Nia Lemond
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Aug 11, 2019 20:06:27 GMT
Posts: 242
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Post by Nia Lemond on Jan 18, 2020 22:51:25 GMT
This thread
009 : Encounter
is a continuation of the USS El Alamein assignment started on
~~~ Small Steps ... Looking Beyond Disaster ~~~
SD: 2406.04.0115
ooo000ooo
Regards
Vice Admiral Nia Lemond Director Starfleet Intelligence
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 18, 2020 23:06:15 GMT
USS El Alamein Two days into patrol of Starbase forty-Seven Region :: In a way, David was glad to be back aboard the ship, he'd never been one for being ground, or rather, Starbase-based in this case ..... As they began their first extended circumnavigation of Starbase Forty-Seven, the three Intelligence Officers were sat at the table at the rear of the Bridge, all three were enjoying a coffee and talking about the recently discovered wormhole. Elena was frowning as Tan turned to her: "Something on your mind?" he asked. "Erm, no, sorry..." de Luca said with a slightly embarrassed grin, "...I just hadn't noticed the Dedication Plaque before," Iorte looked at the aforementioned item and shrugged. "You've too much time on your hands if all that's occupying your mind is the decor," Tan said, as Clancy decided to call it a night. Less than four hours later he was called back ..... "What do we have?" Captain Komin was asking as Clancy acknowledged the others. "A second cloaked vessel..." Ops reported. Apparently then the crew had already detected the first one, and it'd been cloaked. "Distance, one seven zero point two million kilometers, just below us and off to Port. The first vessel is five million kilometers above and astern of us. Neither is presently moving in our direction," "You think one of them could have been the one involved with the abduction of Mister O'Toole recently?" Fran asked. "I don't think so Captain, the one close to the Starbase was what Mister O'Toole had described as a 'Generation' ship, on the order of ten times larger than the profiles sensors are picking up now," "Scout vessels maybe?" David speculated. "Helm, change course fifteen degrees to Starboard, maintain warp three," The ship turned, almost imperceptibly, the stars drifted across the viewscreen. For long moments everyone waited to see what the cloaked vessels would do, finally, Komin was satisfied they were simply ignoring the federation ship or possibly deemed them no threat, "Let's remain on this heading for two hours, if there's no change in either of the cloaked ships we'll return to our circumscribed route," The last thing they wanted to do was needlessly lead the cloaked ships to the Starbase, assuming of course that the larger vessel hadn't notified others of the Federations presence. "Captain the vessel ahead is continuing on course, but the one astern is dropping from its current position above the Galactic Plane," "Has it changed course?" Milo Van asked. "No Sir, it is now three million kilometers astern and to our Port, no increase in speed as we hold our heading," the temporary Operations Officer replied. "Didn't O'Toole say that the Korowia?, holding him, or rather that idiot they were working with, were nomadic, having left their home System generations ago?" Tan asked, Kyle Evans, confirmed this from the Science Station, "So how is it that we come across two almost running side by side. Doesn't that strike you as odd?" "We only have Sean's word from what he picked up while over there, but I got the impression that the Korowia would rather be as far away as possible to anyone, their 'sister' vessels included, we simply don't have enough information to go on to make assumptions," Elena commented. "Helm, bring us around another sixty degrees and slow to warp one," Komin ordered. Again, they watched as the tactical image on the viewscreen showed the unidentified vessel moving out of shot to Port, then seconds later it reappeared. "So, that pretty much confirms they are following us," Demik said from Tactical. "What about the second ship?" Tan asked nervously. "Still on the same heading, it will move beyond our sensor range in fifteen minutes," "We may need to consider leaving," de Luca said, seeing the others on the Bridge turn in her direction, "Those ships are bigger than us, not that that has ever been an issue, of course, but going off these readings they are also better armed, we might see retreat as the better part of valor, as the saying goes?" "Not like you to want to run," David said with a grin. "Captain, they are closing the distance between us..." Demik informed everyone, "Slowing now, holding at fifty thousand kilometers," "Well, we can't just keep heading away from the Starbase indefinitely, so maybe we should say 'hello' to our shadows," Van said, glancing at Fran Komin. She, in turn, looked at the three Intelligence Officers as they were informed that the second vessel had passed out of range. She looked at the image of the ship: Longer, wider, clearly more heavily armed, yet it was just sitting behind them doing nothing. They surely couldn't think that the El Alamein would ignore them and eventually return to the Starbase, could they, though it had crossed her mind that they could already have that information. "Red Alert! ..... Helm, bring us about directly in their path and come to all stop," the Captain ordered. Things moved very quickly, the ships weapons systems and shields were brought online, handheld phasers were retrieved and donned, other crew members took phaser rifles from previously concealed racks, everyone was ready for upcoming events. As they watched, the unknown vessel slowed, finally coming to a complete stop five hundred meters from the Defiant Class El Alamein. "Comms, please ask our 'guests' what their intentions are," Milo Van requested. But was told that while the other ship was receiving their hale, they were not replying, "Any signs of the other ship?" "No Sir. Just our friend out there .... They are raising shields and locking their considerable weapons on us!" Demik said calmly. "Helm, back us away, one-quarter impulse," Komin ordered, watching as the other vessel matched their course exactly, "All stop," the Captain said, clearly frustrated as she got up from the center seat, "So?" she asked. "Captain..." Nate Mass began, "From what little we could get from Mister O'Toole regarding the Korowia, they pretty much fled their System scattering in all directions ... No two ships had set eyes on another for no-one knows how long, hundreds of years at least, so to have three come along in the space of what, six weeks, seems hardly plausible in my opinion." "Maybe these two decided to team up?" Elena suggested. But before anyone could reply they heard the tell-tale hum of a transport in progress, spinning around they were confronted by a single person! .... Weapons aimed at the man from every part of the Bridge ..... The man seemed to find this amusing, grinning and shaking his head as if about to chastise a small child. "Who are you!" Komin demanded. "Who am I is of no concern to you. What is of concern, is your continued survival, and that can only be achieved with mutual cooperation," the man said. "You have thirty seconds to leave my ship, or 'cooperation' will be the last thing on your mind!" Komin said darkly. But with twenty or those thirty seconds elapsed, the man, rather than leaving as requested, seemed to be waiting patiently for her next move, which was forthcoming, "Tactical .... fire everything we have!" Again the man stood as if waiting for some petulant child to finish his tantrum before being dealt with. "They're backing away Captain," Demik said after almost a full minute. They turned to the visitor who for the first time didn't seem as sure as when he arrived, but before they could bask in their success, the other ship returned fire ..... The El Alamein was hit hard, inertial dampers went off-line and the artificial gravity began to fluctuate. No-one noticed the man had vanished in the chaos. In complete darkness, everyone scrambled to their feet then the emergency lighting activated. It took long minutes for the Bridge Officers and Engineering to begin to bring the ship under control. But thankfully, they finally had partial power. "Report!" the Captain ordered, taking in every iota of information passed on, "Are we able to fight back?" "No Captain, they are currently adrift, I don't think they realized what weaponry we had, I doubt they will make that mistake once they are up and running," Damik said, staunching blood flowing from a large gash above one ear. "Sir, there's an Ionised Hydrogen Helium Nebula four million kilometers from our location, we might be able to make it there before they come after us," the Helm Officer informed Komin. "With all due haste, if you please, Lieutenant, all due haste," Fran said, dropping into the center seat as a wave of nausea swept over her. The other vessel was clearly adrift, pitching aft and awing almost thirty degrees, but it was a given they were not sat on their hands. Their attackers had been bested, at least partially, and had clearly not expected it. With long-range sensors off-line the El Alamein had no way of knowing if the other ship had contacted its partner, and if they had David had the feeling the next encounter would be less fortuitous ..........
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Elena de Luca
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Dec 14, 2009 0:38:17 GMT
Posts: 266
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Post by Elena de Luca on Jan 19, 2020 0:23:23 GMT
SD: 2406.04.0118 .. 19:10 hrs Patrol Day Two :: Like David, Elena was glad to be away from the Starbase, she much preferred being out on assignment than sitting in n office filling out endless 'reports' ..... As the second day progressed, the El Alamein had progressed one-fifth of the circumference of their assigned area, and thus were one-fifth of their way into the circumnavigation of Starbase Forty-Seven. she was just thinking about the time she had commented about the lack of activity before finding themselves in a Civil War they had no reason to be in. One that occasion, Iorte Clancy had commented 'be careful what you wish for' with a wry grin, so this time she was keeping her thoughts to herself, yet here they were, face to face with an unknown visitor! The next six hours were hectic, the small crew doubling up even trebling duties as they worked on getting first the most vital systems, then secondary systems running .... They were practically crawling their way towards an Ionised Hydrogen Helium Nebula, where hopefully they would be able to hide from their erstwhile attacker, at least until they could attempt to fight back, or escape! She was sat at the Tactical Station while Lieutenant Demik was helping the Chief Engineer. With minimal sensors, it was almost impossible to tell if their attacker, thought to be a ship from the Nomadic Race, the Korowia, who had been partially responsible for the kidnapping of Sean O'Toole and his fiancée, was pursuing. They too had been damaged, underestimating the Defiant Class, but both ships still had power, and it was only a matter of time before they came looking for the gnat that stung them. Every now and then you would hear a 'yelp' or a 'curse' as the artificial gravity fluctuated, causing someone to drift into a bulkhead or crack their head on the ceiling panels. had thing not been so dire she would have laughed at others' comic misfortunes, but things 'were' bad. Communications had been lost the moment the unknown ship had returned fire, so they had no means to contact their attacker, let alone Starbase Forty-Seven. Life support was running at eighty-one percent, but that was a priority, so it should be rectified in due course. For the umpteenth time, she was sure she had spotted something on the tactical sensors, which in fact was El Alamein's targetting array, but yet again it was nothing. "Why did they come at us like that?" she muttered, the Chief Medical Officer overhearing her as she set a fracture on Kyle Evens' shoulder. "Pardon?" Samantha Adama asked. "Nothing Doctor, just thinking aloud," Elena answered, glancing at the Science Officer, who looked like he was about to part with his last mean in spectacular fashion. "Anything you need me for?" the Doctor asked as she helped Evens to his feet telling him not to strain the repair. Elena said she was fine apart from some bruising. Shrugging the doctor left the Bridge to help her Nurse help others injured, again for a second she felt herself rise from her seat then come back down as the gravity shifted. David stepped onto the Bridge sporting a bruise above his left eye, he sat with a distinct 'groan' on the carpeted deck beside Elena's seat: "We need to find out who attacked us, and if they are sat out there waiting for us to come out." he said quietly. "Well, technically, we 'did' attack them first.""There has to be a way we can get sensors working, even if just to confirm they are waiting." David said, his frustration obvious. "Hmm, pity we don't have a shuttle," Elena said, grinning despite the seriousness of their situation "...... And before you suggest it, 'NO' you can't go out there in a suit! ...... We're approximately three-quarters of a million kilometers inside this hell hole of a nebula, there isn't an 'EVA' suit designed that would last five minutes in that soup." "If you have nothing to do Mister Tan, the replicators need bringing back online, before we starve to death." they looked up to see Fran Komin, eyebrows raised, waiting for him to react. While Fran Komin was Captain of the El Alamein and was in charge. When the mission became Intelligence orientated, David Tan, Elena de Luca, or Iorte clancy had the final say. But this situation wasn't Intel related, so she stood glaring down at Tan. "Yes, Ma'am ....." David said, resignedly rising to his feet with a clearly exaggerated groan before wandering off the Bridge. "Anything?" the Captain asked de Luca. "Plenty, but nothing we can use," "Take a break," Komin said, motioning for one of the Junior Officers to take over. Elena was so tired she didn't argue but told Fran she needed to follow suit at some point. She left the Bridge and followed David to the Mess ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 19, 2020 13:15:09 GMT
SD: 2406.04.0119 .. 12:00 hrs Ionised Hydrogen Helium Nebula :: Elena walked back onto the Bridge, the mood, much like the previous night, was hardly oozing with enthusiasm, but people were doing their jobs, things were getting done .... She walked over to Tactical where Tom Demik was sat, David Tan stood behind his seat trying to make sense of the readings. "Morning," David said. "Morning... Anything new?" Elena asked. "No, more of the usual," Tom said, rubbing his eyes. "What's that?" David asked, pointing at a section of the screen. "We're picking up all sorts of elements in here, even the odd solid body or two, it's likely one that's drifted into sensor range," Demik said, beginning to frown as he looked at the screen. "That was there last night, not quite as definable, but in the same relative location." de Luca pointed out, "A ship?" she asked. "I'm concentrating scans on that area now... Picking up solid matter, possibly inorganic." "Captain!" David said, turning to Fran Komin, "I think there's another ship in here with us." the Captain came over, looking at the same readings the others were. For a long moment she couldn't make out what they were referring to, but then Demik highlighted the small section and it stood out like the proverbial sore thumb, "Distance: approximately seven thousand kilometers!" "Bloody hell, that's big." de Luca said. "Is it active Lieutenant?" "Difficult to say from here Captain, but I'm not reading any power signature, life support seems to be off-line along with everything else," "We need to get over there," Elena said. Komin agreed, though making it a reality may prove difficult, "Helm, do we have thrusters online?" "Yes, Sir." "Tom, send the coordinates over to the Helm, Lieutenant, plot a course for that anomaly, five-second burst, maneuvering thrusters only, we'll let momentum carry us the rest of the way. I don't want to produce a wake and notify our 'friends' out there of our location," she ordered, moving from Tactical to the front of the Bridge a meter from the viewscreen. Moments past as Tactical and Science continuously scanned the anomalous object .... "There!" the Helm Officer said. On the viewscreen, they could all make out a dark silhouette, looming larger every second, Demik said they were six hundred meters from the object which now filled the screen. "Four hundred meters... Three hundred... Two hundred... Is that one of their 'Generation' vessels?" "Hold at one hundred meters." the Captain ordered. Through the gloom of the Nebula, they could see a silver-blue vessel, it was resting at an angle of eight degrees from the horizontal, and appeared lifeless. Scanning the ship didn't reveal much more, but Lieutenant Evans at Science did inform them that he was detecting Theta radiation, though it appears to have dispersed over time and the count was minimal .... It was clear that their docking port was incompatible with that of the other ship, and with no means to open any of the Cargo or Auxiliary Bays without power, their options seemed nil, but Nate Massa suggested they could use the emergency evac' umbilicus walkway, it's connection should be self-adapting. "You want to go..... Over there......?!" the Doctor, who had come to the Bridge moments earlier, asked. "It's not like we have anywhere to be," Tan said with a grin. "Captain, see those marks on their hull, they look like phaser hits... " Demik said, increasing magnification on one section, yes, it was clear this ship had either been in a sustained fire-fight or had been attacked unexpectedly, "...And that, it looks like impact stress, something collided, no, not collided, the damage would have been more extensive if there had been a collision. Looking at that, it almost resembles the result of applied force... I think something connected with the hull and, pushed... No idea why anyone would want to, but the hull isn't ruptured as it would have been in any impact!" "Who the hell would want to 'push' a Starship?" Fran asked rhetorically, "There isn't any plausible reason why one Starship would make physical contact with another, let alone attempt to 'push' it anywhere. So what was going on!" "Tom, can you scan the phaser hits, determine what hit them?" David asked. "They match the readings from the phaser hit from the unknown vessel that attacked us." the Tactical Officer informed him. David looked at Fran as Demik continued, "I think they fired on their own ship." he said. "Why?" Elena asked for everyone. "Maybe the smaller ships initially accompanied the 'Generation' vessels, possibly going out to gather supplies, technology, possibly their crews were rotated so the smaller vessels could maintain a working crew..." David said, "It may be that they got discontented with their roles, decided to take what they needed and go out alone, or in pairs? ..... Maybe our hypothesis that the Korowia all went out into the Galaxy by mutual consent was erroneous, we did only have the word of the Korowia Commander who was holding O'Toole, and even that was only what Sean picked up himself, so who knows?" he shrugged, knowing this was all speculation, there were no facts to prove his theory whatsoever. "If we go over there, it's possible some of their systems could be useful," Milo Van commented. "Any signs of our friends?" Komin asked. "Impossible to say, Captain, they could be within a thousand kilometers of us, or be on the other side of that thing, we wouldn't know either way," Demik replied with a marked shrug. Tan and the others turned to Captain Komin, it was her decision ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 19, 2020 15:48:18 GMT
".......... My concern is retrieving you once you're over there..." Captain Komin finally answered, "I'm not willing to risk the umbilicus, so without transporters, you'll be relying on your suits to get back. What happens if our friends suddenly reappear?" It was a valid question, one, as Commanding Officer, Fran had to weigh against the likelihood of their excursion being successful.
