Veronica Li
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 13 Likes: 2
Rank: Ensign
Species: Human
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Post by Veronica Li on Jul 18, 2021 20:35:28 GMT
{Quoted Posts} {Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis & Lieutenant Doug Dimmadome - Bridge, USS Mac]
[...] "No recognisable languages or patterns, C-Commander," Dimmadome was reporting, his fingers busy working, one tap for every two on his console proving futile and unresponsive. Before she could even ask, the seasoned officer was adding information to Niles' report. "It's originating from Engineering," he provided, anticipating her next question. "Attempting to cut."Then Engineering themselves reported in, but it was with a voice Felicity neither knew nor recognised. Eyes narrowed, she consulted the small console next to her seat, and requested voice analysis. The Crewman's details populated the screen following a painful delay of 2-3 seconds. She had every faith in the handpicked teams within each department, but it was unusual for a crewman to be responding to calls from the Bridge. She hoped there'd been no casualties. At that possibility, her mind wandered to the young Petty Officer in Sickbay, who would be feeling very lonely without the company of Dr. Hunt and Left Ear. It was clear that she needed to put some distance between them and the planet until they could figure out how to get this object to stand down. That meant she'd need a lot more power, and sooner than five minutes... And then in typical fashion it was less power, in more time. She grimaced, her jaw clenched. =/\= "Keep me updated, Crewman. The second you can give us Warp 1, we need to -" =/\= The order was broken by blare of the automatic Red Alert klaxons. "Breach!"Surely not!? With an expression of disbelief, she consulted her console again, not waiting for departments to report in this time. "Deck 7. It's attached itself somehow - came straight through our shields like they were nothing." She looked up and turned her face toward Tactical I. The cacophony of the alarms had muted to background noise, the panels glowing like a red pulse on the walls around them. "Lieutenant, you're up. Take a team, liaise with Engineering."Then, not breaking stride, she turned her attention forward again. "Helm, stand down evasive manoeuvres. It has caught us, there's nothing to evade." Then she stood and moved closer to where the young pilot was seated. "Tell me, Ensign, how familiar are you with Lieutenant O'Leary's Hornet Project?"Felicity had no idea how much the Flight Chief had shared about her spatial drone program with her most recent recruit; but she had a feeling that this might be the perfect time to trial it. [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Main Sickbay, Deck 7][...] Armed with nothing but his curiosity, the young Petty Officer stepped out into the passageway. =/\= "Uhh... Security?" =/\= His hand had automatically tapped his commbadge, and his brain had yet to catch up. =/\= "There's something wrong on Deck 7." =/\= [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]The pilot's attention was caught by a flickering on her screen, and she glanced down to see a second red dot closing in on their position. Cursing under her breath, she banked the ship to port, hoping the interceptor would miss them. She had barely executed the course change, however, whenever the ship rocked violently and the alarms sounded. Hearing the confirmation of a hull breach, she eased the ship into an all stop, knowing the possibility of movement ripping the hull apart. At the Commander's order, Syl shook her head. "No they didn't, ma'am." She pointed at her screen, where the first red dot was still several kilometers behind them. "The second one came out of nowhere." And it had moved in fast. When questioned about a Hornet Project, she thought for a moment before shaking her head and looking over her shoulder. Her vision was slightly unfocused as the flashing red lights made her head throb in unison, but she made sure she was at least looking at the Commander. "I don't recall hearing about it, ma'am." It wasn't surprising, though. Given the Ensign's extended relief from duty, and Flight Chief's chronic drinking, Syl was certain there was quite a bit she hadn't been informed of. Though now was definitely not the time to complain about being left in the dark. [ LT Joshua Niles - Bridge, USS Mac ]{Spoiler}With his recognition of the energy pulses, Niles was ready to reveal what he'd come up as a possible defence against further use of such a technique, but instead of reporting that, instead two words escaped his lips as an entirely different energy reading came up and sparked immediate recognition, despite being, well, just about impossible. "What the..."
But he never finished his sentence as the second satellite, coming out of absolutely nowhere despite an energy pattern not unlike that of a transporter or replicator, accelerated suddenly; and at that short a range, there was nothing he could do, not even call for bracing for impact when it suddenly accelerated. In fact, he'd not even had the time to register the velocity change by the time the impact happened and the Red Alert alarms blared. "Structural integrity fields are up! All personnel accounted for!" he managed to report over the din of the klaxon; at least there was that: no chain of explosive decompressions, and no one got blown out into space. But, the order that came next, he almost made strangled noise. He was expected to go out there and deal with... whatever that was? He was tempted to suggest sending someone else, but he knew the sword of Damocles hanging over his head one way or the other. Well, he might not be the best choice to deal with this and he had no idea just how stringent the standards of 'success' he was being held to; but if he was going to hang, better be hung for a sheep than for a lamb. "Aye. In the meantime, recommend we clear all of Deck 7 and the all sections aft of midway on Decks 6 and 8 of all absolutely non-essential personnel."Once he spoke, he withdrew a tricorder and phaser from the Bridge small arms locker, and finally made for the turbolift door, tapping his commbadge on the way. =A= "Niles to Security and Engineering; I need counter-boarding and damage control parties to meet me on Deck 7, Turbolift 4."=A= Though, while on the way down to meet the teams he'd called for, his commbadge chirped again, a call redirected to him from the Security offices. =A= "This is Lieutenant Niles. First, who is this? Second, there will be teams on the way shortly; in the meantime, tell me what you're looking at."=A= First-hand information, that certainly could become very handy all right. {Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
"Already on it," Dimmadome called out following Niles' recommendation. Felicity nodded, then turned back toward the helm, relieved that Niles hadn't complained about being asked to deal with a Security issue. You know - his job. Having read all of Thea's and Judy's mission reports regarding his performance over the last year, she'd been expecting problems. Thankfully, he seemed to be keeping any notions he might have to himself. "She designed some drones, ostensibly to assist with manual hull repairs, maintenance, that kind of thing. Naturally, it evolved into something else entirely, and we now have a wing of four 'hornet' small-space craft with some defensive capabilities. I was hoping their first use would be for exploration, but I'll settle for getting up close and personal with our little passenger."She returned to her seat, pulled her console closer and began to tap out a few commands. =/\= "Computer, transfer launch control of PROJECT HORNET to Ensign O'Connell, and add her to the admin group. Authorisation ELLIS ONE-DELTA-TWO-TWO." =/\= Once the chirp sounded to let them know that task had been completed, she returned her attention to the pilot. "Take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the protocols, and then you'll need to give yourself a little crash course on their handling."
*** [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]=/\= "This is Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, Medical." =/\= He answered, reeling off his name in a flat drone. =/\= "I'm outside Sickbay. I saw a flashing, silver light, so I followed it. You know, like all of those morons in the horror holonovels." =/\= Kellen Gates never did things like this when he was in the holodeck. Why was that? Perhaps because he always expected things to go wrong in holoprograms; that was what comprised a good story: things going wrong. Then the people had to work to fix the things that had gone wrong, and so they usually took some kind of tool or sometimes, even a weapon, with them. All Gatesy had was his standard belt that had a hypospray and his medical tricorder attached to it. =/\= "Have you ever seen necrotic tissue, Lieutenant Niles?" His voice took on the far away tone of someone distracted or deep in thought. He stepped closer toward the wall, his eyes searching, studying. "There's the site of infection, then black tendrils of it reach outward, like branches of a tree, weakening and then killing the organic life around it. That's what it looks like.""And it's talking, sir." =/\= {Spoiler}[ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ]
The Chief of Engineering was crawled halfway into one of the warp core's three redundant force field regulators. There was so much going on that the chief's place ought to be coordinating the absolute kashi-kishi of failing and vulnerable systems - but instead she prioritized getting warp engines back online. She was vaguely aware of Mora breaking protocol and liaising with the Bridge on Engineering's behalf, but Som was more occupied yelling frustrated orders at other Engineers who were, in turn, thrown off by the difference in leadership. From cool and collected Chief Ozu to unfiltered and inexperienced Chief Som. "Chief! But it's not stopping ...!" came the aggravated response of one of the ensigns trying to follow Som's orders, the one she'd set to stopping the unauthorized communication channel. Kaya pulled herself out from under the panel and all but thrust the isolinear regulator into his hand. "What's the point of you!" Kaya barked. "Be useful!" Then more fireworks! Elders save them! Kaya saw someone leap back from a smoldering relay and cradle over a burned hand. "Someone get a med kit! EnsignBellostofi - do a med check." But now Niles was chatting them up from the Bridge. "What did he say?" she asked of Yande even as Kaya tried to assess the hijacked communications channel. She'd never seen anything like it. It was an absolute flood, torrenting past any safeguards. Yande repeated Lieutenant Niles' orders. "Something's breached the hull on Deck 7 - they need damage control."When had that happened! "Mora!" Kaya yelled for the older crewman. Not immediately finding him Kaya tried again. " MORA!" Kaya slapped her comm badge and returned Niles' message. "Bridge, acknowledged. Working on it. Som out." 'Som out'? They were late on warp, it was their communications that were compromised, and now their damage control teams had been too early deployed and scattered over the ship. Som out, indeed. In the minutes that followed Kaya managed to get Engineering mostly under control with Hugo's help now that her head was out from under a console. Only minor injuries were sustained in the Department, a damage control team got quickly deployed and finally the right people were put on the warp core repair. And finally, Kaya had a chance to look at the bizarre data flowing in and out of Engineering's central channel. "Engineering to Bridge. Captain Ellis, the comm channel breach looks like a data siphon. The object is accessing all databanks simultaneously bypassing any taxonomic architecture to dump everything at once. I thought it was an attack, but it's been one-way since the initial entrance. Captain, it's learning. Everything. Should attempt to block?" [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] Had the environmental controls shorted out? They may as well have because it felt like it was raining piss in Engineering. That's just to say there was a helluva lot going on, and it simply seemed to be piling on more and more. But Engineers didn't complain... they simply got it done. Not to mention they were all on a learning curve, but they were getting it together. Hearing his name over the cacophony of Engineering, Ezra quickly recognized the voice. "Coming, Chief!" he called back as he weaved past engineers bustling about to restore order. When he got back to the Trill engineer, she was in conference with the bridge. Perhaps this was the moment he got his ass handed to him for chatting upstairs. He stood there waiting for the Chief to issue the rest of her orders, but overheard what she was sharing with the Bridge. It sounded as if the Chief had managed to make sense of that jargon that had been sent their way. And there was also reports of being breached. What the hell was this thing?
[ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The satellite held it's position as it... learned. That was their language. They also ceased their... resistance. There had been no other energy discharges and the ship had ended its elusion tactics. Apparently, they had accepted their... fate. Like all things in life, they would serve their usefulness until they ceased to be useful.
[ Meanwhile on Deck 7... ] -8- "ASSessING... assESSing... ASSEssinG... ASSesssING..." -8-The second satellite continued to siphon what it could from this mind. Much of it was intelligible, but the satellite was adapting... learning... understanding. If it could feel, it would be underwhelmed. And then, it's sensors detected something else. Something that had not been there before. A biological buoy? The display panel next to where Gates stood began to illuminate. However, the orange display distorted until it was in the shape of a face... Gates' face. It stared in the direction of the medic, and it began to 'talk.' Not directly, but by accessing the local sound delivery mechanism... another crude and inefficient means of communication. Still, perhaps it was what this ship would understand. It sought the words that it had sent initially: "IdEnnnTiiFyyy... SeeellllF."A stray metallic tendril lowered itself from the second satellite and began to slither across the ship's floor almost like a serpent in the Gates' direction.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Kaya Som [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] Ronnie was late, as usual. Considering I was in the sonic shower, off duty, I think I am making fine time. However, deep down inside, the artist knew that some highly ranked officer with hard eyes and a harder heart wasn’t going to give a hoot that she had been off duty and showering when the damage struck. She could almost hear the dressing down now. A Starfleet officer, especially an engineer, was on duty around the clock, shifts or showers be damned. And so she found herself rushing throughout the p-way that screamed with noise, that was alive with infernal lights, like it was a tunnel to hell. Her engineering kit bounced solidly against her hip as she double timed it. Ronnie’s build was husky and square instead of gracile. She looked plenty strong but in reality she was weak. So, so weak. She could have been on the receiving end of a cortado and a three egg breakfast after ten hours of sleep and still have been weak. When it came to manipulating the inside of a console, taking off a panel, fiddling with isolinear chips or painting her fingers were as nimble as any on the Mac, probably Starfleet. But running full bore with a not even bulky and ergonomic engineering kit slung over one broad shoulder? Just the prospect of it was enough to set her to moaning, a low pitched, constant, under her breath whine that always found its way to her plump lips whenever she was forced to exert herself physically. Ronnie couldn’t hear it over the cacophony of noise around her, the shouts, but she knew it was there. So wrapped up in her own pain and self pity was she that it could perhaps be forgiven if she didn’t notice the medical dude and a mustard yellow collared security officer before Ronnie saw...the thing. It resembled a plate of polbo á feira come to life, only made of metal. She had never been particularly cavalier about eating octopuses. Weren’t they supposed to exhibit a problem solving level of intelligence? This one certainly was. It appeared to be lighting up the panel to mimic a human face. The human face of the medical enlisted man, she suddenly realized. They were a virtual mirror for one another. And then the mirror spoke. The possibilities lit her mind aflame. Ronnie didn’t understand, and yet she was being forced to try to comprehend. It was all too much stimuli. Already short on wind from running, she found herself utterly unable to breathe, boots glued to the deck, horror contorting her face as she stood there, transfixed. "...sir...?" Ronnie breathed out, instinctively speaking to the security officer. Felicity EllisJoshua 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 18, 2021 20:47:58 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]"Already on it," Dimmadome called out following Niles' recommendation. Felicity nodded, then turned back toward the helm, relieved that Niles hadn't complained about being asked to deal with a Security issue. You know - his job. Having read all of Thea's and Judy's mission reports regarding his performance over the last year, she'd been expecting problems. Thankfully, he seemed to be keeping any notions he might have to himself. Felicity arched a brow at the pilot's correction, then glanced at her screen. There was indeed now two satellites, one attached to them, another still some two kilometres in their wake. That alone was enough to tell them that the objects had them beaten for speed. Upon learning that O'Connell had no idea about O'Leary's project, Felicity managed to stifle an impatient sigh. She shouldn't be surprised, really; Niamh had not been performing to standard at all recently. Her approach had always been unorthodox, but the Flight Chief's decline had become sharp since they'd relocated to Front Ear. That was another discussion she'd have to have with the Captains when she returned. "She designed some drones, ostensibly to assist with manual hull repairs, maintenance, that kind of thing. Naturally, it evolved into something else entirely, and we now have a wing of four 'hornet' small-space craft with some defensive capabilities. I was hoping their first use would be for exploration, but I'll settle for getting up close and personal with our little passenger."She returned to her seat, pulled her console closer and began to tap out a few commands. =/\= "Computer, transfer launch control of PROJECT HORNET to Ensign O'Connell, and add her to the admin group. Authorisation ELLIS ONE-DELTA-TWO-TWO." =/\= Once the chirp sounded to let them know that task had been completed, she returned her attention to the pilot. "Take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the protocols, and then you'll need to give yourself a little crash course on their handling."
