Patrick Oleen
Ensign
Registered: Feb 16, 2018 19:32:48 GMT
Posts: 8
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Post by Patrick Oleen on Aug 12, 2021 0:38:28 GMT
Patrick steps into sickbay, takes a deep breath of the sterilised air, and quickly finds his nostrils objecting. All that blood and viscera, not to mention the layers of fevered sweat from all the convalescent bodies. This is not the normal condition of a sickbay, at least in peacetime. This should not involve the normal duties of a counsellor.
The catastrope that has infected many of the Raven's crew is growing seemingly more out of control and subject to increasingly random happenings. Many of the ship's complement, including several officers, have become progressively unreliable, turning on each other, some swallowed up in varying degrees of madness, and sickbay is being run ragged with new patients by the hour, some of those infected having had mishaps and injuring themselves, some staying here to be put under observation for possible treatment, others unaffected by the madness only to have then been assaulted by the ones suffering from it.
Patrick strides into and around the large room, his eyes frantic as he searches for the Assistant CMO - who's boss is apparently absent, holed up on the other vessel. His orders were terse and left a sliver to the imagination: Report to sickbay and Doctor Keeley - situation worsening.
“Excuse me" he eventually says to a nurse. "Hello, yes, Patrick Oleen, Counsellor. Could you point me in the direction of Doctor Keeley?”
“Oh, did you not know" she replies, somewhat brusquely, "he's not here. He was called away on a medical emergency near the computer core.”
“Thank you" Patrick mutters. He makes up his mind, seeing that he can't do much here by himself, if the man he's meant to report to has already deserted the scene. He turns quickly on his heel and exits the room. He makes his way to the nearest turbolift, steps inside and straightens his uniform. “Main computer core" he briskly orders, feeling only a slight twinge of guilt.
"But you have basic medical training at best, Counsellor" he murmurs. This is decidedly not his 'scene', with everything happening at once and, in some cases, events playing in contradiction with themselves. He prefers to take matters at a more leisurely pace, indeed, this modus operandi is etched into the very fabric of his being.
Meanwhile the turbolift has hummed into action, then stops. Patrick exits at the specified floor and makes his way down a short stretch of corridor, bracing himself for what he might find.
"Wait" he says, stopping halfway down. "Computer, locate Doctor Keeley."
The computer informs him that the Doctor is currently in Jefferies Tube 12. Oleen raises an eyebrow. What is going on in there?
Patrick arrives at the designated chamber, crouches down slightly and opens the panel. A narrow, dim-lit stretch of tunnel blinks into life ahead of him. Crouching lower, he starts edging down the passage.
(tag Valente, NPCs)
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 14, 2021 12:20:47 GMT
Machine station
Milyanov had managed to overpower the science officer and continued making his way down the passage, though he'd taken a deep cut to his left forearm as incredibly the ensign had drawn a knife and hacked at him with it, its serrated blade digging half an inch deep. That was when Milyanov had noticed that a fixing - at the base of the bulkhead behind the science officer - was loose; it secured a strut that supported a girder running close to the ceiling and parallel with the corridor. With the sole of his right boot he'd kicked at it, the fixing had broken loose and the strut had buckled and dropped a couple feet to the deck; this section of the girder had come down with it, striking the science officer on the cranium, the man going down in a heap. Thankfully he'd only been knocked out cold, but he had a bad head wound.
Now nursing his left arm - having bandaged it the best he could, - he was finding his way further down into the lower levels, places he'd only been once since arriving in this virtual hell - thanks, no less, to his good friend Blakus, who'd thought Milyanov had been inhabited by a machine entity and was best quarantined on the machine station, only for - ironically - it to have been found later that Blakus himself had been the one infected, he who'd eventually taken control of the Raven after the entity had seized full control of hs mind. Ridiculous, the engineer thought.
There were several people to find: Dr Roach, to help Lysia and Milyanov's recent assailant; Dyson; and Svensson and his remaining science officers. Svensson's orders from 'Blakus' had been countermanded first by the freed Blakus and then by Milyanov himself, but the CScO had ignored them, fled to the lower decks again, lost in utter delusion.
After some time, Milyanov came across Roach. "Doctor... my word, am I glad to see you..."
"Away," she raised a phaser, pointed it towards an access panel, "Use that, Commander."
Milyanov realised what'd happened; he'd suspected it earlier. "Why? Because you don't think I hear the voices loudly enough already? If I touch that thing a machine presence will enter my system, will speak to me in my mind as if it were in the same room as me, if what the XO told me is true." Roach blinked uncertainly, her hand holding the phaser jerking. "Where is Svensson?" Milyanov asked.
As he asked the question, a phaser beam illuminated the dim corridor behind the CMO, lighting it up momentarily with its gold-tangerine glow. Roach fell and revealed to Milyanov his Chief Engineer, holding aloft the phaser rifle that'd just been fired. "Dyson... Well, at least someone's still with me."
"Yes... sir," Dyson said, still insecure about how to address a man who outranked him but who was nevertheless his immediate subordinate. The CEO approached and helped Milyanov lift Roach to a sitting position against the bulkhead. Dyson seemed unsure about this posture.
"Don't worry, she's already been infiltrated, remember? Any machines that could get to her through the bulkhead would find one of their brethren got to her first."
"We need to have Roach check she's alright."
"Yes, except she can't check herself," Milyanov said, "We wake her, find our way back along this passage." Dyson looked to his left. "Yes, I came that way, encountered one of Svensson's men." Milyanov checked the CMO over, it seemed the stun hadn't done her any injury in her fall. "We've got to have her treat the science officer I incapacitated, and Lysia as well. We'll have to force her to comply, and hope she doesn't have any more accomplices of hers and Svensson's ready to jump on us."
"Lysia?" Dyson looked up in concern. He and the tactical officer had spent more time here on the machine station than any other Raven crewmember, being part of the original team of four (the others being Blakus and Valente) to get in here via an EVA operation.
Milyanov nodded grimly and turned to Roach; they started calling on her to wake up; should she resist, Dyson was ready with his phaser rifle.
Upper computer core housing, USS Raven
"Oleen! You're here, I thought you'd gotten lost," Dr Keeley addressed the counsellor as he made his way down the Jefferies' Tube towards them. "Sorry to misdirect you, Counsellor, but there was an emergency."
"Is anybody hurt?" Oleen looked on the group in concern.
"No. Well, mildly but to various degrees; I'm lacking a medic in any case, these two don't constitute a full team," the deputy CMO gestured to two subordinates. "Here, take this," he forced a medical tricorder into Oleen's hands and directed him to join in scanning Valente, Burwell, Wedlerson and Gerelo and his security detail for any harmful radiation. Glancing upwards, Dr Keeley nervously viewed the upper computer core room's hatch, still shone through with glowing blue electricity arcs.
"Does Commander Valente seem well enough, Counsellor?" he asked as Oleen scanned the mission advisor.
<Tag Oleen>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Aug 14, 2021 16:17:05 GMT
"Could it be the machine entities?" Burwell asked almost choking in the process.