"Tom, how long before we can have transporters back online?" David asked.
"Well, they weren't a priority, so no one's touched them since the attack, but they should, and I do stress 'should' be operative once power has been restored," the Chief Engineer replied.
"I still don't like it," Komin said.
"At this point, we can either sit here or go take a look," David said, reluctant to assert his authority, he fully understood her hesitance, but it was too good a chance to miss in his opinion. If the Korowia are fighting among themselves, it's plausible that at some point one or other will find the Starbase, indeed, one of their ships had been there already, "You call Captain."
"OK, but we go in at one point on the vessel and remain in that area. If need be we will take you back off and relocate, understood?"
"Captain," Tan said.
"Samantha, find a viable airlock close to the Bridge, or where we think the Bridge is. Bring us to ten meters and hold,"
"Aye, Sir." the Helm Officer confirmed. David, Iorte, Elena, along with Lieutenant Demik and two Security Personnel, Finch and Ward, headed for the forward airlock / Lifeboat Dock .....
~~~~~~~~~~
The outer hatch silently moved aside... Beyond, they could see the silver-blue of the Alien hull, ahead, a small circular hatch could be seen. Stepping aside so the two Security Officers, carrying tools to access the airlock David confirmed they were ready to go. Via comms, Komin reminded them, again, that at the first sign of trouble they were to return to the El Alamein immediately. She stressed this was non-negotiable!... Confirming the order he instructed the Security Officers to go.
Releasing their mag-boots, Finch, and Ward floated off the deck, David and Iorte placed hands on their backs and with a nod from Tan gently pushed the two out. The others stood watching their progress as both made contact with the hull of the other vessel. They worked for several minutes until finally, a burst of air escaped from the hatch. Finch and Ward continued to work and finally managed to activate the emergency power and open the hatch fully. Both men turned back to the El Alamein, moving out so the airlock access was clear, thickly gloved thumbs raised:
=^= Whenever you're ready =^= Elena de Luca said, with a grin no-one could see because of her mirrored visor. David looked at the others then turned back to the opening, with a sigh he deactivated his boots and pushed off, eyes ahead ... Regardless of how familiar you were with being outside any spacecraft, it was always advisable to keep your eyes on where you were going or what you were doing, a sudden glance up or down into the endlessness of the void you are occupying, can be disorienting, to say the least, and more than one person has returned with a helmet full of his or her last meal.
As he passed into the open airlock between the two Security Officers, Lieutenant Ward gently guided him toward the deck plating, Tan reactivated his boots, drifting down until they made contact, only then did he turn around.
=^= Piece of cake =^= he said.
Ten minutes later everyone was inside, along with numerous cases they had brought containing tools, diagnostic equipment, and two independent power supplies. Lieutenant Finch closed the outer door. Ward already working on the control for the inner door and a moment later confirmed he was ready to open the inner air-lock door ...... With a noticeable change in pressure, the door slid aside. David took a step forward to get a look inside the ship itself. Seeing no danger he took several more, the others following suit until all six were inside the ship proper. It was in almost complete darkness, Demik suggesting that the ship appeared powered down, and was possibly running on emergency or battery power only, and that was clearly running out.
Ideally, they would have split into two groups, but for the present, David was happy to obey the order to remain together issued by Captain Komin... According to what they could glean from their scans, the airlock was one Deck below their Bridge, so they single-filed along the walkway until they came across a wide, curved staircase, plausible given the fact that those on here were here for life 'it made sense in a way' Tan thought as he climbed .... They reached a set of double doors, sealed and powerless, Ward dropped to one knee, retrieving several tools from his case, then went to work. This time ingress was quicker and the doors slid silently aside. Tan and the others had to take a moment as they entered, the Bridge was enormous. Tan estimated it to be at least two hundred by two hundred meters!
=^= Anyone else wondering where everyone got to? =^= Lieutenant Finch asked.
=^= Let's try to get the atmosphere back online in here =^= Clancy said, moving to one of the countless work stations. everyone spread out, each taking a terminal .... Both Ward and Finch accessed panels and jury-rigged connections to the power packs they had brought, once ready they conferred with Tan on their next move.
=^= You are sure that you are only accessing environmental controls? =^= David asked. Both confirmed that they believed so. Tan told them to bring both stations online.
The Bridge came to life, light, tinged slightly blue, illuminated every station, along with indicators on the carpeted floor. By far the biggest surprise was the viewscreen, or rather, window ... A second ago the forward area of the Bridge had appeared much the same as the rest of the bulkheads, but as power was applied, it morphed from solid to completely transparent, almost one hundred fifty meters wide by four in height, it was so clear you could be forgiven for thinking there was nothing between the massive 'window' and the vastness of space beyond!
=^= Holy hell .. Now that's a window =^= Finch said as numerous schematics, star charts, diagnostic readings and a myriad of other information began to appear either side. Demik, Tan, and Finch made their way forward while the others began to bring minor systems online. Tan could already feel the pressure change as the massive room filled with atmosphere, Clancy confirmed that gravity was back online so they didn't need to be encumbered with their mag-boots.
=^= Atmosphere is breathable =^= Lieutenant Ward confirmed. slowly, Tan cracked the seal on his helmet and took a tentative breath: It was stale though seemingly clearing as filters did their jobs. He twisted the helmet to remove it completely then placed it atop one of the consoles within easy reach, everyone else followed his action.
"Keep suits on, at least for this visit." Tan ordered as he looked back and forth across the large 'window' still impressed at the technology, "OK, let's get as much data as we can and get it back to the El Alamein for study,"
"I'll get a Commlink set up," de Luca said, picking up one of the cases and getting to work. Ten minutes later they had their first contact with the ship since coming aboard ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 19, 2020 18:17:55 GMT
With the Commlink established, data began flowing from the Korowia vessel to the El Alamein ..... An hour had passed, all the control stations on the enormous Bridge were active, though Finch had made sure to keep power levels to a bare minimum for fear of detection. Alas, the Federation Officers were seemingly no nearer to figuring out what happened to this ship as they were when they came aboard:
"Is it possible that the ship that approached us was making sure we didn't enter the nebula and find the derelict?" Elena was asking.
"I don't see why..." Tan replied, "besides, we were nowhere near the nebula, and not heading in its direction. They could have simply sat and watched our progress, then continued their course once we had passed,"
"They couldn't be responsible for the state of this ship either way," Demik added, "This ship has been here for a long time, I'd estimate forty, fifty years at least,"
"Forty-one," Finch said from a nearby station, "If I'm reading this right, their last log entry was then."
"That time frame may have accounted for some of the crews' absence, but these ships were built to carry thousands, tens of thousands, ranging from children to the aged, along with enough crew to operate such a vessel. They can't all have decided to abandon ship, and if they had, where would they go?" Ward asked.
"We didn't see any sign of empty lifeboat bays, so we can assume they didn't go because of some emergency. I think given the time, they could have got power back up once dumped in here, allow time for their attackers to leave the region, then go on their way. I can't believe a second Generation ship came to their aid." Ward said with a shrug.
"You are sure there are no other life signs?" Tan asked Jan Ward, who was still trying to make head or tails of the readings.
"According to this, we're the only ones here." she answered, "We won't be sure until internal systems are fully operational, and the El Alamein can't get anything but chaotic readings."
"We'll give it one more hour, then head back to the ship to report," David informed the group.
"Sir, the Captain is asking for a progress report." Don Finch informed Tan.
"Update her with what we have Lieutenant. I think we should take a look at a small part of what we have, we can trace maybe two hundred meters beyond the Bridge, no more for the time being. I'm guessing there is much to find, given the ship is in the region of three and half thousand meters in length, a thousand wide, with over one hundred Decks. I'd like to send someone down to their Engineering Decks, who knows what technology we might have access to down there." Tan was saying, his frustration clear, "Hell, we would need hundreds to go through every room, and no, before you remind me, Elena, I'm not going to send anyone down there. Two hundred meters will ve to be our limit."
"Sir, the Captain wants me to erm, remind you, not to leave the Bridge unless returning to the El Alamein. She also says that we're lit up like a Christmas Tree." Don Finch said, sheepishly.
"Lieutenant Ward, shut off all external illumination, take everything offline we don't need at present, no point in advertising," Tan ordered. He got up and walked to the 'window' where streams of data were flowing from bottom to top, he vaguely wondered if they had everything on there at once, or if there was a group of people continually scanning the data visually though he couldn't imagine that being the case, as looing back into the Bridge from his position it seemed only about a third of the stations actually faced the front, others were arranged in small arcs, presumably set out by function and importance. He gave up and walked back to the group.
"OK, let's go, we have all we need for now. Lieutenant Ward, reduce the ship's power output to essential systems only, life support and artificial gravity," he ordered, collecting his helmet then waiting for the others before they returned to the airlock. next on the list would be transporters, either our or theirs he decided ..........
