Isaiah Quinn
Science
[TI36]
Posts: 1,153 Likes: 57
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Position: Chief Science Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Isaiah Quinn on Jul 8, 2021 8:05:15 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Even with the stationary torches now lighting the immediate area, there was still very little to see. Continuous scans as he paced the perimeter revealed nothing that hadn't already been reported. Cerjess was grateful when the Commander decided to investigate the nearest cavern. He was certainly not disappointed when they arrived. When their lights lit up the interior of the cavern, revealing the drastic change in scenery from they had just left behind, the Trill stopped in his tracks, jaw dropped in shock and awe. He had heard of microecosystems like this before, but he'd never actually been in one. Tricorder scanning continuously, he walked over to one of the plants, watching in fascination as a tiny insect crawled along the leaf. It took him a moment to realize that the team had split up and were going down two different paths. Jogging a couple paces, he fell in step with Left Ear, his gaze still sweeping around to take in all there was to see. "This definitely explains the oxygen in the atmosphere..." he murmured to no one in particular. If there was one microecosystem on the planet, it stood to reason there would be others. He stopped at a particularly colorful plant and knelt down beside it with his tricorder. It didn't show to be harmful to skin, so he opened up his case and pulled out a vial, carefully removing a small sample from the plant and securing it safely. "Are we sure none of these are self-aware?" He asked Quinn a little teasingly, remembering the Commander had been part of the away team that brought back the plant that escaped its container in the lab a few months prior. [Felicity Ellis & Lieutenant Doug Dimmadome - Bridge, USS Mac][...] She sat back down on her chair and with a couple of swipes, she brought up the results of Dimmadome's findings. =/\= "Ellis to Quinn. Scans have revealed a massive amount of biological decomposition. You're standing on a very large grave." =/\= [Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Western Path] The Sivaoan cadet walked quietly down the indicated path, observing for the moment. This place was...strange. She nodded slightly at Cerjess' comment, but added, ' They don't seem to be doing very well, though, do they? I wonder if something in the environment has changed recently.' Approaching one of the tendrils that spanned the path, Left Ear knealt to examine it. Her tail coiled slightly in amusement, though a small amount of trepidation entered her mind when the Trill mentioned self-awareness. Before taking a sample, she extended a claw and experimentally poked at the tendril, prepared to spring away if it moved. Left Ear froze with her claw on the plant when she heard the captain's words to Commander Quinn. Odd. If there were a lot of decaying bodies, she would have expected to smell it. [Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Cavern, Eastern Path] The more he thought about it, the stranger this became… but maybe the cavern would reveal something else. Shavan nodded and brought up the rear, staying alert for anything. Maybe it was just a precaution, but given how past away missions had gone, he didn't want to take any chance of being caught unaware. Nothing happened, however, and they soon entered the cavern… which appeared far more full of life than the planetoid’s surface. “Yes sir,” he acknowledged the order to split up, following the eastern path behind S’Riia and Hunt. All the while his thoughts raced. They could spend all day collecting data, but when faced with any type of problem, simply asking questions wasn’t always enough; they needed to ask the right ones. If this planetoid shouldn’t be possible, then maybe it wasn’t. Could this environment be artificial somehow, or the result of terraforming? Shavan gripped the tricorder a little tighter as the dark path ahead started to feel more and more like a trap. And those vines… did vines simply tend to look like that everywhere, or were they somehow familiar? “Something about this still isn’t right.” Maybe he was wrong, but in this case it would be better to be too cautious than not enough. He began collecting more data on the area. “Dr. Hunt, if you take a sample and get some more data on these vines, I’ll try to get a better read on what’s under the mounds.” Maybe the softer soil here would allow their scans to penetrate deeper than they had on the surface. While the scan processed, he noticed the smooth surface on one, and crouched down to examine it. [Planetoid] Hunt observed as Left Ear as she was labeling the vials. He kept looking to see if she would make any mistakes but was happy that she was labeling the samples that they would need to further studies on the ship. The planetoid itself was fascinating and the ability that it had life with no sun or energy source was equally fascinating. This source would be interesting to study and to study the evolution of life in this planetoid. Hunt then followed the Commander into the cavern. As he ententered the cavern he observed that the ground itself was moist. It would be interested to find out the composition of the ground as it wondered if they have found a potential source of water. As they finished their task he listened to the Commander as he gave an order. “ Yes, Sir” Hunt responded. It was clear that they would take the eastern approach. [Cavern Eastern Approach} Hunt headed in the approach and observed the vines. He listened to Shavan as he gave instructions. “ Agreed” he responded to his comment that something is not right. “Something about this place creeps me out. It’s almost like this planetoid has its own rules.” Hunt said. Energy source, the ground the complex ecosystem with a place that does not have a sun seems to be extremely strange. As they divided their task. Hunt approached the vines. He then took his sample kit to avoid possible cross-contamination of his own DNA. At first, he would approach the vine and observed it, and then with his tricorder, he would scan it to see the composition. He looked at the vines and the smooth mound. “R eminds me of Penicillin or the discovery of it. The vines appeared to be all over the place but that mound. I wonder what is repealing the vines. I doubt it was a coincidence” Hunt said. He approached the vines and fist scanned it to see if there was something there that was dangerous. If the scans would be clear, Hunt would slowly try to take a sample of the vine and place it inside the jar. He would then mark the vine, as he waited to see more information about the mounds.
[ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid - Western Path] "That's the one!", Zak confirmed as the petty officer double checked the required distance for the pattern enhancers. the caitian was someone else he hadn't had much interaction with, but she seemed competent enough. With them both on the job, the landing site would be secured in no time, which was probably just as well. The others seemed to be having some success with gathering samples, and had now turned their attention to the cavern that had been mentioned just moments ago. As he figured, that would be their next destination, and the two security officers took point as the others followed. Though he had pulled out his phaser so that he was on stand by, there didn't seem to be much to suggest that they would be in any real trouble any time soon. Although it was his job to expect the unexpected, and be ready for it, he hadn't expected the temperature to rise quite so rapidly, once inside the cave. Weren't caves usually colder? they weren't usually so much more abundant with life, their surroundings becoming greener as they pressed on. Their seemed to be some animal life here too, some kind of bugs, which he hoped weren't venomous in any way shape or form. Quinn wasn't the only one that was wondering what was going on, as this wasn't like anything he had seen before either. Splitting up would cover more ground faster, but there was always a risk in doing so. Still, he had his order and he nodded at S'Riia as she accompanied the team going east, while he headed in the opposite direction. While this place gave him the creeps, he would need to press on and just try to keep himself in check. The stalks and vines that lay ahead easily continued on for quite the distance, but they appeared to be withered and dying. This was quite the contrast to what they had witnessed earlier, so he wondered just what made this path so different. he at least attempted to take point once again, keeping an eye out for any trouble ahead as the rest of the team discussed their findings. It was then that they were informed that they were standing on 'a very large grave', and he briefly glanced to the ground. Not that he was expecting hoards of the undead any time soon, but the thought was rather unsettling. "Lovely", he muttered under his breath, as he then glanced toward the rest of the team. Generally speaking, he was more afraid of the living than the dead, but who was buried beneath their feet and why? As in why here, not why they were buried. Even he could figure that out! [Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Western Path, Cavern, Planetoid] Quinn had to agree with Miren's deduction that these plants were responsible for the atmosphere. Yet, there was still a question of how? "You may be on to something, Cerjess," Isaiah said. "But typically these sort of plants require sunlight. I'd like to know how they're thriving in the dark, and if they even undergo photosynthesis." Though, from what Isaiah could see, none of these plants were a vibrant, healthy green. Even these stalks appeared a bit whithered and... pale. As the question came about whether or not they were self-aware, Isaiah sighed slightly. "I'm honestly not sure," he said, making note of Left Ear's cautious attempt to poke one of the tendrils. "To be honest, they remind me... a plant one of the old commanders of the station kept... as a pet?" It wouldn't surprise him if that comment actually got him a few curious stares. "Let's just say it couldn't keep it's tendrils to itself." He didn't have the opportunity to delve deeper into the story as Commander Ellis contacted him, and told them that they were standing on a large grave site. =A= "Commander we've yet to come across any remains thus --" =A=The communication ended abruptly after some sort of loud screech was heard on the other end. Quinn reached up to tap his commbadge to reestablish communication with the ship. =A= "Quinn to Mac. Come in, Mac." =A= There was nothing but silence. =A= "Quinn to Shavan. I think we've lost contact with the ship. Though, before that happened, Commander Ellis mentioned detecting a large grave. Move your team on to the rendezvous point, and then we can try to sort our communication problem. Quinn out." =A= With them having come as far as they had, it made sense to finish the rest of the route and then determine a route back to their transport site. "All right, let's try to --" was all that Quinn managed to say before a pair of the tendrils wrapped around his ankle and pulled his leg from under him, sending him falling to the ground. One of the stalks had leaned over, its maw opening and closing as it sensed sustenance. The tendril that Left Ear had been attempting to poke quickly whipped up in the direction of the felinoid. Tendrils rushed from the stalks seemingly in all directions. One appeared to go for Zakir's dominant arm, while another found itself attempting to wrap around Cerjess' leg as well.