"The overload and subsequent failure of the binary matrix should have disabled them, they should be inert, at least that was the plan," They had initially thought that the static discharges would subside as the air within the chamber became neutrally charged, but they seemed to be continuing, at least for the moment ..... All three, Wedlerson, Burwell, and Valente had been trying to remain as low to the deck plates as possible given the sporadic bolts of energy lancing through the hull into the Jeffries tube. She heard her name being called and turned to see the Acting Exec' looking down at them. She warned the man a fraction of a second before he would have been hit by the same thing they were avoiding! "..... "The energy build-up is threatening the ship, we could be torn apart. The good news is the discharge should occur far from here. Commander Blakus is having the core beamed out," Gerelo said as the Doctor treated them for thankfully minor burns. Finally able to move, the group clambered out into the corridor. Calli wasn't sure ejecting the warp core would solve their problems, but doing so would certainly save the ship should the electrostatic build-up in the Binary Matrix reach the point where it would spontaneously detonate. "Are you, OK?" Calli asked, eyeing Gerelo. "Yes... As is everyone else affected by the machine entities. Commander Blakus is on the Bridge waiting on a situation report, going off what we're reading it looks like the entities are trying to regain control, once they do ....." She realised that the Ships Councillor, Ensign Oleen, was with the Medics, he'd been handed a tricorder and was running scans of the Operations Chief who was still unsteady on his feet. "Contact Engineering, I want every physical link to the Binary Matrix severed immediately!" Valente ordered. For a second she thought Gerelo was going to object, but with a curt nod, he moved along the corridor and smacked his commbadge. she brushed Doctor Keeley's hand away as he tried again to treat a cut on her forehead, then headed to the nearest turbolift, Burwell and a still shaken Wedlerson, Keeley and two Marine Medics close behind. On the Bridge she approached Blakus: "How long before the secondary computer core is online?" she asked, watching the man closely. "I've asked them to hold off for the moment, the last thing I want to do is give them a fresh memory source..." Andae said, realising he was under scrutiny, "... Relax Calli, I'm me," he said with a wry grin. "OK ....." Calli replied, inwardly relieved. "Sir, Lieutenant Tinsley confirms all physical links with the Computer Core room have been severed," "What?" "My order..." Calli said, quickly explaining her decision. Blakus nodded in agreement, somewhat moot given the task had already been completed, "... I was thinking that should the machine entities manage to regain self-control, they would have nowhere to go. Or at least be confined to the Binary Matrix while we come up with something else. If the core is isolated and no one is in range to be taken over, we should be able to hold them temporarily," "What makes you think they couldn't simply retake their previous hosts?" Blakus asked. "I can't be certain, obviously, but I think that when we overloaded the Binary Matrix, the entities returned, possibly forced, to go back to their group consciousness. It's possible that they can only affect people via physical contact," "That can't be right, no one came near me," one of the Bridge Officers said, frowning as she doubted her comment," "No, I've been going over the sequence in my mind, and I think that possibly several of the entities crossed into one of the crew, laying dormant until they could transfer to a 'vacant' host, all it would need would be the briefest of contact, brushing against someone in a corridor, or turbolift. If you remember we only saw a few pr[people acting out of character, then it spread exponentially throughout the crew, the least affected group being those off duty," "She could be right Commander, we didn't all get affected at once," Wedlerson said. "So what do you suggest?" "But they got aboard somehow?" Anna Fields said from the Helm. "I think that was via direct transfer from the station's computers, as long as we keep our systems isolated we should be able to hold them in situ," Valente replied. "..... and the core...?" Wedlerson asked, "... We're going nowhere fast without computer guidance," "We should be able to initialise the new core as long as any preliminary diagnostics are done by hand?" Calli replied, not one hundred per cent sure of her facts. Blakus made a decision, he tapped the commlink on the armrest: =^= Blakus to Engineering =^= =^= Engineering .. Lieutenant Tinsley =^= =^= Lieutenant .. You are to begin powering up the new computer core.. But do not bring it online .. You are to run installation diagnostics on tricorders only .. Do not interface with the ships' systems .. Is the fully understood? =^= =^= Understood Commander =^= Tinsley confirmed, closing the comm then turning to his Engineers. "You heard the man," he said ..... "Where are we on the electrostatic discharges in the Binary Matrix?" Blakus asked. "They are doing a lot of damage but seem to have plateaued. They could still co a lot of damage should the build-up surpass structural integrity thresholds," the Duty Engineering Officer replied worriedly ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 22, 2021 1:36:24 GMT
"Then I suggest we carry on with the beam out of the primary computer core as before," Blakus said, "The binary matrix is stable for now but as you say we don't know how long that'll last, and there are a lot of machines - only apparently inert - in there... If they find a way to break out of isolation they'd flood the ODN lines to various parts of the ship."
Wedlerson nodded, still ragged from his ordeal with the others near the core housing, "The isolation we have might not be enough; we've seen the electrical arcing - what if the entities are able to make their way along those sorts of discharges? Perhaps in attempting to strike at Calli and Delik they were actually seeking to inhabit them."
The Ops console was still occupied by Wedlerson's deputy as her Chief remained attended to by one of Keeley's medics (the deputy CMO now having returned to sickbay with Counsellor Oleen). An alert came from the Ops console, "Sir... reading a build-up in the binary matrix, electrical energy increasing thousands-fold every second!"
"Confirm the core is fully isolated?" Blakus asked, Calli watching him, wondering if this was the right idea and whether there was something still not right about the Acting CO. Gerelo though had warned her that leaving the binary matrix aboard could end in destruction of the vessel (or at least of the saucer - no minor loss).
"Aye, sir, confirmed."
"Transport." If the machines would let them...
The primary core materialised some 300,000 kilometres away from the Raven, and still the bridge crew were uncertain whether the inevitably coming discharge and blast would dissipate far enough away. "Raise shields, Mr Gerelo."
"Already done so, sir..." As he spoke and Andae glanced back at him appreciatively a cerulean and gold flash lit up - in utter silence - the vacuum displayed on the viewscreen. The shockwave hit seconds later; the Raven pitched off-axis momentarily by some 30 degrees, and dug in to weather the storm. It was over in moments. Damage seemed to minimal; minor casualties and others reports came in but only as a trickle. They would increase a little over the next hour. Nothing, not even still active machines that'd escaped being rendered inert, could've survived.
At the lower computer core housing, Tinsley surveyed the innermost section where the core was held, "Don't you go playing any tricks on me..." he whispered to it while he input commands on his tricorder, keeping up the man to machine talk til he heard Lieutenant Christina Taylor - Blakus's old colleague from the USS Victory and Tinsley's deputy while his two engineer seniors were indisposed - approach from behind.
"Well as long as you don't tap into the data network, you should be fine."
"Oh yeah?" though Tinsley of course knew this, "And how's Emily?"
"Still avoiding Andae. Ever since he started acting strangely, since his machine got to him, she's been pestering Valente to get her duty shifts rearranged so she doesn't have to take the Ops station while Andae has the conn."
"You know, I've been thinking..." Tinsley's gaze roamed outside the outer housing and around the lines where the ceiling met the nearby corridor walls, "What if some of the machine presences were able to separate themselves from the others as they fled back to the binary matrix? They're software based - a remnant could've found refuge in the ODN lines."
"That's probably what the bridge fears, Nate, now the primary core's gone."