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Elena de Luca
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Dec 14, 2009 0:38:17 GMT
Posts: 266
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Post by Elena de Luca on Jan 20, 2020 2:29:44 GMT
.... It was almost midnight when Elena found Captain Komin in the Mess Hall ...."Captain, I'm not disturbing you am I?" she asked, helping herself to a cup of coffee. "No..." Fran said, placing the PADD on the pile in front of her, "I was just skimming through some of the information we're getting from the ship... What can I do for you, Elena?" "I'd like to go back over there," "We'll be sending a team over tomorrow, dependent on our friend out there deciding to leave us be." "I'd like to go over now... There's something not right here Captain, thousands of men, women, and children have vanished, seemingly without a trace. From the schematics we have, there is a Medical Center two decks below the Bridge, less than one hundred meters away. I would like to get in there and retrieve what records we can, it may help us understand the Korowia..." she could see that Komin was going to say no so doubled her efforts, "This may well be our only chance to find out what happened to them, Captain, and we shouldn't pass up the opportunity," "Look, Elena, I know you are eager, but this is still my Command, and before you point it out, I'm well aware that you could make it 'NOT' my Command with a flick of your fingers. If that's the way you want to go then feel free." "I'm not about to do that Captain," Elena said before falling silent as she drank her coffee. "Fine... But I can't spare anyone currently working on our own issues!" the Captain finally said, feeling like she had been manipulated into her decision but unable to figure out how. 'Bloody Intelligence' she thought. "I can take Janice Ward," "Super......" was all Komin could reply, "Inform Commander Van what you are up to, tell him to keep an eye on you, and Elena, stay safe, no heroics!" Aboard Korowia Vessel :: The two Starfleet Officers walked along the corridor until they found the stairway leading down: "You have got to give it to these people, they do like their walking," Jan Ward said as they moved down two Decks and began heading for the Medical Center ..... "Ma'am..." "Elena, not Ma'am," "Sorry, Medical is right there, but according to schematics there's a transporter room, further along, I'd like to see whether we can bring it online?" "Keep a Comm open," the Intelligence Officer warned as she entered the Medical Center ...... This, much like the Bridge, was massive ...... She began to walk around the facility, impressed at their technology, operating theatres were set on one side, while what appeared to areas containing several beds, and private rooms, possibly isolation. accessing the medical database she flicked randomly through personnel files, seeing everything from scuffed knees to serious injuries, to the births of over five hundred children, to unbelievably seemed to be a pandemic of the common cold. But as she skimmed through the files getting closer to the last log entry, her concern increased as the injuries, and deaths escalated. She found logs from the Surgeon General, presumably the Head of Medicine on the ship, who referred to a 'haunting presence' on the Itzamna, (presumably the name of this vessel), recording incidents of people acting out of character, allowing personnel into restricted areas, people suddenly attacking others, even members of their own families, until it appeared everyone was so fearful that they attacked others without provocation. then, people began to go missing! As Elena continued to scan the records, Jan Ward returned: "I think we can get the transporter room online without much trou .... Elena?" the Security Officer asked, worried something was wrong. She stood in silence as de Luca continued to scan the records, faster and faster, pausing on images or notable additions, but eventually, white as a sheet, she turned to Jan. "We're leaving." "But, I thi ...." "NOW Lieutenant!" They retraced their steps to the airlock and donned their helmets, with one last look behind her, Elena stepped into the airlock. Jan Ward cycled the 'lock and the two passed from the Alien ship to the El Alamein... Rather than reporting her findings to the Captain, as requested, Elena quickly headed for David and Iorte, her PADD clutched in one hand. Jan Ward had been following her but as she reached Tan's quarters she told the Security Officer to report to the Chief Engineer to begin examining the transporter issue .... She burst into Tan's quarters, both her colleagues concerned at her demeanor. She requested a drink from the replicator and downed it in one, requesting a second before she could get around to explaining her actions: "David, you remember a report, from erm...." she began, unable to continue due to her shaking so violently. "Elena, sit down, what have you found?" Tan asked after coaxing her into a seat. She handed him the PADD, so everyone could review the data as Tan put it on the viewscreen: The three of them watched numerous visual datalinks spanning two, maybe three months, their astonishment growing by the minute. "Those ships didn't attack the Itzamna to plunder her, they were trying to ensure that whatever was on board didn't get off!" de Luca said, feeling sick to her stomach, "We have to tell the Captain, NOW!" David agreed and reluctantly continued to skim through the audio and visual records while they waited for Fran Komin to arrive. When she did it was to a group of Officers that looked like they had seen something that never should be seen. "What's going on?" Komin asked. Elena pointed to the screen, there, finally isolated on one image, was what Intelligence and Starfleet feared most .... Standing approximately one point eight meters, animal-like, head resembling something from Egyptian folklore, hands brandishing one meter long claws, black almost metallic fur .... "What the hell is THAT!" the Captain asked. "They are a race we first encountered approximately seven years ago, the last time was maybe three, four years ago, I would need to check the dates. They are known as the 'HALANAN' ...... Shape-shifters with an exceptional telepathic ability, who thrive on inserting themselves into a race or society by means of their ability to telepathically 'link' with those they are hunting. They can assume the outward appearance of anyone. If the information is in your head, they 'extract' it, then, once they have what they need technologically, they revert to their base needs ..... We came across them before, as I've said, but I can't understand how they are here, it's almost unprecedented that they have traversed so much space. and ...." he stopped talking there as the memories of what the Halanan had done began to surface, but Komin was insistent: "Basic needs, meaning?" "Once they have all they need, they ..... Feed!" David answered ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 21, 2020 2:00:42 GMT
SD: 2406.04.0120 .. 21:20 hrs USS El Alamein .. It had been roughtly eighteen hours since the discovery of a Halanan on board the Generation Ship ..... The Intelligence Officers and Senior Officers of the El Alamein had sat in the Officers Mess all night, but no matter how they ran through what had happened, there was no escaping the fact that at least one Halanan had somehow managed to travel almost sixteen thousand lightyears! .... "Hold on here..." Milo Van began as he requested yet another cup of coffee, "That ship held thousands of people, granted, we haven't searched the whole vessel, but there would have been signs of a mass attack, not to mention signs of the carnage these things could inflict. You said they were intelligent but cannibalistic, so I'm going to guess they don't clean up after themselves?" "Believe me, cleaning is the last thing on their minds, feed and throw the remains... Simple." Elena said quietly. "So what do you propose?" Fran asked. "Well, under normal circumstances, I would request one or more of the Fleet to rendezvous with us, but that isn't an option..." David said, still looking at the image on the screen, "We're short on options .... We could get the El Alamein fully operational, then move off and destroy that ship, or, we systematically search, stem to stern, if we find the Halanan, we kill it, if not then we get the hell out of here hoping our 'guests' out there have lost patience and left," "Even using every on here it would take weeks to search that thing." Nate Massa said. "I still can't get my head around where everyone has gone," the Doctor commented. "There's no possibility of it getting over her, is there?" Demik asked nervously. "Unless that thing has built-it transport technology, then the only way in is through one of the doors, and they are staying firmly LOCKED!" Van said. "Hold on, that ship has been devoid of atmosphere for years, there's no way anything could have survived that long," the Doctor said. "No, you're right!" Elena said, feeling idiotic for not thinking of that earlier, "Maybe it went wherever the Korowia went..." "Where are we on repairs Milo?" the Captain asked. Her Executive Officer gave her a detailed report, much better than anyone had expected, the ship would be fully operational in eight hours, everything, apart from long-range sensors, were up and running, and he had everyone working on them as they spoke ...... It was decided that a small team would return to the Korowia and begin to secure bulkheads moving away from the Bridge itself. After numerous scans, still, nothing living could be detected on the massive vessel, but no chances would be taken. After some rest, the same team as before would go back aboard where they would seal all but one exits from the Bridge, from there they would make their way further back towards the stern. Hopefully, before they needed to go too far, the El Alamein's sensor array would be repaired and the ship could take over the search. Four Hours Later 01:00 hrs .. Once again the suited Officers stood looking over at the still open outer airlock door of the Itzamna. This time though, their concerns about gaining access were replaced by what could possibly be waiting, hidden, on that ship! ...... Once in the alien airlock, Engineers pushed several large cases over to them, these contained weapons, as well as portable scanners, the range was relatively short, but they would give the El Alamein Officers time to flee should anything come in their direction, or so they hoped. Sealing the outer door, Lieutenant Ward cycled the inner. Once again they were aboard the Generation Vessel! With their short-range sensors already operational, it had been decided that once the away team was on the Alien ship, the El Alamein would do a close circumnavigation of the larger companion in an effort to identify any life-signs or organic material which would likely signify the deceased Korowia. When Demik asked what they were supposed to do should the Halanan make an appearance, Komin had casually told them to exit the ship and wait. Alas, her humor had fallen on deaf ears. On the Bridge, Tom Demik was bringing various systems back online... "Tom... I'm assuming that something this big has hangers, other airlocks etcetera?" David asked. "Hundreds, if not more. I could pull up a schematic if you need one," the Tactical Officer said. "No, we have one already, what I was thinking..." Tan held off continuing for a few seconds as the two Security Officers passed them, then he continued, "I'd like you to access controls that allow you to open and close those airlocks, cargo bays, hangers, whatever these people call them," "To do what?" "I want anything and everything that isn't in the area of the ship we are, to be opened to space." "You realize that if there 'are' any of the Korowia in those areas, albeit asphyxiated and frozen, their bodies will be flushed into space at a rate of knots I assume?" Demik asked. "I'm sure they will forgive us if they could, but I'm more concerned with that Halanan, it's not going to be running around down there if everywhere is a vacuum." "I'll get on it now," Tom said, moving over to one of the stations .... David thanked the man and then, by pure chance, looked toward the massive window, data once again streaming top to bottom, left to right in a cascade of color-coded information since Demik brought the systems back online. He almost laughed as he realized what else was there. He walked closer, and passing sedately from their left, was the USS El Alamein, already scanning the Itzamna. He could picture Fran Komin, sat in the center seat, watching her Officers work then grinning as she saw the window of the Bridge, he wondered if she could actually see him. He waved, instantly realizing how idiotic he must look. He tapped his Comm-badge: =^= Tan to El Alamein .. .. Looking good out there =^= =^= Komin .. .. That's some viewing port .. Wouldn't surprise me if we could fly right onto the Bridge .. .. Just confirm .. We are seeing numerous venting of atmosphere .. Is this your doing? =^= =^= Precautions Captain =^= =^= Understood .. OK .. Things to do .. El Alamein out =^= Others had heard the conversation and had come over to take a look. Within five minutes the ship had passed out of sight and David told everyone to get back to work. With one last look, he too returned to what he was doing. Ten minutes later they were ready to leave the Bridge. They had brought an emergency force-field generator, hopefully, to prevent unwanted guests on the Bridge while they went walkabout. The device was ten meters inside the door, controllable by remote. "Activate force-field," Tan ordered as they stood at the only functional bulkhead door, lowered but not sealed shut, to the Bridge of the Itzamna. The 'field snapped into place with an audible 'fizz' then stabilized. Now, with all ten turbo-lifts sealed, and the emergency bulkheads on three of the four staircases lowered and welded shut, the only access to the Bridge without beaming in was through the force-field. Despite the fact that there were still no signs of life other than their own, he still had the feeling that one force-field was not enough... With a wary look down the staircase, they moved further into the ship on the uppermost Deck ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 22, 2020 1:33:17 GMT
SD: 2406.04.0122 Korowia Generation Vessel - Itzamna For'ard Section :: Within an hour it had become clear that their method of searching the ship was going to take far too long. At the rate they were clearing sections, they could be aboard for months! "We're getting nowhere fast," Clancy commented, David agreed and decided to call it a day. He contacted the El Alamein and requested they return to the airlock in readiness to receive the away team ... Once back aboard they agreed to relocate to a section toward the Aft of the ship, essentially leaving over four kilometers unsearched yet devoid of atmosphere and gravity. Locating a suitable airlock, the original procedure was replicated, allowing the El Alamein Officers to access sections directly ahead of the Izamna's Engineering and Drive systems: SD: 2406.04.0122 Korowia Generation Vessel - Itzamna Aft Section :: The away team waited in full EVA suits while Lieutenant Demik accesses the remote systems which would allow them ease of access ..... Minutes passed then he confirmed that he had control - Everyone could again feel the pressure change as the section they occupied filled with atmosphere and the artificial gravity came online. After checking, Demik removed the helmet of his suit, sniffing at the air before nodding to the others. Again David instructed the away team to remain in their suits but helmets could remain close to the inner airlock door. While the El Alamein's Tactical Office brought numerous systems online, David, Elena, and Iorte looked at the schematics of this section of the Generation Vessel. They were still over two hundred meters from the massive bulkheads that separated the ship from its enormous drive section, so they had a lot to do. It was decided that they would once again remain together rather than splitting into teams, so, checking that the path ahead was fully secure, they began to make their way towards the stern... The El Alamein's intensive scan of the ship had still found nothing, no life signs, no biomatter readings, nothing, essentially, the ship, jokingly nicknamed the 'Marie Celeste' by Lieutenant Ward, was appearing to be just that. For all intents and purposes, they were the only people in an area over fifteen cubic kilometers. That didn't on course mean they were alone! "According to this, we're on Deck Twelve ... The same level as what looks like their central Engineering. Bloody hell, if these schematics are right, their drive makes the newest Federations' transwarp drives look like...." "So we can say it's 'big' then?" Lieutenant Finch interrupted. "Yes, but that said, it looks like they can't simply 'jump' to warp as we do, they need to build up the velocity to possibly treble our full impulse before their drive can initiate a stable field," Demik started explaining, "Even then, once they achieve warp, their top speed looks to be warp two," "Two?" Clancy asked in disbelief. "These are literally 'Generation' vessels..." Tom explained, "They use almost sixty percent of the energy produced to keep the ship alive, the surplus if you can call it that, goes on maintaining their warp drive." "Bloody hell!" Elena muttered. "The schematics show that the drive systems could attain warp six if need be, but it would mean pretty much shutting down seventy percent of the ship, including life support," Demik said with a wry shrug. "OK, let's make our way Aft. I'd like to get a look at thei......" David began, but stopped as he noticed something out of place on the schematic, "Tom, what's this?" he asked, pointing to a section that appeared to be independent of the main systems. The area was almost two-point-five kilometers in area. Tom couldn't guarantee that he'd noticed it before, nor could he confirm that it was 'he' who had activated the life support systems in there. It did beg the question that if he hadn't, was it possible someone else did or had the area been shielded from their reading somehow? "Well if it wasn't you, then who was it ?!" Jan Ward asked. "OK, we'll forget Engineering for the time being..." David decided, "We'll go look at what we have in that section... Lieutenant Finch, contact the ship, inform them of our findings," "Could it be their version of hydroculture or hydroponics?" Elena asked speculatively. "Possibly..." Clancy replied. "Which way?" David asked. "Seven hundred meter that way, then down one deck will put us on the top level of the section," Demik said, pointing along a semi-lit passageway. "Let's go," Tan said, heading off in the direction indicated ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 23, 2020 1:56:51 GMT
As the away team made their way to what they speculated maybe something similar to their hydroponics bays, it hadn't gone unnoticed by each of them that the level of tension had risen. The six of them were effectively trying to search an area four point five by one point five by over point five kilometers... Granted, ad they had the time they would have completed the task in due course, alas, time wasn't on their side!
Without warning, the deck beneath their feet shuddered... Tan's Comm chirped to life:
=^= Komin to Tan .. .. =^=
=^= Captain =^= David replied.
=^= Get back to the airlock immediately .. Our friends have decided to join us and I would prefer you to be aboard the El Alamein =^=
=^= Did they fire on the ship? =^=
=^= They have closed to five thousand kilometers They fired on the midsection of their own ship then turned their attention to us .. Our scans show their weapons are fully functional .. So all due haste please =^=
=^= We're on our way =^= Tan said closing the Comm before turning to the others, "We're leaving," he said, no-one argued as he turned back the way they had come, the others close behind. Even hindered by the EVA suits, they made good time and donning their helmets they stepped into the airlock, Demik reestablished the shut-down of the Generation vessel, so as before atmosphere was vented and all but crucial power was taken offline, so as he cycled the outer lock door, the Korowia vessel became a Marie Celeste ..... Leaving all their equipment behind, they stepped across the void and entered El Alamein's airlock. Milo Van was waiting as the airlock cycled and the away team stepped back onto the ship.
"We're at 'RED ALERT' ..... The Korowia ship is holding station, they appear to be scanning their own vessel while keeping weapons lock on us."
"So the only shot was at their own ship?" Demik asked.
"Yes, but given what we know of their weapons systems, they were hardly trying to destroy the thing. The Captain believes they were 'urging' us to leave." the Exec' answered as they stepped into the turbo-lift.
"Have we tried to contact them?" Elena asked.
"Several times, without success..." Milo replied, "I don't get it, why attack us, then allow us into the Nebula, then come after us only to sit out there after getting you lot off their ship?"
"Where are 'we' on repairs?" Iorte Clancy asked.
"We're done, we decided to make the repairs but keep some systems, weapons, inertial dampers, and shields, at minimal until we had you back, the Captain should be ordering everything back up now," Van confirmed.
~~~~~
Entering the Bridge, David walked to the Captain in the center seat:
"Captain."
"Good to see you back safe and well Mister Tan, it seems our friends no longer want you wandering around their ship," He was about to reply when Commander Ross at Ops suddenly shouted.
"CAPTAIN!" he was pointing at the viewscreen and as everyone else followed suit they were shocked to see the Korowia Scout Ship suddenly began to turn away, yawing to Port before rotating away from the El Alamein!
"What the hell is going on over there?" Komin asked as they lost sight of the Scout ship before it again appeared ahead of them only to rise above them and drop behind them, their speed increasing as they fell tens of thousands of kilometers below the Galactic Plane... The Comm chirped to life for several seconds then fell silent .... The El Alamein could only watch as the Korowia ship turned as if departing the Nebula, but minutes later it returned, still seemingly out control, but somehow it was holding a sporadic heading, directly towards the Generation Ship.
"HELM... Full impulse, get us out of here... NOW!" Fran Komin ordered, realizing milliseconds before everyone else that they were directly between the oncoming ship and it's intended target!
With seconds to spare, the El Alamein moved away. Less than two hundred meters ahead of them, the smaller Korowia ship passed their bow and five seconds later, slammed into it's much larger sister!
