation have changed for the worse ... Initially, all be that short-lived, we believed that with the return of the first person to loose their life, we may as you say be in some sort of bizarre game being indulged by this unknown race of beings. Alas, that changed on two fronts: Firstly the threat from the man/entity that the next loss of life would indeed be permanent, and the subsequent loss of our esteemed Avalon Commanding Officer. Whether that be of his own doing or orchestrated by the entity race, seems unimportant. A death we have, and it seems clear that should anyone suffer the same fate, they too will not be granted a sudden and unexpected reincarnation. So in summery, I believe we should endeavour to reach the source with all due haste." "Just 'what' exactly do you have in mind may I ask ?" Knutsen asked, the continual sarcasm beginning to grate on everyone. "I believe that our answers can be found in only one place .... There." Fyles said, pointing directly between his immaculately polished shoes. While the ruins they had visited previously could not be seen by the naked eye from their geostationary orbit, everyone could tell instantly where he was pointing. "HA ! .... How do you propose we get down there, drop through the floor no doubt ?" Knutsen spat. "Well." Nicole Laporte began with a little too much gusto, ".... if you are willing to stand perfectly still, I am more than happy to use a phaser to attempt to burn a hole around you. If, or once you hit the sand below safely and wave up to us, we'll all follow you down the rabbit hole one after the other. how does that sound ?" she offered, raising her eyebrows as if awaiting an answer. Knutsen spat an obscenity and spun around to put his back to the group. T'Gor looked as if he could cheerfully relieve the man of his head without loosing sleep. "So, suggestions on how we get down there ?" Daniel asked, trying hard not to grin at Laporte. "If you would indulge me for a moment, am I right in thinking that only the fore'most sections of our vessels are encompassed within the dome ?" Commander Moore asked. Daniel and the others nodded confirmation, "So, do you not have smaller craft that could depart your vessel and traverse the distance between our trapped ships and the surface unhindered ?" 'Six Hours ... Earthmen !' The voice boomed ..........
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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 May 19, 2019 16:10:40 GMT
"Indeed we do," Karka nodded, pleased with the 20th century Lancelot officer's insight and dissatisfied with his own apparent inability to think of the same solution. The transporter being offline due to the interference layer - which the entity was resolutely keeping in place to prevent their finding a quick fix to the situation, Psonoir presumed - the shuttles would be the next best option. However, Karka was uncertain about piloting such a craft himself due to his past mistakes regarding such vehicles, failing to land one upright for instance.
"I'll take a shuttle from the Avalon, Captain," Laporte said, "In addition to any you might send yourself." Karka and Dan glanced at one another before nodding, they managed to convince her to take Lieutenant Wentworth with her as well as Captain Fyles of the Sir Lancelot (partly by way of recompense, and to help him get to know the Avalon crew, who may apologise for having assaulted his ship and killed four of his men).
"We'll take one ourselves, no more no less, so as to keep things even," Karka said after being instructed in the chosen course of action by Schirra.
Laporte smiled benignly; despite the recent standoffish exchanges between the crew of each ship, Karka had the impression Laporte could be trusted, long experience of humans and expertise in reading their faces convinced him she at least was genuine, no matter what (good or bad) she might decide to put forth,
"I'm not your enemy, Excalibur crew. My own Captain," Laporte shook her head, "I don't know what happened, before we came here he had his wits about him, it was as if as soon as he found himself amongst unfamiliar, perhaps unreal stars, he lost his senses. Every half an hour he had us attempting contact with Command, to request instructions. Of course, there was no answer; it drove him mad. I apologise personally for his conduct."
"Your apology isn't necessary, but it is good to know that you take responsibility for his actions," Karka said and turned away; they prepared the shuttle for launch.
As they all walked to their own vessels, Knutsen and T'Gor confided, the latter taking out of his carry case the small golf ball-sized explosive (tritium-based micronuclear warhead, enough to obliterate a village and contaminate the area with the radioactive fallout for a couple centuries) and showing it to Knutsen, whose expression turned to one of dismay. He spoke harshly but in a whisper, "T'Gor, I warned you... I warned you! Stay away from those people, why did you go back to them...? And what -" he choked, "Just what do you intend to do with that thing for crying out loud?!"