"It might not matter whether we keep to tricorders to activate this thing. They could be skittering round the network like quantum dots in a ball bearing just waiting for the secondary core to be activated." She waited impassively. "These machines are virtually undetectable, Lieutenant. We had no idea of their existence until dozens of the crew were already infiltrated... It's a given they'd find the lower core a more suitable place than random places in the network to start this all over again... so how can we turn this thing on?" He looked back in at the innocuous secondary core. The answer had to lie in finding a way to detect machine software and data.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Aug 27, 2021 12:19:34 GMT
Machine Station :: "Welcome back..." someone said, helping him to a seated position before easing a cup of water to his lips, sipping the cold liquid he tried opening his eyes and saw a woman stood over him, "... Take a little more Admiral, you have been extremely dehydrated over the last forty-eight hours, we feared you wouldn't regain consciousness," "Tha .... Thank you, Lieutenant?" "Emily Durant, I'm one of the Science Team Admiral," the woman said, raising the cup yet again, he sipped, unable to govern the strength to argue. Finally, she stepped away allowing him to see the room. "We're still on the station?" he asked, trying and failing to get to his feet. "Give it a moment Admiral, you haven't eaten in two days, you're strength will come back once you've got a good hot meal down you," she said, stepping forward to mop the sweat from his brow. While she ministered to him he tried to concentrate, tried to 'feel' the machine entity inside his mind. He frowned in concentration, searching, knowing the thing was devious beyond words, he feared it could have hidden somewhere deep within his psyche, waiting, learning, allowing him temporary freedom from his chattels. But try as he might he could find no evidence of his tormentor, then he remembered a part of a conversation before he passed out: "Sarcasm Admiral, it doesn't become ....."
"You are in pain, what's the matter?"
"You are mista ..... It took some ti ..... time, searching your childhood memories until I found a possible explanation for my discomfort, but it appears that you came in contact with an incredibly rare virus as a boy, this was treated but left almost imperceptible changes to your thymi, hmm, unfortunate indeed... I think our time together is coming to an end, Admiral, we shall rest while I think more on this quandary," Carl wracked his brain, trying to find what the entity had found. He jolted bolt upright, frightening Durant in the process. That was it! .... He was eight, no, nine, he and others in his class had become infected with a mild form of the DeGrangé Mutagenic Virus after a school trip, it had been treated successfully in all the children, but had clearly left some 'marker' on his genetic makeup. He turned to Durant, suspicion filling his mind: "You are not infected," he stated darkly. "Me... No... None of us are, we think the Raven did something that affected the machine entities, we've been trying to make contact but comm are sporadic at best," the woman said. For a long moment, Torek thought he had got it wrong, that it was whatever steps the ship had taken that had resulted in the expulsion, temporary or otherwise, of the entities, but no, wait ..... It had specifically referred to his childhood, something about illness and the treatment, maybe they had the means to defeat the machine entities on two fronts, whatever the Raven had done, and his own protection! "Where are the others!?" he asked quickly. Commander Milyanov is with Doctor Roach, they are treating Commander T'Seng, she was, injured," she replied, following Torek as he made his way out of the room. "FIND EVERYONE NOW... Get them to the Command Center, Bridge, whatever this place uses..." he ordered, "... Which way?" "That... Way, Sir..." Durant said, worried about her Commanding Officers' wellbeing, "... To your right, turboshaft, then up two levels, you can't mi ....." she stopped talking as Torek ran out of sight ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 29, 2021 0:00:50 GMT
Andae had been able to establish a comm-link with the machine station for long enough to pass information to Milyanov as to how the man might enact the same thing that Valente et al had accomplished on the Raven. The discharge in the machine station's own recently regenerated computer core had been tempered via some gateway device so that it didn't keep increasing in intensity - until they wanted it to...
Not long after another link had been made with the facility - this one a deal more stable - and Blakus found himself surprised to be facing his Commanding Officer, sitting in the elevated central chair of the control centre. "Admiral, you've returned to health with the others," he nodded, surmising, "Then I suppose -"
"No, Commander... It's good to see you by the way; how's the jaw?" Blakus only smiled as he remembered the incident in sickbay when both were under entity control. "It wasn't the Raven's action, or any action taken by Milyanov - information you'd passed to him, - that got that presence out of my skull."
Valente, sitting in the XO's chair now having assumed those effective duties - Gerelo back at tactical - studied Blakus closely. It seemed to her that Andae was studying on his armpanel the computer core's ODN network, "... Explain, sir," he eventually said. And Carl did so.
"You're sure we're all safe, Admiral?" he asked as he sat in the ready room, Carl standing before him to the side of his desk with a fist clenched on its surface, such was his self-assurance he was right.
"We will be. Now that Dr Roach has returned, and as I'm told, we can now trust her, she and Keeley can study my genetics and come up with an antidote, or weapon that'll eliminate the machines for good."
"Well, we needn't worry about the crew on the machine station as long as they don't access sensitive systems. All Milyanov has to do -" Andae had left his former assistant Chief Engineer and three science officers over there before beaming Carl and the others back, "- is to allow the isolinear gateway in the station's binary matrix to collapse and a vicious cycle will begin much as it did in the Raven's core... The result will be slow diffusion of the machines constituting the station or their immediate and total destruction - it depends how far we let the discharge build."
"Then what about the Raven, Andae? You believe there's nothing left of them over here?"
Andae sat back, for some reason finding himself relaxed and inordinately so, "Yes. Unless what Calli, Lewis and Harry tried didn't work. And the group on the station - they're all free from the entities now the same information's been passed to Milyanov. So wherein lies the problem, sir?"
=/\=Blakus, this is Tinsley. Can I have a word with you, Commander?=/\=
=/\=I'm afraid I'm in a meeting with the CO this moment, Lieutenant. Can we talk later?=/\= Andae frowned, glancing up at Torek in apology.
=/\=Aye, sir... It's just about the secondary core.=/\= Andae face-palmed. =/\=I'm not sure we can turn it on just yet, sir. Though everything else is ready, I don't believe we've rendered inert all the machines aboard. Some may have taken refuge in the computer network, have probably buried themselves deep, being only a few survivors, in subsets of subsets of seemingly innocuous software - the system running a replicator for examp- =/\=
=/\=Ok, ok, Lieutenant. Dyson's on his way to you now, hopefully you and he can start...=/\= he tapped at the table, the sound echoed eerily, the only thing audible for the moment, =/\=... knocking some heads together.=/\= On his end Tinsley signed off with a frown, while Torek made for the ready room door, "Where are you going, sir?"