"BRACE FOR IMPACT.....!" Milo Van shouted, making sure the warning was transmitted throughout the ship as the ship was slammed by the resulting blast wave from the collision. The El Alamein was thrown over two hundred thousand kilometers, tumbling and rotating in a chaotic ballet, until the ships' computers finally began to stabilize her helter-skelter passage towards the outer edge of the Nebula. As they burst into open space, those able to were climbing to their feet trying to help others too injured to do so. Injury and damage reports began to sporadically come to the Bridge as Elena knelt beside the Medical Officer. It was clear from the position of her body that she was dead, unfortunately, three others of the crew were to lose their lives alongside Sam Adama, including their Chief Engineer .....
Six Hours Later ::
Sensor readings confirmed that while a large percentage of the Generation Vessel had suffered as a result of the impact, at least sixty percent had remarkably survived.
With the deceased delicately taken care of ready for the return to the Starbase, the injured were being treated. Those capable of returning to duty had done so, some despite recommendations not to do so, while the more severely hurt remained in Sickbay or where they had fallen, awaiting treatment... On the Bridge, a Medic was treating Elena's broken wrist, while another was resetting Komin's dislocated shoulder...
"Anyone tell me how that ships' matter/antimatter containment didn't fracture?!" Nate Massa groaned.
"Beyond me," Tom Demik replied, wincing as a Medic treated his hip.
"How long before we have warp drive online?" Komin asked, remembering her Chief Engineer had lost her life, "Commander Ross, given the loss of our Engineer, I'm assigning you to oversee Engineering along with your Ops duties,"
"Yes, Ma'am,"
"So... Warp drive?" the Captain insisted, knowing full well she was appearing heartless, compassionless, but she couldn't mollycoddle these people, especially now. Alan Ross lifted himself to one of the stations still functional and not being used to give aid to someone, then scanned the readings:
"Twelve hours, that's saying we don't have issues with the core, Captain,"
"Thank you, Commander," Komin replied, managing what she hoped was a reassuring smile to her Ops Officer, "Do we have impulse and manoeuvring thrusters?"
"Best estimate, two hours, Captain," Ross said as a wave of nausea overtook him.
"OK..." Komin said, turning to one of the Crew substituting as Medical Staff, "Crewman, attend to Commander Ross... Alan, as soon as we have Impulse, I want to go look at what's left of that Generation ship,"
"We're not going back to Starbase Forty-Seven?" Elena asked.
"That ship lost control, for whatever reason, but they regained it long enough to dive right through the hull of the Generation Vessel... Personally, I'd like to know why..."
..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 25, 2020 0:08:05 GMT
Five Hours After Collision :: "That ship lost control, for whatever reason, but they regained it long enough to dive right through the hull of the Generation Vessel... Personally, I'd like to know why..." Komin turned to look at David Tan. Technically the ship was still under her command but given the seriousness of recent events, she at least wanted his opinion. "Where are we on drive systems?" "Thrusters will be online momentarily, Impulse, three hours." Alan Ross replied. "No-one could have survived that impact," Tan said with a shrug, "But I don't see any problem in remaining here. We can't go anywhere until repairs are completed anyway." "Helm, thrusters... Bring us around until we are inline with the impact trajectory," the Captain instructed. They watched the image on the viewscreen as the El Alamein made a slow turn to Starboard, adjusting the angle of ascension, holding at eight degrees, before yawing to Port thirty-one degree, until the almost tiny by comparison Defiant Class was looking directly into the gaping abyss made when the smaller Korowia vessel slammed through. The Generation vessel was over eleven hundred meters wide, but a portion of the smaller craft had blasted through to open space beyond. Despite the carnage wrought by the collision, hundreds, if not thousands of emergency bulkheads and force-fields had fallen or snapped into place almost sealing the hole as if it were cauterized. The Bridge was silent as everyone looked at the devastation ..... Flames could still be seen burning as the last vestiges of flammable material succumbed to the oxygenless void. Eventually, the chasm was almost in darkness. "Captain we have full weapons and shields, full sensor capability," Lieutenant Commander Nico Carré, the newly assigned Engineer informed them, "Warp drive should be up and running in seven hours." "Very well, Commander... Mister Demik, I was a thorough scan of what's left of that vessel. Frankly, how it's still here is beyond me, a matter/antimatter explosion in such a confined space would have destroyed the whole nebula, let alone us," "What's our next move?" de Luca asked. "I think we should continue searching the wreck. If for no other reason but to find anything that could prove useful to Starbase Forty-Seven," Fran answered, looking again at eh damage, "Besides, you cannot tell me that you aren't the least bit curious as to what happened out there... Or are you simply going to let it go?" "It's not exactly like we have anywhere to go, at least for a few hours," Milo Van commented, "Hell, we could practically fly most of the way through without having to get out," the Exec finished. "We 'could' take the 'Type 18' Shuttle in there?" the Engineer suggested, raising his eyebrows, "If nothing else it will give us an idea of structural integrity," "Commendable, Commander, structural integrity will need to be confirmed if we deem it necessary to go back aboard. Information such as to why they destroyed their own ship, and 'why' do it in the means they did is, of course, viable, but truth be told I would like to see what we can salvage from the Generation vessel while gathering information in tandem," "Understood, Madam," the French Engineer said, returning to his station. Captain Komin watched him walk away then turned to the others: "Don't tell me, you're all volunteering....." "Nope, couldn't hurt to get a closer look, once Mister Carré's tasks are completed though," Elena said with a grin. "You 'do' realize our situation I assume?" Komin said, walking away before anyone could comment further. Hours of hard work later, Captain Komin, the Senior Officers, along with Tan, de Luca, and Clancy, were all sat, or more precisely, dozing in and out of fitful sleep, in the Officers Mess ..... Operations Officer Alan Ross entered, requesting 'Coffee Hot' from the replicator then taking the cup he dropped into an empty seat and took a tentative sip, the hot liquid almost burnt his mouth but he hardly felt it he was so tired. "Somehow, we are fully functional," he said quietly... Everyone silently acknowledged the El Alamein's Officers and Crew, they had worked miracles to get the ship operational. The Intelligence Officers had played their part in repairs, and to a man, or woman, each could have slept for a proverbial week if allowed, but they had things to do! "OK, I want everyone rested!" Fran ordered, aching from head to toe as she stood, "Milo, set minimal watches, we'll continue this in the morning. Ladies, Gentlemen, I bid you goodnight," ~~~~~~~~~~ Given that now their sensors were fully operational, nothing could get withing sixteen hours of the El Alamein without them knowing, so Milo had taken the Captain at her word and assigned the most Junior Officers to the watch, each with explicit instructions to come for him should anything show up. Six hours later, the Senior Officers, in turn, arrived back on the Bridge: "Morning," David said as the Executive Officer entered. "Too chirpy altogether," Van said as he passed the Intelligence Officers, "So what do we have Captain?" he said, taking the two PADD's handed him by the clearly overeager Junior Gamma Shift Officers. "Well, they make for good reading," the Captain said trying not to laugh, "When you have a day or two off duty that is," Milo turned and placed the PADD's on the rear table. "I've decided to allow our Engineer a little jaunt into the interior of the Generation vessel," "Going off what readings we already have, there isn't going to be a viable point of access inside the blast zone, had that ship not punctured right through the hull on the opposite side of the ship I don't think there would be anything left to scan, including us. So he'll be gathering data only?" Van asked, receiving a nod of agreement, "The information could prove useful I suppose." Van replied. "Want to go with him?" "Me... No..." Milo replied, "I think mister Evans could profit from a little excursion," "OK, we'll do another circumnavigation of the Itzamna, then if all's well we'll head out of the nebula and report to Starbase Forty-Seven." "Aye, Sir," Milo confirmed, tapping the Comm to request Lieutenant Commander Carré and Lieutenant Evans come to the Bridge ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Jan 30, 2020 1:27:40 GMT
While The El Alamein's Engineer and Science Officer Lieutenant Myles prepared the small shuttlecraft, the Captain ordered another circumnavigation of the Korowia Generation Vessel .....
At a distance of five kilometers, the Defiant Class began moving around the behemoth. As they reached approximately half distance, the Duty Science Officer began to frown... On his screens, he was beginning to pick up a distinct power reading. These readings were different from the background readings they had taken earlier and he asked if the ship could be brought to a stop so he could investigate further. Komin had no objections and instructed Helm do hold their current position. She walked over to the Science Station and asked what the Woman had seen:
"What do we have?" she asked as the Intelligence Officers came closer.
"Not sure Captain, but I'm almost certain those readings weren't there prior to the collision," she said, pointing out the power spike. Carré and Evans entered the Bridge as the discussion was proceeding.
"Is it a danger to us?" Fran Komin asked quickly, but neither the Chief Engineer and the Science Officer couldn't answer her question without further investigation.
"Captain, looking at the void left following the impact, those readings are close to the midsection of the rupture. It's possible we could get everything we need by taking the shuttle into the hull itself and taking readings there,"
"I'm assuming that is a joke on your part, Mister Carré ....." Komin said, the sarcasm obvious.
"Sir, these readings are not in our database, they haven't yet been identified." Lieutenant Evans said, unable to hide his excitement.
"Whoopie..." Elena de Luca said, only just resisting the urge to clap her hands, "That said, are we in imminent danger Lieutenant?"
"Output levels are very high but appear to be leveling off, I would say we are in no danger, I suggest raising shields, purely as a precautionary measure, and I would be ready to leave... Just in case..." he was still studying the reading while everyone discussed the next move, then he realized something, he ran to the rear of the Bridge and activated one of the Auxiliary Stations, quickly accessing the ship's data library, he searched for any similar readings and was about to turn away thinking he had been mistaken when the screen stopped scrolling. He looked at the information shaking his head.
"Lieutenant?" the Captain queried.
"Captain, erm..." the young Officer began, trying to control his nerves, "At the Academy, I was something of a 'nerd' I suppose you could call it. I was always looking through reports, findings, anything out of the ordinary..."
"Don't tell us, you came across this?" David asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.
"No... Yes... Well, not quite ....." he changed the screen to show data from the Daystrom Institute Library, "Around sixty years or so ago, a lot of long-range exploration ships set out in pretty much all directions. Sadly, many were lost of those on the journey simply found somewhere else to be. More than fifty percent of them were actually privately organized, so not every vessel was under strick Federation regulation, though all were expected to fulfill certain requirements, reports, etc. Again a fair number did so at first, but then possibly felt they were doing nothing by sending the information, so just stopped."
"I'm assuming there's a point coming Lieutenant?" Komin urged.
"Yes, sorry... Well, one of these 'independents' as they were called, a small deep-range cargo carrier, pretty much sold off everything they had and got hold of a larger, more durable ship, and headed off ..... For the first four years, they sent data back, then they reported contact ..... The ship was, in their words, planetlike, and it was burning!"
"Burning?" Elena repeated.
"Yes, the ship was crossing their path, having entered the Orion Arm, they presumed, from somewhere else. It took the explorers several weeks to get anywhere close, and even then they had very little time as the ship would pass beyond their range and eventually out of the Orion Arm unless it hit something."
"Tic Tok Lieutenant," Milo Van coaxed.
"You have to remember that back then, pretty much anyone with the means could just 'up sticks' so to speak ..... These people were less equipped, relatively speaking than Magellan ..... All contact was lost with the ship until thirty years later when it was miraculously picked up on a deep-range census. A Starship, the USS Fernández, was sent out. It had to sit over a million kilometers off for almost a month as the ship was emitting some seriously dangerous radiation. Eventually, it was decided to destroy the ship rather than leave it for someone to come across accidentally. After the usual memorial services back on Earth, the Daystrom Institute got hold of all the ships' records, along with all the data recovered from the scans... They discovered that the explorer ship had, unbeknownst to them, been subjected to massive exotic radiation bombardment. At the time, they speculated there was some reaction consisting of numerous unknown elements, but also Caesium, Polonium, and Francium. Which had been subjected to and reacted with something, possibly an 'anti-proton' soup if you will."
"... And this is what is being given off over there?" Fran asked.
"No, possibly, a variant at least," Evans answered, feeling faint.
"The point is, even today we still avoid a section of space near the upper Orion Arm, simply because there is nothing there," Kyle shrugged as he requested a cup of water from the nearby replicator and handed it to the young Science Officer, "What I'm saying is, that the Daystrom went through every piece of data, possibly dozens of times, and realized quickly that whatever that explorer family encountered, must be kept secret!"
"So you, a proverbial 'bookworm' managed to get hold of information deemed secret by the Daystrom?" Nate Massa asked skeptically.
"This ....." Evans said, pointing at the data flowing on screen, "Is public knowledge... I seriously doubt them ever expecting the same set of circumstances to be happening again. So as you see, it was deemed 'anomalous' and closed off, presumably, if anyone asked, they would say in warranted no further investigation or something, I don't know... What I 'DO' know, is that the Daystrom has in its possession, terabytes on terabytes of data regarding this information, and presumably, with the consent of the Federation Council, have hidden it from Scientific and Public access!"
"I'll ask again Lieutenant, how is it you know about something you insist has never seen scrutiny from anyone?" David asked darkly.
"Six years ago, a vessel was picked up. It would enter the Beta Quadrant for a short time then pass out of our known space into, presumably, the void between Galaxies..."
"Really!" Massa commented.
"It was transmitting a warning not to be approached under any circumstances," Evans retorted, "But despite warnings, we, being we 'had' to go take a look ..... So a covert vessel was dispatched ..... What happened to that ship, and the Personnel aboard her is irrelevant to our current situation. Needless to say, they entered the region in which the unknown vessel was traversing and eventually made contact. The unknown vessel refused to change course or speed, so the ship took up a position to shadow it. For over a week attempts were made to begin a dialogue, and eventually, presumably thinking it was talk or have their companion indefinitely, they opened communications."
"This is ridiculous!" Tan said, his patience finally getting the better of him, "Intelligence, make the decisions regarding what can and can't be let out for public consumption."
"I can't comment on that either way..." Evans said, then continued his saga, "After a month of talks, via audio Comms only, the occupiers of the other vessel agreed to speak visually. They were, animal-like, almost like Earth's representation of the Egyptian Sphynx in appearance. It was learned that half their race, known as Halanan, were scholarly, these upper castes were devout theologists and scientists, their goal to unite both factions of their race. While the darker, lower caste faction were warriors, fighters, and Cannibalistic in nature. Used to protect the upper caste, they were menials. But soon a separation occurred, allowing the lower caste to expand beyond their borders. Eventually, the planet-ship passed close to their region of space, and the Halanan theologists formed a plan to prevent further destruction and loss of life ...."
"How do you know all this!" David asked.
