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 24, 2021 20:47:58 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]
"Ensign, what I want is options on the table, and maybe a last resort contingency," Niles replied softly. Granted, asking an engineer to find a way to blow up part of the ship on purpose, even under control, would really go against the grain. Truth be told, it went against the grain for him as well; but a blown out EPS conduit or generating an energy pulse using the ship's power grid rather than a portable source, that would have a lot more punch than any handheld phaser could. However, it would seem that the bloody thing was dead-set on jamming a tentacle into someone, and that was not something one Joshua Niles was inclined to let happen unless he was ordered to do so. Especially as it said that there would be no way to know if that interface would work unless it was attempted. But then, it said something about a deception? It would look like the plan to interrupt the transfer had been put into place, and the tentacle then struck the forcefield. And now, the face that spoke was no longer Gates, but his own. And it spoke of being faced with aggression. =A= "Niles to the Bridge. Whatever you did, it's not happy right now. Been taking measures to try and contain it so far, and it's not liking that either. I will attempt to talk it down."=A= Well, now that he'd committed himself to such a thing, he would have to try and let whatever was in there know that the measures, while they could be harmful, were not a matter of aggression. "No. My intention is protection. Protection of my ship, protection of my crew. Your initial actions have nearly crippled this ship and now you have breached the hull, started to attack our computers and boarded us against our will. And now you want to subject a member of this crew to something that could end their biological processes. You are the ones whose actions we perceive as aggression. We can't allow you to continue on your current course of action any further. If you want to exchange knowledge, the call isn't mine to make but if you will withdraw from the ship and cease any attempts to force information, it would be a show of good faith I can bring to my commander, and she might agree to a consensual exchange. Otherwise, your actions will be interpreted as hostile and we will have to respond with force. And that is our last resort, and we'd really rather not do that." [ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ]Any data coming into Engineering from the away teams was sidelined as the local crew dealt with the immediacy of the hull breach and unwanted access - pulsing alert lights made the former difficult to ignore, the stream of data keeping tabs on the latter. Kaya took the PADD from Mora and keyed into what he'd taken the initiative to find. "This is good," she said with furrowed brows. From the meta-data, the object was indifferent at best to their warp engine and weapons; it was far more curious about ... them. "They're either carnivores or biologists. Thanks." She clapped Mora on the shoulder and tapped her comm badge. "Engineering to Bridge. The data stream has been cut off at 29.4%. And now we have some feedback on what they were focusing on: biological profiles and ship prefix codes - not weapons, not warp technology. Sending the data up there now." She handed Mora the PADD to carry out her promise to get the data packaged for Ellis. "Good work." Then she rounded back, seeking a vital update. "Status on my warp engines!" [ENS Veronica "Ronnie" Li - Deck 7 - P-Way] Fair enough, Ronnie thought. Her panic and the ever present trifecta of negative emotions, ones she always struggled with keeping from bubbling to the surface at all times, especially on duty, had caused her to speak unwisely. The security lieutenant hadn't explicitly told her to do anything, just to have something in her back pocket in case things went south. And from the frantic way the metalloid cephalopod's tentacles were flailing at the force field it was about to. While the security officer was running down his spiel to the strange life form, Ronnie circumspectly tapped out a precise pattern onto the console. She hadn't had the time to throw up her shoulder length black hair as she usually did before going on duty, so it overhung her perspiration glazed forehead. The emergency alert lights stained her face. Finally, the artist gave the security officer a tight nod. The console was primed to blow. She took reflexive step or two closer to safety. {Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
"Commander," Dimmadome managed to force out after multiple coughs to clear his throat, "I am still unable to raise the Away Team, nor can I lock on to their signatures. I can tell you that they appear to be split and are located in two separate locations. I- I think perhaps we- I could reprogram or repurpose a probe to act as a mid-point booster, which may, if deployed to the right layer of the planetoid's atmosphere, assist with pinpointing the exact location of their bio-signatures.""Do it, Lieutenant. Let me know when the probe is away." While Felicity waited for Dimmadome's update on the Away Team's status, she kept an eye on O'Connell's progress with the Hornets. Once they were in position, the local scans began and some data began to stream to her console. "The Hornets' scans are suggesting what looks like decreased mass of the first satellite. There's a power drain of some kind; like its being shared." A couple of things happened very quickly after that brief synopsis. =/\= "Acknowledged, Engineering. Nice work." =/\= It was something of a relief to learn that the unidentified objects were not interested in anything proprietary, that they seemed curious about the individuals within the ship instead of the ship itself, but their methods did still leave a lot to be desired. When Niles reported that the visitor on Deck 7 wasn't happy and was being contained, she assumed for necessary reasons, it suggested that there would continue to be a sting attached to this probe. Then came the voice. The garbled, mutilated Computer voice, and the viewscreen flickered. Orange, black, orange, and then a face came into focus. "Why in the name of all that is holy am I looking at Kellen Gates on my viewscreen!?"She stared back, her understanding of the words Gatesy's face was speaking quite slow. Deception? This was obviously an attempt at communication, and a direct response to Engineering's successful redirection of the siphon. "There is no deception," she responded to the face, "There is protection."She intended to keep the exchange to the point. Up until now, there had been a lot lost in translation, and she needed to clarify the situation. "We have not given you permission to take our data. But we are open to sharing. I cannot allow any damage to my crew or my ship, so once we have established that you mean us no harm, we can discuss an exchange."{Spoiler}[Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Sickbay, Deck 7]
Learning and sharing knowledge were the most noble quests in Gatesy's eyes. It was why he was a medic and it was why he liked space so much; there was always something new, something else. So many things he hadn't seen or learned yet. He was no expert in the field, but he did know that Prometheus was a figure from Greek mythology, and he'd gotten in trouble with the gods for helping humanity. "Are you here to give us fire?" He asked, head cocked slightly. It would probably be so much easier to answer his questions if the interface was an option, but as it couldn't guarantee the safety of its biological partner then Kellen couldn't see a way around it at that moment. Perhaps with study, some time...? Startled again, he took another step back and closer to the others. Which each knock on the force field, the sinking feeling in his stomach deepened. "I don't know..." He answered the thing's maybe-question about deception. He wasn't aware of what the others on the Bridge or in Engineering were doing, he could only speak for himself in that moment. He fell quiet as Niles began to talk, not feeling as though he had anything of worth to add. [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Hearing the Commander say what the drones were reading, Syl breathed a soft sigh of relief, grateful that it wasn't up to her to figure out how to read the scans while she was controlling the drones. She continued to hold them steady, only occasionally shifting the position when one didn't seem to be receiving as much as the others. The booming voice from above her made her jump, and she ripped off the visor to stare up at the face that filled the view screen. What the hell were these things? Commander Ellis engaged the face in conversation, and the pilot put the visor back on, deciding it best to focus on the task she'd be given. She kept her attention divided, though, listening carefully for any orders that might be given to her. [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] After turning the PADD over to Kaya, Ezra had to admit that he hadn't reached the same deductions that she had, but after hearing them, he certainly couldn't shake them. And considering their possible fates, neither being probed or becoming an appetizer sounded really appealing. "You're welcome, Chief," he stated flatly as she proceeded to relay her findings to the Bridge. He wondered if she'd present it as delicately as just had to the Commander. Her delivery upstairs was a bit more professional. It only took a few moments after the comm ended that Ezra was to convey their findings to the Bridge. He took the PADD and proceeded to do just that. Upon hearing the call for the engines update, Crewman Burns stumbled forward having been sent with the update by one of his supervisors. He was young, and looked as if he were hours out of the Academy. "F-five minutes, ma'am... er, uh... Chief... sir?" said the young ensign. "W-we're r-resetting the injector coils n-now."
[ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite briefly entertained the words from gaTE c, asking if it was there to give them fire. As it processed the answer it computed it what it felt was deception... aggression. "aRe you woRTHy To ReceiVe iT?" It then turned its attention to Josh's decree of showing good faith. The tentacle raised once more in front of the crewmen assembled there. "wHaT you ask FoR, you Do NoT giVe," it responded. It then pressed the tentacle forward holding firm against the forcefield... stressing it as if test it's limits. As the field continued to crackle under the tentacle, some of the lights began to flicker. The second satellite uttered one final word. "PRoTecTioN."
[ ... meanwhile in Orbit... ] The image of gaTE c continued to stare at the occupants of the bridge. From what it gathered the one called 'eLLis' was acting as the primary. She too was making the same claim as the other. They claim no deception, and justify their actions as protection. "you cLaim PRoTecTioN... yeT you iNFiLTRaTe FiRsT. THis UNiT, mUsT PRoTecT." The points of the satellite began to glow once more, the energy flowing to the vertex as a blast was sent in the direction of one of the hornet drones moving around it.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Veronica Li , Kaya Som
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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 25, 2021 12:49:39 GMT
[ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid - Rendezvous Point] After handing over his combadge, Zakir took a step back as Quinn attempted to communicate with the other team. What was it that humans did when they hoped for something to go well? Crossed their fingers? Now seemed a good time for that. Unfortunately, there was no immediate response, but seemingly unperturbed, Quinn began to summarise what they had discovered so far. It was quite the puzzle, a planetoid that shouldn't exist with seemingly impossible conditions. Runes translating into more than one ancient language? Plant life native to Kerelia? Nature, den, sacred, library, what did that have to do with the place being a huge graveyard? Although he had been trained in investigative techniques, he was no master detective and one of this made sense. So when asked for theories, he placed a hand to his chin thoughtfully. He raised a brow when the cadet put forward her own theory. Far fetched much? Then again, this whole place didn't make sense. "Maybe this place has been artificially constructed and something is maintaining it? A library would suggest an interest in gathering knowledge, which would probably explain why this thing is apparently written in so many languages. That wouldn't explain the plants or the bodies, though.", he theorised, hoping that he didn't look a complete dunce compared to the mostly scientific types. "Unless someone had been collecting 'samples', he added. It wasn't beyond the realms of possibly, but then the bodies had been left to decay. Wouldn't they have been preserved somehow, if that were the case? "It's a theory, but I do see a couple of flaws, now I've said it out loud", he then added a little sheepishly. Maybe he should have left this one to the scientists. Tag Isaiah Quinn, Syl O'Connell, Left Ear to-Ennien
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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 25, 2021 17:05:25 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]His tricorder vibrated in his hand, and Cerjess looked down at the information it was providing. "We have a couple matches for the symbols, sir," he reported, glancing over at Quinn. "They seem to be primitive dialects from Barzan, Caitian, Caldonian, Arkarian... They don't really make much sense, though. It's translating to 'nurture', 'den', 'sacred', 'library'... I'm honestly at a loss." If only they had a linguist with them. [ Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Obelisk] The cadet finally drew her tricorder from its holster on her harness. She scanned the vines, then did it again. Though the carnivorous plants had also been native to Kerelia, and Lt. Miren was indicating that the symbols on the obelisk were from a variety of planets, Left Ear wanted to double check. It wouldn't do to make assumptions. There was no variation that she could see. That is, if the scans were accurate, and Left Ear could see a possibility of something making their scanners read familiar flora instead of what they actually were. ' Commander, as with the drosera, the vines appear to be an ivy native to Kerelia. But,' Left Ear hesitated, not wanting to overstep herself, but finally decided that it would be better to go ahead and put the idea out there, even if it was wrong. ' I was wondering if it might be possible that our scanners are being fooled somehow. It seems impossible that this planet could have species that are identical to those on Kerelia, but the level of technology that we're seeing may indicate the ability to fool our scans.' Even as she said it, the Sivaoan felt like it was a wild notion. [Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Unknown Cavern] Shavan glanced at S’Riia. He didn’t know what the untranslated word meant, but it wasn’t talking about him. “Do you know what it means?” If this was some sort of advanced machine responsible for maintaining this place, interfacing with it might finally get them answers. However, it seemed that only the security officer could do it… and they shouldn’t just agree blindly. “Interface how? We’ve identified ourselves, and request that you do the same.”A faint, scrambled voice then came through the combadge. He couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like Isaiah. The other team must have been trying to boost the communications signal. As for how, Shavan tried to think quickly. He had been able to scan the subspace echo from the mirror and the obelisk; attuning their communicators to that frequency on both ends might allow them to work. So far, his mirror self didn’t seem hostile, but he didn’t know how it would react. So he took a step back, allowing it to talk to S'Riia, and began to work on reconfiguring the badge. Then tried again. =/\= Th’zhaar to Quinn, can you hear this now? =/\= [ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid - Rendezvous Point] After handing over his combadge, Zakir took a step back as Quinn attempted to communicate with the other team. What was it that humans did when they hoped for something to go well? Crossed their fingers? Now seemed a good time for that. Unfortunately, there was no immediate response, but seemingly unperturbed, Quinn began to summarise what they had discovered so far. It was quite the puzzle, a planetoid that shouldn't exist with seemingly impossible conditions. Runes translating into more than one ancient language? Plant life native to Kerelia? Nature, den, sacred, library, what did that have to do with the place being a huge graveyard? Although he had been trained in investigative techniques, he was no master detective and one of this made sense. So when asked for theories, he placed a hand to his chin thoughtfully. He raised a brow when the cadet put forward her own theory. Far fetched much? Then again, this whole place didn't make sense. "Maybe this place has been artificially constructed and something is maintaining it? A library would suggest an interest in gathering knowledge, which would probably explain why this thing is apparently written in so many languages. That wouldn't explain the plants or the bodies, though.", he theorised, hoping that he didn't look a complete dunce compared to the mostly scientific types. "Unless someone had been collecting 'samples', he added. It wasn't beyond the realms of possibly, but then the bodies had been left to decay. Wouldn't they have been preserved somehow, if that were the case? "It's a theory, but I do see a couple of flaws, now I've said it out loud", he then added a little sheepishly. Maybe he should have left this one to the scientists. [Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Rendezvous Point, Cavern, Planetoid] Quinn was pleased to hear that the symbols had some similarities to languages that they were familiar with as Lt. Miren reported them out. Quinn repeated the different cultures in his head, and found one single commonality: they were all within the same region. Their meanings slightly different, however. It was also a comfort to hear some of the away team make their own conjectures. Left Ear had proposed that perhaps what they were reading was something that was fooling their sensors. "It's certainly possible, Cadet," Isaiah answered. "If that's the case, then we have to assume there's something they don't want us to see. Yet, has there been anything suggests the readings we've taken thus far are inaccurate?""If theories didn't have flaws, they'd be facts, Mr. Rin," Isaiah said in response to the Bajorans words. "Don't dismiss your notions just yet. In both science and security, we allow the facts to inform our deductions." Isaiah took a deep breath. "This cavern mimicked one environment and the early readings we took seemed to suggest that some of the other caverns had different climates as well."Isaiah didn't have the opportunity to carry the thought any further as he heard Shavan's voice finally respond over the communicator. He reached up to tap his comm badge. =A= "It's good to hear from you, Lieutenant," =A= Isaiah said. =A= "Is everyone okay? Report." =A=
[NPC - PO1 S'Riia - Unknown Cavern, Planetoid] Before joining Starfleet, S'Riia had worked as a linguist[fn]S'Riia had a budding career before Starfleet as a linguist.[/fn], yet it wasn't from her training that she recognized the word... or something like it. She'd learned of this language for years from her father. "It sounds like a very old dialect of Caitian... even very similar to Kzinti. It roughly means... children, sir," S'Riia stated. There was definitely something lost in the translation, but it was enough of a translation to express what she believed the word meant. Mirror-Shavan never took his eyes off of S'Riia as it responded to Shavan's question. It was too enamored with the sight of S'Riia for the moment. "So... different. Amalgamated DNA structure... just as this one," it gestured at Shavan. It scans had no such readings from Dr. Hunt. It finally spoke to respond to Shavan's words. "The interface will answer your queries. J'kyttra may interface directly. J'kyttra will not be harmed." Suddenly, the mirror began to collapse like liquid metal molding itself into what looked like a circular control panel. Upon it were many symbols. S'Riia could hear a slight sound, almost beckoning her towards the control panel. As she got closer to the control panel the sound ceased. Staring at it, she found many of the sounds familiar. One particular symbol before her captured her attention. "This one... this one means open," she said aloud. She turned to look back at Shavan, not knowing how the Lieutenant wished to proceed. "Sir?" Suddenly, the Lt. Commander Quinn's voice could be heard, coming through the communicator.