"To sickbay. Let's get ourselves an antidote to this Degrange!" Andae paused, checked with Svensson (also back on Raven) via comm quietly, and followed his CO to the bridge and turbolift, Calli taking the conn.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 21, 2021 14:14:47 GMT
USS Raven-C Deck Seven Main Sickbay ... Six Hours Later :: "..... Doctor .....?" "Look, Admiral, I have told you this a dozen times already..." Doctor Roach said, never one to shy away from having her say, regardless of whom it was directed at, "... It will take as long as it takes ..... We are 'trying' to develop an antigen from an almost infinitesimal marker of the thymine nucleobase imbalance following the DeGrangé Mutagenic Virus of your 'DNA' following the illness you caught as a child... I'm not waiting for a bloody SOUFFLÉ to RISE!" "Doctor, with all due respect, we don't have a finite timeframe here..." Carl said, trying to maintain his composure given the stakes, "... If they regain control, the first thing they will do is eliminate the one serious threat to their continued existence. As such, any effort you can use to expedite an outcome would be appreciated, by all of us," Roach's mouth was opening, her finger raised ready to reply when her diagnostic computer chirped to life. With a long look at her Commanding Officer, she turned to look at the readings. After a moment she grinned before turning to Torek then addressed her Deputy: "Rob, begin synthesising the antigen straight away, I want enough initially to immunise all the Senior Staff, then begin working on making dispersal airborne," "Right away Doctor," Lieutenant Keeley confirmed. "We'll have inoculations for the Command Officers in a moment Admiral... If of course, you could wait that long...?" the Chief Medical Officer commented, her sarcasm obvious to anyone in earshot, she continued before Carl could speak, "... As for the great of the ships compliment, I think the most effective use would be to make the antigen airborne, we can flood the Raven through the environmental control systems, then transfer what we need of the antigen to the Facility itself... But then, it would be 'soooo' much easier to simply destroy the Facility completely," she finished, eyebrows raised as if awaiting a retort. Without replying, Carl turned and entered Roach's office, he sat down behind her desk and waited. He looked up, then rose to step into the Main area of Sickbay as he heard the doctor giving instructions to two Marine Medics: "I've sent them to administer the pathogen to all the Command Staff, you're immune, apparently," she said, brushing past him to take the seat he had recently vacated. "Thank you, Doctor..." Carl said, remaining standing as if he had been called in front of his Headmaster, "... How long before the ship can be fully immunised? "Thirty minutes," Roach replied instantly, her tone making it clear there was no proverbial 'wiggle room' in her statement. Carl nodded then tapped his commbadge: =^= Torek to Bridge =^= =^= Blakus .. Sir =^= =^= Andae .. Move the Raven away from the Facility .. Ten thousand kilometers should be enough .. Hold station there .. Torek out =^= he looked at the Doctor once more and then left sickbay ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 26, 2021 21:38:02 GMT
Andae accompanied his friend and CO to sickbay and saw him put under care of the likewise recently freed from their machine presence (though not yet immune in the way Torek was, due to his childhood exposure to the Degrange Mutagenic Virus) Dr Roach. Satisfied the CO was in good care and the search for something to replicate the Degrange and deliver it to each of the crew was underway, he returned to the bridge.
It came in waves, the remnant of the machine presence that continued to play upon his mind's impulses. He'd recognised it in Svensson, too, which was why the two had started their intermittent conspiracy since the science officer had returned from the machine station.
It'd somehow remained, as it had in Svensson, as in much the same way Tinsley had described via comm, although in the latter case the presences hadn't fled or remained in a person but had taken refuge in computer sub-systems. The mutagenic virus antidote should be transferable to computer form and fed into the ODN lines, where it would proceed to destroy the machine presences it came across - biological virus transformed into software virus versus another, utterly alien form of software, the machines. The crew would need to complete this transference from biological to software antidote before they could activate the secondary computer core, else the remaining entities would have a place - the secondary core - to run to and ensconce themselves within.
"Commander," the voice of a marine came from the upper deck, the man having just emerged from the turbolift, "With your permission, I'm going to immunise you and the senior staff here on the bridge."
"What about the rest of the crew?" Calli asked.
"The rest of the crew will have theirs in the form of an aerosol mixed with the ship's atmosphere," the man explained, descending to the three command chairs upon Andae's nod of assent. As the marine moved to press the immunising hypospray against Blakus's neck, the remnant of the machine presence - buried far down in his psyche - surged in a horrific wave to the surface of the XO's consciousness.
The next thing he knew there was shouting, sounds of alarm - a struggle. He was crouched on all fours on the deck, felt his limbs give way and rolled over to see - blurrily - Svensson trying to fight off a second marine medic. The science officer cried out as Lieutenant Gerelo muscled him to the floor with assistance from another security officer. The hypospray's charge was delivered to the writhing Svensson's neck.
Apparently, Andae was told later, as the hypospray had descended he'd gripped the first marine's forearm and overpowered him, nearly dislocating the man's shoulder as he pushed him over backwards and rose to his feet. In fighting stance, feeling the machine entity's strength flow through him, he'd been ready for anything (or desperate for survival). It knew that as soon as the shot was delivered, It was effectively vanquished the same way Torek's entity had been. Valente and another had wrestled with him but he'd thrown off allcomers, until phasered to the deck; the first marine had recovered and quickly administered his shot, and it was at this was point that Andae had regained awareness, of where he was right now. He searched round in his mind in deep fear of the entity, but found nothing.
=^= Torek to Bridge =^=
Rising unsteadily to his feet, he found himself answering a comm,
=^= Blakus .. Sir =^=
=^= Andae .. Move the Raven away from the Facility .. Ten thousand kilometers should be enough .. Hold station there .. Torek out =^=
"Aye..." he said with the comm already cut, and found and slumped back into his chair. "Well... an interesting five minutes. I'm sorry, Sergeant," he said to the medic who'd tried and eventually succeeded in delivering the shot, but he shrugged it off and turned to Gerelo with a fresh charge (CTSO Lysia T'Seng, still recovering in sickbay, was already inoculated).
Blakus regained his composure and nodded, "Ensign Fields, comply with the Admiral's orders."
"Yes, sir." The Raven moved the requisite distance and Andae was already turning thoughts to Gerelo at tactical who'd likely be commanded to beam back Milyanov, Durant and the other two scientists still aboard the machine station. With that done and turning to the destruction side of things, whether the discharge building in the facility's own binary matrix should be allowed to do the work or a salvo of quantum torpedoes was in order, it was the CO's call.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 5, 2021 13:40:32 GMT
USS Raven-C ... Holding Station Ten Thousand Kilometers from Facility :: Even though he was more tired than he could ever imagine, he resisted asking for something to keep him awake. He wanted nothing in his body that could possibly aid the machine entities ..... He had gone back to his quarters to ensure Elise, Vanessa, and Bethan received their inoculations ... Once he was satisfied they were safe, he sealed the door to his quarters, effectively locking his family inside, then went to his Ready Room. Once there he pulled up every piece of information on his childhood illness, hoping he wouldn't come across some obscure snippet that could undo all the hard work everyone had done thus far. five minutes into reading the headache he'd been ignoring was getting worse, he finally had to give in and contact Sickbay ... Moments later a Marine Medic arrived to give him something to help. Deck Nine - 02:45 hrs :: Sofia had sat on her bed watching as the Marine had injected the serum into her mother's neck, her mother winced, rubbing the injection point for a moment. She slipped off her bed ... "She's asleep, do I need to wake her ?" Irina Kalovoka, Head of Stellar Cartography asked she they approach her daughters' bedroom. "No Ma'am, I can do it while she's asl..." the Marine whispered as he approached the open door, pausing as he saw the empty bed, "... Commander?" he said, pointing towards bed. Irina looked worried and moved to the bathroom before coming back to the living area, she looked in the small closet, then returned to the bedroom, eyes wide with worry. "She suffers from somnambulism from time to time, but she has never been able to leave our quarters, the door is normally sealed!" she said as the Marine slapped his commbadge: =^= 1st Lieutenant Zu Yung to Security =^= =^= Security .. Lieutenant Minchin =^= =^= Lieutenant .. We have a missing child .. .. Female .. Aged Seven .. Daughter of Lieutenant Commander Kalovoka .. Last seen in their quarters .. Deck Nine Section Beta =^= =^= Understood =^= the comm shut off as a second later a shipwide announcement went out. It was almost three in the morning, so a little girl wandering the corridors shouldn't be too hard to find ..... In his Ready Room, Carl barely heard the announcement as he scoured the information on the screen, satisfied, almost relieved, that there was no way the machine entities could overcome the serum designed to subdue and eventually irradicate them. Throughout the ship, Security had already begun searching for seven-year-old Sofia ..... It was far from ideal, but needs must, the entity thought as it guided the host. The mother had been so much more convenient, able to move freely around the massive vessel almost unnoticed, and it admitted that had it been daytime (ships time) Sofia too would have been able to move around, although restricted due to her age. But there was no time to mull over alternative solutions, it was in the child after vacating the mother.