"Does it matter?" Evans asked, then reluctantly continued, "I have no proof of what I am telling you, I remember being shown data a long time ago. I had been accepted into Starfleet and had shown an aptitude for the Sciences. Later, I was, approached ..... These people persuaded me that I could be of use, both to Starfleet and to the Federation itself."
Unlike the others, though Iorte and Elena were undoubtedly fractions of a second behind him:
"You're Section Thirty-One," he said quietly ..........
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Elena de Luca
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Dec 14, 2009 0:38:17 GMT
Posts: 266
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Post by Elena de Luca on Jan 30, 2020 14:33:11 GMT
The group turned to face the young Engineer but Elena went further, she stepped forward, snatching the man's tunic in both hands before slamming him hard against the bulkhead! ... Everyone on the Bridge turned at the commotion, Captain Komin raised a hand motioning for everyone to return to their duties.
"How many?" she asked dangerously. pulling the man forward and slamming him into the bulkhead again, "HOW ..... MANY!"
"Only me... And I wouldn't have been aboard if the shuttle I was on hadn't been held up by some no-mark bureaucrat," Evans replied.
"You knew this thing was here," Milo Van commented as Elena was coaxed to release her hold.
"Yes, Commander... Section Thirty-One arranged for the Betreka Nebula to self destruct, and for the Starbase to be propelled here in readiness for the arrival of an alien craft holding the most destructive element in the Universe. Oh, let's not forget our arranging for a race to decide to become nomadic over a Millenia ago, so the very craft transporting this 'element' could crash into it around the time we are carrying out an almost useless patrol of the aforementioned Starbase."
"Let him go, Elena," David said quietly.
"Let's take this somewhere quiet," Fran Komin said, heading off the Bridge and down to the Officers' Mess, sealing the room she told everyone to take a seat, "So, just how did you know?"
"I had no clue to be honest, in fact, since our 'relocation' I had concentrated on my duties as an Engineer, and when the chance came along to be assigned to the El Alamein I was happy to do so. Even I have to admit that not many Officers my age get to be a Department Head. I had even been assured that after my first three months I could expect a promotion. So you see, anything Section Thirty-One was well behind me."
"Well, your tenure as Chief Engineer will be short-lived, Lieutenant. You will be taken off the ship as soon as we return to the Starbase!" Komin assured.
"You said that you had information, so how did we come across the ship in the first place?" Clancy asked.
"Long story short... One of our ships came upon the explorer family vessel... It was adrift, it had somehow been turned around, or rather altered course and was picked up on sensors. Our ship was almost lost after they attempted to board. The explorer's vessel was burnt, scorched almost beyond recognition, but not from weapons fire. After managing to download almost sixty percent of the ship's data, they moved away and destroyed the ship. They managed to make contact with another of our vessels before they too suffered the same fate. The ship and crew pretty much 'cooked' from the inside out, resulting in a charred lifeless husk. We had been hoping to find some evidence of a heading for the Transport Vessel, hoped at some point to be able to, capture it," Evans said, still holding his head us as if proud of what the secretive organization had been attempting.
"Next?" Nate Massa urged.
"Well, we sent several ships to search along the presumed heading, we extrapolated from the explorer's navigation data, while, others worked on the information... It was then that they realized just what that ship was conveying!"
"But they had no luck grabbing it I assume, given what recently crashed into the Generation Ship?" Tan commented.
"Oh no, they found it, unfortunately ....." Kyle said with a shake of his head, "Each ship that approached the vessel suffered the same fate, it was pretty much destroying everything it came across. But they did find out that the ship was unmanned, or at least, had been for some considerable time, the ship was running on some complex pre-arranged course that would eventually lead it beyond our Galaxy into the void, where it wouldn't be found. Or so we assumed."
"Just what was your band of cutthroats going to do with it if you had got it?" Massa asked.
"They wanted to weaponize it!" Elena replied before the Engineer could. Evan's could only remain expressionless, but everyone in the room knew the Intelligence Officer was correct.
"At first, yes... But as we dug deeper into the data we realized quickly that whatever was inside that confinement 'MUST' remain there, for all our sakes."
"Explain," Komin ordered. Kyle stood and went over to the auxiliary terminal, activating it he entered his access code and stood back so everyone could see the information displayed.
"As you can see, this is a schematic of the 'container' that holds the element ..... It is a cube, sixty-five meters square, made of some material we have still been unable to identify. At the center, there is a spherical void if you will, only ten centimeters in diameter. The cube is completely solid, but seemingly interwoven within its structure, are a series of force-field generators, again nothing like we have, these seem to operate on an almost sub-atomic level, the fields intertwining with the molecules of the metal that are encased within... In the center sphere is a second, smaller one, suspended in liquid metal, this sphere we estimated to be in access of two million cubic tonnes, being held in six antigravity fields set into each side of the cube itself."
"So its big, heavy ....." Elena said.
"IT's no bigger than it's external dimensions clearly, as to mass, that's another matter, so to speak," Evans said, walking around the room as if impatiently trying to teach a child to play the piano, "Look, what you don't realize is that 'if' that shielding should fail, and given the radiation we're reading, there is clearly an issue which it's self-sustaining systems are struggling with, if it should be released, it will make the Omega Molecule look like a firework set off at a five-year-olds birthday party ..... 'IF' it get free of its confinement, a fair portion of the Orion Nebula will go with it... Our people suspect we could see an area of approximately ..... 1.39x109 Light Years! ....."
Everyone sat in stunned silence.
"We are WAAAAYYYYY out of our league here!" Nate Massa said, getting the award for 'Understatement of the Century' in the process ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 1, 2020 23:24:03 GMT
David was seething inside ..... He had never understood the need for Section Thirty-One, in his opinion Intelligence had more than enough usefulness to carry out investigations into a myriad of issues ..... He looked at the Science Officer, half of him wanting to punch the man for what David deemed a betrayal of the Oath he swore to on joining Starfleet, the other half realizing that knocking the man off his feet was not going to help.
"We need to put some distance between us and that, device," David said.
"Helm, take us out of the Nebula, move to five light-years and hold our position." Captain Komin ordered.
"We are in no danger..." Lieutenant Evans tried to reassure them, "Besides, if it did go off we would never know it," he said with almost a smirk.
"Commander Massa, please take 'MISTER' Evans to the Brig and secure him there until further notice!" Tan said, making sure his order was not misunderstood.
"So what do we do?" Fran Komin asked as the El Alamein broke from the nebula into open space at full impulse, jumping to warp immediately to attain the required distance, "We need a Science equipped vessel for this,"
"With all due respect, we're hardly pre-school level Officers here Captain," the Officer replacing the former Science Chief said, "We need to pull every iota of information out of the Chi, out of Lieutenant Evans."
"Well, we know that the El Salvador, Enzio, and the Raven are all in the aCen System investigating the wormhole possibilities, as is the Maracanda, so, unless the Section Admiral is going to re-task one of the Fleet then I'm at a loss as to where we can go from here..." Captain Komin said, her anger at finding a 'Spy' on her ship compounding her frustration with not having the means to continue with their investigation,"
"We 'could' lay buoys, transmitting quarantine warnings?" Demik suggested.
"From what we have gathered, this region of space is infrequently traversed, but my guess would be that whoever came along and heard the warnings would simply go in and look for themselves," Elena hypothesized.
"I have to agree," the Executive Officer confirmed as David nodded.
"I'd like to know how Section Thirty-One got hold of so much information, hell, Intelligence nor Security knew nothing of this, let alone a former adversary of ours aiding in its transit through the damn Galaxy!" Clancy said, clearly annoyed. But no-one could answer his query, and speculating wasn't going to help in any way.
"Anything on long-range sensors?" Komin asked Demik who replied in the negative, "OK then, we have several options Ladies and Gentlemen: We remain here, and by here I mean exactly where we are while sending everything we have to both the Starbase, El Salvador, Enzio, and the Raven, then await their advice... We send the data as suggested, adding we are returning to the Generation vessel... Or we head back to the Starbase for a face to face ....." she said, looking around the table. Several people gave their opinions, some for one or another option, but most seemed to be ready to go back and begin whatever investigations they could until the arrival or non-arrival of one of the Fleet Starships.
"Commander Ross, get everything we have on the Generation vessel and the new information supplied by our 'Engineer' and while you're at it include his identity ... Include everything since we first encountered the first Korowia vessel, be ready to transmit via secure subspace communication on commend," Milo Van instructed the Operations Officer.
"Aye Sir," the Ops Officer confirmed.
"I'm none too happy to let Evans anywhere near that ship, to be honest," de Luca said, "I wouldn't put it past him not to try to get aboard the thing!"
"He won't be going anywhere regardless," Massa said, having heard the conversation after he returned from securing Evans, "I've posted two people on him and he's to have no access to anyone or anything until we return to the Starbase,"
"So, suggestions?" Komin asked.
"I think if we take what he was saying about the thing being self-repairing, the energy output showing it's possibly doing just that.." Nico Carré interjected, "Then I would speculate that if those readings have leveled off, or are hopefully dropping, we could take it that whatever it's doing is working?"
"Meaning?" de Luca asked.
"Meaning, it couldn't hurt to go back in and at least take a look," the Chief Engineer said with a wry shrug.
Commander Ross, send everything we have thus far, inform them we are re-entering the nebula to continue our investigations. We will exit the nebula every twelve hours for further communication or instructions. Transmit when ready,"
"Log and all data transmitted Captain," the Operations Officer confirmed.
"Thank you ... Helm, take us back to our previous position but hold off their hull at two thousand meters," Komin dropped into the center seat, chin resting in the palm of one hand while she wondered what they were getting themselves into ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 4, 2020 0:08:33 GMT
As the El Alamein reentered the nebula heading back to the Korowia vessel, David, Iorte, and Elena were stood together at the back of the Bridge:
"Something on your mind?" de Luca asked Tan.
"Something doesn't ring true to all this,"
"Oh?" Clancy urged.
"Well, first off, I can't see Section Thirty-One being involved... Oh, I'm not saying our friend in the Brig isn't associated with them, but I have the feeling they were using him rather than recruiting him as one of their own."
"And the weapon... You think that's bogus?" Elena asked.
"No, I don't doubt it's something I wouldn't want going off, but think about it... Why would ANY' race wishing to be rid of such a device, choose to take it through countless systems, why not set it on a trajectory ninety degrees to the Galactic Plane and sent it out into oblivion. If it's what he says it is, and to be honest, I'm having doubts there, then the Korowia or the Halanan would have taken possession within a distance significant of their own systems... I don't know about you, but if that were me I'd be moving in the opposite direction, not snuggling up to some doomsday device that could wipe out my entire race." David said, his frown deepening, "It also begs the question as to why the Korowia crashed their ship into their own Generation vessel unless of course, they wanted to destroy the device itself, which again makes me think that the information Evans has acquired is somewhat exaggerated, wouldn't you think?"
"You can't deny the readings we're getting from over there," Clancy commented, "And didn't he say that the Halanan were involved in construction?"
"True, though we have nothing to substantiate the Halanan are anything but cannibalistic mercenaries. But isn't it possible that while we're getting readings, they could be less of a threat than Evans is insinuating?" Elena asked as Captain Komin and Commander Van joined them, Elena brought the two up to speed.
"We know from our own scans that the device contains Caesium, Polonium, and Francium, along with other elements..." Fran Komin began checking the readings on one of the auxiliary stations, "All of which could be manipulated given the right knowledge and experience, to form a seriously substantial weaponized device. I'm not sure we are in a position to speculate on what we have, as we have already said, we simply don't have the people."
"All that he was saying about the sub-space shielding, the biotechnology... How could he get that information and why would anyone want to make him or anyone else believe that what they have constricted could wipe out a substantial section of the Orion Arm, it's ridiculous, even on the face of it, to think anyone would be so gullible." Milo Van commented.
"It still doesn't alter the fact that our scans show the device as a solid construct, we can't detect any means of accessing the thing, in fact, there doesn't even seem to be any way to make changes or carry out any form of physical interaction with the structure, so unless they did everything by remote access, then it would look likely that the designers had one thing in mind: Build it, arm it, send it on its way!" Komin saidm her own frustration obvious.
"We haven't detected any means of propulsion..." Van said, eyes flicking over the data on the screens, "So is it possible that it would have had to have been aboard a ship or towed, set on a trajectory then released?"
"If that thing is even a fraction a potent as Evans believes, then whoever did the designing and construction, wasn't interested in just hitting a random city or continent, they were looking to obliterate whole Systems!" Clancy said.
"Hold on ....." David said, rubbing his temples, "..... We've gone from having no knowledge of this thing, and 'if' their own ship hadn't intentionally crashed, we still wouldn't... To... If we are to take the word of a clearly suspicious Officer, that we are sat on top of the most powerfully destructive device ever devised, and now we're thinking it could be substantially less powerful, or practically benign. All the while, nobody has considered where we go from here... Unless one of the Fleet turns up to take over, we need to do everything we can to examine the device and if possible ascertain it's potentials or lacks thereof."
"First and foremost, we would need to isolate it," Komin said, "There's nothing we can do while it's stuck inside the wreckage."
"Use the Worker-bee ....." Van suggested, "..... It has cutting lasers and could manipulate the sections it cuts away through the opposite side of the host vessel. Once the cube is free, the Worker-bee could guide it out of the wreckage, we could either tractor it or have the 'bee tow it out of the nebula... From there we could decide on our next move?"
"Meanwhile, this Galaxy annihilating device is just sat out in the open for anyone to see?" Elena commented. Tan could only shrug.
"Then extraction it is," Komin said, grinning at Van as she returned to her seat ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 254
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Feb 8, 2020 1:27:58 GMT
Iorte watched with some interest as the worker bee began slicing into the jagged section of the generation ship, tearing away parts of the already damaged vessel where it'd been punctured by the Korowia scout. Shards of duranium-like material were steered away by the bee's fields and low strength lasers and eventually the 65m a side cube became visible within the still rapidly self-repairing hull.
The destructive element-encasing device emerged under traction from the bee's fields until it'd drifted far enough from the Korowia generation vessel to be safely taken over by the El Alamein's own tractor beam.
"Captain," Ross began, "Now we have the cube in our grasp... Lieutenant Myles?" he looked round at the duty science officer.
"Aye," she replied after a moment, "It appears the containment device is constructed from the same or similar alloys as those used by the Halanan when they were encountered by the USS Raven-B a number of years ago."
"Then the caesium, francium, etc, and unknown elements, the anti-proton soup Evans told us about... - it's all a creation of the Halanan?! " Clancy called out idiotically.
"Possible, but unlikely," Ross and Myles chimed - Tan, well-informed on the Halanan, nodded in vigorous agreement. "They seem to have constructed the container only, and somehow it's wound up in the Korowia vessel..."