Tag: Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Syl O'Connell (Cerjess), Left Ear to-Ennien , Rin Zakir
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Jul 25, 2021 17:30:23 GMT
{Quotes: O'Connell, gaTE c} [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Hearing the Commander say what the drones were reading, Syl breathed a soft sigh of relief, grateful that it wasn't up to her to figure out how to read the scans while she was controlling the drones. She continued to hold them steady, only occasionally shifting the position when one didn't seem to be receiving as much as the others. The booming voice from above her made her jump, and she ripped off the visor to stare up at the face that filled the view screen. What the hell were these things? Commander Ellis engaged the face in conversation, and the pilot put the visor back on, deciding it best to focus on the task she'd be given. She kept her attention divided, though, listening carefully for any orders that might be given to her. [ ... meanwhile in Orbit... ] The image of gaTE c continued to stare at the occupants of the bridge. From what it gathered the one called 'eLLis' was acting as the primary. She too was making the same claim as the other. They claim no deception, and justify their actions as protection. "you cLaim PRoTecTioN... yeT you iNFiLTRaTe FiRsT. THis UNiT, mUsT PRoTecT." The points of the satellite began to glow once more, the energy flowing to the vertex as a blast was sent in the direction of one of the hornet drones moving around it. [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]"I understand," she responded, realising now how their appearance must have been construed by these satellite objects, whose primary function seemed to be to safeguard the planetoid. "Our intention was not to infiltrate. Our initial scans did not reveal your units."The image of her former protégé being used on the screen to communicate with them was troubling, and Felicity was concerned that it might colour her responses. However, it was better than the silence and damage they'd been receiving up until that point. It was time to do what they'd all hoped they would one day; encounter new life, civilisations, learn and explore. The most important aspect of learning, she felt, was the ability to retain integrity throughout the process. "We mean you no harm. We were curious, we wanted to learn about this planetoid, as I believe you wanted to learn about us. We would appreciate the opportunity to retrieve our units from the surface, and then perhaps we can continue learning from each other while keeping a safe distance."She hoped that these things would understand their breach had not been intended as a challenge, but sometimes that distinction was a difficult one to make; for both man and machine, its seemed. "Ensign," she addressed the helm, her eyes leaving the screen only for a moment, "Pull the Hornets back toward the ship. A show of good faith.""Cap-Cap-," Dimmadome's soft stuttering broke through the tense atmosphere on the Bridge, "The modified probe is ready."
Tag: Isaiah Quinn , Syl O'Connell
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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 26, 2021 1:13:06 GMT
[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Quoted Posts} [ENS Veronica "Ronnie" Li - Deck 7 - P-Way] Fair enough, Ronnie thought. Her panic and the ever present trifecta of negative emotions, ones she always struggled with keeping from bubbling to the surface at all times, especially on duty, had caused her to speak unwisely. The security lieutenant hadn't explicitly told her to do anything, just to have something in her back pocket in case things went south. And from the frantic way the metalloid cephalopod's tentacles were flailing at the force field it was about to. While the security officer was running down his spiel to the strange life form, Ronnie circumspectly tapped out a precise pattern onto the console. She hadn't had the time to throw up her shoulder length black hair as she usually did before going on duty, so it overhung her perspiration glazed forehead. The emergency alert lights stained her face. Finally, the artist gave the security officer a tight nod. The console was primed to blow. She took reflexive step or two closer to safety. Tags: Felicity Ellis Joshua Niles [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Sickbay, Deck 7]Learning and sharing knowledge were the most noble quests in Gatesy's eyes. It was why he was a medic and it was why he liked space so much; there was always something new, something else. So many things he hadn't seen or learned yet. He was no expert in the field, but he did know that Prometheus was a figure from Greek mythology, and he'd gotten in trouble with the gods for helping humanity. "Are you here to give us fire?" He asked, head cocked slightly. It would probably be so much easier to answer his questions if the interface was an option, but as it couldn't guarantee the safety of its biological partner then Kellen couldn't see a way around it at that moment. Perhaps with study, some time...? Startled again, he took another step back and closer to the others. Which each knock on the force field, the sinking feeling in his stomach deepened. "I don't know..." He answered the thing's maybe-question about deception. He wasn't aware of what the others on the Bridge or in Engineering were doing, he could only speak for himself in that moment. He fell quiet as Niles began to talk, not feeling as though he had anything of worth to add.
Tags: Isaiah Quinn (Tentacles), soft: Joshua Niles , Veronica Li [NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] After turning the PADD over to Kaya, Ezra had to admit that he hadn't reached the same deductions that she had, but after hearing them, he certainly couldn't shake them. And considering their possible fates, neither being probed or becoming an appetizer sounded really appealing. "You're welcome, Chief," he stated flatly as she proceeded to relay her findings to the Bridge. He wondered if she'd present it as delicately as just had to the Commander. Her delivery upstairs was a bit more professional. It only took a few moments after the comm ended that Ezra was to convey their findings to the Bridge. He took the PADD and proceeded to do just that. Upon hearing the call for the engines update, Crewman Burns stumbled forward having been sent with the update by one of his supervisors. He was young, and looked as if he were hours out of the Academy. "F-five minutes, ma'am... er, uh... Chief... sir?" said the young ensign. "W-we're r-resetting the injector coils n-now."
[ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite briefly entertained the words from gaTE c, asking if it was there to give them fire. As it processed the answer it computed it what it felt was deception... aggression. "aRe you woRTHy To ReceiVe iT?" It then turned its attention to Josh's decree of showing good faith. The tentacle raised once more in front of the crewmen assembled there. "wHaT you ask FoR, you Do NoT giVe," it responded. It then pressed the tentacle forward holding firm against the forcefield... stressing it as if test it's limits. As the field continued to crackle under the tentacle, some of the lights began to flicker. The second satellite uttered one final word. "PRoTecTioN."
[ ... meanwhile in Orbit... ] The image of gaTE c continued to stare at the occupants of the bridge. From what it gathered the one called 'eLLis' was acting as the primary. She too was making the same claim as the other. They claim no deception, and justify their actions as protection. "you cLaim PRoTecTioN... yeT you iNFiLTRaTe FiRsT. THis UNiT, mUsT PRoTecT." The points of the satellite began to glow once more, the energy flowing to the vertex as a blast was sent in the direction of one of the hornet drones moving around it.
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Joshua Niles , Syl O'Connell , Veronica Li , Kaya Som Well, the Ensign did take his order to prepare a last-resort contingency. It wasn't about to become his Plan A, or even his Plan B, but it was going to be a last-ditch option right behind falling back should the forcefield fail and small arms prove to be ineffective. Though, Gates did hit on something about whatever that probe, or whatever it was, was saying. An exchange of knowledge, the gift of possibly dangerous knowledge. And Prometheus... though there was this strong suspicion that an inorganic entity was going to find itself chained to a cliff face to have birds eat its liver on a daily basis. However, the damned thing did not seem to be inclined to believe that Niles' action were aimed at protection, and spoke of an uneven trade, before it started pushing hard against the forcefield, to the point the local power grid was starting to fluctuate in order to compensate. "Stop!" he fairly shouted, his voice a sharp bark against the crackling of the forcefield. "If you breach the forcefield, we will open fire! If you wanted knowledge, you should have asked and odds are, we would have just done so. You tried to take it by force, and we see this as aggression."His own hand phaser was still firmly pointed at the deck, as were the rifles of the counter-boarding party, but all those weapons could be brought to bear in a real hurry if need be... and not a one of them was set to stun; against a cybernetic threat, the kind of power levels that could put holes in bulkheads had been deliberately selected. "Listen to me. I really don't want to have to shoot at you, so please don't make me have to do it. We won't take what's not freely offered, all we ask is that you do the same. Stop your incursion attempts and withdraw from the ship. We can communicate, so when neither of us poses an immediate threat to the other, my commander and you can discuss an exchange of knowledge. But if you continue with what you're doing, it will be considered as aggression and we will protect ourselves."Oh, Niles definitely had some aggressive tendencies that needed to be kept on a tight leash. But with such a being inside the ship, the damage it could cause before being stopped did not bear thinking about, especially given that it had gone through their armoured hull as though it was made of tissue paper. Hell, odds are he'd be one of the first fatalities, and that thought alone did not appeal to him whatsoever! "Please, stand down and withdraw, and then we can talk, exchange knowledge in a free, consensual and equitable exchange. No one needs to die today."
Tags Felicity Ellis Veronica Li Isaiah Quinn
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Syl O'Connell
Flight Control
[TI8]
Posts: 662 Likes: 9
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Position: Flight Control/Caldonia 5
Species: Human
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Post by Syl O'Connell on Jul 26, 2021 11:23:43 GMT
[Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Syl certainly didn't envy the Commander's position here as she listened to the voices above and behind her. Were the satellites actually AIs? Or were they being controlled by an intelligent being elsewhere? Hopefully that 'elsewhere' wasn't anywhere near the away team. "Aye, ma'am," she replied to the order to pull back. But before she could issue the command to the drones, a flash of white light filled her visor, momentarily blinding her. Instinctively, she recoiled and threw up a hand to block her eyes, but it was an obviously futile reaction. A few moments later, her vision began to clear... enough to see one corner of the visor flashing red. "One of the drones has been destroyed, Commander," she reported, assuming that was what that light meant considering she was only able to toggle between three of them. "Pulling back the rest." O'Leary was going to kill her... Tag Felicity Ellis [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]"If it's fooling our scans, it'd have to be fooling our senses, too. It's a bit too coincidental for a plant that's not the drosera to have the same appearance and behavior as the drosera." Of course, he supposed that was always a possibility too... He listened as Rin and then Isaiah continued the conversation, turning the translations of the runes over in his head. The Ensign talked about the library, the Commander talked about climates... "Den!" He burst out, repeating one of the words that had come up on his tricorder. "Nurture! This is someone's home!" He knew it sounded ridiculous, considering they hadn't detected any lifesigns on the planet asides from themselves. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "Think about it. An impossible planet with an impossible ecosystem. Someone has to be maintaining all this. Someone had to have brought all these plants here. Why do people go through the trouble of terraforming dead rocks? To make a home for themselves." A single question resounded over in his mind. Who lived here?Tag Isaiah Quinn Rin Zakir Left Ear to-Ennien
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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 27, 2021 2:06:11 GMT
[ Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Obelisk] Left Ear's tail drooped when both scientists shot down her idea, but they did so kindly and her disappointment only lasted a moment as they and Zakir posited some new ideas. Still, in the interest of being thorough, the cadet put her tricorder through a quick diagnostic cycle, which returned nothing. The idea that someone had constructed this place was interesting. If that were true, then her people might have a great deal in common with the being or beings that had done the building. They seemed to want to keep a natural environment, as much as possible. Left Ear extended the range of her tricorder to maximum and turned a slow circle in place, then reported, ' Commander, confirmation on the different climates. There are two caverns within scanning range with completely different climates. One...desert and the other seems to be more cool or temperate. But I don't understand how the environments can be maintained with the caverns open to the rest of the cave system.' Tag Rin Zakir, Isaiah Quinn, Syl O'Connell
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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 27, 2021 2:48:22 GMT
[Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Unknown Cavern] Children? From the wording it used, it seemed that this thing had somehow had contact with the ancestors of Caitians. A very long time ago, judging by its observations about their DNA… which it had apparently been able to scan. And it appeared there was only one way to find out the details of what that connection was. In order to get answers, they would have to take the chance. Shavan nodded to S’Riia. “Go ahead.”He heard Quinn respond, finally, which was good news, and so was the fact that his mirror self didn’t seem to mind. Although it was difficult to explain exactly what was happening. =/\= Everyone is okay… and I think we’re about to get some answers. The obelisk transported us to another cave, where we made contact with some sort of advanced interface. Apparently S’Riia is compatible with it. =/\= he began while watching S’Riia move forward. Watching carefully, he waited to see what would happen next before continuing. Isaiah Quinn Jonathan Hunt
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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 27, 2021 11:37:02 GMT
[ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid Cavern - Rendezvous Point] Quinn had a good point, not to mention a valuable lesson. Although he had fairly recently graduated from the academy, the learning never stopped, and Zak would always take any opportunity to better himself. "Good point", he agreed with the commander. The self confidence would come, but the more immediate concern was the well-being of the other team. Thankfully, they got an answer, and he let go of a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding. They were alive, and sure enough transported elsewhere. He was concerned about this supposedly advanced interface, wondering if anyone should be attempting to interface without further research. What had gotten into S'Riia? "I'd be careful about touching anything else that we don't understand", he cautioned, not sure how well the other team could hear him. The words of the cadet also managed to attract his attention. Caverns with completely different climates? Perhaps his theory wasn't as 'out there' as he first thought. "Definitely not natural. If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were in some kind of crazy simulation!, he commented. None if this made sense, but for now he was still far more concerned about the obelisk and this interface.