Leaving their quarters was relatively easy, her mother was never very imaginative when it came to security, something he hoped she would change once her daughter was returned to her.
They moved quietly, staying close to the bulkheads, every time it/she heard voices they ducked into the nearest room until the coast was clear. Finally, they reached the turbolift and she stepped inside .....
"Deck Seventeen,"
"This Deck is only accessable by authorised Personnel," the computer informed her.
"Level SEVENTEEN!" Sofia said again.
"This Deck is only accessable by authorised Personnel," the computer restated her previous comment.
It/she was about to demand to be taken where she wanted to go when the turbolift doors opened startling her, she stepped back until making contact with the wall of the 'lift she glared at the man looking down at her.
"Hi... I bet your name is... Sofia... Am I right..." the man dressed in what she knew was a Marine uniform. Not waiting for her to answer, the man knelt on one knee, half in, half out of the turbolift, effectively holding the doors open, "... We've all been looking for you Sofia, your mummy is worried, she thought you might be upset if you didn't know where you were. I've come to take you back to your quarters... Is that OK?"
For a long moment Sofia watched the man, he had begun to hold out a hand, and she tentatively stepped forward reaching for the offered hand, but the second the Marine broke eye contact she sprang forward, her hands raised to grasp either side of his head. Her thumbs curled into the man's eyes and he screamed in pain before falling backwards into the corridor. She rolled with him, landing on his chest as he frantically reached for her arms. Suddenly arms were around her waist, lifting her roughly off the bleeding Marine, it struggled, thrashing the girl's body as if electrocuted, lashing out before grasping someone hair, she pulled hard before her grip was forcibly released, then it felt something cold touch her neck. Her eyes widened for a moment and the thrashing increased.
"BE QUICK!" it/she heard someone shouting.
Then it felt the one thing the entities had come to dread. It lost control of the body, it tried to shout, to scream, to vent its anger and fear, but there was nothing it could do as it sank into oblivion. Sofia's petite little body went limp and she slumped unconscious into the arms of one of the Marine Medics. five minutes later she was being tucked into her own bed in a deep sleep by her mother.
Sofia Kalovka was the last of the machine entities on the Raven ..... Now, they could retrieve the remaining crew from the Facility. In his Ready Room, Carl was informed about the retrieval of Sofia, he acknowledged the comm, then contacted Doctor Roach. Satisfied, he stood from his desk and entered the Bridge: "Helm, move us to one thousand meters off the Facility. Commander Wedlerson, have Transporter Room Three get a lock on our people," "We're not going over there to administer the serum?" Calli Valente asked, eyes flicking to Andae Blakus for a second. "Transporter Room has a lock Admiral," the Operations Officer confirmed. Carl tapped his commbadge: =^= Bridge to Sickbay .. Are you ready Doctor? =^= =^= Whenever you are Admiral .. But I thi .. .. =^= Carl ignored the Doctor and spoke again: =^= Transporter Room Three .. Energise =^= =^= Transport complete =^= the Chief confirmed. In Sickbay, the remaining four personnel from the Facility, Milyanov, Durant, and the two Scientists, materialised behind a 'Level Ten' forcefield. Before they could react, the area within the 'field was flooded with the newly synthesised airborne variant of the serum, all four dropped unconscious to the deck. Doctor Roach ordered the forcefield deactivated and approached Milyanov as the others were lifted onto Biobeds. Scanning, she found no evidence that he was anything but out cold. On the Bridge, Carl nodded to himself then turned to the Duty Tactical Officer: "Lieutenant, arm and lock Quantum Torpedoes on the Facility, Helm, move us out of range." he didn't see Valente and Blakus begin to object before falling silent, eyes on the viewscreen. "Torpedos locked," "Fire," Carl said, almost casually ..... The two torpedoes lanced across the void and impacted the mid-section of the Machine Facility, it exploded, the remaining atoms spreading across local space until lost. Carl remained standing for a long moment before finally turning to drop wearily into the centre seat. Andae and Calli lowered themselves into their seats on either side of his and watched him closely, conscious that he might still be somehow under the influence of the Machine Entities. "Carl..." Calli said in almost a whisper. "I'm OK," he replied, the smallest of smiles on his lips. "The planet?" Andae said, clearly more a question than a statement. While in his Ready Room, with time to contemplate the situation thoroughly, he too had wondered what he would do in regards to the Entities' planet... He had only two 'viable' options open to him: He could stand off and destroy the planet, or at least ensure nothing survived on or beneath the surface for hundreds, thousands of years to come. Or, he could quarantine the planet and surrounding space, it would give the Entities their lives, such as they may be, with no possible means of leaving their prison. "Andae, Cali, can I see you in my Ready Room please..." Carl asked, rising, "... Harry, you have the Conn," once the door closed he motioned for his friends to be seated as he poured three glasses of Cognac. He handed one each to Calli and Andae before taking his seat opposite them. He raised his glass in a silent toast before taking a sip of the golden liquid. "So... Opinions on what we do regarding the Planet?" he asked ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 7, 2021 22:17:31 GMT
Andae watched as the machine station was disintegrated, the machines which constituted all or some of it themselves being destroyed, not merely the linkages that bound the whole together. Vanishing with their dispersal in the surrounding vacuum, these constituents could be considered well and truly destroyed; there was still the planet they'd been attempting to reach though.
"The planet?" he asked, and after a few minutes he and Calli were invited into the ready room. Being given brandy may have been a design to free his spirit a little, so he might consider a full, unbarred preservation of the planet or alternatively consign its bodiless inhabitants to oblivion, but his mind was already made up on the issue.
"To me, we can do little else but -"
=/\=Admiral, this is Wedlerson, you may want to see this, sir... It concerns the planet.=/\=
The three put down their drinks reluctantly and returned to the bridge. To Blakus's astonishment as he turned to the viewscreen that'd been zoomed in upon a region of the planet's surface, and then peered over the science and mission ops console operators' shoulders, it appeared an oasis was developing on the world.
"New springs, sir. A subsurface reservoir of water appears to have formed in the last few hours."
Andae wished more than ever now that the machines could be read by ship's sensors. It was possible that those on the surface - presumed to exist going by the whisperings of the entities to their hosts throughout the whole shared ordeal - had been destroyed also, or perhaps had disintegrated from one another. Not knowing how to detect them also made it difficult to decide how they might've transformed to give the right conditions for a subterranean reservoir or ocean. What were they made of?
"Given a few million years, an ecosystem may develop that will give rise to life, micro-organisms and so on," Svensson said, "Or a direct terraforming of the planet could assist the process and you'd be looking at perhaps a decade before fish splash out of the sea."
"Wait just a moment, Lieutenant, we don't know that the machines down there have been destroyed or otherwise," Blakus shook his head, "I can't fathom why they would allow such a development or be the first cause of it, but we can't assume that this is a sign they're gone."
"I made no judgement on that count, sir, merely looking at the biological processes." Blakus nodded at the science officer - who he was glad to see returned to full active duty, if there was any on the Raven who'd been more deranged by machine possession than any other it was Svensson.
In one area of the surface, two springs had been alternately jetting as geysers and flowing as rivers into a basin where ruins of the long-gone civilisation were sited. The waters poured round the ruins and became a lake, remnants of spindly towers prodding from beneath the surface. He supposed it was possible this was an effort by the machines to lure the Raven crew in, have them re-enter a low orbit, perhaps even transport down to explore; as soon as an officer reached down to let the water of a newly formed river run over their fingers, a machine presence would enter through the skin and take up residence in the conscious mind.