[NPC - PO1 S'Riia - Eastern Route, Cavern, Planetoid] As they moved along the path, S'Riia was as vigilant looking for threats wherever they could be. Hunt had stated that there was something about the place that creeped him out. It was sultry, and dark. S'Riia felt like that was an understatement, given that it sounded like the ideal setting for some sort of ambush. Though, as they reached an area filled with vines and mounds, S'Riia began to sniff the air. Shavan commented that something still didn't wasn't right. "The air... something smells... almost familiar," S'Riia said. She was hardly a scientist, and doubted her contribution was much of a contribution to the pair of experts present. As Hunt made mention of the vines, S'Riia moved a bit closer and sniffed once more. "The vines," S'Riia said. "That's what smells familiar." Her eyes shifted towards one of the mounds that Hunt had mentioned. A mound that Shavan was examining. There was something there... a hole in the mound, or in a smooth surface on that mound. "Careful, sir." It was likely the sort of warning that security often gave scientists on away missions. Still, none of them had any idea what was inside that hole. Commander Quinn's voice could soon be heard contacting Shavan directly. He mentioned losing contact with the ship. It was possible that was due to cavern and how far they had moved from the opening. Either way, the commander had the right of idea of bringing the team back together as quickly as possible.
Tag: Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Syl O'Connell (Cerjess), Left Ear to-Ennien , Rin Zakir
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Joshua Niles
Security & Tactical
[TI22]
Posts: 649 Likes: 21
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Tactical Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Joshua Niles on Jul 8, 2021 19:30:11 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]After making sure the ship's orbit was steady, Syl turned in her seat to face the Commander, about to offer to take the auxillary Ops station to help with the scans, when Lt. Niles reported a satellite of some sort. Immediately her mouth snapped shut and she spun back to her own console, quickly charting the trajectory of the object's course. It definitely seemed to be moving to intercept them... "Prepared to evade," she reported, plotting her own course that would take them out of orbit but remain close enough to retrieve their people in a hurry if needed. [Felicity Ellis & Lieutenant Doug Dimmadome - Bridge, USS Mac]Once Quinn had finished making his request, Felicity turned to Lieutenant Dimmadome and nodded. "Lieutenant, get the Commander what he needs.""Y-Yes, Cap-mander."The man flushed a furious shade of red at his slip, but Felicity ignored him. She'd known Doug a long time, and while he might be a little on the awkward side at times, he worked hard and produced results. Once he calmed down, that was. She turned her attention to the viewscreen, which was showing live footage of the object speeding smoothly toward them. While listening to Niles' report, a feeling of unease began to creep over her. The planetoid itself was a mystery, and they had no idea what to expect. They came with hands reaching out in greeting, but that could often look to strangers like a fist raised in threat. "Hold, Helm," she said softly, responding to O'Connell's preparedness. Time to loop in some experts. =/\= "Bridge to Engineering. An unidentified, pyramid-shaped object has matched our orbital speed and is currently three kilometres from our hull. The readings are unusual. Tactical is transferring the data reads to you now." =/\= She broke for a moment to nod at Niles. She addressed the Bridge at large, though the comm to Engineering was still open. "Okay people, give me thoughts, suggestions. I'd like a way to connect with this tech; maybe if we -""Capt-! Comptain! MA'AM." Interrupted mid-stream, Felicity blinked, then looked expectantly at Dimmadome. She waved at him to proceed, keeping decent control on her irritation. Once given the go ahead, the red-faced, very worried looking man made with the reporting. "The scans that Commander Quinn asked us for, m-ma'am, they're not normal. That is to say, they're unexpected. They're... they're bodies." He swallowed with such force that his Adam's apple bobbed like a bounced ping-pong ball. "Bodies!?" Any thoughts of raising shields and backing off evaporated from Felicity's mind. If their people down there were in danger, they had to remain able to transport at a nanosecond's notice. "Elaborate!""Thousands. No, hundreds of thousands. There's a compound that naturally deflects their scans on the ground, but it's clear that this is a mass grave site of some kind."She sat back down on her chair and with a couple of swipes, she brought up the results of Dimmadome's findings. =/\= "Ellis to Quinn. Scans have revealed a massive amount of biological decomposition. You're standing on a very large grave." =/\= [ In orbit ] Detecting the projections from the starship, protocols within the object were initiated. As those protocols began, the vertices of the tetrahedron satellite began to glow, and it seemed as if in unison, currents were sent to the apex for a single flash. For a few moments, there was nothing... and then... ... chaos! On every deck, what sounded like a grinding, ear-piercing screech began to sound on every deck, modulating it pitch throughout the ship's PA system. At the same time, the lights on every deck, including on the computer panels began to flash, flickering in and out. When the Commander gave him a nod to forward the readings to Engineering, Niles simply returned the gesture in kind. There was a time when he would've pushed the readings ahead, anticipate the request, but until such a time as he could feel confident that he could take initiative without drawing the ire of superiors; hell, he was wondering whether any orders he was giving to his own subordinates were being run through higher before they were carried out... However, at the notification of what the surface was, he had to look up towards Dimmadome. The planetoid was a giant necropolis? Well, that certainly made him feel even more glad he was still space-side and not down on the surface. Stygian darkness, a physically impossible set of conditions, and now hundreds of thousands of dead aliens down there? He had enough trouble with a crew measurable in dozens butchered on the Jupiter Star, but a cemetery on a planetary scale? That was just too much. However, that wonder did not last long when his sensors screamed in warning. "Reading a massive power surge coming from the obj..."His console immediately went on the fritz, same as all the other ones on the Bridge, and the lights started flashing at random before he could even come so far as to report what he was looking at. Hell, the computer was still crunching the readings to a human-readable format when whatever had happened... happened. Looking at his console, he attempted to work through the checklist to re-enable his console and at least get something like internal readings going. "I'm seeing widespread power fluctuation and computer failures. No damage or casualty reports yet, communications might be compromised."Tag Felicity Ellis Soft Kaya Som Syl O'Connell Isaiah Quinn
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Shavan Th'zhaar
Science
[TI35]
Posts: 800 Likes: 19
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Assistant Chief of Science
Species: Orion/Andorian
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Post by Shavan Th'zhaar on Jul 9, 2021 12:10:11 GMT
[Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Cavern, Eastern Path] S’Riia seemed to think the vines were familiar, and the longer they spent here the more Shavan was inclined to trust her instincts. “Almost like they’ve been planted here,” he agreed quietly. Hopefully the data Hunt was collecting would tell them more. He glanced at the tricorder that was focused on the strange mound. “There’s a mass of decaying organic matter underneath.” Regardless of the warning to be cautious, he brushed aside the dirt covering the smooth surface. Shavan stared grimly down at the skull beneath at the same moment Quinn's voice came through the comm. =/\= Acknowledged, on our way. We just found a grave site. =/\= Exactly what kind was impossible to tell. The elongated skull reminded him unpleasantly of Caldonians, though it was too obviously too decayed to pick up any sort of bio-signature. Tearing his gaze away, he stopped just long enough to finish scanning and take a holophoto of the grave. He wasn't afraid of the dead… but someone living had to have brought them here. Quinn was right, they had to reunite with the rest of the team, and Shavan didn't want to stay there a second longer than they had to. Every instinct was telling him that this could be a trap. “Let's go.” He stood up and quickly started walking further into the tunnel. Jonathan Hunt Isaiah Quinn