Tag Isaiah Quinn , Syl O'Connell , Left Ear to-Ennien , Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt
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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 27, 2021 23:23:34 GMT
{Quoted Posts} [Lt. JG Cerjess Miren - Mystery Planet]"If it's fooling our scans, it'd have to be fooling our senses, too. It's a bit too coincidental for a plant that's not the drosera to have the same appearance and behavior as the drosera." Of course, he supposed that was always a possibility too... He listened as Rin and then Isaiah continued the conversation, turning the translations of the runes over in his head. The Ensign talked about the library, the Commander talked about climates... "Den!" He burst out, repeating one of the words that had come up on his tricorder. "Nurture! This is someone's home!" He knew it sounded ridiculous, considering they hadn't detected any lifesigns on the planet asides from themselves. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "Think about it. An impossible planet with an impossible ecosystem. Someone has to be maintaining all this. Someone had to have brought all these plants here. Why do people go through the trouble of terraforming dead rocks? To make a home for themselves." A single question resounded over in his mind. Who lived here? [ Cadet Left Ear to-Ennien - Obelisk] Left Ear's tail drooped when both scientists shot down her idea, but they did so kindly and her disappointment only lasted a moment as they and Zakir posited some new ideas. Still, in the interest of being thorough, the cadet put her tricorder through a quick diagnostic cycle, which returned nothing. The idea that someone had constructed this place was interesting. If that were true, then her people might have a great deal in common with the being or beings that had done the building. They seemed to want to keep a natural environment, as much as possible. Left Ear extended the range of her tricorder to maximum and turned a slow circle in place, then reported, ' Commander, confirmation on the different climates. There are two caverns within scanning range with completely different climates. One...desert and the other seems to be more cool or temperate. But I don't understand how the environments can be maintained with the caverns open to the rest of the cave system.' [Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Unknown Cavern] Children? From the wording it used, it seemed that this thing had somehow had contact with the ancestors of Caitians. A very long time ago, judging by its observations about their DNA… which it had apparently been able to scan. And it appeared there was only one way to find out the details of what that connection was. In order to get answers, they would have to take the chance. Shavan nodded to S’Riia. “Go ahead.”He heard Quinn respond, finally, which was good news, and so was the fact that his mirror self didn’t seem to mind. Although it was difficult to explain exactly what was happening. =/\= Everyone is okay… and I think we’re about to get some answers. The obelisk transported us to another cave, where we made contact with some sort of advanced interface. Apparently S’Riia is compatible with it. =/\= he began while watching S’Riia move forward. Watching carefully, he waited to see what would happen next before continuing. [ Ensign Rin Zakir - Planetoid Cavern - Rendezvous Point] Quinn had a good point, not to mention a valuable lesson. Although he had fairly recently graduated from the academy, the learning never stopped, and Zak would always take any opportunity to better himself. "Good point", he agreed with the commander. The self confidence would come, but the more immediate concern was the well-being of the other team. Thankfully, they got an answer, and he let go of a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding. They were alive, and sure enough transported elsewhere. He was concerned about this supposedly advanced interface, wondering if anyone should be attempting to interface without further research. What had gotten into S'Riia? "I'd be careful about touching anything else that we don't understand", he cautioned, not sure how well the other team could hear him. The words of the cadet also managed to attract his attention. Caverns with completely different climates? Perhaps his theory wasn't as 'out there' as he first thought. "Definitely not natural. If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were in some kind of crazy simulation!, he commented. None if this made sense, but for now he was still far more concerned about the obelisk and this interface. [Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Rendezvous Point, Cavern, Planetoid] As the rest of the away team continued to cast conjectures, Isaiah did detect one common theme: this wasn't natural. Left Ear confirmed that the other caverns had different climate conditions, yet how they maintained those conditions was a mystery. Miren also stated that someone had to be responsible for setting up these closed environments. The planetoid was a lifeless one presently, but it wasn't a naturally occurring phenomenon, especially when it held life from Kerelia. So, how had this all come to be? That was the question. And perhaps some of those answers came in the form of Shavan's voice. He stated that everyone on his team was okay, which Quinn was relieved to hear. He also stated that they were about to get some answers from some sort of interface, which S'Riia seemed to be compatible with. Admittedly, Isaiah was cautious, but he trusted Shavan's judgement and knew that he wouldn't knowingly put the security officer in harm's way. Of course, there was a question of what made her compatible. Perhaps those answers would be forthcoming. =A= "Understood. Standing by," =A= the science officer replied. Suddenly, the tip of the obelisk began to glow and a holographic projection appeared above it. At that point, Quinn's team could see the cavern that Shavan and the rest of his team were in, as well as hear what was being said.
[NPC - PO1 S'Riia - Unknown Cavern, Planetoid] S'Riia nodded slowly as Lt. Th'zhaar asked her to proceed with the interface. She stared at the metallic console that had appeared and finally reached out to press the symbol she believed to be open. Simply laying her hand upon it, she could feel... something. By touching it alone, she could feel her mind began to open to the mystery before them all. Yet, her mind was not the only thing to open. The rock walls seemed to vanish, almost as if a hologram had shut off. It quickly became obvious that the cavern they now stood in was much more vast than they could have imagined. It was as if they were standing in the middle of a stadium. Yet, lining the winding walls weren't seats, but pods. These pods were like containment units that were all occupied. As lights began to illuminate the areas around them, they could see beings that held shapes similar to the remains they had seen before. And the occupants of these pods were no longer in stasis but varying stages of decay. "They were known as the Alkur'i," S'Riia said as her hand moved almost instinctively along the panel. "They saw themselves as the overseers of this region. They studied the evolution of worlds like Cait... Barzan... Caldonia... Chalnoth... Nyberr." S'Riia winced slighlty. She took a deep breath and then continued. "This planetoid... is... like an observatory... no, a preserve."A groan of pain left S'Riia's lips as she grit her teeth. She took a few breaths, now feeling a strain from the interface. She tried to lift her hands, but couldn't. She could feel more and more memories... no data... flooding her mind. "Dozens of worlds... they visited... searching for... haven? No... not a haven... c-colony?" S'Riia's eyes widened as she screamed. It was too overwhelming. She finally was able to lift her hands from the interface, and fell back to the floor. For a moment, the silence in her mind was overwhelming. Her furry hand held against the side of her head. "All around us... is all that was left of their people," S'Riia groaned. "They... they were waiting... in stasis. Some sort of... malfunction occurred. Many of the stasis units went offline. The power that remained preserved many of the eco-caverns." S'Riia grabbed her head. "It's... it's too much. I can't.... I mean... we have to leave! I could see into the AI's memory, but it could see into mine as well. It knows about the Mac... that our warp core is an adaptable power source it can use." Her eyes looked to Shavan. A bit of blood was staining the thin coat of fur just beneath her nostril. "Blue button... top panel, will send us back." S'Riia tried to push herself to her feet, but found that easier said than done as she ended up steadying herself on her hands and knees.