The Intel officers glanced at one another: perhaps the generation ship came across the cubic container itself, had always had it aboard, or the Halanan discovered the stricken Korowia and placed it within, as a means to hide it temporarily before moving it towards...?
"That one Halanan aboard, maybe he or she was appointed to guard the device, " Clancy said, once again quite uncertain.
"As for the possible weapon - the group of elements within the liquid sphere - it's more likely to've been harvested by the Halanan from the burning planet-ship," Myles said, drawing looks, "Think, the planet-vessel was said by Kyle to have passed near their space; to limit the destruction being wrought they may have harnessed some of the energy - that which was burning. It's likely this anti-proton soup, this possible weapon, was incendiary in its burning about the planet-vessel's surface; it destroyed the Fed explorer vessel along with its crew, and possibly, " she allowed (they weren't sure of Evans' truthfulness), "The Section 31 ship which made contact with the explorer. It pressed on through systems and on into lower-caste Halanan space, where that species' scientific and engineering capabilities allowed them to take some of the planet-ship's destructive energy and build around it a cubic -"
"Yes, we get the point, Lieutenant," Komin intoned and added, "Well done."
There was now the matter of access: this cube was seamless, impenetrable at least by physical contact. Could they beam the spherical liquid drop out from its centre and suspend it in a magnetic field, aboard the El Alamein or otherwise? It may prove too dangerous; either way, they'd have to leave the nebula first which would give added benefit of being able to contact the Starbase and update it with their findings.
Iorte, Tan and de Luca along with Komin spoke hurriedly and came to a decision. Komin ordered her XO, "If you can, beam out the cubic section immediately surrounding the 10cm central void sphere - that way we have some protection via a thin layer of Halanan tech."
"Aye, sir," and they began the Herculean effort of cutting out an 11cm a side cube from its much larger surrounding counterpart.
Iorte turned to his colleagues, David speaking darkly, "I'm going to talk with Evans. He may have been misled about the destructive potential, but he had an awful lot to say about the Halanan, " and stalked from the bridge with Iorte and Elena in tow. When they reached the brig, they found two dead security guards and Kyle Evans' empty cell!
Iorte slammed his commbadge, =/\=Massa!!=/\=
He responded panickedly, =/\=I know, I know, sir, I'm on it... I think he's beamed to the generation ship.=/\=
=/\=The thing we're carving apart?=/\= Iorte retorted.
=/\=There are some sections still shielded from the vacuum.=/\= Tan and de Luca nodded as both aimed kicks at the cell walls. Massa continued, =/\=I've just entered the bridge, taking my station... Trying to pinpoint him now.=/\=
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 11, 2020 1:04:48 GMT
David stood close, but not close enough to worry the man into thinking he was looking over his shoulder as he monitored the 'cutting' of the cube... They were literally 'dissecting' the cube, taking away sections from each side in turn, gradually reducing the size of the transporter confinement field by half a meter per side at a time, then centimeter by centimeter...
"I'm going to talk with Evans. He may have been misled about the destructive potential, but he had an awful lot to say about the Halanan," Iorte said, clearly annoyed. David and Elena watched him go then turned their attention back to the operation to get what they needed from the cube.
"Sir, even with the refinements to the transporter, I can't be a hundred percent sure we won't make contact with the inner sphere." Demik was saying.
"How precise do you have it now?" the Captain asked.
"Well, providing that thing doesn't throw us any surprises, we should grab a cube approximately eleven by eleven by eleven... Give or take," the Tactical Officer said clearly unsure, not of his ability, but that of the device he was using.
"That will have to do... Transport now," the Captain ordered .....
Deck Two Lower Main Engineering ::
As they entered Engineering, they could see the cube being held in the Level Ten confinement field ..... David approached, looking at the cube with a mix of anticipation and curiosity as it was held in the confinement field, it still looked, mysterious: It was reflective yet non-reflective, mirror-like yet giving no reflection, had he touched it he didn't doubt it would be both warm yet cold to the touch. He didn't doubt it would be frictionless to the touch, but he had no evidence to base his theory on.
"We are hardly equipped for this sort of thing." Fran Komin commented, "So, any thoughts on what next?"
"I've got the computer running every scan in the data-bank," he was about to continue when the Comm chirped to life:
=^= Massa to Captain .. Evans has transported off the ship .. It's possible he's gone to the Generation Vessel! =^=
=^= WHAT! =^= Komin shouted.
=^= Where's Mister Clancy? =^= Komin demanded as they ran from Engineering.
=^= He's with the Security Officers in the Brig .. They were attacked =^= Massa confirmed.
Komin, Tan, and de Luca almost ran headlong into Clancy as they entered the Brig. To say the Intelligence Officer was fuming was an understatement, but then so were David and Elena! ... Iorte informed them that 'apparently' there were pockets of gravity and atmosphere on the Generation Vessel, presumably he had for some reason gone to one of those, but for what reason no-one could even begin to speculate. As Medics tended to the injured Security Officers, the others returned to the Bridge of the El Alamein, the tension evident!
"Nate, get a lock, bring him back, now!" the Captain ordered.
"We can't, either he or the ship has erected a dampening field, it's all we can do to confirm he's over there," the Security Chief said trying not to shrug.
"We'll go over there then," Elena said decisively.
"We can't beam you in, you could end up as so much soup with that field up," Massa said.
"Then we'll walk in..." Elena said, thinking quickly then snapping her fingers, "We'll use the worker-bee, hard dock and walk onto the ship in suits."
"Then do what?" Komin asked.
"How did he know?" Milo Van suddenly asked, making everyone turn in his direction, "How did he 'know' he could get over there, and where he would need to go?... For that matter, how did he get 'OFF' the El Alamein?"
"He beamed off," Tan said as if the answer was obvious to even a three year old.
"Not by using any of our transporters he didn't," Van said, pointing at the logs ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 15, 2020 0:34:56 GMT
The rising frustration was palpable ..... With Evans aboard the Generation Vessel alone, there was no way of knowing what he was doing in there... It had already been established that beaming him out while the dampening fields were in place was impossible, it was also dubious as to their going over in the workerbee shuttle, mainly due to the fact that is was a two-person vehicle, Evans could pick each of them off as they exited, so they were back to thinking! David was looking at the viewscreen, or more precisely, at the gaping maw left by the impact of the Korowia ship ..... "We could transport people into an area not protected by the dampening fields," Demik suggested. "How far from where we know Evans to be?" the Captain asked. "Six hundred meters, minimum," the Tactical Officer admitted. "... And there is no way of knowing what would lay between the beam-in point and their destination I suppose?" Komin asked, already knowing the answer as Tom shook his head. "Then we're done." the Exec' said frustratedly. "We could use the ship..." David said without turning. "Which ship?" Milo Van asked as Tan turned to face the others. "This one..." he said, as practically everyone on the Bridge began to laugh, at least until they realized the Intelligence Officer appeared serious, "Given our options, its the logical choice. The rupture is almost one hundred eighty meters wide at this side and a hundred at the Portside. It's over seventy meters in height at the midpoint and still almost sixty at the far side. We could easily maneuver the El Alamein inside, get as close to where we believe Evans to then turn the ship head on to the bulkhead, then use the umbilicus walkway to ingress." Everyone stood in complete silence as they digested what the man was suggesting... Taking a Starship 'inside' the ruins of a second ship then put people on the latter, all the while hoping the structure didn't collapse under its own fractured weight and crush them inside the structure forever! "If we use only maneuvering thrusters we should be OK and our wash wouldn't have too much effect on the surrounding structural damage," Tan added. Milo Van laughed again then turned away. The idea is ridiculous on every level imaginable!" Nate Massa commented, yet Tan was unperturbed as he listened in silence to the myriad of objections. Lieutenant Shana Yip, the El Alamein Helm Officer had been doing the calculations at her console, her gaze flicking between the image on the viewscreen and the panel itself. While the idea frightened her half to death, in principle it was sound, providing you didn't factor in the numerous variables that could get them all entombed or worse should it all go wrong. After running the numbers for the tenth time she turned in her seat: "It's possible," was all she said. "REALLY!" Nico Carré said in amazement. Tan grinned at the flabbergasted Chief Engineer. "Obviously if a better, safer, idea is thought up then we'll consider that, but our options are limited, to say the least..." David said, looking at the image of the Generation Vessel, "We can't get at Evans, and there is no way to bring that ship out there out of the nebula and tow it back to the Starbase, so the way I see it, we go in, or we leave him to his own devices." he finished with a shrug. Komin remained silent, allowing her Officers to voice their opinions, besides, she knew full well that the El Alamein was there to serve Intelligence, so if or when they deemed it necessary to get Evans, they could and would simply override her Command and go regardless. "We're not taking this decision lightly..." the Captain finally said, "... So unless we are in complete agreement, we turn around and leave, as, suggested. Give it some thought, I'll be in my Ready Room," she finished with a look at Tan. Ninety Minutes Later ... Mess Hall :: David was sipping his coffee when Komin, Milo Van, Iorte Clancy, and Elena entered. "We'll try it your way..." the Captain said, requesting a coffee of her own from the replicator before sitting opposite the Intel' Officer, "... Hell, we have the sphere, but there's no saying what chaos Evans could cause if left to his own devices over there. But at the first sign of trouble, Structure instability that could affect the ship, I'll pull El Alamein out of there," "Sounds fair enough," Tan replied ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 19, 2020 0:15:36 GMT
Fran sat in the center seat looking into the shattered bowels of the Generation Vessel .... What they were about to try was bordering on idiotic, but if they wanted answers, answers they needed, then they had no other option open to them!
"Take us in, two meters per second," she ordered.
The Defiant Class El Alamein, dwarfed by the Generation Vessel, began to approach the gaping maw caused by the earlier collision... On the viewscreen, they watched as the ruptured walls of the hull disappeared to be replaced by the ragged and torn infrastructure of the Itzamna... Komin ordered the exterior lights so they had a better view of their progress.
"Distance to the objective?"
"Two hundred forty meters," Lieutenant Yip replied.
David, Elena, and Iorte stood behind the Command Seat watching their progress, all three as aware as the rest of the crew what their fate could be should anything go wrong. They moved deeper and deeper into the husk, a myriad of force-fields and emergency bulkheads, almost glowing under massive internal pressures. As they progressed everyone was looking for a suitable bulkhead junction to allow the El Alamein's generic umbilicus walkway to form an airtight seal, but it looked as if there was none useable, most having damage beyond their capability to form a seal.
"Looks like we're out of luck," Milo Van commented.
"Distance?" Fran asked again.
"One hundred eighty-two meters, give or take," the Helm Officer said, nudging the ship to Port a fraction to miss an outcropping section.
"Clearance?" the Exec' asked.
"Thirty meters either side, twenty above and below us, approximately," Demik replied.
"Slow to one meter per second," he ordered.
The tension could have been cut with the proverbial knife as the ship moved deeper into the larger vessel, ahead, a large section of interior bulkhead suddenly gave way, it drifted ahead of them 'falling' in the weightless environment until it slipped beneath the El Alamein but not quick enough to avoid contact... They could hear the section as it scraped along the underside of the ship, no doubt giving the Starbase Engineers something to work on when, or if, they returned home... David moved over to where Tom Demik was monitoring their progress, and the leeway they had, he was surprised to see that the clearance was getting smaller by the second, too quickly in his opinion, and he began to wonder if he hadn't been somewhat reckless in suggesting this course of action.
"What about that?" Elena asked, pointing out something well ahead. A section of the bulkhead had broken away leaving a large flat section with what appeared to be an emergency bulkhead door in the center, if they could get a seal with the walkway, and could open the bulkhead door, they may have a chance of entering the ship, "It must have been a corridor which sheered off, that emergency bulkhead would have prevented decompression further in?" she speculated.
"How far is that from where we believe our 'Engineer' to be?" Komin asked.
"One hundred fourteen meters, but we cannot be sure he's still in situ Captain," Demik answered.
"We'll have to take the chance..." the Captain said, turning to the Intelligence Officers, "... Well looks like we reached your stop," she said with a shrug.
"Helm. All stop, rotate us to be facing the bulkhead," Van ordered. The ship came to a stop and began a slow turn to Port, coming to a complete stop with the lowered emergency bulkhead door directly in front of them, "Thrusters only, move us to five meters and hold," he ordered, nervously watching as the charred bulkhead grew larger on the viewscreen.
"Hold here," Komin ordered, getting up before moving to the rear of the Bridge, "Tom, Nate, join us please," she said then waited while the Intel' Officers and her Security and Tactical Officers joined her.
"Second thoughts?" Elena asked quietly.
"Second, third, fourth, and rising by the second," the Captain admitted.
"Then turn us around," Tan said, completely sincere. This wasn't an Intelligence Assignment, in fact, they had come aboard more due to boredom than anything, expecting it to be a simple patrol to give them a little time off the Starbase. Komin looked at them, realizing instantly that they were giving the decision over to her as to how to, or indeed 'if to' proceed. After a moment if internal decision-making she nodded.
"Let's see if we can get a solid seal..." she said with a smile that wasn't completely forced, "... Nate, Tom, I want you to join the away team ..... Mister Ross, extend the umbilicus walkway,"
"Solid seal," the Operations Officer confirmed.
"Captain, I'm having to use maneuvering thrusters to hold position..." Lieutenant Yip informed Komin from the Helm, "... Gravitational fluctuations within the Itzamna are playing havoc with our positioning,"
"Do what you need to Lieutenant," Fram replied, then turned to the others, "Go suit up, I'll give you an update before we make the decision go or no go," she dropped back into her seat as the five left to don EVA suits. She watched the semi-translucent walkway which extended from Deck four and out to the bulkhead, she could see it moving fractionally as the El Alamein changed position slightly before being corrected. Finally, she tapped a Commlink button on the arm of her chair:
=^= Komin to Away team .. .. =^=
=^= Tan .. =^=
=^= You have a go .. Remember .. We cannot transport you out so if I feel the hip is in imminent danger we will disengage and leave =^=
=^= Understood Captain =^= Tan said as he looked at the others.
=^= Very well .. Be safe =^= Komin said.
As the others nodded, David turned and activated the inner airlock door, stepping inside he waited until everyone was in then cycled the lock, once free of atmosphere he opened the outer door and could see the bulkhead of the Generation Vessel only meters away. Stepping onto the walkway he began to make his way over, the others close behind... As they reached the bulkhead Tom Demik stepped forward, removing the panel beside the door he jury-rigged a bypass then informed Tan.