Tag: Syl O'Connell *** [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]=/\= "This is Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, Medical." =/\= He answered, reeling off his name in a flat drone. =/\= "I'm outside Sickbay. I saw a flashing, silver light, so I followed it. You know, like all of those morons in the horror holonovels." =/\= Kellen Gates never did things like this when he was in the holodeck. Why was that? Perhaps because he always expected things to go wrong in holoprograms; that was what comprised a good story: things going wrong. Then the people had to work to fix the things that had gone wrong, and so they usually took some kind of tool or sometimes, even a weapon, with them. All Gatesy had was his standard belt that had a hypospray and his medical tricorder attached to it. =/\= "Have you ever seen necrotic tissue, Lieutenant Niles?" His voice took on the far away tone of someone distracted or deep in thought. He stepped closer toward the wall, his eyes searching, studying. "There's the site of infection, then black tendrils of it reach outward, like branches of a tree, weakening and then killing the organic life around it. That's what it looks like.""And it's talking, sir." =/\=
Tag: Joshua Niles [ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ]The Chief of Engineering was crawled halfway into one of the warp core's three redundant force field regulators. There was so much going on that the chief's place ought to be coordinating the absolute kashi-kishi of failing and vulnerable systems - but instead she prioritized getting warp engines back online. She was vaguely aware of Mora breaking protocol and liaising with the Bridge on Engineering's behalf, but Som was more occupied yelling frustrated orders at other Engineers who were, in turn, thrown off by the difference in leadership. From cool and collected Chief Ozu to unfiltered and inexperienced Chief Som. "Chief! But it's not stopping ...!" came the aggravated response of one of the ensigns trying to follow Som's orders, the one she'd set to stopping the unauthorized communication channel. Kaya pulled herself out from under the panel and all but thrust the isolinear regulator into his hand. "What's the point of you!" Kaya barked. "Be useful!" Then more fireworks! Elders save them! Kaya saw someone leap back from a smoldering relay and cradle over a burned hand. "Someone get a med kit! EnsignBellostofi - do a med check." But now Niles was chatting them up from the Bridge. "What did he say?" she asked of Yande even as Kaya tried to assess the hijacked communications channel. She'd never seen anything like it. It was an absolute flood, torrenting past any safeguards. Yande repeated Lieutenant Niles' orders. "Something's breached the hull on Deck 7 - they need damage control."When had that happened! "Mora!" Kaya yelled for the older crewman. Not immediately finding him Kaya tried again. " MORA!" Kaya slapped her comm badge and returned Niles' message. "Bridge, acknowledged. Working on it. Som out." 'Som out'? They were late on warp, it was their communications that were compromised, and now their damage control teams had been too early deployed and scattered over the ship. Som out, indeed. In the minutes that followed Kaya managed to get Engineering mostly under control with Hugo's help now that her head was out from under a console. Only minor injuries were sustained in the Department, a damage control team got quickly deployed and finally the right people were put on the warp core repair. And finally, Kaya had a chance to look at the bizarre data flowing in and out of Engineering's central channel. "Engineering to Bridge. Captain Ellis, the comm channel breach looks like a data siphon. The object is accessing all databanks simultaneously bypassing any taxonomic architecture to dump everything at once. I thought it was an attack, but it's been one-way since the initial entrance. Captain, it's learning. Everything. Should attempt to block?" Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Isaiah Quinn [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] Had the environmental controls shorted out? They may as well have because it felt like it was raining piss in Engineering. That's just to say there was a helluva lot going on, and it simply seemed to be piling on more and more. But Engineers didn't complain... they simply got it done. Not to mention they were all on a learning curve, but they were getting it together. Hearing his name over the cacophony of Engineering, Ezra quickly recognized the voice. "Coming, Chief!" he called back as he weaved past engineers bustling about to restore order. When he got back to the Trill engineer, she was in conference with the bridge. Perhaps this was the moment he got his ass handed to him for chatting upstairs. He stood there waiting for the Chief to issue the rest of her orders, but overheard what she was sharing with the Bridge. It sounded as if the Chief had managed to make sense of that jargon that had been sent their way. And there was also reports of being breached. What the hell was this thing?
[ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The satellite held it's position as it... learned. That was their language. They also ceased their... resistance. There had been no other energy discharges and the ship had ended its elusion tactics. Apparently, they had accepted their... fate. Like all things in life, they would serve their usefulness until they ceased to be useful.
[ Meanwhile on Deck 7... ] -8- "ASSessING... assESSing... ASSEssinG... ASSesssING..." -8-The second satellite continued to siphon what it could from this mind. Much of it was intelligible, but the satellite was adapting... learning... understanding. If it could feel, it would be underwhelmed. And then, it's sensors detected something else. Something that had not been there before. A biological buoy? The display panel next to where Gates stood began to illuminate. However, the orange display distorted until it was in the shape of a face... Gates' face. It stared in the direction of the medic, and it began to 'talk.' Not directly, but by accessing the local sound delivery mechanism... another crude and inefficient means of communication. Still, perhaps it was what this ship would understand. It sought the words that it had sent initially: "IdEnnnTiiFyyy... SeeellllF."A stray metallic tendril lowered itself from the second satellite and began to slither across the ship's floor almost like a serpent in the Gates' direction.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Kaya Som [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] Ronnie was late, as usual. Considering I was in the sonic shower, off duty, I think I am making fine time. However, deep down inside, the artist knew that some highly ranked officer with hard eyes and a harder heart wasn’t going to give a hoot that she had been off duty and showering when the damage struck. She could almost hear the dressing down now. A Starfleet officer, especially an engineer, was on duty around the clock, shifts or showers be damned. And so she found herself rushing throughout the p-way that screamed with noise, that was alive with infernal lights, like it was a tunnel to hell. Her engineering kit bounced solidly against her hip as she double timed it. Ronnie’s build was husky and square instead of gracile. She looked plenty strong but in reality she was weak. So, so weak. She could have been on the receiving end of a cortado and a three egg breakfast after ten hours of sleep and still have been weak. When it came to manipulating the inside of a console, taking off a panel, fiddling with isolinear chips or painting her fingers were as nimble as any on the Mac, probably Starfleet. But running full bore with a not even bulky and ergonomic engineering kit slung over one broad shoulder? Just the prospect of it was enough to set her to moaning, a low pitched, constant, under her breath whine that always found its way to her plump lips whenever she was forced to exert herself physically. Ronnie couldn’t hear it over the cacophony of noise around her, the shouts, but she knew it was there. So wrapped up in her own pain and self pity was she that it could perhaps be forgiven if she didn’t notice the medical dude and a mustard yellow collared security officer before Ronnie saw...the thing. It resembled a plate of polbo á feira come to life, only made of metal. She had never been particularly cavalier about eating octopuses. Weren’t they supposed to exhibit a problem solving level of intelligence? This one certainly was. It appeared to be lighting up the panel to mimic a human face. The human face of the medical enlisted man, she suddenly realized. They were a virtual mirror for one another. And then the mirror spoke. The possibilities lit her mind aflame. Ronnie didn’t understand, and yet she was being forced to try to comprehend. It was all too much stimuli. Already short on wind from running, she found herself utterly unable to breathe, boots glued to the deck, horror contorting her face as she stood there, transfixed. "...sir...?" Ronnie breathed out, instinctively speaking to the security officer. Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles Well, a flurry of information was coming to Niles, between the acknowledgement that a security detail was on its way to meet him on Deck 7, and that a DC party might be somewhat delayed. Well, couldn't win them all; though, truth be told, getting a damage control team handy was more of an insurance policy in case forcefields would need to be stabilized, or there was some other imminent engineering need that would come from having some kind of a satellite punch through their heavily armoured hull as though it had been made of no more than tissue paper. But, the real meat of it was coming from this Petty Officer Gates who'd decided to investigate outside of Sickbay, and the was starting to provide information as to the intruder. And it was... talking? =A= "Gates, I'm going to need you to back off from that thing and keep eyes on until I get there. ETA under one minute."=A= Just as he closed the channel, the turbolift came to a stop, and there was his counter-boarding team waiting for him and with one gesture he led the way. Well, this might not be what he did best, but there he was, and before long the team made its way towards Sickbay, and before long they rounded the corner, just in time to hear a metallic voice asking for identification, and his voice sounded, a lot more certain and firm than he'd expected it to sound. "You have forcibly boarded the Federation starship Mac. If you wish to communicate, we can do that, but in the meantime, you are requested to stand down from whatever it is you're doing."Though as soon as he had made contact, a voice came from behind his party, a single Ensign carrying an engineering kit on her shoulder. Given the current situation, having a lone engineer coming down was definitely reasonable. "Ensign, glad to see you here. Looks like that thing is tapping into our systems and networks. Can you isolate this section from the rest of the ship so it doesn't spread any further from the inside?"Well, there went nothing, but at least he could report to the Bridge all right. =A= "Bridge, this is Niles. We've made contact with the... intruder. It seems it's attempting to connect to our systems not unlike the Borg would and it seems interested in communicating with us; I've identified us, and requested they stand down. Engineering has sent me personnel, and I'm exploring options to prevent too deep an infiltration of our systems. Please advise."=A= The part of the job about about not letting that thing compromise the ship, that was the reasonably easy part. The fact it was attempting to communicate while it was doing whatever it was doing, that was something unexpected, and it both made the job easier and more complicated at the same time. But given the attempt to communicate rather than being just a dumb machine doing its thing, that definitely was worth kicking upstairs for additional guidance.
Tags Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn Veronica Lisoft Kaya Som
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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 18, 2021 21:38:24 GMT
{Spoiler}{Quotes - Li, Niles, Tentacle Monster}
[ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The satellite held it's position as it... learned. That was their language. They also ceased their... resistance. There had been no other energy discharges and the ship had ended its elusion tactics. Apparently, they had accepted their... fate. Like all things in life, they would serve their usefulness until they ceased to be useful.