Having heard everything S'Riia had said over the comm, Quinn was aware that the time for exploration was over. =A= "Shavan, get your team back here immediately," =A= Quinn said. He then looked at the rest of his team. "As soon as they're back, we're leaving." Quinn then used the communicator that Ensign Rin had modified. =A= "Quinn to Mac. We've encountered an AI that may have an interest in the Mac's warp engines. Not sure about means, but I have on good authority of the intent. I recommend a hasty exit. Is it possible to transport from here, or do you need us at the transport site? =A="It wasn't a question that Isaiah was necessarily looking forward to hearing the answer to. His suspicions were that the interference from these caverns were still making transport difficult. Yet, if time was of the essence, it may be prudent for the Mac to move away before it was compromised and no one got home. The science officer continued to wait, not only for a response from the Mac to see if the message had gotten through, but for Shavan's team to return. Even if it were simply to meet their fate together.
Tag: Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Syl O'Connell (Cerjess), Left Ear to-Ennien , 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 28, 2021 0:07:10 GMT
{Quoted Posts} {Spoiler}[Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]
"I understand," she responded, realising now how their appearance must have been construed by these satellite objects, whose primary function seemed to be to safeguard the planetoid. "Our intention was not to infiltrate. Our initial scans did not reveal your units."The image of her former protégé being used on the screen to communicate with them was troubling, and Felicity was concerned that it might colour her responses. However, it was better than the silence and damage they'd been receiving up until that point. It was time to do what they'd all hoped they would one day; encounter new life, civilisations, learn and explore. The most important aspect of learning, she felt, was the ability to retain integrity throughout the process. "We mean you no harm. We were curious, we wanted to learn about this planetoid, as I believe you wanted to learn about us. We would appreciate the opportunity to retrieve our units from the surface, and then perhaps we can continue learning from each other while keeping a safe distance."She hoped that these things would understand their breach had not been intended as a challenge, but sometimes that distinction was a difficult one to make; for both man and machine, its seemed. "Ensign," she addressed the helm, her eyes leaving the screen only for a moment, "Pull the Hornets back toward the ship. A show of good faith.""Cap-Cap-," Dimmadome's soft stuttering broke through the tense atmosphere on the Bridge, "The modified probe is ready."[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]{Spoiler}Well, the Ensign did take his order to prepare a last-resort contingency. It wasn't about to become his Plan A, or even his Plan B, but it was going to be a last-ditch option right behind falling back should the forcefield fail and small arms prove to be ineffective. Though, Gates did hit on something about whatever that probe, or whatever it was, was saying. An exchange of knowledge, the gift of possibly dangerous knowledge. And Prometheus... though there was this strong suspicion that an inorganic entity was going to find itself chained to a cliff face to have birds eat its liver on a daily basis.
However, the damned thing did not seem to be inclined to believe that Niles' action were aimed at protection, and spoke of an uneven trade, before it started pushing hard against the forcefield, to the point the local power grid was starting to fluctuate in order to compensate. "Stop!" he fairly shouted, his voice a sharp bark against the crackling of the forcefield. "If you breach the forcefield, we will open fire! If you wanted knowledge, you should have asked and odds are, we would have just done so. You tried to take it by force, and we see this as aggression."His own hand phaser was still firmly pointed at the deck, as were the rifles of the counter-boarding party, but all those weapons could be brought to bear in a real hurry if need be... and not a one of them was set to stun; against a cybernetic threat, the kind of power levels that could put holes in bulkheads had been deliberately selected. "Listen to me. I really don't want to have to shoot at you, so please don't make me have to do it. We won't take what's not freely offered, all we ask is that you do the same. Stop your incursion attempts and withdraw from the ship. We can communicate, so when neither of us poses an immediate threat to the other, my commander and you can discuss an exchange of knowledge. But if you continue with what you're doing, it will be considered as aggression and we will protect ourselves."Oh, Niles definitely had some aggressive tendencies that needed to be kept on a tight leash. But with such a being inside the ship, the damage it could cause before being stopped did not bear thinking about, especially given that it had gone through their armoured hull as though it was made of tissue paper. Hell, odds are he'd be one of the first fatalities, and that thought alone did not appeal to him whatsoever! "Please, stand down and withdraw, and then we can talk, exchange knowledge in a free, consensual and equitable exchange. No one needs to die today." [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Syl certainly didn't envy the Commander's position here as she listened to the voices above and behind her. Were the satellites actually AIs? Or were they being controlled by an intelligent being elsewhere? Hopefully that 'elsewhere' wasn't anywhere near the away team. "Aye, ma'am," she replied to the order to pull back. But before she could issue the command to the drones, a flash of white light filled her visor, momentarily blinding her. Instinctively, she recoiled and threw up a hand to block her eyes, but it was an obviously futile reaction. A few moments later, her vision began to clear... enough to see one corner of the visor flashing red. "One of the drones has been destroyed, Commander," she reported, assuming that was what that light meant considering she was only able to toggle between three of them. "Pulling back the rest." O'Leary was going to kill her... Left Ear to-Ennien [ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite's tentacle continued to bore into the field, despite the repetitive imperatives that were uttered by Niles. Yet, there was a moment, when the tentacle withdrew exactly 1.49cm. "BioLogicaL iNTeRFace iNiTiaTeD... assessiNg... assessiNg... assessiNg...." The seconds continued to pass as it accepted and adapted the information being transmitted from the interface on the planetoid below. "Assessment complete. Viable components detected. Initiating Acquisition protocols." The tentacle that had been hovering in front of the forcefield, no dropped and bore into the deck itself... locating a power coupling feeding the field. The field itself began to flicker as its integrity began to diminish.
[ ... in orbit... ] The satellite processed the input from Commander Ellis, and shortly thereafter, processed the input from the interface below. "BioLogicaL iNTeRFace successFuL... assessiNg... assessiNg... assessiNg...." The moments passed rather quickly. "Assessment complete. Viable components detected. Initiating Acquisition protocols." At several points around the planetoid, power signatures matching the satellite currently hovering in orbit could be detected as coming online, as launch protocols were initiated.
[NPC - Crewman Ezra Mora - Engineering, USS Mac ] "Five minutes?" Ezra repeated. He moved over to the ensign to see what he was working on. "May I, sir?" he asked. As the ensign handed Ezra the PADD he quickly began to review it. "Diagnostics?" Ezra looked over at the ensign who simply nodded. "Is everything installed? No warning lights after you put them in?" As the ensign shook his head, Ezra kicked the console near the installation site. There was no change in color, and everything seemed good to go. He handed the PADD back to the ensign. "Thank you, sir."Ezra knew that time was of the essence, and if they didn't have some sort of alien probe mucking around in their systems a full diagnostic may be warranted. As things stood, those injectors would hold. "You've got Warp 1, Chief!"