=^= Open it," David said, knowing their Comms were being fed back to the Bridge. The door moved a fraction then stuck, Demik again tampered with the control mechanism and the door finally slid fully open ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 254
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Feb 20, 2020 22:24:33 GMT
Clancy boarded the generation vessel from the emergency bulkhead door first, soon finding there was gravity in this section, and - as Demik informed them - a breathable atmosphere not too different from Earth standard. Iorte sighed and detached his helmet, the others doing likewise.
Thus they'd achieved being able to drop in on the vessel well within Evans' dampening field (if he'd erected it and it hadn't been an automatic process), perhaps to within just over a 100 metres of Evans' location, but Iorte would've felt much safer being transported into an area outside the dampening field, even if it would've meant a 600 metre trek through the vessel.
They padded their way down the corridor, no longer needing the grav-boots to keep them in place; ruptured conduits, steely grey walls and hellfire-tinged smoke emanating from somewhere ahead confronted them. "I'm picking up Evans' biosignature," Demik reported, "It seems the vessel's dampening field only operates at its periphery; once inside, everything can be detected."
"What's the distance to the target?" Tan asked, beginning to take point as he rounded a corner with Mk.II phaser in hand.
"190 metres. Ah, I think he knows we're here... - he's on the move directly away from us, winding his way through a set of corridors adjacent to a hundred by hundred square chamber - ... either that or he's oblivious and is heading for what seems to be some sort of reactor, possibly M-AMI, more likely... no..." Demik's voice was tinged with disbelief.
"What is it, Demik?" Clancy asked, as the group broke into a light jog towards the square chamber - it seemed it was accessible from their side, but there may also be shortcuts, ways to get round the large room and find their way to Evans quicker.
Demik answered, "This secondary reactor - the main one's long been offline - seems to run some sort of quantum slipstream drive. Perhaps that's how the Korowia have managed to traverse the galaxy from their home space so rapidly." Iorte took this information in as they found a route round to the right of the large square chamber, involving manoeuvring through collapsed bulkheads and splayed and sparking circuitry that at one point almost entirely occluded the cylindrical passageway.
They neared Evans' location; it seemed the one-time Section 31 man was boxed in near this secondary reactor - did he have some hidden means of escape? Massa was concerned about something else, "Given the state of this vessel, I have serious doubts its systems have power enough to transport Evans aboard, the El Alamein's shields up or no. No, all Korowia tech on this thing is too degraded, too ancient to be of any use to anybody."
How did Evans get on board then? the question seemed to be.
"Halanan technology, or Halanan-modified Korowia technology?" de Luca asked.
They were whispering now as they approached a junction in the room immediately prior to the reactor chamber. The five of them could hear Evans inside, making adjustments to a blue-glowing panel on the far wall; he was tutting to himself, whistling in disbelief occasionally (he was reading over improbable stats relating to tech of which this ship and its recent non-humanoid occupants seemed to have developed).
Tan, de Luca and Iorte nodded to one another, Demik edging his way closer to the conversation as if he wished to be involved in the conspiracy. Demik would remain behind to watch their backs while Massa and Clancy would take the right flank; de Luca would take the left while Tan would approach from front and centre, hopefully distracting Evans long enough for the others to shoot him down immediately or otherwise prevent his escape.
They readied themselves, picked themselves up and ghosted into the reactor room. History has a tendency of repeating itself, Iorte thought; the control panel at the wall, unoccupied; the tutting and whistling, ceased: Evans was gone.
At this exact same moment on the El Alamein, the microscopic spherical liquid drop within its 11 cubic centimetre container in engineering stirred slightly, nanometre-scale silver and graphite marbled effects moving across its surface before resettling. The ship shook very slightly.
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 21, 2020 23:31:07 GMT
Generation Vessel Itzamna :: Moving forward was slow going .... At each closed bulkhead they had to test if there was still a breathable atmosphere on the other side ..... "This secondary reactor... The main one has long been offline... It seems to run some sort of quantum slipstream drive. Perhaps that's how the Korowia have managed to traverse the galaxy from their home space so rapidly." "Halanan technology, or Halanan-modified Korowia technology?" Elena was asking as David pondered just how Evans had got aboard if he hadn't used the tech' on this ship. The group finally reached their destination and prepared to snatch the former Engineer, but their efforts were for naught as they entered an empty room! ..... "WHAT, the hell!?" de Luca spat. Her frustration matching that of the others, "THere's no way he could have transported out, we could hear his damn whistling at we entered... Couldn't we?" David and the others were already searching the room for any signs that there was a transport console hidden somewhere, but they found nothing. Despite their disbelief, there was no denying the man was no longer in the room, it was as simple as that. "There has to be something in here, surely?" Demik commented. "We'll have to backtrack," Tan said, resisting the urge to slam a fist into something. "We have no way of knowing where he is," Massa said, then realized his error. He checked his tricorder for the same readings and almost jumped in the air, "IV'E GOT HIM!" he said, turning to the others. "Where?" "Seventy-nine meters... He's moved toward the far side of the ship but is moving forward. We could try to intercept if we take a diagonal route, but it's a certainty he'll reach his destination well before we reach him," "Unless we find a similar device that moved him so quickly?" de Luca said unconvincingly. "Is it me, or are there more area's on the ship that has atmosphere and gravity than when we first scanned?" Nate Massa asked frowning. David and Tom Demik checked as Elena watched the doorway. He was right... According to the current readings, the ship had approximately thirty-two percent more area with life support than when they came aboard. "You don't think this thing is well, repairing itself, do you?" Demik asked, clearly a question no-one had an answer to at this point. "Tom, find us a viable route, we're going after Evans, maybe he'll be willing to provide an explanation or two once he has the business end of a phaser under his chin!" ...... USS El Alamein :: As the away team passed through the field they effectively disappeared from the ship's sensors..... Lieutenant Finch, manning Tactical, had been modifying the scan sensitivity but was having no luck until he suddenly picked up what he thought was a shadow on the scan, then it happened again. He couldn't be one hundred percent certain, but if he had to stake his career on it he would have said he was intermittently picking up the away team! ..... He double-checked the scans from before they had taken the orb and realized that every time the away team passed through one of the emergency bulkheads, they left a 'trace' of sorts, almost a subatomic 'echo' as they crossed the threshold into the next section. He still couldn't be sure so continued to test his theory until he felt he could advise the Captain on his findings. He was about to speak to Komin when she spoke: "Did anyone else feel that?" she asked. "I did," Shana Yip confirmed from the Helm. Fran quickly tapped the Commlink in the armrest of her chair: =^= Bridge to Engineering =^= =^= We now Captain .. We are running scans now =^= Lieutenant Commander Carré replied. =^= Erect a Level Ten force field around our item =^= =^= Already done Captain .. We did so on its arrival .. We are checking visual sensors and a moment ago the cube presented an outward display .. Almost like a silver marble effect .. It lasted less than two seconds then dissipated =^= "Should we reconsider having that thing aboard?" Milo Van asked the Captain. Komin held up a hand and continued speaking to her new Chief Engineer: =^= Commander .. Your assessment on our safety please =^= =^= At this point I would suggest we keep investigating .. But should there be further occurrences I may wish to revise my recommendation Captain =^= =^= Understood Commander .. Keep me informed but make preparations to have that thing off the ship in short order should the need arise .. Bridge out =^= She turned to her Executive Officer: "I'm beginning to regret agreeing to this venture," she said quietly, Van could only shrug by way of a reply, "You're a great help," she said wryly. "Captain ...." Lieutenant Finch said from Tactical, ".... I may have the means to track our people, albeit sporadically," he went on to explain what he had found and Komin told him to do all he could to refine the readings he was getting. She looked at the viewscreen, the ruptured and torn fabric of the enormous Generation Vessel meters away from their hull, capable of ripping a hole in the Defiant Class ship as easily as the proverbial 'hot knife through butter' ..... "Helm, plot an escape routs out of the hull and into open space. Allow for our severing the umbilicus walkway prior to departure... Once you have it, double-check it then lock the solution into the computer," "You think we could be in trouble?" Milo asked in almost a whisper. "No harm in being prepared," she answered cryptically. "Hmm, regular boy scout," Van answered, moving away. "Har Har," Fran whispered with a chuckle, her jollity fading as she pondered how the away team were faring. Then she felt the vibration through the soles of her feet again! ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 254
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Feb 27, 2020 14:59:11 GMT
Clancy proceeded through the apparently reactivating sections of the generation vessel in the middle of the five, Demik taking point while Massa covered their rear, even though it was clear to them their target lay ahead and not behind. Demik's deduction had it that they could drop in on Evans from the deck above, even if they would be catching up to the rogue rather than somehow outpacing him, something they admitted was impossible.
"He's running 40 metres ahead in a corridor one deck below three metres to our left; the passages converge at a junction on his deck, it's massive, I'd suggest that's his likely target," Demik informed them, checking his tricorder every few seconds as he led them through the passage.
They neared the site where the junction was located on the floor below, and found that indeed Evans came to a halt. Iorte could swear he heard whistling emanating from the floor below... Best to ignore it - Evans may vanish again.
"How is he able to jump about the ship so quickly?" he asked distractedly, hushedly, aware that if the floors here were thin enough to allow the sound of whistling through he'd better keep his voice down.
"It's possible he may have a portable site-to-site transporter. His scientific and engineering knowledge knows no bounds," Massa replied, entering the section last of all, "Or at least that's what he liked to tell us."
"Perhaps the ship itself is taking him from place to place - we think it brought him here, after all," Tan commented and cast a look down at the hatchway that would lead to the deck below.
Massa nodded and began to release the hatch mechanism while Demik scanned the opening and the deck beyond continuously. Clancy and de Luca prepared themselves: a quick game of stone-paper-scissors saw Iorte chosen as the one to lead the attack. "Nothing like a victory," he said as he closed his outstretched palm into a fist and looked through the now open hatch. He began to descend the ladder that lay beyond, as quietly as his now-useless grav-boots allowed.
There he was... Evans at another set of controls, mercifully not whistling this time. Iorte stopped halfway down the ladder, aware of de Luca and Tan immediately above and behind him, and judged the distance to the Section 31 scientist/engineer. Accounting for his extra weight given his grav-boots, he pushed up against the ladder rungs so as to launch himself on a downwards diagonal. With a gasp Kyle Evans detected his presence, he began to turn, seeming to whisper something - perhaps to the generation ship's computer? - but was too late as Iorte allowed himself to fall and bundle into the man. They both went down, Iorte rising to a crouch first and striking Evans across the jowl leaving him semi-conscious. Tan and de Luca were right behind.
"How did you get off the El Alamein?" de Luca demanded as Iorte extracted himself and stood, backing away and soothing his chin where Evans had managed - not unpainfully - to strike back.
Once he came around, Evans' face was a picture of innocence, "... It brought me here. I had no say in the matter; one moment I was in the brig and then I -"
"So what have you been doing, striding about the place? You've been working the consoles... what does Section 31 know about this ship that we don't?" Clancy asked, dubious about his own question.
"Your guess is as good as mine, newcomer. Ha, yes, I know. Section 31 - although I had little contact with them - had their eye on you and your little coterie for some time. Now that they've been cut off from you - apart from the few agents who doubtless came through with the rest of us on the Starbase - they obviously don't know about your recent experiences, but they know you're a novice."
"I've served with Starfleet Intelligence since I left the Ac- " Clancy began angrily, stepping forward.
"Iorte, don't rise to it," Tan held up a hand and Iorte halted, nodding briefly.
"Honestly, shipmates," Evans started again, "I don't know why the Itzamna brought me here. Perhaps Section 31 found it or discovered a way at least to trace its likely location, and programmed the thing to beam aboard 31 operatives when it recognised them, I don't know. I'd be more worried about that potentially sector-devastating device out there that our Captain in her infinite wisdom has brought aboard. Who designed it, do you think, the Halanan?"
"No, we believe the Halanan built the cubic container for it; perhaps they harnessed the anti-proton based energy source, or weapon, within it, but they were not the creators," Massa said, drawing looks from the others - why explicate for the rogue all their theories?
The vessel trembled very slightly; it was the second time Iorte had detected it, the first time he'd believed it was imagined. They attempted contact with the El Alamein (also within the vessel having plotted a tortuous path out should it be needed); there was no response. They had to assume comms were out, they'd gone in knowing that there would be little or no contact, thus they had to trust that something hadn't happened to the Defiant class... A few minutes went by while they attempted to learn what Evans had been doing aboard - he finally admitted to helping the ship's AI in its self-repair efforts - before another tremor occurred, and yet another 20 seconds later, growing greater all the time.
"It's not this ship - I have her stabilised and stationary relative to the galactic centre to within less than a micron," Evans boasted from his prone position against the bulkhead. He shook his head, full of sarcasm, "I have to think that the El Alamein has got itself into trouble with that weapon now resting in engineering..."
Cutting through Evans' irksome manner, Iorte asked stridently, "How do you know it's in engineering?" There was a pause, he blinked, "The Itzamna has sensors trained on the El Alamein?"
Evans spread his arms as if it were obvious, "She's in this Korowia monstrosity's midst, buried in its bowels! There are sensors, weapons emplacements, tetryon fields trained on the El Alamein from virtually all directions. And nothing to do with me," he added innocently, "I've only been trying to help this thing repair itself so I can get out, because trust me, friends, we're not alone in here... There is more than just the one Halanan, I've seen them on internal sensors. I think they're lower caste, and being cannibals, probably hungry."
Demik voiced what they all began to realise, "Then you've been waking them up, you fool! Somehow they've survived the vacuum conditions all these years, including our flushing of the remaining sections of atmosphere. And now they're being supplied with fresh oxygen thanks to your encouragement of the Korowia computer!" Evans' mouth fell open idiotically. And wasn't the El Alamein still physically attached to the generation ship, and weren't they still out of contact with the El Alamein?