"Don't you think it'll come in handy?" T'Gor smiled toothily and placed the explosive back in the case as they stepped aboard the Gawain.
Knutsen reacted quickly, pushing T'Gor against the bulkhead as they stepped off the gang-plank, "If I ever catch you with that again, if you don't immediately throw it out the window once we get below-deck, I'll... Well, I'll see to it that your licence is revoked! You'll never sail on my ship again, you hear me?!"
Knowing that the entity demanded all four crews work together, it was decided they would take representatives from each vessel to the surface (and the ruined city they hoped to find at the coordinates from which Karka and Daniel were beamed up); the entity would already know they'd struck an agreement, but presenting themselves in person as an open sign of their cooperation would at least prevent him from being legalistic in the matter.
Reneus took the pilot's chair himself, with Karka off to port and Schirra on starboard, while Crewman Hodge, Mr Knutsen and T'Gor crowded in the back of the small space. They scythed through the dense cloud layers, emerging to see the blasted grey-orange landscape; on the horizon, a city, ruined dilapidated spires - the entity had it back in place.
Karka looked across and out a side port to see the Avalon's larger and sleeker shuttle also descending, some 30 metres away. "How fast are we going?!" Knutsen exclaimed, as the shuttles levelled out and streamed silently metres above the surface towards the city, his earlier smarminess had given way to bug-eyed enthusiasm, "Surely at least 2000 mph!"
Karka smiled, "Faster, but not for long."
Reneus let it be known the other shuttle was hailing, Laporte's face appeared on the screen next to the forward viewport, "Where to land, Captain?" They suggested she touch down off to the left at the western edge of the city, near the monumental gateway and colonnade; they themselves would land in the southern suburbs where they'd last spoken with the entity before returning to the Excalibur. They touched down and sure enough, there was the entity on the barren rise, exactly where they'd left him as if the scene hadn't changed and the last several hours since returning to the Excalibur, ramming the Avalon and witnessing the death of Shen had not occurred. The hatch was opened, they all stood up; T'Gor smiled and patted his carry case, rising and leaving it on the seat as he strode with Knutsen and the others onto the surface.
"You call this working together?" the entity croaked, as if looking over their shoulders. They did not know what he meant, they were all here, all working together, weren't they? Koni had only two hours left; what else did they need to do to free her and begin their work with the entity to defeat those entities superior even to it?
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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 May 22, 2019 18:55:26 GMT
Daniel couldn't help have an uneasy feeling about proceedings, it was almost as if the entity was toying with them, holding Koni, forcing them to work together, though that did seem the most reasonable course of action ... He sat in silence as the shuttle scythed through the dense atmosphere, the sleeker, more aerodynamic craft from the USS Avalon scant meters away. It was testament to both pilots they they could keep formation in such conditions .....
Finally, having decided on landing co-ordinates, and none too soon in his opinion, they touched down. The door pivoted away to form a ramp which they could exit the shuttle. Daniel and Karka felt for their concealed phasers, Reneous and Hodge doing likewise. As per orders, neither Knutsen or T'Gor were armed.
The entity was still in position, as if it had frozen in place following their recent departure. As they began to approach, Schirra's communicator chirped to life, retrieving it from his sleeve pocket he flicked it open:
=^= Schirra =^=
=^= We have landed successfully Captain .. Any instructions on how to proceed from here ? =^= Laporte confirmed.
=^= Enter the City .. Try to find any technology concealed .. It might not be here at all or could be below ground .. Access might be made from one of the buildings =^=
=^= Understood =^= Laporte replied.
=^= Captain .. Be careful .. I suggest you report to myself or Commander Psonoir on progress every thirty minutes .. We will do likewise .. .. Schirra out =^= he replaced the communicator as they approached the entity. As if on cue, it reanimated, turning to face them:
"You call this working together ?" it asked.
"All relevant parties are on the surface ...." Schirra answered, looking around him as the entity raised a hand.
"Approach no further." it ordered, everyone stopped walking, "We can converse quite easily at this distance."
Reneus guesstimated they were approximately five meters apart. 'Is that distance significant in some way ?' he thought as he noticed Daniel still scanning the horizon.