"Would it be possible to beam quantities of the serum into the reservoir sources, as a test?" Valente asked.
"Yes, Commander, good idea. Though I don't know if we would destroy all of the machines that way, if they still exist. They may be in the waters; on the other hand they could be remaining underground and within the rock."
"I am personally leaning towards quarantine," Blakus said, "If it's possible a new evolutionary process has begun, we shouldn't interfere with it. On the other hand, the machines may have engineered this entirely, and I think it's reasonable to say we've had our experience of them."
"And been interfered with enough," Svensson nodded emphatically.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 12, 2021 14:48:47 GMT
The three most senior Officers on the Raven had no time to enjoy Torek's cognac as the comm chirped to life - Commander Wedlerson summoning them back to the Bridge: Carl watched as the surface of the 'L Class' planet began to transform ..... "How much surface area is that covering?" Calli asked, referring to the oasis. "Currently one thousand nine hundred square kilometres, preliminary readings confirm it will double in size every ninety-six hours, the surface of the plan ...." Harry was saying as Carl cut him off. "Are there 'ANY' signs that the machine entities are present on the surface?" "None at this point Admiral ..." Svensson replied, continuing when no one spoke, "... Given a few million years, an ecosystem may develop that will give rise to life, micro-organisms and so on ..... Or direct terraforming of the planet could assist the process and you'd be looking at perhaps a decade before fish splash out of the sea." Everyone on the Bridge began to comment. Carl ran the ship on an old system of the 'Chinese Parliament' formally used by Earths Special Forces, namely the UK's 'SAS' where when in a mission briefing, rank had no place at the table, everyone was entitled to voice their opinions or ideas, and no one was silenced. He let the discussion run for several minutes before raising a hand, turning to his Executive Officer for the final word: "I am personally leaning towards quarantine..." Blakus said, "... If it's possible a new evolutionary process has begun, we shouldn't interfere with it... On the other hand, the machines may have engineered this entirely, and I think it's reasonable to say we've had our experience of them." Carl looked again at the planet, its grey-brown surface punctuated by a tiny spec or dull green, the beginnings of ..... Of what!" "So the consensus would be to quarantine...?" he asked, eyeing each of his senior Officers, in turn, each nodding their silent agreement, "... Helm, move us out to one point five million kilometres then begin a complete circumnavigation of the planet ..... Lieutenant Svensson, have Sciences deploy six equidistant quarantine buoys .... Then we're going home," "Sir..." Lysia spoke from Tactical, "... We're not moving further into the void, to try to locate the race that developed the facility?" "No, we're not Commander. I think that, given what we have gone through, Starfleet Command will be hard-pressed to suggest we turned back prematurely ..... If they want to continue investigating, then so urgently, then they can send another ship or allow reasonable downtime whilst the ship undergoes its scheduled refit, and ships' personnel can take a generous period of much-needed rest and recuperation." "Here, here," Colonel Burwell, having entered the Bridge as Torek began to speak, voiced the opinion of all there. The Raven made an almost leisurely rotation of the planet, releasing the quarantine buoys as instructed: "Sir, we're deploying the last of the buoy's now ....." Jor Svensson informed Torek, Blakus, and Valente. "Comms, are we receiving the quarantine warning from all buoys?" Blakus asked. "Yes, Sir, strong signals from all six, confirmed," the Comms officer replied. Andae looked at Carl: "Helm... Set course for Federation Space... Warp three," "Course and speed set Admiral," Anna Fields confirmed. "..... Engage ....." Carl ordered. "At warp three it should take us roughly three weeks to reach Starbase Forty-Seven," Calli commented. "There's no rush..." Carl said with a wry grin as he rose from the centre seat, "... Andae, the Bridge is yours ....." he placed a hand on Calli's shoulder for the briefest of moments before heading for the turbolift. Once inside he asked for Deck Two. on arrival, he stepped into the corridor and walked the short distance to his quarters. The chronometer on the desk showed it was still only thirteen thirty-six. His daughters: Bethan and Vanessa, along with Ellie, his partner and Head of the ships School, were all out. He ordered a drink from the replicator, and retrieving the cold glass, he dropped onto the settee. Exhaustion got the better of him within seconds, and he fell into a deep sleep, the glass slipping to the floor ..........
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 18, 2021 0:23:43 GMT
USS Raven-C ... Three Days from Starbase Forty-Seven Yattho Star System :: For the last two weeks, Carl had hardly set foot on the Bridge other than to 'show his face' so to speak ..... No one had commented on his absence, in fact, most of the Senior Officer and Crew were happy he was finally taking time to recuperate. He had spent a lot of his 'down time' as the Doctor called it, flicking through new Journals that had come through. Some he even managed to get through completely, others he found difficult to get past the elongated titles. He had spent time in the Holosuite with his family, allowing his children to dictate what and where they went (metaphorically of course). Days ago, he had assigned his own Duty Shifts to Harry Wedlerson, at Lieutenant Commander, Carl felt the man was well overdue for his promotion to Commander. Harry had taken and passed the Bridge Officers Course almost two years previously, and Carl knew the man was ready, and likely to go far once he had that third solid pip. 'Hell, he will have his own ship before much longer' Torek mused with a wry grin ... The same went for Andae, he'd been Carl's Exec' for a long time and deserved his own Command, maybe even taking over the centre seat of the Raven was a distinct possibility in his opinion. He and Elise had spoken often over the last two years about him taking one of the dreaded 'desk jobs' and leaving space to the young, but Carl had always used his rank and position, possibly jealously, to keep the centre seat. After all, he'd been the Commanding Officer of no less than four incarnations of the USS Raven. Elise had an open offer of a Professorship on Earth, and despite her shrugging the offer off, Carl knew deep down that she would take the job if the time was right. He was convinced that the girls would benefit from being schooled on Earth rather than out in the depths of nowhere, even Elise could do so much being space-bound. Carl had approved seven promotions, all of which, with the exception of Harry, Andae had seen to, but Carl wanted to do this one himself ... While the Operations Chief was off duty, Carl called him and Andae to his quarters: Wedlerson, clearly nervous as to why he'd been called to the Admiral's quarters, tapped the chime and waited. The door slid aside and he looked down at ten-year-old Bethan, who looked him up and down, seemingly satisfied she curtseyed, then stepped aside. bowing, Harry smiled and entered the quarters. Bethan took his hand and led him to the living area, asking what he would like to drink. "Erm, water, ple ...." he said, glancing at Andae Blakus, who remained annoyingly expressionless. "Brandy it is!" she said, skipping to the drinks cabinet. "Hi, Harry," Vanessa said, appearing from nowhere before hugging him, an almost cheeky grin forming. "Vanessa, erm, hello," "Stop fretting Harry, we're here, do you think I'd intentionally leave you both with these two?" Elise said leaning forward to plant a kiss on his cheek. Carl came from the bedroom and Wedlerson realised immediately that he was overdressed. He stood, almost spilling the brandy Bethan had given him seconds earlier. He had been a family friend for years, yet still couldn't fully relax in the Toreks' presence. He and Carl sat, both enjoying the drinks, while Bethan, Vanessa, and Elise set the table and got the food ready. Vanessa came up behind the settee, leaning forward to almost touch Harry's hair as she asked if he liked sprouts. "Sprou ...." he spluttered as Vanessa and Bethan giggled until a finger waved from Elise stopped them. "OK, foods ready everyone," Elise said cheerfully as Bethan ran to Carl and pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear. "OK, OK ...." Carl said submissively, grinning at Andae, who obviously knew what was going on, "... Harry, before we eat, I have something to say." he had to stop while the girls ran into their bedroom then returned. "Now Daddy, now!" Bethan urged, grinning excitedly. "Fine..." Carl said, "... Lieutenant Commander, over the years, you have shown exemplary service and dedication, you have become a family friend, as well as a good Officer, not to mention holding a 'unique' tolerance for my children," "DADDY!" "Alright..." Carl said, knowing he was annoying the girls, and would likely pay for it later, "... Mister Wedlerson, I..." he stopped speaking while Bethan clambered onto a chair, almost falling until Andae caught her. "Mister Wedlerson. I hereby promote you to the rank of Commander, with all the rights and privileges thereto," he finished as Bethan pulled the black pip off Harry's collar, replacing it with a gold one. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, Vanessa and Elise followed suit, Andae stepped forward to shake Harry's hand as the girls stood back admiring the three gold pips. "Congratulations, Commander," Carl said, offering his hand, which Harry took gratefully. "Can we please eat now?" Elise asked with a grin. The evening went well, everyone enjoyed the food, the conversation, family. Starbase forty-Seven :: The Raven's Executive Officer was in the centre seat as they made their approach to the Starbase. Carl was on the Bridge, but stood to one side, watching as the four-kilometre tall structure grew larger on the viewscreen. The massive Space-doors slid aside, allowing the light from inside the Dome to pierce the darkness surrounding them. Slowly the ship slid between those doors and alongside the Dock assigned to them. He half-listened as the docking procedure continued until the newly-promoted Chief Operations Officer informed then that all umbilicus and walkways were confirmed. Andae turned to the Chief Engineer: "Ensign?" "External power confirmed Commander." Dyson replied. "Very well, power down the warp core and take all internal power offline," Blakus ordered, then turned to Carl. "Docking procedures complete Admiral," "Thank you, Andae, please arrange shore leave for all Officers and Crew, including yourself," "Yes, Sir ....." Blakus said, watching as his Commanding Officer and friend left the Bridge ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 21, 2021 21:15:21 GMT
Blakus watched as the last of the first shift of maintenance personnel streamed past him, shaking his head and trying not to tut audibly. He wondered what they would break this time; invariably with each shore leave, for every ten systems repaired or made more efficient, another system was rendered unusable.
He'd believed himself to be the last to leave the ship, however here came Milyanov, Nate Tinsley and Christina Taylor - somehow they'd escaped the net. He greeted them; apparently they had been engaged in discussion around the pool table, having been given leave by their relatively new boss, Ensign Dyson, to remain until the first maintenance crew entered engineering, Milyanov anxious to give the technicians last minute instructions.
The four of them agreed that it felt odd to return to the Starbase to find the situation somewhat normal and not fraught with the knowledge that the Section's remnant was several thousand lightyears away from Federation space. Back from investigating the unexplored gulf - within Federation space, between distant stars - it took some getting used to for the Raven crew, with the base in a much different environment, close to the Klingon border and in a difficult diplomatic situation.
They entered Alpha promenade, Blakus suggesting the Boatswain establishment before he could stop his mouth - he registered Milyanov's reaction: the Boatswain had been Harton's favourite place, she being Milyanov's ex-girlfriend and one of the many who'd been lost in the Betreka event. It reminded Andae of how much had changed; one thing had remained the same though, and that was the presence of Commander William Bligh, Blakus and Taylor's old crewmate from the Victory.
"Well, how are you, William?" The man had become visible in the crowd, multi-hued, roaming a thousand directions at once. Bligh had finished his assignment as special engineering advisor for the USS Oxford, shortly before it'd left the Starbase with the mentally unstable Admiral Basirov aboard, heading for Betazed for his treatment.
"Doing well, Andae." As always the duo felt the absence of their friend Ben Zielinski, as if the latter's non-presence affected their body language more than if he'd actually been there. A long time had passed since the Raven crew had encountered Zielinski - going by the name of Orcus, in company with the entity Eris - on the planet on which the Raven-B had crash landed; that was the last Andae had seen of the former Federation diplomat.
"Well, enough reminiscing," Blakus said mysteriously, pointing through the crowd towards O'Toole's bar. Milyanov tried to break away from the group but was convinced to come along, too.
It truly is like the old days, Andae thought, as he found himself flanked by his two engineering subordinates from the Victory, Taylor and Bligh. Somehow Tinsley had separated himself from them; for reasons unknown to himself, Blakus found himself looking towards the top floor window of the rundown establishment at the far end of the promenade - the place's purported penthouse suite, and there was Tinsley, staring out the window.
"How the...?" He was ushered into O'Toole's by the other three before he could remark on what he'd seen. Caught midsentence he was bundled through the double doors, finding himself in the middle of another crowd. "Did you not see?" he was saying to Milyanov as a press of people behind began forcing them involuntarily towards the bar.
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 22, 2021 12:25:02 GMT
USS Raven-C ... Beta Docking Arm Starbase Forty-Seven :: It had become a bit of a ritual that the Raven Senior Officers make their way to O'Tooles when docked at the Starbase ..... Carl had done this countless times, and it helped that Sean O'Toole, the owner, was a family friend ..... In his quarters Carl was pulling on his sweater, with the Section Admiral out on the Enzio, there was no real need to have their usual sitdown debriefing, instead, he had sent a subspace report to Gheskori outlining the conclusion of their current mission and the fact that the region of space they had recently vacated still needed exploration. The very fact that they had been forced to leave prematurely, therefore postponing the investigation into 'who' had initially designed and built the massive facility they had found drifting, and who or how had the machine entities come to exist? ... Colonel Theo Dúpin had come aboard to brief him on the situation re Admiral Lemond: Carl was happy that everything was being done to secure both her and her Adjutant's release, so he had informed the Deputy Security Chief to continue heading up the situation but to call him if necessary ... To Carl, it always felt strange to be in civilian clothing, he had spent the best part of his life in uniform, since joining the Academy so many years ago. They had postponed moving into their quarters on the Starbase after he and Elise had discussed an opportunity he felt neither she nor the girls could refuse. For three years running, Elise had been asked to speak at the Annual Academics Conference on Earth, where Teachers would give talks and attend lectures on teaching. She had been asked as Head of Raven's school, to speak about the pros and cons of schooling whilst in space, but had refused due to Raven's deployment, now, with the ship undergoing her major refit, she finally had the chance to go. It took some time but Carl had finally convinced her to accept the invitation. They had done most of the packing the night before and woke the girls early. They had no idea where they were going and had spent most of the morning voicing suggestions, but neither parent was going their destination away ..... The four of them made their way to the Dome, where the USS Kōshū was docked. The conference was due to last for five days, with Saturday and Sunday pencilled in for smaller talks or one-to-one meetings. Elise, Bethan, and Vanessa would stay at their home on Marine Drive in San Francisco whilst on Earth. Elise's parents would look after the girls while she attended the week-long symposium. They reached the Dock and could see the impressive Excelsior Class USS Kōshū waiting .... Normally they would have parted company in the Departure Lounge, with its full-length panoramic windows, but Carl had used his position to ask the Kōshū's Captain if her could come aboard prior to departure, and unbeknownst to Elise, a change in their cabin assignment to a suite on the outer corridor, portside forward, where they would have a view of space .... The Kōshū, a converted Federation Starship, was due to be decommissioned but was refitted for Civilian