Tag: Felicity Ellis , Kaya Som , Joshua Niles , Veronica Li , Syl O'Connell
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jul 28, 2021 1:21:37 GMT
[ SCPO Kaya Som | Engineering ]Was the demand. Came the reply. Ezra Mora with some sense in his head. Kaya slapped at her comm badge. "Bridge, we have Warp 1." Then she took a deep breath, ran a hand through her hair and waved a hand at the Engineers. Now that they had nominal warp speed available, the rest of their normal capacity would follow more quickly. If they didn't panic reboot, they should be fine. The thing was, of course, Engineering had no knowledge of the drama on the planet and no live stream view of the hull breach, so there was some relief in this victory. But they weren't done. She took a few paces away from the warp crew so she could start checking in with the repair crews. "Disaster response teams, status." Unless they'd all been sucked into space, engineers would start reporting in sequence. Veronica Li Felicity Ellis Isaiah Quinn
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Jul 28, 2021 14:33:47 GMT
{Quotes: O'Connell, gaTE c, Quinn} [Ens. Syl O'Connell - USS Mac - Bridge]Syl certainly didn't envy the Commander's position here as she listened to the voices above and behind her. Were the satellites actually AIs? Or were they being controlled by an intelligent being elsewhere? Hopefully that 'elsewhere' wasn't anywhere near the away team. "Aye, ma'am," she replied to the order to pull back. But before she could issue the command to the drones, a flash of white light filled her visor, momentarily blinding her. Instinctively, she recoiled and threw up a hand to block her eyes, but it was an obviously futile reaction. A few moments later, her vision began to clear... enough to see one corner of the visor flashing red. "One of the drones has been destroyed, Commander," she reported, assuming that was what that light meant considering she was only able to toggle between three of them. "Pulling back the rest." O'Leary was going to kill her... {Spoiler} =A= "Quinn to Mac. We've encountered an AI that may have an interest in the Mac's warp engines. Not sure about means, but I have on good authority of the intent. I recommend a hasty exit. Is it possible to transport from here, or do you need us at the transport site? =A=" {Spoiler}[ ... in orbit... ]
The satellite processed the input from Commander Ellis, and shortly thereafter, processed the input from the interface below. "BioLogicaL iNTeRFace successFuL... assessiNg... assessiNg... assessiNg...." The moments passed rather quickly. "Assessment complete. Viable components detected. Initiating Acquisition protocols." At several points around the planetoid, power signatures matching the satellite currently hovering in orbit could be detected as coming online, as launch protocols were initiated. "Bridge, we have Warp 1." [Felicity Ellis - Bridge, USS Mac]It seemed there was no interest in diplomacy. Something flickered across her features when O'Connell reported the drone destroyed; something that would only be seen under certain circumstances. Within her blood cooled, her light blue stare turned icy. Jaw set, eyes narrowed, one fist clenched of its own accord, then fingers opened and shoulders dropped. Ready for battle. She had no idea what the biological interface it was referring to meant, but she was just about done with this incursion. "Be warned, any further damage to my ship or people will result in retaliation in kind." It claimed its purpose was to protect, yet its present actions invited aggression. She turned from the eerie image of gaTE C on her screen and faced Ops I. "Launch," she told Dimmadome, no longer caring if the optics of their actions would suggest one intent or another to the objects - they'd drawn their own conclusions already. It was then that Quinn's voice burst through their speakers. He confirmed two things for her: that they were still safe, and the AI's intent. She glanced over toward Dimmadome again, expression expectant. "I am calibrating the boost algorithm. 30 seconds!"Tapping her own commbadge, she made use of the restored communications to the Away Team below and responded. =/\= "Mac to Away Team, it's good to hear from you. We are having some issues of our own up here, and are working on getting warp back online. Standby." =/\= When Som reported that they finally had Warp 1, and Dimmadome confirmed breathlessly that he'd be able to lock on to the Away Team's signatures, but not while they remained at their current location, which was shrouded despite even the signal boost, Felicity knew that the clock was ticking and they'd have to come up with something, fast. =/\= "Away Team, this is Ellis. We can't lock on to your signatures currently. Get yourselves to the original transporter site - go. Now. We'll have a small window and I don't want to miss it." Not bothering to close the line, she began to loop in all of the departments in play. "Helm, time for more of that fancy flying. I want a completely random flight pattern; take us all over the system. Nothing from the database, all you. When we have our people on sensors, the Mac will need to be in position. Security, I want that thing off the ship. Now. Engineering, standby for Warp - we'll need everything we can get."She turned again to Dimmadome. "Ops. As soon as you have a safe lock, shout. This'll have to be timed perfectly." Felicity faced the front, eyes once again meeting the image of their intruder, the one who wished to protect, the one who wanted what wasn't theirs. "Tactical, standby shields down. Helm, on my mark." =/\= Mark.
Tags: Kaya Som , Joshua Niles , Isaiah Quinn , Syl O'Connell & Away Team.
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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 28, 2021 14:47:48 GMT
{Quotes: Tentacle Monster, Lt. Words, Li} [ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite briefly entertained the words from gaTE c, asking if it was there to give them fire. As it processed the answer it computed it what it felt was deception... aggression. "aRe you woRTHy To ReceiVe iT?" It then turned its attention to Josh's decree of showing good faith. The tentacle raised once more in front of the crewmen assembled there. "wHaT you ask FoR, you Do NoT giVe," it responded. It then pressed the tentacle forward holding firm against the forcefield... stressing it as if test it's limits. As the field continued to crackle under the tentacle, some of the lights began to flicker. The second satellite uttered one final word. "PRoTecTioN."[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]
Well, the Ensign did take his order to prepare a last-resort contingency. It wasn't about to become his Plan A, or even his Plan B, but it was going to be a last-ditch option right behind falling back should the forcefield fail and small arms prove to be ineffective. Though, Gates did hit on something about whatever that probe, or whatever it was, was saying. An exchange of knowledge, the gift of possibly dangerous knowledge. And Prometheus... though there was this strong suspicion that an inorganic entity was going to find itself chained to a cliff face to have birds eat its liver on a daily basis. However, the damned thing did not seem to be inclined to believe that Niles' action were aimed at protection, and spoke of an uneven trade, before it started pushing hard against the forcefield, to the point the local power grid was starting to fluctuate in order to compensate. "Stop!" he fairly shouted, his voice a sharp bark against the crackling of the forcefield. "If you breach the forcefield, we will open fire! If you wanted knowledge, you should have asked and odds are, we would have just done so. You tried to take it by force, and we see this as aggression."His own hand phaser was still firmly pointed at the deck, as were the rifles of the counter-boarding party, but all those weapons could be brought to bear in a real hurry if need be... and not a one of them was set to stun; against a cybernetic threat, the kind of power levels that could put holes in bulkheads had been deliberately selected. "Listen to me. I really don't want to have to shoot at you, so please don't make me have to do it. We won't take what's not freely offered, all we ask is that you do the same. Stop your incursion attempts and withdraw from the ship. We can communicate, so when neither of us poses an immediate threat to the other, my commander and you can discuss an exchange of knowledge. But if you continue with what you're doing, it will be considered as aggression and we will protect ourselves."Oh, Niles definitely had some aggressive tendencies that needed to be kept on a tight leash. But with such a being inside the ship, the damage it could cause before being stopped did not bear thinking about, especially given that it had gone through their armoured hull as though it was made of tissue paper. Hell, odds are he'd be one of the first fatalities, and that thought alone did not appeal to him whatsoever! "Please, stand down and withdraw, and then we can talk, exchange knowledge in a free, consensual and equitable exchange. No one needs to die today." [ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite's tentacle continued to bore into the field, despite the repetitive imperatives that were uttered by Niles. Yet, there was a moment, when the tentacle withdrew exactly 1.49cm. "BioLogicaL iNTeRFace iNiTiaTeD... assessiNg... assessiNg... assessiNg...." The seconds continued to pass as it accepted and adapted the information being transmitted from the interface on the planetoid below. "Assessment complete. Viable components detected. Initiating Acquisition protocols." The tentacle that had been hovering in front of the forcefield, no dropped and bore into the deck itself... locating a power coupling feeding the field. The field itself began to flicker as its integrity began to diminish. [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]Gatesy gave the question all its due consideration, for it was an interesting one. And it was important. "Sometimes," came his response, believing then in that moment that sometimes the denizens of this galaxy deserved fire. Sometimes, as an individual, he did not. It was the fairest answer he believed he could give with no time for preparation or study. Then Lieutenant Words began to talk again - he did a lot of talking at the object and Gatesy wondered if he was like that with organics, too. When the tentacle moved backward just the tiniest amounts, the young medic found himself moving forward again, toward the force field. The tone had changed, somehow. It claimed it had found an interface, and Kellen Gates worried that there might be someone elsewhere who would require his medical attention. And then it was like... it was like its mission had changed. "What components?" He asked, his voice taking on a sharper edge. "What 'acquisition protocols'? I thought you wanted to Protect? To be Prometheus?" Another step forward. "If there's something that you want from us, you can just ask."