"Captain ?" Reneus queried, "Is something wrong ?" Daniel couldn't answer the man, something wasn't quite right, he couldn't put a finger on what was bothering him, Something was nagging at the back of his mind, and when that happened it usually meant that something was amiss. He ignored the entity, who was now seemingly waiting for a reply. He did a slow rotation through three sixty degrees, eyeing the silhouettes of buildings, eyes flicking towards the angry sky, down to the dirt beneath his boots. Had anyone asked him to point out an inconsistency, he wouldn't have been able to comply, but something was wrong !
Then it hit him .... The shades .... He stopped turning, eyes flicking to the still waiting entity, then to the others, it was the shades of colours, everything seemed to be, out, the spectral reflectance or the wavelength being absorbed by his retina's was altered in some way. Almost as if a 'filter' had been placed over his eyes. He noticed Karka watching him and motioned toward the entity, his Exec' understood and began asking questions. Daniel again turned, scanning the horizon, the the buildings each side of the wide promenade-like street. Again he realised something was 'out' ...
His memory of their last visit to the surface was hardly photographic, but he could see 'differences' .... Buildings were in the same place as far as he could tell, but one may be further forward than the others, while another appeared to stand back from the others almost randomly. It was as if on their first visit the 'city' was already in place, while this time it had hastily been reconstructed but with slight flaws. He tried to convince himself that it was his imagination, maybe the light from the sun arcing across the sky had more blue, but he couldn't settle. This could be the same city, same location, or it could be another construct on the other side of the planet. Hell, it could be another planet all together. No, that was too far a leap. he was about to let it go as fatigue or his imagination when he realised something significant:
Koni T'Seng was nowhere to be seen ! ..... He approached Karka and quickly voiced his thoughts. Again the entity seemed willing to wait patiently, after all it wasn't his life in jeopardy.
"Where is my Tactical Officer ?" he asked the entity, who turned leisurely to face him.
"I do not believe her whereabouts are of significance at this juncture."
"I want to see my Tactical Officer. NOW !" Daniel demanded, though he had a feeling that the entity wouldn't, or couldn't comply with his demand.
"I cannot ...." the entity replied hesitantly, eyes flicking upwards for a second, "You have less than two hours remaining Captain. I suggest you use it wisely.
"We don't even 'KNOW' what we are supposed to DO !" Daniel shouted, the frustration finally reaching boiling point ..........
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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 May 24, 2019 17:00:42 GMT
"I suppose I..." the entity paused, seeming troubled, "They may let me take this one step, not to assist you, no, but it may help me return your tactical officer unharmed."
Karka's weapon vanished from his hand - he grasped at nothingness and looked across at the enraged Schirra who now appeared mystified as his phaser also dematerialised. Knutsen and T'Gor were commanded by the entity to step up beside the two senior officers of the Excalibur, they did so reluctantly and four short blades - akin to Earth early medieval period swords - appeared before them all, half-buried in the grey-orange barren soil.
"Now we have a level playing field, at least nominally," the entity said sardonically from his place on the rise, seeming to look at T'Gor, Karka thought. Hodge and Reneus emerged from the shuttle - having headed inside to fetch rations - and indicated that the craft's phasers, as well as the sidearms in the weapons locker, had been disabled.
"Ah yes, blades for the two of you. The more the merrier, as the Earthfolk say," the entity intoned, and swords were magicked into the hands of Hodge and Reneus. "To evidence your ability to work together in good faith, you'll comb the city, hunt the mercenaries recruited by 'them'," his voice shook as he eyed the sky and the distant horizon. Karka followed his gaze to the latter. Now there, how strange... He could espy distantly the hazy outline of another ruined city, spikes and spires loomed from below the horizon.
They wandered their own city and located one group of the ragtag humanoids Karka had seen before, these beings' unreality now proven by the group's first sword strokes against them: on contact, each mercenary disappeared in a momentary flash of green light, caught in the middle of their swings or in their preparation of antiquated sidearms.