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Jonathan Hunt
Medical
[TI34]
Posts: 66 Likes: 1
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Species: Human
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Post by Jonathan Hunt on Jul 9, 2021 19:16:06 GMT
[Cavern Eastern Approach} It was not long after that he collected the samples that he heard from the comms that they lost contact with the ship. It would not be unusual to happen on new planets and caverns as several minerals could intervene with the connections. However, there was always the chance of something more sinister. He listened to the Petty Officer and wondered how did the vines remind her from. The lieutenant statement that they have been planted there would make sense but then a study on how they survive. “ Hopefully detailed Science scans on the vines would tell us how they survive here. It’s not uncommon to have plants that survive in low light environments but a planetoid like this would be interesting. Hopefully our Science team can figure it out.” Hunt added. “ There has to be a scientific reason why they are surviving in this environment or the alternative is someone or something is keeping them alive” His attention turned as the Luitenant discovered what appeared to remain. “ If we were on the MAC we could have done a forensic examination to see possible causes of death,” Hunt said. As much as they thought it was confirmed that they were not alone. The question is where are the creatures? As he heard his orders Hunt looked at the remained and debating to take it for more study. “ Should we ask the commander for authorization to evaluate one of the bodies? Not right now, but once we regain contact with the MAC” Hunt asked as he was not in charge and it would make sense to take some and evaluate once they knew they were safe. He followed as the team headed to the rendezvous point. Shavan Th'zhaar Isaiah Quinn
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Jul 9, 2021 21:15:54 GMT
{Quotes} [ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ]Engineering, as ever, was far from the bridge, and isolated from the most acute senses of the ship. The bridge dealt with immediate concerns, always looking forward. Engineering worked like a heart, striving for consistency. The bridge was sharp, but Engineering thrummed like a heartbeat. Data from the away team and other ship's sensors was pumped through the main computer in raw from with little context. The computer searched for patterns, categorized records, filtered out what was familiar from what was unexpected. Engineering watched it go by before it was instantaneously returned to the bridge. Kaya had ordered a read-out be projected to Engineering's large main screen; she stood back from it and watched with arms crossed. Then Commander Ellis's voice sang through. "Bridge to Engineering. An unidentified, pyramid-shaped object has matched our orbital speed and is currently three kilometres from our hull. The readings are unusual. Tactical is transferring the data reads to you now." said Commander Ellis. Kaya returned the order. "Looking into it, Commander." "Pull it up," she said moving in behind Djigo. "The readings from ops on the thing." "The object's hull is made of a material unknown to Starfleet's database," Yande said in her Senegalese accent. "But it has the properties of a complex metallic alloy."Kaya narrowed her eyes. "Those radiation signatures are weird. It's been in orbit for ... four thousand years? Ha-deh-zhi." After a bit more looking, Kaya figured she should report to the bridge sooner rather than later and send more details as they had them. "Engineering to the bridge. We're still trying to get our sensors past the object's hull. It's made of something we haven't seen before. And from what we can tell, this thing's been standing sentry above atmosphere level for nearly four thousand two hundred years. Can't say if it's a threat, yet." "So don't bloody shoot it down..." Kaya said under her breath after the channel closed, thinking of a certain zealous officer likely at the tactical station. [ In orbit ] Detecting the projections from the starship, protocols within the object were initiated. As those protocols began, the vertices of the tetrahedron satellite began to glow, and it seemed as if in unison, currents were sent to the apex for a single flash. For a few moments, there was nothing... and then... ... chaos! On every deck, what sounded like a grinding, ear-piercing screech began to sound on every deck, modulating it pitch throughout the ship's PA system. At the same time, the lights on every deck, including on the computer panels began to flash, flickering in and out. [ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]
When the Commander gave him a nod to forward the readings to Engineering, Niles simply returned the gesture in kind. There was a time when he would've pushed the readings ahead, anticipate the request, but until such a time as he could feel confident that he could take initiative without drawing the ire of superiors; hell, he was wondering whether any orders he was giving to his own subordinates were being run through higher before they were carried out... However, at the notification of what the surface was, he had to look up towards Dimmadome. The planetoid was a giant necropolis? Well, that certainly made him feel even more glad he was still space-side and not down on the surface. Stygian darkness, a physically impossible set of conditions, and now hundreds of thousands of dead aliens down there? He had enough trouble with a crew measurable in dozens butchered on the Jupiter Star, but a cemetery on a planetary scale? That was just too much. However, that wonder did not last long when his sensors screamed in warning. "Reading a massive power surge coming from the obj..."His console immediately went on the fritz, same as all the other ones on the Bridge, and the lights started flashing at random before he could even come so far as to report what he was looking at. Hell, the computer was still crunching the readings to a human-readable format when whatever had happened... happened. Looking at his console, he attempted to work through the checklist to re-enable his console and at least get something like internal readings going. "I'm seeing widespread power fluctuation and computer failures. No damage or casualty reports yet, communications might be compromised." [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
When Quinn's voice suddenly cut out, Felicity automatically stood from her seat and whipped around to look pointedly at Dimmadome. "We've lost communications with the Away Team, C-Commander.""Get it back," she ordered, her words short, the order simple. Things were happening quick and fast, and reports were streaming in from all stations. The discovery, made by Engineering, that the object was over four thousand years old was another surprise. What was it there for? Was it guarding something? Who were those people buried beneath the planet's surface, and were there others? If so... where had they gone? The questions kept materialising, but an important one; the one regarding whether or not this thing might be a threat, was shortly answered. Her hands slapped over her ears as the screech burst forth from their PA system and assaulted her auditory faculties. She found herself bent over, jaw clenched, her face scrunched up with discomfort. "Doug!" She called, unable to hear herself over the ear-splitting noise, "Shut it down!"Poor Doug Dimmadome, who was also suffering, started flapping his hands a little as he stared in horror at his flickering Operations console. He said something that nobody could hear, and then dropped to the floor rather unceremoniously. On hands and knees he crawled to a nearby panel, released the lock and began a manual restart sequence. Within thirty seconds, the noise had blessedly stopped. "Yellow alert." She had no idea which systems were operational, nor the extent of any damage, as Niles reported in that there were no incoming communications. =/\= "All decks, report in." =/\= She could barely hear herself, but she knew she was shouting. The ringing in her ears began to trigger a headache, with a throb that grew with each beat of her heart, stabbing into her temples. "Helm, take us out of orbit and back us up. We have no idea if that was supposed to be a simple "Hello", or if we've triggered some sort of defence mechanism, but I want some distance between us." Felicity turned back toward the Tactical station. "Deflectors at full power. Threat analysis, please."