[ Meanwhile on Deck 7... ] -8- "ASSessING... assESSing... ASSEssinG... ASSesssING..." -8-The second satellite continued to siphon what it could from this mind. Much of it was intelligible, but the satellite was adapting... learning... understanding. If it could feel, it would be underwhelmed. And then, it's sensors detected something else. Something that had not been there before. A biological buoy? The display panel next to where Gates stood began to illuminate. However, the orange display distorted until it was in the shape of a face... Gates' face. It stared in the direction of the medic, and it began to 'talk.' Not directly, but by accessing the local sound delivery mechanism... another crude and inefficient means of communication. Still, perhaps it was what this ship would understand. It sought the words that it had sent initially: "IdEnnnTiiFyyy... SeeellllF."A stray metallic tendril lowered itself from the second satellite and began to slither across the ship's floor almost like a serpent in the Gates' direction. So wrapped up in her own pain and self pity was she that it could perhaps be forgiven if she didn’t notice the medical dude and a mustard yellow collared security officer before Ronnie saw...the thing. It resembled a plate of polbo á feira come to life, only made of metal. She had never been particularly cavalier about eating octopuses. Weren’t they supposed to exhibit a problem solving level of intelligence? This one certainly was. It appeared to be lighting up the panel to mimic a human face. The human face of the medical enlisted man, she suddenly realized. They were a virtual mirror for one another. And then the mirror spoke. The possibilities lit her mind aflame. Ronnie didn’t understand, and yet she was being forced to try to comprehend. It was all too much stimuli. Already short on wind from running, she found herself utterly unable to breathe, boots glued to the deck, horror contorting her face as she stood there, transfixed. "...sir...?" Ronnie breathed out, instinctively speaking to the security officer. [ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]
Well, a flurry of information was coming to Niles, between the acknowledgement that a security detail was on its way to meet him on Deck 7, and that a DC party might be somewhat delayed. Well, couldn't win them all; though, truth be told, getting a damage control team handy was more of an insurance policy in case forcefields would need to be stabilized, or there was some other imminent engineering need that would come from having some kind of a satellite punch through their heavily armoured hull as though it had been made of no more than tissue paper. But, the real meat of it was coming from this Petty Officer Gates who'd decided to investigate outside of Sickbay, and the was starting to provide information as to the intruder. And it was... talking? =A= "Gates, I'm going to need you to back off from that thing and keep eyes on until I get there. ETA under one minute."=A= Just as he closed the channel, the turbolift came to a stop, and there was his counter-boarding team waiting for him and with one gesture he led the way. Well, this might not be what he did best, but there he was, and before long the team made its way towards Sickbay, and before long they rounded the corner, just in time to hear a metallic voice asking for identification, and his voice sounded, a lot more certain and firm than he'd expected it to sound. "You have forcibly boarded the Federation starship Mac. If you wish to communicate, we can do that, but in the meantime, you are requested to stand down from whatever it is you're doing."Though as soon as he had made contact, a voice came from behind his party, a single Ensign carrying an engineering kit on her shoulder. Given the current situation, having a lone engineer coming down was definitely reasonable. "Ensign, glad to see you here. Looks like that thing is tapping into our systems and networks. Can you isolate this section from the rest of the ship so it doesn't spread any further from the inside?"Well, there went nothing, but at least he could report to the Bridge all right. =A= "Bridge, this is Niles. We've made contact with the... intruder. It seems it's attempting to connect to our systems not unlike the Borg would and it seems interested in communicating with us; I've identified us, and requested they stand down. Engineering has sent me personnel, and I'm exploring options to prevent too deep an infiltration of our systems. Please advise."=A= The part of the job about about not letting that thing compromise the ship, that was the reasonably easy part. The fact it was attempting to communicate while it was doing whatever it was doing, that was something unexpected, and it both made the job easier and more complicated at the same time. But given the attempt to communicate rather than being just a dumb machine doing its thing, that definitely was worth kicking upstairs for additional guidance. [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]Gatesy didn't have time to respond to the comm from Lieutenant Niles, but he did stumble backwards as he tried to move away from the image of his face in the panel next to him. He inhaled sharply, mouth agape with disbelief and shock as he stared at his own features, staring back at him. The voice was not his own, but it was using his image to communicate with him. For a few moments, Kellen Gates panicked. It wasn't a familiar feeling to the normally methodical, calm young medic, but he'd never been in a First Contact situation before. And certainly not alone. That thought was enough to chase some of his fears away. He needed to do better, to be bolder. He took a step closer, his expression still one of terrified awe despite the internal pep talk. "I - I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, but most people call me Gatesy."A woman arrived, one carrying the kit of an engineer. "Hello," he said in greeting, not recognising her. Then he turned his face back to his own, while Lieutenant Niles, fresh from the Bridge, asked it to stop. Kellen had a sneaking suspicion that their visitor might not be able to comply at this time. A good place to start, he thought, would be to ask what it wanted. "My function here on this ship is to repair organic matter. What is your function?" He asked conversationally.
Tag: Isaiah Quinn (Tentacle Monster), Veronica Li and Joshua Niles
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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 18, 2021 22:43:16 GMT
[NPC - PO1 S'Riia] - Eastern Path, Cavern, Planetoid] S'Riia continued to survey the area. There still was no sign of Lt. Commander Quinn's team. S'Riia really wasn't a fan of their current situation. Communications with the ship was down and they were spread out all over the place. At least they were working to remedy that. S'Riia reached for knapsack and quickly retrieved a water bottle. She had unscrewed it and taken a sip when suddenly her ears twitched. "Do you hear that?" she asked. It was faint... and possibly out of the range of human ears. There didn't see to be any indication that anyone else could hear it, but there was something more. The symbols on the obelisk began to blink. There was suddenly a clatter, as the water bottle fell from S'Riia's hand. The half-Caitian stared blankly at the obelisk before walking towards it. As she reached the totem she lifted her hand and placed it over the round symbol at the bottom of the apex. Soon, the symbols stopped blinking and became solid. There was a pause and a brief flash of light, and the surroundings of all three Starfleet officers were gone... replaced by darkness and a heavy hum. From somewhere illumination began to fill the room. S'Riia blinked to find the cavern gone, as well as the obelisk and the music. Instead, all that was before her was... herself. S'Riia stepped back, instinctively, her hands on the handle of her phaser. She looked around her and saw both Shavan and Dr. Hunt. "Wh-where are we? How did we get here?" she asked. [Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Unknown Cavern] Sensing S’Riia approach the obelisk beside him, Shavan glanced in her direction, trying to listen for whatever she was hearing. The thought that she was moving strangely had barely registered when the obelisk, and everything else, vanished around them. For a tense moment, there was nothing but a strange sound in the darkness, before their own dim reflections became visible. Shining a brighter light revealed some sort of mirrored surface, in another cave like the one they had left. “A transporter device, activated by touch," Shavan guessed. The distant rock walls contained nothing else… nor any visible way out. Except whatever had brought them here. Of course this would happen.He raised the tricorder to scan their surroundings, and get a more precise answer to S’Riia’s question. “I’m detecting a subspace echo coming from the mirror… and there's a matching signal approximately 17 kilometers away. That must be where we were.” There were no symbols or controls on the mirror, but there had to be more to it. “It’s made of a metal alloy with no match in the database.” Still strange, and not helpful. Shavan tapped his commbadge to try to warn the other team. =/\= "Th’zhaar to Quinn, if you can hear this, please respond." =/\= They had probably lost communications, but had to check. Meanwhile, he stepped past S’Riia to get close to the mirrored surface. Isaiah Quinn Jonathan Hunt
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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 19, 2021 4:25:08 GMT
[Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Drones? She got to play with use experimental drone tech? The excitement that bubbled inside her eased her migraine slightly, and as the Commander transferred control of the hornets to her, she turned back to her console to reduce the flashing lights in her range of vision. Syl could at least pretend to be waiting patiently. It was difficult to keep from bouncing in her seat, though. The red alert, the sparking consoles, the urgent voices across the Bridge and over the coms all faded away as a secondary panel she had never seen before suddenly slid down over the console in front of her, and the Mac's helm controls were automatically transferred to the auxiliary station. Tentatively sliding open a latch, she picked up the visor and slipped it on. The controls looked easy enough... buttons for deploy and recall, two navigational pads, the ability to toggle between drones to issue specific commands... It only took a few moments for her to be comfortable enough with the system for an investigative trip, and she hit the 'deploy' button. The visor suddenly darkened, and she watched as a hatch slid open before her eyes to reveal the inky blackness of space just beyond. "Whoa..." Her fingertip tentatively slid along one of the pads, and the open hatch passed around her. This was so cool... "Hornets deployed," she remembered to report at the last minute, her hand guiding the drones around the hull of the ship, searching for the breach and the satellite that had caused it. Tag Felicity Ellis [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Well... at least he wasn't the only one who seemed to be thoroughly unnerved by all this. When they were ordered to begin what was essentially a missing persons investigation, Cerjess pulled out his tricorder and focused on getting readings from the obelisk. "It's definitely emitting some sort of energy..." he reported as he slowly circled the mysterious object, careful not to get too close to it. "There's also a subspace echo..." The scientist paused then, spinning in a circle on his heel to scan the area around the obelisk. "It matches another echo beneath the surface... 17 kilometers that way." What sort of technology was this? He turned to focus his scans back on the glowing symbols. "I think we know what transported them..." Now the questions remained - to where? And why? Tag Isaiah Quinn Left Ear to-Ennien 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 19, 2021 13:13:46 GMT
[ Ensign Rin Zakir Planetoid Cavern - Rendezvous Point] For all intents and purposes, this was now a missing person investigation, although Zak had the responsibility of making sure that no one else disappeared. He had already deduced by the footprints and other clues in the area, that the other team had definitely been here just moments before their own arrival. Where were they now, though? Placing himself in a position in which he could clearly see both the obelisk and any paths leading from the 'room', he allowed the science team to work their magic. While he was all for taking initiative, he would just get underfoot when he could be securing the area. He hoped the others were alright, wherever they were. Had anyone tried to communicate with them though? Contact from the ship was lost, but they could still speak with one another. Unless of course, this obelisk thing hampered communications or the other team were out of range. So far, they had deduced that said obelisk was emitting some kind of energy, but then he was hardly surprised by the revelation. That blue lighting couldn't have just been for show, but a subspace echo? "Could that be the other team's location?", he asked, though he doubted finding them would be as easy as that. Especially if they ran into any more 'Giant Azure Drosera'.