Transport. Truth be told he had been on several Excelsior Class ships but was pleasantly surprised at the startling difference the changes incorporated into the vessel to accommodate Civilians rather than Starfleet Personnel could do. The suites had two bedrooms, one with a large double bed, the other had two single beds as per Carl's request, along with a dining area, a lounge, a small office, and a complete bathroom. Their luggage had already arrived, and the girls grabbed their bags and disappeared into their bedroom. Much too quickly the comm announced that all guests must depart. He hugged Bethan and Vanessa, making them promise to behave while away, almost spilling their destination in the process. He kissed Elise warmly, stopping as the girls giggled, then he left .... He made his way off the Starship and to the Departure Lounge, moments later the massive Kōshū silently backed away from the Dock, turning to Port as she did so, finally it passed through the enormous space-doors and out into the blackness. Feeling a momentary pang of loneliness, Carl turned and walked around the Upper Lounge Level to where he could see the Raven. Already hull plates were missing, worker-bee shuttles moved around the Sovereign Class Starship as if choreographed. From his position, he could see the upper area of the saucer section, airlock hatches were open, EVA-suited personnel moving back and forth. He could just make out Deck Three, where 'The Wheel' Raven's version of Ten Forward on the Galaxy Class, was located. The liquid-aluminium windows had already been taken away while the window itself was extended some twenty metres. He took a moment to take in the whole vessel, gleaming, silver-white in the Docks artificial lighting. Then with a sigh, he headed for one of the turbolifts assigned to Starfleet Personnel "Level one five five one," he mulled over what had happened in the last weeks, the crew they had lost, but inwardly smiled remembering Harry Wedlerson's promotion, and his embarrassment as Bethan and Vanessa had fussed over him .... The doors slid aside and he stepped onto Alpha Promenade, remembering how desolate the area was after their forced ejection following the Betreka Nebula's explosion. Taking his time he made his way along the Promenade until he could see the ornate signage denoting O'Tooles. Sean had always run what he cheekily called a 'Family Friendly' establishment .... During the day, the large stage converted into a play area, complete with everything for a toddler to teen to enjoy. He had set up a noise-dampening field, so despite the rowdy energetic enjoyment the kids were having, no one in the main area of the pub needed to be bothered by all the racket. Sean must have noticed Carl's approach and greeted him at the door. "Well now, look who's a sauntering into me establishment..." Sean said in his usual Irish lilt, as he threw his arms around Carl in a hug that threatened to push him into unconsciousness if the man didn't ease his grasp, "... It's good to see you Carl me boyo. It's been a while since you graced our doors, what will it be? ... No, wait, it'll have to be a snifter of that 'special' cognac of yours, then what, a steak I'll be bettin'" "A beer first... Once you let me breathe that is," Torek wheezed. Sean released his hug and slapped Carl on the back before leading him towards the bar. "Will ya be wanting a table, or are ya going to be roughin' it?" "I'll sit at the bar, thanks," Carl said as he saw Kara Devin, Sean'sBar Manager wave and hold up one finger as she finished serving someone further along the bar. Carl lowered himself onto a stool and gratefully took the offered cold drink. He downed three quarters in one, not realising how much he needed the brew, Sean immediately swiped the glass, replacing it with a full one. "Looks like ya needed that one..." he said, turning the glass so the handle was towards Torek, "... I'll go see to that steak," Kara came around the bar and gave him a hug before asking about Elise and the girls. They chatted briefly between her having to go off to serve and promising to let her cook him a good hearty Irish meal while Elise was away... He could small the meal before he could see it. Sean put the plate down, handed him utensils, then left him to eat in peace. As the first piece of steak touched his tastebuds he closed his eyes, savouring the sensation, the taste, the flavour ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 22, 2021 19:23:22 GMT
"Did you not see...?" he'd asked as they were pushed unintentionally by several new arrivals in the direction of the bar. It was busy this time of evening, Blakus having learnt from Bligh that the USS Koshu had just departed for Earth, having deposited many visitors on the base - on official business or otherwise - from the core worlds.
Manoeuvered towards the bar he made out the back of the head of someone familiar to him, Carl Torek sitting at the bar eating a meal. Deciding on whether it was best to leave the CO undisturbed or to say hello, Andae had Milyanov do the honours - Taylor and Bligh breaking off to find an empty table and reminisce on their own times on the Vic-C - while he backed out of the bar to have another look at that top floor window... Unexpectedly, a distance from the establishment, he found Tinsley right in front of him, at or near the spot where Blakus had paused and cast his glance upwards.
"Commander? Are you alright? We're going in aren't we?" Tinsley gestured to O'Toole's.
"Yes, we are... Or were," Andae frowned, "Why were you down there, and how'd you get there so fast?" he pointed to the rundown hotel at the far end of Alpha promenade.
Tinsley gave him a strange look before breaking into an uncertain grin, "I don't know, Andae... why was I down there? Wait... where is everyone else?"
"They're already inside. Come on."
Tinsley was taking a moment, "I was standing here, with you and the others, and then... My, I think you might be right." He raised a hand to his mouth and directed his gaze to where Blakus had pointed, "I was... looking out that window, the one at the very top I think."
"I know, I saw you," Blakus frowned again and took out the tricorder he still had holstered to his equipment belt, "There's something not quite right here. Perhaps a localised spatio-temporal anomaly?" It was all well and good speculating, but he had to have these readings analysed first, he considered, as he waved the tricorder about the general vicinity - Tinsley acted as an one-man cordon, having the streams of civilians pass round the two of them, giving a wide berth to what they recognised as official Starfleet business. As long as they don't mistake us for maintenance techs, Blakus thought dryly.
"I was up there, and then I was back here," Tinsley informed him, "And there was someone else in the room with me." Blakus nodded, evaluating the information as he analysed the scans, "It does appear that approximately four minutes ago an anomaly formed for a fraction of a second, with width and height a little larger than a typical adult human. You may have passed through, Lieutenant... I'll be reporting this to the Command Centre."
While they were waiting for SB Command to get back to them and inform them if any other anomalies of the same character were being registered elsewhere on the Starbase, they entered O'Toole's, Andae finding the place as busy as the first time. Impatient to get back towards the bar, he began pushing gently against those in front, trying to form a gap to weave his way through, Tinsley doing likewise; and then for an uncanny fraction of a second, the Raven XO thought he espied... No, it could not be... the Raven XO. As he pushed onwards, there came to him a strange sensation of stepping into his own shoes and on a sudden he was suggesting to Milyanov that he go and say hello to Torek, while he himself turned back for another look at that top floor window but ran immediately into Tinsley who'd been just behind him inside the bar.
"Right... I think we're ok," he said to the assistant engineer, "These phenomena must be resultant from the same anomaly." Hopefully time had now completed looping back in on and reconstituting itself, at least in the vicinity of Alpha promenade.
=/\=Command Centre, this is Commander Blakus... Have you found any other spatio-temporal distortions, and anything to explain their appearance?=/\=
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 24, 2021 13:25:06 GMT
~~~ Mission 34: Explorations ~~~
ooo000ooo
Our mission has now concluded A Shore Leave thread will be set up while the USS Raven undergoes upgrades and refit at Starbase Forty-Seven Once complete, a new mission will commence
ooo000ooo
I would like to gratefully thank Commander First Class Andae Blakus for his usual exceptional writing during this outing
Fleet Admiral Carl Torek
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