Tags: Kaya Som , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell and Isaiah Quinn
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Syl O'Connell
Flight Control
[TI8]
Posts: 662 Likes: 9
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Position: Flight Control/Caldonia 5
Species: Human
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Post by Syl O'Connell on Jul 9, 2021 23:55:04 GMT
[Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Cerjess moved along the path at a slow but steady pace, trying to divide his attention between gathering samples, hypothesising an explanation, and listening to the conversation around him. He got most of what was being said. He hoped. "It's not unheard of for plants to not need sunlight if there's an abundance of nutrients in the soil..." He wasn't a botanist, but it made sense in his mind. Capping off another vial, he quirked an eyebrow at the mention of a plant pet. That was a story he definitely wanted to hear sometime. Although... Preferably over a beer, rather than a mass grave. The more he thought about it, the more his skin crawled. The shriek from the com link caught his attention, and he didn't need to be told to start wrapping up so they could get to the rendezvous point. He started fumbling to return all the vials to his pack, and didn't notice the vine coiling around his leg until he went to take a step and found himself sprawling face-first on the ground. Tag Isaiah Quinn Left Ear to-Ennien Rin Zakir [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]A lone planet serving as a mass grave in the middle of an empty system? That didn't bode well at all, even if she wasn't prone to superstition. Her imagination began to run wild with the possibilities of how those bodies ended up there, and why. She wasn't able to get very far though when the mechanical screech filled the ship. Her hands clutched her ears as her eyes squeezed shut. It felt as though the sound was echoing in her skull, the vibrations threatening to split it apart. Syl couldn't even hear herself scream. As suddenly as it had started, it was over, the sudden silence making her head spin and she was suddenly very grateful she was already sitting down. The Commander's voice sounded distant, and it took a few moments for Syl to pull herself together enough to open her eyes and look at her console. The flashing red and yellow lights on her screen did nothing to ease the throbbing migraine, but she grit her teeth and blinked through the pain as she tapped a few buttons to acknowledge the alerts. "Warp drive and autopilot are unresponsive... Impulse power down to 83%... Breaking orbit with full thrusters." Her hands were shaking as she keyed the commands, but the ship remained steady as it turned away from the planet and the satellite, moving farther into the blackness of space. Tag Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles
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Joshua Niles
Security & Tactical
[TI22]
Posts: 649 Likes: 21
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Tactical Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Joshua Niles on Jul 10, 2021 20:39:26 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
When Quinn's voice suddenly cut out, Felicity automatically stood from her seat and whipped around to look pointedly at Dimmadome. "We've lost communications with the Away Team, C-Commander.""Get it back," she ordered, her words short, the order simple. Things were happening quick and fast, and reports were streaming in from all stations. The discovery, made by Engineering, that the object was over four thousand years old was another surprise. What was it there for? Was it guarding something? Who were those people buried beneath the planet's surface, and were there others? If so... where had they gone? The questions kept materialising, but an important one; the one regarding whether or not this thing might be a threat, was shortly answered. Her hands slapped over her ears as the screech burst forth from their PA system and assaulted her auditory faculties. She found herself bent over, jaw clenched, her face scrunched up with discomfort. "Doug!" She called, unable to hear herself over the ear-splitting noise, "Shut it down!"Poor Doug Dimmadome, who was also suffering, started flapping his hands a little as he stared in horror at his flickering Operations console. He said something that nobody could hear, and then dropped to the floor rather unceremoniously. On hands and knees he crawled to a nearby panel, released the lock and began a manual restart sequence. Within thirty seconds, the noise had blessedly stopped. "Yellow alert." She had no idea which systems were operational, nor the extent of any damage, as Niles reported in that there were no incoming communications. =/\= "All decks, report in." =/\= She could barely hear herself, but she knew she was shouting. The ringing in her ears began to trigger a headache, with a throb that grew with each beat of her heart, stabbing into her temples. "Helm, take us out of orbit and back us up. We have no idea if that was supposed to be a simple "Hello", or if we've triggered some sort of defence mechanism, but I want some distance between us." Felicity turned back toward the Tactical station. "Deflectors at full power. Threat analysis, please."
Tags: Kaya Som , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell and Isaiah Quinn [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]A lone planet serving as a mass grave in the middle of an empty system? That didn't bode well at all, even if she wasn't prone to superstition. Her imagination began to run wild with the possibilities of how those bodies ended up there, and why. She wasn't able to get very far though when the mechanical screech filled the ship. Her hands clutched her ears as her eyes squeezed shut. It felt as though the sound was echoing in her skull, the vibrations threatening to split it apart. Syl couldn't even hear herself scream. As suddenly as it had started, it was over, the sudden silence making her head spin and she was suddenly very grateful she was already sitting down. The Commander's voice sounded distant, and it took a few moments for Syl to pull herself together enough to open her eyes and look at her console. The flashing red and yellow lights on her screen did nothing to ease the throbbing migraine, but she grit her teeth and blinked through the pain as she tapped a few buttons to acknowledge the alerts. "Warp drive and autopilot are unresponsive... Impulse power down to 83%... Breaking orbit with full thrusters." Her hands were shaking as she keyed the commands, but the ship remained steady as it turned away from the planet and the satellite, moving farther into the blackness of space. Tag Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles Niles' ears were still ringing from the unholy screech that had come from the PA system, but he hardly needed them to be fully capable to get his panel back to work. The lights flickering certainly was annoying, but he could deal with that just now, because the priority was to get in control of the ship. And, there was an order to increase the alert status. "Yellow Alert, aye!" he replied a little louder than necessary, between his own ears bothering him and expecting the Commander might have similar issues herself. However, when he used the control at hands, the results were, at least, satisfactory enough. The alert system was one of those few things that was truly hard-wired and designed to work no matter what. However, until he would get reports from all decks and sections, there was no telling just how ready or unready the ship would be, and if internal communications were compromised, that might take some time, but at least the Captain had ordered all decks to report in directly, so at least there would be ways to check in on them, even it it meant a runner was sent up to the Bridge. As the ship moved out of orbit and sought to open the range between themselves and the object, the Tactical Officer was ordered to raise shields, but he found himself less than pleased at the results. "I can't confirm full shields, Commander. Shield generators two is burnt out, number seven and eight are not responding, could be a control run issue; and I'm not seeing a positive response from number eleven and thirteen, but power levels are telling me they're online, mostly. Until things clear up, best estimate is seventy percent shields."While he tried to get a better assessment on the satellite or whatever the hell it was that hit them, he started getting information from the other combat systems, including the sensors. "We have phasers, mostly; starboard side emitters are on the secondary control network, and we've lost some of the couplings. Torpedo tubes are out; whatever the energy pulse was, the linear accelerators acted like a lightning rod for it and half the control systems are fried."And, finally, sensors started making sense again, having worked through a few reboots and the computer being in a sufficient state to make heads or tails of the readings. "Still nothing on that thing's internal structures, but I'm reading increased power levels that look similar to what came just before the initial pulse. Looks like some kind of... stand-by charge, or recharging capacitors ahead of firing off another one."Well, that wasn't much to go on, really, and the possibility that the pulse had come from capacitors rather than being directly powered by the damn thing's internal generators would make sense, given there had been next to no warning about it. And, in the meantime, he also fired off everything he'd picked up about the pulse that had hit the ship, and forwarded it to Science and Engineering. Perhaps his own scientific background in wave propagation and high-energy physics might apply there, but he could only focus on so many things at once. Tag Felicity Ellis Soft Kaya Som Syl O'Connell Isaiah Quinn
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Left Ear to-Ennien
Medical
Posts: 229 Likes: 3
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Cadet/civilian healer
Species: Sivaoan
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Post by Left Ear to-Ennien on Jul 10, 2021 21:23:04 GMT
[Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Western Path, Cavern, Planetoid] Quinn had to agree with Miren's deduction that these plants were responsible for the atmosphere. Yet, there was still a question of how? "You may be on to something, Cerjess," Isaiah said. "But typically these sort of plants require sunlight. I'd like to know how they're thriving in the dark, and if they even undergo photosynthesis." Though, from what Isaiah could see, none of these plants were a vibrant, healthy green. Even these stalks appeared a bit whithered and... pale. As the question came about whether or not they were self-aware, Isaiah sighed slightly. "I'm honestly not sure," he said, making note of Left Ear's cautious attempt to poke one of the tendrils. "To be honest, they remind me... a plant one of the old commanders of the station kept... as a pet?" It wouldn't surprise him if that comment actually got him a few curious stares. "Let's just say it couldn't keep it's tendrils to itself." He didn't have the opportunity to delve deeper into the story as Commander Ellis contacted him, and told them that they were standing on a large grave site. =A= "Commander we've yet to come across any remains thus --" =A=The communication ended abruptly after some sort of loud screech was heard on the other end. Quinn reached up to tap his commbadge to reestablish communication with the ship. =A= "Quinn to Mac. Come in, Mac." =A= There was nothing but silence. =A= "Quinn to Shavan. I think we've lost contact with the ship. Though, before that happened, Commander Ellis mentioned detecting a large grave. Move your team on to the rendezvous point, and then we can try to sort our communication problem. Quinn out." =A= With them having come as far as they had, it made sense to finish the rest of the route and then determine a route back to their transport site. "All right, let's try to --" was all that Quinn managed to say before a pair of the tendrils wrapped around his ankle and pulled his leg from under him, sending him falling to the ground. One of the stalks had leaned over, its maw opening and closing as it sensed sustenance. The tendril that Left Ear had been attempting to poke quickly whipped up in the direction of the felinoid. Tendrils rushed from the stalks seemingly in all directions. One appeared to go for Zakir's dominant arm, while another found itself attempting to wrap around Cerjess' leg as well. [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Cerjess moved along the path at a slow but steady pace, trying to divide his attention between gathering samples, hypothesising an explanation, and listening to the conversation around him. He got most of what was being said. He hoped. "It's not unheard of for plants to not need sunlight if there's an abundance of nutrients in the soil..." He wasn't a botanist, but it made sense in his mind. Capping off another vial, he quirked an eyebrow at the mention of a plant pet. That was a story he definitely wanted to hear sometime. Although... Preferably over a beer, rather than a mass grave. The more he thought about it, the more his skin crawled. The shriek from the com link caught his attention, and he didn't need to be told to start wrapping up so they could get to the rendezvous point. He started fumbling to return all the vials to his pack, and didn't notice the vine coiling around his leg until he went to take a step and found himself sprawling face-first on the ground. [ Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Western Path] A plant pet. Left Ear remembered hearing about that. She looked up as Commander Quinn spoke, but caught movement out of the corner of her eye. As her head swung back toward the tendril she'd been poking, it lifted and lashed around her wrist. The Sivaoan squawked and tried to leap away, but another caught hold of her tail! Oh, the indignity of having one's tail pulled. But worse yet, one seemed to be trying to eat the commander, and other tendrils were incapacitating the rest of the team as well. Left Ear took the briefest moment to consider, then extended the claws of her free hand to slash at the tendril holding her wrist. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't deliberately do damage to native wildlife, but it certainly seemed that their lives were in danger. The tendril parted under her razor-sharp claws, and she turned to slice the one that was holding her tail, snarling as others tried to take their place. Quinn seemed to be in the most immediate danger, some sort of mouth getting closer and closer. Left Ear dove for the stalk thing, hoping that getting in close proximity would keep it from turning on her. Tag Isaiah QuinnSoft tags for Syl O'Connell and Rin Zakir
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Rin Zakir
Security & Tactical
[TI21]
Posts: 112 Likes: 5
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Position: Security & Tactical
Species: Bajoran
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Post by Rin Zakir on Jul 10, 2021 21:39:46 GMT
[ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid Cavern, Western Path] Even Zak knew that plants usually needed sunlight, so the fact that there was none was no doubt a scientific curiosity in itself. Not that the plants looked particularly healthy, put is was definitely something to ponder. He smirked in mild amusement at the story about the pet plant, but this was short lived as Quinn attempted to reach the ship. A loud screech preceded communication silence, and he furrowed a brow as he glanced toward his superior. That was a worrying development. Worse was to come though, as just as they agreed to return to the rendezvous point, tendrils shot out from the stalks and made a grab for them! Zak managed to shoot at the plant, but he didn't see if it hit or not, as a tendril grabbed his right wrist. The right wrist that was holding the phaser. Now his training was really going to have to kick in, unless he wanted himself and the others to wind up as plant food. He managed to move his phaser to the other hand, but this was not his dominant hand and there was no guarantee that he could shoot with the same level of accuracy. He had to try though, otherwise, especially seeing as Quinn was definitely getting close to that gaping maw! It seemed as though the cadet could hold her own, at least.
Tag Isaiah Quinn , Left Ear to-Ennien , Syl O'Connell Soft Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jul 10, 2021 21:58:21 GMT
[ SCPO Kaya Som, Chief of Engineering | The lights-out discotecque formerly known as engineering ]There was something about being closed up deep inside a massive metal coffin, no matter how fancy or well-equipped it may be, when the lights went out, that made a certain Trill feel like one was blinking out of existence. The only thing to remind one that one was still alive was the absolutely ear-splitting screech. Kaya felt it in her spots from head to toe, like cold spiky burning. After the initial shock, everyone in Engineering began their emergency procedures. Everyone had a job, everyone had a station, and all the hours of droning rehearsals paid off as well as could be expected. There was little need for Kaya to be shouting for everyone to heave to, but she did anyway. Like any star-loving Starfleet engineer, Kaya's first concern was for the warp core - the most essential and most dangerous component to this very fancy coffin. As she scrambled towards the mezzanine, the engineering crew began to shout reports at her. And shortly after that, the screeching stopped and she could hear them. =/\= "All decks, report in." =/\ The warp core pulsed weakly in the sickly yellow glow of the alert status lights, its normally robust heart-beat now thready. "Engineering to bridge, the warp engine is offline but the core is intact," Kaya put through. Then she began relating the other information that was coming in from the other engineering stations, just trusting they were accurate. "Impulse engines at eighty-two percent. Essential systems protections held, life support systems nominal, but there's systems damage yet to be assessed. We got absolutely fried. It's like we took a solar flare to the face." With that very technical analysis, Kaya concluded her initial report. "Mora!" The trusty crewman was within arms reach. "Help scramble repair crews." It wasn't going to be long before the console was going to light up like Ha'mara lanterns with damage calls. Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn
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Isaiah Quinn
Science
[TI36]
Posts: 1,153 Likes: 57
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Position: Chief Science Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Isaiah Quinn on Jul 12, 2021 7:54:10 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]
[...] However, that wonder did not last long when his sensors screamed in warning. "Reading a massive power surge coming from the obj..."His console immediately went on the fritz, same as all the other ones on the Bridge, and the lights started flashing at random before he could even come so far as to report what he was looking at. Hell, the computer was still crunching the readings to a human-readable format when whatever had happened... happened. Looking at his console, he attempted to work through the checklist to re-enable his console and at least get something like internal readings going. "I'm seeing widespread power fluctuation and computer failures. No damage or casualty reports yet, communications might be compromised." {Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
When Quinn's voice suddenly cut out, Felicity automatically stood from her seat and whipped around to look pointedly at Dimmadome. "We've lost communications with the Away Team, C-Commander.""Get it back," she ordered, her words short, the order simple. Things were happening quick and fast, and reports were streaming in from all stations. The discovery, made by Engineering, that the object was over four thousand years old was another surprise. What was it there for? Was it guarding something? Who were those people buried beneath the planet's surface, and were there others? If so... where had they gone? The questions kept materialising, but an important one; the one regarding whether or not this thing might be a threat, was shortly answered. Her hands slapped over her ears as the screech burst forth from their PA system and assaulted her auditory faculties. She found herself bent over, jaw clenched, her face scrunched up with discomfort. "Doug!" She called, unable to hear herself over the ear-splitting noise, "Shut it down!"[...] "Yellow alert." She had no idea which systems were operational, nor the extent of any damage, as Niles reported in that there were no incoming communications. =/\= "All decks, report in." =/\= She could barely hear herself, but she knew she was shouting. The ringing in her ears began to trigger a headache, with a throb that grew with each beat of her heart, stabbing into her temples. "Helm, take us out of orbit and back us up. We have no idea if that was supposed to be a simple "Hello", or if we've triggered some sort of defence mechanism, but I want some distance between us." Felicity turned back toward the Tactical station. "Deflectors at full power. Threat analysis, please."[Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge][...] As suddenly as it had started, it was over, the sudden silence making her head spin and she was suddenly very grateful she was already sitting down. The Commander's voice sounded distant, and it took a few moments for Syl to pull herself together enough to open her eyes and look at her console. The flashing red and yellow lights on her screen did nothing to ease the throbbing migraine, but she grit her teeth and blinked through the pain as she tapped a few buttons to acknowledge the alerts. "Warp drive and autopilot are unresponsive... Impulse power down to 83%... Breaking orbit with full thrusters." Her hands were shaking as she keyed the commands, but the ship remained steady as it turned away from the planet and the satellite, moving farther into the blackness of space. [ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]{Spoiler}Niles' ears were still ringing from the unholy screech that had come from the PA system, but he hardly needed them to be fully capable to get his panel back to work. The lights flickering certainly was annoying, but he could deal with that just now, because the priority was to get in control of the ship. And, there was an order to increase the alert status. "Yellow Alert, aye!" he replied a little louder than necessary, between his own ears bothering him and expecting the Commander might have similar issues herself.