Tag Isaiah Quinn , Syl O'Connell , Left Ear to-Ennien
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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 19, 2021 20:07:48 GMT
{Quotes} [ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ] "Engineering to Bridge. Captain Ellis, the comm channel breach looks like a data siphon. The object is accessing all databanks simultaneously bypassing any taxonomic architecture to dump everything at once. I thought it was an attack, but it's been one-way since the initial entrance. Captain, it's learning. Everything. Should attempt to block?" =A= "Bridge, this is Niles. We've made contact with the... intruder. It seems it's attempting to connect to our systems not unlike the Borg would and it seems interested in communicating with us; I've identified us, and requested they stand down. Engineering has sent me personnel, and I'm exploring options to prevent too deep an infiltration of our systems. Please advise."=A= [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Drones? She got to play with use experimental drone tech? The excitement that bubbled inside her eased her migraine slightly, and as the Commander transferred control of the hornets to her, she turned back to her console to reduce the flashing lights in her range of vision. Syl could at least pretend to be waiting patiently. It was difficult to keep from bouncing in her seat, though. The red alert, the sparking consoles, the urgent voices across the Bridge and over the coms all faded away as a secondary panel she had never seen before suddenly slid down over the console in front of her, and the Mac's helm controls were automatically transferred to the auxiliary station. Tentatively sliding open a latch, she picked up the visor and slipped it on. The controls looked easy enough... buttons for deploy and recall, two navigational pads, the ability to toggle between drones to issue specific commands... It only took a few moments for her to be comfortable enough with the system for an investigative trip, and she hit the 'deploy' button. The visor suddenly darkened, and she watched as a hatch slid open before her eyes to reveal the inky blackness of space just beyond. "Whoa..." Her fingertip tentatively slid along one of the pads, and the open hatch passed around her. This was so cool... "Hornets deployed," she remembered to report at the last minute, her hand guiding the drones around the hull of the ship, searching for the breach and the satellite that had caused it. [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]Felicity didn't respond to either Engineering, or Niles straight away. Her mouth was pursed, her eyes narrowed very slightly and as she considered their options she watched Ensign O'Connell familiarise herself with the hornets. The report from Som was indeed concerning. A huge part of her, the academic, wanted to let it learn. But a larger part of her felt the responsibility of the safety of the ship and its crew, and when it came to people's lives, her choice was clear, no matter how the odds were stacked. The data the object was pulling from them might only be used as a method of communication, or it might be used to destroy them. It had sped through their shields like they were non-existent, and it was obvious to Felicity that they hadn't seen all this technology had to offer. Finally, she began to issue orders. =/\= "Bridge to Engineering. Chief, try to block the siphon. There's a Security team on Deck 7 who say they are in contact, I'd like to see what kind of reaction cutting the data off might produce." =/\= Maybe it would throw a temper tantrum, or maybe it would ask politely for more. Either way, they needed to start doing some learning themselves. "Well done, Ensign," Felicity said in a low voice that wouldn't carry beyond the centre chairs and the helm. She was surprised at how quickly the pilot had taken to the drone program, and impressed at how intuitive it seemed to be. O'Leary was a mess, but she certainly knew her craft. "Take them in steady, let's get a closer look. Hopefully the folks down on Deck 7 can distract it long enough for us to gather some intel of our own."=/\= "Niles, this is Ellis. Engineering are going to try and block its data syphon, and Ensign O'Connell is approaching with her drones. Keep it occupied if you can, and report any changes in... attitude." She visibly cringed at the word, but couldn't think of anything better. "See if you can find out why its here, and what it wants with the Mac." =/\=
Tags: Kaya Som / Engineering, Joshua Niles & Co. on Deck 7, Syl O'Connell
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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 19, 2021 20:35:57 GMT
[ Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Rendezvous Point] Left Ear left the obelisk and cast about the area for a few moments, nostrils flaring, mouth slightly open to catch every nuance of scent. She was not particularly proficient at hunting or tracking, but the sense of smell was an integral part of a Sivaoan's life. Left Ear even used scent in diagnosing illness, though she was still developing this skill with species other than Sivaoans. Still, she could tell enough to know that the away team hadn't moved around the cavern much. The Sivaoan went down the trail a few meters, then turned back when she didn't catch scents for anyone besides the three. She listened with one ear turned toward the others as they spoke, taking note of their assessments. Examining the ground, Left Ear noticed footprints. Her own, along with the brush of her tail, had obscured some of them, but they seemed to confirm what her nose was telling her. ' Commander, it looks like they entered and they didn't walk out. There are no scents besides ours and the other team. A transporter beam seems like the most likely scenario, but I can't smell that.' Tag Isaiah Quinn, Syl O'Connell and Rin Zakir
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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 19, 2021 21:22:22 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] [...] So wrapped up in her own pain and self pity was she that it could perhaps be forgiven if she didn’t notice the medical dude and a mustard yellow collared security officer before Ronnie saw...the thing. It resembled a plate of polbo á feira come to life, only made of metal. She had never been particularly cavalier about eating octopuses. Weren’t they supposed to exhibit a problem solving level of intelligence? This one certainly was. It appeared to be lighting up the panel to mimic a human face. The human face of the medical enlisted man, she suddenly realized. They were a virtual mirror for one another. And then the mirror spoke. The possibilities lit her mind aflame. Ronnie didn’t understand, and yet she was being forced to try to comprehend. It was all too much stimuli. Already short on wind from running, she found herself utterly unable to breathe, boots glued to the deck, horror contorting her face as she stood there, transfixed. "...sir...?" Ronnie breathed out, instinctively speaking to the security officer. [ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Spoiler}{Spoiler}Well, a flurry of information was coming to Niles, between the acknowledgement that a security detail was on its way to meet him on Deck 7, and that a DC party might be somewhat delayed. Well, couldn't win them all; though, truth be told, getting a damage control team handy was more of an insurance policy in case forcefields would need to be stabilized, or there was some other imminent engineering need that would come from having some kind of a satellite punch through their heavily armoured hull as though it had been made of no more than tissue paper. But, the real meat of it was coming from this Petty Officer Gates who'd decided to investigate outside of Sickbay, and the was starting to provide information as to the intruder. And it was... talking? =A="Gates, I'm going to need you to back off from that thing and keep eyes on until I get there. ETA under one minute."=A=
Just as he closed the channel, the turbolift came to a stop, and there was his counter-boarding team waiting for him and with one gesture he led the way. Well, this might not be what he did best, but there he was, and before long the team made its way towards Sickbay, and before long they rounded the corner, just in time to hear a metallic voice asking for identification, and his voice sounded, a lot more certain and firm than he'd expected it to sound. "You have forcibly boarded the Federation starship Mac. If you wish to communicate, we can do that, but in the meantime, you are requested to stand down from whatever it is you're doing."Though as soon as he had made contact, a voice came from behind his party, a single Ensign carrying an engineering kit on her shoulder. Given the current situation, having a lone engineer coming down was definitely reasonable. "Ensign, glad to see you here. Looks like that thing is tapping into our systems and networks. Can you isolate this section from the rest of the ship so it doesn't spread any further from the inside?"Well, there went nothing, but at least he could report to the Bridge all right. =A= "Bridge, this is Niles. We've made contact with the... intruder. It seems it's attempting to connect to our systems not unlike the Borg would and it seems interested in communicating with us; I've identified us, and requested they stand down. Engineering has sent me personnel, and I'm exploring options to prevent too deep an infiltration of our systems. Please advise."=A= The part of the job about about not letting that thing compromise the ship, that was the reasonably easy part. The fact it was attempting to communicate while it was doing whatever it was doing, that was something unexpected, and it both made the job easier and more complicated at the same time. But given the attempt to communicate rather than being just a dumb machine doing its thing, that definitely was worth kicking upstairs for additional guidance. {Spoiler}{Spoiler}[Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]
[...] That thought was enough to chase some of his fears away. He needed to do better, to be bolder. He took a step closer, his expression still one of terrified awe despite the internal pep talk. "I - I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, but most people call me Gatesy."A woman arrived, one carrying the kit of an engineer. "Hello," he said in greeting, not recognising her. Then he turned his face back to his own, while Lieutenant Niles, fresh from the Bridge, asked it to stop. Kellen had a sneaking suspicion that their visitor might not be able to comply at this time. A good place to start, he thought, would be to ask what it wanted. "My function here on this ship is to repair organic matter. What is your function?" He asked conversationally. [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Drones? She got to play with use experimental drone tech? The excitement that bubbled inside her eased her migraine slightly, and as the Commander transferred control of the hornets to her, she turned back to her console to reduce the flashing lights in her range of vision. Syl could at least pretend to be waiting patiently. It was difficult to keep from bouncing in her seat, though. The red alert, the sparking consoles, the urgent voices across the Bridge and over the coms all faded away as a secondary panel she had never seen before suddenly slid down over the console in front of her, and the Mac's helm controls were automatically transferred to the auxiliary station. Tentatively sliding open a latch, she picked up the visor and slipped it on. The controls looked easy enough... buttons for deploy and recall, two navigational pads, the ability to toggle between drones to issue specific commands... It only took a few moments for her to be comfortable enough with the system for an investigative trip, and she hit the 'deploy' button. The visor suddenly darkened, and she watched as a hatch slid open before her eyes to reveal the inky blackness of space just beyond. "Whoa..." Her fingertip tentatively slid along one of the pads, and the open hatch passed around her. This was so cool... "Hornets deployed," she remembered to report at the last minute, her hand guiding the drones around the hull of the ship, searching for the breach and the satellite that had caused it. Rin Zakir {Spoiler}{Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
[...] Finally, she began to issue orders. =/\= "Bridge to Engineering. Chief, try to block the siphon. There's a Security team on Deck 7 who say they are in contact, I'd like to see what kind of reaction cutting the data off might produce." =/\= Maybe it would throw a temper tantrum, or maybe it would ask politely for more. Either way, they needed to start doing some learning themselves. "Well done, Ensign," Felicity said in a low voice that wouldn't carry beyond the centre chairs and the helm. She was surprised at how quickly the pilot had taken to the drone program, and impressed at how intuitive it seemed to be. O'Leary was a mess, but she certainly knew her craft. "Take them in steady, let's get a closer look. Hopefully the folks down on Deck 7 can distract it long enough for us to gather some intel of our own."=/\= "Niles, this is Ellis. Engineering are going to try and block its data syphon, and Ensign O'Connell is approaching with her drones. Keep it occupied if you can, and report any changes in... attitude." She visibly cringed at the word, but couldn't think of anything better. "See if you can find out why its here, and what it wants with the Mac." =/\= [ ... Deck 7... ] "GaTE c..." the second satellite attempted to adapt the designation that had been assigned. The interface was not perfect, but even that appeared to be inconsistent nomenclature. Especially, considering that GaTE c's function was repairing organic matter. That was potentially a useful skill. That specific knowledge needed to be assessed. "KNOWledGe AssESSmEnt." That was the response it gave to Gates' question. Yet, then there was another that addressed the satellite. In fact, it appeared that more individuals had GaTE c. Another one addressed the second satellite speaking not with interrogatives, but imperatives. The face on the panel that had appeared in GaTE c's image shimmered and a second face appeared in the image of Lt. Niles. It stared at the security officer a moment before issuing a response. "reQuESt dEniEd," it responded firmly. The face shimmered once again, going back to mimic GaTE c's face. At the same time, the metallic tentacle rose from the ground in front of the Starfleet officers, its end splitting into tri-blade pincers. "DIrEct iNtErfAce wiTh oRGaNic suBjEct rEQuIrEd." The blades pinched closed and opened back up as it wavered in front of the gathered Starfleet officers as if attempting to determine whom it would interface with.
[... Meanwhile in Orbit... ] The satellite in orbit was able to continue to process and decipher the data being relayed from the computer core. The more data it accumulated, the more it understood. There were several files that were of interest. Propulsion (Warp) ... Assessing Shields ... Insufficient Weapons ... Assessing Transporters... Insufficient Ship Prefix Codes... Priority Replicators... Assessing Biological Profiles... Priority
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Veronica Li Soft tag: 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 19, 2021 22:43:40 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Unknown Cavern] Sensing S’Riia approach the obelisk beside him, Shavan glanced in her direction, trying to listen for whatever she was hearing. The thought that she was moving strangely had barely registered when the obelisk, and everything else, vanished around them. For a tense moment, there was nothing but a strange sound in the darkness, before their own dim reflections became visible. Shining a brighter light revealed some sort of mirrored surface, in another cave like the one they had left. “A transporter device, activated by touch," Shavan guessed. The distant rock walls contained nothing else… nor any visible way out. Except whatever had brought them here. Of course this would happen.He raised the tricorder to scan their surroundings, and get a more precise answer to S’Riia’s question. “I’m detecting a subspace echo coming from the mirror… and there's a matching signal approximately 17 kilometers away. That must be where we were.” There were no symbols or controls on the mirror, but there had to be more to it. “It’s made of a metal alloy with no match in the database.” Still strange, and not helpful. Shavan tapped his commbadge to try to warn the other team. =/\= "Th’zhaar to Quinn, if you can hear this, please respond." =/\= They had probably lost communications, but had to check. Meanwhile, he stepped past S’Riia to get close to the mirrored surface. [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]Well... at least he wasn't the only one who seemed to be thoroughly unnerved by all this. When they were ordered to begin what was essentially a missing persons investigation, Cerjess pulled out his tricorder and focused on getting readings from the obelisk. "It's definitely emitting some sort of energy..." he reported as he slowly circled the mysterious object, careful not to get too close to it. "There's also a subspace echo..." The scientist paused then, spinning in a circle on his heel to scan the area around the obelisk. "It matches another echo beneath the surface... 17 kilometers that way." What sort of technology was this? He turned to focus his scans back on the glowing symbols. "I think we know what transported them..." Now the questions remained - to where? And why? [ Ensign Rin Zakir Planetoid Cavern - Rendezvous Point] For all intents and purposes, this was now a missing person investigation, although Zak had the responsibility of making sure that no one else disappeared. He had already deduced by the footprints and other clues in the area, that the other team had definitely been here just moments before their own arrival. Where were they now, though? Placing himself in a position in which he could clearly see both the obelisk and any paths leading from the 'room', he allowed the science team to work their magic. While he was all for taking initiative, he would just get underfoot when he could be securing the area. He hoped the others were alright, wherever they were. Had anyone tried to communicate with them though? Contact from the ship was lost, but they could still speak with one another. Unless of course, this obelisk thing hampered communications or the other team were out of range. So far, they had deduced that said obelisk was emitting some kind of energy, but then he was hardly surprised by the revelation. That blue lighting couldn't have just been for show, but a subspace echo? "Could that be the other team's location?", he asked, though he doubted finding them would be as easy as that. Especially if they ran into any more 'Giant Azure Drosera'. [ Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Rendezvous Point] Left Ear left the obelisk and cast about the area for a few moments, nostrils flaring, mouth slightly open to catch every nuance of scent. She was not particularly proficient at hunting or tracking, but the sense of smell was an integral part of a Sivaoan's life. Left Ear even used scent in diagnosing illness, though she was still developing this skill with species other than Sivaoans. Still, she could tell enough to know that the away team hadn't moved around the cavern much. The Sivaoan went down the trail a few meters, then turned back when she didn't catch scents for anyone besides the three. She listened with one ear turned toward the others as they spoke, taking note of their assessments. Examining the ground, Left Ear noticed footprints. Her own, along with the brush of her tail, had obscured some of them, but they seemed to confirm what her nose was telling her. ' Commander, it looks like they entered and they didn't walk out. There are no scents besides ours and the other team. A transporter beam seems like the most likely scenario, but I can't smell that.' [Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Rendezvous Point, Cavern, Planetoid] Isaiah listened as the rest of the facts rolled in. There was no sign of anyone else besides the members of the away team. That and this subspace echo continued to suggest the possibility that the away team had been relocated by some means of transport. "It is possible," Isaiah said. "The Ferengi at one point had developed a subspace transporter that allowed transport over great distances by converting the energy pattern into a state of quantum flux. The tech was unreliable, but if these echoes serve as fixed points... they could be part of some sort of transport system." Isaiah exhaled and tapped his badge, wondering if communications could get through. "Quinn to Shavan? Quinn to Hunt?" There was nothing. "Something is interfering with our communications as well," Isaiah stated. "If this is some sort of interface for a transporter system, we need to figure out how it works. Cadet, you said S'Riia touched the obelisk. I need to know exactly what she touched and where everyone was standing. Mr. Rin, try to reconfigure your communicator to match the subspace frequency we detected. It may give us a way to communicate with the others. Lt. Miren, scan all the symbols on that obelisk. As best you can, see if you can decipher or interpret some sort of meaning for any of them that will give us a clue of what we're looking at."