After playing his part in dispatching this group and emerging from a blast crater into a narrow street lined with ruins of skyscrapers, Karka took stock. Schirra was sharing reports with Laporte, hoping to have the two groups find one another. He'd shared his concerns regarding the new placement of buildings, and the just perceptible general difference in the city, Karka agreed with him, did the entity control this place, how much of the planet could it control, might they raise a general question of identity?
"How much longer must we endure this fight?" Knutsen asked. Aside from his complaining, the entrepreneur seemed to be holding up, Karka thought, T'Gor and Reneus likewise, and as for Hodge... where was Crewman Hodge?
"Crewman!" he called, his voice cracked and throat dry with the masses of suspended dust. He climbed a pile of rubble to observe a cut-off street that curved away from their narrow road. "Crewman Hodge?!" The only response to his call was his own voice echoing through the forest of towers.
In a state of desperation, they kept up their efforts to defeat the mercenary groups while also searching for Hodge and trying to rendezvous with Laporte, So-yeon and Wentworth. Karka's chrono informed him only ten minutes remained before Koni succumbed to the thalaron radiation in her shell.
They were passing on their left what appeared to be the remains of a municipal building, a sizeable hole in the ground floor and first storey revealed a reception, an office and the remains of a local mint, paper money still jetting out of the machines and being strewn across the street by the periodically gusting wind. From behind the destroyed reception desk and out of the shadows, Crewman Hodge - somehow changed - emerged and raised his hand, a forcefield seemed to descend from the sky and made to encapsulate the five of them. Karka ducked down and scampered towards the edge of the hemisphere formed by the field, hoping he could slip out before it reached street-level; he espied T'Gor, some 30 metres off running down an adjacent street in the direction of the distant shuttle. Knutsen - now trapped in the field along with Karka, Daniel and Reneus - screamed after him.
"Hodge," Reneus said, "We believed you'd been killed by the mercenaries."
"The true Hodge was destroyed in an accident and replaced by us upon your arrival in this system. Be still!" Hodge cried as the four of them began attempting to cut their way free from the field. "Do not trust the lesser entity, it traps you and lies about us, we who created it."
In five minutes (and less than five before Koni's time was up) T'Gor had reached the shuttle, opened his carry case and taken out the tritium warhead. With it grasped in his hand, he ran up the bank towards the entity, meaning to destroy it and everything within a kilometre's radius, and survive himself if he could but fly the shuttle out before the detonation.
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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 May 24, 2019 23:31:54 GMT
As they passed through the city, Daniel couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the location of their previous sojourn to the surface of this world ... They had 'dispatched' over a dozen of their foe, all of which disappeared once felled. He had been regretting his outburst of earlier, but now his anger was replaced with frustration. It was clear to everyone that they were being used in some bizarre roll play fantasy, for what reason, he couldn't comprehend. He had no option but to attempt escape, not only for his own crew, but for those among the other vessels brought here against their wills. He was still pondering their limited or more precisely 'non-existent' options when his Exec' began shouting: "Crewman!" Psonoir called, his voice cracked and throat dry with the masses of suspended dust. He climbed a pile of rubble to observe a cut-off street that curved away from their narrow road. "Crewman Hodge ?!" They had no time to search as more of the Mercenaries appeared to be defeated. Daniel was beginning to feel the pain in his arm after wielding the large sword ..... Knutsen, as usual, had voiced the obvious, asking how long this was going to last, but as with the proverbial 'piece of string' it was a query no-one could answer. They were passing one building, this one much like the rest when Crewman Hodge had appeared. "The true Hodge was destroyed in an accident and replaced by us upon your arrival in this system .... BE STILL !" the entity 'Hodge' cried as the four of them began attempting to cut their way free from the field, "Do not trust the lesser entity, it traps you and lies about us, we who created it." "So it is you controlling this scenario ?" Schirra asked calmly. "You should be progressing ..... We had expected more from you." the 'Hodge' said, almost discontented with proceedings thus far, but Daniel could not have cared less about it's feeling being hurt. "What have you brought us here for ?" he asked defiantly. "You do not understa ....." "Where is my Officer ?" Daniel interrupted. "Rudeness is a quality