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Feb 29, 2020 0:02:13 GMT
USS El Alamein ... Connected to Itzamna via Umbilicus Walkway :: In Engineering, Nico Cárre stood looking at the cube secured behind the Level Ten forcefield as he felt the vibration through the deck plates ...... "Commander, I'm reading changes to the cube..." one of the Engineers said as the plinth holding the cube creaked for a second, "Internal dimensions of the sphere have changed," "What... How?" Cárre asked. "Unsure Commander, but the sphere has increased circumference by zero point zero one three of a millimeter. but its mass has increased by... Sir, you're not going to believe this... According to these readings, the sphere's mass has increased by point two four two of a METRIC TONNE!" "That's impossible," Cárre said, approaching the cube which enclosed the sphere, "Is it still increasing?" "No, it seems to have stabilized, but we'll need to consider moving the cube if the mass continues to escalate," the Engineer warned. Nico contacted the Bridge to inform Komin of the issue, moments later the Captain entered Engineering: "Are we in danger?" she asked instantly. "Commander, I've just checked the data... There was an increase in size and mass at the point of the first tremor we felt, t didn't show initially as the changes were smaller than the sensors were calibrated for," "Meaning?" Komin asked nervously. "It could mean nothing Captain, but it just jumped in mass almost a quarter of a tonne, the first mass increase was less than a milligram, so the next could be anywhere from what we just witnessed to, well, anything," Cárre replied. "Get a permanent transporter lock on that thing, the millisecond it begins to increase in mass again get it off the ship and as far away as possible!" Fran ordered, glaring at the solid black-blue cube .... Away Team ... Generation Vessel Itzamna :: David was listening to the Section Thirty-One operative in shock! "How do you know it's in engineering?" There was a pause as Clancy blinked, "The Itzamna has sensors trained on the El Alamein?" "... I've only been trying to help this thing repair itself so I can get out because trust me, friends, we're not alone in here... There is more than just the one Halanan, I've seen them on internal sensors. I think they're lower caste, and being cannibals, probably hungry." "Then you've been waking them up, you fool!" Demik spat, stepping forward both hands finding the man's throat. Massa and Clancy moved to pull them apart as David realized something! "The ship!" he said, slamming a hand against his comm badge: =^= Tan to El Alamein .. Disengage umbilicus immediately .. Repeat .. Disengage umbilicus IMMEDIATELY! =^= =^= Tan .. Komin .. Wha .. .. =^= =^= Captain .. Don't ask questions .. Disengage the umbilicus NOW .. .. Tan out =^= he closed the Comm before the Captain could reply and turned to Evans: "How many?" he asked, but Evans simply stood almost in shock as David slapped him hard across the face, "HOW MANY!?" "I... I don't know... A lot..." the man said wiping blood from the gash in his upper lip, "I just saw them on sensors, I didn't sit counting them," he finished, the fear in his voice clear now. "Can they get up here?" Elena asked, resisting the urge to glance at the doorway. Evans shook his head. "They are over fifty Levels below us and at this point, there are no open routes that I can detect, that's not to say they won't find one, in due course, last I checked they seem to be roaming the Levels aimlessly, though I have a suspicion that they may be, well, feeding," Evans said, the blood dripping onto his tunic seemingly fascinating the man. "... Feeding ..... On what exactly?" Demik asked. "If just one of those things gets up here, or onto the El Alamein..." de Luca whispered behind Tan. "On each other?" Evans answered, as it it were obvious. "On your feet..." Tan ordered Evans as he snatched the man by his tunic and dragged him to his feet, "Remove the atmosphere from all Levels but this one," "I, I don't know if the ship will allow me to," he said, hunched over like someone clearly beaten. "I don't give 'A DAMN' what you think the ship will or won't do," Demik said dangerously, "Evacuate all atmosphere and disengage gravity from all but this Level right now, or I'll personally throw you into space!" Slowly Evans moved to the panel he had been stood at before the Away Team arrived, he scanned the readings and began to undo what he had set up earlier, shaking his head in frustration every few seconds as his efforts were blocked by the ships' computers. Time and time again he tried but without success, finally dropping to the deck utterly defeated. "GET UP!" Demik said, kicking at the man, raising his foot to deliver a second blow before Elena got between them. "If you can't disengage the artificial gravity, or remove the atmosphere, could you flood the Levels with something that could hinder their progress?" Tan asked quickly. "Erm... They have similar physiology to Humans, they breathe air like we do, despite their hibernation. Possibly a cocktail of say, Anethizine and possibly Tetrovatine or Cortropine, or whatever the Korowia have that is similar, at one thousand parts per million should put them in whatever their version of a coma is, I suppose," Evans said, eyeing Demik as if in fear for his life. "So something along the lines of five hundred thousand parts per million seems appropriate," Nate Massa suggested. "Hey, this ship is riddled with micro-fractures and fissures. I'm no Doctor, but at those proportions, if a microgram of that concoction got onto this Level we'd all be dead before we realized it!" Evans spat, suddenly finding his backbone, "Besides, there's no guarantee the ship will allow the dispersion in the first place. Its primary function is to get people from 'A' to 'B' over hundreds, thousands of years, so killing them off may not be something it's programmed to allow," "Show me how to operate this console, I should be able to upload the protein sequences we need from the El Alamein," Demik said, then turned to David, "With two of us working maybe we could override the in-built safety protocols, or at least slow them down, allowing release of the gases?" he said with a shrug. "Show him!" Tan ordered Evans ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Mar 13, 2020 15:40:27 GMT
David was glaring at Evans, who in turn was clearly wondering how far he would allow El Alamein's Tactical Officer to go.
"I'm not going to ask twice," David said, reinforcing the man's conviction that he would allow the conversation to become physical. Evans walked over to the panel and activated it. Demik, for all his technical knowledge, looked at the readings as if they were displayed in Swahili. He turned to Tan raising his arms in exasperation.
"Wait! ..... I've never been able to have the display come up in English..." the former Engineer said, moving quickly whilst trying to keep out of arms reach of Demik, seconds later the display changed, this time everything was in English, "... You'll need to be very careful, maybe it would be better if I made the inputs, so as to preserve our ......"
"Just show me the procedure to access this..." Demik said, placing a tricorder atop the console, "... I've already got the molecular structures for the three components you mentioned."
"But, I thought," Evans said, eyes widening as if his scheming had been discovered before he could do anything.
"You thought I would need to be in direct contact with the El Alamein's databanks?" Demik said, a dark smile crossing his features as he pointed to the console, "... Connect the ships' computer to that ... Now!"
Realizing his plan had failed miserably, he had no option but to comply ..... He made numerous inputs and nodded, almost dejectedly, as the tricorder chirped to life, a moment later Demik confirmed that there was a direct link, he instructed Evans to display the information on one of the large screens and then grinned. He began asking questions, Evans, having no choice, answered, and the displayed data began to change. It wasn't easy, despite the text being in English, he was forced into dead-end after dead-end, the ship informing those present that the action Demik was attempting was detrimental to those aboard. He ordered Evans to ensure that the deck they were on was completely isolated from the remainder of the ship as he frustratingly continued to compel the computer to do his bidding.
David was striding back and forth, trying, and failing, to work his frustration out stride by stride. Elena stepping in front of him, Tan in turn managing to stop his headlong trek a fraction off colliding with her.
"He'll get there, eventually..." she said quietly, glancing at the Tactical Officer and the former Engineer, who seemed ready to have a breakdown as his eyes continually flicked from the console to the Engineer repeatedly.
"OK! .... I'm going to have to double-check, but if these readings are correct, I can release the tri-compound of Caesium, Polonium, and Francium at five hundred thousand parts per million onto every deck but this one. Theoretically,"
"Theoretically?" Massa asked.
"Look, this is all new to me, and even with the tricorder acting as an interface, I can't be one hundred percent certain it will work, I've overridden every safeguard that I've come across, but we will need the compound to be released for a minimum of ninety seconds to ensure it's worked. If the ship realizes what's happening, and it will, it is likely it will attempt to counteract my instructions," Everyone looked at David, knowing full well that they were about to end numerous lives, something any Federation Officer didn't undertake lightly.
"Release the compound," Tan ordered. Demik nodded then turned to the panel, he was about to place his finger on the activation pad when Evans sprung at him, slamming all his weight into the Tactical Officer who unprepared, was propelled across the room slamming to the deck. Evans quickly began to deactivate the protocol but the beam of almost pure energy released from de Luca's phaser hit him in his side and he crumpled to the deck unconscious. Demik, back on his feet strode to the Engineer, planting a firm kick to his ribcage before reaching forward to grasp his collar. He dragged the unconscious Engineer across the room, dumping him unceremoniously against the bulkhead, and told de Luca to watch him before returning to the panel. After a long moment, he slammed a clenched fist into the plexiglass panel in annoyance.
"He's locked the console," the Tactical Officer said, glaring at Evans as if willing him to spontaneously combust!
"Can you get it back up?" Massa asked, eyeing to the dead panel before casting a glance at several of the others, all of which seemed in the same condition.
"No, I can't even get the display up," Tom said, "For all we know, he deactivated the release of the compound, we have no way of knowing if it was released, let alone if it worked!"
"Bring him around," David said, motioning to Evans. Elena knelt beside the man and took a hypospray from a pocket in the sleeve of her jacket, she made several adjustments then placed it against the prone man's neck and activated it ..... Evans' eyes fluttered open and he finally focused on Tan, a look of satisfaction on his face, "Bring the systems back on-line,"
"No ....." Evans replied simply.
"Nate, Tom, can you regain access?" Tan asked, his eyes never leaving the smiling Engineers.
"He's used some sort of random encryption sequence... There's more chance of my unraveling your 'DNA' than breaking that," Demik said with a grunt.
"Why?" David asked the Engineer, but the man shrugged:
"Why not... You can do nothing more to me either way... Besides, you will never get off this ship alive, and once the El Alamein is taken, we will go where we wish,"
"You, and who?" Elena asked, but again Evans smiled knowingly.
"Fine, contact the ship. We'll beam off and move away, then we'll destroy this thing before anything, or anyone can get off it!" Massa said defiantly eyeing the still prone Evans.
"..... And how do you propose to do that, may I ask?" Evans queried as he tentatively pulled himself into a seated position ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 793
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Post by David Tan on Mar 15, 2020 0:08:57 GMT
Nate Massa was rapidly losing patience with the Engineer, tapping his comm badge he called the ship: =^= Massa to El Alamein .. .. .. =^= =^= Massa to El Alamein .. .. .. =^= There was no reply, and he knew that if he looked at the self-satisfied Evans he'd likely do the man harm ... Elena walked over to the door, coming to a swift halt as it remained stubbornly shut. She opened the manual access panel beside the door but it was as dead as the consoles in the room. "Move out of the way Elena," David said, taking his phaser from his belt and aiming it at the doors. A beam of energy lanced from the weapon but the phasers' discharge seemed to disappear before impacting its target as if it had come into contact with a force-field established mere millimeters from the door itself ... Tan reset the weapon to full and aimed again with the same result, "... Suggestions?" he asked after turning to the others. "There's no way Evans had time to set up all these systems in the seconds he was at the console," de Luca commented quietly. "So who did?" Clancy asked, but no-one had an answer, Tan walked over to the Engineer, crouching down before the man. "Can you open the doors, bring comms back on-line... Yes or no?" he asked. "You just don't get it, do you. You have no comprehension as to what you face..." Evans replied, shaking his head as if sorry for those present, "These vessels, these citadels, have been traveling for tens upon tens of thousands of years. Generation after generation, in search of a new home. This ship was conceived and built practically before we were walking upright. It's only function, to safeguard its children, to convey them to a System capable of sustaining their collective survival. On arrival, the ship will be dismantled, but until then it will do what it was conceived to do," "But from what we have learned, the Korowia are scattered throughout the Galaxy. This ship has clearly failed in its task, otherwise, it would be crawling with Korowia wanting only to get out of this nebula and continue their search..." David said, trying to gain the man's trust if at all possible, "... But they didn't bargain on the Halanan did they... What happened, they were confident they could hold them off, but they were overrun?... Wow, the Halanan must have thought all their proverbial Christmasses had come at once, a vessel full of food unable to fight back," "You couldn't 'BE' more wrong if you tried," Evans said with a sickening smirk. "Then why was one of their own vessels trying to destroy this ship?" de Luca asked, but Evans had fallen silent once more. David got up and moved everyone out of earshot of the Engineer but asked Clancy to keep a phaser aimed in his direction. At least if Evans tried to stand David could be sure Iorte would see to it that he never got to his feet. "We need to find a way off this ship, and quick," Tan whispered.
"Without sensors, there's no way of knowing if the substance worked, for all we know there could be a hundred Halanan waiting beyond those doors," Tom Demik replied.
"I have the feeling they would be a little impatient to get in. I can't see them simply sitting on their admittedly impressive talons of their waiting for one of us to open the doors and invite them in," Massa commented.
"So you think the gas worked?" Iorte asked, but it was clear to all that the only way they would know would be to actually open the doors, something everyone was a tad reluctant to do.
"Whatever he did, it's clear we're in trouble... We don't have the equipment to start ripping up deck plates to find an alternate power source, so the way I see it: we have two options, wait to see if the El Alamein can find a way to get us out, or we open those doors and take our chances," Massa said with a resigned shrug. David was in complete agreement with the Security Officer. He told everyone to move behind the furthest consoles, asking Clancy to drag the Engineer over there too. Without giving anyone time to ask questions, he took his phaser and modified several settings .... An almost inaudible hum began, slowly rising in pitch and volume as David placed the phaser against the force-field protecting the doors. He ran back to join the others as the tone began to irritate the hearing of those present .... Less than a second later the weapons' auto-destruct activated! ...... The room filled with shrapnel and cloying smoke, forcing itself into their lungs and eyes. For a long moment, David could hear nothing but a high-pitched tone, but eventually, it began to subside. Rubbing the grit from his stinging eyes he could vaguely make out the others, all holding phasers aimed in the general direction of the doors. Had there been anyone on the other side, they would likely have been vaporized when the phaser detonated, but they needed to be ready nonetheless. ~~~~~As the smoke cleared, they could see in the semi-darkness that where the doors once stood, there was a satisfyingly large jagged hole, thankfully, nothing from their nightmares had come running through the gaping maw thus far. Everyone clambered to their feet, no-one had escaped getting hit by something, be it small pieces of wreckage, or flying debris, but thankfully no-one had sustained anything but minor cuts and bruises. "Well done," Evans said as he began clapping, thankfully a punch to the man's midriff from Elena stopped him making any further comment, the clapping too ceased, Evans now doubled over trying very hard not to vomit. "OK... From what I remember, we are approximately five hundred meters, give or take, from where we came in..." Demik said, still rubbing dust from his eyes, "... We are also several Decks higher than we need to be, that's saying the El Alamein would return to our original location for egress. If they followed orders they should be well outside the Itzamna by now," "I'd suggest we veto any idea of returning to where we came in..." Nate Massa began, "... It's likely the el Alamein is having the same problems... Transporters blocked, sensor glitches, Comms out, all caused by this ship, so we should make our way to the outer bulkheads if possible, the odds of our being located would be much better with as little material between us and the El Alamein," Elena had been looking at the panoramic windows of the partially destroyed Bridge: "Could we get a signal out to the El' from here?" she asked. "It's doubtful Komin will make a second circumnavigation of the Itzamna," Demik replied. "Did you feel that?!" Clancy said suddenly. "What?" David asked. For a moment Iorte frowned, then looked at the others: "For a second I could have sworn that the ship, moved," Everyone looked at the Intell Officer trying hard to 'feel' something through the soles of their boots ..........
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