[NPC - PO1 S'Riia - Unknown Cavern, Planetoid] S'Riia shook her head as Shavan filled her in on the details. She couldn't remember being transported, and she certainly didn't recall anyone touching anything. "Someone touched something?" she asked. She looked between Shavan and Hunt. She clearly hadn't. Didn't they know mission protocol? Naturally, it'd be a scientist. She listened the rest of the details as Shavan recited them, at the same time looking around the enclosed area. Was this some sort of cell? There were no openings... just that mirror thing made from some sort of strange metal. As Shavan moved closer something else happened. S'Riia moved quickly, placing her hand on Shavan's shoulder as to pull him back. "Watch out!" she warned. Her hand was already on the handle of her phaser. The mirror had moved... or was still moving. It began to bubble directly in front of Shavan and slowly began to take shape. As it finished, it was a perfect mirror replica of Shavan... antennae and all. It stared at the Andorian-Orion hybrid and then looked at S'Riia and Hunt as well. "Identify Self," said Mirror-Shavan.
Tag: Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Syl O'Connell (Cerjess), Left Ear to-Ennien , Rin Zakir
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Veronica Li
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 13 Likes: 2
Rank: Ensign
Species: Human
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Post by Veronica Li on Jul 19, 2021 22:47:30 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]"Already on it," Dimmadome called out following Niles' recommendation. Felicity nodded, then turned back toward the helm, relieved that Niles hadn't complained about being asked to deal with a Security issue. You know - his job. Having read all of Thea's and Judy's mission reports regarding his performance over the last year, she'd been expecting problems. Thankfully, he seemed to be keeping any notions he might have to himself. Felicity arched a brow at the pilot's correction, then glanced at her screen. There was indeed now two satellites, one attached to them, another still some two kilometres in their wake. That alone was enough to tell them that the objects had them beaten for speed. Upon learning that O'Connell had no idea about O'Leary's project, Felicity managed to stifle an impatient sigh. She shouldn't be surprised, really; Niamh had not been performing to standard at all recently. Her approach had always been unorthodox, but the Flight Chief's decline had become sharp since they'd relocated to Front Ear. That was another discussion she'd have to have with the Captains when she returned. "She designed some drones, ostensibly to assist with manual hull repairs, maintenance, that kind of thing. Naturally, it evolved into something else entirely, and we now have a wing of four 'hornet' small-space craft with some defensive capabilities. I was hoping their first use would be for exploration, but I'll settle for getting up close and personal with our little passenger."She returned to her seat, pulled her console closer and began to tap out a few commands. =/\= "Computer, transfer launch control of PROJECT HORNET to Ensign O'Connell, and add her to the admin group. Authorisation ELLIS ONE-DELTA-TWO-TWO." =/\= Once the chirp sounded to let them know that task had been completed, she returned her attention to the pilot. "Take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the protocols, and then you'll need to give yourself a little crash course on their handling."
Tag: Syl O'Connell *** [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]=/\= "This is Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, Medical." =/\= He answered, reeling off his name in a flat drone. =/\= "I'm outside Sickbay. I saw a flashing, silver light, so I followed it. You know, like all of those morons in the horror holonovels." =/\= Kellen Gates never did things like this when he was in the holodeck. Why was that? Perhaps because he always expected things to go wrong in holoprograms; that was what comprised a good story: things going wrong. Then the people had to work to fix the things that had gone wrong, and so they usually took some kind of tool or sometimes, even a weapon, with them. All Gatesy had was his standard belt that had a hypospray and his medical tricorder attached to it. =/\= "Have you ever seen necrotic tissue, Lieutenant Niles?" His voice took on the far away tone of someone distracted or deep in thought. He stepped closer toward the wall, his eyes searching, studying. "There's the site of infection, then black tendrils of it reach outward, like branches of a tree, weakening and then killing the organic life around it. That's what it looks like.""And it's talking, sir." =/\=
Tag: Joshua Niles [ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ]The Chief of Engineering was crawled halfway into one of the warp core's three redundant force field regulators. There was so much going on that the chief's place ought to be coordinating the absolute kashi-kishi of failing and vulnerable systems - but instead she prioritized getting warp engines back online. She was vaguely aware of Mora breaking protocol and liaising with the Bridge on Engineering's behalf, but Som was more occupied yelling frustrated orders at other Engineers who were, in turn, thrown off by the difference in leadership. From cool and collected Chief Ozu to unfiltered and inexperienced Chief Som. "Chief! But it's not stopping ...!" came the aggravated response of one of the ensigns trying to follow Som's orders, the one she'd set to stopping the unauthorized communication channel. Kaya pulled herself out from under the panel and all but thrust the isolinear regulator into his hand. "What's the point of you!" Kaya barked. "Be useful!" Then more fireworks! Elders save them! Kaya saw someone leap back from a smoldering relay and cradle over a burned hand. "Someone get a med kit! EnsignBellostofi - do a med check." But now Niles was chatting them up from the Bridge. "What did he say?" she asked of Yande even as Kaya tried to assess the hijacked communications channel. She'd never seen anything like it. It was an absolute flood, torrenting past any safeguards. Yande repeated Lieutenant Niles' orders. "Something's breached the hull on Deck 7 - they need damage control."When had that happened! "Mora!" Kaya yelled for the older crewman. Not immediately finding him Kaya tried again. " MORA!" Kaya slapped her comm badge and returned Niles' message. "Bridge, acknowledged. Working on it. Som out." 'Som out'? They were late on warp, it was their communications that were compromised, and now their damage control teams had been too early deployed and scattered over the ship. Som out, indeed. In the minutes that followed Kaya managed to get Engineering mostly under control with Hugo's help now that her head was out from under a console. Only minor injuries were sustained in the Department, a damage control team got quickly deployed and finally the right people were put on the warp core repair. And finally, Kaya had a chance to look at the bizarre data flowing in and out of Engineering's central channel. "Engineering to Bridge. Captain Ellis, the comm channel breach looks like a data siphon. The object is accessing all databanks simultaneously bypassing any taxonomic architecture to dump everything at once. I thought it was an attack, but it's been one-way since the initial entrance. Captain, it's learning. Everything. Should attempt to block?" Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Isaiah Quinn [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] Had the environmental controls shorted out? They may as well have because it felt like it was raining piss in Engineering. That's just to say there was a helluva lot going on, and it simply seemed to be piling on more and more. But Engineers didn't complain... they simply got it done. Not to mention they were all on a learning curve, but they were getting it together. Hearing his name over the cacophony of Engineering, Ezra quickly recognized the voice. "Coming, Chief!" he called back as he weaved past engineers bustling about to restore order. When he got back to the Trill engineer, she was in conference with the bridge. Perhaps this was the moment he got his ass handed to him for chatting upstairs. He stood there waiting for the Chief to issue the rest of her orders, but overheard what she was sharing with the Bridge. It sounded as if the Chief had managed to make sense of that jargon that had been sent their way. And there was also reports of being breached. What the hell was this thing?
[ Meanwhile in orbit... ] The satellite held it's position as it... learned. That was their language. They also ceased their... resistance. There had been no other energy discharges and the ship had ended its elusion tactics. Apparently, they had accepted their... fate. Like all things in life, they would serve their usefulness until they ceased to be useful.
[ Meanwhile on Deck 7... ] -8- "ASSessING... assESSing... ASSEssinG... ASSesssING..." -8-The second satellite continued to siphon what it could from this mind. Much of it was intelligible, but the satellite was adapting... learning... understanding. If it could feel, it would be underwhelmed. And then, it's sensors detected something else. Something that had not been there before. A biological buoy? The display panel next to where Gates stood began to illuminate. However, the orange display distorted until it was in the shape of a face... Gates' face. It stared in the direction of the medic, and it began to 'talk.' Not directly, but by accessing the local sound delivery mechanism... another crude and inefficient means of communication. Still, perhaps it was what this ship would understand. It sought the words that it had sent initially: "IdEnnnTiiFyyy... SeeellllF."A stray metallic tendril lowered itself from the second satellite and began to slither across the ship's floor almost like a serpent in the Gates' direction.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Kaya Som [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] Ronnie was late, as usual. Considering I was in the sonic shower, off duty, I think I am making fine time. However, deep down inside, the artist knew that some highly ranked officer with hard eyes and a harder heart wasn’t going to give a hoot that she had been off duty and showering when the damage struck. She could almost hear the dressing down now. A Starfleet officer, especially an engineer, was on duty around the clock, shifts or showers be damned. And so she found herself rushing throughout the p-way that screamed with noise, that was alive with infernal lights, like it was a tunnel to hell. Her engineering kit bounced solidly against her hip as she double timed it. Ronnie’s build was husky and square instead of gracile. She looked plenty strong but in reality she was weak. So, so weak. She could have been on the receiving end of a cortado and a three egg breakfast after ten hours of sleep and still have been weak. When it came to manipulating the inside of a console, taking off a panel, fiddling with isolinear chips or painting her fingers were as nimble as any on the Mac, probably Starfleet. But running full bore with a not even bulky and ergonomic engineering kit slung over one broad shoulder? Just the prospect of it was enough to set her to moaning, a low pitched, constant, under her breath whine that always found its way to her plump lips whenever she was forced to exert herself physically. Ronnie couldn’t hear it over the cacophony of noise around her, the shouts, but she knew it was there. So wrapped up in her own pain and self pity was she that it could perhaps be forgiven if she didn’t notice the medical dude and a mustard yellow collared security officer before Ronnie saw...the thing. It resembled a plate of polbo á feira come to life, only made of metal. She had never been particularly cavalier about eating octopuses. Weren’t they supposed to exhibit a problem solving level of intelligence? This one certainly was. It appeared to be lighting up the panel to mimic a human face. The human face of the medical enlisted man, she suddenly realized. They were a virtual mirror for one another. And then the mirror spoke. The possibilities lit her mind aflame. Ronnie didn’t understand, and yet she was being forced to try to comprehend. It was all too much stimuli. Already short on wind from running, she found herself utterly unable to breathe, boots glued to the deck, horror contorting her face as she stood there, transfixed. "...sir...?" Ronnie breathed out, instinctively speaking to the security officer. Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles Well, a flurry of information was coming to Niles, between the acknowledgement that a security detail was on its way to meet him on Deck 7, and that a DC party might be somewhat delayed. Well, couldn't win them all; though, truth be told, getting a damage control team handy was more of an insurance policy in case forcefields would need to be stabilized, or there was some other imminent engineering need that would come from having some kind of a satellite punch through their heavily armoured hull as though it had been made of no more than tissue paper. But, the real meat of it was coming from this Petty Officer Gates who'd decided to investigate outside of Sickbay, and the was starting to provide information as to the intruder. And it was... talking? =A= "Gates, I'm going to need you to back off from that thing and keep eyes on until I get there. ETA under one minute."=A= Just as he closed the channel, the turbolift came to a stop, and there was his counter-boarding team waiting for him and with one gesture he led the way. Well, this might not be what he did best, but there he was, and before long the team made its way towards Sickbay, and before long they rounded the corner, just in time to hear a metallic voice asking for identification, and his voice sounded, a lot more certain and firm than he'd expected it to sound. "You have forcibly boarded the Federation starship Mac. If you wish to communicate, we can do that, but in the meantime, you are requested to stand down from whatever it is you're doing."Though as soon as he had made contact, a voice came from behind his party, a single Ensign carrying an engineering kit on her shoulder. Given the current situation, having a lone engineer coming down was definitely reasonable. "Ensign, glad to see you here. Looks like that thing is tapping into our systems and networks. Can you isolate this section from the rest of the ship so it doesn't spread any further from the inside?"Well, there went nothing, but at least he could report to the Bridge all right. =A= "Bridge, this is Niles. We've made contact with the... intruder. It seems it's attempting to connect to our systems not unlike the Borg would and it seems interested in communicating with us; I've identified us, and requested they stand down. Engineering has sent me personnel, and I'm exploring options to prevent too deep an infiltration of our systems. Please advise."=A= The part of the job about about not letting that thing compromise the ship, that was the reasonably easy part. The fact it was attempting to communicate while it was doing whatever it was doing, that was something unexpected, and it both made the job easier and more complicated at the same time. But given the attempt to communicate rather than being just a dumb machine doing its thing, that definitely was worth kicking upstairs for additional guidance.