unbecoming of your race, Captain. Maybe we should teach you a lesson, hmmmm ..." the 'Hodge' said, raising one hand to cup his chin as if deep in thought, "Yes, maybe the needless sacrifice of your young Officer will encourage you to comply moving forward, Hmm, now, what to do, what to do ?" "Why are you trying to discredit the other entity ?" Knutsen asked suddenly, attracting the attention of the 'Hodge' entity, "You called it 'lesser' ... Lesser than you, or lesser than what ?" Daniel had taken the diversion to inch forward, hoping to get close enough to 'Hodge' to make physical contact, but the shield was still annoyingly resisting their efforts. "How are we to believe that you are the superior entity if you steadfastly refuse to show compassion. You are nothing more than the other, no better. I pride myself in my ability to 'read' people, it is how I acquired my belongings. I am inclined to believe that you and the other entity are vying for supremacy, why you require our presence to fulfil this is beyond me, but here we are, I Sir, am unimpressed, and that said, I refuse to take any further part in your fantastical play-acting. History was not one of my stro ....." Knutsen vanished from sight before he could finish the sentence. "Where is he ?!" Daniel demanded. "He was, disrespectful, and is to be punished." the 'Hodge' said as if the subject was closed. Daniel suddenly thought of something: "You need us all, there can be no other explanation for whom you brought here. If it was just to reenact historical events from our past, one ship would have sufficed, so, why four from four time-frames in Earths history ?" Everyone could see that the entity was losing patience, but before Daniel could continue, T'Gor stepped forward ! "You will return this mans Officer, and you will return my employer. Failure to comply will result in our no longer co-operating it this charade !" T'Gor demanded. The 'Hodge' entity appeared to be considering his demand for long moments. In his peripheral vision, Daniel was convinced the city was once again re-configuring itself, but every time he turned it was as before, "We have participated in your pantomime, it is now time to allow us a small encouragement !" finally finished, T'Gor took one pace backwards then waited. "Captain ! ..." Daniel turned to see Laporte and the others running towards them from a side street he was convinced was not there seconds before. "I do believe we have conveyed our intentions to you." the 'Hodge' entity said, either ignoring the demand from the Gawain's Boatswain, or storing the open hostility for future retribution, We believe you have been successful in your first encounter. We will progress to the next to see how you fare ... I think it only prudent to return your missing colleagues at this time ... But 'BE WARNED' insubordination will no longer be tolerated. You will carry out the tasks as we demand, you will have no further communication with the lesser entity. failure from this point in time will result in permanent forfeit of life." The 'Hodge' entity vanished as simultaneously both Koni T'Seng and an extremely confused and silent Knutsen reappeared. Koni ran over, hugging Schirra and Psonoir, it was now Daniel was convinced that the city was changing before them ... The dome, seconds earlier confining them, dissipated to nothingness, but as this happened the weapons too vanished, leaving them helpless. Lieutenant Moore turned, holding up something ... "That's a pistol, a black powder flintlock pistol ....!" Koni said in awe as several of the weapons materialised on the ground before them. She took the one held by Moore and turned it over in her hands, ".... I would guess this is from around seventeen to eighteen hundreds, Earth. The sort of thing your well-to-do pirate would wear, there were more basic models, but this was more your 'Lord High Commander' of the Jamaican Islands type of protection." she turned, scanning the nearby buildings until she found something suitable. Raising the weapon she aimed at the cornerstone of the building and fired. The smoke and smell from the powder igniting was only surpassed by the resulting one meter gaping crevice as the musket ball had impacted the corner of the building ... It suddenly occurred to everyone that being shot by one of these weapons would certainly end their lives ! Daniel looked at the piston, deep in thought. "Captain ?" Laporte queried. "Everything about this has been orientated around Arthurian Legend right ?" Laporte and Psonoir both nodded, "So why these ? ... The swords I can understand, Arthurian Knights carried them at all times, as did any man worth his pride, but unless my history is worse than I thought, flintlock weapons were never carried by the Knights of the Round Table." "Maybe they got confu ....." Laporte began, but Daniel interrupted her: "They got it wrong !" he said, looking around seeing 'Hodge' off to one side almost ignoring them, "If they got this wrong, then maybe we have something to work with." he finished in a whisper ..........
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