[...] As the ship moved out of orbit and sought to open the range between themselves and the object, the Tactical Officer was ordered to raise shields, but he found himself less than pleased at the results. "I can't confirm full shields, Commander. Shield generators two is burnt out, number seven and eight are not responding, could be a control run issue; and I'm not seeing a positive response from number eleven and thirteen, but power levels are telling me they're online. Until things clear up, best estimate is seventy percent shields."While he tried to get a better assessment on the satellite or whatever the hell it was that hit them, he started getting information from the other combat systems, including the sensors. "We have phasers, mostly; starboard side emitters are on the secondary control network, and we've lost some of the couplings. Torpedo tubes are out; whatever the energy pulse was, the linear accelerators acted like a lightning rod for it and half the control systems are fried."And, finally, sensors started making sense again, having worked through a few reboots and the computer being in a sufficient state to make heads or tails of the readings. "Still nothing on that thing's internal structures, but I'm reading increased power levels that look similar to what came just before the initial pulse. Looks like some kind of... stand-by charge, or recharging capacitors ahead of firing off another one."[...] [ SCPO Kaya Som, Chief of Engineering | The lights-out discotecque formerly known as engineering ][...] The warp core pulsed weakly in the sickly yellow glow of the alert status lights, its normally robust heart-beat now thready. "Engineering to bridge, the warp engine is offline but the core is intact," Kaya put through. Then she began relating the other information that was coming in from the other engineering stations, just trusting they were accurate. "Impulse engines at eighty-two percent. Essential systems protections held, life support systems nominal, but there's systems damage yet to be assessed. We got absolutely fried. It's like we took a solar flare to the face." With that very technical analysis, Kaya concluded her initial report. "Mora!" The trusty crewman was within arms reach. "Help scramble repair crews." It wasn't going to be long before the console was going to light up like Ha'mara lanterns with damage calls. [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] As the sound rang out, if you could call it that, Ezra and about another dozen engineers instinctively clasped their hands over their ears. The natural first question was: what the hell is going on. The second question to follow was: who the hell touched a button they weren't supposed to? You may not find either of those questions in a diagnostic guide, but they were words that engineers could live by. Luckily, the sound came to a halt a short time later. People began to automatically scramble to a variety of stations and run whatever diagnostics they could. Ezra was no different. Of course, it felt like one of those games Rimi had played as the consoles flickered constantly with life, as did the lights as well, unable to determine if they were better off lit or completely out. It didn't take long for Ezra to grow weary of this game of whack a console. He retrieved a PADD and a hardwire data-link. He didn't need live feed to know where the problems were, just a still. It was then that he heard the Chief call out to him to help scramble repair crews. "On it, boss!" he called back as he finished linking the PADD to one of the open ports. With a few taps to the PADD, Ezra quickly had eyes on the damages that had been incurred. "It looks like that pulse blew several critical relays throughout the enter ODN network."Ezra then brought up the lists of hazard teams currently on duty. "Hazard teams One and two... head to deck seven and eight. Pull the holodecks offline first. That'll help you stabilize the fluctuations in the computer core." That should help repair most of the blinking coms and panels, and allow them to redirect power as needed. His eyes turned to the rest of the hot-ticket items: shields... weapons... communications... and navigation. More and more, it seemed as if Kaya's analogy of the Mac taking a solar flare in the face was rather appropriate. "I'll be damned. Chief, I think you need to see this.""The subroutines in several of our databanks is being... rewritten with this," Ezra stated. The engineer shrugged. "I think we got hacked during that flash bang. It hijacked our communications network and is using it actively transmit to the contents of our databanks right now. 7.1% and counting."
[ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The proximity sensors of the satellite detected an increase in distance between itself and the Mac. The satellite broke orbit and began to pursue the Mac. The hue of the glow at each vertex of the satellite changed color. The glowing energy again traveled to the apex of the tetrahedronal satellite and erupted once more towards the Mac. This time, striking the Mac with a jolt and slowing the momentum of the starship as the distance decreased below two kilometers.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Kaya Som
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Isaiah Quinn
Science
[TI36]
Posts: 1,153 Likes: 57
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Position: Chief Science Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Isaiah Quinn on Jul 12, 2021 8:41:03 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Cavern, Eastern Path] S’Riia seemed to think the vines were familiar, and the longer they spent here the more Shavan was inclined to trust her instincts. “Almost like they’ve been planted here,” he agreed quietly. Hopefully the data Hunt was collecting would tell them more. He glanced at the tricorder that was focused on the strange mound. “There’s a mass of decaying organic matter underneath.” Regardless of the warning to be cautious, he brushed aside the dirt covering the smooth surface. Shavan stared grimly down at the skull beneath at the same moment Quinn's voice came through the comm. =/\= Acknowledged, on our way. We just found a grave site. =/\= Exactly what kind was impossible to tell. The elongated skull reminded him unpleasantly of Caldonians, though it was too obviously too decayed to pick up any sort of bio-signature. Tearing his gaze away, he stopped just long enough to finish scanning and take a holophoto of the grave. He wasn't afraid of the dead… but someone living had to have brought them here. Quinn was right, they had to reunite with the rest of the team, and Shavan didn't want to stay there a second longer than they had to. Every instinct was telling him that this could be a trap. “Let's go.” He stood up and quickly started walking further into the tunnel. [Cavern Eastern Approach} It was not long after that he collected the samples that he heard from the comms that they lost contact with the ship. It would not be unusual to happen on new planets and caverns as several minerals could intervene with the connections. However, there was always the chance of something more sinister. He listened to the Petty Officer and wondered how did the vines remind her from. The lieutenant statement that they have been planted there would make sense but then a study on how they survive. “ Hopefully detailed Science scans on the vines would tell us how they survive here. It’s not uncommon to have plants that survive in low light environments but a planetoid like this would be interesting. Hopefully our Science team can figure it out.” Hunt added. “ There has to be a scientific reason why they are surviving in this environment or the alternative is someone or something is keeping them alive” His attention turned as the Luitenant discovered what appeared to remain. “ If we were on the MAC we could have done a forensic examination to see possible causes of death,” Hunt said. As much as they thought it was confirmed that they were not alone. The question is where are the creatures? As he heard his orders Hunt looked at the remained and debating to take it for more study. “ Should we ask the commander for authorization to evaluate one of the bodies? Not right now, but once we regain contact with the MAC” Hunt asked as he was not in charge and it would make sense to take some and evaluate once they knew they were safe. He followed as the team headed to the rendezvous point. [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Cerjess moved along the path at a slow but steady pace, trying to divide his attention between gathering samples, hypothesising an explanation, and listening to the conversation around him. He got most of what was being said. He hoped. "It's not unheard of for plants to not need sunlight if there's an abundance of nutrients in the soil..." He wasn't a botanist, but it made sense in his mind. Capping off another vial, he quirked an eyebrow at the mention of a plant pet. That was a story he definitely wanted to hear sometime. Although... Preferably over a beer, rather than a mass grave. The more he thought about it, the more his skin crawled. The shriek from the com link caught his attention, and he didn't need to be told to start wrapping up so they could get to the rendezvous point. He started fumbling to return all the vials to his pack, and didn't notice the vine coiling around his leg until he went to take a step and found himself sprawling face-first on the ground. [Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Western Path] A plant pet. Left Ear remembered hearing about that. She looked up as Commander Quinn spoke, but caught movement out of the corner of her eye. As her head swung back toward the tendril she'd been poking, it lifted and lashed around her wrist. The Sivaoan squawked and tried to leap away, but another caught hold of her tail! Oh, the indignity of having one's tail pulled. But worse yet, one seemed to be trying to eat the commander, and other tendrils were incapacitating the rest of the team as well. Left Ear took the briefest moment to consider, then extended the claws of her free hand to slash at the tendril holding her wrist. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't deliberately do damage to native wildlife, but it certainly seemed that their lives were in danger. The tendril parted under her razor-sharp claws, and she turned to slice the one that was holding her tail, snarling as others tried to take their place. Quinn seemed to be in the most immediate danger, some sort of mouth getting closer and closer. Left Ear dove for the stalk thing, hoping that getting in close proximity would keep it from turning on her. [ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid Cavern, Western Path] Even Zak knew that plants usually needed sunlight, so the fact that there was none was no doubt a scientific curiosity in itself. Not that the plants looked particularly healthy, put is was definitely something to ponder. He smirked in mild amusement at the story about the pet plant, but this was short lived as Quinn attempted to reach the ship. A loud screech preceded communication silence, and he furrowed a brow as he glanced toward his superior. That was a worrying development. Worse was to come though, as just as they agreed to return to the rendezvous point, tendrils shot out from the stalks and made a grab for them! Zak managed to shoot at the plant, but he didn't see if it hit or not, as a tendril grabbed his right wrist. The right wrist that was holding the phaser. Now his training was really going to have to kick in, unless he wanted himself and the others to wind up as plant food. He managed to move his phaser to the other hand, but this was not his dominant hand and there was no guarantee that he could shoot with the same level of accuracy. He had to try though, otherwise, especially seeing as Quinn was definitely getting close to that gaping maw! It seemed as though the cadet could hold her own, at least. [Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Western Path, Cavern, Planetoid] Quinn found it incredibly difficult to maintain any sort of leverage as the tendrils pulled at both his legs, drawing him closer and closer to the plant's maw. Though, there was a bit of added motivation for the science officer as he noticed other members of the team having fallen victim to similar botanical snares. Left Ear, however, managed to evade her target, using her claws to slice at the tendrils. Clearly, enough of a deterrent for that particular stalk to release its prey. She then leapt from where she had been , close to Quinn's position, or rather the stalk itself. Perhaps it was too preoccupied with Quinn to react to the Sivaoan's proximity. "Cadet!" Quinn called as he felt his strength being tested, as he only had his arms to counter the pull of the stalk's tendrils. The phaser blast struck its target soundly, and the stalk released hold of Zakir's right hand, its tendrils recoiling, giving the Bajoran the opportunity to escape. The stalk that had a hold of Miren attempted to pull the Trill closer, as its own maw began to widen as it expected its prey to soon be devoured.