Tags Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn Veronica Li soft Kaya Som {Quoted Posts} [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] [...] So wrapped up in her own pain and self pity was she that it could perhaps be forgiven if she didn’t notice the medical dude and a mustard yellow collared security officer before Ronnie saw...the thing. It resembled a plate of polbo á feira come to life, only made of metal. She had never been particularly cavalier about eating octopuses. Weren’t they supposed to exhibit a problem solving level of intelligence? This one certainly was. It appeared to be lighting up the panel to mimic a human face. The human face of the medical enlisted man, she suddenly realized. They were a virtual mirror for one another. And then the mirror spoke. The possibilities lit her mind aflame. Ronnie didn’t understand, and yet she was being forced to try to comprehend. It was all too much stimuli. Already short on wind from running, she found herself utterly unable to breathe, boots glued to the deck, horror contorting her face as she stood there, transfixed. "...sir...?" Ronnie breathed out, instinctively speaking to the security officer. [ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Spoiler}{Spoiler}Well, a flurry of information was coming to Niles, between the acknowledgement that a security detail was on its way to meet him on Deck 7, and that a DC party might be somewhat delayed. Well, couldn't win them all; though, truth be told, getting a damage control team handy was more of an insurance policy in case forcefields would need to be stabilized, or there was some other imminent engineering need that would come from having some kind of a satellite punch through their heavily armoured hull as though it had been made of no more than tissue paper. But, the real meat of it was coming from this Petty Officer Gates who'd decided to investigate outside of Sickbay, and the was starting to provide information as to the intruder. And it was... talking? =A="Gates, I'm going to need you to back off from that thing and keep eyes on until I get there. ETA under one minute."=A=
Just as he closed the channel, the turbolift came to a stop, and there was his counter-boarding team waiting for him and with one gesture he led the way. Well, this might not be what he did best, but there he was, and before long the team made its way towards Sickbay, and before long they rounded the corner, just in time to hear a metallic voice asking for identification, and his voice sounded, a lot more certain and firm than he'd expected it to sound. "You have forcibly boarded the Federation starship Mac. If you wish to communicate, we can do that, but in the meantime, you are requested to stand down from whatever it is you're doing."Though as soon as he had made contact, a voice came from behind his party, a single Ensign carrying an engineering kit on her shoulder. Given the current situation, having a lone engineer coming down was definitely reasonable. "Ensign, glad to see you here. Looks like that thing is tapping into our systems and networks. Can you isolate this section from the rest of the ship so it doesn't spread any further from the inside?"Well, there went nothing, but at least he could report to the Bridge all right. =A= "Bridge, this is Niles. We've made contact with the... intruder. It seems it's attempting to connect to our systems not unlike the Borg would and it seems interested in communicating with us; I've identified us, and requested they stand down. Engineering has sent me personnel, and I'm exploring options to prevent too deep an infiltration of our systems. Please advise."=A= The part of the job about about not letting that thing compromise the ship, that was the reasonably easy part. The fact it was attempting to communicate while it was doing whatever it was doing, that was something unexpected, and it both made the job easier and more complicated at the same time. But given the attempt to communicate rather than being just a dumb machine doing its thing, that definitely was worth kicking upstairs for additional guidance. {Spoiler}{Spoiler}[Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]
[...] That thought was enough to chase some of his fears away. He needed to do better, to be bolder. He took a step closer, his expression still one of terrified awe despite the internal pep talk. "I - I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, but most people call me Gatesy."A woman arrived, one carrying the kit of an engineer. "Hello," he said in greeting, not recognising her. Then he turned his face back to his own, while Lieutenant Niles, fresh from the Bridge, asked it to stop. Kellen had a sneaking suspicion that their visitor might not be able to comply at this time. A good place to start, he thought, would be to ask what it wanted. "My function here on this ship is to repair organic matter. What is your function?" He asked conversationally. [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Drones? She got to play with use experimental drone tech? The excitement that bubbled inside her eased her migraine slightly, and as the Commander transferred control of the hornets to her, she turned back to her console to reduce the flashing lights in her range of vision. Syl could at least pretend to be waiting patiently. It was difficult to keep from bouncing in her seat, though. The red alert, the sparking consoles, the urgent voices across the Bridge and over the coms all faded away as a secondary panel she had never seen before suddenly slid down over the console in front of her, and the Mac's helm controls were automatically transferred to the auxiliary station. Tentatively sliding open a latch, she picked up the visor and slipped it on. The controls looked easy enough... buttons for deploy and recall, two navigational pads, the ability to toggle between drones to issue specific commands... It only took a few moments for her to be comfortable enough with the system for an investigative trip, and she hit the 'deploy' button. The visor suddenly darkened, and she watched as a hatch slid open before her eyes to reveal the inky blackness of space just beyond. "Whoa..." Her fingertip tentatively slid along one of the pads, and the open hatch passed around her. This was so cool... "Hornets deployed," she remembered to report at the last minute, her hand guiding the drones around the hull of the ship, searching for the breach and the satellite that had caused it. Rin Zakir {Spoiler}{Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
[...] Finally, she began to issue orders. =/\= "Bridge to Engineering. Chief, try to block the siphon. There's a Security team on Deck 7 who say they are in contact, I'd like to see what kind of reaction cutting the data off might produce." =/\= Maybe it would throw a temper tantrum, or maybe it would ask politely for more. Either way, they needed to start doing some learning themselves. "Well done, Ensign," Felicity said in a low voice that wouldn't carry beyond the centre chairs and the helm. She was surprised at how quickly the pilot had taken to the drone program, and impressed at how intuitive it seemed to be. O'Leary was a mess, but she certainly knew her craft. "Take them in steady, let's get a closer look. Hopefully the folks down on Deck 7 can distract it long enough for us to gather some intel of our own."=/\= "Niles, this is Ellis. Engineering are going to try and block its data syphon, and Ensign O'Connell is approaching with her drones. Keep it occupied if you can, and report any changes in... attitude." She visibly cringed at the word, but couldn't think of anything better. "See if you can find out why its here, and what it wants with the Mac." =/\= [ ... Deck 7... ] "GaTE c..." the second satellite attempted to adapt the designation that had been assigned. The interface was not perfect, but even that appeared to be inconsistent nomenclature. Especially, considering that GaTE c's function was repairing organic matter. That was potentially a useful skill. That specific knowledge needed to be assessed. "KNOWledGe AssESSmEnt." That was the response it gave to Gates' question. Yet, then there was another that addressed the satellite. In fact, it appeared that more individuals had GaTE c. Another one addressed the second satellite speaking not with interrogatives, but imperatives. The face on the panel that had appeared in GaTE c's image shimmered and a second face appeared in the image of Lt. Niles. It stared at the security officer a moment before issuing a response. "reQuESt dEniEd," it responded firmly. The face shimmered once again, going back to mimic GaTE c's face. At the same time, the metallic tentacle rose from the ground in front of the Starfleet officers, its end splitting into tri-blade pincers. "DIrEct iNtErfAce wiTh oRGaNic suBjEct rEQuIrEd." The blades pinched closed and opened back up as it wavered in front of the gathered Starfleet officers as if attempting to determine whom it would interface with.
[... Meanwhile in Orbit... ] The satellite in orbit was able to continue to process and decipher the data being relayed from the computer core. The more data it accumulated, the more it understood. There were several files that were of interest. Propulsion (Warp) ... Assessing Shields ... Insufficient Weapons ... Assessing Transporters... Insufficient Ship Prefix Codes... Priority Replicators... Assessing Biological Profiles... Priority
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Veronica Li Soft tag: Kaya Som [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] The security officer was giving the thing directions as if it was a deckhand and the deuterium tanks needed scrubbing. Ronnie winced, anticipating disaster, and she was rewarded with increased activity from the metallic octopus. It was flailing its tentacles about in an inquisitive way, something that reminded her of a cockroach twitching its antennae. Was this thing...probing them? Her stomach turned in both real and imagined disgust at the pervasive thought. Ronnie abominated insects. One of the worst things about being an engineer was all of the creepy crawlies. Despite all of the environmental controls on a starship you’d be surprised how many bugs found their way in. The internal sensors weren’t calibrated that finely, and new pests were being picked up all the time. 800 years ago it had been rats and monkeys. Now it was an endless variety of invasive species from all over the galaxy. And it was up to the engineers and operations personnel to discover and mark them for disposal. So, too, had this creature been marked, but for containment. They weren’t dealing with a colony of ants here, but a sentient being that had enough intelligence and wherewithal to ooze its way into the Mac and set up shop. The security officer was correct, they needed to keep this thing corralled. Ronnie’s speciality was devices, gadgets, inventions. Small handheld things that you could hurl across the room if they decided to become self aware and eat you. Nothing in the Academy or all of her tinkering as a nascent, budding little engineer back in Canada could prepare her for this. Still, she knew what to do. Ronnie didn’t even let her bulky engineering kit fall, so afraid was she for causing too much of a ruckus. There were too many unknown factors in play in this equation for her to run into the bulkhead, shrieking like Bigfoot and pawing away at the console there. Instead, with more calm than she felt, the artist’s long, elegant fingers found the smooth screen. With just as much delicacy and flourish as if she was signing her name to her latest masterpiece Ronnie gave the commands to the computer to erect a sufficiently strong force field around their section to ensure that the talking metalloid octopus couldn’t spread. 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 20, 2021 1:18:23 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]Gatesy didn't have time to respond to the comm from Lieutenant Niles, but he did stumble backwards as he tried to move away from the image of his face in the panel next to him. He inhaled sharply, mouth agape with disbelief and shock as he stared at his own features, staring back at him. The voice was not his own, but it was using his image to communicate with him. For a few moments, Kellen Gates panicked. It wasn't a familiar feeling to the normally methodical, calm young medic, but he'd never been in a First Contact situation before. And certainly not alone. That thought was enough to chase some of his fears away. He needed to do better, to be bolder. He took a step closer, his expression still one of terrified awe despite the internal pep talk. "I - I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, but most people call me Gatesy."A woman arrived, one carrying the kit of an engineer. "Hello," he said in greeting, not recognising her. Then he turned his face back to his own, while Lieutenant Niles, fresh from the Bridge, asked it to stop. Kellen had a sneaking suspicion that their visitor might not be able to comply at this time. A good place to start, he thought, would be to ask what it wanted. "My function here on this ship is to repair organic matter. What is your function?" He asked conversationally.
Tag: Isaiah Quinn (Tentacle Monster), Veronica Li and Joshua Niles [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]Felicity didn't respond to either Engineering, or Niles straight away. Her mouth was pursed, her eyes narrowed very slightly and as she considered their options she watched Ensign O'Connell familiarise herself with the hornets. The report from Som was indeed concerning. A huge part of her, the academic, wanted to let it learn. But a larger part of her felt the responsibility of the safety of the ship and its crew, and when it came to people's lives, her choice was clear, no matter how the odds were stacked. The data the object was pulling from them might only be used as a method of communication, or it might be used to destroy them. It had sped through their shields like they were non-existent, and it was obvious to Felicity that they hadn't seen all this technology had to offer. Finally, she began to issue orders. =/\= "Bridge to Engineering. Chief, try to block the siphon. There's a Security team on Deck 7 who say they are in contact, I'd like to see what kind of reaction cutting the data off might produce." =/\= Maybe it would throw a temper tantrum, or maybe it would ask politely for more. Either way, they needed to start doing some learning themselves. "Well done, Ensign," Felicity said in a low voice that wouldn't carry beyond the centre chairs and the helm. She was surprised at how quickly the pilot had taken to the drone program, and impressed at how intuitive it seemed to be. O'Leary was a mess, but she certainly knew her craft. "Take them in steady, let's get a closer look. Hopefully the folks down on Deck 7 can distract it long enough for us to gather some intel of our own."=/\= "Niles, this is Ellis. Engineering are going to try and block its data syphon, and Ensign O'Connell is approaching with her drones. Keep it occupied if you can, and report any changes in... attitude." She visibly cringed at the word, but couldn't think of anything better. "See if you can find out why its here, and what it wants with the Mac." =/\=
Tags: Kaya Som / Engineering, Joshua Niles & Co. on Deck 7, Syl O'Connell [ ... Deck 7... ] "GaTE c..." the second satellite attempted to adapt the designation that had been assigned. The interface was not perfect, but even that appeared to be inconsistent nomenclature. Especially, considering that GaTE c's function was repairing organic matter. That was potentially a useful skill. That specific knowledge needed to be assessed. "KNOWledGe AssESSmEnt." That was the response it gave to Gates' question. Yet, then there was another that addressed the satellite. In fact, it appeared that more individuals had GaTE c. Another one addressed the second satellite speaking not with interrogatives, but imperatives. The face on the panel that had appeared in GaTE c's image shimmered and a second face appeared in the image of Lt. Niles. It stared at the security officer a moment before issuing a response. "reQuESt dEniEd," it responded firmly. The face shimmered once again, going back to mimic GaTE c's face. At the same time, the metallic tentacle rose from the ground in front of the Starfleet officers, its end splitting into tri-blade pincers. "DIrEct iNtErfAce wiTh oRGaNic suBjEct rEQuIrEd." The blades pinched closed and opened back up as it wavered in front of the gathered Starfleet officers as if attempting to determine whom it would interface with. [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] The security officer was giving the thing directions as if it was a deckhand and the deuterium tanks needed scrubbing. Ronnie winced, anticipating disaster, and she was rewarded with increased activity from the metallic octopus. It was flailing its tentacles about in an inquisitive way, something that reminded her of a cockroach twitching its antennae. Was this thing...probing them? Her stomach turned in both real and imagined disgust at the pervasive thought. Ronnie abominated insects. One of the worst things about being an engineer was all of the creepy crawlies. Despite all of the environmental controls on a starship you’d be surprised how many bugs found their way in. The internal sensors weren’t calibrated that finely, and new pests were being picked up all the time. 800 years ago it had been rats and monkeys. Now it was an endless variety of invasive species from all over the galaxy. And it was up to the engineers and operations personnel to discover and mark them for disposal. So, too, had this creature been marked, but for containment. They weren’t dealing with a colony of ants here, but a sentient being that had enough intelligence and wherewithal to ooze its way into the Mac and set up shop. The security officer was correct, they needed to keep this thing corralled. Ronnie’s speciality was devices, gadgets, inventions. Small handheld things that you could hurl across the room if they decided to become self aware and eat you. Nothing in the Academy or all of her tinkering as a nascent, budding little engineer back in Canada could prepare her for this. Still, she knew what to do. Ronnie didn’t even let her bulky engineering kit fall, so afraid was she for causing too much of a ruckus. There were too many unknown factors in play in this equation for her to run into the bulkhead, shrieking like Bigfoot and pawing away at the console there. Instead, with more calm than she felt, the artist’s long, elegant fingers found the smooth screen. With just as much delicacy and flourish as if she was signing her name to her latest masterpiece Ronnie gave the commands to the computer to erect a sufficiently strong force field around their section to ensure that the talking metalloid octopus couldn’t spread. Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles Well, it would seem that Gates had decided he was going to try and talk to the damn thing just as the engineer got to work. At first, he was about to bark at the Petty Officer, get him to back the hell off and not get that thing further riled up... that was until Commander Ellis got back to him with the overarching plan. Keep it busy, while they were trying to cut it off from that communications link he'd stumbled up on back on the Bridge. Well, that did change things all right. =A= "Niles, acknowledged,"=A= he simply replied as he regarded the situation. Which, visibly, was not going any way he'd have preferred it to. But then again, that was the name of the game, wasn't it? Always be ready to roll with the punches. Especially the statement that it would not acquiesce to what was still a polite enough request to back down. Well, perhaps it was time to be less polite all right. Especially as those metal tentacles, like something born from the mind of some deranged anime holonovel writer, made its way towards the party and opened up in vicious-looking pincers. "Gates, back, now." Niles' voice came out like a whipcrack as he drew his phaser, but still kept it pointed down at the deck; the counter-boarding party, crewmembers who knew their business, were already positioning themselves in such a way as to maximize their amount of fire, but they'd yet to actually take immediate aim. "Request denied," he replied in a cold tone. "Your actions thus far have caused damage to this ship and pose a threat to all biological entities aboard. Direct interface with members of this crew is likely to cause irreparable damage, and unless we can prove otherwise, it will not be allowed. If you wish to exchange information, means that are not hazardous to us can be explored."Keep it busy, Ellis had said, and report any change in the damn thing's behaviour. Well, that was getting interesting all right. Too interesting. And then, the forcefield sprang to life. "Thank you Ensign," he said softly. "Now, we need ways to drop that thing if we have to. I need you to rig me anything you can that's... destructive. Just in case."Then, returning his attention to the boarder, he spoke again, loudly and clearly. If that thing had a way to analyze behaviour, perhaps it would recognize a hierarchical structure. "You are required to state your origins and intentions."