Tags: Isaiah Quinn (Tentacle Monster), Joshua Niles , Veronica Li
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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 28, 2021 23:16:15 GMT
{Quotes: Tentacle Monster, Lt. Words, Li} [ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite briefly entertained the words from gaTE c, asking if it was there to give them fire. As it processed the answer it computed it what it felt was deception... aggression. "aRe you woRTHy To ReceiVe iT?" It then turned its attention to Josh's decree of showing good faith. The tentacle raised once more in front of the crewmen assembled there. "wHaT you ask FoR, you Do NoT giVe," it responded. It then pressed the tentacle forward holding firm against the forcefield... stressing it as if test it's limits. As the field continued to crackle under the tentacle, some of the lights began to flicker. The second satellite uttered one final word. "PRoTecTioN."[ LT Joshua Niles - Deck 7, USS Mac ]
Well, the Ensign did take his order to prepare a last-resort contingency. It wasn't about to become his Plan A, or even his Plan B, but it was going to be a last-ditch option right behind falling back should the forcefield fail and small arms prove to be ineffective. Though, Gates did hit on something about whatever that probe, or whatever it was, was saying. An exchange of knowledge, the gift of possibly dangerous knowledge. And Prometheus... though there was this strong suspicion that an inorganic entity was going to find itself chained to a cliff face to have birds eat its liver on a daily basis. However, the damned thing did not seem to be inclined to believe that Niles' action were aimed at protection, and spoke of an uneven trade, before it started pushing hard against the forcefield, to the point the local power grid was starting to fluctuate in order to compensate. "Stop!" he fairly shouted, his voice a sharp bark against the crackling of the forcefield. "If you breach the forcefield, we will open fire! If you wanted knowledge, you should have asked and odds are, we would have just done so. You tried to take it by force, and we see this as aggression."His own hand phaser was still firmly pointed at the deck, as were the rifles of the counter-boarding party, but all those weapons could be brought to bear in a real hurry if need be... and not a one of them was set to stun; against a cybernetic threat, the kind of power levels that could put holes in bulkheads had been deliberately selected. "Listen to me. I really don't want to have to shoot at you, so please don't make me have to do it. We won't take what's not freely offered, all we ask is that you do the same. Stop your incursion attempts and withdraw from the ship. We can communicate, so when neither of us poses an immediate threat to the other, my commander and you can discuss an exchange of knowledge. But if you continue with what you're doing, it will be considered as aggression and we will protect ourselves."Oh, Niles definitely had some aggressive tendencies that needed to be kept on a tight leash. But with such a being inside the ship, the damage it could cause before being stopped did not bear thinking about, especially given that it had gone through their armoured hull as though it was made of tissue paper. Hell, odds are he'd be one of the first fatalities, and that thought alone did not appeal to him whatsoever! "Please, stand down and withdraw, and then we can talk, exchange knowledge in a free, consensual and equitable exchange. No one needs to die today." [ ... Deck 7... ] The second satellite's tentacle continued to bore into the field, despite the repetitive imperatives that were uttered by Niles. Yet, there was a moment, when the tentacle withdrew exactly 1.49cm. "BioLogicaL iNTeRFace iNiTiaTeD... assessiNg... assessiNg... assessiNg...." The seconds continued to pass as it accepted and adapted the information being transmitted from the interface on the planetoid below. "Assessment complete. Viable components detected. Initiating Acquisition protocols." The tentacle that had been hovering in front of the forcefield, no dropped and bore into the deck itself... locating a power coupling feeding the field. The field itself began to flicker as its integrity began to diminish. [Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Outside Main Sickbay, Deck 7]Gatesy gave the question all its due consideration, for it was an interesting one. And it was important. "Sometimes," came his response, believing then in that moment that sometimes the denizens of this galaxy deserved fire. Sometimes, as an individual, he did not. It was the fairest answer he believed he could give with no time for preparation or study. Then Lieutenant Words began to talk again - he did a lot of talking at the object and Gatesy wondered if he was like that with organics, too. When the tentacle moved backward just the tiniest amounts, the young medic found himself moving forward again, toward the force field. The tone had changed, somehow. It claimed it had found an interface, and Kellen Gates worried that there might be someone elsewhere who would require his medical attention. And then it was like... it was like its mission had changed. "What components?" He asked, his voice taking on a sharper edge. "What 'acquisition protocols'? I thought you wanted to Protect? To be Prometheus?" Another step forward. "If there's something that you want from us, you can just ask."
Tags: Isaiah Quinn (Tentacle Monster), Joshua Niles , Veronica Li [ENS Veronica "Ronnie" Li - Deck 7 - P-Way] The situation was deteriorating fast. Spasmodically, Ronnie's hand twitched towards the panel, primed to blow. Miniscule rivulets of sweat ran down her strong jaw. For the moment, she seemed to be forgotten. The security officers were in crisis mode, trying to talk the thing down. The medic was doing a bit better, she felt, but as she watched the eldritch looking being slither and flail she realized something crucial, something born of her deep seated, instinctive loathing of this thing. And then the captain herself ordered it, as if Felicity Ellis had come to the same epiphany in the same instant. This alien invader wasn't going to cooperate. The time for negotiation was over. People liked to forget that those that knew how to heal could also kill with just as much whim and vigor. It was the same with her. She could create a beautiful piece of art or destroy, and that was only with a paint brush. Why, here, on the Mac, she had all of the hard pumping, indefatigable and ceaselessly steely power of a Sovereign class starship to work with. Accordingly, Ronnie had applied a universal law: use enough gun, enough paint, or in this case enough explosive. She had jury rigged the bulkhead to blow and pack quite a punch in the process. She obsessively rubbed the ball of her left thumb over the pad of her pointer and index finger, biting her lip in a primal way. Reckoning that some unclassified octopod deep space dwelling extraterrestrial wouldn't know an old military adage back on Earth that was still used to this day, she yelled, " FIRE IN THE HOLE!" and set the panel to blow as she found cover around a corner. Tag: Joshua Niles Felicity Ellis
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