[NPC - PO1 S'Riia - Eastern Path, Cavern, Planetoid] S'Riia thought about Shavan's words, saying that it seemed as if the vines had been planted there. Between his words and Dr. Hunt's the half-Caitian had certainly got to thinking. "If they were planted here, perhaps there's a record of them elsewhere in our databanks," she suggested. Yet, as if one mystery wasn't enough, it seemed that Shavan had spied another, when he detected the skeletal remains within the mound. There did seem to be evidence of some sort of casing within the mound, however that was when Commander Quinn called and relayed the news about communication being lost with the Mac. At that point, priorities had certainly shifted. S'Riia moved along the remainder of the path, her eyes and ears vigilant for any sort of threats that could be lurking about. As they reached the rendezvous coordinates, the rest of the away team was nowhere to be found. Yet, there was something there, centered about the ground. An obelisk that clearly hadn't been disturbed for some time.
Tag: Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Syl O'Connell (Cerjess), Left Ear to-Ennien , Rin Zakir
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Jul 12, 2021 17:47:14 GMT
[Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]A lone planet serving as a mass grave in the middle of an empty system? That didn't bode well at all, even if she wasn't prone to superstition. Her imagination began to run wild with the possibilities of how those bodies ended up there, and why. She wasn't able to get very far though when the mechanical screech filled the ship. Her hands clutched her ears as her eyes squeezed shut. It felt as though the sound was echoing in her skull, the vibrations threatening to split it apart. Syl couldn't even hear herself scream. As suddenly as it had started, it was over, the sudden silence making her head spin and she was suddenly very grateful she was already sitting down. The Commander's voice sounded distant, and it took a few moments for Syl to pull herself together enough to open her eyes and look at her console. The flashing red and yellow lights on her screen did nothing to ease the throbbing migraine, but she grit her teeth and blinked through the pain as she tapped a few buttons to acknowledge the alerts. "Warp drive and autopilot are unresponsive... Impulse power down to 83%... Breaking orbit with full thrusters." Her hands were shaking as she keyed the commands, but the ship remained steady as it turned away from the planet and the satellite, moving farther into the blackness of space. [ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]Niles' ears were still ringing from the unholy screech that had come from the PA system, but he hardly needed them to be fully capable to get his panel back to work. The lights flickering certainly was annoying, but he could deal with that just now, because the priority was to get in control of the ship. And, there was an order to increase the alert status. "Yellow Alert, aye!" he replied a little louder than necessary, between his own ears bothering him and expecting the Commander might have similar issues herself. However, when he used the control at hands, the results were, at least, satisfactory enough. The alert system was one of those few things that was truly hard-wired and designed to work no matter what. However, until he would get reports from all decks and sections, there was no telling just how ready or unready the ship would be, and if internal communications were compromised, that might take some time, but at least the Captain had ordered all decks to report in directly, so at least there would be ways to check in on them, even it it meant a runner was sent up to the Bridge. As the ship moved out of orbit and sought to open the range between themselves and the object, the Tactical Officer was ordered to raise shields, but he found himself less than pleased at the results. "I can't confirm full shields, Commander. Shield generators two is burnt out, number seven and eight are not responding, could be a control run issue; and I'm not seeing a positive response from number eleven and thirteen, but power levels are telling me they're online, mostly. Until things clear up, best estimate is seventy percent shields."While he tried to get a better assessment on the satellite or whatever the hell it was that hit them, he started getting information from the other combat systems, including the sensors. "We have phasers, mostly; starboard side emitters are on the secondary control network, and we've lost some of the couplings. Torpedo tubes are out; whatever the energy pulse was, the linear accelerators acted like a lightning rod for it and half the control systems are fried."And, finally, sensors started making sense again, having worked through a few reboots and the computer being in a sufficient state to make heads or tails of the readings. "Still nothing on that thing's internal structures, but I'm reading increased power levels that look similar to what came just before the initial pulse. Looks like some kind of... stand-by charge, or recharging capacitors ahead of firing off another one."Well, that wasn't much to go on, really, and the possibility that the pulse had come from capacitors rather than being directly powered by the damn thing's internal generators would make sense, given there had been next to no warning about it. And, in the meantime, he also fired off everything he'd picked up about the pulse that had hit the ship, and forwarded it to Science and Engineering. Perhaps his own scientific background in wave propagation and high-energy physics might apply there, but he could only focus on so many things at once. [ SCPO Kaya Som, Chief of Engineering | The lights-out discotecque formerly known as engineering ]"Engineering to bridge, the warp engine is offline but the core is intact," Kaya put through. Then she began relating the other information that was coming in from the other engineering stations, just trusting they were accurate. "Impulse engines at eighty-two percent. Essential systems protections held, life support systems nominal, but there's systems damage yet to be assessed. We got absolutely fried. It's like we took a solar flare to the face." [ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The proximity sensors of the satellite detected an increase in distance between itself and the Mac. The satellite broke orbit and began to pursue the Mac. The hue of the glow at each vertex of the satellite changed color. The glowing energy again traveled to the apex of the tetrahedronal satellite and erupted once more towards the Mac. This time, striking the Mac with a jolt and slowing the momentum of the starship as the distance decreased below two kilometers. [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]Considering the circumstances, everyone managed to pull it together not just to report everything that they could, but to get back to work. The hits were coming fast from everywhere: no warp, no torpedoes, compromised shields. But they had life support and they still had control. "I'll take 70%," she told Niles, and when he pointed out that the object seemed to be powering, or recharging, her headache increased the frequency of its thumps as her heartrate amped up another notch. "Analyse that pulse, Tactical. See if we can modulate our shields to absorb or deflect." She spun toward Ops and faced the still flustered Dimmadome, who had been having no luck raising the Away Team again. "Ops. I also need a scan analysis of that pulse from you, but I want you to run a comparison against any known languages in the database, or even patterns." Felicity wasn't quite ready to declare this thing an enemy yet. And then it hit again. Felicity staggered on her feet, and reached out to grab a hold of a nearby console. She half dragged herself back to her chair and flopped down on it, hands reaching for her personal viewscreen immediately. "How is it getting through?" She asked aloud, mostly rhetorically, as the data on the trajectory told her that once again, its target was their engines. It appeared to be attempting to chase them off, but it that was the case, why try to disable them? "I want all available power to impulse. Helm, keep going, we're retreating. Evasive pattern of your choice." Until she had a better idea of what they were dealing with, their options were extremely limited. "Lieutenant Niles, it's time for a little target practise. I want two short, sharp phaser bursts, fired 500m off this thing's port bough. A warning shot."It was getting closer, closing the gap while they'd begun to limp away. =/\= "Engineering, Bridge. We need speed. How long until the Warp drive is back online?" =/\=
Tags: Syl O'Connell , Joshua Niles , Kaya Som and Isaiah Quinn
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Syl O'Connell
Flight Control
[TI8]
Posts: 662 Likes: 9
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Position: Flight Control/Caldonia 5
Species: Human
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Post by Syl O'Connell on Jul 13, 2021 8:25:52 GMT
[Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]The hammering in her skull had just become bearable, when the ship was rocked by another pulse. Thrown forward against the helm, the pilot barely managed to brace herself to keep her head from striking the console. Her neck ached, her head throbbed, and her vision started to blur, but she wasn't going to let that stop her now. Immediately righting herself in the chair, her fingers flew across the panel, drawing power from all available sources to push the impulse engines to their max. Hearing the order for evasive maneuvers, a small smirk lifted the corner of her lips. "Fly it like I stole it... Yes, ma'am." Syl couldn't help but fall back into the memory of the only other time she had evaded a pursuer in real time. The urgency in the voices, the alarms and lights and sparks, and once again it was up to her to get them away in one piece. Her gaze focused unseeingly straight ahead, letting muscle memory and instinct take over to lessen the strain on her eyes. Hands danced across the controls, and the ship banked hard to starboard, entering a corkscrew dive back towards the planet before pulling up into a sharp climb. This was going to be a rocky ride, but it was better than being hit by another one of those pulses until they were able to actually defend against them. Tag Felicity Ellis [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Whatever it was that had wrapped around his leg and tripped him tightened its grip, and he could feel it pulling him backwards across the ground. Panic gripped him just as tightly, and his hands clawed at the area in front of and beside him until one landed on a rock. Or at least, something that felt like a rock. Clutching it in his fist, he twisted around to sit up, pushing himself with one hand while the other brought the solid and jagged object down on the tendril with his full force. The coil loosened slightly, and he struck it again, and again, until it released him completely. Scrambling away from the thing, he got back up to his feet, rushing over to Quinn to grab hold of him to give Left Ear a chance to sever the tendrils that were pulling on the Commander. "What the hell are these things?!" Cerjess grunted through clenched teeth, bracing himself to resist the plant's pull on Isaiah. Tag Isaiah Quinn soft Left Ear to-Ennien Rin Zakir
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Joshua Niles
Security & Tactical
[TI22]
Posts: 649 Likes: 21
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Tactical Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Joshua Niles on Jul 13, 2021 14:09:12 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} ... "Engineering to bridge, the warp engine is offline but the core is intact," Kaya put through. Then she began relating the other information that was coming in from the other engineering stations, just trusting they were accurate. "Impulse engines at eighty-two percent. Essential systems protections held, life support systems nominal, but there's systems damage yet to be assessed. We got absolutely fried. It's like we took a solar flare to the face." With that very technical analysis, Kaya concluded her initial report. "Mora!" The trusty crewman was within arms reach. "Help scramble repair crews." It wasn't going to be long before the console was going to light up like Ha'mara lanterns with damage calls. Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] ... "The subroutines in several of our databanks is being... rewritten with this," Ezra stated. The engineer shrugged. "I think we got hacked during that flash bang. It hijacked our communications network and is using it actively transmit to the contents of our databanks right now. 7.1% and counting."
[ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The proximity sensors of the satellite detected an increase in distance between itself and the Mac. The satellite broke orbit and began to pursue the Mac. The hue of the glow at each vertex of the satellite changed color. The glowing energy again traveled to the apex of the tetrahedronal satellite and erupted once more towards the Mac. This time, striking the Mac with a jolt and slowing the momentum of the starship as the distance decreased below two kilometers.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Kaya Som [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]Considering the circumstances, everyone managed to pull it together not just to report everything that they could, but to get back to work. The hits were coming fast from everywhere: no warp, no torpedoes, compromised shields. But they had life support and they still had control. "I'll take 70%," she told Niles, and when he pointed out that the object seemed to be powering, or recharging, her headache increased the frequency of its thumps as her heartrate amped up another notch. "Analyse that pulse, Tactical. See if we can modulate our shields to absorb or deflect." She spun toward Ops and faced the still flustered Dimmadome, who had been having no luck raising the Away Team again. "Ops. I also need a scan analysis of that pulse from you, but I want you to run a comparison against any known languages in the database, or even patterns." Felicity wasn't quite ready to declare this thing an enemy yet. And then it hit again. Felicity staggered on her feet, and reached out to grab a hold of a nearby console. She half dragged herself back to her chair and flopped down on it, hands reaching for her personal viewscreen immediately. "How is it getting through?" She asked aloud, mostly rhetorically, as the data on the trajectory told her that once again, its target was their engines. It appeared to be attempting to chase them off, but it that was the case, why try to disable them? "I want all available power to impulse. Helm, keep going, we're retreating. Evasive pattern of your choice." Until she had a better idea of what they were dealing with, their options were extremely limited. "Lieutenant Niles, it's time for a little target practise. I want two short, sharp phaser bursts, fired 500m off this thing's port bough. A warning shot."It was getting closer, closing the gap while they'd begun to limp away. =/\= "Engineering, Bridge. We need speed. How long until the Warp drive is back online?" =/\=
Tags: Syl O'Connell , Joshua Niles , Kaya Som and Isaiah Quinn [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]The hammering in her skull had just become bearable, when the ship was rocked by another pulse. Thrown forward against the helm, the pilot barely managed to brace herself to keep her head from striking the console. Her neck ached, her head throbbed, and her vision started to blur, but she wasn't going to let that stop her now. Immediately righting herself in the chair, her fingers flew across the panel, drawing power from all available sources to push the impulse engines to their max. Hearing the order for evasive maneuvers, a small smirk lifted the corner of her lips. "Fly it like I stole it... Yes, ma'am." Syl couldn't help but fall back into the memory of the only other time she had evaded a pursuer in real time. The urgency in the voices, the alarms and lights and sparks, and once again it was up to her to get them away in one piece. Her gaze focused unseeingly straight ahead, letting muscle memory and instinct take over to lessen the strain on her eyes. Hands danced across the controls, and the ship banked hard to starboard, entering a corkscrew dive back towards the planet before pulling up into a sharp climb. This was going to be a rocky ride, but it was better than being hit by another one of those pulses until they were able to actually defend against them. Tag Felicity Ellis "Aye."Well, an analysis of the pulse itself might take time, especially since the computer was coming back online in fits and starts and the sensors hadn't had gotten a very good look at the initial pulse; now, though, he had turned enough of the passive sensors towards the bloody thing that if it did so much as twitch, it would be duly recorded and analyzed all right. And then, just as something else was appearing on his board, the ship shuddered again as it generated another pulse which entirely ignored their shields and struck. "No damage, shields are... no loss detected, Commander. That came in clean through as if they weren't there at all." However, this time he'd gotten something to work with and he was just about to double-check the waveforms that had been recorded when a thoroughly different order had come to him while the order to maintain evasive action had come in. His fingers flew across his board; even with the computer not entirely up to snuff, he most certainly could provide the requested firing solution; and the bloody thing getting even closer, practically on their hull for that matter, made the geometry a little tricky, but he could do it. "Firing." he reported just as a pair of lurid beams shrieked from the Mac's aft phaser banks, well-separated in space to neatly frame the satellite right off of its port bow, or at least to the port side of of its line of travel as it followed the ship. And finally, the computer spat out what he'd asked for, with regards to the pulses. The waveforms, the energy readings, frequencies and modulations, it all made sense to him; well, at least it was a good thing he'd chosen high-energy physics and wave propagation as his Science electives... "I have something on those energy pulses. Looks like some kind of covariant, high-power subspace pulse not too unlike a really high-powered communications tightbeam burst transmission, or even an active scan; but I can't tell if it's a standard operating mode or if it weaponized typically non-combat emissions... and speaking of comms, we appear to have an unauthorized channel open and pointed at that thing."Tag Felicity Ellis Soft Kaya Som Syl O'Connell Isaiah Quinn
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