Tags Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn Veronica Li
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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 20, 2021 19:11:44 GMT
[Unknown Cavern] As he materialized in a section in an unknown cavern. It was obvious to see that there is a lot of discovery to do with this planet. If it’s even a planet. The lack of energy source or son and the devices could indicate that it’s might not be a moon or a planetoid it might be a space station. “ I have no idea how we got there” Hunt responded to the petty officer response. He looked around and kept observing. He listened to the Lt. explanation that it might be a transporter that is activated by touch. “If so, why have advanced technology like transporter activated by rudimentary control such as touch?” He wondered. As he spoke about the Andorian’s theory. “ Sadly, I’m a Doctor not an Engineer” he said as he did not know the reason for it or understood how the device works. As the petty officer asked about the touch Hunt replied “No, I don’t think so”. He added as he looked around. “Maybe, it’s not touch but trigger by proximity sensors. Or Alternatively, someone else is controlling it” Hunt continued with the theories. “ Maybe I should do some biological scans to see if there are any clues in our bodies. Sir?” Hunt asked to Shavan for authorization. Before anything major could happen, they detected an unknown presence. As they requested to identified themselves Hunt walked in the rear as he would let the security officer and senior personnel deal with the situation. Tag Shavan Th'zhaar Isaiah Quinn Soft Syl O'Connell 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 20, 2021 19:57:36 GMT
{Quotes: Li, Niles, Tentacle Monster} [ ... Deck 7... ] "GaTE c..." the second satellite attempted to adapt the designation that had been assigned. The interface was not perfect, but even that appeared to be inconsistent nomenclature. Especially, considering that GaTE c's function was repairing organic matter. That was potentially a useful skill. That specific knowledge needed to be assessed. "KNOWledGe AssESSmEnt." That was the response it gave to Gates' question. Yet, then there was another that addressed the satellite. In fact, it appeared that more individuals had GaTE c. Another one addressed the second satellite speaking not with interrogatives, but imperatives. The face on the panel that had appeared in GaTE c's image shimmered and a second face appeared in the image of Lt. Niles. It stared at the security officer a moment before issuing a response. "reQuESt dEniEd," it responded firmly. The face shimmered once again, going back to mimic GaTE c's face. At the same time, the metallic tentacle rose from the ground in front of the Starfleet officers, its end splitting into tri-blade pincers. "DIrEct iNtErfAce wiTh oRGaNic suBjEct rEQuIrEd." The blades pinched closed and opened back up as it wavered in front of the gathered Starfleet officers as if attempting to determine whom it would interface with.
[... Meanwhile in Orbit... ] The satellite in orbit was able to continue to process and decipher the data being relayed from the computer core. The more data it accumulated, the more it understood. There were several files that were of interest. Propulsion (Warp) ... Assessing Shields ... Insufficient Weapons ... Assessing Transporters... Insufficient Ship Prefix Codes... Priority Replicators... Assessing Biological Profiles... Priority[ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] The security officer was giving the thing directions as if it was a deckhand and the deuterium tanks needed scrubbing. Ronnie winced, anticipating disaster, and she was rewarded with increased activity from the metallic octopus. It was flailing its tentacles about in an inquisitive way, something that reminded her of a cockroach twitching its antennae. Was this thing...probing them? Her stomach turned in both real and imagined disgust at the pervasive thought. Ronnie abominated insects. One of the worst things about being an engineer was all of the creepy crawlies. Despite all of the environmental controls on a starship you’d be surprised how many bugs found their way in. The internal sensors weren’t calibrated that finely, and new pests were being picked up all the time. 800 years ago it had been rats and monkeys. Now it was an endless variety of invasive species from all over the galaxy. And it was up to the engineers and operations personnel to discover and mark them for disposal. So, too, had this creature been marked, but for containment. They weren’t dealing with a colony of ants here, but a sentient being that had enough intelligence and wherewithal to ooze its way into the Mac and set up shop. The security officer was correct, they needed to keep this thing corralled. Ronnie’s speciality was devices, gadgets, inventions. Small handheld things that you could hurl across the room if they decided to become self aware and eat you. Nothing in the Academy or all of her tinkering as a nascent, budding little engineer back in Canada could prepare her for this. Still, she knew what to do. Ronnie didn’t even let her bulky engineering kit fall, so afraid was she for causing too much of a ruckus. There were too many unknown factors in play in this equation for her to run into the bulkhead, shrieking like Bigfoot and pawing away at the console there. Instead, with more calm than she felt, the artist’s long, elegant fingers found the smooth screen. With just as much delicacy and flourish as if she was signing her name to her latest masterpiece Ronnie gave the commands to the computer to erect a sufficiently strong force field around their section to ensure that the talking metalloid octopus couldn’t spread. [ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]Well, it would seem that Gates had decided he was going to try and talk to the damn thing just as the engineer got to work. At first, he was about to bark at the Petty Officer, get him to back the hell off and not get that thing further riled up... that was until Commander Ellis got back to him with the overarching plan. Keep it busy, while they were trying to cut it off from that communications link he'd stumbled up on back on the Bridge. Well, that did change things all right. =A= "Niles, acknowledged,"=A= he simply replied as he regarded the situation. Which, visibly, was not going any way he'd have preferred it to. But then again, that was the name of the game, wasn't it? Always be ready to roll with the punches. Especially the statement that it would not acquiesce to what was still a polite enough request to back down. Well, perhaps it was time to be less polite all right. Especially as those metal tentacles, like something born from the mind of some deranged anime holonovel writer, made its way towards the party and opened up in vicious-looking pincers. "Gates, back, now." Niles' voice came out like a whipcrack as he drew his phaser, but still kept it pointed down at the deck; the counter-boarding party, crewmembers who knew their business, were already positioning themselves in such a way as to maximize their amount of fire, but they'd yet to actually take immediate aim. "Request denied," he replied in a cold tone. "Your actions thus far have caused damage to this ship and pose a threat to all biological entities aboard. Direct interface with members of this crew is likely to cause irreparable damage, and unless we can prove otherwise, it will not be allowed. If you wish to exchange information, means that are not hazardous to us can be explored."Keep it busy, Ellis had said, and report any change in the damn thing's behaviour. Well, that was getting interesting all right. Too interesting. And then, the forcefield sprang to life. "Thank you Ensign," he said softly. "Now, we need ways to drop that thing if we have to. I need you to rig me anything you can that's... destructive. Just in case."Then, returning his attention to the boarder, he spoke again, loudly and clearly. If that thing had a way to analyze behaviour, perhaps it would recognize a hierarchical structure. "You are required to state your origins and intentions." [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]"Ah, of course," Gatesy nodded, sounding for all the world that he was engaged in a casual chat with an alien tentacle robot. But knowledge assessment made sense, didn't it? It explained its behaviour, or at least, it did to the medic. "Would that be an assessment of our knowledge, or a gathering of knowledge for yourself?" Clarification on that point might be important, he thought. He was about to expand a little further, when Niles barked at him. He jumped on the spot a little, startled by the interruption. "Huh?" He asked, blinking rapidly, stumbling backward again, not quite understanding what was going on until the movement of the mechanical tentacle caught his eye. He startled once more as the pincers closed. Kellen Gates then found himself wondering what exactly interfacing would entail. Or more to the point, if it would be survivable. As the Lieutenant waved his weapon around and issued more orders to everyone, including asking the Engineer to make a bomb, Gatesy found himself suddenly even more uncomfortable, but this time for a slightly different reason. "It can understand you, you know," he pointed out, his tone perhaps a little tart. The young man wasn't disrespectful by nature, but his manner with which he corrected others could sometimes be misconstrued. He usually made an effort to temper those reactions, as it had put him on the receiving end of a fist once or twice, but he was a bit stressed out currently by the thing from outer space. He turned back to his face in the panel. It was time to be bold again. "Would I be able to repair the organic matter of an interfaced person?" It had made it passed their shields, it would probably make it passed their force fields. By Gatesy's reckoning, it was better to know if what this thing wanted to do with be fatal to their fragile forms now rather than later.
Tags: Joshua Niles , Veronica Li and Isaiah Quinn
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Veronica Li
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 13 Likes: 2
Rank: Ensign
Species: Human
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Post by Veronica Li on Jul 20, 2021 23:02:39 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]Gatesy didn't have time to respond to the comm from Lieutenant Niles, but he did stumble backwards as he tried to move away from the image of his face in the panel next to him. He inhaled sharply, mouth agape with disbelief and shock as he stared at his own features, staring back at him. The voice was not his own, but it was using his image to communicate with him. For a few moments, Kellen Gates panicked. It wasn't a familiar feeling to the normally methodical, calm young medic, but he'd never been in a First Contact situation before. And certainly not alone. That thought was enough to chase some of his fears away. He needed to do better, to be bolder. He took a step closer, his expression still one of terrified awe despite the internal pep talk. "I - I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Kellen Gates, but most people call me Gatesy."A woman arrived, one carrying the kit of an engineer. "Hello," he said in greeting, not recognising her. Then he turned his face back to his own, while Lieutenant Niles, fresh from the Bridge, asked it to stop. Kellen had a sneaking suspicion that their visitor might not be able to comply at this time. A good place to start, he thought, would be to ask what it wanted. "My function here on this ship is to repair organic matter. What is your function?" He asked conversationally.
Tag: Isaiah Quinn (Tentacle Monster), Veronica Li and Joshua Niles [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]Felicity didn't respond to either Engineering, or Niles straight away. Her mouth was pursed, her eyes narrowed very slightly and as she considered their options she watched Ensign O'Connell familiarise herself with the hornets. The report from Som was indeed concerning. A huge part of her, the academic, wanted to let it learn. But a larger part of her felt the responsibility of the safety of the ship and its crew, and when it came to people's lives, her choice was clear, no matter how the odds were stacked. The data the object was pulling from them might only be used as a method of communication, or it might be used to destroy them. It had sped through their shields like they were non-existent, and it was obvious to Felicity that they hadn't seen all this technology had to offer. Finally, she began to issue orders. =/\= "Bridge to Engineering. Chief, try to block the siphon. There's a Security team on Deck 7 who say they are in contact, I'd like to see what kind of reaction cutting the data off might produce." =/\= Maybe it would throw a temper tantrum, or maybe it would ask politely for more. Either way, they needed to start doing some learning themselves. "Well done, Ensign," Felicity said in a low voice that wouldn't carry beyond the centre chairs and the helm. She was surprised at how quickly the pilot had taken to the drone program, and impressed at how intuitive it seemed to be. O'Leary was a mess, but she certainly knew her craft. "Take them in steady, let's get a closer look. Hopefully the folks down on Deck 7 can distract it long enough for us to gather some intel of our own."=/\= "Niles, this is Ellis. Engineering are going to try and block its data syphon, and Ensign O'Connell is approaching with her drones. Keep it occupied if you can, and report any changes in... attitude." She visibly cringed at the word, but couldn't think of anything better. "See if you can find out why its here, and what it wants with the Mac." =/\=
Tags: Kaya Som / Engineering, Joshua Niles & Co. on Deck 7, Syl O'Connell [ ... Deck 7... ] "GaTE c..." the second satellite attempted to adapt the designation that had been assigned. The interface was not perfect, but even that appeared to be inconsistent nomenclature. Especially, considering that GaTE c's function was repairing organic matter. That was potentially a useful skill. That specific knowledge needed to be assessed. "KNOWledGe AssESSmEnt." That was the response it gave to Gates' question. Yet, then there was another that addressed the satellite. In fact, it appeared that more individuals had GaTE c. Another one addressed the second satellite speaking not with interrogatives, but imperatives. The face on the panel that had appeared in GaTE c's image shimmered and a second face appeared in the image of Lt. Niles. It stared at the security officer a moment before issuing a response. "reQuESt dEniEd," it responded firmly. The face shimmered once again, going back to mimic GaTE c's face. At the same time, the metallic tentacle rose from the ground in front of the Starfleet officers, its end splitting into tri-blade pincers. "DIrEct iNtErfAce wiTh oRGaNic suBjEct rEQuIrEd." The blades pinched closed and opened back up as it wavered in front of the gathered Starfleet officers as if attempting to determine whom it would interface with. [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] The security officer was giving the thing directions as if it was a deckhand and the deuterium tanks needed scrubbing. Ronnie winced, anticipating disaster, and she was rewarded with increased activity from the metallic octopus. It was flailing its tentacles about in an inquisitive way, something that reminded her of a cockroach twitching its antennae. Was this thing...probing them? Her stomach turned in both real and imagined disgust at the pervasive thought. Ronnie abominated insects. One of the worst things about being an engineer was all of the creepy crawlies. Despite all of the environmental controls on a starship you’d be surprised how many bugs found their way in. The internal sensors weren’t calibrated that finely, and new pests were being picked up all the time. 800 years ago it had been rats and monkeys. Now it was an endless variety of invasive species from all over the galaxy. And it was up to the engineers and operations personnel to discover and mark them for disposal. So, too, had this creature been marked, but for containment. They weren’t dealing with a colony of ants here, but a sentient being that had enough intelligence and wherewithal to ooze its way into the Mac and set up shop. The security officer was correct, they needed to keep this thing corralled. Ronnie’s speciality was devices, gadgets, inventions. Small handheld things that you could hurl across the room if they decided to become self aware and eat you. Nothing in the Academy or all of her tinkering as a nascent, budding little engineer back in Canada could prepare her for this. Still, she knew what to do. Ronnie didn’t even let her bulky engineering kit fall, so afraid was she for causing too much of a ruckus. There were too many unknown factors in play in this equation for her to run into the bulkhead, shrieking like Bigfoot and pawing away at the console there. Instead, with more calm than she felt, the artist’s long, elegant fingers found the smooth screen. With just as much delicacy and flourish as if she was signing her name to her latest masterpiece Ronnie gave the commands to the computer to erect a sufficiently strong force field around their section to ensure that the talking metalloid octopus couldn’t spread. Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles Well, it would seem that Gates had decided he was going to try and talk to the damn thing just as the engineer got to work. At first, he was about to bark at the Petty Officer, get him to back the hell off and not get that thing further riled up... that was until Commander Ellis got back to him with the overarching plan. Keep it busy, while they were trying to cut it off from that communications link he'd stumbled up on back on the Bridge. Well, that did change things all right. =A= "Niles, acknowledged,"=A= he simply replied as he regarded the situation. Which, visibly, was not going any way he'd have preferred it to. But then again, that was the name of the game, wasn't it? Always be ready to roll with the punches. Especially the statement that it would not acquiesce to what was still a polite enough request to back down. Well, perhaps it was time to be less polite all right. Especially as those metal tentacles, like something born from the mind of some deranged anime holonovel writer, made its way towards the party and opened up in vicious-looking pincers. "Gates, back, now." Niles' voice came out like a whipcrack as he drew his phaser, but still kept it pointed down at the deck; the counter-boarding party, crewmembers who knew their business, were already positioning themselves in such a way as to maximize their amount of fire, but they'd yet to actually take immediate aim. "Request denied," he replied in a cold tone. "Your actions thus far have caused damage to this ship and pose a threat to all biological entities aboard. Direct interface with members of this crew is likely to cause irreparable damage, and unless we can prove otherwise, it will not be allowed. If you wish to exchange information, means that are not hazardous to us can be explored."Keep it busy, Ellis had said, and report any change in the damn thing's behaviour. Well, that was getting interesting all right. Too interesting. And then, the forcefield sprang to life. "Thank you Ensign," he said softly. "Now, we need ways to drop that thing if we have to. I need you to rig me anything you can that's... destructive. Just in case."Then, returning his attention to the boarder, he spoke again, loudly and clearly. If that thing had a way to analyze behaviour, perhaps it would recognize a hierarchical structure. "You are required to state your origins and intentions."
Tags Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn Veronica Li {Quotes: Li, Niles, Tentacle Monster} [ ... Deck 7... ] "GaTE c..." the second satellite attempted to adapt the designation that had been assigned. The interface was not perfect, but even that appeared to be inconsistent nomenclature. Especially, considering that GaTE c's function was repairing organic matter. That was potentially a useful skill. That specific knowledge needed to be assessed. "KNOWledGe AssESSmEnt." That was the response it gave to Gates' question. Yet, then there was another that addressed the satellite. In fact, it appeared that more individuals had GaTE c. Another one addressed the second satellite speaking not with interrogatives, but imperatives. The face on the panel that had appeared in GaTE c's image shimmered and a second face appeared in the image of Lt. Niles. It stared at the security officer a moment before issuing a response. "reQuESt dEniEd," it responded firmly. The face shimmered once again, going back to mimic GaTE c's face. At the same time, the metallic tentacle rose from the ground in front of the Starfleet officers, its end splitting into tri-blade pincers. "DIrEct iNtErfAce wiTh oRGaNic suBjEct rEQuIrEd." The blades pinched closed and opened back up as it wavered in front of the gathered Starfleet officers as if attempting to determine whom it would interface with.
[... Meanwhile in Orbit... ] The satellite in orbit was able to continue to process and decipher the data being relayed from the computer core. The more data it accumulated, the more it understood. There were several files that were of interest. Propulsion (Warp) ... Assessing Shields ... Insufficient Weapons ... Assessing Transporters... Insufficient Ship Prefix Codes... Priority Replicators... Assessing Biological Profiles... Priority[ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 - Passageway] The security officer was giving the thing directions as if it was a deckhand and the deuterium tanks needed scrubbing. Ronnie winced, anticipating disaster, and she was rewarded with increased activity from the metallic octopus. It was flailing its tentacles about in an inquisitive way, something that reminded her of a cockroach twitching its antennae. Was this thing...probing them? Her stomach turned in both real and imagined disgust at the pervasive thought. Ronnie abominated insects. One of the worst things about being an engineer was all of the creepy crawlies. Despite all of the environmental controls on a starship you’d be surprised how many bugs found their way in. The internal sensors weren’t calibrated that finely, and new pests were being picked up all the time. 800 years ago it had been rats and monkeys. Now it was an endless variety of invasive species from all over the galaxy. And it was up to the engineers and operations personnel to discover and mark them for disposal. So, too, had this creature been marked, but for containment. They weren’t dealing with a colony of ants here, but a sentient being that had enough intelligence and wherewithal to ooze its way into the Mac and set up shop. The security officer was correct, they needed to keep this thing corralled. Ronnie’s speciality was devices, gadgets, inventions. Small handheld things that you could hurl across the room if they decided to become self aware and eat you. Nothing in the Academy or all of her tinkering as a nascent, budding little engineer back in Canada could prepare her for this. Still, she knew what to do. Ronnie didn’t even let her bulky engineering kit fall, so afraid was she for causing too much of a ruckus. There were too many unknown factors in play in this equation for her to run into the bulkhead, shrieking like Bigfoot and pawing away at the console there. Instead, with more calm than she felt, the artist’s long, elegant fingers found the smooth screen. With just as much delicacy and flourish as if she was signing her name to her latest masterpiece Ronnie gave the commands to the computer to erect a sufficiently strong force field around their section to ensure that the talking metalloid octopus couldn’t spread. [ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]Well, it would seem that Gates had decided he was going to try and talk to the damn thing just as the engineer got to work. At first, he was about to bark at the Petty Officer, get him to back the hell off and not get that thing further riled up... that was until Commander Ellis got back to him with the overarching plan. Keep it busy, while they were trying to cut it off from that communications link he'd stumbled up on back on the Bridge. Well, that did change things all right. =A= "Niles, acknowledged,"=A= he simply replied as he regarded the situation. Which, visibly, was not going any way he'd have preferred it to. But then again, that was the name of the game, wasn't it? Always be ready to roll with the punches. Especially the statement that it would not acquiesce to what was still a polite enough request to back down. Well, perhaps it was time to be less polite all right. Especially as those metal tentacles, like something born from the mind of some deranged anime holonovel writer, made its way towards the party and opened up in vicious-looking pincers. "Gates, back, now." Niles' voice came out like a whipcrack as he drew his phaser, but still kept it pointed down at the deck; the counter-boarding party, crewmembers who knew their business, were already positioning themselves in such a way as to maximize their amount of fire, but they'd yet to actually take immediate aim. "Request denied," he replied in a cold tone. "Your actions thus far have caused damage to this ship and pose a threat to all biological entities aboard. Direct interface with members of this crew is likely to cause irreparable damage, and unless we can prove otherwise, it will not be allowed. If you wish to exchange information, means that are not hazardous to us can be explored."Keep it busy, Ellis had said, and report any change in the damn thing's behaviour. Well, that was getting interesting all right. Too interesting. And then, the forcefield sprang to life. "Thank you Ensign," he said softly. "Now, we need ways to drop that thing if we have to. I need you to rig me anything you can that's... destructive. Just in case."Then, returning his attention to the boarder, he spoke again, loudly and clearly. If that thing had a way to analyze behaviour, perhaps it would recognize a hierarchical structure. "You are required to state your origins and intentions." [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]"Ah, of course," Gatesy nodded, sounding for all the world that he was engaged in a casual chat with an alien tentacle robot. But knowledge assessment made sense, didn't it? It explained its behaviour, or at least, it did to the medic. "Would that be an assessment of our knowledge, or a gathering of knowledge for yourself?" Clarification on that point might be important, he thought. He was about to expand a little further, when Niles barked at him. He jumped on the spot a little, startled by the interruption. "Huh?" He asked, blinking rapidly, stumbling backward again, not quite understanding what was going on until the movement of the mechanical tentacle caught his eye. He startled once more as the pincers closed. Kellen Gates then found himself wondering what exactly interfacing would entail. Or more to the point, if it would be survivable. As the Lieutenant waved his weapon around and issued more orders to everyone, including asking the Engineer to make a bomb, Gatesy found himself suddenly even more uncomfortable, but this time for a slightly different reason. "It can understand you, you know," he pointed out, his tone perhaps a little tart. The young man wasn't disrespectful by nature, but his manner with which he corrected others could sometimes be misconstrued. He usually made an effort to temper those reactions, as it had put him on the receiving end of a fist once or twice, but he was a bit stressed out currently by the thing from outer space. He turned back to his face in the panel. It was time to be bold again. "Would I be able to repair the organic matter of an interfaced person?" It had made it passed their shields, it would probably make it passed their force fields. By Gatesy's reckoning, it was better to know if what this thing wanted to do with be fatal to their fragile forms now rather than later.
Tags: Joshua Niles , Veronica Li and Isaiah Quinn [ENS Veronica “Ronnie” Li - Deck 7 -Passageway] “Destructive?!” Panic made her voice squeak. “I’m no xenobiologist, sir, but there’s no telling what effect that might have!” Still, if they were considering defending themselves against the creature, not attacking it, Ronnie could get on board with that. And it was a stroke of luck, so to speak, that an engineer, security man and medic were all here. They should cover the situation, no matter the outcome. She bit her lower lip, a gesture she made as she was contemplating bringing a painting to life or sorting out an overheated plasma coil. Phasers must have been out, as the security lieutenant would have already considered those before he asked her to whip up an improvised explosive device like an impromptu bowl of gazpacho. Ronnie started at their “guest,” cogitating, heart pounding an adrenaline rich mixture throughout her entire body, making her mind race. “We could isolate this section, beam it into space,” Ronnie murmured in her husky contralto. “Or I could attempt to overload the EPS conduit in that bulkhead. But again, there’s no telling what effect that would have on this…thing.” Tags: Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles
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